Prologue Mission

**Prologue** is the second mission in the Golden Phantom series. Following the linear timeline, this is the first mission players experience with the Special Recon Team, but in order of playable missions it comes after the Ground Zero mission which occurs six hours into the future. This mission is notable since it is where the rest of the Special Recon Team is inducted into the Space Time Continuum Task Force.

## Synopsis

### Background

In response to Russian and Chinese forces moving into Kazakhstan in December 2019 to build military launch sites for their own space forces, the US army deployed several recon divisions to Kazakhstan to monitor the situation. The deserted and abundant land in the country was highly preferable for all three countries who were locked in a race to put military spacecraft into orbit. Instead of directly involving themselves in conflict, Russia armed local militias to fight US ground forces. The plan was successful and throughout the early 2020, US forces and affiliates were being engaged sporadically all over the country.

A Russian backed arms manufacturer who goes only by the name Olev was the man responsible for building and selling the weapons and vehicles to militias. Thus, the SRT was tasked with tracking and capturing him. Months of investigation finally led to the discovery of Olev's Arms Yard located in Central Kazakhstan. This is where the SRT intended to conduct an assault and capture Olev.

### Factory Assault

The SRT began the assault in the evening armed with only 1 armed Humvee, 1 unarmed Humvee, 1 AH-6 Little Bird, and 1 rearm supply truck. The team engaged from the south of the town first, emerging from the desert to destroy Olev's C-130 cargo plane and 2 MiG escort jets. The surprise attack was successful in disabling all three aircraft and securing the poorly guarded airfield.

From there with close air support, the two Humvee teams moved north through the town clearing garrison and supply yards as they made their way to the final (and largest) factory compound to the north-west. Before arriving at the gates of the factory, the team regrouped in a small urban portion of town to plan an assault. Use of close air support was restricted on the compound as there was little intel citing how many civilians may be present, or which building Olev was hiding in.

In fifteen minutes most of the compound was cleared and Olev's hiding place was being closed in on. Just before the team entered the last set of buildings, a direct order was received by Operation Command (OPCOM) requesting the SRT to immediately move to a priority objective to the north-west and cancel their current mission. Confused, the SRT pulled out of the factory compound, regrouped with their supply truck, and moved north-west.

### Alternate Timeline

When players partook in this mission they had already been inducted into the STCTF. Therefore, they were technically playing this mission for the second time, and attempting to recruit their fellow SRT members who did not partake in the Ground Zero mission. As soon as all SRT members were inducted into the task force, The Orb teleported them away to the next event on the timeline, not having to replay the Ground Zero mission in sequence again.

## Intel and Clues

One clue was uncovered during this mission.

### Zeus Token

One Zeus Shrine was available to find on this map. The clue was located just north-east of Olev's factory under a large metal shed. It was spotted by the close air support helicopter pilot and was investigated by the pilot and one ground crew operator. The SRT members heard the clue as a voice in their heads when the token was found.

*"I like humans, they're very animated. They're so full of life and have such complex emotions that just resonate energy throughout the universe. I believe that much at the very least, whereas HE doesn't. His thoughts are warped, his mind has twisted. Nothing he has created bears any meaning to him and that's why time itself is collapsing. I need you all to help me help HIM.*

*HINT: An image is worth a thousand words, but sometimes their captions are just as descriptive."*

## Trivia

* Olev has no last name. In fact, we don't even know if that's his real first name.