Operation Report – Headhunters
Objective: Eliminate Three CSAT officers on Stratis.
Friendly Forces: Headhunters (Alpha Reclassified)
Enemy Forces: CSAT
After their brutal but successful raid through the town of Athira, Alpha had barely time to catch their breath. Their efforts had crippled CSAT supply lines, but intelligence quickly revealed a darker layer. Three senior CSAT officers had landed on Stratis to oversee operations personally.
With Alpha’s role now elevated, the squad was reclassified under a new codename: Headhunters. Their mission was clear—find and eliminate these officers before they could stabilize the front. The first target: the commanding officer of the Kamino Firing Range.
Moving under the cover of night, Headhunters deployed silently across the waters of Stratis aboard assault boats. The sea was calm, the sky moonless—a perfect cloak for infiltration.
Landing south of the Kamino coastline, the squad immediately formed up, NVGs glowing faintly in the darkness. Above them, the distant rotors of a CSAT helicopter could be heard, pulling away inland. Time was short.
Weapons checked, formation tightened, the order was given. Step off. The squad began the climb toward their first objective.
The terrain funneled them toward the Kamino comms tower. It was there that the silence broke.
Out of the shadows, a Karatel GMG roared to life, its 40mm grenades raining down on the squad. Explosions ripped through the hillside, scattering the fireteam and pinning them against the rocks. The night sky lit up in orange flashes as they scrambled for cover.
Under suppressive fire, the AT operator spotted his chance. Bracing against the recoil, he loosed a missile from his NLAW. The warhead slammed into the vehicle, engulfing it in fire and shrapnel. The Karatel burned, but the cost was clear—the entire Kamino Firing Range was now awake, and every enemy in shouting distance was moving to intercept.
With the GMG Karatel reduced to burning wreckage, Headhunters pressed their advance. The destruction of the vehicle had blown their cover—floodlights at Kamino Firing Range flickered to life, and tracer fire cut through the darkness.
The squad pushed across the open ground, using what little cover the ridgeline and scattered rocks provided. The enemy entrenched inside the range poured fire from elevated positions, forcing the squad to bound forward in short, desperate sprints.
Despite being under constant fire, morale held firm. Every meter gained brought them closer to their first objective: the CSAT commander overseeing the range. But the weight of numbers was against them—the closer they came, the more the resistance stiffened.
Reaching the perimeter, Headhunters found their path blocked by hardened vehicles and entrenched infantry. Amid suppressive fire, the explosives specialist sprinted forward under cover, planting charges on an HMG-equipped Karatel. The vehicle was annihilated in a thunderous blast, its wreckage lighting the compound.
Using the chaos, the squad breached into the firing range itself. Room by room, trench by trench, they cleared hostile defenders in brutal close-quarters fighting. Grenades cracked against walls, automatic fire echoed through the night, and the smell of burning fuel filled the air.
Inside the compound, they located and eliminated their first officer target. The primary objective of Phase 1 was complete.
But there was no respite. The destruction had stirred up the entire coastal garrison. CSAT QRFs were already being mobilized, and the night around Kamino was coming alive with reinforcements.
With the first officer eliminated, Headhunters turned to secure the rest of Kamino Firing Range. The squad swept through the facility under constant harassment from scattered CSAT patrols. Automatic bursts cracked from shadowed corners while marksmen harried them from the perimeter.
Despite the pressure, the squad moved with precision—one element clearing through buildings while another provided overwatch from the ridgelines. Several patrols were cut down in short, violent exchanges. By the time the squad regrouped at the northern edge of the range, the area was pacified, and the route toward the next settlement lay open.
Pushing west under cover of darkness, Headhunters advanced on a small coastal settlement garrisoned by CSAT infantry. Splitting into elements, one team flanked wide through the brush while the others pressed toward the village directly.
The firefight was sharp but brief—the defenders were overwhelmed before they could call in support. Grenades lit up alleyways as the squad cleared the narrow streets, eliminating pockets of resistance with ruthless efficiency. Meanwhile, scattered CSAT stragglers in the surrounding fields were hunted down by the flanking team, preventing them from regrouping.
By the end of the phase, the settlement was secure, and the squad consolidated positions for the next push inland.
The quiet after clearing the settlement did not last. A CSAT QRF moved in from the southwest, spearheaded by a Karatel HMG. The vehicle rolled steadily up the road, its turret already searching for targets.
The squad’s AT operator, CannonFodder, was out of AT ammunition. Spotting a replacement on the body of a fallen CSAT trooper in the field, he broke cover to recover it. In the confusion of shadows and shifting arcs of fire, disaster struck—friendly weapons opened up on him, misidentifying him as hostile. Rounds cut into him, slowing his movement and leaving him wounded, even as his radio calls confirmed the error.
The squad rallied, suppressing the advancing CSAT infantry while CannonFodder pushed on through the pain to secure the launcher. The Karatel loomed closer.
As CannonFodder prepared to engage, the Karatel swung its turret and unleashed heavy fire on the squad leader. CSAT infantry dismounted from the QRF and advanced into the settlement, focusing fire on the command element. Toasty, the squad leader, was cut down under the combined assault.
The launcher was fired, and the Karatel destroyed in a plume of fire. But it came too late—the squad was already unraveling. One by one, Headhunters were overwhelmed, their positions overrun by the sheer weight of CSAT reinforcements.
With the squad annihilated, a single survivor remained, cornered in the ruins. Surrounded and without options, they surrendered to CSAT forces.
Aftermath – Silence in the Dark
The operation ended in catastrophe. What began as a precision strike against three CSAT officers had devolved into a desperate fight for survival. Though the first officer at Kamino was eliminated, the mission collapsed under relentless counterattacks, mounting pressure, and a catastrophic friendly fire incident.
Only one member of Headhunters survived, captured by CSAT forces. Their status remains MIA. Both NATO command and CSAT leadership have formally denied the existence of the mission. No records, no acknowledgments—only silence.
The names of the squad are absent from official reports, their efforts erased from the ledger of war. Headhunters exists only in whispers now, a tale of shadows, sacrifice, and failure buried on the night shores of Stratis.
You can see the full play by play here