Price's POV
Y/N, Ghost and Soap had disappeared out of sight. I was worried; Y/N's movements suggested his wound was causing him a severe amount of pain and discomfort. Farah, Gaz, Alex, and I were making our way towards the missile control room. Chimera hadn't been able to switch the controls to the main command deck; the room was located at the base of the silo. It was most likely a large room filled with all kinds of instruments and control systems, probably heavily guarded too.
"There!" Gaz whispered.
Ahead, a small squad of soldiers stood in front of two large double doors. The doors looked heavy and only had small windows at the top, too high for anyone aside from Ghost to be able to see through. The soldiers hadn't seen us yet, and with time working against us, we had to make a decision on how to get inside fast.
"Any ideas, cap?" Gaz asked from behind.
"We go in loud, push in, and kill whoever tries to stop us." I replied, taking aim at the closest soldier.
"A bit aggressive, captain."
"We have to get in there fast, Alex; we don't know how long we have until the launch." I replied.
"Fair enough, on you." He replied.
The four of us picked out a different target, taking aim and waiting until the last enemy had stopped pacing back and forth. It was quick, and as soon as only one was left, we were running towards the door. The remaining soldier's armor had managed to stop the bullet, but he was still trying to regain his footing. I unloaded another six shots into him as we quickly approached the doors; we had to stop this missile. The enemy soldier collapsed, crashing through the doorway. I was ready to drop anyone else, but the next room was empty aside from the man's body. We had made our way towards the missile room with very little resistance. The one large patrol that had been on our floor had raced past us, heading for Y/N's floor earlier; hopefully they would be okay. Gaz and Alex followed me in while Farah watched our backs. The room was full of desks and control consoles, with huge windows on the other end. The missile was visible through the red lights in this chamber; it was an old Soviet-era nuclear missile. We had to stop it before Chimera could activate it and send it off towards whatever target he had in mind.
"Move now!" I ordered as we spread out, trying to find the right controls.
There were a lot of lights and levels, most of which just looked like nonsense. Laswell was trying to walk us through what might either abort the launch or at least redirect the missile. Alex and Farah were back toward the door, trying to make sense of the many pieces of equipment around the room. Gaz had wandered off into the room next door, looking through papers and manuals for anything of value. So far, nothing; I just hoped the others were having a better time with their part of the mission. I couldn't stop the sick feeling that grew in my gut thinking about what could happen, but I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head and focused. The calm didn't last long; in the distance, voices could be heard yelling as soldiers came racing down the halls. Alex and Farah ran towards the door but stopped once the large metal door slammed shut on its own and locked.
"Gaz! Get in here quick!" I yelled, running towards his room.
I wasn't fast enough as the door that connected the two rooms slammed shut, locking. Gaz was panicking from the other side, slamming his fist into the small window to no avail. I tried to yank it open, but the old door was closed and refused to open. Gaz was looking around for another way back to us. Alex also tried to pry the door open but had no luck. I was starting to panic as the voices were now outside the door. They were waiting for something, and I had a bad feeling about what was going to come next.
"Hello again, Price."
"Chimera."
"You and your little band of buddies shouldn't have come here. I offered you all a place by my side."
"You're a monster, now let him go!" I yelled back at the speaker in the corner of the ceiling.
"HA! I don't think so, Price. I am giving you one last chance, old man...join me or watch your family die one by one. I'll start with your so-called son there."
Fuck.
"Captain, what do we do?" Farah asked.
"Let him go." I growled back at Chimera.
"Choose wisely, Price." He replied.
"No."
"Then you get to know that it's his blood on your hands; kill the sergeant."
"No!" I yelled and ran back over towards the door.
The small window was blocked as a tiny metal covering dropped over it. The last thing I saw were two heavily armed men kicking the other door in the room open and pointing their guns at Gaz. There were several bangs, and then the room went silent.
"Gaz!"
No response.
"Kyle!"
Nothing.
We couldn't stay here; Chimera would most likely open the doors again and let the soldiers waiting in the hall through into the missile control room. We had to move; we had to leave Gaz. I kicked the door one last time, hoping it would open, but it didn't. My heart ached as I clenched the handle of my rifle and jogged over to take cover behind one of the control desks. Farah and Alex hugged the backs of each other as the doors began to make noise, signaling they would soon be unlocked.
"John!" Kate's voice broke out through the silent radio.
"Kate!" I replied, aiming my rifle at the double doors.
"I think I have an idea; there should be a main control console in the room. You might be able to send the missile towards another target; it isn't nuclear, so there won't be radiation risk, but it will still pack a punch!"
"We're on it!"
The main console was stationed against the wall next to the door that Gaz had disappeared behind. It was much larger than all the others, with various switches, levers, flashing lights, and screens.
"Kate, what do I do?" I asked frantically, as another clicking sound could be heard from the doors.
"Captain hurry!" Alex called out.
"Left side of the console, large red lever! Pull it down!"
"Got it!"
"Next, there should be a series of green and blue switches; flip the 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 9th in that order, and do it fast!" Kate replied.
The small lights above the switches began to flash on and off. Once I had finished the sequence, all of the lights on the console stayed lit, and the main screen displayed the missile and its various schematics.
"No what?" I asked, slightly panicking, as another clicking sound came from behind.
"On the screen, use that joystick and punch in these numbers! 45-12-13-2001."
I moved the joystick while punching the worm numbers into the screen. The silo doors above began to open, and red lights illuminated the entire room. The launch sequence had already started, but now it was targeting some random mountain. A small smile formed on my face but quickly disappeared when the sound of unlocking could be heard. I turned, facing the door, ready to kill whoever walked through. The doors flew open, but no one walked through. The walkway outside was empty. Farah and Alex shared a confused look as I slowly pushed up toward the doors. Clear. Either side of the hallway was empty; the soldiers had left. They could have easily overwhelmed us; why not just finish the job? The hallways were red and sinister, and there was no sign of Gaz, whose room didn't lead into the hallway.
"All right, we need to find Gaz." I explained once we regrouped in the hall.
"Where did they all go?" Farah asked, confused.
"I'm not sure, but let's not stick around to find out. Let's go this way, and hopefully we will find Gaz."
"On you, Captain, let's finish this!" Alex replied.
My mind had an idea of what happened. Chimera had most likely called his forces back to him, which meant two things: he knew danger was close and that someone was most likely Y/N closing in. I had to get there first, but I also had to find Gaz. I hoped he was still alive, but he never responded. We made our way down several halls with no resistance, finally making it to the main staircase leading to the second floor.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready, let's kill this son of a bitch." Farah responded.
Chimera dies; this all ends tonight. No more pain, no more suffering. Hopefully Y/N, Ghost, and Soap were having an easier time than we were. The second Alex reached the top of the stairs, the entire building began to shake violently; the missile was gone. This was it; Chimera would be desperate and more dangerous now. I knew deep down that someone wasn't walking out of here.