Chapter one
The Better of Two Evils
Connecting the corners of each of the six walls of the fortress was a tower with two armed guards posted in each that kept watch on the grounds both inside and outside of the compound. As an added precaution, surveillance cameras were strategically stationed around the stronghold and were monitored constantly by the elite guard.
Once inside the walls of the hexagon, a team of guards roamed the inner halls. They were each dressed in green camouflage, wearing black berets and each armed with a Steyr AUG; the standard issue rifle of the rebel forces under the command of General Vladimir Yassenowski.
None of this mattered to Tina Mooney. Getting past the guards in the towers was easy. As she sat undetected high up in an old oak tree, camouflaged by the thick forest and studying their habits, Agent 355 was able to pick the precise moment to scale the walls of the compound, unnoticed.
Quietly, she climbed down from the tree and immediately took cover in the tall wheat grass. The sky was dark and the moon was hidden behind the clouds. The only light was coming from the windows of the garrison and the search lights that wandered the grounds inside and out of the fortress.
Tina slithered through the grass as quiet as a field mouse. When she arrived at the base of the outer wall, she positioned herself near a rain gutter until she was certain the searchlights had left the area and would allow her enough time to scale the wall. Then, after she was on the roof, she was able to move about stealthily, by taking cover underneath the camouflage netting that covered the fortress in an attempt to make the stronghold invisible from the sky.
There was only one area of the fortification that was not under constant watch and Tina knew it. It was on the inside walls of the garrison, outside of the building itself.
Moving into position along the inside edge and covered by the camouflage netting, she noticed a metal staircase which allowed an exit to the courtyard. She observed that every 10 minutes, two guards exited the building and went into the quad. They would patrol the grounds and then enter back inside the building by way of another door at ground level on the other side of the open space.
She studied carefully to verify the amount of time between guards that exited the building. Two guards walked out onto the staircase and as they made their way into the courtyard, Tina removed the rope from her pouch, secured it to a vent pipe and climbed down the inner wall to the side of the metal staircase, just behind the door.
Because she was completely covered in black camouflage and with her black hair covering her face in shadow, she was able to hang at that level; hidden by the door as it swung open to shield her from being seen by the guards as they walked out and down the stairs; unaware of her presence. As the door opened all the way, she placed a strip of black duct tape over the bolt to prevent it from locking when it closed.
After the guards had begun to patrol the grounds of the courtyard, Tina climbed over the rail of the metal staircase; slowly and carefully opened the door. She slipped in, taking cover in the dark area behind a cabinet that displayed a bust of the General, who would soon become a murderous dictator that would rule this small country with an iron fist and become the next pain in the ass to the rest of the world.
The CIA had been keeping close tabs on the General and found that he held close ties with several terrorist groups, including al-Qaida and North Korea. With their help he had all but taken over control of the Belarusian military. Soon he would be able to oust the current president, Nikolai Bortnyev, and overthrow the government.
The CIA knew that with a little help from his friends he would build up a massive army equipped with the threat of nuclear weapons and invade other countries, much like Hitler did in World War II.
