//------------------------------// // Greetings from Moscow, wish you weren't here // Story: Do you believe in Magic? // by Toshiro121 //------------------------------// ****days from Present day 14/10/2024, 2330 hours Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow Russian Federation "... and so here I am. So you're telling me that you have stuff called modern technology? And don't have magic?" Asked Dawnguard. "Yep, that'd bout be it." Oz replied. Although with all this "modern technology" you'd think we'd be finding ways to save the world rather than to destroy it. Ah well, doesn't really matter right now. What matters is that we have you here and we need to get you state side. Let's test your memory, what's the current situation?" Dawnguard put a hoof to his chin "Let's see, we're currently behind enemy lines, near their home base to be precise, detection would equal capture, torture and/or death. If it were just me I could just use an invisibility spell and waltz out, but since you are the only ones who can properly guarantee my safety, however safe that is, I'd prefer to stick with you." "Not bad, not bad at all. Alright, here's the deal. we've got a lightning extract on the way, quick in and out. but in order to remove suspicion of us already being here, we're going to have to make it look like a snatch and grab. Which means we need a HVT, this guy to be precise." Oz pulled a an image off his OPSAT. "This is Arkadi Novikov, former Rainbow operative. The boys state side want a few words with him, and we're only happy to oblige. A chopper is already en route to our position so we'll need to grab him fast." "What's a HVT?" Dawnguard asked. "A High Value Target, usually used for information or trading." Scully stated. "That's right, we're gonna grab him, then wait for our exfil. Remember, once the bird lands we'll have 30 seconds to get on-board, with or without him or anybody else, so stick together. But first things first, let's go get our HVT. Unfortunately, this won't be easy." "Since when is it ever?" Scully asked sarcastically. The group laughed. "True. We are about 1 kilometer away from the heart of Russian territory, The Kremlin. Unfortunately, our target lives on the street opposite, with a 100 meter walk across the middle of Red Square between the two. We have 3 options, here they are." Oz pulled up a holographic map. "Option 1: We go in through a back entrance, improvised or non, of his house, eliminate his guards and capture him. If it goes right no one will know, however if even one of his guards or himself manage to call for backup it will go to shit." Scully said, pointing out Novikovs house. "Option 2: We wait until he is en route to the Kremlin and grab him there. We can easily eliminate his men since they are so exposed, however once we do we'd have about 1-2 minutes before someone finds the bodies." Oz stated, shifting attention to the middle of the map. "What's the the 3rd?" Coles asked nervously. "Our 3rd option is to attempt to shoot our way through the Kremlin, find him and shoot our way out. Not only do we not have enough ammo for that kind of op it is highly risky and un-recommended by all tacticians." Oz closed the map. "Well, which one?" Everyone pointed towards the house. "Okay then, number one it is. Boombox, prep one or two breaching charges, Iron Sights gear up." Twitch raised an eyebrow. "What about me?" "You get to look after Dawnguard. Last thing I need is him or you getting caught in the crossfire, last time I checked you didn't have much experience with Russians on your record." "Loaded, locked and ready to rock sir." Scully said standing at the door. Boombox stood up and nodded. "Ready sir." "Perfect, let's roll out." The team, minus Twitch headed out towards Novikov's house, checking corners of alleys and being careful not to be seen. Oz told the team to stop about 10 meters from the back door of the target's house, before contacting Twitch. "We're in position, move out to the exfil point, over." "Copy that, moving out". Twitch quickly replied. The team moved up to the back door, before Oz nodded to Coles. Coles hugged the well on one side of the door while Scully took the other, then placed a breaching charge next to the door handle. Oz counted down with his fingers. 3...2...1. The charge went off and the door blew wide open. Leaving Red Square, 2355 hours Bullets ricocheted as the team including Twitch and Dawnguard, made their way through the winding back streets of Moscow, with Novikov in tow and about 2 dozen Russian Military Police and soldiers on their heels. A bullet missed Scully's head by centimeters. "Motherfuck! Who's idea was it to equip bodyguards with frag grenades?" Suddenly the comm channel burst into life. "Sierra this is Vector-25 Bravo, we are approaching the Exfil Zone, you've got a shitstorm behind you buddy." Oz laughed. "Tell me something I don't know mate, just get down and be ready." He tightened his grip on Novikov, who had a black bag over his head. They kept running until they reached a square where their chopper, a V-25 GosHawk was waiting to land. "Be advised, we are taking small arms fire and are requesting that you hurry the fuck up, over." "Yeah yeah, we're getting there. Keep you pants on, jeez!" Scully did a 180 degree turn and nailed a soldier rounding a corner behind them, before sprinting ahead to the landing zone. As the team approached the landing zone, the GosHawk landed and opened it's back door. "Get the hell in here!" One of the soldiers shouted from the ramp. "GO GO GO!" Oz screamed as they boarded. "Dust off, NOW!" "Copy that, we're outta here!" With that, the GosHawk took off, retracted the ramp and flew off. On the ground, a Russian took off his helmet, threw it on the ground, stomped on it and cursed. Coles put his weapon down before sliding down the side of the wall. "That...was tiring. I haven't ran that fast in a LONG time." Oz smiled. "Hah...same here mate." He turned his head to see a soldier was staring at Dawnguard. "Ah, yes, forgot to mention that. Gentlemen, say hello to Dawnguard, Earth's first REAL unicorn." "W-where did you find that?" the soldier asked. "Afraid that's classified mate, sorry." Oz walked up to the cockpit. "How we doin?" The pilot turned and smiled. "We got off without much damage, just a few bullet ricochets. Should reach the fort in a couple of hours, suggest you get some shuteye." "Will do. Okay everyone, feel free to catch some Z's, we'll be in the air for a bit." He pointed at dawnguard and the soldier. "Feel free to get acquainted with one another, clear up any confusion. As for me..." Oz sat down, crossed his legs and went to sleep.