TFA2 28.1 – Tiger Leap is A Go
Under the night sky, six UH-1Y Venom and two AH-1Z Viper approached Penna Hill from east. All flight crews took a breath full of relief as the peak of Penna Hill appeared in the distance. It was natural because they had just conducted a high risk ferry flight.
On paper, Venom and Viper had ferry radius around 685 km, but tonight they had to fly it for 800 km. The extra 115 km seemed small, but in their last minutes flight the crews could fell that their chopper was in its last leg.
Even if external tank could increase the ferry radius, it would still not increase the engine endurance. It was not impossible that one of the choppers would suffer engine failure at any second. But fortunately, all choppers managed to hang on until they arrived above Penna Hill.
From the cockpit in the leading Viper, Captain Russell observed the activities in Jack Sparrow. Unlike any other night, the surface of Jack Sparrow was brightly light. People in full combat gear and a few dozen Humvees were also visible in one corner.
Then, Captain Russel turned his gaze towards landing pad in the middle of Rocky Field. It was small landing pad, only enough for eight small helicopters or four Ospreys to land or take off simultaneously. It was also brightly lit for regular night landing. Wasting no time Captain Russel radioed the member of his flight.
“Duck leader to all flight, let’s make a safe landing.”
The flight from Woodpecker then approached the landing pad. By following the guidance from the ground crew, they made a smooth landing.
After the flight crews exited from their choppers, personnel from Logistic and Support Group immediately moved every chopper into underground hangar. They did it using a tool called manual helitow cart. When they moved only one chopper, 2-3 men would just push the chopper while one person steered the helitow.
However, as tonight they had to move eight choppers in hurry, personnel from Logistic and Support Group used eight helitow in one go, and connected each tow to M1152 Cargo. Therefore, they could move all six Venoms and two Vipers in matter of minutes. As for the maintenance equipment, ammunition, and other logistic for the choppers, two flight of Hercules had already air dropping it a week ago.
Meanwhile, the flight crews calmly stood in the edge of landing pad, waiting for the arrival of maintenance crews.
After observing the activities around him Captain Russell said, “It’s very lively here, Sir.”
“Yeah, it’s preparation for initial strike,” Major Alfred calmly replied. “We will launch it in a few minutes.”
“And so, we don’t need to hide our present anymore,” Captain Russell concluded.
“Correct,” Major Alfred firmly replied.
Then, as personnel from Logistic and Support Group had moved all choppers from the landing pad, a roar of engines was heard from a distance. It approached Jack Sparrow in rapid pace, and a moment later four Osprey smoothly landed on the landing pad.
Three Ospreys brought the maintenance crew, while the last Osprey carried additional fuel for Jack Sparrow. As two personnel from Logistic and Support Group transferred the fuel from the last Osprey to underground fuel storage, the maintenance crews approached Captain Russell and the flight crews.
After clearing his throat Major Alfred said, “Gentlemen, welcome to Jack Sparrow. After we have a small brief in the underground hangar, you can rest in your barrack.”
“””Aye Sir.”””
In steady step, the new arrival personnel followed Major Alfred like a pack of chicks followed their mother.
---
Underground Command Center, Jack Sparrow
20:40, 5 Nov 2025
After entering Command Center, Major Alfred immediately walked over to Colonel Meyer. “I have told the chopper crews that we need them for the third strike tomorrow.”
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In curious tone Colonel Meyer asked, “Do they have objection?”
“No,” Major Alfred happily replied.
“Good.” After taking a glance at his watch Colonel Meyer continued, “Rolling Panda is already in position and ready to kill opposing coms.”
Major Alfred nodded and said, “If intel from Reznik is accurate, right now our target will be too drunk to put a fight. Let’s exploit this opportunity.”
“Yeah.” Colonel Meyer took a deep breath before calmly said, “Tiger Leap is A Go.”
“Aye Sir.”
Wasting no time, Major Alfred relayed the launching code for Tiger Leap to all elements in Jack Sparrow.
---
In the east side of Penna Hill, right on the lip of the cliff, eight pairs of shooter and spotter established a firing position. This shooter team had conducted tactical observation on supervisor office since this afternoon.
Each shooter silently lay behind AWM 338 Lapua Magnum. Their precision rifle had high-powered day-night rifle scope attached on top of it, along with a sound suppressor connected to its muzzle. The high-powered day-night rifle scope could help the shooter marked their targets and calculate the impact point, but it would not clear enough to identify them.
As for the sound suppressor, it would not completely eliminate the explosion crack from .338 rounds. It would only reduce it into a level of 5.56 mm round, but it was more than enough to prevent people in Makai Royal City from heard the gunshot.
In a suppressed mode, the effective range of AWM 338 would also drop to 500 meters. Fortunately, if you drew a straight line from the firing position to supervisor office, it was only 400 meters at max.
Meanwhile, each spotter sat behind a tripod that supported a long-range low-light camera. Initially, the long-range low-light camera was used by researcher on earth to observe the night activities on savanna, grassland, or prairie. When some spotters saw member of Nature Environment Group used it to observe the night life in Desolate Land, they immediately asked the adoption of similar device.
And so, TF Amethyst procured 400 units military-grade long-range low-light camera. The military-grade version could reach a distance up to 1.6 km. The image was as bright as daylight, and on its effective range the operator could easily count how many freckles on someone face.
Under the night sky, the shooter team calmly carried out their mission. Then, Sergeant Tommy had just put a melon seed into his mouth when a radio call came in.
[Command to All Archer, be advised, Tiger Leap is A Go.]
“…”
[Command to All Archer, I say again, Tiger Leap is A Go.]
Without delay Sergeant Tommy pressed PTT button. “Archer 0-1 to Command, I read you, Tiger Leap is A Go.”
[Archer 0-1, go get them, Command over and out.]
“Right on schedule,” Sergeant Tommy calmly said. Then, he turned his gaze towards his team members. “You heard it. Let’s get it done.”
“”””Aye Top.””””””
Almost in unison all member of shooter team happily replied.
---
Below the shooter teams, a long convoy of Humvee walked down the East Track. The convoy moved in moderate speed, almost in total silent, and without turning on its light. It was pretty standard procedure for a night raid.
Without the present of RPG or heavy machine gun, all combatants from Ground Combat Group would agree that their Humvee was the best ride for a night raid. Even though initially, TF Amethyst almost canceled the adoption of M1151 and M1152, and went for the previous version of Humvee.
M1151 and M1152 did indeed have reliable armor protection up to 7.62 mm. However, the weight of its armor made the vehicles very sluggish, and made a ‘Creak creak creak!” noise. In addition, the engine was also very noisy.
Meanwhile, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the previous version of Humvee was very silent and agile. Therefore, in a night raid the raid team could approach the targeted building up to a very close range undetected. And if it had to, it could hit the wall to make entry point for the raid team.
Fortunately, there was always solution for every problem. As the result, M1151 and M1152 used by TF Amethyst evolved and became as silent and as agile as the previous version, but with a better protection.
Slowly but surely, the convoy of Humvee arrived at the foot of Penna Hill. Then, it separated into four groups. The blocking team took position around two hundred meters in the north, east, and south of supervisor office. Each blocking team was consisted of four M1151 Weapon Carrier. Two were armed with Medium Machine Gun M240, while the other two had Auto Grenade Launcher Mk.19.
Meanwhile, the attacking team stopped about a hundred meters before the front gate. From the second M1152 Personnel Carrier, Lieutenant Reznik and a nine-man infantry squad came out. They wore traveler cloak to cover their tactical vest, combat gear, and weapon, while a scarf covered their head and neck.
While his squad made final check on their weapon and gear, Lieutenant Reznik approached third M1152 Personnel Carrier. He stopped next to passenger seat before saying, “Any last minute order, Capt.”
“Are you sure you want to lead the breach personally?” Captain Tiffany calmly asked. “You are not officer in the Activity anymore.”
“I join TF Amethyst because I love this kind of job.”
“I see.” Captain Tiffany nodded before continuing, “Well then, go get them.”
“Aye Ma’am.”
Captain Tiffany then calmly pressed PTT button, “Godfather to all Raiders, be ready, party is a go.”
“…”
“Godfather to all Raiders, lock and load, and stand by for my signal.”
Under the night sky, Lieutenant Reznik and his squad then casually walked over to the small door next to the front gate.
*****