Rainbow Six: Bloodlines

"HOTEL CEUTA" - Chapter 6

     Jackal's voice was desperate as it coursed roughly over the radio, so loud that Mira winced at his words.

     "Get the fuck out of there!" he pleaded into her earpiece. "All of you! Get out of the basement! Lieutenant López, get your team out!"

     Rainbow's Blue Team - Mira, Doc, Rook, and Glaz had reunited with some of Red Team - Thermite and IQ. All six operators were in the dark basement corridors beneath Hotel Ceuta, hugging corners for cover. Lieutenant López of the G.E.O. and his team were bringing up the rear.

     Screams of hostiles echoed down the hallway, far from sight and just as far from comfort.

     Lieutenant López did not hesitate. He turned to his men and motioned to retreat. He ventured a final look back to Mira. "We're extracting, Elena."

     Mira nodded, not taking her eyes off the dark tunnel ahead. "Go."

     "Suggest you all do the same." The G.E.O. officer hurried to join his men as they climbed the stairs to the lobby.

    Mira and Rook did not look away from the cavernous corridor. All the lights had shattered, and in the midst of the sparks they had seen a ghostly silhouette flickering through the hallway, moving with impossible speed away from them.

     Shortly after, the screams had started.

     Mira and Rook were too shaken to peel their gazes away from what they had seen.

     Mira jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

     "Elena," whispered IQ, her blue eyes hard with concern. "The hell did you see?"

     "I've got nothing on thermal," Glaz informed softly.

     The ground groaned suddenly, quaking beneath their feet. Doc steadied himself against the wall in surprise as automatic gunfire rattled off in the distance, reaching their ears through ghostly echoes.

     "What the fuck did you guys see?" hissed Thermite. He crept forward in the dark and crouched next to Mira. "I've never heard Jack sound like that, which is why I think we need to follow your G.E.O. amigos and get our asses outta here."

     "Ghost."

     Thermite looked at IQ incredulously before turning back to Mira. "Did you just say-"

     "Ghost!" Rook snapped, his eyes clearly conveying his unease. "I saw it too. Shut up and stay alert!"

     More frantic cries and hollers in the distance reached their ears. A large group of men was headed their way, fast... Mira could hear their rapid footsteps pounding the concrete floor.

     "Incoming," Glaz murmured.

     "This is Director Six! All remaining elements on-site, scramble to extract, or you're all dead! That is a direct fucking order and I'd better see you up there topside, two fucking minutes ago! Do you copy?"

     "Solid copy," Mira answered quickly. "Move your asses."

     "Ma'am Six!" called Doc. "The hostages? The bomb?"

     "Status Red on both objectives. Repeat: Status Red. Extract immediately. Danger close."

     The Director's chilling words snapped them to action, like cold water on the face. The remaining Rainbow operators moved immediately to join their G.E.O. counterparts in exiting the basement.

     Mira felt uncharacteristically unsettled by turning her back on the unknown entity and the hostiles clearly retreating toward them. She could hear their screams of terror as she followed Thermite upstairs.

     Adrenaline surged through her as their team swept up into the lobby, her eyes welcomed by sunlight streaming through open windows.

     Glass was everywhere, crunching beneath their feet as they rushed to the lobby doors. Not until they were nearly to the exit did Mira realize that every one of the massive ground-level windows of the hotel had blown out, spreading shards of glass across the lobby in its entirety.

     She could see Jackal up ahead, urging his companions onward from the front doors of the hotel. Ying and Ash were at his side, watching with anxious eyes.

     "¡Apúrate, Elena!" he called, waving her toward him frantically.

     An explosion ripped through the bowels of the hotel basement. It was muffled by layers of foundation, yet mighty in its call. The marble tile shook, throwing everyone off-balance.

     Doc, Glaz, and IQ were able to stumble out into the street to safety. Rook, Thermite, Mira, and a few G.E.O. operators were thrown to the ground. An ornate chandelier swung violently, high above the open lobby. Pieces of debris fell from the ceiling several floors up.

     They hadn't even had the chance to get to their feet when more explosions erupted in the basement. Cracks formed in the floor. Cries of surviving enemies coasted up from the stairway.

     Mira scrambled to her feet. As she did, she saw Glaz point upward and shout a panicked warning, his voice booming off the walls.

     Rather than turn to look, Mira took the cue and sprinted forward. The enormous glass chandelier crashed to the floor just behind her, splintering into a million shards that burst outward in every direction across the lobby.

     Elena yelped in pain as pieces of glass peppered the back of her legs - luckily, her body armor above the waist was enough to stop further damage. A chunk of ceiling struck her hip.

     She cried out and fell to the floor, unable to stand. Without hesitation, she clawed at the tile, trying to crawl to safety.

     Doc skidded to a halt at the entrance up ahead. In one practiced motion, he turned, drew his STIM pistol, and aimed to aid his companion.

     Another explosion. Louder. Stronger.

     Doc was thrown to the ground before he could pull the trigger.

     "Watch it! The floor is tearing apart!" shouted Rook.

     He spoke the truth. More explosions shook the earth, and a large crack formed sporadically across the lobby floor, splitting unpredictably.

     Mira's teammates sprang to action, ignoring the falling debris and imminent danger, refusing to leave her helpless.

     As they took their first running steps, the tear in the lobby widened into a large rift, splitting the vast room in half. Furniture was upended. The ground began to rise and fall in unpredictable places, looking like waves of a sea of tile.

     Mira was stuck on the other side.

     "No!" Ash shouted, barely stopping herself from falling into the gaping hole. "Elena!"

     Doc pressed himself to a pillar, using it for support. He stabilized his aim. A large piece of marble ceiling plummeted, landing a foot away from the man.

     He was not phased. He pulled the trigger.

     Across the rift, Mira felt the impact of the STIM charge. She could feel the jolt of epinephrine as it surged through her blood, a shocking, refreshing cold sensation that drew a sharp gasp of breath from her lips.

     The cuts on her legs suddenly didn't matter. Adrenaline raced through her body. Mira pressed herself up to her feet.

     Her heart sank when she saw the size of the tear in the floor. It exposed concrete foundation, dangerous rogue spears of rebar, and a wall of earth stretching down out of view.

     It had formed a crevasse at least three stories deep, boring past the lowest points of the hotel's basements.

     "Help!"

     The cry snapped her gaze behind her. One lone terrorist had made it free of the horrors in the basement. He sprinted into the lobby recklessly.

     Gunfire from Mira's teammates greeted him. Bullets whipped by her, and the man pitched forward mid-stride, skidding across the tile into the broken base of a pillar.

     The woman took a deep breath. She turned on her heel and squared herself at her friends across the void.

     Mira dropped her gun to the floor. She unfastened her ammo harness and freed herself of her thigh holster, letting them fall to the tile.

     "Dios mío, por favor," Elena murmured. She backpedaled and then sprinted with all she had toward the rift.

     She saw Jackal and Thermite rushing to meet her on the other side.

     A large section of ceiling collapsed, slamming into the mangled floor
in front of the two men, cutting them off from sight.

     The woman rushed for the void. As she leapt across in desperation, her foot slipped on a pile of broken glass. In a moment of pure terror, Mira realized she wouldn't quite make it as she sailed through the air. Her eyes were wide with panic as she reached desperately for the jagged edge of the other side.

     A handsome man in a leather jacket was suddenly there. He grasped her outstretched hand. Mira's momentum carried her roughly into the side of the open chasm, but she was saved from the fall.

     Faisal smiled. "I've got you, mi bonita."