Hope you enjoy this one, brought to you by the incredible Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena.
Disclaimer: Neither of us own anything relating to Modern Warfare 2. She owns Ryuka, however, and I, ecto1B, own Mckinley.
Enjoy, and please review!
They were the three soldiers of the highest rank in the 141, there ever since their organization was formed.
Captain MacTavish, powerful and wise, Lieutenant Riley, mysterious and steadfast, and Lieutenant Algren, beautiful and cunning… The Task Force 141, although they seemed to be tied to a commanding officer, a leader many branches of the United States Armed Forces, they ran their own organization their own.
And when Shepherd had saw them fit to send them the best infantry soldiers that he had, they had to settle that small little… problem, as they would call it. The Task Force 141 may have been a collection of the world's best soldiers in every field, but those that served in the field itself, those that ran the missions, all of them were Special Operations officers, and none of them came from the infantry.
"What are we going to do with them?" Ryuka asked MacTavish and Ghost, placing her forehead in her hands. "Fifteen Rangers… They are trained to storm deserts, jungles and cities, deployed in huge numbers. They are trained to man tanks and artillery… Not airdropped into secret locations in teams fewer than five…"
MacTavish interrupted her with a show of his palm. "I know, Reddie," he said, "However, Shepherd wouldn't have sent them to us unless they amazed even him. So, all we need to do is to formulate some sort of training module to train those numbskulls in the shortest time possible."
Both Ryuka and Ghost nodded. "And what about the new girl, eh?" Ghost asked. Even with his balaclava and sunglasses on, the other Lieutenant and the Captain could see a slight change in his features. "Any plans for her?"
"For one thing, she seems to be quite… enthusiastic," Ryuka replied. "However, I have read her files and know for some reason that dislikes water… It should be a problem in future missions and we need to get that out of her before she can be deployed in the field." Another downside to having Rangers in the 141 was that they were a strictly land-based unit. It was obvious in that sense that Mckinley had not needed to come into contact with any body of water larger than a bath-tub when she was with the Rangers, since they spent most of their time in the deserts of the Middle East. "Other than that, she seems to be a highly promising individual."
MacTavish then shot a look at Ryuka. "You think that she can make it through after two weeks?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow. Unlike Ryuka the girl had only just started fighting, a mere private. She did not have the experience nor the expertise.
"I will make sure that she does, Captain," Ryuka replied. "Besides, I need some help around here, dealing with you boys and whatnot."
"That's it, isn't it?" Ghost asked the two of them. "Reddie needs some help!" Still, there was a look of incomprehension from his companions. "We could train Front to be a Black Ops specialist! She's got all the skills, too! Sniping, endurance, she's hot and she speaks Russian."
However, Ryuka did not like the sound of that. "Are you serious?" she asked Ghost. "I'm only a Specialist because I was the only one who passed all the endurance tests!" Like the British SAS, she had been trained to withstand torture, and had received a mark only above the passing requirements, which immediately entitled her to become a Black Ops specialist where others had failed. Rangers did not to undergo such training, nor could she ever imagine that young Mckinley Front would be able to fathom the process of becoming one.
But no matter how much Ryuka and Ghost disagreed with one another, the last word came from MacTavish and him only. He looked at Ryuka, and knew that she was only a Black Ops Specialist only because she was the last person able to do so. She had taught Ghost a few methods of torture to retrieve information, but other than that, he had no clearance to conduct such operations. Assassination, arson, sabotage…
"Ghost, you'll have to ask the girl if she wants to go through with it," MacTavish said. "Reddie will instruct her further if she agrees with it." Ryuka bowed her head in comprehension, while Ghost nodded in return. "We need another Black Ops Specialist, especially now this… Shadow of Zakhaev is getting more and more active."
"Not to mention that," Ghost added, "We're getting' Intel that Makarov is on the loose again."
It was MacTavish's turn to sigh. Vladimir Makarov was nothing more than a loose-cannon terrorist, creating more and more problems for them. And the worse thing was that they could not find any form of coherence between Makarov and the Shadow of Zakhaev, mainly because these two were complete entities, and had totally different strategies. The latter was more… organized, striking wherever they had progress, making it hard for them to keep up with him, while Makarov, he was just randomly creating chaos in the world…
"Aye," MacTavish said. "We'd better hope that she wants this, or we're doomed to find another star soldier for the job."
At those words, Ghost went to inform the new girl about the news immediately, leaving the mess hall, as well as Ryuka and MacTavish. "I sense something different with Ghost today," Ryuka said to MacTavish, seating herself conveniently on his lap as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "He seems utterly fascinated by young Mckinley. Has he even met her already?"
MacTavish shrugged. "Why not?" he asked in return, running his hand through her long, red hair as he admired her features under the dim lighting of the mess hall. "He even said that she was hot a few minutes ago."
Ryuka chuckled. "Ah, that he did, Captain," she replied. "Perhaps, our dear friend Simon has found a match?"
"I don't believe you, Reddie," MacTavish chided her, but with a kiss to the base of her neck. "He just met her…"
With those words, she ran her hand down his well-muscled chest and kissed his temple. "Yes, but do you not remember than you tried to rape me in the game-room a few days after we had met?" she asked him again. Clearly, this woman was one who could hold on to grudges. It was but an accidental kiss due to him tripping over a beer-can, which led him to fall over her. "I was merely joking, John," she added quickly, earning a slight kiss on her lips. "Besides, if this girl is as magical as she seems to be, then surely Shepherd would bring more women into the 141, and I would not have to share a bathroom with another girl again!"
"So that's all you're concerned about, not wanting to share your bathroom with others?" MacTavish teased her, looking into those dark, fiery eyes which he knew, were only meant for him, and scoping out enemy targets. "I am so disappointed in you."
"Hmmm, there are two of us redheaded girls here, John," Ryuka reprimanded him. "If, in any case, you stormed into said bathroom and made it off with the wrong redhead, what would you do?"
MacTavish rolled his eyes. "As if I would mistake you for her," he said. But after pondering the nature of his words, he started to understand what she was hinting at as she stood over him, with her arms placed on her hips condescendingly. He too, stood up from the bench and started to circle her while taking one of her hands in his, and kissing the ridges of her knuckles. "I don't know about the Private, but I do know that my redhead is very, very ticklish… here."
His fingers landed on that sweet spot on the side of her waist which he immediately tickled, causing Ryuka to burst in laughter. "Go to hell, MacTavish," she cursed slightly unable to continue because MacTavish pressed his lips against hers in a rather feral kiss.
Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley
Task Force 141
Encounter Base – Location Classified (FNG tents)
"Me, a Black Ops Specialist?"
The girl's eyes were completely livid when he passed the decision of the previous meeting to her, and Ghost knew that it was for good reason. It was never an easy job, and never a job that anyone wanted for themselves. "You'll be trained by Reddie, but it also depends if you make the final cut and all that shit."
Still, there was one thing that Mckinley did not understand. "Why are you asking me this now?" she asked Ghost further. "I mean, I could be shipped back to the Rangers at any moment, right?"
Ah, the girl was a clever one indeed, Ghost mused. "If you say yes, Reddie will make sure that you get through every single test you have to take, even the… endurance tests." Ryuka was not one who would easily walk out on her promises, and he knew it from experience.
"I don't understand, sir," Mckinley added. "Why would you need Black Ops in the first place?" She had known the Task Force 141 to be a unit that was highly transparent. Almost every other unit knew what they did, mission after mission (although there were some exaggerations when such tales came from word-of-mouth). What were they really doing there in Russia that no one else could know about them?
Ghost did not blame her for asking such questions in her naiveté, she was young and was an FNG, but it would all change soon. "We're not only responsible for taking out terrorists and whatnot, Mckinley," he said after a deep breath and a moment to ponder his words. "We're also needed to provide the NATO and the UN-Coalition with Intel. Solid Intel, and for that, we need to infiltrate enemy lines with whatever necessary. And sometimes, we do things differently. Some people need to go down so quietly that the people on their side won't know that they're dead until it's too late, and sometimes, you'll need to try harder to persuade them to give you what you need…"
There, he had explained to her but only a few functions of a Black Ops Specialist: torture, assassination, infiltration, and much, much more. Ryuka had even once set a whole building on fire, filled with the families of the Ultranationalists that she was to kill. Of course, it took a long time for her to make peace with the incident, but Ghost remembered the first few days when she had been utterly inconsable, even by MacTavish…
"I'll have to think about it," Mckinley said, clenching the knees of her pants together. "Who should I tell when I've decided?" she asked further.
"Either Reddie or me would be fine, I guess," Ghost answered. In truth, he did not really know who. What he did know, that with Mckinley as a Black Ops soldier, they could gain an upper hand once again in their constant efforts against the Ultranationalists; That, and they could allow Ryuka to focus more on her original duties: to be a sniper and the Lieutenant specializing in provided support in the field.
To those words, Mckinley nodded, and opened her tent flap for Ghost to leave. It was already late, and she needed her rest, particularly after those long days and nights travelling on Humvees from Fire Base Phoenix to Georgia only to change into a Hercules to get to Encounter Base. "Thank you, sir," she said, but was interrupted by Ghost once more.
"Call me Ghost, Mckinley," he told her in a most friendly manner. She would receive her call-sign soon, when her fellow FNGs think of one for her, and vice-versa. He was about to reach the corridors when he heard her voice again. "What is it, Mckinley?" he asked, noticing some sort of a flush upon her face.
"Um, Ghost, I was just wondering…" the girl said, "What do… you guys wear during training?" The Task Force 141 was so… different from the Rangers that she did not know how to go about that particular question. Especially since she could see most of the people there were not wearing standard-issue uniforms of some sort.
Ghost scratched his head through his balaclava for a moment. "You can wear whatever you want, technically," he told her. "But, I think Reddie will give you a little something before breakfast." And with that, Mckinley thanked him one last time, and went back into her tent, not knowing that she would receive the shock of her life when Ryuka visited her like Ghost said she would.
"You are to wear these, Mckinley," Ryuka said, handing her three sets of what seemed to be items of clothing with a similar feel to leather, along with three strips of Kevlar with… boning? Yes, she felt along the length of the Kevlar. It was made thinner than what she was used to, but being a woman, she immediately felt the structure of the strange vertical grooves that the Kevlar had sported…
Mckinley's jaw practically dropped when she discovered just what they were. The leather-like things were catsuits, for God's sakes, while the Kevlar… were corsets! "How the hell am I gonna wear this?" she asked Ryuka, who shrugged and unzipped the zipper on the front. "This is a freakin' catsuit!"
At those words, Ryuka could do nothing but roar in a small bout of laughter. "Indeed it is," she replied. "In all actuality, these are 'Camouflage-ready All Terrain suits'. And the Kevlar corsets protect your torso from enemy fire, as well as to keep the girls in place, if you get what I mean."
"This is not funny!" Mckinley retorted. "How is this all-terrain? It's so freaking thin… You'll freeze the moment you get to Siberia!"
"Oh, sumimasen!" Ryuka apologized, quickly giving Mckinley a few plastic-bags containing what seemed to be furs. "I have forgotten. These are fur inserts for your suits, you just have to button them on. Five layers should do the trick in Siberia in the heart of winter."
Still, it was not enough to calm Mckinley, who was obviously oblivious to such a strange… body-revealing (although it covered much of her skin) uniform, if it could be called thus. "Whoever made this must never have gotten over the Matrix," she rolled her eyes, causing Ryuka to laugh even more.
"Believe it or not, Mckinley, it was the CIA," Ryuka said, "They needed to come out with some sort of armor that was fire-proof and bullet-proof, and thus… this happened. But I agree with you, whoever invented this must have a strange penchant which I do not wish to name… However I must remind you that these work excellently. I have tested them myself."
"How?"
"In a live fire exercise in Fire Base Phoenix," Ryuka said simply. "Now, you must run along. There is a huge day ahead of you, and you do not want to miss breakfast."
