5.10 - Unforeseen Circumstance

Operations Control Room, FOC South 860.

As soon as Vex received intel regarding the symbol '505' on the Villa Hagel, he immediately dispatched an STA Unit to carry out intel gathering and confirm the whereabouts of the hostages.

The location of Villa Hagel is perpendicular to the west of FOC South 860 at a distance of 354 km, or the southwest of Fort Cambia at a distance of 281 km. This means, either from FOC South 860 or from Fort Cambia, Vila Hagel is outside the combat radius of OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, AH-1Z Viper, or UH-1Y Venom which is around 240 km.

ACG assets that can be used to deliver STA Units are only CH-47 Chinooks, C-130J Hercules, or V-22 Osprey. Hercules was immediately excluded from selection as it could not provide fire support in case of versus contact breaks out at insertion.

While the Osprey structure did not allow the platform to be fitted with weapons to the windows on either side. The weapon placement options on the Osprey are only at the rear door (ramp-gun), under the nose, or the belly.

In addition to the 12.7 mm M2HB positioned at the rear door, each ACG Osprey is able to be equipped with a 40 mm belly-gun automatic grenade launcher, that is remotely controlled and manually reloaded from the cabin. However, because the weapon system takes up space and reduces Osprey's carrying capacity and range, ACG only installs it when there are special missions.

Unfortunately, Vex did not expect the location of the target in this operation to be outside the combat radius of ACG's attack helicopters. So he only ordered the installation of the belly-gun after receiving intelligence regarding the possible location of hostages at Villa Hagel.

The Osprey with the belly-gun will be the main means of transportation in the hostage release operation. Meanwhile, the STA personnel who will collect intel will be sent using Chinooks that have been converted into attack helicopters by installing various weapons on the windows on both sides.

The problem is, when Chinook which sent STA personnel almost arrived at FOC South 860, Vex received a notification that STA personnel decided to intervene because the hostage's life was in danger.

Without hesitation, Vex immediately ordered the two Chinooks that were approaching FOC South 860 to receive air refueling from two KC-130Js standing by in the air to support operations, then immediately turned back to provide close fire support for STA personnel.

At the same time, Vex dispatched two Vipers from Fort Cambia. While from FOC South 860, three Chinooks were sent carrying 36 CQB Company personnel along with two Chinook carrying fuel-bladder fully loaded.

Even so, it doesn't mean that Vex's heart isn't filled with anxiety.

Apart from qualifying as advanced shooters, STA personnel are also required to hold CQB qualifications. Because based on research in urban warfare, the ideal shooting position is sometimes in a hostile location, and in the process of getting to a final firing position or returning to friendly territory, shooters sometimes have to deal with ambushes or other close combat.

However, STA personnel were never specifically prepared for Hostage Rescue Operation. Their CQB training menu focuses on eliminating opponents as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, it was estimated that there were more than 50 weasels in the villa that were targeted, and all of them were experienced combatants who were not afraid to die.

In addition, from the results of interrogations with Liqua Guard officials, the IDG was able to obtain information about the deployment of a 900-strong Cavalry Squadron to a border post located 8 km west of the villa.

Officially the deployment was part of the border security operation. However, for IDG personnel, this deployment was not an ordinary deployment considering the captain who was the leader of the unit and all of its members were loyal followers of Baron Eslei.

The war horse has an average speed of 60 km/hour. So to arrive at the villa, the Cavalry Squadron which was stationed at the border post only needs 8 minutes from the time they received the alarm signal.

To destroy a 900-strong hostile Cavalry Unit, a mid-scale precision airstrike was required.

The problem is, Harley Quine and the villas that are targeted are 870 km apart. If the mission is to secure airspace, Super Hornet armed with 2 AIM-9 and 4 AIM-120 can be flown immediately.

However, to carry out mid-scale precision airstrikes, the combat radius of Super Hornet is only in the range of 722 km. The combat radius of Super Hornet can be increased by installing a CFT (Conformal Fuel Tank) on the fighter's back, but some time-consuming preparations still need to be done.  

Without any calculations at length, Vex knew immediately that Viper from Fort Cambia would arrive at the location before Super Hornet from Harley Quine ready to take off.

Another asset that can be used to carry out medium-scale precision airstrikes is Poseidon, which can take off immediately as soon as the smart bomb is installed.  However, AH-1Z Viper is expected to arrive first considering P-8 Poseidon's top speed is only 907 km/hour.

As for P-8 Poseidon and MQ-9 Reaper which fly around the villa, all of them are not equipped with weapons so they can fly and track as long as possible.

It is at times like these that Vex is looking forward to the presence of AV-8 Harrier II, which can launch precision close air support both day and night and in all weather, from a base with minimal facilities such as FOC South 860.

"Looks like I have to come up with a new protocol so that when patrolling, P-8 Poseidon always carry Maverick or Paveway II in the internal bay."

Vex muttered before turning to the officer in charge of close air support management.

"How long before the belly-gun is completely installed on the Osprey?"

 "About 45 minutes."

Vex instantly massages his forehead, because he realized that the process of removing the components that had been half-installed would take longer.

In the end, Vex could only let out a long sigh before saying.

"Get them to work faster."

"Sir!"

The officer in charge of air support management answered steadily, then grabbing the radio by his waist.

*****