The good news: Alex was off of the submarine. The bad news: she was freezing her ass off because they were in the god damn Antarctica near the Drake Passage because why not. The objective of this mission was to sink the oil rig that supplies the Federation's oil to the bottom of the Passage. At the moment Alex and the rest of the team were under the ice, Logan looking at what was happening above with a camera while the others were planting charges on the bottom of the ice. Once the charged were set and the Ghosts knew what was going on up on the ice, Logan blew the charge. A dozen soldiers fell into the water along with several trucks. "Take em' out!" Merrick ordered. The team eliminated all those who fell into the icy water and Alex watched as all the dead bodies and crates and trucks sank towards the bottom of the ocean to be gone forever.

When Alex got close enough to where the giant hole in the ice was, she dropped her oxygen tank and emerged from the water with Hesh next to her. She treaded over to the edge and got out, giving Hesh a hand once she was on the ice. He took her hand and she pulled him out of the water when the bullets began flying. They took cover behind a nearby truck with Logan not too far behind. They fired at the approaching Feds and made quick work of pushing forward. Alex was filled with adrenaline once again and she was so glad to be off the sub despite the fact that she was covered in icy cold water and freezing and knew when they got back to the sub she would never get warm again. But at the moment she couldn't have cared less. She was on a mission that would result in the Federation becoming a bit weaker and that was enough to make her smile.

The Ghosts were able to move through the base at the bottom of the rig quickly which was a relief because the Feds were mobilizing and dropping reinforcements. "Helo is on the way with reinforcements, we gotta move." Kick told them. Ale crouched behind a crate and reloaded before throwing out two grenades and waiting to hear the loud explosion. Once the explosions went off, Alex stood up and fired at the Feds with the others until they were all dead in the snow.

"We don't have much time!" Merrick told the others as they approached the crates. "Lines out!" Alex shot her line up to the second platform and hooked up to the cable. "Keegan, Kick, Alex, you're on exfil duty. You walker boys are with me!" Merrick told the others. Alex ran towards the crates with Keegan and Kick and then jumped off of them. One of Alex's favorite things was when they were zip lining or rappelling because you were just hanging in the air by a line. It was a weird thing to love, especially in the circumstances they were in, but it was something Alex always liked.

"Step One: Disable the pressure regulators. Step Two: Overload the fire suppression and blow this thing sky high." Merrick listed.

"Sounds like a plan big brother." Alex said.

Keegan, Kick, and Alex got to the second platform and climbed over the railing before unhooking themselves. "Alright we have to get to the top deck where the helicopter landing is. They have two up there as of now and we have to get there alive before someone takes off with them." Keegan told Kick and Alex. "Who's gonna fly it?" Alex asked. Keegan and Kick looked at Alex in confusion. She smiled. "I'm kidding." She told them. Keegan rolled his eyes and the three took off towards the stairs.

The deck was pretty clear being that all the Feds on the second deck were probably out looking for Merrick, Hesh, and Logan, but when they moved up inside shit hit the fan. Alex kicked in the door and took about two steps in before several hostiles appeared at the end of the hall. They fired at the three and Alex turned into the one doorway for cover. She peeked around the corner and fired at them at knee level. She hit one of them directly in the knee and he fell over, allowing Alex to get a clear shot to his head. Keegan and Kick killed the other two and then Alex took point. "The top deck isn't far from here." she told them.

The rounded the corner and checked the rooms they were walking by. When Alex reached the second to last room, a Fed appeared on the other side of the doorway with a pistol aimed at Alex's head. She had enough time to react by grabbing his wrists and moving out of the way when the gun went off. She pulled him forwards and drove her knee into his ribs twice before hitting his head on the doorframe. He collapsed and Alex sent a bullet right through his head. It was kills like that when Alex felt proud about being a soldier. If she was half a second too late, she could be dead on the ground. There was a reason she was a Ghost.

Once they had the inside cleared, they found themselves outside again when a loud bang and the rumbling below their feet caught their attention. "Keegan, Alex, stay clear of the derrick. It's about to get nasty up there." Merrick's voice sounded. In other words, step one has been completed.

"Roger that Merrick, we're clear." Alex told her brother.

Alex, Keegan, and Kick were all on the one deck, far from the derrick, and almost to the top deck when a loud explosion sounded and the earth shook. Alex stumbled, but Kick grabbed her to keep her from falling. He held onto her until the shaking stopped and they knew they had to get their asses in gear. After that little display of extreme violence, Alex knew the Feds would be piling into the helicopters.

They moved up the stairs to the top deck quickly with Keegan in front and Alex in the back. When they got to the top deck, Alex's hunch was right and a group of Feds were prepping two choppers. She fired at the group of them near the one helicopter with Kick, but the Feds took off with the one helicopter before the group of three could even get close. The helicopter took off into the dark sky away from the crumbling oil rig and eventually disappeared from sight. They had one helicopter left and the propellers were already spinning. "Cover me!" Alex yelled as she ran ahead. She pushed forward and shot at every Fed she could see while Keegan and Kick covered her. The helicopter was beginning to take off and Alex swung her gun around on her back and sprinted across the deck. "Alex what are you doing?!" Keegan yelled. The helicopter took off and Alex jumped off the deck and grabbed onto the landing skid in midair. She pulled herself up and did her best not to look down below her. Once she was up, she got herself inside the helicopter and the pilot immediately noticed her presence. He pulled out a pistol to shoot her, but Alex rushed over and grabbed his wrist and brought her elbow down on his forearm, breaking the bone. He let out a cry of pain and Alex pulled her knife out and jammed it into his throat. She must have hit an artery because blood came spraying out. She got onto the second set of controls and turned the helicopter around back to the platform. She landed and told Kick and Keegan to move their ass.

"You are one reckless son of a bitch Alex!" Kick yelled.

"I know now shut up and throw him out of here!" Alex yelled back, motioning towards the dead pilot.

Keegan grabbed him and threw him out of the side door before getting on the mini gun. "Merrick, it's Alex. We've secured a chopper and are on route to you." Alex reported back to the others who were still on the ground.

"Copy that little sister. We're two mikes from the control room coming up on the North side." Merrick replied.

Alex turned the helicopter and headed towards the North side. She did her best not to worry about Merrick all the time, but when they were separated on the same mission like they were now, there was always that worry in the pit of her stomach. But then again who could blame her? It was her brother.

Two minutes passed before Alex was able to locate Merrick and the others in the mess of flames and smoke. "Merrick I see you!" Alex said in happiness when she saw her brother down on the deck waving his arms in the air. "Copy that! Just keep eyes on us!" he told her before rushing forward with the Walker brothers. Alex moved to the side and shined the helicopter light on the Feds in front of them and Keegan shot the machine gun at them to clear a path. Alex pulled around when a machine gun on the ground began firing at them. Alex quick pulled back, knocking Kick on the ground. "Little warning next time would be nice." He told her as he stood up. "I can't get through with those machine guns down there." Alex replied. "Keegan take them out."

"Yes ma'am." Keegan said in a fake respectful tone for sarcastic reasons before lighting up the top balcony where the machine guns were.

"We're moving to shut down the fire suppression!" Merrick's voice boomed through the comms.

Alex kept the helicopter a respectful distance from the rig so the explosions didn't get the better of them when they eventually came. A loud and earth moving explosion went off and Alex cringed. Then there was a second, and a third, and a fourth and a fifth. Alex looked at the rig and waited for Merrick's voice to come through the radio. "Where are you Merrick?" she said to herself. Every second passed felt like forever until Merrick finally came over the comms. "Alex we're on our way to the pipe deck!" he yelled. Alex smiled in relief and turned the helicopter to the right towards the pipe deck. "Copy that Merrick, I'll stay as low as I can!" She responded, knowing she couldn't get too close to the flames and smoke.

When Alex got to the position, she told Kick to throw the rope out and for him and Keegan to hold onto something. Once they were holding onto the support bars, Alex turned the helicopter onto its side just as Merrick, Logan, and Hesh jumped off of the deck and went flying towards the rope. Merrick was close to the top and Hesh grabbed onto towards the middle and Logan was at the bottom. "We got them!" Keegan yelled. "Now get us the hell out here Alex!"

Alex pulled the helicopter up and they passed by some boats that were in the water driving away from the oil rig. And as for the oil rig, blew up into thousands of pieces and crumbled into the water of the Drake Passage. Mission Accomplished.

While Alex was flying, Merrick and the Walker brothers pulled themselves into the chopper. Merrick went up and sat next to his sister in the other chair. Alex looked at him and smiled. "Good job." Alex told him. "Same to you." Merrick replied. He looked at his sister as she sat at the control flying the chopper and smiled. In that moment, he felt more proud of her than he ever has.

OOOOO

That night back on the sub Alex was in the file room wrapped in a fleece blanket and dressed in leggings and a hoodie. She took an extremely hot shower and drank several cups of hot tea, but as she predicted, she could not get warm. Especially her hands. They were freezing as if she was getting next to no blood supply. At the moment she was filling out her field report to file away when Hesh walked in. "I'm looking for more files." He told her. "Know where these are?" He held up a slip of paper. Alex got up and walked over to him to see the slip of paper. "They're back here." she told him, motioning for him to follow her. They walked towards the back of the room and Alex pulled the box off of the shelf. She handed the box to Hesh who took it from her, feeling her icy cold hands when he grabbed the box.

"Cold?" he asked as he carried the box over to the table. Alex laughed as she followed him. "How'd you know?" she questioned.

"Besides the blanket and warm clothes, your hands are like ice."

Alex looked at her hands and brought them together in front of her. "I can never get them warm."

Hesh looked at her. "Let me see them." he said reaching out. He stood in front of Alex and enclosed his hands around hers. He brought them up to his mouth and exhaled warm air into them, making her hands warm up. Alex looked at him as he did and smiled. He did it twice before moving them away from his mouth, but keeping his hands around hers. "Better?" he asked. Alex nodded. Hesh smiled and released her hands and grabbed the files he needed. "I'll see you later." he said before walking back, leaving Alex with a blush on her cheeks.