Chapter Text
Jordan loaded his 556xi assault rifle. His team of five was stacked up outside an abandoned garage. Gilles had Le Roc out and ready, with Monika right behind him. Sebastien and Jordan took the middle, while Shuhrat covered the rear with his LMG.
“How are we looking, Valk?” Jordan radioed.
“Not good. Grace is trying to get more cameras, but we lost VISCON with Brzeziński. Fan out and try to find him,” Meghan told him. “Wait…oh goddammit.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“He’s made it into the safehouse. Repeat, Brzeziński is in the safehouse. He went through some kind of tunnel,” sighed Meghan.
Shuhrat racked his PKP Pecheneg. “Let’s kill him then.”
“No,” snapped Meghan. “No killing. We need him alive. Get into the safehouse and take down any hostiles. Be quick about it, more reinforcements are on the way.”
Gilles rolled his shoulders. “I’m ready. How about you?”
Monika and Sebastien nodded. Shuhrat stared impassively from underneath his mask and nodded slowly as well. Jordan flashed a thumbs up. “All good, Monty.”
With that, Gilles converted his shield into its extended mode. “Roger. Bravo team, on the move.”
The other four stacked up behind Gilles and pushed forward. As they exited the garage, a large, furnished building came into view. It appeared to be Brzeziński’s safehouse. The windows were already barricaded with planks, and the doors were opaque and locked. Bravo team set up just beside the front entrance.
“Bravo’s at the front entrance,” Jordan said under his breath.
“This is Glaz,” radioed Timur. “I have you covered.”
Monika quickly went forward and placed a flat black panel on the locked door. She hurried back to her place behind Gilles and opened her Spectre.
“No devices in the area,” she told the team. “We’re clear.” She set down a drone and began to pilot it with her phone. As she stared intently at the screen, the team waited anxiously. Jordan felt his gloves get a little sweaty. He’d have to wash them later, he reminded himself.
“Come on,” grunted Sebastien. “Let’s get this done.”
Monika looked up. “Three armed men in the entrance room. It has cover and multiple entryways.”
Jordan grabbed a flashbang from his pocket. “Flash it?”
Monika nodded at him. Jordan nodded back and thumbed the pin. Monika counted down quietly. “Three. Two. One. Fire in the hole!”
The breaching charge on the door detonated and sent a surge of smoke at them. Jordan hardly blinked at the explosion and immediately pulled the pin and threw the flashbang into the now smoking doorway. Not two seconds later, there was another deafening boom. Grunts and groans could be heard from inside.
“Go go go!” ordered Sebastien.
Gilles pushed into the doorway, covering the rest of the team with his massive shield. Jordan could make out three silhouettes in the smoke, all clutching their eyes and ears. “ Moje… ” one of them groaned.
“On the ground now!” shouted Sebastien. “Down, on the ground!”
The three figures either could not hear him, didn’t speak English, or simply didn’t care. Whatever the case, one of them squinted and tried to raise his CZ Scorpion. Sebastien didn’t hesitate to put two rounds in the man’s skull. The man collapsed on the ground, his brains blown out over the counter. The other two men apparently didn’t want to share the same fate, so they got on their knees and put their hands up instantly.
“Restrain them,” Sebastien told Shuhrat. The Russian nodded and proceeded to cuff the mercenaries with zipties. Monika picked up her drone while they were at it.
As the smoke cleared, Jordan could make out what the room was. They were in a well-decorated restaurant with tiled floors and a quaint bakery section. He almost felt bad for damaging the place. Splinters and ash from the door coated the room. The room branched off into two hallways. One went quite far and into another large dining area, while the other appeared to go into an employees area.
“Let’s clear out this side area,” Sebastien said. “Then we can move on into the bigger room. We have to hurry.”
Gilles nodded silently and moved to the front, his shield up. Everyone re-organized back into their stack. Bravo team peeked around the corner. Empty.
Monika continued to check her Spectre. “We’re all clear,” she said. “This area appears to be devoid of active electronics.”
Jordan readjusted his grip on his rifle. They headed into the employee area. Blue-and-white checkered wallpaper surrounded them in a narrow hallway. Sebastien kicked open a door into a closet, but found it empty. The team swept the entire area without luck.
“Damn,” said Jordan. “This is a pretty crappy party.”
“They’re probably all upstairs,” Sebastien mused. “Let’s go.”
The team headed back into the restaurant and down the second hallway. Just as Gilles was about to enter the large dining room, a thunderous gunshot cracked out. Gilles staggered, his shield shifting to the side. “Contact!” he grunted. “Contact upstairs!”
Shuhrat didn’t hesitate to run forward and begin firing his LMG. His weapon fired its staccato boom, shredding the upstairs banisters. Sebastien aimed his C8 and put down a few bursts as well. While they did that, Jordan crouched down next to Gilles. “You good?” he asked.
The GIGN operator coughed and stood up. “Yeah,” he said shakily. “He had a sniper or something. It really packed a punch.”
Sebastien continued to hold the angle on the upstairs. “Sitrep!” he called.
“We’re all good,” responded Jordan. “Let’s move!”
The team continued into the dining hall. A balcony on the second floor looked down on them, its wooden banisters shredded from the firefight. Bravo team inched around to the back wall, still covered by Le Roc.
Monika poked her head into a new room. “I found a stairwell,” she told them.
Jordan entered first, followed by Sebastien and Monika. Gilles and Shuhrat fell in last, still watching the upper balcony.
“The coward fled before I could get him,” grumbled Shuhrat. “He’ll meet his fate soon enough.”
“You don’t have to be so ominous,” sighed Jordan.
They continued up the stairwell, turning at every corner and angle. Jordan felt a little silly that he hadn’t even fired a round yet.
“Bravo, this is Valk,” radioed Meghan. “Brzeziński’s reinforcements are on their way. Multiple mercenaries inbound, ETA eight minutes.”
“Copy that,” said Monika. “We need to hurry.”
Right as they approached over the top of the stairs, a man in a black jacket came rushing out of a bedroom, holding a shotgun.
“Die!” he roared in English.
In one fluid motion, Gilles retracted his shield and slammed the man with Le Roc, knocking the gun to the side. The shotgun fired into the wall, sending splinters down on the RAINBOW operatives. Gilles and the man struggled for a little bit, until Gilles finally managed to push him away with another slam of the shield.
As the mercenary staggered, Monika dumped five shots into the man’s torso. He slumped, smearing blood on the now-torn walls. Jordan let his finger slowly release the trigger; he’d been a millisecond away from firing. Damn. Now he was the only one with a full magazine.
Monika tossed her drone out again. “Let me see what is out there,” she said. A moment later, she immediately put her phone away and stood up.
Jordan blinked at her sudden movement. “Whoa, what’s going on?”
“They crushed the drone,” she grumbled. “And now they know we’re close. There’s a room full of mercenaries just beyond this one. We must move quickly to take them out.”
“I like your style,” chuckled Sebastien. He tapped Gilles on the shoulder. “Montagne, are you ready?”
The Frenchman re-engaged his extended shield. “I am.”
They continued into the next room. This one was also empty, though it had a hallway leading off to the side. It appeared that the hallway led to the balcony where the sniper had been. Jordan kept a close eye on the hallway, but no threats ever appeared. He looked back. The rest of the team was preparing to breach the next room, but its doors were locked shut.
Sebastien prepared to fire his Skeleton Key, but Shuhrat held out a hand to stop him. Sebastien raised his arms in bewilderment. “What the hell?”
Shuhrat raised his cluster charge in return. Jordan could have sworn the Russian was smiling underneath his mask. “Shock and awe, tovarishch ,” Shuhrat said.
Shuhrat slammed the cluster charge onto the wall and pulled the activator. The familiar but horrifying “thunk, thunk” could be heard from the other side of the room. A series of explosions went off inside, shaking the floor. Jordan adjusted his footing. He remembered why he hated those things so much. Screams could be heard from inside.
Sebastien looked at Shuhrat. “Now can I go?” he asked, exasperated. Shuhrat nodded.
The Canadian operator fired his Skeleton Key into the door. After enough chunks had been blown out, he kicked it in and pushed inside. Gilles and Jordan soon followed.
They were in a bar, though it was hardly recognizable. Every chair and table was destroyed, leaving only a shattered frame behind. Four mercenaries lay on the ground in various states. Two were unmoving and lying in pools of blood. Two others whimpered weakly on the ground, breathing lungfuls of blood. Sebastien put a bullet in each of their heads. “Poor bastards,” he muttered.
“I see no sign of Brzeziński,” Monika said.
Jordan peeked into a few other rooms. They were mostly storage closets with alcohol or glasses. “Yeah, there’s nothing here.”
Gilles headed back out into the hallway. “We need to keep moving then. Come.”
The four others followed, but just as they reached the hallway, another gunshot cracked through the air. Jordan flinched. A spray of blood burst through the air, landing on his goggles and arm. “What the f—” Sebastien and Monika immediately opened fire down the hallway. Jordan turned and saw a figure disappear down the hall. “It’s that damn sniper!”
“ Blyat ,” Shuhrat muttered weakly. Everyone looked down. The Russian operator was on the ground, clutching his stomach. Blood as dark as night was soaking into his clothing and onto the ground.
“Oh scheiße scheiße scheiße ,” muttered Monika. She immediately crouched and began putting pressure on the wound. “This is not good.”
Shuhrat could only grunt in response.
“Valkyrie, this is Buck,” Sebastien radioed. “Fuze is hit, we’re giving him medical aid now. We’re going to need a CASEVAC soon.”
“Copy that. How bad is it?”
Sebastien leaned over. “Looks like a sniper round, straight through the abdomen…”
As they tended to him, Jordan looked up. The sniper was gone, but he was still a threat. The ex-Marine clenched his jaw. There was only one thing to do. He grabbed his rifle from its sling and sprinted down the hall.
“Trace!” called Gilles, forgetting to use the callsign. “Where are you going?”
Jordan simply pointed down the hall and kept running. He turned the corner and aimed his rifle. Nothing. It was an empty room with just a television and couch. He prepared to enter the next room, but suddenly a figure jumped out of a closet and rammed Jordan against the window. Jordan grunted. The man was slightly bigger than him, wearing all black. He looked to be the head of security or something of the sort. The window shattered from the impact, sending a strong breeze into the room.
The man threw Jordan on the ground. The RAINBOW operative rolled and immediately sprung up onto his feet. Jordan felt for his rifle, but the man had yanked it off. It was now laying on the ground, behind the mercenary. The man cracked his knuckles and sneered. A Mosin-Nagant was slung over his shoulder. So he was the sniper after all.
“Bastard,” the man snarled. “I’m going to make you regret coming here.”
Jordan drew his pistol. “Can’t be any worse than what I’ve seen, buddy.”
Just as Jordan tried to aim and fire his pistol, the man went in for a low tackle, knocking both of them to the ground. Jordan felt his ribs get crushed by the sheer mass of the man. He grunted and drove an elbow into the man’s cheeks. The mercenary coughed and rolled over. Jordan took the opportunity to run for his pistol. It lay by the window, just a few feet away.
Right as he was about to grab it, the man yanked Jordan to the floor. Jordan yelped and felt himself get slammed. He spat to the side and tried to punch the mercenary. The mercenary dodged and drew a knife.
“I’m going to make you bleed,” he said sadistically. The man’s hair whipped wildly around him.
Jordan tried a few more punches, but the mercenary pinned his arms to the ground. This was it. He was going to die, all because he was impatient to kill this man. He didn’t even get to fire a shot.
Before the man could strike, a gunshot cracked, and Jordan saw the man’s head turn into a strawberry slush. The mercenary, now missing about eighty percent of his head, slumped to the ground, blood spurting uncontrollably. Jordan scrambled away from the body. “What the…” He nearly gagged but held it in.
“Don’t worry Thermite,” a voice said on the radio. “I have you covered.”
Jordan swallowed. “Thanks, Glaz.”
Gilles and Monika entered the room, guns drawn. “What happened?” asked Monika.
Jordan waved a hand. “Glaz had me covered. I think that should wrap it up for the guys on this floor, right?”
Gilles nodded. “Only one floor left,” he said.
Jordan picked up his 556xi from the ground. “Let’s do it then.”
“Buck is taking care of Fuze,” said Monika. “They’re going to the LZ early.”
Jordan nodded. “So it’s down to us?”
“And Glaz,” Gilles reminded him.
Jordan had to concede. “And Glaz. Well. Looks like we’ve got a hell of a fight on our hands.”
Gilles extended his shield. “ Allons-y .”
The three operators found the final stairwell. Gilles took point, with Monika still sweeping for traps and cameras. Jordan kept his rifle up, scanning for any threats. They reached the third floor without any trouble. However, just as they reached the first hallway, gunshots boomed from down the hall. Jordan and Monika kept low as Gilles kept his shield up. The GIGN operator grunted from the impacts, each bullet leaving a new dent in Le Roc.
Jordan leaned out but immediately ducked back as bullets whipped around him. “Two tangos at the end of the hall!” he shouted to Monika over the gunfire. Just to make sure she heard him, he held up two fingers.
The German woman nodded. She pointed to his waist. “Stun grenade!” she shouted back.
Jordan nodded too and grabbed a flashbang. He tapped Gilles on the shoulder. “Cover your eyes!” he told his comrade. The Frenchman nodded without hesitation.
Jordan pulled the pin and threw the flash grenade over the shield. He squeezed his eyes and covered his ears. An explosive boom rocked the hallway. Gilles and Monika immediately pushed up, with Jordan close behind. The storm of bullets had stopped, giving them an opportunity to counter attack.
Gilles retracted his shield and fired his P9 into the mercenary on the right. Monika took her 552 rifle and slammed it into the left one. When Jordan reached them, he found one mercenary dead and the other cuffed. “You guys are too fast,” he complained. “Leave some for me!”
Monika smirked. “I think you need to hit the track more.”
Jordan grumbled under his breath. “Valk, this is Thermite. We’re on the third floor. We’ve got a merc dead and another one arrested.”
“Copy that. Zofia did her best, but the cops are closing in. You guys have both cops and mercs coming your way, you gotta move.”
Gilles reloaded and returned his shield to its extended position. “There shouldn’t be too many places left to look. IQ, can you drone it?”
Monika shook her head. “It’s destroyed,” she said regretfully.
Gilles cursed. “Right. Thermite?”
Jordan nodded and placed his drone on the ground. He tapped the power button and opened his phone. It displayed a slightly fuzzy but fairly high quality image of the drone’s view from the ground. He sent it forward, searching through the various rooms in the safehouse. He checked the first one, a large lounge with bookshelves and a wide couch. He rotated it, but it appeared there was no one. Time to keep looking.
As he traversed the hallways, his phone began sending some faint voices. Looked like Brzeziński was close. He pushed forward.
Jordan drove his drone into another restaurant room through a crack in the doorway. This one had large tables that looked like they could be used as cover, and a large bar. It looked exactly like the kind of place that James Bond would visit.
Two guards stood by the front entrance, carrying submachine guns. Another one kept watch at the bar, while another watched the rear entrance. Two others sat next to an anxious Brzeziński at a table. Each one was armed to the teeth.
Jordan swiveled to look for possible entry points. The doors were being watched, so they would likely be death traps. He frowned. The walls were reinforced as well, with extended metal sheets covering them. This would require some heavy duty tools.
He parked the drone in a cubby and put his phone away. Monika looked at him expectantly. “Did you find him?” she asked.
Jordan nodded. “He’s in another restaurant. They’ve got six guards in the room, plus Brzeziński. Two by the front entrance, one at the bar, one in the back, and two on Brzeziński. The walls are reinforced too.”
“We might have to go through the doorway then,” mused Monika. “Let’s see what ‘s there.”
The three operators headed to where Jordan had seen the mercenaries. Just as he’d seen, the walls were reinforced, as evidenced by the hooks protruding through the wood.
Monika crept over to the doorway and pulled out her Spectre. “ Verdammt. There’s explosives rigged right by the door. It’s like Maxim’s traps; we’ll be killed if we go through there.”
“ Merde ,” muttered Gilles. “How are we going to get through there?”
Jordan smiled. “Fortunately, they don’t know that I pack these .” He drew an exo-charge from his bag. “I’ll give em the old metal oxide combo.”
Gilles smiled in return. “They won’t know what hit them.”
Brzeziński sat twiddling his thumbs at the table. His cup of tea lay un-drunk in front of him. “Does anyone have any idea where those police officers are?” he snapped. His men looked at him and shrugged.
Across the table, a mercenary named Jan checked his pistol. “I offered to install cameras, but you declined.” Jan made quotes with his fingers. “Too expensive you said.”
Brzeziński glared at him. “It’s not like this place was cheap! I have the police on me, I can’t afford to be frivolous!”
Jan just sighed and grabbed his radio. “Antoni, we heard gunshots. What’s happening over there?”
Brzeziński waited for Antoni to respond, but he never did. That meant something had gone wrong. Very wrong. Antoni and the other mercenary were the only ones left outside the room.
“Antoni!” snapped Jan. “Pick up!”
Brzeziński chewed the ends of his fingernails. The police had certainly taken casualties on the way up here, but would it be enough? He had over twenty men in the area, surely some of the police would have been taken care of. Leon, his head of security, had reported downing one of the police with his sniper. Despite that, he had worryingly heard nothing from Leon since.
He had even gone so far as to ensure that the ambush was set up. A tip-off had alerted him that he was in danger, and he had planned a trap accordingly. His bodyguards plus three others should have been enough for any normal police unit. Despite that, he had ended up with five dead men and on the run. Where did things go wrong?
Suddenly, Brzeziński noticed a loud sizzling and orange sparks flying from one of their reinforced walls. One of the mercenaries stood up. “What the hell?”
The wall was violently torn apart in a blaze of sparks, metal splinters, and screeching. The man at the bar was thrown against the counter, slamming his head. Brzeziński immediately stood and ran for the door. Jan followed, turning a table over to slow down their pursuers. “Kill them!” ordered Jan.
Brzeziński ran for the hidden side door and threw it open, running for the last refuge he had. Jan and another mercenary followed close behind. Brzeziński panted. How had they gotten to him so fast?
After the breach, Jordan finally found an opportunity to use his rifle. He dumped half of his magazine into the two mercenaries at the front entrance, sending them both crashing into the tables. Monika leaned out from the side and put a burst into the mercenary at the counter, instantly killing him.
The last man in the back tried to shoot at them, but Gilles stepped in front with his shield, absorbing the man’s pistol rounds. A loud snap zipped through the air, cracking the mercenary’s head open like a watermelon. A web of cracks ran through the window.
“Good shooting, Glaz,” said Monika.
“ Spasibo .”
Jordan, without skipping a beat, ran straight for the open doorway where Brzeziński had gone through. He vaulted over one of the upturned tables and sprinted into the doorway. He checked his magazine, stuffed it back in, and kept running. Jordan slid around the corner, entering yet another hallway.
“You guys have to hurry,” warned Meghan. “The police are here. They’re engaging with Brzeziński’s guys. This isn’t going to be pretty.”
Jordan put a hand to his ear. “Don’t worry, we almost have him.”
Just as he finished speaking, he saw the tip of a muzzle swing around the corner at the end of the hallway. Jordan immediately put down two shots and got his back to the wall. The man at the end of the hall opened fire, bullets slamming all around him.
Jordan sighed and collected himself. He would have to be fast. He rolled the last flashbang from his pouch down the hall and covered his ears. Once the signature “boom” had gone off, he rolled into the hallway and fired a long burst.
The mercenary stood shakily for a moment, just standing in the hallway. Then he collapsed, his body riddled with bullets. Jordan stood slowly, still holding his rifle. Whew. That was close.
“One down,” he radioed to his team.
“Copy that,” said Gilles. “Just wait for a second, will you?”
Jordan shook his head. “Nah. Brzeziński’s been running for too long. It’s time to end this.”
He stepped out into the next room, where he found a large, beautiful music center. Red carpet lined the floors, with expensive chairs all around the room. A very high-end looking piano and guitar lay unused in the corner. It was at that moment that he realized there was someone rushing at him.
Jordan tried to fire, but the man pushed the rifle aside and aimed his pistol. Acting quickly, Jordan let go of the rifle and wrapped his arm around the other man’s arm, locking the pistol behind his back.
The mercenary grunted as he struggled. Jordan glared and jabbed the man in the throat with his sidearm. The man gagged from the blow, coughing. Jordan then shoved his muzzle into the man’s collarbone, firing three times. The mercenary spasmed and fell limp, dropping to the floor.
Jordan wiped more blood off his arm. Damn. He’d have to do a lot of laundry after this.
After a quick sweep of the room, Jordan stood. Brzeziński was cowering in the corner, hands over his head. “Please,” begged the Polish man, “don’t kill me.”
Jordan snickered and put some zipties on Brzeziński. “I won’t kill you. But you’re going to be in a dark place for a long, long time.”
Gilles and Monika then burst into the room, weapons drawn. When they saw the bloodstained furniture and the sobbing Brzeziński on the ground, they relaxed.
“You survived,” said Monika.
Jordan feigned offense. “What, you thought I was going to die?”
“Given your nature…yes.”
Gilles grabbed Brzeziński and hoisted him to his feet. “Get up,” he ordered. Brzeziński complied obediently.
Jordan became aware of gunshots echoing around them. They sounded close but not dangerously close. “Are those outside?” he asked.
Monika nodded. “The police have sent their officers, but Brzeziński’s men are outside as well. We have to move, those officers will not last long.”
“All units, this is Bravo,” radioed Jordan. “We have the target in custody. Moving to the LZ now, over.”
“Good job, Bravo,” Meghan told them. “Head out the back entrance, the front gate is looking a little hot right now.”
“Roger,” said Jordan.
He and Monika led the way down the bloody and splintered stairs, with Gilles and Brzeziński close behind. Jordan reloaded, sliding a fresh magazine into his rifle. Speed was of the essence right now.
On the second floor, Monika found another stairwell that went down the employee area. “Here,” she said, ushering them in. It had the white-and-blue checker pattern from before. Jordan swept the right side, while Monika checked the left. “Clear.”
Gilles kept Le Roc in one arm and Brzeziński in the other. They jogged for the final stairwell, going down a small set of steps. Just as they found themselves on the first floor, Jordan turned to see three men in parkas kicking down a side door. “Get down!” he shouted to the others. Gilles held up his shield and ran frantically in the opposite direction, towing Monika and Brzeziński with him.
Jordan opened fire on the new mercenaries. One of them stumbled against the wall, while the others ducked and returned fire. Jordan hissed as a bullet grazed his shoulder, drawing a line of blood. Despite that, he continued to fire while walking backwards, his bullets pinging around the doorway. One of the men leaned out and shot a burst from his machine pistol. If Jordan stayed any longer, he would get turned into Swiss cheese.
Realizing that, he crouched and dove into another room. Jordan felt a hand grab his shoulder and snapped his head up. He sighed when he realized it was Monika.
“Calm down,” she said to him. “Did you think I was a terrorist?”
“Mayyyybe,” Jordan said mysteriously.
She just sighed and shook her head.
Gilles had Brzeziński at the door. “We have to go now,” he said urgently.
Jordan nodded. “Go.”
They headed out the door and back onto the streets of Lublin. Jordan looked around them. They were facing a large fenced-off plaza. Right in front of them, two police cars were wailing their sirens, red-and-blue lights flashing. Jordan paused when he saw multiple bodies on the ground. They were officers, dressed in dark blue. That was not good.
Monika looked up as well. “Get down!” she shouted to Jordan, tackling him.
Jordan grunted as they hit the floor. Just as he was about to ask what prompted her to do that, gunfire exploded in the air. They scrambled behind a small stone wall, surrounded by low bushes. Gilles ran back towards them as well, taking heavy fire on his front. “ Merde! ”
Jordan panted. They were so close. It couldn’t end here. He peeked his head out and had to duck. Rifle rounds hammered their position, sending concrete ash over them. Every thud made Jordan wince. He half-expected to catch a round in his chest at some point.
Two more cracks split the air. Instantly, the gunfire died down. “Glaz?” asked Jordan tentatively. “Was that your handiwork?”
“ Da . You need to hurry. More mercenaries are coming.”
Jordan let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried there was another sniper. “Thanks for the assist. Come on, let’s go.”
The three operators grabbed Brzeziński and headed back out onto the street. A red van suddenly swerved onto the road, tires squealing. Jordan aimed his rifle, but Monika held out a hand. He looked at her questioningly. She just gave him a stern look.
The van doors opened, revealing Aria. She checked around them with her Mx4 Storm, then gestured for them to come in. “Come, come. Hurry!”
Gilles tossed Brzeziński in, and the rest followed suit. Once they were all in, Aria closed the doors. She tapped the driver on the shoulder. “We’re ready,” she told him.
Max flashed them a thumbs up. “Let’s go, mates!”
Max hit the gas, and the van roared into action. Jordan fell against the wall as they moved. “Hot damn!” he yelped. “Slow down, Mozzie!”
Max chuckled. “No can do, mate. I feel the need…the need for speed!”
“Is that another movie quote?” asked Monika.
“Uh…no?”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Suddenly, gunshots rang out through the van. Jordan covered his ringing ear. “Gah! What was that?”
Aria was putting off shots through the window. “Brzeziński’s men are here. I count two SUVs on our tail! Mozzie, try to shake them!”
“On it!”
The van swerved, knocking Jordan against yet another wall. He groaned, his helmet slightly off center. Aria continued her bursts. “I took out one of the cars!”
Jordan sat up and looked out the window. A blacked-out SUV careened wildly and slammed into the plaza fence, flipping over onto its roof. He chuckled. “Good shooting.”
Aria brushed her hair back. “Thanks,” she said, smiling.
The van was abruptly jostled, and they all fell to the floor. Jordan spat out a curse, while Monika drew her pistol. Max grunted from the front. “These bloody mercs! They’re trying to ram us! Don’t they know their boss is here?”
Jordan threw open the back doors to get a better glimpse of what was outside. When he did so, he realized a little too late that there was another SUV tailgating them. “Goddamn it,” he muttered. “There’s another one right on our six!”
“Then shoot him!” Monika snapped. She immediately began firing her P2, causing cracks all along the windshield. The driver of the SUV swerved a little but stayed on course. Monika cursed.
Jordan aimed his rifle. Well, you wanted some action, didn’t you? he thought to himself. He squeezed the trigger and opened fire, shattering the windshield’s and causing black glass to sprinkle everywhere. He fired a burst into the driver, whose head snapped back from the shots. The passenger tried to aim his pistol and fire at Jordan, but the driver’s body pulled the car hard to the left.
The RAINBOW operators watched as the SUV slammed into a rock, flipping onto its side. Aria chuckled. “They’re going to need some new cars.”
Still driving like a madman, Max drew his pistol and fired multiple rounds at the final SUV. He laughed maniacally after the final round had left the chamber. “How do you like that, ya wanker?” Max shouted at the SUV. He pulled their van to the side and swerved back into the SUV. “Hold on!”
Jordan grabbed a seat and squeezed his eyes. This was going to hurt.
The van shuddered at the impact, but it only lasted a moment. Jordan opened his eyes and found that the last SUV had driven into a tree from Max’s impact. “Ahaha!” Max laughed. “We got ‘em all!”
“Bravo team,” Meghan said, “what’s your status?”
“All alive,” responded Max. “We’re one minute out.”
“Good. More mercs are en route, so you better hurry.”
Max gestured to Jordan. “Hey Therm, you might wanna close that door. I’m going to punch it.”
Jordan and Monika wasted no time in immediately closing the van doors. Jordan sighed. Why did the best drivers always have to be the crazy ones?
The van accelerated demonically, burning rubber. Jordan and Monika once more fell to the floor, while Gilles held tightly onto Brzeziński. The Polish man screamed the entire time while Max drove. Jordan didn’t blame him.
Within a minute, they’d arrived at the LZ. Aria threw open the doors. “Out, out,” she told them. Gilles drew his shield and brought out Brzeziński, with Monika and Jordan close to him.
They were in a large open park, with a humming Sea Stallion just a hundred yards ahead.
Gilles pointed. “Extract is here!” he shouted over the helicopter’s blades.
Jordan nodded. “Let’s move!”
Suddenly, more tires squealed, and they all looked up. Three more SUVs and two sedans pulled up just down the road. Max grabbed Jordan’s shoulder and shoved him towards the helicopter.
“Get to the extract!” the Australian shouted. “Go!”
Jordan and Monika sprinted for the extract, covering Gilles and Brzeziński. Max and Aria aimed their weapons and fired at the oncoming mercenaries. Jordan turned and began spraying fire as well. He saw two mercenaries collapse onto the floor by the entrance to the park. The others ran behind cover, giving Max and Aria a chance to head for the helo.
As Jordan ran, he saw Collinn and Grace come out, weapons drawn. Collinn took his MPX out and began spraying at the mercenaries. “I’ve got you covered,” he told the others. Gilles and Monika continued for the helo, while Jordan stayed with Collinn, drawing his own rifle.
“I can’t let you die by yourself,” he said. Collinn just gave him an exasperated smile.
Grace drew her EBR-14 and began taking shots. Two more mercenaries tried to stand and were immediately killed by her 7.62 rounds. Despite the casualties, more mercenaries stood and began firing. Jordan fired two bursts, then was forced to retreat. Collinn and Grace followed.
“They’re relentless,” muttered Grace.
“No kidding,” said Jordan.
Sebastien and Dominic were waiting at the helo’s loading bay, using deployable shields as cover. “Come on!” shouted Sebastien. “Hurry!” He aimed and fired his C8, sending another mercenary tumbling to the ground. Jordan ducked as bullets began to crack all around him. As they ran, he heard Collinn gasp and looked over. The Secret Service operator was clutching his side, which was beginning to leak blood.
“Oh crap,” Jordan said breathlessly. “We gotta get you to that helo.”
Collinn waved him off, wincing. “Just keep running. I’ll make it.” He sucked in a breath with every step, though, and Jordan could feel him slowing down.
Against Collinn’s protests, Jordan hooked an arm under his comrade and began carrying him to the LZ. “You’re not going to die here,” Jordan grunted. He turned to face the oncoming army of mercenaries and fired his rifle from the hip. His shots missed wildly, but the mercenaries were forced to duck back behind more cars for cover.
They were only twenty yards from the Sea Stallion when a burst of gunfire rang out, and Jordan felt himself get slammed in the arm. He yelped and stumbled forward. Both Jordan and Collinn staggered to the ground. Jordan began breathing heavily and saw his upper arm bleeding profusely. Goddammit. His vision began to blur, the pain getting thicker. He felt a spike of pain with every movement. Damn!
Just as he stumbled onto his knees, another arm helped him to his feet. It was Monika, holding nothing but a pistol. “Really?” she said. “Come on, you’ll live.”
Jordan didn’t respond and just drew his own pistol. Together, they headed for the helicopter, firing at the oncoming mercenaries. The black-clothed gunmen surrounded them now, firing at the helicopter from all sides. Sebastien and Dominic were forced to take cover as the bullet storm became too heavy to bear.
Dominic spat out a curse and pressed a button on his phone, detonating a brick of C4. Jordan watched with grim amusement as several mercenaries were blasted into the air by the explosion. To his right, he saw Sebastien dragging Collinn into the helicopter. Gilles and Taina kept tabs Brzeziński inside, while Grace and Aria laid down some shots from the open bay.
Monika and Jordan finally made it in, the last ones to board. “Get in!” yelled Grace. “Let’s go!” Jordan stumbled onto a seat, his hand sticky with blood.
Aria shouted to Marius, “We’re all in, we have to go!”
“Roger,” said Marius. He immediately pulled up and began pulling them out of the AO. Jordan winced as his arm moved, but the pain was quickly overcome with relief. They’d finally made it. Everyone was safe, for the most part. And the mission was over. Bullets pinged the sides of the helicopter, but they quickly faded. Jordan saw the beautiful Lublin landscape recede as they climbed higher and higher.
“Good stuff,” Collinn said weakly.
Everyone let out a laugh. “Good stuff indeed,” said Gilles.
“All stations, this is Valk,” radioed Meghan. “How copy?”
“We got him,” Monika said simply. “All friendly operators accounted for.”
Meghan let out an audible sigh of relief, and cheering could be heard on the other end. The operators in the helicopter all sighed in relief. Gilles clapped Sebastien on the back. Collinn and Jordan both smirked. They’d be seeing each other in the hospital wing for a while.
“Lublin really is beautiful this time of year,” mused Aria.
Collinn waved a tired hand. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of this place.”
“Hey, mission accomplished!” said Max. “Drinks on me!”
As everyone cheered, Jordan smiled. Mission accomplished.