Operation Blood Mask

A Day to Remember

We decided to rest on the way back to base, but something was burning inside my mind. It was what the man in the blood mask said.

'Well, today must be my lucky day. I am met with both father and son.'

I wanted to know some answers. He said to ask Thatcher for the truth. Thatcher sits across from me.

"Renegade... there is something I have been wanting to tell you, but it seems that man beat me to the punch. I have so much I need to tell you," he said.

"I'm listening," I replied.

"I did a DNA test a few days ago and it returned positive. You are my long-lost son. I never even knew I had children until my wife died. I thought you and your siblings died with her; but when you and your brother joined the SAS, I had the suspicion that you were my son after mentoring you for all those years. You had some similar characteristics to me when I was younger. Even when you joined Team Rainbow, I still had that feeling inside my mind, but I didn't want to tell you without proof. I hope you aren't too angry at me for keeping this from you."

"I'm not mad. I was surprised, but it makes me happy that I finally get to meet my father after all these years," I said leaning in for a hug.

"I know it's been hard, but you aren't alone. Know that I will always have your back until I can no longer fight. And I'm sorry for not being much of a father to you. I probably would've returned home if I knew that we had kids."

We returned home triumphed and in high spirits. The outbreak has officially been contained. However, work was still needed to be done. The man with the blood mask has some plan and we needed to stop him, but everyone thought we should celebrate. The operators threw a party to celebrate the success.

I sat down alone at a table. I'm not too keen when it comes to parties, but I would know Smoke and the rest of the SAS group would probably force me to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a man bearing the Australian crest drinking a glass of alcohol. I didn't recognize him.

"Eyeing the Australian bastard I see," Smoke said to me.

"I haven't seen him around here before. Is he new?" I replied.

"Not really. He has only been assigned some very shady ops due to his illegal gadget. He's been here as long as some of us."

"What makes his gadget illegal?"

"He uses tear gas. His name is Nigel or Outback on missions and all I know is that he despises me. Don't know why, but he does," Smoke said taking a sip from his wine glass.

He offered me a glass. I accepted the glass since I like the taste of wine. Most of the crowd gathered at different tables and chatted. Ember was flirting with Ela, Outback was chatting with Fuze, Lion was sitting with Montagne and Twitch and Hibana was chatting with Thermite. Smoke kept looking over at Frost and sighed.

"Is something wrong mate?" I asked him.

"Do ya really think I have a chance with her? We are complete opposites, but I can't help it that I've fallen in love with her. People think that I am chaotic and that all I want to do is joke around and wreck some havoc."

"You never know unless you try. I've seen a more serious and intelligent side of you, but you've only used it when you needed to. I think that you two can be a good match if you try."

"Thanks mate. I wanted to wish you luck in winning her heart," he said pointing at Hibana.

"Why would you say that?"

"I've heard that Thermite has a thing for her and that he might make a move soon."

"Thanks for the information."

Smoke stood up and made his way towards Frost. That left me alone until Thatcher approached me.

"How are ya feeling lad?"

"Never better. Though I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yes?"

"How did the man with the blood mask know that we were father and son?"

"The White Masks have been trying to hunt us down and eliminate our bloodline. I don't know the reason why, but that's what I've gathered from their actions."

"They must hold a serious grudge against our family."

"Maybe so, but I wouldn't think about it too much. It will ruin your focus while you are out on a mission."

Suddenly, the lights dim. I couldn't really see anything in the dark light.

"I think Hibana wants a word with you," Thatcher said pointing at her.

I look over my shoulder and walked over to her.

"I realized that I haven't had a chance to thank you for saving me from earlier and from the previous operation."

"It's honestly nothing."

"I insist that you take this," she said handing me a locket.

I opened the locket and to my surprise, it contained a picture of the two of us from our first operation that we collaborated on, Operation Red Crow in Nagoya. The picture was taken at the helipad where Hibana was starting to climb into the chopper while I was fending off the White Masks. My mind started to feel nostalgic thoughts as I snapped back to reality. I could see a little blush on Hibana's face.

"I've been meaning to give you this for quite some time. Echo was the one who created this and mine. He insisted on giving it to you, but we never got the chance to."

"Thank you. That mission was special to me for multiple reasons. I kept asking Echo if I could have the picture, but he never sent it to me."

She looked at her watch.

"Looks like I have to go. I'll see you later."

"I'll see you later."