Current Assignment: The C.A.S. Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D)
Team: Bravo
Location: Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Cover Outfit: 356th Logistics Company

Current Duty: 3 Month Training Rotation
Common Duties include: SCUBA, HALO, CQB, Sniper, Evasion, Infiltration, Firearms, and Classroom training.

CO: Captain William 'Shifty' Powers
Sergeant Major: Lynn 'Buck' Compton

Time: 0800 12Jun63 Romeo (Local)

Letter received by each Soldier on acceptance to the SFOD-D.

At no time are members of SOC to be in country with unit or personal identifications. All members are expected to police themselves when operating on foreign soil. In off duty hours the cover of each unit is to be strictly adhered to. No one, NO ONE, can know who and what you truly are. You are the best of the best. Be alert. Train like you fight and you will fight like you train.

Good luck and Godspeed,

Col. (ret.) Jack 'Wild Bill' Tangent

Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Current Time: 1:12 PM, 12Jun63 GMT +1 (Alpha)
Latitude: 6° 35' North
Longitude: 3° 02' East

Ministry of Defense.

Ziam Al-Khard was not a patient man. The more time he spent waiting on the ministries office, the more time he was going to spend killing people. It was part of his charm. Currently he and his team were waiting on his contact with in the Nigerian government to give the 'okay' for his plan.

I wish I could kill them all.

His train of thought was interrupted by the door. A tall black man, with midnight skin entered the room. He was large, even for an Ork. He was the head of the defense ministry through sheer strength of will. His name was Murick Nomofo.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Ziam, it was unavoidable."

Ziam nodded. He was sure it was avoidable, but he did not wish to upset the man, yet.

"Whatever, I need to use your border base, the one at these coordinates. I have information and I need to act on it."

The ork took the paper in his large hands and slipped it into his pocket without looking.

"Impossible I am afraid Ziam, the current political climeate does not make it expedient for me to do business with you. Now if you will excuse me."

Rage flooded through Ziam's veins. Pure hatred and anger fueled by ten thousand years of death and dying. He stood in one swift motion. Murick tried to stand but he was not nearly quick enough. Ziam was over the desk, and had the much larger ork from behind by the neck.

"You are under the impression that you have a choice." Ziam was impossibly strong. His arms were corded like steel, and only a troll could have stood a chance of breaking his vise like grip.

"It... it is not up to me," the ork spit out each word, choking.

"It is now, or I will pay a visit to your lovely family, you have 3 daughters yes? My men will enjoy themselves for 3 days, and then when they can not physically move, I will drag them into the street and shoot them in the head. I will be at the base in 3 days. It better be ready."

Ziam punctuated his threat with a shake of his arm. Murick's eyes rolled back up in his head. On the verge of unconsciousness Ziam let him go. He collapsed to the desk, unable to breathe, throat crushed.

"3 days Murick, it better be ready." Ziam left the office, not even checking to see if the ork was still alive.

A shadow broke off from the wall, a onlooker could mistake the two for twins. They were in fact brothers. Three years separated them however.

"Is it wise to goad him? He could be useful in the future."

Ziam replied in there native Arabic, "he is dead already. I spiked his nervous system when I touched him. 24 hours from now he will spasm and die a painful death. If the facility is not ours to use by then, we will make due. But I am confident he will move swiftly to protect his family."

The younger man nodded.

"Do you think our intel on the location of the agent is good?"

"I have no doubt, the Confederate bitch was in to much pain to lie. No my friend, this will work. Soon, you and I, will have our hands on a treasure trove, one not seen in sixty years."

Back in the hot office Murick struggled to breath. After a few minutes had passed he was able to compose himself and start making phone calls. The first was to his family. He told his wife to take there children and leave town. The second was to General Anery Coombolo,

"General, I need you to clear your men out of Facility Six by noon tomorrow."

The response was swift, and when the man stopped swearing he was able to reply.

"What do you mean Minister, F6 is a high value facility, we need to man it 24/7."

"I know, I know, but when Ziam Al-Khard tells you to do it, you do it."

---------

Location: Ft. Meade
Current Time: 1:35 PM, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (Romeo)
Latitude: 38° 53' North
Longitude: 77° 02' West


Private First Class Andrea Rogers was bored out of her mind. When she joined the CAS Army she thought she was going to see the world. Instead she got to see the inside of a Comm. Vault for the last three years. Luckily the blond haired, blue eyed elf was stunningly beautiful, and she used it to get all kinds of perks at her job. She also spoke 6 languages fluently, which kept her chained to her desk.

Currently she was jacked into the Com. Sat in high Geo orbit, over looking the data flow for any flagged info. A large read flag appeared on the flow and it got her attention. She reviewed the data, cross indexed it to previous files, flagged it has "Urgent-Priority" and sent it to her boss. After listening to it she was just sure it was going to mean some time off. Now, where to go....

Location: Ft. Bragg, North Caroline UCAS
Current Time: 2:15 PM, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (Romeo)
Latitude: 35.13 North
Longitude: 78.93 West


"You got to be kidding me. We know where he is? Wait, where he's going to be, when? 3 days? Okay, I'm on it, send the operational data as soon as you can."

Capt. Bill Powers, better know as Shifty sat down in his desk with a big smile on his face. The other man in the room, much older and wizened, cracked a smile.

"Big fish Bill?"

"One of the biggest Buck, one of the Biggest. Ziam Al-Khard, no less. We know where he’s going to be, and we know when. Is Bravo team ready?"

Sergeant Major 'Buck' Compton didn't hesitate, "Hell yes!"

"Good, bring 'em in, they’re going to Africa."

Current Time: 1417 hours, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (Romeo)

SFC Townsend is conducting E&E classroom training for Bravo team when a Priority level 1 message scrolls across Church's field of vision.

Church stands to his feet. Sorry Sergeant Townsend, we have to leave. Can't say why, OpSec being what it is these day. Come on guys, let's go.

Church makes eye contact with each of his people before departing.

Current time: 1417 Hours, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (ROMEO)

"Buster" gathers up his reading materials, the normal assortment of mass produced manuals and multi-copied handouts quickly yet organized and into a small backpack. "Buster" is all smiles "You know what Opsec being" was all he needed to hear to know Bravo was back in the game, and early at that.

It must be good, if we're off training rotation...hope its nowhere cold

His materials gathered and stored away he stands and waits to fall in step with the senior members of Bravo.

Current time: 1417 Hours, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (ROMEO)

"Bout time." Canary said with a satisfied grin on his face. "It's been too quiet lately...I for one have begun to feel a little overqualified for what we do." Canary was of course, joking. As evidenced by the smile he puncuated his sentence with. "Let's roll."

Despite the bravado, Canary couldn't help but keep his thoughts from drifting to his family. Sudden deployment would mean that he would only get a short amount of time to spend with his wife and daughters before departing, and probably not even that. He made a note to call them as soon as he left the classroom.

Current time: 1417 Hours, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (ROMEO)

"Darn...guess that means I don't get to run folks in circles again...." Johnathan complained as he followed the others out the door. He was refering to an earlier field exercise, where he had managed to perplex the trainers. That is, until they decided to sick a watcher on his trail. Darn spirits....it hardly seemed fair. How were you supposed to avoid something that wasn't even in this world. He shruddered. Enough of that. He hated dwelling on spirits and all that magic stuff more than he absolutly had to. He'd much rather deal with reality.

Current time: 1417 Hours, 12Jun63 GMT -5 (ROMEO)

John gets up and nods to the others as as he gets up from his desk and gathers his materials. If it's not one thing, it's another. At least they don't have to sit any longer in the classroom, he's done enough of that.

John hears Jonathan's complaint as they headed out the door and grimaced. He didn't do as well and what he endured as a 'captured mage' was not something he'd like to repeat in training, heaven forbid if that happened in real life.

Location: Ft. Bragg, North Caroline UCAS
Current Time: 15:00 , 12Jun63 GMT -5 (Romeo)
Latitude: 35.13 North
Longitude: 78.93 West

The Lecture Hall, Murphy Building.

The Murphy Building sat on three acres of prime North Carolina landscape. It’s tall arches and spires gave it an old world appeal, even though it was only a few years old. Named for a highly decorated soldier in a past war, it was used today to train and brief the best of the best. The building was inconspicuously labeled as “Hall, Lecture”. But everyone “knew” that when small squads of men shuffled in, boots were about to hit the ground.

Security was tight today as well, once in the lobby each Soldier was asked to present his right thumb, and eye, for a Retina, Bio scan. After words a highly armored MP checked visual identification. It was more than a formality. Last year the A-team discovered that their Sniper was not actually him, but an Aztech agent on a long term infiltration. Security measures such as these were designed to root out enemy infiltrators. They seemed to be working. Twenty minutes later the team, dressed in pressed BDU’s and shinny boots, marched into the cavernous room labeled “Hall, 1B”.

Captain Powers and Sergeant Major Compton were casually leaning against the presentation desk. An Eight Foot long table used to display models, terrain, pictures, and whatever else the team needed.

“Afternoon Gentlemen, take a seat.” The squad sat down with the ease of men who had lived in the mud and blood. Buck nodded his approval of everyone and waived his hand at the C.O.

“Everyone in good spirits?”

“HU-AH,” was the loud reply.

“Good, I know you guys were scheduled for training for another month but we need the B-team. Alpha is deployed in Eurasia at the moment, and Charlie is on Border Ops. And believe me, you guys are going to want this one. LIGHTS.”

The computer responded by dimming the lights. The hollo screen flared to life displaying a picture.

The man in the middle is Ziam Al-Khard, to his right is his younger brother. We think his name is Asiz. These two are responsible for a lot of shit over the last few years. This,” the image changed.


“This was an orphanage for lost children. The room that has the big hole in it, is the room where the meta’s slept. The manager was later found with her insides surgically removed. The best guess is that she was alive and awake as it happened. These two have a real hate on for Meta’s. Anyone who collaborates with them, helps them, related to them, anyone, and they will do their best to kill you. Now, we think that they are both awakened. They have made rumblings about their “gifts from Ala” in the past. We think Ziam is a Adept and his brother could be a mage, its unconfirmed.”

The Captain nodded to the Sergeant Major, “Buck.”

“Picture... okay, you all are familiar with this place,”

“Nigeria and its neighbor to the south, Cameroon. We have intel that suggests both of these fine upstanding global citizens are going to be in Nigeria in Four Days. The exact location is near the town of ‘Vola’. The Nigerian military maintains a testing facility there. Our target was over heard by a Spook bird saying he needed to use the facility. Currently we don’t know why, but we do know he is going to be there. Unfortunately we do no not have a good relationship with either Country. So, you will be HALO dropped from a Stealthed out C-167. Your impact point will be 13 miles off the coast of Cameroon. You will proceed via electric boat to the shore, where you will make your way along the Cameroon side of the border to the where the Facility is."

"Then you will cross the border, enter the facility, kill or kidnap the primary. Kill the secondary, and then make your way back to the Gulf of Guinea for a submersible pickup. Just to be clear, Ziam is the primary, his brother is the secondary. Anyone else is expendable. Your bird is wheels up at 1900 tonight. The brass is calling this Operation Butterfly. Your Callsign is Ghostrider. Church you will be Ghostrider one-one Alpha, the rest of you will be bravo, Charlie, etc. Once in the field you guys are on your own, it’s a commo black out, so you make your best guess. Any questions?”

Current Time: 15:10 , 12Jun63 GMT -5 (Romeo)

Church absently fingers his rosary as he listens to the briefing.

His eyes drift to Sgt Major Buck as he leans forward in his chair. "Do we currently have any assests in country, or eyes on the facility? Also, do we have any intel on the patrol routes of the Nigerian/Camaroon JBC (Joint Border Commission)? It would be helpful in avoiding any unnecessary contact."

"Good questions, Church, lets get 'em all out boys, speak freely," the Sergeant Major waived his hand to everyone.

"Buster" straightens up in his chair." Will we be placing false intel to implicate other parties?, and... A slight smile crosses his face anything you'd like them to relate to Allah when they meet him?" Buster sits back in his chair to the chorus of HU-AH's, his mind already running through a possible gear list. At least it isnt cold he thinks to himself and it may not be Azzies but, these mother-fraggers are just as deserving.

Ramos sat attentively in his chair, memorising the faces of the two terrorists. Enjoy your last days of freedom Ziam, we're coming to get you.

"What kind of opposition can we expect at the target facility?"

A frown crossed Johnathan's face as the image of the orphanage came up. That was low. At least adults were capable of fighting back. And torturing that woman for taking care of all who passsed through her door.... these guys were going down.

He managed to withold his opinions on the matter however. Now was the time to gather in the information to make sure this guy didn't hurt any more kids. When they got to question time, he asked "We know anything about the layout of the facility, and the terrain around it?"

John listens to the report keeping his face unreadable as he saw the pictures. Surgically removed? I wonder if it's some sort of ritual, this is not good. It became apparent as the questions are being asked that most of the question of the facility and expected opposition will be asked and answered.

When it finally came time for John to ask his question, "What type of magical assets do these countries have and what are some of the local fauna that we should be aware?"

Canary set down the pen he had been using to scribble briefing notes into his small waterproof notepad.

"Ladies, ladies..." Canary jumped in. "These are all good questions, but let's take it one step at a time. We still need to get our feet on the ground first." Canary leaned forward in his chair before continuing. Recounting aloud the early part of the plan to start, he spoke cooly. "We're going to HALO into the ocean off the coast...What kind of weather are we expecting for this jump, and how secure is Nigerian airspace? We can buy ourselves more wiggle room time-wise if we can HAHO instead...to save some swim and hump time. This is a night jump, right?"

Canary leaned back into his chair and awaited the answer.

Jose sits up keenly awiating the answer, he much prefers HAHO to HALO, for him nothing beats the feeling of gliding miles though the darkness towards the unsuspecting target.

“Aight, will take it one at a time. Currently our Assets in country are very close to nil. There is a HumInt near the border where you will be crossing though. I can’t give you the details, as the spooks in Atlanta didn’t give it to me. But there a church there, ask for Sister Santiago. The challenge is “Africa is wet this time of year”, and the response is, “But the see is blue.” You got to love Atlanta. We do have some SatInt on ground patrols; we will be inserting you at the end of the rotation, as long as you stay at a pace of 2 miles per hour you should stay about an hour ahead of there ground patrols. Their air patrols are a joke, they consist of a couple of outdated Blackhawks and some blimps. Along with their air assets their piss ant military employs a squad of mages that do astral patrol for a couple of barracks. No border patrol is suggested by our current intelligence.”

Buck to a moment to review one of the many folders scattered about the table, “I don’t think Atlanta is interested in setting any frame ups. This guy is wanted in just about ever country on the planet, so taking him down hard is a good thing.. Opposition could be a problem, its likely he has 10-20 hardcore members with him. These guys are highly trained, highly motivated and willing to die for their cause. So watch your six.”

Buck flipped through some of the envelopes before finding the right one. The facility is here,” the picture in the tank changed, “and when I say facility I mean a couple of buildings surrounded by an abandoned town.”



Buck let everyone absorb the map for a moment before continuing.

“The terrain is like most of this part of Africa, hills and jungle, so watch for spiders, snakes etc. As for awakened Flora and Fauna, your usual jungle variety is about all I can tell you. There were about ten thousand uncharted species in Africa before the Awakening, god know how many now.”

Buck nodded to Canary at his question. Technically they were the same rank, but Buck was in a position of authority over the slightly younger NCO.

“Ops really considered a HAHO, but scrubbed it after looking at the possible landing sights. Just about everywhere you would want to land is covered by Dual Phased Doppler arrays. We think we could get the bird in, but even with the best stealth suits we have you guys would get picked up at 2000 feet. You might be able to vacate the area before a patrol responded, but if you didn’t that could be OP failure right there. So the more conservative HALO at the 13 mile limit. You can make all the noise you want coming out, but going in you have to be ghosts. We chose Cameroon instead of Nigeria because their border is much more relaxed then the Nigerian one, but you still have to be careful.”

"Buster" nods his head smiling "All the noise we want coming out." His mind fills with all the party favors he can bring to this party......this wake,...happy ramadan to you Ziam, you meta-hating slag ,Bravo has your scent and you're one dead fragger

Canary nods.

"Understood." He quickly scribbles something in his notepad. "...and the weather forecast?...and jump time?"

Saint listens to the briefing and makes note that he needs to requisition one of the stealth suits, in addition to some more medical supplies like antidotes due to the exotic locale the team is going.

I wonder if they have some spare expendable foci... Saint prepares his list for the supply officer.

Church smiles as he notices the rest of his team diligently taking notes.

He looks to the SM and asks "So how far is it from the coast to Vola?"

<Church waits for a reply before proceeding>


Church turns to 1st Sgt Knight, "Canary, can you put together an equipment req list for the team? I'd like to be able to get everything early enough to put hands on every piece of kit before we pack it up."

Church's gaze drifts to SFC Gomry, "John Boy, I need you to develop some 'actions-on' drills that we can rehearse before wheels-up. Use the current intel we have, and focus on walk-throughs we can do on the tarmac. Four hours isn't much time, so kill house type practices."

Next he looks to SSGT Davis, "Saint, jump on the matrix and grab everything you can find on the local flora, fauna, and any other non-projectile health risks we might encounter. Also, make sure you pack plenty of environment-specific meds."

Turning to his left, Chuch makes eye contact with Sgt Buster and Sgt Ramos. "Guys, I need you to put together some threat package assessments, and figure out how we need to split ammunition transportation. Each of us should be able to carry at least a box of LMG ammo and a couple of Lasher munitions, plus whatever else you'll need to bring."

"Everyone, make sure to get work with Canary on your gear req lists. Top, I want to review the lists before we send them to supply."

"Shee-oot, I must be getting old, 400 miles from the shore to the Crossing point."

"On it EL TEE" Buster says as he begins shifting through notes on the layout of the buildings and the facility. Catching a few choice pieces he asks no one in particular "Anyone see more than, what i have here for armor or vehicle assets?"

Turning to Ramos." I'm thinking at least six handgrenades, HE each, i can rig them as booby traps if they're needed....that keeps mines off the pack-up list. I want to check the area maps again before we put the total list up...I'd hate to come up a rocket short."

“Ok, if I carry two box magazines for the Minimi, and the rest of you carry one each, that should be plenty.”

“Maybe we should take a flash bang or two as well? To suppress the primary target.”

"400 miles? Okay, we will need to work on a plan for getting to the facility in the requisite timeframe. Humping won't cut it. You guys have any ideas?"

"Okay boys the CO and I have some things we need to go over, I expect you to get any lists of gear needed within the hour, and have a workable plan. No need to tell me what it is, just go or no go. Alright its 1530 now, so call it 1630 for the gear and the plan. That leaves you 2 and a half hours to ge to Cherry Point and for us to get you your gear. The flight is 5 hours, and you should arrive in at the drop zone 0400 local. That give you just under 2 hours to hit the beach before the sun comes up. A TEN-HUT."

The captain nodded to the now at attention men, "good luck, godspeed." He left the room followed by the Sergeant Major.