Re: Wullf Tai Squad Training

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - We're going to run with this until I get in trouble, which will hopefully be never.

 

IC - Punctual as always Wullf stood waiting in the briefing room already in his officer's flightsuit.  As he waited Ahrend flexed his arms and twisted his back a bit, getting a feel for the new suit that he had recently drawn from supply; waiting until he was in combat would be a sad mistake for a Squadron Commander to make.

 

Seeing that he still had ample time before the rest of the squad was due to report Ahrend opened up the laptop that he had connected to the briefing room's projector and drawing out a disk from his flightsuit's chest pocket he slipped it into the computer.  In response the machine gave a low hum as it began reading the disk.  The room's projector flickered to life and an image of the ZAFT insignia came up on the center of the screen at the front of the room.  However in the lower right corner there was an additional logo, one meant specifically for Wullf Tai.  It was a black outline of a wolf's head, perhaps it wasn't the most threatening thing in the world but it was his badge and Ahrend was proud of it.

 

Pulling back the sleeve on his flightsuit Ahrend glanced at the time, nearly 1300, 'They should be arriving soon.'  Ahrend bit his lip for a moment, surpressing the feeling of mild anxiety.  After all, he had been in special operations for years, why should his first squad exercise cause him so much grief?

[PhoenixForce 0]

OOC-I know I probably shouldn't be posting here as I have yet to finish my reference battle but I don't want to slow the post down.Also please excuse my rudeness of not replying to the other thread but I saw this one

 

IC-Laike as always, had prepared himself in his Red ZAFT uniform before the due time.He was a little anxious for this first training exercise to come that he had finished getting read three quarters of an hour ago.He had been waiting for it to be an appropriate time to leave.After all he didn't want to turn up too early.

 

Laike decided to leave the dorms at '1235' with much thought on his mind.I wonder how this training exercise is going to go.I wonder how skilled I am compared to the others.I hope I am not the worst at this exercise.I wouldn't make a very good second if I don't have the skills in a Mobile Suit.Then there's the fact that I am the youngest on the squad meaning the other probably have more experience.Oh well, I just hope I don't screw up.

 

Before Laike knew it, he had just about arrived at the briefing room.He had forgotten that he had been walking towards the briefing room the whole time he had been thinking.As he approached the door, he took a deep breath as he knocked on the door, to be polite and opened it.He noticed that the only person that was here was his Mr.Wullf.pleased to see that he was the first to arrive, taking a quick glance at the clock to see that he had arrived fifteen minutes early.

 

"Laike Rinawan reporting for duty sir."as he made a salute to his squad commander.

Edited September 27, 2007 by Guest

[Sven Cal Bayan 0]

OOC: Pardon me as well. But the posts must go on.

 

IC: Karl had been informed of this meeting about three hours before it actually began. As Karl strolled about the facilities, he thought about what stupid tasks Wullf would make them do this time. "Last time I trained with this guy, he taught me nothing." Glancing at his watch, he noticed that it was almost time for his first "team" meeting to begin. Karl paused as he watched a flight of DINNs fly by. I can't believe they still use those things. God, they don't even have a sword. But then again, lotsa thing are flawed. This team is a great example. We don't know anything about eachother except for what we've read in the files. That doesn't build a team. Karl remembered that he was told to wear his flight suit. He looked down at his brown jacket and cargo pants. "Hardly presentable, even if it is a ZAFT meeting." Karl turned and headed back towards his quarters.

 

As Karl glanced at himself in a mirror, he noticed that he had cut his neck somewhere. Although it wasn't bleeding badly, the part of the suit that covered his neck was turning red as his blood soaked into the material. "Aw shit, Wullf is gunna have my ass if he notices that." He tried to cover it up as best he could and to a certain degree, he succeeded. As he moved towards the door, the last things he grabbed were his MP3 player and a small bag next to the door. Karl opened the bag, revieling his sidearm, extra magazines, a combat knife, and some rations. Zipping it back up, he opened the door, walked out into the hall, closing and locking the door behind him.

 

AS the door from the dorm opened, Karl was hit with a blast of hot air. He noticed a jeep driving towards him and flagged it down. When the jeep stopped, the driver leaned out and asked "Hey you need a lift?" Karl shook his head, a little surprised by this stroke of luck.  He climbed in and the jeep took off towards the meeting room. The driver didn't say much or anything to be exact. When they arrived, Karl got otu, thanked the driver and walked in. The cool air felt good as it hist his face. Walking towards the room, he wondered if there would be any fighting or if this was just a simple maneuvering exercise. Opening the door, he saw that there were only two other people there, Wullf and another guy, although he couldn't remember that guy's name.

 

"Rhine here sir. Unfortuneatly."

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - Yes, I know that I put a spoiler in here and that I can't really keep anyone from reading it, but it's still fun to be secretive.

 

IC - "That's enough Rhine... I don't need any of your stuff today."  Ahrend shook his head as he crossed his arms, really not in the mood to deal with Karl's complaining today.  "If you want to put that energy to good use why don't sit down and go over the briefing for today's mission."  Wullf looked at Karl noting that the young man carried every item possible on the outside of his pilot's suit; Wullf also noted the dark red patch on Karl's neck.  "Rhine, are you bleeding?  Damn it Karl, head down to the infirmary and get a bandage on that; you need to take care of these things when they happen."  Assuming that Rhine would have the good sense to take care of himself now that he'd been ordered to Ahrend turned to his Lieutenant.

 

"Laike, if you don't mind would you report down to the hanger and make sure that the suits have been painted correctly?  Units E01 and E02 should be standard ZAKU units painted midnight black while units F01, F02 and F03 should be olive drab green.  In addition could you make sure that all of the weapons are live fire and not the standard training weapons?"  For the moment that was all that he could think of and Wullf felt confident that his lieutenant could handle such a simple task.  "Oh, there's one more thing."  Ahrend passed Laike a briefing disk.  "I want you to take the time to look this over before our general briefing starts."

 

In reality sending Laike away was just an excuse to get the junior officer out of the room so that no one else from the squad would be able to read the classified information on Laike's disk, but no one else had to know that.

 

 

For the eyes of Laike Rinwana only!  Those who read past this point will be convicted of espionage against ZAFT and the greater PLANT nation.

 

Operation Codename: Desert Fox

Lieutenant, I have chosen this specific form of communication for what I feel will be our benefit.  Our training operation today will carry the squad into the continent's interior by way of two VoLPHAU Transports.  Our drop zone will be lat -29.73 and long 139.29, a location well inside the continent's interior.  Once there our fireteams will separate to engage two separate hostile units of unknown force; during this time it should be noted that we will be out of radio contact and that you are the acting commander for those units in your fireteam.  Those units which survive the first part of the mission will regroup fifty miles north west of our initial drop point for rearming and resupply.  Once finished the squad will set out to investigate reports of a local uprising.  If those reports are indicated to be true we will pacify the situation.

 

This operation will run for 72 hours and our squad's efficiency will be based off of the objectives completed during and the manner in which they are completed.  Unlike most other exercises this one will be live fire so caution should be urged in all situations and weapons should only be discharged when engaging enemy MS or in life or death situations.  Please make sure that your squad chooses the appropriate wizard packs for MS combat.

 

Should you encounter any real enemies during the training mission contact command and request a break in radio silence using override code DW822Z.  Please also keep in mind that in such a situation any orders you receive from command will override my own until the squad is reassembled.

 

A final note: The machines we will be engaging will be unpiloted drones but do not allow that fact to lessen your resolve.  Should you fail to properly engage any hostile you, or any member of the squad for that matter, could and most likely will be killed.  Since this is an official training exercise such accidents are possible, please keep this in mind throughout the operation.

 

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

OOC: So how many people read the spoiler?  I didn't.  I do not have my license yet eather, but I thought I would post not to slow things down.

 

IC:  Laying in bed with his music blasting was the only thing fun to really do around here.  Him and some other team mates ventured into town, but that got boring very quickly.

 

Throwing his feet of the bed James go up and stared at the alarm clock on his bed night stand.  Almost time to get moving.  He thought to himself as he made his way to the shower.  Although there was not much to do, he had to admit this place was better then any other crappy apartment on Aprilius.

 

Going over the last touches of his uniform, James made his way out the door and towards the briefing room.  It did not take him long to get there, and it did not take him long to see that Karl had been kicked out already.  Letting out a little laugh James intercepted Karl.

 

Wullf kick you out already?

[Sven Cal Bayan 0]

"Ya he did. He didn't even do it for a real reason either. He told me to go and get this little cut checked out." Karl pulled the suits collar down to show James the "little" cut. "It's not even bleedin that much, stupid douche. We'll no matter, I'll get to let some of this frustration go during this exercise." With that, Karl turned and walked towards the aid station.

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

James laughed and turned to enter the briefing room.  As he entered he saw Wullf.  Walking towards him James saluted.

 

James Zaiku, reporting Sir.

[Sven Cal Bayan 0]

Karl continued down the corridor looking for the door. Once again, Karl was greeted with an unplesent blast of hot air as he opened the door. "Well, now that his royal pain in the ass has given his order, I believe that this is the part where I tell him to shove it." Karl walked around the building and dropped his bag onto the ground. Crouching down over the grey canvas bag, he unzipped it and pulled out a lump of bandages. "God damn, this is gunna sting a little" Karl said as he pulled, slightly, on the neck cover. Grabbing the collar in his fist, Karl ripped the collar away from the cut. "This thing had already started to clot? What the hell was the point in doin this then?" Separating one of the bandages from the rest, he placed it onto the cut, pulled the collar back up and onto the bandage to hold it in place and threw the stuff back into his bag.

 

He zipped it up as he walked towards the front door, slinging the bag over his shoulder just as he pulled the door open. He continued down the hall, which was unusually quiet. Stopping for a moment, Karl wondered if they had even started yet. "If they have, great. Less of listening to Wullf and that other guy... whatever his name is. If they haven't, then the rest of the "team" hasn't shown up yet." Karl resumed his walk down the quiet hall, stopping in front of his door. Reaching down and grabbing the cool handle, Karl turned the knob and pushed the door open. Looking around, he saw only James and Wullf. Just great. The newbie and the prick.

 

"Did ya miss me?"

[PhoenixForce 0]

"Yes sir, I will get right on it sir."as he took the disk quickly and stuck it into his pocket, knowing that Wullf obviously wanted him to read the disk.He also knew that the Mobile Suits had been painted fine and had the appropriate weapons attached. as he had noticed them on his slow walk towards the briefing room.He began to walk out as he saw James come in and salute Wullf.He walked out of the briefing room.

 

He knew going back towards the dormitories to look over the information wouldn't be a good idea seeing he would most likely run into his other squad members.He instead went towards the hangar.He approached and went into one of the empty rooms near towards the direction of the hangar.He shut the door and sat down at the desk with the computer.

 

He began to read through the information carefully knowing that Wullf was expecting him to know all of this and thats exactly what he planned to do.When he had completely memorized the data he took the disk and returned the computer to the state it had been before he had entered.

 

He began to make his way back to the briefing room expecting the whole team to be there by now as he had probably gone for about 10 minutes.He arrived at the briefing room and went inside the briefing room one again.He noticed that James had arrived and Karl had returned.He didn't see Kanto anywhere though wondering where he could of gotten to.

 

"The Mobile Suits have been painted properly and are equipped properly for the training missions sir." 

[MobileWeaponAce 0]

OOC – Sorry bein sick for the past couple of days and haven't bein able to put up a worthy post.

 

IC – Kanto had begun to prepare himself two hours in advance stripping off the bandages from his arms he tossed them into the trash can. Turning on the shower he stripped off the rest of his clothes and hopped into the shower. Letting the hot water run over him he places his right hand against the wall and leans on it running his hand up across his face and through his hair with his left hand. Tilts his right  arm and looks at the stitches running up his arm. Several minutes later he finishes up in the shower and steps out wrapping a towel around his waist and moves over to his sink. Pulling out the razer Kanto quickly shaves his face and walks out of the bathroom towards the closet. Pulling out a small iron and ironing board he patiently irons his green uniform making sure all of the creases are where there supposed to be. Kanto bandaged his arms back up and slipped on a pair of black leather gloves. Finishing up getting ready Kanto pulls on the rest of his uniform and heads out the door.

 

Walking out of the mansion Kanto walked with a determined stride towards the building where the briefing was to be held as we walked he took notice to the array of different mobile suits that went to and fro around the military instillation. After a short amount of time Kanto pulled open the door to the massive building and made his way up the stairs to the briefing room. Passing past his two squad mates he paid them no mind and opened the door to the briefing room. Walking into the room he saluted his two commanding officers just as the clock on the wall turning to the exact minute they were told to assemble.

 

“Kanto Weyth reporting for duty Sir.”

[MobileWeaponAce 0]

OOC - Did someone die or is it just this thread

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - No, I've just been wicked busy.  After each fireteam drops into the training area the team leaders will create separate threads, just to keep our respective storyline clear since both teams won't be working together.

 

IC - Ahrend was relieved as his entire squad finally showed up, 'At least we don't have any attendance problems around here.'  After acknowledging each of his soldiers Ahrend began his presentation.

 

"Gentlemen if you'll all take your seats.  I'll keep all this as brief as I can.  For the next 72 hours Wullf Tai will be engaged in Operation Desert Fox, during which time you can expect to engage multiple hostile enemy forces.  At this moment all that any of your needs to worry about are the other men in your fireteam since after dropping into the training area both teams will be splitting up and engaging two separate enemy battlegroups.  If everything goes will we should regroup at a rally point which has be designated Landing Zone X-ray.  From there we will receive further orders.  In encourage all of you to take this exercise seriously, while out in the field we will be using live rounds and... well I think that you all get the idea."  Though it wasn't much Ahrend had no intention of giving away every detail of the mission, after all real combat was never as clear as the reports which followed the battles.

 

"For now each of you should equip himself properly making sure to include any survival gear you might want and then report to helipad A.  There we will split up into fireteams and take our respective transports to our drop point.  That's all gentlemen so get going."

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

James sat down on the metal seat.  That was the only thing different then space.  Earth and space had those same metal crappy chairs, but in space they were always cold.  So during the briefing all James had to worry about was a uncomfortable butt...and the mission.

 

Taking in Wulff's words James tried to think of what he would pack and other essentials to the missions.  As Wullf ended the briefing, James stood up and made a way to the cage.  Here he could get most of the supplies he would need  in the worst case scenario his MS gets shot down.

 

There James grabbed a pistol.  Taking two extra clips, he readied it and holstered it at his side.  He also grabbed two weeks rations and other essentials.  With all his gear packed he made his way to the hellapad A.

 

OOC:  Most RPs that I do require a load out.  Will we be needing one here?

[Sven Cal Bayan 0]

Karl brought the headphones up to his ears and gently placed them in. Pulling his hand out of the gray bag, he brought the MP3 player up to his face. This thing is pretty beaten up, maybe I'm due for a new one. After this "mission", I head into town and get one. He looked up just as Wullf was beginning his briefing. Glancing back down at the screen, he browsed through the songs until he found one he liked. Starting it, he turned the volume up loud enough to block everything else, including Wullf. He found it funny the attention all the other people seemed to be giving Wullf, almost like his advise was going to save their lives.

 

Time seemed to pass slowly, despite the music blaring in his ears. It looked as if Wullf was rapping his little speech up. Bout god damn time he finished this. He grabbed the cords attaching the headphones and yanked them out of his ears. "This thing should last the rest of the exercise at least." He watched all the other pilots head towards the cage and smirked. "These guys didn't even come prepared." He grabbed the bag and walked out towards the hellipad A.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Guest

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

OOC: Pheonix will be absent for awhile.  Should we continue until we touch down at our mission?

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - Well he's going to be around for 6 more days but after that we're still going to push forward.  Pheonix, maybe you can make up some kind of good, reasonable, explanation for why your character can't be on the mission.  If you do get back before it ends you could just air drop in to meet us.

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - Actually, I think that I'm going to come up with a creative way to write out Pheonix if he isn't going to be around.

 

IC - With all that said and with the squad disbursing Ahrend left the briefing room and headed down one level to the equipment room directly adjacent to the hanger and launchpad that Wullf Tai operated out of.  Accessing his locker Wullf grabbed the small emergency pack that he had put together the night before and exited the room.  Crossing over to supply Wullf bypassed the normal formalities with the Armory officer and had the man draw a standard issue rifle for him as well as 150 rounds.  As he waited Ahrend set down his bag and drew out his own .40 caliber service pistol which he slipped into his waist holster.

 

"Here you are Sir."  The Armory Officer's voice drew Wullf out of his thoughts.  "Thank you, but actually I've reconsidered.  Would you please bring me the new assault rifle system."  Given the varying natures of the mission Ahrend had decided that he wanted a weapon which could function in multiple roles.  The new system would give him the flexibility to use the rifle in the assault, sniper or squad support roles.  The new XMM-29 was all that in a compact bull-pup rifle which was fed by a 30 round clear clip.  After a minute during which Wullf assumed that the Armory Officer was returning the other rifle the man returned to the window.  "I'm going to need your signature before I can release this to you commander."  Ahrend nodded his consent and signed the pad that was offered to him which he then exchanged for the rifle.

 

Drawing back the receiver on the weapon Ahrend inspected the barrel, then he slowly turned it over looking for damages that he knew he wouldn't find.  "Thank you Sir."  Ahrend took the ammo pouches that had he set out for him and snapped them onto his belt.  Then taking up his rifle over one shoulder and his bag over the other he ran out to the helipad.

 

VoLPHAU Transport 1 was already standing by and Ahrend climbed aboard taking the first passenger's seat inside the door.  Once seated he quickly reworked his pack so that his ammo would now be stored in several of the pack's outer compartments.  With that done he got up again and after slipping an intercom over his ear Ahrend moved into the storage bay and moved up into his ZAKU.  'Fortunately ZAFT designers thought ahead and realized that we might actually need some storage space in these things.'  Putting the rifle into the snug compartment to the right of his chair Ahrend tucked his bag away on the opposite side, thereby taking up all the unused floor space in the cockpit.

 

As if on cue his ear piece gave off some garbled static and then he heard the pilot's voice.  "Sir, we've received word that VoLPHAU 2 has finished launch preparations and are ready to lift of as soon as your squad is on board."  Letting his mind settle down a bit Ahrend descended from his ZAKU as he responded.  "Received pilot, I'll contact my lieutenant and we should be off within the next 10 minutes."

 

Switching the intercom to another station Ahrend radioed Laike.  "Foxtrot 1 from Echo 1; both transports are cleared for departure is your fireteam ready?"

[PhoenixForce 0]

OOC:sure I don't mind if you write me out of the mission.I don't mind if you move on ahead but do you have any idea on how your going to do that?I would like to know after all.

Edited October 12, 2007 by Guest

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

OOC: No I don't think it would be right to do the mission without you.  But can Rp until we get to the actual fighting part of the mission

[fireminerva 0]

OOC - We can but at the same time I don't want this to turn into some two month long drawn out RP.  Let's take it slow for now.  Perhaps I'll introduced some sort of field exercise prior to the MW engagements.

[XxBRICKSTERxX 0]

As James stepped on to the carrier he shook a bit.  This would be his first battle on the ground.  With his gear he made the climb to the cockpit of his ZAKU.  Memories of him and his father in one of them came back to his head.  Flushing them out quickly he made himself comfortable in his seat.

 

The seat was soft, it had not been worn out from battle.  As he reached for the throttle and joy sticks, they were smooth.  Not worn out.  In a sense James was much like this ZAKU.  Has not seen battle and not broken in.

 

Storing his gear on the left and the right side compartments James made himself comfortable.  When everything was set he climbed out of the cockpit and made his descent to the floor.  Looking toward Wullf, James looked at him.

 

Sir, my ZAKU is ready for battle.  Should I find a seat and belt in?

 

James said as he looked around at the other ZAKUs.

[MobileWeaponAce 0]

Having seat in the chair Kanto felt a chill up his spine partly from the coldness of the chair but also the fact that they were finally moving out and doing something. The past few days of idling while he could have been doing something was a small torture for him but now that was over. Listing to the mission briefing it was short and sweet Wullf had a surprise planned for them or at least he was intentionally keeping them in the dark about something.  Oh well things could get interesting, hell maybe he will be out there. Glancing at his squad mates he saw that one of them was wearing headphones Kanto shook his head back and forth glad that he wasn't in the same fire squad as them.

 

Standing and saluting his CO's as they exited the room Kanto quickly fallowed suit and made his way back to the dormitory. Packing his already few materials Kanto grabbed his gun belt and strapped it to his waist. Kanto grabbed a few other things some rations extra pairs of socks and underwear and his now half full bottle of So Co he tossed them all in his bag and made his way to the armory post haste. With the limited access he had Kanto signed out a standard issue pistol and also a semi automatic rifle quickly saluting the officer Kanto holstered the pistol and slung the rifle over his shoulder.

 

Walking towards the airstrip two VoLPHAU's were neatly placed on the strip one was being loaded up with two black Zaku's the other was loaded with three olive green one's. Can't complain about his color choice. Kanto said to himself as he walked towards the VoLPHAU that was being loaded with the black units. Walking up the loading ramp Kanto scanned the area not seeing Wullf he walked over to one of th airships personnel. Saluting the officer and after confirming his ID he was handed a headset and a clipboard. Slipping the headset over his head he pressed on the talk button.

 

"This is Foxtrot two to Foxtrot one commander Wullf can you hear me Sir. I'm on frequency 1 1 9 5 0 for this sortie requesting Intel on commanders wizard pack Sir. Intel being requested so as to round our combat capabilities out Sir. We are able to chose our own Wizard packs are we not sir?" Climbing up into the cockpit of his Zaku Kanto loaded his backpack and rifle into the side compartments on either side of the seat.

[fireminerva 0]

"That's affirmative Foxtrot two.  There are three wizard packs loaded on this VoLPHAU; select the one that you feel suits you best and I'll take one of the other two.  In addition you can drop my commander title for the time being, I'll answer to Foxtrot One."  Wullf set his radio to scan over all of ZAFT's military frequencies as he radioed Laike.

 

"Laike this if Ahrend, did you copy all that?  Let your team know that addressing anyone with use of the command structure is unapproved until we return to base.  Between now and then call signs will do."

[Sven Cal Bayan 0]

Looking up at the two VoLPHAU sitting out on the runway, Karl sighed. He watched the three ZAKUs, covered in the standard olive drab, be moved onto the aircraft. He stopped and turned to look at all the men running around and chuckled. "With the way these guys are runnin around, you would think that this sortie actually has some sort of importance." Karl noticed that he was the only one who wasn't one board a transport. He turned back around and started to walk towards the VoLPHAU, but at a more brisk pace.

 

He boarded the large transport and headed for his assigned mobile suit. As he approached the suit marked with a large 03, he was approuched by a man with a clipboard. Before the man had said anything, Karl had grabbed the clipboard and walked away. As he stood and looked at the ZAKU that towered above him, he remembered the very first time he had piloted or even seem a mobile suit up close. "Some how, the awe just isn't around anymore." Walking forward and grabbing the lift, Karl was raised into the air and drawn towards the cockpit of his new machine. Hoping off the lift, he walked into the cockpit and as soon as he sat down, he closed the doors. "Everything has that new car smell, it's pissing me off. Christ, this is what we have to pilot, give me anything over this thing any day." He reached down and pulled his MP3 player out and changed the song. Turning his attention back to the machine, he looked at his list of possible equipment. Looking at his options, he shook his head. "I think I'll just go without any of this crap. This stuff is just gonna slow me down." Karl then started to work on his communications and established a one way channel with the rest of his "team". I can hear them, but they can't talk to me. He sat back in the seat and waited for this little show to begin.

[MobileWeaponAce 0]

Grabbing onto his hoist line Kanto went down to the floor of the hanger and walked over to the head mechanic. Giving him a quick salute asked "please equip unit 2 with the Slash Wizard pack for sortie. Thank you." saluting the man again Kanto turned and made his way back towards his unit. Grabbing his hoist line again drew himself back up into the cockpit and sat in his chair. Picking up his digital clipboard began to go through the technical specs of the Zaku then switched it over to news and reviewed some of the events going on in the world. Reading the news he saw few things that interested him some fool didn't think ZAFT could defend the PLANTs and proposed some sort of defense network. Scoffing he moved on tapping a headline that seemed interesting something about a second chairperson being put into power. That's all that we need now an internal power struggle. Wonderful. Feeling his suit get rocked Kanto figured they had attached the pack to confirm his suspicion he flipped his clipboard back over to the tech display and it showed the image of a Slash Zaku Warrior, running a quick diagnostic all systems came back green so he went back to reading the news until the drop operation commenced.