A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Yes, I thought about making the football discussion longer, but I'm doing some oneshots in this universe and that might be a good one. Okay... on to the action. Three more chapters for this story with a couple of oneshots already started.
Chapter 11
The week following Thanksgiving.
Casey walked into the assembly and one of the sectechs yelled "ATTENTION ON DECK!" The audience didn't jump to their feet and come to attention, but everyone silenced immediately and sat a little straighter, paying attention to the dais. The entire Orion Industries staff was either present or watching via Closed Circuit TV.
"Welcome and thank you for coming. This is the first all company briefing. The intent is to have these once a month or so, as necessary to keep everyone up to date on what is happening within the company."
"First on the agenda: as most of you know, we will be resurrecting the MAR team project on a grander scale. All of you will be probably be involved in one way or another. OI will be involved with training, command and control, intelligence analysis and as a secondary assault team. Because of this, we are expanding cyber division to add a Data Analysis and Integration section to collect and analyze intelligence information for the project. We will be directly fed intelligence data from a number of Agency's as well as our own collection network and the DAI team will correlate and integrate that data for our use on missions. We also will feed back to our clients, any intelligence tidbits that we glean. Anyone wishing to apply for transfer from their current assignment to DAI let Chuck know by e-mail. You must have at least a 5.5 intest score to apply for DAI. Part of the job will be encoding and creating updates, as well as loading yourself to do analysis.
"Now… there will be four MAR teams… well five really. London, Washington D.C. and Casa Grande, in southern Arizona, will each have an operational team, staffed by the agencies. The fourth team, a replacement and training team, will be located in San Diego, California, and will also be staffed with agency personnel. Orion Industries will operate the fifth team as a backup team with a double tacteam and agents, staffed by us. The OI team will be kept as clandestine as possible. All teams will be trained and commanded by Orion Industries. Any questions see Chuck or myself after the meeting."
"In addition to the DAI section transfers, we will accept applications for anyone who would like to train as a field agent or field analyst. We will be in need of four or five field personnel for our backup team, plus reserve members. This is not restricted to sectechs. Any cybertech who feels they can handle the physical aspects of being a field agent may apply."
"There are a number of interesting things going on in the Science Division, including a new body armor that is very effective. The armor is used in layers. The lowest layer is a light weight full body suit made of a three part fiber using Kevlar, nomex and a nanofiber we developed called nanolex. Not only is this fiber very puncture resistant, it stiffens a section of the suit approximately three (3) inches across to spread the force of the bullet strike. If you've ever taken a round in body armor you know how important spreading the force can be. The suit is in pieces, so agents can modify it depending on what kind of outer clothing they are wearing. They can go from just the torso to full protection including hands, feet and head. A second layer of protection is a BDU outfit made of the same material but three times the density of the body suit. Lastly, the BDU has pouches into which ceramic plates can be inserted. At the highest level this armor will resist projectiles up to medium machine gun rounds.
We also are using VR gaming technology and software to improve visibility and targeting capability. The new helmets we have issued to the sectechs have this tech incorporated and believe me it is very effective. Day, night, dust, smoke, bad weather, fog, snow… the new tech sees through it all using a variety of means, merging all the different inputs into a display that is projected to the inside of the helmet. The sights on all weapons connect to the helmet via Bluetooth and show an aiming pip on the projection, allowing for actual shooting from behind cover. The targeting computer in the helmet will even allow shooters to effectively engage aerial targets out to the range of their weapon."
Casey looks up and notices Chuck pull his phone out, then quickly exit the auditorium with Sarah. Time to cut this short and wrap it up.
"The new customers list is posted on the company common drive with customer profiles… please review it. And finally I want to introduce some new employees." Casey has each new person stand while he introduces them. At this point, Casey had intended to take questions, instead he dismisses the meeting and goes in search of Chuck and Sarah. He finds them in a secure conference room in Castle. Rebecca allows him entry and he walks into the middle of a teleconference with General Beckman.
"… so while I know that the contract doesn't begin till the first of the year, I was hoping you'd help. Um… there's one other thing… the agent you're looking for… it's Zondra."
Sarah freezes and Chuck mutters "Craptastic! Okay Diane… we'll get right on it. The teams will be airborne within the hour. Casey will be contacting you with details and logistical needs."
"Thank you Chuck… Sarah… John. I'll be waiting for contact." With that Beckman signs off.
"Okay John, you heard the tail end of that. Zondra is missing, presumed taken. She was on a multinational task force in Europe working on a human trafficking case. She was partnered with an MI6 agent and a DGSI agent. The MI6 agent disappeared four days ago and the DGSI agent two days ago. Both bodies were found yesterday. Zondra went dark shortly after. Get your teams prepped and airborne as soon as possible. You're heading for Marseille, France. Beckman is going to try to get us an unused military base outside of the city for staging. Hopefully we'll have a target for you by the time you set down."
Rebbeca cut in… "Chuck… Carina, Cole and Vicky are asking for entry."
"Please let them in Rebbeca."
The three hustled into the room, obviously anxious. Carina cocked her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "Care to share?"
"We have a Foxfire alert in Europe."
"And when were you planning on telling us? I know you were NOT thinking of leaving us out of this!"
Smiling, Chuck said "Right now actually. Have a seat. Casey, we'll send you updates after you're in the air." With that Casey took off. "Sarah, can you work with Ellie to get downloads ready for you, Cole, Vicky and Carina, and updates for me, Casey and the tacteams. You've got a half hour, then you all practice your skills for another half hour before we are wheels up."
Sarah bolted out the door, asking Rebecca where Ellie was. Chuck turned back to the assembled agents "Okay… here's what we have so far…"
OO
From the cabin of their executive jet, Chuck convened the briefing. Morgan had gone with Casey to man the Surveillance Van, and he, Casey, and the two tacteam leaders attend by remote from their Cargo planes. Mary, Alex and Tony Jackson, from the DAI team, back in Castle also teleconferenced in.
"Okay everyone, let's get started. You all should have a brief of the plan. Now, because the contract has not officially started, we don't have the official access to satellites we will have… but after some judicious hacking, we found what we needed and tracked some tangos back from where they dumped the bodies to a warehouse on the waterfront. Casey, you should have the address. As soon as you touch down, have your Raptor teams get on site and start recon on the building. We should touch down about ten minutes after you, so please wait with the rest of your team and we can all go to the site together. The target is a building, sitting on the waterfront facing the south. There is a three story office section on the south side west end, and a warehouse in the rear and east side, with the loading dock on the south side east end. There are entrances only on the south side of the building."
"Plan A: Paladin team sets up just to the west of the building as the assault team. Templar team sets up two hundred yards to the east as cover team. Sarah is tiger, I am lion and we are cat1. Cat2 is Cole, jaguar, Vicky, leopard and Carina, cheetah. Cat1 goes in completely clandestine to attach a connection router to their network inside the firewall and to search the rooms to see what we can find in hardcopy intel. Cat2 goes in after the friendly being careful to only allow leopard to be visible. The cover story is that Director Mills of the CIA, felt something was off when he assigned Agent Rizzo, so he asked General Beckman to assign an agent to watch the team… that's Vicky, a known NSA agent. She goes in, with the rest of Cat2 helping from the shadows, rescues Zondra and gets out. Make sure that only leopard is on any video the enemy gets. Once cat2 is out, cat1 extracts and we all skedaddle, the bad guys none the wiser on what the hell happened to their prisoner."
"Plan B: Set up as Plan A, Cat1 goes in clandestine but cat2 goes in hell bent for leather. We'll use this if somehow we're partially blown and we need to get in and out fast. Paladin and Raptor teams may engage but may not enter the building. Once cat2 is out, cat1 extracts and again we disappear."
"Plan C: If we are completely blown, cat1 still goes in quiet but cat2 goes in with Paladin and takes the entire building. Templar moves up and secures the front of the building."
"Casey, make sure you have a raptor team watching that internet connection box on the east side of the building in the alley. If we have to go to plan C, I need that connection to stay up as long as possible so Tony and his crew can have as much time as possible to vacuum up data from their network. This is important… second only to getting Zondra out alive. Questions?"
Fifteen minutes of back and forth fills in all the holes and everyone is ready. Back in Castle, Alex is still getting acquainted with her role as Mary's assistant and reluctantly asks "Mary? Can I ask a question?"
"Of course, dear! Now's the time before we go active."
"Thanks. Who or what are Paladin and Templar?"
"Those are the two tacteams. Also you heard the reference to a raptor team? Those are the scout sniper teams. Eagle, hawk and falcon are attached to Paladin. Owl, harrier and griffon are assigned to Templar. Do you have anything in your download about weapons?"
"Not really."
"We'll fix that on the next download. For now, the only thing you really need to know is about the weapons the sniper teams use. One is a very heavy, .50 caliber rifle that will pretty much punch through the side of any building unless it's armored… heavily armored. The targeting system is very sensitive and allows them to pick up targets behind walls using heat, sonar and radar. The other weapon system is a silenced 7.62 mm semi-auto. Much shorter range and nowhere near the penetrating power of the .50, but it is quiet and has the same targeting system as the heavier weapon."
Two hours later Casey's tacteams land. Even before the tailgate is fully down, three motorcycles roar out of the back of one of the aircraft, each carrying two people… the raptors from Paladin. In ten minutes they are on site and surveilling the building. The rest of the vehicles off load the aircraft and are waiting as the field agents land. Running from their aircraft the agents hustle to their SUV and a second SUV from the base configured as an ambulance. In convoy the vehicles take off. Three motorcycles lead, then the SUV, ambulance, the surveillance van, and six four wheel drive, four door, pickup trucks. Getting close to the waterfront, the convoy splits, with the three motorcycles and three of the pickups, carrying Templar, going to the east and the rest heading toward the target. Ten minutes later and everyone is setup. Casey, Morgan, Chuck and Sarah are in the surveillance van going over the situation.
Casey grunts… his "looks quiet enough to me" grunt.
Chuck grins "Yeah, Casey… I agree. No sense in waiting, lets go."
Chuck exits the van and waves cat2 over. Just as they approach, the radio crackles. "Command… eagle… I have a tango entering the room with our friendly… Shit." What is clearly a muffled gunshot is heard. "Command… eagle. We're blown. Tango was going to shoot the friendly. I took him out… no other activity."
"Crap." Casey looks at Chuck, who nods, as Casey brings up his mic. "Command to all units… implement plan B… implement plan B. Go, go, go."
Jaguar is half way to the front door by this time with the girls right behind him. Lion and Tiger have disappeared. Before Cat2 gets to the door it swings open and two tangoes step out and are immediately put down by Jaguar with a tranq gun. All the cats are carrying both lethal and non-lethal weaponry. Lion had told them they needed prisoners to question but stressed that they were not to put themselves in danger just to take an enemy alive. Cat2 disappears inside the building.
Casey is following the action by radio and hacked surveillance monitors.
"Eagle… see that pair?"
"Got em hawk. I'll take the one in front. Ready, steady, fire… Two down."
"Command… eagle… lots of activity on the third floor."
"Roger that… leave 'em unless they interfere with cat2 on the second floor."
"Leopard… door to the right." Sound of glass breaking and a tranq gun firing multiple times.
"Clear."
"Cat2… hawk… next door on your right."
"Got it. Making entry… Cheetah, get her ready to go." The infrared shows Carina and Vicky getting a clearly unconscious Zondra on her feet then loading her onto Cole's back and securing her with straps into what looks like a saddle. With Carina leading and Vicky trailing, they head back out toward the stairs.
"Cat2… eagle… large group of tangos coming your way… recommend you go down the stairs and out the back, into the warehouse and find someplace to hide."
"Got it."
As soon as cat2 hits the bottom of the stairs Casey loses them on the monitors. He could barely hear footsteps coming from cat2. Then what sounded like a rusty door opening could be heard. Casey figured it was the door of a shipping container… cat2 probably trying to hide.
"Bloody hell… Command… jaguar… multiple captives… looks like they weren't kidding about the human trafficking thing. Leopard check that one."
"Shit… this one's full too."
"Command to all units… plan C… go to plan C… go… go… go. Cat2… hide."
Things went crazy fast. Paladin burst from cover and made entry as six two person teams. Paladin carried only lethal weapons, none of them suppressed, so quickly the sounds of gunfire filled the night air. Templar's vehicles roared up and the tacteam sectech's tumbled out to cover the front of the building as the firing continued inside the building. Raptors fired periodically, usually in single shots, but once a fusillade from multiple weapons, that lasted for almost four seconds. Explosions from inside the building indicated hand grenades going off and telling Casey exactly where his teams were.
"Paladin two… first floor east secured… heading to the warehouse."
"Paladin four… third floor east secured."
"Paladin three… second floor west secured."
"Paladin one… first floor west empty… in warehouse… three… no four containers with captives. Cat2 secured and exiting."
Command, that is Casey, saw jaguar exit the front and head straight to the van, leopard and cheetah right behind. He meets them and they get Zondra on the prepared stretcher. Casey and Carina looked her over to make sure she could be transported safely.
"Cole, take Carina and go. Vicky… on me." The plan was to get Zondra on a plane and to Rota Navy base in Spain as fast as possible. Not necessarily the closest hospital, but definitely the closest secure hospital in the area. Carina flashed medical and sat in the back with Zondra as Cole drove.
As they pulled away, Cole asks "Carina, why'd the plan call for you to go with me?"
"She needs to see someone she knows when she regains consciousness, otherwise she will consider herself still in captivity and act accordingly."
At the warehouse, combat was winding down.
"Command to all units… withdraw. Cat1… status."
"Cat1… Router is in place… we are withdrawing. Prisoners?"
"Affirmative. We're loading them now."
Casey barely has time to exit the van when sirens can be heard and suddenly, Chuck and Sarah are standing next to him.
"Command… Templar… all present… exiting the area."
"Command… Paladin… all present… exiting the area."
Casey looked around, as did Chuck, who nodded. Casey and Vicky climb into the SUV with the tranqed prisoners, while Chuck and Sarah climb into the comm van with Morgan and they were off. Fifteen minutes later, everyone is back at their temporary base, cleaning weapons, getting food and basically winding down. Chuck, Sarah and Casey are in conference; with Beckman in DC, and the DAI group in Castle. Tony is presenting their preliminary findings.
"Personally I think this entire operation is screwed, but I'm a pessimist. We're still pulling data off their network, but so far we're finding payoffs to so many politicians there is no way anyone can mount any kind of operation without this syndicate finding out. So far we got indications of dirty politicians in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. The only good part is that so far, it's all politicians… the intelligence agency's look clean. Unfortunately, so far we've not found any actual names… just code names."
Chuck looked at Beckman without saying a word. "Yes Chuck, I know… but I'm going to have to kick this upstairs before we start a major international incident. I'll let Rota know you're coming and to set aside a hanger for you. Please stay in Europe for at least the night then we can decide what to do tomorrow."
"Okay General… but remember you're on the clock here. This is going to cost you."
"Very funny… very funny. Go on… load up and get to Rota… let me know how Zondra is."
Carina sat in a very uncomfortable chair next to Zondra's bed. She had already contacted Sarah with the doctors report that Zondra's injuries were non-life threatening and all would heal with time. Psychological evaluation would have to wait till she woke up. Carina dozed on and off, till around 10:00pm. Something alerted her and she sat up looking at Zondra.
"Okay… stow the act, Zondra… I know you're awake."
"Carina? Where are we… how did you get here… what's going on?" Zondra was strapped to the bed at the wrists and ankles, and she subtly tested each restraint.
"Zondra… we're in Rota, Spain… at the US Navy base, in the hospital. We are secure and I have a fireteam of Marines on guard." Carina waited patiently as Zondra looked around calmly, waking up and taking in her surroundings.
"Well… I guess it's better than where I was… but I'd rather be in Boston."
Carina moved to the side of the bed and began opening the restraints. "Yeah, you're right. What I wouldn't give for a piece of authentic Boston Cream Pie."
Sign and counter sign given and received, Zonrda sobbed and wrapped Carina in a ferocious hug. "Oh God Carina… I figured I was dead… my whole team…". Zondra hugged Carina tightly and began to cry silently. Carina just held her friend till she began to wind down.
Snifling, Zondra pulled away from the embrace. "Um… how am I? I hurt everywhere but how bad is it?"
"Don't worry about it girl… no damage that won't heal. Par for the course… everything is very painful but superficial. Worse damage was a dislocated left shoulder. How are you feeling… you know what I mean?"
"Yeah I know what you mean. I won't lie… that one scared me. But I lived through it. You know what they say… what doesn't kill you…"
"…makes you stronger. Yeah… bullshit. How are YOU?"
"Ask me tomorrow. So what happened… how did you get me out? Are you alone?"
"God no… Sarah, Chuck, Casey and a whole slew of warriors swooped in and devastated the place they were holding you. The only survivors were the four we took for interrogation."
Zondra became alarmed. "Carina there were a couple of hundred prisoners in the shipping containers… you didn't…?"
"No… of course not. With Chuck around? Come on. No, last we heard the French police have them all. Now what can you tell me…"
When the Carmichael Enterprises aircraft landed, Carina and Cole were waiting along with the NCIS head of station, Special Agent Ted Waters. The only face visible coming off the aircraft, was Vicky's. Everyone else had their helmets on with a voice distorter going. Carina made the introductions.
"Lion, this is Special Agent Ted Waters, NCIS head of station… he'll be our liaison."
"Nice to meet you Agent Waters. Sorry about the helmets but we are a VERY clandestine group."
"I fully understand Lion… please call me Ted. I've already briefed the ground crew… you were never here. We'll get your aircraft serviced, refueled and ready to go as soon as possible. You'll find cots inside and a mobile kitchen unit out back. I've already given cheetah the codes and keys for the building and the secure conference room. If you need anything, she has my numbers."
"Ted, much appreciated. Command… get everyone settled. Command, Vanman, and Cats… conference at 0800 hrs… till then get some sleep."
Next morning, after a very welcome hot breakfast, the group met in the secure conference room of the hanger they were using. General Beckman was on one screen with Castle on another. Mary, Alex, Tony and Ellie were all in Castle.
Beckman started the meeting. "Thank you OI… you not only saved Zondra but you pulled quite a bit of intel from their network before it shut down… to say nothing of saving close to four hundred individuals destined for slavery. Good job. Between the prisoners, the data analysis and Zondra's debrief to Carina, here's what we have. This syndicate has hooks into over seventy five politicians in at least five countries; Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Austria. The pol's run from city councilmen to government ministers and everything in between. They have every level of government in the areas they are working covered. The bad news is we have no actual names only code names. The good news is we know where we can get the intel we need. Zondra and her team managed to uncover one of leaders of this syndicate. He is an American living in France, goes by the name Luc St. Jacques. He has a villa around 50 kilometers south of Paris that sits on 100 acres of land with a formidable defense force constantly patrolling the grounds. Given the amount of electrical power the place is using, both from the grid and internally generated, we believe their server farm must be on site. Also, e-mails indicate that the local members of the syndicate don't know who the bought pol's are. All contact between the syndicate and it's politicians is funneled through St. Jacques. He must have the real names."
"Therefore, we will need to penetrate his estate and get one of your connection routers attached to their network. This is not going to be easy. Short of a full scale assault, we don't see a way to get in. Chuck, I'd like you and your team to look at this problem and see if you see something we've missed. POTUS has banned us from any overt action till we have certifiable proof of St. Jacques involvement. We could hit the local operations but without the list of politicians and proof of their involvement, the syndicate would just rebuild after any raid. Let me know if you come up with anything."
With that Beckman's screen went blank.
Chuck just shook his head. "She still doesn't know how to say goodby. Mom, Tony… send us everything you've got on this St. Jacques and his estate. We'll concentrate on that while you and your team continue to comb the data for intel. Ellie, please get all this stuff encoded for an update load. Okay let's get to work."
For the next four hours, the OIteam and agents in Spain went over everything they had, trying to figure a way into the villa to plant the router. They had to get in quiet, plant the router where it wouldn't be discovered, then hang around long enough to do a hard search of St. Jacques office, in case the intel was not on the network. There was a real possibility it was on a thumb drive or laptop, kept off the network as a security precaution. Once they had the intel, they needed to get out… all without tripping any alarms. The team in Castle continued to feed intel gotten from the purloined data. Nothing helped… they just couldn't see a way in. Six of the best agents and analysts in the business and they were stumped.
Chuck finally vocalized what they were all thinking. "Okay… there is no way we are penetrating their defense without being discovered."
Sarah looked around, seeing nothing but uncomfortable confirmation. They collectively were stymied. With her own uncomfortable look she cleared her throat. "Um… Chuck and I know one way we could get in."
Chuck looked confused. He looked at Sarah then the light bulb came on. "NO… no… no… Sarah we are not doing that. It's way too dangerous."
Casey looked from Sarah to Chuck and back. "What's too dangerous. What the hell are you two morons talking about?"
Chuck just stared at Sarah. "Are you sure?"
"Do we have a choice? This group needs to be stopped. It's why we set this up in the first place."
"Fine… but I'm not happy using this." Chuck pressed a few keys on his laptop keyboard and Castle came up on the screen, showing Mary and Alex. "Mom… grab a jet and get here ASAP, please. Once you're in the air call and I'll brief you. You'll need to make some calls and set up some stuff. Alex, please hold down the fort till Morgan gets there. Morgan… grab the executive Jet and get back to Chicago ASAP."
Everyone except Sarah looked confused and bewildered. "Okay people, we are not going in clandestinely… we are going to be invited in. Let me tell you a story about Alexi Volkoff… Junior."