Tuesday, September 29, 2015

OPERATION RED STAR - AFTER ACTION REPORT (28 JUL 2016 @ 0726)

OPERATION RED STAR - AFTER ACTION REPORT

PREPARED BY: SFC Shaojie Zhang


SITUATION

o Enemy Forces:
 - 1x Sectoid, 4x Mutons, 10x Floaters, 6x Thin Men

o Friendly Forces
 - SFC Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang (China)
 - SGT Wushun "Tu-Tu" Zhu (China)
 - SGT Lara "Athena" Jordan (Australia)
 - SGT Clarisse "Interrogator" Poncelet (Belgium)
 - CPL Maurice "Nitro" Vos (Netherlands)
 - CPL Kelly "Luna" Meirelles (Brazil)
 - CPL Meixing "Yuan Gui" Wong (China) - KIA
 - PFC Sivert Harstad (Norway)


MISSION

o Strike Team deploys to Aswan, Egypt, 28 JUL 2016 @ 0726 hrs, IOT extract a scientist with possibly useful research.

EXECUTION NARRATIVE

The Mission Alert came in at 0515 hrs. The squad was assembled and ready to roll by 0533. We made contact with Dr. Marazuki by 0726, and prepared to escort him back to the Skyranger when Central came across comms and alerted us to incoming hostiles.

I directed Wong into the next room to try to get eyes on our flanks, and she caught sight of a mixed pod of X-Rays. Myself and Meirelles moved to support, backed by Jordan and Poncelet while the rest of the squad took up positions near the other entrances to the observatory, closest to the LZ. Before we could get into proper position, the Muton fired through the window and killed Wong instantly.


Meirelles moved immediately into the room where Wong was killed, and took the Muton down with a blast from her shotgun. Vos and Harstad opened the door to reveal a trio of floaters and another Muton moving into cover positions between the observatory and the LZ. Luckily, one of them took cover inside of the room that Tu-Tu was covering, so he kicked open the door and shot the Muton, nearly killing it. Vos took a shot at the nearby floater, critically wounding it as well. Poncelet threw a smoke grenade to cover Zhu; The Muton was still dangerous, even wounded. Harstad fired a rocket at the Floaters further back, but only managed to injure them slightly. 

The X-Rays, meanwhile, continued to advance, including one Floater who rocketed up to come down on our rear. Before it could draw a bead on our flanked troopers, I dove through the window and shot it point blank. Meirelles, still stationed at the window, took out a Sectoid as it approached. Vos eliminated one of the Floaters that Harstad had damaged, and Zhu came under fire as he drew his pistol to finish off the Muton he'd injured, but the smoke seemed to do its job, and he was unharmed. Jordan joined Meirelles at the window, and took a shot at a nearby Floater as it took a shot at Meirelles, managing to throw off its aim, but not kill it.

I caught the sound of movement on the rooftop, so I directed someone to try to get up there and investigate. Jordan responded that she saw a ladder up, but the Floater was covering the window. She and Meirelles took shots at it, finally taking it down. Vos and Harstad combined fires on one of the remaining Floaters, and eliminated it at the same time. This seemed to set the X-Rays off, as several more Floaters jetted into the cover of the distant panel van. Meirelles took this momentary calm to charge out, and climb the ladder, her shotgun raised to shoot. However, once on the rooftop, she reported negative contact. Then we waited for the aliens to move in.

When the X-Rays moved, they moved fast. We took several shots, but only Zhu and I managed to wing one Floater. Meirelles finally spotted a Thin Man on the rooftop, and move in for the kill. Vos and Harstad continued their double-team, and took down another Floater. Jordan, moving to support Meirelles on the roof, took a shot of opportunity and finished off the injured Floater. Then even more Floaters and Mutons charged into view, quickly scattering to cover positions.

Realizing we were in a target rich environment, Harstad threw his launcher up on his shoulder, and launched another HE Rocket into their midst. One was killed in the blast, and their cover was completely destroyed. Vos followed up on the Muton before it could recover and blew it away. Poncelet, inside with Zhu, popped the door and took a shot at a Floater, knocking it out of the sky. Jordan, moved back into ground cover, took some potshots at one of the remaining Floaters, while everyone else repositioned and reloaded. 

Most of the X-Rays, disoriented by the blast, withdrew out of range, but two Thin Men charged forward, both focusing fire on Poncelet, injuring her. She returned the favor with a grenade that appeared to do minimal damage. Vos managed to catch and eliminate one of the withdrawing Floaters before it was out of range. Zhu moved up to support Poncelet, throwing a Flashbang into the panel van. Meirelles, Jordan and I moved up to the forward edge of the roof to provide overwatch for the rest of the squad below.

The X-Rays focused fire on Zhu and Poncelet, but the flashbang had done its work, and they both escaped injury before Zhu returned fire, resulting in a dead Thin Man. I took out the remaining Thin Man and Muton that were plaguing Zhu and Poncelet from my rooftop vantage. Poncelet moved forward to cover Meirelles' advance to the fore. 

When a single Floater returned to the fray, Zhu ensured it didn't survive to regret its decision. Meanwhile, Meirelles, having moved to the front, provided first aid to Poncelet. With no immediate resistance, the squad advanced carefully, clearing the way for Dr. Marazuki to move to the LZ. Suddenly, Central broke in with a report of incoming hostiles, at the same moment that Poncelet, Harstad and Jordan reported contact to our rear, and fired. The single Thin Man never had a chance as he was vaporized by three lasers at once. We advanced slowly, weapons at the ready, when another Thin Man came into sight from the rooftop to our rear. Vos designated it, and I shot it down so the rest of the squad could continue their advance; With Marazuki in the open, we could afford to keep still.

The squad continued to advance until the LZ was fully covered; We could see the pilot revving the engines through the back hatch. When Central reported movement on our left flank, we repositioned, with Meirelles moving to the roof, where she was able to lock a Thin Man down and injure it. Then I directed Dr. Marazuki to make for the Skyranger, while the rest of the squad moved to eliminate the remaining hostiles. Poncelet and Jordan moved to support Meirelles on the roof, as she barely avoided return fire from the Thin Man. Jordan was able to catch the Thin Man as he withdrew to cover, and that was the end for him.

A cursory inspection discovered no further resistance, so we returned to the Skyranger to bring the VIP home.



LESSONS LEARNED

o Sustain: 
 - Fire team structure
 - Clear enemy cover with explosives

o Improve:
 - Move carefully into the unknown
 - Withdraw into more secure cover when in doubt

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