(Time changes are made clear- Bronco will jump between their fight near Maxwell to what happens in Girna, to them coming to Camp Tempest.)
(Maps are here, just to remind you.)
AltisStratis 2230 HoursSomewhere NW of Camp Maxwell, Stratis
The Marshall stuck in position, as Bronco Team laid down fire down range, Thunder-2 still laying down HMG fire from the co-axial gun.
"Fuckers are running! Good work out there Bronco, we're holding our position. Maxwell, what's the situation up there? We've repelled the AAF attack, seems like they've routed. Further orders?" Ian asked, as he watched through his FLIR camera in his commander's position the madness of the action.
"Understood, Thunder-2. We need you and Bronco moved out ASAP to Girna, we have a situation developing in the village- we need you to regroup with forces from Camp Tempest, and it seems like we're under Captain Birgirson's command now. If he's good to go on, then we're going to need to figure out how to unfuck ourselves here, Corporal- so if we get some sort of contact, we can establish a plan of action. Your contact reference is Delta, roughly a fireteam of soldiers- they won't wait long, so I recommend you move fast. Sound good?" The commander at Maxwell said, as Ian adjusted his thick crew helmet, and his position in his chair.
"Copy that, Maxwell. We're moving to Girna, ETA five minutes. Bronco ,you heard the man- rear door is open, get the fuck in my IFV!" Ian said in his typical Welsh way, as the rear door opened up again, Ian moving his chair as he popped back into the passenger area, already looking over as Bronco moved back, and were headed for the vehicle.
"Lieutenant Barnes, you fuckers have got it. Check ammo and your NVGs, and resupply what you need from this box here- five mikes to Girna, and if it comes up, we'll make some more noise for you. Sound good?" Ian said, as he saw the CO of the team come in, tapping a ammunition crate on one of the seats as he waited for the response, before moving back up into his commander's position, clambering back into the elevated chair, already secure as he knew that while it was claustrophobic, the hatch above him meant he could look out on everything around, if the camera attached didn't do the job. As the squad filled the rear of the Marshall up, Mitchell already had the vehicle into reverse, and they completed a rapid three point turn, as Lewis kept the gun pointed backwards, looking through the IRNV for enemies that were left, or moving back. Flooring it down the road, the eight wheeled IFV now hauling ass, Ian had a chance to get some air, as he put the hatch up, and popped his head out, looking on the night and the more audible noise of gunfire in the distance.
"It's be a fucking great night for stargazing if it wasn't for those clouds." Ian said to himself quietly, the IFV commander aware that whilst the situation was completely buggered, the little things were still there. Nobody wanted to say it, how that they were really all going to die if the AAF carried on at this rate, but nobody wanted to keep optimism. It felt like that in the IFV in general- just staying awake, staying concentrated and
Somewhere North of Girna, Stratis
Athena looked over towards the rest of the team- it was a fireteam really, comprised of herself, Irish and Hotwheels- not much, but a reconaissance and special operations team.
"Copy that Irish. We'll follow you up, hold position." She said, moving slowly and surely with her Mk18 ABR, Hotwheels armed with a MSBS A2, in a bullpup carbine variant, with a PCML on her back as an AT. They were both silenced, for obvious reasons. Moving down, crouched and using the night to their advantage as they went almost silently from bush to bush, cover to cover, they set themselves up, in their own observation point.
"We're about 50m above you, in the treeline. Huscarl, we've got contacts in Girna- roughly a pair of fireteams, permission to engage?"
"Granted, displace them quick, and keep an observation set up. We're to make contact with other NATO forces, as well as maybe snatch ourselves some more support for Tempest. Remember what we're here for, Delta." Huscarl replied quickly, as Athena checked her Mk18, the NVS atop the weapon, already looking from the North-East treeline into the village.Irish was located far close, and from her tactical glasses, she was just able to pick him out in his location, due to the IFF tag, but the enemies were found by the regular method, as she looked for them down her scope.
"Four tangos, moving up to the chapel on the northern side. Irish, snatch the one furthest away. We'll have the rest- we'll continue to clear the village after that, just wait for our shot." She said, as she adjusted the Mk18, aiming down the optic of the NVS sight, the night vision scope working exactly as intended. The trigger pull was simple, and the AAF man went down, followed by Hotwheels opening fire and taking out one and injuring another, with Athena doubling up and taking the wounded man out with a simple 7.62 round.
"Clear. Irish, set up in a building, cover us and we'll move down. If it moves ,shoot it." Athena said, as suddenly, another voice burbled on the radio.
"This is Thunder-2 to Delta, we're carrying Bronco Squad in our AMV-Marshall IFV, we're approximately three minutes to Girna. How copy, over?"
"Affirmative, Thunder-2, Girna is currently swept up with AAF. We're beginning to clear the village from the northern ridge, close to the village Chapel- feel free to join us."
"Copy that, Delta. Okay Bronco, you heard the word. Mitchell, stop us off at the village entrance- we'll go direct, the AAF patrols won't have AT, but I sure as shit don't want to drive into it. Bronco, you guys better be up for some more fighting- watch the north for our Delta guys." Ian said, as the IFV pulled off from the road for Girna, peeling off a road that headed for a different bay.
"Irish, keep up the fire from your point, Hotwheels, flank by the Chapel. I'll find an elevated position and shoot from there."
Athena moved up as Irish got himself into closer cover, the other AAF team aware that there was a fireteam down, but unaware of the direction, or the number. Was it just one sniper with a 7.62mm silenced, or ten? Silencers helped out in that respect, and the lack of muzzle flash, as well as the fact that these AAF forces didn't have NVGs, unlike most, put them distinctly at a disadvantage. She adjusted the Mk18's stock, as she aimed down the RDS atop the NVS optic, looking for the AAF fireteam. They moved back through the town, and sent supressive fire onto the northern hill, though they had no idea entirely exactly where Delta was. Moving into a building herself, Athena moved upstairs and by a window overlooking a balcony, resting the Mk18 on a window, as Hotwheels kept on the ground level, taking cover by the Chapel. Athena saw one of the men, out of six, move up, giving orders. It wasn't a second thought that passed in her mind, as she clipped the squad leader in the head, the 7.62mm round penetrating the man's skull with ease, quickly kicking him back as fire from a Mk200 opened up suddenly, the lack of a muzzle flash just creating more confusion, but the clear noise to the north clear enough. The AAF troops moved quick, but perhaps, weren't open to realizing what was coming on the other end of the village.
At the entrance of Girna, almost right by the sign, the IFV had come to a halt, and the crew, as well as Bronco, were active.
"Move out!" Ian yelled into the passenger area, the Marshall's back door open for Bronco to move out.
"Delta, we're at the village entrance, we're hearing suppression shots to the north, non-silenced. You okay out there?"
"Absolutely fine- we see you, AAF don't. Thanks for the heads up." Athena replied to Ian, as she adjusted her position, already moving from her building to another, to avoid detection, and to at least keep the aspect of her being found out to a minimum. Hotwheels fired a few rounds from her position, already taking down one as predominantly cover for Irish, to move without being clipped. The village was tiny really- and apart from a dirt road that went into it, and a small wooden pier that had a few fishing boats on it, it was empty since Stratis had become a military isle. The buildings had little to no furniture, and apart from the single Zamak Transport truck that the AAF team here had, there was little else. As Thunder-2 stopped and provided cover for Bronco to advance, the AAF squad were only now aware of the IFV's presence, and were beginning to move, quickly. It was right into the jaws of Delta however, and the firefight lasted less than thirty seconds, as a combination of HMG rounds, along with Bronco and Delta teams' fire had made a mess of the AAF contingent. 10 men against three SF operators, a IFV and a team of infantry, wasn't going to stand much of a chance- especially when they were basically blind and deaf to the SF.
The IFV juddered forwards, as Delta, including Athena and Hotwheels, moved down into the village square, by the beach and the pier, walking in as the IFV stopped a few meters away. Ian popped the lid on the Marshall, clambering out as he jumped off the IFV, Mitchell stopping the engine and killing the mechanical beast's noise. Athena smirked, looking at Bronco, who now followed up, and were also joining Thunder-2.
"So you're Delta then? Thunder-2, or Corporal Ian Stanley. Lance Corporal Mitchell and Private Lewis are on the driver's seat and gun respectively, fairly nice fellas."
"Warrant Officer Olivia Cheng, callsign Athena. There's no direct road to Tempest without passing Mike-26, so how the hell you'll get to...actually, never mind. I know exactly what you can do. Okay, Bronco is it? You come with us- we need to head back to Tempest on foot and figure out what next. The Captain needs every man he can get- we're planning something to do with Mike-26, to try and get ourselves off this rock. And since you're entrenched at Maxwell, it seems like the only way."
"Where's that leaving us then?" Mitchell asked, peeping out the driver's hatch, sitting on the front hull, as Athena pointed to the sea simply, before she spoke.
"You've got amphibious capability? The sea ain't that rough today, and we can make sure there ain't any AT threats on the way. Can't be that bad." Athena said, Mitchell laughing a little, as he looked over.
"Always a first time." He replied,
"Bronco, Delta, let's move. Get some air in your lungs, but stay frosty." She said, the American CTRG member keeping the squad together despite the fact she was technically outranked by Lieutenant Barnes not a real factor right now, as she knew that her experience and the fact that she knew the shit that lay ahead of them was something she'd be more accustomed to lead the team through, than Barnes. Still, she didn't care what he did with his team, so long as they didn't fuck up- and he could keep control over them to a degree. Mitchell kept his hatch open as he got back on the driver's seat, Ian back in the commander's open hatch, as the engine roared back into life.
"Alright then. Let's go fucking swimming." Ian simply said, the crew laughing as they accelerated past the fishing boats, and hit the water quickly, the V-shaped hull floating in the water as the rear propellers kicked in, side by side with the wheels that also created momentum in the water. They were only moving at 25kph, but the IFV was moving at a pace, and it avoided the rocky climbs and dips in the forested valleys surrounding Girna, Ian's hatch still open as he watched waves occasionally clear the hull, the driver's hatch thankfully shut, the darkness filling as the time passed.
Somewhere near Kalochori, Altis
The car rumbled through, as Antos looked in the back, at the old Yamaha 125cc motorcycle, as well as Damien and Andreas, who had tactically hidden their rifles in a hidden compartment of the pickup truck. The roads were empty, and deserted, but very, very loud gunfire and bombing could be heard from afar. It was from Feres way, down south.
"Shit....you reckon they'll win? At Feres? I mean, if this Huscarl man is right, then things are a lot worse. CSAT, they're fucking bad news." Damien said, Andreas laughing ,as he looked out the bark, the dark road not currently illuminated.
"Course they will! If Aramis is as brutal as he is with the AAF, not a doubt. CSAT would never work with the AAF, surely?" Andreas said, chuckling as Antos shook his head in disagreement.
"They're going to get fucking slaughtered, lads. There's at least a company worth of AAF there, including helicopter gunships and A-143 Buzzards. You know, fucking CAS jets. CSAT aren't fucking around, they've funded this fucking island for at least five years now, and if those desert bastards are going to walk onto the island and take away my fucking land, then I don't care what it takes to kill them. Anyway, pipe the fuck down, I've got a call to make." Antos said, pulling the car on the road headed for Rodopoli, the well-tarmacked highway going cross-island. Checkpoints a plenty, but Antos had money, or wile on his side. And even if the AAF had a fireteam at a small rudimentary checkpoint, 500 Euros usually did the trick. If it didn't, Antos would talk, until they decided it wasn't worth the bother. The AAF were trained well, but they were corrupt, and sometimes, Antos even knew FIA sympathizers in their ranks- who would let the FIA do their activities. It wasn't universally accepted that the FIA were terrorists- and even some in the AAF, surprisingly, agreed. But from the top to bottom, there was generally a consensus that carrying out a combination of COIN, as well as frequent patrols and restriction of movement, would work to rid the FIA influence. The corrupt and ill-thought out process gave Antos all the reason to understand that wasn't the case.
Checking his phone, he dialed the number, hoping this was the man that Stavrou earlier had given him the contact for. The phone dialed, Antos just waiting and waiting till it connected, with the other end eventually picking up. Despite the fact that the AAF could tap into mobile networks, the mere fact that that many of the mobile phones the FIA used were loaded with some sort of basic encryption meant tracking locations wasn't worthwhile, nor was trying to break this network- it was changed too regularly to get a fix on the network, and whilst the use of a serious security agency could probably crack the system, the Altis government simply didn't invest into intelligence infrastructure, or spying on it's own people. There really wasn't much to see.
"Hello is this Evan? It's Seagull, I phoned your cell leader earlier. Plan's off on Chalkeia- no go zone my friend, we need a new meeting location. There's a small village called Ifeastona, close to Athira- abandoned from the civil war, but we can meet there- wait till you see a white and black technical. My team's in the back, and from what I hear from my contact, things have gone down the plughole on Stratis. Believe me, you don't want to head down to the South-West- Aramis has lost his shit, it's a fucking massacre. You know the route to the camp, at Faros- we're going to need to be fast about this, my friend." Antos said, accelrating hard as the night came into full fruition, the headlights illuminating the road ahead at full beam, past some wrecks on the side as Antos took the big clock to 70, knowing that they had to hustle for the meet with Evan.
2330 HoursCamp Tempest, Stratis
The situation had developed since Girna, as the IFV arrived first from out of the dark, black Mediterranean water, and was parked outside Tempest, followed by the arrival of Bronco and Delta roughly two minutes later. After talking over the situation with Huscarl, both Ian and Lieutenant Barnes had a better understanding of the situation, and the camp, illuminated by a few Halogen lamps, that lighted up the Hunter that had been recovered and put back together, or at least the main frame of it, as well as the Hunter HMG that sat under the camouflage netting. The partly destroyed HQ structure still had it's camoflage net over it, as well as the armory that was right by it's side. Huscarl sat on the table, looking over as he saw Bronco rearm. The UGV sat by Huscarl's destroyed billet, and Corporal Davis sat by it's side, with a wire clipper in one hand and a voltmeter in the other, as she worked on the internal electrics. Delta, Bronco, Thunder and a few men from Charlie were around, just wanting to generally hear what Huscarl had to say to the men in base.
"So as you see, things aren't great at the moment. But it's what we got- take what you need, rather than everything you can bear. The way I see it at the moment, we're all tired and out of energy, and the AAF too. Due to comms with Maxwell and LZ Connor, we've been able to establish some line of communication, and I've got some sort of defensive running, so we can stall the AAF before they push us into the water. I give us twelve hours to act, or things go south. Patterson, over here!" Arran said, as he saw SSgt Patterson run over, from fixing the Hunter up.
"How's Charlie Squad doing? You up for some work tonight?" Huscarl simply said, looking over at the Staff Sergeant's filthy face.
"Whatever men got some sleep are good to fight, Captain. Puts us at about six men, in my team. Includes Davis there too."
"Good, good- you can take her, Hotwheels can work on the drone. Alright, we need to get you guys on patrol at 0000, with Charlie and Bronco respectively replacing Alpha and Bravo elements in the field as reconnaissance, till 0300 hours. We need to survive the night before we make any rash moves- and dawn is our best chance. We need to launch an assault on Air Station Mike-26, and the only way we can do that, is by creating a situation where we are capable of striking back and completely blunting the AAF wrist at Mike-26. They'll try and push Maxwell's forces out, and as I say, twelve hours is all they'll last at this rate. Add another two platoons, half that. Bronco, you'll move on foot to keep our vehicle footprints off the map for now, and head down the valley to the junction that splits the road going to us and to Nisi Bay, and lock it down- any AAF forces see Tempest is online, we'll be bombed within the hour, so set up a position and cut off isolated patrols headed for the south in the forests. Report enemy positions, track where they're going- you don't always have to engage, but if they pose a threat to our camp's security, you know what to do. Charlie, you'll deal with the north, and go to LZ Baldy- your lads have almost completely packed the place away so the AAF wouldn't bother with it, but we're in need of food and water, if we're going to have more men held here. I can trust you know exactly what you're doing in regards to that, you know exactly what equipment went where."
"That place was 90 percent packed, you're right. A long way, but we're up to it. Essentials weren't out, we can grab that sure- but it won't be enough."
"Then figure something out, Staff Sergeant. Use your imagination. There's always a way to get shit, even if it ain't so obvious. While you're at it, report enemy positions on the way- anything to Mike-26, so that by 0400 hours, we can start a offensive, and claw something back." Huscarl simply said, aware he was picking a bone with how the Staff Sergeant was a little bit questioning, and just didn't click with Arran.
"Got it. Give us five and we'll be moving." He replied simply, grabbing his MX 3GL, as a few of the men from Charlie followed, as well as a few guards from the military tower post, and some scattered around the camp, as Huscarl looked to Thunder-2.
"What about you lads? You all alright? It's been long for all of us to be fair, and that IFV is going to be a Godsend." Huscarl said, chuckling a little, as Ian nodded.
"Could do with some sleep really. Mitchell here is fucked, we all are to be fair mate. If you don't need us, I'm requesting you leave us for it."
"Go ahead. You know how to point and shoot, but even with our situation, you're the only people we have that I vaguely know will be able to operate a beast like that." Huscarl said, as Ian sleepily nodded.
"Thanks, Sir." He simply said, as he walked out of the temporary barracks, him and the two crew finding a trio of sleeping mats that would temporarily do as somewhere to lay their heads for a few hours, till they were needed.
Huscarl looked over to Corporal Davis, who took her MX SW, and her helmet, as well as her other kit, moving up as Charlie walked out the camp, headed up for some recon work, as he watched Hotwheels get to work on the UGV.
"Alpha, Bravo, standby to be replaced- you're cleared to RTB when ready, Charlie and Bronco squads are replacing you respectively, you can get some sleep- we're planning a major offensive at 0300 hours." Arran said over the radio, looking out on the ridge, the noise of a distant 155mm artillery round signalling bad things to come- the AAF were shelling random areas of forest, to rout out NATO forces that could be hiding in ambush, though it was poorly co-ordinated, and was mainly for fear. Huscarl heard the footsteps on the metal floor, as Athena and Irish walked into the HQ itself.
"Things looking bad?" She said, as Huscarl shook his head, quiet at first.
"We won't last eight hours, let alone 12- things are bad. Get some sleep, Warrant Officer. I've got some caffeine in my system, your call if you want some coffee too. Somehow, the kettle is intact, even though a fucking 60mm round hit this thing direct." Huscarl said, laughing a little, a comic relief perhaps.
"I'll be fine." She said, as she looked back at him.
"Going to tell them in time?" She asked, as he checked his own SCAR-6.5, still in thought.
"In time, Athena. I need you to stick here, defend with Irish, resupply. You might come in handy in the night, if I get contact from Antos to meet him too. I know you're basically an escort service, but it's appreciated. We can get back to work as soon as this shit ends."
"Understood."
(I spent around three hours doing this, as it was the most overdue post ever. It is done now, and wraps everything into context- now, my posts can FINALLY get shorter.)
(It might get edited too.)
