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I sat in my seat, being bounced around by the turbulence. I had just finished triple checking my teams gear for the jump. There was absolutely no room for error tonight.

"Alright. Let's review the plan one more time. We can't afford any mishaps. Trestan, you're the most suited for this. Take the lead and we'll fall in behind you. We'll use thermal until we break cloud cover and then switch to night vision. Trestan, get us lined up and below the clouds and then break off at 10,000. We need you in position early."

The copilot turned to us from the cockpit and gave the two minute signal. I began my final preparation. Taking one last draw from my mask, I removed it, placed it back under my seat and switched to my personal O2 tank. I checked the gauge to ensure oxygen was traveling to the mask. I tugged my harness to verify proper fit and checked all the connections on my armor making sure there were no leaks in the air tight system.

"Is every one go?"

I received four okay gestures in return. We had mikes built into the oxygen masks, but hand signals had been drilled into us from day one. Teague, Jessica, and Tank all had identical setups as mine. Trestan, lucky bastard, was built for this and didn't need the air tight protection against freezing, parachute, or even supplemental O2.

An orange light clicked on and I heard the sound of hydraulics as the rear door descended. The noise of rushing air filled the cabin. I motioned for the team to prepare to jump. They lined up and clipped onto the static bar. The light turned green. Trestan was the first out. He dove from the plane. I counted off the seconds then motioned to Tank. He followed and the static line pulled his drogue chute which quickly detached. This process repeated for the other two.

After Teague had disappeared into the darkness I walked to the edge. I turned and signaled to the pilot who waved back. I jumped. The wind grabbed me an pulled me away from the aircraft. I could feel the slight resistance of my drogue using it to get my bearings and proper body position. Five seconds after leaving the fuselage the tinny parachute detached allowing me to free fall. I counted off another ten seconds before pulling the ripcord. My canopy pulled from the pack and I was jerked backwards from the drag. I was about to switch to my thermal when I noticed that I could see everything clearly without it.

Trestan, Tank, and Jessica were already stacked and Teague was pulling up behind them. I quickly grabbed the airfoil's handles and maneuvered into position. The cold air tore at my clothing but I couldn't feel it beneath the airtight layers. Without them, I would have frozen in minutes. The oxygen prevented us suffering from hypoxia.

I keyed a tab on my HUD and a GPS overlay of our flight path appeared. I watched as Trestan approached the first turn and bank right. I pulled my right handle and the corner of the parachute dipped, pulling me in that direction. I checked my air speed and altimeter. We were right on course.

After another correction we sailed into a cloud. Now I did switch to thermal because not even my enhanced eyes could cut through the dense water vapor. This is when things would get tricky. If any of us got split up, they could end up miles off course and be out of commission for the entire operation.

Soon however we were out of the clouds. We were at 18,000ft above ground level and coming in a little fast. Trestan would have to correct that at the next turn. A series of maneuvers and we were on the final line that would take us to the LZ. Trestan broke off, his powerful wings driving him away, leaving Tank in front of the line.

The dim lights of the compound came into view. There were no spotlights watching the sky. These people were too trusting of radar. With our limited amount of metal and minimal profile, they'd be lucky if one of us showed up as an error. That left only visual detection. Our suits, packs, and canopies were all colored to match the dark black sky perfectly. Unless a guard was looking in the exact right position at the exact right time, we would be no more visible than the air we were moving through.

After what seemed like an eternity of hanging in the air, we silently sailed over the outer perimeter. I magnified my view. The space on either side of the fence was brightly lit. I saw guards posted, watching the trees and surrounding fields diligently. An anti air turret sat motionless behind a tower.

The ground was coming up fast now. I checked my airspeed and saw that I was coming in too fast. I pulled both handles and the chute faired. The stack stretched out as each of us slowed for touchdown. I braced mentally and physically for the impact. My jump boots hit dirt. I rapidly recovered and unhooked from the harness. The others were doing the same.

I stowed the mass of fabric into my combat pack and retrieved my ASMAR squad marksman variant assault rifle. Quickly scanning my surroundings, I determined that there were no immediate threats. The other three soon arrived at my position. I gave a series of hand signals and we formed ourselves into a loose diamond formation. We began moving through the sparse trees towards the compound, our boots making no sound over the frozen ground.

Teague who, as always, was a point held up his hand. He motioned for me to join him. I moved forward to where he stood. We had reached the interior fence. I scanned the length that I could see and the spotted what I wanted. There was a spot which looked recently washed out. It had only been blocked with a pair of hay bales. I gestured towards it.

We moved to the entry point. Tank stepped forward and pushed the obstacle out of our way. I slid underneath, remembering the first time I had done this back at the Academy. When the others were through, Tank pulled the two bales back into place.

I checked our surroundings. If my map was correct, the structure in front of us was a maintenance building. Just then Trestan's voice filtered in through my enclosed com system.

"Heads up. Two bogies moving in from the east."

I acknowledged by clicking my com once. We slid into the shadow of one of the building's large overhead doors. I watched the northeast corner. Seconds later, a bull and a raccoon walked into view. They scanned the area as they walked closer. I stayed crouched, nearly invisible in the dark. They passed in front of our position. As one, Jessica and I sprung forward. I bashed the bull in the back of the head with the butt of my rifle. He collapsed from the blow. I caught the body and lowered it slowly to the ground.

I pulled a dart pistol from my holster, similar to the ones we had used in training. The difference was that, rather than sedating the victim, these darts were loaded with a lethal injection. I had a quick flashback of standing over an upperclassman coyote and shooting him without second thought as he lay at my feet. With the same cold indifference, I shot the killer at my feet, the gas powered weapon making no sound. I turned to see Jessica already dragging the body of the raccoon into cover. I did the same and deposited my victim next to hers. We regrouped and moved on towards the west.

Teague halted us. He pulled a small device from a pack and placed it on the side of the building before moving on. We had all taken packs of explosives which he had built for this mission. As we moved through the compound, we would place them at strategic positions. In this way we soon had rigged the maintenance shop, barracks, armory, primary training center, utility building, and power plant. When we left, there would be on hell of a fireworks show down here.

We moved along the building which housed General Davis's quarters. Teague raised his hand again. I crept forward and looked. There was a secure door along the adjacent wall. One guard was standing outside, rifle in hand. There was also a camera panning above the door. The camera moved in our direction slowly, reached its range of motion, and began turning away. I aimed through my rifle's scope and pulled the trigger. The silenced weapon coughed once and the guard fell. We dashed to the door and were in before the camera finished it's turn, Tank dragging the body in behind us.

Jessica forged a card key access on her data pad. I switched to thermal and scanned the room beyond. There were four guards in it. I stood to the right of the door and Tank moved to the left. Jessica and Teague crouched below us. The sliding doors opened and each of us shot one of the guards. I moved into the room. There was a security desk with a bank of monitors, showing camera views. A dead zebra sat behind it bleeding from a hole straight through his heart. I recognized Jessica's handy work who always preferred to go for the center of mass and vitals.

I checked the views. I found the one I was looking for, a third floor hallway. An arctic fox and a grey wolf stood in front of an unmarked black door. That was our target. I signaled to the team and we headed for the stairwell. Four landings later we were on the top floor. I slid a fiber optic probe beneath the door to scan the corridor beyond. There they were, 25m to my left. I gave Jessica the kill gesture and She hit a command on her data pad and the power went out to the building.

Teague opened the door. I saw the two guards looking around wildly. Their confusion was soon ended as Tank and Teague quickly and quietly snapped their necks and lowered them to the ground. I stood in front of the door while Jess overrode the security system. There was a silent click, which would have been inaudible to any normal soldier. The door swung in slowly.

I moved forward, sweeping the room for any bodyguards or booby traps. Finally I entered the bedroom. General Davis was sitting up in his bed, staring at the entrance, a calm expression on his face. I had to admire him for not showing fear, knowing there was no way he would live.

"Ah, you came. I had hoped you would."

"How do you know who we are?"

"I do not. But perfection has it's signs just as flaws do. Three separate jobs, each pulled off by a small team, never leaving any trace of their presence. I suspected it was the same group each time. The Phoenix seemed to think your military had built an elite army. He would think that. He has no taste for subtlety. I on the other hand quite admire your work. Very impressive. We could use some soldiers like you in our organization."

"We would never support what you're doing."

"Think of it though, complete world cooperation, like in the time after The Great War."

"You can't force piece on society."

"Perhaps not. So what now, you kill me and leave? I do not think so. You see, I was just the bate."

Before I could react, Davis pulled the trigger of a hidden gun and the top of his head exploded, splattering the wall behind him with blood and gore. Seconds later, alarms began sounding throughout the complex. They must have had bio monitors on him.

"Shit!"

"Teague, blow the barracks and armory!"

He pulled out a small pad and tapped two glowing keys. A series of explosions was heard from outside. The overpressure shook the building we were in.

"What's the plan Harper?"

"Air pad. There's no way we're getting out of here on foot."

I thought of our exit options. There were sure to be guards flooding upstairs this second with the sole purpose of filling us with lead.

"Teague, get a charge on the door. Some smoke wouldn't hurt either."

He began rigging a booby trap on the entrance to the General's room. I walked to the far side and wrenched open a window. I attached a length of cable to the sill. Teague rejoined us and I ushered the team out. Finally I clipped on and repelled out the window just as the door opened. The soldier's who were unfortunate to be standing near it were engulfed in a fireball.

I hit the ground and straitened myself. The compound was in chaos. The space between buildings was lit by flashing signals and there was a fierce orange light of fire in the background. She sound of gunfire filled the air from the far side of the facility. These soldiers were very poorly disciplined. I checked my map for the location of the air pad. I found it and flashed a waypoint to my team. We began running towards it.

We turned a corner and were met by group of enemies. Jessica was the first to react and opened fire. They quickly fell beneath the twin onslaught. I saw a goat taking aim at us from an ally. I swung and fired a burst, catching him in the gut an bringing him to the ground.

"Let's keep moving."

Another explosion racked the compound as fire engulfed the ammunition in the armory. I could hear yells in the distance. We began moving in the direction of my marker which led parallel to the mayhem luckily and not into it. Teague had done an exceptional job of planting those explosives.

Finally I could see the air pad. There were two helicopters sitting on the ground. One was a large cargo carrier. The other was the genera's personal transport. Since he was dead, I figured he probably didn't need it any more. We scanned the area. Tank lobed a grenade across the space. There was a blast, a yell, and I watched as a body flew out from cover, it's fur still smoldering.

"Alright, keep me covered. The less I get shot at, the sooner we get out of her."

"Roger that. The sooner we get out of here, the happier I'll be," responded Jessica.

I sprinted to the chopper and opened the pilot side door. I climbed into the seat, strapped in, and studied the controls. We had gone through flight training back at Center 17. Now it was finally paying off. I powered the craft on and heard the buzz of the starter. The turbo shaft engine came to life and I could feel the slow rotation of the rotors beginning to spin.

"Alright, we have power," I said silently to myself.

Small arms fire pinged off my windshield.

"Keep them off of me!"

Teague shot a series of bursts and the shooting stopped. I looked over the gauges. Fuel, good. Hydraulic pressure, good. I ran through a mental checklist, ensuring that the aircraft was flight worthy. Luckily it was. If it had needed anything, we would have been screwed. By now the rotors had reached the RPMs I was looking for.

"Alright, get in. This is the last call for passengers."

Jessica climbed in next to me. The other two pulled themselves into the back. I watched as a pair of rockets streaked down from the sky. Two anti air cannons detonated.

"Get that thing off the ground Harper!" Trestan called over my earpiece.

"Sorry, this 'thing' isn't quite as agile as you are."

I slowly raised the collective feeling for the familiar sign that the skids were becoming light on the ground. I pushed the left petal, compensating for the rotation with the tail rotor. We yawed slightly and I reduced pressure. I adjusted the cyclic to keep us level. Starting to get a feel for the controls and raised the collective more. The angle of the blades now created enough lift and we rose of the ground.

"Okay, let's go."

I increased power and pushed the stick over. The rotors angled downward and we swiftly left the ground behind and sped forward. Rifle fire peppered the hull but I was soon out of range. We circled the compound, steadily climbing. When I felt that we were at a safe height, I put the craft into a hover. I could just spot Trestan out of right window, reloading his launcher.

"Hit it Teague."

He scrolled his finger over the pad. I watched as one by one, the last four big buildings of the NWO training facility were leveled by explosions. Well, we had killed Bantano, and destroyed the compound. Unfortunately, we hadn't had time to secure any files or information. At least the enemy would be short a general and over three hundred recruits. As I began to move off scene, I let out a sigh.

"Well two out of three isn't bad I guess."

"What are you talking about Harper?" Jessica asked.

"We never secured any data like we were supposed to."

"What the hell do you think I was doing while you were jack jawing with the general?"

I turned, not believing my ears, "What?"

"I hacked the network on my pad. I've got all sorts of goodies on these guys."

"You know Curry, you truly are amazing."

"I know."

Teague called from the back, "Quit flirting up there and let's get back to base."

I went slightly read as the others laughed. Well, mission accomplished. I pushed the nose over, and we sped across the frozen landscape. For miles, the tundra was lit by flickering red orange light, reflected from a billowing smoke cloud.