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.