IQ took a quick peak, leaning gently to see into the room. Her blue eyes squinted to see the White Mask taking cover behind the deployable shield. Less than one second was all the time she needed, the quick squeeze of a trigger deploying a small burst of rounds. The silencer punished the sound emitting from the weapon. The White Mask let out a garbled cry before his body crumpled against the floor. Quietly, she moved forward in her crouched state, ears on alert for any minute sounds. She moved her weapon with her eyes, muzzle scanning the room before settling behind a counter. Her companion was behind her. His shield protected their rear.
"Der Raum ist klar. (The room is clear.)" IQ whispered.
"Gut. (Good.)" Blitz murmured back. "Die Rückseite ist klar. (The rear is clear.)"
IQ took a moment to activate her Spectre, scanning the room on the opposite wall. There on the display was the outline of a bomb.
"It is there, ja?" Blitz asked as he heard the pings of the doomsday device.
"Ja." IQ confirmed. "We move forward."
As though they were one, the duo moved towards the barricaded doorway. IQ lowered her weapon as Blitz moved in front of her, his shield swinging at the wooden barricade. The action was quick. Shouts of the terrorists held up inside were accompanied by a flurry of weapons firing. Blitz pressed the button on the handle of his shield, a brilliant white flash flooding the room for a split second. This was IQ's cue to come around, standing behind Blitz and firing her weapon towards the three White Masks in the room. The bullets met their mark as the face-shielded men collapsed to the ground.
"Quickly." Blitz said as he provided cover for the female as she set down the diffuser.
The countdown commenced and IQ quickly moved towards cover while Blitz crouched behind the counter, his pistol trained to defend the diffuser. Footsteps could be heard from above as the White Masks rushed to reach their position. IQ gripped her weapon tighter as she trained her eye on the door where they were more likely to enter. Her heart pounded within her chest. Blitz was first to fire, his trigger pulling. A calculated shot hit their mark, the White Mask collapsing to the ground and blood squirting from the shot to his neck. From there, it was a blur as smoke bombs were thrown into the room and clouded the vision of the German operatives.
"Verdammt. (Damn.)" IQ cursed. She placed more focus onto her hearing. The woman fired her weapon, White Masks crying out in pain as they were hit. Their bodies made heavy thuds as they impacted the floor. The reinforced wall on the opposite side of the room hissed as it was being infiltrated. The German operators could see the outline of the steel being breached through the dissipating smoke.
"Schnell töten ihn, Monika! (Quickly kill him, Monika!)" Blitz growled as the bomber came charging after the wall collapsed. IQ would berate him later for using her real name. She preferred that her teammates not use it while they were in battle.
The female chose not to comment as she aimed at the White Mask's head, sending multiple three-round bursts into the terrorist. Finally, he fell several feet from the diffuser. The smokey haze finally lifted and the remaining terrorists were eliminated shortly after the diffuser finished its job.
Simulation Complete. Operators Blitz and IQ are victorious.
Monika stepped off the training floor, emptying her magazines of unused rounds and depositing them into an ammunitions can.
"Monika." Elias called after her. She turned to him with a frown. "I wish to apologize."
"Dummkopf. (Idiot.)" She dropped her magazines into the crate. "Had this been in a real tactical environment, you could have placed me in danger."
The male sighed. "Ja, I understand. I am sorry."
"I accept your apology. Do not do it again." Monika slung her weapon across her front before turning on heel and heading towards the female locker room. Elias frowned as he pulled his shield out in front of him, allowing it to rest against his lower body. Dominic was waiting, pushing against the wall and heading toward Elias as Monika disappeared behind the doors leading to the locker room.
"What did you do to our Ice Queen, Elias?" The older man asked with a grin.
Elias grabbed his magazines, emptying them of their unused rounds. He grunted as the rounds clinked on impact. "I called her by her name."
Dominic shook his head, chuckling. "Nein, nein, nein. Mein Freund! (No, no, no. My friend!) That will never do!"
"Glaubst du, ich weiß es nicht? (Do you think I do not know?)" Elias hissed at him as he placed his magazines in the crate. "It was a mistake on my part."
"Go freshen up, Elias. I will meet you in the mess hall." Dominic said with a light shake of his head.
Elias sighed as his picked up his shield and he headed towards the male locker room. Between him, Marius, and Dominic, it was no secret that Elias was pinning for Monika. There was something about that woman that captured Elias. At first, Dominic had told Elias to give up hope. Monika was given the secondary nickname of 'Ice Queen' not long after she was integrated into Team Rainbow. It was given to her with good reason. Eventually, Dominic halfheartedly supported Elias as he watched on the sidelines as the man did his best to possible catch the unsuspecting woman's eye. Marius did his best to help Elias, but his abrasive nature did poorly to shield the subtle attempts to pry into the woman's life. Monika would brush him off naturally.
A shower proved well as Elias scrubbed the shampoo through his light colored hair. The suds flowed down his body and spiraled down the drain. With a wash rag, he squeezed the bottle of body wash and gave himself a once over. The shower was kept short, however. In about five minutes, he was drying his body with a brown towel. Elias kept the towel wrapped around his waist as he made way towards his neatly folded pile of clothes on the bench.
During his shower, Maxim had entered the locker room. The Russian operative was facing the mirror, his camoflauge paints were set in front of him beside the sink.
"Are you off to run a simulation?" Elias asked the other man.
"Da. I assume you finished yours?" Maxim did not pause, fingers colored his eyelids black.
"You assume correctly." Elias set down his towel and grabbed the set of underwear at the top of his clothing pile. He slipped it on with ease. "Will you be conducting the simulation on your own?"
"Net. Gustave and James will be accompanying me." The Russian mixed the dark green on his high cheeks with the black of his under-eyes. "Team builders are key to cohesion."
"Best of luck."
"Always."
Little was said after that as Elias finished dressing. He sat on the bench, leaning over to tie his laces on his sneakers. Maxim closed his paints and moved to his locker, pulling out his gear. "Elias."
The German looked up towards the other man. "Ja?"
"The dama is not impossible to conquer. Do not try too hard, tupitsa. (dumbass.)" Maxim said with an amused grin as he pulled his hood over his head. Before Elias could give a chance to reply, the Russian left the locker room.
"Unverschämter Schelm. (Cocky soundrel)." Elias grumbled as he stowed away his gear, shield, and weapon.
The mess hall was no more than a five minute walk from the locker room. True to his word, Dominic was there waiting for him with Marius beside him. They had not yet gone through the chow line. Elias moved to greet his comrades with firm handshakes before going towards the chow line and his comrades followed suit.
"Did you have any luck with our Ice Queen during your simulation, Elias?" Marius asked in a quiet voice.
Elias turned his head a fraction towards the other man. "Nein. Instead, I made a mistake and called her name."
Marius shook his head in disapproval. "That will not do, Elias. Dummkopf."
"That is what I said." Dominic chippered in.
Elias grabbed a tray from the top of the stack, moving forward in the chow line. "Please, tell me then. What do I do?"
He shot them a glare over his shoulder before facing the food behind the glass and the servers. "Rouladen, please."
Elias' question remained unanswered as they went through the chow line. The cashier at the end of the line took one glance at Elias' food before tapping away at the monitor. She did not need to instruct the German operator further as he had his Rainbow ID ready to scan. Once they were cashed out, the three men walked back to their table and sat down. Elias held down his rouladen with a fork before cutting the veal with his knife.
"To answer you, mein Freund, approach Monika with the same firmness she approaches others. Like the Americans say, she is not a pushover. That woman is not delicate. She is not tender. Do not be rude either. We are men, not barbarians. If you mean business, show her." Dominic said after swallowing down his first bite.
"Es sei denn, Sie sind ein Stiefmütterchen ... (Unless you are a pansy...)" Marius snickered.
Elias frowned, growling. "Ich bin kein Stiefmütterchen. (I am not a pansy.)"
"Then, do not be such a timid boy having a crush on a little girl. We are all adults here." Marius replied.
There was a moment of silence as the men ate their meals. Elias knew Dominic was right. Monika hardly ever expressed a moment of delicacy. The woman was as tough as nails, as sharp as a blade. Her intellect surpassed his own. Due to his athleticism, before he was recruited into Team Rainbow, women would almost beg Elias to have him as their company. Granted, he denied all of them. None of the other women ever perked his interest. Monika was recruited into Team Rainbow not long after Elias and the pair trained together as attackers. During training, there was a strict non-fraternization rule. Both of them followed it easily. It was during that time that Elias marveled at the capabilities of this stunning woman. Due to her skill of locating electronic devices, Monika was a very valued member of the team. She never placed any of her comrades at risk.
Before Elias knew it, he had eaten all of the food on his plate.
"Were you starving, Elias?" Marius asked with a small grin. "Were you feeling rushed, perhaps?"
The youngest of the men frowned before grabbing the glass of cranberry juice. He took a quick swig of the drink. He decided to not answer Marius' question, instead he finished his drink and stood up. They exchanged curt handshakes before Elias took his tray to the conveyor and set it down. Elias left the mess hall shortly after.
The next time Elias saw Monika was on the firing range. She was there on the center lane with her 552 Commando. Elias watched her for a short moment, taking notice that there was less of a recoil every time she fired. Perhaps she had purchased a compensator for her weapon. Elias stepped into the stall next to her, pulling his P12 from its holster and setting it down on the table surface in front of him. Next to his weapon, he placed two magazines full with rounds. A bullseye target pulled up in front of him and moved back fifteen meters as he took the first magazine and loaded it into his weapon. The hearing protection muffled the ear-ringing sound from his weapon as he fired into the target. After three shots, he called the target towards him. With a sharpie, he circled the closely knit hits. They were not too far off from the center of the bullseye.
The target was sent back to fifteen meters. Elias took aim and fired his weapon again. The German operative rarely took time to place his aim. It was said that one would have a better chance of hitting their intended goal the moment the weapon was raised to take aim. With a weapon like his, Elias did not have the time to wait for a calculated shot. He had to aim and fire as fast as possible while meeting the intended goal. In close quarters, Elias could not afford to spend more than a precious second just to take aim. His reaction and precision were critical.
"Not bad of a grouping." Elias barely heard over his hearing protection. He flicked the switch, placing the weapon into safety as he looked over his shoulder and lowering his weapon. Monika was looking past him and towards the target. He called the target forward as he set down his weapon. True to the woman's word, two of the three shots hit the bullseye as the third shot was half and half. It was a grouping regardless. Monika kept her weapon down as she observed her comrade's shots on the target. "This looks tight and together. All of your hits are grouped. Had this been center mass, you would have killed your enemy."
The praise made Elias feel a bit proud of himself. "Consider the enemy thoroughly killed."
"It is a good thing that I trust you already." Monika stated as she slung her weapon to her front. Elias took notice at her newest attachment.
"How is the recoil on your weapon?"
Monika glanced down briefly. "It works like a charm. I no longer have to worry about readjusting my sight picture as much anymore."
"That is good."
There was an awkwardness in the brief silence before Monika shuffled. "I am going to clean my weapon. I will see you later."
Elias knew he had to say something quick before Monika would leave. "Warte ab! (Wait!)"
The woman paused in mid-stride, pivoting half of her body towards Elias. "Ja?"
He almost hesitated as her eyes caught his. "I will join you."
Monika tried to hide her surprise, but nodded nonetheless. "Very well. I shall wait for you."
Elias was quick to securely put away his weapon and collect his magazines. He accompanied Monika, passing Dominic and Marius. Dominic gave his comrade a wink as Marius snickered to himself. Elias pretended to ignore them.