Silent Storm — Mission 12: Operation Title Drop

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So between missions I fiddled around with the game’s journal a bit and discovered that you can sort clues by where they point to. Meaning from now on, we’ll probably have a little better idea why we’re going somewhere — since I can actually look back and see what intel led us there.

You might be saying, “Wow, it really took you this long to figure that out?” And the answer to that question is yes. Yes, it did.

But back to business…

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And the Oscar goes to…

Everyone, actually. We’re honored with a whopping five medals: Legion of Merit and Distinguished Conduct for Bogey, the latter of which is for bravery. Okie dokie. The Distinguished Service Order goes to Viper, and Doug receives the Military Medal and Legion of Merit.

We’re basically the best ever; I think that’s what that all means. Oh, except the part where we failed the primary objective of that last mission, I guess.

Koch may have gotten away, though he did leave behind a whole lot of written evidence about his involvement with the renegades, who it seems are part of an organization called Thor’s Hammer.

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Thor’s Hammer, as it turns out, is not affiliated with the Germans, at least beyond pulling a few strings from behind the scenes. Koch, Kruger, and probably Bauer are all agents of Thor’s Hammer, reporting back to a base in Russia, and involved with something called Operation Silent Storm.

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Whoa! That’s, like — the name of the game and everything! Must be important.

And… Panzerkleins? Are these the armored suits we’ve heard so much about? Maybe it’s time we dropped in on that German warehouse where Locke said the prototype was sent.

Joining us for this mission will be one Lt. Zinaida Sedova, a sniper.

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Captain Yeromeyev. I have heard a lot about you.

ss_portrait_bogeySee? I told you all I was famous.

Word is you are irresponsible and self-obsessed. You are a liability to this organization.

ss_portrait_viperSounds about right.

Command has sent me to look after you and your team until you, well, grow up a bit.

Uh… Hey, what are all those papers?

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As you know, we will be assaulting a German warehouse located in Hannover.

…um, I’m not s–

The facility is surrounded by a barbed wire fence with only one gate — located here.

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Once inside, the warehouse itself can be accessed via two large overhead doors in the front of the building…

Hold on–

…or two side doors, one at each end.

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Rather than using the main gate, I would like Lt. Ricketts to blow a hole in the fence at the location I’ve circled here, and then enter by the side door.

ss_portrait_dougI’ll get right on it.

You will approach by this route.

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Lts. Sook and Ferguson will accompany you. The captain and I, along with Lt. Austin, will watch the yard and cover your approach from the position at the yellow X.

Ain’t been called that in a while. But you got it, ma’am.

Once we have the prototype, we make our escape. Simple.

ss_portrait_sookFinally… someone who plans ahead.

Pah. We’ve done fine up to this point without your “plans.”

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So here we are.

Doug and his team immediately take off along the northward fence.

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Our snipers set up outside the perimeter. We’ve only got two contacts inside the fence at the moment, but they spot our boys going around the back, so combat starts a little earlier than we were planning.

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Meanwhile, Doug begins working his magic.

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We’re going to use the same trick we did two missions ago:

Set mine. Step back. Fire.

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Er…

I seem to have missed the target…

Everybody has one of those moments. Give it another shot, Doug.

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Welp.

Three or four full-auto bursts and… not a single hit. Great job, Doug.

Except, after all that shooting, this happens:

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Well, that’s one way to do it.

With the fence shot to pieces, Doug retrieves the mine and then he, Sook, and Gator give the door a good knock.

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Over in the yard, soldiers are coming out of the woodwork. The first two go down and four more replace them. We drop those and three more appear from nowhere.

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Our combined rifle fire is keeping them under control, though, and more importantly, away from Doug’s team.

They even try coming at us from the side, which gives Viper a chance to test out that fancy burst rifle we found a while ago and never used. (It’s super effective!)

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We are taking damage, though. The occasional rifleman scores a hit on one of our snipers, and it’s adding up.

Get t’ cover. I’ll hold ’em off.

The only cover is inside the perimeter — the piled crates on the other side of the fence. It’ll bring us closer to the enemy forces, but at least we’ll be able to duck behind them and bandage up.

We head in through a broken section of fence the firefight has created, and Bogey gets to work on Zinaida. To prevent the soldiers from rushing straight at us, Viper takes the unenviable job of keeping them back by himself.

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The next turn, Viper falls back to the crates, and he fires from there until Zinaida’s treatment is finished. Then Bogey starts working on him.

But they’re still coming.

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And somehow their aim seems to have improved.

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Bogey’s not even done with Viper yet when Zinaida plummets to a third of her full health again.

This is too much pressure. I can’t work this fast!

Shut it an’ keep bandagin’! We’ll handle this.

Stop squabbling, both of you. They’re charging!

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Meanwhile, inside the building…

The plan seems to have worked. Only one soldier guards the side door Doug and company enter by.

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And they breeze past him and one more who comes running at the sound of gunfire. Aside from that, all seems quiet.

Take it slow and keep your eyes peeled. Gator, check the stairs. Doug, you are with me.

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Sook and Doug stealth-crawl deeper into the facility, but the place is silent.

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(Aside from the sound of Gator perforating an officer hiding in the second floor office.)

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He proceeds to the third floor, where the barracks are located, and a series of doors and hallways stretch before him, probably rife with ambush opportunities.

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Yeah, I ain’t goin’ in there.

Instead, he starts chipping away at the wall from the safety of the stairwell.

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At the same time, Sook and Doug reach the next door.

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…what else did you expect them to do with it?

And that’s not the only thing blowing up…

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We make it through the door just in time to see the carnage.

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What… just happened?

It wasn’t me this time.

This feels like Bogey’s work.

Sure enough, though the gaping hole in the building…

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There were red barrels. It’s a requirement that you shoot red barrels.

Bogey and friends were able to mop up the last of the soldiers in the yard, after which I figured they’d head in and see how Doug’s team was doing.

So the band’s back together. And conveniently — the prototype’s right there in the crates to the north.

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Not exactly the robot suits we were hoping for, but it is a new lead.

Did we lose Gator?

Oh, I believe he’s still upstairs. Probably what all that shooting is about.

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Yep. Still working on that wall.

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Lt. Ferguson, we’re leaving!

Oh, thank God. I’m too handsome to die in there.

On to the next episode!
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