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
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