April 30, 2016

Meghan looked away from a satellite map when the sound of Sea Hawk rotors hit her ears. She pulled the headset off and handed it to the specialist at the nearest workstation. With a turn of her head, she shouted.

"Craig, on me! Cavalry's here."

Jenson shot a brief goodbye at the man he was talking to before joining Meghan as she left the command center. The two donned protective eyewear in response to the dust kicking up from the helicopter blades, holding fast twenty feet from the air transports. The doors slid open, and several armored individuals disembarked. Meghan counted seven, taking note of the slight differences in their uniforms. The whirs from the helicopters lowered as the engines spun down, and the pilot of one of them leaped from the cockpit before circling around the bird and joining the newcomers.

Meghan and Craig marched forward, pulling their face coverings away to speak freely. She shouted to the now eight people, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Afghan-Pakistani border. Hope you like blistering heat and sand, because that's pretty much all we've got."

The tallest of the group spoke, "Aye, that you do, lass. Though, when I told Six I wanted to vacation someplace warm, this isn't quite what I 'ad in mind."

She smirked and shook hands with who she assumed was the fireteam leader, "I'm intelligence specialist, and future Rainbow operative, Meghan Castellano, United States Navy SEALs. This is combat specialist Craig Jenson, same story," Craig stood with his hands clasped behind his back, while Meghan cocked a hip and rested her hand on it, "We're runnin' the show in this pit, and we very much appreciate the help you all are pitching in. Who's who?"

"Name's Seamus Cowden, otherwise known as Sledge," The Scotsman swept an arm to his side, "An' goin' down the line, we have Monika 'IQ' Weiss, Marius 'Jager' Streicher, Sébastien 'Buck' Côté, Emmanuelle 'Twitch' Pichon, Gilles 'Montagne' Touré, Jordan 'Thermite' Trace, and Shuhrat 'Fuze' Kessikbayev." Each operator nodded or waved as their name was called. Seamus looked back to his hosts.

"Wanted to save the orientation proper for when you two joined us in Hereford. We had name plates and candy and icebreaker games all planned out, too, but I guess the gits out here were too eager for us to come meet you 'ere."

Craig laughed, dropping his bravado for just a moment, "Believe me, we're just as sad as you are. But I think we can pay 'em back."

Seamus set his hands on his waist, nodding at the two SEALs, "Not normally how we run, but Six says that we're all yours today. Wants to test your mettle or some such, so give the word."

Meghan motioned for everyone to follow, "I'll give you all the rundown, let's get to business."

Two large monitors rested on the wall of the briefing room, controlled by the remote Meghan held in her hand. She leaned against a table, pointing the laser at each section of interest.

"Here's a floor plan of the border checkpoint, and here's the camera feeds from a couple CCTV lenses that didn't get smashed to pieces when this place got fragged. First floor has a lobby, security center, stockroom, workshop, lavatory, and visa check-in. Second floor has offices, an armory, and the closed-circuit control station. The solid yellow lines you see are windows or chest-high walls with longer sight lines, and the breaks in the white solid lines are doorways."

Meghan looked around to ensure she still had everyone's attention. She cleared her throat and tossed the laser pointer to Jenson, "Tell 'em about the tangos, Craig." She swirled her canteen of water and tossed it back.

"From what we can tell, this is a very well-equipped terrorist cell with next to no notoriety, which by itself is a little terrifying. They've identified themselves as the 'White Masks,' and from the perspective of the US and its allies, this is their first time openly ruining things. Our job, is to make it their last attack. Transmissions from the station before it went dark are… less than helpful. Armed hostiles stormed the place, but as of right now, we have no idea how many there are, or if they have any intention of diplomacy. I think we can all hazard a guess."

Sébastien called from the back, "Any civilians?"

Craig resumed control of the room, "Unknown number of non-military checkpoint employees taken hostage, including the station head, being used as assets. Until we get in position for drone recon, assume several, and in any room. There's likely to be some casualties, as well."

Sébastien stroked his beard.

"So, what? They just showed up, shot some blokes, took some hostages, all without making any demands? What's the point, they just have a couple extra bullets that a range wouldn't satisfy?" Seamus spoke over crossed arms.

Meghan shrugged, "I don't think I need to tell you that, sometimes, groups out here operate outside the concept of 'sense.' The way I see it, it wouldn't matter if they did it because they thought America could shove a sand-covered grenade where the sun don't shine, or if they'd done it because they wanted a couple Hershey bars in exchange. They've fucked up the joint, people have died, and might continue to die. Good enough?"

A low grumble and head nod were her answer.

A light, yet sharp, German accent addressed Craig, "Should we expect explosives?"

Craig shrugged, "Unclear. But, we're expecting just about anything, which is why I think your expertise will be invaluable."

Monika held his gaze before sparing a glance at the video feeds, then back to Craig, before giving a curt nod. Meghan knew the woman by reputation; her advanced electronic detection device was two steps above what most of the US military had access to. Even if there wasn't a threat of bombs, she wanted Monika's brand of experience on hand.

Meghan called out to the room, "Anything else?"

No response.

"Alright, then listen up. We'll have Fire Team Alpha, consisting of Touré, Trace, Cowden, Weiss, Streicher, led by Jenson. Bravo will be Pichon, Kessikbayev, Côté, led by me. In fifteen mikes, two APCs will arrive to take us to the target building. Alpha will deploy at the west end of the building and advance on the main entrance. After performing drone recon, you'll clear the first floor. Touré will spearhead the assault, with Weiss sweeping for electronics ahead of his path, Trace will clear any obstacles present. Cowden, Streicher, and Jenson will enter through the window leading into the stockroom, and snake through the other side of the first floor. Link up at the entryway into the lobby, and wrap the rest up from there.

"At the same time, Bravo will take position on the roof to gain intel on the second floor. Pichon will use her specialized drone to seek and destroy any electronics detrimental to the mission, and provide eyes for Kessikbayev to use his cluster charges. Côté will be our overwatch for when we push the entry points. Questions?"

Nods of approval went around the room, and several of them started last minute checks of their equipment. Cowden met her gaze, "On your go, then, boss."

Meghan picked up one of her cameras from a table, "Let's go be big goddamn heroes."

The rear hatch of the armored vehicle dropped open, and Meghan led her team to the perimeter wall of the facility. She pulled her tactical smart device from her chest rig and keyed it to the street camera facing the northeast corner of the building, panning left and right.

"They have the place locked up tight, and I'm not seeing any foot mobiles outside the walls. Second floor balcony is empty, but every wooden wall I can see has some kind of metal reinforcement. Whoever these guys are, they're more well equipped than your usual terrorist…"

"Then we should be quick." Shuhrat pulled the bolt of his Kalashnikov back.

Meghan nodded, and stowed the tablet. They moved to the wall of the building, and launched a pair of rappel lines. The metal hooks snagged on the stone at the top, burying themselves within. In teams of two, the operators strapped in and climbed to the roof. Beads of sweat rolled down Meghan's forehead, muscles working double duty to reach the roof. The smooth-cut brickwork provided little traction, more than once causing boots to slip from their holds. Half a minute later, Meghan and Shuhrat hoisted themselves to the top, and grabbed their squadmates' hands to pull them up.

"Gear check, everyone still good?" All nods, and Meghan looked around at the area, "Then fix suppressors. Buck, take position at that opening above the lobby. Make yourself a ghost, but call out whatever you see." He shuffled to his designated spot.

Meghan looked at a dome structure next to them, "Twitch, what's the max drop height that thing can handle?"

Emmanuelle unclasped the pouch on her hip and retrieved her drone, "Tested it to two stories. It's pretty hardy, but I don't want to take chances."

"Perfect, then you're gonna drop it in through here, "she tapped the dome, "and guide Fuze on where to set up." She looked at Shuhrat, "You have full shoot-to-kill authority, but if there's any hostages anywhere in the rooms, do not hit that trigger. Understood?"

"Yes, yes."

"Good, then get in position. Move on the sound of hell breaking loose downstairs."

Meghan moved to Buck's position and tapped him on the shoulder, "Wait till there's no one on that catwalk overlooking the lobby and then tell me."

She prepped a Black Eye camera, flicking the switch and releasing the fast-acting adhesive. She drew her arm back, waiting on the go-ahead from Buck. Fifteen seconds passed, and he held up a thumb. She whipped the device at the top of the wall, watching it land between two static filled television screens. Meghan activated her tablet once again, and switched to her new feed. A faint blue light pulsed on, lens examining the angles visible to it.

"Twitch here. Armory shows six hostiles, no hostages. Office shows three hostiles, ten hostages, all in the southeast corner. CCTV room shows eight hostiles, no hostages. They are patrolling around, but are all staying in their respective areas."

"Valkyrie, this is Blackbeard. We're in position, waiting on your go."

Meghan adjusted her mouthpiece, "Green across the board here. Fuze, how copy?"

"Ready for some fireworks." His voice was filled with a giddy anticipation.

"Wait," The French woman blurted over the comm, "let me warn the prisoners."

Nervous breaths through tightly bound cloth filled the corner of the office, eyes darting every which way. People praying for their lives were huddled uncomfortably close together, bloodied faces quivering in fear.

Loud bootfalls were present everywhere around them, backgrounded by the tinny radio music playing through dusty speakers.

"Turn that fucking shit off!" One of the gunmen stormed over and blasted the radio with his handgun, drawing whimpers from the group not even twenty feet away. He holstered his weapon and walked off, muttering about how "too goddamn hot" it was.

The ears of the hostage at the front of the assembly perked up at the sound of… a remote-control car? It drove right up to her knees, yellow LED blinking softly. All eyes rested on the device in front of them. The tiny screen on the front of it booted up, and they all watched in bewilderment as it relayed a message to them, piecemeal. One character at a time flashed on the display.

G

E

T

D

O

W

N

!

They looked at each other, confusion weighing on each of them.

"They got the message, ready to proceed."

Meghan chambered the loading tube of her shotgun, "Copy that. All teams, Operation Dust Line is a go. Weapons hot."

Meghan counted in her head in advance of the first explosion,

Three, two, one-

A siege hammer, breach charge, and cluster charge went off simultaneously. Pops of flashbangs came from several vectors below, followed by pained shouts caused by the explosive pucks above. Steady rapports of gunfire echoed in the halls as the tangos within tried to organize amongst the chaos around them.

"Buck, use the camera from cover to pick out hostiles as they move, and slap 'em down from up here. I'm gonna join Twitch and Fuze in the push on the armory."

"Copy."

Meghan picked herself up and ran to the others, "We'll swing onto the balcony outside of CCTV. Fuze, deploy a charge on the west window, then bust it down and star shooting. Twitch, take the northwest door and do the same. I'll hit the southeast."

The trio hooked in and vaulted down the wall, pushing off to gain momentum for the swing. They split up and assumed positions at their entry points. She heard a pair of muffled coughs from the marksman rifle stationed on the roof.

"Alpha teams, this is Valkyrie. Status report."

"Jager here, we're in the workshop. Heavy resistance, but we are fine."

"This is Sledge, just cleared the security checkpoint. We'll rap 'round and hit 'em from the side. Out."

Meghan flipped her comm channel back to her fire team, "Alpha's making progress. Fuze, hit the switch."

"Dasvidanya, bitches."

Five grenades launched into the room, throwing the entrenched enemies into chaos. More screaming followed, as shards of glass and wooden fragments shot outwards amongst clouds of dirt. Furniture buckled and snapped, curios adorning them tossed around as if in a tumble dryer. After the explosions, the remainder of the barricades broke inwards, and Bravo team set up a crossfire on the survivors. Meghan lined up the glow sights of her shotguns with the prone targets, sending concentrated pellets of buck shot into them. Emmanuelle drove her drone around the room, deftly avoiding bodies and bullets to the best of her ability. She called an all clear, and the three pushed in, boots crunching the debris beneath them. Meghan lifted her shemagh to cover her face to avoid the thick particles hanging in the air.

Meghan relayed hand signals to the team to stack up on the door. She unclasped another pouch on her chest and flashed a mirror around the corner to check the hallway.

"Buck, how we lookin'?"

"Haven't seen any traffic for half a mike, I'm coming in. Don't mind the wall to your right."

The wooden wall of the southeast corner splintered and shot everywhere, a three-foot hole now ventilating the room. Meghan snapped to the loud sound, hand flying to her handgun holster, but took note of the unconcerned expression on the faces of her comrades. They continued checking gear and topping off magazines as Sébastien swung in, unslung his rifle, and took up position behind Shuhrat.

She shook her head, "Alright, Bravo. The hallways are clear, and anyone downstairs is tied up with Alpha. We'll split up to attack the armory – Fuze and Buck, move to the door over there to the balcony and set up on the exterior door to the armory. Twitch, you and I will move to the door near the stairs."

Meghan removed two shells from her ammo belt and filled the tube as she moved to the hallway door. Emmanuelle placed her drone down, examining the contents of the room once again.

"Bravo Lead, we are ready. Give the word."

Emmanuelle preempted Meghan, "Set a cluster charge on the door, there's two within range. Two near you, two near us at the metal detector, one in the small office, one at the north side window."

Meghan snuck a look at her squadmate's wrist interface, "Once the show is over, Buck, make a new door and hold position, looking sixty degrees at the middle lockers. We'll do the same from here. When your guys are down, toss a frag at the middle one."

Meghan tapped Emmanuelle on the shoulder, and pointed at the boarded door. She took the hint, securing a breaching charge on the barricade.

"Bravo 2, detonate in three, two, one…"

The wood exploded in, and Emmanuelle leveled her sights on the two tangos. Four bullets later, they were on the floor. Meghan pushed up to the metal detector and leaned toward the window, raising her shotgun and firing at the enemy in the office, stock bucking hard into her shoulder in tune with the explosions of the cluster charge. The two women remained put behind cover as the noise died, covering their faces when metal hitting metal rang out from the middle of the room.

"SHIT-" The grenade silenced the last man, leaving the armory in the same eerie atmosphere as the previous room. Meghan heaved a sigh.

"Round up!" She hissed at the other two, and when they joined her and Emmanuelle in the archives room, she left them to prepare for the final assault. It then suddenly occurred to her that the noise coming from below had ceased as well.

"Bravo, this is Alpha. All hostiles eliminated, you alright up there?" Meghan sighed again, Craig's report putting her more at ease.

"All good, only the large office left. You guys alright?"

"Aye, nothin' serious," Seamus cut in, "Cuts and bruises. Jager might need a fresh change of pants, but we're fine."

Meghan chuckled dryly, "We can bury them later. Montagne, IQ, and Sledge, take the lobby stairs and assemble at the hallway door to the office. On my signal, take the door down and let 'em have it. The rest of you, secure the perimeter."

Forty five seconds later, she received the green light, and turned to Emmanuelle.

"One at the section of wall nearest us, I can see him under the door, but if I drive the drone further he'll see it for sure."

Meghan pondered for a moment, "Fuze, set up on the wall and-"

"Listen up, out there! Leave now, and let us leave safely, or we'll start killing!" The shouts disrupted Meghan's train of thought, looks of panic floating around the team.

"Merde, I can see the other two next to the hostages!"

Meghan's eyes darted around the room.

The blood pounded against Meghan's eardrums. A needling sensation crawled over her skin, exacerbated by the slightly panicked expressions of those around her. She ran both hands through her damp hair and paced.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

"All units, Thermite here. I'm up topside, and I think I have an idea. I'll chuck a flashbang through the dome, and y'all bust in and try to drop 'em."

A lighthouse in the storm, Jordan's proclamation pierced the veil suffocating her mind.

"Meg, that might be your best shot, you should do it!" Craig yelled over the channel.

Lives were in their hands; it was now, or not at all.

"Sledge, IQ, Montagne, breach and push on the bang. Buck, wall! Twitch and Fuze, push in when I take the door down! Send it, Thermite!"

She hoisted her shotgun and waited. The ear-splitting pop rattled the next room, and Rainbow sprung their trap. Meghan's shotgun unleashed a storm of buckshot, sending the flimsy splintered wooden boards spinning into the room. Emmanuelle and Shuhrat perforated the startled terrorist, and he stumbled into the wall before slumping to the floor. Sébastien aerated the wall on their flank with his skeleton key and vaulted inward, in time with Gilles, Monika, and Seamus smashing the door down.

Meghan ducked and slid along the doorframe into the room, taking aim at the two remaining hostiles. They were still between Rainbow and the hostages, shaking off the remnants of the surprise flashbang and frantically trying to choose a target. She dropped her shotgun and pulled her pistol from her hip. Time slowed as she held her breath, closed one eye, and leveled it at center mass. Meghan pulled the trigger, the slide rocking backwards as the second round chambered, and she did the same to the other combatant. Blood sprayed from each of them, and pooled under the bodies as they hit the floor.

Muffled screams came from the people huddled in the corner, their eyes screwed shut as they tried to make themselves as small as possible. Team Rainbow holstered their weapons and moved to assist the civilians, receiving stuttering thanks for their efforts.

Meghan heaved a sigh she didn't realize she was holding and placed a hand to her ear, "All units, hostages secure. Repeat, hostages secure. Moving to extract at exfil point."

She slid her handgun back into its holder, and tilted her head back, "Thanks for the assist, Jordan."

"No problem, ma'am. Didn't wanna say it at the time, but that was a fifty-fifty shot at best."

"Don't remind me." She returned her hand to her side, and walked to the remaining hostages.

"Was it everything you expected, Meghan?"

"Gonna be honest with you, boss, that was the worst intro party I've ever been a part of. Too much shooting, not enough cheesecake."

Six chuckled warmly, leaning back in her chair. She may not have had serious concerns about scaring off her new recruits on the first day, but it provided some relief to see Meghan making light of the whole thing.

"I'll have Mike pick one up for your actual party, then. But Meghan, in all seriousness, excellent work today. Seamus had nothing but glowing praise for your planning and leadership abilities. I know you're no stranger to directing soldiers you don't know, but as I'm sure you've realized, these lot are no ordinary soldiers."

Meghan wrung her hands, looking away from the screen, "I definitely see that now. I… Well, to be honest, boss, I was a little worried. Against my base instincts and logic, I just wasn't sure if this would end up being the 'match made in heaven' that it seemed. But we pulled off the op with nearly no hitches, and even when the tangos caught me off guard, they had me covered," She consciously stopped the nervous tick and stared at Six, "but they're the real deal, and I can't wait to meet the rest of the team."

The older woman had a knowing smile plastered on her face for Meghan's explanation. She tented her fingers and rested her chin upon them, soaking up every word.

"Excellent. You and Mr. Jenson are welcome to return to Hereford with the contingent you worked with. I look forward to meeting you again. Six, out."

The screen blinked black, and Meghan was left alone. She relaxed into her chair and scrubbed her face with both hands.

"The only easy day was yesterday."

She stood and headed for the door.

A/N: Hello everyone! Here it finally is, Meghan's first mission as part of the team! Apologies for it taking *way* longer to come out than I intended, I just sat on it for a while wondering if I got it just right. I took a couple liberties with some character personalities, but I'm hoping it still comes across well. Let me know what you thought!