I Vow To Thee, My Country
New Garrack
50 Miles South of Derry
The moon was all but a slim crescent high in the night sky, against a blanket of stars. Ocean waves lazily swept up onto a sandy beach as a pair of small boats were paddled ashore, men jumping out soon as the boats kissed the sand. Some of the men crouched down and scanned the beach through the scopes of their bullpup rifles, the others hauled the boats ashore and started loading equipment before then pulling tarps over the boats to try and obscure them. With quiet whispers and hand gestures, the men soon set about their next task.
These men were of the Sealgairí, a Morridane special forces unit that used the Mordentish word for 'hunters' as it's name and could trace it's history back to the 1600s. They were one of many teams being inserted that night along the coastline of New Garrack, the first true action by those loyal to Queen Lothwyn against her usurper uncle. Their mission was to knock out radar stations ahead of the main strike of Operation REDRAKE, so named after the Morridane serpent with two heads to signify strikes in multiple locations. A climb up a short cliff later and the team was planting timed explosives at critical points round the unmanned radar installation, one of their number operated a long-range radioset and transmitted a single word. "Redrake."
With their first task done, the team moved onto their next objective.
Lurking out at sea was a flotilla of ships that included the Ler-class aircraft carrier HMMS Enbarr with her escorts, though her flight deck was filled with helicopters of different types and troops awaiting the signal to go. Much of the Enbarr's normal air group was on her hanger deck, though a couple of fighters were positioned by the catapults on a five minute alert in case of trouble. Everything was still as the carrier cut through the waves as her crew waited anxiously, the radar operators in particular across the flotilla were glued to their screens.
"Redrake." Crackled a voice over the radio, prompting everything to start happening on the carrier. A tannoy sounded. "Hands to flying stations. Standby to launch helos."
Things exploded into life as previously dormant carrier came alive, shouts cried out and the starter motors of the various helicopters fired. Last of the troops and their equipment were loaded as the helicopter crews ran through their final checks before being cleared to lift-off. One-by-one the helicopters rose into the night sky and turned westwards to fly low over the ocean, just as explosions started ripping through the coastal radar stations and communications hubs. By the time anyone in New Garrack knew what was happening the helicopters would've already landed their troops, in addition other elements of Operation Redrake would be well underway as well.
The Battle for New Garrack had begun.