Rainbow Six: November Sun

19: "LAST WORDS"

Twitch examined the frontal rig of the man's IED vest before looking at the rear. "No exposed wires. Attempting to open the frontal compartment. Stand by."

Lion looked at Valkyrie. "Any last words?"

The woman paused in thought. "I'm hungry, dude."

"Shut up," Twitch whispered. "Don't make me laugh right now." She inserted a flathead screwdriver into one of four screws on the corners of the front panel and twisted as gently as she could manage. The process went quickly, and soon she was gingerly lifting the aluminum panel from its place.

Twitch's eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" asked Valkyrie.

"I... I mean, I've never seen anything quite like this." Twitch scratched an itch on her nose. "We've got Semtex and C4 in the first compartment - enough to fuck shit up. Badly. There is an alloy tube running through the devices, like a rail. There's no way to remove the devices from the vest without melting the rail or buzz-sawing through, and that'd be too risky."

"Damage estimate?" Director Six asked.

Twitch swallowed hard. "Uh... make sure the surrounding block is completely evacuated, Harry. Empty the buildings completely."

"Understood, Pichon. Breathe and assess."

At that moment, Liam, the DSU bomb defusal expert, called a warning that he was entering the room before walking in. The man's jaw was clenched as he surveyed the scene. "What do you need from me?"

Twitch nodded at the vest. "Take a look."

Liam crouched and assessed the IED arrangement. "Jesus."

"Ever seen anything like this?" Twitch asked.

"Not exactly, no, but..." Liam pointed a gloved finger at copper lining at the interior edges of the panel. "... that's a trigger conductor."

"What?"

"That copper lining in there; it's a trigger conductor. Built-in trap. If human skin touches it, or it senses a surge of electricity, it detonates."

Twitch's eyebrows raised. "How do you know?"

"Saw something like this in Iraq." Liam shook his head. "It's fucked. It's expensive as all hell, too. Extremely advanced mechanical engineering is required, so these guys are well-funded."

"Can't try to dismantle this thing with gloves on," came Twitch. "The openings are too narrow. The compartment's too crowded."

"I know. It was meant for this very scenario."

Everyone was silent for a lengthy moment. Twitch watched the countdown on the enemy's phone: 7:22 remaining. The numbers on the screen made her feel that maybe - just maybe - this was all an awful dream.

"Check the other side," Lion said with a grunt. He repositioned his boots and dug into the floor to take some stress off his lower back. "This guy's getting heavy."

Liam stepped to the nearby executive's desk and grabbed a wheeled office chair. He rolled it over and braced it steady as the others carefully lifted the dead man into a side-sitting position, so both the front and back of his IED vest was easily accessible.

"Just under seven minutes remaining," informed Valkyrie. "We might just have to leave this guy here. Building is evacuated, so no innocent lives to worry about." She sighed. "Just a Russian Embassy torn in half before collapsing to ashes."

Twitch quickly circled to the man's back, knelt to both knees, and unscrewed the rear panel. She was setting the lid down when she froze in mid-air.

Liam shifted nervously, keeping his hands firmly on the dead man's shoulders to keep the body balanced in the chair. "What's wrong?"

The woman cleared her throat. "Director," she started, not wanting to use Harry's name in front of Liam, "I've got eyes on a biological agent of some kind. Light blue liquid, secured in a series of vials all strapped together in a magazine. Magazine is fuzed to an alloy surface."

"Copy that."

"Six Actual, this is Dokkaebi on Guardian station. Route that phone's info to me and I can try to sever the connection."

"Message received," answered Harry. "Twitch?"

"On it. Stand by."

"Where's our timer at?" Dokkaebi asked.

Twitch opened her mouth to tell the woman they had around six and a half minutes remaining, but she hesitated when she looked at the phone.

She blinked once. Twice. Her mouth was suddenly dry.

"Twitch? What's the timer's status? Do you copy?"

"Twitch copies." The woman fought panic. "All units, we have 72 seconds remaining. Something... the timer changed. I repeat: seventy seconds until detonation."

Lion cursed. Valkyrie stared at the bomb with wide eyes. Liam cleared his throat. "Did you touch the copper conductors?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!" Twitch snapped. "Must have tripped a fuckin' fail safe somewhere. Maybe because I opened both compartments? Maybe opening one tripped the—"

"Pichon," interrupted Valkyrie, "the phone. Get that patched to Guardian."

The woman complied without a further word. Valkyrie and Lion stood uneasily, watching Twitch as she worked with deft fingers.

"Done. Sending your way." Twitch took out her phone and snapped quick photos. "Sending images too, just in case. Fifty seconds."

"Roger," Dokkaebi answered. She took a deep breath. "I... I'm going to need someone to stay behind, in case a manual override is needed on that end. I'm sorry. We have no choice."

Valkyrie stood and looked at her companions. "I'll stay. Rainbow needs you more than it needs me. Twitch, you're a better engineer."

"But—"

"Lion, we need you. Nobody knows bio-threats like you and Finka."

Twitch squared herself with a fierce gaze. "I'm not leaving anyone behind. Ever."

"It's all of us, or one of us." Valkyrie placed a hand on both her teammate's shoulders. Her eyes were filled with firm resolve. "Go. Please."

"Twitch, Lion." Harry's voice was soft in their earpieces. "There's no time. I'll be damned if I lose all three of you. Meghan has made her decision. Honor it. Meghan?"

Valkyrie fought tears. "Yes, Harry?"

"Your courage will be known." The man paused. "Rainbow shall owe you a great debt."

It was then that Liam stepped forward. "I'll stay. I'll take it from here. Leave a headset and your tools with me. This is my country. My responsibility." He nodded solemnly. "I'm grateful to you all. Just... please tell my wife and sons I love them. Tell them - and my men - I wasn't afraid. Now, hurry! Go!"