Call of Duty: Vanguard

Story

In August 1941, Private Lucas Riggs is stationed in Tobruk, Libya, as part of the Australian-led Rats of Tobruk garrison. After a failed raid on the Royal Italian Army and the Afrika Korps, Riggs, along with his comrade Desmond "Des" Wilmot and British Lieutenant Robert Jacobs, is tasked with resupplying the British Army. Riggs, Des and Jacobs manage to find information on General Erwin Rommel and destroy a German depot in the process, but they are arrested by Major Henry Hamms for insubordination. In 1942, during the Battle of El Alamein, Riggs and the Rats are ordered by Hamms to form a defensive line, but Riggs disobeys the order and attempts to retake a hill and call in bomber support, with Des assisting him. The two are successful, but Des is killed in action. Angered by the Council's disregard for his contribution to the battle, Riggs knocks Hamms out in frustration, whereupon he faces a prison sentence. In June 1942, United States Navy pilot Lieutenant Wade Jackson, along with his tail gunner, Aviation Machinist's Mateo Hernandez, participates in the Battle of Midway. In November 1943, Jackson and Hernandez's plane was shot down during an attack on the Imperial Japanese Army at Bougainville and the two were captured by soldiers of the IJN and IJA. They are rescued by the 93rd Infantry Division, which later helps them acquire an Aichi D3A from the Imperial Japanese Navy to assist the division in recapturing the island. In August 1942, Red Army medic Polina Petrova witnesses the Luftwaffe's invasion of Stalingrad. She was unable to save her father Boris from being executed by a paratrooper commando, but she managed to escape with her brother Mischa and some Soviet partisans. Petrova is eventually nicknamed "Lady Nightingale" when she pursues Leo Steiner, the Wehrmacht commander responsible for the invasion. In January 1943, Petrova and Mischa attempt to assassinate Steiner in Stalingrad, but Mischa is seriously wounded. He sacrifices himself to give Petrova time to escape. Petrova eventually confronts Steiner and kills him and his personal army, inspiring the citizens of Stalingrad to retake the city from the army. She then sets her sights on Steiner's superior Hermann Freisinger. In June 1944, British paratrooper Sergeant Arthur Kingsley takes part in Operation Tonga, in which he and the Parachute Regiment help destroy the Melville gun battery and several other bridges to support the Allied forces in the invasion of Normandy. Kingsley befriends fellow paratrooper Sergeant Richard Webb, who would later become Kingsley's right-hand man. Kingsley, Webb, Petrova, Jackson and Riggs, along with a sixth soldier named Milos Novak, are eventually recruited by Captain Carver Butcher to form the first special operations force called the Vanguard. Kingsley is appointed leader of the task force. In April 1945, Task Force Vanguard hijacks a train to Hamburg to gather information about Project Phoenix, a secret Nazi program headed by Freisinger. While infiltrating a Kriegsmarine submarine, the squad is captured by Freisinger's field gendarmerie, except for Jackson, who escapes, and Novak, who is beaten to death by Freisinger. The vanguard is delivered to the headquarters of the Waffen SS and the Gestapo in Berlin, where Freisinger instructs officer Jannick Richter to interrogate them. Jackson is also captured after trying to steal a plane; Richter demoralizes the troops by executing Webb. Knowing nothing about the purpose of Project Phoenix and Freisinger's involvement, Richter tries to learn more by interrogating Petrova and Riggs about Steiner and Rommel's connection to Freisinger. He comes to the conclusion that the project is a coup attempt to make Freisinger the new leader of the Fourth Reich. When Berlin is besieged by the Red Army after Adolf Hitler's suicide, Riggs breaks out of the interrogation and frees the group, while Kingsley kills Richter to avenge Webb. The Vanguard pursues Freisinger to the airport, where they finally arrest him and burn him alive. The four board Freisinger's plane and discover numerous German documents and assets that expose Nazi covert operations worldwide. Kingsley decides to pursue Project Aggregat, a secret V2 rocket facility, and orders Jackson to fly there.