Rainbow Six: Broken Arrow

Chapter 3: Actionable Intel

Archer woke to the sound of banging on his dorm room door. "Wake up you bloody yank!"

Archer recognized the voice as Thatcher. "Christ almighty, hang on! I'll be out in a minute."

Archer put on some clothes and grabbed his grandfather's Colt 1911 and tucked it into the small of his back. Archer opened the door and met Thatcher.

"Morning lad." Mike said sarcastically as Archer wiped the matter from his eyes. "We have a situation and Harry wants you on alert."

"What happened?" Archer asked.

"Hostage crisis in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Looks like they intended to rob the bank, but found US tourists to take hostage for ransom."
Thatcher began walking down the hallway as Archer followed. "Alpha 1 and 2 have been put on alert to respond, but right now is just the waiting game." Thatcher monologued as Archer followed him eventually to the mess hall, where many operators were watching the news on the bank robbery.

"What team am I attached to this time?" Archer asked.

"Mine, Alpha 2. We're on QRF for Alpha 1." Thatcher replied.

"So, whose on Alpha 1?"

"Thermite, Glaz, Buck, Mira, and Castle." Archer nodded and heard the loudspeaker activate, "Archer report to Tactical Operations Center, ASAP." Everyone turned to look at Archer as the announcement was made. "Where is the TOC?"

"Down the hall on the right." Thatcher pointed, as Archer nodded and jogged down the hall. Archer entered the room and found it full of busy people. The room was similar to that of NORAD's Tactical Operations Center. It had giant TVs that showed news channels, drone ISR feed, and other mission appropriate information.

"Archer! Over here!" Harry shouted over the low chatter of the room. Archer met Harry, who was standing next to a tall gray headed man. "Archer this is Dieter Weber, or callsign 'Bear', you spoke with him during the training exercise. He is one of our few founding members." Harry introduced the two as they shook hands.

"Yeah, I was a member of GSG9, then Team-2's sniper. Now I run things here, under Harry's command though." Dieter informed as he sipped on a cup of coffee.

"Sir! one of the hostages have just been executed." One of the computer techs shouted as the group all looked at the news broadcast and saw the terrorist throw a dead body out of the bank entrance. The news anchor nervously rambled in Dutch as the police tried to retrieve the body.

"Get the Prime Minister on the line. Tell that self-righteous prick if he doesn't give us mission authority more people are going to die." Dieter snapped at one of the computer techs. The tech rushed over to his phone and punched in a number. Archer studied the broadcasted footage of the building. The camera panned over to Belgian police, who had weapons pointed at the building. One of the officers was speaking into a phone, probably a negotiator. There was a man on the second floor of the building, peering through the curtains.

"Sir! We have the green light." The tech informed.

Dieter walked over to the intercom and spoke, "All teams, we are mission go." Harry sighed and turned to Archer. "Bring my operators back in one piece."

***

The Alpha teams boarded the Hercules C-130, they prepared for the one hour and thirty-minute flight. Archer took a seat next to Glaz spoke, "You got a name?"

"Timur Glazkov." Glaz, the former 45th Guardsman, informed. The two conversed for most of the trip, learning each others military history and sharing war stories.

As the C-130 touched down in Rotterdam The Hauge Airport the ten Rainbow operators exited and met the Commissioner Hans Lehnigk. They boarded Dutch police vehicles and went to a empty gymnasium that was two blocks away from the bank.