UCON's Story

"Just set up and do your god damn job, Master Sergeant -- I don't plan to turn this hill over to anyone but that Zhaki fuck himself. This is Echo squad, we're at OP Uniform, visual on the Aschen support, fuckin' came out of nowhere." He remarked, shoring himself against a ditch running across the observation point while laying a field of cover to bring the 14.7mm HAW team up.
"Whole lot of activity down there, looks like a fucking bee hive ... fuckin' Sovraks." **

; Lieutenant Stosser, commander of Yankee Section, ITDM Alfa Troop, looked to his left to see OP Uniform in the distance. Turning away, he cursed under his breath while he watched a pair of troopers blast a hole in the defensive wall of the abandoned military base, using the 76mm Kraken stanchion cannon before opening fire on the waves of enemy contacts that began pouring from the gap.
"Holy shit -- contact, contact, pour on the fire!" A Corporal shouted, nestling himself into the bipod mounted Mk. 97A5 before unleashing a blast of 12.7mm rifle fire into the approaching enemies. At a distance of 130 meters from the perimeter, the horrifically mutated opponents were beginning to close the distance quickly, using simple human wave tactics.

"This is Yankee, where the hell did these guys come from?!" Stosser yelled as the dual cannons of the AFV roared to life, sending a wave of high-velocity shells into the charging horde, leveling whole groups in powerful bursts of fire. Stosser jumped down from the AFV, his ears ringing and his sight impacted from being so close to the stanchion cannons firing. He felt his heart beating as he looked forward, seeing the entrenched ITDM section laying in to the approaching forces with a full contingent of weaponry.

"Damn ... damn ... damn! They're getting closer, we're running out of ammo -- Calliban, Calliban! Combat Support request, Calliban!"

; Wrecker Team was a group of four M90 Annihilator gunships tasked with the immediate combat support of the Coalition assets operating across an allied Terra. Banking away from a stormy cloud front to their east, the looming hulk of the Aschen Reverence was a dark form in the west; through the comms chatter, Captain Provek toggled the active weapons platform and activated the multi-function hardpoints that held the weight of twelve Hammerhead QAM missiles on the stubby wings of the gunship. Adjusting his course again, Wrecker One and Wrecker Two broke off from the rest of the team, a digital interface showing an intricate pathway to their Zone of Operation 20 kilos away. Pushing the throttle, and watching a speedometer climb up in his HUD.

"This is Wrecker One on CAS, light your targets, ground-pounders."


Lieutenant Stosser felt the hand of Sergeant Wade on his shoulder, pulling him away from the AFV just in the nick of time; a pair of hideously deformed mutants sprang from the ground, surprising the doomed crew of a Mk. 97 HAW. With a shriek, one of them smashed it's bulging arm into the side of the AFV, causing a noticeable dent as the Sergeant threw Stosser onto the ground and leveled the MSR-96 automatic.
"You are one ugly motherfucker!" He shouted, unloading a burst of three shotgun blasts into the creature and watching it catapult backwards.
"Fuuck -- We need to fall back! We jumped ahead of the infantry -- sonuvabitch, this is Yankee, we've got casualties. We can't get into the base, they're about to overrun us!"

The Sergeant racked the pump and caught another experiment subject as he tore into a wounded soldier, the young man screaming in pain before his assaulter was thrown off of him, blood and violent energy spurting from the blast wound.
"Lieutenant, they're ripping us apart out here, what do we do?!"
" ... Wrecker One CAS, lighting target now, danger close, I repeat, danger close ... " Stosser's voice could be hea

(c)

; " ... Wrecker One CAS, lighting target now, danger close, I repeat, danger close ... " Stosser's voice could be heard over the radio as the fighting intensified, and the light of the blinding weapons of the Reverence dragging along the base; plumes of debris was descending across the Coalition soldiers, causing several to curse and hide themselves as best as possibe.

; Wrecker One zipped along the hull of the Reverence II for a burst of 600 meters before turning away and sliding underneath the vessel, breaking 200 meters above the ground as he identified the trio of spectral lasers designating a break in the defensive perimeter of the base. With all the frequency oscillation caused by the tactical glassing, the Annihilator peeled away from the Reverence and dipped closer to the ground. He reached one hand to a command prompt at his side and pressed at a small hologram; in his optical HUD, Captain Provek watched a pair of 260kg Hammerhead Quick Assault Munitions launch from their rails, zooming along the underside of the Reverence to maintain manuvering efficiency before turning down at a near angle and plowing into the defensive perimeter. The first missile impacted just outside of the perimeter wall, creating a gap in the thickness of the horde while the other impacted immediately behind the wall, creating an even larger break.

"This is Wrecker One, guns guns guns." He said, keying into the onboard weapons as the co-pilot and gunner of Wrecker One began to strafe the area with cannon fire; the dual 14.7mm rotary guns of the Annihilator's TAWK turret sprayed the ground behind the wall of the base, while areas with harder emplacements found themselves the focus of the 30 millimeter anti-material cannon.
"Multiple contacts still on the scopes, grounders, you've got quite a party down there."


Lieutenant Stosser dove away from the road as the Hammerhead missiles impacted; one of the closer TGMVs was simply thrown onto it's side, thankfully crushing a group of mutants occupied with ripping apart a downed Coalition soldier. Surrounded in blackness, Stosser quickly pulled his goggles tight over his eyes, gritting his teeth before hauling himself out of the hole at the side of the road and rallying his bloodied section.
"Talk about danger fucking close -- this is Yankee, we have an opening into the base, but w

; "Talk about danger fucking close -- this is Yankee, we have an opening into the base, but we've got some stragglers; we're in a bad way, but still ready to kick ass ... Yankee out."

; Lieutenant Stosser grabbed a hold of his AR-91 and cradled the weapon against his chest at the face of the reinforcing Terran marines. The ITDM soldiers were arranged in a loose arc facing the perimeter wall, monitoring the approach against them as the mass of the Aschen Reverence lumbered overhead.
"Yeah ... glassing ... we gathered. What's the RoE that allows that shit?" Stosser remarked, spitting a wad of crimson blood from his mouth as Sergeant Wade assembled the remaining two squads of Yankee Section.
"They cleared out most of those ... whatever the fuck they are, but I'm putting money on more of them. I better not get a fuckin' plasma charge dropped on my head ..." The Sergeant grumbled, racking the pump of the MSR-96. Farther ahead in the base, the team of Annihilators could now be seen idling over the sprawling base, providing direct fire support with an extreme prejudice for the Terran Marines below.

"Wrecker One to ground-pounders, keep the targets comin' ... "

"Not the situation at the moment, Sergeant -- We need Cav support, might want to get on the horn with the Major General." Stosser and the Sergeant were both surprised by the subtle rumbling beneath the ground, and Stosser bit into his tongue as he felt the shaking beneath him.
"God knows he'll be pissed." Stosser said while he loaded a fresh magazine into the 9.5mm assault rifle, and turned to a ITDM Corporal equipped with the squad's heavy communications module.

"Yankee Section calling, Yankee Section calling."
"Go ahead, Yankee Actual."
"We have multiple casualties and medium loss of ordinance, we're gonna' need some Crickets. We're looking at three immobile AFVs, eight casualties ... many confirmed enemy dead."

; Sergeant Chambers took a step out of the Claymore, watching a Vulture VTOL scream overhead as the rest of the ITDM soldiers disembarked from the Coalition fighting vehicle; looking away from the flashing lights of the Scatterran vehicle. He shrugged his shoulders to a Corporal as he disengaged himself from the tactical optic.
"Nothin' we're needed for, Sergeant." He remarked, a noticeable spite in his voice as the Sergeant observed the proceedings from a distance. The Coalition personnel were here to simply observe, intervening only if the situation became uncontrolled enough to warrant. Loading a magazine into the AR91, he patted the breaching lock of the carbine and pointed over to a group of ITDM.

"You two, make sure nothing goes south." He said, peeling open the rear door of the Claymore.
"Arresting Arianne Drulovic ... it's like Morkime all over again. You sure you want to be the NCO watching this?" A Cavalry technician remarked, looking away from the tactical HUD in the bay of the IFV while holding a pair of headphones to his ear.
"Your whole career ... stamped with this. What'd she do, Sergeant?"

; Sergeant Chambers flicked his hand up to stop the conversation of a pair of soldiers. Flaring his nostrils, he breathed in the air of the closing day as he watched the Aschen on the front step of the woman's house. He cradled the AR91 into his shoulder and peered through the scope, activating the multi-power zooming mechanism of the weapon and trailing it across the front of the house.
"You think court will seriously take the word of an Aschen -- arresting a Terran for that matters? Article Five, enough said."

"Stow it." Chambers said with a hateful tone, his finger sliding across the trigger guard of the rifle before he dropped the weapon from his shoulder.
"You think this is 'legal'? You think this is valid?" One of the Corporals spit in from behind him, causing the Sergeant's own thoughts to burst to the front of his mind.

; Chambers watched the proceedings, a noticeable grimace across his face at the sight of the arrest. Looking away for a moment, he watched the faces of his subordinate soldiers; as a silence descended over the Scatterrans, all that could be heard was the tell-tale static of the Claymore's hardened communications hub, tapped in directly to TNG overseers and mission handlers. He heard a faint noise from a Private, standing atop the Claymore with a pair of binoculars.

"What do we do?" The Private solemnly remarked, while the Sergeant simply kept his eyes focused onto the ground at the conversations flooding over the communications hub.
"This is Major General Had-Medeen -- observe and report."

; Chambers looked over to a Cavalry pilot, who started the engines of the vehicle with a dull rumble before the ITDM soldiers assembled themselves to exit. As Chambers watched the Aschen lead the woman out toward the SUV, he looked to his side and saw the Coalition soldiers located beside one another, saluting to the sight of Arianne Drulovic being lead into custody.
" -- Following Terran law, she is to be indicted and contained by TNG Authorities in close observance with proper -- "

The radio droned on as Sergeant Chambers brought his hand to his forehead in accordance with the other soldiers. A dull static could be heard from the open bay of the Claymore as the soldiers displayed stoic professionalism in befitting to the persona that surrounded Arianne Drulovic.
" -- To the best of our abilities do we serve."

; Lieutenant Ferdi Gustava stepped out of a small call box positioned at the elevators; where a team of ITDM soldiers aided the Terran security detail at the basement sectors of the NPA building. He held one hand out in front of the woman and made a quick check of a computer tablet at his disposal.

"Very well ... She is currently in the room at the end of the hall. Her most recent visitor should be departing shortly. Now."

; Ferdi stood at the call box at the far end of the hallway, a hand gripping at the strap around his chest as the guarding team made way for the two people. Gustava returned to a video game on the tablet while the rest of the other soldiers continued talking amongst themselves.

"Provide ID for interrogation checkout and sign off, please." The Lieutenant called out from the callbox one final time, after having allowed the smaller woman to pass through.

; Ferdi continued tapping at the video game screen a minute after the woman offered her identification; pausing the device with a quick finger tap he stepped out of the small enclosure and pulled up the signature device. He offered the piece of equipment to her with one hand, while the other reached to take her card.

"I will scan this, and you will sign that. Proper signature, Agent -- rank, service and full name, please. Your service weapon is waiting at the main security hub on the ground floor."

; Ferdi coughed into his palm and shook away his gloved hand as the woman signed the digital pad; as soon as he scanned the ID card the TNG would have an electronic confirmation that could be accessed from an easily interactive database.

"Very boring at nights, especially when in a basement ... " He replied as he scanned the card, waiting another thirty second for a soft beeping sound before offering her the card in return for the signature pad.
"Sixteen hours for the next week, will probably bring a tele-set sooner or later."

; Captain Alameda raised the transceiver up to his mouth, wiping away the crumbs of a bagel from his lips while he watched a top-down view from several airborne GD-600 drones; displaying the street in several different image types, the Captain even watched a ground-penetrating radar camera in a small box in front of him.
"All birds all birds, check in and sound off. Stop playing footsies, Forty-One." The Captain called out to the one-hundred and eight ITDM soldiers scattered across nearly eight city blocks that served as the night-shift of Drulovics security; using several vehicles distributed between the outfit, the cycling of guard details was meant to bolster the Terran security. As he waited for the various subordinate units to count back in, he leaned the chair of the SV-9's command house back in to the cold metal of the hull.

"Captain this is Team Six, we've got the girl from CB going to check in on the Director ... over." A Sergeant reporting from a checkpoint on the road south of Drulovic's house replied. The Captain flipped to a thermal image from an overhead drone.
"Confirmed, Keeton, stand-by." He said, reaching forward and typing a few keys into a command prompt in front of him.
"Alright let's shift the drones a little -- put two at three hundred meters and the rest at a klick, try to keep them from getting knocked out of the sky, please." He said, calling out to the back of the crew bay; behind him, a team of specialized technicians piloted the UAV drones from the confines of the APC.

; Captain Alameda kicked his boots up against the housing of a computer station in his little box; radio chatter was abounding between the Scatterran units. The Captain growled to himself and looked up to the thin walk-way in the middle of the Claymore, up to the driver's cab.
"Hey, call one of those stupid shits chatting it up." He said, grabbing the transceiver he had used previously as he watched the driver operate a dial-interface at his side.
"This is Bird One to ... Team Three, the fuck you silly bastards yapping about?" He called out, being met with static for a brief second.
" -- Uuuuh, strippers and blackjack?" Alameda grimaced and clutched at the wireless phone.
"Well, since you two are busy yappin' about why you're using up all the treatment pads back at base, why don't you poor tools walk down the street to the mini-store and pick me up a bag a' chips, huh? And don't get your asses shot off by that Reverence, oh, and I like Spicey Lime, boys."

Sergeant Grayson Keeton stood up and took a breath of the night air while he drew a cigarette away from his mouth, turning back and walking up on to the sidewalk, avoiding the parked GV-12 troop carrier that was jutting out into the street. Around him, a squad of twelve men lounged around their checkpoint with their equipment laid around them. He walked past a small stack of fortified bags that housed a small communications relay, which itself was guarded by an emplaced weapon.
"Get ready to pack that Ninety-Seven Bravo, chances are we'll probabl get our replacements within the hour." The Sergeant said, pointing to the long-barreled weapon that drooped from the mount of the pintle it was settled on.
"We'll have the Bitching B ready to go, Sergeant. Say the word." A Lance Corporal remarked, smirking widely from his seat directly behind the weapon.

; Captain Alameda stepped out of the Claymore, grabbing hold of his AR-682, a compact assault rifle distributed to the troop commanders of the ITDM. He stepped out from the bay of the electronics vehicle, waving to an ITDM Commissar standing on the sidewalk. The Executive Officer quickly joined the Captain for a conversation, keeping his greatcoat tightly wrapped around his armored body while extending a salute to his superior officer.
"Anything happened with that last pass-over?" He inquired, looking up to the sky and glancing around the expansive sky overhead.
"Nothing ... for now, Captain. I'll be ready for that predicament when it arises, however. Your men are quite ... unbecoming, but capable. I pray." The Commissar said with a bit of a hitch; with which the Captain shrugged his shoulders.
"I trained these men to kick the Belkans in the teeth, not watch a seventy year old lady on a Tuesday ... " He mumbled to himself as he adjusted the hood of the jacket covering his torso.
"Stow your suggestions for the time being and check all the approaches. When you're done with that, inform the Director the guard shift will be exchanging soon. Oh, and bring me those chips when Three gets back -- "

"Captain, we've got a confirmed mark above!" The radio cracked open with a shout as Alameda saw the glimmering lights just a block away. The Commissar cursed under his breath before he heard the footfalls of an ITDM squad rushing up the street behind them.
"What in the fuck is this ... " The Commissar growled, stepping to the side and grabbing an MSR-96 as it was tossed at him by a passing soldier.
"Sonuvabitch -- Who's our agent inside the Director, Firecloud! This is the Captain, what the fuck is going on?!"

I think that's wrong on many levels too.