From the Halls of Beacon to the Shores of Atlas

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)

Strait of Hormuz, 15 miles from Iran

07:30 GMT, 6/6/2022

1st Marine Expeditionary Unit (SOC), 1st Marine Division,

1st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion, Alpha Company

The announcement blared over the ship's loudspeaker. "Would all fire-team leaders from Recon please report to the briefing room." Battleship grey eyes slowly opened, and with nary a whisper to mark his movement, United States Marine Corps Captain James 'Jäger' Kristiansen dropped to the ground. Straightening, he made his way to the briefing room, accompanied by the 19 other team leaders of Alpha Company. Taking a seat in the back, Jäger stretched his 6'2" frame into the aisle. From the front of the room, a door opened, and an Air Force Major wearing the badge of the Defense Intelligence Agency walked in. After a brief shuffling of notes, the Major looked up from the podium.

"Gentlemen. You all were called here for one purpose. Now, this is a volunteer mission only. The team that volunteers will be airdropped deep into enemy territory with two objectives to complete and 48-60 hours to do so. They will observe strict radio silence, which will only be broken to report that they have been discovered and engaged by a large enemy force. At that point, the remainder of Alpha Company will deploy."

One of the men towards the front of the room raised his hand. "Can you tell us the target and what support will be available?"

"No and yes. The targets will remain classified to all but the team carrying out the mission, unless they require assistance in the form of the rest of Alpha Company. As for support, there will be none."

Another voice appears. "No support? Do you mean no fire support?"

The Major responded somewhat sheepishly. "No I mean no support whatsoever. No fire support, no drone support, and unless the Black Flag gets rolled out, that will not change."

Jäger stood. "Chaos Team volunteers." With an almost laugh in his voice he said, "No support, small window of time and little chance of success? Sounds like our type of mission."

The Major nodded. "Very well. All others are dismissed. Captain, remain here for a moment."

Jäger walked down to the front of the briefing room. To his undisguised shock, the door at the back opened, admitting not the DIA Major, but UMSC General Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Snapping to attention, Jäger saluted the man in charge of America's military at the President's direction.

"At ease son. I will be frank with you. There is no briefing for this mission. There are two targets, and we are giving you total latitude with how you and your team eliminate them and in which order. The targets are the Iranian Nuclear Complexes at Natanz and Fordow. Gather your team, come up with a plan, and get yourselves equipped. You have 12 hours until transport leaves the Ford for a land airbase. Do not disappoint us son."

"Sir, yes sir."

"Dismissed."

—Line Break—

After Jäger tracked down the remainder of Chaos Team, he brought them to a briefing room that they commandeered. Aside from Jäger the fire team leader and resident sniper, there was King, a huge black man from New Orleans and the squad's heavy weapons expert, Khan, hacker and demolitions, Vlad, the squad's breacher, and Yung, the radioman and JTAC. "Alright boys, we got a mission. Or, more correctly, I volunteered us for the mission." Groans responded to his statement. "Godammit man, not another one." "Shut up Khan, you know you love it. So, here it is. We will be airdropping into Iran via HALO in 16 to 18 hours. Once in country, we will have 48-60 hours to destroy both the Natanz and Fordow Nuclear Facilities. We will have no support, neither fire nor drone, and only if we are blown will the rest of Alpha deploy to save our asses. So, here's the deal. Everyone take a M27, King, you get the SAW. Khan, you need to have enough explosives to set off sympathetic detonations in two different nuclear facilities. Vlad, you know best when it comes to breaching, but bring an M27 anyway, I want everyone able to lay down accurate small arms fire if it comes down to it. I'll have my M40A5 for distance, and when it comes to side arms, everyone take a .45." Everyone nodded their understanding.

"Right. Here's the plan. We will be HALOing in near to Natanz around 21:00; we will then bury ourselves in the sand until 23:00 local time. Once that occurs, we will move up, to within 500 yards of the facility and begin reconnaissance. We hit Natanz at 03:00 local. Once the charges are set, we make our way overland in a vehicle to Fordow. Same deal, but we will have plenty of time. Fordow is roughly 2 hours overland from Natanz. Assuming a clean infil, we will set up in the desert, scout it out after sunset, and then hit it early morning. Once that's done, detonate the charges and call for evac. Hopefully we will be back here in 48-60 hours, but I want everyone to bring 4 days worth of MRE's. We'll commandeer water from Natanz after we hit it, so bring extra canteens. I want everyone to have at least 12 magazines worth of 5.56, once that runs out we'll start scrounging 7.62 PACT and Klashnikovs. Any questions?"

King shook his head. "I think you covered everything man."

"Alright. Wheels up in 11 hours. Do whatever you gotta do, but be on the deck at 0:00 GMT."

—Line Break—

2 Hours to drop

Chaos team rode in silence in the back Humvee towards the airfield they were to leave from. Stepping out, they were greeted by the sleek black airframe of a B-2 Spirit, beneath which USAF technicians were working feverishly. A Colonel stepped up to them.

"Gentlemen, if you will follow me."

The teamed followed the Colonel into the hangar and sat down around the folding table inside.

"Gentlemen, I will be frank with you," the unnamed Colonel began. "This method of insertion is completely untested. Yet, despite this, we believe it will be successful."

Vlad spoke. "And exactly how will we be inserting?"

"The bomb bay on the Spirit of South Carolina had been modified to carry air canisters which you will be breathing from during the flight. Once over the target, the bombardier will signal a 2-minute warning, during which you will unstrap yourselves and wait for the bomb bay doors to open. Once they do, you will drop."

King exploded. "You have got to be bullshitting me. We are going to be flying in an unpressurized bomb bay?"

Before the Colonel could open his mouth, Jäger spoke. "Enough. It doesn't matter. Let's go."

—Line Break—

3 Minutes to Drop

Chaos team slowly stretched as much as they were able in the cramped confines of the South Carolina's bomb bay. The blaring alarm rang out, signaling two minutes to target. Chaos unstrapped, disconnecting themselves from the auxiliary oxygen tanks and activated their HALO oxygen systems. Beneath them, the bomb bay doors opened, and with a whispered line of Tennyson, Jäger dropped into the inky blackness of 40,000 feet. Chaos followed. In a tight diamond they fell, ensuring visual contact between each other. As their altitude alarms rang at 3,000 feet, Chaos popped their chutes one by one, Jäger doing so last, at 2,500 feet. As he did, however, something happened. As his body snapped upwards from the force of the deploying chute, a white light filled his vision, and his last thought before unconsciousness was that he and his men had failed.