Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Ten minutes later, we were back in the planning room. Standing around a glowing table that had a bunch of map layouts on it. 
                          
Killigan turned to face the monitors behind him and changed the screens to be of Peyton's profile with a headshot photo. With the other, of him entering the building we were going to infiltrate. Then, Killigan began the meeting by pointing at Peyton's face on the screen.
                          
"Agents, I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but that's because it's important to we find this man and see what he knows. With the top priority of finding out where the B7 source is located. And we believe that the best way to do that is to find out where the man that stole the damn thing is hiding it. Do ya hear me?"
                          
"Yes, sir. To accomplish our main objective, it's best we capture Peyton." Teddy reaffirmed.
                          
Killigan stopped pointing at the monitors behind him to face us. Before pressing a button on the side of the table that extended out a miniature, animated building layout on top of the table, where you could see every exit, room, staircase, and elevator within the entire building.
                          
But instead of talking about the building, Killigan pointed to the road map on the table to where we were located in the Meudon forest.
                          
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are here." He began as he moved his finger up the roads toward the city.
                          
"We will travel along these roads at eleven o'clock tonight until we are five blocks away from the facility. That way, we are close enough to escape in a hurry, and far enough away that any of the guards won't get suspicious. 
                          
I will drop off your team there and stay in the car while you finish the objective. And, from here, you will walk in the alleyways behind the buildings across the street from our objective until you reach the roof of the house across from the facility. Which should be familiar to all of you, because we'll be at a similar starting point as your simulation."
                          
"Ha! You're right. We did start up there." Teddy interrupted with a quick laugh, before quickly shutting his mouth.
                          
Killigan didn't seem to mind as he continued on, pointing to areas right around the facility. 
                          
"At this vantage point, you should be able to get more real-time information about the guards surrounding the facility. And once you figure out where all the guards are outside and inside the facility, you will need to neutralize the perimeter guards. Because there is almost no possible way of sneaking past them to get in there."
                          
Killigan then finished pointing at the perimeter and began to go over the inside layout of the building.
                          
"After you've finished sweeping the perimeter, your team should be able to walk right in the front door. 
                          
Once you are inside, you should be in a large lobby that has an elevator at the end of it. Where you will take this elevator up to the second floor, which is a large office where we believe Peyton will be. At that point in the mission, your objective is to bring Peyton into our custody using whatever is necessary. And to hack into his computer to see if there's any more information about their current plans with the source. Any questions?"
                          
"Not to be a downer, but what's our evac plan? You never mentioned it," I asked.
                          
"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me, Dak, let me pull that up." He said as he then swooped his hand on the hologram building. Spinning it around to show the back, and pointing at the fire escape.
                          
"That's it right there. You'll take the fire escape down to the street level, and then meet me at the truck across the bridge. I estimate that we should be in and out of building in ten minutes, tops."
                          
Then, Jules interjected with disbelief, "Really?! A fire escape?! I thought we'd be rappelling down, flying out, or something like that. It seems too simple."
                          
"Ms. Adams, sometimes, simple is always the best policy. But you can still rappel off the roofs if you have to because you'll have zip-line rope in each of your bags. Just in case things go wrong, and you need to escape quickly."
                          
"Cool! I'll use it off my own roof. So while you guys go down the boring fire escape behind the facility, I'll be already down on the ground after the time of my life. So beat that, suckers." Jules burst out, causing everyone except Killigan to laugh.
                          
"Ms. Adams! You will not use that rope unless you are in imminent danger! Do you hear me! This is not a time to mess around. So quit fuckin' around!" Killigan yelled.
                          
The room became silent as all of us looked down at our feet like scolded children while Jules fumed with anger as she began to glare at Killigan, like she wanted to kill him where he stood. We'd never heard Killigan get so angry and loud like that, which made us realize even more that we were no longer in training anymore. 
                          
Now was the time to get focused on the mission, because tonight would have a twist of being life or death. There was no time for goofing around, or else it could lead to a mistake that would be the end of you. 
                          
Here we were, thinking that we ruled the world just because we passed the GAU training program. But, in reality, all of us were still rookies that hadn't even been on their first real mission as a team. So I decided to break the silence by standing with confidence and agreeing with Killigan.
                          
"Ya know what? Killigan is exactly right. We've got no time to mess around. I mean, this is our first mission; so shouldn't we be making sure that we start out our agency careers out with a bang? By pulling off a perfect mission, and showing the rest of the GAU that we are the best there is. Because I believe we are, and we are capable of so much more if we just go full focus. No games, no fooling around, just work. You guys with me?"
                          
After my speech, Teddy walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
                          
"We're with you, Dak."
                          
I looked around, and everyone else was nodding at me. Even Jules seemed to have lost all her anger towards Killigan and turned it into an appreciation for his anger at us. 
                          
Meanwhile, Killigan started to slowly clap his hands.
                          
"Out-fucking-standing, agent! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, get geared up. Polish your weapons, gather your equipment, and get focused; because we're out in forty-five."