Shadow Company

"Shadow Company is a different breed. No more vodka-drunk Ultranationalists. They're trained like we are."

- John "Soap" MacTavish

Shadow Company is an elite private military contracting unit under the direct command of General Shepherd that appears as an enemy faction at the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's campaign, and in one Special Ops mission, "Snatch & Grab". All members of the unit are extremely loyal to General Shepherd to the point where they assisted him in his plans to betray Task Force 141. The Shadow Company return as a multiplayer faction in Call of Duty Online.

Campaign
Shadow Company makes its first appearance in "Loose Ends", in the Caucasus Mountains on the Georgian-Russian Border, securing the LZ that Roach and Ghost must get to, who have downloaded a DSM containing vital intel on Makarov. They are briefly shown as allies, until their leader, Shepherd, 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 Shepherd's cigar.

Their next appearance is in "The Enemy of My Enemy", at an airplane boneyard in Afghanistan, fighting Makarov's Inner Circle. They attempt to kill Soap and Price, but fail. The outcome of their battle with the Russians is not shown.

Their last appearance are 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 presence, but become aware as their patrols gradually go missing due to the infiltration.

They once again fail to stop Soap and Price, leading to Shepherd attempting to escape on a Zodiac. Price, while managing to prevent the rogue commander's escape by downing his helicopter, goes over a waterfall with Soap. A long and desperate struggle ensues between a weary Captain Price and General Shepherd. It only ends when Soap, stabbed by Shepherd and heavily wounded, removes the knife from his injury and expertly throws it through Shepherd's eye, killing him and leaving the future of Shadow Company in question. The group is not mentioned through the remainder of the Modern Warfare storyline.

Shepherd, however, holds no regard for their lives and considers them all expendable. During "Just Like Old Times," Shepherd calls in a danger-close artillery strike on his own base, killing an unknown number of his own men in a failed attempt to also kill Soap and Price.

Command and Control Units

 * Gold Eagle - General Shepherd, Commanding Officer.
 * Oxide - Communications officer.
 * Excalibur - Artillery commander for Site Hotel Bravo.

Ground Units
Disciple - Patrol for Site Hotel Bravo.
 * Disciple 1 - Unit in Site Hotel Bravo
 * Alpha Element - Part of Disciple 1 that is patrolling the riverbed
 * Disciple 2 - Unit in Site Hotel Bravo
 * Bravo Element - Part of Disciple 2 that stopped their patrol because of the sandstorm.
 * Disicple 3
 * Disciple 4
 * Zulu Element - 6 man patrol east along the Canyon, North side access road with 2 German Shepherds. (First group to be eliminated by Price and Soap)
 * Disciple 5 - 2 men guarding the cave entrance overlooking the river.
 * Disciple 6 - Unit in Site Hotel Bravo
 * Foxtrot Element - Section of Disciple 6 that breaches the steam room
 * Disciple 9 - Unit on the catwalks outside the caves.

Butcher - Patrol for Site Hotel Bravo. Carnival - Patrol for Site Hotel Bravo.
 * Butcher 1 - Unit in the open area of Site Hotel Bravo (where Excalibur fires upon with target package Romeo)
 * Butcher 1-5 - element of Butcher 1 that rendezvous with Shepherd and escorts him to the Zodiacs
 * Butcher 2 - Fast ropes from Blackhawks into sector Papa Quebec.
 * Butcher 3
 * Butcher 5 - Unit within the command room, prepares the demolition charges.
 * Butcher 5 Actual - Commander of Butcher 5, heard over radio talking to Oxide about a severed detonator cord
 * Butcher 7 - Searches for Disciple 5.
 * Vinson - Element of Butcher Seven.
 * Lambert - Element of Butcher Seven.
 * Carnival 1
 * Carnival 3

Aviation Units

 * Avatar - MQ-1 Predator UAV operators
 * Avatar 1 - UAV operator.
 * Avatar 2 - UAV Predator Drone
 * Warhorse 5-1 - MH-53 Pave Low helicopter.
 * Thunder Two-One - AH-6 Little Bird helicopter that protected Ghost and Roach from Ultranationalists in "Loose Ends".
 * Scaler 3 - Unknown type of helicopter on patrol.

Unknown Unit type/Possible Units

 * Mongoose 2 - Possible helicopter or ground unit, cannot be determined.
 * Mongoose 1, 3, 4 etc.
 * Disciple 7 and 8.
 * Butcher 4, 6 and 9
 * Carnival 2, 4 to 9
 * Warhorse 5-2 and 5-3, as 2 MH-53s can be seen at the end of "Loose Ends". Although it is likely one of these is 5-1.
 * Scaler 1, 2, 4 etc., most likely helicopter units judging from radio chatter.
 * Thunder 2-2 etc.

Arsenal
Shadow Company soldiers are heavily armed, highly trained and extremely dangerous. Their choice of weapons consists 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 MG4s)

Submachine Guns & Machine Pistols

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

Shotguns

 * M1014
 * AA-12
 * SPAS-12
 * Underbarrel Shotgun

Handguns

 * M9
 * .44 Magnum (used by Shepherd)
 * M1911 (Seen only in "Loose Ends")
 * Desert Eagle
 * USP .45

Launchers

 * AT4
 * RPG-7
 * M203

Others

 * Riot Shield
 * Combat Knife
 * Dogs
 * WA2000

Vehicles
Shadow Company has a variety of vehicles, most of them used by the U.S. military. These include:
 * Technical / Pick up truck (X10)
 * UAZ-469 (X3)
 * Up-armored SUV (X9)
 * M1026 HMMWV (X3, Unlimited on cliff road)
 * M1A2 Abrams (Unlimited on cliff road)
 * M2A2 Bradley (Unlimited on cliff road)
 * UH-60 Black Hawk (X4)
 * MH-53 Pave Low (X3)
 * AH-6 Little Bird (X17)
 * MH-6 Little Bird (X5)
 * Zodiac (X15)
 * MQ-1 Predator (X2)
 * F-15 Eagle (X2)
 * CH-46 Sea Knight (X2)

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 helmets, (the only difference is the color); they also appear to have other various equipment such as extra mags, NVGs, flares, grenades, etc. The Shadow Company soldiers wear Pro Tec Classic helmets.

Quotes

 * "Check your fire!"
 * "Hey, check your fire!"
 * "Watch your fire!"
 * "Friendly fire! Friendly fire!"
 * "Target acquired!"
 * "Got eyes on target!"
 * "Got a visual!"
 * "I have a target!"
 * "I got eyes on target!"
 * "I have a visual!"
 * "I got movement!"
 * "Movement!"
 * "I see movement!"
 * "I got a runner!"
 * "Got a footmobile! He's Oscar Mike!"
 * '"Enemy footmobile, Oscar Mike!"
 * "They're Oscar Mike!"
 * "Oscar Mike!"
 * "Target is Oscar Mike!"
 * "They're following an SAS handler! Keep 'em in check!"
 * "Stay frosty. Keep it professional."
 * "I killed harder targets than these guys. Stay in formation!"
 * "I've seen these tactics before! These guys are SAS."
 * "Let's go! Let's go! Stay on the offensive, men!"
 * "Hostiles have penetrated deep into the complex. Terminate with extreme prejudice!"
 * "Frag out!"
 * "Grenade!"
 * "Grenade, move!"
 * "Grenade, get outta there!"
 * "Tango down!"
 * "Got him!"
 * "Target neutralized!"
 * "I'm out!"
 * "Reloading!"
 * "Cover me!"
 * "Suppressing fire!"
 * "I'm moving!"
 * "Man down!"
 * "We got a man down!"
 * "Got a man down!"
 * "Roger, I see him!"
 * "Copy that!"
 * "Roger that!"
 * "Roger that!"
 * "We have an intruder! Sound the alarm!"
 * "We're sending help right now!"
 * "We have a security breach! Send backup!"
 * "I see the intruder! He's armed!"
 * "Keep them busy!"
 * "Drop your weapons!"
 * "Look out! RPG!"
 * "RPG!"
 * "What the hell was that?"
 * "We have a situation here."
 * "Man down! Spread out and search the area."
 * "Nevermind. I'm resuming my patrol."
 * "What was that? Is someone there?"
 * "I think we may have an intruder. Stand by."
 * "What was that noise?"
 * "Wait, I think I saw something."
 * "I think I saw something."
 * "Is someone there?"
 * "I found a body! Look for an intruder!"

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.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Shadow Company does not appear in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but their logo can be seen throughout the campaign on various crates and containers. Also, their logo can be seen on a crate in Spec Ops mission "Stay Sharp".

Call of Duty: Online
Shadow Company makes a re-appearance in Call of Duty: Online as a mercenary faction pitted against Task Force 141 in all PvP game modes.

Instead of wearing all black, the soldier have a white top and black bottoms. They are commanded by Winston Harker instead of General Shepherd.

Trivia

 * The Shadow Company "chess piece" emblem can be obtained in Multiplayer by completing the "Tango Down" challenge.
 * On the license plates of Shadow Company's up-armored SUVs, it is written "G 2009IW4 V". 2009 is the game's year and IW4 is the engine for the game.
 * 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.
 * Most ACRs 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".
 * If one were to view the helmets of Shadow Company there will be a name, but it is always "HOLT".
 * In Just Like Old Times, a patrol Shadow Company soldier is smoking while he's still wearing a mask.
 * Shadow Company is a playable enemy faction in Call of Duty Online, fighting against TF141 in all multiplayer maps. Its logo is a slightly modified version of that of Tropas's.