Groom Lake, it was home to the famous Area 51 and only 5 miles from James Anderson's current location. Only a fool would have walked 30 miles and risk the intruder inside the base getting away, so he took a well-placed motorbike and using the highways continued his mission via ground. The night sky harbored no moon, making the mission just that much easier and making James' insertion only that much easier, not that he was going to have an easy time to begin with because the base was not only filled to the brim with armed guards trained to 'kill first ask later' but they were most likely sporting very powerful thermal or night vision goggles, though they couldn't compare to the Trifocal Dual Goggles James was currently wearing on his head, able to switch between both Night Vision and Thermal Vision in less than a second.

Less than a mile, the rest would be on foot and he assumed there were a dozen or so guards just around the perimeter of the base itself, let alone hundreds actually inside. He reached a safe spot where he assumed he would not be spotted, he radioed Lambert,

"I'm probably about 30 yards from the property line hiding behind a large boulder. Any advice?" Already he trained himself to use that Sub-Vocal Transceiver pretty well, because he had no trouble communicating silently.

"None at all, there's no clear way in, Anderson, you'd have just as much luck running in blindly as you would through stealth." Lambert replied, he was safely housed over 50 miles away in the V-22 Osprey where the team was gathered. A female voice chimed in,

"I'm Anna Grimsdóttir, I'll be the Technical Operations Supervisor for this mission."

"Normally," Lambert chimed in, "We'd have assigned someone else for your missions but because of the severity of the mission we need the best."

"If you need the best why send me? I'm sure you have other Splinter Cells." James replied, grimly beginning to accept how high the rate of failure was.

"Because our golden boy is busy attending other things right now. We'll be split between you and another Splinter Cell so don't panic if we go offline for a few moments."

"I've been studying satellite images from the past several years," Anna chimed, "The base hasn't changed much. In the center is a large lake called 'Groom Lake', that would obviously be a good choice for entering, but there seems no way to access the lake through any channels or streams, so land is your only option. I'll be attempting to navigate the base's computer system to provide additional support, preventing alarms and seeing you on camera."

"Gee, I feel better already." James retorted sarcastically, a nasty habit he'd always had.

"You have 4 hours until Dawn, if you cannot make it out in that time you will be stuck inside the base until nightfall, you do not have room to wait. Good luck, James, we'll be monitoring you and contacting you as needed...and remember, no kills." Lambert and Anna went silent, leaving James to sigh heavily and turn his body to peer out from the top of the boulder.

Using his night vision he saw no signs of life on the nearby hill, but he caught wind of a sign which warned that photography was prohibited and they were allowed to shoot on site if you passed the sign, which didn't ease him at all. With a small sigh he dashed out from behind the boulder and headed towards the sign, his night vision left him with a keen sight ahead of him. Once the sign had been reached James lowered his body to the ground and began to crawl along the ground, a technique which would minimize his visibility even more than it already was. He stopped for a brief second and uncovered part of his suit's right arm to reveal the OPSAT's dimly glowing screen, he placed his left thumb on the screen where it read his print and acknowledged him as a primary user. It was a security feature to ensure it wasn't usable by anyone but authorized personnel. A few keystrokes with his left hand showed him he was 99.3 percent invisible to the naked eye, the remaining .7 percent coming from the base just over the hill.

Once the OPSAT had been secured and hidden in his suit's right arm again, he continued his crawl until he reached the top of the hill, what he saw turned his stomach into knots. Dozens of patrolling guards with M4s, though not one seemed to have any sort of NV or Thermal gear on, but there were plenty of spotlights to illuminate James if he couldn't make it fast enough down the hill. The base itself was monsterous in size and would be difficult to navigate, it was surrounded on all sides by a large 18 foot tall barbed wire and possibly electric fence except for the part of the base touching Groom Lake. James could see a fairly long runway penetrating about 1/3rd of the Lake's surface inward towards the center. Various buildings and gates were also protecting the inner workings of the base, James barely had the patience to take it all in, after all he didn't care how it looked outward, it was inward that counted.

Each guard was patrolling a certain section, many paths crossed and had James had a sense of humor at the moment he would probably call this some sort of video game by the way they moved in their set paths. He moved from his crawling position into a crouched position, that position put strain on his legs though the muscles he had built up would allow him to hold that position and even move with it for hours. He started his trek forward in the crouched position, leaving the NV on for the duration of the outward journey. His main concern was the spotlights running everywhere on the outside of the base, avoiding those would be difficult if he didn't move fast enough, though too fast would make too much noise and with the lack of even crickets, it would be noticeable. His right arm kept a steady hand on the bottom holster for the SC Pistol mainly out of habit, though once he passed the searchlights he let himself relax while he moved to a spot out of the way of the lights and guards, he wasn't touching the fence but he was within several feet of it.

"Careful James, the fence is hot." Lambert warned, "We're not here to watch you become the next item on the McDonalds menu."

"Cute. Has anyone ever told you that your attempt at humor is fleeting at best?" James asked curiously.

"Not in so many words." Lambert replied, "That was the easy part. Getting inside is harder."

"The gates are timed to open at certain intervals or by direct communication with the inside command center. The gates are also monitored and by getting near them you risk being seen on camera." Anna explained, "Therefore, I've determined an alternate route...if you're interested."

"Sure, I'll take alternate over suicidal anyday."

"The lake. The lake has filters which are routed inside the base to a water filtration center, but you'll be swimming for a long period of time and you don't have any way to breathe underwater."

"I'll take it. Explain how it works, I'll start making my way over there."

James listened to Anna's explanation of the alternate route as he made the relatively safe journey around the gates to the edge of the lake.

"First, the lake is patrolled by armed guards, it's also monitored for changes in temperature in a certain spot, remain in one place too long and you'll alert the guards, but using your suit you can regulate your temperature to that of the lake, keeping you clean for a limited time at the risk of getting cold. Once inside the water you'll need to keep just below the surface only coming up for air periodically as you hug the base's underwater wall. It'll lead to a large grate where you'll have to enter to make it into the filtration process. The process begins by flowing water through several filters, these filters will have to be removed quickly and will alert the guards eventually, though we doubt they'll find out by time you leave." Anna's explanation of the process was detailed but short, much to James' preference.

"Three filters, once you pass the final filter you'll be swept away for several seconds until you are dumped into a large tank where the water is filtered by a fourth process, that process takes a large guarded blade and spins the water into a funnel shape, going through the final filtration to prevent anything missed by the first three filtration units. You don't want to know what'll happen if you get sucked into the funnel."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. So it's relatively simple then? Nothing too dangerous?"

"One slight problem with that method." Lambert told him, "We've projected that with the water speed and time it'll take to remove the filters, to the time you can actually come up for air in the large water tank which, I might add, is covered, around 8 minutes will pass."

"Hold on. You said the tank is covered."

"It is, but according to Anna's data the tank is accessible from the outside, so we can assume you can leave the tank from the inside via a hatch on the top, and if we know anything about how water works, there will be just enough air inside the tank for you to breathe in before you open the door."

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"We hope not."

"Okay, I'm going to it." James went silent as he slowly and stealthfully creeped into the water and around the underwater wall Anna was talking about. His suit was being changed in temperature to match the water, which was about 23 degrees Fahrenheit and would last that way until he was out of the water once more. He swam along the wall's edge and came up for air when it was needed, James counted he needed air every 7 minutes as long as he had a full breath of air before he went back under, though he would feel woozy upon reaching the gate.

James remained floating for a few moments to catch his full breath, then with a big lungful of air he dived to the filtration gate, he grabbed onto the bars with his hands and using his feet pushed off the cement hard enough to break a screw and open it enough to swim inside. He was being pulled slightly through the first filtration gate, at a minute and a half so far he was doing good. He took a few moments to realize he could shoot the gate with his pistol while underwater, it would be just enough, with an accurate shot, to break the bolts holding the gate and allow him access. 3 minutes, he was losing ground and he was feeling the effects of breathing. The second gate he blew past with his technique, but on the third gate at 5 minutes in his gun jammed, it wasn't designed to fire underwater and though worked well through the first and second gate, the lack of underwater capabilities caught up to the pistol. Realizing he couldn't use the gun he holstered it and began to kick at the bolts. He kicked two loose though he was already at 6 minutes in. He kicked another bolt loose with a lot of effort and crawled through the gate. 6 minutes 25 seconds he was feeling the effects of a blackout.

The heavy current now rode him through the twists and turns of the filtration ducts, and blackout was imminent because he was now at his 7 minute mark, he could barely breathe, each second made him feel as though his lungs were going to burst, his vision was darkening heavily and he could barely see. Luck had it and he was in the tank, he had felt himself surface but unable to breathe, he reached out for a latch or something and when he found one he pulled himself with what strength was left and once he surfaced he gasped loudly to get his breath. He held onto the latch with all his might to regain his sight and breath. After 3 minutes of regular breathing he was okay again, and he found himself inside the large filtration tank where the funnel suction was trying to suck him through the fan, but his grip kept him safe. Inside the tank it was dark, only a single circular window showed light from a large room, he was safely inside Area 51.

James realized the hatch had a hand wheel which opened it, all he needed to do was turn it and push hard enough to open it, he spotted a handle which was fused to the metal tank, he assumed that would be used to keep him above water while pushing the hatch. He grabbed onto the handle and used his other hand to turn the hand wheel, he heard a familiar and satisfying click then pushed the hatch open, using both hands now he pulled himself up to see inside the room, but it was clear and he was in no danger. He pushed the hatch open completely, then pulled himself out of the tank; he shut the hatch to prevent suspicion from any entering guards, then radioed Lambert.

"I'm in, I made it into the Water Filtration Room." James spoke, hiding behind the tank where he was opposite the only door in the room.

"Good, we were worried for a moment there. We don't have any specs on the inside of the base, and for this mission we don't need it. All you need to do is find the Intruder and capture him or her."

"And how do I make it out with the intruder?"

"The same way you came in, only you'll stop the fan and let the current take you back out to the lake. It's a continuous cleaning cycle so you'll find yourself back out on Groom Lake, and the rest you already know."

"Alright, any information on the intruder?"

"None we haven't already told you. But it's possible the intruder is a Rogue Splinter Cell from Third Echelon, though that scenario is unlikely."

"And the better scenario is Alternative Government Splinter Cell?"

"Another government creating a Splinter Cell organization is not far fetched. Just find him and bring him to the extraction point." Lambert went silent.

Area 51, no better feeling than having made it inside the world's most secretive Military Base, and no better feeling than knowing you did it rather easily without being spotted. James' only objectives were to find the Intruder and escape with him or her to the extraction point. If only everything was as easy as it sounded.