To point, the day was pretty uneventful. The Star Fox and Star Wolf teams, now singly referred to as The Gamma Team, were given a tour of the whole facility by Grace. All of them were quite impressed by the quality of where they were staying. For military barracks, the place was excellent. But it became evident that they were not in military barracks per se. They were part of a branch higher than the standard military, handling much higher profile missions. The team could easily connect to the others staying in the facilities because they all seemed to be the mercenary type. While very few of them actually were mercenaries, if any at all besides themselves, none of them acted like a standard soldier.

The F.I.A. facility included a massive training area. It had everything ranging from multiple fully equipped gyms to a natatorium to sparring facilities. The place was enormous and it would surely take some time to become familiar with. There wasn't much in terms of leisure areas, but the food certainly was more than sufficient. Where most barracks would have a mess hall serving barely recognizable food items, this facility had a very extensive pantry with just about anything you could want.

Curious as to why there was a pantry instead of a cafeteria, Krystal asked, "Why a pantry instead of a cafeteria of some sort? Don't places like these normally prepare the food themselves?"

Grace answered, "Yes, but we like to operate a bit differently. As you all have surely seen, each room has a mini kitchen in it. We've come to discover that our personnel tend to prefer making their own meals rather than being told what they're going to eat. The cost really isn't too much higher, but it's a small price to pay for the higher morale of you guys."

Wolf said, "From my experience, the last thing you guys care about is morale. All you seem to be concerned with is results."

Grace nodded before saying, "You're right. But this facility houses the people who handle the matters most critical to national security. While results are what we care about the most, there always seems to be a correlation between morale and results. And seeing as how these missions are most critical to our nation, we prefer not to cut any corners."

Zoe said, "So I take it that's what the deal is with the television and stuff in our rooms too?"

Grace answered, "Exactly. That's why our facility is so top notch. We want to maximize the odds in our favor, so a facility liked this only seemed obvious."

The team understood. They were quite pleased to be staying in a place like this. It made it seem a lot less like they were forced to stay here because in all honesty, they preferred it. It certainly was nicer than either of their ships. Plus if they broke anything, they wouldn't have to pay to fix it.

After the team looked around the facility some more, they reconvened with Grace.

Their guide said, "Ok, you guys can explore the place more a bit later. But now we have to meet up with Creswell for a more detailed briefing on stage one of your mission. After that, you guys will head back to your ships in orbit to collect your things for the rest of your stay here. Follow me."

The team followed her back into the business wing of the building. They soon arrived back in the same room where they all met the day before. Creswell was already there with the projector on and ready. Grace exited and closed the door as the team took their seats around the large table.

Creswell said, "Good to see you again. Becoming acquainted to the facilities here I hope?"

Fox answered, "More or less. It's very nice here."

"Glad to hear it. We aim to keep our personnel happy. But right now, we need to get back to business. Like I said yesterday, the first stage of Operation Gamma will take place behind enemy lines in Northern Neotopia. Now, I'm going to go over exactly what you'll be doing during this phase of the mission."

He continued, "The first problem in this operation is getting behind the Northern Neotopian border. They completely shut off any and all travel in or out of the country many years ago, so we can't just walk in. So to get around that, we're going to drop you guys in. Southern Neotopia is directly beneath Northern Neoptopia, just like the name implies. We're on friendly terms with the South, so they've already agreed for us to use their airspace for this mission."

"Basically what's going to happen is you guys will all be in a single plane flying north above Southern Neotopia. Before the planes reach the border, you guys will dive from the planes together. The momentum will carry you over the border and into Northern Neotopia unnoticed, because they certainly don't have the radar technology to pick up objects as small as a person in airspace. The planes will turn away so that they won't be picked up from Northern Neotopia. If you all time it right, you should land together and be able to go from there. But this is going to take place at night to keep visibility to a minimum, so you're still going to have to be careful."

"We've had our physicists working the past few days to come up with a location to drop you from, and with what they've come up with, you should land within a mile of the facility housing the nuclear device. That facility is what I have here."

Creswell pushed a button on his remote and the schematic diagram of a building appeared on the screen. The scale showed it to be somewhat the size of a hangar, and built similarly. It had a large central room that led to two hallways at opposite corners and many other rooms along them.

Creswell continued, "This is the building where we've determined them to be housing the missiles. It's a reconverted hangar and only serves as a storage facility. They don't have the equipment to launch them from there, so we knew we're safe until the missiles are moved. This is where we're going to strike and take them out. The main hangar gate is too secure to be able to infiltrate from there, so we had to find another route." He pushed a button on his remote that shot a small red laser out of the end of it. He pointed the laser to a door on the lower left end of the schematic.

"We've concluded that this is the best place to enter the building. They only place guards inside the building around the missiles. They have no one outside or in any other part of the building. Apparently they think that no one knows about these missiles, and don't guard them all that heavily. Of course, the door is going to be locked and armed. So to get around that problem, we have this."

He hit the button again and now on the projector was a device that looked like an oversized wristwatch.

Creswell said, "This is what we like to call the Security Infiltration Device, or SID for short. It's specifically designed to disarm doors and open them. One of you will be wearing this with the device itself facing the underside of your wrist. When you approach the door, release the two prongs on the side and slip them into the doorframe. The SID releases a small charge that basically fries the circuits on any security system that senses the opening of the door. After that, you detach the device from the wristband and place it on the door with the two magnets on the back if it. Since the locks on these doors are computerized, the device works to decode them and open the door within a matter of seconds."

"We're going to place three of you outside the building to take care of anybody who might show up after we've infiltrated, just to make sure the whole thing goes without a hitch. One person will guard the door you enter, another will be at the door on the opposite side of the building, and a third will be outside the main hangar entrance. These are the only three ways into the building, so nobody will be able to go in our out without you knowing it. The rest of you will be inside the building taking care of the missiles."

"After you're in, you shouldn't face any form of security or any guards until you reach the main room. In here, we think there are generally anywhere between 5 and 8 guards at a time. Two of you will be armed with silenced sniper rifles to pick off the guards without causing any commotion. Once they're all taken care of, the two snipers will move to opposite corners of the room where the only hallways are and make sure no other guards show up. The third person will take care of the missiles totally unopposed."

"The way the missiles are going to be disarmed is actually more simple than any other part of this mission. LPD enhances the nuclear potential of their missiles with an enzyme that they synthesized that basically makes the uranium inside the core more reactive and unstable than it normally would be. But the enzyme has to be constantly added to the core or else the uranium will go back to its ground state and be completely inert. All you have to do is cut the cord that adds the enzyme to the core, and the missiles will lose all explosive potential. The active uranium will decay and will no longer be able to be used. The enzyme is kept within the missile itself in a tank that fuels the core for a few months. Because LPD is a public corporation, all their patents can be accessed by anybody anywhere, so we've acquired the blueprints for these missiles and found out that a bright yellow cord behind the main control panel is what feeds in the enzyme. Basically, you have to remove the control panel on each missile, cut the enzyme cord, and the missile will be totally deactivated until the cord is fixed. But because no one will be around to fix it, they'll go dead. But you have to be quick about it and get out of there right away. Once the uranium starts to decay, it'll release all kinds of radiation that'll do nothing good for you. Get in, and get out before you get radiation poisoning."

"But the exit is actually the riskiest part of this entire mission. You can't just walk out of the country due to Northern Neotopia's self-imposed border restrictions. So we had to get a bit creative with this exit strategy. We can't just go in and kill everybody in sight, pick you up, and be on our merry way. We have no reason to be in that country because we basically have no right to be destroying their missiles like this."

"Very recently we've been able to harness the technology that Lylat has had for years. We've finally discovered how to teleport inorganic matter from the planet's orbit back to the planet. We have already launched a small satellite carrier that is holding a stealth shuttle inside for you to use. When you contact back here that the missiles have been disarmed, we're going to beam down the shuttle and you'll use that to fly out. We'll send it into the field right outside the storage facility. But this is quite risky because radar technologies have been developed to the point that there's about a 50/50 chance of a stealth aircraft being picked up. This is the only way we can come up with you being able to safely exit the country. Two of you will be trained to pilot the ship before the mission and you'll use it to fly back into Southern Neotopia. There, we'll have people stationed to bring you back here to Dubinia We'll need a bit of luck for that part, but quite frankly, there's no other way of exiting the country undiscovered. So whoever is piloting the shuttle, don't take your time. Get the hell out of there as fast as you can so they won't have to time to shoot you down if they do find you."

The team felt uneasy about this. Even if the entire mission went as planned, there was basically a 50% chance of failure that was out of their control. But at least there was still a chance.

Wolf nodded, "Ok. I don't like that last part, but it sounds thorough enough. But who's going to be doing what?"

Creswell said, "We've already figured that out for you. We figure that Lombardi, Caluroso, and Snyder are the best choices to enter the building. Caluroso and Snyder are both naturally black, which only makes remaining hidden even easier. They will be the two snipers. Lombardi is going to be the one disarming the missiles, only because we heard that he really knows his way around a knife. Any simpleton can cut a plastic cord with a knife really, but we figure the extra practice can't hurt. Krystal is going to be wearing the SID and will be positioned at the door after it's opened. McCloud is going to guard the main hangar door and O'Donnell is going to stay at the door on the opposite of the first. We also picked Lombardi and O'Donnell to learn to pilot the shuttle, only because they are the two best pilots amongst you. Are there any problems with what I just said?"

There weren't. The choices seemed logical and the team was content with them.

Creswell nodded. "Good then. Your training begins tomorrow and we hope to have this mission underway in the next two weeks. The sooner this happens, the better. I'm sure I'll see you all before then, so take care until then."

With that Creswell exited the room leaving only the six members of the Gamma Team inside. Falco was the first to break the silence.

"Dude, why am I the one dealing with the nuclear shit? That really can't be safe cutting into a uranium-filled missile."

Panther answered, "Because he thinks you're the most annoying and would prefer you to get radiation poisoning over any of the rest of us."

Falco's temper started to flare. "Oh you dumb prick. I swear to god if you say another word to me…"

Wolf cut him off, "Lombardi, shut the fuck up." He turned to Panther, "You too, asshole. We talked about this already. If we want to get paid, we need to get along with these guys. If you start any more problems I swear to god I'm going to punch you so hard you won't even be able to start them."

Both Falco and Panther were silent. Neither of them were happy to be working with one another, but knew they had to learn to cooperate, especially since they'd be infiltrating the building together. Along with training, the next two weeks were going to have to see the two teams getting along together, or else the mission would never be able to happen successfully.


Fox hopped out of his Arwing along with Falco and Krystal in the docking bay of the Great Fox. The three had returned to the ship in order to collect their things and fill in Peppy and Slippy on the mission. As soon as they all exited the cockpits, the doors to the bay opened up. Peppy walked in to greet his team. Fox met his with a warm smile.

Peppy said, "Hey guys. How'd the briefing go?"

Fox was about to speak until Falco interrupted him. "We're working with fucking Star Wolf. I almost punched out Panther twice."

Peppy was quick to react. "Excuse me?"

Fox just sighed. "Listen, it's not as bad as it sounds. So long as Panther and birdbrain here get over themselves, we'll be fine. Wolf is being very civil about the whole thing and we're getting along just fine."

Peppy said, "What about Leon? I'm sure he and Falco aren't happy to see each other either."

Fox said, "Actually he's not on the team anymore. Apparently he went crazy or something and they have a new member."

"Not surprising. Who's that?"

"Avian girl by the name of Zoe. She's been with them for like a year or two now."

Peppy asked, "What's she like? Typical Star Wolf, marginally insane?"

Fox said, "Actually, I'm not even sure. Haven't talked to her all that much." The captain turned to Falco. "Falco, you're rooming with her. What's she like?"

Falco hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well…she's pretty…nice…"

Fox raised an eyebrow as he said, "Nice? You never describe anyone as nice."

Falco took up a defensive posture before saying, "What? I just think she's cool is all. Better than those other too jackasses on her team."

Fox was a bit confused with Falco's reaction. He said, "You like her, don't you?"

Falco was taken aback. "What?! No! She's hot, alright? She used to be a supermodel, dude. Of course I'm attracted to her at least a little"

"So you do like her."

"Not like that. Once we start working together I'm sure I'll get over it. She's a merc, and I've never met a female mercenary that I liked."

Krystal chimed in, "Umm…hey. I'm right here."

Falco said, "And?"

An awkward silence followed. Krystal hadn't worked with Falco long enough to see his good side, so she was still convinced that he was an arrogant ass. They didn't exactly get along as well as they could.

After a while, Peppy said, "Ok then. Now that you've all managed to piss each other off for today, go ahead and fill me in on the mission."

While Fox started filling Peppy in on exactly what they would be doing, Falco zoned out into his own thoughts.

Do I really like Zoe? I can't. I mean, we just met. There's no way I'm attracted to her already. She's smoking hot, that's for sure. I just like to look at her. Wow, that was pretty contradictory. Way to go. I doubt anything serious will get started though. Besides, she's probably convinced that I'm an ass already. So even if I wanted something to happen, it probably wouldn't. Whatever. She seems cool enough so hopefully we'll get along. But I have to say, if she seems interested in me, I'm not going to complain…