@LetMeDoStuffActually, rereading it, I noticed your CS was not complete. I did see your idea in the PMs and I can say I am interested to see how you enforce this gear. Write everything necessary down into the CS and I will review it once more. Sorry, I didn't get a lot of time to read it the first time around because I was rushed with things.
[OOC] Rainbow Six: Siege - White Flame Page 5
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Liotrent Tabby Space Cat
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@LetMeDoStuff
This le final edit, so seeing as it's approved and I didn't change much, I assume I can move this over to the character tab.
Name:
Thomas De Rossario
Nickname:
Tom/Tommy/Tomas
Operator Alias:
Armory
Age:
28
Gender:
Male
Country of Origin:
Republika ng Pilipinas/The Republic of the Philippines
Birth-date:
12/08/1989
Birth Location:
Davao City, Mindanao island, Philippines
Physical Profile
Thomas is a fit, 28 year old, Southeast asian male who is approximately 5’4ft or 164cm in height. Thomas has an angular jawline, a hooked shaped wide nose, round brown eyes, and light brown skin. He prefers to stay clean shaven or with a slight stubble and he likes his hair relatively short and well kept. As stated before he is a fit individual, he is very muscular and maintains a strict work out to keep in shape.
Psychological Profile
Thomas’ attitude when it comes to field work comes down to caution and methodology. He is trained to strike when the moment is opportune and when that moment presents itself he will strike as hard and as fast as possible to inflict the maximum amount of damage while making sure he himself does not take any. He will be thorough and adaptive in the field making use of whatever is available to him. He will do his best to coordinate with the team through constant communication in order to minimize confusion. He will always confirm the kill – if it isn’t possible to confirm the kill, he will stay on high alert and on the ready. His teammates’ welfare is prioritized over the mission, even more valued than his own. Good men are hard to find – the best ones always are.
He displays diligence and strict discipline with himself, even during his allotted off-time. As soon as he recovers from an operation or an injury, it’s straight into self training and getting fit. He also values family and will often call home while doing his workout routine. He will not hesitate to help anyone in need of it – be it training or otherwise. He is friendly and talkative enough to converse with others on his breaks, but when he’s on duty he will often respond laconically. He is a workaholic, constantly reviewing his past operations and thinking of how he could’ve done better in order to train over areas he could improve on. The only other time he’s not working is when he’s recovering from a workout or eating. His experience throughout the years as part of AFPSOCOM has taught him that one can never be too prepared. This means that even though he lacks in a few areas, he is willing to listen, learn, and train. His mentality is ”can do – never quit” and it’s been that way since the beginning.
Combat Profile
Attacker-Defender, his particular skill set allows him to carefully analyze the situation and make the smartest decision based on the circumstances. His experience throughout his military career and the way he is equipped allows him to be flexible in the field.
Equipment List
Operator Ability
Thomas’ strong physique allows for him to carry and bear the load of the rest of the team. He’s able to bring extra ammo, grenades, and other utility items. His method of carrying all this equipment is through distribution in rucksacks and bags of differing sizes. This arrangement allows his team to resupply on the go and makes it easier for the supply bags to be dropped in a tactical location for later use.
Biography:
Training and Experience:
Thomas enlisted on the 1st of Febuary, 2011 at the age of 21 – he was fresh and naive for what was about to come. Months of basic training hadn’t prepared him enough and he found that it was grueling and more intense than anything he had ever done before. They trained hard everyday from communication, basic formations, breaching and clearing, basic weapons training, etc. – he endured and got through it with flying colors. He was assigned to the 6th infantry division based in Camp Gen. Gonzalo Siongco in Maguindanao.
The troops were very active hunting down rogue Islamic extremist during the ongoing Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines” that started back in 2002 and aimed to reduce the capabilities of domestic and transnational terror groups operating in the country. On the 27th of January, 2014, the 6th I.D. would participate in operation Dark Horse. Thomas was part of the 40th infantry battalion – one of two infantry battalions fielded for the operation along side the 1st mechanized brigade and FSRR (First Scout Ranger Regiment).
The operation was executed in Maguindanao, North Cotobato and the engagement lasted six days in total against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
January, 28, 2014
The first day of engagement saw the use of 105mm howitzer artillery and military airstrikes. The military aimed to pummel enemy encampments and reduce enemy morale. The government military racked up 20 confirmed kills against BIFF militants.
January, 29, 2014
The second day saw the BIFF spokesperson open for negotiations – he stated that their people was extremely disappointed with how the government treated them; he then went on to say that BIFF wanted a “straight to the point” and “direct” peace negotiation compared to the negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The 6th ID spokesperson, Col. Dickson Hermoso declined BIFF’s request for negotiations and stated that BIFF must first face criminal charges before any negotiations can begin.
January, 30, 2014 – January, 31, 2014
The next two days saw the military successfully mount an assault against five strategic BIFF encampments. Thomas and his company went on to attack BIFF strongholds in barangay (district) Ganta, which the rebels were using as a training base and IED factory. His actions during this day would earn him a promotion as not one soldier was killed in the engagement successfully seizing both the training camp and the IED factory.
One soldier in the other two encampments in a different barangay during the engagement and overall twenty friendly troops were injured; the enemy suffered 53 casualties, 49 injured, and 101 captured throughout the entire operation.
Febuary, 1, 2014
The military was finally able to capture the enemy stronghold in barangay Ganta, when the fighting was over the BIFF standard was lowered and the Philippine flag was raised. The operation was drawing to a close.
Febuary, 2, 2014
The military pulls out of North Cotobato and allows civilians to return to their homes.
A few months after the operation, Thomas decides to join the Scout Ranger Selection course. In six months he would become a Philippine Scout Ranger.
The First Scout Ranger Regiment – to get in, you must endure six months of selection going through a series of tests – The physical endurance test, the rappel test, the air insertion test, the swimming endurance test, the zipline test, the navigation tests, the escape and evasion test, and the teamwork and coordination test. The FSRR are known to have a low graduation rate, it is one of the toughest selection processes that a soldier can go through. Many are broken in the physical endurance test where they go through a number of physical exercises, others are broken through their fear of heights, others because they are weak swimmers, and others still because they could not navigate the terrain.
Thomas passed the selection course and underwent additional training to become a fully fledged scout ranger. He was deployed to many missions and operations around the country, participating in hostage rescue and active patrols against insurgent elements. But the true test wouldn’t come until the Basilan Clashes.
9th of April, 2014, 8:00AM, Abu Sayaf forces began to engage government forces as they entered tipo-tipo (a town in Basilan). The military was in search of Abu Sayaf forces in the area until they were ambushed by about a hundred or so militant insurgents. During that day, four soldiers were beheaded by extremists, but they suffered a blow to their leadership as Ubaida Hapilon, son of Isnilon Hapilon – an international criminal, and Mohammad Khattab, a Morrocan bomb maker and extremist preacher were killed in the engagement.
The fighting lasted five days with heavy casualties as an entire platoon was wiped out. The Basilan clashes lasted until the 14th of April, 2014. Thomas performed admirably in adverse conditions, leading his squad through the battle of Tipo-tipo, it is said that his squad were the ones responsible for killing Mohammad Khattab – an internationally wanted criminal.
At the time, the Light Reaction Regiment was looking for new members to fill their ranks. Thomas was recommended by his commanding officer for a transfer into the regiment. There he will undergo extra training and participate in operations that are hidden away from the public eye.
Many of the operations that the Light Reaction Regiment have participated in are covered in black ink. However, what is known is their history – they were trained by U.S. special forces and developed their training from the ground up to fit Philippine standards. Their recruits are taken from Scout Rangers and Special Forces passers; their training methods are classified, but from the confidential nature of LRR’s operations, one could assume that they fill in the gaps of knowledge for recruits, from scuba training to possibly unconventional warfare training.
Thomas’ time in the Light Reaction Regiment was largely confidential for understandable reasons. He operated around the Philippines – especially in the Sulu archipelago, participating in hostage rescue, unconventional warfare, and search and destroy operations, the details of which are classified as confidential by the Philippine government.
The event that garnered international attention and therefore Rainbow’s attention was the battle of Marawi. The battle lasted five months involving 6,500 government troops against 1000 I.S. rebels led by Isnilon Hapilon, an internationally wanted criminal and the Maute brothers, a group that was responsible for the Batig clashes of last year. Over those five months, LRR was in charge of hostage rescue, evacuation of civilians from the war zone, and elimination of hostile elements such as snipers and RPGs.
Thomas’ squad was responsible for taking out the most number of insurgents in a day, racking 40 confirmed kills across his squad, and managing to evacuate 39 people while under fire. His squad continued to rack up kills throughout the entire five month conflict, even conducting waterborne operations to stop enemy supplies and militants from coming into or out of the city via . AFPSOCOM units like LRR, FSRR, and SFR (Special forces regiment) coordinated with foreign intelligence in order to locate and rescue civilians and trapped personnel while engaging the enemy in combat.
The world was watching the Marawi crisis unfold. They watched as valiant men and women fought within the city. IED’s, Snipers, and ambushes lay in wait at every corner, and if that wasn’t enough – the terrorists deliberately sent hostages dressed as insurgents to further humiliate armed forces by tricking them into shooting the people they were suppose to rescue and defend. However, some well-trained soldiers were able to discern the difference through movement and actions alone. Through this event and its brutal circumstances, being able to bring back hostages and evacuate civilians under constant threat was a feat all on its own.
When the fighting was over, it was stated in the news that Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers were killed by a unit that left undetailed by the commanders in charge of winning Marawi back from hostile insurgents. In truth, it is classified because the operator is part of an AFPSOCOM Unit – Thomas’ unit.
Family:
Relationships
TBD
This le final edit, so seeing as it's approved and I didn't change much, I assume I can move this over to the character tab.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Thomas De Rossario, North Cotobato Deployment, Operation Darkhorse, 2014
”Ang pinakaunang misyon natin ay ang pagpaligtas ng mga mamamayan sa siyudad, kahit sinuman. Naiintidihan ba? Walang dapat maiiwan!”Our mission is to get people out of the city, whether they’re soldiers, civilians, or terrorists. No one gets behind, is that understood!?...”
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Name:
Thomas De Rossario
Nickname:
Tom/Tommy/Tomas
Operator Alias:
Armory
Age:
28
Gender:
Male
Country of Origin:
Republika ng Pilipinas/The Republic of the Philippines
Birth-date:
12/08/1989
Birth Location:
Davao City, Mindanao island, Philippines
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Physical Profile
Thomas is a fit, 28 year old, Southeast asian male who is approximately 5’4ft or 164cm in height. Thomas has an angular jawline, a hooked shaped wide nose, round brown eyes, and light brown skin. He prefers to stay clean shaven or with a slight stubble and he likes his hair relatively short and well kept. As stated before he is a fit individual, he is very muscular and maintains a strict work out to keep in shape.
Psychological Profile
Thomas’ attitude when it comes to field work comes down to caution and methodology. He is trained to strike when the moment is opportune and when that moment presents itself he will strike as hard and as fast as possible to inflict the maximum amount of damage while making sure he himself does not take any. He will be thorough and adaptive in the field making use of whatever is available to him. He will do his best to coordinate with the team through constant communication in order to minimize confusion. He will always confirm the kill – if it isn’t possible to confirm the kill, he will stay on high alert and on the ready. His teammates’ welfare is prioritized over the mission, even more valued than his own. Good men are hard to find – the best ones always are.
He displays diligence and strict discipline with himself, even during his allotted off-time. As soon as he recovers from an operation or an injury, it’s straight into self training and getting fit. He also values family and will often call home while doing his workout routine. He will not hesitate to help anyone in need of it – be it training or otherwise. He is friendly and talkative enough to converse with others on his breaks, but when he’s on duty he will often respond laconically. He is a workaholic, constantly reviewing his past operations and thinking of how he could’ve done better in order to train over areas he could improve on. The only other time he’s not working is when he’s recovering from a workout or eating. His experience throughout the years as part of AFPSOCOM has taught him that one can never be too prepared. This means that even though he lacks in a few areas, he is willing to listen, learn, and train. His mentality is ”can do – never quit” and it’s been that way since the beginning.
Combat Profile
Attacker-Defender, his particular skill set allows him to carefully analyze the situation and make the smartest decision based on the circumstances. His experience throughout his military career and the way he is equipped allows him to be flexible in the field.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Equipment List
- M4A1 w/acog, peqbox & foregrip – primary
- M1A SOCOM “16 w/holo-sight & magnifier – primary
- M1911 – secondary
- Fragmentation grenade – primary utility
- Flashbang – primary utility
- Smoke grenade – secondary utility
- Claymore – secondary utility
- Rucksack filled with extra equipment and ammo – Operator Ability
Operator Ability
Thomas’ strong physique allows for him to carry and bear the load of the rest of the team. He’s able to bring extra ammo, grenades, and other utility items. His method of carrying all this equipment is through distribution in rucksacks and bags of differing sizes. This arrangement allows his team to resupply on the go and makes it easier for the supply bags to be dropped in a tactical location for later use.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Biography:
Thomas was born in Davao city, Mindanao – Mindanao is one of the most divided regions in the Philippines. There are multiple domestic and foreign terror threats – from the communist led “New People’s Army” (NPA), to the Islamic extremists known as the Abu Sayyaf. Thomas had often heard news of enemy activity through his father who was on active duty at the time and from friends who were all too close to the enemy’s ideologies.
Thomas had a good education as a child and always strove to be better than he was the day before. His father and his mother would often not be there for him, so he had to learn how to be responsible for himself at a young age – cooking, cleaning, studying, etc. He wasn’t the best in his class, but he certainly wasn’t just barely passing either. His strong ”can do – never give up” attitude was what led his class to elect him as the student body president.
His life changed drastically one day when his father was killed in action during a patrol after an NPA ambush. The funeral was held and he was buried, but the words of each of his squad mates and their recounts of their experiences with his father left a permanent impression on young Thomas; they spoke of his father as an inspiration, a person deserving of immense honor as he never left a man behind, never backed down in a fight, and showed admirable mercy and respect to those they’ve defeated.
It was then that he aspired to become like his father - like the man his father was. Five years after graduating highschool, he signed up for the army. Little did he know how far he’d surpass his father’s legacy.
Thomas had a good education as a child and always strove to be better than he was the day before. His father and his mother would often not be there for him, so he had to learn how to be responsible for himself at a young age – cooking, cleaning, studying, etc. He wasn’t the best in his class, but he certainly wasn’t just barely passing either. His strong ”can do – never give up” attitude was what led his class to elect him as the student body president.
His life changed drastically one day when his father was killed in action during a patrol after an NPA ambush. The funeral was held and he was buried, but the words of each of his squad mates and their recounts of their experiences with his father left a permanent impression on young Thomas; they spoke of his father as an inspiration, a person deserving of immense honor as he never left a man behind, never backed down in a fight, and showed admirable mercy and respect to those they’ve defeated.
It was then that he aspired to become like his father - like the man his father was. Five years after graduating highschool, he signed up for the army. Little did he know how far he’d surpass his father’s legacy.
Training and Experience:
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Thomas enlisted on the 1st of Febuary, 2011 at the age of 21 – he was fresh and naive for what was about to come. Months of basic training hadn’t prepared him enough and he found that it was grueling and more intense than anything he had ever done before. They trained hard everyday from communication, basic formations, breaching and clearing, basic weapons training, etc. – he endured and got through it with flying colors. He was assigned to the 6th infantry division based in Camp Gen. Gonzalo Siongco in Maguindanao.
The troops were very active hunting down rogue Islamic extremist during the ongoing Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines” that started back in 2002 and aimed to reduce the capabilities of domestic and transnational terror groups operating in the country. On the 27th of January, 2014, the 6th I.D. would participate in operation Dark Horse. Thomas was part of the 40th infantry battalion – one of two infantry battalions fielded for the operation along side the 1st mechanized brigade and FSRR (First Scout Ranger Regiment).
The operation was executed in Maguindanao, North Cotobato and the engagement lasted six days in total against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
January, 28, 2014
The first day of engagement saw the use of 105mm howitzer artillery and military airstrikes. The military aimed to pummel enemy encampments and reduce enemy morale. The government military racked up 20 confirmed kills against BIFF militants.
January, 29, 2014
The second day saw the BIFF spokesperson open for negotiations – he stated that their people was extremely disappointed with how the government treated them; he then went on to say that BIFF wanted a “straight to the point” and “direct” peace negotiation compared to the negotiation with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The 6th ID spokesperson, Col. Dickson Hermoso declined BIFF’s request for negotiations and stated that BIFF must first face criminal charges before any negotiations can begin.
January, 30, 2014 – January, 31, 2014
The next two days saw the military successfully mount an assault against five strategic BIFF encampments. Thomas and his company went on to attack BIFF strongholds in barangay (district) Ganta, which the rebels were using as a training base and IED factory. His actions during this day would earn him a promotion as not one soldier was killed in the engagement successfully seizing both the training camp and the IED factory.
One soldier in the other two encampments in a different barangay during the engagement and overall twenty friendly troops were injured; the enemy suffered 53 casualties, 49 injured, and 101 captured throughout the entire operation.
Febuary, 1, 2014
The military was finally able to capture the enemy stronghold in barangay Ganta, when the fighting was over the BIFF standard was lowered and the Philippine flag was raised. The operation was drawing to a close.
Febuary, 2, 2014
The military pulls out of North Cotobato and allows civilians to return to their homes.
A few months after the operation, Thomas decides to join the Scout Ranger Selection course. In six months he would become a Philippine Scout Ranger.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
The First Scout Ranger Regiment – to get in, you must endure six months of selection going through a series of tests – The physical endurance test, the rappel test, the air insertion test, the swimming endurance test, the zipline test, the navigation tests, the escape and evasion test, and the teamwork and coordination test. The FSRR are known to have a low graduation rate, it is one of the toughest selection processes that a soldier can go through. Many are broken in the physical endurance test where they go through a number of physical exercises, others are broken through their fear of heights, others because they are weak swimmers, and others still because they could not navigate the terrain.
Thomas passed the selection course and underwent additional training to become a fully fledged scout ranger. He was deployed to many missions and operations around the country, participating in hostage rescue and active patrols against insurgent elements. But the true test wouldn’t come until the Basilan Clashes.
9th of April, 2014, 8:00AM, Abu Sayaf forces began to engage government forces as they entered tipo-tipo (a town in Basilan). The military was in search of Abu Sayaf forces in the area until they were ambushed by about a hundred or so militant insurgents. During that day, four soldiers were beheaded by extremists, but they suffered a blow to their leadership as Ubaida Hapilon, son of Isnilon Hapilon – an international criminal, and Mohammad Khattab, a Morrocan bomb maker and extremist preacher were killed in the engagement.
The fighting lasted five days with heavy casualties as an entire platoon was wiped out. The Basilan clashes lasted until the 14th of April, 2014. Thomas performed admirably in adverse conditions, leading his squad through the battle of Tipo-tipo, it is said that his squad were the ones responsible for killing Mohammad Khattab – an internationally wanted criminal.
At the time, the Light Reaction Regiment was looking for new members to fill their ranks. Thomas was recommended by his commanding officer for a transfer into the regiment. There he will undergo extra training and participate in operations that are hidden away from the public eye.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Many of the operations that the Light Reaction Regiment have participated in are covered in black ink. However, what is known is their history – they were trained by U.S. special forces and developed their training from the ground up to fit Philippine standards. Their recruits are taken from Scout Rangers and Special Forces passers; their training methods are classified, but from the confidential nature of LRR’s operations, one could assume that they fill in the gaps of knowledge for recruits, from scuba training to possibly unconventional warfare training.
Thomas’ time in the Light Reaction Regiment was largely confidential for understandable reasons. He operated around the Philippines – especially in the Sulu archipelago, participating in hostage rescue, unconventional warfare, and search and destroy operations, the details of which are classified as confidential by the Philippine government.
The event that garnered international attention and therefore Rainbow’s attention was the battle of Marawi. The battle lasted five months involving 6,500 government troops against 1000 I.S. rebels led by Isnilon Hapilon, an internationally wanted criminal and the Maute brothers, a group that was responsible for the Batig clashes of last year. Over those five months, LRR was in charge of hostage rescue, evacuation of civilians from the war zone, and elimination of hostile elements such as snipers and RPGs.
Thomas’ squad was responsible for taking out the most number of insurgents in a day, racking 40 confirmed kills across his squad, and managing to evacuate 39 people while under fire. His squad continued to rack up kills throughout the entire five month conflict, even conducting waterborne operations to stop enemy supplies and militants from coming into or out of the city via . AFPSOCOM units like LRR, FSRR, and SFR (Special forces regiment) coordinated with foreign intelligence in order to locate and rescue civilians and trapped personnel while engaging the enemy in combat.
The world was watching the Marawi crisis unfold. They watched as valiant men and women fought within the city. IED’s, Snipers, and ambushes lay in wait at every corner, and if that wasn’t enough – the terrorists deliberately sent hostages dressed as insurgents to further humiliate armed forces by tricking them into shooting the people they were suppose to rescue and defend. However, some well-trained soldiers were able to discern the difference through movement and actions alone. Through this event and its brutal circumstances, being able to bring back hostages and evacuate civilians under constant threat was a feat all on its own.
When the fighting was over, it was stated in the news that Isnilon Hapilon and the Maute brothers were killed by a unit that left undetailed by the commanders in charge of winning Marawi back from hostile insurgents. In truth, it is classified because the operator is part of an AFPSOCOM Unit – Thomas’ unit.
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Family:
- David de Rossario – Father, Deceased, age 31
- Maveline de Rossario – Mother, Alive, age 54
Relationships
TBD
[+]-----------------------------------------------[+]
Godlikeblade It's a terrible day for rain.
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
GM
Jeep Wrangler VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Banned
Seen
18 days ago
Got one more spot for a Rainbow Six Siege fanboy?
@LetMeDoStuff
If the Sheet is good enough and the posting ability is up there, I can offer space.
Hey! You might not remember me, but I am the guy that asked you about the nationalistic operator (a week ago...). I was a little bit busy since I had to get ready for my high school graduation. I know you are kind of filled, but I made a W.I.P. I would like it if you could check it out and tell me if have a shot at joining.
Name
(Yes, he doesn't have a name yet...)
Operator Alias
Two-Niner
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Birth-date / Location
May 4, 1986 / Riga, Latvia (USSR)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counterterrorism Unit
OMEGA
OMEGA is Latvia's main counterterrorism unit. It is one of the most secretive units of the Ministry of the Interior and is the elite of Latvian Special Forces. Created in 1992 by the Interior Ministry as a means to protect aircrafts from hijacking, the unit quickly grew both in size and tasks under its commanders - seasoned veterans of OMON and KGB Spetsnaz. While originally the unit was under the control of the Security Police, in 2003 it went over to the jurisdiction of State Police (specifically Criminal Police). Their usual objectives are releasing hostages, disarming of explosives, as well as detaining particularly dangerous criminals, killers, armed robbers, drug traffickers amongst other high-risk tasks. The unit is part of the ATLAS police network.
Appearance
In the field, Two-Niner wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Two-Niner wears depends on whether he is training or just lazing around. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals.
Psych Profile
Two-Niner is a troubled moralist who is obsessed with doing the right thing, but also acknowledges from experience that it isn't always possible, or viable. When hardship finds Two-Niner, he clenches his teeth and goes forward since he has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed.
Two-Niner's fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has very clearly left him with psychological scars, such as PTSD and insomnia. He hides these cracks well with dry eastern European jokes and cynical monologues, but they may be reaching towards the foundations of his mind. While he isn't a ticking time bomb and won't be one in the near future, it is unknown how his mental state will develop further on as he takes on the White Masks.
His smiles, although frequent, appear as quickly as they disappear, with another common expression being a thousand-yard stare.
When in the field, Two-Niner tries to work and co-ordinate with his teammates as much as possible, because, as he believes: "An operator should trust his team more than he does himself." This belief causes him to particularly dislike the Schwarzenegger and Rambo types who tend to work solo. He knows that what he signed up for is risky business and can eventually get him killed, but he has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives.
Two-Niner has a mixture of both liking and mistrust of the latest gear and technology used by Rainbow, while he acknowledges that it is a necessary force multiplier, he is also afraid that under the right circumstances it could very badly backfire for the operator and the team. He wants to be sure that every operator's performance wouldn't be heavily hindered if they had to work without them, or as he would like to say: working analogue.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks to understand what drives their organisation and maybe even be able to predict their next moves or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team.
Relationships
This can be simple as each character eventually interacts with them, but this will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Either Attacker > Defender, Attacker - Defender or Attacker < Defender. Their advantages in fighting, essentially.
Operator Equipment
The dossier of guns, equipment and any additional pieces of armament they might utilise.
Operator Ability
This will be thoroughly checked by me to see if it is plausible, but you can be creative with what you see. Requests for tweaks in its design may be asked for. Provide an image if possible, if not a good description of it.
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Two-Niner was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Two-Niner and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Two-Niner was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of a officer who took a liking to him, Two-Niner eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Two-Niner befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée. As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Two-Niner would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Two-Niner went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Two-Niner went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Two-Niner's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Two-Niner's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Two-Niner to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Two-Niner realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Two-Niner gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Two-Niner returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Two-Niner's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Two-Niner who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Two-Niner knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart (they broke up not long before Two-Niner joined Team Rainbow).
In June, Two-Niner signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Two-Niner was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Two-Niner would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Two-Niner passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Two-Niner had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Two-Niner how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Two-Niner clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Two-Niner knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Two-Niner accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Where did they study, train, fight and gain the attention of Six?
Family
Self-explanatory
Theme Song
Just a bit of fun, really. Optional at most.
Name
(Yes, he doesn't have a name yet...)
Operator Alias
Two-Niner
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Birth-date / Location
May 4, 1986 / Riga, Latvia (USSR)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counterterrorism Unit
OMEGA
OMEGA is Latvia's main counterterrorism unit. It is one of the most secretive units of the Ministry of the Interior and is the elite of Latvian Special Forces. Created in 1992 by the Interior Ministry as a means to protect aircrafts from hijacking, the unit quickly grew both in size and tasks under its commanders - seasoned veterans of OMON and KGB Spetsnaz. While originally the unit was under the control of the Security Police, in 2003 it went over to the jurisdiction of State Police (specifically Criminal Police). Their usual objectives are releasing hostages, disarming of explosives, as well as detaining particularly dangerous criminals, killers, armed robbers, drug traffickers amongst other high-risk tasks. The unit is part of the ATLAS police network.
Appearance
In the field, Two-Niner wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Two-Niner wears depends on whether he is training or just lazing around. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals.
Psych Profile
Two-Niner is a troubled moralist who is obsessed with doing the right thing, but also acknowledges from experience that it isn't always possible, or viable. When hardship finds Two-Niner, he clenches his teeth and goes forward since he has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed.
Two-Niner's fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has very clearly left him with psychological scars, such as PTSD and insomnia. He hides these cracks well with dry eastern European jokes and cynical monologues, but they may be reaching towards the foundations of his mind. While he isn't a ticking time bomb and won't be one in the near future, it is unknown how his mental state will develop further on as he takes on the White Masks.
His smiles, although frequent, appear as quickly as they disappear, with another common expression being a thousand-yard stare.
When in the field, Two-Niner tries to work and co-ordinate with his teammates as much as possible, because, as he believes: "An operator should trust his team more than he does himself." This belief causes him to particularly dislike the Schwarzenegger and Rambo types who tend to work solo. He knows that what he signed up for is risky business and can eventually get him killed, but he has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives.
Two-Niner has a mixture of both liking and mistrust of the latest gear and technology used by Rainbow, while he acknowledges that it is a necessary force multiplier, he is also afraid that under the right circumstances it could very badly backfire for the operator and the team. He wants to be sure that every operator's performance wouldn't be heavily hindered if they had to work without them, or as he would like to say: working analogue.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks to understand what drives their organisation and maybe even be able to predict their next moves or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team.
Relationships
This can be simple as each character eventually interacts with them, but this will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Either Attacker > Defender, Attacker - Defender or Attacker < Defender. Their advantages in fighting, essentially.
Operator Equipment
The dossier of guns, equipment and any additional pieces of armament they might utilise.
Operator Ability
This will be thoroughly checked by me to see if it is plausible, but you can be creative with what you see. Requests for tweaks in its design may be asked for. Provide an image if possible, if not a good description of it.
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Two-Niner was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Two-Niner and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Two-Niner was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of a officer who took a liking to him, Two-Niner eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Two-Niner befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée. As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Two-Niner would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Two-Niner went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Two-Niner went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Two-Niner's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Two-Niner's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Two-Niner to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Two-Niner realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Two-Niner gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Two-Niner returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Two-Niner's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Two-Niner who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Two-Niner knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart (they broke up not long before Two-Niner joined Team Rainbow).
In June, Two-Niner signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Two-Niner was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Two-Niner would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Two-Niner passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Two-Niner had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Two-Niner how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Two-Niner clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Two-Niner knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Two-Niner accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Where did they study, train, fight and gain the attention of Six?
Family
Self-explanatory
Theme Song
Just a bit of fun, really. Optional at most.
GM
Jeep Wrangler VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Banned
Seen
18 days ago
Hey! You might not remember me, but I am the guy that asked you about the nationalistic operator (a week ago...). I was a little bit busy since I had to get ready for my high school graduation. I know you are kind of filled, but I made a W.I.P. I would like it if you could check it out and tell me if have a shot at joining.
Name
(Yes, he doesn't have a name yet...)
Operator Alias
Two-Niner
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Birth-date / Location
May 4, 1986 / Riga, Latvia (USSR)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counterterrorism Unit
OMEGA
OMEGA is Latvia's main counterterrorism unit. It is one of the most secretive units of the Ministry of the Interior and is the elite of Latvian Special Forces. Created in 1992 by the Interior Ministry as a means to protect aircrafts from hijacking, the unit quickly grew both in size and tasks under its commanders - seasoned veterans of OMON and KGB Spetsnaz. While originally the unit was under the control of the Security Police, in 2003 it went over to the jurisdiction of State Police (specifically Criminal Police). Their usual objectives are releasing hostages, disarming of explosives, as well as detaining particularly dangerous criminals, killers, armed robbers, drug traffickers amongst other high-risk tasks. The unit is part of the ATLAS police network.
Appearance
In the field, Two-Niner wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Two-Niner wears depends on whether he is training or just lazing around. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals.
Psych Profile
Two-Niner is a troubled moralist who is obsessed with doing the right thing, but also acknowledges from experience that it isn't always possible, or viable. When hardship finds Two-Niner, he clenches his teeth and goes forward since he has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed.
Two-Niner's fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has very clearly left him with psychological scars, such as PTSD and insomnia. He hides these cracks well with dry eastern European jokes and cynical monologues, but they may be reaching towards the foundations of his mind. While he isn't a ticking time bomb and won't be one in the near future, it is unknown how his mental state will develop further on as he takes on the White Masks.
His smiles, although frequent, appear as quickly as they disappear, with another common expression being a thousand-yard stare.
When in the field, Two-Niner tries to work and co-ordinate with his teammates as much as possible, because, as he believes: "An operator should trust his team more than he does himself." This belief causes him to particularly dislike the Schwarzenegger and Rambo types who tend to work solo. He knows that what he signed up for is risky business and can eventually get him killed, but he has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives.
Two-Niner has a mixture of both liking and mistrust of the latest gear and technology used by Rainbow, while he acknowledges that it is a necessary force multiplier, he is also afraid that under the right circumstances it could very badly backfire for the operator and the team. He wants to be sure that every operator's performance wouldn't be heavily hindered if they had to work without them, or as he would like to say: working analogue.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks to understand what drives their organisation and maybe even be able to predict their next moves or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team.
Relationships
This can be simple as each character eventually interacts with them, but this will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Either Attacker > Defender, Attacker - Defender or Attacker < Defender. Their advantages in fighting, essentially.
Operator Equipment
The dossier of guns, equipment and any additional pieces of armament they might utilise.
Operator Ability
This will be thoroughly checked by me to see if it is plausible, but you can be creative with what you see. Requests for tweaks in its design may be asked for. Provide an image if possible, if not a good description of it.
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Two-Niner was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Two-Niner and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Two-Niner was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of a officer who took a liking to him, Two-Niner eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Two-Niner befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée. As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Two-Niner would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Two-Niner went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Two-Niner went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Two-Niner's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Two-Niner's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Two-Niner to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Two-Niner realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Two-Niner gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Two-Niner returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Two-Niner's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Two-Niner who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Two-Niner knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart (they broke up not long before Two-Niner joined Team Rainbow).
In June, Two-Niner signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Two-Niner was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Two-Niner would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Two-Niner passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Two-Niner had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Two-Niner how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Two-Niner clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Two-Niner knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Two-Niner accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Where did they study, train, fight and gain the attention of Six?
Family
Self-explanatory
Theme Song
Just a bit of fun, really. Optional at most.
Question...what do you mean by he doesn't have a name yet? Is that like a way of saying "I haven't come up with one" or..?
<Snipped quote by Sifter>
Question...what do you mean by he doesn't have a name yet? Is that like a way of saying "I haven't come up with one" or..?
Yes, I haven't got a name for him yet.
CaptainSully 🆆🅸🆃🅷🅸🅽 / 🆃🅷🅴 🆁🆄🅸🅽🆂
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
With Sunday boredom kicking in I decided to do the following for everyone. Hopefully you like them all. If not...apologies:
@Lady Selune@Apollosarcher@Zoey White@LetMeDoStuff@webboysurf@AlternateMan@fallenstrife6@Liotrent@Oskar DiLondra
@Lady Selune@Apollosarcher@Zoey White@LetMeDoStuff@webboysurf@AlternateMan@fallenstrife6@Liotrent@Oskar DiLondra
Liotrent Tabby Space Cat
Member
Seen
24 hrs ago
With Sunday boredom kicking in I decided to do the following for everyone. Hopefully you like them all. If not...apologies:
@Lady Selune@Apollosarcher@Zoey White@LetMeDoStuff@webboysurf@AlternateMan@fallenstrife6@Liotrent@Oskar DiLondra
SALAMAT! (THANK YOU!) I've been contemplating on doing my own but I hadn't the skills :D
Would it be fine if I used the image on Armoury's profile?
CaptainSully 🆆🅸🆃🅷🅸🅽 / 🆃🅷🅴 🆁🆄🅸🅽🆂
Member
Seen
2 yrs ago
GM
Jeep Wrangler VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Banned
Seen
18 days ago
With Sunday boredom kicking in I decided to do the following for everyone. Hopefully you like them all. If not...apologies:
@Lady Selune@Apollosarcher@Zoey White@LetMeDoStuff@webboysurf@AlternateMan@fallenstrife6@Liotrent@Oskar DiLondra
You are a godsend. I was trying to make my own for everyone but I failed in making my own so I got really really discouraged. It is definitely an improvement of mine.
Finally!
“Soldier, police officer – those are professions. A fighter – it’s a feature of character. But a warrior – that’s a state of spirit and a way of life. To do my job properly means to be a warrior.”
Name
Kirill Gusakov
Operator Alias
Pravda
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Date of birth
May 4, 1986
Birthplace
Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR (now Republic of Latvia)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counter-Terrorism Unit
Appearance
Kirill is a 1,80 meters tall Caucasian male of athletic build. He has gray eyes and brown hair. His body is well toned from constant training and has some body hair. Kirill has a tattoo of an auseklis symbol on his left shoulder.
In the field, Kirill wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, a tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Kirill wears depends on whether he is training or just relaxing. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals or other casual clothes.
While Kirill has a slight Russian accent when speaking Latvian, it is much more noticeable when he is speaking English.
Psychological Report
Kirill has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed. When faced with hardship, he clenches his teeth and pushes forward. He knows his job is an early ticket to grave and has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives. Just like OMEGA, Kirill sees Team Rainbow as a family that he will spend a long time with. Therefore he wants to know and be able trust every member of Rainbow.
He has seen and felt the horrors of war and his fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has left him with deep psychological scars that keep haunting him. This can be seen with his thousand-yard stare and smiles, that although are frequent, disappear as quickly as they appear.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team. Kirill also often keeps in touch with his son, with whom he avoids talking about his job.
Relationships
This will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Attacker > Defender
Operator Equipment
HK G36KV3 - Primary
A special variant of the famed G36 platform designed for usage by the Latvian Army. It can be distinguished from other G36K variants by the KV collapsible stock, unique top mounting rail, XM8 inspired controls and a longer barrel. Kirill uses the rifle with an Aimpoint CompM3 red dot sight.
HK MP5A5 - Primary
Standard issue weapon of OMEGA. The MP5 is one of the most famous and beloved submachine guns used by counterterrorism operators in the world. Kirill uses a heavily modified MP5A5 with an EOTech holographic sight, sound suppressor, flashlight and a laser sight.
SIG Sauer P226 – Secondary
Standard issue sidearm of OMEGA. A well-known pistol of German origin, the weapon is in use by many Special Forces like SAS and Navy SEALs. Kirill uses the original West German version with an added flashlight.
Flashbang - Primary Gadget
Breaching charge - Secondary Gadget
Operator Ability
Information Warfare
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease." - Sun Tzu
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Kirill was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Kirill and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Kirill was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of an officer who took a liking to him, Kirill eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Kirill befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée.
As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Kirill would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Kirill went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Kirill went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Kirill's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Kirill's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Kirill to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Kirill realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Kirill gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Kirill returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Kirill's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Kirill who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Kirill knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart, but they broke two years later.
In June, Kirill signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Kirill was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Kirill would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Kirill passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Kirill had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Kirill how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Kirill clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Kirill knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Kirill accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Training:
2nd Infantry Battalion
NBS SUV
Counter-Terrorism Unit OMEGA
Relevant Experience:
War in Afghanistan
Summer Shield X
Flaming Sword 2012
ATHOS 2016
Family
Father - Vladimir Gusakov (Deceased)
Mother - Oksana Gusakova (Alive)
Brother - Alexander Gusakov (Alive)
Son - Eduard Gusakov (Alive)
Theme Song
“Soldier, police officer – those are professions. A fighter – it’s a feature of character. But a warrior – that’s a state of spirit and a way of life. To do my job properly means to be a warrior.”
Name
Kirill Gusakov
Operator Alias
Pravda
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Date of birth
May 4, 1986
Birthplace
Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR (now Republic of Latvia)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counter-Terrorism Unit
OMEGA
OMEGA is Latvia's main counter-terrorism unit. It is the most secretive unit of the Ministry of the Interior and is the elite of Latvian Special Forces. Created in 1992 to protect aircrafts from hijacking, the unit quickly grew both in size and tasks under its commanders - seasoned veterans of OMON and KGB Spetsnaz. While originally the unit was under the control of the Security Police, in 2003 it was reorganised and went under the jurisdiction of the State Police (specifically Criminal Police). However, this didn’t change their focus as a counter-terrorism unit. Their usual objectives are releasing hostages, disarming of explosives, as well as detaining particularly dangerous criminals, killers, armed robbers, drug traffickers amongst other high-risk tasks. The unit is part of the EU’s ATLAS network.
Appearance
Kirill is a 1,80 meters tall Caucasian male of athletic build. He has gray eyes and brown hair. His body is well toned from constant training and has some body hair. Kirill has a tattoo of an auseklis symbol on his left shoulder.
In the field, Kirill wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, a tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Kirill wears depends on whether he is training or just relaxing. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals or other casual clothes.
While Kirill has a slight Russian accent when speaking Latvian, it is much more noticeable when he is speaking English.
Psychological Report
Kirill has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed. When faced with hardship, he clenches his teeth and pushes forward. He knows his job is an early ticket to grave and has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives. Just like OMEGA, Kirill sees Team Rainbow as a family that he will spend a long time with. Therefore he wants to know and be able trust every member of Rainbow.
He has seen and felt the horrors of war and his fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has left him with deep psychological scars that keep haunting him. This can be seen with his thousand-yard stare and smiles, that although are frequent, disappear as quickly as they appear.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team. Kirill also often keeps in touch with his son, with whom he avoids talking about his job.
Relationships
This will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Attacker > Defender
Operator Equipment
HK G36KV3 - Primary
A special variant of the famed G36 platform designed for usage by the Latvian Army. It can be distinguished from other G36K variants by the KV collapsible stock, unique top mounting rail, XM8 inspired controls and a longer barrel. Kirill uses the rifle with an Aimpoint CompM3 red dot sight.
HK MP5A5 - Primary
Standard issue weapon of OMEGA. The MP5 is one of the most famous and beloved submachine guns used by counterterrorism operators in the world. Kirill uses a heavily modified MP5A5 with an EOTech holographic sight, sound suppressor, flashlight and a laser sight.
SIG Sauer P226 – Secondary
Standard issue sidearm of OMEGA. A well-known pistol of German origin, the weapon is in use by many Special Forces like SAS and Navy SEALs. Kirill uses the original West German version with an added flashlight.
Flashbang - Primary Gadget
Breaching charge - Secondary Gadget
Operator Ability
Information Warfare
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease." - Sun Tzu
Having experience with fighting terrorist and criminal cells, Kirill considers having the upper hand in information warfare and being able to outsmart his enemy very seriously.
Similarly to Caveira, Kirill is able to "interrogate" downed enemies. To help him do this, Kirill is able to use his skills in sambo to take down enemies non-lethally. When interrogating an enemy, he has two choices:
Information gathering
When interrogating, Kirill can get intel about the correct amount of enemies present from his captive, but not their exact position. Also, if the whereabouts of the objective aren't known for some reason, then the interrogation will reveal its location. Depending on who he interrogates, Kirill can also learn extra information from the captive.
Disinformation
When interrogating, Kirill can force his captive to give false information to their team over the radio. With this, for example, he can make ambushers focus on incorrect points, leaving them open for flanking and can make roamers rush incorrect positions, leading them into an ambush or using it as a chance to slip past them undetected.
Naturally this process leaves him vulnerable for attacks, so he must be careful when he performs the interrogation. Also disinformation doesn't work if the enemy side knows that their ally is being interrogated by Kirill, this means that there cannot be any witnesses who have seen the downed enemy. Also, disinformation can't work if the enemies’ comms channels are jammed, however, jamming the comms after disinformation is in effect can actually boost its effectiveness, since the enemies won't able to receive correct status updates afterwards. Also, for reasons of logic... Kirill can’t interrogate bombers.
Unlike Caviera, Kirill doesn't kill the interrogated enemies, instead, he knocks them out and zip-ties them. However, when left unattended, the captured enemies can be freed by the defenders if found. Also, if the enemy was downed from gunfire, there is a chance that they can bleed out over time.
Similarly to Caveira, Kirill is able to "interrogate" downed enemies. To help him do this, Kirill is able to use his skills in sambo to take down enemies non-lethally. When interrogating an enemy, he has two choices:
Information gathering
When interrogating, Kirill can get intel about the correct amount of enemies present from his captive, but not their exact position. Also, if the whereabouts of the objective aren't known for some reason, then the interrogation will reveal its location. Depending on who he interrogates, Kirill can also learn extra information from the captive.
Disinformation
When interrogating, Kirill can force his captive to give false information to their team over the radio. With this, for example, he can make ambushers focus on incorrect points, leaving them open for flanking and can make roamers rush incorrect positions, leading them into an ambush or using it as a chance to slip past them undetected.
Naturally this process leaves him vulnerable for attacks, so he must be careful when he performs the interrogation. Also disinformation doesn't work if the enemy side knows that their ally is being interrogated by Kirill, this means that there cannot be any witnesses who have seen the downed enemy. Also, disinformation can't work if the enemies’ comms channels are jammed, however, jamming the comms after disinformation is in effect can actually boost its effectiveness, since the enemies won't able to receive correct status updates afterwards. Also, for reasons of logic... Kirill can’t interrogate bombers.
Unlike Caviera, Kirill doesn't kill the interrogated enemies, instead, he knocks them out and zip-ties them. However, when left unattended, the captured enemies can be freed by the defenders if found. Also, if the enemy was downed from gunfire, there is a chance that they can bleed out over time.
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Kirill was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Kirill and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Kirill was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of an officer who took a liking to him, Kirill eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Kirill befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée.
As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Kirill would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Kirill went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Kirill went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Kirill's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Kirill's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Kirill to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Kirill realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Kirill gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Kirill returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Kirill's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Kirill who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Kirill knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart, but they broke two years later.
In June, Kirill signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Kirill was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Kirill would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Kirill passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Kirill had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Kirill how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Kirill clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Kirill knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Kirill accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Training:
2nd Infantry Battalion
NBS SUV
Counter-Terrorism Unit OMEGA
Relevant Experience:
War in Afghanistan
Summer Shield X
Flaming Sword 2012
ATHOS 2016
Family
Father - Vladimir Gusakov (Deceased)
Mother - Oksana Gusakova (Alive)
Brother - Alexander Gusakov (Alive)
Son - Eduard Gusakov (Alive)
Theme Song
GM
Jeep Wrangler VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Banned
Seen
18 days ago
Finally!
“Soldier, police officer – those are professions. A fighter – it’s a feature of character. But a warrior – that’s a state of spirit and a way of life. To do my job properly means to be a warrior.”
Name
Kirill Gusakov
Operator Alias
Pravda
Age
32
Gender
Male
Nationality
Latvian
Date of birth
May 4, 1986
Birthplace
Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR (now Republic of Latvia)
Special Forces Group
Latvian State Police
Counter-Terrorism UnitOMEGAOMEGA is Latvia's main counter-terrorism unit. It is the most secretive unit of the Ministry of the Interior and is the elite of Latvian Special Forces. Created in 1992 to protect aircrafts from hijacking, the unit quickly grew both in size and tasks under its commanders - seasoned veterans of OMON and KGB Spetsnaz. While originally the unit was under the control of the Security Police, in 2003 it was reorganised and went under the jurisdiction of the State Police (specifically Criminal Police). However, this didn’t change their focus as a counter-terrorism unit. Their usual objectives are releasing hostages, disarming of explosives, as well as detaining particularly dangerous criminals, killers, armed robbers, drug traffickers amongst other high-risk tasks. The unit is part of the EU’s ATLAS network.
Appearance
Kirill is a 1,80 meters tall Caucasian male of athletic build. He has gray eyes and brown hair. His body is well toned from constant training and has some body hair. Kirill has a tattoo of an auseklis symbol on his left shoulder.
In the field, Kirill wears the same weathered gear he used while serving in OMEGA: a black combat uniform, FAST helmet with a skull balaclava and MSA Sordin headset, black bulletproof vest with groin and deltoid protectors, Oakley Pilot gloves, a tactical load bearing belt, knee pads and black LOWA Zephyr boots without mentioning the countless pouches, patches and other gear.
Back at base, what Kirill wears depends on whether he is training or just relaxing. If it’s the former, then most of the time he will wear his worn-out combat uniform with either the regular combat shirt or a black T-shirt that has the word POLICIJA (Police) in bold yellow on the back and his LOWA boots. If it's the latter, then most of the time you will find him wearing shorts with different T-shirts or polo shirts and a pair of sandals or other casual clothes.
While Kirill has a slight Russian accent when speaking Latvian, it is much more noticeable when he is speaking English.
Psychological Report
Kirill has a simple, yet strong motivation - do a good deed. When faced with hardship, he clenches his teeth and pushes forward. He knows his job is an early ticket to grave and has no problem dying if it means saving innocent lives. Just like OMEGA, Kirill sees Team Rainbow as a family that he will spend a long time with. Therefore he wants to know and be able trust every member of Rainbow.
He has seen and felt the horrors of war and his fight with the Taliban and the Russian mafia has left him with deep psychological scars that keep haunting him. This can be seen with his thousand-yard stare and smiles, that although are frequent, disappear as quickly as they appear.
He spends a good part of his free time on the base training and keeping his body fit to make sure that there would be no hiccups in the field. The rest he spends either studying as much as he can about the White Masks or socializing and spending time with other members of the Rainbow Team. Kirill also often keeps in touch with his son, with whom he avoids talking about his job.
Relationships
This will be updated more in detail as the RP goes along.
Stance in Combat
Attacker > Defender
Operator Equipment
HK G36KV3 - Primary
A special variant of the famed G36 platform designed for usage by the Latvian Army. It can be distinguished from other G36K variants by the KV collapsible stock, unique top mounting rail, XM8 inspired controls and a longer barrel. Kirill uses the rifle with an Aimpoint CompM3 red dot sight.
HK MP5A5 - Primary
Standard issue weapon of OMEGA. The MP5 is one of the most famous and beloved submachine guns used by counterterrorism operators in the world. Kirill uses a heavily modified MP5A5 with an EOTech holographic sight, sound suppressor, flashlight and a laser sight.
SIG Sauer P226 – Secondary
Standard issue sidearm of OMEGA. A well-known pistol of German origin, the weapon is in use by many Special Forces like SAS and Navy SEALs. Kirill uses the original West German version with an added flashlight.
Flashbang - Primary Gadget
Breaching charge - Secondary Gadget
Operator Ability
Information Warfare
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease." - Sun TzuHaving experience with fighting terrorist and criminal cells, Kirill considers having the upper hand in information warfare and being able to outsmart his enemy very seriously.
Similarly to Caveira, Kirill is able to "interrogate" downed enemies. To help him do this, Kirill is able to use his skills in sambo to take down enemies non-lethally. When interrogating an enemy, he has two choices:
Information gathering
When interrogating, Kirill can get intel about the correct amount of enemies present from his captive, but not their exact position. Also, if the whereabouts of the objective aren't known for some reason, then the interrogation will reveal its location. Depending on who he interrogates, Kirill can also learn extra information from the captive.
Disinformation
When interrogating, Kirill can force his captive to give false information to their team over the radio. With this, for example, he can make ambushers focus on incorrect points, leaving them open for flanking and can make roamers rush incorrect positions, leading them into an ambush or using it as a chance to slip past them undetected.
Naturally this process leaves him vulnerable for attacks, so he must be careful when he performs the interrogation. Also disinformation doesn't work if the enemy side knows that their ally is being interrogated by Kirill, this means that there cannot be any witnesses who have seen the downed enemy. Also, disinformation can't work if the enemies’ comms channels are jammed, however, jamming the comms after disinformation is in effect can actually boost its effectiveness, since the enemies won't able to receive correct status updates afterwards. Also, for reasons of logic... Kirill can’t interrogate bombers.
Unlike Caviera, Kirill doesn't kill the interrogated enemies, instead, he knocks them out and zip-ties them. However, when left unattended, the captured enemies can be freed by the defenders if found. Also, if the enemy was downed from gunfire, there is a chance that they can bleed out over time.
Biography
Born in 1986 and growing up in one of the poorest districts of Latvia's capital, Kirill was a witness to the rise in crime and lawlessness that struck the newly independent Baltic republic in the early 1990s. As a young child, this made him hope of one day becoming a police officer that would bring order to the chaos. As he matured, however, his dreams and interests changed, but his morality and ability to differentiate between right and wrong remained.
His life took a sharp turn when he turned 18, in the form of a knock on his door. Opening it, two men in army fatigues stood in front of Kirill and he found himself drafted into the Armed Forces. Latvia had joined NATO the same year, but the military conscription would still go on for two years. After finishing basic training, Kirill was stationed in Camp Ādaži for the next two years. Though he made for a passable soldier in the beginning, with the help of an officer who took a liking to him, Kirill eventually trained to become something of an example for his peers. It was also in Ādaži where Kirill befriended the woman who would eventually become his fiancée.
As his two year mandatory military service ended, he decided to continue working in the Armed Forces under a professional contract with paid higher education. It was also around this time that his son would be born, with his new family moving into a house in Kadaga.
Two years later, the 2008 financial crisis would hit and the fastest growing economy in the European Union would quickly become its poorest one. Unable to support his family with his current wage, Kirill would need to quickly find a way to earn more money. Instead of leaving the military like many of his colleagues and trying to find a better paying job in the unstable job market, Kirill went for a pay raise by joining the now thinned Special Forces - the Special Tasks Unit (SUV).
In April of 2010, Kirill went to Afghanistan for 8 months as part of a Latvian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) for ISAF. His unit was stationed alongside troops from US army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan's infamous Kunar Province.
While most Latvian soldiers would talk about how they went to Afghanistan to help the civilian population against the Taliban (which really was what they were doing), in reality most of the soldiers that volunteered for the high-risk missions did it for the high pay raise for participating in such international missions. Not knowing this, most of Kirill's family, including his wife, supported his decision to go to Afghanistan, except for Kirill's father - a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Back in Ādaži, they had simulated and played many possible scenarios that could occur in Afghanistan, both with the civilian population and the Taliban. However accurate and realistic these imitations were, they could never truly prepare a soldier for they would actually face in Afghanistan.
The Kunar Valleys location next to the Pakistani border, especially Khyber Pass, made it a popular Taliban smuggling route for weapons and fighters. Because of this, attacks on the base were a weekly and sometimes even a daily occurrence. This had forced Kirill to get used to a banal routine of being ambushed or attacked at any given time - be it while patrolling in the mountains, walking through a local village or sleeping in his underwear at the base.
It was in Kunar where Kirill realised what war really was - a separate world where all of his morals and everything that he once learned in peacetime would be put to a reality check. Of course, everything was true, but there were nuances. And it was these nuances that were the most valuable things that Kirill gained. Now he knew what was what and had his own opinion about how things should look like and how much they would all cost.
Kirill returned to Afghanistan a few months later, now against the wishes of his wife who noticed that something in him had begun to change. This time he found himself in Zabul Province, serving under the command of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force's elite unit Aitvaras as part of an agreement between Latvia and Lithuania. In Kunar, Kirill's unit’s main objective was to help the Afghan Army defend a critical road for the NATO, but here the Lithuanians were on the offensive by hunting down any Taliban forces they could find. This perfectly suited Kirill who wanted payback for all the innocent civilians and his American friends that the Taliban killed in Kunar. They famously used dirt-bikes to cross the rocky mountains and perform hit and run attacks on known Taliban positions during night-time. This earned them fear from the Taliban and the nickname "Hells Angels" by the Americans (that and all the infractions they earned for dangerous driving inside the base).
Overall, he spent two tours with the LITHSOF in Afghanistan that caused a heavy falling out with his wife. He soon left the Armed Forces, hoping that he could mend the relationship with his spouse, but it was all in vain and soon his wife filed for divorce. Kirill knew from the very beginning that it was clearly his fault for how he mistreated his family with long absence in Afghanistan. His little "war on terror" had resulted in nothing more than piles of countless corpses in Afghanistan and him losing the one he cared the most for.
He spent the next year in rebound, working at a shipyard in Riga and eventually began dating his former childhood sweetheart, but they broke two years later.
In June, Kirill signed up as a candidate for a position at OMEGA, Latvia's premiere counter-terrorism unit. The selection lasted for three days and was open to anyone up to the challenge. However it was extremely tough to everyone who came: civvies cracked under the pressure, the police officers didn't have the necessary physical ability while the soldiers usually failed the psychological tests. There were 18 candidates and just 7 free spots. Despite this, only 4 men passed the selection, Kirill was one of them. However, to get into OMEGA was one thing, but to survive there was a whole other ordeal. It took 2 years of retraining and specialisation before Kirill would be put into a team and taken to operations. It took months of hard work just to earn his teammate's trust and respect. With that came his final test: a mock simulation of a terrorist attack on the Riga HES. Eliminating the terrorists and stopping the attack, Kirill passed the test with flying colours. This earned him the coveted Green Beret and a permanent position on OMEGA's roster.
Although OMEGA was a counter-terrorism unit first and foremost, the lack of terrorist acts on Latvian territory (3 in the last 20 years) made the unit focus on other high-risk situations: apprehension and elimination of highly dangerous threats, hostage rescue, execution of high-risk raids, searches, arrests, protection of VIPs, etc. OMEGA's "clientele" usually included armed psychopaths, serial killers, bank robbers, small gangs and, most prominently, the Russian Mafia. The Mob had its hands in everything from document forgery and protection rackets to drug, arms and human trafficking. Worst of all, many times their men were veterans from Afghan, Chechen, Yugoslav, Georgian and even Ukrainian conflicts, some of them being former members of the Spetsnaz, which made them a much more dangerous threat than what Kirill had previously faced.
If the Taliban had showed Kirill how horrible and destructive mankind could be for a belief, then the Bratva had showed him that they even less humane for money which motivated him on a much more personal crusade against the organisation. Unlike Afghanistan where there were bad bad guys and "our" bad guys, here Kirill clearly knew who the good and the bad guys were, who was in the wrong and who was in the right - there was no gray zone in the middle and Kirill knew that he was doing the right thing.
The appearance of White Masks whose motivation was unknown and did not discriminate who their victims were was the primary cause of why Kirill accepted the invitation to Team Rainbow after the Bellagio Hotel incident - to make sure that they could not live long enough to perform an attack on Latvian soil.
Training and Experience
Training:
2nd Infantry Battalion
NBS SUV
Counter-Terrorism Unit OMEGA
Relevant Experience:
War in Afghanistan
Summer Shield X
Flaming Sword 2012
ATHOS 2016
Family
Father - Vladimir Gusakov (Deceased)
Mother - Oksana Gusakova (Alive)
Brother - Alexander Gusakov (Alive)
Son - Eduard Gusakov (Alive)
Theme Song
Very good, I really like this CS. Get it in the hole of characters.
Zoey Boey Spider!
Member
Seen
10 hrs ago
wtf!! theses symbols are badass. thank you so much
Lady Selune Lamia Queen, Young and Sweet.
Member
Seen
3 days ago
GM
Jeep Wrangler VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Banned
Seen
18 days ago
I will let everyone do a post or two before I officially start the training.
Made this in my spare time to flesh out the character and improve my writing skills.
Combat Outpost "Pirtle-King", Kunar Province, Afghanistan
July 2010
The Skype call had connected and Kirill saw his wife’s face pop up in the middle of the screen. "Hey." He immediately greeted her. "Hey, honey." The two lovers smiled at each other, separated by approximately 5000 kilometres. They hadn’t spoken in quite some time.
Kirill was speaking to his wife while outside in the base and she was talking to him while laying down on their bed in their house back in Kadaga. He had sat down on the ground and was resting against a Hesco wall. The only light source that lit Kirill's face was the light from his laptop's monitor. There were also some background noises of American troops who were also outside, chatting near Kirill. Kirill could only speak with his wife during the night, since that was the only time the Taliban wouldn't dare to attack.
"Where's Eduard?" He asked, surprised that his four years old son wasn't there to greet him as usual. "He was tired today, so he went to sleep. How are you feeling?" Having looked down for second, Kirill bit his lower lip and said: "Not that good." Surprised, his wife asked: "Why is that?" He usually wouldn't say that, even when he really felt bad. Kirill looked up and chuckled. "I don't think that I understand what I am doing here anymore."
It had already been three months since Kirill first stepped on Afghan soil in April. In Afghanistan, the Latvian soldiers were stationed in four bases: Maymana and Mazar-i-Sharif in the north, Kabul and Bostick, which was located near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, in the mountainous Kunar Province. Kunar hosted just short of around 40 Latvian soldiers, however, along with the neighbouring Nuristan and the southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Kunar had proven itself to be one of the most dangerous regions in all of Afghanistan. This was because of its border with Pakistan. The Taliban very easily used the mountainous paths that were practically uncontrollable to smuggle fighters and weapons from Pakistan into Afghanistan. On the other side of the coin, Pakistan's Khyber Pass was NATO's lifeline for supplying the coalition forces, the ISAF, in Afghanistan with around 80% of all supplies brought by road passing through it. Both sides needed control in this region to survive and they were willing to do anything to get it.
In Kunar, the Latvians, also known as the Wolverines, were divided amongst multiple outposts - from the northern OP Mice to the southern OP Bari Alai. All of these outposts were there to protect a major stretch of an unpaved road that led through the province. This road, in some plans it was very important; in others, not so much. Despite this, the road, in a sense, was the front line for the soldiers.
Kirill was stationed in COP Pirtle-King, nicknamed PK by its inhabitants. It was located down south, just before Bari Alai. The outpost was named after two of the three US soldiers that died during the infamous attack on Bari Alai in May of the previous year. A force of around a hundred Taliban fighters had attacked the Observation Post protected by 32 soldiers, mostly from the Afghan National Army. The fatalities were heavy with three US soldiers, alongside three ANA soldiers, with another 12 being taken hostage, and two Latvian soldiers. This attack shook the Latvian society and made many Latvian troops who went to Afghanistan to volunteer to be stationed in Kunar, this included Kirill.
These soldiers had severely underestimated the situation in Kunar and weren't fully prepared for the storm that they were throwing themselves into. Kirill's unit saw heavy action during all of the months before July, when the elections and Ramadan happened. Kirill's first week itself proved as his most intense one with him getting into combat just 3.5 hours after arriving into Pirtle-King and getting into constant firefights for the next seven consecutive days. This meant that the Latvian forces weren't able to do what they came here to do in the first place: mentor and train the Afghan troops. They had to concentrate their efforts on their survival during these months: both theirs and the Afghans. Yet, the Afghans never showed any incentive to seriously listen to their new trainers.
This is what led him up to this point, when Kirill began questioning if they would really be able to mentor the ANA forces.
She began feeling worried about him. “How so?”
"See, honey. Here in Afghanistan, there's this philosophy, these people, how they live here." Kirill paused for a second, pondering which example to pick. "Just a few days ago, before leaving the base with the Afghan and American forces, I talked to an Afghan squad leader. I told him: "Come on, we're leaving at seven. I need you to prepare weapons, food and water, so that it's all in your vehicle when we go." So, a little bit later I go to see him, but he's just sitting there, calmly chatting, blabbering away. I ask him: "Hey, why aren't you getting ready?" "For what?" He asks. People like him believe that Allah will take care of everything for him. If he's got Allah, he doesn't need anything else. If Allah has decided, then it will be so. If he doesn't have water, well then he doesn't put in any water. He drives out and tells me: "Hey, I don't have any water." Even though, I had just told him to prepare. But then he drives out and says he doesn't have any water. Then, of course, my superior went out, took a water pack, and said: "Here's your water." "Oh, Allah took care of everything."" She could see how angry Kirill was over the whole situation by looking at his annoyed face that avoided eye contact for a short bit. Kirill continued his ranting.
"They aren't interested in our efforts, they physically don't need them. One day, a reporter from our state TV came here to Kunar to interview us and asked me if there were any improvements... I couldn't say that there were any improvements, because what I understood as improvements was not what the Afghanis understood as improvements. All the paths, all the roads that I have seen in Afghanistan had existed here for thousands of years. I can even feel it. You walk across a rock and you can see that it's been polished by people's feet. How many years do you have to walk across a rock to do that? Hundreds, maybe even thousands. If even a rock is polished when they walk on that trail, then what kind of improvements can we be possibly talking about?”
“And what about the Taliban?” She curiously questioned Kirill about them. He didn’t usually talk about them much, but the news back in Latvia kept talking about how the Taliban were not going away and kept mentioning all the bombing that were happening in Kabul. 2010 would eventually become one of the bloodiest years in Afghanistan.
“The Taliban? They’re easy. They work really simply. We're the ones doing "Star Wars." They take aim at the PK, work it up, shoot it up. Then they go into cover, move away and retreat and no devil will get them. That's it, they're covered. Then they move back along the path, deep into the valley. They work according to the methods of their forefathers. And those methods work, and they're effective precisely because we live in Star Wars and in Star Wars you can't beat these guys.”
“You’re not afraid of them?”
“I was, in the beginning. But then I remembered that I was Special Forces and that wouldn’t fit the bill, so I quickly got used to it.” Kirill sarcastically answered, before he made one of his signature smiling faces. “Enough talking about me or this damned place. How’s life back in Kadaga?”
Kirill's confidence reassured his wife. "They say the economy has recovered and has become stable, so when you return home in December you will be able to leave the SUV and join the Military or State Police like how you wanted back then." Kirill had actually kept thinking about doing that after returning from Afghanistan. "That would be nice. But I was asking about you two."
"Well, your mother has moved in and takes Eduard from the kindergarten and watches over him while I am working. I don’t know about your father, but she prays for your safety every night. Uh, I seem to have hit a snag on the project I am trying to push and I am trying everything I can to get it accepted. Also, Eduard’s caretaker tells me that he is rather smart for his age and has a very high potential when grows up. What else… Oh, your brother writes that he is proud that you went to Afghanistan on social media. He also seems to have gotten that job and moved to UK..."
Kirill was happy to hear that everything was going smoothly back home, unlike here. Smiling, he stated:
"You guys are my heroes."
Sgt. Kirill Gusakov
Latvijas Nacionālie bruņotie spēki (Latvian National Armed Forces)
Speciālo uzdevumu vienība (Special Tasks Unit)
International Security Assistance Force
Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team
"Wolverine"
Latvijas Nacionālie bruņotie spēki (Latvian National Armed Forces)
Speciālo uzdevumu vienība (Special Tasks Unit)
International Security Assistance Force
Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team
"Wolverine"
Combat Outpost "Pirtle-King", Kunar Province, Afghanistan
July 2010
The Skype call had connected and Kirill saw his wife’s face pop up in the middle of the screen. "Hey." He immediately greeted her. "Hey, honey." The two lovers smiled at each other, separated by approximately 5000 kilometres. They hadn’t spoken in quite some time.
Kirill was speaking to his wife while outside in the base and she was talking to him while laying down on their bed in their house back in Kadaga. He had sat down on the ground and was resting against a Hesco wall. The only light source that lit Kirill's face was the light from his laptop's monitor. There were also some background noises of American troops who were also outside, chatting near Kirill. Kirill could only speak with his wife during the night, since that was the only time the Taliban wouldn't dare to attack.
"Where's Eduard?" He asked, surprised that his four years old son wasn't there to greet him as usual. "He was tired today, so he went to sleep. How are you feeling?" Having looked down for second, Kirill bit his lower lip and said: "Not that good." Surprised, his wife asked: "Why is that?" He usually wouldn't say that, even when he really felt bad. Kirill looked up and chuckled. "I don't think that I understand what I am doing here anymore."
It had already been three months since Kirill first stepped on Afghan soil in April. In Afghanistan, the Latvian soldiers were stationed in four bases: Maymana and Mazar-i-Sharif in the north, Kabul and Bostick, which was located near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, in the mountainous Kunar Province. Kunar hosted just short of around 40 Latvian soldiers, however, along with the neighbouring Nuristan and the southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, Kunar had proven itself to be one of the most dangerous regions in all of Afghanistan. This was because of its border with Pakistan. The Taliban very easily used the mountainous paths that were practically uncontrollable to smuggle fighters and weapons from Pakistan into Afghanistan. On the other side of the coin, Pakistan's Khyber Pass was NATO's lifeline for supplying the coalition forces, the ISAF, in Afghanistan with around 80% of all supplies brought by road passing through it. Both sides needed control in this region to survive and they were willing to do anything to get it.
In Kunar, the Latvians, also known as the Wolverines, were divided amongst multiple outposts - from the northern OP Mice to the southern OP Bari Alai. All of these outposts were there to protect a major stretch of an unpaved road that led through the province. This road, in some plans it was very important; in others, not so much. Despite this, the road, in a sense, was the front line for the soldiers.
Kirill was stationed in COP Pirtle-King, nicknamed PK by its inhabitants. It was located down south, just before Bari Alai. The outpost was named after two of the three US soldiers that died during the infamous attack on Bari Alai in May of the previous year. A force of around a hundred Taliban fighters had attacked the Observation Post protected by 32 soldiers, mostly from the Afghan National Army. The fatalities were heavy with three US soldiers, alongside three ANA soldiers, with another 12 being taken hostage, and two Latvian soldiers. This attack shook the Latvian society and made many Latvian troops who went to Afghanistan to volunteer to be stationed in Kunar, this included Kirill.
These soldiers had severely underestimated the situation in Kunar and weren't fully prepared for the storm that they were throwing themselves into. Kirill's unit saw heavy action during all of the months before July, when the elections and Ramadan happened. Kirill's first week itself proved as his most intense one with him getting into combat just 3.5 hours after arriving into Pirtle-King and getting into constant firefights for the next seven consecutive days. This meant that the Latvian forces weren't able to do what they came here to do in the first place: mentor and train the Afghan troops. They had to concentrate their efforts on their survival during these months: both theirs and the Afghans. Yet, the Afghans never showed any incentive to seriously listen to their new trainers.
This is what led him up to this point, when Kirill began questioning if they would really be able to mentor the ANA forces.
She began feeling worried about him. “How so?”
"See, honey. Here in Afghanistan, there's this philosophy, these people, how they live here." Kirill paused for a second, pondering which example to pick. "Just a few days ago, before leaving the base with the Afghan and American forces, I talked to an Afghan squad leader. I told him: "Come on, we're leaving at seven. I need you to prepare weapons, food and water, so that it's all in your vehicle when we go." So, a little bit later I go to see him, but he's just sitting there, calmly chatting, blabbering away. I ask him: "Hey, why aren't you getting ready?" "For what?" He asks. People like him believe that Allah will take care of everything for him. If he's got Allah, he doesn't need anything else. If Allah has decided, then it will be so. If he doesn't have water, well then he doesn't put in any water. He drives out and tells me: "Hey, I don't have any water." Even though, I had just told him to prepare. But then he drives out and says he doesn't have any water. Then, of course, my superior went out, took a water pack, and said: "Here's your water." "Oh, Allah took care of everything."" She could see how angry Kirill was over the whole situation by looking at his annoyed face that avoided eye contact for a short bit. Kirill continued his ranting.
"They aren't interested in our efforts, they physically don't need them. One day, a reporter from our state TV came here to Kunar to interview us and asked me if there were any improvements... I couldn't say that there were any improvements, because what I understood as improvements was not what the Afghanis understood as improvements. All the paths, all the roads that I have seen in Afghanistan had existed here for thousands of years. I can even feel it. You walk across a rock and you can see that it's been polished by people's feet. How many years do you have to walk across a rock to do that? Hundreds, maybe even thousands. If even a rock is polished when they walk on that trail, then what kind of improvements can we be possibly talking about?”
“And what about the Taliban?” She curiously questioned Kirill about them. He didn’t usually talk about them much, but the news back in Latvia kept talking about how the Taliban were not going away and kept mentioning all the bombing that were happening in Kabul. 2010 would eventually become one of the bloodiest years in Afghanistan.
“The Taliban? They’re easy. They work really simply. We're the ones doing "Star Wars." They take aim at the PK, work it up, shoot it up. Then they go into cover, move away and retreat and no devil will get them. That's it, they're covered. Then they move back along the path, deep into the valley. They work according to the methods of their forefathers. And those methods work, and they're effective precisely because we live in Star Wars and in Star Wars you can't beat these guys.”
“You’re not afraid of them?”
“I was, in the beginning. But then I remembered that I was Special Forces and that wouldn’t fit the bill, so I quickly got used to it.” Kirill sarcastically answered, before he made one of his signature smiling faces. “Enough talking about me or this damned place. How’s life back in Kadaga?”
Kirill's confidence reassured his wife. "They say the economy has recovered and has become stable, so when you return home in December you will be able to leave the SUV and join the Military or State Police like how you wanted back then." Kirill had actually kept thinking about doing that after returning from Afghanistan. "That would be nice. But I was asking about you two."
"Well, your mother has moved in and takes Eduard from the kindergarten and watches over him while I am working. I don’t know about your father, but she prays for your safety every night. Uh, I seem to have hit a snag on the project I am trying to push and I am trying everything I can to get it accepted. Also, Eduard’s caretaker tells me that he is rather smart for his age and has a very high potential when grows up. What else… Oh, your brother writes that he is proud that you went to Afghanistan on social media. He also seems to have gotten that job and moved to UK..."
Kirill was happy to hear that everything was going smoothly back home, unlike here. Smiling, he stated:
"You guys are my heroes."
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