Rip hopped out of the Storm with a thud and walked up to her comrades, talking in the distance. From the sounds of their conversation they were conversing about the state of New Hangzhou and introducing themselves. As she reached the group she looked up to the sky to check the time of day then draped her sniper rifle across her shoulders and replied in a very thick Rhineland accent. (//Voice clip for accent reference)
"Introductions may be well and good mein friends, however the sun will set soon and I dont think we will enjoy being stuck outside in the dark no? By the way my name is Rip Van Winkle. Schön, Sie zu treffen mein friends."
"Do you have an idea what is void? The all-embracing, terrifying void around you? Well, then you'll never understand what is cost of loyalty to Bretonian Crown. It takes lives, lives of those who are serving, with just a postmortem medal for another "hero" that paid "for his country and for his Queen".
Richard took a small pause.
"My commander taught me how to survive, but haven't told me why do I need. Life is a weird thing that occurs only once, so enjoy every moment of your life. The cruel world outside may take it suddenly."
His face lighted with tired smile.
"Richard Dreyfus, bretonian marksman, bomber pilot, MIA lieutenant, enlisted in SCRA.
I'll just wish you good luck."
To Ran's surprise, the man revealed himself as a Bretonian. Bold move, thought Ran, anyone who praises a Queen around here usually finds themselves looking down the barrel of a shotgun. He was a brave man and what he said was certainly wise.
But Ran's attention was quickly shifted to the Rheinlander, whose accent was as thick as the hunks of meat, chocolate and lager they consume in the food abundant country. Try not to think of food, Ran, she thought, trying to avoid the inevitable of her ration bars running out. The woman made a point though, darkness would soon set in and there some people Ran wouldn't trust under the mysterious blanket of night, in which backstabs and knockouts were a common occurrence. "Ran Zheng, comrades. Nice to meet you all."
Corporal Ledanov, Coalition Marines - A Journey to prove oneself
Amidst the already rousing other participants of the Trials stood a relatively large man, though he had fallen silent since before they all boarded the storm. He'd looked around, scanned the surroundings that they had been placed into. New Hangzhou off into the distance was the goal, or better said the far side of it. This is where he would reach, with or without the rest of these muppets. He checked his gear, the Seeker was locked and loaded, two rations bars, one half-filled canteen and a knife. He shrugged off some dust from the landing before he finally turned to the others.
"I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a sitting duck any longer. We should head out, but not pack all together. The larger our group the easier we are spotted by whatever lies ahead. If two of you want to join me, feel free. Best of luck, comrades."
With that, Ledanov spun on the heel of his combat boots, the gray overall he wore catching specs of mud in the turn, and began to march straight towards the city, his rifle always raised and scanning the surroundings, his step small as he slowly waded into the higher grasses, trying to find a path or similar, not looking back to see if anyone was going to follow him. The Trials were his chance to advance within the Marines, he had gone voluntarily to show to his commanders that he was ready to advance, that he was worthy.
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LT Jackson Cormack - LZ "Strelok", Planet JiangXi Jackson turned at the sound of the Corporal speaking, eying him up and down quickly. For once, Jackson actually thought favorably of someone within the massive cluster of inept cadets, and began to shift over to him, throwing him a two-finger salute as he walked.
"Lieutenant Cormack. You seem to be competent enough for my tastes. I'll come along wi' ya."
His thick Texan accent cut through the air like a KA-BAR through a vine, putting him more than a bit out of place from the rest of the persons around. As he examined the man in Coalition marine uniform in front of him, he cracked a small smile. Someone competent, by the looks of it. Cormack took a quick scan of the surrounding environs before stepping off behind the man, hand resting on the holster housing his MP 802.
Seeing the sudden marine press forward with such authority gave him admirable aspects in the eyes of Ran. She too turned on her heel and waved the group goodbye.
"Goodbye, best of luck!" she said, a devious smile etched across her face. She caught up to Cormack, the Texas man who stuck out like a sore thumb when he spoke, and the new marine. Silently she stuck at the back, keeping an eye out for danger and risks that may follow them. Her boots crunched and mashed the grass simultaneously and the smell of garbage and irradiation became potent the closer they came to the city.
And we're off, she thought, her mind and body ready for the challenges ahead.
As the Coalitioners prepared themselves and started to split off into their own different groups they took a good look at the landscape before them. The outskirts of New Hangzhou consisted primarily of grassy plains with large patches of dead grass intermittently, in these patches were puddles of murky sickly-green water that looked simply disgusting to even the most hardy of people. The long grass around them could easily conceal Stalker herds that have been known to roam the outskirts, the Stalkers used the fields as their game hunting grounds, the multiple ambush sites gave them a clear edge over the small creatures that burrowed into the ground such as rabbits and rodents.
As Ledanov started to move towards the city in the distance and into the grass-line a series of howls could be heard, apparently the Storm's arrival and their loud voices had attracted the attention of one of the denizens of the plains to their location, behind the ground from the opposite direction of the city the sound of tramping paws could be heard along with the occasional splash of puddles.
As they exited the grass line the group got their first look at some of JiangXi's wildlife. They looked very much like wolves, however their fur was obviously twisted from what it once was, along the back the fur that normally covered the top and upper part of their sides were sharp spine-like hairs that looked deadly to the touch, white-yellow teeth were bared in challenge to the group as the small group of Stalkers exited the grass-line into the clearing, slowing down and starting to circle around the edges, staring them down with cold black eyes as low growls emanated from their throats. The group could count nine of the beasts in total, they would have to act fast before the Stalker Wolves decided that this group was easy prey to their pack and would become their next meal. The Alpha's spine-hairs are currently raised in agitation, clearly highly aggressive to their mere presence while the rest of the pack looks on hungrily.
Richard found himself in five steps from Ledanov. He raised his rifle at creatures, counting ammo that he may lose in fight with these creatures, and whispered loudly:
"I'm ready to fire. But I think that shotguns and rifles must be more useful right now."
As the situation was going to become more and more dangerous, Richard felt freeze on his spine. Confused, he concentrated on sudden enemies, holding them at gunpoint.
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LT Jackson Cormack - LZ "Strelok", Planet JiangXi Jackson swore under his breath as he noted the appearance of the pack of mangy wolves. He immediately reached for his MP 802 pistol, ripping it violently out of its holster, and raised it to fire. He pulled back the slide to check the bullet inside, flicked off the safety, and eyed in on the nearest Stalker - the alpha male, if you will.
"Come at me, you sad excuse of a pig.", he growled as he pressed down hard on the trigger, sending a burst careening toward the target.
The howling in the distance caused Rip to turn towards the source of the sound sharply. She could see the wolves running towards them fast. Quickly she knelt down and lined her eye with her scope.
Holding the rifle with one hand she used the other to cock the rifle. Three shots rang out, one after another in succession. Each one hit their marks between the eyes. Hopefully one bullet each in the head would keep them down. However with the beasts on this rock she wouldn't be surprised if they just got back up and shook it off