Phoenix Rising
Prologue
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, you should first dig two graves."
- Confucius
Vladimir Makarov continued to swing, as if an unseen force was pushing him. Captain John Price formerly of the 22nd SAS Regiment and Task Force 141 sat on the ledge observing him. Puffs of thick smoke escaped from his exotic Cuban cigar. Just as Captain Price got used to the peace that he had never experienced for a long time, a message came through his headset. "Price, we need to leave. You have Makarov's reinforcements on one side, and the entire police of Dubai on the other. And you're in the middle of the mess," a thick Russian accent said. Captain Price blew a final puff on his cigar before flicking it down 27 floors down. He let out a heavy sigh as he stood up. He took a final look at Makarov, and uttered two words that echoed down the majestic lobby of the Hotel Oasis.
"Bloody Hell."
Gingerly, Price made his way up to the helipad. Makarov's helicopter still laid there, a burning wreck. He approached Yuri, where he laid still. Price took his dog-tag and dragged him to the edge of the helipad. In the distance, he could hear gunfire and see flashes of light. It was gonna get real bloody and messy down there. Nikolai's Pave Low soon touched down, careful to avoid what was left of the MH-6 Little Bird that was supposed to ferry Makarov to safety.
Just as Captain Price settled into the Pave Low and put Yuri's body aboard, a thundering shock ran through the entire building. In panic, Nikolai, a usually composed man, lifted off early with Price hanging on to the mounted M2 Browning mini-gun for dear life. Nikolai managed to stabilize the helicopter, allowing Price to climb up. "What in the bloody world was that, Nikolai?!" raged Price.
It was then Nikolai realized they had an extra passenger. "Why in the world is Yuri aboard here?" Nikolai seethed in his thick Russian accent, a successful attempt to change the subject from his error just now.
"Come on, he was a good man. He at least deserves a proper burial," Captain Price said by way of explanation. "That he was," Nikolai agreed. They both respected Yuri. And Soap. And all the men they had lost in this bloody quest. Gaz and Griggs. Ghost and Roach. Kamarov. Joseph Allen, whom they hadn't even met. Sandman, Grinch and Truck. So many good men, lost in the line of duty. In the Call of Duty.
Prisoner 627 and Nikolai flew on the Pave Low into the distance, leaving behind them chaos, a collapsing building, and Vladimir Makarov. A dead Vladimir Makarov.
"Welcome to Base 66, gents," Derek 'Frost' Westbrook greeted upon arrival. Captain Price squeezed out of Nikolai's helicopter and marvelled the big bustling base. He estimated around 90 people in this circular base that covered about 120 acres of space.
"Where do you say we were again Nikolai?" Captain Price asked.
"Rockcliffe, Carlisle," came the reply.
"Bloody hell, we're next to Scotland..." Price complained as the Scottish cold started to seep in through his desert warfare attire. Next to him, Nikolai shivered a bit too. However, he was 'prepared' for he had lived in the bitter and cruel Russian winter for most of his life.
Frost shook it off. "You'll get used to it. Soap did anyway," and he suddenly stopped, fully aware of what he just said. He hastened, "Sorry, Captain Price, I didn't mean to bring up-"
"Never mind, the past is the past. Time to let it go, aye?"
Frost's mind momentarily went to the last time he met with what was Team Metal. It was just before they left for that accursed diamond mine in Siberia with Price and Yuri.
"Seeya later, Frost!" Grinch cheerfully said farewell, as usual. He was never fazed by the fact that his life would come to an end with the way he was fighting. A stray bullet, or grenade shrapnel maybe...but Grinch always responded with his maxim of "Live your life to the max".
At least he did, thought Frost.
"Aye," responded Frost. "Wanna take a tour through here? I'll introduce you to Base 66 and Force 13. You can decide whether you wanna join The Thirteen Troopers. Nikolai and Price shared a look before following Frost.
"So," Frost started," Force 13 is made up of 10 squads of 13, hence the name. The respective squads are named Apex, Covenant, Deadlock, Echelon, Eclipse, Gauntlet, Gryphon, Lightning, and Trident. The higher-ups decided to have flashy names for all of us. Typical suits. Anyway, back to Force 13. Task Force 141 was indeed reinstated, however, General Shepherd's treachery came to light at the same time, and thus the reinstatement is cancelled because of the broken legacies that Shepherd left behind.
There're a total of three bases, including this. The other two are based in Dededo, Guam and Elko, Nevada. They're named Base 64 and 65 respectively. 64 houses Alpha, Bravo and Eclipse squads; 65 holds Delta, Echo and Gryphon, and 66 is owned by Foxtrot, Sierra and Romeo and Trident. Our motto is "Aere Perennius" meaning "More lasting than Bronze". "Alea Iacta Est" is the second one, meaning 'the die has been cast'.
Force 13 is not a force designed to address a certain area. As a matter of fact, there are already more than enough of these task forces. Force 13's role encompasses everything and anything. Its role includes: Reconnaissance and Surveillance, Assassination or VIP Protection, Tactical Sabotage, Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency, and Hostage or High-Value Target hunting. This will be unconventional warfare on a whole new scale. This world is still as tense as ever before World War Three, and the allies that formed this Task Force are willing to put this team in danger.
This team is made up of members of many countries. They include: America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, Italy, Spain, Poland, India, Australia and New Zealand. There's no lengthy selection process or anything. You prove yourself, you get in here. I think you two are already perfectly suitable.
We are our own team. We are by ourselves, and we are essentially a mini military. We have our own requisitioned air and sea transport, including land too. We have our own Intel and technology division, and our very own engineer corps. Here, lemme show you our babies. Now, here's a-"
"A bloody European Typhoon! Wait, two! Krovayy Ad..." Nikolai gasped.
Frost smiled. "I see you know our planes already. We have two F-22 Raptors and a Sukhoi Su-35. Lastly, we have two F-35 Lightnings. Besides that, we have a Tu-160, a B-2 Spirit, and a B-52 Stratofortress. We have three AC-130s and another three A-10 Thunderbolts. We have an EA-18G Growler to provide electronic interference, six E-3 Sentries to patrol the perimeter and multiple V-22 Ospreys and C-130s. We got multiple Super Cobras, Blackhawks, Little Birds, Sea Knights and Mi-28 Havocs. Plus Nikolai's signature Pave Low. UAVs include Predators, Reapers, Global Hawks, Sea Scouts, Sentinels, Hummingbirds, Ravens, Pumas and Gray Eagles. Enough for you, Nikolai?"
Nikolai nodded intensely. In all of his 29 years of flying, he had never seen so much aircraft in his whole life. He immediately started to relish the thrills of piloting each and every aircraft.
"Now let's move onto the naval part. We don't have many naval resources, just some SDVs and assault boats. We do have numerous patrol boats with quite a lot of firepower, trust me. We can requisition any ship under the jurisdiction of the 10 countries in this sort of 'alliance'.
And now the land vehicles. We got hundreds of Humvees, 60 Strykers, 20 Terrexes, 20 MOWAG Piranhas, 50 Boxers and 50 Patrias. There's also about 50 Pumas, 100 M2 Bradleys, 30 K-21s, 50 Warriors and 20 Bionix AFVs. We got a couple of the big guys as well, like the Leopard 2, the Challenger 2, the TK-X, and the M1A2 Abrams. And that's about it, you'll know more when you join The Titanic Thirteen. So what's your decision?"
Captain Price smirked, a smirk that had not been seen since the death of John 'Soap' MacTavish.
"What choice do we have?"
Hi guys! I'm Ryan, a newbie here so gimme ur reviews! Sorryyy I'm a weapons and stuff nut so I basically spammed hehehe anyways looking forward to the next chapter!
~Ryan LovesTaylor Momo~