Chapter 7
The teams were given 10 minutes to grab their kit, they were done in 5. The Hit Wizards were the first ready as all their gear was magically shrunk and packed into civilian rucksacks. Within the 10 minutes, nearly 25 special forces operators were waiting on the tarmac of the airfield to begin boarding the large black helicopter preparing for take-off.
Once the loadmaster had given the thumbs-up, everyone boarded the craft and sat together in their teams. Harry had never flown in a Muggle helicopter before, despite seeing them used often in training and when the Muggle members of the SAS were called out on jobs. The sound of the twin rotors was deafening, and Harry cast a quick spell on himself to dampen the noise. He quickly found that he wasn’t fond of flying the Muggle way, he much preferred his broom and the control it gave him. This notion wasn’t shared by everyone though, Harry noticed that nearly all of the other passengers had fallen asleep, chatting or were reading.
After nearly 2 hours, the operators were told that they would be landing shortly. The helicopter came in to land in an obscure corner of Berlin International Airport. The soldiers silently left the aircraft and boarded the waiting Police minibuses. After a few minutes of driving with sirens on, they arrived at a building in the next street over from the Embassy that had been commandeered for Police use. The teams were directed to a room that was to be their home for however long they were needed. Harry was surprised to see Col Pierce already in the room, setting up a board with floorplans and pictures of the building and the known terrorists.
“How did he get here so fast?” Harry whispered to Deano.
“Unlike us, he doesn’t have to pack a metric ton of kit!” Deano chuckled back.
Once all of the teams had put their kit by the military camp beds that had been laid out for them in the next room, everyone gathered for another briefing by the Colonel.
“Right, Lads, welcome to Berlin. I trust you have all found where you are going to be sleeping for the foreseeable? As it stands, the situation remains unchanged, it is still in the capable hands of the German Police. I will let you know if, and when that changes. Until then, learn the floor plans, commit the faces of the X-rays to memory. There is a building next door that we can use for preparation and training, Staff Sergeant Peregrine will be in charge of setting it up” the Colonel gave Perry a sly wink at that last statement. Once they were all dismissed for the evening, Perry called all the Hit Wizards together and they went next-door. As soon as they entered the room that was to be for their use, Perry began giving out orders for the room to be magically expanded and a full scale replica of each floor of the Embassy to be built and transfigured from the furniture.
Over the next six days, Harry and the rest of the teams went through rehearsals. Each team hashing out different ideas of how to enter the Embassy if they were required. They had all settled on an explosive entry. Using ladders, Red and Blue team would enter through the first and second floor windows, taking a floor each before taking the third floor together. At the same time, the Hit Wizards would fly their brooms, in pairs, at the top floor windows and enter the magical Embassy. The Hit Wizards would have the more difficult job as they had to take two floors, fight uphill and deal with the wards. By the end of the sixth day, all three teams knew their respective floors by heart. Harry felt like he could navigate the magical Embassy blindfolded.
The morning of the seventh day began like all the others; a morning briefing from the Colonel, a review of the latest intel from the Polizei and more rehearsals. At 3pm the teams were called in for an emergency meeting. The meeting was with the British Foreign Minister and the German Minister of the Interior.
“Good afternoon gentlemen. As you know, we are nearly a full week from when this siege began. Whilst the German Police have done an exemplary job in keeping the negotiations civil, both the British and German Prime Ministers would like a resolution sooner, rather than later. So, both Governments have decided that the Police will continue to negotiate for the release of the hostages until midnight tonight. If they cannot secure their release by midnight tonight, then the SAS will be given the green light to storm the Embassy” the German minister translated the British minister’s words for the Police present in the room.
As soon as both ministers left the room, there was a burst of energy as the Brits and Germans began preparing for the midnight deadline.