Langley, Virginia
CIA Headquarters

Requiem Command Center

Grigori Weaver spun his chair around in boredom, a brief alleviation from the countless reports of the recent Requiem operation in eastern Poland, the one called "Die Maschine". The one that demanded every single civilian or military operative that was involved be sworn to secrecy. Even the crew of the UH1 who flew in Major Carver and Weaver's team were subject to this.

Because if word got out about what it was that the Strike Team had to face during their operation, it would mean trouble on a world-class scale. Even Weaver found it hard to believe that Nazi Scientists under Project Endstation had managed to use a particle accelerator to rip a hole in space-time, enter the Dark Aether, and unleash an undead horde in the process of ther experiments...

Yeah, it would mean royal hell on several levels for the entire world. Not pleasant in the slightest.

The fact that the Soviets had managed to bury their discovery of the site and their attempt to reactivate the accelerator under the Omega Group for some time, until Weaver's contact, officially known as Endgame, sent Weaver the WWII era footage of the Soviets cleaning up the site, made things real tough for Weaver and the person who gave him the tip on the site in the first place.

Endgame, or CIA Agent Samantha Maxis, was still an enigma to Weaver even now. Her past was a complete black hole, and despite her claim she was descended from a German scientist named Ludwig Maxis…

...Any attempts to find a trace of a family tree ended in wild goose chases. Samantha had never disclosed to Weaver, or anyone for that matter, how she came to be in the employ of the CIA, where she grew up, how she got her experience and skills…

But Weaver did know one thing about Maxis.

She was a godsend when it came to acquiring intelligence, and very easy to work with. "That's what matters in the end", thought Weaver, brushing a finger over his eyepatch. "A team you can count on will see you through more often than bullets or diplomacy will."

He jumped slightly as the phone rang. Recognizing the number, he cleared his throat.

"Endgame, in motion. Line secure." said the voice on the other end.

"Motion received, secure confirmed." Weaver replied. "Sam, what's the matter?"

"I've got some intel for you." Maxis replied. "It's concerning, to say the least."

"Hit me with your best shot."

"There was a break-in at the HQ for the Omega Group inside the Kremlin, a massive theft." Maxis replied. "Two fully-loaded trucks carrying classified material and research from the Endstation facility were hijacked by unknown forces. Four Spetsnaz teams were assigned for protection detail, and four Spetsnaz teams were found KIA."

"How do you know this?" Weaver asked, furrowing his brow.

"An old friend, her name's Anya Belinski." Maxis replied. "I knew her grandfather, Nikolai. Anyway, she's an aide in the Kremlin, and she overheard enough to warrant contacting me, which leads us to now."

"What was stolen?"

"Blueprints and the necessary materials to rebuild the Endstation particle accelerator." Maxis replied. "Catch is, the version you could make with those schematics will have none of the flaws of the original."

"Flaws being the...zombie outbreak?" Weaver asked incredulously.

"Yes, and worse. I have reason to believe this was done by the Emissary."

"Who might that be?" Weaver asked.

"International power broker, arms dealer on the side. He's got enough money to hire and train black operations-level mercenaries out of his own pocket, and enough influence to have contacts in the Kremlin report to him on a daily basis."

"I confirmed that he ordered the shipment captured and taken to a militarized cargo ship off the coast of South Africa himself."

"What's his problem with the CIA?" Weaver asked.

"Because about six hours ago, he captured a CIA Agent embedded in South Africa, designation Dragonfly. Not sure how Dragonfly works into this, but you should be getting a call from Mr. Hudson about…"

A second phone rang in that moment, and Weaver hit the speakerphone option.

"Now." Samantha said with a bit of a smirk clear in her voice. Weaver rolled his eyes and spoke.

"Hey, Hudson."

"Weaver, get your ass to the Situation room." Jason Hudson replied. "We've got a…"

"Missing agent in South Africa? Connected to the Kremlin? International power broker in the works?" Weaver asked. "I'm already aware of it."

There was silence on the other end for several moments.

"I don't even want to know how you found out already." Hudson sighed.

"You really don't." Weaver sighed. "On my way. Sam, transfer to the situation room, same security parameters."

"Check." Maxis replied. "Be right with you."

"One more thing." Hudson said.

"I've got Park and Simms already here, but Mason and Woods should be a little late. They're picking up a pair of old friends."

====

As a truck drove towards Langley at highway speed, escorted by MP-marked police squad cars, Alex Mason turned from the front passenger seat to the two men in the back. Both of them seemed very put out.

"You two are being awfully quiet. I think I get why, though." he smirked.

The person on the left, CIA Agent Reed Cameron, codename Bell, simply gave Mason raised middle finger in response. The person on the right, Russell Adler, simply chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I still haven't heard a thank-you." he joked.

"You really think I would thank you?" Bell replied. "Let's go over what went down after the Solovetsky raid."

"You dragged me out to a beach in the middle of nowhere. We talk, then, you shoot me in the side. Then, I black out, waking up in a British hospital, and the next thing I see is you saying "Welcome back, Bell?". What'd you think would happen?"

"I thought you'd understand." Adler replied. "Not slam your first into my gut and pull out your loaded sidearm, requiring me to disarm you. If you'd let me explain properly back then, we wouldn't be here now."

"Shove it, asshole." Bell groaned.

"Both of you cut it out, right fucking now." Woods said bitterly as they pulled into the MP lot of the CIA HQ in Langley. "We're all on the same page here. Even if Adler did act like a total dick."

"Not you too, Woods." Adler sighed as they exited the truck, and headed past the checkpoint. An aide led them to a briefing room, and as they took their seats, Lawrence Simms and Helen Park greeted them.

"So, what's the op?" Mason asked. "And where's Hudson?"

"Hudson's not in charge this time, to his great annoyance." Weaver smiled, striding in with another man wearing a uniform and a few medals. "Everyone, this is Major MacKenzie Carver, commander of the Requiem Task Force."

Everyone nodded as Carver bade them to sit down, and once they were, began to speak.

"About seven hours ago, a CIA safehouse in South Africa went dark." Carver began. "We believe this to be the work of mercenaries hired by the Emissary, a power broker and international arms dealer. This fucker's got connections in both the Warsaw Pact and NATO, and smuggles weapons from both sides of the curtain across the globe on a daily basis."

"Our agent in Cape Town was deployed to monitor the situation and hopefully give us a lead on the identity of the Emissary. His last package before his disappearance contained this transcribed notice."

"November 17th, 1981."

"I have located the Emissary's main HQ, a militarized cargo vessel called the Pantheon. It's currently docked in South Africa, taking on whatever it is that the Emissary acquired in Moscow. What concerns me is that the Emissary mentioned a shipment going to somewhere called "Thorne's Glade, Equestria, Outpost 5" on the manifest I somehow snagged from the port workers."

"Problem is, there's nowhere on Earth called Thorne's Glade, Equestria. I am now stating my own opinion freely on this matter as of...now."

"This fucker must've done something with the particle accelerator the brass found in Poland. Rebuilt it, restored it, whatever. But they are sending weekly shipments of guns, ammo, and the latest tactical gear to this Equestria on a two to four-week basis."

"I'll try to get closer, but these guys, these mercs, they're everywhere at once. Get help here ASAP."

"Dragonfly out."

The CIA Agents looked at each other in shock, and disbelief. Mason was the first to speak.

"Are you sure this is legitimate?"

"I'm sure." Carver replied. "I know Dragonfly myself, he's solid and a good man. We need to act on this."

"As such, I have authorized a joint-op between you and the Requiem Strike Team. Your orders are to intercept the Pantheon, secure the weapons shipment, and find out more about this Equestria, whatever or wherever that might be."

"Understood?"

"Yessir." the agents replied.

"Good." Carver nodded. "The Strike Team is waiting outside. I've got choppers ready for the flight to the Carrier USS North Dakota, which'll be your support platform. Now get moving."

As the agents nodded, stood up, and departed, Weaver turned to the phone and spoke.

"You get all that, Sam?"

"Yes." Samantha replied. "I'll supply you with whatever intel I can get."

"Understood." Weaver nodded. "Keep us posted."

====

As Bell led the way to the vehicle bay, four soldiers wearing blue combat fatigues and black combat gear waved them over. Their leader, a modestly-built man wearing a baseball cap came forward and offered a hand.

"You're the spooks?" he asked. "Nice to meet you, my name's Thomas Crewe, leader of the Requiem strike team. You can call me Cougar. That's Laura Maddox, callsign Aspen, Andrew Holt, callsign Raider, and Isaiah Conway, callsign Dart."

Thomas was about Mason's height, with a stubble beard of brown and messy, curled hair. Laura was slightly shorter than Thomas, with tied-black blonde hair and a few freckles here and there. Andrew was the embodiment of a football quarterback, being well-built and stocky. His hair was done in a crew cut. Isaiah was tall, and his black hair contrasted with his clean shaven face and agile frame.

All four operatives wore Requiem patches on their shoulders, but they each wore different combat rigs. Crewe's kit was of a stereotypical rifleman, Maddox's was for close quarters, as evident by her mounted combat knife. Holt carried a bandolier of shotgun shells, and Conway had a pouch of sniper bullets for the Pellington 703 Sniper Rifle that lay nearby.

"So…" Woods said once everyone was acquainted. "What's the whole Requiem shtick for?"

"We deal with stuff even Black Ops personnel can't handle." Maddox replied, stowing her MP5 SMG in a weapons case. "Like Operation Die Maschine. That shit still gives me nightmares."

"Operation The Machine?" Simms asked. "Helluva weird name. What happened?"

"Let's just say things went FUBAR as soon as we landed." Holt shrugged. "All we can say without getting reamed by Carver."

"That's not bullshit, by the way." Conway said, noting several confused looks. "Everyone on that op was sworn to secrecy. You get the OK from Carver, we'll tell you, but that op pretty much broke my brain for a few hours afterward trying to process it all."

"Damn." Mason shrugged. "Sounds like you had your hands full."

"No shit." Crewe replied. "Let's move out. We've got a flight to catch, a fellow spook to rescue, and an arms dealer to put out of business."

"Not to mention this Equestria part."

As the Agents piled into a pair of SUVs, they drove off towards a nearby airbase for the flight to the carrier. While they drove, Bell closed his eyes, and gave a sigh.

"Already back in the saddle." he thought. "Guess it was only a matter of time."

Author's Note

Update.

I am appreciative for the positive support you've given the story. I also expected a few more dislikes than what is currently there. Which is good.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.

Next time - The Strike Team hits the Pantheon, and discovers the portal to Equestria in the process. As they enter to investigate, Princess Luna and Princess Twilight move on the town to look into the mysterious murders...