Operation Tempest

NOTE: This article is about the Operation Tempest singleplayer campaign in ArmA Tactics. For the CSAT faction's heavy tactical truck in ArmA 3, see Tempest.

SPIN-OFF: The following information stems from a spin-off expansion or third party Creator DLC and is considered to be non-canon in the main Armaverse timeline.

Operation Tempest
Game

ArmA Tactics' Operation Tempest campaign has players take control of a four-man team of elite U.S. Special Forces operatives. They have been deployed to a Central African country to hunt down the notorious terrorist, Ibrahim Soltani.

Summary

Acting upon intelligence that the infamous terrorist, Ibrahim Soltani, had been sighted in a Central African nation, a team of elite U.S. Special Forces operatives consisting of Sergeants Marco Salazar, Derek Masters, Stanley Dodds and newcomer Ian Ellis, are quietly brought into the country to apprehend Soltani. However, their arrival also takes place amidst looming elections with nationwide anti-American sentiment on the rise. As such, Salazar's team have been forced to hunt down the terrorist without any overt support.

SGT Masters is rendered combat ineffective before the operation can even begin.

To make matters worse, their first mission is aborted when Masters is incapacitated during an encounter with the local militias. Unable to retrieve him, the rest of the team are forced to retreat and leave Masters behind.

He was subsequently restrained by the militias and brought to an unknown location in the city of Lagados. Refusing to leave one of his own men behind, Salazar redirected the team to focus on retrieving Masters first.

«

The local militia should be fairly inexperienced but Lady Luck is a bitch so watch your step. Salazar

»

The team arrives in the nick of time to save Masters.

The team fought its way through the militia-infested city, eventually stumbling onto an alleyway where they spotted one of the militias holding Masters by gunpoint. They eliminated his captor and freed Masters, whom it turned out had not incurred any mortal wounds; the second bullet which struck him had only grazed his head and rendered him unconscious.

With Masters brought back in one piece (but still wounded in the leg), the team could now evacuate. However, the militias had been alerted and were rapidly closing in on their position. They needed to flee from Lagados as soon as possible and fortunately, a local contact was nearby who was ready to help extract them.

«

Masters: How many are incoming? Salazar: Enough. I'll tell you once we're good to move on. Just try not to get shot again, okay? Masters: (sarcastically) I'll give it a thought... The team brace for the impending assault

»

But before they could move on, they needed to thin the enemy's ranks. After stumbling onto a yard with an ideal chokepoint, the team hunkered down and fought off several waves of attackers. After eliminating a decent number of them, they continued towards the northern highway where their contact awaited. The operatives quickly boarded his vehicle and successfully fled before more of the militias could close in.

Three weeks later, the team received a new intelligence update that Soltani was still in the country. He had relocated and was under the protection of a local warlord named Djibril Kwembe. Kwembe's men had set up anti-aircraft missile batteries around his base, making insertion by air impossible. Once again, the team was forced to go in on foot and unsupported.

First, they had to infiltrate through one of the warlord's security outposts surrounding his mountain base. They managed to avoid detection and jammed the communications tower, preventing the base from being alerted to their presence. Upon arrival on the outskirts of the base, they spotted the two missile batteries shielding the base. Trucks were constantly going in and out of the main compound where the mansion was located, though their purpose was unclear at this time.

«

Masters: Don't want to rain on your parade but luck hasn't really been on our side lately. Dodds: ...and that so much better idea of yours is...? Masters: I'm just saying... Jeez, forget it. Unaware of the surprises that awaited them, the team make their way inside the base

»

The team quietly made their way towards both missile turrets and set up explosives onto their circuit panels, rendering the turrets effectively useless. With both disabled, they proceeded towards the mansion where Soltani was (presumably) hiding. Unsurprisingly however, the mansion was yet another dead end: Soltani was nowhere to be found and only a few of his lieutenants remained.

Stowing away inside one of the terrorist group's trains, the operatives successfully enter the plant undetected.

Nonetheless, the team captured one of the surviving men and interrogated him. He revealed that Soltani had acquired a sizeable quantity of explosive materials and was planning to detonate them at the Dhargan Chemical Plant, an American-owned chemicals manufacturing facility located near the city of Dhargan.

Should he succeed, the city would be wiped off the face of the planet. Furthermore, it would stoke the existing anti-American sentiments in the nation and decisively swing votes in favour of opposing political parties.

«

No proper equipment. No intel to speak of. Heavily outnumbered. Expected civilian casualties if we fail: over ten thousand. I really hope Lady Luck owes us a favour or two... Ellis

»

Sneaking aboard one of the trains inbound towards the plant, the team were brought directly to the factory building where Soltani was presumably located. They breached the building with flashbang grenades and eliminated several terrorists before spotting the man himself. Soltani wasn't about to give up without a fight however and took one of the nearby workers as a hostage. Worse yet, he had relayed a message to all of his remaining comrades in the factory to detonate the explosives if they were to hear any more gunshots.

Oblivious to Ellis' presence, Soltani taunts the operatives on their inability to shoot him.

Soltani - still clutching the worker as a human shield, taunts the team on their inability to shoot him. However, Ellis was hiding in the shadows behind Soltani and was waiting for the opportunity to strike. When Soltani let go of the hostage to taunt the operatives, Ellis seized the chance and threw a combat knife into his heart.

«

There's really no joy in killing someone... unless it's a notorious terrorist and the kill is... spectacular. Ellis strikes the killing blow on Soltani

»

With Soltani dead, all that remained was to disarm the three bombs his men had placed around the factory and freeing the remaining hostages. With no suppressors mounted on their weapons, they couldn't shoot the terrorists, or they'd risk blowing up the factory.

Carefully, the team made their way around the plant and sneaked up behind every single one of the terrorists, using only knives to silence them. After several tense minutes of sneaking through the plant, they managed to defuse all of the bombs and free the hostages.

The team "celebrates" their victory.

Their mission a success, the team reflected on their latest achievement - that the citizens of Dhargan would wake up tomorrow and not realise how close they had come to a brush with death. That they could go about their daily lives uninterrupted was only possible thanks to the four unkempt and tired operatives.

Not that Salazar's men cared for any of those pompous accolades, of course. For the four operatives, they were just doing their job and were glad to be able to live and fight another day.

Timeline

Leave No One Behind

«

Our mission was compromised and we walked into an ambush. Operator Derek Masters was injured and is now held captive. Soltani and his trained mercenaries left Lagados immediately after the ambush leaving behind just local militia. They believe we have fled... and they are mistaken. We are coming back for Masters because no one gets left behind.

»

The team's first mission ends in disaster after SGT Masters is wounded in action and kidnapped by local militias. Fighting their way through to his location, Masters is freed by the rest of his team before he can get transported elsewhere.

Getting The Hell Out

«

We've set Masters free. He has a clean exit wound in his leg and a mild concussion making him even grumpier than usual. According to HQ there's a group of enemies coming after us. We have to push further on to a location suggested by intel where we'll fight them off. Then, before any more come, we'll move to the northern main road to be extracted by a friendly contact.

»

Masters has been rescued but more militiamen are on their way to cut off the four operatives. Heavily outnumbered, the team arrange to meet up with local contact who successfully extracts them before they get overrun.

Connection Lost

«

It has been three weeks since the Lagados fiasco and we have a new lead on Soltani's whereabouts. He's still in the country, residing inside a secure mountain base belonging to a local militia's warlord Djibril Kwembe. The base is protected by AA systems so we're going in on foot. To get there we have to move through Kwembe's remote outpost first. We may try to disable their satellite communication system before we are detected otherwise Kwembe might send a welcoming party our way.

»

Soltani has been spotted hiding at a mansion belonging to a local warlord. The team quietly infiltrated one of the warlord's outposts, jammed their radio communications, and got into a position overlooking the mountain base.

Uninvited

«

We have made it to Kwembe's mountain base where terrorist Soltani was seen less than 24 hours ago. Intel has been detecting increased activity in the area with some heavy truck traffic - something fishy is going on and we'd better move fast. First we need to disable both anti-aircraft systems so that the helicopters can come in. Then we move to the mansion where Soltani is believed to be staying.

»

The team disabled two surface-to-air missile batteries before infiltrating the mansion where Soltani was hiding. They fail to locate him, but one of Soltani's officers reveals details about the terrorists' plans: destroy an American-owned chemical plant in the city of Dhargan to swing the country's elections in favour of anti-U.S. political parties.

Tick Tock

«

We have arrived at Dhargan chemical plant. Obviously Soltani's been paid to blow the plant up. Thousands dead because of a US owned factory just a couple of weeks before general elections would definitely mean defeat for the current pro-western ruling party. We've killed Soltani but we still have to defuse three bombs set within the factory. There are also some factory employees being held hostage who'll get shot if we're not careful.

»

The team infiltrates the chemical plant and succeeds in killing Soltani. However, they are forced to quietly sneak through the plant after Soltani warns his remaining fighters to detonate the explosives planted around the factory if they hear gunshots. The team eliminate all of Soltani's remaining fighters, free the captives and celebrate their hard-earned victory.

Achievements

• 
  Soltani's Doom
  • Beat all five missions of the campaign.

Trivia

• Operation Tempest is the first spin-off campaign to be featured in the series.

See also

• Operation No Deal (next)

Campaigns
Cold War Assault	Resistance (1982) • Cold War Crisis (1985)
Armed Assault	Armed Assault (2006) • Rahmadi Conflict (2006) • Royal Flush (2007)
ArmA 2	Harvest Red (2009) [ Eagle Wing ] • Silver Lion (2010-2012) • Operation Arrowhead (2012) • Operation Crimson Lance (2012) • Operation Black Gauntlet (2013)
Tactics	Operation Tempest (201X) • Operation No Deal (201X)
ArmA 3	Beyond Hope (2026) • Prologue (2034) • The East Wind (2035) [ Survive, Stepping Stone, Adapt, Win, Steel Pegasus, Altis Requiem ] • Remnants of War (2034/2035) • Apex Protocol (2035) • Old Man (2038) • First Contact (2039)
Mobile Ops	Liberator of Lignos (20XX)
Entries are listed in canonical order from left-to-right. [Brackets] denote campaigns taking place concurrently within the same time period. Italics denote spin-off or non-canon campaigns.