Post

National Highway #871, Southeastern Etheinia
0730 hours

The soldiers of B Company watch the sun rise over the Itajaro Mountains as they man a temporary checkpoint on one of the roads that crisscross the salient region. The infantry company's orders are to search all vehicles transiting the road for weapons or other contraband, in assistance to anti-smuggling operations. So far, the morning has been uneventful - only a few vehicles have passed through, none of them carrying anything of interest.

An old, seemingly empty Isuzu TX farm truck comes rumbling down the road. As the soldiers motion for the truck to stop, Captain Eugene Koppel, commander of Bravo Company, walks over to the driver's side. The door opens, and an elderly goat jumps out of the cab and begins speaking in one of the non-human languages native to the region. The captain rolls his eyes, then summons an interpreter officer to his side.

"Ask him what his business is, and where he's going".

The interpreter converses with the goat for a few moments, then reports back. "He says he's a turnip farmer, and that he's driving down to the wholesale markets in Dzefel."

"If he's driving to the market, then why hasn't he got any crops with him to sell?" the captain asks pointedly.

The goat farmer looks nervous as the interpreter relays this question to him. "He claims he's going to Dzefel to buy fertilizer, not to sell anything."

"Uh-huh" Captain Koppel says, looking unconvinced. Then, he walks over to the back and climbs up into the bed of the Isuzu. A few additional soldiers follow suit.

Although the company has been issued with a highly-advanced "chemical sniffer" device capable of detecting minute quantities of drug & explosive residues, the captain is of the opinion that such fancy gear is unnecessary. Instead, he gets down on his knees and begins prodding the truck bed with a Bowie knife. It doesn't take him long to find what he's looking for: a thin seam in the metal floor. He inserts the tip of his knife into the seam and pries upward, lifting off the panel to reveal a hidden false-bottom compartment underneath. The old goat begins sweating buckets as he watches this happen.

The captain grins as two soldiers reach in and pull out several heavy cloth sacks from the compartment. He jabs one of the sacks with his knife and makes a two-inch incision, causing an off-white power to spill out.

"Now, I'm no farmer," Koppel says to the goat, "but I'm pretty sure those aren't turnips." He turns to the man next to him. "Samad, what do you think that looks like?"

"Looks like heroin to me, Gene", he replies

"Yeah, that's what I though, too. That's got to be at least 4 or 5 kilos, right? Worth about 150,000 ENCUs down on the streets of Alestin - or a couple of consecutive life sentences down at the prosecutor's office. I guess your hoofer friends didn't tell you about that part when you signed up, eh?"

His taunting is cut short when a young private suddenly appears. "Sir, there's an incoming radio call from regimental HQ for you. The operator says it's urgent."

Captain Koppel furrows his brow in annoyance, but follows the private all the same. As two soldiers place the goat's hooves in flexi-cuffs while the interpreter begins interrogating them, the captain heads inside one of the company's BTRs, picking up the receiver to the R-163 radio set.

"This is Captain Eugene Koppel of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 180th Independent Motor Rifle Regiment speaking. How do you read me, over."

"Reading you loud and clear, captain. This is regimental headquarters. We have new orders coming down from command: An army helicopter has reportedly gone missing about 25 kilometers south-southeast of your current position. You are instructed to detach & deploy a platoon to search the area and render assistance as needed. Grid coordinates will be made available over this frequency, over."

"Copy, HQ. Not to break rank or anything, but may I ask if it's strictly necessary that our company is assigned to this task? We recently apprehended a suspect, and it would make our jobs much easier if another unit could handle this situation, over."

"Negative, negative. You are the closest unit to the helicopter's last known position. There are indications that the aircraft may have gone down in distress, so assistance needs to be provided ASAP, over."

The captain snapped upright. This must be more serious than he thought. "Roger, wilco. I'll have my men report back what they find over this frequency, over."

_____________________________________

Undisclosed location, Southeastern Etheinia
0750 hours

Three BTR-80s rumble down the dusty offroad path as they navigate the twisting valleys of the panhandle region. Although the drivers have been given approximate coordinates of the helicopter's last known position, its exact location is still unknown. The crewmen inside peer out through the various periscopes & firing ports, scanning for any sign of the downed aircraft.

Suddenly, a junior rifleman spots a column of black smoke rising out of a nearby vale, and the platoon quickly reorients towards this new position. It isn't long before they find the source: the smoldering wreckage of an Mi-2B Hoplite scout helicopter, smashed against the rocky valley floor. As the soldiers disembark from their vehicles, platoon leader 2nd Lieutenant Idris Ayodele begins reporting back his findings over the radio."

"HQ, we have located the helicopter. Coordinates are 36°26′53″North, 105°0′29″West. Aircraft has sustained severe damage from crash, appears to be a hull loss." After checking the crew compartment, he adds "Pilot and navigator both KIA."

There is zero warning for what will happen next.

The quiet is suddenly broken by the shrill roar of a rocket-propelled grenade piercing the air. A pair of RPGs sail out of concealed firing positions, knocking out two of the three BTRs in a single stroke. Seconds later, a DShK heavy machine gun in an elevated nest begins firing on the Etheinian soldiers below, accompanied by rifle fire and sporadic mortar shelling. The soldiers quickly return fire with their own rifles as well as the machine guns mounted on the remaining BTR, but it isn't long before they are pinned down by this well-laid ambush.

Lt. Ayodele screams for reinforcements over the radio, and Capt. Koppel duly complies, sending the rest of Bravo Company storming into the valley to assist. However, while they manage to suppress some of the incoming fire, they are unable to break through and rescue the trapped platoon. Realizing how dire the situation is, Capt. Koppel then radios directly to the regimental commander and requests urgent assistance. A second motor rifle company, plus a mortar battery and an automatic grenade launcher platoon, are then deployed to reinforce Bravo Company.

Finally, at 0832 hours, the combined forces manage to drive off the attackers and reach Lt. Ayodele's platoon. However, the damage has already been done: 9 soldiers are dead, and 21 more have been wounded. In addition, a third BTR-80 was knocked out during the attack, with five others sustaining various levels of damage. The enemy bodycount stands at approximately 30. Several of the enemy corpses are discovered to have insignia on their uniforms from the Provisional Numirian Liberation Army(PNLA), a non-human insurgent group which had fought government forces in two long, bloody campaigns over the years. These findings are immediately reported all the way up the chain of command to the Chiefs of Staff.