Chapter VIII: Collateral Damage

Operation Cold Snap
Day 1, 1400 Hours (March 13, 2 G.E.)
Location: Galbadian Port, Bika Snowfield, Trabia

Captain Cole lifted his shotgun and slowly crawled along the beach head towards the Galbadian Port. He had been sent ahead to clear the path for the landing vessel. The swim had done him good, and the rubber underwater gear had protected him from the harsh climate. That being said, he did not like how much it constricted his range of movement.

Cole was a methodical man. He would never engage an enemy unless it was absolutely necessary. Stealth was something he was an expert in. He was, perhaps, the only person in the world to fit a silencing mechanism onto a shotgun. He had a silenced pistol strapped to his side, but he didn't think he'd need to use it.

Xu and Selphie had remained in the transport vessel about two kilometers away. With the thick blizzard, there was no way an enemy sentry would be able to see them. Captain Fabian had also been deployed with him but was providing sniper cover from a nearby ridge. He had a thermal scope on his weapon which should make it easy to spot the enemy.

Fabian and Cole got along well enough. They both preferred to use guns to the unusual weapon choices some SeeD members preferred. They were both experts in infiltration and stealth, often working as a team. Both were familiar with the Trabian terrain. Fabian's only difference was that he preferred to be in a command or observatory position over the actual grunt work. Cole didn't mind this; Fabian was very good at what he did. Besides, more fun for him.

The port was a simple three dock concrete structure with one main hangar and a few guard posts on all sides. Cole's mission was simple. Quietly take down any and all opposition.

"Okay listen up Cole," Fabian said over his radio. "I see two sentries directly in front of you. Let me take them down then head to that guard post."

The howling wind covered the tiny pop of the silenced sniper rifle, and Fabian's two shots were perfect. A small shatter of the guard window was the only sound they heard; the guards made no sound as their corpses hit the ground. Cole moved up and entered the guard post.

"Okay, check out the manifest. Any ships due in today?" Fabian ordered.

Cole sat down at the terminal and opened up the ships manifest. That was where they discovered their first problem.

"Shit. Fabian there are three ships of search and destroy troops coming into this port in half an hour," Cole said.

"S&D troops? Is Galbadia onto us?" Fabian asked.

"Nope," Cole replied. "Looks like they're under the impression that we're hiding out in the Trabia Garden ruins."

"Either way that's gonna present a problem. Let's finish this job quick. Colonel Xu are you hearing this?"

"Copy that. We'll have to scuttle our transport and commandeer another transport home," Xu replied. "Finish the job."

"Okay. Cole, I'm moving down the ridge. You're gonna be without sniper support for about three minutes," Fabian replied. "Head to the hangar."

Cole reached into his satchel and planted a small plastic explosive under the base of the guard post. He then raised his shotgun and moved back out into the blizzard. He heard the sound of at least four pairs of feet moving in his direction, crunching the soft powder with each of their hasty footsteps. Cole ducked behind a truck and glanced underneath as four pairs of black boots rushed past in the direction of the guard post.

"Fabian, they're checking out the guard post. Things might get a little ugly out here," Cole whispered into his microphone.

"I'm in position now. You rush up behind them and I'll take the guys in the front," Fabian ordered.

"Yeah, just try not to hit me," Cole replied as he rushed silently behind the troops.

It was over in a flash. One blast from Cole's shotgun took the two rear troops down and the leader was downed at the exact same moment with a perfectly timed sniper shot from Fabian. The second turned and shot at Cole with a pistol, but he ducked behind a box as Fabian took him down with a second shot.

"Okay, well that probably alerted them," Cole sighed.

"Yeah. I see about six more headed your way. Bypass them and get into the hangar now."

"Right."

Cole ran down the dockside through the howling gales as he heard footsteps to his right moving towards the guard outpost. He ran behind the truck and then veered off to the right towards the large hangar.

"Easy, easy!" Fabian called. "There's two right in front of you, about twenty yards."

The wind and snow made it almost impossible to see them, but Cole did with some squinting. They were wearing white camouflage uniforms and moving slowly. Their heads were covered with the standard Galbadian battle helmet and they carried large swords.

"I think I can take them," Cole replied.

"Don't. We're almost out of time. Veer to the left behind those crates," Fabian ordered.

Cole sighed and moved around the large metal crates. He held his breath as the two soldiers walked past him on the other side of the crates not three feet from him.

"Damn it. Cole, those other six are heading your way. They must be following your footprints," Fabian called.

Cole had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting an obscenity. He planted a small plastic explosive on the back side of the crate and then rushed ahead into the hangar.

"Why did you do that?" Fabian asked. "That's not one of the targets."

"I've got a plan," Cole replied.

The hangar was barren except for one soldier who was observing the security monitors with seemingly little interest. Cole shot him down before he could even turn his chair and then planted two more explosives on the underside of the hangar terminals.

"We're all set here, get ready to move in," Cole ordered as he ran out of the hangar and up the snowy embankment towards Fabian.

Fabian had been given the trigger to the explosives, in case something went wrong. This was what Cole had morbidly referred to as "the other plan" in the briefing. Once Cole was only a few feet from him he pressed the trigger and watched the chaos through his sniper scope.

The six guards that pursued Cole were standing right next to the metal crate at the time the explosives went off and were subsequently killed from the blast. The hangar fell apart, the roof of the guard shack imploded from the force of the plastic bomb and all that remained of the port was two docks, a guard outpost and the two bewildered camo soldiers who Fabian quickly dispatched.

"Xu, pull into the harbor. The area is secure," Cole said.