A.N.: Hey guys, what's up? I've got another chapter for you here, and the beginning of it is going to focus on the characters that haven't had the story written from their POV yet. They're all going to be going to either the safehouse in the Caucasus Mountains or the boneyard in Afghanistan, but they're all going to be worrying about different things. But before I get to Loose Ends or The Enemy of My Enemy, I'm going to let you guys choose what happens. Just leave a review or message me what you think should happen in those missions, and I'll do my best to incorporate everyone's ideas. So, R+R, PM, and enjoy. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.
Tracking… Found
Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley
Task Force 141
Colorado, U.S.A.
It was nice to finally be back home. With the fighting going on in this country, there was no way that we could've possibly come back before this. But now that the Russians were being pushed back to the coast, we were able to go back to base. When we got there, everybody immediately went to the showers. Well, everyone except for Roach and Desert. They went to the infirmary. Apparently, the ceiling had collapsed, covering Roach. Nobody knew the extent of his internal injuries, so he had to go, and Desert insisted on going with them. I could tell something was going on between those two, but I wasn't going to say anything. I tended to not care about what everybody else did. Nobody made an attempt to get to know me, so I was more of a loner on the team. Unless we were on mission, or getting new recruits, I barely spoke a word. I started walking off to my room, and I saw Hazard following me. It took me a moment to remember that we shared a room. Still not used to that. I preferred to be alone, and having someone share the same room, made it kind of hard to do that. I got to the room, and went straight to the bathroom. I took my gear off, then my mask and glasses. I looked in the mirror at my face, studying the man that had become a stranger. I had once been known as Simon Riley, but that wasn't really me anymore. It wasn't possible for me to be Simon Riley when his psyche had been blown apart and had been left to heal itself. The only way to stay sane was to create "Ghost". He was my way of not losing sanity, but being able to retain parts of Simon's. Over the years, I've been slowly putting my psyche back together, but it was tough work. How are you supposed to live as one man for years, then start to abandon that way of living? It was hard, but I was working on it. The one part of my personality that still needed work was my trust issues. The events that led to my mind shattering was caused by men that I had trusted with my life. They caused the empty look that was always in my eyes, but there was something different in them tonight. As I looked into them, I saw that they held more of a light in them that hadn't been there for more than three years. I wasn't sure which side of my mind was more surprised- Simon or Ghost. But the sparkle was there, and it wasn't going away. I went through the rest of my post-op routine with a lighter heart, even saying a few words to Hazard. That was something new. Now that I was thinking about it, there was no way I was going to finish fixing my mind if I didn't start talking with everybody else on the team. Hell, the only reason I knew everybody's real names was that I helped MacTavish decide the recruits. I needed to go to the rec room and actually talk to people, not just stand in the shadows. And that's how I was sitting in the rec room five minutes later picking up an Xbox controller for the first time. I had no idea what buttons to press, but I somehow ended up playing Battlefield 4. Fun game, if you weren't the greenest player in the world. I was so caught up in the game, that I didn't even hear anyone enter.
"Holy shit, is Ghost actually playing a game?" Roach said behind me
"Ha, ha, Bug. Shut the hell up and let me kill people in peace." I said
"Why do I get the feeling that's not the first time you've said that?"
"Roach, seriously, if you don't shut your mouth, I'm going to do to you what I'm doing to the guys in this game."
He must've believed me because he shut up after that. Slowly, the team began to pour into the room, talking, generally having a good time. After a little while, I got bored of being shot and killed over and over again, so I gave the controller to someone else and went to get a beer. It was nice actually hanging out with people, getting to be part of jokes. It was almost as if I was Simon Riley again. We hung around, taking turns at playing each other in Mortal Kombat, drinking beer, having fun. Turns out I'm pretty bad ass with Kung Jin.
"Damn, Ghost. How'd you become so good at this game if you never play it?" Ozone asked
"It's gotta be beginners luck. That's gotta be it. There's no way." Scarecrow said
"Maybe it's that I played the original Mortal Kombat as a kid. You know, the one on the Genesis?" I said
"What's a Genesis?" Hazard asked
That started an uproar. I mean, she was born in the 90s, but surely she had to have at least heard of a Sega Genesis when she was growing up. How could her parents not let her know the sweet joys of having a Sega? It was one of the best times of my life. My father wasn't such a drunk, my brother wasn't getting in to trouble every other day, life was good. But to not even know, that was enough to make a grown man cry. But that's how we spent the next hour explaining to Hazard what a Genesis was. After forever, she finally made the connection that it was Sega's version of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Thank god. I still didn't know how she didn't know. Eventually, Captain Price came in, and even he was surprised that I was hanging out. I wouldn't blame him. When he had been captured, I had been in a worse mental state than I was now. My family had only been dead for almost a year, so it was still fresh in my mind. But now that it was longer ago, I've finally begun to realize that they wouldn't want me to live in seclusion. They would want me to go out and be the Simon they had in their minds as they had been massacred. So I would. Unfortunately, about an hour after Price came in, our other captain came in.
"Oi, you bloody muppets! Listen up! We got some new FNGs!" He yelled
"Already? I thought we weren't due to get new recruits for another couple months?" I asked
"Yeah, well, Shepherd picked these ones personally. Treat like any other member of the team."
When the FNGs walked in, Hazard went crazy. She ran over and tackled two of the guys in hugs. I guess she knew who these guys were. Once she calmed down, they told us that they were the Army Rangers who took back the White House in D.C. Yeah that would catch Shepherd's attention. If you did something that was extraordinary in your branch of the military, then he tended to recruit you for the Task Force. Hell, that's how I got recruited, except that my thing was killing an entire mansion full of armed guards and then killing the man responsible for the death of my family. I guess Shepherd had been watching the whole thing because he was there as soon as I walked away from that burning complex. But I digress. We welcomed these guys and we all started to get along. They even had their call signs within the hour. The guy called Ramirez was labeled Hercules after we heard about how no matter what Foley told him to do, he did it. The chick called Blackwood was named Boxer after she started a boxing match with Gaz over the last beer in the fridge. Dunn got Jester when he was doing nothing but cracking jokes. Sandler was given Gator when all he was doing was talking about the Gators that was always in his backyard at his house. The last guy, Foley was called Preacher for always yelling out orders to everybody. I bet that was going to be a weird change, not being in command of everybody. We were all having a good time until a private came in and whispered something into his ear.
"Oi, let's go! Shepherd wants to brief the whole team in the war room!" He shouted over the noise
When nobody heard him, both Gaz and I shouted over everyone. That got their attention. We all headed out of the rec room over to the war room. If Shepherd wanted everybody, this must be big. Once we were all settled, he began talking.
"It's been a tough week gentlemen. We've lost more than we ever dreamed. But we will recover. I've got a blank check. And we're gonna use every cent of it killin' Makarov. Despite what the world may say, we are not savages, we don't kill civilians. We use precision. There's an evil man hiding in these shadows and we're gonna bring him into the light. Once his face is revealed, will write history, gentlemen. These are the last safe havens let on Earth for Makarov and his men."
He pulled up two locations. One of them is a suspected safehouse in the Caucasus Mountains and the other one is a suspected arms deal at a U.S. Vehicle Disposal Yard in Afghanistan. Looks like we were going to hit Makarov and his men on two fronts. I like it. Either one team or the other will take out Makarov.
"Sounds like we gotta be in two places at once." Price said
"Impossible?"
"Not for the One-Four-One."
"Fifty-fifty chance to take out Makarov, eh? Captain Price, request permission to take the safehouse with Roach." I asked
"Granted. Soap and I will take the boneyard in Afghanistan."
"Very well. We will cut-off all avenues of escape. This ends now." Shepherd said
"Strange. I coulda sworn we ended this war yesterday." Price said
That got Shepherd pissed. We had to hold back both Price and Shepherd so they wouldn't tear each other's throats out. I guess Shepherd was still pretty pissed that we had disobeyed a direct order to sit still. Well, whatever the reason, we had to go after them. Now, the hard part. Deciding who to take with us. Price, MacTavish, and I went into his office to discuss this. I was taking Gaz, Griggs, Jackson, Stratton, Havoc, Archer, Toad, Scarecrow, Ozone, Boxer, Jester, and Roach. Those were the key guys I was bringing. Price and Soap were bringing everybody else. Then I had a strange thought.
"Captain Price, have we always known about this safehouse of Makarov's? I understand finding out about the arms deal, but how did Shepherd suddenly find a safehouse in the middle of the mountains after months of coming up with nothing? Doesn't it seem a little strange to you?" I asked
"Yeah. I haven't been able to trust Shepherd since I got back. The man seems different from the last time I saw him. He's more driven to take down Makarov, willing to do anything. I don't know what it is, though. I think he's up to something, and we should be ready for it. Act like nothing is wrong, but we're going to leave a few people here to protect Allen and Worm in the infirmary, especially Allen. If Shepherd is planning on doing something, I have the feeling that Allen knows about it, and only Allen can bring him down. I'll have Gator and Angel stay behind to protect them."
With that settled, we went outside and got ready for the mission. I went to my room to get my bare essentials like my watch and gloves. After that, I headed to the locker room to get the rest of my gear on. After they were ready, I got my guns. I had the feeling that we were going to meet a lot of resistance at the safehouse, so I was bringing a lot of weapons and a lot of ammo. Any pouch that wasn't used for anything important was emptied and filled with extra magazines. Hell, I put mags in the pouches in my pants. I grabbed my ACR, my M4A1, and my SCAR-H. The load of all the rifles was going to weigh me down, but they were worth it if we were going to encounter enough resistance. Since I was ready to go, I left for the plane that was going to be taking us in. It was going to take a while, so I started to sleep as soon as we were on the plane. Didn't get much sleep after getting back from the sub base, so I plugged in my ear buds and fell asleep listening to "World War Me".
Signal Lost…
Tracking… Found
MSgt. Lilly "Hazard" Havoc
Task Force 141
North Atlantic Ocean
We've been in the plane for about four or five hours. Like Desert, I liked listening to music before a mission, so I had my iPod turned on. Right now, the song "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World was playing. It was one of my more favorite songs, so I listened to it a lot. Plus, it spoke to me on a more personal level. The chorus of the song was the best. Even before the Russians invaded, things weren't going good at home. My mom was threatening to divorce my dad if he didn't stop drinking so much, my brother was constantly being arrested. The worst part was my sister. She didn't agree with me joining the military so her form of protesting me joining was not talking to me at all. That was about two years ago. I guess that if she was going to sever ties with me over just that, then I was just going to have to lose having my sister. The only reason it hurt so much was because we always had each other growing up, and to suddenly not having her there for support, it was like losing a part of myself. And I've had to go around with that piece missing ever since I left for boot camp. But that was the way it had to be. The military was who I was now, and if my sister couldn't understand that, then she can stay away from me. I don't need anybody who wasn't going to support me and stick with me no matter what. But who needs her when I've got my family right here? It was like Roach was that annoying little brother who always was around to hang out with and bug you- pun intended. Price was like the father that was always around to make sure you did what you were supposed to, but let you have your freedom. Soap was like the oldest brother who had to step up and be the leader when that dad left for a little while. Ghost was- I don't know what Ghost was. Sometimes he was like a leader himself, but other times, he's secluded and not talkative. But tonight, he was joking, and I could tell he was smiling under his mask. I could tell that something terrible happened to him, and he was just trying to cope with it. But tonight, he was with us and it seemed like he was more light hearted than he had ever been. I mean, I've only been around for a couple days, but I've seen him change a lot in those couple days. I looked over at the sleeping man to see that his glasses had fallen off his face. It was weird to actually be able to see his eyes, closed or not. I kept staring at him until I fell asleep an hour later.
Signal Lost…
Tracking… Found
Sgt. Johnathan "Archer" Daniels
Task Force 141
French Airspace
I looked across the plane to where Chris was sitting. He was usually known as Toad, but to me he'll always be Chris. I'd known him ever since we were in high school. I had been the jock, and he had been the quiet and shy kid that was always hiding behind a book. But from the day that I had met him, he had always held my attention. I had never really thought about it, but I think that I realized that the reason why I never had a girlfriend was because I never really wanted one. But to be anything different was frowned upon in my family. They hated the people that were part of the LGBT community, so I've been forced to keep quiet about how I felt for years. But eventually I grew tired of it. I told Chris how I felt and he felt the same way. That was the best day of my life. My family, on the other hand, didn't take it so well. They disowned me, and I haven't talked to them since. Some friends back home that I still talked to said that any time that I was mentioned to my father, he acted like I had never been born. But if he wants to be like that, then fine. He can go ahead and be like that. I have Chris, and that's all I'll ever need in this world. The only thing that I was scared of was how the team would react if they ever found out. MacTavish already knew, and he was fine with it, but I wasn't so sure that our teammates would be as okay with it. I may only need Chris in life, but it was going to make my life a living hell if they found out and they didn't like it. But as I thought about it, I realized, to hell with it. If I can get over my own family hating me for my decision, then I can get over my teammate's possible hatred. I got up and walked over to where Chris was and sat down next to him. I subtly grabbed his hand and held it. He slowly got the message that I didn't care if anybody saw, and leaned his head on my shoulder. To hell with it if nobody liked me because of this. If they were so shallow as to hate me for this, then they can go fuck themselves.
Signal Lost…
Tracking… Found
2LT Amy "Neon" King
Task Force 141
Libyan Airspace
Most of the people on the plane were sleeping. I only knew about half of them, and I didn't like it. Shepherd insisted that we take a squad of his own men. I didn't get it, if Shepherd wanted us to take a squad, then why didn't he want Ghost and Roach taking some of his guys too? I thought about it for a few more minutes before leaning over to John.
"Don't you think it's weird that Shepherd sent a group of his Shadow Company soldiers to assist us, but he didn't send a group with Ghost and Roach?" I whispered
"Yeah. I don't know what's going on, but something is off about Shepherd has been off ever since he briefed us earlier. I don't know what it is, but if he can't trust us enough to get the job done, it can't be good. Ghost noticed something was off about him too, but Price and I just told him to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. We should too. Always keep an eye on them while we're out there. I don't want anything happening to you." He said
I wasn't sure how to take that. Was that him just voicing his concern as a commanding officer, or was it something more? I've known I've felt that way about John for years. I've had to watch him become a Captain, go through the pain of losing Price, every time a man died under his command, it wasn't good for him. He always blamed himself whenever a man died, even if he wasn't on the op. When Gaz was merely shot back at the sub base? He was silent for hours, wouldn't make a sound. It was even worse in after going for Rojas. When Meat and Royce were killed, I actually found him crying in his office. He just couldn't take the pain of losing someone under his command. It hurt me even more having to watch him go through that. I haven't felt this strongly about anybody in years. The last person I loved as much as I love John was my father, and he died when I was fifteen. I hated whenever I saw him as anything other than happy. That's all I wanted for him, and I prayed that I was the cause of that happiness someday.
Signal Lost…
Tracking… Found
Cpt. John "Soap" MacTavish
Task Force 141
Egyptian Airspace
I looked over at Amy, and I saw that she had this faraway look in her eye. I had come to recognize this look as "I'm thinking and I want to be left alone" look. She got that look whenever she started thinking about her past. I caught her with this look and she wouldn't talk to me about it for a week. She eventually let up and told me she was thinking about her dad. He had been killed when some random guy came into her father's dry cleaner's and shot him in cold blood while she watched from her hiding place. The crook didn't even know until he was arrested. I wish that there was something I could do to help her whenever she got that look on her face, but there wasn't. I knew that kind of pain. When I had been younger, my best friend had been killed in a botched mugging. They never found the guy. Every now and then I would just zone out and nobody would be able to do anything until I was able to focus on my own again. There was nothing anybody could do. I just wish that Amy would let me in farther. Slowly, over the years I've fallen for Amy. It kind of started when she saved my life on The Bridge five years ago. Actually, that's not true. I've noticed her ever since I met her, not for her looks, but for her personality. Then my affection grew for her when we were being extracted from Azerbaijan. The hardest part was becoming Captain, because I had to focus on a lot more than when I was going to ask her out on a date. As much as I hated it, I had to give up the idea of being with her. I wanted to, but if I couldn't give her my full attention at all times, then I wasn't going to waste her time. But speaking of relationships, it wasn't like I had missed what was going on between Roach and that new recruit, Desert. I knew that they had a thing for each other, and I just hoped that it didn't get in the way of them doing the mission they were going to. Ah, but isn't that a bit of hypocrisy? But whatever. We were all on the way to some mission with all the people we cared about, and we all got the job done. I should have faith in my team. I'm not Shepherd, after all.
A.N.: So that's the end of the chapter, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I tried to write from as many POVs as possible without dragging the chapter out too long. But I got pretty much anybody that matters. And yes, for those of you who wasn't so sure, I did pair Archer and Toad as a gay couple. I figured, why not change things up a little. I was originally planning on writing their relationship into the original, but then I kind of forgot about them. But now they're in this story and I'm going to make sure they aren't forgotten. And as for the other relationships, they will begin to develop after the missions Loose Ends and The Enemy of My Enemy finish. So, R+R, PM, and I hope you enjoyed. Until next time, OPKILLERFROST, out.