Chapter 1: Ground Zero

Location: Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan

11:42pm...

A full moon hung in the night sky as a Mikoyan MiG-29 – armed to the teeth descended from the sky, landing within a small, understaffed military base. 007 was hiding within the shadows, dressed in the attire of one guards he had neutralized as he waited for the trade off to take places.

"Landing zone is clear for arrival," the pilot reported.

The sound of rotor-blades filled the air as a single helicopter passed overhead and landed within the courtyard, not far away from a military jeep.

"007, intelligence reports that a nuclear suitcase bomb stolen from the ex-soviet stockpile, has surfaced in Southern Tajikistan. Unfortunately it's about to change hands, the wrong hands. We cannot allow this to occur. Recover the bomb and bring it back," M ordered, speaking through his earpiece.

He watched as a spectacled man dressed in a suit, with a brown fedora and an overcoat disembarked from the aircraft. Fedora was followed by a redheaded woman dressed in a tight-fitting black cat suit and carrying a suitcase with her and several armed guards. They looked nothing like the terrorist that headquarters made out to be, then again it wasn't as if they'd announce their intentions. A general-type figure was waiting for them, backed by several soldiers that he had chosen to disguise himself as. The woman opened the suitcase, revealing a large amount of currency packed inside, though it was impossible to tell what type of currency it was.

"One hundred million as we agreed," the man said with a gravelly voice, "you have the device?"

"Of course," the General answered with a wave of his arm.

Another of the soldiers appeared with a suitcase revealing a canister-like device with two small cylinders next to it, packed in black Styrofoam.

"Well. What we have here," Bond murmured, gazing at the device through the scope of his sniper rifle

"It's confirmed 007, that's the device. A Soviet PU239 with 12 kiloton yield. You are authorized to use all means necessary to retrieve that case," M said.

"Understood," 007 acknowledged.

Bond swung his sniper rifle across the courtyard, scanning for something that could be used as a distraction and spotted a rack of missiles. He carefully adjusted the scope of the sniper rifle and zoomed in on the very tip of the warhead and quickly fired so as to derail the exchange. The warhead exploded in a brilliant fireball and set off a chain-reaction that detonated the other missiles. One of the terrorist had the unfortunate luck of being close to the exploding missile and was hurled across the courtyard.

"IT'S A TRAP! KILL THEM!" the Fedora wearing terrorist ordered.

A firefight erupted between the two opposing groups as Bond ditched the sniper rifle and raced across the courtyard, taking cover behind a pillar. He pulled the scarf down from around his face, allowing it to hang loosely around his neck as he un-slung the SIG 552 assault rifle from off his back. The terrorists and the soldiers had done him the favor of eliminating one another, and all he had to do was step out from behind cover and mow down the survivors. The suitcase nuke was dropped by the soldier holding it after taking three bullets to the chest and was knocked across the cobblestones in the chaos.

"This is SAS evac, eta 60 seconds," he heard a voice speak into his earpiece.

Bond leapt over the railing and took cover behind several weapon crates as more soldiers began pouring from the adjacent buildings. He emerged from cover and fired a burst from his weapon, cutting down a nearby solider as he made a race for the briefcase. The MiG took off, firing several of it payload of missiles in a random fashion, forcing Bond to dive for cover as he watched it disappear over one of the buildings. He picked himself up off the ground and quickly raced over to the nuclear device and quickly fastened it to his belt. The sound of a pair of sliding doors caught his attention as he looked up to see a soldier armed with a rocket launcher step out onto the balcony above him. The soldier must've pulled the trigger by accident as a rocket leapt from the launcher, slamming into the ground near a doorway where another of his comrade-in-arms was exiting, killing him instantly. Bond fired at the rocket-welding solider and made a break for the door that would take him up to the balcony. Another soldier was coming down the stairs when Bond slammed into him, hitting him with a right hook, driving his knee into his chest before smashing his head first into the concrete wall. He slumped to the ground unconscious as Bond proceeded up the stairs where he found several AT-420 rocket launchers stored on racks. He watched as the MiG made a reappearance and quickly snatched one of the launchers and raced into a adjacent room, taking cover behind a wall. The SAS pilot was screaming something through his earpiece, but it was impossible to make out over the sound of the aircraft's machineguns. Bullets shattered glass and embedded themselves in the concrete as he peered out from cover. 007 quickly fired a rocket that slammed into the MiG, sending fire washing across its surface before firing on him again. He ducked back behind cover and loaded another rocket, waiting for the MiG to either stop firing on him or overheat its weapons before taking another shot. The rocket once again leapt from the launcher and collided with the MiG, black smoke pouring from it as it retreated. Bond was about to leap down to the ground below when he watched as a BTR suddenly rose out of the ground atop a freight elevator, while another swerved to a stop in the courtyard. Bond shouldered the AT-420 and fired a rocket at the closest BTR, sending pieces of burning shrapnel flying across the courtyard. Bond swung the weapon in the direction of the second BTR after reloading and launched another rocket, ending its threat. He leapt down from the balcony and went into a roll, taking cover behind a low wall as he upholstered a MP5K compact submachine gun from his thigh. Few soldiers remained and Bond easily mowed them down with the weapon, clearing a path to a hole that the MiG had blown into one of the walls. His leg muscles were burning as he raced across the courtyard; the need to reach the extraction point before reinforcements arrived becoming overwhelming as the MiG returned to harass him. The aircraft bobbed and weaved out of control before falling out of the sky. Bond dove through the hole as it crashed: the resulting fireball lighting up the night sky as he picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. He checked to ensure that he was still in possession of the 'package' as the sound of helicopter blades filed the air. A single, black painted Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma descended from the sky, landing outside the military base. Bond raced over to the transport and climbed into the hold.

"Welcome aboard, Commander Bond," the pilot greeted.