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    1. Agent B52 11 yrs ago

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9 yrs ago
Current Let's make this a good year.
10 yrs ago
My condolences to the loved ones of the passengers of Germanwings flight 9525.

Bio

Trust me. I'm an engineer (in training).

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Marcus Goldstein - Convoy Escort (This post will be revised tomorrow as it is the start of a collab work)

“Diamond? When did- never mind.” Marcus responded quickly. With the jammer still on his vision was reduced to two pinholes and a couple of slits. He simply missed her get close enough.

“I didn't see you. I, uhm-” he trailed off as Diamond already went ahead by herself. Sun damn it if she just let him explain! Where was Oswald then, was he nearby too? Also what to do about the out of control fire? It spread merrily in the few seconds that Marcus' attention was elsewhere. Fuckshit how was he supposed to know that the bugs wanted the fire to spread? He should have let rip with HE instead. No, before that, he should have checked his targets first before attacking. Sun damn it all to hell the collumn the team encountered on the way here should have been a much bigger warning sign. This just wasn't fair, a simple mission like this should have been easier. He should have had better intelligence and an enemy not seemingly designed to perfectly counter his single biggest strength. It was not fair. It was not fair at all. Out through a vsion slit Marcus barely managed to catch the tail end of Oswald doing something to the flames up in front.

“”Oswald what is- I dont'-” he managed to utter. Then he heard what his teammate said. For a brief moment Marcus wanted to protest. What was MODA up to?

Then he realised that it was not Oswald, or Diamon, or Aurellius that was the problem. Words died in Marcus' throat. Combat stress, he realised in a flash. An emergency brake kicked in and his train of thought screeched to a halt.

Stop thinking about what went wrong and what could have gone differently and what was unfair.

Think actions.

What did he know, what did have, what did he want?

Every electric device susceptible to EM radiation was down. He had a teammember right next to his treads.

“Aurellius, get up here and stay up here. You are to be the eyes in the back of my head. If a fly so much as farts in my general direction I want to know about it. Hostiles that leap on here without permission I want killed with extreme prejudice.”

“But that's boring! How am I supposed to get any action now? Is this seriously just because of some dead chumps?” the suit clad boy protested. Marcus ignored him.

Okay next up stopped truck, anything that could be salvaged? A quick check through a high powered scope revealed far too much about anatomy than Marcus would ever want to know. The drivers were most definitively dead. As for the dust it contained-

Marcus spun the Unsubtle around to present his strongest armour to the explosion.

“EVERYONE DOWN!”

What happened next was gloriously violent. The sheer power it contained was something Marcus would love to harness one day. However, now he had more pressing concerns to deal with. The second truck was merely flipped but the drivers probably lived. His suspension actually creaked as Marcus shifted into gear and rolled forward.

“Better than I was a minute ago.” he replied curtly to Diamond's inquiry if everyone was still in one piece. His mind went back to the problems at hand. Truck one was still on the run headed for Vale. A quick inventory check left Marcus with no way to get Rice's truck back, not with that radio jammer still up. No matter, they could save the second truck in it's entirety.

As Marcus drove he considered Diamond’s proposal, thinking out loud.

“Hmm. Drive shaft is busted, right side wheels out of alignment. Towing yes, to Vale no. Drivers will need medical help, the mining site is in friendly hands and three minutes away to Vale's twenty seven. Also has intel. Current status of truck Two means I can either tow Two or give chase to One, not both. No one in the team is fast enough to catch up to One otherwise. Lastly contract specified trucks needed to get to the mine, not Vale. Dependent on what intel we can get in five minutes we either chase after One or stay with the miners. Possibly wreck that jammer, kill the one in control of the bugs, or simply keep the miners alive for evac. Those people need help just as badly as our drivers. Possibly more so.” he rattled off as the thoughts passed through his mind. He spun the tank around in a nearly casual loop to make it easy to hook up the tow cables to the stricken transport.

“Oswald, status on the drivers? The medical kit is in the left side of the rearmost bustle rack. I'll keep watch.” Marcus called out. The tanker had his eyes on the plains around them, alert for any more surprises that might be sprung on the team. If this was over he'd eat his own tank with a bucket of mayonnaise.
Quick note, not dead just busy. Post tomorrow hopefully.
So after listening to nothing but the Spec Ops: The Line OST I'm going to watch Kung Fury to cheer up. This ain't a happy mission no more.
Marcus Goldstein - Convoy Escort

The camp was in ruins. No one was left inside. Bodies, burning ruins and broken tools littered the inner field. Far too many by Marcus' own hand. He counted those shot by Aurellius. Under his orders MODA smashed everything like an out of control Sitting Bull. He might as well have pulled Avalon's trigger himself.

“Better than an action movie right?” Aurellius said. “Too bad I didn't get to do much but hey that's how the dice land.”

Marcus said nothing in return. Personally he felt like Oswald looked, but he stowed it for later. There were still people to save. He could still do some good. He had to do some good here. He could drown himself in what ifs and unanswered questions later, now was the time for action. The convoy still had two trucks left that were making a run for it.

The autoloader rattled as another HE shell slid into the breech. To an outsider the cannon solution might have appeared like overkill. However it was the best option Marcus had. Close quarters was out, machine guns would be less effective, and finally the bugs were tiny. That made them highly susceptible to death by overpressure. Once more an artificial earthquake shook the ground as another shell thundered downrange. Compared to the other spectacles of destruction the explosion was almost mundane. The thickest part of the bug swarm simply ceased to exist, replaced in a flash of light by a small mushroom cloud.

Meanwhile another mental track analysed. Their behaviour indicated the bugs wanted the fire to spread. There was nothing that could be done about the source of the flames but wait for it to burn out, no available fire extinguisher would put out the white phosphorous. The acid the bugs used would do a number on everything MODA had to offer, let alone the camp. So why were they not swarming over the camp? Why bother with the fire? What was the cause of the jamming? Was it related to the bugs and if so how and why? Who were the humanoid attackers of the convoy then, if any? Far too may questions needed answers.

“So what now boss?” Aurellius asked.

“Now. Now we hold our ground. Defend the camp. I doubt this is over.” Marcus said tonelessly. “If however, it is over. We regroup, find some answers, then move on from there.”
Yaaaaay! The horrors of war is fun!


"Do you feel like a Hero yet Marcus?"

<Snipped quote by Agent B52>

If it was a normal savanna and normal bugs you'd be right. But they aren't. Obviously the entire mission was going to lead to a trap, but the trap is bigger than just the camp.


Oh fuck me.

What team, Diamond is doing great save for some irritation at the rest of you lot O:-)


Yeah, Marcus should have stated more clearly what he meant by 'distraction'.

<Snipped quote by Prince of Seraphs>

They have Atlantis with all the books made movies the bastards =P


I'd pay good money to see Halcyon made into a movie.

Moving on: Just so that everyone is describing the same fight/clusterfuck, here is what I interpret is going on: Marcus fired two shots total this mission: One High Explosive to make a hole in the fortifications. Then an incendiary to try and create a flame barrier between the bugs and the trucks. He has not fired directly on the Schnee guards.

Aurellius did open fire on the guards and promptly received a roasting from Marcus about it.

The trucks that are running for it ALL got nommed because the bugs did not care about the hellfire that suddenly appeared. In fact they are diving through kamikaze style to set even more stuff on fire. This includes, in no particular order: Grass, fortifications, people, shrubs, other bugs and dirt.

Post soon. Let's see if this can get any worse (who am I kidding of course it will get worse).
Marcus is trying to kill a swarm of bugs. A good amount of fire seemed like the right idea. Given that Savanna fires generally move at speeds up to about 7 kph, the trucks are safe from it.

Note that Marcus fired a round BETWEEN the trucks on one side and the bugs on the other. Not directly in the middle of the trucks. He's not that big of a moron, even as stressed out as he is now.
Marcus Goldstein - Escort Mission 'Operation Enduring Fustercluck'

“Turn around? Mister Goldstein I'm sure-” Rice protested.

“That right there is an ambush mister Rice. Jamming is already up. Get out of here.” Marcus cut the man off.

“But-” Rice tried again.

“NOW.” Marcus yelled angrily. The last thing he needed right now was criticism. Fortunately the drivers needed no more pushing to run for it. Praise the sun for small mercies.

“Okay team prepare for breach.” he warned the two atop his turret. Not even aura could protect more sensitive body parts like the eardrum from the full fury of the one oh five mill. Marcus picked a part of the fortifications more or less at random, then stopped to let his sights settle on target. Two quiet seconds passed.

“Fire in the hole!” Marcus warned.

For the briefest of moments, there was a flash. Thunder rolled across the plains. A great cloud of dust obscured the tank from view as the high explosive warhead left the barrel. The round buried itself into the fuel tanks of the unfortunate truck that was the target, tearing through the thin steel case with ease. Then the explosives detonated and blasted the entire machine in half. The engine block buried itself into the next truck in line with enough force to flip the entire thing over like a cheap plastic toy. The cargo bed that was the other half simply disintegrated into white hot metal splinters. Almost as an afterthought, the hot brass case that was ejected from the side of the turret set the brush below on fire.

Before the smoke cleared, the Unsubtle roared forward into and over the newly created breach. It was classic shock and awe at work. Scare enemies with aggressive, forceful moves so they have no time to respond in an intelligent, organised fashion.

Marcus paid no heed to the runners. They were defeated, and seeing people run away drained the fight out of those who tried to stand their ground. Instead his sensors looked for those still with weapons. The autoloader clattered as it readied a new incendiary round. Oswald yelled from atop his turret, and Marcus stopped breathing.

The breaks squealed as they forced the Unsubtle to a sudden lurching halt. Aurellius blazed away with his minigun, laughing as he did so.

“Cease fire.” Marcus breathed softly. Sun help him, what had he done?

“Cease fire. CEASE FIRE!” he ordered more forcefully, even as the suit clad boy above him happily sang a dainty little tune as he continued to mow down everybody in sight. The machine gun mount next to Aurelius came to life, spun around and swept his feet out from under him. Aurellius athletically landed on one hand and flipped himself the correct way up without so much as a smudge on his suit.

“AURELLIUS CEASE FIRE SUN FUCKING DAMN YOU!” Marcus yelled at him. Okay, focus now. Bugs next.

“But boss, they're still shooting at us aren't they?” Aurellius whined.

“I do not need this shit right now! You want to shoot something shoot those bugs.” Marcus told him. At the same time with an agility that was just plain weird for something so massive the Unsubtle swung around to bring the cannon to bear on the new threat. A few agonising seconds passed while Marcus sighted a patch between the lead swarm and the still moving convoy.

“Fire in the hole!” Marcus yelled.

Once more the cannon thundered. This time instead of just an ordinary lump of high explosives it sent something far more nasty screaming downrange. Just before it smashed into the ground the incendiary shell burst. In that moment, God scooped up a bucket of Hell, took a piss in it and poured it out over the grasslands between the swarm and it's target.
So, summarising MODA's first mission so far:

A post is in the works right now.

The good news: Marcus brought incendiary, AKA 'fire, fire everywhere' shells.

The bad news: He only brought a grand total of 10.
Marcus Goldstein - Convoy Escort

“Go around? Dude you have a giant gun can't you just blow it up?” truck driver 3 complained. The tall wiry man Marcus privately dubbed 'captain hook' given the unfortunate shape of his nose and his tendency to assume he was in charge.

“Negative three. Might as well ring a giant dinner bell that we're here. I don't want to attract the attention.” Macus replied coolly. His gun remained pointed at the fallen pile regardless. Optics zoomed in at the base of the quartz pillar, searching for the signs of the work of men. Pickaxes, high explosives, water cutters and their like all left highly tell-tale marks, if one knew what to look for. The thing that stood out in this case was the honeycomb of small tunnels cut through the rock at the base.

Marcus chuckled when the answer struck him.

“People, it was the bugs themselves that did it. I took a closer look at the pillar, they made so many tunnels at it's base that it became unable to support itself and just fell over.” he said over the radio. He chuckled again, sitting up straighter. Stupid bugs got him all excited for nothing.

“Mister Rice I make up only a quarter of this team. Be assured that Oswald, Diamond and Aurellius are very capable in combat as well. Anyway Oswald the basic plan for the trucks is to make a run for it should something happen, remember?” Marcus said. Had he not been clear enough in his briefing? Whatever the case, it could wait, truck two spotted something ahead of them.

“The hell?” Marcus muttered as he zoomed in on their destination. The camp was surrounded by the wrecks of the previous convoys, fortified to hell and back. One convenient bottleneck remained as a pseudo entrance. This wasn't good. He counted at least seven different weapon traces in the battered transports. A fuzz entered his mind as the tank crossed some invisible threshold.

“Fuckblaarghaaddam.” he snarled and threw a specific switch. Instantly nearly a full half of his sensors dropped dead. There was only so much military surplus a teenager could get his mitts on even with his parents helping out with paperwork. So by necessity a lot of the after-market electronics he'd strapped on where not rated against this level of jamming.

He blinked as he absorbed what Diamond yelled at him up on the turret. Okay, get a grip now Goldstein.

“To sum up: Radio's gone, a lot of my sensors are shot, and the camp is a write-off. That jamming means the ambush is already started. By the time reinforcements get here either we're dead or they're gone. Instead, Oswald, Aurell and me are going to attack them from the left. You sneak around and shut down that jammer. If you can grab paperwork or anything else that points to who is behind this and how they worked.” he half shouted. These orders needed to be crystal clear, no pun intended. That done he slowed down to let Diamond off if she wanted to.

Further forward Oswald had the common sense to stop the trucks instead of run forward into an obvious choke-point. Marcus just prayed the drivers kept their engines idle. Breaks squealed as the tank came to a halt next to the lead truck.

“Trucks, back to Vale! We are clearing the camp and we'll radio you when we're done. Oswald, Aurellius on me, we are going to bust a wall down and sweep this place clean.” the young officer ordered. Implied was the order that if no word was received from MODA the truckers were supposed to keep running all the way back and get them reinforcements. Or at least arrange a nice funeral. Once the two hunters had joined Marcus he went into a bit more detail. As he spoke he drove away from the entrance, going around the camp in a wide arc.

“Diamond's off to look for the radio jammer, we are the distraction. The enemy is a humanoid rebel group of some description. Check your targets! Could be prisoners or Diamond in there. For the rest, make some noise. We want all of their attention on us!” Marcus outlined.

“Can do!” Aurellius replied with an eager grin. The whine of his minigun spinning up underlined his words.
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