Disclaimer: I do not own Rainbow Six or any of its characters. The Character name Duke Morgan belongs to myself.
WARSAW
16 Jan 2003. 0400hrs
Warsaw, Poland
I hadn't been with Rainbow's elite team 6 for very long before I found myself freezing my ass off on a rooftop in Warsaw with my finger on the cold steel trigger of an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon). I scanned the building across the street through the iron sights of the SAW. There was a light snow falling, which decreased visibility slightly, but the poor weather wasn't enough to completely obscure the target. The target on this mission was a newly erected hospital in the southwestern area of the large city. The hospital was created as the most technologically advanced and largest hospital in all of Eastern Europe. Directly across the street from this hospital was a bank, on top of which I had taken up a position to the direct right of Kure Galanos, Gold teams master sniper. She was the leader of the squad, which I was in. The squad also included one other man, Jamal Murad. From my early observations I found that Murad was a good soldier who filled the fire support role well. He had a bit of an attitude and was slightly ill tempered. I never had any problems with Murad, but I also rarely spoke with him. I often engaged in conversation with Kure Galanos. I was assigned to her squad and she made a point out of bringing me up to speed on Rainbow standard operating procedure. Without being blatantly pushy, she could be slightly impatient. As I observed the activity taking place across the street, I went over the mission briefing in my head.
Apparently a violent piss ant terrorist cell devoted to the rebirth of the Soviet Union had overrun the Hospital and was threatening to kill the hostages they had taken, unless their demands were met. They had stormed the building at about 2100hrs. The local police force in conjunction with a small, specialized unit of the polish army had negotiated and planned for about an hour and a half before deciding to call for more help. It was a good thing that they did because a number of the hostages involved were actually United Nations officials, including the UN Secretary General who was visiting the hospital during its opening on the night. The terrorists were well armed and seemed to be relatively competent, however extremely impatient. They had already slaughtered 3 hostages. The UN requested that Rainbow handle the operation due to the status of the hostages involved. The terrorist leader had demanded 3 000 000 US dollars and a free passage for a terrorist helicopter to get him to safety after he realized that he had bitten off more than he could chew. Kure Galanos' job was to make sure that the militant thug didn't make it to the chopper when it landed.
My personal task was to provide fire support for Galanos, no one was to sure of the risk to a sniper on this mission so they sent me along with a machine gun just incase. I spent 3 years in the USAF as an air combat controller. As a Senior Airman, I was the SAW gunner for my squad until I was "recruited" by Rainbow, after the "Kandahar incident". So I had plenty of experience with the M249. We found the best position on top of the bank so that Galanos could cover the roof of the hospital with her PSG1, and there was enough defolate for Murad and I to effectively cover the door and protect our squad leader while she did her job. The only potential danger to us as I saw it was the ice that had formed throughout the night. If we had to run we would risk falling off the building, which would surely kill someone.
"Morgan, Did you see that?" Galanos inquired
"See what?" I whispered back.
"The terrorist leader just walked in front of the window."
"Can you take him?"
"Not yet, they said wait till he gets to the roof." She instructed. "Keep your eye on him."
Things were starting to get tense Red, Green and Blue team were awaiting go code alpha outside the doors. I checked over the 22lb machine gun that I had been made responsible for. I brushed off the snow that had accumulated on the top of my M249. Then it came.
"Alpha GO!"
Blue team's leader Ding Chavez gave the go code. He was also the operational commander for Rainbow 6 field operations. Blue team made their way into the back entrance of the hospital while red and green teams went in either side. It was within a matter of seconds that we heard various members of the group over the radio.
"Tango Down!"
"Hostage Secured!"
It wasn't long before Chavez gave the second go code
"Bravo GO!"
"Tango Down!"
"I need a Flash!"
As I listened to my surroundings I heard the chopper that was on its way to evacuate the terrorist leader. A bell jet ranger landed on the pad on the roof of the hospital. I kept my eyes on the top floor of the hospital where we had seen the terrorist leader. The 3 other teams had done their job well; the terrorists on the top floor had no idea that their party was about to be crashed by a handful of special operatives. The terrorist leader appeared in front of the window again. This time he stopped for a second to look out into the street. He stared directly at our position.
"Don't move a muscle." Galanos advised
The third go code was given as the terrorist gazed in my direction.
"Charlie GO!"
Suddenly the three assault teams broke into admin room on the top floor where the terrorists were holding the majority of the hostages including the secretary general. Before the terrorists could make a move a flash bang went of dazing, but not harming the people inside. The terrorists were knocked to the ground and disarmed by my fellow operatives. Some of the men were cut down by the operative's MP5SDs. The terrorist leader and his two lieutenants however were not among the apprehended or dead terrorists.
"Get ready gold team they're headed for that chopper, Take 'em out!"
"Roger that!"
The three escaping men came spilling out of the roof entrance. I put the men into my sights while Galanos zeroed in on the Leader. A loud Crack accompanied by a bright flash that lit up the night sky came from Galanos' PSG1, The leader of the terrorists was cut down on the run, the bullet ripped into the man's back and exited through his chest. I could clearly see blood spew out from the large exit wound on the man's chest. Blood leaked from his mouth. He fell to the ground like a sack of bricks and didn't move at all except for a slight recurring twitch in his leg. I let go a burst of 5.56mm rounds causing the remaining men to hit the deck for cover. This allowed more time for Galanos to zero in on the two remaining men one at a time, and dispatch them as well. The Helicopter lifted off into the night sky making a clean getaway. The small chopper soared about 30 feet over my head. I rolled over onto my back and let go a short burst of lead into the belly of the chopper. Smoke started to escape from a few of the bullet holes on the tail section, but the damage sustained by the Jet Ranger wasn't enough to bring the chopper down, only slightly alter its flight characteristics.
I rolled back onto my stomach and glanced down at the road to see a group of men wearing civilian clothing and carrying an assortment of assault rifles and submachine guns, heading in our direction. A few stopped to fire on our position. I wasted no time in returning fire. I leant over the wall and let loose a volley towards the men who stopped. The rounds cut into the men with ease causing their blood to spill out all over the white snow. I turned around just in time to see a group of men come through the roof entrance on our building. I didn't hesitate I just opened up on them immediately dropping 3 of them. One man came through the door, I pulled the trigger but my gun answered back with a click, it had jammed. Murad met the man at the door with a three round burst from his G36K. I pulled back the bolt on my SAW releasing buggered up round and clearing the jam. By this time the terrorists had brightened up and were now taking cover behind the still bleeding corpses of their comrades. One man let go a burst from an Uzi. Murad stood up just in time to catch 3 of the rounds in the chest. The 9mm rounds mushroomed upon contact with his vest, so there was no blood, but the force was enough to knock him off balance. He slipped over the edge of the building and fell screaming to the ground. Murad smacked into the pavement with a sickening thud.
"Damn it!" I yelled, "We gotta move."
"There's terrorists everywhere!" She answered.
It seemed that the leader had brought the whole band out for this gig. They weren't stupid; they had placed their agents in vans and buildings across the street. The authorities were so worried about the terrorists in the hospital that they didn't even check the area around it. After we had sent their leader to his demise, well that was just like throwing a rock at a hornet's nest. Given the volume of fire coming from our position, it was easy for the terrorists to see where we placed the sniper. It was my job to protect Galanos, and that's what I intended to do. I had to get her out safe. At the extraction point, down the street in a park to the west of the hospital, there were 2 UH-60 Black hawks waiting to extract the UN officials and us. We were trapped on top of the bank, there were only 2 ways down, Take the stairs, or jump. The ladder of the 2, I considered to be counter-productive. It looked like we would have to fight our way down the stairs. The stairs were quiet now, with the occasional terrorist making a vain attempt at us.
"We're gonna have to take the stairs down Kure!" I claimed gesturing towards the roof entrance with my left hand.
"Right" she agreed, "Use your pistol, that machine gun is no CQC weapon."
I slung the large M249 on my back and drew my M9 from its holster on my pistol belt. I pulled back the slide, it snapped forward chambering a 9mm round. Galanos drew her M9 as well.
"Lets go!" I said leading the way.
We stood up and ran to the doorway, I quickly checked the stairwell for any tangos. It was clear. I started off down the stairway with my pistol in the ready position, Galanos followed. We quickly moved down the first few floors without incident. When we came to the 3rd floor entrance another terrorist confronted us. I brought a heavy combat boot into his stomach. The man lost his balance and began tumbling down the stairs. Galanos let loose four 9mm rounds into the man's chest and back as he fell, killing him instantly. We continued rushing down the stairs until we came to the ground level exit. The glass door was locked; I tried it in a vain attempt to open it.
"Locked!" I thought aloud.
I kicked the glass a couple of times damaging only my pride. Realizing that my kicks weren't strong enough to break the glass, I raised my pistol to the glass and squeezed of two rounds into the glass. The glass shattered. I knelt down and maneuvered my way through the broken glass of the door. I remained there to stand guard while Galanos made her way through the door.
Now that we were on the road we had to gain our bearings. The extraction zone was west of the hospital, but due to the winding stairwell, I wasn't exactly sure which way we were facing.
"Which way?" I asked
"Go left!" she replied
"Are you sure?"
"We don't have much of a choice Morgan!" She yelled gesturing toward a group of 7 men traveling toward us brandishing rifles and looking very menacing. I ducked around behind the wall of the bank. Galanos quickly followed.
"Did they see us?"
"I don't think so." I answered, "Stay low."
It seemed that opting to wear blue BDUs on this mission paid off. The darkness of the city streets allowed our blue uniforms to blend in easily. We listened as the footsteps of the approaching men became louder as they drew closer to our position.
"Got any Frags?" I asked. I opted not to carry any grenades due to the extra weight they imposed. I was beginning to regret this decision.
"Yeah, here."
I undid the strap on my Kevlar helmet, removed it, and then discarded it, along with my balaclava and goggles so as to limit the chance of my headgear being spotted. Kure did the same. To protect my head from the harsh weather, I withdrew my blue patrol cap from my cargo pocket on the right leg of my combat pants. I took the small explosive from her hand and pulled out the pin to arm it. I leaned out to locate the group of men. I saw them near the door of the bank that we had defaced. They stopped to inspect it. One of the men began speaking in Czech. I listened closely to see if I could make anything out, although not understanding any other languages than German, French and a spattering of Spanish.
"Speak English, I don't understand your filthy pig language." Another man replied in a thick German accent.
"Looks like they are close." Another accented voice explained.
"Chester will be pleased if we catch the sniper that killed his nephew."
"IDIOT!" the German cried, slapping his comrade upside the head, "Don't use his name, you bastard."
I felt the need to interrupt their charming conversation. I let go of the arming rod on the grenade; it sprang of and went flying. I lobbed the grenade into the center of the 7 men and quickly ducked back behind the wall. They were so busy talking that they failed to notice the grenade. It went off with a loud bang that left my ears ringing for a few seconds.
"Did you get'em?" Galanos asked.
I leaned out from behind the wall again with my pistol at the ready. Blood and bone fragments covered the wall and street like a paste. It appeared that all men were dead until I caught one man reaching for his AKSU-74. I took aim and unleashed a round into his head. Blood sprayed from the back of the man's skull. Closer observation upon approaching the corpse made me realize that even if he had reached the rifle, it would have been redundant given the fact that the shrapnel from the frag had shred his hand, or what was left of it. Suddenly I heard the crack of Galanos' M9, I hit the dirt out of reflex.
"MORGAN!" She yelled in anger, "Pay attention for Christ's sake. That German had you in his sights, all he had to do was pull the trigger and that would've been it. I don't want to have to lose you, it's too hard to find…"
Her speech was interrupted by a loud burst from my M249; She spun around frantically to see what was shooting at. 3 more terrorists had come around the corner. I put 2 of them down, but one took cover.
"GO!" I instructed, "I'll cover you."
"You be right behind me!" she ordered.
I opened up on the man to keep him down. Still firing, I rose to my feet and started backing up.
"LETS GO MORGAN!"
I disengaged and bolted down the street towards Kure, who was holding a map.
She raised her pistol and gestured down the street, "That way!" She said
We began to sprint towards the park, Suddenly I felt my foot hit something and I went flying into the pavement.
"DAMN IT!" I yelled.
"You okay!"
"Yeah I'm fine" I assured her rising to my feet.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "You just tripped over Murad!"
I knelt down and slid 2 fingers up underneath his balaclava, trying to find a pulse.
"Kure."
"Yeah?"
"Murad is still alive."
Her face turned to a look of disbelief.
"Still alive?"
"Yeah."
"What the hell do you mean, still alive?"
"I mean he's still fricken breathing."
"After that fall?"
Kure ducked behind a wall and attempted to radio Chavez, while I guarded Murad and kept an eye open for tangos.
"Blue 1, this is Gold 1. Over"
"Go ahead Gold 1. Over"
"We have taken a casualty, He is severely wounded, please advise. Over"
"Stabilize casualty and proceed to LZ. Do not leave him behind. Over""Roger, Gold 1 out."
Kure motioned to me to come over. I stood up and sprinted to her.
"We gotta stabilize Murad and move him to the extraction zone." She instructed.
We started off toward Murad, who was still unconscious.
"How are we gonna do that?"
"Well lets…"
I again interrupted her with a burst from my SAW in the direction of about 12 approaching tangos.
"We cant stabilize him under fire!" I yelled. "We'll just have to take him as is."
"He might die if we do," she argued.
"He will die if we don't."
Suddenly a small ball shaped object came skittering toward us.
"GRENADE!" I yelled.
I picked up the frag and threw it off to the side, Then I moved to cover Galanos with my body. The grenade went off with a loud bang. I felt a piece of hot metal fly into my back. I rolled off Kure in pain.
"Hold on Duke!"
She reached over and grabbed the piece of burning metal and quickly pulled it out. This caused even more pain. I ignored it as best I could and started firing again.
"We gotta move!" she exclaimed, "there's the park right there!"
We each grabbed one of Murad's arms and began to pull him along with us, stopping to lay down cover every 10 feet. Once we reached the park we kept moving along with the wounded man. We stopped for little while by a small pond. It became very quiet. This gave me time to realize the ringing in my ears.
"Morgan, You hear that." Kure asked.
"Hear what?"
"I can hear the choppers." She said excitedly.
She took out her night vision goggles and began scanning the park.
"I see them," she said "They're right over there, 'bout 200 yards out."
Suddenly the quiet night got a whole lot louder. The terrorists were making an attempt at the choppers. I could here Chavez's on the radio
"Gold 1, We are taking heavy fire, Get here quick. We cant hold on for long."
We stood up and made a beeline for the choppers. The sky was being lit up by small arm fire.
"Damn it! Were getting chewed up, Norohna just bought it, We gotta leave. Try to hook up with DSS, they'll get you back. Good luck Gold team."
The two choppers roared and took of into the night sky heading toward us.
"Damn It" Kure yelled "They left us behind"I grabbed a flare from one of the pockets on my vest. I pulled of the cap lighting it and waiving it in the sky.
"We have your light Gold team, Standby for extraction"
One of the Black Hawks began descending toward us. I caught 2 men moving out of the corner of my eye. I swung around, went prone and opened up on the men killing both of them. The chopper touched down kicking dust into the air. Two men jumped out and ran toward us. They grabbed Murad and dragged him on board. They motioned to us to board the chopper. Kure got up and ran while I emptied the last 40 rounds from the belt in my machine gun in the direction of the advancing terrorists to keep them down behind the ridge. I reached into one of the pouches on the back of my vest and pulled out an extra ammo drum, However I decided that any attempt to continue providing cover would be redundant, all it took to convince me of this fact were the rounds that whipped past inches above my head. I stood up and sprinted toward the chopper. The door gunner of the US Army Black Hawk opened up on the remaining terrorists with his M60. I hopped into the cargo bay with the other members of my team. The chopper lifted off into the sky with bullets pranging off the bottom of the Black Hawk, a few came up into the floor. One round ripped through the leg of red team member Alain DuBarry. Blood sprayed from the wound and covered my face, The red liquid poured out onto the floor of the helicopter. I reached over and applied pressure to the bleeding wound of the screaming man while a US army Medic bandaged the wound.
"Shut Up!" I yelled "Take it like a man DuBarry."
About an hour later, the Black Hawks touched down in a small airfield out in the country somewhere. There was an airplane waiting that would transport us back to Hereford We dropped all our gear into the cargo hold. I walked over to the medics who were loading Murad into the back of the Airplane. I got there just in time to see them pull a white sheet over his cold face.
"Friend of yours?" one of the Medics asked.
"No, Didn't even know his first name."
I turned around to see Kure standing directly behind me.
"Thanks for saving my life back there." She said
"I think we're pretty much even." I replied
"How'd you get to be so good with the SAW."
"I spent 3 years as a SAW gunner in the Air Force."
"You'll have to tell me about it some time, In the mean time sit beside me on the plane, I have to debrief you."