Merlin Protocol

Chapter 10

Down Range

Nute

A/N: Well I'm back with another chapter of Merlin Protocol, I hope you enjoy and as always please review.

November 4, 1998

Over the past month, Henry and his team had adapted to the lifestyle at Hogwarts. The training of the Aurors had been progressing impressively, during that time the soldiers had begun teaching the wizards about non-magical combat and strategies in addition to the magical curriculum. During that time, Henry had fulfilled his promise to tell Ginny all about his life in America, although he refused to discuss the details of his life before then. He has also gained another friend in the castle in the form of Ellie Watson; the small, blonde haired first year had bounced back from her attack and grown attached to the young soldier. The girl showed a sharp intellect and wicked sense of humor only seen around those she was close too. Shortly after the attack, Ginny had taken Ellie under her wing when Henry asked her to keep an eye on the girl. Unable to refuse either of the girls Henry often found himself in the library after dinner helping them with homework. Other times the trio was at the Quidditch pitch where Henry was either just flying around with Ginny or teaching the basics of flying to Ellie. Thinking about the last month a small smile came over Henry's face as he made his way to the Great Hall with his team after the day's training.

Sitting down at the Gryffindor table Henry was joined by Ginny and Ellie on either side, grinning at both of the girls he filled his plate before digging into his dinner. Listening to the conversation around him Henry was enjoying his meal when he felt a jolt of electricity shoot down his leg. Reaching into his pocket Henry withdrew the communicator he carried on him when he wasn't wearing a radio. Seeing his teammates doing the same Henry read the message displayed on the screen.

Kilo 1 and 2 downrange in 30. 3 and 4 hold at HW. Seeing those around him rise Henry stood from his seat turning to Ginny who looked at him curiously before speaking, "What's going on?"

"Duty calls, I'll see you two when I get back." Henry drew Ginny into a hug before releasing her and doing the same for the young blond haired girl on his other side. "I'll be back before you know it," turning from the table Henry caught up with his team as they left the hall. Coming to the wing they were lodged at the two met Connor, Frank and Sirius before entering their quarters. Upon entering, Henry saw Kilo 2 geared up and waiting for the briefing, taking the open seats in the makeshift briefing room the soldiers fell silent before Sirius spoke.

"Listen up, we have received Intel on the location of a lead foreign Death Eater, Hans Merek, seen here." Sirius motioned to the picture now displayed on the wall before continuing, "We believe he heads the recruitment and training of German Death Eaters, some of whom you've already met." Sirius paused, looking at the men before continuing, "This opportunity presents a wealth of useful information for our cause that is too good to pass up. In addition, the German government has granted us permission to pursue these terrorists and have tasked a squad of their GSG, call sign Jaeger 1, to be our support. This is the compound where we believe he is located," changing the projected image Sirius continued. "It is a two-story structure surrounded on all sides by at least 50 meters of open field. Our Intel places anywhere from 10 to 20 hostiles in the structure with minimal wards but patrolling guards, so I want each squad's sharpshooter outfitted with the necessary equipment. Here is the plan, both teams will take a portkey depositing them five clicks from the target on either side. From there you will move to the target on foot before launching an assault on the building from both the front and back entry points. Eliminate any hostiles and capture the target at all costs, when the building is secured I want any Intel gathered before you exfil back here. Any questions?" after a few moments of silence Sirius spoke again. "Good now let's go get it done, and remember no one gets left behind. Portkeys will deploy in 15 minutes everyone get geared up."

Rising from his seat, Henry moved to his room. Opening his trunk Henry changed into his combats before strapping his vest to his chest and inserting his sidearm into the holster on his thigh. Seeing Jake enter his room geared up Henry opened another compartment of his trunk Henry withdrawing a rifle along with multiple magazines before hearing Jake speak.

"What are we in Vietnam?" Jake said motioning to the modified M-14 rifle Henry was loading.

"Fuck off, this was a gift from one of my instructors, besides with this I could hit your tiny dick from over 800 yards. So I'd watch what you say about her," Henry cocked the rifle as he finished speaking before flicking the safety.

"Her?"

"Of course her, with the amount of love and time I've put into her I love her as much as any other girl in my life." Henry heard Jake chuckle after he spoke.

"I don't know about any girl in your life but definitely more than most. Let's get moving the portkey leaves in five." Henry followed Jake out to the common room where Kilo 2 and the rest of his team were waiting. Gathering around the portkey with his team Henry looked up into the eyes of his brothers, seeing the focus and dedication on their faces he took a deep breath before feeling the familiar tug at his navel that signaled the portkey's activation.

Feeling his feet make contact with solid ground Henry raised his rifle mirroring the movements of his team as they cleared the landing area. "Clear," Henry called followed by the rest of his team before they regrouped.

"Okay we have five clicks till the target, I want Frank on point and Jake bringing up the rear. Let's move out, maintain light and noise discipline." Nodding at Murphy's orders the men began to move towards their objective. "Kilo 2-1 this is Kilo 1-1 we are en route to the target, what is your status, over."

"Copy Kilo 1-1, we are moving, will make contact when in position. Kilo 2-1 out." The men kept moving as the radio went silent; focusing on their surroundings, they made their way through the forest. As the trees began to thin Connor raised a fist causing the men to take a knee before Connor motioned them forward. "There's the target, Peters set up there and get me eyes on any hostiles, the rest of you spread out while I raise Kilo 2."

"Rodger boss," Henry said moving to a fallen tree, resting his rifle on the steady platform as the rest of his team took defensive positions.

"Kilo 2-1 we are in position, what is your status?"

"This is Kilo 2-1 we are coming into position now."

"Copy that, deploy your sharpshooter then ready the rest of your team. Jaeger-1 this is Kilo 1 what is your situation?" Henry heard Connor radio the German Special Forces team on standby.

"Kilo 1 this is Jaeger-1, we are fully prepped on standby. We await your call for assistance," Henry heard a heavily accented voice speak through the radio.

"Copy that Jaeger-1 good to know," spotting movement and focusing his sights on the patrolling target Henry spoke into his radio.

"This is Kilo 1-4, I have eyes on one patrolling guard."

"Copy Kilo 1-4 this is Kilo 2-3, I have eyes on the second guard. Does anyone have eyes on a third?" Hearing the voice in his ear Henry kept his sights focused on the moving target 40 or so meters away.

"Negative, this is Kilo 1-1, two sentries is all we can spot. Prepare for go or no go. Control we are in position to assault the compound, we have two roaming patrols and an unknown number of hostiles inside. We are awaiting green light," Henry heard the soft click as he disengaged the safety on his rifle, followed by his teammates.

"Kilo you have a green light to proceed with the operation, remember your mission parameters. Control out," after the voice spoke Henry felt a tap on his shoulder as he was focusing on the target. Feeling the tap Henry heard Connor's voice over the radio.

"Kilo 2-3 this is Kilo 1-1 is your target acquired?"

"Rodger 1-1, I have a green light on my end." Moving his finger to the trigger of the rifle Henry heard Connor's voice in his ear.

"Prepare to fire, fire…fire…fire," a muffled crack marked the end of Connor's words as the two guards dropped from shots to the head. Standing from his position Henry flashed a series of hand signals to Connor.

"Kilo 2 we are clear to move to the target building. We are moving to the front, radio when your team is in position." Motioning to his team the men moved from their cover in the trees to form a line with the soldiers scanning their sectors as they moved to the two-story building. Lining up on the western side of the building, the team moved around the corner coming to the building's front. Stacking up on the main entrance Henry heard Connor whisper, "Frank, breaching charges." While Frank placed the charges on the door, Connor spoke into his radio. "2-1 we are in position preparing to breach."

"1-1 we are coming into position now, beginning to place charges over."

"Rodger 2-1, we are set to breach on two clicks."

"Copy 1-1 we are in position," stacking up behind Jake, Henry lowered his rifle before drawing his sidearm.

"Click…Click," at the second click, Frank squeezed the detonator in his hand blowing the door of its hinges as the team rushed through the opening. Following Jake, Henry heard the rapport of his teams' rifles before seeing bodies fall as he crossed the threshold. Entering the building, Henry saw a closed door to the right of the main entrance.

"Door right, clearing!" kicking open the door Henry focused on the figure still trying to rise out of bed. Squeezing the trigger, he quickly fired three shots that dropped the target before scanning the rest of the room. Hearing gunshots and spell fire from the rest of the house Henry quickly left the room to find his team. Stepping over the bodies of the fallen Henry regrouped with the rest of the soldiers at the bottom of a staircase where he saw a rapid stream of spell fire suppressing his squad. "Connor, flash bangs!" receiving a nod from his leader the soldiers withdrew flash grenades as others kept up the fire. Pulling the pin and tossing the canister up the stairs Henry waited for the 'BANG' before following a stream of men up the stairs. Practically deafened by the rapid fire of his fellow soldiers Henry came to the top of the stairs where he saw the man in front of him fall from a spell, painting Henry and the wall behind him with blood.

"One down in staircase A," Henry called through his radio. Moving past the fallen man Henry fired randomly in the direction the spell had come from as he took cover. Reloading before leaning around the corner Henry saw the hostile fall under his teams' fire. Moving to the last room, Henry stacked up with a mix of the two teams. Receiving a nod from Connor across from him Henry kicked open the door before throwing a flash bang. After the resulting distraction, Henry rushed into the room quickly dropping an enemy to his left before taking cover from spell fire. Peeking out Henry saw their target firing spells from behind his desk while the rest of the soldiers took cover. Drawing his wand Henry nodded to Connor who began to fire spells to suppress the enemy while Henry moved to another couch on his left. Creeping to the end of the couch Henry leaned out from his position to see the enemy fending off Connor's fire leaving his flank exposed. Firing a stunner and disarming hex Henry saw the Death Eater fall before moving to the target. Binding the hostile Henry heard a call through his radio.

"1-1 this is 2-2, Adams is in bad shape, requesting permission to for immediate exfil."

"Copy 2-2 get him out of here, everyone else gather any Intel you can find. Jaeger-1 requesting you move into defensive positions while we search the premises"

"Rodger Kilo 1-1, we are inbound to setup a defensive perimeter." Moving from the room Henry began to search for any information they would find useful. Finishing his search of a closet Henry heard.

"This is 1-3, you're gonna want to see this. Meet me on the ground floor," hearing Frank's voice Henry left the room he was searching and moved down the stairs. Meeting the rest of his team in the kitchen Henry saw Frank standing in front of another set of stairs leading underground.

"Intel didn't mention anything about a basement," Connor spoke as the men began moving down the stairs.

"I know, there's something not right about this," Frank responded. Reaching the bottom of the stairs Henry first noticed the size of the room he was entering; it had easily been expanded multiple times through magic. Moving into the room Henry saw obstacle courses and target ranges, with medical facilities and a headquarters off to the side. Coming closer to the target ranges Henry covered his nose as the stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed him. Seeing the chains and bloodstains at the range Henry could only conclude that the Death Eaters were using live targets for their practice.

"Fuck me," Henry heard Jake say as they all took in the room.

"We were not expecting this kind of organization. Everyone split up, I want all Intel gathered and charges set before we torch this fucker." At Connor's words, the men split to search the room they had discovered. Entering what appeared to be the headquarters with Frank, Henry saw a large room with multiple maps and blueprints stuck to the walls. Noticing pictures lining the far wall Henry made his way further into the room, seeing the familiar faces of Tonks, Lupin, and Shakelbolt Henry realized the pictures were profiles of the members of the Order of the Phoenix and the leaders of the Ministry of Magic.

"Frank, come take a look at this," Henry said as he took in the pictures on the wall. Frank moved to Henry before looking at the wall.

"Fuck, that's not good," he said looking at Henry. "Gather them and anything else you find, we'll pass it along." Nodding to Frank Henry ripped the pictures off the wall before moving to the rest of the room to do the same. After gathering all of the usable Intel Henry placed the C4 charges from his pack on the strategic points in the basement. Moving up the stairs with Frank, they met the rest of their team in the kitchen. Connor looked to his men before speaking.

"Portkey outside in five, let's move." Leaving the kitchen Henry followed his team out the back door, past the GSG and wizards from the German Ministry cleaning up the bodies of dead Death Eaters. Gathering around the portkey back to Hogwarts Henry heard Connor's voice over the radio.

"All teams clear the building; we are blowing the charges in two mikes." Seeing the men around the building clear the area Connor spoke again. "All teams check in, is the building clear?"

"Kilo 2 is clear."

"Jaeger 1 and the German Aurors are clear, you are good to blow." Hearing the voice over the radio Henry saw Connor pull the detonator out of his vest before looking at his team.

"Detonation in 5..4..3..2..1," reaching zero Connor squeezed the detonator causing a multitude of explosions in the building before them before it collapsed on itself. Taking one last look at the rubble before him Henry felt the pull of the portkey as he was taken back to Hogwarts.

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After their debriefing Henry and his team were informed of their brother's death, having succumbed to his injuries sustained during the fight. Upon hearing the news, the men felt it necessary to raise a glass to their fallen. However since it was three in the morning, they were forced to drink in the kitchens where the house elves supplied them with all the drinks they could ever need. Since they had been given the next day off, the team felt no need to leave the cheery atmosphere created by good drink and brother hood. After a few drinks Connor sobered up before looking to his men and raising his glass, "We lost a good man today, a fierce fighter that will be missed. But his death will not be in vain, to Adams!"

"To Adams!" the men all took long pulls from their drinks after the exclamation before silence rang for a few moments.

"That's enough boys, we're not yanks," Connor said smiling.

"Hey!" Henry yelled as the men all laughed at his look of indignation. The men fell back into conversation that lasted for a few more drinks before they all headed to get some much-needed sleep.

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In another part of the country, the Dark Lord Voldemort was just being informed of the soldiers' raid on the foreign training facility. With a slight frown, Voldemort realized this was not unexpected, "Were they able to capture Merek?"

"They believe so my Lord, but he was able to escape before they attacked. He left a double there but they will be discovering shortly that he isn't actually Merek."

"Good, everything shall continue as planned, but we shall have to move up our implementation. Bellatrix how goes your task?" The crazed witch stepped forward before bowing in front of her master.

"Excellent my Lord, most of our people are in place and the rest can be ready within months."

"See that it is done," turning to another of his Death Eaters the dark lord said." Barty what is your report on foreign recruitment?"

"As planned, most of our messengers have been met positively and our support continues to grow in multiple countries abroad."

"Speed up their training, I want the majority of our forces ready by the time Bella has completed her task."

"It will be done my Lord."

"That is all, you have your jobs do not let me down. Now go," the room emptied quickly after Voldemort spoke. Left alone with his thoughts the self-styled lord reflected on his plan. After the initial losses suffered from the muggle's attacks Voldemort realized the threat posed by that filth, and decided that they must be dealt with. Deciding he needed more information, he ordered his forces to gather any information they could find on the muggles that dare oppose him. During this time, he began laying his plans to achieve his true dream, a unified magical kingdom ruled by those with the purist blood and free from the filth of muggles and muggleborn. The United Kingdom and the world would bow before his might and all who opposed him would die.