July 30th 21:40 hrs 3049
Waiting Area
HPG Relay Station, Hope
John was pissed. Not only at the apparent double cross that was going on here, but now that he and his men were being ordered around by a random officer that didn't even take the time to identify himself. His men had mostly already been sitting, playing a game of poker, while Connors and Wilson practiced hand to hand. He turned to his marines, now looking at him for direction, and said with the same zeal as if he were back in the Concordant.
"COMPANY, HOORAH,"
The stood as one at attention. Each one of the expression changed from that of calm, almost relaxed, to that of concentration. These men bleed confidence, and precision. John then spoke the next command to get them moving.
"COMPANY, MOVE OUT,"
The men then turned to face the officer, and briskly marched, John leading them. Jenkins had tagged along, his rifle in a more at ease position. The officer lead them back to the area where they had deposited their equipment, except that now it was on several tables, and the weapons organized, by the attentiveness the men now standing next to them. The marines searched for their weapons, surprisingly finding that they were organized by marine, each with his own table. The tech next to John's table spoke respectfully.
"Sir, may I help you with these firearms,"
"That's a negative, just make sure that you didn't touch Dmitri's LMG, or the vehicle. He has done what he wanted with these already, and he'd be quite pissed if you f***** them up,"
He then began with his combat knives, starting with the boot knife, and then went to grenades. Once done there, he strapped both of his pistols in their respective places, one on the hip, the other in an armpit holster. Then he went to his AR, and Shotgun. He checked the actions, both were clean, and smooth as normal. He slammed a clip into his AR, and checked the sights. Perfect as usual. He then loaded his shotgun, alternating the shells between buckshot, and scatter shot. Once the clip was full, he cocked one into the action, and loaded another shell into the clip. He looked at his marines, all going over equipment, and gearing up. The officer was talking to Jenkins quietly. Something about preparing a reception. That meant that someone was about to have their day ruined. Dmitri walked over to John, and John noticed that with all of his equipment, including the LMG Sasha, all he was missing was a cigar.
"What's de job?" Dmitri asked
"Well from the sound of it, we're going to need them to provide some alcohol, or your last bottle of vodka,"
"You know how I feel about my vodka," Dmitri implied
"I'll buy you a barrel of it once this is over," John countered
Dmitri smiled at the possibility "Alright, but it better be one of those 250 Liter drums,"
John cackled at the thought, first of him asking for one of those, and then the man's face after he told him it was just for Dmitri. Jenkins looked over inquiringly, but then dismissed it as something else. He then walked over and the officer stood, almost seemed impatiently. Connors called out to Jenkins.
"So Jenkins, now that you're done pointing that little rifle of yours at us, you going to tell us what the job is?"
"Connors, this pretty little rifle is a Marx XX, with a range of 1150 meters, 20x Thermal and Starlight scope, and can cut through .5 centimeters of steel in 2 seconds. And better yet, I never miss with this rifle," Jenkins said with a smirk to silence Connors. Connors just laughed it off, and Jenkins continued over to a holo table showing a map of the paths leading to relay. He then spoke in a more serious tone.
"Alright boyos, we're to prepare for a combined arms assault. We're expect nothing short of a full assault regiment, and anything from supporting personnel infantry to tanks. We have these three paths here, here, and here," he said pointing to three different points on the map, lighting up the paths. John spoke "Of these paths, this provides the quickest route," pointing at the one with the bridge "so that's more than likely where they'll go first. Wilson, Connor, rig that bridge and the embankment connected to it to blow,"
"What is our limit on explosives?" Wilson inquired
"Can a brick do the job?"
"Two could," Wilson replied
"Two it is, Dmitri, we're going to need that vodka before you leave,"
"Aye sir,"
The three left, and then John turned to Jenkins.
"I need canvas bags, preferably with hand holds, a barrel of tar, and what ever explosives you have in this facility. If it even pops, I want it,"
"On it," one of the techs quipped
"Okay, now Jenkins have your boys set up defenses at these choke points, I need a crate of mines placed at these locations, detonators armed," John pointed the points where the mountain made natural choke points.
"Just one?"
"We'll use the mountain to bury these ********, the mines will cause them to pause, when they pause they die,"
"Ah," Jenkins said with an understanding look
"And then, when they get to the next set, they'll rush forward, right into another landslide, to bury the survivors, or if their smart, back pedal, right into our ambush, here," He spoke pointing to the spot right behind the choke point
"What about the small path?" Derek asked
"Set the rest of the crates of mines, along here," John pointed and dragged his hand across the screen, just along the halfway mark of the path.
"When they come, and come they will, Little Sasha will provide fire support when needed," John spoke as the tech came back with a small trailer carrying two barrels of tar, and a bunch of sacks, cloth, canvas, and all prime for making satchel charges. Dmitri handed John the bottle of vodka, and then headed for Little Sasha. As the barrels were being unloaded, John popped the cap on the drums. Both had heating units to keep the tar warm. Popping the cap on the bottle of vodka, John took a swing, and then started to pour it over the first barrel. Once half of the bottle was gone, he poured the rest over the other barrel. The smell of the tar was enough to make one of the techs gag, but John was used to it.
"I need two broom handles to stir this, and keep it mixed evenly," One of the techs immediately went to fetch a couple mops, and John noticed that the officer that had brought them here, hadn't moved. Instead he was watching intently, almost like he was sizing them up. John shook the thought from his head as he continued to work. He grabbed the first of the sacks, and dipped it into the tar, with a little vodka mixture, soaking the bag thoroughly. One of the techs stuck the broom handle into the barrel, and began stirring. What he didn't tell the rest of the group, was if the mechs decided to stop again, which was highly unlikely to begin with, these two barrels of tar would be set with a small enough amount of plastic explosive to cause the barrels to be rolled down the side of the mountain, set off, covering the enemy mechs with tar, which would then be set on fire with the satchel charges that his men were putting together. Seeing that the bag was soaked through and through, John set it on the bench, and Dereck began to put inside about half of a brick of plastic explosive, primed the fuse, and then set it down gingerly. They then began work on the next set of charges, and so, their work began.
Edited by guardian wolf, 31 January 2013 - 08:55 PM.
6
