Soap groaned as he checked the weapons in the back of the plane. "We've got one good UMP... They've got a thousand," he said in dismay. "We don't even know if Makarov's intel is any good." His blue eyes raised up to the senior Captain staring out the window. "Price?" There was no response and he stepped closer. "... Price?"

"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on earth," said Price, a dark, undaunted tone in his voice. "But I think that's a luxury, not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom; a good time to take... inventory." He slid the bolt back on his rifle and released it with a sharp snap. "Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds on a suicide mission. But the sand and rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare... They will remember us for this." He turned fully to Soap and took a step closer, and Jessica watched him with a worried expression as she noticed the shadow over his eyes again. "Because out of our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward, like a breath exhaled from the Earth, with vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: We. Will. Kill him."

She shifted and strode between him and Soap. "We appreciate the pep talk, sir," she said. "But I, for one, take Patton's quote to heart: the goal isn't to die for your country, it's to make the other poor, dumb bastard die for his."

"You can't honestly think we're makin' it outta this one, Lone?" asked Soap.

Gal turned around and cocked a brow. "So what if I do?"

Price's hand passed over her ears and she growled, pulling away. "We may be among the best soldiers on the globe, but even the best can't take out a whole army. We will, indeed, take Shepherd's life, but not without answering for it."

She set her brows but remained otherwise unmoving. "Die if you want, but know it'll only be over my dead body," she said.

Both men smiled and Soap reached out to pat her head. "You've been good to us, Gal. If you come outta this, don't change."

"Hadn't planned on it."

The plane touched down, and already there was a swift breeze, thickening the air with sand. "I'll wait for you at the exfil point. Three hours," said Nikolai.

Price shook his head. "Don't bother. This was a one-way trip, mate."

Nikolai's expression turned somber. "... Then good luck, my friends," he said, nodding to each one as they went out the door. "Слава Бого."

Before Jessica stepped out, she held his gaze. "... Meet us at that exfil point."

"What?"

"They think we're going to die, but... I just know we're not, so don't leave us hanging. We're going to need you when this is all over."

Nikolai grinned. "Copy, ma'am. Keep them alive until then for me, da?"

"Done and done," she replied, giving him a salute and bailing out the door.

They stalked through the brewing sand storm, coming to a stop at a small ridge. "I'm getting a thermal reading up ahead of us," said Price. "This must be it... Looks like Makarov's intel was solid."

"If he's not anything else, at least he's helpful sometimes," muttered Gal. She looked over the edge and saw a patrol. "They're splitting up."

Price nodded and then looked down at his radio. "This encryption code better be worth the price we paid..." 

Gal's ears pricked at the sound of American voices. "Go ahead, Alpha?"

"It worked..." She smiled, revealing her curved fangs. The patrol chattered back and forth about the sand storm and no sign of disturbance, and soon the group had dispersed.

"Focus on the group on the right, directly beneath us," said Price. "Take them out first; I'll take the one on the far right, Jess, take the middle and let Soap take out the one on the right with the dog." They each leveled their weapons with a target and on a quiet count, they downed all three. "Just like old times," purred the Captain. "Alright, we've got to take out the other group before they come back, move." He slid down the hill to the road beside the bodies, Soap and Lone shortly behind him.

Jessica took a steadying breath. "I've got the guy and his dog on the left. Soap?"

"I got ya, mate," he said, setting his sights on the other man in the group.

Tat-tat tat!

The men and the dog dropped. Price picked up his pace. "We don't have much time before they find the bodies. Let's keep moving," he said. He came to a cliff's edge and looked over the side. "Here- let's hook up here."

Soap hooked a rappelling wire to a metal rail on the concrete divider positioned on the cliff. He looked over the edge at the river below and sighed, leaning back to tighten the wire and to let his head clear. "I'm hooked up," he said to the senior Captain.

"Copy," said Jessica, already perched on the divider with the wire in her hands. 

Price nodded. "Let's go." He rolled his head back and dove over the ledge, careening toward the road below.

"Hey, I'm not getting anything from Disciple Four, north-ridge road. Could be a bad transmitter," said one of the Americans over the comlink. Below, there were two sentries posted under the ledge in front of a cave, talking back and forth.

"That storm isn't here yet," said one. "Don't you think it's odd that it would mess with our equipment like that?"

The other shook his head. "Nah, there's a lot of storms stirrin' up right now. Wouldn't surprise me if there was some interference."

Soap drew his knife and gasped the guard on the left by his mouth, keeping him quiet as he thrust the blade into his heart. The man struggled and whimpered, but soon his pupils dilated and he went limp.

Jessica's feet touched the ground and she looked around. No other patrols or guards... Seemed odd. "Let's go," she said, gesturing to the cave opening. "I'll take point." She shifted and slunk in, keeping low to the wet ground. 

Price came up close behind her and she stopped, ears pricked. "Tango up ahead, patrol of four on the right," she murmured.

He patted her shoulder, stepping adjacent to her. "Go left, quickly!" They rounded a corner and crouched behind some crates. "Let them pass," he warned, feeling Galaxy's muscles tensing from beside him.

"Butcher Seven, Oxide," said one of the Americans from Shepherd's HQ. "We've lost contact with Disciple Five."

"Probably just the sandstorm that's rollin' in or a bad transmitter. Send a team to check it out, over," replied another.

"Roger that, Oxide. I'll send Vinson and Lambert. Butcher Seven out."

As the troop walked past, Price peeked out. "There's a guard having a smoke," he said, stroking one of Gal's ears. "You can take him out or let him pass; I'll leave it up to you."

"You're gambling a man's life, Price," she scoffed. "Does that make you happy?"

"Always," he smiled.

She shot out from behind the crate they were hiding behind and took a leap, landing on the man's shoulder and sinking her teeth into his neck. With a sharp twist, she broke his neck and pulled his throat free. "Down," she called over the com. "Moving. Stay to the left, I smell more men up ahead."

Soap stalked past her, weapon raised. "Good kill, Lone. Thanks for the heads-up." He stayed just a step behind Price, avoiding the pockets of men posted through the small caverns. They came to a staircase where two patrolmen with lights were roving. "I got the one on the right, Price. You got the other one?"

"On your mark," replied the Captain.

Tat tat!

Jessica bounded ahead. "Sounds like our kills are starting to make a stir," she said. "'Oxide' just called out another patrol that isn't responding."

Price nodded. "Alright. Let's get up these stairs. I see a sentry at the top; he's mine." The trio silently walked up the stairs, and Price unsheathed his knife before viciously shoving it through the man's neck and dragging him out of view of the stairs. 

"Disciple Six, go dark, breach and clear!"

Jess grimaced. "Found 'em."

"Here we go," said Price, the tension rising in his voice. "Get ready."

Overhead, the lights went out one by one until the only light in the corridor came from the small, blinking red light mounted high up on the cave wall. There was murmuring and then a loud explosion, filling the cavern with pale gold light and dust.

Price raised his weapon. "Go loud!" 

"They're here!" bellowed one of the Americans. "Hunt them down, don't let them get away!"

It was rather anticlimactic. A mere handful of men came in through the breach in the wall, and all of them fell within moments. Jessica nudged one with her boot and shot him again when his head moved.

"Jay-zus, Lone," said Soap. "Hair-trigger much?"

"It was just for good measure."

Price motioned them out the breach onto the catwalk on the cliffside. He pressed the com into his ear hearing more radio chatter.

"Disciple Nine, your rear guard just flatlined!" said Oxide frantically.

Disciple sounded unconvinced. "Not possible. We just cleared that area. Nobody's that good Oxi-..."

"It's Price," rumbled Shepherd. All three of them stopped upon hearing his voice. "Backup priority items and burn the rest. Fireteams, just delay 'em until we're ready to pull out."

Jess grunted. "Shit's about to get rugged, mates..."

Price spotted a sentry post close to them. "Grab a riot shield from that post. Soap, draw their fire, Lone Wolf and I will take them out."

"Copy." Soap snatched up a shield and started over a rope-and-board bridge across a ravine to the other side of the cliff, soon getting pummeled with gunfire from a swarm of soldiers. "Price! What're ya waitin' for?!"

"Picking them off, MacTavish," said Lone. "Just keep your head down."

He rammed one soldier that got too close and looked over his shoulder to see Jessica and Price coming up behind him. "We've got you covered, Soap," said Price. "Keep going."

"Butcher One-Five," said Oxide. "Rendezvous at the nest and prepare to escort Gold Eagle to the LZ."

Price hummed to himself quietly. "Gold Eagle must be Shepherd... We're running out of time, let's go!"

Jessica shifted and picked up her pace, loping ahead of them into another cave. She breathed in a scent but stopped only a moment too late when a smoke bomb when off in her face. "Agh! They're popping smoke!" she yelped.

"They're using thermals to see through the smoke!" said Price. "They're digging in, Shepherd must be close. I'll draw their fire; Soap, get Gal out of there and watch for flanking routes!"

Soap snagged her scruff and stood her up, dragging her along with him as he maneuvered to cover. "Y'all right, Lone?" he asked above the noise.

"Yeah," she said, blinking away the debris in her eyes. "I'm fine. Don't let Shepherd getaway! Let's bag these guys!" She shifted, firing into the smoke blindly, hoping she was hitting something.

Things went quiet again and they pushed through the tunnels. Jessica sucked in a breath at the sound of another American over the com. "Oxide, Butcher Five-Actual. I've got a severed det cord - we're gonna need ten mikes to get the trunk rigged and the EBC primed, over."

Oxide replied, a mark of urgency in his tone. "Negative, Gold Eagle wants those charges hot in less than three mikes. Get it done, out."

She heard a door close up ahead and growled, pounding up the path. Jess shifted, slamming her side into the door. "Damn it! They sealed the control room." She looked up at Soap. "You've still got a frame charge, don't you?"

"On it." He slammed the charge on the door and motioned her and Price to stack up. The door blew open and they took aim.

Rat-tat-tat! Tat! Tat-tat! Tat!

Four men fell and Jessica felt her breath catch in her throat. "Thank God none of us missed..." she mused, seeing barrels of explosives and C4 all over the room. "Bloody hell..." She noticed several monitors around with a countdown on the screen. "Guys..?"

"All units, be advised, this is Gold Eagle," said Shepherd over the radio. "The site has been compromised. I am executing directive one-one-six bravo. If you're still inside, your service will be honored. Shepherd out."

"Sick fuck!" she rattled.

Price pushed her forward. "Get on that monitor, we need to override the door controls! Hurry!"

Soap tapped away at the keyboard and darted for the back door. "They're open, let's go!"

Jessica shifted and leaped through the doorway. Just as she landed on the soft, sandy ground, the room behind them caved in with a wail of explosives and crumbling rock. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Soap and Price were still with her when the ground gave out under her feet and she fell.

The dust cleared and she shook out her ears with a sneeze. Soap lay beside her, still dazed, and Price limped ahead, taking cover behind a pile of sandbags to look outside of the cave. Shepherd tapped into the com again.

"Excalibur, this is Gold Eagle. Fire mission - target package Romeo - danger close."

Excalibur sounded baffled. "That's within a hundred meters of your position, sir!"

"That's not a suggestion!" snarled the Lieutenant General. "Send it!"

Price's eyes rounded and he turned back. "Soap! Lone! Incoming, get down, get down!"

A rain of mortar fire came down on the men outside. The walls of the cave winced at the blow, crackling from the impact. The fire ceased and outside lay easily a dozen dead American soldiers.

Soap spat a trickle of blood at the sand. "Since when does Shepherd care about danger close?" he grumbled. "Let's go..."

They left the cave, stepping into the light and squinting against the stirred-up sand and smoke. All around, there were charred bodies, and a few men still clinging to life, crying feebly as they clawed at the sand to get away. Gal felt sick to her stomach hearing them but kept her eyes focussed ahead. 

Excalibur spoke up again. "Sir, sandstorm activity is picking up here. It's too risky for flight ops."

"Understood. Head for the tunnel. We'll take the Zodiacs," replied Shepherd.

Galaxy scoffed, revealing a single tooth when she smiled. "Thanks for the directions, General," she muttered. She sniffed the air. "He mentioned Zodiacs, and I smell water that way."

Price stroked her ears. "Good job, Gal. Let's end this; don't let Shepherd escape!"

Sure enough, deep down in a tunnel, there was rive access, and praise God, there was one Zodiac left behind. They could all hear the other boats roaring further downstream and Price quickly swung himself into the watercraft. "Come on! They're getting away!" he bellowed.

Soap revved the engine and jetted off as soon as Gal's feet hit the bottom. "Hang on!" They jetted out of the cave into the sunlight and Soap shook his head to flick off the water droplets from his face. "Gal, you always outpace us; what took ya so long to get in the boat?"

"First of all," she retorted. "I was a second or two behind you. And second, I was getting these!" She revealed a pair of mini-Uzis and a few mags of spare ammo. "You're welcome!"

"Shut up, both of you," said Price. "We've got company! Use those weapons to your advantage!"

Gal shifted and reloaded her rifle. "Soap, let me know when you need to reload; I'll take care of you!" she said.

A zodiac beside them suddenly lost control after a burst of fire from one of the Uzis. Soap smiled. "Not bad, Gal. You picked good."

Price stiffened. "Enemy contact, 12 o'clock!"

Jessica aimed over Price's shoulder and took out a second boat. "They're down!"

"Look up! We've got Little Birds!" Soap veered right to avoid gunfire from the small choppers, and Price and Lone gripped the sides of the Zodiac. 

She braced herself against the seat. "Firing on the Little Bird."

Price grabbed the muzzle of her rifle. "No good, we're just going to have to take evasive maneuvers; don't waste your ammo!" he said over the engine. "Soap, go left!" He saw a bridge coming up and tapped Jessica's arm. "Sentries on the bridge, take them out!"

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Two men fell over into the rive and Jessica let out a breath. "Got 'em."

"Avatar One," said Shepherd hoarsely into the com. "Gimme a sitrep, over!"

Jess' eyes locked onto a single boat ahead of them. "That's his boat, take it out!" Before they could line up the boat's engine or any of its occupants, a Pave Low appeared around the river bend, and Shepherd's Zodiac sped into its open hatch.

"NO!" she roared. "Motherf-"

"Soap," commanded Price. "Hold the engine steady, I'm gonna shoot it down!"

Soap nodded and shifted the engine back, holding position in the water. He could feel the rapids moving them forward, and he gritted his teeth. 

Jessica looked over the front of the boat and shifted once more. "Soap..." she called. Before them was a massive waterfall, easily 30 feet down. 

The Pave Low was turning to face them and Price braced, taking aim. "Steady... Steady..!" 

Pow! Pow!

The Pave Low reeled, its rotors spewing black smoke and soon, the aircraft spiraled out of control. Price let out a breath and then tensed again. "Back up, back up!" 

Soap laid hard on the engine and began to panic. "I can't get it to back up, Price!"

Price grasped Galaxy's scruff and before she could react, he threw her out of the boat.

"Price! What the f-?!"

SPLASH!

"Wake up... Wake up, we can't let him get away!" Sasha pleaded. "Gal, get up!"

Galaxy's eyes rolled open and she wretched, coughing up muddy water from her lungs. It burned. She coughed again. Finally, on her feet, she looked around, completely disoriented. She didn't see the boat, nor Price and Soap, and she could barely smell past all the mud and algae in her nose. "Where are they?" she whispered to herself.

Her ears pricked at the sound of clicking from a jammed pistol. She trotted toward the noise, stumbling this way and that as she fought to keep her balance. Damn, her head was spinning. She saw an American lying on his back, and his chest heaved with an agonal breath. She stepped over him carefully and looked around. 

WHAM!

Gal started. What the hell was that? She picked up her pace, still tumbling side to side, and tripped.

Blood.

Her eyes rounded. Whose blood? Dammit! Where were Price and Soap? She dragged herself along and stopped dead in her tracks to see Soap lying on his back, a knife sticking out of his chest, and Shepherd standing over him.

"Five years ago," rasped Shepherd. "I lost 30,000 men in the blink of an eye... And the world just fuckin' watched." Despite the harsh tone in his voice, there were tears in his eyes as he spoke. He rolled the cylinder of his revolver out and clicked two bullets into it. "Tomorrow, there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots..." He snapped it back into place and pulled back the hammer. "I know you understand."

"But I don't," whimpered Soap. "We were on your side... You had your pick of anyone in the world to be on your team... Why would you attack us?"

Shepherd set his brows. "... I guess I was wrong... You wouldn't understand..." And he squeezed the trigger.

He wailed as Galaxy set her teeth in his arm, deflecting the shot over Soap's head. "How the hell did you..?!" Shepherd slammed his foot into her chest and she fell back with a yelp, collapsing under weak legs from the blow. He dropped the gun when Price lunged at him, kicking his hand. 

"Gal! Get the gun!" he cried.

She tried to crawl, but could barely see between the disorientation and the swirling sands. Soap crawled beside her, reaching out for it. He looked up as Shepherd connected the sole of his boot with the Captain's face.

Galaxy winced. "Soap... Get up..." she said, feeling a sting of tears in her eyes. Shakily, she inched closer to him and the gun, taking hold of it as Shepherd and Price continued to fight. With a pit of dread, she realized that the cylinder had come out, and was lying somewhere in the sand. Looking up again, Shepherd was kneeling on Price's chest, landing blow after blow on his face.

"We don't need a gun..." hissed Sasha. "We've eaten men bigger than him... Tear his guts out like the animal you are!"

She lifted her eyes, forcing herself onto her feet. Gal bared her teeth and charged him in a wobbly line, catching one of his arms in her jaws before he could land another blow on Price. He cried out as she broke one of the bones in his wrist between her teeth. Shepherd was about to strike her when both he and the wolf saw Soap holding the knife that had been in his chest.

SHUNK!

Shepherd's head rolled back as the knife sailed into his left brow and he fell to the dust, blood spurting everywhere.

Galaxy stared down at him, still holding his arm. Just like that... It was over.

General Shepherd was dead.

Rage grew inside her like water boiling over and she shrieked, sinking her teeth into his neck and shaking his head back and forth. She shook and thrashed his body until she heard Sasha speak.

"Gal... Gal, there's nothing left of his head... Stop..."

She came to, and sure enough, his face was unrecognizable. Galaxy released him and straightened, hesitantly licking the blood from her mouth to spit it at the ground. Though the rage still burned hot in her veins, she felt an odd sense of stillness and calm at the dead silence around her. Price lay motionless, and Soap was face-down in the sand.

Price coughed and she lurched back. The Captain grumbled, shoving Shepherd's dead body away and he rubbed his sore, bleeding face. He looked up at Galaxy, seeing her face entirely red with blood, and rolled over to look at his former Lieutenant. "... Soap..." he rasped. "Soap!"

Galaxy shifted and ran over to him. "He's bleeding really bad," she said. "I can tear up my shirt, we'll use it to close his wound."

Price stopped her and started tearing his own shirt. "Put pressure on it, we need to stop that bleeding..." He looked up. "Bloody hell?"

A Little Bird slowly came to land a few meters away, and Nikolai bailed out. "Come on, my friends! Hurry!"

Jessica smiled. "You're here!"

"I thought I told you this was a one-way trip?" said Price, helping the barely-conscious Soap to lean on his shoulder.

Nikolai smiled. "Someone twisted my arm," he said, pointing at Jessica. "Come on, they'll be looking for you, you know."

Price nodded, helping Soap into the bird where Jessica let him rest against her. "Nik, we've gotta get Soap out of here."

"Da," replied the pilot. "I know a place..."