Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

The Second Devil Dawgs Campaign. The Marines find themselves marooned on an uninhabited jungle planet, but find something they did not expect.
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Corporal Hicks
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Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Corporal Hicks » Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:47 pm

Date: June 22, 2189
Location: Surface of Capua, Nembus System, Andromeda Cluster
Mission time: 05:25:00

The sun beat down on the marines and the sounds of chirping and chittering pervaded the air as they peered across the jungle pond at the large hunk of wreckage. Perez’s Second Platoon moved to the right of the jungle pool on the small strip of dry land between it and the thicker foliage. Morse and First Platoon made their way around to the left of the pond where they had a wider strip of dry land to traverse. A few stragglers remained at the entrance of the clearing: Quinn and the unconscious Cano, Preacher the android, and the Navy guy Fernandez.

Pushkin’s radio hailing had found nothing but static, which was certainly not a good sign.

Quinn’s medical efforts had not been wasted, and Sergeant Cano seemed to be stable for the moment if not out of all danger. His good deed had not been wasted either. When he gave his jacket to Private Isabel Orozco, she grinned involuntarily, “Hey, thanks man, I owe you one! Pound it!” she said in her gravelly feminine voice, putting her fist up in the air.

But that was an hour ago, and now they were in the clearing with the wreckage and the jungle pond. Quinn fiddled with his medical scanner and took another look at his patient. Beside him, the Navy puke Fernandez was sitting on a rock and messing with a computerized intelligence unit. They both heard the passive feminine voice of the device, apparently Fernandez had set it to read out loud.

“You are currently on the surface of Nembus Nine, which is named Capua after the Roman city from antiquity. This planet is outside of ICC jurisdiction and is unsettled by humans. The atmosphere is breathable by humans. The biological makeup of Capua has not been extensively studied but long range scans indicate an environment that is dependent on high quantities of water, and is capable of sustaining numerous megafauna…”

While the marines worked above the surface, two large amphibians stirred from their torpor below. The two were mates who shared this pond, where they lay buried in the loose silt at the bottom or sometimes in a large hollow log from a tree that died a hundred years ago. The male had taken this pond and this mate from a competitor some time ago. They were close to two meters long and speckled yellow and black. The two of them hunted anything that came close, and they could feel the vibration of the feet above them. The footsteps were light, clearly those of some very small creature. They knew to stay hidden when they felt the large footsteps that seemed to shake the whole world.

The two of them slipped out of their hiding places and casually swam toward the afternoon meal. These animals had never seen a human and when they saw the potential prey, they felt no fear. Those tall skinny things looked delicious, and their green camouflaged skin indicated their status as a prey animal. The tiny brains of the giant salamanders didn’t even register the objects in the hands of the marines. Unlike the animals of Earth, they had not developed an evolutionary fear of firearms.

The female launched herself out of the water in a heartbeat and before the marines in front could turn around, her jaws were clamped around the leg of Oliver Grisham. His feet reflexively tried to balance themselves, but the moist ground squelched under them and he found no foothold. He tumbled down, tangled hopelessly in the rigging of his massive M56 Smartgun. The beast began to drag him toward the oblivion of the water.

The male chose a different meal, and as the intelligence unit said its piece about “megafauna,” the beast clamped onto the leg of Sixtus Quinn. Its teeth were hindered by the leg plate and it was unable to get as good of a grip as its mate, but Quinn felt the sharp pain and the powerful jerking motion of the five-foot-long amphibian under him.
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ImageSgtMaj. Danny Sykes - Platoon NCO
USCM Special Forces Recon Team
Serial Number: D26/TQ6.3.48412E9
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CarbebthePoncho
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by CarbebthePoncho » Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:20 pm

Fernandez listened to log 2237 and his mind latched onto the Capua name that was given to it. The ancient city was commonly known for being filled with marshes, but it's war torn history didn't sit too well with Fernandez. But all of that was driven from his mind when he heard the word megafauna, immediately followed by Quinn's screams. He dropped the intelligence unit when he looked up and saw a quite large lizard clamped onto Quinn's legs. Javier took his pistol from the holster and fired its entire magazine at the body of the creature, attempting to keep Quinn out of the crossfire.

<roll pistol>
Javier Fernandez
Petty Officer 3rd Class

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eyeball
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by eyeball » Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:03 am

Paulson heard the startled cries from the other side of the pond as they were moving forwards. Two huge creatures had hauled themselves partially out of the water and were attempting to drag marines back into the pond. Were these the two contacts they had been following or where there more he wondered, he quickly checked his ever present motion detector before anything else could rise out of the cloudy soup and surprise them.
<roll motion detector>
The distance was too great and the proximity of others too close, to risk using the flame thrower, so he stayed with his pistol drawn ready to fend off any creatures that reared themselves from the murky depths on this side of the pool unless he was ordered to engage the far side.
<roll awareness>
ImageLCpl. Robert Paulson
incinerator, 2 spare fuel bottles, motion detector, first aid kit, pistol, knife, 2 frag.
special weapons tech
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Morse
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Morse » Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:39 am

The sudden thrashing and struggle were what drew Morse's attention. He turned to look almost immediately as the twisting began to see Quinn under assault by some sort of lizard creature. Morse did not take stock of what it was to any great degree, only recognized that it was a sort of unintelligent beast that was clambering out of the water and attempting to feast upon them. Paulson acted first unloading rounds into the monster that had taken hold of Quinn's leg. Morse was not entirely certain of what better action there was to take. He held his rifle close, and prepared for other ones to come out of the water.

"Kill that fuckin' thing!" Morse bellowed. "Secure perimeter."

He looked around preparing for more to come and hoped that the obscene number of rounds spilled into the creature would be enough to at least loosen it's jaws, but also not rip Quinn's leg into pieces.

<Roll Awareness.
Image-SSG Allen Morse - Squad Leader
-3rd Bn, 2nd Reg, 1st Co, 8th Plt
- DEVIL DAWG
- M41A Pulse Rifle - M4 Pistol - Med Kit
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JuanPerez
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by JuanPerez » Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:24 pm

Perez Platoon approached the wreckage from the right side, and they had to traverse the pond on a realtively small path. Getting accustomed to planet "shithole", his men did a good job in not tripping all over the place. The goddamned heat and these monster blood sucking bugs were a constant pain-in-the-ass. Perez clothes and his blue bandana were soaked with sweat, mud and rain. Suddenly, hell broke loose on the other side of the pond. Screaming, Shouting, Shooting, Bullets flying. Perez froze and turned towards the skirmish, bringing around the barrel of the smartgun in a circling move.

Some....thing or better two of them have grabbed two guys. Another guy, that navy hombre, emptied a full clip into one of those .... hmmm .... lizards?

Instinctively he let the smartgun infrared tracking system do its job and in a frag of second it looked on the second lizard-like thing, which had begun to drag a marine into the pond. Was it the other smartgunner Grisham? The smartgun twitched slightly in his hands, auto-aiming itself at the target. It would have been just a matter of one tiny and small neuronal signal towards his trigger-finger to obliterate thin lizzy over there. But as the smartgun tracking system did its job, Perez brain also worked on full-speed and came to the conclusion, that the angle of the attack would obliterate Gisham most likely, too, because the smartgun bullets would slice through thin lizzy like a hot knive through butter and would end up in Grisham. Not good. Definitly, not good. So he resisted the urge to kill.

Instead he barked out some orders to his men ....

"2nd platoon, back away from the pond shore line and secure perimeter !!!
Paulson, are there any other contacts, besides thin lizzy one and two over there?"

<Tag 2nd Platoon>

<Roll Awareness>
Game Master
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Image 1st Lt Daniela Harper - Platoon CO
USCM Special Forces Recon Team
Serial Number A08/TQ3.0.45013E2
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M10 Pattern Balistic Helmet
M3 Pattern Personal Armor
M41A Pulse Rifle (6 Mags, 20 Grenades)
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by eyeball » Wed Jul 31, 2019 3:56 am

"Paulson, are there any other contacts, besides thin lizzy one and two over there?" Paulson heard the question as he was still frantically trying to figure that exact thing out.
<roll motion detector>
ImageLCpl. Robert Paulson
incinerator, 2 spare fuel bottles, motion detector, first aid kit, pistol, knife, 2 frag.
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Quinn
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Quinn » Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:35 am

Quinn had just about enough with this dirtball. He hated jungle environments, as it was pure hell to survive in them, let alone fight effectively. His arms were bare after he had given up his uniform jacket to the Private who only got out with her skivvies, and so were covered in bug bites. He had taken some mud to cover his arms, face and neck to ward off the mosquitos the size of canned hams, and the raw smell of mud warded against the stench of the methane atmosphere. But the medic was still pissed off, and it was starting to crack through his normally cool facade. He at least had gotten out with his body armor, which was something at least.

He moved up with Morse’s team towards the wreckage, positioned on the right flank of the team and therefore closest to the water. He was only partially paying attention to the Intelligence unit, but had only picked out the word ”Megafauna” when the shit hit the proverbial fan. And he had turned around to tell the Marine to turn the volume down or fucking off. Which was when the salamander made it’s move.

The first thing he noticed was the explosion of water, combined with the sudden pressure around his left leg before being pulled off his feet and being dragged back. Quinn’s lungs whooshed out the air he had upon impact with the ground, not even getting out a word. He grabbed a root, which helped him turn around to come face to face with the amphibian that had gotten ahold of him.

”FUCKFUCKFUCK-“ he screamed, aiming his sidearm which he had managed to keep ahold of in one hand and scrabbling for solid purchase with ANYTHING with his other. He proceeded to pump shot after shot into the animal, forty-five caliber slugs ringing out with the solid BLAM BLAM BLAM that was the trademark of his M4A3 pistol.

Roll Gun Combat against Salamander which has my leg
Current Gear
M42A Scope Rifle
M4A4 .45 ACP caliber Sidearm, Suppressed
Combat Knife
K52 Medical Kit
Flashlight, Flares (6)
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by eyeball » Thu Aug 01, 2019 1:38 am

As side arms rang out and shots pierced the jungle it came alive with sound and motion. Hundreds of smaller birds and creatures bolted away from the location, Paulsons motion sensor almost whited out with the new contacts.
“too many contacts Sargent” he replied “all around us, unable to clarify signal strength and direction of anything significant, the jungle is just too noisy” he added.
Slowly backing away from the pool he kept his side arm drawn and hoped it would be enough to kill anything hostile that came their way.

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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by pictish20 » Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:49 am

Cavalet had long since decided that he did not much like alien worlds -- Earth was quite fine, thank you -- when they began to approach the wreckage across the pond. The two contacts Paulson reported played havoc in Cavalet's mind.

Were they injured crew members, from the Shiloh? Or perhaps some alien creature which called this jungle its home?

He could not decide which was the worse option as they closed in on the pond and the brush around it, dread rising within him, choking and stifling thought

And then the creatures erupted from the water and attacked First Platoon.

By the time Perez had ordered his platoon back from the water and into a perimeter, Cavalet had already begun to distance himself from the menacing water, and he was already rationalizing the fear which caused him to waver.

He was one of the two medics, and so it would be doubly bad if he were to be injured. Yes, that must be it; that's a good reason to back away...

Even as these thoughts gripped him, he scanned the water, waiting for some order from Perez or Sykes, and desperately wishing that he was anywhere other than the shores of this pond on this lost planet of Capua.

<Roll Awareness>
Pvt. Charlton Cavalet
Corpsman, USS Shiloh, 2nd Platoon

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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Corporal Hicks » Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:36 pm

1st Platoon:
PFC. Grisham felt the terrible strength of the thing biting his leg. It pulled him uncontrollably toward the muck of the pool. His fight-or-flight instinct made him grab at anything in his reach, and his hands found the feet of Sergeant Morse. Morse tried to steady himself but he too found no foothold in the wet ground. He toppled with Grisham and found himself being dragged toward the water. Pushkin and Barayev fired a few rounds with their pistol and rifle, but the writhing mass of the creature and Grisham was not safe for a shot.

The creature felt the sting of the bullets and redoubled its efforts to escape the fiery blows. It jerked backward, its strong legs acting as levers to pull poor Grisham away. The creature, and Grisham disappeared under the water, invisible except for the thrashing that broke the surface. He felt the rush of water into his rebreather before it was ripped off in the mad struggle. Morse, too, began to disappear, his ankles still clenched by the death-grip of Grisham. Private Isabel Orozco dove down and grabbed his shoulders, trying to add her weight to the counterbalance, leaving the two Russian marines standing alone above the writhing mass of bodies.

Reserves:
Petty Officer Fernandez emptied all twelve rounds of his pistol at close range. The majority struck the amphibian’s back. It emitted a guttural snarl of pain but didn’t stop pulling madly at Quinn’s leg. He fired his pistol at the creature with a severe disadvantage, but he managed to put one shot right in its elevated eye. The creature howled again but continued the primal contest with the human. Quinn’s left arm searched for a handhold, and it found the iron-strong grip of the android’s hand. Preacher gripped with superhuman force and halted the progress of the beast. Sergeant Major Sykes was the last to the party, and he unloaded his clip into the tail-end of the amphibian. Knowing it was in deep shit, the creature let go of Quinn and tried to turn around, but its back legs failed it and it was torn to pieces by the combined fire of the three marines.

Second Platoon:
Perez ordered his platoon back from the water, but the difficulty of this action soon became apparent. Only a meter or two back they ran into thick jungle foliage and struggled to push through or climb over the wretched mass. Nevertheless, they detected no threats from the pool.
(Actions)
ImageSgtMaj. Danny Sykes - Platoon NCO
USCM Special Forces Recon Team
Serial Number: D26/TQ6.3.48412E9
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CarbebthePoncho
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by CarbebthePoncho » Sun Aug 04, 2019 9:07 am

After unloading his entire magazine into the amphibian and watching the two marines fire at the creature until the bishop was able to free Quinn from the beast, Fernandez stayed in action mode. He tore the strap of his bag over his head and fumbled inside for the first aid.

After retrieving the sealed box he opened it and grabbed the towel and alcohol to apply to the wounds on Quinn’s legs.

[roll First Aid Kit]
Javier Fernandez
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Oliver Grisham » Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:25 pm

From the moments the lizard's jaws clamped on his ankle Grisham had been thrown into an animal frenzy. He let out an inhuman sound that was half bark half grunt and flailed wildly, grabbing Morse's ankle.

The creature dragged him under the water and he was utterly disorientated. He'd never been much of a swimmer and had always been afraid of putting his head under the water or opening his eyes once under. His lungs were already bursting so much so the he hardly felt the gnashing teeth on his leg. Nonetheless, the shock was enough to make him release his grip on Morse and he made one final desperate attempt at survival. His withdrew his combat knife and stabbed with all his might in the direction of his stinging leg, hoping to drive it into the creatures head.

<<roll attack>>

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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Morse » Mon Aug 05, 2019 9:55 am

"What the fuck!..." Morse spat as he felt the ground slip beneath him. Everything was moving very quickly, as things often did on any mission they were set upon. There really were just two speeds. Waiting for madness to ensue... or the madness ensuing. This was not exactly a firefight so much as it was a survivalist hunting excursion, and it was now dragging Morse down to the depths.

There was little he could do as his robotic ankle was grabbed by Grisham. He had no feeling in that leg and foot at all, but felt the tug on where it connected to the upper part of his leg and he was like a rag doll as it pulled him down. The slick mud and foliage slid beneath him and went face down as he did. He did not discharge any rounds, and kept a good hold of his weapon. He tried to kick, the servo nerves in the robotic foot and ankle twisting and clicking as he wanted it to... but with no real result. He hardly even knew what was happening short of Grisham was being dragged and was taking him with him.

He had the thought of cutting the Marine loose, but ultimately that faded as he had no real ability to even do that.

And then suddenly he was let loose. Grisham had released him and Morse stopped dragging. He rolled to the side, slick and muddy, levying his weapon forward.

Where he thought he could, he fired two rounds into the side of the creature, not wanting to fire more and risk obliterating Grisham.

< Roll M41A

<Tag Anyone
Image-SSG Allen Morse - Squad Leader
-3rd Bn, 2nd Reg, 1st Co, 8th Plt
- DEVIL DAWG
- M41A Pulse Rifle - M4 Pistol - Med Kit
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Re: Mission 1 Turn 4: Amphibians

Post by Corporal Hicks » Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:03 am

Fernandez struggled with the straps of the shin armor, sending a sheet of pain up from the leg. Once it was off, he struggled with the bloody cloth that was embedded in the puncture wounds. Once he got the pant leg rolled up, it looked to be some not-very-serious puncture wounds. Of course anything could get infected in an environment like this, especially considering Quinn's leg was caked with bog filth. Fernandez applied the alcohol soaked towel to the bloody wounds.

Morse's shots rang out, and the beast's thrashing grew more intense. As it began to pull Grisham down to his death, he stabbed madly with the knife. It was a lucky strike, the knife embedded itself in the amphibian's head, just in front of the eye. The knife went so deep it almost punctured Grisham's own leg through the roof of its mouth. When he did this, the creature truly went mad. It began thrashing wildly with no particular purpose, anything to remove the pain from its head. Unfortunately it still held Grisham's leg in its jaws, unwilling to let go of the prey that had already dealt it a death blow.

The rest of First Platoon saw the thrashing about three meters out from the edge of the pond. Grisham was below the water and not visible to them. The air in his lungs was running out.

(Actions)
ImageSgtMaj. Danny Sykes - Platoon NCO
USCM Special Forces Recon Team
Serial Number: D26/TQ6.3.48412E9
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