The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday

"Boys, I know I'm sending you into the meat grinder on this one..." "They're defending it, so it means we want it. Especially if it gets us to Six-Two-Seven."

- General Shepherd and Captain MacTavish

"The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday" is the ninth single-player campaign level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The player controls Gary "Roach" Sanderson. The objective of the mission is to eliminate hostiles and rescue three rooms full of hostages on an oil rig being used as a SAM site in order to allow Task Force 141 to infiltrate The Gulag and extract Prisoner 627.

Infiltrating the oil rig
The player will begin the level by riding on a SEAL Delivery Vehicle (also known as SDV) from the USS Chicago, a Los Angeles-class submarine, to the oil rig. At one point the player passes the USS Dallas, an obvious reference to The Hunt For Red October. Once the SDV reaches the oil rig, the player and MacTavish will perform coordinated execution of two guards. By the time the guard is disposed of, two friendlies will assist the player in getting up onto the platform and the team will move out to the first deck.

Deck One
The second enemy the player comes across, is the guy smoking with his back turned. He has 1 HP and can be killed by a shot anywhere with any weapon. Soap will tell the player to use a suppressed weapon but both the SCAR-H and the M4A1 are suppressed already so it doesn't matter. Take him out, then move past him and breach one of the two doors ahead. There are no explosives in this room and few enemies, so it's hard not to kill everyone. Mind the hostage in the back right corner; dead ahead if one breaches the far door. There's an enemy using him as a human shield. Once the hostages are secure, follow MacTavish to deck two.

Deck Two
A helo goes past; if you're a good shot you can take it down with your M203. Keep in mind that this does not affect the presence of the helo later in the mission, although later on the M203 also comes in handy if you're too lazy to pick up a rocket launcher. There are no guards in this area until you breach; once you've cleared the room, plant C4 on the bodies and retreat to the scaffolding where MacTavish sets up. The detonator will be in your hand, and once you get your weapons back you'll see that the sound suppressors have disappeared. If you really care, you can swap one of them for the MG4 at the base of the scaffolding before you breach. That way the silencer will stay on it and you can swap back to it later.

Once the enemies move into the room you just breached, follow MacTavish's order and detonate the C4. It's a good idea to grab the Dragunov right next to you and use it to dispatch everyone else; the SCAR-H also works well because of the Thermal Sight. Once you've taken out all the guards, continue through the next area and up the stairs.

Deck Three
Mind the two guys at the top of the stairs; MacTavish and Ghost will ice them if you wait. Then move up and take a position behind the first piece of cover. A whole pile of enemies will now spawn and fan out. Use the huge tanks to blow up the first wave as they rappel in, then pick the rest off as they come. Mind the fragmentation grenades getting thrown at you, and also the shotgun-toting enemies that will flank you through the warehouse area on the right. After a bit, the Little Bird from before shows up. Try to hit it with your M203 before its guns spin up; if you miss, just grab an AT4 either from outside or from the warehouse and take it out. Once all hostiles have been eliminated, move around the corner where you'll find the first weapon stash—two F2000s and an Intervention, all with Thermal Sights. Take what you want and then follow Soap up the stairs to another weapon stash. Grab the Claymore mines from here. You can choose to follow MacTavish down a second set of stairs, essentially flanking all the hostiles. You'll need a close-quarters weapon to take them out at this range. The alternative is retreating down the stairs after grabbing the Claymores and helping Ghost take them out at a distance. Either way, clear the area and move up the final set of stairs to the fourth and final deck.

Deck Four
Before you reach this deck you'll find another set of F2000s and another Intervention. Thermal PP2000s can also be found on the deck itself. Take whichever and move up to the top deck. At this point the enemy will deploy a smokescreen. This part of the mission, if handling incorrectly, can be the hardest firefight of the entire campaign on harder difficulties. There are several approaches. The first is to take out the enemies with machine guns and RPG-7s in the windows, then set up your Claymores around the containers and sit back, picking off the incoming hostiles with your Thermal Sight (be it the SCAR-H, F2000, PP2000 or Intervention) before moving in to breach. In this case you're defending a lot of ground and it's difficult not to be flanked and overcome by rushing enemies, especially on Veteran.

The alternative seems impossible but is actually simple. As the smoke is being deployed, make sure you've retained a close-quarters weapon such as the Vector, AA-12 or M1014. Move in behind the container on the extreme right and, basically, move blindly through the smoke to the breaching door AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. MacTavish and Ghost will follow suit. Regroup in the room adjacent to the breach and, if needed, arm up from the weapons there before breaching. The player has now bypassed the majority of the enemies in the level. Occasionally the 'Clear All Enemies Before Breaching' text will appear, in which case the player should use the Thermal weapon that they should still have and take out any enemies within line of sight of the doorway. Once they're out of the picture, breach the door. Be especially careful on this one. Not only are there many hostages, but also explosive barrels strapped with C4. Try to use a more precise weapon such as the UMP-45 that's leaning against the shelf outside. Take care of the enemy that rushes, then carefully aim at all the other enemies, one by one.

Extraction
Once the hostages are secure, move out onto the helipad. Before you climb into the chopper, aim down your sights at the pilot. Note that it's 'Deadly' Pelayo from Call Of Duty 4, seated next to Volker. Then enter the chopper. You will now be carrying an M14 EBR, as it is the main weapon of the next mission. The chopper will take off, carrying you, Soap, and Ghost to the Gulag as U.S. forces sweep and clear the oil rig.

Starting weaponry
In this level, the player starts with a M4A1 Carbine with a Red Dot Sight, Silencer and a M203 Grenade Launcher (after planting the C4 on the bodies), and a SCAR-H with a Thermal Scope and Silencer. The silencers on both weapons will disappear after placing the C4 on Deck Two. A good tip is to swap the M4A1/SCAR silenced with the MG4 just before breaching and clearing the second room. As the player lets the C4 go, pick up the desired weapon and the silencer has stayed on, a good way to keep the silencer after going loud.

Found in level
Enemy weapons can be found with and without attachments; the weapons with Thermal Sights are strategically placed for the player. You can also find the m14 EBR (out of map).



Intel Items

 * Intel No. 22: (1/3 Intel) After 1st breach, go up 2 flights of stairs. A room just before outside, a middle shelf facing South.
 * Intel No. 23: (2/3 Intel) When the guards open the gate go into the room on the right and the intel is on some shelves to the right.


 * Intel No. 24: (3/3 Intel) On 2nd level, near and before the long stairs that lead to upper level for 3rd breach. Enter the building facing west, then turn North.

Tips

 * When the Player has to fight the Little Bird, there will be an AT4 and a Stinger. The player should take the AT4, as it does not require a lock on to fire and can be fired quickly. The reason behind this superiority is that, when the Little Bird appears, it will immediately begin to fire its miniguns. The minigiuns will kill the player incredibly quickly. It will not be safe for the Player to be exposed for the time to get the lock-on.


 * Before the Russian forces put up a smoke screen, use the M4A1 and grenade launcher to dispatch with the machine gunners. Then, assault forward as far as possible to stay alive.


 * In the final smoke screen assault, towards the right edge of the map, there is a narrow passage between the fence and a container. The enemies on the second floor do not have a good line of sight on the player if crouching here. This position can be easily defended by planting a claymore (pick up claymores in the room to the right before going up the stairs from Level 1 to Level 2; on Level 2 next to the Stinger missiles; on Level 2 where Soap goes up the stairs to a room for flanking the enemies (there are 2 spots in this room); and on Level 3 immediately after coming off the stairs, towards the left) on both the front and rear ends of the narrow passage and going crouch/prone. Enemies on the second floor can then be slowly eliminated from this location (stand to shoot, crouch to cover; the player will need to peek around the front end corner to spot the enemies to the left on the second floor).


 * Plant another claymore as soon as one has been triggered.


 * As long as the player crouches and is protected by claymores this position is perfectly safe from enemy gunfire.


 * The only danger comes from enemy grenades, where the majority of which can be thrown back. For those that cannot be thrown back however, the player must briefly displace from this position to escape the explosion and replant any claymore that has been destroyed by the grenade.


 * The player can bypass this part of the level by moving quickly once getting to the top level, however it takes some luck. If the player sprints to the breaching doors and manages to evade enemies, it is possible to go straight to breaching and not have to deal with the smokescreens.
 * Be careful when breaching rooms because if you shoot a hostage, you'll have to restart from your last checkpoint.

Transcript
See The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday/Transcript.

Trivia
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El único día fácil... fue ayer