Author Note: This chapter sets the plot in motion, but don't worry there is plenty of Chuck and Sarah in this story. The next chapter, for example, is full of playful Chuck charm.

Sitting alone in a dark room surrounded by computer keyboards and video screens, former Colonel John Casey watched a man in black standard issue Verbanski Corporation uniform drop, followed by another. His left hand hit the silent alarm while his right pulled his .44 caliber Desert Eagle from its holster. Gertrude's voice came over the comm.

"John, report."

"Two guards - University Way and Bedfordshire. Single shot each to the head."

"Okay, we're sending backup," she answered.

Casey watched the video surveillance as a man walked directly down the middle of the street past the point where the two guards were stationed.

"Breach - intersection of University Way and Befordshire heading south," Casey added. "One Caucasian male, about six foot, dark brown hair wearing a zip-up black windbreaker and black dress pants. Apparently armed with one 9mm."

Casey followed the intruder's movements as he walked straight south to the roundabout then took the road east. This road headed to the Engineering Building at Cranfield University.

Cranfield University was a small university located in the English countryside. About one hour and fifteen minutes north of London on the M1 and surrounded by a few small buildings that made up a quaint little town, the school was beautiful. In addition to being an idyllic setting for a university, it was located directly adjacent to a rather modern small airport. This made it the perfect location for a gathering of United Nation scientists currently under the protection of Verbanski Corporation.

"He isn't even attempting to conceal himself. Proceed with caution." Casey watched as the intruder shot two more Verbanski associates. Each in full body armor, each with a single shot to the head.

"Weapons free, but try to take him alive," Gertrude's voice ordered over the comms. "Casey, ears sharp."

This was the signal to switch his comm to secure channel Bravo. He set the Desert Eagle on the desk in front of him and pushed a button on his watch. "What do you need me to do?"

"Take the XV24 and move to extraction point Theda. If we aren't back to condition green in two minutes, execute protocol 329."

"Affirmative. 329."

"And John," Gertrude paused for a split second, "be careful."

"Affirmative. Switching back to General Channel 1."

On the monitors, the intruder had moved to a position of cover near the parking lot of the Engineering Building. He was systematically taking aim at guards from the cover of a Mini Cooper and dropping them one by one.

Casey grabbed his Desert Eagle left the command center and proceeded down a well lit white hallway to a medium sized white room with tall ceilings adjacent to the command center. Here, four women and two men in white lab coats worked around a table. Out of the center of the table rose a single slender rod. Various precision tools at the end of mechanical arms pointed to the end of this rod. Above, a large microscope pointed down to the tip. Monitors ringed the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there seems to be a change in plans. I will be taking the XV24 now and securing it until the current threat passes," Casey addressed the group.

"Threat?" asked one of the men, turning on Casey and lifting his glasses to his forehead.

"Yes. An armed intruder is making his way to this facility. I would suggest you remove any identification or clothing that may mark you as a specialist and move in among the rest of the university staff and students."

With that, the room emptied quickly. Casey walked to the table and grabbed a small vial that lay atop the reflective steel surface. With one movement, he used his index finger to sweep a small microchip - not much bigger than a grain of rice - into the vial. He corked it and walked out of the room. Heading to the west exit, he peered out of the door's window and stopped. The single sharpshooter suddenly looked like a better option.

"Gertrude?" Casey said over the comm, "Ears sharp." After he switched back to the secure channel he continued, "We have a small militia rolling across the field to the west. 329 is aborted."

"Alright," she said calmly, "here's what we'll do."

-O-

Gertrude's men had the intruder pinned. A sniper disarmed him with a clean shot to his shooting hand and another team moved in. The intruder dispatched the first two guards, one by a roundhouse kick, the other with a thrust to the throat. Four more guards divided his perimeter into quarters and advanced. He charged one, swept the leg and then brought the full force of his heel down on the guard's nose. As he popped back up, a taser from his right sent the man in the black windbreaker convulsing to the ground.

In a little less then five minutes, he awoke. Gertrude stood over him. They were in the back of a van, preparing to head out of the university. "You have one chance to divulge the entire plan before I have Avery here extract it from you." Avery did not look very friendly.

-O-

"John," Gertrude's voice came over the comm, General Channel 1. "It's confirmed. We're rolling. We'll take the XV24 and head to the extraction point in Bedford. ETA 7 minutes."

Casey heard the call as he hid in a jet fuel tanker that Verbanski Corp. positioned on the airfield adjacent the college. It was filled with jet fuel, but a door underneath concealed a space just large enough for someone Casey's size to hide. In interrogation, Avery quickly ascertained that the intruder and the militia from the west had ears on the entire operation. They did not however, as far as anyone could tell, have access to their secure channel. Gertrude would lead the small militia away from the University allowing Casey to fly out in a Verbanski Corp. aircraft stored in a nearby hangar. Real-time satellite recon forwarded to Casey's phone showed him two guards milling about the airstrip, two more men walking atop two different hangars, and a small army following the decoy.

Casey would have to wait for an opportunity to get the jump on the two guards patrolling the airstrip. He had the Desert Eagle fitted with a silencer and subsonic rounds, but even so, the noise would be noticeable. He widened out the satellite view slightly and saw his opportunity approaching from the west. A small helicopter, probably a scout or command copter, was approaching the strip. This would create just enough noise to cover his silenced pistol.

Casey heard the sound of the copter's blades coursing through the air as he slowly unlatched the hatch to the side of him. The guards were each at the opposite end of the tanker truck and each facing away.

As noise from the helicopter grew just a little louder, he released the door, rolled sideways out of his hiding spot and hit the ground in a crouch. He spun around to shoot the guard furthest from the copter before wheeling around to kill the other guard. Casey quickly made his way to this second guard. He removed the silencer from his own pistol, dropped it in a velcro pocket, holstered his sidearm and grabbed the guard's AKM. The newly acquired sub-machine gun felt good in his hands. With it, he headed toward the helicopter.

The pilot and one other man, both in military style baseball caps and jumpsuits, manned the two seats of this bird. They appeared unarmed. When one of the men saw Casey approach, he signaled for other, obviously the pilot, to take off and then started shouting into his microphone.

Casey sprinted for the copter and leaped onto the strut just as the bird was ascending. He released the buckle that held the pilot in, grabbed his jumpsuit and tossed him from the rising helicopter. The second man grabbed the stick and tried to steady the wavering aircraft. Casey pulled himself into the seat and put on the headset he ripped off the pilot's head as he tossed him to the tarmac. He introduced himself.

"Hello there. As a member of Verbanski Corporation, I would like to welcome you and let you know that I am going to have to ask you to deplane immediately. We're only about twenty feet up," he checked the altimeter. "Correction, twenty five. You'll probably survive the fall. You won't, on the other hand, survive this." He shoved the barrel of the AKM into his ribs.

The man unbuckled his belt, stepped onto the strut and jumped to the ground. It looked like it hurt.

"Verbanski. The bird is away."