April 1st, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
West Coast Rainbow HQ
Portland, OR. USA
Derrick was currently sleeping in his dorm at HQ. He had spent the previous night responding to yet another search and rescue call. This time it happened to be at night and, surprise surprise, it involved him rescuing a group of hikers who were lost in the mountains. The Portland Mountain Rescue had specifically requested Derrick by name and he responded immediately. He had been able to locate the group of teens due to the fact that one of them apparently had a flare gun and had fired it into the sky.
"Yo, dispatch. I've got them. They seem to be on the...south side of Mount Hood. Do you want me to set down and retrieve them or are you guys gonna send a team of climbers?" he had asked.
"Roger. Is there a place you can actually set down?" the dispatch operator answered.
"Might scratch the paint on this thing but yeah, I think I can do it. Give me about 30 minutes," Derrick responded and began his descent. Due to his incredible piloting skills he was able to land somewhat near the group of hikers and ushered them over to his chopper.
"Come on guys, plenty of room for everyone. Anyone call shotgun? Oh dear...what's wrong with her?" Derrick asked one of the hikers. One of the hikers, a red headed female, was currently holding her arm at a funny angle and holding her ribs and leaning against a tree in pain.
"She fell. I think her arm, leg and one of her ribs are broken. Can you help her?" the bespectacled teen asked.
"Of course I can, it might hurt her a bit. Gather your things and climb in," Derrick said and made his way over to the injured girl.
"I'll carry you, ready? One...two.. THREE!" Derrick easily lifted the girl off the ground while she yelped in pain. He carried her to the chopper and set her down on one of the back seats and closed the doors. He climbed back into the pilot's chair and started up the chopper.
"Dispatch, it's Castellano. I got them and am making my way back to base,"
"Affirmative, great work. Their families are beside themselves with worry," the dispatch operator responded. Derrick returned with the group of teens about 20 minutes later. He was profusely thanked by the teens' parents and informed the parents of the injured girl that she had a few broken bones. It had been about 1am when Derrick returned to HQ and crashed, still fully clothed, onto his bed and fell asleep immediately.
He woke up around 11am on this cloudy morning. After sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Derrick registered what the date was and grinned. April 1st. April Fools Day and, more importantly, his birthday.
"Oh goodie, what ELSE do I have planned for Megs and or Skywalker today?" He said to himself quietly and took out his phone. He looked down the list of his ideas before shaking his head. "Later, need me some breakfast, a shower and a kiss from Tina before I decide on anything." He took off his outer clothes, only leaving his sleeveless undershirt and boxer shorts on before he grabbed his towel and made his way out the door. As soon as he opened it, a confetti cannon went off above him and he was showered with multicolored paper. He closed his eyes and sighed...before getting a whipped cream pie smashed on his face.
"Gotcha little brother!" Meghan said and gave Derrick a weirdly sticky hug while he wiped the whipped cream from his eyes. "Happy Birthday Derrick!"
"Yet again I must say that you can't beat the classics," Derrick said and flicked some whipped cream onto Meghan's face. "You were lucky I haven't showered yet,"
"Yeah about that, I took one earlier after my morning workout.."
"Ok, gross," Derrick interrupted, using his towel to wipe the rest of the cream off his face.
"Anyway, I might need to take another. For some reason I smell fruity and feel all sti-..." Meghan noticed Derrick's trademark Cheshire Cat-like grin on his face. "Jesus. Fucking. CHRIST Derrick."
"You can't. Beat. The MASTER," Derrick said and grabbed the half eaten sleeve of Lifesavers candy off his nearby dresser and showed it to her. Meghan scowled.
"So much for not going in the women's shower again. I suppose I'll let it slide cause it's your birthday," she said angrily.
"Couldn't resist big sis. Got the idea last night when I rescued those teens, now I recommend you take another shower before a certain Frauline gets wind of this rather sticky situation," Derrick said and chuckled at his own wit. Meghan gave him a reluctant smile, pecked him on the cheek and said
"Tina's waiting for you in the cafe" before she walked off.
After his non-sticky shower, Derrick arrived in the cafeteria freshly clothed and not smelling like fruit flavored hard candy to see Tina sitting there alone, apparently waiting for him. He snuck up behind her and said
"Excuse me miss, this seat taken?" Tina jumped slightly before registering who it was and gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the lips.
"Happy Birthday Sweetie, here I got this for you," she said and handed him what looked like a folded jacket. It was black and had Viking-esque designs all over it including what looked like a depiction of Loki on the back wearing sunglasses and riding a horse into battle. Derrick smiled and gave Tina a hug.
"Outstanding, I've been needing a new jacket," he said and set it down next to him and began to eat.
"I know, I heard you mention it a few times," Tina said, rubbing his shoulder.
"God damn you are the best Canadian girlfriend ever,"
"Again, I know," Tina quickly pecked him on the cheek again. "I'll be in the lab all day today. Ash and Craig are currently in there and I need to go hit the gym. We're both off tonight. Your other present you'll get later tonight."
"Oh boy! I hope it's an Xbox!" Derrick said jokingly, knowing full well what the present actually was. Tina rolled her eyes but she still smiled at him.
"Dork. I'll see you later, ok?" she said
"I'll be in there at some point today too," Derrick responded. Tina kissed him again and then made her way out of the cafeteria. Derrick continued eating his breakfast in silence before Lukas entered looking a bit disheveled.
"Hey buddy, Meghan tells me it's your birthday...really...it's on April Fools Day...makes sense," Lukas said as he grabbed a plate and sat down.
"What's with the ruffled up hair Young Skywalker?" Derrick said with a knowing grin on his face. Derrick of course knew that Ela and Lukas had started to become a bit of an item due to his interference. Lukas must have just gotten away from an early morning make out session with Ela.
"Nothing…" Lukas said quickly and looked around the room for anyone else.
"Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Have you learned nothing from your father?" Derrick said, pretending to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. Lukas smiled and nodded.
"Alright Master, you got me. Yes I was with Ela. She seems to hate any time she's not wrapped in my arms or something," Lukas said, taking a bite of toast.
"Well, ain't that cute. So what, are you guys like me and Tina? Secret but not really boy/girlfriend?" Derrick asked.
"I think so, dunno. We have another date next weekend."
"Beach again? Cause I remember you when you got back with her last time. How many cold showers did you take?"
"Asshole," Lukas said, throwing a bit of toast at Derrick.
"Rude!" Derrick said before he noticed Elena walk in and he shouted "He's calling me names Elena! I'm UPSET!" and pretended to pout. Elena, as usual, grinned at him.
"When you two clowns are done, Craig and Miss KickInTheDoor would like to see you in the lab. I think we finally cracked one of those codes you got from that intel dump back in Seattle Derrick," she said. Derrick and Lukas exchanged looks when Elena had said Miss KickInTheDoor. The two of them had agreed not to ask about Elena and Ash's relationship after overhearing an argument between the 2 of them one evening. Ash had stormed out of the lab and basically right into Derrick and he had caught her before she hit the ground. She had adjusted her hat, muttered "thanks" before storming away while cursing in what Derrick thought was Greek. Lukas had assumed it was French. Either way, neither man was going to ask.
"What was that look for?" Elena asked the pair of them.
"Nothing," both Derrick and Lukas answered. Elena raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't it your birthday Derrick? Meghan was saying something about a whipped cream pie earlier then I saw her muttering under her breath and going to take her second shower of the day...did...did you rig the shower again?" Elena asked quickly, putting the pieces together.
"Well...actually a certain German lady did that for me," Derrick said and nodded in the direction of Monika who just entered the cafe herself. Monika grinned back and gave Derrick the thumbs up. Lukas raised his own eyebrows.
"Wow...how did you get her to do that?"
"She seemed to be on board with it. Guess she wanted to prank my dear older sister that she has a crush on. She actually caught me on my way to the showers last night and offered to do it for me," Derrick answered and finished off his bacon. "Righto Duke Boy, you heard Elena. We are needed in the lab."
Derrick and Lukas arrived in the lab about 30 minutes later. Craig and Ash were already in there looking over a few files.
"There they are," Craig said, looking up from the desk. Derrick thought it was a little weird seeing Craig without his sunglasses on, plus the guy had insisted on being called Craig when not on duty. Ash looked up at the sound of Craig's voice and gave the both of them a quick smile.
"What do you got? I'm surprised that it took this long to crack that code. Not like that particular group of White Masks was smart if you remember." Derrick said, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table alongside Lukas.
"Oh I remember Big Kahuna," Ash said, giving Derrick another quick smile. Derrick grimaced while Lukas chuckled.
"Anyway, what I managed to find out is that they plan to do a similar attack on Northwestern University in Washington State," Ash said, pointing out the college on the map in front of them.
"What we plan to do is evacuate the student body and quarantine the area with help from the Washington State National Guard," Craig added.
"I assume I'm acting as an evac pilot?" Derrick asked.
"And I will be on the ground team with you two sweeping for hostile activity?" Lukas asked. Craig nodded.
"See, told you they'd be on board," Craig said, clapping Derrick and Lukas on their shoulders.
"Fantastic. This will be your first assignment strictly under my command without either of your sisters on board. We get the job done and we get it done my way, understand?" Ash said, folding her arms.
"Yes ma'am," both Derrick and Lukas said. Derrick also noted the fact that this would be the first mission he was to go on without his sister by his side or on comms. Lukas seemed to have a similar feeling.
"You two are doing just fine. Derrick, I heard about last night and how you helped those hikers. It reminded me of what you did for my brother. And Lukas, remember how happy those kids were when you kept them company as Zofia, Jordan and Monika saved their parents from a hostage situation?" Ash asked. Derrick gave Lukas a bit of a smug look while Lukas himself looked a little shifty. Ela had heard about that and apparently let Lukas "score a double" that night. Ash, thankfully, didn't notice (or just ignored it).
"The potential date is the 17th. I'll provide you with more details when the time comes. In the meantime, you are dismissed. Derrick, enjoy your night with Tina. I hear it's your birthday...and it's on April Fools Day...figures…" Ash said and gave Derrick a little one armed hug before she herself left.
"I mean...I can give you a hug too but I'm married" Craig said and chuckled.
"Hilarious, Captain Teach," Derrick said.
The rest of Derrick's birthday was pretty uneventful all things considered as he spent it in the lab along with Tina. Meghan, who no longer smelled like fruit flavored candy, came up to him in the lab and gave him her present of a new wallet.
"Thanks Megs, the old one was falling apart," he said, giving her a one armed hug as his other hand was busy typing a command on the computer.
"Gerne geschehen...right?" Meghan asked tentatively. Derrick nodded. Meghan had been practicing the German Derrick taught her. It was mainly just some words and letter pronunciations. Like how w's are technically pronounced as v's and j's are pronounced as y's.
"That's the one!" he said ruffling her hair. "I can give you a little lesson now if you want. All I'm doing today is designing some new UI for my projector."
"Sure," Meghan said and pulled up a chair next to him. Tina sat a few tables over drawing up some diagrams for a new project. She caught Derrick's eye and smiled.
"Alright, remember what I taught you last time right?" Derrick asked.
"A little. You basically said sentence structure in German is pretty similar to how it is in English along with a few words and how to pronounce letters," she responded.
"In a nutshell, yes. I could go into more detail but that's not important right now. Let's see...ah! See if you can figure out what I'm saying. Ready?" Derrick prompted. Meghan nodded.
"Du bist meine Schwester," he said.
"Did you say 'you are my sister'?" Meghan asked. Derrick nodded.
"I did. Du is you, bist is are, meine is my and Schwester is sister. Like Italian, there are words that are masculine and femine. For the feminine words, you would say meine. So stuff like sister, mother, wife, daughter, cat, you get the point. For the masculine words, you would say mein. It's the same with the German word for 'a'. Like a cat would be 'eine Katze' and a young boy would be 'ein Junge'. See if you can tell me that I am your brother. Don't overthink it. Remember how I said a good amount of German words are similar to English ones," Derrick explained. Meghan thought for a moment. Over her shoulder Derrick could see Monika standing in the doorway smiling at them. Meghan wasn't paying attention to him so he quickly put his finger to his lips. Monika nodded.
"Du bist mein...broder?" Meghan asked.
"Close. Bruder," Derrick corrected. "If you dropped the er on that last word, you would have essentially called me your bread." Meghan smiled. Monika did too. She had inched a little farther into the room at this point so she wasn't blocking the doorway.
"Remember how to say hi?" Derrick asked.
"Ja, Hallo," Meghan answered. Derrick nodded again noting the use of "ja".
"There you go. Now, if you aren't a rude human being, you normally ask the person how they're doing after saying hi right? Well, that would be 'wie gehts' because you know her. It's a little different when it's an entirely new person you're talking to," Derrick said. He gave a discreet signal to Monika telling her to hang on a second.
"So if I wanted to ask Monika or Lukas how they were doing, it would just be something like 'Hallo Monika, wie gehts?'"
"Sehr gut. Und dir?" Monika answered. Meghan jumped a little at the sound of her voice and turned to see Monika standing there. She also tended to flinch whenever her current crush spoke to her much like Derrick had with Tina. Meghan looked from Monika to Derrick. Derrick encouraged her with a nod.
"Gut, danke," she said. Derrick patted Meghan on the shoulder and pretended to become all teary eyed.
"She's...she's so smart! I'm so proud!" he said in a mock shaky voice. Monika laughed and Derrick saw Meghan inhale sharply at the sound of it. How sweet.
"Another thing I used to do was listen to songs in German. I mainly did the Phil Collins songs from Tarzan. Absolute BANGERS remember? That man went way too hard on that soundtrack,'" Derrick said. Monika nodded.
"Lukas liked that one. I took him to see that movie when he was 9," Monika said and sat at another computer and pulled up a diagram of something Derrick couldn't make out at this distance.
"Hand in Hand. Woher kommst du? Sag, von woooooOOOOoooooo!" Derrick sang. He could tell Tina was on the verge of tackling him in a fierce hug and kiss but she resisted. Meghan grinned at him. "Alright, enough messin around, I want to finish this before Elena and begin to blow shit up today. 10 out of 10. Best birthday ever."
April 17th, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
West Coast Rainbow HQ Northwestern University
Portland, OR. USA Kirland, WA. USA
Derrick stood waiting by the chopper dressed in his combat fatigues. The last 2 weeks leading up to this mission hadn't been all that special. Not a lot of calls and plenty of time hanging with his comrades and building team morale..except this day, morale with the person he cared about as much as Meghan had angered him. He was the first to arrive at the airfield after he had left Tina to stew in anger earlier. They had argued over something completely meaningless the previous night and continued into this morning. Derrick was so angry with himself that he couldn't even remember what it was they fought about. Something about him not being completely serious about answering some dumb question. Derrick shook his head from side to side as he tried to remember. Was it about Tina's mother or something? No way. He wasn't that stupid. Answering the question "does this make me look fat" honestly with no and then being told he was lying? Nah, that wasn't it either.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I still love her," Derrick said out loud to himself before registering what he had just said. Had he just said that he loved Tina? Yes, he did and he felt that he meant it too. Sure they had only really been going out for about a month but they spent a lot of time together either at work or out in Portland or at his condo. Derrick remembered the gift Tina had given him once he walked into his condo on the night of his birthday. He had gotten about 2 steps in before Tina's head was way below his belt if you catch the drift. That was one awesome evening. Back to last night's events, Derrick had just now remembered what his dad had told him once about arguing with a girlfriend.
"Never go to bed angry son. Trust me. It causes problems in the morning." Unfortunately, Derrick and Tina had gone to bed angry. Derrick had to sleep on his couch in his own god damn house. Bogus. It was when this part of last night stuck out in his mind was when Derrick remembered what Tina was angry about. Apparently, she thought Ash had a crush on him and he had requested that Tina stay behind...or something absolutely ridiculous like that. Tina had said something along the lines of "I hope she watches out for you better than I ever could!" before Derrick walked out the door. Not her usual cheerful goodbye or quick kiss on the cheek or lips. Nope. Just continued rage for something that was false. Derrick looked towards the road to see Ash, Craig and Lukas making their way towards him in a Jeep. He nodded at the 4 of them and got ready to do his preflight check. Craig was the first to speak with him
"Hey Derrick, did you and Tina fight or something last night? She was looking at Ash with absolute fury this morning," Craig asked softly so Ash couldn't hear. She was busy going over the plan with Lukas to notice anyway. Derrick nodded and quickly explained what happened the previous night. He nodded.
"Classic. Don't worry about it man. I think Tina's just a little worried about you and how Meghan's not the female presence on your team this time." Craig said. Now that Derrick thought about it, every time he had responded to a call it had been just him alone or him with Meghan, Zofia or Tina as one of his female teammates. Never just Ash. Zofia was married and Meghan was his sister so Tina must not have been worried.
"Does she think Ash has a crush on me or something?" Derrick asked before he could stop himself. Craig cocked an eyebrow.
"I don't think so. You didn't hear this from me, but Ash likes Jordan. Like big time. Tina might be jealous that she's not coming. No idea man...Hmm? Oh coming," Craig was called over to Ash as Lukas walked to Derrick.
"You and Tina alright? She asked me to keep an eye on Ash for some reason," he asked Derrick in German in a low voice. Derrick again explained what happened between him and Tina last night.
"Sheesh, she's a bit of a jealous pants huh? Ela is too. You should see the dirty looks she gives the girls checking me out when we're together." Lukas said, patting Derrick on the shoulder. Derrick couldn't help himself.
"Luke, if...if for some reason I don't come back from this...can you tell...can you tell her I love her," Derrick said to his best friend. Lukas looked as if he registered the use of his name rather than a nickname before responding.
"Derrick, come on man. We're coming ba-"
"Lukas. Please. Promise me." Derrick said, gripping his friend's shoulder. Lukas looked into Derrick's eyes before realizing he was serious. Lukas nodded and seemed to wrestle with the same kind of internal feelings Derrick was at the moment.
"And if I don't...can you tell Ela…" Lukas began before Derrick nodded.
"You got it Skywalker," he said and grinned. Lukas grinned back.
The preflight check went as planned and R6 Alpha was in the air and on their way to Northwestern University in Kirkland, WA. Ash was seated next to Derrick and Blackbeard and Amp were in the back checking their weapons and gear. Derrick's job was to assist the National Guard in any way he could while keeping a comm channel open for orders from Ash. The trip there was pretty easy but when they got within about a couple hundred yards was when things got interesting. First of all, there was yellow like gas spreading throughout some of the buildings and part of the grounds while people were running around frantically on the ground. Derrick looked at Ash who swore loudly.
"Shit! Lower us on the ground here! We'll keep in touch!" Ash ordered and Derrick complied immediately. The 3 of his comrades exited the chopper and Derrick took flight again.
"Washington National Guard? This is R6 Alpha's pilot. Codename Loki. I am ready and willing to provide air support and evacuation of the nearby civilians. Over," Derrick said into his headset microphone.
"Loki, we copy. We have reports of a group of students trapped on the roof of a parking garage nearby your location. You are the Black Hawk in the air, correct? Over,"
"Affirmative, I have eyes on the students. I'll set down and retrieve them. Over,"
"Do you need backup? Over"
"I'll be alright for now,"
Derrick assisted in the evacuation of many civilians over the next hour. Once or twice he caught a glimpse of the attacking White Masks and defended himself when needed.
"IT'S THE FUCKER FROM SEATTLE!" one White Mask shouted at Derrick when he saw him. Derrick recognized this guy as the dude talking about the attack in Vermont they were planning. Derrick actually shot him this time as he led some college students to his chopper. This was far more intense combat than he had ever seen before. Ash had told him that the White Masks started the attack much earlier than she had thought and as a result, there were casualties. The 4 Rainbow ops brought gas masks just in case and this turned out to be a good idea once Derrick saw what happened to some of the unlucky ones. Their faces looked melted off and it looked as if they had coughed up parts of their insides as they died. Derrick shook his head in anger whenever he saw one of these bodies. A few of them looked younger than college aged too. Apparently, it was an Open House day at the college. Eventually, after several back and forth trips between various buildings rescuing civilians, many of which clung to him like he was some kind of god sent to save them, Ash called him on his commlink.
"Loki, we're done here. Come back to where you dropped us off."
"On my way ma'am" Derrick responded after starting up his chopper and lifting off.
April 17th, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
Northwestern University
Kirkland, WA. USA
Lukas and his comrades jumped out of the chopper as Loki set it down. He also put on his gas mask immediately lest he be subjected to the gasses effects. The 3 man squad made their way through the campus, checking corners and eliminating hostiles. Blackbeard had one of his rifle shields on and was in front while Lukas and Ash took up the rear. Ash looked at some of the bodies lying on the ground. She turned the dead man's head so he faced her and swore again.
"Fuck, they attacked eariler than I expected. Loki, come in,'' she said. Loki's voice responded.
"You called?" he said.
"What's your status,"
"Currently engaged with a squad of White Masks escorting a group of students. We're fine. On the roof behind you and to the left. I've evaced about...15 people so far?"
"Roger, keep us post-" Ash began before Lukas tackled her to the ground as bullets flew at the spot where her head was a moment ago. Lukas had also been priming one of his grenades while she talked as he heard other men talking nearby. He covered Ash with his body and threw the grenade in the direction of the gunfire. The sonic burst of sound echoed throughout the somewhat empty campus and 3 men started yelling in agony. Lukas looked up and fired his rifle 3 times. All head shots. All 3 White Masks dropped to the ground dead. Blackbeard was firing in another direction too.
"Assholes, we're clear. You alright Ash," he said, turning to Lukas and Ash. Lukas offered Ash his hand. Ash took it and got to her feet.
"Thanks Amp," she said and leveled her own rifle.
"Anytime" Lukas answered and covered her six. The 3 of them spent the next hour breaching and clearing any building they felt needed checking. They had engaged with the White Masks a few times but they always seemed to catch them by surprise and eliminate them quickly. The White Masks were not at all equipped to deal with Lukas's improved sonic grenades. He had even used the grenades "weaken wall" feature to shoot some enemies through some reinforced walls. Blackbeard grinned when he had done this. He had been there when Lukas tried that tactic for the first time during the Tournament of Champions.
After clearing the final building, the 3 of them began to make their way back to the clearing Loki dropped them off at.
"Loki, we're done here. Come back to where you dropped us off" Ash said.
"On my way ma'am," Loki responded. Lukas took off his gas mask and looked around the area. The yellow gas had basically disappeared at this point and multiple biohazard teams were beginning to move in. Ash took off her own mask too.
"How many casualties did you see?" she asked the pair of men.
"I saw at least twenty...maybe thirty," Blackbeard answered. Lukas nodded. He saw Loki's helicopter in the distance begin to make its way toward them. As he watched it get closer to their position, he spotted movement on one of the rooftops. Lukas squinted at what he identified as a man...in a white hoodie...with an
"DERRICK! RPG! EVADE!" Lukas yelled into his commlink….but it was too late. The man fired his rocket and it connected with the tail of Derrick's helicopter. Ash and Blackbeard had turned at the sound of the explosion.
"HOLY FUCK! NO!"
"SHIT SHIT SHIT!"
"DERRICK! COME IN, DO YOU COPY?!" Ash yelled desperately. Static. Lukas watched helplessly as he watched Derrick's chopper spin out of control and crash in the nearby state park among the trees.
"SON OF A FUCKING BITCH! MOVE! ON HIS LOCATION! NOW!" Ash shouted and sprinted off in the direction of the impact site. Lukas and Blackbeard followed. Lukas himself was beside himself with rage. It was his fault that Derrick was just shot down. If he had said something 30 second earlier, Derrick could have avoided the rocket. The 3 of them arrived in the state park near the crash site about 15 minutes later. At first they couldn't find where the chopper was before
"THERE!" Blackbeard shouted and pointed to some downed trees and what looked like a smoking helicopter. Lukas took a grand total of 5 steps when KA-BOOM! The downed helicopter exploded in a ball of fire. Lukas and the others ducked behind trees as debris began to rain down from the sky.
"NO! NO NO NO NO! CASTELLANO...DERRICK!" Ash was shouting. Blackbeard was doing the same.
"DERRICK! IT'S ME! ANSWER ME!" Lukas yelled into his commlink.
"Oops...did I do that?" a different voice responded. It was malevolent and filled with glee.
"WHO ARE YOU!" Lukas demanded but the voice did not respond again. What the fuck was that?! Lukas peeked around the side of his tree only to experience absolute misery. The chopper was on fire. There was no sign of Derrick's grinning face anywhere. He didn't appear out of the trees making some witty remark or answer any of Ash's frantic yelling. Lukas watched as Ash ran towards the wreckage of the helicopter but Blackbeard held her away from the red hot flames. Lukas saw that Ash had tears running down her face and Blackbeard did too. He seemed to notice himself begin to shed tears. He knelt on the ground as the fire crews began to move in and extinguish the flames. Lukas suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knee. He looked down to see...Derrick's sunglasses in the dirt. They were covered in a bit of ash and dirt but relatively unharmed...unlike their owner. Blackbeard scooped something else off of the ground that looked like a silvery necklace with 2 large silver tags. Derrick's dog tags. Blackbeard held the tags out for Ash to see and she looked away towards Lukas. She noticed the pair of sunglasses in his hands and she gasped and put her finger up to her comm link.
"Ash to HQ...we need an evac chopper...Rainbow down…"
The chopper, piloted by Elena, arrived about an hour later. Elena looked around at the 3 of them before noticing something was off between them.
"What's with the evac call? Where's Der-" Elena began.
"Alvarez, if you say his name I will break your nose." Ash said, cutting her off. Elena looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm not kidding." Ash continued. Elena looked from her to Lukas and saw the pair of sunglasses in his hand.
"Wait...Rainbow down...No…" Ash nodded at her. Elena gasped and then turned forward and began to wipe her eyes.
"Get us out of here Elena. Now…" Ash said shakily. Elena complied with no hesitation. Ash pounded the seat next to her.
"GOD DAMMIT!" she shouted and put her head in her hands. Derrick Castellano was gone. Taken from this world by a group of maniacs that wanted nothing more than chaos and death. It was all his fault. If Elena's reaction was any indication of what's to come when the rest of the team finds out...oh no...Tina….oh FUCK...Meghan.
"Ash...I'll do it...I'll tell her…"
"Weiss…" Ash began and looked up at Lukas with watery eyes. It was the first time he had seen her like this.
"Eliza, do you want to deal with Tina or Meghan? It's not going to be pretty either way. You could explain to Tina that you don't have a crush on Derrick. Did you see how angrily she was staring at you earlier? Or do you want to explain what happened to Meghan?" Lukas continued sternly. Ash contemplated for a moment as Lukas heard Elena crying silently from the pilot seat. He knew Elena really liked Derrick's company. Ash eventually nodded at Lukas and Craig handed him Derrick's dog tags.
"Tina...I'll...I'll" she began before putting her head in her hands again. Lukas turned the tags in his hands and began to read them. One read "Castellano, Derrick J. 033-01-994X AF. A Positive. No Religion" The last number of Derrick's SSN was scratched off. Possibly due to the explosion. The other read the same thing but on the back of each tag, it read "Brother of Castellano, Meghan J. of the US Navy SEALS." Tears splashed onto the tags as Lukas read them. He'd just lost his best friend...but Meghan was about to find out that she lost her little brother.
April 17th, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
West Coast Rainbow HQ
Portland, OR. USA
The team arrived back at HQ an hour or so later. The ride over from the airfield was completely silent. No one said a word. All 4 of them grieved in their own way. Lukas was still holding Derrick's glasses and dog tags in his hand as they got out of the Jeep and entered the Facility. The voice that mocked him still rang in his mind. Who was that? Was he the one that shot Derrick out of the air? If so, this bastard was so fucking dead if Lukas ever found out who it was. Jordan greeted them before Ash pretty much fell into him and began crying again. Jordan looked confused for a second before he registered who was missing.
"Oh no…" he said and embraced Ash. The other 3 looked at each other before making their way toward the lab. They all knew what was about to happen. There was no turning back now. Lukas peeked into the room to see Meghan in there working on her Gyro Cams. He also spotted Derrick's projector on a nearby table and he inhaled sharply. Meghan looked up at the noise and saw Lukas standing in the doorway.
"Hey Luke! What did Derrick break this time? Elena had to go get you guys didn't she?" Meghan asked. Lukas walked in the room followed by Elena and Craig. Meghan looked at their faces and frowned herself.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Meghan…" Craig began before a lump got caught in his throat. Meghan continued to look confused and she turned to Elena. Elena's eyes were still filled with tears and she looked over to the table that Lukas often saw Derrick working at. She tried to say something but she too was overcome by grief. Meghan looked to Lukas now.
"Where's Derrick? Rigging the shower or something in my room again?" she asked. Lukas walked forward with his right hand out and open. In his palm sat Derrick's sunglasses and dogtags. Meghan's face fell immediately and she began shaking her head and said "No" repeatedly while hyperventilating.
"Luke...this isn't fucking funny. Where is my brother?!" Meghan said, grabbing Lukas's undershirt.
"Meghan...his chopper was hit by...by an RPG and he...he crashed...I...we...we couldn't find him…" Lukas managed to say. As he expected, Meghan reacted badly to this news.
"NO! DERRICK!" Meghan screamed and fell to her knees and began weeping. Lukas watched her, unsure of what to do before she reached up and took Derrick's sunglasses from Lukas's hand. She continued yelling "NO!" as she sobbed uncontrollably while she stared at the glasses. Lukas himself could hardly watch the young woman crying over her now deceased brother. The 2 of them had been so close. Like himself and Monika. Derrick had mentioned that Meghan was usually the person he went to for comfort or advice before he had met Lukas. She had always been there for him when he needed her. Except for this time. Lukas figured Meghan was more upset at herself for not being able to help her brother either. Eventually she turned on Craig for some reason and grabbed his vest.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT JENSEN! HE WAS SAFE IN THE AIR FORCE! BUT YOU NEEDED HIM FOR YOUR STUPID TEAM! MY LITTLE BROTHER WAS KILLED BECAUSE OF YOUR INTERFERENCE!" she yelled in his face as the tears still fell from her red eyes. Craig eased Meghan's hands off his vest and tried to say something but Meghan's sobs were too fierce and they drowned out his words. It was worse than Lukas expected. Meghan was pretty much inconsolable. There was no way this could get worse...until it did.
"Meghan, what's wrong?" Tina's voice said from the other entrance to the lab. Monika was with her too. Monika looked from the weeping Meghan to Lukas and, as usual, something clicked in her mind. She put her hands over her mouth and she too began to cry.
"Oh no…" she managed to say. Tina looked from Monika to Meghan to Lukas.
"Luke...where's Derrick?" Tina asked.
"T-T-Tina...he...he's...he's" Meghan began before becoming incoherent. Monika walked over and held her close. Meghan actually let her do so. Lukas could see Meghan's nails begin to dig into Monika's back.
"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Shhhhh," Monika whispered in her ear and ran her hands along Meghan's back. The volume that Meghan was sobbing at decreased but her sadness did not. She cried into Monika's shoulder. In a happier time (i.e. where Derrick was there with them), Lukas would have found Monika hugging Meghan rather sweet. Tina was looking pretty frantic at the moment. Again she asked Lukas and he could tell that she was silently begging him that what she was thinking wasn't true.
"Lukas…Please,"
"Tina… he wanted me to tell you…" Lukas held out the dog tags to her. Tina's eyes widened and her lip began to quiver. She knew. Lukas was sure of it and he felt awful.
"No...no" she managed to say. He knew Derrick and Tina had argued last night and into the morning. He figured she was thinking about the last thing she said to her boyfriend. The boyfriend that Lukas wasn't able to save.
"He loved you," Lukas finished. Tina inhaled sharply before she took the dog tags from Lukas's hand, turned and quickly walked away. Lukas heard the sound of more weeping coming from the hallway. He heard Ash's voice say "Derrick loved you Tina. He saw me as a friend and teammate. I did too. I wouldn't come between you two." He heard Tina respond "He loved me...and I yelled at him this morning...and now...I'll never see him again…" Lukas slammed a nearby table with his fist and swore loudly. Ela and Zofia, who must have heard the commotion, entered the room. Zofia looked at the distraught Meghan.
"What happ-" Zofia began before she figured it out. She turned towards Ela who, to Lukas's utter amazement, gave her a quick hug and said something in Polish that he couldn't make out before Ela turned and walked over to Lukas and ran her hand along his arms. Zofia walked off in Tina's direction apparently to go help Ash comfort her.
"It was my fault," Lukas said and began crying himself. Ela put her hands around him
"Luke, come here," she said in a calming voice. Lukas allowed her to pull him close. Ela was about 2 cm shorter than Monika was so it was a bit difficult for her to touch his face so Lukas sat down in a chair. Ela continued to hold him as Meghan weeped against Monika.
"I saw the guy that did it...I was too late in warning him...I got my best friend killed," Lukas said through his tears. He could feel Ela begin to cry as well. He thought she liked Derrick, who didn't really...except maybe that Caveira woman and Kali. After all, he was her teammate and friend too. Meghan heard him say this and caught his eye. She shook her head vigorously at him while continuing to cry on Monika's shoulder. Well, that was a bit of comfort in this absolute shit show of an afternoon. At least Meghan didn't hate him...but that still wouldn't bring Derrick back.
"No Luke...you didn't," Ela said softly and kissed him on the cheek consolingly. As much as he liked, or rather, really liked Ela, she just wasn't Derrick. Lukas and Derrick had spent pretty much every day for the past 2 months together. They'd shared stories, played music, did target practice together and helped each other land the affection of their respective crushes. All that seemed like it took place in another universe now. The fact of the matter was this. Derrick Castellano, codename Loki, of the United States Air Force, boyfriend of Tina Lin Tseng, younger brother of Meghan Castellano and Lukas Weiss's best buddy, was dead.
Mission Report:
Castellano, Derrick J. presumably Killed in Action. No body was recovered.
