The Ripper | Simon "Ghost" Riley

chapter one

[Al-Mazrah, October 2022]

The van ride was a bumpy one, especially with all the gear I had on myself. I sit up straight to stretch my back out since I have been sitting in damn this transport van for hours on end. I arrive at the loading dock and jump out, excited to feel my feet finally be planted on the floor.

Grabbing my weapons from the backseat, I begin walking towards the plane that was to transport my team and I on this mission. I look ahead and notice a tall man with a mask over his head.

Ghost.

I had worked with him a one time before when fighting against Vladimir Makarov and I had slight connections with him through Soap but other than that, there was no relationship between the two of us. I was a different person back then, and I'm an even different person now. I overhear him speaking into the headset, probably to the General.

"The Lieutenant and the Sergeant?" He questions, as I get closer to him. I chuckle to myself as you walk towards him, patting him on the chest and looking at him in his eyes. "Good to see you again, Ghost." I smirk in his direction. I can already see the annoyance flowing through his eyes as he finally remembers who I am.

The day we fought Makarov was a grueling day, tensions were high, and even though we got what we wanted, it was still deemed a failure in all of us, especially at the outcome. We didn't particularly get along on that mission with that being my first mission as an official Lieutenant, he was already annoyed at the fact that he was no longer one of the few people in charge, and I already know that's going to be another fight along the road between the two of us.

Facing forward again I see the Bravo team hopping out of the back of the car, one of them being my brother.

John "Soap" MacTavish.

I smile at his direction and open my arms for a hug. "Long time no see, big brother."

"You too, little sister." Soap replies, encapsulating me with his large frame, patting me on the back. "We'll talk later." I say, leaning out of his touch and heading towards the plane. I watch as he goes over to Ghost, probably annoying him with something else as per usual and let out of huff of laughter as I see the annoyance on his face grow more by the second.

"Gold-Eagle Actual to Ripper, how copy?" General Shephard rings in my earpiece. "Loud and clear, go on." I reply, bringing my hand to my shoulder to rest against the radio, sitting down in the chair beneath me.

"You and Ghost are leading this one. Work together on this, not against each other. Copy?" I roll my eyes at the slight remark, referencing back to Makarov's mission that the General happened to accompany us on.

"Copy, sir. Professional as always, out here." I reply, standing up from my seat as Soap and Ghost board the plane. Walking up to Soap, I nudge his shoulder to which he looks down at me with a smile, throwing his arm over my own shoulder. "Good to be working with you again, Jade."

"Never good to be working with you, Johnny." I smile at him sarcastically to which he laughs and shoves me away. Although Soap was older than me, I had beaten him in the ranks. Coming from military family, Soap focused on football, while I focused on the military.

Soap being 2 years older than me, joined at 18 while I was 16. I was able to get in at 17 years old, simply by lying, and also having slight connections through Soap and them somehow believing it. I worked my ass off as a recruit and worked my way to the top, becoming a Lieutenant at just 24 years old. I worked my first mission as Lieutenant when Makarov attacked the stadium and blew up the airport in Verdansk back in April of 2019.

To this day, I still blame myself for all those deaths that happened, but I was still glad he was locked away for good and he was never coming out. That was the last mission I had worked on with Soap. We were in a rough patch during that time, especially with having beaten Soap in the ranks. I understood why he was upset, but I wish he just respected the situation.