The Slipspace Juncture

Chapter 3 - Strategic Transfer of Equipment to Alternate Locations

[Third Person POV]

In the dying blizzard, four black inflatable rafts kill their engines and slowly coast into the docks, using the darkness of the night as cover. Each raft carries six people, each clad in ballistic armor and carrying rifles, two of them with break-action grenade launchers. Their equipment bears no insignia, guns have no serial number, and their body's are completely covered. Drifting close enough to the dock, the figures quickly and methodically jump out of the rafts, group up, and begin to slowly skulk inland, warily checking their surroundings.

North of the harbor, heading straight for the biggest entrance, an armored van, pitch black with the letters "F.A.I.T.H." and opaque windows screams down the road, along with an escort of two SUV's with a similar color and window design. The people inside the vehicles, 5 in each SUV and 6 in the armored van, are dressed in black fatigues with ballistic armor and "F.A.I.T.H." patches on their shoulders, chests, and backs, all actively check their equipment as their rides aggressively storm the gates.

In the middle of all of this is, a small group of marines rest. All of them are sleeping, except for two...

[Pvt Sellick POV]

A soft bubbling noise emanates from two MRE's that are leaning against a cement chunk just to the left of Sellick. Smelling it, Sellick calls out to LCpl Cairo, "Cairo, meals are ready." and Cairo quickly leans his rifle onto the wall and walks over, grabbing his MRE, saying, "Thanks," and sitting down to dig into his chili mac. Sellick gives a small nod before grabbing his own MRE and digging in, eating the now steamy burger. His eyes close and he lets out a deep breath as he relishes in the first hot meal he's had in days.

Sellick looks out into the sky and takes note of the fact that the blizzard has finally calmed down, meaning he can see farther than a few feet in front of him. Getting up, burger in hand, he walks over to the southern edge of the roof and grabs his binoculars from his hips, turning on their thermals, he scans the surrounding area. Seeing nothing, he walks over to the other side and once again scours the area for any sign of contact.

While scanning the skies for any aircraft, he catches a heat signature moving quickly in his peripherals. He quickly snaps his binoculars down to see a small convoy moving in on their location, and Sellick's stomach drops. He quickly yells, "Cairo! We got contact! One armored troop transport with two escorts! Wake the others!" Cairo can be heard scrambling to his feet, snatching his rifle off the wall, and running downstairs.

Now having visual contact, Sellick examines the vehicles. "F.A.I.T.H." Sellick reads aloud to himself, looking at the text plastered on the side of the vehicles. He examines their speed, then at the gate the road is leading to. Doing some quick math, Sellick judges that their E.T.A. is around one minute. Grabbing his DMR with his right hand, he keeps his left hand up with the binoculars and watches the incoming convoy.

Sellick hears people trickle in from the roof entrance, and LCpl Eddie asks hastily, "How long?" Sellick just replies, "About 30 seconds from now." A short line of questioning is made, and Sellick tells everyone what he knows. A short silence follows until PFC Sammy pipes up, "Got an idea, we make a ground team and a roof team. Roof team provides overwatch and leads ground team, ground team does flanking maneuvers while being led by roof team." Harold immediately shoots up from his crouched position, leaving his binoculars on the parapet, raising his left hand, he quickly calls out, "I'm roof team!" Eddie then begins to formulate the plan, "Cairo, you join Sellick since you have a BR55. Rex, you join Sellick as well. You have an injured leg and better suppression sightlines from up here. I'll lead ground team, let's move," he quickly dashes off and back down the stairs, the others quickly following suit.