Victor Charlie

"Hurry Mason! I do not wish this rat hole to become my grave!"

- Reznov

"Victor Charlie" is the 9th mission in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Overview
In this mission the player will start off in a downed helicopter. An injured pilot calls for help, but is shot. Mason shoots 2 VC with his M1911. The chopper then sinks, Mason attempts to open the escape latch, only to have Reznov (on the outside of the chopper) do it for him. Mason then swims up to a VC sampan, climbs up and takes a VC troop hostage and uses him as a meat-shield to kill the rest of the hostiles. Shortly after some more firefights, Mason will only be armed with only a unique SOG knife. Now He and Woods go on a small stealth mission. First they pull two VC off their sampan and slit their throats. (then Mason plants C4 on an underneath structure.) Second they enter a small hut, and silently kill two sleeping enemies. And finally, Mason stabs a VC troop in the chest piercing his heart. Shortly after that, Mason and Woods will meet up with Bowman and another SOG operative. Now the 2 teams split up. Mason dives down a small cracked wood hole and plants another C4.

Now the player regroups with Woods, Bowman and several other SOG operatives and fight many VC targets, they go weapons free on them. The player is now armed with a Commando w/ Grenade Launcher, as well as a WA2000. The team encounter a ZPU, and Mason uses the Grim Reaper to dispose of it.

Next they encounter some rat holes, so Mason throws a grenade in each. Then they fight a turret, so if Mason still has the Grim Reaper, he can destroy it. If not, he will just have to kill the operator.

Now he and Swift are ordered to climb down a rat's nest and clear out any remaining VC, Woods gives Mason a flashlight, and he uses it with his Python. Mason orders Swift to hold, as he meets Reznov yet again, telling him Kravchenko is near. Swift takes point and yells at Mason "What the fuck's wrong with you?" He then, however is killed by a VC ambusher with a knife. Mason kills the hostile and moves on, he takes out more hostiles ambushed in the rat's nest, until finally meeting up with Reznov.

Reznov takes point, and counter attacks a VC ambusher. He then orders Mason to take point. As he kills many more VC, they finally get to a lab or small radio station of some sort, a tape plays, and Kravchenko describes the Nova 6 gas, it's effects and the times it takes to kill the victim. The rat's nest is rigged to blow, Mason and Reznov crawl their way to an exit, right up until Mason must dig his way through some rocks.

When they reach the rats nest's exit, there is no sign of Woods or Bowman. Until they arrive via helicopter, and Mason jumps on.

Found in level
The following weapons can be found with and without attachments.

Trivia

 * While using the VC as a human shield on the beginning of the mission, look to the ammo of AK-47. It starts with a round of 80 in the magazine with no reserve ammo; after eliminating the other hostiles, it goes back to 30/270.
 * There is a strange thing that happens in this level, when the player swims away from the boats at the start of the level and get to the two sleeping soldiers, Woods will duck and tell the player to do the same even though it is a boarded up window.
 * "Victor Charlie" was the term with which American soldiers referred the Viet Cong. The terms "Victor" and "Charlie" are the NATO phonetic alphabet codes for the letters "V" and "C," respectively.
 * A Commando with Tiger Camouflage can be found on a dead squad-mate. However on the PC version, the player starts the attack with the weapon.
 * It appears that the helicopter that is got shot down by Viet Cong soldiers belongs to the 1st Cavalry Division, shown by the horse head in the yellow background seen on the front of the helicopter.
 * Said helicopter above is also a reference to Apocalypse Now as the helicopter was also part of the 1st Cavalry Division
 * "Victor Charlie" and "Payback" are the only levels in the Call of Duty series where the player can use a human shield.
 * The tunnel scenes are quite gory, in the first few feet, there is a dead VC with blood, limbs and what could be interpreted as brains splattered on the wall, and every time you shoot an enemy in a limb, it blows off, causing the enemy to scream in pain and die. You can shoot off hands, arms, legs and feet, but you can't blow off their head, fingers, or toes (they are wearing sandals.)
 * The SOG knife used in this level is different from the normal melee knife.
 * After Woods silently instructs the player to kill the two sleeping Viet Cong, they can be left alone and do not actually need to be killed, without further consequences.
 * If the player blows up the machine gun with the Grim Reaper rather than shooting the operator they will receive an achievement/trophy called Heavy Hand, The machine gun is usable as well.
 * Diving to prone into the pit before the tunnels will result in death upon impact with the ground.
 * When the player is swimming to safety at the beginning,The player might notice that Reznov is not creating any air bubbles- this is possibly a form of foreshadowing at Reznov not actually being there, or a developer oversight.
 * When Bowman is seen for the first time when he takes out a guard, the player can aim his cross-hair over that guard the player will notice that they still are red, and that knifing the corpse from some distance will cause an odd stabbing animation. The corpse will bleed when knifed.
 * Also, the VC that Bowman killed may still be partially alive, because his fingers are twitching.
 * The bird perched on the roof of the house where you can kill the sleeping VC can occasionally be killed.
 * When one is swimming in the water, if one were to stay near the top of the water, and look to their side, they will see their shadow. All they see are arms, this is because there is no character model for the character.
 * In this mission, the player is given 6 different weapons without having to pick them up: the M1911, the AK-47, SOG knife, WA2000, the Commando grenade launcher, and the Python w/ flashlight.
 * Although it only says Python and flashlight, the pistol also has a speed reloader.
 * The opening conversation between Woods and Mason is the only time in Call of Duty: Black Ops that a character addresses Woods only by his first name of Frank
 * It is impossible to pick up a weapon other than the Python in the tunnels. There is, however, another python that can be taken for ammo. In the chamber where the player is reunited with Reznov, a python snub nose is on a table, on top of a white binder, on the right of the chamber.
 * There is a glitch in this mission. After using the Vietcong as a human shield and killing all the enemies in there you will have to continue but Woods will start shooting at nothing in the river and you are not able to advance. Also, Reznov disappears (CONFIRMED)
 * This is the first time in any Call of Duty game where the player can see multiple snakes, birds, and fish acting as they would in their environment.
 * Firing the Python at enemies' limbs will cause the enemy to lose the limb, scream in pain, and die. However, in the rat tunnels, if the player misses a shot at an enemy, they will pretend to scream in pain in an attempt to trick the player into coming closer. If the enemy successfully tricks the player in this manner, Mason will become frustrated and curse the enemy.
 * When Mason encounters Reznov in the rat tunnels for the first time, he states the line "No one fights alone". This is the slogan/catchphrase for the Call of Duty series
 * When you are with Reznov in the rat tunnels if you shoot the Viet Cong soldier that attempts to kill Reznov the mark will show but there will be no effect. (The Viet Cong could have just been in Mason's mind as well as Reznov).
 * Regardless of how hard you tried to save Swift by predicting the VC entrance, he is immortal until Swift is beyond salvation. (Most likely due to canon purposes)
 * Woods and Bowman repeatedly refer to the helicopters as "Hornets," an homage to the fact that SOG's Huey helicopters were called the Green Hornets.
 * When Bowman and Woods talk about the ZSU shooting down the Huey's they refer to the support as "FAC' this is incorrect FAC mean Forward Air Control what they should have said was FAS or Forward Air Support.
 * After Bowman and another SOG operative kill two VC standing guard before being approached by Mason and Woods, if you check the water where the other body should be it is not there.
 * It seems strange that when Swift and Mason enter the tunnel, Swift has a silenced M1911 while Mason has a Python. Tunnel Rats in Vietnam often used silenced weapons because firing a weapon like a revolver in such tight spaces would be extremely loud and potentially hurt the shooter's hearing and give their position away.
 * Even though the player is placing C4 packs, Woods will call it Semtex.
 * Strangely, in the cutscene leading up to this mission it shows a UH-1 Huey with rockets and guns mounted on it crashing, but in-game the model is of a transport.
 * Mason holds 5 weapons in total, an AK-47 (or any other weapon), M1911 (or any other weapon), Commando, Python, and a WA2000
 * There is a glitch when Bowman does not appear to open the rat tunnel. The player must restart the level.
 * There are two sleeping VC in the hut. The way the player kill each VC is different.
 * It is odd how Mason got a Commando and a WA2000 when Semtex is detonated, knowing the player doesn't use the weapons before the detonation.
 * In Kravchenko's room, you will find the same picture of the Soviet soldiers during the level Project Nova and it is the same that you find in Kravchenko's room in the level Payback.
 * The player can kill the chickens and pigs in the village after detonating the C4s.
 * This is the first time Chickens appear outside of cages in the Call of Duty series.
 * When Mason said to Woods on the rat tunnel, Woods said, "Charlie at 9' o clock." But the VC
 * moves right not left.
 * The slow motion bullet could be a spoof to the movie "Wanted".
 * In the rat tunnels, the huge bugs on the walls cannot be killed.
 * The ZSU in the village can be be destroyed by 2-3 shots of a Commando.