Operation Liberty Gold - RAINBOW
Disclaimer: Apart from the standard line that the characters here are properties of the Tom Clancy estate and Ubisoft, there's the ethic issue. Yes, this story is related to real-life journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee who are unfairly imprisoned by the North Korean dictatorship.
I'm not a Westerner, but like every other sane people in the planet, terrorists and totalitarians disgust me. Like many others, I wish there are real organizations like RAINBOW or Ghost Recon that can rapidly and effectively tackle terrorists and rogue militia – and that democratic leaders don't hesitate to use them.
I'm not well-versed with the Ghost Recon and H.A.W.X lore, so apologies if I get their traditions wrong. Same goes with North Korean geography, or with US military tactics and procedures (come on, this is fanfiction, not Tom Clancy's novel).
Tracy Woo woke up and saw dust.
The world around her was dusty. Everything was brown and dirty.
Grew up in the privileged part of Los Angeles, she had sometimes wondered what it liked to live in the slums or the ghetto. She had taken part in many RAINBOW operations around the world. But everything took 48 hours at the latest, plus being the field psychologist and negotiator, she usually was placed behind the lines.
For the past ten days, she had lived like the North Koreans do – living on cold, dust, hunger, and oppression. She was groomed to look, and act, like a regular North Korean housewife. And her coach was smiling at her from across the room.
She smiled back at Suo-Won. He was making breakfast of fish and rice. Tracy rose from the bed, put in her underwear and dress, and washed her face.
She was eating breakfast with Suo-Won silently. They had been living together as a couple in a rural house not far from Hoeryong concentration camp, also known as Camp 22.
Not long after North Korea sentenced two U.S. journalists to hard labor in the camp, the U.S. government decided to free them in a covert operation. The Company D, 1st Battalion, of the U.S. Army Special Forces ("Ghost Recon") would raid the camp under the umbrella of U.S. Air Force's H.A.W.X. unit – and with the U.S. Navy as backup.
RAINBOW operatives Pak Suo-Won and Tracy Woo were there for intelligence purposes. Pak had infiltrated North Korea for years for the South Korean Special Warfare Command and the KCIA. Even on the streets of Seoul, locals could mistake him for a Northern refugee, due to his acted accent and manner.
Tracy's induction to the operation was controversial. She was a psychologist and hacker, not a 'ninja'. She, however, was a childhood friend of a hostage and could recognize her in a second. They even fought over a same guy in UCLA. After considerations, intense interviews and reviews, RAINBOW Six Chavez and Rainbow Five Bishop agreed to enlist her. Tracy was tasked to make positive IDs on the Asian-American journalists from thousands of prisoners in the camp. Before the departure, she had received extra trainings from Maldini the Invisible Man and Yacoby the master assassin, as well from the sniper team. Heck, if time had permitted, perhaps Sam Fisher himself would have trained her.
As it happened, she and Pak entered North Korea and assumed the identities of spouses. Within a week they had expressed love on each other. Tracy loved his easy-going and cheerful personality, and his passion for his divided homeland. In return, he loved her independence and bravery.
The farm boy and the Valley Girl found love in one of the most oppressive places in the world. If they were compromised, not only they would end up in the same fate as their objectives, but the South Korean and American governments would be humiliated, RAINBOW's existence could be known, and at worst, war could be declared.
Even the successful operation still can carry the risk of war. No point for United States to deny that its military was attacking North Korean soil to liberate American citizens. If North Korea took it as a declaration of war, the first casualties would be not only U.S. soldiers on the DMZ or the people of South Korea, but also the residents of Japan, who North Korea hates dearly.
But it's clear that the journalists were used for bargain chips so that U.S. would nod to North Korean nuclear program; and Seoul would resume its financial and food aid. If these bargain chips could be stolen fast enough, North Korea could lose its initiative, shocked to see that U.S. could score a lightning hook, and was forced to reassess its military readiness. That was the desired outcome sought not only by Washington but also by Tokyo, which had been talking about pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang.
Both RAINBOW and Ghost Recon had known what they were up against. Camp 22 was a massive complex with hundred of well-armed guards. Pak's record and satellite recon had pointed a suspected location of the journalists – not really at the heart of the complex, but not really at the edge either. They still had to fight their way in.
Fortunately, the outline of the complex – separated into self-contained clusters - meant it was easy to Ghost & H.A.W.X. to establish the defense perimeter. Sure, the guards could send in their vehicles, APCs, and probably light tanks, but the Americans were ready for that. A U.S. Navy battle group was stationed at the East Sea/Sea of Japan to anticipate if North Korean Air Force intervened. Even the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air Self-Defense Force were on alert for "possible hostile provocation" from North Korea.
In the afternoon Suo-Won and Tracy were working on the farm. They were sticking together if they went to the town or if somebody was approaching the farm. If somebody was curious, Tracy's cover was that she was a silent and passive bride from China. Tracy had learnt Mandarin Chinese in university, and learnt some Korean from her L.A. friends and from Pak, but her accent and manner, once unleashed, would give her away immediately.
Suo-Won had spent some good week in the pub with some of the camp's guards and found them were pretty loose with information. Of course, he would not ever underestimate them, but some of the drunken (or green) guards were the best info available for him. His cover was he just came from another province (the one he was familiar with, in case somebody knew somebody there) and just inherited the farm from his late 'uncle' (who was in fact, on his way to freedom in South Korea, trekking via China and Vietnam).
In the late afternoon they uploaded the latest intelligence. Afterward they were sleeping, cuddling each other. At night, Operation Liberty Gold started.
