Operation: Crimson Space

New station

Arkady's pov
I sat down on the plane and glanced out the window, Nienke sat next to me she asked "have you visited the Netherlands since we last saw each other?" I replied slowly "no, we've been in pretty much a constant loop of missions or recon. I don't know how closely Rainbows been tracking the developments in Ukraine but the Masks have been making a pretty big effort to destabilize our government." Harry replied, inserting himself into the conversation, "we had been tracking it however hadn't had the clearance to send forces to assist." I rolled my eyes and said "так, Ukraine is an out of the way country and we're very used to being left to our problems" Harry seemed to sense a bit of resentment, I'm not surprised, I wasn't hiding it. Nienke said "hey, you know we wanted to help." I nodded slowly before saying "that doesn't mean I have to forgive governments for letting us struggle for years. All we got was weapons and equipment while Rainbow and other militaries ran around the world picking fights in places they don't have business." She asked "would you have us leave those people to fend for themselves? Some people can't defend themselves."
       I sighed before saying "and what about the Ukrainian children that had their schools blown up by the masks? We called for help, we petitioned NATO and the UN for help. We called and no one answered" Nienke replied "and I'm sorry that happened but we're helping now. We showed up, at least give Team Rainbow the chance to show you why we took so long to show up." I sighed before replying "alright, fine I'll give you that." Harry replied "when we reach base after you settle in, I'd like you to come to my office. I have some things to show you." I nodded curtly before asking "so what's the bunking situation here?" He replied "we bunk 2 operators per dorm, speaking of which." He stood up and turned speaking loudly "Are there any of you who would be willing to have Operator Kasper bunk with you?" Nienke stood and quickly raised her hand "I would, I feel I would be the best fit. Kasper and I have history, we've been acquainted for years." Harry replied easily "well Arkady, any objections?" I looked at Nienke and saw a pointed look and replied simply "немає, none at all."
      He said "alright that handles that." Before sitting down, I turned and looked at him asking "so what do you want to show me?" He replied "in due time, I believe Ms. Meijer would like to catch up." I looked at her and saw her sitting somewhat impatiently before asking "So, what do you want to know?" Her first question was "did you miss me?" I replied easily "I missed our conversations, especially when on operations." She tilted her head and asked "what do you mean?" I replied simply "I'm a recon team leader Nie, I spent a lot of time in enemy territory at night. Most of the time I'd spend the down time looking at the stars thinking over our last conversations wondering what you had done in the years since we last talked. You know how it is, the mind wonders when there's nothing goin on." She nodded before saying "I kept my eyes on the news and kept wondering if you well, if you had survived the war with the masks." I chuckled and said "you know me, too stubborn to die. I'll give the masks credit they worked pretty hard to get as close to killing me as they did."
She gave me a look and asked "what?" I replied simply "my platoon has a casualty rate that surpasses 100%" she gave me a look and replied "you've been injured." I answered simply "many times yea" another operator Ash asked "any reason you returned to duty?" I looked over my shoulder and saw her sitting next to Six as I answered "I love my country too much to abandon her defense." I saw Harry scribble down some things on a notepad. I asked "anyone else have any questions?" I felt the plane shudder as it took off before Hibana asked "if you love your country so much, why join an organization that brings you out of that fight?" I answered stoically "every mask I kill is one less that can attack The Ukraine." She nodded slowly before Lion asked "how do you feel about Russians?" I replied with anger clearly present "I hate them, they've cause so much pain for my country. My parents still bear the scars of living in the Soviet Union." Harry asked "are you capable of working with our spetsnaz operators at Rainbow?" I replied simply "I would strongly recommend keeping us apart."
Harry scribbled some more notes before Ash asked "are you sure he's a good fit here?" Six replied "plenty of operators have problems with one another" ash countered "but not like that" Harry replied "that's true, however I believe Arkady hates the masks more than he hates the Russians." Nienke looked at me with a question in her eyes but she didn't let it play on her lips. The rest of the operators talked amongst themselves while Nienke and I looked at pictures of her time on the ISS and pictures her mother had sent her. I asked questions every now and again before she asked "ever thought about leaving the army?" I answered truthfully "немає, not even for a second" she asked "the reason has to be deeper than patriotic duty?" I said "do you remember, in 2014, the annexation of crimea?" She nodded slowly before asking "how does that tie in?" I answered "there was a massacre that happened while Ukrainian forces were pulling back, after a cease fire had been agreed to. The Russian artillery waited until the 1400 Ukrainians were in the open, and then the Russian artillery opened up. 366 men died, 429 were wounded and 128 were captured, and that's just the Ukrainian army, that's not counting the national guardsmen. There were plenty of Ukrainians that joined the Russians, or left the army to join ultranationalist groups. I can't leave Ukraine undefended, she has given me everything. I owe it to them."
Nienke looked at me sadly and asked "you were there, weren't you?" I nodded and said "my unit was acting as rear guard, there was nothing we could do but watch as our comrades were killed. I promised myself I'd never be anywhere other than the front, that's why I became a recon specialist" I heard Maverick and lion behind us "god damn" and "merde" I suddenly became hyper aware that the rest of the plane had fallen silent as they listened to my reasons behind never leaving the army. I glanced over and saw Six writing some more, I asked "Director, what're you writing?" He replied plainly "I'm taking notes so when I wrote your file I don't have to ask so many questions." I nodded slowly before asking "you don't have my file from SSO?" He replied "I do but I don't speak Ukrainian" my mouth formed an 'o' before saying "that makes sense, I'm the only Ukrainian operator at rainbow, correct?"
He nodded as I stated "not much reason to know ukrainian then" small chuckles rippled through the plane before Six said "Kasper, I'm attaching you to the Squad Ghosteyes." I heard Nienke gasp before she excitedly tapped her feet as I asked "what does this... GhostEyes do?" He replied "I believe I will let our present Ghosteyes members, Erik, Nienke, please explain your squads mission set" I heard Maverick behind me causing me to turn and see a fairly tall blonde haired blue eyed American man saying "I believe Ms. meijer would like to take the lead on this one" I turned to Nienke as she excitedly said, talking many miles a minute "we're the infiltrators, most of our missions are snatch and grabs or hits in enemy territory. Im sure you'll feel right at home, the only potential issue is one of the Russians is a member but besides that these missions are right up your alley." I thought it over before saying "after we get me settled in and I talk to the Director I would like to meet the rest of this squadron." Harry replied "that can be arranged."
I nodded before Nienke started talking again telling me all about the missions she had taken part in, all her exciting moments. I listened dutifully for a about 45 minutes before my mind drifted, I wonder how мати(mother) is doing. Luckily she's been in the west, far away from the fighting in Ukraine but my mind wondered. The team had said they'd been fighting the masks all over the globe, what if the fighting found her? I shook the thought from my mind before I asked Nienke "have you guys done any missions in Britain?" Nienke nodded slowly before Buck said "yeah we had a couple missions around London, why?" I replied looking at me "my мати, she fled to Britain in 2014. I haven't heard from her in a long time." He nodded before saying "oh, I almost forgot, Im Sebastien" I shook his hand and said "Im Arkady" he nodded as Maverick said "Im Erik" I nodded my hello. Lion replied curtly "Olivier" before Ash replied a little uncomfortably "Eliza, Eliza Cohen" I answered "nice to work with you all." They nodded before the pilot came over the PA system "we're 10 minutes from the air base, please remain seated until we land."
I sat quietly before I noticed Nienke had a death grip on the seat arm causing me to ask "are you okay?" She replied very tensely "I've had some... rough... landings." I asked "what happened?" She replied slowly "the... uh... the landing gear broke and we slid down the runway. I'm still pretty shaken because of it." I nodded and gave her my arm "here, we're in this together. Maybe it helps?" She gripped my forearm and I felt her death grip but when I looked over her eyes were locked out the window and she seemed calmer. I heard Eliza whisper to Six "has anyone else been able to calm her down like that?" He replied softly "not without sedation." I glanced over for a second before I felt the jolt of the tires touching the runway before I felt Nienke's grip tighten before it slowly released as the plane came to a stop. She looked at me and I saw a light shade of red danced across her cheeks before she said "thank you..." I nodded and said "it's what friends do" she smiled softly before the flight attendant was seen.
She said "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for flying with us. Have a wonderful day." As we stood and grabbed our bags, i slung my 416 and let it hang somewhat laxly. I heard Sebastien "you worried we're getting attacked?" I replied slowly "немає, just don't like not having my rifle." He nodded slowly before Olivier said "sounds a bit paranoid" I replied as I saw Nienke, Erik and Eliza open their mouths to do it themselves "I've been in combat all but constantly since 2014, yeah, I feel more safe with my rifle in my hand." He lifted his hands in surrender and said "Je m'excuse, j'ai dépassé les bornes(I'm sorry, I was out of line)." I nodded softly, not understanding what he said, before Six said "well, let's go get you settled in and get you to meet everyone." The rest of the operators followed Six as he walked down the steps out of the plane, as I stepped on the runway I paused looking around causing Nienke to ask me "are you okay?" I replied as I looked at her "I just need time" she nodded before saying "let's go, I want to show you our room." I followed her wondering if she still painted as much as she did.