Sergeant John 'Soap' MacTavish
22nd SAS Regiment
April 26, 2011 - 01:31:19
Caucasus Mountains, Russia
A short flight and hike over the past few hours, and we found ourselves in Russia. We may have gone south, but it felt colder here than in England. Angel nudged my shoulder to indicate we were getting close to the meeting point.
"The Loyalists are expecting us half a klick to the north," Captain Price announced, and with a nod at all of us, he started moving off. "Move out."
"Loyalist, eh?" Gaz asked. "Those the good Russians or the bad Russians?"
"Well, they won't shoot us on sight if that's what you're asking."
"Yeah, well, that's good enough for me, sir."
Soap heard a soft giggle beside him and let Gaz and Price take the lead.
"Gaz is probably the only person in the whole world who could banter with Price." Soap muttered, which earned another giggle.
"I don't know. I think you could pull it off." Angel replied.
"Funny," I said dryly. "Let's go before they leave us in Russia."
And at that, they moved forward with Price and Gaz until reaching a dock with a Russian standing on it. Captain Price signaled for them to stop. Soap noticed one more up the hill next to a cabin with light coming from it.
"Weapons free." Price said.
On that note, Gaz fired at the man on the dock. Soap put two shots into the one up the hill. After taking out the enemies outside, Angel and he approached the shed where a TV was making plenty of noise. Stopping outside the door, Angel held up two fingers to indicate there were two hostiles inside. With a nod, they breached the room. Angel put four rounds in the farther one while Soap put three in the closer one.
"Good work." Price said. "There should be a few more guard posts up ahead. Kamarov and his men will be waiting for us in a field to the northwest."
The team continued up the river we were following. After going under a stone bridge, they came up with another post. As Soap got ready to breach the lower shack, Gaz spoke up. "Soap - plant some claymores in front of the door, then get their attention."
Following his instruction, Soap planted a claymore in front of the doorway, then stood back and motioned for Angel to take out the guy sleeping further up the hill. The force from the bullet impacts caused the man's folding chair to collapse, making a good deal of noise. That noise caused the guys in both posts to investigate. The first one met his end with a claymore at his feet. The other two received a not-so-healthy amount of lead from both Soap and Angel. Soap noticed that Gaz had a smile on his face from the encounter.
Moving past both guard posts, they came up to a house with a section of its roof missing. They moved through the small house quickly before they exited into a field.
"Gaz, smell that?" Captain Price asked after walking into the field a few steps.
"Yeah. Kamarov." Gaz replied with slight disgust.
A few seconds later, who Soap presumed to be Kamarov walked into the field with an AK held above his head.
"Welcome to the New Russia, Captain Price." He greeted.
"What's the target Kamarov? We've got an informant to recover." Captain Price replied.
"BM21s on the other side of the hill. Their rockets have killed hundreds of civilians in the valley below." Kamarov said as he started to walk away.
"Not so fast." Captain Price said as he grabbed his shoulder. "Remember Beirut? You're with us."
"Hmm… I guess I owe you one." Kamarov replied casually with a hint of… sarcasm?
"Bloody, right you do," Gaz said coolly.
As we came to the top of the hill, Angel fell into step with Soap. "Wonder what happened in Beirut?" She asked quietly.
"Probably nothing good," I responded as they came to a fence on the edge of the hill overlooking a good portion of the village.
Soap pulled the M21 rifle off his back and crouched down next to Angel as she pulled out her binoculars to spot any additional targets. Great, he thought, I have her and Price breathing down my neck. When Kamarov ordered the attack, Soap did not expect them to have explosives go off, but after the smoke cleared, there wasn't an issue. Soap thought he was doing a fairly good job taking out targets, but Captain Price kept barking targets into his left ear every few seconds. Meanwhile, in his right ear, Angel was whispering targets to him in a sweet voice. Taking out the machine gunners blocking the path of Kamarov's men, Kamarov's men destroy some of the BM21s. Over the sound of the alarm, Soap could hear a chopping sound in the distance.
"Damn, enemy helicopters!" Kamarov cursed as the helicopters flew over.
"You didn't say there'd be helicopters, Kamarov." Captain Price accused.
"I didn't say there wouldn't be any either. We need to protect my men from those helicopter troops." He said as he started moving. "This way!"
"Make it quick, Kamarov, I want that informant…." Captain Price called after him.
"You have nothing to worry about. We'll take out the BM21s and carve a path straight to your informant Captain Price." Kamarov replied as they came up to a house that was on fire.
After kicking in the door, Kamarov started mumbling in Russian. Captain Price followed him, with Angel and Soap following behind and Gaz taking up the rear.
"We should just beat it out him, sir," Gaz said over the radio, so Kamarov wouldn't hear.
Angel looked at Soap, and they shared a smile until Captain Price came back with his reply.
"Not yet."
"Sir, we got company! Helicopter troops closing in fast!" Gaz said aloud as they came outside.
Seeing a fairly large group of Ultranationalists about up the hill, Soap took aim and fired a round out of his grenade launcher. The grenade hit true and took out all but one of the enemies. Angel was quick to take out the last of that group so he could focus on the ones coming from further up the hill.
Another group of Russians came charging down at the team, even firing some RPGs toward them, which missed thankfully. After a bit of intense fighting, Soap put two rounds in the last enemy's head.
"Captain Price, my men have run into heavy resistance. Help me support them from the cliffs." Kamarov called out as he ran toward the cliff face.
"What about our informant? He's running out of time!" Price asked the Russian as Angel and Soap came up beside them.
"Then help us! The further my men can get into this village, the closer we will be to securing your informant!"
Getting into position, Angel began calling targets for Soap below them. After a couple of moments of taking out snipers and more infantry, Kamarov spoke up once more. "Good! Now we are making progress. Follow me to the Power Station." The irritating Russian spoke.
Soap couldn't tell about everyone else, but he was getting frustrated with this guy. They were here to rescue their informant, not aid his assault. They came up to the power station with Gaz taking point beyond the fence. Coming to an overlook, Kamarov walked nearest the broken wall and pulled out his binoculars.
"Look. The final assault has already begun. With a little more of your…," Kamarov kept speaking, but Soap tuned him out instead, focusing on the subtle conversation between Price and Gaz.
Gaz moved forward, quickly grabbing Kamarov and holding him near the edge of the cliff. "Enough sniping! Where is the informant?" He asked threateningly.
Kamarov started speaking in Russian, which I couldn't really understand before Gaz asked again. "Where is he?" He yelled.
"The house… the house on the northeast end of the village," Kamarov spoke defeated.
"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Gaz said. "Now go sit in the corner." Giving him a slight push on the shoulders.
"Soap, Angel, Gaz. We gotta reach that house before anything happens to the informant. Let's go." Captain Price said as he and Gaz began getting rigged up to repel down the cliff face.
As the two of them went down the cliff, Angel and Soap hooked themselves up to follow them. As they came to the bottom, Soap noticed Price and Gaz providing covering fire from behind a stone wall. Moving quickly, he jumped over the wall and made his way into the building beyond it. As he came through what looked like a kitchen, two Russians came through a doorway. Soap filled the first one's chest with 8 rounds, but before he could take out the other, he was smashing the butt of his AK in my face. This is it. This is where I die. Soap thought as he stared down the barrel of the Russian's gun. As he closed my eyes, he heard bullets fly over his head.
"Are you gonna lie there all day, Soap?" Angel asked with a cheeky smile while offering her hand to help him up.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Angel." He replied as she helped him up.
Together they fought through the building, taking out a handful of enemies. When they game out the side of the building, they met up with Price and Gaz.
"Bloody hell, let's move. He may still be alive." Price said as he took point up towards the house where Nikolai was being held. As the team formed upon him, he issued their orders. "Gaz, take Angel and go around back to cut the power. Soap, get ready!"
Soap and Price stacked up on the door to the house and waited a moment for Gaz and Angel to get into position. "Gaz, do it." Price ordered.
A couple of seconds passed before the lights flicked out. "All right, I've cut the power. Go." Gaz said as Price opened the door.
Entering the first room, Soap pulled down his night vision as it became noticeably darker. Coming into the second room, he noticed a Russian asking his friend about the electricity. Soap put a round into his chest and another in his head.
"These night vision goggles make it too easy." Price commented while Soap smirked. Way too easy.
They continued through the house, taking out one more hostile before heading upstairs. On the second floor, there was one sitting in the corner looking around frantically with his pistol in hand. Soap was quick to handle him while Price took out one hiding behind a turned-over table across the room. As they came around the corner with Gaz and Angel moved in through the second-floor door, a Russian started blindly shooting through a partially open door.
Soap quickly emptied six rounds through the door before putting an extra round through the man after he fell forward with the door. Soap cleared the room that the now-dead Russian was in while Angel and Captain Price moved toward the last room in the house. Soap heard a couple of unsuppressed shots, followed by a couple of suppressed ones before he came to where they found Nikolai.
Nikolai was speaking Russian while Price shined a light in his face to ensure he was their man. "It's him." Price confirmed.
"Nikolai - are you alright? Can you walk?" Gaz asked.
"Yes…I can still fight. Thank you for getting me out of here." He replied as Captain Price handed him a weapon from the floor.
Price started to move out of the room while he spoke into his radio. "Big Bird, this is Bravo Six. We have the package. Meet us at LZ one. Over."
"Bravo Six, this is Big Bird. We're on our way. Out." The reply came as the team came outside.
"Let's go!" Price called as the helicopter flew in from the valley below.
Talk about a speedy exfil. Soap said to himself as he followed the Captain to the chopper. Price climbed in the bird first, with Soap following after him. Nikolai, Angel, and Gaz getting on after them. Soap and Angel were sitting across from Gaz, Nikolai, and Price when Nikolai tapped the Captain on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Have the Americans already attacked Al-Asad?" The Russian asked.
"No, their invasion begins in a few hours! Why?" Price asked.
"The Americans are making mistake. They will never take Al-Asad alive." He said with a shake of the head.
Sergeant Taylor 'Angel' Anderson
22nd SAS Regiment
April 26, 2011 - 03:02:35
Western Russia
Angel was asleep in the helicopter when the alarms went off. Captain Price shouted to hang on, which she did. Then the missile hit and the helicopter started spinning.
A few moments later, she found herself on the ground near the crash. She looked across the field to see Soap being helped up by Price. She looked around quickly for her weapon and found it not to be there. Getting up, she moved to the rest of the team.
"Casualty report." Price demanded.
"Paulsen and both Pilots are dead, sir." Gaz informed him regretfully.
"Bugger…" The Captain muttered. "Alright, the extraction point isn't far from here. Let's move out."
Angel looked over at Soap to find him holding two weapons, a G36C and an MP5. He handed her the MP5 and nodded towards where Price started walking off to. She gave him a grateful smile before following Price. Angel smiled when command informed them that an AC130 would be there soon.
"An AC130 eh? Haven't worked with one of those in a while." Gaz commented.
As they came up to the road, Private Newman informed them about vehicles coming. The Captain ordered them under the bridge so they wouldn't be spotted. As they waited for the vehicles to pass, Angel heard an even more dreadful sound, a helicopter. If she had to guess, it was looking for them and it was close.
"All right, let's move." Price gruffly ordered.
Moving up the hill, they came to a shed. Price moved to the door with Soap following him.
"Hold up. we've got company." Price said as he entered the shed with Soap and Gaz following him.
Angel waited outside near the wood fence to the right of the door. She could hear the Russian soldiers speaking with the old farmer and could somewhat make out what they were saying. It was mostly threats toward the farmer who obviously knew nothing.
"Alright, let's top these bastards before they kill the old man." Price said. Apparently, he could understand some Russian.
Angel waited until the first shots were fired before climbing the wood fence and engaging the hostiles who were about to kill the farmer. Soap and Price took out the nearest two the old man while the third one ran. Angel was quick to take out the one that ran out of the guys line of sight while two more came out of their truck.
"Area clear." Gaz called as he and Soap took out the last two.
"Alright, let's keep moving." Price said as he climbed a short wall into a field to the North.
The team got about halfway across the field when the helicopter came back around shining a spotlight around looking for them.
"Spotlight, hit the deck." Price ordered.
Lying in the field while the helicopter searched for them wasn't great but at least they weren't being shot at. After the helicopter passed over, they continued through the field and came up to another farmhouse. Angel crouched down behind a piece of farm equipment while the rest of the team did likewise.
"Contact, six o'clock." Gaz called out.
"Return fire." Price ordered as he began firing at the enemies.
The team exchanged fire with the Russians for a few minutes. Soon, however, the helicopter came back and started firing at them with a machine gun. They wouldn't last long out in the open like this.
"Gaz, we'll hold them off. Get that basement door open now!" Price barked
Gaz gave an affirmation which Angel ignored as she continued to fire at the closing in enemies. The team continued to return fire with the Russians. After a minute or so, Gaz said something to Price.
"Get in the house! Go! Go!" Price yelled at them.
Angel didn't need to be told twice. She took off down the steps behind Nikolai and Gaz. She heard Price yell something from outside before Soap came crashing down the stairs in a heap. She had to stifle a giggle at the sight.
"Angel, get Soap off his arse and scout ahead for an exit." Price ordered as he came down and bolted the door shut.
Angel did giggle at that as she pulled Soap to his feet. The large Scotsman took point up the stairs on the far side of the room. A couple of the enemies from earlier fired in their general direction but missed entirely. As they came around another corner, the chopper shined its light around but couldn't really see them. When they came to the kitchen, a Russian came running in. Soap was quick to take care of him. As soon as his friends heard the shots, however, they threw a flashbang in the door.
"Flashbang!" He called as he pushed her back through the door they came in from.
After the flashbang went off, Angel saw two Russians run into the room. With Soap still dazed, she quickly took them out. She helped get him reoriented while the rest of the team made their way upstairs and outside.
"It's too quiet… where did they go?" Newman asked.
"They're probably regrouping." Gaz told the lad. "Trying to ambush us up ahead."
"Stay sharp." Price told us.
The team moved up the path. Angel and Soap stayed on the left side with Nikolai behind them while the others moved up the right. As they came up to an intersection near the silos, Angel heard the barking of dogs.
Following behind the dogs were about a dozen Ultranationalists. Angel was quick to fire upon the men whilst Soap focused on the dogs. As she took down the last one ahead of them, Soap was brought to the ground by one of the dogs. Angel was quick to put the dog down before it had a chance to get Soap.
After their attack dog ordeal, she and Soap pushed up the left flank while the rest of the team went with the direct approach. While Angel moved out into the open area past the alley they came from, Soap had made his way up some stairs to provide covering fire from above. As Gaz put a bullet in the last enemy, the helicopter came back around.
"'Old on - the helicopter's back." Gaz announced.
"It looks like they don't know where we are. Let's keep it that way." Price commented as he opened a gate toward a creek. "Alright let's press on. Move."
They moved down the creek toward a bridge before Price signaled for them to stop. There were two Russians on the bridge looking down toward the creek. After a moment, they moved off and the Brits could move forward. The team snuck through the field avoiding enemy patrols and hiding behind hay bales until one of them got too curious of a noise he thought he heard.
"We're compromised!" Gaz hollered.
"Return fire and head for the far end of the field. Move!" Price ordered.
The team pushed their way through the field toward a bunch of dilapidated buildings and greenhouses. As they made their way to the first greenhouse, the helicopter came back. This time there was a machine gunner in the doorway.
"Watch out for the helicopter!" Price yelled as the team made their way into the greenhouse.
On the far side of the first greenhouse was a courtyard filled with construction supplies and Russians. Angel stayed in the greenhouse to provide covering fire while everyone else moved through the courtyard. Through the courtyard and the greenhouse beyond it, the area opened up to a large alley. Angel moved up and along with Soap came to the end of the alley and the Russian staging area.
"That helicopter is making another pass. Find overhead cover." Price directed them.
Angel mumbled under her breath about there being no overhead cover as she hid behind a dumpster. Glancing out from behind cover, she was that the helicopter was not firing at the moment. Assuming the gunner was reloading, Angel motioned over to Soap toward the barn at the far side of the open area in front of them. Shooting one of the Russians just outside the barn, the duo moved inside with Soap clearing the ground level and Angel taking care of the two on the upper level.
"Captain Price! We've got Stinger missiles in the barn!" Gaz called out as he came in behind them. Angel couldn't quite figure out how the Russians had their hands on American missiles but didn't care too much since they were using them instead of the other way around.
"Soap! Grab a Stinger and take out that chopper! Move!" Price ordered as he also came into the barn. Soap quickly complied and went outside to fire the Stinger at the helicopter.
Soap fired the missile at the chopper and watched as it arced toward the target. Then the bastard popped flares to avoid the missile. "Shite!" The Scotsman cursed. "He popped flares."
"Bloody hell!" Gaz agreed, "Soap! Grab another Stinger and fire again. Let's put him to the test!" Soap fired a second time and with it, the helicopter went down. "Bloody nice shooting there Soap." The Lieutenant commended him as Soap came back inside.
"Good work Soap. Everyone on me, let's move out." Price called out from the upper level of the barn.
When Soap approached, Angel gave him a small nod in recognition before following after Price as he led the team out of the barn and down into a creek. As the team approached the end of the creek and the road beyond it, command informed them the AC-130 was overhead.
"Bravo Six, this is Warhammer standing by. Heard you could use some help down there. Call the shot." The AC-130 fire control officer called.
"Warhammer - Fire mission - danger close! Enemy armor and infantry, 100 metres to the southwest of our location, over." The Captian informed our support.
"Copy. Comin' down." The FCO reported. Almost immediately after he spoke, a boom was heard from above and within seconds the Russian armor was obliterated. Within a minute, the entire gas station and all of the Russian troops were being annihilated by the gunship.
"That's bloody outrageous mate!" Gaz yelled in triumph after the gas pumps started spewing flame. That was before one of the rounds from the AC-130 came a little too close to the squad. As soon as it left the AC-130, the FCO was on the radio informing the team about what had just happened. Before anyone could react, however, everyone was knocked off their feet by the blast of the airstrike.
Price and Gaz were quickly on their feet helping everyone else get up. Soap, who was directly next to Angel on the ground, also got up quickly. When he went to help her up, she stood up only to fall forward into him. The Scotsman was quick to catch and steady her.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah," I breathed out slowly.
Soap released her slowly to make sure she could maintain her balance. She stood there for a moment getting her bearings while everyone else did the same. Turning slowly, she noticed Price talking into the radio and Gaz helping someone similar to how Soap helped her.
"Come on let's go!" Price told them as he finished.
As Angel went to take a step, she fell down and nearly passed out. She tried to get up but couldn't and felt unconsciousness consuming her.
"Soap, grab Angel, and let's move. We don't have all night." Price said as she passed out.
…
Angel came to a few seconds as Soap put her into a vehicle. The two made eye contact for a few seconds before her eyes drooped again and she returned to unconsciousness.
…
Angel awoke once more as the vehicles stopped and Soap threw her over his shoulder to carry her again. She imagined he was not exactly happy to have to carry her but on the upside at least he didn't have to carry Gaz or, God forbid, Price. She tried to take in their surroundings but everything was still rather blurry. She did notice all of the explosions, which meant the AC-130 was still providing support. As everything began to clear up, she heard the distinct sound of helicopters approaching. Before long, Soap was carrying her onto one of the helicopters. As soon as he sat her down, he noticed she was awake and became distracted by the fact.
It was then that Angel noticed a Russian soldier starting to aim towards them. Acting quickly, she pulled her sidearm from its holster and put three rounds in the Russian. As she finished firing, Captain Price came aboard and sat down.
"Glad to see you're still with us." The Captain told her as the helicopter began taking off.
Angel just smiled at the captain before leaning back against the wall of the helicopter.
Author's Note: Well… I only took a couple of YEARS to get this done. I plan to get this story moving again. Hopefully y'all will join me for the ride. I also will probably not have a chapter this long again, but who knows. Let me know if you enjoyed, which I hope you did. Until next time, peace out!