Shadows Beneath the Ice

 Arctic winds howled like lost souls across the barren tundra, each gust carving fresh scars into the endless white. Inside a camouflaged tent nestled within a snowbank, John Wayne sat cross-legged near a thermal lantern, his fingers wrapped around a dented steel mug of instant coffee. Beside him, Captain Price exhaled a stream of vapor, cigar clenched between his teeth. The soft orange glow lit his weathered features, casting deep shadows across the tent walls.

Outside, the aurora borealis danced silently across the skies — beauty woven into a battlefield of cold and death.

"You know," Price muttered, breaking the long silence, "I've been meaning to ask."

John glanced sideways at the man who'd become something between a mentor, comrade, and protective older brother. "Go on."

"Why'd you join the army in the first place?"

The question settled heavily in the air.

"You had everything," Price continued. "Wayne Industries. Money, brains, influence. Could've lived ten lifetimes in peace. But you chose this."

John took a slow sip before replying. "At first? It was about testing. I needed real combat data for military tech I was designing. Lab work wasn't enough."

"And enlisting at fourteen?" Price asked.

John chuckled softly. "It was all part of the plan. Access, connections, insider privileges. I joined to build things... to sell things. But that changed."

He stared into the flickering lantern.

"I made friends. Good ones. Some better than I deserved. I watched them get sent out. Some came back broken. Others didn't come back at all."

His voice dropped to a hush. "I couldn't just stay in the rear anymore. I asked General Bennett to send me out — and he did."

Price nodded knowingly. "To the supply squad."

John gave a faint smile. "Until Hollow happened."

"Yeah…" Price said, his voice turning amused. "You know what else happened?"

John raised an eyebrow.

"Your guardian, Lewis," Price continued, lighting his cigar again. "Stormed into brass HQ like a tornado in high heels. Threatened to turn the Pentagon into rubble if anything happened to you."

John blinked. "She did what?"

Price grinned. "Said she'd pull every contractor, freeze half the defense contracts, and 'turn Wayne Industries into a damn PMC' if she had to. She nearly had us deployed to pull you out personally."

John laughed, shaking his head. "Classic Lewis…"

"She cares," Price said, more seriously now.

John looked down at the swirling steam from his mug. For a moment, warmth filled his chest that had nothing to do with heat.

"You're still young, John," Price said after a pause. "There's more to life than killing shadows. You've got a mind that can shape the world. Don't waste it surviving other people's wars."

John fell silent. He wasn't sure how to respond. Somewhere along the way, he had stopped thinking about life in years — and started thinking in missions.

"Great Sage…"

...Am I broken?

No. You are evolving. But your emotional clarity is... clouded.

You have mistaken detachment for growth. It is a survival mechanism — not strength.

So I've been lying to myself.

Not lying. Drifting.

John's lips curled bitterly.

"When did I start seeing lives as numbers?"

When survival became priority over purpose.

Before he could linger on the thought, the tent flap rustled open. Soap swaggered in, arms crossed and frost clinging to his jacket like glitter.

"Well, well," Soap said with a grin, "you two look cozy. Father-son heart-to-heart?"

John smirked. "Not a bad comparison."

Price scoffed. "Watch it."

"Don't worry," Soap grinned. "I always thought of myself as the rugged, irresponsible older brother anyway."

"More like the loud cousin we can't get rid of," Price muttered.

John chuckled. Soap settled down next to them, the frost melting off his shoulders.

They didn't need to say anything. In the silence, the three of them sat with a shared understanding — a family formed in blood and fire.

Moments later, Ghost stepped into the tent, black mask dusted with ice. He carried a hardened tablet under one arm.

"Intel's in," he announced.

Everyone straightened.

"Target's nine levels deep under the glacier," Ghost said, flipping the tablet open. "Subterranean structure. Fully shielded. No sat windows. Whole place is hardened against EMPs."

"Personnel count?" Price asked.

"Fifteen hundred," Ghost replied. "Armored. Augmented. The real deal."

Soap gave a low whistle. "That's a bloody fortress."

Nikolai entered last, silent as ever, and placed an old rolled blueprint onto the crate they used as a table.

"Mining survey. Close enough," he said.

John leaned over the map.

"We breach here," he pointed. "Power lines first. Shut down their mobility. Then we collapse the access shafts as we descend."

Ghost folded his arms. "You planning to trap us down there too?"

"No," John replied. "We fight down. Then we leave nothing behind. The whole facility collapses behind us. One way in. No way out."

"Direct and suicidal," Ghost said.

John's eyes narrowed. "That's the mission."

Price lit another cigar. "Destroy and survive. Just like always."

"Exactly," John said.

As the others began debating supply loads and fallback plans, John sat back in silence, watching them. Their movements. Their expressions. Their loyalty.

"Great Sage…"

What's their current loyalty index?

All four subjects exceed 91% loyalty. You have met the conditions for Naming.

Proceed?

No.

Not yet. They still don't know what I am. What I carry.

Acknowledged. Delay accepted.

He watched Price leaning over the map with Soap and Ghost. Nikolai quietly scanned his gear, adjusting straps and checking charges.

They followed me this far. Without knowing the truth. Without questioning what I am.

...Maybe that's why they've earned it.

But not now. Not on the eve of war.

He closed the thought and stood.

"We go in forty-eight hours," John said aloud. "Rest up. Review the plan. This is the hardest one yet."

The team nodded.

As they filed out into the snow-covered dark, Price lingered for a moment.

"You think we'll walk out of this?"

John paused. "I'll make sure of it."

Price clapped him on the shoulder. "Then maybe we start thinking about what comes next."

Alone once again, John stepped outside into the cold.

The aurora rippled above — green light dancing like a river in the sky.

And deep beneath the ice… war waited in silence.