A quiet hush fell over the group as you all prepared to infiltrate the base.
The walk that continued on after Damien had dropped you off was quiet and foreboding. No one knew what was going to come after this.
You followed behind Price, then Ghost, then Drake, with Gaz and Soap at the tail end of the line of soldiers. There was no preemptive knowledge of how this facility worked. No one had any idea what the guard's shifts were like. Every door you passed by was equipped with the threat of an enemy coming through at any time.
All of you marched along until Price suddenly stopped in front of two metallic double doors. You were so surprised that you nearly stumbled right into Drake, having to stop yourself before you rammed right into his back. You peeked your head around his tall shoulder to catch a glimpse of Price giving Ghost the "go-ahead" wave with his hand.
Ghost stepped up to the door, pressing his ear to it to see if he could catch the sound of anyone moving around inside. He paused there for a few seconds before gently pushing the handle down, turning it without a sound. You saw him tug lightly at the handle, but the door wouldn't budge.
He looked over to Price. Price gave him a nod. Then Ghost reached into his pocket, withdrawing a tool you'd never seen him use before. You recognized it as a lock pick set. The Lieutenant crouched down, immediately getting to work on picking the door. Price turned his body to keep an eye out further up the path, and you threw a look over your shoulder to see Soap and Gaz watching the other side. You turned to look at Ghost again to see him make a confident twist of the tool, before turning his head and sharing another quick look with Price. Then he stood and assumed position in front of it.
Price moved so he could see down the line of soldiers. He gestured with a wave of his hand before matching Ghost's posture on the other side of the door. The rest of you gripped your weapons, preparing yourselves to head inside. Ghost reached forward, pushing down on the handle and letting the door swing open.
Drake burst into action, expertly pushing his way through the doors with his weapon drawn. You followed right behind him. When he swept his gun to the left, you swept yours to the right, surveying the room. It was dimly lit, a room full of metal crates, gun cases, and duffel bags that looked to be packed full of something. Initially, you didn't see anyone - until a man rounded the corner of a hallway, glancing absentmindedly in your direction and muttering something in Russian.
Then he did a double take. By the time he turned to look at you again, Drake shot a perfectly aimed bullet into his head, sending him to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Then you heard shouting from another room. Each of you prepared yourselves as the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps began hurrying down a nearby hallway. You and Drake both ducked down behind two of the metal crates on opposite sides of the room. You saw Gaz join Drake at one side, and Soap joined you at yours. You heard the sound of a click and looked over your shoulder to see Price and Ghost rushing in too, Ghost shutting the door behind him and locking it once again. He hurriedly joined you and Soap's side as Price had rushed over to Gaz and Drake.
Each of you pointed your weapons to the hallway the voices had come from. It had all died down, silence overtaking the room as you all held your breath, waiting for something to happen.
You glanced over to Soap, developing a sense of impending danger. He could feel it too. You both looked to Ghost. He met your worried gazes, his gloved hands moving to his waist and unclipping a cylindrical metal object from his belt. He tugged at the pin on the top and promptly tossed it down the hallway. A muffled boom erupted from inside, followed by a couple of startled shouts. When the cloud of smoke began wafting from the hallway and into the room, Ghost stood up, vaulting over the crate and positioning himself at the edge of the entryway. Price joined him at the other side.
You watched with wide eyes, nearly jumping out of your skin when you heard bullets echoing from the hallway, seeing the flashes of guns blazing as the enemies returned their fire. Ghost and Price crouched down, pressing themselves against the door and spraying quick bursts into the hallway before returning to cover at the side. The rest of you watched as they repeated this process, until it seemed that the hallway threat had been cleared. Price held up his hand, signaling for you to wait until the smoke had wafted away some more. Finally, you saw him take a peek down the hallway and raise his hand again, ushering you all to get into formation and press down the hallway.
The four of you followed his signal, each joining the side of your respective groups. You were now behind Simon with Soap behind you, Drake right behind Price, and Gaz behind him. You were careful not to point your weapon at Ghost's back as you followed behind him, the group pushing forward into the hallway.
The hallway led into another room similar to the last one you were in, this one mostly empty with a wide set of double doors. The doors had a small rectangle for a window on each one, which your superiors glanced sneakily into before they both placed their hands on the door handle. They looked to each other, and then back at the group. Price held up four fingers. You all gave a nod to say "ready".
The two of them pulled open the doors, standing to the side as you and the group rushed in. You saw the four men Price had signaled you about. Two of them fell to the floor and you rushed to take cover behind a tall, standing shelf with various wares stacked upon it. You peered through an opening between two boxes and spotted several more men rushing into the room, guns in hand. You began firing on them, dropping them like flies as they had no idea where your shots were coming from. Each of them fell to the ground into a bloody mess.
"Two just ran off down that hallway!" Gaz shouted, standing and taking off after them.
Each of you picked yourselves up and dashed after Gaz. As you all rounded the corner, you saw the two men sprinting to another set of doors. Gaz, ahead of everyone, lifted his gun and shot them down, both of them falling to the ground, gurgling and spurting pools of blood.
Price and Ghost pushed to the front of the group, glancing down at the bodies and ensuring that they were taking their final breaths. Then you all prepared to go through the final set of doors.
As Ghost reached for the handle, Price spoke up. "Looks like the room we're searching for. Open it up, L.T."
Ghost did as he was old, yanking the door open and immediately pointing his gun, but no one was inside.
The room was small, only big enough for Ghost and Price to cram themselves in. You glanced inside, seeing a room that looked like an office area. Papers were strewn about across a metallic tabletop with an old, gray computer sitting on top. There were filing cabinets against every wall.
Ghost nodded his head toward the computer at Price. "Do the honors, Cap."
Price sat down at the computer and Ghost turned around to watch the entryway. His eyes met yours for a moment before he looked to Soap and Gaz who were posted up outside the door in case any stragglers came through.
You watched as Price navigated the login screen, typing slowly as all the characters were in Russian. You wondered if he would even be able to get in until the desktop actually processed his login info, flashing blue and then turning into a welcome screen. He got in.
Ghost saw your confused look. "Tech crew broke into that laptop you stole at the mansion. He's accessing their systems as Vladislav."
Your eyebrows raised, impressed.
"That's right," Price commented, still focusing on the screen. "You did us a huge favor with that one, Y/N. Might be the only reason we're here right now."
You couldn't help but smile, happy you'd managed to help the crew. You watched intently as Price clicked around, searching through applications and finally pulling up something that appeared to be emails. "Come here, Drake," he said over his shoulder.
Drake pushed past you and stood to Price's side, leaning forward and placing his hand on the desk as he leaned over the captain's shoulder. His eyes scanned through the email list. He used a finger to point to one of the boxes on the screen. "Click on that one."
Price did as he was told, clicking over to the email which pulled up photos of various heavy weapons and some grenades. Drake shook his head, pointing to a different email. "Try that one."
The next email appeared to have a photo of a map, with handwritten notes, yellow x's and red circles. "That's it. Yep. This is it, Cap." His finger moved about the map, landing on one ambiguous gray building. "We're here." His hand moved again, this time gesturing between two red circles that were varying distances away from each other. "We need to go here and here. Not sure which is going to be the one, but apparently they're both important."
Price nodded his head, pressing the button on his comms device and radioing in to Laswell. "What's the move, Las?"
"Split up. Hit them both at the same time to mitigate stragglers. This is looking good, team."
Price nodded again, turning around in the chair and standing up. The rest of the team stood to the side, allowing the three men enough space to exit the room. Each of you turned to him when he began to speak.
"Alright, 141. Soap, Gaz. I want you two to stay here just in case anyone shows up. If anything happens, buzz me immediately."
Soap and Gaz looked to each other and then back to Price, nodding their heads. "Will do, Captain," Gaz added quickly.
Price looked at Ghost. "I want you with me. We'll hit the bigger facility. Y/N and Drake, you'll go to the other one. Keep us updated on what's going on in there."
"Yes, sir," Drake responded.
You adjusted your position, waiting on the go ahead for everyone to get moving, when Ghost held out a gloved hand.
"Captain," he said gruffly. "Y/N should be with one of us. Why don't you or I go with Drake instead?"
Price's head cocked to the side irritably, ready to get moving. "And why's that, Ghost?"
"Why should two of our newest recruits go alone?" Ghost snapped back.
"Drake's got plenty of experience under his belt, L.T. Bigger facility, more manpower. I need you with me." He didn't give Simon a chance to respond before he returned his gaze to the group. "Let's go, boys." His eyes landed on you. "And lass."
Soap and Gaz split from the group, heading down the hallway towards where you'd made your entrance. Price followed after them, jogging to catch up to leave them with a few more comments before getting ready to go himself. You noticed Ghost lagged behind. His demeanor had changed.
He turned towards you and Drake. You shrank, feeling the anger radiating off him. He moved closer to Drake, narrowing his eyes, standing a few inches taller than him. "If I hear any funny business about you, your arse is mine. Understood, Sargeant?"
Drake's hands flew up defensively, but his tone was mocking. "Whoa, whoa, L.T. Y/N will be right as rain with me. I'll take good care of her."
"Damn right you will," Ghost growled, finally taking a step to the side. "Now go on. I need to have a word."
Drake saluted with a smile on his face before walking on down the hallway after Soap, Gaz, and Price.
You couldn't help but shrink again when he turned to you. You looked up and saw the seriousness in his eyes. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"If you sense anything - and I mean anything - is up while you're off with him, you let me know. Immediately."
You nodded your head.
His eyes searched yours for a moment, discerning whether or not you were comfortable with this. When you didn't respond, he gave an abrupt nod of his head. "Go on then. Be good."
You returned his gaze, letting him know you were taking him seriously. Then you turned away from him, scurrying off after your teammates.
You heard his slow, heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway as he watched you hurry away.