The Other Side

Uprising

Location: Menagerie, outside of city hall

Time: 1943 local time, 10 months into occupation

Objective: Survive until evac arrives

ETA on evac: 1 hour

A police officer ran to a window and started firing into a crowd of people outside. He was forced to back up as a Molotov hit beside him and ignited the walls. Other officers dragged him back and patted out the flames while soldiers opened fire from the roof and other windows.

What had happened was Menagerie revolted, it was barely stable in the months leading up to this and the day before the entire city decided to fight the government. They took part of the city but were contained by the local garrison. The part they took also held the town hall, which in turn contained NO officials who the crowded wanted the heads of. These rioters were armed with IEDs, rifles, and anything else they could get their hands on. So things devolved rapidly as we all can see from soldiers holding out in a single building that is actively on fire.

A soldier ran over and tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher while the injured officer was dragged to cover. While putting the fire out a bullet hit the soldier in his side and he dropped to the ground. Another officer ran over and dragged him to cover. The town hall has walls surrounding but they were barely keeping the protestors back from the building itself. The main thing holding them back was a fire engine that was parked at the entrance. A team of firefighters and soldiers were using the water cannon to push people back.

A soldier sprinted out of the town hall and grabbed a firefighter by the shoulder.

Soldier: One of these fuckers lobbed a firebomb through the window, grab a hose.

The firefighter nodded and dragged a hose off the back of the fire engine before following the soldier inside.

Once they reached the hallway the entire thing was burning. The two held the hose and managed to put the fire out for the time being, it was likely burning in the walls but there was no time or cover to check. The firefighter dropped the hose and went to check the injured soldiers.

Number of people inside the town hall:

Combat:

14 police officers

5 park rangers

3 SWAT officers

9 soldiers

Medical:

6 firefighters/EMTs

2 firefighters/paramedics(there is a difference, paramedics are better trained in EMS than an EMT)

1 combat medic(counted as 1 of the 9 soldiers)

Civilians: 

5 VIPs

17 workers

2 Parking enforcement officers(they only have a ticket book)

And this small group has to hold out for another 45 minutes while the ammo is almost gone, the engine outside is hooked up to a hydrant so it won't need to stop anytime soon.

Suddenly an ambulance parked inside the wall exploded after someone chucked an IED at it. It burst into flames and the grass around it started to burn. A parking enforcement officer grabbed the hose left inside and aimed it at the burning wreck which stopped the spread of the flames. Gunshots rang out constantly from both the mob outside and the defenders inside.

Another IED went off and this time it destroyed a barrier that blocked off the crowd from the town hall. Officers pushed most of them out with what little tools they had and a group of office workers, firefighters, and park rangers pushed the destroyed and actively burning ambulance into the gap and made their own Molotov to ignite a part of the wall that was being swarmed.

Some office workers started tossing garbage onto the wall and igniting it with lighters, cigarettes, and other burning debris, in an attempt to scare off some of the rioters.

Time to evac: 30 minutes

The wall around the town hall was entirely burning at this point. The fire engine was still pumping water but it's engine was giving out and it would fail soon. If that happened the plan was to leave it there and if needed set it on fire to hold back rioters.

The skyline was filled with spotlights from distant helicopters, smoke, and fire. The military forces on the island were outnumbered but effective. They managed to stop the spread but were tight on resources. They had to wait for a fleet to arrive could reclaim any part of the city. They did have the goal of not killing all the rioters however which did slow them down significantly.

Mayor: Can you spare anything? We are about to be overrun!

Radio: I have one attack helicopter I can send, that is it. ETA would be 4 minutes.

Mayor: Anything you can spare we need.

Radio: there is 25 minutes until rescue arrives for you. The helicopter will defend you until then.

Mayor: Thank you.

Soldiers kept fighting hoping that help would arrive before the wall collapsed. The fire engine's pump had just failed and it was torched to hold back the rioters. More of the police officers had been injured and unable to fight. Ammo was about to run out when a series of missiles hit the ground outside of the wall and a machine gun opened fire. 

A singular attack helicopter flew over and began to circle. It began to take fire immediately but it returned fire. It kept firing and a decent number of rioters ran away from the walls. Most of the ones remaining were well armed. A singular rioter ran towards the wall and there was an explosion.

Soldier: We just had a fucking suicide bomber hit the wall. We have a breach

Radio: Copy that, angling our guns towards the breach.

Radio: 15 minutes to evac, how is your ammunition?

SWAT officer: We are running dry, probably enough for another 5-10 minutes.

Radio: 10-4, just try and stay alive. We got word helicopters are taking off from a carrier.

The sound of jets flying over and occasionally bombs being dropped on WF compounds became more and more normal in these final minutes. The attack helicopter had to return to base after it had run out of ammo. The soldiers prepared for the worse only to see 6 transport helicopters surrounding the building. They landed and soldiers climbed out. 2 cargo helicopters dropped off vehicles and the civilians and other non combat personnel were evacuated.

It took another week for the entire island to be retaken from WF forces. The WF had effectively shot themselves in the foot because now everyone knew about their remaining bases. They also lost a large number of weapons.

Operation Forest Ranger:

Objective: Eliminate the WF as a fighting force.

Status: Completed

Menagerie has been stabilized and a National Guard was set up. NO forces will spend another 4 months in the area to train the Menagerie National Guard before a full withdraw. The White Fang terror organization has been dealt with. Small terror cells are believed to remain outside of Menagerie but they will be handled accordingly.