Unbeknownst to Shuhrat, Siu was having her own set of problems. When she got back to her own dorm room, she was greeted by Eliza, Monika, and Grace, with Monika at Siu's desk working on her Spectre, Eliza sprawled out on the bed, and Grace sitting on the couch playing a game of some sort on her tablet.
"You guys better have a damn good reason for inviting yourselves into my room." As much as she hated it, it wasn't uncommon for her friends to enter her room without permission, but when she wasn't there? Something's definitely up.
"Oh, we were just waiting," Grace said nonchalantly, as if Siu knew what she was talking about.
"Waiting for what?"
"Waiting for you to get back."
"Get back from where?" Siu was beginning to get frustrated.
"Shuhrat's, you dummy." Grace was talking like she was making middle school gossip, and if was off-putting.
"How did you know about that?" Siu started to feel nervous.
"We heard your voices inside his dorm last night," Eliza finally spoke up.
Siu froze, terrified. "You can't tell anyone about that!" Her voice was almost a yell, but not quite.
Grace ignored her command and kept going. "So, how was he?"
"Oh, no, no, it's not like that." Siu waved her hand dismissively.
"If it's 'not like that', then why were you in his room last night dressed like that?" Grace gestured to the shorter woman's clothing.
"I just was just getting a glass of water and not expecting to see him," Siu answered truthfully.
"Then what made you go into his room in the first place?" Eliza asked.
"He was-" Siu stopped cold as she thought back to what happened, and her promise to Shuhrat. There was no excuse, nothing she could say to get these women off of her. She was backed into a corner. She wondered how much they had heard of the past night's conversation, if anything at all.
"Get out," she quietly grumbled.
"What?" Eliza pretended she didn't hear her.
"Get out! All of you!" Siu screamed as she finally lost her temper. The other three were surprised at Siu's harsh tone, but didn't entirely take her seriously. Grace and Eliza giggled as they walked out, but Monika stood in the doorway after the other two had gone.
"I'm sorry about...them."
Siu's expression and posture softened a little bit, as she knew that Monika was most likely dragged here by the other two. "I don't know how you put up with them," she said, running a hand through her hair. Monika replied with a shrug.
After Monika left, Siu shut her door, tossing herself onto her bed, which was still warm from Eliza laying on it. However, before she had any time to herself, Mike's voice could be heard over the intercom.
"All operators must report to the mess hall immediately. I repeat: all operators must report to the mess hall immediately."
For the seasoned veterans on the team, that could only mean one thing: White Masks. Sure enough, when Siu got to the mess hall, where most of the others had already gathered, Baker had an image projected onto the massive concrete wall. It was an overhead image of a club, apparently in Germany, based off of the police cars, and was just about to begin his speech.
"Alright, looks like everyone's just about here. Good. Now, as I'm sure many of you have already deduced, we've received reports of White Mask activity in Hannover. From what the local police and BPOL have already found out, they're using this as a warehouse for chemical weapons storage. It is lightly manned, and should be a relatively easy target. Don't get cocky, though." A few chuckles were heard around the room, despite Mike being dead serious. "The compound they've been storing in this 'warehouse' of theirs is called Compound Z8, which I'm sure many of you, particularly my SAS comrades, are familiar with." James waved from the corner of the room, resulting in a roll of the eyes from Baker. "Now, for those of you who will be chosen to participate in the clearing of this clubhouse. Team one will consist of Montagne, Ash, and Zofia. Team two will consist of Fuze and Ying. Team three will consist of Kapkan, Tachanka and Castle. Glaz will provide overwatch and Doc will be waiting with a team of paramedics in a separate APC to provide medical attention, should anyone need it. Those operators are to be packed and ready in 15 minutes. All others are to resume with their daily activities. You are dismissed."
The locker rooms were filled with various noises; the doing and undoing of fasteners, clicks of safeties and bolt catches, and the mechanicals sounds of slides and charging handles kept the area from silence. Siu and Shuhrat said no words, but shared a brief glance as they took a pause from readying themselves and their equipment. There was an odd tension as they both wanted to speak, but neither did. Once all of the operators were prepared, at least physically, they boarded the plane.
On the flight to Hannover, Mike provided a more detailed briefing to each of the teams. "Alright, team one." Eliza, Zofia and Gilles all nodded their heads. "You will enter the clubhouse on the top floor. Montagne will act as the team's pointman, and Ash and Zofia will use their respective launchers to breach and clear each room. Once you have cleared every room of hostiles, you will sweep back up towards your insertion point. Everything clear?" The three in question nodded again affirmatively. "Good." Baker's attention shifted to Alexsandr, Maxim and Miles. "Team three. If things go to shit and for whatever reason, we have to fall back, you are responsible for the containment of hostiles in the building. Castle will block off all entries, which Maxim will then trap, in case they have breaching devices. Tachanka will provide suppressive fire to cover team one's exit. Any questions from you?" All three operators shook their heads. "Good. Team three dismissed. Now, to team two. Your job is relatively simple; Fuze will plant his cluster charges in the garage at the southernmost end of the building. Ying will provide assistance in case hostiles are encountered." Siu and Shuhrat both nodded, assuming that was the end of their briefing, but Mike spoke once more. "Now, Shuhrat, in order to prevent the excessive spread of Compound Z8 in the case of an accidental detonation, we've modified your cluster charges slightly to reduce their explosive power. I trust that you will take this change into account when you use them. If there are no further questions, you are dismissed." Siu nodded, resulting in Mike's retreat to his seat in the back of the plane, but Shuhrat had his doubts. He'd never let anyone change his Matryoshka, and he was slightly skeptical of the change, given that nobody had ever had access to it before. Regardless, he trusted in his teammates' work, and devoted the rest of the time to preparing himself mentally for the mission ahead.
