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Part 1: Calm before the storm
Chapter 1
Moja i twoja nadzieja
Gliwice, Poland (UTC +1)
8th of September 2021, 1623 hrs
Cigarette smoke burned his nostrils unpleasantly. He always felt this way when something stressed him out. It was raining like hell for three hours straight, and it didn't seem like the weather was going to get at least a little bit better.
"Looks like somebody is pissing his pants, doesn't it, Artem?" Hearing the voice of his partner, the man turned to face him. Kajetan Marchwicki, more often known as Lieutenant Marchewa, precipitated a cigarette from his friend's hand. "You should quit smoking, you're like a fucking chimney."
The soldier looked down at the half-burned cig butt, which slightly glowed in the puddle. Sighing heavily, he raised his gaze and rolled his eyes. Not answering Kajtek's dumb taunts was the best tactic to deal with him. Especially right now, when he hasn't been feeling his best.
"Alright, you don't want to talk. But we unfortunately need to go, briefing starts in a few minutes." The lieutenant patted Artyom's shoulder.
"Where are they sending us this time?"
"Iraq."
"Why the hell are they sending us to Iraq again?"
"They said that the political crisis is getting worse." A big smile didn't leave the soldier's face. He was the type of guy for whom it didn't matter where or when. The only important thing was how. "So if I were you, I would get ready for some action. Finally, yes!" Marchwicki looked like an excited child who just found out that they were going to Disneyland. It looked slightly ridiculous considering the posture of the soldier. Head shaved in a buzzcut, dark bushy eyebrows, sharp facial features, over 190 centimeters of height, and over 100 kilos of living weight.
He has known Kajetan since childhood. Living in the same post-Soviet ugly block of flats, going to the same class in primary school, then high school. Wherever Kajtek was, there was also Artyom. Best friends, almost like brothers. Skowron's mom was always laughing that she'll adopt their neighbor's kid someday, since she was feeding him almost every day. After school, the army was Kajtek's first choice. Artyom tried the college, but dropped out after less than two years, joining his friend. Since then, they have been inseparable again.
"Don't expect anything because you might be disappointed. I highly doubt that we'll get deployed to some real action." The soldier chuckled, rolling his eyes.
And now, here they were: almost 12 years of service, including being in one of the most elite special forces in Poland since 2015.
"You're not fun. Anyway, we should get going. Remember, the last ones are bitten by dogs." he said as he headed back to the building.
Artyom was standing there alone for a few more seconds, before turning and going behind his friend. Rain's pounding in the background didn't stop, until the door of headquarters slammed with a loud bang.
Basar, Iraq (UTC +3)
18th of November 2021, 0835 hrs
Rubbing his temples didn't drive away Artyom's sleepiness. The past few days were terrible for them all. A new group of cadets had just arrived and were being trained by AGAT's soldiers to move to Baghdad. Not even two weeks have passed since the assassination attempt on the Iraqi Prime Minister, and the activity of terrorist groups around the whole country has increased three times. The police were trying everything to avoid another clash with civilians. Over one hundred wounded people were enough.
His gut was telling him that something terrible was going to happen today, and being called by the commander of his unit seemed just to confirm those concerns. Through half closed eyes, Artyom could see his friend tapping his leg on the floor. Or more accurately, he heard it, but rolling his eyes was the only thing he did. Seeing Kajtek stressed out didn't herald anything good.
"Warrant Officer Artyom Skowron and Lieutenant Kajetan Marchwicki." The sound of his name immediately put him on high alert. The automatic movement of standing up and saluting, woke him up from stand-by mode. Commander Kozłowski was facing them, accompanied by two other soldiers.
"Good to meet you boys." The olive skin of the soldier standing in front of him caught his eye. The man looked Latin, the first idea in Skowron's mind was that he probably was either Brazilian or Spanish. "Ryad Ramírez Al-Hassarn, but I mostly go by Jackal. Here is my friend Lera Melnikova, also known as Finka." The man stretched his hand toward the Poles, waiting for a handshake. Definitely a long time in the military, judging by the texture of his skin. Dark circles under his eyes suggested that he was as tired as Artyom himself.
"Two of them have been in Iraq in total for a year and half. It's their third deployment, so they are well versed here." Commander of JW Agat continued. "The best men I can give you. I'm sure they'll be helpful. Marchwicki's specialization is special reconnaissance, and Skowron is also a chemist."
"Alright, thank you." Al-Hassarn nodded his head and spoke to the soldiers. "We're leaving this evening. Briefing starts at 3 p.m. sharp, so be ready."
"Aye, copy that." Lieutenant confirmed this, watching their new guests leave.
"Definitely Spanish." Skowron thought, carefully scanning with his eyes the back of the man's uniform. A slight poke from Kajetan got his attention.
"What?"
"What do you think?"
"Spanish, in his mid-forties, maybe a little bit older. Works in the military for a long long time, for sure longer than us… The woman is slavic, hard to tell anything else. She might be in her thirties."
"And they are from Rainbow."
A moment of silence. Lera's ginger hair and scarred face got more of his attention than the patches on her uniform, although he noticed them, just didn't really think about it.
"She was from CBRN for sure. But Rainbow? Like Team Rainbow?"
"Yes, barani łbie, from Team Rainbow. International Counterterrorism Unit." Kajetan teased, chuckling quietly, seeing the consternation painted on Artyom's face.
"Wały na chrin zwidsy! I obviously know what Team Rainbow is." Skowron laughed, shaking his head. Swearing at his friend in Ukrainian was his favorite thing to do, cause the lieutenant always got more annoyed by not understanding him.
"I refuse to acknowledge that it is a real phrase. What does it even mean?"
"In literal translation, it would be, get out wherever the horseradish is." The explanation caused the men to burst into laughter.
"Jesus Christ, you couldn't think of anything dumber?" Kajtek sighed, trying to catch his breath. "Anyways… If Rainbow itself is here, that means that something big is coming. It's a chance for us! Imagine the headlines: two Poles working with the best soldiers in the world! And surprise, they are not from fucking JW Grom! Perhaps Rainbow is looking for new cadets here?"
"Wait, you want to resign from AGAT?" Artyom frowned, hearing what the lieutenant had just said. He hoped that it was just a misunderstanding, but by the look on Marchwicki's face, he could say that indeed it wasn't. "Man, what the hell?"
"It's not like this! It's just kinda boring. Deployment to Iraq, then back in Poland. Deployment to Afghanistan, then back in Poland. Deployment to Iraq, and back to Poland. All we do is train the local soldiers. I need adrenaline, Artem!" he stopped for a second, trying to catch his breath. "Remember the times when we used to work in Border Guard? That was fun, drugs, guns, and running through the forest at night. Remember when we got lost and were found by Slovakian guards? When did they think we were smugglers? That was fucking fun, my friend. Not being stuck in the garrison, showing those Arabs how to hold an AK." The man sat down heavily, making the chair crack under his weight, and sighed.
"My friend…" Skowron awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I… I don't really know what to say."
Although the lieutenant was known for his expressive nature, it always overwhelmed the soldier. Especially in situations like this, when he was just standing there with a blank mind. What was he supposed to say? "Go for it buddy, stop serving your country because you're bored. Just like that."? Or maybe more something like "You sound like an egoistic bastard who is just seeking opportunities to kill people"? He loved Kajtek, like his own brother. But sometimes it was hard not to call him a dick and not leave. Now being stuck right in front of him with a feeling of betrayal, leaving was the thing that he wanted to do the most.
"It might be our chance, Artem. One in a million. Imagine working with people from all around the globe. We are good at what we are doing, so I doubt that they wouldn't accept us into the unit." He stopped, seeing that his friend didn't really seem convinced. "Alright, they wouldn't want you anyway, you're too boring." Kajetan sent the soldier a warm smile, cutting off the topic.
"Stop daydreaming, Husarzu." Artyom smiled back, shaking his head. "We still have a few things to do before the briefing."
"You think that Husarian wings would fit my uniform?" He flexed his muscles, pretending to be a gym bodybuilder, causing Skowron's laughter. "Would I look cool?"
"I'm sure you would."
A few hours later, the briefing room felt oddly empty with just five people sitting in there. Artyom carefully watched AGAT's commander's movements as he took out a laptop, typed something on the keyboard, and turned it towards soldiers. In the bright light of the hall, the woman's hair looked even more ginger. A short hairstyle with an undercut definitely fit her, highlighting her serious facial features. The scar stretching from her cheek up above her eyebrow gave her an even more (as Kajetan had said in the meantime) badass look.
"Alright, everyone is here, so we can start." Commander Kozłowski started. "You already have been introduced to specialists from Team Rainbow. You'll be deployed with them to Ad Dayr. It's a city around forty clicks from Basar, a major battlefield during the Iran-Iraq war. Your objective is to infiltrate the EMAR Engineering Lab, but it needs to be done quietly."
"Hold up, why?" Kajetan's green eyes expressed confusion. Hands clenched into fists, but kept at ease on the table.
"We are not sure what we'll find there. But if our suspicions are right, we are in real trouble. Our goal is to check this out without raising an alert." The Spanish man spoke up, attracting everyone's attention.
"Please be clear. If we are going inside this facility, we need to know what to expect. What trouble do you mean?" Skowron asked, keeping his voice calm. Both soldiers looked at each other, visibly unwilling to share everything they knew.
"Well. You probably heard about White Masks. Our unit, Team Rainbow, was reactivated due to their increased activity in 2015, but since 2020, we haven't heard anything from them. It can either mean that we got rid of them or that they are preparing something bigger than they ever did. EMAR Lab is one of the Hezbollah suppliers, but we can't really do anything with this since Iraq does not recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization."
Three satellite photos showing trucks being loaded at the facility showed up on the laptop's screen. The whole localization was divided into two sections, the stash houses closer to the road and the laboratory itself.
"The trouble, as we mentioned before, would be if Hezbollah started cooperating with the White Masks. All we want is either confirmation or denial of this information. But on the other hand, we don't want to cause panic in their ranks. The last thing we need is for them to sink into the ground." Artyom was looking at the table, trying to understand everything. He didn't like the idea at all, since there was no assurance whether they would find anything there. Exchanging a glance with Kajetan convinced him about his worries.
"Four people for an operation like this are not enou-..."
"Four people already make a crowd. We cannot get inside unnoticed with the whole unit, Marchwicki." The commander rubbed his temples while looking at the soldiers. " I have chosen you, because you're the best man I have. This operation is top secret and very important. Specialists Al-Hassarn and Melnikova know what they are doing, so you can trust them. The only thing you have to do is get inside, export the data, and then get out. Understood?"
"Yes sir… Understood."
Basar, Iraq (UTC +3)
19th of November 2021, 0217 hrs
The wind caressed the soldier's face gently. It was a very warm night, almost perfect for an operation like this. The squad was lying down on the ground, mapping out guards' paths.
"Okay, he is going to go around the whole place, as every 45 minutes. We can wait till he's done and get inside without any troubles." Marchwicki rolled on his back, putting down his binoculars.
Artyom's body felt numb from staying in the same position for a long time. He kept replaying the blueprints of the building in his head, analyzing possible schemes. Although the team had already decided that they were gonna take a route through the laboratory's backdoor, he still wondered whether a way from the test site wasn't a better option.
Their goal was to get into the office area where the databases were. But the backdoor was being supervised by two movement activated cameras. On the other hand, the test side had only one camera, which could be easily passed without raising the alarm.
"So where did the callsign come from? Finka?" His thoughts were interrupted by Kajetan, who turned to the Belarusian woman.
"Finka is a type of hunting knife." She rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her red hair. "During training, one of the soldiers went too hard on me, leaving this nasty scar. That's how I got my nickname." Lera was pulled away from marking something on the map, resting her head in her hands. "Though your name is also intriguing, lieutenant Carrot." she said, chuckling, seeing surprise in his eyes.
"I've told you, she's Slavic." Artyom said to Marchwicki, laughing as well. "It came from his kid's favorite movie. How was it called? Zootopia? The main character was called Sergeant Carrot, and it stuck to him."
"I think I'm out of context." Jackal looked at them
"His callsign, Marchewa, in Polish means carrot." Skowron laughed. "I think, I mean, I am just a dumb bunny, but we are good at multiplying. Marcel made me watch this movie so many times that I can quote some lines." Artyom tried to mock the voice of the character, making everyone (except Kajetan) laugh.
"Oh, shut up." the man muffed, standing up. "We can go now. He is finishing his route around the building, so we'll have almost a half hour long window to get in and out."
The clatter of the metal shears as they cut through the chain link fence surrounding the compound seemed extremely unpleasant in the silence of the night. Getting through the small hole was another unpleasant thing, but Artyom got through there rather quickly. Trying to stay low they moved along the building wall. Counting his steps, the soldier stopped in front of the door with a magnetic lock.
"Since Thatcher is not among us, I'll have the pleasure to say it... Lights out." Jackal chuckled, releasing a small EMP grenade. The door lock automatically turned off, letting operators inside.
Moving around the building was pretty easy since they knew the cameras' positions, and even if any interfered with their way, EMP grenades dealt with them without any problems.
"Clear." Al-Hassarn spoke quietly, going into the office area.
"No fresh footprints." added, turning off his Eyenox.
"How does it work?" Kajetan asked, pointing at the device.
"It's my sweet secret." The Spaniard let out a slight chuckle. "We need to find the main computer linked to the database."
"I guess I found it." Finka called them
"Alright, Agat One to Rainbow Actual, we're good to go." Jackal radioed as he put the pendrive into the computer. "Need two or three minutes to finish. Our Korean friend, Dokkaebi, is taking care of all the data. We can look around and see whether they have anything interesting in here."
The room behind the glass wall was huge. A modern laboratory, which definitely wouldn't be even expected to be in a country like this, was now engulfed in darkness. Rows of laboratory stands were left with lab glass still filled with some substances. Carefully coming closer to the laboratory area, Artyom noticed a stockpile of twenty barrels, packed up on the palette as if they were ready to be taken. He approached it, crouching in front.
"SOCl2, FRAGILE, KEEP DRY, NO. 39"
"Not good." He muttered, as he read a marking on one of the barrels. "Marchewa!" he beckoned the lieutenant to him with a gesture of his hand.
"What did you find?" Kajetan crossed his arms, looking at his friend.
"Thionyl chloride."
"I don't speak chemistry, you dumbass. What is it?"
"Chemical weapons, you dumbass." Artyom grumbled, standing up. Similar feeling as earlier, with shivers going down his spine.
The substance itself was also used as a good solvent, so maybe he judged the situation too quickly? The amount of this would probably be enough to kill half of the Basar population, which wasn't helpful.
"We found barrels with thionyl chloride." he said to Jackal as they got back to the computer.
"What?"
"Shit…" Finka swore. "A compound of chemical weapons It's lethal itself, but can be used to make Sarin, Soman, Mustard Gas, or other God knows what shit." She rubbed her temples. "That can't be good." She looked at her partner, visibly worried. Al-Hassarn, on the other hand, seemed calm and steady, thinking about what they should do. The Spaniard frowned, tapping his finger on the table.
"Well, we can't do anything about it for now. We have the data, that's the most important thing. If we were right and this is not just a Hezbollah stockpile, but an export for White Masks, then we're going to worry about it. But now we have to get ou-"
The light from the lamps on the ceiling worked like a flashbang, making them unable to see anything. The voice speaking something in Arabic changed from surprised to angry.
"Kurwa…" Artyom's first reaction was to get low and hide behind the desk, but not being able to see anything, he bumped his shoulder onto what he thought was the wall. It took a few seconds for his eyesight to adjust to the sudden change. With one hand taking his noctovision off and the second reaching out for his gun, he peeked from behind the desk. Two men dressed up in security uniforms were holding pistols and aiming in their direction.
"The hell is security doing here?!" Skowron's mind was flooded with thousands of thoughts. Ryad had also managed to take off his goggles and fire one shot toward unwanted guests. The second shot was fired by one of the guards.
When the sight's dot aligned with the man's chest patch, he pulled the trigger. He slightly leaned backward, took a step back, then fell to the ground. Artyom didn't count the shots that were made, but one of the guards had emptied the magazine of his Beretta M1951. Another man was killed by Jackal, who was still aiming his weapon at bodies lying on the floor in case any of them decided that they weren't going to die from being shot in the middle of their chests.
"Clear." Ryad sighed, poking the dead guard's leg. "Nice shot, Licho. Anyways, we should roll boys."
"Thanks. The hell were they doing here?" Licho rubbed his arm, which throbbed with a dull ache after hitting the wall.
"No idea. Finka, Marchewa, you alright?" They both turned to face their teammates.
His stomach dropped to his knees. The body froze, the eyes started to burn.
The Belarusian woman was kneeling next to Kajetan. His face, hidden under a balaclava, was twisted in pain.
"Kurwa, Kajtek!" In two steps, Artyom was next to his friend, already checking him. "Shit, shit, shit, it doesn't look good. Fucking hell, Kajtek, look at me, buddy." he said, shaking his hand and pushing on the wound on Marchwicki's stomach.
"They got me hard, didn't they?" The lieutenant mumbled, clenching his hands. "Apparently those idiots knew how to use their guns… "
Pushing the wound, Artyom looked at Finka, who was holding a syringe with morphine. The bullet went straight through his abdomen. The pool of blood under Kajetan's body didn't stop growing. His breath was getting heavier, but every time, his chest was sinking more and more.
" Artem, where is Marcel?" The soldier couldn't understand most of the babble that came out of his wounded friend's mouth, but the lieutenant's son's name sounded clear.
Too clear.
"He's home, Kajtek. You can't fall asleep, promise me? Alright buddy?" For a second, he took off his hands from the wound, taking out a bandage from his medkit. "I'm going to get you out of here, I promise. I promise, Kajtek, you hear me?"
His mind felt empty as he tried to remember any medical procedures he had learned. Putting the gauze on the wound and pushing it "Stop the bleeding, he can't lose more blood." was the only thought. Finka helped him put the bandage, which, after a few seconds, started turning red.
Two deep breaths didn't help a lot. Lera's movement of the hand showed him that he could help with picking up the half-conscious Marchwicki. He didn't move. He couldn't.
"They heard the shots." Jackal crouched next to him, looking straight into his eyes. "Licho, listen to me. We have to take him back to base, he'll bleed out. The rest of the guards have heard the shots, we need to move."
"Yes, we need to get the fuck out of here." Pole shook his head, standing up. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he realized how bad the situation was. "I'll carry him. Do we have exfil?"
"ETA is two minutes. Are you sure you'll be able to carry him?"
"Yes, let's move."
When he dropped heavily into the seat, his vision started to be blurry again. His breath felt too loud, almost like thunder piercing his brain, every time he filled his lungs with oxygen. He wasn't sure how long it took them to get into the car; he had completely lost track of time. It could be anything from a few seconds to even ten minutes, but he couldn't tell the difference. Despite all of those things, he felt like something was missing. It took him a while, staring blankly at the inside of the van, before he realized.
Kajetan stopped mumbling, being unconscious. Finka and the other soldier were taking care of their friend, trying to stop the bleeding. Skowron rubbed his face, trying to pull himself together, but immediately regretted it. His hands were covered in blood.
Basar, Iraq (UTC +3)
22nd of November 2021, 0621 hrs
Metal felt like burning cold in his fingers, but he couldn't make himself put it down. The sun was slowly appearing on the horizon, sending timid rays of light. He couldn't sleep at all. Whenever he closed his eyes, it hit him again and again. Sometimes he could even smell blood around him. The only thing he could do was stare at the sky, holding his friend's dog tags, smoking cigarette by cigarette.
The look that the doctor gave him, after leaving the operating theater, said more than a thousand words. At first, Artyom was sure that his friend had died. That lieutenant, Kajetan Marchwicki, was dead. He wasn't sure whether he should have been relieved when he heard the news. Kajtek survived the surgery, which was definitely a good thing but not the only thing.
Skowron couldn't really focus on the doctor's speech, but the man mentioned something about the spine, damage, and the spinal cord. Although biology wasn't his most favorite subject in school, he knew what it meant. It was like a verdict- the worst possible one.
"Hey…" low voice, made him immediately turn back. "I'm sorry to bother you."
"No, it's alright. Do you need anything?"
Ryad took a place next to him, resting his arms on the balcony's balustrade. With the gesture, he proposed a cigarette to the Spaniard, but he declined, shaking his head.
"Listen… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your friend. I heard that he is going to be paralyzed from the waist down... It was nobody's fault, we couldn't know that the guards would randomly go and check the lab."
A moment of silence caused Artyom to again hear his heartbeat. Every time there was no background sound, he felt the pounding in his chest, the noise of blood running through his veins.
"This's how the job works. It sucks sometimes."
"Let's be honest, it sucks most of the time."
Skowron let a slight chuckle out, finishing another cigarette. He tossed the butt into the ashtray, which already contained quite a number of smoked cigarettes. With his other hand, he was reaching out to take another one, but Jackal held him back.
"You should stop, man. I'm sorry to break it to you, but it's not going to help."
Seeing Skowron's blank stare, Ryad hesitated, stopping his hand half-way from the man's shoulder. Al-Hassarn felt a tinge of old times, he understood how Artyom felt and couldn't help but feel guilty about the lieutenant. The sorrow emanating from the Pole reminded him of his own mourning after the death of his brother. Although even that didn't seem as painful as knowing that Kajetan had just lost the job he loved and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. But what could he do?
Artyom, lowering his head and slightly turning away from him, made it clear that he wanted to be left alone, so the Spaniard decided not to bother him anymore and leave.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There is something else." Jackal stopped half-stepping. "We had hit the jackpot."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a whole network. Hezbollah is supplying the White Masks. Some really bad and big shit is coming. That's why…" He took something out of his jacket. "It's for you."
Artyom hesitantly claimed the object, turning it over in his hands. He raised his eyebrows, looking at the Spaniard.
"A letter?"
"Read it whenever you feel better. Our plane is already here, so I guess it's a goodbye." A warm smile appeared on his face.
"It was nice to meet you, Jackal."
"It's Ryad for friends."
The plane left less than half an hour later. Skowron watched it take off, still holding the envelope in his hands. He gently ran his finger over where his name was written. His eyes stopped at the addressee's name.
"Harishva Pandey, Director Six
Team Rainbow"
He bit his lip, already knowing the content of the letter. He had also already known his answer. Kajetan's favorite phrase, which was also their unit motto, echoed in his head. The last ones are bitten by dogs.
Author's notes:
The first chapter is finally up!
After a lot of struggling with editing and formatting, I managed to post it.
All the credits goes to SolozzoTheTurk, ACatInASnowball, GrimGravy and Ellie (if not u guys, this chapter would never be out lmao)
Translations:
Moja i twoja nadzieja- (from polish) my and your hope
Barani łbie- (from polish) ignorant/dumb
Wały na chrin zwidsy [Вали на хрін звідси]- (from ukrainian) get lost
Husarz- (from polish) hussar soldier
Song inspiration: "Chłopaki powinni się bawić" by Zachar
