Part 5 Chapter 14
"Valkyrie?"
"Vanguard?"
"Anyone out there?"
Ela called out as she crept up the stairs with her weapon at the ready. Bandit followed close behind her.
They reached the top of the stair and moved into the third-floor hallway. Bodies and blood splatters were scattered in the hallway.
The floor was uncomfortably quiet.
"I'll check the server room. You clear the rest of the floor." Ela said through sign language.
Bandit acknowledged the order and pushed down the hallway.
Ela stacked up on the door to the server room by herself and walked slowly inside.
"Blue on blue, don't sho…"
Ela felt as if someone slugged her in the stomach.
Before her laid her best friend. Not moving.
"Meghan…"
She dropped her Scorpion to the ground and ran to her friend's aid.
She felt for a carotid pulse and if she was breathing. Neither could be found.
"DOMINIC! DOMINIC! HELP ME! I NEED HELP!" She frantically screeched.
Ela ripped off Meghan's combat vest and started chest compressions.
Bandit sprinted down the hallway toward the server room. He strode into the room with his weapon at the ready to take down any threats but the sight he saw instead made his heart jump into his throat.
"Jesus Christ…"
Bandit reached for his radio and keyed up on his comms.
"Thatcher. Thermite. I need you third floor server room stat."
Bandit watched as Ela frantically gave compressions. She had a look of absolute fear in her eyes. He'd never seen her like this before.
Bandit knelt across from Ela and felt for a pulse and if she was breathing which he couldn't find any signs. He took off one of his black gloves and felt Meghan's forehead. Her skin felt ice cold and was a sickly white color. Her finger nails were cyanotic. Her eyes stared at the ceiling.
"DOMINIC DON'T JUST STAND THERE! START RESCUE BREATHS!" Ela to Bandit impatiently.
Bandit gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Elzabieta…"
"FUCKING HELP ME DOMINIC!" Ela screamed.
"Elzabieta… she's gone."
Ela stopped her compressions and broke down into tears. She cradled her best friend in her arms. She let out a blood curdling scream. A scream of sadness and anger.
Bandit sunk his head down in defeat fighting back tears.
Thermite and Thatcher rushed into the room and were shocked to see what lay before them.
Thermite stood frozen at the door way. He looked like he couldn't catch his breath.
Thatcher approached Ela who was on the floor cradling Meghan's lifeless body in her arms.
The sight made Thatcher nauseous.
"Thatcher, there's no sign of Vanguard anywhere." Thermite muttered.
"Mike… what did I tell you about Miles?" Bandit said to Thatcher who was still staring at Meghan.
"Dominic…" Thatcher tried to speak but Dominic interrupted him. He stood up and exploded into rage no one had ever seen before. He got into Thatcher's face jabbing a finger into his shoulder as he spoke.
"I FUCKING TOLD YOU SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH HIM! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! NONE OF YOU LISTENED TO ME! IF YOU WOULD HAVE FUCKING LISTENED INSTEAD OF DEFENDING HIM THEN MAYBE MEGHAN WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! FUCK!"
Bandit punched the wall. His arm went through the drywall creating a large crater.
"Dominic, stop it." Thatcher commanded.
Before Bandit could talk back the office phone on top of the desk by the computer began to ring making the operators jump.
Thermite walked cautiously over to the phone and looked at the caller I.D.
It read, "unknown caller."
He noticed an extra wire tracing out of the back of the telephone and along the wall. It didn't look like a normal wire. He traced the wire to the computer server cabinets.
Inside the cabinets were stacks of C4.
"Bomb." He said to his teammates.
They didn't react. They stared at him like he was speaking a different language.
"BOMB! GET CLEAR, GET CLEAR!" Thermite screamed ran for the door.
Dominic stood up hesitating as if he was lost and didn't know what to do. Thermite shoved Bandit out the door as he ran.
Thatcher ran for the door. She turned around to see Ela who was still on the floor with Meghan in her arms crying.
"ELA COME ON!" He shouted at her.
"WHAT ABOUT MEGHAN?!"
"WE HAVE TO LEAVE HER! NOW MOVE YOUR ASS!"
"NO! I'M STAYING! I'M NOT LEAVING HER!"
Thatcher ran back into the room and grabbed Ela by the back of her tactical backpack and dragged her out of the room.
"NO! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME BE!" Ela screamed as she thrashed around violently.
She managed to break free from Thatcher's grip.
Ela ran back to her friend and quickly removed her dog tags, untied her shemagh, and took her Desert Eagle. She put the items in her pack and looked at her best friend one last time. She carefully closed Valkyrie's eyes to make it look like she was sleeping.
"I'm sorry Meghan. Rest easy now." She whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead shedding more tears.
"Ela. Let's go." Thatcher said almost begging.
Ela wiped her tears away and ran out of the room picking up her Scorpion along the way.
Thatcher turned his back and was about to head down the hallway when he stopped. He turned and ran back into the server room.
The computer.
Thatcher hurtled over the desk and looked at the computer.
The screen read, "download complete."
Thatcher looked around the computer and found Meghan's external hard drive plugged into the computer. He put the drive in his vest and headed for the door.
Before he left the room he quickly knelt next down next to Meghan and held her hand in his.
"I know you'll never find peace until Miles is held responsible for what he did to you. I will not rest until Miles is brought to justice… I promise."
He took in a sharp breath.
"I guess this is goodbye."
He released her hand which fell lifelessly to the ground.
He lived by one simple rule. No promises in combat.
But this was a promise that needed to be made to avenge his fallen comrade.
Thatcher ran out the door and down the stairs. He ran through the garage and out of the breaching hole Thermite had created earlier. As Thatcher took his first step onto the outside gravel the building exploded behind him sending him flipping through the air.
Thatcher landed on his back staring up at the night sky. The building began to collapse behind him.
"MIKE!" Thermite yelled running to his rescue.
Thermite helped him to his feet.
"We need to get back to the apartment ASAP." Thatcher said as he struggled to his feet. They ran into an alley way where the rest of the squad was waiting. The surviving operators ran back to their apartment.
Ela looked back at the Citadel which was now a burning pile of rubble. She didn't know what to say or think.
She turned around and ran after her teammates who were about to leave her behind.
After several minutes of traveling the operators reached their apartment building only to find it burning to the ground.
"What's the plan?" Dominic asked staring at the destruction in front of him.
"We're getting the hell out of here. We'll have to trek back to Baghdad and then England. We need to talk to Six right away." Thatcher said.
"Let's move before someone spots us." Thermite suggested.
The operators melted into the shadow around them. They pushed on past their temporary home base and began their long journey back to Baghdad with the thought of Meghan eating away at their minds.
Weeks Later
It was a rainy afternoon at Hereford Base. Maxim, Alexandr, Marius, Eliza, Craig, and Seamus trudged along the side of the street entrance to the base in the rain with all of their gear. They joked with each other after a long morning of training. Taina lurked behind them talking with her handler.
"Eliza, you really need to slow yourself. You'd find that you die a lot less in training." Seamus said poking fun at Eliza.
"Or maybe you need to speed up old man." She said punching him in the arm.
"But I'm not the one who set up off Kap's EDD and got gunned down by Alexandr while turning a corner."
Maxim and Alexandr laughed recalling the memory in their head.
Eliza pointed a finger at Seamus.
"Coming from the guy who got peaked by Mr. Toxicity over there 5 seconds into the 2nd round!" Eliza countered nodding over to Marius.
Marius innocently put his hands in the air.
"Its what I do." Marius said sheepishly.
Seamus could see Marius's shit eating grin beneath his balaclava.
A strange black sedan drove past the operators toward Six's building. It drove onto the curb and stopped.
"Uh what the hell was that?" Eliza asked staring at the vehicle.
"Let's check it out." Seamus said.
The operators jogged over to the strange car. The doors to the car opened and Thermite stepped out of the driver seat with Thatcher, Ela, and Bandit as his passengers.
"MIKE! You're back!" Seamus approaching to give his old friend a hug. Mike shoved him out of the way and walked toward the entrance of Six's building.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Sledge said as the 4 operators filed passed him. They all looked like hell. There clothes were battered and ripped as if they were wearing rags. They had dark circles under their eyes. Ela's hair had grown down to the middle of her back. Thermite and Thatcher had beards that would put Craig's to shame. They couldn't tell how Bandit looked because of his balaclava.
"Where's Six?" Mike asked.
"In her office… but she's busy in a meeting with some diplomat at the moment. Where's Meghan? I thought she went with you?" Eliza said with a look of concern.
"Good." Mike said and pushed his way through the double doors of Six's building ignoring Eliza's question. Mike's squad followed his lead leaving the other operators behind wondering what was going on.
The 4 returning operators filed up the stairs toward Six's office.
Thatcher opened the door to Six's office without knocking. A man in a suit sitting across from Six's desk turned around.
"Excuse me I'm in a… Mike… you guys are back." Six said surprised.
"Yes, yes we are." Mike said sternly.
"I see you brought a party." She said motioning at the other operators behind him.
Mike approached the diplomat from behind and yanked him out of his seat by the collar of his shirt.
"What the… Six what is the meaning of this…" The man mumbled.
"Sorry chap. We'll only be a minute." Mike said and pushed him out the door.
Jordan slammed the door behind him.
"Where's Meghan?" Six asked glancing at the group of operators as if she were hiding behind them.
There was an awkward silence amongst the operators.
A tear trickled down Ela's cheek.
Six saw her tears. She leaned forward in her chair. Mike looked at Ela. She hadn't spoken to anyone since Meghan's death.
"She's didn't make it." Ela muttered. Ela took a step forward toward Six's desk. She reached out a trembling hand holding Meghan's dog tags. She left her hand out so Six could take them from her.
Ela's words stung everyone in Six's office. Six stared down at her feet taking in the bad news. She couldn't believe it.
Six rose from her seat and walked around her desk. She stood in front of Ela and looked down at her reached out hand. Meghan's dog tags glinted in her pale hand beneath the lights in her office. Six closed Ela's hand around the tags.
Six looked her in the eye.
"Keep them. I'm so sorry for your loss Elzabieta. Not only was Meghan an outstanding operator but a dear friend to all of us. Keep her memory alive." Six said sincerely.
Ela nodded took a step back.
"Tell me what happened." Six dared to ask.
"Six, Meghan was killed by Vanguard, the CIA agent we were supposed to be working with. We have reason to believe that he was a double agent working with the White Mask." Dominic said with frustration in his voice.
"From the very short analysis I did of her body when I saw her, it looked like she asphyxiated to death. By the time we arrived it was too late. Her death would have been… slow… and painful." Mike said. He winced at the thought of how she died.
Mike placed Meghan's hard drive on her desk trying to change the uncomfortable subject.
"Meghan left this behind for us. Vanguard is still at large Six. Meghan's drive might be able to help us find him. We need to kill that son of a bitch for what he did to her." Mike said angerly.
Thermite and Ela nodded in agreement.
"I have contacts that can help take care of this. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but we should probably lay low for a while before we go after Vanguard. You have no idea how much tension this going to cause diplomatically between Rainbow and the United States."
"LAY LOW?! Six, with all due respect, we just lost our first operator and you want to remain idle? The longer we wait, the faster Vanguard slips away! He could be plotting against as we speak!" Dominic protested.
Six placed hand on Dominic's shoulder.
"Dominic, I understand how angry you must feel right now we need to be careful how we plan this. Let me take it from here. Your team needs to rest now. You're home." Six reasoned with him.
"Yes ma'am." Dominic half heartedly and walked out of her office.
Ela and Thermite followed his lead.
Mike and Six stood in silence.
Six nodded to him.
"Go on Mike. Help your team settle back in." Six said turning her back to look out her office window of the magnificent view Hereford Base and the country side.
Mike turned to leave Six's office. He stopped before walking out the door.
"What will you do now Six?" Mike asked.
"Find out how I'm going to tell the others about Valkyrie."
Author's note:
The next chapter will be the grand finale for this story. I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my story and send feedback. You have no idea how much it means to me. You guys are an awesome group of people. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this story. Let me know if I should. See you next chapter!