The time is May 1990, and the small African nation of South Leon (capital Pendrakenville) is on shaky ground. South Leon is on the west coast of the African continent, approximately the size of the US state of Arkansas, and is a former European colony. It is lost to time whether the colonizer was France, Spain, Britain, Belgium, etc..., and it's irrelevant at this point. The point is that South Leon was a key US/NATO offset to USSR/WarPac expansion in Africa, but now that the Wall has fallen no one is much interested, and without Western backing they're withering on the vine.
South Leon has a Marxist neighbor who is a traditional enemy going back to tribal times. Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon, or FSNL, had been colonized by the same European Nation as South Leon. Indeed, during colonial times the two nations were one. But the two comprised different ethnic groups and were never going to last under a single ruler long. And so, following the Second World War, South Leon declared its independence. There was a brief conflict, but the year was 1949. The two nations were dirt-poor, the colonial masters gone, and before any opposing ideologies had begun to countenance the 'domino theory' (either for or against Communism, for that matter) in Africa, and so the war was brief before the two sides had exhausted their capability, if not intent, to harm one another.
It was relatively quiet until the 70s, when the Soviets moved into the FSNL and the US moved to support South Leon. In the 1980s the FSNL discovered large oil deposits, which provided them an economy independent of Cold War benefactors, which is not the case with South Leon, now that the US and NATO is looking to declare the end of history. So, the Cold War has ended, South Leon is weaker than at any point since its inception, and it has a growing 'Marxist' (read tribal with a certain ideological/ economic bent) insurgency movement being spurred on and supported by its neighbor. Things in South Leon are beginning to fall apart.
Few among the nations of the world are paying any attention, and fewer still gave a thought to assisting South Leon. President Waraldonez had already met with his Minister of Defense, Generalissimo Estevante, to discuss the deployment of a company-sized Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force CLEF) task force to South Leon to conduct a foreign internal defense mission in the interest of stabilizing the South Leon regime. But things have recently changed, which auger for Free Cuba dispatching a larger force, a force his deployment will be financially enabled by several NATO countries. First, the insurgency in South Leon is growing, and bloodshed is on the rise, which is beginning to make into the homes of Western Nations via the evening news.
Second, Generalissimo Estevante has recently been invited to several high-level briefings at NATO headquarters, and it's recently come to light that, due to its Allied status during the Cold War, South Leon was provided with certain weapons that are a bit sensitive. The kind that no one wants to admit were provided, and the kind that need to be retrieved before the wrong guys get their hands on them (or South Leon's military sees the situation as so bad that they think using these weapons on their own folks might be a good idea!).
So Free Cuba approves the deployment of a battalion-sized Task Force into South Leon to support them against their insurgency and ensure the sensitive weapons do not fall into the wrong hands and/or are not used in a manner that would bring negative attention to certain NATO members.
Major Fulgencio, commander of 8 Commando, the Marine Regiment, leads the task force, which is comprised of his own 24th Seaborne Shock Infantry, the Airborne Regiment's 14th Parachute Rifles of 5 Para, detachments from ODA 313/9th SF Group, B Sqdn/OD Phoenix, and the Expeditionary Intelligence Unit, as well as a composite rotary wing squadron, a fighter-bomber squadron, a company of amphibious assault vehicles, and 15 HMMWVs.
1. Leader of South Leon: Samuel Allardies
2. Leader of the South Leon military: Lester Husscarle
3. Name of the insurgent group in South Leon: Free Leon Army (FLA)
4. Name of the leader of the insurgent group in South Leon: Unknown, referred to as "Teknofil"
5. Name of the Marxist neighbor: Fédération Socialiste Nationale de Leon (FSNL)
6. Name of the leader in the Marxist neighbor: Lemmuel LeFou
7. Name of the leader of the Marxist neighbor's military: Zunderlan LeMan
---Newsflash, May 1, 1990 ---
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