A Shadow Company Tale

The Boneyard

Meanwhile in the Boneyard, MacTavish peaked his head out of the wreckage of a plane tail as his radio crackled again, "Soap! Shepherd's trying to wipe out us and Makarov at the same time! Head for rally point Bravo to the west! Trust no one!" He just kept quiet as he was lost in deep thought as he slid out his M14 that was modified to be silenced, scanning the area below.

Shadow Company soldiers engaged the Russian mercenaries with extreme vigor as the mercs fought for their very survival, the ensuing result was a vicious firefight that left little survivors. MacTavish slid his rifle up, setting the scope on one of the soldiers that blocked his path and pulled the trigger without hesitation. The bullet streaked across the sky and smacked the soldier in the neck as he fell over clutching his neck.

"Head for the rally point! Go! Go! Go! Nikolai! This is Price! Be advised, the LZ is hot, I repeat, the LZ is hot!" His radio crackled again as he hopped down from the tail, slowly moving downhill. The American soldiers continued to aggressively push the mercs back, creating a little trail for MacTavish to slip on through without being detected. He looked over to the American he shot and saw the Spade with a B and a number that followed on it. He made a mental note of it and pushed on, asking a prisoner if lucky later on.

He raised his head, scanning the area in case any of the other soldiers spotted him; they didn't and he grinned, keeping his rifle steady as he moved forward cautiously. A few wounded Russians groaned as one attempted to raise a weapon, however he immediately failed dropping the weapon making a loud clunking noise. Immediately the squad of American soldiers whipped around, spotted MacTavish.

"Hostile at my location!" He shouted as the rest of the squad spun around with their weapons already drawn, squeezing the triggers. MacTavish quickly squeezed off several shots, attempting to strike as many as possible. The remaining soldiers also replied immediately as shots slammed directly into the barrier right in front of MacTavish as he dropped to the ground instantly. Unslinging his MP5K, he waited for the firing to stop.

"Spread out, this fucker is still out there!"

"He ain't a Russian, they aren't that good."

"It's the fucking Brits!"

"Well whoever they are, kill hi- Ah!" Four shots ripped into the man as he fell down, MacTavish rising, firing his bursts into the other soldiers who snapped their heads up to see the Scottish warrior rise from his cover. He stood, panting as the Americans were better trained than the recent hostiles he had fought, even including those a part of the Russian military. His radio crackled once again.

"Ok, Captain Price, I am on the way! Try to get the situation under control before I get there, ok?"

Ten seconds later the radio crackled again, "Right, whatever you say, Nikolai! Just get here sharpish! Soap, let Makarov and Shepherd's men kill each other off as much as you can. We can use their comms to listen in on their radio traffic. I'm going to try to contact Makarov."

'Is that wise?' He thought to himself as he continued to move through the chaotic battlefield. He paused as a SUV slammed through the gate next to him, Shadow Company markings with a minigun on top as the gunner spotted a mercenary unit closing. He spun up the minigun, firing upon the large group as many scattered. The SUV stopped as Shadow Company troops hopped out, opening fire on the stunned mercenaries with small arms. MacTavish paused, tempted to aid the mercenaries as many continued to pour into the area. Another motorized sound drew his attention as a BTR plowed past the barrier the mercenaries were pouring from as containers blocked the rest of the line of sight.

The Shadow Company troops scattered, spreading out from the SUV as the gunner continued to open fire on the personnel that were out in the open as well trying in vain to destroy the BTR as the BTR swung its auto cannon on the SUV firing. The first round impacted the windshield, penetrating the SUV slicing the gunner into shreds as the remaining rounds destroyed the SUV, detonating the vehicle as shrapnel flew from the destroyed vehicle striking one of the soldiers running away. The remaining soldiers stayed in cover as one frantically shouted for air support. A distant buzz grew louder as two AH-6 Little Birds moved in, firing their rockets upon the troops and BTR, missing on the first pass. The BTR tracked the motion of one of the Little Birds and opened fire with its cannon, striking the helicopter sending the machine into a spiraling flaming wreck. The second Little Bird swung around and returned fire with the remaining rockets and struck the BTR as it exploded in a fiery inferno. The survivors of both sides quickly began to shoot at each other as MacTavish slid around through a depression behind the Shadow Company soldiers.

"Makarov, this is Price. Shepherd's a war hero now. He's got your operations playbook and he's got a blank check. Give me what you got on Shepherd, and I'll take care of the rest." There was a pause as MacTavish shook his head, wondering if the old man had lost it. "I know you can hear me on this channel Makarov. You and I both know you won't last a week." Price stopped talking as a hoarse Russian voice replied.

"And neither will you."

Price must've been smirking, "Makarov...you ever hear the old saying, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend?""

"Price, one day you're going to find that it cuts both ways." There was a pause as Makarov sighed, not believing he was making a deal with his enemy. "Shepherd is using Site Hotel Bravo. You know where it is. I'll see you in hell."

"Looking forward to it. Give my regards to Zakhaev if you get there first." Price switched off the channel that Makarov had access to. He spoke back over the radio to Soap, "Soap! Don't get pinned down out there! Keep heading west for the runway area! Nikolai, where the hell are you?"

The Russian voice came in again, "Sand storms around Kandahar, Captain Price. I have to fly around them. I am not getting paid enough to crash my plane."

MacTavish shook his head, pushing forward heading west to the runway, turning his head up as a distant roar could be heard, 'Nikolai is close!' He stepped into the middle of a firefight as mercenary forces fired RPGs on entrenched Shadow Company personnel. Two SUVs turned down the road, revving their engines all the way as the drivers floored the vehicles aiming at the mercenaries. MacTavish took the opportunity as the two SUVs raced past him, kicking up dust from the road clouding the air. He sprinted through the dust cloud, attracting no attention as he entered the fuselage of a large commercial airliner.

Nikolai's C-130 flew close to the ground, deafening everyone as MacTavish's radio crackled yet again. "Price, I am approaching the boneyard. I see you do not have the situation under control. Very unsafe to land. It looks like when I was in Afghanistan with the Soviets!"

"Nikolai! Just shut up and land the bloody plane! We're on our way!" Price barked.

Nikolai, still over the radio, began to curse loudly in Russian. "Vot dyermo! Net, mnye yavno nedoplachivayut za etu rabotu! Odni rakyety skolko stoyat! Tvoyu mat! Pizda!"

MacTavish sprinted yet again downhill as a large firefight erupted. He couldn't stop so he continued running through the hailfire, luck being on his side as he wasn't hit once. Price yelled, "Soap! I've found some transport! Keep moving west! I'll meet you en route!"

'Thank fuck, a ride sounds nice right about now.'

He ducked as he continued to push through the boneyard as he approached yet another hill, this time a jeep was driving towards him and he recognized the passengers inside. Price and Rook, and he exhaled as the C-130 flew a mere thirty feet above him, touching down the runway a bit of a distance away from him.

"Captain Price, I am taking off in one minute! You better hurry if you want a ride out of here!"

"Soap! We don't have much time! Nikolai's not going to wait around for us! Get in the jeep!" Price shouted directly at MacTavish as MacTavish threw his rifle into the back and jumped into the back of the jeep.

"Floor it, floor it!" MacTavish shouted.

Rook slammed on the gas pedal as several SUVs trailed the jeep. MacTavish spun around, aiming his scope on the driver of the closest vehicle. He squeezed off a round as the round shattered the windshield, killing the driver.

"Take out that gunner!" Price pointed to a gunner who was spinning up his minigun. MacTavish scoped in on the gunner and shot the man as the SUV swerved out of the way. Another two followed close behind as Price pressed down on his radio. "Nikolai, drop the bloody ramp! We're coming in!"

Rook kept swerving knocking other vehicles off the runway, "Come on you bastards, I can do this all da-" A bullet slammed into his head from the SUV next to him as he went limp, keeping his foot on the gas.

"Soap! Rook is down! Take the wheel, and aim for the ramp!" MacTavish grabbed the steering wheel with his left hand, guiding the jeep up the ramp as movement inside the plane caught his attention.

Price and MacTavish hopped off the jeep as Katana and Ivy rushed down the long fuselage, leaving Roach on one of the seats. Price did a double take on the two females and Roach as MacTavish laid Rook on the floor, he would be buried later.