“Thanks to the intelligence that Agent Michal provided over the last twenty-four hours, we’ve tracked down the terrorist cell responsible for the capital attack to a small residential complex in the Astarte mountains; all evidence obtained from the scene of attack suggest this to be the target’s stronghold…1st Platoon will focus on the assault and containment of the site, while 2nd Platoon will isolate the complex from any outsiders…”

“That right there? A fucking small village.”

In the dead of night, Case Officer-turned-operator Ryan Phillips sat alongside Army Air Combat soldiers and Navy commandos. They laid in a small patch of grass just outside a small village where intelligence gathered by the OMFS, and NIA suggested that the ones responsible for the terrorist attack in the capital was located.

“Yeah, no kidding. This is the place.”

Gripping the unfamiliar rifle lying next to him, Ryan ran his bare fingers over the tubular weapon before him. The idea of an automatic weapon wasn’t anything new, it had been done with the Charlesbourg machine gun, and had been used effectively during the reunification war; before him wasn’t that. With a single box magazine sticking out of the side of the weapon, it fired pistol caliber bullets at rates incomparable even to the greatest gunslingers of the north.

“Pig 1, this is Hawk 1.”

Breaking the gentle silence that covered the large fields around them, a hushed voice emerged from the small radio attached to the squadron leader’s belt. The older commando presented his sleeve just before his mouth as his lips twitched while observing several unknown men walking into one of the small wooden huts within the residential complex. “Go ahead Hawk 1.” He said in a deep, growly voice.

“Infiltration successful. Isolation has been complete.”

“Rog.” Turning off his radio, the man grasped his weapon as the moon high above was gently covered by a small collection of clouds; the heavenly light no longer touched the grassy plains giving the opportunity to approach the target area undetected. “Mission is a go boys. Let’s get these bastards.” He ordered being the first to stand up in the oncoming rain that began to fall from the clouded skies above. Following his every move, the rest of the men, including Ryan, arose from the moist ground below them; the dirt stuck to their skins and painted their olive-drab uniforms. The wet rain kissed their skins, and their boots sunk into the ground with every step they took towards the small complex not one-hundred meters away.

The walk was short, and the men approached a small side building while the other two squadrons apart of 1st Platoon moved the other houses adjacent from them. Finding a small gate around the building, the operator beside Ryan withdrew a large hammer. Gaining the nod from “Pig 1” the man slammed the hammer into the metal gate creating a sharp noise in the rain and the leader pressed it open as he and the others moved towards the single door facing them.

Still holding the large hammer, the operator stepped forward to the side of the door as he used it as a battering ram breaking the frail wooden sheet off its hinges and onto the ground. Spotting a dark figure within the doorway, it only took a single second for the operators to recognize that the figure held a shotgun that shimmered in the small light that escaped from a nearby lantern.

Out of the eight-man squadron, two fired their pistol caliber weapons creating five loud cracks in the night. Walking inside the room, Ryan confirmed the kill, but he was swiftly interrupted as a woman turned the corner wielding just her hand as she chanted a small spell. Three more bullets were fired; two to the body and one to the head splattering blood all over the walls and floor of the building.

“Fucking mage! Check the room!” Pig 1 barked as two operators turned the corner were the woman emerged and found nothing as they observed the near-pitch black interior.

“Building clear.”

“Double back outside.” Pig 1 said moving out of the doorway and into the rain once more. “Pig 1 to Pig 2, building 1 is clear moving to primary target.” He said with his left wrist close to his mouth.

“Got it. We’ve got civies over here, Pig 3 is handling collection and beginning intelligence search. We’ll meet you at the front door.”

“On the move.” Pig one responded as he and the others moved towards the large house that laid waiting within the small complex hidden within the confines of the mountains. With the moon just breaking through the rain and clouds, the heavenly light reflected upon the wet and muddy surface of the weapons in the operators’ hands, and the almost razor-sharp blades of grass that surrounded their paths.

Approaching the large building, eight more operators, dubbed “Pig 2” moved to the front door while their leader pointed at Pig 1 to maneuver his men to the side portion where a small balcony revealed itself in a sudden flash of lightning that scoured the side of the mountain.

“Pig 2 moving through the front entrance.”

“Pig 1 moving through east doorway and second floor balcony.”

Ryan played his part as he and another operator moved to the balcony. The part he had hated had arrived; his teammate slung his weapon and displayed both of his gloved hands as a faint magical circle was displayed in the moonlight. Being lifted by the power of air, the mage now under Ryan lifted him in a quiet manner letting the younger man climb onto the balcony without any difficulty. As he scanned the darkened interior, blaring gunshots erupted from the first floor and several screams emerged from the third floor.

“Hostile eliminated.”

“Rog. Ryan, Pig 1 is moving up through the main stairs, what’s your location?”

Entering the small room and scanning the interior, the man gently lowered his rifle as he finished clearing his sectors. “East second floor bedroom.” He whispered into his left cuff. Hearing his fellow operators moving up the stairs, three knocks came from the main door to the bedroom he was currently in; knowing that it was his squadron, Ryan stopped his feet four times against the floor.

Though primitive, it was a sure way for operators to communicate without letting the enemy know of their next move.

Exiting the room under the safety of his fellow men, Ryan calmed himself as five bullets were fired to his right as four operators stormed what looked to be a lavatory. The person inside was dead by the time he was able to get a good look, but it was obvious his intentions were to assault the men based of the bloodied knife in his hands.

“Fuck! Fuck!” Moving forward to the second set of rooms, one of the men dragged his wounded brother down the set of stairs as he groaned in pain from the large gash across his abdomen, a fatal wound. Cursing to himself and moving with another operator, Pig 1 slammed his leg into a wooden door opening it violently as he stormed in spotting two men burning papers with incendiary magic. As the two unknowns turned with intent to attack, the older man cleared them as hostile as he and his teammate shot both dead where they stood.

Pressing forward to the final set of stairs at the end of the building, Ryan kept his weapon raised as a woman emerged from a nearby room with her hands up as she sprinted towards the staircase. “Stop!” He tried to order the woman, yet she disappeared before he could reach her; a door above him slammed shut and several muffled voices played through the floorboards putting the men in a tense state as some scanned the ceiling waiting for something to happen.

“Pig 1, first floor and second floor secured. All on you now.”

Moving with the rest of his element, Ryan was the first to reach the stairs leading to the final floor. Moving up three steps, a man shouted as he turned the ninety-degree corner; his voice was cut short by the booming of three bullets escaping Ryan’s gun. Each led bullet impaled the man’s chest and crushed his heart as he slumped over, dead. “Tango down. Pursuing targets.” Moving forward in the pitch-black darkness, Ryan proceeded down the narrow corridor, his footsteps echoing in the void ahead of him. Behind him, the rest of his squadron moved quietly until they reached a turn in the hallway where two doors waited. Taking the nearest door on the corner, he opened the door and stormed inside with a teammate only to find nothing.

Doubling back, Ryan rejoined the stack as they proceeded to the second door. With their heavy boots being pressed against the wooden floor, the first operator within the stack moved to place his hand on the door handle. Since it was on the opposite side, he maneuvered in front of the door…

—And was instantly set alight as the door blasted open from a spell. With the smoke covering the hallway making it hard to breathe; the man slumped to the ground and began to scream as his clothes burned away revealing his red-burnt skin below.

“Fuck!”

“Man down!”

Ryan cursed as he was lucky enough to not be hit by any of the splinters that acted as shrapnel from the sudden blast. Turning the corner and spotting the mage that had attacked, Ryan and two others fired their weapons sending a hail of bullets ripping into the woman’s clothes and skin splattering blood onto the now ruined floors.

Peeling right his teammate checked the sub-room and was immediately ambushed by the last target within the building who rushed out at him with a sword. Not taking any chances, Ryan snapped his gun and fired a precision shot into the head of the attacker. Clearing the rest of the room, Ryan made it to the doorway as his wounded teammate was being dragged across the floor.

“Someone, get me a medic! Hang in there.” An operator whispered as he gently pulled him down the stairs with the help of two men from Pig 2.

“Building secure. Hawk 1, all Pig elements are moving for intel collection.”

“Rog. You are cleared for intel collection, no movement over here.”

Slowly moving down the stairs, Ryan was tossed a large black bag and directed towards a first-floor office where he was left with two other operators from Pig 1 to search the room for any valuable intelligence that would point to the person responsible for the attack on the capital.

Then again, they also could’ve killed the man responsible not three minutes ago.

Early in the predawn moonlight, Ryan moved beside the two men as they scattered to each corner of the room looking for vital intelligence; it was imperative that such information to be found, as if they failed… The Federation would never be able to seek retribution, let alone her sister countries. The numbers had come in ten hours ago: Over ten civilians dead. Thirteen Government Officials killed, and five diplomats cut to pieces. That was of course taking the numbers without the fifteen OMFS agents and eight soldiers killed trying to protect those that were murdered.

They wasted no time scouring each cabinet that was present in the room. The files that were worth nothing was tossed aside into a nearby bin, but those papers that would prove crucial were placed into one of the three black bags present on the floor. From transfers of small amounts of money, to encrypted messages to an unidentified benefactor, Ryan and the others gathered the sheets of paper letting their eyes skim over the contents to ascertain importance.

“Plan Forerunner?”

The words escaped his mouth easily as he picked up a single sheet of paper. Most of its contents were blacked out by messy splotches of ink. Whoever was alerted to their presence had successfully hidden the information present and it would be a long time before any more information would be dug up. The name was nothing special, though the implications of what such a “plan” would hold for the Federation had him worried to the bone.

Placing the paper within the bag he was provided, Ryan moved to the next cabinet as the contents presented itself within the slim amount of moonlight that broke through the rain and clouds high above. Grasping a bundle of papers, his eyes scanned the title of the first document, Force Deployment’s. Without a second thought he tossed into the bag on the ground leading to a resounding “thump” to emerge from the impact.

“Another fucked up day…” One of the operators muttered as he momentarily turned around from his papers to watch the others pull the bodies of the men they killed.

“At least they’re all dead…” Ryan huffed tossing a folder over to the man beside him. His words were quick and concise as he remained silent to the hum from the man her responded to. All his mind and body wanted for his words to be true, but some part of him worried that a message was sent out to possible enemy reinforcements.

Well, it wouldn’t matter. 2nd Platoon was handling isolation of the area of operations, so any threat would meet fierce resistance from expertly trained SMU operators.

“I’m seeing a lot of stuff from money transfers to land purchases.” The man that spoke first once more raised his voice as he carried a stack of papers in his hand. Briefly flashing his eyes over the name tag on the man’s helmet, Ryan was quickly able to discern the nickname he went by, Noble. “This mean anything to you?” He asked passing the document to the other operator beside him named, Jones.

“Staging areas?” Jones said leaning down to the bag he had and determining how full it was. “Could be weapon purchases from a third party.”

“We’re going to be busy if that’s true.” Noble said back with a light sigh. As he moved to the final set of cabinets within the room, both Jones and Ryan moved to the main door and windows within the room to scour for any outside activity.

Standing in the rain, only a single squadron remained checking and re-checking every building and hidden hole throughout the complex, Pig 3. The operators walked under the harsh, cold rain as they made passes on the civilians that were inside the complex, their weapons remained ready yet lowered. Ryan scanned over the darkened horizon; flashes of lightning broke the endless void, and the moonlight remained steady through the heavy clouds blocking the skies above.

His breaths were slow, and his hands clenched around his weapon as a voice played in his ear, “Pig 1 to Pig2. Intelligence gathering has been completed, ready to get the fuck out of here.”

“Affirmative. Pig 2 to all active SMUs, site exploration is complete, move to rally point apples.”

“Hawk 1 to Pig elements. Confirm the identification of mages on site.”

Ryan lifted an eyebrow to the sudden request.

“Confirm identity of at least three E Class magicians. Rest are unknowns.”

“Affirmative, command has issued a full withdraw from site. T-minus thirty till we see possible reinforcements are all over the mountain.”

Looking towards the rocky walls of the mountains nearby, Ryan remained silent as he turned towards the door where Jones and Noble held their respective bags around their shoulders. The moon hanging over the peak of the mountain offered no explanation for the order that was provided. Who was brave enough to call off a mission of critical importance? Why would they risk the security of information and let an unknown variable take them away from the current objective?

With the others of Pig 1 and 2, he entered the freezing rain once more as he stepped over the corpses and secured the bag full of intelligence on his back. “What’s the call?” He asked.

“We follow our orders and leave.” The leader said in a firm voice. Shuffling in their places anxiously, the man noticed his men’s current state but remained silent as he turned around and began to walk away. All followed in his footsteps quietly as the sixteen operators seemingly vanished from the small complex becoming nothing but phantoms in the rain.

Disappearing from the naked eye, the men trekked through the narrow passageways of the Astarte mountains. The rain had long covered their tracks, and all that was left to be found by the remaining residents within the complex was nothing but the bodies that were dragged outside covered in mud and blood.

All the operators were well built, staunch, bold, and trained since their entry into Project Blackbird. All were poised to carry out their handlers’ orders, and each was ready for anything. Their spirits were only minorly dampened by the long walk within difficult terrain, even Ryan kept pace; his experience being a former Field Officer proved worthwhile before he was suddenly transferred to the SMUs created by the military and intelligence communities. What remained for the mission was to reach a rendezvous point not three miles away. There, a platoon of Navy Recovery Response Unit (RRUs) would be waiting for them with a small fleet of vehicles to whisk them away and return them back to Camp Reed.

In the distance, the rain collected in a small river that flowed just over the mountain and under the dirt below Ryan’s feet. It wasn’t an underground water source, just a mere pathway created by the effects of erosion, but what it revealed was something to be amazed at for all of eternity. Below the fresh water was the greatest collection of mana crystals that had ever existed in recent documentation. The massive tunnels and caves full of the gems acted as the mountain’s veins, and it upon further examination by freelance mining agencies, more and more seemed to be revealed from the rocky terrain every ten years.

Now sitting inside the covered area of one of these caves, Ryan tapped his foot against the ground as the three squadrons temporally waited for the rain to lighten before proceeding forwards towards their final objective. Jones and Noble stood behind “Pig 1” as he waited at the cave entrance observing the situation through his tired eyes.

“Eagle 1 to Pig and Hawk elements, go for briefing.”

Raising his hand near his mouth, Pig 1 waited. He waited for a single flash from a bright gem on the opposite side of the mountains, ‘Hawk’ was in position.

“Eagle go for briefing.” Though his tone was curt and deliberate, an undertone of nervousness plagued the man’s body as he tapped his foot against the wet ground.

“Primary suspects that were suspected to be involved with the attack in the capital have gone missing and moved past site location 1. Ship Master Westchester has already moved the timetable for the first-strike scenario on Yondel to zero-hundred hours leaving multiple SMUs to deploy behind enemy lines... This puts you in a position to target direct installations beyond the Federation’s borders that hold strategic intelligence…President Harding has authorized all military personnel operation on border lines to initiate IS missions; your first objective is to rally with the NRRs at the base of the mountain… Secondary objective will be on a need-to-know-basis…”

Parroting the last twenty-two words, Pig 1 calmly read back his orders, “Move to NRR rally point then proceed to next objective.”

“Special Agents from the Office of Military and Federal Security have been deployed with NIA agents along the southern border, you will meet with them at the coastal town of Juna. The mission will be to investigate a local stronghold that was recently token down by a group of civilian-based militia. Get to work, out.”

In the distance, the shock of thunder roared high above and shook the dirt under the men’s feet. Ryan removed himself from is resting spot and walked up to the cave entrance. Looking upwards he spotted the darkened clouds beginning to move away from the mountains; the rain had dwindled to just mere specks of water that brushed against his dampened clothing.

Turning around momentarily, the Case Officer spotted the rest of the platoon gathering their items and readying their weapons. All the junior officers readied their men, and the NCOs began to dish out orders as they organized themselves to make another half mile down to the rally point where the NRRs would wait for them.

“Hear your men got hit pretty hard.” Sergeant Campbell looked up from his rucksack making the other members of Pig 1 turn around to the sound of his voice.

Taking his hand and rubbing the side of his neck, the images of the three operatives being killed during the raid played like ghastly pictures in “Pig 1’s” mind. The combat scenario they trained for did involve mages, but the level they trained at was for B and C classes respectively. They trained for mages that would ambush them on the approach to the objective, not every day civilians and suspects that would try to defend themselves.

“We’ll need to work on anti-magician tactics, but that’s not the mission.” Noble said filling in for his squadron leader who had opted to ignore the sergeant.

“Yeah.” Campbell nodded as he stood up and lifted his ruck sack over his back. “Well get their bodies back to the NRR then theses bastards will pay for what they have done.”

Publicly Available Information: The Joint Federation Operation to Eliminate Terrorist Cells:

Being executed under the command of President Harding, over three-thousand active-duty military personnel, and five-hundred federal law enforcement personnel were tasked with the following mission: Eliminate and apprehend all known terrorist cells and organizations within the Federation’s borders and return critical intelligence to the NIA.

Thirty hours into the operation, five organizations were eliminated and over 30 people(s) of interest were taken into custody for further interrogation. In addition to a governmental response, local militias throughout the vast lands of Zivaland have eliminated an unknown amount of criminal and terrorist organizations and syndicates.