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12-07-2015, 10:07 AM | #271 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,018
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Shockwave slammed his fist against the wall as he walked through the consulate.
"You too, huh?" said Claymore, stepping out of an office. Shockwave glanced over in surprise. "Cops got some transmission from a vehicle they were tracking and before you know it they peeled off to who knows were, and hustled me here. "For my protection."" "They used the exact same words when they hustled me over here. Right after they executed one of their own." "What?!" "I don't the incidents are related. The SF picked up something that spooked them. Anyway, I've been trying to raise Courage, but comms are shaky. Tried to pass a message via the Christina. Cutter told me the team's last sitrep was that they were prepping to raid a compound where they suspected the target to be." "Can't be a coincidence." "No," said Claymore. "So what do we do? We can't just wait here." Claymore nodded his head to the room he'd stepped from and led Shockwave past a Marine radio operator to a table. He nodded to the Marine sergeant standing in the corner. "Here's the target compound," he said, pointing to the map. And here's the extraction point. There aren't many routes between either the base or the police compound and that extraction point. But the team won't extract until it's dark." "That's a lot of time to be in a lay-up area." Claymore nodded and pointed to the door. "There's something else I want to show you." The Marine sergeant led them to a gated parking area. Shockwave shook his head at the sight of a beat up little Fiat. The Marine opened the trunk, revealing carbines, body armour and night vision equipment. "The body's crap but the guts are well maintained. We re-wired the dome light. It won't come on when you open the doors," said the Marine. He point to the gear. "My life will be simpler if you can return all of this, but . . ." Shockwave slapped the sergeant on the shoulder, grabbed equipment, and climbed into the car. "Let's provide a little overwatch." |
12-08-2015, 09:15 AM | #272 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,018
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Families huddled in the trees at the edge of the shoreline. Guillermo moved from cluster to cluster, whispering words of encouragement and making sure that blankets and water were appropriately distributed. He tickled a small girl behind her ear and whispered something that elicited a smile. Bullet-Proof glanced at his watch.
"Still another hour," said Courage from his position watching a flank. "Yeah," replied Bullet-Proof, brushing away a mosquito. "Engines," whispered Pathfinder. Courage tilted his head and made out the faint sound of motors in the distance. He glanced over at Guillermo. "Keep everyone quiet." He glanced around at the trees. In the dark they increased potential for confusion. "Keep your men back as the last line of defence. You," he pointed to Long Arm. "Take up a position here. No locals go past you. We'll clear our return through you so we don't get shot by mistake. And keep the Christina updated." Long Arm and the armed Cubans nodded. Courage waved the other Joes forward into an extended line. "More vehicles," whispered Pathfinder, pointing in a different direction. Courage assigned arcs. __ Shockwave opened the Fiat's door and stepped out, stretching his bulky shoulders. "I'm sure I saw lights up ahead." "Me too," said Claymore, playing with a toothpick. He flicked the stick to the ground and raised NVGs. "Movement front," he whispered, pointing. "Over there too," replied Shockwave. Shots rang out and the two groups started exchanging fire. "What the hell?!" ---- "Hold your fire," hissed Courage, listening to the exchange of shots. "No cracks," muttered Pathfinder, referring to the sonic crack of bullets passing overhead. "They're not shooting at us." "Rival gangs?" asked Bullet-Proof. Courage crawled higher on the knoll, trying to get better visibility. Scattered cloud cover blocked the moonlight, adding to uncertainty. "Hold position." ___ "Those are Sombreran SF battle drills," whispered Claymore. "I'm sure those are police SUVs," replied Shockwave. "Think it's a mistake or an intentional fight?" "With these guys it could be both." Claymore chuckled, and turned to Shockwave. "I have an idea," he said, grabbing chemical lightsticks and his night vision goggles. "How's your voice?" He wound his way through trees, activated a chemical light and shoved it in his pocket. He took off his NVGs and hung them backwards from a branch, two green circles of light penetrating the gloom. "Sing like a werewolf," said Claymore. "What?" "Remember asking me about voodoo? Sing like a werewolf." Shockwave cleared his throat and sang through a warm up scale. "Louder." Shockwave repeated the scale. Firing died down, then both groups started firing towards the points of light. Claymore pulled out the chemlight, slashed it with a knife, and sprayed the glowing liquid on a tree trunk. Shockwave increased his pitch and cut off the sound as Claymore snatched the NVGs from the branch. They fanned out, flipped both their sets of NVGs backwards towards the Sombrerans, flashing two new sets of moving green eyes. Shockwave started singing again at a lower pitch. More shots rang out, followed by panicked voices. Car doors slammed, engines roared, and vehicles bounced over the muddy roads, fleeing the area. "I can't believe that just happened," muttered Shockwave. ___ "What the hell just happened?" asked Wide Scope. Courage opened his mouth and closed it. He scanned the area. "I don't know. Keep watching your arcs." He crawled back to Long Arm, who held up the radio. "Christina is in position and has launched both boats." "It's going to take at least an hour to ferry everyone aboard. You take Anderson on the first run. We'll be on the last.” Long Arm nodded. |
12-08-2015, 12:06 PM | #273 |
W.O.R.M.S. Commander
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Back in the US of A! (NoVA)
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Nice use of the most random, useless Joe Qualification next to Bandmember (Glockenspiel). Do you have that planned from the beginning?
Still Hilarious. I feel like Wide Scope though, "What the hell just happened?"
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12-09-2015, 09:34 AM | #274 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
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Evrything has its purpose! As for the confusion, well, that probably sums up the end of most missions!
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12-09-2015, 09:35 AM | #275 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,018
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Topside handed Courage a sheaf of printouts.
"Here are the radio intercepts. The local security forces have lost their minds, hurling accusations back and forth about cops and military interfering with each other’s operations, and supernatural curses. None of it makes any sense." Courage flipped through the papers, grunted, and put them in his pocket. "Thanks," he nodded to Topside. Cutter stared at the mass of people crammed onto the decks of the Christina. The small trawler was never designed for so many. "People are going to crap themselves when they hear of this," he said to Courage. Courage shrugged and pointed to Anderson, cuffed, blindfolded and wearing a lifejacket. "It's all in the name of the mission. And this isn't the first time this team has helped refugees." Cutter spat a jet of tobacco over the side. "Maybe, but it never goes down well." "I think the guy pulling the strings on this one can live with it." "Who's that?" "If I've figured this one out, it's a former ambassador to Sierra Gordo. Hawk managed to irritate him and he's been gunning for Joe ever since." Courage pointed north. "Get us home. And let the appropriate authorities know about them," he said, jerking his thumb at the refugees. "Hell, I think I'm going to recruit one of them." **** Epilogue Colonel Courage walked slowly through Arlington cemetery, the sheer number of tombstones overwhelming his ability to notice any individual names. He looked at the small card he'd received, confirming that he was reaching the right plot. He finally focussed on an individual grave and smiled wryly at the name: General Flagg. "Colonel Courage," came a voice from behind him. Courage turned and stared at a very fit major in dress blues. He ran his eyes over the red arrowhead patch with a dagger on his shoulder, the Ranger tab, the rows of ribbons. "I'm Ambassador Winthrop's aide. The Ambassador will be meeting you shortly. Courage nodded and turned back to the grave. "Did you ever know the general?" asked the major. "No," said Courage, shaking his head. "I know his son. He was one of my Squadron Commander's at the Unit." Courage nodded absently and glanced up when he saw Ambassador Winthrop arrive, walking slowly with the aid of a cane. "You did well Colonel. Your gambit with the refugees has caused consternation in some quarters, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over that." "What do you want?" asked Courage. "Joe is in the clear. You held your side of the deal. I'm holding mine." "Does anyone care at all that the Sombreran military was sheltering Anderson?" "Not really." Courage turned to leave. "Before you go," added Winthrop, "there's something you should know." Courage stopped and turned to face Winthrop. "My sources tell me that Colton is vetting a new CO for Joe. I believe you and Major Latimer were just discussing him. Lieutenant Colonel, Promotable, Flagg." Courage held Winthrop's stare. Winthrop shrugged. "Now, I suppose you think you have a couple of options. But JSOC won't take you, and there may be pressure on the DIA to not take you back. You may find yourself working in the Voluntary Disclosure Program . . . Or you could work for me." Courage raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I chair a few committees. I need people with varied skills. Latimer has done a good job for me, but he's going back to his unit and nothing against him, but I could use someone with more rank. You have my number." He turned and waved to Major Latimer, who fell in beside him, talking quickly about another matter. Courage watched them walk off into the distance, pondering his options. -End- ___ Author's note: The '80's were a rough decade for American special and covert operators . Here are some of the incidents that inspired this story: SEAL Team Six experienced teething problems under founder Cdr Marcinko which that left the unit with a cowboy reputation for years to come. Marcinko fired a young Lt(N) William McRaven, actually using the line "he took the special out of special warfare." Person of the Year Runner-Up: William McRaven -Person of the Year 2011- Printout - TIME Marcinko did not hand over command gracefully, doing everything he could to undermine his successor Beyond Neptune Spear: Secret History of SEAL Team Six Part 1 | SOFREP and even skipping the change of command ceremony. Delta had its own problems. Many operators illegally claimed expenses covered by State while doing bodyguard work for ambassadors, and so many were under investigation that when the Achille Lauro incident occured, the Delta CO had to ask for the investigations to be paused out of concern that he wouldn't have enough operators to carry out his assigned tasks. Black Funds - TIME and ARMY INQUIRY EMBARRASSES INTELLIGENCE UNITS - NYTimes.com Then a former CIA operator somehow cut a deal with Libya to train Libyan security forces. He engaged the services of serving and retired Green Berets The strange case of Sergeant Thompson - CSMonitor.com // http://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/26/us...pagewanted=all, following which a curious thing was discovered: it wasn't illegal for Americans to train terrorists in another country. Go figure. Still, the CIA guy in question served 22 years in jail for other aspects of the case (trying to sell about 20 tons of C4 to an enemy government does in fact turn out to be illegal), but recently his conviction was overturned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_P._Wilson. One final footnote that goes beyond the scope of this story: some of the bank accounts and front companies set up during these events were used one more time, and that was to facilitate the events of the Iran-Contra scandal. Sometimes there's a reason for having and enforcing regulations . . . |
12-09-2015, 11:00 AM | #276 |
W.O.R.M.S. Commander
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Back in the US of A! (NoVA)
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Nice tidy conclusion, with the door left open to continue the adventure. How long was Courage in Command? He seemed like he was able to change a lot in the time frame how ever long that was.
I like how you have moved on from the founding members and created a story with some of the underutilized Joes. I will have to follow the links, but I have enjoyed how you have found inspiration in some true life events. Will we see more of Super Trooper? I'm just imagining how these chain of command will rotate through Officers and Sgt Majors. Have you introduced Falcon yet? Rapid-Fire, Barrage, Steeler? I will have to go back a ways? Also what is Voluntary Disclosure Program? For Taxes?
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Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. |
12-09-2015, 11:23 AM | #277 |
Crimson Guard
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Location: Canada
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Quote:
Nice tidy conclusion, with the door left open to continue the adventure. How long was Courage in Command? He seemed like he was able to change a lot in the time frame how ever long that was.
I like how you have moved on from the founding members and created a story with some of the underutilized Joes. I will have to follow the links, but I have enjoyed how you have found inspiration in some true life events. Will we see more of Super Trooper? I'm just imagining how these chain of command will rotate through Officers and Sgt Majors. Have you introduced Falcon yet? Rapid-Fire, Barrage, Steeler? I will have to go back a ways? Also what is Voluntary Disclosure Program? For Taxes? I figure Courage gets a little less than a year of command, with one mission of his own. Time enough to clean up some processes. Perhaps not long enough to change a whole operating culture. As for chain of command, since I don't really connect my short stories there won't be much consistency in officer or NCO progression (see author note in post 173). Heck, I wrote a short story about Courage losing a leg in Grenada (posts 91-96), and that guy isn't connected with the one in this story. But if I decide to do a sequel, I'll try to be clear about where the story picks up. As an aside, I put titles on each of the stories (an option in the "Go Advanced" tab). They used to be visible over each post, but lately I don't see them. Is that a tech issue on my end or is it across the board? If so I may have to go back to embed titled in each post for the sake of clarity. |
12-09-2015, 02:43 PM | #278 |
W.O.R.M.S. Commander
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Back in the US of A! (NoVA)
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I wonder if you ever put it all in one book you can retcon some of the older stories to tie them all in together? Leave the dates out? Or push it further in the future if there is too much of a difference. Although that First Hawk seemed different then the one that just got the boot.
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12-26-2015, 06:43 PM | #279 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,018
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Quote:
I wonder if you ever put it all in one book you can retcon some of the older stories to tie them all in together? Leave the dates out? Or push it further in the future if there is too much of a difference. Although that First Hawk seemed different then the one that just got the boot.
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07-12-2016, 07:09 PM | #280 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,018
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The Ride Around Frusenland
Author's Note: I'm trying something a little different here. This story has a fairly large cast of characters and vehicles, some of which are a bit obscure. I've put a footnote at the first mention of a character or vehicle so readers can quickly see who/what they're reading about, along with occasional references to ARAH sources of ideas. Similarly, I've put in footnotes for references to real world weapons, vehicles and equipment. I've also included an orbat to help you follow along. Let me know if any of this is useful or if it gets in the way. This is a story about Joe armour. I know some people here disregard the vehicles and see Joe as a corollary of Delta or SAS or whatever. Sometimes I see them that way too. But there's no escaping the plethora of vehicles Hasbro put out, and this is a platform for them to shine. Finally, many thanks to those who offered great suggestions in my orbat over at the "What Secrets Lurk in the Filecards" thread. ********************************************* Major Storm[1] wiped his grease-covered hands on a rag and leaned over Hot Seat’s[2] shoulder, reading down the checklist that Hot Seat was reviewing. Hot Seat checked a couple of items, chewed the end of his pen and rolled his shoulder in the motion of a jab. He glanced at the mud-streaked Mauler,[3] running his eyes over the track pads, and checked off another item. Storm nodded absently to himself, turned away and looked down the short column of Maulers parked on the cracked concrete pad. “They’ve seen better days,” said Thunderwing,[4] holding a clipboard with a sheaf of papers fluttering in the light breeze. “I still think the Frusenland tankers should be here with us going over them. It’s not like they’re busy with that Borovian phoney war. They’re gonna be their babies soon enough.” Storm grunted. “Yeah,” continued Thunderwing, trying to read his boss’ expression. He held up the clipboard and pointing to the Quickstrike[5] parked by the trees. “Well, gotta drop these off,” Major Storm nodded and frowned, catching sight of a moving dust cloud over the tops the trees. He moved down the line of tanks to the road, catching sight of a jeep coming around the bend. The jeep pulled up beside him, and Storm’s eyebrows rose in surprise at sight of the passenger. “Hawk!”[6] Storm bent lower, catching the driver’s eye. “Barrage[7] – what are you doing driving around here?!” “No time for pleasantries,” said Hawk. “Where’s your command post?” "It's a coordination post Hawk," said Major Storm with a sigh. "Commanders fight and lead from tanks." "Ok Rommel. Where's your CP?" Storm pointed to the Quickstrike and Hawk nodded. “Meet me there with your commanders.” Storm stepped back as the jeep pulled away, caught Backstop’s[8] eye, tapped his shoulder and pointed to the Quickstrike. Backstop nodded, put down his torque wrench and started moving between vehicles, tapping turrets and calling names. Major Storm walked around the Quickstrike, past the tent attached to the rear[9] and ducked under the canvas. The small CP area strained to contain the bulky men crowded around a folding table. Steeler[10] and Thunderwing were adjusting a map and a pair of hardened laptops, and Hawk pointed to a board listing the condition of all the vehicles and the maintenance priorities. “You’re doing good work. Wolkekuckukkland hardly took care of them,[11] and after selling them here I didn’t expect any of them to run.” Storm jerked his thumb in the direction of the pad. “Dodger[12] and Cold Front[13] put together a good maintenance program and Armadillo[14] stripped all the hulks sent over for cannibalization. The rest was elbow grease.” Hawk grinned quickly, the smile fading as Rapid Fire[15] joined them. “Right. Maintenance time is over and there’s a change in mission.” Storm glanced up from his notepad. “We’re not handing these over to the Frusenland Army. Not yet anyway.” “We gonna use ‘em?” asked Steeler with a hungry grin. Hawk aimed his pistol’s laser marker at the Frusenland-Borovia boder. “The phoney war's gone hot. Earlier today ethnic Borovians in a Frusenland border town started a protest. It got out of hand and part of the city caught fire. Borovians said that toxic smoke was blowing into Borovia and firefighters crossed the border to "assist." They came under attack from locals. So the Borovian Army and police crossed the border to protect the firefighters." "Sounds a mess," said Major Storm, "but no cause for tanks or Joe." "No," continued Hawk, swinging the laser to one of Frusenland’s peninsulas on the map. "A few hours ago Borovian naval infantry conducted an amphibious landing and are quickly moving inland. We’ve got an ODA[16] working at the Frusenland NCO academy in that region. Get them out.” “Are the Frusenlanders responding?” Hawk shook his head. “They had some coastal defence units that were overrun. There’s a reserve battalion in the area, but they got caught at home and are all scattered. And it's Saturday, so most of the Frusenland Army has gone home for the weekend. It'll take them a couple of days to mobilise. They're drawing up a static defensive line behind you while they prepare a counterattack.” Thunderwing rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yeah,” said Hawk. “They talk like Sherman, but they fight like McClellan. I’ve got some support vehicles moving up to join you.[17] You can get additional fire support from Barrage, as long as you’re in range. He’s got a pair of Warthogs[18] on the static line with long range rockets.[19] Four mounted and four reloads. Sub Zero[20] and Downtown[21] are training Fruselanders to use the SLAMs.[22] With luck they may be persuaded to offer some support. And I can get you a second CP,” Hawk added, looking at Storm while trying to suppress a smile. "I'll be in a Mauler," growled Storm. “Air support?” “Nil,” said Major Barrage. “I've got Grand Slam[23] and the RPV,[24] so at least that’s something for surveillance. We may have a carrier in range with 96 hours. Frusenland may provide air medevac, as long as it’s at night and there’s no immediate threat.” Storm nodded, running calculations in his head. He glanced at Steeler who was measuring distances on the map and making fuel estimates. He circled a couple of locations on the map. “If we can seize these fuel depots we’ll be ok. Otherwise, we'll have to seize a Borovian refuelling point.” “That’d be pretty ninja,” laughed Rapid Fire. Major Storm rubbed his chin, thinking of the prospect of tanks running dry and surrounded by Borovians. Which was basically the condition of that ODA right now. “Ok. We leave tonight. Radio silence, and no running lights.” He glanced at his watch. “Orders here in two hours.” Hawk clapped each man on the shoulder on his way out. “Good hunting,” he said, holding Storm’s eye. Barrage gripped Storm’s hand. “Keep feeding me targets bro.” Storm nodded, pulled up a folding metal chair, and started developing a plan. _____ 1 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/mjrstorm.jpg 2 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...es/hotseat.jpg 3 YOJOE.COM | Mauler M.B.T. Tank 4 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...hunderwing.jpg 5 YOJOE.COM | Quickstrike 6 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...e/39/79317.jpg 7 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...arrage1_fc.jpg 8 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/backstop.jpg 9 Similar to http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...m577a3_001.jpg 10 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...e/40/69144.jpg 11 See http://www.yojoe.com/comics/joe/joe88.shtml 12 http://www.yojoe.com/action/87/dodger.shtml 13 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/coldfron.jpg 14 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/armadill.jpg 15 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/rapidfir.jpg 16 http://www.americanspecialops.com/special-forces/odas/ 17 http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/85/bridgelayer/ + http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/85/bombdisposal/ + http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/89/equalizer/ + http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/91/brawler/ + http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/83/apc/ 18 http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/88/warthog/ 19 The Warthog blueprints call them Lance rockets. They likely have characteristics somewhere between Lance (MGM-52, not 59) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM-52_Lance and ATACMS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM-140_ATACMS 20 http://www.yojoe.com/action/90/subzero.shtml 21 http://www.yojoe.com/action/89/downtown.shtml 22 http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/87/slam/ 23 http://www.yojoe.com/images/resize/w...s/grandslm.jpg 24 http://www.yojoe.com/vehicles/88/rpv/ |
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