Mission Log 008 - Welcome to the 21st
After a week of recuperation and debriefing at Borneo Base the survivors of the 474th receive their new orders. All six mecha pilots have been assigned to the 21st A.T.A.C. hovertank squadron based out of Dundee Base in northern Australia. The six newcomers arrive at Dundee Base to a cold reception from some of their new squadron mates. The reason for the animosity becomes clear when Malcolm "Shark" Willoughby, one of the friendlier members of the 21st "Blackjacks", explains that they were the squad that rescued the group from the Quadranos in Indochina and that not all of the squad made it back from that mission alive. According to Malcolm the squadron C.O. took the 21st out on the rescue mission without explanation and, rumor has it, without order. The squadron are loyal to their C.O. but are upset that some of their teammates died without knowing why, any many of the squad blame those they were sent to rescue for those deaths.
Shortly after the newcomers have stowed their gear they are called to a meeting with their new C.O., the leader of the 21st, Captain John "Black Jack" Mace. Capt. Mace explains to the six that his friend Garret Allen, the group's sergeant in the 474th, had contacted him a few weeks earlier looking to discuss the conspiracy the group had uncovered. Sgt. Allen had mentioned his concerns that the 474th was now being targeted by covert adversaries. When the 474th was sent on what he suspected was a suicide mission, Allen asked Capt. Mace to keep an eye out, especially if anything should happen to him or the rest of the 474th. Deciding to act as an unofficial backup to the 474th, Capt. Mace had taken the 21st out on an "extended patrol excercise" during which he had the squadron operating near Borneo Base. When word came in that Sgt. Allen had been killed and that the rest of the 474th had gone deep into the jungle in pursuit of his killer, Captain Mace took the 21st out to the same area for another combat excercise. When contact was lost with the 474th he took the 21st in to pull out the survivors before any potential enemies within the chain of command could act to prevent it. Captain Mace had made the call to take his squadron in on the word of a friend. Now that friend was dead along with several members of the 21st and the Captain wanted to know why.
Realizing they have to trust him, the survivors from the 474th decide to take Captain Mace into their confidence and tell him all of what they have uncovered so far about what appears to be a conspiracy by unknown forces to increase tensions between the Southern Cross and the EBSIS, possibly even to the point where a war may break out between the two. They don't know who is behind the conspiracy, but whoever it is they have connections deep within the Southern Cross command structure and enough influence to have sent the 474th out on a suicide mission. Captain Mace thanks the group for trusting him and asks that they keep him apprised of anything new they find out and that he will pass on anything he learns to them.
After getting settled in at the base, the group start to familiarize themselves with their new home. Dundee Base is fairly large as it is responsible for patrolling much of northern Australia as well as parts of Indonesia. Dundee Base had taken over primary responsiblity for the area from RDF base Fort Gibson, which is still in operation and is situated a few hundred kilometers southwest of Dundee. Between the two bases, near the rebuilt Ord River Dam and Lake Argyle, is the town of Gibson. Being the closest town to both bases, the town sees frequent military traffic and many businesses cater to the transient patrons. Several of the newcomers head into Gibson shortly after their arrival at Dundee Base and sonn find themselves at a bar called The Highwayman, a popular establishment among the troops from Dundee Base and Fort Gibson.
At the bar, Pvt. Watanabe is surprised to see Capt. Thomas Mitchel, the leader of Gryphon Squad, a special operations team that had saved Indira's and her sister's lives a few months earlier. Capt. Mitchel is pleased to see that Indira is doing well and invites her and her friends to join him at his table. At the table the group are introduced to Lt. Tracy Myers, a Tactical Corps soldier also stationed at Dundee Base. After a few drinks the group learns that Lt. Myers had served alongside their C.O., Captain Mace, during the Malcontent Uprisings, when they were both novice hovertank pilots in the infamous Wolfe Pack. The drinking continues well into the night, with Indira and her comrades remembering little of what happened after the first few rounds.
While his teammates went out drinking, Pvt. Mark Andrews had remained behind at Dundee Base, taking the opportunity to assess his new squad mates. His investigating was interrupted when he was approached by Lt. Maximillian Llewellyn. The lieutenant is the head of Delta Group, a GMP military intelligence group based out of Dundee. Lt. Llewellyn informs Pvt. Andrews that he knows the private has been operating undercover and that his contact in Tokyo had died under mysterious circumstances. Llewellyn tells Andrews that he is to remain under cover as a hovertank pilot and will stay with the 21st for the time being. He is to report to Lt. Llewellyn now, and the lieutenant sets up a complex communications routine that involves Pvt. Andrews visiting a fast food restaurant in the civilian section of the base to send and receive messages.
Mission Log 009 - The March to War
With no active mission, the new members of the 21st ATAC continue their efforts to uncover the conspiracy that nearly cost them their lives. Yossef believes that whoever was responsible for sending the 474th on their suicide mission must have known what whould happen so he begins digging into service records and mission logs. His efforts uncover some intersting information regarding the outpost bases the 474th had been sent to reactivate. Apparently the original RDF team sent in to set up the bases 15 years ago had been led by a micronized Zentraedi, a former Quadrano pilot named Zaria. Now and RDF lieutenant, Zaria apparently went rogue during the mission and several of her team were never seen again. One of the RDF team who did survive eventually joined the Southern Cross, and was now stationed in Tokyo! Yossef becomes convinced this officer, Col. David Adam, is part of the conspiracy.
Mark Andrews takes advantage of the break to renew some of his black market contacts. He gets in touch with an old acquaintance named Vega in the hopes of getting in on some weapons smuggling action. According to Vega, however, the weapons black market seems to have dried up. Since the destruction of the Damballah crime family, an unknown group has cornered the market and is buying up all of the black market weapons.
Fox Maje, meanwhile, has hitched a ride on a military transport down to Perth, the regional capital for the Quadrant. He tours around the city, but his trip is interrupted by cries of alarm. In an echo of the Tokyo Bridge attack, a pair of fighter aircraft with Soviet markings appear out of nowhere and destroy several bridges with strategic missile strikes. The planes then vanish before Southern Cross forces can arrive on the scene. Fox immediately returns to Dundee Base, giving the group their best description yet of the mysterious "Soviet" fighter craft.
As before, the EBSIS denies any involvement in the attack. Nonetheless, Southern Cross forces across the globe go on alert. Things escalate further when, at the beginning of November, word comes of an alleged attack by a squadron of Southern Cross Phantom fighter jets on EBSIS oil and gas facilities in Ethiopia. Now it is the Southern Cross' turn to issue a denial and to watch as the EBSIS moves its forces to high alert. Days later, in an incident that the Soviets again deny, EBSIS fighters launch a surprise missile strike against Ascendance City in South America, the birthplace of the Southern Cross. The brazen attack infuriates Southern Cross high command, leading to further detioration of relations between the super powers. The tensions reach an all-time high later that week when a firefight breaks out between Southern Cross and EBSIS ground troops in the wastelands of Western Europe. There are fatalities on both sides, and both groups accuse the other of having fired first.
Mission Log 010 - Mobilization
With tensions rising, all-out war between the Southern Cross and the EBSIS begins to look inevitable. With India Quadrant and Africa looking to be the most likely places where combat will start the Southern Cross begins moving more resources into those areas. Large numbers of convoys begin making their way south from Japan and west from Australia to the Indian Ocean. With the Southern Cross' scant naval resources stretched thin, many of the convoys coming through the South China Sea and the Java Sea in Indonesia come under increasing attacks by pirates. The 21st ATAC finds itself performing convoy escort duty, since their hovertanks are able to operate on the water as well as land.
Three days into their escort duty, the 21st's convoy comes under attack. A half-dozen boats, modified with armor plating and heavy weaponry, move in the take the cargo ships. A fierce battle ensues and the 21st is able to defeat the pirates. Questioning the survivors the soldiers learns that some of the pirates are actually members of the Black Legionnaires mercenary force. Since the Legionnaires were involved in the Indonesia incident, Captain Mace and Pvt. Andrews interrogate the surviving mercenaries to see if they can fill in some of the knowledge gaps remaining on the failed mission. What they learn from the interrogation only deepens the mystery, as the mercenaries insist their group was hired to conduct the salvage operation by the Damballah criminal syndicate but the members of the 21st know that the syndicate was eliminated by Southern Cross forces a month before the Legionnaires claim to have been hired.
Mission Log 011 - Spies Like Us
Half of the 21st ATAC, led by Captain Mace and including the former members of the 474th, are called away on a top secret mission. The team, with no equipment, is taken via plane to somewhere over the ocean west of Australia where they are dropped in a submersible from the aircraft. The submersible takes the team down the the Sea Squad underwater base called Oceanus. After a brief stay at Oceanus the team is transferred to the Daedalus class submersible transport SLV Ulysses. On board the Ulysses they find their mecha and equipment waiting and are briefed on their mission by GMP Major Alan Fredericks. The 21st is being deployed to support a special forces operation led by Gryphon Squad. The assignment is a search and destroy mission targeting an EBSIS convoy. Intelligence reports have indicated that the Soviets have established a weapons factory in the wastelands of the Middle East to produce weapons of mass destruction. The convoy is reportedly transporting these WMDs to the East Asian sector of the EBSIS where they could be used in an assault on UEG territory. Gryphon Squad is tasked with destroying the convoy and if possible bringing back evidence of the WMDs. Since the convoy may have an EBSIS mecha escort the 21st is being sent for heavy fire support.
The submerged Ulysses takes the team part way up the Indus river before the 21st deploys. They move swiftly through the wastelands into the mountainous terrain of northern Kashmir where they await the arrival of Gryphon Squad. When the special forces team fails to arrive the 21st ATAC are ordered to complete the mission themselves. The team travels to the foot of the mountain Nanga Parbat, from where they will ambush the convoy as it travels along the old Karakoram Highway.
When the convoy, a series of tanker vehicles escorted by troop trucks and an EBSIS mecha squadron, approaches Captain Mace becomes worried. None of the members of the 21st can detect any sign of the WMDs supposedly hidden in the tankers. Given the belief harbored by many members of the 21st that the incidents escalating the tension between the UEG and EBSIS were staged by a third party they wonder if this mission is a setup instigated by false intelligence. Recognizing the commander of the EBSIS mecha squadron as someone he fought alongside against the Zentraedi during the Malcontent Uprisings, Captain Mace makes a decision to scrap the mission parameters. With the rest of the 21st providing cover the Captain approaches the surprised convoy. He addresses the mecha commander, Major Mikhail Krueger, who recognizes Captain Mace.
As Captain Mace and Major Krueger discuss the situation, Krueger confirms that they are carrying desperately needed fuel oil to the Central and Easter zones of the EBSIS, not nuclear weapons. Just then the 21st ATAC picks incoming fighter aircraft that appear to be Southern Cross fighter jets. Captain Mace order Private Maje to break radio silence and contact them. When the fighters do not give the correct coded response Captain Mace concludes that it is another trick by the mysterious third party and orders his troops to shoot down the planes. The 21st downs the planes and when the wreckage is examined they discover that the pilots are neither Southern Cross nor EBSIS soldiers.
Captain Mace convinces Major Krueger that the fighter attack was a ruse and he is willing to believe in the possibility of an outsider manipulating the two super powers towards open war. Being in an isolated area far from their respective commands, the Captain and Major agree on a joint operation. Major Krueger will leave the heavy weapons mecha of his squadron, the 92nd Robotik Battalion, to continue with the convoy while he and the recon mecha accompany the members of the 21st in an attempt to find the home base of the fighter jets that just tried to attack them.
Mission Log 012 - Mountain Hideaway
Tracking back along the path of the jets, the tense pairing of Southern Cross and EBSIS mecha squads find themselves under attack by several mecha of an unknown design, including a new type of Veritech transformable fighter! One of the EBSIS mecha is destroyed, but the group manages to fight off these new mecha and finally tracks down the base of their mysterious enemy, a massive facility built directly into a mountainside. Along with the new types of mecha, this base is guarded by a more familiar one, an RDF MAC II artillery mech. Pvt. Andrews, using the sniper railgun on his customized VHT, is able to disable the MAC II, allowing the others to storm the enemy base.
Once inside the base, both groups must abandon their mecha to begin a floor-by-floor sweep of the facility. Several things soon become apparent; one, that the base is much larger than expected, that it includes a full mecha factory, and that it has been almost completely evacuated. Outside, the members of the 21st ATAC and 92nd Robotik who remained on guard watch as the last of their mysterious enemy fly off in what appear to be several modified Zentraedi reentry dropships, each apparently full of mecha. Only a handful of the unknown enemy remain in the base, and these individuals are suicide bombers, tasked with destroying as much of the base as possible.
With the enemy gone, the 21st and the 92nd both begin investigating the wreckage that remains. Tensions begin to mount until finally Captain Mace orders the 21st to leave with what they have managed to find. He points out that the mountain base is within EBSIS territory and that the Soviets will have reinforcements here long before the Southern Cross could get any in. Taking what they can and sabotaging some of what remains to keep it from the Soviets, the 21st falls back to their pre-determined escape route and leave the Himalayas for friendlier territory in India. During the trek out of the mountains Richards celebrates his birthday.
There is little time to rest once the 21st reaches the safety of New Calcutta. Firstly, the group learns that Gryphon squad is not the only Southern Cross Special Forces team missing. Apparently nearly all of the special ops teams have been killed or have gone missing in what can only have been a coordinated operation. Southern Cross command in India is reluctant to accept the 21st's assertions that there is another enemy at work, playing the UEG against the Soviets. In order to obtain more intel, the 21st is ordered to perform a recon across the border into China Quadrant (formerly Burma). According to some of the information salvaged from the Himalayan base, one of the dropships appeared to be heading there.
Sneaking across the mountains, the 21st comes across a massive camouflaged roadway through the jungle, one very similar to the one the 474th encountered in Indochina a few months earlier. Moving through the jungle parallel to the road, the 21st discovers a mecha army made up of the mysterious new mecha used by the mysterious enemy. Alongside the mecha a many Chinese troops, tanks, and planes; all seemingly poised for a massive assault to the north into Manchuria Quadrant. Armed with this new intelligence, the 21st ATAC beats a hasty retreat back into India.
Mission Log 014 - Baptism of Fire
It is now clear to both the UEG and the EBSIS that another group has been manipulating events to try and drive the powers to war. To settle tensions between the them, the two world powers hold a peace conference, taking place in the neutral island city-state of Shanghalla in Indonesia. The 21st ATAC is there as part of the UEG security detail, while Major Krueger and the 92nd Robotik are present as part of the Soviet security forces.
The unknown enemy attempts to disrupt the conference by launching an air assault against the city simultaneous with a ground assault against the main airport (to prevent dignitaries from being evacuated). Both attacks are driven off by the 21st and the 92nd, forcing the enemy mecha to retreat back to their carrier submarine hidden off the coast. As the ambassadors from both sides flee in their respective aircraft, the enemy makes a final attempt at killing them by launching a nuclear missile, hoping an air burst will cripple both departing aircraft. In a desperate move, Pvt. von Varenburg attempts to shoot down the missile but only manages to damage its remote guidance capability. Lacking external guidance, the missile reverts to its original targeting profile and drops into the heart of the city.
In the resulting nuclear fireball one member of the 21st and two members of the 92nd are killed, along with millions of others, as they had remained behind to help guard the last of the evacuees. Major Krueger is also killed, when the shock wave destroys his mecha as he flew off in pursuit of the enemy submarine. The rest of the 21st and 92nd are effectively immobilized as the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from the bomb shorts out their mecha, trapping the pilots within; unable to move but unwilling to manually open the hatch for fear of radiation exposure.
After several grueling hours the pilots are rescued, though their heavily irradiated mecha are unsalvageable. Once free, they learn that the mysterious enemy has gone public, issuing an official statement claimin resposibility for the destruction of Shanghalla and their intent to overthrow both the UEG and the EBSIS, accusing both of hoarding power at the expense of the rest of the planet. The mysterious foe also finally gets a name: the New World Order.
Next: World War IV