Down in Mexico- IC

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Before the war, Kenny had been a non-com in the Hub police force. Now that force was all but gone. Most of his comrades were dead in the defense of the city. Some had fled for their lives but the best had stayed. Kenny was proud to be one of them.

He was moving a squad of men, armed in assualt rifles and melee weapons. Among the men were a few former members of the Hub police, dressed in green combat armor, their helmets covering their mouths, protecting them from the swirling red dust which had reduced visibility to near nothing. The others were caravan men, many former Hub and Crimson Trader guards, now members of the HVF, the Hub Volunteer Force.

He moved his men down one of the side streets on the edge of town. His mission was simple, run a check of the perimeter to check for movement. But his men had gotten lost in the dust storm. Attempts to radio in their position or to get new orders had failed because of static raised by the charged particles in the dust.

Jacob had kept an arms stash nearby, Kenny was sure of it. Such a stash would no doubt help the HTV or Max's campaign. It wasn't the purpose of the mission. But then the mission seemed impossible- the dust hid any trace of mutant activity and had kicked up what ever tracks might have been left behind.

IF only they could find the stash.

The guards had begun to cover their mouths with rags and had doned their goggles, standard issue for those who traversed the wasteland. They were good men, steadfast and brave against superior numbers and strength. Courage had won more than one fight.

Kenny called his men to a halt so he could get his bearings, checking signs and buildings. The mutants had known enough to move signs around, confusing navigation in the city for those new to the Hub. Now the dust masked even familiar structures.

It was the wrong street. Kenny looked around at his small squad and said the words, "We need to go North." which were barely audible over the howl of the wind.

The man across the street fom him, leaning against a building, nodded and began to move forward to take point.

ANd then he seemed to vanish. Had Kenny not been watching he would have completely missed it.

As the man walked past an open door, a large green hand had reached out and grabbed him, plucking him off the street. Like a lizard snatching an ant with it's tongue, the man had been consumed by the house.

The others froze for a moment then reached for their weapons. By then the man was screaming in fear.

Two of the men ran for the building, guns drawn, the rubbers placed over the barrels quickly removed and grenades in hand. By the time they got near the door, the man's scream of fear became a cry of anquish.

"Ah Crooked Christ!" exclaimed one of the rescuers as the body of the guard was thrown through the door way, a long pole drive through his body.

The two men pulled the pins of their grenades and tossed them into the building. They crouched down low and waited for the muffled explosions that blew through the door and window, then they raced inside.

It was only when they were inside that they heard Gogog's laugh booming out or saw another pair of grenades on the floor of the house.

The second explosion finished the house and the men inside. The structures walls finally crumbled and collapsed creating a makeshift tomb for the two dead.

In less than 15 seconds, Kenny had lost three of his 7 men.

"Fallback! Fallback!" He called to the others. But fallback were.

One was backing away from the fallen house and was killed by the Mutant behind him who slammed a iron pipe down on the man's skull. The man dropped like lifelessly to the splintered road.

The guard next to him turned to face the new thread, bringing up the assault rifle. Amazed he got the weapon up and pulled the trigger before the mutant could swing at him. But the gun jammed. He pulled again at the trigger but it was too late. The pipe came down in a long arch, connecting with the man's head and taking it off as simply as a batter might take a ball of post.

It was too much to stand up to. One of the three took off down the street towards the center of town until he came across a body in the road. He made a sharp turn into a corner and disappeared from Kenny's sight, followed by a sudden blast. The man had run across a trip wire of a booby trap. The explosion robbed him of his legs but, for a painful few moments, not his life.

The last of his men, a hub policeman, was yelliing. "What do we do!" But Kenny had no answers.

One of the mutants came lumbering out of a building, in his hands a giant axe. The policeman removed his Ripper blade which sang it's chainsaw song and went for the mutant.

The mutant swung at him with the axe. But the man ducked down low, letting the axe pass by. Then he jumped at the Mutant, digging his blade down into the Mutant's exposed skin. Unlike the humans, the Mutants wore no army but relied only on their toughened skin. But the skin gave to the blade of the saw, which dug into the mutants shoulder, sending up a spray of purple and greenish blood.

The Mutant howled and dropped the axe from it's near useless arm. WIth the other arm it picked the man off his shoulder by back of the man's neck and thrust him outward in Kenny's direction.

"Brave Human!" Called out the Mutant, "Die like Mutant," and then he threw the man to the side.

The policeman was stunned by the fall and struggled to get up to renew the fight. But by then the other Mutants were atop of him, hitting him with there steel pipes and axes. The man cried out, but Kenny was too shocked to do anything now but watch. The wounded Mutant watched Kenny with a wicked smile.

After a few moments the policeman moved no more. One of the mutant ripped off the man's helmet and threw the dented and bloody headgear to Kenny's feet.

And the mutant spoke, his voice harsh but clear. "Take this back and tell them how we killed all your men. Tell them we will kill them all like this, with our bare hands. Tell them that if they come, they will suffer first and we will make them howl with pain."

Kenny watched as the Mutant seemed to slip into the storm and disappear until only the one who spoke and the wounded one remained standing. Then the wounded one stepped back into the dust and was gone.

"Go. While you still can." Said the mutant.

Kenny turned and began to head back towards the town.

He glanced back, but the mutant leader had vanished like a phantom in a ruined city.
 
Guard stood before the Sergeant known as Jack, his hand gently stroking the butt of his cross-draw as he awaited his turn to speak.

Another of the recruits introduced himself as Dash Cooper, taking the opportunity to exchange some insults with the Sergeant. The man had an attitude problem. Guard hadn't met anyone out here who didn't so a surprise this was not.

Guard took Dash's final words as an invitation to step forward and announce his presence.

"Sergeant," he offered, "Guard, reporting for duty."

The sergeant eyed him with distate before replying. "You got a full name?" he asked, his contempt for non-brotherhood combatants clearly evident in his tone.

"No sir, just Guard." the man offered in reply. Watching as the Sergeant looked him over, taking in his battered brown leather jacket, jeans and Nine Millimetre Broomhandle in its cross-draw rig.

"I can shoot straight, if that's what your wondering Sergeant." Guard said quickly.

The sergeant narrowed his eyes, examining Guard's voice for any trace of sarcasm or insult, finding none he could only offer some advice.

"Let's hope you can recruit, it'll take more than a 9mm round in the flank to break through Mutie hide."
 
Jack took a total of nine men for the mission.

To the group: "This is a standard search and destroy mission, also called in a more nicely fashion a sweep and clear mission. We will search for the scattered mutant groups and engage combat with them while they are still under strength. If the thing get's too hairy we will call for backup."

"Some simple rules: One: fallow orders. Even if you think you are superman no man ever won a war by himself, all those who talk about heroic individualism don't know more about real combat than they do about fornicating, we will fight as a unit; Two: don't make noise while in patrol, if you wander why, the answer is: because I'll kill you myself if you do."

"Okay, Let's move out! Everyone get ready! I want a tactical column formation. I'll take point for now, then we will rotate. If any of you get lost, don't yell, sit tight and we will look for you" Not that Jack was going to do that last thing, but at least he'll keep them quiet.

Jack took his radio and communicated that the group was moving out: "...I repeat, we are deploying towards check point one, over..."

To Uziel: "Here, take the radio, keep the dust out of it, I can't trust this equipment to any of these characters over here"

To the others: "Keep the dust out of you weapons, don't make any noise and watch your steep for booby traps!"

After silent minutes of walk, where the only sound was the sound of the wind, Jack came to an intersection, he had to move straight until the next street and make a turn right. He looked at his automap in the pip boy 2000 and realized that there was a pile of passable rubble where a building used to be, he decided to cut trough there. Jack waved the others to follow him into the rubble, this would give them cover while moving and save some time.

When Jack was about to get to the street, he waved his troops to stop and keep their heads down, then he sneaked into the street. When he got to the street he saw two heavily armed Nightkin waiting at the end of the street left of him, they were there quietly and with their weapons ready, if Jack would not have gone trough the rubble his group would have fell into an ambush.

Jack then went back to the rubble and said to Uziel: "There are two Nightkin to the left, we will move east and engage them from the rear" Right after Jack said this a booby trap detonated blowing one of the new recruits into the air, causing a loud noise that drew the attention of the two Nightkin.

"Take cover! Get you weapons at ready! Two mutants heading this way!" Jack and his man took cover into the rubble as laser beams flew over, not even close hitting anyone, but what was worse, the mutants were rushing to their positions for some hand to hand combat. "I want fire superiority!" Everyone opened fire, many shots hit the mutants but this did not even seemed to stun them. Then one of the mutants, the one that was getting closer begun to slow down, some shotgun and small weapons fire seemed to be responsible for that, then a rifle round seemed to enter the mutant's head in a soft spot knocking him down.

The other mutant came even closer, until he seemed to give up to a mass of small weapons fire. Jack fired a continued burst until his Assault Rifle jammed. The two mutants seemed to give up to the massed fire of all the squad firing at point blank range. But they wouldn't be getting luckier, the explosion and all that firing called the attention of a large mutant group, now they were outnumbered. The mutants came ruining towards Jack's squad "Hold the line!" Right after jack said that a random rocket hit near another of the recruits blowing him sky high. "Fall back!!" Everyone begun falling back to a more defendable position between the rubble.

"Uziel! Give me that radio!" Jack took the radio. "...we... (explosions and gunfire could be heard in the transmission) ... we encountered... (more noise interrupted Jack) ... we are about two hundred yards west from check point two, we need assis... ...we are in trouble!..."
 
Guard listened as Jack outlined their mission, basically to hunt down and exterminate all mutants in the vicinity. Performing a quick head-count Guard ascertained that they numbered nine, not a bad number for a recon force. Although some of the group were untrained they moved as one, picking their way through the rubble-strewn streets in relative silence.

Guard reached to his left, loosening the broom-handled Mauser from the holster to enable to him to draw with increased haste. Jack led them through the streets as if he knew them as well as the back of his hand although at one point they halted as he checked a device upon his wrist, no doubt some form of computer assisted map reader.

They headed off the beaten track, coming to halt within a ruined building, no more than a pile of rubble. However it offered scant protection and Guard made sure to crouch by the remnant of an exterior wall.

The Sergeant departed the ruins for a moment, returning and and offering hushed words to Uziel. Guard listened closely to the whispers, learning they were soon to engage two of the mutants.

Before he could draw his Mauser, Guard was blown to the ground by the force of an explosion. He looked up in time to see the remnants of one of their group hit the dirt with the wet slap only wet chunks of flesh can make. No doubt a crude booby trap of some kind.

Guard spent a few moments examining the dirt around him, ensuring no further trip wires or probes were visible in his general vicinity.

"Take cover! Get you weapons at ready! Two mutants heading this way!" called the Sergeant. Guard drew the Broom-Handle smoothly, bringing it bear before him as he cradled it in his right hand.

Guard hit the deck as a barrage of small arms fire flew overhead, the air ripe with the unmistakable smell of laser splash as the shots impacted harmlessly into the debris above them.

"I want fire superiority!" yelled the Sergeant. Guard sprung to his knees in unison with the others, quickly unloading 4 rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition into the first of the mutants as it drew close to the group.

For a chilling moment Guard believed their firepower was having no effect until a lucky shot entered the Mutant's brain, immobilizing it instantly as it dropped to the floor like a big green sack of rocks.

He concentrated upon aiming the remaining three of his shots towards the head of the second mutant. He was unable to ascertain the accuracy of his shots amongst the combined firepower of his comrades but the Mutant seemed to give up, falling back from their united front.

Guard's eyes widened as he realised a second group of mutants were approaching, maybe even twenty in number.

He quickly followed the Sergeant's order to fall back, reloading the Mauser as he did so. He dropped to the ground with the others, taking up position beside a suitably large pile of debris which would hopefully act as cover.

Guard then cocked the Mauser, listening as the Sergeant bellowed into the radio for backup over the din of explosions and small arms fire.
 
Ralik had followed the Sergeant Jack into the city -- or dare he say rubble -- for recon. Quickly they had encountered two mutants which fell to concentrated firepower, but even more quickly twenty or so more came. The inhabitants of the Hub were hopelessly outnumbered once again.

The group fell back and took cover as the Sergeant radioed for support.

"Calling for support... We did that too much during the first bit of fighting. It never helps..." Ralik thought glumly. "But then again, we have the Brotherhood of Steel on our side this time. If they pushed em back once, practically on their own -- then maybe combined we might be able to push em back again."

Ralik crawled closer to the pile of debris the group had ran to hide behind. It was as defensible as anything in the ruined town, and for the moment it was working. The Sergeant was blasting away with his assault rifle from a prone position, using the remnants of an ancient brick wall for cover. Every so often he paused and lowered himself even more to re-load or avoid a flurry of red and green energy bolts.

Crawling as close to the front as reasonably possible, Ralik found himself next to some chap re-loading a pistol. He nodded before crawling up the pile of rubble and centering his combat shotgun on one of the mutants. Closing his left eye and tensing on the trigger he placed the iron sights on the head of a mutant, and pulled.

The weapon barked, and repeated, bucking three times -- once for each 12 gauge shell. Clusters of buckshot munition flew forward, digging into or breaking mutant skin. Again he aimed and fired another set of clusters which had the same, minimal impact.

Still he fired, knowing that a shotgun could do *something*-- he had killed several of the green bastards with it before, now should be no exception. As he unloaded his fourth and final bust, the mutants answered with a rocket, which streaked in his general direction, but ended up slamming into a decently intact building and giving it a fresh window.

Following the trail of smoke left by the rocket, he saw that there were at least three more mutants headed towards them, and that they all had heavy weaponry: Two rocket launchers and a mini-gun.

Ralik gritted his teeth, and rolled back down the pile of debris, loading solid-slug shells into his weapon, hoping that that backup would come soon...
 
Kell had gathered one haggard, burnt out looking figure amidst the ruins of the supposed ambush. Kenny had seen much, and Kell knew this. To lose friends, good friends, to the ravages of capricious fate was damning on one's soul. Especially to a needless ruin such as the Hub had become. The man would be burning with vengeance, and Kell would help him fulfill it, but in a controlled format.

He laid a hand on Kenny's shoulder, handing the man a rifle as he pointed towards Jack's departing squad. They would need assistance, and he had his new recon partner. The man had a good eye and a quick wit, which meant he was a thinking man. he was also fairly skilled with firearms, to survive in this way. Kell would teach him, slowly and surely he would gather up his own team of castoffs and survivors and mold them into terror incarnate. For now, Kenny would be one among several, two other gaunt figures stood behind kell as he spoke to the struck man.

Whereas Jack had taken several men on a sweep, Kell preferred his time low in numbers, high in mobility. It was a good pairing, for the mutants would not be looking for the erstwhile snipers while Jack's squad drew fire. Silently, Kell handed Kenny a sniper rifle and several boxes of ammo.

"You have died, Kenny, but you have been reborn. From the ashes of your friends you will arise and enact your vengeance. Your rifle is the hand of justice, the technology of the gods. Use it, to strike down the aberration and the unclean. Retribution is your goal, justice your modus operandi. Follow me into hell, and you will find what you seek."

He pointed to the skylines, placing his visor down and covering his scope.

"Set up on the roof of that building over there. A clear view of the city, and easy access for retreat. You are covering our asses, so do a good job. I have trust in you Kenny, you can do this. Shoot, then move 10 feet away each time. Don't let them get a bead on you."

He smiled slightly, nodding to the man as Kenny dashed off, crouching low as whistling fire echoed through the night. He turned to the other two, speaking softly. "You two are going to be Kenny's support. I want you to mine Digger's Alley to the east, make sure that those mutants are gimp by the time they break that line. Talon Squad will cover you, I already relayed the orders. you will recieve your equipment from them. Prox fuse, you know what to do. I saw your fireworks earlier this evening, Kayla. Bryce, you cover her while she works. Do a good job, and report when clear, then head back to cover Kenny."

He smiled, shrugging his rifle. "I will be up along the old bar. After we break the stalemate, rendevous there with me. Ill call you on the BOS freq. Codename 'Killer'. Be silent, stay low. Move out."

He ran at a controlled pace along the outcroppings, eventually coming up on the bar. As he scaled the rocks and jutting iron rods, he heard a call on the freq that Jack had recieved trouble. Already, Kenny had beat him to the post and a high velocity *crack* was heard. Kenny might do all right after all. He started to set up, throwing on his suit of rags that he called the "ghillie". Absorbant and broken up, he was camoflaged and ready to rain hell on the muties.

He sighed, breathing a soft breath out as he saw the line of the mutant advance, Jack's squad hundreds of meters away. With a loose rush of air, he slowly squeezed the trigger, aiming for the eye of the lead mutant...*crack*, and the lead element stumbled. His partner, too enraged to hear and choked in gunsmoke, wouldn't know what hit him soon enough. Kenny, for his part, was doing his bes tto keep the main element glancing about, and Bryce and Kayla were nowhere to be seen, exactly as he wished. Now it was HIS turn to play with the muties, and the sniper fire started to pick up.
 
OOC-Ok disregard my last post.

IC-After Sargeant Jack announced the two mutants and the explosion went off nearby, Eduardo did what what any untrained man would do, he hid in fear behind a car.

As laser began peppering the hood and doors he fell back behind a corner into an alley being chased by fire the whole way. Eduardo looked over to see Guard prone behind a pile of tangled steel.

Eduardo whistled and got Guards attention.

H-hey you! I will d-draw their attention you f-fire!

the spent shell hit the ground with a hollow rattle and "Lucky" loaded a fresh one which he noted was colored orange instead of red and had the letters DB inked in black across the top.

When Eduardo swung around the corner and fired a stream of flame a hundred feet long arced from the barrel and formed a wall of fire twenty feet wide in the middle of the street. Apparently eduardo didn't know DB stood for Dragon's Breath, which fired a charge of napalm burning at 2000 degrees over a short distance.

Now the men had a good opportunity to fire on the muties as Eduardo fell back behind the corner with a grin on his face.
 
Guard's head spun as he heard noise to his side. Ralik had crawled next to him, nodding as he did so. Guard returned the nod he was thankful for the man's aid for his own nine millimetre seemed to be having little effect upon their thick-skinned foe.

Ralik unloaded a fearsome series of bursts from his shotgun towards the advancing mutants and Guard watched with a certain sense of dismay as the majority of the man's shots were recieved with little in the way of bodily harm to the green warriors.

As Ralik crouched back into cover he and Guard hit the deck, the signature vapour trail of rocket tearing just feet from their heads. The shot was a wild one however and slammed into a nearby building above them, showering the pair with dust and debris.

Just then Guard heard the stuttering cry of Eduardo who motioned for his attention from his cover behind the nearby shell of an automobile.

H-hey you! I will d-draw their attention you f-fire! the short man called, before leaping up and firing his shotgun. Guard almost leapt back in alarm as a huge jet of flame burst forth from the short man's weapon, spitting a long trail of fire in its wake which immediately disorientated the mutants.

The round had no doubt been some kind of crude incinedary shell, filled with some manner of napalm or other similar chemical, which, once introduced to the air would burn with a high intensity blast.

"Good job friend!" called guard with a grin as he watched the chaos unfold amongst the mutant ranks as a few of them slapped madly at themselves, struggling to extinguish any body parts caught in the explosive splash damage of the napalm trail.

Guard leaned out from the cover his pile of stonework and twisted steel supports offered him and surveyed the environment surrounding the mutants. He looked for any factor which could give him an advantage when he unloaded his next clip.

His opaline green eyes fixed upon a thick wooden awning which protruded from one of the buildings next to the mutant force. One particularly large green freak was standing beneath it, watching with interest as a few of his fellow warriors leapt in surprise at the blast of flame from Eduardo's shotgun.

Guard leapt to his feet, unloading a salvo of shots which slammed into the awning one after another. One of the four shots landed where Guard had hoped it would, smashing through one of the support beams and causing the heavy wooden awning to swing downwards and inwards, sending the mutant flying through the window of the building in a crash of dust, glass and splinters.

Guard dove back into cover, offering a thumbs-up sign to Eduardo as he did.
 
OC:
Apparently eduardo didn't know DB stood for Dragon's Breath, which fired a charge of napalm burning at 2000 degrees over a short distance.
Click to expand...

Could you stick to the original Fallout equipment? It is one of the rules for this Thread. If you wanted a napalm flame you would have better used a flamethrower, wich are not available to this squad ATM anyways.
 
Spent magnum slugs fell to the ground as Dash released the cylinder and slapped his speed loader into the ten empty chambers. He did it discretely under his poncho, letting his hands do the work, hoping to prevent dust from clogging the weapon. In six seconds he was back in the action, just as Eduardo and Guard were taking cover again.

He tapped Guard on the shoulder and made a motion indicating they should go around for a flanking maneuver. This way they could find out how many mutants were actually still out there, as well as possibly draw their fire away from the rest of the squad long enough for them to retake a forward position. But first...

KA-BLAM!

Dash's magnum ripped through an encroaching mutant's skull after it emerged from a nearby building covered in glass and wooden splinters. Best to make sure it's dead. He thought to himself.

Dash fired again, the deafening roar of the magnum following the explosion of the falling mutant's head. Supersonic bullets made for dead mutants.

Dash gave guard a thumb's up before ducking out of the battle for a better position to the side. He moved low, letting the dust and sounds of battle obscure his presence. A collapsed building nearby offered itself for Dash to clamber atop a pile of rubble and slide down the other side to get past the breach between the mutants and the squad. Guard followed close, until they were directly behind a pair of mutants carrying heavy machineguns.

Dash spoke with hand signals, which he could only assume Guard understood. They were pretty clear anyway, saying very simply, “You stay here and shoot that one as many times as you can.”

He hoped Guard’s weapon wasn’t clogged, hoped the mutants wouldn’t hear him coming for what he was about to do; he also hoped that whatever happened next wouldn’t result in him getting tossed around like a dog’s chew toy. The mutants were facing the battle, not them, so Dash had the element of surprise. He waited until there was an explosion resounding the area before sliding down the rubble and carefully creeping up behind one of the mutants. As he was directly behind his target, he reached up and grabbed the leather head-straps the mutant wore, pulling it down with all his weight behind it and pushing the barrel of his revolver against the base of its skull.

KA-BLAM!

Its head exploded. Guard wasted no time peppering the other mutant with bullets in its face and neck while Dash briefly took cover behind his kill while it fell to its knees. By the time he was noticed, Guard scored a lethal hit between the other mutant’s eyes.

Dash looked up at Guard and nodded his approval. Their moment of triumph was short-lived, however, as the mutants across the street noticed the two humans near their fallen comrades. Guard was atop a pile of rubble, but Dash had to climb several feet to get away from the RPG being aimed directly at him. Quickly, Guard grabbed Dash by the hand and helped him up before the rocket slammed into the ground by the two dead mutants and laid the area to (even greater) waste. The concussion from the blast knocked the two over, and they tumbled down the pile of rubble onto a few chunks of jagged concrete -- but they were alive. More than that, they had given Jack enough time to move his men forward. Dash only hoped that the Brotherhood sergeant would act on it.
 
IC:

Jack saw that the tides of battle were turning, as he saw the mutants hesitate he took whomever was still around him and attempted a frontal assault, that rather than do damage it's objective was to confuse the mutants even more.

Jack took his dessert eagle in one hand and his combat knife in the other, and with a loud battle cry he ran towards the mutant positions with the rest of the recruits and Uziel following him.

By this time the mutants did not knew what the hell was happening, who was winning or how many humans they were facing. The mutants decided to retreat for now rather than risk a defeat, some of them had seen the corpses of their fellow mutants and thought they were facing a much superior human force than what they were actually facing.

OC:
sorry if I don't have much time to post today, I will compensate tomorrow if necessary. Also I want you to PM me your Ideas if you have some.
 
Guard had followed Dash without question as they had broken from cover. The other man was a warrior, sharing the same talent for bringing death that Guard held, although Guard was unaware where he had learned this trade. Perhaps it had always been with him...

Guard siezed the element of surprise as they crept behind two mutants, wasting no time in emptying the contents of the Mauser into the face of the nearest enemy. The first few shots were deflected against the thick, leathery skin but his final round punched a neat hole between the mutant's eyes, slamming into it's small brain. The behemoth dropped to the floor, its limbs twitching in spasmatic motions as it underwent its final death throes.

Guard meanwhile watched in admiration as Dash leapt atop the second of the mutants, grabbing hold of its headgear and planting a magnum round deep into its head with a satisfying explosion of gore. Guard looked disapprovingly at his own weapon. The Mauser pistol, whilst accurate due to its unusual construction was chambered for a far weaker round than the Magnum pistol of Guard's comrade. The pistol had been effective against the sporadic raiding parties that plagued caravans but was less adequate when used in combat against a force of naturally armoured super-mutants.

Guard was shaken from his thoughts by the sight of the remainder of the Mutant force turning towards them, clearly outraged at the slaughter of two of their comrades. He threw a hand down to Dash dragging him atop the pile of rubble upon which he stood in the nick of time, an RPG round crashing into the spot where he had stood with an explosive thud, the pair suddenly showered in light debris.

Guard looked to the approaching force with concern, they were outnumbered and out-gunned and he perhaps regretted charging the force with such reckless abandon. He would fight to the end however.

Just then a bellowing warcry was heard from the other side of the street. Sergeant Jack, followed by Uziel and the other recruits, sprang from cover, charging the dis-orientated mutants who now faced attack on both fronts. Guard could not yet see the diminuitive statured Eduardo leap into battle but he had a funny feeling the Mexican would gather his courage quickly and join the others in their charge.

Guard utilized the surprise created by Jack's sudden assault, leaping from the pile of rubble and landing upon the immobile form of one of the mutants he and Dash had slain. He grabbed for the beast's laser cannon but found it was somehow attached to its arm by a series of leather straps. Lacking the time to investigate, Guard merely hefted the huge green arm from the floor, aimed it in the general direction of his opponents and let rip.

A series of bright blasts shot forth from the laser cannon, lancing through the shoulder of one mutant which howled in pain as it's arm was severed, dropping to the floor with a wet thud.

Guard looked to Dash, wondering what the other man may have up his sleeve.
 
Ralik crawled up the pile of rubble once again. As he centered his shotguns iron sights on a burned mutant, he saw two men with pistols break off from the group in what appeared to be a last ditch effort at a flanking maneuver.

"Shit... Either they've got balls, or they got brains the size of walnuts."

Turning back to onslaught of mutants, Ralik let two burst from his combat shotgun loose. The first burst was aimed horribly and the rounds wizzed through the air, passing some mutants, possibly angering them further. The second set however landed right as planned. The first solid slug shell slamming into the mutants neck as the recoil from each round sent each shell slighty higher. The second round slammed into the mutants jaw, ruining it, and the third slug fell home in the mutants eye, creating a particularly delightful squirt of blood as the mutant stopped, froze, and fell forward.

surprised for a moment that he finally had dropped a muitie, Ralik stared in awe as the massive beast fell, before kissing his free hand and slapping his weapon.

But the mutants were still coming, and only a handful had been slain. As he centered his sights on a second mutant, a flurry of laser cannon shots filled the air, one of them severing the arm of the mutant Ralik his sights on. Following the trail from the lasers, he saw the two men with pistols had taken out two mutants!

"Damn... now thats balls," he thought. "And they took the mutant's weapons. Good to see someone has brains around here... we might win this yet..."
 
Gogog watched a squad of humies did the dance of death to the sound of a mutant mini-gun.

The two muties fired until their weapons jammed was the red dust clogged the spinning. The fire had been lethal, virtually point black in a turbulence of the sandstorm. Disorganized the remaining humies had retreated, firing their assault weapons at two miniguns. The few rounds that hit the mutants were little more than stings, but the two withdrew into the sand, using it to camouflage their movements.

The humans were disorganized, their leader cut in half and lead. Two other mutants moved from either side. The men inside had time enough to glance up and scream as the two muties bathed them in a stream of liquid fire.

The strength of the wolf is found in the pack, thought Gogog. Gogog appreciated that the muties did their best hunting as a pack, with organization and discipline.

Another humie squad crushed without lose of life. Regretfully, there was not enough time to add those heads to his collection.

Gogog had watched the attack of mutants on his left against the Humies until his vision was too distorted by the sandstorm. The humies shown Mutant courage, but the muties were a disorganized rabble, survivors of the prior battle. And so they were weak where not worthy of being nightkin.

With his keen hearing and sense of smell, Gogog knew another mutant attack was beginning against the humans. He could hear their movements through the howling winds, he could smell their blood against the dust.

Foolish, this was no longer about territory but time.

Gogog has collected nearly a dozen muties wandering about the Hub. These he had used to move human prisoners back to the main force. They would be dipped further south.

"Brothers" Called out Gogog, "Prepare mortars."

The mortars were fashioned out of exhaust pipes from automobiles, crude but effective, they could throw shells a few hundred yards, over buildings.

"Gas?" Asked Gogog's second.

"Exploding Shells. We keep humies in their holes while our brothers close. 200 yards to right, that way." Said Gogog to his men.

Quickly they removed their improvised mortars and their shells, and readied.

"Fire!"

A dozen shells flew out of the mortars towards Sgt Jack's positions.

"Again!" Said the Gogog.

Another dozen shells.

"Now back to the bunker." Said Gogog as they heard the explosion of shells among Jack's men and the other human defenders.

___________

Furtheraway....

Max crouched against a wall and looked to the three other men with him. From behind the wall they could hear the screams of men being butchered by Mutants.

A large squad had used the sandstorm to come up behind the mainforce and had captured one group of caravan guards by surprise. Now these mutants threatened the BOS supplies, the hospital area and the wounded.

A force had quickly been raised of the those who had been resting to counterattack.

Max reached down and removed a grenade from belt. He plucked the grenade's pin with his teeth and motioned for the others to do likewise.

Then he counted to three and tossed the grenade in the building. Two seconds later the building rocked in explosion sending up dust and blood into the air. Then Max rushed into the building with his Ripper alive, buzzing, and cutting.

The mutants were stunned by the sudden blast and their new wounds. Quickly the BOS men were cutting away mutant limbs with live Rippers. One mutant reached for Max, who cut the hand off, before gutting the creature across its unarmored belly. Another tried to catch him in a bearhug, but Max moved forward, and stabbed his Ripper up into the creatures throat, almost removing the head.

This is why Max lived, this was the life that coursed through his veins. These were the sounds that thrilled him and the moments that made life meaningful.

Behind him irregulars rushed past him and the dead mutants, falling on the survivors with a variety of melee weapons, many made from the spare parts found of the city. One man was hacking at a mutant with what looked like a giant two handed sword.

Another impaled a mutant with a giant sharpened pole. But instead of dieing this mutant pulled the pole forward, through it's body until it could close its hands upon the man's throat, choking out his life. Then it removed the pole and began to use it to club at whatever human was close by.

Max reached for his sidearm, a 40 mm single shot weapon that fired a cannister round, and then fired it at the mutant. The shot carried away much of the creatures shoulder and arm that swung the pole. It still did not fall, yet weakened it was brought down quickly by the men that surrouned it.

His Brotherhood among the shoulders, Max called out, "Forward! Give chase!"

The small mutant band had been broken and were retreating now. Max saw one of the irregulars carrying a fire axe go atop a wall and yell out something that was lost in the storm.

Then some tentacle like thing whipped around him and lifted him into the air. The man screamed in pain or fear as he was brought down.

Max moved in that direction, no time to reload his sidearm, he reached for his Watts pistol, knowing the lazer weapons were of little use in the sandstorm.

He climbed up to where the man had stood and looked down. Below was one of the Master's creatures, a bizarre tentacle thing that carried a twisted human torso. The dead man was still gripped in the creatures tentacles as it bit deeply into the man's neck.

It saw Max in that instant and it's tentacle reached out to grab the BOS leader. But Max had already let his Ripper blade begin it's bloodly whirl as he jumped down onto the twisted creature.
 
In a matter of seconds, the skirmish area had suffered a cascade of mortar shells. More than a third of Jack's squad fell in the attack -- a group of volunteers become enveloped in an eruption of gravel and dirt, their limbs and organs breaking apart to spray surrounding buildings with noxious mixtures of blood and shit. A volunteer behind the trio that had exploded was smacked in the face with a chunk of somebody's colon, and he spewed his breakfast onto the bloodied ground. Men screamed, crying out for their mothers -- good men who wanted nothing more than to live in peace in this accursed wasteland.

For a few seconds, the battlefield was like gazing into the eye of Hell itself.

Dash and Guard were somehow spared the rain of death. Shells exploded all around them, but their patch of earth was untouched. When the mortars stopped, they stood up, still battered from their tumble down the rubble hill. The dust had become so thick that neither could see more than a few meters in front of them. "Black blizzards" were what the locals called storms like this. Dry dirt from a thousand miles of wasteland was being lifted by prevailing winds and deposited right atop the battlefield of The Hub. Luckily for those that survived the shelling, the blizzard would for now cover the horrors of the dead.

"Let's move out! Those mortars probably took out just as many of them as us!" The wind and sounds of battle from around the city made for hearing to be difficult, so Dash had to shout every word.

He waved on for Guard to follow, and the two ventured down the battered street in search of Jack's squad. On the way, Dash nearly tripped over a body lying in the road, curled into a fetal position with a shotgun lying beside it. He knelt over to check it and saw that it was Eduardo, still breathing, and still unscathed despite his proximity to the shelling.

"You are one lucky little bastard! Come on, we're fucked if we stay here!"

Picking up his shotgun, Eduardo stood up and joined Dash and Guard. On their way down the street they spotted several mutant and human bodies, now covered in a thin layer of dull grayish-brown powder. It caked with their blood, making parts of the ground disturbingly muddy. The texture of the ground made Eduardo's stomach unsettled, and he uttered this fact to himself. "Dios mio! This is some fucked-up shit!"

They walked along further, and Dash took the opportunity to grab one of the more reliable-looking rifles from the dead. Guard and Eduardo took their queue to re-arm themselves as well.
 
Guard had not wasted any time looking up when the tell-tale whistle of incoming artillery had sounded in the air. He had leapt from atop the rubble-pile, rolling heavily down the mound of bricks and dust to hit the dusty ground. Immediately he lay face down in the dirt, his hands on top of his head, fingers interlocking to provide the maximum cover against any debris that would rain upon him.

The noise was deafening as the round impacted heavily and even over the loud explosions screams could already be heard from the dying.

There must have been at least a dozen shells launched upon their position and Guard leapt to his feet to survey the chaos...

...just then another dozen shells fell upon their position. Guard, his ears still ringing from the first bombardment did not realise until the shells were almost upon him.

"Crap." he grunted as he slammed his body back into the dirt, again placing his hands upon his head as the second salvo impacted in the dirt around him and Dash.

What was actually ten seconds seemed like ten minutes to Guard as he lay upon the street. Eventually however he was able to get back to his feet, listening warily for a third set of mortar shells.

For moments he could see nothing but a red mist before his eyes and for seconds the thought, that he may have been blinded by debris, assaulted his brain. There was no pain however and he quickly realised that the dust storm, which had been moderate to begin with, had picked up, reducing visibility to no more than fifteen feet before him.

"Let's move out! Those mortars probably took out just as many of them as us!" shouted Dash as he surveyed the chaotic scene before them. It was impossible to tell who was left from each side.

Guard could hear no voices yet. Jack's group had begun as nine men and as far as Guard could ascertain there were only two left, he and Dash.

Guard followed Dash down the street, he had no trouble following the orders of an equal, especially when he had no better ideas himself. They came across a small man, curled up in the street, shotgun laying beside him in the dust. The man however was still alive! It was the mexican named Eduardo who although small had proved stout and was unhurt.

"I guess that makes three of us." remarked Guard, aware how pitiful there force would be against any further resistance they may encounter.

"Look, before we go any further I want to get some things straight." he was aware they were pressed for time and so spoke quickly. "If we're going to fight and die together in this craphole I think we should at least know one another's names. If anything, they will prove useful when shouting instructions to one another."

He extended his hand, first to Eduardo the stout Mexican and then to Dash. "They call me Guard." he remarked, shaking hands with the pair.

They quickly concluded their introductions and moved onwards, stopping to re-supply from some of the bodies which lay in the streets. Guard became aware of a feeling of warmth upon the side of his neck. Reaching up he realised there was a wound, either from minor shrapnel or from the fall down the hill he was unsure, and whilst Dash pillaged weaponry from a fallen man, Guard reached under the cuff of his leather jacket and tore a strip of material from his red shirt sleeve, tying it around his neck as a bandage to stem the flow of blood.

Guard then knelt beside a fallen soldier. He reached over and gently closed the man's eyes before ripping a hunting rifle from the cold grasp of the man's dead fingers. He then rolled the man onto his stomach and struggled to pull free his rucksack.

Eventually he did so and took a look inside. There were a couple of stimpacks, one frag grenade and about four or five clips of point two-two-three ammunition for the rifle.

Guard would have smiled were it not for the fact he was robbing the dead. "You need it less than I my friend." he remarked coldly to the body before throwing the rucksack upon his back and cocking the rifle.

He was aware of how useless the rifle may prove in such conditions, street fighting combined with the dust storm, but his courage was bolstered none the less.
 
Entrance of McBain

McBain lay in a stony grave, surrounded by the remains of what once must have been a convenience store. All around him McBain could hear the thud of mortar fire and the rattle of machine guns being fired in the distance. To McBains surprise he could also hear voices nearby, perhaps but 50 feet away. McBain in his desperate situation took the chance that these voices were not those of the mutants that had attacked him and cried out for help. “Help, help! Somebody help me! I’m trapped!” McBain reached his hands through to the surface of the rubble and continued to yell for aid.

Just when McBain had given up hope the light coming from the gap in the rubble became blocked and a dark figure appeared above him wielding a pistol.

“Hey can you help me man!” cried McBain, “I’m trapped in here and I’m bleeding badly”.

The figure remained silent and walked away from the gap. McBains heart sank as his head slumped to the ground. McBain lost consciousness as the blood continued to trickle from the wound to his head.
 
After the shelling Jack found himself in the remains of a razed building, he had lost Uziel, and the storm did not help in finding him, he was alone. Stunned, he heard a voice calling him: “Hey can you help me man! I’m trapped in here and I’m bleeding badly”.

Jack reached the man and when he got to him he was already unconscious. Jack did not knew if the man in there was or was not from his squad, but he rescued him anyways.

Using all of his strength Jack removed the rubble that was covering the man and took him out that hole, then using his already running out first aid kit, he managed to make some bandages and stop the bleeding.
 
McBains mind was on fire. Flashes of his past echoed vividly in his mind and he could not awaken to cease the torment. Memories of his parents abduction and his sisters rape and murder haunted him and McBain wished for death to end the hell in his mind.

Suddenly McBain was awakened by the sound of a gun clashing on stone. McBain instinctively reached down to his holster. To his dismay he found it empty. McBain surveyed his surroundings. He sure was still in the middle of this Mexican hell. Ruins surrounded him and smoke billowed into the air. Suddenly McBain saw the source of the noise. A "big boned" gentleman stood in front of him. The mans gaunt face stared back at McBain and he couldn't help but notice the mans bushy eyesbrows. They had to be the bushiest eyebrows ever, so bushy they'd rival the privet hedges of McBains home town. "Daaamn" thought McBain.

The man spoke and told McBain about his squads situation and the status of the mutant forces. He then continued to question McBain about his reasons for being so far south.

McBain spoke slowly as he was still dazed due to the heavy bloodloss that had occured as a result of his head injury. "I was just drifting, I was searching for.... answers. I don't know what answers but I need to find something in my lif..... oh what the hell am I doing, opening up to a complete stranger like you." McBain put on a stiff face and began to stand up. "I'd best be going, got me some mutant scumbags to pay back" said McBain, much to Jacks surprise. Just as McBain was hobbling off Jack called for him and told him that they too were fighting the mutants and could use an extra man.

McBain agreed. "One problem though, I seem to have lost my piece. Don't suppose you got anything I could use" McBain sighed, "Just as a loaner" McBain sighed further "Daamn I miss my 45"
 
OC-Sorry I havent posted for a spell but I can't post on weekends.

IC- Eduardo shook Guards hand

Thanks for the hand back there amigo.

Guard's grip was crushing to Eduardo and he winced.

And it is a pleasure to meet you too Dash.

As Guard grabbed the rifle Ed noticed a man with a combat shotgun who seemed to be missing his head. He left the rifle in favor of his own but took a dozen shells, and set them in his bandolier.

The deadman had a necklace with an odd purple shotgun shell soldered to the end of it. Eduardo ripped the shell off of the necklace and exchanged it with the one in his rifle.

Locking the barrel and cocking back the hammer, he nodded to Guard and Dash.

Lets go amigos this place is hell.
 
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