Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - The Lost Chapters

Chapter 2: On the Hunt

Following the events of "No Russian":

"Roach," MacTavish said, walking into the small office. "How are we doing?"

Roach had been at his computer for nearly two hours trying track the bullets used in the massacre at the Zakhaev International. It had taken time, but he was able to hack into some of the airport cameras and get close-ups of the shells.

Next, he made a computer-generated, three-dimensional layout of a single shell casing and started to run it through international databases to find a match. MacTavish, Ghost, and Roach waited while the computer searched for a match to find the bullet's origin.

MacTavish turned to Ghost, who was looking over Roach's shoulder at a group of television monitors on the far side of the office.

MacTavish's second-in-command stood perfectly still and bore a detached look of hopelessness on his face.

On every television, there was a series of news stories covering the airport massacre in Moscow. Each news story ended with the picture of Joseph Allen; the newest member of Task Force 141 and the now accused American terrorist responsible for the death of hundreds of Russian civilians.

MacTavish sighed. "Ghost, You and I have been on countless ops together ranging from full scale assaults to infiltration and stealth missions and you have never been this quiet."

"We should have known," the younger soldier said after a brief silence. "Allen didn't have to die and neither did all those people. This war that's about to happen... It should have been prevented."

Roach's computer beeped. It had tracked the bullet's origin to Brazil. Roach loaded a program to cross-reference the bullet with known allies and aliases of Makarov in the region around Brazil.

"I know how you feel," MacTavish said after a minute. "I've felt it before."

Ghost and Roach turned in surprise.

MacTavish noticed their questioning looks and continued. "Five years ago, I was part of a team to catch Zakhaev's son. We cornered him and I was told to take his weapon and restrain him. He chose to opt out. He blew his brains out to prevent us from finding his father."

"I don't see how that's your fault, sir," Ghost said, confused.

"Is this your fault?" MacTavish countered. "Is Zakhaev International the One-Four-One's fault? Is it Allen's?"

Ghost was silent for a moment, lost in thought. "No," he finally said with certainty. "All we can do is make sure that it doesn't happen again."

MacTavish nodded, fingering his pistol. "Two great men have said that the strongest are those who can get back up after the world pushes them down. I have an addition to that."

Roach's computer beeped again, showing that it had found a match. Roach hit the confirm button and an image began to render.

MacTavish took his hand away from his pistol. "Those who are able to get back up after the world pushes them down can hit back the hardest."

The computer chirped again.

The squad gathered around the monitor.

"Alejandro Rojas," MacTavish said, examining their new target. "Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Get this data to Shepherd. We should be ready to move as soon as we receive our next orders."