| “ | Comrades! Your country calls to you at its darkest hour. Our enemy is gathering at the gates. President Petrenko is their puppet. He lays down before them and he asks you to do the same. Will you lay down? They come with their tanks and their bombs. The imperialists are on the move. They are entering our country under a web of lies. They must be stopped, and WE WILL STOP THEM! You are the tip of the spear, the edge of the sword. Lead and they will follow. Show your countrymen what it means to be a true patriot! Follow me, my brothers! Let us turn back the imperialist invaders and defend our motherland! - Zakharov, inciting a rebellion |
” |
Operation Red Viper[1] was joint American-Russian operation during the Oil Crisis aiming to capture the Consortium kingpin Yegor Zakharov. Zakharov incited an uprising within the Russian military against their government in hopes of pushing back the American forces.
Background[]
| “ | Hold on, if we're gonna get this sonuvabitch, we're gonna do it right, I'll call Petrenko - Baldwin telling Richter to stand down |
” |
General Kelly and President Baldwin congratulate Richter on beating back the assault against the TGE refinery, Vega then reveals that she has located Zakharov in Moscow, who hasn't bothered hiding himself.
Richter wants to go and get him right now, but President Baldwin wants to do it “the right way” so he calls up Russian President Petrenko, leaving Richter and Vega shaking their heads in frustration.
Meanwhile, Zakharov receives a phone call from an irate contact, presumably the Consortium, telling him that Zakharov is no longer needed by the Consortium, and considers the failure in Egypt “a nuclear meltdown”. Zakharov scoffs at and rebuffs him, telling him that it was a long overdue move. Zakharov then responds he no longer needs the Consortium's services either and hangs up.
After that, Zakharov proceeds to make a speech accusing Petrenko of letting US Forces invade Russia. He manages to convince some Russian units, who turn rogue and join him.
Introduction[]
| “ | Look, this is a delicate situation; officially we’re here as Petrenko’s allies in the fight against Zakharov and his rebelling 11th corps, Russians don’t usually welcome foreign troops with open arms. - President Baldwin |
” |
President Baldwin warns Major Richter of the fragile situation; General Kelly briefs Richter and tasks him with reopening the highway to the rebelling 11th corps main base in the Vologda region, the situation is compounded by the fact that Zakharov is quickly amassing popular support, so he needs to be taken out immediately.
The 1st Armored division has been redeployed from Germany to Russia, contact with the scout team has been lost, and Richter has to regain control of the situation before it spirals out of control into a doomsday scenario.
Task Force Talon deploys Jefferson and a team with a Medevac helicopter together with a US armored unit, Richter questions if Jefferson has been to Russia before, Jefferson replies by stating that he cannot answer that, Richter hopes their visit will be short.
Vega gives her briefing, stating that they have lost contact with a recon battalion from the 1st Armored over two hours ago in the nearby suburbs, with a video recording showing the battalion in fighting in intense urban combat.
Richter tasks Jefferson with linking up and rallying the battalion.
"Ever been to Russia?"[]
| “ | Ever been to Russia Sergeant Major? You know I can't answer that sir. - Richter and Jefferson at the start of the operation |
” |
Jefferson’s first task is to cross the bridge, with 2 M1 Abrams tanks, 4 Bradley IFVs and 2 Avengers with him; the area on their side of the bridge is quickly cleared with minimal difficulty.
The unit then starts to cross the bridge, Vega raises an alert when she detects and unidentified helicopter coming at them across the bridge, it turns out to be a Hind helicopter, the two avengers quickly shoot it down before it can deal much damage, and the unit continues until they are off the bridge, fighting through minor resistance to get off.
Vega tells Richter that a delta platoon in a Blackhawk with three apaches is being sent to provide aid to the recon battalion; Richter has them rerouted to Jefferson’s position to aid in the link up, and assumes control of the entire operation. Vega also alerts them of a barracks near the highway, and advises Jefferson to watch his left flank.
The delta platoon with the escorting apaches arrive, they clean up the area just away from the bridge, and the delta platoon and helicopters are then sent to destroy the barracks to secure the left flank.
This done, the entire group then fights their way through part of the suburbs to find the recon battalion.
Strong enough to strike[]
The recon battalion is in complete disarray, numerous burning vehicles and heavily damaged ones with dead bodies littering the entire area, an Abrams tank is destroyed just as they arrive.
The battalion is boxed into an open area by RPGs and riflemen firing from buildings, Jefferson leads the delta platoon alongside TFT snipers and is able to clear the immediate area with heavy house to house fighting.
Jefferson takes stock of the situation, and decides to rest and repair for the moment, the repair FAT-Vs spring into action and begin patching up the remainder of the battalion while Vega gives a tactical overview.
The entrenchment along the highway
11th corps units have entrenched themselves along the highway with railgun turrets and several pieces of heavy artillery. However, a set of reactors powering the turrets can be destroyed to shut the turrets down.
After resting and repairing, Jefferson prepares to move out, using the Abrams with their heavy armor to spearhead their breakout of the neighborhood, they move forward using the Abrams to draw fire while delta soldiers and snipers take out the buildings occupants.
Partway through the suburbs, they encounter one of the forward scout teams hiding in a forested area, the scouts report in and handover their reports, allowing Jefferson to see that there is a heavy blockade at the suburbs main exit. The scouts also reveal the presence of two other teams, and the apaches and the Blackhawk are dispatched to find them, meanwhile, Jefferson continues moving with the battalion through the suburbs, and prepares to assault the blockade.
Mortars are used to weaken the defenders before Abrams tanks charge in and with several firing at once, completely wipe out the blockade and open the way to the highway.
At the same time, the other two scout teams are found, one at the edge of the suburbs near the forest, the other much deeper in the forest, their reports reveal the presence of helicopters in the entrenchment.
After breaking out, the battalion crosses the highway to target the reactors on the other side, despite being heavily defended, the combined firepower of the Abrams tanks and Apache helicopters decimate them and the reactors are destroyed, cutting off power to the turrets.
Tokamak reactors powering the railgun turrets
Jefferson finds a pathway leading away from the reactor base, following it reveals an over-watch position covering the entrenchment, artillery is called in in the form of 2 M109 Paladins.
With the two paladins bombarding the entrenchment, the battalion mounts a full scale assault on the position, Abrams and Apaches blow their way through the heavy armor while avengers target and destroy the helicopters, with the railgun turrets out of action, the defenders have lost a valuable part of the defense, and the entire position crumbles with few losses.
Jefferson declares the highway open while Vega patches General Kelly and Chamberlain in, Kelly congratulates Jefferson, but Chamberlain tells them that they have a problem.
As the TFT team airlifts out, Chamberlain reveals that the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant was seized by the 11th corps 3 hours ago, and the possibility of a meltdown on the scale of Chernobyl would be catastrophic for US forces on Russian soil.
As the only rapid-deployment unit, Chamberlain orders Task Force Talon to retake the facility while General Kelly orders the 1st Armored Division to begin their assault on the 11th corps main base.
Under the Kalinin Sun[]
| “ | I don't need to draw you a picture of what will happen if we have another Chernobyl while US forces are fighting on Russian soil. - Chamberlain briefing Richter on the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant. |
” |
Task Force Talon sets up a base across the river from the power plant; Veg notes that as some of the transports have been delayed, no field prisons can be built, and when Jefferson sarcastically asks if there is anything else, she replies that they have not received any drones as well.
Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant
TFT’s primary objective is to capture the fuel depot across the river, the river bank itself is heavily guarded with a line of railgun turrets, these in turn, protect its main weak point, a series of reactors just behind it.
Vega announces the arrival of the Comanche stealth helicopters, perfect for reconnaissance and upgradable with missiles for attacking. Richter notes how the Russians have taken the power plant engineers hostage and tasks Jefferson with finding them so that their help can be utilized to ensure the power plant continues running.
One of the Comanche helicopters is able to find the compound; Jefferson gathers a team of snipers and commandos and assaults the compound. Snipers take out soldiers at windows while commandos rush in to take out the rest, the prisoners are quickly transported back with the help of Stryker ICVs, and Jefferson now turns his attention to the fuel depot.
With a line of turrets blocking any entrance, Mortar Strykers target them at their maximum range and open a small hole, allowing a pair of upgraded Comanche helicopters to cross the river and destroy the reactors, disabling all the turrets.
This allows a pair of spinners and several Stryker Mobile Gun Systems to attack the lightly defended base, leveling it with ease and allowing Task Force Talon to assume control of the depot.
Blowing the Enemy's Fuses[]
The assault can begin on the power plant; TFT has to clear two main strong points in the facility to control it. Both are heavily fortified with handheld SAMs, railgun turrets with a separate power source and heavy artillery, it will not be an easy assault.
Spinner drone launchers and Stryker mortars are first used to clear out as much of the opposition as possible before mobile gun systems assault the headquarters. They start by racing to the back to take out the artillery before it can do too much damage before turning back and sweeping the buildings for infantry before destroying the headquarters.
The same process is repeated for the second strongpoint, several mobile gun systems are knocked out in both engagements, and enemy artillery and mortars take their toll on supporting infantry.
Akula stealth tanks are encountered at both strong points, while strong on offense, their weaker armor enabled them to be destroyed quickly even though TFT suffered losses for their heavy weaponry.
Eventually, both strongpoints were cleared out, but bad news arrived.
A Very Sensitive Situation[]
As it turned out, the 11th corps was now trying to overload the reactors the reactors by shutting down the generators.
Vega warned that while one generator could sustain the other reactors on its own, shutting down all of them would cause a Chernobyl level disaster, it turns out that the Consortium had even found a way to personalize their stealth technology, allowing them to move troops around without being seen.
Task Force Talon was forced to spring into action right after destroying the strongholds, S.H.I.E.L.D unit teams upgraded with millimeter wave radars swept through the complex with Mobile Gun Systems supporting them, their heavy machine guns cutting down the camouflaged infantry while their exoskeletons protected them from return fire, but a few railgun turrets still caused heavy damage.
However, the Consortium also deployed more heavy artillery and the stealth Akula tanks to fight back Task Force Talon, they were no match for the S.H.I.E.L.D teams though and although a few S.H.I.E.L.D units fell, the rest kept going and eventually completely cleared the generators of any Consortium forces.
The Missile Silo ready for launch
At this point, however, General Kelly calls up with a new situation to report; the 1st armored division has been stalled by heavy resistance from Zakharov’s forces. But that is the least of it, Kelly shows them live feed from a spy drone, showing an active missile silo ready to launch, it launches with everyone watching, Kelly scrambles to get NORAD and receive targeting coordinates.
Vega wonders where they are firing since the missile is light tactical missile with low range and no guidance system, Moscow is too far away and the 1st armored division is too close, Richter figures that it’s targeting the power plant itself and issues an alert. The missile hits just inside the plant, and while it fails to hit the generators, Kelly informs everyone the silo is rearming and they will not miss again.
The Guardian Drone intercepts the enemy missile
Richter authorizes the deployment of Guardian ballistic defense drones to protect the power plant, and Jefferson scrambles to deploy one. They encounter further enemy resistance, but manage to clear them out, making way for the Guardian Drone to ward off the missile.
Interval[]
| “ | Ah yes, that reminds me, I would check on your Russian allies if I were you. They seem to have lost their way. - Zakharov |
” |
Zakharov contacts Richter at his base, thanking Richter for saving him in London and admitting that he is impressed with how fast Richter moved. Richter sardonically remarks that he’d love the chance to save him again, and even remarks that Zakharov is losing as his own countrymen are turning against him, Zakharov simply remarks that Richter should check his own Russian allies as “they seem to have lost their way.”
Operation Under Cover[]
| “ | The 1st Armored Division is having a helluva time; Petrenko didn't send those reinforcements he promised.I need you to deploy your troops and join the fight; we need this thing turned around and now.
Is Petrenko out of his mind? For god sakes we just saved his country from a nuclear disaster! The president is on the phone with Petrenko as we speak. Heh, I’m sure he’s ripping the man a new one.
|
” |
Task Force Talon deploys a large force to the site of the 11th corps main base, spinner drones, S.H.I.E.L.D units and Strykers along with repair FAT-Vs along with Jefferson and a platoon of commandos and heavy snipers. A number of drone constructors are brought along to help build a base.
The group is separated from the 1st Armored Division’s main base by a large hill, necessitating a relief effort by an island in the center of the river held by the 11th corps, and is used to choke the 1st Armored Division’s advance.
TFT begins its advance; snipers scout the bridge and allow mortars to destroy any nearby units and defenses, the spinner drones and S.H.I.E.L.D units sweep into the island, surprising the defending 11th corps forces and clearing out much of the resistance without difficulty, allowing TFT to link up with the badly mauled 1st Armored Division.
With Us or Against Us?[]
The 1st AD has been terribly battered with many losses. Excavators slowly begin to rebuild their base.; dozers are put to work repairing the base while Repair FAT-Vs begin repairing the heavily damaged vehicles of the division.
Meanwhile, TFT sets up its base on the island and starts calling in reinforcements, Vega alerts Richter to a nearby barracks just across the river that appears to be preparing for a possible counterattack. Consortium units are also approaching from a landing spot to the east, and across both bridges. Richter decides the TFT will have to strike first, and they manage to destroy the camp.
Vega then issues another alert, a squadron of MiG-21s is taking off from a nearby airfield just north of the destroyed barracks. With the new resources at their disposal, the combined TFT and US force manage to destroy them all.
However, just as they catch their breath, TFT learns the 11th Corps is preparing to launch a counterattack, yet their Russian reinforcements are still on their way. With little time left, they scramble to put up whatever units and structures they have in hopes of holding them off, preparing turrets for defense and using artillery/helicopters for support while tanks and heavier armor take the heat.
The 11th Corps begins its assault, throwing massive contingents of Piranhas, Mi-35 Hinds, T-80s, Tunguskas, BTR-80s and Kornet missiles alongside other units. The joint force of TFT and US take heavy losses in the next few minutes as they successfully fight off enemy advances.
Strange Bedfellows[]
Russian Reinforcements
| “ | Sir! Petrenko has sent the 557th and the 580th regiments of the 7th Reservist Army. - Vega |
” |
As the attacks begin to cease, Petrenko's reinforcements arrive as promised, in the form of the 557th and 580th regiments of the 7th Reservist Army. Their commander releases control of them to Major Richter and declares the 11th Corps a renegade formation.
With the influx of reinforcements, TFT and the 1st AD’s positions on the island are secured and the counterattack against Zakharov and 11th Corps begins. A Russian Air Force squadron of MiGs also offer assistance, but request TFT to first eliminate hostile SA-12 SAMs.
However shortly after the reinforcements arrive, Vega raises an alert, once again the 11th Corps has started a launch sequence for the Iskander SS-26 ballistic missile like they did back in the Kalinin nuclear power plant. A Guardian Drone stops it, and Vega uses this opportunity to locate the missile silo. The combined force then punches through enemy resistance in order to make their way through, eliminating the missile silo before it causes further trouble.
After this is done, the heavy strike force attacks and destroys the SAM site, allowing the MiG-21s to operate.
The strike force then begins working its way slowly towards the 11th Corps main base with Zakharov in his own personal T-80. With friendly Tunguskas, Spinners, Buggies and Avengers protecting the force from helicopters, the armor units demolish everything in their way, including enemy railgun turrets. Eventually, the joint force devastates the enemy base and destroys Zakharov's T-80, capturing him at last.
Aftermath[]
- Main article: Battle of Washington D.C.
Zakharov is successfully captured and extradited to the USA to face trial. However, the surviving terrorists who went into hiding after the Invasion of San Francisco stage an assault on and capture the US Senate in the Capitol, demanding the freedom of Zakharov for the lives of the senators.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Act of War (UK). Archived from the original on 2004-12-05.
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