Short Story: World In Conflict Series -…

Short Story: World In Conflict Series - Soldier Of Fortune

WORLD IN CONFLICT SERIES

SOLDIER OF FORTUNE INSIDE STORY

John F. Mullins was born on a dirt farm in South-west Oklahoma in 1937. He completed his high school in 1953 and joined the US Army in 1960. He started out as a member of the United States Army's Second Infantry Division and then moved on to the Special Forces Green Berets as a combat medic. In 1963, he served a six-month tour in the Republic of Vietnam and was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant in 1964. In 1966 and 1967 he served another tour in Vietnam, as part of the CIA's Studies and Observations Group on the Cambodian border. In 1969, he served a third tour of Vietnam, this time as a member of the controversial PHOENIX group created to assassinate high-ranking Vietcong officers. In 1971, John Mullins retired from the military with the rank of Captain and returned to the United States. He studied for advanced tactics and languages in Maryland and became a private mercenary for a Non-Government Organization called The Shop. Between 1976 and 1985, John worked on special assignments in the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America. Some of these assignments included, among others: training, VIP protection, asset recovery, hostage negotiation and rescue, advising senior officials and occasionally supporting foreign police and military personnel in high-risk operations.

In 1989, John received his first assignment in Central Europe. He was recruited to extract

a Russian named Doctor Piotr Ivanovich to the United States. Doctor Ivanovich had been

staying at an apartment in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia). The Czech

Republican Army had burst into the doctor's apartment and arrested him ten days before

John had received the assignment. The Czech Army had obviously found out that Doctor

Ivanovich was wanted in connection with the Svedlorsk incident in Russia in 1979, and

were holding him in the Grand Hotel Praha in Old Town Square, Prague. The doctor had

been helping the Russian Biopreparat (biological and chemical weapons scientists)

develop two deadly strains of Anthrax at a weapons laboratory near Svedlorsk in the Ural

Mountains and the virus had apparently leaked out and killed 73 people. The doctor was

so horrified that he fled Russia and had sought refuge in Eastern Europe. The Russian

Red Army had been searching for the doctor for months. John's assistance with the

doctor's defection would be a great help for the doctor to start a new life and acquire a new

identity. The Czech soldiers had securely locked Doctor Ivanovich in his hotel room and

put a strong guard watch on the building. He was to remain there until the morning when he

was to be transported to a maximum security prison for war criminals.

John discretely met with a trusted accomplice named Nemec in Pravda Restaurant just up

the street from the hotel. Nemec showed John downstairs past the restaurant kitchen into

the storeroom and opened a casket revealing a .45 pistol, .45 ammunition and a combat

knife. Nemec apologized that he could not acquire more firepower. John shrugged off the

apology and said that this would be fine.

John was walking down a side-alley when a Czech soldier walked past. John hit the man a

powerful blow to the back of the head with the butt of the .45 and the man went out like a

light. John picked up the man's Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle and proceeded down the

street. He turned around a corner and there were two soldiers 200 yards down the street.

Both men opened fire and John ducked behind a garbage dumpster. He leaned out and

returned fire, hitting the valve of a huge gas tank behind the two soldiers. The blast rocked

the ground like an earthquake, killing both men and completely destroying the surrounding

buildings. John stayed put as three other soldiers came to investigate the explosion. After

they had gone, John proceeded towards the street that went directly past the front of the

hotel. Crouching behind a parked car, he pulled out his field binoculars and observed the

front entrance of the hotel, noticing the few guards standing around a machine-gun nest on

the front porch. Guess I'm not going in that way, thought John to himself. He pulled out the

rappelling rope and climbed up the side of the building next to the hotel without being seen

and, once he had reached the roof, leapt from the building to the roof of the hotel. He then

proceeded inside through the top-floor window. After neutralizing the hotel guards inside

using hand-to-hand combat tactics (punching, kicking, strangling), John found the doctor's

room and picked the secure lock on the door with his toolkit. He entered the room and

introduced himself, then hurried the doctor through the hotel canteen into the kitchen to the

garbage shute. He and the doctor slid down the shute and landed in an alley at the back of

the hotel just as the guards outside the hotel in the front rushed into the building and

raised the alarm. There was a parked truck with a Russian RDP .50 caliber machine-gun

mounted on the back. Doctor Ivanovich climbed into the driver's seat of the truck, finding

the keys still in the ignition and trying to start the vehicle while John mounted the machine-gun. After a short struggle, the doctor finally managed to start the truck and race down the

alley as John gunned down approaching guards with the RDP. The truck smashed through

the front gate and headed out into the countryside.

Not long afterward, a few trucks with Czech soldiers on the back started chasing after

John and the doctor. John opened fire with the .50 cal and one by one, all four trucks

eventually ceased pursuit. An attack helicopter also pursued, but lost control and crashed

in the nearby canyon as its tail rudder was shot to pieces by John's heavy machine-gun

fire. John and the Doctor made it to Prague Train Station just after midnight and boarded a

train bound for Berlin, Germany, using the forged passports Nemec had given them. When

they arrived in Berlin, they went straight to Berlin’s Tegel International Airport and boarded

the first available flight to New York City. Doctor Ivanovich was then flown to The Shop's

headquarters in Lockhart, Texas, where he was fully debriefed.

PRESENT DAY - THE SHOP HEADQUARTERS TRAINING FACILITY

LOCKHART, TEXAS, USA - SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 14h15

John met up with Sam Gladstone, an old pal of his and cover operative for The Shop for

many years. John was briefed on the new equipment which he would be using on his next

assignments: the Highly Durable Modular Body Armor, Heart Rate Monitor (in case he was

seriously wounded, which he was in Vietnam during numerous VC ambushes) and a new

device, the Personal Audio Detection Device, or PADD for short, which would monitor the

amount of noise being generated in his vicinity, useful for stealth operations. John went

through the assault course in his new body armor to get used to the feel of it, leaning

around corners, ducking and doing basic jumping. He also spent some time on the sniping

range, where he scored a 95% hit on the targets in the courtyard. He moved to the kill-house

where he practiced close-quarters battle on targets hidden behind every corner,

door, and even one hiding behind a hostage target.

"Two minutes, fifty-six seconds in the kill-house, John," said Sam. "Not bad. Really not bad.

"Well, you've passed the training with flying colors. I'll let the Director know you're ready for

field duty. Be careful out there. Dismissed."

OPERATION RESCUE AND PROTECT

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY, USA - SEPTEMBER 22, 2000 22h45

John was called urgently to meet a colleague of his, Aaron "Hawk" Parsons, outside the

Brooklyn Subway Station in New York City. There were New York Police Department cars

parked all around the entrance.

"What's going on?" asked John.

"We've got a hostage situation," said Hawk. "Officer, you wanna brief him?"

"Hi, John. I'm Officer Perez. Listen, we don't have much time. Here's what happened: Two subway guards saw a man with tattoos harassing one of the commuters. The guards

approached him and this guy pulled a .44. The man's name is Sabre, that's all we know.

He and his men have completely taken over the subway and planted explosives on the

support structures inside."

"How many hostages?"

"Rough estimates from reports tell us there is only a handful. We sent in 2 four-man

Special Weapons and Tactics teams, but we've lost contact with them." Inside the subway,

Sabre was being told by one of his men that the hostage he was guarding had taken the

detonators and hidden them somewhere. Sabre asked the hostage where he had hidden

them, but the man remained quiet. Sabre reached for his Bulldog .44 and blew the man's

head off. The gunshot was clearly heard outside.

"John, you better move in now. Go, go, go!"

John headed down the stairs into the subway through the Level B entrance. Just as he

reached the bottom, a terrorist came around the corner. John quickly reached for his combat knife and silenced the man before he could scream. John went past a locked door and found a SWAT operative's body lying against a cool drink vending machine with half a dozen small holes in his flak jacket. John felt the side of the man's neck. There was no pulse and his skin was cold. Poor bastard.

"No, no, please. I'll tell you where the detonators are," came a man's voice from around

the corner. John pulled out his Beretta 9mm pistol and raced to the corner to find a terrorist

punching a hostage. When the man saw John, he screamed, "Who the hell are you?" and

reached for his pistol. John put a single round through the man's skull before he could

raise his weapon.

"Keep your head down and proceed straight up there, okay?" said John to the hostage. John found three NYPD officers and they asked him if they could assist.

"Sure, but don't expect me to write letters to your wives if you get shot," said John. Just then, screams were heard nearby and John and the police officers went to investigate.

John peered around the corner, seeing three terrorists slamming the butts of their Benelli

shotguns into a group of hostages. John threw a flash-bang grenade into the center of the

room and, once it had gone off, he gave the three police officers over-watch as they took the terrorists down with accurate shots from their Smith & Wesson .38 revolvers. John pointed out the exit to the frightened hostages and told the three cops that it would be better if they stayed put. John proceeded to the subway security control room. He found that most of the equipment here had been shot to hell. He found one screen working and had a look at what it was displaying. Looks like the camera down the passage, he thought. Suddenly, John saw three heavily-armed individuals on Closed Circuit Television, approaching the control room door from down the passage. He holstered the Beretta, slung the standard-issue Franchi SPAS 12-gauge police shotgun off his back and hid behind the door as it opened.

"What's wrong with the security in this place?" said one of the men. "More people come in

and out of here than Grand Central Station."

"Hey, guys," said John, coming out from behind the door, "You know, I think you're right.

The security in this place is bullshit."

The men fumbled with their sub-machineguns in apparent panic.

"Drop your weapons, nice and easy," said John, pointing the 12-gauge straight at the man

in the middle of the other two.

This they did and started running for the control room door. John fired a 12-gauge round into the wall over their heads. The three men froze.

"Now listen very carefully. Head straight up to the front entrance with your hands above

your heads," said John. "There are police officers outside. They'll take care of you. And don't even think about running anywhere else. I'll be watching you on CCTV. Any funny business and I'll be on your ass in less than thirty seconds. Understand?"

The three men nodded nervously and made their way upstairs. They came out at the front and were apprehended. Next John headed to station 129C and just as he got there, a terrorist shot a hostage onto the railway with a 12-gauge as a train raced past. John shot the terrorist twice in the chest with the Beretta and headed down the railway. He then heard a loud gunshot and approached the area with caution. He found a drifter's body lying on the ground next to the railway, apparently having been shot in the upper chest. John headed further down the railway and was fired upon by a terrorist with a Magnum .357. John shot him in the leg and he fell onto the railway, screaming in pain. Just then the sound of an approaching train was heard and John ducked into the side passage as the train raced past, smashing the terrorist's body out the way. John headed down the passage and as he approached a corner, another .357 round went off and a SWAT operative flew backwards into the wall in front of John. The SWAT operative survived the shot and seemed to be in a stable enough condition. John called for backup and then ran forward to confront the suspect. He aimed and shot the man in the back of the leg. The man fell down, his gun going off again, and John ran up to him, kicked the gun out of his hand and shouted, "TURN OVER! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!" John then called for two NYPD officers to come and secure the suspect and then headed up the stairs to find Hawk and the other police officers.

"Quickly," said Hawk. "Sabre is on the roof of that train. Get him!"

John jumped over the railing onto the roof of the other runaway train and pursued Sabre down the railway. Sabre's train raced far ahead of John's and disappeared. John's train slowed down and he jumped to the ground to find Hawk and the police waiting for him at another station. The rest of the hostages were evacuated and the remaining terrorists apprehended.

"Sabre got away," said John.

"Never mind," said Hawk, "We'll get him later. Let's go. Sam wants to see us at the

armory."

THE SHOP ARMORY

RIDGEWOOD, NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 23, 2000 09h15

"Have you seen the New York Times this morning?" asked Sam.

"No. What's going on?" said John.

"Read."

"The start of today has rocked Russia's weapons policy completely and put the Russian

people in fear of being regarded by other countries as a nation of total insecurity and the

chaos that could result from this action would be catastrophic. This morning at 0200 hours, an unidentified group of militants entered a Russian weapons storage facility just outside Kazan, killing all personnel on site. They then blasted their way into weapons storage and made off with four nuclear warheads. It is unclear why these men were after the weapons, but it is suspected that these weapons may be used to strike at military or civilian targets anywhere at any time. No further information is available at this time." - NY Times, Saturday September 23, 2000.

"We believe that these guys are part of one of the world's most active terrorist groups. Like

the paper says, they can strike anywhere at any time. Sabre worked with this group to take

out the Brooklyn subway system and topple the United Nations building that is on the same block. Come with me. I want to give you your next assignment in the briefing room."

John, Hawk and Sam headed through the library and into the briefing room located next to

the armory.

"We've located the first nuke," said Sam. "It is being transported on a train from Soroti to

Pallisa in the Republic of Uganda. Your mission is to infiltrate the train undetected and neutralize the soldiers aboard the train. Once you find the nuke, disable it. You'll be inserted onto the train via a helicopter. Don't worry; it's a diesel-electric train and the noise it will be making at 100 miles per hour will be too great for them to hear the helicopter. Now listen carefully. Do not alert the train driver to your attention. He will report you to the nearest train station and you'll have a dozen Ugandan soldiers on your ass in less than an hour. Once you have disabled the nuke, request extraction by helicopter from the train and let it go on its way.

And please, John. No collateral damage."

"Can't I just jump off the train?"

"You're welcome to try."

"On second thoughts, I'd rather be picked up from the train."

"Good. Get your gear and let's move out."

OPERATION NUKE RETRIEVAL

UGANDAN REPUBLIC - SEPTEMBER 24, 2000 03h00

John landed on the roof of the rearmost car and made his way forward, using the silenced

US SOCOMS .45 pistol on the handful of terrorists aboard the train. The nuke was located

in the car behind the engine car. John opened the sliding door to the car, but quickly

backed out again as a terrorist inside opened fire with a 12-gauge. He paused for a

second before throwing a flash-bang grenade into the room after which he burst in again

and put two rounds into the terrorist's chest. He disabled the nuke and, fearing the driver

might have heard the noise, placed C4 charges around the engine car. He then requested

extraction and was picked up just as the charges went off, derailing the train and sending it

plunging into the ravine.

"Damn it, John. I told you no collateral damage. There were about a hundred Ugandan

soldiers at the site. I just hope for your sake they don't realize it was an American. Okay, let's brief you on your next mission. The second nuke, code-named Queen Bee, has been located in a sewer system in Kosovo. You are to infiltrate the sewers and follow the convoy of terrorists transporting the nuke to whichever warehouse they are going to. Do not engage unless you are fired upon. The last thing we need is for the Serbians to think this will be a preemptive strike by the Russians. That means no collateral damage. John, do you hear me? We do not want the Serbians getting into a war with Russia. There will be a bloodbath if that happens. When you find the nuke, disable it and get out of there."

A week later, John landed at Belgrade Airport and traveled by train to Kosovo Province.

Once there, he found the old industrial complex outside Priština and the warehouse he

was to infiltrate.

OPERATION QUEEN BEE

KOSOVO (FORMER YUGOSLAVIA) - OCTOBER 1, 2000 00h45

John entered the sewer system through the steam tunnels. He ran to the corner and took a

peek. Clear. He moved through the winding tunnels for about 20 minutes until he came to a steep incline that took him straight up to the warehouse. He observed. There were a couple guards standing around with AK-47's and there were stacks of crates everywhere. John slipped past the guards and headed into some more tunnels. There were grating windows in these tunnels that looked out onto a loading dock for trucks. John exited the tunnels and proceeded into the loading dock. Suddenly one of the terrorists spotted him and started shouting to the other men. John ducked for cover as the terrorists opened heavy gunfire. John threw a frag grenade and it skittered across the floor of the garage until it bumped against one of the terrorists' feet. The terrorist looked down and leapt, but it was too late. The explosion killed him and one other terrorist standing there. John took out the remaining terrorists with accurate, controlled fire from his Heckler & Koch MP5N sub-machinegun. Shortly after, Serbian forces arrived at the scene and the remaining terrorists in the area were confronted and apprehended. Hawk arrived at the scene as well. He had been studying a satellite image of an airbase located on the outskirts of Suva Rika, 5 miles from this location. The Serbian soldiers searched the warehouse, but found no trace of the nuclear device.

"John, what have you seen?" asked Hawk.

"Nothing. Just a warehouse full of bad guys and tons of crates, but no bomb." One of the Serbian soldiers came up to John and Hawk.

"We have a new mission for you two," he said in excellent English. "There is an artillery

gun that we need you to take out. It is located a few blocks from here. We would appreciate it if you could destroy it for us."

"I'd be glad to help. I'll head straight over there," said John.

"Okay, listen," said Hawk. "I observed an airbase near here. Chances are the bomb might

have been moved there. John, you take out the gun. I'll head to the airbase and do some

recon. Meet me at the entrance to the base at......say 0530 hours."

"0530. Got it."

The artillery emplacement was located in an area that had been pounded by mortars

during the various conflicts that had occurred in the region. The buildings here were mostly

destroyed and there were heaps of rubble everywhere. John moved carefully through the

broken buildings, armed with the AK-47 the Serbian soldiers had given him. He moved very cautiously, as there were plenty of hiding places for terrorists in this rubble. Two terrorists moved across an opening ahead. John, moving quickly and quietly, bashed the one on the back of the head with the butt of the AK, and as the other terrorist turned around, John shoved the barrel of the AK into the man's mouth and blew the back of his head out with a single round. A group of three other patrolling terrorists, having heard the shot, ran up to where John had been, and John, hiding in a corner, dropped all three of them with five rounds. John headed towards a broken garage. There was a truck parked there and John climbed on top of it, finding a window in what seemed to be some kind of attic. John looked through a window and saw the artillery gun in an enormous room with an open roof. John gently opened the window and slipped through, landing on the floor below with a soft thump. There were four terrorists in the room. Two were standing on the other side of the gun, another one was a few feet from John with his back turned, and one was sitting at the gun. John put a round in the back of the terrorist in front of him, and moved around the front of the gun, shooting the other two terrorists there and turned around to put a single round through the head of the gunner. The man slumped forward onto the weapon, and John took cover as the barrel of the artillery gun dropped down and the gun went off, blowing half the room apart. John placed a C4 charge on the gun and fled the building. John hooked up with Hawk at the main gate of the airbase at 05h26. Together they headed inside and took down the guards inside the main building. John still had the AK, while Hawk was armed with a silenced Uzi.

"The bomb has been loaded aboard an SR-71 stealth bomber, John. It's in the main

hangar. We have to get in there and destroy it." John and Hawk located the control room and shot the guards inside with automatic gunfire. Hawk unlocked the hangar doors, but was unable to prevent the whole base's alarm from going off in the process.

"Aaah, great one, Hawk," said John. "You've landed us right in it."

"Tell you what," said Hawk. "Let's climb through the ventilation shafts into the hangar. That

way, we'll attract less attention."

Dozens of Serbian soldiers from the nearby army bases arrived at the airbase to secure it.

Hawk and John jumped down from the ventilation hatch into the hangar and planted the

charges on the aircraft. They quickly headed out of the hangar through a back entrance to

the base and left the facility as the aircraft and hangar blew up.

John went on a short vacation to Paris, France, while Hawk flew to the US Base in Beirut,

Lebanon. John was having a Caffé Latte coffee when his Apple Mac laptop beeped. It was

Hawk.

-NEW MESSAGE-

"Heya, Johnny. I got to the US base here in Beirut just fine. I was just thinking about this last operation we did in Kosovo. It was done absolutely by the book. It was the first time I actually did a covert op like that since Vietnam. It was great working there with you. I look forward to working with you again.

Ciao.

Hawk."

A few minutes later, John was sitting in a hired Peugeot reading the Paris Times when his

laptop beeped again.

-NEW MESSAGE-

"Hi John. Sorry to disturb your little vacation in France, but you've got a new assignment.

Satellite Intel has picked up what looks to be a secret weapons facility in Northern Siberia.

We believe the third nuke, code-named Nest Egg, is being held there. Now I know this sounds ironic, the Russians having lost their nukes and BANG, one of them is back in their country again, but these guys at the facility are not Russians, they're international terrorists. Infiltrate the facility, find the nuke.....and destroy it. You have the green light to neutralize as many hostiles as necessary, but your primary mission is the destruction of

that nuke. Good luck.

Sam."

OPERATION NEST EGG

POLUOSTROV TAYMYR PROVINCE, NORTHERN SIBERIA - OCTOBER 21, 2000

23h20

John was flown to Siberia by C-130 and dropped by parachute into the mountainous canyons surrounding the base. He really felt the chill of Northern Siberia. It was probably down to about -1 degrees. He moved quietly through the canyons leading to the base and came to a big opening where there was a ledge higher up. A snow trooper sniper and a motion-detection machine-gun stood up there. John aimed through the scope of his Heckler & Koch PSG-1 silenced rifle and dropped first the sniper and then shot the machine-gun, disabling it. He moved forward and approached an open garage. Suddenly a Russian T-72 tank pulled out of one of the garages. John threw a smoke grenade in front of the tank to screen his movement as he rushed past and headed down the slope beyond the garage to the front entrance of the base. There were another two parked T-72's as well as four snow troopers standing around. John got into a good position and dropped them, 1, 2, 3, 4. There were two pillboxes with more motion-detection machine-guns. John shot both of them and moved down the passage past the pillboxes into the base. He opened an electronic door using the codes Sam had given him and entered a storage area. Suddenly he was fired upon by snow troopers with silenced Ingram MAC-10 machine pistols. He leapt behind a big wooden crate and crouched as bullets went straight through the crate and whizzed over his head into the wall. He headed around the back of the crate as one of the terrorists threw a frag grenade to the place where John had been. John hid behind another crate as the grenade went off and headed into a side door. He was in a small control room where there were banks of computers. There was a ladder going through the ceiling up to the next level of the building. John headed up the ladder and into a small storage room. He went through another door into yet another control room where a female terrorist was working. She had her back to him and John started slowly sneaking up to her. On hearing John, she turned around and opened fire with a silenced Ingram. John dived sideways and put a neat hole in her forehead with the silenced Beretta. She collapsed into a swivel chair and John approached the control panel, finding the controls for the pressure hatch to the waste pipe that would take him to the other side of the huge mountain the base was built into. He would be able to access the weapons storage building from there. He quickly headed outside and slid down the hatch just as the pressure timer closed the hatch again.

When he got to the weapons storage building, he had to neutralize the few snow troopers

with the PSG-1 rifle before heading inside. Inside the building was a maze of tunnels that

lead him past a big control room. The alarm had been raised by now, and there was someone talking on the PA System in Russian.

"Внимание! Внимание! Существует нарушителю в хранения оружия! Весь персонал в полном Оповещение!"

("Attention! Attention! There is an intruder in Weapons Storage! All personnel to full

alert!")

John was going down a passage when the door at the far end opened and three terrorists

wearing black uniforms came through. John ducked into a gap in the wall as the terrorists

opened fire with AK-47's. John leaned around the corner of the gap and shot them with his

Parker-Hale PDW sub-machinegun. He headed through the door and found that the door

leading to the rocket test room was locked down. He went into the adjacent control room

and neutralized the terrorists inside. He then activated a control that blew the gas tank in the room below, killing one terrorist and the six scientists that were in there as well. The explosion had also opened the locked door outside. John proceeded into the rocket test room. On the platform around the rocket, there were six terrorists and John ran sideways on the platform as he dropped them one by one with the PDW, amid heavy gunfire. He headed into the rocket control room and found two more terrorists and shot them both. One of them was still alive, but barely, and John asked him in Russian where the nuke was. The terrorist said that it had been loaded aboard the rocket. Obviously one of these terrorists had activated the launch timer, because the PA System said that the rocket would launch in 30 seconds. John then asked the terrorist what the code was to shut down the launch. The terrorist gave him the code, but just as he was about to give John the last digit, his head lolled to the side.

"Damn it," said John. He tried the code the man had given him, but there was barely time to figure out the last digit. He tried again and again until he got it just as the countdown timer reached 1 second. He set the base's self-destruct timer to 15 minutes and made it out into the canyons just as the base blew up completely. He headed into a wide, open clearing and requested extraction. John was in Moscow, receiving commendations from the Russian Minister of Defense when the phone rang in the Minister's office. It was Sam. The fourth and final nuke, codenamed Lightfoot, had been located in General Mohammed Amu's base in Iraq. Amu had currently allied himself with Saddam Hussein and had a base just outside Baghdad. His private army controlled the whole Baghdad area. Amu, frustrated over Saddam Hussein's loss in the Gulf War, purchased the nuclear warhead to be used against the forces of the West. John was to infiltrate Amu's base, avoid civilian casualties and neutralize as many of Amu's private soldiers as necessary to ensure the mission objectives were reached which was the complete destruction of the warhead.

OPERATION LIGHTFOOT

GENERAL MOHAMMED AMU'S BASE, BAGHDAD OUTSKIRTS - NOVEMBER 3, 2000

14h50

An Iraqi local drove John from Al A'zamiyah to the outskirts of Baghdad in an old Mercedes 220. John got his gear out the trunk of the car, paid the Iraqi and made his way through the big doors into Amu's base. John came to a market area just inside the main gate where there were two civilians standing on the other side of a pile of crates. John was approaching them when he heard a whooshing sound. He looked to see where it was coming from and quickly ducked as the rocket-propelled grenade shot past him and hit the pile of crates. The explosion wounded both civilians and as John got up, he found a few shards of shrapnel in his shoulder. Carefully treating himself with the first aid kit, he heard the wounded civilians screaming in a mixture of pain and fear and staggering away as small-arms fire started up. John ran for cover, reached for his M4 assault rifle and returned fire, taking out three insurgents on the rooftops. He spotted the RPG trooper who had fired the rocket at him, and shot him twice in the ribs and once in the neck. John looked down the street and saw another four insurgents. John fired and took down two of them, while the other two ran into a side-alley and disappeared. John then continued his mission into the base. John made his way into a narrow street surrounded by two-storey buildings, checking the rooftops for snipers. He found a locked gate covered with barbed wire blocking his approach to the courtyard that would take him inside the house where he was to meet Hawk. He climbed up a ladder onto a balcony and climbed through a window on the top-floor of the building. He then climbed out the building's window on the other side of the gate, gently dropping down into the courtyard and entered the house.

"John. Glad you're here. Listen, General Amu's soldiers have loaded the warhead aboard a truck and are transporting it to Shihad Airbase," said Hawk. "If they fly that warhead out of here, we won't find it until they detonate it in New York. Let's go!"

John and Hawk jumped in an old Ford pickup truck and raced down the Baghdad highway to the airbase. It was late in the evening now, about 8pm. They arrived at the airbase just as the truck carrying the warhead drove inside a garage and the door closed shut. "John, you head inside and secure the aircraft," said Hawk. "I'll trail the truck." John slipped into the airbase building and took the service elevator down to the airfield level. As he reached the bottom, there was a little surprise waiting for him. When the elevator doors opened, two big Iraqi bruisers rushed in and started punching John in the chest and stomach. John reached for his combat knife, but dropped it on the elevator floor as he continued to receive blows from the two big men. While the one bruiser held John around the neck, the other punched John in the chest some more. With his foot on the handle of the knife, John slid it across the floor and into the one bruiser's foot. The man screamed in pain, grasping his foot and trying to pull the knife out. This gave John the chance to throw a massive punch to the side of the other bruiser's head, knocking him down, and unconscious. The injured bruiser then pulled the knife out of his foot and lunged at John with it. John grabbed the man's arm and wrestled the knife from his hand. John struggled for another moment and finally managed to get his arm free and plunge the knife into the man's chest. And again. And again. The bruiser screamed once more before giving in and sliding down to the elevator floor. John staggered out of the elevator, gasping for breath. He leaned against the passage wall and vomited. He then reached for his water bottle and took a long sip of the cold fluid, and spluttered as he absorbed the refreshment of it. After a few minutes' rest, John got up and made his way to the airfield. There were only a handful of soldiers on the field, and John took them out with the M4. He found the plane and climbed aboard it to find Hawk working on the nuclear warhead's computer.

"Ah, John, you're here. Do me a favor,.....," began Hawk, but when he saw John staggering about and blood on the corner of his mouth, he said, "Geez, what happened to you?"

"I had a run-in with two big Iraqi sons-of-bitches," groaned John.

"Alright, sit down. I'm gonna get us out of here real quick. Just give me a minute."

Hawk finished on the warhead's computer and made his way to the cockpit of the C-130. He made sure all doors were securely closed and locked and then flew the plane out of the airbase. Hawk landed the plane in the desert in southern Iraq as he and John placed explosives on the aircraft and exited the transport. With the destruction of the plane and

the warhead, Hawk and John requested extraction.

When they got to the US base in Beirut, John received medical attention while Hawk

cleaned his weapon and polished his boots. Three weeks of rest later, John and Hawk flew

back to New York.

THE SHOP ARMORY

RIDGEWOOD, NEW YORK CITY - NOVEMBER 24, 2000 19h00

"Welcome back, John," said Sam. "Quite a fight you had in Shihad Airbase."

"How do you know about that?" growled John.

"The Iraqi police sent over video footage from the camera mounted in the elevator you were in."

"Oh, okay. Whatever," John sighed.

"Have you had a good few weeks' rest? You better have, because we got a break in the terrorist organization case. We found out today, those guys you took care of in the Brooklyn subway system were part of this group, called The Order. Remember Sergei Dekker from Johannesburg, South Africa? The white supremacist who rebelled against the United Nation's sanctions on weapons of mass destruction? He's the leader of this organization. Sabre is his brother. Sabre's real name is Wilhelm Dekker. The Dekker brothers are working together for a new world order. They must be stopped."

"Son of a bitch. What's he doing now? Where do I go from here?"

"There's been a tip-off. An arms deal is taking place at an old warehouse in Brooklyn tonight. We want you to go in, stop the trade and trail Wilhelm or Sergei, whichever one of them is there. I suggest you pack night-vision goggles and a warm jacket. Tonight's going to be dark and cold."

OPERATION SABRE

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY - NOVEMBER 24, 2000 21h35

John parked his Hummer a block away from the warehouse and approached the building on foot. It was very dark now except for the few street lamps' soft glare. Geez, it's freezing, thought John as he pulled his jacket collar up to his face. How the hell are these guys supposed to make the trade in this weather?

As John reached the fence of the premises, a pit-bull terrier on the other side of the fence came running up, barking and snapping its jaws at John. Fearing that the dog might alert the people inside, John reached for his FN Five SeveN© pistol and fired at the animal's face from inside his jacket pocket. The Five SeveN doesn't make the same amount of noise as most other pistols, and John doubted if anyone might have heard the shot, even fired from inside a garment. There was no way to climb over the fence as there was vicious barbed wire at the top. John reached for his wire cutters and cut a hole in the fence to climb through. He quickly ran up to one of the big trailers, hid behind it and scouted the area beyond. There were two skinheads standing by a storage room door about 100 feet away with shotguns, talking and smoking their Marlboro cigarettes. John had to get past them without being seen, but how? He looked around on the ground for something to throw. He found a lump of concrete and quickly threw it across the yard against the back of the trailer next to the storage room door where the men were standing.

"What the hell was that?" said one of the skinheads, and both of them disappeared behind

the trailer. John sprinted across to the other side of the yard past the storage room door

and found the warehouse. He entered quietly and headed up some stairs to the platform

above. Just then he heard people talking, and he crouched by the platform. A group of people entered the warehouse, consisting of four civilians dressed in business attire and five gunmen armed with Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifles. Sabre was with them. Right on time. The gunmen stood back as Sabre approached the group of businessmen in the center of the warehouse.

"Welcome gentlemen," said Sabre. "My name is Wilhelm Dekker, but you may call me Sabre. I can just imagine how eager you all are to own the best in American military hardware. I assume that's the reason you're all here tonight, am I correct? Just a friendly word of advice: please don't waste my friggin' time. Well, let's get started, shall we?

"Gentlemen, I give you the M60," he said, pulling out the heavy weapon. "This machine-gun

has all the firepower you need to win a small war. It's lightweight, go on feel it," he said, handing the weapon to one of the businessmen. "Only weighs 20 pounds, gas-operated, uses 7.62 rounds and has a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute. This is the ultimate killing machine. What do you think?"

"I like it," said the one businessman.

"I think it's awesome," said another.

"How much?"

"Fifteen thousand US dollars," said Sabre. "You can wire the money to my account in Zürich. When can I expect to receive the money?"

"I'll transfer the money first thing in the morning," said one of the men.

"Have you got more of these?" said another. "I want one too."

"Of course. I have plenty. I assume you all want one?" said Sabre.

The other men nodded.

"Alright," said Sabre. "I will expect sixty thousand dollars in my account by the end of tomorrow. The goods will be delivered to an address of your choice. And please, gentlemen, no tricks. If any of you try anything, you'll have to answer to my brother Sergei. Now go on, get outta here."

John stood up, pointed his Steyr AUG at the group of men and shouted, "FREEZE! All of you! Show me your hands! SHOW-ME-YOUR-HANDS, NOW!!"

"KILL HIM!" boomed Sabre. The businessmen fled the warehouse as the building erupted

with heavy gunfire. Sabre ran out the back of the warehouse and John took cover as hundreds of 7.62mm rounds whizzed past him. He fired from cover with the Steyr and

took down three of the gunmen. The other two then grabbed M60 machine-guns from the

crates and opened fire at the wooden box John was hiding behind. The box was torn to

pieces in seconds.

"Ohhhhhh shit!" shouted John as he sprinted 30 feet ahead to hide behind a steel container, while bullets flew all over the place. There was an ear-piercing noise as the bullets ricocheted off the steel container. When the gunmen ceased fire for a couple of seconds to reload their weapons, John leaned out from behind the container and put a short-round burst into one of the gunmen. The other one opened fire again and John hid. John leaned out again and shot into the man's legs. The man fell to the floor and John put two rounds in the man's head. John came out from behind the container, leaving the warehouse and chased Sabre through the industrial complex until he got to the entrance to some steam tunnels. Sabre jumped down and John threw a frag grenade after him. John took cover as a big explosion erupted because of the presence of gas in and around the entrance to the tunnels. After the fire had died down, John entered the tunnel. John chased Sabre through the tunnels, past pressure control rooms and even over an old decommissioned service train railway. John finally found the exit to the tunnels Sabre had taken, but Sabre was nowhere to be seen. The area was secured and the NYPD started a search for Sabre in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Early next morning, Brooklyn NYPD got a call from one of the patrol cars saying that they had been fired upon from armed individuals in an apartment building. The police were immediately sent to surround the building and NYPD SWAT teams were dispatched.

"Ah, John. Glad you're here," said Hawk.

"What's going on?" asked John. "Where's Sabre?"

"Sabre's in that building. But it's a delicate situation. Sabre's men are holding hostages inside. If anything happens to Sabre now, his men will kill them."

"What's the plan?"

"I'm going to the roof of the opposite building with the Barrett Light Fifty to provide overwatch. You move into the building with the SWAT team."

"Okay."

John locked and loaded his Parker-Hale PDW while the SWAT team checked their 5.56 Colt Commando assault rifles.

"Now listen," said Captain Frank Jennings, the SWAT team leader, "Don't get trigger-happy.

There are innocent people in there. Let's bring 'em out nice and safe. Use short-round

bursts only. Do not hit any of the hostages. Understood?

"Yes, sir.

"Yes, sir.

"Roger that."

"Alright? Let's go."

John and the team entered the building and met up with two more police officers inside.

"Hi, guys," said Jennings. "How's it look?"

"Not good," said one of the officers. "There's a wounded woman up ahead and there are

two terrorists with her."

"Alright, guys," said Jennings. "Let's move in nice and easy. Remember, short bursts only."

The team moved forward, approached the corner, and paused. Jennings hand-signaled to

John, telling him to take a quick peak around the corner. John did so and signaled to the

team that there were two tangos. Jennings threw a flash-bang grenade around the corner and the team moved forward to take out the terrorists with controlled fire. The injured woman was sitting up against the wall, apparently in shock from the gunshot wound to her hip. She was in too much shock to have been startled by the flash-bang or the gunfire. Jennings called in the paramedics and John and the team proceeded upstairs to the second floor. John heard a woman's scream coming from behind another door. Jennings handed John an optic cable with a minicam and John slid it under the door to see what he was dealing with. There were two tangos in a kitchen with Uzi's shouting at a female hostage.

"I've got two tangos," whispered John.

"Foley, shotgun that door," said Jennings to one of the SWAT team members. The man reached for the Mossberg 12-gauge and shot the hinges off the door. The rest of the SWAT team burst into the room and took down the two terrorists. The hostage was then evacuated and John and the team moved further into the building. They came to a long passageway and Hawk came on the radio.

"John. Hawk here. Do you read? Over."

"I read you, Hawk. What's up? Over."

"I see one, no, two tangos with a hostage in the second apartment room down the passage. You’re left. There are two rooms. One tango in the one room is sitting on a couch in front of a television set and another tango with a hostage is in the other. Please advise. Over."

John signaled to the team to back off and then got back on the radio.

"Hawk, do you have a clear shot at the tango with the hostage? I repeat, do you have a

shot? Over."

"That's affirmative, John. I have him dead in my sights. Over."

"Alright, Hawk. Listen to me. I want you to take him out when I tell you. Do you copy? Over."

"Roger that, John. Just say the word. Over."

John checked his weapon.

"Okay. On my count: 1.....2.....3. Take the shot."

"Night, night, asshole," said Hawk as he looked through the scope of the Barrett 82A1 sniper rifle and shot the terrorist through the bedroom window. John burst into the room and the terrorist in the lounge stood up and turned around. John put a short-round burst

into the man's chest and as the terrorist fell backwards over the television set, his MAC-10

went off, spraying bullets into the ceiling.

"Clear!" shouted John, and the SWAT team in the passage moved in. The SWAT teams out in the street moved into the building and evacuated the rest of the hostages.

"Nice shot, Hawk," said John over the radio.

"Thanks. And by the way, Sabre is on the roof of the building you're in right now. He's got

nowhere to run. He's yours. Take him down."

"Roger that."

As John was leaving the room, Captain Jennings approached him.

"Major Mullins, hell of a job! You should receive an NYPD commendation for this."

"Thanks, but I'll get it later. I gotta deal with a scumbag on the roof."

"What scumbag?"

John made his way up and as he stepped onto the roof, Sabre shot at him with the .44. John returned fire with the PDW and shot Sabre in the shoulder, knocking the gun out of his hand. Sabre clutched his shoulder and started reaching down for his pistol.

"Hold it right there, Sabre. You're a dead man."

"Go ahead and shoot," said Sabre. "I'm not afraid to die. Are you?"

"Not really. Your men almost left me no choice."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it."

"Enough with the bullshit. I want some answers. Where do all these weapons come from?"

"Kordofan."

"Sudan? Is that where The Order is? Where I'll find Sergei Dekker?"

"Give up. Soon Sergei will have Jessica Six, and it will all be over."

"Who is Jessica Six?"

"You are already a dead man."

"Who?"

"So is your partner, Hawk."

John put a burst of fire in Sabre's chest, and the man fell backwards off the roof, falling

150 feet before landing on top of a police car in the street below, his heavy body caving

the roof in and shattering the windows.

A week later, John flew to Sodiri, in Kordofan Province, where he studied satellite photographs and gathered Intel on the missile factory for a few days. On the 9th, he traveled to El Odaiya, where the factory was located.

OPERATION DRAGONFIRE

KORDOFAN, SUDAN - DECEMBER 10, 2000 14h00

John and Hawk met at the train-yard just outside the factory.

"What have you seen?" asked John.

"This place is crawling with tangos, John. Mostly Africans," said Hawk. "They must be guarding a hell of a load of weapons here. Most of the tangos are armed with Vektor R4

assault rifles."

"Those are South African weapons, Hawk," said John. "What the hell are they doing here

in Sudanese hands?"

"Surprise, surprise," said Hawk. "There's only one person in the world who could have had

these weapons shipped here from South Africa."

"DEKKER!" said Hawk and John together.

"Okay, listen," said Hawk. "I'm going inside to scout a way into the factory. You go on ahead and see what you can find."

"Okay."

John entered an office and found an armed lieutenant sitting at a desk. John put his 9mm against the man's head.

"Don't move," said John. He reached into the lieutenant's holster and pulled out his Colt service pistol.

"Now," he said. "Tell me about this factory. What kind of weapons are here?"

"Listen to me," said the lieutenant. "These are Dekker's men. They are some of the most highly trained mercenaries in the world. They will kill you."

"I'll take my chances," said John. "What's your connection with Dekker?"

"I have no connection with Dekker. I am only head of security for this area of Kordofan."

"Do you know what kind of weapons Dekker has here?"

"He has one nuclear missile here. There are also some bombs. The only other weapons are a shipment of arms from South Africa and Mozambique."

"Do you know where Dekker's shipping the missile?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

"Alright, I suggest you get out of here quickly before one of the terrorists starts getting

suspicious and comes snooping around here. Thanks for your help." John handed back the man's sidearm.

"Okay. Be careful," said the man as he left the office.

John headed through the main buildings and out into another train-yard. He proceeded carefully through the yard, holding the SPAS 12 shotgun tight against his shoulder. Two

Sudanese terrorists came out a door of the opposite building and immediately saw John.

John dropped one of them as the other one opened fire with his R4. The terrorist threw a

hand grenade after John and ran around the train John was hiding behind. John turned

around as the terrorist came from the other side of the train. The man fired again, but missed, and John shot him down with the SPAS 12. John then proceeded through the door the terrorists had come out of and made his way to a barn. In there were two more terrorists and John shot them. He made it to the cattle pens where Hawk was waiting.

"John, I've scouted the area and found there's only two ways into the weapons factory: through the roof and through the slaughterhouse. I'm going through the roof. You go through the slaughterhouse."

"Oh, God. I was hoping I wouldn't have to go that way. Guess I've got no choice."

"That's right. Get moving."

John followed the cattle pens to the slaughterhouse, and, once he was inside, he radioed

Hawk.

"Hawk. I'm in."

"Good."

John found that the access door to the butchery was locked. He went inside an office where there was a control panel for all the doors in the slaughterhouse and he activated it.

Just then, a terrorist came through the office door. When he saw John, he shouted "American scum!" in Arabic and John shot him against the door just as the man slung the R4 off his shoulder. John then proceeded through the unlocked doors into the butchery. There were four workers in white aprons and six Sudanese bruisers with R4's. John was sneaking through when one of the workers screamed, "Amerikan! Amerikan!" The bruisers turned around and the partly dark butchery was lit up with muzzle flashes and the hammering noise from the R4's. John took down one of the bruisers with the SPAS 12, dumped the weapon and picked up the dead bruiser's R4. He fired from behind a refrigerator and took down the rest of the terrorists. The white-aproned workers just stood where they were and watched as John came out from behind the refrigerator. One of them pulled out a .357 and John shot him. Another ran up to John with a machete and before he reached John, John smashed the man in the face with the R4 rifle butt. "Is there anyone else?" John shouted in Arabic to the remaining two workers. "Get out!"

The workers quickly fled the butchery, leaving John alone with a room full of corpses. John entered the offal tunnels which would take him to the secret entrance to the missile factory. He was treading in rivers of cattle blood and the stench in the tunnels was overwhelming. John found a pipe, taking him down to the basement of the factory, and slid down. Once inside, he met up with Hawk.

"Geez, Hawk. I hope you don't make me do that again."

"It's alright. Once we're done here, you won't have to worry about it again. Oh, you found

yourself an R4. How much ammo you got?"

"Er.....let's see.....two clips."

"Alright, listen here. I did some recon of the factory. The Order is here, John. They got a

missile here alright. They moved it off somewhere on a conveyor belt before I could stop them."

"Dekker?"

"Not sure."

"With all the fuel and weapons in this place....."

"There's gotta be a way to take the factory down all at once, I know."

"Let's find it."

John headed through some more tunnels that took him down to an old decommissioned railway system in a mine. He came to a guard post where there were two guards with AK-

47's and John took them out with short bursts from the R4. He moved further down the railway tunnels and was approaching a bridge with a large cavern on the other side when he heard a bullet impact into the wall next to him. Sniper, thought John, and ducked behind an old iron hopper. He pulled out his binoculars and scanned the cavern for the shooter. When the sniper fired again, John saw him. The man was using a Russian Dragunov SVD rifle. John slowly started pushing the hopper forward, staying hidden. Then he pulled out the pin of a frag grenade, dropped it in the hopper, and gave the hopper one final hard push. The hopper went flying towards the sniper and the grenade went off just as the hopper reached the shooter. The explosion sent the man flying over the precipice into the abyss below. John then made his way over the bridge and through the cavern to find a service elevator that would take him into the control section of the factory and weapons storage. John shot a few more terrorists and picked up an AK-47 from one of the dead as he ran out of ammo for the R4. He found the control room and as he activated self-destruct, he got on the radio to Hawk.

"Hawk, I'm gonna blow up the base. You gotta get out of here. I repeat, get out NOW! Do

you read me, Hawk? Come in. Over." Hawk didn't answer.

"Hawk. Come in, Hawk. Are you there? Over....Damn it," said John as the radio went dead.

"THE FACTORY WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 30 MINUTES," boomed the loudspeaker.

John headed for the escape elevator room and when he got there, he found Sergei Dekker

with a .357 to Hawk's head. There were also a few of Dekker's men standing around.

"I believe this is your friend, Hawk," said Dekker. Dekker was wearing armor plating and

a steel mask. He also had a deep voice.

"Let him go," said John. Take me."

"Offer some information and I'll consider it," said Dekker

"I work for a group called....."

"The Shop," Dekker finished John's sentence for him. "A covert UN anti-terrorist division that specializes in non-military action.......Do you have anything I don't know, Mr Mullins?"

John remained silent.

"Didn't think so," said Dekker. The .357 went off and Hawk slumped to the ground.

"NO!!" screamed John, and opened fire on Dekker's men before turning his gun on

Dekker. But the elevator doors slammed shut before John could shoot him. John then fled

the factory as it blew up bit by bit. John headed into the forest in the late afternoon dusk

until he found a big opening and placed the smoke grenade for extraction.

THE SHOP ARMORY

RIDGEWOOD, NEW YORK CITY - MONDAY DECEMBER 11, 2000 19h00

John's plane touched down at New York's JFK International Airport at 18h45 and John

arrived at The Armory at 19h30.

"You're late," said Sam. "Oh God, what's happened now?" he said as he saw the look on

John's face.

"Hawk is dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let's get these bastards before they try something else. Follow me.

I've got an update for you." John followed Sam into the briefing room.

"John, believe me, this is not the first time missions have gone wrong," began Sam. "Hawk

was a good guy and his death wasn't your fault. You and Hawk were just in the wrong

place at the wrong time. I didn't order you to go to Sudan and infiltrate the weapons

factory. You did a good job anyhow, but you have got to stop blaming yourself, John. I promise we'll get Dekker. We first just need to provide The Shop with enough evidence for

them to give us the green light. So, how do things stand now?"

"Dekker got away with the nuke."

"That's bad. We have to track him down before he can use it."

"So what's the plan?"

"This'll cheer you up a bit. Documents found on Sabre's body indicate that Suni Microsystems in Tokyo manufactured the electronics for the nukes stolen from Kazan. The electronics system is controlled by a computer program called Jessica Six. The Shop wants you to fly to Tokyo and infiltrate Suni Headquarters. Find out all you can about the software. We would be very grateful if you could download a copy of it on disk from the Suni mainframe for us."

"Agreed. When do I leave?"

"Immediately. I've booked a 20h35 flight for you at JFK International. Good luck, John."

OPERATION JESSICA SIX

TOKYO, JAPAN - DECEMBER 12, 2000 19h30

John's plane touched down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo at 19h01 Tokyo Standard Time. He left the airport and went to McDonald's to get himself a BigMac. This was much better than the food on the plane. When he had finished, he proceeded outside again and walked through the back streets of Tokyo, past the gas stations and all the shops that were now closed at the end of yet another hard-working day. He entered the central business district of Tokyo. Skyscrapers lined either side of the main streets and traffic was light, but John still had to be careful when crossing the road to avoid being ticketed for jaywalking. Then John saw the Suni Headquarters. He looked up the building, right to the top. Probably at least a mile high, thought John. John observed the main entrance. Security was tight. There were security doors with metal detectors inside and guards posted everywhere. Not that way. The shopping complex was right next to the Suni building. John entered a restricted area and found a flight of stairs leading into the basement of a building adjacent to Suni headquarters. The door at the bottom of the stairs was locked, but luckily John had his toolkit with him. Once inside, he was standing in a sushi kitchen with a cold storage room. He went into the cold storage room and found a ventilation shaft. He removed the vent panel and climbed inside.

John crawled through the ventilation ducts for quite a while before coming to an opening

that dropped straight down into what sounded like a disco. He could hear loud music playing below. Something's not right, thought John as he dropped down into the room. He landed bang in the middle of crowds of people in a nightclub. There were strobe lights and the music was deafening. John had knocked a few of the clubbers down, and some of the others grabbed John and started pushing him around. The bouncers immediately moved in and, seeing John, grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him outside.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded one of the bouncers in Japanese.

"I can explain," replied John.

"Go ahead. We're waiting."

"My name is John Mullins. I am trailing a man named Sergei Dekker. He killed my partner

and I need to find him."

"You got balls dropping in here without a pass. Where the hell did you come from?"

"The air-duct. I need to find a way into the Suni Headquarters. I do not have the credentials

necessary to get inside. I'm looking for a secret entrance."

"Oh, yeah? What are you, John Rambo?"

"Please. I'm a mercenary for the US Government and I have find Dekker."

"He's on the 58th floor of the building. You're going in there? You must be crazy! The

place is a damned fortress!"

"I have got to find Dekker, no matter the cost. Please tell me, is there an easy way in?"

"The parking lot. Go through it an you'll find a lobby where the express elevators are. But

there are still guards in the parking lot."

"I'll manage. Thanks."

John left the nightclub quickly and proceeded out into a street that took him through a courtyard, into the parking lot. John reached the express elevator lobby, but since the elevators didn't respond, he realized the power for the ground floor had been cut. This surprised John, as the lights were still working. John proceeded down a flight of stairs to the building's generator room. DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE it said on the door in Japanese.

John picked the lock and went inside, pausing as he saw two guards with 9mm TMP machine pistols. He reached for the silenced 9mm Beretta and took them both down, THWAK, THWAK. He approached the control panel and turned the power to the elevators back on. He made his way back to the elevators and found two Yakuza henchmen waiting for him with Uzi sub-machineguns. He ducked behind the wall of the stairwell as the elevator lobby boomed with the noise of heavy Uzi gunfire. Because the Uzi is fully automatic, it sprays bullets in a matter of seconds, its bullets ripping through anything in their path. John returned fire with his Uzi, taking one of the Yakuza men down, then ducked behind the lobby wall again as another rain of 9mm bullets came his way. "Give yourself up!" shouted the Yakuza henchman in Japanese, reloading his weapon.

"You first," said John as he quickly leaned around the corner and put a short burst into the

man's chest before he could fire again. John entered the elevator and went up to the 37th

floor. When he reached the floor, John was standing in another lobby. He went right into a

side office and found a Suni employee crouching behind a desk.

"It's alright," said John to the man in Japanese. "I'm here to help you. What's going on up

here?"

"They're killing everyone," replied the employee. "Destroy Jessica Six before these guys

use it."

"What're they going to do with it?" asked John.

"They're going to use it on the missile."

"Where is the mainframe room?"

"It's on this floor. But you have to proceed through a big vault that requires an access

code."

"Do you have the access code?"

"I don't. But one of the Suni technicians will have it."

"Where are they?"

"They're being held hostage by Dekker's men on this floor. Please help them."

"I'll see what I can do. Take the lift down to the ground floor and get out of here."

"You got it."

John proceeded down to a large office room with lots of cubicles. He suddenly heard a low

droning sound. He recognized it almost immediately as the Microwave Pulse Gun (MPG).

Holy shit. He couldn't believe it. This weapon had still not been officially released, and even if it had, it would only be used by specialized military personnel. The MPG was a weapon

mainly used in biological weapon and military equipment destruction. When activated, it discharges a high-temperature ultra-violet laser that cuts through anything it comes in

contact with. Using it on a human being would be the most horrendous thing imaginable, slicing the person's body to shreds in seconds. John proceeded carefully through the cubicles, thinking, How could this thing have found its way into terrorist hands? The sound

got closer until John was in the cubicle right next to the one the terrorist was in. John put

on his thermal vision goggles and saw the terrorist through the cubicle wall as a yellow,

blue and red figure. John aimed carefully with