Rainbow Six: Bloodlines

"TRUE DARK" - Chapter 9

     Suddenly Mira thought of Faisal. His glowing, ethereal face as he lifted her from death at the hotel. The warmth in his words.

     There were things she hadn't told Jackal yet. Something had happened when Faisal poured his remaining strength into saving her. She had seen flashes of times past through Faisal's eyes, a hauntingly beautiful montage of the man's most sacred memories - both good and bad.

     Faisal's first kiss with a girl at school. Being adopted and split from his younger brother, with no say in the matter. The very first time he saw a movie at a real cinema. Warm sand beneath his toes on the southern beaches of Ceuta. A woman breaking his heart during Christmas of 1986.

     Sheer joy at turning 18 and adopting Ryad through the tangled mess that was the foster care system. The uncontrollable smile as he hugged his little brother and wiped tears from his cheeks.

     When she heard the door get kicked in, Elena steeled herself and silently vowed that the hunt for Faisal's killer would continue.

     Their fellow Rainbow operators were there to either detain or kill them. No chances could be taken.

     "Open the window," Elena hissed as she scurried to the open bedroom closet and retreived one of her Black Mirrors. "Time it with the noise."

     Ryad understood immediately. He hurried to the window, painfully aware that both he and Mira were still barefoot and wearing only undershirts and jeans - and he waited.

     Ela and Vigil swept the living room of the small house just down the hallway. Zofia was on their heels.

     "I've got the back door," Dokkaebi radioed.

     Zofia stepped carefully. "Copy. Hold the angle."

     In the bedroom, Mira hefted the Black Mirror onto the wall, clamped it in place, and triggered the air compression. The gadget hissed and blew out the wall, sending a cloud of drywall and dust billowing out into the hallway.

     Using the loud noise to mask his own action, Jackal swept aside the window blinds, unlocked the window, and slid the glass aside. The window screen still remained.

     Recognizing the hydraulic activation of Mira's mirror nearby, Zofia, Ela, and Vigil all took cover immediately.

     "Elena!" called Zofia. "Doesn't have to go down like this!"

     Mira looked through the newly formed window. "Don't come any closer!" she yelled, her voice carrying down the hall. "If I see one drone, I'm raining hell down on you capullos!"

     Ela snorted. "With what? What did you think would happen? Where are you going to run?"

     Jackal and Mira were scrambling, scooping up any gear they could comfortably carry and make a retreat with.

     Vigil ventured a slight glance around the corner. The sinister sight of a Black Mirror at the end of the hallway greeted him. "Talk to us, Elena. Ryad?"

     Mira strapped a lightweight bulletproof vest on before scooping up her Vector and compact shotgun. "You're right. It doesn't have to be this way." She nodded towards the bedroom window, and Jackal took the cue. "You all go your way, and I'll go mine."

     "You know we can't do that," Zofia answered. "Where's Ryad?"

     Mira gestured to Jackal. Smoke, she mouthed. "What do you mean?"

     "Where is Ryad?" repeated Zofia.

     Jackal produced a smoke grenade and placed it in Mira's outstretched hand.