Mission 2 Turn 5: Disaster

[Corporal Hicks]

Date: June 23, 2189
Location: Surface of Capua, Nembus System, Andromeda Cluster
Mission time: 01:54:00

The beast charged at Morse and Barayev. Corporal Sixtus Quinn turned and fired his sniper rifle into its side as it flew by. The 10x28mm bullet entered its shoulder, ricocheted off of its collar bone and exited the other side at a skewed trajectory. (Critical failure)

Dimitri Barayev simply dove out of the way while Morse raised his rifle. In a split second he marked his target, squinted and took the shot. Six rounds impacted with its forehead, caving in its skull and destroying its brain in a millisecond. Its rhinoceros-sized body continued forward and collided with Morse as he tried to dive out of the way. He was flipped over, his legs flailing in the air. The massive leathery body skidded to a halt in the mud, with Morse lying beside it. Fortunately, he was not pinned down. (Moderate success)

Sergeant Perez sent a burst downrange and the yellow eyes vanished. The snarling was replaced by a slight yelp and then silence. (Success)

Behind him, Corporal Pushkin fired one round of pistol before his vision went black and he felt like the whole world was one spinning ball of pain. He didn’t know where he was or what had happened. Unfortunately, the ricochet from Quinn’s sniper rifle had punched through his helmet and struck him in the temple.

(Actions)

[Morse]

The alien creature screeched and snarled as it raced across the landscape in their perimeter, a terrifying charge of some alpha monster that would strike fear in the heart of all on that world... yet it was dead. This was humanity, and its relentless march across the galaxy. Nothing stood a chance against the overwhelming might of where the tendrils of its society reached. And at the forefront of that civilization was the USCM, setting foot on hostile worlds to bring them to heel.

Morse stood, the servos in his robotic leg grinding out the mud that coated them in his attempt to evade the creature. He eyed the beast that was felled, its face blown apart and ooze trailing from it, satisfied that it was not about to gain new life and make a second attempt. Still holding his weapon at the ready Morse eyed the rest of the marines line, which was now silent in the aftermath of the short battle with new beasts on the wilderness world which they stood upon. There was nothing new that appeared to be coming at them, and the creatures seemed to not be such for stealth. Perhaps the noise scared off any others, or they may all have been killed, but whatever the case the grounds seemed secure.

Lowering his weapon Morse noted a bustle regarding a downed marine. Morse looked himself and saw one their number upon the ground. Morse did not know why, and knew there was no medevac to call. They'd have to deal with the the wounded in house, though he was not sure the circumstance or even who it was from where he stood.

"Quinn! Up!" Morse shouted "We got one down!" The directive was simple, but their time allotment of daylight and expected return... let alone food stock... would not afford them much time to deal with it.

<Tag Quinn

Morse looked upon the ship, Perez already at the breach and having sterilized its immediate interior.

"Perez, grab any five and take point. A comtech goes with em and a spacer to help find what were looking for." Morse directed pointing forward down the hall. "I want four out here securing our out. Don't care who." Morse looked around at the Navy hands, implying they would be best to remain. "Everyone else, form up and follow at thirty meters behind the point men... n' get ready to split into teams if we gotta."

Morse prepared to move with the second group following the point men, and would move after the next group. He'd want a status on their downed marine though and a decision on if anything could be done for them in the meantime.

<Tag Anyone

[eyeball]

The smell of chard cow thing was strangely pleasant as it lingered in the air. Paulson hoped that it might prove edible but wondered how you went about safely testing that.
Paulson was still smiling as he heard the call of man down,he had no idea how it had happened but others where already rushing to attend him.
He turned his atttention back to to the front to ensure the fire was not spreading to threaten anyone, seeing that the wet jungle was already sputtering out he then backed towards the wreck as the perimeter was called in, looked like they where all headed into the ship.
Paulson continued to scan the forest making sure that no more creatures suddenly decided to burst forth. his motion detector out to add to his visual scan.
As the group split into point and main groups Paulson waited at the rear covering the forest still with his incinerator, it would be of limited use once inside so it would be back to a side arm for him.
<roll awareness>
<roll motion detector forest side>

[Corporal Hicks]

The synthetic, Preacher rushed to the side of Pushkin. He appeared completely calm but was working with a rapid precision.

[Quinn]

The Armat M42A Sniper Rifle was a wonder of modern engineering. Built in a similar layout to an ancient rifle known as a WA2000, it fired a special 10x28mm High Explosive Armor Piercing round to down it’s targets. It was known to penetrate an inch of steel before detonating. However, physics is still a massive bitch.

Upon impact with the beast, the round struck at an oblique angle, and the thick bone was sufficient to deflect the round to send it careening elsewhere without setting off the sensor inside. That elsewhere turned out to be one Corporal Pushkin, as the round did what it was designed to do. It punctured the helmet, then detonated after exiting, right next to Pushkin’s head. Normally, the round would have kept going into it’s target, to detonate inside the body. But because of the oblique angle of which it struck the helmet, the sensor inside was triggered prematurely. It was a billion-in-one occurrence. But, fate was a fickle bitch who often doted upon irony.

Upon realizing what had transpired, Sixtus slung the rifle and bolted to Pushkin’s side, ignoring the burning and tearing feeling from his right leg. He slid to a stop beside the injured man, pulling his medical kit to where he could easily access it. He took in his patient’s condition with a glance. Passed out, bleeding profusely from a head wound.

Sixtus removed the helmet, noting the blasted hole in the side. Looking over the wound itself, it was a mess. The head was intact, however the wound was nasty. Pulling some medical tools, Sixtus looked up at Preacher.

”Light.” he said simply, directing the android to illuminate the workspace. When there was enough light, Sixtus went to work, removing small pieces of bone shards and metal shrapnel. It didn’t look like the braincase had been punctured, which was a miracle in itself. Once the wound was clean and disinfected, Quinn applied a bandage and gauze.

[Roll Medical: Grand Master]

[CarbebthePoncho]

Fernandez stepped back as the chaos ensued, Pushkin was shot in the fucking head. He resolved himself for a moment of the gore that he would experience, and rushed forward to assist Sixtus in the emergency med.

[JuanPerez]

Sergeant Perez sent a burst downrange and the yellow eyes vanished. The snarling was replaced by a slight yelp and then silence. (Success)

the sound of the burst shot inside the small compartment of the ship was kind of deafening, at least the advanced smartgun gyro-stabilisation gear nearly zeroed the recoil of the burst shot. The 10x28 mm caseless went to work. A bloody explosion in front of him, the creatures battle cry ended apprupt. All that remained was a grotesque mixture of flesh, muscle tissue, brain material and bones all mixed together in a bloody cocktail. Not that Perez noticed that, at least not immediately.

Remaining in fire position for a few more seconds, he carefully observed the forward part, just in case, the creature brought its sipplings to the fight. The smartgun barrel moved slowely from right to left and back, but nothing more showed up. Instead, behind him kinda hell broke loose. The signature sound of a riccochet hitting a helmet, followed by the signature sound of a body dropping to the ground, and he did not even had to turn around to realize, what had happened.

Perez called for medical backup and moved carefully backwards to Pushkin's body, step by step. He dared not to look at Pushkin, instead, he observed the small and wide dark corners and spaces carefully. Fighting xenomorphs for the last few years, he had developed all kinds of paranoias 'gainst that. He had seen too many good women and men being ambushed by those sneaky fuckers, being swarmed upon or simply gotten dragged away. He simply covered Pushkin until help arrived.

"Perez, grab any five and take point. A comtech goes with em and a spacer to help find what were looking for." Morse directed pointing forward down the hall.

He simply nodded to Morse in response ...

"Giosso, Barayev, Paulson, we are taking point. Lieutenant Davenport, we could use your help here, Ma'am."
<Tag Giosso, Taimdala, Paulson, Pants>

Perez waited for the troopers to form up, took the lead, and began to move down the corridor, slowly, lighting out every inch of the dark corners carefully with his shoulder lamp.

<Roll Awareness - Level Master>

[eyeball]

"Giosso, Barayev, Paulson, we are taking point. Lieutenant Davenport, we could use your help here, Ma'am."

Paulson looked to make sure someone still had eyes on forest and seeing many still covering that area he proceeded to the opening.
"Bringing the Barbecue to point" he responded "let me know if you want something toasting otherwise its small arm for me", Paulson swapped from his incinerator to side arm and motion detector.
The shoulder lamps threw out beams of light sporadically illuminating areas of the ship and casting shadows in others. corners were checked and ceilings covered, too many times had things dropped from the roofs he had been told, now they covered floors, walls, roofs all the same no chances, no risks.
they past the mangled corpse of another creature the smart gun had done its job well, slowly they continued their exploration the reassuring ping of Paulson's motion detector almost eerie in the quiet.
<roll awareness and motion detector>

[Corporal Hicks]

Paulson’s motion tracker blipped as he directed it at the forest. Several shapes were moving beyond the tree line, but the motion tracker was unreliable in the jungle. As he entered the supply locker the motion tracker did not indicate anything. It clicked rhythmically and quietly.

The dead creature on the ground was furry and reminiscent of a giant cat, but they couldn’t see its face because it was a gory mess. The dark room was littered with small debris, much of which seemed to be MREs.

DOOM DICE RESULT:
Quinn removed bits of bone and metal from the gushing head wound, assisted somewhat by Fernandez and the android. The side of his skull was cracked and caved in but indeed the braincase was not punctured. Luckily for Pushkin, the round had exploded in the steel of his helmet and had not pierced his skull. However, he was still at risk of a brain bleed from concussion damage as his skull had been cracked in like an eggshell. He was not out of danger yet, he was still in critical condition and the next few minutes would likely decide his fate.
(OOC: He isn’t dead but he will face more doom dice soon.)

[eyeball]

Paulsons scanner remained steady and clear, his shoulder lamp illuminated a drinks dispenser, "load now or sweep clear and comeback?" he checked with Giosso. Giosso's look said it all, secure first loot later. "Has anyone got a flare to mark this with i left mine on board we exited in such a hurry" Paulson remarked as he nodded in agreement. someone pulled out a flare and placed it near the MRE's and drink dispenser and the small group moved off into the darkness again sweeping the way for those behind. the continual blip of the motion detector the main noise as they moved stealthily as possible in the poor light. "using infra-red see if any thing shows up" Paulson said and switched down his monocular. the shoulder lamps and infra red combo were mildly disorientating and Paulson wasn't sure if he was getting a better result or not but it covered another base to see into the darkness.
<tag Giosso>
<roll motion detector>

[taimdala]

Dmitri swallowed hard when he saw what had happened to his friend Pushkin. Was it only an hour ago he'd been joking with the man?

He took a deep breath and reasoned that as long as Quinn was on the job, Pushkin would get the best care possible. All Dmitri could do now was to do whatever he was ordered to do. He fell into line with Giosso and Paulsson and followed them inside the wreck.

[JuanPerez]

The small group finished their sweep of the interior part of the wreckage, at least, of what was within their reach. Some compartments were completely unreachable due to blockage of damaged bulkheads, which won't open anymore. It was a slighty frightening and claustrophobic, but all they got was the regular humming sound of the motion-trackers and no beep. He turned to Giosso, Paulson and Barayev

"Good Job, boys, nobody is home anymore. Let's finish, for what we came for. We are backing up and cover the guys, who will collect all the food and water. Paulson and Barayev, meet em at the entrace. Giosso, go back to where that giant cat is and cover the rear, i am with you."
<Tag Giosso, Paulson, Taimdala>

Then he activated his mike ...

"Morse, interior sweep completed, we are all clear. I think we hit jackpot, MREs and Water Dispensers all around. Send the navy in."
<Tag Morse>

[eyeball]

" Paulson and Barayev, meet em at the entrace."

Paulson heard the order from His Sargent and headed back past the body of the beast and the flare to the entrance just as the others where beginning to head in, the light streaming in through the gap was blinding after being in the dark even for such a short period of time. he squinted as he emerged and relayed the location of the supplies to those going in.

[taimdala]

Dmitri took up position across from Paulson. Between them they had the field covered. That was fine by him. He didn't feel any curiosity about what the insides of the ship looked like. The way he saw it, there were more things dangerous to their continued survival on the outside than the inside.

[Morse]

The news was a pleasant assistant in the difficult day that the band on the ground was already having. They now would simply need to clear out the place and ensure it was transported safely. A number one issue was that some creatures seemed to be able to smell their way into the food, which was not going to be good if they had to transport them out like that. The alternative was to move the camp closer to the ship and utilize it as shelter. So long as the reactor was relatively stable... or blown to pieces, they wouldn't have an issue. And they may even have a limited power source, and the ability to call people in.

"Ship rats, up." Morse ordered "Prepare to carry the stock."

Morse moved out of the ship, to ensure no interruption to their difficult comm situation with no orbital station to bounce the signal off of. He placed finger to his microphone to hold it close, and checked to see the signal was functioning.

"Sierra 6 & 7" Morse called out to the roster numbers of those he needed to contact. 6 would be the commanding officer of Sierra base camp, 7 would be the highest enlisted person assisting. In this case, the LT and Sykes. "We got food stocks and water located, were prepping for the long lug back. Position is pretty secure n' defensible with the plusses of havin' the shelter n' some power to tag with it. I may suggest relocatin' Sierra Base Camp to the wreck itself." Even as harsh sounding as his southern accent was, his grammar still contained formalities like 'may suggest' as a routine addition.

He waited for a response, but called out

"Giosso! Transmit our helmet imagery to their terminal at Sierra!" Morse ordered, knowing the Com Tech could handle it quickly.

< Tag anyone.