ON
As the squads brought themselves together, a channel opened between Ian, Adrian, and Ran. "Alright, asshats. Let's get this shit on the road. Keep this channel open, will you?"
"They're gonna fucking decide when to open up on us when they figure out that there's a platoon of Greens ready to grease their piece of shit asses." Ran sighed, motioning for his squad to expand the size of their patrol. "I hear you, Adrian. Just make sure your medics aren't too fucking far behind."
"We wouldn't be doing you much good if we're all forty miles away anyway." Adrian switched to his squad channel. "Alright, spread out a bit and keep on the boys in front of us. Try not to fuckin' shoot them when the shit hits the fan, aye?"
Ran had eventually started to negotiate his way up the hill, crouching low so as to keep his profile hidden behind the apex of the hill. The last thing he needed was to be silhouetted against the sky with a whole Red battalion in front of him, or something. "I want Sanroma's squad to divide and guard our flanks while my guys and me form a battle line on the hill. Keep your asses low to the ground and above all, observe before engaging."
"Seriously, we're not going to get shit done if we're just going to sit and patrol. Use the Vipers to do that and radio back what they see to us," Kagura growled at them before pushing out her sensors and moving ahead to get up the hill, staying low as she did to get a look over it. "It's time we just storm in there and blast them straight to hell."
"I'd rather us do the fucking patrolling than the Vipers. If one of those goes down, then we gotta rush over there, secure the landing site and compromise the fucking mission." Ran peeked his head over the apex of the hill, keeping his SBR close to him. "They can replace us, no problem. Vipers are a different matter."
Amelia tweaked her sensors so that they wouldn't be able to be picked up by the Red's radars (If they had any.) and crouched down as she moved forward. She actually moved towards the base of the hill. While this didn't give her as good of a view as Ran's position did, she was a lot less likely to be spotted. "Sensors aren't picking anything up sir. Either they aren't investigating or they're too stupid to notice their own shuttle being kamakazied."
Over the hill was... Sadly, a sea of wavey grass green until there was a horizon. Nothing but hills of various kinds, with very small bits of flat land in between. The target area, shown on the HUD, wasn't able to be seen from other large hills, much like the one Ran was on.
Ian looked out over the marines, having not moved too far from the LZ. "Hey, you fuckheads turned on your Mass Meshers yet?"
Rose sighed with her mic off, then checked for anything she might need to know about from the readouts on the terrain. Just in case there would be a need for it. "Set back here." She reported to her squad leader, already getting itchy. She wasn't the kind for missions like the one they were given. They were a formula for trouble and it was making her smell blood. Fuck...
"I don't like both situations. The Reds are strapped for equipment, and they're not investigating a fucking shuttle?" Ran noted there to be no real threat over the hill, save for just a -few- slightly hard-to-get-to places. "Adrian, I want your squad to set up on this tall hill and cover us as we maneuver. Two to three man teams for my guys. Weynolt, you're up in front with me." He then took another glance, just in case some Reds had decided to wander into the area. "Everyone use terrain to your advantage. Let the hills block any view of you and-yeah-, turn your MMs on." Ran then soon followed suit, silently kicking himself in the ass for forgetting to do so. "Let's go. And for fucks sake, don't slip down the hill." Bringing his SBR to point over the apex of the hill, the Chief went over and "cross-hatched" down the hill, moving diagonally from side to side instead of just straight down.
"Either they aren't investigating immediately cuz they might have other things to worry about OR they got stationary defenses we aren't detecting yet." Kagura said casually to Ran and waited for them to go first, being in a FIRE meant you didn't rush out like an idiot.
"Support squad! Up the hill! Double time it." Adrian climbed up the hill reasonably quickly in his NDI armor, and peeked over the top, checking it for baddies with his Canister rifle at the ready.
"Yes Sir." Amelia quickly but quietly moved forward, having already turned her MM on. She kept her PAL close, as if expecting Reds to pop out of nowhere at any time. She knew she'd probably be the first to get shot, but that was part of her job. Her life for those of higher rank as always...
The air would suddenly be filled with the noise of evidence there was quite the battle around them -- Far away. The only reason the explosion was really noticeable, as it was about as loud as a footstep on a wood floor save with a different noise, of course, is because there was almost no environmental noise saves that of the marines' voices and, of course, the occasional squeak should they lose a bit of footing on the dew-laden grass. For those looking up and to the east -- With the objective to the north -- they could see a small explosion from a far off distance of that of a anti-air weapon of sorts. Possibly a cannon, maybe a missile.
"Sir.. um..." Amelia stopped. What the hell? She was pretty sure they hadn't been spotted yet, so what the hell were they shooting at? Did a Viper not listen or something? "That can't be good..."
Ran had soon broken into a full sprint towards a rather rocky hill, stopping himself against the hill with his left forearm. "So Weynolt, how long you been in the service for?" His interest in that question, however, was immediately lost as he heard the explosion. Turning away from the objective to the north, he could only make out the characteristic cloud of debris resulting from an explosion. "McCain, any word on what the fuck that was?"
Seeing the hill was clear, Adrian waved his squad forward and mounted the top, keeping low. "Hey Rui, McCain, looks like that assault's starting ahead of schedule."
Ian frowned at the flashes. "No idea, Chief." The Half-ID-SOL opened a line back to the Nerkat. "Hey, that goddamn invasion just start?"
"I think we're boned," Kagura said as she caught up to Ran and made sure to use a rock for cover.
The frequency to the ship would be blocked. Well, not really. It was more static-y then anything else. It probably could have been broken through easily, but not without any minor effort. However, the question was somewhat answered with a few more of the same noises off in the distance as tiny black dots fell ground-ward.
"Well at least that means they're busy." Rose noted, following up into position. Her hand twitched briefly as she ducked behind one of the hills. I guess we're hopping. she thought, getting ready for whatever would be coming their way.
"Well, shit, the fucking invasion's started." Ran cursed, noticing the tell-tale signs of a troop drop in the distance. "There's no use being too fucking stealthy, guys. The Reds already know we're here. I want my platoon to form back up and speed up. Adrian, let's get your guys down here as well. And watch your fucking flanks." Ran started doing scans of the area, fully expecting some random Red patrol to come out and meet them here.
Gran had followed Adrian's trudge up the hill. "Following." He said shortly. He kept his sensors on passive and activated his MM. He stayed to the side and behind of Adrian, mimicking his squad leader's low stance. "Damn Adrian, we gonna try to keep back? Or are we gonna see what that is?"
"Sir, They may know we're attacking, but I still don't think they're aware of our particular position. Maybe we can get the drop on a few of them?" Amelia offered. She resumed moving forward albeit a bit slower while she waited for the Chief's response.
Ian swore. "Fuckers. What does NAM have against working equipment? Hey, Vipers. The fuck's going on?"
Adrian looked back at Davis, and noted the absence of the other squad members. "Yeah, keeping back seems like the smart choice." He looked at the black dots and explosions in the distance. "Fuck. Let's get back down that hill."
"That's what I have in mind, Weynolt. We're still on recon. We're just a recon group in force." As the rest of the Marines started gathering around the Chief, he motioned to the grenades strapped by their pins to various places on his armor. "Get ready to use these fuckers. Move fast but don't activate your fucking monoeyes yet."
Rose turned back when Adrian came charging in her direction, "Got anything definite?" She asked, shifting down to a stop at what seemed like the best spot for cover. There was going to be a lot of hell coming, she felt it. She wanted it, even more.
"Yes Sir!" Amelia replied crisply. She picked up the pace a little, but not too fast as to cause her to be detected by sensors over her MM. Her HUD started beeping at her as it picked up the explosions, which she quickly silenced.
The gruff voiced pilot responded to Ian after a short pause, "What'd you expect? You aren't the only force on the planet. Just because you guys have a sensitive target doesn't mean everyone else is going in quiet, too." The man explained.
Interestingly, in front of the 'Recon' group, over another hill there was a very quiet robotic noise, like that of a cheap thing turning semi-constantly. Drill like, if you will, but quieter.
"No." Adrian opened a private channel to Rose. "And when I say 'on the hill,' I fucking mean it, marine." The medic got to the foot, and glared over at Kagura. "Balfour, get the fuck over here, will you? Davis, watch our left flank, Rose, look out on the right."
"I expected some fair fucking warning about when you were planning on telling us that you were dropping us into a shitstorm, asshat." Ian growled into the comm before killing the channel. "Listen up marines, there's a biiiiig fuckin' firefight going on, so listen to your non-coms, and watch out for our guys, too. Judging by how this shit-fest has been going so far, some friendly fire wouldn't surprise me."
"You're no fun, ya know that Decane?" She hissed back at him and made her way back to where Adrian was and shook her head. "I'd rather be killin' shit than sitting here on my ass."
"Shut the fuck up and move already!" Ran had lost his patience. Again breaking into a full sprint, the Chief started ignoring darting from the cover of each hill and instead just ran in the direction of the objective.
"What the Chief said, Balfour." Adrian activated his armor's hover function and darted off after Ran, waving for his squad to follow.
Gran nodded, raising his LBR. "Righto." He kept up with Adrian, keeping the monoeyes on his WATER2 on passive. He sighed slightly as he saw Ran burst off. "This is going to end badly, isn't it?" He hovered up and with Adrian, tucking his rifle down a little.
Guess he doesn't want me as his meatshield anymore... Amelia thought darkly. She hurried after him, although she kept checking her sensors, not wanting any unpleasant surprises as she tried to catch up to him.
Dream shifted her position to correspond, bringing up her weapons. "Just in time." She smiled, not that anyone could see. It was a bit of a sick looking one anyway, so for the better. "Ready." The Medic used the channel made for their new squad. "At least wait until there's a crossfire." She joked privately to Kagura, at least a half truth in there.
As Ran moved over the hill, he would be greeted by the unpleasant non-green surprise waiting right behind the hill, not visible from the top of the tall hill. It was a camera. A cheap one at that, that panned back and forth like a fan. And Ran and company ran right in front of it. Oh dear.
Kagura groaned as they ran ahead but brightened up, at least something was going on now! She smirked when Rose came over the private communication line. "Yeah I'll keep that in mind, shooting them in the ass Would be funny, blame it on a red too," she quipped and remained hanging back for a moment before advancing behind the main group.
Adrian laughed into his comm. "Doesn't everything we do end badly, Keats?"
Rose hurried after, glad at least the Chief was on things. Or at least the one she could see. She was happy to hear Kagura's message, and the image of it happening was so sweet, too...
Ran's attention was brought to a tiny camera panning back and forth. And that piece of shit camera, that fucking tiny piece of equipment was to be the start of many problems. "Fuck, fuck fuck!" Ran immediately got low, fell on his right side and dug his knees and elbows as far as he could into the hill in order to stop just slightly above where the camera's line of sight could be.
"Rui, status report." Ian jetted to the middle of the formation, keeping pace with most of the marines, and keeping his eyes on the surrounding hills until he spotted a... camera? "Oh shit. That looks like surveillance. Marines, watch out, we may have company very soon." Ian changed to the command line. "Think we might want to get from between these hills?"
Amelia saw Ran stop abruptly and she hit her boost briefly to keep herself from slipping down the hill. She was about to ask what was wrong when she saw the camera. "Oh shit..." She bit her lip. 'I wonder why it's facing that way...' She thought. "Sir, You alright?" She looked back up the hill realizing that another marine would probably come barreling over the hill as well.
The menacing thing continued its rotary noise, moving its 'face' away from Ran now and away from the majority of the marines once again. Ran had come quite close but... It didn't seem like it had caught him.
Adrian hit the brakes when he saw the other marines stopping, and held out an arm to keep Gran from barreling past. "Fuck, what is it?"
Kagura looked around and perked a brow as she stopped. "Hell if I know, probably some turret or guncam or somethin'"
"...It didn't fucking catch me?" Ran was still on the hill, curled up so that he could be even smaller of a target for the goddamn camera. "It's a fucking camera, guys. Come down the hill and form a line behind me. I'll send one person past the camera as it pans to one side."
Rose halted, bringing herself against the earth at one knee. It wasn't too hard to stop as she followed the crest after Adrian, waiting for the go word. "Nice. That was a far trip, remind me of training." She sent to Kagura, keeping her eyes and sensors sharp for possible incoming. The sooner she knew the sooner the hell would erupt and her hand would stop twitching. When their chief ordered them down, she followed the fastest moving person in front of her, then stopped as the line began to form.
"Ran, just blast the damn thing or come up behind it and force the lens into the ground," Kagura suggested to him.
Gran grunted slightly as he turned and tilted his armor to stop himself. He bumped into Adrian's arm slightly. He crouched down, pulling his rifle up. "Cameras? Any enemy units?"
"Nothing I can see other than the camera." Adrian stood on the hillside, looking down at Ran and the rest of the line.
"Already behind you sir." Amelia responded. "Ready when you are." She actually had stopped almost on top of him, but had caught herself in time. She watched the camera pan in it's limited range.
"I think we should sneak past. No use in giving the enemy any way to know we're here." Gran suggested.
"I'm not shooting the fucking camera! Whoever's on the other side of it is gonna know something's up!" Ran looked behind Amelia, seeing her nearly on top of him. "I could get used to this sight, Weynolt. The PA's a bit un-sexy, though. Wait for my command..." Ran waited a few seconds for the camera to look straight forward, and as soon as it angled off to the other side, he slapped Amelia on the back. "GO!"
Amelia frowned at him, but decided to let it drop. At his word she sprinted as fast as she could, even hitting the boost on her first step making her sort of fly across. She activated the hovering before she landed and quickly moved out of the camera's range.
"Rui, why don't you just drop a rock in front of it?" Ian was at the end of line now, on the hill top, and looking down. "Or why don't we just fly around it?"
"Fly over it!" Kagura said. "I don't think it can pan vertically, if you pass directly over it, it won't see you."
"Shit, good point, McCain." Ran immediately stood up, waited for the camera to pan to the side and quickly boosted past it, nearly knocking over Weynolt as he landed.
It wasn't exactly hard to achieve this move past the camera thing, and it didn't appear to have any audio or anything to actually hear them, either. Although on top of another semi-big hill not to far away, but still off a bit, Amelia could spot another camera, save this one looked less cheap and moved quicker.
"Can't we just bypass all this crap anyway, fly low?" Rose asked, going after Ran, coming down back and to his side. Still hovering as she had been since getting out of the crash.
Adrian and Ian both soon arrived on the ground.
Amelia saw him coming though and caught him before he crashed into her. She quickly directed him to a spot near her and returned her hands to her weapon. She said nothing. As she looked up the next hill she saw a second, less crappy camera. "Um, Sir... Problem." She gestured towards the camera.
"For fuck's sake... this shouldn't be that hard. We can just fly around the hill, marines." Ian sighed into the comm channel.
"Can you see which way the camera's pointing, Weynolt?" Ran had only gone past the one camera and was already sick of this shit. "Agreed. We're moving around the fucking hill. I hate these Red motherfuckers." Cleaning some mud and grass off the end of his SBR, the Chief simply waited there for the rest of the platoon.
She moved to the side a little. "It was sort of this way sir. Not sure if it saw us.. We're going to get spotted one way or another so I agree with Decane, lets just fly over these..." She didn't like the idea of the other greens fighting while they fucked around with the cameras.
The camera faced away from them, although it didn't take to long for it to come back again. To add additional problems to their movements, what seemed to be... A floating baseball lazily floated over the camera in question, paused, and then lazily floated back in the direction it came from; toward the target zone. It was a drone, and had no visible weapons. Probably a scout drone, then.
"Not that I'm not inna' hurry to die but let's not stay clumped if we're taking the air huh?" Rose added, jerking her rifle towards the area they were headed to. A lot of different ways to die, surface to air was messy, but they might be opening themselves for it if they took to the air. "The longer we hang around the less surprise we have - they'll come look'n when they're done, right?" She just used common sense, not to mention she was not the patient type.
Kagura raised her arm and tried to get a firing line on the drone. "Imma knock that thing out..." she said and waited for her control system to get a lock on so she wouldn't miss it and waste ammo.
Ran stood perfectly still as the goddamn scout drone floated towards them, getting ready to shoot it if it suddenly jerked in their direction. But seeing it move away, the chief calmly lowered his weapon and turned towards the platoon. "We're flying around this fucking hill. Let's go, make sure you keep a look out for more dro-Kagura put the fucking weapon away."
"No way Ran I'm tired of pissing around, I'm gonna blast that drone out of the air, chances are they already know we're here by now, they're too busy elsewhere to do anything about it and if that thing gets back we might be in trouble." she pointed out. "BUT FINE. Be a spoilsport." she said and put it away.
END
