Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Intro

"Where the fuck did this op come from anyway?"

Williams was pissed. It was 35 degrees and he had a lot of other things he could be doing right now rather than freezing his balls off on the side of some damned hill, waiting to charge into some wanna-be's house.

"This ol' boy pissed somebody off Cap. It came down from the Prince of Darkness himself."

"I don't like it. This guy's out here in the middle of nowhere... just his family... I don't like it... what do we know about him?" Captain Williams asked.

Carter thought a minute. "Not much really. He's got money... Retired in his early thirties after he sold his company. Been up here ever since. Intel says we don't have a lot to worry about."

"Fuck Intel. They aren't the ones out here are they? How the fuck do we know that sorry prick up there ain't a drug dealer... armed to the teeth?"

Williams was nervous, and it was showing. He'd served in the ATF for 10 years now and he'd never come across anything like this. 3 days ago he'd never even heard of this perp, and now all the sudden they've got three teams out here armed to the teeth. Apparently because some hotshot in DC got his panties in a wad. He'd barely had time to go over the intel on this guy. It was all hazy. No priors. No warrants. No military background. This was thrown together quickly, it was sloppy, and he didn't like it.

That wasn't all though. This place didn't feel right. First of all, this whole thing looked like a death trap. He remembered thinking to himself, "Who the hell lives in an underground house on top of a hill?" Now it was starting to become a little more clear.

"Dammit Williams are you don't pissin and moanin' yet? Let's get this shit over with."

Williams looked up from the topomap he was studying to see Carl Hanagen, the squad leader of team 2. Carl was bigger than Williams. With 235 pounds evenly distributed on his 6'4" frame, Hanagen was imposing, to say the least.

"Shut up Hanagen... It's to cold for your shit."

Hanagen laughed. "Boy they sure got you worked up. Don't sweat this Cap. This ol' redneck is gonna be face down on his own floor before he even wakes up. Smash and grab right?"

Williams smiled for the first time that night. "Yeah... We have to roll with plan A. Cause we don't have a plan B."

In this case plan A was fairly straight forward. Enter the home from three directions. Secure the property, arrest the suspect, and search the property for evidence to use against them. They'd done it a hundred times before.... and they were now prepped and ready to do it again.

As usual Hanagen lead his 5 man team up to the front door. While Williams and Stark flanked with their own teams. Snipers would cover front and rear.

On approach the radio chatter was typical. Nervous and excited men about to do something dangerous. The snipers checked in as often as they could, but they weren't much good. There was fog and the tree line was well below the home. They were pretty much useless. They wouldn't be need though. They never were.

"Williams... Hanagen... " Stark radioed, "Umm... there's no east entrance. I got shit. Nothing but dirt over here. No windows. No air ducts. Nothing but fucking grass."

"Some out West. This fucker has no way out but the way you're about to come in Hanagen. Damn... this boy clearly failed fire safety 101. Look buddy, intel has obviously fucked-up, we better call it" said Williams.

Hanagen responded, "We don't call it. The A-Team gets to handle this one alone. You girls enjoy the show." He thought to himself, "Williams you're such a pussy. The US Government doesn't run. We have a job, and we're gonna do it."

Hanagens team had already taken up their positions on the front porch of the home and were ready to go. The house was strange. It was like a glass wall stuck on the side of the hill. The men could see almost the whole livingroom, kitchen and diningroom. The were no walls visible inside either. Just a huge well-furnished space, with a fire place going on one end providing the only light.

Over his mic Hanagen heard Williams, "Back off. Back off. We'll come back!" then he gave the command.

"Hit it."

With that the team crashed through the glass door, shattering it and sending shards flying. Within seconds they had swept the whole floor. The men were stretched out covering the various corners of the floor. Plan A called for speed. Within seconds the team had to find the suspects and detain them. Those seconds were ticking away fast.

The layout of the house said that all the bedrooms were in the back down a hall off the kitchen. Two men rushed to the kitchen while two more were checking the right and left sides. Hanagen was providing cover and getting impatient.

"We got 'em?" Hanagen knew the answer but he had to ask anyway.

"We've got nothing." was the only answer he heard.

Hanagen whispered into his throat mic, "Martinez.. where are you? what's going on?"

Williams was ranting in his ear. Christ didn't that little pussy ever shutup?

He raised his right hand, motioned forward and the whole team gathered near the rear of the space. They found an open steele door, leading to a hallway, with another steal door at the end. Martinez was at that end, examining their newly discovered barricade.

"Safe Room?" Hanagen asked.

"With two doors?". Martinez was working furiously trying to get through the second door and he really didn't have time to deal with the Sergeant's questions right now.

Hanagen looked behind him to see that the whole team had taken up firing positions in the hallway. The slightest hint of fear poked up in his eyes as he realized what was about to happen.

Suddenly the team was jolted by the loud crash of metal on metal as the door behind them slammed shut. There was a distinct hum and an a loud "chunk", as the door apparenlty barred itself. Hanagen spun around to find himself, and his whole team trapped in the hall.

"Welcome to my home gentlemen. I've been expecting you."The voice was clear, but not loud. There was distinct southern accent, and a confidence that bordered on glee in it. Hanagen wanted to be sick.

"Now before you panic I need to explain somethin'. If you'd like to die, then by all means open fire on one of those doors. You're in a tight spot and ricochets ain't nothing to be taken fer granted. I'm assuming by now that you've noticed that your radios have gone quiet. I'm real sorry about that. But hey, what fun would that be if you could just call you're people and tell them what's what?"

The voice continued smoothly, "Ok lets get down to business. I've got you by the short hairs kids and you're either gonna do what I say, or I'm going to kill you. So, strip off all your gear and push it up to door that Hanagen is facing now."

Sergeant Hanagen cringed. How did this prick know his name?

"Don't look so shocked dammit. If you're good I'll explain all this. In the meantime, strip that gear off."

The team was now wide-eyed and staring at its leader. Hanagen shrugged, and took off his belt.

"Wise choice. Once it's up next to the door, back away. And don't try to hide anything either, or I swear I'll gas you all, strip you naked except for your ATF hats, and email the pictures to Matt Drudge."

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