The match officially starts. Zack and Ben have no clue at all, but Hannah, who found the bomb, knows exactly what's up.
Even though they still have backup drones on them, the five players have zero interest in using drones to scout ahead right now.
Everyone spawns in different spots. Ben and Zack start out in the side street, Joey and Wells in the construction area, and Hannah all by herself at the river dock.
"Let's all meet up at Hannah's spot. No rush to attack—we've got plenty of time. The bomb site's locked in, so let's review our plan first, then take it slow." As the team's only leader and the one who'd catch all the blame if things go south, Ben stays super calm and careful.
Right then, as Ben heads toward the river dock, a warning pops up in front of him: he's been scanned, and his position is exposed.
He freezes on the spot and glances around. A 20-meter scan range isn't super far, but it's not close either. With some beeping alerts, Ben spots an enemy camera flashing on the defense side and takes it out with his AUG.
"Who are you trying to mess with? Never seen a girl this pretty? You creep!" Ben lets out a smug laugh.
Sure, based on the game's operator bio, IQ is at that auntie age by now.
But so what?
That helmet can't hide her golden blonde hair, or those bright blue eyes—they're just too hard to resist.
"Listen up, team. We're pro counter-terror squad members. Let's act like it!" Ben kicks things off with some hype.
"The game sounds are pretty real to life. Take Zack's Russian operator, for example—with that heavy armor and speed, he runs like a tank and gives his position away in a second. So we need to move quiet. Footsteps are still there, but unless someone's listening right up against the wall, you won't hear much." Ben and the team hunker down behind a wall. They're in no hurry to push, just breaking down their strategy.
This is also a key detail in the VR version of Rainbow Six Siege: quiet steps do make noise, but it's way softer—if you're not paying close attention, you won't catch it.
But players can prone down and press an ear to the ground, or hug the wall base, and pick up vibrations to make it louder. It's all meant to feel more real.
Of course, upsides come with downsides.
Because pulling off those moves usually leaves you in a lousy position.
"Then Wells, lead with your big shield. Hannah, you flank on the side with your flash shield—blind them for a quick surprise hit."
"Joey, you're our breacher—smash through every barrier in our path."
"Zack, you bring up the rear. I'll handle scanning to spot any electronic traps they might have set."
It takes about 20 seconds, but Ben lays out the full plan.
Next, Wells steps up first with his big shield raised, Hannah right behind him, and the other three close on their heels.
They creep toward the garage like a slow-moving train.
They reach the garage area in no time.
"There's two drywall panels straight ahead—just break through and it's right to the bomb plant spot!" Hannah calls out.
Right in front of them, two soft walls, one big and one small, but neither one's reinforced with metal plating.
It's obvious this isn't on purpose, and the defenders probably didn't forget—they just plain don't know.
Take Ben right now—he has no idea these walls can even be reinforced.
The tutorial covers it, sure, but for most players, if you taught it, that's your job; if I forgot, that's on me.
And come exam time, I'll still be clueless?
"Hold up, what's that noise? Let me scan it!" Ben was about to call the next moves when a buzzing beep starts coming from behind the wall, leaving him scratching his head.
Ben flips on his scanner, and now he's even more puzzled.
Who sticks a camera right in the corner?
Or maybe the defenders picked Black Eye, or some other operator who sets traps.
"Watch out—there could be traps here. Should we send a drone... Hey! Wait! Why'd the signal just vanish!?" Ben, ready to lead the team on an attack through another small garage, suddenly stops short. The signal on his scanner disappears, followed by what sounds like fabric rustling.
While Ben's left confused, the signal pops back up, along with a click and some beeping.
Meanwhile, just one drywall away, a bald operator in shades—who looks plenty cool—squats there scanning the wall without budging an inch.
In real life, you'd see sweat beading on his forehead by now.
He's on wall-watch duty but sticks to old-school FPS tricks, camping the corner like a sneaky vet.
Hearing nothing going on, he gets bored and pulls out his heartbeat sensor gadget. It's permanent-use anyway.
He scans left and right, just like snapping photos with a camera.
But as he keeps scanning, the beeping kicks in.
Aiming at the wall, five red heart signals light up right outside.
It scares him pretty bad.
He shuts off the heartbeat sensor fast and pings his team.
"123 calling team—damn, there are five right outside the door! Hurry to my spot! ABC, why the hell are you heading upstairs?!" The guy with the heartbeat sensor, still tucked in the corner, yells for backup.
With that intel, the whole team starts easing toward the garage, careful not to make a peep.
And the player messing with the bald guy's heartbeat sensor? He's puzzled too.
He pulls it out again for another sweep—yep, they're still over there!
Just as he's wondering about it, there's a click from the wall, like something jamming in place, followed by a sharp, kinda nice chime.
'Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump!'
And then.
'Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!'
The blast shakes his whole screen, and the shockwave drops his health to single digits.
Good thing they picked Rook this round—he hands out armor plates to the team, padding health a little so he doesn't drop dead right away.
But his teammate, also guarding the garage and hiding behind the covered car? Not so lucky—gets blasted to bits.
Before he can shake it off, another boom hits. The flimsy drywall gets blown wide open by breaching charges. From the wooden walkway on the right, he hears a breaching hammer cracking boards.
Up front, the big shield and flash shield barrel in first. Off to the side, Fuze with his side shield holds down the passage solo.
"Heh heh! Kid, enjoying your scan?"
Ben quick-peeks and finishes the heartbeat camper in the corner, cackling like some evil boss.
(End of chapter)
---
Read +100 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---