OPERATION DEMON HYMN - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: SGT Monica de Matos
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 1x Sectoid, 3x Seekers, 11x Thin Men, armed with plasma weapons
o Friendly Forces
- SGT Monica "Alpha" de Matos
- SGT Lieselotte "Maschine" Faber
- SGT Lorena "Bombshell" Kline
- SGT Ghaith "Horus" Khadem - KIA
- CPL Simone "Tomahawk" Ribeiro
- CPL Beatrice "Preacher" Rydberg
- SPC Anant Dhalon
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Shenzhen, China, 20 JUN 2016 @ 2219 hrs, IOT secure and escort political figure back to HQ.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
We received the Mission Alert at 2016 hrs. The squad was assembled in the Skyranger by 2025, and we touched down in China at 2219 hrs. We touched down and located Thorne; He wasn't precisely cooperative, but moved when we told him to. Upon moving out for the LZ, we received reports of incoming hostiles, and deployed tactically to engage. I moved most of the squad inside, but kept Tomahawk, Preacher and Maschine outside to provide overwatch as we moved forward.
We immediately caught signs of movement from the other building, but I deemed it better to just keep moving for the LZ, and keep an eye out. We finally made contact when Horus advanced to scout forward. As soon as he called contact, SPC Dhalon rushed forward and managed to cripple one of the Thin Men, which I managed to finish off. The squad advanced carefully, keeping Thorne at the rear, while my overwatch element kept an eye outside.
When Horus advanced again, he alerted another pod of Thin Men, on the far side of the building. Dhalon moved up and eliminated the remaining Thin Man from the first pod, while Horus injured one of the ones outside. With the action heating up, I called in the overwatch element, but Liesel stayed out to cover the alley. That was when one of the Thin Men ducked out from behind the bus stop, and shot SGT Khadem in the head.
Kline charged up and tossed a grenade, killing one of them, but apparently they make bus stops strong in China, and the other was unharmed, but exposed. She checked on Khadem, but it was too late. Dhalon, though apparently suffering from acid poisoning, advanced and killed the other, that had entered the store. Finally, we had action from the alleyway, but Rydberg, watching from the door way, managed to destroy the Thin Man before he'd taken two steps into the open. Faber took a shot at the other, but was only able to make it dodge back into cover. Inside, Bombshell moved up and nailed the last Thin Man with an AP grenade, but he was tougher than most, and kept coming.
Then the X-Rays advanced in force, coming in from the alleyway. We took a toll with reactive fire, then Tomahawk burned down a Seeker while Kline finished off the wounded Thin Men with another AP grenade. CPL Ribeiro then caught movement coming in the door, and eliminated a Sectoid before it could get inside. While we were focused on the enemies within the building, a shot from the rooftop, across the alley took me straight in the chest, but my armor managed to absorb the fire without it cooking through to me. We returned fire, but it became apparent that we were going to have to clear that alley before we could get Thorne to the Skyranger.
It was Rydberg that finally put steel on target, so to speak, and put that overwatching Thin Man down. The rest of the squad shifted to focus on the alley, while we moved Thorn up in cover. Dhalon informed me that his armor was mostly gone due to the Thin Man acid, so I told him to move to my position and I'd take care of it. Before he could move, a Thin Man moved to the doorway and shot him at close range. He and Ribeiro shot the Thin Man, but it managed to duck back and avoid some of the fire. Liesel moved inside and took fire herself from a Seeker we didn't see. Kline, based on her report, lobbed her last frag grenade into the alleyway, hoping to catch them both.
In the brief lull that followed, Dhalon made his way to me, and I was able to handle the worst of his injuries, and block the pain. I told him to take it easy, but I don't think he intended to. One doesn't become an Assault specialist by taking it easy. Meanwhile, Kline and Ribeiro moved up to cover the door, so Thorne would be able to break for the Skyranger, once we knew it was clear. While focused on that, another Thin Man made it onto the roof and took another shot at me, but my repaired armor was able to take the hit. Once Thorne made it onto the Skyranger, it was time to finish this.
SPC Dhalon obviously thought so. Before I could say anything, he'd burst across the alleyway, leapt halfway up the ladder, and rolled onto the rooftop, blowing the Thin Man perched there into a greenish mist. The rest of the squad moved to support, which is when the last Seeker uncloaked, and wrapped up Tomahawk, and a Thin Man moved in to flank. Kline burned the Thin Man before it could get into position, and Dhalon blew the Seeker off of Ribeiro.
We recovered SGT Khadem's remains, and retreated to the Skyranger in good order, meeting no further resistance.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Use of explosives to clear clustered hostiles
- Fire team discipline
o Improve:
- When you don't have a shot, don't keep waiting for one
- If they don't see you, they can't shoot you
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
OPERATION LONE LINE - AFTER ACTION REPORT (20 JUN 2016 @ 0712)
OPERATION LONE LINE - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: LT Naomi Bowden
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 3x Seekers, 3x Floaters, 3x Sectoids, armed with plasma weapons
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Naomi "Artemis" Bowden (United Kingdom)
- CPL Jirina "Stiletto" Markusova (Czech Republic)
- SPC Wushun Zhu (China)
- SPC Leigh Fahey (United States)
- SPC Maurice Vos (Netherlands)
- PFC Synclair Mallari (Phillipines)
- PFC Caio de Abreu (Brazil)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to China, 20 JUN 2016 @ 0712 hrs, IOT disrupt Alien Abduction Operations.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
We received the Mission Alert at 0930 hrs. The squad was assembled in the Skyranger 0521, and we touched down in China at 0712 hrs. The LZ was scarce of cover, so we moved to what cover was available as quickly as possible. Nearly immediately, CPL Markusova spotted a pod of Seekers, just before they went into stealth. We converged into a formation where we could provide overwatch, and waited for the bastards to come out of hiding.
Two of them came out of hiding almost immediately. I saw the one nearest Mallari first, but apparently one had also appeared directly above me, intent on locking me down with its tentacles. I took down the one going after Mallari, while the converged fire from the rest of the squad left little recognizable of the one that was coming after me.
When the third did not immediately appear, we started moving toward the distant building, where Fahey had reported hearing something. As we approached, we saw a Meld canister, but before we could reach it, the third Seeker manifested. The squad massed fires, but even so it took several direct hits to take it down. By the time Fahey made it to the Meld, it was already locking down.
I ordered the squad to spread out, with Fahey and de Abreu going right, and Vos and Zhu providing overwatch. At my signal, we breached the building, and spotted a pod of Floaters on the far side of the building. PFC Mallari made the first kill, taking a long shot at an exposed Floater nearly on our left flank. When the remaining Floaters did not advance, we took the fight to them.
Markusova dashed in, drawing fire so the rest of the squad could move, and snapped a shot as soon as she made cover, killing the Floater that had shot at her. With the other in full cover, we advanced, while de Abreu opened the rear wall, so Zhu and Vos could get into the fight. Unfortunately, the last Floater proved difficult to kill, so it fell to Fahey to charge in and flank it with her shotgun. Once it was down, she reported another Meld canister, but of course, it closed as we tried to reach it.
A few quick probing advances showed that the remainder of the building was clear, so we flexed back toward the other building. We stacked on multiple breach points, and went in at the same time, with Zhu taking to the rooftops. It was in the laundromat that we met further resistance, in a pod of Sectoids. Mallari, Markusova and myself were in contact, while Vos, Fahey and de Abreu came in from the cafe, and Zhu moved to cover from the rooftops.
Markusova moved up and took a close flank on the closest, while the other two scattered for cover out in front of the laundry. Zhu, from his rooftop vantage, had a clean shot, but the X-Ray jerked back at the last moment, and he only grazed it. CPL Markusova dashed the gap, drawing fire, and letting the rest of the squad advance. Mallari and Fahey moved up and flanked the two Sectoids from around the bus stop, putting them down almost simultaneously.
We cleared the remainder of the site, but met with no further hostiles.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Mult-directional breech
- Explosives to shape the battlefield
o Improve:
- Use Scanner for better battlefield awareness
- Overwatch element still needs to be close enough to engage
PREPARED BY: LT Naomi Bowden
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 3x Seekers, 3x Floaters, 3x Sectoids, armed with plasma weapons
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Naomi "Artemis" Bowden (United Kingdom)
- CPL Jirina "Stiletto" Markusova (Czech Republic)
- SPC Wushun Zhu (China)
- SPC Leigh Fahey (United States)
- SPC Maurice Vos (Netherlands)
- PFC Synclair Mallari (Phillipines)
- PFC Caio de Abreu (Brazil)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to China, 20 JUN 2016 @ 0712 hrs, IOT disrupt Alien Abduction Operations.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
We received the Mission Alert at 0930 hrs. The squad was assembled in the Skyranger 0521, and we touched down in China at 0712 hrs. The LZ was scarce of cover, so we moved to what cover was available as quickly as possible. Nearly immediately, CPL Markusova spotted a pod of Seekers, just before they went into stealth. We converged into a formation where we could provide overwatch, and waited for the bastards to come out of hiding.
Two of them came out of hiding almost immediately. I saw the one nearest Mallari first, but apparently one had also appeared directly above me, intent on locking me down with its tentacles. I took down the one going after Mallari, while the converged fire from the rest of the squad left little recognizable of the one that was coming after me.
When the third did not immediately appear, we started moving toward the distant building, where Fahey had reported hearing something. As we approached, we saw a Meld canister, but before we could reach it, the third Seeker manifested. The squad massed fires, but even so it took several direct hits to take it down. By the time Fahey made it to the Meld, it was already locking down.
I ordered the squad to spread out, with Fahey and de Abreu going right, and Vos and Zhu providing overwatch. At my signal, we breached the building, and spotted a pod of Floaters on the far side of the building. PFC Mallari made the first kill, taking a long shot at an exposed Floater nearly on our left flank. When the remaining Floaters did not advance, we took the fight to them.
Markusova dashed in, drawing fire so the rest of the squad could move, and snapped a shot as soon as she made cover, killing the Floater that had shot at her. With the other in full cover, we advanced, while de Abreu opened the rear wall, so Zhu and Vos could get into the fight. Unfortunately, the last Floater proved difficult to kill, so it fell to Fahey to charge in and flank it with her shotgun. Once it was down, she reported another Meld canister, but of course, it closed as we tried to reach it.
A few quick probing advances showed that the remainder of the building was clear, so we flexed back toward the other building. We stacked on multiple breach points, and went in at the same time, with Zhu taking to the rooftops. It was in the laundromat that we met further resistance, in a pod of Sectoids. Mallari, Markusova and myself were in contact, while Vos, Fahey and de Abreu came in from the cafe, and Zhu moved to cover from the rooftops.
Markusova moved up and took a close flank on the closest, while the other two scattered for cover out in front of the laundry. Zhu, from his rooftop vantage, had a clean shot, but the X-Ray jerked back at the last moment, and he only grazed it. CPL Markusova dashed the gap, drawing fire, and letting the rest of the squad advance. Mallari and Fahey moved up and flanked the two Sectoids from around the bus stop, putting them down almost simultaneously.
We cleared the remainder of the site, but met with no further hostiles.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Mult-directional breech
- Explosives to shape the battlefield
o Improve:
- Use Scanner for better battlefield awareness
- Overwatch element still needs to be close enough to engage
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
OPERATION PATIENT GRAVE - AFTER ACTION REPORT (13 JUN 2016 @ 1000)
OPERATION PATIENT GRAVE - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: SSG Oskar Lindemann
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 16x Seekers, 7 Floaters, 1x Cyberdisc, 3x Drones, 1x "Soldier Alien", 4x Outsiders, armed with plasma weapons and grenades
o Friendly Forces
- SSG Oskar "Armarnis" Lindemann (Germany)
- SGT Spencer "Leo" Donohue (United States)
- SGT Constance "Deadbolt" Makhandule (South Africa)
- SGT Ana Lucia "Mustang" Mardones (Ecuador)
- SGT Yusuf "Thunder" Hassan (Sudan)
- SGT Shousei "Lightning" Daiwa (Japan)
- CPL Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang (China)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Canada, 13 JUN 2016 @ 1000 hrs, IOT interdict, clear and exploit large landed UFO.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
We received the Mission Alert at 0930 hrs. The Skyranger was wheels up by 0938, and we arrived at the mission site at 1000 hrs. We put down at what appeared to be the back of the craft, which had a somewhat different configuration, but similar size to the previous large landed that we assaulted.
SGT "Lightning" Daiwa moved up to get eyes forward while the rest of the squad deployed behind him. No sooner than we got into cover that he called contact front, and took a shot, damaging one of the Seekers as they came into sight. CPL Zhang also took a shot, bearing the only laser rifle we had available, and took one of them down. The Seekers advanced, returning fire amidst a hail of bullets, but no further damage was done on either side.
I took a shot from cover, and blew one of them out of the sky, while Zhang finished off the damaged one from before. Mardones charged the remaining one and blasted it down. No sooner than we were done than another pod of Seekers flew out of the forest to our right. Our volley fire managed to graze one of them, just before a pod of Floaters charged out of the bay of the craft, accompanied by something we've never seen before. It was man shaped, wearing greenish armor, but considerably larger than a man. I yelled to Mak to thin the herd, and she shouldered her launcher before snapping off a shot that put the entire Seeker pod down permanently.
This left us with the Floater and the thing. I fired first, and put a burst into the closest Floater, causing it to explode. Daiwa prioritized the new threat, and determined that its head is as vulnerable as a human's head. SGT Donohue managed to wound one of the remaining Floaters with a long shot, then we braced for their assault. Instead, the Floaters flew back into the shadows of the UFO's bay. We could not see them, but Lightning called out that he saw movement from the other side of the bay, and moved forward to investigate.
It turned out to be a pod of mechanicals, accompanying another of those Cyberdiscs. Thunder took the first shot, prioritizing the disc and managed to wing it pretty good. No one else seemed to have a clear shot, so I designated one of the drones, so Mustang could eliminate it. I spotted the other drone and pulled my LMG toward it, still firing, and took it down with a flash of sparks. Donohue, recognizing that we were in trouble, threw a smoke grenade to cover our forward troops, as Daiwa moved back out of the line of fire. Then we saw a previously unknown ability, when the drone moved to the disc, and seemed to repair some of the damage done by Thunder's shot.
When Daiwa reported this, I told him to take the drone down. He shot it, but as usual, it proved tougher than you'd expect, and remained flying, even when Donohue put a burst into it's carapace. Zhang charged forward to get a shot, drawing fire from the disc, which force it to open it's armor for the shot. He slid into cover safely, and managed to finally take the drone down. With its support down, the disc became our sole priority again. I took a shot, but only managed to designate it. Thunder took another shot, and this one seemed to inflict much greater damage, as it closed back up again.
The Disc advanced, and SGT Mak put a burst into it, though it didn't seem to do much through it's closed armor. Right on top of the forward element, it opened up, and everyone braced for the worst. Again, it exhibited unknown behavior, suddenly spinning forward, and a tail extending to throw a grenade into our clustered troops. The managed to get into cover sufficiently to absorb most of the damage, taking very little on their armor. Zhang popped back up and shot the thing point-blank, and it crashed to the ground, exploding after a few seconds had passed. I think it likely that it had more grenades amidst its arsenal.
With the Disc down, we reset and reloaded, just in time for another pod of Seekers to burst out of the craft. Zhang and Mardones managed to damage two of them, but they kept coming. Mardones didn't stop as they advanced, she charged toward them, pumping another round into her shotgun, and eliminated the closest Seeker. As I lined up on the last one, Lightning moved to flank, and spotted another pod of Seekers. When he called out, SGT Mak, calm as you please, sent a rocket sailing into the midst of the new pod, scattering their broken tentacles across the ground. I slewed my gun over and finished off the survivor of the blast. When another Seeker came out of the craft, Lightning lived up to his name and took it down with a single shot.
With no further threat, and the Floaters from earlier nowhere to be seen, I ordered the advance. As we reached the bay, a Seeker uncloaked almost directly behind me. Massed fires put it down before it had a chance to act. Then we continued our advance. Daiwa drew fire from somewhere within the ship, but we never saw the X-Ray that did it, even as we all moved into the bay, and SGT Daiwa probed toward the enemy fire. It wasn't until Leo moved to the right assault bay that we caught sight of the enemy again; This time, it appeared that we'd located the command pod, accompanied by one of the Floaters from before. The squad moved to cover, and waited for them to come to us. The Floater obliged, and massed fire made it regret, if only for a moment, its boldness.
When the Outsiders were not forthcoming, Mardones moved to the door way, finding them clustered nearby. As she dodged back to cover, Hassan took advantage of her intel to put one of the X-Rays down. Sure that they would attack now, we waited. Donohue managed to pop a shot, but the rest of them did not move to the attack, as expected. Mardones once again moved forward, dodging reactive fire, and reported that the Outsiders had withdrawn further into the craft. Their plot was revealed when a Floater blasted into view from the other assault bay. I had my LMG ready, and eliminated it before it had a chance to attack.
I ordered a cautious advance, but it turned out that the Outsiders had continued to flee, farther into the depths of the ship. This level of caution from the enemy was unexpected, but it turned out that caution was still worthwhile, as one Outsider popped a shot from cover and managed to burn through most of Mustang's armor. Donohue was close, and got up to Mardones and patched her up. Lighting and Mak managed to critically wound the X-Ray, and Mardones, seeking payback, finished it off.
We advanced into the assault bays and corridors, but did not make contact again until Mardones broke through the holo-door, where she saw a single Floater waiting, with no Outsiders in sight. Mak and Zhang had a clear shot on the Floater, and managed to take it down with combined fire. When its backup advaned, Zhang took another shot, damaging it. Donohue, already in the central control room, finished it off at close range. When we advanced to cover the room, one of the Outsiders, outside of the craft, tried to get around me from behind. Daiwa, alert inside, managed to nail it with a clean shot and critically injure it. I took a point blank burst, but it was hiding behind a power node, so I only managed to injure it further. Daiwa was awaiting his chance, and when it poked it's head around to return fire on me, he took its head off.
While we were clearing the room, the remaining Floater tried to come in from behind. SGT Donohue took two bursts at it, and managed to eliminate it with the second, successfully covering our back. While Daiwa checked the bridge with a Battle Scanner, we spread out, looking for any further resistance. I thought that perhaps there was one more Outsider, but it was possible that Mardones had miscounted.
She hadn't. It came from behind us and only Zhang saw it before it could fire, and he blew it off of its feet. Everyone moved to firing positions, but it was Lightning that finished it off. At that point, we all assumed we were done. That was when the injured Floater from way before came in, flanked Hassan and shot him down. Donohue was already running forward, Medkit ready, while Mustang charged, yelling and cutting loose with her shotgun. It didn't stand a chance.
Leo stayed with Hassan while we cautiously finished clearing the craft, but it appeared that the Floater had been the last of the resistance.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Intersecting fires
- A stable firing position is the best defense against an assault
o Improve:
- Don't get complacent; The enemy can adapt their tactics
- Never assume your flanks are clear
PREPARED BY: SSG Oskar Lindemann
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 16x Seekers, 7 Floaters, 1x Cyberdisc, 3x Drones, 1x "Soldier Alien", 4x Outsiders, armed with plasma weapons and grenades
o Friendly Forces
- SSG Oskar "Armarnis" Lindemann (Germany)
- SGT Spencer "Leo" Donohue (United States)
- SGT Constance "Deadbolt" Makhandule (South Africa)
- SGT Ana Lucia "Mustang" Mardones (Ecuador)
- SGT Yusuf "Thunder" Hassan (Sudan)
- SGT Shousei "Lightning" Daiwa (Japan)
- CPL Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang (China)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Canada, 13 JUN 2016 @ 1000 hrs, IOT interdict, clear and exploit large landed UFO.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
We received the Mission Alert at 0930 hrs. The Skyranger was wheels up by 0938, and we arrived at the mission site at 1000 hrs. We put down at what appeared to be the back of the craft, which had a somewhat different configuration, but similar size to the previous large landed that we assaulted.
SGT "Lightning" Daiwa moved up to get eyes forward while the rest of the squad deployed behind him. No sooner than we got into cover that he called contact front, and took a shot, damaging one of the Seekers as they came into sight. CPL Zhang also took a shot, bearing the only laser rifle we had available, and took one of them down. The Seekers advanced, returning fire amidst a hail of bullets, but no further damage was done on either side.
I took a shot from cover, and blew one of them out of the sky, while Zhang finished off the damaged one from before. Mardones charged the remaining one and blasted it down. No sooner than we were done than another pod of Seekers flew out of the forest to our right. Our volley fire managed to graze one of them, just before a pod of Floaters charged out of the bay of the craft, accompanied by something we've never seen before. It was man shaped, wearing greenish armor, but considerably larger than a man. I yelled to Mak to thin the herd, and she shouldered her launcher before snapping off a shot that put the entire Seeker pod down permanently.
This left us with the Floater and the thing. I fired first, and put a burst into the closest Floater, causing it to explode. Daiwa prioritized the new threat, and determined that its head is as vulnerable as a human's head. SGT Donohue managed to wound one of the remaining Floaters with a long shot, then we braced for their assault. Instead, the Floaters flew back into the shadows of the UFO's bay. We could not see them, but Lightning called out that he saw movement from the other side of the bay, and moved forward to investigate.
It turned out to be a pod of mechanicals, accompanying another of those Cyberdiscs. Thunder took the first shot, prioritizing the disc and managed to wing it pretty good. No one else seemed to have a clear shot, so I designated one of the drones, so Mustang could eliminate it. I spotted the other drone and pulled my LMG toward it, still firing, and took it down with a flash of sparks. Donohue, recognizing that we were in trouble, threw a smoke grenade to cover our forward troops, as Daiwa moved back out of the line of fire. Then we saw a previously unknown ability, when the drone moved to the disc, and seemed to repair some of the damage done by Thunder's shot.
When Daiwa reported this, I told him to take the drone down. He shot it, but as usual, it proved tougher than you'd expect, and remained flying, even when Donohue put a burst into it's carapace. Zhang charged forward to get a shot, drawing fire from the disc, which force it to open it's armor for the shot. He slid into cover safely, and managed to finally take the drone down. With its support down, the disc became our sole priority again. I took a shot, but only managed to designate it. Thunder took another shot, and this one seemed to inflict much greater damage, as it closed back up again.
The Disc advanced, and SGT Mak put a burst into it, though it didn't seem to do much through it's closed armor. Right on top of the forward element, it opened up, and everyone braced for the worst. Again, it exhibited unknown behavior, suddenly spinning forward, and a tail extending to throw a grenade into our clustered troops. The managed to get into cover sufficiently to absorb most of the damage, taking very little on their armor. Zhang popped back up and shot the thing point-blank, and it crashed to the ground, exploding after a few seconds had passed. I think it likely that it had more grenades amidst its arsenal.
With the Disc down, we reset and reloaded, just in time for another pod of Seekers to burst out of the craft. Zhang and Mardones managed to damage two of them, but they kept coming. Mardones didn't stop as they advanced, she charged toward them, pumping another round into her shotgun, and eliminated the closest Seeker. As I lined up on the last one, Lightning moved to flank, and spotted another pod of Seekers. When he called out, SGT Mak, calm as you please, sent a rocket sailing into the midst of the new pod, scattering their broken tentacles across the ground. I slewed my gun over and finished off the survivor of the blast. When another Seeker came out of the craft, Lightning lived up to his name and took it down with a single shot.
With no further threat, and the Floaters from earlier nowhere to be seen, I ordered the advance. As we reached the bay, a Seeker uncloaked almost directly behind me. Massed fires put it down before it had a chance to act. Then we continued our advance. Daiwa drew fire from somewhere within the ship, but we never saw the X-Ray that did it, even as we all moved into the bay, and SGT Daiwa probed toward the enemy fire. It wasn't until Leo moved to the right assault bay that we caught sight of the enemy again; This time, it appeared that we'd located the command pod, accompanied by one of the Floaters from before. The squad moved to cover, and waited for them to come to us. The Floater obliged, and massed fire made it regret, if only for a moment, its boldness.
When the Outsiders were not forthcoming, Mardones moved to the door way, finding them clustered nearby. As she dodged back to cover, Hassan took advantage of her intel to put one of the X-Rays down. Sure that they would attack now, we waited. Donohue managed to pop a shot, but the rest of them did not move to the attack, as expected. Mardones once again moved forward, dodging reactive fire, and reported that the Outsiders had withdrawn further into the craft. Their plot was revealed when a Floater blasted into view from the other assault bay. I had my LMG ready, and eliminated it before it had a chance to attack.
I ordered a cautious advance, but it turned out that the Outsiders had continued to flee, farther into the depths of the ship. This level of caution from the enemy was unexpected, but it turned out that caution was still worthwhile, as one Outsider popped a shot from cover and managed to burn through most of Mustang's armor. Donohue was close, and got up to Mardones and patched her up. Lighting and Mak managed to critically wound the X-Ray, and Mardones, seeking payback, finished it off.
We advanced into the assault bays and corridors, but did not make contact again until Mardones broke through the holo-door, where she saw a single Floater waiting, with no Outsiders in sight. Mak and Zhang had a clear shot on the Floater, and managed to take it down with combined fire. When its backup advaned, Zhang took another shot, damaging it. Donohue, already in the central control room, finished it off at close range. When we advanced to cover the room, one of the Outsiders, outside of the craft, tried to get around me from behind. Daiwa, alert inside, managed to nail it with a clean shot and critically injure it. I took a point blank burst, but it was hiding behind a power node, so I only managed to injure it further. Daiwa was awaiting his chance, and when it poked it's head around to return fire on me, he took its head off.
While we were clearing the room, the remaining Floater tried to come in from behind. SGT Donohue took two bursts at it, and managed to eliminate it with the second, successfully covering our back. While Daiwa checked the bridge with a Battle Scanner, we spread out, looking for any further resistance. I thought that perhaps there was one more Outsider, but it was possible that Mardones had miscounted.
She hadn't. It came from behind us and only Zhang saw it before it could fire, and he blew it off of its feet. Everyone moved to firing positions, but it was Lightning that finished it off. At that point, we all assumed we were done. That was when the injured Floater from way before came in, flanked Hassan and shot him down. Donohue was already running forward, Medkit ready, while Mustang charged, yelling and cutting loose with her shotgun. It didn't stand a chance.
Leo stayed with Hassan while we cautiously finished clearing the craft, but it appeared that the Floater had been the last of the resistance.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Intersecting fires
- A stable firing position is the best defense against an assault
o Improve:
- Don't get complacent; The enemy can adapt their tactics
- Never assume your flanks are clear
Monday, May 18, 2015
Allahu Akbar (27 MAY 2016)
Anant Dhalon was in trouble.
It had been three- or was it four? -days since he'd inserted into Nigeria to find the EXALT cell that was operating there. They'd managed to hack into XCOM's financial transactions before the higher ups had even known they existed, and it was definitely time for payback. While their attack hadn't directly harmed anyone, the funds that had disappeared would have been used for improved weapons and armor in the fight against the X-Rays, and Anant was determined they'd come to regret it.
But that was a task easier determined than accomplished. It had taken him two days to find them, even with the data the council had managed to provide. It had actually been during a visit to one of the local mosques that he'd managed to spot one of the profiled individuals, and trail him back to where the remainder of the cell was dug in. Anant had not missed the opportunity to thank Allah for his good fortune. He was praying silently, constantly now.
He had not slept since leaving the mosque. He'd followed the EXALT operative back, finding an abandoned train maintenance yard. He'd spotted the guards and stopped well outside of the perimeter before making a cautious circuit to determine the size of their cordon. Taking half a day, he'd crawled, his body pressed as flat as possible to the ground, down the center of the railway, using the abandoned cargo cars for cover. Once he'd managed to get inside their perimeter, He'd made the mistake of relaxing, ever so slightly. That mistake nearly got him killed.
"Hey!" Anant ducked back into the train car, but it was too late. He'd been spotted. He did his best to run lightly across the car and drop to the gravel, wincing as it crunched beneath his feet. He'd only just made it back to where they had the functional communications relays, which he'd had to abandon after the first time he'd been spotted. He was sure that tampering with those first two is what brought them out; There must have been some alert generated, but he wasn't any sort of computer expert. All he knew was how to plug the datapad into the relay, and let it do it's work.
These guys weren't giving up the chase. Anant swore a string in Urdu before running out of words. He switched to Houston's favorite epithet, instead, muttering "Shit, shit, shit," under his breath as he ran and dodged between the cars. Repetitive, but adequate to describe his situation. The EXALT operatives hadn't opened fire yet, which means they didn't see him, but it was only a matter of time before the rest of the cell came to their aid.
As though the thought had created the reality, he suddenly came upon man in a vest. They stared at each other for a split second, then both reached for their weapons. Anant was slightly faster on the draw, and popped off several rounds, causing the other to drop his carbine and dive for cover. Anant didn't stay to finish him off, but took off at a dead sprint, completely disregarding stealth. He hunched his shoulders as he ran, knowing it wouldn't take long for the man to regain his weapon. He wasn't surprised when he felt a hard blow between his shoulder blades, nearly throwing him from his feet. Somehow, he managed to keep running, his breath ragged as he waited for the pain. It didn't come, and he realized that the alloy vest had done its job. Other than the impact, he didn't feel a thing.
His dash took up up a flight of stairs. To his left, he saw one of the active relays. He caught the movement of another relay out of corner of his right eye, and did his best to mark it for later, if there was to be a later. Directly in front of him, as he came up the stairs was a flat car, which he dove and rolled onto, turning his roll into a scramble toward and off the other side. Evading his pursuers to fight another day was his first priority. Once he'd done that, he could worry about how to get those last couple of relays.
Directly on the other side of the car was a small building with some machinery on the side nearest. To his right, he saw a roll-up door, and a ladder. Pausing only briefly to make sure no one was currently in sight, he ran to the ladder, flinging himself halfway up as he reached it, and quickly rolled onto the flat roof. There, he lay flat, and did his best to control the breaths that tore out of his chest. "subḥāna rabbī al-'aclā wa-bi-ḥamdih" he murmured, nearly silently, between suppressed gasps. Glory to my Lord, the Most High Most Praiseworthy. Anant repeated the Arabic words, over and over, finding comfort in the ritual praise, until finally his breath slowed, and only the pounding of his heart remained.
He heard footsteps crunching in gravel. He counted, as best he could. At least four men were below, and he could hear them talking quietly, not quite able to make out their words. He could guess, of course; They were discussing where he might have gone. Anant heard the footsteps go all around. At one point he heard someone rattling the roll-up door, and then another trying a door on the far side of the small building.
"Locked," he heard that one raise his voice. "He couldn't have gotten in here before we arrived."
"Check the roof," another said, his tone ringing with authority. Anant listened hard for a moment more, trying to gauge the positions of the men below, before he heard the sound of hands and boots on the rung of the ladder. He rolled to a crouch, duck-walked a couple steps, and peeked over the side farthest from the ladder, his gun at the ready. It was clear. He spun and holstered his pistol, seeing the gloved hand reach for the edge of the roof, and then dropped off the roof, clutching the edge with his fingertips, just as he saw the top of the man's head coming up.
Anant's heart pounded as he dangled on the side of the building. At any moment, the man on the roof would see his fingertips, or someone would come around the side of the building. He was ready to drop and shoot, because there was no longer any place to run. But miraculously, a moment passed, then another, before he heard the man on the other side shout down. "It's clear," before the sound of him climbing back down the ladder. Anant heard the crunch of gravel on the train-side of the building, and heaved himself back up, rolling once more back onto the roof. He lay there for several endless minutes, hearing the EXALT forces discuss, and then begin to move away.
It was too hot. He knew where the remaining relays were, but getting to them would be too risky. He decided it was time to call for an extraction, and hopefully when XCOM's team got here, he'd be able to get to the last two relays. Anant lay there, exhausted but feeling resolute, and stared up at the stars. He couldn't see them the same way he used to, before the enemy had come from the sky, but beyond all of that, he knew he was watched over, protected.
"Allahu akbar."
It had been three- or was it four? -days since he'd inserted into Nigeria to find the EXALT cell that was operating there. They'd managed to hack into XCOM's financial transactions before the higher ups had even known they existed, and it was definitely time for payback. While their attack hadn't directly harmed anyone, the funds that had disappeared would have been used for improved weapons and armor in the fight against the X-Rays, and Anant was determined they'd come to regret it.
But that was a task easier determined than accomplished. It had taken him two days to find them, even with the data the council had managed to provide. It had actually been during a visit to one of the local mosques that he'd managed to spot one of the profiled individuals, and trail him back to where the remainder of the cell was dug in. Anant had not missed the opportunity to thank Allah for his good fortune. He was praying silently, constantly now.
He had not slept since leaving the mosque. He'd followed the EXALT operative back, finding an abandoned train maintenance yard. He'd spotted the guards and stopped well outside of the perimeter before making a cautious circuit to determine the size of their cordon. Taking half a day, he'd crawled, his body pressed as flat as possible to the ground, down the center of the railway, using the abandoned cargo cars for cover. Once he'd managed to get inside their perimeter, He'd made the mistake of relaxing, ever so slightly. That mistake nearly got him killed.
"Hey!" Anant ducked back into the train car, but it was too late. He'd been spotted. He did his best to run lightly across the car and drop to the gravel, wincing as it crunched beneath his feet. He'd only just made it back to where they had the functional communications relays, which he'd had to abandon after the first time he'd been spotted. He was sure that tampering with those first two is what brought them out; There must have been some alert generated, but he wasn't any sort of computer expert. All he knew was how to plug the datapad into the relay, and let it do it's work.
These guys weren't giving up the chase. Anant swore a string in Urdu before running out of words. He switched to Houston's favorite epithet, instead, muttering "Shit, shit, shit," under his breath as he ran and dodged between the cars. Repetitive, but adequate to describe his situation. The EXALT operatives hadn't opened fire yet, which means they didn't see him, but it was only a matter of time before the rest of the cell came to their aid.
As though the thought had created the reality, he suddenly came upon man in a vest. They stared at each other for a split second, then both reached for their weapons. Anant was slightly faster on the draw, and popped off several rounds, causing the other to drop his carbine and dive for cover. Anant didn't stay to finish him off, but took off at a dead sprint, completely disregarding stealth. He hunched his shoulders as he ran, knowing it wouldn't take long for the man to regain his weapon. He wasn't surprised when he felt a hard blow between his shoulder blades, nearly throwing him from his feet. Somehow, he managed to keep running, his breath ragged as he waited for the pain. It didn't come, and he realized that the alloy vest had done its job. Other than the impact, he didn't feel a thing.
His dash took up up a flight of stairs. To his left, he saw one of the active relays. He caught the movement of another relay out of corner of his right eye, and did his best to mark it for later, if there was to be a later. Directly in front of him, as he came up the stairs was a flat car, which he dove and rolled onto, turning his roll into a scramble toward and off the other side. Evading his pursuers to fight another day was his first priority. Once he'd done that, he could worry about how to get those last couple of relays.
Directly on the other side of the car was a small building with some machinery on the side nearest. To his right, he saw a roll-up door, and a ladder. Pausing only briefly to make sure no one was currently in sight, he ran to the ladder, flinging himself halfway up as he reached it, and quickly rolled onto the flat roof. There, he lay flat, and did his best to control the breaths that tore out of his chest. "subḥāna rabbī al-'aclā wa-bi-ḥamdih" he murmured, nearly silently, between suppressed gasps. Glory to my Lord, the Most High Most Praiseworthy. Anant repeated the Arabic words, over and over, finding comfort in the ritual praise, until finally his breath slowed, and only the pounding of his heart remained.
He heard footsteps crunching in gravel. He counted, as best he could. At least four men were below, and he could hear them talking quietly, not quite able to make out their words. He could guess, of course; They were discussing where he might have gone. Anant heard the footsteps go all around. At one point he heard someone rattling the roll-up door, and then another trying a door on the far side of the small building.
"Locked," he heard that one raise his voice. "He couldn't have gotten in here before we arrived."
"Check the roof," another said, his tone ringing with authority. Anant listened hard for a moment more, trying to gauge the positions of the men below, before he heard the sound of hands and boots on the rung of the ladder. He rolled to a crouch, duck-walked a couple steps, and peeked over the side farthest from the ladder, his gun at the ready. It was clear. He spun and holstered his pistol, seeing the gloved hand reach for the edge of the roof, and then dropped off the roof, clutching the edge with his fingertips, just as he saw the top of the man's head coming up.
Anant's heart pounded as he dangled on the side of the building. At any moment, the man on the roof would see his fingertips, or someone would come around the side of the building. He was ready to drop and shoot, because there was no longer any place to run. But miraculously, a moment passed, then another, before he heard the man on the other side shout down. "It's clear," before the sound of him climbing back down the ladder. Anant heard the crunch of gravel on the train-side of the building, and heaved himself back up, rolling once more back onto the roof. He lay there for several endless minutes, hearing the EXALT forces discuss, and then begin to move away.
It was too hot. He knew where the remaining relays were, but getting to them would be too risky. He decided it was time to call for an extraction, and hopefully when XCOM's team got here, he'd be able to get to the last two relays. Anant lay there, exhausted but feeling resolute, and stared up at the stars. He couldn't see them the same way he used to, before the enemy had come from the sky, but beyond all of that, he knew he was watched over, protected.
"Allahu akbar."
Thursday, May 14, 2015
OPERATION LOST HAWK - AFTER ACTION REPORT (04 JUN 2016 @ 1337)
OPERATION LOST HAWK - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: SGT JADE COLMAN
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
-
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Jade "Mineral" Colman (United Kingdom)
- CPL Spencer "Leo" Donohue (United States)
- CPL Svetlana "Eclipse" Petukhova (Russia)
- SPC Jirina Markusova (Czech Republic)
- PFC Dean Carter (United Kingdom)
- PFC Edward Dudek (Poland)
- PFC Rainhard Horn (Austria)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Puebla, Mexico, 04 JUN 2016 @ 0332 hrs, IOT disrupt ongoing Alien Abduction Operations.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 1300. We were wheels up by 1320 and boots on ground in Mexico by 1337. Markusova was the first to move, while everyone else got off the Skyranger. Immediately she made contact with a pod of Floaters. At her call, PFC Horn immediately slung his rifle and pulled his rocket launcher. Despite the snap-shot, his rocket flew true, and destroyed two of the floaters, as well as a section of the building. I designated the other, so Eclipse and Leo could blow it out of the sky. Once the immediate threat was dealt with, I started advancing the squad on the building, which appeared to be a liquor store.
As we were positioning, a pod of Seekers came into sight, probably to investigate what happened to the Floaters. Markusova, on overwatch, managed to take one down before they'd spotted us, and PFC Dudek winged one. When they advanced on us, I cut loose with a burst and took down the damaged one, while Markusova designated the other so Eclipse and Leo could again take it down.
Once the Seekers were down, we continued our advance on the store. PFC Carter spotted a meld canister inside, and moved in to claim it. He disabled the locking mechanism, so the site exploitation team could harvest the contents. When Carter was through, he and Markusova reported noises from the smaller building, which appeared to be a small bar. We flexed our line of advance to start moving in that direction. When we spotted another canister of Meld, I ordered a team consisting of Markusova and Leo, while Horn, Carter and Dudek advanced inside the liquor store. Unfortunately the Meld canister sealed prior to Markusova reaching it, due to our cautious pace. Using a Battle Scanner might have allowed us to safely advance, in hind-sight.
Once we'd established that the remaining X-Ray threat was inside the bar, we positioned on the near wall, before I moved up to peer inside. The Thin Men inside moved into cover when they saw me, leaving their back side exposed for the other team to assault. Petukhova made the first kill, with Markusova taking the next as the assault team, consisting of Dudek, Horn and Carter moved in the back and cleaned up the third.
Following that, we cleared the remainder of the area, and called in the exploitation team before returning to the Skyranger.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Fire team coordination
- Set up and assault a static position
o Improve:
- When you bring a Battle Scanner, use it
- Take calculated risks
PREPARED BY: SGT JADE COLMAN
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
-
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Jade "Mineral" Colman (United Kingdom)
- CPL Spencer "Leo" Donohue (United States)
- CPL Svetlana "Eclipse" Petukhova (Russia)
- SPC Jirina Markusova (Czech Republic)
- PFC Dean Carter (United Kingdom)
- PFC Edward Dudek (Poland)
- PFC Rainhard Horn (Austria)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Puebla, Mexico, 04 JUN 2016 @ 0332 hrs, IOT disrupt ongoing Alien Abduction Operations.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 1300. We were wheels up by 1320 and boots on ground in Mexico by 1337. Markusova was the first to move, while everyone else got off the Skyranger. Immediately she made contact with a pod of Floaters. At her call, PFC Horn immediately slung his rifle and pulled his rocket launcher. Despite the snap-shot, his rocket flew true, and destroyed two of the floaters, as well as a section of the building. I designated the other, so Eclipse and Leo could blow it out of the sky. Once the immediate threat was dealt with, I started advancing the squad on the building, which appeared to be a liquor store.
As we were positioning, a pod of Seekers came into sight, probably to investigate what happened to the Floaters. Markusova, on overwatch, managed to take one down before they'd spotted us, and PFC Dudek winged one. When they advanced on us, I cut loose with a burst and took down the damaged one, while Markusova designated the other so Eclipse and Leo could again take it down.
Once the Seekers were down, we continued our advance on the store. PFC Carter spotted a meld canister inside, and moved in to claim it. He disabled the locking mechanism, so the site exploitation team could harvest the contents. When Carter was through, he and Markusova reported noises from the smaller building, which appeared to be a small bar. We flexed our line of advance to start moving in that direction. When we spotted another canister of Meld, I ordered a team consisting of Markusova and Leo, while Horn, Carter and Dudek advanced inside the liquor store. Unfortunately the Meld canister sealed prior to Markusova reaching it, due to our cautious pace. Using a Battle Scanner might have allowed us to safely advance, in hind-sight.
Once we'd established that the remaining X-Ray threat was inside the bar, we positioned on the near wall, before I moved up to peer inside. The Thin Men inside moved into cover when they saw me, leaving their back side exposed for the other team to assault. Petukhova made the first kill, with Markusova taking the next as the assault team, consisting of Dudek, Horn and Carter moved in the back and cleaned up the third.
Following that, we cleared the remainder of the area, and called in the exploitation team before returning to the Skyranger.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Fire team coordination
- Set up and assault a static position
o Improve:
- When you bring a Battle Scanner, use it
- Take calculated risks
Saturday, May 9, 2015
OPERATION BLINDING MOTHER - AFTER ACTION REPORT (28 MAY 2016 @ 0332)
OPERATION BLINDING MOTHER - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: CPL JADE COLMAN
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 12x EXALT Forces, armed with conventional weapons and rockets
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Jade Colman (United Kingdom)
- CPL Lorena Kline (United States)
- CPL Lieselotte Faber (Germany)
- CPL Ana Lucia Mardones
o Covert Operative
- PFC Anant Dhalon
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Nigeria, 28 MAY 2016 @ 0332 hrs, IOT extract Covert Operative Dhalon.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 0153, and we were wheels up by 0209, and boots on ground in Nigeria by 0332. We made contact with CO Dhalon, who informed us that he'd been compromised while trying to recover data. He was currently holed up in a small storage room, and he knew EXALT was closing on his location.
Mustang cut left, in the direction his intel said he'd likely be coming. As soon as she reached the , she spotted three enemies who immediately moved to cover. We immediately moved to cover and CPL Kline took a shot, killing one of them. Dhalon called out that he was moving, and that he could disrupt the enemies comms. Shortly after, we saw the EXALT pull back behind cover, fiddling with their weapons.
I took this opportunity and designated the furthest target with my LMG, which allowed Maschine to put him down. We heard small arms fire from above, and saw PFC Dhalon, hightailing it toward a strange, spinning node. Mardones, seeing that he'd be exposed to the remaining hostile, charged forward, skid in beside the semi truck and took him down with a blast from her shotgun. Dhalon made it to the node, and immediately started fiddling with it. Kline advanced, eyes on where Dhalon had come from, and used her laser rifle to put down one of his pursuers, causing the other to stop and duck behind cover.
Just then, three more EXALT operatives came in on our right flank, and I had to scramble to new cover. Kline, distracted momentarily by this new threat, was exposed long enough to take a burst from the left, right in the middle of her strike plate. She confirmed that she was still combat capable as she moved to better cover. That was when Dhalon shouted that we had other flankers coming in from the left.
Mustang dodged around the rock, and took down one of the new flankers on the left, and Faber managed to take out one of the enemy on the right with a well-placed headshot. Dhalon finished what he was doing, and the EXALT seemed to pull back again; Whatever he did bought us some breathing room. He said he had the data, and I told him to get to the Skyranger, and we'd provide cover.
We started to collapse in toward the LZ, but then Mardones called out that there was another flanker. I gave her the go ahead to neutralize him, which she did, with extreme prejudice. We held position, with Faber managing to wound one of the enemy. When they attempted to advance, Kline took a shot and killed the first mover, which encouraged the others to be more cautious. Their caution was insufficient, as I finished off the one that Maschine wounded. Kline, out of charge on her laser rifle, moved forward and tossed an AP grenade, wounding the remaining EXALT, allows Mardones to charge up and kill him from a flanked position.
Faber called contact from the top of the train yard. I designated the closer of the two, and Faber took him down, while Kline and Mardones advanced under cover. Kline, getting into range, tossed an HE frag and blew the last hostile out of cover, which gave me a clean shot to put him down.
When no further resistance was immediately forthcoming, I ordered a withdrawal to the Skyranger.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Coordinate fires to clear threats
- Explosives shape the battlefield to our advantage
o Improve:
- In hostile territory, there is no "front"
- If you can shoot the enemy, the enemy can shoot you
PREPARED BY: CPL JADE COLMAN
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 12x EXALT Forces, armed with conventional weapons and rockets
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Jade Colman (United Kingdom)
- CPL Lorena Kline (United States)
- CPL Lieselotte Faber (Germany)
- CPL Ana Lucia Mardones
o Covert Operative
- PFC Anant Dhalon
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Nigeria, 28 MAY 2016 @ 0332 hrs, IOT extract Covert Operative Dhalon.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 0153, and we were wheels up by 0209, and boots on ground in Nigeria by 0332. We made contact with CO Dhalon, who informed us that he'd been compromised while trying to recover data. He was currently holed up in a small storage room, and he knew EXALT was closing on his location.
Mustang cut left, in the direction his intel said he'd likely be coming. As soon as she reached the , she spotted three enemies who immediately moved to cover. We immediately moved to cover and CPL Kline took a shot, killing one of them. Dhalon called out that he was moving, and that he could disrupt the enemies comms. Shortly after, we saw the EXALT pull back behind cover, fiddling with their weapons.
I took this opportunity and designated the furthest target with my LMG, which allowed Maschine to put him down. We heard small arms fire from above, and saw PFC Dhalon, hightailing it toward a strange, spinning node. Mardones, seeing that he'd be exposed to the remaining hostile, charged forward, skid in beside the semi truck and took him down with a blast from her shotgun. Dhalon made it to the node, and immediately started fiddling with it. Kline advanced, eyes on where Dhalon had come from, and used her laser rifle to put down one of his pursuers, causing the other to stop and duck behind cover.
Just then, three more EXALT operatives came in on our right flank, and I had to scramble to new cover. Kline, distracted momentarily by this new threat, was exposed long enough to take a burst from the left, right in the middle of her strike plate. She confirmed that she was still combat capable as she moved to better cover. That was when Dhalon shouted that we had other flankers coming in from the left.
Mustang dodged around the rock, and took down one of the new flankers on the left, and Faber managed to take out one of the enemy on the right with a well-placed headshot. Dhalon finished what he was doing, and the EXALT seemed to pull back again; Whatever he did bought us some breathing room. He said he had the data, and I told him to get to the Skyranger, and we'd provide cover.
We started to collapse in toward the LZ, but then Mardones called out that there was another flanker. I gave her the go ahead to neutralize him, which she did, with extreme prejudice. We held position, with Faber managing to wound one of the enemy. When they attempted to advance, Kline took a shot and killed the first mover, which encouraged the others to be more cautious. Their caution was insufficient, as I finished off the one that Maschine wounded. Kline, out of charge on her laser rifle, moved forward and tossed an AP grenade, wounding the remaining EXALT, allows Mardones to charge up and kill him from a flanked position.
Faber called contact from the top of the train yard. I designated the closer of the two, and Faber took him down, while Kline and Mardones advanced under cover. Kline, getting into range, tossed an HE frag and blew the last hostile out of cover, which gave me a clean shot to put him down.
When no further resistance was immediately forthcoming, I ordered a withdrawal to the Skyranger.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Coordinate fires to clear threats
- Explosives shape the battlefield to our advantage
o Improve:
- In hostile territory, there is no "front"
- If you can shoot the enemy, the enemy can shoot you
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
OPERATION CURSED FUTURE - AFTER ACTION REPORT (24 MAY 2016 @ 0313)
OPERATION CURSED FUTURE - AFTER ACTION REPORT
PREPARED BY: SGT Constance Makhandule
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 3x Thin Men, 3x Floaters, 3x Sectoids, 1x Outsider
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Constance Makhandule (South Africa)
- CPL Ghaith Khadem (Egypt)
- CPL Lara Jordan (Australia)
- SPC Simone Ribeiro (Brazil)
- PFC Wushun Zhu (China)
- PFC Leigh Fahey (United States)
- PFC Maurice Vos (Netherlands)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Alberta, Canada, 24 MAY 2016 @ 0313 hrs, IOT clear and exploit a downed alien scout craft.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 0230, and we were wheels up by 0255. We touched down in Alberta at 0313. After taking some time to observe our surroundings, I moved the squad toward the barn, as the nearest heavy cover, with Zhu taking an overwatch position on a silo. Moving into the barn was uneventful, though we heard movement in the darkness. It wasn't until Vos and Zhu took up positions in the silo that we saw the first of the enemy, a trio of Thin Men who'd taken position on the roof of the barn.
They attempted to surround us, both in the loft and below. Before they could get into position and fire upon us, SPC Ribeiro had taken the one in the loft, while Jordan and Vos took down the one outside the barn door. The third attempted to burst in on us through the side door, and was taken down by massed fire. Apologies to the science team for the condition of this specimen. Khadem and Ribeiro were caught in the noxious cloud as it died. I had myself and Jordan move to overwatch positions outside, and we waited until they'd recovered from the poison.
Then we assaulted the downed UFO. I knew it was likely from reading other reports that confronting the command element, probably one of those energy beings they call the "Outsider", that the rest of the crew would come running, so I ensured my assault team and my overwatch element had sufficient cover before we went in. The assault element, consisting of Horus, Athena, SPC Ribeiro and PFC Fahey stacked on the side of the craft, while Zhu, Vos and myself remained back on overwatch. Ribeiro peeked the right side of the UFO, getting eyes on the Outsider while the rest of the team moved around the left. Horus, Athena and Ribeiro pinned it down while Fahey charged in for the close range flank, and killed it.
Once the Outsider was eliminated, the squad reset for the assault. It started with a pod of Floaters in the field. PFC Zhu was the first to spot them, and managed to cripple one of them, and I followed it up with a rocket that finished the job and wounded another. That survivor began to fire wildly at me, peppering my position with plasma, while the other rocketed into the sky, landing somewhere on the other side of the barn. A pod of Sectoids, attempting to take advantage of our focus on the Floaters, tried to flank, but PFC Vos scattered them to cover with his SAW.
CPL Ghaith saw the rocketing Floater and fired at it, drawing Jordan's attention, who maneuvered to assist. Fahey charged forward and eliminated the Floater that was pinning me down, which freed me up to blow the Sectoids that Vos had spotted into bits. Jordan reached cover where she could see the remaining Floater, and put it down with a precise shot to the head.
We cleared the remainder of the site, meeting no further hostiles, and called for the site exploitation team.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Massed Fires
- Use of explosives against clustered enemies
o Improve:
- Don't move into a Thin Man's poison cloud
- Higher OPTEMPO may yield more Meld
PREPARED BY: SGT Constance Makhandule
SITUATION
o Enemy Forces:
- 3x Thin Men, 3x Floaters, 3x Sectoids, 1x Outsider
o Friendly Forces
- CPL Constance Makhandule (South Africa)
- CPL Ghaith Khadem (Egypt)
- CPL Lara Jordan (Australia)
- SPC Simone Ribeiro (Brazil)
- PFC Wushun Zhu (China)
- PFC Leigh Fahey (United States)
- PFC Maurice Vos (Netherlands)
MISSION
o Strike Team deploys to Alberta, Canada, 24 MAY 2016 @ 0313 hrs, IOT clear and exploit a downed alien scout craft.
EXECUTION NARRATIVE
The mission alert came in at 0230, and we were wheels up by 0255. We touched down in Alberta at 0313. After taking some time to observe our surroundings, I moved the squad toward the barn, as the nearest heavy cover, with Zhu taking an overwatch position on a silo. Moving into the barn was uneventful, though we heard movement in the darkness. It wasn't until Vos and Zhu took up positions in the silo that we saw the first of the enemy, a trio of Thin Men who'd taken position on the roof of the barn.
They attempted to surround us, both in the loft and below. Before they could get into position and fire upon us, SPC Ribeiro had taken the one in the loft, while Jordan and Vos took down the one outside the barn door. The third attempted to burst in on us through the side door, and was taken down by massed fire. Apologies to the science team for the condition of this specimen. Khadem and Ribeiro were caught in the noxious cloud as it died. I had myself and Jordan move to overwatch positions outside, and we waited until they'd recovered from the poison.
Then we assaulted the downed UFO. I knew it was likely from reading other reports that confronting the command element, probably one of those energy beings they call the "Outsider", that the rest of the crew would come running, so I ensured my assault team and my overwatch element had sufficient cover before we went in. The assault element, consisting of Horus, Athena, SPC Ribeiro and PFC Fahey stacked on the side of the craft, while Zhu, Vos and myself remained back on overwatch. Ribeiro peeked the right side of the UFO, getting eyes on the Outsider while the rest of the team moved around the left. Horus, Athena and Ribeiro pinned it down while Fahey charged in for the close range flank, and killed it.
Once the Outsider was eliminated, the squad reset for the assault. It started with a pod of Floaters in the field. PFC Zhu was the first to spot them, and managed to cripple one of them, and I followed it up with a rocket that finished the job and wounded another. That survivor began to fire wildly at me, peppering my position with plasma, while the other rocketed into the sky, landing somewhere on the other side of the barn. A pod of Sectoids, attempting to take advantage of our focus on the Floaters, tried to flank, but PFC Vos scattered them to cover with his SAW.
CPL Ghaith saw the rocketing Floater and fired at it, drawing Jordan's attention, who maneuvered to assist. Fahey charged forward and eliminated the Floater that was pinning me down, which freed me up to blow the Sectoids that Vos had spotted into bits. Jordan reached cover where she could see the remaining Floater, and put it down with a precise shot to the head.
We cleared the remainder of the site, meeting no further hostiles, and called for the site exploitation team.
LESSONS LEARNED
o Sustain:
- Massed Fires
- Use of explosives against clustered enemies
o Improve:
- Don't move into a Thin Man's poison cloud
- Higher OPTEMPO may yield more Meld
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Technical Difficulties (22 MAY 2016)
"Hey, Pidge," IO Pidgeon turned around, minimizing the screen he'd been working on as he did. Everyone here was cleared at the highest level, but old habits die hard. He recognized the speaker as Technical Officer Jessup, one of the InfoTech guys responsible for the massive computer systems that allowed XCOM to function.
"Jessup," he said. "What's up?"
"You got a few minutes? I want to run something by you." Pidgeon raised an eyebrow. He only knew Jessup casually, but he seemed competent and confident. This reticence wasn't his normal style.
"Sure," he replied. "I need a break from staring at these IMINT reports anyway." He stood and stretched, feeling several pops in his back as he did so.
"Good. It's on my console, down in the server room." Jessup turned and lead the way, with Pidgeon following. It took them a little while, and one lift trip, down to the datacenter behind the research labs. The temperature dropped dramatically as soon as they stepped inside, and IO Pidgeon was happy for the sweater that was part of their regular uniform. Jessup didn't seem to mind, but it was probably a bit colder in England than it was in Australia.
"Here we are," Jessup said, sliding into a seat. "Pull up a chair." he gestured toward a rolling chair at one of the nearby empty consoles. Pidgeon pulled it over and dropped into it, as Jessup logged into the console, then pulled up another screen and logged in again. Pidgeon leaned forward, trying to figure out what he was looking at.
"This is the security log aggregator," Jessup said by way of explanation. "With such a large datacenter, it's best to have a centralized collection of the logs. It makes it easier to detect problems on a larger scale than a single device. It allows us to know when anyone tries to access a flagged site on the internet, for example." Pidgeon blinked, and Jessup paused to smirk at him before continuing. "Yes, I am talking about what you think I am. But that's not why I brought you down here."
"So, what is it?" IO Pidgeon asked. He continued to stare at the lines and lines of text, each composed of seeming gibberish. But finding patterns in chaos was what he did, and he was good at his job. He didn't always have to understand it to find something useful.
"I'm..." Jessup's confident explanation faltered again, and Pidgeon glanced at him. "I'm not sure. It's a feeling, really. Nothing at all that I can point to and call a problem. None of the heuristic scanners are throwing any flags, either. But something is..." he paused again, then shook his head. "Off. Something is definitely off, and it's literally keeping me up nights. It's been a week or so."
"And you're hoping I can spot something?" Pidgeon asked, his eyes back on the screen.
"Yeah. My mate Colman said that's what you intel guys do. She did some Ops time when she first joined the British Army, worked with some of your peers. She said it was bloody amazing how you could take a bunch of barely related images and garbled radio transmissions and turn it into actionable information."
"Yeah," Pidgeon said with a grin. "Never challenge a Secret Squirrel to a game of Twenty Questions or Tetris."
"Secret Squirrel?" Jessup said the phrase slowly, as though testing how it tasted.
"American slang for intel geeks," Pidgeon explained. "I liked it, so I use it when I get a chance."
"I see," the technician replied with a small smile. It was clear that he was still worried about the problem, so Pidgeon turned back to the screen.
"You can sort and filter this list?" he asked. When Jessup nodded, he continued. "Show me. Also, if you can explain what these icons mean, that'll help in detecting any patterns."
They sat there for an hour then two and three, looking at the data in various ways, sorting by date, type, system. Eventually, a couple of Jessup's colleagues joined in, and they combined the data with a network diagram. Pidgeon knew he'd never understand the depth of what these guys did on a daily basis, but he began to be sure that Jessup was correct. Something was definitely "Off". He felt that he was starting to get somewhere, and he could tell by the furrowed brows of the technical staff that they thought so too.
Just then, the intercom chirped, and a second later, Bradford's voice filled the datacenter.
"IT Staff, is Intelligence Officer Pidgeon down there in the datacenter?"
"Sir," IO Pidgeon spoke up. "I'm here, yes."
"We're changing the Watch in thirty minutes, and I still don't have your INTSUM. What are you doing?" Bradford's voice was definitely annoyed. IO Pidgeon glanced at the clock. He'd completely lost track of time.
"Shit," he muttered, then spoke up. "Sir, I'll be right up to explain in person. Something is going on, and I think it's important." Jessup stood up immediately, falling in at Pidgeon's heels, as they hurried out of the datacenter.
Bradford was waiting, arms crossed when they reached Mission Control. He didn't say a word as IO Pidgeon reported, just lifted an eyebrow. Pidgeon swallowed heavily, then started talking.
"Sir," he began, "TO Jessup came to me this morning, asking me to give him my take on a nebulous issue he'd noted in the security logs." Bradford's expression became a bit stonier, so Pidgeon decided to cut to the chase. "After looking it over and consulting with the Technical Control team, there is definitely something going on, something not good. I think..." he stopped, not really wanting to say the words. He glanced at TO Jessup, standing quietly, ready to give support, and got the nod.
"Sir, I think our systems have been compromised."
"What?" Bradford erupted. He obviously hadn't been expecting that. "What do you mean, compromised? How? By who?"
"Sir," interjected TO Jessup. "We're still investigating. Whoever it is, they're good. Really, really good. They've covered their tracks well, which is why I asked IO Pidgeon to take a look."
"Can you tell me anything useful, right now?" Bradford was furious, but the anger was no longer directed at them.
"It appears as though the infiltrator has set up a redirection proxy in one of the edge routers, and is using that as a staging point for their attack. There have been several malformed packets in traffic going to and from-" Jessup cut off, as Bradford raised a curt hand.
"Stop. Try to explain it in simpler terms. I respect your expertise, and I don't have time to learn to speak your language."
"Sir," Pidgeon broke in, "Basically, the threat appears to be coming from outside, and they're tampering with our transmissions going to and from the Nations Bank." He glanced at Jessup again, who nodded in confirmation.
"The Nations..." Bradford turned and dashed across Mission Control, toward the Commander's office.
"You mean to tell me that we've lost everything?" Bradford was on the phone after his brief consultation with the Commander. "I don't care what the records show," his voice was barely containing his fury. "This is unacceptable. We trusted you-" he stopped, fuming while the voice on the other end of the line made some excuse or other. "Fine. We will be taking this issue to the oversight committee." He shoved the phone into the receiver hard than necessary, and turned to IO Pidgeon. "Contact the Council, immediately. Tell them that XCOM is requesting a full emergency hearing. Something has to be done about this, now."
"Right away, sir," Pidgeon turned, just in time to find one of the comms officers approaching. "What is it?"
"The Council," he said. "They're calling an emergency hearing with XCOM. They're on the line in the Situation Room."
"Jessup," he said. "What's up?"
"You got a few minutes? I want to run something by you." Pidgeon raised an eyebrow. He only knew Jessup casually, but he seemed competent and confident. This reticence wasn't his normal style.
"Sure," he replied. "I need a break from staring at these IMINT reports anyway." He stood and stretched, feeling several pops in his back as he did so.
"Good. It's on my console, down in the server room." Jessup turned and lead the way, with Pidgeon following. It took them a little while, and one lift trip, down to the datacenter behind the research labs. The temperature dropped dramatically as soon as they stepped inside, and IO Pidgeon was happy for the sweater that was part of their regular uniform. Jessup didn't seem to mind, but it was probably a bit colder in England than it was in Australia.
"Here we are," Jessup said, sliding into a seat. "Pull up a chair." he gestured toward a rolling chair at one of the nearby empty consoles. Pidgeon pulled it over and dropped into it, as Jessup logged into the console, then pulled up another screen and logged in again. Pidgeon leaned forward, trying to figure out what he was looking at.
"This is the security log aggregator," Jessup said by way of explanation. "With such a large datacenter, it's best to have a centralized collection of the logs. It makes it easier to detect problems on a larger scale than a single device. It allows us to know when anyone tries to access a flagged site on the internet, for example." Pidgeon blinked, and Jessup paused to smirk at him before continuing. "Yes, I am talking about what you think I am. But that's not why I brought you down here."
"So, what is it?" IO Pidgeon asked. He continued to stare at the lines and lines of text, each composed of seeming gibberish. But finding patterns in chaos was what he did, and he was good at his job. He didn't always have to understand it to find something useful.
"I'm..." Jessup's confident explanation faltered again, and Pidgeon glanced at him. "I'm not sure. It's a feeling, really. Nothing at all that I can point to and call a problem. None of the heuristic scanners are throwing any flags, either. But something is..." he paused again, then shook his head. "Off. Something is definitely off, and it's literally keeping me up nights. It's been a week or so."
"And you're hoping I can spot something?" Pidgeon asked, his eyes back on the screen.
"Yeah. My mate Colman said that's what you intel guys do. She did some Ops time when she first joined the British Army, worked with some of your peers. She said it was bloody amazing how you could take a bunch of barely related images and garbled radio transmissions and turn it into actionable information."
"Yeah," Pidgeon said with a grin. "Never challenge a Secret Squirrel to a game of Twenty Questions or Tetris."
"Secret Squirrel?" Jessup said the phrase slowly, as though testing how it tasted.
"American slang for intel geeks," Pidgeon explained. "I liked it, so I use it when I get a chance."
"I see," the technician replied with a small smile. It was clear that he was still worried about the problem, so Pidgeon turned back to the screen.
"You can sort and filter this list?" he asked. When Jessup nodded, he continued. "Show me. Also, if you can explain what these icons mean, that'll help in detecting any patterns."
They sat there for an hour then two and three, looking at the data in various ways, sorting by date, type, system. Eventually, a couple of Jessup's colleagues joined in, and they combined the data with a network diagram. Pidgeon knew he'd never understand the depth of what these guys did on a daily basis, but he began to be sure that Jessup was correct. Something was definitely "Off". He felt that he was starting to get somewhere, and he could tell by the furrowed brows of the technical staff that they thought so too.
Just then, the intercom chirped, and a second later, Bradford's voice filled the datacenter.
"IT Staff, is Intelligence Officer Pidgeon down there in the datacenter?"
"Sir," IO Pidgeon spoke up. "I'm here, yes."
"We're changing the Watch in thirty minutes, and I still don't have your INTSUM. What are you doing?" Bradford's voice was definitely annoyed. IO Pidgeon glanced at the clock. He'd completely lost track of time.
"Shit," he muttered, then spoke up. "Sir, I'll be right up to explain in person. Something is going on, and I think it's important." Jessup stood up immediately, falling in at Pidgeon's heels, as they hurried out of the datacenter.
Bradford was waiting, arms crossed when they reached Mission Control. He didn't say a word as IO Pidgeon reported, just lifted an eyebrow. Pidgeon swallowed heavily, then started talking.
"Sir," he began, "TO Jessup came to me this morning, asking me to give him my take on a nebulous issue he'd noted in the security logs." Bradford's expression became a bit stonier, so Pidgeon decided to cut to the chase. "After looking it over and consulting with the Technical Control team, there is definitely something going on, something not good. I think..." he stopped, not really wanting to say the words. He glanced at TO Jessup, standing quietly, ready to give support, and got the nod.
"Sir, I think our systems have been compromised."
"What?" Bradford erupted. He obviously hadn't been expecting that. "What do you mean, compromised? How? By who?"
"Sir," interjected TO Jessup. "We're still investigating. Whoever it is, they're good. Really, really good. They've covered their tracks well, which is why I asked IO Pidgeon to take a look."
"Can you tell me anything useful, right now?" Bradford was furious, but the anger was no longer directed at them.
"It appears as though the infiltrator has set up a redirection proxy in one of the edge routers, and is using that as a staging point for their attack. There have been several malformed packets in traffic going to and from-" Jessup cut off, as Bradford raised a curt hand.
"Stop. Try to explain it in simpler terms. I respect your expertise, and I don't have time to learn to speak your language."
"Sir," Pidgeon broke in, "Basically, the threat appears to be coming from outside, and they're tampering with our transmissions going to and from the Nations Bank." He glanced at Jessup again, who nodded in confirmation.
"The Nations..." Bradford turned and dashed across Mission Control, toward the Commander's office.
-
"You mean to tell me that we've lost everything?" Bradford was on the phone after his brief consultation with the Commander. "I don't care what the records show," his voice was barely containing his fury. "This is unacceptable. We trusted you-" he stopped, fuming while the voice on the other end of the line made some excuse or other. "Fine. We will be taking this issue to the oversight committee." He shoved the phone into the receiver hard than necessary, and turned to IO Pidgeon. "Contact the Council, immediately. Tell them that XCOM is requesting a full emergency hearing. Something has to be done about this, now."
"Right away, sir," Pidgeon turned, just in time to find one of the comms officers approaching. "What is it?"
"The Council," he said. "They're calling an emergency hearing with XCOM. They're on the line in the Situation Room."
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