Second Cold War

The Second Cold War is a military stalemate that takes place during the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It was between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.

Rise of Cordis Die
Nearly three decades after the invasion of Panama, Raul Menendez emerges as the leader of Cordis Die, a massive populist group with over a billion followers. In order to create tension, he stages a cyberattack that cripples the Chinese Stock Market.

Sino-American Tensions Rise
In response to the cyberattack, the Chinese ban the export of rare earth elements, fermenting the start of a new Cold War between the United States and NATO, against the Chinese-led Strategic Defense Coalition, or SDC. Taking advantage of this stand-off, Menendez attempts to bring the two superpowers to a full-blown war by inciting conflicts between the two, secretly aiding SDC leader Chairman Tian Zhao. Using the intelligence provided by Woods, David Mason, now a Navy SEAL code-named Section, leads JSOC forces in the renewed search for Menendez.

The Vault
In the year 2025, U.S. Special Forces operatives led by David Mason and his partner, Mike Harper, arrive at "the Vault", a top-security location home to an aging Frank Woods, whom they suspect possess vital information on the whereabouts of Raul Menendez. Woods concedes that Menendez has recently visited him, and shows them a locket that the latter had left behind. Frank then narrates several covert missions undertaken during his military career which span their previous encounters.

Obtaining the Celerium
Shortly after gathering intelligence from Woods, Section and JSOC infiltrates Myanmar investigating a spike in activity in the region. In this mission, J-SOC agents Section, Harper and Salazar and Crosby infiltrate a remote temple to try to find info on Celerium. The mission begins with Section and Harper descending a cliff face via the use of nano-gloves and a large rope, then after a rendezvous with Salazar and Crosby, glide to the temple with specially designed suits. Upon their arrival, Section sparks the attack, and the group fights their way through hostiles as they advance towards the main temple. The doors are then blown upon by either Section or Salazar, and a secret, ultra hi-tech bunker is found inside. The group fight their way through the bunker and find a Tacitus employee, Erik Breighner, locked in a crate. He helps them through some security doors and gives them access to a Celerium chip and tells of Menendez's plot, but is shot through the neck before he can give a complete explanation. The group then fights their way through the remaining soldiers in the base, and after encountering other friendlies, Section hands over the Celerium chip to Briggs, who examines it as the mission ends.

Defending FOB Spectre
The mission starts with Briggs and David Mason introducing to the Strike Force team that the SDC is pressuring Russia into combining their military, making them a superpower that the rest of the global powers will have no choice but to engage in war with, causing the cataclysmic chaos that Menendez wants. Mason then goes on to brief the team on their mission: FOB Spectre, a defense facility guarding the northern border of India, has been attacked by SDC forces. Although their forces were able to hold off the attack, most of them were decimated, leaving the facility severely weakened and vulnerable. The JSOC Strike Force team is to be inserted to defend the facility and prevent the SDC from invading India. If the mission is succeeded, India will be safe from SDC control.

Spying on Menendez
Section's team is later deployed to Pakistan, where they hope they can gather information about Raul Menendez. Section and Harper travel through Peshawar avoiding MQ drones. They sneak around Anthem, Raul Menendez's base in Pakistan, and gather information. However, they are spotted by Pakistani ISI agents, and they escape Anthem in a driven chase. They successfully reach the extraction point but ran into Tian Zhao but Zhoa seeing how they were after Menendez let them go.

Disabling SDC missiles
At the start of the operation, the SEALS are informed that the SDC is forcing Iran to join, and if they don't, they are under the threat of a missile attack from a freighter in Singapore. The SEALS are dispatched, where they take out three machines blocking infiltration of the area. They then use a missile to destroy the freighter which was about to launch the missiles. If the operation is successfully completed, Iran will resist SDC recruitment, and will ally itself with NATO.

Defending the Afghan president from SDC Armory
The team is deployed to Afghanistan, where they must protect the Afghan president from SDC attack. The SEALS deploy dragonfires, CLAWS, and tanks to protect the convoy. After fending off the convoy, the SDC army is defeated. If the mission is completed, Afghanistan will refuse SDC allignment.

Attack at the Colossus
The mission starts with David Mason, Mike Harper and Salazar arriving on Colossus resort in the Cayman Islands on a VTOL passenger plane. Posing as union inspectors, the trio are briefed by Farid that they will have to shoot their way through security forces to access the Central Records Computer (CRC), located in the heart of Colossus, and obtain intel on the supposed cyberweapon, Karma. After being briefed in the elevator on their tasks, Harper exits first and bumps into a woman, comically trying to hit on her before getting cursed at. Mason and Salazar continue taking the elevator to the lower levels, where they bump into some security. Failing to maintain their cover towards the security guards, Mason and Salazar take them out. They then move towards a ventilation shaft, where Mason opens his briefcase and deploys Ziggy, a small but agile robot spider.

After Ziggy crawls through the vents to gain access to the CRC Room, it jumps on a guard and incapacitates him, thereafter crawling up to the guard’s eye to obtain his retina scan. Shortly after obtaining the retina scan, Ziggy is discovered by another guard and crushed after his foot. Mason and Salazar then move towards the entrance to the CRC Room. After gaining access to the room using the retina scan, Mason and Salazar take out all the security guards. They then search for Karma on the CRC. After a quick search on the database, Karma is revealed to be not a cyberweapon, but in fact a woman by the name of Chloe Lynch. After accessing her bio, the computer informs Mason and Salazar that Chloe is at Club Solar.

Mason and Salazar fight their way through security forces waiting for them outside the entrance to the CRC Room, and inform Harper about Chloe, whom he recognizes as the girl he bumped into earlier. Mason informs him to secure Chloe at Club Solar. After Mason and Salazar eliminate all the guards, they split up and go in different elevators to secure Chloe. As Mason walks towards Club Solar, he receives camera feed from Harper trying to convince Chloe to follow him. When Mason finally reaches the dance floor, he tries to extract Chloe as well, but not before DeFalco storms the club and kills the DJ. Grabbing a clubber as hostage, he futilely asks for Chloe before executing the hostage. DeFalco then grabs another hostage and threatens to kill her as well should Karma not show herself. Not wanting to cause another death, Chloe breaks free of Harper’s hold and surrenders herself. DeFalco then orders his men to open fire on the crowd.

Harper and Mason take cover behind the bar counter, and afterwards, engage the enemies in the club over several slow-mo sequences. After killing all the enemies in the club, Mason hurriedly searches for DeFalco and Karma of the security cameras. Finding them heading across the mall to the Evac Bay, Mason and his team set off in hot pursuit, attempting to catch up to DeFalco before he gets away with Chloe. Mason manages to catch up to DeFalco right before he reaches the entrance to the Evac Bay. DeFalco, along with his men, turn around and engage Mason in a fierce firefight. Ultimately, Mason takes out DeFalco and saves Karma. The mission ends with the team securing Karma and making their way to extraction.

Assassination of Tian Zhao
Intelligence learns that the SDC plans on invading Russia. This will create the largest military force in the world. The JSOC team is sent in to Peshawar, Pakistan to assassinate Tian Zhao, leader of the SDC. The Team pushes throught turrets and ASDs. The Team places an EMP grenade next to the VTOL Warship carrying Zhao, which opens the door. An operative pulls out a KAP-40, and successfully gets a headshot on Zhao, killing him instantly. A picture is sent back to the USS Obama for confirmation of his death. If the operation is successfully completed, Russia will be saved from SDC invasion.

Infiltration of Socotra Island
Deep Cover CIA Operative Farid is working alongside Raul Menendez in an attempt to see what he is planning. In the start of the level, Farid is talking to Harper via internal comlink, saying to not blow his cover. Menendez is then seen next to a fire, thinking there is a traitor. He does not give it much warning, as he claims he is one step ahead of him. Farid and Menendez walk out on an outdoor stage with other militia members shouting, "Cordis Die!" A VTOL then comes out behind the stage, and a Militia takes it down with a FHJ-18 AA launcher. Quadrotors then come in and open fire on the militia. Menendez then tells Farid to meet him at the Citadel, and Farid has to fight his way through enemy soldiers and drones. Later, Menendez appears halfway to the Citadel, in front of a VTOL with Harper in it. He takes it down, and Harper is dragged out later. Menendez, suspecting that Harper knows the traitor, asks who it is, but doesn't answer. Menendez gives the player a Five Seven pistol, and tells him to kill him. Farid shoots Harper in the head with the player's Five Seven, sparing Farid, and an allied VTOL comes up behind them and kills off the militia. Farid feels devastated since he had no choice but to kill Harper. The player then takes control of Section and acquires Quadrotors to assist him. After the player reaches the Citadel, an allied VTOL is waiting, with Menendez captured. The level ends with the Navy SEALs securing the inside, saying that Menendez will be interrogated.

Attack on the USS Obama
The mission begins with Menendez being interrogated, while speaking to David Mason. As the interrogation continues, Admiral Briggs reports that enemy drones are attacking the Obama. Menendez is freed by Salazar (without David knowing), knocks out David and Salazar, and then escapes. Section makes his way through the operation, at a part of the mission, into the security room. Believing that there is only one option left, Admiral Briggs reboots the system, which unfortunately shuts down the security, allowing Menendez to break through. Menendez goes into the server room, and holds Briggs hostage. As he walks into the control room, threatening the soldiers that he will kill Briggs if his demands are not followed. As Briggs tells the soldiers and Salazar to shoot Menendez, Salazar then betrays them by killing the two soldiers, and Farid, who takes the bullet for Chloe. Menendez then follows Salazar's advice, shooting Briggs in the leg instead of the head. Menendez then hacks the U.S. command network and takes control of the entire U.S. military drone fleet. Due to the survival of Briggs, the ships' defenses will come back online and the ship is saved. After Section breaks in through the vent, he will check on the wounded and see what Menendez has done. Mason alerts the ship crew that Salazar is a traitor and soon he is captured by friendly forces. After Mason catches up he will interrogate Salazar and when finished will either be taken prisoner. Then, as Mason reaches the upper deck, he runs into more enemy forces. Just as the members think its over, SDC jets bomb Merc troops on deck and defend the USS Obama due to the death of Tian Zhao, which has made the SDC and China ally with NATO against Cordis Die. Eventually Section gets into one of their jets, where Crosby is waiting. As they take off, Crosby is shot in the arm by a Merc soldier, who is killed by Section.

War of Los Angeles
David starts out in a MRAP cruising through Highway 110 under siege by drones. He sits opposite of a heavily wounded Secret Service agent being attended to. To his right is the U.S. President, concerned about the city's condition. Mason checks his Wrist Pad, readies his KAP-40 and looks through the window. As they are passing through traffic, citizens are being evacuated by a police helicopter hovering overhead while drones invade Los Angeles. An incoming missile hits the helicopter, causing it to crash onto a military convoy entering the city below. Debris flies towards the truck, causing it along with most of the convoy to crash. David blacks out and when he comes to, he sees Samuels (A Secret Service agent) giving orders to the agents, telling them to stay down. David climbs out of the wreckage as Samuels tells him about a mobile SAM turret that they could use that had crashed on the other end of the road. They make their way to it. David jumps onto the hood of the car and nearly falls off, he regains his footing and mans the turret. He takes down the drones that attempt to circle the president's location. Once they are taken down a missile hits the SAM, disabling it and breaking the ground beneath. Mason jumps out and watches it fall, he turns back around and sees a drone coming for him. It was then shot down by Anderson, crashing down and narrowly missing him. Anderson arrives and provides close air support. Mason gets up and regroups with his squad at the end of the highway, he can choose whether to snipe from the highway or to rappel down. Either way, he picks up a Storm PSR and fires at enemies hiding within a crashed truck, behind a column and approaching enemies. SDC troops help by giving supporting fire to Mercs. As they reach the second convoy, Mason regroups with the team. He drives the president out of there while the freeway falls apart, running down any opposition. Anderson takes down the drones trying to get near them, and blasts the debris blocking the tunnel. As they travel through the destroyed roads, Harper mentions Menendez's attack on the Pentagon, Washington, and Wall Street from the previous days. As David turns to reply, a truck is seen rushing towards the two. The screen blacks out. The screen fades back to David recovering from the impact of the truck, and he climbs out of a hatch in the roof and fights his way down the street with Anderson still providing cover fire, destroying C.L.A.W.s along the way. At the end of the road he reaches a plaza in downtown with LAPD officers and his SEAL team, machine gun nests have them pinned down so they decide to bypass them through a mall to the right. Quadrotor drones arrive and David uses them to distract the machine gun nests and help clear out the mall. They come out onto the balcony and kill the enemy snipers and gunners in the nest. Anderson gets on the radio and asks for help, her last wingman is dead and the presidential convoy is taking heavy fire from all sides. David promises relief and advances down an alley, and onto a road with his squad. Anderson says she is hit and has to settle the jet down. They advance down while taking down tangos towards Anderson but a building falls down their immediate front. Mason blacks out for another time and gets up. Anderson is no longer talking.

They reach her FA38 to see her unconscious body next to it. LAPD arrive and bring her to an ambulance. Harper follows inside while David, not even knowing how to pilot it, mans the FA38 and follows the ambulance. They head towards the president's convoy and take down enemy troops, drones, armor and emplacements that threaten it. A drone garrison attacks the convoy and David detaches from the convoy to chase them down, locking on and firing. The president reaches the evacuation point and the operation ends. Section learns Menendez has escaped to Haiti.

Final Assault on Menendez
The mission starts with David Mason, along with four other J-SOC operatives inside an VTOL, preparing to assault the Haitian facilty via Wingpacks. Suddenly, the aircraft is hit by a surface-to-air missile, so the team must jump out early. After avoiding several missles, Mason and the many other operatives reach the ground and engage a large force of Mercs guarding the entrance to the facility. After the Mercs are cleared, Mason moves into the facility and engages yet more Mercs. He fights his way to the control room. Mason tries to regain control over the American drones, but he is unable to. Menendez releases a live podcast, depicting the entire drone fleet flying over New York, prepared to attack. Suddenly, they all self-destruct. Menendez explains that without the drones, the armed forces of the U.S. is crippled and he orders Cordis Die to initiate an attack. A nearby J-SOC operative finds a corpse in an elevator who has been stripped of his uniform, but the body is rigged with explosives and blows up, killing two nearby soldiers. Mason then learns that Menendez is trying to escape disguised as a U.S. soldier. He discovers that Menedez is at a military checkpoint. Mason takes a KAP-40 from the corpse and shoots two Mercs guarding Menendez. Menendez attempts to aim his Tac-45 at Mason and kill him, but David draws a Combat Knife and stabs Menendez in the leg, knocking him to the floor, and them stabs him in the shoulder. He takes Menendez' Tac-45 and points it at his head. Menendez will taunt David, trying to encourage him to shoot him and make him become a martyr. Section captures Menendez, and pulls Menendez to his feet, then pushing him to an outside aircraft. Menendez is taken to a jail. Menendez will show frustration towards Mason and will beg him to shoot him, knowing that his plan has been foiled and Cordis Die would only thrive from Menendez becoming a martyr.

Aftermath
Menendez is taken to prison. Cordis Die is dispersed and destroyed. In prison Menendez watches Chloe on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," where she explains "it's a bad time to be Menendez." Angrily, Menendez smashes his head against the TV, breaking it. David Mason returns to the Vault to speak to Woods. When he arrives, he hears that another Mason has arrived. Not knowing who it was, he tells the guards to secure the building. David opens the door, and finds Woods talking to another old man. Woods introduces Mason to his father, Alex Mason, who survived the incident in Panama. The father and son are reintroduced, and they reunite. The Second Cold War ends, and peace is restored between America and China.