Huscarl looked over, at Zdislav and Irish, shaking his head. "Seems good Zdislav, nice work- the ridge to our north is bad enough, it don't help us one bit. Fuck, as I just had to tell Athena too in regards to our situation. We won't last any longer than eight hours, no more at Tempest, or fuck, at the very worst, all of Stratis's remaining NATO forces. So we have a very shallow window of opportunity, you two. Charlie's going north to LZ Baldy to scavenge more supplies, and Bronco's taken over Bravo- they should be en route back." Arran said, looking at the map, the vague marked positions of NATO/AAF visible, as well as a rough hatched set of lines indicating the surroundings. "Good news is, we're going to have a chance here, make no mistake. They tried to attack Maxwell half an hour ago, and they might want to try again, when the light comes, and I hear a buzz from them that they're getting attacked. So we will literally slip into a weakened garrison at Mike-26 as they carry that out, and get what we need done, with maximum firepower and aggression." Huscarl added, looking over at the tactical map again, the entire HQ setup in the destroyed metal structure now having only a camouflage net for cover from overhead. "Alpha will roll out with Thunder-2, in the back, and once Bronco finishes their recon patrol, they'll take the Hunter HMG and follow them up, to carry out a direct attack on Mike-26. Bravo will roll out as a divided team using the Hunter and going on foot as the screening force to the south as well as helping co-ordinate fire from a mortar that they'll take with them, along the southern ridgeline to provide an angle of fire, and Charlie can bunker in at the Old Outpost on their patrol, and do the same- creating an entrapment. I'll take Delta's command and Zdislav, you'll be also tagged along back to Delta Squad- we'll hitch a ride on "Black Betty" here to a suitable OP, and then move on foot, to get the technical details done. Athena, will need the GM6 Lynx- I can expect things to be hairy once we arrive. All other units, apart from us, will work security on Mike-26- we need the dome dealt with, and the server, and number crunching station inside the building adjacent to it. So explosives aplenty. Remember how I mentioned it earlier- you how this is going to work, and I don't need to repeat the differences. Until the last second." Huscarl said, aware that only Delta, his CTRG team, was at Tempest, and he was out of earshot from any others- the fact that this was being told something crucial, as Alpha was getting to sleep, along with Thunder. "As for how we leave, we got a set procedure. We've got wetsuits and breathers in the SDV, and we should tow it, or at least keep it handy- there are dead drops on the northern coast of Altis if I remember, two that are simular to what we saw at the Apex Marshall. In terms of the rest, we'll take Patterson, as well as Davis and that Lieutenant Barnes bloke, as well as Thunder-2, along with a few select others in the RIB- people I want when we reach Altis, people we're going to need handy to at least carve some sort of camp out when we arrive there. Remember, we can't fucking evac this entire place- and remember, we're here for one reason. We'll get Alpha, Bravo and Charlie carrying out an assault on Agia Marina and the adjacent Fort Akionteri at 0730, and the forces left from LZ Connor, and Camp Maxwell, carrying out attacks on Camp Rogain, and Kamino Firing Range respectively. CSAT arrives at 0800, so if we're still here, we'll be murdered. NATO won't, and can't, respond- this isn't an escalation, it only goes bigger. Our goal, is to get whatever Operation Hades has, and retrieve the intel required." Huscarl added, as he looked over, shaking his head, as he adjusted his headset a little in his helmet. "I understand your concerns, you two. But look around you. It's a fucking scattergraph, no fucking correlation, just an overwhelming enemy force and fucking mounting casualties. And nothing will change that fact, so I say we make it damn important that we get this shit done and get the best we can from it." Huscarl added, looking over at Hotwheels, who slid from underneath. "Sir, it's good to go." She said, as Huscarl chuckled, walking over. "Brilliant work. Well then, we've got a Hunter to just finish, then we're green lighted." ----------- 0200 Hours Ifeastonia, Altis The pickup truck packed with the FIA guerillas drove in, a Ford Mondeo visible, as it headed into the other end of the village. "Thank fuck. Nobody would drive at this time of night, unless they're fucking running from something." Antos said, as Andreas chuckled. "Like our attack down south-east?" He said, chuckling, as Antos almost agreed, but didn't. "Possibly, but more likely, anything they could be moving from. Make some room." He said, as he stopped on the road, before the village entrance sign, watching the Mondeo pass by, Antos's window open. Some fog was visible, but it wasn't thick, not in a place like this at least- they were high enough to be mostly above it. "In the car, my friend- Evan, isn't it? That thing looks like a real piece of shit." Antos added, almost wanting to laugh at the old Mondeo, but he held it. As Evan clambered into the back, with the bike on it's side, Andreas and Damien also sitting in the side, Antos looked back. "Status quo is bad, my friend. Shit went down in the South-East, if you haven't heard. We need people to help us get some forces to Stratis, and you know Stavraou well enough to at least make it look like we're not begging." Antos added, skidding the car back, headed north of the village. "Best way might not be back the way you went, in Galati and Abdera. Perhaps north of the Kyra Nera Airfield, we can manage something- but after that, I don't know how exactly we'll be able to make it to Faros." Antos said, looking back at Evan, hoping that he'd be able to at least direct and get them through by the time they were past the AAF heliport, probably at that point having to do something a little mischievous, as they continued on. ----------- The night flowed on, the hours disappearing, as little to nothing happened through the night. The lights were dead, and a few blue lightsticks were the only sources of light, as well as the torches Hotwheels and Huscarl used, when they tried to get the Hunter back online. Charlie had advanced through a pair of enemy patrols, and they currently sat at LZ Baldy, gathering the last crates of ration meals and water bottles that they could into their packs, before heading back. The hands on Huscarl's watch ticked away, the light becoming darker and darker, with the clock at 0330 showing things looking just as bad as they did the earlier night before. Thunder, Alpha and Bravo along with Delta were in the base, awakened, as they guarded, Huscarl finished with the Hunter, and the situation beginning to at least take some shape. Things weren't brilliant, but Huscarl had napped off for a couple of hours, and at least gotten some shut eye, a good thing even though he was as awakened as he had to be, aware that the noise of bombing or artillery wouldn't disrupt him unless it landed on the base. It was a horrible thought, but it was a harsh reality that had truisms. But enough thinking of that. The time had come, and by 0430, Huscarl had made the decision to take Mike-26, and with Delta, directly destroy it, Alpha and Bravo units doing the initial work and Charlie holding the north. It would be a relentless and hard battle, any way they did it, but after contacting Connor and Maxwell, the last bastions of NATO forces had agreed to at least offer a significant anvil for the AAF to be buffered against. But airstrikes had been rare, surprisingly enough- mainly due to the fog that had crept in, and had made visibility poor, and then disappeared, only to be followed by a barrage of bombs at LZ Connor in particular. Huscarl had contacted Charlie and told them to hold at the Old Outpost's interior, hidden, before then setting up a comfortable position in which to potentially spring south, or at least delay motorized units. NATO was dropping like flies, but as the sun barely rose, the ground coated in the remnants of fog at sea level and down some valleys, Huscarl knew it was go-time. There was none to waste, and his unit knew that too. They'd have to go all in, or nothing. At precisely 0410 hours, Alpha was moving under Sergeant O'Connor, and Thunder-2, manning the Marshall, had the engine running. The night recon had taken a toll on some, but on others, they were just as fresh. Bronco had the Hunter HMG, and were going to follow the IFV, as more fire that could be added, going down the road that practically led to the gate of Mike-26. The same with Bravo, and they took off, half of the fireteam already ahead on the ridge whilst five men took the unarmed Hunter, the 82mm Mk6 Mortar packed in the back, with a few LMGs for long-range supression, before moving in more directly. Charlie had setup a perimeter at the two roads that headed south to Mike-26, setting up a combination of APERS and M6 SLAM mines that they had salvaged from the Old Outpost's unpacked explosive reserve, and practically created a killzone, though no vehicles had passed through. And Delta? The UGV Stomper RCWS was only a drone, and only meant for one emergency occupant, but Special Forces were ready to adapt, and Huscarl saw potential. It hadn't let them down, not yet at least. The drone's camera feed was visible through anyone that had tactical glasses, and Huscarl maintained control of the system, both the wheels and the gun, though he could just as easily hand it to Zdislav or Irish when required. For that aspect, he'd keep back, and let Zdislav keep the majority of the situation relating to the team contained, but he'd be with them, both indirectly with the drone's cover fire and himself with his SCAR-6.5. Huscarl sat on the front, already looking at the rugged tablet, looking at Praetorian by his side, and Hotwheels, who sat at the back. They were indeed, leaving the camp completely unguarded, but for an assault like this, it was either go all in, or don't bother at all. It required every man, and while Huscarl was counting on the AAF being prolongued in an assault in the south, they were dealing with a fully-functioning Motorized Platoon, plus a few squads on top of that to deal with. "This is new, but it hasn't let me down yet. Systems good, we all set?" Huscarl asked, looking around to the team as they bundled onto wherever there was basically a surface space on the Stomper, to sit and hold onto something vague. As everyone was on, the drone rumbled, the engine powering a set of electric motors which turned the wheels, already moving the Stomper at a fast pace- bringing them to 30mph, uphill no less. They were headed right out of the base, and whilst offroad, taking a different angle from Alpha, Bravo, Bronco and Thunder units, going almost between them, as an additional angle of attack. They were fairly high on the ridgeline, but not at the top- and the fact that shrubs, rocky outcrops and trees dotted this side of the landscape was going to work well, for reasonable cover, as well as letting the drone do it's thing. "All units, this is Huscarl, report in!" "This is Alpha, we are rolling." "Charlie reporting, set in position." Patterson said, checking his MX 3GL, aware that surprisingly, things had been quiet- and they could easily get loud at any second. "This is Bravo, advancing to our position of fire." "Thunder copies, we're rolling to the fight." Ian said, as the noise of hurrah could be heard in the tank, from Lewis and Mitchell, and it almost ran infectiously. "Understood all, continue with the plan and carry out the assault."