<em>During a large, city spanning 1984 Summer festival in downtown Toronto celebrating the Canadian won medals during the Olympics which had ended only a few days earlier, athletes and fans alike crowded streets as a parade all but slowed traffic and bustle to a halt. At 11:40 AM in the morning on the first day of the parade, 5 separate bombs were simultaneously set off along the parade route. Each bomb tore buildings surrounding the route to shreds, many of them collapsing and glass shattering well over 5 miles away. Panic ensued as 2 more bombs were set off later in the day, targeting the mass of first responders sifting through the rubble searching for survivors. <br/><br/>At the end of it all, well over 2400 people were killed with nearly 5000 wounded or permanently disabled. With hospitals, clinics and even veterinarian clinics filled to the burst, many more hundreds succumbed to wounds due to lack of treatment. A rogue, anti-Western group based in modern-day Georgia claimed responsibility for the attack.<br/><br/>One week following the bombings, an emergency NATO conference was convened in Washington DC to deal with further threats made by the group. Following this meeting which reached no conclusion, President Ronald Regean and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau signed into de facto law a proposition, unofficially creating United Task Force - 1. The task force was to be made up of a multi-national combination of the best either the United States or Canada could manage together. The group was going to be headed by General John Shepard, a hardliner US Army Special Forces commander and a fierce officer in his own league. The goal was simple; stop any further bombings and bring those responsible to justice. A mere month later, the Task Force finished its work and was disbanded.<br/><br/>In reality however, politicians on both sides of the border reveled in the success of UTF-1's capabilities. The group was kept alive and funded, it grew as did its capability. Its membership was broadened to include law enforcement agents in many capacities, it also became self-sufficient. Capable of conducting peacekeeping, counter-terror or insurgency, riot response and even external and internal investigations of criminal matters, and many more. Years and years passed by as UTF-1 was secretly deployed around the globe, home and abroad, dealing with any threats that were unlucky enough to fall into their sights. As time passed, fewer politicians on either side were aware of its existence, and even today barely a handful even know it exists at all, fewer still know its still with us.</em><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>NEW YORK HARBOR MAINTENANCE SECTOR, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK<br/><br/>....  OCTOBER 19th 2010 .... 1135 HRS EASTERN STANDARD TIME</strong><br/><br/><br/>Jack Harper let out an exhausted sigh through his face mask. His face felt like it was on fire, not to mention the rest of him. It was so hot outside that even the dogs would be scrambling for ice cream shops with a wild fury unseen at even a Yankee's game. He skillfully maneuvered his welding torch around the crest of a small chunk of ship hull in preparation for a patch working dive later tonight, when the Sun was casting over the harbor front instead of inland. It made things easier to see, or at least thats what they say. He wasn't sure, he didn't need to care, but with all those high powered lights they drop in there he had wondered if that was just an excuse so the divers could have most of the day off. The torch flashed up in a brilliantly large burst of sparks as Jack finally crested a large dented section of metal, and the thing fell off with a loud crash.<br/><br/>Four hours of work to remove someone else's mistake, but he wasn't paid to look pretty. He coughed loudly, and pulled off his gloves and flipped up his protective mask as he unleashed a loud cough yet again. His cough was wet, and he temporarily worried about being sick as he heard several other of his fellow employees cough around him. He cursed to himself and felt convinced he had the flu or something, and his wife would likely see him dead if he missed yet another week of work after he sprained his wrist in a rough football game in July. He pulled off his helmet and put it down easily on the side of his work station. He walked over to his duty boss, whom coughed himself, and explained his work was finished and he was going to get some air. Thats when the head rush hit.<br/><br/>Jack found himself on his back, straining to sit up as some of his co-workers had rushed to his side. He explained his coughs and lightness of his head, all of them agreed someone had the flu and gave it to them. None were angry, a week off with the flu of all things wasn't much to worry about, but today of all days that was more than welcome with the work load. Jack excused himself and made it to the door as another head rush hit, this time much worse. but he was able to stay on his feet as he heard someone yell from back behind him. Jack looked over his shoulder to see his duty boss on the floor ....twitching? He looked like he was having a seizure, when suddenly one of the men next to him keeled over and began doing the same. The warning bells went off, when suddenly another and another man toppled over. One of the workers rushed to an emergency phone as Jack opened the door to go get help. Then he heard the sirens.<br/><br/>An ambulance flew by the dock warehouse with incredible speed, and parked along side 5 others. What the hell is going on? Was there a fume leak or something? Jack didn't want to wait to find out as he began to stumble towards his car, another ambulance flew past him towards the highway, two more were coming into the harbor warehouse sector, flying past him and over to the other group. An intense pain wracked his entire body from his feet to his head, and now Jack found himself on his knees, nurturing his abdomen like it was a sick child. The pain hit harder and harder as Jack tried to yell for help, but he couldn't manage anything but a grunt of intense pain as he collapsed to his side. A female  paramedic was on his side in a flash, with two others, all in... gas masks? Jack let out an intense scream as something in his chest began to feel like it was burning. The female paramedic turned away as she jabbed him with something, but Jack couldn't look around to see what it was, but the pain began to go away. He felt like he was drowning now, his throat tensed up but none of it hurt or anything. His vision clouded over for a few seconds into a dazy fog until everything went black.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>... OPERATION DUSK RIDER ...<br/><br/>NUUK, GREENLAND<br/><br/>.... OCTOBER 19th 2010 .... 2340 HRS LOCAL TIME<br/><br/>STUDENT 2-1 Alpha; Eric Mason, Kristie Parker, Daniel Richards, Vanessa Taple</strong><br/><br/><br/>Snow. Snow, ice, darkness and more snow. Ominous shadows poking through the trees and blizzard ripping winds tearing at exposed skin. Nobody could describe this country, for all its beauty and serenity at night with beautiful snowy mountains, or what you'd call mountains here... all of it was shed free when you tried to remain restless in cold weather your lucky if your heart doesn't end up freezing. At least thats what Kristie thought as she blew snow out of her mouth silently. The nearly invisible red numbers on her wrist watch told her she hadn't moved her legs for 6 hours, and she hadn't felt them for 2. Her lips were numb, as was most of her face except for her eyelids and nose, for some reason. Even the winter ghillie she had drapped over her head was beginning to freeze to her head, she could feel it icing. If this guy didn't show up soon, she'd rather just kick the living shit out his brother only a few meters away, and that just to warm up.<br/><br/>The small building wasn't much to look at. The first of a long line of small homes on the outskirts of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. But what made this home special was its occupants and their cargo. Mercenaries, freelancing to hire for anyone who can pay. Morals be damned in favor of the almighty dollar, these guys had ambushed an Israeli motor convoy in Gaza a few days earlier and stolen Stinger anti-air missiles. Put those in the hands of the ex-Soviet nationalists and then in downtown DC or New York, and hello panic. Not on her watch, ever.<br/><br/>The 29 year old checked her watch again and squinted. Through the ACOG TWS-2000 Thermal Scope resting threateningly on top of her Remington ACR she could see through the mini-blizzard and the silhouettes of white and red men were shining like stars. She was tempted to engage, but she trusted Eric enough to hold her finger and temper in check. Kristie was a long way from the US Army 82nd Airborne trooper she'd previously been. After that she was a trial and error for the US Army Special Forces in regards to women, and she wasn't one of the errors. A short combat tour with the 5th Special Forces Group solidified her future, which shifted to the CIA's Special Activities Division and its SOG. Then on a cold Autumn night, unlike this one which was a freezing cold to the point Hell was handing out winter coats, an ominous three-star General shows up at Langley and the next thing Kristie knows she is with UTF-1. It was kind of funny at first, the third woman to be in the US Army Special Forces and, like, the 50th in UTF-1. It was a much more kinder world akin to skill above the 'can you have a baby grow inside you...if so, sorry, no girls aloud' tradition of the regular Army.<br/><br/>Kristie tensed her jaw as her ear vibrated but it took her ear drums a second to kick in. "<em>Student 2-1 Alpha this is Student 2 Actual. You are being re-tasked, how copy?</em>" Lieutenant Mitchell's voice came through with some static, had had one of those awesome radio voices like you hear in war movies, all super cool sounding but you can actually understand him.<br/><br/>Kristie would roll her eyes if she could but she was so cold that seemed impossible. "<strong>Solid copy Student 2, standing by to receive traffic, over.</strong>" Kristie replied in a surprisingly clear whisper, with a slight hint of croaking.<br/><br/>"<em>Student 2-1 Alpha we need you to expedite your assault on the house, callsign Cod Fish has just been assassinated by a nationalist kill squad and we have reason to believe his brother is next. Capture callsign Trout and destroy all seized munitions on location and then egress with all possible haste, how copy?</em>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Solid copy, Student 2-1 Alpha will expedite our assault within 2 mikes once we defreeze, 2-1 Alpha out.</strong>" Kristie switched her radio channel swiftly as she checked her scope again. She flipped on the heartbeat sensor on her ACR and squinted to make out the small white dots on the dim blue screen. She very gently reached out and grabbed a shoulder right next to herself, shaking Tapler gently before crawling backwards and moving up to her knees. Kristie collected her ghillie cover and wrapped it around her arm before waving Tapler to follow and making her way back to a tree line only a few feet away. The walking proved hard, Tapler and Kristie both tumbled into the snow from weak and numb legs several times, Kristie barely missing rolling down a hill with Tapler dragging along from grabbing Kristie's harness.<br/><br/>A quick jog followed their recovery and Kristie found the weathered tarp covering Eric and Daniel. She slipped inside next to Eric and let out a cold sigh. "<strong>Student Actual informs me that Cod Fish just bought the bullet from his own guys. He wants us to hit the building and grab his brother, and be Oscar Mike with the building in pieces before the shooters arrive here.</strong>" Kristie pinched herself in the cheeks. God damn winter.