USCMRPG

The rain pelted down on the heads of the marines as the flanking group moved up on the left. The four marines saw the two identical men exit the structure carrying another large transparent tub. As they creep up on the left, the man in the rear turns to face them. Setting down the tub, he raises a hand in an apparent greeting. The four of them see his expression which appears to be a friendly smile.
<Tag Hall/Perez/Giosso/Barayev>
<Tag Quinn/Sokolova>

(ACTIONS)

(OOC: I'm sorry for the turn delay and the confusion of the private messages. I am trying to give you all a chance to react to your awareness rolls. The holidays have been very busy and work has us on mandatory overtime since October. The campaign is still going strong and I'm not going anywhere! Thank you for your patience!)

Human Intruders.

Glancing at the notification from units 2 and 5 from the front of the facility, where they were setting out rain collection tubs, Gibson leaned back in his chair. Looking at the bank of monitors in his administration office he could see that the scientists were on task and he had no need for distractions at this critical junction.

Eliminate them he typed.

OOC: Merry Christmas everyone!

Dmitri was hunkered down against the rain and under cover ... or so he thought. One of the synthetics turned around and looked right at him, smiled, and waved.

Bozhe, chert voz'mi!! Dmitri silently swore. Had he somehow given himself away? How the hell did that synthetic know he was there? God damn it!

Dmitri already had his rifle up, observing the synthetics over his sights, but though he had his finger on his trigger, he didn't shoot: it wasn't his call to make. Instead, he froze, settled his aim on the synthentic that had smiled at him, and he waited to see if Perez or Morse gave the order to light that fucker up.

<TAG: Perez, Morse>
<TAG: Anybody else>

Perez resisted the urge to blast the two "smells-like-looks-like-feels-like troubles" away immediately. The good old "shoot first and ask questions later" had some merit. Instead, he focused and observed the two waterboys. Clearly, they were gathering fresh water with these kind of tubes. As the two spotted the aproaching marines, waterboy number one turned to number two and muttered something, which Perez did not understand, then, he turned around and waved his hand in an apparent greeting. Instincts and gut feeling ringed all warning bells, and Perez was not born yesterday, so he watched carefully, what waterboy number two did meanwhile. And ... Jackpot ... waterboy number turned away, trying to conceal the attempt to slide his rifle from his shoulder, but he fumbles it. Maybe the rain affected the grip of the gun. Nice ruse, but, too bad, they would not get another chance.

Calling into the mike "WEAPON SPOTTED, WAX 'EM", he ordered to open fire
<Tag Hall/Giosso/Barayev/Quinn/Sokolova>

The smartgun tracking system was already locked on the would-be-gunslinger, so Perez just pulled the trigger, firing a burst shot at number two ...
<Roll Machine Gun - Level Master>

JuanPerez wrote: ↑Fri Dec 27, 2019 8:59 pm "WEAPON SPOTTED, WAX 'EM"

So went the order from Perez's lips to Dmitri's ear. Dmitri lit his target up.

<ROLL: RIFLE>

When the one android turned and smiled and WAVED at them, Sam was left blinking in shock for a moment....for the first time in a long time, she just froze....not from any fear, but from a complete sense of confusion by the whole scene.....

Then Perez yelled out that one of the two held a weapon and he and Dmitri opened fire.

Yelling on the squad comms and motioning behind her with one hand, she calls out, "Mark, make sure no-ting flanks us!", as she dropped to one knee, and then with a deep breath, she tucked her Pulse Rifle into her shoulder, let the breath go, and fired one controlled burst at one of the 'men'....shifted aim....took another breath, let it go, and fired a second controlled burst at the second 'man'....

<Tag Squad, particularly Giosso>
<1st Action: drop to one knee; 2nd Action: Call out to Mark; 3rd Action: Aim at first target; 4th Action: Fire 6 round burst at first target; 5th Action: Aim at second target; 6th Action: Fire 6 round burst at second target>
<Roll Gun Combat: Master>

Perez’s smartgun locked onto the rifle-wielding hostile and he squeezed the trigger. To his dismay, the gun rejected his judgement. Whether he had failed to set up the targeting correctly, or that the gun had suffered damage in the crash, it registered the synthetic as a friendly and would not fire. It took him precious seconds to reset the firing systems to register the synthetic as a hostile. (Roll: critical failure)

Fortunately he had shouted the threat and the others opened fire. Dimitri followed his order without question and squeezed the trigger at the smiling face down range. The bullets thumped into the man’s chest and a milky white fluid burst out. He fell backwards as Sergeant Hall squeezed a burst off which was a little high anyway. (Roll: Mild success)

Sergeant Hall didn’t miss a beat, and she swung her rifle right to face the armed target. She aimed carefully as the enemy’s rifle came up to his cheek. Her six-round burst struck him in the forehead and his head exploded in white gore. The rifle dropped from his hands and he fell dead. (Roll: Critical success)

The second synthetic man lunged toward the body of his fallen comrade.
(Actions)

A firefight had begun. Combat once more. But this time against a more familiar enemy. This was something the Marines were actually prepared and trained for. THis was something that Morse was all too familiar with... if not eager to step into. Fighting against giant lizards and swamp ambushes were miserable. Even if that was all that awaited them after this skirmish was completed, it was a welcome moment to forget that they were stranded and to potentially do something right and get answers.

"Forward!" Morse yelled to all that were nearby, declaring an advance. He was not sure from his vantage point how the firefight had turned out, but they would be moving on to the structure shortly after, and there was no need to withhold their advantage which was moment and surprise.

Morse held his M41A tight and ready as he made it to the clearing. From where he stood he saw two dropped Synthetics, the disgusting white blood that filled their bodies pooling upon the ground. Morse kept his weapon forward and his eyes ready.

"Marines! Get on line! Prepare to breach and clear!" Morse eyed up the two bodies, unsure if they were moving, but ready to finish them off himself if need be.

< Roll Awareness
<Tag All

paulson had been well out of range with his flamer but now broke cover and moved forward as morse ordered the advance.

“Shit, are you seeing this? Unit 5 is dead!” stammered one of the human administration staff.

Gibson simply eyed the staff member with disdain.

"It can't die if it's a machine. Close the doors. Let's give our uninvited guests a warm reception," ordered Gibson unhurriedly.

Turning to the staff member who spoke Gibson says "Mr Ericson, if I hear you give an uninvited opinion again I guarantee your next employee evaluation will be very poor. Now you are paid to do your job, so do it without the uninvited commentary."

Returning his attention to the screens Gibson pondered the situation. While it was unfortunate the synths hadn't killed any of the marines the situation was still manageable. Once the doors were closed he would hopefully have more time to prepare a more suitable welcome.

The movement of the synthetic caught Morse's eye. A simple look allowed him to measure that the droid was moving towards the weapon that rested on the ground that appeared to have been carried by its now shut down companion. The advance towards the weapon was steady, measured, and calculated. This was to be expected of robots, as they just stuck to their primary functions without fear of what happened. Of course Morse himself may find himself dying like that one day, crawling for a weapon in the end.

But that was not today.

Morse looked towards the doorway.

"Three man fireteams up." Morse directed peering forwards towards the entrance to the structure. They could breach and sweep easily in groups that size, and likely overwhelm anything in front of them. "We want answers, so try to get whatevers in there to lay flat. If thems refuse, fuck there asses up."

Morse directed his M41A towards the crawling droid, flipped the toggle for a three round burst, and squeezed the trigger aiming at the head to finish it off.

<Tag Anyone
<Roll Rifle

Sixtus was still in his hide when the sudden firefight broke out. He slowed his breathing, and took careful aim at the last remaining synthetic. As the thing dived for the body of it’s fallen comrade (and the rifle laying in the grass next to it), Sixtus took a breath, let it out and slowly pressed the trigger.

Actions 1-5 Aiming, Action 6 Gun Combat: Expert

Sokolova watched the ensuing fight, keeping her eye locked on the target, waiting for Sixtus' shot, but every now and then, checking to make sure they weren't getting ambushed either. Her rifle remained at the ready, though she was hoping no more synthetics were lurking in the foliage nearby.

Once she saw Sixtus' open shot, she checked the trajectory of it, keeping an eye on where it was in case correction was needed.

<Roll Awareness & Spot>
<Tag Sixtus>

Sam swore out loud when she saw one of the synthetics still moving, trying to get ahold of the weapon. Taking a deep breath, she sighted down her Pulse Rifle, let the breath go and stroked the trigger, sending a 6 round burst the android's way....

<Aim for 5 actions, fire 6 round burst with sixth action; Roll Gun Combat: Master>

Tasked with watching the flanks, Mark was facing away from the androids when the engagement broke from a worrisome greeting to a violent engagement. He pressed harder into the thick tree at his back after the first reports of gunfire reached his ears. It ended again as suddenly as it started. "No other contacts. Motion is clear."