Operation Nest Wrecker

US helicopters approaching Aurora, moments before being ambushed by drones, 2024

### Objective(s)

Investigate why Aurora went darkLiberate Aurora from hostile occupation forces

### Result

Pyrrhic Victory:Task Force 300 reduced to half strength by Verus Rex and Black Shark Security

Aurora liberated from BSS, Verus Rex and Russian soldiers

## Combatants

### Allies

United States of AmericaUkraine

European Union

Turkey

### Enemies

Verus RexBlack Shark Security

Russian Federation

## Major Events

### Battles

Aurora Archipelago Campaign:* Operation Deep Blue
* Operation Uprising
* Operation Red Patriot

Golem Island Campaign:

* Operation Clockwork

## Commanders and leaders

### Friendly Commanders and Leaders

United States of America:* Task Force Deathstalker
* Ralph Rager
* Sierra Rager
* Brock Rager
* Derek Westbrook

Ukraine:

* President of Ukraine
* Ruslan Romanovych Pavlov
* Roman Hryhorijovych Lysyuk

Turkey:

* Fatmagul Agca
* Isin Ahmad (KIA)
* Fahir Aldemir (KIA)
* Kadir Dikmen (KIA)
* Ilgin Pamuk

### Hostile commanders and leaders

Black Shark Security:* Troy Bolton (KIA)

Verus Rex:

* Louis Martin (KIA)

Russian Federation:

* Pyotr Malenkov (KIA)

## Strength

### Friendly Strength

United States Armed Forces:* Task Force Deathstalker operatives

Aurora Resistance Fighters

Ascendancy assassins

## Casualties & Losses

### Allied Casualties and Losses

Tens of thousands of French, American, British, Ukrainian and German soldiersIsin AhmadFahir AldemirKadir Dikmen

### Enemy Casualties and Losses

Troy BoltonLouis Martin

Tens of thousands of Black Shark PMCsTens of thousands of Russian soldiersTens of thousands of Verus Rex operatives

Considered one of the biggest international incidents, government scandals, and, depending on who you ask, acts of war in military history, the Battle of Aurora, codenamed **Operation Nest Wrecker** was the attempted covert infiltration of the Aurora Archipelago, a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, located off the coast of Australia. Unfortunately, the operation was a massive failure: underestimation of the enemy presence on the island and political corruption on both sides of the operation, as well as collusion with Russia, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of US soldiers, though the survivors were able to complete the mission. The operation resulted in one of the largest national embarrassments, and government scandals since Watergate.

## Background

Aurora Archipelago was the new headquarters of Apex Corporation, a defense contractor selling drone technology for both civilians and military personnel. After a series of bombings committed by ISIS, Black Shark Security was hired by Apex to bring more security on the island. Also along for the ride was Louis S. Martin, former US Army colonel turned leader of a right-wing militia group known as Verus Rex, who was brought on as the military advisor to Apex.

Unfortunately for Apex, Martin and Bolton had their own plans: they began creating militarized drones using Apex Corporation's technology, with two goals in mind: selling them to Russia in order to give the Russian military an edge in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and launch a coup against the United States government with the intention of "purifying" the country from perceived insider threats. To that end, Martin and Bolton amassed a massive military armament of both armed drones and trained soldiers, hoping to use them in a violent coup against the current President and his administration, in a bid to "obliterate the traitors that had infiltrated the homeland." In mid-July, pro-Ukraine Russian hackers leaked a memo detailing a conspiracy known as Operation Wonderland, a plot by corrupt American politicians to covertly "aid" the Russian invasion of Ukraine, attempting to use Ukraine as "target practice" for their coup against America.

Meanwhile, Black Shark Security attempted to deploy a shipment of drones using a freighter, known as the USS *Valkyrie*, but Apex Corporation CEO Charles J. Hall, with assistance from a Turkish syndicate known as The Ascendancy, sank the *Valkyrie* in what appeared to be an apparent terrorist attack. Alarmed by this discovery, Saul teamed up with RPA militia members, and Russian collaborators with Ukraine known as Ukraine's Executioners and attempted to infiltrate the archipelago. Unfortunately, they found that BSS and Verus Rex had managed to seal the island off from the outside world, using drone swarms to attack anyone that tried to enter or leave the island. Despite heavy losses, the RPA and Ukraine's Executioners were able to successfully hide Saul from the BSS and Verus Rex operatives.

The "terrorist attack" also prompted the United States of America to order an investigation into what happened. The United States wanted a military intervention, but a combination of political corruption due to moles within the United States government and political maneuverings by corrupt politicians instead convinced the US President to activate Joint Task Force Deathstalker, a covert special operations group within the US Army. Black Shark Security and Verus Rex intended to wipe out Task Force 300 upon their entry on the island. A Turkish right-wing group and a US-based hacktivist group known as Vulture and The Ascendancy attempted to alert the American public but were discredited as alarmist. Persuaded by this manipulation, the President appointed CIA Deputy Director Caleb Brown to co-lead the operation. Brown alerted BSS CEO Troy Bolton and Verus Rex leader Louis Martin, who promptly mobilized their forces to counter the raid of the island.

Meanwhile, the European Union, having depended on Aurora as a trading post for years, decided to launch their own investigation on the island alongside the US, forming a coalition. Days later, the US and EU both launched a joint operation aimed at investigating Aurora, codenamed Operation Nest Wrecker. While the US deployed a platoon of Task Force 300 soldiers, the EU activated the Black Ice Initiative, a task force of intelligence agents, law enforcement and military soldiers from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, and Greece, and tasked them with assisting US operations on Aurora.

Alarmed by these developments, Derek Westbrook, Rager siblings Ralph Rager, Brock Rager, and Sierra Rager, college student Saul Conklin, the son of military veteran Gideon Conklin, investigative journalist Joyce W. Reel and a wing militia group known as the Red Patriot Army each decided to infiltrate the island to investigate the connection to Apex's hiring of Black Shark Security and a conspiracy known as "Operation Wonderland."

## Events of the operation

### Falling Skies

The same day Operation Nest Wrecker was launched, Derek Westbrook and the Rager siblings secretly attempted to infiltrate the archipelago by helicopter, arriving at the archipelago at the same time as Joyce Reel, the RPA soldiers and the Joint Task Force Deathstalker operatives in a rather bizarrely timed coincidence. Both the Deathstalker soldiers, Black Ice agents, RPA militia, Joyce Reel, Derek Westbrook and the Rager siblings ended up up shipwrecked on the island after BSS' weaponized drones destroyed their helicopters before they could even make landfall on the island. The Rager siblings and Derek survived, but suffered serious injuries. In a desperate bid to get help, Derek Westbrook, Brock Rager and Sierra Rager ran off to find help and medical attention for his injured companions, but wound up being separated after falling victim to ambushes set up by BSS operatives. Thankfully, Sierra, and Brock were able to evade capture after being taken in by a group of Good Samaritans known as the Aurora Homesteaders, Apex employees who formed an unofficial resistance movement against BSS and Verus Rex.

Joyce Reel, awakening inside her own crashed helicopter, awoke to find pro-Ukraine Russian guerillas, RPA militiamen and Black Ice agent Corinne LeBlanc approaching the wreckage. Guided by LeBlanc and her joint Russian-American militia escorts, Reel was able to evade BSS and Verus Rex patrols.

Derek, meanwhile, was able to evade BSS and Verus Rex soldiers long enough to send out a distress call to nearby Australia, before encountering Task Force 300 soldier Gideon Conklin, who also happened to be on the island to find his son Samson, who had gone missing. Before they could reach shelter, however, both Conklin and Westbrook were captured by BSS operatives.

Ralph eventually awoke inside the wrecked chopper to find Derek, Brock and Sierra missing, before he was found by surviving Red Patriot Army militia fighters, Reel and LeBlanc, who informed Ralph of the situation and revealed that they were helping a local resistance movement, known as the Aurora Liberation Movement, or ALM, to evacuate any US or NATO military soldier they could find to safety. Believing Derek, Brock and Sierra to be dead, Ralph joined forces with Reel, Corinne and the RPA. The survivors made their way across Aurora, while also encountering surviving Task Force 300 and Black Ice soldiers being systematically killed off by both BSS and Verus Rex operatives. At length, he witnessed Verus Rex leader Louis Martin personally executing stranded Black Ice agents, enraging Corinne enough to hijack a Verus Rex helicopter and use it to kill Martin by shooting down his own private helicopter. Soon after, they were contacted by an ALM fighter, who directed them to a shelter built inside a mountain known as Erewhon.

### Arrival in Erewhon

Upon arriving in Erewhon, Ralph discovered, to his surprise, that his brother Brock survived the crash, albeit with serious injuries. Ralph informed Brock of what had happened, interestingly placing special emphasis on Louis Martin turning traitor and killing both US and NATO soldiers. Realizing that Martin had effectively defected to whoever was aiding BSS and Verus Rex, a horrified Brock implored Ralph to get help as soon as possible.

### Project Prometheus

Soon after, Brock notified Ralph of a series of attacks against Black Shark contractors by a mysterious individual known as Spartacus. He also told Ralph of another entity, a known as Orpheus, who had landed on Aurora and was currently holed up in the Channels, having somehow evaded the drone swarm barrier, who was allegedly connected to Spartacus. Believing that both Orpheus and Spartacus could help the stranded Americans escape the island, Ralph followed up on his lead. After evading and/or killing BSS PMCs, Brock confronted Orpheus and questioned him regarding his involvement with the situation on Aurora. Orpheus responded by revealing that Spartacus was a friend of Ralph's father, Andre Rager. Orpheus redirected Ralph to a Black Shark outpost that had mysteriously gone dark. Arriving at the site, he found what was clearly the aftermath of a one-man killing spree against Black Shark PMCs. He'd managed to find a dead PMC who had his ID stolen, which led Ralph to another outpost that was under attack. Ralph managed to arrive on scene just in time to witness more Black Shark PMCs, apparently a QRF dispatched to reinforce the now-dead occupants of the outpost, arrive on site. He eliminated the team, before breaking into a barracks, where he saw Spartacus himself dispatching two more PMCs before confirming that he was a friend of Andre Rager, in addition to revealing that he was with the Ukrainian government.

Stunned that Ukraine was somehow involved in the Aurora situation, a bewildered Ralph was directed to a laptop that Spartacus was stolen, which happened to show a photo of Derek Westbrook, alive but held captive by Black Shark PMCs. While fighting their way out of the outpost, Spartacus revealed to Brock that Derek had been captured by a man calling himself the *Strategist* (Ukrainian: **Стратег**), a former military veteran who had apparently gone insane and began kidnapping other military soldiers across the globe as part of some sinister human experimentation project involving drone technology, and that if Spartacus was able to bring him before the US Congress, they could possibly authorize a military invasion of Aurora to remove both Sentinel and Verus Rex from the archipelago. An outraged Ralph vowed to burn the whole island down to save Derek, but Spartacus cautioned him that the Strategist was a careful man, and would see Ralph coming from miles away. He assured Ralph that the only way to save Derek was to bring down the Strategist. He offered a deal: he'd help Ralph save Derek if Ralph helped him bring down the Strategist.

Ralph agreed, and later that night, Ralph assisted Spartacus in launching an attack on a Sentinel outpost that contained data that could bring down the Strategist. Upon securing the data, Ralph found a video showing the Strategist collaborating with BSS CEO Troy Bolton on Project Prometheus, a human experimentation project that involved using humans to control drones via telepathy. Deducing that this was the reason Derek had been captured, Spartacus directed Ralph to a list of individuals involved with Prometheus, who might have leads to saving Derek.

After assisting the individuals on the so-called "Prometheus List" in escaping Prometheus and turning whistleblower, Ralph confronted the main ringleader of the operation, the Strategist, who turned out to be a wheelchair-bound old man named Rupert Griggs. Griggs boasted that Ralph and his father Andre were "relics" (completely unaware of the fact that Ralph wasn't even in the military), and pledged to bribe his way out, before being apprehended by Spartacus. Before taking Rupert on board a plane bound for the United States, Spartacus gave Ralph one final piece of intel: a list of names of the people suspected or confirmed to have been involved with the conspiracy on Aurora. Upon reading the list, Ralph was shocked and enraged to find that one of the major players behind the takeover of Aurora was none other than America's very own President, Paul Button. Following this, he managed to locate Derek and bring him home to Erewhon, where Derek had a bittersweet reunion with Brock and Sierra. While talking with Derek, Ralph and Brock discovered that during the time he was held captive, Derek had been subjected to long periods of physical and psychological torture, resulting in him having gaps in his memory and leaving him unable to remember anything between escaping the crashed helicopter and being rescued by Ralph.

The next day, Ralph told Derek and the others about what Spartacus had told him, showing them the list of names that included President Button as proof. Horrified, stunned and outraged, all four American civilian investigators vowed to get off the island, get back to America, and bring down the cabal of men responsible for the Aurora conspiracy. However, because of Derek's partial memory loss, it was decided that Derek would recuperate in Erewhon while Ralph and the others continued investigating the conspiracy and exposing the people involved.

### Battle for Survival

With communications jammed and opposition forces now aware of their presence, it was decided that the remaining Task Force 300 and Black Ice operatives flee to neighboring safehouses. A majority of them congregated in Erewhon, where they were given food and shelter by the ALM and their own ally, a Turkish right-wing cabal of politicians and military soldiers known as the Ascendancy. During this time, the Rager siblings got in contact with a separate branch of resistance fighters known as the Deviants. Their leader, a Japanese-Korean former intern going by the name Mae Sa-Rang, issued a radio call urging other residents of Aurora to aid in the fight against Verus Rex and their BSS allies, citing heavy losses in past raids by both BSS and Verus Rex. Brock Rager also was able to inform Ralph that a separate group of soldiers, former Verus Rex operatives who had defected upon seeing Louis Martin's true nature, had been aiding the Deviants, but their assistance did not help much.

Deciding that the only way to survive on Aurora was to aid as many people as possible until help arrived, Ralph agreed to meet up with the Verus Rex defectors, who revealed themselves to be part of a separate resistance movement known as the Red Patriot Movement (RPM). The Rager siblings and the RPM soon began conducting sabotage operations against BSS and Verus Rex soldiers alongside the Deviants. Initially, they rescued captured Deviant resistance fighters being held for questioning by BSS, ambushed and destroyed BSS supply convoys and assisted the Deviants in capturing major BSS outposts and converting them into resistance camps. Eventually, the Deviants, RPM and the Rager siblings emboldened their attacks and began targeting Verus Rex soldiers. At one point, the Ragers were able to locate and rescue the CEO of Apex Corporation, Raymond Lundgren. During this time, they learned that a majority of BSS and Verus Rex soldiers were actually former US special operations commandos who had committed treason by willingly aiding Operation Wonderland conspirators and consequently escaped to Aurora to avoid charges of treason. Ralph also learned from Lundgren that BSS and Verus Rex alike were attempting to aid Russia in taking over Ukraine, but suspected that something bigger was happening, something that involved the US President.

### Foreign Collaboration

At some point, Ralph Rager managed to regain contact with a US Army general named Grover Shepherd, who initially mistook him for surviving Task Force 300 soldier Gideon Conklin. After clearing up the miscommunication Shepherd told Rager that Russia was involved with the takeover of Aurora alongside Verus Rex and BSS. Angered at the constant US interference with his operations launched Operation Kingpin, a final push to execute a violent coup against the United States government. A horrified and outraged Ralph immediately informed his brother and new allies of the situation, all of whom pledged their support.

Rager once again collaborated with the Homesteaders, the Deviants and the RPM and embarked on a violent killing spree across the island, systematically eliminating the remnants of Verus Rex and their Russian collaborators in order to prevent the weaponized Apex drones from reaching American soil, before finally confronting Troy Bolton himself at an Apex drone manufacturing factory.

A violent and lengthy firefight ensued, during which Bolton was personally executed by Ralph following a fierce gun battle and fistfight. With Bolton and Martin dead and their foreign collaborators all dead or arrested, the joint-conspiracy between the corrupt Americans and Russia to overthrow the US government ended with them.

## Reaction

### National

When news of the conspiracy against the American people, as well as the scandal that came to be known as Operation Nest Wrecker reached the public, Americans everywhere felt betrayed by their government and approval ratings for the Presidential administration at the time plummeted to an all-time low. Many put the American President himself on blast, publicly denouncing him as being responsible the conspiracy, claiming that he had betrayed his country by choosing to turn his back on people and that the communications blackout and subsequent massacre that took place on the island was all planned by the President.

Many even demanded he be removed from office.