TF Amethyst

TFA1 1.1 - The Door to Other World

Southern Pacific Ocean, 4 km west of Antarctica’s shoreline

09:30, 14 Jan 2025

An ocean freighter with a capacity of 18,000 tons anchored while its cargo was lowered to dozens of LCACs. Generally, ocean freighter carried cargo in the form of ship containers. But the anchored freighter was full of pallets and wooden frames of various sizes, wrapped in thick opaque plastic.

Thirty minutes had passed since Jack, the chief mechanic on the freighter, observed the unloading work. In the end, he could no longer contain his curiosity.

"Captain, the cargo is belongs to American McMurdo Research Station. So why don't they ask us to dock over there? It has a docking port and the location is not far from here.”

Captain Morgan sighed deeply before answering, "Don't ask too many questions. This isn't our first time we've brought a cargo to a location that doesn't conform the official documents."

Jack instantly pursed his lips and decided to stop asking. Without knowing that actually, Captain Morgan was also curious. As from his position, Captain Morgan couldn’t see a single building or light even though he had observed the shore using high power night vision binoculars.

---

Marie Byrd Land, giant snowfield west of Antarctica

Sgt. Reine skillfully steers LCAC 05A3 part of the 27th Transport Team across the vast snowfields. LCAC or Landing Craft Air Cushion was not only able to pass sea surface but also flat ground. Therefore, passing in a vast and flat snowfield was an easy feat for LCAC.

The label indicated that the five pallets on the LCAC’s deck were light trucks. However, based on his experience at USMC, Sgt. Reine knew that the payloads he carried were AH-1Z Viper. He also realized that the previous dozen pallets were Humvees, while the first five packages were Light Armored Vehicle. Of course, Sgt. Reine didn't just blurt his knowledge out.

After 30 minutes of crossing the giant snowfields, Sgt. Reine finally saw the huge gate at the foot of a hill. Most of the time, the gate under the hill was hidden by ice. It would only be open widely when there was a cargo shipment.

With ease LCAC 05A3 smoothly entered the gate, and then with moderate speed it ran on an 8 km wide tunnel that was heavily guarded by a sentry battalion. Time kept running and Sgt. Reine finally arrived at the underground complex which was brightly lit, vast, and supported by modern equipment.

As per the label attached to the package, Sgt. Reine took the cargo to D7 Maintenance Depot, which was one of the ten largest maintenance workshops for aerial assets. After completing the handover, Sgt. Reine looked up at the ceiling for a moment.

"People wouldn’t believe it if I told them that this place is another world, and two floors above this place is a military base equivalent to Andrews AFB.”

Sgt. Reine let out a deep breath before looking at the tunnel that connected earth with the new world waiting to be explored.

"I have to hurry. There are still a lot of packages I have to unload."

---

XO Office, 4th Floor of Main Building, Harley Quinn MOA.

15:40, 23 Jan 2025

Executive Officer (XO) Lucan 'Vex' McGuire took a sip of his third coffee before looking at two documents before him. The first document was Operation Southeast Triangle Outline, while the second was Temporary List of TF Amethyst Assets.

After a little stretching, Vex then opened the Temporary List of TF Amethyst Assets. He passed several of front pages and headed straight to the heavy asset section.

 === // === // === // === // ===

Humvee

680 units M1151 Ripper

200 units M1152 Personnel Carriers

40   units M1152 Cargo

50   units M1152 Ambulance

. . .

. . .

8x8 Light Armored Vehicles

20 units LAV Shorad

12 units LAV Mortars

4   units LAV Command

2   units LAV Recovery

2   units LAV Logistic

Artillery

140 units M120 Mortar 120 mm

56   units M777 Howitzer 155 mm

28   units MTV SPH 155 mm

28   units MTV MLRS 122 mm 

56   units MTV Ammunition Carrier

. . .

. . .

Helicopter / Tilt-rotor

32 units CH-47 Chinook

18 units AH-1Z Viper

12 units UH-1Y Venom

12 units OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

10 units MV-22 Osprey

Fixed Wing Aircraft

56 units C-130J Hercules

14 units KC-130J Tankers

18 units P-8 Poseidon

18 units F/A-18E Super Hornet

6   units F/A-18F Super Hornets

4   units E/A-18G Growler

. . .

. . .

Unmanned Aircraft

16 units MQ-9 Reaper

SAM System

12 units Tamir Air Defense System

Light Armored Tracked

0 units M113 Shorad

0 units M113 Command

0 units M113 Mortar

0 units M113 Recovery

0 units M113 Ambulance

. . .

. . .

=== // === // === // === // ===

As soon as he discovered that the LAV numbers were only 20% of the proposed amount, while for the M113 none had arrived yet, Vex immediately let out a long sigh.

"It seems like I have to rewrite Operation Southeast Triangle."

*****