Operation Countdown

Hidden in the Shadows

Langley, Virginia
0145 Zulu

        The building was normally quiet at this time of night. The security officer at the front desk was having a hard time staying awake. He already had five cups of coffee and yet still couldn’t help but to fall asleep. The other guards within the building were too busy walking around and conducting their individual rounds. The cameras outside of the building showed nothing but the storm that was waging outside. All in all, it was another quite night at the office.
        Hiding outside within the shadows of the bushes at the building's perimeter, was a man dressed in a dark navy blue jumpsuit with black military combat boots. His face was covered with black paint and he had a navy blue skullcap, only thing that was visible on him was the whites of his eyes. He had been out there since the beginning of the storm, watching the cameras and their rotation times, looking to see which sector each camera covers. Pulling out his Smith & Western XD 40 he screwed on his silencer and checked to make sure he had a full magazine. He situated himself to begin his assault on the building. His target entrance was an access door in the back. As the camera covering his position turned away he made a dash for the wall. Hiding himself under the camera he waited for it to start its rotation again. As the camera moved away from the direction he had to go, he made another dash to the stairs where the door was. Kneeling at the door he looked at the security system. To gain entry the user must pass a two part security process, in order to open the door one must enter the correct sequence of numbers and provide the computer with a key card. He knew the pass code would be no problem he had staked out the place most of the day and watch numerous of people enter the code, as for the key card that is a little trickier. The man removed his pack from his back and pulled out an electronic key card connected by wires to a scrambler, which when swiped though the scrambler would compute the correct number sequence and relay it to the locking mechanism. He had three minutes to get inside or he would be caught by the security cameras. Placing the correct number sequence into the key pad he placed his key card on the scanner and swiped it. The scrambler instantaneously gave the computer the correct number sequence and the door unlocked. He was within the building within two minutes and fifteen seconds.
          Standing inside the hallway he removed his XD 40 from its holster and continues through the building. There were doors on both sides of the hallway, as he passed each one he checked to make sure that they were locked. As he was moving tactfully though the hallway the intruder was stopped in his tracks by the sound of someone whistling. One of the guards had come down to the lower floors to make sure everything was in order. Peering around the corner of the hallway the guard was approaching closer to the corner was the intruder was positioned, raising his weapon the intruder prepared to make his attack. As the guard moved closer to the end of the hallway he was rushed and blind sighted by the intruder. The intruder raised his weapon in the air and stuck the guard’s neck knocking him out. Holstering his weapon the intruder looked around for a place to put the body. Finding a janitor’s closet, the intruder shoved the guard’s body into the closet he took his weapon and closed the door. Placing the guard's weapon in the small of his back the intruder made his way to the elevator. He had to make is way up to the forty-third floor, however the elevator only went up to the forty-second floor. To get to the forty-third floor you need to special keys one held by the man who worked on the floor and the other who was the senior body guard on duty. The keys could not be replicated and only when both keys were turned simultaneously would the last floor be unlocked. Stepping into the elevator he pushed the forty-second floor button, as the doors closed and the elevator was on its way he pressed the emergency stop switch up. Feeling around the roof, he looked for the emergency hatch. Upon finding it he pushes it open and egresses the elevator into its shaft. Before fully exiting the lift he kicked the switch down, sending the elevator on its way up again.
        Inside the elevator shaft the intruder sat down opened his pack and withdrew a bar, he placed it in the back of his shirt and removed the guard’s weapon that he took and threw it on the roof. As the elevator approached the forty-second floor it came to a slowing halt. Standing up the intruder made sure his gloves were nice and snug, and began to climb the cables holding the elevator up to the last floor. When he finally reached the forty-third floor he started to force the doors open with the bar that he removed from his pack earlier. The doors slowly gave way he paced the bar between the doors to keep them ajar. With the doors wedged open he pulled himself up and slid across the floor. Once he was though the door he kicked the bar allowing it to fall to its final resting place, and the doors slammed shut.
        Now that the intruder had made it to his designation he got off the floor and took a knee. This is where the fun would begin. Pulling from his pack he withdrew a hand smoke grenade. Pulling both pin safeties from it and removing the handle, he placed it on the floor. The entire floor was reserved for one office only and it was the only door on the floor and it was at the end of the hallway. The officer had lots of secret passageways and hidden features that went in any architectural drawings. As the smoke filled the hall, it revealed red lasers in a crisscross formation that covered the entire hall. The intruder slowly made his way through the lasers; stepping over, crawling under, and even jumping though a few. When he came across the emptied grenade canister he picked it up and continues toward the door. When he finally reached the door he pulled a lock picking set out from his pocket and began to work on the door lock. After one minute he had opened the door , walked into the office and closed the door and locking it as the remaining smoke filtered it out though the air vents.
        The intruder walked over to the desk inside the office and sat down behind it. Turning the chair around him faced the window and looked out at the city. He removed his XD 40 and ensured there was a round already chambered, then placed it on his lap, now all he had to do was wait for his target to come.