The room check was gruelling in that you opened a door and checked very carefully, on the ragged edge of nerves and ready to shoot anything that said boo. So much could go wrong with a momentary reflex. It was scary work, especially since they were trying not to just kill whomever was in there. They had to identify targets in a flash and then off them. Riding on an adrenaline high, nerves shaking, this was not as simple as movies made it look. Room after room had stuff, but no people. That was part of the plan, that the attack on Burlington Airport would draw off defenders and make this target softer than usual.

They arrived at a communications room that had an occupant, a state trooper who was manning one of the dispatch computer/radio consoles. That guy had his hands up even before they came in the door, which was completely the right move. A split second of decision led Dan to bark out, "KNEEL NOW!" and he never wavered with his rifle in hands, sweeping. 

As Park came behind him, he moved to cover a different angle, letting the green beret handle that particular situation -- essentially, Park and Morse were in command. Dan had a good sense of what needed to be done, but he also stayed in his lane. They had only run into one Stasi type, a security grunt, and that meant there were more around. Sure enough, they found their man, along with a laptop and some other stuff; a fancier looking fellow with some braid on the uniform. He didn't know the GDR ranks quite as well as he should have, but he knew an officer when he saw one.

It also had a lady in a chair in a separate room. No other Germans. Dan swept the room carefully and pointed out the still-warm laptops and other equipment sitting on a table to the others as a sign that they had more people around. It was entirely possible that most the Stasi officers, upon hearing the action, decided to go see what was going on before the guerrillas raided the Williston barracks. 

"I'll cover, you guys figure out what's going on with the equipment, the trooper and the lady," Dan told them, fully aware that they only had so much time before the Soviets would divert airpower from the Georgia theater to Vermont. They might not have time to loiter, but they'd probably be attacking anything that moved on the roads soon. The raid had to end before that all happened, for the rangers and the guerrillas alike. They had some AA capability against helicopters, but not much against jet fighters. The whole point was to get in, smash what they could, and get out -- all fast. There was no time for niceties.