7/5 2183
SSV Normandy, on route to Agebinium.
Somehow, the Normandy was just as interesting to study and work on for Tali as it was when she first boarded it. She had learned a lot in the short time she had been on the vessel, and yet somehow there was still more to learn everyday. Something to improve, something to re think and so on. Yet today, she couldn't help but notice a change of energy on the Normandy that day. It was like something was off, and she had no idea would it could be. She tried to think back on her day, to see if she had forgotten to do anything important.
She tried to remember her routine, and she tried to remember other people's routines… There it was! She had not seen or spoken to the Commander all day. He usually came down for a chat sometime around lunch, and sometime in the evening… But not today… She decided to take her break, maybe she would find the Commander in the mess eating some late lunch… Or something.
But it was rather quiet in the mess. A few people were eating, those included: Garrus and Kaminski, who were chatting. Riesman was also there, but he seemed rather invested in something on his portable terminal. Tali looked over at the door to the Commander's quarters. It was shut, and locked as well by the looks of it.
"Hey Tali. All quiet on the western front?" Kaminski asked as he spotted her. He was going over to the coffee machine to get another cup. Tali looked at him confused. She was unsure as to what he meant by that. "Everything alright in engineering?" Kaminski clarified.
"Ah, yes. Everything is going well." Tali replied. She was still trying to make sense of the expression though.
"Are we playing chess or nah?" Kaminski turned around and asked Riesman, who finally looked up from his portable terminal.
"I thought you said you wouldn't ever play chess with me again." Riesman replied with a raised eyebrow.
"It was a heat of the moment thing. I need to beat you in order to get my dignity back." Kaminski laughed.
"Sure, we can play now if you have the time." Riesman remarked.
"I got the time alright." Kaminski said as he went with Riesman to find the chess board. Tali watched the whole thing with a raised eyebrow as well. Those two had a good friendship, to a degree at least. She turned her attention to Garrus instead though. She sat down in front of him.
"Hey Garrus." She greeted. Garrus looked up from his food at Tali.
"Well, hello there Tali. Did you come to munch on some low quality dexo food as well?" Garrus asked with a slight laugh.
"Well, no. You can have that all to yourself. I have my own supply." She replied with a smile. She tried to tease him a bit back.
"Lucky me." Garrus remarked.
"I wanted to ask you… Have you seen the Commander today?" Tali asked. Garrus put down his spoon and looked at Tali.
"I believe he is in his quarters. He put Pressly forward as the acting CO for the time being when we got back. He hasn't been out since yesterday though." Garrus replied.
"Why?" She asked curiously.
"I'm not sure. We were out to re collect Wrex's family armor. Then, the Commander discovered a big cache of old human weapons, I think, and he was having the time of his life… Until he got real quiet when he inspected one of the weapons. Then he got real angry, and began to demand where the weapon collector had gotten the weapon. He almost tortured the poor bastard… Mentally at least. Played some sick game with him… Until he got the location and a name; Elanos Haliat. We're flying towards Agebinium now." Garrus explained as best he could. A lot had happened within that warehouse yesterday. He wasn't sure how much he should tell.
"Elanos Haliat… Who is that?" Tali asked. She didn't know the name.
"I believe it is the man responsible for the Skyllian Blitz. Gathered up an army of pirates to attack human colonies." Garrus replied.
"The blitz… Wait, wasn't the Commander at the Blitz?" Tali asked as she searched her mind for what she read a week or so ago.
"Indeed. That was what made him famous in the Alliance. Fought off an entire wave of pirates and slavers until reinforcement came. So, my guess is that the rifle carries some sort of connection to the Blitz, which is why he is so determined to get us there. But I don't know." Garrus replied.
"Is he okay?" She asked concerned.
"I don't know. I tried to knock on his door earlier, but he just told me to fuck off." Garrus answered.
"Maybe I should check on him." Tali thought out loud.
"Good luck." Garrus sarcastically remarked. Tali didn't even bother to answer him as she marched her way over to the door to the Commander's quarters. She took a deep breath and tried to gather up the courage to knock on the door. Garrus had been turned away, so why should she be allowed? She debated with herself if she should knock or not. But she decided to do it. He had been kind to her so far, so she would help him if he needed it.
Three knocks on the door and Tali waited anxiously for the answer on the other side. It took a second or two before a voice replied from the other side. "Who is there?" It was without a doubt the Commander's voice.
"It's me, Tali." Tali replied semi-loud in order to get it through the otherwise thick metal door that separated them. A few seconds passed, which felt more like minutes. Finally, the Commander responded from the other side.
"Come on in." The door unlocked and she quickly went inside before the Commander changed his mind. The room was dimly lit and a small cloud of smoke rested in the air. He was in a call with someone on his terminal, and he must have been speaking Russian again, because her translator couldn't pick up whatever language he was speaking.
She looked around, and found the gun that Garrus described to be on the bed. Completely taken apart, with every piece neatly laying on the bed. She waited patiently for him to finish his call with whoever he was talking with, which took some time. In the end, he ended the call and looked over at her. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag of it.
"How can I help you?" Mads asked as he exhaled out the smoke through his nose.
"I was worried about you. I just wanted to see if you were okay." Tali replied.
"Oh, so you're a therapist now? I guess you think I'm unstable?" Mads asked, and she, for the life of her, couldn't sense what emotion was supposed to be in his voice. She had never quite seen him like this, and she was a bit worried. She shifted on her feet a bit, her unsure nature was surely betraying her intention.
"… No… I was just worried." She replied.
"Just worried..." Mads repeated in a muttered sort of sound. "Worried about what?" Mads asked as he made eye contact with her.
"That something happened on Tuntau... That you might needed someone to talk to." Tali answered. Mads searched her body language for any indication of a lie. He was usually quite good at detecting when someone was lying to him. But he couldn't see any signs of it on her.
"Please take a seat." Mads said as he gestured to the table in the middle of the room. She obliged and sat down in one of the chairs. Mads sat down in front of her after he locked the door again. He took another drag of his cigarette and once again looked her straight in the eye. "That gun-" Mads pointed to the mess of parts lying on the bed. "-Used to be belong to someone I once knew. I wanted to get my hands on whoever gave it to the Turian collector. Turns out it was someone who attacked humanity." Mads explained as he shifted in his seat. He leaned forward. "I'm going there to kill that man. To put things right." Mads almost whispered.
"I see… But, why did you take the gun a part?" She asked, mostly to get off topic. She could feel that she might be pushing the Commander's buttons a bit too hard.
The Commander looked at her a bit confused for a few seconds, then he let out a small chuckle. "Taking apart a Kalashnikov comes natural to most Russians. I wanted to get a closer look at it… I didn't find much of anything..." He replied. He wasn't sure what he had expected, some sort of note? What reason would Victor have had for thinking he was alive?
"So you can put it back together?" She asked, her engineering side came to light.
"Sure can. You want to see?" Mads asked with a smile. She nodded and he went to work. It took him a minute or there about it. He could usually do it in about 45 seconds. His record was 30 seconds, but it would usually become sloppy work.
"How could you do it so fast?" Tali was almost dumbfounded at it. Mads couldn't help but laugh a bit. To someone who had never seen it before, it was probably impressive. Mads could only think back to when his drill instructor yelled at him for being to slow in reassembling it when he was still in the early stage of boot camp.
"The AK was the backbone of the Russian army. Knowing the AK inside and out could be a life saver in certain situations on the battlefield." Mads explained, and an idea struck. One that could take his mind off this currently thing, and probably Tali's as well. "Would you like for me to teach it to you?" Mads asked.
"Yes please." She replied. They spent the next 30 or so minutes doing just that. Mads showed and explained each little part to her. They talked for some time after that, Mads lost count of just how long. Talking with Tali was-… It was deeply relaxing. Mads didn't know why. But, he could feel that his rage and sadness had loosened up a bit.
"Who are those people?" Tali asked as she pointed to the picture that sat framed on his desk. Mads looked over and saw it was the family portrait of him, His parents and his siblings. He felt a stab of sadness as he looked them in the eyes once more.
"That's my family… With me in the middle." Mads replied, and he hadn't meant to disclose that information, but it slipped. He had never slipped before like that…
"You never talk about them." Tali pointed out, and by God was she a nosy one.
"They're… -" It had been a long time since he had last spoken about them to anyone. He usually never spoke of them, simply because doing so caused him great distress. They were his family, and now they were gone. "They're dead. All of them." He replied, and it was true.
"I'm so sorry Commander." Tali tried to comfort him, and she probably didn't mean to stir it all up like she had. She was probably just naturally curious.
"It happened a long time ago. I just don't like talking about it." Mads replied.
"I see… If you ever want to talk about it, then you can talk to me." Tali promised.
"Well Tali, maybe when we're nearing the end of this journey… We can talk in full… Over a drink perhaps?" He asked, and he had no idea where it came from. Had he just sort of asked her on a date?
"I would like that." She replied with a smile, though the Commander couldn't see it.
"Thanks for stopping by, Tali. It has been a blast. Go down and get ready for the next assignment." Mads ordered her.
"Yes sir." She replied as promptly left the room. Mads smiled as he watched her go.
Mads stood at the CIC drinking his coffee and overlooking the virtual image of Voyager Cluster. They weren't far out from their destination. It would probably be about 2-3 hours more before they got there. As he took another sip of his coffee, he heard Joker announce over the Comms that Hackett was on the line waiting to speak with him.
"Put him through." Mads ordered, and Joker did just that. Hackett's voice came out over the speakers.
"Commander. I can see you are nearing the Voyager Cluster. I have an urgent mission for you." Hackett said.
"What is it?" Mads asked curiously.
"During the first contact war, we sent out probes into most corners of the galaxy in an effort to spy on the Turians. Back then, we had no idea who we were fighting, so the probes were rigged with a 20 megaton nuclear bomb if they were ever captured by the Turians." Hackett explained.
"I can see where this is going..." Mads remarked with a sigh.
"One of them sent back a message that said: Mission complete. I don't think I need to tell you that this is bad news…." Hackett sighed as well.
"Where is it? I'll go and check it out." Mads promised.
"Agebinium. As far as we can tell at least." Hackett replied.
"Agebinium? That can't be a coincidence..." Mads muttered.
"What do you mean?" Hackett asked.
"I have been tracking Elanos Haliat to that rock, and I'm going to kill him. He probably hijacked that nuke." Mads answered.
"Elanos Haliat? The same man who was behind the Blitz?" Hackett asked in a concerned manner.
"The very same. I'm going to hunt him down and get that nuke secured. You have my word." Mads promised.
"Treat this with care Romanov. There is no telling what Haliat might do. 5th fleet out." Hackett said.
"I will. Normandy out." Mads said. So the plot thickens. This would probably be a challenge. A 20 megaton nuke was no joke. Mads was trying to think back to that one mission in Syria so many years ago… The one that had almost ended badly.
Mads went down to get changed into his armor. The mission wasn't far off now.
A few hours later...
Mads had explained the situation in great detail to all of his squad mates. He knew that the mission was high risk, and therefore he gave everyone a choice to stay back if they didn't want to come along. Though, pretty much all of them stuck with him. Maybe they didn't entirely understand the scale of what could happen, or maybe they were just loyal to the bone. Mads wasn't sure, and perhaps it was better to not know.
They all climbed into the MAKO and prepared themselves for what could be ahead. No one really knew, other than the fact that a known pirate and slaver had a nuke. Walking into this blind was hard for most of the crew, and Mads understood that. He felt blind himself. Joker told them they were ready to drop them off, and Mads prepared himself for the descend. The crew was slowly getting used to the whole ordeal.
The planet seemed rather empty, which was worrying. Mads had a feeling that there was a trap waiting for them somewhere. It was possible that Haliat had activated the nuke to attract some prey from the Alliance to come knocking. Hijack a warship and hold the crew ransom.
Mads cruised through the rocky terrain with a slow pace. He was nearing the signal, according to Tali at least. The signal seemed to be coming from a mine shaft, that seemed even more like a trap. Mads was worried that he would be tricked by Haliat, or that he might get his entire crew killed in some stupid revenge mission.
"Keep your eyes open. There is no telling what might happen." Mads ordered. They all nodded in response. Mads couldn't stress it enough.
"What a lovely place you brought us, Commander. Not a trap at all." Garrus sarcastically remarked as he stepped out of the MAKO. They others followed suit.
"Cut the bullshit. I'm really not in the mood." Mads replied, rougher than he usually did.
They all moved to the entrance to the mine with careful steps. Their eyes were trained on the hills, just waiting for the first sign of trouble. They knew that trouble was lurking on the planet, it was just a matter of where. There was a chance they had the drop on the pirates, mostly due to the Normandy's stealth systems.
It was with cautious steps that the squad descended down the steps of the mine. Mads turned on his flashlight to better see where he was going. It was a cold and dark mine, probably hadn't been used for mining in a long time. It was still filled with equipment, but that was probably leftovers stashed by the pirates.
No words were exchanged during their trip further down the mine. Maybe people were finally realized the gravity of the situation, or maybe they were simply too focused on the current objective. Mads wasn't sure, and perhaps, once again, it was better to not know. They continued deeper in search of the dreaded nuke.
Following the signal, the managed to get to the room where it was. It was lying on the ground, where it had been placed by the pirates. There was no way it had gotten here naturally. It wasn't counting down when they found, but Mads moved to secure it anyway. As soon as he got there, a loud bang was heard, followed by horrible shaking throughout the mine.
"That was a detonator, Commander." Garrus pointed out.
"No shit Sherlock…. Looks like we are trapped." Mads remarked as he looked back at the collapsed entrance. People began to panic in return, since this could hardly be good news. Suddenly, a hologram appeared, showing someone that Mads knew.
"Commander Romanov. What a surprise, and a welcome one at that." Haliat grinned.
"Haliat… You're even uglier than I remember." Mads replied.
"Jokes won't save you now, Commander. I finally got you. You ruined me, made me a laughing stock of the entire terminus system when you held off my attack. For too long, I have been confined to a small role… But no longer, now I can reclaim my glory!" Haliat proclaimed.
"I'll fucking gut you like a pig when I get out here." Mads promised.
"Your threats mean nothing to me, Commander. Your death will be my salvation… That, alongside that nice warship of yours… I wonder how much I can sell it for..." Haliat theorized. Mads was boiling with anger, and he made a promise to himself that he would see Haliat dead before the day was over. "Anyhow, have fun with your nuke…" Haliat said as he closed the call. Mads was sure that the smug son-of-a-bitch was laughing now.
The nuke began to count down. They had about five minutes before it would go off. Mads quickly found his way to it. Of course Haliat would drag this out for the biggest effect. As Mads inspected the Nuke, he saw that the digital interface was busted. Hackett had provided him with a decryption key to get the Nuke disarmed… Looks like that is worthless now.
"Oh fuck… We're going to die, aren't we?" Kaiden remarked.
"Calm down." Mads said as he began to peel away the screen to get to the hardware underneath.
"Commander. That is a Nuke… We-… I don't know how to disarm a Nuke!" Riesman exclaimed in almost pure terror. He was usually the go to guy for technology… Well, him and Tali. But Mads doubted that Tali knew anything about Nukes…
Just as Mads got the screen out of the way, he saw the wiring… And he was in luck. It was an old re purposed Russian R-36 warhead. He had disarmed one of those before… "Calm down. I know this model. I have disarmed one before." Mads replied as he looked to the wires again.
"Wait a fucking minute… You have disarmed a Russian nuke before?" Kaminski asked desperately.
"Yes. It's an R-36 from the 70's. I just need to remember which wire needs to be cut to separate the trigger and disarm it." Mads answered as he took out his knife.
"How the fuck do you know how to disarm a nuke from 2170?" Kaminski asked.
"No, not 2170. Closer to 1970." Mads replied as he inspected one of the wires. Was it B-12? Or was it B-11? Maybe it was D-11.
"Point still fucking stands." Kaminski said.
"Is that really relevant now?" Mads asked as he looked back at Kaminski.
"When it is a matter of life and death… Then yes, I'd said it is fucking relevant." Kaminski replied.
"I'll tell you some other time." Mads said as he looked back at the wires. He had to think back… Think back to that mission… Off the books they said…
167 years ago….
Somewhere in Syria…
"Which would you rather lose; Your arms or your legs?" Victor asked. They were currently taking a few days off in a small village they had captured and secured a few days ago. They were awaiting further orders from HQ. So Mads was just lying on a sun chair he had found and Victor was lying on one that was just a little bit too small for him.
"I'd rather not lose anything." Mads replied, not even bothering to look at his best friend. He instead found his pack of cigarettes and quickly fished one of the pack to smoke.
"Okay, look at it this way: A group of villains tie you down and give you the choice." Victor elaborated.
"I'd break free." Mads said as he placed the cigarette between his lips and gave it fire with his zippo lighter.
"You can't. They have tie you down properly and they got a gun to your head." Victor added.
"You're telling me that I, as an experienced Spetsnaz soldier with dozens of hours of anti-interrogation training and experience with breaking free, can't break free from a couple of villains?" Mads asked as he finally looked over at Victor. Mads took a drag of cigarette as he awaited an answer.
"Yes. Which would you rather lose?" Victor asked again. Mads chuckled.
"My legs I suppose." Mads finally answered with a slight chuckle.
"Me too. I don't think I could live without my arms. I mean, isn't that a sorrowful existence?" Victor asked.
"I think I read about some Polish man who lost both his arms in a motorcycle accident. He could still drive a car with his one foot. The car had to be an automatic of course, but still." Mads explained.
"Goddamn Polish people." Victor muttered. Mads laughed as he took another drag of his cigarette as he looked towards the horizon. A few vehicles were approaching, alongside a helicopter, and Mads quickly stood up to take a closer look. He grabbed some binoculars from the table and took a quick look.
"Looks like HQ will brief us in person." Mads said as he handed Victor the binoculars.
"You aren't kidding. That seems official." Victor replied as he too took a look at them. "1000 rubles if they say we go south east." Victor betted.
"You're fucking on. But you're also wrong, they'll send us north next." Mads replied. Mads then realized he didn't even dawn a shirt, with the Syrian heat it was more comfortable to walk around shirtless. He went to fetch his jacket to at least and try look a little bit prepared.
Mads smoked the last of his cigarette and quickly stomped it out with his boot when the Mil Mi-17 touched down. His men lined up to stand at attention as some senior officers got out of the helicopter. Then, someone Mads hadn't expected to come; Colonel Anatolievich. The current man overseeing all of Russia's operations in this sector of Syria. Mads quickly saluted the man as he came over to him.
Colonel Anatolievich saluted Mads back and shook his hand. "Lieutenant Romanov. I apologize for the lack of notice, but this is rather urgent. Do you have a place where we can speak in private?" The Colonel asked.
"Yes sir. Right over here." Mads replied as he gestured to the former government building that used to house the mayor. Mads, the Colonel and some of the senior officers went inside. Mads could feel that something was a bit off. They hardly ever came to give briefing in person, especially someone of as high rank as a Colonel.
"I'm sorry for the unconventional means, but this is a matter of national security." The Colonel admitted.
"National security?" Mads asked with a mix of confusion and concern in his voice.
"Yes, although I can't disclose too much here. you're being reassigned for a few days." The Colonel explained.
"Woah, Woah. Reassigned? What do you mean? Who the fuck is going to lead my men?" Mads asked a bit of anger seeping into his voice.
"Victor Bespalov will manage in your absence. Your presence is required elsewhere." The Colonel reaffirmed.
"What the mission then?" Mads asked after he tried to calm himself down a bit.
"I can't tell you here. You will be briefed at the Khmeimim Air Base. You should come with us. I'll give you a few minutes to give the new orders to Sergeant Bespalov. You'll be gone for a few days, at least." The Colonel answered.
"Okay… Okay, I'll tell him." Mads replied. The Colonel nodded and began to walk outside. Mads followed him out there. The Colonel would wait by the helicopter while Mads said his farewells. At least it wasn't a permanent assignment. While Mads had little desire to stay in Syria, he couldn't just leave his fellow soldiers behind like that. It felt like betrayal.
"What the new orders? I was right, wasn't I?" Victor asked with a smile.
"Not quite I'm afraid. They need me for a new operation. I'll be gone for a few days at least. You're the acting CO until I return." Mads replied.
"Wait a minute. You're fucking with me, aren't you?" Victor asked with uncertainty.
"Nope. Wish I was though. Good luck friend." Mads said as he padded him on the shoulder.
"Oh, so that's it?" Victor asked a bit offended.
"Yes. What do you want me to do?" Mads asked back.
"Shit, I don't know." Victor confessed. It just felt wrong for him. "Just come back, eh?"
"I'll try. I' be back before you know it." Mads promised. Victor nodded as Mads began to gather his equipment and get on the helicopter. He gave a final nod to his men before he fully boarded the metal bird. It was off to the Russian base of operations in Syria.
8 Hours later…
Khmeimim Air Base, Syria.
The air condition was broken, so the briefing was a hot place to wait for your superior to come. It was still late summer, and so the sun had no mercy on them. Mads was tapping his foot impatiently on the floor, waiting for them to come. He was alone in there, but he was pretty sure they wouldn't send him off to do a mission alone.
Finally, the door opened and the Colonel walked, followed by yet another figure Mads had never expected to meet face-to-face. The minister of Defense, Sergey Shoygu. Mads almost jumped from his chair to stand at full attention and salute the minister. "At ease Lieutenant." The Colonel commanded. Mads followed suit and stood at ease.
"I once again apologize for the inconvenience, Lieutenant. But as I said before, this is really a matter of upmost urgency." The Colonel said.
"I understand, Sir." Mads nodded. "Permission to speak, sir?" Mads requested.
"Granted." Colonel Anatolievich replied.
"It's an honor to meet you, Defense minister." Mads bowed.
"Honor is all mine, Lieutenant." Sergey replied. "Please, have a seat." He all but demanded. Mads quickly did as told. "I was told you were one of our very best operatives. Not a single mission failure so far, and over 45 confirmed kills. We need the very best for this operation." The defense minister added.
"I have a very good team, sir." Mads tried to clarify. Though, when you were in private, there was little need for being humble.
"Do you know the name Abdullah al-Fahmy?" The Colonel asked.
"I heard it before. Some Free Syrian army officer, right?" Mads asked back. He was sure he had heard it in passing before.
"Correct. Former Major in the Syrian army before the civil war started. He defected to the rebel side when things turned ugly. Recently, Mr. al-Fahmy has grown a bit…. Power hungry." the defense minister explained.
"Power hungry?" Mads asked.
"Yes. He has been on al Assad's hit list for a long time. Recently though, even the rebels have taken to denounce him. His views have become too… Radical, even for them." The Colonel replied.
"Is that why we want him gone?" Mads asked.
"We don't want him gone. We want him retrieved back here, so we can interrogate him. He knows many valuable things" The colonel clarified.
"Al-Fahmy is currently recruiting many fighters to his course. Mostly those who are unsatisfied with the Rebels' way of waging the war. He wants to bomb civilian areas. But recently he has come in possession of some documents that… Incriminate Russia." Sergey answered.
"Incriminate Russia?" Mads asked confused.
"Russia has not spent millions of rubles and dozens of soldiers lives for the simple goal of friendship. Our business dealings with Assad have been… Less than ethical, in the eyes of the UN at least. That's why these documents can never see the light of day. We need you to both retrieve Al-Fahmy and the documents." Sergey replied, and Mads was even more confused.
"Am I going in alone?" Mads asked concerned. This was a lot for a one man job.
"No. We have complied a team for you. Here is the dossiers." The Colonel replied and handed Mads a folder. "Though, the reason we briefed you alone is an important one. The team thinks the only objective is to capture Al-Fahmy. They don't know about the documents. This is very important." Sergey clarified.
"I understand sir." Mads reassured him.
"This is on a need-to-basis. It comes straight from the very top at the Kremlin." Sergey reminded. Mads nodded again. "Good, then study the file and get ready. You head out tonight at midnight." Sergey said and saluted him a last time. Mads did the same. Just before he left, Sergey looked back at Mads and said. "One more thing, Lieuteant. It has been reported by military intelligence that the target may have documents to incriminate other nations that have a hand in the Syrian Crisis: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Irsael… Even America. Be careful. The President and the whole of Russia thanks you."
"I won't let you down." Mads promised. Sergey nodded and went off. Mads then opened the folder to see how he would be serving with. It was a team of six. Mads went through each dossier.
Stepanov Filipp Konstantinovich. Expert breacher from Volgograd. Joined the Alpha group in 2011. Served in both Georgia and Chechnya.
Smolin Isaak Yurievich. Intelligence officer from Novgorod. Expert in all things tech. Joined in 2014, no tours yet. Worked internally with the FSB.
Salko Semyon Vyacheslavovich. Former marine, joined Alpha group in late 2013. Served in Syria as well. Over a dozen black ops under his belt.
Malakhov Zinoviy Maximovich. Special training in parachutes from the VDV. Over a dozen ops in the Asian steppe countries. Hailing from Kursk.
And finally, the icing on the cake. Ivan Miron Tikhonovich… The lone wolf of Siberia. Spent his childhood hunting wolves with his father. Practically learned to shoot a rifle before he learned to walk. Best marksman in Spetsnaz history. Mads might have won his fair share of marksmanship courses, but those were all under 150 yards. He couldn't hold a candle to the lone Wolf. He had certainly been bestowed the best operatives there was.
Mads decided to go down and meet them in the hanger. He needed to treat this with as much caution as possible. If this file was to be leaked to the public… It could lead to serious repercussions to the Russian state.
Mid night.
Ilyushin Il-76
Somewhere over Syria.
"I fucking hate parachuting." Mads remarked as he checked his gear for what must have been the 30th time. He had received training in it, as per usual for all GRU operatives… but that didn't mean he liked it one bit.
"Come on, Romanov. It's so freeing! Don't tell me: Your royal blood commands that you fly first class everywhere?" Malakhov laughed.
"I don't see jumping out of airplanes to be freeing. But your pals in the VDV seems to love it almost as much as cuddling with each other." Mads wittily replied.
"Us cuddling together? I think you mean Sailor boy over here-" Malakhov fired back as he turned his attention to Salko. "It's gets so lonely on the sea, doesn't it?" Malakhov teased.
"I don't know about that. All I know is that you VDV boys love to sing about rainbows." Salko replied. Mads laughed at that comment.
"What's the full plan then?" Ivan asked from his position. He didn't bother to look at them as he asked the question, he was too busy with inspected the weapons pod that they would be dropping.
"Right, the plan." Mads said as he pulled out his notebook. "We'll be hitting the compound as a five man team. Ivan will be providing cover and surveillance from this vantage point-" Mads showed them what he meant on the map. "Stepanov will be taking point. We'll try and hit them silently, so we can avoid a full on firefight that might draw more attention. Malakhov will be assuring our landing and position. Salko and Smolin will be in charge of communications and further surveillance from inside the compound, as well as getting our get away in on time. Brass wants us to limit radio use as much as possible, since anyone could be listening in. Is that understood?" Mads asked. They all nodded in response.
"So we just roll in, grab the officer and be on our way?" Ivan asked with a hint of wanting some deeper answer.
"Should be about it." Mads replied, and he really wanted to share the wider plan with them. But he would respect the decision of the Defense minister. Luckily, he was saved by the green light that came on. The cargo door opened to the sound of the airplane soaring through the sky. Mads put on his Elevation masks and watched his team mates do the same. He gave the order to release the weapon pod with all their main equipment. They would follow it out.
He really hated parachuting…
They had landed safely on this dark night. The only lights in several miles radius came from the compound they had to attack. They had all meet up at their weapon pod and gathered the weapons they needed. Ivan had already gone to his sniper spot to do some reconnaissance and look for a route in. All the other had put their safety off and had begun to march towards the compound.
"All is quiet. A dozen guards on active duty. Security cameras on the outside wall. Possible entry point south side. Over." Ivan said over the radio. Mads took a deep breath and moved on, they rest of his squad were behind him. They were being awfully quiet now, compared to how talkative they were on the plane. They probably knew this was serious, even if they didn't know the full mission.
Mads was mostly worried about other nations sending their black ops to retrieve their dirty laundry list. This was almost a text book example of black ops that could go wrong. He at least prayed he would run into someone agreeable like… The SAS or something like that, not the Americans… Well, now that he thought about it… The SAS wouldn't be that agreeable.
"Remember. Silencers on. Stay down, and stay quiet." Mads reminded them. They grunted in agreement. It wasn't a long walk to the south wall, but they had to make sure they weren't too visible. They hid the bushes when they got there, and awaited an all clear from Ivan before they proceeded.
"Patrol coming. Three men strong. Orders? Over." Ivan asked over the radio. Mads looked over the bush and saw them coming. They didn't suspect a thing, they were laughed and talking like it was just another normal patrol around the compound.
"Weapons free on my command. Over." Mads ordered. They all took their safety off and awaited a signal from Mads. He waited until they were almost right in front of them. "Open fire." Mads ordered. With their silencers, they were silent enough to make sure no one from inside the compound heard them. Ivan even scored a double kill. He truly was the best marksman in the whole of Russia.
Mads pondered on what position the former Major had in the current conflict. He had pretty much been alienated by the free Syrian army, but he wasn't a religious fanatic like ISIS. Instead, he appeared more like someone who wanted to try on the crown for size. Syria was pretty much a free-for-all at the moment. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.
Mads pushed those thoughts out of his head as he climbed over the wall into the compound. It was pretty much a small military camp inside, with war vehicles confiscated or bought from the Iraqi army. It was quiet in there, but he could see that some lights were on in the different buildings. "Smolin and Salko. You go and find and kill the power. We'll wait for your signal, then we move." Mads ordered.
"Copy that." Smolin replied as he and Salko began to sneak their way over to the utility shed. He had been given a lot of information about this assignment, including blueprints for this compound, which used to belong to a very influential statesman before the war. As Mads waited for them to cut the power, his thoughts once again drifted to the documents. He hadn't been properly briefed on their contents, and Mads could only assume that it was done intentionally. He debated with himself if he should take a look for himself, but he decided against it.
The power died, and the compound went dark. Mads whispered to his team mates that they should move out. They began to move towards the main building, where the former Major was sleeping. Mads could hear some of the guards curse, probably because they now had to get off their ass and get the power back on. As they got close to the main building, Mads nodded to Stepanov for him to do what he did best. He pulled out his Saiga 12 and gave a final nod to Mads. Now, it was going to get hot.
2 shots, and the hinges on the door was all but gone. If anyone wasn't awake before, they certainly was now. Mads and his team moved fast as they stormed the building. Mads could already hear the almost silence shots of Salko and Smolin as they killed some guards outside in the court yard. They moved fast and loud now, without speaking any other words other than CLEAR. One, two, three and counting. The major hadn't employed battle hardened or experienced troops to guard him. They were all caught off guard as they moved through the house.
They split up as they reached the upper levels. Mads went for himself and the others went their way as well. They couldn't afford to lose the major now. It would be a fuck up that the brass wouldn't accept. Mads kicked one of the doors in and saw the major, fresh in his underwear, reach for the gun beside his bed.
"Oh no you don't!" Mads muttered as he all but launched himself over the bed and forced the major on the ground. He beat the major to a bloody mess. Mads had to stop himself from killing the man, something primal within him had snapped for some reason. He had little reason to hate this man other than what he had been told. He had always kept his cool before, yet this time… Something about the man just looked like he needed a good beating.
"The code!" Mads demanded as he gestured to the safe behind the painting. Mads had received that Intel as well. Mads knew that the Major was fluent in English, and since his Arabic left a lot to be desired, that would be the language they would converse in.
"Fuck you! You Russian dog!" The Major taunted as he spit his own blood in Mads' face.
"Wrong fucking answer." Mads said as he punched the man again. Just enough to leave an annoying ringing in the Major's ears. The GRU had complied a list of possible passwords for the safe, but they weren't sure which one was the correct one.
"You will never win!" The Major fired back.
Mads tried a few of them, but they didn't work. All while the Major continued taunting him. After a few more tried, he finally got the right one. It was the Major's fucking birthday… Inside, there was a stack of papers neatly sitting with folders. Each folder was labeled with a nation: Russia, The UK, Saudi Arabia, Iran and… The USA. Mads took them all into his bag. Better safe than sorry. Then, his team mates came into the room, just as Mads had closed the safe and hidden it again.
"Is that him?" Smolin asked. Mads nodded and forced the Major onto his feet and into handcuffs.
"You Russian dogs are so stupid. None of you will leave alive! YOU HEAR ME?" The Major rambled on.
"Your guard detail could do with an upgrade." Mads remarked and that earned him a laugh from Smolin, who was the only other one who was also fluent in English. They others could only speak it on a tourism level.
"How will you leave, huh? Helicopter? You will never outrun my nuke!" The Major laughed. Mads stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the Major.
"What did you just fucking say?" Mads asked.
"I have a fucking nuke in my basement. It was rigged to go off if anyone broke in here. I activated the alarm just as you breached the front door." The major laughed, as if it was some sort of joke that only he would ever get.
Mads looked over at the others, who were just as dumbfounded at what had just been said. The Major was still laughing like a mad man. Mads quickly demanded to know where it was, and the Major said it was in the basement. The team moved fast, and quickly got down there to see if it was true.
And true it was. Not only that, but the Nuke was Russian by origin. Which meant that if it went off… It would be blamed on Russia. That could very well mean war… On a global scale. "Someone shut him the fuck up!" Mads ordered, and Salko knocked the Major out with the stock of his AK. Mads began to internally panic as he frantically paced around the room. Smolin crouched down to look at the Nuke.
"Russian. I'm guessing 1974 or 1976. This one was in Ukraine when the union fell." Smolin remarked.
"How can you tell?" Mads asked concerned.
"It says right here." Smolin replied and pointed to a label on the side, which Made Mads fell a bit dumb. "If it is from that time frame, that would probably mean it's an R-36. 22 Megaton or thereabout. The Nuclear warhead must have been sold to the highest bidder and ended up here." Smolin explained. All of the team looked at him with raised eyebrows. "What? I had to study the different nukes to get where I am." He elaborated.
"So… How long do we got?" Mads asked.
"It's set to manual settings. There should be a timer around here somewhere..." Smolin said as he began to look around the room. Mads searched with him.
"So this is how we die? By started a nuclear war?" Malakhov asked with a grave concern in his voice. He was actually scared.
"Did your balls fucking drop? We're the fucking best of the best. We'll get this fucker disarmed in no time." Salko reassured him.
"Here it is." Smolin said as he found it. "We got about 17 minutes until it goes off. Helicopter's ETA is 25 minutes." Smolin informed them.
"So we're fucked?" Malakhov asked again.
"I'll call the Kremlin… Of course they didn't inform us about this shit." Mads promised as he got his radio out and set it to the right frequency. Before he did though, Ivan's voice came in over the radio.
"We got company." He simply said.
"Who is it?" Mads asked, hoping to God it was just some more guards.
"Black hawks… My guess is SEALs, or some of the other branches." Ivan replied. Fuck… They were fucked. They couldn't hold off the Americans and disarm the nuke at the same time. "I got a clean shot. Could take out the pilot." Ivan said.
"DON'T! Unless you want to start A FUCKING WAR! We're already trying to avoid one down here!" Mads instructed him.
"Meaning?" Ivan asked back. Fuck, he hadn't told him about the nuclear warhead yet.
"There is a 22 megaton nuke in here. It's set to go off in 17 minutes-"
"-15 minutes now." Smolin corrected him.
"Right... 15 minutes. We need to call the Kremlin now!" Mads said as he hung up on Ivan. "Everyone, get ready for Americans. I'll call the Kremlin and get instructions from them on how to disarm this deathtrap." Mads ordered.
"Copy that!" They all said as they began to take defensive positions in their effort to hold back the Americans, if need be. Mads took out his radio and began to put in the right frequency while praying they would be quick in finding the right blueprints for the R-36. Mads had explained the situation as best he could to the high command, and they put on fucking hold… Who the fuck does something like that?
"Oh. They're getting real close. They have entered the compound." Ivan informed them. "Still want me to hold fire?" Ivan asked.
"Yes. Otherwise, they might just carpet bomb this compound, and then we'll have a new world war." Mads ordered.
"Copy that." Ivan replied. Mads looked anxiously towards the door that led out of the basement. They could enter at any moment. Mads quickly ordered all his squad mates to be as quiet as garden gnomes. Maybe they'd get lucky, and the Americans would conclude that they had been beaten to the punch and they would retreat. Unlikely as it may be.
But they weren't lucky. In fact, no luck seemed to have been bestowed upon Mads and his squad today. Only 5 minutes later, they Americans kicked down the basement door. For some reason, both of them had held their fire. Both of them unsure on how to proceed. "EVERYONE! STAND THE FUCK DOWN!" Mads ordered to his squad mates. They weren't responding, still keeping their weapons aimed solely at the Americans. "I SAID STAND DOWN!" Mads shouted again. They finally obliged, and as they lowered their rifles, the Americans did the same.
One of the Americans stepped forward. He had to be the CO from the looks of it. He carried an HK416 and an SIG Sauer M17 in his holster. Mads wasn't sure which branch he was, but they looked serious. "Who are you?" The American CO asked.
"Comrade Joseph fucking Stalin. What the fuck are you doing here?" Mads asked back. The tension arose again in the small confined room.
"Don't play coy with me boy. I can see you are Russian. But I'll ask you again, who are you?" The CO asked again.
"You first, Cowboy." Mads replied, still fumbling with the wires.
"Delta force. Here to capture Major Al-Fahmy… But I can see you have already found him." The CO said as he looked over at the beaten and tied up major.
"Alpha Squad, Spetsnaz GRU." Mads finally confessed. "Look American. We can fight and die here, or you can let me disarm this nuke and spare us a FUCKING WORD WAR!" Mads offered with a lot of emotion trapped inside his voice. He was panicking.
"What did you say?" The American CO asked.
"This right here-" Mads gestured to the nuke. "-Is an active nuclear warhead of Russian origin. The Major over activated it to kill us all and start the nuclear holocaust. I'm trying disarm it, so if you could get out of my fucking face, that would be fucking great." Mads explained.
"Jesus fucking Christ… You aren't kidding?" The American CO was unsure if he believed Mads or not.
"Do I look like a god damn comedian?" Mads asked back.
"Fuck me..." The American CO rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"I want you stand down and stand back. I'm awaiting instructions from the Kremlin on how to disarm it. Either they call me back, or we're dead." Mads informed him.
"I see." The American CO and his team did as told. They move further back in the otherwise already crowded room. Mads turned his attention to his radio, almost clutching in so tightly in his hands, that it would break.
Finally, the call came. "Lieutenant Romanov. This is the Kremlin speaking. You need to locate the wire marked B-11 and cut it. That will separate the trigger and disarm it." They instructed.
"Copy that." Mads replied and took out his knife. He searched around in the mess of wires to find the right one marked B-11. He was afraid he would too late by the time he found it, but finally luck showed it's face. The second last one was the right one. He cut it quickly, and the timer stopped.
Mads almost collapsed on the floor due to exhaustion. He was tired, but no longer afraid. A wave of relief washed over him, as well as all the others.
"Is it over?" The American CO asked.
"Yes… It's over." Mads answered as he got back up on his feet. "We did it." Mads said, and his comrades cheered at their success. Even the Americans let out a sigh of relief at the prospect of… Well, not dying.
"Good. Now hand over the Major." The CO demanded.
"Fuck you." Mads snarled and they were right back at their stand off.
"I got my orders." The CO said and pointed his SiG at Mads. Mads followed suit and pointed his magnum at the American.
"We can all die, right here and now. Or we can go our separate ways." Mads suggested, but he received no answer from the American. Instead, they had a very tense stand off between them. Both sides were just waiting for a slight wrong movement from the other side to open fire. Was this how they had to die? They had just made sure that World War 3 wouldn't start tonight, and they were actually about to kill each other regardless.
"… You're right..." The American CO proclaimed as he lowered his handgun. "But we can't go home empty handed." The CO explained.
"Come with me. We can cut a deal." Mads said as he gestured to go outside. The CO nodded, although hesitantly. They both went topside and into the crisp fresh air of the Syrian night. "Smoke?" Mads offered.
"Sure." The American accepted and put it between his lips. Mads followed suit and gave light to both of their cigarettes. "So, what's your deal?" The American asked.
"I'm sure you told you to retrieve a file. Correct?" Mads asked back.
"Yes, you're right. Though the safe is empty." The American replied.
"I have the files. You can have the files on America. In exchange, I keep the files on Russia and the Major. Everyone gets what they want." Mads offered, and it was as good an offer as any in that moment. The American thought about it for a while, not sure if he should take it. After taking a few more drags of his cigarette, he made up his mind.
"Okay… We'll do it like that." He accepted.
"Good, here-" Mads dug into his bag and pulled up the American folder and gave it to the CO. The American eagerly took it and put it in his own bag.
"Thank you… You're a good man." The American said.
"I don't know about that… But this stays between us. No politicians, no religion, no money changing hands. Just between two soldiers." Mads demanded.
"Yes. I agree… By the way, what is your name?" The American asked, and Mads debated with himself if he should tell him or not. But he decided that the American deserved to know.
"Mads Romanov." Mads replied.
"Captain Mike Baker. Nice to meet you, Romanov. I'll remember you." Mike said as he offered Mads a hand shake. Mads accepted.
"I'll remember you as well, Captain Baker. Be safe." Mads said.
"Thank you, and you as well."
Present day…
Deep inside the mine.
B-11 was the wire… Mads found it, and cut it. Just like last time. The timer once again shut off and Mads could let out a sigh of relief. The others followed suit. Mads mind calmed down as he stood back up, as if this was an exact repeat of last time.
"So we aren't going to die?" Riesman asked.
"No, not today." Mads replied as he holstered his knife and pulled out his AA-12 shotgun. "But Haliat is going to die today." Mads promised. "Now let's find a way out of here." He then ordered. They began to see if they could perhaps dig their way out, but that seemed close to impossible with their current tools at hand.
"What about this door?" Tali asked as she inspected one of the doors on the far side. Mads had looked and dismissed it before, because it seemed to be fried like all the others.
"If you can get it open, then by all means." Mads replied. He watched Tali nod and get to work on the door panel. As he watched her, he realized that she completely outdid him in everything that had anything to do with technology. The speed and precision with she worked was almost astounding to him.
She was true to her word. She got it open in almost no time. Luckily for them, it just so happened that the tunnel led up and outside the mine. Mads ordered them to get a move on. He wanted to watch that smug fall right off Haliat's face as he realized his nuke had failed to do what it was supposed to do.
Fresh air… If you could even call it that, was a welcomed change to the dense atmosphere in the mine. Though the promise of living and the calm air did little to calm Mads down. "Garrus. Take position here-" Mads pointed to the edge of cliff that held a good vantage point. "-Kill any pirates you see. Expect Haliat. That little prick is mine." Mads ordered.
"Copy that, Commander." Garrus said as he equipped his sniper and began to get into position.
"Everyone else, you're on me." Mads instructed. They all readied themselves and began to walk down towards the encampment, where the pirates where hold up. The pirates had even taken their MAKO, and they were getting ready to hijack the Normandy as well. Mads loaded his AA-12 with a drum mag, and he prayed that he would be able to get a sweet moment with Haliat.
Screaming, shouting, bullets, blood and gore. If the public ever found out what had happened here, it might have been called a massacre. Every pirate within that camp had been torn to shreds, nothing remained. What hadn't been shot to hell, was now burning. There was only one left, one pirate that had started this. The one who couldn't help but keep a grudge, and Mads was no better. This was where it would end.
Haliat had been shot in the leg by Garrus when he attempted to flee. It was a clean shot, in and out. But, it meant that Haliat had to crawl his way to his personal shuttle, which must have seemed miles away from him. Mads holstered his AA-12 and got out his combat knife. He would shepherd Haliat to eternity.
"You don't know how long I have dreamed of doing this, Mr. Asshat. I knew the names of every soldier that died during that dreaded day. Heroes who gave their lives to protect the innocent. You… You only care for fame and money. Today, you will know pain." Mads monologued on.
"Fuck you Romanov. I made you into who you are… You should thank me!" Haliat replied, but Mads stomped his foot down on his leg wound. "AH FUCK!" Haliat screamed.
"THERE IS YOUR FUCKING THANKS!" Mads yelled as he turned Haliat over on his back. "Now tell me, mr. Pirate king. Where did you get this AK." Mads pulled out the AK-15 to show what he was talking about.
"Some fucking prick sold it to me. Said it was surplus from Earth or some shit. Why do you care?" Haliat answered, and he had no reason to lie.
"Good. And now, for the grand finale…. I'm gonna gut you like a fucking pig." Mads promised as he held up his knife for Haliat to see.
"Fuck you!" Haliat proclaimed as he spit in Mads' face.
"Have it your way." Mads replied and slammed the knife right down into Haliat's stomach. He slowly cut upwards towards the chest as he heard Haliat scream in pain. It was like music to his ears. Exposing Haliat's gut to the atmosphere of this planet was a dream come true. Yet, even with his gut hanging out, Haliat could never admit defeat.
He died believing he could still be the kingpin of the terminus system. As the life drained from the eyes of Haliat, Mads knew the others were looking at him with… Different opinions on how he had handled it. He could hear Liara struggle to keep her lunch down, while the others were silently muttering 'Holy Shit.' He cared little for their two cents on the matter… At least this was a chapter closed… In more than one way.