A/N: For positioning sake: This is 494 and 511's first mission together. It is the one referred to in LAtR, and is known popularly as 'the Lola Mission'. It takes place a year or more before SaS.
A/N2: I've started up an original fiction board. We're looking for readers and for authors, especially folks who like to review. Check us out at cwp.suddenlaunch2.com.
Seek and Destroy
- Infie
The Manticore Mission Files : # X5494511-203198
Theatre: Kazakhstan
Code Name: Crisis Mode
Assignments
External Assets:
Internal Assets: X5-'494, X5-'511
Objective: Seek and Destroy
Primary Target: Sabih al-Nassan (see attached dossier)
Level of Threat: HIGH
Mission Abstract
Proceed to Astana. Make contact with suspected arms dealer al-Nassan (see attached Dossier). Verify possession of laser-guidance bio-weaponry delivery systems. Destroy all weapons caches. Retrieve prototype.
al-Nassan is heavily armed, and his residences are powerfully defended. A frontal assault is strongly contra-indicated.
Signature, Commanding Officer: Lydecker, Donald, Colonel
511 closed the folder. His eyes were narrowed in thought.
"Did you have a question, 511?" Lydecker's voice made it clear that he didn't want to hear it if he did.
"Yes, sir. Why 494? He's a solo specialist. I don't..."
"I am aware of 494's skill set." Lydecker's voice grew even colder. "And, he has been assigned as your partner for this mission."
511 smoothed his face into expressionlessness. "Yes, sir!"
Lydecker rose from behind his desk and crossed to 511's side, staring at the dark-haired transgenic's profile intently. "This will be your first mission with 494?"
511's eyes flickered. "This will be our first away mission, sir."
"Ah, yes." Lydecker nodded in mock surprise. "494 was a member of your unit, wasn't he?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good." Lydecker stepped away, missing the dark look 511 shot him. "Then you've had experience working together." He sat back down behind his desk and picked up a stack of papers. "Dismissed."
511 turned on his heel and made for the door. He turned as he reached it. "Sir?"
"Yes, 511?" Lydecker asked impatiently.
"Isn't 494 in the field right now?"
"We've accelerated his timeframe. He'll be back in time to make your flight to Oral." Lydecker's eyebrows rose. "Anything else I can help you with?"
"No, sir." 511 flushed at the sarcasm in the colonel's tone. He left.
Lydecker heaved a sigh, then rubbed his forehead and picked up his phone. "Yeah," he said as the other end picked up. "Where is 494?" He waited for the answer, then gave a grim smile. "Call him in." There was a startled noise from the far side. "Yes, NOW." He hung up.
494 slid himself through the window with a grace that pointed to the feline in his genetic heritage. There was the faintest scraping sound as his heel caught the edge of the windowpane, and he froze.
Silence.
He breathed a soundless sigh of relief, then finished drawing his leg through the window. Kneeling carefully, he drew out a small black cannister and sprayed the hallway with a fine mist. No refraction. Good. He stalked smoothly down the hall, testing each step for sensor plates. There were none. Excellent.
He found the door of the target room quickly, and checked the jamb for telltales or alarm wires. There were two wires, and he quickly and efficiently disabled them, then carefully turned the knob, alert for any form of resistance that would indicate a pressure plate. There was none. He eased the door open a fraction, then checked the inside of the jamb for other wires. There was a thin copper contact just above the strike plate, and 494 shook his head. If the contact had been on the hinged side of the door, the alarm would have been tripped already.
He snipped the lead, and pushed the door open another inch. Now there was a single additional wire. He clamped and bridged it, then slid silently through the opening.
His target... His paranoid target lay sleeping heavily on his bed. 494 let his eyes sweep the room for additional potential alarm sources, but found none that might impede his path to the bed. He drew his silenced Glock from the felt-lined holster in the small of his back, and approached the mark with gliding, soundless steps. He stopped at the side of the bed and stared intently at the target, making sure he had the right one before taking the shot. He concentrated his hearing, listening for movement nearby, potential threats that could compromise him. He heard sonorous breathing elsewhere in the house, a guard cough a floor away, and various people shuffling and moving throughout the premises. None were close enough to be an issue. He locked on his mark's heartbeat, and levelled the Glock, narrowed his focus, tensed his finger on the trigger...
The squeal of electronic feedback as his earpiece activated pierced both his concentration and his brain. 494 gave an inarticulate groan as the sound ripped through his ultra-sensitive hearing, curling involuntarily against the pain. The mark sat bolt-upright in bed, staring at him in shock, and even as 494 brought the gun back to bear, the mark struck at him, knocking the gun away and shouting incoherently for the guards. 494 compressed his lips and punched him, but the man moved to hit the panic button, and he only managed a glancing blow.
{Fuck!}
494 drew his knife from a calf sheath, flipping it into his left hand with a motion too quick to see. He pounced on the target, and in a swift motion wrapped the blanket around him to pin his arms against his sides. He threw the man flat on his stomach, then straddled him and clamped his knees against the mark's elbows to hold him still. He grabbed the target's hair in his right hand and pushed it forward, drawing the knife across his throat in a quick rip from behind. A rasping gurgle confirmed his success, and 494 gave a feral grin.
The door exploded open behind him, and bullets rained across the room as the guards took one look at the spreading red stain on the bed and opened fire. 494 dove off the other side, using the mattress as cover. He grunted as he hit the floor more heavily than he had intended. He looked around wildly, hoping to identify an exit before one of the guards figured out that there was a space under the bed to fire through. A black hole appeared in the wall in front of him, telling him that at least one of the guards was on the ball. He scanned again, more carefully this time. Nope. No exit.
Shit. He was going to have to go through them.
His earpiece sparked to life again. [494. You are being recalled. Please proceed to base immediately.]
"Not. NOW." 494 growled. Obediently, the earpiece went dead, and 494 pulled himself into a crouch, then turned to face the bed as more holes peppered the wall. He gathered himself, then sprang over the bed, knocking two guards to the ground as he landed just inside the door. Without even pausing, he blurred full force into the remaining guards blocking the door, tossing them aside. One flailing leg caught his foot and he fell into a roll, coming up against the hallway wall with a grunt. An instant later he was on his feet and sprinting for the window. He heard the click of a hammer and flattened himself into a dive, shattering through the glass in a burst of glittering shards and gunfire.
494 tucked into a somersault in the air, then stretched out to land on his feet in the springy grass of the lawn. He dropped to one knee with the impact, then was off again at a dead run as the lights of the house came up and the guards reached the broken second floor window and opened fire. He was over the wall of the compound and onto his waiting motorcycle in a rush. He paused long enough to take the earpiece out, giving it a long, fulminating glare before crushing under his heel and roaring into the night.
494 took a deep breath before entering Colonel Lydecker's office for debriefing, trying to regain control of his temper. His fingers clenched on the doorknob, and he gritted his teeth as he stared at the letters of the nameplate. After a long moment, he blinked, and his face smoothed into impassive lines. He opened the door, and came to attention.
"Sir. X5-494 reporting as ordered."
"Come in." Lydecker's voice was just as expressionless as 494's.
"Yes, sir." 494 stepped inside, closing the door behind him before returning to attention. Lydecker rose from his seat behind his desk and began circling the younger man.
"Report."
"I entered the domicile on time. I circumvented several security measures, and proceeded to the location of the target." 494's eyes were fixed on a point on the wall, and didn't waver as the colonel continued to pace around him. "I verified the identity of the target, and I was about to fire when I was squelched, sir." A fine thread of anger coloured his voice, and Lydecker pursed his lips in disapproval. "The target was alerted, and I was forced to take alternative measures."
"Loud measures, 494. Messy measures." Lydecker told him scathingly. "On a mission that was identified as a silent op. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"The mission was successful, sir." 494's face tightened with resentment.
"The mission failed, 494. You alerted the guards, and you left behind evidence. The fact that the target was elminated is secondary." 494 shot him a sideways glance that Lydecker caught. "Eyes front, soldier!" 494 straightened as Lydecker continued. "A mission that is not completed in all respects is a mission that is not completed. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir." A muscle moved in 494's jaw.
"So, son, what have you learned from this?" The colonel raised his chin and tilted his head arrogantly, condescension in his tone.
{Leave the fucking earpiece at home.} 494 remained silent, but his eyes heated. Lydecker's lips twitched.
"If you aren't wearing anything that will make noise, they won't hear you." Lydecker told him pointedly. He walked to his desk and picked up a blue mission folder, then turned and slapped it into 494's chest. "Here's your next mission. You're heading out in three hours." He paused, glared up into 494's angry eyes. "Next time, leave the fucking earpiece at home."
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