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DECEMBER 6TH

Port of Los Angeles – Los Angeles, California
0030 Hours
It was thirty minutes past midnight and there was still no sign of the terrorists or their agent.  The two tactical teams stopped the hummers a quarter miles short of the harbor and hid them in the brush.  Their agent told them that the terrorists would use public roads to avoid suspicion.  The officers and agents then made their way on foot to the dock.  Josh and Peter, the two FBI snipers, set up on the platform of a large crane adjacent to the dock.  Unlike military snipers, a law enforcement or federal agency sniper does not have to deal with being placed a kilometer or two away.  Usually 45 yards is the norm for law snipers.  The others created a large circle around the dock where the meeting is to take place.
Ju-saami Rose, Lieutenant Seecamp, and the David-Sergeant stayed in the hummer with the communications and media equipment is, observing everything.  To an average person, the inside of the hummer would represent the inside of a news media van.  The three communicated with their teams.
"TOC, this is Sierra one," Josh whispered in the radio.
"Sierra one, this is Six, go," Ju-saami said in the headset.
"Three vehicles approaching from the south," Josh explained. "Lead is a silver wagon with unknown license plates.  I can't see the back."
"Personnel inside, over?" Seecamp asked.
"Stand by," Josh replied, followed by a slight pause.  He scared down his scope to make sure he got a positive identity on the target.  Once he was sure, he spoke again. "Confirmed, four unknowns inside.  Second and third vehicles, same types, unknown license plates, full.  Over."
"Stand by," the Sergeant said. "SWAT Team, don't make a move until we confirm identity."
"Roger," one of the SWAT officers replied over the radios.  The three vehicles stopped in the middle of the dock, blocking most of the shots of the SWAT and HRT teams. Several voices emitted over the radios. "Got no shot." "I'm blind." "Vehicle's blocking my shot."
"Sierra team, tell me you got a shot, over," Ju-saami said in the radio.
"Roger.  We have eyes on and we're clear," Peter replied.
"SWAT, don't move, hold your positions," Seecamp said in the radios.  Just then, another vehicle came cruising down a different street and into the docks.
"TOC, this is Sierra team," Josh said.
"Sierra team, this is Six, go," Ju-saami said.
"Six, we got a red Lexus approaching the dock, unknown license plate, one personnel inside.  Wait a sec, it's stopping on the side of the road," Josh reported.  This could be a problem because if a vehicle stopped on the road, it could make a getaway due to being ready to speed off.  Suddenly, the driver's side door opened to reveal a red fox named Megan Prower.
"Sierra team, can you confirm who arrived and what their purpose is, over?" Ju-saami said in the radio.
"Six, confirmed, it's our agent.  Confirm that she's wearing blue jeans and a burgundy zip-down autumn jacket.  Briefcase is in her left hand.  I repeat, briefcase is in her left hand," Josh reported.
"Stand by," Ju-saami said. "SWAT and HRT, this is Six, the agent is the female red fox wearing blue jeans and a burgundy zip-down autumn jacket.  Briefcase is in her left hand.  Confirm you see."
There was a series of names and confirmation codes called out amongst the teams.
"This is 10-David, anybody who did not confirm my message, say your name now," Seecamp said in the radio.  After a pause, nobody replied. "Roger that.  Nobody makes a move until the order is given."
"Sierra team, this is Six, give me a final SITREP, over," Ju-saami whispered in her radio.
On the docks, the three silver wagons had all of the doors flung open.  Exiting the vehicles are twelve humans, most of which are brandishing various German assault weapons, like G3's and G36's.  One of the humans, unarmed, waited as Megan approached him.
"It's about time you made it," the human said in a Polish accent. "I was beginning to wonder why you wanted to make the deal so fast."
On the crane, Josh was staring at the human talking to Megan.  He was carefully reading his lips and constantly reporting it to TOC.
"It's about time you made it.  I was beginning to wonder why you wanted to make the deal so fast," Josh whispered in his radio.  Since Megan was not equipped in time to wear a wire, she had to rely on the teams around her.  Megan could not see the SWAT teams on the dock, which was good showing professionalism amongst the unit.
"I took one too many risks," Megan said. "I was careful not to let the police catch us, but I wasn't sure."
"Weren't sure?" the human asked.
"Look, nobody knows about this drop-off.  I got the 65 million here with me," Megan explained, trying to keep a nervous tone. "Problem is I lost contact with the team in D.C., so we have to assume that they were killed by their own devices." In reality, she knew that the FBI caught them.
"Or were taken prisoner," the human said suspiciously.  To prevent getting nervous, Megan nodded in agreement.
"That's a possibility, too.  If that's the case, we don't have much time before they catch onto us," Megan said. "Here's the 65 million.  Get to Barrow where the rest of the cell is and you'll find safe passage out."
Then, Megan extended her arm with the briefcase to the human.  The human stared at it for a few seconds, but finally nodded.  He extended his hand and took the briefcase from Megan.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you," the human said, taking the briefcase.
"The case is handed over!  I repeat, the case is handed over!" Josh whispered, nearly yelled, in the radio.
"Stand by.  HRT, each agent break squelch once to confirm you're ready" Ju-saami said.  In seconds, she heard twelve sounds of a radio static go off in unison.
"SWAT, confirm you're ready," the Sergeant said in his radio.  After a second, he turned and nodded to Seecamp.  At the same time, Ju-saami nodded as well.
"Take them down," Seecamp ordered.
"SWAT and HRT, this is Six.  We're a go," Ju-saami said in the radio. "Execute, execute, execute!"
The next thing that happened went by fast.  The SWAT and HRT teams immediately jumped out of their concealed cover positions and open fired on the men with the assault rifles.  The men in the center were completely exposed on all sides, thus having the armed personnel dispatched very quickly.  The officers who were blocked by the vehicles did not bother to try and fire, due to accidentally shooting the wrong person.  They could have moved but they did not want to end up in the line of fire.
Once the fire-fight has stopped, the SWAT team stood out of their positions and slowly converged on the ones still alive.  The HRT team made a crescent formation around the SWAT team as they moved in for the arrests.  Only four of the humans on the dock, and Megan, were still alive.  The SWAT team closed in and secured everyone's hands with the flexi-cuffs, with were nothing more than thick and strengthened cable-ties.
"What?  You got nothing on me!" the human, who was the leader, yelled out in his Polish accent.  The humans were taken away to an awaiting large SWAT truck with a cage in it.  Meanwhile, Megan was being taken to a hummer at the far end of the dock.  It was the only hummer that was not dropped off at the side of the road when the teams had to ditch them.
At first, Megan was nervous, being escorted by the SWAT officers to a vehicle in the opposite direction.  When she was stopped at the hummer, she was relieved to find Ju-saami Rose exiting the hummer through the passenger-side door.
"Your agent?" the SWAT officer asked.  Ju-saami looked carefully for a quick second before nodding.
"That's her," Ju-saami said.  The two SWAT officers then used mini-clippers to cut the flexi-cuffs off of Megan. "Officers, a word alone with her." The two SWAT officers turned and headed back to their teams in the field.  The humans were being locked away in a truck, ready to be taken back to the precinct.
"Glad you got my message," Megan said, rubbing her wrists.
"Our job," Ju-saami nodded. "Were you able to find the bank account transfer here in LA?"
"Yeah, it was sent to this group known as 'Free Oppression' whoever they are," Megan replied. "All I know is that the 65 million was supposed to return the debt of already-bought bombs from Poland."
"We know about the bombs.  Same types were used in the mall bombing and from the guys we caught in D.C.," Ju-saami explained.  It was then she saw Megan shake her head.
"No, there's something bigger," Megan said. "That money was to pay off for nuclear chemicals from Polish bomb facilities, the same ones that went missing since November."
"Nuclear materials?" Ju-saami asked.
"Yeah," Megan replied. "When I was with this cell, I noticed many bomb-making materials amongst the group.  The only members of the group here in Los Angeles are either dead or captured, thanks to your team, good job." Ju-saami grinned, knowing her team pulled it off nearly flawlessly.  It would have gone better if the vehicles were not in the way, but nobody anticipated the dealers to park right on the dock. "But I know that they have contact with other smaller cells scattered throughout the United States, all connected to this group called Free Oppression.  I was never told who Free Oppression was."
"Where in the United States?" Ju-saami asked.
"I was never told, except I walked in on them talking about Barrow and they explained to me that they have other cells through the states.  They wouldn't tell me where except Barrow."
"How big are these bomb-making materials?"
"Small, powerful enough to blow up half a city, but they're made of child's-play devices," Megan explained.  Ju-saami nodded, knowing exactly what this was leading to.
"Suitcase nukes," Ju-saami said. "Only thing possible to create mass destruction in a small gift-wrapped present.  Megan, thank you for your help."
"Is that it?  Am I done?" she asked.
"Yup, you can go home," Ju-saami said. "Have a Merry Christmas.  We'll schedule you for a plane-ride back to your hometown." Megan almost blew up in full joy.  As she was cheering, Ju-saami turned back to the TOC (Tactical Operations Command) in the hummer. "Get D.C. on the line.  We got some bigger fish to fry."
"Roger that," Seecamp said, picking up a phone.  Ju-saami grabbed a radio.
"All HRT teams, this is Six, we are done.  Put them on safe and report back to TOC, over," Ju-saami said, ordering her team back to the hummer.  Once she was done, Seecamp held the corded phone to Ju-saami.
"Agent Rose, you're up," Seecamp said.  Ju-saami strapped off her helmet and earmuffs, took the phone and held it to her ear.
"Rose," she said in the phone.
"Agent Houston, what happened?" Rick said over the phone.
"We executed the takedown, made five arrests, and Bravo is safe," Ju-saami explained. "There's something else.  Bravo told me that the group she was undercover with was using the money to pay off a debt of nuclear chemicals stolen from Polish nuclear facilities.  In addition, there are reports of small bomb-making materials the cell was using.  I'm suspecting that this cell is using suitcase bombs throughout the country."
"Any idea where?" Rick asked.
"We know of one in Barrow, but the rest was kept from Bravo.  This cell is spread out throughout multiple locations in the United States in connection with Free Oppression."
"Good work, Agent Rose," Rick said. "Oh, did you get the news about the North Pole?" Ju-saami nodded to herself.
"I was told when I arrived.  It doesn't make any sense."
"Not yet it does."
"Listen, I'm getting tired.  Tomorrow," Ju-saami began to say before checking her watch. "Well, actually, later today, we're going to interrogate the men we captured and we'll keep you updated once we find anything new."
"Good luck," Rick said. "I'm about to head home myself.  Be careful out there."
"I will," Ju-saami said.  The line clicked and Ju-saami handed the phone to Seecamp. "Do you guys have a descent hotel in this city?"
With that, the police officers chuckled into laughter.  There are a lot of good hotels in the city.  Best part is that the FBI will pay for them.  Until then, Ju-saami gathered her team and made the long quarter-mile walk back to the hummers that they hid away.
On the drive deeper in the city, the team arrived at a hotel, checked in, and rested until the morning.  When the sun will rise the next morning, they will gather new information from the men they caught.

Deserts of Oman
0930 Hours
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Toni and Jay were flying low along the desert landscapes of Oman in their AH-1Z Viper light-attack helicopter.  They were low enough to evade radars but still high enough to keep from blowing sand and dirt into the air thus compromising their position.  In addition, they were going slow.  In the words of Fort Hood, Texas, 'low and slow is the way to go.' Even so, Toni was not in a happy mood to fly wild like she usually does.
"Come on, Toni, don't feel so sad," Jay said through the intercom from the front seat.  Toni, in the pilot's back seat, just sighed.
"I'm not," Toni replied.  Obviously, she was.
"It's not good-bye, I'll still be around.  So, who don't you put a smile on your face and enjoy the time we've got together, huh?" In a way, Jay was right.
"I suppose so," Toni said in agreement.  Then there was a beeping sound emitting from the multi-functional display screen.  Both Jay and Toni turned their attentions to it.  They saw a column of tanks, mobile SAM's, and APC's moving their way across the desert heading in the direction of Thumrait, just twenty kilometers away.
"Check IFF frequency," Jay ordered Toni.
"Checking IFF," Toni replied, completely snapped out of her mood.  Toni pulled back on the cycle stick, halting the helicopter into a low hover.  After checking the IFF squawk, the displays show that the moving vehicles are German.  Questions ran in Toni and Jay's minds.  Is this a joint operation with the German military?  If so, why are they heading in an attack formation toward the airfield?
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six, come in, over," Jay said in her radio.
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come on back, over," the operator on the other end replied.
"Thumrait, we are picking up a column of German armored vehicles bearing one-niner-seven at two-seven clicks.  They seem to be heading in your direction, over."

Thumrait MPT
"Viper Three-Six, stand by for confirmation," the operator on the other end said in the control tower.  He then quickly reached for a black phone, pressed a speed-button on it and held it to his ear, pushing the head phones away. "Major General, we are picking German armored vehicles heading in our direction.  Are there any German military present?"
"Stand by, Sergeant," the dark voice on the other end said.  There was a slight pause before the voice came back. "Negative, German military denies any involvement in Oman."
"Roger that, Major General," the Sergeant said before hanging up.  He placed the headphones back over his head and spoke clearly in them. "Viper Three-Six, negative on German involvement.  Use caution to recon and identify the armored column, over."

Deserts of Oman
"Thumrait, roger that, over," Jay replied back.  She then switched the radio to the intercom. "You heard him, Toni, let's check them out."
Toni nodded.  She then pushed on the cycle stick, tilting the helicopter forward thus propelling the aircraft forward.  Toni flew toward the approaching column.  As soon as they came within visual range, just as dots over the horizon, she dialed in the radio frequencies of the armored vehicles displayed on the MFD.
"Attention German armored vehicles," Toni said in the radio. "This is the United States Marine Corps, you are entering a restricted area.  Respond on this channel, turn around, and leave the area or risk being fired upon."
There was a pause.  No response.  First assumption could be the radios not working, so Jay and Toni checked their own and check the radio frequencies of who they called.  Their radio was okay and they were getting strong signals from the armored cars.  The cars heard them; they just chose to ignore them.
"I'll try again," Toni said. "Attention German vehicles, this is the United States Marine Corps.  You're entering restricted U.S. zones.  Turn around or risk being fired upon."
This time, the tanks responded, but it was not the kind of response they were hoping for.  The threat indicator on the dashboard of Toni's cockpit beeped with a straight line heading toward them.  Then the word "SAM" blinked in red on the threat situation boards.  Toni and Jay looked ahead and they saw a white smoke trail heading toward them, coming off of the dots on the horizon.
"SAM inbound!  SAM inbound!" Jay nearly yelled.
"Flair!  Flair!" Toni shouted as she pressed her thumb on the flair button on the collective stick while jerking the cycle stick to the side.
The helicopter tilted to the right side as it shot bright flairs in their wake.  As soon as the helicopter was clear, the threat warning on the displays blinked off.  The Surface-to-Air Missile was still coming, but it lost the helicopter.  Toni and Jay waited, staring at the missile until it zipped past them, leaving a trail of white smoke.
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six!" Jay nearly yelled in the radio. "We've just been fired upon!  A SAM has just been fired on us!  Requesting permission to engage, over!"
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait; you are authorized to use deadly force!" The Sergeant on the other end called over the radio. "I repeat, you are authorized to use deadly force, over!"
With that being said, Toni flipped open a red switch cover and flipped a yellow and black striped switch labeled "MASTER ARM" printed in red letters.  Toni then pushed the cycle stick forward toward the now-enemy armored vehicles.  They had to get within 500 meters for their Hellfire missiles to work.  They made it there quickly.
"Okay, hold her steady, Toni," Jay ordered.  Once Toni stopped the helicopter, Jay armed and acquired the mobile-SAM units with the hellfire missiles.  They are a helicopter pilot's most serious threat.  The tanks could be taken out with the Hydra 70 rockets and the APC's would be sliced to pieces with their 20 millimeter M197 cannon.
Jay acquired a target, got radar lock, and pulled the trigger.  An AGM-114 Hellfire missile launched off of the launcher and curved its way upward, and then it would come straight down on its target, similar to the AGM-84 Harpoon missile used to destroy watercrafts.
The Hellfire missile curved up into the sky while still gaining forward distance.  Then it came straight down right on top of its target, getting it imbedded deep in the armor before exploding.  The mobile-SAM exploded into millions of pieces.  Then the other armored vehicles looked around for the helicopter, it was nowhere in sight.  They were being masked by the small desert gorges.  Not much, but it still works as cover.
The helicopter hovered in the armored vehicles blind-spots, keeping a distance above the ground so as to not kick up dirt.  They stayed there, calmly, thinking about what to do next.
"You want to throw a white flag at them?" Toni suggested.
"We're not surrendering!" Jay scolded. "Besides, we don't have a white flag."
"I think my underwear's white, we could-"
"Absolutely not!" Jay shrieked in near-horror.
"Yours is still yellow," Toni said with a tint of humor.
"Now's not the time.  Just pop up and I'll lock onto as many as I can," Jay suggested.  That would work; the Viper does have the new hold-lock function in their FLIR systems.  Toni clutched her fist on the collective stick.  She gently pulled it up, lifting the helicopter upward.  Quickly, the small gorge's horizon came into view and the armored vehicles were immediately seen.  Quickly, Jay locked onto the SAM's, they were their primary focus.
"Okay, down!" Jay nearly shouted.  They were locked onto as soon as they lowered under the gorge and masked again.  The lock-on warning only lasted a second and disappeared.
"Okay, take them down, burn 'em!" Toni said like some happy cowboy.  Jay did not bother to act serious.
Jay pulled the trigger on her control stick and another Hellfire missile rocketed off the launcher.  It shot upwards, missing the gorge wall, and came straight down on the mobile-SAM.  Jay fired again, this time two Hellfire missiles.  The best part about a Hellfire missile is that once a target is destroyed, it can 'switch' to the next target.  The two Hellfire missiles that Jay launched at the same time were locked onto the same mobile-SAM unit.  Once the first missile destroyed it, the second missile 'switched' to the next locked-on target and destroyed it.
Then the two pilots heard heavy machine fire directly above their heads.  It seems as if the triple-AAA units have somehow found out where exactly they are.  Good thing was the bullets were completely missing them.
"Toni, get us out of here!" Jay yelled.  Toni tilted the cycle-stick to the right, causing the helicopter to tilt right and literally fly sideways.  Jay kept her eyes fixed on where the armored column is so that they can pop up on them by surprise.
"Okay, Jay, I'm going to pop up behind them," Toni told her. "Get those rockets ready and shoot 'em in the asses."
"You can count on me for that," Jay said with a grin.  She then switched the weapons from Hellfire missiles to Hydra 70 rockets.
The Hydra 70 rockets were attached to the two LAU-61D/A launchers with 19 rockets in each launcher, giving them a total of 38 rockets.  Toni had to fly the helicopter in close because, unlike missiles, rockets do not have a guidance system and they are more effective and deadly at closer ranges.  Getting at them from behind is also safer, since the guns of the armored vehicles are only pointing forward.  It will take some time to turn the turrets.
"Okay, here we go," Toni said as she stopped the helicopter. "Here comes 70 millimeters of high explosives coming at you, dicks!"
The Viper popped out from behind, causing confusion amongst the armored vehicles.  Jay continuously squeezed the trigger on the stick repeatedly.  Shots upon shots of Hydra 70 rockets burst out of the launchers, one at a time, creating a series of havoc and destruction amongst the remaining vehicles.  A series of explosions emitted within the armored vehicles as all the rockets went dry.  Then it was all silent as the vehicles were engulfed in the flames and smoke.
Toni hovered the helicopter closer.  The wind from the rotor blades blew the smoke and fire away.  The vehicles were destroyed.  However, many people crawled out of the burning vehicles escape hatches, seemingly unharmed, which is not uncommon with modern technology and warfare.
"We got some personnel down there," Jay said.
"No shit," Toni replied.
Suddenly, the personnel whipped out their rifles and started firing at the hovering helicopter, almost fearlessly.  The weapons they were carrying were standard German assault rifles, G36's and G3's.  Their uniforms were lime-green orange dotted German camouflage jackets and trousers, but they had no gear belts, they wore sneakers instead of boots, and had long and facial hair.  Something was not correct here.
The soldiers on the ground fired their rifles at the helicopter, but none of their small millimeter bullets penetrated the thick armor and the glass canopy.
"Hey, look at the small arms fire down there, Jay-Jay," Toni said in a cutesy tone of voice as if she is looking at baby animals at a zoo. "Burn 'em, Jay!"
With that, Jay switched to the machine gun at the nose of the aircraft, used the small little joystick to rotate it, and unleashed a hail of led.  This was nothing like in the movies.  When hearing a machine gun, people would expect a vibrating echo of gunshots.  In reality, the machine gun sounded like a low-muffled yet loud hum.  A stream of fast-paced bullets speed out of the barrels of the gun wildly in single file.  Every fifth bullet was a tracer round to increase aiming and accuracy.  Due to the gun's high muzzle velocity, the bullets literally ripped the gunmen in half and even caused them to literally explode in multiple pieces.  A gun with this velocity would not have been possible for someone to handle as a rifle, which is why this gun is only used for helicopters.
After only a few seconds, Jay released the trigger.  The barrels of the M197 Gatling gun stopped spinning, leaving corpses everywhere.  Some were hidden behind the burning black smoke from the on-fire armored vehicles.
"Toni, set it down, I want see these guys up close," Jay ordered.
Gently, Toni pushed the collective stick down until the landing bars made contact with the ground.  Keeping the rotor blades down to a minimum, but still on, they opened the canopy doors and stepped out, removing the headsets off.  They unzipped the front of their jackets and pulled out contained Heckler and Koch MP5SD6 submachine guns.  They extended the collapsible butt-stocks as they ran to the wreckage.  Turning off the safeties, they kept their sights circling around at the armored vehicles.  Even though Jay and Toni were helicopter pilots, they still remembered their basic ground combat skills they learned in Parris Island.
Jay cautiously approached one of the tanks.  It was obviously a Leopard 2 tank, with armament and technology of newer modern, and classified, upgrades.  At leased, what was left of it with the turret blown right off and the left side hull with a large hole in it and the left tracks and wheels scattered in millions of pieces around.  With extreme caution, Jay poked her submachine gun in took a peek inside the large hole.  It looked exactly like the interior of a jet fighter and modern computers.  There was the driver seated where he was, leaning over the seat lifeless with blood oozing out of his mouth, but there was a cigarette in his mouth which remained stationary.  This was odd because smoking is prohibited in tanks.  There was another dead body laying face-down by the armament cabin.  It was obvious he was dead due to the lower half of his body missing.
Jay then stood up, stepped on the tracks to get on the top, and crawled her way to the top where the turret used to be.  She sat down with her legs in the hole and dropped in.  The American Marine officer looked around and noticed all of the computer controls were dead.  She then approached the driver to make sure he was dead.  Jay took her left glove off with her teeth and gripped the human's neck.  No pulse, he was dead.  Something was odd, though.  He was not buckled into the seat and his clothes consisted of a leather jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots.  The other dead man had only a World War II German field jacket.  This is not appropriate attire for German tank drivers.  She continued looking around and noticed all the armament out of place and held so far away from the cooling vents.  These were obvious safety violations.  Jay shook her head; these guys were not tank-drivers.  They drove tanks, but it was obvious they were not military tank drivers.
Jay exited out of the tank by jumping out of the hole at the top.  Once she climbed out, she looked out and saw Toni, with her MP5 hanging over her shoulder, and using a small handi-cam digital video camera to video tape the wreckage and the dead bodies around them.  Jay jumped off the tank and ran to Toni.
"These guys were firing their rifles at us in line abreast formation, Jay then shot them with the Viper's gun in less than three to five seconds," Toni said to the camera as she video-taped the bodies.  Under her arm is a thick folder with scorch marks on it.
"Toni, what are you doing?" Jay asked, approaching Toni.  Toni then turned and started video taping Jay.
"And here we have a short-tempered girl with a short height," Toni said, mocking Jay's short height. "Smile, Jay, you're on candid camera."
"Fuck you, you leatherneck," Jay growled to the camera.  Toni giggled as she lowered the camera. "What do you have there?"
"These?" Toni said, pointing to the scorched folder under her arm.  She held the folder to Jay. "I found them inside that tank over there.  Alone with other papers they seem to be trying to burn or destroy."
Evidence, Jay thought.  These guys were not military, but they were trying to destroy evidence.  What of, they did not know.
"What did you find in there?" Toni asked.
"Two dead bodies," Jay replied.
"Cool!" Toni squealed as she ran to the tank.  She then started filming the inside of the tank. "Okay, what have we got there?  We got a driver and half a man.  The other half is somewhere I don't want to find." Toni giggled. "The half-man seemed to be the gun loader due to his position next to the armament.  Okay, let's see, computers are out, and there are fragments of a Hellfire missile in here."
Suddenly, Jay came up to Toni from behind.  Jay's anger toward Toni's childish behavior was gone.
"Toni, can I say something to the camera?" Jay asked.
"Oh, certainly," Toni said confused as she turned the camera toward Jay.
"There are crazy people in the world, but trained military tank operators would have known about these safety violations.  These humans were obviously not military, or at leased not this kind of military, they knew how to operate and fire the weapons aboard, but these safety violations meant that they weren't registered military," Jay explained.
"Well-said," Toni replied.
"Now, let's get out of here and back to base," Jay ordered sternly.  Toni tucked the camera away and the two ran, in-step, toward the rotor-spinning helicopter.  They stepped in, strapped themselves to the seats, closed the door and started revving up the rotors.  Before lifting off the ground, their radios chimed in.
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come in!  Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come in!" the cries came.
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six, come on back, over," Jay said calmly in the radio.
"Viper Three-Six, where the hell have you been?  Over."
"Thumrait, we exited the aircraft to do an up-close investigation of the armored vehicles we encountered, over," Jay said.
"Viper Three-Six, what did you find?  Over," the Sergeant on the other end asked after a sigh.
"Thumrait, we got all on video and we'll report it to you once we get back, over."
"Viper Three-Six, roger that.  Return to base, over."
"Thumrait, roger that.  Viper Three-Six is Arr-Tee-Bee, over." Once Jay finished that, Toni pulled on the collective, causing the Viper to lift in the air.  After a check of any obstacles around, she pushed on the cycle stick and the helicopter started to thrust forward back to the airfield.

Thule Air Base – Qaanaaq, Greenland
1300 Hours
It has been a long few flights.  Matt had to gather his commandos, Marcus, Drew, and Ryan together with their full gear.  In addition, Colonel T.J. Dudek and his Secret Service, now wearing civilian clothing, were all boarded on the one-of-a-kind Cargo Bat troop transport aircraft.  It was built to combine the cargo space of a C-130 and the aerodynamics of a V-22.  From a distance, the Cargo Bat looks like a cross between a V-22 Osprey with its helicopter-like wings, and the F-117 Nighthawk with its fuselage shape and its ability to evade radar.  The inside of the Cargo Bat is divided into three sections.  The tail end section holds a huge amount of cargo and can drop paratroopers.  The middle section is like a radar and communications center similar to an AWACS or even Air Force One.  Finally, the front section is the cockpit which seats four pilots.
The first phase of the flight was to take off from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina.  After that, they had to travel the long distance to pick up Marwan at Toussus le Noble Airport in France.  Once he was picked up and geared up, he got on board and finally met T.J. Dudek.  Now, they are on their way to Thule Air Base in Greenland.  The CIA already told the base commander there that the Furry Commandos were coming, of course without mentioning the phrase 'Furry Commandos.'
"Marwan Green Critter I presume?" T.J. Dudek said, sitting down next to Marwan on the plane.
"Yeah," Marwan replied.
"I'm Colonel T.J. Dudek, Polish Land Forces," T.J. introduced himself. "That group you were undercover with was supplying this terrorist group calling themselves 'Free Oppression' with explosives.  The same ones that blew up the malls." This shocked Marwan when he heard it.
"My undercover assignment was the guys that blew up the malls?" Marwan asked in shock.  T.J. nodded his head.
"Relax, they were all accounted for and taken into GSG 9 custody," T.J assured Marwan.  That was a good thing.  Hopefully the mall bombings came to a stop, but he knew that this was far from over.  As Marwan was lost in thought, Matt casually exited the Cargo Bat's cockpit and approached his team.
"We're on final approach, everyone!" Matt called out as he sat down.
Indeed, they heard the sound of the landing gear being extracted with a loud thump sound.  The aircraft felt like it was getting heavier as it tilted upward.  They took a look out the window but all they saw was darkness.  The outside looked like it was either very early in the morning or extremely late in the evening.  The sun's glow was on the horizon but the sun itself could not be seen.  From what could be seen is a huge wasteland of snow and ice covering the tundra.  In front in the far distance is an icy cold Arctic Ocean.  Before that is a large one-runway military airfield, obviously Thule Air Base.  Thule was getting bigger and the ground seemed to be coming up closer to them.  Then, the main wheels made contact with the ground, emitting a screeching sound like an airliner.  Slowly, the aircraft leveled as its nose wheel touched the runway's pavement right on the painted center line.  The Cargo Bat rolled for a little while before it came to a complete stop.  Once it did, the engines roared back to life as the pilots taxied the aircraft down the strips to the awaiting hangers.  Outside, the Furry Commandos, T.J. Dudek, and his Secret Service saw a whole ground crew signaling the aircraft inside one of the large hangers near the control tower and the command and control center.
The Cargo Bat aircraft came to a complete stop inside the large hanger, which also housed an AC-130 gunship.  Once inside, a buzzer was heard and the large hanger doors slowly closed.  The hanger doors closed with a loud bang, which was the signal for Matt to exit the plane.  He got up and walked to the back of the plane where a large lever is.  Matt pulled the lever which caused the large back door to open.  The top half of the door pressed itself against the plane's ceiling and the bottom half acted as a ramp.
"Okay, everybody out," Matt called.  Matt stepped out first, getting a good foot grip on the gritty floor.  He was soon followed by his four commandos carrying duffle bags.  Following the commandos is Dudek's Secret Service, followed by Dudek himself.
"Colonel Wiernasz!" a voice called out at the edge of the hanger.  Matt looked up and he saw three furries approach him, each wearing MARPAT camouflage uniforms.  The furry, a weasel, stood in the center wearing Colonel's pins on his collar.  The two furries standing at his sides wore MP on their shoulders.  Matt, also wearing his MARPAT uniform, approached the Colonel and his MP's.  His commandos, Secret Service, and Dudek followed closely behind.
"Yeah, I'm Colonel Wiernasz, but Matt is fine," Matt said to him.
"I'm Colonel Howard Regis, United States Air Force," the Colonel said to Matt shaking his hand. "I was told you were coming to occupy the base for a Special Operation."
"That's right, Colonel," Matt replied. "These guys are my commando team." Immediately, he noticed one of them was not wearing an American uniform.
"Who's that?" Regis asked pointing to Dudek.
"Oh," T.J. said, shifting his way through to crowd to shake the Colonel's hand. "I'm Colonel T.J. Dudek, Polish Land Forces."
"Nice to meet you, Colonel, I'm assuming this is a Joint Operation," Regis wondered.  Matt nodded.
"Yeah, Poland's helping us," Matt said to him. "Now, um, I heard you have a Command and Control Center."
"Oh, of course, right his way," Regis said, heading to a door at the opposite end of the hanger.  Matt motioned everybody to follow him.  So far, everyone seems to be fooled by the disguised Secret Service.
Colonel Regis and his two MP's led the four Furry Commandos, two Colonels, and six Secret Service Agents to a door which led directly into a standard military room for a control tower entry.  Of course, that was the only obvious part.  Regis approached a heavily bolted metal door with a large flashing warning label stating that beyond the door was heavily restricted.  Regis took out his card and swiped it across the keycard lock and it immediately beeped.  A bunch of clicking sounds emitted, causing the door to unlock.  A machine opened the door itself slowly, revealing a very bright and long hallway.  It was like the inside of an MRI machine.
"This is the x-ray hall, although there is no x-ray radiation beyond the glass," Regis said to the visitors. "We check everybody for weapons and anything potentially dangerous.  However, with my personal escort, everything is okay."
"That's good to hear," Matt said in relief.
Regis entered the bright hallways first while the others followed.  As soon as the last one stepped inside, the metal door slammed shut behind them, locking them inside.
"A word of advice, in case we do have a trespasser enter this room, they are trapped inside with no cover and in an easily captured position," Regis said.
"What if they had explosives?" Drew asked from behind.
"Good question and our doors can withstand a lot of blasts," Regis said. "The only bomb that can blow open those doors… well… wouldn't be able to fit through the doors." Regis let out a chuckle, soon followed by everyone else. "However, if explosives were brought in this room, the only damage would be to the glass.  The trespassers inside would get a dose of x-ray.  If they have a hostage, well, we'll have to mount a rescue quickly, which we've trained for countless times.  If they were alone, well, the heavy amount of x-ray will kill him.  Let's move on, shall we?"
Regis continued to the end of the long hallway where a metal door was waiting.  Again, he swiped his card on the keypad lock and the large metal door began to open.  This only led to a large metal room with a single door next to a retina scan machine.  Regis approached the machine and placed his eyes in the scanner, which looked like an old-fashioned view box to watch short movies in.  The machine let out a low hum which caused the entire cubed room to shake.
"I forgot to tell you, this is an elevator," Regis chuckled. "We're going down five miles." After a short minute, the large elevator stopped and the double-metal doors to slide open.  The doors revealed a T-shaped hallway which led to two sides like entering a movie theatre.
"Over here," Regis said. "It doesn't matter which path you take, you'll end up in the same place." Regis went down the right path, which all the others decided to follow as well.  After the short path, they were taken right into the large command and control center.
The Command and Control Center looked like a large movie theatre with many personnel working on different computers in isles and all four walls had large movie-style screens of situations going on around the globe.
"Not many people know this, but this is actually one of the places where the President of the United States will evacuate to," Regis mentioned.
"I'm actually one of the few people that know that, Colonel," Matt said.  Indeed, Matt knows quite a few of the locations that the President can hide.  Nobody knows all of them for safety reasons.
"My office is right up those stairs and the quarters are through those doors over there, and down that door is the Kill House," Regis said pointing to a staircase leading to a large glass cubical office overlooking the entire center. "The entire center is tempest hardened to keep out electronic intruders.  Well, I'm sure you know how everything works; you've been doing this for… how many years?"
"About 40 years in Special Ops, 15 with the Agency," Matt said, referring to the Central Intelligence Agency.
"Outstanding," Regis said.  He then approached the little small 'stage' in front of the center to get everybody to look at him. "Ladies and gentlemen!  Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention?"
Slowly the entire room faded down in silence as all the personnel focused their eyes on Colonel Howard Regis.
"A crisis has just come up that needs the immediate action of a special counter-terrorist team," Regis announced. "From here on out, until this crisis is averted, you will now be under the command of Colonel Matt Wiernasz.  Colonel, make your address."
"Thank you, sir," Matt said as he approached the center and faced the large crew of technicians. "Hello, my name is Colonel Matt Wiernasz.  For those of you that don't know me, I spent 25 years in the United States Marine Corps, 20 of which with Marine Force Recon.  After my service in the Marines, I was recruited into the CIA.  I've served in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, Restore Hope in Somalia, Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and Anaconda in Afghanistan.  I've got a Purple Heart, a Silver Star with a cluster, and a Navy Cross.  From this point on, all orders will be sent to me.  Don't think this is a dramatic change.  Treat me the same way as if I'm Regis.  All I ask of you is to do your job to the fullest and everything will be fine.  Thank you." Matt then turned his attention to Regis. "Before you leave, I need to know a direct contact with Santa's castle."
"Santa's castle?" Regis was confused.  He was unsure why Matt wanted to talk to Santa Claus. "Why do you want to-?"
"Just get him on," Matt repeated himself.  He was not snapping, but Matt was impatient.  Regis nodded and leaned over one of the tables for the phone.  After typing in something on the computer, he froze.  Regis turned back to Matt and hung up the phone.
"Colonel, I got no signal," Regis replied. "This has never happened before."
"Was there a storm in the North Pole recently?" Matt asked.
"Negative," Regis replied.
Matt grunted.  He was absolutely afraid that was going to happen.  It turned out Marwan's hypothesis was right, but they were not fast enough to stop it.  Matt's only assumption was that the castle was raided.  If it was not a storm, then the only explanation was an invasion.
"Thank you, Colonel Regis, I believe I can take it from here," Matt said uneasy.  Of course, Regis looked worried at Matt's reaction.  However, Regis knew in this like of work that if he asked what was wrong, he would get the classic 'that's classified' bullshit.
"My clearance codes are in a red binder on the desk in my office," Regis replied. "An access card is available up there as well for you.  Good luck, Colonel."
"Thank you, Regis," Matt replied.  Colonel Regis and his two MP's ran down the ramp isle of the movie-theatre-like center and back to the elevators.  Matt stood there sighing as he heard the elevator whirl in the distance.  His commandos approached Matt, but they had a feeling they knew what was wrong.
"Matt," Marcus said getting the Colonel's attention. "Santa's castle was raided, wasn't it?"
"Well, honestly, we don't know that for sure, but it's the only explanation," Matt replied. "Until we get proof, just get familiar with your quarters and I'll get up to speed on latest Intel, hoo-ah?"
"Hoo-ah," Marcus replied.  He turned and approached one of the doors leading to the quarters, followed by Marwan, Drew, and Ryan.  Dudek approached Matt once the commandos were gone.
"Anything I can do, Matt?" T.J. asked.
"Well, let's check out the office and let's get up to speed.  Secret Service could relax because nobody's going to attack us down here," Matt chuckled.
"We could hit the Kill House, Colonel," one of the Secret Service Agents suggested to Dudek.  T.J. nodded.
"Sure thing, kick ass down there," Dudek said smiling to his agents.
While the agents left for the Kill House, Matt and T.J. headed to the large office, which was exactly like an executive office as they pictured.  They raided the files and read all the documents, getting up to speed on the latest situations.  Of course, they have to get up to speed on their current situation as well.

Description
DECEMBER 6TH

Port of Los Angeles – Los Angeles, California
0030 Hours
It was thirty minutes past midnight and there was still no sign of the terrorists or their agent.  The two tactical teams stopped the hummers a quarter miles short of the harbor and hid them in the brush.  Their agent told them that the terrorists would use public roads to avoid suspicion.  The officers and agents then made their way on foot to the dock.  Josh and Peter, the two FBI snipers, set up on the platform of a large crane adjacent to the dock.  Unlike military snipers, a law enforcement or federal agency sniper does not have to deal with being placed a kilometer or two away.  Usually 45 yards is the norm for law snipers.  The others created a large circle around the dock where the meeting is to take place.
Ju-saami Rose, Lieutenant Seecamp, and the David-Sergeant stayed in the hummer with the communications and media equipment is, observing everything.  To an average person, the inside of the hummer would represent the inside of a news media van.  The three communicated with their teams.
"TOC, this is Sierra one," Josh whispered in the radio.
"Sierra one, this is Six, go," Ju-saami said in the headset.
"Three vehicles approaching from the south," Josh explained. "Lead is a silver wagon with unknown license plates.  I can't see the back."
"Personnel inside, over?" Seecamp asked.
"Stand by," Josh replied, followed by a slight pause.  He scared down his scope to make sure he got a positive identity on the target.  Once he was sure, he spoke again. "Confirmed, four unknowns inside.  Second and third vehicles, same types, unknown license plates, full.  Over."
"Stand by," the Sergeant said. "SWAT Team, don't make a move until we confirm identity."
"Roger," one of the SWAT officers replied over the radios.  The three vehicles stopped in the middle of the dock, blocking most of the shots of the SWAT and HRT teams. Several voices emitted over the radios. "Got no shot." "I'm blind." "Vehicle's blocking my shot."
"Sierra team, tell me you got a shot, over," Ju-saami said in the radio.
"Roger.  We have eyes on and we're clear," Peter replied.
"SWAT, don't move, hold your positions," Seecamp said in the radios.  Just then, another vehicle came cruising down a different street and into the docks.
"TOC, this is Sierra team," Josh said.
"Sierra team, this is Six, go," Ju-saami said.
"Six, we got a red Lexus approaching the dock, unknown license plate, one personnel inside.  Wait a sec, it's stopping on the side of the road," Josh reported.  This could be a problem because if a vehicle stopped on the road, it could make a getaway due to being ready to speed off.  Suddenly, the driver's side door opened to reveal a red fox named Megan Prower.
"Sierra team, can you confirm who arrived and what their purpose is, over?" Ju-saami said in the radio.
"Six, confirmed, it's our agent.  Confirm that she's wearing blue jeans and a burgundy zip-down autumn jacket.  Briefcase is in her left hand.  I repeat, briefcase is in her left hand," Josh reported.
"Stand by," Ju-saami said. "SWAT and HRT, this is Six, the agent is the female red fox wearing blue jeans and a burgundy zip-down autumn jacket.  Briefcase is in her left hand.  Confirm you see."
There was a series of names and confirmation codes called out amongst the teams.
"This is 10-David, anybody who did not confirm my message, say your name now," Seecamp said in the radio.  After a pause, nobody replied. "Roger that.  Nobody makes a move until the order is given."
"Sierra team, this is Six, give me a final SITREP, over," Ju-saami whispered in her radio.
On the docks, the three silver wagons had all of the doors flung open.  Exiting the vehicles are twelve humans, most of which are brandishing various German assault weapons, like G3's and G36's.  One of the humans, unarmed, waited as Megan approached him.
"It's about time you made it," the human said in a Polish accent. "I was beginning to wonder why you wanted to make the deal so fast."
On the crane, Josh was staring at the human talking to Megan.  He was carefully reading his lips and constantly reporting it to TOC.
"It's about time you made it.  I was beginning to wonder why you wanted to make the deal so fast," Josh whispered in his radio.  Since Megan was not equipped in time to wear a wire, she had to rely on the teams around her.  Megan could not see the SWAT teams on the dock, which was good showing professionalism amongst the unit.
"I took one too many risks," Megan said. "I was careful not to let the police catch us, but I wasn't sure."
"Weren't sure?" the human asked.
"Look, nobody knows about this drop-off.  I got the 65 million here with me," Megan explained, trying to keep a nervous tone. "Problem is I lost contact with the team in D.C., so we have to assume that they were killed by their own devices." In reality, she knew that the FBI caught them.
"Or were taken prisoner," the human said suspiciously.  To prevent getting nervous, Megan nodded in agreement.
"That's a possibility, too.  If that's the case, we don't have much time before they catch onto us," Megan said. "Here's the 65 million.  Get to Barrow where the rest of the cell is and you'll find safe passage out."
Then, Megan extended her arm with the briefcase to the human.  The human stared at it for a few seconds, but finally nodded.  He extended his hand and took the briefcase from Megan.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you," the human said, taking the briefcase.
"The case is handed over!  I repeat, the case is handed over!" Josh whispered, nearly yelled, in the radio.
"Stand by.  HRT, each agent break squelch once to confirm you're ready" Ju-saami said.  In seconds, she heard twelve sounds of a radio static go off in unison.
"SWAT, confirm you're ready," the Sergeant said in his radio.  After a second, he turned and nodded to Seecamp.  At the same time, Ju-saami nodded as well.
"Take them down," Seecamp ordered.
"SWAT and HRT, this is Six.  We're a go," Ju-saami said in the radio. "Execute, execute, execute!"
The next thing that happened went by fast.  The SWAT and HRT teams immediately jumped out of their concealed cover positions and open fired on the men with the assault rifles.  The men in the center were completely exposed on all sides, thus having the armed personnel dispatched very quickly.  The officers who were blocked by the vehicles did not bother to try and fire, due to accidentally shooting the wrong person.  They could have moved but they did not want to end up in the line of fire.
Once the fire-fight has stopped, the SWAT team stood out of their positions and slowly converged on the ones still alive.  The HRT team made a crescent formation around the SWAT team as they moved in for the arrests.  Only four of the humans on the dock, and Megan, were still alive.  The SWAT team closed in and secured everyone's hands with the flexi-cuffs, with were nothing more than thick and strengthened cable-ties.
"What?  You got nothing on me!" the human, who was the leader, yelled out in his Polish accent.  The humans were taken away to an awaiting large SWAT truck with a cage in it.  Meanwhile, Megan was being taken to a hummer at the far end of the dock.  It was the only hummer that was not dropped off at the side of the road when the teams had to ditch them.
At first, Megan was nervous, being escorted by the SWAT officers to a vehicle in the opposite direction.  When she was stopped at the hummer, she was relieved to find Ju-saami Rose exiting the hummer through the passenger-side door.
"Your agent?" the SWAT officer asked.  Ju-saami looked carefully for a quick second before nodding.
"That's her," Ju-saami said.  The two SWAT officers then used mini-clippers to cut the flexi-cuffs off of Megan. "Officers, a word alone with her." The two SWAT officers turned and headed back to their teams in the field.  The humans were being locked away in a truck, ready to be taken back to the precinct.
"Glad you got my message," Megan said, rubbing her wrists.
"Our job," Ju-saami nodded. "Were you able to find the bank account transfer here in LA?"
"Yeah, it was sent to this group known as 'Free Oppression' whoever they are," Megan replied. "All I know is that the 65 million was supposed to return the debt of already-bought bombs from Poland."
"We know about the bombs.  Same types were used in the mall bombing and from the guys we caught in D.C.," Ju-saami explained.  It was then she saw Megan shake her head.
"No, there's something bigger," Megan said. "That money was to pay off for nuclear chemicals from Polish bomb facilities, the same ones that went missing since November."
"Nuclear materials?" Ju-saami asked.
"Yeah," Megan replied. "When I was with this cell, I noticed many bomb-making materials amongst the group.  The only members of the group here in Los Angeles are either dead or captured, thanks to your team, good job." Ju-saami grinned, knowing her team pulled it off nearly flawlessly.  It would have gone better if the vehicles were not in the way, but nobody anticipated the dealers to park right on the dock. "But I know that they have contact with other smaller cells scattered throughout the United States, all connected to this group called Free Oppression.  I was never told who Free Oppression was."
"Where in the United States?" Ju-saami asked.
"I was never told, except I walked in on them talking about Barrow and they explained to me that they have other cells through the states.  They wouldn't tell me where except Barrow."
"How big are these bomb-making materials?"
"Small, powerful enough to blow up half a city, but they're made of child's-play devices," Megan explained.  Ju-saami nodded, knowing exactly what this was leading to.
"Suitcase nukes," Ju-saami said. "Only thing possible to create mass destruction in a small gift-wrapped present.  Megan, thank you for your help."
"Is that it?  Am I done?" she asked.
"Yup, you can go home," Ju-saami said. "Have a Merry Christmas.  We'll schedule you for a plane-ride back to your hometown." Megan almost blew up in full joy.  As she was cheering, Ju-saami turned back to the TOC (Tactical Operations Command) in the hummer. "Get D.C. on the line.  We got some bigger fish to fry."
"Roger that," Seecamp said, picking up a phone.  Ju-saami grabbed a radio.
"All HRT teams, this is Six, we are done.  Put them on safe and report back to TOC, over," Ju-saami said, ordering her team back to the hummer.  Once she was done, Seecamp held the corded phone to Ju-saami.
"Agent Rose, you're up," Seecamp said.  Ju-saami strapped off her helmet and earmuffs, took the phone and held it to her ear.
"Rose," she said in the phone.
"Agent Houston, what happened?" Rick said over the phone.
"We executed the takedown, made five arrests, and Bravo is safe," Ju-saami explained. "There's something else.  Bravo told me that the group she was undercover with was using the money to pay off a debt of nuclear chemicals stolen from Polish nuclear facilities.  In addition, there are reports of small bomb-making materials the cell was using.  I'm suspecting that this cell is using suitcase bombs throughout the country."
"Any idea where?" Rick asked.
"We know of one in Barrow, but the rest was kept from Bravo.  This cell is spread out throughout multiple locations in the United States in connection with Free Oppression."
"Good work, Agent Rose," Rick said. "Oh, did you get the news about the North Pole?" Ju-saami nodded to herself.
"I was told when I arrived.  It doesn't make any sense."
"Not yet it does."
"Listen, I'm getting tired.  Tomorrow," Ju-saami began to say before checking her watch. "Well, actually, later today, we're going to interrogate the men we captured and we'll keep you updated once we find anything new."
"Good luck," Rick said. "I'm about to head home myself.  Be careful out there."
"I will," Ju-saami said.  The line clicked and Ju-saami handed the phone to Seecamp. "Do you guys have a descent hotel in this city?"
With that, the police officers chuckled into laughter.  There are a lot of good hotels in the city.  Best part is that the FBI will pay for them.  Until then, Ju-saami gathered her team and made the long quarter-mile walk back to the hummers that they hid away.
On the drive deeper in the city, the team arrived at a hotel, checked in, and rested until the morning.  When the sun will rise the next morning, they will gather new information from the men they caught.

Deserts of Oman
0930 Hours
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Toni and Jay were flying low along the desert landscapes of Oman in their AH-1Z Viper light-attack helicopter.  They were low enough to evade radars but still high enough to keep from blowing sand and dirt into the air thus compromising their position.  In addition, they were going slow.  In the words of Fort Hood, Texas, 'low and slow is the way to go.' Even so, Toni was not in a happy mood to fly wild like she usually does.
"Come on, Toni, don't feel so sad," Jay said through the intercom from the front seat.  Toni, in the pilot's back seat, just sighed.
"I'm not," Toni replied.  Obviously, she was.
"It's not good-bye, I'll still be around.  So, who don't you put a smile on your face and enjoy the time we've got together, huh?" In a way, Jay was right.
"I suppose so," Toni said in agreement.  Then there was a beeping sound emitting from the multi-functional display screen.  Both Jay and Toni turned their attentions to it.  They saw a column of tanks, mobile SAM's, and APC's moving their way across the desert heading in the direction of Thumrait, just twenty kilometers away.
"Check IFF frequency," Jay ordered Toni.
"Checking IFF," Toni replied, completely snapped out of her mood.  Toni pulled back on the cycle stick, halting the helicopter into a low hover.  After checking the IFF squawk, the displays show that the moving vehicles are German.  Questions ran in Toni and Jay's minds.  Is this a joint operation with the German military?  If so, why are they heading in an attack formation toward the airfield?
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six, come in, over," Jay said in her radio.
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come on back, over," the operator on the other end replied.
"Thumrait, we are picking up a column of German armored vehicles bearing one-niner-seven at two-seven clicks.  They seem to be heading in your direction, over."

Thumrait MPT
"Viper Three-Six, stand by for confirmation," the operator on the other end said in the control tower.  He then quickly reached for a black phone, pressed a speed-button on it and held it to his ear, pushing the head phones away. "Major General, we are picking German armored vehicles heading in our direction.  Are there any German military present?"
"Stand by, Sergeant," the dark voice on the other end said.  There was a slight pause before the voice came back. "Negative, German military denies any involvement in Oman."
"Roger that, Major General," the Sergeant said before hanging up.  He placed the headphones back over his head and spoke clearly in them. "Viper Three-Six, negative on German involvement.  Use caution to recon and identify the armored column, over."

Deserts of Oman
"Thumrait, roger that, over," Jay replied back.  She then switched the radio to the intercom. "You heard him, Toni, let's check them out."
Toni nodded.  She then pushed on the cycle stick, tilting the helicopter forward thus propelling the aircraft forward.  Toni flew toward the approaching column.  As soon as they came within visual range, just as dots over the horizon, she dialed in the radio frequencies of the armored vehicles displayed on the MFD.
"Attention German armored vehicles," Toni said in the radio. "This is the United States Marine Corps, you are entering a restricted area.  Respond on this channel, turn around, and leave the area or risk being fired upon."
There was a pause.  No response.  First assumption could be the radios not working, so Jay and Toni checked their own and check the radio frequencies of who they called.  Their radio was okay and they were getting strong signals from the armored cars.  The cars heard them; they just chose to ignore them.
"I'll try again," Toni said. "Attention German vehicles, this is the United States Marine Corps.  You're entering restricted U.S. zones.  Turn around or risk being fired upon."
This time, the tanks responded, but it was not the kind of response they were hoping for.  The threat indicator on the dashboard of Toni's cockpit beeped with a straight line heading toward them.  Then the word "SAM" blinked in red on the threat situation boards.  Toni and Jay looked ahead and they saw a white smoke trail heading toward them, coming off of the dots on the horizon.
"SAM inbound!  SAM inbound!" Jay nearly yelled.
"Flair!  Flair!" Toni shouted as she pressed her thumb on the flair button on the collective stick while jerking the cycle stick to the side.
The helicopter tilted to the right side as it shot bright flairs in their wake.  As soon as the helicopter was clear, the threat warning on the displays blinked off.  The Surface-to-Air Missile was still coming, but it lost the helicopter.  Toni and Jay waited, staring at the missile until it zipped past them, leaving a trail of white smoke.
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six!" Jay nearly yelled in the radio. "We've just been fired upon!  A SAM has just been fired on us!  Requesting permission to engage, over!"
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait; you are authorized to use deadly force!" The Sergeant on the other end called over the radio. "I repeat, you are authorized to use deadly force, over!"
With that being said, Toni flipped open a red switch cover and flipped a yellow and black striped switch labeled "MASTER ARM" printed in red letters.  Toni then pushed the cycle stick forward toward the now-enemy armored vehicles.  They had to get within 500 meters for their Hellfire missiles to work.  They made it there quickly.
"Okay, hold her steady, Toni," Jay ordered.  Once Toni stopped the helicopter, Jay armed and acquired the mobile-SAM units with the hellfire missiles.  They are a helicopter pilot's most serious threat.  The tanks could be taken out with the Hydra 70 rockets and the APC's would be sliced to pieces with their 20 millimeter M197 cannon.
Jay acquired a target, got radar lock, and pulled the trigger.  An AGM-114 Hellfire missile launched off of the launcher and curved its way upward, and then it would come straight down on its target, similar to the AGM-84 Harpoon missile used to destroy watercrafts.
The Hellfire missile curved up into the sky while still gaining forward distance.  Then it came straight down right on top of its target, getting it imbedded deep in the armor before exploding.  The mobile-SAM exploded into millions of pieces.  Then the other armored vehicles looked around for the helicopter, it was nowhere in sight.  They were being masked by the small desert gorges.  Not much, but it still works as cover.
The helicopter hovered in the armored vehicles blind-spots, keeping a distance above the ground so as to not kick up dirt.  They stayed there, calmly, thinking about what to do next.
"You want to throw a white flag at them?" Toni suggested.
"We're not surrendering!" Jay scolded. "Besides, we don't have a white flag."
"I think my underwear's white, we could-"
"Absolutely not!" Jay shrieked in near-horror.
"Yours is still yellow," Toni said with a tint of humor.
"Now's not the time.  Just pop up and I'll lock onto as many as I can," Jay suggested.  That would work; the Viper does have the new hold-lock function in their FLIR systems.  Toni clutched her fist on the collective stick.  She gently pulled it up, lifting the helicopter upward.  Quickly, the small gorge's horizon came into view and the armored vehicles were immediately seen.  Quickly, Jay locked onto the SAM's, they were their primary focus.
"Okay, down!" Jay nearly shouted.  They were locked onto as soon as they lowered under the gorge and masked again.  The lock-on warning only lasted a second and disappeared.
"Okay, take them down, burn 'em!" Toni said like some happy cowboy.  Jay did not bother to act serious.
Jay pulled the trigger on her control stick and another Hellfire missile rocketed off the launcher.  It shot upwards, missing the gorge wall, and came straight down on the mobile-SAM.  Jay fired again, this time two Hellfire missiles.  The best part about a Hellfire missile is that once a target is destroyed, it can 'switch' to the next target.  The two Hellfire missiles that Jay launched at the same time were locked onto the same mobile-SAM unit.  Once the first missile destroyed it, the second missile 'switched' to the next locked-on target and destroyed it.
Then the two pilots heard heavy machine fire directly above their heads.  It seems as if the triple-AAA units have somehow found out where exactly they are.  Good thing was the bullets were completely missing them.
"Toni, get us out of here!" Jay yelled.  Toni tilted the cycle-stick to the right, causing the helicopter to tilt right and literally fly sideways.  Jay kept her eyes fixed on where the armored column is so that they can pop up on them by surprise.
"Okay, Jay, I'm going to pop up behind them," Toni told her. "Get those rockets ready and shoot 'em in the asses."
"You can count on me for that," Jay said with a grin.  She then switched the weapons from Hellfire missiles to Hydra 70 rockets.
The Hydra 70 rockets were attached to the two LAU-61D/A launchers with 19 rockets in each launcher, giving them a total of 38 rockets.  Toni had to fly the helicopter in close because, unlike missiles, rockets do not have a guidance system and they are more effective and deadly at closer ranges.  Getting at them from behind is also safer, since the guns of the armored vehicles are only pointing forward.  It will take some time to turn the turrets.
"Okay, here we go," Toni said as she stopped the helicopter. "Here comes 70 millimeters of high explosives coming at you, dicks!"
The Viper popped out from behind, causing confusion amongst the armored vehicles.  Jay continuously squeezed the trigger on the stick repeatedly.  Shots upon shots of Hydra 70 rockets burst out of the launchers, one at a time, creating a series of havoc and destruction amongst the remaining vehicles.  A series of explosions emitted within the armored vehicles as all the rockets went dry.  Then it was all silent as the vehicles were engulfed in the flames and smoke.
Toni hovered the helicopter closer.  The wind from the rotor blades blew the smoke and fire away.  The vehicles were destroyed.  However, many people crawled out of the burning vehicles escape hatches, seemingly unharmed, which is not uncommon with modern technology and warfare.
"We got some personnel down there," Jay said.
"No shit," Toni replied.
Suddenly, the personnel whipped out their rifles and started firing at the hovering helicopter, almost fearlessly.  The weapons they were carrying were standard German assault rifles, G36's and G3's.  Their uniforms were lime-green orange dotted German camouflage jackets and trousers, but they had no gear belts, they wore sneakers instead of boots, and had long and facial hair.  Something was not correct here.
The soldiers on the ground fired their rifles at the helicopter, but none of their small millimeter bullets penetrated the thick armor and the glass canopy.
"Hey, look at the small arms fire down there, Jay-Jay," Toni said in a cutesy tone of voice as if she is looking at baby animals at a zoo. "Burn 'em, Jay!"
With that, Jay switched to the machine gun at the nose of the aircraft, used the small little joystick to rotate it, and unleashed a hail of led.  This was nothing like in the movies.  When hearing a machine gun, people would expect a vibrating echo of gunshots.  In reality, the machine gun sounded like a low-muffled yet loud hum.  A stream of fast-paced bullets speed out of the barrels of the gun wildly in single file.  Every fifth bullet was a tracer round to increase aiming and accuracy.  Due to the gun's high muzzle velocity, the bullets literally ripped the gunmen in half and even caused them to literally explode in multiple pieces.  A gun with this velocity would not have been possible for someone to handle as a rifle, which is why this gun is only used for helicopters.
After only a few seconds, Jay released the trigger.  The barrels of the M197 Gatling gun stopped spinning, leaving corpses everywhere.  Some were hidden behind the burning black smoke from the on-fire armored vehicles.
"Toni, set it down, I want see these guys up close," Jay ordered.
Gently, Toni pushed the collective stick down until the landing bars made contact with the ground.  Keeping the rotor blades down to a minimum, but still on, they opened the canopy doors and stepped out, removing the headsets off.  They unzipped the front of their jackets and pulled out contained Heckler and Koch MP5SD6 submachine guns.  They extended the collapsible butt-stocks as they ran to the wreckage.  Turning off the safeties, they kept their sights circling around at the armored vehicles.  Even though Jay and Toni were helicopter pilots, they still remembered their basic ground combat skills they learned in Parris Island.
Jay cautiously approached one of the tanks.  It was obviously a Leopard 2 tank, with armament and technology of newer modern, and classified, upgrades.  At leased, what was left of it with the turret blown right off and the left side hull with a large hole in it and the left tracks and wheels scattered in millions of pieces around.  With extreme caution, Jay poked her submachine gun in took a peek inside the large hole.  It looked exactly like the interior of a jet fighter and modern computers.  There was the driver seated where he was, leaning over the seat lifeless with blood oozing out of his mouth, but there was a cigarette in his mouth which remained stationary.  This was odd because smoking is prohibited in tanks.  There was another dead body laying face-down by the armament cabin.  It was obvious he was dead due to the lower half of his body missing.
Jay then stood up, stepped on the tracks to get on the top, and crawled her way to the top where the turret used to be.  She sat down with her legs in the hole and dropped in.  The American Marine officer looked around and noticed all of the computer controls were dead.  She then approached the driver to make sure he was dead.  Jay took her left glove off with her teeth and gripped the human's neck.  No pulse, he was dead.  Something was odd, though.  He was not buckled into the seat and his clothes consisted of a leather jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots.  The other dead man had only a World War II German field jacket.  This is not appropriate attire for German tank drivers.  She continued looking around and noticed all the armament out of place and held so far away from the cooling vents.  These were obvious safety violations.  Jay shook her head; these guys were not tank-drivers.  They drove tanks, but it was obvious they were not military tank drivers.
Jay exited out of the tank by jumping out of the hole at the top.  Once she climbed out, she looked out and saw Toni, with her MP5 hanging over her shoulder, and using a small handi-cam digital video camera to video tape the wreckage and the dead bodies around them.  Jay jumped off the tank and ran to Toni.
"These guys were firing their rifles at us in line abreast formation, Jay then shot them with the Viper's gun in less than three to five seconds," Toni said to the camera as she video-taped the bodies.  Under her arm is a thick folder with scorch marks on it.
"Toni, what are you doing?" Jay asked, approaching Toni.  Toni then turned and started video taping Jay.
"And here we have a short-tempered girl with a short height," Toni said, mocking Jay's short height. "Smile, Jay, you're on candid camera."
"Fuck you, you leatherneck," Jay growled to the camera.  Toni giggled as she lowered the camera. "What do you have there?"
"These?" Toni said, pointing to the scorched folder under her arm.  She held the folder to Jay. "I found them inside that tank over there.  Alone with other papers they seem to be trying to burn or destroy."
Evidence, Jay thought.  These guys were not military, but they were trying to destroy evidence.  What of, they did not know.
"What did you find in there?" Toni asked.
"Two dead bodies," Jay replied.
"Cool!" Toni squealed as she ran to the tank.  She then started filming the inside of the tank. "Okay, what have we got there?  We got a driver and half a man.  The other half is somewhere I don't want to find." Toni giggled. "The half-man seemed to be the gun loader due to his position next to the armament.  Okay, let's see, computers are out, and there are fragments of a Hellfire missile in here."
Suddenly, Jay came up to Toni from behind.  Jay's anger toward Toni's childish behavior was gone.
"Toni, can I say something to the camera?" Jay asked.
"Oh, certainly," Toni said confused as she turned the camera toward Jay.
"There are crazy people in the world, but trained military tank operators would have known about these safety violations.  These humans were obviously not military, or at leased not this kind of military, they knew how to operate and fire the weapons aboard, but these safety violations meant that they weren't registered military," Jay explained.
"Well-said," Toni replied.
"Now, let's get out of here and back to base," Jay ordered sternly.  Toni tucked the camera away and the two ran, in-step, toward the rotor-spinning helicopter.  They stepped in, strapped themselves to the seats, closed the door and started revving up the rotors.  Before lifting off the ground, their radios chimed in.
"Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come in!  Viper Three-Six, this is Thumrait, come in!" the cries came.
"Thumrait, this is Viper Three-Six, come on back, over," Jay said calmly in the radio.
"Viper Three-Six, where the hell have you been?  Over."
"Thumrait, we exited the aircraft to do an up-close investigation of the armored vehicles we encountered, over," Jay said.
"Viper Three-Six, what did you find?  Over," the Sergeant on the other end asked after a sigh.
"Thumrait, we got all on video and we'll report it to you once we get back, over."
"Viper Three-Six, roger that.  Return to base, over."
"Thumrait, roger that.  Viper Three-Six is Arr-Tee-Bee, over." Once Jay finished that, Toni pulled on the collective, causing the Viper to lift in the air.  After a check of any obstacles around, she pushed on the cycle stick and the helicopter started to thrust forward back to the airfield.

Thule Air Base – Qaanaaq, Greenland
1300 Hours
It has been a long few flights.  Matt had to gather his commandos, Marcus, Drew, and Ryan together with their full gear.  In addition, Colonel T.J. Dudek and his Secret Service, now wearing civilian clothing, were all boarded on the one-of-a-kind Cargo Bat troop transport aircraft.  It was built to combine the cargo space of a C-130 and the aerodynamics of a V-22.  From a distance, the Cargo Bat looks like a cross between a V-22 Osprey with its helicopter-like wings, and the F-117 Nighthawk with its fuselage shape and its ability to evade radar.  The inside of the Cargo Bat is divided into three sections.  The tail end section holds a huge amount of cargo and can drop paratroopers.  The middle section is like a radar and communications center similar to an AWACS or even Air Force One.  Finally, the front section is the cockpit which seats four pilots.
The first phase of the flight was to take off from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina.  After that, they had to travel the long distance to pick up Marwan at Toussus le Noble Airport in France.  Once he was picked up and geared up, he got on board and finally met T.J. Dudek.  Now, they are on their way to Thule Air Base in Greenland.  The CIA already told the base commander there that the Furry Commandos were coming, of course without mentioning the phrase 'Furry Commandos.'
"Marwan Green Critter I presume?" T.J. Dudek said, sitting down next to Marwan on the plane.
"Yeah," Marwan replied.
"I'm Colonel T.J. Dudek, Polish Land Forces," T.J. introduced himself. "That group you were undercover with was supplying this terrorist group calling themselves 'Free Oppression' with explosives.  The same ones that blew up the malls." This shocked Marwan when he heard it.
"My undercover assignment was the guys that blew up the malls?" Marwan asked in shock.  T.J. nodded his head.
"Relax, they were all accounted for and taken into GSG 9 custody," T.J assured Marwan.  That was a good thing.  Hopefully the mall bombings came to a stop, but he knew that this was far from over.  As Marwan was lost in thought, Matt casually exited the Cargo Bat's cockpit and approached his team.
"We're on final approach, everyone!" Matt called out as he sat down.
Indeed, they heard the sound of the landing gear being extracted with a loud thump sound.  The aircraft felt like it was getting heavier as it tilted upward.  They took a look out the window but all they saw was darkness.  The outside looked like it was either very early in the morning or extremely late in the evening.  The sun's glow was on the horizon but the sun itself could not be seen.  From what could be seen is a huge wasteland of snow and ice covering the tundra.  In front in the far distance is an icy cold Arctic Ocean.  Before that is a large one-runway military airfield, obviously Thule Air Base.  Thule was getting bigger and the ground seemed to be coming up closer to them.  Then, the main wheels made contact with the ground, emitting a screeching sound like an airliner.  Slowly, the aircraft leveled as its nose wheel touched the runway's pavement right on the painted center line.  The Cargo Bat rolled for a little while before it came to a complete stop.  Once it did, the engines roared back to life as the pilots taxied the aircraft down the strips to the awaiting hangers.  Outside, the Furry Commandos, T.J. Dudek, and his Secret Service saw a whole ground crew signaling the aircraft inside one of the large hangers near the control tower and the command and control center.
The Cargo Bat aircraft came to a complete stop inside the large hanger, which also housed an AC-130 gunship.  Once inside, a buzzer was heard and the large hanger doors slowly closed.  The hanger doors closed with a loud bang, which was the signal for Matt to exit the plane.  He got up and walked to the back of the plane where a large lever is.  Matt pulled the lever which caused the large back door to open.  The top half of the door pressed itself against the plane's ceiling and the bottom half acted as a ramp.
"Okay, everybody out," Matt called.  Matt stepped out first, getting a good foot grip on the gritty floor.  He was soon followed by his four commandos carrying duffle bags.  Following the commandos is Dudek's Secret Service, followed by Dudek himself.
"Colonel Wiernasz!" a voice called out at the edge of the hanger.  Matt looked up and he saw three furries approach him, each wearing MARPAT camouflage uniforms.  The furry, a weasel, stood in the center wearing Colonel's pins on his collar.  The two furries standing at his sides wore MP on their shoulders.  Matt, also wearing his MARPAT uniform, approached the Colonel and his MP's.  His commandos, Secret Service, and Dudek followed closely behind.
"Yeah, I'm Colonel Wiernasz, but Matt is fine," Matt said to him.
"I'm Colonel Howard Regis, United States Air Force," the Colonel said to Matt shaking his hand. "I was told you were coming to occupy the base for a Special Operation."
"That's right, Colonel," Matt replied. "These guys are my commando team." Immediately, he noticed one of them was not wearing an American uniform.
"Who's that?" Regis asked pointing to Dudek.
"Oh," T.J. said, shifting his way through to crowd to shake the Colonel's hand. "I'm Colonel T.J. Dudek, Polish Land Forces."
"Nice to meet you, Colonel, I'm assuming this is a Joint Operation," Regis wondered.  Matt nodded.
"Yeah, Poland's helping us," Matt said to him. "Now, um, I heard you have a Command and Control Center."
"Oh, of course, right his way," Regis said, heading to a door at the opposite end of the hanger.  Matt motioned everybody to follow him.  So far, everyone seems to be fooled by the disguised Secret Service.
Colonel Regis and his two MP's led the four Furry Commandos, two Colonels, and six Secret Service Agents to a door which led directly into a standard military room for a control tower entry.  Of course, that was the only obvious part.  Regis approached a heavily bolted metal door with a large flashing warning label stating that beyond the door was heavily restricted.  Regis took out his card and swiped it across the keycard lock and it immediately beeped.  A bunch of clicking sounds emitted, causing the door to unlock.  A machine opened the door itself slowly, revealing a very bright and long hallway.  It was like the inside of an MRI machine.
"This is the x-ray hall, although there is no x-ray radiation beyond the glass," Regis said to the visitors. "We check everybody for weapons and anything potentially dangerous.  However, with my personal escort, everything is okay."
"That's good to hear," Matt said in relief.
Regis entered the bright hallways first while the others followed.  As soon as the last one stepped inside, the metal door slammed shut behind them, locking them inside.
"A word of advice, in case we do have a trespasser enter this room, they are trapped inside with no cover and in an easily captured position," Regis said.
"What if they had explosives?" Drew asked from behind.
"Good question and our doors can withstand a lot of blasts," Regis said. "The only bomb that can blow open those doors… well… wouldn't be able to fit through the doors." Regis let out a chuckle, soon followed by everyone else. "However, if explosives were brought in this room, the only damage would be to the glass.  The trespassers inside would get a dose of x-ray.  If they have a hostage, well, we'll have to mount a rescue quickly, which we've trained for countless times.  If they were alone, well, the heavy amount of x-ray will kill him.  Let's move on, shall we?"
Regis continued to the end of the long hallway where a metal door was waiting.  Again, he swiped his card on the keypad lock and the large metal door began to open.  This only led to a large metal room with a single door next to a retina scan machine.  Regis approached the machine and placed his eyes in the scanner, which looked like an old-fashioned view box to watch short movies in.  The machine let out a low hum which caused the entire cubed room to shake.
"I forgot to tell you, this is an elevator," Regis chuckled. "We're going down five miles." After a short minute, the large elevator stopped and the double-metal doors to slide open.  The doors revealed a T-shaped hallway which led to two sides like entering a movie theatre.
"Over here," Regis said. "It doesn't matter which path you take, you'll end up in the same place." Regis went down the right path, which all the others decided to follow as well.  After the short path, they were taken right into the large command and control center.
The Command and Control Center looked like a large movie theatre with many personnel working on different computers in isles and all four walls had large movie-style screens of situations going on around the globe.
"Not many people know this, but this is actually one of the places where the President of the United States will evacuate to," Regis mentioned.
"I'm actually one of the few people that know that, Colonel," Matt said.  Indeed, Matt knows quite a few of the locations that the President can hide.  Nobody knows all of them for safety reasons.
"My office is right up those stairs and the quarters are through those doors over there, and down that door is the Kill House," Regis said pointing to a staircase leading to a large glass cubical office overlooking the entire center. "The entire center is tempest hardened to keep out electronic intruders.  Well, I'm sure you know how everything works; you've been doing this for… how many years?"
"About 40 years in Special Ops, 15 with the Agency," Matt said, referring to the Central Intelligence Agency.
"Outstanding," Regis said.  He then approached the little small 'stage' in front of the center to get everybody to look at him. "Ladies and gentlemen!  Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention?"
Slowly the entire room faded down in silence as all the personnel focused their eyes on Colonel Howard Regis.
"A crisis has just come up that needs the immediate action of a special counter-terrorist team," Regis announced. "From here on out, until this crisis is averted, you will now be under the command of Colonel Matt Wiernasz.  Colonel, make your address."
"Thank you, sir," Matt said as he approached the center and faced the large crew of technicians. "Hello, my name is Colonel Matt Wiernasz.  For those of you that don't know me, I spent 25 years in the United States Marine Corps, 20 of which with Marine Force Recon.  After my service in the Marines, I was recruited into the CIA.  I've served in Operation Just Cause in Panama, Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, Restore Hope in Somalia, Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and Anaconda in Afghanistan.  I've got a Purple Heart, a Silver Star with a cluster, and a Navy Cross.  From this point on, all orders will be sent to me.  Don't think this is a dramatic change.  Treat me the same way as if I'm Regis.  All I ask of you is to do your job to the fullest and everything will be fine.  Thank you." Matt then turned his attention to Regis. "Before you leave, I need to know a direct contact with Santa's castle."
"Santa's castle?" Regis was confused.  He was unsure why Matt wanted to talk to Santa Claus. "Why do you want to-?"
"Just get him on," Matt repeated himself.  He was not snapping, but Matt was impatient.  Regis nodded and leaned over one of the tables for the phone.  After typing in something on the computer, he froze.  Regis turned back to Matt and hung up the phone.
"Colonel, I got no signal," Regis replied. "This has never happened before."
"Was there a storm in the North Pole recently?" Matt asked.
"Negative," Regis replied.
Matt grunted.  He was absolutely afraid that was going to happen.  It turned out Marwan's hypothesis was right, but they were not fast enough to stop it.  Matt's only assumption was that the castle was raided.  If it was not a storm, then the only explanation was an invasion.
"Thank you, Colonel Regis, I believe I can take it from here," Matt said uneasy.  Of course, Regis looked worried at Matt's reaction.  However, Regis knew in this like of work that if he asked what was wrong, he would get the classic 'that's classified' bullshit.
"My clearance codes are in a red binder on the desk in my office," Regis replied. "An access card is available up there as well for you.  Good luck, Colonel."
"Thank you, Regis," Matt replied.  Colonel Regis and his two MP's ran down the ramp isle of the movie-theatre-like center and back to the elevators.  Matt stood there sighing as he heard the elevator whirl in the distance.  His commandos approached Matt, but they had a feeling they knew what was wrong.
"Matt," Marcus said getting the Colonel's attention. "Santa's castle was raided, wasn't it?"
"Well, honestly, we don't know that for sure, but it's the only explanation," Matt replied. "Until we get proof, just get familiar with your quarters and I'll get up to speed on latest Intel, hoo-ah?"
"Hoo-ah," Marcus replied.  He turned and approached one of the doors leading to the quarters, followed by Marwan, Drew, and Ryan.  Dudek approached Matt once the commandos were gone.
"Anything I can do, Matt?" T.J. asked.
"Well, let's check out the office and let's get up to speed.  Secret Service could relax because nobody's going to attack us down here," Matt chuckled.
"We could hit the Kill House, Colonel," one of the Secret Service Agents suggested to Dudek.  T.J. nodded.
"Sure thing, kick ass down there," Dudek said smiling to his agents.
While the agents left for the Kill House, Matt and T.J. headed to the large office, which was exactly like an executive office as they pictured.  They raided the files and read all the documents, getting up to speed on the latest situations.  Of course, they have to get up to speed on their current situation as well.