Disclaimer: Call of Duty does not belong to me. It belongs to it's respective owners, namely Activision.
Upper Deck, United States Air Force C-5B Galaxy, currently over the Bering Strait, the Pacific Ocean.
16th December, 1996.
Sitting in four of the 75 passenger seats within the upper deck of the C-5B Galaxy, near to the stairs leading to the cargo hold, were four men, dressed in Disruptive Pattern Material uniforms and wearing elbow pads, kneepads and combat boots, relaxing before they commenced a High Opening, High Altitude jump from around 35,000 ft above the Bering Strait.
Then one of the four men said, "Alright, get your thermals on. Then we meet downstairs and get ready".
And as they all got up from their chairs, and headed to get their thermally insulated jumpsuits over their uniforms, one of them with a still-growing moustache and beard started grumbling slightly of having his relaxation disturbed, "Mac could have waited a bit longer..."
A chuckle followed that and a Lancastrian accent said in response, "Oh, Leftenant, where's the fun in that? C'mon, let's get to it".
In no time at all, the men quickly got the jumpsuits on, easy enough as they had done it several times before.
Then, as the three men went down the stairs, they soon saw around 7 loadmasters in the cargo hold, along with Mac himself, who had gotten his thermals on quicker than anyone else and was already waiting for them.
Captain Kenneth MacMillan, was only 33-years old, but to them, he was considered a legend amongst his colleagues in the Regiment.
Born and raised in Glasgow, on June 13th 1963, Mac had attended Glasgow University, before attending Sandhurst after graduation, then was commissioned into the Royal Scots in 1985, before passing Selection on his first try as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1986, he served in the Gulf War, leading a team to hunt down Iraqi SCUD missiles that were targeting Israel, deep in Western Iraq, exploits which earned him the rank of Captain.
MacMillan was married to Gillan Carroll, a Solicitor's daughter, and had two young daughters, Lily and Claire, who were both 7 and 5 years old.
Before the Captain, were three of the 4-man patrol that would be commencing their current mission.
Mac's 2iC, and protege, was Lieutenant John Price.
Born on October 6th, 1965, in Colchester, Essex, Price joined the Army at the age of 16 in 1981, serving in the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, before deciding to take on a new challenge and join the SAS in 1986.
Once there, Mac had taken the Sergeant-turned-Trooper, under his wing, and Price, who accepted Mac as a mentor, soon rose through the ranks, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant just as the Gulf War started, serving with Mac's team in Iraq.
Married to Andrea Connors, the Lieutenant would undoubtably be a first-time father by the time Christmas and the New Year had passed. And even though he was trying to set an example as 'a Rupert', as so called by the rest of the men, Price was no doubt excited for the impeding arrival of his firstborn child.
The patrol's demolitionist, Staff Sergeant Henry Finch, was the eldest man in the team, having been born on November 4th, 1950. An gruff Lancastrian, he was a former Royal Engineer, who served in the Falklands War, before passing selection a year later, and then serving in the Gulf War.
Thus, his Royal Engineer expertise served him well during the demolitions course, it had served him well in the Falklands and it had served him well whenever he was needed to lay waste to a SCUD missile. Now everyone was hoping that his expertise would serve them well in this mission.
Before they had gotten wheels-up for the mission, Henry had lamented on that he hoped that this mission wouldn't last into Christmas Eve, as he had been looking forward to spending time with his three children, who he did not get to see often due to his divorce with his wife Wendy, three years ago.
Corporal Gideon Kennedy from London (who just simply preferred to be referred to as Gideon), had only joined the Regiment two years ago, but was showing considerable promise already, given that he received a promotion a few months ago.
Prior to passing Selection, he had been a Sergeant in the Royal Logistics Corps (and before that, the Royal Corps of Transport), which made him the butt of a few good-humoured jokes of being a 'Trogg' from his mates and fellow colleagues in the Regiment.
In fact, Gideon performed extremely well on the sniper course, and it was for that reason that he was picked for this mission.
And despite the reservations of Price and Finch, MacMillan was confident in Gideon's ability and skill in accomplishing this mission.
"Alright everyone, Operation Baseplate is to commence immediately. Prepare yourselves for the jump, we'll be approaching the drop zone in around 6 minutes".
17 hours earlier, Hickam Air Force Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...
In a small section of an hangar appropriated for the team, Lieutenant Price was sitting along with MacMillan, Finch and Gideon, while an man in plainclothes, who Price figured was MI6 due to his demeanour, briefed them on the mission that they were to undertake.
"Alright, the mission, is Operation Baseplate, the assassination of Imran Zakhaev. You may now open the file on Imran Zakhaev".
In the four men's hands, were files, which were sealed by a band labelled 'TOP SECRET', and soon, everyone opened them.
Price, once he opened his file, began to read through it.
Born on 21st March, 1947, in Atyrau in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Imran Damirovich Zakhaev was a former Lieutenant General in the Soviet Army, who served under General Nikita Dragovich of the Soviet's special weapon projects division.
But after Nikita Dragovich's mysterious death in 1989, Zakhaev had left the Soviet Army and became a black market arms dealer, who had popped up on MI6's radar a few years later, when they noticed that Zakhaev had been selling armaments and weapons to armed groups across the world, in exchange for cash. However, very recently, only one event had gotten MI6 concerned, in that Zakhaev had been making very frequent transits to Chernobyl over the last five months, where he was exchanging salvaged spent fuel rods and some nuclear material safe enough to handle, for cash.
Now Price understood the importance of their mission.
Cash for spent fuel rods, eh? Quite a recipe for destruction...
"GCHQ have been intercepting transmissions from Zakhaev and his group, who have taken over an airfield and a nearby ghost town in the Kamchatka Peninsular. Apparently, Zakhaev's made a visit to Chernobyl and is flying from the Ukraine to the airfield. His estimated date of arrival, is around 1947 hours on the 20th of December. We need you to go in and take out Zakhaev. His activities cannot be allowed to continue. Do you have any questions?"
Finch held his hand up, and when he was given permission to speak, asked "Recommended points of entry?"
"If you decide for an airdrop, your aircraft cannot overfly Russian sovereign airspace. So it'll have to be a HAHO jump. And you do have a choice of entering via the water, but you'll need to acquire the services of a submarine with a Dry Deck Shelter and a SEAL Delivery Vehicle, and our recommended points of entry for such an insertion, are much further away from the target area than the HAHO jump's landing zone. Either way, it's your choice. Any other questions?"
Price was the next to ask, "What sort of resistance can we expect if we get into contact?"
"Zakhaev's being hiring a lot of mercenaries from all over the former Soviet states, like the Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan, as well as the former East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Cuba and Angola. He's also acquired an arsenal of tanks, IFVs and helicopters. T-72s, BMP-1s, BTR-80s, Shilkas, Hips, Hinds and Havocs, you name it, he's probably got it. So, you'll be up against a small army essentially".
Gideon then asked, "How motivated and skilled are these mercenaries?"
"Well, from we've been able to gather, our intelligence observes that they are well equipped, but not heavily paid much, so we reckon some bad morale and them slackening off in their duties. You should be able to get through them easily enough, despite their heavy armaments".
Mac was disconcerted about how the MI6 officer just seemed to wave off the mercenaries' skill and fighting capability, but held his silence, vowing to himself to not get caught out by these mercenaries.
And given that Price, Finch and Gideon all shared glances with him, Mac wasn't alone in this way of thinking.
Once the briefing was done, the man from MI6 then said, "So, gentlemen, shall I leave it to you to plan the mission out?"
MacMillan nodded his head, "We'll be alright, mate. We've got this".
A smile, "Excellent! Then, I'll see you in a few hours before wheels up!"
As he left, the 4 man began crowding around the map, as they began 'a Chinese parliament', sharing their thoughts and expertise to plan the mission out.
As the loadmasters were bringing over their parachutes, Lieutenant Price analysed every member of the patrol, the weapons and equipment that they were going to bring along.
Price himself, carried an M16A2 with an M203 grenade launcher and a Browning Hi-Power, while Captain MacMillan carried a Colt Commando and a Browning Hi-Power and Gideon carried an M16A2, and a SiG Sauer P226.
Finch meanwhile, was the only one who carried an FN Minimi, while his sidearm was a Browning Hi-Power.
As the mission required the use of a sniper, Gideon carried the patrol's only L118A1.
All members of the patrol were trained snipers, so when it came to being a sniper/spotter team, Price would take the role of sniper, whilst MacMillan would take the role of spotter. When it was Finch and Gideon's turn, Gideon would be the sniper, whilst Finch would take the role of spotter, for which, they would use a spotting scope.
Each member of the patrol, except for Finch who carried an LAW 80, had a 66mm M72 LAW, an assortment of L2A1 hand grenades, L83 smoke grenades and L84 white phosphorus grenades, and they also carried suppressors for their weapons and a combat knife.
As for ammunition, Price, Mac and Gideon carried 5 30-round magazines in addition to the magazine already in their weapons, whilst Price also carried around 5 rounds of M203 grenade launcher ammunition and Finch had around 6 200-round box magazines for his Minimi.
Satisfied with their weaponry, Price soon headed over to the loadmasters, who had their parachute rigs.
Even though the loadmasters were qualified riggers and had personally verified the parachute rigs were cleared to jump, each member of the patrol felt more assured of checking over their own rigs themselves.
So Mac, Price, Finch and Gideon checked their rigs, and saw that everything was in place, their reserve chutes were primed and ready, and the chutes were not going to fail on them.
Then once they were done, they put on their rigs, and then started preparing the rest of their kit.
For the jump, each member of the patrol had a helmet, with an oxygen mask attached to an oxygen bottle due to performing a HAHO jump at around 35,000 ft.
And had goggles for their eyes, along with throat microphones attached to their neck, to allow them to speak amongst themselves whilst in the air, as well as on the ground.
As Lieutenant Price slipped on his gloves that would protect his hands from frostbite whilst in the air, he mentally recalled all the kit that they'd be taking down with them along with their bergens and webbing (which would be attached to the outside of their bergens, very firmly secured).
There were night vision devices for themselves (to be attached to their weapons), and for the sniper rifle, along with spare batteries for the night vision devices and the radio which all members of the patrol carried with them.
Various hats (Price had his bonnie hat, while Mac had his baseball cap, Finch and Gideon had their beanie hats), along with a shemagh and scrim scarf, and spare clothing along with spare pants and socks.
Even though they had looked at satellite photos of the target area, they still had a model kit, so that when they arrived at their assigned Lying Up Positions and Observation Posts, they would make a scale model of the area and from there, plan out the whole mission whilst at the target area, in case of unexpected developments on site. It contained stuff like ribbons, to indicate roads or rivers, card, for the purpose of marking anything noteworthy, and stones, for indicating buildings, which would be also backed up with the materials at hand from the area itself to make an accurate picture of the target area's landscape.
Gideon carried an Tacsat long range communications radio, whilst Mac and Price carried a TACBE, while all members of the patrol carried an GPS, which even though they regarded as an excellent useful tool, they still carried with them a map in a waterproof map case along with a compass.
Demolitions, which the patrol's demolitions expert, Finch, would be solely carrying, which included around six blocks of C4, and four M18 Claymores.
Each member of the patrol carried a med-kit with them and was medically trained, in case they sustained any injuries at all during the mission.
To construct their Observation Posts and Lying Up Positions, every member of the patrol had a folding shovel, along with sandbags. As they were exercising a hard routine, their body waste must be packed away, leaving no traces of their presence, so they would be carrying plastic bags to bag up their body waste, which would then be put away in the bergens.
They'd also be bringing chicken wire, to construct the 'roof' of their LUP.
Each member of the patrol's rations' main meals were varied from each person, but they still all carried biscuits, chocolate mix, whitener for tea and coffee, and a fork in addition to a single canteen filled with water. Since the patrol would be exercising a hard routine during the mission, they would not be cooking, thus they'd have to eat the rations cold.
Several Bungee cords, for the purpose of strapping additional stuff onto the bergen and for holding up their two bashas, which would be used to provide cover from the elements at their LUP.
They would also bring woodland camouflage wrapping for the sniper rifle and the spotting scope, and tape for the purpose of hiding the sunlight glare from the lens of the scope of the rifle and the spotting scope.
As a Notepad and Pencil would be too time consuming, the spotter would be using a personal recorder, to record his findings. But Gideon still carried a notepad and pencil with him, 'just to be thorough', Gideon had said to Price, who accepted the explanation without asking him to explain it further.
Along with their personal torches, they would have Glowsticks to help with illumination.
Price himself also carried a wire saw (that in addition to sawing off branches or wood, could be used as a garrotte if need be), a striker and flint (a emergency alternative to matches that Finch carried), and condoms, for the purpose of collecting water from rivers or from rain.
Then Price was brought out of his thoughts when a shout came, "One minute!"
Turning his attention back to the present, Price soon headed towards the rear door of the Galaxy, where Mac, Finch and Gideon were awaiting, with their fully loaded bergens (with the webbing secured on them as well) on the back of their legs.
Price slipped on his bergen (with his webbing secured on as well) on the back of his legs and after he checked that it would not slip off, they soon moved on to the final check before they depressurised.
Putting on their oxygen masks, they checked the seal of the mask, ensuring that it wouldn't leak.
Then after checking the bottles and the dials, they were all set and ready to drop.
After the hold's lights suddenly turned red, the loadmasters put on their own oxygen masks, and then Price felt the whole plane being depressurised.
The temperature immediately plummeted and all the members of the patrol could hear, was their own breathing.
And soon enough, Mac's voice came through, "Alright, radio check. Over".
"Price here. Reading you loud and clear".
Finch's voice was next, "I hear you, Captain".
Then came Gideon's, "Gideon here. I hear you".
"Excellent. Now, get ready. They're gonna open the door".
True to Mac's word, the rear cargo doors of the Galaxy started opening and all members of the patrol started creeping towards the edge.
Price looked out, 35,000 feet in the air, to see complete darkness (taking care not to look at any sort of faraway lights at all, not that there likely to be any, this far out, but he was taking no chances).
And once Finch threw himself from the ramp, and Gideon followed suite, Price pulled his head back, and pushed himself forward over the edge of the ramp, toppling himself out of the plane.
As soon as Price left the aircraft, he straightened his back and kept his head back, to keep a stable position.
After checking for a brief moment that the air above him was clear and Mac was giving him enough space to release his parachute, he pulled the cord to release his parachute, and felt a quick deceleration as quickly as he heard the crack of the canopy as it grabbed the air.
Quickly checking to see if the lines were not snagged, caught or tangled, Price was reassured as he grabbed the toggles and started manoeuvring himself to find Finch and Gideon to start completing the canopy formation.
And soon, began looking for Finch and Gideon, as he set about to complete the stack formation that they had planned to do, in order to keep close together whilst they descended for roughly around 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Due to Finch carrying the heaviest load, he was the bottom of the stack, while Gideon had already docked himself to Finch.
Then Price announced to Gideon and Finch that he was coming in. After that, he docked himself to Gideon, then Mac announced himself and docked himself to Price, creating a perfect stack.
The journey down to the DZ was longer than they anticipated, taking up to two hours, twenty minutes instead of ten minutes, but that didn't stop them from getting complacent as they approached the DZ.
Price grasped the toggles in readiness as he awaited Mac's signal.
Then Mac announced, "Alright, we're coming in! Break formation!"
And soon the stack broke away, four individuals on their parachutes heading for a site to land of their choice.
Price saw what looked liked a good area to set down, and got a cord that was attached to his rig, attached to his bergen, ready to release it onto the ground.
Of course, he didn't want to release too early, otherwise it would result in him losing control, but he didn't want to do it too late, as there was vital equipment and essentials in the bergen.
When the time was right, he slipped the bergen off his legs, and it set down onto the ground gently.
Then Price landed on the ground, mindful of his legs as one wrong move could result in a broken leg or worse (which would not bare well for the mission).
As soon as he was on the ground, Price attended to his parachute, gathering it up, and then heading towards a nearby section of woods (after also getting his bergen).
Once in there, he slipped off his rig, his helmet, his oxygen mask and bottles, and his thermals, then scanned the area for a good long while, before he started the process of burying the rig, the helmet, the oxygen mask and bottles, the thermals and the parachute.
After that was done, Price got his camouflage cream out and started applying it to his face, neck, and the top of his wrists (since he was wearing gloves that made covering his hands unnecessary), to break up the shine of his face.
Then he got out his bonnie hat and slipped it on, before slipping on a night vision device for his M16 and then slipped on a suppressor over the barrel (doing the same to his Browning Hi-Power).
Once he was finished, Lieutenant John Price slung his bergen across his back and started heading out, hoping to meet up with the rest of the patrol.
After several minutes of navigating through the dark silently, five slaps of a hand on metal caught Price's attention, near the edge of another section of woods.
The pre-agreed signal amongst the patrol, slapping a hand alongside their 30-round magazines five times, which meant a member of the patrol was nearby.
Neither the less, Price was cautious as he headed over, M16 to his shoulder, before a familiar voice whispered out ahead of him, "Oh please put the weapon down, Leftenant Price. You're making this old Scot nervous".
Reassured at Mac's light-hearted comment, Price slightly lowered his weapon as he then saw Captain MacMillan with his suppressed Colt Commando at his side, by a tree.
"Good to see you two, Mac. Have you seen Henry? Or Gideon?"
"Nope". Mac didn't need to ask if Price had seen them in return, as he already knew the answer to that, so he settled for, "How was your trip?"
"Uneventful".
Mac and Price awaited for a while for around 9 minutes, before Price saw them through his night vision device.
"Psst, Mac, I see them".
Immediately, his mentor used the night vision device on his Colt Commando to see what his protege was seeing, and when Finch and Gideon were close enough, Mac gave the signal.
Finch and Gideon soon reunited with Mac and Price, and then, Mac communicated with Hereford via Gideon's Tacsat.
"Beacon, this is Alpha Six Zero Actual. Do you copy over?"
No response, so Mac tried again, until he got a response.
"Alpha Six Zero Actual, this is Beacon. Reading you Lima Charlie. Over".
"Roger, Beacon. Be advised, Alpha Six Zero has boots on the ground. Commencing TAB to target area. Operation Baseplate is underway. Interrogative, any new information at this time?"
A pause before, "Negative, Alpha Six Zero Actual. Proceed to target. Beacon out".
And with that ended, Captain MacMillan turned to his patrol, saying simply, "Alright, let's move out. Leftenant Price, you're on point".
And thus, comes the start of the first story of my Task Force 141 series, which is a Call of Duty/Medal of Honor crossover series.
While it may set in an AU Modern Warfare timeline, it does however contain elements from the Black Ops, Ghosts and Advanced Warfare timelines.
And yes, the Medal of Honor, that I'm speaking of, are the Medal of Honor (2010) and Medal of Honor: Warfighter games. Thus some characters, most notably Tier One operators, from those games will be making appearances in later stories.
Anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!
Update 10/12/17: Added a few more details on Gideon and Henry's backstory.