Chapter 1: The Mask
The Gulag smelled of piss and blood as shouting echoed through the showers, followed by gunshots. Rogue, a nearly six foot tall man with a skull mask on his head, glanced out of his cell as a buzzer echoed through the showers.
I'm next. He thought, and sure enough, a guard entered his cell and grabbed him, dragging him outside and into the bowels of the complex.
The guard lost his grip on Rogue, dropping him on the cold stone floor, scratching his headset and bruising his left arm. The guard picked him back up and continued to drag him through the bowels of the Gulag. The guard entered the Gulag's armory, dropping Rogue and standing before a wall of weapons.
Two ACRs, two M4s, two AK-47s, two M13s, two Scar 17s, two Tavors, two MP5s, two AUGs, two P90s, two UMPs, two M17s, two .357s, two M1911s and one Riot Shield. Rogue observed as the guard selected the magnums.
The guard tossed one of the magnums to another guard, who caught it and continued to the showers. Rogue's guard holstered the magnum and grabbed him, continuing to bring him to the showers. As Rogue was dragged through the cell blocks, he observed the prisoners.
One Kastovian war criminal, three rioters, and… Rogue's thoughts were interrupted by a door opening and the concrete floor of the showers colliding with his face.
The .357 magnum skidded across the floor and stopped next to Rogue. He grabbed it and got to his feet as a buzzer echoed through the showers. Rogue strafed down the right side of the showers, hoping to get the jump on his opponent. Sure enough, he found a Russian Mil-Sim soldier holding a revolver recoiling from being hit in the face by a rock thrown by one of the spectators. Rogue took his opportunity and pulled the trigger of his magnum. The weapon clicked.
"The hell?" Rogue said, hiding behind a pillar. He pushed the chamber out, finding the weapon unloaded. He knew who was responsible for this. A flashbang bounced next to him, but Rogue instinctively kicked it back the way it came. The bang burst in between Rogue and his opponent, but Rogue rushed forward all the same. He collided with his opponent, dropping his revolver and falling to the ground as he began to regain his vision.
Rogue got up in a crouch and turned to face the Russian behind him. In between the two was a revolver, which they both glanced at and locked eyes. Rogue looked behind himself and saw a revolver behind him. Rogue dove backwards, grabbing the revolver as his opponent grabbed the revolver in front of him. Rogue got back up and aimed his .357 at his opponent, who was doing the same to him. The Russian pulled the trigger.
The weapon clicked. The Russian tried again, but it clicked again. He tried again and it clicked once more. Rogue fired his opponent's magnum, watching as the bullet entered his opponent's balaclava, through his nose and into his skull. Rogue watched as his opponent's body fell to the ground, the impact causing his headset to fall off of his head. The guard's entered the showers and dragged Rogue away.
The guard dragged Rogue back through the bowels of the complex, and Rogue finally got a glimpse of the final prisoner. A mask was the first thing he saw. A mask with a skull sewn on it. The prisoner had cloth wrapped around his neck and draped over his back. Before Rogue could observe more about the prisoner, he was dragged back into the armory, but dragged out without delay. When he was dragged out of the armory and up the stairs, he looked back at the cell to find the prisoner gone.
Rogue was kicked out of the helicopter over the Arklov Peak Military Base with three other prisoners. He glanced over at Volker, an American with a helmet, goggles and binoculars hanging from his neck. Rogue activated his radio and contacted his team.
"Shaffer, this is Rogue. Volker and I have been redeployed over Arklov Peak. Proceed to rendezvous point AP-2." Rogue instructed.
"Affirmative." Shaffer responded over the radio.
"ETA 3 minutes. Make sure you have a secure LZ(ed)." A British man told them over the radio.
"Aub, you fuckin' worry too much." Volker said after activating his comm, chuckling.
"Deploy parachutes!" Rogue told Volker.
Rogue and Volker opened their parachutes and glided towards the forest of pine trees to the left of the hangars labeled '21' and '22'. Rogue and Volker glided into the inner regions of the forest, the pines on the trees tearing at their chutes. Rogue pulled his arms out of the straps of his parachute and landed safely in the snow. He unholstered his G21 and looked around, not seeing Volker. He raised his pistol while continuing to look around.
"Volker?" Rogue quietly shouted.
"Up here, dumbass!" Volker's voice replied, causing Rogue to lower his pistol and look up to find Volker's parachute stuck in a tree.
"Is it comfortable up there?" Rogue joked, holstering his weapon and approaching Volker's tree.
"Get me the fuck down!" Volker shouted.
"Quiet, someone could hear you!" Rogue whispered, handing Volker his Karambit.
Volker cut himself out of his parachute and dropped down, landing on the snow, breaking his fall. Then the waiting began. Two minutes felt like an eternity for the two, because of the adrenaline pumping through their veins or simply pure boredom was unknown to them, but after two minutes they heard a vehicle driving outside and screeching to a halt outside the forest before the twelve notes of Ride of the Valkyries blared from the vehicle.
Volker and Rogue rushed toward the blaring noise and exited the forest to find themselves in front of a black SUV being driven by a Nigerian man with short black hair, a black bandanna on his forehead and a light grey combat vest. The driver rolled down the driver's side window and hung his arm out the window, looking at the two soldiers outside.
"Need a ride?" Shaffer asked.
"Hell yeah." Volker replied, opening the back-left door and getting inside the SUV.
Rogue followed Volker and climbed inside the back of the SUV, pushing Volker to the right. Rogue closed the door of the SUV and lightly punched the vehicle's ceiling twice. Shaffer began to drive away from the base as Mills, a British man wearing a bucket hat, a black combat vest, and clothing with a woodland camouflage pattern, handed Rogue an AK-47 with Skeleton Stock and Muzzle Brake attachments from the front-right seat of the SUV. Rogue took it and Mills grabbed a VLK sniper rifle and gave it to Volker, who was sitting behind him.
"Lock and load, bitches!" Volker said after taking the sniper and pulled back the bolt.
Rogue cocked his AK while wondering why Volker had to put a swear word or expletive in nearly every sentence, beginning to look back at the forest, but his thoughts were interrupted by what he saw. The mask. It was staring at the SUV from the forest. The mask was following them.