Rainbow Six: November Sun

07: "ONE FACE OF MANY"

Just over an hour later, Rainbow's plane touched down at Brussels Airport. It was the organization's standard practice to use civilian airports when possible rather than military airfields. Men and women dressed in civilian clothing, boarding and departing unmarked aircraft - or, appropriately marked aircraft on occasion - drew less attention than one would suspect.

It was the way that John Clark, Rainbow's founder and original director, had preferred to operate. Since then, the practice had become protocol.

Two grey SUVs and a black sedan with tinted windows were waiting for them, along with three armed men dressed in civilian clothing.

A muscular man in jeans and a polo shirt who was casually leaning against the hood of the sedan straightened and walked to meet Rainbow. He shook Harry's hand. "Director Six, I presume?"

"Yes. And you?"

"You can call me Liam. DSU, Special Reconnaissance. I answer to Lieutenant Colonel Maes. I believe you two have already spoken?"

"As we were en route, yes."

The other men with Liam had already popped the vehicle trunks and quickly assisted Harry's operators in loading their gear. In less than a minute, the small convoy was speeding for a nearby helipad, where a H215 Airbus transport helicopter was waiting, rotors already spinning.

Everyone hastily filed onboard, including Rainbow pilot Lt. Col. Acevedo. Their clothes and hair whipped with the downwash of the rotor wind, and Liam signaled for the pilot to take off.

"The flight from here to the Russian Embassy is only a few minutes - far more preferable to the 30-40 minute drive, given the circumstances." Liam scooped up a briefcase full of classified folders, and handed it to Harry. "Take one and pass them down, please." The man looked at the Rainbow operators in the cargo hold and raised his voice so they could all hear him. "Quick reference docs to familiarize yourselves with - local protocols, ROE, the works."

Harry flipped his folder open. "Our Rules of Engagement tend to differ from those of government forces."

"That's all above my pay grade - but still, good for background, yes?" Liam looked over his shoulder. "Mertens!" he called.

One of Liam's men nodded his understanding. He pulled four large duffle bags from under his seat and the neighboring seat, and slid them one-by-one across the floor of the cargo hold.

"Your DSU uniforms," Liam announced. "All appropriate patches and insignias are present. Uniforms should be labeled as you requested, Director. Balaclavas and masks can be provided if needed."

Harry nodded and fished his hands into the first bag. "One."

Ash took the uniform from him.

"Two."

Sledge was next. Every operator had a previously assigned number for pre-op preparations. This allowed quick distribution of foreign service uniforms - or anything less - without revealing any of the Rainbow operators' names or callsigns... even in the presence of allies.

Everyone dressed quickly, long accustomed to doing so in front of one another with practiced professional courtesy.

Valkyrie rolled up the sleeves of her Multicam ACU to her forearms. "Never wore a Belgian flag before," she remarked quietly.

Rook chuckled. "First time for everything."

Liam steadied himself as the helicopter hit minor turbulence. "As of now, Lieutenant Colonel Maes has taken over operational jurisdiction from Brussels PD, and the perimeter is—" The man stopped suddenly and put a finger to his earpiece. "Say again?"

Ash and Glaz exchanged glances. Harry raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

Liam hastily scooped up a large tablet and patched some wires into a panel on its side. "Tsar has made contact. Relaying it now, live."

Everyone leaned forward in their seats as a video feed crackled to life. A masked man stared into the camera with crystalline blue eyes that were seemingly devoid of emotion.

The masked man looked down at the desk in front of him and shuffled some papers about out of view before leveling his gaze back into the camera. He took a deep breath.

"I want you to listen to me, now. I want you to listen very carefully, because I promise: I will only say this once."

"Running retinal scan," Twitch announced.

Valkyrie nodded. "I'm on voice analysis."

"I am Tsar." The masked man shifted his weight. "My real name is not important, for I will not be here for long."

"Not good," Sledge murmured.

Harry said nothing, but the sinking feeling in his gut was most telling, and rarely did it lie.

"I am one face of many, and we many are one." To everyone's surprise, the speaker removed his ski mask, revealing messy brown hair and a grizzled face. He stared through the camera at them with empty eyes.

"Running facial scan," whispered Twitch.

The light that may have once filled the unknown man's tired eyes long been extinguished, but Harry saw something else in the man's eyes; he could sense firm resolve and a quiet peace. This man had already resigned to his fate. He did not question death.

"We are November Sun." Tsar shifted in his seat, but never took his eyes off the camera. "This is not about money. This is not about politics, or misguided patriotism, or propaganda."

Another gunman, still wearing his mask, stepped briefly on screen and whispered something in Tsar's ear.

The man nodded and waved the messenger off. He straightened in his seat and leered at the camera. "This is about retribution." Tsar paused. "September 3, 2004: Beslan, North Ossetia."

Harry cursed silently, and most of the Rainbow operators present immediately recognized the date.

"We never forgot those who died. Now, we will make sure the world always remembers." Tsar lifted an AK-74 from off camera and slung it over his shoulder. "We will be in touch within the hour."

The video feed was cut, and the screen went dark.

"The Beslan Hostage Crisis." Glaz's face was hard. "Dark days."

Lion clicked his tongue. "That's some deep-seated anger."

"Agreed." Maverick was pulling a balaclava over his head. "We gotta assume these guys don't plan on living through this."

Harry looked to Liam. "The helicopter we asked for?"

"It will be there, Director, and my superiors have cleared the airspace around the embassy."

"Good." Harry sighed and leaned forward in his seat to signal Acevedo. "Amelia, be ready for immediate takeoff for aerial overwatch."

"Yes, sir."

"Everyone get your heads in the game." Harry was already flipping through the floor plans again. "The fact that he unmasked himself for all to see does not bode well."

"November Sun," Valkyrie mused. "Why scramble the audio when he just planned on showing his face anyway?"

"Maybe he didn't plan on it at all," Ash offered. "Maybe he got caught up in the moment."

Thatcher tightened his grip on his shotgun. "Either way, we're comin' for him."