Rainbow Six Siege: Shattered Skies

Chapter 1

"Love leaves a memory no one can ever steal."

-Anonymous

Earlier

Marius sat at the bar of the English pub and took a sip from his beer. As the sun began to descend behind the horizon, the more the bar filled with young people. Marius felt uneasy in the bar. He disliked crowded settings and hated talking to people. He preferred a room of solitude over a bustling party scene any day of the week. But he had someone on his mind that kept driving him to come out of his comfort zone and go to the bar every Friday night. He nervously glanced at a young blonde-haired woman at the other end of the bar. She was with a small group of friends gossiping.

"If you have a crush on Monika, why don't you just tell her how you feel instead of giving her stalker eyes." Dominic said sitting on the bar stool to his left. He took a slow drag from his cigarette.

Marius chuckled at the thought and took another sip from his beer.

"Easier said than done mein freund (my friend)."

Dominic shook his head at how pathetic his friend is. He placed his cigarette on an ash tray and turned to face him. He tried to talk some sense into him.

"Marius, you probably have the best chance out of all of us to get with her. Shoot your shot. Worst thing she says is no."

"She's a coworker Dominic. She'll probably think its unprofessional or something."

"Bro, you're overthinking. Be a man and talk to her." Dominic urged him.

"Yeah and if you won't talk to her then good ol' Elias will." Elias Kotz said with a smile as he straightened the collar on his polo shirt.

"Elias don't ruin this for me." Marius said cradling his head in his hands.

"What is there for me to ruin if you never talked to her?" Elias said giving Marius a pat on the back.

Dominic thrusted Marius's beer in his stomach.

"Shotgun your beer and go talk to Monika before that buffoon sitting next to you does."

"Alright, alright, alright I'll go talk to her jeez." Marius said putting his hands up surrender. He took the beer and finished it in one gulp. He hopped off the stool and began to shuffle his way toward the girls.

"Go get em' tiger." Dominic said giving Marius a friendly slap on the butt.

"But what do I even say to her?" He asked as he walked away.

"Ask if you can buy her a drink or something." Dominic said.

Marius shook his head and walked over to Monika's group.

Elias scooched over onto Marius's stool, so he could sit next to Dominic.

"I'll bet you 30 euros the makes himself look like a fool." Elias whispered to Dominic.

Dominic gave Elias a look of disgust.

"Damn Elias betting on your friend to fail? That's not nice."

Dominic's face then melted into a devilish grin.
"Never mind Elias, make it 50."

"Deal."

Elias and Dominic shook on the bet.

"Man, and I thought I was a bad person. You two are worse." A female said from behind them. Dominic and Elias turned to see Taina Pereira standing behind them. Dominic smiled at her. Elias looked at her confused.

"I can't believe Rainbow actually lets you out at night. Shouldn't you be locked in your cage for the night?" Dominic said trying to push her buttons.

Taina glared at Dominic putting her hands on her hips.

"For your information, I'm not some wild animal."

Elias burst out laughing and lifted his beer to her comment.

"Ha, good one." He said sarcastically and took a sip from his beer.

Marius approached Monika's group from behind. He took one final look back at Elias and Dominic. They looked like a bunch of soccer moms watching their children play as they gave him two thumbs up and big fake smiles. Marius rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Monika. She had no idea he was behind her and he couldn't find the words to talk to her.

"Talk to her you moron. For God sakes you're a hyper intelligent engineer and a highly lethal GSG-9 operator who's survived nearly impossible odds in the past, but you can't talk to a girl." His mind screamed.

"Hey… hey Monika." He managed to spit out. The problem was he spoke so softly nobody heard him.

"Hey Monika." He tried again but this time a little louder.

Eliza, the operator he was hoping not to talk to turned around noticing Marius standing behind them.

"Oh… hi Marius." She said looking him up and down. He could tell she was already judging him.

"Yeah… hey… uhhh… I'm here to talk to Monika." He said sheepishly.

Eliza took a shot of whiskey she had in her hand. She paused and exhaled as she endured the burning taste in the back of her throat. She turned to Monika and gave her a nudge.

Monika turned around and saw Marius.

"Hey Marius!" She said and gave him a hug. Marius flinched not liking the person to person contact.

"Hey Monika." He said prying himself free of her grip. The stench of alcohol radiated off her.

The two awkwardly stared at each other. Marius was dumb struck for words. Monika stared back smiling waiting for something to happen. Eliza stood between the two of them looking back and forth at each of them waiting for something to happen. At the bar, Dominic and Elias were silently dying of laughter as they watched their fellow comrade embarrass himself in front of the girls.

"Welp… bye." Marius said with stupid wave and turned around swiftly walking out of the bar. Eliza and Monika watched him leave looking confused.

Dominic and Elias laughed out loud making people stare at the commotion.

Monika looked down toward the opposite end of the bar seeing Dominic and Elias. She looked back at Marius who was now running away back toward base.

She put two and two together.

"Did you guys put the poor baby up to this?" Monika yelled over to Elias and Dominic before joining in the laughter.

The Germans continued laughing.

"Where's my money?" Elias said trying to catch his breath and holding out his hand expecting payment.

"I'm dead Elias! I don't have any money!"

Elias stopped laughing and stared at his friend blinking.

"Oh, shit that's right."

The two Germans laughed again and clinked their beer bottles together drank to that.

Taina chuckled uneasily not enjoying their dark humor.

Dominic settled down and finished his beer. He held the empty glass in his hands rolling it around in his fingertips.

A moment of silence fell between the operators.

"I miss you brother. Things haven't been the same." Elias said.

"Yeah…" Dominic managed not looking his friend in the eye.

Dominic and Elias got out of their stools and embraced.

"Let's do this again sometime." Elias said in his friends shoulder.

"Yeah… definitely." Dominic muttered.

The two friends separated. Dominic turned to Taina.

"See ya later spooky woman." He said winking at her.

Taina punched him in the arm.

"Yeah, see ya asshole."

They embraced.

Dominic was about to walk out of the bar when Monika stood in front of him blocking his path.

"Forgetting someone?" Monika said with arms crossed arching an eyebrow.

"How could I forget."

Dominic and Monika hugged. Monika held on to him tightly.

"Stay safe. Keep these dunkoffs in check, will you?" Dominic whispered to her.

Monika couldn't help but giggle.

"I will."

They separated. Dominic looked back at his friends one last time before walking out the door. His friends watched him leave with sadness in their eyes. Dominic let out a sigh. He stuffed his hands in the pockets and looked up at the stars above him in the cool night time air. England finally had a clear during the rainy season which was relief for the town folk. He walked across the city street. Hereford's night life buzzed around him as young people walked about the cobblestone streets enjoying the break in the weather. The GSG 9 operators watched from the bar as Dominic's image slowly evaporated into thin air as walked further away from them until he vanished completely.

Eliza came up behind Monika wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Monika, come back to the bar and have a drink."

Monika looked down at her feet.

"Nah I'm gonna go home."

"Are you sure? Are you okay?" She asked looking concerned for her friend.

"Yeah I'm good. I'm going to go find Marius. He looked upset." She said and removed Eliza's arm from her shoulder. She walked out of the bar alone back to base. She walked inside her dormitories and climbed the flight of stairs to her floor.

The stairs opened into a common living area. Some operators were sprawled out on couches and recliners watching something on TV. She stealthily walked past them toward her wing where her room was. She noticed Marius's door was open slightly. She peaked inside and noticed his dorm was empty. Some stuff had been tossed around on the floor of his room.

It wasn't like him to leave a mess. She noticed his kit that he usually kept in the corner of his room was missing. Monika smiled and quickly rushed to her room. She gathered her kit that she kept on her desk and walked out of the dorms.

In the center of the base was a large 4 story warehouse used for training. The front doors were open. She could hear someone firing a weapon inside. Monika took a magazine loaded with simulation paint rounds from her black polizei vest and loaded it into her AUG. She pulled her balaclava up over her head, placed her helmet on her head and walked inside. She followed the sound of running footsteps shooting. When she reached the second floor she took cover behind a concrete wall.

"Mariiiiiussss!" She called out to him.

Marius shot his head up when he heard Monika call his name. Monika could see the top of a black aviator helmet through one of the door ways. She slowly peaked out from behind the wall aiming for his head through her holographic sight.

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT?" He shouted from one of the rooms.

"15 seconds left!" She yelled trying to impersonate their training announcers voice.

"What are you playing at Monika?" He asked sounding annoyed.

"10 seconds left!" She yelled.

"Monika…"

"5 seconds left!"

"Op for last operator standing! Friendly last operator standing! Secure the container!" She shouted and fired at Marius.

Marius saw a glimpse of Monika before she fired and ducked behind a crate.

"JESUS CHRIST MONIKA!" He shrieked. The paint simulated rounds buzzed over his head impacting the wall behind him. He could hear her sprinting up to his position. Marius aimed his 416 over the crate but couldn't see Monika because of a wall obstructing his view.

"I almost got you." Monika's voice echoed through the building. Marius could tell she was nearby.

"Almost." Marius replied mockingly.

He crouched back behind the crate and dropped his 416. He pulled out his side arm and closed his eyes. Marius slowly stood up and aimed his pistol at the doorway leading to the room he was in. He knew that doorway wasn't Monika's only way inside. She could make a new door anywhere on the wall with breaching charges and take him out.

He kept his eyes closed letting his superiorly intelligent mind focus on the details of her voice.

"I have you cornered Marius. What are you going to do?" Monika called out.

"I'm going to win this round and then you're going to give me your number as my reward for winning." He said confidently.

Monika was taken off guard by the usually shy and timid operator's sudden surge of confidence. She grinned at his new change in attitude. She knew she was in a strong position to win the gunfight.

Or so she thought.

"Go on. Make it happen." She coaxed.

Marius's mind zeroed in on the location of Monika's voice on the other side of the soft wall in front of him after she spoke.

He took a breath to relax himself.

He swiftly turned and fired a single shot with his pistol. The simulation paint round splatted harmlessly against the wall in front of him.

He opened his eyes and smiled beneath his balaclava.

"I win." He sneered.

He dropped his pistol and walked over to the paint splatter on the soft wall. He balled his gloved fist and with brute force punched a hole in the wall where the splatter was.

His arm went through the dry wall.

He tried to pull his arm out of the wall, but it was stuck. He tried again with more strength but couldn't pull it out. Marius sighed at his clumsiness.

"Nice one Marius." His conscience said.

On the other side of the wall, Marius's fist was just centimeters away from Monika's icy blue eyes. She stared down the knuckles of Marius's fist in disbelief at the level of skill he had displayed to take her out.

If the two operators were using real ammunition instead of paint rounds, the bullet would have penetrated the wall hitting Monika directly in the eye which would've killed her instantly.

Only a true master of inflicting violence could have made a shot so precise while completely blind just exclusively based off sound.

"A little help?" Marius asked innocently from the other side of the wall.

Marius felt his glove being removed from his hand. He felt Monika open his hand and poke his palm with a somewhat sharp object. The pointy object moved swiftly around the surface of his palm.

"Have a good night Marius." Monika said and picked up her gear.

"But what about me?" He pleaded.

"You'll figure it out Marius. You always do."

Marius listened to Monika's footstep echo as she left the building leaving him all alone. He planted his feet on the soft wall and pulled his arm as hard as he could. His arm flew out of the wall sending him crashing to the floor. He laid on his back on the cold concrete floor staring up at the dim ceiling lights. He moved his ungloved hand in front of his face to inspect his palm.

On his palm was a phone number written crudely in pen.

It was Monika's phone number.

Marius stared at his hand silently indulging in his personal victory. The building was so quiet, you could hear the air moving through the empty corridors and water droplets hitting the floor.

"WOOOOOOOOOO! YES! DOMINIC, I GOT HER NUMBER! EAT IT ELIAS! WOO HOOOOO!" He screamed and laughed.

As Monika walked out the front door of the training building she paused to hear Marius cheering like an idiot from inside. She couldn't help but laugh to herself. She looked up at the night sky as if someone was watching her from above.

"Why did you have to put Marius up to this?" She asked smiling.

Dominic watched from up above practically suffocating from laughing so hard.