CHAPTER ELEVEN: PLAN B

General Hawk's Office

There was a knock at the door. "Enter," was the reply.

Turning the doorknob quietly… still on pins and needles fully aware that the "new girl" had been called to the General's office, Scarlett stood in the doorway as if she needed to be told a second time to enter.

"Come in, Scarlett. Close the door behind you."

Closing the door to the General's office, Scarlett took in the office scenery and slowly began to realize just how much of a decorated individual the Lieutenant General was. Awards and decorations covered every wall of his office; trophies and various awards from high priority exercises and operational missions lined the top of the desk above the shelves. Multiple framed letters and military patches signifying his accomplishments covered the walls. A couple Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross… wow, I didn't even realize he was a flyer, she thought, let alone a highly decorated one. A Purple Heart? And a Silver Star, too? I had no idea…

It didn't take long for Scarlett's quick – but observant – scan of the room to realize that General Hawk looked somewhat… disturbed? Upset? She couldn't tell exactly what was off about him, but it was clear that something was on his mind. Maybe she'd find out if she listened carefully.

Two other girls had been standing in the office – two of her fellow teammates – apparently waiting for her arrival as well. It was easy to figure out that Hawk had something to brief all three of them.

"Hey Scarlett, welcome to the party," Jinx said with a large bubbly smile. Scarlett was a little nervous to be in the Generals office; that feeling was only normal. Jinx, however, seemed to have absolutely no worries – she seemed as comfortable as she would have been in her own personal quarters. Now that didn't seem normal. How could she not be so nervous in the General's office? She's not that much newer than I am.

The other girl, Mayday, gave a polite smile to Shana. From Scarlett's experience, she was typically a bit more quiet and reserved than Jinx. Still, she had that same shy smile she always wore throughout training. Scarlett remembered… trying not to laugh aloud in the office, how she initially made the mistake of analyzing Mayday's bashful smile as a sign of weakness – something she believed until she saw Mayday in hand-to-hand combat. It must have been during only the second or third week of training; the course instructor went for a quick take-down of the seemingly bashful blonde. While lurching out at a seemingly timid Mayday, she quickly countered and threw him over her shoulder with his own momentum. For a split moment, Scarlett saw her face contort into something… well, sinister. And powerful. Far from her normal timid smile. That single moment was when Scarlett realized that she might have a soft personality, but her fighting skills resembled a mother cougar protecting her young.

Oh, and Scarlett also remembered that after Mayday had chucked the instructor… she quickly resumed her reserved and quiet nature, as if nothing had ever happened.

Scarlett returned the greetings of Jinx and Mayday. General Hawk, clearing his throat, addressed them collectively. He appeared more solemn and serious than usual… but, then again, he was a General, and it was impossible to know what went on inside their heads. "Ladies, I'm glad you're all here. First of all, I know that you, Mayday and Scarlett, haven't been on any missions; and Jinx, you've only been on a couple. Let me get straight to why I called you into this office; the three of you, along with one of our team veterans, Ripcord, are going on a mission into Borovia."

Scarlett's heart skipped a beat. Did she hear him correctly? Borovia? While part of her had already been nervous from the entire America-Borovia situation, she was also extremely excited to finally get involved with a real life mission. Especially a mission of this magnitude.

General Hawk adjusted his tie; that – as well as his tone, posture, and mannerisms – was a clear sign to Scarlett that he wasn't totally comfortable with this situation. "Let me also say this: Ripcord is playing support to you three. Each of you happens to meet the only qualifications required for this particular mission, and we regret that there is limited experience to go along with you. But make no mistake, ladies; this very point was brought up before we decided to approve or deny this mission. The fact is all three of you are highly qualified at what you do; were you not, you never would have made the team."

"That being said… let's start with the briefing, shall we?"

Hawk continued, spinning around in his chair, turning to his computer. With the touch of a few buttons on his mouse, he brought up a Top Secret PowerPoint briefing. Giving them the full brief and clicking through the slides, Hawk covered the mission details, leaving nothing out. He especially spent more time going over the slides covering target locations… including the drop zone and rendezvous point of two inserted special operation teams: Tango and Echo.

"Your team will be known as Sierra Team. Getting you into Borovia will be much easier than what the other two teams went through, as you can tell by the slides. Once you arrive here," Hawk said, pointing to the screen, "you will be meeting a Russian operative who is working with us, code name: Vorona.

"Tango Team and Echo Team do not realize you are coming. Both teams are in silent communication at this point so passing along information to them could be intercepted and compromise their position.

"Now, originally we were going to get the Russians to help out and serve as the rendezvous for Tango and Echo, but they backed out at the last minute and instead offered only Vorona and her information. Vorona is on another mission for the Russians, which takes priority, but they said she is in position to help the United States as a secondary priority.

"It's no surprise that we don't have the greatest relationship with the Russians, but we do have… an understanding. A similar threat… similar goals. Needless to say, we'll take any help that we can get. Ultimately, even though the Russians won't back us up with a strike team of their own, we at least know that Vorona has information that can help lead us to Dr. Bennett and Whiskey Team. Don't take this the wrong way, but this is something of our "Plan B" option, so bring the best you've got. You ladies are it."

Hawk tapped his fingers on the desk; it was clear to Scarlett that he was trying to figure out how to tell them the next part. "As for the mission details on this next and final slide, this one is a bit unique…, and, probably far from what you were expecting…"