Operation Tightband was the joint Nightwatch-Alliance Combat Forces operation to seize the Kharak-Ghar archives building and end the Sixth Kharak-Ghar War. The assault was led by Watch-Captain Hawk Argill, whose team were responsible for organising the broadcast of classified information that successfully sparked popular discontent among the Kharak-Ghar population. This ultimately resulted in a mass revolt that forced Iridel Gauthen’s government to give up power to a new provisional government. Two months later, the provisional government would enter peace treaty negotiations, and, at their conclusion, sign the Treaty of Arven, formally ending the war.
The Nightwatch contingent was supported by a company of ACF airborne infantry under the command of a promising young Major, Felix Geltz. This specially-constituted unit was primarily drawn from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment, Geltz’s regular command, but it was reinforced by hand-selected sections drawn from across 101st Assault Division.
The decision to use airborne infantry rather than special forces was scrutinised at the time, but all available Nemesis Teams were already tasked with objectives deemed vital to forcing entry to the wider city of High Ghar, and an airborne company was considered the next-best source of CQB-specialist light infantry.
Most of the combat took place inside the archives building, a tight space filled with paper documentation dating back to the establishment of the Kharak-Ghar War Chaplaincy, as well as numerous server racks and data analysis equipment. The Alliance forces were faced by fanatical religious zealots, all heavily armed and willing to fight to the last in the defence of their faith, resulting in a series of brutal point-black firefights with shockingly high casualty rates. Both Geltz and Argill were injured in the fighting, albeit neither severely, and 11 participants were awarded Commendations for their role in the action, four of them posthumously.
Order of Battle
Reunification Alliance:
Hawk Argill’s Nightwatch Team - 11 Members
A Company, 1/506th AIR
Special Mission Platoon, 101st Assault Division
Kharak-Ghar War Chaplaincy:
Archives Defence Unit - Approx. 43 Warriors
Archival Workers - Approx. 200