Gal stuck her nose up in the cold winter air. "Where are they?" she asked herself. When Bravo Team had deployed from the bird, a gust of wind knocked them off course, and she couldn't help but recall what happened that fateful day in 2011. She trotted through the snow ears twitching at every sound until she heard familiar voices. "Ghost!" she whooped, catching his attention along with a few others. "Where are Roach and MacTavish?"

"Wind blew 'em off course. Looked like Soap and Price landed about a half-klick east of us," he said. "As for Roach: no idea. Lost track of him on the way down."

She shifted and tapped into the com. "Bravo Six," she said. "This is Lone Wolf, what's your location, over?"

"Copy, Lone," replied Soap. "I'm lookin' at the satellite footage from our predator drone, I see you and the others all landed east. Price is lookin' for Roach, waitin' to hear back from him; can't see him from the drive yet, over."

"Copy That," said Ghost. "Location is secure for now; we'll hold position until we hear from you again. Over and out."

Jessica knelt in the snow, keeping her senses sharp for any unexpected visitors. She tensed at the sound of chopping sounds ripping the air. "Sounds like an enemy helicopter."

Ghost motioned the team to take cover under the skeletal foliage around them. "Get out of sight," he commanded. As they ducked low under the brush, the bird passed over them, carrying an MATV. "Looks like fun," the Lieutenant sang.

"Price," said Soap over the comlink. "I can barely see Roach's chute on my satellite feed, too much interference. What do you see, over?"

"Copy, Soap," he replied. "I have eyes on him. Looks like he's still in good shape."

Soap sounded relieved. "Copy. Sounds like the rest of the team landed near Ghost. Your call, do you want them to come to you or head towards the sub base?"

Ghost was muttering under his breath. "Please tell us to carry on, please tell us to carry on..."

"Tell Ghost to take his group northwest towards the base; Roach and I can handle our own."

He sighed with a smile. "Perfect." Ghost stepped out of the brush and called the team out with him. "Come on, Bravo Team, let's get going."

"Watch your fire, friendlies on your six!" called Lone as she and the team approached Price and Roach behind the cover of a half-buried lodge. Behind them, there was smoke rolling into the sky from an explosion, a signature of Ghost's work on a SAM site with his AT4.0

Price looked over his shoulder and grinned. "About time you got here. Did you take a lunch break on your way?"

"Shut your trap, jailbird," she retorted.

"Nice work with those SAM sites," he complimented, looking to Ghost.

Ghost slapped Roach on the back. "Thanks, but we better get moving. Those explosions are gonna attract a lot of attention."

Gal pricked her ears toward the sound of Russian soldiers approaching. She bared her teeth and charged over the roof into the mass of tangos on the other side, Ghost shortly on her heels. "Don't let them outflank you!" she called back to the team.

Roach skirted the outside of the lodges and fired into the group. He jumped down beside her and continued the fight deeper into the tiny village. "Wanna help me out, Lone?" he asked.

"I'm with you," she replied, shifting and hugging the butt of her rifle to her shoulder. She stepped in time with him and they swept the area with a rain of gunfire. It was almost too easy as more enemies stepped out of their positions to engage them only to fall in heaps under their bullets.

In moments, everything went surprisingly quiet. Roach cautiously stepped past a downed foot mobile and turned his attention back to the group where he heard Price speaking into the com link. "Soap, we've linked up with Ghost and the rest of the team."

"Roger that," came the reply. "The predator's almost in position. Make it count; these things don't grow on trees."

Price rushed up beside them and Gal groaned uneasily at his approach, sidestepping to let him by. "Come on, the submarine dock should be just over this hill," he said.

They crested the hill and below them, there was a horde of Ultranationalist soldiers. There was certainly no sneaking their way into the base and fighting their way in was going to be ugly. Galaxy tucked an ear back in thought, realizing that alerting the troops would also likely trigger a scuttle of the submarine. Certainly Price had a better idea than just sneak or fight, right?

"There's the submarine," said Price, kneeling to stay out of sight of the soldiers below. "Under that crane over there. Roach." He turned to look at the Sergeant. "Use the predator drone to soften their defenses."

Roach nodded firmly and looked through the satellite feed. There was a breathless silence before a missile came screeching down to earth, exploding a truck nearby, taking out a handful of Russians.

"That got their attention!" said Soap over the com. "The whole base is on alert! You better hurry. You've only got a couple minutes before that submarine dives."

"Roger, we're moving!" said Lone and she stood up to shoot into the mass. 

A few more moments passed and another missile landed, taking out easily another ten soldiers. Roach frequently looked up, his muscles tingling with the thrill of the fight around him. "I'm going for that armour next," he said to Price.

"Good, you take care of that, and then I'm going for the sub!" he said. "You'll need to cover me from the guard tower by the west gate!"

Jessica nodded, shooting down two more tangos. "Roger that, sir," she said. The next missile blistered the earth around a humvee and she stepped behind him. "Go ahead, Price, I've got your six; Ghost, Roach, start heading for the guard tower, I'll follow you up."

"Copy, Lone," replied Ghost. "Let's go!"

They charged into the fray, Price downing a few foot mobiles on his way and the other three behind him picking off any others that tried to flank him. While he continued on toward the sub, Jess, Ghost and Roach got up to the roof of the watchtower and fired down into the base. 

"I'm gonna keep working on their defenses with the predator," said Roach. "Just keep them away from the tower and I'll take care of the rest."

"On it, mate," Jessica replied and she shot down at a soldier starting up the ladder toward them. 

Price tapped back into the comlink. "All right, I'm inside the sub! Cover me, I need a few minutes!"

Ghost was about to respond when he noticed incoming trucks. "Roach, two trucks approaching from the east, take them out!"

Wrrrrrrrrr-BOOM! The trucks had barely begun to apply the brakes as Roach unleashed another missile on them. 

"Damn," said the Lieutenant. "I don't know why I'm telling you anything. You're bloody brilliant with that thing."

Roach shot Ghost a shit-eating grin. "Yeah, mate, I don't know why you're letting me anything..." He turned his next shot closer to the sub, leveling a swarm of Russians racing toward the sub. "Damn, I was hoping that one would take out more," he said, seeing only part of the group laying scattered on the dock. As he was about to fire another missile, the screen turned to silver static. "Bollocks!" he spat.

"What?" Jessica asked, looking over her shoulder at him, then back at another soldier who had made it almost to the top of the ladder.

"Predator missile is offline," said Soap. 

Ghost's eyes were wide as he stared at the dock. "We've got a bigger problem than that," he said. "Price, are you there? The silo doors are opening on the sub, I repeat, the silo doors are opening on the sub!"

Jess shifted in alarm, ears pricked at the worry in Ghost's voice. "What, are you serious?" she asked, only to see it as she peered over his shoulder. 

There was no response from Price on the other end.

"Price, come in! They're opening the silo doors on the sub!" Come on! Hurry!

Still no response.

"... Shit!" Jessica started for the ladder. "I'm going after him!"

"No, you're not!" growled Ghost. "PRICE! Do you copy, damn it?! The silo doors are open!"

"Good," came the shady reply of Price.

Gal was about to inquire when the earth shook under them, and all Russian soldiers around the base ran for cover. The trio in the tower looked up to see the white, plumbing tail of a nuclear missile erupt from the sub and into the air. 

"What?! Wait - wait, Price, no!" Ghost cried. "We have a nuclear missile launch. Missile in the air! I repeat, missile in the air! Code Black, Code Black!"

Her legs went weak under her and she collapsed into a seated position, her heart in her throat. Fuck! What was he doing?!