An older man in his late forties sat behind a oak desk leaning back his one hand resting on lit cigar he bought to his mouth taking a long drag on it. He thought back to the years he'd been in the military, he'd seen his fair share of ops. Hell he had been on more then a few, most of his record was blacked out and only maybe ten people in the government had the clearance or access to read the unabridged version of it. Letting out a plume of smoke from his lips he ashed the cigar in the tray and looked back down at the folder on his desk. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he liked what he saw and read on this Marine, he was a lot like himself when he was younger a gung-hoe get the job done any way you could. But did it with enough mind that you could still sleep at night, he wasn't a heartless killer by any means but if the intel and the brass upstairs ordered it he wouldn't think twice about it. It was a fine line that too many found out after the fact they couldn't walk and had to either be 'forcibly' retired or where in secure med facilities for the rest of their lives. The man leaned back in his chair and let his mind wander, he wished he never got old he thought bemusedly as he took another puff on his cigar. Life it certainly seemed was so much easier then, less politics, less bullshit, less red tape. Then again that's what it always boiled down too, once you got too old you either retired. He snorted to himself thinking about retirement that would be the day, or you continued on in a advisory or command role.

Hearing a shop knock on the door the man realized he been caught daydreaming but called out in a crisp loud voice "Enter!"

The door opened a few seconds later and in walked a young man in a pressed marine uniform. One could tell at least most could if you knew what too look for he was a trained soldier, not just a average marine. No, the way he walked was like a jungle cat ready to strike his muscles were coiled and ready to snap to work or strike at a target. But what really caught those who knew was the eyes were always looking, always scanning for threats even in the most unsuspecting areas. Stopping a good foot and half away from the desk the man snapped to attention and saluted, before calling out "Captain Williams reporting as ordered Sir!"

The older man looked up and rested his cigar in the ash tray on his desk before saluting and saying "At ease Captain, take a seat." Gesturing to a leather chair in front of the desk, "I asked you here Captain to give you a briefing for your next mission." He said before leaning forward and grabbing a file that said 'Top Secret' stamped squarely in the center of the folder. He spun the folder around to the Captain and nodded his head to open it.

"Aye Sir." Jack responded and took the seat offered then leaned forward and opened the folder to begin to peruse the details contained within.

"Tell me Captain, do you know who that is?" The older officer asked as he leaned forward to gauge the Captain's reaction.

Glancing down at the file and flipping through a few pages he came across the picture the older officers was talking about. It was color photograph of a young woman, maybe about late twenties to early thirties. Long black hair that was held up in a high pony-tail and dark almost emerald green eyes. She was fairly attractive that was for sure, but the more he looked at the photo the more he though he knew the person. Then it clicked, "It's Dr. Moira Chambers, Masters Degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics, as well as a PhD in Theoretical Astro Physics if I remember correct General." Jack replied as he recalled the data that was said and he had over heard. Dr. Chambers was supposed to be some wiz-kid, the next Einstein or something if rumor was to be believed.

"Correct Captain, the good doctor was vetted for a special project that recently went dark. We think there was a mole inside and the doctor and her team have been taken." The General said as he cut to the heart of the matter. "Intel believes she and her team where taken at night and with the accuracy and stealth it was done with suggests a inside job. That's why this is falling in our laps. Normal channels don't know where the mole is, and where or high it just might go." The General continued as he leaned back and taking his cigar taking another puff on it before looking back to the Captain. "Ghost Team has been tasked with high priority reacquisition and any materials that might have gone missing in the interim."

Jack's head looked up for a moment before nodding, "Mission outline Sir?" He asked before going over the details, "And what materials in particular?" Jack knew he might not be given all the details and the ins and outs but he would be given enough intel to get the job done. "I'm also assuming, this is going to be small and low key. That suggest Whiskey Team?" Jack continued already planning the details out in his head, as far as gear, equipment, personnel, insertion and extraction points.

The General nodded his head before turning his chair and calling out "Colonel can you come in please?"

Jack rose to his feet and saluted the officer as she entered the room. "At ease Captain, Colonel Laura McIntyre a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'm going to be your handler for this operation." She said as she lifted the briefcase she carried in with her and placed it on the desk and unlocked it. Opening it up she started to remove about a dozen or so different folders.

"A pleasure Ma'am, so what do we have?" Jack asked as he reseated himself and let the Colonel get her thoughts in order, already his mind was in over gear getting little details planned out and integrating what he already he knew.

"Not enough I'm afraid, or at least not as much as I would have hoped for." Laura muttered to herself before composing herself, and continuing on. "As you know Dr. Chambers and her team have been taken. This occurred at 0230 local time and wasn't reported till overseeing officers attempted to raise them on the comms and couldn't. A team was dispatched at 0500 and found a fire-fight had occurred as most of the guard and a few of the on hand technicians where shot and killed. No one who wasn't supposed to be there was found so either, they took their wounded/dead with them or the more frightening of it is they took no casualties." The Colonel said as she pulled forward a large folder and opened removing a few pieces of paper.

"What we do know is the Doctor and her team were unharmed when they left. And only now where able to acquire an ID on the transports they used and found them sitting in a remote region in the Horn of Africa." The Colonel continued showing security cam footage of the Doctor and her team being lead away at gunpoint to three helicopters. The assailants all where dressed in black and wore full face masks so there was no useful information that could be captured that way. What was of interest was the third photograph the Colonel placed down, a blown up image of one of the helicopters tail rotors, in their haste or whatever was a ID tag. "We where able to pull sat footage of nearby satellites and track them before we lost them. However given heat signature, direction, speed, and fuel we were able to estimate approx max travel distance." Picking up another few photos she laid them out, it was dock somewhere and you could see the three helicopters that were seen rushing away from the scene parked there.

"I'm assuming you tried a pickup at the dock, and that didn't go so well or you where just late in getting there?" Jack asked as he studied the photos and surmised they wouldn't be here if the Doctor was safely back in her lab. He knew the cards were going to be stacked against him for this, he was literally walking in blind here and he hated that, but he wasn't about to walk away this is why he was with Ghost Team. They were called when the situation was so FUBAR'd there was little chance of success that they could potentially salvage it. 

"That's correct Captain." The Colonel nodded her head and continued on. "The team we sent took half casualties as the ship was pulling out of port, however the one silver lining to this the team lead was smart and quick enough to get a GPS locator on one of the crates on the deck. The ship docked as of two hours ago in a port off the Horn of Africa, we currently have satellites in the area doing recon to track them." The Colonel continued as she pulled out more satellite photos of the hijackers dis-embarking into all terrain vehicles then splitting off in to the desert.

"So, we are waiting for them to stop before inserting? We going HALO I'm assuming??" Jack asked as he already began forming the plan in his head it was gonna be risky jumping but it was going to be the fastest and easiest insertion method to get in and get out.

"Again Captain your on point, we have satellites and on ground assets following from a discrete distance." Laura replied as she shifted in her chair, "Mission objectives are as follow. First and foremost is the re-acquisition of Dr. Chambers and any surviving members of her team. Second, destruction or capture of any materials that came from the Doctor's project. Third, and this is not high on the priority if it may compromise the first, is find any intel who this is and why they might be behind this event." Laura continued as she went into detail about what might be expected.

"Understood Ma'am, we are ready whenever we are given the green light." Jack said as he already had a choice of the personnel he'd be taken and was already running down a equipment list he'd need to requisition out of the armory for all this. "What are our evac options?" Jack asked as he finished a quick list in his head.

The General leaned forward and said "Evac will be Helo at a open area about five miles from where we suspect they are going. Secondary is a army base about twenty miles out. There should be two sets of ATV buggies waiting for you when you land so all you'll need is your gear that you select for your team and yourself. AS soon as we have all the information we'll forward this on and get you the green light. Go and get your team together and set up we move as soon as possible."

Jack nodded his head and stood knowing a obvious dismal when he heard one and came to attention and saluted. After being dismissed by the General he about faced and walked out the door and started to walk to the Armory for all the requisitions when he spotted a person he would be looking for he called out. "Yo Doc!" waiting half a second for the man to turn around and acknowledge him he said "Gather Whiskey Team in the briefing room, we have a op." Jack said as he continued on down to the armory room to get everything squared away.

---

The room was sparsely lit and filled, there was a few overhead lights but a majority of them were off. Piled neatly in the center of the room was a table and behind it were rolling stands that information, pictures and any other pertinent information could be tacked too at a moments notice. There was a easy banter and laughter coming down the hall and getting louder before the door opened and in walked five men of varying height, build, and appearance. All took a easy standing posture around the table and continued to talk in soft tones joking and generally having a good time. But there was a undercurrent in the air, and everyone in the room new what was coming they were just waiting on their team leader to fill them in.

Another door that wasn't well seen from the lack of light over head opened and in walked Jack with a handful of folders. He approached the table and called out "Alright gents, fall in and shut the traps. We got a mission and it's not gonna be a easy one." As Jack walked up to the table he passed around one of the folders, "This is our target, her name is Dr. Moira Chambers she's a high value asset to our side and we've been tasked with a package pick up and extraction." Passing around the photo of the doctor and her team, "This is our primary objective is the safe extract of the good doctor and her associates. Secondary is any and all relevant data to what ever research she was doing it'll probably be in the form of a laptop and briefcase of notes." Jack continued on as he posted up on the board behind him the picture of Dr. Chambers and all relevant information.

"As you can see from surveillance and all other available intel this is gonna be a hard target to get into. We are HALO jumping in from here at point Alpha." Jack said and pointed to a point on the map about five miles or so from the compound they were hitting. "Extraction points are here, here, and here." He continued passing out all the relevant information and all the required tasks for each of the team members. "Lastly, if shit gets FUBAR'd there is a Army Cav base about thirty miles do south that is our egress route if we can't get out." Jack finished and answered the follow on questions about roles and insertion. "We move out at 0300 and wheels up at 0330, so get your gear and get on the plane." Jack about faced and left the room as the rest of his team did to go and prepare.