"Jackson… Jackson… Jackson! Wake up''
I grumbled as I woke up. Every fiber of my body aches in pain. Makes sense when you somehow survived a large fall from a cliff and somehow landed in the river. I opened my eyes and saw Trent lying next to me, bruised up, wounded and wet along with me. I noticed we were inside of a cave nearby the river since I can still hear the stream in the distance.
"Trent? What happened?" I asked. I tried to get up but my body aches everywhere.
"Woah, slow down there cowboy."
I heard another voice and looked to my right. It was Michael Valdez and George Truman, all bruised up and wounded from battle but still standing.
"Valdez? What happened?! Where's the Sarge? And Jack?!" I tried to sit up straight but my body still hurts from falling into the river.
"Rest up, Jackson. We're safe here. As for Sarge and Jack… well…"
George replied for Michael.
"Jack got shot and Sarge went to rescue him. He ordered us to fall back as he attempted to rescue Castellan. But the Russians were relentless. They kept coming at us and… next thing we knew, Sarge got hit."
Michael kicks a nearby rock in anger.
"Those bastards!" he yelled.
I cursed in silence.
"And Jack?" I asked.
"…After they shot down Sarge, they cornered Jack… we don't know what happened afterwards. Michael and I were forced to fall back and follow the stream. Then we found you two, drowning and bleeding," George answered. "We assume the worst…"
I sighed angrily.
"Jack is a stubborn son of a bitch. As long as he's still breathing, he'll find a way out. As for Sarge… he was a stubborn old man. I didn't think this mission would be his last. Damn it…"
Suddenly, a loud booming noise was coming outside the cave.
"What the hell is going on out there?" Michael said.
While we were cooped up in a cave.
The leader of the Russian soldiers, Colonel Viktor, was getting a report from Ocelot.
"Sir, we have already eliminated any remaining forces that were well aware of our presence. Even burned down the village; we have left no trace of us ever being here."
"Good, and thanks to our new comrade," Colonel replied, gesturing towards my mother, Abigail Jackson. "We now have Olwood back in our possession."
"We still need to deal with the Americans that are trapped in the canyon. My men will deal with them shortly."
The colonel scoffed, "No need." He grabbed a radio from one of the grunts next to him and turned it on.
"Initiate the bombing run."
"What?!" Ocelot yelled. "Sir! Our men are still in there!"
"And they will die gloriously for mother Russia. This is war, Ocelot; you must be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure victory."
Ocelot contacts his men to fall back and to take cover if possible. Unfortunately, the bombers were already on their way.
"You're a madman, Viktor!" Olwood replied. "I refuse to make my creation into your weapons."
Viktor smirked as he took out a photo, "Oh, I believe you will."
He showed Olwood what was in the picture and it made Olwood's skin pale.
"You bastard!"
The Colonel laughs sinisterly.
"SHIT!" Valdez yelled as he ran back from the entrance. "They're bombing the canyon! Everyone! Take cover!"
The entire cave shakes as rocks and pillars start falling. The entrance was starting to close off from the debris and everything went dark.
It went like that for a bit. Finally, it stopped after a few minutes.
"Everyone okay?!" Michael yelled. A small spark bursted and a flare popped up.
We all coughed out dust out of our lungs and replied.
"Good, looks like we're still standing, somehow."
"What the hell was that all about?!" George asked. "Did they really bomb the canyon with their men still inside?"
Trent groaned, "Probably orders from Colonel Viktor."
"Colonel Viktor?" I asked.
"Former Colonel of Russia's military. He led the uprising in Russia and is the one leading the troops that attacked us and took a quarter of Russia's military with him. They're hoping to bring Russia back to her former glory."
"How do you know this?!" Michael asked.
"Do you guys not read our mission briefings?!" Trent asked as he groaned in pain.
"Woah, take it easy. You and Jackson barely made it out of the river."
As Truman patches up Trent, I asked Valdez, "Does this cave lead us to the EVAC point?"
"Yeah, but what about Castellan?"
I sigh in frustration.
"We can't do anything for him if we don't get out of this cave first."
"But-"
"Michael! I get it! I don't want to leave him behind, but we're as good as dead if we stay in this cave much longer."
Valdez nodded and helped me up. We went further into the cave, hoping to find an exit.
Meanwhile, back with the Colonel and his men.
"Heh… there's no way they would survive that."
Ocelot grunted angrily, nearly half of his men survived the bombing run but the casualties were too high.
"I hope it's worth it, Colonel," He muttered. "We lost a lot of good men down there."
"Quit your complaining. These men knew what they committed to. If you have a problem with it, then go back to our home country. Perhaps our comrades there will treat you better than us," The Colonel said.
"Enough," Abigail said. "We already completed the mission, we must head back now."
Abigail then picks up her walkie and contacts her team.
"Indeed, now that we have eliminated any witnesses, no one will be aware of our plans and stop us."
As the helicopters descended to pick their remaining forces, Abigail spoke.
"I wouldn't count on them being dead, yet."
"What makes you so sure?" The Colonel asked.
"...Because one of them is my son. And we Jackson are too stubborn to die."
At the end of the cave was a small entrance with a wooden door. Michael bursted it open through brute force.
"I knew it! This cave really does lead to the top."
Michael comes back to help me back up while George is still holding Trent by the shoulder.
"We should be able to reach LZ soon and-"
Before Michael could finish, several helicopters passed above the entrance. We all took cover and hid to avoid detection. As the helicopter passes by, I can see the Colonel… along with my mother.
After all this time… she's alive… and working with the Russians.
What the hell is going on?
Eventually, the fleet left and we all got out of the cave.
"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" George asked.
"I don't know," Michael said. "But something tells me that things are going to get a lot worse."
Trent groans as he collapses on the ground.
"Trent!" I yelled. I noticed that blood was still spilling on his side. Seems to be losing a lot of it.
"Shit! Hang in there," Michael said. "We're almost to the LZ! Just hang in there!"
Trent groans in pain as we try to get him up.
"Cooper…" Trent said.
"Hang in there, Trent. We're almost there," I said.
"...Korea…"
"What?" I said.
"The Colonel's coat had the North Korean… flag."
"Wait," Michael said. "That would mean…"
"...Those Russians are heading to North Korea."
As the EVAC chopper arrives towards our destination. I was still pondering on the events of this mission.
Olwood.
The Russians.
North Korea.
…And my mother.
Whatever was going on… We just got ourselves caught in the middle.
This… was only the beginning.
Author's Note:
And that's the last part of the prologue. I am still planning to do some rewrites on the rest of the chapters so stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading. Until the next update.