OR2-EP1: Perun Awakens (12)

The means by which OUN made good on its threat was fairly straightforward and brutal: throwing the hostages off the roof of the hotel. Public opinion was shocked by the news, with many media sources believing that the nature of the incident had reached the point where it had to be resolved by force, and rumors circulated that the United States was preparing to send in special forces to rescue the trapped hostages. However, such a move would be difficult, as the U.S. military, which had suffered an inexplicable defeat in Eastern Ukraine, might not be able to spare its elite troops, and the Russians' preying on the Crimea would be a major concern for the U.S. military. For the hegemon, every move could have many unforeseen consequences, and the leading experts are not always able to accurately guess what will happen and formulate countermeasures in advance. While the White House is still arguing about this, a group of deserters who should have been arrested and sent to court have started their own operation.

The Kiev metropolitan area has seen the rise of several large-scale construction projects over the past two decades, with the immediate effects of increased building density and a gradual expansion of the city's population. These urban structures have provided the OUN with the perfect setting for street battles, relying on underground tunnels and other facilities to conduct guerrilla warfare across the city, gradually establishing their dominance to the point that even the President has almost fled to Romania to escape the heat of the moment. Directly across the street from the OUN-controlled hotel is a large shopping mall, which has been ransacked by the OUN militia and the citizens of Kiev in the last week, and is now in shambles. The mall is now a shambles, with no tenants choosing to return to it, and the entire building an empty shell. The night before the operation began, Captain Shields infiltrated the abandoned mall and made his way to the top floor, setting up a makeshift signaling station. As the only soldier of the five with magical superpowers, he himself had to take part in the raid, but the problem that ensued was that no one here was good at electronic warfare except him - McNeil had watched the guy attack the Ukrainian cyber-service in the city of Kiev and dig up most of the hotel's intel. In the end, Tom volunteers to stay in the mall to guard the makeshift signaling station, and he needs to make sure that the others who have infiltrated the hotel can communicate properly.

The solution given by Michael McNeil continued to be to enter through the parking lot, and the entrance to the underground parking lot was guarded by four OUN militiamen, who would check all persons attempting to cross the lot. This check is usually a formality; OUN equips its armed militia with information cards that symbolize legal identity, and the guards are not alerted to visitors as long as they don't hear the alarm from the detection equipment. As soon as someone claims the cards are lost or someone is confirmed dead by others, the cards are immediately canceled, making it impossible for outsiders to use them to infiltrate OUN-controlled areas.

"Do you have a way to activate these cards?" McNeil handed Captain Shields the recently collected cards.

"Actually, one of the worst possibilities ... is that the doorman happened to know the deceased, and he knows that the owner of the cards is dead." Captain Shields sighed, "If that happens, all our work will be for nothing."

McNeil's strategy was based on the fact that OUN didn't inform the fringe members of recent important news. Had OUN broadcast the list of the dead on their social media channels on a daily basis, the crowd's plan to steal the cards of the dead would have been a complete failure. A few hours before the final raid was launched, Captain Shields had managed to break into OUN's web servers and tamper with the data in the background, figuring that OUN's hackers and programmers would notice the anomalies before noon, and that the whole plan would have to be completed by morning. The details of the evacuation operation are still blank; Sergeant Salas can't think of any forces that might come to their aid; they'll have to fight OUN alone, and U.S. Special Forces exist only in news reports for now. McNeil then reassured him that perhaps the OUN would disorganize themselves and they could retreat to the U.S. Embassy in force.

"If those lunatics are ready to lay siege to the embassy, we're screwed."

"They wouldn't dare, and the consequences of talking nonsense on your own turf are certainly different from running into someone else's turf and picking a fight."

That said, OUN's extreme behavior may have something to do with the attack by McNeil et al. some days ago. the radical wing of OUN may have seen it as intimidation by a foreign power, when OUN, believing itself to be in complete control of the situation, in a desperate act of hubris, decided to break with foreign powers that had lost the point of cooperating with them. If that was the reason, McNeil could be considered the enemy of the hundred or so hostages.

Captain Shields and McNeil posed as OUN militiamen, ready to be fooled with forged cards. Both of them were born with blonde hair, making it easier to impersonate Ukrainians. By contrast, Sgt. Salas looked Mexican at first glance, and Corporal Randal was a typical fat man- the consequence of a long diet of high-calorie junk food. After the group agreed on the division of labor, the five men split up, with Tom returning to the mall to guard the signal station that had been set up on the top floor, following the previous route, and the two sergeants each preparing their escape routes for the retreat, while Capt. Shields joined McNeil in his OUN uniform and scarf and hat. The weather was still cold, and those citizens on the streets who supported the OUN had to choose to only travel during the day, the city was a freezing hole at night.

"You keep quiet and follow me." Captain Shields whispered, "Look, I'm the only one who can speak Ukrainian."

McNeil would not argue with him on such matters. He obeyed the Captain's orders peacefully, and the two walked on, one behind the other, through the bustling crowds and the black and red flags of the Rurik insignia, to the underground parking lot near the hotel. The guards were right there watching the entrance with interest, one of them was smoking a cigarette and didn't even look up when he saw two more opponents outside. Captain Shields placed the card on the device and the crisp beeps that followed signaled his successful passage through the check. Following suit, McNeil followed suit and the two managed to enter the parking lot without suffering any questioning. McNeil went behind the pillar and glued a device only half the size of a fingernail to the side of the pillar. Ahead was a sedan parked close to the pillar, and McNeil was confident that the OUN militia wouldn't realize that a device used for cyberattacks had been planted in this corner.

Upon them came a squad of loaded OUN militia, and the two men ignored them, only to immediately turn left and stand in front of a small door that left the underground parking lot. The door was a fire escape and would not have been opened on a normal day, but the OUN militia had taken the hotel and blocked off all routes that could lead to the escape of the hostages. Captain Shields lifted the microphone hidden under his scarf upward and spoke to Tom outside the hotel:

"Follow the tutorial I wrote on the other computer."

Tom's knowledge of computers was limited to playing games. This task should have been done by Captain Shields himself, who now had to write the preliminaries in his tablet in order for Tom to be able to support them in a timely manner. Luckily, Tom could at least read the instructions, which were not overloaded with proper nouns, and he completed his first task of off-site auxiliary support with great trepidation as he tapped the keyboard on the computer one by one. Even if McNeil's actions had been kept as stealthy as possible, they would have been caught by the hotel's security cameras halfway through the operation, and the OUN would have inevitably picked up on the anomalies involved once the operation had entered the firefighting phase. Capt. Shields' handling advice, on the other hand, was directed at the security cameras; he intercepted a section of footage captured by the security cameras of no one passing through the various corridors and shoved it into a loop on the surveillance system, so that the OUN militia sitting in the surveillance room would not notice anything out of the ordinary. In order to prevent the OUN from figuring them out ahead of time when they were servicing the equipment, McNeil had specifically instructed Tom to only take out the cameras on the routes they were bound to take.

Now they stood below the ventilation ducts, with no suspicious people passing by at either end of the narrow corridor. McNeil removed the cover and jumped on it with the assistance of Captain Shields, who then pulled the Captain into the ventilation duct and placed the cover back in its original position. The Captain placed another device at the mouth of the ventilation duct before ordering Tom to attack the rest of the hotel's control system. Maybe the OUN wouldn't even notice that there was a problem with the monitoring data from the ventilation ducts, but McNeil couldn't gamble on it, and if he was wrong, all of their lives would be lost.

"They can't hear you down here if we're talking here, can they?"

"Shouldn't be able to hear ... Keep the volume as low as possible just to be on the safe side."

The OUN is holding the Americans separately from the other foreigners, guess they think the Americans can be better used as bargaining chips to blackmail the rich businessmen and entrepreneurs. There were militia in all the key locations, and even if they had managed to sneak into the rooms and rescue the hostages, there was no way to get the hostages out of the hotel the normal way. There was no way these hostages could have gotten through the OUN blockade line in such a thrilling way as they did, and as soon as McNeil's rescue operation was over, the next order of business was to force a breakout and escape. Sgt. Salas and Corporal Randal had two vans ready to go, and they would work their way into the chaos that OUN was in while they took the hostages as fast as they could to the U.S. Embassy.

"There are over 20 OUN militia in total in the hallway outside this hall and the two adjoining hallways, trying to storm the hall without attracting their attention is impossible." Capt. Shields got a real live security camera feed as he and McNeil sat at the bend in the ventilation duct looking at the footage coming in on their tablets, "We could also try to leave the ventilation ducts through the storage room and enter the hall, but all it would take is a few random screams from the hostages inside and the OUN militia would rush in to investigate and slaughter us all. "

"There has to be a way to distract the OUN." McNeil brought up his preparatory plan, "Have Salas deliver that remote-controlled car bomb to the hotel entrance."

"But the OUN will definitely focus on the hotel's front door, and it will become difficult for us to escape."

"... It's also difficult to run now."

A few minutes later, a Tesla electric sedan rushed towards the OUN-controlled hotel gate at full speed and collided with the OUN militia who rushed head-on to stop the vehicle and there was a big explosion, the scene was a bloody mess, more than a dozen OUN militia members were killed instantly, and the barricades that they had set up to prevent the vehicle from storming the hotel were all blown up as well. At the time of the explosion, the OUN militia inside the hotel were alarmed and left their posts to come to the first floor to prepare for the possible invasion of the enemy. Taking advantage of the OUN mobilizing their troops everywhere, the two men quickly made their way through what was left of the ducts and exited the ventilation ducts at the storage room they had chosen. The first thing that caught the pair's eye was the two Americans tied up in the corner, who were instantly startled and shaking at the sight of someone suddenly jumping down the ventilation duct. Luckily their mouths had been taped shut, or the yelling hostages would have attracted the OUN militia.

Michael McNeil stood next to the door and addressed the Captain, who was still checking his gear:

"After the attack is over they'll guess that it might have been a feint ... We'll have to convince the hostages as soon as possible."

"Have you chosen an escape route?"

"We can't avoid a bad fight on the way, thankfully we still have car bombs on hand now, when the time comes we'll send another one to the underground parking lot ... It's not like they'd dare to use a rocket launcher in the city."

The two opened the side door and walked into the hall where OUN was holding the American hostages. The hostages were surprised to see two heavily armed OUN militiamen walk in. Some guessed on a hunch that they were fakes, and that a real OUN militia wouldn't burrow in through a place like this. Looking at the hostages whose eyes were bloodshot, McNeil couldn't help but sigh and lament. There were many high-powered elites among these people, but in the hands of unruly bandits they were no different from civilians, just a lump of meat that would die even if it took a shot.

"Citizens of the United States, this is the 11th Regiment, 1st Marine Division-"

"To be short, we're here to get you out, simple as that." McNeil covered the Captain's mouth, "Everyone be quiet for a moment and untie the ropes and tape."

McNeil and Captain Shields quickly went to work on the rescue, the hostages freed from their bonds then began to assist them in hitching up the other hostages as well. They were careful not to make too much noise or the OUN militia still patrolling the corridors outside would inevitably spot them. McNeil found Wyatt Curtis in the corner, and the younger Curtis eyed the two men in their OUN militia uniforms warily, not seeming to trust them very much.

"What kind of people sent you?"

"No one, it was a spontaneous action on our part." McNeil replied briefly.

"So that means you are routed soldiers who have lost your superior forces?"

McNeil should exclaim that he didn't expect Curtis to find the truth in his words so quickly. But he simply didn't want to give an explanation at this point, and if Curtis planned to turn this evidence over to the army afterward, he had nothing to say. After nearly 100 American citizens had all regained their freedom, McNeil began discussing with Capt. Shields whether or not to go downstairs to the hall to rescue the other foreign nationals. Capt. Shields replied that those people were from small, insignificant countries that didn't have the ability to put their hands on Ukraine, and that they couldn't even agree to any of the OUN's terms because they didn't have a sphere of influence in Ukraine in the first place. If OUN did decide to kill them, it would only contribute to OUN's quicker demise.

As for the deaths of those people, no one cares.

Most of the OUN militia were down below checking out the explosion scene and preventing suspicious people from taking advantage of the chaos to sneak into the hotel, they probably didn't realize that the real enemy had already begun to wreak havoc on the inside. McNeil checked the footage captured by the security cameras again, the OUN militia in the corridors outside were showing no signs of malfeasance at the moment, they weren't going to leave the premises.

"Tell Tom to turn on the fire system."

"... That operation is a bit complicated, he might not be able to read it." Captain Shields said hesitantly.

"... Let him try it, and in case it fails, we'll force the attack."

The fire sprinklers in the corridor were activated, and the soaked OUN militiamen scrambled out of the sprinkler-infested area and hurriedly sent someone to report the news to maintenance. When McNeil determined that two more militiamen had left on a nearby elevator, he decisively pushed open the door and raised his gun, killing an OUN militiaman in the right hallway who had his back turned. When the two militiamen who followed saw what was happening and were still hesitating between running away and meeting them, Capt. Shields fired several more shots, killing them both. The U.S. citizens following them fled the hall in a panic and headed for the cargo elevator area on the right, led by the two men. According to the information stolen by Captain Shields, the four cargo elevators were capable of carrying over 100 people, and they were able to transport everyone to the lower level of the hotel at once, and then maneuver as the situation changed.

Tom sent McNeil a map of the hotel's ground floor, along with security footage from the first floor near the lobby. There were too many OUN militia there, McNeil should try to leave through the warehouse and hope that the car that would pick them up would arrive in time. If OUN had placed a large number of guards in the warehouse as well, it would leave McNeil with very limited options.

"The next step is up to you." McNeil looked at a puzzled Captain Shields.

"You don't think there is magic in the world that can directly deceive the naked eye, do you?"

"Don't ask me, I'm an amateur." McNeil looked at the numbers on the cargo elevator panel, "We can fool all electronic devices, it's just that we're likely to be exposed to the enemy's gaze next ... I hope you have a way for us to escape unharmed."

"... I'll try."

The cargo elevator that came to this floor did not contain the large number of OUN militia that McNeil had expected. People rushed into the cargo elevator and pressed the button to the first floor. Tom, who remained off-site to provide support, would make sure that no other floors could call for the cargo elevator in the meantime, or they would be intercepted halfway by an enemy who was motivated to use it, and the intercepted hostages would be defenseless. Once the freight elevator had come smoothly to the ground floor, the group advanced in as tight a formation as possible under the direction of McNeil and Shields. In order to get to the warehouse, they had to cross the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, but the lobby was filled with hundreds of OUN militia, and if any of them spotted them, the consequences would be dire.

Captain Shields drew the gun that rested on the side of his right hand - aiming at the area between the two pillars. A few moments later, a silvery-white barrier appeared in the space between the pillars, much to McNeil's amazement. The Captain explained that this barrier shielded the entire electromagnetic wave change, and the enemy could not see the anomaly from the other side.

"You only had to use your brain to do this?"

"No, it takes a long period of training, to be precise, to turn one's brain into a mathematical calculation tool ... Never mind, I don't want to talk about it."

McNeil led the other hostages through the long corridor to the warehouse. This was the area of the hotel where goods and food were stacked, there were always trucks driving in during the week and the OUN should have turned the warehouse into an ammo dump, unfortunately that thought did not occur to them. The hostages entered the warehouse one by one; they hid behind a couple of large cargo crates while McNeil was on the sidelines contacting Sgt. Salas, who he wanted to get his car to the scene as soon as possible. The sergeant said with difficulty that the OUN blockade had been extended and that forcing the barrier would cause them to attract more pursuers.

"Then send a couple more car bombs through ..."

McNeil suddenly noticed a guy in an OUN militia uniform appear in the doorway, the guy didn't directly raise his gun to attack them, he just slowly approached McNeil. Apparently, he thought of McNeil and Captain Shields as teammates, and as long as Captain Shields didn't open his mouth and speak that broken Ukrainian, the two of them wouldn't reveal themselves. The OUN militiaman was wearing a pair of glasses, and McNeil always felt that there was an eerie light coming from behind them. When he realized that Captain Shields, who was ignorantly walking towards the man, McNeil, who suspected foul play, didn't hesitate to crack the OUN militiaman in the head. Captain Shields, who fell forward violently, looked at McNeil suspiciously and asked:

"What happened?"

"Just now you looked like as if you were being controlled by the other side. It seems that my assumption was correct that there are jobless Magicians mixed in among the OUN."

Captain Shields felt annoyed that what had just happened indicated that he was mentally affected by the enemy's magic while McNeil was unharmed. Just a few minutes ago he had just expressed his irreplaceable role in front of McNeil's eyes, no one knew that he had fallen for the enemy's ploy so quickly, it was simply humiliating to him. He intended to say something to McNeil to express his apologies, but McNeil had already turned his head and was leading the hostages who had come out from behind the cargo crates towards the exit of the warehouse, where two large vans were parked in front of the door. There were explosions all around them, and the anxious OUN decided that they were under full-scale attack by an enemy whose identity they had been unable to detect until now.

Sgt. Salas and Corporal Randal put the hostages in their vehicles and then quickly fled the scene in the big van. Although a few OUN militiamen spotted them and attempted to give chase, the remote-controlled car bomb attack had exhausted the OUN. The group that escaped the clutches of the OUN soon arrived at the U.S. Embassy where they were stopped by soldiers guarding the embassy and asked to report their true identities. McNeil, who knew he wouldn't get away with it, told the truth about their respective service units, but not how they arrived in Kiev. Embassy staff welcomed the hostages into the embassy, while the four servicemen who were directly involved in the rescue operation were held in a hut awaiting word from their superiors.

"Hell, the kid got away with it again." Corporal Randal was furious, he always wanted to drop something when he thought of Tom getting away with it now, "Out of the 5 of us, he's the one with the best luck, it's not his turn to work and it's not his turn to take the consequences."

This time Corporal Randal didn't have to complain: according to the original plan, Tom, who was ready to come to the embassy to gather with them, was caught by the guards at the door and was soon imprisoned. Looking at the bitterly smiling Tom, McNeil could only feel that the gods of fortune seemed to have forgotten them.

TBC

Chapter Notes：

Making an enemy of the most powerful nation in the world is a price that must be paid.

The mind control magic mentioned here appeared early in the MKnR canon, and is thought to have come from Belarus as a more closely related means of physical stimulation.