First Part

Somewhere near the Baltic Sea, a Harrier pilot, Arnold Foreman, attached to the 26th MEU gets ready to fly on a surveillance mission. The 50th Anniversary of D-Day provided a double reason for the 26th MEU to be along the coast of France and further towards Germany. They had heard reports of nuclear weapons being transported near Brunsbüttel, Germany, the location of a preexisting nuclear power plant. While the US trusted their allies, they found themselves in an all too convenient location and could not resist the temptation to observe the location for anything suspicious. As Arnold got ready, he remembered to ask his Navy buddy, Karl Sampson, to save a plate for him from the supposed 'feast' they were going to have with the surviving WWII veterans during the celebration.

Karl laughed, "Only if you remember to keep it above the threshold this time. You won't have me there to keep you on track this time." Arnold scowled, "I know," he said, feeling slightly hurt, "they did pick me for this mission after all."
"Only because I'm off doing escorts and pretty shows for the public." snorted Karl. "Don't forget your leiderhosen, mein Freund. You are going into ze Faterland, after all." He joked, throwing Arnold's underwear at him, which hit him on the head.

After he was ready, and the two friends had bid their farewells, Karl went to see to the illustrious passengers they had on the USS George Washington. Karl was charged with escorting the Honorable Mr. Anderson and the First Lady around the carrier until they got closer to Utah and Omaha beaches. Arnold did his last ready check and had a smooth take-off and flew towards Brunsbüttel, Germany, his confidence high.

Harold watched with agonizing guilt as his friend's plane flew out of sight. I had to assign this to Arnold. I can't save them both, he reminded himself. Besides, we decided the girls need Karl, whether he knows it or not. With that thought, the NCIS agent went below deck to join the festivities.

At the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant in Germany, a security guard dozed at his post, disappointed that his vacation plans fell through and he had to spend another weekend on duty, never mind the extra Deutchemarks he was going to have for next payday. The outside phone rang, jarring him and a few nearby starlings awake. He got up and answered the phone with his hourly report. The starlings flew up past the guard tower, past the coolant, past the reactor, and toward the small speck flying rapidly in their direction.

Arnold was enjoying his first solo flight, taking pictures of the power plant as he approached. He wasn't paying attention to his elevation, as Karl repeatedly reminded him to do, so when the first starling hit, it took him by complete surprise. He didn't have much time to react, though, because the second starling flew directly into his air intake. He felt the bird hit the compressor blades and could imagine both getting sucked into the engine. He panicked as the EFC warning light came on and the audio (which started malfunctioning a few days prior) attempted to make its standard warning noise. He recalled that the President was very insistent that this mission remain secret and he was not to be discovered. He knew he should eject, but his pride of finally flying a solo mission and the fear of failure made him hesitate.

In the brief moment it took him to hesitate, a third starling crashed into the jet, flying through the cockpit window and hit him in the head, killing him.

The Harrier flew out of control, and plunged into one of the Brunsbüttel nuclear reactor, triggering an explosion, which was amplified by an already damaged pipeline.