Striking back

As Ron looked around the room one thing stuck out in his mind.

I know none of these people's real names and yet I might die with them today.

The mission plan had been simple. The Orders intelligence had discovered a Death Eater safe house where they had Death Eaters making potions and portkeys for Death Eater operations. According to intelligence there were never more than four Death Eaters at the safe house at any one time. The assault force consisted of three knight teams, four man at arms teams and two squire teams for a total of eighteen people not including the scout team already on the ground. Seemed like a lot of overkill for a simple operation to Ron but he was just glad to be getting out in the field. Shaking himself from his thoughts he forced himself to pay attention to Talon as he laid out the attack plan.

"As you know we have a scout team already watching the location. The location itself has a few challenges all its own. First there are several out buildings in addition to the farm house. Our scouts have never seen these buildings in use by Death Eaters however we cannot assume that there will not be any danger from that direction. Also the farm is very close to a sizable forest with heavy underbrush, it is not inconceivable that there could be some form of Dark Creatures dwelling there. Secondly we have no information on the layout of the farm house. I think it safe to say that it will have some from of basement and there may even be a tunnel that can be accessed from said basement. The key to this operation will be speed. We want to get in and capture the Death Eaters then take them to the Ministry office to turn them over for trial. To do this we must strike quickly, we will have a, anti-apparition field in place but it will be active for a short time only. Death Eaters may well have portkeys set for here as well so we must watch for reinforcements arriving at any moment. We have several teams here that have yet to go on any combat operation. Only two of the man at arms teams have combat experience and only the only squire to have any is Fury. I feel it prudent to let all of you know at this time that incase of Dementor attacks that all of the Knights can summon a fully corporal Patronus as can Fury. If we indeed Encounter Dementors postion yourself so that one of these people can protect you from them while you can engage the Death Eaters."

When Talon had mentioned that Ron could cast a fully corporal Patronus Val had looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. Ron had just shrugged and the turned back to Talon.

"We are going to portkey in so we all arrive in our planned locations. Each of the squires will also be given an emergency portkey incase things go wrong. Now we are going to break up into our mission groups and go over our individual group assignments. You have fifteen minutes to iron out any details before we go in."

Ron and Val had been assigned to be Talons wingmen, Talons partner had died last year and since he was the head of the Order he had decided to honor her by not taking another partner. As such he always had a squire team with him for training purposes. Talon waved Ron and Val over and started talking about their assignment. "Alright you two we get a simple job, all we have to do is watch the backdoor and take out anybody who comes through it. The only wrinkle in the whole thing is it will put us very close to the edge of the forest. Now we will have a man at arms team watching the forest at our backs but just incase we should all keep an eye in that direction. Val as the shield squire I want you focused on your area shield charms, as good as you area I'm sure nothing will get through to us. Fury I want you to do what you do best, blow things up. Just make sure there is enough to take to trial is all I ask."

Ron gave Talon a feral grin "I reckon I can do that."

Talon looked at both of them "Most of all I don't want either of you taking unwarranted chances. We are bringing more than enough firepower for this mission so you and a few others can get some valuable experience. That said we don't want to lose anybody in a fight we should win easily. I'm serious about this Fury, I know what you can do and I know you like to be in the thick of it but leave that gunslinger shite here ok?"

Ron laughed "Ok Talon I promise I'll be a good little soldier and follow orders."

"I know you will Fury, you and Val both are going to do fine. I'm going to go make sure the others are clear on their mission objectives before we jump in. When I get back we'll armor up and get ready to port."

Hermione really would like their armoring spell. If was brilliant after all. The spell created a protective armor that absorbed a great deal of physical damage. In addition it would block weak spells as well. Like real armor it would get weaker as it was damaged and the spells strength varied with the strength of the caster. Still it was a great help and had saved Ron from many cuts and bruises during training. It was sort of like a very tough version of Quidditch pads that had no weight and didn't restrain your movements in any way. The designer of the spell had even added a visual touch which made the armor appear as a version of armor from times past. Most of the members of the Order had their armor appear as heavy plate armor form the late sixteenth century. Ron's however had appeared as a suit of chain maille with boiled leather arm vambraces and grieves. The spell also caused the Order's mask to stay in place. All Order members wore masks whenever they were on operations. This tradition was put into place after a particularly evil Dark Wizard had started hunting down the families of Order members. Since then no Order member was seen in the field without his or her mask. The masks were nothing like Death Eaters mask, in fact they mostly resembled the masks worn at balls which only cover the area around the eyes. The effect was to hide your identity from strangers however a close family member would probably know who you were.

If truth be told Ron thought he cut a rather dashing figure when his armoring spell was active. He had daydreamed a bit about how Hermione might react to seeing it but since the Order forbid the use of the spell outside of combat operations he doubted she would ever see it. Seeing that he had a few minutes left before they had to armor, Ron used the time to check their first aid pouches. Each member was given a first aid pouch which carried a potion of blood replenishment, a potion of flesh mending and a potion of bone mending. Since only the spells of a trained mediwitch could truly mend flesh or bone the potions were merely temporary. They might however give someone the few more minutes which could mean the difference between life and death. Thinking about that caused Ron's thought to shift to the duty he and Val had both had to perform just this morning. They had to write their final letters and put them into safe keeping along with any other final instructions. All Order members were required to have written letter to all their loved ones which would be sent to them on the occasion of the Order member's death.

Now ever since Ron had seen Sirius again he hadn't really been afraid of death, however having to sit down and write those letters had caused him to focus in on how other people might feel if he died and he hadn't enjoyed thinking about that. It was hard enough thinking about how Harry might take his dying but when he thought about what Hermione would go through it shook him up pretty badly.

Well I guess I'll have to be a bit more careful, if I can.

Talon walked up at that point "Ok you two, time to armor up and get set up around the portkey."

Ron pulled out his wand and started the incantation for the armoring spell "Loricatus Virtus" he called out and felt the spell cover his body. Turning to his right he saw that Val's spell had also worked and she was now covered from head to toe in sixteenth century Gothic plate armor. It was very impressive with intricate fluting and Ron thought that it set an intimidating tone that is if you didn't get close enough to notice the fluting made a very subtle pattern on the armor. Somehow Val's armor was covered in almost unnoticeable sunflower designs. Ron thought that if he was able to teach the spell to Ginny that something like that might happen. He supposed it was his lot in life to be surrounded by fierce yet feminine women. With a grin he laughed at that thought.

There are definitely worse things than that.

"Val, Fury are you ready?"

Both of them looked at Talon and nodded. Talon looked around the room and gave the order. "Ok grab your portkeys. We'll form up at the site and good luck to all of you."

The first thing Ron noticed after they appeared behind the house was that there were a lot of windows that the Death Eaters could cast spells from and very little cover for the Order members outside the house. Then he noticed that the forest was a lot closer to their position than they had originally thought. This put the man at arms team that was watching their backs almost in their hip pocket leaving them little room to maneuver if things got rough. He looked at Talon and started to mention it when he saw the look in Talon's eyes that told him he didn't need to say anything. Talon quickly told the team watching their backs to go just a bit into the forest and keep an eye out from there. Just as they got into the forest edge and the teams that were going into the house moved into position several loud cracks split the air as four Death Eaters appeared at the front of the house. It took a moment for both the Death Eaters and the members of the Order at the front of the house to realize what was happening and then all hell broke loose.

Spells and screams split the air as the first knight team was overwhelmed by the Death Eaters who had reacted faster.

"Bugger all" Talon snarled

"Talon if we go into the house through the back door we should catch the Death Eaters inside as the take up positions to fire spells at our members out front." Ron blurted out.

"So we'll catch them from behind."

Ron nodded "Then once we have them done we will have the Death Eaters out front in crossfire."

"Good thinking Fury, ok let's move up to the back door. On three I'll go in first and you two follow behind me."

Talon moved to the back landing and crouched by the door. When he was in position Ron moved up while he was being covered by Talon and Val. When Ron had made it Val moved up while being covered by the other two. Talon counted down on his fingers so that Ron and Val could see without him having to talk out loud. Talon pushed the door open with his foot and took a step inside.

Ron heard a voice he didn't recognize scream "Diffindo" and blood spurted from Talon's chest. Ron spotted the Death Eater "Stupefy" he yelled as Val shouted "Protego Maxima". Ron's spell took a Death Eater in the head and a second Death Eater's spell reflected off of Val's shield. Ron pulled back on th other side of the door way.

"I owe you Val, if you hadn't blocked that I'd be in a world of pain." He reached out and grabbed Talon and pulled him back out of the line of fire. Val knelt down and poured a potion of flesh mending and a potion of blood replenishment in Talon's mouth and forced him to swallow it. Ron heard screams coming from up front and it didn't sound like the Order was doing to well.

"Val I'm going to go low in front of the door and try and take out the Death Eater that is covering the door. Move right behind me with a shield incase I miss or he blocks it."

Val nodded and tensed up ready to move as soon as Ron did. Sure enough when Ron moved out into the doorway the first spell he cast was blocked easily by the Death Eater and if Val hadn't gotten her shield spell up and covering the both of them Ron would have been badly hexed at the least. The Death Eater was surprised that his spell was blocked and that gave Ron the opportunity to get close enough to Wrestle him to the ground. Val then cast the Petrificus spell to bind him.

Ron sat up and wiped his face "Thanks Val he was pretty strong. That's twice now I would have bought it if you hadn't been here."

Val smiled "We that's why we have partners. So we are in, now what?"

'We need to try and make it to the front of the house. With a bit of luck we can stun most of the Death Eaters from behind before they know we are here."

With that he slowly moved towards the front of the house. He could hear shouted hexes and some laughter coming from inside the house. Just as he reached the entrance into the room the Death Eaters were fighting from he heard several more screams from outside.

Several voices from inside the room screamed "Crucio" and the screams from outside got worse. Ron's head jerked up at the screams of his Order brothers and sisters. The stunning spell on his lips died and he found himself screaming "Furate Manus Incindius".

He felt the rage boil out of him in a swirling cloud at the Death Eaters as he began to speak. Images of the fight in Egypt flashed through his mind. Picture of the uncles he never got to meet appear in front of him. He saw Harry just after he had escaped from Voldemort after the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Ginny's face in the Chamber of Secrets appeared as well. As the last word escaped his lips he saw Hermione as she lay unmoving on the floor of the Department of Mysteries.

One of the Death Eaters started shouting "Avada Ke….." when the front room erupted in a swirling hell of fire and the screaming outside stopped as the screaming inside began.