Riverson Air Force Base, southwest Kahanistan
Classified underground bunker 600 metres below base
General Kaselev posted on the wall a huge aerial map of Takht-e Qusseh taken by a Kahanistanian spy satellite, which detailed the helipad SAVAK had to use to fly desaparecidos to the notorious facility, the impalement field where people were stuck to maximise the agony of their last days when radiation sickness was about to claim them, the interrogation chambers and what they believed to be a SAVAK barracks and armoury.
"Parthian air and naval space are extremely well defended," said Kaselev in his low, deep, monotone Israeli accent. "Landing a troop transport ship or flying a conventional plane would be easily noticed and the transport destroyed before our forces could disembark. Further, the trip to Hamadan by foot from the coast would take days and use up valuable food and ammunition even if the troops successfully arrived at TQ."
"Therefore, Companies Aleph and Bet of the 193rd General Reconnaissance and Special Operations Battalion will insert by modified Gryphon descent from extreme high altitude, 25,000 metres. The pilot will turn around at the Parthian coast, when our special forces descend, to avoid an engagement if possible. If not, the plane is equipped with a one-kiloton nuclear self-destruct to vapourise the plane."
"Over TQ, special forces personnel will deploy their conventional parachutes, triggering a switch to automatically jettison the Gryphons and trigger explosives within them to destroy them and prevent their technology falling into the hands of SAVAK. Personnel will carry nothing identifying them as Kahanistanian military personnel. They will be armed with a mix of weaponry including Shrec AR-9's, FN FAL's and Doomani AVIR rifles, all with serial numbers and identifying marks removed. The units are more ethnically diverse than most and we are not the first country they will look at. Since a HALO drop is unfeasible, heavy weaponry such as mortars, anti-air and heavy machine guns, will have to be strapped to individual paratroopers as they descend."
"Once inside, their primary mission is to destroy the Takht-e Qusseh facility." Kaselev fumbled with the pronunciation of the Persian. "Secondary objectives are to rescue Foreign Minister Karovic and his delegation, or return with their bodies if they are dead, to film the prison interior before burning it to the ground, and to capture or kill Colonel Piruz Savadkouhi, who is wanted for war crimes against Parthian Arabs and suspected of mutilating a KNN journalist and killing an intelligence officer. We would prefer him alive, if possible... but if not... I will understand."
---
12 hours later
Three hundred men and women of the General Reconnaissance and Special Operations Command of the KDF awaited the trip that they knew was the riskiest mission the Free Republic of Kahanistan had attempted since the aftermath of the Second Doomani War. If it succeeded, the Sardar would lose one of his strongest weapons of repression and Kahanistan's most wanted war criminal and terrorist would be sitting in a cell while it was decided if there was enough evidence to hand him to an international court. If it failed, they would all die horrible deaths.
Colonel Maria Kovacevic, the operational commander, sat on the floor of the plane grimy and sweaty. She was wearing only her sports bra and thin running trousers and had her long blonde hair tied in a ponytail behind her, but having an M252 mortar strapped to her back did not help stop her from overheating. She was poring over a TQ map with some other officers.
"We should take the helipad first," she said to no one in particular. "Prevent reinforcements from arriving, while the main force storms the SAVAK barracks, and then the interrogation facility."
"I'm sure they have a radio tower somewhere," said Lt. Colonel Rashid Asad. "They have to be able to get an emergency broadcast out. If we can hit it before they can call in reinforcements, we'll have them trapped and we can kill them all, set fire to the prison, and it's all over."
Kovacevic pored over the map, which had been based off of satellite and intelligence reports, and looked for anything that could be a radio tower or antenna. "I don't know... if we do, then we lose any means of turning the raid into a more general uprising. I'd like to capture the radio, broadcast a call for a revolt against the Sardar by the Shah's loyalists."
"It's more important that we get out of there, if we can," added Major Shimon Zuckerman. "If they call in reinforcements on us we're fucked. We'll have to hit the barracks, the helipad and the interrogation facilities all at once. That way, if there's alarms in all facilities, it's less likely they'll be able to call in for help before we destroy the facility."
"I agree," said Asad. "A mass coordinated strike. Do you see anything on that map that looks like a generator or a power station? Maybe we could fuck it up, but not so badly we can't get it running again after we've taken over the facility. That would keep them from getting a call out, but we could still incite a rebellion against the Sardar. People will be less afraid if they don't have to fear TQ."
"I think only the interrogation chamber is likely to have an alarm," said Kovacevic. "Prisoners won't likely have access to the helipad or the barracks."
"In the event of an uprising, the helipad will be where the prisoners flood into," replied Zuckerman. "To commandeer a chopper out of there, anywhere that's not there. And that'll be how we exfil, too. It's essential to have this operation be the best planned we've ever done... and the barracks would probably have an alarm too, in case the prisoners decided to storm the armoury."
"So we look for something on the map that's a power plant or a generator, to stop them getting out a distress call," said Kovacevic. "Then a mass assault on the helipad, barracks and interrogation centre at the same time."
"If we can knock out their power, we can take the helipad and begin a slower, more methodical assault," said Asad. "We won't need to be so rushed if we aren't worried about reinforcements."
"So plan A, knock out the power, take the helipad, take the barracks, then the interrogation facility," Kovacevic tried to get the idea her subordinates were submitting. "Plan B, a mass coordinated assault on all three at once. What if they do get a call out of there? Do we stand and fight, or do we retreat?"
"Retreat where, Colonel?" asked Zuckerman. "We'll be dropped hundreds of klicks inland with the only way out being SAVAK choppers. If reinforcements start landing, we burn the facility to the ground immediately, arm any prisoner in fighting condition, and fight to the death to avoid being tortured or try to fly out through the Zagros avoiding enemy forces and try to get ahold of a plane..."
"Sounds better than having my stomach ripped open with that awful machine," Kovacevic said grimly. She didn't really expect to live through the mission. But she felt it was her duty to complete it. "Plan C, just burn it all down and get the hell out or kill ourselves."
"That's a negative way to put it," said Asad. "But try to stay positive, Colonel. You will get to kill Savakis soon enough." He put a large quantity of meth in his pipe and smoked it, to keep himself awake and alert for the long trip he was soon to embark on.
Soon, three hundred men and women would be flown into the battle of their lives...
