| "Simplicity Doesn't Exist" | ||
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Outside Petrenko's Dacha June 9, 2008, 2120 hours He hated surprises, especially ones like this. Was a simple mission too much to ask? Obviously it was. "This is what he has told me. Apparently Petrenko has supported a law which some find inappropriate, and there have been death threats. As these are civilians you are not allowed to use lethal force," Sergei told him. "You have to be kidding," he replied. "I am not." Sergei sighed. "These orders came from Ilya Stepanovich himself, so they must be followed to the letter. Is there anyway you can rig up something non-lethal?" He thought about that for a second. Non-lethal bullets didn't always live up to their name, so something else would be needed, something that would scare the shit out of anyone trying to get close to the dacha. Lights would be a good start. "I think so. Is this to be done immediately?" Yes was the answer, which is why he found himself setting up remote controlled spotlights in the trees surrounding the dacha an hour later. He had driven to the airfield to collect the packages that had been couriered to him from some place or other. The boxes had contained the lighting equipment that he was now putting up. He didn't like this. He felt much easier using weapons to take out terrorists, not fighting bloodless battles against members of the public. There was an uneasy feeling in his stomach and he was inclined to put faith in his instincts, and his instincts said that something wasn't right with this mission, especially with the orders he had just received. At least he was not alone in his uneasiness; Tarasov had positively screwed when he'd been told, but there wasn't much they could do about it now. He finished screwing in the back of the light and dropped down out of the tree. The light was hidden from view by the dark leaves, something he had been careful to ensure. If nothing else it would add to the surprise; if they had been visible then any would-be troublemakers would be prepared for them. He had three more to set up before he would be satisfied that the area was covered so he moved off and searched for a suitable position. He found one ten meters away and attached the rope around the case handle, then around his waist. Looking up into what should have been darkness and seeing clearly thanks to the NVG's was something he always found amazing as well as useful. He began climbing the tree, mindful of the fact that the case could hit against the trunk and create noise, something he desperately tried to avoid. Once more he made it up without any thumps and began setting up the light. It took him another half hour to get the remaining lights placed, but once he had finished that task he could begin on the one he was looking forward to. The idea stemmed from the fact that whatever he did to deter any potential `visitors' could not raise suspicion; their entire `protection' assignment was to be low-key, as per the Politburo's request. This meant that anything he did had to have a plausible cover story, and that had led to him buying some fireworks. The idea was simple: set the fireworks up in the surrounding area and rig them so that they would ignite when he pressed the button on his remote control. The fireworks would shoot up into the sky and explode in the usual manner. The beauty of it was the fact that it would not only scare the shit out of anyone close by, but it could also be reported as Petrenko celebrating something. Coupled with the spotlights the system was a work of art and yet so simple. He had learnt that the simple things were often the most effective, and so a dual-component system only had two things that could go wrong, but each component could act as a back up for the other. Even he had to admit there was an element of genius about the whole set-up, especially given the truncated timeframe within which he had to work. Despite that everything was now in place. If anyone decided to come anywhere near Petrenko's dacha tonight there was a good chance they would die of a heart attack, and if they didn't then they would be running back home just as fast as they could. Man he was good! "Medved," he said, using Maksim's call sign of Bear, "the trap is set, just have to wait now to see if the game turns up." "Ok Ruzhyo, we shall keep patrolling the dacha in case any guests appear. I will relieve you at 0500 hours." He laughed. "Thanks, nice to know I'm allowed some sleep every now and then." Tarasov laughed. "I'll keep you informed of any developments." "Ok boss. Make sure the bugs don't get ya." Nikolai smiled as the line went dead. The Bear did have a sense of humour. He settled back done in his prone position, eyes scanning the area. He was placed in his secondary location because the primary was open to a clear line of sight from two of the most likely sniping positions for an offensive team. Nelli had sought out those positions upon arrival and informed him of the ones she would use herself, and also of others that could also be used but that had a less-than-ideal view. He had then set himself up in places that gave him a view of both the surrounding areas and the sniping positions whilst staying hidden from they eyes of any enemies. He actually preferred Secondary; the location was more secure than Primary, which could, under ideal conditions, be attacked by two sniping positions. It did afford an excellent view though, which is why it was Primary. Still, the view from Secondary was nothing to be sniffed at, and in truth he felt more secure here, and for some reason he craved security on this mission because something different was out there, he could feel it. But what was it? Return |
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