Government forces on Rustafied US Long III had been fighting to the south-east of their village for several days during the January 2024 wipe, culminating in a wave of helicopter attacks against the Government village on 15th Jan, starting with a minicopter that drew rifle fire over the village before flying off. Some Government members must have felt that something was up, as they were ready with anti-aircraft missiles when it came by again a few minutes later. Some missiles were fired at it, before it flew off again to the south-east.
It seemed that the minicopter had been scouting for an attack, as a player-piloted attack chopper then flew over the village, which drew more anti-aircraft fire. It flew off trailing smoke, before appearing to return a few minutes later. Almost immediately it took three SAM hits, and villagers also got hitmarkers with rifle fire against it. One homing missile strayed off in the opposite direction, almost striking Blockhouse 57.
The attack chopper made multiple attack runs as it hovered low in the area of the Presidential Palace, and was said to be targetting SAM sites. It flew off again after having fired countless rockets, and a few minutes later a scrap helicopter had reportedly landed on the roof of the building. The scrappy was destroyed, and then two minicopters had also landed.
There were atleast 6 raiders that had dismounted from the choppers, and were said to be trying to “top down” the Palace as explosions were going off inside the building. There were atleast 8 Government members online – some moved in to confront the invaders, resulting in kills on both sides, while other Gov members watched the Palace closely with rifles. A couple were ready with missiles, as they anticipated that the minicopter on the roof would eventually try to take off.
An attack chopper arrived again and deployed flares while swooping low over the Palace, which carried a passenger that made a daring leap as it neared the Palace roof. The passenger had been wearing heavy armor, and was carrying C4 and rockets, but he had appeared to miss the roof, and was killed as soon as he landed. The chopper took heavy anti-aircraft fire, being hit by the second missile fired at it and was hammered with tracers; it flew straight on (westward) trailing smoke, before diverting south-east (now keeping a healthy distance from the village).
One particular Gov member outside the Palace managed to get an angle to hit the last minicopter on the roof, having struck it with a fast rocket to blow it up, which caused a fire to spread through the building. In that moment, a villager (supposedly only armed with a pistol) had stormed the Palace and killed the last 4 invaders, which ended the action.
A Gov member described the attack as a “really fun” battle. The drama had gone on for around 40 minutes, and the attackers had lost 3 helicopters and 10 kits. There was some speculation about the direction the choppers had been flying – there was already conflict between the Government and multiple groups to the south-east, which continued the next day.