Operation Prometheus: A United Imperium Storyline

Operation Prometheus. August 25, 2084. Local Time: 8:30 PM. Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Status: [REDACTED].

"Habu One to Overlord, we are at the LZ. What's the Sitrep down here? Over."

"Overlord to Habu One, we have PID on multiple tangoes in the region. Habu Two and Habu Three are two clicks away from you. Advise you move to Waypoint Niner for rendevous. Keep an eye out for any hostile X-rays. Habu Two has the jamming kit and everything you'll need for SIGINT collection. We may be going radio silent, but they won't. And remember, all island inhabitants have the propensity for hostility. Out."

Before I set out to find Habu Two, I take a moment to watch the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. Darkness now shrouds the island, to only be penetrated by the lights of a few small towns and the facility. The time has come now. I reload my sidearm and turn off the electronic safety on my primary. Overlord said that if things went south, it was Weapons Tight. Even with my NODs, I can't see that ending well for anyone. Silently, I begin moving towards the rendevous point.

Cormorant dropped me off near an access road. Ideal for avoiding large groups of potential hostiles. Also ideal for avoiding civilians. No one uses access roads unless they have to. Head on a swivel, I slowly make my way up the hill. As I do this, I take care to recollect what Overlord said in the briefing. The gaps in their SAM coverage are few and far between. Combat Air Patrol generally takes care of those gaps as well. The Williamsbourg Air Force may be a shell of its former self, but it's still decades ahead of the museum piece we're going after. I don't see myself winning any dogfights with a relic from the pre-Balkanization days. Even if-

I barely notice the spotlight in time, and am forced to dive into the foliage in an attempt to hide. As the spotlight passes over the bushes, I hold my breath. The spotlight lingers on me for just a little too long before passing away. "Time to move, Pedersen," I mutter to myself. I try and wipe a bead of sweat off my brow, but the NODs don't make it easy. My glove sort of just ends up brushing them a little askew. After a bit of fumbling, I manage to get my NODs back on again and restart the trek to the top of the hill.

At the top of the hill, I take note of my surroundings. No one coming up behind me from the access road. No movement in the foliage. Ahead of me lies a fork in the road, and the facility. The sound from a fighter jet's engines rattles my bones as it takes off. A fervent babble of people and machines occupies a hangar, but the hangar itself doesn't actually lead to anything. "That's gotta be where they keep the cat," I growl. Since the right fork in the road takes me directly to the facility, I take a left, down another access road towards a town on a hill.

I duck instinctively as another light flashes from the top of the next hill, scrambling to get out of the way. There's no way they found me already! I bolt off to take cover in the trees, ducking behind an abnormally large palm tree. I marine-crawl through the undergrowth of this forest, taking care not to get spotted again. With sweat building up on my palms, I check the tightness of my silencer. It's satisfactory. But a gun with this silencer is still loud enough to be audible from a respectable distance. I toggle the thermal scope. Lots of X-rays in the facility. I swing the rifle to the left, aligning the barrel with the access ramp. No signatures. But I know I saw that glint! I continue crawling up through the undergrowth. The glint again! I freeze. The glint blinks once, twice, three times. I sigh in relief, and drag myself out of the undergrowth. 

As I approach the summit, I find myself violently shoved off the access road. I attempt to get back up, but something is forcing me back down.

"Welcome to the party, boss." I grin slowly as the two men in front of me take off their NODs and helmets. "Looks like the Habus are coming back for one final hunt."