|
Community Links |
Social Groups |
Pictures & Albums |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
05-06-2018, 10:41 PM | #1 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 7
|
Fan-Fiction about a group of Iron Grenadier Commandos.
MARS-ART Project Chapter 1: The Exchange By: Chris Roberts The little Cessna plane cruises along at a casual pace, with the sun just beginning to set over the western hills. The four individuals in back have their skydiving gear already on and are awaiting the signal from the two pilots. Although this trip over the Slavic countryside could be considered an all-expense paid sight-seeing excursion, everybody onboard the small plane works for MARS Industries. Beneath their civilian skydiving harnesses, they wear black BDU pants and shirts. “Two minutes,” the co-pilot hollers back. The four veteran soldiers start adjusting their harnesses, attach backpacks to their fronts, and canvas weapons cases to their belts. With the team checking each other over to make sure everything is secure and parachute packs look good, the Team Leader of Charlie Team, Staff Sergeant Z, gives a harsh once over to his two newest team members, Sergeant Landis and Corporal Shaw. Even though they’d spent the last month training together, this four-man team was comparable to the Royal Marine Commandos or the US Rangers, and Staff Sergeant Z feels there is no room for error and has been fairly strict with his two new team members. The primary mission types for the unit are assault or reconnaissance, with this mission in the latter category. Using civilian skydiving gear to parachute into rugged Croatian hillsides out of a civilian plane, their objective is to get in, observe, and get out without anyone else knowing. “Alright you two przegranych, listen up. You passed the assessment, and I didn’t have to yell at you too much during the last four weeks of team drills and weapons qualifications, but you haven’t been through the Project Cadre’s training, so you are still new guys to this unit. This is a recon mission, which we are to leave no trace, and there will be no direct support nearby. Sergeant Landis and I will be alternating on point, as we have the suppressed submachine guns in case we make contact. Shaw, you are third in the linear patrol. Both of you go over your Immediate Action Drills in your head. Sergeant Bain and I have been on several operations together, he’s Assistant Team Leader, and he’ll be bringing up the rear.” The stout Scotsman, Bain, gives the new guys a nod and smile, and the look on his face is reassuring that he’ll be watching their backs, and everything will be okay. As for first missions, this should be a good one, with less combat expected than either of them had seen in past units. “Approaching drop zone,” the co-pilot announces. “You are a go!” The pilot and co-pilot each reach one hand back and give the four commandos a thumbs up. Staff Sergeant Z acknowledges and dives headfirst out the Cessna’s doorway, with the rest of the team directly behind him. -- “Landis, Shaw, roll up the chutes, and stash all the extra gear. Be sure it is all concealed properly,” Staff Sergeant Z barks at his team, as he reviews his map and orients himself to the current landscape. I whisper to Shaw as we stuff everything in some thick bushes, “I think Sarge is warming up to us, he didn’t cuss at us that time.” “Maybe after this mission, and maybe for you Landis. I’ll still be the lowest man of rank, and he does believe in pushing things to the bottom.” Even in a whisper, Shaw’s Manchester accent is noticeable. We give each other a smug smile. Shaw is a tall and broad-shouldered guy with a shaved head, he passes me another parachute and since I’m the slimmer build, I crawl under the bush to stash it deeper out of sight. This is my first mission with this new unit assignment, but as with most Iron Grenadiers, we live up to the title of grenadier meaning veteran; I came from the United States Army. With MARS Industries based out of Scotland, there is a majority of troops coming from British military units, such as Shaw and the Scottish-born Bain. Others come from various spots in Europe, such as our Staff Sergeant team leader who we call Sergeant Z, but his last name is a long Polish name starting with a ‘z’ and ending in ‘ski’. Coming from US Army Infantry service as a Sergeant, I had originally signed on as essentially a mercenary in the standard Iron Grenadier forces. After a couple years assigned as a regular Infantry Iron Grenadier with the 1st Castle Guard Battalion, I was asked if I would volunteer for an elite unit; something that was inside of this already elite mercenary outfit ran by the impressive Laird Destro. I had to say yes, as I knew I would be passed up if I hesitated too long. I am indeed excited for the honor to be an Iron Commando. Prior to being told my transfer was authorized and I was being assigned to the MARS-ART Project, I had no idea this unit existed. Actually, when the words ‘art project’ was said, I had a mental image of art class and painting pictures. The primary company ran by Destro, is the Military Armaments Research Syndicate known as MARS, and the project is the Applied Research & Training (ART) Project led by General Mayhem, a brilliant and hardened former Russian Special Operations Commander. For the last month our four-man team has been training six-days a week, becoming a tight unit, and working with the other three teams of four in our Detachment. Two of those teams are airborne assault troops, known as Iron Anvils, while our team and one other team are elite Infantry units training to use a variety of MARS Industries hi-tech weaponry, but particularly the heavy automatic assault cannons and light-weight anti-tank rockets, while also becoming more proficient with our submachine guns and handguns. During our trainings we’ve had a variety of personnel from Laird Destro’s elite cadre come and watch our activities, including General Mayhem the Project Commander, Sergeant Major Duncan the senior NCO over all the Iron Grenadiers, and Warrant Officer McHardy our Detachment Operations Sergeant. There was definitely some input from them, yet they seemed pleased as we ran through everything from helicopter air-assault drills to live-fire house clearing drills with hostage and hostile target acquisition training. This being my first mission, I was surprised that the technologically advanced Iron Grenadier helmets and ultra-light assault body armor that we trained with for the past four weeks, were not issued for this mission. Anything identifying us to Destro’s Iron Grenadier private army or MARS Industries were removed for this particular mission. We were issued all black bdu outfits with black boonie hats, OD green tactical gear, and weapons acquired off the European Black Market, so nothing is manufactured by nor can be traced back to MARS Industries. Staff Sergeant Z had started out the patrol moving East with him on point and Sergeant Bain at the rear, then about three kilometers in, we divert due North for five-hundred meters then stop. We pause in a circle amongst some brush, each watching an assigned direction, and wait five minutes to see if anybody was following us. Sergeant Z signals for me to walk point, again headed straight East, but every so often he’ll have us divert North for five-hundred meters and stop. The colorful sunset has completely set, and we continue in the dark, as I lead Charlie Team through these forested hills of the Balkans. They are calling this an Observation mission, with an intelligence source creating a suspicion that Darklon, who I have heard is a former friend of Destro, is making unauthorized sales of MARS Industries equipment to an unknown terrorist group. Our four-man team is to study and confirm all that we can, then after observing and hopefully identifying the buyers, report back. For communications, Sergeant Z and Sergeant Bain, were issued disposable “burner” cell phones, only to be used to make emergency calls to report time-sensitive information, or to call for extraction. Primary instruction is to not engage, not be seen, and be sure we cannot be identified as part of Destro’s Iron Grenadier forces. So, while MARS creates the best weapons and equipment, myself and Z were issued old Israeli Uzis with suppressors, while Bain and Shaw have Eastern Bloc AK-47’s for a little more firepower. If captured it is imperative that Darklon not have confirmation that Destro is spying on him, and we all realize that if we are captured there will be nobody bartering for our release. Cresting the tip of the hill, I lay prone next to the base of a tree, as it is about 2AM the glow of the moon barely illuminates a road to my front at the bottom of the hill. Sergeant Z crawls up beside me and confirms that we have indeed arrived at our target zone. Using the PVS-14 monocle night vision device I observe the surrounding forest in all directions, while Z pulls out his binoculars and scans the other side of the hill we are on. The road to our front curves to our right side according to the map and heads South, while we can see in the moonlight that to our front-left a flatter hill across the way where the road widens out. The road was probably built during the early Yugoslavia era, intel says it is hardly used anymore, and the sellers sent by Darklon are headed to that location. With the area appearing clear, we stand up and slowly move forward in the dark while our two teammates move to the top and provide overwatch. Sergeant Z instructs me to setup the actual OP as he points to a spot on the side of the steep hill. “Landis, check out that spot there, confirm line of sight, make it clear, then get your camo net from your pack and suspend it.” In the dim moonlight, I think only a few tree branches will be obstructing our line of sight to the road way where the intel source indicated the exchange will be taking place later this morning. I move branches out of the way on the ground, but in this light, it’s hard to make out if there are any nasty bugs or snakes with us in this semi-flat divot. My patrol pack has a small side pocket I stuffed a camo net into, so I extract it and hang it above the ground about four feet from four trees. The back of the Observation Post has two large trees for cover, but a decent field of view looking up the hill behind the OP, so we will see if anybody come up behind us as they will be silhouetted on the crest of the hill. The camo net should obscure us from aerial observation and shadow us from viewers from the front. Once we all settle in, Shaw and I are instructed to rest, while Sergeant Z sits up his camera on its small tripod, aiming it to the Northeast where the flat hill is located, and Bain provides rear security. With my pack leaning on one of the big trees, I lay back against it, and pull the front of the boonie hat down enough to shadow my eyes but I can still peak out the sides without moving. I cradle that old Uzi against my chest as I try to drift off for an hour, and while the Uzi-style MARS submachine gun, XLMP-88, is a superior weapon, I’m starting to grow comfortable with the feel of this old battered suppressed Uzi. --- During the night, we had switched positions, but as it is now an hour after sunrise we are all four alert and awake when we hear vehicle noise on the road. Coming around the base of the hill we are on, two pickup trucks come from the South and stop at the flattened part of the hill. Intel did not know anything about the buyers, only that Darklon had arranged to meet somebody in this area to sell some MARS-designed weapons, including a new man-portable anti-aircraft missile launcher. In the back of those pickups is each a machine gun, so those must be the forward security. Once the pickup trucks are set, three cargo trucks pull up and use the wide gravel road and grass areas to turn around, so they are facing back down towards the South and ready to escape. The back of the cargo trucks are facing away from us, so it is hard to see exactly what is going on, but we see several armed men get out. They look like low-level mercenaries or gun-runners, dressed in tan pants and black shirts with black masks covering their faces, but some of them appear to have nice, modern H&K rifles. After about ten minutes, on the far side of the exchange site we see and hear at the same time, a pair of Darklon’s Python Patrol HISS tanks appear, and face off against the two pickup trucks with their puny machine guns. One shot from those HISS tanks would tear apart those trucks. The dark red with yellow checker-pattern of the Python Patrol units is a stealth technology to make it difficult for radar elements to pick up those units, and the engines and vehicle exhausts have been modified to significantly decrease the noise from the vehicles, so all that is heard is the tank treads crunching on the gravel of the roadway. Now that the tanks are in position, and it appears the gun-running mercs are not going to get aggressive, we see two new six-wheeled flatbed trucks escorted by two pythonized jeeps also pull up to the exchange site. With the binoculars I see two guys in grey get out of the jeeps, and two buyers from the merc group meet in the middle of the exchange site. Sergeant Z is snapping away with the camera, taking pictures of everything, and zooming in on the buyers so hopefully someone back at headquarters can later identify them. After a typical briefcase exchange, large crates are being transferred from the flatbed trucks to the old beat-up deuce-and-a-half cargo trucks, so the exchange should be over soon. The plan is for us to stay at the OP for an hour after the exchange is over, to ensure nobody sees us leave. With the trucks loaded, everything is almost wrapped up except for walking back out of here across Croatia. So far, an easy mission. I yank the binoculars down from my face and look up as I hear a whistle noise overhead for about two-seconds, then the exchange site is rocked by explosions. All four of us naturally tense up, we grip our weapons tighter, and press our bodies to the ground. We wait, then a second round of missiles impacts the exchange site. I see two of the gun-running mercs’ cargo trucks driving away, the rest of the flatbed and pickup trucks are burning or are just pieces of twisted metal. I hear Bain holler to Sergeant Z, “there’s a handful of those mercs running for the hills, and in our direction”. “Everybody grab packs and move. We have unknown aircraft and ground troops in the area,” Sergeant Z gives us new orders. “Landis, on point headed West; move out briskly. Bain, cover our rear.” Weaving between trees, we move at a fast walk up the hill, as the battle rages behind us. I can hear the tank cannons fire a couple times, machine guns and assault rifles I assume shooting at the unknown aircraft dropping missiles on their heads, but I don’t think anybody is firing at us. If we can just get all four of us to the opposite side of this hill, we can get back to a stealthier patrol pace and slip out of here, nobody will know we were there, we’ll take our pictures back to headquarters, and General Mayhem will be proud of our little recon. That got crazy quickly, and it would have been too easy for a stray round to get us. Bain even thought he heard at least two sniper rifle rounds to the left of our observation post. That enemy could not be identified, so unknown if they are part of the smuggler group, or more likely part of the G.I. Joe team who called in the stealth jet fighter/bomber. If there is a Joe team in the area, and on the same hill, movement out of there must be quick and quiet, which are contradictory elements. Sergeant Z keeps me on point to lead the team out of the mess. Sergeant Z’s head is on a constant pivot, as he takes up the second-man spot on the patrol. Shaw is behind him, with Bain again taking up the rear-guard position as he is “eagle-eyeing” the area behind them to ensure nobody sees the four men moving deeper into the woods. Crossing the middle of the next hill, we’ve caught our breath, and just as I think we’ve got this, I hear an explosion that sounds like it came from the road that heads South. I freeze in my step and look back, where Sergeant Z is about 30 feet behind me, I catch his eye and he signals to keep moving forward. “Contact right!” I’ve taken a few more steps when I hear Sergeant Bain yell out. As Bain turns, yelling out, he fires a couple rounds from his assault rifle, yet the lone opponent that just crested the hill to our side, fires his sub-machine gun first, hitting Bain with a burst of bullets across the torso. I instantly react to the gunfire by jumping back a pace to a tree I just passed, and from the cover of the tree I spray a horizontal line of bullets in the direction I think the opponent is located. Not able to see where the enemy fire is coming from, Shaw had immediately gone prone to the ground and has begun firing long bursts from his AK47 to the right flank, hoping to provide some amount of covering fire, before they either assault forward into the ambush, or make a hasty retreat. Sergeant Z leaps over a bush and lands with a roll coming up next to Shaw. “Shaw, I’ve got the claymore! Grab Bain. We are moving out of here, now!” In an outside pocket of Shaw’s backpack is a special claymore directional mine that Z grabs, and quickly plants it on the opposite of a tree, facing the enemy, then unspools the prepped firing cord around the trigger device. The enemy fire stops momentarily, which was perfect timing as Shaw grabs Bain and heaves him onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. With blood from Bain oozing down his neck, Shaw is fueled with adrenaline, and takes off at a jog down the hill. As soon as Sergeant Z blows the claymore mine explosive device, which sends ball bearing shrapnel flying towards their enemy like some ginormous shotgun blast, I cease firing, knowing that is the signal to peel off and get out of there. Z and I take off at a sprint to catch up with Shaw. To further dissuade any opponents we face, this “special” claymore that is kept ready to go, had a plastic soap tray filled with CS powder taped to the face of it, so even after the explosion has sent steel balls flying at our opponent and rattles their eardrums, a cloud of tear gas lingers amongst the trees for several minutes to further delay pursuit. The wooded hillside goes quiet as the cacophonous crescendo of bullets and explosions settles into the sounds of tree debris falling. After an exhausting 300-yard sprint around the side of a hill in full battle gear and a wounded teammate on his back, Corporal Shaw stops and as gently as possible lowers Bain to the ground next to some large trees. Sergeant Z gives him the silent signal to observe their backtrail, as he and I start combat lifesaving treatment on Bain. Bain is barely conscious from blood loss, but the new holes have been patched, and some pain killer has been administered. A folded up carrying litter with webbing handles is pulled from a backpack and laid out, then Bain is quietly and gently placed on it. Z whispers to Shaw to grab Bain’s rifle and backpack, get the backup burner cellphone, and dump the rest of the gear in the pond we passed on the way in, which is a relatively short distance ahead. The trek through the woods is uneventful. After passing the pond, and getting next to a two-lane highway, Sergeant Z pulls out his phone to contact base, so that the call is less likely to be identified with other cellphones active in the area. Being on this reduced-tech, black operation recon mission, nobody outside of our team of four has any knowledge of what has transpired. Using pre-assigned code words in the conversation, in case the phone signal is intercepted by unfriendly sources, a transport truck from a contracted civilian will pick up the team, and transport us first to an emergency medical care site for our critical team-member. Once Bain is stabilized, they’ll then continue trucking us to a small-town airfield for transport home. Hopefully it is a quick flight, and we can get Bain back to Scotland. |
05-06-2018, 10:43 PM | #2 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 7
|
If you enjoy this story, please check out the upcoming chapters, and [LIKE] the Facebook page for this storyline.
https://www.facebook.com/MARSARTProject/ Chapter Two: Echo Mission http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...apter-two.html Thank you! Last edited by Pyre99; 05-06-2018 at 11:08 PM.. |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Vehicles MARS Industries Project D-49 (GI Joe/Transformers Crossover Shockwave) | Datstro | G.I. Joe Customs Finished Projects | 12 | 01-10-2016 01:04 PM |
OPERATION H.I.S.S. Chapter 9 is HERE! | tkprime | G.I. Joe Animation Discussion | 12 | 10-09-2010 12:03 PM |
Blockbuster files Chapter 11 | Cobra80 | Movies DVD Television | 10 | 09-27-2010 11:41 PM |
Final Chapter is up ! | jamarmiller | G.I. Joe General Discussion | 0 | 02-03-2008 09:37 PM |
|
|