Discharged: A Rainbow Six Siege Story

Chapter 2: The Discovery

     Jade, Jack and I are waiting in the cafe. It's almost noon, so they grab food to make it look like we were just getting lunch. Jade sits at a separate table, while Jack and I are sitting at one away from her, but within earshot. Jack and I talk about guns, surprising Elena with a puppy, and what Jack might do when he's old enough to work for Hereford. "You're smart as hell, maybe you can go into counter-cyber like your old man," I say. "I'll think about it, but I kinda want to be a doctor," Jack says. I'm taken aback by this. "Damn. I was a field medic, but being a doc on base would help a great deal. Gustave's getting to be too old, and no one else is skilled enough in medicine." I tell him. "Maybe I should go talk to him and we can figure something out," Jack says. 

     "That'll be nice. I'll tell him you're coming by after this. Here're the recruits now."  I say and the door opens to reveal a bunch of recruits talking, laughing, and being loud. Ugh, I hate how loud they are. Some of the recruits ain't half bad, but most of them are rotten. I sat with my back to them, Jack and Jade toward them. They don't see Jade at first, but see her when they return from getting food. "Hey, baby. I see you got my text." I hear one say. First up on the agenda for them, broken phones. "Yep, and I'm ready for the heat," Jade says, going along with our plan. Shepherd appears and sets fire traps that will make the recruits that try to leave the cafe faint due to heat exhaustion. Shepherd returns and disappears. The recruits now try to take her to their barracks. "Wouldn't do that if I were you," Jack says. One of the recruits breaks off of the group and goes to Jack. "What'd you say, punk?" The recruit says. He's 21, about 190 in muscle. Jack's 18, 185 pure muscle. Jack's a little shorter, at 5'10. The recruit is 6' even. I didn't expect the recruit to break off as he did, but I kept my bearing. The next thing he did was shocking. He punched Jack in the face, fracturing his nose. Now, something about me. When someone hurts my family, I make sure they regret their actions. This pissed me off, and I diverted from the plan. I stand up and grab the recruit's collar. "What the fuck did you just do?" I say to him in a low, angry tone. "I punched that brat, what does it look like?" He says. "That 'brat' is my son. You know who I am, yes?" I ask him. "No, but you're just some shitty old man, by the looks of it. This pisses me off more. "Lord, forgive me for what I'm going to do to these poor souls," I say. I cock my arm back and deliver a swift punch the recruit in my hand, breaking his nose. "John!" One of the recruits in the group says. They let go of Jade and rush me. "Shepherd?" I ask. He appears and we surround the recruits in flames. "Now, I have two things for you fuckers. One, DON'T fuck with me or my family. Two, DON'T harass any of the operators or their families here. Got it?" I ask. "What are you going to do about it, old man! We outnumber you, 20 to 1!" Someone says. I turn up the intensity of the flames and pack them together tighter. "I like those odds," I say. "Alright! Stop! We'll cut it out!" They respond after it gets too hot for them. I drop the flames and disable the traps. "Good. If I find out this happens again, each and every one of you is going to die." I say. They nod and scatter. 

     I look at Jack. "How's your nose, son?" I ask him. "It hurts, but I'll live. I guess I have to go see Doc now, huh?" He says. "Yessir, go on to his office. I'll call him." I say. Jack leaves and Jade comes up to me. "Thanks, Uncle Jace." She says and hugs me. "Anytime, kid. Now go on home, I'm sure you're mother's worried sick." I say. "Alright, bye!" She says. "Bye, kid," I say. I call Gus. "Hello, Jason. Why do you call?" He asks. "Jack's running down to your office with a fractured nose. Recruit got him pretty good. There should be one of them with a broken nose coming your way as well." I tell him. "Alright, will do. Thanks, Jason." Doc says sarcastically. "Anytime! Keeps you from being bored." I say and laugh. He laughs too and cuts the line. I walk back to my house. I let out a sigh of relief when I see Mira's cooked up some of my favorite Italian food. "Hey, baby. Where's Jack?" Elena asks. She kisses me and I tell her. "A recruit fractured his nose," I say. She gasps. "Is he ok?" She asks. "He'll be fine. I made sure the recruit paid for that with a broken nose. I still can't believe I hit him that hard." I say. "Did you need that baseball bat?" She asks. "No," I simply respond. "Well, as long as Jack's fine, I'll be fine." She says. I get a text. 

Jack: I'll be eating lunch w/Doc and his wife. Is that ok? 

I respond: That's cool. Make sure you're a good guest. You're representing your mother and me, don't let us down! 

Jack: Sure thing, Dad. See u later. 

I respond: Later.

     I nod and put my phone away. "Jack's having lunch with Gus and his wife," I say to Mira. "Alright, it looks like we're having a homemade dinner date, then," Mira says. I chuckle and we sit and eat. Once we're done, we wash our plates and put them away. Once we're done, I tell Mira I'm going to do a little work. She says ok and kisses me. I kiss her back and leave. I walk into the main base and greet the guards. "Ah! Mr. Stone! We weren't expecting you today!" One of the guards says. "Well, CT never stops. May as well see what's happening in the world." I say. The guard chuckles and lets me pass by. I look toward's Harry's office. We repurposed some of the rooms so that Harry's in the center of everything. He sees me and waves. I wave back. "Alright, terrorists. What have you today?" I say and start work. I get in and see a message. It's encrypted. Easy enough. I initiate a soft malware virus into the file and it unlocks. I take out the bug and open the message. "Thanks, buggy. Now, let's see what this message has in store." It seems I have another puzzle to do. "Ah, fuck. Harry," I call in. "Harry here, what's wrong, Stone?" He says. "I got a puzzle unlike any we've seen before. Think you got something to help out?" I say and explain what the puzzle looks like. He sends me down a tool he just got. "It's like the bug you like so much, only it solves puzzles." He says. "It hasn't been tested though, so it may be a bit risky." "Right, thanks, Harry," I say. "Alright, bug, what's your trick?" I say and let it loose. It slides into the puzzle and works it out. "Damn, half a minute and it got the puzzle," I say. "Harry, I found a new bug! That one you sent me!" I tell him. "Alright, good to know it works, Stone. What's the message say?" He responds. I open the message and apply another bug that makes the viewer anonymous. I quickly read over it. "Weapon caches, transport of said caches, playing cards, and more weapons," I report in. "Any location?" Harry says. "San Diego, Cali," I say. "Good, when?" He follows up. "2 to 3 weeks, by boat," I say. "That's enough info. Thanks, Jason." Harry says. "Yessir," I say. I scroll to the bottom of the document. "What's this?" I say to myself. I see a link and open it. These computers are the most secure and protected from every virus to ever exist, so it'll be fine. It's a YouTube video. I click play, and what I watch will haunt me forever...