"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

Sun Tzu

25 October 2019

London, UK

Ten years had passed since Leilah went to the United Kingdom for a fresh start, for her and her baby. At twenty-eight years old and mother to a handsome ten-year-old boy named Adam, the young Urzikstan native made her home in London. Not long after arriving, she immediately saw a psychiatrist to work through the trauma she went through. It took a few years, but she was finally able to sleep without any night terrors and without the use of drugs to help her sleep.

After five years, she became a UK citizen, and immediately enrolled in the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst to join the British Army as an officer. She was always an intelligent girl, and wanted to enter Urzikstan's military when she was younger, but everything changed with Barkov's invasion of her homeland. And she was tired of being a victim.

Graduating top of her class two years later, Second Lieutenant Leilah Karim earned the nickname 'Fury' after using her karambit knives to eviscerate practice dummies during training. It was solidified during her internship when she defended a woman from unwanted advances at a club her assigned unit was attending. She beat the man and his friends to a pulp, remembering her own weakness when she was younger and taking it out on them. She had to be held back by her unit before she went further, but the look in her eyes told everyone the amount of anger she hid behind her mask.

The promoted Captain John Price visited her when he could, striking up a friendship with the younger woman who had been through so much in her short life. Bonding with her son, who saw the older man as a father figure, Price couldn't help but have a soft spot for her. He kept an eye on information concerning Barkov, wanting to make sure the man didn't learn about Leilah or Adam being in the UK.

She had her first deployment in 2016 to Iraq and went on to have tours in Afghanistan and Syria. Awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, Military Cross, and Distinguished Service Order during her three tours, she was quickly promoted to Lieutenant after a year when her unit's previous Lieutenant was KIA. Between deployments, she got trained to become a K9 handler to a very intelligent German Shepherd named Freya. Freya was primarily a patrol dog with training in bomb detection and search and rescue.

During her service, she was poached by the SAS under recommendation by Captain Price. Joining in 2018 after completing the training, she kept her rank and was kept mostly on reserve, staying in the UK to deal with threats foreign and domestic by training in counter-terrorism, bomb disposal and intelligence. There she met Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick while under the command of Raven who was part of the British Metropolitan Police Service.

They were investigating Al-Qatala, an Urzikstan-based terror organization that had a cell in London. Both Leilah and Kyle wanted to hit the cell, but they were overridden by their superiors, to their frustration. Then they heard about a possible attack taking place in Piccadilly Circus, so with Leilah in charge, they along with Police Sgt. Crowley, Police Cst. Brooks, Police Cst. Fowler, and Police Cst. Monroe started driving around the area. Freya was at home as it was too risky to have her around so many cars in a heavily populated area. Dressed in her black tank top with khaki green chest harness, camo cargo pants, black leather boots, and black fingerless leather gloves, she was ready to get this over with.

"Lieutenant Karim, Sergeant Garrick, roger up," Raven said over the radio.

"Go for Karim," Leilah said from the front passenger seat.

"Terror threat level is now critical. Possibly multiple attackers. Bombers or something worse," their superior warned them.

"Do we have snipers in position?" Garrick asked as he rolled down his window.

"Negative, Sergeant," Raven told him. "Can't unduly alarm the public."

"Terrorists know that too, sir?" Karim deadpanned as she exchanged looks with Garrick.

"Karim, don't turn London into a war zone. Clear?" The man ordered her, much to her frustration.

"Yeah," she said grudgingly. "Crystal. Out."

"Looks like we're on our own, lads…" Crowley spoke from the back.

"We'll handle it…" Brooks told him.

"Let's get it done, yeah?" Garrick told the team.

"A-firm," Crowley answered.

"Lieutenant, Sergeant," Brooks acknowledged.

Noticing a suspicious vehicle coming toward them on their right, Leilah pointed out, "Heads up, white van."

As the van slowly moved past them, they all noticed the same thing. Sgt. Crowley is the first to say it though, "Weapons in view…"

"That's them…" Garrick affirmed.

"Fury to Raven, white van, multiple military age males," Karim relayed over comms, "weapons visible, moving to intercept."

They stop the car and get out as Raven answered, "Roger. Unless an attack is imminent - do not engage."

"White van. Left side," Brooks informed them as they slowly got closer with their pistols out.

"Go! Go!" Kyle urged the team as Leilah's second-in-command.

Ahead to the right, a young male got out of a car and yelled as he revealed his allegiance, "They're here, brothers! They're here! Go!"

Brooks, annoyed, roughly pulled him to the ground, "Come 'ere! Don't fucking move!"

The back of the van opened up as Crowley yelled, "Police! Freeze!"

Three men stepped out with their hands up as one of them said, "Woah, woah - put down the gun!"

"Get your hands up!" Leilah barked out, her Urzikstani accent coming through, shocking the terrorists.

"NOW!" Crowley yelled again as he was the closest to the three men, keeping his gun trained on them.

"Get down on the ground! Right now!" Brooks screamed with his knee in the first man's back as he kneeled on him. He had his gun trained on them as well.

"You're making a mistake…" One of the fighters told them.

"Not gonna tell you again!" Brooks yelled.

"They're takin' off!" Crowley pointed out.

Before they could do anything, the driver in the van stomped on the gas and peeled off. Having a bad feeling, Fury yelled out, "Everyone take cover! Get out of the street!"

People started scrambling away from the van as Kyle warned, "Raven, suspect vehicle is headed your way."

Before Raven could respond, the van exploded and threw everyone off their feet. Feeling the ringing in her ear, Leilah barely heard him say, "Sabre 2, missed your last. Say again?"

Grabbing her Glock 17, she vaguely heard Crowley shouting, but definitely heard the two gunshots as she looked over to see Brooks dead on the ground. Glaring at his killer, she fired one shot to the head and the shooter dropped dead. Getting up to her knees, she and the others fire on their attackers, killing the other three shooters.

"Clear!" Garrick yelled.

"Fuck!" Crowley swore as he looked around before checking up on Brooks' body. "Brook's gone! They fucking got him!"

"Fury, what the hell is going on down there?" Raven yelled over comms.

"There's been a detonation at Piccadilly Circus!" She told him as they started to move closer to the center. "Shots fired! Officers down! We need medical down here now!"

"Fucking hell, Leilah, Kyle - look what they did to our home!" Crowley bemoaned from behind her. And look she did.

Though not born in the UK, Leilah came to see Britain as her second home and to see it like this brought back memories of the war she escaped back in Urzikstan. Burning cars, dead bodies, and devastation left in the wake of those who believed themselves gods. Looking to the left, she heard gunfire in the distance.

Hearing the same thing, Kyle said with conviction, "They're not done yet. Let's move!"

Coming up to another intersection, they see a gunman firing into a car. Two other shooters were off to the right. A policeman was ready to fire at him when the group arrived and ducked behind some of the cars. He was then shot dead.

"On the car!" Fowler warned them. "That's AK fire!"

Seeing the civilians in the way, Fury yelled out, "Get to safety! Run!" She fired at the terrorists, getting their attention as they moved their focus onto her.

"Yeah, and we got fucking sidearms!" Crowley growled at the unfairness of the situation that their superiors put them in.

"Get down! Get down!" Fowler was telling the civilians. "It's not safe here! Go!"

"Everyone, cover fire! Protect the civilians!" Leilah ordered as everyone focused on shooting the gunmen and not hitting the innocent.

"All units, be advised, suspects moving southbound through the shops," Raven informed them.

"They're in the buildings! We need to clear 'em out!" Crowley yelled out.

"Which way should we go?!" A police officer asked.

"Anywhere away from here!" She yelled back.

The officer nodded and gathered the others to lead them away from the fighting, leaving them to focus on the terrorists. Thus started their battle for London, as Fury and her squad gradually moved closer to the intersection. More enemies arrived and they bunkered down to deal with them. When they could, they grabbed any weapons they could from the bodies of their enemies.

With various rifles in hand, they moved closer to the subways. They hear over comms as Raven advises, "All units, all units - Attack is underway at Piccadilly Circus. Multiple IC1 shooters on site." With Kyle next to her, Leilah focused on the stairs to the subway as one of the shooters followed after a civilian. Raising her borrowed AK-47, she quickly shot the enemy before he could raise his weapon. Raven then came back over comms with a disturbing report, "All units, all units, they're taking hostages at Piccadilly Station. I say again, we have a hostage situation at Piccadilly Station."

"On me!" Fury ordered as they carefully went down the steps to the station. Coming around the corner, the squad sees two terrorists ready to execute innocent civilians, including two young children.

"Your government has brought nothing but death to our lands! We shall return this death in kind. You will bleed as our children have bled!" One of them yells in rage.

Before they could fire, Leilah and her team, as well as an officer at the other end, shot at the two men saving the small group as they came closer. Seeing one of the women injured, shot in the arm, and losing blood fast, the Lieutenant came closer and took out her med kit.

"Fowler, Monroe, cover the exits." The two officers followed her orders as they went to their posts. Focusing back on the woman, who had a little girl crying and clinging to her, she looked at Kyle and jerked her head toward the girl.

Understanding her, her fellow SAS gently grabbed the young girl and pulled her away from her mother. Though the little one struggled a bit, she stopped when he explained that they were going to help her. Putting a tourniquet on the woman's arm above her wound, Fury tightened it to help stop the bleeding, making the woman groan at the pain. Once her blood trickled to a stop, she soaked the wound in Antiseptic spray before placing a pad over it. Pressing down on the wound, she took some gauze and wrapped it to keep it in place.

Once Leilah was done, she turned to the other police officer, "Get her to medical as soon as you can. The path behind us should be clear for now but keep your guard up. Get as far away from the fighting as possible."

"Yes, Ma'am," he agreed.

"Yeah, get these people safe!" Kyle said as well.

"Alright, on me," Fury ordered as she headed toward the opposite side, gripping her AK-47 in her hands. The others followed behind her with Garrick watching their six.

Coming up the stairs, they hear Raven again over comms, "All units, check fire! Check fire! Civilians are in the area!"

Seeing gunfire from the roof of the building across from them, she informed the team, "Sniper fire from the roof, 12 o'clock."

"I got it," Kyle told her as aimed down his sights. Firing off a couple of shots, he hits the shooters, making them fall from the roof. "Targets eliminated."

Going around the corner, Leilah saw three terrorists running toward the Tanto building. Hearing over the radio about a hostage situation in the building, she brought up her rifle and quickly shot the three men. To the left in an Aural Chic electronics store, she could see an Al-Qatala Fighter readying to execute some civilians. Grabbing her team's attention, she signaled them to follow her.

"For the Wolf!" The fighter yelled as he got ready to fire, but a bullet from her AK-47 shut him up for good.

Storming inside, they checked for any other hostiles in the store. Finding the cost was clear, Garrick went up to the civilians and ordered, "Go! Get safe!"

"Raven, Fury. Hostages secured, one suspect KIA. Electronics store. North building," Fury informed her superior.

"Received. Medical response teams are on the way. Keep clearing those buildings, Lieutenant," Raven responded.

Before going to the Tanto building, Leilah and her team head to The Reading Place, a bookstore cafe under siege by the terrorists near the train station. The UK police were trying to hold their ground but they were slowly losing as the enemy had the higher ground. Storming into the building, the team quickly went to cover as they began to support the other officers.

"Shooter! Up top!" One of the officers shouted over the gunfire.

"Let's get up there!" Kyle yelled at Fury.

"Take Monroe, we'll cover you!" Leilah ordered.

With Monroe behind him, Garrick headed toward the stairs to the second floor while everyone else kept the attention of the terrorists. Readying a frag grenade, Fury waited for her fellow SAS to get into position before pulling the pin and throwing it over the railing of the second floor.

Hearing them scrambling away from the grenade, she smiled when it went off and their screams filled the air. She watched as Kyle and Monroe swept through the remaining fighters and took them out. Once silence filled the air, the group on the ground floor waited for one of their own to peek over the railing.

Soon Garrick leaned over the railing, "We're all clear."

"This is Fury, book shop secure," Leilah informed Raven.

"Lieutenant, those civilians at the bus need our help!" One of the officers told her over the radio from his position near the bus.

Another officer came over to see, "Ma'am- there's a hostile near the red bus! He's targeting civilians!"

"Alright, this is the plan: My team will head outside to handle the terrorists head-on, while the rest of you will give support from here. As soon as the last of them fall, take the civilians and get them to safety." She looked at Garrick before continuing, "Let's move."

"Yes, Ma'am," her team chorused as they headed to the entrance of the store.

Quickly yet quietly exiting the store, Fury and her team went around the corner and took cover behind some cars. Using her fingers, she counted down from three to signal when to start shooting. At one, they all popped up and shot at the terrorists, careful not to hit any of the civilians.

"Where's that fire coming from?" The first officer asked over the radio.

"It's friendly! We're in the bookstore!" The second officer responded.

Once the shooters were dead, UK Police swept in and escorted the civilians to safety. Rallying up, the team waited for Fury's instructions for the next phase of the attack. Before she could say anything, they heard shouting coming from the bookstore again.

"Contact! Ground floor of the bookshop!" Fowler warned them as they scrambled for cover.

"Raven, this Sabre 2- Where's the bloody Army?!" Kyle barked over the comms as shots flew over his head.

"2-6, Army Assault Team has been deployed. No ETA at this time," Raven responded.

"Dammit," Leilah cursed as she ducked behind a car. "Let's move."

The firefight lasted another few minutes before silence filled the air. Soon after handling the terrorists in the bookstore, they relaxed their guard and lowered their guns. Taking a breath, they were oblivious to the danger coming toward them.

"Bomb vest! Bomb vest!" One of the officers warned them.

They turn around to see an Al-Qatala fighter with a bomb vest running toward them, screaming in Arabic, "For our leader! You will die here! For The Wolf!"

Quickly shooting him in the head before he could get close enough to harm them, Fury watched impassively as he blew himself up prematurely. The others on her team were shocked, but quickly shook it off as they checked their weapons and ammo.

"Ah! Bloody hell!" One of the officers exclaimed horrified.

"You good?!" Kyle asked.

"Yeah!" He answered before speaking about the hostages, "They're holed up in the Tanto building."

"They're falling back to the Tanto building," Fowler agreed as he watched the building with the scope on his weapon.

"Copy Lieutenant, suspects are retreating into the Tanto building to the Northwest. We need all units covering the Tanto building, now!" Raven ordered.

"Karim, they need us at the Tanto building! Let's go!" Fowler told her.

Another fighter with a bomb vest comes charging out in the direction of the officers with her team, and she raises her rifle and shoots him, but not before he is in range to hurt them. As he fell, he blew up sending three officers off their feet from the shockwave of the blast.

"Raven, Fury! Officers down outside the Tanto building! Officers down!" Leilah informed her superior.

"Bloody hell! What is the status on the hostages?" He asked over the comms.

"Checking now. Hold on," she told him as both she and Kyle tried to move debris out of the way when a fighter charged at them with a knife and a bullet hits the fighter in the head.

Turning around both SAS held out their hands as lights flashed across their faces. Recognizing the similar equipment they were wearing, Garrick immediately yelled out, "Blue! Blue!"

"I see you. You both armed up?" The familiar voice asked as the leader came toward them.

Seeing his face, Leilah gave a soft smile in his direction as his eyes met hers, "John."

"Leilah," the slightly older male greeted back with his own smile.

"We are, sir," Kyle interrupted with a smirk as he broke their gaze from one another.

Coming back to the present, Price came forward and helped move the debris with them. Turning back to them, he introduced himself to the new face, "Captain Price…"

"Sergeant Garrick," Kyle answered.

"You're both with me," he told them as he took the lead. Following him with Kyle behind her, Fury held up her rifle as she checked her surroundings to make sure there were no more threats. Coming to a corner, Price went around slowly, "Check those corners…"

Going around the pillar, they hear a female citizen yell, "Please help!"

"Hostages. Up top," she told the men as they hurried to the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Help us!" A male citizen also yelled.

Making it up the stairs, they see two rows of hostages tied up with bags over their heads. In the middle was an older gentleman with a bomb vest on, panicking as he begged, "Get it off me! Please! Get it off me!"

"Lieutenant, I need you over here," Price ordered.

"Help me… help me, I'm not one of them!" The older man was sobbing. Trained as she was in bomb disposal, Fury got to work looking over the vest. "I don't wanna die. Please, I don't wanna die mate. I wanna go home…" Seeing the lock on the vest, she got her lockpick kit out and immediately got to work on it.

Kyle, watching her work, worriedly said, "It won't open-!"

"I wanna see my family… I…" Tears ran down the hostage's face. "I wanna see my girls, please…"

"Can you help him?!" Price asked Leilah, worried that she might get hurt.

"Almost there…" She told him before she heard a click as it unlocked. "Got it!"

"Let me see my girls!" The older man continued to blubber.

Working the vest off the man carefully with Leilah, Kyle flipped over the phone attached to show that they had five seconds before the vest blew. Looking at each other, Price said the obvious, "It's going off. No time!"

Ripping it the rest of the way off, the SAS Captain tossed it over the railing before pushing everyone to the ground as it blew up. Breathing heavily from her spot near Price, Fury looked over and met his gaze before quipping, "Well this all feels familiar."

"Feels like home, heh?" He chuckled before reporting in the comms, "All stations… Bomber's clear - prep medical, we're comin' out." Sitting up, he said, "Everybody stay calm. We're gonna get you out of here." Looking over at Kyle, he asked, "You broken?"

"I'm good…" The Sergeant answered as he got his bearings back.

Standing up, Leilah went over and pulled Kyle off the ground, "Let's go."

Separating, they each went to a hostage and worked on getting them untied. As she passed the gentleman who had the bomb vest, he grabbed her hand and earnestly said, "Thank you, thank you so much. I'll be able to hug my girls again because of you."

Crouching down next to him, she smiled, "I have a son, so I understand that feeling. Just cherish them, always."

"I will, thank you," he said again before letting her go to help the others.

Soon they got everyone freed and cautiously escorted them outside to be seen by the medics. As the sirens blared, Leilah and Kyle walked toward the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain where several bodies lie wrapped in white sheets. Looking over the dead, they felt anger at the thought that this could have been prevented if politics didn't play into it.

Price walked up behind them and sensing their anger said, "You saved lives today, both of you."

Gritting his teeth, Garrick said, "It shouldn't have happened in the first place, sir. They sent us in half-assed, so everyone can just keep pretending we're not at war."

The Captain scoffed as he grabbed his vest, "Yeah, lie of the fuckin' century, that is."

Kyle sighed exasperated, "Then why have we got our hands tied? Let's just take the bloody gloves off and fight…" Remembering who he was talking too sighed and turned to face Price and exchanged glances with Fury, "Sir…"

Looking between the two, Price urged them, "Go on."

"We don't stand a chance in hell with these rules of engagement, Captain. They can tell us where, they can tell us when...don't tell us how," the Sergeant told him before looking at Leilah.

Picking up from where he left off, she continued, "Our men were tracking that cell for weeks."

Shocked but not surprised, Price asked, "You had actionable intel on this?"

"Quite a bit, sir," Kyle affirmed with a shrug.

"Okay, Karim, Garrick. You're with me," the Captain told them before answering his vibrating phone and walking away.

Looking at one another, the two remaining SAS knew this was just the beginning. There was only one course of action for them, fight to the last breath. And who were they to disappoint?