A Needle in the Haystack

This is the first fan fic that I ever did on a forum, that being Pandy. Unfortunately, Pandy has been disbanded, and who knows how long the forums will stay up. I have decided to post this here, as a memento from my times there.



Part One: Imminent Disaster


I like to think my job is like trying to be a needle in a haystack. My name is Richard

Blackthorn, I work for a specialized branch of the N.S.A. I am ranked as a Major in the

military, but that useless word means next to nothing when you are in a state of living

or dying. Out side of the war zone, I live in Washington D.C., I am known only as

Richard and have few friends as my job calls for none. But in my job, I am known as a

Splintercell. I am the 5th person to join this special operations unit and am under the

command of a man named Col. Lambert. He is strict, but also has a laid back side

once you get to know him. My "unknown kin" and I go through special training to

become a Splintercell. We learn the basic hand-to-hand, and weapons combat training

that all armed forces learn, but we also have to be very flexible to perform certain

tasks in our missions. Our special training is that for Covert Ops. We learn to be as

ones shadow in the dark. Nonexistent essentially. I am probably boring you all now,

so I'll get to what is happening now.

The year is 2019, about 6 years since I joined this organization. I am not at my cushy

apartment complex in D.C. right now, I am in an office building in Iran. Stuffed into a

small niche between a bookshelf and the wall where it is the only dark area in the

hallway. The special Iranian soldiers wouldn't see me because I am wearing a black

combat suit. It is probably the most expensive and technological thing I have ever

worn in my entire life. It has a built in heater and air-conditioning, an alarm clock for

various night missions, a gas mask and notifier for poison levels in my area, and

ammo and weapon pouches. When I hear footsteps coming I take out a little gadget

called an Optical Camera. It looks like a small metal snake that has a penny sized

camera built in at the end to look under doors or around corners. The screen on my

other fancy gadget called an O.P.S.A.T. shows the camera. The O.P.S.A.T. also has

other things on it to, like satellite links to me that connects to my H.Q. and an H.U.D.

for in battle stats. The notebook option lets me download info from computers and

type any important info I learn on a mission. But on the Optical Camera, I saw a

Iranian Guard slowly moving down the hallway in my direction. I felt it was time

to "get the ball rolling" so I waited until he passed me by. I stealthily moved from the

shadows and got behind him. I had no order to kill from Lambert yet, so I had to

knock him out. Behind him, I swiftly chopped at the side of his neck, knocking him

unconscious.

Right after I took out my standard issue 5-7 pistol and used the electric jammer to

knock out all of the lights down the hallway. I slid a pair of goggles down to my face

and switched them onto Night-Vision and took the guard and placed him in the niche I

came from. After, I crept down the hall to a large iron door. On the wall next to the

door, I found a keypad. I could have hacked the system, but it would take too much

time and could possibly set off an alarm. So I did the next best thing. The goggles

that I had on also had a thermal function. I switched it to that and saw what I wanted.

Fingerprints, some lighter and others fading. The lighter ones were the ones recently

pushed, the fading were the ones that were pushed first. Going for the heat signature

method of unlocking the keypad almost never fails me. I pushed the fading ones first

and went to the lightest ones. A second after I finished, I heard a click and knew I

was in.

The door opened up to a nicely furnished office. Probably the CEO's. When I went

in, I found the desk and looked at the name tag. Mahamet Alrahib.

"Bingo". I sad as I found the office I was looking for.


My mission was to search for some important documents belonging to a Mahamet

Alrahib. He was a famous Iranian business man known for his "corrupt undertakings".

I had to go in to Iran alone and find his office and look for some documents referring

to his recent comment on a Nuclear Device to bring others to their knees. I wasn't

supposed to take the document itself but instead just flash a couple of pictures and

get the hell outta there.


I worked my way across the dark room using my Night-Vision. I came at a good time,

because Mr. Alrahib was away on business. I searched his cabinets and took pictures

of various documents and then finally found a laptop. I opened it and searched

through his files. Out of a pouch in my flack vest, I took a flash drive memory unit

and plugged it into the computer. His files had been downloaded to the unit and I

hastily took it out. I found a safe under his desk which I dragged out. Another gadget

I took out were disposable safe lock picks. A small explosive charge was attached to

the end and I shoved it into the key hole. I backed away and went to the screen on

my O.P.S.A.T. and touched the icon which read: "Detonate".


A small burst and some wisps of smoke filled the area around the safe. I opened the

door quietly and saw the unharmed documents. I read through them until I saw one

that read " High Priority". Diagrams of a Nuclear missile and its inner workings were

apparent. I took the entire document and looked for others. By the titles, I took two

others and laid them out on the floor. Taking a small camera from another pouch, I

clicked some pictures of each. Neatly, I stacked them up in the safe as they were

before, then I shut the burnt-marked door. As I started to head toward the door out,

my heart started to pound. Footsteps started to come to the door. I heard a slight

questionable noise in Arabic at the other side of the threshold.


"huh? Why is my door unlocked?"


I desperately searched for a place to hide, I found it on the top of his coat closet. It was

cramped, but it was better then being found. The doorknob turned with a creak, and I

held my breath...



...........................................


Part 2: Hell in Iran

... Crouched upon the top of the closet like a praying mantis, I watched the door

open and the man come in. He didn't bother to turn on the lights because he had a

brief case in one hand and a box in the other. He mumbled incoherently to himself

probably thinking about something. I watched him carefully with my night-vision until

I was sure he wouldn't move or anything for a while. On my O.P.S.A.T., I typed the

following message to Lambert with a small keypad.

"TRAPPED IN TARGET'S OFFICE, REQUESTING PERMISSION TO USE LETHAL

FORCE."

Almost as soon as I finished typing the man got up from the desk chair he was

sitting in, and stretched noisily. He slowly walked to the end of the room by the door.

And to my horror he went for the switch. Before he touched the switch, I made a

chirping noise as a diversion. His hand stopped a few inches from the switch.

"What the **** was that?" the man asked no in particular.

Suddenly a message came from Lambert. I read it:

" GET OUT OF THERE MAJOR, PERMISSION GRANTED".

The man turned on the light and found me perched on top of his closet. I leaped off and

at the man who I recognized as Mahamet Alrahib himself. Out of a sheath of my leg,

a drew a 10 inch long knife. Mahamet went for his pocket and took out a Glock and

fired off a round. It was too late, I grabbed the arm which was aiming the Glock and

used martial arts too break it. He screamed and dropped the Glock. Before I could stab

him with my knife, he ran to his desk and put his hand below.

"Crap... alarm system!" I thought.

Since time seemed to be running short, I grabbed my 5-7 and shot him in the

head. Mahamet collapsed to the floor dead in a pool of his blood. I ran and opened

the door. A small buzzing sound filled my ears, then all of a sudden, a deafening ring

sounded off throughout the complex. I ran down the hall to a corner and stopped. I

peered around and saw 5 or 6 guards running my way.

"Well, I can't stick around here longer than I have to." I said.

I reached around to my back and grabbed my main weapon. The SC20K Assault

Rifle had many different gadgets attached to it, but I'll get to that later. I loaded up

the grenade launcher mounted on the bottom of the barrel and fired a round. The

grenade had no time delay. A large bang and screams filled the hallway. Smoke and

debris flew in every direction. Two soldiers came running, coughing through the

smoke which had filled the hall. I shot them square in the chests then ran to the

smoke.

Part of the wall had been blasted open to the outside. I kicked the wall out and

fetched out a rappelling rope and a spike. I dug the spike into the floor of the hall and

threw the rope out of the hole. Quickly I climbed out and slid to the ground.

"Lambert.. come in.. I have ex-filtrated the target building.. 6 fatalities... requesting

EVAC."

Part Three: Chapter 2: Out of the Tiger's Den

I skimmed along the side of the office building. It was about 2:00 am in Iran, so it

was nice and dark out. As I got to the corner of the building, I peered around. Out of

the darkness ahead, a red beam of light went by my head. I put my head against the

concrete wall and saw the beam which would strobe about in the black night. I breathed a little

easier because I knew they hadn't spotted me yet, but the knowledge that every

guard on the premises probably knows of my existence was a little hard to swallow. I

un-holstered my 5-7 and twisted the silencer to the barrel. A small flash through the

trees ahead of me made me look onto my body. A little red dot flashed on my chest

directly above my heart. Time seemed to slow down at that moment... seconds

seemed like hours and hours like days. But after these situations you learn to avoid

staying in one spot for too long. I fell to the ground just as I heard a "pufft" sound

from a distance. I looked up and saw a 50 caliber bullet hole in the concrete.

"That would have blown me apart." I said to myself.

The red dot slid across the wall to find the next target. My night-vision wasn't good

enough to see far distances, especially in the woods. I switched the mode to thermal

and sure enough I found the glowing red and orange outline of a man leaned against

a tree. He was holding a high powered 50 cal. sniper rifle. I took out my SC20K and

attached the sniper adapter and chambered a clip of my own 50 cal. bullets. Through

the high powered scope with built-in thermal and night-vision lenses, I aimed for the

kill. I took a breath and squeezed the trigger. A small recoil... then the bullet went

through the thin trunk of the tree and into the head of the guard. He collapsed and

leaned motionless against the trunk.

I moved as fast as I could out of the offices yard. I saw guard looking around the

building. I thought that they didn't see me but I was wrong. I heard shouting in Arabic

and one figure pointed in my direction. I found a large concrete block that was by the

exit of the complex. I ducked behind and heard automatic weapon fire. Bullets rang

out and most hit the concrete. Chips went flying everywhere and debris hit my neck. I

put my hand there and felt the warmth of my blood. Luckily I only got grazed, and

had just a cut. It could have been much worse. I took off the sniper attachment and

fire semi-automatically at the enemy. I could run from the firefight because if I stood

up, I would have surely been shot.

I took down the last guy and hastily ran through the exit gate. It was quiet out

except for the sound of a car here or there near a highway close by. I holstered by

rifle and headed into a alleyway. On my O.P.S.A.T., I looked at the 3D map that was

shown before me. Since I was being tracked by satellite, I saw my icon on the map

flashing as a red arrow. My EVAC point was represented by a large orange pulsating

dot. I studied the map quickly to find the best path and ran. Alleyway to alleyway,

street across street, I finally got within 100 ft of my EVAC point. A sound above me

made me look up. The rushing sound of a transport helicopter made its way toward

me. I smiled, quite exhausted, and waited for the helo to land. It did, and the iron plated

door slid open to reveal Lambert and 3 special ops. marines sitting with him.

" If it isn't Col. Lambert and the motley crew." I joked.

Lambert just laughed and said:

Come on Rich, get on.... were going home."



.................................................


Part 4: The Next Assignment


The plane ride home was long, about 6 or 7 hours, but I caught up on the sleep I

missed during the mission. When I woke up, we had moved into the United State

mainland. As we flew over New England, the many roads and houses whizzed by.

Soon enough we reached the N.S.A. base and landed the private jet onto a long

runway. A patter on the roof of the plane made me look out the window. It was dark

and rainy out. A flash of lightning was seen out in the distance. The pilots rolled the

jet into a small hanger and opened the doors of the aircraft.

I got out of the jet and went to the barracks, I put all of my gear except for my 5-7

into a large metal trunk labeled "Blackthorn". Lambert and I said goodbye-for-now and I

got into my SUV. The drive home was gloomy. The rain and thunder made the drive

depressing. I pulled up to a spot near my apartment and went to the 3rd floor. After

taking a shower and having supper, I went straight to bed, still exhausted from jet-lag.


.................


The next couple of days I was at home waiting for the call on my private line from

Lambert. On the 3rd day since Iran, the call finally came.

"Rich, we're going to need you here today. I have some intell from your mission

last Monday." Lambert hung up the phone as soon as he ended his sentence. It was

normal so I didn't think anything of it.

I drove to the H.Q. about 5 minutes later, this time outside it was bright and sunny.

When I got to the door of the small office building, I slipped a I.D. card into a access

panel. I walked through various hallways until I got to room 44. I opened the door

and saw Lambert at a meeting table with Redding, my equipment and tactical

specialist. Both greeted me when I came in. The room was bare except for the table

and computer monitors at one end of the room. Those screens had all of the info that

I had put onto the computer memory unit.

"Welcome Rich, let's get started." Lambert began. "It seems that Alrahib was

working for someone as we have collected that intell from your info. A man named

Memet Zavarez it says. But the problem we have is that that name isn't even listed in

our memory files. N.S.A. contacted the C.I.A. to see if they had any info, but they

had none. So essentially Rich, we are fighting someone just like another Splintercell."

"How do you propose we catch this Zavarez?" I asked tactfully.

Lambert smiled and just said:

"How do you catch any other criminal? We have intell that Zavarez had a H.Q. in

Qatar, Saudi Arabia."

Look's like I'm going back to the Mid East again." I said as I whipped out my 5-7

and loaded it up.



...........................................


Part Five: Firefight in Qatar/ Section A.


The roaring of a large cargo jet woke me up from a nap I was taking in the

hanger. I looked around and saw a large Army cargo ship about as long as a 747. In

the distance on the runway, A F-14 Tomcat was preparing to take off. They were

probably used as transport security into the Mid-East. I got up and looked around. A

voice behind me made me turn around to see who it was.

"Are you a Richard Black... forn... is it?"

"Um, it Blackthorn... and yes, I am.. How do you know me. Have we met?" I asked

the man.

"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Major Kirt Wellington of the U.S. Marines. I'm

here to escort you to Saudi Arabia." said Mjr. Wellington.

"Nice to meet you Major.... have you seen a man named Lambert around? I think

he has some gear for me." I asked.

"Yeah, Colonel, right? He should be waiting for you by the transport."

"Thank you major." I said. I saluted him and walked toward the transport.

I mat Lambert and we went over my mission, I had to find intell on Zavarez and

wait for my next orders. Lambert said that there are now no strings attached, I was

free to use anything in my arsenal as long as I got the information I needed. After all,

The United States' future was at stake If I were to fail. Boy would it have been ironic

if Lambert had said:

"No pressure Rich."


........................................


On the transport, I looked out the window at the vast cities down below rushing

past. Even though the stereotype of the Mid-East was "it is just a desert." Or "Nothing

but people living in the sand." Those are wrong. Parts of Iraq and Iran and Saudi

Arabia are quite beautiful. They are full of beautiful beaches, palm trees and huge

resorts.

When I arrived in Qatar, the plane landed at the local airport. In the distance, a

bustling city was breathing with life. Hotels, Casinos and tourist hot-spots filled the

city. I went into the cargo and opened a large metal case. My SC20K and its

attachments were sitting in Styrofoam along with my flash,smoke, and fragmentation

grenades; and my other gadgets. In another section was my flack suit and the

OSPREY backpack which held my accessories to the mission.

I grabbed all of the gear and got into a cab waiting for me. The driver was a

Special Ops marine who was my contact. He waited for me to put some stuff in the

trunk and get in the passenger seat.

"Welcome aboard, Major. I'm Sgt. Mjr. Davis, I'll be taking you to the Habib Hotel

where you will be checking in. Orders are straight from Lambert. At 06:50 you will be

going to the Casino about 13 clicks from your hotel. It is said your target has some

contacts there. Look for a couple of foreigners named Danre Magella and a Heinrich

VonFief... both needless to say are from Germany." Davis said.

"Thank you Sgt. Mjr." I said.


...................................................

Part 5: Section B.


I walked into my suite and put my suitcase on the bed. The view out of the window

was beautiful, showing the sunset over the oasis of Qatar. After shutting the curtains,

I went to the suitcase and opened it up. Inside I found all of my provisions. I donned

my usual gear and my night-vision goggles. I put my "tourist" clothes into the case

and slid it under the queen sized bed. Loading up my 5-7 and attaching the silencer I

walked over to the balcony. I bent down and tugged a little on the vertical bars, they

were sturdy enough. Taking a long coil of rope from the OSPREY bag on my back, I

hooked the rappel to the bars. A rush of the wind hit my body and I looked down the

hundreds of feet to the ground.

"Well, here goes nothing" I said and under my breath I said: "let's hope Lambert

pays well for this."

I swung a foot over the wall and dropped down. I felt a jerk on the rope and knew

I wasn't dropping anymore so I started to let rope go and I repelled down the

building. Luckily it was dark out, so people wouldn't freak out as they saw a strange

man with goggles climbing down a 50 story hotel complex. When I got to the bottom,

I knew I was in an alleyway between the hotel and a small building. I waited until it

was about 13:40, then I moved out. The streets were clear of people, no one seemed

to be around. But then, everything went wrong...

Just as I got near to the casino, From almost every alleyway, masked figures

emerged. I stopped and took out my 5-7. All of the figures became clear to see. They

all were wearing balaclavas and urban desert camo, or flak vests. AK-47's were out

and aiming at me. Some had reflex scopes and lasers attached. They wore no rank

suggesting that they are private militia. The clicking sound of them all taking off their

safety was all I heard. My heart thumped faster and faster as though it wanted to

escape from my chest. I took the safety off of the 5-7 and stood my ground.

"you might not want to fire, Mr. Blackthorn." The leader said in Arabic. I

understood, as my job permitted, but I said nothing.

"You must be wondering how we know your name. Well?" The leader asked.

I said nothing still.

"Our master has told us to kill all infidels, and even spies from United States that

are not even known about by their own government count as one. I am sorry, but

you must die." said the Leader.

I quickly turned around to find cover when a AK-47 rifle butt smashed into by head.

I lost conscious and it was a blank from there.

Part 6: Escaping the Lions Den


When I woke up, my head was killing me. I went to put a hand on my forehead,

where I was hit, but I found that my hands were tied with rope on the back of the

chair I was sitting in. I looked around. The room was barely lit with the dying 2-Wat

bulb they seemed to carelessly shove in the hanging socket. The small confined room

seemed to be like a broom closet, but more "luxurious" if you want to put it that

way. Boxes were along the walls and some janitors equipment was lying in a corner.

The sound of someone walking toward the room came, so I looked over to the

door. It opened and a large muscular man in camo like the militia I saw the day

before entered. He grabbed a chair and slid it over so it was facing mine. He was

quiet for a moment then said:

"Looks like we're the ones who did the capturing, right Mr. Blackthorn?" The man

laughed and then said, "Funny how things are flipped like that in only a few hours

time."

"Now..... to business. I know you are here to take out Memet Zavarez. I have some

bad news.... he's already on the jet to North Africa, your too late!" The man laughed

some more, then took out a silver plated Glock and loaded it. "I'm sorry, buddy....

but orders say to eliminate the Splintercell.... and that's what I intend to do."

The man aimed his Glock point-blank at my head and took off the safety.

Before he shot, I abruptly leaned back and the chair tipped over. I heard the

gunshot, but I ignored it. Still tied to the chair, I kicked the man in the groin and he

dropped his Glock in pain. As he lay on the floor moaning, I noticed that part of the

arm on the chair was loose. I put some pressure on that wooden piece and sure

enough it popped out, leaving me open to untie my bondage. I did so and picked up

the Glock. Looking down at the man, I said:

"Sorry about breaking your jewels. Now what was it you said... you were going to

kill me. Well.... that was a twist, huh? Ok, you're going to give me some information.

First, where are my weapons and gear? And second,..... where is Mr. Zavarez?

Continuing Chapter 6

The man, moaned and pointed toward the door.

"Go out that door....... and take a left. There'll be a door with a sign that

says 'Management'. Your gear is in there." The man whimpered.

"Ok, that was question 1, now how about 2?" I asked. I put the barrel of his own

Glock into his cheek.

The man looked sick but said:

" Memet Zavarez is in Libya, North Africa"

"Thank you." I smashed the handle of the pistol into his head. He was out cold

instantly.

I walked out of the small room and looked down the hallway. No one was in site. I

cautiously went down the hallway and went left as the man had told me. I came to the

door named 'management' and opened the door slowly. A guard was sitting at a desk

at the other end of the room looking at all of my gear. He gave a whistle like when

you are amazed by something.

I closed the door and he looked around to me. He reached for his AK-47, but I

already shot him in the head before he could grasp it. Quickly I put on all of my gear

and got rid of the glock. I felt better now that I was in my flack suit and had my

equipment. I took out my SC20K and loaded it up. I opened the door slowly and

looked back out into the hallway.

I contacted Lambert and notified him that I was alright.

"Hey, it Rich, I need your help. It seems that I have been captured." I said into the

mic near my throat.

In my ear, a voice came up.

"My god, Blackthorn. You're alive! Do you need to know where you are?" Lambert

said.

"Yes." I responded.

A few seconds went by until Lambert radioed back.

"You are in Xiang Yang, China! You were out for 10 hours, Rich!" Lambert said

amazed.

Chapter 7: Into the Fire


(I can't believe it took me this long to continue!!!)

"China?.... I'm in ****'n China?" I asked incredulously. I laughed like the comment

was a joke."China?"

Lambert was silent on the other line. He was either thinking or waiting for a

coherent answer from me. I looked around the small room had a bunk and the desk

that my equipment was on. I walked over and sat on the bed. I put my head in my

hands and looked at the ground as if it were moving before my very eyes.

"China!" I muttered. "How the **** am I going to find this guy now?"

A little static reverberated in my ear...

"Blackthorn... don't worry, we're going to bring you home. After we get you

situated, you'll be off to North Africa." Lambert said.

I thought for a moment and finally got my sense back. I leaped off of the bed and

opened the door. Taking out my 5-7 and silencing it, I ran down the hallway.

"Rich... Rich...RICH!" Lambert yelled.

I ignored the yelling and finally stopped and said:

"Lambert, I decline your offer to bring me home... instead I want you to get me a

transport to my position and bring me straight to North Africa! I'm gonna catch this

guy no matter what!" I said grinning.

There was laughing on the other line. I even started to snicker myself. Then a reply

came:

"That is the Rich I know... I'll send an EVAC." I started to run again and then heard

Lambert say.. "Go get em, Rich." I smiled while heading toward the exit that I found

in the maps that Redding had just sent by OPSAT. And finally, I found the door. I

bashed it open with the heel of my boot and a burst of brilliant sunlight drove out The

Darkness from within.

Chapter 8: Jet lag



I waited for a second until I thought that there was no one in sight. I ran in the

dark corners of the vast plain I was located in and hid behind various trees. Waiting

for EVAC was the only thing I could do at this point. I had no civilian clothes to dress

into, they were back at the hotel hundreds of miles away. It would be a little odd to

see a man with a black Kevlar suit walking around the roads in China with a rifle

strapped to his back too.

I decided to lay low until my pick up came. The road was fairly close to the plain I

was in, but once I was out, I was out. It didn't matter to me if people saw a

transport land in the middle of a field. The trouble was going to be, how the hell

Lambert could get a Military Jet into China's airspace without Chinese military action.

That would be a chore.

I comfortably laid down on the long grass and waited. It seemed like hours until I

herd the rush a jet engines incoming. In fact, I think it was hours before it landed.

Although, I did take a short nap beforehand, I had to because of my exhaustion from

being manhandled by crazy extremist pigs. The large transport ship scanned the

ground for me and landed when I stood up and waved. The back door slowly opened

for me to climb into the vehicle and 6 American Special Operatives sat in wait for me

to get on.

"Hello, Major Blackthorn. I am Sergent Major Daniels, we will be escorting you to

Libya." he said.

I sat down and gave a audible sigh.

"Boy, it is nice to hear some American English finally! All I've been hearing for

days has been Arabic." I said happily.

The soldiers laughed and shook hands with me. We talked for a while and then I

went over to the cockpit. Lambert was seated in a seat between the pilot and co-pilot.

He looked back and smiled at me.

"Welcome back, Rich. For now at least. So, tell me about you little excursion to

China. Were the people friendly?, was the food good?" Lambert joked.

"Are you serious? I was just kidnapped and flown a hundred miles to Xiang Yang

China... and you ask How Was the Food??? I don't know, but there is something

wrong with that question." I said.


Will continue in a bit....