Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Aisling
Aaron and Lowri walked into the room they’d set up as the command center for the operation. “They’re ready,” Aaron said.
Peyton indicated for Aisling to go first. She took a deep breath and led the way, everyone falling silent at the sight of her.
There were maybe five humans in the bunch, but they were in some way connected to a pack and had paramilitary or combat medic training.
More non-shifters, but the majority were shifters.
Aisling’s nostrils flared, her senses on alert, and she made a conscious effort to calm her fight-or-flight instincts over the variety of shifter races gathered together.
At one time, many of the people in this room might have been at odds with each other, even violently so.
But not now.
Now they stood united.
She climbed onto a crate and took another breath, propping her hands on her hips so they didn’t tremble.
“All right, then. Last chance—anyone wants to back out, there’s the door, an’ no shame in it.
Or if ye’d rather be support ops, or man the control center, instead of bein’ on the front line making entry, raise yer hand. ”
She scanned the crowd, men and women both, all of them awaiting her next comment.
“Thassit, then,” she finally said. “We’ve taken precautions, but there’s a chance this will get ugly, bloody, an’ a few of us might not come home.
All cellphones powered off, smart watches, all that, and leave them here with yer other gear.
Everyone will be connected by the secure radio headsets.
All our people have a neck gaiter. Wear the bloody thing, right?
It’s the only sure-fire way we have to identify each other in the dark.
She held hers up, turning it back and forth to show the threads in it.
“Everyone has smart IR goggles, and this’ll show up. Try it now.”
They’d already gone through this, but she wanted to say it one more time.
She pulled it down over her head, around her neck, then up over her nose, covering her lower face as everyone watched, receiving nods from around the room.
“Right?” She pulled it down to speak again.
“It’ll be shitty enough. Let’s not make things worse with friendly fire.
Also, each gaiter has a small, numbered tag inside.
I’ll get to that in a moment. We don’t know what shape anyone we might find inside will be in.
There is conflicting info, and we don’t know if they’ll be ambulatory, conscious, or if they’ll even be some semblance of sane.
They might have brainwashed some or all of the younger ones.
Treat them all as hostiles until proven otherwise.
I don’t care how young or old they are. Peyton will lead the second wave as we clear the way. They will Prime and tranq everyone.
“It’s likely we will have to euthanize hostages.
And let me be clear—if ye come upon someone who’s obviously being tortured and it would be a kindness to put them out of their misery?
Do it. Do not risk trying to save one poor sod we can’t help when there could be five more we can.
If it’s yerself or them? Liquidate them. That’s an order.
“We will spare at least one lab worker, preferably the head cunt, so we can interrogate them. Many but not all of the lab personnel are already compromised by Prime commands. You’ve all been taught the various command words in Russian.
They will sit down and not resist, and will obey direct orders you give to them if you need their assistance.
While they likely will not be armed, assume they are.
Any who resist and are armed and don’t comply because they aren’t compromised? ”
She tapped the center of her forehead. “Liquidate. If ye have a question about who to spare, kneecap ’em, disarm ’em, an’ once Peyton an’ them come in, they can decide.”
“How can we tell for sure?” a man asked. “With the lab personnel?”
“Once entry’s made by the first wave, they will yell the commands for them to comply.
Everyone who’s compromised should drop to their ass, hands on their heads.
Anyone who doesn’t? Ye can order the other workers to subdue them if it’s too much, but we’ll also try to get the Primes to take them out immediately.
Ideally, we’ll find out if they’re not expendable before we liquidate them.
“Once yer in the shite, do not turn your back on anyone breathing except yer buddy, an’ even then ye better be back-to-back wi’ each other.
We do not know for certain the exact layout of some of the high-security areas, although the information we received from multiple personnel seems to align.
There will be unexpected rooms and corridors.
Be prepared for that. Where’s my ordinance experts? ”
Four men and two women held up their hands.
“Who’s taking care of the comms tower?”
Only one man’s hand stayed up.
“Good. The rest, yer wi’ me in the first wave, spread out in case any of us take a hit.
I want ye to penetrate as deep into the complex as possible as quickly as possible.
Half of you are immediately heading down to the sublevel to the utilities floor.
Stick every single damned bit ye got on ye to structural supports.
When yer done, fall back and begin helping evac hostages or our injured.
“Once we’re leaving, we’ll give the command to the compromised personnel to sleep, because we’re not total barbarians despite them being a bunch of fuckin’ sadistic cunts.
We will gas the place on our way out. Once I hit the detonator, the whole lot goes up.
I’d rather none of ye be down there when that happens.
If yer wounded and ambulatory, self-evac yer fecking arse immediately.
We’ll evaluate the elevator situation when we arrive, but be prepared for eight flights of stairs.
When we finish, the elevator will be sent back down with additional charges in it to demolish the shaft.
If ye got a hostage but ye see one of ours dropped?
Take care of ours. I don’t care if the hostage is a man, woman, or child, they do not take priority over our team.
“Not to sound cold, but the gas means they won’t feel a thing when the charges go, right?
That might even be a blessin’ to some of ’em, depending on what they’ve endured.
If any of ours is KIA, grab their gaiter, if ye can, an’ leave ’em.
Once we blow our internal ordinance, that triggers another countdown.
We will have fifteen minutes from when that blows before the munitions drop via drones.
Two bunker busters. So if ye weren’t out by then, yer not coming out at all.
Leastways, not in one piece. Mebbe save one bullet in case ye get trapped down there alive and the gas doesn’t take ye down. Understand?”
She knew she didn’t need to detail this to them, but she also knew she’d feel remiss if she didn’t.
Everyone grimly nodded.
“The cloud cover is still thick and heavy, which is what we wanted, in conjunction with the new moon giving us darkness.” She pointed to the map on the wall.
“We’ve already Primed all the border guards at the closest crossing to ignore anything unusual when we make entry and to not patrol the fenceline.
Any vehicle issues, leave it an’ pile into something else.
Each vehicle will have a charge. If it gets abandoned, blow it.
Gloves on at all times. No fingerprints. ”
She climbed off the box and walked over to a blank wall, where Lowri had set up a laptop and projector to display the map.
Aisling traced the route even though everyone already had a copy and had memorized it.
“For egress, we turn off at this fire road here, which has been confirmed clear and passable. This fence section here will be dropped. We’re doin’ this in case an alert goes out that we can’t intercept and they send troops who we haven’t compromised to the border crossing.
And this is closer, anyway. Brings you right to the warehouse.
From here we transport the hostages, if we recover any, and any of our wounded to the airstrip.
“We don’t get a second chance. I need yer focus on yer mates.
Makin’ sure as many of us return as possible.
If there’s a problem after we bug out—again, if there’s a choice to make and it’s you or them?
You, every time. Eliminate subjects regardless of who they are.
Until they are on that plane and in the air, they aren’t people—they’re guinea pigs, an’ we have no idea what state they’re in.
Especially if any of them are Primes. We have intel there may be a very strong male Prime Alpha wolf shifter.
Mebbe more than one Prime, we don’t know.
We can do the mental health work fer ours later.
“I cannot stress enough that ye must remember this operation will shut down a worldwide threat that’s been going on for decades.
If ye hesitate pullin’ the trigger, you or yer buddy might die.
When yer in doubt, picture yer own mate or child or sibling and know that if we don’t do this now, others will die.
This will be ugly an’ I need all of ye at yer best wi’ compartmentalization.
Until those people are safely in our hands an’ secured, or dead, they are liabilities.
They are cargo. They are not humans, they are not shifters, they are not men, women, or children.
They are livestock an’ they are expendable if the choice is saving ours or them.
So again I ask, anyone need to leave now, or ask to be reassigned to the support or transport teams? ”
No one moved.
She grimly nodded. “Right. We don’t know if or how many other facilities like this might be out there, but we have to destroy this one.
Hopefully, it’s the only one. Our intel says it likely is, but until we grab the mad bastard runnin’ it, we won’t know for sure.
If there are other people involved, or other facilities, we will coordinate operations to take them out next.
“Once this is over, follow yer plan to get back here and get yer gear. Make sure to turn in your gaiters immediately. If ye picked up any from our casualties, make sure those are handed in, too, an’ noted.
Or if ye saw someone fall an’ couldn’t get their gaiter.
We will assume anyone else died inside. After ye’ve done that, if yer not in support or transport, follow yer personal plan, get yer shite that’s goin’ wi’ ye, an’ leave the area immediately.
Any gear yer leavin’ behind, drop it in the marked area over there an’ we’ll shift it when we evacuate this warehouse.
If any of ye are stopped by authorities in Finland, we’ll get a Prime to ye as quickly as we can.
Just keep yer feckin’ snoot shut an’ wait.
Ye all have the contact number to call. If yer somehow captured inside Russia… ”
She sighed. “I cannot promise ye we’ll ever be able to get ye out again.
If ye want my honest opinion, if ye can’t shift and flee, ye might want to consider eatin’ yer sidearm or slicin’ yer femorals and jugulars and sitting down to wait.
I’m sayin’ that applies to myself as well.
Our primary mission is to eliminate the lab.
If we can rescue subjects in the process, happy days.
But do not forget our primary goal is to destroy this place an’ anyone runnin’ it, an’ to bring as many of us home as possible. Anythin’ else is gravy. Questions?”
There weren’t, not that she thought there would be, but she stared at their faces, committing them to memory, counting them, praying they would all be here on the back side.
She glanced at her watch. “It is 1922.” She waited while everyone synchronized theirs.
“We begin at 2100 sharp. We anticipate making entry by 2155, egress no later than 0000. The fence will drop at 0100, and our last vehicle should cross the border by 0115. We’ve calculated the fuel for the vehicles, and they have plenty to spare.
In forty-eight hours, you will receive an email to the secret account we have on file for you with further instructions or information.
The account you receive it from will then cease to exist. The emergency phone number will be defunct after three weeks.
You will not speak to anyone about this operation who is not a part of this operation, an’ you have agreed that will be reinforced by Peyton himself. Questions?”
“What if there’s another lab?” one of the men asked.
“Let’s hope we don’t have to do this more than once,” she said. “But if we do, we’ll reach out to ye first. And again, no one will blame ye for sayin’ no, because ye did yer part. It’s not hyperbole to say this is an existential threat.”
“Why don’t we just come out?” one of the women asked. “Wouldn’t that be easier? I mean, yes, we need to destroy this lab. But if we come out, doesn’t that take the power from them?”
Peyton stepped up. “Name me one time in the history of the world where a persecuted minority asserting their rights ever worked out for them at the beginning of that movement. It’s great in theory, but the reality is we would be destroyed.
There are other operations currently in motion that I am not at liberty to discuss.
Some have been ongoing for a while and are making significant headway.
Our power comes from our secrecy. We are slowly putting our people into place. ”
“That sounds… questionable,” a man at the front said. He sounded American, but she didn’t recognize him as one of the Targhees.
“How so?” Peyton asked.
“I mean…” He glanced around. “I don’t want to kill off fucking psychopaths just to help install a fascist regime.”
“We’re not doing this to subjugate or harm other people.
We’re doing this to help and provide protection for our people.
If one of ours is captured, we can use military or special intelligence contacts to free them.
We can do that under the guise of what humans have done for each other for as long as governments have existed.
Do I hope my grandchildren can live openly and freely one day?
Yes. Will I push the issue prematurely? Fuck no.
We’re amassing power and wealth for our kind so we can protect ourselves. ”
He looked at Aisling. “Anything else?”
She shook her head. “If any of ye are of a prayin’ bent, well, we’ll take all the help we can get from the Goddess, or yer deity of choice.
“Amen,” one of the Polish bear shifters said from the back.