Chapter 20

"What's your status?"

One click from the gate with Ghost and Soap. Angelita is… in position.

"Copy. Hold tight. Out," Alejandro acknowledged. He knew what that meant. She was waiting, probably took out a lone guard while at it. She would do what he asked.

"Good work, Alejandro. Gaz, take his six. Let's move," Price said, not commenting on the conversation. He knew that Alejandro and Nicolette had worked together previously. He also knew that she was probably going to do what she did to help him and Gaz in Moldova.

Gaz said nothing and took up position behind Alejandro. He had questions that he wanted to ask Nicolette. They were friends, maybe not best mates, but close enough. Some said they were like siblings that squabbled but always played well together. He wanted to know if she was alright, but everything seemed to be in a whirlwind to get here. He had to stow it until they found time. He focused on the mission ahead.

"Weapons hot, hermanos," Alejandro said in a low tone.

Colonel, you are on point in the tunnels. Making good time.

"Copy, Addy." Alejandro was grateful to have the AI in his systems. Rodolfo confirmed that their codes still worked.

The tunnels were narrow and there were points where they had to watch their heads. Low and narrow and full of pipes. Alejandro led the way until he held up his fist to hold up, "Hold up. Listen."

Gaz paused and listened. He heard the high-pitched electrical hum and confirmed, "Traps."

"Pinche guero, Graves." Alejandro reached for a smoke grenade. "Let's see. Smoke out."

The smoke revealed the laser beams. If they touched them, the traps would be set off and the Shadows would know they were there. Price groused, "It's a fucking gauntlet."

"We'll have to disable them."

Shouldn't be hard, Captain. Patience and precision.

"Can't resist saying anything can ya, mate?" Gaz replied.

Not when you act like it's the end of the world. This is just like the drills we did, Gaz. Try to best me.

"Careful," Alejandro warned as they moved forward.

Gaz followed giving a slight shake to his head. He wondered how Soap and Ghost put up with it unless the rumors were true that they all were crazy. Highly unlikely, but it always appeared that way. He followed Alejandro until they came to where lasers were blocking their path. Alejandro pointed out the controller on the wall. Gaz took the opportunity to disable it and open the way.

There were more up ahead. Gaz listened for the sound of the lasers and deployed smoke to find the lasers. The added challenge was that some were moving. Now he understood what Nicolette was up to when she told him to try and best her. She couldn't know, but she was well aware that people could be devious and plan for almost everything. It was like her job to counter that at times.

He could recall when she was sitting on the sofa and staring at a chess board intently while Price was sitting opposite. How they ended up playing, no one was going to ask. She just sat there for the longest time before making a move. It looked like a bad move when Price took the piece but as the match went on, it was becoming clear that she was playing on a different level and had set Price up for a trap and forced him into surrendering. She explained that she had been playing chess her entire career, thinking three sometimes four moves ahead when looking at the situation. He certainly appreciated it when she rescued him and Soap.

They pushed forward and Alejandro revealed that the tunnels were used to practice escape and evasion. Gaz saw it as a sign that the man was a good commander. He could even hear it in Nicolette's voice when she commented on few of his men learned to be sneaky like monkeys. Good people and good men.

They rounded the corner and Alejandro and Price spotted Shadows. Three of them. Price ordered, "Take the guy on the right."

Gaz moved forward to get a Shadow in his sights. Taking a breath, he aimed and fired. The Shadow was down, and Price took out the other. Gaz took the opportunity to pilfer some grenades that were in a case near where the Shadows were working. He took Price's reminder to keep it tight in a stride. "It's a maze down here."

"Good thing you got me," Alejandro replied. "This way." He led the way to a door with a keypad.

Colonel, the Shadow commander didn't change the codes. As if I would let him.

Alejandro wanted to laugh. The AI sounded very much like his Angelita in personality despite the British accent. "That's good. Thank you, Addy," he replied as he entered the codes and opened the door.

"Moppet thought of everything, and Graves never expected to see us," Price agreed.

Gaz gestured at the door, "What's in here?"

"Takes us up to the ground level," Alejandro explained as he led the way.

"Stay sharp for more charges."

It was a good reminder. As soon as they entered, they could hear the sound of the laser beams. Gaz pulled out a smoke grenade to see where they were. Gaz had to get low and crawl. This set of traps were crisscrossed to the point that the safe bet was to crawl. He kept it quiet and steady as he pushed forward to find the control panel to disarm. He paused when he heard a sound. He looked up and saw a Shadow cross. He didn't hesitate and fired, killing the Shadow. He crawled to the control panel and disarmed the traps. "Got it."

"Follow me. Ahead and to the right," Alejandro said as he took point. He led them to the center of the base. "Hold your fire. We're in the center of the base. We'll secure a helicopter and get you airborne, Captain. Gaz, you're with me."

Gaz stepped forward and followed Alejandro as he climbed the ladder. "Right behind ya."

"On your six," Price said as he followed Gaz.

Alejandro checked once he opened the hatch and climbed out. He provided cover as Gaz climbed out. "Two by the bird. Let's drop 'em."

Gaz spotted them and moved into position. He took the one on the left and double tapped him. Alejandro took out the other, "They're down." Alejandro then turned to Price, "Bravo 6, bird's all yours."

Gaz took the opportunity to check his ammo and made sure that he was locked and loaded while Alejandro gave his pilot instructions. He moved to provide cover while the pilot got into the bird. Price was asking, "Alejandro, your pilot any good?"

"He's my best. Good luck Captain." Alejandro gestured at Gaz. "Gaz, we're moving interior. On me."

Gaz looked at the panel and asked, "What's the code?"

"6-2-7. Should still work according to Addy," Alejandro replied.

And I never lie.

Gaz rolled his eyes slightly as he entered the code. The beep was reassuring, "Aces. We're in."

"Órale! On me." Alejandro took point and entered the building. He radioed, "All Ghosts. One is inside."

Gaz covered their six. He could see the chopper take off. It looked like the Shadows weren't going to notice anything. Their luck just had to hold out. He closed the door and muttered, "Get him, sir."

Price surveyed the area once they were airborne. He signaled, "All Ghosts, I'm wheels up with eyes on."

Copy that. Two is inbound to the gate. Ryan is already on site. You're cleared hot when target is marked.

Ghost, Graves is in the HQ. He is heavily reinforced to hold his ground.

"Copy, Ryan. Stay sharp," Ghost replied.

Always am.

Rodolfo twitched his lip slightly at the tone, Nicolette took. He remembered it well when she was setting up for the kill. "Once we're in, we split up. Close air clears the way."

"With Shadows on the run, we locate Graves and kill him. Comprendes?"

Never a doubt.

Rodolfo agreed in Spanish and added, "All Ghosts, stand by for breach."

"Soap, get the designator and mark targets for Price in the helo," Ghost pointed out.

Soap nodded and grabbed it, "Roger that."

The vehicle had stopped outside the gate. Rodolfo pointed it out, "Security gate is off our left side. Mulipe Shadows."

Soap moved to get in view to mark the target. Before he could do so, there was a strange sound that came over the comms on the base. It was loud enough for them to hear. It was a wail, but it was bone chilling that Soap felt a prickle of fear down his spine. "What the bloody hell?"

"It's a warning. Do it now," Rodolfo urged.

Soap didn't waste time and aimed the spotter scope. He could see the Shadows moving, some of them not sure what they heard. "Request for fire. Target marked."

Target acquired. Shots out.

The Shadows never saw it coming as the helo took out the heavy armor and the Shadows patrolling the ground. They were good shots as Ghost called it.

They were warned…

Soap understood why Rodolfo said it was a warning. He figured it was more to do with how Los Vaqueros saw her. He didn't like that she was out there by herself, but he trusted Alejandro knew what he was doing, and she knew the place as well as the Vaqueros did. He could only tell her to be careful before they departed, and he meant more than just her physical wellbeing.

Copy, get to the HQ and find Graves. Alejandro, use the chaos for cover and get to Valeria.

I'll help clear the path.

Once the vehicles were in, they spilled out. They had to move quickly while they had the element of surprise. Soap followed the others out of the vehicle and moved to take blocking positions. The Shadows were dug I and wouldn't give up without a fight.

"If Graves is in the HQ, we need to find him. Keep pushing up," Ghost said.

Don't be such a pessimist. Of course, he's there. We pissed him off. I pissed him off.

It was a first that she acknowledged that she did something that would piss off Graves in the course of her escape. Soap and Ghost realized she was on the warpath. Rodolfo knew that the moment she gave her warning to the Shadows. Los Vaqueros knew that their greatest friend and ally was on their side and would give the enemy hell. She was El Cihuatcoatl.

Soap marked the building as a target for air support. Price took it out in the chopper, allowing them to move in and sweep the area for any Shadows that happened to still be alive. There weren't any, but that didn't mean that there wouldn't be other Shadows about. He moved forward to another building and was startled when he saw a body. He turned to shoot but realized that it wasn't moving. He moved towards it and nudged it with his gun and the body toppled over. "Sweet Jesus."

Oh, I forgot to mention that I might have lightened the load a little.

"Now you tell us?" Soap was a little exasperated at that.

You should know that about me. I know Gaz told you the story.

"Pick it up Soap. We need to locate Graves somewhere in HQ," Ghost groused before Soap could say anything.

Soap made a slight face a pressed forward. More than likely there were going to be more bodies just left there. It just startled him that it was just sitting there, like he was positioned to shoot. He recalled Gaz mentioning it that she left them purposely like they were still alive to throw off suspicion. It occurred to him that she had already gotten into the base before things kicked off. It was why Alejandro really didn't define her role. The expectation was already there.

They pushed towards the tower. It was heavily guarded. As expected, there were a few bodies that had been dead before they got there. Soap shook his head and marked the targets for Price. At one point the tower went down, and a vehicle exploded. They were able to mop up the remaining Shadows, but there was no sign of Nicolette anywhere.

"Go through the barracks to the main building. That's the HQ. Graves would be there," Rodolfo pointed out once they were cleared.

They pushed forward, using Price to clear a path to the barracks. Once the chopper went through, the barracks looked like it had seen better days. Soap took point to enter and was immediately fired upon. He took cover from the stairwell.

"They're inside the wire!"

There were some still on the ground floor. Soap took cover and fired to clear. Once cleared, he moved to where the stairwell was. There was one Shadow that was hidden and caught him off guard. Soap took a hit to the chest plate and grunted, stumbling. It put him in the line of fire, and he would have been taken out, but it didn't happen. He heard a cry of fear and then a gurgling sound. Soap stumbled to his feet with his gun ready and moved to check. He came across the dead Shadow with blood spilling from the neck.

Always have your back, Soap.

"Sweet Jesus, Ryan," was all he could say. She had gone in and was out. "Just like a freaking ghost."

Now you know why they call me El Cihuatcoatl.

Soap shook his head. He knew she was fast from when they raided the cartel safe house. Now he understood why she didn't carry a lot of heavier weaponry. There was still a lot of ground to cover. Soap was joined by a Vaquero, and they shared a nod and pushed forward. He went into a room and found two dead Shadows. One had been garroted and left tied to the bunk. He gave a low whistle at that. "Remind me not to piss you off, Ryan."

The only time you will see me pissed off at you will probably be never.

"Why?"

Because the end result is death… Literally.

"Then I guess I'm safe."

We'll see.

Soap heard the slight playful tone. He knew she didn't mean it, but she wasn't above kicking his ass if he deserved it. The same applied to Ghost and that man survived her ass kicking. "Oowf."

Moving towards the HQ, they were attacked by a few more Shadows. Soap took cover and checked. There was an armored vehicle and he pulled out the spotter scope. He marked the target, "Target marked. You're cleared hot."

Acquired. Rounds down.

Bravo- Snipers on the roof. Call for fire.

Soap checked and could see them. He marked them as well to give Price additional targets. He muttered, "Where the hell is Ryan that she is seeing this?"

You don't want to know.

"Don't do anything stupid, Ryan," Ghost warned.

Don't be a spoilsport, Ghost. Besides, you don't have as much fire from Shadows now do you?

"Don't get cocky or its extra training."

You sure know how to get a girl excited.

"Walked into that one, Lt.," Soap commented and received a dirty look for his trouble. He turned back to the fight to mop up what was left.

When it appeared clear, they moved forward. They made it to the main building and Rodolfo said, "That's the Fuerzes Especiales building. Graves may be inside."

And the cabrónes left the flag up. Such an insult to the men it belongs to.

Let's right it, hermanita.

It was clear that Nicolette took it as a personal effrontery to Shadow Company taking the base by that. Rodolfo understood and felt the same way. They would fix this and get it back. He knew the men heard her on the comms and supported that. As far as they were concerned, she was a Vaquero through and through.

They pushed to the main door and Soap checked it. "It's locked. Rudy, what do you got?"

"Breacher charge," Rodolfo replied and got the charge.

So, you finally get to blow a hole in the wall, Rudy. Me gusta.

Rodolfo chuckled as he set the charge. He replied in Spanish, "You always liked blowing things up."

We had so much fun with it. Certainly, taught the cartels a lesson.

"Alright, you're clear to engage all threats inside. If you see Graves, drop him," Ghost paused a moment since he recalled when they first went after Hassan. He then added, "Ryan, that means fully dead."

Copy that. Let's see who breaches first.

The men stacked against the door. The Vaqueros, while serious were chuckling at what their El Cihuatcoatl said. They knew that she would breach first and not in the usual manner. She was like her friend Ghost. Soap heard the slight chuckle and had a slight grin himself. He did look at Rodolfo and said, "Hey Rudy… sorry about your base."

Rodolfo replied in Spanish, "Me too, brother."

She can be rebuilt. Recuerda, hermano.

"Hit it."

Rodolfo nodded and held the detonator. "3-2-1, execute!"

The door blew open. Soap spotted Graves, "Contact! Second deck."

Sure enough, there was Graves running. Ghost relayed, "He's on the run. Clear in!"

Soap took point and swept the ground floor. He headed towards the stairs and heard Rodolfo call out movement on the second floor. He took out the first one but didn't see the second one and the others weren't in a good position to help as there were still more Shadows in the building they were firing at. There was a loud crash from the shattering of glass and the Shadoe grunted. There were a couple of pops from a Sig Sauer and then nothing.

Nicolette had been moving through the base, thinning the ranks. She breached before the others and had Addy make sure that the original security settings had been returned. She caught up with Ghost Team 2. She had scaled the building to see if she could help thin the ranks. She ended up catching the team on the second floor and moved in.

Looks like we're clear. Fine time to make an entrance, Ryan.

She chuckled and replied, "Just clearing a path more or less. And I didn't hog all the targets." She checked her pistol and holstered it. She joined the team.

Head for the control room. Ther's an exit in the back.

"Graves, used it," she said as she walked at a fast pace through the building. She would jog if she had to and run if necessary. It was intimidating to others when she chose her gait, but also inspiring to others. She didn't care which at this point. She was focused on getting to Graves.

"Haul arse then," Ghost prompted. He would have pushed her to move, but he knew better. She moved quicker and still didn't look like she was running.

All stations, be advised. Graves went over the wall.

They saw the trail from the RPG. Ghost called it to warn Price in order to give them a chance to evade. They didn't have time to set much. Luckily, the pilot maneuvered and it the tail. It was déjà vu to Nicolette as she remembered her own heli crash not too long ago. That had been the scariest shit ever since she had been in danger of flying out. This wasn't that much better, but at least the captain wasn't at risk to fly out the back.

We're hit! We're hit!

"Captain!" Nicolette moved but tracked the path of the chopper.

Going down. We're going down!

Nicolette could feel a pounding in her chest. She recognized that feeling well. It was nothing like five years ago. This was different when she saw the chopper go down. She heard Rodolfo cursing Graves. Graves was a fucking bastard.

"Let's get over and stop him."

Nicolette was thinking the same thing. She ran towards the wall and gained enough speed to run up the wall. Using her upper body strength, she pulled herself over the wall and sat at the top with the ease of practice while Soap gave Rodolfo a boost. She grinned when Rodolfo said, "Show off."

"I played with the training courses back home, hermano. And you know I have to compensate for lack of height and other things," she replied. She looked at Soap and helped Rodolfo pull him up. "Seems like I get to pull you up this time."

"Got each other's back, love," Soap agreed with her after pulling himself up.

Nicolette smiled and turned to look at Ghost. "You coming?"

"No. Price and the pilot need help," Ghost replied. "You finish it."

Nicolette stared at the man. He gave her a slight nod that indicated she was to go on. She nodded back and said, "Don't be a fucking asshole now."

"Look!"

Nicolette turned to see a tank. That wasn't Vaqueros. It seemed that Graves brought a fucking tank to the party. She narrowed her eyes while Soap and Rodolfo jumped down. So, the man wanted to play rough now, eh?