Chainer: Well, now that we’ve got the information from the Defiant, let’s go take down Rojas.
Ace: Agreed, we-
Command: Baseplate to 589, come in.
Ace: This is the 589, over.
Command: 589, we are diverting you to the Eastern Ukraine.
Chainer: What?! But we’re just about to take care of Rojas!
Command: We understand Echo 3, but unfortunately Rojas is not as high of a priority as Victor Zakhaev.
Ace: You found him?
Command: No, but something is happening in Russia. Ultranationalist activity has been unusually active but more secretive. Zakhaev has been putting in orders for more vehicles and equipment. We fear he’s forming an army. We lost contact with three recon agents we sent there. We need you to discover
Ace: …Understood. I’ll go handle Zakhaev, while-
Command: Negative. All four squad members must be present. We have no idea why our men went silent, but it seems things are too hostile for anything less than a squad. Baseplate out.
Chainer: …I smell a womp rat…
Sweetwater: Swamp rat? Mmmm, I love swamp rats. That reminds me, did I ever tell you guys about the time my friend Keith and I made Swamp Rat Stew? Aw man, it was great! We were down visiting Keith’s cousin Ray in the Louisiana bayou when Keith found a swamp rat the size of a Pug chewing on the leg of his pants! Oh man, Keith got so scared that he started swearing like no tomorrow, saying things like-
Ace: Sweetwater, not now.
Ghost: THIS is my replacement?! Good grief, what was Command thinking?!
Chainer: I don’t trust those Command people. I think there are rancors in the nerf pen.
Chipmunk: English?
Chainer: I mean Command seems to be trying to get us killed. In both ops I’ve observed, they’ve claimed that they can’t send a chopper for extraction because there are fighter jets in the skies, yet in both cases that was impossible.
Ghost: But the choppers were blown up by missiles. Command was right.
Chainer: I checked the manufacturer and the model of those missiles. In both cases, they were Titan AS-v.1 missiles, made by Alvonian Weapon Systems.
Sweetwater: AWS?! But those guys make our weapons!
Chainer: Exactly. From what I’ve heard, they’re in an exclusive contract with Command. So how did those missiles get into enemy hands?
Chipmunk: Maybe they were stolen?
Ace: Not likely, kid. The Alvonian Security is the best of the best. I don’t think even we could break in there.
Chainer: My thoughts exactly. How far this network of infiltrators goes is unknown, but it’s clear that it’s there. I mean, why send us in to handle an op three days ahead of time when it requires only one day of prep? Add to that the fact that Faust’s data storage device mentioned the movement of “special” weapons to Rojas’s hideout, and things become rather fishy. Something must be happening here that the moles don’t want us to see. I say we send some men to gather the Intel while we handle Rojas.
Ace: What do you think, Ghost?
Ghost: …You know how I feel about Command. My brother, Gary, is dead because of a “mistake” they made. Shepherd killed Roach and almost killed me. I can believe that there are moles in Command. However, we have to go to Eastern Ukraine; otherwise the traitors in Command will know something’s up when our gunship doesn’t go to Eastern Ukraine and our cover would be blown.
Chainer: You can stay here to take care of Rojas, while I take the gunship to Eastern Ukraine.
Ghost: …No. It’s too risky. You heard about what happened to the recon men.
Chainer: Hey! I’ve been bred and trained for commando missions like this! I was cloned from a man who did this sort of thing all the time! They were a bunch of mongrels!
Ace: No, Chainer. Ghost is right. Sending a man alone in hostile territory is asking for trouble.
A second gunship lands in the clearing
Boss: Perhaps I can help with that.
Ace: Boss! What are you doing here?
Boss: You know me. I got lonely in the med-bay of the Defiant, what with it always being so empty. I’m ready to fight.
Ace: Then I have an idea. Ghost and Boss can take Echo to go gather the intel while we handle Rojas.
Ghost: I like it.
Sweetwater: Me too! (Looks at Chainer) C’mon CC! Let’s go! (Jumps out of the first gunship)
Chainer: What did you just call me, rookie?!
Chainer follows Sweetwater and the rest of the team to the second gunship, after grudgingly trading his Vulcan for a Deploy, while Ghost and Boss go to Ukraine in the first gunship.