a/n - Enjoy, and let me know what you think. Epilogue will be up tomorrow.
"DiNozzo." As the group scattered to collect the last minute data needed to pull of the mission, Gibbs tugged his senior agent off to the side. "I'm putting you in MTAC for this operation." He waited for the explosion.
"What? Why? Come on, Boss, you need all hands on deck for this." Determined not to be left behind, DiNozzo refused to back down. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't be out there."
"You've already had one run in with Y. Pestis, you don't need another."
The two men stared at each other; DiNozzo broke first. "No, I don't need another go-round with it, but if this mission fails, do you really think sitting in MTAC is going to protect me? Everybody's going to be dead if we fail, Boss. I gotta be there to help make sure we don't fail."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure, Boss."
---NCIS---
"Kid, are you sure about this? You could be in MTAC and talk us through it." Fornell still wasn't convinced that McGee was up to the assault on Moore's compound.
McGee appreciated the concern, but he was finding it distracting. "I can handle this. There are too many variables to not do this myself." When the other man seemed to be winding up for another attempt to convince him to stay put, Tim put his foot down. "I understand that people are worried about me, I really do, but this is too important. The information on the computers is the only thing to prove exactly what he was planning and who else was involved. If we stop them tomorrow but don't take out their entire organization, then it's just a matter of time before one of his followers takes up the cause."
"I hate to say it, but he's right." Both men turned to face Gibbs as he came through the door.
"Damn it, Jethro, you were supposed to be backing me up on this."
Gibbs shrugged as he hitched his hip on the edge of the table and poked the papers McGee had been working on. "Let's face it, Tobias; none of us have a clue what all of this means. He's the one that's found a way to get us the data and we don't have time for him to teach any of us what to do."
Having lost his second argument of the day, Gibbs turned to leave, but turned back to tap McGee on the back of the head. "Just remember, you're no good to any of us if you get yourself killed before you hack his computer. Now go see Ducky. He wants to check you over before we leave."
He waited as the younger man left before turning once again to Fornell. "I'm counting on you to keep him safe, Tobias."
---NCIS---
In the years he'd served as a Marine, Captain Arvidas had never stepped foot in NCIS. Having he and his men snuck in through a heavily fortified side door heightened the strangeness of the experience. He and his team were led down several levels below ground to come face to face with two suits and the Secretary of the Navy. All eight Marines snapped to attention. Davenport returned the salute and started out the briefing. Within an hour, the men were caught up and staring at him in shock.
The men all looked at each other before Arvidas asked for confirmation. "This is for real, Sir? It's not some sort of drill?"
"It's for real, Captain." It wasn't the SecNav that answered and the men looked up to see Gibbs walk in with Fornell.
"Agent Gibbs, sir." Arvidas stood and shook hands with both agents and introductions were made. As the men all returned to their seats, Davenport resumed speaking.
"Now do you boys understand the how necessary the secrecy of this mission is? I won't order you to do this, but I will ask."
Arvidas looked at each of his men carefully before accepting positions as temporary agents. Fornell rolled out the maps and diagrams of the compound and planning began.
---NCIS---
It was just before midnight when Vance put on the headset. "Is everyone in position? Team One?"
"Team One is in position." Arvidas' voice came over the speakers clearly as he and three of his men crouched down just outside the fence that surrounded the Virginia Center for the Dawn of Tomorrow.
"Affirmative, Team One, stand by. Team Two and Team Three?" The two old friends waiting near the power transformer exchanged one last look before they each responded.
Gibbs was first. "Team Two is in position."
"Team Three is in position." Tobias Fornell never thought he would be in this situation, wearing fatigues and with a rifle slung over his shoulder, two Marines at his side.
Back in MTAC, Vance looked back at Davenport and received a confirming nod. Facing the main screen, he squared his shoulders and gave the order. "You have a go, people."
Gibbs tapped Ziva on the back of the head. "David, Lewis, you're up." While the rest of them waited, Ziva and Corporal Lopez crept down the ravine and placed a small explosive on the power junction that fed the compound. Once the timer was set, they scrambled back up to the rest of the group. The explosion would be large enough to instantly kill the power, but as designed, it was small enough that the sound did not travel. As they waited for David and Lopez to return, DiNozzo and McGee set up the first of three jammers that would block cell service in the compound.
Gibbs tilted his head, allowing him to speak softly into the microphone in the collar of his flak jacket. "Explosives are set and ready, lullaby one is in place."
"Affirmative."
On the other side of the compound Rodriguez and Silva set the second jammer under Arvidas' watchful eye. "Lullaby two is in place." Once that was set, Team One scaled the fence and started moving across to the rough terrine to the first outbuilding, located in the southwest corner.
Team Two and Team Three were still together as they followed the fence at the north end to place the third jammer, completing the triad that would silence the calls. Gibbs reported in again, alerting the command team at NCIS that the first stage of the operation was complete. "Lullaby three is in place. Teams Two and Three are entering the compound."
"Affirmative."
"Team One is in position." When Fornell heard the call, he checked his watch. So far, they were right on schedule. Their two teams quickly made it over the fence before separating. Team Three stayed close to the main house, while Team Two moved to the reinforced building on the eastern edge of the compound.
"Team Three in position."
Team Two moved quietly towards the building they believed held the biotoxin. It was heavily fortified and the few windows were replaced with industrial air filtration units. Gibbs watched the assault team as they settled in to wait. It was strange to have Sacks with them rather than McGee, but Gibbs was glad the young man was with Fornell. Tim had suffered enough and did not need to face what was awaiting them here. Gibbs made eye contact with his two agents, then Sacks, before acknowledging the two Marines with them.
"Team Two in position."
"Affirmative."
It seemed amazing; they had fifteen agents and soldiers in position inside. Davenport and Haas both moved to a different monitor as they activated their headsets. Once the mission started, each team would have their own link to MTAC. Haas touched the side of his headset.
"Command Three to Team Three, commence with lullaby."
"Team Three, copy." Fornell pointed at Myers and Private Evans. They stealthily crawled along the back wall of the large house until they reached the bundle of phone wires. Myers turned and gave Fornell the thumbs up. Next to Fornell, McGee had the controls for the three jammers. Fornell jerked his hand downward and McGee activated the jammers as Evans cut the wires.
"Team Three to Command Three, lullaby complete."
"Copy that, Team Three."
---NCIS---
Gibbs removed the rifle from his back and knelt down in position as Corporal Martinez did the same. This was not a war zone, combatants could not be gunned down without warning, and so these rifles fired darts. Martinez had his man in his sights and nodded to Gibbs. Gibbs called it in for authorization. "Team Two has targets acquired."
Miles away, up in MTAC, Vance smiled. Who knew having a former Marine sniper as an agent would come in so handy. "Command Two to Team Two, you have a go." Two silent shots and two sentries hit the ground. Sacks and DiNozzo scurried out and pulled them under some bushes out of view. Gibbs checked his watch; still on time. "Team Two to Command, targets nullified."
"Copy that Team Two."
---NCIS---
While the other two teams quietly eliminated the means to raise an alarm, the third team had a different goal. In the furthest barn filled with trucks and tractors, Team One prepared a diversion. Arvidas and Lewis cut fuel lines, spilling gasoline and diesel, while Silva and Rodriguez pulled down bales of hay from the loft and broke them apart. Once they were ready, Arvidas called it in to Davenport.
"Team One set and in position."
"Affirmative, Team One. Stand by."
The three team commanders looked at one other. Ducky was convinced that Moore and his closest lieutenants were too egotistical to believe they could be threatened so close to their moment of triumph. They were about to find out. Davenport activated his headset.
"Team One, you have a go. Light up the sky."
All of Team One, except Silva were back against the fence, waiting. Silva tossed a burning rag through the window and ran. It took only forty five seconds for the glow of the flames to be visible from the main house and less than a minute more for the first truck to explode. Looping around, Team one met up with Team Two outside the target zone while Moore's followers rushed to confront the fire.
---NCIS---
Team Three was at the back of the house listening and watching as the occupants rushed out the front. Silent, but right on cue, the explosive pack took out the power junction, plunging the area into darkness. Under the cover of the darkness and the chaos, Team Three was able to slip inside and quickly descend into the basement where the mainframe was believed to be hidden. McGee pulled out his gear and started working. Fornell and Myers stood guard over him while the two Marines set up a perimeter.
---NCIS---
When the power junction blew, the individual video links in the teams' flak jackets went live, feeding images into MTAC and allowing the three team commanders to see what was happening. The night cameras were grainy and gave everything a green glow, but they were adequate. For those not used to the rapidly moving images as the agents and soldiers ran, it could be an unsettling experience and Haas found himself grateful that his team was relatively stationary in the basement.
---NCIS---
Scattered throughout the various buildings, several generators kicked on, restoring power to vital functions, but still leaving most of the camp in the dark. Arvidas and his team stationed themselves near the front of the secure building, between the building and the barn currently on fire. When the shooting started, they would be the shield between Team Two and those who would abandon the fire to join in the firefight.
"Team One in position."
"Affirmative, Team One."
"Team Two, you have a go."
When Gibbs heard Vance give the go, he and his team were immediately on the move. Ziva blew the back door and the two Marines with them were the first to go through, followed by the rest of the team. They had the element of surprise on their side in the almost soundproof building, but not manpower. The guards opened fire with fully automatic weapons, killing Martinez within seconds and injuring both Lopez and Sacks.
Lopez went down hard as the bullet ripped through his leg, but rolled with the force of it and ended up on his stomach, rifle at the ready, instantly taking out two men. The impact of the grazing shot staggered Sacks, but DiNozzo grabbed him and dragged him behind some equipment. Gibbs and Ziva found shelter behind more equipment. Lopez was protected by the body of his fallen teammate, the five of them taking turns firing at the equally protected terrorists.
"Guys, guys?" DiNozzo's voice could be heard both in the room and over the radios. "Let's not shoot any holes in the big vat of plague that they're hiding behind, okay?"
Back in MTAC, Vance snorted at DiNozzo's comment as he prayed whatever was holding the biotoxin was bulletproof.
Gibbs' radio cracked as Arvidas' voice came over it. "Team Two, what's your status?"
"One dead, two injured, we're pinned down, but so are the terrorists." Behind him, Ziva was tossing a field dressing to DiNozzo before crawling over to Lopez with the first aid kit. Gibbs gave her cover fire as she crossed the open area.
Outside, Arvidas gave the orders. "Silva, you and Lewis move in. Rodriguez and I will hold them here."
Silva could hear yells as some of Moore's followers abandoned the fully engulfed barn. "You sure Cap'n?"
"Protecting the biotoxin is top priority. Just," he flashed his men a grin, "don't take all day."
Lewis slammed a small plastic explosive against the door lock and shoved a wire in it. Everyone moved to the side as much as possible before he detonated the charge. The two men were through the door before the debris hit the ground.
---NCIS---
"Damn it, this isn't it." McGee skimmed through the data on the screen in front of him.
Myers looked horrified. "What do you mean that not it? That's got to be it." He watched as McGee crawled under the desk and popped back out a few seconds later.
McGee started walking the north perimeter of the basement, the furthest side from the stairs. Myers and Fornell shrugged at each other while Myers tried again. "What's going on, kid?"
"That's not the computer I've been hacking. It's not even a gateway."
"Gateway? Hell of a time to get snobby about brands."
Near the stairs, one of the Marines hissed over his shoulder. "Let's get moving. I've got a really bad feeling about this."
Acknowledging him with a nod, McGee continued to look as he explained. "That is just a regular computer. No way could it handle the data and encryption I've been looking at. The files haven't even been going through it to another computer. There's a totally separate system here, somewhere."
"Crap."
Fornell took a more practical approach. "How do we find it? What are we looking for?"
"It's going to be big and need power and cooling. I'm sure they've got a generator dedicated to it."
That made sense. "Trace the power, find the computer."
McGee answered Fornell as he worked his way down the wall. "Pretty much, I hear something behind here." The two agents joined him, Myers looking around and up at the ceiling.
"The footprint of the basement doesn't match the house. Cool, I always wanted to find a hidden room." They traced where the electronic hum was the loudest and from there found the entry. The false shelves swung out to reveal tower upon tower, all lit up with a soft glow. McGee turned so that his camera could fully catch the image before he touched his throat. "Director Haas, Vance, are you guys getting this?"
Vance told him what he already knew. "We don't have enough hard drive space for that level of transfer." Next to him, Haas and Davenport were momentarily distracted by what was on Vance's screen. All three men listened as McGee explained how he was going to attempt to transfer that amount of data. The two directors changed teams as McGee needed someone familiar with both computers and the capacities of MTAC to help him.
"Vance, I need you to set up a relay, using the computers in MTAC as the gateway. Set it up between the computers downstairs, the mainframe at the FBI and the one at the Pentagon."
Davenport frowned at the suggestion. "That means Moore's people will discover what's going on." The visual from McGee's video feed went dark as he hit the floor. Over his radio, they could hear automatic gunfire.
"I think they know we're here."
Listening with one ear to the gun battles throughout the Tomorrow Camp, Haas and Davenport called their most trusted assistants and authorized NCIS to have total access to their computer systems.
---NCIS---
Two more terrorists fell as Gibbs' team kept up the pressure. The half healed graze on Ziva's arm was oozing blood again and DiNozzo was scrambling for another clip for his rifle when they heard the blast coming from the front entrance. Silva came in high while Lewis came in low, guns blazing. Three of Moore's men fell to the new arrivals, caught unaware, while four more were taken out in the pattern of crossfire laid down by the two teams. Silva fell backwards, clutching his throat. The blood sprayed between his fingers, then slowed as his eyes closed.
---NCIS---
Secrecy had given away to speed as MTAC buzzed with activity. The last resort scenario McGee had brought him the night before was being implemented as Vance coordinated between every agency with the computer capacity to be useful. Haas called in the special response team he had on standby in DC. They were almost fifteen minutes out from the scene, but that was as close as he'd felt he could risk. Now to let them know help was on the way.
"Command to Team Two. Status report."
---NCIS---
McGee worked feverishly as he bypassed level after level of security. Fornell and Myers stood over him, rifles at their shoulders, waiting for the next wave of attack to begin. Private Morris was leaning up against a tipped over desk, as Evans tried to stop his bleeding. The bullet had gone through the side of the flak jacket, the weak section below the arm taking another victim. Once he had Morris stabilized as best he could, Evans resumed sentry duty.
"Are you in?"
McGee didn't look up as he answered Fornell.
"I'm in. Transfer underway."
"How long?"
"Too long."
"Keep working; no matter what happens, just keep at it."
McGee worked at compressing the data stream to speed up the process as another group of terrorists came down the stairs. Evans opened fire, as did the two FBI agents. It was quick, but not quick enough as one of them managed to throw a grenade at the doorway before he went down.
---NCIS---
The voice was shrill in his ear, as Gibbs moved carefully through the building, watching for any stragglers left alive.
"Command to Team Two. Status report."
Alarm bells were ringing in his head. "Hass, where's Vance?"
"Team Three is in trouble, I say again, Status report."
"Biotoxin is secure for the moment. Team Two has two injured and one dead. Team One has one confirmed dead. What is the status of Team Three?"
"We've lost contact. SRT is approaching to your location. Choppers from the east, fifteen minutes out. Can you keep the toxin secure until they arrive?"
Gibbs ducked at a bullet hit the wall above him. DiNozzo returned fire, killing their latest attacker. "We'll hold them off as long as we can, Sir."
---NCIS---
"Team One, report." Davenport waited, and then repeated himself. "Team One, status report." Two of the individual video feeds were no longer moving, and one was inside, trying to work towards Team Two. The last feed showed some movement, but it also showed a number of unfriendlies moving closer.
"Team One, we're holding them off the best we can."
"Understood, Team One. Reinforcements are airborne, ten minutes out. Just hold on, son."
---NCIS---
In the corner of MTAC, a fourth member monitored the raid on a missile silo in Colorado. The team of NCIS agents from Los Angeles was grateful that this one was peaceful, except for the crying of frightened children and one rampaging elephant. Ducky smiled and informed them it could have been worse; it could have been a tiger.
---NCIS---
Out of the corner of his eye, Myers saw the object being thrown. He had never served in the military, but he'd had enough anti-terrorist training to recognize a hand grenade. Fornell saw it too and dove for cover. McGee looked up at the yell, but surrounded by tall towers he had no place to go. Jason made his decision and charged the young agent in his care.
---NCIS---
Vance froze as the video feeds from Team Three blinked out one by one just before the data transfer was lost. He grabbed the keyboard and started working, but could not reestablish the link to either the computer or the men. One of the videos came back on, flickering and fading in and out. The lens was apparently cracked because it was like looking through a prism. Unable to make out any detail, he concentrated on regaining the audio link.
---NCIS---
Gibbs pointed at the back door. "Ziva, you and Lopez cover that door. I'm going to help Arvidas hold them off at the front."
"Boss?"
"Tony, you and Sacks head for the main house. They've lost contact with Team Three."
---NCIS---
The smell of sulfur burned his eyes and throat as Tim became aware of his surroundings. Coughing, he tried to raise up, but there was a pressure on his back, making it difficult. His back was wet and when he shifted for the second time, the weight moved and he was able to see the slack face of Jason Myers. A part of his mind recognized the futility, but he checked for a pulse anyway before closing those once bright blue eyes.
He staggered to his feet, trying to find the rest of the team. The two Marines were beyond help; he didn't have to move closer to tell that, so he turned his attention to the remaining member of his team. A groan led him to Fornell, pinned under one of the tall towers.
"Fornell? Tobias, can you hear me?" He slapped the other man's face to get him to focus.
Fornell quickly realized he couldn't move. "Where are the others?"
"Dead. Come on, I'm going to get you out of here." Tim tossed aside the smaller debris to make room to work. Fornell shook his head as he tried to grab the younger agent's arm.
"It's no use, kid. You'll never be able to lift it. Finish the transfer and get the hell out of here."
"No." McGee moved to the side with the most space to work. "The blast took out the generator, the computer's dead."
Fornell managed to grasp Tim's arm this time. "Get out of here, McGee, this place is going to come down any minute."
"Emily is not going to grow up without a father, now get ready." Tim braced himself and shoved, lifting the heavy tower a few inches. He yelled as he shoved again and it rolled to the side, freeing the pinned man.
Overhead they could hear the incoming helicopters along with the groans of the weakening beams. "Go on kid, get out of here. They'll find me."
Grumbling about stubborn FBI agents, McGee dragged Fornell away from the debris and prepared to lift him onto his shoulder. "You're forgetting one thing, Fornell."
"What's that?"
"My boss is a Marine and we don't leave our people behind."
McGee tugged hard and got his shoulder under Fornell's stomach as he stood. Fornell screamed once as his broken leg was jarred, and then promptly passed out. McGee struggled up the stairs. At the top of the landing someone grabbed him. He twisted and leaned back; going for his last weapon, the small automatic against the small of his back.
"Whoa, McGee, it's us."
Tony and Ron were there, bracing him as his knees started to buckle. Ron looked over his shoulder, back down the stairs. "Where's Jason?"
"He's… the grenade… he saved me."
Sacks gave a jerky nod in understanding as he helped support McGee and Fornell. Tony led the way as they left the failing structure. The SRT team passed them, but made no effort to stop them as they rejoined the rest of the survivors and waited for Medevac to arrive.