» The Ruins of Washington, Reclaiming what's ours...

[RedRaptor]

Sergeant Major David Decker looked out the rear hatch window of his Pelican. Below him were the smoldering ruins of what was once the city of Washington D.C. in the American region. The Covenant had bombarded this city into rubble before landing ground troops nearly a week ago, and yet the city still burned. He almost couldn't bear to look at the devastated landscape around him. Aside from Harvest, this was the only home he'd ever known - and the Covenant had taken that, like everything else, from him as well.

The dropship suddenly lurched and began descending towards what Decker recognized as the area where Ronald Reagan Spaceport had once stood. Civilian craft littered the tarmac, as well as the discarded belongings of evacuees who had gotten their warnings too late. Here and there, an occasional Seraph, Sparrowhawk, or Skyhawk's wreckage would lie, a testament to the intense aerial battle that had occurred near Bolling AFB shortly after the invasion. Decker's attention, however, was drawn to the flashing lights near runway 4, where a small UNSC "reclamation" force was beginning to gather.

The idea was simple enough - with the Covenant broken, what Loyalist units were left on Earth were stranded and cut off from leadership, all while trying to hold on to whatever ground they had wrenched from the hands of the Alliance during the early hours of the planetfall operations. But now, it was a war of attrition, and the UNSC was going on the offensive. By rallying the various civilian insurgents against the alien invaders, humanity would be able to once and for all push the Covenant off Earth. But, the road ahead was long, and the Covenant still possessed superior firepower and numbers. Tactics and unity would be necessary to win back humanity's homeworld, and Decker felt confident in his ability to provide one and inspire the other.

As the Pelican came to a soft landing, the intercom buzzed. "Sergeant Jenkins, command wants you to offload your chalk here and reinforce fifth squad. They're fending off another Covenant push from the river. Sergeant Decker, put together a squad of volunteers so we can reinforce the 9th Armored Division. We're making a push on the Mall and Capitol Region; 9th Armored is reporting heavy enemy activity there and needs boots on the ground to run MOUT operations and spot for Valkyrie Squadron's airstrikes. You've got 15 minutes to get a team together, rearm and reload."

"Copy that, Wasp One. Sergeant Decker, moving to form squad designate "Rex." Keep the engines running for us, I shouldn't be long." The Sergeant stepped off the troop carrier and made his way towards the command center, which had been set up in the old ATC tower. If anyone would be suicidal to help him on this mission, they'd be in there.

[FloodSpore]

Ready soldiers milled about runway 4, some were chatting in small groups while others had broken off and checked over their equipment. Alexis was one of them, preferring not to be bothered while she engraved a small UNSCDF banner onto the side of her Spartan Laser.
What a ridiculous name.. 'Spartan Laser'.. Why not call it 'Demolition Laser' since that was what it did, and it did it well.
Not once had she seen the Master Chief carry this for very long, why call it a Spartan Laser..
She shook her head, she'd never understand the suck-assery of the ordnance techs..

She looked up from the engraving to see Sergeant Major David Decker walking up to the group. She knew him as someone not to get too close to, his past run with the ladies had all ended in tragedy, quite literally. It was as if God wanted him to suffer.. she sighed, just do your job right and no tragedy will befall you.
Alexis stood and saluted him, "Good afternoon Sergeant Major, looking for some reclaimers?" A small grin twitched at her lip, but she remained composed. Some of the other marines had taken to quoting an old.. ally? 343 Guilty Spark. It killed plenty of time before Decker touched ground.

[RedRaptor]

"Absolutely, Corporal. Good to hear that some people have their ears open." Decker drew his rifle, and placed it on a nearby table. "Corporal Rodriguez, would you mind getting me some fresh magazines? Armor piercing, please."

He took a long swig from his canteen, then slammed it down on the table. Looking at the gaggle of Marines who apparently hadn't noticed his presence, he cleared his throat. "Alright, assholes. Command wants us to get airborne and help 9th Armored smash through the Covenant lines at the National Mall. They came up with the name "Operation Potomac Fury" for this mission, but that's not a big issue. What is an issue is that the Bravo Kilos have set up shop in the surrounding buildings, and chances are they've got anti-armor weapons set up to ambush our boys in the tanks. I need anyone who's combat-capable on the line; we're going to go clear those buildings and spot for Valk Squadron. Once we hit the clearings on the strip, I'll bet my left nut there's gonna be Covvie armor there. The flyboys will do their best to gut the Wraiths and such, but we'll need to slip in and pound the enemy triple-A. Not like I'm getting any use out of lefty anyway." A few brave male marines chuckled, while some of the females simply shook their heads in disapproval.

"The triple-A means no air support, no air support means the Covenant numbers are going to rip the Scorps to shreds. After we clear the mall, we're going to wait for further orders - chances are Command will want us to push on the inner city. We're also going to be looking for civilian survivors, so I'll need at least two medics ready to help with first aid until Pelicans can extract them.

"We're going in hot over the Potomac in 10 minutes via Pelican. Grab weapons, ammo, and your friends, and meet me on runway 3 where Wasp flight is idling. Time to get tactical, Marines! Embrace the high speed, low drag lifestyle!" With that, Decker grabbed his rifle and his ammunition from Corporal Rodriguez without saying a word. He wanted to have his kit situated for the mission ahead by the time the rest of the volunteers arrived.

This post has been edited by RedRaptor on Apr 28 2008, 04:50 AM

[FloodSpore]

"Jeez.. would you like me to make you a sandwich too?" Alexis muttered as she handed over the ammunition. She, of course, was already prepared for this mission; so, shouldering her BR-55 she trotted over to where Rex's Pelican was idling.
Such a waste of fuel... she thought before climbing aboard and taking a seat just inside the hatch.

"Aw man.. I hate flying.."
"Just shut up and strap in, Logan.. how you survived this long I'll never figure out.."

Two Marines boarded a couple of minutes behind Alexis, neither of which she recognized by face, but one was quite certainly P.F.C. Tobias Prower. She looked closer at the pair of them.

"If I hurl.." One private commented warningly.
The other frowned, disgusted, "You'll hurl in freefall... dude, quit whining." He was quite certainly Prower.. "You march in there reeking of upchuck and those Brutes will pick you up as if you really WERE a sack of shit."
Alexis grinned. Tobias had certainly matured over the past few months. War has a way of doing that to people.

She looked at the side of her Laser with a frown. These things were single battery use.. disposable weapons basically. So short on supplies and yet the UNSC wastes so many resources. Had she been on any ordnance tech teams, she would have ensured efficiency and precision.
Yet she chose a career in demolition.. destroying things which still served purpose. So hypocritical her opinions were..
She resumed carving the UNSCDF insignia on the side of the weapon; no matter what, she would use this weapon to its full potential. Push the battery limit if she could.

Such a conservative.. Alexis wondered why she chose to join the UNSC.. sometimes she was just so.. out of place.

[Andarion]

(OOC: Sweet, I know DC since I live less than 30 thirty minutes away. Here's my I guess unofficial intel report on some of the urban conditions of DC. Who knows what the future holds for the city, but expand on this: Short buildings - DC has notoriously short buildings that cannot be above a certain height to keep monuments visible; thin cramped streets; the city resorts mostly to public transportation and Metro and has such has a lot of parking buildings, underground and otherwise.)

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The soft blue light from the briefing room's holoscreen illuminated the black armored hand that he tapped on the table. He hated briefings. If twenty years of wetwork had taught him anything, than it had been that even the most simple tactical plans didn't hold up 5 minutes in combat - especially ones in the damp and cramped confines of Washington DC, where he once...

"Walcott! What the fuck, you asleep?" barked the Major who stood in front of the large holoscreen that illuminated everything in the room with a pale blue sheen.

"No sir!" Ghost staid, snapping up to attention with enough force to knock the chair he had previously sat in over. "1st Platoon is good to go now, Sir. We still have some holes from losses in the Battle of Voi, but we'll make do. We always do, Sir."

Major Beck regaled Ghost, looking at him with an eye searching for an excuse for reproach. Some of Ghost's fellow Company officers snickered and glared at Ghost. He tucked his arm in tighter at his sides and raised his cheek. He felt like a rookie under inspection on the parade ground. He felt like he was back under the watchful eyes of CPO Mendez...

"Alright son, sit down," the Major said, continuing to eye Ghost as he turned around, picked up the chair he had knocked over, and sat down. "As of 15:00 hours this afternoon we are go for Operation Potomac Fury. Sierra, Baker and Item companies, the ones of the Battalion that didn't make the jump with the Chief, will be on point for the 105 this time around. Item and Baker are will be handling VIP and civilian extraction, Sierra, you need to secure and hold the HIGHCOM Administrative offices and the ONI hard-wired servers inside. We lose that data-dump, we've basically given up all of our intel to the enemy. Facility locations, channel frequencies, the whole shebang. Hoo-rah?"

"Hoo-rah," came the collective response.

"We'll be dropping in HEVs behind their lines from the bays of the Jethro..."

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Ghost looked at the mission clock on the wall. He checked his gear one last time. He stepped inside the HEV, nodded to 2nd Lt. Jones, and then stepped into his HEV. He was ready for combat, once again.

This post has been edited by Andarion on Apr 28 2008, 11:13 PM

[RedRaptor]

Decker watched the horizon from the viewport as the Pelican rose up and swept into formation across the Potomac with the rest of the reinforcements for the armored division. Looking across the river, he could see a small cluster of shops just outside the Mall. He had taken his first girlfriend to a coffee shop there shortly after they graduated from West Point...

"Never thought I'd assault my hometown, I'll tell you that much," he muttered to nobody in particular. Streaks of flame began to hiss towards the ground as he turned away from the window. ODSTs - fun times ahead, he thought.

Decker checked his BR55 for the umpteenth time, ensuring that his CQC barrel and PEQ box were installed properly. With everything in place, he turned to the Marines in his Pelican. He recognized one vaguely from somewhere - Voi? - and the other was new to him, although she and the familiar one seemed to know one another. "So," he started.

"What's your sto-"

Decker's question was cut short by a loud explosion on the Pelican's left wing. "SHIT! TRIPLE A ON THE GROUND!" The pilot made a valiant attempt to turn the bird towards friendly lines before a second salvo incinerated the cockpit. The dropship dropped abruptly towards the ground, giving Decker a good view of their soon-to-be crash site. It was going to be close enough for them to regroup with friendlies, but he knew the Covenant wasn't a group that let sleeping dogs lie.

He grasped a handlebar on the troop bay roof with one hand, and his rifle with the other. No use surviving the crash only to die because he couldn't put up a fight.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

[Polar]

PFC Belton watched suspiciously from his vantage point atop a 5 storey car park. There were UNSC armoured forces, and Pelicans..it seemed as if they were about to take the city back.

He almost felt remorse. When the Covenant had arrived with overwhelming numbers and firepower, his unit had been torn to shreds. He would have died too, but for his past days as a street punk. Seeing the inevitable, he'd gone underground..literally. It had been a not entirely unpleasant return to the carefree days of his youth. Just with more dangerous hunters than the cops had.

Things had been rough the past few months. Stuck in a city familiar only from TV and pictures, left mostly in ruins, he'd had to survive and evade the ever more desperate enemy. He became a rat crawling in the dark shadows of what had once been society, and he realized he looked the part.
Uniform barely recognizable, helmet dented and scuffed, his only weapons two knives, a plasma pistol and a knapsack, he was hardly recruiting poster material.

He had scavenged places the Covenant ignored. Drug stores, hardware stores, cleaning supply places, grocery stores even. Collecting the ingredients for his favouite stews, potions and brews, one of which coated his knife blades even now. One swipe and a Brute would drop paralzyed in a few seconds, dead in a minute.
Didn't work so well on Jackals, and not at all on grunts, but he was working on that.

Right now the problem appeared to be the enemy ackack scattered around the city. His radio had long since ran dry, and he had to let the attackers know they had friendlies inside the city. Perhaps help them along a bit.
He slithered through alleyways, partly flooded underground parking garages that had once accomodated the ceaseless hordes of tourists come to gawk at the shining monuments.

He reached a building holding an Ack Ack turret and studied the situation. A crew of Brutes, with some needler-brandiishing Grunts as guards. The gun was situated on a wide balconey, once the relaxation spot of some VIP. Good, he'd be above it. Sandbags surrounded the gun, even better. It would keep the wind out.

He yanked open his knapsack and rummaged around. He pulled out a slingshot and 4 spherical Christmas ornaments. These had been de-hooked, and half filled with some of Belton's own recipes, then quickly resealed. They made fragile but effective gas grenades.

Choosing his aim carefully, he fitted an ornament to the slingshot and let loose, quickly snatching a second, then a third. Each flew true, and burst open upon impact. The liquid vapourized into a pale yellow cloud; the Brutes shrieked and fell quivering to the ground, the Grunts began to cough and complain loudly about the smell.
He lit the fuse on the 4th ornament and let it go..it was partly filled with kerosene.

The final projectile struck and began to burn, and with a sudden and concussive WHUMP the gas cloud ignited. A mushroom cloud of evil looking smoke rose into the air, and the AA cannon tilted slowly as the balcony began to crumble. Its own weight doomed it. The shimmering purple cannon tipped downward, and fell to the road below, where a bright blue light reflected from the surroundings as the plasma burned off.

"One down. Hope they saw that," he thought, and quickly returned to the shadows. He felt more exposed than he liked to be, and quickly sought the safety of the warrens below the Swamp on the Potomac.

[FloodSpore]

It had happened so fast that she didn't realize it immediately. The cockpit had exploded inward and sent burning pieces of molten metal into the back of the Pelican. A few marines who were sitting closer to the cockpit were torn to pieces by the explosion, others more fortunate were just flung from their seats or leapt by themselves to avoid being injured.
Alexis's ears were ringing from the concussion of the blast, but she managed to grab a hand-hold and clutch her weapon tightly as the Pelican nose-dived toward the city.
Tobias was bruised but intact, upon realizing that their ride was going down, he reached for the nearest hold and clung as tightly as he could to it.

The Pelican hit the ground, jarring everyone toward the cockpit. Shards of cement erupted from the cockpit's entrance, hitting anyone who was too close. It slid a good few metres and then hit something, further crumpling the nose and flipping the aircraft. It finally came to rest against an old office building, showering them with broken window glass.
It look a moment for Alexis to figure out where she was; a marine was sprawled over her legs and was making it hard to move.

"Everyone up!"

Alexis groaned, she wanted so much to just sleep right there and Decker was already back in ass-kickery mode.
The marine was dragged from her legs and propped against the wall to one side. Another marine shook her, "Corporal, hey, get up, Ma'am."
"Son of a.." she slowly pushed herself to her hands and knees before wiping blood from her lip and reaching for her rifle, "Sound off. Anyone not incapacitated, find a weapon and cover.." she was still slightly dazed, but able to get up.

"Hey.. Logan.." Tobias hitched up his BR-55 and checked over his friend, "Logan!"
"Keep it down, Prower.." Logan coughed, grinning, "Ah.. didn't I tell you I hated flyin'.."
Tobias smiled, "Gotta move, c'mon, let's get out of this deathtrap."
He stood and helped Logan to his feet, tossing him an Assault Rifle and his backpack; then Tobias trained his own weapon on the Pelican's hatch. Alexis did the same. It was just half open, but a well placed grenade would kill them all.

In the distance there was a rumble, then an explosion. The ground shook as one of the AA cannons fell, followed by whoops and cheers from nearby UNSC troops who witnessed it.
"Let's move it ladies, we're not cooked yet. Grab what you can and get your asses outside." Decker barked.
Alexis nodded and stepped into the dusty street; already the Covenant had sent Grunt troops to salvage the wreck. One.. two.. three.. each went down, one after the other, "Sir, contacts. Not many, but I can bet there'll be more soon."

[Arbiter]

Above them, a pair of pelicans from Charlie Company soared over the city. The pelican holding Charlie Two shook as the pilot unloaded two guided missiles at a phantom hovering nearby. The phantom retaliated, and it's turret opened on the second pelican, which evaded most of the fire. It also fired, and the Phantom's troop container took a direct shot. A trio of grunts flew out of the ship, as the ship engulfed itself in an explosion of plasma and fire as the plasma batteries aboard detonated.

Gunnery Sergeant Dominic Richmond hung on tight to the handle above him. Only hours ago he'd been in relative safety in a bunker in Eastern Africa. The marine next to him nudged him slightly. "Yo, gunny. The DZ is right below, we're coming down soon." Dominic nodded. "Okay marine. Alright boys and girls, hang on tight. We're coming down in contested territory!" The marines grabbed their weapons in anticipation. The pelican hovered inches above the ground, and plasma fire already pounded against the side. Dominic could see the objective ahead, a pair of AA guns.

He jumped out and ran for the nearest cover, a crashed civilian car. He fired off some rounds at a jackal rounding a corner, downing it. When a brute came around the same bend, he threw his only grenade at it, and he was rewarded by a rattling death roar. Up ahead, he could make out a single pelican in the haze, obviously downed by the AA. He killed the four grunts moving in on it and ran across to it. The marines getting out of it looked pissed. Dom could see why. He ran up to them. "You kids alright?" Then he recognized Decker. "Yo, David! Long time no see!" He looked around. "We have to hurry. My fireteams are gonna' leave us behind if we don't." He motioned to a building somewhat far away. "Apparently, we got covenant VIPs staying over there." He took out a field map, and pointed at four red Xs on it. "We got wraiths and more armour at these locations. I have four fireteams head for each one. Covenant Command Post is over here, behind those emplacements."

This post has been edited by Arbiter on May 1 2008, 01:45 AM

[RedRaptor]

Decker snorted as he dusted himself off. He was still a bit dazed from the impact, but he still had a clear enough mind to know when someone ignored his authority as an officer.

"First off, GUNNERY SERGEANT, do I know you? Secondly, I don't give a flying fuck about your fireteams, because I just lost half of mine thanks to that triple-a. You want to pin down those VIPs, fine. I'm moving on the anti-air, like I was ordered to."

"David, I..."

"No goddamned excuses. If there's as much armor as you say there is out there, we're going to need reinforcements. We got the jump on them this time, and look how that turned out for us." Decker gestured towards the burning Pelican's wreckage. "We either drop that triple-a NOW, or we risk going in unsupported when we push on the Mall. After Voi, I'm not going to try that shit again. Rodriguez! Prower! Rally up the survivors. We're heading back towards the river to smash that triple-a and regroup with 9th Armored. And you..." Decker poked a thick, scarred finger into Richmond's chest, while slinging his rifle over his shoulder.

"You were assigned to this mission to help clear the way for Valkyrie Squadron and 9th Armored, so I'm gonna give you two choices. Either a., you recall your men and help us clear the riverbank, or b., I slit your throat right here and now for dereliction of duty. Your call, pal."

[Polar]

Belton emerged from a barricaded parking garage and surveyed the streets.
"Not a damn Covie in sight," he muttered. "They must be setting up to keep this place as long as they can."

He sprinted across a rubble-strewn street, and made his way through a number of alleyways. Not too many of those Christmas ornaments left, he knew. The enemy were likely preoccupied but they still lay between him and his lab.

"Well, I took out one AA unit, more'n they've done," he grumbled. "Now it's the anti armour they're worried about, I bet anything." Luckily he knew his way around, street signs or not. He kept to shadows and moved with stealth learned from avoiding police cars in days gone by. "Be nice if someone were around to fucking help me," he growled. Resistance groups did exist in the city but to date he'd had no luck finding any of them. Kept too low a profile, perhaps...

He was on his way back to his "lab" to stock up on ammo, when he rounded a corner and skidded to a sudden stop. Quickly backtracking, he panted as he realized how close he'd come to running right into a full outfit of Brutes, complete with a Wraith.
Hornets and Pelicans appeared low on the horizon, coming in to take the mortar bomb down, but the Brutes had prepared a surprise. A pair of ball turrets were hidden on either side.

"Shit. Shit. What am I gonna DO?" Belton muttered. "Too many to take them all out."
For the thousandth time he wished he had a radio.
"Oh ho, now there's an idea.." he whispered.

Drawing a poisoned knife, he picked up a chunk of rubble and tossed it across the roadway. It clattered satisfactorily.

"Humans!" a Brute Captain growled. "You scum stay on watch and I will take care of the filth." The animal-like alien loped toward the end of the street.
Belton drew back into the shadows as the creature approached, its Spiker held at ready.
"I know you are there human scum, I can SMELL you!" it bellowed, head turning side to side.

"Oh I'm here all right," Belton grinned, and slashed forward with his combat knife, right into the unarmoured joint of the enemy's armour. The blade plunged into the flesh right to the hilt, and was yanked from his hands by the Brute's sudden reaction.
"By the...the..by...the..." the Brute mumbled as the toxins took effect. "I will...."

The alien collapsed in a heap, paralyzed and dying. Quickly Belton relieved the creature of its weapons and communications gear, and retrieved his knife.
"Have a Great Journey, asshole," he said, disappearing into the nearest alleyway.

He fiddled with the Brute's radio, trying to find its power source. After a minute's work, a piece popped loose.
"Ah ha..I think I got me a battery," Belton said with satisfaction. The terminals did not match his own radio set but some rewiring fixed that problem. Electronics were the same the universe over.
"Funny how much some of their stuff is just like ours," he mused, wondering if it had been taken from UNSC casualties over in Africa.

No time for that, though. He powered up the radio and set it to broad spectrum UNSC frequencies.
"Incoming forces this is PFC Belton located inside the city. Come IN, UNSC forces!"
He listened to the static, fervently hoping to get a reply. It was necessary to contact friendlies, for two reasons foremost..

He wanted a hot meal and a shower before he died...

[FloodSpore]

Alexis hurried the rest of the survivors out of the wreck, "Time to kick ass and take names. Prower, ditch the radio pack, keep a two-way; wide-band COMMs are shot with all of this electrical disturbance around." She tossed a walkie-talkie to Decker and attached a silencer to her Battle Rifle, freezing, "Keep it quiet, kids; Mom and Dad are packing some heat."
She gestured around the corner where two Hunters were conversing in their native tongue. A garble of noises and grunts, almost too deep to be heard, were emitted by the slightly taller of the pair before both guffawed loudly, waving their cannons about.

Tobias peeked around the corner, "No way.. no way.." he whispered, "We don't have the firepower for those th-"
Before he could finish his sentence a bright red flash emitted from the muzzle of Alexis' weapon, downing one Hunter and tearing the cannon arm right off of the other. "God DAMN it!" She muttered, annoyed, "You had to fucking move, didn't you.."
Tobias took this opportunity to fire three rounds from his rifle into the neck of the other, which fell in a heap on top of its mate.
Alexis slammed shut the cooling vents on the top of the Laser, "What a fucking waste.." she was irritated, "They never just stand there and let me take them in one..."
"Hey chill Lexi.." Tobias nudged her, "You're gonna let the rest of them know where we are."
She shot a glare at the Private, then looked back to Decker, "I'll move up with Prower, Logan and Dom, clear a path to better cover. We can sneak up through the alleys or even through the burnt-out office blocks to get close to the Anti-air. From there, with enough cover, I can take them out." Alexis thumbed to her loaded backpack, "Unless you got a better plan, Sergeant."

(ooc: Apologies in advance for any mistakes, guys. I just got back from work and I'm not running at 100%)

[Arbiter]

"My appoligies, Sergeant Major. My teams are under orders to provide you only ten minutes of suppresive fire, we need to distract the main force, while you advance onto the AA batteries. I am under direct orders from the Commander herself." He stepped back, then stopped. "I've got two 'hogs back there for your men, corporal." He pointed to a nearby garage. "Gunnery Sergeant, out."

He ran over to where Pvts. Ridley, Marcus and Finley waited. Staff Sergeant Joseph Fuentes waited nearby, his rocket launcher backpacked in facor of his automatic rifle. "Okay marines, we have our orders. Move up to that hill. Joseph, You've got priority 1. Our riflemen will take up positions around you. Move on up."

He ran to next team, this one made of ten marines with battle rifles and sniper rifles. "You will make sure n covvies make it up the hill to those marines. Now move out." He ran back to the Staff Sergeant. "Got your'e back." He opened a nearby weapons case. It contained Two rocket launchers and a small crate of frag grenades. He handed both heavy weapons to marines nearby, and passed out the grenades. "Make sure we get some attention!"

[RedRaptor]

"Keep the hogs, Sergeant. Too much noise; we need a stealthy infiltration. No use getting the shit shot out of us before we can get into position. Get your men into position and wait for my signal. Stay on broadband comms so Valkyrie can listen in. Rex squad, lock and load - we're moving up!"

*******************

Ten minutes later, Rex squad had assembled in one of the old office buildings situated on the east bank of the Potomac. After sighting in his squad marksman's anti-material rifle on the northern emplacement's plasma cells, Decker tapped Rodriguez's shoulder and then pointed to the south. "There, right behind that old bank. Think you can hit it from here? We can nail the north site from here with the AM rifle, but we'll need to pop the other site at the same time so they don't get a chance to spot us. Sergeant Richmond's distraction is only going to draw so many of them away, so wait until they start diverting troops to his position before you take the shot."

Alexis nodded. "Yes sir. I think I can do that."

"Good. Aim for the fuel cells. Make it pretty." Decker tapped his comm unit. "Rex squad to Richmond. We're in position. Hit 'em!"

This post has been edited by RedRaptor on May 3 2008, 07:44 AM

[Polar]

Belton cursed foully as he recognized the signs of jamming. His radio wouldn't work, and they were bound to come looking for that Brute eventually.
He headed through alleys and basements and emerged near the left flank of the enemy line. His eyes widened..a larger force than expected was coming in.

He checked his knapsack. Only three ornaments left; two gas and one kerosene.
"I gotta let them know I'm here somehow," he muttered.
Only three ornaments, yes, but he also had a packet of powdered copper. This would burn with a brilliant green flame and rise high into the air.

"Right, last chance," he said, and headed to the nearest rooftop, taking a major risk of being spotted by the enemy as well.
Watching the inbound Pelicans and other vehicles, he laid out his signal. Pouring the kerosene from the ornament in a universal signal pattern..an "X" shape..meaning "I'm alive but require aid", he mixed it with the copper powder.

"They don't see this, I'm fubar," he sighed. Last chance. Pelicans approached, low and fast, and he lit the mixture.

Green flame flared up, a big X on the roof on the building. He didn't hide as usual, rather stood and waved his knife blades, glinting sunlight from them. It was now or never.