Operation: thieving Thunder

Coup de main

Zofia's POV
  I ran as quickly as I possibly could across the front lawn until I collapsed as a Mask peaked out the first floor window and fired causing me to stumble over my own feet, I lifted my rifle and sighted down my scope only to have the fire from Team 2 hit the window. I heard a thud as well as someone hissing causing Thatcher to crouch next to me "You hit lass?" I shook my head no and shoved myself up as I started walking quickly towards the house again only stopping when I fell to a crouch a foot off the wall and looked behind me seeing the rest of the team making their way to the side of the building, while the team slowly rallied I started setting up my rappel gear, I glanced to my right as I heard Kye "We've got you covered, clear" and watched Thatcher start prepping his gear. Within 10 seconds the rest of the team had arrived and were prepping their rappel gear, I radioed to Kye "were repelling to the second floor, breaching into the guest room" It was quiet for a couple seconds until I heard Kye "Rog' we won't be able to cover you, I repeat no eyes inside the building" I shot back a quick "Affirm" as Glaz came over the radio "Scopes on you, Be advised we will have eyes on you once you enter, over" I gave a thumbs as I looked to my right "All set?" I got various signals for ready before I slowly started walking up the wall to the second floor window, going inverted when I passed the first floor window the mask shot out of and kept my aim squarely on it until Thatcher and Ash spoke in hushed tones "Charges placed, breaching in 3"
I turned my attention to the breach point and waited a second before the barricade blew onwards and Finka and I jumped in releasing our rappel gear the moment our feet hit the ground. We started walking forward, side by side, firing into any masks we could see as I faintly heard 2 more impacts as we secured the room "Secure, 3 down" I saw Thatcher crouch next to one and pick up his pistol "Military grade, who's funding these guys?" I heard Finka "whoever it is, is not our concern right now. We need to finish securing" Thermite spoke "I don't know if you know what better gear means but our job definitely just got harder" she waved him off "But it's still possible, let's go" I nodded "I guess you're right, Raven be advised moving to the main hallway. Guest room is secure" I received a staccato "Got it" as I walked to the door, I waited until I felt a squeeze on my shoulder before I pushed out into the hallway and turned right finding two masks as they turned the corner causing me to squeeze the trigger and hold it for 3 seconds as I hosed them down, simultaneously I heard thatchers Ar-33 firing before everything fell silent and I called "clear!" And received "clear!" I started down the staircase only to stop when I heard a child crying on the second, "Raven, be advised we are moving to investigate. We're hearing a kid crying" he sounded uneasy "Be careful, typhon is still in the building, over" I got in line at the tail of it behind thatcher as we moved towards the master bedroom, I got the feeling we were being watched and double checked the corners, hunting whatever was giving me the feeling.
We stopped outside the door, I pulled one of my breaching charges out of my bag and placed it on the door "make room" before lifting my lifeline "Thatcher, use an emp" he nodded sounding surprised "I see" I switched from my impacts today my concussion rounds "thunders next" Thatcher primed his Emp as Finka spoke "Surge incoming" I nodded and thatcher rolled his grenade under the door causing confused yells of "the fuck is that?" And "it's Rainbow! They're here for the hostages!" I heard the emp detonate as I hit the detonator on my breaching charge and fired in my concussion grenades hearing the thunderous echoes of detonation as Ash and Thermite entered the room firing into any enemies we saw while I pushed deep into the room and found 3 enemies and a scientist hiding behind the bed. I shouldered my M762 and fired 3 rounds into each of the enemies, popping their heads like grapes as I watched them slump to the ground in disgust "Ma'am, who are you? Why are you here?" She replies shakily, a bit too shakily making it hard to understand, "I'm-im Angelica Wa-Wagner, they, uh... they took me- forced me to make them medicine.... it's been torture" I rested my hand on her shoulder before turning "Ash, let's evacuate the hostages and then we'll secure the rest."
She looked annoyed at the order but I think it's just because it came from me, "Alright, thatcher, thermite, grab the mother and father" I turned back to Angelica "do you know a mask that goes by typhon, is he here?" She nodded looking terrified how bad is this guy? "Where?" She shook her head no "I don't know, I just know he's here" I stood and turned before radioing "Raven, were extracting the hostages. Typhon is still in the building, we have one additional, says she's named Angelica Wagner." I felt something prick my neck as I spun and saw Angelica backing away with a needle in her hands
"Ameliga(America), Ameliga, Finka some help" she came running over as I fell back against the wall as my vision started getting blurry and then I heard the crack of an aluminum baseball bat and felt Finka slump against me, my vision sharpened just enough that I could make out typhon. I heard Kye through my headset "Zofia?! Zofia, come in! Shit, okay, We're coming in for you! Just stay alive!"
Kye's POV
  I looked at the officer to my right as thatcher put the mother in the back of an ambulance "Anyone besides us walks out that door, you fuckin end them" he nodded scared as I turned to the team "Alright, let's get evil" Ryad looked at me "I know you want to save them but we need to be smart about it" I nodded distractedly "thatcher and thermite, you're covering the staircase going up to the second floor. Rook, Goyo and Jackal, I want you to stay in the guest room and be QRF. Ash, hibana, you're with me, we're pushing for Zofia and Finka. Let's move" ash nodded and lifted her R4-c "I'm with you" I stood and walked quickly to the same wall Zofia had breached in from "QRF, rappel to your positions, thermite thatcher go with them. My squad, we're clearing the first floor. Kali, if you've got a shot, take it" I heard a excited smile in her voice "my pleasure" I shoulder my M4 and walked around the house to the side entrance. My aim kept shifting up to windows as we moved through the alley silently, when we finally got to the door, I pulled out my lock pick and started the process, I could feel the growing anxiety of the team the longer I took before I drew a ragged breath and heard the door lock click, "Bingo"
I took 2 steps back "Ash you ready to go?" She nodded confidently "always" I nodded as I lifted my M4 high on my chest and rushed forward kicking the door near the handle and sending it flying open, Ash disappeared into the darkness and went right as I lifted my M4 and continued straight forward into the living room finding 5 very confused Masks, I smiled and fired 2 rounds into the first target before I shifted my aim to the 5th target, way on the far side of the room, since he started to stand, he received 4 rounds to the chest before I fired another burst into his skull. The last three suddenly started to regain some sense of what was happening but by the time the 3 seconds it took for the first 2 to be dealt with passed, it was too late, they got sprayed down by the last of my magazine "Ash, Hibana, how's our progress?" I heard ash "I've got 6 dead"
        Hibana spoke a couple seconds later as we heard gunfire "I'm pinned in the home theater, I could use some help" I heard Ash "Got it, moving to assist" I thumbed my mic "Wilco" as I shouldered my M4 and joined Ash in the hallway "QRF, move to the bedroom, secure our teammates, thermite, thatcher hold their flanks. We'll join you when we retrieve Hibana" I got 2 quickly replies of "Roger" and "moving" I gripped ash's shoulder as we moved through the hallway and past the doorway that lead to a small child's bedroom "Must be the girls" ash nodded "the rooms are cleared" I didn't reply as I shifted my aim to every open door as we passed, I looked forward and saw Hibana with her back pressed to a desk as Ash and I entered a room to our left "How're we looking?" Ash crouched and lifted her grenade launcher "Clear the blast area" I radioed "breaching the wall to your 9 o'clock position" I heard the reply "do it, just hurry, I'm being overwhelmed" as I heard her rifle firing and Ash's CREM detonated and evaporated the wall, ash and I pushed forward firing into any masks we could properly identify, one after another the horrified Masks dropped until the only survivor was a wounded man trying to crawl away.
        I looked at ash "Move to the 2nd deck, I'll catch up" they looked unsure but moved into the hallway as I crouched in front of the wounded man and gripped the front of his jacket slamming him against the wall "where's typhon?" The mask laughed "you'll never win, he'll hunt you to the ends of the earth. There will be no shadow to hide in, no rock to crawl under, nothing will stop him." I rolled my eyes before taking my pointer and middle finger and jabbing them into one of the bullet wounds shoving them deeper as he squirmed while screaming "I pulled my now bloody fingers out of his chest "you gonna cooperate now? Tell me where typhon is" the masks chest heaved with each labored breath "it's too late, they've already set the trap in motion" my hand snapped to my radio "Rainbow clear out now!" I hear thatcher "We haven't gotten Zofia out yet, we couldn't find her in the room" I faced the dilemma "Get out, I'll find her" He sounded worried "Son, that could be a one way trip" I thumbed my radio "Well geezer, 2 lost is better than 10, go. Now!" He sighed "it's been an honor"
        I shot the mask as I stood and turned "don't go giving up on me yet" I slung my M4 across my back and sprinted down the hallway and up the staircase to the 2nd floor, I looked around frantically before running into the master bedroom "Zofia! Zofia where are you?!" I heard a faint muttering "help, help me... help me please" I ran towards the voice and found a woman in normal clothes except she had a white lab coat on "please help me.... they forced me to help them.... I never wanted this...." I helped her up and looked at the door "Be advised we have one white female, mid forties, blonde, wearing a lab coat may need medical" I heard Finka "Nyet! She drugged Zofia! She's a mask!"
        I spun toward the woman just in time to react and palm her arm away causing the needle to miss my neck. The training with Zofia took over and I delivered two strong punches to her ribs before forcing her to the ground and pulling out my zip ties, I zippier her wrists together "Rainbow, one mask in custody, bringing her to the front door before continuing my search for Zofia" I roughly yanked the woman up before shoving her toward the door while I held her arm only to come face to face with the lone surviving mask, "Typhon, so we finally meet. You know, I've gotta be honest, doing an operation this big to get us here and evading our attempts to find you... it's impressive, I respect the dedication but I'm sensing there's a different reason you've revealed yourself to me, isn't there?" He spoke jovially, almost like you're talking to your coworker at McDonalds, "you're sharp Raven, a lot sharper than I expected. I come proposing a deal"
          I cocked an eyebrow and shifted my weight to my back foot, throwing my arm out to the side "Oh, do tell, I'm excited to hear it" he motioned to the woman in my grip and then to a gagged Zofia "I give you your operator, you give me Wagner, we all live to kill each other another day" I nodded slowly "And what makes you think I'd trust you won't just gun us down? What's keeping you from just turning this into a bloodbath?" He lifted his mask so his mouth was visible as it shifted into a kind smile "call it a gentleman's agreement" I motioned to Zofia after making a mental note his trimmed beard was ginger "Send her over first" his smile wavered for a second before he released her and she shakily walked towards me before getting to the 1 meter mark and tripping.
       I released the scientist and caught Zofia before lifting her so my arm was locked across her stomach and she was supported, I noticed typhon's hand going to his waist causing me to yank my glock out of its holster as I ran with Zofia and fired at him hitting the woman in the spine causing her to go limp. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it down the stairs in time so i crashed through the railed and spun so my back was aimed at the ground wrapping my arms around Zofia so she had me to soften her impact, I heard Goyo "Raven, mi amigo? You good? We heard shots, we're coming in, just stay alive" when my back connected with the hard wood of the first floor I felt every ounce of air exit my lung causing everything to go quiet as I struggled to regain the oxygen my lungs screamed for, soon the sounds of the world came back to me as I felt Zofia roll off of me causing me to wheeze out "you okay? Do 'hi tsu(are you well?)" she nodded groggily as the tranquilizer took its time to wear off, I looked up to the second floor and saw typhon peaking over holding the woman only to have .45 acp and 5.56 rounds impact the bannister and ledge in front of him as Goyo and Thermite entered the front door suppressing him, Ash ran in towards us but looked unsure of who to help out of the building causing me to motion to Zofia "Her, get her out of here" Zofia slurred "nie, nie, him, hejusttookthefall" I slowly pushed myself up as Ash nodded and gripped the back of zofia's plate carrier. I stumbled after the two of them and patted thermite's shoulder as I moved past him, giving him the signal that he's good to fall back with us causing him to spin and put my arm around his neck as he hooked his right arm under my ribs and dragged me out to the ambulance as Goyo followed us out pulling rear guard.
        The Paramedics descended upon Zofia, Finka and I like meat to vultures, I sat on the back of an ambulance wrapped in a towel next to Zofia "So that was a fun mission," I was going to continue when the charges the masks had set detonated, causing the house to turn to rubble and flames, the father and mother looked horrified but relieved, a strange combination for someone to have, before the father walked over to us "thank you, so much" I forced a smile despite the pain in my back "I'm sorry about your house" he sighed "Insurance will cover most of it, but god damn is my payment gonna go up" I shook my head in dismay "Hopefully it doesn't bury you" he shook mine and a zombie like zofia's hand before returning to his family as our team joined us at our ambulance and we caught up over what happened with each of us, I looked down the street and saw the sun just starting to peak over the horizon, I yawned as Zofia started to become human again "How're you feeling? Can I help in any way?" She looked at me before slowly smiling "I knew you weren't hopeless in CQB,"
         I looked at her confused "Typhon made me watch since he thought you were gonna get drugged, he wanted to make me watch as the last bit of resistance disappeared from rainbow." I nodded as I leaned back "I guess you can teach an old dog new moves, isn't that right Mike?" He scowled at me "piss off, wank stain" I laughed before we all heard engines approaching onto to see a SWAT Armored car pulled up "Rainbow, here's your ride"