The air was brisk and cold around Sisko's face, whipping her bangs around wildly. She came to her senses and glanced around, searching for anything familiar. She ran her gloved fingers along the cold, hard surface of the ground. She blinked a few times, snow beating against her face every second, stinging against her skin. The ground rumbled as an F-16 flew right over her head. She jumped, startled by the roaring of its engines, and she remembered seeing this from somewhere else. She knew where this had happened before, but she wouldn't believe what she was thinking. She knew there was one way to be sure, so she looked over her shoulder, and what she saw put all doubt to rest.
Sitting to her right was the man she knew so well to be Captain John 'Soap' Mactavish. He donned a hat and goggles as well as heavy clothes and gear. He smoked a cigar, nonchalantly blowing the smoke from his lips. Sisko scoffed at the gross habit that plagued so many people.
"You know that's going to kill you," she spat, glaring at him, "…Oh yeah, and where are we?" Surprisingly, the more important thing came second. Soap laughed, tapping his cigar as embers fell from the end, quickly burning out from the lack of oxygen on the high mountain.
"Like nothing else I'm doing could possibly kill me," he replied with a smirk, "And we're in Kazakhstan, you know that. Now c'mon, break's over, let's go." He tossed his cigar over the side of the mountain. She chuckled.
"Littering, too? Jesus, Soap, you must hate the world," she teased, lifting herself to her feet. Soap looked back at her, confused.
"Did you just call me 'Soap'?" he asked, looking at her with bewilderment. She caught herself before she could say yes. She remembered that the task force didn't find out of his past until they met up with Price in The Gulag. She fumbled for words while trying to come up with an excuse.
"Uh…umm, no, actually," she muttered, "Oh! I said I wish we had ropes." She smiled, proud of her weak recovery. Soap looked at her, perplexed while he was trying to see what she was getting at.
"…And why, may I ask, is that?" Soap questioned, starting to work his way over to the climbable ice. …Damn! Follow-up questions! She thought.
"Uh…Because ropes are cool…?" She stuttered, hoping that he'd just pass it off as a stupid remark. He hacked one of his climbing tools into the ice before chuckling at her fabrication.
"Whatever you say, Princess," he muttered, starting to climb the ice. Sisko froze in her tracks. Did he just call me…'Princess'? Is that my callsign? She felt sick to her stomach. All her life she'd waited for something like this, something to save her from her everyday life, and finally the chance had come, but the second she heard her permanent callsign, she almost wanted to give it up. Princess? That was the best they could come up with for her? She was furious and upset at the same time, not knowing what to do. Soap saw her not moving an inch and groaned.
"I'm sorry, 'Whatever you say Nike', is that better?" he repeated, correcting his purposeful blunder. The nasty feeling left Sisko's body and she sighed, seeing as her actual name wasn't as girly as she'd thought it was. She moved forward and up behind Soap, who was a few feet from the ground.
"Alright, the ice is good. Follow me," Soap instructed, using his heavy Scottish accent. Sisko wasn't quite sure how she was going to go about doing this, since there were no 'L1' or 'R1' buttons to be seen, so she just tried hacking the thing attached to her hand into the ice. It seemed sturdy enough, so she pulled herself up, kicking her spiked boot into the ice. It was very hard, but after repeating the process once or twice, she figured it out. She continued to make her way up the mountainside. After she got a few feet up, another F-16 sped away over their heads, causing Soap to momentarily loose his balance when chunks of ice fell from the mountain. Sisko ducked her head down so none of it would hit her. Soap got his bearings and pulled himself up, waiting for Sisko to catch up with him. When she finally scaled the wall of frost, she got a weird feeling in the back of her mind, knowing what was up next.
"Good luck, mate," Soap said, readying himself to jump, "I'll see you on the far side." He turned and shot down the platform of snow, finally jumping when he came to the abyss in the ground. Sisko looked at the one piece of blank space that was set up in front of her. Was she really expected to jump that? She'd just been thrown somewhere that was totally unfamiliar to her, and now they expect her to cross a 20 foot chasm. She felt something stirring inside of her, something she'd never really experienced to such a degree as she did that day, and that was spite. She heard her sister laughing at her in the back of her mind. You can't do this, you're too stupid! Why don't you just kill yourself or something, no one likes you. You'll probably just fall the second you jump because you're too fat, you loser! She heard her sister mock in her mind. She clenched her fists as she prepared herself.
At full speed, Sisko found herself hurtling through the air, looking forward to a wall of solid ice that she was supposed to manage hanging on to. She slammed her fists down as the dagger-like objects she was holding dug themselves into the ice, but apparently not far enough, as she felt herself quickly sliding down to the thousand foot drop that would mean her doom. C'mon, Soap! You're making me nervous! She thought to herself, praying that what happened to her so many times as Roach would happen today.
"Hold on! Don't let go!" Soap shouted, as she continued slipping down the side of the cliff. Her right hand broke free of the ice, and she stared into the face of death: the ground that she would soon come into contact with if Soap couldn't help her. All she knew was that she wasn't going down so easy. She grabbed onto her left hand, and just that hand was about to break free, Soap fell down from above her, catching her wrist before she fell. After a few seconds, he nodded and threw her back up to regain her composure and finish the climb. She worked her way to the top of the overhang and pulled herself up, awaiting Soap who quickly came after her. She pulled out her Silenced ACR with attached heartbeat sensor and looked at the screen of her second attachment. Soap's dot blinked blue on the screen. Soap walked over to her, pulling his own weapon out as well.
"Nike, check your heartbeat sensor," he said, apparently not realizing she already was, "You should be able to see me on the scope. The blue dot is me. Any unrecognized contacts will show up as white dots." Sisko nodded, pushing her hair, which she discovered was pulled back into a ponytail, off of her shoulder. They crept through the snow and rounded a corner, Sisko's eyes pulling towards the runway as she watched a jet fly into her view. Soap nudged her, motioning for her to look at the two enemy tangos that lie in wait. She steadied her weapon.
"Nike, these muppets have no idea we're here," he pointed out, aiming his rifle, "Let's take this nice and slowly." Sisko gripped the base of her weapon, slowly curling her pointer finger around the trigger of her gun. She'd never fired a gun in her life before, but she was more than ready to have this as her first day. She felt the power that surged through her from the weapon, but she also considered what was at risk: a criminal record, a bad college, and jail for life. Murder would plague her for the rest of her being. Then she remembered. She had just been sent god knows how many years into the future into a video game that she thought could never be real, and for that matter, that she may never get out of.
The only thing that mattered now was that she killed every last man out there.
"You take the one on the left," Soap whispered through the radio, "On three. One…two…three." Sisko pulled back the trigger and bullets poured out of her ACR. Some twenty feet in front of her, the first of the two men collapsed to the ground in the blink of an eye. Soap quickly took the other out after her.
"Nicely done," he said, moving forward. She pulled the first magazine out of her gun and pulled a second one from a pocket that contained all of her ammunition. She jammed the bullets back into the ACR and followed after Soap, trying to catch up with him. She silenced her footsteps as two more enemy tangos came into sight. She readied her firearm and waited for Soap's signal.
"Same plan," he whispered, "On three…One…Two…Three." Both targets collapsed as the bullets entered their rib cages. Blood trickled into the snow around them, and Soap nodded.
"Nice work," he responded in a rather serious tone that had always intimidated Sisko. They continued their commute forward, passing the two slaughtered Russian soldiers on their way. She glanced down at their lifeless bodies, never once looking back after that. The wind slowly began to pick up its intensity as the base came into view on their left.
"Storm's brewin' up," Soap muttered, glancing around at his surroundings. He turned to Sisko and pitched the idea he'd formulated in his head.
"Let's split up," he suggested, pulling out his sniper rifle, "I'll use the thermal scope and provide cover from this ridge." Sisko got scared and immediately rejected the captain's idea.
"No, I-I don't think I'm ready to do this by myself," she explained, afraid of what would happen if trouble stirred up, "What happens if I get shot, or captured, or-" Soap cut her off.
"You'll be fine," he assured her, "You've been doing this for, what, three months now? You've got it covered! Just do what you were trained to do." She cursed under her breath. Yeah, I obviously didn't just show up here 15 minutes ago. That would be BONKERS.
"Ugh, fine," she huffed, "But if I die, I will come back from my freaking grave and kill you twice, understand?" Soap chuckled.
"It's a date," he replied sarcastically, "Now hurry up! Use the cover of the storm to enter the base. I'll be there to help you, trust me." Sisko worked her way forward, trying to see through the thickening blizzard that had swirled itself up around them. Her eyes began to water from the nearly blinding white fury that surrounded every last angle she could see. She moved forward, trying as best as she could to navigate through the wintry abyss. Soap's voice crackled in over the radio.
"You'll be a Ghost in this blizzard," he pointed out to her, "So the guards won't see you until you're very close." Sisko huffed, moving her fingers as she tried to fight off the numbness in them. Good to know I won't be getting my ass kicked from a distance, she thought, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. Nerves took over her body as the feeling of fear began to take her over. Was she honestly prepared to go against hundreds of Russian soldiers when she'd only fired her first bullets minutes beforehand? Could she handle the pressure? Her question answered itself when her heartbeat sensor beeped, signaling an enemy tango at her 1 o'clock. She crouched down behind an enemy vehicle and readied her weapon. The figure came closer to her, unknowing of her presence. She pulled out her knife, preparing to take down her target, when he let out a shrill cry and tumbled over, blood pouring from his skull.
"Got 'im," Soap's voice reported through the radio. Sisko rolled her eyes.
"Show off," she muttered, as she moved to the entryway of a large tent-like structure. She walked inside, seeing a lazy soldier smoking a cigarette and leaning back in his chair, observing the storm outside. The short break from the wind was nice, but she knew she had to keep moving. As quickly and quietly as possible, she pulled his head back and sliced through the skin of his throat. His blood caked her knife and she let his body clatter to the floor, rubbing some of the blood that had gotten onto her hands on the wall. As she readied herself to move further into the mission, Soap's voice broke through to her once again.
"There's a truck coming, stay out of sight!" he warned her. Quickly, Sisko crouched in the corner of the tent, waiting for the truck to pass. She heard the engine of the vehicle roaring behind her, and once she was sure to be in the clear, she ran across the road and hid herself behind a large stack of cargo boxes.
"Alright, I've tapped into their comms," Soap informed her, "Nike, Head southwest to the fueling station and plant your C4 at the fueling station. We may need to go to 'Plan B' if things go south." Sisko laughed.
"And they will," she mumbled, recalling the end of the level. She managed to make her way to the tarmac that connected to the fueling station. The wind had come to such a speed that she could hardly see the F-16 that was only ten feet in front of her. She nearly hit her head on the wing, but ducked under it once it finally came into sight.
"Hold up, I'm seeing some activity on the runway" Soap interrupted, stopping her in her tracks, "Looks like twenty plus foot mobiles headed your way." Sisko was struck with fear as she remembered how many people she'd have to fight off to reach her destination. She remembered her mother at home. How would she feel if she knew that her daughter was risking her life for a video game? It made her sick to think she was disappointing someone, but again, she felt the malice building up inside of her. So what if she doesn't approve? She ruined your life, at least have a little fun with what's left, she thought. She nodded to herself and continued to the northeast corner of the runway. After a few quick minutes, she recognized the fueling station.
"That's the fueling station, you found it," Soap praised her. She smiled, feeling the confidence that she hadn't felt at all that day. She planted the C4 onto the tank of fuel that was used to power all of the enemy planes. Quickly, she backed away, recollecting the enormous explosion that it would cause. Soap came through on the radio with new information about the assignment.
"I'm picking up more radio traffic about the satellite," he notified her, "…Got it! sounds like the satellite's in the far east hangar. Race you there, Oscar Mike, out." Sisko groaned, upset that she had to put her life into more danger than it was already in by tracing her path of carnage back to the east hangar, where there were probably several guards warmly welcoming her with their loaded and aimed weapons.
Yup, this would sure be fun.
Stealthily and promptly, Sisko covered as much ground as she could in as little time as possible. Her heartbeat sensor beeped again, alerting her of guards that were present in any possible direction she could take. After evaluating the various outcomes for a few seconds, she deciphered that her best bet was to take the most direct route, which, fortunately, had the least amount of guards. The only downside was that the particular path she was taking had very little cover, so she'd have to be impossibly silent. Silently, Sisko crept around the conversing guards, speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. She held her breath as she crawled past, concealing as much of herself as she could behind a barrier that was nearby. As she glanced up at the guards, she saw they weren't looking and darted towards the east hangar. She sprinted as hard as she could, determined to beat Soap to the hangar. When she saw the hangar in her sights, she picked up the pace. She jumped down into the ditch which led to the entrance of the hangar. Soap was there waiting for her with a sly grin on his face.
"Took the scenic route, eh?" he asked smugly. She glared at him.
"No, I just had a lot to take care of, unlike some people," she teased. Soap shrugged and prepared to open the door to the hangar. He swiftly entered the room and Sisko entered after him. An unsuspecting guard wandered into the back hallway, where Soap and she lay in wait. Soap ran forward and slammed the man into the lockers that lined the wall before pinning him to the ground and piercing his knife into his neck. He got up and walked to the satellite that was in the middle of the room, while Sisko tried not to slip when she walked over the bloody corpse of the Russian combatant. Soap began fiddling with the enormous satellite when he began instructing her with things to do.
"Nike, head upstairs and look for the ACS module," he instructed, still busy with his own task. Sisko nodded and walked up the stairs on the left side of the hangar. She turned into a large room which was full of computers, printers, and lord knows what else. She remembered that it sat by the monitor to her left, and she walked to the table it sat on. She reached her hand out to retrieve the device when she heard a loud clattering sound. It came from about where Soap had been, so she shoved the ACS into one of her pockets and crawled out onto the platform that lead to the stairs. Peeking through the clutter of boxes, she saw that some forty Russian soldiers had opened the doors to the hangar and were outside preparing to execute her captain. She heard a roaring voice over the intercom.
"This is Major Petrov! Come out with your hands up!" the voice, Major Petrov, shouted. Soap slowly made his way out from behind the satellite and held his hands up.
"Nike, I've been compromised," He informed her, "Keep a low profile and hold your fire." Sisko nodded to herself and slowly reached into her pocket, pulling out the detonator that she already knew would come in handy. The angry voice of Major Petrov roared again.
"You have five seconds to comply," it demanded, "Five! Four!-"
"Nike, go to plan B," Soap insisted. Sisko's fingers wrapped around the detonator, preparing to set it off, but, likewise with when she played at home, she felt like she needed a suspenseful ending. The Major continued to count down.
"-Three! Two! One!" Right as the soldiers were about to shoot, Sisko flipped the switch, causing the fueling station to go up in flames so far away from them. The startled Russians turned to see their large supply of fuel explode, and Soap and Sisko took advantage of the distraction to take out most of the soldiers. Sisko sprinted down the stairs and rejoined with Soap, who directed her on what to do.
"Stay close and hug the wall!" He shouted over the loud gunfire, "We'll use the MiGs for cover and cross the tarmac to the southeast. Follow me, let's go!" The duo broke free from the inside of the hangar and exposed themselves to the rifles that waited for them outside. Sisko shot down three enemy tangos and reloaded her weapon, stabbing another enemy as she did.
"Head for the next MiG, I'll cover you!" Soap called, still busy knocking out soldiers as he spoke. Sisko looked around frantically. What the hell is a MiG? Sisko asked herself. She was being fired at too rapidly to figure out what it was, so she took her chances with the jet that was a mere 15 feet in front of her. She sprinted as fast as she could, closing her eyes to protect them from the now overly brisk winds that whipped up around her, and when she opened them, the "MiG" that she had run to was replaced by a fury of flames. She wondered what had happened to it, but her suspicions were interrupted by the roar of engines.
"Snowmobiles! Take 'em out!" Soap called out. Sisko stood in her place as the vehicles circled them. The men who were riding them armed themselves with AK-47s. Sisko tried to take them out, but they were moving too fast for her. Soap managed to get one snowmobile out of motion, but another was there to take its place. Soap knew they didn't have time to play games.
"To the east, Nike, go!" he called, "Cover me, I'm making a break for it!" Soap caught up with her as she began to run to the hill that awaited them. She dove forward and slid down the hill, getting up and covering herself behind a shed. Soap was right behind her, and more snowmobiles circled around them. Two snowmobiles sped by them. Sisko killed the driver on one, and Soap did the same with the other. He got onto the first of two snowmobiles and started up the engine.
"Nike, take that snowmobile, let's go!" he yelled to her. Sisko quickly darted to the vehicle, dodging the array of bullets being strewn at her and her comrade. She turned the key in her snowmobile and booted the engine. She noticed that the setup was similar to that of the ATV's that she used to ride at home, so she tried her luck and pressed down on what she thought was the gas. The snowmobile lurched forward, leaving the barrage of enemy gunmen behind her. Every inch she took allowed her to gain speed. She followed the path that she'd memorized from playing the level so often in her home, pulling out her pistol in preparation to shoot anything that got in her way. Soap's voice blared through her radio.
"Kilo six one, the primary exfil point has been compromised, we're en route to the backup LZ using enemy transport, meet us there, over!" he shouted frantically. Sisko had lost sight of him, but knowing Soap, she was sure he'd be okay.
"Bravo six, this is Kilo six one. Roger that, out," responded the pilot of the escape chopper. Sisko pushed the gas lever as hard as she could, assuring maximum speed. Though various unexpected snowmobiles were jumping out at her, she was positive she'd make it out.
And then the helicopter showed up.
The enormous black birdie hovered in front of her, readying its machine guns. Oh crap! Sisko thought, lurching to the left to avoid the heavy fire of the enemy aircraft. She missed the chopper's fire by merely inches, but luckily managed to avoid it in time for her to break into the forest, only to find more snowmobiles trying to kill her.
"Let's go!" she heard Soap calling from somewhere. The fury of bullets and snow nearly blinded her vision, but she refused to take her hand off the gas. The men started to drop in numbers, and at one point, Sisko thought she was in the clear. She dodged the trees and rocks that were in her way, and she remembered that there was only a little bit to go before the giant jump. She took a deep breath before she felt a sound of gunfire and felt a terrible pain in her left shoulder. One more enemy snowmobile sped up next to her, both men riding it holding their guns directly at her. Sisko didn't know what to do. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. She almost wanted to stop her engine and call it quits right there.
…Stop…Stop! Sisko contemplated, coming up with a genius idea. She took her hand off of the gas and clamped it onto the break. The snowmobile skidded forward, but it was enough to send the unsuspecting Russians tearing past her at a breakneck speed. She pulled out her pistol, fighting the screaming agony she felt inside, and pressed down on the gas, regaining the ground she lost. She saw the two men not far in front of her and she pulled the trigger, killing them both. She smiled from her sweet revenge, which was interrupted when she realized the sharp decline the ground had acquired. She tossed her pistol away, knowing all of the enemies were done with, and sped up as fast as she could, dodging the trees that came at her faster and faster.
Finally, she saw the end: a chasm that was likely to be thousands of feet deep and at least 100 feet across. Her job? Cross it. She closed her eyes and felt her snowmobile being lifted off the ground. The roar of the engine still rang in her ears, but that was it. Everything else was utter silence. She felt like the moment was everlasting, but eventually, she came slamming to a halt from her freefall and continued forward, seeing the Helicopter in her sights. Her snowmobile pulled up to the chopper.
"Get your asses on board, we're running on fumes here!" the pilot demanded of the two. She hopped off of the snowmobile, walked ten feet, and sat down next to Soap, her bullet wound still aching. She asked Soap if he could get her some help, and he called over a medical officer who was sitting in the cockpit with the pilot. He successfully dressed her wound and they were on their way.
Exactly twenty minutes, fifty three seconds into the ride, Sisko remembered something. The one fact that had, for whatever reason, left her mind, even though it made a seriously drastic effect on her being. She blinked her eyes in astonishment.
I'm in Modern Warfare 2.