Chapter 1: Something is off

NATO Military Complex No. 9284-54, Location Classified

Reaper Squad Leader, Codename "Viper"

September 3, 2015

Viper marched down the door-lined corridor. His steps echoed on the enclosed space, dispite the fact that it was somewhat-crowded with administrative staff. He stopped in front of a secretary's desk, waiting for her to finish the call she was taking.

"He's waiting for you inside, Captain" as she pointed to the door with a pen in her hand.

Viper entered the office without saying anything but a "thanks", and stood in attention at the man inside.

"At ease, son, this is a semi-informal affair" declared General Julius Robertson.

"Sir?" he responded, relaxing his stiff posture slightly, but still generally at attention.

"There's something I need to talk you about, but before that I need you to understand that what I'm about to tell you must not leave this room" the General's expression hardened as he said this.

Viper felt uneasy, being called here in the middle of his routinary activities and then be asked to keep a secret he still didn't know, but the General wasn't stupid, in all honesty all he had to do was pull rank and he would still have to keep his hole shut, so he played along and complied.

"Over the past days our Reaper drones began to notice activity spikes all over Kyrgyzstan's border. At first we chalked it up to insurgent movements, we know the border to be an Area of Operations of extremist groups, but never on this magnitude, in fact, such movements where relatively small, confined to drug smuggling operations. But since exactly five days ago we've noticed an increased influx of personnel and materiel through the borders, most of them military-type cargo trucks and technicals, apparently operating as escorts for the convoys." as he explains this, he places the drone imaging on his desk for Viper. "Both NATO and the Kyrgyzs government are worried of what this means, since no army unit is recorded to be operational."

Viper watched the imaging carefully, already tracing assault patterns and looking for high-ground spots which would give him and his team the advantage over the technicals, a hard task considering the thermal imaging was slightly blurry an it deformed the terrain enough. They wouldn't see us coming, he thought when he found what appeared to be suitable suppresive fire vantage points. No green light yet, so don't get ahead of yourself.

"Permision to speak freely, sir"

"Speak your mind, son, you are not in a court room and I'm not a Drill Sergeant"

"Why are you telling me this, sir? This seems like actionable intel on posible enemy movements, I would be expecting me and my team to be told about this during a pre-mission brifing, not in private, sir" Viper's choice of words was probably poor, but he wasn't a very "chatty" person; his ex-girlfriend would gladly attest to that.

Robertson looked at him, sizing the man, trying to determine if he was a trustworthy person. Satisfied with his assessment, he decided to drop the bomb on him, unsure about his reaction

"I need you to understand this, son, Kyrgyzstan has a friendly and cooperative relationship with NATO, but inserting troops in the area woud make tempers flare, specially those of the chicoms. Command has agreed that a covert operation is the way to go, and that means something off the books. I'm telling you this because of you and your team's record over the past years" the General declared, never taking his eye off Viper, who shifted on his feet. Accepting to partake in a covert operation meant a lot of things: his team would be on his own, on hostile territory, with minimum radio contact and support, and, in the event any or all of them were killed or captured, their activities would be disavowed and their governments would turn their backs on them. It was something to think about carefully, specially when it was not only his own life at stake.

"Sir, in the hypothetical case you were to request me and my team to undertake this assignment, I firmly believe that my men should be made known of the nature of the operation, and the potential ramifications of failure"

"I expected this, Captain, but remember, no leaks about this, only you and your men are authorized to discuss this information between yourselves. Violation of this agreement will carry out svere sanctions, the least of which will be a court martial, understood?"

"Yes, sir"

"You're dismissed"