Shadow Company

"Umbra Catervae"

- Shadow Company in latin.

Shadow Company is an enemy faction encountered at the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 's singleplayer campaign, and in one Special Ops mission, "Snatch & Grab".

Campaign
The Shadow Company make their first appearance in Loose Ends, at the Dick Mountains in the Georgian-Russian Border, securing the LZ that Roach and Ghost must get to, who have downloaded a DSM containing intel on Makarov. They are briefly shown as allies, until Shepherd, their leader, betrays Roach and Ghost and kills them. A few soldiers help Shepherd get rid of the bodies by pouring gasoline on them and lighting it on fire with Shepherds cigar.

They next appear in The Enemy of My Enemy, at an airplane boneyard in Afghanistan, fighting Makarov's Ultranationalists. They attempt to kill Soap and Price, but fail. The outcome of this battle is not shown.

They appear last in Just Like Old Times and Endgame, when Soap and Price infiltrate Site Hotel Bravo, their command base, coming for Shepherd's life. They are at first unaware of Soap and Price's appearance, they find out when many of their men go missing and they breach a door. They attempt to kill Soap and Price, but they fail again, and Shepherd attempts to escape on a Zodiac. Soap and Price pursue Shepherd, and fall over a waterfall. After a long fight between a weary Captain Price and General Shepherd, Soap intervenes by throwing a knife at Shepherd's eye, killing him. What happens to the Shadow Company after this is unknown.

Named Members/Units

 * Shepherd - Commander, callsign Gold Eagle.
 * Oxide - Command base communications officer.
 * Disciple - Patrol for Site Hotel Bravo.
 * Butcher - Patrol for Site Hotel Bravo.
 * Vinson - Element of Butcher Seven.
 * Lambert - Element of Butcher Seven.
 * Avatar One - UAV operator.
 * Warhorse 5-1 - Pave Low helicopter (Shot down by Price).
 * Excalibur - Artillery commander for Site Hotel Bravo.
 * Thunder Two-One - MH-6 Little Bird helicopter that protected Ghost and Roach from Ultranationalists in Loose Ends.

Arsenal
Shadow Company soldiers are heavily armed, well trained and extremely dangerous. Their choice of weapons consist of modern weapons. Their weapons of choice are similar to Task Force 141 and the Rangers. Their arsenal includes:

Assault Rifles

 * ACR
 * SCAR-H

Machine Guns

 * M240
 * MG4
 * RPD (Not dropped and replaced as MG4's)

Submachine Guns & Machine Pistols

 * MP5K
 * UMP45
 * TMP
 * Vector
 * G18
 * P90

Shotguns

 * M1014
 * AA-12
 * SPAS-12

Handguns

 * M9
 * .44 Magnum (used by Shepherd).
 * M1911 (Seen only in Loose Ends).
 * Desert Eagle

Launchers

 * AT4
 * RPG-7

Others

 * Riot Shield
 * Combat Knife

Vehicles
Shadow Company has a variety of vehicles, most of them used by the US Military. These include:
 * Pickup truck
 * Up-armored SUV
 * HMMWV
 * M1A1 Abrams
 * UH-60L Black Hawk
 * Pave Low
 * Little Bird
 * Zodiac
 * Predator UAV

Equipment
Soldiers of this unit are distinguished by their black uniforms and tan CIRAS type tactical vest, with both US Flag and a spade patch symbol, black balaclavas, as well as tactical goggles or night vision goggles attached to their Protec style helmet (the only difference is the color) they appear to have other various equipment such as extra mags, NVGs, flares, grenades, etc.

Shadow Company appears to be either a US black ops unit, or possibly even a Private Military Company (PMC) operating directly under the command of General Shepherd, serving as his personal security detail and operations force that carry out his orders without question, even if these orders involve breaking the law (such as when he betrayed Task Force 141).

Shepherd, however, holds no regard for their lives and considers them all expendable, an example of which was an artillery bombardment he called in directly upon their location, blowing up his own base with soldiers still inside it in a failed attempt to kill Soap and Price during "Just Like Old Times". Their strongest opposition appears to be the Russian military itself.

Character Models


If the soldier is holding a rifle, the character model has two rifle ammo pouches and three extra pistol magazines.

If the soldier is using a shotgun, the character model has many extra shotgun shells.

If the soldier is using an LMG or Launcher, the character model has three large ammo packs, and two extra fragmentation grenades.

Trivia

 * They are the first singleplayer enemies in the Call of Duty series that are American.
 * Shadow Company is also a documentary about private military companies and mercenaries.
 * Shadow Company was also the name of the antagonists in the film Lethal Weapon.
 * On the crates in Hotel Bravo on the level Just Like Old Times, there is an emblem with a "rook" chess piece (not to be confused with the TF141 member), lightning bolts and the words UMBRA CATERVAE written on it, which is Latin for Shadow Company. No symbol like this exists in the US military adding to the possibility that they are mercenaries, or possibly a black operations unit. This is also seen on the bombs in Sabotage, Demolition and Search and Destroy.Emblem-umbracatervae.jpg It could possibly be also a reference to being in Shepherd's command, as in "pawns in a chess game" to do his dirty work. Another one appears in Team Player, in the very first building the player enters after the player's Humvee is destroyed by the RPG and also in Of Their Own Accord, if the player turns around from where he starts in the bunker there is a crate with the emblem on it.
 * The Shadow Company "chess piece" emblem can be obtained in Multiplayer by completing the "Tango Down" challenge.
 * In Just Like Old Times they can be heard saying something along the lines of "... so that means we get double pay?" They are likely refering to combat pay, were soldiers get payed more when they are in combat. This makes them more likely to be a PMC because mercenaries generally care more about money than enlisted soldiers.
 * The spade symbol Shadow Company wears is very similar to the spear like symbol of the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) as well as the symbol of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
 * The "spade", visible on their arm patches, can also be seen in the Task Force 141 logo.
 * The up-armored SUV's used by Shadow Company are possibly based on BAE Systems' Armored Commercial Vehicles - specifically the Armored Chevrolet Suburban - because of the look and function of the vehicles.
 * On the license plates of Shadow Company's up-armored SUV's, it is written "G 2009IW4 V". 2009 is the game's year and IW4 is that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the fourth title of Infinity Ward.
 * In "Just Like Old Times", if a player waits and listens to the group of Shadow Company soldiers in the cave, a conversation can be heard where a Shadow Company member and his team killed three "Left Over" Russians, for being aggressive after breaching Site Hotel Bravo's perimeter.
 * They seem to not care about their own men, as they can be seen running over their own troops in "The Enemy of My Enemy"
 * Unlike friendly companies, Shadow Company use patriotically-unaffiliated callsigns for their units. Names like "Oxide", "Disciple", "Butcher", and the likes were given possibly to alienate them the overall US military since their role as antagonists.
 * Strangely, many weapons sometimes can't kill them with one headshot.
 * In &quot;Just Like Old Times&quot;, the Shadow Company soldiers using Riot Shields use the same character models as the Navy SEALs using riot shields in multiplayer.
 * Most ACR's used by Shadow Company have Digital Camouflage on them. One can also acquire a unique ACR with Heartbeat Sensor, Red Dot Sight and Silencer with a "black" finish at the steam room in Just Like Old Times. Note that this ACR is identical to the ACR used in Cliffhanger, with the exception of different camouflage.