Tracking… Found
Cpl. Scott "Jester" Dunn
Task Force 141
Firebase Phoenix, Afghanistan
A.N. Hey guys, Happy New Years! (Even though that was yesterday, but whatever.) Finally got Loose Ends finished and I tried my best to play it so that Roach and Ghost survive rather than die, so I hope that you like it. Please R+R, tell me if you liked it, what you didn't like. So, enjoy, OPKILLERFROST out.
"These are the last safe havens left on Earth for Makarov and his men." Shepard said, a map highlighting two locations on the screen behind him. One was on the Russian border, and the other in the Afghan. Either way, there were still more Russians to deal with. Yay! Fun.
"Sounds like we gotta be in two places at once." Price commented
"Impossible?" Shepard gave Price a glare
"Not for the One-Four-One."
"Fifty-fifty chance to take out Makarov, eh? Captain Price, request permission to take the safehouse with Roach, Hazard, Desert, Boxer, and Jester." Ghost said
"Granted. Soap, Neon, Spirit, Ramirez, Foley, and I will take the boneyard in Afghanistan."
"Very well. We will cut off all avenues of escape. This ends now."
"Strange. I coulda sworn we ended this war the other day." Price said
We all went for the armory and suited up. I grabbed my guns and put the attachments on. An M4A1, SCAR-H, and ACR all outfitted for SOPMOD. I stayed quiet the entire time while I walked to the chopper, through the entire flight, and trekking through the Russian woods to get to the house. The only thing I was thinking was, What if Makarov isn't going to be there or at the boneyard? There has to be another place he could be. There's no way that these are the only places for him and his men. I guess you could say that I'm a bit of a pessimist. There barely was a situation I was in where I didn't think of a bad outcome. I just couldn't shake the feeling that this mission was going to turn out really badly.
"Snipers in position." Archer said
I looked to my right and saw him and Toad in ghillie looking over the cliff that gave them a direct line of sight to the safehouse. I looked out to the field below us where Apex, Cypher, Echo, and Jayhawk were waiting.
"Strike team go. Engage Makarov on sight." Ghost said
"Roger that." Scarecrow said at almost the same time that Ozone said "Solid copy."
"Let's go. Let's go."
What's with the repetition? I get the urgency, but do you have to repeat yourself? We continued down the slope to the safe house, right behind Apex and the others. Then everything went to shit. Bouncing Betties popped up and we dropped to the ground. Well, most of us. Apex and the other three weren't so lucky. They didn't react quickly enough and got killed by the mines. One of the mines exploded above me, dazing me while Ghost was yelling something about targets to our left.
"Targets! Left side! Left Side!"
Again, what the hell is with the repetition? Whatever. I got up and took cover behind a tree. Or what was left of it. Damn thing was nearly cut in half by the mines. I heard popping sounds and smoke started to spread through the trees to our front. Goddammit. They just had to add smoke into the mix, didn't they? Then, just to rub salt in the wound, mortar fire came down around us.
"They've got this area pre-sighted for mortar fire!" Scarecrow yelled
"Counterattack into the smoke! Push, push, push!" Ghost yelled
Oh my fucking god. GHOST. WE GET IT. YOU WANT US TO MOVE OUR ASSES. JUST SAY IT WITH URGENCY. STOP REPEATING EVERYTHING YOU FUCKING SAY. But I digress. We ran through the smoke and ended up in an area of cut down trees. Those fuckers did not give you any cover whatsoever. We were just lucky the Russians were probably drunk off their asses or just really inexperienced. We continued through the smoke and trees until we made it to a field of solar panels.
"We got two trucks leaving the target building." Archer said
I looked up the driveway and saw two jeeps making their way down the driveway.
"Don't let those trucks get away!" Ghost yelled
"Roger. Firing javelin, danger close."
When did they have a javelin? I remember two snipers, their rifles, some ammo, but no javelin.
"Javelin danger close! Get back from the road!" Ghost said while shooting the trucks "Bloody hell, those trucks are bulletproofed."
"Two away!"
A second later, the trucks were destroyed by two missiles and were in a crumpled heap at the end of the driveway.
"Moving vehicles have been neutralized. Be advised, we have not, I repeat, we have not spotted Makarov, and no one else has left the house. Those trucks may have been decoys, over."
"Roger that! We're advancing on the house now!" Ghost said, running up the driveway
The others followed him, with me bringing up the rear. Why does this feel off? Everything is normal, comms, sniper support, so what the fuck is it? I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out. We encountered hostiles, but took them out with ease. They didn't stand a chance against the ten of us, if you include Archer and Toad.
"Breach and clear the safe house! Go, go!" Ghost said as soon as the last hostile was dead
This guy does not take a break, does he? I followed Ozone across the patio and stacked up across from him outside the kitchen door, with Ava right behind me. I placed a breaching charge on the door and detonated it. Ozone went in first, dropping a tango in the foyer. I shot a Ruskie in the chest and he went down, but didn't make it much farther until I was hit in the chest.
"Shit." I said just before I blacked out
Roach's POV
I had just breached through the basement door when I heard Jester was down. Son of a bitch. I didn't know Dunn well, but I knew he was a good man. It was a shame to hear that happen to him. I cleared out the hostiles on the bottom floor and continued upstairs. Shit. Jester was on the ground in front of the front doorway with Boxer laying over him, crying.
"What happened?" Liz asked, coming up behind me
"Poor bastard was hit when he came through the door. Never stood a chance." Ghost said
I looked back at Boxer. She had her helmet off and her face was wet with tears. It was obvious her and Jester were close. Probably closer than most people thought. It was a damn shame to see someone die like-
"Did he just cough?" Scarecrow asked
"Scott?" Ava said, holding Jester's face
Huh. Never would've thought his name to be Scott. Yet again, that's what you get for not socializing with the FNGs. Then I heard it. It was quiet, so quiet nobody would've heard it if we all weren't quiet and listening. Soon, it sounded like the bastard was coughing up half a fucking lung.
"What… the fuck… happened?" Jester asked
"You nearly died, Scott. You almost fucking died." Boxer told him
"Well… I'm not…. So… what's the… gameplan?"
"Well, you're going to find someplace to take it easy." Ghost said
"How? We're here and there are more Ultranationalists on the way." Hazard said
"We'll find somewhere for him. For now, Roach, go upstairs and check any locked doors on the top floor. Breach and clear."
Nodding, I held my ACR out at the ready. I knew there were going to be more Russians upstairs, but why they haven't come down and shot us yet, I don't fucking know. As I came to the top of the stairs, a Russian came charging out of the bathroom, but didn't get far before I shot him down. I turned left and saw an open door to my front and a closed one to its left. I'll breach that later. I tossed a flashbang in the next room before shooting the two hostiles inside. These guys are too easy to kill. It's fucking ridiculous. I put a breaching charge on the closed door and detonated the charge. I took a secondto survey the room, or what I could see. On my right, there was a wall that ended about three feet in front of me before splitting right, cutting the rest of the room off from my sight. There were two folding tables covered in boxes and various weapons scattered across the room. I tossed a flashbang into the room and two Russians sprang up from behind the folding table covered in boxes. I cut them down quickly, just as a hostile came running from around the corner. I shot him down before he could even get close to shooting me.
"Top floor clear!" Scarecrow said, appearing behind me
"Roger that! Top floor clear! Desert, go with Scarecrow and check the basement for enemy activity. Breach and clear. Go." Ghost said
Desert's POV
I watched as Scarecrow and Gary came downstairs. He at me, and I understood what he was trying to say. Be safe. I looked at him reassuringly, and followed Scarecrow downstairs. There was a room with the door we breached through, and a hallway splitting off. I looked down it and saw a bathroom at the end with a dead Russian. On both sides were locked doors, so I started with the one on the left. I put a breaching charge on the door, and just before I pressed the detonator, I heard Scarecrow say "I got your back Desert."
I swiveled through the doorway and saw three Russians running through a doorway, and one tripped. Dumbass. I shot the two who were still on their feet before taking down the one on the ground. When all the dust had settled there were three dead Russians laying in a trail leading down to the boathouse. I turned around and saw Scarecrow stacked up against the other door. I walked over to him and planted another breaching charge on the door, and when he nodded, I blew it. I walked in and was immediately assaulted by a Russian wielding a Mini Uzi. I shot him down but not before another Ruskie appeared through a doorway to my left. I shot him and walked into the room to make sure he was dead. But when I walked through the door, I stopped caring about if he was dead or alive. Covering an entire wall was enough weapons to supply a small army.
"Basement clear!" Scarecrow reported behind me
"Roger that! Basement clear! All clear. Squad, regroup on me." Ghost said
When we were with the others, Ghost told Scarecrow to go take photographs of the various pieces of intel laying around the room.
"Roger that." Scarecrow said
"Shepard, this is Ghost. No sign of Makarov. I repeat, no sign of Makarov. Captain Price, any luck in Afghanistan?"
"Plenty… at least fifty hired guns here, but no sign of Makarov. Perhaps our intel was off." Price said through the comms
Perhaps our intel was off? Since when was our intel ever right?
"Well the quality of the intel's about to change. This safehouse is a bloody goldmine."
"Copy that. Ghost, have your team collect everything you can for an operations playbook. Names, contacts, places, everything." Shepard said
"We're already on it, sir. Makarov will have nowhere to run."
"That's the idea. I'm bringing up an extraction force. ETA five minutes. Get that intel. Shepard out."
"Roach, get on Makarov's computer and start the transfer. Ozone, you're on rear security. I've got the front. Boxer, take up over watch on the top floor. Hazard, watch the kitchen. Desert, watch the windows in the front. Go." Ghost said
"On my way." Ozone said
"What about me?" Jester asked
"What about you?"
"Where should I cover?"
"You're injured mate. Find a spot where you won't get shot and stay there."
"Roger that." He said glumly
He started to walk towards the stairs, but faltered when he got there. Boxer rushed forward and caught him and helped him up. I walked over to Gary who was taking the DSM from his pack.
"What do you think is going to happen? I mean, the Ultranationalists aren't just going to let us walk out of here with this data." I said
"I think that they're going to come over here thinking that they're going to come in and kill us, but then their thinking gets cut off by a couple well placed bullets." He replied, not looking up from the computer
"Damn. Little dark, don't you think?"
He finally looked up from the computer and looked at me, pulling down his balaclava. "Liz, you know me. I'm a bit dark. But no matter what those Russians think, we're making it out of this alive. Now, shall we get back to work?"
"Yeah, probably. Stay safe." I said before kissing him
"You too."
"Since when aren't I safe?"
"Ummmm, well there was that time when-"
"Never mind, don't answer that."
He chuckled and connected the DSM to the computer while I walked over to the windows. I have fallen in love with the biggest idiot in the world, but at least he's my idiot. I just can't wait until all of this was over and we were back at the base. Oh how I miss my bed there.
"Task Force, this is Price. More of Makarov's men just arrived at the boneyard... Soap, cover me. I'm gonna slot that guy over there and use his radio to tap into their comms. Ghost, we're going silent for a few minutes. Good luck up there in Russia. Price out."
"Team, there's an armory in the basement. Better stock up while you can." Ozone told us
"Makarov's men are going to do whatever it takes to keep us from leaving with this intel. We need to protect the DSM until the transfer's done. Use the weapons caches and set up your claymores if you've got any left. Defensive positions, let's go!" Ghost said
At least I wasn't the only one who realized that every Ultranationalist psycho in Makarov's pocket was about to show up at our front door to collect the DSM. We needed to be ready for them. I saw Boxer walk outside holding a claymore, then walk back in a couple minutes later without the rest that were on her belt. Then I heard an explosion and knew I was about to get into the fight of my life.
Archer's POV
I looked through my scope and saw the others taking up position throughout the house. Boxer came out and put a few Claymores around the house, but went back inside. Nothing really interesting, that was, until the explosion that came from the southeast.
"Be advised, you have a large concentration of hostiles moving in from the southeast. They've just breached the perimeter! I'll try to thin 'em out before they get too close. Recommend you switch to scoped weapons, over." I told the team
I aimed down the sights of my M14 and fired at the Russians that were advancing on the house. I had to keep them from entering, or else they'd get in and destroy the DSM. That couldn't happen. I pushed the release for the magazine in my gun, and as I was sliding in a new one, a heli was coming in and more Russians were fast roping in behind the house."
"RPG team moving in from the southwest." I told the team
I tried shooting as many of them off the rope as I could before their boots hit the ground. I missed all but one. Damn. But what are you going to do? Like one man was going to make a difference.
"I'm hit! Need assist…" Ozone called out
That's what one man could do. The man who killed him could've very well been the one who I failed to shoot off of the rope. It's the little things that matter the most. You forget to set your alarm, you're late, you fail to kill one of theirs, and they kill one of yours.
"I have eyes on additional hostile forces moving in on your position. They're approaching from the solar panels east of the house." Toad told the team "Archer, focus. You can't zone out like that."
"Ozone just died. How are you not bothered by that?"
"I am. But now is not the time for grieving."
"I guess the apprentice has become the master."
"Shut up."
I chuckled to myself and looked back down the scope and continued to shoot down the Russians.
Ghost's POV
This day couldn't get any worse. At first, it appeared that everything was going to go nice and smooth. But no, the Russians just had to figure out that we were going to storm the safehouse. But how? There was nobody that could've known unless they were in the mission briefing. Whatever. For right now, we had to protect that DSM. If the Ultranationalists got a hold of it or destroyed it, it wouldn't be good for us.
"I'm displacing. You're going to be without sniper support for thirty seconds, standby." Archer called through
Great. Fucking great. Without Archer and Toad to thin these guys out, it was going to be hell trying to get these guys to stay away from the house. This is going to hell real quick.
"RPG team moving in from the east." Toad told us
They must've found a better position to shoot from if they were back with us. I turned around and saw Roach heading for the windows in the dining room. Kid's smart. I just hope we'll all make it through this.
"Enemy fast attack choppers coming in from the northwest." Archer relayed
"Roger that. Enemy helos approaching from the northwest." I echoed to make sure everybody heard
I knew my constant repetition annoyed the shit out of some people, but I'd rather them be annoyed and alive then confused and dead.
"Hostiles approaching from the west!" Archer said
"They must be by the boathouse! Everyone, cover the west approach!" I yelled
"We got 240s and RPGs in the dining room windows, plus L86 machine guns." Scarecrow said
"Roger that! Use 'em to cut 'em down as they come through the treeline!"
I continued to shoot all the hostiles coming from the front, but there were way too many. If Shepard and his extraction force didn't get here soon, then we weren't going to be alive much longer.
"I'm hit!" Scarecrow yelled
I turned around to see him clutching his shoulder while blood poured profusely out of it. He wasn't going to make it without medical assistance.
"Roach! Cover the front!" I yelled
"Roger that."
I ran from the office to the computer where Scarecrow was laying. I applied pressure to the wound and sat him up so the blood flow would slow down. There was just too much of it. The bullet must've nicked an artery because there was way too much blood for a simple hit to the shoulder. Plus, with his armor there, the bullet never should've been able to get through.
"Ghost. Just leave me. I'm not going to make it." Scarecrow said
"No! I'm getting you out of this!" I yelled at him
I didn't know Scarecrow well, but I wasn't about to let someone die when they could be saved. But we couldn't drag him out of here with the Russians breathing down our necks. Plus, Jester was down too. We'd be cut down instantly trying to haul them out of here. Then I got an idea. I pulled Scarecrow up and helped him get upstairs and set him down next to Jester.
"Everyone! Fall back and protect the top floor. Roach, the transfer's complete! I'll cover the main approach while you get the DSM! Move!" I yelled
"Ghost, what are you doing?" Lily asked me
"Stay here and protect Scarecrow and Jester. Shepard will be here soon. Just hold them off a little longer!"
"Be careful."
"I will love. Just stay here and protect them!"
I didn't want to leave her here, but I had no other choice. I wasn't going to put her in harm's way by bringing her with us when there's an entire army of Russians out there, but yet again, it wasn't the safest option to stay boxed in here.
"This is Shepard, we're almost to the LZ. What is your status, over?"
"We're on our way to the LZ! Roach, let's go!"
He grabbed it and we ran out the front door. As soon as we stepped outside, bullets were flying all around us. I shot down a couple Russians before I had to start running again. This was insanity. This entire day has gone to hell, but yet again, when do my day not go to hell?
"Ghost, we're moving to the LZ. You'll be without sniper support, over." Archer called
"No! Stay and protect the house. We've still got people inside!" I yelled
There was no way I was going to let them die. They needed all the help they could get.
"Roger that."
Roach and I kept running until we got to a hill just above the LZ. We were almost out of here. Just a few more meters. That can't be so hard, right? Wrong. Mortars started to bracket our position and we had to run for our lives or die.
"They're bracketing our position with mortars! Keep moving but watch your back!" I yelled "Roach! I've got you covered! Go! Go! Get to the LZ!"
I stayed near the top of the hill while Roach ran down. I had to keep shooting and kill every hostile I could see or Roach would die and we'd fail. I couldn't let that happen. I shot all hostiles I could before I watched Roach go flying. Shit. Goddamned mortars. I ran forward and grabbed him by his vest and started dragging him to the LZ. I saw that reinforcements had finally gotten here and a Little Bird came down.
"This is Thunder Two-One, standing by to engage."
I threw red smoke at the treeline to show the pilot where to shoot.
"I've got you Roach, hang on! Thunder Two-One, I've popped red smoke in the treeline! Standby to engage on my mark!" I yelled
"Roger that. I have a visual on the red smoke. Standing by."
I dragged Roach past the chopper before yelling "Thunder Two-One, cleared hot."
"Roger that. Guns, guns, guns."
I watched as the Little Bird lit up the hostiles in the trees. We finally made it out. I looked down at Roach and saw him slipping from consciousness. I had to get him out of here. I looked behind me to see Shepard's Pave Low come in for a landing. I grabbed Roach and hauled him to his feet.
"Come on, get up! Get up! We're almost there!" I told him
Come on Roach, we're almost there. Don't give up now. I helped him stagger towards the heli before it landed and the ramp lowered , with Shepard coming out.
"Do you have the DSM?" Shepard asked
"We've got it, sir." I said, relieved to be away from that house and to be going home.
"Good. That's one less loose end."
Wait, what? Loose end? What is he talking about? Before I can question him about it, he takes out his .44 Magnum and shoots Roach in the stomach.
"NO!" I yelled, pulling up my ACR to shoot the treacherous General
I didn't get far though. Shepard, not even looking at me, pulled up his gun and shot me in the shoulder. Son of a bitch. So this is how I die. Being betrayed by my superior. Again.
Hazard's POV
"Good. That's one less loose end." I heard Shepard say before a gunshot went off
"NO!" I heard Ghost yell before another gunshot
No, no, no, no, no. Please don't be dead Simon. You can't be dead. You can't be.
I heard footsteps approaching and readied my gun before some of Shepard's Shadow Company soldiers came in.
"Hostiles! Take 'em out!" One of them yelled
They didn't get far before they were killed. Then, just like the Russians, they started coming non-stop.
"You've got hostiles approaching from the field to the southeast." Archer called
"Thanks Archer." I said
I ran into the room Roach breached earlier and looked outside, where sure enough, more Shadow Company were coming. There were dozens of them, and we were low on ammo. How the hell are we going to be able to take all of them down? Either way, we were going to do it. I took aim with my ACR and started firing into the masses of them. I saw a couple drop, then a couple more receive headshots from Archer and Toad.
"Ghost! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down!—"
Before long, there were about two dozen left that made it to the house. I've got to get to Ghost. I left the room and went out to the stairs, where the SC were heading up. I cut them down and kept killing every single goddamned one of them that came through the house. If I saw someone wearing black, they were getting a bullet put in them. Soon enough, they were all dead.
"There's going to be more of them. We need to get out of here." Liz said
"Too right. Ava, get Dunn. Liz, grab Mike. We've got to get to Simon and Gary." I said
They went over and helped each of them up, all the while Dunn was protesting that he could walk on his own.
"Scott, you're injured. I'm helping you walk." Ava said
We got out of the house as fast as we could, trying to get to Ghost and Roach. I could see a cloud of smoke coming up and got a really bad feeling in my stomach. We made it to our supposed LZ and I saw a sight that made me want to scream. Ghost and Roach were engulfed in flames in the middle of the field. I ran forward and threw myself in the fire to get them out. By the time that the fire was off of them, most of their bodies had already been badly burned.
"No. Ghost." I started to sob
Just when I had found someone I could truly love and trust, they had been taken from me by someone that I thought was fighting on the same side as us. I just cried and cried over Simon body and prayed to God that this was just a really bad dream. Before long, Archer and Toad joined us.
"Lily. We have to go. You have to let him go." Archer said
No. I can't leave him. Not like this. Not burned and charred in some field somewhere in the middle of Russia. I couldn't do that to him. I looked at him once more, taking off his charred mask. Underneath, his face was barely touched by the fire. I took in his features one more time. His hair, his lips, everything. I kissed him one last time, but felt something I shouldn' have. Simon's breath.
"Simon?" I asked hesitantly
I shook him and his chest started to move more. He was breathing. He's fucking breathing! I had to get him out of here. He was hurt and he was hurt bad.
"Archer, call Captain Price. We have to get out of here." I said
"Roger that."
One way or another, we were going to get out of this god-forsaken country and kill Shepard. That bastard just started a war of his own. And he wasn't going to win.
QoC: How do you think the survivors of the safehouse are going to get out of Russia?