You are Ricky Montana, Sergeant in the UNSC Army, 12.11.2552, currently assigned to 13th AD, 45th Bat, as a Tanker.
There are currently 231 Scorpions, 54 Rhinos, 36 Elephants, 378 Warthogs, 400 Tractor units, and more than 10,000 enlisted men about to step off.
But all this pales in comparison to, "WHAT THE FUCK, MAINTENANCE." You stare at your disemboweled tank, mouth agape. The track pods strewn across the floor of the Elephant, while the turret dangles precariously from the internal crane.
Your shout was loud, louder than the roaring engines powering the damn thing, loud enough in fact to rouse a response from the shiftless bum you call a Mechanic. A young sandy haired man peeps up from behind the wreck of your Scorpion, as he runs over you can see his freckled face, clean this morning, is now marred with soot and grease stains. "Okay, I know what you're thinking, I can explain..."
You stare at him, just waiting for a response that might cure your blood lust. A silence surrounds you as he stares back meekly. "Well?"
"Oh, I thought you was gonna yell at me like Mah, and Gunny do." He chuckles hesitantly as if to get you onside with a bit of humor. "Right, so while I was servicing the auto-loader I saw that the track pods weren't movin' properly so we pulled them off ta take a look. I was gonna have it all together before you got back but then some stuff happened and now I don't have it all back." He lets a sigh escape while awaiting your answer.
Step off is at daybreak tomorrow, whether or not your tank is ready the Battalion is going to roll out and you're going to be riding with the POGs until it gets done and that sure as shit isn't happening "This better be fixed by the time we leave tomorrow." You plant a finger on his chest. "Or I'm gonna be riding YOU into battle."
"Ye-yes, sir. Don'chu worry." He offers up a snappy salute.
[1/2]
>>44557136
"Sir," he calls as you prepare to leave, "seeing as we've got the turret off we can make some uh... alterations, you know maybe you want a Sun Devil, or a Tarantula or somethin'. Just food fer thought."
You pause to weigh your options. It's a 100km march to Voi from the current staging point at the base of Kilimanjaro, you're doubtful there will be anytime to make changes to the armament during the march. The briefing earlier today indicated that contact with Covenant forces would be made at some point, composition from flyovers, and satellite imagery indicates the majority of resistance to be ground vehicles, most air power is concentrated around the ships between Voi and Mombasa.
The terrain is largely flat once you leave the Kilimanjaro area, it's easy to pass a Scorpion around the trees or even roll over them, however LOS appears to range from 1km to 3km.
The M808B has fared well against Covenant forces. Strong against Heavy vehicles, Canister shot supplements the coaxial gun in an AI roll, however relatively long reload puts it at a disadvantage.
The M808B2 is extremely effective against enemy infantry and light vehicles. Able to punch through shielded infantry and shred anything fast. Ineffective against heavy vehicles. Doesn't need to reload.
The M808B3 has not fared well against the Covenant due to the loss of the main gun to the dual rocket pods. By far the most destructive Scorpion variant able to lay down a salvo that would impress a Rhino Platoon, it's let down by the inability to reload without a support vehicle which is seldom available while in combat.
> M808B
> M808B2
> M808B3
>>44557156
>> M808B
As a side note, you have my attention, pls dont disappear
>>44557156
M808B. What's the point of a tank if not to kill other tanks?
As smart as Mikey is, he does the stupidest shit when nobody is around to micro-manage. Idiot-savant is the word, or maybe just plain idiot. "Leave my tank how it is..." You trail off and think for a second because he might take it literally. "I mean fix my tank, make her like new."
"Yes, sir. You can count on me." He scampers back to the far side of the Scorpion and disappears into the guts of the beast. As far as you can tell he's the only one working on your Scorpion at the moment, and as energetic as Mikey is, it's still gonna be tough to get her back together.
You step out of the Elephant, leaving Mikey to his business. It's about 5pm right now, dusk is setting in, any other time it might be quiet, but on the verge of stepping off everyone is on alert. Right now would be the perfect opportunity for an enemy preemptive strike.
Strangely as you begin to leave Motor Pool you notice a much larger guard presence than usual, and it's not just being on alert, these guys are packing some heavy artillery. You mull over it as you pass through the gate, could be in case of infiltration and sabotage, or there's some spooky ONI gear hidden in MP.
Everyone knows ONI is something not to be fucked with, so it's probably better to not go poking your nose into everything.
You stop just outside the gate, there's two places you can go right now
> See the Lieutenant, to go over the coming Operation
> See your Platoon, fall asleep after talking shit
> Visit the toilet, for what might be the last indulgence you will ever have
>>44557953
>> Visit the toilet, for what might be the last indulgence you will ever have
You make your way to the porta-loo, quite possibly the worst place in the entire camp. It may be in the year 2552, but that doesn't mean government procurement has procured air-con or even adequate ventilation. Thankfully as night sets in, the air temperature starts to settle from Africa hot, to just mildly hot. It's a nice change of pace, especially when there's a fence and armed guards around you so you don't have to worry about getting mauled by Lions when you want to take a shit in private.
You settle down on the throne and contemplate in silence. Apparently you're going to take point on the column, at some point you'll begin dispersing as contact with the enemy will become more and more imminent. With a grunt you finish up.
It doesn't seem like there's anyone waiting outside, so you take the opportunity to let one fly. A magazine would make it easier, anything with a female would be better than relying on your imagination. You can barely remember your last girlfriend, seems like an age since you last had your feet on the Earth.
"Did you hear?"
You snap back to reality upon hearing the steps of people entering the toilet.
"Hear what?"
He responds excitedly, "Chief is back in system. I think that's why we've been hauling ass to Voi. It's going down, it has to be."
Long has it been flacid, you let go of your dick.
"Bullshit. Who'd you hear that from."
"My uncle, he's a bird Colonel at HIGHCOM."
Shit it's about time you put a stop to this. Nothing worse than everyone knowing about something that's supposed to be a secret.
You stand up loudly and flush the toilet, making sure they know someone is coming out and that they better not be there when you exit.
Sure enough there's nobody around, you wash your hands, and step out into the cooling night air. It's about time you head back to you Platoon.
[1/2]
>>44558895
"Jeff, Kelly." You nod at the two of them as you approach the dug in Scorpions.
"Sarge," Kelly responds, the cigarette waving from between her lips as she speaks. "You handle Mikey?"
"I told him it better be ready by the time we move out tomorrow morning, so we'll see." You enter the dug out where an OD canvas roof hangs over you, blocking your view of the stars. "Who's asleep right now?"
Kelly takes a drag before answering. "Gordon and Ryan. I can wake one of them up and you can get some rest, Sarge."
You close you eyes and feel yourself begin to fade away. It'll be best if you do get some rest while you can. "Wake whoever has slept the longest up. It'll be a long day tomorrow."
13.11.2552
You've been awake for 2 hours now. You managed a breakfast of bacon and eggs and coffee, quite possibly the best thing about the Army compared to Marines is that someone cares about you.
> Pick up your tank
> Talk to whoever is awake
> See if your CO is awake
>>44559045
Chief's back in system, Secret. That wasn't one at all. Lol.
>Pick up your tank.
well as the saying goes, Tank beats everything.
>>44559045
>> See if your CO is awake
>>44559045
>> Pick up your tank
"MIKEY," you shout as you reenter the company Elephant. "My tank better be fixed."
With the morning sun beginning to set the planes up for a beautiful day, you find him curled up against the outriggers of the tank. "Mikey." You crouch down. "Mikey." You hold his nose.
He responds with an undignified snort, his eyes flutter open and adjust to your stoney face. "Sergeant Montana, Sir." He jumps up and sweeps himself in an attempt to look more presentable. "It's fixed, pristine even. jus' start 'er up." He gestures to the drivers hatch.
You enter and nestle yourself into the comforting embrace of your machine. With a few practiced flicks of your wrist your fingers dance over the controls. Green across the board. You smirk. "Good job, Mikey, good job."
"I told ya, Sarge. I told ya I could fix her." He smiles Magnanimously. "I can fix anything from a screen door to a broken heart."
"Well good job." You chuckle, "I guess I won't have to ride you into battle after all." You let the tank roar into life and then settle into a purring idle before engaging the electric motors that power the bogeys and reversing out with the help of Mikey as your spotter. "Here, I'll give you a ride to the staging area."
"Hey, Sarge, Sir," Mikey leans over asks timidly, "you weren't serious about ridin' me into battle were ya?"
It's difficult to believe this is the same person that put a Scorpion back together in one night. He really is an idiot. "No. Mikey. Shit."
You come upon your Battalion's staging area, already Scorpions, Warthogs, and Wolverines are maneuvering into position, their crews beginning to line up in an orderly fashion. Every Company in 45th Bat. is attending, and by god is it a sight. It's been some time since you've seen such a numerous force that wasn't running on empty along a knife edge. Mikey leaps off, and makes his way to the rear of the formation in an attempt to hide his dirty uniform.
[2/3]
>>44559342
You make you way on foot into the standing formation. 600 men standing at attention waiting for the Lieutenant Colonel to say a few words through a bullhorn.
"Soldiers, men and women. Today is a momentous occasion. Our back is against the wall, there's nowhere left to run. What we are about to embark on might be the greatest battle we may ever face, this is a struggle not just for us but all of mankind." He pauses, his grey eyes looking over us. "Today might be the last day I see some of your faces. But if we struggle and rage against the night, we might just live to see a new dawn. Thank you." He gracefully steps back and hands the bullhorn off to his Sergeant Major.
The SM raises the bullhorn to his lips. "HOOOAAH IN THREE."
"ONE"
"TWO"
"THREE"
"HOOOAAAAAAAAAH," the Battalion replies. The fervor of men about to put there life on the line is more than enough to appease the SM.
"Soldiers, fall out."
Your heart is beating like a drum and you're not sure how you ended up in the cockpit of your tank, it felt like you were being dragged along by the excitement of fresh troops ready to enter battle. It'll wear off soon, and at least the crash won't be as bad as after combat.
"Our Platoon is taking point, the only unit further East than us will be Recon," you announce over Comms. "It'll be a road march until we come into contact with anything, so don't get too comfy."
>
>
And that's it for tonight. I'll run again tomorrow. This Quest is going to be pretty short 4 threads, 5 at most.
I'm gonna time skip to just before first contact is made.
