[] "Principium" []
[] 22:00 []
[] Ryad "Jackal" Al-Hassar[]
[] Headhunters: Hotel-2 []
[] Florence, Italy[]
"Look alive. Found a landing zone on the field" the pilot notified through the comms channel. "Once you're on foot, you're on your own. Six wishes you folks good luck" the pilot announced as the blackhawk began to slowly descend.
"Goggles on" the Polish operator, Zofia, would order her squad to activate their night vision.. She was the team leader today. Jackal didn't argue against it. He might be the oldest and most experienced of this group, but he accepts it when one is given a billet over him. After all, Zofia has proven to be very efficient in leading missions.
With everybody having visibility in pitch black darkness, they'd exit the helicopter one by one. Each squad member having their firearms raised and aimed just in case any possible contacts wanted to get the jump on the elite soldiers. Jackal found his way crouched next to Rainbow's two 707th operatives from South Korea. The Spanish man motioned for the two to advance and secure the area ahead as the blackhawk prepared itself to take off.
"Testing, testing" the comms channel would check in. "Headhunters, do you read? Report in."
Jackal would take the call. "Overwatch, this is Hotel-2. We hear you" he'd answer.
"Copy that Hotel-2. Head north from you position and meet up with with our friendly contacts. Check your fire and stay frosty. Overwatch out."
"It's easier said than done to just simply spot our friends" the final operator, Hibana, remarked.
"Watch for their red berets. I highly doubt that's something our foes would wear after all" Zofia joked as she took the lead for her team. "Hotel-2, on me" she'd order the Spanish man.
Jackal nodded as he aimed his rifle and moved up to the front of the fire team.
"That headset of your looks real nice" Vigil commented as he adjusted the position of both his kevlar mask and night vision. Clearly the man's getup was more uncomfortable compared to the rest.
Zofia halted the squad by putting her fist up. She'd crouch down, but lowered her rifle. "Smell that?" she got a whiff of the air. While the rest of the fire team raised their weapons expecting a fight, Jackal relaxed, as his goggles revealed the two pair of footprints. Footprints that belongs to the friendlies that Valkyrie mentioned upon their landing.
"Overwatch, do you read? Tell our friends to show themselves" Jackal requested despite being able to track them on his own.
"Copy that. Alibi, Maestro. Why don't the two of you introduce yourselves?" Valkyrie remarked.
There was silence. However, there was an infared light trying to attract Rainbow's squad. Jackal would point and motion for the team to head over for the rendezvous. Vigil would take point, keeping his SMG raised despite it being confirmed that the light was from friendlies. However, one can never be too sure. They are in a field after all. The Korean operator moved forward through the tall grass, only to be met with confusion.
"What the hell?" Vigil cursed as he crouched down and noticed a circular device mounted onto the ground. The metal ball would quickly open up, causing the operator to jump. Laughter followed further down as a red beret revealed itself.
"Found yourself acquainted with my Evil Eye?" the man snickered as the metal ball began to flicker its infared light. He was a big guy, that's for sure. He had a beard too. It wasn't the same size as Blackbeard's, but give it another month or two and it would get there.
"Exactly what is that?" Vigil growled while pointing at the device.
Dokkaebi crouched down, fascinated by the design. "Oh? Is this a camera?"
Before the conversation could continue between the Headhunters squad and the new stranger, a radio transmission would interrupt.
"I hate to interrupt the meet and greet, but we have a large patrol incoming. Might want to disperse" based on the accent, this was not Valkyrie. It must be the red beret's partner.
"You heard her. Spread out" Zofia ordered. Ever operator would distance themselves. The red beret would as well, but he took his device with him. "Team. Keep your comms open. We're outnumbered, but use our wits and the dark. I promise you we'll make it out of this" Zofia would pump up the fireteam.
Jackal was no all focused on himself. The dark was a lot more easier for him compared to his comrades. His headset's night vision is just overall more advanced. Alongside that is his very helpful tracking software. This will be a peace of cake for him. Jackal pulled out his sidearm, a suppressed USP. He'd move forward, trying to get a better visual of what they were up against. It looks like it was half a platoon of mobsters. All armed with simple primary firearms such as AKs. With the dark obscuring their vision, they of course had to have flashlights. It was an easy day for Rainbow.
"Engage at will team. Keep your toes quiet" Zofia would give everyone permission. Jackal slowly advanced forward, avoiding the beams from the flashlight attachments.
The first victim that fell prey to Jackal was a gang member that wandered too far from his group. While using the grass to his advantage, Jackal grabbed the man from behind and took him to the ground. The GEO operator would finish the job by snapping the poor man's neck. Following the assassination, Jackal turned his body and sighted into his pistol's iron sights. The mobster was unaware, so Jackal began to move forward. That was until he heard gunfire beyond his next prey. No matter, Jackal still got the kill by pulling the trigger. Now he had to figure out what happened.
"What's going on?" Jackal reported into the comms. "Status report."
"I'm good and well" Dokkaebi responded.
"Still kicking" Vigil followed.
"Haven't got caught yet" Hibana declared.
"I'm also good" Zofia checked.
Jackal looked around for the red beret. Nowhere to be found.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much" the unknown female voice would try to relax the fireteam.
"Headhunters, this is Overwatch. Maestro has given you all access to his Evil Eye. I'm transferring his feed."
Jackal was a bit unsure if he wanted to pull out his phone out right now. He'd do a quick perimeter check before crouching down and checking the cameras. Of course, he had his brightness all the way down. "This... is impressive" Jackal couldn't help but find interest.
Whatever the red beret was doing was keeping the mobsters off of Rainbow. Though, Jackal wished that the big man would have considered the stealthy option instead of this reckless one.
The feed showed Evil Eye damaging Mobsters with red lasers. The shots weren't as frequent, but it looked like Evil Eye was good at taking hits. 7.62 rounds are suppose to be hard hitting, yet the red beret's device is taking those hits like a champ. Suddenly, a barrage of machine gun fire would take out the hostile contacts swarmed near the Evil Eye camera.
A laugh came in from the chatter. It definitely came from the bearded operator. "Sorry friends. I'll have to leave the rest to you. Relocating" he'd announce before shutting his comms off.
"Headhunters, but advised. I'm picking up a couple readings coming from enemy technicals" Valkyrie warned.
"Oh? You guys have drones from above?" the unknown female voice seemed happy by the news.
"Jackal, Hibana. Work on those technicals. Everyone else continue on taking out the ground troops" Zofia ordered.
"Copy" Both Jackal and Hibana chimed in as they moved away from the firefight between red beret and the enemy contact. "Hibana. Rendezvous on my position." Jackal ordered as he switched to his primary. Unfortunately, Jackal's C7E assault rifle doesn't have a suppressor, but at this point, stealth isn't necessary.
Jackal and Hibana continued with their communication until they found their way to each other. Hibana struggled, but Jackal was at ease thanks to his gadget. "Okay, you think your launcher can take those technicals out?" Jackal asked.
It was clear through the night vision that Hibana was displeased at the suggested use of her gadget. Not a huge surprise since she was the main breacher, but as of right now, the two of them don't have a lot of options. "I can do it. We just need to get closer."
Jackal growled. "We'll end up revealing ourselves at that point." The Spanish operator checked in with Valkyrie, hoping she had a possible solution. "Overwatch, we need to get closer to the technicals."
"I think I have you covered" red beret's partner chimed in. Hibana and Jackal scanned the area until they noticed red beret standing straight up in the open. No, this red beret was skinnier and had no beard. The technical .50 cals took aimed. At the same time, Hibana stood up and readied herself to scream at the unknown figure to get down, but Jackal noticed something was off. The readings on his Eyenox was... different. The Spanish man decided to trust the unknown operator and tackled Hibana to the ground and covered the Japanese woman's mouth before she can compromise their position. Hibana widened her eyes as she heard the .50 cals go off. What she expected was a splatter of red as the female figure would drop to the ground, but what she got instead was flickers as the bullets whizzed through the body.
"Fools" a light flash from a smaller caliber gun revealed itself near by as one of the tangos on the turrets flew off the backside of the truck.
"That was a nice shot..." Jackal complimented as he helped Hibana back up.
While the second technical tried to aim towards the location of the shot that killed his buddy, Hibana took aim with her explosive and fired towards the front side of the vehicle. Immediately, she activated her gadget. The turret man would notice the delay of the detonation and jump out of the truck to run away. The driver however, was unaware. Hibana's pellet exploded and would take the entire vehicle with it. Meanwhile on the remaining technical, the driver jumped out and readied himself to replace the gunner that the unknown red beret killed.
"Relocating. I suggest you do as well" the female red beret announced.
Jackal and Hibana would immediately agreed as they rushed for the enemy technical while continuing to utilize the tall grass. .50 call rounds began to be shot near their location. Jackal was forced to enter a prone position. With his vision now limited, he was unaware of what happened to Hibana. "Hotel-4. Do you read?" he checked in on the SAT operator.
A groan responded. "Y-yeah. He kinda got me" Hibana managed to respond.
Jackal, now worried, was quick to reply. "What do you mean 'kinda?'"
"Don't worry about it. It's just a graze on my left arm" she reassured the team's second-in-command.
Jackal rolled his eyes as he prepared a smoke grenade. "Tossing smoke" he notified not only the two operators near him, but everyone. The operator threw the grenade and gave it time for the smoke to settle. The technical gunner would stop shooting. Either he had to reload, or the smoke really distracted him. Most likely, it was the latter. Jackal took this opportunity to stand up and rush towards the enemy vehicle. With the rifle aimed, he popped out of the smoke, firing two shots at his foe. One in the thigh, and one in the man's abdomen when he dropped onto his knees. That second shot knocked the gunner back, causing him to fall out the back of the vehicle just like the previous gunner.
The enemy vehicles were no longer a threat, but with one still functioning, Jackal had an idea. He moved forward, thinking of using the enemy's .50 cal against them, but it looked like the last survivor from the obliterated truck got the jump on Jackal. The gangster popped from around the corner of the truck, readying to fire a handgun at the Spanish operator. Jackal was quick though. He'd uppercut the man's arm with the butt of his rifle, causing the pistol to go off as it flew in the air. Jackal attempted to finish the man off, but this fucker was also quick. He grabbed Jackal's rifle and pinned the Spanish man onto the door of the truck. Jackal readied his retaliation, but notice a figure sneak up from behind. Before he could do anything, a knife found its way into the mobster's neck.
The poor guy choked on his own blood as he slowly fell to the ground. What stood behind was the second red beret that would assist the Headhunters in this operation. "Ah. So we finally meet" the female operator greeted.
With the firefight done, the group took time to make a quick brief. The two Italian red beret operators, Alibi and Maestro, were the two friendly contacts that Rainbow was set up to meet. Of course, by now that was obvious.
"So what, we're just taking out gang leaders? Sounds like a simple job" Vigil tried to summarize the brief.
"Not quite. Although yes, our mission is to cut off the head of the beast, we still have a secondary. A lot of people have gone missing and we believe that the bigger gangs have something to do with it. This one included" Alibi added in. "We're hoping that through this operation, we can find some intel."
"I'm confused" Dokkaebi interrupted. "Why include Rainbow in all of this? Couldn't this have been the problem that the GIS could solve by themselves?" the young Korean asked.
Maestro stepped forward, looking a bit more stern and serious compared to before. "You see lass, this might go world wide. These kidnappings, they're not regular. They're targeting the lower class. Perhaps the assumption is that nobody will be missing them."
"How do you know this?" Zofia asked out of suspicion.
"The GIS had a previous raid on another compound within the Tuscany region. There were pictures and documentation, all in different languages. It seems that they were scouting out kidnappings in different locations in the world. I was at a brief and saw certain locations such as the Eiffel Tower, Yankee Stadium, Shibuya Crossing. Lastly, there was a recorded conversation. The White Mask is involved."
The mentioned of the terrorist group had definitely changed the tone of the conversation. "It appears that these problems aren't just simple everyday gang incidents" Jackal commented. "So what's the plan here?" he'd ask the two Italian operators.
Alibi stepped up to fill the Rainbow operators in. "Northeast of here is a villa belonging some mobsters. We think that there are findings that your team might want to capture. A successful mission helps the GIS by taking out the leadership of a problematic gang within the Tuscany region while Rainbow gets more intel about the infamous White Masks. It's a win for both of us."
Vigil chuckled as he bumped Dokkaebi with his shoulder. "Six likes keeping secrets more than me" he tried to lighten up the mood. Dokkaebi only smiled as she shook her head and rolled her eyes. The Koreans had a complicated relationship from their father command, but Vigil tries to be somewhat of an older brother to the young operator.
Zofia quickly checked her timepiece. "We should get moving. I'd like to complete this before sunrise" she admitted. It appears that everybody else was in agreement.
[] "Principium" []
[] 23:00 []
[] Chul Kyang "Vigil" Hwa[]
[] Headhunters: Hotel-5 []
[] Florence, Italy[]
The villa was surrounded by brick walls. It would have been a good idea to climb over if it weren't for the cameras. The Headhunters had a solution to that though. "Leave this to me. I'll take the gate guards out from the inside and we'll continue from there" Vigil reassured his team before making his way towards the walls. "I'm no Cav, but this will do" he thought about the Brazilian as he activated his ERC-7. Now that he was hidden from the cameras, Vigil hugged the brick wall as he readied his rappel. The compound had plenty of lights, so he had to take his night vision off. He'll be honest when saying that it was more comfortable this way.
The 707th operator climbed the wall with ease. Upon landing, he raised his K1A submachine gun. The weapon had a reflex sight, suppressor, and laser attached, but the laser remained off for now. While sticking close to the wall and darkness, Vigil advanced until he found his way to the front of the gate. The Korean crouched behind a couple bushes so he could take some time to quickly plan his attack. "Oh this ain't good" he would notice a somewhat rough situation. Two guards guarding the gate itself while one was inside the control shed. Alongside that was a single camera. Vigil's gadget will keep him safe from the camera, so that problem is crossed off the checklist. However, killing the men will raise suspicion. Unless...
Vigil took aim and fired at the camera, instantly shattering it. Of course, the guards took notice, but they weren't going to be fast enough. The suppressed gunshots took out the two in front of the gate. Vigil prepared to take out the guard in the shed, but noticed that the poor bugger had on a pair of headphones. "This seems too easy" the Korean sighed as he readied his knife and approached the mobster. The door was already left open. All Vigil did was sneak up behind and cover the man's mouth as the knife was shoved underneath his victim's chin. With the guards now out of the way, Vigil opened up the gate for his team. "You guys are clear" he notified them before beginning to hide the two bodies outside. They'd remain in the shed with the doors closed. Vigil would quickly shoot out the lights just in case.
Dokkaebi looked up at the camera that her fellow 707th member shot out. She was clearly upset. "You don't think that they'd have found that suspicious?" she shared her concern.
"It's one camera. They might send a technician to check it out. You can still loop the rest of cameras within the compound" Vigil argued her statement. Vigil didn't stop there. He pulled out the phone belonging to one of the guards. "Do your thing" he smirked behind the mask. Although Dokkaebi couldn't see his face, she definitely knew the expression her friend made.
Alibi walked up to Vigil as the rest covered the perimeter. "Well, Phase One is done. Good job" she complimented Vigil.
"I hope your boy over there doesn't compromise us again" Vigil looked over towards Maestro who only smiled. The big man was oddly not offended, but in agreement.
"Yeah, he'll keep post on this area. You said it yourself, a technician might check out the camera" Alibi shared her solution. "Let's be honest, it'll get loud again once we breach."
Vigil nodded in agreement. "I'm excited for this part."
"Is everybody in position?" Zofia asked through comms.
"We're ready when you are" Alibi responded as she aimed her sidearm towards the door. She and Dokkaebi were stacked on the back door behind Vigil.
"Power is cut off. Get your night visions back on" the Headhunter leader announced.
With the green light there, Vigil opened up the backdoor to the villa. Jackal entered the garage alone while Zofia would rappel up to the top floor. The front door was an option, but it was left empty. Maestro as planned kept the front gate secured with his Evil Eye and light machine gun. He was too big and bulky for stealth operations anyways.
Now that everyone was in pitch black darkness, Vigil turned on his laser and used that to aim instead of his reflex. Everyone moved slowly with precision. Alibi and Dokkaebi dispersed away from him to cover more ground. Vigil heard chatter ahead, so he approached. Upon turning the corner of a pillar, he noticed two very confused gang members. Very quickly, the Korean operator dropped them with semi-automatic fire. Further back was what looked like an office room. It looked like another gang member heard the suppressed gunshots, but before he could apprehend Vigil, Jackal snuck up behind the mobster and got a quick and silent knife kill.
"I got you covered" he reassured Vigil. "Advance towards Zofia upstairs. Alibi, you and Dokkaebi find a way to the basement. I'll clear the rest of this floor."
"Copy" the two females responded. They haven't made a gunshot yet. Whether they got kills or not, it was good. It meant that the team was still hidden.
Vigil kept his movements slow and quiet as he crept up the stairs. His rifle remained raised during his approach. The Korean kept moving forward until he heard chattering, so he stopped. "English?" he was able to recognize the language his enemies spoke in. While one spoke with an accent of a non-native speaker, the other was very fluent. This was suspicious to Vigil. This villa should only have had Italian mobsters. He peeked over a corridor of the hallway and saw nobody there, so he advanced until he saw a figure on the other side of the hallway.
If it weren't for the figure motioning Vigil over, he would have mistook them for an enemy. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it was Zofia, so he quietly made his way over. Upon regrouping with his Polish friendly, he noticed her pressing a finger to her lips before pointing over at a nearby room.
"You're telling me a rich mobster like you can't keep simple lights on!? You should be ashamed! You're lucky that we even decided to partner up with you!" the English speaker would throw insults. It seems the other men were arguing back with their broken English. There was no time to continue listening in though.
"That man sounds important. Let's keep him alive" Vigil whispered. Zofia nodded in agreement. The two crouched down and positioned themselves besides each other. While Zofia watched the doorway Vigil took out a drone would quietly set it on the ground. He'd maneuver it into the room to scout out the people inside. There were four men in what looked like a trophy room. Two armed with assault rifles while the other two kept a sidearm in thigh holsters. Vigil spotted the man speaking English though. His apparel was odd. The man had a trench coat on with body armor beneath it. He wore all black, but what was very odd was the headgear. It was a full kevlar helmet that covered the wearer's entire head other than two slits for the eyes. This definitely was not aligned with any military. Last Vigil checked, White Mask wouldn't wear this dark apparel either. Zofia was standing besides the Korean operator and seemed to be in agreement. She looked at him and tilted her head at the doorway to begin the breach. Vigil nodded, as he was ready to finish this mission.
He'd stack up at the doorway with Zofia behind him. She prepared a flashbang and showed him which Vigil nodded to. Proceeding with the plan they made up on the spot, she leaned over him and tossed the flashbang in. Of course, the men inside heard the bouncing of the thrown object. Even though the darkness prevented them from seeing to begin with, the sudden flash of the grenade stunned them which allowed Vigil and Zofia extra time.
Without hesitation, Vigil moved in. His laser pointed at one rifleman before Vigil fired a pair of shots into the chest, then one to the head. In unison, Zofia did the same to the second rifleman. The third man managed to unholster his sidearm, but Vigil made quick work of the man by firing several shots into the man's torso. The poor guy never stood a chance. The unknown man recovered quickly from the disorientation and was also able to get his pistol out, but Zofia used the butt of her rifle to knock it out his hand. She then followed up her assault by dropping her rifle and letting her sling catch it. Zofia finished her attack by shoulder throwing the man to the ground.
The Polish woman let out a gasp after noticing the heavy amount of weight the man carried. His outfit was heavily armored.
"Don't move" Vigil growled while aiming his weapon at the hostage. "It's you're lucky day. You're being kept alive."\
The man oddly laughed. "Maybe a lucky day for me, but not for you" he threatened. "You mess with one, and you face the entire pack!" Vigil and Zofia were confused by this statement. There was no time to question the man though. His body suddenly tensed up, and he began to have a seizure. Zofia quickly crouched down and removed their hostages helmet. It was too late though. The man's eyes were lifeless, and his mouth foamed up due to an excess of saliva.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me" she cursed before looking up at Vigil. "His secrets were more important than his life." There was a clear look of frustration.
"Who is this man?" Vigil questioned.
"I'd like to know that too" Zofia thought the same. "I'm going to search the body. Clear the rest of the floor" she'd tell her squadmate.
Vigil nodded and exited the room to make sure the rest of the mobsters were dead. The second floor didn't have very much going for it. The rest of the rooms were empty, so Vigil checked in with the rest.
"Team. What's your status?" He called over the radio.
"No more enemies on the first floor" Jackal was quick to respond.
"Same here" Dokkaebi would follow up after. "There is a large amount of Compound-Z in the basement. Nothing on the kidnappings though. Still, White Mask really was involved."
"Not just the White Mask it seems..." Vigil mumbled. "Maestro. Anything to report."
"Nothing at the moment my friend. If our job is done, I'm ready to go home and get a drink" the older Italian man laughed through the COMMS channel.
"We'll do another sweep around the Villa for some intel. We'll take what we can fine" Alibi threw in an input.
"I don't think the intel we find here is going to help" Vigil hinted at some bad news.
There was a pause in the radio. "What do you mean?" Alibi finally asked.
"More questions than answers" Zofia chimed in.