Task Force Atlas: Wild, Wild West (closed, alliance, IC)

[Vangaziland]

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Northwestern Yanjin
22 February
0125 Hours

A once blustery day has long since settled into a still night. Winter storms have ravaged the island of Yanjin over the past few days. Tonight's late hour finally brings respite from daylight's wintery downpour. A bit of warmth on the 20th means much of the prior snowfall has melted. Three or four inches of powdery snow fallen fresh on the 21st sit atop the dead grass, mud and rock of the Asian landscape. The air is desolate. Gone are the cries of Yanjin's nocturnal songbirds. They've migrated to warmer pastures. Katydid type insects lay dormant in egg cases, waiting for seasons months away to hatch and rejuvenate their swarms.

The Empire of Vangaziland has waged war here on this forsaken land for over two years. Things have been in an ugly stalemate for quite some time. The Vangazi occupy and control the cities of Pantong, Xuanchong and Northern Quanjing. Those Eastern cities are far away from this Northwestern territory almost 200 miles north of Hengdao at a place called Base Guanjin. A few dozen miles west lfinds a rocky coast, where towering cliffs make landing by sea fairly tricky.

Regime loyalists have reinforced this quadrant, although more forces sit along a hastily constructed border drawn up to keep out the internationals and their rebels. Two officers have resorted to hiding out in what they believe is a low visibility military complex in this desolate part of the island.

Since the Vangazi have not seemed to travel anywhere near this area, security has grown lax over the past few months. The Vannish seemed to become less active this winter, just as they did last winter. The surviving party members of the Yanjin dictatorship peg the Vannish as ones to celebrate a long holiday season. Christmas was followed by the Vannish New Year and then the Yanjin New Year. Intelligence even mentioned several Vannish military units rotating out of sector.

Yanjin's soldiers have become more and more relaxed as conflict seemed to be dying down. They believed there would be two Yanjins. Surely the internationals did not have the heart to push through loyalist lines. They did not know the Vangazi had contacts on the inside. They knew little of the high altitude surveillance plane and satellite imagery. They knew not of the intercepted phone calls.

The modest complex was made up of four buildings. Most prominent was a 5 floor command center. Guard stations and training centers made up the first floor. The second floor was the actual operations and command post. Recreational facilities made up much of the third floor, including a small pool and sauna.

Floors four and five were residential housing. These were not small barracks or dorm rooms. Two HVTs lived on the fourth floor in luxurious suites. Gen. Jwang Dian and Maj. Gen. Li Shishen were currently fast asleep on opposite corners of the building. These two men were the current acting leaders of the dictatorship's regime. Shishen slept alone, gentle music of local stringed instruments playing a peaceful melody to remedy his insomnia in MP3 form. A ruddy cat similar to the Burmese breed jumped onto a large sofa and kneaded its paws in the soft cushions in the central living room of the suite.

General Jwang was a different kind of person. He lay sprawled out with his wife and mistress on either side of him in an almost comically large bed. There was no music, only the sounds of the portly man's sleep apnea induced snoring. He kept weapons on the table next to his bed, unlike Maj. Gen. Shishen who kept a submachine gun in his living room.

Two other officers lived in smaller rooms on the fourth floor. Three NCOs and two junior officers had fairly large rooms on the fifth floor. Three guards were awake on duty at the first floor. They listened to radio transmissions from other guard posts in the region. There was a camera screen watching several places, including the gates to the complex and the roads and paths just outside.

There was no camera watching the wide roof, with its antennas and locked access door.

The least conspicuous building was a glorified shed used as a storage center and partial motor pool. Outside of it sat an LY-80 surface to air missile system. It's crew watched over the storage section and kept an eye on things as a secondary section. Four people sat inside or stood around it, another set of soldiers on late night guard duty.

Not far from it was a three story barracks building. 60 soldiers were stationed here. By day they trained and pulled security positions along the perimeter of Base Ganjin. Sometimes they even took up spots on the tall hill several miles away or the long ridgeline which peered down over the long road which led from the shed and barracks building back towards the command HQ and residence several miles deeper into the base. At the moment, most of them slept or lay in bed. In the case of any incident, they would swarm like a hornet's nest. Several heavy machine gun wielding 4x4s were parked alongside the barracks and near the storage structure.

Two other guards sat at a checkpoint near the front gate. They had fallen asleep of course. This was a remote place after all, they thought.

There was one more building tucked away, just off the road between the first two buildings and the HQ. It was built with furnished stone columns and featured a pyramid of a staircase leading up to its elevated door. There were three more guards on watch here. They also sat inside monitoring cameras. Occasionally one would step outside to smoke a cigarette and let the chilly breeze wake them up. The NCO in charge of this watch lay asleep on a cot in a side room. They were set to take turns and were really quite tired, like most of the guards.

This was the most 'valuable' building of all in a way. This was where the regime kept its reserve. It was meant to be low profile. The lack of heavy equipment here was meant to keep hypothetical eyes away. They knew just enough about satellite technology to figure some foreign analyst would probably glaze right over the complex at Guanjin thinking it was just some remote outpost. This last building was an old bank currently used as the dictatorship's cash and asset reserve. There was somewhere around 500 million NSD in foreign currency and precious metals located behind a large vault door. There were also jewels and priceless artifacts of local and international origin.

Nobody was supposed to know what was here. The dead of winter and the still of night seemed to bring security to its most relaxed point of the year. A break in snowfall opened up a window. A window for forces the dictatorship was not prepared for.

On the tall hill which watched over the complex from about 4500 meters away, there was movement. Overlooking the long road from a closer ridgeline were more moving shadows. In the distance was the faintest noise. By the time they approached, there would be little more than a whisper. Stealthhawk helicopters did not provide the early warning 'chop-chop suey' of rotorwash. Instead they moved with a gentle hum, like a moaning wind or an owl's wing beating through brush.

Insiders guided several MLRS vehicles with escorts through unguarded backroads that circumvented the dictatorship's blockade. It took weeks for them to finally get to their position. They were far, far out of sight but well within range. Stealth fixed wing aircraft of the (Y)F-23 variety were prepared to rotate on and off station, air superiority granted to the Vannish long ago. A whispering voice on the hill relayed everything happening inside the complex to the fast movers far off site. Conventional wisdom would say to take out the LY-80 SAM by forward observer lased guided munition in a classic suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) mission.

The element of surprise was in play though. The whisper blades of the stealth transports moved ever closer and closer, escorted by RAH-66 Comanche attack helicopters. Where there are angels there are demons. The problem is that demons do not fear angels, nor vice versa.

Tonight.... While the demons slept, greater devils crept alongside their frozen bedding. Meaner ones. These monsters were called...

Task Force Atlas
The Return


Location: East of Japan, 2250 miles NE of Tainese Isles

[Lauzanne]

Northwestern Yanjin
21 February
2320 Hours

"Are we there yet, Boss?" Corporal Stjepanic asked, the gunner for one of the two RR-8 launchers looking directly at his squad's leader with a feigned look of boredom on his face.
"We're nowhere near. You're going to be carrying that tube there on foot too, since this truck's only taking us so far." Senior Sergeant Anton Maksimov replied, letting the faintest smile show to rub in the corporal's future misery of getting to carry a 10kg recoilless rifle on top of his 3kg AS-14 rifle. But it's not like anyone was being let off lightly. Carrying either a recoilless rifle, machine gun, or a disposable launcher plus ammunition for either of the former weapons. This was in addition to smoke and frag grenades, multiple magazines for their own rifles, night vision equipment, protective vests, and a few of them even have to carry rangefinding gear.
"So why are we here, again? Making shit disappear should be Soviet Method's MO." the Corporal piped up again, leaning back and staring at a particularly interesting patch of ceiling.
"Because they wanted us to provide support, not personally make these higher-ups or the money disappear." Maksimov answered. "Trust me, I'd much rather be rooting out Reds than being an exceptionally well-trained bank robbery support crew, but if I get told I'm going into some cold war-torn shithole to heist a bank, then I'm going to be the best fucking thief ever."
"Always the exceptional. Wanting the Colonel to notice you, I take it?" Stjepanic smirked, which resulted in raised eyebrows from Maksimov.
"More like wanting to come back here to smoke with all the boys after the mission. If I fuck up, I might as well have pulled the trigger on one of them" Maksimov stated, looking at the other Razvedka soldiers either checking gear or watching the conversation. The response got Stjepanic to nod in agreement.
"And I always wondered why I'm considered just a dumb asshole with a tube." Stejpanic mused, looking back down at his teammates.
"Because you are a dumb asshole with a tube, Step." Trooper Everett replied, which got a few chuckles and bumps of the wise-guy of the squad. Maksimov seemed to switch on to a more serious personality as the truck slowed down and pulled off to the side of the somewhat-imaginary road, no doubt covered in snow.

The sixteen men dispersed out of the trucks in an efficient manner, taking their bags and other assorted gear with them as they readied themselves. Checking off their rifles and other weapons, Maksimov stood out in front, looking each man in the eye and at his gear. Two recoilless rifle teams for anti-tank and high explosive support lead by Corporal Stjepanic, a GPMG pair sporting a PKP, and his own team of 10 including himself. Two RR-8's, two PKP's, one of his soldiers with a suppressed FZ-8M marksman's rifle, AS-14's and pistols for the rest, two with underbarrel GL's. Not exactly usual, but Maksimov understood he'd be a supporting element at best, reinforcements at worst. Flexiblity and adaptability mattered, and the senior sergeant nodded.
"Alright lads, I know we're in the cold, it's shit and we're not exactly bordering home, but we've been given a job, and as Razvedka, we'll do a fucking good job at that. Any questions before heading out?"
No questions sprang up from the group.
"Khorosho. Move out."

The squad formed into two teams of eight, each taking up a column formation and spacing out. The trek was through as much concealment as could be managed, but the team knew they had a deadline to keep. As the moon loomed overhead, casting blue light onto the team of operatives, they advanced to their destination; A ridge-line overlooking a road as well as some elements of the base. Their role was fire support and ambushing soldiers responding to the alarms that would inevitably pop up when the gunfire started. Simple enough task, but Maksimov was considering what could go wrong, even as he and his men stalked their way through the wilderness to the starting point. Even though patrols were apparently unlikely, the group responded to any sound just as seriously as one should expect from a country's premier SOF.

0120 hours...

Having made it to the ridge-line, the two designated scouts returned, crouching low to talk to Maksimov.
"Ridge-line is empty, no guards, base is sleepy. Good arc of fire, good cover." Everett whispered.
"Good. Move up, I'll call it in." Maksimov waved the others to take up the agreed positions, with the PKP's and RR's towards the middle, the other soldiers flanking either side for protection, spotting, and being able to disperse quicker in an emergency.
"Joy Division perched." Maksimov radio'd to the other callsigns, indicating to all listening parties privy to the briefing know that the Razvedka detachment was in position and ready to get to work. Now all that was left was the fireworks to begin, as Teams 87 and 91F of Razvedka Division D readied themselves for a bank heist.

[Anowa]

---

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_{Commander Ingrid Grimsdottir
Unit XO
Northwestern Yanjin
Yanjin}

---

_{02/22/2020 - 1:25 AM AST}

---

"Hey Commander?"

Ingrid didn't look up, instead removing the arming pin from a blasting cap in the chunk of clay like substance set into a canvas bag, "Yeah?"

"You know if that deformed too much on the ride over, it'll turn us all into a gut strewn paint... right?"

Ingrid blinked, closing the bag back around the plastic explosive. Looking up, she saw her charges, Valiantsson, and Hefetz sitting across from her, both staring apprehensively at the breaching charge she brought with. "It's a standard shaped charge array_[1] Soren, if it wasn't safe to move around, they wouldn't have kept it in the book after 4 revisions." she shrugged, "Besides, it's on a bakelite cone, it won't shift beyond the acceptable."

Soren simply kept staring at the bag with almost fifty six pounds of C4 in it, "With respect ma'am.... Why the fuck do we need it?"

Hefetz answered that question from the seat beside him, running through some last minute equipment checks. "Because, we want to go down as fast as we can. A potential hole through the floor is a rather quick way of getting down. Still would've preferred the old way of doing it."

Soren shook his head, mumbling, "Might as well call in a fucking Ragno_[2]."

Sigurd spoke up, "We need visual confirmation of the corpses, Rabbit. Hard to do that when they're atomized." It seemed to settled the argument, as Soren went back to staring at the massive breaching charge.

After some time, the came upon their objective. When the helos finally set down, the Anowan team immediately set to work. Stepping off with the massive dish shaped slab of high explosives, they set it down on the corner of the building. Giving it a 20 foot birth as the helos flew off, The Anowan team prepped in an equidistant circle around the charge. All but the team lead pulled an F18 Stun Grenade from their pouches and pulled the pin, keeping the spoon in place and preparing for the immediate after effects of detonation. Ingrid pulled the detonator out, chirping in over comms, "Hang on to your teeth. Fire in the hole." Giving enough time for everyone to grit their teeth to avoid a tympanic blowout, Ingrid set the sharge off.

*click-click*

If the OPFOR hadn't been made aware of the incursion before, they sure as fuck were now. Before the smoke had even cleared, the three other Anowan soldiers had turned around to whip the stun grenades into the hole, swiftly moving up as the sounds of the concussive blasts echoed from the hole. The four troops immediately took a leap into the whole, finding a man that had been reduced to a pasted smear across the walls. They seemed to have breached into an area where a wall once was, but had now been reduced to shredded wall studs, dry wall, and insulation foam. The surrounding few walls and a door had been torn into by the shrapnel, holes ranging from finger to fist had been dug into pretty much everything with a direct line of site to the hole. The canvas bag that once held the charge was very likely being breathed in by everyone present.

The precious few seconds of haze lifted, . A breaching charge designed for pillbox doors or armored saferooms was overkill on a basic rooftop. But the nation which once used a 75kt warhead as a warning shot were well known for their attitude towards shock and awe. If Anowans were present, there was an 80% chance of the AAR having a complaint of overkill.

The team split, Ingrid and Eshkol moving to one doorway as Soren and Sigurd moved the opposite way down the hallway. Ingrid and Eshkol did things by the book, the door was cracked, a flashbang was popped in, and the duo bodied the door down, Ingrid slamming two 6mm rounds into a profoundly disoriented officer's midsection. Eshkol not wasting a burst from the 1100 RPM machine gun he held. The two ducked out of the room again, moving away from the end Soren and Sigurd were, the next door was their immediate goal, as the stairs downwards were the distant terminus.

Soren and Sigurd did things in a much more brutal fashion, the door was cracked, Soren tossed a white phosphorous grenade in, and the door was clamped shut again, Sigurd making an effort to hold it closed. The sound of a man screaming followed, as did the same person trying to pull the door open. The response was Soren firing a three round burst into the center of the door. The screaming stopped. The two procceded down the hall to the next doorway, almost back to back, waiting for any poor bastard to come popping out of their little abodes.

At this point, anyone on the floor not completely obliterated by the blast would likely be coming to their senses.

---

[1]Standard Shaped Charge Array - A section of the Anowan Armed Forces Field Manual. Usually issued to demolitions specialists and combat engineers, the veritable book goes into incredibly deep detail regarding how to create and use explosives with as much effect as possible. This specific entry, #105, is described as a breaching munition for structures possibly reinforced by concrete or metal plating. It's reading became mandatory for SPECTRS selection in 2006.

[2] Ragno - Referring to a Ragnarok Tactical Thermobaric Weapon. A thermobaric weapon developed by Anowa in the late 2000s, as of 2020, they can only be mounted on Sliepnir I SLBMs and TK-105 Transport planes.

[Vangaziland]

Peter Farnsen finally considered himself a veteran of Task Force Atlas. He'd taken part in several missions and finally feels like a part of the team. He now finds himself among a small group of soldiers nestled on the forward facing hillside about 4500 meters away from the base, depending on whereabouts within it you count. They made sure to rest away from the top of the hill so as to not silhouette themselves.

Like the team from Lauzanne, the observer team had also been dropped off by nondescript trucks and marched over 10 miles to get here. Climbing the steep mountain was the last part of the tricky journey, made under the cover of darkness. It was setups like this which required these tier one operatives and others around the globe to be in top step. They all carried a great deal of gear, including the laser rangefinder which was currently mounted on a tripod. Attached to that system was a smaller laser designator which connected to the LRF.

SFC Farnsen looked through an attached eyelet which magnified the distant base and provided a thermal sight through a large lens on the wide rangefinder. The picture looked clearer than one might expect from this far away. The shape of the Chinese made wheeled anti-aircraft launcher made a slightly darker spot against the backdrop of the ground beneath it. The NCO could even occasionally see little bright figures hop out, stand next to the vehicle and seemingly smoke cigarettes.

At his side was SFC Mark Emerazi, another VSF-1 soldier. The two Vangazi were monitoring separate radio networks. Farnsen was in contact with the waiting MLRS battery. He was originally going to guide in a guided bomb with his designator. Command saw the benefits of the ground based MLRS strike, with its greater area of impact. Emerazi monitored communications from 3 other Vangazi who were in a StealthHawk which was one of two headed for the command building.

"Manx cat, manx cat... Over", came over SFC Emerazi's headset. This was the voice on Don Frazor, the agent from Vannish Intelligence sent to run this particular VSF-1 team in lieu of an officer. It was the code phrase meaning that 'time on target' was ready to be called up to "the guns". The entire group had rehearsed the landing and its coordination with attacking the SAM site time and time again. Using terrain and angle of approach, the aircraft were coming in a way that minimized their radar signature to almost nil. The modified rotor blades also mostly eliminated the telltale rotor wash noises, letting the vehicles creep up on the wide roof. Emerazi next repeated the phrase over the radio and added, "out."

Mark whispered to Farnsen that the helicopters were nearing position right on time. This led Farnsen to call up the MLRS batter with his own code, meant to tell them to fire as planned. "Tailless, over", he simply called out. Farnsen had sent the refined grid and firing information in the form of a Call For Fire through a ruggedized digital tablet used to send digital communications. It also worked as a 'Blue Force Tracker' and GPS map in a handheld form. "Tailless, out", replied an FDC soldier the set of two MLRS trucks. These support personnel were not TFA assets, but were Vannish soldiers stationed on Yanjin and tasked out for this operation.

Several miles away, far from sight and sound, bright streaks launched into the air. Four rockets were being launched in a tight pattern. The designator had pulled a laser accurate grid which would result on 'first round effects'. With perfect timing, the helicopters flew in at extremely low altitude, almost climbing to reach the roof of the wide building.

The team on the hill and the ridgeline knew what was coming next. It wasn't long until the transports lifted back into the air and away at speed. In mere moments, a huge explosion went off from the roof of the large HQ. Seconds later, there was a boom which rivaled the first explosion.

The MLRS warheads landed with ripping, concussive puffs of sparks, flame and acrid smoke. Each of the four rounds landed in a 'whoomp' noise loud enough to rock each structure in the compound. MLRS rockets have a wide area of effect. The rounds didn't only explode the truck. A halo of destruction extended around it. The final warhead impacted the storage shed. This set of secondary explosions, as fuel burned and parked vehicles within were ripped apart.

All Farnsen could see from distance was several bright flashes. By the time his eyes adjusted, he saw the storage shed looked as if it had been toppled over. The LY-80 vehicle had been destroyed. Through the thermal eyelet, he could even see bright spots where bodies and body parts of the vehicles crew had been thrown.

"SAM down", Emerazi called over the maneuver network. This was meant to give a simple update. He steeled himself to the scene in front of him. The blast on the HQ rooftop, the LY-80 and the storage shed happened with only a handful of seconds apart from each other. Secretly, he thought they probably could have timed it even quicker.

"Hell man", Mark said to Farnsen. "Get rounds on the barracks like.. Now."

"On it", Pete replied, working up another digital call for fire while moved away from the LRF and kneeling with his tablet.

*Meanwhile - In the HQ building*

Two new Vannish Cobras joined Don Frazor as part of the HVT grab. They were SFC Harold Anderson and SFC Emily Simmons. Both soldiers wore new armor. A much more ergonomically designed set of plates almost seemed as if it were woven into their gray-brown BDU's themselves. They weren't, but were fastened against the clothing by sets of buckles and straps. The trio had forgone their HK416 and HK417 rifles for SOPMOD style M4 carbines. These rifles were a tad more maneuverable in the close quarters.

Two staircases were on opposite sides of the building. Seconds after the blast on the opposite side, the three Vangazi shunter down to lead the charge towards the HVTs. The Anowan calculations were right and this staircase was several meters away from the huge blast zone. They sped past the first door to the top floor, knowing the building was in disarray. It smelled of smoke and burnt materials. It was dark, yet the soldiers could see with the help of modern night vision googles, four lenses giving an almost spider like appearance, especially since Hoffman and Anderson moved close enough to look like one eight eyed arachnid.

A concussive blast had gone through the top floor. As the Anowans would inevitably descend, those on the top four were springing to life. This was easier said than done. Three people, the NCOs, had been killed outright. The two junior officers found themselves in a building without power and were dazed from the shock of the blast. Fear had also set in, knowing their were only a handful of guards on duty at the bottom floor. They couldn't even tell what happened.

The first one finally found his Chinese made rifle and walked through the hall. He figured a bomb went off and walked cautiously towards the large area of tossed wreckage and smashed walls. The other officer finally joined him, submachine gun in hand. They spoke to each other in Yan Chinese, walking cautiously towards the impacted area having no idea about the foreign operatives.

Meanwhile the Vangazi entered the fourth floor, piling out of the staircase and headed towards General Jwang. His wife heard the noise first and woke up the heavily asleep general. The third person, his mistress, had also been woken by the blast. Their room was full of shouting. Jwang moved to the side of his bed and pulled out an Ak-47 rifle. He handed a rather cheap looking Chinese pistol to his wife. The mistress had no military training. She moved to the corner, screamed and cried. She didn't like the way the other two were acting.

Things were tense for the Vangazi. Surely, the guards on the first floor were heading upstairs at this very moment. The trio stacked outside of Gen Jwang's door, each taking a quick glance at the other general's room far down the fourth floor hallway. Like they had done many times in practice, they began to rock in unison to silently count to three. On the third rock, they would kick the door down and take on their target.

They rocked together once... They rocked together twice. Finally SFC Simmons backed up once more against SFC Anderson who did the same to Agent Frazor behind them. They rocked forward and Frazor stepped forward with the intent of kicking the door. The other two would then pile in with Frazor following, while keeping an eye on the rear guard.

Don rushed ahead of the other two, wound up to kick the door and.....

[ISAF-Usea]

THOOMP

For Task Unit Jaguar, that meant go time.

Having come to TFA by chance, and hearing about it through the veterans of SF group Blackjack. The unit, pretty much-being freelancers and working for themselves, decided to check it out. After getting the pitch that it had very recently been revived and that TFA was moving away from moral boundaries and was just fighting for survival. Given the situation that formed the Free Militia Units, Jaguar could get behind the cause that was the revived TFA

The helicopter's rotors swooshed as Jocko directed the pilot to drop the team by the bank. But if he couldn't get any closer that they would fast rope down onto the ground. The unit had loaded about two cases onto the chopper that were considered the teams," backup plan," in case the situation got super hot. Since the team was apart of the bank heist, they had to keep their identities hidden, so the team adopted full-coverage helmets with a see-through glass visor and internal comms system. It provides safety, security, and keep their voices and identity secret thanks to a voice changer in the helmet. The cases contained disposable heavy weapons that could be opened in a jiffy and disposed of quickly if the team needed to bug out. They didn't plan on walking out with everything they had brought with them.
"Pilot, bring us around to the bank." Jocko stated, "Rog. bringing her around." Since the assault had pretty much begun, the team needed to move. Speed, violence, and methodical movement were the 3 most integral characteristics of a compound raid, and since the bank was in the compound, even further violence was needed. The team was ready to get the job done, and get the money out of the bank. No matter who they had to kill or torture. The pilot came close to the bank, but did not get close enough for the team to land. "Can you not get closer?" Jocko asked. "No sir, we don't think the forward observers have told the arty to hold off, so you'll have to fast rope in." "Rog, click up team." Jocko got up in the compartment and opened the doors on the right side of the chopper. He peaked over and saw that they weren't too far from the bank. "It'll have to do." He said as he literally kicked a weapons case right out of the cabin down onto the ground. The case landed with a loud WHAM!

He then clicked up a fast rope to the chopper and flung the rope out. Townes stoop up and did the same on the left side of the chopper, kicking off the case and hooking up the rope. The team of 4 then fast roped down, weapons on their chest. Townes and Jocko were the first down, they unclicked their weapons from their chest and brought their weapons up to make sure no soldiers were rushing at them. Volpe and Kaine were the last ones down, as they landed the chopper unclicked the rope from the chopper, and it came crashing down behind the team. "Volpe, Kaine. Grab a case. Townes, you're with me." "Rog." "Rog." "Rog." The team responded to Jocko's command, and the team sprung into action. Volpe and Kaine grabbed a singular case and followed Townes and Jocko as they quickly proceeded to the bank.
Jocko and Townes quickly walked up pyramid stairs as Volpe and Kaine followed. As they reached the peak the team spotted a guard, smoking a cigarette.

[The United Nations Of Europa]

Cpl. "Dziadek" Zielinski, Lt. "Koschei", Sgt. "Falak" Essa, MSgt. "Tarasque" Brun
ESAC-SOG / Ares Group
NW Yanjin
01:25

"Lynx 1, visual on target. 30 seconds out."

"Roger 1. NODS down everyone."

It was the wee hours of the morning in the Northwestern region of Yanjin. Ares Group was riding in an NH90-HV, taking them to their target 2000 meters away. Their target, a compound that housed top officials of the Yanjinian regime. This was Ares Group's first mission with the TFA. The group didn't expect much of a difference in the TFA from their time in ESAC. Tier 1 shit they all thought.

Koshei: "I feel like a new kid at school."

Zielinski: "Yeah well at least you're not the one leading all you idiots." Dziadek turned over to Koschei, "Don't make me look bad in front of all the other operators. I don't want to have to explain to the chancellor if your ass gets kicked out."

"Lynx 1, 15 seconds. Standby for doors open." The four stood up from their seats and made their last gear checks on everyone before departing. Zielinski stood in front and got the attention of the four, "The Vannish and Anowans are taking the top floor and grabbing the HVT's. We're going to clear out security on the first and second and take control of the command post. Weapons tight and don't throw any shots. We don't know if the HVT's will move once things pop off."

The helicopter touched down and the back ramp opened letting the four operators out of the helicopter. The four quickly huddled close to the front door and Brun started to install a VULCAN breach charge on the door. The door was made of a thick metal material that kept the occupants inside safe from outside dangers. The VULCAN system made easy work of the door. The breaching system comprised of thermite and explosive charge in a surprisingly small package. The system was made for making quieter entries. The thermite component would weaken barriers and the small explosive charge would then loosen it allowing for soldiers to make a quiet entry. Compared to normal breach charges, the VULCAN system was much quieter.

"Charges set, stand clear", Brun warned.

Sparks flew out of the charge and a quick pop came out. Koshei pulled the door open and took point. The four quietly made their way into the hallway with no hostiles yet aware of their presence on the floor. Muffled voices could be heard throughout the hallway. Some of the lights were still on but the hallways were still dimly lit for the most part. Laughter and a television could be heard in the first room to the left. The room was most likely a lounge room for the security. Zielinski motioned for Koshei and Brun to clear the room with him with Essa covering the hallway.

As they were about to clear the room, the building suddenly shook with immense power, knocking all the power out within it. Large explosions suddenly appeared outside the window destroying any complexes that were once there. The once muffled calm voices throughout the first floor turned into panicked shouts.

"What the fuck are they doing up there", Zielinski grumbled to himself. He grabbed an M84 from his rig and tossed it into the lounge room. Koschei and Brun followed him engaging the group of security in the room. Shooting started to pop off in the hallway with Essa shouting back to the three, "Contact straight ahead!"

Zielinski radioed into the Anowans and Vannish, "Get dug in, you've got a shit ton of hostiles coming your way!"

[Military Democracy of Birtonia]

1st Phalanx, 1st Maniple, Alpha Cohort, Optimus Equites
Ridge 115, Overlooking MSR Prince Fritz
Yanjin

The Vannish Stealthhawk was quite impressive, with the doors closed you could barely even hear the engine right above you, let alone the modified blades. You could actually mistake yourself for flying in a civilian passenger jet if you ignored the heavily armed men all around you. This particular SH was dropping off one of the Atlas teams for the operation. Along with standard mission loadout for the rangers, an M-7 ADS rocket system, MT-11 RAT recoiless rifle, and a MT-10 heavy machine gun were strapped to the deck. The Rangers rucks were swapped for specialized carrying racks with additional missiles, and ammunition boxes, though this equipment was incredibly heavy, they were blessed with one of the shortest routes the entire Atlas team had to trek on foot. White light suddenly switched out to dull red, this action was twofold, one to alert the team that insertion was a short time away, and secondly, to get their vision ready for operating primarily with NVG's from here on out.

Without a word, each member of the squad flipped down their night vision devices, all four optical tubes covering their eyes. The mission briefing had already been planned, in unison they all began unstrapping the weapons. As if on cue, the doors slide open, revealing the Yanjin countryside before them, bathed in the palest of moonlight. Will Fontaine was the first out of the vehicle, rifle at the ready, gazing at the woods to the front of him, with the speed and fluidity of professionals, each Ranger stepped out of the craft, slightly hovering above the clearing. Within a fraction of a moment the team exited and the bird flew away, the dull hum of the Vannish helicopter being replaced with the wind playing in the trees. Hustling up the hillside the team chose their spots for the respective weapons, Machine Gun would cover a wide arc away from the facility TFA was going to hit soon, the missile system was placed 15 yards away, and the recoiless rifle was another 15 yards, ready to cover the rear of the team, lest some sort of intelligent QRF were to find them.

As the tripod for the machine gun was emplaced, Will took his non-firing hand to the radio on his vest "Equites on station" and motioned for his demo officer, Caroline to follow him. The two carefully stepped down the hill towards the road where enemy reinforcements were expected to arrive. In Caroline's ruck she carried a multitude of explosives, dozens of claymores and a handful of AT mines. The heavier vehicle mines were to be staggered on the road to hopefully maximize casualties and most of the anti-personnel mines were to be set up on the approach of the hill, any bit of cover that could be used should be covered by a mine. Once that was set, the two rigged det-cord and plastic explosives a little further up the hill, to deter the enemy in case of bravery.

All of this took about 30 minutes and soon the team was back on the other side of the ridge, keeping just enough of themselves looking over, careful to not silhouette themselves. Their only task was now to wait..