6/1/14 2:58am Groom Lake Research Facility, Earth
Avery stared up the ladder that led from the underground tunnel to the second floor of the Groom Lake Research Facility. The ladder was mounted to the wall to take up the least amount of space and its red coloring was to make it visible in the reduced lighting conditions of the clandestine tunnels. The lights up near the exit used a red light instead of the traditional yellow to reduce the risk of visible light leaking out when the door was open and to prepare the eyes to get ready in case it was night on the other side of the door. Avery began his 25 foot ascent.
Avery had a very bad feeling about this mission, the energy was off. But those were sentiments he could never voice, that kind of thought became a self-fulfilling prophesy making every one make small mistakes they normally weren’t capable of. He also knew the mission could still be called off, but the stakes were too high. If they didn’t go through with this and negotiations between the two powers ceased completely, he could never live with himself again. Spying on allies isn’t even that strange. He reassured himself. Expecting any two countries to want the same thing in the world is deluded. Which means you must know how far they are willing to bend and what they really want. It’s just how politics works, give and take, they spy on us and we spy on them.
Avery reached to his left and hit a small switch, the lights turned off and a small sliver of moonlight appeared to his right. The crack became larger as the hidden door slid back into the wall. The new door was just big enough for Avery to step off the ladder and on to the carpet of the Director’s office. The room was lit with just the light streaming in through the single large window to his left. The room itself contained a large desk with a plush black chair in front of him and a few pictures on the walls that he couldn’t make out.
Over the next few minutes the rest of his team entered the office and took positions around the room. Avery pushed a small button underneath the Director’s desk and the hole sealed back up. When the door slid back into position there was no line and no way to tell it wasn’t just a plain white wall.
“If you have to make a quick getaway, hit that button to open the door.” Avery told his squad, being reluctant to tell anyone before this point. I’m becoming paranoid in my old age. He joked to himself. “It takes a few seconds to open and close. But if you think you are about to get caught, lead them away from this office. Under no situation is anypony allowed to know this exists.” He stared at the door, whoever designed it was an artist, not even the space it took up could be discerned, obviously part of the original design.
After the three operatives nodded, Avery moved over and opened the four foot tall window towards himself. The retrofitters really thought of everything in designing Icarus. Avery conceded, the window design allowed for easy access back into the room from the outside and a small ‘pipe’ disguised as a gutter ran down the length of the wall. The pipe was solid enough to support even the heaviest marine and a 60 pound pack, more than enough for any person to slide down and was attached to the wall every few feet to work as handholds to get back up.
“Remember. We have less than two hours to get everything done and be out of here.” Avery told his people one last time. “Isao,” He ordered. “You’re first. Get up to the roof and tell us if there are any lookouts. Once you give the all clear the rest of us will move into position.”
The sniper moved over to the window and gingerly leaned out until he could grasp the pipe. He then climbed out the window and ascended to the roof. The three remaining operatives tensely waited for several minutes until their mics started with a hiss of static. “All clear.” Isao stated calmly through he hiss of interference. “What’s with the feedback?” A sudden hiss punctuated his words.
Victor winced at the sound. “Faraday cage.” He said through gritted teeth. “The energy of the shield around this area is interfering with radio waves.” His two companions stared at the young man. “What?” Victor calmly replied. “We all have specialties.”
Avery rolled his eyes. This is taking way too long. He thought to himself, never one to banter while on a mission, he understood the need and that was an important piece of information to get back to the Director. “Then you’re up next radio man.” Avery ordered.
Victor reached outside the window glumly and climbed down the pipe as quickly as he could. A quick double beep over the radio informed the rest of the team that he was safely at the bottom and standing guard.
Avery then looked over at the only female on the squad and tilted his head, indicating for her to go next. As she reaches out the window and makes her way to the ground outside; Avery questioned having her on the team. He was never able to completely trust someone that was so cold and manipulative. In his experience they always had another game or other plans in the back of their mind. He could work with her, but he could never fully trust her, especially with the only person she considered an ‘enemy’ on the same field. At least she wouldn’t dare jeopardize the mission. He silently hoped, consoling himself as another set of double beeps informed Avery that it was finally his turn.
He reached outside and grabbed the cold metal pipe in his hands and gingerly climbed out the window, placing his feet on the joints connecting it to the side of the research building. Getting to the cold dirt of the Nevada desert was easy with how the pipe was set up, almost as if it was a ladder. Avery looks at his two dark clad allies and gave three clicks on his mic, telling Isao that everybody was down and ready. The leader waiting patiently for the all clear, that the path to their targets was clear, that they wouldn’t get caught halfway there. No reason to start increasing the risks now that they were actually here.
Victor Sizemore heard the two beeps in reply from Isao as the sniper gave the all-clear. Time to head out. He thought to himself, his gut churning. Every instinct told him to run, that this mission would go south quickly, just like it had in Afghanistan. That won’t happen here. He reassured himself. These aren’t extremists and we aren’t even harming them, the P90’s are just to sell our cover if caught as rogue Secret Service agents. Avery would never let this mission fail. Victor’s calm bearings slowly returned to him. His first mission in lead, he had lost all of his men in what could only be described as an ambush.
“See you when this is over.” Avery stated to Aiko as she headed off towards the Embassy at a dead run.
After Aiko was a good 100 yards away, a second series of beeps informed Victor it was his turn.
“Let’s move.” Avery ordered and they both ran towards the houses that made up Bridle Lake.
Let’s just get this done and head home. He thought as he ran as fast as he could. There was no way to tell when a guard might appear, and they needed to be in cover well before then.
Avery was taking the northern half of the village while Victor took the southern half. The experienced commander usually wasn’t a fan of splitting up, but in this instance it was the only option. One human was much harder to spot then two, and it allowed them to finish the job twice as fast.
Avery was currently planting one of the listening devices in the overhang of the door to the Ambassador’s house, he was surprised to hear noises coming from the inside. Shit, this place is supposed to be empty.
Just then his earpiece activated with the voice of his junior. “This is boring” he complained, unaware of where his senior was. The voice came in covered in static but still understandable, meaning they weren’t too far apart. Avery had already confirmed that clicks could transmit this far from the base, but words would become garbled if the distance was more than half a mile.
Avery didn’t move from his position by the door. He knew that nobody could hear the sound issuing from the device in his ear, but training was something he didn’t fight. “You are to be quiet unless it’s an emergency!” Avery hissed into his microphone, hoping he wasn’t too loud in the surprisingly quiet environment.
“Fine.” Victor groused. “But this is still boring.” He complained as the mic clicked off.
Objection noted. Avery commented to himself. Any other time and he would have wrung Victor’s neck for such a move, but all he cared about right now was making sure his quick response hadn’t alerted the ponies at home to his presence.
He quieted his breathing even more and put an ear to the door. He could easily hear the voice from the other side.
“I thought you said there wasn’t going to be anything girly.” A somewhat gravelly voice complained.
“I think Rainbow.” Another voice snickered. “That it suits you quite well.” This one was clearly female and clearly Twilight, one of the first ponies he had ever met.
“Quite right. A pony should always dress in style.” The high society tones of the Equestrian Ambassador spoke. “Now come here so I can do your hair.” The pony offered.
“Buck no. I’m gonna start the pillow fight right now if you take one step closer.” The unknown voice replied.
“That is no way for a lady to act…” The voices slowly faded away as Avery pulled his ear from the door, confirming he hadn’t been overheard.
Avery moved even more carefully, he still had two more devices to plant and now had to make sure to avoid windows as he did so. He carefully controlled his breathing, trying to slow his racing heart.
Aiko ducked into a doorway as the tip of a horn appeared around the corner in front of her. Hooves have no reason to move that silently. She hissed as her job became that much harder. She had climbed up to the second floor and entered through a window, already placing several bugs throughout the offices. Why do they have guards roaming the halls? She wondered as the guard passed, letting the CIA operative continued on her route. It’s not like anyone can get in. She smirked as she levered down a handle and entered into another unlocked office.
It was a standard pony office, just like the rest. A short desk with no chair sat on the floor with paperwork and books about the room. The lights were off but it made no difference to Aiko. She made her way over to the desk and hid a listening device under desk as far back as it could go. The device was larger than normal, but it required a self-contained power supply and a burst transmitter.
This mission had to succeed; if this mission went south she could never rebuild her cover story, either of them. But a mission was no time for emotions. She buried her fear as she got off the floor and opened the door back into the hallway; just inches away from a dark coated pegasus guard. Out of reflex, Aiko lifted the gun hung at her side and fired point blank into the guard. The short hiss the only sound to be heard as a projectile left the barrel. The needle had lodged into the guard’s neck and in moments the pony was unconscious on the ground.
“Shit!” Aiko spat, irate at not seeing the guard on the other side. Have to be more careful! She berated herself as she dragged the downed guard into the office and removed the dart, leaving no evidence. He should wake up in a few hours no worse for wear, hopefully thinking he just fell asleep on duty. She hoped, continuing her work.
The informant walked over to the area between Bridle Lake, the Embassy, and the Research Center. The special bugs had been placed. It was hard getting the low-grade plastic explosives into the listening devices while sequestered, but money really did make it easier, just order it from an old ‘friend’ who now works for a weapons dealer, give him enough to bride an officer or two. I never used it after all. In a few minutes all hell would break loose. And with any luck, at least some of them can make it out, but not me, this plan requires s sacrifice of everything for the better good .At least the small amount of explosive will only scare, maybe maim a few, one unlucky pony may face worse. Wrong place, wrong time. The story of my life. The informant thought as their gun lowered to the ground.
BANG! BANG! The two shots rang out, their report spreading through the entire area. Now the fun begins. The informant thought despondently. This was nothing to be proud of, but what was necessary never was.
Celestia sat on her plush bed, another sleepless night. The lights were on; the Princess was thinking. Things were quickly reaching a head, a time when things would be irreversible. There was an ominous feel in the air, events were in motion even an alicorn could not control. Something bad was coming. The meeting this Saturday should answer some questions though.
But a voice in the back of her head, one that had started speaking to her of late disagreed. Luna was right. They are evil and not to be trusted. Even now they may be planning a way to take your precious ponies from you. It cooed.
Before she could fight the voice, a noise erupted from outside. A gunshot! It was quickly followed by a second. The sound was unmistakable. “NO!” Celestia darted off of her plush purple bedding and moved swiftly to the solid wooden doors. The alicorn extended her magic to the other side of the door, but nothing was there.
There were supposed to be two Celestia Guards on the other side of that door regardless of time or situation. Their job was to guard their Princess, to protect her and they were missing.
Celestia threw open the doors and in an instant regretted her decision. On either side of the door were the traditional guards, white furred and clad in golden armor. She could feel no sign of life coming from either pony, but also no sign of blood or wounds. And between them was a golden wrapped present with a red bow.
Mere seconds after she had thrown the doors open, a bright flash blinded Celestia followed by another loud burst of noise and a wave of pressure.
Isao reached outside the window and scurried up the few feet of pipe and carefully pulled himself onto the uneven gravel roof. The six inch lip at the edge of the roof would provide cover and a place to set his sniper rifle. He scurried over to the edge closest to the Embassy and pulled out a thin metal tube, the optical bug. The sniper quickly adjusted the bug to point at the main window in what was supposedly the Princess’ bedroom. Nice and easy. He thought tensely as the final adjustments were made.
Isao then set his bag against the roof pulled out the special camouflage for this mission out of the pack on his back. It was an advanced ghillie suit, covered with gravel to imitate the roof and even used a thin layer of tar to convey the smell. It was designed to perfectly fit with the gravel roof of the research facility and with his small frame would just look like another bump in the ‘hastily constructed’ building. The sniper pulled out his scope and rifle, settling his gear under the blanket and scouted the area.
As Isao searched, he could see no sign of any ponies. This early in the morning it looked like a ghost town. “Creepy.” He muttered and activated his mic. “All clear.” He said through a hiss of static. That’s never happened before, he thought, tempted to check his gear for defects. “What’s with the feedback?”
“Faraday cage.” Was the only replied Isao heard before tuning out the technobabble. As a scout sniper he was used to working alone or in small groups, and hated idle chatter in missions. As a result he tuned out their rabble until he heard the three clicks that would signal his turn and just kept watch. He took the spare time to make some minor adjustment to sight in his rifle. Isao also made sure to check the sky, the pink glow of the shield providing ample illumination, but there were no eyes to watch out for.
This is new. Never had to watch out for quiet flyers before. They should make noise, stealthing it ain’t fair. Isao mused. Already missing helicopters and technology he understood. A set of three chirps from his radio signaled that the others were ready.
Isao made one last check of the area and sent his reply. A moment later a thin lithe form darted for the Embassy. “Good luck sis.” He whispered, wishing that his knowledge of his sister hadn’t alienated her from himself. Back to the job, he lamented. We’ll discuss it after the mission.
After his sister could safely make it to cover he issued a second set of beeps, signaling the other two to head out. He followed their running forms until they safely made it into Bridle Lake, then shifted his attention to any movement throughout the area.
6/1/14 3:48pm Research Center Roof, Earth
Isao still kept watch, an hour was nothing for him, a day waiting was nothing. The mission should be near its completion, enough time had passed if everyone was on their game. But the radio interference made it hard to know for sure.
Movement outside of the scope caught his attention, he lowered his scope to get a better view. He could see the shape of a human, but not who it might be. If he adjusted his scope there was the chance for a better view, but his target might move, so he kept watching.
The hairs on the back of Isao’s neck stood on end. He felt bad mojo coming and pulled his emergency mic up to his mouth, the one that would go straight to command. “Command we may have an issue here.” He said hesitantly. There was no reply.
The human pointed something at the ground and the bottom fell out of Isao’s stomach. Two shots rang out through the calm night air. There’s no way anybody missed that. He surmised and quickly began speaking as movement in the Embassy made him lose the human. “We have two gunshots from an unknown assailant. It seems designed to alert Equestria to our presence.” He reported as the tall lean princess ran to her bedroom doors. Command should know what to do.
“Sir, I repeat. We have a prob-“ Isao stopped short as the top floor erupted in a blast of fire and pressure, every window of the Princess’s room shattering, flying out into the distance as the echoes rang and bounced off the shield walls. “Make that a clusterfuck sir. Need immediate assistance.”
And then all hell broke loose.