Part 4: Safe House

[Takes place during the events in call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare]

He was lucky. Extremely lucky. A blast like that could have killed 20 men. Even Ghost-5, up in an armored helicopter, felt the explosion. Yet Ghost-1 only left with a few bruises and cracked ribs. Impossible, the medics said. Nothing short of a miracle. The whole team was happy to hear he was okay. They were not happy; however, to hear that in only a few weeks later Antonio was requesting another mission from Lt. Shepard. Jonathan had argued that Antonio didn't have to redeem himself of any failure. It was bad Intel that made them fail their mission, not Antonio's decisions as a leader. Antonio reassured Ghost-3 that this was no personal redemption, rather a moral urge to get back into the action. Lt. Shepard happily obliged. So far the First Force Reconnaissance Company was having no luck in finding Al-Asad, after several false alarms. They have invaded the capital, and were now engaged, trying to lock onto Al-Asad's safe house. Then the threat was received. Intel had word that Al-Asad had a nuclear device in the city, no doubt the device that Ghost Team had failed to retrieve. The order was sent to evacuate, as EOD teams tried to disable the bomb. It was then that Lt. Shepard had a lock on Al-Asad's position. When Antonio found out, he requested permission to retrieve Al-Asad. Shepard denied it immediately, not willing to take the risk. Finally, Ghost Team persuaded him to give up a Sea Knight and 10 minutes, in an off-the-book mission. Antonio and his team suited up and deployed to Al-Asad's supposed location. That led to now, as Antonio watched out the back of the helicopter, as dozens of aircraft and ground vehicles vacated the city. The Sea Knight was headed to a location in the safe zone, but the fastest route to it from base was above the capital. It descended as the pilot warned on the com.

"We have only ten minutes of fuel. So we need to grab this guy and get the hell out before that nuke goes off."

"Affirmative. We won't need that long." Ghost-1 replied. He looked at his team as they readied weapons and gear. Antonio reached up and pulled on his mask. They needed to be quick as Ghosts today. The com was then flooded with chatter from another Sea Knight Pilot.

"I repeat, we have a Cobra down. Command, I have a visual on the crash site. I can see small arms fire coming from the cockpit. Requesting permission to launch a search and rescue."

"Copy 2-5, be advised: You will not be at a safe distance in the event that nuke goes off. Do you understand?"

"Roger that. We know what we're getting into." The pilot replied. Ghost-1 had to admire the man's bravery. He watched as a Sea Knight to their left circled a crashed Cobra, and landed in a clearing near it, and a squad exited the vehicle. He wished them luck as they faded from view. Ghost-4 walked over to Ghost-1.

"You okay, sir?" Antonio nodded, and Samuel did to. Then he asked, "What if Al-Asad's not there?"

"Then we have succeeded about as much as the First Force did at finding Al-Asad. He can't run forever. "Then Ghost-4 said what was really on his mind.

"It's not our fault. All of this. We couldn't have known that convoy was a dud. And couldn't have known that nuke was going to put hundreds of lives at stake." Antonio looked down. Then why did he feel like he could've stopped it. He tried to shuffle the feelings aside. Maybe nabbing Al-Asad would make him feel better.

"HOLD ON!"

The horizon blinked white, and a shockwave hit the Sea Knight, sending it in a downward spiral. Antonio struggled to hold on as the landscape out the back turned into a blur. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Bravo 3-7 Phantom. We are going down!"