Scene One
The voice of the Commander begins to speak as we open up with a shot of four armed operators in full combat gear.
| The Commander |
"You are all on route to Frankfurt, Germany. An eco-terror cell calling itself “Earth’s Verdict” has seized a mid-size commercial bank in central Frankfurt just before closing. They’ve taken an estimated 12–18 hostages, including bank staff and late customers. Local police report at least 5–7 armed suspects with assault rifles and explosives. The group has issued demands: the release of imprisoned members in several EU states and live media broadcast of their manifesto. The German government aren't going to comply and nor should they, because those bastard already executed one hostage already to prove they’re serious. Intel is strongly confident that a solo high value target is on-site and is coordinating everything on location.
The task at hand is simple rescue as many hostages as possible and prevent detonation of any explosive in around the building. If you can capture the leader of the cell then that would be excellent, although it is not a priority. Preventing the loss of any future life is critical! Ghost, Frost, Bishop and Patch you are the best operators for this mission that we have designated as - Operation Black Lantern. Ghost you will have the command on the ground, and I know the rest of the team can trust in your leadership. Good luck and Godspeed."
The time would flash in the middle of the screen 22:14 LOCAL TIME before the camera returns to the helicopter that is now stationery and holding position above the bank. A descending rope would be chucked out of the chopper. Ghost slides down first boots landing without a sound. Rifle point up and sweeping the roofline she accesses the roof and then just nods her head and give a silent hand signal that means one thing in the special forces: Clear. Frost follows down the rope and moves low as he finds a spot near a ventilation stack and sets up a line of sight off the roof to have look for any potential hostiles. Bishop and Patch follow down swiftly afterwards before the descending rope disconnects and the squad of four look ready to go. Like a fine tuned unit.
| Ghost |
"Let keep it liquid you three. We've got more than a couple people who want to go home and kiss their kids goodnight. It is our job to do that."
The other three nod their head in acknowledgement, but done break their silence. Ghost leads her team to the roof access door and then points at Bishop. Bishop takes out his mechanical breaching charge and he start to inspect the door slowly. Checking the deadbolt, then the door frame, before checking to see if their are any booby traps present. He gives the thumbs up and Ghost just nods back. They are communicating without words, they don't need to speak this is everything they have trained for. The breaching charge is placed and Patch helps by pressing on the door to absorb the vibration, a few seconds pass and a micro-breach pulse goes off.
| Bishop |
"Latch free. Door opens inward."
As he say it Ghost takes hold of the door and slowly crack it open pushing it inward. The time updates again 22:19, only five minutes have passed but this is a remind that this not a game of speed. This is a marathon and not a race. The team stack up. Ghost in front, silent steps and her weapon low and ready. Bishop just behind her and Patch at the rear. Frost remains on the rooftop proving overwatch and is monitoring the skylines and any possible external situations. The trio starting to descend the metal stairwell without any clatter or chatter. Their bootsteps are barely a whisper and each movement is deliberate. The only sounds are the sounds of the building the sounds of lights flickering from older wiring and there is a soft hum of ventilation. For a brief moment their is bark of an order in German, but the voice is distorted and it hard to tell if the voice is motivated by anger or it is just the tone. Halfway down the stairs, Ghost halts and raises a fist.
| Ghost |
"Unknown patrol, approximate distance 10 metres."
| Patch |
"Copy that."
The team continue to make their way down the stairwell at the bottom is opens into a long maintenance corridor running behind the office areas of the second floor. We switch to a point of view shot from the perspective of Ghost. A sign points towards the left 'Electrical & Server Utilities' and the right 'Main Offices & Conference Room'. There are muffled voices coming from her right and the sound of one person pacing up and down slowly. The camera then focuses on a small dome camera that hangs above the main hallway intersection.
| Ghost |
"Camera at intersection. No movement through it for at least ten seconds."
| Bishop |
"Mechanical access panel here. Could bypass it."
| Patch |
"I'm picking up some stressed breathing on my directional microphone, I believe that hostages are close."
Bishop kneels beside the wall-mounted access panel. He pulls a tension bar from his vest and carefully pries the panel open just enough to slip tools inside. Ghost watches down the hallway with the Patch watching their rears. The cameras cut back to Bishop's point of view as he is looking at a bunch of power lines, voltage feeds and data cables. He breathes steady and calm.
| Bishop |
"I've got the camera line."
He then places something into the access panel and nothing happens without causing a flicker. The camera dome powers off cleanly, but there is no sounds and no sparks as it has all been disconnected at the source. Patch's directional microphone moves around as they speak up.
| Patch |
"There is no reaction from the hostiles. I don't think they are monitoring the cameras."
The team now reaches the main office hallway, lit by emergency strips along the floor. One enemy combatant is pacing outside the room and seems organized and is walking in a regular patrol pattern.
| Bishop |
"These guys are well trained. They aren't amateurs. We need to show them respect, this isn't light work.
| Ghost |
"He walks past those conference doors every 14 seconds. Stops for two seconds in the middle. He is twitchy, they must have trained on the expectation a SWAT team was going to enter.
Frost who is still on the roof chimes in.
| Frost |
"No one is ever fully prepared for Rainbow. We still have no movement topside. I'm still covering the windows.
Ghost positions herself in shadow, ready to move 22:23, Bishop and Patch quietly shift 5 meters down the maintenance side corridor.
Bishop pulls a small metal pen cap from his pouch chosen because it will make just enough noise on tile without sounding like a deliberate breach. Patch watches the guard’s patrol rhythm on Ghost’s silent hand signals. Bishop nods her head and then flicks a cap down the hall at a low angle
~ ting ~ ting ~ roll
The sound is subtle, but clear. The pacing guard stops immediately in his tracks As he mutters to himself.
| Guard #1 |
"Was ist das?"
His weapon lowers slightly, but still in his hand as he moves away from the door and towards the sound of the distraction. The guard is now further down the hall than he has been previous, completely distracted and alone, And yet to notify anyone of the disturbance. Ghost give signal indicating for: Three Move. Three referring to Rainbow Three who is Bishop. Bishop shifts out of the shadow with cat-silent precision. Patch stays low, watching the conference room area for surprise movement. The pacing guard, now fully fixated on the pen-cap noise, crouches slightly and peers into the dim maintenance corridor. He never hears Bishop coming. Bishop closes the last metre like a ghost despite his size, he snakes his arm around the guard's neck and his hand covers the mask to catch the noise as in tandem the other hand pulls the guard's weapon away from him. The choke is controlled, not enough to kill, but enough to render him unconscious. A stop-clock begin to count and stops at 3.2 seconds and it is at that point that the hostile is unconscious. The time just fades away, as Patch moves forwards to check on his vitals.
| Patch |
"He's out cold. Stable. Very impressive. Calm and collective."
Bishop zip-ties his hands, removes his radio, and drags him gently behind a storage cabinet in the maintenance corridor.
| Ghost |
"Good work. Post secured."
Ghost creeps to the door and pulls out a fiber-optic and checks underneath the frame as we cut to the point of view of the fiber-optic check:
There are twelve hostages that are tied up, all sitting down and look terrified. The lights in the room are dim and the blinds are all drawn. There is no signs of any explosives and there is only one armed guard in the room that is facing away from the door and looking directly at the hostages.
| Ghost |
"One enemy combatant inside. Facing away. That is a clear shot."
| Patch |
"And we have no other movement. We have no secondary patrol moving towards us."
Ghost quietly signals Frost over comms.
| Ghost |
"Frost, collapse to the Stack."
| Frost |
Acknowledged. Moving."
Frost slides off the rooftop overwatch perch, secures his line, and slips back down the rappel rope to join the team.
He transitions from rooftop to hallway entry in 34 seconds with zero disturbance a textbook stealth reposition Now the team stands together in a four-man silent stack once again with Frost moving in between Ghost and Bishop as the second man in the order.
| Patch |
"Team intergrity restores."
Says the medic who stands at the rear of the line, with the best view of everyone's position.
| Ghost |
"Solo entry. Silent"
Frost positions himself behind her with the VSS (VSS Vintorez Russian 9mm Sniper Rifle) angled low, ready to fire only if the takedown fails.
Bishop and Patch hold position, ready to flow in once Ghost makes the right signal. Ghost draws her suppressed sidearm, then holsters it switching instead to her combat knife, the quietest option. She takes one slow breath…exhales…and gently turns the door handle. No resistance. The suspect didn’t lock the door; why would they have to when they had a guard patrolling. Their strength has now become their weakness, as Ghost slips into the room like a shadow. Ghost slips inside like a shadow. She moves silently, feet landing on carpeted flooring.
Distance: 6 meters.Then 4 meters. Then 2 meters. Just like with the time previous the distance is shown with a superimposed white measurement line on the floor, to really give the audience a realistic view of what is going on. One hostage sees her… eyes widen…
Ghost raises a finger to her mask and makes the shushing expression. The hostage nods rapidly, terrified but compliant.
Ghost closes the final step. In a single motion in the exact technique as Bishop had done, but this time she uses her knife and presses it against the man's neck and prevents him from moving as she whispers in German.
| Ghost |
"Nicht bewegen".
With subtitles offered (Do not move.) Her other arms constricts his neck and just like the one outside the hall in a matter of seconds this once is also out cold as he slumps in her arms and she guide him down to the floor as she goes on comms.
| Ghost |
"Rainbow One. Room secure."
Frost, hearing no shot, quietly exfiltrates his firing angle and holds at the door. Bishop enters, taking the suspect’s rifle, radio, and zip-tying him. Patch moves straight to the hostages. They do a quick survey of all the hostages, and make a few notes before checking in.
| Patch |
"No injuries severe enough to require evac. We can proceed as is."
The camera cut back to the far end where Ghost notices something important. A security monitor showing multiple CCTV feeds that have been setup by the terrorists.
| Ghost |
"This explains why they didn't care about the bank's camera systems. They came with their own. I can see two armed suspects in the lobby, one more in the basement and we no one else is appearing on any of the other. Commander can you contact the GSG9 team. We might need extra numbers. We have the hostages secure, but moving them might not be the right move. However, they are the priority."
| The Commander |
"Give me a moment Rainbow One. I will scramble our communications, so you can both share an encrypted channel."
[END OF SCENE ONE]
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