Operation Red Lily [Project Warfighter] [IC]

[Monfrox]

OPERATION RED LILY

Several nautical miles off the coast of The Stretch, Promethean regional waters
Aboard the XNS Fanfu
0230 Hours
Task Force Atlas

Disc 1, Track 01 - Desperate Situation
As the minutes ticked by on board the carrier, foreign operators found it a bit of a change of pace from a usual hurry up and wait scenario. Barely leaving a half hour for them to get chow or shower at the courtesy of the Xingese staff, as time was short enough as it was. With Operation Blind Knife concluded, they had launched Operation Red Lily right after. Contact was once again made to Task Force Atlas, who graciously accepted the contract at such short notice. As the Donnish, GAmetopian, and Dutch operators found their seats, they were not alone. Two women already occupied the briefing room. One woman was sitting in the back of the small room with her hands behind her head and her feet kicked up on the back of the chair in front of her. Clearly, she wasn't very interested in what was going on, but she wore absolutely no identifying patches, or even any real gear. All she had were two knife sheaths on a TAC belt with some small pouches. Her black patrol cap was tilted over her face as she appeared to be sleeping.

Up in the front, a tall and slender figure was overlooking a few files as the projector displayed a small map of the 2 mile island. She seemed to be indifferent to the fact that the room was slowly filling up, but she was counting how many arrivals there were. After the final operative had arrived, she sat up off the the table she'd been leaning against and turned to face the SOF unit she had requested by airmail that had been taken here by way of Froxian air forces.

"I'll keep this brief, since time is short." The woman said, her voice as chilling as it was demanding. "Over the past months, an insurrection against the nations of this region has sprouted up and gathered men and materials to wage a war of terror and destruction on anyone they want. Part of this attack was the surprise occupation of the regional capitol: a man-made island 2 square-miles wide with a conference building at the center known as The Stretch. Hostages number from thirty to forty. This is your mission. From here, you will depart in 6 Combat Rubber Raiding Craft and make landfall on the island. A Froxian pathfinder has been sent in ahead of time to designate a safe LZ with Infrared Strobes. Once you land, you will infiltrate the conference building, locate the hostages, and extract them via the CRRCs. We are doing this tonight, at night, to make sure that the local insurgent presence isn't entirely at it's strength."

The woman hit a button on the podium, and the map changed from an up-close illustration of The Stretch to a zoomed out version with a circle around a group of ship symbols near the island.

"However, our friends of the Empire of Democratic Germania have decided to park en entire coastal fleet in range of the island. To my knowledge, the Field Marshal advised the Kaiser against such an action, but I guess politicians will be politicians. As much as it pains me to say this, killing the enemy should be a last resort. We cannot risk the lives of the hostages. One more thing: One of our sleeper agents is present with the hostages. She can help your efforts. I am General Volkova and I will be your Commanding Officer for this operation. I will be in direct contact with you from here as the mission proceeds. If there are no questions, you are dismissed and to report to the lower hangar at the rear of the ship."

Volkova crossed her arms under her chest and looked on with a slightly pretentious expression as she eyed each of the soldiers sitting in front of her. Certainly not one to be so quick to call upon foreigners to do a job that she thought Froxians could easily do as well; orders were orders though, and these orders came down right from the top. Disobeying them was not anywhere in her mind.

[Empire of Donner land]

TF Atlas
XNS Fanfu
2nd Squad

The 5 Donnish LG Operatives filed into the dark room in nothing but their fatigues, boots and of course their unit patchs that identified them with the Donnish and TF Atlas. Three things had caught their attention upon entering the rather dark room. The first being the Woman in the back looking disinterested in the situation at hand. They may have already heard the whole story or simply just not caring, both were unimportant the Donnish at the time. Still, there was a curiosity hanging above them as to who it was, after all they were still Human.

The second being that they were being sent to do an Operation along with two other nations SF Teams, the GAmetopian and the Dutch. This typically wasn't a problem, but it always came up in conversation why their Government, as Xenophobic and Isolationistic as it was, sent them here in the first place. They've wondered why since they arrived at Fort Bragg before given orders that they would no longer be working alongside Donnish Forces but an international Special Forces Agency, Task Force Atlas, but they obeyed orders from the Government and the Donnish Imperial Army no matter how questionable at the time they were.

And then the third, they would be doing this at Night based on that they were rushed so early to get to the briefing room. Broken had barely been able to put a dent in his eggs for their last meal before they left. They had no complaints, night operating is one of their specialties, especially with the technology they had at their disposal. It was what they hoped to be a good omen for how the Operation would turn out, as an LG Operative, knowing you could succeed at an operation was better than thinking you could.

The Woman at the front of the room now began speaking and the LG Operatives, hoping for a quick Operation in order to get back home, listened intently. Dakka listening to the briefing had formed the idea that this would be a better mission for TF Perun, a myth in the Donnish Millitary of a special unit made up of LG Cadets that killed their Squad of pursuers during the final test of becoming an LG Operative, a myth that Dakka believed in fully. He wasn't one to accept everything that the military told them. why aren't they here? he thought. He was even working on a theory, he wasn't a conspiracy theorist but he knew that LG weren't immortal and it only made sense to question the possibility of a Cadet killing his pursuers and what the DIA would do with them afterwards, afterall, it would be the last thing to expect.

The Briefing ended, Squad 2 looked at each other discussing the mission quietly though Queen was more preoccupied sizing up the Woman in the back and the Woman infront. Blitz noticing this gave a light and quick slap upside the head to get her attention back on the mission. Scowling at her Squad Leader after being hit she begrudgingly went along with Blitz's non-verbal and direct order.

"I told you it was a night mission, Broken, pay up." Dakka said settling into his chair and crossing his arms looking at the rookie. Previously they had a bet why they were being rushed, Broken had guessed it's because something sudden happened.

"Not now, we're about to go. I'll give it to you at Fort Bragg." Broken spoke in an annoyed voice as if he had gambled and lost it all which he had, six Doneres was about all he had to his name at this time.

After discussion and minor dicipline issues with his Squad, Blitz had saw fit to present the question since one else was going to. "What's the training these terrorists have to go through, any concerning equipment also?"

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

XNS Fanfu
17th Squad, ERIA 8th Battalion

---

Night shifts were nothing new to Lieutenant Elena Zykova of the Eriathan Intelligence Agency's 8th Battalion, nor were they for any of the others in her squad. Anti-insurgent raids back home often took place at night, although usually on a bit less of a short notice. Still, there was no room for complaints as the situation was clearly dire enough for Task Force Atlas to be called upon. Everyone had taken a quick shower and had stuffed some bread in their mouths before getting their gear on.

The operatives entered the briefing room in quiet, the only things lacking from their outfit the weapons and ammo they'd be taking with them on the coming mission. Elena quickly took in her surroundings, giving a respectful nod towards the woman that seemed to be the one that would be briefing them, before doing the same towards the Donnish whom she recognized from a previous mission. She gave a quick glance towards the woman that lay in the back of the room, unable to find out who this person exactly was - undoubtedly someone important, but time would tell or, as she had unfortunately experienced more than enough, not.

The squad sat down, and waited for the briefing to begin. They listened as the woman explained the situation and their mission. Once it was finished, Elena stood up, wishing to ask a question. Before she could do so, however, one of the Donnish beat her to it, and she remained quiet. After the question had been answered, the Eriathan still had one of her own. "Who are the hostages? Is any among them of particular importance to either us, the terrorists, or us both?"

[The GAmeTopians]

The GAmeTopian squad was punctual, although the last to enter. Quietly taking their places, rather than sitting they stood at attention, listening carefully. The national AI, Wheatley, was listening in and watching from a camera Captain Sparrow wore - also dutifully providing commentary.
"The leader lady looks cold. Don't cross her. The sleeping lady looks just as important, don't cross her either."
As the briefing concluded, Captain Sparrow simply waited for responses to all of the questions - he had none of his own.

[Monfrox]

Quesitons were abound, but General Volkova didn't think some so simple. Perhaps she glossed over a few subjects? No, she made it short and sweet, but guessed it was a little too short. She answered the questions in order.

"From my personal experience, and I do mean personal, these insurgents aren't your usual part-time murderers you'd find in some backwater country. They have sophisticated equipment, and are even shown to be very militant in training and structure. These are no irregulars, but trained soldiers. Still, I don't think Special Operations Forces such as yourselves would have too much trouble with them, don't you?" The latter half of the statement was partially condescending, but that was Volkova. A true Ice Queen, right down to her unnaturally cold touch.

"As for the hostages, they are foreign nationals from the region's countries. Workers, cooks, custodial staff. However, they are the reason that the insurgents haven't been wiped off the stretch already. We fear they'll use the hostages as leverage, and so rather than having to deal with a negotiation for a hostage crisis, we're aiming to just remove that card from the playing table altogether. Should you need it, our sleeper agent has specialized equipment to help if things get loud and heated. We would prefer you to get her back safely. With that, are you satisfied?"

The woman in the back put her finger under the bill of her hat and pushed it up a bit to look at the others.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

XNS Fanfu
17th Squad, ERIA 8th Battalion

---

"That would be all from me, aye. Thank you." The Eriathan operators stood up, placing the chairs they'd been sitting on back to where they had been before. "Alright," Elena began to her squad, "let's try and prevent any casualties among those hostages, eh? We get in nice and quiet, only shoot when necessary. That means that you, Robert," she pointed at the squad's gunner, "will be leaving that machine gun of yours behind. In fact, that goes for all of us. I've managed to get us all an AS Val, which means integrated suppressors. You've all been trained to use 'em, so that shouldn't be a problem. SP-6 armor piercing rounds as usual. Unless anyone's got any questions, we'll go get 'em." The squad remained quiet, and instead waited to see if anyone else would ask another question, not wishing to miss any potentially important information - or any information at all, really.

[Empire of Donner land]

XNS Fanfu
2nd Squad, LG

---

"Yes ma'am, that's all for us." Blitz spoke, With that 2nd Squad stood up and marched to the armory to retrieve their weaponry and equipment. For the LG, instead of the modified MP-5 they normally used in the Task Force, the DIA finally managed to get them four SOVAR-18 Bullpup Rifles but due to there being five of them Broken was left with the regular MP-5, it wasn't a bad weapon, but Broken missed the weapon he was originally trained to use as a Ranger.

The LG Operatives then put on their Vests and other equipment, placing Ammunition in the front pockets and making sure they were secure to avoid creating noise along with the other equipment they wore. Knee pads, elbow pads and their two holsters, one for a Pistol on their hip and another for a Knife on their arm by their shoulder, were put on. Then finally the Squad placed the batteries into their Helmets to power the HUD and link with the OSS which controlled most important functions of the Donnish Soldiers equipment allowing the HUD actually work as it should.

Putting on the Helmets they stretched their heads around getting familiar with the weight on their heads they would be carrying around for the night. A simultaneous click was heard as their visors went down with the flick of an eye securing into place and the HUD flashing in synchronizing with the Sattelite above that connected them back to Donner Land where the OSS was located. Then the HUDs synchronized with the rest of the team recognizing their uniforms and the signals they created and marking them as friendly. "Everyone good?" Blitz said looking at his team stretching his arms. They nodded as they to stretched getting comfortable in their Equipment.

[The GAmeTopians]

The Romeo operators nodded once the questions had been answered, and filed out to grab their equipment. Agent. Jones had had their equipment organized before being sent along with them , so they took minimal amounts of time to get ready.
"Armor?" He called out, starting the check.
A chorus of 'check's ensued.
"Rifles?"
"Check, including monster suppressor devices."
"Oh, you mean these are the ones that take forever to clean after missions?"
"Indeed."
"Well shit."
"Sidearms?"
Check."
"Grenades?"
"Check."
"Explosives?"
"Check."
"Surveillance drone?"
"Check."
"Great, that should be everything." Ready to go, they got into formation and waited for a call to get moving.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

XNS Fanfu
17th Squad, ERIA 8th Battalion

---

With nothing left to be said, the Eriathan operators, too, went for the armory. Already wearing a variant of the heavier armor more commonly employed by their homeland's army gunners, all that was left for them was to pick up their tools and weapons. Due to the nature of the mission, their bags with rations and other survival kit would be left behind, save for the medical supplies and some other basic kit such as rope, and gas masks. Holstering their sidearms and bayonets, and fastening some grenades and explosive charges, the Eriathans took the AS Val rifles they'd be using this mission, making sure to take plenty of spare magazines with them. After a quick check to see if the night sights mounted on their weapons worked, the squad pulled on their balaclavas and fastened their helmets. "Everyone done?" Elena asked. Some mumbled agreements followed. "Good, get ready to get a move on."

[Monfrox]

General Volkova took her seat once the other operators left the room. Movement caught her eyes and she saw that Sergeant Ricther was still getting up and out of the briefing room.

"Sergeant, you know the mission." She told her.

Valentina Richter only gave her a two-fingered salute in response as she walked out the door. She stopped by one of the bathrooms to get a quick gear up before heading down to the hangar bay.

Aside from her slightly more serious presence, she also was wearing her TAD jacket since the waves were expected to be at least a bit bothersome tonight and she didn't want her paint washing off. Her jacket also had two morale patches on it, as was the only sign of any sort of identifying patch on her whole uniform. She stepped around and surveyed the other soldiers. Her only worry was that the CRRCs may not support their individual equipment's weight, but then again these things were built tough. They even got the ones with bullet protection alongside it, just in case things got nasty on the way in or out. She pulled out a small media player before looking back at them.

"You'll take the CRRCs in until we're about 75 meters from the shoreline. From there, circle the island until you find the IR strobes marking the designated LZ. After locating the strobes, you'll cut the engines and row the rest of the way in so the hostiles don't know you're there."

She put the earbuds in and climbed into one of the boats, pulling her cap down and throwing her arms behind her head much like they saw her as in the briefing room. Music played in her earphones as she waited.

---

The Stretch

A lone parachute hung daintily in a tree, swaying ever so slightly with it's perch. A girl had her knees hoisted up to her chest as she hung from the rigging while a man toting an assault rifle that she couldn't make out stood underneath her. She dared not make a sound as he went about the business of emptying his bladder. For a few agonizing minutes, she kept herself still and suspended, trying to keep her gear from rattling and the sweat from dripping down off her chin. And then, like that, he was gone. After another few minutes, she listened to see if there was anything else around before hitting the release and dropping down onto the dirt, narrowly missing the fresh puddle of urine. She dropped her NVGs and grabbed her new HK53SD from around her back.

"Okay, now to do some recce and set up the IR strobes...I hope they aren't too far out now." She said to herself.

After putting a few out on the less populated part of the beachhead, she went over the deconflict call in her head while going to make her rounds around the perimeter.

[Empire of Donner land]

The LG had finished preparing, their equipment made no noise when moving, as designed. Their heads up displays were fully functional displaying friendly green square markers above the heads of those the IFF recognized, thankfully the bug had been completely eradicated that accidently marked friendlies as foes in the prototype version of the OSS back in the early 2000's. And their weaponry we were maintained and ready for combat.

The LG Team boarded the CRRC's. Typically they weren't deployed through naval means, it was usually stealth Helicopter insertion. Though if all went well they wouldn't be out in the sea for very much longer, much prefering solid land over the water to operate on. They waited and relaxed, giving a once over their equipment and looking for the rest of the teams to make their way. The mission had been mostly simple and to the point, help some hostages, kill some terrorists. A days work back in Donner Land.

[The GAmeTopians]

Marching to the boarding point double time, Squad Romeo boarded one of the CRRCs, taking a seat wherever space was available. Displays calibrated and activated as they waited, preparing the maps from the earlier briefing and meshing them with satellite footage, to confirm accuracy.
"Squadron Romeo in position." Captain Sparrow relayed to Agent Jones on his left.
"I know, Captain. I'm right here."
"Standard procedure, sir. You should know - you wrote that part of the handbook." Captain Sparrow grinned.
"Why is it that I always get the smart ones..."
"Because the ones who aren't smart die pretty quickly, sir."

[Monfrox]

The boats were loaded, sparsely. It was the plan to use them to get in and egress out with the CRRCs with the hostages, so there were few operators in each in order to accommodate for the large number of people they'll be taking out. They circled the island, a small island with a moderate treeline around it surrounding a building, but the presence of the IR strobes, seen only by those using NVGs, marked the LZ. The engine's were shut off and the teams rowed the rest of the way in to avoid detection. Once on land, the CRRCs were secured and hidden away while Sergeant Richter stripped off her jacket and threw it into one. She made her way up with them before stopping just short of the treeline, halting them with her fist raised.

"Strike..." She said in a whispered yell.

"Flame." Came the response.

At the answer to the deconflict call, another soldier made her way over.

"You guys were lucky I saw you out there or I may not have been able to get back here to meet you." She said, a slightly upbeat tone to her lighter voice.

"Report."

"Insurgent patrols haven't changed since I've landed. They don't appear to know we're here. There are some coastal anti-ship missile trucks parked at each corner of the shoreline, and a few anti-air tanks parked near the council building. I couldn't get close enough to see inside."

"Alright, the priority is the hostages, so we'll need to get to a back entrance. Taking out those tanks would help with the assault, assuming the Germanians are smart enough to send in the aircraft before the landing party. Or at least have some form of anti-missile defense systems with their larger ships. We'll need to be careful, follow me."

Sergeant Richter led them along to the edge of the trees to see the council building. Lavish by Froxian standards, but still quaint. It housed the leaders of the Council nations back sometime ago. Back before this war. Insurgents wandered about, chit-chatted, or took the opportunity to get some shut-eye outside the vision of their CO. There was about 10 or so guys making the usual rounds while about 15 of them seemed pretty stationary. Lights were scarce, but with the new moon out, they had the shadows to hide them.

[Empire of Donner land]

The Donnish Operators of Squad 2 dismounted from the CRRCS, all five taking a Diamond formation as the dismounted and onto the beach making sure not to splash the water which was occasionally reaching more inwards into the beach. Blitz, being followed by the rest of the Squad, took the lead who was far behind the Froxian woman that was to help them secure the Hostages.

Squad 2 was slowly approaching the tree line and watching for anything and listening past the noise of waves breaking on the beach. Suddenly the Froxian woman had raised her fist and Squad 2 stopped in their tracks. The Donnish Operatives stood still and kept their weapons ready.

"Strike..." She had said.

"Flame" a voice had replied back shortly.

As another Soldier came out, a friendly, the Donnish relaxed themselves. The other Soldier, the Scout that was sent out before they had even arrived, reported that nothing had thankfully changed since they had landed. The news that Anti Air and Anti Ship Vehicles were on the Island and being manned had surprised them.

The Donnish followed deeper into the Island along the trees. Now they could see the main council building. Perhaps having a use before, nothing but a Enemy structure now. Many of the Insurgents seemed very unaware of their presence or even prepared for a sudden attack. The LG in this case now held a major advantage against them, with that, a lack of lighting and it being night would be able to hide their advance and strike quickly at the Insurgents before they even knew what was happening.

Blitz crouched up behind a bush still watching the building. The rest of the Squad was waiting anxiously. "What's our plan to get inside?" He had asked in a whisper keeping his eyes on the complex.