08:40:29, in spite of all the shock lingering around, the two field commanders of Task Force Sentinel work non-stop in a mobile command center parked ten miles from the AO to deliver the situation to the panic-stricken USSOCOM. Cormack tries to avoid losing focus but ends up giving into the pressure of the overwhelming disarray, at least until Knox snaps him out of it.
[USSOCOM chattering on comms]
[S.F.P.D. chattering on comms]
[3rd Fleet chattering on comms]
[Knox responds to hails]
Kingpin: Watchman, this is Kingpin requesting a SITREP. What's happening out there, over? Watchman, acknowledge, over. Major Cormack, we need a SITREP immediately. Confirm—
Cormack: *takes Wireless Earpiece w/ Camera Attachment off* God.
[somber music plays]
[Cormack stands and gazes aimlessly]
Knox: Cormack! We've got movement in San Francisco Bay. Confirmed changes on those cargo ships. They're attacking the fleet. It'll be a massacre!
Cormack: At ease, Captain! How many assets do I still have active in the area?
Knox: Scanning, standby. Connecting you now.
Cormack: Watchman to all Ranger Teams, radio check.
Don: Ranger 2-2, radio check. Lima Charlie.
Joker: Ranger 2-4 hears you, Watchman.
Gideon: Ranger 2-3, loud and clear.
Preacher: Ranger Team 2 reads you five by five, Watchman. En route to assist the USS Arrowhead as we speak. How copy, over?
Cormack: Solid copy. Retake the flight deck of the carrier. I'm en route. Watchman, out.
[Nightfall opens and taps the mobile command center]
Chaos: Guardian 5-2 is here and waiting, sirs. Let's move out.
Nightfall: We got your gear inside. Get on board, you can change on the way.
--
Armada
December 17th, 2058 - 08:45:18
2ndLt. Will 'Preacher' Irons
Task Force Sentinel
San Francisco, CA, United States of America
Exo Suit:
Assault
Boost Jump: Activated
Sonics: Activated
Stim: Activated
--
[bullets ricocheting]
Preacher: Ranger Team 2, Spotter Mode shows Rideau leading a boarding party of fifty plus foot mobiles with heavy weapons and MG WASP Drones! They're moving to take the USS Arrowhead's Bridge, tearing combat ineffective Sailors to shreds along the way! We CANNOT wait! We need to help the Marines, SEALs and EOD Technicians retake the Flight Deck now! Let's have ourselves a gunfight!
[Revolution DI Rifle fire]
Gideon: We won't let them get away with this!
[HBRa3 fire]
Don: Oo-rah!
[HBRa3 fire]
Joker: I'll take the heat off our friendlies!
[IMR fire]
With Ranger Team 1 still three minutes out, Ranger Team 2 takes the initiative to help the friendly combatants of the USS Arrowhead clear the Flight Deck. Kingpin then gives some troubling news.
Kingpin: Ranger Team 2, this is Kingpin. ATLAS is trying to take control of the USS Arrowhead's weapons systems. You need to stop them from sinking the 3rd Fleet, over.
Preacher: WILCO, Kingpin! We buy some time until we can move in first! Thanks for the tip, over!
Don: I'll keep the Mercenaries' hands full! Gideon, watch the Lieutenant's back!
Gideon: Got it! Where to?!
Preacher: The Railguns! That's how they're gonna try to sink the 3rd Fleet! Cover me while I plant Portable Electronics Jammers on them!
Gideon: Alright, on you!
Preacher: First one's in place!
Gideon: Clearing a path!
Preacher: Railgun no. 2 is jammed for now! Finish off the remaining hostiles out here before moving inside!
With the fact that Rideau is planning to take control of the USS Arrowhead's guns and destroy the entire 3rd Fleet, Preacher and Gideon plant two Portable Electronics Jammers on the Railguns to buy some time until an assault to the Bridge is possible. All while Joker protects the unarmed Sailors and assists the Navy SEALs, Marines and Navy EOD Technicians, and Don becomes a handful for the ATLAS forces on the Flight Deck.
The shooting outdoors stops after two and a half minutes, and Ranger Team 1 arrives just in time for the surgical part of the rescue mission.
[HK416 A5 fire]
[M249 Para fire]
[M16A5 fire]
Don: Clear!
Joker: Clear for now!
Gideon: That should slow 'em down. Ranger Team 1's inserting now. Cover.
Preacher: Ranger Team 1, Railguns are jammed for now. We're heading to the Bridge.
Cormack: Nice work, Ranger Team 2. Now let's get inside! On me!
Task Force Sentinel goes interior via a hole in the Island, but reaching the Bridge is far from straightforward. As they brutally cut through the ATLAS boarding party and some reinforcements in the Main Hangar Deck and the Flag Bridge all the way to the Bridge itself, where Rideau is controlling the Railguns and shooting at the 3rd Fleet after having bypassed the Portable Electronics Jammers.
After spotting him in X-Ray Vision, Preacher and Don throw two Flash Grenade and two EMP Grenades inside the room. While his teammates kill the tech-savvy Mercenaries and use the Railguns to sink the ATLAS Cargo Ships, the Second Lieutenant tears the team leader of Left Hand Squadron apart piece by piece.
Chaos: Left Hand 1's yours, Preacher!
Preacher: Thanks, Chaos! *yells* *spears Rideau against the dashboard* *disarms Rideau*
[Rideau tries to counter-attack]
Cormack: I need you to target for me, Gideon. Get on the controls.
[Preacher parries and blocks Rideau's punches]
Gideon: Roger that.
[Preacher catches and breaks Rideau's arms and legs]
Rideau: *painfully grunts* *controls breathing* *laughs* Go ahead. Killing me won't unfuck— Ahh!
[Preacher rips Rideau's penis and testicles off]
[Rideau screams in pain]
[Railgun fire]
[ATLAS Cargo Ship explodes]
Gideon: Cargo Ship is down.
Cormack: Switching to the second ship.
[Preacher palm strikes Rideau's face in with the penis and testicles still in the hand]
[Railgun fire]
[ATLAS Cargo Ship explodes]
Gideon: Down.
Kingpin: Ranger 1-1, all enemy ships destroyed and accounted for. Good job, team.
Cormack: Roger that, Kingpin.
Preacher: Confirmed, target: Rideau, KIA.
As Gideon and Cormack save the 3rd Fleet and wipe out the entire ATLAS strike force, Preacher cold-bloodedly murders Major Nicholas Rideau, leaving his libs snapped, his reproductive organs torn out, his face caved in, and skull cracked open.
Preacher: I'm cleaning up. See you guys outside.
Nightfall: We all wish we could do the same if we had more living Mercenaries here.
Gideon: Fucking hell. If Jonathan and Aurora want a war with us, they now have it.
Knox: What happens next?
Cormack: Next? Jonathan and Aurora Irons just murdered thousands of innocent people on U.S. soil. Next, we hunt them down... and we bury them.
With that vow, Task Force Sentinel with a cleaned up Preacher exfiltrates with Guardian 5-2 and goes to war with ATLAS Corporation.
--
MISSION COMPLETE
Armada
Your squad has driven back the ATLAS attackers and saved the remains of the U.S. Navy 3rd Fleet.