Daniel North pushes through the muddy ditch beside the orchard road, keeping low as tracer fire stitches the air above the hedgerow. The squad is trying to slip past the kill zone without drawing the lane's attention.
Ahead, two ROC soldiers crouch in the reeds, helmets on, rifles hugged tight. One is shaking hard enough to rattle his sling. Both stare at Daniel like he is a ghost.
ROC Soldier 1
Don't shoot. We were told to hold this position. There is nothing here.
ROC Soldier 2
The order came over the set. Same voice, same grid. But the road is empty, sir. It has to be a mistake.
Sgt. Douglas
It is no mistake. Somebody is feeding us clean lies over dirty wire.
Justin Forester
If the order is fake, then every point they send us to could be a trap.
One ROC man gestures down the road, where smoke hangs over the orchard bend. The lie is bigger than their fear. It points straight into the squad's next move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Integrate the stranded ROC soldiers into the group
“"Follow us, boys!" Daniel says, leading the attack into what was an ROC police station turned CCP command post.”
SUCCESS (Great Tactics, rolled +1)
Daniel North barks for the men to follow and rises from the ditch edge, heavy machine gun swinging toward the bend. The ROC soldiers flinch, then commit behind him as tracer fire rakes the orchard row.
Sgt. Douglas
Move. Stay low and keep your heads down.
They push past the reeds into the shattered lane. Smoke peels back just enough to show the old police station ahead, its front torn open and its sign half hanging.
ROC Soldier 2
That was our station... they turned it into a command post.
From the broken doorway, a machine-gun nest spits a short burst, and the men all duck as dirt jumps around their boots.
Daniel North
Follow us, boys!
Daniel drives the squad forward under covering fire, and the stranded ROC soldiers scramble in with the others instead of staying behind.
Justin Forester
If they were waiting inside, the radio really was pulling everyone here.
Quest Complete
Integrate the stranded ROC soldiers into the group
“A volly of 40mm grenades from a couple of grenadiers in the squad and Daniel's automatic weapon fire covers the group as they take the police station from CCP paratroops and robot dogs... finding a computer plugged into the radio system inside!”
SUCCESS (Legendary Firearms, rolled +0)
Daniel North’s burst tears into the doorway, and the squad’s grenades hammer the entrance. The nest inside goes quiet fast, replaced by boots, shouting, and the clatter of a dropped rifle.
Sgt. Douglas drives the men through the frame while Justin Forester stays low behind him, clutching the radio pack as dust falls from the cracked lintel.
ROC Soldier 1
Inside, inside, move!
A pair of CCP paratroopers break from the side office, but Daniel cuts them down with another burst before they can swing their weapons up. One of the squad’s grenadiers drops a charge into the back room, and a robot dog skids apart in the smoke.
ROC Soldier 2
They were hiding a radio room in here.
In the rear office, a battered computer sits cabled into the radio set, its screen still lit with map marks and stamped call signs. The line is live, and the spoofing setup is right there on the desk.
Justin Forester
I found the relay. This is how they’ve been feeding the orders.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the evidence of sabotage
“While our mixed squad of American and ROC soldiers secure the building, Justin does his tech thing, disabling the fake enemy orders and connecting to actual command!”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Justin drops to the relay, yanking leads free with quick, shaking hands. The lit screen flickers, then steadies on the spoofed call signs.
Justin Forester
I can cut the loop, but I need the log sheet, the real one.
Sgt. Douglas knees in beside him, rifle still angled toward the hall, and drags the evidence board from the office floor.
Sgt. Douglas
Take it. If this talks to command, it talks on our terms.
Justin snaps the board into the set, then twists the relay switch. The fake orders die in a burst of static.
ROC Soldier 2
That voice is gone.
A clean transmission hisses through next, thin but real, and Douglas leans toward the handset.
ROC Soldier 1
Is that our command, or another trap?
Quest Complete
Secure the evidence of sabotage