Olympus RPG Blog

Even with the arrests of the alleged conspirators by local authorities, we still halfway expected to see a last-ditch effort to destroy the Monarch. I ordered the full security team to maintain a constant patrol of the ship’s immediate vicinity on the tarmac, in full battle dress, for the remaining duration of the loading operation and liftoff preparations. I instructed the team to report possible threats and await clearance before engaging except in immediate danger. Our expectations were that whatever attempt might be made would be lightly armed, with local inferior weaponry—most likely limited to small-arms and satchel-charges.

At <22:38> local time, after dark, there was a large explosion somewhere in town, and local authorities were busy responding. We believed this to be an attempt to divert the authorities from the port area to take attention from an attack, and so, we were expecting trouble. Shortly afterward, the team identified three potential hostiles moving along the roof of the airport concourse some 30m to the ship’s south, one of which appeared to be armed with a light, man-portable, anti-tank rocket of some kind; the hostiles were observed spreading out along the concourse roof and lying prone, in preparation for what was believed to be an ambush attempt. All crewmen and dockworkers were ordered into the ship, and I ordered the security team to take up cover-positions behind the remaining cargo containers just outside the ship’s ramp; XO Matthews joined the security team behind the containers. Shortly afterward, three more potential hostiles were spotted to the north, rappelling down from a warehouse roof to the tarmac around 40-50m north-west of the ship, in a flanking position. We suspected that they believed themselves to be hidden in the darkness, unaware that each of the crewmen present had night-vision capability as a standard feature of most environment suit helmets. I ordered Crewman Reid to the roof of the ship, to get a better view of the hostiles to the south, as they were no longer visible to those of us on the ground, due to their prone position. ChEng Adler followed Crewman Reid, also taking up position on the roof. The hostiles remained in place, waiting, and I contacted Cpt Brierfield for orders; Cpt Brierfield advised the team to hold fire unless fired upon. After some moments waiting for the hostiles to make a move, XO Mathews grew concerned, and again, asked Cpt Brierfield for clearance to engage the hostiles, at which point the Captain agreed, and I relayed the order to engage at will. Some moments later, the hostiles emerged from cover, and were immediately engaged by the security team. Crewman Reid and ChEng Adler engaged the hostiles on the southern concourse, while those on the ground primarily engaged the hostiles to the north, who had taken cover behind some nearby machinery. The firefight was over in seconds, resulting in 100% casualties to the ambushing force, with no injuries incurred by the security team, nor damage to the ship.

Although the attack occurred pretty much as expected, I must confess that I had let down my guard a little, and as such, could have been somewhat better prepared for action. Had the enemy been better equipped, the situation might have gone differently. In any case, in spite of the improvised nature of the situation, the crew performed their duties as expected. The only incident of note was that Crewman Prudhomme charged off in solo pursuit of the only hostile to attempt to flee, returning with telltale scratching and pitting on his face-plate and torso armor that seemed to indicate a general lack of “respect” for the hostiles’ capabilities that could have ended disastrously, had they been better equipped or more lucky. Other than the customary verbal reprimand of Crewman Prudhomme, I can think of no way to improve upon the crew’s general performance during the action, or the end results.

It was decided to move to recover Bill’s Optical Storage Device (OSD) as soon as he was conscious and able to assist, as our mission was rather time-sensitive. This left us with little time to prepare, and would force a daylight approach. We collected some aerospace photos of the crash-site and environs, and determined that our best avenue would be from the West, via a stream-bed that passed through the nearby hills (roughly 1.25 km), rather than the suburb to the East, which the enemy would certainly be watching. We kept the gear we had collected previously, and Bob was able to procure a couple of hyperspectral binocular units. The team would consist of all members present at the safe-house: ChSecO Vik (myself), ChEng Adler, and Crewmen Reid, Prudhomme, Ekala, Dae-Jung, and Bob and Bill. As we did not wish to attract any undue attention to our operation, either by the enemy or the local populace, we kept the silenced weapons from the eariler operation as our primary weapons, though we carried un-silenced assault rifles, slung, in case of a tactical emergency.

Our plan was to approach on foot via the stream-bed, after having been dropped off on the far side of the hill; Crewman Dae-Jung would remain with the vehicle, on station, and proceed to the egress point in the suburb to the east of the site upon our signal, for extraction. As we left the stream-bed, we would remain under the cover of the treeline as we approached the site, and would take regular stops to observe for enemy activity, using the hyper-specs. Once enemy position was confirmed (or determined to be absent), we would proceed to the expected location of the OSD drop, recover it, and egress to the extraction point, ideally with minimal detection or action.

Our ingress was without incident, and we spotted four hostiles, with the hyper-specs, at longer than engagement range, so we attempted a stealth approach to avoid them. The nearest contact started moving toward the team, cautiously, appearing to have been alerted to our presence; I ordered the team into a hasty L-shape ambush, intending to catch the hostile in a crossfire with the silenced
weapons before he could contact the others, who appeared to remain at their posts. The ambush was spotted by the approaching hostile, and we were forced to open fire before he entered the kill-zone; he was neutralized quickly, nevertheless, and his communicator and other intelligence was recovered. We continued sweeping for the OSD. Bill recognized the area, and began looking for the OSD, while the remainder of the team set up a defensive perimeter. As Bill searched, we determined from the comm chatter that the hostiles had become aware that one of their number was missing, and were moving toward his last position, and therefore, ours. Bill recovered the OSD, just as the hostiles closed within engagement range, and I ordered the team to advance under fire into flanking positions of the eastern-most hostile, who was alone, and neutralize him, giving the team a clear egress to the extraction point; at the same time, I sent Crewman Dae-Jung the signal to move out. The hostiles immediately returned ineffectual fire; I informed Crewman Dae-Jung that we were receiving fire, and that he should expedite his arrival at the rendezvous point. As we advanced, Crewman Reid began suppressing the lone hostile with assault rifle fire, but was forced to turn his fire on the other hostiles, who were advancing quickly from the West and firing blindly in the team’s direction; the remainder of his team continued to charge the lone hostile, leaving him exposed. My group halted, and relieved Crewman Reid, by providing suppressive fire on the two incoming hostiles, allowing him to fall back. The lone hostile, having taken cover behind a tree, managed to pop out and shoot ChEng Adler in the upper torso as he rounded the corner; ChEng Adler’s injury was not life-threatening, and he continued to press the attack. After a brief firefight, all hostiles were neutralized, and the team continued to the rendezvous point and were extracted by Crewman Dae-Jung. During the extraction, ChEng Adler’s injury was seen to by Crewman Ekala.

Although the operation was, ultimately, a success, I consider it to have been tactically “messy”; better organization and communication might have prevented the one injury that the team sustained. Most of our combat training is focused on ship-board action, and we were less-than-prepared for an open-field fight. Some time and effort should be devoted to such combat situations, communication refined, and SOPs developed and practiced, in case we should find ourselves in such a situation again.

We had little time to plan the rescue operation, given the constraints of the situation, and availability of mission equipment was limited, so a great deal of improvisation was required. Our intelligence indicated that there were three agents in the target room with the hostage, one in an adjacent room, and one keeping covert watch in the hotel lobby. It was decided to use a zip-line approach from the outside, rather than go through the wall of an adjacent room as originally desired. The operation was to be split into two teams, one to observe from our hotel room, provide support if required, and operate the climbing equipment, and the other to enter the target room, neutralize any resistance, and secure the hostage. The basic elements of the plan were as follows:

• Climbing equipment was procured, as was our escape vehicle, prior to the operation, via Bob’s dummy identities; the vehicle was to be parked in the parking area adjacent to the front of the hotel building along our egress route
• Bob was able to provide the team with silenced slugthrower pistols and SMGs, and nanoweave protective vests, along with other un-silenced firearms at individual request
• ChEng Adler was tasked to hack a hotel keycard, to provide quick access to the target room; done in advance, and tested
• It was decided to perform the rescue operation at 03:00 Local Time, to provide night-cover for our egress, and to increase the likelihood that any hostiles present would be asleep, or otherwise less than fully-alert
• The “Window Team,” to consist of ChEng Adler, and Crewmen Ekala and Dae-Jung, would take up position at our hotel window, and observe the target room via hyperspectral scope, both before and during the clearing operation
• The “Door Team,” to consist of ChSecO Vik (myself), Crewmen Prudhomme and Reid, and Bob, were to take up position in the target hallway, having approached separately so as to not raise suspicion
• On Go-signal, Window Team was to fire the zip-lines, securing them above the target window, while observing the behavior of the occupants via the hyperspectral scope, expecting that any conscious occupants might detect the strike of the pitons and move to investigate
• Immediately after, Door Team was to enter the target room via the master-key, neutralize any enemy agents, and secure the hostage, who, according to our reconnaissance, was being held in the main bathroom; if heavy resistance was met, the Window Team was prepared to cross over to the target window via the zip-lines and provide flanking fire from the window, entering as necessary
• Once the room had been pacified, the Window Team was to secure the climbing rigs for rapid descent, while the Door Team secured the room and prepared themselves and the hostage for descent
• Both teams and hostage would then descend by twos to ground level, and egress to the escape vehicle

Pre-operation reconnaissance by the Window Team indicated that there were at least two more hostiles than initially observed, in another adjacent room, and that the agent in the lobby had come up as well. All hostiles appeared to be sleeping, except one guard in the target room. The heat-signature believed to be the hostage had not moved, remaining in the main bathroom of the target suite. As conditions in the target room had apparently not changed, the plan was not modified.

On the Go-signal, the Window Team fired the pitons and secured the zip-lines, reporting that the lone room-guard had responded to the sound, as expected. The Door Team then entered the room. The alert guard reacted quickly, and was shot multiple times, but appeared to have been wearing a concealed protective-vest; he managed to verbally alert the others to our presence, and return fire (one shot, only), but was shot in the head and extremities, incapacitating him before he could reach his communicator. The other hostiles, who had been asleep, attempted to reach their weapons and return fire, but being unarmored, were quickly neutralized. Overall, the room-clearing operation resulted in four hostiles dead or incapacitated, no injuries to the assault team, and taking 10-15 seconds at most.

The Window Team was immediately called over, and they prepared the descent rig, with Crewman Reid, being the most experienced climber, supervising the descent operation. The hostage was located in the main bathroom, bound, beaten, and determined to be heavily sedated, such that he would need to be carried; he was placed in a harness and was lowered to the ground first, along with Bob. Crewman Prudhomme, who was securing the hotel-room door, reported that a number of hostiles were gathering outside the door, presumably having awakened and approached from the adjacent rooms; the hostiles knocked, then called out what we assumed was a pass-challenge, at which point Crewman Prudhomme disabled the locking mechanism with pistol fire. ChSecO vik (myself) and Crewman Reid pulled rear-security for the descent operation, as the rest of the team descended, and then followed. The hostiles were in the process gaining forced-entry into the room as we escaped to the waiting vehicle, without further incident.

Although the operation itself went according to plan, and mostly without incident, the situation dictated some less-than-ideal conditions; for example, although all the hostiles that had seen us were, or were likely, deceased, the remaining enemy would probably be able to identify us via the hotel staff, or possibly security recordings, since masking our identities, given our limited capabilities, might have aroused suspicion amongst the hotel patrons (though our extensive use of Bob’s false identities and locally-cached equipment throughout the operation will likely prevent any connection to the ship). It would have been preferable to have had the opportunity to rehearse the operation beforehand; most of our prep-time was taken with gathering the needed gear. Once again, we were less-than-prepared for encountering armored foes, and likely should have attempted to procure armor-piercing ammunition, though the reduced take-down capability might have been an issue, and the matter was easily enough overcome. The room-clearing operation went relatively smoothly, no doubt, owing to our experience and training with boarding actions. That said, it could have gone more smoothly had we succeeded in taking out the lone sentry in one silenced shot, not allowing him to alert the other hostiles to our presence. It would be advisable to focus a bit more on initial accuracy in our upcoming boarding drills. With the exception of Crewman Reid, none of the crew are experienced climbers, tactical or otherwise, resulting in a near-catastrophe, as ChSecO Vik’s (myself) descender-coupling was improperly secured, and failed upon descent; were it not for his quick reflex and the timely intervention of Crewman Reid, the 13-story fall would surely have been fatal. This lack of experience should be remedied through proper training, in case we are called upon to perform similar missions in the future; inquiry will be made into the possibility of securing appropriate training gear and software.

Having already assumed computer control of the Betty’s systems, initial reconnaissance indicated three hostiles aboard, and at least two crewmen as hostages, which we expected to be held on the upper deck, locked in staterooms. We planned to feign a docking action as “requested” by the hostiles, in order to draw them toward the Betty’s engineering section, aft; once in place, Cpt Brierfield was to announce his intention to board, the signal to begin the operation, and then withdraw back to the Emerald Monarch. Immediately upon receiving the signal, ChEng Adler was to lock down all compartments on the Betty, trapping the hostiles in engineering and mid-hold, at which point the security team was to enter the ship via the breach in the lower hold, and sweep the ship for any remaining hostiles, while retrieving the hostages. The security team would consist of six individuals, per standard doctrine, based on the expected number of hostiles: myself (ChSecO Vik), XO Matthews, ChEng Adler, and Crewmen Prudhomme, Ekala, and Quaid.

Once the Betty was locked down, the security team entered the main deck through the cargo office hatch, and proceeded forward, clearing the staterooms, while Crewman Quaid secured the rear. A hostile was encountered on the bridge, holding a crewman hostage. ChEng Adler bumped the artificial gravity, causing the hostage to fall to the floor and the hostile to break his aim, at which point we immediately engaged and neutralized the hostile. Most of our fire was ultimately ineffective, due to the hostile’s armor, although XO Matthews did manage to destroy the hostile’s pistol, forcing him to un-sling his rifle in close-quarters; Crewman Prudhomme’s gauss rifle was the only weapon able to penetrate. The hostage was unharmed, but shaken. Having no further contact forward, ChEng Adler convinced the hostage to indicate the number of hostiles and crewmen remaining, and their probable locations; she indicated that there were four hostiles, not three as initial intelligence suggested. Crewman Quaid was to remain below with the hostage, as the team proceeded to the upper deck, where we were met by a second hostile at the hatch. We engaged the hostile, who then retreated from the hatch. We pressed through to the upper deck, flanking the hostile, who was attempting to take cover in an open stateroom. After his primary weapon was destroyed, the hostile threw out his sidearm, to surrender, and XO Matthews and Crewman Prudhomme immediately moved in to subdue him, while I cleared the remaining staterooms and released the other hostage, the Betty’s captain. Afterward, Crewman Quaid observed the two remaining hostiles as they attempted to bypass the hatch. It was decided to remove the hostages from the premises, and attempt to convince the remaining hostiles to surrender themselves, rather than risk further open confrontation. The hostiles refused to leave the ship, believing that the authorities would sentence them to death, and continued to attempt to escape. ChEng Adler sneaked through the hold to the engineering section behind the hostiles, observing them unnoticed, and once the security team had secured themselves on the upper deck, violently fluctuated the mid-hold gravity until the hostiles were rendered unconscious. All hostiles were remanded to the Betty’s stasis pods to await her captain’s discretion.

The operation basically went according to plan, although there were a few areas that could use some improvement. Our anti-armor capabilities need to be enhanced ASAP; at the first opportunity, the ship’s ammunition stores need to be supplemented with armor-piercing rounds, and boarding SOP and training adjusted to include its use. Crewman Prudhomme acted recklessly on the upper deck, firing on the hostile who had already indicated surrender, causing the hostile to struggle; Crewman Prudhomme was verbally reprimanded afterward, and has promised to control himself better in the future. Some hand-held sensor packs might be a good investment, and might prevent further blind-corner surprises (such as the hostile at the hatch to the upper deck); SOP to be reviewed once that equipment becomes available. I have also suggested that we review our own security procedures with regard to artificial gravity access, to ensure similar tactics are not used against us in the future.