The Assignment

January 29, 2023 - 08:18:14

Sgt. Carter "Sabre" Diaz

Task Force 141

Firebase Infinity: Undisclosed Location

"Sergeant Diaz, Captain Price would like to see you in his office."

"On my way."

It was late in the morning, Carter had been performing his usual duties up until this point. The last few weeks had been somewhat quiet all things considered. But wether or not that was a good thing was debatable.

Before Carter had been invited to the 141, Captain Price and company had been informed by Station Chief Laswell of a new contact working with the Ultra-naturalists terror group. The captain informed her that this "new contact" wasn't new in the slightest.

Makarov...

Laswell had done some digging and recovered redacted intel on a black bag operation conducted by General Shepard and carried out by Commander Graves and Shadow Company. Shadow Company were transacting American made ballistic missiles to US allies fighting Russians in the Middle East. The reconisense reported that the route to the destination was clear of hostile activity.

The reports were wrong...

The shipments were spotted long before they reached their destination. The convoy was ambushed by Russian PMCs. The Russians killed the entire unit and got a hold of Shadow Companys comms.

Shepard had good intentions, but the shipments were illegal and off the books. Him and Graves buried the whole operation.

However what Laswell didn't realise until doing further digging on the operation was that the convoy wasn't ambushed by Russian PMCs, but rather Ultra-naturalists. Makorov was the one who lead the ambush, and had the missiles delivered to Hassan.

A few weeks after the realization, news reports involving the hijacking of a Russian commercial plane flooded news outlets around the globe. The news reports stated that the plane had been hijacked by an unknown group of individuals halfway through the flights destination. The flight course was diverted, crashing into the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital building. The Russian Air Force made an attempt to intercept the flight, but were unable to do so in time.

The crash killed all hijackers and passengers aboard the flight. The blast from the crash killed hundreds more inside of the hospital. The death toll was just below one thousand, with property damages exceeding millions.

Upon investigation of the crash site, detectives at the scene were able to recover what appeared to be damaged passports belonging to troops of the United States Military, giving reason to believe that the flight was hijacked by Americans. Enraged by this discovery, citizens of Russia cried out for war against the US. The US denied all involvement in this attack, and offered to have a sit down with Russian officials in an attempt to calm the situation and prove their innocence.

Russia has yet to make a final decision, but the possibility of war with the US is looming dangerously close...

It had only been about 48 hours since the attack took place, and tensions between the US and Russia were still incredibly high, as was to be expected. But Laswell and the CIA had reason to believe that the attack was Makarovs doing, and that he was framing the US in order to force Russia's hand. But of course, they would need proof to back up that claim.

With the US and Russia on the brink of war, Carter couldn't stand the idea of performing what he considered meaningless tasks. He was hoping that whatever it was that the Captain wanted to see him about, it would be something that would involve him helping to prove America's innocence.

Little did he know, that's exactly what he was being called over for.

Carter had made his way from is personal quarters to Captain Prices office, knocking before making an attempt to enter.

The Captains voice could be heard on the other side of the door in response to Carter's knocking. "Come in."

Carter opened the door to see Price sitting at his desk. Opposite to him was Station Chief Kate Laswell sitting in one of his chairs. Carter closed the door behind him before straightening his posture and saluting.

"Captain Price."

"At ease Sergeant. Have a seat." Responded Price.

Carter let loose a bit before taking a seat besides Laswell. "Station Chief Laswell." Acknowledged Carter respectfully.

"Good to see you Diaz." Responded Laswell.

Behind the Captains desk were a variety of items and picture frames that all appeared to be related to some of Prices previous missions and deployments. One of which was an M14 Marksman Rifle hanging on the wall covered in ghillie leafs. Carter had recalled Price mentioning that he and his commanding officer at the time Captain Macmillan had used the specific rifles during a misson to assassinate former ultra-naturalist leader Imran Zakeav in the 90s back when he first visited the Captains office.

There were also numerous picture frames with photographs hung up on the wall. One of them was a photograph of the Captain with a Middle Eastern looking woman. Carter knew of this woman as Commander Farah Ahmed Karim: Leader and one of the founders of the Urzikstan Liberation Force, or ULF. Price had also mentioned Farah before, stating that she was a close ally of the 141, if not a member herself to a certain degree.

Another was a group photo of the Captain and other prominent members of the 141. Those members being Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, Sergeant Johnny "Soap" Mactavish, and last but not least Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick. All of which he'd already been acquainted with once he joined. Carter was fond of this particular photograph, hoping that one day there would be another photo of similar nature, but with himself in it as well.

Carter wasn't one to doubt his own worth, he knew of his capabilities. He'd proven them on several occasions, both with the United States Army, and Shadow Company. He just hadn't done so with the 141 just yet. Carter was honored to be invited to this Task Force, after all they were the best hand picked group of warriors on the planet. So if Captain fucking Price of all people personally invited him to join them, then he must be good for something.

"I know you've been eager to get out of the base for some time now Sergeant, so you'll be happy to know that we've got an assignment for you." Began Price.

Carters ears perked up at hearing this. It seemed like it was finally time to get back on the field. "I'm all ears sir."

"As you're aware, the possibility of a war between the US and Russia is all but guaranteed at this point. Unless the yanks can provide suffient proof of their innocence in the Moscow attack, it'll only be a matter of time before Russia kicks in the front door. Luckily for us, we may have a lead on just that."

The Captain then motions to Laswell to continue where he left off. "Laswell?"

Laswell then grabbed a nearby folder she had with her and hamded it over to Carter. Contained inside the folder was a file. Carter proceeded to open it and review its contents.

"Alejandro Rojas." Began Laswell. "South American arms dealer. We believe he's working with Makarov. And we've got a lead on his location."

"Where?" Asked Carter.

"Rio." Responded Laswell. "He's using local the local militia to provide protection for his shipments. In return, they got a cut of the action."

Carter then handed the folder back to Laswell. "So where do I come in?"

Price then chimed in on the matter. "You'll be headed to Rio in the next fourty eight hours under deep cover as a smuggler in order to find this bastard. He's constantly moving around the city, so if he gets wind of something he deems suspicious, he'll make himself scarce before we can capture him. And we most definitely cannot afford that right now."

Carter had been involved with deep cover operations before, but the stakes wern't quite this high. Never the less, he wasn't afraid to take on such a task. "Will anyone else be joining me on this assignment?"

"One other operator yes, but not of the 141." Responded Price.

Carter had a visibly questionable look on his face when he heard that part. If he wasn't being accompanied by a fellow member of the 141, then who the hell was he going with?

Almost as if on cue, a knock came from Prices office door.

"Come in." Responded Price.

Though Laswell already knew who to expect at the door, both her and Carter turned their attention to the opening door, revealing a raven haired caramel skinned woman with a braided ponytail. She appeared to be around the same age as Carter was. Not only that, but she also appeared to be Hispanic as well. She was wearing a pair of camouflaged cargo pants combined with standard military boots, along with a dry fit T shirt consisting of the same colors. The shirt revealed a large tattoo that covered her entire left arm. She was more or less wearing the same thing that Carter was, along with most of the base anyway.

Carter did not recognize this woman in the slightest, but upon entering Prices office, she made direct eye contact with Carter, giving him a small smirk in the process, which almost seemed flirty in nature. Carter appeared to be the only one who noticed this, and was visibly taken aback by this. This also seemed to go unnoticed by the other two occupants in the office.

The woman then acknowledged Laswell and Price in a professional manner before walking further into the office to stand besides Prices desk.

"Laswell. Price." Acknowledged the woman.

"Mara." Responded both Price and Laswell in unison.

Carter meanwhile had not stopped looking at this woman after she had given him that smirk. But eventually he decided to drop it. There were bigger things to be concerned with.

"Sergeant Diaz, this is Mara of the Warcom division. She'll be leading the way on this assignment." Began Price.

"Leading?" Asked Carter.

Laswell then responded to him. "Yes, Mara here has a contact in Rio who's infiltrated the local militia in order to gain intel for his resistance fighters. He'll be able to get the two of you on the inside without drawing any suspicion."

Price then chimed in once again to add further details. "The two of you will need to capture the target for interrogation without drawing any unwanted attention. And since the two of you are both of Hispanic orgin, you should fit in with relative ease. But should the militia get too curious, we won't be able to send in anyone to assist if they decide to go after you. So you two will need to rely solely on each other."

Laswell then added in further details. "Once you recover whatever intel you can from Rojas, get in contact with command to arrange extraction. The militia won't be too far behind once they've realised that he's gone missing. But until you capture him, the two of you are to do whatever you can in order to maintain your cover."

"Any questions?" Asked Price.

Receiving no response from either Carter or Mara, Price and Laswell decided to go from there. "Right then, the two of you leave in fourty eight hours. Dismissed." Said Price.

Getting up, Laswell motioned over to Mara to follow her out of the office. Laswell and Mara proceeded to exit Prices office. Carter stood up from his seat but hadn't left yet. Instead, he waited until him and Price were left alone in the office.

"Something on your mind Sergeant?" Asked Price, who could already tell that Carter had some reservations on the assignment.

Carter then followed up with an answer to the Captains question. "Sir, if I may ask, why not send me in with one of our own?"

"As I said before, the two of you being of Hispanic origin helps maintain your cover in the area. Can't exactly have Brits and Scotts pass for South Americans." Price was obviously referring to the other more prominent members of the 141.

"Besides, the rest of us will be will be occupied chasing down a lead of our own in Russia, so the two of you are not only the best we have for this, but also all we have for this. But rest assured, Mara is more than capable."

"It's not her capabilities I'm concerned with sir."

"Well if you don't wanna take my word for it, feel free to speak with Ghost. He knows her better than anyone here. But remember, we're counting on the both of you to get this done."

Having some reassurance from the Captain did help ease his mind of this Mara woman. But he would still go to speak with Ghost for a little extra peace of mind. With that, Carter gave the Captain a salute before exiting his office.

"Yes sir." But before Carter could leave, Price stopped him just before he opened the door.

"And Diaz,"

"Yes sir?"

"A reminder that you're representing the 141 on this assignment. Keep it professional." Price said the last part sternly.

...

To say that Carter had been surprised to hear the Captain say that was an understatement. Apparently Price was aware of his "acquaintance" with Roze back during his time served with Shadow Company. But in his defense, he was a mercenary at the time. Not to mention both him and Roze were on a two week leave when this happened.

Regardless, Carter had no intention of fraternizing with Mara. Especially with how uneasy he already was with just having to work with her. The last thing he wanted was a court marshal.

With Prices stern order, Carter gave him a nod of understanding before leaving the office to find Ghost.


Meanwhile...

Laswell and Mara had made their way to the outdoor training area of the base for a quick conversation regarding the upcoming assignment.

"I trust that you and the Sergeant will be able to get along during this operation Mara?"

"Like a house on fire Laswell. Don't know why you seem so concerned about the whole thing."

"Considering that this is one of the only leads we have that may hopefully prevent a full blown war between two global super powers, I think it's safe to assume I have alot to be concerned about. So I need to know that there won't be any problems between the two of you."

"Rest assured Chief, there won't be an issue. I can handle him."

"The question is wether or not he can handle you."

"He seems pretty capable to me."

"Well I sure as shit hope so. For his sake anyway. Fourty eight hours Mara. And please, keep it professional."

"Wouldn't dream of anything else Chief."

Laswell then made herself scarce, leaving Mara on her own. Deciding to take some Downtime while she had it, she began to make her way to the mess hall for some grub. After all, she couldn't operate on an empty stomach.


If Ghost was to be found anywhere, it would undoubtedly be at the firing range. The Lieutenant rarely spent any free time not keeping his skills sharp. But to be fair, Carter sometimes did the same thing. It was one of the reasons Ghost seemed to have taken a bit of a shining to Carter, which was certainly no simple task.

Carter had made his way to the firing range where he unsurprisingly found Ghost at. The Lieutenant was putting shots down range with a suppressed sniper rifle, a ChevTac M200 Intervention to be specific, when Carter had made his way over to him. Ghost had noticed him before he approached him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure Sabre?" Asked Ghost, not looking away from the targets down the range.

"Do you have a moment Ghost?"

"No, but I'll give you one anyway. What's on your mind?"

"I've been assigned to a deep cover operation in South America, and I'm being accompanied on the op by a woman who goes by the name of Mara. Captain Price told me you know her."

Ghost fired a shot down range, hitting one of the targets square in the head with ease. He then set the rifle down to respond to Carter.

"We're acquainted. Why do you ask?"

Carter hesitated to respond for a moment before answering. "Well... something about her seems... off. I can't quite put my finger on it though. I was hoping that any knowledge you'd have on her would help ease my mind a bit."

Ghost didn't immediately respond to Carter, instead he checked is surroundings, looking to see if anyone else was by the range with them. Seeing nobody in sight, Ghost then spoke up.

"Well, I won't be giving you all of the details, but I'll tell you this: I met Mara a few years ago during a joint operation back when she was working with the CIA, specifically through Laswell. All you need to know is that she's good, and trustworthy. A bit reckless at times, but nothing I'm sure you can't handle."

"Seems like you know her well sir."

"We've got history, she's an old friend. Nothing less, and nothing more."

Carter remained silent for a moment before responding. Whatever history Ghost and Mara had between them was still a mystery. But if Ghost said he didn't have to worry about anything with her, then he was willing to believe him.

"Well, I guess I'll have to take your word for it sir."

"A good choice on your part son. Now if we're done here, I've got targets down range that need to be dealt with."

"I'll leave you to it sir."

Carter then began to make his leave, but was stopped by a callout from Ghost before he was out of earshot.

"Sabre."

Carter stoped dead in his tracks and turned around to face Ghost.

"Keep it professional yeah?"

That was twice now that he'd been told that. Did everyone in the 141 know about the shit that went down when he was with Shadow Company? Carter responded to Ghost with a nod before leaving the range.

I need some fucking food...


After speaking with Ghost, Carter made his way over to the mess hall for a very desired meal. Though the food there wasn't exactly gourmet, it was certainly better than the constant amount of MREs he'd had on several occasions. Shortly after Carter had taken a seat to eat, he was joined shortly afterwards by two fellow operators, of which he was already acquainted with.

"Salutations Sabre, ya look like you could use some company mate." These words came from a man with a Mohawk and a heavy Scottish accent, Sgt. Johnny "Soap" Mactavish.

Along with Soap was Sgt. Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, a British operator who had worked with Captain Price back in 2019.

"Soap, Gaz, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Ah, we're just joining you for a bite mate. Hope you don't mind." Replied Gaz.

"Not at all, hell I actually welcome the company. Should help get my mind off of things while I still can."

"Ah, shite, he's facing a bloody dilemma. What's on your mind mate?" Asked Soap.

"Well, I'm gonna be headed out for an assignment soon. And I'm being accompanied by someone that I'm not at all familiar with."

"And would that someone happen to be that lady with the braided hair that I saw speaking with Simon a few hours ago?" Questioned Soap.

"You saw her?" Asked Carter.

"What are ya shittin' me? The whole damn base saw her! She's easily the best lookin' operator we've ever had come through here. Besides myself of course. So, you're concerned about her are ya?" Asked Soap.

"Ghost said that I didn't have to worry about her, but I still have my concerns. Truth be told, I'd feel alot better if it was one of you guys instead."

"We'll be busy in Russia seeing if we can find this Makarov bastard, so you'll have to deal with her on your own I'm afraid." Replied Gaz.

"Yeah I know, the Captain mentioned that to me eariler." Carter let out a sigh before continuing. "I just don't know about all this. I mean I've done this kinda shit before, but this feels different."

"Maybe I can help ease your mind Sabre."

Seemingly out of nowhere, a forth voice entered the conversation. One that belonged to a woman. That woman being Mara herself.

She had approached the table where Carter, Soap and Gaz had all been seated at.

"Gaz, Soap, would the two of you mind if I had a word with Sabre here?"

Gaz and Soap exchanged a look with eachother, one which said that they should stay out of this. They then got up to make their leave. While walking away, Soap whispered something to Carter.

"May God be with ya mate." Carter gave him an annoyed look in response.

Soap then gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before leaving with Gaz. Once the two were out of earshot, Mara then took a seat across from Carter before she began speaking with him.

"So, I get the feeling that you're a little uneasy about this operation you and I have been assigned to." Began Mara.

Carter remained silent for a moment. Though Mara was spot on, he still wasn't too keen on talking with her. The thing was, he didn't really have a good reason for it. But something about her just made him uneasy. He just didn't know what it was. Speaking with Ghost about her did help, but perhaps not enough.

"Somewhat." Replied Carter flatly.

"Oh come on now Sabre, I don't bite. I'm here at the request of Laswell and Price. If you trust them, you can trust me."

"Well it's not like I have much of a choice."

"Oh you've got a choice, but I don't think we'll get anywhere unless you have some faith in me."

"I just wanna make sure we get this done, no strings attached."

"Hey, I feel you, and I totally agree. So let's establish some trust between us. We don't have to be friends, but we do have to work together. If we can accomplish that, then everything should go just fine. Does that work for you?"

Carter didn't immediately respond. For what it was worth, she was right. The operation would likely go to hell if he couldn't place even a little bit of trust in Mara. And while he wasn't too keen on working with her, he still had no solid reason as to why. He needed to set his reservations aside if this was going to work.

"I suppose so." Replied Carter.

"That's what I like to hear. Come on, let's shake on it." Mara then extended her hand to Carter. He hesitated to return the gesture.

"Come on, don't be shy now."

Carter then rolled his eyes before extending his own hand for a handshake. Mara replied with a grin in response to this. This was step one for her in gaining Carter's trust. It should definitely make their assignment that much easier.

"Alright, guess I'll see you around then. Stay frosty yeah?" Mara then left the mess hall, leaving Carter alone with his thoughts.

Fuck me...


Alright! That took a little longer than expected, but I finally got this damn first chapter out. As you can see, nothing crazy has happened yet. This was really just for getting things set up. But the next chapter however will start kicking things off a bit for Sabre and Mara, as they'll be headed out to Brazil to find and capture Rojas. Until then, Stay Frosty yeah?