National Ballet Theatre, SarajevoIt was 9pm local time when the ballet came to an end, normally this would have been followed by a social drink before the gathering broke but not tonight, barely fifteen minutes after the performance finished the Slavan President was in his car and being driven away, shortly after that the Premier Vedran Marek - essentially Kravec's second in command was in his car heading off in a different direction. Anthony had watched it all unfold and now started his walk out into the night towards where his car was parked, Scotia had already headed back to the Achkaerinese embassy.
"Sauron is heading west, Saruman south." Anthony muttered over the com he had with Justicar Operations "And next time can we come up with better id tags than this?"
"Copy that." Rion said "You're with Nix she'll guide you to your position."
"Have that." Anthony said
Suburbs of SarajevoSrebrenko Mirkovic stepped into his home after his days work at Treblinka prison, he removed his coat and stepped into the darkened lounge, he hung the coat up and then hit the light switch and set eyes on Joe who was sat at his table.
"Sargent Major Mirkovic how nice to meet you." Joe said, Srebrenko went for his pistol but heard the tell tale click of a safety catch right behind him
"Don't bother you won't make it." Robyn said, she'd been hiding behind the door
"Who are you people?" Srebrenko asked
"That's not important." Robyn said "Now take that belt off and hang it up with your coat. Pistol and all." Srebrenko very carefully did as instructed
"Good." Joe said "Now we can get down to business."
"I'm not doing anything for you." Srebrenko said
"Oh yes you are." Robyn said "Unless you want your sister and her family to die unexpectedly."
"You wouldn't dare." Srebrenko said
"Really want to call our bluff?" Joe asked flexing his hands, despite the gloves they were a little cold "Not the best time for it." he took a phone out of his pocket "I dial this and their house goes up in flames."
"I can do that as well." Robyn said
"But the good thing is we really don't want to have to let it come to that." Joe said
"What do you want me to do?" Srebrenko asked
"Have a seat." Joe said, Srebrenko sat down and Joe put a pen and a piece of paper in front of him "You're going to write a confession. All about how Markus Bathory enlisted you and several others in an attempt to oust the current government and install a new regime by killing President Kravec and Premier Marek before aiding Bathory to power. You're going to explain that you were to frame Admiral Radvak and the military for it but that you personally couldn't go through with it when the time came."
"KOS will kill me for this." Srebrenko said
"I wouldn't be worried about KOS." Robyn said "They're not the ones who'll kill you.", Srebrenko looked at Joe
"What you didn't think you were walking out of this alive did you?" Joe asked "No you're dying here by your own hand."
"You expect me to kill myself?" Srebrenko asked
"You drove cold metal nails into a young girl barely eighteen years of age who had committed no crime. You put her through senseless and pointless agony, not to mention what you did to her father as part of that show." Joe said "Be thankful you're getting a painless death and that it is only your death, now write the letter unless you want to be joined by your family."
For a moment Robyn and Joe weren't sure what was going to happen but then Srebrenko started writing and he was writing exactly what they wanted him to right down to the last detail, dates, times and places everything they needed him to write. When he'd finished writing and signed what was effectively his suicide note Joe put a small jar containing a pill on the table.
"Cyanide?" Srebrenko asked
"Yes." Joe said "Take it." Srebrenko took the pill from the bottle, placed it into his mouth and swallowed it, moments later he was dead his head resting on the table. Joe and Robyn carefully left the premises by the back door and after skirting around the side of the house they were in the clear.
"Double cross is set up." Robyn said
"Copy that." Rion's voice answered over the com.
Wyvern Castle, GowuPeter stood alone in the informal dining area of the castle, his eyes staring out at the gardens as the sun set he could remember an awful lot of fun times here the days when a teenage Beatrice had run around the garden playing with the young Simon, Serenity, Sakura, Yuki and even a three year old Danièle at various points. He'd never shirked his promise to Cecelia he'd raised Beatrice the same way he'd raised his own children, treated her the same way as well and while he wasn't at all pleased with the Empress's near continual avoidable blunders he had more important things to worry about. How different things could have been if not for Ofdensen's first betrayal, possibly Cecelia sat on Rokkenjima's throne, possibly her husband still alive. A more secure a more together Beatrice being prepared for the day she would assume the throne. But that hadn't been the path life had taken, now they had an Empress who saw enemies at every turn, who interpreted the most minute difference of opinion as hostility and betrayal. Hopefully in a few days time that would be behind her for good.
"Peter." Nettie said from the door behind him "Rion's on the line...it's time."
Peter nodded and followed Nettie into the study where on a monitor, courtesy of a video call, was Rion. Also present in the study was the Junior Royal Counsel
Eve Acheson"Where are we Rion?" Peter asked
"Kravec's heading to Spandau." Rion said "Our assault team is moving into position, Merak is heading home and we're tracking him. We're at that time Peter." at this point Eve handed Peter an electronic tablet which had a document open with the header
Omega Order on it and at the bottom Rion's signature in electronic form. This was a kill order authorisation, it was an order Rion had never asked for until the events of the Phuebran war and now here she was again asking for the authority to strike against a prominent public figure. Peter took from his jeans pocket a stylus.
"Eve?" Peter asked
"It's legally sound Your Majesty." Eve said, Peter looked at Nettie
"Of all the things I imagined I'd put in motion when I took the throne this was never in my mind." Peter said, paused for a moment and then signed the order "Let's make it happen Rion."
"Of course Peter." Rion said
Justicar OperationsWith Peter's authorisation now granted Rion was set, she looked at the large wall screens they were tracking Kravec's car as it arrived at Spandau.
"Sauron's arrived at Mount Doom." Nix said
"We seriously need to do something about codenames next time we do something like this." Rion said "Paul what's your guess as to what the cavalry is going to look like?"
"Based on satellite photo's of the nearest base probably a couple of Mi-24's, a few IFV's and a couple of truckload's of heavily armed and highly pissed off locals." Paul said
"What's the response time going to be when this goes loud?" Rion asked
"Helicopters probably five minutes, everything else probably ten to fifteen." Paul said
"Good enough." Rion said she put her com back in her ear "Julian where are you?"
"In position at the perimeter, ready to hop the wall." Julian answered
"Anthony?" Rion asked
"On Merak's tail." Anthony said
"Where's the Resonance?" Rion asked
"Resonance is in position, we're rotating through one hundred and eighty degrees now." the voice of Captain Baines answered.
Rion, hands on hips, nodded it was more to herself than in acknowledgement of anything else, she sucked in a deep breath and looked at the clock on the wall.
"All Callsigns this is Raven I have control. Standby" Rion said watching the second hand tick closer and closer to the twelve it would be 8pm Achkaerin time and therefore midnight in Slava when the second hand reached the top of the clock "Standby...Standby...Standby...Go."
Spandau, Slava LavoskOn the 'Go' from Rion, Julian had lead the eight strong assault team to the wall, it was stone, it was aged and it was a few feet high. One of the team
Cyd Dixon, started to climb the wall, she was a free climber in her spare time. Once she got to the top of the wall she dropped a rope for the others on the team to use before climbing down the other side of the wall. One by one the rest of the team followed, Julian was the last up, he made sure to pick up the rope before climbing down the other side, they were not up for leaving anything to chance.
"Colin." Julian said
"On it."
Colin Quinn said, he took some plastic explosive from his pack and set it on the wall, priming it for remote detonation, as a former frontline soldier in the army he knew his way around explosives "Done it'll blow a hole for us when we need it."
"All right then." Julian said turning to look at the small forest "Let's get moving."
The eight Justicars made their way through the forest until they reached the inner edge, they kept their distance surveying the situation and readying their weapons.
"Ok I see the outhouse." Julian said "No sign of any guards at the moment."
"There's a sniper on the roof."
Misty Kennedy said, she was looking through the scope of her silenced sniper rifle
"There's always a sniper on the roof." Cyd said
"Misty don't you dare miss." Julian said
"This is me Julian." Misty said as she took aim and fired, dropping the sniper with a headshot "I don't miss."
"Ok outhouse it is." Julian said
This was the cue for two more of the team
Charlie Robinson and
Luke Holmes to move on the outhouse, the building was the security control position, presumably Kravec for whatever reason didn't want it in the house. The two men snuck up on the door, there were two guards inside, the pair instinctively drew their silenced pistols, Luke as the senior of the two used hand signals to outline the play, Charlie gently nudged the door open with his foot and then they each downed a guard quickly, neither giving the guards the chance to go for their own weapons.
"Can you do this?" Luke asked as Charlie sat down at the controls
"Wiping this system's data is going to be child's play." Charlie said
"Luke tell me where they are." Julian said over the com
"Ok Cecelia's in the south wing upper floor in what appears to be that wings master bedroom." Luke said looking at the security monitors "Two guards outside the door and a few others in that wing."
"And Kravec?" Julian asked
"West wing upper floor wide awake with a few of his cronies and probably reliving the good ole days of the revolution." Luke said
"Opposition?" Cyd asked
"Fair amount of it, the second we're in there it's going to get loud." Luke said
"Ok then." Julian said "Luke, Charlie you stay outside and cover the exit route, you'll need to stall the cavalry when they come in. Tell me you've got the rocket launcher."
"Colin brought it in." Charlie said
"He'll leave it for you, wipe the computer and then set charges." Julian said "Cyd, Colin and Misty are with me we're hitting west." he glanced at the other two on the team that that left "You two hit south, get Cecelia, get her to the Resonance and get out."
The two person team that were hitting the south wing consisted of
Lucinda Hadley and
Hazel Nairn, the pair approached the wing carefully they both knew that they would inevitably be discovered at some point, there were simply too many guards for them to get away scot free but they at least wanted to be close to Cecelia when that happened. There was one guard outside who got Lucinda's blade through the back of his neck and then it was into the house, they kept it quiet using their silenced weapons to down the guards as they came across them, making sure not to raise the alarm but of course it was too good to be true because then came the sound of gunfire from elsewhere in the building.
"Party's started then." Lucinda said, they were just around the corner from the bedroom where Cecelia was, she glanced at her watch "If our estimates are right we've got minutes."
"I'll take the guards you get Cecelia." Hazel said pointing at a room they'd just cleared, Lucinda nodded and hid in the room. Hazel unscrewed the silencer from her pistol and fired down the corridor towards the guards, she wasn't trying to hit them, though that would be a bonus, she was trying to get their attention and so it worked out the guards fired their rifles, Hazel returned fire and ran down a separate corridor, the guards gave chase as she'd hoped. She skidded around another corner and turned around, she downed the first guard with three bullets to the chest and then hugged the wall by the door of the room she was in waiting for the second, she drew her dagger and waited until she saw the guard step inside the room, then she pounced, first a shoulder to throw him off balance, then a sharp kick to the back of the leg to drop him to his knees, she was behind him with her blade edge against his throat before he knew what hit him.
"May you find your peace." Hazel whispered in his ear before slitting his throat with the blade.
While Hazel had been busy with the two guards Lucinda had entered the bedroom where Cecelia had been sleeping but due to the gunfire was now wide awake.
"Excuse me ma'am but I need you to come with me." Lucinda said
"Who are you?" Cecelia asked
"That's not important, we're here to get you out of here." Lucinda said "And we're not leaving without you so move!" she grabbed Cecelia and guided her towards the door it was time to go "Galadriel secure."
"Copy that." Rion said
Over in the north wing Julian and Cyd were engaged in a firefight of their own, they'd gotten to just down the hallway from where Kravec was and were exchanging gunfire with a fair number of guards. Misty was holding position on a different angle effectively cutting off the escape route to the bunker if Kravec tried to make a run for it.
"Colin sit rep." Julian asked over the com
"Found the kitchen and a whole lot of alcohol, hell this guy even keeps a stock of Quinntopian vodka." Colin said
"Sounds like you found your fuel." Julian said "Set it and go."
"One alcohol fuelled fire coming up." Colin said
"Now we just need to get in there and end this." Cyd said
"Ok enough screwing around." Julian said, he took out a grenade and threw it down the hall, the explosion shattered everything from porcelain pottery sculptures to mirrors and even the chandeliers, it also cleared the hall of the enemy, Julian and Cyd reloaded their assault rifles both of them very happy about the simplistic nature of Slavan weaponry, Julian kicked the door open and more bullets flew this time from Kravec's rather drunk friends - Julian and Cyd dispatched them without much trouble, Kravec was attempting to run for the balcony but a shot from the doorway hit him in the back of the left knee, it was Misty she fired again hitting him in the opposite knee, the Slavan President dropped to his knees, his legs unable to hold him, his eyes turned upwards to Misty who stood there weapon trained on him, she pulled the trigger twice more planting two further rounds in his chest, he fell forwards at her feet.
"Sauron down." Misty said
"Copy that." Rion said
"Time to get out of here." Julian said
Outside it was all about to kick off, well kick off for the second half anyway Luke and Charlie had been fighting the roaming guards and having now dealt with them they had the small matter of a pair of
Mi-24's to deal with, Charlie had the rocket launcher lined up and blew one out of the sky with reasonable ease but the second now had managed to turn around after its first pass, Colin was emptying assault rifle magazines at it.
"Charlie if you don't hurry the hell up I swear I'm going to find you in the afterlife and kill you all over again." Colin said
"Oh shut up." Charlie said, he finished reloading the rocket launcher, lined it up and fired, he hit the second helicopter but it was more a glancing hit that sent the aircraft sideways into the now burning house.
By this point Julian's team had extricated themselves from the building, he looked around
"We're on the clock, get Cecelia into that Resonance now." he said then he looked at Charlie "Blow the outhouse."
"Nothing would give me greater pleasure." Charlie said, he took out the detonator and pressed the button, the outhouse was in flames a second later.
Meanwhile Hazel and Lucinda, the latter pulling Cecelia along, had covered the distance to the river.
"Get the Resonance on the surface!" Hazel said as they ran and now began to wade into the river. As if on cue the Resonance surfaced, it's payload doors opened
"Get in." Lucinda said, Cecelia slowly and carefully did so, Hazel placed the oxygen mask over Cecelia's face
"It'll be a bit of a trip but this'll keep you alive." Hazel said "Galadriel's aboard." at that point the payload door closed and the Resonance submerged the former Queen of Rokkenjima was on her way. Hazel and Lucinda sprinted back to where the others on the team were making their way into the woods
"Come let's move." Julian was urging them along, they sprinted the distance to the wall, Colin blowing the explosives en route and then they were out and clear.
SarajevoAnthony had just walked into a hotel in Sarajevo a case in hand, he looked every bit the businessman, He stepped towards the lift and was met by Robyn coming the other way, she hugged him - all about putting on a show
"591" she whispered in his ear as she slipped a key card into his pocket.
"Bar in ten minutes." Anthony said
Anthony took the lift up to the fifth floor and entered room 591, he laid the case down and opened it, the contents were a stripped down sniper rifle which he quickly assembled, the window was already slightly open, the angle on the diagonal good enough visually, peering through the scope Anthony could see about a block down the street the home of the Premier, how helpful for both the President and the Premier to have the equivalent of state homes in the city. He waited for a moment until he had Merak in his sights.
"I have the shot." Anthony said "All green."
"Take it." Rion said, Anthony pulled the trigger, the silenced shot taken, the bullet travelled hitting its mark.
"Saruman down." Anthony said
"Have that." Rion said
Justicar OperationsAt Justicar Operations Rion breathed a huge sigh of relief, so far so good.
"Paul coordinate the exfil of our people." Rion said
"Got it." Paul said
"Nix put me on the next flight to Gowu." Rion said "Now we play for all the marbles."
Wyvern CastleThe silence of the Castle was broken by the ringing of a phone, Peter picked it up.
"Yes?" Peter asked
"We've got her." it was Rion's voice "She's in the Resonance which is away and clear. The whole thing will look like a move against the Kravec regime by one of his government."
"Good work Rion." Peter said, his left fist clenching
"Thank you Peter but this isn't over yet, now we need to manage Cecelia's reintroduction." Rion said
"Don't I know it." Peter said "Thank you."
"Good night Your Majesty." Rion said
Peter waited for Rion to hang up and then let out a sigh of relief and then came the smile, it was done but now came the tricky part.