OPERATION PURPLE DIRGE - AFTER ACTION REPORT (16 MAY 2016 @ 2246)

OPERATION PURPLE DIRGE - AFTER ACTION REPORT

PREPARED BY: SSG Oskar Lindemann


SITUATION

o Enemy Forces:
 - 35X Chryssalids, 4x Thin Men, 3x Zombies

o Friendly Forces
 - SGT Oskar Lindemann (Germany)
 - CPL Constance Makhandule (South Africa)
 - CPL Shaojie Zhang (China)
 - SPC Ana Lucia Mardones (Ecuador)
 - SPC Lieselotte Faber (Germany)
 - SPC Ghaith Khadem (Egypt)
 - SPC Lorena Kline (United States)


MISSION

o Strike Team deploys to New Foundland, Canada, 16 MAY 2016 @ 2246 hrs, IOT investigate the distress signal.

EXECUTION NARRATIVE

We received the Mission Alert at 2158 hrs. The Skyranger was wheels up by 2212, and we arrived at the mission site at 2246 hrs. Due to the unknown situation, we dropped without landing. SPC Khadem moved ahead first, taking cover on the side of what appeared to be a store or warehouse, and made contact as a pod of Chryssalids came charging at him. SPC Faber and myself opened up, while SPC Kline threw a grenade, which stunned them long enough for SPC Mardones and Khadem to finish them off with their shotguns. Nothing else approached, so we began to move cautiously forward, Khadem still taking the lead.

When he reached a point where he could see around the building, another group of Chysallids burst around the corner, while another pod came running from the docks. CPL Zhang, SPC Kline and SPC Mardones engaged the pod on the docks, killing one Chrysallid, while CPL Makhandule fired a rocket at the pod coming around the building. SPC Khadem withdrew, and the squad braced for their assault. When they were close enough, Mardones went to work with her shotgun, injuring one and killing two Chrysallids. Kline yelled to clear the area as she readied a grenade. Khadem, Mardones and Zhang withdrew, firing and reloading, while Mak, Faber and myself fired into the Chryssalids, preventing their pursuit. Kline's grenade finished off the wounded Chryssalids.

I ordered the squad forward once the initial threat had been dealt with, which is when we met what I can only describe as a zombie. It was mangled and bloody, and moved as though its limbs didn't work right. We were still attempting to determine if it was alive when it suddenly collapsed, and a Chryssalid ripped its way out of the corpse. Mak, Mardones and I cut loose, shredding the bug before it had a chance to attack. 

When we advanced again, Khadem caught sight of two more "zombies" coming into the store. His first shot missed, but his second put one of the zombies down hard. I ordered Mardones and Kline forward, killing the second before it could become a bug. Then we took a moment to regroup before continuing forward. When Khadem called contact forward, Faber, overwatching from the rear put a bullet straight in the creature's head, but apparently this wasn't a zombie movie, since it kept coming. Khadem called contact again, as a Chryssalid burst out of the bloated body of a putrifying shark.

Makhandule moved first, putting a burst into the zombie's chest, which was apparently enough to put it down. Kline took a shot at the Chryssalid, but appeared to do nothing, with a direct hit. Khadem marked it for Faber, who put the monster down with a shot between the eyes. Then the forward element held position while I moved the rest of the squad up.

Without any warning, three more of the bugs came charging out of the wreckage of a boat in the darkness ahead, followed by four Thin Men. Kline, judging them to be the greater threat, lobbed a grenade into the rushing group of Chryssalids, stopping them in their tracks, though still alive. Mardones and Khadem took advantage of their stunned state to put two of the bugs down, while Zhang and myself eliminated two of the Thin Men lurking in the darkness. When the last Chryssalid rushed her position, Mardones finished it off with a point-blank blast from her shotgun. The Thin Men withdrew further, and we advanced.

When the Thin Men tried to reengage, Zhang shot one of them down. The other made it to cover, and managed to get Mardones and Kline with a poisonous cloud. Mardones was able to use the medkit she carried to sluice off the worst of the acid. When Khadem reported a Chryssalid down on the docks, Mak decided it would be best to open the area up with a rocket, and blew the Thin Man out of cover. It was quick enough to avoid most of the blast, but not quick enough to avoid Faber's headshot. 

The Chryssalid was behind cover, and did not move, so I ordered a cautious advance, with everyone ready to fire if it so much as twitched a leg. Meanwhile, Faber spotted movement from within the wreckage, and took a shot, critically wounding the zombie as it exited. Zhang finished it off, while Mak, Khadem and Mak assaulted the strangely immobile Chryssalid, killing it where it stood.

 When Khadem moved toward the wrecked whaler, he reported a strange sight within. It appeared that the whale corpse inside had been infected with dozens of pustules, each pulsing with alien life. As he watched, a Chryssalid ripped itself free from the corpse, falling to the deck, before squirming upright. I reported this to Central, who confirmed that this was more than we could handle, and serious enough to risk an airstrike, if we could activate the ship's transponder, and transmit its ID Code.

I ordered the squad into positions around the wreckage, and Khadem moved to board from the front, away from the hold and the bugs within. As he moved, we massed fires on the Chryssalids that poured out, killing several by the time he activated the transponder. Central confirmed that the airstrike was inbound, and I ordered retreat. Faber and I remained to the rear to provide cover as the rest of the squad disengaged, then when they made contact from the docks, we moved back toward the extraction point. 

The last pod of Chryssalids charged just as we reached the extraction point. We paused, well aware of the inbound destruction, just long enough to blow the last bugs to hell, as the Skyranger vectored in to pick us up. We were still close enough for the explosions to rock the Skyranger when the airstrike came in.


LESSONS LEARNED

o Sustain:
 - Use of explosives to soften and slow the enemy
 - Massing fires to quickly eliminate the enemy

o Improve:
 - Move as a cohesive squad
 - Fire discipline