War of Hearts

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Together As One

The tarmac was a flurry of activity. Shadows, soldiers, and officers were moving through their pre-check procedures, and Phillip Graves stepped out of the back of a jet onto the pavement. He caught a glance of Farah and Alex walking intently somewhere, and followed the trajectory of their path to where Hex, Ghost, and Soap stood waiting for them. He could faintly make out bits of the tense conversation between them all.

Alex gave Ghost a reserved look, and Ghost swallowed as he recalled their last interaction. Hex placed a gloved hand with a skeletal pattern on his shoulder, a silent gesture to indicate they were all good to Alex. They both relaxed slightly, and she gave a soft smile. Farah smiled as well as she spoke, "this is a joint operation. 141, ULF, and Shadow Company, together as one." She snuck a sideways glance to where Graves stood in the distance, a hint of anger showing from the knowledge of what happened in Las Almas that Hex shared on the trip here. In the distance, Graves sighed, and turned his attention away to continue his preparations.

Soap was watching Graves's every move, and Ghost forced restraint into every muscle to prevent himself from making good on his word to kill Graves the next time he saw him. The two of them both took an instinctive step between Hex and his jet, despite their distance, and she sighed as she repeated grimly "...together as one."

"We sure about this?" Alex asked the group

"If we don't, we lose." Farah said firmly.

The ground team assembled throughout the fleet of aircrafts that began to taxi them to the boneyard outside the enemy airstrip. They touched down and quickly moved into position to infiltrate. Graves's voice made Hex flinch as it rang in her ear. "Gold Eagle to Actual, Shadow-1 is on station."

Her heart rate didn't slow as she heard Shepherd next. "Shadow-1, Ground Team is at the rally point. You'll provide air cover while they locate the chemicals and hunt down Makarov.

"Solid copy Actual, Ground Team, hold your position, we'll clear the area. All shadow's let's get to work."

Fire rained down from above and began obliterating the airstrip and its surrounding structures. "Konni knows we're here now," Alex muttered.

"Contact!" Ghost shouted as enemies began flooding out of the area and towards the boneyard, spotting them and taking fire. "Call for fire, now!"

"Shadow copies, we're on it." Explosions rattled the ground as Konni soldiers were smoked by the air support. The Ground Team ducked for cover until it slowed to a stop. "No enemy movement detected at the boneyard, you are clear to advance."

Farah led them across the gap towards the base. "Ground team pushing to hangar one. Do not fire on the hangars until the chemicals are located." With the help of the air support above, they quickly advanced to the structure and got to work clearing it out. It was largely empty aside from a plane and several soldiers who began attacking. Their efforts were focused and precise, leaving comms quiet until Shepherd chimed in again. "Actual to Ground Team, give me a sitrep."

Alex answered, "hangar one is a dry hole, Actual. No chemicals."

"Our intel is solid. Makarov's entire chemical stockpile is on that base. If they're not in that hangar, they'll be in the next."

"Copy, we'll keep searching."

They exited the building, and Hex's ears perked up at the sound of mechanical whirring in the distance. She followed the sound and stilled. "Shadow-1 we've got mortars initiating, you need to take them out now."