Ci incontreremo di nuovo
N's vison blurred as he tried to stand up.
FACIAL VISOR DAMAGED
Playing: To Hell and Back
Price pushes the rubble of the two, trying to maneuver the wood away from the blaze.
"You two done in?"
"Not yet." N said, getting up as Price helped Kyle up.
"On your feet, we are leaving!"
"Incoming!" Uzi shouts, quickly shooting the Russians as they moved to cover.
Rushing forward, V quickly impales one of the Russians, shooting the other, and stabbing the third repeatedly with a metal fork.
"Go, go!" Kyle screams, as the team rush out of the north side exit of the main house.
"CUT THROUGH THE BUILDINGS! GO!" Price shouted, as they all sprinted through the halls of the other house, gunfire trailing right behind them.
"LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON!" One of the Russians in the helicopter shout from the loudspeaker.
Quickly dashing out of the building and sliding into the next, N jabs the first Russian he sees with his tail, quickly disposing of the 2 other Russians on the staircase, dashing into the dining hall and cleaving off another one of the Russian soldier's leg, then head. Quickly glancing out of the window, N spots the tunnel right ahead.
"Visual on the tunnel!" N shouted, making a beeline for the tunnel, as the others join.
"Crap, it's locked-" Hadir began.
"I'll handle it." V utters, slicing the gate in two.
"Go, go, go! Missiles incoming!" Price shouted, as the team made a mad dash away from the main house, as explosions rock the site, completely decimating it.
"Clear your head, drone." Price said.
"Never been more clear, sir." N said, prompting Price to nod, as Hadir helps Kyle up.
"You'll help me attack the lab yes?" Hadir asks, as V brings her sword to his neck, as N holds him by his shoulder.
"Not on your life. You're going down for this." V utters.
"Captain--?" Hadir calls.
"This was a one-way trip, Hadir. You knew that." Price said.
"But you'll do the right thing, right?" Hadir desperately uttered, worry written all over him as he nervously glances around.
"We need support, and let's hope to God we get it." Price muttered, walking off.
"Alright, Hadir. Get moving." N utters.
"Captain, please. Give Farah the plans, tell her the truth." Hadir said, sitting in the helicopter, bound in handcuffs.
"You'll have a chance to tell the whole world." Kyle bit.
"I care not for the world, I did this for my sister." Hadir mumbled, hanging his head.
"Baseplate to 0-6, friendly air traffic approaching south at 1-8-0. Callsign is Watcher-1."
"Copy." Price utters, as the helicopter lands not far from the one Hadir was in.
"It's Laswell." Uzi muttered.
"What's she doing here?" N said.
"Dunno, but I smell blood." Uzi replied, glancing at Price, then back at N.
"Uzi, lab intel. Keep it on you." Price said, throwing her the map, the latter catching it with ease.
"Yes, sir." She said, walking along with Price as Laswell came out.
"The hell is this?" Uzi questioned.
"The off-switch. We're turning 'em over." Laswell replied.
"To who?" Price chimed.
"Mother Russia." Laswell replied, her hair whipping in the strong wind the helicopter rotors generated.
Uzi's visor showed the words 'Prisoner swap?', her hair slightly covering her visor.
"It's one way." Laswell said, shrugging.
"Don't make this ugly, you two." She continued.
"Give either of the two of us a reason not to." Uzi growled.
"It's a proxy war, Uzi. We're all pawns in this." Laswell said.
"Oh you speak for yourself." Price spat, pointing at Laswell.
"Hand 'em over." Price said.
"Yes sir." N replied, taking Hadir, not before uttering a 'sorry', bringing him to the helicopter as V bagged him.
"Hadir's yours, intel's ours." Price uttered.
"Whatever you got going on here, I can help." Laswell offered.
"I'll ring if I need you." Price uttered.
A truck arrives from the desert, as a sniper tracks it. It stops near a building as N gets out, his tail swaying around, then Price from the driver's seat, as V and Uzi perch down from flying low. Too low to spot the sniper.
"Got your six, Cap." N uttered, changing his left hand to an MP5.
"Farah!" Price called, walking out in the open, showing no weapons, as multiple of the Urzikstani Liberation Force peek out from the darkness, guns at the ready.
"Let's talk." Price said, raising his hands up as Farah approached him, gun trained on Price.
"I know how this works." Farah said, her eyes narrowing.
"Not this time, they're going to hand over Hadir to the Russians." Uzi chimes.
"They'll kill him." Farah utters, her rifle still trained on Price.
"If he's lucky." Price says.
"Look's like you've saved the free world once more, Captain Price." Farah spat.
"Look, Hadir located Barkov's lab in Eastern Georgia." Price reasoned.
"Gas factory?" Farah asked, slightly lowering her rifle.
"He had plans to destroy it." Price continued.
"Hadir is fucking crazy." Farah muttered under her breath.
"Yeah, but we're all a little crazy here, aren't we?" Price said, smirking.
"Isn't that right, Alex?" Price questioned, looking up at the sniper.
A silence.
"Affirmative, sir." Alex said, raising his rifle from it's spot.
"Look, with your help, we can finish what he started." Uzi reasoned.
Her rifle now fully lowered, Farah approached the two. "You two are good friends, and worse enemies; I'm sure. But I do not cross borders, and invade. I defend my people at home." Farah said.
"Well, sometimes, the best line of defense.." Uzi said, grabbing the map, waving it around a bit so Farah doesn't shoot her. "It's all here. Plans, personnel. Everything."
"A militia with no ties to the West can carry out this mission, nobody else." Uzi continued, a wry smirk on her face.
"And they'd all blame Al-Qatala, wouldn't they?" Price continued.
Another long, tense silence.
"I knew I could trust you." Farah said, breaking the silence; looking at the blue map.
"But if Barkov's there.... He's mine."
"This is a covert operation to destroy Barkov's gas lab. Nikolai's on the inside, he'll provide us with the explosives."
"Two teams will infiltrate. Garrick and I will plant charges on the pipeline. Farah, N, V, Uzi, and Alex, you'll get detonators from Nikolai and rig the main furnace. When the charges are set, get the fuck out, and bring it down."
"Air support from Laswell paves the way, 'rest is up to us." Price briefed.
BORJOMI, GEORGIA
The Georgian fields were beautiful as they were massive, but a lab was made right smack in the middle of it. Barkov's chlorine gas lab. This was it. This was endgame.
"Troops in the open, north side of the bridge, call for fire." Laswell radioed, as a missile drops from the UAV.
"Copy, 3 seconds to impact." The missile zoomed down to the tank, taking it and several other troops with it in a massive explosion that tore off several of the trees in the vicinity, even damaging the bridge infrastructure, as another tank rolls in, with Task Force 141 being behind it.
"Good kill, Watcher, good kill." N radioed, looking at the nanotech band, ensuring he didn't forget it.
"Bell's rung, let's see who's home." V said, a wry smirk crossing her face.
"Perimeter's open, Kate. We're moving in." Alex said, as the tank tore the Russians apart, the troops having no calvary to defend with.
"You have the con, 3-1, shoot smart. Watcher out." Laswell radioed, as they made their way across the bridge, to the dirt road, past smoldering cars and charred corpses, as V charged ahead, moving with dancer-like grace. A very brutal, sociopathic dancer; but a graceful one nonetheless.
"Jaguar 4-7, this is Echelon 3-6, call for fire." V radioed.
"Echelon, Jaguar is ready for tasking, mark your target." The UAV operator responded.
V's left optic turned into a crosshair as she marked an armored car next to a wall, and the missile flew down, decimating the armored car in a flash.
"Splash." V muttered, as the team made their way across the dirt road, taking a right turn, as V marked a nearby watchtower. After a split second, said watchtower was a pile of burning wood. The building below it soon followed.
"Direct, you got a group of 'em." The UAV operator said, as the tanks and the others razed hell on the Russians, mowing them down, as the tank fired a shell, turning a group of Russian troops into red mist, as N rips off one of the Russian troop's head, still connect to his spine, then using said head as a mace to kill two other Russians, a familiar triangle appearing on his right optic, before fading away as quickly as it came, as Uzi quickly rises 4 of the Russian troops from their hiding spots in the lush forest, and with a flick of her wrist, tears them apart, a crimson red staining the forest.
Playing: In Flander's Fields
As the tank made it's way through, N remembered Urzikstan. The bodies. All of the carnage. Another UAV missile comes zooming down, rendering another bunker a pile of ash, rock, and charred body parts, as they all kept on moving. Each time N pulled the trigger, each life he snuffed out. He told himself he'd get used to it, like the others. Like V, like Uzi. He didn't. In fact, he never got used to it, only got more skilled at hiding it.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
"Get to the top!" Price shouted, but it all was muffled. All of the bullets whizzing past him, all of the kills, everything, all zoned out.
"RPGs up high!" Kyle screamed, as Uzi quickly disposed of the RPGs, as they pushed upward, an explosion rocks the battlefield.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
"Shit! Our APC's down!" Price shouted.
"Almost there!" Farah screamed.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
"Enemy helicopter!" Price shouted, as a yellow AbsoluteSolver symbol appears over the helicopter, crushing it in an instant, then disappearing once again.
Looking down at his hands, N was scared horrified at what he'd just done. But there was no time to dwell on it, as he moved forward, the thoughts still at the back of his head, eating away at him.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
"Echelon, Jaguar is on station, weapons hot." The UAV operator radioed as V marked a nearby watchtower, watching it implode.
"All forces..... All forces..." Barkov began.
"General Barkov's here! Let's make sure he never leaves!" Uzi shouted.
"Code 6- we are under attack!" Barkov shouted, as Price and V move upwards, mowing any and all Russians they see, as the team advances upward to the main labratory.
"Annihilate the intruders. Shoot on sight." Barkov said, his voice piercing through the gunshots.
"He's gonna be on the run, the fuckin' coward!" V cursed, as the team cleared the carpark.
N quickly and brutally killed 3 of the Russians in quick succession, while Alex picks up a nearby rifle, providing cover fire as the drones advance.
"Clear!" V shouted, as the 3 drones observed the carpark, filled with bodies, bullet holes, blood, and entrails.
"Echo team, this is your start line. Fight your way to Nikolai for the charges." Price said, opening the door to the laboratory with a crowbar.
"Masks on, Barkov could use the gas." V said, pulling on her gas mask, as the others did the same, as Alex walked up to the window, watching the workers leave in a panicked hurry.
"They're leaving, let's get to work." Alex said, rushing down the stairs of the well-maintained lab.
Approaching the turbine room, Alex looks around, At the guns, mostly.
"They're well armed for a lab." Alex said.
"We'll bury it all." V growled.
"Everyone, fan out!" Alex shouted, as the team made their way across the turbine room.
Then the lights cut, shortly after, gunshots.
"Ambush!" N shouted, dashing to cover and firing blindly, as V and Alex advance upward, mowing down the Russians as they advance to the second floor.
"Moving to second level!" Alex shouted, as V shot Alex a nervous glance, as V shoots down another one of the Russian soldiers.
Going into a munitions room, Alex quickly shoots down another one of the soldiers, while V handles the other soldiers up by the third floor, as the two move up.
Rushing past the munitions room, V quickly kills 3 other Russians, moving to a catwalk-like area of the laboratory, firing on the Russians a ways away, killing some of them, with Farah and N meeting up with them.
"Go, go, go! Outside!" Farah shouted, as the team rushes out of the exit, as N spots a gray van.
"That's Nikolai!" N said.
"Come quickly you lot. Get your charges." Nikolai said, hopping out of the driver's seat and opening the van door, revealing tons of explosives.
As they all snatch their charges from the van, Nikolai hands Uzi a detonator.
"This detonator will start the chain reaction." Nikolai says.
"Blow the furnace, the rest follows." Uzi utters.
"Yep. Don't lose it." Nikolai says.
"Why help us?" V asked.
"Barkov is a stain on my country. It will not stand." Nikolai growled.
A soft smile crosses N's face.
"Thank you, Nikolai." He says, walking off with his charge.
"I'll take the rest to Price and Sergeant Garrick, see you all on the other side!" Nikolai said, as N breaches the door to the laboratory, soon followed by one of the Urzikstani Liberation Force fighters, the latter being shot and killed by a Russian soldier.
Thinking quickly, N stabs the soldier in the gut, then turns the shotgun on the soldier, pulling the trigger.
Blood.
Blood, brain, and bone. Everywhere.
Knocking himself out of his stunned state, N smashes the button near one of the turbines, swiftly shooting down another Russian.
Playing: Black Sabbath- Paranoia
Running through the foggy turbine room, Uzi swiftly moves from cover-to-cover, like a shadow, shooting down another batch of Russians, then disappearing just as she appeared. Moving into one of the armories, Uzi approaches the door to the second turbine room, only to be caught off guard and sent flying by a Russian juggernaut, as the detonator flies out of her pocket, breaking the moment it hits the concrete.
"Shit!" Uzi curses, grabbing the broken detonator and scrambling to her feet, using the AbsoluteSolver to impale the juggernaut, once in the gut, and once in the head.
"Clear." Uzi pants out, going through the door the juggernaut left open.
"This way to the main furnace, we're getting close." V said, completely oblivious to the broken detonator.
"Farah... We've got a problem.." Uzi began.
"What is it?" Farah asked.
"Reaper, this is Actual, how copy?" Price's voice came over the radio, or in this case, inside Uzi's head.
"Send traffic, Actual." Uzi replied.
"Got eyes on General Barkov, I say again, the fucker's moving to the heli-pad!" Price shouted.
"Echo is approaching the furnace now, Actual." Uzi said, catching up to Alex, N, V, and Farah, as the 5 made their way to the furnace.
"Set charges, and get the fuck out!" Price shouted.
"Roger, Reaper out." Uzi said, rushing down the steps to the main furnace.
"Main furnace is down here!" Farah said, spotting the entrance.
"There's the entrance!" V said.
"On it!" N said, pushing the button, opening the door to the furnace.
As the team moved into the dark main furnace room, V quickly scanned around the perimeter, detecting no hostiles.
"Clear!" V shouted, as Farah walked up to the window, looking at the main furnace that seemed to expand as far as they eye can see.
"What happened?" Farah questioned.
With a sigh, Uzi replies "Detonator's fucked."
"Wha- how?!" N frantically stuttered, as Uzi tossed Farah the detonator.
Upon inspecting it, Farah looked up at Uzi, evidently scared. "Detonator's dead."
"I'll go in." Farah said.
"Farah, no!" N shouted, not keen on losing a friend.
"You won't get away in time." Uzi said, turning to Farah.
"I know that." Farah replied.
"Farah, listen to her." Alex reasoned.
"No. Because of that rat bastard, my people have suffered something worse than war. I did not come this far just to turn back." Farah growled, a steely determination evident in her voice.
"I'm not asking you to turn back, Farah. I'm asking you to let me do it." Uzi said.
Everybody went silent. The expression on N's visor was a mix of sorrow and pure fright. He stopped moving, he couldn't even speak. Just like the Ambassador residence assault, he just couldn't do anything, his servos locked up, his voice box refused to function. V wasn't better off either. It was like time stopped.
A long silence followed. The only thing breaking the silence was the faint hum of the machinery.
"I'm not doing that. I'm blowing this thing, and you cannot convince me otherwise." Farah retorted, pointing to the furnace, finally cutting the silence.
"Farah, someone has to hang Barkov, and someone has to blow this thing to kingdom come, and God knows you can't do both." Uzi said, matching Farah's determination.
"I've been an outcast my whole life, fought for things I don't believe in at all. This, is something I'd give my life for. Let me do it." Uzi reiterated, not willing to take no for an answer.
"Uzi, you can't-" N finally found the courage to speak, but it died out as quickly as it came.
"You are a freedom fighter, Uzi." Farah said.
"And you're one hell of a leader." Uzi replied.
Handing her the detonator, Farah uttered the words "Do it."
A bittersweet smile crossed Uzi's face as she took the detonator and went to the door.
"Uzi, no! We need you." V said, finally finding the courage to speak.
"Nah. Good luck out there. Semper Fi." Uzi said, turning the handle and opening the door, rushing off to the furnaces.
N could finally move. Rushing over to the door, he tried to open it, even burst it open, to no avail.
"FUCK!" N screamed, banging on the door.
Animated tears streamed down his visor as he continued to try and breach the door, even knowing full well Uzi used the Solver to lock it in place.
His visor showed a familiar yellow glyph, albeit glitching; then fading out.
"Dapper buddies!"
"V's hiding mystery stuff and being over-dramatic about it!"
"N! You suck!"
"Not like it killed anyone!"
The flashbacks seemed to blur across N's CPU, as if everything they had done was for naught.
"We were supposed to...." N began, punching a nearby wall so hard it cracked, as yellow streaks of code appear around the room.
The soft hum of the turbines echoed throughout the room. Uzi's footsteps grew faint as she approached the massive furnace. Every step was weighed down with purpose and the gravity of the impending act. For once, the ever-bustling machinery and the labyrinthine corridors of the facility seemed to still. As if even they were momentarily paralyzed.
Back at the entrance, Farah's eyes welled up with tears, regret and admiration in equal measure. The radio crackled to life.
"Echo team, what's your status?" came Price's voice, filled with urgency.
V swallowed hard, choking back emotions. "We're moving out. Furnace is set to blow."
"Understood. Godspeed, Echo."
N continued his futile assault on the door, still out of denial. V and Alex had to pull him away. "We need to move, NOW!" Alex shouted, dragging N to the escape route.
"Fuckin' hell, Barkov's buggin' out! Farah, Nikolai, where the hell are you?!" Price shouted, after planting the charges on the pipeline.
Playing: Eternal Dreams
"[I DON'T CARE WHAT TIME IT IS, I WANT MOSCOW ON THE LINE, NOW! YOU HEAR ME?! TELL THEM IT'S GENERAL BARKOV, I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!]" Barkov shouted over the walkie-talkie, as Farah snuck up to him, stabbing him in the shoulder, making the general howl in pain before elbowing Farah in the face, choking her.
"YOU!" He screamed, as Farah grabbed the knife from his shoulder, wrenching it out, and stabbing it in his side.
"Yes, Barkov. ME." Farah growled, causing the general to fall into the open back end of the helicopter.
"I'm still here, Farah. Still killing rats.... I AM Russia's protector. I will never allow thieves and crooks to terrorize my homeland. There can be no peace... Without law and order." Barkov monologued, as Farah moved up to him, stabbing him once.
Twice.
Thrice.
A fourth time.
A fifth.
A sixth.
Blood was everywhere, and Farah showed no remorse.
I am tired of this dream
Will it ever end for me?
I don't have a will to know
Can you help me see?
"I told you long ago, Farah. Your country breeds terrorists. That's why you're here." He coughed out weakly, coughing up more blood.
Let my body keep you warm
Let my essence be your breeze
Can you hear me calling?
Please look out for me
"I am no terrorist." Farah said, taking out the knife from where it was lodged in Barkov's chest. "I AM KARIM." She growled, kicking Barkov's downed frame out of the helicopter, sending the general plummeting to his death.
"Farah, what's your status?" Price questioned as Farah's radio crackled to life.
"Captain, General Barkov is dead." Farah affirmed.
"Roger that. Uzi, charges set?" Price questioned.
"Affirmative, sir." Uzi replied, as Farah solemnly smiled.
"Uzi?" Farah began.
"I'm not getting out of here. Let's do this." Uzi replied.
"Thank you." Farah said, thanking Uzi for her bravery.
"All in a day's work." Came Uzi's reply.
"All stations on my mark. 3.... 2... 1... Detonate."
Can you set me free?
Will you take my soul away?
Casting me in cold
Bury me in bones
Rest eternally
Each one of the charges detonated in a massive explosion, turning the laboratory into a blazing mess, charring the nearby trees. After a couple minutes, the gas laboratory was nothing but charred brick and concrete. Nothing but static was heard on the radio.
"Uzi? Uzi, how copy?" N stammered, his voice breaking, the sound of wind and flying debris in the background.
"N, she's gone." V muttered.
Will you take me home?
Can we see the moon again?
Dancing in the dark
till we fall apart
I can't end this dream
"Confirm visual, targets destroyed. Well done team, proceed to exfil. Peace to the fallen." Price said.
"Karim!" Nikolai shouted, as Farah opened the door to the cockpit.
"Mother Russia would approve." He said.
"Where to?" He asked.
"Urzikstan. Home." Farah replied, as the helicopter flies off, leaving the smoldering laboratory in the distance.
"Peace to the fallen." V's voice came through the radio, still holding back emotions.
"Yeah. Peace to the fallen." N replied, his voice completely broken.
Laswell sits at a house, as Price brings some tea, sitting down with Laswell, as the smell of sugar and black teabags wafts through the house.
"Tea?" She questions.
"I'm a long way from a proper pint." Price said.
"Russia disowned Barkov." Laswell uttered.
"Not much choice there, he's dead." Price snarks.
"Took a big bite out of that problem, John." Laswell said.
"For now, but left unchecked.." Price began.
"They won't be." Laswell cut, reaching for a brown briefcase.
"General Shepard pulled the files you asked for. What exactly is this about?" Laswell questioned.
"A Task Force." Price answered.
"Mmm-Mmm, we already have loose ends." Laswell said.
"And I will tie them." Price replied.
"I can fund assets, not outlaws." Laswell retorted.
"Enjoy the tea then." Price said, pushing the tea to Laswell before getting up to leave.
"Zakhaev wants Barkov's throne." Laswell said, stopping Price in his tracks as he sits back down.
"Almost buried him in Pripyat, with Macmillan." Price said.
"That was the father. This is the son, 'Victor.'" Laswell corrects, prompting Price to raise his eyebrow.
"Lovely family." Price quips.
"They're big fans of Hadir's." Laswell said.
"Well, that explains why he's still alive." Price nonchalantly says.
"They're gonna get him out." Laswell says, maintaining her serious stature.
"Then give me what I need." Price said, prompting Laswell to pass him the briefcase, laying back in her chair, as price opens it, pulling out the files.
"Who's your crew?" Laswell questioned.
"Sergeant Kyle Garrick, John MacTavish. SAS, Sniper, demolitions, goes by 'Soap'." Price said, then chuckling as he pulls out 5 files.
"Ah, there they are. Serial Designation V, Serial Designation N, Serial Designation J, and Simon Riley." Price named.
"There's no picture." Laswell noted, pointing to the empty portrait for 'Simon Riley'.
"Never. Now, the rest, that's need to know. Unless we got a deal." Price said.
A long silence.
"What are you calling this Task Force?" Laswell questions, cutting through the silence.
"Task Force 1-4-1."
Let's say goodbye with a smile, dear
Just for a while dear we must part
Don't let this parting upset you
I'll not forget you, sweetheart
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies chase those dark clouds far away
And you will just say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
And you will just say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day...