Brad allowed Fleur to take care of the dishes. The sandwiches he'd made for lunch had been, he had to admit, a little lacking in flavor, but he didn't burn anything so he counted it as a win. In the kitchen, Fleur waved her wand and the dishes began to wash and dry themselves.
They were planning on taking a walk through town after everything was cleaned up. It was ritual that they both enjoyed. There was something about staying physically active that just appealed.
An ominous buzzing on his hip drew his attention. While off duty, he had to carry the device around so that he could be recalled to duty when needed.
URGENT: ALL PERSONNEL REPORT TO FOB PHOENIX OR CASTLE ASAP
Brad felt his insides squirm at the message. It wasn't recalling him to duty, it was recalling everyone. Something major had happened.
"What is it?" Fleur asked. She was standing outside of the kitchen, a look of concern on her face. The question snapped him back into focus.
"I've been recalled." Brad stood quickly and almost knocked the chair over. He scooted it back against the table and crossed quickly to the bedroom to throw his uniform on. "Everyone has, something's happened."
"Oh," Fleur said simply.
"Listen," Brad said, starting the buttons of his multicam shirt. His mind raced, battled with him. He didn't want to leave Fleur, but he was compelled to see his duty through. "Go to the school, would you? Meet up with Harry and the gang." The page said the FOB or the school, which told him the castle was still safe. She replied with a nod.
With his uniform on, Brad rushed with Fleur to the front door, where he parted from her with a chaste kiss.
His jog to the FOB was long and drawn out. He followed the path, passing a few of the slower soldiers that were also making the trek. It would have been nice if they had vehicles, but the streets of Hogsmeade weren't meant for traffic. Still, parking a few at the base of the path would have been nice.
Brad found the FOB abuzz with activity. Over at the helipads, both of the UH-60 Blackhawks were spinning up, preparing for flight. The AH-6 Little Bird, currently configured for close air support, was the only one that was at rest.
Sumner was standing outside the briefing room and a crowd was gathering around him. Brad joined the crowd, finding his way beside Eric and Sara. Mike was already at Hogwarts with Hermione, so he'd be staying there.
"What's going on?" Brad asked his teammates. Eric shrugged.
"Dunno, but I think we're about to find out." He gestured forward and, sure enough, Sumner was clearing his throat.
"Approximately one hour ago, I received information that a large-scale invasion of London is taking place. Details are scarce, but we know for certain that a number of dark creatures and wizards are currently fighting in the streets, especially around Westminster. The Ministry of Magic is also under attack and our operatives there are barely holding their ground."
There was a ripple in the crowd, not just at the audacity of a brazen attack against the largest city in the country, but at the idea that their brothers and sisters in arms were currently under siege.
"We are sending all available resources to assist in reclaiming the city and relieving our people at the Ministry. To that effect, Wendigo and Spectre teams will each be loading on the Blackhawks, along with First and Second Squad's from Third Platoon. You'll be securing the above ground entrance to the Ministry to cut off enemy reinforcements. Go ahead and load up now."
The operators and soldiers that were singled out broke away from the crowd and headed to the helicopters while Sumner continued. With the exception of the school garrison, support personnel, and a pair of platoons to stay and man the FOB, everyone else was being sent to Hogsmeade for an effort to relieve the security element at the Ministry.
They'd be loading up on ammunition and the plan was, unfortunately, a frontal assault. There simply wasn't time to find another way to access the Ministry. They couldn't apparate past the Floo room and you couldn't side-along a few platoons worth of soldiers anyway. They'd make entry the same way as their adversary and fight their way to friendly lines.
Well, everyone but him. Sumner remained ominously silent about the assignment for Reaper team, and Brad was surprised when Sumner dismissed the briefing without mentioning them. While everyone else broke apart to get ammunition cases and head to Hogsmeade for the relief effort, Brad stepped over to the Colonel.
"Colonel, we didn't get an assignment." Brad didn't know how to read the Colonel's frowning, thoughtful expression.
"Report to the school with the rest of your team and be ready for one," he said quickly before returning to his conversation with his aide, walking on and organizing their own move to the school.
Brad stopped, his jaw slack in disbelief. Even under strength, his team should be doing something. He could carry ammo with Eric and Sara just the same as anyone else, and they'd be adding valuable guns to the fight.
Instead, he was going to report to the school and wait? Fuck.
Corporal Rowena Barrett took a deep breath and ran her hands down her pants, willing her heart rate to calm down. It didn't work, so she brought her hands back up to the keyboard and began cycling through monitor screens. Thermal imaging cameras, seismic sensors, and an array of other monitoring devices that had been placed throughout the region.
It was always a problem for her, something she'd never quite managed to control. When people around her were amped up, she was too. She was able to maintain a calm exterior, but inside, her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way free from her ribs and her hands shook slightly.
Around her, the Castle Command Center was a hive of activity. Over half of their resources were dedicated to organizing a response to the crisis in London. Colonel Sumner was making minor corrections or adjustments to orders as he oversaw them, but he largely left his people to do their work; a hallmark trait of a good officer.
She realized she'd been staring at a temperature and water pressure readout from the middle of the lake and continued to cycle through the screens. Usually there were three people on this task, monitoring different regions. Her companions were needed elsewhere and she'd drawn the short straw.
"OP Hogsmeade reports that the last of the relief team has deployed, Colonel," Lieutenant Daniels reported.
She didn't envy them the task, those individuals on the relief team. Assaulting through the enemies reinforcement corridor to bring relief to your guys...that didn't sound like an easy assignment.
As she idly clicked through screens, the monotony was broken by a red symbol. She caught it too late and clicked past. An anomaly on one of the sensors? She cycled back.
Zone 34, a section of the Forbidden Forest southeast of Hogsmeade. It was a seismic sensor...and readings were off the charts. They frequently had activity throughout the forest, many creatures called it their home. But this was something unusual.
"L-" Barrett stumbled, "Lieutenant." Better that time. She took a deep breath as Daniels finished her report to the Colonel and walked over.
"What's this?" Daniels asked, answering her own question by reading the screen. "Very well," she muttered, turning Lieutenant Monroe. "Get a drone over to Zone 34, we've got an anomaly."
Monroe nodded and turned to his controls, spooling up one of the miniature drones. They were small and nimble, though they didn't last as long as the bigger ones the Air Force used. From FOB Phoenix, it wouldn't take long to reach Zone 34.
Daniels patted Barrett on the shoulder and returned to the center of the room, leaving her to continue monitoring the screens.
Lieutenant Derek Monroe watched the rooftop of the FOB Phoenix armory as it rapidly retreated. A few figures walking on patrol were quickly highlighted in green boxes, marked automatically as friendlies.
He continued up, eyeballing the altitude. When it looked right, he allowed the drone to hover while he checked instruments. He'd made it within ten meters of the optimum altitude, not bad.
With one last look at the FOB he started south toward Hogsmeade. The village wasn't far and he doubted very much that anyone would notice the quiet little drone. It was nothing like the larger Predator and Global Hawks he'd trained on.
As he approached Hogsmeade, he cycled from visual to thermal for the trip over town. The ground shifted from a varied spectrum of greens and browns into differing shades of gray. Various structures were black and white, depending on their heat in comparison to the ground, and he could make out several figures walking.
One had the green box marking them as friendly, the rest were orange for unknown. He didn't slow down and the pass over Hogsmeade was over in under a minute. The place wasn't very big, though he'd always enjoyed trips there.
He passed over Zone 31, then over Zone 33, because the zones had a weird distribution to them. It was a popular complaint while technicians were off duty, the nonsensical way the zones were named.
When he arrived over Zone 34 he marked the drone "on site" and began scanning the area. The regular camera was next to useless. The canopies of trees were pressed so close against one another that he wasn't able to get a good view.
He switched back to thermal and the screen went grey...mostly. Frome one edge of the screen to the other, he caught glimpses of hot white as leaves shifted in the wind. It didn't make sense. Nothing was that big.
Frowning, Monroe brought the drone down closer to the tree canopy. Not too close, it was too easy for the rotors to get tangled up in thin branches and he did not want to be responsible for retrieving the thing.
Using small adjustments, he angled the camera toward a spot in the canopy that routinely lit white as leaves shifted in the wind. He got closer and when he was satisfied that he couldn't shore the distance any further, switched back to the regular camera.
It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at. Someone walked past, closely followed by another. He was up too far to get a good look at them, but they were definitely people. Well...mostly people.
A large, lumbering individual knocked a small tree down, giving him a better view briefly as the branches shook and shifted. In that glimpse, he got a fuller view of the ground. There were a lot of people crammed in there, walking together. There were more of the large creatures, wielding clubs and axes and hammers. There were individuals bigger than that, as well, easily as tall as a house. He saw spiders the size of cars and smaller armed creatures as well, which he didn't recognize. So many, and all of them headed in the direction of the school.
He quickly hit the alert button, ensuring that this footage was timestamped for easy review, and then looked over his shoulder.
"Colonel, we have contact in Zone 34!" he called over the din of officers reporting and organizing.
Protocol dictated that he report something like this to his superior, who would report to hers, who would report to the Colonel. He was standing right there, though, and the situation demanded immediate attention.
Sumner stopped mid-sentence and started over to Monroe and his screen.
Colonel Sumner pulled up the report. His Blackhawks were currently forty minutes north of London. The twenty soldiers on board had a difficult task ahead of them, as they were tasked with securing and holding the entrance to the Ministry.
With the number of creatures and Death Eaters reportedly pouring through, this wasn't going to be an easy task. It was critical though, as even a brief respite from the onslaught would allow for reinforcements to ship in from the US, who in turn could be sent up top and into London to help the beleaguered soldiers and police fighting an enemy they didn't understand.
What a shitshow. He'd sent a request for assistance to the French Minister, but had yet to hear anything back. Not surprising, considering he wasn't in the primary political channel, but he hoped that he could count on her for some much needed reinforcements.
A Lieutenant handed him a new report stating that the resupply effort to the Ministry had succeeded, to a degree. They'd lost almost a dozen soldiers in the attack, but the ammunition and the rest of the unit made it through to the defenders in the atrium. That bought them some time, at least. He tried not to think about the cost, not right now.
"Can you get me an update on-" Sumner started, intending to ask his aide to get a hold of JSOC to ask about the status of the French. He was cut off by a call from the drone operators table.
"Colonel, we have contact in Zone 34!" The drone operator quickly turned back to his screen, evidently satisfied that the message had reached him.
Sumner stalked over. The timing of this, with what was going on in London, left him uneasy.
When he arrived, the screen was a simple gray blob with shifting spots of white. The operator glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Sumner was ready, and then tapped away at his keyboard. A second window popped up on the screen and showed a ten second recording.
Thermal imaging quickly swapping to plain view. He saw several dozen people walking closely with acromantula, trolls, red caps, ghouls...even a few giants. Fuck.
"That's only a small section of the reading, sir," the drone operator commented as the video ended. He closed the window and the drone drifted up. The operator expertly maneuvered a cursor over a wide swath of trees, outlining a huge section. "That's where we show contacts...if it's all that dense…" he let the sentence trail off.
"Keep an eye on them, son, and send the coordinates to FDC," Sumner ordered, turning to the rest of his staff. The Fire Direction Center would be able to get artillery in the game quickly. "Send a runner to inform the Headmaster that the school is under imminent threat and get me a line to Lossiemouth."
They scrambled to complete the orders.
Sergeant Ray Blackburn squinted at the perfectly arrayed cards in his hand, allowing himself a slight frown. Well, forcing a slight frown. He was down about a hundred dollars, but it was all a part of his master plan.
Sergeant Morgan from Gun Four had spent the last month talking about how great he was at poker. Blackburn, a skeptic by nature, talked one of the supply officers into throwing a deck of cards into the shipment of cleaning material.
"You gonna make a move or what, Cockburn?" Morgan asked.
Blackburn sighed, but inwardly he was grinning from ear to ear. Morgan was all talk. If he was stooping to insults again, his hand must be trash. He was gonna rake that poor kid over the-
A loud, grating beep that Blackburn hadn't heard in several months sounded on the barracks loudspeaker, followed by the automated voice. "Fire mission, fire mission, fire mission."
Blackburn stood up so fast he knocked the table over, sending the deck and the remainder of his hand flying across the room. Forcing down the irritation at losing his sure win, he sprinted from the barracks door to the artillery position and Gun One.
Sergeant First Class Reyes was already standing near the gun positions. As Blackburn's team scrambled to get ready, they listened to the radio orders.
"Hawkeye, it's FDC, MRSI fire mission," the radio crackled. MRSI, or Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact, would send a number of artillery shells at varying angles with the objective of having all of them detonate on target at the same time. A tricky bit of math which made him glad he didn't get placed in the Fire Direction Center. He just liked shooting big guns. "Azimuth of fire, one two zero zero."
"MRSI fire mission, Azimuth one two zero zero," SFC Reyes copied, imputing the order into his tablet.
On Blackburn's gun, his guys were already adjusting the angle of the cannon. Support braces were out and the team was limber, ready to rock. It would be their first fire mission since deploying with TFA and all of them were eager to get some action.
"Hawkeye, FDC, fire mission."
"Hawkeye, fire mission," Reyes confirmed.
"Six rounds, charge three, shell APERS-T, timed fuse," FDC announced.
"Six rounds, charge three, shell APERS-T, timed fuse," Reyes repeated, ensuring that every aspect of the fire mission was understood. Around him, Blackburn saw a buzz of activity. His team readied the charges and fuses and Tomlin cracked open the box of APERS-T rounds.
They were not rounds he ever wanted to be on the wrong end of. Designed to burst in the air over the target, the round would release hundreds of small steel darts. Devastatingly effective against personnel and light armored targets.
"Deflection one one six, quadrant zero three four."
Blackburn's gun controller was already making the adjustments as Reyes repeated the order. By that point, Tomlin was lugging over the first round. Staff Sergeant Blunt checked the round.
"Verified," he called out, and Tomlin loaded the round.
Blackburn walked over to the gun and snapped his lanyard in place, wrapping it against his hip.
"When ready, FIRE!" Reyes called.
"FIRE!" Blunt confirmed. Blackburn twisted his body quick and hard to the side, using his body to yank the lanyard.
BOOM! The gun blast kicked up loose dirt and vibrated every one of Blackburn's organs, and his chest swelled with pride. His gun had been the first to fire. He might not have won the poker game outright, but the other guns were buying drinks next time they hit town.
Marco yanked the empty shell free as Tomlin showed the next round to the Staff Sergeant.
"Verified!" he yelled out. Tomlin loaded the round as the Blunt ordered small adjustments to the azimuth and deflection to ensure that each round would arrive on target at the same time. "FIRE!"
BOOM!
Around him, orders were shouted and the firing of artillery echoed. He didn't know who or what was on the other end of that fire, but he was damned glad it wasn't him.
Tony Walsh glanced around and again allowed himself a small measure of pride. Never in his dreams had he believed he'd be a pack Alpha, let alone the leader of an army! Werewolves, giants, trolls, red caps, ghouls, a few griffins...even a wyvern...all under his command.
Together, they marched through the Forbidden Forest. They would reach Hogwarts School in a matter of hours, perhaps less. He wasn't clear on why the boss wanted to attack a school. He guessed it must have something to do with his plot to become Master of Death.
Ultimately, the reason didn't matter to Tony. Boss said do it, so he was doing it. Still, he had to wonder how Sasha was faring. Seeing the size of the army under his command, he couldn't help but draw the conclusion that he'd accidentally roped Sasha into leading a diversion.
She had a great many creatures under her command, to be sure, but Tony had easily twice her force and he wasn't attacking an entire metropolis. He hoped she'd be okay.
A strange whistling sound caught Tony's ear. Though it wasn't a full moon...hell, it wasn't even night quite yet...he still had several advantages over the average person. One was that he could hear better.
He stopped walking, cranking his ear up to listen, unsure what the sound could be. Around him, the creatures kept walking on. Well, most of them. A number of other werewolves stopped too.
Suddenly, the world around him exploded. He was blasted down to his knees and he instinctively covered his head, faintly aware of a buzzing sound. The crashing of leaves and branches, the screaming of those around him...all of it was faint, an echo in his head.
He had to blink several times to restore his blurred vision. What the fuck was that?
Standing up on unsteady feet, he surveyed the carnage around him. Leaves were still falling from the tree canopy above him, branches were hanging down...body parts were strewn about in a haphazard way, as far as he could see.
Werewolves, giants, trolls...big and small, it didn't matter. Whatever had just struck them had done so with the hammering blow of an angry god. As the ringing in his ears and the fog in his head began to dissipate, he became aware of pained groans and screams around him. In every direction, he saw wounded...he saw missing limbs, exposed entrails...dead bodies.
For the first time, he wondered if this was right. Whatever Eden had planned, had he planned for this!?
"Insolent MUGGLES!" one of his pack roared from just out of sight. It incited a shout from a nearby giant that was bleeding from its ears. A guttural roar of anger.
"It came from this way!" another packmate shouted, indicating a direction in the forest.
Whatever had just hit them, they couldn't just let it keep happening. They'd never make it to the castle.
"Go!" Tony ordered, pointing to several of his subordinate leaders which were wading through the muck and gore to get their orders. "Go and punish them!" Tony shouted, the rage of his pack pushing down any doubt he had.
Those muggles would pay for this, and so would anyone who stood in their way.
"Good effect on target, Hawkeye," Lieutenant Monroe heard from FDC. They weren't wrong. The fire mission detonated right in the middle of the mass. Four guns, each firing six rounds, each round carrying a few hundred steel darts...yeah, that had to hurt.
Monroe, keeping his drone on thermal, began to scan the surrounding area. The artillery fire had stripped many of the trees in the area of their leaves and branches, but the detonations and smoke were also playing hell with the feed.
"Colonel," he heard from behind him. "Lossimouth confirms a flight of two A-10s and two AH-64's en route."
"Small miracles," Sumner muttered. "Any word from the French?"
"I have an unconfirmed report that aircraft are on the runway at their base, but nothing confirmed, sir." She sounded apologetic.
As Monroe flew to the north a little, trying to get a better angle, he caught sight of a heat signature forming. He swapped to regular optics to confirm and, in a grassy clearing, he saw movement toward Hogsmeade. Probably...company strength.
"Colonel," he said, his emotion getting the better of him. "Approximately company strength unit breaking away from the main group and heading toward Hogsmeade."
"Understood." Sumner sounded dejected. It was too much to hope for a single artillery strike to break the enemy. "Get Captain West on the line, I want her QRF to evacuate Hogsmeade back to Phoenix."
FDC was already arranging a follow-up strike on the quickly moving group headed to Hogsmeade.
"Colonel," he heard Lieutenant Barret call out, "we have signatures to the west! Inbound toward the castle as well!"