Mercs

"Good news, the check cleared. It's go-time."

- Merc announcer when beginning a match

The Mercs is an enemy faction that appear in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. They appear to be of international origin, most notably Cuban. They are fought in Cordis Die alongside the drones that turned against the U.S.A. in 2025. They are also a playable multiplayer faction. They face SEAL Team Six on Downhill, Hijacked, Standoff, and Nuketown 2025, the FBI on Aftermath, Express, Grind, and Raid, and the ISA on Plaza and Slums.

Background
During the creation of its parent organization Cordis Die, Raul Menendez needed a private army of highly-trained soldiers to conduct various combat missions which required armed actions against the militaries of Western nations. With the help of his second-in-command DeFalco, Menendez was able to recruit thousands of mercenaries to join his private army.

Most of the mercenaries are former Cuban military soldiers.

Equipment
Due to the immense wealth Raul Menendez has made during the course of the last thirty years to fund his private army, the Mercs enjoy the most state-of-the-art weaponry, equipment, body armor and, as well as a sizable arsenal of drone weapons. In terms of vehicles, the Mercs employ machine gun mounted Technicals painted in Digital Camoflage, unmarked UH-60 Blackhawks, as well as heavily armed MRAPs. Appearance wise, the Mercs look like a well trained, well equipped army wearing Bloodshot Camouflage fatigues, ballistic vests, balaclavas with sunglasses and a radio piece, as well as military grade ballistic helmets. Other Mercs wear an advanced optical camoflage fatigue which they wear a black balaclava with an advanced HUD and a hood over their heads.

Assault Rifles

 * MTAR
 * Type 25
 * SWAT-556
 * FAL OSW
 * AN-94
 * M27
 * M8A1
 * SMR

Shotguns

 * S12
 * KSG
 * M1216

Light Machine Guns

 * QBB LSW
 * LSAT
 * HAMR

Sniper Rifles

 * DSR 50
 * Ballista

Submachine Guns

 * PDW-57
 * Vector K10
 * MSMC
 * Chicom CQB
 * Skorpion EVO

Handguns

 * B23R
 * Executioner (used by Menendez)
 * KAP-40

Launchers

 * SMAW
 * FHJ-18 AA
 * RPG

Quotes
"Time to cloak in, mission is a go."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Take it to 'em."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Shut up, cloak in and load up."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Guns up, let's do this."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Let's go ladies we're off the clock. Time to go to work."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Time to earn your bread grunts."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Move in and take'em out."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Time to earn your worth".

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"And remember...No prisoners."

-Announced by the Mercs multiplayer announcer at the beginning of a match.

"Good fight. Time to get paid."

-When the Mercs are victorious.

"That one hurt our reputation."

-When the Mercs are defeated.

Trivia

 * Despite being made up mostly of Cubans in the campaign, in multiplayer they are a mix of American, Australian, British and South African soldiers.
 * In multiplayer, the Mercs have green in the uniforms as opposed to all orange urban-camouflaged uniforms they wear in campaign.
 * They wear different uniforms with winter color schemes in Downhill.
 * In pre-release screenshots, the Mercs can be seen in the Strike Force missions Shipwreck and Second Chance. They wear the green uniforms seen in multiplayer and their insignia is two crossed M16s, unlike in the final version of the game.
 * Some PMCs have holstered Five Sevens, which can be obtained, but when they're holstered, their appearance is different than normal.

MercsMercs