Tracking… Found
Sgt. John "Soap" MacTavish
22nd SAS Regiment
Safehouse in Russia
We were gathering around a table covered in pictures of Imran Zakhaev. One of them showed a group of guys, all of whom were named the "Four Horsemen". I remembered something from history about how in the last book of the New Testament, god was telling of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They essentially set about and caused chaos among the people. Kind of like what Zakhaev and his minions were doing. I watched as Price took a red marker and put a big X across Al-Asad's face.
"Well, we got that bastard." Griggs said
"Still, he's not the one responsible for killing your Marines. Sorry mate." Price said
"Imran Zakhaev, huh? Man's a ghost. Intel says he's gone underground." Gaz said
"Well I got a plan to find him."
"I'm listening." Vasquez said
Price laid down a photo of a man named Viktor Zakhaev, the Third Horseman.
"Daddy's boy." Griggs said
"Zakhaev's son. Commander of the Ultranationalist forces in the field. Rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The loyalist Kamarov has got a location on the kid." Price sais
"And the little punk'll know how to find Zakhaev."
"The sins of our fathers…" Gaz muttered
"Ain't it a bitch?"
Two Hours Later
We were moving through a junkyard, about one hundred meters away from the vehicle checkpoint. We were following Kamarov's lead, hoping that his intel on Viktor was going to be here in a few hours.
"This is the best way in. The vehicle checkpoint is directly ahead." Kamarov said
"Not bad, Kamarov. This'll do nicely. Vulture One-Six, we're in position." Price said
"Bravo-Six, this is Vulture One-Six. Radio jammers are active, you're cleared to engage the guard station. Out."
"Soap, get on that dumpster and prepare to take out the guards on my mark. The rest of you follow me."
I did as Price told me, and got on top of the dumpster, giving me a direct line of sight to the hostiles in the guard tower. I waited for Price to give the order, holding one of their heads in my crosshairs.
"Soap, take them out now."
I pulled the trigger, sending a round through the Ultranationalist's head. I quickly aimed and shot the other one. Once they were killed, I ran around the building of a gas station and took position behind a burned out car. I started to take out any targets of opportunity that I could, right up until Price called a cease-fire.
"All right, let's get this place sorted out. Change into enemy uniforms and douse the fires. Kamarov, I need your men on the ground if the drivers start asking questions. Just keep them busy until we locate Zakhaev's son. We don't have much time, so get to it." Price said
For the next two hours, we set about making sure that everything was set for when Viktor arrived. Once everything was set up, we all got into position, Griggs, Jackson, and I climbed the tower, and started posing as guards. Griggs crouched because he wasn't wearing a hostile uniform. He thought that there was no point when he didn't look the part anyways. When was the last time that you saw a black Russian? Either way, we were all in position when we were told that he was inbound.
"Man, you look like a clown in that outfit. Good thing you're up here, 'cuz you look nothin' like a Russian." Griggs said
"And like you do?" I muttered
He chuckled as Vulture One-Six told us that the enemy convoy was right about to pass through here.
"Roger that. Nobody fires a shot until I give the order." Price said
I watched the road ahead as the convoy came into sight. I could see that there were three troop transports, two BMPs, and a single jeep.
"Wanker… Sir, I have a visual on the target in the third vehicle. I'm walking by it right now." Gaz said
"Copy that. All teams standby. The target is in the jeep in front of the BMP. We need to take him alive, so watch your fire. Standby… standby… smoke 'em." Price ordered
We all popped up and started to shoot the various Russians that popped out of the trucks. I had lost sight of Viktor right up until Griggs shouted above the gunfire.
"He's gonna hit the tower! Hang on! Oh fuck!"
I watched, helpless as the jeep crashed into the guard tower, causing it to tilt over sideways. I hit the ground, and tried to get up, but I couldn't. I looked around, and saw Viktor crawling out of the wreckage of the jeep. I watched him start moving away when the jeep exploded, sending him off balance. I watched as he tried to run up the road he came from, but he couldn't due to the fact that Price and the others were cutting him off. His only other option was to run into the junkyard, which he did.
"The target is making a run for it! Soap! Take Griggs and King and chase him down! We'll handle the enemy reinforcements and catch up! Go, go!" Price yelled
Not needing to be told twice, I got to my feet and started to sprint after Viktor. I didn't know if Griggs or King was behind me, but all I knew was that I had to catch Viktor.
"Bravo team, this is Vulture One-Six. I'm tracking the target. Damn this guy moves fast. Ok, he's leaving the junkyard to the north west. Get his ass, move, move!"
When I started to move towards a building leaving the junkyard, a dog came running out, and started heading right towards me. I shot it and kept on moving. I couldn't let Zakhaev's son escape.
"Ok, the target is moving… north. He's headed towards the outskirts of the city. This guy's really haulin' ass. Don't let him get away. Be advised, this area is crawling with hostile forces, over."
We moved down a street and into the outskirts of the city. There was a shop lined street, but the street itself was buried under a sea of Ultranationalists. I guess they were sending in more reinforcements from this way too. The three of us took cover, trying to not get shot.
"For a vodka drinking Russian, that guy moves fast." King said
"Why the hell is he in a bloody track suit, eh? It's like he knew he'd be running today." I muttered
"The target is moving again. There's a side alley to the left that might let you cut him off." The Vulture One-Six pilot said
"Roger that! Soap! Go through the alley on the left!" Griggs yelled
We ran up the street and into the alley, somehow managing to avoid getting shot in the process. We continued to move through the alleyways and found ourselves at a parking lot. I looked around and saw that the alley continued on the other side of the building in front of us. I went around and when I turned a corner, I was immediately was met with two Ultranationalists. I shot them quickly, but the gunshots brought more of them over to us. We needed to get through this, and now. If we didn't hurry up, then Zakhaev's son was going to get away.
"I got movement on the rooftops." One-Six said
"Movement on rooftops, copy!" Griggs yelled
Does he have to repeat everything? I mean, he can just say "Copy" and let it be over with. I shook my head and started to shoot at the hostiles up high. We left the parking lot and started to move to the right of it. I had to kill a guy behind a dumpster, but other than that, this street was clear. We went into an alley to the left, took another left, killed some more assholes, but then we found him again. He was running into a five story building. The only problem with following him was the fact that there was a machine gun nest on the fifth floor.
"Vulture One-Six, we are taking heavy fire from a fortified position on the fifth floor!" Gaz yelled
"Roger that, first one's free. Standby." The pilot said
The chopper flew by the window, the gunner on the side, shooting the hostile inside. With him dead, we were free to move up and try and find Zakhaev's son.
"Bravo team, do you have a visual on the target, over?" One-Six asked
"Affirmative, target spotted entering five story building." Gaz said
We all ran into the building and moved up a flight of stairs. We were about to move up the second one, but the Ultranationalists had it blocked off. With no other choice, we moved into a room on the first floor. Inside, there was a single Ultranationalist, and I shot him. Moving up, we walked into a bedroom, but there was another one in a doorway across the room. It was King who took the shot this time. I nodded at her and we kept moving. Through that doorway was what looked like a living room, but the place was blasted to pieces. The wall at the far end of the room was gone, allowing us to move into it. We continued to move throughout the building, shooting any hostiles in our way. On the other side fo the wall was a bedroom, but I didn't waste time on looking at the details. We moved into another living room, but this one looked as if it had been set on fire. There was charred wood everywhere, and there was another hole in the wall. We moved through a couple more rooms before finally arriving at the other end of the building. There was a staircase that we used to get to the floor above. When I got to the top of the stairs, I saw why the place looked like it had been bombed. It had. The entire northwestern wall was gone. The floors were destroyed so much that they just created a ramp right up to the fourth floor.
"Ah, shit. Not another MGs nest." King said
We all dove for cover, getting ready for what was coming. The bullets started to hit whatever we were taking cover behind. We waited for a few seconds before Vulture One-Six graciously destroyed the nest for us. I guess they were feeling generous, destroying this nest without us asking them to. Now that the forward area was clear, we all started to run for the end of the building, where we knew that there would be another staircase. We moved through another apartment, but I saw someone coming up the stairs. I was about to pull the trigger when King pushed my gun to the side.
"They're blue." She said
I looked and saw that they were Kamarov's men. I'm glad she was paying attention to what they were wearing, because I don't know how I'd feel, shooting and killing one of our guys. We followed the direction where Griggs and Gaz had gone, up two more flights of stairs before finally getting up to the roof. I could hear Gaz yelling.
"Drop the bloody gun! Now drop it!"
"I could put one in his leg sir!" Griggs yelled
"No! We can't risk it, hold your fire!" Price said
What I saw through some windows was Viktor up on a ledge near the edge of the building. I could see why Price didn't want Griggs shooting him. If he fell the wrong way, he would fall right off the building to his death. When we got out onto the open roof, Price looked over at me.
"Soap, take his weapon and restrain him!"
It didn't work out too well, because as I moved forward, Viktor took his pistol, raised it to his head, and shot himself in the head. He was dead before his body hit the roof.
"Shit… kid's got some issues." Griggs said
"Baseplate this is Bravo Six. Zakhaev's son is dead. We're comin' home." Price said
"Bloody hell, his son was our only lead sir." Gaz said
"Forget it. I know the man. He won't let this go unanswered. Let's go."
With that, we all walked out of the building, climbed into the helicopter, and flew away. I looked at the retreating landscape of the city's outskirts as we flew away. Almost the entire town was on fire from cars exploding, grenades going off, and other things.
"So what do you think we're going to do now?" King asked
"I don't know. I guess the only thing to do now is wait for Zakhaev's reaction." I said
"I have the feeling that this isn't going to end well for us."
"Neither do I."