"Hey is this thing on? testing testing 1 2. Alright I thinks its recording. My names Laswell but you probably already know that. After the Russian Gas incident back in 2019 the world has went to shit somewhat. Despite Barkov being dead by means that didn't completely include us they still blame us with little to no evidence. Not only that but theres a new bad guy. Khaled Al-Asad, bastards been avoiding us for the last 3 years. His terrorist group, Muharibu Alhuriya, or freedom fighters in arabic have forecfully taken over the kastovian city of Verdansk. They have made small progress on more kastovian land in the past years but the Kastovians have held strong. Al-Asad however has been making other moves. He was spotted in other places like Brazil, hell even the U.S. We believe he is working for someone but we dont have any proof. We decided to name this person the Puppeteer as it seems he is pulling a lot of strings here. In good news Captain Prices new task force, The 141, has been formally approved with new members expected soon. They are our best chance at eliminating this new threat and as far as im concerned their the only hope we have to get rid of these new enemies. This is Laswell signing off."
That was the message sent to some of the best operatives on the planet. The exact same message. Every single time. The girl has connections, to say the least. Now, they were all headed to the same military base on Rebirth Island to get a debrief. The island was guarded by a whole ton of Shadow Company forces. Shadow Company, yeah. Elite PMC's. Their rules of engagement are different, they have the most up-to-date gear. They have no regard for human life, but Laswell got them, and she's keeping them in check.
Three helicopters landed in the harbor of Rebirth, with Laswell walking up to them with a shadow company patrol. The doors of the back of the helicopter opened, and down the ramp came Sgt. Nikodim Egorov, better known as "Rodion", as well as Pvt. Lucas Afton. Shadow Company forces double checked the helicopter before escorting them out. Once they were off the helicopter, the doors closed and the heli quickly disembarked.
"Aww, no goodbye?" Said Afton in an unexcited, pouty tone. Laswell nodded quickly and the shadow company patrols stiffled their chuckle. Rodion began to laugh really hard.
"Robert, comrade, we are on the grid now. There will be no time to change our diapers!" Rodion said in a joking tone. Obviously, the two operators knew each other.
"Yes, I know. I was just kidding." Lucas shot back, and he promptly turned to Laswell at attention.
Laswell sighed, "So, you two know each other?"
"Yes ma'am. Worked together for a few years on joint Ops to go after Anslo Garrick, a mercenary carrying chemical weapons across the globe. We also fought to stop Roman Barkov in 2019, with the help of Task Force 141 of course..Well- Before they were made. At the time they were just S.A.S. Also, we-"
"Okay, okay, that's enough, Private." Laswell facepalmed and looked at the duo, "Alright. Let's get you two to the briefing room so you can meet your teamates."
"Got it." Said Rodion as the CIA Station Chief escorted them into the base.
The group went into the briefing room, where Laswell, Rodion and Afton promptly entered the room, while the Shadow's stood at guard at the doorway. Quickly, Laswell went to the front of the room in the left corner, where she accessed her laptop to pull up the files for the operation. Elsewhere, Rodion and Afton had managed to find two empty seats, where they sat down, sighing heavily in relief that they wouldn't be standing awkwardly. Quickly, they were met with the deep, rousing tone of a british operative behind them.
Afton jumped in surprise, and turned around to meet the voice, and it turned out to be an operator with a ghost mask. Not Ghost however, since the patterning on the mask was different - not that it meant anything. The british operator chuckled.
"Hm, you new here?" He said in that same deep tone, not bothering to say hello or introduce himself. This made Rodion aggravated.
"Why are you being so eerie and mysterious?! How about a "hello", or a "what is your name"?" Suggested Rodion, or moreso a demand, as he glared at the operator with the ghost mask. Afton nodded in agreemnt, but still decided to be nice and reply as he didn't want to be on the operator's bad side as he had already made his mark as dangerous to Afton; despite them being on the same side.
"Yes, me and Rodion. I assume you got the call too?"
Jay kept the glare on Rodion, before turning to Afton nodding, "Yes, Al-Asad is back on the grid and is being backed by someone named The Puppeteer. 50 bucks I can skim 'em both alive. And for you russian, the name is Jaydon, or Jay. Only call me by my codename, "Grim", on the field. That's the rules."
Afton confusingly nodded slowly, before questioning the brit to answer his own confusion, "Rules? What kind of person has rules?"
Jay chuckled, adjusting himself on his chair accordingly, so he could face the two.
"I have rules, because some people like to piss me off. Luckily, they're not here anymore."
Jay fixed the chair positioning so he was facing the projector Laswell had just gotten up better, and he stopped interacting with the two, instead paying attention to Laswell as she attempted to get everyones attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's divert our attention to the actual briefing."
The chatter between subordinates stopped after a couple moments, and everyone faced the projector that Laswell took control of.
"Now im sure you have heard of a man named Khaled Al-Asad?"
Every single person nodded, including Jay, Rodion and Afton. Rodion whispered into Afton's ear, "Of course we know who he is, that was the whole phone call we got..!"
Jay roughly whispered at Rodion, "Quit talking, russian."
"Could you quit calling me that?"
"Could you quit talking like I just said?"
Rodion stopped talking after that, and focused his attention back to Laswell, who had already began the analysis on Al-Asad, and his whereabouts.
"Al-Asad has been in the news more than we want. His terrorist group, The Muharibu Alhuriya have forcefully taken over the kastovian city of Verdansk. Not only that but he has planted snakes all over the globe in major countries.."
The projector switched to a picture of Al-Asad standing over his chanting soldiers, raising his fist in the air.
"Nice hat." Rodion said to himself, stifling a chuckle.
Instead of commenting on his appearance like his more amiable companion, Afton raised his hand to speak.
"Yes, Private Afton?"
Afton cleared his throat before speaking, "We have any intel on him? His whereabouts? Previous actions?"
"Well, I was about to get to that."
The projector switched to a picture of Al-Asad and his men attacking Tavorsk District in Verdansk, with tanks, helicopters, and the kastovian forces failing to defend their attack.
"Other than their armed take-over of Verdansk, no. The only intel we have on him is his detailed appearance. He's been a ghost since the death of Victor Zakheav, otherwise known as Mr. Z."
The projector switched to a picture of Victor Zakheav and Khaled Al-Asad shaking hands at a runway.
"John Price killed him, and it seems like Al-Asad went into hiding for a good while."
"Like a little rat. What a coward!" Remarked Rodion, raising his voice loud enough so everyone could hear. Was it his intention? Who knows.
Laswell chuckled nervously, "Actually, he did the opposite of being cowardly just recently. That's why we called you all here today."
Murmuring began between the operators, Afton turned to Rodion and Jay, not shocked at all; a poker face to be exact. He shrugged confused, "Why are they all surprised? We were told that Al-Asad was up to something in the phone call."
"We were never told what it was exactly.." Jay replied quietly.
"Just listen to her and she'll explain!" Rodion demanded as he turned back to face Laswell who was still standing there awkwardly in the front of the room while everyone got back to talking.
"Wow, never expected that coming from you.." Jay remarked.
"Shut up."
Laswell sighed and raised her voice, "Everyone! Settle down so I can explain.."
She switched the projector again, showing a picture of a middle-aged middle-eastern man with a nicely grown out beard, with an AK-47, standing over a group of american hostages about to execute them.
"Apparently, Al-Asad has popped up on the radar again, as you know. He's been doing business with an arms broker who proclaims himself as "The Hawk". He will be our first target."
One man spoke from the front row, seemingly annoyed.
"Well, can't we just assassinate him? We have Task Force 141 to do that. Easy as that!"
Laswell shook her head, "Falcon, please. We need him alive. He was last seen on the southwestern coast of Urzikstan at Suldal Harbor."
"Well shit." Stated Falcon as he went back to being silent.
"Well, guess we got a job to do." Blurted out another operative from the front row. Afton recognized this soldier as Derek "Frost" Westbrook, a member of Delta Team. Afton quickly turned his head to the soldier, as Laswell spoke once again.
"Negative, we need the greenlight from Price and his team. Hawk is known for running away, so we need a positive iD on his location. Once we have a confirmed location, we move out." Replied Laswell.
"Copy that, sorry ma'am."
"For now, get yourselves situated and meet each other. Once we have a positive ID, we're moving out, so don't just strip yourself from all your gear." Laswell turned off the projector and left the briefing room for now.