In the lead up to Battlefield 6 and REDSEC Season 4, Battlefield Studios is hosting a community event called Hunt the Carrier in the official Battlefield Discord server. Each day, starting on July 14th, there will be a new stage of the event unlocked. The community is tasked with correctly guessing a single word from what an intercept is describing. Once there is enough correct answers submitted, a sneak peek at Season 4 will be revealed.

As an added bonus for participating in this event, if you submit two correct answers throughout the week you will receive a redeem code for the "Eagle's Stare" dog tag.

DAY 1: MAJESTIC DOWNTIME

The first intercept was:

The war continues on this side of the world. It never stops, really. We moved farther east, away from Tajikistan. It's too warm. Sometimes wind howls through a stone gate by the sea. Locals call it Crag Arch. Not far from here, a sleeping volcano nearly touches the sky. I take off my boots to dig my toes into the sand. This ocean, larger than me.

The message is clearly describing the Pacific Ocean, and "Pacific" is the one word you need to submit. When you successfully entered the word, the message you received was: "[YourName] has executed with commendation. Now the Hunt can move forward."

It would appear that this intercept is from the point of view of a NATO soldier. In the latest update to the Story So Far page, it was revealed thanks to activity in Fort Lyndon that Pax Armata is focused on supply lines - by land and sea. So, we can assume that Tsuru Reef is where NATO ships off resources. Furthermore, the Season 4 gameplay trailer showed some brief looks at a docks area of Tsuru Reef.

In the image above, we can see past the Crag Arch that there is a resort. This location is featured heavily in the gameplay trailer. It very much seems that this soldier featured in the intercept was enjoying some downtime at the resort before war came to the shores.

Finally, here's the sneak peek for Day 1:

DAY 2: ABYSSAL'S ARRIVAL

The second day's intercept was:

Took cover in ruins for the night. They say spirits of the lost walk this lagoon, so, while my squadmates slept, I did some recon. A ray of moonlight lit up the rocks nearby. There, I saw two starfish battling over a scratchy piece of cloth. It stuck to my uniform and I liked the look of it, so I kept it there. The starfish don’t seem to mind.

The word to submit is "Patch," which is what the soldier in the intercept is largely focused on. The message you received when guessing the word correctly was: "[YourName] was able to successfully retrieve and deliver the intel. Good work."

In order to expand upon this intercept, first we need to look at the sneak peek released as well.

It's clear now that this intercept was from the perspective of the new Pax Armata unit, Abyssal, for Season 4. While the first intercept was describing a NATO soldier on the Tsuru Reef, this one is focused on the Abyssal unit arriving at Wake Island at night. The main hint is "spirits of the lost walk this lagoon," which is likely a reference to all the soldiers who have died during the battles on Wake Island. The soldier (maybe the new Recon soldier in Abyssal) is scouting out the area while their squadmates rest.

CORRECTION: With the Season 4 roadmap released on July 17th, we received another overview of Tsuru Reef with the names of every objective. Of note is "Hitode Lagoon," with Hitode being the Japanese word for starfish. So, we can safely say that this intercept was set on Tsuru Reef.

This overview also reveals the location of Crag Arch.

DAY 3: SHIPWRECK SURPRISE

The third day's intercept was:

The ocean feels endless, but our intel’s on point. The shipwreck of the MV Cetus is on our radar and now's the time to move. We dive into the deep, and the wreck’s supplies are within our reach. I blink. Our lasers jump from one possible threat to another. I miss something. But they didn't. Somehow, Pax is here. And I just got hit.

The key word is "Ambush," which this intercept is describing as NATO troops look to search the supplies of a shipwreck. The message you received when guessing the correct word was: "[YourName] the enemy is clever and cunning. But thankfully, they don't have you."

The sneak peek for day 3 provides the audio of this surprise attack by Pax. The name for this audio file is "HUNT_Reward3_WakeIslandWater."

MV CETUS AMBUSH

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In the Season 4 gameplay trailer, we might have gotten a look at MV Cetus. There is a large ship that is partially submerged with containers scattered around. What caught my eye is there are Walker-Senex containers on the ship. This could explain the motive behind Pax's ambush. There could be some valuable technology that NATO had in transit.

UPDATE: The Season 4 Naval Gameplay Deep Dive shows the ship's partial designation, confirming that this is the MV Cetus.

DAY 4: HELP FROM ABOVE

This day's intercept was:

At first, it was impossible to spot them because of the clouds. Cranes used to own this archipelago, but they were the first to scatter at the sound. We didn’t know why at first. Then, the light hit us. And they appeared. Majestic. Roaring. Terrifying metal beasts in formation.

The onlooker is watching as a squadron of jets enter the battlefield, thus the word for day 4 was "Jets." (You could've entered planes or aircraft to get the right answer as well!) When guessed correctly, you received the following message: "That's the way to lead, [YourName]. Well done."

The sneak peek was aptly jet focused, and coincided with the official announcement of the Top Gun collaboration during Season 4.

The image is showing a glimpse at the new Gauntlet mode coming in Phase 2: Fighter Sweep. The general story for Phase 2 is NATO calls in CJTF (Combined Joint Task Force) Helix to perform crucial aerial operations against Pax Armata as the war in Pacific rages on. With this in mind, the intercept could be from the POV of a NATO soldier reacting to the impeccable formation of CJTF Helix as they aim to turn the tide of the battle. The soldier is also familiar with the wildlife of Tsuru Reef, which could be another piece of evidence to this.

DAY 5: UNRESTFUL RETREAT

This day's intercept was:

Brochures call this compound a serene retreat, but to us, it was hell. We had to push through every chokepoint, always driving forward. I still remember the sound of bullets piercing the limestone walls…and our body armor. But we kept moving. We had to. Every step was a victory. Each luxury suite and swimming pool, a potential deathtrap. Some of us don’t recall any of it. I’ll never forget.

The words you could submit can be "trauma" or "PTSD." The message for guessing correctly was: "That's the way to lead, [YourName]. Well done."

This intercept is focused on a large firefight erupting throughout the Majestic Ikoi Resort on Tsuru Reef. Ikoi is the Japanese word that means rest, but these soldiers are getting anything but that. Given the soldier is thinking about brochures they've read, they could be the NATO soldier from day 1 that was enjoying a reprieve at the resort.

The sneak peek was all about war photography on Wake Island, something that many players will be partaking in once Spectator Mode comes later in Season 4.

There are some key areas that are shown in the video, including two U.S. Air Force bases: Heel Point Barracks and Toyoshima Docks.

The Heel Point is a specific part of Wake Island, the north cape of Wake islet.

Toyoshima Docks seems to be located on Wilkes Island based on the image above. Toyoshima roughly translates to "abundant island."

DAY 6: CARRIER SABOTAGE

This day's intercept was:

Finally. We found the wrecked behemoth, a hijacked carrier we need to salvage. It still looks huge, even from up here. Red light. The door opens. Wind slaps my face, a familiar friend now. I check my team. In every pair of eyes, I see the same fear as mine. Don’t look down, I say. This is what we’re trained to do. We take a breath, and we—

The words you could submit can be "jump" or "leap." After successfully entering the correct word, the message you received was: "You made your mark by delivering when it counted. Keep up the good work, [YourName]."

And the sneak peek picks up directly from where the intercept left off.

This appears to be from the POV of a Pax soldier, who is jumping and parachuting down onto an aircraft carrier. As this soldier is landing, the soldier on the right appears to be the BF Pro skin "Ignition" for Espada Patrol's Nicole Dumont (there's an orange streak on their leg and they have the quad night vision goggles too). What could've happened is Pax hijacked the carrier, causing it to coast and reach the shore of Fort Lyndon. And now they are descending upon it to salvage something, whether that be the materials on board or perhaps something even more valuable. We'll have to wait and see what could be hiding on the carrier when Season 4 Phase 2 starts.

DAY 7: CONDOR ASSAULT

The final intercept of Hunt the Carrier was:

Even before I step onto the boat, I smell salt. The sun warms my face. That is, until we drift into the carrier’s shadow. To the PXS Condor, we’re a speck of flotsam. No one expected Pax to get so big, but their cells are like a hydra–you cut one head off and three more appear. We’ve bled them for months. Now we’re in the Pacific. Nowhere to hide. When we face them here, maybe we can put an end to it.

The word to submit was "war." Upon entering, you would receive this message: "With you in this flotilla, [YourName], we just might have a shot at this."

The sneak peek again continues from where the intercept ended, with RHIBs and other NATO vehicles launching an assault on the PXS Condor.

The gameplay shown is from the Carrier Strike game mode that will be releasing in Phase 2: Top Gun. In this instance, the NATO team has gotten Pax's aircraft carrier weak enough to board and destroy two MCOM stations.