Printed on official Cerberus letterhead for distribution to the Fleet.
TO: All Cerberus Personnel
FR: COL Andrus Pewter, CO, Battlestar Cerberus (BS-132)
SU: Operation Silent MastiffAt 1613 hours on 02 Jan 2042 AE, CAP detected and intercepted one (1) Cylon Raider broadcasting a series of encrypted signals. In pursuit of the lone bogey, LT Athenos and LTJG Roland discovered a large manufacturing facility of Cylon origin ("Foundry") some three hundred thousand klicks beyond the CAP perimeter. An Intel team led by CPT Nikephoros confirmed that the Foundry — disabled during the Cylon retreat from the Outer Colonies — was reactivated at precisely 00:00:00 hours on 01 January 2042 AE, most likely by the unidentified new-model Cylon basestar encountered on 18 December 2041 AE. The Foundry's ability to produce vast quantities of new Raiders is a clear and present danger to this Battlestar Group. Moreover, its location within an active minefield and a significant amount of heavy debris renders long-range bombardment infeasible.
Operation SILENT MASTIFF has been devised to eliminate this emerging threat and will consist of three parts. Its Area of Operations (AO) is defined as all space within one hundred (100) kilometers of the Foundry. FIRST, Raptors and Vipers from CVW-14 and CVW-00 will coordinate attempts to map and clear the dumb mines within the AO. SECOND, trained Deck and Engineering personnel from BS-132 and CEX-300 will conduct an EVA operation to gain entrance to the Foundry. Fire support for this mission will be provided by Bravo Company (1/9 Bn). THIRD, Bravo Company Marines will infiltrate the facility, collect what intelligence can be collected, and destroy it from within.
To succeed, Operation SILENT MASTIFF will require close cooperation between you and your fellow soldiers aboard CEX-300. After this ship is repaired, BSG-132 will withdraw to the relative safety of Parnassus Anchorage and begin a series of joint training exercises designed to prepare you for your respective tasks.
More details will be forthcoming.