Thomas "Bell" Jackson, CIA Operative
The Zakarpatska Oblast, Ukraine, USSR
January 22 1981
Bell made sure to bend his legs properly as he dropped into the clearing. He skidded a bit on the snow on the forest ground before he came to a stop, and once he had gotten firm footing on the ground removed his pack and started wrapping up the chute in the rigging lines so as not to draw attention; the whole area was swarming with Soviet troops.
He looked around the forest for any signs of life, hopeful that no one saw them coming. Lazar had flown just low enough to avoid radar but high enough to avoid watchful eyes, so in all likelihood no one noticed their approach.
Bell was particularly relieved his landing had gone smoothly. First time he ever had to jump out of a plane for an op was back in '71 where he and Sims dropped into Cambodia, and he remembers getting himself caught in a fucking tree. He nearly suffocated himself with his own fucking risers and only survived because of Sims' machete. Since then he was much more "precise" when it came to jumping.
He looked behind him to see Park landing in just behind him. Her landing on the Ukraine snow was a little more rough than Bell's had been, but it looked like neither of them had broken any bones, so that was a success.
As Park was starting to wrap up her own chute, Bell said, "Not bad for your first field jump."
"Could've stuck the landing better, but I'm alive," Park said, having finished stowing away the chute.
"We hang around too long, we may not be. There's Soviets crawling all over the place." Bell said, checking his camouflaged gear to make sure he had everything in place. After doing this, he took his silenced Type 63 off of his shoulder and pulled back the bolt.
With that, the pair of them heard helicopter rotors and looked up to see a patrol chopper drawing near. Bell and Park then quickly but quietly made for a denser thicket of trees, careful to avoid the helicopter's spotlight. Soon after it went away, and Bell sighed in relief.
"Then let's get moving. Mason and Woods should be about a klick north," Park had said, observing her compass. She then pulled the bolt back on her silenced Dragunov rifle with a low-powered scope and led on through the snow-covered ground.
"Adler, we happy?" Bell spoke into his earpiece.
"I'm not picking up any extra chatter. Doesn't look like Ivan knows we're here yet," Adler said over comms, "You're in the clear."
"Copy that, stay on comms," Bell said, and continued to follow Park through the forest. The pair of them walked on in silence for some time before a gruff voice said, "Rio Grande."
Bell and Park froze in place, but neither were concerned.
"Guadalupe Hidalgo," Bell said, smirking.
From out of the darkness emerged Woods and Mason. They were decked out in their own camouflaged gear, though Woods was still wearing that goddamn bandana of his rather than the black beanies that Bell, Park, and Mason were all wearing.
"Tom," Mason greeted, "Good to see you."
"You too, Alex," Bell said, "Frank."
"Bell," Woods acknowledged, and then he looked over towards Park. Bell took notice of this immediately.
"Park, this is Woods and Mason," Bell introduced them to her, "Guys, this is Agent Park from MI6."
"Facility should be another klick to the north," Mason spoke after Bell had finished, "Watch yourselves, we passed two patrols on our way over there."
"Did you get eyes on the compound?" Park asked.
"No, not yet. Trees are too thick," Mason said, "I expect the perimeter'll be well guarded."
"Nothin' we can't handle," Woods said confidently.
"We'll see," Park said, almost passive-aggressively. Woods only seemed slightly frustrated.
"Bell, you take point," Mason told him, and with that Bell raised his rifle and moved through the forest as Mason, Woods, and Park trailed behind.
"Adler, we've made contact with Woods and Mason," Park spoke into comms.
"That's good," Adler said over comms, "The base is just over the next ridge. Get in, learn what you can, and get out."
"Shit, Russ," Woods said in a disingenuous tone, "I'd planned to stay a while. See the gulag."
"Do that after we've learned what Perseus has planned, Woods," Adler said.
"Copy," Woods spoke into comms before switching off, and then he said, "Probably better lodgings than VC rat-infested cages..."
"Woods, cool it," Mason carefully warned. Bell had not met Woods until '72, after he had finally escaped his captivity in Vietnam after four years as a POW. Woods never talked about it, and Bell never asked him either. Even a blind man could see the chip on his shoulder, despite Mason explaining that he wasn't much different prior to his capture in 1968. In any case, Bell never gave Woods any trouble because, as a veteran, he understood what kind of hell Vietnam was for him and so many others.
The group navigated through the forest for a short while, their movements silent on the snowy ground. So far they hadn't encountered any foot patrols but they still took cover when the chopper came back around with its searchlight. Thankfully the trees provided excellent cover from the light.
Bell ducked under a few branches in his path, and once he stood up properly he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
It was the Soviet facility they were searching for. Bell knew the place was large, but seeing it for himself he thought you could fit three fucking Madison Square Gardens inside of it. Looking away from the facility itself was the other perimeter, consisting of what looked to be helipads, a motorpool, a barracks, checkpoints, and several lookout towers with floodlights on them sweeping the area.
Bell raised his fist, motioning to everyone behind him to stop in place, and then slowly crouched before proceeding. Mason, Woods, and Park all crouched and followed Bell's lead through the thicket.
"Holy shit," Woods remarked after exiting the thicket, "Look at that monster."
"Volkov's intel was solid, Adler," Park spoke into comms, "We have eyes on the Soviet facility."
"Confirmed," Adler said, "Estimates on their capabilities?"
"Standby," Park said, and with that the four moved closer to the edge of the ridge overlooking the facility. Below them was a watchtower with a single armed sentry manning the floodlight that shone on the road, and next to that watchtower was the checkpoint, itself manned by a single operator while another soldier stood outside by the gate smoking a cigarette. Bell looked down on the street and saw two jeeps drive across the road followed by a BTR. And all of this is just what they could see; who knew what else was waiting for them once they got inside?
"Seeing a lot of activity on the road," Bell spoke into the radio, "Infantry and armor. Advise."
"We have no idea how prepared their forces are, so use discretion if you have to engage," Adler said, "Now get in there and gather what intel you can."
"Understood. Bell out," he responded.
"Reds could be hiding anything inside," Woods commented, "Bell, snap a picture. Ops will want to see this."
Bell took out his concealable camera and took a few pictures of the facility and the outlying buildings. Hopefully it would do some good.
"We got a vehicle pulling up to the gate," Mason commented, getting everyone's attention. Bell's camera went back down towards the ground, and he saw that a jeep had pulled up next to the checkpoint.
"Let's smoke these bastards," Woods said, taking aim with his sniper rifle. Park put her hand on the barrel and said, "Wait. We give away our position now and the mission is compromised."
Woods looked at her with a raised eyebrow as if she just gave him a grave insult.
"Do you see any way around them?" Woods nudged his head in the direction of the soldiers, "'Cause I sure as hell don't."
"Just be patient, Sergeant, and look for a window of opportunity," Park explained, but Woods just scoffed.
"Park's right, Woods," Bell spoke up, "We fire now, the guy in the checkpoint'll raise the alarm quicker than we can get to him, and I don't want a BTR on my ass."
"Hey, hey, hey, can it," Mason said, irritated, "Four tangos just exited the jeep, two on each side."
"Now can we hit 'em?" Woods asked.
"Wait for the guy at the checkpoint to get out in the open, and I'll take care of him and the guard having a smoke," Mason told him, "Woods, take out the guard on the tower on my go. Bell, Park, you two focus fire on the jeep passengers. We time it right, all fall before they realize what's happened."
Everyone nodded in agreement on Mason's plan and got themselves situated. Woods got himself propped up against a fallen tree with a good line of sight on the guard in the watchtower while Bell and Park were aiming at the guys who just exited the jeep. They held in place for a few moments before the guy working at the checkpoint stepped into the open with the intent of clearing things with the soldiers in the jeep.
"On my mark. Three, two, one, mark," Mason told them.
In a matter of seconds, all seven men were dead. Woods fired first taking out the guard in the tower with his sniper, meanwhile Mason's rifle went through the checkpoint guard's head. The other soldiers standing nearby didn't even have time to be aware of what just took place as Bell and Park both took down two men apiece, firing off several semi-auto rounds from their rifles. The guard having a smoke was still struggling to understand what was going on when Mason acquired his prey before he could draw a weapon.
"Beautiful," Mason commented, "Woods, take out that spotlight."
Woods chambered in another round into his rifle and fired it again, killing the light from the tower and darkening the street. Hopefully this would give them the cover they needed to advance.
"Okay," Mason said, "Bell, take point and head down the slope. Park, you and I will follow once Bell gives the all-clear. Woods, hang back and cover."
Woods nodded in agreement, and Bell made sure to change magazines before he mantled over the ridge and slid down the slope and into the street. Quickly, he scanned the area for any more hostiles but saw none, and so he motioned up to Mason and Park and said gave the signal that the area was clear. With that, the two of them followed down the slope and linked up with Bell just outside the gate.
"Alright, we gotta get these bodies off the road," Mason instructed, and so the three of them went to work clearing the six bodies on the ground; the dead guard on the tower was negligible and inaccessable. Bell fished in the pockets of the checkpoint guard and pulled out a keycard of some kind. Hopefully this would get them past some of the security measures.
"Mason, check it," Bell held out the card for Mason to see.
"That'll make our job much easier," Mason explained, "Let's load these bodies in the jeep, get 'em out of sight."
Mason, Park, and Bell picked up the bodies and put them into the back of the jeep. After they finished, Mason said, "I'll take the jeep and get it out of sight. Look for a way inside the main building."
"On it," Bell replied.
"Woods," Mason spoke in comms, "Keep Bell and Park covered."
"Got it, Mason," Woods said, "I'll trail and disable the perimeter alarm."
With that, Mason got into the driver's seat of the jeep and started the engine, proceeding down the road to get the jeep (and the bodies) out of sight. They'd made their move, so they had to act fast before they were discovered.
Bell and Park entered the guard house together, and the both of them saw the map on the wall that gave a detailed, aerial view of the facility and outlying roads. Likely for security reasons.
"We haven't even made it through the gate and we're already getting solid intel," Park commented, taking out her own camera and snapping a few pictures of the map, "Who knows what else we'll find here?"
"If it has anything to do with Perseus and that nuke, then it can't be good," Bell said. With that, he turned his attention to the other door in the guard post leading to the rest of the base. The door was locked, so Bell went about picking it before it unlocked. He slowly opened the door while Park had her rifle raised, but so far they didn't see any more guards.
"Curious," Park said, "There must be more further up ahead."
"Yeah," Bell said, looking at the two smaller buildings ahead of them. They might be barracks or guard houses themselves, so they had to be on their toes. They moved up from the left where there was less light, and soon enough they were passing by the second of the two buildings. Bell and Park froze when the door up ahead on their left opened and a Soviet soldier stepped out with a flashlight in hand and almost immediately looked in their direction. Bell had no time to draw his gun, so he reached for one of the hatchets at his side and threw it as hard and fast as he could. The axe head buried itself in the soldier's chest, and Bell quickly closed the distance to retrieve the hatchet and make sure the soldier was dead.
"Quick thinking," Park commended, impressed with the speed he took the target down. With that, Bell pulled the body to a darkened corner and motioned for Park to follow him up ahead.
"Shit," Woods spoke, "A patrol is approaching my position. Bell, Park, find a way in. I'll follow around."
"I copy, Woods," Bell responded before switching off, "Dammit."
"Let's just keep moving," Park advised, and the two of them proceeded between the buildings with guns raised.
They turned the corner to get a good view of one of the base's helipads. The patrol chopper from earlier was being refueled and attended to by six-plus foot mobiles, along with other troops in the perimeter. All in all, it was less than twenty, but it only took one to raise the alarm.
"Oh, this isn't good," Park commented.
"Not at all," Bell said before seeing a guard with his back to them standing behind some crates. Bell then said, "He's all yours, Park."
Park gave a wry smirk as she pulled out her knife and approached the guard slowly. She then seized him from behind, grabbed hold of his mouth and stabbed him in the throat. He dropped to the ground in seconds and nobody was any the wiser. Bell was impressed with her skills.
He moved forward and joined Park behind the crates. Observing the situation ahead, he said, "We should split up. We bunch up, they could spot us easy."
"We'll need to flank around them," Park suggested, "I'll go up the right, you take left."
"Good thinking," Bell said, and then they split up. Bell was careful in his approach, quick to duck behind cover but otherwise moving slow so as not to alert the other guards. When a couple got too close, he dispatched them with his hatchet so as to save his rounds and not make a mess. He took cover behind a truck as a jeep came through the area, careful to avoid its headlights, and then maneuvered past some anti-aircraft guns not currently in use. Bell finally made it past the gate which led from the helipad onto another one of the base's roads. He looked across the street to see the large motorpool which consisted of several jeeps, trucks, and armored cars that were not in deployment. He did see a BTR that was patrolling the area with its searchlight, so he knew he had to avoid that.
"I'm through, Bell," Park spoke over comms, "The Reds are quiet for now. But I've still no word from Woods."
"Don't worry about Woods, Park. He'll be alright," Bell told her, "Just stay out of sight and find a way inside."
With that, Bell looked at the main building again. He was only about fifty meters away from a doorway on the one corner of the facility, so maybe he could make his infiltration there. Quickly but quietly, Bell made his way up the street, careful to avoid the lights from the patrolling BTR in the motorpool and of another patrol chopper. At long last, he made it to the doorway outside the main building, and quickly did a scan of the area for Soviet activity. They did not spot him, and Bell was relieved.
He went to work picking the lock on the door, taking his time while doing so because this one was trickier than others. Bell was not even halfway finished when suddenly the door opened and he was face-to-face with a Soviet soldier, whose eyes widened in surprise at seeing Bell standing there. Before Bell could even attempt to reach for a weapon, the Soviet grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him inside.
"Intruder!" the soldier shouted in Russian as he dragged Bell inside. Bell caught a brief glimpse of another soldier sitting at the desk before the soldier released him hard, causing his Type 63 to slip from his grasp. He couldn't even reach for his knife when the Soviet gave him a left hook across the face and sent him to the ground. In another moment, Bell saw the soldier had pulled out a Makarov from his holster and was now pointing it at him.
God fucking dammit, how could he have been so careless?
"Call for backup!" the Soviet told the other soldier before speaking directly to Bell, "Identify yourself!"
Everything was happening so fast he barely noticed that Woods had rushed through the doorway and kicked the Makarov out of the soldier's grasp. Woods then seized the man from behind and started to strangle him. Bell saw the other guard start to quickly get up out of his chair and started to rush for the base alarm on the wall, but Bell pulled out his silenced 1911 and fired two shots at him before he could reach it.
Woods had snapped the neck of the Soviet that grabbed Bell, then hastily shut the door behind him, locked it, and took a nearby chair and blocked the door with it. Bell was still on the ground, pistol in hand.
"You're welcome," Woods said before looking to the ground to see Bell's rifle, "You lost something."
He kicked the Type 63 over to Bell, and Bell picked it up before standing up himself. Woods had his sniper slung over his back and now had his own silenced 1911 drawn.
"I owe you a drink," Bell said as he and Woods scanned the room for any signs of trouble, but they were the only ones in it.
"Mason, Park, it's Woods," he spoke into comms, "Bell and I are inside the target building. You?"
"Just finished dumping the bodies in the forest," Mason said, "You disable the perimeter alarm?"
"Yep. You guys'll be in the clear," Woods explained.
"Good. I'll link up with Park and meet you inside," Mason told him.
"Copy," Woods replied before switching off, "We don't got a lot of time."
"Then let's get moving," Bell said.
"No arguments here," Woods responded. Bell then took point and saw the door leading to the rest of the facility required keycard access. Fortunately he still had the card he'd taken off the checkpoint guard at the main gate. He slid it in and Bell and Woods walked out onto a catwalk of sorts inside the facility. They made their way forward until they were looking over a narrow hallway and saw three more Soviets in the hallway talking with each other. They would need to be dealt with before they could advance.
"Alright," Bell said, "I'll move down to the lower deck. Get that sniper ready and I'll engage on your mark."
"No problem," Woods responded, taking the sniper off of his back and aiming over the railing at the furthest guard. Bell made his way carefully down the stairwell and took position.
"I'm set," Bell said, "Fire when ready."
In another moment, Woods fired his rifle and put a round through the one Soviet's head. Bell then opened fire with his rifle and dispatched the two remaining guards.
"Clear," Woods called out from above.
"Okay, move up," Bell told him, and Woods made his way down the stairwell and linked up with Bell. They proceeded down the hallway and saw the numerous open doors, but so far there weren't any more hostiles. They scanned the rooms for any intel, and Bell found a few more pictures of the base's schematics. So far, nothing here seemed to relate to Volkov's nuclear intel.
"There has to be some sort of database we can access," Bell commented.
Bell and Woods had reached the end of the hallway where a single open door was on the right. They went through it and saw another door at the end of a short hallway that looked a bit like a utility closet.
"Be ready," Woods advised, drawing his sidearm, "There could be a thousand Reds on the other side of this door."
Woods went to open the door but found it was locked again, and neither of them had a key.
"Bell, you're up. Get this door unlocked," Woods instructed him. Bell came forward and knelt down so he could get to work picking the lock.
"Alright, let's see what we got," Bell said to himself, getting his tools out as he started to work the lock. Thank God Woods was here to cover his ass so he could avoid any more surprises, "This one's tricky."
As Bell was working the lock, he heard Woods speak again, "So, Bell..."
"Yeah?" Bell responded.
"What's the deal with Park?" Woods asked.
"What do you mean 'what's the deal?'" Bell asked, not sure if he liked where this was going.
"I guess Adler and Hudson trust her, but she just seems like a real bitch to me," Woods commented, and at this comment Bell started to get frustrated. The fuck would he know about her? He just met her.
"She's not a bitch, Woods," Bell responded, looking over his shoulder.
"You kidding me, Bell?" Woods seemed flabbergasted, "Did you not see the way she acted back on the ridge, like I worked under her?"
"Uh, that didn't happen at all," Bell said, "It would've been a dumb move to fire before we had a clear line of sight on them all."
"The fuck you taking the limey's side for?" Woods asked, himself getting frustrated.
"She saved my life in East Berlin," Bell explained, "So I'm inclined to trust her judgment. Besides, Mason thought it was a good plan too. Now shut the fuck up and let me finish with this door."
Woods scoffed, but he dropped it since there was no point in getting into this when they were in the middle of a gigantic Soviet facility in the middle of fucking Ukraine.
Bell had finished picking the lock and then backed away from the door. Woods held his pistol tight in one hand, grabbed the door handle with the other, and looked back at Bell and said, "Cover me."
Bell kept his rifle raised, and in a moment Woods burst through the door and saw a figure in front of him. Acting on instinct, he brought the tango down onto the ground and pointed a pistol in their face, but Woods paused when he saw the target he took down was just a mannequin.
Bell was just as confused as Woods was, and scanned the room only to be greeted with the sight of more mannequins, bright purple neon lights, and several video arcade machines. He also heard Hit Me With Your Best Shot playing over the radio in plain English.
What the fuck was this place?
Bell looked down at Woods who was still staring at the mannequin. Despite not knowing what was going on, Bell thought the situation looked quite amusing what with Woods' aggressive "takedown."
Woods seemed to catch onto this and let go of the mannequin. He kept his head turned away from Bell, raised up a finger, and said, "Not a fucking word, Bell."
Bell had to restrain himself from laughing. If he said anything right now, Woods would shoot him, mission be damned. But oh boy if he wasn't going to tell the others about this once the mission was done.
Woods got up off the ground and Bell followed behind, carefully observing the strange environment they walked into.
"The hell is this place?" Woods asked aloud, looking at several pinball machines.
"Looks like a video arcade," Bell said. He had no idea why the fuck the Soviets would build... wait, was that a fucking Pac-Man machine?
"No shit, Sherlock," Woods grunted, "What's it doing in the middle of a Soviet base?"
The two of them stopped walking when they saw a glass window on their left and looked out it. Their jaws dropped when they saw more of the same strangeness they saw in this room. Outside looked like a street of sorts, lined up with shops, bars, restaurants, and a movie theater advertising a film called The Red Army. Hell, there was even a Burger Town. The streets were lined with civilian cars and more mannequins like in here. Above the street was a Russian Hind held up by wires to the ceiling, and Bell saw the lights that shone down on the ground. An alarm blared, and all at once they saw Soviet soldiers deploying from the chopper onto the street, rifles in hand.
"Holy fuck," Woods exclaimed, "It's a Spetsnaz training course. Made to look like fucking Anytown, USA."
Bell and Woods ducked for cover on either side of the window so as not to be spotted by the Spetsnaz forces on the ground. Despite what they just found, Bell couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. What the hell did any of this have to do with the stolen nuke that Perseus had?
They observed the street again, and alongside the Spetsnaz operatives Bell saw several people dressed in civilian clothes. Most were men but a few were women, all of them wearing suits or T-shirts like average American citizens. Except in this case they were not running away from the Soviets but acting alongside them. He saw a few of them brandishing weapons, and this concerned him a great deal.
"It's an invasion force," Bell commented, "It's not just Spetsnaz operatives they're training, but undercover ops too. They're dressed as civilians."
"Jesus Christ," Woods commented, "Get your camera out. No one's gonna believe this."
Bell did as instructed and took several pictures of the training course. Once he finished, a Russian voice spoke over the entire facility, instructing the Spetsnaz to begin.
"They're starting!" Woods said, "Fuck, let's move!"
With that, the two of them made their way towards the closed doorway on the other end of the room. They had to get out of here before they got caught in the crossfire of the drill. There was a door up ahead and Woods kicked it open rather than take the time to pick the lock, and he and Bell maneuvered up a metal staircase in what looked like a backroom of sorts. After reaching the top of the stairs, they saw several weapons' crates around them.
"If we get spotted, we're gonna need some heavier firepower," Bell said, and Woods nodded. Bell put his Type 63 aside and opened the crate, expecting to find an AK-47 he could use if they were compromised. But as he looked inside the crate, he didn't see any AKs at all.
In fact, Bell reached into the crate and pulled out an M4 rifle.
"What the fuck?" Bell said, "Frank, you see this shit?"
Woods said nothing, but opened up another crate to find it loaded with MP5 submachine guns. Bell opened up the rest of his crate to see more M4s. Another crate revealed Colt 1911s and Beretta M9s, another one had Remington pump-action shotguns, and yet another one held M67 grenades.
"What the hell are Russians doing with American weapons?" Woods asked.
Bell remembered asking this same question in Turkey, when Arash Kadivar had been giving the crates of NATO weapons to the Spetsnaz operatives on the ground. It was at this moment he saw the Perseus connection.
"Kadivar," Bell said, "He was supplying the Soviets with American arms. Remember the airfield in Turkey?"
"Holy shit," Woods said in a moment of realization, "This is where all those guns were going to! So that must mean..."
"Perseus intends to invade," Bell finished for him, "The Spetsnaz are training undercover operatives to infiltrate American towns, and Perseus gave them the arms to do so."
"But what the fuck does any of this have to do with the nuke?" Woods asked.
"I don't know, but we need to get moving," Bell said, "Take what you want."
Bell grabbed an M4 rifle with a red dot sight and a few magazines to replace his Type 63; he was running low on ammo for that anyway. He also grabbed some grenades and some more 1911 ammo. Woods grabbed an MP5 and some magazines for that as well. His sniper wouldn't be of much use at this point. After they finished gathering supplies, Bell took several pictures of the weapons' crates. Before they left, Bell also grabbed an M9 from the one crate for analysis. He was very interested to know how Kadivar had gotten his hands on these guns to give to the Soviets.
Bell and Woods made their way out of the room and went back along the catwalks. By then, the Spetsnaz had started their live-fire drill, but they held back because they were outnumbered and had not gathered all the necessary intel relating to the nuke yet.
"Mason, Park, you there?" Woods spoke into comms.
"Woods, we found a way inside the facility," Park spoke, "What's your status?"
"We found a fucking Spetsnaz shooting range full of American weapons," Woods spoke, "We think Arash Kadivar was the one responsible for bringing them here."
"My God," Mason said, "Are you compromised?"
"Not yet. Bell and I are up on the balcony overlooking the training course. The Reds got a live-fire drill going on right now," Woods responded, "We're heading to the upper levels to try to find their database."
"Understood," Mason said, "We'll meet you there."
Bell continued to follow Woods through the balcony, careful to not draw any attention their way. They saw officers on the ground monitoring the progress of the soldiers and the agents. It was clever of them to come up with something like this, he'd give them that. That being said they had to shut this shit down before they attempted an actual invasion of this measure.
They stopped outside of another door at the far end of the balcony, and the pair of them realized this must be the observation post. Woods used the keycard to unlock the door and slowly cracked it open, and saw two officers manning computer terminals while overlooking the training course. Bell handed Woods one of his hatchets, then drew his own knife as he came up behind one of the officers. At the same moment, Bell and Woods executed the men silently and pulled them away from the terminals. From above, they could see the Soviets continuing their exercises.
"Alright, let's move," Woods said. Bell followed Woods out of the observation platform into a corridor behind it and saw it deserted of soldiers. At the opposite end from them was an elevator with restricted access. There was a doorway leading to a staircase on their right, but before they went up it they heard the elevator ding. They saw that there were people coming up from one of the lower levels, and the two of them started to panic. Had they found the bodies they'd left?
Woods motioned for Bell to get on the one side of the elevator while he would take the other, and they took position right as the elevator door opened. They caught a glimpse of rifle barrels pointing out of the elevator before a voice said, "Clear."
Wait a second. That was Park's voice.
Bell quickly stepped out from cover, and when Park turned her head in his direction she jumped and raised her rifle with lightning-fast speed.
"Friendly! Friendly!" Bell yelled, raising his hands up. All of this got Mason's attention as well as he pointed his own gun over towards Bell.
"Christ, Bell! I could've shot you just now," Park frustratingly said, lowering her Dragunov. Mason also lowered his gun then turned his head over to face Woods who emerged from the corner.
"Don't sneak up on us like that, man," Mason said, slightly annoyed.
"You could've radioed us and told us you were coming up the elevator," Woods said.
"I did," Mason explained, "Didn't you hear?"
"No," Woods said.
"Hmm, weird," Mason remarked, "Must be some kind of interference."
"Point being, we're all here now," Bell cut them off, "We need to find their database and get the hell out of here as soon as possible."
Park looked over Bell and Woods, carrying automatics they didn't have when they entered the base.
"Would these be the weapons you were referring to?" she asked Bell.
"Yeah, there's crates of the stuff below. Here," Bell handed her the M9 from the crate, "And that's not the most surprising thing."
Before Bell could explain, Mason said, "We'll talk about it later. Now we need to get that intel. I'll take point."
With that, Mason led on towards the stairwell. Woods, Park, and Bell followed behind him as he led them up the stairwell. Surprisingly they didn't encounter any more guards, so that was good. Eventually, they made their way to the top of the stairwell and stopped outside a pair of heavy metal doors.
"Shh," Mason silenced everyone, crouching down next to the door to listen to the voices he heard inside.
"The training drills continue with a great deal of success," said one voice in Russian.
"Yes, but all the training in the world is nothing without proper field experience," a second voice said, also in Russian.
"Just give them a few more weeks with those weapons and I guarantee you they will perform without fail in the field," the first voice said again.
"You better hope so for your sake, Comrade," the second voice warned, "or else I'll find another to do your job."
"I swear it, Comrade Major Rudnik. All they need is a little more time with the American weapons and wherever Comrade General Secretary wishes for them to be deployed, they will be ready," the first voice promised.
"Comrade Brezhnev will take it under advisement, I can promise you that," Rudnik said.
"I uploaded the files to the terminal here should you wish to review them now and report back to the General Secretary," the first voice said.
"Later," Rudnik told him, "I must return to my posting in Urzikstan before the end of the month. For now, I would like for you to show me a little more of your airborne infantry tactics..."
The voices became faded and therefore could not be heard properly. The four agents heard the sounds of doors opening and shutting, and then Mason said, "Sounds like our cue. Ready?"
"Always," Woods said, slapping the bolt down on his MP5. In a matter of moments, the team burst through the metal doors and kept a sharp eye out for any hostiles.
"Clear," Bell said.
"Clear," Park had also said.
"Clear," Woods said, before turning his attention to what the room contained. There were several computer terminals and servers all over the room as well as Soviet banners in each corner, and judging by all of this it looked like it was the command center for the entire facility.
"Jackpot! Computer central," Woods remarked.
"Alright, people. Let's get to work," Mason instructed everyone, "Bell, hop on that computer terminal. Poke around and see what you can find. Park, Woods, look for any documents you see."
Bell went up to the computer terminal, set his rifle down beside it, and said, "Alright, let's see what the Reds are really up to."
He took a seat in front of it and went to work logging into the terminal. After doing so, the computer "greeted" him, saying "Welcome to the Soviet People's Warfare Analysis Archive. Please make a selection."
Bell looked in front of him to see three options listed in Russian, and each one was labeled "Tactical Urban Combat Statistics," "KGB Updates," and "Operation Greenlight."
It looks like they really did hit the jackpot here. Bell reached into his pack and pulled out a floppy drive, intending to copy everything that was here onto a secure file for analysis. He clicked on the first option for combat statistics, and was met with a screen that said, " Tactical Urban Combat Statistics. Restricted access."
Fuck. That wasn't gonna work. Next he tried "KGB Updates" and was met with the same response. Frustrated, Bell clicked on "Operation Greenlight," and the machine said, "Operation Greenlight. Restricted Access."
"Wait a minute, what the fuck is Operation Greenlight?" Woods asked, stopping what he was doing and walking over to the terminal where Bell was at.
"I don't know, it's an encrypted file. I can't access it," Bell said.
"Can't you just hack it or something?" Woods asked.
"It's not that simple, I'd need a password that I don't have," Bell explained, "It's not like the movies where I can just hack my way inside."
"Alright, well look around for something," Mason advised, "These Reds ain't that smart when it comes to this sorta thing."
"Yeah, probably the birthday of some dumbass kid," Woods commented.
Bell looked around the desk for anything he could use. He saw a postcard on the terminal, advertising the city of Sochi. Bell decided it was worth a shot and typed in "SOCHI" into the terminal, only for it to deny him access.
"Maybe it has something to do with communist history?" Park suggested.
"How about Stalin's mustache? You think that'd work?" Woods joked. Park sighed.
Bell scanned around the desk for another moment before seeing a sticky note next to the screen. It was a small, cartoonish-looking drawing of Leonid Brezhnev that looked most odd considering how secure this place was supposed to...
"Wait a sec," Bell said before typing in the word "BREZHNEV" into the computer. Immediately, the computer said, "Access granted," and gave him access to all three files.
"Alright, I'm in," Bell said.
"Good work, Bell," Park commended.
"Alright, get everything you can copied to the disc," Mason said, "We can't linger for too long."
With that, Bell inserted the floppy disc started to copy the information from the computer onto it.
"Hey Bell, you mind checking out Operation Greenlight?" Woods asked.
"No problem, Woods," Bell said before clicking onto the file. When it opened, an image appeared on the computer screen of a device of some kind. Looking at it for a few moments, Bell realized that the device on the screen was the same one that Volkov had photographs of in his briefcase.
"Holy shit, it's the nuke," Bell said, "The one Perseus smuggled."
Park came up alongside Bell and looked at the computer screen, "Oh my God. This is the entire schematic layout of the nuclear device. Now we're getting somewhere."
Bell clicked on the next page to see what intel he could find, and the image of the nuke's schematics went away and were replaced by text.
"Alright, let's see what you..." Bell began, but paused once he started to read the document.
ENTRY 14, 29.12.80:
Top secret CIA program uncovered by [REDACTED] on 24.10.80 via surveillance of Special Agent Jason Hudson using [REDACTED]. Imminent threat to Soviet national security. Perseus tasked with intel collection at Berlin Greenlight Site.
ENTRY 15, 01.11.81:
Perseus request for [REDACTED] denied by [REDACTED] citing global security concerns. [END ENTRIES]
"What the fuck!?" Bell's jaw had dropped, "Park, tell me I didn't see what I think I just saw!"
"I... I don't understand..." is all Park was able to get out.
"Mason, Woods, get over here!" Bell called out to them. They gathered around and read the entries for themselves.
"No fucking way," Woods said, "No fucking way!"
"There's more," Bell said, swallowing. There was an audio file embedded within the entries. Bell clicked on it and prepared himself for the worst.
"We confirmed it," Hudson's voice sounded out over the speaker, "The nuke smuggled out of Berlin is a Greenlight asset. It's one of ours."
"If that gets out..." said a second voice, unfamiliar to all of them.
"No one will know. Not even Adler's team. The stakes are too high," Hudson reaffirmed the second voice.
Bell's rage was rising by the second as he continued listening to this shit.
"High is an understatement. We're talking about an American nuke hidden beneath Berlin," the second voice said, and the audio clip ended.
"Oh my God," Mason put his head in his hands. Bell sat petrified. Woods looked about ready to kill.
"Bell, print this shit! I'm grabbing a copy!" Woods said angrily. Bell immediately selected the function to print the document at the room's fax machine. The document printed and Woods grabbed it.
"This doesn't make any sense," Woods said bitterly, "Perseus infiltrated a CIA nuke program codenamed Operation Greenlight - run by Hudson!"
Woods became so furious he kicked a nearby computer server repeatedly.
"Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Woods swore loudly, and Mason said, "Woods! Get a grip of yourself!"
"The stolen nuke is American!" Bell shouted, getting up out of the chair, "and Hudson fucking knew!"
The next moment, alarms started blaring all over the room and the computer terminal read "UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS."
"Shit!" Mason shouted, "We're compromised, time to go!"
With that, Bell immediately reached for the floppy disc, which finished copying the terminal's information. Afterwards he, Woods, and Park followed Mason out of the room and back down the stairwell towards the exit.
"I can't fucking believe it," Woods said, "I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT! I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!"
"You can bet your ass we're gonna make Hudson talk," Mason began, "but first we gotta get out of here!"
The group ran back towards the observation post that Bell and Woods had been at. They looked down over the edge and saw several Spetsnaz closing in towards their position.
"Bloody hell, this isn't good," Park remarked, looking at the soldiers rushing towards them.
"Adler, come in!" Mason shouted over comms, "Adler? Adler!? Dammit!"
"What's wrong, Mason?" Adler asked.
"We're compromised! We need that extract pronto!" Mason demanded.
"Roger that. Lazar and I are inbound to the rendevous. ETA eight minutes," Adler responded.
"Hudson lied to us, Adler! He fucking lied to us!" Woods shouted.
"Woods, what are you talking about!?" Adler asked.
"I'm talking about the stolen nuke from Greenlight! That's what Perseus is after and Hudson has his fucking fingerprints all over it!" Woods shouted.
"Woods, you're breaking up! Just get the hell out of there!" Adler shouted back.
By the time the group had made it out to the balcony, Bell saw a BTR rolling through the streets towards them, pancaking cars as it went along.
"Oh, FUCK! MOVE!" Bell shouted, and the four of them quickly ran across the balcony as the BTR opened fire at them. The high-grade rounds punched through the wall behind them as they made their way back towards cover. They ducked into the building where they found the weapons and sat behind the cover of concrete walls as the BTR's guns continued firing towards them.
"Alright, grab weapons and ammo!" Woods shouted, "We need to get moving!"
Mason reached into the one crate and pulled out an M4 for himself. Park acquired an MP5 and grabbed one of the Remington shotguns to replace her Dragunov.
"Keep moving and use the facades as cover!" Bell told them, rushing forward down the stairs of the building as the BTR continued to fire at them.
"Don't stop or you're dead!" Woods told them. Soon not only were they being fired at by the BTR but also had to contend with small-arms fire from the Spetsnaz forces on the ground. The voice on the intercom instructed them to shoot any unknowns on sight. They passed between buildings along the main road, not stopping for anything until they heard the sounds of the BTR's gun stop firing. They took refuge inside the Burger Town and watched as Soviets, both Spetsnaz and the plainclothes operatives, prepared to assault their position.
"Fire at will!" Mason ordered, and all of them started to pick off the Soviets one by one as they neared them.
Bell's magazine ran out first and he ducked to reload. Mason provided covering fire while he did so.
"Keep holding!" Woods said, pulling out his 1911 and dispatching two targets with it, "Bell, use your grenades!"
Bell did as instructed and pulled the pin on a grenade, throwing it out the window where it detonated at the boots of four Russians.
Park put down three more Russians with her MP5 before it clicked dry, and then when she saw two more Spetsnaz trying to rush her, she dropped the SMG and pulled out the Remington, firing a shell each into the hostiles.
A smoke grenade popped up outside, and Woods said, "They're trying to cut us off!"
"Use flashbangs!" Mason said, and then he and Bell each threw flashbangs through the Burger Town's windows in an attempt to temporarily blind the Soviets that were approaching through the smoke.
"Let's move!" Mason ordered, and with that the group exited the Burger Town to their right and went further up the street. After crossing one of the blocks, they saw the BTR, and it had reacquired them.
"Duck!" Bell said, diving to the ground as the BTR opened fire at the building they were just in. In the attempt, however, he accidentally knocked down Park, who angrily pushed him off.
"Get off!" Park said, before grabbing her MP5 and crawling low through the building behind Mason and Woods.
"Sorry!" Bell called out from behind her as he crawled forward. Eventually they made it to behind more solid cover, and ahead of them they saw a door that required a red button to be pushed to activate.
"Alright everyone, check your ammo levels!" Mason instructed them, and they all made sure to top off their magazines.
"Half of fucking Moscow is on the other side of this door!" Woods said, slapping the bolt down on his MP5 once he put in a new magazine.
"We can't go anywhere as long as that BTR has us pinned down," Park said, loading in shells into her shotgun, "Any ideas?"
"Well... we could commandeer one," Bell suggested, and everyone looked at him incredulously, "I'm serious! We get in control of one, we have armor, heavy firepower, and a set of wheels."
"Not a bad idea, Bell," Mason said, "The only trick is acquiring one."
"That's why we need to move fast and hard, so they don't even realize what's going on," Bell said.
"Alright then. You and I will breach," Mason instructed, "Woods, Park, cover our flanks."
With that, Mason pressed the button on the door and it opened. He and Bell quickly stepped through and saw a single Soviet guard with his back turned to them. Bell closed the distance and wrapped his arm around his throat before looking ahead to see six hostiles ahead of him. They turned towards him and opened fire, but the Soviet that Bell was holding onto served as an excellent human shield while he and Mason fired into the group, killing them all.
Two jeeps pulled up and several personnel exited the vehicles. Bell dropped the dead Soviet and took cover with Mason to the left while Woods and Park flanked right and returned fire.
"Oh fuck!" Woods said, "Heavy!"
"What?" Bell was confused.
"The Juggernaut guy! Heavy armor!" Woods called out. Bell peaked from behind cover and saw a heavily armored soldier walking towards them with an RPD in his grasp. He let out a burst of machine gun fire while they all took cover.
"Bell, throw a flash and stun the fucker!" Woods called out. With that, Bell threw a flashbang toward the Juggernaut and took cover after it detonated. It temporarily disoriented the elite soldier and Bell took this time to fire several rifle rounds into his armor to no effect.
"Toss some grenades!" Park shouted, "Break through his armor!"
Bell's rifle had clicked dry, and then he ducked to get a grenade primed and ready. He threw it, but the detonation did not seem to weaken the Juggernaut even if it did kill two more Spetsnaz on the ground.
"Dammit!" Bell said, "Park! Shotgun!"
Park wasn't sure what his plan was, but she slid over the Remington to where Bell and Mason were. Bell picked up the shotgun and held back for a moment.
"I'm out of flash grenades!" Bell said, and the Juggernaut continued to fire on their position, "Mason, got any more!?"
"Just the one!" Mason said, "Make it count!"
Mason threw the flash grenade at the Juggernaut and it burst in his face again, disorienting him once more. Bell mantled over his piece of cover and proceeded forward with the shotgun. As Mason, Woods, and Park took care of the other Spetsnaz soldiers, Bell closed the distance between him and the Juggernaut, firing shotgun shells as he drew nearer, pumping in another shell each time. The force of the weapon brought the heavy to his knees and caused him to drop his RPD. Afterwards Bell ripped his helmet off his head and fired the last shell through his skull.
Bell ejected the empty shell as smoke rose from the shotgun's barrel. Mason, Woods, and Park got up from out of cover, and Mason said, "Damn, Bell. You got some balls on you."
Bell said nothing, he just handed the shotgun back to Park.
"Look over there!" Woods said, and up ahead was what they were looking for: a BTR that they could commandeer.
"Alright, let's move!" Mason said, and they all gathered outside the BTR, "Woods, you drive. Park, man the front .30 cal. Bell, get up on the .50."
With that, everyone got inside the vehicle, and Woods said, "Bastards are blocking the exit! We're gonna have to punch through 'em!"
"You ever drive one of these before, Woods?" Park asked.
"How hard can it be?" Woods rhetorically responded from inside the BTR, "Let's see here... ignition, steering, gear shift..."
"Christ, I could've figured that out!" Park complained.
"Shut the fuck up and work the gun, 'kay?" Woods told her, and then he started up the BTR's engine, "Alright, let's roll!"
"We got company!" Bell called down to them, seeing more Spetsnaz operatives enter the area in jeeps and on foot. Bell let loose with the .50 cal machine gun up top on targets to his left, meanwhile Park opened fire with the .30 on the targets directly in front of the BTR.
"Any day now, Woods!" Mason called out.
"Hang on... okay, we're rolling!" Woods said, pressing on the BTR's gas pedal and driving forward, "Hang on, everyone!"
Woods drove the BTR down the street towards the closed metal doors, and picking up speed was able to push through them. When they did, they came across another part of the whole training complex, consisting of a courthouse and a pavilion right in front of it. In that pavilion were two machine guns, and coming up around the side was another BTR.
"Park, focus fire on the pavilion!" Mason ordered, "Bell, watch that fucker coming up on our right!"
Bell held the trigger down and let several .50 caliber rounds pour into the enemy vehicle, taking out its gunner. Rather than pull back due to this disadvantage, the enemy driver picked up speed and rammed itself into their BTR.
"GODDAMMIT!" Woods shouted after being tossed by the BTR, "Bell, take that fucker out!"
Bell swerved the gun behind him and continued to fire at the BTR. Eventually, he fired enough rounds the thing exploded.
"Light's out, fucker!" Bell shouted
"Twelve-plus foot mobiles in front!" Park shouted, gunning some down with the .30 cal. Woods then sped up with the BTR and ran some of them over. He turned the corner and gave Bell an opportunity to mop up more resistance in the street.
"Woods, head through there! Look's like an exit!" Mason shouted, and Woods drove straight through the entryway. On the balcony in front of them, a Spetsnaz soldier fired an RPG at the BTR, but it missed and hit the street instead. Bell turned the gun towards the guy and tore him to shreds.
"Nice shooting, Bell!" Park complimented.
"Mason, I'm not seeing an exit!" Woods called out, "Would it have killed them to put in some goddamn street signs!?"
"Just keep driving! Don't stop!" Mason shouted.
"Look! Up ahead!" Bell called out. In front of them was an exit out of the facility into the night. But between them and the exit were two more BTRs that pulled up alongside each other and formed a blockade.
"I can see the exit!" Mason called out, "Bell, Park, focus fire on those BTRs!"
"I'm gonna floor it!" Woods said, pressing down hard on the gas pedal. He smashed through some cars on the street while Bell and Park kept shooting at the armored cars. The gunfire caused the two vehicles to explode in a fiery wreck, and Woods' speed had punched through the heavy metal as they beat the roadblock and exited into the facility exterior.
"Heads up!" Park called out, "Enemy Hind, two o'clock!"
Bell looked up to see one of the patrol helicopter up above. It shone its light down on the BTR, but before it could fire upon them Bell let out a whirlwind of MG fire which caused the helicopter to crash into the motorpool.
"Team, Lazar and I are at the exfil point, ETA thirty seconds! I can see the smoke from here! What the fuck happened!?" Adler called out over comms.
"Gather everyone, Adler! The whole team!" Woods shouted into comms, driving the BTR further away from the Soviet base they just escaped from, "Hudson has got a shit-ton of explaining to do!"
Bell knew that was an understatement. If Woods didn't kill Hudson, then he certainly would. It wasn't just any nuke that Perseus had gotten his hands on, but an American-made one.
This whole situation was fucked beyond comprehension.