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Mission Description
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Into The Storm is the second mission of ArmA 2's Operation Harvest Red campaign.

Overview[]

The players control the four operatives of USMC Force Recon fireteam callsign Razor. The 27th MEU's Ground Combat Element is due to land on the shores of South Zagoria in a few hours time. Alongside other fireteams, Razor must neutralise the ChDKZ communications outpost in the village of Pusta.

Roles/classes:

Default loadouts:

Initial:

Initial:

Initial:

Initial:

There are no alternate pieces of equipment to choose from.

Objectives[]

Primary[]

  • (1) Recon radio station
  • (2) Plant satchel charges and detonate!/Direct the airstrike
  • (3) Regroup at point Liquid
  • (4) Go to exfiltration Point
  • (5) Gain observation point
  • (6) Designate targets

Optional[]

  • (7) Mass grave
  • (8) Save female prisoner
  • (9) Escort Valentina Galkina
  • (10) Save prisoner
  • (11) Escort Dr. Sova

Mandatory[]

  • All members of Razor must survive
  • Avoid collateral damage/friendly fire
  • Do not leave the AO
  • Do not harm civilians
  • The comms outpost must be destroyed by 0600 hours

Walkthrough[]

Primary 1: Recon radio station[]

Take the laser designator from the helicopter's inventory when Miles tells you to do so. Don't forget to grab its battery too or you won't be able to activate the laser.

The pilot will drop off the team at the marked Landing Zone. Once everyone has disembarked, follow Miles towards the staging area at Point Keyhole and wait for the cutscene to finish. You need to move down the hill and go through the village of Pusta itself to visually confirm the location of the ChDKZ communication station (the generator trailer at grid coordinates 091-115).

Be sure to eliminate the insurgents inside the village. There are several patrolling through the fields to the south-west while the rest are busy getting drunk or beating prisoners. Ignore the others for now and focus exclusively on taking out the ones at the comms station, then the patrols, and finally the other ones left over that are lounging around (in that order).

Primary 2: Plant satchel charges and detonate!/Direct the airstrike[]

Destroy the comms station. You have three dialogue options but the two main ones are:

  • Option 1: Plant satchel charges and detonate!
  • Option 2: Direct the airstrike

Take note that if you intend on going after the optional objectives (see below), then you'll need to clear the village and destroy the comms station quickly so that you have enough time for the rest of the mission. You only have approximately ~ 50 minutes to complete the mission upon landing at the LZ before the clock hits 0600 hours, so don't waste too much time at Pusta.


Option 1: Plant satchel charges and detonate![]

Arma2-mission-intothestorm-01

Choose to destroy the station by hand.

Blowing it up with an airstrike isn't that much faster and it'll prevent you from gaining two (potentially all three) pieces of evidence for this mission, which can make getting the good endings almost impossible towards the end of the campaign. There aren't that many guards around the area to begin with so clearing them out won't take you very long.

Plant your satchel at the comms station once all enemies in the area have been eliminated. Complete any optional objectives in Pusta (if you want to). Once ready, clear the blast radius and detonate the charge.

Option 2: Direct the airstrike[]

However, if you did not choose to blow it up by hand then simply equip the laser designator and toggle its laser. You can see the dot on day vision but it's slightly easier to see in night or thermal vision.

Point it towards the comms station and keep your aim steady until callsign Hazard drops their payload. Be sure to remain outside of the blast radius to avoid being caught in the impact area.


Primary 3: Regroup at point Liquid[]

Regroup at Point Liquid when all objectives are completed. You will need to wait for Miles to reach the rendezvous point before the mission can continue.

Primary 4: Go to exfiltration Point[]

Head to Point Madison (further south of Liquid). You may need to fight off some more patrols along the way.

Upon arrival, some dialogue will commence and you'll be given the option of choosing to either end the mission here (if you still have time before the invasion kicks off) or continue the mission:

  • Option 1: I want some more action! (continues mission)
  • Option 2: I'd like to quit. (ends mission)

Unless you're in a rush to finish the mission immediately, pick Option 1 to continue. Otherwise, the mission will end shortly after the dialogue is finished.

Primary 5: Gain observation point[]

NOTE: This objective is only required if you opt to continue with the mission.

Proceed up the Pik Kozlova mountain. You'll have to fight your way through another squad's worth of roaming insurgents along the way between Madison and the peak at grid 088-124. You'll take control of the OP once all nearby enemies are deceased.

Primary 6: Designate targets[]

NOTE: This objective is only triggered if you chose to continue and completed the previous objective.

Arma2-mission-intothestorm-02

Climb atop the rocks (don't fall off...) and equip your laser designator. Aim in the direction of Sabre Team's position; you should clearly see red smoke emanating from one of the barns at the farm to the north (there'll be a bunch of insurgents and trucks nearby).

Switch the laser on when the target is in view and tell Miles to call in the strike. Keep your laser marked on the building until the missile lands.

Arma2-mission-intothestorm-03

The next target is the stationary T-72 at grid 084-126.

It's hidden beneath camouflage netting so your laser designator's thermal vision will not be of much use unfortunately. Stick to day vision and relocate if necessary if the rocks are getting in the way. Relay the strike when ready.

Arma2-mission-intothestorm-04

The third and final target is another tank but unlike the previous one, it's mobile and will constantly move in a zig zag along the main road.

You'll need a steady hand to hit this target. Try to drag your mouse as slowly as possible while keeping the laser spot aligned at the front of the tank (not on the turret or rear) If you miss the first time, just try again and call in another missile.

Once the final target has been blown up, the mission will end in a flawless victory. Mission complete!

Optional 7: Mass grave []

NOTE: Completion of this objective will add one piece of evidence to your total tally and will affect events in a later mission.

Arma2-location-pusta-04

A mass grave is located at grid coordinates 092-118, south-south-east of Pusta. Head to its location and report back to Miles. You can inspect it once the comms station has been blown up and both prisoners have been freed from the ChDKZ. If you saved them, one of the village captives will also draw its location on your map with a black 'X' marker.

Keep in mind that depending on your current playthrough, the grave can also be randomly positioned at one of three different locations as well (though this happens rarely):

  • Grid 087-119
  • Grid 087-118
  • Grid 092-119

Regardless of the spot, just go after the one that gets marked for you. There will always be two trucks parked next to the grave so it shouldn't be hard to miss. However, do be careful of any roaming ChDKZ insurgents that may be patrolling in the forest. You may potentially run into at least two insurgents who constantly patrol the area (assuming they weren't already killed when you first entered the village).

Optional 8: Save female prisoner[]

NOTE:

  • It will not be possible to trigger this objective if you destroy the comms outpost first as Galkina will be executed by her captors. You must rescue her before or after Sova is freed if you intend on completing this objective.
  • Completion of both parts of this objective will add one piece of evidence to your total tally and will affect events in a later mission.

A female villager, Valentina Galkina, is being abused inside the village's farmhouse by the insurgents. Kill her tormentors and approach her to trigger dialogue options:

  • Option 1: Come on, come with me... (fail)
  • Option 2: Hey, easy, easy. Relax... (success)

Pick Option 2 and Galkina will calm down. She'll begin following you and also request that you rescue the doctor (if you haven't already saved him). Don't worry about the other captives inside the farmhouse - they'll run away by themselves once you've eliminated the remaining insurgents around the village.

Note that you must kill the insurgent standing over her within 25-30 seconds of him detecting you. If you do not kill him quickly enough, he will immediately turn his weapon onto Galkina and execute her.

Optional 9: Escort Valentina Galkina[]

Once she agrees to follow you to safety, escort her to the metal shed at grid 089-117 (west of Point Liquid).

Optional 10: Save prisoner[]

NOTE:

  • Sova will be executed by his captors if you choose to destroy the comms outpost first, thereby deactivating this optional objective. You must rescue him before or after Galkina is freed in order to complete it.
  • If Sova is executed or dies on the way to the shed, he will be replaced in Manhattan by his assistant, Veyr.
  • Completion of both parts of this objective will add one piece of evidence to your total tally and will affect events in a later mission.
Arma2-mission-intothestorm-00

Dr. Josef Sova, the village's physician, has been tied to a chair outside of his clinic (at 091-114) and is being tortured by several insurgents. Peek around one of the corners and kill his captors quickly. Watch out for the officer at the rear as he has NVGs and can clearly see you. Get close to his chair to untie the restraints once he's explained his situation.

Once freed, he'll tell you to rescue a female villager if you haven't saved her yet and begin following you. If you haven't cleared Pusta yet, you may want to order him to wait using the Action Menu prompt. Order him to follow again once the area is safe.

Note that even if you keep the doctor safe, you will still fail the objective if he hasn't reached the shed by the time 15 minutes are up. Therefore, you should make sure that the surrounding areas around Pusta are cleared first so as to avoid being held up by their presence.

Optional 11: Escort Dr. Sova[]

Escort Sova to a small metal shed at grid coordinates 089-117 (west of Point Liquid). The objective will be marked complete upon his safe arrival at the shed.

Tips[]

  • Your AI team mates are invincible in single player so don't bother helping or protecting them in firefights.
    • This obviously does not apply to characters being controlled by human players in LAN or online multiplayer.
  • Until the second half of the mission, Into The Storm takes place exclusively in complete darkness until dawn arrives. Take full advantage of your night vision goggles and suppressed weapons to eliminate the insurgents without them being able to even see where you're attacking from.
  • Be sure to quietly eliminate the insurgents manning the comms outpost. If any of them spot you, they will immediately radio for reinforcements who will arrive in a truck to hunt you down.

Trivia[]

  • All members of Razor Team are strangely equipped with Russian RGD-5 hand grenades as opposed to American M67s.
  • The "laser-guided bombs" dropped by Hazard's jets are not physically deployed by the planes themselves but are spawned through scripting commands to simulate the impacts.
  • Before the release of Patch 1.02, a potential bug would prevent the player(s) from being able to speak to both Galkina and Sova.[1]
    • However, several bugs continued to persist when the mission was played in online co-op/LAN. These would not be fully fixed until the release of Patch 1.05 and the latest CorePatch updates.[2][3]
  • A part of the intro music theme ("Insertion") is reused for the first mission of ArmA 3's Steel Pegasus mini-campaign, albeit only as a track played on the protagonist's headset.

References[]

  1. .kju 2009, Arma 2: Version History, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 10 July 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_2:_Version_History#Version_1.02>.
  2. .kju 2009, Arma 2: Version History, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 10 July 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_2:_Version_History#Version_1.05>.
  3. Mazzon, M et al. 2019, CorePatch, GitHub, viewed 10 July 2023, <https://github.com/Goliath86/CorePatch/blob/master/Changelog.txt>.

See also[]

Playable missions in ArmA 2
Operation Harvest Red First To FightInto The StormAmphibious AssaultHarvest RedRazor TwoOne Week LaterManhattanBitter Chill (Delaying The Bear) • Badlands (CDF/NAPA) • Dogs of War (CDF/NAPA) • War That Never Was (Newborn RepublicSetting SailMissing In ActionRevelation)
Eagle Wing Eagle WingEnd of the WorldEmpty Wasteland
Operation Arrowhead BackstabGood Morning T-stanPathfinderColtan BluesOpen SeasonSandstorm (From Hell) • Eye of the Hurricane (Finishing TouchOperation Phoenix) • Press Conference
Operation Crimson Lance Blue JamLancersHeatMountain Lair
Silver Lion War CriminalPatrolMan's Best FriendFireworksWind StormDum Spiro SperoThunderstormThere Will Be Flood
Operation Black Gauntlet InceptionReceptionVocationConfirmationTransportationEliminationMalfunctionRetaliationPreparation (Operation Black Gauntlet)Aviation (Operation Black Gauntlet)DecisionDeception (Termination)
Missions are listed in order of left-to-right based on chronological order.
(Parenthesis) indicate route-specific and/or alternate non-canon missions.
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