Post by Lucius Alar on Aug 28, 2011 3:14:59 GMT
Out of the Frying Pan... 2-1-1
"For the next few days we'll be focusing all our resources on kicking the APM off our planet," General Harrison said as he personally addressed the 50th marksman regiment, Lucius' group. "You will be supporting the 100th Tank battalion as they cross the South Desert to take the central oil refinery. Once we have full control of that, it is on to the final objective, the APM Southern Desert HQ. For those of you questioning my timing, let me assure you now is time we strike. The APM are currently reeling from the copious encroachments they have discovered on their planet, the last being the discovery of some of our helicopters that we smuggled in. They have been reassigning troops from all over the system back to their home planet to cement their place there. Thus, their forces here and elsewhere are thin. Ergo men, we. attack. now. Obviously, the tanks will be heavily sought after by APM search and destroy teams deployed throughout the Desert. Your individual missions will be to hunt enemy Anti-Material teams, this includes some of the APM heavy snipers....”
The sniper pondered the words of General Harrison. Everything seemed to be going so quickly; it seemed only yesterday that Lucius was in the space station trying to sneak onto Apothos, and the images of the Elliot Danver mission still haunted him. He had made it back to New Chicago on Earth-2 and was greeted as a hero among the others who made it back: Daniel, Kurt, Frank, Orin, Danver, and... Lucius shook the thought from his mind. He remembered how he was allowed a full night's rest, but he didn't sleep at all. He was reminded of Brandon every time he looked through the scope of his VX-98 sniper rifle, a gift from the smuggler and from a friend. Lucius had never struggled with any kind of battle field memories, but the flashbacks of Brandon that plagued his dreams were getting worse. Lucius hadn't told anyone of his frightful memories because he knew that he might not be allowed to fight.
Lucius looked across the dunes below him. Atop one of the higher dunes, he could see the convoy of tanks and troop carriers in single file at the bottom of the sandy desert valley, dust being kicked up from the hard run-flat tires of the trucks and steel treads of the tanks. His hands were scalding on the grip of his rifle as he lay prone on the dune's ridge. He dare not move to adjust his grip or even to check on one of the snipers on either side of him. If any enemy anti-material teams were here, they would be on the opposite dune's ridge, just as motionless and just as ready to attack.
He slowly panned the scope of his rifle to fix from the convoy to the ridge opposite of him. Lucius knew that if the General said “Anti-Material teams” this meant the possibility for not only APM soldiers armed with anti-armor rockets and mines, but also enemy snipers trained with ultra-high caliber heavy rifles capable of punching through the engine block of a jeep or semi-truck. Those snipers were the primary concern right now. The convoy was deep enough in the dune valley be out of reasonably accurate range of a anti-tank launcher, but as for the vulnerable troop carriers (trucks and the jeep transports known as Rogues) those could be easily disable by an Anti-Material sniper and then they'd be easy sitting targets for the anti-tank rockets.
Lucius had previously disassembled his VX-98 and reassembled it with a bolt-operated action. This allowed him to deliver his rounds at a more accurate and timely pace. In addition, he changed the barrel of the rifle to a longer more substantial long-range barrel, giving him the ability to put more rounds on target at a further distance. In short, he could easily dispatch any enemy sniper teams on the opposite ridge. This being the final over-watch for Lucius and the 50th marksman regiment before the convoy reached the oil-refinery, Lucius knew there was a high potential for enemy resistance. Lucius continued to move his scope in a side to side pattern as he looked across the opposite ridge from him. Still no activity. The past few days had been a tense and stressful experience. No combat at all. However, every one knew it was going to happen. The 100th tank battalion and convoy were going to split before the refinery. The convoy would head to the AU held side of the refinery while the 100th would flank the weakened APM forces from the rear. Really, it was over kill, Lucius thought. The APM was weak in the refinery, and the AU could easily defeat them with their current forces at the refinery. Yet, Lucius simply assumed the General Harrison didn't want any surprises, like a full squadron of Dreadnoughts hiding inside the refinery.
The convoy was almost out of the valley and in the clear when Lucius spotted something. It was weird. An irregularity in the sand on the dune across from him. It looked like a lump of some sort. He radioed one of the other snipers, “Uh, Recon 2-5, come in.” “Copy Rifle 3-7, what is it?” the other sniper reported. “Do you see that irregularity in the sand approximately 20 degrees east of your position, over?” “Copy, what is that?” Just then Lucius received a message over his headset. “Rifle 3-7, this is Long-gun 8, have you noticed those lumps in the sand across the valley, over?” Lucius recognized the voice as Richard West, a specialist in heavy-caliber rifles and a rarity among snipers; he was a true veteran. Lucius spoke, “Copy, Long-gun 8, but did you just report multiple irregularities? I have only noticed one, over.” The long-range specialist replied, “Yes, Rifle 3-7, I have already warned the convoy. Wait...one is moving, check your 11 o' clock, over.”
Lucius increased magnification on his rifle to get a closer look. The desert air was unnaturally still, but the sand around this very small lump in the dune was still moving ever-so slightly. Then, Lucius saw something that made him a little nervous. Two small black objects came out of the irregularity. Lucius knew what it was at that moment. Those two black objects were a barrel and a scope. Lucius yelled over the intercom along with other snipers who came to the same conclusion, “Enemy snipers! All over the ridge! Check for small irregularities in the sand and shoot. Repeat, Contact! WEAPONS-FREE!” APM soldiers had been hiding beneath the sand, and as they revealed themselves, one could see that they had used oxygen tanks and air masks to breath under the sand.
Before the AU snipers could fire at anything, the sonorous report of an APM sniper's anti-material rifle cracked the blistering desert air. In an instant, one of the troop transports in the rear of the convoy was halted as the large-caliber round sheared through the engine of the truck. Suddenly, the valley became a sea of commotion as tanks pulled off the valley road to cover the advance of the troop transports and AU and APM snipers exchanged fire. Lucius found his first target and fired, a miss. This was to be expected considering he hadn't fire a single shot in a almost a week. But a moment of warm-up was all it took; Lucius' second round found the chest of one of the camouflaged APM snipers. Lucius operated the bolt on his rifle expelling the spent casing and loading a new round from the magazine. He found another sniper and fired hitting the soldier's oxygen tank. Unfortunately for that APM sniper, the oxygen didn't react nicely with the spark created by the bullet perforating the tank, and it created a small explosion which engulfed the enemy soldier.
Lucius continued in this pattern. After downing two more enemy snipers, he began exchanging his spent clip for a fresh one. However, as Lucius closed the bolt on his rifle, a loud and surprising BOOM came from his left. To him, it sounded like a bomb going off by his ear, and it left a ringing noise in his head. Lucius glared to see the source of the vociferous explosion of noise; it was Richard West (also known as Long-gun 8) firing his AUC-HR50 heavy caliber sniper rifle. Lucius spotted something small and yellow near his face: it was his earplug. It had fallen out, which explained why the noise of the his ally's anti-material rifle was so loud. Putting the earplug back in, he aimed back down his sight. Thankfully, there were few enemy snipers left. Lucius fired only a few more rounds, downing another two or three snipers. After the engagement was over, Lucius looked over at his fellow snipers and was happy to see everyone still intact. “Rifle 3-7 to Bravo Convoy, how copy?” Lucius asked. The convoy control technician answered back, “Condition, good. Only one, maybe two, minor injuries down here and a ruined truck. After that first shot, the enemy sniper teams were so focused on you they pretty much left us alone, over.”
Lucius stood from his position after scanning the Dune across from him two more times to check for any other APM soldiers. After finding none, he and the rest of the 50th marksman regiment headed down to the convoy. Lucius walked up to the truck which had been shot. A hole the size of Lucius' fist gaped in the right side of the engine. Lucius looked to Richard West and said, “Hey Rick, have you ever seen anything like this?” “No. That is strange. Either that sniper was man enough to use a rifle with a larger caliber than fifty, or he was using some sort of explosive anti-armor round, which I have never heard of being used in an anti-material heavy rifle. That is a big whole, isn't it?” “Well, this truck certainly isn't moving again.” Lucius replied as he looked at the flood of oil that had saturated the sand beneath the troop carrier. As expected, there was enough room for the snipers and the troops of the downed transport truck to be transferred into some troop carriers in the convoy. As Lucius boarded one of the trucks, he was caught by the arm of one of the soldiers in the truck. Lucius turned to see Brandon sitting there. What!? Lucius thought. Lucius blinked only to open his eyes to see a completely unremarkable soldier staring him in the face, one that looked nothing like Brandon. “Thanks, you really saved us out there.” the soldier said. “You're....welcome...” Lucius replied, a bit confused. Lucius sat down on a seat in the transport truck, What did I just see? These flashbacks are getting worse... Shaking his head and rubbing his still ringing ear, Lucius laid his head back in the seat and closed his eyes. There was still a large expanse of desert to cover before the group would arrive at the Refinery.
"For the next few days we'll be focusing all our resources on kicking the APM off our planet," General Harrison said as he personally addressed the 50th marksman regiment, Lucius' group. "You will be supporting the 100th Tank battalion as they cross the South Desert to take the central oil refinery. Once we have full control of that, it is on to the final objective, the APM Southern Desert HQ. For those of you questioning my timing, let me assure you now is time we strike. The APM are currently reeling from the copious encroachments they have discovered on their planet, the last being the discovery of some of our helicopters that we smuggled in. They have been reassigning troops from all over the system back to their home planet to cement their place there. Thus, their forces here and elsewhere are thin. Ergo men, we. attack. now. Obviously, the tanks will be heavily sought after by APM search and destroy teams deployed throughout the Desert. Your individual missions will be to hunt enemy Anti-Material teams, this includes some of the APM heavy snipers....”
The sniper pondered the words of General Harrison. Everything seemed to be going so quickly; it seemed only yesterday that Lucius was in the space station trying to sneak onto Apothos, and the images of the Elliot Danver mission still haunted him. He had made it back to New Chicago on Earth-2 and was greeted as a hero among the others who made it back: Daniel, Kurt, Frank, Orin, Danver, and... Lucius shook the thought from his mind. He remembered how he was allowed a full night's rest, but he didn't sleep at all. He was reminded of Brandon every time he looked through the scope of his VX-98 sniper rifle, a gift from the smuggler and from a friend. Lucius had never struggled with any kind of battle field memories, but the flashbacks of Brandon that plagued his dreams were getting worse. Lucius hadn't told anyone of his frightful memories because he knew that he might not be allowed to fight.
Lucius looked across the dunes below him. Atop one of the higher dunes, he could see the convoy of tanks and troop carriers in single file at the bottom of the sandy desert valley, dust being kicked up from the hard run-flat tires of the trucks and steel treads of the tanks. His hands were scalding on the grip of his rifle as he lay prone on the dune's ridge. He dare not move to adjust his grip or even to check on one of the snipers on either side of him. If any enemy anti-material teams were here, they would be on the opposite dune's ridge, just as motionless and just as ready to attack.
He slowly panned the scope of his rifle to fix from the convoy to the ridge opposite of him. Lucius knew that if the General said “Anti-Material teams” this meant the possibility for not only APM soldiers armed with anti-armor rockets and mines, but also enemy snipers trained with ultra-high caliber heavy rifles capable of punching through the engine block of a jeep or semi-truck. Those snipers were the primary concern right now. The convoy was deep enough in the dune valley be out of reasonably accurate range of a anti-tank launcher, but as for the vulnerable troop carriers (trucks and the jeep transports known as Rogues) those could be easily disable by an Anti-Material sniper and then they'd be easy sitting targets for the anti-tank rockets.
Lucius had previously disassembled his VX-98 and reassembled it with a bolt-operated action. This allowed him to deliver his rounds at a more accurate and timely pace. In addition, he changed the barrel of the rifle to a longer more substantial long-range barrel, giving him the ability to put more rounds on target at a further distance. In short, he could easily dispatch any enemy sniper teams on the opposite ridge. This being the final over-watch for Lucius and the 50th marksman regiment before the convoy reached the oil-refinery, Lucius knew there was a high potential for enemy resistance. Lucius continued to move his scope in a side to side pattern as he looked across the opposite ridge from him. Still no activity. The past few days had been a tense and stressful experience. No combat at all. However, every one knew it was going to happen. The 100th tank battalion and convoy were going to split before the refinery. The convoy would head to the AU held side of the refinery while the 100th would flank the weakened APM forces from the rear. Really, it was over kill, Lucius thought. The APM was weak in the refinery, and the AU could easily defeat them with their current forces at the refinery. Yet, Lucius simply assumed the General Harrison didn't want any surprises, like a full squadron of Dreadnoughts hiding inside the refinery.
The convoy was almost out of the valley and in the clear when Lucius spotted something. It was weird. An irregularity in the sand on the dune across from him. It looked like a lump of some sort. He radioed one of the other snipers, “Uh, Recon 2-5, come in.” “Copy Rifle 3-7, what is it?” the other sniper reported. “Do you see that irregularity in the sand approximately 20 degrees east of your position, over?” “Copy, what is that?” Just then Lucius received a message over his headset. “Rifle 3-7, this is Long-gun 8, have you noticed those lumps in the sand across the valley, over?” Lucius recognized the voice as Richard West, a specialist in heavy-caliber rifles and a rarity among snipers; he was a true veteran. Lucius spoke, “Copy, Long-gun 8, but did you just report multiple irregularities? I have only noticed one, over.” The long-range specialist replied, “Yes, Rifle 3-7, I have already warned the convoy. Wait...one is moving, check your 11 o' clock, over.”
Lucius increased magnification on his rifle to get a closer look. The desert air was unnaturally still, but the sand around this very small lump in the dune was still moving ever-so slightly. Then, Lucius saw something that made him a little nervous. Two small black objects came out of the irregularity. Lucius knew what it was at that moment. Those two black objects were a barrel and a scope. Lucius yelled over the intercom along with other snipers who came to the same conclusion, “Enemy snipers! All over the ridge! Check for small irregularities in the sand and shoot. Repeat, Contact! WEAPONS-FREE!” APM soldiers had been hiding beneath the sand, and as they revealed themselves, one could see that they had used oxygen tanks and air masks to breath under the sand.
Before the AU snipers could fire at anything, the sonorous report of an APM sniper's anti-material rifle cracked the blistering desert air. In an instant, one of the troop transports in the rear of the convoy was halted as the large-caliber round sheared through the engine of the truck. Suddenly, the valley became a sea of commotion as tanks pulled off the valley road to cover the advance of the troop transports and AU and APM snipers exchanged fire. Lucius found his first target and fired, a miss. This was to be expected considering he hadn't fire a single shot in a almost a week. But a moment of warm-up was all it took; Lucius' second round found the chest of one of the camouflaged APM snipers. Lucius operated the bolt on his rifle expelling the spent casing and loading a new round from the magazine. He found another sniper and fired hitting the soldier's oxygen tank. Unfortunately for that APM sniper, the oxygen didn't react nicely with the spark created by the bullet perforating the tank, and it created a small explosion which engulfed the enemy soldier.
Lucius continued in this pattern. After downing two more enemy snipers, he began exchanging his spent clip for a fresh one. However, as Lucius closed the bolt on his rifle, a loud and surprising BOOM came from his left. To him, it sounded like a bomb going off by his ear, and it left a ringing noise in his head. Lucius glared to see the source of the vociferous explosion of noise; it was Richard West (also known as Long-gun 8) firing his AUC-HR50 heavy caliber sniper rifle. Lucius spotted something small and yellow near his face: it was his earplug. It had fallen out, which explained why the noise of the his ally's anti-material rifle was so loud. Putting the earplug back in, he aimed back down his sight. Thankfully, there were few enemy snipers left. Lucius fired only a few more rounds, downing another two or three snipers. After the engagement was over, Lucius looked over at his fellow snipers and was happy to see everyone still intact. “Rifle 3-7 to Bravo Convoy, how copy?” Lucius asked. The convoy control technician answered back, “Condition, good. Only one, maybe two, minor injuries down here and a ruined truck. After that first shot, the enemy sniper teams were so focused on you they pretty much left us alone, over.”
Lucius stood from his position after scanning the Dune across from him two more times to check for any other APM soldiers. After finding none, he and the rest of the 50th marksman regiment headed down to the convoy. Lucius walked up to the truck which had been shot. A hole the size of Lucius' fist gaped in the right side of the engine. Lucius looked to Richard West and said, “Hey Rick, have you ever seen anything like this?” “No. That is strange. Either that sniper was man enough to use a rifle with a larger caliber than fifty, or he was using some sort of explosive anti-armor round, which I have never heard of being used in an anti-material heavy rifle. That is a big whole, isn't it?” “Well, this truck certainly isn't moving again.” Lucius replied as he looked at the flood of oil that had saturated the sand beneath the troop carrier. As expected, there was enough room for the snipers and the troops of the downed transport truck to be transferred into some troop carriers in the convoy. As Lucius boarded one of the trucks, he was caught by the arm of one of the soldiers in the truck. Lucius turned to see Brandon sitting there. What!? Lucius thought. Lucius blinked only to open his eyes to see a completely unremarkable soldier staring him in the face, one that looked nothing like Brandon. “Thanks, you really saved us out there.” the soldier said. “You're....welcome...” Lucius replied, a bit confused. Lucius sat down on a seat in the transport truck, What did I just see? These flashbacks are getting worse... Shaking his head and rubbing his still ringing ear, Lucius laid his head back in the seat and closed his eyes. There was still a large expanse of desert to cover before the group would arrive at the Refinery.