Author's Note: Good news is that I'm almost done out here and will get back to a somewhat normal life. Bad news is I'm working six days out of seven and on my day off I'm mostly asleep. So writing chapters is becoming a bit of a hassle, took me three days to come up with a premise for one and I usually write three chapters ahead so as not to get bogged down.

Enjoy!

Chapter 39: Peace On Earth

December 6th 2010 1400 Hours

The Pentagon, Washington DC

The snow had finally begun to fall in the capital. Yesterday he woke up and saw that there was a light cover on his lawn. General Andrushko had once grown to find winter to be his favorite time of the year and many of his friends thought he was crazy to like the constant cold and cloudy days. But he found it to be rather therapeutic with the endless visual of white and only the sound of the wind. Having lived a majority of his life in southern states it was a nice refreshing pace as opposed to the constant heat and mugginess of Georgia or the dryness and emptiness of Texas.

But now was the time of the year where his depression was at it's worst. Everyone on his staff knew why and did their best not to burden him with too much and did a majority of the work for him today. There were three specific days during the winter months where they knew that the steel faced Special Forces General was at his most fragile on the inside. Today was the last day he ever saw his son. On New Years Day was his son's birthday. And the last one was in February when he disappeared. Having them so close together took a great toll on him.

Colonel Raiser was essentially in charge for the day and with holiday leave coming up they focused only on the important aspects of what needed to be done. Office environments were the same even in military environments, the only exception was that the level of classified information was rather high. But it was quiet, quiet enough that sometimes he would day dream about being back in the field again. But this came with the promotions in rank and it was unavoidable. Currently he was going over some intelligence with one of the SEAL's, a Lieutenant from NAVSPECWAR One, Dante Mendez. Born in El Salvador he emigrated to the US to join the Navy to become an American citizen. Some info was passed along that a certain high value target had come on the radar but the description was deemed classified by the CIA and NSA. The reason though was that they wanted to be sure that the target was who they thought it was before giving any further information. Need to know basis, even applied to General Officers.

"I was supposed to share this directly with the General, no exceptions." He said with his Spanish accent but with clear pronunciation of words.

"He would have let me know the moment you left anyway. And trust me, Commander Krauser would say the same thing if he were here. Besides, it's a bit of an unwritten rule around this office. Today is not one of his better days and in a way it has to do with his mental health."

The Colonel knew he was gonna have to tell the condensed version of the story again. One that he along with members of the staff didn't like to tell because new people came and went all the time.

"What do you mean?"

"Today was the last day he ever saw his son alive." He said without looking at him.

The SEAL from Central America then looked towards the open door of the Generals office. He looked however completely normal, going through his work as if it were any other day. He knew the parents of those lost in combat were never strictly civilian.

"KIA?"

"MIA. There was also a silent firestorm after that. You might remember it from two years ago?"

"Wait you mean that his son was involved in what happened when SECDEF and former Director Hayden came down hard on SOCOM?"

"We didn't know for sure, his was just one of the many identities that weren't confirmed after Anvil was overrun. A lot of people got fired from their positions. It's obvious that the CIA didn't want whatever happened there to leak and they aren't the types to bluff. But Admiral Olsen knew that Marcus didn't have anything to do with it, he fought tooth and nail to make sure that only the appropriate people got punished."

The Navy Lieutenant decided that it was best to not discuss the subject any further. Everyone was up in good spirits for the time of the year it was and didn't want to hamper it. Even more so that his own unit had been assigned a rather much more comfortable position as opposed to Afghanistan. Many parties were also coming up in the next two weeks and he didn't want to go into them acting like the minority of people who get somewhat depressed this time of year.

"Well anyway…this portion we managed to keep under wraps. The same couldn't be said for a lot of the information that was leaked by Julian Assange again."

Raiser then held his head in his hands and groaned in annoyance. He remembered of the Cable Leaks that happened about a week after Thanksgiving.

"God, that man does not understand why some things HAVE to be classified. No matter how noble he thinks he is, his methods are going to get him killed one day."

1700 Hours

The day had come and gone for the General. Despite the hardships that had happened to him life had continued on as normal. While his son did come to mind more than once today, he spent most of the day thinking about what he announced to his brothers and made his final decision. He would wait until spring to do it however, so that he would have ample time to plan his retirement.

He waved his goodbyes to everyone as he left the building with his uniform clearly not matching. Sporting a black beanie with his black trench coat, it covered up his service uniform and he wore his combat boots so as not to get his dress shoes dirty from the slush outside. Once again, being a General had its perks. But as he got to his car, someone was waiting for him, NSA agent Peter Carlyle.

"Something you need?"

"Nothing of urgency Marcus. I was just wondering if we could have dinner together. The missus is waiting on the in-laws at Dulles, their flight got delayed and she left me to fend for myself."

"That time of year again." The General said as he hit the unlock button on his car keys.

Carlyle was an older gentleman but enough that he had dipped himself in the mud and blood of being a Marine that Andrushko had tolerated working with him. Deviousness seemed to be a type of requirement in all of the intelligence agencies but the evolution in which it was progressing was going away from human source intelligence work to SIGINT and electronic warfare. It was because of this that Carlyle was exceptional in tracking and intercepting communiques from high ranking foreign government and military officials. The digital age was giving more and more opportunities for hackers to cripple and disable a military or even a country far worse than a massive army ever could.

"There's also a gentleman I would like you to meet. He recently came under the employment of the DIA and I'm just helping him branch out with the official channels."

The General wasn't surprised that there was going to be a catch to this little meal. But he'd make sure that it cost Carlyle.

"Where are you treating us both for tonight?" He said as he exited the Pentagon and headed to downtown Washington.

1745 Hours

RARE Steak and Seafood

If anything, government officials always held a higher standard of comfort. It was why so many US citizens disliked Congress as they did. By enjoying the lap of luxury at the expense of the US taxpayer and Carlyle was no different. Surf and Turf was served tonight for all three men as well as a bottle of 30 year old cabernet. It looked like it was ordered ahead by the man who had arrived first. An older Asian man with a greying groomed high and tight haircut with lines in his face that indicated he was seasoned in his line of work. He recognized one of the two gentlemen that he would meet this evening, so he stood up and prepared to shake hands.

"Ahh…Mr. Carlyle, your right on time. I was afraid I would have to eat all of this myself."

"I knew you would have ordered everything on the menu if I didn't come sooner, Colonel."

The Colonel then looked towards the American soldier dressed in his service blues. The ribbons and badges on his chest were typical of a man who had spent an ample amount of time in service. But it surprised him that he had done well to fight off the age that had normally affected most officers. But the lines of a scowl were chiseled into him, it was appropriate for one that was part of United States Special Forces. He would expect no different, since he was cut from the same cloth as a Japanese Ranger. But something about him caught his eye, something familiar.

"Pleasure to meet you General. I'm Yosuke Hinoki, former Colonel in the Johohonbu. Peter here told me all about you."

The General was a little taken back by who he was meeting.

"Marcus Andrushko. You're Japanese intelligence?"

"Like I said, formally. I had done some work with the DIA in the past but due to some unfortunate circumstances I asked them if they would like my assistance. Just call me a determined old man who doesn't want to fade away just yet. And despite what you may think about Peter he didn't drag you out here to talk about what might be hidden under the blacked out sections. I'm here to get to know who I'll be working with."

Well he won't be with me for very long.

With that they sat down and began to eat. The plates were still piping hot from the steaks being cooked and the lobster was still steaming. It was good to treat ones self to a fancy meal every now and then, especially if you weren't paying for it.

"Why did you quit the Johohonbu anyway?" The General asked.

Hinoki then took a sip of his wine before he answered. He knew he couldn't tell him the real reason. It was the rule of being spy, don't say everything. If you need to, keep it vague or mislead.

"Everyone I used to work with was no longer there." He then looked out the window. "The first snowfall around here is nice isn't it?"

December 21st 2010 0800 Hours

Munderkingen, Germany, HCLI Tactical Training Grounds

God this weather sucks!

Except for a few days where the clouds had cleared it had been snowing almost every day since we touched down in Munich. I technically haven't been to Germany yet, the only time that I was there to get to a connecting flight to Tunisia after I had to leave Russia. But unfortunately we weren't going to stay in Munich, we left the airport and headed right out of the city towards HCLI's German training site. It was a shame I couldn't take any good pictures from when we were in the car because the city was iconic for it's architecture. Little thing that most people don't want to mention though was that a lot of the original structures had to be rebuilt since when the war was coming to an end in Europe, Allied bombing runs were basically leveling every German city in order to break the Nazi's will to fight.

"Cold bro? Trust me, I don't like it either but we're gonna have to deal with it."

Lutz obviously didn't seem to mind at all about the weather. He was a little more enthusiastic though since he was home anyway. He often told me about how his granddad took him hunting in weather like this. He said it was one the reasons that he chose the sniping profession in GSG-9 because of his experiences as a kid.

"I can handle a little snow when the bullets start flying. I'm just glad this crap is coming to an end. We've been at it for nine days straight."

The reason why we were out here in Germany was to prepare for a special assignment that Koko need us for. There was a VIP that she wanted to have under her employment, all well and good except that we had to acquire her through a means in which her current employers would not let her go willingly. The VIP's name was Dr. Elena Andreyevna Baburin, a renowned physicist that worked for the Russian State.

In layman's terms we were about to kidnap a woman and brain drain a world power at the same time. A majority of the crew though didn't seem to mind, it seemed like this was another mission to them. But when Koko was formally briefing us when we first arrived at HCLI's training site Lutz and I shared the same type of concern. We kept it quiet but we both knew that what we were about to do was extremely dangerous.

Or reasons for it though were different. Lutz, being a member of GSG-9, was uncomfortable with the fact of kidnapping another person for someone else's own gain. It was also ironic since he was specifically trained to deal with kidnapping situations during standoffs. Mine though focused on the bigger picture on how volatile the situation would become in the Russians caught us. We'd be dead, plain and simple. Not to mention that the Kremlin would want to find out why one of their top scientists for one of their design bureaus disappeared. The reason why the whole kidnapping thing didn't affect me as much was because I had done it before. During my time in Thailand, I was contracted by a smuggler for a job to kidnap the younger brother of a rival for a ransom. However, he missed the deadline and the pirate planted a machete in the victim's head. He decided to get the money by force but I managed to appeal to his business principles and said that I was just supposed to get him a man and I did. I had a right to refuse another contract, no matter what he offered. Deciding not to fight two battles at once, he made the wise decision of considering our contract to be fulfilled.

"I do have a feeling that we won't be sticking around here until Christmas time. You'd like it around here man it's awesome!"

We then heard the distinct sound of two helicopters inbound, two MH-6 Little Birds to be precise. We pulled our balaclavas and goggles on to protect us from the wind. Then took the last few moments to ensure that our harnesses were fully secured and loaded our mags. Today was the live fire portion.

"I'm sure it is. Besides this isn't the first time I've had to work during the holidays. I just hope we get New Years off."

The birds touched down in the snowfield and the eight of us mounted up. Myself, Lehm, Mao, and Ugo with the first and the rest with the second. Our pilot though was a familiar face though we had met once before in Japan only briefly because we had to leave rather quickly, Keith Gordon. He along with the other Little Bird flyer, Nathan Rothrine, were pilots in the US 160th SOAR otherwise known as the Night Stalkers. The personal flyboys for US Special Operations troops. Both were upscale looking white gentlemen that fit the profile of many helicopter pilots, laid back to a fault but the guys you want to have come and save your ass when shit hits the fan on the ground. Rothrine took his job a little more professionally than his counterpart with a trimmed pilots mustache and buzzcut hair. Considering that he had a nasty 'Y' looking scar on the left cheek to this hairline from when a round went through his cockpit it made sense. His callsign was 'Red' for his obviously deep red hair. Gordon however was just wearing warm civilian clothes, appropriate ones for a pilot that were a brown leather bomber jacket and of course aviator sunglasses. His groomed thick black hair and green eyes, which didn't really match his permanent 5 o'clock shadow, and smug facial expression were typical of a guy that enjoyed his craft and knew that he was an expert at it. That being said he did have a bit of an ego, and coming from me that was saying something. Such as his callsign that I saw coming a mile away, 'Flash'.

"Ok ladies and gentlemen, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. If you need to puke, avoid hitting my chopper. And if you fall, well there's nothing we can do about it."

I just did my best to ignore his jaeger drawl on the radio as we lifted off to our practice objective. Whoever this woman was the Russians seemed very interested in taking extra good care of her. And according to the intel that Koko was briefing us on, a little too good. She was kept under constant surveillance, almost as if she was a prisoner. The research facility she worked at, which was literally in the middle of nowhere and had three battalions of troops nearby, was about 100 miles east of St. Petersburg. It was far too secure to conduct a snatch and grab and Koko didn't have any intel on the layout of the building. It seemed as though that she had her own personal armed convoy that transported her to and from where she worked, so it wasn't like she was in a cell. That would be the way we would extract her, eliminate the guards, grab her, and get the hell out of there before the Russian's even knew what was happening. Then we'd haul ass back to St. Petersburg where the Fruition was docked, stow her onboard the ship, and we would fly out like nothing happened.

Hopefully the weather wouldn't be as terrible when we got over there but it would be a little harder since from the intel we had gathered they liked to transport the Doctor before and after the sun's in the sky. Add to the fact that the convoy would be moving made hitting your targets rather difficult. But with the practicing we'd been doing for the last two weeks we were becoming increasingly better at it. All we needed to do was stop the convoy and we could pick the rest of them off when we hit the ground. We just had to be careful not to hit Baburin.

"All callsigns I have eyes on the convoy. Designated marksmen, select your targets."

Rothrinie called it out since he was in the lead and Gordon came up on his right, the designated marksmen were of course Lutz and Lehm.

"Engaging."

The three SUV's on the road below us were being steered via remote control from the support staff in the command building far from here. They had already been splotched with paint from our previous runs but this was the test in which we had to have the snatch and grab down to a T. Lutz and Lehm had had a few separate practice sessions from us since they had to be the ones that took out the drivers or any designated gunners.

Lehm took aim at the lead truck and fired. Looking down below I saw that it had stopped entirely, I saw that there were camera's in the trucks after our first run so that the support staff knew when to stop. Gordon then landed his bird in front of the convoy to drop the four of us off while Rothrine and the other half of the squad kept us covered from the air. All the while we were using our own unique hand signals to communicate and motion where we were supposed to go and what to do. While it would have been hard to communicate, even through the radios, with the chopper hovering over us we had to be as discrete as possible so as not to leave any trace of affiliation to anything. Only once the guards were eliminated were we allowed to speak so that we could get Baburin to come with us, we had to try and convince her that she would have a less confined life. But if that didn't work we'd use force, non-lethal of course.

Using two by two cover formation we cleared all of the marked targets and went for the SUV that had "Baburin" in it, a dummy in a white coat. I slung my weapon behind my back and lifted the weighted mannequin over my shoulder. Ugo, Lehm, and Mao kept me covered while I placed the dummy in the co-pilot's seat next to Gordon. I then got on the radio as I strapped myself in.

"Valkyrie this is Draugr 2. Draupnir is secured, I say again, Draupnir is secured. RTB time now. Over."

"Copy that Draugr 2. Excellent work. I'll see you at the recovery point. Out."

Koko was back at control with the support staff but once we were out in the field she would be on board the Fruition acting as our eyes in the sky with one of HCLI's down looking satellites. While we her primary bodyguards, the crew on board the ship worked as a good B Team. I didn't get much of an opportunity to know most of them, since we were constantly on the move and they had a job to do with running the ship. But they went through the same type of protective training many of HCLI's bodyguards went through so they were competent in their own right.

As we were flying back to the starting point, I drifted into thought about the name of Koko's plan again, and her clever idea of giving us call signs from Norse mythology. Side note, I liked them a lot. So much so that I drifted into a little bit of a binge read on the topic when we weren't doing anything. Draugr were improperly buried warriors that came back to life to slaughter the living. One would might just say zombie, but these guys had incredible strength and preferred crushing their victims with their gigantic size. Draupnir was a magical ring given as a gift to the king of the Norse gods, Odin, from the two dwarf brothers that crafted Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Our current designations turned away from the cheesy and overused ones you hear from a lot of military unit's world wide and they weren't as plain as using the military alphabet.

Jormungand, or the Midgard Serpent, was a gigantic snake that encircled all of Midgard, the central realm of the nine realms in Norse mythology. But it did give me an uneasy feeling since that it was one of the creatures that would play a key part in the event known as Ragnarok, the Norse version of Judgment Day. That and it also had an eerie familiarity to HCLI's logistical satellite network. I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with whatever the hell she was up to, but I would have to deal with that later. She never gave me any reason to doubt her and she was always up front with me if I needed to know something. Plus she honors her promises, I knew that for a fact since I was now felt more like a man than a monster.

She was waiting for all of us at the helipads near the command building, if it wasn't for her dark blue pants and winter hat she would have been invisible in the snow. Her white winter jacket with her long white hair almost made her appear like she wasn't even there.

"Great job everyone!" She shouted to us as we all disembarked from the birds.

"Kaaaaay." We all said.

"Gordon, Rothrine, you too. Now I don't mean to rush this but we're a little short on time, with Christmas coming up our travel is going to be a bit of a hiccup. So you guys get your stuff, refuel, and fly those birds north. The transport trucks will be waiting for you in Berlin and the Fruition will be docked at Koaobrzeg. We'll see you in Russia."

"Copy that boss. Russia's always lovely this time of year." Gordon said ending with sarcasm as Rothrine followed his wingman.

We then started walking towards our own cars so that we could change and fly out to St. Petersburg. As I pulled off my goggles and balaclava, Koko pulled me to the side to tell me something.

"I got what you wanted the other day. I'll give it to you when we get back to our hotel."

"Nice." I said smiling that my package had arrived.

"Hold up. What are you going to get me?" She said stopping me before I could walk off.

"Huh?"

"Come on it's our first Christmas together. I've put up with you for the year, so you gotta get me something nice!"

"Who am I? Santa Claus?"

She then looked at me with a pout and her fists clenched to the side like a spoiled brat who didn't get what they wanted.

"Ugh. Ok fine how bout this? You let me pick were we'll all go for New Years and I'll get ya something nice. Deal?"

She then straightened her form and put on her smile. "Good enough. Where do you wanna go?"

I thought a bit about what Lutz said. It was nice around Germany but I could think of a better place where the scenery would be better. Their neighbor to the south.

"How about Switzerland? Rent a lodge in the Alps for a few days?"

I figured that she would have been on board with it immediately but her expression turned into a bit of regret.

"Umm is there any other place you would wanna go? Maybe somewhere warmer?"

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing it's just…never mind. If that's what you wanna do then that's fine with me." She said walking off to catch up with the crew. Without even looking at me and a wind blowing rather strongly after that.

What did I say?

December 23rd 2010 2017 Hours

Gan'a'kovo, Russia

Go in, take the doctor, and then we leave, totally easy. But knowing on how our luck tends to suck at the worst possible moments I just had to wait until it actually happened. At least though it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be riding in the "trailer" of one of the two trucks that were carrying us to our objective. The low green light of two glow sticks dangling from the chopper made the atmosphere surreal. Like the bird was riding with us to participate in our mission.

"Draugr Actual this is Draugr 5. This is about as isolated as we can get."

Sophia was on the radio contacting Lehm. I wondered when we were going to finally set up to depart, if we got any further we would be dangerously close to the facility.

"Roger that. All callsigns, start building the nest."

The trucks eventually rolled to a stop and the each of us stood away from the walls of the container. Then came the mechanical whirling and whining of hydraulics as the mobile heliport began to take shape. These were what we initially first started training on before we got to the fun stuff. It was actually pretty easy, the machine just did all of the work for us. I couldn't see the first phase though but I could feel it in my boots, the support legs went out from the sides of the truck first so that the pad would rest on them. The pad of course were the container as it gradually opened up and I was immediately hit with snow and a drop in temperature. I was already prepared for it with my white balaclava covering my face but it was a little hard to see, night not included. Wasn't much to see anyway, just vast snow covered forest for miles in all directions. Our most time consuming task would be getting the remaining rotor blades onto the bird but they weren't heavy, just awkward.

There was little to no conversation, either face to face or on the radios. We knew what we had to do and we were running against time. We also had to take necessary precautions for if the worst would happen. Once we left from our mobile heliport it would be undefended, all of us were flying out. Only the essential personnel would be on this trip. This was where Wiley came in by wiring the platforms and trucks with a few remote charges. If the trucks were compromised, he'd just hit the switch and we'd fly as far as we could back to St. Petersburg and Koko would send the back up chopper. Naturally we would destroy the Little Birds too, but I was kinda wondering how much this would set Koko back if something did go horribly wrong. She told me not to worry about it and granted I knew she could afford it but it was still several million bucks worth of equipment. I guess when you've had money all your life it doesn't really affect you unless it's deeply personal.

As we bolted on the last blade we immediately started to load up. Appropriately dressed for a winter combat environment in woodland snow camo each of us also wore the same type of carrying rig and protective gear. We couldn't differentiate from each other for reasons we already knew. To top it all off we had an eye in the sky that keeping watch on the field from back in a nice cozy and warm cabin back in the St. Petersburg docks. She would tell us if there was any change to the doctors schedule.

"Draugr Actual this is Valkyrie. Is the nest finished?"

"Just got the last feather on and we're loading up now."

"Good. Thermal scan of the facility shows several armed vehicles waiting to depart. Your window has narrowed down a bit."

"Understood. Flash! Red! Fire 'em up."

"Time to shine." Gordon said with a grin while flipping down his NVG's.

As the whirl of the engines engaged we then strapped ourselves into the seats on the sides of the Little Birds. I was the last man to hook my harness up and I gave the signal to take off.

2041 Hours

While I couldn't feel the wind blowing on me directly through my windbreaker camo, it didn't mean it wasn't cold as fuck. Russian winters are pretty self explanatory but you never know how truly miserable they feel unless you actually experience one for yourself. Couple that with the wind chill factor and I wouldn't be surprised if just one of us got frostbite from out here. I'd have to tolerate it for now and just enjoy the view.

"Valkyrie to Flash, do you read?"

I flicked the safety off of my ACR. This was Koko letting us know that we were close.

"Valkyrie."

"Convoy containing Draupnir is still running along its planned route. At your current heading, ETA is 90 seconds."

"Acknowledged. Designated Draugr elements, prepare for contact."

"Copy." Lehm.

"Roger." Lutz.

As we continued to fly low just above the trees, I then spotted light in the distance through my NVG's. The road was in sight and the convoy. Just like in practice, Gordon and Rothrine then flew ahead of them so that the convoy was coming towards us. However from closer inspection there were five SUV's instead of three. Not too much of a problem though since most plans don't always go 100%. Just means more targets for us.

"Engaging."

I immediately heard the high powered crack of Lehm's M40 and the front SUV started to swerve on the road and it then flipped on its side. The rear one then ran into it and it was just simple chain reaction after that. It looked like the road was a bit to icy for all the vehicles to come to a complete stop. I knew that they would have never placed her in the front victor but I did hope that Baburin wasn't hurt or Koko would be livid.

We then touched down and unhooked our straps at the same time. Just like in the practice runs, Ugo kept me covered with his Mk46 to the rear and Lehm and Mao covered us on our left flank. Red and the rest of the squad kept us covered from the air. The noise of the chopper drowning out the opening shots on the ground. Even with two interlocking fields of fire, we didn't have much cover on the ground and there was nothing protecting Red's bird in the air. So we had to keep pushing and ensure that no one was left.

Stop and pop, stop and pop. Even though a few of the guards did manage to get off some shots. They were so blindsided by such an attack that they didn't know how to react to it.

"Draugr 6 to Draugr 2. Last tango is down." Lutz was letting me know to start searching.

"Copy. Keep me covered, I'll try to make this quick."

It was quicker than I thought. As I approached the first SUV I heard a whimper from inside. Knowing better I slung my rifle behind me but kept my hand on my sidearm just in case. I opened the rear door and there was a shriek. The cringing woman in her white lab coat and a turtleneck sweater matched the description of the photo Koko gave us. Late twenties, short blonde hair, blue eyes. Of course I was looking at her though the green world of my NVG's but I knew it was her. But I blanked for a brief moment as I realized that there was a consistency of who I was meeting or associating within the last year. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I just knew that they all didn't look the way they do.

Is every chick I'm coming across like stupid hot? Or is it just me?

"Uspokoysya, Doktor." I said with my free hand raised. "Ya ne sobirayus' prichinyat' tebe bol'."

(Calm down, Doctor. I'm not going to hurt you.)

"Kto ty?" She said shivering. No surprise that she was looking at a massive and faceless man prepared for war.

(Who are you?)

"Kto-to, kto mozhet osvobodit' vas iz vashey tyur'my. Vse, chto vam nuzhno sdelat', eto poyti s nami."

(Someone that can free you from your prison. All you have to do is come with us.)

Naturally she was surprised by the chain of events that were transpiring. I then lifted up my NVG's so that she could look me in the eye and extended my gloved hand. I hoped she took it or else I would have had to drag her out. She was a little hesitant.

"Pozhaluysta! U vas mozhet ne poluchit'sya takaya vozmozhnost!" I said half telling and half insisting.

(Please! You may not get another opportunity like this!)

She waited until the last second where I was about to grab her, but she took my hand with confidence and I kept her close as we made our way back to the front of the convoy. Baburin then turned towards me with her eyes shut and her hand covering her mouth. Obviously disgusted with the amount of bodies she was passing by. I then pressed the receiver on my radio to let Koko know we got her.

"Valkyrie this is Draugr 2. Draupnir is secured. I say again, Draupnir is secured."

The physicist then looked up to me shocked at the sudden language changed but she kept walking. At least until she shielded her face with her arm as Gordon landed his bird next to us and I helped her into the co-pilots seat.

"Copy that Draugr 2. Be advised, I intercepted a radio communication while you were clearing the area. A reinforcement convoy is en route. Get out of there. Now!"

"Understood. Ok people you heard the lady! Mount up!"

With no argument and all rush, the ground team then strapped themselves onto Flash's Little Bird while Red's took off ahead of us. Hopefully Baburin's detachment didn't have air support. If all went according to plan then we'd be back in St. Petersburg before dawn the next day. I then realized I had something else I needed to do when we got back as we lifted off. But I forgot if I actually took it out before I left.

"Valkyrie?"

"Go Draugr 2."

"Did I take the prime rib out before I left?" I asked hoping it was true or else Christmas dinner would be later than intended or canceled.

I heard her chuckle. "I took it out for you Damien. No need to worry."

"Thanks Koko."

I broadcasted that on the open channel though and I heard laughter from everyone.

"We're out here freezing our asses off and all you can think about is tomorrow nights dinner?" Tojo said.

"It took a while to find a decent cut of meat while we were doing all this shit for the month. I'm not letting it go to waste so how bout a little gratitude?"

"Yeah Tojo I haven't had prime rib in a few years. I wanna see how Damien's turns out." Wiley said backing me up.

Honestly as far as roasts go, it all depends on how long and what temperature you cook it at. You can have the best rub or marinade but if you cook it in the oven the wrong way, you'll end up eating a raw slab or a overdone piece of leather.

"Hey Kid." Gordon was talking to me. He could have chosen his words better though but we'd only known each other for a few weeks.

"What?"

"Red and I won't be sticking around tomorrow when we get back. So I just want to say hell of a job and Merry Christmas. Since this is you're first time flying with me. How about a victory song?"

While grateful for the compliments I was confused on what he was talking about. Rothrine then came on the net, but not in a positive way.

"Oh Christ man do you have to play that shit EVERY time you fly with someone new!?"

"Hey, he did a good job. Besides you know this is my good luck song."

"You know that every time you play that something-"

Rothrine was immediately cut off as the song started playing. A very familiar one that nowadays was synonymous with helicopter rides. Damn thing was right at the tip of my tongue as I forgot it's name until it started playing.

Gonna tell Aunt Mary 'bout Uncle John!

He claim he has the music but he's havin lot a fun!

Oh baby! Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!

Havin me some fun tonight. Yeah!

Well long tall Sally she's built sweet she got

Everything that Uncle John need! Oh Baby!

Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!

Havin me some fun tonight. Yeah!

Nobody else obviously seemed to mind. I even saw Lutz tapping his thigh on the other bird and Ugo was swinging his legs matching the beat next to me. As I looked back at Gordon he had a wide smile on his face. It was only then I realized on how much of an ego some people could have. It only mattered if it was in good taste or not.

"Strap this on your sore ass, Gordon." I said flipping him the bird and I saw him let out a hearty laugh.

Well I saw Uncle John with bald head Sally!

He saw Aunt Mary comin and he ducked back in the alley!

Oh baby! Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!

Havin me some fun tonight, yeah. OW!

"Oh God now there's two of them." Sophia said from the other bird. Probably face palming at the same time.

I figured that two of me would be the perfect fantasy for her. But I kept my mouth shut or else I would have been the first person to die in a helicopter crash from a woman who just threw her knife at it.

Have some fun, have me some fun tonight!

December 24th 2010 0400 Hours

St. Petersburg, Russia

We managed to pull this little "employee acquisition" off without a hitch and it was a smooth ride all the way back to St. Petersburg. Metaphorically speaking of course because the moment we were done disassembling the mobile heliports and the trucks started to drive off I threw off my gear and passed out on the floor of the trailer. I did hear a little something from Baburin though about what was going to happen to her. But Lehm let her know that it was Koko that would tell her that little part. A weird thing about that though was that he told her the first part in Russian. It was a little weird, not that he knew another language, but on how he never used any of his own language skills. You don't get to be member of Delta Force and know only the languages of English, punching and gunfire.

I managed to sleep all the way back to the dock's where the Fruition was at. So at least that meant that Baburin was taking her little abduction rather well. Still didn't mean that when we got back to the ship that she would have agreed to stay with HCLI. But Koko always had her ways with words, it was a matter if the other person accepted them or not.

"Come on Damien, rise and shine. We're almost there." Ugo said kicking me in the foot to wake me up.

After stretching my arms and cracking my neck the big man of the crew offered his hand to me and he got me on my feet with no effort. The inside of the trailer had a few more glow sticks that had illuminated it better. He along with the other members of the squad weren't in their gear and snow camo but in jumpsuits that would classify them as crew members of the ship. I was the only one who hadn't changed yet, plus I fell asleep with my balaclava on and it was starting to itch. As I was about to change I saw that Baburin hadn't left the chopper's seat since we got her. As I took off my outer jacket and balaclava to then put on my jumpsuit, I noticed that my hair felt like a mess. I though that since it was gonna be under a mask I wouldn't need to wrap it up. I guess I was wrong.

"Ugh. What I wouldn't give for a brush right now."

As I hooked my matted mess behind my ears I saw the doctor staring at me rather perplexed.

"Chto?"

(What?)

"Nothing, I…just didn't expect you to look so young." She said in English but with a Russian accent that was heavier than Amalia's.

"Despite what you may think Doktor, I'm no older than you. I'm just one of those few that doesn't smoke and drink every day and actually cares about their health."

I then felt the truck change gears, it looked like we were finally at the docks. After zipping up my jumpsuit, I opened the chopper door for the doctor. It was a little refreshing every now and then when people realize just how much I eclipse over them. The lady was a little taken back from it. But I just stared back, indifferent and uncaring as usual. It was about all I could do for most people so that they don't see me as an intimidating threat, unless I have to be.

"So who are all you people? Are you with the American CIA?"

I tried my best not to sneer at that acronym but she asked a valid question.

"Not in the least. We're more along the lines of a private enterprise operation, and my boss wants you to work for her."

"Her?" She asked as the rear doors opened.

"You'll see soon enough." I said while motioning her to follow me.

0500 Hours

After we got onboard to the warm interior of the ship, I stood outside Koko's cabin guarding/eavesdropping on the "job interview" she was having with Baburin. I did notice though that in better light she had freckles, weird for blondes. The rest were unwinding from the mission, until I had to make breakfast that is.

After Koko had made the formal introductions she got into Baburin's history and her significance in the scientific community. Now I may be an educated man and I could understand the concepts of what they were discussing but science on that high of a scale was a little hard for me to comprehend. Especially with anything that involves quantum physics, since shit like that was completely out of my range of knowledge. But apparently Baburin was the worlds foremost expert in quantum optics. Basically using light as a form of energy transference. Whatever the hell it was for though, Koko wanted it for her project. Naturally the Russian physicist was aware that she just wanted her for how good she was in her field and wasn't really enthusiastic about just going from one prison like life to another.

"For three years they told me that it was all for Mother Russia. But I knew that I was nothing but their prisoner. Unless I produced results, they would have just locked me in a real prison and left me to die. The only reason I'm still alive is because I gave them what they wanted in dose's small enough that I remained fed for another day. Why should I even bother helping you? You can't even begin to understand what it's like to have a gift and then be seen only as a means to an end."

Her frustration was apparent. It was the same with many scientists that work or "worked" for their governments. It became the prey of politicians so that their power could grow. Another sad tale from the Cold War that never seemed to thaw.

"No, I cannot. But that doesn't mean you should just toss aside your genius because a few suits told you a few comforting lies just for their own gain. Now I get that you might have been proud to serve your country thinking that you could use your unique gifts to help benefit mankind. When you were expanding your knowledge at Novosibirsk you probably though 'I'll create something that all people could use and manufacturers will line up to want to hire me!' But that's where the greed of those that think they know better come in. Naturally the Kremlin saw your talents and they wanted you all to themselves. You thought it was a grand opportunity, but then came the crushing reality that you would be expendable once they got what they wanted. An old and terrible trick from the old world. But I plan to change all of that and I will need your help to do it."

Here she goes again.

"These are all well and good points Miss Hekmatyar but what does any of this have to do with you needing my help?"

I couldn't see her but I could hear the movement of her feet on the carpet of her cabin she was using her iconic charisma.

"I'm offering you an opportunity to be a part of the new world I'm going to usher in. One where your talents WILL benefit not only the world but yourself as well. You can unleash your knowledge without any form of restriction, to be who you set out to be. Come with me and you'll never be a prisoner to anyone else's ideology ever again, Elaina."

This was what Minami was telling me about and she was right. Koko does succeed in what she does by earning the trust of others. I smiled as I heard the connection of hands for a handshake of agreement. It looked like Koko got one of her Christmas presents early.

"When do I start?" Baburin asked.

"Well not now obviously. I'll give you the full details of where you'll be working at later but it's Christmas time! And since it's your first day of freedom you deserve something special. Damien!"

"Yeah?" I said walking away from the door. My destination was the galley.

"Chocolate chip pancakes! Make it happen!"

"Got it." It was gonna be a busy day.

"And don't think you're gonna be spending all day in the kitchen! You still owe me a present!"

"I'll get you a bottle of vodka later." She was nuts if she though I was gonna do any shopping on the day before Christmas.

I then heard footsteps running to me. Followed by someone leaping onto my back.

"You're not getting off that cheap! It was a bitch to rent that lodge so you owe me!"

"Ok! Shit! I'll do it after breakfast!" I said trying to hold my balance with her climbing all over me.

I take that back. It's gonna be a REAL busy day.