Following the events of "The Hornet's Nest":

"Jump for it!" MacTavish cried.

Roach leapt from the roof and grabbed onto the ladder as the Pave Low flew away from the favelas.

"Nikolai, we got him!" MacTavish shouted. "Get us outta here!"

"Where to, my friend?"

"Just get us to the sub."

Roach finally climbed into the chopper and collapsed.

Ghost walked over. "You alright, mate?"

Roach nodded and rose as Ghost removed his skullface mask.

MacTavish looked at the technician. "Where's the computer?"

"Sorry sir," the technician said, looking away. "It got shot up in the market. I left it behind with a live grenade. Nobody's getting any info out of it."

"Good work," MacTavish said, patting the man's shoulder. He addressed everybody in the chopper. "We did well considering the circumstances. Not many could have made it out of there alive. Get some rest. We'll receive new orders on the sub."

Soap leaned into the cockpit.

Nikolai took off his head headset and glanced over. "Hell of a world."

"We've lost a lot of good people in the last forty-eight hours, Nikolai," Soap said with regret. "Hopefully the info we got from Rojas is worth it."

"I hope so, too," Nikolai replied.

Soap turned to the pilot. "I wasn't sure you'd come."

"Well, if Captain MacTavish had called for help, I may not have," Nikolai admitted. "I came to help an old friend."

"Either way, I appreciate it," Soap said gratefully.

"It was boring in Africa," Nikolai said with a shrug. He looked back at the group of men in the chopper. "So, who are your top dogs these days?"

Soap sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "Ghost you already know. And Roach…He's a fighter and he's resourceful. And he's not bad with tech either."

"Let me guess," Nikolai said with a chuckle. "He was your pick for One-Four-One."

Soap raised an eyebrow. "Not my first."

"I know," Nikolai said with a small nod. "How's Riley, or Ghost, as you call him. I haven't seen him since plane crisis with Secretary Asshole."

"The war is hitting us all hard," Soap said gravely. He lowered his voice. "His brother is in Washington D.C. He was trying to get a hold of him when the militia found us again."

Nikolai was silent for a moment. He looked behind him again. "Roach."

The young soldier stood and leaned into the cockpit.

Nikolai turned and extended his hand.

Roach shook it.

Nikolai grabbed the duffle bag lodged between the seat and the door and pulled out a laptop.

"See if you can't help Ghost," Nikolai said, offering him the device.

Roach stared at the laptop for a moment before taking it.

"It didn't take him long to trust me," Nikolai observed.

Soap took out a cigar and lit it. "Maybe it's because you just saved his life."

"Maybe," Nikolai said. "Having life saved does develop trust."

Soap nodded and remained silent, lost in old memories.

…

Roach sat down next to Ghost who was still trying to get service on his phone.

Roach looked at the number Ghost was continuously dialing.

"Zujin Enterprises," Ghost muttered. "Most reliable phone service my ass."

Roach turned on the computer. Once it was booted, he logged into the closest wireless connection to their location before going to the Zujin Enterprises website and hacking in.

Roach tapped Ghost's shoulder to get his attention and activated the tracking chip the company provided in all their phones. He knew phones could be tracked from anywhere provided there was a decent internet connection and that someone knew the number.

After thirty seconds, a new window popped up depicting a satellite image of Earth. It zoomed from space, to the United States, to Washington D.C. and continued to move closer.

The tracking ended a few seconds later. The image on the laptop depicted a map containing street names near the Capitol Building. There was a purple dot that represented the phone being tracked.

The dot was moving.

After two seconds, the screen timed out as the Pave Low left the range of the wireless internet connection.

"He's alive," Ghost said quietly to himself. He shook his head with a small chuckle. "He would never drop that cell phone and it's so shitty nobody would take it. He's alive."

Roach shut down the computer.

Ghost placed a hand on Roach's shoulder. "Thanks, mate."

Roach smiled and patted his friend's back before standing up. He brought the laptop back to Nikolai who gave Roach a two-finger salute before placing the laptop in the duffle bag.

…

Soap waited until Roach left and leaned closer to Nikolai. "Don't you know how to hack?" he asked quietly.

"How do you think I got information from Ultranationalists?" Nikolai asked. "It's difficult to hack while flying, though. Now my friend, where is submarine of yours?"

When they arrived at the sub a couple hours later, everyone shook hands with Nikolai.

Roach and Ghost left the chopper.

"You sure you don't want to stick around?" Soap asked Nikolai.

"I have no interest in joining One-Four-One," Nikolai promised with a shake of his head. "But I've got nowhere better to be. I pissed off commanding officers when I borrowed chopper."

Soap nodded. "See you around."

…

"This is going to be hard, Captain," Ghost said.

MacTavish and Ghost had just finished briefing the assault team and were reexamining the schematics of "The Gulag", a former castle turned prison. After Rojas' lengthy interrogation and a short database search, the One-Four-One had finally tracked down Prisoner Six-Two-Seven.

The briefing room was dark accept for the computers that depicted a three-dimensional layout of the prison.

"The last time I saw hardware as old as what's in the prison, my brothers and I were touring Alcatraz," Ghost commented.

"Then it's a good thing you've been shadowing Roach," MacTavish grunted. "Besides, I'm less worried about the layout and more concerned about the players."

"How so?" Ghost asked.

MacTavish started pointing at various spots of the schematics. "They most likely have AA Guns and hundreds of guards with provisions that include everything from riot gear to advanced semi-automatics," he observed, tapping the table. "On top of that, the U.S. Navy has their own agenda. It's going to be a pain in the ass to pull off an extraction mission when the place is being bombed."

"We'll manage," Ghost said after a few seconds.

…

Ten minutes later, MacTavish turned off the computer and walked to the next room where he found Roach and Derek Westbrook checking weapons and gear.

Westbrook had joined them an hour before when the SEALs had arrived on station alongside Shepherd himself.

MacTavish joined them at the table. Focused and effective.

They reminded MacTavish of someone he used to be. He hesitated for a moment, remembering the man and Captain he could never be.