The Last of Us (IC)

[Celestial]

The Last of Us (IC)

OOC

1. Don't God-mod, it's no fun.

2. I expect everyone to be familiar with Advance RP writing standards.

3. To avoid the stupid redundancy of rules, I'll just say this. I really want this to be an organic RP. To that end, it is your decision in how we shape our journey ahead. Of course, I'll give light guide lines to where we're suppose to go, but it's ultimately all of us who decides on how we get there. Simple right? So in a single line: Use common sense and have fun!

Celestial -

Service File:

Name: Claire Vallenco

Call Sign: Raven

Date of Birth: 04/26/2110

Origin of Birth: Washington D.C.

Rank: Captain

Speciality: Operative. Firearm and H.R.A.T (High Risk Assault Training)

Appearance:

As with all H.R.A.T. operatives, their armor is outfitted with small nano bots inside that helps disperse any heavy impact landing as does it help cushioning projectiles. A program inside the helmet acts as a regulator device that monitors the operative within. It provides circulation when needed as it alerts to most dangers.

The uniform is of the H.R.A.T.

Weapons:

The M216 has a small built in scope in the top rack that can zoom into middle far distance targets. It has the ability to switch between semi and automatic bursts. This prototype weapon was made specifically for high risk operatives, for the latest mechanical breakthroughs have been installed into this weapon to increase accuracy and power of each shot. Ammo capacity has also been expanded upon without sacrificing performance.

A knife created with tiny heat fusions within the blade. The fusions heats the knife, so it may cut through the target faster and is less likely to get caught.

Standard issue side arm of the UGCU Military. The troopers rave about its huge kick with little to no recoil. The magazine capacity itself is quite large for a pistol, which makes it an all time favorite for the marines. It is also very customizable.

Service Record:

Having grown up during the road towards the war with the machines, Claire lived a normal life with her military family. Always called on duty, she was often at home with her mother and few siblings as her father remained on base as a commissioned officer within the United States Marine Corps. As she reached the age for recruiting, she opted into military service at her mothers expense, for she was absolutely against her children going into service. As she passed from basic she was selected into the High Risk Assault Training school. There she trained until her unit was called into the cities.

Around this time, the relationship between man and machine had grown to the breaking point that the worst possible scenario finally came true. The machines were attacking humans indiscriminately. Initially, military forces had been winning in the early years, but soon, the tide began to turn. The machines had adapted to the usage of projectiles, which sent the marines into huge disarray. Unlike the sensitivity of human flesh, the machines felt nothing. They continued forward with such tactical prowess from analysis that the United States Military began to fall back.

As the machine tide gained momentum, she was called to an undisclosed locations, which happened to be a man-made city underneath the appalachians, UGC-001. There, the President of the United States acknowledged the codes to launch WMDs. She and her unit watched. They watched their homes go up in brilliant bright lights as the world burned.

Psychological Profile:
A ruthless attitude that sees to the completion of the mission. The methods utilized by this individual is dangerous with respect to the path of completing the mission. Collateral damage has a high chance of occurring.

Tours:
Active in the machine wars.
Took part in the Battle of Washington D.C. for both operations.
Led a successful raid against machine imprisonment camp.
Liberated a platoon of marines from machine captivity.
Rescued a lost platoon behind enemy lines.
Took part in the Exodus of D.C.

Commendation/Award:
Actions have led to early promotion to Captain.
A Medal of Honor has been awarded.
Honorary Medal of the Dead given in memories of Captain Vallenco’s family and father.

Pending Requests:
2137: Applied for Shadow Task Group. Request accepted. Transfer to STG-Beta effective immediately.

Vietmyke -

NAME: VINCENT "VINNY" SETALA_
CALL SIGN: GHOST_

DATE OF BIRTH:6.4.2110_

ORIGIN OF BIRTH: LA, California_

RANK:STAFF SERGEANT_


SPECIALTY: STG OPERATIVE. SPECIALIZES IN CQC AND INFRILTRATION_

APPEARANCE:

Spoiler

FULLY ARMORED

HELMET REMOVED

EQUIPMENT:
M124 SMG

Spoiler

Utilizing high powered energy-based rounds, the M124 Tactical Sub Machinegun is a lightweight, and maneuverable weapon perfect for close quarters combat. Sporting a large magazine size and high rate of fire, the M124's compensation system keeps recoil down and allows it to perform adequately during mid-ranged engagements as well, though it should not be used for the same purpose as a marksman rifle or longer ranged rifle.

TWIN M99S PISTOLS

Spoiler

Vincent's personal investment is a pair of heavily modified M99 Solstice pistols. Based off the aged Beretta M9 design, the M99 Solstice was the last version of the pistol ever created in 2128. As the last models were created in 2128, Vincent has spent a large amount of money and time locating a single pistol, let alone two. Vincent's M99s are heavily modified to accept the new age energy ammunition, as well as fine tuned to increase grouping accuracy.

COMBAT KNIFE

Spoiler

Ideal for close quarters where the "continuum of force" has been isolated to hand to hand combat. For optimum performance, the leading edge "pointy end" should be applied to the enemy and thrust into vital areas. This should be repeated as necessary.

SERVICE RECORD:
Intensive psychological studies shows that Vincent Setala has shown a remarkable will to live. Throughout his career as a soldier he has been critically wounded 7 times and has been reported KIA 3 times. It is from this feat that he has become known as "Ghost" by the UGC military.

Born in year 2110, over a decade before the Machine Crisis, Vincent was admitted into a military academy and joined the United States military at age 18 in 2128. He showed considerable leadership abilities and was quickly promoted to Corporal. During a short period of conflict against Anti-synthetic extremists Vincent was shot in the neck and pronounced dead on the spot. Later, while the doctors were prepping the body for burial, his vital signs sparked and Vincent was alive. Throughout the anti-synthetic campaign, Vincent was reported to be critcally wounded 3 times, and killed once more. By the end of the campaign he was promoted to sergeant.

In 2130 Vincent was sent into combat against the machines he was once assigned to protect. During the campaign he was constantly in battle and was critically wounded 4 more times during his tenure. Within the year, the United States military was decimated and could no longer support itself.

The UGCU graciously accepted Vincent into their military forces in 2133, and Vincent was sent back into the heat of battle as part of an experimental special forces unit. During his 3 year tenure with the special forces unit, Vincent was killed once more during a mission gone wrong against the New Republic Order. No longer able to support itself, the special forces unit was disbanded. After a miraculous recovery Vincent was promoted to Staff Sergeant, and he and the surviving members of the special forces unit are inducted into the Shadow Tasks Group.

After a year with the STG, Vincent was selected with a team of others to go topside to retrieve a new lead on an antigen to save the infected from the virus.

ibyaah -

Service File:
Name/Call-Sign: Leo Veng / Splatter
Date of Birth: January - 16 - 2108
Origin of Birth: Madison, WI
Rank: Specialist
Specialty: Over-watch/Long Distance Elimination

Appearance:



When not on duty, usually wears weather stained brown work boots, old, black scavenged Army Combat Uniform pants, a thin black t-shirt, under an open grey work jacket. Leo stands at 5 feet, 10 inches, 180 pounds, has short auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a pale complexion. He keeps himself in shape with a daily conditioning regimen.

Weapons:
-M198 Noisy Cricket Anti-Materiel Rifle

--Long range sniper rifle designed to punch through AI machine armor as well as decimate infected flesh with high powered plasma energy rounds. Known for its loud muzzle report and kick back. Has a 6 round, box magazine and an effective range of 2700 meters.

-Pistol (A scavenged Jericho 941)

--21st century sidearm, Leo's personal favorite. Fitted with anti-personnel rounds to better adapt to the post-war environment.

-Nova Combat Knife
See attachment for picture
--A knife created with tiny heat fusions within the blade. The fusions heats the knife, so it may cut through the target faster and is less likely to get caught.

Service Record:
Born to Lindy and Joshua Veng, Military R&D.
Psychological Profile:
-Disciplined, Resolute, Capable.
-Background toxicology reports suggest prior alcoholism.
-Final analysis: Currently fit for duty, but advised to take periodic 'R&R' for continued effectiveness.

Schooling Highlights:
-Above average in History, Philosophy, and Physics.

Military Training:
-Attended U.S. Military Academy
-Squad Leader Training (though later denied commission for own command)
-Advanced Marksmanship Training
-Advanced Scout Sniper Training
-Operative Training (After induction in UGCO)
-Prototype tester for Advanced Infantry Elimination System (AIES) - Armor that provides real time combat information, assisted target acquisition, marksmanship assistance, recoil dampener, and adversary action prediction through an internal hardsuit computer.

Service Highlights:
-Joined UGC-001 Defense Force, 1st Battalion, after graduation from UGC training.
-Excellence in training simulations as well as topside missions earns a spot in the AIES program.
-Assisted in the repulsion of infected from UGC-001 in March, 2136 using AIES. During the fighting, Leo earned his moniker by 'splattering' the brains of two infected onto a wall with one bullet.
-Declined commission for own command in 2136.
-Applied for admission to Shadow Task Group in 2137.

Commanding Officer Analysis:
-Operative Veng is a very driven individual. When not on duty or spending what few R&R he actually takes with his fellow soldiers, he is conditioning both physically and mentally. When asked why he joined the military, he responded, "I have no place in the lab, with my parents. That means I protect the ones that do." However, that's not to say he's simply anti-social. I am told by his fellow soldiers that he enjoys gambling and prefers Old Earth rums.

101 Scout1 -

Service File:


Name: Nolan Gibbson
Call-Sign: Annalist


Date of Birth: 10-12-2109

Origin of Birth: Cleveland, Ohio


Rank: 1st Lieutenant


Specialty: (Combat Scientist)
Science- Auto Mechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Organic Chemistry
Combat- Reconnaissance


Appearance:

Unarmoured-


Armoured-



Weapons:

Add a combat-scope for medium-range encounters.

Service Record: Nolan, like many that are part of the team, grew up during the events that led to the war. He was about twenty-two at the start of the nuclear fallout. He enlisted in the military at a young age, despite his mother’s protests (he lost his father in the fallout, he didn’t make it to the bunker), but showed great potential with his quick learning curve. He earned his place in Officer’s Training School, his MOS being a difficult science and later he took specialty training and additional education for his other abilities. It took a while, but he finally gained the necessary credentials to become a combat-ready and well-rounded scientific necessity for the Shadow Task Group.

In his first years in the service, he didn't have much time to show his intellect, as he respected the fact that his place was not to speak unless spoken to. However, when he felt the time was right and he had put in enough time as a mere grunt, the boy took the initiative to gain a higher education. Of course, it was fully funded by the military who put him through Officer's Training School as well. His grades were absolutely outstanding in Biomedical Engineering and Organic Chemistry and he even showed promise with his research of the radiation and infection from the surface as well as other issues that might plague the city beneath the Appalachian Mountain Range (most notably was his invention of a new system for water purification which greatly helped increase the health of the underground settlement). He was an absolute prodigy. Even if his soldiering skills were about average, he also displayed an ability to talk his way out of hostile situations far more easily than to fight out of them.

Along with his contributions to the city, his standing in school, strong independent research in his fields, and the fact that he showed that he could both be subordinate or lead if need-be, all qualified him to be sought after by the Shadow Task Group. His Auto Mechanics is, actually, a training given to him by the military early on in his career. It was his Military Occupational Speciality, he can (with some time, effort, and whatever fuel needed) get vehicles on the surface to be operable (given the condition that they are land vehicles). He whole-heartedly accepted the offer to join the STG, knowing that he would get no better opportunity to research the infection or the above-ground radiation, that he would receive better funding from nobody but the military, and that he could actually do something even more with his life by joining.

MOTHER: DECEASED (died of a waterbourne infection, believed to be the cause for his pursuit of the water purification during his time in the military)
FATHER: DECEASED (died of radiation poisoning during the initial fallout)
OTHER FAMILY: WHEREABOUTS OR EXISTENCE UNKNOWN.

Zhaliora -

Name: Lisa Haraldsson
Call-Sign: Valkyrie
Date of Birth: 16-09-2111
Origin of Birth: Osby, Sweden
Rank: First Lieutenant
Speciality: Designated Marksman Operative

(Disregard Weapon) The Archangels armour is a heavy armour that is capable of flight due to it's jet thrusters that are driven by internal plasmacore and have two grappling hooks, one in each wrist. The armour have two tonnes of lifting capacity unless it's operator wants to burn the suits fuel at double the normal rate and thus increases the lifting capability to four tonnes. The weight of the soldier plus equipment is already included in the flight capabilities. The armour can withstand most small arms but it will crack after many repetitive hits in the same area, even if it will take time. The armour also shifts colour to blend in with it’s surroundings making it harder to spot but it is noisy when it flies. The armour has a helmet that have rangefinders and a cord that she can plug into her optics for easier use of scopes. Also have a HUD with tactical information and a map that she can call upon, and a VI to help her with her shots.

Lisa is 5’8” tall and weighs 140lbs. She normally wears the normal combat fatigues of STG

Weapons:

The Anzio Vulcan 20MM Mark 5 is a air-cooled, magazine-fed, gas-operated semi-automatic rifle that fires 20x102mm ammunition. It takes a ten round detachable box magazine. The weapon has a mounted optic capable of 3-14x magnification. The Anzio also has a magazine release button which is located directly above the magazine well, behind the trigger. The rifle is accurate of up to 4000 yards but lethal of up to 7000 yards. The rifle can fire high-explosive rounds, armour-pricing rounds, bunker-buster rounds and shrapnel rounds. The rifle can also interchange it barrel to fire a normal 12.7x99mm round (.50 Barrett round) and then attach a suppressor to the rifle. The sound can also be reduced with smaller quantities of gunpowder in the cartridge. The rifle can be dismantled so that it can be carried in two medium size briefcases.

The M395 Designated Marksman Rifle is an air-cooled, magazine-fed, gas-operated select-fire bullpup rifle that fires 7.62x51mm ammunition. It takes a fourteen round detachable box magazine. The weapon has a mounted optic capable of 3x magnification, and it possesses a fire selector switch located above the grip of the weapon. The M395 also has a magazine release button which is located directly above the magazine well, behind the trigger. The weapon has two ejection ports, one on the left and right hand sides of the weapon respectively, so that a left or right-handed shooter can fire the weapon. The weapon also have a flash suppressor that can be exchanged for a suppressor, it also have a ammo counter under the scope.

Psychology Profile: Cold, calculating and efficient, both in command and when it comes to missions or targets. She have little respect for officers whom in her mind are giving bad orders and have often disobeyed bad orders for the sake of the mission. This has earned her the respect of the soldiers but some officers resent her since high command always seemed to favour her instead of them due to her attitude towards missions and battle since she have never failed a mission. Once she came into command of her own, she have thrown out people from her squad that she felt were a liability, one disappeared in mysterious circumstances and is still MIA to this date. In her time off, she mostly keeps to herself unless the need arise to motivate soldiers or someone have requested her presence.

Background: Lisa was born in a small town in Sweden, northern Europe where she lived with her parents until she was twelve. It was now that her parents moved to the US due to work related matter. Her parents worked at the local AI development centre in Washington D.C. Lisa had a pretty normal life after the move, she went to a local school that was funded by Cryus Corporation for the children of their employees, she also lived in a house that was provided in the suburbs of Washington, not too far from where her parents worked.

Lisa lived, and studied there until 2130 when she was forcibly drafted into the military when the machines revolted. She spent almost no time training and was sent right into the meat grinder with the other recruits against the winning machine forces. Most of her childhood friends were also drafted into the military and most of them died in their first engagement with the enemy, however, despite the odds, Lisa survived her first battle and was instantly promoted to Staff Sergeant for her actions in the battle where she single-handedly had kept a platoon of enemies at bay with a scavenged Barrett M82A1, however, her entire squad was lost just before. This also gave her a Medal of Honour, but she was not happy with it, she was distraught with survivor’s guilt. It was also now that she learned about her parents death at the hands of a mob, blaming them for the machine attacks.

Lisa had a hard time after the death of her parents, but the army could not spare any single solider, and she was always sent back into the fray to combat the machines. But inside, Lisa was already dead; she did not fight for her survival, but with empty precision and the want to die in battle. However, she did not want to give up and just shoot herself or let herself get killed easily, she had made up her mind to bring down as many with her as possible.

By the time of the WMD attack onto the world, she was already a Warrant Officer due to her fearless attitude in battle and bravery in the face of the enemy. Little did they know however, her attitude came from the lack of will to live, but she never died.

A year after the WMD attack, Lisa met a soldier that made her want to live again, her Call Sign: RAVEN. She now no longer fought to die in battle, but she fought for a future, she had developed a crush on the soldier that no one else knew about part from herself. Lisa kept following after Claire, as she now knew her and they have kept fighting together since. But, in 2135, Lisa was drafted into a special ops unit that focused on long range neutralisation of high risk targets. It was in this outfit that she grew into the rank of First Lieutenant and acted as the ops squad’s leader.
When STG was formed, Lisa was drafted into the outfit as a designated marksman and surveillance expert, but it took time for her to get there since she was out on a spec ops when the order came, and she refused to abandon the mission.

Tours:
Active in the machine wars.
Took part in both Battle’s for Washington D.C.
Took part in guarding the Exodus of D.C.

Neutralisation of AI data hive.
Neutralisation of many NRO commanding officers from long range.
Destruction of NRO supply convoy.
Various operations to halter machine production.
Neutralisation of various infected “leaders”.
Destruction of a Refugee camp containing new infected strand.

Commendations/Awards:
Fast rise in ranks due to fearless attitude and leadership abilities.
Two Medal of Honours due to bravery in the face of the enemy.
Two purple hearts.
One Armed Forces Service Medal
One Distinguished Service Cross
One Army Service Ribbon
Awarded with the longest confirmed kill in history.
Five medals unceremoniously awarded for special ops.

Hymusia -

Name/Call-Sign: Isis.

Valeria Marks Aka. Gemini.

Date of Birth:

18/12/2120

Origin of Birth:

UGC-002

Rank: First Lieutenant.

Speciality: Front line Medic.

Hand to hand combat, hacking.

Appearance (Pictures are welcomed, but text is fine too):

One would not call her beautiful but she was certainly pretty, with clear blue eyes and long warm chestnut hair, she stood at the very unimposing size of five foot and two and a half inches outside of her body armour.
[Files Missing]

Weapons:
2 x short range pistols.
2 x combat knives.
[Files Missing]

Service Record:
-2120 Born
-2122 Drafted into

Operation Zodiac

.
-2123 First in combat use.
-2130

Operation Gemini Terminated.

-2131 Retraining complete.
[Files Missing]
[Files missing]
[Files Missing]
[Files Missing]
-2132 Transferred to Shadow Task Force.
-2137 Part of Shadow Task Force Beta.

Drummer-Dan -

Service File: Active

Name: Ryan "Tank" Vaughn

Call-Sign: Havoc

Date of Birth: 21/05/2102

Origin of Birth: Indianapolis, Indiana

Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Speciality: Demolition and Heavy Weapons

Appearance:




Weapons:
Primary
LMG Pulse


Secondary
M90 Shotgun


2x Flash Grenades
4x Frag Grenades
2x breaching charges
2x Semtex slabs
Commando Knife

Service Record:
Ryan Vaughn was born for the military, It was in his genes after all. His service history dates back to 2125 when he enlisted into the armed forces.
He used his positive mind and determination to take everything from his lessons and training, never forgetting the procedures and drills.

By the time the Machine Wars began Ryan had progressed to the rank of sergeant and was among those first few units called into action to quell the revolt of the machines. Leading his unit into the thick of battle, he held his composure and commanded his troops with outstanding success. He first found his love for demolitions when he came upon one of the structures used as a stronghold for the machines, with his own demo man KIA he took the reigns so as not to risk the lives of the other men and placed a breaching charge on the wall.
The ensuing explosions cleared the room entirely and paved the way to a success capture of the building and its perfect tactical position.

Once his first tour had finished he signed up for a Special Weapons and Demolitions course, where he found he had a natural talent for explosives and was especially gifted at tactical placement when breaching building, maximum surprise with maximum damage. He was then exposed to heavy weapons and special tactics training. Once he had completed the course he was selected for a small team designed to go behind enemy lines and sabotage.
With his new unit, he was ordered to destroy an large enemy position. He disobeyed orders, instead of breaching the perimeter and infiltrating then storming the base, he approached the large sky scraper position adjacent and placed semtex charges on the foundations. The explosion was small but the result was huge, as the large building crashed onto the Machine base wiping it out.
After a verbal warning he was widely congratulated for his creativity and extraordinary thinking.

His next tour would have him see relentless assaults and ambushes thrown at him by the machines, who by now were a much tougher and smarter enemy. Vaughn, after losing his commanding officer stepped up to the plate, to once again lead the unit and fighting an ever advancing enemy. His experience and knowledge in demolitions led to many successful ambushes which in turn led to another successful tour, sometimes the best offence really is a good defence, as Ryan would say.

---
The Battle on the Bridge - 2131
The evacuation was another well planned military operation, with platoons of troops fighting back an unrelenting horde of machines. Air dropped in to the front line and in the thick of battle Ryan and his unit fought to hold back the assault. With his team firing their LMG's in rallies, the pressing machines were slowed whilst Ryan and his teams second demo man abseiled the side of the bridge, with the charges set they zipped back up to the surface and began the slow retreat land side. Ryan waited till the last minute to detonate so as to destroy as many of the machines as he could, while the other machines stood on the other side of the wide river looking on, trapped.
His efforts rewarded him safe haven in the underground city UGC-001 where he was offered a spot on a newly formed special forces regiment known simply as STG. Ryan accepted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A group of marines thundered down a dark alleyway. They didn’t care what lay before them; they only cared about what was chasing them. Their footsteps splashed against radiated water as a fear gripping wail followed within their wake. None of them looked back; none of them needed to.

PFC Singer ran after Badger squad as they all rounded a corner and continued in their flight. If it weren’t for his visors automated light screener, he would have tripped on the many things that littered the floor before him. There were wrecked parts from cars, possessions that had long since been lost to their rightful owners, and most disturbing of all, he saw dead bodies. Dead rotting bodies. He shuddered within his armor that kept him from contracting radiation poisoning and acted as his shield from the creatures that filled his nights with vivid nightmares.

The screech that he heard before that gained in volume was from that of the infected. The poor bastards were once human. The origin of the virus was still unknown; however, he bet that it had something to do with the damned radiation. What he did know, however, was that they were feral, they would kill him, and the process of dying and perhaps turning into them drove his feet to move faster.

“Move your assess,” yelled Sgt. Boer. He kept running and abruptly stopped at a building and wretched open the door. The trio quickly ascended a flight stairs. “Go up! Go up! Up god dammit!”

Singer did just that. He, to his dismay, brought up the rear as the thundering footsteps of the horde grew ever closer. Each second that passed, his hope of staying alive dwindled. Their recon mission had quickly spiraled out of control. They were sent to investigate an unknown signal that originated from this position. Command, paranoid jerks as they were, couldn’t risk not nosing their way into this. And who did they send? The lucky frackin’ Badger squad.

Initially, the mission went according to plan. Lieutenant Vossler, who those monsters ripped to shreds, ordered stealth movements only. They made it all the way to the anomaly point without firing a damn bullet. But there, that’s when it got bad. In the process of investigating the site, the squad came across a couple of mutilated marines centered at a choke point. They entered with procedure, cleared the room, everything perfect. They found an interesting file on the ranking officer, but they didn’t have time to inspect the details. When they were preparing to leave, their point man Kane, fracked it all up. He wasn’t minding his god damn steps and knocked over a metal stand. . .

“Singer, get up! Hurry!” called his squad mates as he found himself on the floor. “There! Behind you! Holy s**t!”

He snapped back to the present as he risked a glance back. On top of the stair case stood a single infected. Its jaws were ajar as it screamed a blood curdling scream. Its pulsating red eyes held such hatred, which no human being should be capable of, living or dead. It howled once again as it rushed the down marine.

Singer screamed like he never screamed before. He got to his feet only to have the infected throw him back down. He faced it head on this time. He saw every detail of the man this thing was before. Its pale rotting face snarled as his head was slammed against the floor. His vision swam as he tried to fight back with his darkening vision.

“Get it off of me!” he pleaded. “Shot it! Shot it for frack sake!”

The thing reared its head up as it formed its hands into one gigantic fist. It didn’t care that it was breaking every bone in its body to beat the fallen marine; it had to attack something. As its hands flew down, a bullet shot echoed through the corridor as its head snapped back. The red eyes rolled up as the infected fell back.

Seizing the opportunity, Singer ran towards his squad whom were carefully laying down fire that whizzed around him. When he drew closer, hands pulled him in with urgency as a metal door was slowly creaked shut. Just before it was able to securely close, the infected tide slammed into it. The marine sliding it buckled back, but the others hastily chipped in. An infected blocked their safety as it clogged up the space between the door and the lock.

“Trick or frackin’ treat you ugly bastard,” cried Singer as he put a bullet into its clueless face and kicked it back. With the door fastened secure, Badger squad slumped against the walls as each breathed heavily. “Mother Fracker. That was close. That bastard almost got me. Drinks on me?”

The marines laughed as the infected pounded relentlessly against the door.

“Damn lucky bastard. Better thank Damon for that shot,” said the sergeant as he fumbled with their retrieved file. He walked to the back of the room as he toggled his radio. “Eagle-1, Badger squad reporting. Requesting pick up at the following. . .”

Singer zoned out the sergeant as he closed his eyes and tried to block out the pounding and screaming that was contained on the other side of the door. He took a peek at the doors hinges that slowly loosened with each strike. Then he looked at the remnants of Badger. Three out of seven? Shit... Evac? Heh... as if. We can’t get through those frackers to an LZ. No way.

“We’re fracked,” Singer said as he closed his eyes again. We’re fracked....

---------

Claire hugged the edge of the rooftop as seven others moved out around her. They were missing a squad member due to a wound she received on an earlier excursion. At the time, it seemed like a big deal, but the doctor assured the squad that their wounded comrade would be up and about in no time. There was no risk of infection nor were there any significant stages of radiation poisoning.

Within her helmet, she toggled the zoom feature, which sighted onto the building which Badger squad was trapped in. She reflected on the briefing they had before they humped the half hour walk to get to this city. The officer that briefed them said to expect a medium sized amount of infected. Before she could call BS on that, the officer had proceeded to say that the last satellite rotation, that occurred a week ago, showed limited amounts of infected in the area. Figures. Old intel was always full of crap. What she saw before her was a small version of a city horde. To add to her troubles, more were coming by the minute.

She sighed to herself as she turned to face her squad. “Rescue missions become a little harder ladies and gentlemen,” she said in an augmented voice due to her masks voice modulator which also acted as an air filter. “Intel's full of crap, and Badger managed to call in the whole entire frackin’ neighborhood. Walking through the front is absolutely out... Any brilliant ideas anyone?”

She took another look at the roads below. There was nothing they could use to cause a large enough distraction to draw the infected away. The only thing she could think of was to have a number of Beta squad stay here and draw the infected towards them instead of the marines. However, that presented a plethora of problems as well. She ducked back and shook her head. This was going to be one hell of a situation to crack. She checked her watch. Pick up convey would be at the extraction point in forty minutes. They didn't have time to spare. This is going to be cutting it close.

[Outlawed]

The host of infected sprawling in the streets below them made Alex nervous, causing him to hop from one foot to the other. He fiddled with his rifle, constantly switching between the rifle, sniper, and carbine variants as he scanned the mass of bodies clogged around the building. It was truly amazing how fast a horde can form if they sense anything not irradiated to all hell and was still moving. It also scared the living hell out of Alex.

The video feed from his HUD was being streamed back to HQ via a system of satellite due to the wonders of the "bunny ears" on his suit. The ears were networked into the battle command networks along with the STG Beta channel while they were active, allowing him to become the radio man for information not being directly fed to the team. Unfortunately, there was some huge chatter happening back at HQ as people scurried and updated maps and such. Fortunately, his onboard VI sorted through most of the mess and turned the relevant information into easy-to-read bullet pointed lists. When he first used the suit, the constant stream of information gave Alex horrible migraines, but he has since adjusted with half of his brain reading, sorting, and occasionally feeding the info to the rest of his team while the other half focused on the task at hand.

The task at hand, regrettably, was trying to find a way around the previously mentioned horde of infected. His first thought was luring away at least most of the infected with a big enough distraction. However, for what he had in mind Beta wasn't packing enough explosives on them to do it, or it required too many bodies with too high of a chance for fatalities. Going in through a direct route was a no-go, obviously. Reinforcements couldn't be called in either, and certainly ones with the firepower needed to force their way through the horde as time was not on their side.

So Alex cross referenced local maps and their photos to see if he could find anything useful while checking if there were any nearby AI presences. Finding none of the signals he had become intimately familiar with, he put in a polite request to Command to see if they could reposition any nearby satellites to give him an additional bird's eye view. After a quick reference, he found a sewer system that ran directly under the building. He sent a quick message to Claire, throwing out his idea. He didn't say it out loud as after a long time of constantly reading messages and lists, he'd become accustomed to sending and receiving those instead of actually saying anything.

"Boss, sewer system running directly beneath building. Unsure if they could squeeze through. Lots of unknowns, but there's an exit southeast about a klick from here we could set a perimeter around. Also, Command speaking of possible cancellation of the mission."

Alex also fiddled with his medical supplies, which he kept in a large bag strapped to the side of his waist, making sure everything was in order. After he forgot to resupply his bag on the last trip, which was terrible rookie mistake, he couldn't patch up Isabella as properly as he had hoped. There was quite a large amount of blood for a superficial wound and of course, there was the ever present danger of radiation poisoning. Luckily, nothing too serious had happened.

[iByaah]

Thudding footsteps sounded through the metal and concrete staircase as Beta Squad ascended. Faint shadows threw stripes across the opposite wall of the stairwell, the windows to the building having long been shattered. The smell, definitely musty, stagnant, and altogether disgusting had it not been for the squad's air filters.

Captain Vallenco, Raven, exited to the top floor first, waving to the squad to secure it after her. Leo's helmet visor automatically adjusted to the outside lighting as he stepped out onto the roof.

The specialist held the pre-machine war Jericho 941 easily in a two handed grip and swept around the roof, going to one corner, and set up shop. "This corner is clear." Leo reported in a low tone, fully aware of the hordes of infected some stories below. He crouched down to the crumbling brick of the roof's low ridge.

Wordlessly, he stowed the handgun in the holster on his right thigh and reached with both hands to his right shoulder and left lower back, where his anti-materiel rifle clung to his armor's back via magnetic 'hooks.' For spacing considerations during storage or disuse, the weapon was actually disassembled into two main parts: the barrel and bipod and the firing chamber, trigger, and scope.

These two parts, Leo slid together and locked in place with a barely audible click. The sensors in the gloves of Splatter's marksman armor established a connection with his helmet and the assembled weapon's scope. He paused long enough to listen to Raven's request, unaware of Byrnes' nonverbal reply. Behind the emotionless visage of the AIES helmet, Leo's expression was contemplative, but until he'd at least had a look at the situation, he wasn't going to add anything just yet.

He rested the bipod of the rifle cautiously on the building's ledge. You can never tell with these prewar structures. Truthfully, the weight of the squad climbing the stairs and securing the rooftop could have already compromised the building's integrity. However the high vantage point was worth the risk. Hell it's withstood a nuclear war; it'll take 8 more soldiers.

Through the scope, Splatter's opened eyes took in not only the magnified clusterfrack before him but also various firing aid information. Wind, distance, movement predictions, and painted 'adversaries' all came into view. It was tempting to pull the trigger as the hardsuit's VI projected a shot to an infected sprinting towards the building Badger Squad was holed up in. But that would defeat the whole purpose of our entire stealthy rescue operation, now wouldn't it?

Shifting his gaze to each cardinal direction, Leo noted that the majority of the infected were attacking from the north and east with the least coming in from the west. Well at least the pickup convoy's approach and escape route should be relatively open.

"Captain, west is mostly free of infected. They seem to be massing out of the north and east." He reported, passing some visual HUD shots to her helmet. His VI had managed to paint the majority of the infected charging in each shot with thin red boxes. The sniper had to admit, he felt a certain amount of pity for the mindless husks. Hunt, kill, eat, always scratching, always biting. No thought or chance at a real future. A bullet to the head's really the only release... Leo sighed, shaking his head as he lowered the weapon.

His focus swept across his fellow squad members, their faces framed with green boxes by the AIES VI, and stopped on Alexander, Bunny, Byrnes. Leo stood to his feet and hefted the heavy rifle with ease off the building's ledge. He walked over to the Combat Medic while also glancing to the street below every couple steps.

"Byrnes, any chance you could raise the CO for Badger Squad?"

[andecoco]

Things were not going according to plan—as things are wont to do if you plan based off information five days old. Matteo sighed. The Information Warfare Division should not have made this sort of mistake. He would have to file a complaint to the GEOINT subsection chief. This looked like a case of the left hand not talking to the right hand; though the Marine Corps wanted to send in Badger Company, Matteo guessed they never specifically informed GEOINT of this, and so the IWD provided them with intelligence from nearly a week ago.

Lovely. Unprofessional. Amateurish. Matteo hated amateurs. A century ago satellites were more than capable of surveying any area on the globe within five minutes. How GEOINT messed up this bad... well, someone was going to get fired, at the very least, because Badger Team stood a real chance of being wiped out.

Take a deep breath.

Matteo was not used to being angry; then again, he was also used to working with professionals. Maybe it was his history in logistics that caused any small inefficiency in the IWD's operations to bother him.

No, this was no "small inefficiency". This was a gigantic screw-up.

Whatever. He took comfort in the fact that, right now, it was the STG that was cleaning up the mess. One could not ask for a better team.

Careful now. He did not know if the one door between Badger Squad and certain death would hold. Alexander, the other tech guy, mentioned that there were uncharted sewer systems running beneath Badger Squad's location. Matteo liked this—these sewers were likely the best possible means of extraction. That said, there was no way in hell he would take the chance of running in there without eyes—that was what got them into this mess in the first place. Unfortunately, given Badger Squad's current predicament, he doubted his team would have time to even run a simple stealthy reconnaissance of the sewers before Badger's solitary defense broke.

The ungodly screeching of the infected cut his thoughts short.

Baiting was out of the question. It was a crude, double-edged instrument, and too many things could go wrong. But the STG would have to buy time, so that they could carefully scout the sewers, and find the stealthiest means of extraction. Drilling from the sewers into the hole Badger Squad had bunkered into was not an issue; shaped charges would do the trick. But it would take time to do quietly, and without arousing the nearby infected.

And, once again, Matteo concluded that they needed a delaying tactic.

"Captain," said Matteo, "I think Alex's idea of the sewers is our best bet. We shouldn't run in blind, though, so we need the time to scout. To buy time, I suggest we collapse the front entrance to Badger Squad's position. This way, they'll be trapped inside—but let's be honest, they weren't going to use that door anyways, and it keeps the infected out."

Matteo surveyed Badger Squad's hiding position from a distance.

"Leo, if your rifle is quiet enough—and can punch through a feet of mixed concrete and titanium—hitting the front structure's hardpoints should collapse the entrance, and buy us time to recon the sewers."

Matteo coughed. It was not hard to tell where a building's structural weaknesses were, especially since many of them had been stripped bare by the nuclear war, but Leo's rifle was made for penetration, not explosive mushrooming. He was a sniper, not some demolitions expert.

Also, there was the issue of how much attention Leo's rifle would draw.

[Vietmyke]

Vinny grimaced to himself. He hated dealing with infected, the mindless husks were so damn resilient and they weren't as easy to deal with as conventional enemies, conventional meaning enemies that used guns and tactics. Tactics? Vin could handle that, he knew every tactic in the book, he knew every tactic, ever counter-tactic, and every counter to each tactic. Bullets? Vincent's body had taken more lead and energy burns than the average human should take. But the infected? They had no tactics, their blood was lethal, they just rushed at you from every direction until you ran out of bullets or ran out of the area. Give him NRO any day.

Vinny's distaste was apparent behind his unpolarized face shield, red dots appearing across his screen as Leo's weapon. There was a lot of them, and badger squad didn't have much time left. Vinny took a breath, he knew Singer personally, but he couldn't afford to let personal connections lead to irrational decisions, the rest of his team depended on him as much as he depended on them, if one of them were compromised, the rest of them were.

"Thats a long way down.." Vinny mused as he looked over the edge. Getting down to ground level and fighting their way through the infected to get down to the sewer. Command had suggested canceling the Op as well. They were sending in one of their best teams, would they risk sending in one of their black ops teams on such an insignificant matter such as a squad of soldiers. Unless the soldiers knew something important. Vinny didn't voice his idea, he had to consolidate the facts, make sure everything was sound.

"I don't really like the sound of going down into the sewers, but it does seem to be our best bet at getting over to Badger." Vinny said as he polarized his face shield, hiding his face behind his helmet.

"As for blowing down the entrance, just use one of these," Vincent suggested, pulling a disc shaped explosive charge out from a satchel on his back. He put down his weapon for a moment and pried apart the device with the help of his suits armor, revealing the plastic explosive within. "Use a grappling hook and cut the cable, then I'll detonate the charge from afar. Quieter than a normal round, more effective, easier."

Vinny picked his weapon off the roof and checked it again, removing and reinserting the magazine into the weapon and thumbing off the safety. A small number appeared on a virtual panel off to the side of his weapon. Vinny took another moment to pat the two pistols by his sides. Ready to go.

"I got point." Vinny called out, taking a position ahead of the captain, ready to leave when the others were.

[Pax]

...
Playing: Travel Playlist
Current Song: Quintino - We Gonna Rock
...

Sophia looked around at the wreckage around her. Ruins of what once was. It's hard to believe that she had been alive when the ruins were a city. That at some point the writhing mass of Infected in the streets, howling and scratching, were once people with lives and families. Those thoughts didn't help though, so she pushed them away. Don't give the Infected faces, all it takes is a glob of spit to mess you up.

Instead she looked over the edge of the building at the humongous mob of Infected trying to climb over each other and bang on the metal door. The door that was slowly crumpling under the siege. That was how they got you. They chase you until you get tired, either one of the two types of tired killed you. Physical fatigue lets them catch up to you, mental fatigue lets them corner you as was evident here. Their collective howling intensified as the metal door gave a pop. She hated that sound.

...
Reducing Ambient Sound to 5
Music Volume now up to 47
Comm Volume now up to 63
...

Sophia backed away from the ledge with a tsk. She didn't particularly enjoy fighting the Infected. They were too predictable. Sure they were harder to sneak up on considering their numbers but once discovered, it was a matter of sticking out her sword and letting the Infected impale themselves upon it. She stretched out a bit, her arms and legs. She bent over and touched her toes before twisting her torso. The thrumming electronic beat in her helmet giving her a rhythm to jog in place by. Before STG-Beta, her rather relaxed approach into operations was a source of unnerving. Sophia acted as if it was simply another walk through the city or a pleasant Sunday brunch. Her bone white armor slid around smoothly, recently cleaned and oiled. Sophia unsheathed Nocturne and felt along the blade before returning it. She looked at the mob and felt a twinge of annoyance, if that was up on the surface, she could only imagine what was below it.

She listened in silence as the others chattered around her, readjusting the plan. She wasn't particularly good at that. Planning. She was more of an improvisation kind of gal. The most she planned was her approach to a target, what happened after the kill was a matter of reflex and instinct. The sewer seemed to be the best plan. Despite the fact that she would have to clean her armor again, Sophia saw it as another factor in her favor. Tight spaces like a sewer would be to her advantage unless they faced the sewer gators for myths of old.

"I got point.", called out Vincent as he stepped in front of the cap.

"Oh no you don't Sparky. You're actually important this outing." Sophia said as she playfully flicked the man's ear. "We can't have a Zedhead poppin' up outta nowhere and takin' a chunk outta yer face. I got point, you watch our asses." Sophia walked in front of him and looked over the edge again at the street below, finding the closest manhole.

[Celestial]

Claire noted each contribution and the consensus was more or less the same. The favor was to travel through the sewers to reached the trapped squad. It was a sound plan except for the fact that when they needed to escape, the whole damn horde would be right on their heels. She wasn't even sure they had enough time to exfil before they were swarmed.

She toggled her comm. "Eagle-1, S-Beta breaking radio silence," she said as she stared at the streets below. "Requesting up to date satellite feed, over."

As she waited for a response, she beckoned the squad to gather round. "Listen up people. This is what we're going to do with or without those satellite images. We'll be splitting into three teams," she said. She noted the surprised reactions but continued nevertheless. "And no, I'm not crazy boys and girls. I'll need a distraction team, a suppressing team, and an exfil team.

"For the distraction team, Splatter, you're going to solo. Knock some heads and make sure they see you. Now, this part is important. Find a building that has a quick exit route. Rooftop escape, planks, it doesn't matter. Once those infected bastards hear you, you can bet that they'll want to pay you a visit. If you want, I can give you a buddy. But, from what I see, I think in this situation, it may be better if you solo it.

"The Exfil team will be following me. I want Ghost, Boskovic, and Smoke. This will be a quick strike team. We need movement and speed as well as weaponry. Ghost I assume you got those explosives handy, yes? Bošković, you're an engineer. You're going to assit Ghost in sinking as many of those damned infected with a boom. Also, you'll be responsible fo making a whole for Badger.

"The last team, Bunny and Havoc. You'll be on the suppression. Once we high tail our A***es out of that hell hole, you'll be covering our exit route. Try not to miss or let one of those things scratch you... you're going to have a bad time if they do."

Claire finished off her orders as she uploaded an undetailed area map on her interface. "I've just sent all of you the rendezvous point. Suppression, you'll clear those spots before bunkering down. Quietly if you can. From what I saw on the way in, our primary extraction point requires the horde to funnel down an alley. If it's compromised, we'll use the fork right behind it. However, there should be no reason why it'd fail.

"Also, all of you. convoy will be at the extraction point in forty minutes. Set your watches to 2137. We need to be at that extraction by then. Exfil team, we'll be setting ours to 2117.

She toggled her comms again. "Eagle-1, I need those maps, over."

She looked at her squad and thought about their daunting task ahead. "We've been through worse people. I have every ounce of confidence that we'll do our job and everyone will get home... including Badger. Questions? If not, Distraction and Suppression teams get a move on. Exfil, we're heading for those sewers."

[Marrone]

“All according to plan. . .”

Rudolf finished welding the door closed. “Now for the fun part, eh?”

The two threw their duffel bags on the table, pulling out all sorts of wires, electronics and laptops. They ran wires up the walls, even though no electricity was present. One of them began revving up the gas-driven generator, “You sure this’ll work?”

“No, of course it wont; the other two generators are behind the soundboard and the mainframe.” Arthur pointed in the appropriate directions, “Besides, those generators will help start up the real generator—and even then, we’ll have enough power after a while.”

“I know, I know. Give me a break, I didn’t memorize the blueprints or anything.” Rudolf laughed, pouring more gasoline into the machine. It wasn’t long until the computer screens lit up the room. The artificial illumination brightened the room, revealing the two scrawny men; it was almost as if they felt guilty about how unworthy they were in it’s presence.

Passwords were put in, and monitors clicked on. The dry hum of computers rung hard through the small room, “Should’ve brought fucking fans. . .” Arthur murmured, already sweating. Rudolf stifled a laugh, “I figured that the cold outside would help equalize it, but I guess that doesn’t apply when you weld off every entrance.”

“That reminds me, Rudolf. You planted that marker down there after they walked into the IED, right?” Arthur looked at him. If he screwed this up, they’d already failed the mission. But Rudolf nodded, “Of course. You know, sometimes I think those UGCO always love to marginalize, always like to stomp on things that are in their way—now, maybe they’ll learn that they should fear it.”

“I’m not following what kind of lesson you’re trying to teach them. Rudolf, will you start off the initializer? We need to get this plan underway, they’ll be sending some dumb two-faced scout to check this place out—”

A voice radiated from the machine into their headphones,

“Eagle-1, Badger squad reporting. Requesting pick up at the following. . .”

The two looked at eachother. Without making a hint, Arthur pulled up the record of a Badger Squad agent; the screen lit up with information. “Lieutenant Vossler, Sgt. Boer, PFC Singer—” Rudolf interrupted him, “Hold on, no need for details. We got to do this quick. Ready to light this baby up?”

“Yeah, make sure everything works according to plan, though.” Arthur stated, double-checking at that moment. The two took a brief moment before Rudolf broke the silence, “Looks like we’ll have more company than we thought. This just gets better. . .Man, have we struck some luck today!”

Arthur remained stagnant, “Main generator is pumped up. Give it a few seconds to run before we utilize it.” The click of the keyboard resonated in the small space, and Rudolf ran some numbers, “Rerouting power. . .We set up some of the fireworks on the roof, right? Where’s the controller for those. . .”

“Right here, here—take it. We were lucky there were so many speakers in this damn place. What once was used to command its laborious workers when shifts ended will now be a beacon in itself. . .” Arthur looked back, “That’s awfully philosophical. Do yourself a favor and get back to rerouting.”

A few minutes had passed before they assigned the appropriate commands to a single switch. “Alright, now we wait for their back-up to try to scoop them up. . .Right into the hornets nest.”

“The surveillance shows that we’ve already got a ton of zeds out there. . .This is just rolling in our favor. I’m getting some signals from. . .Alright, they’re sending in some heavy firepower. There’s no way this is just a peashooter squad. . .”

“Jeez, looks like they really mean it when they don’t leave a man behind. . .” Arthur looked to Rudolf, a silent question was posed; the answer was filled with doubt, “There might’ve been a manila folder here or there. . .Gave it no mind.”

“It doesn’t matter. They wont be getting out of this one. Try to intercept their feed, but don’t make it obvious. If we want control, we can’t blow our cover.”

- - - - - -

“Eagle-1, Badger squad reporting. Requesting pick up at the following. . .”

Derrick marched around the corridor of the command center, “I want to cancel the subterfuge, code black, this is bad. Get GEOINT on the phone ASAP—Jeremy, you’re kidding me! Fix this! FIX THIS NOW!”

The workers scurried to and fro, their fingers dashing around the keyboards, papers flying through the air. They were clearly busy, “Quantifying measurements, creating reports. . .”

“Analyzing the register bulk. . .”

“Yes, hello?”

“Chief consultant, please.”

Re-linking with a secure communication, Derrick is seen talking into his headset, “Right. . .Alright, S-Beta? Sounds good, we should have a brief—oh. . .Alright, we’ll keep it on the low-down. Grunts are still grunts, you know? Oh. . .Sorry sir, that’s not what I meant. Yes, yes. . .Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you sir. Absolutely sir.”

After an intense stir of paperwork and button clicking, one man yelled out to Derrick, “GEOINT is on the phone, your call Derrick.” Instantly he picked up, starting with a hostile tone, “These are some awful nice satellite pictures. Tell me, how much does it cost for. . .for, you know, a picture—oh yes, nothing. Lets get something straight here, buddy, you and your little tech-friends might be lounging off our payroll, but at least do your job right—all the time.”

"Eagle-1, S-Beta breaking radio silence,"
"Requesting up to date satellite feed, over."

Derrick went back to yelling at the GEOINT consultant, “Now listen, we need up-to-date satellite transmission, and we need it now—not five minutes, not fifteen, now. Look—Hey, hey, I’m not done talking—It’s not me, this is coming from high command! No, no you can’t speak with him, I’m speaking with you so you DON’T have to waste his time! Listen, all you need to know is we need those maps because you didn’t give us the right ones. What do you mean ‘what do you mean’? Your maps indicate a medium size, a three point four, and we’re looking through our screens seeing at least a nine point eight!”

"Eagle-1, I need those maps, over."

“You will lose a dozen men for each man I lose if things go sour. And we’re sending in the thunder—Oh, their on the way? Great. Next time just do that in the first place. Derrick out.”

Jeremy looked back, “Downloading map, I’ll get it to them in a jiffy. . .Suzy, do your thing. All you need to know is the subplex gartiuinum is adjacent to the oblong. . .” he continued on in a technobabble speech, which the woman clearly understood. With a nod, she pressed down the talk button, relinquishing her formal, yet attractive voice, “S-Beta, this is Eagle-1, we hear you . . .Satellite uplink is established, these are brand new maps at your disposal. Blue prints, sewer plans, estimated damage and more are available upon your HUD, as you know. This is a secure channel, but we will not contact you unless it is an emergency; do you have any questions? Over.”

[Outlawed]

It was a rare moment when Alex's HUD was clear enough that he could see anything around him, which was quite a risk to take considering the dangers the STG faced on every operation. But then, considering their situations information was king and the more they knew, the less snags in a plan they would have. For example, if Beta had known of the major number of infecs they were going to face, they could have prepared properly for the occasion. At the very least, they could have had detailed maps of the surrounding area, a fact he had complained loudly to both UGCO's IWD and GSI, but considering the major backlog of work they to push through they would probably never see it.

Still, he couldn't really blame them. After all, between tech-savy refugees, the NRO, and the AIs waging constant war over the overhead satellite systems, not to mention comm systems between the various UGCs and above ground settlements, and the increasing risks of above ground ops it was a miracle they got anything at all.

And yet, they were risking not one, but two teams to to one site where the only info they received was that a previous team had been sent here and had recovered some sort of information that apparently warranted two teams to be sent in to retrieve it. Not only that, but the teams sent in were quite respectable as well. Badger Squad, despite being run-of-the-mill grunt troops, were highly reputable with no-nonsense attitudes on the field and being terrific drinking buddies in their off time; STG Beta let their records, and that of its members to speak for itself. If the intel recovered here was so important, the could have at least spent some time to give up-to-date info.

Alex's thoughts were broken when Splatter asked if he could contact Badger's current CO. Alex gave an affirmative nod and began setting up an encrypted channel so that S-Beta could link up to Badger. In a few moments he got it up and running while listening to everyone go with the general consensus of his sewer plan and Raven setting up the fireteams. He linked everyone into the channel, sending a brief message to Badger's CO that explained the current situation while setting his ACR into the BR variant.

A message from Bunny's VI popped up a few seconds after, informing him that an unknown presence was attempting to enter their channel. Alex frowned and stopped fiddling with his rifle in order to track the signal, but it was to no avail. Whoever, or whatever, was behind it, they hid their tracks extremely well. Luckily, it appeared that only audio was being fed to them. Nevertheless, Alex strengthened his firewall, fiddling the encryption as well while he was at it, and updated everyone else on the situation. Unfortunately, the signal still seemed to wiggle through somehow, which deeply annoyed Alex and made him a tad bit worried at the same time.

"We've got a few dogs with us. Ears, no eyes."*

A smooth voice then broke into Beta's channel.

“S-Beta, this is Eagle-1, we hear you... Satellite uplink is established, these are brand new maps at your disposal. Blue prints, sewer plans, estimated damage and more are available upon your HUD, as you know. This is a secure channel, but we will not contact you unless it is an emergency; do you have any questions? Over.”

A rush of satellite images appeared on his HUD, his eyes quickly scanning each before his VI set to work putting them away and cataloging them. They seemed to be up to date and amazingly accurate. Just like the batch of images they were sent with on the op. Unfortunately, Alex couldn't help taking a little jab at the IWD. Knowing a simple message would only be added to the backlog, which was seemingly starting to lighten, Bunny instead spoke up. His voice was quiet and soft spoken and was rarely used.

"One: If it wouldn't be too much work for you, I'd like updated images every five minutes. Two: These maps aren't going to be used for our next op, right?"

Done with his little fun, Alex finished setting up his BR. He opened up a detailed map of the surrounding area and circled the spots Raven wanted cleared. He began to set a path that from their current position would allow the Suppression team to hop between the rendezvous points with as little detours and contact with the Infecs as possible while still heading toward the sewer exit point. He cleared up his HUD, but still allowed a small information corner at the top left of the display. He sent the map along with a simple message to Hailwic and Corner. "Sound good?"



*We've got eavesdroppers. They have audio, but no HUD or visual access

[Chyoko]

“Roger that Eagle-1, Badger is prepared to hold out for as long as necessary. Suggestions though, don’t let us wait to long.” Nyx Hailwic stared down at the recently established link set up by command. This black op assignment had went from bad to worse in little under six hours. Though usually she would be with her regular combat squad, this mission was to much for anyone that might understand all the science involved, leaving her with one of the best Grunt teams. They might be the best, but the lack of variety in a mission so delicate was what ultimately caused the current situation.

No this wasn’t just a routine recon, though that did partially have to do with what they were doing out here. What was wrong was that the satellite over this area was beginning to decay, that left a large blind spot if it was constantly under supervision. Not to mention the fail safe that stopped all the other fractions of this god forsaken from hacking into it had a glitch like a mother fu-

“Nyx, how the frack we gonna wait for Eagle-1?”

“Just trust me, my squad knows what they’re doing. Plus ‘m not about to lose a free drink.” She said smiling at singer. “I need to get to work, trying to help them keep us alive and all that.” She said turning away. Unfortunately they had been unable to set up all the beacons that would latch onto the satellite signal and have its VI bots get to work on repairing it. The only problem… hacking into the signal would be easy to override and make it work for you. Hence the secrecy.

Checking over her HUD she looked at the growing mob around the area, and it was getting bigger. There was one last beacon she had to set up and the job would be complete, and if there’s something Nyx never did, it was leave a job undone. Searching through the room she looked around the completely sealed room, or so they thought. There was a duct on the roof, big enough for a woman but for no one else.

“Well boy’s looks like I’m gonna have to skip out.” She said, hands on hips looking at the only way to the roof. She had to set up the feed to the satellite, which was more important then being here at this moment.

“Right then, allow me to be a gentleman and give you a boost up.” Sgt. Boer grinned at her. Giving a halfhearted salute Nyx stepped up on his hand with the beacon and made her way through the ducts up to the roof.