02:30 AM, Local Time
Rome, Italy
June, 2018
Gabriel let out a gasp as he bolted up. He was searching for breath as he looked around. Sweat was running down his body, sticking to his sheets. It was the same nightmare. The visions of his gruesome experience in his military service, his fallen comrades and Nico. He couldn't get it out of his head and it probably won't until he died. Gabriel then heard his nightstand rumbling. His phone had been ringing for a while which must've woke him up. Sighing, he wiped the sweat off his hands and answered the phone.
"Hello?" Gabriel mumbled.
"You're needed for a mission."
"When?"
"Today. Bring your team in."
"Understood."
Hanging up, Gabriel let out another sigh and got off the bed, turning on the lights. The pitch black room brightened, glowing in contradiction of the dark outside. There was no rest for Blackwatch in the end.
05:10 PM, Local Time
Moscow, Russia
June, 2018
After arriving in Moscow, Gabriel and his team of five, first headed off to their place to meet for the briefing where Salvatore had arranged before-hand. McCree and Sombra were in Gabriel's car while Amélie, Moira and Marvel were in the other following Gabriel. The ride on the way there was quiet, though Gabriel wouldn't care much. The team eventually arrived at their meeting area where they would be briefed. The place looked to be an abandoned warehouse but it was a secluded base for intel gathering. Getting out of the car, Gabriel led the team into the warehouse with McCree helping carry equipment with Sombra. Inside, the warehouse was empty and looked to have been left behind in a hurry. The sun shining through the shuttered windows made up for the poor lighting. The team waited for a while, looking around the empty place.
"This looks shady. Are you sure this is the right place?" Marvel asked.
"Relax, I've been here before." Gabriel assured.
"Of course you have, my friend."
Gabriel turned around to that familiar accent. The figure walked out of the shadows from the other side and stood. He recognized that haircut from Grease, prompting a smirk from him.
"We both picked this together."
Gabriel approached him, shaking his hand before pulling in for a hug.
"It's been a long time, Boris." Gabriel said.
"Likewise, old friend."
Breaking off, Gabriel turned to his team who were waiting for an explanation.
"Everyone, this is FSB Agent Boris Kuznetsov. We trained and fought together while I was in Delta."
"К вашим услугам," Boris nodded. "I was a good friend of Nico…I'm sorry to hear about what happened in Ukraine, Gabriel."
Gabriel nodded, slightly uncomfortable. "It's fine."
"So what's the job?" Sombra asked.
Boris took a deep breath before beginning, placing his hands on his hips.
"Last month, the Russian Prime Minister had a less than pleasant encounter with an assassin during her visit in Georgia. She's a woman with a notable political and social influence on Russia. Rumor has it that there's going to be another attack and that rumor has been proven true when she received a death threat last week. Our government doesn't know about this and when I reported this to my superiors, they did not believe me and ordered me to stand down."
"Sounds like someone is trying to cover this up." Marvel said.
"More like someone wants her dead." Sombra added.
"It's true," Boris said. "The Prime Minister has always been putting people over politics which to them isn't a sensible choice and as Sombra said, I do feel like someone from the government is trying to get rid of her which is why I had to contact Blackwatch."
"And it's a good thing you did, Boris."
The group turned towards the familiar voice, leading to two figures approaching them. There were two women, one of them they already knew. It was the Prime Minister herself in her signature white, tight business suit with her dark brown hair tied to a bun to complete the look. Beside her was a tall, muscular woman whose build resembled an Olympic weightlifter. Her blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail and there was a scar above her right eye, forming an 'X'.
"Ah, yes," Boris turned towards the team to introduce the women. "May I introduce you all to the Prime Minister of Russia, Katya Volskaya and her head of security, FSO Agent Aleksandra Zaryanova or Zarya as she prefers."
Boris then approached Katya who was looking at the team.
"Miss Volskaya, this is the team I was telling you about." He said.
The sentence was implanted on Gabriel's mind for the past few years every time someone introduced them. Katya nodded, still observing them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," she then glanced away from the team. "Especially you, Sombra."
Katya's gaze locked onto the hacker. There was a pause and the team turned to Sombra who simply smirked.
"Pleasure to see you again, Kat."
"Please don't call me that."
"You two met before?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes," Zarya stepped forward. "Sombra helped us track down and capture terrorist cells across Russia last November."
"And since I'm here again, I can't wait to find out who's trying to kill a good friend of mine." Sombra said.
Gabriel nodded and turned to Boris. "So how are we doing this, Boris? You got this planned ahead?"
"Indeed," he replied. "Volskaya has a press conference in St Petersburg tomorrow, making it the perfect time for whoever's after her to strike. This is where you and your team come in. You will shadow our escort units on the way to and from the meeting in case anything happens. While they're out there, we'll need your hacker to provide eyes from the sky and keep tabs on whoever's trying to take out Volskaya."
"Alright. We can work with that."
After settling on their plan of action, Gabriel and the team left the warehouse to get some rest for the mission.
Next Day
04:50 PM, Local Time
St. Petersburg, Russia
June, 2018
Katya looked over the window where they drove down the street. The traffic was unusually less bustling than it was. She had just finished the press conference and she was gazing out the window watching people pass each other without a glance at the traffic. Security revolving her had been tightened in case of an attack with a few more vehicles added to the convoy. The Blackwatch unit were trailing behind the convoy from a further distance in an unmarked car while Sombra was watching them from the drone.
Adjusting her jacket, Katya let out a sigh as the convoy made a stop at a traffic light. Her gaze fell in the middle of the windshield in front of her. Katya then intertwined her hands and began to fidget with her fingers. Something was giving her anxiety. The nerve in her left hand was buzzing. Even though there was no suspicious activity throughout the day, she didn't buy it. If nothing happens then, it would happen later.
"Is something troubling you, ma'am?"
Turning to the voice, Katya glanced at Zarya who was sitting next to her. As a bodyguard and a close friend, she was always there for her whenever she wasn't in the mood or felt like crumbling.
"I'm okay, Zarya. Thanks for your concern." Katya assured.
The convoy moved and they were back on the road again. The silence remained for a while. Katya then began to reminisce. It was often a bad thing. Anytime she reminisced, the first thing that would come up would be something that was troubling her. The image of the death threat popped up in her mind.
"This must be retaliation." Katya muttered.
Zarya glanced at her.
"What do you mean?"
"The sins I have committed to make Russia a safer country. The relationships I have shattered to undo Stalin's actions."
There was silence between the two. Katya wasn't expecting Zarya to be on her side on anything political. She heard Zarya sigh and felt her hand touch her knee.
"I don't agree with what you've done but I know that you did what needed to be done. But no matter what you do, I will stay by your side and make sure that nothing happens-"
Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted in front of them, startling Katya as well as cutting off her thoughts. The first car burst into flames and flipped over, landing upside down. The driver then hit the brakes, stopping abruptly. The tires screeched as they halted.
"Змей в Арктику, статус, окончен! (Serpent to Arctic Team, status, over!)" Zarya shouted in her earpiece.
There was no response from the first vehicle. Zarya then shouted something Katya couldn't hear. Everything around her was beginning to close in on her. The noises faded away. This is the retaliation. This is her consequence.
Everything was happening in a blink of an eye. There were two SUVs that stopped in front of the convoy and the doors swung open. A group of men in balaclavas wielding assault rifles emerged and aimed at the convoy. A barrage of gunfire rained upon them. Katya ducked behind the front seats and covered herself as bullets hit the windows like sponges. Thankfully, the bulletproof vehicle was able to sustain against a hail of gunfire like this but they can't stay any longer.
"Уведите нас отсюда, Кирилл! (Get us out of here, Kiril!)" Zarya yelled.
"Роджер! (Roger!)" he responded.
The car began to reverse from the attackers, weaving past deserted cars on the road with the rear escort vehicle behind them. As Katya peered up from the seat, she turned to her right and noticed a vehicle heading towards them at full speed. Before she knew it, the vehicle smashed into the car and everything went black.
The team was already on their way to the Prime Minister as soon as they heard the explosion. Gabriel could hear the sounds of chaos and panic from the radio of the FSO team.
"VIP хит! VIP хит! (VIP is hit! VIP is hit!)"
Gabriel hit the pedal, bypassing vehicles through the almost empty street, heading for the Prime Minister as fast as possible.
"Shadow 4 to Shadow Team, hostiles are closing in on the VIP! Get your asses down there now!"
"Copy! We're on our way!" Gabriel responded before pulling on his mask.
They managed to arrive at the scene. At a distance, fire and smoke was drifting up from one of the escort vehicles and the Prime Minister's vehicle was still there but it's been tumbled over. A pickup truck was parked near the Prime Minister's vehicle with several masked men heading towards it. Parking the car next to the remaining escort vehicle, Gabriel and the team hopped out with their weapons ready. They were equipped with suppressed SIG Sauer weapons, different from their usual arms. As the team headed towards the convoy, Amélie approached one of the FSO agents taking cover behind the vehicle.
"How bad is it?" She asked.
"First vehicle was hit by some sort of bomb and the VIP was hit by an enemy vehicle." The agent told her.
"Thanks. We'll take it from here."
Amélie did a quick inspection of the scene before turning to the team with a plan.
"Shadow 6, 7, flank them. The rest of us provide suppressive fire so we can reach the VIP."
Marvel and Moira nodded before heading off to flank them. By the time the team were ready, the attackers noticed them and charged towards the team. The team opened fire, using deserted vehicles as cover. Gabriel managed to take out two attackers, before taking cover behind a red car. As he waited for the right time, he noticed Marvel and Moira making their way down the path nearby.
Gabriel then stood up and returned fire, taking out a few more attackers with single burst rounds. He caught sight of an attacker stepping onto the roof of a car with a grenade. He blasted him in the neck before he could even throw. As the attacker fell off, the grenade exploded. The fiery blast consumed the vehicles and the attackers near the proximity. Getting out of cover, Gabriel advanced past the vehicles and faced more attackers heading their way.
Gabriel shot two attackers with multiple rounds, emptying the magazine. Taking cover behind a van, he removed the magazine and clipped on a new one before he heard footsteps to his right. Gabriel turned around and aimed, shooting an attacker in the stomach. He then approached the attacker and finished him off with two rounds near the head before he could fight back.
Gabriel peered through the front of the van and fired upon another few attackers as McCree rushed towards them while firing rapid bursts. The attackers hid behind vehicles from the gunfire. Gabriel noticed Marvel and Moira from the other side, about to open fire.
"Reloadin'!" McCree called as he took cover behind another car.
Gabriel moved out of cover and noticed the attackers emerging from cover to fight. Gabriel fired multiple rounds, taking out two of them with the rest being taken care of by the team. He then heard the tires screeching from a distance and noticed one of the attackers' SUVs speeding away from the scene.
"Clear!"
The team caught up with each other and approached the crash site. Marvel and Moira were first to get there while the rest set a perimeter around them. They found Zarya crawling halfway out of the car with the door ripped open and a smoking pistol on her right hand. A thin stream of blood was sliding down her face from her temple.
"Zarya! Zarya!" Marvel called.
Gabriel noticed one of the attackers on the ground near the car with a bullet to his lower back, trying to crawl away. As he finished him off with a round to the head, Marvel reached Zarya and helped her up.
"You alright?" Marvel asked.
"Da," Zarya answered through her gritted teeth. "But they got the Prime Minister."
Marvel nodded before reaching for his comms.
"Shadow 4, this is Shadow 7. Hostiles got the VIP. Can you track down that vehicle?"
"Already on it," Sombra answered. "You guys might wanna start catching up to them before they go dark."
"Copy, we're on the move," Amélie said and turned to the team. "Lets go!"
As they made their way back to their car, they noticed Zarya behind them.
"I'm coming too." Zarya said as she adjusted her Kevlar.
Gabriel glanced at the others, awaiting approval.
"Alright. Let's go!" Gabriel nodded.
After getting the remainder FSO agents to contain the vicinity, the team reached their car, a black seven-seater Renault Duster and jumped in. Gabriel ignited the engine and took it by reverse, driving off to the streets. Speeding through light traffic, Gabriel scanned the road for any sign of the attackers' vehicle.
"Shadow Team, I managed to I.D the vehicle with the VIP inside. You're looking for a red Jeep Wrangler without a registration plate." Sombra said.
Gabriel took a right turn and surprisingly, he caught sight of the red Jeep speeding away in the midst of the light traffic.
"There it is!" Zarya called, pointing at the car.
Gabriel reached for his comms. "Shadow 1, I got visual on the red Jeep."
Hitting the pedal, he chased after the Jeep driving erratically. One of the attackers emerged from the window and opened fire at them. The shots rang across the street, scaring away people watching the chase. Shortly, the attacker got back inside, possibly running out of ammo.
"Take the shot, Lacroix!" Gabriel ordered.
"Copy!" Amélie replied as she opened the window.
She mounted the MPX on the window and aimed for the tires. She opened fire, hitting the front and back tires. The Jeep lost control and skidded to the right, crashing into a parked car. Gabriel stopped the car near the Jeep as the alarm of the parked car blared. Several people began to approach the crash, hoping to help whoever's inside.
"Zarya, get these people outta here." Gabriel said as he got out of the SUV.
"Da."
As Zarya ordered the people away from the scene, Gabriel and the team advanced towards the Jeep with their weapons fixated on them. The door opened and a leg stepped out. Katya came out with one of the remaining attackers holding her in front. The barrel of his pistol was pressed to the side of her head. The sounds of shock erupted from the crowd.
"Отвали! Или я убью это (Back off! Or I'll kill this-)"
A gunshot erupted. Two bullets hit the face and the attacker slumped over, pulling Katya down with him. The crowd cried out in shock. Gabriel wasn't the one who shot him though. He glanced over and noticed both Amélie and Zarya's weapons with smoke coming out of the barrel. As a former Delta, Gabriel admitted that these two would make his former buddies look like stormtroopers.
"Goddamn." McCree muttered, alongside Marvel nodding. Even these two were impressed.
Lowering their weapons, Zarya rushed up to Katya who pushed the body away. The team checked their surroundings as the crowd began dispersing.
"Are you alright, Katya?" She asked, getting her up.
"I'm fine." The Prime Minister nodded and then turned to Gabriel. "Thank you."
"The job isn't over until we get you outta here." Gabriel replied.
"Of course. Let's get out of here."
The team got back into the car with Katya and Zarya joining in while McCree and Marvel sat in the boot. He drove the team away from the area and they headed back to their destination.
"Shadow 4 to Shadow 1," Sombra said. "I found something interesting."
9:50 PM, Local Time
Moscow, Russia
June, 2018
Viačaslaû Tsyganov yawned as he finished his nightly tea. He needed to loosen some tension after his meeting with the Council. The T.V was still airing the night news, including the coverage of the Volskaya attack in St Petersburg. Letting out a gruff sigh, he adjusted his receding hair and stood up from his chair. Suddenly, the room went dark. Everything was pitch black and the T.V was shut off.
Tsyganov looked around. It must've been another power outage but there was something off with it. The suburb he lived in had just gotten maintenance from the electricity technician and the only way a power outage would happen was if there was heavy rain. Setting his teacup on the side, Tsyganov tried to move through the dark with his weak eyesight. He was way too old to navigate through the dark. He lifted his arms to feel anything in front of him but there was nothing to hold on.
Tsyganov held onto the corner of the wall and suddenly, the lights were back on. His eyes gazed around the room, familiarizing himself. Maybe his neighbor was foolish to turn on more than three appliances, that frail idiot. Letting go of the wall, Tsyganov sighed and turned to get his tea. He picked up his teacup along with the saucer and turned around, only to freeze and drop them onto the carpet floor. His eyes widened at that unexpected sight.
There was a hooded figure, pointing a suppressed gun at him from the other side of the room. He noticed that he was wearing a balaclava with a skull painted on it. Tsyganov didn't hear him enter. His house was fitted with heavy security.
"Hola, Senator." The intruder said in English.
"Кто ты, черт возьми? (Who the hell are you?)" Tsyganov asked.
"Друг ФСБ. (A friend of the FSB.)"
So he can speak Russian. He had no idea who he was but he could tell he wasn't Russian. Whoever he was, he must've been hired by the FSB. The intruder walked over to him, still aiming the gun at Tsyganov.
"Sit." He ordered.
He can't escape this but he wanted to hear his part so he played along. Sitting back down on his chair, he looked up at the intruder, feeling his glare from his eyes. A band of sweat oozed from his forehead. He stayed silent, waiting for him to speak.
"The attempt on Katya Volskaya's life was smart, hiring the ISIL-CP terrorists to do the work," He said, taking out a phone from his jacket and tossing it to Tsyganov's feet. "But paying them first was a big mistake when we traced the payment back to you. That was very idiotic...especially for the Russian Senator."
Staring down at the phone, he could see an image of the transaction. Now he sees why he's here. Tsyganov looked up and scowled.
"You have no clue of what she's done." He growled.
"Actually I do," the intruder said. "I'll admit, Volskaya could've done better but at least she did what she had to do to keep Russia from turning into another Soviet Union where the second Cold War would've happened. Hell, she would've gotten my vote for the next President of Russia if she chose to. And as for you? You're just a pathetic politician who abuses power and cowers behind terrorists to do your dirty work."
Tsyganov ignored his insult. "And you think killing me will solve all of this? I have friends who will finish what I've star-"
Gabriel closed the door behind him, holstering his pistol behind his jacket. He wasn't interested in Tsyganov's empty threats so he put a bullet to his head to shut him up. Taking off his mask, Gabriel headed for the front gate down at the hill without worrying about the cameras, thanks to Sombra's intervention. Once he was in a safe distance from the house, Gabriel took out his phone and dialed.
"This is Reyes. It's done."