Chapter Two
After a great deal of time traveling upstate, the convoy turned onto a dirt road and sped on for five more miles before entering a dark tunnel. Five minutes later, we rolled up what felt like a ramp and came to a stop.
"Where are we?" I asked Agent Emerson.
"This place is one of many Division Nineteen Staging grounds on the east coast. I'll guide you to the lady's locker room so you switch over to your BDUs and then I'll take you to the command deck. Ice queen wants us up there in ten for the briefing.
"I'll make sure to be ready in five minutes or less," I replied.
After being guided to the locker room, I went and swiftly switched over. It wasn't hard to pick out my locker because each one had a name tag on it. My attire consisted of a pair of black combat boots, black pants, and a black jacket with a black American flag patch on the right sleeve. After checking my appearance in the mirror, I rejoined Agent Emerson and we headed to the command deck for our meeting with the boss. Major General Sandra Hayes of the United States Army and the commander of Division Nineteen. AKA the Ice Queen. Oh and Ashley's big sister She was a one-star when I had my first op with this organization. Now she has two.
Upon reaching the command deck, Emerson and I found ourselves in what looked like a Pentagon war room. Multiple flat-screen monitors of various sizes being watched closely by men and women dressed in multi-cam uniforms. In the middle of the room were several people dressed like me and Agent Emerson, we were going to be the strike teams for this mission, whatever it was.
Soon enough, we were approached by two familiar faces.
"Agent Kyle, Agent Emerson, welcome aboard the Antietam. Our airborne operations center."
"Agent Maddow. I remember seeing you in DC when me, Bruce and Ashley came there for our vacation after defeating the Court of Owls. You were the head of our security team."
"I was. I got sent on special assignment for this operation. General Hayes told me to tell you that you'll be on my strike team."
"Awesome."
"And this is the newest addition to the DC field office, Agent Peter Gates.
"Nice to see you again, Agent Kyle. Remember rescuing me and those two scientists from Facility-45.
"Right before the Air Force blew it bits, of course. So how did you end up working for the FBI and Division Nineteen?"
"After giving my account of the Facility-45 incident at Luke Air Force Base, I was given an offer to work for the FBI. Apparently, my interviewers were impressed with my Marine Corps service record and how I handled myself at the facility. With nothing else in the way of career prospects, I signed the papers, went through the training then I was in. Division Nineteen came knocking soon after and now I have dual employments status like Agents Maddow and Emerson here.
"Settle down everyone, it's time for the briefing." It was the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Reddington. He was a Major the last time I worked with him. Glad to see him moving up too. I made my way to head of the crowd and saw him standing next to General Hayes who was standing on a pedestal. She noticed me and gave me a nod before beginning the briefing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, here's the SITREP. Two weeks ago, Brittany Gomez left the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia to enjoy her vacation. She was supposed to report back to work yesterday but when she did not and all attempts to contact her failed. Her boss put out an APB. We did some electronic hunting of our own and located her car in an isolated area in Tennessee.
"Anything located near it?" one of the team members asked.
"A no-name town consisting of a diner, a rundown motel, a church, and a bunch of houses situated near a farm." Sandra highlighted the area on the screen Given that we found her car near the farm, it's safe to assume this is where she is likely hiding or being held. Colonel Reddington, Agent Maddow, you will both lead two six-man teams in the search for Ms. Gomez. Find her and bring her home."
Got it," Maddow replied.
"One more thing, over the past three years we've intercepted missing person reports from all across the country. Nobody knows where these men and women disappeared to but this may be the case that cracks them all wide open. HALO jump is at 1500 hours. Dismissed."
After the briefing, it was time to grab gear and weapons. Being a shadow army it should come as no surprise that Division Nineteen has a wide assortment of weapons for you to choose from, more than I feel like listing at the moment.
The first thing we grabbed upon entering the armory, was the gear. Helmets, vests, tactical gloves, elbow guards, shin guards. After that, we grabbed radios and then it was onto weapons. For this mission, I equipped myself with myselfanwith a M-23 assault rifle Division Nineteens standard-issue AR, a M9 Beretta as my sidearm and over a dozen magazines for each. Next, I grabbed a single shot thirty-millimeter grenade launcher and slid it under my rifle's barrel and grabbed eight rounds for it. Stuffed one of them in the chamber and my rifle was good to go. Even though I always carried a knife around with me, I grabbed myself a second one because hey two knives are better than one.
Since there was a high chance we would be fighting in tight spaces, Agent Maddow recommended that I equip myself with a secondary weapon. I found one in the form the AA-12 shotgun. It was a shotgun owner's dream come true, it looks and fires like an assault rifle but packs a drum of shotgun shells. Why waste time with pump-action shotguns when you have this thing?"
After grabbing headcams and goggles for our helmets. We did an equipment and radio check then strapped on our parachutes and headed down to the deployment bay where we sat in total silence. Each of us alone in our own thoughts. I wonder how Bruce and the ever dutiful Jeeves were doing right now.
Eventually, 1500 came around and the and sound of the alarm prompted us to our feet. The twelve of us stood in formation as the doors opened. We used the few remaining seconds we had to do some pre breathing into our masks.
The overhead light went from red to green and out we went. The last thing to go my mind before jumping was a message to any potential bad guys down below.
To anyone holding Britney Gomez watch out. We're coming for her and we're coming for you.