Monday, May 30, 2022
The SOD Group was holding yet another meeting to discuss the situation with Russia having invaded Ukraine. The current administration was providing support to Ukraine but had insisted on not only there being no evidence whenever U.S. troops were fighting the Russians inside Ukraine but it had further insisted there be “no boots on the ground” inside Russia at all. Approval had been given, however, for Missy to go in there, taking advantage of her ability to teleport in and out, both in her spirit form as an invisible spy as well as in her physical form playing her role as Yury Borisovich’s mistress. This, ofcourse, was because it would be impossible for anyone to ever prove she was actually a U.S. Special Forces soldier.
She had now established herself over there in that mistress role and had become somewhat of a celebrity. She was now welcome anywhere and was well known amongst most of the key leaders and decision makers in the regime. That she also had spent long hours spying in her spirit form was of course a further benefit. Missy had proven that her supernatural abilities enabled her to do all that she was doing with zero risk that the U.S. might be blamed. Even the cyber-attacks which she had made possible by infecting electronic devices with the Missy virus could not be proven to be from the United States.
The discussion for today’s meeting, which the Defense Secretary had called into along with the EUCOM Commander General Hingham, was whether the “no boots on the ground” policy might now be modified, provided that Missy was with whichever Team Twenty-Two members might then go on missions inside Russia.
Back in December, the team had proven they could operate inside without being detected. Eleven members had made a HALO jump at close to thirty thousand feet from a C-130 aircraft into a landing zone which Missy had selected for them. That had been in the Ruzsky District sixty miles from Moscow. They had then planted explosives which had successfully derailed a supply train as a test mission. Finally, they had exfiltrated out many hours later using a stolen vehicle which brought them to the border with Latvia. Wolf Volkov, a Russian who spied for the Ukrainians, had helped by arranging for that vehicle. Missy had not been with them on that mission since she had been back at West Point.
Making HALO jumps were no longer feasible, however, as Russia had since closed its airspace to any U.S. aircraft. Thus, not only getting in was a concern, but remaining undetected during whatever their mission might be posed a huge challenge. Likewise, it would be very difficult to eventually manage, as before, to successfully exfiltrate.
Brigadier General Chory and the other SOD Group members on today’s conference call were making the case that, now that Missy could be with the team full time, her presence on any such missions would eliminate any risk that Russia could accuse the U.S. Her supernatural abilities were more than enough to always assure such missions would succeed.
The Defense Secretary said, “Okay, what you all are saying is that with Missy there with her team, she would either keep them from being discovered or else she would deal with anyone who possibly might notice them. I guess I can agree that’s true. What she did over in Iran certainly demonstrated what she is capable of.”
“Exactly, sir,” said General Hingham. “Now that she has finished being at the academy and can be on such missions full time for as long as those might take, providing cover and protection until they eventually exfiltrate, the risks which the current administration does not want to take should no longer be a concern. These missions can be accomplished with zero risk.”
“While I agree with all of that,” said the Defense Secretary, “the problem is there are only a few of us in this administration who are aware of what Missy is capable of. I’m more worried that any such missions might be detected by someone on our side than by the Russians. It’s necessary to keepthe secret about what both the SOD Group and Team Twenty-Two are really doing truly secret. There simply is no way our use of supernaturals can ever be revealed.”
Brigadier General Chory said, “That was exactly what I was told when Campaign Angel’s Wing got approved. Initially. But, then Missy and all the folks in the prior administration who supported that campaign were successful. While there are a lot more people who now are aware of Missy and of our using supernaturals, keeping a highly classified lid on all such activities should still be feasible.”
“The benefits going forward will be very great,” explained General Hingham. “We can interfere with key activities inside Russia which will make a significant difference towards helping Ukraine. I’d like to do one or two more test missions. We can review this whole matter in a couple of months after that.”
The discussion continued for another twenty minutes but everyone was now on the same page. It was agreed to allow Missy to take some of her Team Twenty-Two members into Russia. Go in, cause some mayhem for a week or so without leaving any evidence which would prove the U.S. was involved, and then get out.
There was little hope that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would be ending anytime soon. Thus, identifying ways in which U.S. forces could “make a difference” without risking any escalation of the war was now viewed as the best way forward.
When General Hingham got off the phone with the SOD Group, he immediately called Major Grimes on a secure line and shared the good news that plans which had only been “tentative”pending approval by higher headquarters were now a go. This was a whole new phase for the war.
Chapter Seven
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Missy and ten other Team Twenty-Two members were now finally getting ready to cross the border into Russia. They were all dressed like typical Russian factory workers and even had forged documents for identification. They had spent the day gathering the weapons, demolitions and other gear which they needed and had then been flown on a C-130 aircraft over to Kiev, Ukraine. From there, they had been flown on a helicopter over to Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, which was merely twenty miles from the Russian border.
From February to May the Ukrainian forces had succeeded in pushing the Russian forces back. This had been part of their eastern Ukraine offensive and the successful engagement was now being referred to as the Battle of Kharkiv. Although Russian forces continued to shell the city, they had withdrawn most of their units from the area.
One of the team’s earlier missions had been to assist the Ukrainian forces during their offensive maneuvers and Captain Andrich, an officer from one of the units they had been with, was meeting them now. After they had all exited the helicopter and brought their equipment over to a remote hanger, Captain Andrich came up to Master Sergeant Town and said, “Welcome once again, Sergeant! It is good to see you, my friend!”
Master Sergeant Town grinned and after exchanging salutes, he extended his hand, saying, “Yes, it is good to be back, Captain!” They shook hands and then the master sergeant introduced the team members whom the captain hadnot previously met. Since none of them were wearing any rank insignia, when he explained, “This is Lieutenant McCrea, she is leading this mission,” the captain was rather shocked.
“I am surprised to find a woman to be your leader,” exclaimed the captain. He examined Missy closely and then slowly shook his head side to side, obviously marveling at finding someone both so young as well as female to be in charge.
Missy extended her hand and in Russian she asked, “Why are you so surprised, Captain Andrich?” She gave him a big smile when he shook her hand, his expression showing he had understood what she said.
In Russian, the captain answered, “Only because I know your mission will be inside Russia. However, as it seems you can speak the language, perhaps that helps explain this.” After a pause he added, “Although I was aware that women have been serving in U.S. combat units for a while now, I confess that you are the first whom I have met.”
Missy nodded and said, “I have been assigned to this unit for three years now but my commission is very recent. I therefore will continue to rely on Sergeant Town’s leadership in the days ahead.”
Master Sergeant Town laughed at this and said, “My Lieutenant is being too modest, Captain. Having fought side-by-side with her on numerous occasions, I can assure you she is the fiercest warrior in our unit and is most qualified to be our leader. Now, I understand you have some vehicles which will bring us to the border, right?”
The captain smiled and said, “Yes, come this way. I have them parked just outside.” He then led everyone out througha rear door to where three small vans were waiting. Once everyone was inside the vehicles, they proceeded out of the airfield using a secondary road. Thirty minutes later they pulled over and stopped.
After exiting the vehicles and gathering around Captain Andrich, they listened to his briefing on how best to cross over from there into Russia. He explained, “We are now a few miles north of the village of Liptsi and are about a mile from the border. As you can see, the area is densely wooded. I was told it’s your plan to cross over just as it gets dark. You will find there are several paths through the woods where others have been doing this over the years. If you are careful to avoid any Russian forces which might possibly be in the area, you should have no problem making your way using one of those pathways. I wish you all the best on this mission of yours.”
The team then said goodbye and with Missy in the lead, they proceeded along a pathway which brought them away from the road and into the trees. This was what they had all trained for and silently they followed Missy. The weather was cooperating as the forecast for the next few days was for it to be dry and warm during the day, dropping into the fifties at night.
As it grew dark, Missy led them to an area where she wanted them to pause while she did some out-of-body reconnaissance. As had become customary, Staff Sergeant DeMarco watched over her body whenever she did these recons.
