Rainbow Six: Operation Blinding Lights

Chapter 11: Trapped in Shadows

Mira

"We're ready, Zero. All the prototype tests have been promising. Ten out of ten on the scoring system, but what are these for?" I tell Zero, handing him the matte black, skin-tight stealth suits he asked for almost forty-nine hours ago.

Zero takes the suits and examines them with his sharp, green eyes. "One of our ops went AWOL to pursue a mission of her own, and we," he gestures to the team behind him, consisting of Ana, Miles, Mike, Masaru, Max, and Yumiko, "need to go to the warehouse that Grace showed us."

I nod, understanding the gravity of the situation, but not knowing who the op is I can't really feel actual emotion for them. "The suits only have fifteen minutes of active camo and emit an EMP blast whenever you hit a button on the sleeves. The blast lasts for three minutes," I explain, watching as Zero's face remains grim, his lips tightly sealed, betraying no emotion.

Masaru steps forward and speaks in his thick Japanese accent, "Which means we need to get in and out in less than fifteen minutes. Do you have anything that could make my drone any quieter? Like WD-forty to grease the propeller gears?"

I raise an eyebrow, incredulous. "Mierda, Masaru! ¿Qué te parezco, un puto taller de mecánica?" I snap, looking into his deep brown eyes. He smirks, nodding vigorously. Yumiko slaps him upside the head.

"She's right, Masaru. We're not in a garage," Yumiko chides, but there's a hint of amusement in her voice.

I sigh and nod, relenting. "Fine, fine. Over there," I point to a shelf stacked with enough WD-40 to grease an entire warehouse of shitty hinges. "Take what you need, but don't make a mess."

Miles, with his ever-calm demeanor, steps forward, "Elena, these suits are impressive. Anything else we should know?"

I think for a moment, then add, "They're also resistant to thermal imaging, so you should be invisible to any heat sensors the warehouse might have. But remember, once the camo runs out, you're exposed."

Zero checks his watch and then looks up. "Alright, gear up. We move out in one hour."

They begin to file out of my department when Mike, the technophobic veteran, gives a rough-sounding scoff, "Fucking technology!" Then leaves my department.

All of the team heads out, leaving me to hope that the prototypes I've developed will be enough to keep them safe in the mission ahead.

Savaana

I smile a coppery and metallic taste in my mouth, "You're one sick puppy," I pause and spit a glob of a mixture of saliva and thick blood onto the concrete floor making a sickening splat as it hits, "and someone needs to put you down,"

They laugh, a deep, mirthless sound that makes my neck hairs stand on end. "You're the one to talk Eingroß. Look at all the people and animals you killed, tortured, stole from, raped, and framed. No better than the average terrorist,"

"I'm better than the fucking terrorists that we hunted! That I hunted and took down!" I yell at the voice.

"Why do you work for Rainbow? Why did you work for S.T.A.L.K.R.? Was it just so they could betray you, use you, and toss you aside when you're no longer convenient? You really think they care about you? They'll squeeze every last drop of usefulness out of you and then leave you in the dust, unappreciated and unpaid. These organizations, these so-called 'teams'—they're nothing more than alliances of convenience. In the end, they always stab each other in the back for money, pride, greed, or guilt."

"You're lying! They won't betray me like S.T.A.L.K.R. did," I shout, trying to drown out the doubts creeping into my mind. But they just laugh, a short, derisive snort that cuts through my resolve like a knife.