by Sgt. Jesthar. Mission time 19:00 GMT, 14th November 2023
SITREP:
Following our recent capture of the international diamond smuggler – now codenamed Rhinestone – in Chongo, Interpol have been hard at work extracting and evaluating information from him. The shock of his capture made him unexpectedly talkative at first, but he soon regained his self control. Being a very security conscious individual, he was also carrying little physical data, and certainly nothing to link him to his wider network – or so he thought.
Despite his security measures, Interpol has successfully broken into a number of files on his devices, and it turns out smuggling blood diamonds was only the tip of the iceberg. Rhinestone actually presides over a multi-faceted worldwide criminal organisation involved in any and every high-end illegal activity imaginable, and is probably the true face behind several other supposed individuals ranked highly on Interpol’s wanted lists.
INTEL:
Rhinestone’s headquarters is a remote island supposedly owned by an eccentric and reclusive billionaire, but in reality a front for the most lucrative elements of his business – and from correspondence obtained from his files, not all is well in paradise. Rhinestone runs his operation with ruthless efficiency, but most of his Departments (as he calls the various factions that make up his core organisation) have issues with some of the others, and require constant attention to keep in line and working together. In particular:
The arms dealers accuse the mercenary group of liberating advanced weaponry from their storehouses and taking valuable vehicle assets for joyrides.
The mercenary group suspects the arms dealers of appropriating from their arsenal to fulfil orders and withholding access to the best kit, plus stealing THEIR vehicles for joyrides.
The white collar groups (high end fraud, counterfeiting, art and artifact smuggling etc.) view the mercenaries and gun runners as uncultured brutes. The animosity is mutual.
Supply and logistics are believed by all groups to be appropriating goods and wheeler dealing between departments.
EVERYONE despises the drugs cartel.
The mercenary group is easily the most effective fighting force in the organisation, but all groups maintain a strong armed contingent for self defence. This makes a direct assault too dangerous as the combined forces of the various Divisions are far too strong to take on simultneously.
However, the evidence indicates whenever Rhinestone must be away on business tensions rise and the risk of incidents between Department increases, and this trip has been no exception. In just the brief time since his capture there have been multiple irate messages from many Departments expressing increasing frustration at both other Departments and the lack of response from Rhinestone. We plan to use this highly charged atmosphere to our advantage.
MISSION:
PHASE 1: Secure the Data and Comms centres. As our intel on the island complex is extremely limited, our urgent priority is to gain access to their comms and data network and set up remote access for the intel guys before anyone realises Rhinestone is missing. Their primary data centre and comms link is located on topmost archipelago of a small island to the southwest of the main island, and is reportedly manned only by technicians and small armed contingent. We believe this centre also controls the main security and defence systems, and can show us where the main threats and opportunites lie.
PHASE 2: Hijack the Comms towers and clear the island. Intel has identified a number of communications towers that will need to be neutralised quickly to prevent word of our assault getting out, and we have been issued with software that will restrict those towers to our use only when loaded into the tower control cabinet. We can then clear the island with less risk of unwanted attention.
PHASE 3: Start a gang war. Our final task is to try and reduce the forces we face to a more manageable level. To do this, we will attempt to start a gang war between the mercenary group and the arms dealers, as they are the most heavily armed and highly antagonistic groups – and, judging from the messages, in close proximity to each other on the main island. We should be able to get their exact locations from the data centre.
The southwest island is one of the two supply and logistics hubs, with a harbour containing fast boats for running smaller quantities of contraband out to waiting ships. In their warehouses we should be able to find any extra uniforms and equipment we need to complete our masquerade as the mercenary and arms dealer groups.
We will then take the boats – ‘mercenaries’ in the patrol boats and ‘arms dealers’ in the speedboats – and each group will travel to the area of the opposite Department to covertly position itself for a hit and run attack. Any opportunity to gather photographic intel and evidence of the organisations activities and capabilities should be taken – the more we know, the more prepared we can be for future operations.
To aid our deception, just prior to our ambushes Interpol will send high priority messages, supposedly from Rhinestone, to each Department head. These will say he has been betrayed and has to go dark for a while to evade the authorities, and to watch their back as the Department that betrayed him will probably attempt a full takeover of the business before he can return – perhaps even framing this loyal department head for the betrayal. As soon as we have confirmation the messages have arrived, we will strike, cause havoc, and run – leaving some of our boats and other planted evidence behind to support the charade as we return to the southwest island.
Ground Topography: Rolling hills and countryside with small settlements.
Weather: A clear and moonless night.
Civilians: None – this is gangland all over.
MAPS:
OPPOSITION FORCES:
Enemy Forces Equipment: No Russian black market equipment here, Rhinestone’s contacts ensure a supply of the latest NATO weaponry. Expect modern Western weapons, vehicles and kit, including NVGs for the mercenaries and arms dealers.
QRF: Unknown, but likely. The mercenary group maintains a substantial presence in all areas in case of trouble.
EOD/Mines: Unlikely, this is there home turf, but we don’t know for sure.
Friendly Forces: TFA is on their own for this one. Other forces are inbound to helps secure areas we take, but are still in transit.
ROE: As per OC’s directions.
TFA EQUIPMENT:
Transportation: TFA has been provided with boats for insert that match the patrol boats used by the mercenary group. These boats will be reused by our fake mercenaries launch the assault on the arms dealers, and we will commandeer speedboats to carry out he assault on the mercenaries with our pretend arms dealers.
Loadouts: SCAR-H LB as primaries for the DMRs, HK 416 14.5, M4A1 Block II or G36C for everyone else. Custom Covert, Glock 17, Sig P229 or HK USP for sidearms.
This is a covert op – SUPPRESSORS ARE MANDATORY, and NO explosives of any kind are to be used until the finale of Phase 3.
CAS: Unavailable.
Communications: SOP will be followed.
Ammo: mixed
Spraypaint: available for spraying antagonistic messages anywhere and everywhere during Phase 3.
Please direct any questions to Sgt. Jesthar