Day 2
1-6: Neptune's Net

1-6: Neptune's Net (Day 2)

Masters of the Ninja Art

Mission Intro

Two of Neptune's team members are left on the mountain.  You ignore the order to return to base and reinsert at night on top of Takur Ghar to get your men back.

Mission Start

You are once again playing as Rabbit -- and as you learned after giving your AAR the CO wants us to go back in and retrieve the rest of our squad -- or their bodies if they are already dead -- from the previous DZ.  I don't know about you but personally I think that those idiots should have been right behind us getting on the bird, and as far as that goes, the stick jockey flying the bird had no business putting it in hover mode until they were on board anyway!

As you arrive at the DZ your ride is targeted by insurgents on the ground, and as you are taking fire Mother jumps out, whereas you end up falling out! 

On the ground you are hurt but not dying; nearby is a large force of insurgents and the bird is taking serious damage.  It is not going to make it back to base, I am sad to say.  Those things are not cheap either, I hope this is not going to come out of our pay!

During the fall we lost our weapons save for our combat knife.  We have our radio and comm set, but it is not working as well as it usually does, and our partner is nowhere in sight.  First thing you should do is take cover and crouch down so that you make less noise as you move.   We are going to need to acquire some kit, which means a few ninja kills are the order of the day!

Speaking of ninja kills -- there is an optional Achievement we can unlock in this mission called "The Scalpel" that you get for completing 20 knife-kills.  You should already have four or five so really we only need around 15 or 16 to unlock this...  So what are you waiting for?!  Let's go stab some insurgents!

Make Like a Ninja

First turn on your NVG's  (Night Vision Goggles); they took some damage in the fall but they are still better than trying to spot targets in the dark!  Because they are so spotty the best way to use them is to scope out the area ahead, then turn off the NVG's until you reach the next logical pause spot, and turn them on again to scope out the area ahead.  Rinse and repeat to make your way along the path without failing to spot a Tango.

Be aware that that optional for this one is called "The Quiet Professional" and is awarded for taking out 13 enemies without any being alerted.  That is a little hard because you cannot make mistakes, but it is doable.

Hit the SitRep button to locate our first checkpoint marker and then follow the path in that direction, being all Ninja Indian silent.  As you round one of the bends you will notice that the path appears to end.  Well, it does not end -- turn around and look to the right side and you will see that a narrow tunnel leads to a guard post, with a Tango standing below with his back to you.  Stealth up to him, hold the Right Trigger and push the Right Joystick (RT RJ) to stealth-kill this guy, then take his weapon.

Yes, in theory you could have just used your silenced pistol -- it has infinite ammo after all -- but then you would not be racking up any knife-kills towards the Achievement, so this way is better.

Set your pistol as the active weapon so you do not accidentally pop off a non-silenced round, then proceed up the trail, checking with your NVG's as you move from cover to cover.  As you round the bend ahead if you are not using the NVG's you may miss the Tango standing on the left by the trees -- but he is there.  Sneak up on him and stealth-kill him now.

Because you only have one weapon in addition to your sidearm you can pick up that AK but of you do your ammo will be split between the two.  It is your call...  As you follow the path you will notice a pair of Tangos ahead -- while it would be nice to kack them both silently, that is not going to be easy, so this is one of the times when you may want to quickly dispatch them with your silenced pistol -- or if you are like me, you can stealth-kill the bloke on the right and then stab the one on the left three or four times, causing him to fall down the cliff.

Obviously you only get stealth-kill credit for the first one, but the point is that you DO get that credit for the first one.  Now follow the cliff face to the left of where they were standing and you will receive a call from Mother telling you that a patrol is coming and that you should NOT engage them.  Just take cover and wait until they come down the cut, stand around for a bit, and then head back up.  You will see the hand torch one is carrying before you actually see them, and as long as you stay still and do not play silly-buggers they will not see you.

You may be tempted to stealth-kill the tail-end Tango and, well, you might get away with that, but probably not.  If you are detected you end up having to fight a half-dozen Tangos who, had you not been detected, might have ended up being stealth-kill statistics for you...  It is, as I say, your call.

After the patrol leaves you need to be very stealthy as you proceed.  To your immediate left and above you is a pair of Tangos, and to the left ahead is another above where the trail turns left.  You cannot stealth-kill both of a pair of course, because one will hear and see what you have done to the other...  And yell.  Once they yell the other pair of Tangos will start shooting, which will raise the alarm with the pair that is further down the path and that you cannot see from where you are at the moment.  Nice situation, eh?

The easiest way to handle this is to quickly take out the first pair by double-tapping both in the head so that they cannot raise the alarm.  Do the same to the second pair, then using your NVG's take out the final pair from above the trail.  Once you do that you get another radio contact with Mother.

You will reach a steep slope ahead that you have no choice but to slide down -- and when you get to the bottom you discover that you have slid right into a group of Tango's!  Before you can do more than clench your butt cheeks Mother steps out of the shadows and kacks them all.  Thank you Mother!

Now you have your own weapon back, as well as the AK or G3 depending, and Mother is back in the lead position!  Ahead there is a camp and a large group of tourists -- this will get a little messy but if you are smart about who you shoot first, you can shorten the nasty a bit.

The simple way to do this is to take cover at the first place Mother stops after he heads above and to the right to act as over-watch.  A single Tango patrols up the path past you on the right -- when he passes stealth-kill him and then quickly take cover as another is about to patrol up from the left side of the zone, but when he reaches the path as long as he does not see you he will turn to his left and head in the direction of the fire.

As soon as he does that, head back up the path that the one you just stealth-killed was on and ninja along until you see a Tango by a rock ahead on the path.  Stealth-kill him.  While you are setting up for this kill Mother has probably taken out two or three of the Tangos on the other side of the camp.  Eventually they are going to find one of these bodies, and then the shit will hit the proverbial fan, so what you really want to be doing is taking them out as fast as you can to make the opposing force smaller once they do go on alert!

From where you are now you should have an easy head-shot at the bloke patrolling the nearby arch -- so go ahead and take him out, which should leave between three and four targets depending upon how well Mother has done on his side, so after you take out the guy on the arch use your SitRep button to get an idea of where Mother is, and where the Tangos are.  That way when they alarm, you know which direction to shoot in :)

Eventually a body gets found -- whether that is before or after you take out another Tango is really the only question -- but once Mother calls for you to go loud, just kill the remaining Tangos quickly, then follow mother as you begin the search for your missing buddies.

The Search for Preacher and Voodoo

This starts with a Buddy-Hoist followed by a snow-slide down the hill and a short crawl along the creek bed to safety under the bridge.  Mother tells you not to shoot -- to let them pass -- so you do, and then you start following them, as Mother thinks they might lead you to the missing men.

The path splits ahead -- mother takes the upper path to the right, you take the lower path to the left, and as you follow that around, you will encounter two guards.  You kill the one on the bridge, Mother takes out the other, and then you continue along the path to the bridge and climb up, heading to your right to hook up with Mother again, who is squatting very close to a pair of Tangos.  He tells you to pick one -- you do -- and now there are two less Tangos in the world!

Mother sprints off up the path -- so follow him -- and you will take out another trio of Tangos as you make your way along the path.  You will split again, with Mother taking the high path and you crawling through a narrow tunnel and come out into a trap!  An entire large patrol of Tangos is waiting for you -- Mother tells you that they are not going to shoot you -- that they want you as a prisoner... 

When Mother starts firing immediately turn off your NVG's and run along the path past the enemy until you have good cover, then turn around and start picking off the ones you can see.  Work your way carefully around the side of the hill taking out Tangos as they enter your sights.  The enemy starts popping parachute flairs and panic-firing -- so make use of that and aggressively prosecute any targets you can acquire.

If you use the crest of the hill as your cover you basically have the high-ground.  Mother is at the rocks below and to your right -- which while it is not a great shooting position will cause the enemy to expose themselves on the slope to get a shot at him, which allows you to take them out like it was a shooting gallery!

Once you take out the final target Mother will call Clear -- and then tell you to follow him.  Do that and try to stay close to him as you head up the hill, where you can see the downed helicopter in the distance.  Mother makes radio contact, then you do a Buddy-Hoist for a checkpoint save, then continue up the mountain. 

Mother finds a hut, and inside are bodies that show the definite handiwork of Voodoo -- notice the hatchet sticking out of one of the bodies necks?  Mother grabs the hatchet and then you are attacked.  You are for all intents and purposes screwed.  You are downed, and Mother grabs you and starts dragging you out -- you need to use your pistol to take out the pursuing Tangos as he drags you through a hole -- and then stops to check your damage.

You are trapped and there is no other way out so you jump off the cliff right into the hands of the enemy.  Oh man.

The mission ends with a fade to black and you unlock the Achievements "S.E.R.E." for completing Neptune's Net, and "Never Quit" for finishing all of Rabbit's missions. 

The mission-end CS cuts in now, showing the CO back at the base talking to that rear echelon pogue -- the pogue wants him to pull the plug on you, on your buddies, on the whole operation -- but you know all officers are not chicken shit!  There are some good ones -- and this is one of them.  The tech cuts the satellite link and the CO gives the go-ahead order, the rescue mission is a go!