Franzhafen, Rhunnland
0434 HoursMajor Andrew Mann, or just "Andy" to his civilian friends, woke up, as he normally did, at about 4:30 in the morning in his Franzhafen apartment. People were always surprised to hear how early he woke up, but quickly figured it out once they heard what his job was. If it were up to him, he'd wake up much later. Alas, he needed to wake up that early so his body was used to it when on deployment. After rubbing his eyes, he carefully snuck out of bed to avoid waking his wife and crept into the apartment's lone bathroom. The salary of a soldier wasn't much, and the size of Mann's residence was a testament to that. He read the news on his phone while on the toilet then brushed his teeth. After putting on his coat, he went out of his apartment for his daily hour run in the morning. He took the elevator down to the lobby, waved to the security guard, and pushed open the lobby doors to the busy Franzhafen streets. He put in his AirPods and began to jog. At about 5:40 (he had to take a detour costing him ten minutes) Mann got back home. As he was walking back in, the receptionist caught his attention.
"Hey, you're Andy Mann, right?"
"Yes, that's me. Is everything okay?" he asked, mildly worried.
"Yes, sir, everything is in order. I just wanted to give you this." He held out an envelope inscribed with the Seal of Rhunnland. "Someone from the army, I think, brought it."
"Oh, uh, thank you," Mann said as he took the letter.
The receptionist had heard rumors that an army Major was a resident at the apartment complex, but he didn't believe them. In his mind, only a Major would have a letter personally delivered. "By the way, sir, are you in the Army?"
"I am," Mann responded, slightly miffed. The receptionist, a scrawny young man, struck him as moderately annoying and the major prepared himself for some sort of fanboying.
"Well, thank you for your service!" the receptionist said with a smile.
"Of course," Mann said. He quickly strode to the elevators to avoid further interaction and opened the letter once he got back to his apartment.
Rhunnlandian Ministry of DefenseNotice of Deployment
MAJOR ANDREW S. MANN:
Please be informed that as of March 31, 2020, you are have been officially been deployed as you are a member of the Rhunnlandian Army. As this is a very time-sensitive operation, please report as soon as possible to the following location for transportation to Rhunnich:
Arthur J. Feldman Memorial Airport
124 Taffer Drive
Franzhafen
Any costs of transportation to the above location will be covered by the Army. The specifics of your deployment will be discussed upon your arrival in Rhunnich.
Thank you for your service,
Supreme Command of the Rhunnlandian Army
Mann read over the letter a second time and pulled out his phone to book an Uber to the airport. He grabbed his things, put on his uniform, wrote out a goodbye note to his wife, and waited outside for his ride.
Once he arrived at the airport, he quickly made his way to the military terminal. He'd been deployed many times before and knew the drill. He saluted, presented his military ID card to the soldier standing outside, and was let in. Major Mann introduced himself to the appropriate officer and was taken to a small turboprop plane sitting on the tarmac. He climbed in and noticed he was the only one aboard.
"Just me?"
"Yup," said the officer, "it seems your deployment is quite important. Anyway, good luck sir." The officer saluted and left. Within minutes the aircraft taxied to the runway and took off. The flight was only a quick jaunt over the capital, Rhunnich, and the plane was back on the runway within an hour. However, it had not landed at Rhunnich Central Airport but had instead touched down at the nearby Sarman Air Base. Makes sense, Mann thought, since he was on a military flight. Mann was escorted from the aircraft to the main area of the base, where he was brought to a conference room. Once he entered, he was greeted by nine men, who cheered upon his arrival. These were no ordinary men but were, in fact, Ranger Team A12, one of the best special ops units in the Rhunnlandian military. Mann was their commanding officer and was glad to see his men. They were glad to see him, too.
After fraternizing for about half an hour, the team was interrupted by the entry of two officers, a man, and a woman. They both soluted the Rangers, who all soluted back.
"Good morning soldiers," the man began. "My name is Brigadier General Victor Muller, and this is Colonel Angela Hugo. I thank you all for coming on such short notice, but this is something that we have not seen in a while. You've all been deployed in the past, but these missions have all been in places far from home. The Middle East, Asia, et cetera. However, the mission we will be embarking on today will not be some faraway operation. You are being sent to Rhunnland's neighbor, Welzat. [OOC: Not explicitly established but if Welzat is similar geographically to Eastern Europe/Lithuania then it's highly likely we'd be neighbors. A map of my country is
here]. A group of insurgents calling themselves the "Welzat Anarchist Front" have begun terrorist operations within the country. Should their violence cause instability, which it already has, or spill over into our country, the people and security of Rhunnland would be highly at risk. We do not know much about the situation but we do know this: the Welzat armed forces are unprepared for this threat, and require foreign assistance. This is where you come in. Myself, Colonel Hugo, and Ranger Team A12 have been ordered by JHC and Supreme Army Command to go to the Welzatian capital of Armitage and assist the Welzatian forces in any way we can. The ten of you will be on standby to carry out operations against the WAF, while myself and Colonel Hugo will be advising the Welzatians on how best to defeat this threat. They're calling it Operation Zebra, and we'll fly over the Armitage with our supplies around 1400. Oh, and for those who do not know, which I assume is all of you, Colonel Hugo is an experienced officer of the Rhunnlandian Army. She fought in Afghanistan with the US against the Taliban, so she knows all about fighting these kinds of insurgencies. Any questions?"
Martin Keffer, the team's sniper, raised his hand. He was known as a bit of a troublemaker and often was a bit
too casual in his conversations with his commanders. Regardless of whether or not the brass liked him, he was an excellent marksman and proved himself as a vital asset of the team.
"Yes?" the General said, motioning at Keffer.
"What about you sir? What's your background?"
General Muller was taken slightly aback by Keffer's forwardness. "I am a high ranking officer of the Rhunnlandian Army, is that enough for you?"
"Yeah, but like, what are your qualifications?"
"Excuse me?"
"How come you're in charge? If Colonel Hugo is so experienced with terrorists, which I'm sure she is, why isn't she the commander of all this?"
"Because I'm the one they put in charge. Now, does anyone have any productive questions?"
"No, sir!" the rest responded.
"Good. I'll see you all at the plane."
Sarman Air Base, Rhunnich
1400 HoursA large N1000 cargo plane sat on the tarmac. Its huge ramp was lowered, and the ground crew was loading it with the equipment it would be carrying to Welzat. The things being brought over were nothing crazy: standard weapons, rations, ammo, uniforms, etc. The only thing remotely out of the ordinary was a BW200G Army Truck, but this was needed to move supplies and people around Welzat once the Rhunnlandians arrived. After everything was loaded and the truck was tied down inside the plane, the Rangers and officers were given the go-ahead to climb aboard. They quickly took off, reaching cruising altitude at about 2:12 PM. After a not so quick four and a half hour flight, the N1000 approached Prince Dunwich Air Base and promptly touched down on the runway.
The plane taxied to an empty spot and began to unload its cargo. The truck came off first and quickly parked itself a few dozen meters away from the aircraft. The Rangers assisted the plane's crew with unloading the cargo, while General Muller and Colonel Hugo, both in their formal uniforms, approached the Welzatian official(s) sent to greet them upon their arrival.
The Colonel and General both saluted, and Muller reached out to shake the official's hand.
[OOC: I'm just gonna assume there's someone there to meet me since there was for everyone else. Also I just realized how long this is lol]