Merlin Protocol
Chapter 7: Fubar
Nute
AN: Well I know it has been a while but I'm finally back with a new chapter, I hope you enjoy it and as always please leave a review to let me know what you think.
"3…2…1," when the countdown reached zero Henry felt the familiar tug of a portkey as he and the rest of his squad were taken to the site of their next operation. Feeling the ground come beneath his feet again Henry noticed that the night was dark and the air still in the empty port, undisturbed by the flurry of activity present during operating hours. After checking his sector for any enemies, Henry turned to his squad for their next move.
"Okay our position is two building north, we're gonna move through this alley to get into position and wait for the other squads. Now let's move out and maintain light and noise discipline." As Connor finished speaking, he motioned for Frank to take the lead and the group moved efficiently through the alley before coming to their designated position for the ambush. Stacking up against the wall they positioned themselves around the corner from the clearing were they believed the Death Eaters would appear. "Kilo 1 in position," Connor spoke into the radio as they waited for the other squads to take their positions on the other corners and the roofs overlooking the clearing.
"Kilo 2 in position."
"Bravo 1 in position."
"Kilo 3 in position," the radio calls continued to crackle through Henry's earpiece until all squads were in their positions and awaiting orders.
"Control this is Kilo 1-1 as teams are set and we are awaiting green light."
"Rodger that Kilo 1-1 mission is a go, remember the higher ups want prisoners but use your discretion. The ball is in your court," the voice of the Major responded through the radio. Connor turned back to his squad signaling them to get ready before getting back on the radio.
"You heard the man mission is a go, we are five minutes from their supposed arrival time. Kilo 3 are the wards up?"
"Rodger, Weasley just finished putting up anti-apparition and has the anti-portkey ready to go when they get here."
"Good Bravo 1 and 2 I want you ready with over watch, if this goes bad I want you to provide cover so we can establish defensive positions."
"Rodger that."
"Everyone else buckle up this is an entirely new type of enemy you will be facing so stay sharp and remember your training. Two minutes we go on two clicks." With that, the radio became silent as Henry and the rest of his team waited in the darkness. The seconds ticked by with an agonizing slowness as Henry felt his mind think back to earlier when his squad had left headquarters for Hereford.
################################################## ##
Henry shouldered his pack as he looked around the room he was staying in at Sirius's family home and the new headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. He was glad to have a room to himself again even if it wasn't as nice as the one he lived in back home, but that's what almost 20 years of neglect will do to a place. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door that he opened with a motion of his hand, seeing Ginny standing there he could not help but smile. Gesturing for her to come in he closed the door behind her, "Hey, how are you?" he asked her.
"Good, not a big fan of this house though," she said with a laugh.
"Trust me you're not alone there," Henry said laughing with her.
"So you're about to leave?"
"Yea, time to go to work," Henry said with a crooked smile.
"Please be safe," Ginny said as Henry noticed how worried she was beginning to look. "I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Don't worry everything will be fine, this is what I've been training for my entire life and my team is the best there is," he said as he moved to her and opened his arms for a hug that Ginny quickly accepted.
"Promise?" her words were muffled as she spoke into his chest. Henry looked down at the girl in his arms and spoke.
"I promise." They stood there for a few moments longer before they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Stepping away from each other Henry opened the door to find Jake ready to go.
"C'mon Henry time to go," Henry looked at Ginny one more time before moving to Jake as they began to head down the stairs. As Henry walked down the stairs he heard Jake stop and lean back into the room to say, "Oh and Ms. Weasley we will be discussing what you and young Henry were doing in there with the door closed, nothing scandalous I hope." Henry could not help but smile at his friend while he continued down the stairs.
##################################################
Henry was broken out of his musing by the call of, "30 seconds" over the radio. Shaking his head to get his bearings back, he brought his focus back to the present, cursing his lapse in discipline. After a few moments, Henry heard the sound of a portkey depositing people into the clearing they were staged around. Hearing people begin to move around, a voice called out.
"Schnell haben wir nicht viel Zeit, "Henry heard the foreign accent and got ready for things to kick off.
"Click…click," the sound over the radio spurred Henry and his team into action as they rushed around the corner and drew their weapons. Spreading out into a line as the other teams came from the surrounding buildings they quickly surrounded the group of 10 Death Eaters the portkey had brought.
"Put your hands up! We have you surrounded."
"Drop your wands!"
"Let me see your hands!" The voices of the SAS rang into the air as they rushed the enemy. The Death Eaters stood their ground but didn't reach for their wands, the leader stepped forth and motioned that he wanted to speak as the voices died down.
"That is no way to treat guests in your country is it?" the man spoke in a thick German accent.
"Raise your hands or we will open fire on you, we have you surrounded." Connor yelled to the man.
"Ah but that is where you are wrong," as the man finished speaking Henry could hear the pops of apparition in the distance.
"Sir, Kilo 3-1, we have hostiles appearing beyond the wards and moving towards us from all directions." As the voice spoke over the radio Henry saw the Death Eaters begin to reach for their wands.
"Waste them, fall back to Bravo 1's position." Henry let loose a spray of bullets as his teammates followed suit while the other teams fell back. Henry continued firing after his first target dropped, the initial barrage of bullets trimmed the enemy to three before they were able to maintain shields. "Fall back, fire and move." Henry and Jake continued to fire at the remaining enemies as Frank and Connor moved to the building behind them before turning around and firing at the enemies.
"Move!" Jake yelled to Henry as they both began to fall back, moving through the doors of the building they broke out the windows and began covering Frank and Connor as the made it into the building.
"Kilo 3-1 we need those wards down now." Connor voice rang in Henry's ear as he dropped the enemies down to two.
"Sir Weasley says it will be at least 5 minutes." Henry heard Connor swear behind him before replying.
"We need to hold this position until the wards are down. Control this is Kilo 1-1 mission is fubar, we have an unknown number of enemy hostiles converging on our position and are unable to exfil copy."
"Copy that Kilo 1-1 you have to hold that position until exfil is available; we have little birds on standby 60 seconds out ready for tasking." As Henry was hearing the major speak over the radio, he began to notice figures dressed in black coming from the alleys across the clearing from them.
"Rodger that," Connor spoke before Henry interrupted him.
"Hostiles coming from the north," Henry yelled as he began to fire at the enemy who took cover and returned fire. Curses began to hit the building forcing Henry to take cover as he reloaded his weapon.
"This is Kilo 2-1; we have hostiles attempting to breach the rear of the building."
"Kilo 3 move to support Kilo 2 in the back, everyone else focus fire on the alleys across the way and order members shield the building so we don't get buried." Henry popped up to engage the enemy after reloading to find the enemy advancing under shields while others sent curses at the soldiers. Looking down the sights of his weapon he aimed for a small gap that had become visible between two shields, he waited until an enemy moved into the gap before firing three shots that quickly dropped the target. After dropping his target he let loose a spray of bullets to suppress the advancing enemy before ducking down to reload again.
"This is Kilo 3-1 the building has been breached and we have men down, we are falling back to the second floor with Kilo 2, copy"
"Copy that all squads fall back to the second floor and cover all entrances. Control we need those little birds now." Connor spoke into the radio as he rushed to the stairs with Frank as Henry and Jake covered them. "Move," Connor yelled as he and Frank covered them. Henry made his way up the stairs with the rest of the team following. Coming to the top of the stairs Henry saw the rest of the teams taking positions and trading fire with the enemy down the back stairway. As Frank and Connor moved to the window, passing Order members busy casting shields on the building, Henry took a position at the top of the stairs with Jake opposite him as they trained their weapons at the base of the staircase.
"Rodger Kilo 1-1, Hunter 1 and 2 are inbound for a pass ready for your direction."
"Hunter 1 and 2 we need you to make a pass of the clearing in front of our position to eliminate all-"the end of Connor's transmission was drowned out by the sound of the door to the bottom floor being blasted off its hinges. Henry looked over and made eye contact with Jake before he flashed him a series of signals. Receiving a nod in response both Henry and Jake withdrew a grenade and pulled the pin, after a moment of waiting they tossed the grenades down the stairs where they could hear the sound of people rushing into the building. Another moment later the building was rocked by the explosion of the grenades, soon replaced by the sounds of moans from the bottom of the stairs and gunfire as the soldiers fought the advancing Death Eaters.
"Man down!" a voice called out causing Henry to turn around to see men dragging the fallen soldier to cover before beginning to work on him. Henry was broken out of his distraction by a cutting curse that hit him in the arm causing him to fall to the floor. Cursing himself Henry got up and made sure his wound wasn't too serious. Stepping back into the stairway Henry raise his rifle and continued to fire at the temporarily halted enemy.
"Peters, ammo!" Henry heard Frank yell from the window, turning around he threw a magazine from his vest to Frank who reloaded and continued to fire. Turning back to the stairs Henry saw the Death Eaters about a third of the way up, ducking back as a curse hit the wall in front of him he felt the sting of shrapnel attacking his exposed skin.
"How long on those wards!" Connor yelled over the noise to Bill Weasley who was frantically moving his wand and muttering under his breath.
"60 seconds," Bill shouted while continuing to wave his wand. Henry turned back to the stairway firing a burst of bullets that dropped two enemies but he was forced to duck a jet of green light that rushed his way.
"Shit," he muttered under his breath before leaning back out and retuning fire as the Death Eaters continued to make their way up the stairs.
"Need help over here," Henry heard a voice call from behind him. Looking to Jake and receiving a nod Henry rushed to the source of the call to find the soldiers taking cover from a volley of spells coming up the stair way. Casting a shield over the stair Henry signaled the men to draw grenades, when the men were ready Henry lowered his shield and they threw the grenades down the stairs. After the resulting explosion, Henry moved to the top of the stair and began to fire. Dropping another target Henry began to hear the familiar sound of helicopters in the distance. As the helicopters got closer, Henry continued to fire down the stairs as he saw another soldier go down by the window.
"Kilo 1-1 this is Hunter 1 we are inbound hot for gun run," as the voice in the radio went silent it was replaced by the overwhelming sound of the helicopters unleashing a deadly barrage of bullets on their targets. His joy was short lived as the sound of the Death Eaters already in the building rushing the stairs reached his ears. Continuing to fire Henry saw a jet of green rush up the stairs and he tried to yell out but his voice caught in his throat as the spell hit the man next to him causing the soldier to fall to the floor. Henry watched the man fall before returning fire as he felt an overwhelming sense of rage fill him, continuing to fire until his ammo was spent Henry dropped his rifle and drew his wand. Stepping out into the stairway Henry began to send his own jets of green down the stairs ripping through the shields that were protecting the Death Eaters from the bullets.
"The wards are down, let's get out of here," the voice of Bill Weasley rang out before he grabbed his emergency portkey and disappeared.
"Retreat, everyone get out of here," Connors voice rang as the soldiers began to activate their emergency portkeys that took them back to headquarters. Henry continued to fire curses as the men next to him retreated, feeling a curse strike him in the leg Henry heard an audible snap and fell to one knee.
"Henry!" Henry recognized Jakes voice from behind him as he turned around to see Jake moving towards him only to fall from a curse sent up the stairs. Seeing his friend fall Henry conjured brick walls to seal the stairs and buy him a few moments. Seeing that they were the only two left Henry forced himself to his feet and moved to Jake. Henry forced his emergency portkey into his hands causing Jake to disappear leaving Henry alone as the conjured walls exploded and Death Eaters began to enter the second floor. Holding a shield with one hand and firing curses with the other Henry made his way over to the body of his fallen comrade. Unable to block the curses coming from all sides Henry was thrown to the ground as he was struck from behind. Falling over the body in front of him grasped the portkey attached to the vest, and spoke the activation word.
"Fubar," feeling the tug of the portkey as the Death Eaters were closing in on him Henry saw the kitchen at Sirius's appear before him. Realizing that he was safe he gave in to the blackness that was creeping into his vision.
################################################## #
"I think he's coming around," Henry heard muffled voices as he began drifting back into consciousness.
"Go get Madame Pomfrey," Henry cracked his eyes open as the voices became clear only to snap them shut at the brightness of the room. Hearing a soft chuckle at his side Henry opened his eyes fully to see Sirius sitting next to his bed. Looking around Henry took in the room he was in noticing the beds identical to his lining the walls and the sterile scent in the air. Seeing the figures of fellow soldiers in a few of the beds, Henry turned back to his godfather.
"Where am I?" Henry asked.
"Welcome to Hogwarts pup, I didn't imagine your first memory of the place would be waking up in the hospital wing but what are you gonna do? All the wounded got transferred here because there wasn't space at headquarters," Sirius said with a grim smile.
"Casualties?"
"One dead, took a killing curse, and seven wounded including you." As Sirius spoke, Henry saw the memory of the man next to him falling under the killing curse play through his head, the details as vivid as when it actually happened. "You okay?" his godfather's voice brought Henry out of the memories and he looked back at Sirius.
"Yea I'll be fine, how is Jake?"
"Good as new, ah speak of the devil," Henry followed Sirius's gaze and saw Jake leading Madam Pomfrey towards them.
"Pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Peters I'm Madam Pomfrey, now let's see how you're coming along," the matron began to wave her wand over Henry as she cast diagnostic charms. "Good all your bones are healed and any internal damage has been fixed, I'd recommend you rest for the next couple of day but I'm sure you'll ignore me like your friend here." Pomfrey looked to Jake as she finished speaking.
"Like I said, I'll take it into consideration," Jake said with a cheeky grin. Madam Pomfrey just rolled her eyes before turning back to Henry.
"Well your free to go but do try and take it easy," with that Pomfrey moved on to check on her other patients. Henry threw off his blankets and sat up on the side of the bed.
"How long was I out?"
"Just about 16 hours, you were pretty banged up when you got back," Sirius said and Henry nodded.
"Listen mate I want to thank you, you really saved my ass out there," Jake spoke up from the foot of the bed looking uncharacteristically serious.
"You know you don't have to thank me, you watch my back and I watch yours," Henry locked eyes with Jake as he spoke to convey his sincerity. "Now where are my clothes these pajamas itch?"
Sirius chuckled before responding, "The clothes you were wearing got trashed but I brought you a fresh pair of fatigues. Get dressed we have a meeting with the Major and Dumbledore in 10, Connor and Frank are meeting us there." Taking the clothes from Sirius Henry stepped into the bathroom and changed. Walking out Henry saw Sirius and Jake waiting, when he reached them Jake reached into his bag and withdrew Henry's leg holster and sidearm.
"Thought you might want this," Jake said as Henry took the weapon and strapped it around his thigh before connecting it to his belt.
"Thanks; now let's go I believe we have a meeting to attend." Motioning for them to take the lead Henry fell in line with Jake as they followed Sirius out of the hospital wing. Walking through the halls of the school Henry took in the beauty of the castle, thinking about all of the stories Sirius had told him about this place. Coming to the staircases that Henry noticed were moving he asked Sirius, "What's this meeting about?"
"All I know is that Dumbledore has a proposition he wants us to hear." Nodding his head Henry continued to walk in silence following Sirius. Coming to a statue of a gargoyle the group came to a halt as Sirius gave the password. Stepping onto the staircase that was revealed by the statue the group made their way to the door at the top of the stairs, Sirius reached out to knock on the door but a voice called out before he reached it.
"Ah good our last guests please come in," Dumbledore's voice said. Following Sirius through the door Henry saw that Major Taylor and the rest of his squad were already there. "Gentlemen thank you for joining us, I hope you are feeling well. But let us get down to my proposition, I understand that you wish to begin training our auror force to better combat Voldemort?" receiving a nod from the Major and Sirius he continued. "Well with the increasing threat of Voldemort I believe it is necessary to improve the security of the school, so I thought we might be able to help each other. I propose that your team use the castle and its grounds to train the aurors during the upcoming school year. By being here, you will be providing the extra security that I believe necessary." When the headmaster finished speaking Henry looked to his team holding a silent conversation before Sirius replied to the headmaster.
"That sounds like a fair offer but we will have to discuss it amongst ourselves, we will have you an answer before the end of the day. If that is all headmaster we must take our leave to discuss this matter," Sirius said as he stood followed closely by the rest of the soldiers. Receiving a nod the men made their way to the hall down the staircase and began to discuss the proposition.
"What do you think Black? You know Dumbledore the best," Major Taylor asked.
"I think it's a good idea, I may not fully trust him but I believe he always has good intentions. What do you guys think?" Sirius asked Henry and his team.
"What can it hurt? It gives us a secure place to begin training and another base of operations." Connor said. Seeing nods from the rest of the squad, the Major decided.
"Alright it's settled then, you will establish the training program here during the upcoming school year. I will get together with Dumbledore and the minister to coordinate the logistics, when you get here I want a full security briefing of the castle and wards and plans to repel attacks. But for now get back to headquarters and get some rest, last night may have been fucked but you fought well and left no man behind." The Major's eyes met Henry's as he finished speaking before he moved back up the stairs to the headmaster's office.
"Everyone grab the portkey so I can go get some damn sleep," Frank said as he held out a length of rope that the squad grabbed. As he felt the portkey activate Henry could not help but think, 'looks like I get to go to Hogwarts after all'.
#############################
schnell haben wir nicht viel Zeit- quick we do not have much time