𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳

Begin Phase Three

Victor sat up against the base of the tree, his carbine lying flat across his lap. In front of him, he observed as Zeus and Volkov were emptying out their packs, watching as they loaded bullets into magazines and clips as Daniel tinkered with and prepared all the infiltration tools that would be required. He then gazed up to the twilight sky above him, admiring the deep orange and purple hues that reflected the setting sunlight off the clouds as the sky above began to transition to a deep dark violet. He meditated to himself before the final stage of the mission was to be set in motion. Having spent the day observing the US military facility, it was time to carry out the orders that brought him and his team out here in the first place. As of now, an official declaration of war against the United States was issued by the Amarok military and government. It was only a matter of hours before the Nation's Army would pour humdreds of thousands of men into the protectorate to liberate those under the bloody boot of After Common Era and its allies. As Victor was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a small mound of snow land upon his forehead as it fell from high above in the tree, causing him to flinch. Wiping off his forehead, he brings his wrist up to his face.

"Hey, careful up there. You're dropping ordinance on friendly lines." He said with a chuckle into the communicator of the wrist device.

"Sorry 'bout that." Aiyana replied from the device. "Tried adjusting myself up here and almost lost my footing."

Victor chuckled once again to himself as he suddenly heard the sound of sticks and snow crunching underneath boots. He brought his gaze back down to see Volkov approaching him as he placed the strap of his Mosin-Nagant rifle over his frame and pack. Victor brought his wrist down from his face and quickly rose to his feet with his carbine in hand.

"How is your shoulder, sergeant?" Volkov asked as he stopped in front of him.

"Much better, sir." Victor replied, tapping the top of his left shoulder. "Barely even felt it when I got hit."

Volkov smiled to Victor. "Good to hear that." He then said before gesturing his head over to Zeus and Daniel. "Follow me for the briefing."

Victor nodded to the wolf, placing the strap of his carbine around himself and follows Volkov.

Zeus inserts the last bullet into a handgun magazine before turning his gaze to Victor and Volkov.

"Alright, now that the gang is all here." He said, placing the loaded magazine to his side before grabbing an empty magazine and begins to load it as Victor and Volkov take a knee. "Let's go over this missions' objectives."

Daniel began to load his pack with his gear and equipment, preparing to listen to the captain relay the mission information.

"Ever since the declaration of war went out, the base has been exporting arms and men just as fast as they've been importing them. But over the past few hours, it seems things are slowing down. And according to the timetable of the Nation's Army, they should be rolling through and surrounding this base by morning. So, tonight is our only shot to do what we came here for. At 1930 hours, we begin the operation by infiltrating through the fence on the west end of the airfield, sneak through undetected and locate the armory, grabbing all the explosives we can find. At that point, we plant the explosives all around the base and detonate them at exactly 2000 hours, giving us exactly half an hour to create as much noise and smoke as possible and to get the hell out of there. Aiyana will set the explosives off once she spots us after we've planted the explosives. We fire our weapons unless we are fired upon first. Stealth is our top priority. I want to get through this quickly and cleanly." Zeus instructed as he inserted the final bullet into his magazine, glancing between his team as they all nod to him.

"However," Zeus continued. "If in the event of us being discovered, we stick together and fight our way out. And if we have to, use the chaos of the explosions to our advantage."

Daniel then lets out a soft scoff. "So, basically, risk blowing ourselves to kingdom come?"

"We keep tabs on where we plant the explosives and work out a battle plan around that." Zeus replied, shooting a glance over to the feline.

"Besides, we will not let it come to that." Volkov then said.

Zeus then rises to his feet, inserting one of his magazines into his handgun and holsters it before bringing his wrist up to his face. "Aiyana, anything new?" He asked into his wrist device.

"Negative." Aiyana answered through the device. "It's been dead for the past thirty minutes. No convoys coming in or going out."

"Alright. Make your way down really quick so I can go over the plan with you."

"Rodger that." Aiyana said as Zeus brought his wrist down and begins to stroll over to Aiyana's position with Daniel following suit behind him. Victor let out a sigh as he rose from off his knee and stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Are you ready, sergeant?" Volkov then asked, stepping to Victor's side. Victor turned to the wolf and nodded to him.

"Aye, sir." Victor replied.

Volkov then placed his hand upon Victor's right shoulder, giving it a few taps. "After this is all over, I have a couple friends back home I want you to meet. You and Aiyana could possibly go on a double date with them." He says with a grin.

Victor lets out a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not very good at making friends with the friends of my coworkers. It's usually hard to find things in common outside of mutuality."

Volkov then laughs, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. "Oh, you guys have more in common than you might think, Victor." He said as he began to stroll past Victor and towards the others, Victor smiling to himself as he followed behind the wolf.

As the two approached behind Zeus and Daniel, Aiyana took the detonator from Zeus' and salutes him. Zeus returned the salute before turning on his heel to face Daniel, Volkov, and Victor.

"Alright, the final stage of our mission begins now. Let's move out." Zeus said as he, Volkov and Daniel begin to march through the dark forest. As Victor began to follow them, he suddenly felt a hand gripping his bicep. Stopping in his tracks, he turned his gaze to Aiyana as she suddenly brought him into an embrace. The two held the embrace for a few moments before Aiyana then planted a kiss upon his face.

"Don't make me come in there after you knuckleheads." Aiyana said with a smirk, pulling away from the embrace.

Victor chuckled. "We won't let you down, ma'am." Victor said, clicking his heels together and giving Aiyana a British outward palmed salute.

Aiyana giggled before the voice of Zeus called out from the darkness. "Double time, sergeant!"

Victor then turned on his heel, taking off into the dark forest as Aiyana climbed back up to her position in the treetop.