THE IRON SHIELD

PART VI ULTIMATUM Chapter XXIX

XXIX

Eckhart terminated the transmission with a sense of relief. He sent his ominous warning to Jones and the Skull. He did not yet know that the Skull was Ivan Makarov's brother. He had made a promise and he was going to keep it. He was not a man who broke his promises. He would keep his word. Not only the promise he made to Jones, but the one he made to Hawke. The team already seemed smaller without him. It just meant that they would need to step up and not let this loss tear them apart. They would need to unite together and beat this powerful enemy.

Eckhart made his way to the conference room where the others were waiting. They all mourned Hawke's death, but would need to put it behind them in order to complete their upcoming mission. They sat in their respective seats while Eckhart started the briefing.

"I know we have lost a comrade. I know it will be hard. We must put this loss behind us and focus on the mission at hand. We all will miss Hawke. I will miss him. We must unite together like never before and fight. We will fight for our friends, for our families, for our country, and for Hawke. He wouldn't want us to quit. He would want us to keep going and that is exactly what we are going to do," finished Eckhart. He let the words sink in.

"What do we do now?" asked Nantz.

"We will attack the snow fortress in the Nahanni National Park Reserve in Canada. The fortress is far from anything in the reserve. It sits on the side of the mountains there. The temperatures will be frigid. The terrain may be rough. Its strategic location may be difficult to attack, but we will take it out. I believe this location serves as the storehouse for his munitions. If there are any other secrets that need to be found, we will find them. Once we destroy the fortress, we will move onto the Mayon Volcano. Are there any questions?" asked Eckhart. The room was quiet with some shaking their heads.

"Good, let's finish this war."

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The ship made its way to the Hudson Bay submerged and the Knights prepared for battle. They each carried their own weapon of choice. Although most still chose the G36C, some chose what they were comfortable. Kruger chose the AUG A3, Patton the MG4, Shark his Desert Eagle XIX, and Crost the AA-12. Eckhart wore his suit again. He needed to get it used enough to break it in like a pair of shoes. He needed to be comfortable in it. He also needed to be ready in case the Skull showed up. Allen always carried his rocket launcher on his back. It was one of those figurative things that he never left the house without.

The trip to the Hudson Bay would take a matter of hours, but those hours passed by like minutes. The team had rested during that time. It did them good. They needed the rest for the upcoming mission. They needed to be on their highest alert.

Holmes had taken Hawke's dog tags and hung them on a hook on a wall in the conference room. He wished them to be seen whenever they all were in the room. It was one of the ways to honor Hawke. It was there that the tags hung to be seen as a reminder. Not that the Knights would need to remember him. They would never forget him. It also served as a reminder to fight for the fallen as well as those who stand.