16th MS Team Quest - 5 (Late Edition)

>>970584
>Call in the location and wait for further orders
Attacking Zeeks is always tempting but we have our mission, let's call it in and continue the search. Also welcome back

>>970584
>Call in the location and wait for further orders
Glad you're back EFF.

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You scratch your chin as you ponder your options. On one hand, you could naturally take the base unaware, but you have no real idea of what sort of opposition is down there besides loose visuals from the mountaintop. On the other hand taking a closer look might prove useful. You mull over the options as Bela continues to scan the valley down towards the highway. After a few minutes you finally decide to at least call in the base and see what your directives are.

You thumb the long range broadcast button on the console to your right and the fizzle in your headset confirms the connection has reached the FOB. “This is 16th Team Unit 1, Zeon base has been sighted and confirmed across the mountain range in grid 3H. Advise, over.” You chirp into the microphone.

Bela continues to scan the valley as she waits for you to receive the new orders, gently sweeping the muzzle of the 180mm cannon back and forth as she keeps her eyes peeled for any contacts.

“16th team, this is command. We receive your report and the base is marked. We’ll put this one on the shopping list; we have bigger fish to fry at the moment in other sectors. We appreciate the recon, but unless you have reason to believe the target is in the base, continue on.” The voice in your headset drones.

“Roger that, Command. Unit 1 out.” You flick the switch back to the short range position before motioning for your team to form up.

“We’re moving on. Base knows about this little base, but unless Yustina is there, we are taking a huge risk. We won’t get any backup.”

Hilda and Bela send their acknowledgment and form up; Hilda in the front of you and Bela taking up the rear.

~~~
You and your team continued along the mountain ridge for another two grid marks before the sun began to descend below the treetops. You exhale a cloud of smoke and watch it linger for a brief moment before being sucked up into the cockpit’s ventilation system. You’re tired eyes follow the same routine of checking the camera displays that they have been rotating through for the past 10 hours and sigh.

“We’re making camp.” You declare.

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>Conceal the mobile suits first
>Set up the tent
>Start making food

>>970736
>Conceal the mobile suits first

>>970736
>Conceal the mobile suits first

>>970736
>Conceal the mobile suits first
Huzzah this is back!

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You guide your teammates behind a small alcove of boulders along the mountain’s side. Once in the kneeling position and the large “hiking pack” style storage containers were released, the camouflage netting covers the tops of the mobile suits from aerial surveillance. You nod in approval as the last mobile suit is covered and begin to unpack the tent. Hilda takes a pair of binoculars and a rifle from the supplies and points up to a spot along a cliffside as she trots away before you can ask for help.

You let out a long sigh as you heft the heavy treated canvas of the tent over your shoulder and walk over to where Bela has set up the pole-structure inside the protective barrier of the mobile suits. It doesn’t take long to set everything up: tent, cots, small cooking area, miscellaneous supplies; you are in the army after all. If there is one thing you are trained for, it’s setting things up and taking them down in short order. You plunk yourself down onto the edge of your cot as you remove your field jacket. You thought that being up the mountains would be cooler than in the valley floor but what it lacks in heat it makes up for in humidity. Your skin is just permanently damp to the touch with a fine mist as clouds roll by overhead, sometimes drifting right on top of you. You light another cigarette as you hear the comical pop of the gas burner being lit. You turn your gaze to Bela, who has also forgone her field jacket in favour of the army-grey undershirt. You watch as she dumps her canteen into a pot and flares up the burner before dumping a small drab green package into the water with a small splash. Within minutes, the telltale aroma of chicken broth and old noodles fills the small encampment. Hilda returns with a smile and a wink.

“Looks like I’m just in time for the food, eh?” she quips, sitting down on a small folding stool next to the gas stove.

As Bela doles out the brothy soup, you all converse lightly as you work the still stiff noodles with your teeth.

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>Talk about home
>Talk about the Army
>Talk about the mission

>>970828
>Talk about the Army
Whats the first thing you're eating if you ever get on leave or could get something other than rations?

Also talk about home is depressing as shit for us and Bella knows so we can't just talk about home for everyone else and not have that in the back of her mind, even if hilda's clueless. Gotta keep that moral up.

>>970828
>Talk about the Army

>>970828
>Talk about the Army

Between mouthfuls of soup, noodles and the occasional drag of a cigarette you strike up a conversation with your teammates.

You stare down at the tough noodles and broth that tastes like it was boiled next door to a place that made soup. “I swear, once this war is over… hell, the moment I get on leave, I’m finding something good to eat.” You exclaim.

Both of your teammates blink in silence before letting out a chuckle.

“Army food finally getting to ya, Boss?” Bela laughs.

Hilda tilts her bowl away from her chin, quickly finishing the broth. “If you don’t want it, I’ll gladly take it off your hands, Boss!” She makes a quick swipe at your bowl and you pull it out of her reach with a furrowed brow. “I’ll take it that it’s not so bad then.”

“When I was training in Europe, they made sure that we got good food…” You begin. “Stews, vegetables, fresh bread… it doesn’t seem like much, but compared to this sweltering hell-hole it seems like heaven.”

You and your team have a few more good-natured chuckles as you all finish eating. You can feel your eyelids protesting every moment they stay upright as the stars begin to peek out from the cloud cover over your head. As you gaze upward, looking to the stars, it reminds you of home. You close your eyes and imagine the place where you spent your youth on Side 2. Your memories fade as you open your eyes and the clouds obscure the stars once again, your anger beginning to boil up in your chest once again. Before you can linger on your hate, Bela asks you a question.

“Who wants first watch tonight?”

Hilda volunteers. Bela says that she will go second.

“I guess I’m third.” You contribute. Hilda picks up the rifle once again and walks up to a different outcrop, this time overlooking your camp. Bela moves inside the tent, shutting off the lantern. You fall back onto your cot and throw your spent cigarette onto the rocky ground beneath you.

You felt so tired a moment ago; but now you can’t seem to even force yourself to sleep. The familiar pit of hate burning the back of your throat. You try to focus on something else

===============================================================

>The mission
>Your team
>Your feelings

>>970918
>Your team
Lets be well rested to make getting everyone back in one piece easier. Or at least try with that line of thinking.

>>970918
>Your team

You try to focus on your team; Bela, Dmitri, Noah and Hilda. You feel your fists unclench, unaware that they were even clenched to begin with. With a deep breath, you remember when the base was under attack when you arrived and how your team seemed so in control of things. Now, they rely on you to make sound decisions. They trust you with their lives. You remember how the pilot of that GM flew into your foxhole, mangled and broken. Another breath. You open your eyes to see the clouds have all but disappeared; the pathway to the stars clear and bright. You nod resolutely to yourself and close your eyes; you will have revenge, but not before your team, you friends, make it out of this war safe.

~~~

You are awoken with a shake and a hand covering your mouth. You try to pull up by are held down by another pair of arms. You begin to struggle but a hushed whisper pleading you to be quiet creeps into your ear. You look upward to see Bela’s chin over top of you. The other arms slowly release their pressure on you as you turn to see Hilda swinging the rifle back into her hands. Bela’s hand rises off your mouth as she taps your shoulder and points. You see lights in the jungle, muffled voices not far behind. You quickly swivel your body upright and pull the pistol from its holster under your arm, rolling to the ground. Bela silently checks her pistol as she moves behind a large boulder. Hilda retreats to higher ground and lays flat on her belly, rifle sighted down toward the lights. You check the magazine of your pistol and quickly move behind a tree, sweat beading on your brow as you fight to control your breathing. The enemy has never seemed to frighten you, but now that you are not in a large, walking machine, it is a completely different story.

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>Ambush the patrol
>Wait to see what happens
>Try to escape with your team

>>971000
>Wait to see what happens
Nice trips.

>>971000
>Wait to see what happens

>>971000
>Wait to see what happens

The lights approach your position as you glance back at Bela, who gives you a quick thumbs-up, a sure smile on her face. You can barely make out Hilda through the vegetation on the outcrop before you sidle up to the tree to stay out of the faint beam of light that penetrates the low undergrowth. The voices are coming closer and closer. You can’t bring yourself to peek again as the shafts of light sweep across the tree, narrowly missing your form hiding behind it. Your sweat begins to slide down your forehead and temples, right into your eyes. You don’t even try to blink away the salty sting as the voices stop. You gaze back to see Bela hidden behind the boulder, the beams of light fixed on something behind her. Through all the foliage and camouflage netting, there, in the bright spotlight, the shin of one of your mobile suits is visible. The Zeon soldier signals the rest of his patrol to form up as they proceed to gather. By the number of different voices, you estimate somewhere between 5-8 soldiers are on the patrol.

Your grip tightens on your pistol as you triple check that the safety is off with your thumb as the crunching of leaves and sticks begin again as the patrol begins to move towards the Ground Gundam. Making sure to keep out of the light, the soldiers pass by your tree, sweeping back and forth with flashlights, their guns at the ready. You guessed right. You stare at the backs of 6 Zeon foot soldiers as they start to sweep the area. You glance back at Bela’s position, noting that she has moved to the opposite side of the boulder without being detected. As you are frantically trying to think of a plan, a flashlight slides over Hilda’s position and stops immediately. As the soldier gives the first shout of an alarm, Hilda fires.

Before the dead soldier’s flashlight hits the ground, you have raised your pistol and autopilot takes over. You train your pistol’s sights on the nearest soldier and squeeze the trigger calmly and repeatedly, sweeping from target to target. The darkness of the night is broken up by flashing muzzles as Bela joins the fray and the Zeon soldiers try to fight back at an unseen enemy. They drop the flashlights and scatter, but you think they must almost all be dead. You catch your empty magazine and replace it with trained efficiency.

Seconds later, it was quiet once again. You try to pick out the remaining targets, but can’t locate them. You stay crouched, still as a statue, waiting.

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>Try to contact your team
>Remain still and wait for movement
>Try to draw the Zeon fire

>>971053
>Try to contact your team

>>971053
>Remain still and wait for movement

>>971053
>Try to contact your team
It's nearly 3 am, so sorry if I disappear after the next post.

You try to pick out where Bela or Hilda might have gone without moving your head, your eyes searching back and forth through the darkness for any kind of movement. You want to contact your team, but you are unsure how to do so without giving away your position. You wait patiently in the darkness, observing every little detail you can make out. Your legs begin to ache from staying in this crouched position for so long, but not a sound has been made since the firefight broke out.

Bela sits with her back against the boulder, moving only her eyes as she stifles her breathing. She knows she was the closest to the group of soldiers when things went silent and she patiently waits for any sign of movement; her confident smile hidden behind clenching teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots movement on the outcropping overlooking the camp to see Hilda pull herself scarcely into view.

Hilda can’t help but stifle a pained groan as she painstakingly finishes moving herself into cover. She had been slowly pulling herself back into cover since the firefight in an attempt to remain undetected. She clamps a hand over top of a wound on her left arm. She dares not dress the wound for fear of being found, even as she feels the warmth of her blood seep between her fingers.

You are torn whether to call out, knowing that it might spell your death. The night seems to close in around the campsite, the dawn not far off across the mountain range.


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That's all for tonight folks. Just a quick little update from me; thanks for coming out! I'll hopefully be seeing you guys again after Christmas at least once more, so stay tuned. I generally announce things on twitter, so if you feel like it, @16th_MSTeam has what you need.

See you guys soon.