Present day, before getting the call from Overlord to defend key areas in the east coast of the United States, Hunter Team 2 gets the news about the massacre of Zakhaev International Airport, and Allen being tied to it. With the announcements of war being made by the Russian government on CNN, Foley asked Ramirez about what he thought about the situation.

Foley: So, what do you think?

Ramirez: Well, for starters, that was abnormally quick. Did the Russians even do any research about the perpetrators of this attack? A full investigation of that mess cannot be done overnight.

Foley: You sense something out of the ordinary?

Ramirez: Yeah. Allen couldn't have done this alone. He's gotta have some backup.

Then Dunn chimes in.

Dunn: Now that you put it like that, how and why was Allen there in the first place?

Ramirez: Who is Task Force 141 after?

Foley: A target named Kingfish.

Ramirez: Vladimir Makarov.

Dunn: How do you know?

Ramirez: Remember Rook back in 141? He told me about Kingfish. Makarov is so dangerous and manipulative that he can turn his acts of terror into acts of war.

Foley: Are you talking about a setup?

Ramirez: That would be my best guess.

Dunn: What I don't get is that if this Kingfish guy ran the show, why didn't the Russians know about this?

Ramirez: Perhaps they did know, but refused to put it on Makarov because they wanted to go to war with us. The Russians hated us since the Cold War and wanted nothing more but to conquer or destroy us, even after the Soviet Union collapsed. And Allen may just be the excuse they need to do so without interference from NATO or the UN. That would be my take, which would just be conjecture.

Dunn: Quite a conclusion. Fucking Russians. Why don't they just give up.

Ramirez: Would we? War, hate, ambition, all that will never end as long as man walks on Earth, dude.

Then Hunter Team 2 gets called by the commanders of the 75th Ranger Regiment. With Allen's reassignment and death, Ramirez has officially taken his place as Hunter 2-3. They'll also be receiving three new teammates, fresh from RASP (Ranger Assessment and Selection Program).

Hunter 2-4: Sergeant Morgan (Pvt. Morgan in the Original)

Hunter 2-5: Sergeant McCord (Pvt. McCord in the Original)

Hunter 2-6: Sergeant Wade (Pvt. Wade in the Original)

Once Ramirez, Foley and Dunn are acquainted with Morgan, McCord and Wade, their commanders give them six hours to settle their civilian affairs and ready their homes before deployment.

Dunn and the new recruits went back to their homes and fortified them. Foley went to his house, spent time with his family and told them to brace for a possible invasion.

Before getting to work on his house, Ramirez video calls Grace, his parents, Bryce and Melanie Ramirez, and his little sister, Bonnie Ramirez. Since the assumption he told his team was too good to be true for his superiors to believe, he can share it with his family, which he does.

Once everyone's civilian matters are settled and six hours is up, Hunter Team 2 reports back to Ft. Benning. United States Central Command is calling for available spec ops units close to the northeastern part of Virginia to assist the protection and extraction of a HVI (High Value Individual) under the codename: Raptor.

En route to Raptor, Hunter Team 2 and their National Guard escort witness the chaos and despair the Russians have brought upon suburban America. All Ramirez could think of was:

Ramirez: Burning, displaced houses, rooftops crawling with dead and/or alive Russian paratroopers, civilians lined up dead in front of their houses, execution style, children torn apart by the hail of rifle and machine gun fire, women stripped before murdered, add them to the list of things we'll do to their people when we come over.

Then he snaps back to reality when he hears the humvee's turret gunner firing on something armored. He grabs his comms and tells the Guardsmen to get out of their vehicle, but it was too late. The BTR started tearing the men to shreads. All he could do was cover his team while they flee the enemy's line of sight.

When the same BTR started dropping off troops, Ramirez starts throwing two smoke grenades and Hunter Team 2 starts firing on them, scoring kills fast. Blinded by the smoke, the BTR and its crew never saw Ramirez and Morgan coming until they dropped two frag grenades down their hatch.

Ramirez: For our Guardsmen.

Morgan: Hooah.

Then Hunter Team 2 arrives at Raptor's crash site. Ramirez is a man of few words, so at this point, he doesn't talk reasonlessly in combat. As keeps him focused on the situation. But he will give hand signals, nods and callouts to his team, and make battlechatter, like confirming his kills, enemy positions, grenades, reloading, equipment, teammates, and so on.

He also coordinates with the squad he's given when Foley orders him to seize the Russians' Predator Drone controls.

Ramirez: Roger, Sarge! Squad, we gotta steal their UAV, let's move! Careful with the BTRs. Destroy them if you can.

And when Foley orders him to secure the Burger Town.

Ramirez: On it! Team, we're gotta relocate. Clear the Burger Town! Go!

3 minutes later.

Ramirez: Hunter 2-3 to 2-1 actual, Burger Town is secure and ready for business. Come on in, we'll cover you, over.

Once Raptor is secure and the National Guard convoy has arrived, Foley learned from the platoon captain that Arcadia has civilians in trouble. So he lets everyone else know.

With that, Ramirez starts having a strong, but controlled urge to kill every Russian insurgent and rescue every endangered civilian there as quickly as possible.