"Damnit!" Brad threw the bag of M&M's into his lap as he retrieved his pocket knife, looking around for anyone watching. Not many came to this spot, tucked between the barrier fence and the pads for the fleet of three MH-6 Little Birds that the FOB held.

Their transport capacity wasn't much, of course, but the helicopters were small, versatile, and quiet, traits that went a long way. The bench seats they currently held, on which operators would strap themselves for transport, could be replaced with gun pods, meaning their transport could double as air support.

Since they were grounded, only the roving patrol and fleet technician dropped by these parts routinely. It meant that someone so inclined as to have their lunch alone could set up back here and not have much to worry about.

With the exception of manufacturing imperfections at the Mars plant, that is. Brad flicked the pocket knife open and cut a small slit along the top of the bag, giving him somewhere to tear it from. The bag had remained steadfastly stubborn, pissing him off to no end. Other times, he might be up for the challenge. Right now, he just wanted some damned M&M's.

Once he got his knife put away, he pulled the bag apar-

SNAP! Dobby materialized less than a foot from Brad and was pelted by the colorful candies as Brad ripped the bag in two.

"Jesus, Dobby!" Brad cried out, frowning at the now empty bag in his hands. He stuffed the trash into his pocket, pausing as he got his first good look at the elf.

He looked worn out. His shorts were dirty and he wasn't even wearing a shirt, testament to how tired he must be. The elf usually relished clothing.

"You okay, buddy?" Brad asked. The elf nodded wearily, extending a letter to Brad.

"Master Harry insisted this was most important for you…" Dobby looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Not getting much sleep?"

"The Headmistress has much for us to do," Dobby said, suddenly looking a bit more energized. "I must get back, the dishes from lunch should be dry by now!" SNAP!

Brad furrowed his brow at the empty spot where Dobby had just stood and then looked up at the guard tower nearby. The sentry up there gave him a wave and Brad waved back. Dobby's appearances, though infrequent, were regarded as just another happening now.

After policing his trash, Brad opened the letter from Harry. It was the first one he'd gotten since they'd begun talking on the radio. Magic was a hell of a thing, and getting them in radio contact had been pretty useful.

Well, for him, it was. For the communication techs, it was a bit more of a headache. They'd had to change the encryption codes of the rest of the frequencies to be on the safe side, to make sure that no one could monitor their radio traffic. The likelihood of wizards stooping to the level of monitoring radio traffic wasn't exactly high, and only friendly wizards knew about it, but better safe than sorry.

Brad,

Umbridge has Fleur in the dungeon. Don't know for how long, but Neville said she doesn't look good. Radio is messed up.

Harry

He had to reread the little letter a few times before it really sunk in, and then it really sank. His stomach churned at the idea of Umbridge having Fleur locked up. What the hell was she doing in England in the first place? Why did she get locked up? There were so many questions.

His mind racing, Brad headed to his bunk. As soon as he got there, he yanked his footlocker out and pulled up the map of Hogwarts on the SOLDA device. From the Entrance Hall, there was a narrow stone staircase that led directly to the Dungeon Hall, and from there, another staircase that led away from the classes and Slytherin's common room, to the actual Dungeon.

Only one way in or out, and the traffic through there wasn't exactly nil. Still, he didn't see a better alternative route. It was the shortest and most direct route to the dungeons, and there was only one way in and out of hers.

He tried to think of how else he might get her out of there. There was no way they could just ask. Umbridge was a garbage human being, when spoken kindly of, and wouldn't likely turn over a prisoner she shouldn't have to a person that shouldn't be there. Colonel Boyd wouldn't authorize a limited raid...hell, he didn't often let them outside the FOB, even for patrols.

There wasn't any way he was leaving Fleur in the dungeon, however. It wasn't an option, so he kept thinking, staring at the map.

He'd have to talk his way past a sentry to get out of the FOB, which was going to be a challenge, but there wasn't much to do about it. He'd helped design the coverage at FOB Phoenix, specifically to prevent anyone from getting in unauthorized. Boyd's policy on people leaving the FOB was pretty well known too.

If he...when he got past, he'd hightail it to the castle grounds. If it wasn't already dark, he'd wait until night fell. Students weren't allowed out of bed at night and now that TFA wasn't providing security, he doubted the castle would be locked tight.

He'd make his way down as quietly as he could to the dungeon, where he could spring Fleur and get her out of there. That part was going to be a bit harder. He had no idea what kind of condition she was in, and if they got spotted on the way out, he might have to fight and carry her at the same time.

It wasn't perfect, but it was what he had, and there wasn't much time before the sun would drop below the mountains. He strapped the SOLDA to his forearm and headed to the armory. While it was a guarded building, it was also common for the operators to check out full gear for workouts and things. It wouldn't be terribly suspicious.

"Hey, Captain," Sara greeted him, appearing from nowhere with Jason and Eric in tow. It looked like they'd just finished up in the mess hall. "What's up?"

Brad tried to keep walking but couldn't bring himself to just leave like that and faltered in his step before stopping. He looked at his team, who stared back with now-worried expressions.

"Everything okay?" Jason asked, an expression of concern on his face.

"Fine," Brad said a little too quickly. "I was gonna clean my weapons." He turned to leave, fine with stumping them as long as they left him alone.

"You cleaned 'em this morning." The three operators closed the distance, Jason cutting him off from the armory, eyeing him more carefully. "What gives?"

Brad opened his mouth, not sure what to say. He couldn't very well pull them in on this. He knew he could count on them, they'd have his back a hundred percent, but this was going to be off the books. There were severe consequences for going off and running your own op, especially if he made contact with anyone and exposed the continued presence of TFA in England.

On the other hand, it didn't look like they were going to let it drop, and the longer he tried to figure out some excuse, the less likely they were to buy it. Fuck.

"Umbridge has Fleur," Brad said, bile rising to the back of his throat as he spoke it aloud for the first time. "I'm gonna spring her."

A dozen questions flashed over the faces of his teammates. Why she was there, how she'd been taken, how they'd learned about it, if this was sanctioned… "When do we leave?" Jason asked.

Brad opened his mouth to protest, but Jason held up a finger and talked over him. "She's our people too and we don't leave our people behind. When do we leave?" The others were nodding in agreement.

"ASAP."

It took them just over half an hour to requisition and gear up. They had munition and gear loadouts pre-written, which streamlined the process, but it still took time. The armorer raised his eyebrows at the part where they were taking twenty eight magazines loaded with stunning munition, but didn't question it.

It was a combat loadout to be sure, something that his team hadn't pulled since going on the lockdown. Steel ammunition weighed the same as the enchanted stuff. Still, the operators were constantly checking equipment in and out. It would be recorded, but it was unlikely anyone would notice until after the raid.

The bottom of the sun was just beginning to tuck behind the nearby mountain peak when Reaper team headed for the main gate, moving with purpose. They didn't make it far before one of the sentries stepped in their path.

"Hold there," the sentry sighed. They stopped and the man eyed their gear. Panoramic NVGs, suppressed rifles, a full loadout of stunning munitions...he gestured to Brad's kit. "What's with the getup?"

"Training exercise," Brad said, looking around to see if anyone else was listening. The other two sentries at the main gate had looked over for a moment, but were turning back to their own sections to keep an eye out. Just like they were supposed to.

"I haven't heard anything about a training exercise." The sentry, Sgt. Comain according to his name tape, gestured toward the command building, where he usually gets his orders from.

"We're doing nighttime land nav, for proficiency." Brad replied, looking over his shoulder. "The Colonel cleared it."

"There's no one scheduled to leave tonight, get it cleared up with the Colonel and then come talk to me."

Shit. Brad, still trying to come up with an alternate plan for getting out of there, was saved by Sara, who leaned in conspiratorially.

"Hey," she looked both ways, making sure the other sentries were otherwise occupied. Indeed, they had their focus on something on the other side of the gate. "Look, we're supposed to probe the FOB for weaknesses. Obviously someone dropped the ball, but Boyd wants this done tonight."

The sentry mulled it over. It wasn't common, but every once in a while Boyd would have an operator team try and get into the FOB. So far, they'd only managed once. It spoke well for the defenses of Phoenix.

Better yet, knowing that a raid was coming beforehand, Sgt. Comain stood a very real chance of performing well, or at the very least not making a fool of himself. A training probe was a hell of a time to be caught sleeping at your post, after all.

"Halt! Who goes there?" one of the sentries shouted. Damn, it looked like he was going to go for it, too.

Instead, Sgt. Comain turned and headed to the gate. Brad and the team followed suit. As the Sergeant had so helpfully pointed out, no one was scheduled to be out right now. So, who the hell was approaching the FOB?

Brad missed whatever response was given, but the sentries looked confused. They ordered the newcomer to advance and after a moment, "Archer!"

"Cutlass," a familiar voice called back.

"Advance, Colonel!" the sentry shouted.

Colonel Sumner marched straight up to the gate as Sgt. Comain opened it. "Good to see you again, Colonel."

Sumner nodded in agreement, but had a serious look on his face. Brad felt his heart leap up to his throat. If Sumner caught on to their plan right now, he'd get locked up and there was no chance he'd be able to get Fleur free. Sumner looked at each operator in turn, fully loaded, and then looked Brad in the eye.

"Captain, spread the word. I want everyone not on sentry or comms duty to meet me outside the briefing room ASAP." With that, the Colonel headed to the command building.

"Huh," Jason grunted, "guess he's back."

Brad split the team and began relaying the order, heading from building to building. Fifteen minutes later, the entire firebase was standing outside the door to the briefing room. When he stepped out, a few people started to clap, glad to have him back. He waved them off with a stern look on his face.

"Listen up, people," Sumner called out. "For those of you that didn't know, my mission and the reason I was away from the FOB was to find Dumbledore and remind him that the current government is corrupt and supporting Voldemort, and then convince him that a rapid reorganization was needed if we wanted to maintain secrecy and the cooperation between magical and non-magical folk, which we have been working so hard at." Colonel Boyd, standing behind and to the side of Sumner, nodded his head in agreement.

"I was successful. As we speak, the Headmaster is getting in contact with members of the Order and organizing. At Fort Bragg, Bravo and Charlie Companies are getting geared up to assault and occupy the Ministry building, which will take place at 0400 hours. For our part, Plan Cyclone is going into effect, as soon as possible."

Plan Cyclone was an assault plan created when they'd first arrived at the castle. It assumed that Hogwarts was under hostile control and they needed to assault to take it back. The operator teams, each flying with several extra soldiers on their helicopter, would secure the Owlery, Quidditch Pitch, and the boat launch for the first years. From there, the extras would hold those positions as the operators pushed to the Headmasters office, staircase, and Entrance Hall while the rest of the task force initiated the primary assault, taking the castle room by room and floor by floor.

The plan had been drawn up as an exercise in how they would go about securing the castle. By looking at Hogwarts from the perspective of someone trying to get in, they were able to organize defenses in the most critical areas. Brad had never considered they would actually use the plan.

In this case, the primary concern would be speed. The assault on the Ministry building wasn't going to occur until early morning tomorrow. If Umbridge managed to get word to the Ministry that the school was being taken, it would complicate the school recapturing and the assault at the Ministry.

"Dumbledore isn't excited about this, but he's less excited about the lack of action by the Ministry and the rumors of abuse circulating about Hogwarts. We're all in agreement that Voldemort is the big threat and the Ministry appears to be helping him directly. We will be nipping that problem in the bud. Once we've taken the Ministry building, Dumbledore will clean house at the and get the government back to doing the job it's supposed to be doing, keeping its people safe. We start by getting the school back and detaining Umbridge. Let's move!"