PROLOGUE: A MUTUAL ENEMY
MOSCOW, JUNE 5TH 2015
Waiting was the only thing about politics that Sergei Deveska was irritated by, more so than the rest. He'd been waiting in the North Korean embassy in Moscow for more than five hours. He'd met with Ambassador Sao upon arrival under an alias, Viktor Korachnick, with a proposal concerning the nuclear research the North Koreans had been doing as of late. After giving the proposal to Ambassador Sao he'd been taken to a comfortable waiting room where he'd end up spending five more hours of his precious time while Sao conferred with his superiors in Pyongyang. Deveska was the representative of the Red Legion political group, which had been scarcely heard of amongst the Counterterrorism forces around the world. Despite this they'd committed several major crimes against the Russian political system, to the credit of other terrorist organizations.
Unlike some of his cohorts, Deveska understood why his superior wanted desecration over public displays, it was a good idea to remain low-key if you wanted to make progress in the broader view of things. He stamped out his seventh cigarette of the day and lit his eighth one seconds later when I squat woman entered with a tray that contained a glass and a bottle of clear liquid. He appreciated the gesture by his North Korean hosts but he knew that they only brought in the vodka to try and learn more information than he was permitted to give. But if things went well enough he'd end up downing several bottles of the finest Russian vodka available, but that time wasn't now. It was shame though, because when Deveska noticed the label on the bottle he was tempted to have a glass.
"Can I get you anything else Mr. Korachnick?" the woman said setting the tray down and speaking in fluent Russian.
"No, but I would like to know when Ambassador Sao will be done meeting with his political superiors."
It wasn't a question.
"I cannot say Mr. Korachnick, I'm not aloud into such matters. I do not know what it is you are here for. I've been instructed to see to your needs while you are here."
"Well I need to know when Sao will be finished. My time is very valuable."
"I'll shall try." the woman said and retreated back out into the embassy.
An hour and three more cigarettes later she returned.
"Ambassador Sao will see you now." she said noting the Russian had not even touched the bottle of vodka. Maybe he wasn't a drinker, she thought, but weren't all of the Russians devoted vodka drinkers? She banished the thought and led the visitor to Ambassador Sao's office.
The Russian walked to a seat in front of a freshly polished cedar desk with a stout Korean ambassador, just finishing a phone call to Pyongyang, sitting in behind it.
"Mr. Korachnick, my government is tempted by your offer but we still have much to consider." Jung Sao said to his guest.
He didn't know if this was a ploy by the Russian Federation to lure him and his government into an act of terrorism, an act of terrorism that could have immensely positive or negative effects depending on the outcome.
"Come on Sao, we've known each other since the fall of the Soviet Union. You know what I am, what I do and who I work for. Please inform your Chairman that I am not GRU or any Russian government official."
"I know that but Chairman Su doesn't Viktor. Our position with the United States and Russia when it comes to nuclear arms is something less the comfortable, in fact it's painfully uncomfortable. You can see why he has to be careful about his decision when it comes to you and the GRU. Even if I vouch for you."
"If you give us what we need, American and Russian intelligence forces, along with their armed forces, will be of no consequence to you."
"Be that as it may Viktor but we can't just go about this without proper precautions." Sao said "You have to be patient."
"I've been patient Sao, and I can't wait any longer. You know how to contact me." Deveska said as he rose from his seat and exited the room.
Ten minutes later he was in his rented Mercedes making a call to one of his other Red Legion affiliates. "It's Sergey, the Koreans are still thinking it over so you can begin the Axion Project. I'm tired of waiting." and then he hung up his cell phone. He smiled to himself as he thought about the decision the North Korean Chairman would make. The blazing fires of hell would soon be rising up in America, he was sure of it, because in America both the Red Legion and North Korea had a mutual enemy.
***
"That was Sergei," Myles Cherovich said to the other Red Legion members gathered around the table "He says the North Koreans are still thinking the offer over and haven't given him an answer."
"I suspected they'd do as much." Mikhail Rastimavich said, he was the soul founder and leader of the Red Legion Communist Political Party. A man not too many others would cross.
"Sergei says to commence Project Axion, we only need the green light from you comrade." Cherovich said.
"What of the reports of this counterterrorism team in the UK? They could ruin or plans if some of the rumors I've heard about them are true." one of the other Russians at the table said.
"Do not worry about them, my source in the Defense Department has confirmed an existence of some NATO based black ops team, but says they do not have the fire power that we do." Cherovich said.
"Plus Comrade Karlakovich," Mikhail said "We have well trained men that are former Spetsnaz soldiers. I do not think this Team Rainbow can pose much of a threat."
"If it's as you say Comrade Rastimavich, I shall let go of the matter." That was something Imran Karlakovich would regret latter on in life.
"Begin the Axion Project." the Red Legion leader said.
AZERBAIJAN, JUNE 6TH 2015
"Alright, why did Six send our sorry asses to Azerbaijan for?" Peter Covington said to the Intel officer on the MH-60 Blackhawk flying over Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
"The NSA has confirmed the whereabouts of known terrorist and former nuclear physics engineer for the former Soviet Union, Dr. Dmitry Vanderov." Lieutenant James Wyler said to the six Rainbow Operatives seated in the Blackhawk. "The Azerbaijani have people to do the job, but they don't want to let such a big fish get away, hence why they made the Rainbow Call."
"So who is Vanderov going to? It's obvious the Russians will want him but it's the American's who located him, but he is on Azerbaijani turf." Roger McAllen said, he was the teams' explosive man.
"That's what the politicians are for," the teams second in command Karl Haider said getting some laughs out of the other Rainbow operatives. "That is if he's not wanted alive."
"But that makes it easy for us, and Six wouldn't want us to do a job without breaking a sweat at the least. You know how he prefers good old fashion soldiering. They're going to want him alive." the teams sniper Dieter Weber said.
"Right," Wyler said "We just need to take him down and provide security while he's brought back to the nearest Azerbaijan military base. From there he will be brought to Fort Leavenworth. We'll be along for the ride."
"What kind of support do we have?" Covington asked.
"Azerbaijani military assets are in place, should we need them." Wyler said "But we have to do the take down and extract him via this Blackhawk. Our target building is a six floor hotel owned by Vanderov as a front for his illicit operations. He has a small army of men at his disposal, roughly thirty or forty men, with minimum military training. You can expect to have heavy engagements once inside."
"Where is Vanderov?" Timothy Hanley asked.
"He is currently staying in his hotel on the top floor of the corner penthouse. The guards are spread out in groups that range from six to ten men in numbers and are stationed on every floor. The largest concentration is on the first floor, most likely the cannon fodder, but you can expect the ones with the most experience to be stationed with Vanderov at all times."
"How many men does he usually have with him?
"Nothing to outrageous," Wyler said dryly "four or five men armed with Sig-Sauer P228s and maybe some H&K MP5s."
"Well it could be worse." Hanley said, "Looks like you got an easy one today Rook." he said to the new Rainbow recruit Jeremy Hayes.
"You call this an easy job?" Hayes was an American cop with no experience in counterterrorism, the only reason he'd been asked to join was due to Peter Covington. Hayes had been on vacation in London when a bank robbery went bad, and he and Covington happened to be inside the bank. They both used their police, and military, training to take down the bank robbers. Hayes had been asked to Hereford to do a drill with Covington and a few other Rainbow members and performed expertly. Since that day he'd been part of Rainbow, he was also subject to chiding from the likes of Hanley and McAllen for the lack of his experience.
"Yeah, usually we're going up against men who have had extensive military training and know what they're doing in a firefight. Today we have to collect a mad scientist with a small army of mindless fucks who probably don't know how to work their damn weapons anyway. This'll be a cakewalk." McAllen said.
"Don't get to cocky, I've seen too many men killed by getting cocky." Covington said. Everyone respected this mans word, he'd been in Ireland in the eighties fighting the Irish Republican Army. He'd literally been there and done that. "Weber will stay in the chopper with Hanley, they will provide aerial support. Haider, McAllen and Hayes will go with me and apprehend the good doctor. If we're lucky he'll go quietly."
"If not we'll just have to shoot every one of his protectors until he does." Haider said.
Covington and the others nodded their agreement as the Blackhawk's pilot turned to look at his passengers.
"ETA to hotel rooftop is sixty seconds. Prep for deployment." Colonel Wallace Shatford said to the Rainbow troops. He himself was a pilot for the Australian SAS sent to Rainbow just after the Vegas and Nevada Damn incidents.
"We're ready Wally." Covington said as Haider hooked the fast rope to the D-link bolted to the frame outside of the aircraft.
Weber checked the sights on his M40A1 rifle and put a fresh magazine into it. The grip Hayes had on his G3 rifle, which he'd trained on for the past two months, was one to rival the bite of a snapping turtle. This was the moment he'd trained for and he thought he had the theory of how a takedown should go but now with real combat imminent, he found himself second guessing all of his training. He felt pressure on his left shoulder and looked to see what it was: the gloved hand of Roger McAllen.
"Stick close to me kid and you'll do fine."
"Yeah stick close to him, if he gets hit some of the ordnance might go off and turn you into barbeque." Hanley said as the chopper began to slow down and hover.
Bullets began to bounce of the side of the helicopter prompting a grin from the Canadian demolitions expert. "Here we go."
Weber stuck his rifle out of the Sikorsky and let off two rounds silencing the gunmen bellow.
"Rooftop clear." the German said reloading a full mag into the rifle.
Haider was the first one out of the chopper followed by McAllen. Covington handed Hayes the rope who, just like in training, made his way down the length of rope to join his teammates. McAllen and Hayes went to the access door in the buildings north-east corner while Haider searched the bodies of the two dead gunmen killed by Weber.
"They're armed with more than just H&Ks," Haider said as Covington hit the ground and joined him. "This is a Russian Dragonfly." the Austrian said lifting the sniper rifle and removing the magazine.
"Well the doctor is Russian, he most likely has Russians on the payroll." Covington said. "How's the access door look?"
"It's locked, we could blow it or shoot the lock out. It's your every day steel door, so it won't take much to get through it." McAllen said through his ICS-PL helmets integrated comlink.
"Shoot it, it'll be quieter." Hayes said going with the obvious solution.
"Hey we got ourselves an Einstein over here." McAllen said with a grin.
"James, we're getting ready to breach the door." Covington said to Wyler over the comlink.
"Affirmative, we dropped Hanley off to cover the fire escape in the alleyway to the left of the building. Weber also moved to a more secure position on the rooftop directly across the street from you."
"Roger." Covington said as he moved into position behind Hayes while Haider aimed his G3 Rifle at the lock and put a neat three round burst into it.
"Go, go, go!" Covington said as he and his teammates rushed into the stairwell awaiting them.
***
Dmitry Vanderov was sitting at his desk enjoying a glass of the finest vodka available in the region, and a nice Cuban cigar when his Chief of Security Oleg Torenskina came rushing in.
"Doctor we have Azerbaijani military personnel surrounding the entire block. I think it would be good to move you to safer location."
"Like with Mikhail Rastimavich perhaps? No my dear boy I think not. He may be funding our research but he would kill me on sight if I were to retreat from this building and leave it's contents for the picking of our neighborly military friends." Vanderov said. "Have two of your men, your best marksmen, go to the rooftop and open fire on anything resembling the Azerbaijani Military. Alert the rest of the staff and have them begin to move the products into the safe house."
"What about you sir?" Oleg asked.
"My dear boy I was a soldier in the Red Army before I became an engineer. I know how to handle a weapon. Be a lad and fetch me one of our nice Kalashnikovs."
The Russian bodyguard nodded and left the office. Vanderov resumed sipping at the vodka and puffing on his cigar as one thought, and one thought only, crossed his mind. So it begins.
***
Hayes was drawing fire from the northern corridor while McAllen and Covington were pinned somewhere off to his right. He had no idea where Haider was until he came crashing down beside him.
"Wyler wasn't fucking kidding when he said a small army." the Austrian soldier said.
"So," Hayes said "are they as well trained as the intel said or was that a load of bullshit?"
"They seem fairly competent, but even the most competent soldiers will become bumbling idiots without a leader."
"Look for someone giving orders." Covington said reloading his MP5N SMG and firing short, three round bursts into the opposite end of the corridor where the hostiles were holed up.
"Hey think they can go NVG?" McAllen said over the radio.
"NVG?" Hayes asked.
Haider couldn't believe it.
Neither could McAllen. "Aw for fuck sake, your kidding me right Rook?"
"Night Vision Goggles, Jerry, NVG: Night Vision Goggles." Covington said
Hayes kicked himself in the ass for that one.
"If we toss a couple of smoke grenades their way and go NVG on 'em we can get the jump on Ivan." McAllen continued.
"Do it." Covington said lowering his set of NVGs as did the other three Rainbow troops. McAllen pulled the pin on two smoke grenades and tossed them in the hostiles' direction. Three seconds after hitting the ground the area was clouded in a dark grey cloud, a cloud easily penetrated by the thermal vision of the goggles Covington and his team were equipped with.
It easily picked out the heat signature of four bodies moving closer towards the special ops team. Shots quickly rang out and the four bodies went cold on the thermal.
"Wyler, how far are we from Vanderov now?" Haider said into his helmet radio.
"Not far." was the immediate reply. "The door at the end of the corridor, thermal imaging shows five hostiles in the room."
"There aren't any rear exits?" Hayes asked.
It was a good question to ask, the kid was catching on Haider thought as Wyler checked over the building blueprints.
"No, just the fire escape but Weber and Hanley have that covered."
"So the Russian bastard is pinned." McAllen said.
"It would seem that way." the Intel officer on the Blackhawk said.
"Lets go end this then." Covington said.
The Rainbow troops jogged off to the indicated position ready to catch their prize.
***
Vanderov loaded the Kalashnikov rifle and checked the sights, yes the rifle was different than the ones he'd used in his time in service, but the technology hadn't changed that much he still had to pull the trigger to make the machine work, that's all he needed to know. Oleg and four of his companions were taking up positions around the room should anyone try to burst in, they had confirmed reports of soldiers storming the building, they'd end up getting hailstorm of lead thrown at them.
"Are you sure you don't want to evacuate the site sir, the product has been moved and concealed from the Azerbaijani Military."
"No I will remain here Comrade Oleg." Vanderov said in an unnaturally cool voice.
"Sir it is my job to worry about your safety, I must object to you staying here." Oleg said to his employer.
"Your opinion is noted and void in this particular instance. We are cut off from any means of escape, our only remaining options are the failsafe mechanism, that bomb is a mix of C4 and Comp B, or we can stand here and fight like Russians." Vanderov said "the switch to the failsafe is here under my desk. One flip of it and the device is armed for a fifty second countdown. After that…you can imagine for yourself."
"I hope you have the stones to push that button Comrade Doctor, for I fear it will have to come down to it."
"The bomb is right there. In the wall behind the painting." the old Russian said pointing to the wall nearest the door.
The bodyguards in the vicinity took five giant steps towards the rear of the room, not that it would help if the thing went off it was just a human reflex. Flee when confronted by death, though some men met death head on and lived to tell about it. Vanderov himself was one of them, he'd been a child when the Germans invaded Leningrad and he'd taken part of the defense of Stalingrad where the Fascists' had been halted by the Red Army. Now Leningrad was Saint Petersburg and Stalingrad was Volgograd but the memories remained in those few who still remained to tell them.
Maybe he'd get to relive his days as a soldier in one brief moment, or he'd be blown to ribbons by the Azerbaijani Military.
***
Covington slid the fiber optic probe under the doorframe slowly to get a peek at was at the other side. There was an old man pointing to the wall to the left of the probe and the bigger men in the room tried to fall back as far away from the wall as possible. Curious? Covington thought pulling the probe back and putting it inside his tactical vest.
"Our doctor is in there, with four men for security. Armed with AK-47s." the Brit said to his teammates.
"A Kalashnikov is not a H&K Peter." Haider said.
"The G3s can handle it." McAllen said.
"Flashbangs on three." Covington said.
Hayes braced himself.
"One…two…"
***
The door flew open and before Vanderov or Oleg could react three objects came flying into the room.
"Grenade!" someone yelled then there was a great bang and a blinding flash. It sent the old Russian flying over the front of his desk flipping it over revealing the failsafe switch. One of the other Russian bodyguards reached for it but was shot for his troubles by the four men that were clad in black screaming for the Russians to stop moving.
Vanderov made it to his feet somehow and leveled his rifle.
"Drop the gun." one of the soldiers yelled.
"I don't think so comrade." Vanderov said. Suddenly he was in the Red Army again and he was aiming at a German intent on killing him on the battlefields of Stalingrad.
"Knees!" another soldier yelled.
There was the unmistakable sound of gun fire and a sharp pain that went from Vanderov's knees and up his body causing him to collapse. On his way down his hand grazed the failsafe button and engaging the sequence.
***
Hayes and McAllen put three rounds apiece into the old doctors kneecaps and kept their G3K4 rifles trained on him, until the painting fell to the floor revealing a large object with a timer that read: 00:48.003
"Oh fuck." Haider said.
"McAllen, we have a problem." Covington said and the demolitions expert located the device.
"That's one big ass bomb." the Canadian said as he approached it.
"Can you disarm it?" Haider asked.
"We're about to find out. Pucker it up boys."
He went about inspecting the wires and their connections.
00:26.002
He found the detonator.
00:17.000
He found the triggering mechanism.
00:09.032
Located the right set of wires.
00:06.014
He separated the three wires.
00:03.006
And cut one.
00:00-DISARMED
McAllen let out a breath and was slapped on the back by Covington and Haider.
"Holy mother of God." Hayes said "I cant believe I signed up for this."
Haider and the others laughed.
"Hey it's all in a days work for us Rook." McAllen said inspecting the bomb further. "Ooh this is a real nasty one. Looks like C4 and Composition B. This fucker could have blown us all the way to California."
"And to think I forgot my sunscreen." Covington said. "Wyler alert Six that we have Vanderov in custody, we had to kneecap him so have medics on standby."
"Roger that, you'd better get to the roof because there is a shit storm of hostiles heading your way."
"Hanley move up the fire escape and meet us on the roof. McAllen and Hayes grab the prize and lets get him the out of here."
***
No less than an hour later did Mikhail Rastimavich receive word that the Azerbaijani Military hit his R&D facility in Baku and his chief engineer for Axion was now in custody. One good thing had prevailed though, Axion remained hidden within the bowls of the R&D facility. Now he just needed to get Vanderov back