Rise of the Pheonix: Act 2 Read online

  Chapter 2

  In a warehouse on the outskirts of Miami, a group of men wearing top of the line military equipment were checking their gear, sharpening blades, and putting the finishing touches on explosives. Even though this was not the military, the unit was run just like any other Special Forces group. Missions were practiced and rehearsed numerous times before the operation even occurred.

  The floor of the warehouse was a labyrinth of plywood and stairs, representing different areas of their target. The structures looked crude and simple, but every doorway and step was an exact match to the blueprints. Observation towers stood above the mock hallways to provide feedback. In the center of this layout was the team’s prep area full of tables and ammo crates.

  One man stood in front of the table, hands clasped behind his back. His face concealed by shadows as he scanned his pack of trained killers. These were his elite, gathered only for the most important missions. To make it to this man’s unit required repeat demonstration of operational precision, adaptability, and ruthlessness. A conscience was a disqualifying flaw.

  “Circle up,” the shadow man ordered with authority.

  The soldiers stopped what they were doing and walked over to the table. It was not the Round Table where everyone was of equal rank; there was no mistaking the hierarchy. Only two men were allowed to stand with the leader. On one side stood an Asian man that was slightly shorter than their leader.

  Hitoshi was the computer expert, capable of hacking nearly any program in any agency. His reputation was established when he’d hacked into the CIA and NSAs databases, compromising a large number of undercover operatives; he had accomplished that while waiting at an airport. His family lineage traced back to the Kōga region of Japan, an isolated area believed to the home of the ninja clan named for the region. The Kōga clan existed as far back as the mid fourteen hundred and had survived to modern day, hiding and training in the remote mountains of Japan. Since he was old enough to walk, Hitoshi was trained in all forms of stealth and deadliness.

  On the right hand of the devil stood the Russian Special Forces soldier, Draggo. Originally a member of Spetznaz “Alfa” Anti-Terrorist Group, the goliath of a man stood six foot five and had a hard chiseled face with eyes that could send a chill down anyone’s spine. He was an experienced soldier who, like many of his team, had regularly performed actions that violated the Geneva Convention.

  These two lieutenants had earned their positions through sweat and blood, sometimes their own. But like all members of this team, their loyalty, and respect for their leader was reinforced by more than a measure of fear. He was a leader who rewarded results but suffered no failures. The punishment for error was such that no one suffered it twice, not because they learned from the mistake, but because they never survived the lesson. What added to their fear was their leader’s seemingly supernatural ability to know all that happened, even if he was not present.

  Their leader moonlighted, in what he called his “hobby,” as an accomplished spy with the CIA. He had received multiple commendations and medals for going beyond the call of duty, but his reasons for going rogue remained uncertain to most.

  With his men’s full attention their leader leaned into the light revealing his bald head and meticulously trimmed goatee. Keeast, the head of the Order’s elite tactical “Black Unit,” was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He began the mission briefing.

  “Tonight we land on the roof of Global Trust in a National Guard medical chopper. Due to the recent ‘tragedy’ that has befallen ‘this once great city,’ only medical choppers are allowed in the red zone.” Keeast said, mocking the reporter’s dramatic description of the attack on Miami.

  “From there we will enter the 22nd floor via the roof; our entrance is a set of maintenance stairs used for the elevator shaft. Remember, this is a lights out mission. With the power out, all major buildings, including Global Trust, will be operating on their emergency back-up generators. Night vision will be the only way to go.

  “Now, to gain entrance to those stairs, Lox will breach the security door on the roof; from there we will make our way down to the eighteenth floor, to the bank’s mainframe.”

  One of the members nodded, acknowledging his role.

  Keeast continued, “Everyone will proceed down to either the sixteenth or seventeenth floor, depending on your respective station, except for Hitoshi and myself. We will remain at the mainframe to complete the transfer.”

  “You will all set up a perimeter on the sixteenth floor, at the north and south ends of the main hallway, blocking the elevator and stairwells. Then Bricks and Lox will stay to eliminate any intruders.”

  Keeast flipped through the blueprints pointing to the marks that represented barricades and choke points.

  “With those defensive positions, you should be able to repel any incursions. And according to our Intel that isn’t likely, but precaution is always a must. If a situation does arise, you will still have the option to fall back to the seventeenth floor with the rest of the team.”

  Keeast jammed his finger onto the area of the blueprint between two elevators.

  “The elevators and stairs on the right are the only ones that can bring intruders to our floor. The barricade between these elevators must be solid! If they do manage to break our first line of defense, then I want them taking the long path through the lawyers’ offices and then back to the elevator. The object is to slow them down; odds are by the time they break through we will have the package and be on our way out.

  The rest of the team will remain on the seventeenth floor with Draggo as the last line of defense. And given this delightful layout here, once they enter the seventeenth floor, they’ll be done for.”

  Keeast smiled as he rubbed his fingers over the section they had designated as the kill box on the blueprint.

  “Once Hitoshi hacks the mainframe he will automatically upload a virus, disabling all alarms and buying the time needed to complete the transfer. Exactly forty minutes later the firewall will fail, and the alarms will sound, releasing the bank’s security doors and locking down key areas and escape routes. It is imperative that all members are on the nineteenth floor or higher by that point if you don’t want to get trapped. If you get trapped… you know what must be done.”

  The men nodded and a few checked their cyanide filled bracelets.

  “Men, we are establishing the future course for this country and soon, the world. We will be deemed traitors, conspirators, and terrorists. Our country will not forgive us or take us back into its arms. But that does not matter, for they do not know what we know. They do not understand that our actions will set the foundation for a new nation.” Keeast allowed a smile to form as he savored the moment.

  “The city of Miami is on fire. And this is where we will start. This is where the Order of the Pheonix shall rise and engulf the US in its flames, burning it down so that the ashes will spawn a new nation. Then, the rest of the world will experience the same warmth and rejuvenation.”

  Keeast took one last look at all his men and added one last motivation.

  “Don’t fail!”

  Chapter 3

  Edge had knocked on the door before he entered Arslan's room. Edge knew that the longer Arslan stayed confined, the more it would start to feel like a prison.

  At least, we'll be moving him soon, Edge thought.

  The room had the same look as it had the day before; no one had removed the trash and the smell of the yesterday's burgers permeated the room.

  "Hey, champ. I just wanted to check in on you,” Edge said, pulling up a chair next to the bed Arslan was sitting on. “I've been told you're still not getting a good night’s rest."

  Arslan looked exhausted, the circles under his eyes so big it looked like he was wearing makeup. The boy simply shook his head in response.

  "We found your camera and it was exactly where you said it would be. Man, was it was helpful! We got a lot of good information off of it," Edge confessed in a che
ery tone.

  I've got to give this kid some good news.

  Arslan looked at his guest. "Did you find my father's killer?" he asked, a small glimmer of hope creeping into his calm voice.

  "I'll be honest,” Edge replied, “We have not identified him yet, but the video has put us in the right direction. We're catching up to him; it will be a matter of time."

  "Can I have my camera back now?"

  "Sorry, buddy; there’s still a lot of information on it that we have to get off of the camera, so we need to keep it locked up in our vault so that it’s safe. We don't want to lose anything that could help us catch the men responsible."

  Arslan just looked at Edge, listening to what he was saying and trying to decipher if Edge was telling him the truth. So far he has done what I asked and provided help, Arslan thought. It appears that he's someone I can trust, but can I trust anyone right now?

  "That's the other reason I came in Arslan. Like the camera, I need to keep you safe. You are going to be taken to a new place, one that is bigger and more comfortable, and much safer than where you are now." Arslan turned his head back to the window. "They've got more stuff to do there than just watching TV,” Edge hinted, trying to entice Arslan’s interest. “It should help you sleep better."

  "I just want to go home," he responded dryly.

  "I know, buddy. Until I find the man we're looking for, I need to make sure you’re here, safe. I've got to go away for a few days, and I want to know you’re protected while I’m gone. Once I come back, I'll find you and let you know what I've discovered about your father’s killer."

  Arslan did not respond outside of a nod. The boy was sleep deprived and still coping with the trauma of the incident, and he was determined to live up to his father's expectations to act stoic in even the worst of times.

  "I'll be back up when they come to move you. If you need anything before then, just ask," Edge instructed.

  "Baaraka Allahu fik," Arslan said quietly as Edge stood to leave.

  Pausing in his trek to the door, Edge smiled. "You're welcome."

  ۞۞۞۞

  Reid, Webster, and Pete waited for Tucker and Edge to start the mission briefing. Reid thought about what little he had been told.

  Get to the center of a city under martial law to stop any enemy from taking an unidentified something of unspecified value. That was the most vaguely precise summary of a mission I’d ever heard. The major selling point was that there would be no support and that this was totally unsanctioned. Meaning career ending if caught by the good guys and death if caught by the bad guys. What’s not to like? Reid finished his internal rant as the mission briefing began.

  “Okay, Edge. This is your show,” Tucker gestured as he sat down.

  The Delta operative stood at the front of the office. His demeanor had changed; there was a more authoritative aura surrounding him. This was his domain.

  “I’m giving you’ll one last chance to decide if you want out,” Edge intoned. “To repeat, we are going against direct orders. That means no backup, no rescue. The odds are not in our favor. I cannot promise everyone is coming back.”

  Edge scanned the room and took in everyone’s reaction. His eyes fell on the recent addition Crawford, who was about the same age as Reid and stood just over six foot. He had the build of a basketball player. Crawford had only just arrived, and Edge had not had a chance to get to know him in any detail. Edge’s first impression of him was that the man was eager to get involved. An admirable trait, providing he was balanced with a cool head. Reid had summed Crawford up as the “go-to guy.” He was known to break down walls, if needed, to complete a task.

  “Ok, then let’s get started,” Edge said as he clicked a button on the wireless remote and the large monitor behind him lit up showing a 3-D blueprint of a building.

  “This is Global Trust Tower: twenty plus floors of offices, vaults, steel, and concrete. We’re going on the wild assumption that the Order wants money. Due to the sophisticated nature of the network security, they’ll have to access it via the server farm located on the eighteenth floor.”

  With another click on the wireless remote, one of the floors in the diagram started glowing as it rotated to a birds-eye view.

  “Given what this group has demonstrated so far, the firewalls and other security features will be nothing more than a speed bump. They are going to get in and get out fast.

  “There are two possible ways they can enter the building: ground floor or the roof. The streets are going to be swarming with police and National Guard so that a ground approach would be too risky. My bet is they are going to enter via the roof.”

  Edge moved to the nineteenth and twentieth-floor plans while using the remote’s laser pointer to highlight the stairwells explaining that the Order would be using the stairwell to gain access to the farm.

  “They will most likely use a helicopter, perhaps masquerading as a rescue mission, to enter the no-fly zone, land on the roof, and get in and out. This group will have all the right transponder codes and call signs to appear legit. By the time anyone realizes they’re fake, they’ll be long gone. This seems to be their best option. At least, it’s what I would do.”

  Edge brought the graphic back to the rotating 3-D image of the tower. Two sets of vertical columns started flashing on the building.

  “Now, this is how we are going to stop them. On the north side of the building, there are elevators and stairs that go all the way to the top, but they don’t stop at all floors. However, on the south side, the steps and elevators located there have the only access to the sixteenth floor and above. It has something to do with their security and restricted areas.” With another click, the floor plan for the sixteenth floor appeared.

  “The only way to get to the floors above sixteen is to walk physically onto the sixteenth floor and then enter into these stairs on the right.”

  “As I said, the network security will require on-site access. So, we can expect a small group on the eighteenth floor. This group is not going to take the chance that someone could interrupt that process. They will likely get a heavily fortified perimeter on the sixteenth and seventeenth floors.”

  Using the remote, he started marking locations on the building plan.

  “They’ll likely set up barricades to prevent us from gaining access to the stairwell leading up. They’ll also obstruct the hallway going south to the lawyer’s offices to eliminate the only path to the elevators. A hallway like that could be defended by three men indefinitely. Even if we did manage to break through, it would take so long they’d be done and on the way out.”

  Edge read the faces of the people in the room. They all appeared to be waiting for the “but” to follow.

  “I’m betting that they’re preparing for a head-on assault, not a flanking maneuver,” Edge continued, pointing to a large room to the left of the hallway that took up practically the entire west side of the building. “This is the library for their lawyers. It’s a big place, and it has two entrances into the hallway.”

  Edge hit the keyboard, and a series of pathway appeared on the floor plan.

  “These are the A/C ducts,” he circled their location in the library then clicked the remote; the floor plan disappeared, and just the ducts remained. Another click and they rotated to their actual orientation in the building.

  “This duct will take us directly to the library which is accessible from the fifteenth-floor stairwell. There is a catch; right here is a fourteen-foot vertical climb. The only way our plan works is by stealth; if we make too much noise, it's game over. Lucky for us the NSA tactical team has some supplies we can borrow for the night.”

  Edge pulled a pair of gloves out of his bag and slid them on explaining, “These are the magnetic palm grippers, a.k.a. Spider Gear. I’ll show you how they work in the armory where there are walls I can demonstrate on, but they will allow us to scale the shaft quietly and make it into the library.”

  Edge took the next few minutes to explain how
they planned on pushing the enemy back and clearing the two floors to the server farm. The element of surprise was essential, but Edge knew that more was needed. “We’ll be up against special forces who’ll show no mercy. Everyone must be alert at all times. Your eyes will be your most useful weapons. The building will be running on emergency lights, so we’ll need night vision goggles. Now, I’m assuming you three have all had training on properly entering and clearing a building?”

  “Reid and I have,” Crawford spoke up. “We’ve been a part of the breaching teams with SWAT on raids.”

  “Has the enemy ever shot at you?” Edge asked.

  “A few times, but no sustained firefights,” Reid answered. Edge nodded and looked at Webster.

  “I’ve gone through the training and done some raids,” she said. “But no shooting was involved.”

  “Don’t let her modesty fool you,” Reid said. “She’s received a few marksmanship awards.”

  Edge crossed his arms and tilted his head forward, deep in thought. The odds were balanced less and less in their favor. He was the only one of them who was truly qualified for an operation like this. He had been trained not to let the urgency of a need drive him into a bad mission. However, the stakes here were so great that he felt he had to act now, and these were the only resources available to him.

  Tucker was an analyst, who never knew what combat was until yesterday and even with that, only three of them had ever been shot at before. Never had the need for effective leadership on his part weighed so heavily on him.

  “All right, here’s what’s going to happen,” he continued with fervor. “We have to move as a team, and at the right time. You don’t move unless I tell you to, or unless your cover is shot to shit, you got that? Move on my order only! Coordinated movements may be the only way we will pull this off.” Everyone nodded in understanding.

  “It’s one thing to nod in agreement; it’s another thing to understand. When we get to the armory, I’m going to give you a five-minute crash course on how to use our communications gear.”