[ WP ] It is December 27th . Two days ago Santa did not deliver gifts for the first time in 600 years . Santa 's Workshop has gone dark . You are the leader of the SEAL Team tasked with finding out why . This is your story .

Night lasts a long time in the north pole, and the cold can drive a man crazy. It's been more than a day, and I've lost radio contact. I have to remain awake. He sees me when I'm sleeping... knows when I'm awake. He knows I've been bad. 
 
 There were eight of us when this mission started. It's just me now. 
 
 Santa had n't missed a delivery since the 15th century. The world economy had grown to rely on the free presents produced by the mass slave labor force of elves he had acquired. When the 27th came around and no presents, chaos broke out. It had long been the agreement that he would provide toys for our youth. We thought that he had broken the agreement, but it turned out we did. 
 
 The first pass over the north pole we planned on having a little chat with the fat man. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just late, right? Wrong. Lights out all over man. 
 
 John was the first to speak when we touched down. `` Ya think it'd be a little cooler at the north pole''. Sarcastic prick, it was negative thirty. Yeah it was a little warm. But Johnny man, I miss him. Johnny got his gun, and Johnny went to war. You do n't see simplicity like that often. 
 
 Most everyone ignored it and moved into formation. Checkin' our flanks, establishing covering positions, and changing point along the way. It was thirty meters to the door and quite the whole way. I took point at the door. Not a peep. No elves, no power, just the snow. Snow covers sound up pretty well. Sean barely needed ear protection when I breached the lock with my `` master key''. Usually being that close to a shotgun blast can be deafening. 
 
 We entered at 0842 hours. and immediately switched to night vision. `` Johnny, you and Clark take the back, Sam you're up front with me got it?'' They got it. I trusted Johnny and Clark with my ass, and Sam with my life. `` Jeff, Tim, Jenette, Aaron, you take the basement, find the power''. `` Roger'', I heard them say. Except Aaron. 
 
 Panic started immediately `` Aaron, you there'', `` Where the fuck are ya? ``, `` Aaron, stop fuckin with us''. He was n't there. We got on the radio and broke silence. No response. Not Aaron, and not the copter. Three men AWOL. The snow covers sound up pretty well. 
 
 Jeff was quick to freak out. He was too green, but Tim and Jen were greener. There's no excuse to lose your cool when a man is missing so I landed a fist in his jaw to shut him up. Sam, she got us moving in the right direction. There was no time to waste `` We've got to find santa men, we've got a mission''. New plan right? I'm not splitting the team up. Elves are crafty bastards. Agile, accurate. They tinker, and come with more `` toys'' than any other force I've gone against. I thought they would go down like bitches, but I must have underestimated them. I thought. 
 
 `` We are not splitting up, allright'' it was n't a question. It would be slower but we were going to take a measured sweep. Booby traps. Elves always work with booby traps. We had to disarm a number along the way. Sometimes we covered ten meters in ten minutes. The halls were thick with them. Combined with the fact that elves see in the dark pretty well, our first task was to turn the power on. So we moved to the generator room first. Windows were the worst part by the way. We'd have to crawl on our stomachs in case of snipers. The blizzard outside combined with the moon made visibility terrible. Everytime the moon came out through the clouds the night vision would take a second to adjust and anyone in the light would be blind. 
 
 SNAP. Fucking Jeff man. He put his hand right on a chattering pair of teeth, set with maximum tension. Jumped right to his feet screaming, Sam had to tackle him back down. Looking back it was pointless though. There were no snipers. I know there were n't any, anymore. Jeff lost over half of his hand. He began to bitch immediately. Clark was a medic so he started mending him up. We were taking too long though. The generator was within screaming distance so we started moving up without them. I'd say it was a mistake, but it would n't have mattered anyway. Jeff was leaning up against the outside wall between two windows, while Clark worked, staring straight into a perpendicular hallway. It was n't a good spot, but Jeff was n't moving. 
 
 A few minutes and we'd gotten to the door to the basement. I'd say it was colder there but the heat had been off for a while. Hours. I'd thought they turned off the power to slow us down, but I did n't see any of them. Jingle Jingle. I heard it but I was n't really listening. Too deep in thought. Jingle. Elves do n't like the cold too much either. 1000 hours, and it would have been pitch black out except for the moon. It was slightly bright, the blizzard let up for a minute, so we had our nightvision off until we were ready to go into the basement. Jingle Jingle rattle. `` What the fuck?'' 
 
 We all heard Clark scream first right as the moon passed through the clouds for a second. Jeff only panted deeply. I think he'd passed out. By the time we got our grainy green nightvision on, we only saw Jeff being dragged out into the hall he'd been facing. Then the screaming from both of them. 
 
 We stood and ran. Looked in the hallway. There were smears of blood all over and dozens of traps had been sprung. The sound of something running was all it took to get Johnny running. `` Fuck Johnny STOP!'' Dammit Johnny, why'd you never listen. You just wanted to be a hero. The screaming had already stopped by the time we even got to the hall. 
 
 `` Johnny! Johnny!'' I could smell urine. Tim had n't said a word since we got here. I guess I over estimated him. Still this freaked me out so I do n't blame him. `` Just stay frosty and we will make it Tim. We WILL make it.'' 
 
 Again, we broke radio silence, `` Johnny, Clark, Jeff, what happened?''. Silence for only a second then a response `` Bu-lleeeah *click* *click* *click* *click*'' It was grating and not human. Tim shit himself, and now Jen was shaking. `` We're going to the basement NOW!''. I practically had to drag the three of them down there. What kind of games were those elves playing. It was just a reindeer. They were fucking with us. They killed or captured them and hooked up our radios to the deer. We had to change the frequency because it just kept coming through. If Aaron wanted to talk to us, he'd be shit out of luck. I just hoped he'd gone back to the chopper and the blizzard blocked the signal. God I prayed it. 
 
 The generator was busted. Seriously busted, but that was n't the worst part. We did n't turn on the back up because we did n't want to see this in full color. It was creepy in green, but we did n't want to see it in red. It would make it real. 
 
 I do n't know how long we stood there, but it felt longer than it was I'm sure. Bodies of elves shredded everywhere. I could n't begin to count them. Dim warm lights on the cold bodies. They had been dead since at least Christmas morning. They'd set up traps and hid in here. They are n't soldiers.1350 hours we were going to get to the copter and get out. Abort mission, I'd hoped. 
 
 It was much faster to get back. It was only a fifteen minute walk, covering ourselves with four people. I was scared, yeah. Trembling a little. But when we got out to the pad. The helicopter had been flipped and torn in half. `` Shit Shit Shit'' Jen kicked up snow, until she hit something solid. Aaron. His Torso had been spun around. Just his torso. His legs were facing in the same direction as his head. It would have been quick, and he could n't have screamed. Shit. 
 
 I would n't call our retreat `` tactical''. The four of us ran back. We scurried. Like rats. We slammed the door shut and Tim barely got in, before we heard the window shatter. 
 
 We did n't give a shit about the traps. Fuck the traps. We ran in the other direction, straight through Santa's workshop. We saw the bodies. It was here first. If we'd split up into two groups this mission would have ended a lot sooner. They did n't have time to set up as many traps here. As many. I did n't see what took out Tim but I turned around for a second and saw him crawling on the ground. I said to stay frosty Tim. That's what I thought. I was blaming him. 
 
 We'd gotten into the office and slammed the door shut. Locked it, breathed heavy. It had been several minutes. We then heard it outside the door `` Beeeh *click* Beeeeeeeh *click* *click* *click*''. The voice was grumbling flowing naturally into the clicking sound. We only saw it's shadow. At least nine feet. Rattle Rattle. There was no jingling, it was closer to a clank, but it was the sound from earlier. Finally the rattling died down. God. 
 
 `` What are we so scared of, we have n't even shot it''. `` You wan na line up you're sites on it''. Jen and I had apparently ceased to get along. The cold may have been getting to us. It had just started warming up from the emergency power. Sam was silent. 

