The team had been transported from the New York to the USS Boxer a day after their raid on the harbor in Mogadishu. The USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, had just entered the AO the previous night, leading a fleet of a dozen ships into the Indian Ocean. On board the ships, were thousands of men and women from the 1st Marine Division.

Once the team had boarded the Boxer, Jester had been taken to the medical bay to have his leg treated. Doctors had told the team that he was not going to be operational for sometime, the round had hit his femur, shattering the bone into many pieces, some still lodged into his muscles.

As Jester rested comfortably in the medical bay, Declan and the rest of the team were confined to a small room designed for four junior officers of the United States Navy. Now seven men were confined to this small room until further orders came through for them.

"Where the hell is Parker," Mac blurted as he rolled his legs off the top bunk in the room, "he left an hour ago and still isn't back."

Declan forced his eyes open upon hearing Mac's voice, "What's it matter to you, not like he left us here."

"No, but he isn't stuck in a room with five other blokes right now."

"He'll be back Mac," Declan reassured him.

After several minutes of silence, Declan opened his eyes once more to see Mac on his feet shuffling around the room.

"Just what the hell are you doing Mac," Declan asked as he sat up in his bunk.

"I'm goin' for a walk, like join me?"

Declan groaned as he pushed himself out of the bunk to his feet. He slipped his boots on and joined Mac as he left the room.

Immediately upon opening the door, the two were met by a pair of Marine guards. The senior of the pair, a corporal asked where the two were headed.

"Goin' to get some food, if that's alright with you corporal," Mac retorted, emphasizing the corporal as he spoke.

"You men are not suppose to leave the room without permission from the captain, and you are to be supervised at all times."

Mac looked at the other Marine guard blocking the hallway, "Well there's two of you here, so how bout you," he said nodding at the private, "follow us and make sure we don't take over your little ship."

Declan was surprised that the Marine didn't punch Mac square in his smirking face, and was even more surprised when the Marine told his partner to follow the two of them. The three men began off down the corridor towards the food.

As Declan sat across from Mac, he glanced to his right and saw the Marine private still standing at attention next to the door. The Marine had not moved in the last ten minutes.

"Well atleast they do as their told," Declan remarked as he took another bite out of the ham sandwich he chose.

"Probably heard about your past and figured they needed to watch you especially."

"Well he's not here to keep an watch on your pansy ass," Declan said as a grin appeared on his face.

"Why you," Mac said shaking his fork before Declan cut him off.

"David," Declan shouted as he motioned to Parker who had appeared at the door.

Parker joined the two men at the table, snatching an apple from Declan's plate and taking a bite out of it. Declan glared at Parker but quickly shrugged the incident off as he began telling of some information he had gathered. After five minutes of talking, Parker asked the question.

"So who wants a trip to Afghanistan?"


A cold wind blew across the airfield as Declan stepped off the ramp of the C-17 Globemaster and into the mountainous region north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Declan was followed by Parker and Mac, each carrying their own gear off of the transport plane. Declan was glad to be off the plane, sitting next to pallets of munitions and supplies for five hours had not been a pleasant experience, but, as Declan remembered, he had been on worse rides in the past.

The three men moved from the parked aircraft towards one of the hangars that lined the airfield. Things had changed drastically since the last time Declan had been at Bagram Air Base. The once isolated base had now turned into a bustling city filled with men and women of the U.S. military.

Parker led the trio from the parked plane to the hangar marked B-3. The hanger door was cracked only two meters, preventing Declan from seeing in as they approached. Parker led them through the door, from the cold weather to a heated inside, the change instantly noticeable to the three.

Inside the hangar, were two Black Hawks in addition to several Apaches sat idle. Situated in between the aircraft, were several tables, charts and boards. Looking over the charts, were three other men. Declan recognized one of the men from his past. Before he could say something to Parker about it, Parker spoke.

"Hope we're not too late for the party Jonas."

The man Declan had recognized, looked up from the charts at the sound of Parker's voice, "Just right on time actually."

The man, a large African-American with a deep voice, set down the papers he was holding and walked from the tables to the trio, extending his hand to Parker, "Good to see you David, its been a long time."

"Several years if I'm not mistaken, Bosnia was it?"

"Sounds right to me," the man noticed Mac and Declan behind Parker, "new team?"

"Mac wasn't with us in Bosnia, but the leftenant here was," Parker said acknowledging Declan, "you remember Snake Doctor don't ya Dec?"

That's where he had seen the man before, a joint SAS-Delta operation some years previous. He had been with different men back then, but the man known as Snake Doctor was highly regarded by Parker.

"We're just reviewing our infill, bird's gonna drop us off ten miles outside the town, then we proceed on foot."

"Good, we narrowed down the meeting place yet?"

"Still searching for it, but our fixers on the ground are still working on that, we should have a solid location before we dust off in a few hours," Jonas said as he led the trio back towards the table.

The six men began looking over the charts and intel once more, the three Brits playing catch up to their American counterparts. Soon after grabbing a meal in the dining facilities, the six men changed into their desert combat fatigues and prepped their weapons and gear. As the sun began falling over the mountains in the west, one of the Black Hawks was rolled out of the hangar and pre-flight checks began.

Thirty minutes to midnight, the six men appeared from the hangar, walking silently towards the powered up Black Hawk. Declan was the last to board the aircraft, the crew chief slammed the door shut as soon as he was in. Final checks were confirmed and a minute later, the Black Hawk was rising in the air. As it gained altitude, the aircraft banked right, towards the Pakistan border, two hundred and fifty miles east of the air base.