Francisco de la Cruz
- "With respect of my legion, Señor Chavez. Keep this in a place of honor."
— Francisco de la Cruz
Francisco de la Cruz is a character that appears in the Rainbow Six novel. He is an employee at World Park.
Biography
Francisco de la Cruz was a sergeant in the Spanish Army's Paratrooper Brigade who had retired after serving for over twenty years. In 1999, he had been hired at World Park to lead the Roman Legion department. This involved ensuring his subordinates dressed in replicated Roman Army attire and adequately acted in their role to entertain guests.
Rainbow Six
On April 2nd, 1999, employees of Thompson CSF and their families had traveled to the park for a company retreat and vacation. The same day, Andre Herr and other former members of Action Directe attacked the park and took the group hostage in hopes of forcing the French Government to release Carlos The Jackal from prison. During the initial attack, de la Cruz reacted to the attack and charged a terrorist named Claude with his replica shield and sword. Francisco de la Cruz managed to deflect three incoming bullets with his shield but was hit with fragment peppering in his left arm. Despite the pain, de la Cruz continued his attack and slashed Claude's upper right arm. Before de la Cruz could strike a fatal blow, however, Claude managed to fire three shot's into del la Cruz's left leg, breaking his tibia. Unable to continue from the pain, de la Cruz dropped to the ground as the terrorists corralled the hostages into the park's replica medieval castle. Shortly after, de la Cruz was recovered by police and taken to the park's infirmary to be treated by the park's physician, Hector Weiler.
While recovering, de la Cruz expressed his frustration at being unable to kill Claude. He then gave descriptions of the terrorists to Captain Dario Gassman of the Spanish Police. Following Rainbow's arrival to the park, de la Cruz met with Domingo Chavez and Peter Covington. With the death of Anna Groot at the hand's of the terrorists, de la Cruz refused to be transported to a hospital to help monitor the situation. After Rainbow neutralized all of the terrorists, de la Cruz confirmed with Chavez if the hostages were safe and asked him about his identity. With Chavez unable to reveal that information, de la Cruz awarded him the "Eagle of the Legion, VI Legio Victrix" out of respect for the team's actions.
Appearance
While Francisco de la Cruz is only 5'7" tall, he is wide across the chest, has burly arms and pillarlike legs, and wears the replicated armor of the ancient Roman Legion which weighs at almost sixty pounds. A man in his fifties, Francisco sports a heavy beard despite the fact that he shaves trice a day due to World Park policy of no beards.
Trivia
- The sword he uses while in character is a real sword made by laminated carbon steel that had been custom-made by a distant cousin.