S.T.A.A.R. Safehouse Raid

S.T.A.A.R.: 

Safehouse Raid 

S.T.A.A.R. Central Intelligence had received intel regarding a potential infiltration cell, sending it to Central Command. Command decided that the mission was too important to send in a generalized Operations Team. They called up Sierra-63, which specialized in small scale covert operations in urban environments. Sierra-63 had three elements, two four-man, and one command element. Command Sergeant Sam Carter, a 12-year veteran, had been Sierra-63s commanding officer for five of those years. He had seen combat in several small towns and a few cities, as well as working with many Operations Teams. They had been transferred overnight via private plane, and were currently en-route to where the intel said the safehouse would be, riding inside of a Lenco BearCat LE in the local police colors. 

“All elements, listen up!” he said, gesturing toward the map placed on the partition between the driver and passenger section. “This floor plan was given to us by the local homeowner’s association. As you can see, the target location is a typical 2-story house with a basement and an attic. The front entrance is on the west side of the house. The first floor has a living room to the north of the entryway, stairs to the second floor directly east. A hallway leading to the laundry room is on the south, with access to the garage on the west wall.” 

He continued. “A bathroom is on the north side of the hallway leading to the kitchen. The kitchen connects to a living room to the south, dining room to the north. The stairs to the basement are on the west wall.”  

“The basement layout is simple. The stairwell splits it a few feet down the middle. The boiler area is to the north. Moving upstairs, we have a bedroom to the north, a bathroom on the east side, and another bedroom to the south, and a hallway west.” 

“The north bedroom has a closet on the west. The south bedroom has a closet at the southwest corner, bathroom southeast. The northwest corner has another bedroom. The closet is east.” 

“As you may know, this floorplan may be outdated due to any structural or spatial manipulation done by ABEs. Watch out for any details that show signs of such manipulation, especially the spatial kind. I’ve had several buddies fall prey to such things. Any questions?” 

No one answered, so Sergeant Carter wrapped up the briefing. “Good.” He turned to the front. “Johnson, what’s our ETA?” 

Johnson, the driver, answered back. “5 mikes, sir.” 

“Copy. Alright, check your weapons and equipment. Our vehicle will block the driveway. Alpha enters from the front, and Bravo will enter from the upper floor, west side. We’ll monitor the situation from here. Understood?” 

“Yes, sir!” 

* 

Johnson positioned the vehicle to block the garage door, the rear of the vehicle facing parallel to the front door.  Alpha exited through the back, while Bravo used the ladder mounted on the rotating roof hatch to reach the second floor. 

Alpha was led by Sergeant 1st Class Sam Lane, a six-year combat veteran. Five-year veteran Staff Sergeant Sarah Warner led Bravo. Each element was divided into two color coded pairs. Alpha had Blue and Red, Bravo Green and Gold. 

Lane and his team stacked up at the front door. Warner’s positioned themselves, two to a window. Carter could see this through their helmet cams, one for each operator. These views were displayed on two monitors, one per team. 

“Execute to follow. Alpha, breach and clear. Bravo, get those windows open. Gold, watch that hallway. Green, keep that bedroom on lockdown. Execute.” 

At that, Lane used his breach attachment to blast the wood between the doorknob and the door jam. Sergeant Walker kicked in the door, and Alpha filed in. Gold and Green lifted up their windows. Warner and Specialist Nifendi of Gold climbed in. Green, Sergeants Payne and Benton, entered the bedroom. 

“Green here, bedroom’s clear.” “Gold here, hallway clear.” 

“Bravo, entry clear.” 

“Nice entry. Red, flank left, blue, right. Green, check the closet. Gold, hold position.” 

Each group executed his orders. Green moved to the closet, Payne trying the door. Finding it unlocked, he pushed it open. There were no modifications to its structure, and their sensors detected nothing. “This is Green, closet clear. Bedroom’s good.” 

“Get to the hallway and keep watch. Gold, move to the front of the stairs.” 

While Bravo made their way through the top floor, Alpha was working through the first floor. Red check the laundry room, detecting nothing. Blue maneuvered through the living room, then the dining room. “This is Blue, we got nothing, holding position.” Red continued to the kitchen area, quickly checking the south living room. “This is Red, area’s clear.” 

“Alpha, take position at the basement stairs and await further orders. Gold, secure the southeast bedroom. Green, cover the other rooms, watch the attic.” 

Gold entered the bedroom, Nifendi checking left, Warner, right. They moved through the room, clearing the closet, checking under the bed, and searching the bathroom. “This is Gold, it’s clear.” 

“Return to the hallway. Green, execute to follow, flash and clear the attic.” 

Gold took position in front of Green, Nifendi covering the stairs, and Warner the bedroom, while Green prepped to breach. Green put away their M4A1s with Mk18 Close Quarters Battle Receivers, switching to USP 45s. Benton prepped an M84 flash, while Payne unlatched the attic door. 

“Execute.” 

Payne unlatched the door and extended the ladder, closely followed by Benton’s M84 toss. There was no need to look away from the flash or cover their ears, as their tactical glasses and noise-isolating headphones minimized its effects. Benton switched on the under-barrel flashlight and moved up the stairs, climbing into the attic facing south. Payne followed, facing toward the north. Sweeping their guns side to side, they found it unoccupied, with a few normal objects, both visually and sensor-wise.  

“Attic clear!” 

“Nice job Green! Reform with Gold, then breach the final bedroom. After that, link up with Alpha and move into the basement. If intel is correct about this location, then the basement should have who or what we’re looking for.” 

* 

“Alpha, stack up. Bravo, watch the rear. Execute as follows. Alpha move in, flank southwest. Bravo, follow behind, flank northwest. Sweep through the basement, terminate all infiltrators. Questions?” 

“Execute!” 

Lane opened the door and briskly walked down the stairs, the rest of Alpha trailing behind, Bravo maintaining the rear. Sam peeked around the corner, receiving a burst of phased-plasma fire. 

“Lane down! Suppressive fire, hurry!” Walker blind fired in the general direction of the plasma fire. Blue hugged the southwest side of the stairwell, while Bravo moved down the stairs, taking their assigned flank. Gold sent rifle fire toward the enemy position. Walker switched position with Private Rodgers of Blue to reload. Rodgers placed down more suppressive fire, keeping the pressure on the hostiles in concert with Warner’s fire, which allowed the rest of Bravo to push forward and gain a line of sight. Within a few moments, Bravo opened fire, taking down the rest of the hostiles. “This is Warner, that was for Lane. We got ‘em.” 

“Understood. Cleaner teams are moving inside as we speak. Head back to the van for debriefing. Then we mourn. Carter, out.” 

* 

Sierra-63 claimed six kills in that engagement, wiping out the nascent infiltration cell. Each surviving Operator was bumped up a rank to compensate for the loss of Sam. His next of kin were notified, with the cover story of him being killed in an operation against a terrorist cell. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Command Sergeant Sam Carter remains in command of Sierra-63, and it is continually deployed in operations across the United States.