| abstract
| - Landing Bay This incredible chamber sports almost a square mile of poured plascrete, all watched over by a high communications tower. Most of the ceiling of this chamber is of a lightly buzzing blue energy, allowing ships in and out with a minimum of atmosphere loss. Cheery lighting fixtures line the walls in stark contrast to the otherwise utilitarian nature of the bay. There is a set of double doors near the back of the bay, manned by half a dozen armed New Luna Militia members. Norton is seated on the footlocker, smoking. Jantine disemarks from the halfhourly shuttle, and begins walking over towards the double doors. "Captain" he says with a nod as he nears the man. "What's up, buddy?" asks a grinning Norton. "Just got back from going sailing, let me go change into uniform quick, I come back on duty in a few minutes" Jan says, as he walks over towards the double doors. "Right," says Norton with more grinning. Norton is still seated and smoking and grinning. A few minutes later, Jan enters again, this time from the double doors. He stops before the Marine, saluting him wit a "Captain" uttered smartly. Norton rolls his eyes at this display of military professionalism, but he does stand up and return the salute. "How was sailing? You flying on this little gun show?" Jantine drops his salute "Sailing was fine, and I'm on duty now, so I'm on call if they need me sir" he says, smirking slightly. Norton retakes the seat. "You ain't been briefed on the mission?" Jantine shakes his head "No sir, just got reassigned to active duty earlier today" "Right," says Norton as he presses a button on his commlink. >>> COMMNET AQUILA REX on NLM_COM: "Captain Norton, please report to the landing bay. We're moving out in a matter of minutes. Hancock Station Intercom Broadcast ---------------------------- Norton -- >>>> From the Landing Bay : Sergeant Castus, come brief Corporal Osligoth in the flight bay when you're done with platoon preps. Norton adjusts his commlink. Jantine just stands by as the he hears the comms chatter, grinning slightly as he hears the one about Norton, otherwise, he's silent. Hancock Station Intercom Broadcast ---------------------------- Lucius -- >>>> From the Command Center : Captain, roger that, sir. "What'd he say?" asks Norton. "He told you to report to the landing bay" Jan says, "And well, here you are" He and Nort are over by the foot locker. Norton nods as he sits on the footlocker. "Ah, a bucketfull of laughs that one." Jantine frowns slightly at the sarcasm, but responds "Yes sir" Lucius enters the landing bay, the last of the marines. He walks on over immediately towards Jantine and Norton. "Corporal Osligoth. We're taking the Franklin down onto Ghost Chime. Landing at the old camp." Norton spends a bit of time messing with his commlink, grinning as he fiddles with the device. Jantine nods "Yes sergeant, we leaving shortly?" he asks Lucius. Lucius motions towards the outstretched boarding ramp of the Franklin, his legs pumping forward. Following his example, the other marine start to rise up. "Right now, Corporal. Let's get a move on." Norton moves towards the Franklin at a fairly casual pace. Jantine looks to Norton before following Lucius' example "Yes sergeant" he says, moving after the sergeant to the ramp. Bridge This room is the brains of the ship, to the fore a large viewscreen occupies most of the forward wall, giving a grand and impressive view of computer rendered space. Directly before this are two seats, one for the pilot, and one for the co-pilot, both equipped with heads-up holographic displays to aid in flying the craft. Set slightly behind and between the two is a single black chair, presumably for the captain of the vessel. Set around the edges of the room are various subsidiary control systems and their attendant seats. Space is fairly reasonable if you are a human, however, when all the consoles are occupied, it is still a squeeze to move, to the aft, a door leads out to the main corridor. Jantine walks over to the pilots station, strapping himself in he asks "I assume our path has already been cleared Captain?" "Yeah, yeah," says Norton absently with his normal fixed grin. "Flight clearances have been made, blaah, blaah, blaah. When we get closer, do a fly over and see what you can see if anything then land near Hart's group." P.A.N.L. Camp The trees from the surrounding jungle have been levelled, as if the fist of some omnipotent being had grown irate with them and knocked them asunder. The camouflague netting that once concealed this area, now shredded, burnt and torn and torn, lays across the dirt. A large crater sits towards the northern end of the compound, the remains of plascrete mixed with the soil around the lip of the zone. The explosion suggests that it come from underground, as opposed to above it. A blackened void, with a single door swinging upon its hinges, while its partner rests twenty or so meters away, is another marker of an attack. The door that would have once lead into the quarters is jammed shut, either through damage or deliberate. A single grave rests over one side of the compound, a single wooden cross marking it. It appears to have missed any damage, what so ever, when the attack happened. Jantine nods, goes through preflight procedures, and then takes the ship up, out of the bay "Setting course for Ghost Chime" he says as he flys the ship. Norton gives Jantine two thumbs up. "That'd be the idea." Lucius enters the bridge, readying his weaponry and intermittently glancing up at the viewscreen. "Alright, we doing this?" Jantine nods "Yes sergeant, flying her in" he says, not looking behind him. Ghost Chime Isle, part of New Luna's bloodiest page in history. At the moment, a storm rages over the island, working the waves into a rolling mass and whipping trees like they were nothing. "No, sergeant, we're just on a sight seeing mission. Yes, we're doing this. Just chillax," says Norton as he grins. Lucius crosses his arms and simply shuts up to watch. "Storm" Jan says quickly, he taps a few buttons to his side "Bad one too, but there's Ghost Chime" Jan says as the ship hurtles through the storm. "If it ain't raining, we ain't training," says Norton absently as he messes with his commlink. Lucius reaches up to his ear to key the comm. "Hold on, boys, this might get a bit rocky." He transmits, before lowering his appendage to his side. "I know Captain, just changes my flying, bringing her in" Jan says as he brings the ship closer to the island "Where do you want me to touch her down, I'd prefer a cleared area, with this wind" Jan grunts and swings the ship to the side as a gust hits it, briningit back on course "It would be easier." "Land at the main PANL camp. The bad guy one. That's where we're supposed to contact Hart," says Norton without looking up from the commlink or ceasing his grinning. Lucius nods in response to Norton's statement. The NLM Franklin drops in from the stormy sky, heading over Ghost Chime in the direction of the ruined PANL main camp. Jan nods "Roger that sir" he says, bringing the ship in the direction indicated. Norton casts an idle glance at the viewscreen but doesn't seem to concerned about the flight as he continues to fiddle with the commlink and grin at nothing in particular. Lucius turns around. "I'll be down in the bay. Tell me when you guys are down on the ground." He heads off the bridge. A green rocket flare comes screaming out from the cloud cover, before slowly drifting on the currents. "Ah, the flare" Jan says, more of a statement than a question, as he begins bringing the ship over in that direction. "Yeah, there's your signal," says Norton without looking up. "Go ahead and try not to squish anyone landing." The NLM Franklin flies towards the flare, and begins to slow down as it approaches the point. The storm continues to rage, no doubt causing some bouncing around inside of the Franklin. Jantine just continues flying in the direction of the flare "Slowing for descent" he says as he does so. "Dude," says Norton from his seat in the back. "You don't have to give me the play by play. I'm not your flight instructor." The NLM Franklin continues flying towards the flare, braking thrusters firing to bring it to a speed where landing would be possible in this weather when it nears the flare. Well, it's certainly a lot worse below the cloud cover. Rain's coming down in sheets, cutting down visability severely, which the ominous crack of thunder can be heard. A single strobing light marks the position of the camp. "Sorry sir" comes the distracted response from Jan as he brings the craft down. The NLM Franklin homes in on the strobing light, the craft begins landing procedures. "Whatever," says Norton as he remains strapped in for landing. NLM Franklin Intercom Broadcast ------------------------------- Norton -- >>>> From the Bridge : Settling down now. Raining pretty gah-awful out there. Should have picked better weather for the party. As the ship comes close towards the landing sight, about ten figures are seen. Five still wearing PANL uniforms, but using wet weather gear from the NLM, and about twenty NLM soliders, in their wet weather gear. They're currently standing near the burnt out armoury. NLM Franklin Intercom Broadcast ------------------------------- Lucius -- >>>> From the Lower Corridor : Sorry to hear that, Captain. We're out. The NLM Franklin settles down, a short distance aways from the figures, so as not to crush them. Norton unstraps himself from his seat and sighs as he produces a boonie hat from a pants pocket. "This is going to suck. Don't crash this oversized coffin. You'll stay dry." Jantine nods "I wont be able to give much support with visibility like this, but I'll do my best if you need it sir" "We'll give you grid coordinates," says Norton as he leaves. "You can still shoot. You just won't be able to ID things for us as well." And the figures continue to stand there, not yet moving. Just observing and trying their best to stay out of the worse of the storm. Jantine nods "Yes sir" And with the Franklin touching down on the wet, soggy ground of the PANL camp, its large boarding ramp falls down and its doors open. Out pour NLM marines, also equipped with wet weather gear, a courtesy of Lucius speaking to Hart in the middle of the storm. They form a permiter around the ship in a semi circle, while a further two flank Lucius as he approaches HArt. Hart breaks away from the main body of the group, heading towards the Marines. The woman extends a hand to keep the hood in place and to prevent the rain from washing over her face. "Sergeant Castus," the woman states, as they come to a central point. "Certainly different to the last time you attended, yes?" The rain cascades of Lucius's helmet, lifting a gloved hand of his own as he grins at the woman and shaking hers firmly. "Yes. But I think we can both agree that it's a good difference, at that. A lot less bloodshed looking to happen today, I think. Hopefully none. Now, we haven't captured or found Fitzgerald's body. It's my belief he's on the island, as him escaping would have been rather difficult. What's your opinion, President?" He uses the woman's former title, as if unsure of what to call her now. Norton leaves the Franklin as well and the boarding ramp closes behind him. He's not wearing wet weather gear. He is wearing a boonie cap with a grinning, cigarette smoking skull emblazoned on it that is wreathed in flames. It's dubiously non-regulation. He speaks on the Franklin's icom before trudging through the rain to the perimeter where he grins and takes a big whiff while looking at the marines. "I smell weakness." And, the iCOM message to the Franklin's bridge was: Lift off once I'm clear. "Don't call me president," Hart scolds Lucius, yelling over the storm, before her attention goes to Norton. "Julia will do these days, I'm just a civilian like the rest of the PANL who handed who are here helping." Back to Lucius. "It is certainly a welcome change and the island's quiet. Not many people go in." A stray bolt of lightning strikes a tree at the edge of the camp, which causes the tree to collapse and destroy a section of still standing fencing. The NLM Franklin does just that, as soon as Norton is a short distance from the ship, the ramp closes, and the thrusters fire, taking the ship up into the sky. Outlined against the dark clouds, the Franklin can be seen taking up a holding pattern. Norton is ignored by Lucius as he's a few meters away, though his remarks produce a couple of grumbles and a couple of chuckles from the troops themselves. The Martian nods. "Fair enough. Got any insight on where he could be?" Norton takes a knee out in the rain and takes a can of dipping tobacco out of his pocket. He begins to pack the can. "Check and correct timing!" Hart yells, as she turns towards the mixed civilian/NLM unit. "I want those thirties ready to fire at a moments notice! We may be civilians, but this is our home and we're going to show the NLM how to do their job!" A cheer arises from Hart's PANL. Back to Lucius she goes again. "We've encountered some rather rudimentry traps on one of the trials, we believe that Fitzgerald and his men may be near there." The NLM Franklin continues circling above. "We're going to move out then. I'm going to send around half of the troops to cut off any possible escape route and move in with the other half. That's pretty much the only option we have at this point. We need to capture this bastard." Explains Lucius, wiping some water off of his face. Norton inserts a fat pinch of dip and grins as the rain begins to soak down the back of his neck. "Lovely, lovely weather." "Crew A, with the NLM's second squad! Listen to their leader as you'd listen to my commands," Hart barks to her own troops. She glances towards Norton, ignoring Lucius and the rain for the time being. "Captain, I'm assuming you want your troopers that have been staying with us, to rejoin the ranks. They're waiting on your orders." Then she responds to Lucius, wiping a bit of sodden hair from her brow. "Ready when you are, I suggest a slow and careful movements. We don't need casualties... It was hard enough to dig the burial pit last time." The NLM Franklin continues the circling. "Absolutely. We're ready to move out right now. 1st Squad & 2nd Squads, on me! 3rd Squad, move through the jungle and perform an outflanking maneuver. Make sure they don't have anywhere to go." With that, Lucius moves forward towards the area where Hart had previously motioned, and prepares to slog into the jungles. Norton casts an idle look and grin at the NLM stay behinds. "You guys know the area. Set up blocking positions on the most likely avenues of E and E should any of the bad guys give us the slip. Try not to shoot at us, and we'll do the same. Give me grid coordinates when you're set up, and I'll keep you all up dated on our position and situation." Hart gives one shrill whistle for the PANL who are still following her, two moving into position to help move the .3cal. The NLM stay behind, give a nod and quickly start to gather their respective gear. Hart moves in silence as the group moves forward. The NLM Franklin continues circling, vaguely familiar of that other fateful day. Jungle Path The trail continues to wind through trees, making it hard to follow without the use of a compass. As with the rest of the jungle's interior, only a few stray beams of light manage to make it to the scrub covered floor, which slowly starts to rise as it grows closer to the sound of waves crashing onto rocks. The foilage near the edge of the path has grown to about shoulder height, and and the path has over grown in a few areas. The ravages of the storm can be heard hitting hard on the thick canopy overhead. The canopy offers a bit of shelter from the brunt of the storm, but rain is still making its way to the forest floor. All is quiet as most of the animals of have sought shelter. Fitzgerald is laying in some underbrush, curled up under a poncho and his head resting on his pack. At this point, there is a squad of twelve New Lunite Marines slowly moving through the jungle. Slowly, but tactically they move, split up into three groups of four. One group covers their rear, while the other two take turns alternatively bounding and providing cover support. They move slow enough that, even in the slick weather, their eyes are out for traps. Lucius is at the head of one of the groups. Norton is moving along with one of the groups, acting more like a rifleman than a CO at the moment. Still, he's wearing a stupid looking boonie cap with a grinning skull and no wet weather gear. Hart's PANL, they've stayed back at the cross roads of the trail. Hart's remained with the .3cal crew, acting as a loader. And up above, the outline of the Franklin can be seen circling above in the dark, clouded, sky. "Psst, sir!" a PANL soldier whispers, shaking Fitzgerald, "sir!" He's glancing about the thick foliage in a slight panic. Fitzgerald sits up quickly, pushing the poncho away as he draws his pistol and points it at the soldier. "What?!" he says, getting his bearings, then quiets down to a whisper, "What is it, Alderton?" Lucius raises his hand to signal a pause to the troops, causing the group behind him to marshal up behind some cover and watch out for enemy. Lucius slowly approaches the vine, removing a can of spraypaint. He quickly marks the area, motioning back at the soldiers with an avoid sign. Then he replaces his spray and continues the advance, carefully. His ice blue eyes scan the area in front of him, rifle held closely. Norton murmurs on his commlink, "Throttle jockey, you may as well hide up above cloud cover. Showing yourself off by engine noise doesn't help the situation. If we need you, we'll give you a ring." There's a short pause as he picks up and pockets a rock before moving to catch up with the marines he's operating with. Then, back to conversation on the commlink, "Blocking positions, you guys are set, right? How's the flanking action going? Good?" The Marine behind Norton wasn't so lucky. His foot goes down on a disturbed area of dirt, followed by a loud bang. Toe popper popping toes. "Roger that sir" can be heard over heavy static on the comms as the Franklin departs into the clouds above. Alderton stammers a bit, "It's time for the guard change sir." Fitzgerald sighs as he glares at him a bit. "Bah," he says, standing up to his feet. He's drenched by the rain. Picking up his pack and rifle, he nods to Alderton. "Get him a fucking medic." Whispers Lucius into his comm. "Keep fireteam three as a reserve and keep 'em to protect the wounded, Randleman." That said, Lucius continues to inch forward to the percieved location of the PANL camp location, wherever it is. Norton goes back to the marine and checks the injury, doing what little he can which may or may not be effective treatment. "You able to walk? If you are, limp back to where Hart's people are set up. If not, I'll get someone to buddy carry you." Over his comm, "I got it covered. We'll use Hart's people instead of ours to set up the aid station." Dirionis inches along with Lucius, eyes squinted slightly, watching diligently for more traps. Fitzgerald creeps his way along the foliage along the trail, occasionally peeking through it. Keeping low to try and keep the rifle tip under the shoulder high plants. Lucius reaches out with his left hand as he keeps advancing, marking the number four for that number of men in the fireteam behind, and then motioning them for the group to move up the left side of the jungle path. Meanwhile, Lucius's group moves up the right side of the path, similarly spread out into a tactical column. Norton sends the marine packing as he's able to walk with the three other marines in his team to provide security on the route back before they leave him in the care of Hart's people and try, eventually, to return, hopefully. Norton goes and links up with another fire team. He mumbles into his commlink some more as he checks the status of the blocking positions, flanking element, and Franklin. Dirionis, being in the other fire team, leads the column on the left side, moving quietly and slowly along the path. Fitzgerald continues his quiet movements through the thick ground cover, periodically checking the path through the foliage. "Still up past cloud cover, waiting your orders sir" crackles over the comms, with even heavier static than before. Lucius falls to a knee, raising a closed fist for the troops to stop in their place. He lifts a finger up to his ear, keying the comm, and whispers into it, "We've got to be getting close. Watch it, and make sure the flanking element is brought around and in place." Rising up into crouch movement he begins to power on forward again. Getting confirmation from the blocking and flanking elements, Norton just grins under his silly boonie cap with the grinning skull emblazoned in the ring of fire. He murmurs into his commlink, "They're good." Dirionis mimics Lucius signal as he talks on the comm, eyes still peeled for contacts. Dropping his fist, he moves forward with his column. Fitzgerald begins heading back toward the small area the 6 men have been using as a camp, still keeping low, occasionally peering through the underbrush along the trail. Instead of opening fire immediatly or yelling anything out, Lucius orders a return fire order with hand gestures, meaning that the troops should only fire if fired upon. Now confident that he's spotted the enemy, Lucius makes a punching motion with his fist towards the forest. "Fireteam two, move out. We're going to make a single envelopment of these bastards. You go left around in the forest, we go right. Fireteam 3, base of fire, here." He motions towards the hedgeline at the side of the jungle, then begins to move in without any further words. Norton sticks around with fireteam three and mumbles into his commlink. "Remember, we got third squad off on our side so you ain't got to make this too fancy but do what you want." Fitzgerald works his way back to the camp and stands the for a few minutes to take a drink from his canteen. Three men are now sleeping at the camp, laying in various positions that look rather uncomfortable. The other two are off running on patrol, likely nearing the camp again, just as Fitzgerald had. 1st FT slips over the jungle path at a very low crouch, slowing down as they reach the foilage. They seem to be keenly aware that moving fast in thick jungle is a recipe for people to hear you, even when the rain falls extremely hard in a tropical storm. Lucius and the other three soldiers move up the right side of the PANL camp, moving to take positions so as to catch them in a crossfire with 2nd FT. "Clearly ID any targets before engaging since if this works they'll be in the middle and you'll be on each side. We don't want friendly casulties," mutters Norton onto his commlink as he sticks around with the third fireteam. He tells third squad, the flanking element, "Hold position. ID targets prior to engaging." The same message goes out to the blocking units. Dirionis leads 2nd FT towards the left, slowing the pace a bit as he continues his flank. Ah... Civilisation, or close to it as may be the case here. It looks like Fitzgerald and his guys are currently about, with three of the six men sleeping in the rain. The clearing the men are laying in is perhaps only 5 or 6 feet in diameter and roughly circular. They have their backs to the underbrush on the sides, trying the hid in the edge of it as best they can. The grass is sopping wet from the rain and the roar can still be overheard ahead. If they didn't know better, they would think they were next to a raging rapid or waterfall. Fitzgerald screwed the cap back on his canteen as he surveyed what was left of his forces. He sighed, scowling a little bit as stood at rest, waiting for the other two patrolmen to return and report back. "This isn't all of them, I don't think; there should be two more according to the report of missing. Keep eyes peeled." Says into his commlink very, very quietly as his element finishes their maneuver. The troops alternatively get on their bellies or stay crouched, weapons aimed; all except Lucius. He lowers his weapon to his knee and removes a grenade off his vest. This, to anybody who's very close, is obviously a stun grenade. "Going to flashbang 'em. FT2, avert eyes when I mark. Captain, should we wait?" "If the missing two come back to camp, tripping over marines might raise some eyebrows. Get it done," says Norton over his commlink. Dirionis gets in position along the rest of his column, gun lowered as he crouches, listening in his comm. He responds in a whisper, " Second fire team in position. Tell us when." Lucius nods, releasing the pin from the grenade and tossing it towards the clearing. "Avert eyes, NOW!" He comms, before doing so himself. Well that flash bang, kinda manages to just bounce off a tree near Lucius... Then straight back at the thrower. "Shit!" Curses Lucius as the grenade slips from his wet gloved hand. Screw stealth, apparently. His reaction is quick enough that he's able to kick the flashbang away into the forest and shield himself from its effects. Norton remains in the prone back with the fireteam left behind. "Remember. ID targets." Dirionis and his team avert their eyes away, speaking into his comm, " What the hell happened?" He says, crouched still, looking after he heard the bang. Fitzgerald rushes near the foliage to see what the commotion is and spots several soldiers. "Son of a Bitch!" Fitzgerald says loudly, as rushes back to the camp, kicking the first sleeping soldier he comes to. "Get up you louts!" he yells. Three soldiers wake up groggily. Some rustling nearby is heard, possibly the other two on patrol making a return. The three sleepers get to their feet slowly as they fight off the fatigue and pick up their gear. Fitzgerald has now unslung his rifle. "No one fire unless fired upon," he says sternly, looking each of them in the eye, "I don't want to give these bastards the satisfaction." "No," one of the men states, as he drops his rifle and raises his hands in surrender. Another swears at Fitzgerald in something akin to Chinese, as his weapon drops, too. Well, no fight in these men anymore. It looks like the ravages of being out in the jungle and living off the land, and also the defeat first suffered by the NLM has worn down their moral. Lucius wears an irritated look on his face as he grabs his rifle from the ground and aims it at the soldiers in the encampment. Commed, Lucius murmurs, "Get ready to fire on my signal. Only fire on those with weapons still clenched." Personally, Lucius picks Fitzgerald, swinging his rifle towards the man since it doesn't appear that his cronies have much fight left in them. Then, he yells through the trees, "Drop your weapon, Captain, kick it away and we can all resolve this without anymore blood." Dirionis brings up his PAR, followed by the rest of the fire team, weapons raised. He also aims towards Fitzgerald, saying in reminder, " only the ones holdin' weapons, boys." Fitzgerald still clutching his rifle, he looks to the men. "They're going to kill you with out with out a weapon you know!" Fitzgerald screams at them, "They mow down fucking civilians for Christ sake!" He looks to the soldiers trained in on him. "Give me one reason I should believe a fucking word coming out of your mouth," he says in irritation, "You folks have never given me any reason to believe I'll be taken in alive. Especially not after that load of shit that Julie has no doubt been feeding you to protect her dearly departed husband's reputation." The surrendering men just lower themselves to their knees, hands behind their heads. Looks of disgust are given to Fitzgerald, but no one answers him. "I'm not in a debating mood. You can lay down your weapon and go back alive, or I can shoot you in your face and be done with it. Either way, things work out for us. Which one is it going to be?" Asks Lucius, loudly. His eye his currently trained down the sight of his assault rifle. "Riddle him if he makes a move to open fire." Comms the Sergeant. Listening as he is back by the support by fire position and not hearing much of a gun fight, Norton speaks into his commlink. "Feel free to stun him. Keep in mind the possible extras skirking around the edges might be more than two, might be none, but no reason to get shot in the back talking things out with a whack job." Dirionis nods, giving a signal for two of his team to watch the flank. He keeps his weapon at ready, whispering in the comm, " I got two from my team watching our back." "See," Fitzgerald says, sounding slightly pissed off, "This is why this whole situation arose, no one with your government is ever willing to listen." He huffed, glancing to the men surrounding his position and the traitors laying on the ground behind him, weapon still raised with a finger near the trigger but not on it. "I still don't see how Julie Hart is walking away clean from this, or did she pin everything on me?" he responded. An amused smirk formed on his face and chuckle arose from his lips, "Ah. I suppose she probably did, that bitch." "One last time, Fitzgerald. I'm a soldier, not a politician, and it's not my job to listen to your raving." Lucius assures. "Drop your gun. Now. We can talk after." Having said his piece, Norton speaks on his commlink, calling for the militia types on the flank and at the blocking positions to start moving in at a very, slow and very deliberate pace while keeping an eye out for any possible extras and traps. Dirionis watches Fitzgerald carefully, in case he makes any last, desperate moves. Fitzgerald sets his gun down and uses it as a cane for a moment, leaning on it, then sighs in resignation and pauses for a moment. "Fuck!" he screams suddenly, grabbing the rifle by the muzzle and spinning around with it and tossing it like a hammer-throw. "Move in on them, I want magnacuffs on all of them immediately." Without waiting for any confirmation, Lucius moves out into the clearing from the woods at a low crouch, rifle aimed at the unstable PANL leader, still. "GET DOWN ON YOUR FUCKING FACE NOW!" He screams, while the other NLM marines move to attach cuffs on the surrendered insurgents. Norton raises up from the muck of the soggy jungle floor to take a knee in the rain. He surveys the limited scope of the scene from his position with fireteam 3. Dirionis moves in with FT 2, swiftly approaching them. He has his rifle ready to shoot anyone starting to pick up a weapon, as his other marines help cuff and secure the PANL. The men who surrendered without making a sound, continue avoid making a sound... Even when they're hand cuffed by the NLM. Fitzgerald stands defiantly for a moment, simply putting his hands behind his head as he sneers at Lucius. "Fucking state dogs," he jeers. Lucius doesn't hesitate. He lowers his rifle down and reaching up with a fist jabs it at Fitzgerald's chin. Norton just sits tight with the marines in the fire team. Dirionis raises a brow with a slight smirk, as Lucius beats him to the punch. He watches the other downed PANL, smirk still not leaving his face. Fitzgerald takes the hit, rolling with it, and grunting a bit before turning to look Lucius square in the eye, "Ah, such a tough guy when you've got them subdued," Fitzgerald says defiantly, "Fucking balls of steel." He spits in Lucius' face, aiming for the eyes. Lucius snorts, also taking the spitwad in his face. He wipes it off with a gloved hand and then wipes THAT on Fitz's uniform. "Yeah, keep talking asshole. I'm not the one who bombs civilians and attacks neighbourhoods, here. Get down on your fucking stomach." He shoulders his rifle and removes an energy pistol from a holster inside his BDU. On his comm, he says, "We've got three of them subdued. Fitz will be soon. There's only the others now." Frantz turns to one of the men, kneeling next to him. "Where are the others?" He asks. Norton speaks on his commlink. "Yeah, well, by their count we got them all. The other elements bagged two. We ready to pull out?" Dirionis nods, watching Fitzgerald as he waits for the order to pull out. Fitzgerald continues his defiance, keeping his eyes on the man. "Like on Vollista?" he jeers, with a satisfied grin, "I see you prefer to kill them face to face. Fucking telling be about treatment of civilians, Damn." "I'd imagine you don't know very much about Vollista." Without missing a beat, Lucius raises the pistol up to Fitzgerald's torso and fires three shots at it, the blue stun bolts not having to travel very far. "Bagged 'em all, Captain. We'll be ready to move in a moment. Mind bringing third FT in here to collect their weapons and gear?" "Rodge," says a laconic but grinning Norton as he picks up and moves carefully through the rain with the other members of the fireteam following behind in a simple line. Dirionis watches Fitz with a frown as he speaks of Vollista, then shrugs as the stun bolts are shot. Hart's finally left her position with crew 2, the .3cal being carried in hand. Crew 1 slips out from the jungle. "I assume you'll be wanting these," she comments, motioning towards the weapons with her hand. No ammunition is present with the weapons, though one of the men does carry a fairly old and bulky looking communicator. "I must apologise, but we've been listening in on your conversation." She raises a hand to wipe water away from her eyes, but seems to be in her element. "Enough to know your a fucking douch-" Fitzgerald gets out, leaning toward Lucius, with a grin that is shortly contorted as electricity courses through his body. Grunting and smiling, he moans as if he enjoys the pain, then his eyes roll back in his head and slumps over toward Lucius. Lucius shakes his head. "I don't think that'll be necessary, Julia. You're allowed some form of protection and especially when you live in an isolated community like this where bandit attacks can be very real, as well as Kulbati attacks, I think it's justified. Up to the Captain here." He motions to Norton as he comes in, cuffing Fitzgerald finally and returning his weapon to its holster. "Yeah," says Norton with an easy grin. "We'll be wanting those. Not that we don't trust you, but we'll probably do a sweep of the iisland at a later, more sunny date. Just in case Cap' Numbnuts hid anything dangerous and pokey that might get some tourist. You're legally able to carry one non-assault pulse and projectile as a citzen. If you pay a bit of money, you can carry multiple. A bit more and you can carry assault grade weapons. Only active duty military in uniform nromally can carry multiple assault grade weapons. 1000 rayden for multiple and 10 k for assault." Dirionis scratches his arm, ready to haul the rest of the guys away. The .3cals are placed down, water trickling over the cooling plates. "We've taken the caution of removing the firing pins already," Hart remarks to Norton, before looking back down the path. "We'll prepare something special for the quad, and it'll be ready for transport in a day or so." She offers a broad grin when she looks back to the Marines. "On behalf of the people on Ghost Chime..." he looks down to Fitzy. "The good ones anyway. We wish to thank you for your help." With that said, she turns and starts to head back into the jungle with the few members of the local militia. Lucius offers a nod of respect to Hart and then begins to haul away Fitzgerald's unconcious form, while the other prisoners are treated more 'humanely' and normally, walking towards the LZ. Still other soldiers take the machineguns with them. Norton marines move about carefully to collect weapons before Norton says, "To the LZ and extraction site." He tells Julia, "You're welcome, ma'am. If you plan on making a home out here, you should contact the government for assistance in building a real infrastructure. Anyway, we need to get going." He does just that.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)