Author's note: Well here it is, Act 3 and just in time for the new season. Hope it lives up to expectations. Once again, shout out to RStyle, thank you for beta reading this for me. Enjoy.
What Will It Take?
Chapter 15
"Roger that…Affirmative…Understood, Orchid One out." Norman finished his transmission over the radio.
"What was that about?" Irvin asked.
"They arrived last night, they're getting set up now."
"Perfect, any orders for us?"
"Mission will commence in seventy-two hours. In forty-eight hours, we are instructed to fall back to the designated evac point right…here." He pulled out his map and pointed out a spot not too far away. "Until then, our mission stays the same, observe and give hourly reports as usual."
"So we're finally getting out of this god forsaken jungle."
"What are you talking about? I've had a great time sleeping in the bushes and getting eaten by spiders." He responded sarcastically, getting a laugh out of both of them.
"You ready to go back to your wife and kid?"
"Maybe not, when I told her I was going out on this mission and she was about ready to kill me."
"Ha, you'd rather stay with those guys down there?" Irvin commented, referring to the White Masks.
"Dude, you laugh but I'm telling you, she can be a psycho at times."
"It just means she loves you and wants you to be there for your son."
"I guess, but I'm still sleeping with one eye open."
"You'll see, eventually. You two have only been married for a year."
"Well what about you and your husband, you guys don't want to kill each other every now and then?" Norman asked.
"Oh don't get me wrong, we'll drive each other crazy, but we still see the big picture. We always work everything out in the end, I would follow him to the ends of the earth."
"That's good. So, you guys still planning on a trip to Korea when you get back."
"Yeah, we've been looking forward to it for months now."
"Should be a fun trip." Norman looked at his watch. "It's about that time, what's the situation down there?"
Irvin brought up his binoculars and looked down at the facility. Immediately, something was off. "Where is everyone?"
"Huh?" Norman brought up his pair of binoculars and looked at the theme park as well. Sure enough, instead of the usual flow of terrorists running around the compound, the headquarters was now empty, as if it had been abandoned all over again. "What the hell? Where did they all go?"
"I don't know, they were there an hour ago." Irvin said, confused. "I doubt they just packed up and left the place."
"Maybe they all went inside for a meeting." Norman suggested.
"Maybe, but they usually leave a few out for guard duty."
"Wait." Norman paused. "Do you hear something?"
"How are we looking?" Six asked.
"Well, all personnel are set up in their rooms and most of the equipment is here, just waiting on the last few boxes." Isaac elaborated.
The two of them were walking through the hotel Team Rainbow would be staying in for the duration of the operation. Six wanting to personally oversee that all people and supplies made it safely to their destination.
"And you're sure the owners are on board with this?"
"Yes. We met with the Chinees officials this morning, the owners along with all the staff have signed non-disclosure agreements. As far as everyone around here knows, we're just a group of tourists coming to visit Victoria Harbor."
"Where are the weapons and gadgets being stored in the meantime?"
"They were nice enough clear out one of the storage rooms for us in the basement."
"Is it secure?"
"Everything is under lock and key, and McConnell has at least two guards on it at all times."
"Good." They continued walking through the hotel, which was bustling with people moving papers and equipment around. "So where's the command room going to be set up?"
"The penthouse on the top floor." Isaac explained. "Regular guests aren't allowed up there with out a pass, so we should be well out of the public's view."
"Excellent, when is the first briefing?"
"Tonight, everyone should have recovered from the jet lag by then."
"Have you decided if you're going to tell them or not about Peterson?"
"Yes, I will be telling them tonight that we will be adding a third objective of capturing a high value target. However, I will be omitting my personal history with him, I don't think it's necessary for them to know."
"You don't think that Ela will tell them?" Six asked.
"Like I said, she's been keeping mostly to herself, I don't think she'll bring it up."
"Very well, but if it come down to killing him, do you think she will be able to, assuming she ends up being the one having to take the shot?"
"I'm purposely putting her on one of the bomb defusal teams in order to avoid such a conflict."
"Sounds good." The two of them continued walking around, making sure everything was in order. "And the scout team, they are reporting in as normal?"
"Yes ma'am, we last received a check in about an hour ago, should be getting another one any minute now."
"I want to be there for the next one, where's the comm room set up?"
"Right this way." He lead her down the hallway towards the hotel room where they had set up communications.
"What do you think about all this?" Elias asked as he moved his first piece.
"About what exactly?" Gilles questioned, as he moved his piece.
The two were in the middle of a chess game, being back at Hereford meant there was little to do. They were not professional or even talented chess players by any means, but they needed something to pass the time.
"Everything. The operation, the theme park, the fact that we're stuck here." The German clarified.
"Ah." The Frenchman saw what his friend was getting at. "Not too happy being left back I'm guessing."
"For a mission as big as this one, I would have much rather have gone with them." He admitted. "Especially since Shuhrat is the only one going with a shield, and that's if he decides to use it."
"What, you don't trust the others to get the job done?"
"Of course I trust them. It's just…I don't know."
"You're used to being at the front of every assault, and now here you are, as far away from the front line as possible, waiting to hear how it went." Gilles answered for him.
Elias thought on the statement and let out a small laugh. "I guess you're right."
"Trust me my friend, I know the feeling."
Gilles, Elias and Shuhrat, despite having very different personalities, had grown close over the years. Being a shield using operator was intense job even by Rainbow's standards. First off, your "weapon" was heavier than anything anyone else was carrying, accept for maybe Tachanka's DP-28. Second, your job being to intentionally have the enemy shoot you goes against every instinct of human nature, and to top it off, in most situations you rely solely on faith that your teammates will have you covered and won't allow you to get shot in the back. Faith that the layers of metal and glass would do their job and not ware out and fall apart on you. Faith that your obscured vision wouldn't lead you into a trap. It's an existence that many even among the operators could never understand.
And yet, none of them would ever trade the roll for anything else in the world. They all took pride in the fact that they were acting as a literal shield for their teammates. They took pride in leading the charge. Pride in every bullet and piece of shrapnel lodged in their shields at the end of a mission, knowing that it was better there than inside a teammate. They never fixed the defects either, keeping every scratch and dent as a reminder that each one was a potential fatality avoided, almost like a trophy.
Now, not just one but both of the operators who solely used shields were being told to sit back and wait, hoping that their team, their family really, would be okay without them. They had every confidence in everyone's capabilities no doubt, but it always felt better being there for them. At the very least they would have wanted at least one of them to go along.
"You still haven't answered the question." Elias pointed out.
Gilles thought for a moment. "Personally, for a mission as big as this one, I don't think anyone should have stayed back."
"I agree, it's not like there's anything happening back here."
"I wouldn't say that, I'm pretty much having to babysit those two." He gestured toward the other side of the lounge where Julien was clearly trying to flirt with Emma again, and again the woman was completely oblivious. "I think we should all chip in and get him an actual neon sign."
Elias laughed at the notion. "Oh, that reminds me, I should probably check on Yumiko, she isn't too happy about Masaru going without her."
"Separation anxiety?"
"I don't think so, I don't think she likes the idea of Siu going as well."
"Ah, so she's the jealous type."
"Yeah."
"She's worrying over nothing, it's not like they're going alone."
"That's what we've all been telling her."
Gilles laughed. "Everything will be fine."
"Speaking of relationships, how your wife?"
"She's doing well, Mike's wife is actually visiting France right now, and she's acting as her tour guide."
"That's nice of her, I didn't know they were friends."
"Spouses almost always end up being friends, they understand what it's like being away from a loved one for long periods of time."
"That makes sense."
"So what about you? Are you finally going to pop the question to your girl?"
"I'm still unsure." Elias admitted. "I would hate to bring her into this life of constantly moving around and not knowing what tomorrow holds."
"Well, she's been loyal to you for this long, she definitely proven herself patient enough."
"I guess. I just hope she knows what she would be getting into."
The two continued with their little chess game, not really sure who was winning.
"So what do you think about this operation?" Gilles asked
"As you pointed out, I would much rather be there. But as much as I want to go, I think Six has everything handled well enough." The German answered.
"I'm not so sure, have you noticed that Six has let Captain Isaac take almost full charge on this one? Odd, considering what's potentially at stake here."
"Maybe she's considering promoting him, since colonel Bishop retired last year."
"Maybe, but I feel like there's more they are not telling us."
"Either way, the Captain has proven himself capable both on the battlefield and in the situation room, I trust his leadership almost as much as Six."
"I guess."
"Besides, it looks like his team did their homework on this one, they seem to have everything under control." Elias moved his knight piece in front of Gilles' king. "Check."
"Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that when you think you have everything under your control," He observed the board, looking at his options. "is when you find out that you were never really in control in the first place." He moved his bishop across the board, not only blocking the check, but trapping Elias' king as well. "Checkmate."
"Here we are." Isaac said as he opened the door to the communications room.
It was located inside one of the normal hotel rooms. The giant green radio was propped up on a table with its antenna pointed out the window. Kowalski was managing the system on his own.
"And you are sure that the enemy can't listen in on our communication." Six asked.
"Yes ma'am." Kowalski answered. "We're using state of the art encryption to cover our tracks, they'll never be able to intercept our radio traffic."
"Very well." Six acknowledged. "What about the scout team, have they checked in?"
"Any time now ma'am. They have been precise about checking in every hour on the dot."
"So in other words, in a few seconds?" Six pointed out that the clock in fact said 01:59.
"Apparently so."
The three of them waited for the radio check to come in. The clock struck 02:00…nothing. They waited for a full minute, still nothing.
"What?" Isaac was surprised.
"I thought you said they were precise." Six commented.
"They are ma'am, this is the first time this has happened." Kowalski answered.
"Try calling them." Isaac suggested.
"It could be just interference from the weather."
"I'm telling you, Norman never messes around when it comes to this kind of thing. Something's up, call them."
"It could potentially blow there cover and get them into trouble."
"How do you know they're not already in trouble?"
"It's too risky."
Isaac looked at Six. "Ma'am, it's your call."
Six considered the two options. "Let's wait five minutes and if they still haven't checked in, send them a call."
For five agonizing minutes, the three of them sat there, waiting to hear any sound come out of the radio. After what felt like an eternity, the five minute mark came, still nothing.
"Alright, send out the call." Isaac ordered.
Kowalski pulled the microphone to his face and pushed the talk button. "Orchid One, this is HQ, come in over."
They waited for a few seconds. "Orchid One, this is HQ, come in, over."
Suddenly the radio burst to life. "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"
Kowalski practically jumped out of his seat. "Orchid One, repeat!"
The sound of gunfire was deafening as dozens of White Masks flooded the jungle in an attempt to flush out the two scouts.
"HQ, this is Orchid One, we have been compromised." Norman yelled into his radio. "I say again, we have been compromised. Currently engaging with multiple tangos, requesting immediate evac, over."
"Roger Orchid One, proceed to the designated evac point." Kowalski's voice came over the radio. "How many tangos are you engaging, over?"
As if to answer the question, another wave of bullets came flying through the trees, ricocheting and splintering the wood as they made contact. Norman and Irvin attempted to return fire with there M4s, but the sheer number of enemies out powered them.
"I'm counting several dozen enemies, over." Norman reported.
"Roger, we're sending reinforcements to your location, over."
"Understood, we'll try to hold out until then, over."
"Fuck, where did they all come from?!" Irvin yelled.
"Probably your loud mouth, keep shooting!" Norman responded.
The two of them let out another volley of fire at their opponents, hitting a few in the process.
"There's too many, we can't stay here!" Irvin said.
"Fall back, I'll cover you!" Norman fired more rounds as Irvin ran back and away from the enemy.
"Set!" Irvin took cover behind a tree and began shooting as Norman began running back to where he was.
"Keep firing!" Norman ordered.
The enemy fighters were still converging on the two soldiers. Suddenly a distinct hiss could be heard followed by an explosion.
"They have rockets too!" Irvin shouted.
"Damnit, keep falling back!" Norman began to cover his ally again.
Irvin once again began running away from they enemy in order to gain some distance from the danger. Suddenly, two enemy combatants appeared from behind some trees in order to ambush him. Luckily, Irvin's experience and quick reaction let him gun down the two before they could hurt him. He though he was in the clear, only to see more of them coming from what he thought was a safe direction.
"No good, there behind us as well!" Irvin shouted to Norman.
"Fuck, go right instead!" Norman said as more bullets whizzed over his head. Then a rocket was fired in his direction, hitting a nearby tree and sending some of the splinters into his arm. "God damnit!"
"Moving!" Irvin began moving in the new direction. After a fair distance, he stopped and took cover behind a new tree so he could cover Norman. "I'm set, get over here!"
Norman began moving to move towards his partner, turning every few steps to shoot back at the advancing enemy. After a short run, he joined Irvin, hiding behind an adjacent tree. "They got me good back there." He said, pulling several splinters from his arm.
"Patch yourself up, quick." The incoming fire was only getting more intense, Irvin was trying his best to cover Norman as he bandaged himself. Unfortunately, as he was shooting, a bullet tore through his left shoulder. "Son of a bitch." He grabbed the wound and put pressure on it.
"I got you, put a bandage on it, quick!" Norman, having just finished bandaging his own wound, began shooting back.
More bullets and rockets began to fly all around like a swarm of mosquitos. Luckily, the trees were thick enough to absorb the incoming projectiles, for now. Norman pulled out his radio. "HQ, this is Orchid One, we're about to be overrun."
"Roger Orchid One, keep holding on, we're getting help out to you asap. Over."
"HQ, I don't know how much longer we can hold on, over."
"HQ copies all. Good luck. Out."
"Norm, did HQ just tell us to go F ourselves?"
"Pretty much Irvin." Another wave of fire came in their direction. "We have to keep moving!"
"You go first this time, I'll cover you." Irvin began shooting back while Norman ran.
Norman ran as fast as he could to the next viable piece of cover, but there were too many bullets being shot. The next thing he felt was a burning sensation in his left leg as a bullet cut through it. He fell to the ground in agony. "Fuck, they got me again!"
Irvin heard his friend's screams and rushed to his aid. "Hang in there, I got you." He lifted the man up by putting Norman's arm over his shoulders. "Let's get the hell out of here."
The two of them tried to continue escaping through the jungle. Unfortunately, Norman's injury meant that the fastest they could go was a limping pace. This also meant that since they were both moving, no one could cover them, although Norman would occasionally fire a few shots with his sidearm. The only saving grace they had was the dense jungle, with the trees and brush making it hard for the insurgents to get a clear line of sight on them.
They continued hobbling between trees for a couple minutes when another obstacle came into their path. A slope that went down about thirty feet, so steep that it could almost be considered a cliff. Normally, traversing down such an obstacle would be no challenge to either of them, but with Norman's injured leg, moving down meant Irvin would have to carry him down.
"Oh for fucks sake!" Norman yelled.
"Okay, how are we going to do this." Irvin inquired.
"Well, I'm in no condition to climb myself down if that's what you're thinking."
"Okay, I think if I lower you down gently, I can-" He was cut off as an explosion went off behind them, sending both men careening down the massive drop. Luckily the drop wasn't strait down, but the tumble downward was still anything but pleasant. Smashing into trees and rocks one after the other before coming to a stop at the bottom. If they weren't in bad shape before, they definitely were now. Norman looked himself over and saw that he now had a fracture in his arm, along with some broken ribs. Irvin was also worse for ware, having several broken ribs himself, and he didn't even need to look to know that both of his legs were broken. All either of them could do was lay there in agony.
"You still alive?" Norman asked.
"Unfortunately. You?" Irvin answered.
"Same."
They could here the White Masks closing in on them, and with their new injuries, it meant running was no longer an option.
Norman pulled out the his radio one more time. "HQ, this is Orchid One, do not send the rescue team, I say again, do not send the rescue team. Terminating comms. Out." He could hear the voice at the other end attempting to talk to him but he didn't bother to listen as he pulled out his sidearm and fired his last few bullets into the radio. At least the enemy wouldn't get a hold of their communications and hack into their signal.
With that, both of them sat and waited for the inevitable. Within moments, dozens of men wearing brown cloaks and white masks were upon them. Norman took a moment to say goodbye to his wife and son. His weapon was kicked away from him and a foot planted on his chest to keep him pinned, not that he even had the strength to struggle. He looked up to see the barrel of an AK-47 pointed directly at his face. He braced himself for the pulling of the trigger and the feeling of being sent over to Valhalla.
No such feeling came.
"Well well well, if it isn't my old friend's, Norman and Irvin."
The two wounded soldiers looked over to see none other than their former teammate. The man they used to fight alongside. The man they used to respect. The man they used to call brother. Now almost unrecognizable has he bared his own cloak and clutched his own mask in his hand, the only one in the crowd willing to show his face. Instead of looking at them like the men he once considered family, he instead looked at them as if they were his prize. "This will be fun."
Author's note: And we start of the Act with a bang. And what is this, a chapter without Ela or Meghan, how? Well I can't keep the spotlight on them all the time. Anyway, I've wanted to do a scene for both Blitz and Montagne for a while and I thought a conversation between shield operators would be interesting, let me know what you think. And yes, the battle scene is partially based off of Operation Red Wings (from the movie Lone Survivor). I'm not sure if China actually has that type of terrain, but if you look at the in game map of Theme Park there is a heavily forested area outside the park. Also I'm looking forward to the new season, I'm thinking about maining Maverick. How do you guys feel about Grim Sky? As always, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a review. Until next time.