After thirty minutes of infiltrating, assassinating, and securing the prisoners, the Ravens have devoided the perimeter area of the camp of Sardegnian lives. In the many barracks of the camp, they have managed to secure an additional twenty-four hostages, bringing the total count up to 48. Now, they're encircling the last hub of activity of the camp, the party area. Female prisoners are mopping up the place while soldiers with guns overwatching them in the dim lighting. Due to the lack of proper lighting, progress has been painfully slow for mostly naked women. The fact that these lecherous soldiers keep messing around with their bodies also doesn't help.
After performing a headcount, Catherine reports the enemy's strength. "I count thirty-three in the open. Twenty in the cantina. Five in the storage shed. No prisoners in the two buildings, yet. Almost half of them are wasted so keep that in mind."
Hearing that, Carter responds. "Good copy. Teams, do you have a visual on the target location?"
"Noble Two and Blue Four have eyes on the clearing."
"Noble Three and Blue Three have eyes on everything, we can engage the targets hidden behind the wooden walls also."
"This is Noble Five, still waiting for my turn."
"Blue One and Two are approaching the storage shed. We will be able to get the height advantage over them if we clear the shed."
"Noble One, copy all. Noble One and Four are to the South of the clearing and have a good view of most of them. Blue Leader, see if you can secure the shed before we kick things off. Noble Two, Blue Four, prioritize taking out anybody trying anything funny. Noble Three and Blue Three, you two have the punch, to take out anyone that is behind hard cover. And Five-!"
Suddenly, a major explosion cuts across the night sky, grabbing the attention of everyone in the camp perimeter. With the cracking of munitions being cooked off and fireballs raining down on a corner of the base as a background, Carter can't help but curse out loud.
"You've gotten to be shitting me!"
"Well, there goes the element of surprise." Emile whistled.
"Two, report!" Carter called out to Catherine who had a bird-eye view of the situation.
"It's the mortar pit! The ammo storage for the mortars exploded!" Exclaimed Noble Two as she was flying in a circle to examine ground zero.
"Damn it, Two, how the fuck did the shells got armed?! The plan was to neuter the mortars, not even touching the shells!"
"We followed the plan, Carter! Aside from killing the guards, we haven't even touched an ammo crate. So unless these Sardegnians were batshit stupid in following safety rules, we may be looking at something else entirely." Catherine suggested in a wary tone.
"... Shit." Carter could just about see the heap of trouble approaching them right now.
"My point exactly." Catherine quipped back.
"Noble, Blue, SITREP!" Ordered Yuki in a grave tone. The mission was supposed to center around stealth, but that explosion sure wasn't part of being stealthy.
"This is Blue Leader, we have secured the storage shed and from the look of it, they're in a combat state. Enemies are moving to grab the prisoners back to their cells while a majority of them a fanning out to contain the raging fire. We don't have much time."
"Noble Three, Actual, a part of them is heading for the motor pool. From the look of it, they are intended to mount up."
"Noble One here, I have a good suspicion that we have a third-party interfering in our mission. This party should have a lot of skill to avoid the detection from not just us but our AWACS also."
"Actual copies all and is taking direct command of the situation." Yuki calmly said over comms. "Noble Five, I want you to raise a ruckus, storm them from the front and attract the enemies away from the hostages. Blue Three, cover for Noble Five. Noble Three, provide anti-materiel support to the teams. All other elements, stick to mission objectives. Kill everyone and rescue these prisoners."
"Roger!" Answered the Ravens.
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"Be advised. The unknown third party is probably a Crusader. She has been on ONI's radar for quite some time and specialized in undercover ops and solo engagements. Noble Two and Blue Four, I want you two to constantly deploy your detection spells and be on patrol. This will keep her below ground until we handle the current mess." Yuki added.
"Copy that, Actual." Responded the pair of Ravens in the sky.
"This is Sky Eye," The commander of the AWACS interjected. "Detecting an increase in radio traffic from Murcia. They have been tipped off because of that explosion, and the nearby airbase is sending a flight of QRF. ETA, fifteen minutes. A detachment of ground force is expected to roll out in half an hour and it will take them an hour to get to the AO."
"Teams, you must have heard that so double time! I want the AO clean of the Sardegnian Army in less than ten!" Yuki urged the Ravens on.
"Solid copy, Actual! All teams, engage the enemy!" Per Yuki's and Carter's orders, Jorge is the one to open up first.
Dashing out of his cover, Jorge kicks down the steel gate acting as the sole entrance to the camp. As the gate falls heavily on the ground with a bang, Jorge raises Etika up in the direction of the motor pool where he knows that no hostages are there.
"Said hello to my little girl." Jorge then let Etika rip, the 14.5mm projectiles tearing and digging holes into the motor pool's thin brick wall with the accompanying loud reports from the HMG. A ruckus, Jorge sure caused for the Sardegnians can't help but send a detachment to deal with an abrupt enemy attack. Though most of them are still either in disbelief or too drunk to march out like a proper army.
While Jorge is raising hell and shutting down their vehicular operation, the rest of the Ravens start assaulting those that stay behind to guard the prisoners. Jun was the first one to engage, blowing up the upper half of a high-ranking officer with his 14.5 payload munition. The shock of suddenly losing their commanding officer is too great that most of the enemies fail to react to the appearance of the Ravens in time. John and Fred open fire from above, down at a group of soldiers manhandling a few prisoners. Up above, Catherine and Linda snipe at the Sardegnians that are out of cover. While Carter and Emile, rush into the fray, utilizing speed and surprise to take out the Sardegnians, one by one. With them going loud, Emile has now pulled out his 8-gauge shotgun to blast the son-of-bitches away from the female hostages.
For the first minute, things have been going extraordinarily well for the Ravens, managing to cut down ten of the fifteen soldiers that are left behind to guard the hostages. Yet, it's the last five that prove to be troubling. In a bid to disengage from the hunks of armor or just desperation at play, the five throw out grenades haphazardly, and a couple of them manage to land near a group of cowering females. Being the first to notice the danger, Catherine drops down, hard and fast. Landing with a heavy thump, raising a cloud of dust in the process, Catherine manages to deploy half of a barrier dome to protect the girls when the grenades explode. At that moment, Catherine is blasted backward, being almost point-blank to the explosions. A sharp pain runs through her left arm and from the warning her helmet's HUG keeps giving out, it seems like a fragment or two have punctured her undersuit. But at the very least, Catherine has been able to protect the girls.
Turning around to look at the battered ladies behind her, aside from being bruised and shocked, they are still in one piece. "Better that than dying." Catherine joked to herself before standing up and reequipping her rifle.
"Noble Two, are you broken?" Yuki called out to Catherine over the radio.
"Noble Two to Actual, my left arm took a bit of a hit, however, biofoam is working on it. Otherwise, I am not broken."
"Good," Catherine can just feel Yuki nodding on the other end. "Resume your mission, you may have the MEDEVAC take a look at the wound later."
"From the look of it, the armor itself is fine." It's at this moment that Einstein interjected. "Yet, it seems like you were unlucky enough for the fragments to bypass the armor and go for your unprotected undersuit. It seems like an upgrade for that is in order."
Stopping for a bit, Einstein adds. "The resupply Osprey should be carrying another suit for you to replace it with."
"Roger that, Doctor Einstein." Catherine replied, grateful that she wouldn't be going for missions, naked beneath the armor.
Back to the mission at hand, while Catherine is preoccupied with securing the girls behind her, the rest of the Ravens have killed off the grenade-tossers, a payback for injuring their teammate. On Jorge's end though, things aren't ending quite yet for an L3/33 tankette suddenly drives out from the motor pool. Turning on the spot to point its 6.5mm machine gun.
As a man and a tank perform a staring contest with each other, Jorge can't help but clench his Etika in excitement. The fact that he's a supersoldier hasn't been lost to him, nor is that Etika is more than capable to penetrate the frontal armor of that L3. So, when the L3 starts revving its engine before barrelling straight toward him gun blazing, Jorge cackles before clamping his feet onto the ground. Ignoring the hail of 6.5mm bullets peppering his raised barrier, Jorge points Etika at the L3, firing an entire belt of 14.5x114mm. These bullets, capable of penetrating 32mm of armor at 100 meters, are more than enough to perforate the 12mm armor plate of the L3/33. Hence, it isn't a surprise to see the L3 becoming Swiss cheese before veering hard to the left, crashing into the base of a water tower. The water tower, with its base breaking down, collapses onto the ground, spilling water everywhere. It doesn't take Jorge long to figure out that the two crew members are similarly decimated.
"Oh baby," Jorge pats his Etika. "You're amazing as always."
Thus, Sardegnian Army base camp, wipe out.
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Once they have confirmed that the LZ is cleared for the Ospreys, the Ravens give the go-ahead for extraction. With that said six Ospreys lower their altitude from above the cloud, completely unimpeded by anything. The Sardegnian QRF from Murcia was swiftly taken out by their escort Phantoms. By the time the Ospreys have touched down, the Ravens have cobbled up the rescued hostages, numbering 76 in total, around the LZ. There was some trouble handling the traumatized women, but any fires were soon put out by the female members of the Ravens.
Looking at the women and girls, dressed in anything clean that they could lay a hand on, Catherine can't help but comment. "After seeing us, I doubt that they would be able to live normal lives." She then spots John, on one knee and is taking care of a pair of mother and daughter. "Heck, it's not like any would be able to live a normal life after what happened to them."
Carter, who is next to her, responds. "The definition of a normal life, varies from person to person, you know. By rescuing them, we can at least give them a chance to live a better life."
"And that is, on Belkan soil." Yuki chimed in over the radio. "Once we're done debriefing them, we will work on curing them of their trauma and affliction."
The Ravens nod at her words, not surprised that the Marshal already planned something for them. Having said that, Yuki addresses Catherine personally as the rescuees are loaded onto the Ospreys. The mother that John treated before and her daughter, is helped on the Osprey by John himself.
"Noble Two, have you repowered the internal broadcast system of the camp?"
Nodding, Catherine answers the Marshal. "Yes, ma'am, I've restored the system and linked it according to your command. Just, may I ask as to why we need that, Actual?"
Instead of Yuki's voice sounding off on their comms, her voice reverberates across the entire camp. "That's because there's a little Crusader still skulking about, unable to contain her own curiosity. Am I right, Lady Raven, or should I say, Natasha Ciora?"