Operation Pestilence (CLOSED, TFA)

[New Hayesalia]

VALKYRIE, TASK FORCE ATLAS MOBILE SEA BASE

This brief had followed another, the windowless briefing room aboard this mighty troopship booked for a meeting of Task Force Atlas. The snarling crest of the unit was on the right arm of one Captain Earl Hunnisett - or more commonly as his name tag said, "Q" - who would be delivering this brief. First man here, along with team 2IC Petty Officer 'F,' the pseudonym for one Dominic Sloan. Both men were of BASTION, New Hayesalia's penultimate special operations unit. Their deployment was a matter of the national interest, and having the ability to deploy international special forces for the common good seemed like a palatable idea for the leadership in Revnami.

On the screen was the presentation documents, a detailed look into the mission at hand. The map provided outlined all matters of importance. A knock at the door was met with a New Hayesalian accented man calling through it.

"Q, it's R," came the call of the team's light machine gunner. "Here for the briefing with a couple of others."

"Come on in." came the Captain's response.

The door opened as the eight remaining members of BASTION, and a number of international partner operators, entered the room chatting and taking off headgear, taking seats and pulling out notepads. The transitional tan uniforms of the New Hayesalians, and their multitude of rank insignias, set them distinct from their opposite numbers. One of the notable members was a rough looking black tabby cat on a leash, wearing a camouflage little coat with a man overboard detector sewed into it. The Ship's Cat remained a strong part of Navy culture in New Hayesalia, and this one - Slinky - had been a good member of BASTION and was entitled to a few medals for deployments.

Following the New Hayesalians were the foreign operators - the six green-fatigued Cemeralians came first, chatting; Esgonia's MARI-9 operators totalling 16 would form a likely part of the upcoming assault forces; in black followed the five from the Legatian TACUS; followed by the four women of the SFG from the Knockout state. The mission briefing room was filled with 41 men and women, plus a single cat. All but the latter were given a briefing mission booklet, marked with a Top Secret indicator.

Captain Q began his introduction.

"Well ladies and gents, first of all good morning, I'm sure we're all enjoying out time on Valkyrie. I am Captain Q, New Hayesalian Army. You're all aware of BASTION, and what we do, particularly those of you with a sun on your arm. For our international friends, BASTION is the New Hayesalian Army's tier one special operations unit. We're a collection of lost souls from our Tier 2 and 3 operators, with a hell of a lot of cross training. I'm sure you can all keep up - but as the operational leader for this particular mission, I expect you all to outpace us."

The first slide was brought up, the Task Force Atlas template followed loyally. The title: Operation Pestilence.

"Operation Pestilence is a mission attached to the New Hayesalian-led Operation Shackles Unchained, which is a major anti-slavery and anti-piracy operation that's been ongoing since 1999. Needless to say, commercial traffic remains much more unmolested than it's been historically, and the rate of slavery has dramatically decreased. Still, it's important to maintain our operations for deterrence, and as such we have to target leadership as we can."

"This mission is to destroy a key pirate facility, eliminate a pirate leader, recover some hostages, and acquire intelligence on pirate operations. The key target is a midlevel pirate leader with a fleet of approximately 23 fast vessels and 3 motherships operating in the region of interest. His name is Subchar Tekkal, also known as Fighter."

An image of the pirate came on screen. Some others, including recent covert footage from intelligence officers, followed.

"He's the mustachioed fellow on the left. Images of the man are rare, and his history is as a police bodyguard. He's not particularly well trained, but a burst of AK-74u fire is deadly if it hits, no matter if it's fired by us or a moron. He's a pretty charismatic leader, and he's been good at covering his tracks, but some good work by the NH Navy and the Foreign Intelligence Directorate has led us to this mission."

"To that end, in 48 hours time we will depart this ship via two helicopters and link up with the New Hayesalian Navy's Trident-class submarine, the NHS Yellowhammer. The vessel carries a number of New Hayesalian Marines and a number of infantry support tools, including weapons and explosive instruments, so any last-minute changes can be accommodated."

"Sunrise for three day's time is at 0614 hours, therefore we will be departing the submarine at 0400 hours. We will have four distinct teams. Each team will contain ten operators, sans the command team with 11. The breakdown of your teams and any particular roles will be outlined."

"Each team will be moved along Approach Routes 1 or 2, and we will form a column of vessels going upriver. Teams 1 and 2 on Route 1, Teams 3 and 4 on Route 2. It'll be a slow pace, and we'll be on high alert. Usually we would go underwater for this with frogmen, but the risk of crocodiles is too high. The RHIBs are going to be driven by Naval Gunfire Directors from the New Hayesalian Marines. It's a small part of their usual jobs, but they're Commando qualified and will have a limited role in this operation."

"We do not believe any vessels are going to be using the river at the same time as us - we've had recon watching for river usage, and they run it on a rare basis. It's either their ships are leaving to head out on a job, or returning from a job or to get repairs. We have no intelligence suggesting imminent departures or arrivals, and there's no reported pirate attacks in the affected area for now. Moreover, departures usually occur at moonlit days or at 0600 hours to get some light, and we'll have a sonar report on anything coming in. Needless to say, there'll be no moon when we strike"

The map appeared again.

"The RHIBs will make landfall here, about 300 metres away from the repair facility. Team One will proceed through the jungle and take up a position to eliminate any sentries or major threats, as well as radio operators, when the order to execute is given. Their mission is the wholesale destruction of this expensive facility, so bring along a couple of backpacks of C4, thermite charges, so on. As long as you have time, take EPWs and intelligence, and throw their toolboxes and anything small and expensive into the river."

"The problem Team One will have is crossing over to the repair facility. There's a small tributary river, and the water will be about knee high. Again, the risk is crocodiles, so throw a few frag grenades in the water before you cross to either kill the scaly fuckers or scare them off."

"Team Two and Three will proceed to the southern edges of the operational zone, making note of any fortified guard positions or potential defence sites. We - BASTION that is - have a heavy weapons team that can undertake counter-defilading or hit them with a large amount of force. We don't want you blowing up any buildings, though, or firing indiscriminately, due to the hostages."

"Team Four is the command team. We'll be the multinational team particularly, and we'll be equipped to flank and destroy any fortified positions you can't hit."

"On the order to execute, Team Two, the largest, will be charged with clearing the command post - which has a combined barracks - and killing or capturing the HVT. Similarly, all units are going to be expected to kill or capture pirates as you see them. Subdividing that team will provide us with a section to handle the building clearance and a section to engage hostile sentries and approaching forces. You can call Team Four for that if needed. They don't have NVGs, but we are aware of their use of illumination flares, and of course they may well have floodlights and other measures available. Don't let them get them out, and you can cut them down barely being seen. Once you're in the CP, grab as much intel as possible, and get it out of there. We want to be in and out."

"Team Three proceed to the right and clear the prison. There are 11 hostages all up. Each has a profile contained within your briefing books you've been given. Three of them are New Hayesalians, so we have a particular need to get this done right. They might have them being interrogated or tortured, however, so make sure to positively ID targets, lest you accidentally get a hostage in transit. Once Team Three has secured them, they'll be led to the combined casualty collection, enemy POW, and hostage evacuation points, which is manned by our Marine friends. The RHIBs will have quite a bit of spare space, so we can fit all of you and the hostages, plus a collection of EPWs. You'll have to clear a path and lead them through."

"Furthermore, we have no authority from the nation to undertake this mission. They are, indeed, corrupt, and as such we need to be in and out of there. We don't believe a QRF of local forces helicopters is a major threat, but we don't want to give them the opportunity to even check. More importantly, if you leave anything behind they can use - a particular unique type of magazine, a flag patch, camouflage cloth, etc., they might try and put it to us. So let's not give them an inch to take a mile."

"The threat, of course, is pirates. They're usually pretty fucking high on anything from qat to meth, they sleep with their guns, and they don't really have a strong tactical style. Death don't strike them as a possibility, so they'll pull some seriously crazy moves. What they do know is how to move around the area and use the jungle to their advantage, so check every tree twice. This area is a coastal rainforest, so thin and tall trees will be all around, lots of canopy, so jungle warfare principles apply. The greatest threats are insidious. Pressure plated EODs, pungee pits, tripwires, and the like of jungle warfare. Infiltration will be slow, as we expect, so maintain stealth until all teams are in position. More information, of course, in your briefing books."

"The last part of this is our Vannish friends from VSF-1. They're our newest oppos, so welcome. Your role is going to be as a 2 man unit, trailing Team 5. You're the emergency team, so in the event of a major casevac it's down to you guys to get them out of the firing line and down to the RHIBs, then get back up. Lot of jungle-bashing for you if that happens, so I hope you have your protein shakes before we go in."

"Equipment for this mission includes breaching gear, IR laser pointers, and equipment suitable for checking for booby traps and EOD equipment."

The teams were shown on the next page.

TEAM ONE - REPAIR FACILITY
Required equipment - minesweepers, demolitions equipment

Team Leader - Captain Kazuki Lee, TKGG-SDF
Team Medic - Sgt. Elizabeth Roweman, MARI
Radio Operator - Corporal Everett 'Geek' Russo, ISC
Demolitions Expert - Cpl. Albert Risona, MARI
Demolitions Expert - Sgt. Jaroslaw Hrsika, MARI
Demolitions Expert - Leading Aircraftswoman D, BASTION
Rifleman - Master Sergeant Lillian 'No Love Lill' Krczawa, ISC
Autorifleman - Lance Corporal R, BASTION
Designated Marksman - Sgt. Naoto Shimamura, MARI
Grenadier - MSgt. Hereford Bartlett III, MARI

TEAM TWO - COMMAND POST CLEARANCE
Required equipment - minesweepers, additional CQB gear

Team Leader - Cpt. Niko Sesseria, MARI
Team Medic - Sgt. Sago Gadeshina, MARI
Radio Operator - Lt. Rolan Abalos, MARI
Specialist One (intel) - Cpl. Movzar Nikanov, MARI
Specialist Two (intel) - Special Grade Lucaria Aristos, TACUS
Specialist Three (intel) - Cpt. Ilyushin Kajena, MARI
Rifleman - SSgt. Catherine Pasternak, MARI
Rifleman - Private Dan 'Viking' Cerasa, ISC
Autorifleman - Primus Marcus Vento, TACUS
Designated Marksman - Marine Proficient H, BASTION
Grenadier - Petty Officer F, BASTION

TEAM THREE - HOSTAGE RECOVERY
Required equipment - minesweepers

Team Leader - Centurion Tiberius Caepio, TACUS
Team Medic - Decanus Class 2 Lucius Kaede, TACUS
Radio Operator - Corporal U, BASTION
Recovery Specialist One - Sergeant Jin Takishimia, TKGG-SDF
Specialist Two - Lieutenant Derek 'Iceman' Kemry, ISU
Rifleman - Cpl. Shane Downeller, MARI
Rifleman - Cpl. Hermann Silvat, MARI
Autorifleman - Primus Marcus Silanus, TACUS
Designated Marksman - Primus class 3 Paulus Vybain, TACUS
Grenadier - SSgt. Ranko Shiina, MARI

TEAM FOUR - COMMAND AND SURGE REINFORCEMENTS TEAM
Required equipment - minesweepers

Operational Commander - Captain Q, BASTION
Command Team 2IC - First Lieutenant Shizuka Minamo, TKGG-SDF
Team Medic - Sergeant J, BASTION
Radio Operator - Corporal Jeanine 'No Name' Forte, ISC
Specialist Subaltern - Ensign Dominic 'Hotshot' Bluejoy, ISC
Specialist Subaltern - 1st Lt. Yonatan Kilmura, MARI
Rifleman - Sgt. Theodore Zwolf, MARI
Rifleman - Sergeant Alisha Masamoto, TKGG-SDF
Autorifleman - Lance Corporal A, BASTION
Designated Marksman - Guards Corporal K, BASTION
Grenadier - Lance Corporal O, BASTION (with GS-777 rocket launcher)

TEAM FIVE - STRETCHER BEARERS
Required equipment - good body armour, emergency medical equipment, collapsible stretcher

Stretcher-bearer - SFC Peter Farnsen, VSF-1
Stretcher-bearer - SFC Mark Emerazi, VSF-1

The Captain continued with more details, noting that the mission was expected to be on it's way out by 0630 hours to get back onto the submarine and out of the waters. Questions were, of course, open to the floor as the man took a drink of water.

[Saradena]

Aboard the Valkyrie

---

All huddled up in the briefing room wearing Digital Flecktarn, the Esgonian Operators take in the information that was being briefed by the Hayesalians. Being their first actual operation in Atlas, and considering they make up a large chunk of the assault force, they need to plan this operation successfully in order not to embarrass themselves in front of ATLAS. The team's biggest concern would be the variety of booby traps that are placed around the camp, as they made up much of casualties for soldiers operating in hotzones. Therefore, extra care would need to be taken when treading towards the camp.

"Another anti-pirate op, eh?" chuckles Rolan, who has faced pirates numerous times during his days in the Navy. "This should be fun.."

As the captain of Team Two, who would clear out the Command Post, Captain Niko raises his hand and asks "Do we have any more information regarding the camp's defenses? such as guard towers, fixed emplacements, land vehicles, and so on? Along with what the OPFOR would be equipped with other than 7.62s and 5.56s, such as if they are equipped with hand grenades or something."

"Well, if we are to be stealthy when it comes to approaching the boat station.." Elizabeth says softly "Throwing frag grenades into shallow water would be out of the question."

"Then we shoot them. We are using suppressors for this op, right?" replies MSgt. Bartlett, to which Elizabeth nods to that.
Meanwhile Naoto, sitting in front, shudders at the thought of being in contact with crocodiles "Great. As if the knee-deep water was already shit, now I have to face fucking cro-" before he could finish, SSgt. Pasternak tugs him by the neck and snickers "What's wrong, weeb? afraid of a couple of big lizards?" as half of the team notice the two and chuckle.

[New Hayesalia]

The New Hayesalian Captain addressed the foreign officer, opening the briefing booklet to photographs of the site.

"The enemy foritifications are not exactly established. Essentially, thick wooden planks take the place of sandbags, they're more likely to use various drums and various scattered furniture to actually form a protective element. The jungle is their greatest defence, and for them, concealment is much more effective than cover... until we found them, of course. Weapons are a mish mash, but they include Kalashnikov and M16 type weapons, some various civilian style rifles and shotguns, a number of them have secondary pistols. Heavier weapons are mainly RPK machine rifles captured or bought from local forces, with a smattering of RPGs as usual. Their weapons aren't anything to write home about, but their balls-to-the-wall style will be. Again, the greatest challenge won't be killing individual pirates, it'll be doing it while ensuring we keep the hostages safe."

The Captain caught the muttering of the enlisted trooper, and inserted himself to the conversation.

"If you're spotted before we reach the objective the gunfire will start quickly. Once you get the order to execute, I expect to hear a symphony. When the enemy hears forty plus sets of gunfire, it makes him a lot more likely to surrender - suppressors are great for stealth, but guns blazing makes for great psy-ops. That being said, if you have suppressors for your pistols and such, bring it - in case an errant bad guy needs to go for a piss break at the wrong time."

"What else we got?"

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Aboard the Valkyrie

The TKGG - SDF operators, all four of them arrived at the same time as with the other operators and their respective team. Jin put off his chewing gum to the trash, while Alisha and Shizuka waited normally. Quite the quietness, despite the close relationship of the team. Perhaps because of the soon-to-be briefing. Captain Kazuki was the last from the team who arrived together, slightly later. Their first operation for the worldwide, multi-national Task Force Atlas but not their actual first operation on the foreign soils, they handled the current briefing on.

Anti-piracy OP, as it seems. Also connected to slavery and corrupt nation. Why they not surprised. Kazuki looked down on the corrupt nation's attitude, while the other three seems to be concerned but not as much as Kazuki. And...fuck, Kazuki's the leader of Team One. Useful to deploy his drone to review the area of their operation. The repair facility seems to hold radio operators as well, and maybe more than just that? He raised his hand to asked, "Do we have a specific information on the repair facility? Do they have anything major on their hands? How extensive and deep the security inside the repair facility? I also will connect my drone's feeds to everyone in Team One so they can see what the drone sees as well."

Jin is the support and part of Team Three, for hostage recovery. Perhaps for the best, his kit is suited for this. Alisha is the rifleman, and yet she is more suited for sniping. She could adapt, however. While Shizuka is with Alisha and the second-in-command for the Team Four, Command and Surge Reinforcement Team.

[New Hayesalia]

"The repair facility is a run of the mill sort of thing, nothing fancy. Two docks and a dry repair facility up a boat ramp."

The Captain turned a few pages in the briefing book, noting the page number for the satellite images and other sourced intel.

"Concrete service, three work sheds plus a covered dry dock - no walls, just a corrugated roof on stilts, there. Lots of baskets and crates around the joint, a forklift, plus some various tools like pressure blasts. We know they have after-hours patrols and two guard positions, so initally we expect no more than four security personnel. That being said, once the fire starts, others may try to come down and fend you off - ie, prepare yourself for a more interesting defence than an attack - and there's the risk of some mechanical types hanging around, who may very well be armed. Good CQB tactics are going to be important."

"Additionally, they have fuel drums scattered around the joint as well as gas fuel feeders. It's not too badly stowed, but it wouldn't pass workplace health and safety. I wouldn't be worried about an errant bullet setting off a firebomb, but if you start letting fuel dribble everywhere and then start tossing frags - well, you're asking for trouble. Particular attention should be paid to the two main fuel storage areas near the river docks, where they pump fuel direct from a hose."

"Any additional, final questions?"

[Forest State]

Valkyrie
The briefing

"Anti slavery and anti piracy... That's a throwback to the kind of stuff we handled back home. Well, when things were easier and we weren't always fighting wars in Kortalia or Airpine, or within our own borders after the wars for those countries," said Derek Kemry, to Dominic Bluejoy, as they made their way towards the room where the briefing was taking place. "Watching out for Cemeralians who have gotten in trouble abroad has always been a part of our duties, and before we had the other stuff to worry about, we did quite a few ops to rescue Cemeralian citizens from places like Airpine and San Feliz. Dan can probably tell you a thing or two about those kinds of operations, coming from the navy and all."

"The newbies wouldn't be able to say anything about being a part of those ops. Shame, we could use more of that experience right now," Dominic complained, looking back at the others that are trailing. "Jeanine is the kind of person that we used to shoot at when we were raiding Airpine and rescuing our people from there. Now, we're supposed to do the same kind of operation, but we're fighting side by side with her and not against her and her people. Just feels wrong. Sorry, Lieutenant, but that's just how I feel."

"It's strange for all of us to have Airpinians fighting with us. We just need to give it some time to become normal, and I promise you, it will. For a time, it was considered weird that the Special Units were being used outside of the country. And now look at us. I think it's just another thing that we all have to get used to-"

"It's not just Airpinians, we also have Kortalians. We hated them for years, and me and you and Dan have spilled so much of our own blood in the fight against them... And now that we're the same country, we're supposed to be buddies with them? Lill is fine, of course, but she's not the only one. There's so many of them now that being a Cemeralian in the Cemeralian military is becoming an oddity," Dominic sighed. "Sorry. Let's focus on the op. It's just something that's been on my mind."

And so they sit for the briefing and listen carefully to the details. They're not all happy with their assignments - Dominic insists that he should be a designated marksman - but they all agree that this should be an easy enough job. At least compared to the high intensity operations that Section One is used to from the Kortalian War, and the Airpine War more recently. There's still tensions with the group, but they're all willing to put that aside for now to work on what's important. "We think that some of the roles are questionable, but there's no questions from our side. I believe we're ready to get started," says Dominic, with the rest of the Cemeralian group nodding.

[New Hayesalia]

"Questionable maybe, but you're special forces. You're not just tier 1 anymore, you're ATLAS. As of now, each of you is a jack of all trades, and I expect you to perform your mission without performance issues."

The Captain's stern words as a veteran of ATLAS missions had to stick.

"Alright, that sums us up for the day. Any further questions can be directed to me personally or to your direct superior. We've got two Chinooks from the Yellowhammer arriving in 48 hours. We're setting up the training facilities to replicate these conditions, so wach of your team leaders will be in charge of directing your training and team-building, and of course it's your personal responsibilities to get your kit ready. This isn't the most high-intensity op, but it's still deadly."

The New Hayesalian Chief Petty Officer stood, and the two men donned their black berets. Calling attention, the various soldiers came to it and the New Hayesalians saluted, the room cleared to leave.

1100 HOURS, DECK OF THE VALKYRIE

Sunglasses were the order of the day for the multinational ATLAS unit, 44 men in all, all dressed in the combat fatigues and webbing of their national uniforms. The task force lazed in the sun, feeling the drift of sea air across their faces on the ship's elevator that took the heavy laden planes from the hangar to the deck. Task force crew members bustled around the deck in their rainbow uniforms, keeping aircraft up and ready to deploy as needed. The superstructure of the ship's island loomed over the soldiers, who had spent the last two days in weapons familiarisation, demolitions planning, operations practice, and other training to ready them for their five distinct jobs.

Over the whistle of the wind and the action on the deck, two grey and black Chinooks approached from the ship's 8 o'clock position. The massive craft, with two huge rotors apiece, were very fast on the approach, having taken only minutes to launch from the sopping wet 'flight deck' of the NHS Yellowhammer, some 30 nautical miles to the east of the Valkyrie.

The New Hayesalian Captain, who had been chatting away with an opposite number from the Legatian troop, now took a moment to rally the troops, ensuring they were well-organised into two chalks. Their gear, other than the firearms they each carried, had been packed onto two large pallets that the helicopters would sling load after loading the soldiers into their cavernous cabins. The downwash of their rotors blasted sea air across the dozens of soldiers, with the New Hayesalian Navy loadmasters leaving their posts at the wing doors - where miniguns usually stood dormant and ready to suppress the enemy below - with a few rigging the pallets on the ship's decks and liasing with the rainbow vested members, and two loadmasters leading the columns of troops into the Chinooks, and ensuring all were properly strapped into the gargantuan choppers.

Once the 44 men were in, the first aircraft lifted, it's loadmaster crouching to look at the hooking up of the first pallets underneath. Chinook 1 took flight back towards the Yellowhammer, followed by the second after it was connected. It was a well-managed operation, and for a couple of days to come that ATLAS team would be off the Valkyrie it temporarily called home.

The hull of the Yellowhammer soon came into the pilots views. Displacing 40,000 tonnes underwater and at a length of 215 metres, it was incredible that a vessel so long could be so stealthy. Indeed, it wasn't. It's main use was as a medium-range patrol vessel, saving New Hayesalia a special capability to launch about 400 Marines anywhere it could at exceptionally little notice. This mission was one excellent example of it.

The deck remained wet, with New Hayesalian Navy deck crew in their similar coloured vests awaiting the two helicopters. Small tugs and various tools lined the decks. The submarine moved forth very slowly. The island was located at the aft of the submarine, with a larger landing area at the front of the sub. Two otherwise water-tight elevators sat on the deck, at each of the two main helicopter landing areas. This time, the pallets came off the aircraft first, the first Chinook hovering slowly forward as the crew below disconnected the hook system, retracting itself henceforth back to the Chinook. She went to land in the forward spot, as the second Chinook repeatedthe movement. Both quickly powered down, the ATLAS teams instructed to remain at their seats as the helicopter rotors were chained and retracted and the vehicle put to sleep, essentially, before the ground gave way and they were elevated to the hangar level, the two choppers and the two pallets moved into a cleared staging area for the ATLAS teams.

It had been a well executed trasfer, and the teams had been in the air less than 30 minutes. With the call of dive, dive, dive, it was little more than 5 more minutes until they were suddenly hundreds of feet below the waves.

What a change.

The submarine's hangar was a unique sort of place. Inside, C-34 Hayha STOVL jets sat alongside Caracal transport choppers, and a couple of Commando armed reconnaissance helicopters. Furthermore, the four Goldfish RHIBs had displaced what was usually a maintenance area, the four sharp craft modified to fit more than the usual dozen passengers to include their Marine drivers and room for the hostages and EPWs. They would move fast and strike silently, as some of the finest little boats in the world.

A naval officer, a Lieutenant Commander Vlasko, spoke quickly to the Captain, welcoming him aboard and escorting the laden troops to their lodgings. They could catch a couple of hours sleep before their operation the following early morning. The submarine was already speeding up to make haste for the corrupt little nation that housed these pirates, it's crew poised to remove them.

The line of hardcore soldiers saw grey-fatigued sailors move out of their way and look on them in varying levels of awe, as well as the tan-clothed Marines who usually filled up the gyms and training areas of the Yellowhammer. While the usual Marine battalion on this submarine numbered 320 men, it could take up to 600. 40 bunks were available in the India Berths, one of the compartments for accomodating the Marines, with the officers being taken to officer's berths a few sections closer to the 'bridge' of the sub. They were able to drop their kit in the tight lockers, under the vitamin D supplying lights. The submarine could be a bland and dark environment, much like a cave, but the soldiers and sailors walking around - many in sneakers - moved around like ants in the vessel. Exposed pipes covered the roof and knee-knockers forced the visitors to lift their legs, although various art works pinned to the boards advertised various events. Special training, like weapons simulator training, shipborne skills, card games and the 'traditional' Marine's inter-platoon MMA tournament training and selection were all big factors. Each man would be looking around the berths and mess for 'Gingy,' the yellow-haired ship's cat that looked for non-existent rats and wasn't allowed to visit the submarine's hangar anymore.

The foreign men did not have free reign on this ship - her secrets still belonged to the New Hayesalian Government. For now, they awaited a later time in the India berths, playing cards, and shooting the shit until it was time to head to the mess or wardroom, and suit up for Operation Pestilence.

[Military Democracy of Birtonia]

Birtonian Imperial Rangers
2nd Squad
NHS Yellowhammer

The Reunion (kind-of)

---

The Imperium of Birtonia fortunately had no qualms sending another Ranger team to support Task Force ATLAS as they simply had no desire to please or otherwise skirt around "fragile" relations with foreigners. After the resounding success of sending one team out, the Imperator had elected to send another, entirely new squad, these would be forming the precedence of Imperial Military working with foreign military units for the sake of cooperation as well as education. Standard size of a squad was reduced for Rangers, a squad leader, weapons officer, engineering/demolitions officer, medical officer, and communications officer, plus the now-obligatory commissar made for a total of 6. However, the training and drive they had behind them made them a force to be reckoned with for even a company sized element.

An all black Adeptus Terram VH-24 tiltrotor had brought the team to the massive New Hayesalian submarine just under an hour ago, dropping them on the deck along with their gear before shifting back to high speed mode and chugging off towards the Adeptus Classis 4th fleet, not too far away. Not being permitted to roam freely quite yet, they were posted near a set of four RHIB's, patiently waiting for the rest of ATLAS to arrive. William "Bill" Fontaine had worked with John's 1st squad some years ago and had worked with some friendly nations on occasion, New Hayesalia being one of the first and foremost allies of Birtonia, but he was intrigued to meet the Vannish operators John had gone on so much about, as well the URA spec ops.

For the most part everybody in the squad was sitting on their rucksacks with their C bags in between their legs, except for Knight-Paladin Bill Fontaine and Commissar Benjamin Tomkin, they stood slightly askew from the group, arms crossed, likely discussing their planned responses and interactions with the other military units.

"No, Commissar remember that the Equites are granted a degree of leeway and, more importantly, this is my command" stated Bill, his voice slightly raspy from scarred vocal chords.

Just as the Commissar was about to issue his well-practiced rebuttal, the ceiling parted, letting in a harsh light and the piercing blue sky above them. Two Chinook helicopters along with two pallets of cargo were being lowered, all the Rangers stood, hefted their gear on and followed their commander, seeing as how this obviously was the ATLAS group they were waiting for. Troops of all sorts then disembarked, organizing themselves and getting their respective equipment as they drew closer.

"And where do you want us sir?" asked Will in a heavy Imperial accent.

[Vangaziland]

Two soldiers wore a MultiCam pattern void of olives and tans in favor of the original woodland camo's colors. MultiCamVannish was the official name for the pattern that wrapped up the Vannish Army. The pair of Vangazi carried assault packs, plate carriers w/ kits, and one kneepad each. Of course, the pads were wrapped around their boots to the typical 'cool guy' standard.

"Check out the uniforms", said SFC Farnsen.

"Birtonians", replied SFC Emerazi. "Back to old times, huh?" The two looked for familiar faces, but seemed to notice new ones.

SFC Emerazi toted an MP7 on a three point sling. It was suspended in the air in front of his kit. He'd need the space in the event he carried the stretcher. Farnsen's HK416 was attached to a wolf clip that let the rifle hang forward. He'd be the lead carrier on the stretcher and had room for the larger weapon to hang forward. His battle buddy's MP7 on the 3 point could be adjusted to hang to the side or behind the back, making it the ideal carry for any situation.

Besides, the ole' E-7 learned how to get the most range from an MP7. Short controlled bursts, steady firing position and old fashioned Vangazi windage. Aim low and let the rising shots rake towards center mass. Spot. Adjust.

As the group approached the Birtonians, the Vangazi stayed formal. "Good afternoon, gentlemen... Or morning... Yeah it's morning here", said a jetlagged SFC Farnsen before turning to look at his diver's watch.

"Timezones", Mark Emerazi said to himself.