| Spoiler warning! The following section contains details about the plot or ending. |
- "Insanity, Captain. CIA sent us in looking for survivors. Instead, we found Dubai tearin' itself apart."
- — Rick Gould, briefing Walker on the situation in Dubai.
Agent Rick Gould is a CIA operative that appears in Spec Ops: The Line.
Biography[]
Gould is a member of Grey Fox, a covert team sent by the Central Intelligence Agency into Dubai to look for survivors. He is one of the leaders of the refugees, alongside other Grey Fox agents like Agent Daniels, Brian Castavin, and Jeff Riggs.
Meeting Walker[]
First encountered in Chapter 6: The Pit, Delta Squad comes across the corpse of Agent Thomas Daniels. To their surprise, it turns out to be a trap laid by the Damned 33rd for Gould (according to the Radioman). Noticing Walker and his men pinned down, Gould calls out to Walker and throws a smoke grenade to help, then tells them to run and flees himself.
Gould originally intends to properly meet with the team of Delta Force operators and routes them through a nearby museum to the meeting point, but is interrupted when the Radioman dispatches an attack helicopter to fire upon Delta, forcing them to flee instead.
Storming the Gate[]
In Chapter 7: The Battle, Walker decides that Gould is their only reasonable way to get out of Dubai alive so that they can call in the evac team. Gould reconnects with them shortly afterward, telling Walker that there are rumors John Konrad is still alive and hiding out somewhere, but is interrupted by another helicopter attacking his position.
Delta Squad soon makes it out into an overlook where they see Gould leading a group of insurgents against a group of the Damned 33rd, intending to make it to The Gate and capture the massive 33rd camp there, including rescuing civilians that had been taken from The Nest there. Before they can meet with him, a rocket strikes the helicopter and causes it to crash into a nearby building. The ensuing explosion lights the area on fire and a smokescreen covers the area, preventing them from seeing where he went.
Though the ensuing firefights between Gould's men and the 33rd are never directly seen, it is implied that they were outmatched by the Damned and took very heavy losses. With the last groups of looters being shelled by white phosphorus moments before Delta arrive, they find out that Gould has been taken captive by the 33rd and is being interrogated by Randolf Dossler for information about Jeff Riggs. Lugo tries to take the shot to save him, but is stopped by Adams, who tells him to wait for his orders.
Death[]
If Delta tries to save Gould, a large shootout ensues and Gould dies of the injuries he took during the sandboarding of his torture. If they choose to save the civilians instead, Dossler strangles Gould to death at the end of his interrogation.
After the battle is over, Walker searches his body and finds his mapped plan to siege The Gate. Not knowing that he intends to launch a rescue mission and not a siege against The Gate, Delta Squad goes there to attack it on their own. This indirectly leads to the white phosphorus incident in Chapter 8: The Gate, resulting in the deaths of 47 civilians inside the camp that Gould had originally intended to save.
Gould later appears during the intro to Chapter 13: Adams during Walker's nightmare after the helicopter crash. Gould responds to Walker telling the apparition of John McPherson, saying that Walker always had a choice but just fucked it up.
Trivia[]
- Gould is the most friendly and honest member of the CIA team, saving Delta Squad and regretting the civilian casualties that the 33rd forces him to witness. Additionally, he is vocally against Jeff Riggs' plan to destroy the water supply, telling Riggs that he is insane.
- Despite what he says in the hallucination, Gould will die no matter which option Walker takes when faced with how to handle his rescue.
- Gould genuinely believes that the founding and backing of the insurgency against the 33rd will allow them to turn the tide and save the city, including how he intends to rescue civilians from the 33rd that had been kidnapped from The Nest beforehand.
- Gould's death indirectly causes the white phosphorus incident and sets into motion Delta's descent into madness, as Walker misinterprets Gould's plans for The Gate and is unaware of the civilians present inside the camp.
Gallery[]
