| abstract
| - Operation: Black Box is a mission that came during the United States Empire's investigation into the loss of contact with its colony on the planet New Madrid. As a result of the Arm of Orion's surprisingly effective defense against the incoming USIF forces, the USIS Utah suffered critical damage in the initial attack and crashed near a small rail depot that was located 20 kilometers from the orbital weapon batteries. While the USIF fleet began an attempt to regroup, the 8th Armored Infantry Division's 1st Recon Platoon was dispatched to recover sensitive data from the wreckage of the ship. As a result of his earlier actions during Operation: First Contact, Private Alex Corde met with the general in charge of planetary operations and was promoted to the rank of Corporal, being assigned to a new squad under Sergeant Blackburn. To mask their approach to the objective, the squad was tasked with eliminating three Arm sensor terminals. Once the sensor terminals were destroyed, the team was sent to the crash site where they faced heavy resistance from Arm forces. The Arm of Orion had established a presence in the region and were awaiting for a full recovery team to arrive and aid in their attempts at salvaging the wreckage. Alex Corde managed to recover all the intelligence fragments left in the Arm base but was later required to go to a nearby transmitter in order to upload the data. After securing the perimeter, a Sky Crane dropship had been dispatched to retrieve the team, but it was shot down by Arm anti-aircraft batteries. The 1st Recon Platoon rushed to the dropship's crash site, identified one survivor, and formed a defensive perimeter around the crash site. Repelling Arm wave attacks that sought to take both the USIS Utah's intel and prisoners, 1st Recon requested a new dropship to retrieve the wounded pilot. Eventually, the attacking Arm forces abandoned their efforts and retreated, allowing the USIF medivac to arrive and retrieve the survivor.
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