The incident commander sternly shouted to the assembled personnel "Alright, listen up. We will be sending in 12 teams to various locations throughout the complex. We really don't have an accurate count as to how many combatants are inside. We know there are at least 100 and probably not more than 150. Most appear to be armed with hunting rifles and shotguns, a few seem to have more firepower. I want to caution you that not every armed person you encounter will be hostile. I hope I don't need to remind you that this is a military facility. I am assigning you guys to teams of ten. A commander, someone on communications and 8 more. Prince you will have command with Hughes on communications. Your team will be Ellison, Hanson, Jacobs, O'Leary, Rizzoli, Smythe, Thomas, and Unser. Your entry point will be the main entrance and then you will access the northwest stairwell to proceed directly to the basement. Go past x-ray to the pharmacy and work with the personnel inside to secure the vaccine in the cold storage."
Jane quickly made her way to the corner of the room where her team was gathering. She looked at Thea Prince, the commander for her unit. Thea reminded Jane of a little teapot; short and stout. She was in her late 40's and had surprisingly long, light brown hair that she had pulled into a severe braid that she had tucked into the collar of her shirt. Her most striking feature was her piercing blue eyes that seemed to calculate the measure of a man (or woman) with one brief glance. Mark Hughes was fiddling around with a variety of tech placed on a table. He was most likely in his early thirties and he appeared to be both calm and confident. The rest of the team was an odd assortment of very young, a little too old, or not obviously well suited for field work. The one exception other than Jane, was Mike Thomas. His closely cropped hair and no nonsense stance shouted former military. The noticeable burn scarring on his right arm made Jane wonder if he had been wounded in combat.
When they were all together Thea began speaking to the team. "Now that you guys are done sizing each other up, let's get down to business. We are going to go in there and follow the directions of the incident commander. However, we all know even the best plans don't always survive first contact with the enemy." Thea continued after a brief pause in which she noticed the uncomfortable looks on the faces of her team at the term enemy. "I know some of you may be concerned about my usage of the word enemy but if they shoot at us they are enemies in my book. If our plan goes awry I want you to watch each other's backs and check in for further instructions. You should all be equipped with helmets, vests, guns, pepper spray and flex cuffs. I need you to wear your credentials in a highly visible manner and keep your face masks on. Hughes is going to be giving each of you a helmet camera and communications device, we will be on channel 31. Take the next 10 minutes to get yourselves ready to go and we will reconvene before we head out. Rizzoli and Thomas a word please."
While the rest of the team moved away to finish their own preparations Jane and Mike moved closer to Thea as she began to speak to them. "This is a really inexperienced group other than you guys and Unser who was last in the field sometime before WW2. I am counting on you two to help me keep everyone's heads on straight. I want both of you to load up on flashbangs and you should each grab a taser as well. Any questions?"
Neither had any questions so they both moved to follow Thea's instructions. Jane needed to use the camera on her phone to see to properly adjust her helmet cam. Once she was done she looked in the camera and barely recognized herself. Clad in black pants, a long sleeved gray v-neck t-shirt, her vest, helmet, protective eyewear, and black face mask Jane made an imposing figure. Chuckling quietly, Jane took a photo of herself and then sent it to Maura with the caption 'current mood: post apocalyptic'. Almost immediately, Maura fired back with a text of her own asking Jane to be safe and to let her know when she was done no matter what time it was. Jane promised she would and then powered down her phone. Jane closed her eyes to calm and center herself for the task at hand.
Once everyone was ready to go, Thea gave riot shields to O'Leary and Jacobs, two young men who appeared to have been very recently hustled off the football field and into the FBI academy. Commander Prince led the way toward the main entrance.
Once inside the building, Jane immediately noticed a subtle movement from behind the reception desk. "Cover me," she requested of Unser who was closest to the desk. Gun drawn, Jane stepped around the reception desk and almost rolled her eyes at what she found. After holstering her weapon, Jane reached down and plucked a young man in an Army uniform off the floor. His hands were taped together and he had a black eye along with a fat lip and a small gash on his forehead. He had a shock of bright red hair and a face full of freckles. The most immediately noticeable thing about him was his youth. He couldn't be more than 18 and he appeared to be terrified. Jane addressed him after noticing a name tag on the front of his uniform. "Hey Gallagher, do you have a first name?"
"Jimmy," stuttered out the young man.
"Alright, Jimmy hold out your hands for me" requested Jane as she pulled a small knife from her pocket. Once his hands were extended Jane quickly cut through the tape binding them together. Jane briskly walked Jimmy over to Commander Prince and then resumed clearing the large vestibule inside the entrance. Once she was satisfied that there was no one else in the room she rejoined the rest of her group.
Thea quickly recapped what she had learned from Jimmy, "a large, armed mob swarmed in and quickly overpowered Mr. Gallagher. They took his weapon and restrained him and then moved on. Mr Gallagher was dazed from the blows to his head and didn't see which way they went or if they all stayed together. Smythe, I want you take to Mr. Gallagher outside to the medics and when you return you will provide security for Hughes. Hughes you will set up your communications hub on that reception desk."
Suddenly, Thea was interrupted by Jimmy Gallagher's quiet voice. "No ma'am. I am not leaving now. If one of you can loan me a weapon I will stay here and provide security for your comms. My friends are still inside, I can't leave now."
Commander Prince turned her razor sharp gaze to Jimmy and seemed to be analyzing him for several minutes. Finally, she reached down and removed a weapon from an ankle holster and handed it to the young man. She nodded at him and said, "don't make me regret this".
With that she turned and began walking toward the hallway that led to the Northwest stairwell. "Everyone else, follow me," she shouted at the rest of the team members.
