Price was very suspicious of the woman known as "Anya". Yes, she was easy on the eyes, and yes, she was the same woman that had been deployed into Russia... But he could not to notice that there was something rather off with the girl. The one that sounded his internal alarms was her request not to alert Shepherd of her presence, that she was even alive... Well, perhaps it was because she did not want Shepherd to know because she had failed her mission, or due to some issues with the man himself... From Soap, he had learnt that not many of the US Army Rangers trusted him, due to his nature of sacrificing anything and anyone to fulfill the tasks that he had placed before him.
However, he could not doubt that this young woman would not be an able part of their team. She was a highly trained sniper, and not just any designated marksman, er, markswoman, and for this mission alone, it was what they had needed more than anything. If they had succeeded, they would manage to end both sides of the war... Hopefully.
"Uplink nearly complete," MacTavish announced, not long after Maria had left the room. "General Shepherd, you're online with Captain Price."
The General sounded very, very surprised indeed. Captain Price was almost infamous for leading the joint-operations team that managed to kill Imran Zakhaev five years ago, and being MIA shortly after. "Back from the brink, Captain," he said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Price, however, did not have the same cheerful attitude and outlook currently. "Out of the frying pan is more like it," he replied. Soap had told him evernything he needed to know about what had happened in all the five years he had been in the Gulag, and honestly, he did not like what he had heard. "This world seems more like hell than the one I just left."
"We thought that we could recover the ACS before the Russians could crack it," Shepherd added. "But Makarov turns the US into his scapegoat, and the next thing you know, there's flames everywhere..." Suddenly, a dialog box was opened on his computer. Price was sending him something... It was a submarine, Russian, carrying a nuclear paylod of about 16 megeatons, as well as its other specifications that followed. It must have been the information that Price had somehow gained while in the Gulag. "What's this image you're sending me?"
Price took no time in answering his question. "You wanna put out an oil fire, sir, you set off a bigger explosion next to it," he said, as if it was the most common thing in the world. "Sucks away the oxygen, snuffs out the flames..."
"Price, you've been locked away for too long," was the reply from Shepherd. "Better get your mind right, son."
Well, that was a brilliant answer, wasn't it? However, Price was not going to take a "No" for any answer. Thus, he decided to push any buttons that Shepherd might have had. "Shepherd, are you willing to do what is necessary to win?" he asked the older man, and received the answer that he had wanted. "We've got ourselves a pretty big fire... Gonna need a huge bang."
"You've been in the Gulag for too long, Price," Shepherd chided. "Focus on taking out Makarov."
"No time, sir," Price said in return. "We need to end this war today!"
"I'm not asking you, Price. This is an order! You're to..."
With the push of a button, the uplink had been terminated, leaving MacTavish to only shake his head at his former Captain's actions. These courses of actions were highly iconic of Price, and he had to admit, some of it, had passed onto him. Well, only just some of it.
"Hmmm... Looks like we've lost our connection," Price muttered almost innocently.
Anya had to admit it, she had never heard Makarov say anything about the Russians having a submarine anything like the one they were supposed to take down, with such a huge payload of nuclear missles. As Price and MacTavish briefed them on what they were supposed to do, her mind's eye quickly ran over to the effects of that missile being deployed anywhere, and quickly stopped herself from continuing. Anyone who would deploy that nuclear missile anywhere was nothing short of a heartless monster, for it would decimate not only lives, innocent or otherwise, but also homes, buildings, and the land itself... She remembered the time when five years ago, 30,000 Marines were killed in one such nuclear explosion in the Middle East, and even now, the people there were suffering...
"Anya, you're coming with us on this mission," MacTavish told her, and she nodded in answer. There was no need to say anything else, really. However, officially, this would be her first mission with them as a Task Force 141 combatant, and she knew that it could well be her only one. In fact, she was literally jumping at the opportunity to work beside them, just as she had been when she had been first inducted into the 141...
"This time, we'll be going rogue," Price added, stating the utterly obvious. They all knew Shepherd's orders, but saw logic in Price's courses of action as well. All of them knew that they would rather bear the consequences of their actions rather than to sit and just wait for orders to stop Makarov's operations. If Makarov really was the leader of the Ultranationalists, then there would be no telling what that bloody psychopath would be doing... They would sleep better at night, knowing that he'll have one less WMD to use on the USA in the very least.
Roach, always chirpy and cheerful stood up and said, "Sir, we just wanna end the war like you do." Rather like Anya, he was young, and he was American. There was no single shred of doubt that he would have lost many loved ones in that war, and perhaps even more... "If Shepherd wants to put the blame on anyone, he'll have to do it on all of us."
There was a loud chorus of affirmative grunts and other gestures, which all put a slight smile to Price's face. "Well then, it's good to know that all of you are so eager to do this."
Two hours later
Cpl. Maria "Anya" Allen (A.K.A Ultranationalist codename "Anya")
Task Force 141
Petropavlosk, Russia.
Anya had landed not far from Price and Roach, between the south and the south-east of the base right near the coast. She was the first one to get out of her parachute, and threw Price a nod of acknowledgment just as he had done the same. "Price, Anya, I can barely see Roach's chute from the satellite feed," MacTavish said, his voice passed into their comms. "Too much interference... Do you see him, over?"
It did not take long for Anya to know that as always, Roach's bad luck would always precede him. However, they managed to find him not far from them, struggling to get the parachute off him. It had been a hard landing, indeed. "We've found him, Soap," Price replied, "He appears to be intact. We're gonna head northwest to be sub base, over."
With one fluid motion, Anya helped the other man sort himself out, while Price continued forwards. "Copy that," MacTavish said, "The rest of the team landed near Ghost, pretty far to the east."
Great, just great. When they were going to secure a freaking nuclear missile, a big gust of wind just have to blow in their direction, separating the team. Price told MacTavish to tell the others to proceed with the mission, and that they would regroup if possible. However, given the size of the submarine base, Anya reckoned that they needed every single soul that they could get.
They had already fought through the outer defenses of the base, having regrouped with Ghost and the others. Price, Roach and Anya had traded their M14 EBRs for other non-sniper weapons... "There's the sub!" Anya said, looking at the enemy submarine from her vantage point. They would have to do a little more work to get into the heart of the base, where that submarine was, and Price knew just the way to do it.
"Roach, soften up their defenses with the Predator," Price said, "Watch for the flashing strobes, that's us."
Roach did what he was told to do, and shot down the a helicopter. "You've got their attention now," MacTavish commented. "The whole base is on alert, you've better hurry, though. You've only got a few minutes before that submarine dives."
Fighting their way into the base, Roach used the Predator Drone a few more times, taking off BTRs and a few trucks out of the way. Anya and Price had decided to go into the submarine to disarm it, while the rest were to cover them from a guardhouse to the west. "Price, what the hell are you doing?" Anya asked when Price suddenly cornered her and held his side-arm to her temple.
His expression unchanging, Price took out their comms and said, "I think that you're a little double agent, Maria..." Shit, how the hell was her cover blown? "Soap may trust you easily, but I don't. From the very first moment you went back to the base, you told us that you didn't want Shepherd to know that you're still alive, and you seem to know a lot more about Makarov than you told us. Why the hell is that?"
Anya sighed. There really was no being two-faced with Price around. "You want to know why?" she asked him in return. "I'll tell you why. That man was the one who hired Makarov to attack the airport." Price continued to stare at her, his pistol still aimed towards her. "I don't know for what reason, but I know that Shephed was the one who instigated this war in the first place. He sold his country and his own people to Russia. Americans are now dying in his own country, and still, this man wants to take out the person he had dealt with to erase all evidence that the two of them had worked together."
Those sapphire eyes, they immediately flared with anger and rage. Price lowered the weapon and started to turn towards the controls of the submarine. "So, you're working with Makarov now? What's in it for you?" he asked. "Anya" or "Maria"... Whoever she was, she did not seem like the kind of person that would do anything for fame or glory. But there had to be a motive to her actions...
"He knew that Shepherd would turn against him," she answered. "But on the same time, he had an invasion to manage. So, he sent me back into the 141, so that you would form your own conclusions that Shepherd was the one responsible for everything."
Makarov was right. Price knew that Soap was already suspicious of Shepherd. In fact, he knew that almost every single person that served under the general strangely distrusted him, from what he saw for himself in the 141. That man lacked concern for his own men and allies, and would do "whatever it takes" to win... "How sure can I be that you won't kill us when we least expect it?"
"You can't," she answered. "Price, the only reason why I couldn't let myself die, is because I can't live with myself knowing that Shepherd will become a war hero for all that he's done."
Those were words spoken by a true patriot. Thus, Price lowered his weapon and turned back towards the controls of the submarine. "Well, let's see if we can even out the odds, then," Price said. It was only then did she realize what Price was about to do. In her schooling years, she had studied to become a doctor, hence, was excellent in her sciences, and when she got into college, she realized her calling in the military, and decided to take a course in management and politics, but her education did not need to tell her the effects of Price's actions...
"You want to set off an EMP..."
"Such a clever girl," Price praised at her realization. She might be able to see two steps forward and two steps back, but before anything happened, she would not be able to see anything. Oh well, you can't have everything. "Now, sit back and watch the fireworks, we have a country to save," he said, handing back her comms to her.
Ghost and the others, on the other hand, were in total panic. "We have a nuclear missile launch!" Ghost shouted. "Missile in the air... Missile in the air... Code Black... Code Black!"