Real Scandinavian Heroes

Action Force Northern Command Base

Central Sweden

February, 1996

The Commander entered the operations room of the Northern Command base and moved to the large table where the five men he’d come to brief were standing. Trailing in behind him was Fixer, the mechanic and weapons repairman of Special Weapons Force. Fixer put two weapon cases down on the table.

The Commander looked at the five men, all members of SAS Force, giving them a once-over. North Star, a British SBS commando with unruly brown hair and stubble on his face; Drift, a blonde, blue-eyed Norwegian who looked eager and ready to get out on a mission; Cold Shot, the Danish sniper who’s face was unreadable; Glacier, the Finn who was as muscular as you might expect from his codename and the small, wiry Ice-pick, the Austrian mountaineer.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen, as you might expect, we have a mission for you and it’s serious.” The Commander cleared his throat before continuing, “This morning, a summit of European Union defence ministers in northern Sweden was attacked and taken hostage.”

“Who by?” interrupted North Star.

The Commander glowered at him before saying, “The Coil. The British Ministry of Defence received a radio call from one of the security team reporting they were under attack by heavily armed hostiles. Two hours later, a tape was delivered to a Swedish newspaper, who immediately handed it over to the local Ministry of Defence. In the video, the leader of the Coil group shows that the ministers are alive, as well as several of their aides. Some of the security personnel are as well. The Coil leader calls himself Onslaught and provides a laundry list of demands including the disbanding of Action Force, freeing of several prisoners held worldwide, including captured members of Skull Squad, and a ransom of £25 million Sterling.”

“Where are they?” asked Glacier. “And how big a team are we taking?”

“They’re in a holiday village, near the Norwegian border. It was picked for the remote location. The idea being no one would think they were there. Clearly information was leaked. As for the team, you’re it. You guys are the best Arctic warfare people we have. It’s winter, it’s been snowing and there’s a blizzard moving toward the area. So you’re it,” The Commander replied.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, us five?” Drift asked, shocked. “Why can’t we take some of the other SBS guys who’re Mountain and Arctic Warfare trained, like Frog, Prowl and Longshot? Hell, Beaver’d be good too.”

“Beaver and his team and Barracuda’s team are both in Greece. We don’t have the time to get them here. Prowl and Longshot are likewise indisposed. You guys are it.” The Commander looked around at them. “If you can’t do it, we’ll have to leave it to SSG, the Swedes own SF unit.”

“How many enemies?” asked Glacier.

“The British operative reported estimated a reinforced platoon. Forty or fifty men,” The Commander replied.

“Ten to one odds?” Ice-pick put in. “This gets better and better.”

“They don’t stand a chance, do they?” asked North Star.

The Austrian glowered at him. “Not more British bravado,” he said, angrily.

“No, British certainty. We can do this with stealth on our side and no doubt some luck, too.” North Star looked at The Commander, “It’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?”

“Correct. You can’t risk the hostages by taking in any vehicles, no Snow Cats, Arctic Fox or Snow Leopard. You’ll go on foot. You’ll get airlifted nearby and then move in. As I said, the village is about to be hit by a massive blizzard in the next few hours, so that’s going to help you sneak in,” The Commander replied. The Snow Cat was a missile-armed half-track Action Force had bought from GI Joe. The Arctic Fox was an experimental snow-adapted version of the Armadillo mini-tank Special Weapons Force had created, whilst the Snow Leopard was an Arctic warfare adapted version of the venerable SAS Force Panther jeep.

The Commander turned to Fixer, “Show them what you’ve brought, Sergeant.”

The mechanic nodded and opened the first case, pulling out a white-painted weapon.

“Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun,” he began. “SWF version. We took the SD3 suppressed variant and modified it to make it even quieter.”

“Seen it, used it, loved it,” North Star interrupted.

Fixer glowered at him, as he pointed to the large scope mounted on the top of the gun. “Thermal imager scope. Latest bit of kit we’ve developed. Lets you see through blizzards by generating an image based on the heat of any object. It’ll allow you to slot the bad guys without them even knowing you’re there as they can’t see you in the snow, or hear you. You’ll be like ghosts.”

Fixer handed the MP5 over to Drift, who began examining the weapon carefully. Fixer opened the second case and took out a larger gun.

“Accuracy International AW Covert sniper rifle,” Fixer said. “AI took their AW rifle, built in a suppressor to make the AWS, then they added a folding stock to make the Covert model. We just tweaked it a bit to reduce noise further. And of course added the thermal scope. It’s got pretty decent magnification, but you’re not going to be setting any range records with it.”

Cold Shot took the rifle from Fixer and examined it before hefting it to aim down the scope.

“I like the AW,” he commented. “This should be easy to get used to.”

Fixer smiled.

“Right, there’s a Tomahawk over at the helipad, waiting to take you north. You’ll also have some help from Lightning. He’s got one of his UAVs ready to provide surveillance. It’s got a radio relay to it, so he’ll provide intel from it as he gets it, in real-time,” The Commander said. “Get kitted out and get to the chopper, time’s a-wasting.”

Northern Sweden

Eighty minutes later

The white-and-grey camouflaged Tomahawk thundered through the leaden grey skies on the edge of the storm. Finally, a few miles from the village, the helicopter slowly dropped to the ground in a clearing in the forest. It was impossible to see out the windows thanks to the swirling snow the two five-blade rotors generated.

“Storm’s getting worse, boys!” Evac shouted from the pilot’s seat. “This is your stop!”

The helicopter’s loadmaster and gunner, Tex, lowered the rear ramp and the five commandos hurried out into the storm. The helicopter lifted off and turned quickly to head south.

The team grouped on North Star, who The Commander had made squad leader. They were dressed in white winter gear, a small grey SAS Force logo on their left sleeve the only marking.

“Okay, we head north-west to that small hill we saw on the satellite photo,” North Star said over the wind. “Cold Shot, you set up there for over-watch and then the rest of us move in.”

The Briton looked up at the grey sky, “The UAV ought to be online soon.”

Suddenly, their small earpieces squawked with static then came an American accented voice. “Wolf Pack, this is Sky-watch, how copy, over?”

“Sky-watch, Wolf Zero, I read you five-by-five. How do you copy me, over?” North Star replied.

“''Sky-watch has you four by four, Zero. UAV is online and coming in from the southwest. I have FLIR imagery of four bogies, probable hostiles, at the top of the hill west of the village. Be advised, it appears they have a heavy machine-gun in place there.”''

“Roger that, Sky-watch. We’ll neutralise them before moving in. Please advise situation in village, over,” North Star replied.

“''Am on route to commence orbit around the village. Will check in once complete, over.”''

“Copy, out.”

North Star turned to the others. “Okay, let’s move out. We’ve got some Coil troopers to deal with on that hill.”

The others nodded and the team set out. They picked their way forward, North Star in the lead, occasionally stopping to scan around himself with the thermal scope. Finally they got near the top of the hill. North Star split the team in two; he and Glacier went around the hill to approach the Coil troops from the north, whilst Ice-pick, Cold Shot and Drift came in from the south.

The team moved in after a short burst of static from North Star’s radio signalled them. They quickly shot all four Coil troops before they had a chance to react.

Working quickly, they moved the MARS Industries machine-gun out of the way, allowing Cold Shot to set up his sniper rifle, before piling the bodies out of the way. The Coil position was little more than a hollowed out pit in the snow, without even sandbags to add any kind of protection. Drift and Glacier worked quickly to assemble a shelter of four telescoping legs and a white canvas cover that kept the snow off, as well as helping to conceal the sniper. Ice-pick searched the Coil troopers’ pockets as North Star kept a lookout.

“Nothing in their pockets, not even lint,” Ice-pick told North Star. “One had a radio. They only had a few ammo mags and that was it.”

“Not planning to stick around then,” North Star said.

Before Ice-pick could reply, the radio crackled, “''Wolf Zero, this is Sky-watch. I see you’ve secured the observation post. Here’s a sit rep from the village.” Lightning cleared his throat before continuing, “Large building on the north side of the village is reading large numbers of heat sources. Looks like at least fifty to sixty people inside. I’d guess that’s where the bulk of the hostages and the Coil are. I count at least four foot patrols around the village. Pairs of Coil troopers following set routes. I’m also reading heat sources in another three houses in the village which suggest they might be more of the hostages and captors.”''

“Copy that, Sky-watch,” North Star replied. “Stand by.”

North Star turned to Cold Shot who was looking out across the village. “How you looking, Cold Shot?” he asked.

“I’ve got a pretty decent field of view here,” he replied. “Wind’s bad, which is going to be a pain to compensate for. I can see some of the foot patrols Lightning mentioned, so I can take them out if needed. I can also keep a lookout at that big building he mentioned.”

“Good. We’ll get moving in a second.” North Star turned his attention back to Lightning, the team’s radios were constantly on and voiced activated.

“Sky-watch, Wolf Zero. Give me a direction steer to the closest of the three buildings with hostages, we’re moving out.”

“Closest to you is two hundred yards from the hill, due east.”

“Roger, out.” North star waved the others into action and they scrambled from the sniper hide and down the hill.

The four commandos made their way down the hill, slipping as they went. The snowstorm showed no sign of abating. The howling wind drowned out any noise, so North Star kept scanning around with his scope, even though he knew Lightning was watching with the UAV. The Sky-watch UAV was a new model Lightning had built with a forward-looking infrared camera in the nose turret, alongside the regular TV camera; a reduced radar cross-section, thanks to radar-absorbing materials in the airframe; a quieter engine and a radio relay unit in the belly to connect troops to the pilot more easily.

The team picked their way across the road and past an empty house to the target building.

“Sky-watch, Wolf Zero, sitrep?” North Star asked as they crouched looking at the house.

“''Closest foot patrols are over three hundred yards away from you. No sign of activity elsewhere. You’re clear to close in.”''

“Roger, moving up.”

The team reached the front door. “Okay,” North Star began, “We don’t know what the floor plan is of this place or how many hostiles we’re dealing with, so here’s what we’re going to do: I’ll try the door and if it opens, I toss in a flash bang; then I go in first, Ice-pick you come in behind me, followed by Drift and Glacier, covering our six. We clear each room, making sure to check the cupboards and under the furniture. Slot any Coil troops in the place and try not to hit any hostages. Once the hostages are secure, we go firm and radio The Commander for what to do with them.”

“What if the door’s locked?” asked Glacier.

“Then I’ll bang on the door and wait for someone to open it and then slot ‘em and we go from there,” North Star replied.

The four moved to the front door. North Star carefully tried to open the door. It moved and so he pulled a flash-bang from his belt, pulled the pin and hurled it in the door. The grenade went off, the bang muffled by the door and wind, before he flung the door open and charged in.

To his immediate left was a short partitioning wall; to the right, the exterior wall. In front of him and beyond the short wall was the large open space of the front room, four men were gagged and bound in the seats, two Coil troopers standing over them, both dazed from the flash-bang. North Star took in all this in a split second before whipping his MP5 up to aim down the sights and shoot one of the Coil troopers. Ice-pick was close behind him and shot the second even as he turned to aim.

“Clear!” Ice-pick said.

“Clear, Room clear. Move up!” North Star snapped, heading for the door leading out of the front room. A short corridor led to the kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. All proved empty.

“House clear!” Ice-pick called as they regrouped in the lounge. Glacier and Drift relaxed from their tense positions by the door. Glacier shut the front door as the others began untying the hostages.

“Who are you guys?” Drift asked as he pulled the gag off one.

“French VIP Protection Service,” he replied. “Agent LeVert, team leader.”

“What happened?” North Star asked.

“The Coil attacked with about fifty men. Armed with Chinese Kalashnikov knock-offs. We had German and Danish security men on patrol. They fought back and most of them were killed. Several more men, including two of mine were killed. Most of us only had sidearms. The Swedish minister ordered us to surrender. For some reason they split some of us up and put us here,” LeVert explained.

North Star nodded. “Okay, I’m going to call this in.”

“Action Force?” one of the other agents asked.

“Yeah. Wolf Zero to Command, Sit rep update. Four hostages rescued, two hostiles down. Request orders.”

There was a pause before The Commander replied, “''We’ve managed to rustle up a Triton and a platoon of Attack Troopers. ETE is eighty-seven minutes to LZ. They will deploy on foot to the village. We have your location marked. Once the Attack Troopers arrive, some of them will move to that house and evac the hostages. We want to let the French know who’s alive, you got any names?”'' ETE meant Estimated Time En-route.

“Stand by,” North Star replied. He turned to LeVert. “The Commander wants to let your government know who’s alive in your delegation, what’re your names?”

“Tell your commander that LeClaire and Deveraux were killed. LeVert, Petit, Lenoir and Leblanc are alive. I believe the civilians are all still alive,” the Frenchman replied.

North Star relayed the information. The Commander ordered the team to make sure the hostages were okay and then continue.

“Okay,” North Star said. “Boss wants us to get on and find the other hostages. There’s a platoon of SAS Force Attack Troopers on their way. Some of them will come here and escort you out. In the mean-time, keep your heads down and use the guns they dropped if you need to defend yourselves.”

LeVert nodded. The rest of the Frenchmen nodded as well. Two picked up the dead Coil troopers’ rifles and checked them before moving to cover the door.

North Star led the team out the door and one of the French agents closed it. The team moved off through the blizzard.

“Sky-watch, Wolf Zero, give me a direction steer to the next house of hostages,” North Star called over the radio.

“Wolf Zero, Sky-watch, I have visual on your team. Be advised, I am visual with two armed hostiles moving south toward your position. Appears to be a sentry foot-patrol. Currently one hundred yards and closing.”

“Solid copy, Sky-watch.” North Star checked the rest of the team had heard the news, sure enough, they were all looking at him.

“Hold here,” North Star said. The team was in the lee of a house, sheltered from the wind and snow. Without a word of command, the team all raised their weapons and began scanning north for the hostiles.

Slowly, the sentries became visible through the blizzard as they approached. Once they were within the MP5SWF’s effective range of 650 feet, all four commandos opened fire hitting both sentries with at least four rounds apiece. North Star led Glacier to the bodies and checked they were dead as Ice-pick and Drift kept watch. Moments later, Lightning came back on the radio.

“''Nice shooting, Wolf pack. Next location is one hundred yards to your east. You’re clear to proceed.”''

The four commandos moved quickly to the next house. They quickly executed a similar takedown of the house; the only difference being the presence of a third Coil trooper who Glacier shot.

The hostages in the second house were freed.

“Who are you guys?” North Star asked.

“Agent Ramirez,” replied one as he stood up. “Grupo Especial de Operaciones, Spanish National Police Special Operations Group. You are British?” he added.

“I am, yes,” North Star replied. “The rest of my team aren’t. We’re from Action Force.”

Ramirez indicated the rest of his men, “Agents Sanchez, Chavez, Vega, Vasquez and Ramone. We were forced to surrender by the order of our Defence Minister. The Coil separated us and took us here. I know the French team were taken to another house.”

“Yes, we’ve rescued them,” North Star interrupted.

“They also separated the British survivors. Three of them were killed, along with two Frenchmen, during the attack on the conference hall. I heard someone say most of the Germans and the Danes were killed fighting off the initial assault,” Ramirez went on.

“Okay, let me report this in,” North Star said. He called The Commander and relayed what Ramirez had said, along with the names of the agents.

''“Roger that, North Star. The Attack Troopers are now fifty-five minutes to the LZ. You’re still on your own.” ''The Commander sighed before continuing. “Clear and secure that third house.”

“Solid copy on that, Commander.”

Before North Star could say anything else, the walkie-talkie of one of the Coil troops crackled and a voice spoke. “All units this is Onslaught, check in.”

The commandos and the Spanish agents listened as the first replies came.

“Sentry team one, in the green.”

''“Sentry team three. We’re good.”''

''“Sentry team four. A-OK.”''

“House three, in the green.”

There was silence for a full minute before Onslaught spoke again, “Houses one and two, check in.” Another round of silence. “Sentry team two, check in.” Silence. “Over-watch, check in.”

North Star walked over and picked up the walkie-talkie.

“Sorry, Onslaught, I’m afraid Sentry team two, Over-watch and Houses one and two won’t be responding for the rest of their lives.”

“''Who is this? One of the guards who got loose?”''

“Ehh, Wrong answer, pal. Wanna try another guess?” North Star replied. He hid his smirk from the others.

“''You must be from the Swedish military. No… your accent is English. You’re with Action Force. Did they send in a whole team or are you a lone operator?”''

“Why don’t you come out here and find out, divvy?” North Star replied.

“''All sentry teams converge on house two. Make sure it is secure, then secure house one. If necessary, kill the hostages! Hans! I want you to…”'' the radio cut before Onslaught’s orders to Hans could be heard.

North Star dropped the walkie-talkie. “Okay, new plan. Let’s move out. We’re putting the hostages some place else. Then we hit the sentries when they come here.”

Sanchez, Ramirez and Vasquez snatched up the assault rifles the Coil troops had dropped. North Star led the group across the street and two doors down. Fortunately, that house was similarly unlocked. Leaving Glacier and Drift with the Spanish, he and Ice-pick hurried back to the house where the French agents were.

“Wolf Zero, this is Wolf Four,” radioed Cold Shot. “''Armed hostiles coming out of the conference hall. I also have visual on armed pax heading your way.”''

“Roger that, Wolf Four. You’re clear to engage any hostiles threatening your position. Stay frosty, mate.”

North Star led the French agents to the new house. Once they and the Spanish team were secured in the house, with one armed agent covering the door and the windows, the SAS Force team moved back to the house they’d cleared.

Six Coil troops waded through the snow to the house. None were checking the garden. As one, the four commandos rose up from where they’d lay and opened fire, cutting down the Coil troopers. They didn’t waste time; instead they moved out, North Star calling out as he did, “Wolf Zero to Sky-watch, how copy?”

“Wolf Zero, Sky-watch has you five-by-five,” Lightning replied. “''We copied the transmission from Onslaught. The Commander is not happy with you for engaging with Onslaught.”''

“You overheard that?” North Star asked, trying not to pant as he ran through shin-deep snow.

“''They’re using open channels. Unlike our encrypted channels.”''

“Notify the Attack Troopers where the French and Spanish hostages are,” North Star ordered him. “Gimme a steer to the third house.”

''“You’re fifty yards away. Hostiles moving to the hill where Wolf Four is. Armed pax headed toward the other houses.”'' Lightning sighed, “Sorry I didn’t put any missiles on the Sky-watch drone.”

“We’ll deal with it,” North Star assured him.

“House three, straight in front of you, twenty five yards and closing.”

“No time for finesse, guys,” North Star said. He pulled a frag grenade from his belt, pulled the pin and hurled it at the front door.

The grenade detonated just as it was about to hit the door. North Star hurled a flash-bang through the ruined doorway. He charged forward, leaping through the flaming door.

He crashed down inside the house, whipping his MP5 up. Two Coil gunmen were bent double in front of him. He fired, dropping both. A third was lying on the floor with a large chunk of wood sticking out of his right pelvis. He’d clearly been hit by the exploding door. North Star moved toward him, aimed and fired four bullets into the Coil trooper. He turned toward the living area. A fourth Coil trooper was turning toward him. North Star fired, dropping the Coil trooper.

“Friendlies on your six,” came Drift’s voice.

Ice-pick and Drift charged in the door. North Star turned toward them, before signalling for them to check the rest of the rooms.

Glacier came in the room a moment later as North Star began to free the hostages. The Finn helped him to cut loose the hostages. As they were finishing, Drift and Ice-pick returned. “House is clear,” Drift reported.

“Who are you?” asked one of the hostages.

“Action Force,” North Star replied, noting the Scouse accent. “You’re all the British guards?”

“Jackson, Hamilton and I are,” replied another Englishman. “That’s O’Connell, Murphy, McManus and O’Leary, the Irish security team.”

“Who are you?” North Star asked, “For the record.”

“Pearce,” the agent replied. “Met Police diplomatic protection group.”

North Star relayed the names to The Commander who gave a terse ‘Copy’ in reply.

“We need to get you out of here,” North Star said. “The Coil know we’re here and will come to check the house out when they don’t get answers from these four.”

Jackson, Hamilton, Murphy and McManus all picked up the Coil troopers’ guns.

“Nice work with the grenade,” McManus said. “That Polar Snake was standing near the door as the grenade went off. His mates went to check on him as the thunder-flash came in.”

“Polar Snake?” asked Drift.

“It’s what I heard Onslaught calling the troopers. I guess the Coil don’t call them ‘Snow Serpents’,” McManus said.

“Enough talk, let’s move,” North Star ordered.

The Action Force team led the hostages to the house they’d secured the others in.

“''Wolf Zero, this is Four. I have armed pax closing on my position'',” Cold Shot reported.

“Engage at will, Four,” North Star replied. “Command, Wolf Zero, what’s the status of those Attack Troopers?”

“''Attack Troopers are two-five minutes from the LZ, Wolf Zero. Be advised, we see a large force moving from the village hall toward house two.” The Commander paused before saying, “Looks like about thirty hostiles''.”

“That means there can’t be more than about a dozen guys left at the hall. We’ve slotted seven Polar Snakes in the three houses, plus another six at house two that we ambushed. Two sentries we took before that. Four at the Over-watch position. That’s nineteen. Four, how many are closing on you?” North Star asked.

“Zero, I have visual on four pax.”

“Twenty-three. That means there must be more than fifty of them, but most of them are headed for house three. Commander, we could raid that hall now, while the Coil are distracted. If they come looking for the hostages at this location, they can hold them off with the guns they’ve taken from the dead Polar Snakes, at least long enough for the Attack Troopers to arrive.”

For a few seconds The Commander didn’t answer, then he simply said, “Proceed.”

North Star quickly organised the former hostages to cover the house’s doors and windows with the captured assault rifles before leaving the house and heading up the street to the hall with the rest of his team.

“Wolf Four, Wolf Zero, sitrep?” He snapped over the radio.

“''Zero, Four, four targets neutralised. I have visual on armed pax moving parallel to you toward house two''.”

“Solid copy, Four. Nice work.”

North Star suddenly skidded to a halt several yards short of the hall. A new idea had occurred to him.

“Command, Wolf Zero, has the Triton dropped off the Attack Troopers yet?”

“''Negative, Zero. They are six minutes to the LZ''.”

“Have them drop the Attack Troopers straight into the village. The blizzard’s dying down. The wind has dropped off and it’s barely snowing now.”

There was a pause, then The Commander replied, “''Roger that. Passing that along now''.”

The team were near the hall when the heavy thud of rotors could be heard in the distance.

“Command, Zero, any chance you’ve got a floor plan for that hall?” North Star asked as the team hid behind a parked van.

“''Affirmative, Zero. Layout as follows: west side of the building is the main hall room. East side is split between a lobby, two toilets, a small kitchen area and a secondary room, which was being used as the command post for the security units. Thermal scans indicate several pax in the command post and most in the main hall.” The Commander paused, “Short corridor on north side of the building links the lobby to the hall with the kitchen and second rooms on that hall.”''

“Copy all.”

The commandos moved to the main doors on the east side of the building.

“Ice-pick, you got any flash-bangs?” North Star asked.

“Two.”

“Take point, I’ll cover your right. Drift, cover left. Glacier, watch our six.”

The rest of the commandos nodded.

Ice-pick pulled out a small C4 charge and slapped it on the doors, which North Star was thankful were not glass or partially glass. The team stacked up either side of the door and then Ice-pick detonated the C4. The doors exploded inward in a shower of wood. Then they rushed in, weapons up.

The lobby was clear, but as they moved toward the corridor, a Polar Snake came out the door. Ice-pick and North Star shot him before he had a chance to raise his gun. The bullets sent him staggering back into the wall, before sliding to the floor.

North Star and Glacier moved to quickly check the kitchen was clear.

As Ice-pick and Drift moved to the door of the command room, the rattle of distant automatic weapons fire reached their ears as the sound of the Triton heavy helicopter got closer.

The commandos ignored it; Ice-pick threw a flash-bang into the command room before charging in as the bang faded. Drift was close on his heels.

Inside the room, four Polar Snakes and two Coil communications troopers were reeling from the flash-bang. Neither Action Force commando gave them a chance to recover, quickly firing a burst of 9mm rounds into each Coil trooper.

“Clear,” Ice-pick said as he reloaded.

“Clear,” Drift agreed.

“Room clear, two coming out,” Ice-pick called to North Star.

The team moved to the doors leading to the main hall.

Ice-pick moved to plant another C4 charge, but North Star stopped him. “Too risky,” he whispered.

Instead, North Star shoved the doors open, dropping to one knee and rolling aside as Ice-pick threw in a flash-bang. Ice-pick and Drift moved in, before North Star leapt to his feet and followed.

Inside the main hall, the hostages were gathered at the western side of the hall, near an emergency exit. On the right side, North Star spotted and quickly shot another Polar Snake; Ice-pick in the middle quickly dropped two Polar Snakes with quick double-taps. Drift, heading to the left dropped a fourth Polar Snake.

All three commandos turned toward the hostages and Onslaught, who had grabbed a brunette and was holding her by the back of the neck with his left hand, a Colt .45 jammed to her temple with his right.

Glacier had followed the others in and all four commandos now had their MP5s trained on Onslaught, trying to get a clear shot.

“Drop the guns, Action Force, or she dies!” snarled Onslaught.

“No dice, Onslaught,” North Star replied.

Seconds later, everyone flinched as a loud BRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAARRRRRRR sounded. North Star recognised the sound a 20mm minigun firing.

North Star reached up with his left hand and pulled up his balaclava, before pulling out the earpiece to his radio.

He thumbed the volume up full and then spoke, “Command, Wolf Zero, sit rep?”

Loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear, The Commander replied, “''Wolf Zero, Triton took small arms fire from the Coil troops. Evac returned in his Tomahawk and is currently providing fire-support as the Attack Troopers are being dropped off.”''

Another quieter roar sounded, which North Star knew was a 7.62mm rotary gun firing.

“Attack Troopers are on the ground, engaging the Coil troopers.” The Commander’s meaning was clear to everyone, it was nearly over.

“Give it up, Onslaught,” North Star said. “You shoot her and we’ll blow your head off. One hostage lost out of all of these is a small price and a statistically acceptable loss for us.”

The brunette was crying, tears running down her face, despite the gag. North Star’s words, expressing the callous calculus of special operations made her eyes go wide as she stared at him.

The white balaclava that hid part of his face made her unable to read his expression, but North Star could see her stop crying before she tensed, then stamped on Onslaught’s right foot with her high-heel shoe.

The terrorist screamed in pain, releasing her. The brunette dropped to the floor as Onslaught staggered back, before firing at North Star, who threw himself aside. Ice-pick fired a second later, clipping Onslaught’s arm. Drift’s shot hit Onslaught in the leg.

Onslaught managed to get off a second shot before turning and running to the emergency exit, slamming it open and dashed out, firing three more wild shots.

Ice-pick charged out the door after him, even as North Star picked himself up and called, “All units, all units, Wolf Zero, HVT fleeing on foot from western side of hall, target is wounded and bleeding, but armed and hostile.”

In quick succession, four replies came.

“''Wolf Zero, this is Mother Bear, Attack Troopers are still engaged with Coil forces. Four friendlies on route to your position, call-sign Grizzly''.”

“Wolf Zero, this is Sky-watch, I’m visual with HVT fleeing on foot across north-west of village, headed for the forest.”

“''Wolf Zero, Wolf Four, I have a visual on HVT, Wolf One in pursuit. Am I cleared to fire?”''

“Wolf Four, Command, take the shot!”

“Wolf Four, try for non-lethal take down!” North Star hollered, even as Glacier and Drift were looking at him as they freed the hostages.

On the hilltop, Cold Shot had thrown aside the canvas cover and was standing up to watch Onslaught running toward the trees. Despite the fact North Star had said he was injured, Cold Shot could see he was managing a fair turn of speed.

The Danish sniper lined up and began running through the equations at speed. Rifle’s muzzle velocity, compensate for subsonic rounds; wind speed, negligible crosswind; Coriolis effect not a factor; altitude not a factor; cold temperature would have an effect; target foot speed versus bullet flight time.

In seconds he aimed, slightly ahead of Onslaught and fired.

The 7.62mm NATO round struck Onslaught in the left leg, travelling at several hundred feet per second, ripping through the trouser leg, the skin at the back of his thigh and out the other side. The impact span Onslaught around, causing him to lose balance and fall over into the snow.

“Tango down,” Cold Shot said.

As the sniper watched, Ice-pick caught up to him.

Ice-pick slowed down from the dead run he’d left the building at. The terrorist leader had only a few feet lead on him when the shot hit him. The Austrian kept his MP5 trained on Onslaught, his eyes fixed on him.

“Drop your weapon,” he snapped.

Slowly, carefully, Onslaught held the M1911 pistol up over his head, ejected the magazine and then tossed the pistol aside.

“Grizzly, Wolf One, I need two of you over here stat. HVT needs to be secured.”

“Grizzly Zero copies.”

Two Attack Troopers arrived a minute later, dressed in plain white fatigues, with white helmets on, carrying M4 carbines. With Ice-pick covering them, they moved in to haul Onslaught up and then tie his hands with plastic cuffs. One roughly shoved Onslaught back toward the hall as the other carefully picked up both the Colt pistol and the magazine, putting them into a plastic bag he pulled from a pocket.

The Action Force troops set about securing the prisoners, as several of the Coil troops had surrendered and collecting the dead Polar Snakes as Swedish emergency services finally began arriving. Onslaught was taken aside, stripped of his clothes and handed a plain black jumpsuit to put on and had his wounds treated. The Swedish police took him away first as paramedics continued treating the hostages and the police secured the captured Polar Snakes. North Star and his team exchanged handshakes with many of the defence ministers before leaving the hall to board the Tomahawk for the ride south.

Action Force Northern Command

Later

The commandos completed their debriefing and headed back to the operations room. As they approached The Commander, he turned to them.

“Onslaught escaped. He killed the ambulance crew and the police guard taking him to hospital. The ambulance was found outside Kiruna, the town they were taking him too. A car was reported stolen some hours later.”

North Star and Drift both swore.

“Nice work rescuing the hostages. We’ll just have to try again to catch Onslaught.”

“Or just shoot the bastard,” North Star said.

The Commander nodded. “That might work.”