NationStates Jolt Archive

See this thread for invite. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=376509)

Here’s the set up. Vastiva has a polar bear problem. You’ve decided to help get rid of the bears.

Heh.


Antarctican Polar Bears

Height:
Twelve feet at least. One twenty foot monster was busily dismantling a truck when finally stopped.

Weight:
Females: 775 to more than 1,500 pounds
Males: 900 to more then 2,500 pounds.

Intelligence: At least as smart as apes. They open doors. Have not figured out locks. Yet.

Forepaws measure between 12” and 24” across, are webbed. Did I mention the claws?

A polar bear is so well-insulated that it experiences almost no heat loss. In addition to its insulating fur, the bear's blubber layer can measure between 6.5 inches thick to a whopping 11.2 inches thick.

So effective is the polar bear's insulation that adult males quickly overheat when they run. NOT! They can run at a dismaying 15 mph over short distance, but prefer to ambush. They can also swim at 6 mph, see 15 to 25 feet underwater, and have no known distance limitation.

Because polar bears give off no detectable heat, they do not show up in infrared photographs. (Infrared film measures heat.) When a scientist attempted to photograph a bear with such film, he produced a print with a single spot--the puff of air caused by the animal's breath. Then it ate him.

Small arms mean nothing to these bears. Anything less then a .45 round is annoying but will not penetrate the hide and fat armor.

The area you are hunting in is the Southern Pine Woods.: Lush forests of Antarctican Pine, lots of imported species of wild animals and untold amounts of the damn bears. It is further south then any Vastivan city, so enjoy yourself or the bears will enjoy you.

You are allowed to bring a small group with you. You are also allowed to arm yourself with any infantry weapon and a vehicle, up to a tank. The bears will not have a problem with whatever you send. Snow, ice, and such, will cause problems for the vehicle.

This is a hunt. You hunt the bears, the bears hunt you. The bears eat very well, and as such outweigh, outfight, and outsmart their northern cousins. I expect each group to take losses and blow away bears. Use what you want, enjoy yourself, don’t destroy the landscape too much.

You are met at the southernmost port of Kjik'Kjak. It is sunny - it will remain sunny until February. It might snow occasionally, but the winds have died down to occasional.

You are directed past the massive gates of Kjik'Kjak, into the southern pine forest.

Rules? Not many. The VAS will come out and collect you if you call. Most radios don't work very well due to the electromagnetic interference, so use flares. Shoot all the polar bears you want.

If you come back, there will be a party.

If you come back.

(To be edited for more atmosphere later, I'm stuffed with turkey)

A combat ready transport landed in the wilderness. Twelve men jumped from the transport with high powered rifles (.75 caliber oh yeah we like shooting things) the transport rose up above them and began moving along with the men.

Eight more transports landed. About eighty rather fidgety prisoners stepped out. The hunters cheered the bait had arrived.

OOC: I said I was going to kick a bear, and now I am!

IC:

Some dude comes up to a bear, kicks it, and gets eaten alive...yay...

Suddenly a Huey Helicopter lands somewhere, a hunter stepping out in full military gear. He had a high-powered M-16/M203 Rifle, with every intention to grab a bear...

OOC: An M-16 will tickle a bear. That's about it.

Score:
Bears 1 People 0

A single figure from the Gloriously Hungry Army Of Whatever, too hungry and presently leaderless for a name, strode to the hunting area.

Not a human figure at all. It was a Zircon (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/MachinaKyrios/Neo-Mekanta/ZirconSkin.jpg). A killing machine that could shred tank armor with its claws, and run circles around the most agile of Terran creatures. All without slowing down.

The twelve foot tall colossis just stood there a moment, four arms twitching. Zircon tended to scare humans, even those that didn't know they were created to be the perfect warriors...

Kathxeth stood a moment, superior senses sweeping the air, before he gave a triumphant roar that split the air for miles around.

The hunt was on.

The prisoners were fitted with tags and sent off into groups of eight. The hunter transports would follow a group and once a bear or three ambushed they would be teleported down and begin firing with their rifles.

The prisoners were scared to death as the hunters floated safely above them...

OOC: Vastiva do you wanna' RP the bear ambush?

The Light drone of scramjet engines fills the air about the heads of the Five Man Recon team. all but the Sergeant wear their CWEHI's helmets with inter-squad com links open chatting nervously. All but the Sergeant are green, new Impact Marines straight off the grinder "Sergeant Decon, Five out five out repeat Five out Altitude 50K Optimal winds 5 by 5.6 Knots South South West Visiblity high, Stand by for go!" Sergeant Decon straps his helmet on over his head completely dropping the windshield into place feeling the cold air hit his face and lips licking them tasting the cool bottled taste of reconsituted O2. "Listen up squad, 5 Out we are 5 Out and going hot. This is a Hostile Drop I repeat HOSTILE Drop. Once where on the ground we secure and hold then Spread in a Diamond Echleon, Neils your point Intel says Hi-Res and Infared Do not show up on targets Possible boogies in area reported large groups. Do not communicate with any beyond Squad Channel and Do not engage any targets other then primary unless ordered to. Stick together work as a team and we will all be coming home" Neils raised his hand slowly and the Sergeant grunted for him to talk. ""Sergeant what exactly is our primary target" The Sergeant smiled behind his Solar flair windshield as the low light of the unpressurized cabin played over its surface the material faded with the light becoming blotchy the passive camo taking effect. "Targets Neils Targets, as you all know this is your final evaluation and continuation of Training as an Impact Recon Marine. You are wounded. I leave you. You are Killed. I take your dog tags and leave you. There is No pick up till 10 days out. So I hoped you boys packed extra draws. and our Targets Boys are Bear.. and not just any Bear Big bears. 12 feet tall, weighing in around about 900 Pounds. Intelligence Minimual but its reported they can rip apart a predator tank in a heartbeat so No smoking and joking this is the real deal gents. Now lock and load strap up check your buddy where out in 2!" Bears! they all had it running through their mind. Bears?! nah.. the Sergeant is joking.. this is just another walk in the woods. The Squad as a whole stood and Strapped into the High Altitude Low Open Drop System lines the Sergeant walked the line slamming his helmet into each Marines checking for secured gear and readiness at the sound of a two beep warning the unpressurized cargo bay doors swung down and they shuffled forward. Each Impact Marine Weighed down with his personnel Gear 500 Rounds of 5.56/7.62 Implosive NATO Rounds. 10 Days at 1 Day each Ration packs Water, Minimual Clothing and a Med Kit all shuffled forward the Sergeant the last in line. Each Marine slapped the Image on the Bulkhead of the Cargo Plane of the National Emblem and Emblem of All Impact Marines the Winged arm and Sheild, before plunging out into the screamingly bright sky plummetting at Almost 60 Miles per hour towards the forest below before Snapping the Paraglide chute controls opening at the Optimal range and gliding down into the designated landing strip. Neils the First on the Ground rolls pulling the ParaGlide Chute down behind him and snaps up the sensor on his M590 scanning left and right.. as Intel said and surprisingly Nothing over the size of a Large Deer registered on the Infared and heat was a joke.. switching to passive Light and Sound he pulled the Paraglide back into the back of his armor and stowed it away till they had a chance to repack. The Rest of the Squad dropped coming together on Neils suit Becon and most of the Marines where cussing because interference was playing hell with their com-o Gear. The Squad Channels worked but only at close range. Sergeant Decon landed and Immediately pulled the retract string on his Paraglide while scanning the 4 Other Marines and the surrounding Area. "Alright Ladies.. form up and load up weapons hot at this point Engage only targets that engage us. DO NOT Fire on Humiond Beings unless told to. Neils Find me some bears" The Squad Moved out of the low clearing area into the dense trees, the Passive/Active Camo on their suits blending and shifting with the forage and lights turning them into walking ghosts. effectively blocking out all Heat/IR/Radar signatures Motions and Light/Sound the only thing casting off the 5 man team. and the hunt was on..

A single figure from the Gloriously Hungry Army Of Whatever, too hungry and presently leaderless for a name, strode to the hunting area.

Not a human figure at all. It was a Zircon (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/MachinaKyrios/Neo-Mekanta/ZirconSkin.jpg). A killing machine that could shred tank armor with its claws, and run circles around the most agile of Terran creatures. All without slowing down.

The twelve foot tall colossis just stood there a moment, four arms twitching. Zircon tended to scare humans, even those that didn't know they were created to be the perfect warriors...

Kathxeth stood a moment, superior senses sweeping the air, before he gave a triumphant roar that split the air for miles around.

The hunt was on.

The bears had never seen one of those.

Which of course meant it was edible.

The roar brought two bears running from the woods directly at it, looking for food. Two others wandered over, snuffling the air.

-OOC-
Heh. If you want, something not a polar bear could find your prisoners and end up hunting along side you. ^_^

Better shots of the Zircon Warlord, the physical class of Zircon that Kathxeth is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/MachinaKyrios/Neo-Mekanta/ZirconWarlord2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/MachinaKyrios/Neo-Mekanta/ZirconWarlord1.jpg

EDIT: Ack, the other post came before I hit post.

-IC-
Kathxeth growled as two of the bears came, marking the scent on his kill list.

With agility exceeding any creature on Earth and odd for something of Kathxeth's size and weight, the Zircon Warlord leapt, intending to use it's sharp claws to rend the beast apart from above.

The prisoners were fitted with tags and sent off into groups of eight. The hunter transports would follow a group and once a bear or three ambushed they would be teleported down and begin firing with their rifles.

The prisoners were scared to death as the hunters floated safely above them...

OOC: Vastiva do you wanna' RP the bear ambush?

"Death" was an apt phrase.

Two of the prisoners never got a moment to notice anything was up. The bear they had walked over tore both of their legs out from under them and hammered their backs with the mattock-like paws.

Spines had shattered like glass almost instantly.

A third got a whole chance to look up and gulp before the same bear landed on him and hugged, crushing the ribcage before the immense jaws opened and popped the skull into a crunchy gumball. Blood and brains flowed down the sides of the bears snout as it chewed on the sudden delight.

(long well-written post)


The Impact Marines were the most lucky group - where they landed, the bears were not. Short rock outcroppings and trees blocked most of the view of the land; some areas were warm, eventually leading into thermally-warmed ponds, some filled with fish.

Of course, luck - of all things - is most likely to change.

Score: Bears 4 People 0

The best 5 snipers in Echo Company (the Marine Rifle Company assigned to provide security for the Phoenix Milita's research and engineering team) were selected for a "special" mission. 3rd Platoon's Team Sgt was selected to lead to team. The snipers, armed with M82A4 .50 cal sniper rifles, and the Sgt armed with his trusty SR-22 Accuraized .45 cal (11x75mm)DMR, moved out across the frozen landscape in a specalized ST-280 (http://www.ufosecrets.staghosting.com/images/snowgun.jpg)( w/ a small troop carrier towed behind it/ armed with a 30mm cannon, among other weapons) The mission was simple, bag and tag as many bears as possible and then high tail it back to base. The carcasses of the bears would be collected by MH-1A1 Super Hueys later on.

As the small team moved on, they came across an ice flow, they heard bloodcurding, guttral sounds. They obvserved some type of small marine mammal trying to get through a small hole in an ice covered lake.... The pristine white snow and ice was splattered with birght red blood, a gash at least 1 foot long in the side of the small animal was vsibile even from 300 yards away. As the men dismounted from thier vehicles, they scanned the area.... then they saw him, a monstorous polar bear yellowish-white with a blood stained muzzle and foward paws. As the bear closed on the helpless animal trying to escape through the ice, one of the snipers, lying prone on top of the ST-280, yelled: "I got a shot!"
"Take 'em out" replied the Sgt.
Before the sound reached thier ears, they watched the polar bear's head explode into a mist, the great bear collapsing where he stood. the men proceeded over to the corpse, looking upon the wounded sea lion one of the marines remarked, "should we put it out of its misery?"
"Roger" replied the Sgt, who then proceeded to shoot the otter between the eyes with his Deagle side arm.
"Affix radio tags to both these carcasses men, well be eatin good tonight"

The men saddled up and went on to find more bears.......mwhahahahaha





:sniper:

-OOC-
I demand a third catagory, since a Zircon is hardly a person! LoL

-IC-

In the heartbeat it took for Kathxeth to shred the first bear, the other had attacked, the Zircon Lord letting the creature bite down on one of his lower arms.

It was like chewing on diamonds, just moments before the Zircon Hive Lord slashed backwards with the edges on his arm, cutting the bear's head in half...

The hunters were teleported down and aimed at the bears. They opened fire with their extremely high powered rifles. One man was foolish enough to step away from the teleporter ring. He was no more than two feet away but he was now a target.

OOC: Yeah that would be cool have the Zircon meet up with my bait.

OOC: Pheonix - You're inland. Solid ground under you. The ice flows are north, you're on solid ground from here on. Though there are frozen lakes and such.

The hunters were teleported down and aimed at the bears. They opened fire with their extremely high powered rifles. One man was foolish enough to step away from the teleporter ring. He was no more than two feet away but he was now a target.

OOC: Yeah that would be cool have the Zircon meet up with my bait.

The bear noticed the man, and charged - one ton of angry bear in motion was a morale breaker to most, this one moreso from the angry red smears covering its chest and face.

-OOC-
I demand a third catagory, since a Zircon is hardly a person! LoL

-IC-

In the heartbeat it took for Kathxeth to shred the first bear, the other had attacked, the Zircon Lord letting the creature bite down on one of his lower arms.

It was like chewing on diamonds, just moments before the Zircon Hive Lord slashed backwards with the edges on his arm, cutting the bear's head in half...

The briefing had said the bears were clever - it neglected to say how clever they were.

The two bears charged as one towards the Zircon, down the slight incline and up - onto the Zircon landed two-and-three-quarters tons of bears, biting and clawing for face, neck, shoulder. Their oversized jaws clamped on the dense armor and began to pull and yank at it, seeking ay sort of weakness to exploit.

The scent of death - dead bear, dead anything - had the effect of bringing more bears to investigate the interesting scent... in the treeline, eyes were watching.

Bears 4 Humans 1 Zircon 2

A support man was dropped from a neighboring transport. He raised his RPG and fired at the bear that was barreling down on the other man.

The man was abandoned as the other hunters were sucked back inside the transport. The supportman was picked up quickly as they were dropped a hundred yards away.

"Hey Tyler if ya get that one in the head then'll I'll give ya me fucking car." Tyler smiled and raised his sniper rifle/portable artillery and fired right between the bear's eyes.

The Five man squad made good speed moving through the low growth towards the rocky outcroppings each one moving in a two man team. Bouncing forward stopping sweeping, teammate bouncing further forward. Sergeant Decon watched the progress of the team and smiled he had a bad feeling conventinual tactics would not work on the bears they where hunting. with a swift snap of his wrist and two fingers pointed directly ahead at a large outcropping of rocks the team made its way to them and set up a 360 degree perimeter through the holes between the rocks. "Alright listen up.. looks like this is a prime area.. Sensors are picking up high levels of activety in the ponds possible fish if these bears are like any others they will probably use these as hunting grounds.. High levels of thermal readings also reported in this area.. Neils your still on point.. next time you will remember to PULL the pin before you throw right? Torkes, Delion, Set up a back I want it rigged with outward blowing Crack grenades in a 45 degree angle pattern four lines start out at 30 Feet. Covering our 3, 6 and 9 Roger? Move! Neils Sampson your on forward Cover 12 to 3 Neils, Sampson 9 to 12. Where hunking in here.. let them come to us. " with the rocks to their rear and facing down on one of the largets fish infested ponds approachable avenues covered with outward blowing Crack Grenades on four seperate lines starting at 30 Feet, Sergeatn Decon felt comfortable but not at ease that nothing would sneak up on their Six. Settling down behind a rock outcropping he adusted his helmet. None of the Impact Marines had cracked their seals as they did not know if the atmosphere was compromised of breathable air so all had switched on the CO2 Scrubbers built in. Neils and Sampson settled into good positions almost completely disappearing into the rocky surface as their movement lessoned allowing the passive/active Camo to kick into full shrouding them in blotchy grey green patterns matching the rocks and folage about them. "Sergeant.. I'm picking up large amount of weapons fires and screams.. appears to be coming from the South West Direction directly to our 11 Oclock Position Over." "Roger Sampson keep frosty.. Possible other parties about.. if their out their the nose may push the targets right into our kill zones. ALL SQUAD Set implosive Rounds to Mass penatration at 7 Over. Torkes, Delion, made their way back into the central position Torkes stumbling over some rocks and crashing into the ground, Sergeant Decon cursed quietly and slammed his boot into Torkes head keeping him down while the rest of the squad increased scanning with both visual and electrical means. All the Marines where wondering what sort of Targets these things where.. Impact Implosive Rounds for soft targets rules where standard set at 3 No more then 4. 7 was ment for Medium Armored Targets.. what where they after Rhino's? "Sergeant.. shit.. I'm sorry damn boots are to big.. We saw some marks back there in the rocks looks like large bears!?" "Get up Torkes and take your position watch the rear Delion your Center 12. Possible inbound at any time keep chatter down max range on hearing increased understood? Do not fire until ordered.. only way they will know where hear is if they see or hear us.. so keep your damned heads down and Torkes DONT move again.. I told you to get those bloody boots sized before we left!" with their hearing adjustment set on high in their helmets they could hear a twig snap at over 70 feet away. The internal locking system then could pinpoint the area on an over head satellite image they had downloaded before jumping into the area allowing them to adjust to any oncoming threat. The Interal systems of their suits where on the fritz.. but what was new with that.. Most Impact Marines relied more on training and gut instinct then fancy gear. Sergeant Decon settled down and started com hopping searching for any other talk out there if it was out there he wanted to know it first. While his Marines watched for incoming. The occasional glutteral roar would ripple over them and sounds of a firefight with screams ending most.. "boys set those implos to 9 over" 9!? Neils turned and looked at Sergeant Decon who just grinned and flipped the indicator nob on his M590.

A support man was dropped from a neighboring transport. He raised his RPG and fired at the bear that was barreling down on the other man.

The man was abandoned as the other hunters were sucked back inside the transport. The supportman was picked up quickly as they were dropped a hundred yards away.

"Hey Tyler if ya get that one in the head then'll I'll give ya me fucking car." Tyler smiled and raised his sniper rifle/portable artillery and fired right between the bear's eyes.

The abandoned man learned quickly a basic lesson of physics; objects in motion tend to remain in motion.

A huge explosion ate most of the base of a tree on the far side of the bear; the tree was most happy to begin to crash towards the ground - and the Camel Eaters party.

However, that would not be the concern of the last hunter. The bears head tore to one side as the bullet cracked skull and forced an involuntary head turn.

But a ton of bear does not stop just because its dead. And a ton of bear impacting a human being at speed....

Bears ? Humans 2 Zircon 2

The Five man squad made good speed moving through the low growth towards the rocky outcroppings each one moving in a two man team. Bouncing forward stopping sweeping, teammate bouncing further forward. Sergeant Decon watched the progress of the team and smiled he had a bad feeling conventinual tactics would not work on the bears they where hunting. with a swift snap of his wrist and two fingers pointed directly ahead at a large outcropping of rocks the team made its way to them and set up a 360 degree perimeter through the holes between the rocks. "Alright listen up.. looks like this is a prime area.. Sensors are picking up high levels of activety in the ponds possible fish if these bears are like any others they will probably use these as hunting grounds.. High levels of thermal readings also reported in this area.. Neils your still on point.. next time you will remember to PULL the pin before you throw right? Torkes, Delion, Set up a back I want it rigged with outward blowing Crack grenades in a 45 degree angle pattern four lines start out at 30 Feet. Covering our 3, 6 and 9 Roger? Move! Neils Sampson your on forward Cover 12 to 3 Neils, Sampson 9 to 12. Where hunking in here.. let them come to us. " with the rocks to their rear and facing down on one of the largets fish infested ponds approachable avenues covered with outward blowing Crack Grenades on four seperate lines starting at 30 Feet, Sergeatn Decon felt comfortable but not at ease that nothing would sneak up on their Six. Settling down behind a rock outcropping he adusted his helmet. None of the Impact Marines had cracked their seals as they did not know if the atmosphere was compromised of breathable air so all had switched on the CO2 Scrubbers built in. Neils and Sampson settled into good positions almost completely disappearing into the rocky surface as their movement lessoned allowing the passive/active Camo to kick into full shrouding them in blotchy grey green patterns matching the rocks and folage about them. "Sergeant.. I'm picking up large amount of weapons fires and screams.. appears to be coming from the South West Direction directly to our 11 Oclock Position Over." "Roger Sampson keep frosty.. Possible other parties about.. if their out their the nose may push the targets right into our kill zones. ALL SQUAD Set implosive Rounds to Mass penatration at 7 Over. Torkes, Delion, made their way back into the central position Torkes stumbling over some rocks and crashing into the ground, Sergeant Decon cursed quietly and slammed his boot into Torkes head keeping him down while the rest of the squad increased scanning with both visual and electrical means. All the Marines where wondering what sort of Targets these things where.. Impact Implosive Rounds for soft targets rules where standard set at 3 No more then 4. 7 was ment for Medium Armored Targets.. what where they after Rhino's? "Sergeant.. shit.. I'm sorry damn boots are to big.. We saw some marks back there in the rocks looks like large bears!?" "Get up Torkes and take your position watch the rear Delion your Center 12. Possible inbound at any time keep chatter down max range on hearing increased understood? Do not fire until ordered.. only way they will know where hear is if they see or hear us.. so keep your damned heads down and Torkes DONT move again.. I told you to get those bloody boots sized before we left!" with their hearing adjustment set on high in their helmets they could hear a twig snap at over 70 feet away. The internal locking system then could pinpoint the area on an over head satellite image they had downloaded before jumping into the area allowing them to adjust to any oncoming threat. The Interal systems of their suits where on the fritz.. but what was new with that.. Most Impact Marines relied more on training and gut instinct then fancy gear. Sergeant Decon settled down and started com hopping searching for any other talk out there if it was out there he wanted to know it first. While his Marines watched for incoming. The occasional glutteral roar would ripple over them and sounds of a firefight with screams ending most.. "boys set those implos to 9 over" 9!? Neils turned and looked at Sergeant Decon who just grinned and flipped the indicator nob on his M590.

The bear just rose out of nowhere and grabbed the Sergeant, hugging him into the treeline.

From all around, trees shook...



OOC: Thermal sights are useless on these bears - they give off no IR pattern at all. Heh. So I give you a scene out of Aliens.

OOC: You know, I can't seem to find more than the occasional reference to the Zircon. Where did you get the idea for them from?

IC:

The old PL3X40 landed clumsily in the snow, one of its thrusters failing to fire. Once considered the best of the DLE fleet, they were now being quickly replaced due to their weaknesses. Most of the old ships had been lost in ion storms, which this one encountered on its way here, and the rest were either lost in warfare or put into museums. The new, more powerful and far more maneuverable DLEX50s were the wave of the future.

The soldiers disembarked from the ship, heavily layered in clothes designed to produce heat while allowing them mobility. This climate was almost the exact opposite of what they were used to, but they would adapt quickly. The soldiers looked around, glad to have brought shades, and quickly began preparations. They were hear to test a new weapon, one purported to be more powerful than what they were used to. Most of the soldiers carried SAR-97C1s, the grenade-launcher equipped version of the standard DLE assault rifle. Their leader carried a DLEM97, an experimental form of the 97C1 designed as a portable disruptor gun. Unlike standard disruptors, it fired bolts of energy at a rapid pace. The cold climate was chosen because the prototype did not include a cooling unit at this time and the barrel tended to heat up.

However, having heard about these bears, they also brought along a minigun. The largest of the bunch, a Major Tor, was carrying it. He smiled, holding the heavy weapon with little effort, and looked around.

"We're here to hunt bears. That means no local women and no shooting humanoids, unless they shoot at us. And try to save the grenades. They're hard to come by," Captain Gener said.

The bears had fallen upon a creature that had regularly brought entire buildings down around his head, so weight was hardly an issue. The half-ton Zircon Warlord could lift fifteen times his own body weight with no problem, but he decided to play along and let the bears find out the hard way that he was a damn near impossible nut to crack.

Finally tiring of the bears finding even the shallow scraches they could inflict healing within seconds without blood, Kathxeth reached up with his arms, grabbed the bears by the head, and crushed their skulls like eggshells before throwing off the corpses and yanking his back spikes out of the ground. As more bears charged at him, he simply held out his palm.

Energy began visibly building up, until a azure beam lanced forth at a bear still a football field away, the blue light causing the creature to explode in a shower of gore, the two halves remaining falling neatly apart.


-OOC-
Zircon Beam. Nasty weapon.

OOC: You know, I can't seem to find more than the occasional reference to the Zircon. Where did you get the idea for them from?

IC:

The old PL3X40 landed clumsily in the snow, one of its thrusters failing to fire. Once considered the best of the DLE fleet, they were now being quickly replaced due to their weaknesses. Most of the old ships had been lost in ion storms, which this one encountered on its way here, and the rest were either lost in warfare or put into museums. The new, more powerful and far more maneuverable DLEX50s were the wave of the future.

The soldiers disembarked from the ship, heavily layered in clothes designed to produce heat while allowing them mobility. This climate was almost the exact opposite of what they were used to, but they would adapt quickly. The soldiers looked around, glad to have brought shades, and quickly began preparations. They were hear to test a new weapon, one purported to be more powerful than what they were used to. Most of the soldiers carried SAR-97C1s, the grenade-launcher equipped version of the standard DLE assault rifle. Their leader carried a DLEM97, an experimental form of the 97C1 designed as a portable disruptor gun. Unlike standard disruptors, it fired bolts of energy at a rapid pace. The cold climate was chosen because the prototype did not include a cooling unit at this time and the barrel tended to heat up.

However, having heard about these bears, they also brought along a minigun. The largest of the bunch, a Major Tor, was carrying it. He smiled, holding the heavy weapon with little effort, and looked around.

"We're here to hunt bears. That means no local women and no shooting humanoids, unless they shoot at us. And try to save the grenades. They're hard to come by," Captain Gener said.

A thin wind greeted them, rustling through the trees. A bit further off, an explosion and the hard crack of a tree meeting its end.

Did the bears watch from the trees? The wind didn't tell.

The bears had fallen upon a creature that had regularly brought entire buildings down around his head, so weight was hardly an issue. The half-ton Zircon Warlord could lift fifteen times his own body weight with no problem, but he decided to play along and let the bears find out the hard way that he was a damn near impossible nut to crack.

Finally tiring of the bears finding even the shallow scraches they could inflict healing within seconds without blood, Kathxeth reached up with his arms, grabbed the bears by the head, and crushed their skulls like eggshells before throwing off the corpses and yanking his back spikes out of the ground. As more bears charged at him, he simply held out his palm.

Energy began visibly building up, until a azure beam lanced forth at a bear still a football field away, the blue light causing the creature to explode in a shower of gore, the two halves remaining falling neatly apart.


-OOC-
Zircon Beam. Nasty weapon.


OOC: Yucky. However, your Zircon was toppled by these behemoths due to simple physics.

I would ask - if he can't be hurt, what fun the hunt?

Bears 5 Humans 2 Zircon 5

OOC: You know, I can't seem to find more than the occasional reference to the Zircon. Where did you get the idea for them from?

-OOC-
They're actually an alteration of a race made for an original project, called the SWARM. Rather unoriginal name, and I'm considering replacing them with the Zircon.

The chief differences between the two, aside from physical form, are the fact that the SWARM are obsidion in color and that they're not tied to a nanite entity. They're pure litho.

The Zircon will be showing up a lot more now that Neo-Mekanta is my main nation. I'm working on the planning bits for an RP with a friend that involves Zircon ground combat a lot. Might make a factbook too, while I'm at it.

A thin wind greeted them, rustling through the trees. A bit further off, an explosion and the hard crack of a tree meeting its end.

Did the bears watch from the trees? The wind didn't tell.

"Sir, if there are bears here, I doubt they'll attack us. But just in case, you want me to fire off a volley into the trees? We can go home then and say we didn't find anything to shoot," Tor said.

"Fire the volley. But we're still hunting the bears," Gener said.

Smiling, Tor stepped to the front of the group and, after a few seconds of the minigun winding up, took minute to unleash the entirety of its hundred-round belt into the woods, using a sweeping pattern. He smiled and walked back to the ship, reaching in to grab more ammunition for his gun.

"Well, this is productive," Gener said.

OOC: Yucky. However, your Zircon was toppled by these behemoths due to simple physics.

I would ask - if he can't be hurt, what fun the hunt?

-OOC-
He can. Those glowy-thingies are the only external vulnerable part on a Zircon, especially the head one. It'll take a lot of clawing and digging, but those things are a lot harder to regenerate than the flesh. It might take your bears a bit to realize it, but if they all swarm him and claw at those parts, he'll gradually stop fighting back and just play dead while his senses recover. Zircon "see" out of thier flesh, but if the Focus Nodes are taken out, their senses will completely die out. If that happens, FT Neo-Mekanta will interfere and warp him out.

Other than that, they'd have to get a tank. Zircon were made to take on Future Tech squads. ^_^

EDIT: And I didn't say he didn't fall. But they would have tipped him over from the front and held him down there to avoid being skewered by the spikes on his back. Hence yanking his back spikes out of the ground. ^_^

with a roar and shuddering swift power the bear literally picked up Sergeant Decon and spun him flying towards the trees jumping snapping the man into his jaws, His teeth coming down around the mans weapons belt clamping down hard on a set of Crack Grenades. The other Impact Marines screamed and started firing in all directions Implosive rounds slamming into trees and rocks going off at close to far ranges sending shrapnel every where tearing huge chunks out of vegitation and rocks alike. One round slammed into the bears rump and imploded as it burrowed its way intot he flesh blowing a bloody ragged hole about 15" Inches into the muscle and fat causing the bear to slam into a tree and roar. Sad thing was.. the Sergeant was still alive when the Bear snatched him but an Implo round went off right against his head turning it into a bloody crimson mess on the white bears muzzle just before the Crack grenades in his mouth flared and exploded sending white fur and chunks splattering into the dark trees and rocks tearing a small crater out of the ground with a large spout of dirt and rocks splattering down with the wet meat on the Impact Marines. The ground continued to shake as Neils slammed his hand into Sampsons helmet "shit shit shit! Hold your fire hold your FIRE! SHIT! where did it come from.. dammit.. Sampson.. go see if the Sergeant is still alive.. his read out is dead or its being interfered with.. and check that damn thing.. see what type of damage we did to it." just as Sampson attempted to get up the Sergeants Name plate off his helmet slammed into the ground in front of them covered in gore. "well that anwsers that question now doesnt it.. what are we going to do?" Delion commented then switched back to his position reloading with a swift change of Mags and a snap of the bolt going forward on a new round. "we stick to the plan.. but readjust the Crack Grenades to a complete 360 Sweep of our perimeter. We stay put.. we have enough ammo and it looks like the Implo rounds will drop them if not the Crack Grenades will.. " Neils cussed himself inside.. Why did I volunteer for this.. just to get the points for early out... man I'm short! He was now the Ranking command Officer. The Only Corporal in the squad. Torkes pulled out a white grease marker and put a single mark on the side of his helmet. "Thats one" "Yeah dipshit.. but it got one of us to..Shut up and switch to movement/hearing sensors, Ir doesnt pick up the bastards If it moves blast it. and tighten the permiter once those Crack Grenades are set." Torkes and Delion moved swiftly setting the Perimeter grenades and moved back into position. Each able to bring their weapons into play on the others sector while still within good cover. The ground still shook as the trees trembled. "man.. i'm hungry now" "SHUT UP TORKES"

The men smiled as the bear impacted the man. "Ah that was awesome!" One yelled lifting a device designed to taek out buildings. He crouched and aimed it.

A harpoon that was capable of driving through steel slammed into a bear spearing it all the way through. "Well that sure as hell pissed it off."

"Heh. watch this." A very powerful yet rather small bomb was attached to the end of the harpoon it exploded ripping the bear into shreds.

OOC: Hehehehehe. I like the bear killing!

The men smiled as the bear impacted the man. "Ah that was awesome!" One yelled lifting a device designed to taek out buildings. He crouched and aimed it.

A harpoon that was capable of driving through steel slammed into a bear spearing it all the way through. "Well that sure as hell pissed it off."

"Heh. watch this." A very powerful yet rather small bomb was attached to the end of the harpoon it exploded ripping the bear into shreds.

OOC: Hehehehehe. I like the bear killing!

OOC: *notes the bear was already dead*

:)

If you're having fun, I'm doing my job right. Welcome!

"Sir, if there are bears here, I doubt they'll attack us. But just in case, you want me to fire off a volley into the trees? We can go home then and say we didn't find anything to shoot," Tor said.

"Fire the volley. But we're still hunting the bears," Gener said.

Smiling, Tor stepped to the front of the group and, after a few seconds of the minigun winding up, took minute to unleash the entirety of its hundred-round belt into the woods, using a sweeping pattern. He smiled and walked back to the ship, reaching in to grab more ammunition for his gun.

"Well, this is productive," Gener said.

A howl of pain came out of the woods a second later - snow phthumped to the ground.

And then....


.... silence...

-OOC-
He can. Those glowy-thingies are the only external vulnerable part on a Zircon, especially the head one. It'll take a lot of clawing and digging, but those things are a lot harder to regenerate than the flesh. It might take your bears a bit to realize it, but if they all swarm him and claw at those parts, he'll gradually stop fighting back and just play dead while his senses recover. Zircon "see" out of thier flesh, but if the Focus Nodes are taken out, their senses will completely die out. If that happens, FT Neo-Mekanta will interfere and warp him out.

Other than that, they'd have to get a tank. Zircon were made to take on Future Tech squads. ^_^

EDIT: And I didn't say he didn't fall. But they would have tipped him over from the front and held him down there to avoid being skewered by the spikes on his back. Hence yanking his back spikes out of the ground. ^_^

OOC: As long as you're having fun, it's all good. :D

IC: The scent of burnt bear, blood, scorched fur, and the crackling of a tree which had caught fire filled the air.

The wind took the scent around, played with it, wandered off... whistling.

with a roar and shuddering swift power the bear literally picked up Sergeant Decon and spun him flying towards the trees jumping snapping the man into his jaws, His teeth coming down around the mans weapons belt clamping down hard on a set of Crack Grenades. The other Impact Marines screamed and started firing in all directions Implosive rounds slamming into trees and rocks going off at close to far ranges sending shrapnel every where tearing huge chunks out of vegitation and rocks alike. One round slammed into the bears rump and imploded as it burrowed its way intot he flesh blowing a bloody ragged hole about 15" Inches into the muscle and fat causing the bear to slam into a tree and roar. Sad thing was.. the Sergeant was still alive when the Bear snatched him but an Implo round went off right against his head turning it into a bloody crimson mess on the white bears muzzle just before the Crack grenades in his mouth flared and exploded sending white fur and chunks splattering into the dark trees and rocks tearing a small crater out of the ground with a large spout of dirt and rocks splattering down with the wet meat on the Impact Marines. The ground continued to shake as Neils slammed his hand into Sampsons helmet "shit shit shit! Hold your fire hold your FIRE! SHIT! where did it come from.. dammit.. Sampson.. go see if the Sergeant is still alive.. his read out is dead or its being interfered with.. and check that damn thing.. see what type of damage we did to it." just as Sampson attempted to get up the Sergeants Name plate off his helmet slammed into the ground in front of them covered in gore. "well that anwsers that question now doesnt it.. what are we going to do?" Delion commented then switched back to his position reloading with a swift change of Mags and a snap of the bolt going forward on a new round. "we stick to the plan.. but readjust the Crack Grenades to a complete 360 Sweep of our perimeter. We stay put.. we have enough ammo and it looks like the Implo rounds will drop them if not the Crack Grenades will.. " Neils cussed himself inside.. Why did I volunteer for this.. just to get the points for early out... man I'm short! He was now the Ranking command Officer. The Only Corporal in the squad. Torkes pulled out a white grease marker and put a single mark on the side of his helmet. "Thats one" "Yeah dipshit.. but it got one of us to..Shut up and switch to movement/hearing sensors, Ir doesnt pick up the bastards If it moves blast it. and tighten the permiter once those Crack Grenades are set." Torkes and Delion moved swiftly setting the Perimeter grenades and moved back into position. Each able to bring their weapons into play on the others sector while still within good cover. The ground still shook as the trees trembled. "man.. i'm hungry now" "SHUT UP TORKES"

The trees, the snow, the wind - just about everything is moving around here. This really does not help shattered nerves.

Fifteen minutes pass. The cold fog rising off the bodies mostly disappears in the arctic chill.

...silence...

OOC: SHIT!!! Why didn't anyone tell me this? Ah well.

The hunters and the prisoners regrouped for the night. Over a heavily fortified campfire they discussed what they were going to need to take down these bears.

"Well we start fighting back instead of hunting."

"Good point. I'll get the masks and the more powerful rifles."

"We'll arm the prisoners."

"Perfect."

"What about Gorlez?"

"Gorlez? Definetley these bastards won't stand against Erwin Gorlez."

In the morning a fleet of crafts dropped weapon cache after weapon cache. The prisoners were given a choice arm up or serve as bait. There was no more bait only hunters. And then a small helicopter landed. A hispanic man exited his eyes were like fire and his hair blew back revealing scars and a completely blue eye.

A shiver ran through every thing on the island. The bears themselves shied away from that part of land. Gorlez had arrived.

A howl of pain came out of the woods a second later - snow phthumped to the ground.

And then....


.... silence...

"Well, sounds like we've got a hostile," Gener said.

"But, what if they're human?" Leutent Johnson asked.

"If they weren't hostile before, they are now. Let's move," Gener said.

The soldiers walked into the woods slowly, their eyes wondering and guns following in all directions as they searched for the source of the scream. They did not entirely trust that the sound came from a dead creature. In fact, their experience taught them that if it yelled, shoot it again. This generally turned out to be sound advice.

OOC: What happened to the bullets that didn't strike the source of the yell, the trees, and the ground?

OOC: SHIT!!! Why didn't anyone tell me this? Ah well.

The hunters and the prisoners regrouped for the night. Over a heavily fortified campfire they discussed what they were going to need to take down these bears.

"Well we start fighting back instead of hunting."

"Good point. I'll get the masks and the more powerful rifles."

"We'll arm the prisoners."

"Perfect."

"What about Gorlez?"

"Gorlez? Definetley these bastards won't stand against Erwin Gorlez."

In the morning a fleet of crafts dropped weapon cache after weapon cache. The prisoners were given a choice arm up or serve as bait. There was no more bait only hunters. And then a small helicopter landed. A hispanic man exited his eyes were like fire and his hair blew back revealing scars and a completely blue eye.

A shiver ran through every thing on the island. The bears themselves shied away from that part of land. Gorlez had arrived.

OOC: I'll note here it's still daylight at "night". The sun will not set until February.

IC: The cold wind passed over the small camp, keeping the temperature at a respectable -10C.

Beyond their campsite, the trees occasionally dropped snow.

And somewhere out there, the bears.... watched.

"Well, sounds like we've got a hostile," Gener said.

"But, what if they're human?" Leutent Johnson asked.

"If they weren't hostile before, they are now. Let's move," Gener said.

The soldiers walked into the woods slowly, their eyes wondering and guns following in all directions as they searched for the source of the scream. They did not entirely trust that the sound came from a dead creature. In fact, their experience taught them that if it yelled, shoot it again. This generally turned out to be sound advice.

OOC: What happened to the bullets that didn't strike the source of the yell, the trees, and the ground?

OOC: Good question, isn't it?

IC:
The lack of new snowfall allows them to quickly find a blood trail, heading northerly though erraticly. The huge prints have polar bear written all over them - a glance says this monsters prints are nearly two feet across.

Two nearby trees show bulletwounds; one of them has been stripped on one side and chewed somewhat.

Half a human being is half under the snow nearby. His parka has been shredded open, ribs torn open, and his innards are either missing, or spread somewhat under the snow. Very dead, for some time.

OOC: Maybe you should have mentioned that earlier.

Gorlez lifted a sniper rifle and and aimed. He sighted the bear and fired. Knowing he'd scored a kill Erwin Gorlez approached the men and got the pilots.

"Get those in the air. NOW!!!," turning quickly he grabbed a man "rig this entire camp with explosives the bears will come down in a group to try and take us but we won't be here undrestand?"

Gorlez smiled as he and the other hunters were lifted into the air he'd left a fresh deer carcass in the camp to attract bears and his party was currently moving to the other side of the island.

As the bear carcasses, or what was left of them after Kathxeth's violent execution of the bears, vanished in pulses of red light thanks to the advanced recall technology Kathxeth had with him since his creation on Ghyagis so long ago, the Zircon stomped off toward smoke he saw in the sky, wondering what could possibly create such an obvious signal...

As the small team of Marines moved deeper into the forest, the density of trees became too much even for the small, nimble ST-280. They decided to dismount and continue on foot, 3 marines, who were uncomfortable leaving the ST-380 in the forest, were assigned to stay behind, if there was an emergency or snowstorm, the ST-280 could open fire with its 30mm gatling gun and clear a path through the trees. They didn't want to have to destroy trees if they were not in danger.... The 2 snipers and the team sgt continued on alone, despite objections from the rest of the men.

The small fire team, outfitted with arctic level 1 polar suits and Antartacore Snowshoes, moved tactically deeper and deeper into the forest...

"It was quiet out there... too quiet" the team leader thought to himself.

The only sound heard for hours was the footsteps in the snow, and the labored breathing of the marines through their masks.

All of the sudden, a low, ominous growl was heard from behind! They froze and listened again.... now they heard rustling, spinning around in all directions, they struggled to see through the snowcovered evergreen trees. "Is anybody there" shouted one marine. "I think its a bear... a big one" another marine speculated. "Fuck it!" shouted the Sgt, he switched his DMR to full auto and started spraying into the woodline, "Use your grenades!" one of the Marines shouted as he threw a frag grenade into the bushes "Frag Out!!" Fire in the hole!" the other men yelled as they did the same. Something was still coming!!! The snipers took aim with thier sniper rifles, one of them drew his M-101 Super nova .8 gauge shotgun and .50 Desert eagle in favor of his bulky Sniper Rifle/. The Sgt exhausted his 32 round clip, and threw off his rucksack. Just as he was bending down for a moment to fish out the 60 round drum........ *CRASH* A huge 15 foot tall bear plowed through a pair of small trees and prepared to pounce on the Sgt! As his men took aim at the bear, he quickly drew his .50 pistol and aimed at the bear........

(I leave his fate to you Vastiva ;p)

OOC: Good question, isn't it?

IC:
The lack of new snowfall allows them to quickly find a blood trail, heading northerly though erraticly. The huge prints have polar bear written all over them - a glance says this monsters prints are nearly two feet across.

Two nearby trees show bulletwounds; one of them has been stripped on one side and chewed somewhat.

Half a human being is half under the snow nearby. His parka has been shredded open, ribs torn open, and his innards are either missing, or spread somewhat under the snow. Very dead, for some time.

OOC: I can imagine some very unhappy people if they got struck by those.

IC:

The entire group stopped, suddenly not so sure this was a good idea. Anything with footprints over half a meter wide that could take a minigun round and still have enough strength to eat half a man and chew on a tree was closer to something they would use planetary bombardment on than infantry. But, they had a mission.

"Uh, may I be excused? I sorta... soiled my pants," Leutent Johnson said.

The other soldiers busted out laughing, making Johnson feel even more foolish, before continuing on. While walking, silently, they reflected on how strangely quiet the forest was. Almost as though there were a major predator around. Most simply wrote it off as the minigun, but Johnson kept looking around nervously. He could have sworn they were being followed...

"A bear hunting we will go, a bear hunting we will go, hi-hi, hi-ho, a bear hunting we will go," Tor started to sing.

"Tor, I swear to the gods that if you continue to sing that I will personally rip you to pieces and hand-feed you to the damn polar bear," Gener said.

Gorlez noticed something from high in the air. Another group of men who were hunting bears. He motioned the other transports down. Gorlez jumped out and nodded at Johnson before moving forward.

He came running back a few seconds later. "At least five." He said before grabbing a rifle and getting ready.

Kathxeth arrived at the camp to find it abandoned, the people who made it having been gone already.

Cursing slightly, the Zircon stomped off again, keeping watch for humans and bears alike, switching to full alert the moment he smelled one...

Gorlez got a call on his com. The scout said just one thing. "What in the hell is that?" Before the link was broken. Gorlez smiled to himself something else to hunt.

OOC: Maybe you should have mentioned that earlier.

Gorlez lifted a sniper rifle and and aimed. He sighted the bear and fired. Knowing he'd scored a kill Erwin Gorlez approached the men and got the pilots.

"Get those in the air. NOW!!!," turning quickly he grabbed a man "rig this entire camp with explosives the bears will come down in a group to try and take us but we won't be here undrestand?"

Gorlez smiled as he and the other hunters were lifted into the air he'd left a fresh deer carcass in the camp to attract bears and his party was currently moving to the other side of the island.

WHOOOMPF!

A huge explosion as everything goes up when your trap is set off.

As the small team of Marines moved deeper into the forest, the density of trees became too much even for the small, nimble ST-280. They decided to dismount and continue on foot, 3 marines, who were uncomfortable leaving the ST-380 in the forest, were assigned to stay behind, if there was an emergecy or snowstorm, the ST-280 could open fire with its 30mm gatling gun and clear a path thru the trees. They didnt want to have to destroy trees if they were not in danger.... The 2 snipers and the team sgt continued on alone, despite objections from the rest of the men. The small fire team, outfitted with artic level 1 polar suits and Antartacore Snowshoes, moved tacticaly deeper and deeper into the forest... It was quiet out there... too quiet. The only sound heard was the footsteps in the snow, and the labored breathing of the marines through thier masks. Then a low ominous growl was heard from behind! They froze listened again.... now they heard rustling, spinning around in all directions, they struggled to see through the snowcovered evergreen trees. " Fuck it!" shouted the Sgt, he switched his DMR to full auto and started spraying into the woodline, "Use your grenades!" one of the marines shouted as he threw a frag grenade into the bushes "Frag Out!!" Fire in the hole!" the other men yelled as they did the same. Something was still coming!!! The snipers took aim with there sniper rifles, one of them drew his M-101 Super nova .8 gauge shotgun and .50 Desert eagle in favor of his bulky Sniper Rifle/. The Sgt exahsted his 32 round clip, and threw off his rucksack. Just as he was bending down for a moment to fish out the 60 round drum........ *CRASH* A huge 15 foot bear plowed through a pair of small trees and prepared to pounce on the Sgt! As his men took aim at the bear, he quickly drew his .50 pistol and started to fire........(I leave his fate to you Vastiva ;p)

*KUMPF*
*KUMPF*
*KUMPF*

Three more rounds strike the medium sized bear, its coat now red with bloodloss.

*KUMPF*
*KUMPF*
*KUMPF*
*click*

The sargents face bleached white as the huge bear blocked out the sun...



... and collapsed in a pile in front of him.

OOC: I can imagine some very unhappy people if they got struck by those.

IC:

The entire group stopped, suddenly not so sure this was a good idea. Anything with footprints over half a meter wide that could take a minigun round and still have enough strength to eat half a man and chew on a tree was closer to something they would use planetary bombardment on than infantry. But, they had a mission.

"Uh, may I be excused? I sorta... soiled my pants," Leutent Johnson said.

The other soldiers busted out laughing, making Johnson feel even more foolish, before continuing on. While walking, silently, they reflected on how strangely quiet the forest was. Almost as though there were a major predator around. Most simply wrote it off as the minigun, but Johnson kept looking around nervously. He could have sworn they were being followed...

"A bear hunting we will go, a bear hunting we will go, hi-hi, hi-ho, a bear hunting we will go," Tor started to sing.

"Tor, I swear to the gods that if you continue to sing that I will personally rip you to pieces and hand-feed you to the damn polar bear," Gener said.

... silence...

a bit of wind kicks up, the cold frost dancing against their outer thermalwear.

...silence...

the crunch of snow as they take each step.

...silence...

Kathxeth arrived at the camp to find it abandoned, the people who made it having been gone already.

Cursing slightly, the Zircon stomped off again, keeping watch for humans and bears alike, switching to full alert the moment he smelled one...

Another huge WHOOOPF! some distance east.

But no bears.

... silence...

a bit of wind kicks up, the cold frost dancing against their outer thermalwear.

...silence...

the crunch of snow as they take each step.

...silence...

And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked some more. And, for a change of pace, they walked.

Finally stopping, they looked around. No sign of the bear beyond the footprints, which seemed to go on forever. Behind them was a nice, lovely, warm ship waiting for them to head back into atmosphere and home. So, sighing, they decided to take a break to rest. Tor sat down and leaned back against a tree, obviously tiring from carrying the weight around like he did. The rest each sat down as well, deciding to rest for the moment.

And they walked. And they walked. And they walked. And they walked some more. And, for a change of pace, they walked.

Finally stopping, they looked around. No sign of the bear beyond the footprints, which seemed to go on forever. Behind them was a nice, lovely, warm ship waiting for them to head back into atmosphere and home. So, sighing, they decided to take a break to rest. Tor sat down and leaned back against a tree, obviously tiring from carrying the weight around like he did. The rest each sat down as well, deciding to rest for the moment.

Strangely, they're one man short.

He's just...

gone.


Around the group, the wind hums. And more snow falls off a tree.

"This is echo one niner calling base....
We've had a pretty close call out here and I would like to request reinforcements. The polar bears in this forest are much larger and more aggressive than those we have encountered before, they also seem to be able to sustain hits from Fifty Caliber rounds, one of them took 8 rounds from my desert fox pistol , plus 2 sniper rifle rounds to be put down. We are requesting any squad equipped with 20mm Anti-Material Sniper Rifles join us ASAP."


"copy echo one niner this is echo one six, we understand, 8 men are inbound via Super Huey, 3 men carrying SR-20 20mm sniper rifles, 1 man carrying a 14.5mm SR-14 rifle, 1 with an MG-22 SAW and 3 with AR-22 Rifles. They will be under your command once they arrive."

"Affirmative, echo one niner out"

After making the radio call the 3 man team returns to the ST-280 to drink some energy drinks and get some rest, 4 men will sleep at a time, the other 2 manning the 30mm gun and .50 cal minigun for 2 hour shifts. The Huey will arrive by 6 am the next day.

OOC: be back tmrw .....zzzzzzzZZZZ the hunt will continue then

To: Vastivan Government
From: Voltarum Channel 13

Hello from your Antarctican neighbors. As we are always looking for new entertainment, we propose a new reality show,with your permission. It would be called "Natural Selection" and the premise would be to drop 13 "contestants" into your wilderness armed with only minimal supplies and weapons. And a film crew. You know, to film the carnage. Their goal - kill a bear each. 13 bear, and they succeed and win $1 milion Polar Crowns AND a lifetime supply of herring milkshakes. Big ratings and such. Filming can start immediately if you agree.

For Antarctica,
Guy Fleming, President Channel 13

[Can some Antarctica123ian contestants sign up for your little reality show voltarum?]

OOC: Right my guys met up with the DemonLordEnigmas. And then Gorlez sighted at least five bears coming their way.

The trees, the snow, the wind - just about everything is moving around here. This really does not help shattered nerves.

Fifteen minutes pass. The cold fog rising off the bodies mostly disappears in the arctic chill.

...silence...

As night settled over the four Marines they switched turns taking watch, No fires or lights cold rations, colder water. No one really slept. The occasional Ripping noise of explosions Coming from the East and North would make them all start and flip up their NightVision scopes to monitor for any sudden movements larger then a small dog. Nothing.. all was quiet again.. snapping of twigs would put them on edge. They waited as the Sun cleared the horizon casting itself down on the cold frozen grounds the four Impact Marines scanned their sectors each slowly, methodically looking for any sign when out of the tree line came a lumbering large white beast.. its jowls slobbering with lather and blood as if it had taken on a fresh kill. It stopped near one of the thermal inlet lakes and lowered its head sniffing the water then lapping at it slowly. Neils thumped Sampson on the head softly and pointed then ran his hand diaginally over his throat in the kill designation. The Two Marines while covered to the rear by Torkes and Delion lowered their M590 and waited.. the Beast raised its head slowly sniffing the air. Then set back to drinking. Slowly out of the woods lumbered a second beast doing much the same as the first.. One possible two tricky.. any more dangerous. Sampson looked at Neils then back down his sights adjusting them to the head of the second beast.. Neils hand tightened on the Trigger bar as a bit of apprehensive sweat rolled down his forhead in his helmet. His Motion scanners picking up multiple movement around them. "aim for the head.. aim for the head.." only words spoken as he ripped off a three round burst at the Large Bear His aim was steady and true as the rounds roared out the end of his muzzle towards the behemoth. Sampson following suit no more then a second behind. the Recoil of the Rifle kicking back into both their shoulders with a solid thud. the Second Beast hearing the first ripping sound of the rounds roared and raised its head from within the water sniffing. Sampson thanked the gods he had adjusted for windage and elevation as well as possible movement his rounds had been aimed less then an inch higher then where the bears head was. The beast had literally lined its head straight up in his cross hairs now.. Implosive Rounds screamed in a group of threes at the beast. Torkes jumped looking nervously over his shoulder at the two other Marines. "Dammit Torkes watch your sector!, prepare fire Cracks on my mark!" Neils didnt even look back at the other two he kept his weapon steady on the Beast watching for impact. The shots not a difficult one considering the distance was under 200 Meters, and the target was larger then most tanks. His crosshairs never moving from the beasts head in case he had to take a second shot..

To: Vastivan Government
From: Voltarum Channel 13

Hello from your Antarctican neighbors. As we are always looking for new entertainment, we propose a new reality show,with your permission. It would be called "Natural Selection" and the premise would be to drop 13 "contestants" into your wilderness armed with only minimal supplies and weapons. And a film crew. You know, to film the carnage. Their goal - kill a bear each. 13 bear, and they succeed and win $1 milion Polar Crowns AND a lifetime supply of herring milkshakes. Big ratings and such. Filming can start immediately if you agree.

For Antarctica,
Guy Fleming, President Channel 13

"Is he serious?"
"Do we care?"

***

Ab-shalom and greetings;

Provided the broadcast includes distribution in Vastiva at no additional charge - and all contestants sign waivers holding Vastiva in no way responsible for anything that happens - accepted.

Namaste,
Kidane Alemachu
Vizier of Trade and Contracts
Humble Servant of His Magnificence, the Sultan of Vastiva

OOC: Right my guys met up with the DemonLordEnigmas. And then Gorlez sighted at least five bears coming their way.

(Only five? oh - only five you see in the dense forest....)

As night settled over the four Marines they switched turns taking watch, No fires or lights cold rations, colder water. No one really slept. The occasional Ripping noise of explosions Coming from the East and North would make them all start and flip up their NightVision scopes to monitor for any sudden movements larger then a small dog. Nothing.. all was quiet again.. snapping of twigs would put them on edge. They waited as the Sun cleared the horizon casting itself down on the cold frozen grounds the four Impact Marines scanned their sectors each slowly, methodically looking for any sign when out of the tree line came a lumbering large white beast.. its jowls slobbering with lather and blood as if it had taken on a fresh kill. It stopped near one of the thermal inlet lakes and lowered its head sniffing the water then lapping at it slowly. Neils thumped Sampson on the head softly and pointed then ran his hand diaginally over his throat in the kill designation. The Two Marines while covered to the rear by Torkes and Delion lowered their M590 and waited.. the Beast raised its head slowly sniffing the air. Then set back to drinking. Slowly out of the woods lumbered a second beast doing much the same as the first.. One possible two tricky.. any more dangerous. Sampson looked at Neils then back down his sights adjusting them to the head of the second beast.. Neils hand tightened on the Trigger bar as a bit of apprehensive sweat rolled down his forhead in his helmet. His Motion scanners picking up multiple movement around them. "aim for the head.. aim for the head.." only words spoken as he ripped off a three round burst at the Large Bear His aim was steady and true as the rounds roared out the end of his muzzle towards the behemoth. Sampson following suit no more then a second behind. the Recoil of the Rifle kicking back into both their shoulders with a solid thud. the Second Beast hearing the first ripping sound of the rounds roared and raised its head from within the water sniffing. Sampson thanked the gods he had adjusted for windage and elevation as well as possible movement his rounds had been aimed less then an inch higher then where the bears head was. The beast had literally lined its head straight up in his cross hairs now.. Implosive Rounds screamed in a group of threes at the beast. Torkes jumped looking nervously over his shoulder at the two other Marines. "Dammit Torkes watch your sector!, prepare fire Cracks on my mark!" Neils didnt even look back at the other two he kept his weapon steady on the Beast watching for impact. The shots not a difficult one considering the distance was under 200 Meters, and the target was larger then most tanks. His crosshairs never moving from the beasts head in case he had to take a second shot..

OOC: Sun won't set til February. Maybe you were in a cave?

IC:
Both huge bodies slump into the snow.

However, it is "morning". And the bears are coming to drink.

Motion everywhere, the sound of crunching snow, the appearance of four more of the white coming through the treeline - then a mother and two cubs - then another behemoth.

The Sgt, 5 snipers armed with .50 cals, 3 with 20mm, one with a 14.5mm as well as the MG-22 SAW gunner and 3 heavy riflemen met up with eachother around 6:20am. They packed up the track and began to move out....
Since there were now more troops, 6 men had to march along side the ST-280. The Sgt., SAW gunner and riflemen and one of the .50 snipers were the ones stuck out in the cold marching staggered on either side of the vehicle.

They followed a small path, a heavily used bear path which was just wide enough for the ST-280 to use, up to a clearing.
In the middle of the clearing there was a frozen river, stretching for miles.
One of the men walked onto the ice to test it, It seemed pretty stable, he backed off and took aim with his rifle, **BANG** he blew a hole the diameter of a hot dog straight down into the ice.
"What the hell are you doing!!!??!!" yelled the Sgt.

"Checking to see the depth of the ice, Sgt, thats all, hey come take a look"

To everyones amazement, the bullet did not fully penetrate the ice....

"This ice must be 6 feet thick at least, look how deep that hole is!!"

The Sgt. decided to move his force along the frozen river, the men traveling on the banks, the ST-280 skimming along the ice, "hey if the ice breaks who cares? the ST-280 floats", remarked one of the Marines... "right?" he asked, looking for reassurance.. which he didn't get.
They traveled along the river for several hours, but then it took a turn towards the sea, and away from the bear infested forest. They decided to turn around and go back to a set of tracks they had seen earlier but didn't follow up on since they wanted to explore the river further.

Upon reaching the embankment were they had seen the tracks they noticed something strange....small trees and bushes that had been there were smashed and broken, and the fresh snow was disturbed everywhere. On closer inspection, they were able to identify new sets of tracks, at least 6 different bears had been there recently, judging by the different sizes of the prints. They moved into the forest, following the tracks, searching for the bears they knew were lying in wait for them..........

Andreus walked through the snow blurred forest after a meeting with an old friend of his. He felt frostbite crawling up his fingers and realised perhaps it would have been better to wait for the snow to stop before he left.
He turned on his internal heaters and rubbed his hands together briskly then turned left through the thick trees.
He had only gone a few steps when an unholy roar tore through the forest and an unnaturally large bear burst from the undergrowth, the bear swiped at Andreus with a huge paw but his reflexes saved him at the last second. He jumped back so the bear only gave him a glancing blow which sent him flying like a doll and he crashed against a tree.His internal heaters cut out as he struggled to his feet, the bear was charging towards him desperate for blood.
There was a screech of neumatics as Andreus lept into the air and landed clinging to the bears back, he stabbed into the bears flesh with his fist but although it sunk into flesh no blood was apparent. The bear seemed unaffected by Andreus's attack although it was a little suprised at the leap, it tried to pry Andreus off by reaching round and goring him into a small stain but it could not reach. Then with Andreus still on its back it leapt backwards intending to squash him like a bug. The man lept free just in time and jumped onto the bears front before it could refocus or get its wind back, he punched swiftly two times, one into each eye mangling nerves and what brains the bear had.
The bear in its death throes managed to throw Andreus off and leave a gash on his face plate but it eventually ceaced struggling and lay dead on the frozen ground. Andreus stood panting for a moment while distant roars of bears were heard, and also....gun shots....
He had to find the gunners in the forest, he had no chance of survival on his own.....


OOC: Um, Andreus is a cyborg by the way, kinda obvious but hey I just need to point that out. A picture for those who like reference :D
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/g/a/gazza/andreus_enhanced.jpg.html

The Sgt, 5 .50cal snipers, 3 20mm snipers, 14.5mm sniper, MG-22 SAW gunner and 3 heavy riflemen met up with eacother around 6:20am. They packed up the track and began to move out....
Since there were now more troops, 6 men had to march along side the ST-280. The Sgt., SAW gunner and riflemenand one of the .50 snipers were the ones stuck out in the cold marching staggared on either side fo the vehicle.
They followed a small path, a heavily used bear path which was just wide enough for the ST-280 to use, up to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing there was a frozen river, stretching for miles. One of the men walked onto the ice to test it, It seemed pretty stable, he backed off and toook aim with his rifle, **BANG** he blew a hole the diameter of a hot dog straight down into the ice.
"What the hell are you doing!!!??!!" yelled the Sgt.

"Checking to see the depth of the ice, Sgt, thats all, hey come take a look"

To everyones amazment, the bullet did not fully penetrate the ice....

"This ice must be 6 feet thick at least, look how deep that hole is!!"

The Sgt. decided to move his force along the frozen river, the men traveling on the banks, the ST-280 skimming along the ice, "hey if the ice breaks who cares? the ST-280 floats", remarked one of the Marines...
They traveled along the river for several hours, but then it took a turn towards the sea, and away from the bear infested forest. They decided to turn around and go back to a set of tracks they had seen earlier but didn't follow up on since they wanted to explore the river further.

Upon reaching the embankment were they had seen the tracks they noticed something strange....small trees and bushes that had been there were smashed and broken, and the fresh snow was disturbed everywhere. On closer inspection, they were able to identify new sets of tracks, at least 6 different bears had been there recently, judging by the diffrent sizes of the prints. they moved into the forest, following the tracks, searching for the bears they knew were lieing in wait for them..........

They didn't have long to wait - a bear was busilly tearing apart the remains of an elephant seal near the next large lake, which merrily bubbled and dripped and steamed from the geothermal vents beneath.

Even the slight briefing they'd been given contained information on these - it was one of the means Vastiva stayed in the "barely tolerable" climate before the planting of the Southern Pine Forest. The water would be cold, but not untolerable. The presence of the seal meant it connected to the ocean some miles away.

The bear, on the other hand, paid them no heed at all.

Andreus walked through the snow blurred forest after a meeting with an old friend of his. He felt frostbite crawling up his fingers and realised perhaps it would have been better to wait for the snow to stop before he left.
He turned on his internal heaters and rubbed his hands together briskly then turned left through the thick trees.
He had only gone a few steps when an unholy roar tore through the forest and an unnaturally large bear burst from the undergrowth, the bear swiped at Andreus with a huge paw but his reflexes saved him at the last second. He jumped back so the bear only gave him a glancing blow which sent him flying like a doll and he crashed against a tree.His internal heaters cut out as he struggled to his feet, the bear was charging towards him desperate for blood.
There was a screech of neumatics as Andreus lept into the air and landed clinging to the bears back, he stabbed into the bears flesh with his fist but although it sunk into flesh no blood was apparent. The bear seemed unaffected by Andreus's attack although it was a little suprised at the leap, it tried to pry Andreus off by reaching round and goring him into a small stain but it could not reach. Then with Andreus still on its back it leapt backwards intending to squash him like a bug. The man lept free just in time and jumped onto the bears front before it could refocus or get its wind back, he punched swiftly two times, one into each eye mangling nerves and what brains the bear had.
The bear in its death throes managed to throw Andreus off and leave a gash on his face plate but it eventually ceaced struggling and lay dead on the frozen ground. Andreus stood panting for a moment while distant roars of bears were heard, and also....gun shots....
He had to find the gunners in the forest, he had no chance of survival on his own.....


OOC: Um, Andreus is a cyborg by the way, kinda obvious but hey I just need to point that out. A picture for those who like reference :D
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/g/a/gazza/andreus_enhanced.jpg.html

OOC: *looks* What the hell. Do read the first post of this thread before posting again. And I'll say you're invited, and near Pheonix Militia, on the other side of the lake.

OOC: *looks* What the hell. Do read the first post of this thread before posting again. And I'll say you're invited, and near Pheonix Militia, on the other side of the lake.

Woops, yea, forgot to read the first bit, I'v put a request in but I can deleat the post if you want.
But if he IS allowed then I can edit the post so he is near where you want him to be.

OOC: Just post.

Andreus ran, his bionic improved lungs wining through over strain, and he burst into a clearing. He noticed disturbed snow, men and viecles had been here recently. He also noticed that in the nearby river someone had blown an impressive hole through pretty thick ice.. He walked over to it and whistled realising whoever did this had impressive gear. He also realising being wih anyone who had that gear significantly increased the chances of his organs staying inside his body as opposed to a bears jaws. He set off following the trail, sprinting and hoping he could run just that important bit faster than they were moving.

As the men worked their way through the woods, they came upon a huge bear chowing down on a dead seal near a large lake, which surprisingly, despite the outside temprature, wasn't frozen, and was actually steaming hot. The bear did not even notice the snipers get out of the vehicle, lay prone in the snow, set up their bipods and take aim. One of the men yelled out "Eat this you bastard!!!" just as all 3 NTW-20 sniper rifles were fired at once. The bear turned his head when the Marine shouted, just in time to meet a 20mm round which blew off its left ear. The second 20mm round and the 14.5 slammed into the bears chest and neck, respectively. :sniper: The bear let out a gurgling, low roar and then collapsed from suffocation, since his esophagus was now nothing more than ground bear meat. He bled out within 30 seconds from the chest wound.

While the men moved over to tag the corpse some of them decided to take a swim in the hot springs. The Sgt. frowned upon this behavior but allowed it in order to keep morale up.

As they were swimming and washing themselves, the Sgt, who decided not to go for a swim, heard the clear crunching of footsteps behind him...
Someone or something was coming through the snow, cracking sticks and rustling bushes as it moved closer and closer.... then they saw something, something strange, they couldn't make it out, they didn't think it was a bear wasn't the right shape, what or who could it be? Was someone following them?

"HALT! Who goes there?" a Marine hollered as the entire force took aim at the mysterious figure, which could only be partially made out in the light snow and fog.

"Advance to be recognized" demanded the Sgt.

OOC: Terms agreed. All contestants haved signed waivers in case they are ripped to shreds etc. Channel is free in Vastiva, Pay Per View to all other Antarctican Countries.

*flip* *flip*

Tonight, on Voltarum Channel 13, NATURAL SELECTION
*stare*
"Hi, and welcome to a show unlike anything you have ever seen before. I am your host, Guy Smiley. Tonight we bring you a show so real, so dangerous, that you won't be able to get up... even for a herring milkshake.
*suspenseful music*
Tonight, we take 13 ordinary contestants and drop them in the Vastivian wilderness. Equipped with only a lighter, canteen, one XM8 assault rifle with 300 rounds of ammunition, a knife, and one grenade each, the 13 have to work together to survive in the inhospitable Vastivian countryside. Their goal? To survive the cold, each other, and the famed Antarctican Polar Bears that lay claim to these grounds. Whoever manages to survive in the process of killing 13 Polar Bears will each win $1 million dollars and a lifetime supply of herring milkshakes.

Easy right? What the contestants don't know is that there are several thousand polar bears out there, more intelligent that any other prey that any of them have faced or even dreamed of. Oh, and just to make it a little tougher, one of the 13 is a mole, paid to delibrately and secretly sabotage the groups efforts to kill the bears.

Will the 13 survive? Will they discover the mole in time? Will YOU figure out who the mole is? Will the polar bear's adaptations prove too much for the humans? The show where anything goes, where even the camera crew are at risk, will be back, after these commericals....

After several minutes of commercials dealing with toilet paper, hookball, Vastivian tourist information, and the how great Premier Xerco is....

Hi, and welcome back to Natural Selection. Before we get to the adventure, lets meet our 13 contestants.
Contestant #01 - Harry Blackfoot, 27, Alpha Province, 2nd Grade Teacher. Single.
Contestant #02 - Joanna Willington, 54, Beta Province, Chef. Married Mother of 2.
Contestant #03 - Bert Popliarz, 33, Gamma Province, Lawyer. Single.
Contestant #04 - Greg Lociciero, 18, Delta Province, Unemployed. Single
Contestant #05 - Charlie Vestaggo, 66, Epsilon Province, Retired Marine. Widowed Father of 7.
Contestant #06 - Suzie Flanagan, 21, Zeta Province, College Studen. Single.
Contestant #07 - Brenda Marino, 41, Eta Province, Homemaker. Married Mother of 3.
Contestant #08 - Zane Retanic, 37, Theta Province, Construction Worker. Single.
Contestant #09 - Stuart Hollingsbag, 24, Iota Province, Computer Engineer. Single.
Contestant #10 - Dick Thornmuffin, 30, Kappa Province, Ice Miner. Married Father of 1.
Contestant #11 - Martha Lagsucs, 33, Lambda Province, Social Worker. Married.
Contestant #12 - Mario Bucharski, 20, Mu Province, In&Out Burger Assistant Manager. Single.
Contestant #13 - Jillian Killington, 22, Nu Province, Professional Hookball Player. Single.

Together, they will set off into the wilderness and attempt to outwit nature and her NATURAL SELECTION.

Behind me is the helicopter bearing these 13 contestants. All have basic hunting skills and know how to use a gun... but can they outwit the bears?Take a good look, because this may be the last time you see them alive...."

The helicopter lifts off as the 13 stand in the middle of the field, a camera crew off in the distance. Each contestant had only a number on the back of their white outfits.
"Well, I guess the first thing is find some sort of shelter, and get to planning," Zane (#8) said. "Those hills over there don't look too bad..."
"Good idea," replied Suzie. "I'm cold already."
"Just be vigilant and watchful," said Bert. "Those stinkin bears could be anywhere."
The 13 trekked off together toward the nearest group of hills, unaware that anyone... or anthing was watching them...

OOC: Vastiva you are welcome to RP the bear attacks... just don't make it overwhelmingly deathly... I want this to last a few posts...

As the men worked thier way throught the woods, they came upon a huge bear chowing down on a dead seal near a large lake, which suprising wasn't frozen, and was actually steaming hot. The bear did not even notice the snipers get out of the vehicle, lay prone in the snow, se up thier bipods and take aim. One of the men yelled out "Eat this you bastard!!!" just as all 3 NTW-20 sniper rifles were fired at once. The bear turned his head when the Marine shouted, just in time to meet a 20mm round which blew off its left ear. The second 20mm round and the 14.5 slammed into the bears chest and neck, respectivly. :sniper: The bear let out a gurgling, low roar and then collapsed from suffocation, since his esophogus was now nothing more than ground bear meat. He bled out within 30 seconds from the chest wound.

While the men moved over to tag the corpse some of them decided to take a swim in the hot springs. The Sgt. frowned upon this behavoir but allowed it in order to keep morale up. As they were swimming and washing themselves, the Sgt, who decided not to go for a swim, heard the clear crunching of footsteps behind him. Someone or something was coming through the snow, cracking sticks and rustling bushes as it moved closer and closer.... then they saw something, something strange, they couldnt make it out, they didn't think it was a bear wasn't the right shape, what or who could it be? Was someone following them?

"HALT! Who goes there?" a Marine hollered as the entire force took aim at the mysterious figure, which could only be partialy made out in the light snow and fog.

"Advance to be recognized" demanded the Sgt.


'Lower your weapons friends' A voice with a slight mettalic ring called from the fog
'I seek no confronatation, simply companionship. Bears do not make the best conversationalists.' The figure stepped forward into the light where the squad could see him. He was ovbiously a man much repaired by science. He dusted himself off then smiled at the marines
'Greetings, I assume you share the same dislike of being mauled by hungry bears that I do.'

... his eyes widen as three white deaths emerge silently behind the troopers...

OOC: Terms agreed. All contestants haved signed waivers in case they are ripped to shreds etc. Channel is free in Vastiva, Pay Per View to all other Antarctican Countries.

*flip* *flip*

Tonight, on Voltarum Channel 13, NATURAL SELECTION
*stare*
"Hi, and welcome to a show unlike anything you have ever seen before. I am your host, Guy Smiley. Tonight we bring you a show so real, so dangerous, that you won't be able to get up... even for a herring milkshake.
*suspenseful music*
Tonight, we take 13 ordinary contestants and drop them in the Vastivian wilderness. Equipped with only a lighter, canteen, one XM8 assault rifle with 300 rounds of ammunition, a knife, and one grenade each, the 13 have to work together to survive in the inhospitable Vastivian countryside. Their goal? To survive the cold, each other, and the famed Antarctican Polar Bears that lay claim to these grounds. Whoever manages to survive in the process of killing 13 Polar Bears will each win $1 million dollars and a lifetime supply of herring milkshakes.

Easy right? What the contestants don't know is that there are several thousand polar bears out there, more intelligent that any other prey that any of them have faced or even dreamed of. Oh, and just to make it a little tougher, one of the 13 is a mole, paid to delibrately and secretly sabotage the groups efforts to kill the bears.

Will the 13 survive? Will they discover the mole in time? Will YOU figure out who the mole is? Will the polar bear's adaptations prove too much for the humans? The show where anything goes, where even the camera crew are at risk, will be back, after these commericals....

After several minutes of commercials dealing with toilet paper, hookball, Vastivian tourist information, and the how great Premier Xerco is....

Hi, and welcome back to Natural Selection. Before we get to the adventure, lets meet our 13 contestants.
Contestant #01 - Harry Blackfoot, 27, Alpha Province, 2nd Grade Teacher. Single.
Contestant #02 - Joanna Willington, 54, Beta Province, Chef. Married Mother of 2.
Contestant #03 - Bert Popliarz, 33, Gamma Province, Lawyer. Single.
Contestant #04 - Greg Lociciero, 18, Delta Province, Unemployed. Single
Contestant #05 - Charlie Vestaggo, 66, Epsilon Province, Retired Marine. Widowed Father of 7.
Contestant #06 - Suzie Flanagan, 21, Zeta Province, College Studen. Single.
Contestant #07 - Brenda Marino, 41, Eta Province, Homemaker. Married Mother of 3.
Contestant #08 - Zane Retanic, 37, Theta Province, Construction Worker. Single.
Contestant #09 - Stuart Hollingsbag, 24, Iota Province, Computer Engineer. Single.
Contestant #10 - Dick Thornmuffin, 30, Kappa Province, Ice Miner. Married Father of 1.
Contestant #11 - Martha Lagsucs, 33, Lambda Province, Social Worker. Married.
Contestant #12 - Mario Bucharski, 20, Mu Province, In&Out Burger Assistant Manager. Single.
Contestant #13 - Jillian Killington, 22, Nu Province, Professional Hookball Player. Single.

Together, they will set off into the wilderness and attempt to outwit nature and her NATURAL SELECTION.

Behind me is the helicopter bearing these 13 contestants. All have basic hunting skills and know how to use a gun... but can they outwit the bears?Take a good look, because this may be the last time you see them alive...."

The helicopter lifts off as the 13 stand in the middle of the field, a camera crew off in the distance. Each contestant had only a number on the back of their white outfits.
"Well, I guess the first thing is find some sort of shelter, and get to planning," Zane (#8) said. "Those hills over there don't look too bad..."
"Good idea," replied Suzie. "I'm cold already."
"Just be vigilant and watchful," said Bert. "Those stinkin bears could be anywhere."
The 13 trekked off together toward the nearest group of hills, unaware that anyone... or anthing was watching them...

OOC: Vastiva you are welcome to RP the bear attacks... just don't make it overwhelmingly deathly... I want this to last a few posts...

Ironicly, the first curious bear came into view between the camera crew and the contestants. Its huge head came up and it whuffed, sniffing for the presence of something edible.

As the wind was headed towards the contestants... it began to move towards the camera crew.

Weather warning:

Storm expected within six hours. Winds to 50 mph with snowfall probable. Temperatures in the southern regions are to drop to -45 C for at least the next 72 hours.

'Lower your weapons friends' A voice with a slight mettalic ring called from the fog
'I seek no confronatation, simply companionship. Bears do not make the best conversationalists.' The figure stepped forward into the light where the squad could see him. He was ovbiously a man much repaired by science. He dusted himself off then smiled at the marines
'Greetings, I assume you share the same dislike of being mauled by hungry bears that I do.'
"Alright men, stand down, what the fuck are you?"

Just then a look came over man's face, like he had seen a ghost... the marines turned around, to their horror 3 large polar bears had appeared and were closing on the marines who were in the hot spring!

Everyone ran towards the spring and started opening fire, but one of the bears was already too close to one of the snipers who was swiming for his life, heading for shore as fast as he could... they couldnt get a clear shot!!

As the bear closed in, the young marine, frantically trying to get away saw no way out, he drew his 6 inch mini ka-bar, which he kept strapped to his anke at all times, planted his feet in the silty bottom of the spring and awaited his destiny.. His arm fully extended like a spike, the bear plowed right into the knife, a large slash forming on its snout. It recoiled in pain as the marine began to slash and stab wildly, missing the bear sevral times. All it took was one siwpe form the massive paw and the water became still, the marine's head dangling precariously from his neck, blood and entrails floating in the water, the bear moved closer to his fresh and started eating the dead man.
Seconds later, nearly 50 .45, .50 14.5mm and 20mm rounds obliterated the bear, bloddy sprayed everywhere as the bloddy pulp of bear sunk beside the marine's corpse. One of the other bears had already been shot, the Sgt. scanned the area for the third bear, then he saw it it was coming right for one of his men!!! He yelled, "WATCH OUT!!!" just as the bear pounced on the marine, slashing the mans back with his great paw, just as the bear reeled back for anohter swipe, 4 large caliber bullets ripped through its skull, its head a bloddy mist, the bear fell ontop of the marine.

The rest of the men rushed over, pulled the bear off the marine(it took 6 men to do it) and checked him for vital signs.

"Hes got a pulse, hes breathing, the Sgt shook the uncouncious marine, "Wake up soldier wake the fuck up!!!!! The man opened one of his eyes, moaning in pain he rolled over back on his stomach, "Ouch" he grunted. The bear's claws shreaded the Arctic suit, especialy near the bottm of his back, luckily he was wearing standard body armor, and only suffered 3 deep gashes on his buttocks and thigh.
"Holy shit, just missed the femoral artery by a couple milimeters!" remarked on of the riflemen, whose secondaryt specailty was field medic.

They stitched him up and wraped a bandage around him. Since he would not survive long in the cold without his arctic suit, they traded his pants with the
dead marines, which were left on the side of the hot springs while that marine had gone swimming.

They wraped the dead mans body in a sleeping bag and draped the small TPM flag which was mounted on the ST-280, over the makeshift body bag.

After a brief ceremony, they loaded the body into the back of the vehicle, and then called HQ on the radio.

"This is Echo-One-Niner come in, over"

"This is Echo-One-Six, Go ahead, over"

"We have a man down, repeat we have a man down and another man was wounded, we are requesting immediate evac, over"

"Negative One-Niner, we have a big storm coming in, no cando on the evac, you are on your own, over"

"Roger that, Echo-One-Niner out"

After a few moments of discussion, the marines tagged the 3 dead bears and turned around, plotting a course back to thier base via GPS.
The men ran along side the ST-280 as it plowed through the snow, blowing away any obstacle with its 30mm and .50cal guns, trying to get out of the "forest of death" as they had now come to call it, s fast as they could.

OOC: Meh. I can't think of one. Camel, your go.

The Helicopter lifted away into the greying sky as Col. Arthur C. M. Parkes stood in the snow. Frost was forming on his handlebar moustache and monocle already, he smiled, breathing the freezing air, he was back on the hunt, where man was supposed to be.

"Sir?" asked Lt. Hawke Caltrel.

"Yes, indeed my boy."replied the Colonel. He pulled his snow goggles over his eyes, and checked his weapon. "Let us begin."

He strode out ahead with his hunting rifle held low, he was stooped, watching for every movement, picking up every scent. Behind him, his three companions followed, Hawke smiled, the Colonel was in his element.

Wind tugged at the four hunters, picking up, soon it would begin to snow, then they would be blind - at the mercy of the bears.

"Alright men, stand down, what the fuck are you?"

Just then a look came over man's face, like he had seen a ghost... the marines turned around, to their horror 3 large polar bears had appeared and were closing on the marines who were in the hot spring!

Everyone ran towards the spring and started opening fire, but one of the bears was already too close to one of the snipers who was swiming for his life, heading for shore as fast as he could... they couldnt get a clear shot!!

As the bear closed in, the young marine, frantically trying to get away saw no way out, he drew his 6 inch mini ka-bar, which he kept strapped to his anke at all times, planted his feet in the silty bottom of the spring and awaited his destiny.. His arm fully extended like a spike, the bear plowed right into the knife, a large slash forming on its snout. It recoiled in pain as the marine began to slash and stab wildly, missing the bear sevral times. All it took was one siwpe form the massive paw and the water became still, the marine's head dangling precariously from his neck, blood and entrails floating in the water, the bear moved closer to his fresh and started eating the dead man.
Seconds later, nearly 50 .45, .50 14.5mm and 20mm rounds obliterated the bear, bloddy sprayed everywhere as the bloddy pulp of bear sunk beside the marine's corpse. One of the other bears had already been shot, the Sgt. scanned the area for the third bear, then he saw it it was coming right for one of his men!!! He yelled, "WATCH OUT!!!" just as the bear pounced on the marine, slashing the mans back with his great paw, just as the bear reeled back for anohter swipe, 4 large caliber bullets ripped through its skull, its head a bloddy mist, the bear fell ontop of the marine.

The rest of the men rushed over, pulled the bear off the marine(it took 6 men to do it) and checked him for vital signs.

"Hes got a pulse, hes breathing, the Sgt shook the uncouncious marine, "Wake up soldier wake the fuck up!!!!! The man opened one of his eyes, moaning in pain he rolled over back on his stomach, "Ouch" he grunted. The bear's claws shreaded the Arctic suit, especialy near the bottm of his back, luckily he was wearing standard body armor, and only suffered 3 deep gashes on his buttocks and thigh.
"Holy shit, just missed the femoral artery by a couple milimeters!" remarked on of the riflemen, whose secondaryt specailty was field medic.

They stitched him up and wraped a bandage around him. Since he would not survive long in the cold without his arctic suit, they traded his pants with the
dead marines, which were left on the side of the hot springs while that marine had gone swimming.

They wraped the dead mans body in a sleeping bag and draped the small TPM flag which was mounted on the ST-280, over the makeshift body bag.

After a brief ceremony, they loaded the body into the back of the vehicle, and then called HQ on the radio.

"This is Echo-One-Niner come in, over"

"This is Echo-One-Six, Go ahead, over"

"We have a man down, repeat we have a man down and another man was wounded, we are requesting immediate evac, over"

"Negative One-Niner, we have a big storm coming in, no cando on the evac, you are on your own, over"

"Roger that, Echo-One-Niner out"

After a few moments of discussion, the marines tagged the 3 dead bears and turned around, plotting a course back to thier base via GPS.
The men ran along side the ST-280 as it plowed through the snow, blowing away any obstacle with its 30mm and .50cal guns, trying to get out of the "forest of death" as they had now come to call it, s fast as they could.

A quick look back shows two more bears pursuing on foot, loping around as a respectful speed - not quite gaining, but how long can a bear follow a trail?

The wind begins to pick up; snow begins to fall.

OOC: Hope you don't mind one more coming in to give the Bears what for. If you do, then ignore this post.

IC:

The crunch of snow underneath heavy boots echoed quietly as the thumping of the R-1800 Heavy Transports departed, leaving a single platoon of humans behind. All wore snow camouflage, yet on one shoulder was a beautiful red and yellow rank insignia, and on the other was the crest of the Royal Family and the symbol of the 57th Royal Guard Regiment.

Royal Sergeant Major Ryukame Retsuka surveyed the 38 men under his command. 27 were green, they had yet to see combat, but all had been trained for 10+ years with the most extensive and dangerous training techniques known to man. He was the Former Chief of Royal Security, responsible for protecting the Queen herself. Now he was reduced to training newbies until a new Queen was chosen.

Master Sergeant Senior Gumae Weyuzo, his second in command, stepped up and saluted him. "All troops are accounted for, weapons, rations and ammo have been distributed. The Royal Guard have provided everything we need for the hunt.

Ryukame nodded, the chill of the cold did not really affect him. Perhaps it was the insulated uniforms that kept a heat bubble around him; perhaps it was the weeks he had spent in meditation atop the peaks of the Giantspine Mountains.

Or perhaps it was the thrill of the hunt--of having a real target for a change.

They had considered bringing a few snow buggies, but had decided against it. The Royal Guard were generally sent into urban conditions, and he wanted them to learn to fight on foot.

He checked his equipment, making sure everything was in working order. He had a single R-38 Assault Rifle on a strap around his shoulder; an R-9 Vercho Handgun was holstered at his side. Both used 12.7mm rounds of differing power, and both would be necessary to score easy kills on the creatures. Something more uncommon to see in a modern world was a sheathed sword strapped to his lower back, his hand rested upon it.

The Royal Guard's Katanas were forged of the finest Toledo Steel and Titanium composites that provided a durable and powerful blade. All Royal Guard had recieved immense training with their blades, and while they were no movie stars, a blade could still wound or blind a bear, and with their skill they would have a chance of surviving an attack.

"All teams, split up and begin the hunt. Cover each other's backs, aim for killshots. Remember, a head is preferable, and stay out of their way. Some of you might die if you slip up, I'd rather not see that happen as the Queen and Royal Family will require your help in the future. Fight hard, fight strong, and never give up. Move out, for the Queen's honor!" Ryukame shouted.

Their hunt began.

OOC: Retroactive invite, just sign up reasons on the other thread. And you did read the first post on this thread, right?

IC:

It really didn't take long to find targets, what with the bears being up and active this time of day (humor - the sun won't set until February). Nine bears in all hit the group from two sides within twenty minutes - not a classic pincer movement, more of a "something is here, must be edible, lets get it".

Maybe the sound of transports had began to register as "food source" to the killer ursines, no one really knew for sure. Then again, no one really wanted to check.

Five of the uglies were already coated in wet blood, one of them with a mitten dragging from its mouth - apparently the group wasnt the first set of humans out here today.

It would almost be humorous if there weren't still a hand in it.

A quick look back shows two more bears pursuing on foot, loping around as a respectful speed - not quite gaining, but how long can a bear follow a trail?

The wind begins to pick up; snow begins to fall.

Andreus from the trees saw the bears that were loping after the soldiers, he was partailly camophlaged by his rough cloak drawn around him, nothing that would fool the bears sense of smell but he made sure he was down wind. He felt he owed a debt to the soldiers as it could have been his trail that had led the bears to them and caused the death of one of the men.
He waited for the bears to get further up the trail, he was beside the tracks as he had hitched a ride with the men then taken his leave. He drew a small metal object from his cloak, a spined disk of metal that was dulled to prevent reflection. He cast it at one of the bears aiming for its eye, its only apparent weak point Andreus could see. It hit spraying jelly in all directions and the bear gave a deafening roar of pain blindly searching for its attacker. The other bear raised its nose searching for a scent and found it to the right of the path, it tore into the undergrowth and tore to pieces what was inside.
A piece of Andreus's cloak.
Andreus smiled and snuk away while the bear was running to maul what it thought was him, hoping he had bought his aquaintences enough time to get the wounded man away. But now he had a bigger problem, he was alone in a forest of viecle crushing bears, each one stronger than him and more in number.
He did not feel lucky.

Andreus from the trees saw the bears that were loping after the soldiers, he was partailly camophlaged by his rough cloak drawn around him, nothing that would fool the bears sense of smell but he made sure he was down wind. He felt he owed a debt to the soldiers as it could have been his trail that had led the bears to them and caused the death of one of the men.
He waited for the bears to get further up the trail, he was beside the tracks as he had hitched a ride with the men then taken his leave. He drew a small metal object from his cloak, a spined disk of metal that was dulled to prevent reflection. He cast it at one of the bears aiming for its eye, its only apparent weak point Andreus could see. It hit spraying jelly in all directions and the bear gave a deafening roar of pain blindly searching for its attacker. The other bear raised its nose searching for a scent and found it to the right of the path, it tore into the undergrowth and tore to pieces what was inside.
A piece of Andreus's cloak.
Andreus smiled and snuk away while the bear was running to maul what it thought was him, hoping he had bought his aquaintences enough time to get the wounded man away. But now he had a bigger problem, he was alone in a forest of viecle crushing bears, each one stronger than him and more in number.
He did not feel lucky.

OOC: Banana points for that. Phoenix is clear of the bears now. :)

As the group moved out of the treeline and came upon a flat ice plain, they decided to radio base once again for pickup.
"Winds are only at about 40knots, the Seminole can handle it!! Damn it!!!" the Sgt. pleaded with command...

"Alright boys we're getting a ride home!" The Sgt. annouced as he deactivated his radio."
About an hour later, a specialy modifed CH-50 Seminole heavly lift helicopter landed in the snow, with its landing gear replaced with "snowshoes"
They drove the ST-280 up the ramp and climbed into the the troop seats.
"Our hueys have 4 more bears to pick up, that'll be a pretty good haul, the men will be glad to have something differnt to eat. Damn shame about your fallen man Sgt.." remarked the pilot as he powered up the engines... the helicopter dissappears into the horizion, returning to TPM territory.

(When the storm dies down, the bears who haven't been gotten yet (of the 6 ttal we killied :P) will be picked up:) )

As the group moved out of the treeline and came upon a flat ice plain, they decided to radio base once again for pickup.
"Winds are only at about 40knots, the Seminole can handle it!! Damn it!!!" the Sgt. pleaded with command...

"Alright boys we're getting a ride home!" The Sgt. annouced as he deactivated his radio."
About an hour later, a specialy modifed CH-50 Seminole heavly lift helicopter landed in the snow, with its landing gear replaced with "snowshoes"
They drove the ST-280 up the ramp and climbed into the the troop seats.
"Our hueys have 4 more bears to pick up, that'll be a pretty good haul, the men will be glad to have something differnt to eat. Damn shame about your fallen man Sgt.." remarked the pilot as he powered up the engines... the helicopter dissappears into the horizion, returning to TPM territory.

(When the storm dies down, the bears who haven't been gotten yet (of the 6 ttal we killied :P) will be picked up:) )

OOC: 6 down for you... out of just over 200,000. Heh.

[OOC: Mmmmm, fresh meat arrives.]

Three military transports land near the eastern edge of the Southern pine forest in Vastiva.

Twenty-six solders disembark, and several large crates are rudely shoved out of the cargo hatches before the transports attemp to depart. The largest crate, a gigantic six-sided monstrosity, had a transport to itself.

Sgt. Kork orders a defensive star formation, with squads one, three and five facing west towards the forest and squads four and two facing east.

Hampered by the blizzard like conditions (A blizzard would be a nice, compared to this Antarctic nastyness) unpacking goes as quickly as can be expected, which isn't very quickly at all, as the transports attempt to re-start thier engines. (Yep they're new recruits also, they haven't lost the "turn off the engines when you land" reflex yet.)

Kork bellows, "Let's see if these confusticated things work in the snow! Two and four, fire high and to the west, three, five and one fire west when ready."

Hello! I'm a WTF-42 Recoilless Railgun.

I have an effective range of eighteen klicks against standard APCs. My maximum range against softer targets is sixty klicks provided that the gunner can hit what they want at that range. My maximum rate of fire is three rounds per second until my sixty round cartridge is expended. Replacing the cartridge takes eight seconds provided that there are three crew members plus the gunner remaining. (One to remove the spent cartridge, one to install the new cartridge, and one to handle the cartridge locking mechanism.)

Explosive rounds, AP flechettes, and DPU armor piercing are available. For this mission we've only been issued AP flechettes, but that hardly matters at my muzzle velocity. At point blank range (one klick or less) they've got enough kinetic energy to boil about 80 kilos of water instantly.

Have a very happy day!
Sgt. Kork grumbles, "I loath cheerful AIs."

Suprisingly all five Recoilless Railgun gunners manage to limit themselves to a single round, though the only reason that squad two's gunner managed it was that he missed the full-auto button with his gloves on.

Somebody from Squad three didn't have thier earplugs properly installed. Screaming in pain, private Trihs Der runs into the snow to the west.

Squad two's gunner finds the full-auto button, but holds his fire...until he thinks he sees something moving in the snow...

With a roar that would make a minor deity stain thier undies Squad two's gunner empties his ammo cartridge, quickly followed by squads one, three, and five.

Private Der isn't hit; he continues to stumble in a westward direction.

Something stirs within a hexagonal house-sized crate.

[OOC: Roleplay notes: There are now five single rounds travelling towards the forest from the east. At least two will be passing near the lake that has seen some activity, and the remaining two will be going who the heck knows where. There are also four groups of fifty-nine rounds travelling westward towards the forest. They were fired in a thoroughly pseudo-random fashion, it's rather hard to predict thier final destination. Due to thier irregular shapes the AP rounds tumble as they fly; accuracy is low but the sound levels are rather high. Have fun roleplaying the effects of my shots, I doubt they'll be hitting any bears.]

[OOC: Mmmmm, fresh meat arrives.]

Three military transports land near the eastern edge of the Southern pine forest in Vastiva.

Twenty-six solders disembark, and several large crates are rudely shoved out of the cargo hatches before the transports attemp to depart. The largest crate, a gigantic six-sided monstrosity, had a transport to itself.

Sgt. Kork orders a defensive star formation, with squads one, three and five facing west towards the forest and squads four and two facing east.

Hampered by the blizzard like conditions (A blizzard would be a nice, compared to this Antarctic nastyness) unpacking goes as quickly as can be expected, which isn't very quickly at all, as the transports attempt to re-start thier engines. (Yep they're new recruits also, they haven't lost the "turn off the engines when you land" reflex yet.)

Kork bellows, "Let's see if these confusticated things work in the snow! Two and four, fire high and to the west, three, five and one fire west when ready."


Sgt. Kork grumbles, "I loath cheerful AIs."

Suprisingly all five Recoilless Railgun gunners manage to limit themselves to a single round, though the only reason that squad two's gunner managed it was that he missed the full-auto button with his gloves on.

Somebody from Squad three didn't have thier earplugs properly installed. Screaming in pain, private Trihs Der runs into the snow to the west.

Squad two's gunner finds the full-auto button, but holds his fire...until he thinks he sees something moving in the snow...

With a roar that would make a minor deity stain thier undies Squad two's gunner empties his ammo cartridge, quickly followed by squads one, three, and five.

Private Der isn't hit; he continues to stumble in a westward direction.

Something stirs within a hexagonal house-sized crate.

[OOC: Roleplay notes: There are now five single rounds travelling towards the forest from the east. At least two will be passing near the lake that has seen some activity, and the remaining two will be going who the heck knows where. There are also four groups of fifty-nine rounds travelling westward towards the forest. They were fired in a thoroughly pseudo-random fashion, it's rather hard to predict thier final destination. Due to thier irregular shapes the AP rounds tumble as they fly; accuracy is low but the sound levels are rather high. Have fun roleplaying the effects of my shots, I doubt they'll be hitting any bears.]

Several trees suffer grievous wounds as the wind kicks up, snapping a few in half. The further movement in the trees draws even more fire.

Mother Nature is likely not amused; the bears however.... have other ideas. The sound of something coming has attracted interest; the sound of gunfire has attracted more.


OOC: Do note, IR is useless to find a bear.

The transport aircraft departed the snow covered clearing and the six infantrymen stood outside the Bradley IFV. These men were a diverse group and carried a diverse selection of weapons, most of which were of greater than thirty caliber. They nodded to each other and began to slowly move toward the woods, keeping an eye out for polar bears.

These men were elite soldiers from various units of P3X1299’s armed forces and all carried a relatively heavy. One man had a .50 semiautomatic sniper rifle. Another carried an M-60 machine gun. A third carried a Thompson with a massive hundred round drum attached to it. The fourth carried a SPAS 15, with solid slugs, in the box magazine, along with a G-43 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. The fifth man carried another M-60 machine gun, along with an M-3 grease gun, slung, and the sixth carried an M-60 machine gun, along with an M-3. All had also elected to carry S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum pistols, and all those pistols were loaded.

The men were careful to stay in close proximity to the Bradley, which contained their food, ammunition, and other items that they were sure to need in their quest to kill some polar bears and to survive.

They didn’t make it even 50 yards before they saw something moving in the snow. One of the soldiers shouted to the Bradley. The commander directed the gunner to determine what it was. The gunner cursed because he could see nothing on the infrared sights on his gun. The man with the sniper rifle laid in the snow, and took aim. He fired at the thing moving, and it started to move faster. He fired again, and it didn’t slow down. He fired until the magazine ran dry, and the thing just kept coming. The other men had seen the sniper shoot at something, and the two men with M-60’s opened up on it. The man with a SPAS 15 and a G-43 managed to get his G-43 unslung, and began to fire on the thing that apparently was a polar bear. The polar bear was charging, and within 15 yards when the man with the Thompson opened up on it. By then, the M-60’s had run dry, and the men had drawn their .44’s and were firing with those. The man with the Thompson cut loose with a 20 round burst, and the polar bear seemed to hesitate. One of the men grabbed the SPAS 15, and began to fire with that, as the man with the Thompson fired a ten round burst. Someone else fired a stream of slugs from the M-3. Finally, the gunner in the Bradley managed to get his sights set for low light, and he fired a stream of 25mm slugs into the polar bear. That finally caused it to drop. The men firing emptied their weapons into it, and then reloaded them. They looked at each other and then looked at the number of brass cartridges littering the snow.

OOC: Rawr! I got one! :P

The transport aircraft departed the snow covered clearing and the six infantrymen stood outside the Bradley IFV. These men were a diverse group and carried a diverse selection of weapons, most of which were of greater than thirty caliber. They nodded to each other and began to slowly move toward the woods, keeping an eye out for polar bears.

These men were elite soldiers from various units of P3X1299’s armed forces and all carried a relatively heavy. One man had a .50 semiautomatic sniper rifle. Another carried an M-60 machine gun. A third carried a Thompson with a massive hundred round drum attached to it. The fourth carried a SPAS 15, with solid slugs, in the box magazine, along with a G-43 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. The sixth man carried another M-60 machine gun, along with an M-3 grease gun, slung. All had also elected to carry S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum pistols, and all those pistols were loaded.

The men were careful to stay in close proximity to the Bradley, which contained their food, ammunition, and other items that they were sure to need in their quest to kill some polar bears and to survive.

They didn’t make it even 50 yards before they saw something moving in the snow. One of the soldiers shouted to the Bradley. The commander directed the gunner to determine what it was. The gunner cursed because he could see nothing on the infrared sights on his gun. The man with the sniper rifle laid in the snow, and took aim. He fired at the thing moving, and it started to move faster. He fired again, and it didn’t slow down. He fired until the magazine ran dry, and the thing just kept coming. The other men had seen the sniper shoot at something, and the two men with M-60’s opened up on it. The man with a SPAS 15 and a G-43 managed to get his G-43 unslung, and began to fire on the thing that apparently was a polar bear. The polar bear was charging, and within 15 yards when the man with the Thompson opened up on it. By then, the M-60’s had run dry, and the men had drawn their .44’s and were firing with those. The man with the Thompson cut loose with a 20 round burst, and the polar bear seemed to hesitate. One of the men grabbed the SPAS 15, and began to fire with that, as the man with the Thompson fired a ten round burst. Someone else fired a stream of slugs from the M-3. Finally, the gunner in the Bradley managed to get his sights set for low light, and he fired a stream of 25mm slugs into the polar bear. That finally caused it to drop. The men firing emptied their weapons into it, and then reloaded them. They looked at each other and then looked at the number of brass cartridges littering the snow.

OOC: Rawr! I got one! :P

The sounds of automatic and cluster fire - not to mention a few explosions - come from the East and West. North of you is the mountain range separating the pine woods from Vastiva's inhabited region.

South... when you leave the woods, is ice and cold and death.

And probably even there, a few polar bears.

The bears paws shake, it staggers into a crouch, takes a step...

and drops again, its breath slowing... slowing... slowing...

A final sighing burble, and it finally dies.

Ryukame felt the wind coming in, undoubtedly a storm. Everything seemed quiet, but combat experience taught him not to trust such appearances. His troops were spread out into teams of 4, each one armed with a variety of heavy weapons, mostly R-38 Assault Rifles, with a few heavier weapons thrown in as well.

Swiftly, he rose his hand, signalling for the entire Platoon to stop. He signalled for the platoon to bunker down, and was pleased to see them respond immediately.

"Sir, what is it?" Senior Private Futinu asked him.

"We've got incoming Private, we're being watched." Ryukame stated casually. The Private was mid-ranking amongst Enlisted soldiers, but he had never seen real combat before.

Reaching up to his helmet, he activated the radio that connected the entire platoon. "All units, this is Ryu, when the ugly mugs show their face, fire at will."

There was silence...at least at first.

Ryu's well-trained eyes easily pin-pointed the location of the first bear as it came charging towards the group. One of the greener soldiers raised their rifle, pointing towards the beast. His mental alarms went off and he whirled to see five more coming from the other end.

Gunfire filled the air as his soldiers opened fire at the bears. Most of the shots missed, but a few bullets hit home, wounding and enraging the bears. The 12.7mm titanium-tipped RCR's were more than capable of tearing through the layers of hide and fat, wounding a few, and bringing two of the massive behemoths crashing into the snow.

Ryu raised his rifle and fired off a burst at the head of one of the creatures, scoring several hits and dragging one into the snow, a lifeless corpse. He aimed at another one when a loud bang resounded around him. A 14.5mm APFSHV struck one of the bears with enough force to stop it in its tracks. A few seconds later the gunfire died down and the area was silent again. Nine bear corpses lay in the snow and not a single soldier had fallen.

Ryu approved of this.

"All units, divide into squads and split up, prepare to hunt down the bears. All ursines should be terminated with extreme prejudice. Do not hesitate to use explosives to stop them, above all stay alive. May the spirit of Nuriko go with you children. Move out!" He barked into the radio. The pack split into four squads of 9, with a few extras staying behind with Ryukame as a command post.

The Helicopter lifted away into the greying sky as Col. Arthur C. M. Parkes stood in the snow. Frost was forming on his handlebar moustache and monocle already, he smiled, breathing the freezing air, he was back on the hunt, where man was supposed to be.

"Sir?" asked Lt. Hawke Caltrel.

"Yes, indeed my boy."replied the Colonel. He pulled his snow goggles over his eyes, and checked his weapon. "Let us begin."

He strode out ahead with his hunting rifle held low, he was stooped, watching for every movement, picking up every scent. Behind him, his three companions followed, Hawke smiled, the Colonel was in his element.

Wind tugged at the four hunters, picking up, soon it would begin to snow, then they would be blind - at the mercy of the bears.

Repeated firing from everywhere echoed through the woods; no few explosions and the crash of trees striking the ground far away did nothing for their jangled nerves.

A few tracks survived the snowfall; under a tree, a single track, eighteen inches across, showed positive proof the bears were here.

Somewhere.

OOC: Do note, IR is useless to find a bear.

[OOC: Noted. They'll not be waiting for IR confirmation, they'll be shooting at bear colored things, whether moving, stationary, or imaginary. Non-bear colored things (of the moving, stationary, and imaginary types) are also not particularly safe from pseudo-random fire. They've all started taking thier milspec stimulants.]

Kork bellows, "Quit firing you idiots, there's nothing out there! We'll be staying here until the weather improves."

The three bears nearest the encampment rear up over squad three's rude snow wall. By sheer chance the WTF-42 RRG is pointed straight at the center of mass a bear as the gunner reflexivly fires a single round. "I got one!" he shouts as the bear's grieviously wounded body crushes him and his RRG. The second bear kills two more men with its forepaws whilst the third bear grabs the remaining man and heads toward the shelter of a large six-sided crate to feed.

The gunners in squads one and four (neighboring squad three) seeing the carnage fire wildly at the two bears they see, somehow managing to kill them both. The third bear is happily finishing all of the best bits of its snack near a crate emitting odd mechanical noises.

Squad five's spotter sees something, "FOUR O' CLOCK! it's huge!!"

The RRG pivots but can't complete the sweep, they set up too close to a tree!! The gunner finishes his cartridge anyway, as the next group of bears converges upon them.

Three meter long armored mechanical legs with half meter spiked feet kick out all six sides of the giant crate.

Howdy. I'm OMG-13 Packmule #1244, just call me Hex.

As you can see I've been outfitted with these oversized feet for low ground pressure travel. Each of my legs also carries an extendable meter long saw for removing any objects I can't avoid or push out of the way.

I'm twelve meters in diameter with a cargo capacity of over twenty tons. There are also three hardpoints on my upper deck for mounting equipment or weapons.

I assure you, I am *NOT* a mecha.

Provided that I move my joints every few moments I'll have no trouble with my hydraulics freezing up even in this weather.
Sgt. Kork mutters, "Wonderful. Now they're sending me cheerful AIs with New Texalaskan accents. Kill me now."

[OOC: Noted. They'll not be waiting for IR confirmation, they'll be shooting at bear colored things, whether moving, stationary, or imaginary. Non-bear colored things (of the moving, stationary, and imaginary types) are also not particularly safe from pseudo-random fire. They've all started taking thier milspec stimulants.]

Kork bellows, "Quit firing you idiots, there's nothing out there! We'll be staying here until the weather improves."

The three bears nearest the encampment rear up over squad three's rude snow wall. By sheer chance the WTF-42 RRG is pointed straight at the center of mass a bear as the gunner reflexivly fires a single round. "I got one!" he shouts as the bear's grieviously wounded body crushes him and his RRG. The second bear kills two more men with its forepaws whilst the third bear grabs the remaining man and heads toward the shelter of a large six-sided crate to feed.

The gunners in squads one and four (neighboring squad three) seeing the carnage fire wildly at the two bears they see, somehow managing to kill them both. The third bear is happily finishing all of the best bits of its snack near a crate emitting odd mechanical noises.

Squad five's spotter sees something, "FOUR O' CLOCK! it's huge!!"

The RRG pivots but can't complete the sweep, they set up too close to a tree!! The gunner finishes his cartridge anyway, as the next group of bears converges upon them.

Three meter long armored mechanical legs with half meter spiked feet kick out all six sides of the giant crate.


Sgt. Kork mutters, "Wonderful. Now they're sending me cheerful AIs with New Texalaskan accents. Kill me now."

The half-fed bear - and its not-quite-dead-yet feast - are shocked by the sudden appearance of the mecha.

The bear attacks, chomping and tearing at a leg.

As it doesn't seem to do much, the other bears orient on the sound of the mechanicals coming online - ignoring the wildly firing green troops - and fall all over the mecha, attacking it as a small group of berserkers.


(OOC: Ok, that was a really bad pun...)

OOC: sorry in a hurry =)

The TV audienced was gripped as they saw a polar bear come closer and closer to the crew... what would happen?

Mario was the first to hear a scream. He yelled to the group, and the 13 looked back and saw a Polar Bear in the process of mauling Chuck the sound guy. All 13 fumbled for their backpacks and weapons before the bear got away. To hell with the film crew... the network had a dozen more back home ready to place them. They needed a kill.

Zane was the first to act, and starting to fire off a few rounds toward the bear. The shots ran wildly left and right, scattering the reminaing crew and ending up hitting the bear once in the right leg.

The bear momentarily forgot about what was left of Chuck the Sound Guy. He turned and started to charge at Zane. Zane, now scared crapless, fumbled his gun and turned to run. At about that moment, a grenade lobbed in and landed 3 feet in front of him.

IN the aftermath, bits and pieces of the bear lay all over the place, including all over Zane's face. That was better than the rest of his body, however, as now half of his legs were missing.

The other 12 rushed over to Zane's side. The storm was getting nasty now.
"Who threw the grenade...," Zane whispered.
"I did," replied Stuart.
"Good Aim, a**hole..." Zane said as he slipped in unconsciousness.

Suzie, who was near hysterics, shouted "What are we going to do NOW?!"

Dick and Charlie both spoke up at the same time... "Well, now we have bait." Charlie continued. "The sotrm is getting worse. We need to get to a place were we can be protected by random ambushes... and we can use poor #8 here to assist us..."

Contestant #8 is eliminated, but the group has netted their first polar bear. Tune in next week to see what will happen on NATURAL SELECTION!! This is Guy Smiley, have a good evening Antarctica.

Ryukame felt the wind coming in, undoubtedly a storm. Everything seemed quiet, but combat experience taught him not to trust such appearances. His troops were spread out into teams of 4, each one armed with a variety of heavy weapons, mostly R-38 Assault Rifles, with a few heavier weapons thrown in as well.

Swiftly, he rose his hand, signalling for the entire Platoon to stop. He signalled for the platoon to bunker down, and was pleased to see them respond immediately.

"Sir, what is it?" Senior Private Futinu asked him.

"We've got incoming Private, we're being watched." Ryukame stated casually. The Private was mid-ranking amongst Enlisted soldiers, but he had never seen real combat before.

Reaching up to his helmet, he activated the radio that connected the entire platoon. "All units, this is Ryu, when the ugly mugs show their face, fire at will."

There was silence...at least at first.

Ryu's well-trained eyes easily pin-pointed the location of the first bear as it came charging towards the group. One of the greener soldiers raised their rifle, pointing towards the beast. His mental alarms went off and he whirled to see five more coming from the other end.

Gunfire filled the air as his soldiers opened fire at the bears. Most of the shots missed, but a few bullets hit home, wounding and enraging the bears. The 12.7mm titanium-tipped RCR's were more than capable of tearing through the layers of hide and fat, wounding a few, and bringing two of the massive behemoths crashing into the snow.

Ryu raised his rifle and fired off a burst at the head of one of the creatures, scoring several hits and dragging one into the snow, a lifeless corpse. He aimed at another one when a loud bang resounded around him. A 14.5mm APFSHV struck one of the bears with enough force to stop it in its tracks. A few seconds later the gunfire died down and the area was silent again. Nine bear corpses lay in the snow and not a single soldier had fallen.

Ryu approved of this.

"All units, divide into squads and split up, prepare to hunt down the bears. All ursines should be terminated with extreme prejudice. Do not hesitate to use explosives to stop them, above all stay alive. May the spirit of Nuriko go with you children. Move out!" He barked into the radio. The pack split into four squads of 9, with a few extras staying behind with Ryukame as a command post.

Easterly, there is a huge BANG and a scream...

... and more silence...

OOC: sorry in a hurry =)

The TV audienced was gripped as they saw a polar bear come closer and closer to the crew... what would happen?

Mario was the first to hear a scream. He yelled to the group, and the 13 looked back and saw a Polar Bear in the process of mauling Chuck the sound guy. All 13 fumbled for their backpacks and weapons before the bear got away. To hell with the film crew... the network had a dozen more back home ready to place them. They needed a kill.

Zane was the first to act, and starting to fire off a few rounds toward the bear. The shots ran wildly left and right, scattering the reminaing crew and ending up hitting the bear once in the right leg.

The bear momentarily forgot about what was left of Chuck the Sound Guy. He turned and started to charge at Zane. Zane, now scared crapless, fumbled his gun and turned to run. At about that moment, a grenade lobbed in and landed 3 feet in front of him.

IN the aftermath, bits and pieces of the bear lay all over the place, including all over Zane's face. That was better than the rest of his body, however, as now half of his legs were missing.

The other 12 rushed over to Zane's side. The storm was getting nasty now.
"Who threw the grenade...," Zane whispered.
"I did," replied Stuart.
"Good Aim, a**hole..." Zane said as he slipped in unconsciousness.

Suzie, who was near hysterics, shouted "What are we going to do NOW?!"

Dick and Charlie both spoke up at the same time... "Well, now we have bait." Charlie continued. "The sotrm is getting worse. We need to get to a place were we can be protected by random ambushes... and we can use poor #8 here to assist us..."

Contestant #8 is eliminated, but the group has netted their first polar bear. Tune in next week to see what will happen on NATURAL SELECTION!! This is Guy Smiley, have a good evening Antarctica.

A crack in the rock proves to be a small cave. While some MRE wrappers show someone else has been here, they aren't here now - but the firepit is still dug, and enough embers exist to make a small fire. It is not a great base camp - one way in, less then bear sized - but it works for avoiding the storm.

Outside, the wind kicks up into near-gale force winds, shaking snow loose from everywhere. A mound appears at the cave mouth, dropped from above. Trees crack in the cold winds...

The half-fed bear - and its not-quite-dead-yet feast - are shocked by the sudden appearance of the mecha.

The bear attacks, chomping and tearing at a leg.

As it doesn't seem to do much, the other bears orient on the sound of the mechanicals coming online - ignoring the wildly firing green troops - and fall all over the mecha, attacking it as a small group of berserkers.


(OOC: Ok, that was a really bad pun...)

[OOC: I like bad puns. And Berserkers. But not mecha. Hex is not a mecha, he's a fully sentient autonomous armored robotic packbeast. He also has reasonable limitations which are something that anime-style mecha often lack.]

Private Morty, hopped up on some unholy combination of recreational drugs and milspec stimulants, is conscious enough to draw his 45 and fire four rounds. One of them actually hits (annoys) the bear.

Hex raises himself to his full four meter height and begin stomping his legs in groups of three. This quickly clears the bears, but crushes the already three-quarters dead private Morty, gives two of the bears deep puncture wounds, and attracts the attention of the three remaining RRG crews.

Predicting the worst, Hex returns his legs and sensor stalks to thier retracted positions, right before two of the remaining crews spray him and several of the attacking bears with AP flechettes.

Shattered bear-flesh saturates the atmosphere as twenty-seven rounds at extreme short range masticate six bears. Amazingly only thirty-eight rounds miss the bears, twenty of which hit Hex despite his being flat on the ground. (He's over a meter thick, so low-profile isn't very low.)

The WTF-42 RRG is rated for taking out lightly armored vehicles at extreme ranges. At short ranges it can disable heavily armored vehicles with careful targeting. While Hex is not being carefully targeted his armor is not quite heavy enough for the punishment he has received.

System down:Leg #5 all joints inoperable
System down:Leg #6 deployment system inoperable
System down:Leg #1 all joints inoperable
System damaged: Minimal sensor damage
System damaged: Primary hydraulic system leaks in Leg#5 - shutoff valves closed.
System damaged: Primary hydraulic system leaks in Leg#1 - shutoff valves closed
System damaged: Leg #4 unidentified failure

"That's our vehicle, Hold your fire!!" shouts Sgt. Kork as a bear looms above him.

Sensing his best move rather than thinking about it Kork drops to the ground before RRG squad #4 fires thier final eleven rounds (only two of which hit, but two is enough) at the bear. Entering the belly of the beast via a massive abdominal wound is bad but it's better than using the usual oriface.

Squad five's RRG lazily weathervanes in the wind as two bears finish thier meal.

[OOC: I think I've got nine bears with ten fatalities on my side. Squad four is out of ammo, and one and two are real low, but there may be salvageable cartridges in squad five and three's positions. (There are probably bears there also) Private Trihs Der (from squad one) is still wandering about at random and Kork is trying to dig himself out from under a dead bear. Hex has legs two and three left, so he can slowly drag himself around if he can be coaxed out of turtle mode. The three stranded transports have been quietly avoiding attention.]

[OOC note for all hunters: The RRG rounds have a maximum range of 60 kilometers and they are *FREIGHT-TRAIN LOUD* when they pass by. We've been firing them in fairly large quantities in a pseudo random fashion so it's highly likely that one or more rounds has passed by you. For me to say that they hit you would be godmoding, but if you're within 60 klicks of the Eastern edge of the forest you know that something, um, disruptive is going on over there.]

OOC: Yick. And there were nine bears. Nine minus nine is zero.

IC:

The snowstorm shows no mercy, laying high winds and snow on the spread out party.

This does have one advantage - visibility is nearing zero, but the ability to track by scent is now close to zero due to wind scatter.

There might not be any more bears for awhile.

OOC: Yick. And there were nine bears. Nine minus nine is zero.

IC:

The snowstorm shows no mercy, laying high winds and snow on the spread out party.

This does have one advantage - visibility is nearing zero, but the ability to track by scent is now close to zero due to wind scatter.

There might not be any more bears for awhile.

[OOC:Eh, I missed where there were only nine bears nearby. By my count there are two bears who've been feeding in squad five's position and although I didn't mention it (I should have mentioned it, sorry) the two bears wounded by Hex were low enough that they weren't masticated by RRGs. Have I accidentally godmoded myself four extra bears?]

[OOC:Eh, I missed where there were only nine bears nearby. By my count there are two bears who've been feeding in squad five's position and although I didn't mention it (I should have mentioned it, sorry) the two bears wounded by Hex were low enough that they weren't masticated by RRGs. Have I accidentally godmoded myself four extra bears?]

OOC: *poof* there's your bears. Enjoy!

Repeated firing from everywhere echoed through the woods; no few explosions and the crash of trees striking the ground far away did nothing for their jangled nerves.

A few tracks survived the snowfall; under a tree, a single track, eighteen inches across, showed positive proof the bears were here.

Somewhere.

"Damned Gun Jockies!" cursed the Colonel, he stood up straight, unflinching from the gunfire all around. The other three cowered low, fearful of stray bullet rounds and shrapnel.

"Ah ha!" the Colonel cried, he spotted the tracks, and strode over to them, examining the prints. "Onwards!" he shouted over the din.

His companions struggled to keep up with the Colonel. They gave furtive glances into the trees either side. I should have more confidence in Parkes, thought Hawke.

They came to a clearing, Hawke could see nothing. But the Colonel was aiming at a patch of snow with his hunting rifle.

The powerful gun bucked in the man's grasp, and the snow exploded with red blood. A huge bear reared up, roaring, not incapacitated at all it seemed, as it charged the group.

The Colonel fired again, with the rest of the group. The combined cannonade from the rifle, assault rifles and machine gun reduced the charging bear to a walking pile of fur, entrails and blood.

It slowed and toppled into a heap. The Colonel walked over to the corpse, resting his rifle on his shoulder. The bear's head had been caved in, and the remains of its fur were stained and burnt.

"Pah! Couldn't make a pair of mittens from that pile of gristle! Let alone a head!" barked the Colonel. "Well, we'd better find another one. Reload break, then we'll move."

"Sir." was the only reply from his comrades, the size and ferocity of the bears had shocked them. Maybe there were too many teeth.

OOC: *poof* there's your bears. Enjoy!

[OOC:WheeHaw. Four bears, two with minor wounds against sixteen men with small hand weapons and a serious shortage of ammunition for thier heavy weapons. There's a heavily damaged robot vehicle in there also but he's not gonna move until everybody else is done with thier ammunition. For extra bonus fun visibility has just dropped to something slightly less then zero.]

Squad two's gunner, Private Hunter, shouts "I'm down to ten rounds! I need ammo!!"

The wind is the only answer he receives...

...

Squad four, completely out of ammo decides to find some. They all talk at once: "Let's head to squad three's position, they died early, there's bound to be some there." "Hunter's lying, they've only used five ammo cartridges." "Stay here, maybe the bears won't see us." "The transports never left, they'll have heaters." "Head for Squad one, Kork will know what to do" "Kork is dead, that bear fell on him" "I saw at least one full cartridge in five's position." "I'm too cold to move." "Five got killed by two bears, that's suicide." "The bears are done eating by now."

And every member of squad four, each with a different idea of what was decided, goes their seperate ways.

The wind whistles past thier abandoned RRG.

...

Squad one, isn't about to do anything but try to stay warm in this weather. Something blood-covered stumbles out of the wall of snow.

"Report!" bellows Kork.

"We're down to eight rounds sir, and Private Der is missing."

...

The transport crews, having long abandoned thier attempts to restart thier engines and having gathered in one plane are dismayed when something huge and bloody crashes through the aft hatch.

The bear roars as it charges through the plan towards its prey.

Its prey has teeth. Five of the pilots manage to draw thier weapons and fire at the bear. A 45 isn't enough to do more than annoy one of these bears unless somebody gets really lucky. With that much lead in the air you don't have to look hard to find some luck. Of course a bear this size can't be stopped with a pistol, the bear's body crushes three of the pilots and the floor of the plane gives way with a crash.

The other wounded bear investigates the sound and quickly finishes the remaining three pilots.

"Damned Gun Jockies!" cursed the Colonel, he stood up straight, unflinching from the gunfire all around. The other three cowered low, fearful of stray bullet rounds and shrapnel.

"Ah ha!" the Colonel cried, he spotted the tracks, and strode over to them, examining the prints. "Onwards!" he shouted over the din.

His companions struggled to keep up with the Colonel. They gave furtive glances into the trees either side. I should have more confidence in Parkes, thought Hawke.

They came to a clearing, Hawke could see nothing. But the Colonel was aiming at a patch of snow with his hunting rifle.

The powerful gun bucked in the man's grasp, and the snow exploded with red blood. A huge bear reared up, roaring, not incapacitated at all it seemed, as it charged the group.

The Colonel fired again, with the rest of the group. The combined cannonade from the rifle, assault rifles and machine gun reduced the charging bear to a walking pile of fur, entrails and blood.

It slowed and toppled into a heap. The Colonel walked over to the corpse, resting his rifle on his shoulder. The bear's head had been caved in, and the remains of its fur were stained and burnt.

"Pah! Couldn't make a pair of mittens from that pile of gristle! Let alone a head!" barked the Colonel. "Well, we'd better find another one. Reload break, then we'll move."

"Sir." was the only reply from his comrades, the size and ferocity of the bears had shocked them. Maybe there were too many teeth.

OOC: Har! Ok. You figured that one out.

IC:
A short walk revealed a geothermally warmed lake. A patch of bloody bits was still evident on one side - the storms snow had no purchase near the warm water.

However, the storm was beginning to kick up a bit more, further reducing visibility.

[OOC:WheeHaw. Four bears, two with minor wounds against sixteen men with small hand weapons and a serious shortage of ammunition for thier heavy weapons. There's a heavily damaged robot vehicle in there also but he's not gonna move until everybody else is done with thier ammunition. For extra bonus fun visibility has just dropped to something slightly less then zero.]

Squad two's gunner, Private Hunter, shouts "I'm down to ten rounds! I need ammo!!"

The wind is the only answer he receives...

...

Squad four, completely out of ammo decides to find some. They all talk at once: "Let's head to squad three's position, they died early, there's bound to be some there." "Hunter's lying, they've only used five ammo cartridges." "Stay here, maybe the bears won't see us." "The transports never left, they'll have heaters." "Head for Squad one, Kork will know what to do" "Kork is dead, that bear fell on him" "I saw at least one full cartridge in five's position." "I'm too cold to move." "Five got killed by two bears, that's suicide." "The bears are done eating by now."

And every member of squad four, each with a different idea of what was decided, goes their seperate ways.

The wind whistles past thier abandoned RRG.

...

Squad one, isn't about to do anything but try to stay warm in this weather. Something blood-covered stumbles out of the wall of snow.

"Report!" bellows Kork.

"We're down to eight rounds sir, and Private Der is missing."

...

The transport crews, having long abandoned thier attempts to restart thier engines and having gathered in one plane are dismayed when something huge and bloody crashes through the aft hatch.

The bear roars as it charges through the plan towards its prey.

Its prey has teeth. Five of the pilots manage to draw thier weapons and fire at the bear. A 45 isn't enough to do more than annoy one of these bears unless somebody gets really lucky. With that much lead in the air you don't have to look hard to find some luck. Of course a bear this size can't be stopped with a pistol, the bear's body crushes three of the pilots and the floor of the plane gives way with a crash.

The other wounded bear investigates the sound and quickly finishes the remaining three pilots.

OOC: This is working out well. For the bears.

The man with the .50 caliber sniper rifle seemed to be in charge as he cupped his hand to his ear in the rising wind. The could hear faint sounds of firing weapons in the west. He gestured toward the APC. The men headed toward it. Their provisions were in the modified Bradley, along with a few extra weapons, and thousands of rounds of extra ammunition.

The six men headed toward the Bradley. They entered the troop compartment, and deposited their weapons, placing them where they were readily accessible.

The man who used the sniper rifle, took a look at the selection of other weapons in the Bradley. The group had packed some extras, including a pair of M-79 grenade launchers, a pair of M-3 grease guns, and a Marlin .45-70 Gov’t lever action rifle. He picked up a grenade launcher, and the Marlin after the rest of his men had entered the Bradley. He was about to close the rear hatch after the commander of had ordered the driver headed east when he notice several shapes moving in the snow, less than 100 yard of. He worked the action of the rifle, chambering a round as a flurry of snow briefly obscured the massive shape. He set the Marlin aside and grabbed one of the grenade launchers and loaded a round into the breech. As he clapped the breach shut, the Bradley was moving at about 5 miles per hour. A brief gust of wind caused the snow to flurry, giving him a glimpse of a massive shape. He fired the grenade, and watched if arc as he lost site of it. The sniper slammed the hatch shut as their Bradley began to accelerate.

“Get us going,” the sniper yelled. He grabbed for the Marlin and began to fire the massive cartridges at the polar bear.

The man with the Thompson opened up another of the firing ports in the Bradley and began to fire at the bears. By then, the Bradley was moving at about 13 miles per hour.

The driver yelled to the commander that with the weather outside deteriorating, he didn’t want to take it any faster than that.

OOC: Har! Ok. You figured that one out.

IC:
A short walk revealed a geothermally warmed lake. A patch of bloody bits was still evident on one side - the storms snow had no purchase near the warm water.

However, the storm was beginning to kick up a bit more, further reducing visibility.

"Okay chaps, this damned snow is getting heavier. Brin and Hawke, pitch the tent, Fuselle, get some water from the lake." ordered the Colonel as he strolled to the remains of seal body. Partially covered in snow there was sleeping bag with a flag over it.

"Looks like someone wasn't lucky." he muttered to himself, he didn't think anyone sleeping alone out here would wake up.

He was about to turn back when he caught sight of two indents in the snow. Two vehicle tracks disappeared into the forest. Broken plants were littered along its path, with no effort to cover them.

He returned to the tent, after scoring a deep cross into the tree by the tracks. Hawke and Brin were burying the tent in snow to reduce their thermal footprint. They didn't know the limit of these bears.

Fuselle opened the flap for the Colonel, and he ducked in. Fuselle then passed in the steaming water from the lake.

"I haven't put any tablets in yet, sir." she informed him, as she stepped in, followed by Hawke and Brin.

They added tablets and dried rations to the mix, sharing a large canteen. They ate while the Colonel briefed them.

"It looks like some chaps have got here first. There is evidence of several species being killed just recently, including human, there was a bag in the snow. There are also vehicle tracks leading away from here. We'll sit this snow storm out and follow. I'll take first watch."

"One thing sir, why are we following them? We don't seem to be in any trouble." asked Hawke.

"No, we aren't. But a have a feeling they are."

They stood up, shivering. The wind had picked up and now visibility was going down. Their only hope was to find a place to hunker down until the storm passed. The ship, having a metal hull, would now be too cold to be of use for that purpose, as the systems would take a couple of hours to heat up.

"New orders. Find a cave, hunker down there, continue at dawn. Move out!" Gener said.

The group began to walk in the snow, paying more attention to their footing than anything else. Then they stopped and remembered: The mejnot who soiled his pants had disappeared and not been seen since. They turned, looking, but in this weather could not see a bear until it was too close for the minigun to be effective.

Three blackhawk helicopters streaked 100 feet above the earth towards a herd of polar bears in the distance. From one of the helicopters the Shah of Parthia was fastend into a seat looking out towards the snows below with his Weatherby .460 hunting rifle placed in a swiveling mount. The helicopters had rotors which had been quieted as much as possible, though they had too keep their distance. When they had approached within 400 yards of the bears, the two other helicopters each fired a napalm rocket and within seconds, the rockets airbursted 100 yards in several directions of the polar bear, creating a semicircular wall of flame and leaving the bear only one direction to flee to... towards the helicopter flying 100 feet above the trees with a high powered rifle aimed directly at him... and it was rare for the Shah to miss.....

"Time to try something a little sneaky." Gorlez said as all ninety-two of the remaining men waited in an ambush near a piece of meat that had been sprayed over with bear pheromones.

Several unsuspecting bears wandered on in as the men opened fire...

The man with the .50 caliber sniper rifle seemed to be in charge as he cupped his hand to his ear in the rising wind. The could hear faint sounds of firing weapons in the west. He gestured toward the APC. The men headed toward it. Their provisions were in the modified Bradley, along with a few extra weapons, and thousands of rounds of extra ammunition.

The six men headed toward the Bradley. They entered the troop compartment, and deposited their weapons, placing them where they were readily accessible.

The man who used the sniper rifle, took a look at the selection of other weapons in the Bradley. The group had packed some extras, including a pair of M-79 grenade launchers, a pair of M-3 grease guns, and a Marlin .45-70 Gov’t lever action rifle. He picked up a grenade launcher, and the Marlin after the rest of his men had entered the Bradley. He was about to close the rear hatch after the commander of had ordered the driver headed east when he notice several shapes moving in the snow, less than 100 yard of. He worked the action of the rifle, chambering a round as a flurry of snow briefly obscured the massive shape. He set the Marlin aside and grabbed one of the grenade launchers and loaded a round into the breech. As he clapped the breach shut, the Bradley was moving at about 5 miles per hour. A brief gust of wind caused the snow to flurry, giving him a glimpse of a massive shape. He fired the grenade, and watched if arc as he lost site of it. The sniper slammed the hatch shut as their Bradley began to accelerate.

“Get us going,” the sniper yelled. He grabbed for the Marlin and began to fire the massive cartridges at the polar bear.

The man with the Thompson opened up another of the firing ports in the Bradley and began to fire at the bears. By then, the Bradley was moving at about 13 miles per hour.

The driver yelled to the commander that with the weather outside deteriorating, he didn’t want to take it any faster than that.


*BOOM!*


*BOOM!*





*BOOM!*

Something very large and occasionally determined hits the side of the Bradley, hard enough once to cause a skid on the icy permafrost.

Given how fast the vehicle is moving...

"Okay chaps, this damned snow is getting heavier. Brin and Hawke, pitch the tent, Fuselle, get some water from the lake." ordered the Colonel as he strolled to the remains of seal body. Partially covered in snow there was sleeping bag with a flag over it.

"Looks like someone wasn't lucky." he muttered to himself, he didn't think anyone sleeping alone out here would wake up.

He was about to turn back when he caught sight of two indents in the snow. Two vehicle tracks disappeared into the forest. Broken plants were littered along its path, with no effort to cover them.

He returned to the tent, after scoring a deep cross into the tree by the tracks. Hawke and Brin were burying the tent in snow to reduce their thermal footprint. They didn't know the limit of these bears.

Fuselle opened the flap for the Colonel, and he ducked in. Fuselle then passed in the steaming water from the lake.

"I haven't put any tablets in yet, sir." she informed him, as she stepped in, followed by Hawke and Brin.

They added tablets and dried rations to the mix, sharing a large canteen. They ate while the Colonel briefed them.

"It looks like some chaps have got here first. There is evidence of several species being killed just recently, including human, there was a bag in the snow. There are also vehicle tracks leading away from here. We'll sit this snow storm out and follow. I'll take first watch."

"One thing sir, why are we following them? We don't seem to be in any trouble." asked Hawke.

"No, we aren't. But a have a feeling they are."

By morning, the tent is under a good foot and a half of loose-pack snow. The side with the door, being on the side with the lake, is under significantly less.

Luckilly, the bears didn't manage to find the "neat thing with a chewy center" last night.

Tracks are completely gone. A walrus stares at you from the pond, then goes under before any significant action can be taken.

For a storm, it did surprisingly little damage - no trees are down, though they are more snow covered then before.

And the area around the pool is still melted, too warm to freeze.

(Geothermal. Gotta love it)

They stood up, shivering. The wind had picked up and now visibility was going down. Their only hope was to find a place to hunker down until the storm passed. The ship, having a metal hull, would now be too cold to be of use for that purpose, as the systems would take a couple of hours to heat up.

"New orders. Find a cave, hunker down there, continue at dawn. Move out!" Gener said.

The group began to walk in the snow, paying more attention to their footing than anything else. Then they stopped and remembered: The mejnot who soiled his pants had disappeared and not been seen since. They turned, looking, but in this weather could not see a bear until it was too close for the minigun to be effective.

The cave they'd chosen had two things going for it - depth, and a warm floor for whatever reason.

It had one thing against it - imprints on the floor indicating it had been used by bears for a similar purpose.

Tonight, however, they were not there. And they still were not there the next morning, during the "dig out the front door" period.

Outside, the forest is a crystal wonderland; ice and snow put on a pretty show of lights.

The sun remains out, laughing at everyone.

Three blackhawk helicopters streaked 100 feet above the earth towards a herd of polar bears in the distance. From one of the helicopters the Shah of Parthia was fastend into a seat looking out towards the snows below with his Weatherby .460 hunting rifle placed in a swiveling mount. The helicopters had rotors which had been quieted as much as possible, though they had too keep their distance. When they had approached within 400 yards of the bears, the two other helicopters each fired a napalm rocket and within seconds, the rockets airbursted 100 yards in several directions of the polar bear, creating a semicircular wall of flame and leaving the bear only one direction to flee to... towards the helicopter flying 100 feet above the trees with a high powered rifle aimed directly at him... and it was rare for the Shah to miss.....

The huge winds play havoc with the helicopters, forcing them - at best - down to the ground. Blizzard conditions prevent the counting of how many - if any - of the huge predators were struck with the rockets, or locked in place.

The "evening" is hell (sun doesn't set til February) - the morning is worse, the helicopters covered in ice and snow half a foot thick, grounded until chipped out or it gets warm enough to melt them free.

Still, the storm is over... and no one seems to be missing.

"Time to try something a little sneaky." Gorlez said as all ninety-two of the remaining men waited in an ambush near a piece of meat that had been sprayed over with bear pheromones.

Several unsuspecting bears wandered on in as the men opened fire...

The full force of the snowstorm caught everyone by surprise - gale force winds backed up by carpeting snow blasted the area, turning visibility into a pipe dream and the trap into useless.

Somehow, gear and luck served to allow the party to survive the "evening", though much the worse for wear. That the temperature remained below freezing was a mixed blessing - there was no water to freeze into ice on the surface of the parka, but it remained cold and dry in the morning.

And the bears were still out there, somewhere.

*Click* *Click* *Stare*

Tonight on NATURAL SELECTION...

No one could sleep much in the crack of a cave, as the winds of the storms howled outside the opening.

Joanna was the first to break an hour long silence. "I can't feel my toes anymore." She stared off into the distance, not really talking to anyone.

Harry walked over to Zane's body. "And what are we going to do with him?"
"We have to use it to our advantage.."

Dick spoke up. "These bear are smart, but their animal need for food might make them stupid. I say we use his body as bait... drawing a buch of bear into an area and them blasting the hell out of them."

"Great idea," replied Martha. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible." Maybe we can draw 12 with this and end it quickly.

"You DONT want 12 of those bears in a group..." Charlie whispered menacingly.

Morning came, and the plan was put into motion. After checking thier surroundings, Dick and Stuart took what was left of Zane's body and stuck him in the middle of a tall tree, high enough that the bear will have to try to get to it. Kept warm from the storm, it would be one of the only things around that was edible and not frozen, and should draw some kind o response soon. Suzie stepped behind a tree and dry heaved from the sight of Zane's remains, as she had not eaten in 12 hours. The camera's were sure to get a close up.

The 12 took postions around the tree, in groups of 2, gripping thier weapons very tightly. They knew they had to conserve their grenades, but if this attracted a good amount of bear, grenades were a good thing...

They waited, breathing heavier than any of them had ever done before...

The huge winds play havoc with the helicopters, forcing them - at best - down to the ground. Blizzard conditions prevent the counting of how many - if any - of the huge predators were struck with the rockets, or locked in place.

The "evening" is hell (sun doesn't set til February) - the morning is worse, the helicopters covered in ice and snow half a foot thick, grounded until chipped out or it gets warm enough to melt them free.

Still, the storm is over... and no one seems to be missing.

Within minutes of hearing about the helicopter going down, a rescue team was dispatched to aid the Shah. Ten M3-A2 Bradley IFVs were dispatched from the dispatch point ten miles away from the downed helicopters. The hunt was unsafe and the Shah would have to be evacuated. The Shah's GPS system was activated and that would guide them to the Shah through the snowstorm.

Meanwhile, the Shah and his men were busy building up a bunker deep into the snow for the Shah to hide in while a .50 caliber minigun and two M-2 .50 caliber machineguns were brought online.

By morning, the tent is under a good foot and a half of loose-pack snow. The side with the door, being on the side with the lake, is under significantly less.

Luckilly, the bears didn't manage to find the "neat thing with a chewy center" last night.

Tracks are completely gone. A walrus stares at you from the pond, then goes under before any significant action can be taken.

For a storm, it did surprisingly little damage - no trees are down, though they are more snow covered then before.

And the area around the pool is still melted, too warm to freeze.

(Geothermal. Gotta love it)


The Colonel's companion's stood waiting as he searched for the marked tree. Fuselle stared at the steaming water, lost in her thoughts.

"Sorry Fuzz, you can't go for a swim." joked Hawke, breaking her from her reverie.

"Um, er what, no, pity, looks warm. Freezing out here." she replied, condensation coming out in breaths.

The clearing turned back to deathly silence, and the lake was still again after the Walrus' ripples. Everything was completely perfect, except for the ground where the tents had been. There was only the occasional creak from the over-laden tree branches.

"Right, chaps. I've found it. The tracks are completely covered, but I remember where they went for a while. From then on we'll have to go by broken twigs." said the Colonel as he returned.

Nobody said anything, not even the usual response of "Sir". They didn't seem inclined to leave. Ever since they had emerged there had been a feeling of unease. The silence only made it worse.

"Heh, you know what it's like, silence usually means that there's no-one around." broke in the Colonel, reading his companion's thoughts.

"Sir!" replied Brin, and he stepped forward. They made swift headway back into the forest, their trudging feet and clinking equipment breaking the silence.

Unseen and unheard, something was watching them.

The cave they'd chosen had two things going for it - depth, and a warm floor for whatever reason.

It had one thing against it - imprints on the floor indicating it had been used by bears for a similar purpose.

Tonight, however, they were not there. And they still were not there the next morning, during the "dig out the front door" period.

Outside, the forest is a crystal wonderland; ice and snow put on a pretty show of lights.

The sun remains out, laughing at everyone.

OOC: This is comical. They're walking around, looking for a bunch of bears they can't seem to find, and getting frustrated about a mission they have to complete but can't. And they're doing all of this in an environment that is the exact opposite of what they are used to.

IC:

"Alright, I want the guy who thought up this idea found and shot. At least we can say we shot something," Gener said.

"Uh, sir, if that buried our cave, what about our ship?" a marine asked.

The group stopped for a moment, considering. They had not thought of that. Now, they were stranded in an alien environment with no clue where they parked the ship at. And, if intelligence was correct, surrounded by mutant bears. Not a good combination.

"Let's move. If we're lucky, we'll find a bear," Gener said, trying to dodge the question of how they'll get out alive.

*Click* *Click* *Stare*

Tonight on NATURAL SELECTION...

No one could sleep much in the crack of a cave, as the winds of the storms howled outside the opening.

Joanna was the first to break an hour long silence. "I can't feel my toes anymore." She stared off into the distance, not really talking to anyone.

Harry walked over to Zane's body. "And what are we going to do with him?"
"We have to use it to our advantage.."

Dick spoke up. "These bear are smart, but their animal need for food might make them stupid. I say we use his body as bait... drawing a buch of bear into an area and them blasting the hell out of them."

"Great idea," replied Martha. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible." Maybe we can draw 12 with this and end it quickly.

"You DONT want 12 of those bears in a group..." Charlie whispered menacingly.

Morning came, and the plan was put into motion. After checking thier surroundings, Dick and Stuart took what was left of Zane's body and stuck him in the middle of a tall tree, high enough that the bear will have to try to get to it. Kept warm from the storm, it would be one of the only things around that was edible and not frozen, and should draw some kind o response soon. Suzie stepped behind a tree and dry heaved from the sight of Zane's remains, as she had not eaten in 12 hours. The camera's were sure to get a close up.

The 12 took postions around the tree, in groups of 2, gripping thier weapons very tightly. They knew they had to conserve their grenades, but if this attracted a good amount of bear, grenades were a good thing...

They waited, breathing heavier than any of them had ever done before...

A rather small bear showed up first....

... and kept walking, the body a bit higher and farther away then it could apparently sense.

A few hours passed, the sun remaining mockingly above....

The same bear - identifiable due to a patch of black by his mouth - reappeared, casting about for a good lock on whatever it was that smelled so good.

Within minutes of hearing about the helicopter going down, a rescue team was dispatched to aid the Shah. Ten M3-A2 Bradley IFVs were dispatched from the dispatch point ten miles away from the downed helicopters. The hunt was unsafe and the Shah would have to be evacuated. The Shah's GPS system was activated and that would guide them to the Shah through the snowstorm.

Meanwhile, the Shah and his men were busy building up a bunker deep into the snow for the Shah to hide in while a .50 caliber minigun and two M-2 .50 caliber machineguns were brought online.

OOC: Uhm how? You're on my turf, and I didn't ok the entry, so your planes are going to have to not come into my airspace. And Vastiva is not going to allow ten armored vehicles to show up unannounced.

The Colonel's companion's stood waiting as he searched for the marked tree. Fuselle stared at the steaming water, lost in her thoughts.

"Sorry Fuzz, you can't go for a swim." joked Hawke, breaking her from her reverie.

"Um, er what, no, pity, looks warm. Freezing out here." she replied, condensation coming out in breaths.

The clearing turned back to deathly silence, and the lake was still again after the Walrus' ripples. Everything was completely perfect, except for the ground where the tents had been. There was only the occasional creak from the over-laden tree branches.

"Right, chaps. I've found it. The tracks are completely covered, but I remember where they went for a while. From then on we'll have to go by broken twigs." said the Colonel as he returned.

Nobody said anything, not even the usual response of "Sir". They didn't seem inclined to leave. Ever since they had emerged there had been a feeling of unease. The silence only made it worse.

"Heh, you know what it's like, silence usually means that there's no-one around." broke in the Colonel, reading his companion's thoughts.

"Sir!" replied Brin, and he stepped forward. They made swift headway back into the forest, their trudging feet and clinking equipment breaking the silence.

Unseen and unheard, something was watching them.

The bleak silence was broken by, of all things, two jets overflying their position at high speed and low altitude. Snow was blown off trees instantly, creating a wall of white.

You don't know where they're going, but they're in one hell of a hurry.

Downslope, and headed away from the sudden noise, two bears break cover and head for the trees. A good football field separates you from them. And the wind is in your face.


OOC: Headed to intercept the Parthians attempt to land.

OOC: This is comical. They're walking around, looking for a bunch of bears they can't seem to find, and getting frustrated about a mission they have to complete but can't. And they're doing all of this in an environment that is the exact opposite of what they are used to.

IC:

"Alright, I want the guy who thought up this idea found and shot. At least we can say we shot something," Gener said.

"Uh, sir, if that buried our cave, what about our ship?" a marine asked.

The group stopped for a moment, considering. They had not thought of that. Now, they were stranded in an alien environment with no clue where they parked the ship at. And, if intelligence was correct, surrounded by mutant bears. Not a good combination.

"Let's move. If we're lucky, we'll find a bear," Gener said, trying to dodge the question of how they'll get out alive.

The first man our finds the owners coming home.

All four of them.

Two "babies", weighing about 800 lbs each.
"Momma", at a smooth 2000 lbs.
And "Dad", at a wonderful eighteen feet tall and outmassing either kid plus Mom. This, because Dad is standing up and looking down at what could possibly be a group dining experience.


OOC: No, its not a family group, its four bears acting like these particular bears do. Thought I'd clear that up. And sex isn't a given, its a convenience.

The squad of men in the Bradley jumped as a group, when something repeatedly thudded into the side of the Bradley. They had been in a running battle on and off for several hours with some polar bears and they were all exhausted. Empty cartridges rolled loosely on the floor of the compartment and cordite smoke permeated the atmosphere.

Boom! Boom! Something thudded into the side of the IFV. The man who carried a Thompson opened up a firing port and involuntarily ducked as a huge paw swung into the Bradley. He shoved the barrel of his Thompson out the firing port and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened and he cursed and worked the bolt.

The Thompson guy squeezed the trigger again, and a burst erupted from the submachine gun, and into the flank of the polar bear.

Just when the sniper thought that the situation couldn’t get any worse, the driver yelled out, “We’re down to a quarter tank of gas. We’d better fill it up soon.

The sniper cursed. Just what he always wanted. To be stranded in the Artic surrounded by polar bears.

He shouted up to the driver that they had better stop the Bradley, and the driver brought it to a rather abrupt halt. After the Bradley had finished its skid, further jostling the occupants, one of the men with an M-60, opened the hatch in the back of the infantry compartment, and stepped out. He blinked as he was greeted with bright arctic sunshine. That was all the opening that the bear needed to swoop in and grab his leg in its jaws.

The machine gunner screamed as the jaws closed like a steel trap on his leg, breaking the bone and rupturing the blood vessels. The man with the Thompson was next in line to disembark, and he had on a pair of sunglasses. He stuck his Thompson out of the compartment at the sound of the scream, and aimed at the white mass of the bear.

He pulled the trigger, and a stream of .45 slugs erupted in bloody furrows along the flanks of the bear, causing it to run off dragging the hapless machine gunner. He was followed in short order by the man with the SPAS-15, the other man with the M-60, and the rest of the infantry squad. One of the men fired a futile parting shot at the polar bear.

Three of the men kept watch for bears while the other two began to attempt to pour come fuel into the tank. They cursed as the realized that the fuel drum that had been lashed to the back of the Bradley had come loose during the fight, leaving them with a pair of 5 gallon jerry cans.

The sniper decided that it was time to call in for some support. He dialed up the frequency on the satellite radio, and managed to speak to the transport that had delivered them, but was unable to understand the reply.

The bleak silence was broken by, of all things, two jets overflying their position at high speed and low altitude. Snow was blown off trees instantly, creating a wall of white.

You don't know where they're going, but they're in one hell of a hurry.

Downslope, and headed away from the sudden noise, two bears break cover and head for the trees. A good football field separates you from them. And the wind is in your face.


OOC: Headed to intercept the Parthians attempt to land.

At the sight of the two bears the four of them instantly hit the snow. They resorted to hand signals. Lying down in the snow, they set themselves up. Hawke watched the surrounding area as Brin set up his machine gun, and Fuselle and the Colonel set themselves up for the shot.

The bears seemed to be reeling from the sudden noise. The four hunters were all experienced veteran soldiers.

"New. priorities. Jets. not. routine. patrol." signed the Colonel.

He gave the signal and he and Fuselle opened fire. One bear fell from a headshot. The other was hit in the shoulder and ran away.

Fuselle covered the Colonel and Brin as they moved slowly down to the body. It shuddered, it was still alive. The Colonel was awed, it had taken a shot to the head that would normally halt a charging rhinocerous. He fired at the neck of the beast, taking out it's spinal column. The next few minutes were taken up skinning its hide. No time was wasted, the Colonel was spurred on by the presence of the two jets, he knew how complicated it would be stuck in a warzone. Should that happen however he would know exactly what would happen.

Brin sat in a tree watching should the wounded bear return. Suddenly his tree shook violently, he looked down to see a blood crazed bear scrabbled at the base.

"CONTACT!" he yelled, as he fired his machine gun into the bear's gaping maw.

Two other bears broke cover and charged the group. Hawke stood too long in front of them. A bear's paw caught him as he dived away. His leg was ripped open and his thigh bone shattered. The second paw tore out his stomach. He emptied his magazine into the bear's head as he died.

Meanwhile the second bear was distracted, the noise from the gunfire had disorienetated it. It was the same wounded animal, and in the second it had hesitated Fuselle and the Colonel had taken the chance to take up their guns and fire. They didn't aim, rigorous training meant they aimed automatically. A high calibre shot and several assault rifle rounds entered its head and neck. It toppled.

They swung their weapons round scanning for more hostiles. There were none. Brin fell from the tree. His foot had three deep gashes from the bear - of which had most of its remains plastered to the tree.

They bound the wound with bandage and wrapped his thermal trousers around that.

Hawke was put in his body bag and they made a tri-frame to drag him away. There was no banter now, as if was much normally, but the three remaining hunters, had retracted into their combat state of mind, dulled emotions, it was this mind-set that would get them home.

The Colonel switched on the GPS, and swore. Interference had rendered it useless.

"Jammers?" suggested Brin.

"Or snow." replied Fuselle.

"We're in trouble now. We'd better follow that vehicle trail." said the Colonel.

They trudged on, dragging Hawke's body, their minds and bodies tight, watching for threats. They could be in a warzone for all they knew.

OOC: Uhm how? You're on my turf, and I didn't ok the entry, so your planes are going to have to not come into my airspace. And Vastiva is not going to allow ten armored vehicles to show up unannounced.

OOC:I’m going to suggest you go along with it. The Shah will require some support, he’s my head of state and I’m just going to evacuate him. The C-17s were transporting them. If I'm not invited, I'll leave.

IC: Please allow for some support to go in and save the Shah, we need to make sure no harm comes to him. We are sending an armored unit and a pair of helicopters to go assist him before harm comes to him. Please, for our sake allow some support.

-Crown Prince Sassan Parviz

A PAVE LOW helicopter streaked low across the horizon towards the Shah's crash site. The Shah's GPS beacon had been activated and it led the helicopter right next to the downed blackhawks. With the .50 caliber machineguns bristling out the sides and fully prepared to fire, the massive PAVE-LOW touched down and the ramps opened. The Shah and his party took what they could and piled it on, first the Shah entered, and within muinites the helicopter had taken off and was headed back to the Parthian destroyer waiting outside the territorial waters.

The first man our finds the owners coming home.

All four of them.

Two "babies", weighing about 800 lbs each.
"Momma", at a smooth 2000 lbs.
And "Dad", at a wonderful eighteen feet tall and outmassing either kid plus Mom. This, because Dad is standing up and looking down at what could possibly be a group dining experience.


OOC: No, its not a family group, its four bears acting like these particular bears do. Thought I'd clear that up. And sex isn't a given, its a convenience.

They retreat back into the cave, opening fire on their way in. Gener opens fire with the disruptor weapon, hoping the more powerful energy shots would do some damage. Inside, Tort has already begun the barrels of the minigun spnning, barely allowing his companions to dodge out of the way before opening fire. As the minigun empties its belt into the bears, the other soldiers take position and open fire as well, hoping their weapons are enough to take down the bears and they don't have to rely on their other, and far more secret, skills.

"Keep firing! We'll take down these bears or die trying!" Gener yelled.

OOC:I’m going to suggest you go along with it. The Shah will require some support, he’s my head of state and I’m just going to evacuate him. The C-17s were transporting them. If I'm not invited, I'll leave.

IC: Please allow for some support to go in and save the Shah, we need to make sure no harm comes to him. We are sending an armored unit and a pair of helicopters to go assist him before harm comes to him. Please, for our sake allow some support.

-Crown Prince Sassan Parviz

A PAVE LOW helicopter streaked low across the horizon towards the Shah's crash site. The Shah's GPS beacon had been activated and it led the helicopter right next to the downed blackhawks. With the .50 caliber machineguns bristling out the sides and fully prepared to fire, the massive PAVE-LOW touched down and the ramps opened. The Shah and his party took what they could and piled it on, first the Shah entered, and within muinites the helicopter had taken off and was headed back to the Parthian destroyer waiting outside the territorial waters.


OOC: Gotta love the reaction. Your rescue choppers were not requested, ergo not invited into our airspace. All you needs to do is say "hey, can I send choppers?" "Yeah, sure". Sheesh, people here are so touchy.

They retreat back into the cave, opening fire on their way in. Gener opens fire with the disruptor weapon, hoping the more powerful energy shots would do some damage. Inside, Tort has already begun the barrels of the minigun spnning, barely allowing his companions to dodge out of the way before opening fire. As the minigun empties its belt into the bears, the other soldiers take position and open fire as well, hoping their weapons are enough to take down the bears and they don't have to rely on their other, and far more secret, skills.

"Keep firing! We'll take down these bears or die trying!" Gener yelled.

Surprised, the bears do perhaps the most stupid thing possible - they stand up.

Vivisected bits of bear litter the snowscape, the minigun barrels are still smoking and frosting from the cooling effect of the air and the heat of the beltload of ammunition fired.

Once the whine clears from all their ears, they realize the wind has calmed, leaving very little noise at all.

At the sight of the two bears the four of them instantly hit the snow. They resorted to hand signals. Lying down in the snow, they set themselves up. Hawke watched the surrounding area as Brin set up his machine gun, and Fuselle and the Colonel set themselves up for the shot.

The bears seemed to be reeling from the sudden noise. The four hunters were all experienced veteran soldiers.

"New. priorities. Jets. not. routine. patrol." signed the Colonel.

He gave the signal and he and Fuselle opened fire. One bear fell from a headshot. The other was hit in the shoulder and ran away.

Fuselle covered the Colonel and Brin as they moved slowly down to the body. It shuddered, it was still alive. The Colonel was awed, it had taken a shot to the head that would normally halt a charging rhinocerous. He fired at the neck of the beast, taking out it's spinal column. The next few minutes were taken up skinning its hide. No time was wasted, the Colonel was spurred on by the presence of the two jets, he knew how complicated it would be stuck in a warzone. Should that happen however he would know exactly what would happen.

Brin sat in a tree watching should the wounded bear return. Suddenly his tree shook violently, he looked down to see a blood crazed bear scrabbled at the base.

"CONTACT!" he yelled, as he fired his machine gun into the bear's gaping maw.

Two other bears broke cover and charged the group. Hawke stood too long in front of them. A bear's paw caught him as he dived away. His leg was ripped open and his thigh bone shattered. The second paw tore out his stomach. He emptied his magazine into the bear's head as he died.

Meanwhile the second bear was distracted, the noise from the gunfire had disorienetated it. It was the same wounded animal, and in the second it had hesitated Fuselle and the Colonel had taken the chance to take up their guns and fire. They didn't aim, rigorous training meant they aimed automatically. A high calibre shot and several assault rifle rounds entered its head and neck. It toppled.

They swung their weapons round scanning for more hostiles. There were none. Brin fell from the tree. His foot had three deep gashes from the bear - of which had most of its remains plastered to the tree.

They bound the wound with bandage and wrapped his thermal trousers around that.

Hawke was put in his body bag and they made a tri-frame to drag him away. There was no banter now, as if was much normally, but the three remaining hunters, had retracted into their combat state of mind, dulled emotions, it was this mind-set that would get them home.

The Colonel switched on the GPS, and swore. Interference had rendered it useless.

"Jammers?" suggested Brin.

"Or snow." replied Fuselle.

"We're in trouble now. We'd better follow that vehicle trail." said the Colonel.

They trudged on, dragging Hawke's body, their minds and bodies tight, watching for threats. They could be in a warzone for all they knew.

The skinned bear has an incredible amount of body fat, and beneath that, layers of heavy muscle, still rich with blood. A definite food source for the starving, and an explanation of how they shrug off bullets - the skull is twice the thickness expected, heavy and hard. Everything in the dead behemoth is the product of an excellent food supply, a horrible climate, and a complete lack of predators or dangers of significance.

Even the claws show heavy, new growth, far more solid then could be expected on your average half-starved bear.

The head is most certainly not a weak point - the skull is tough and hard, making it a bad choice for direct penetration. Nor is the neck with its several layers of muscle and fat.

It is the belly which has the least muscle, and the most fat - and the seam between ribs and belly is strained by the weight of all the bear carries, giving it less protection then anywhere else that can be immediately discerned. Standing, the creature exposes a weak point, of sorts.

The weather has cleared; a bit of warmth appears, though the temperature remains steadfastly below freezing. For the injuries, this is some good news - infection is impossible.

The squad of men in the Bradley jumped as a group, when something repeatedly thudded into the side of the Bradley. They had been in a running battle on and off for several hours with some polar bears and they were all exhausted. Empty cartridges rolled loosely on the floor of the compartment and cordite smoke permeated the atmosphere.

Boom! Boom! Something thudded into the side of the IFV. The man who carried a Thompson opened up a firing port and involuntarily ducked as a huge paw swung into the Bradley. He shoved the barrel of his Thompson out the firing port and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened and he cursed and worked the bolt.

The Thompson guy squeezed the trigger again, and a burst erupted from the submachine gun, and into the flank of the polar bear.

Just when the sniper thought that the situation couldn’t get any worse, the driver yelled out, “We’re down to a quarter tank of gas. We’d better fill it up soon.

The sniper cursed. Just what he always wanted. To be stranded in the Artic surrounded by polar bears.

He shouted up to the driver that they had better stop the Bradley, and the driver brought it to a rather abrupt halt. After the Bradley had finished its skid, further jostling the occupants, one of the men with an M-60, opened the hatch in the back of the infantry compartment, and stepped out. He blinked as he was greeted with bright arctic sunshine. That was all the opening that the bear needed to swoop in and grab his leg in its jaws.

The machine gunner screamed as the jaws closed like a steel trap on his leg, breaking the bone and rupturing the blood vessels. The man with the Thompson was next in line to disembark, and he had on a pair of sunglasses. He stuck his Thompson out of the compartment at the sound of the scream, and aimed at the white mass of the bear.

He pulled the trigger, and a stream of .45 slugs erupted in bloody furrows along the flanks of the bear, causing it to run off dragging the hapless machine gunner. He was followed in short order by the man with the SPAS-15, the other man with the M-60, and the rest of the infantry squad. One of the men fired a futile parting shot at the polar bear.

Three of the men kept watch for bears while the other two began to attempt to pour come fuel into the tank. They cursed as the realized that the fuel drum that had been lashed to the back of the Bradley had come loose during the fight, leaving them with a pair of 5 gallon jerry cans.

The sniper decided that it was time to call in for some support. He dialed up the frequency on the satellite radio, and managed to speak to the transport that had delivered them, but was unable to understand the reply.

It begins to warm, slightly. The day clears, the sky clears, the forest...

...remains quiet.

The skinned bear has an incredible amount of body fat, and beneath that, layers of heavy muscle, still rich with blood. A definite food source for the starving, and an explanation of how they shrug off bullets - the skull is twice the thickness expected, heavy and hard. Everything in the dead behemoth is the product of an excellent food supply, a horrible climate, and a complete lack of predators or dangers of significance.

Even the claws show heavy, new growth, far more solid then could be expected on your average half-starved bear.

The head is most certainly not a weak point - the skull is tough and hard, making it a bad choice for direct penetration. Nor is the neck with its several layers of muscle and fat.

It is the belly which has the least muscle, and the most fat - and the seam between ribs and belly is strained by the weight of all the bear carries, giving it less protection then anywhere else that can be immediately discerned. Standing, the creature exposes a weak point, of sorts.

The weather has cleared; a bit of warmth appears, though the temperature remains steadfastly below freezing. For the injuries, this is some good news - infection is impossible.

The bear stands, coagulated blood dropping off its back like bits of jelly. A single bloody trail already disappears into the distance. Another bear is standing waiting they share a glance and look at the last bear, its head is almost non-existant. Forty-five cailbre rounds into the head and neck at near point-blank range was enough even for a bear.

Without warning the pair suddenly turned and loped off after the trail of humans.

The hunter party made slow progress in the snow, unaware of the impending hostiles.

*CLICK*CLICK*STARE*

Dick fired first. HIs shots rang wild to the left of the lone target, bringing a reaction from the bear that viewers would later describe as "what the hell do you want."

Moments later, several more shots rang out from multiple directions. Someone eventually hit the bear, bringing him down.

Dick shuddered... he checked to make sure he didn't wet himself. He looked over to his partner, Suzie. She didn't look so good... in fact she was now unconscious. Why did I get stuck being her partner??

Slowly, several of the group startly moving out toward the bear. Charlie motioned to the tree. Greg climbed up and moved Zane's now chilled remains down to the bottom branch.

"Give it one more hour," whipered Charlie. "Then we come up with a new plan." He turned, ready to go back to his post, when he saw Dick come trudging toward them with Suzie in his arms. "Damnit," he wispered under his breath.

It was right about then that they heard a loud scream behind them...

Surprised, the bears do perhaps the most stupid thing possible - they stand up.

Vivisected bits of bear litter the snowscape, the minigun barrels are still smoking and frosting from the cooling effect of the air and the heat of the beltload of ammunition fired.

Once the whine clears from all their ears, they realize the wind has calmed, leaving very little noise at all.

They stood, staring, waiting for something to change the scene before them. But, it would not change. Nor would the fact their only source of spare ammo was buried beneath snow and Tort had used up all of the minigun rounds. Then, the watch on Gener's wrist started beeping.

"What the? The ship detects a life form trying to dig it out. I've got the ship's location. If we hurry, we can be there in two hours. Move out," Gener said.

They exitted the cave and ran, rapidly, towards the location of the ship, guided by Gener's watch. As they ran, they began to recognize certain marks, realizing they were on the right path. But, what was held for them upon arrival?

The Collapsian cargo plane landed at a Vastivan airstrip near the forest, opened its back, and a tank rolled out is open back. After going through all inspections necessary, the tank rolled on into the Southern Pine Forest.

In the turret sat one man, wearing an all-white cold-proof suit. Another five rode at the corners of the tank, using it for added mobility. All wore the same clothes, leaving not a square millimeter of skin exposed, their suits bearing a variation of whites and light grays found in snow for camouflage, and keeping them reasonably warm. Each of the riders had a sniper rifle in hand, and another sat propped by the turret control seat.

The driver, who wore the same gear as the marines assigned to protect him, but concealed from sight nearly entirely by the tank, had his rifle leaning next to his seat. All of the rifles were loaded with five bullets, despite being able to carry six. The empty slot was in the chamber, so they could simply advance the cylinders, and have a loaded gun.

Some time later, the tank rolled on into the Pine Forest, slowed down to dodge trees, and continued. Soon it was out of sight of where it had entered. The hunt was on.

Slowly, the Apache Helicopters attempted to settle in a Desolate area of the Forest. First taking out a few trees by Missiles and then landing in the charred area. The CH-47s attempting the same feat.

Four of them. Camp would be where they landed. Quickly, troops moving out and setting up Camp. The men moving in every single direction and smacking some items.

The GPS and Radar was setup. Incase they had unsuspected visitors. Along with a Infared Ground Tripwire and one up every tree on both sides every 5ft around their camp. They weren't being careful, they were being smart.

Though finally, something tripped the Tripwire. Resulting in a hail of gunfire as one bear instantly keeled over and was promptly sliced and diced as they attempted to relax for the night and go hunting the next mornining. Though, little did they know, that the Bears were probably plotting.

The bear stands, coagulated blood dropping off its back like bits of jelly. A single bloody trail already disappears into the distance. Another bear is standing waiting they share a glance and look at the last bear, its head is almost non-existant. Forty-five cailbre rounds into the head and neck at near point-blank range was enough even for a bear.

Without warning the pair suddenly turned and loped off after the trail of humans.

The hunter party made slow progress in the snow, unaware of the impending hostiles.

"Ooooh, lunch went this way...." lope lope lope


OOC: Do continue, this is well done.

*CLICK*CLICK*STARE*

Dick fired first. HIs shots rang wild to the left of the lone target, bringing a reaction from the bear that viewers would later describe as "what the hell do you want."

Moments later, several more shots rang out from multiple directions. Someone eventually hit the bear, bringing him down.

Dick shuddered... he checked to make sure he didn't wet himself. He looked over to his partner, Suzie. She didn't look so good... in fact she was now unconscious. Why did I get stuck being her partner??

Slowly, several of the group startly moving out toward the bear. Charlie motioned to the tree. Greg climbed up and moved Zane's now chilled remains down to the bottom branch.

"Give it one more hour," whipered Charlie. "Then we come up with a new plan." He turned, ready to go back to his post, when he saw Dick come trudging toward them with Suzie in his arms. "Damnit," he wispered under his breath.

It was right about then that they heard a loud scream behind them...

"Oh look, more bait."
"Shhhh."
"Hey, maybe she's good for something after all..."
"Shhhh!"
"Do you think..."
"Quiet! I'm trying to watch! And if you so much as touch that remote, I'm breaking your arm."

They stood, staring, waiting for something to change the scene before them. But, it would not change. Nor would the fact their only source of spare ammo was buried beneath snow and Tort had used up all of the minigun rounds. Then, the watch on Gener's wrist started beeping.

"What the? The ship detects a life form trying to dig it out. I've got the ship's location. If we hurry, we can be there in two hours. Move out," Gener said.

They exitted the cave and ran, rapidly, towards the location of the ship, guided by Gener's watch. As they ran, they began to recognize certain marks, realizing they were on the right path. But, what was held for them upon arrival?

Several bears passed nearby, close enough to cause a full stop and held breaths, but none close enough - or interested enough - to bring any action.

As they neared the ship, the reason was evident - no fewer then twenty-eight bears were busilly digging at the snow, trying to unearth the ship. Where edges were exposed, they were clawing, trying to tear it open. The storm had not made their job easier - melted snow had become ice, and a wall no less then two feet thick at the weakest area surrounded their ship; it would be slow going, even for the bears.

The Collapsian cargo plane landed at a Vastivan airstrip near the forest, opened its back, and a tank rolled out is open back. After going through all inspections necessary, the tank rolled on into the Southern Pine Forest.

In the turret sat one man, wearing an all-white cold-proof suit. Another five rode at the corners of the tank, using it for added mobility. All wore the same clothes, leaving not a square millimeter of skin exposed, their suits bearing a variation of whites and light grays found in snow for camouflage, and keeping them reasonably warm. Each of the riders had a sniper rifle in hand, and another sat propped by the turret control seat.

The driver, who wore the same gear as the marines assigned to protect him, but concealed from sight nearly entirely by the tank, had his rifle leaning next to his seat. All of the rifles were loaded with five bullets, despite being able to carry six. The empty slot was in the chamber, so they could simply advance the cylinders, and have a loaded gun.

Some time later, the tank rolled on into the Pine Forest, slowed down to dodge trees, and continued. Soon it was out of sight of where it had entered. The hunt was on.

It does take a good thirty minutes before they spot their first bear - and its headed in the wrong direction, *away* from the tank, and at a full run.

Slowly, the Apache Helicopters attempted to settle in a Desolate area of the Forest. First taking out a few trees by Missiles and then landing in the charred area. The CH-47s attempting the same feat.

Four of them. Camp would be where they landed. Quickly, troops moving out and setting up Camp. The men moving in every single direction and smacking some items.

The GPS and Radar was setup. Incase they had unsuspected visitors. Along with a Infared Ground Tripwire and one up every tree on both sides every 5ft around their camp. They weren't being careful, they were being smart.

Though finally, something tripped the Tripwire. Resulting in a hail of gunfire as one bear instantly keeled over and was promptly sliced and diced as they attempted to relax for the night and go hunting the next mornining. Though, little did they know, that the Bears were probably plotting.

OOC: I do hope you mean "infrared laser tripwires" as these bears don't show up on IR. At all.

IC: Tied into the Vastivan system, the GPS finds them easily enough; radar is more limited, owing to atmospheric disturbances typical of the south polar region, but it is enough to inform if anything huge flies over.

The thick foliage prevents any deep watch of the area, though having blown out an area, you do have a significant area of warning.

"Weather report - the next forty-eight hours are marked as clear and sunny... there are reports of some good cloud formations at extremely high altitudes for all you painters out there, so we should see an overall rise in temperature."

Several bears passed nearby, close enough to cause a full stop and held breaths, but none close enough - or interested enough - to bring any action.

As they neared the ship, the reason was evident - no fewer then twenty-eight bears were busilly digging at the snow, trying to unearth the ship. Where edges were exposed, they were clawing, trying to tear it open. The storm had not made their job easier - melted snow had become ice, and a wall no less then two feet thick at the weakest area surrounded their ship; it would be slow going, even for the bears.

"This is one time I'm glad that ship is armored with titanium. Open fire and don't worry about the holes. Don't spare the grenades either," Gener said, taking aim.

The group fired as one, sending a volley of minigrenades into the bears before opening fire with their bullets, the one disruptor weapon of the bunch seeming incongruous. Tort, who normally handled the minigun, had been forced to set it down and grab his assault rifle for this. The group, now seeing the surviving bears turn towards them, began to back off slowly before firing a second volley of grenades. While most of the soldiers wasted ammunition on the body, Tort started aiming for heads, his armor-piercing bullets sending bear brains out to decorate the ship.

As the bears began to advance, three dropping under the barrage of bullets, the DLE soldiers began to know true fear. They had, using two grenades in addition to their bullets, taken out at most only half the bears. The rest, easily more than a dozen, were now ready to charge.

"Don't break! Aim for their heads as you fire!" Gener shouted at his soldiers, unknowingly timing his advice at the same time the bears chose to charge.

It does take a good thirty minutes before they spot their first bear - and its headed in the wrong direction, *away* from the tank, and at a full run.

The snipers riding on the sides of the tank slid off, clicked bullets into the chambers of their guns, and took aim. Three shots rang out before the bear disappeared, the other snipers being unable to get a solid shot. The driver stopped the tank, and left only the gun recieving power from its fuel cells, to avoid scaring the bears further.

"This is one time I'm glad that ship is armored with titanium. Open fire and don't worry about the holes. Don't spare the grenades either," Gener said, taking aim.

The group fired as one, sending a volley of minigrenades into the bears before opening fire with their bullets, the one disruptor weapon of the bunch seeming incongruous. Tort, who normally handled the minigun, had been forced to set it down and grab his assault rifle for this. The group, now seeing the surviving bears turn towards them, began to back off slowly before firing a second volley of grenades. While most of the soldiers wasted ammunition on the body, Tort started aiming for heads, his armor-piercing bullets sending bear brains out to decorate the ship.

As the bears began to advance, three dropping under the barrage of bullets, the DLE soldiers began to know true fear. They had, using two grenades in addition to their bullets, taken out at most only half the bears. The rest, easily more than a dozen, were now ready to charge.

"Don't break! Aim for their heads as you fire!" Gener shouted at his soldiers, unknowingly timing his advice at the same time the bears chose to charge.


Gunfire and explosions can now be heard east or west of everyones position, depending on where they are in relation to DLE. They echo easily in this forest, and there are few baffles to stop the sound.

Collapsia's bear is headed towards the DLE area, and should arrive in minutes.

Seven, the tank driver and leader of the group, cursed audibly. Half an hour in and one got away.

He popped open the tank hatch, and crawled out, gun in hand. From a vantage point atop the tank, he evaluated where they were. The forest was not very thick, the trees usually far enough apart to drive a tank between. However, this wasn't a path, the ground appeared mostly flat only because of the roughly even blanket of snow covering it. It reached up to the mens' knees.

He reached into the pocket of his suit, and pulled out a small strip of something, shrink-wrapped in plastic. He tore it open, and pushed up his face mask. Cold bit at his pale face. He idly munched on the strip of freeze-dried rare Collapsian Seal meat ration he was carrying. The men had taken up sniping positions in the trees all around, forming a pentagon around the tank.

An idea struck him, and he pulled his mask back over his face. He popped open the tank's cargo compartment, and pulled out four packs of rare Collapsian Seal meat. He tore them open, sticking the packaging in the waste section of the cargo compartment, and piling them on the tank, opened the tank's engine, slightly, and let the heat rise over some snow he held in his gloved hands. He then trickled some water onto the meat, and closed up the tank's engine and cargo compartment.

He set his rifle aside, pulled out his cigarette lighter, and kindled a small corner of the meat. Soon the aroma of cooking (and burning) seal meat began to waft out from his position. The nearest tree branch to the fire was about two yards away, and, as an added precaution, he put snow in a ring around the fire, about a foot in radius, to keep it from spreading, and held more snow in both hands over the fire, ready to drop in when he heard a sniper call that there was a bear. His rifle sat close by.

The trap was baited, for another bear.

"Oh look, more bait."
"Shhhh."
"Hey, maybe she's good for something after all..."
"Shhhh!"
"Do you think..."
"Quiet! I'm trying to watch! And if you so much as touch that remote, I'm breaking your arm."

The group turned and saw 2 polar bear wondering what all the commotion was about, and where did that GREAT smell come from. The screaming was from Joanna, who was probably close enough to smell the bear's breath.

Joanna didn't last long. One of the bear broke for her. Censors cringed as the bear tore her apart. Producers eyes made dollar signs as the camera caught her screaming in agony.

The second bear charged toward the group. Half of the contestants opened fired, and they managed to bring the bear to a halt a few feet in front of them.

Meanwhile, the first bear took aim at Jim the Camera #4 guy. Ratings skyrocketed as the scene swicthed from Jim's camera, which had an upwards angle of Jim's now exposed innards, to other remote cameras that showed the mauling from afar.

Too far away to have accurate aim with their guns, Jillian expertly lobbed her grenade towards the bear. The blast could be heard for miles, as little bits of the bear (and jim) rained down on them.

"I don't know if I can take any more of this!" panted Harry.

"Calm down, ALL of you!" ordered Mario. "We have to get out of here. Now that all this carnage is out here, who knows how many bear will come. ANd if we aren't prepared we are going to end up like Joanna."

"Mario is right," replied Charlie. "We need to come up with a better plan, and we need to do it soon. But we also need to find some kind of shelter. Lets go back towards the high ground... maybe we can find some kind of protection there."

"Alright then, lets go," replied Dick, as he hefted Suzie's unconsious body over his shoulder. "I guess we should bring her, just in case she is, um, needed..."

"We should also grab some of this meat, if its retrievable..." replied Jillian.

The group headed towards the south, with Charlie leading, and Dick taking up the rear. As the episode ends, the camera zooms in on suzie's hand, which is dripping blood behind Dick, and leaving a very visible trail....

Tune in next week to the exciting next episode of NATURAL SELECTION!

Suburban home, Jassan, Voltarum

Viewer #1: What the...! Why is Suzie's hand bleeding??
Viewer #2: Ooooh mAN! It must have been the mole! He must have cut Suzie's hand during the attack! Now the polar bears will track them easier."
Viewer #3: Bah, the bears don't need help, they can smell those raunchy idiots a mile away! Its just a coincidence her hand is bleeding...
Viewer #1: Damn I have to wait I whole week... and they still need 8 more bear. Hey, isn't "Who wants to be an immigrant on?"

*CLICK*CLICK*

OOC:
Dead Polar Bear: 4
Dead Contestants: 2 (Zane, Johanna) (Suzie is not dead yet...)
Dead Crew: 2
Grenades used: 2

"Ooooh, lunch went this way...." lope lope lope

The progress of the three hunters was excruciatingly slow. Brin and the Colonel dragged the wooden a-frame that held Hawke's body as Fuselle watched for hostiles. She didn't even consider the likeliness of being pursued by the bears. They were tough, but not that tough.

The intuition gained from fighting in countless battles told Fuselle to turn around. A flicker of an eye caught her attention. A bear normally had a white coat that would camoflague it perfectly in the snow, but this bear had lost it.

"Holy shit!" yelled the Sergeant as she reflexively opened fire on the bear. Then her soldier's mind took over as she realised her weapon hadn't worked before. She ripped grenade off her belt and threw it at the bear, it landed just short of it.

This occurred in barely a couple of seconds, and the trio of bears rose up and charged. It was one on one. One bear versus one human.

Fuselle's grenade exploded. The blast threw snow and the bear into the air. The bear had lost a third of its skinn off its back, been shot in the neck and head, and had taken a grenade blast straight on. This was reason enough for it to pause before it stood up. It was more red than white.

Meanwhile Fuselle's companions were firing. The Colonel had taken Hawke's rifle and was loading a grenade into the underslung launcher. Brin covered him, trying at least to slow down the bears.

Inside Brin was freaking out. In theory, those bears should be a bloody corpse now, his machine gun would have destroyed any other beast. He wasn't used to fighting opponents who were invincible. Then it dawned on him, he wasn't hunting anymore. He was fighting - for his life. As he reloaded his weapon he suddenly grasped the fact he wasn't going home alive.

The Colonel was impassive, he was doing his job. He aimed the weapon and fired. The bear was roaring as it charged, and the grenade entered its mouth, lodging in its throat. The bear paused mid-stride as it choked, then the entirety of its head and neck was vapourised. With no skin to halt it, shrapnel entered deep into its body. The only thing stopping the shards from exiting was the hide itself.

But there were still two Bears left.

Brin had changed tactics, he was aiming for the legs of the bears, and while the Colonel had reduced the other to a bag of glutinous meat, he had managed to slow the beast. It wasn't incapacitated, but it was going to have trouble running.

Then the Colonel issued an order he had never expected to give.
"Run." he said simply, there was no point saying retreat, or fallback, it was still the same thing.

As one, the three hunters upped it and sprinted away from the scene. Leaving Hawke's body, even in death, he would serve some purpose.

There were debts to be repayed.

OOC: Have the bears got bullet proof eyes? And have they evolved smaller eyes to cope with snow blindness?

The progress of the three hunters was excruciatingly slow. Brin and the Colonel dragged the wooden a-frame that held Hawke's body as Fuselle watched for hostiles. She didn't even consider the likeliness of being pursued by the bears. They were tough, but not that tough.

The intuition gained from fighting in countless battles told Fuselle to turn around. A flicker of an eye caught her attention. A bear normally had a white coat that would camoflague it perfectly in the snow, but this bear had lost it.

"Holy shit!" yelled the Sergeant as she reflexively opened fire on the bear. Then her soldier's mind took over as she realised her weapon hadn't worked before. She ripped grenade off her belt and threw it at the bear, it landed just short of it.

This occurred in barely a couple of seconds, and the trio of bears rose up and charged. It was one on one. One bear versus one human.

Fuselle's grenade exploded. The blast threw snow and the bear into the air. The bear had lost a third of its skinn off its back, been shot in the neck and head, and had taken a grenade blast straight on. This was reason enough for it to pause before it stood up. It was more red than white.

Meanwhile Fuselle's companions were firing. The Colonel had taken Hawke's rifle and was loading a grenade into the underslung launcher. Brin covered him, trying at least to slow down the bears.

Inside Brin was freaking out. In theory, those bears should be a bloody corpse now, his machine gun would have destroyed any other beast. He wasn't used to fighting opponents who were invincible. Then it dawned on him, he wasn't hunting anymore. He was fighting - for his life. As he reloaded his weapon he suddenly grasped the fact he wasn't going home alive.

The Colonel was impassive, he was doing his job. He aimed the weapon and fired. The bear was roaring as it charged, and the grenade entered its mouth, lodging in its throat. The bear paused mid-stride as it choked, then the entirety of its head and neck was vapourised. With no skin to halt it, shrapnel entered deep into its body. The only thing stopping the shards from exiting was the hide itself.

But there were still two Bears left.

Brin had changed tactics, he was aiming for the legs of the bears, and while the Colonel had reduced the other to a bag of glutinous meat, he had managed to slow the beast. It wasn't incapacitated, but it was going to have trouble running.

Then the Colonel issued an order he had never expected to give.
"Run." he said simply, there was no point saying retreat, or fallback, it was still the same thing.

As one, the three hunters upped it and sprinted away from the scene. Leaving Hawke's body, even in death, he would serve some purpose.

There were debts to be repayed.

OOC: Have the bears got bullet proof eyes? And have they evolved smaller eyes to cope with snow blindness?


Actually if you checked my characters moves earlier, you will see they most definitely do not. :D

Actually if you checked my characters moves earlier, you will see they most definitely do not. :D

OOC: Polar bear eyes naturally adapt to snow blindness, they have an internal "filter", so this has no effect on them. They also can go from swimming to "above water" without pause, without affecting their vision.

No, their eyes are not bullet proof, but their skulls are *very* thick and can reflect bullets that hit an angle.

Their fat is rich in water and "liquid bulk", making it ablative against bullets as it will absorb kinetic shock and shockwave, preventing penetration simply by wearing out the energy of the bullet.

OOC: Post tomorrow. Tired tonight.

The noise was deafening inside the Chinook helicopter. SSgt. Rutledge eyed his men, only the fearless or insane would volunteer for such a task. Well at least we are well armed he thought. Of the 36 men on the transport 18 were armed with M82A3 Barrett Semiauto .50 Caliber Sniper rifles. The 18 spotters carried a Safari Grade Winchester bolt action chambered in .458 Weatherby. All the men were given free .454 Caskull revolvers from the local arms dealer before departing on this mission. Certainly these would be enough.

The SSgt. peaked out the Chinook window at the APC dangling below the Helicopter. This old beat up APC and the other APC dangling from one of the two supply Chinooks would be the "Base Camp" for the team. Inside the last Chinook in the formation was a gift from Polaris of 36 750 4x4 Four-Wheelers. These would ensure the men could cover ground in a hurry and effectively scour the forest for the beasts.

"Roger, 5 minutes to LZ" could be heard on the loudspeaker in the lead chopper. "LZ is hot, repeat LZ is hot" This could mean only one thing, bears in the area.

"Smoke 'em if ya' got 'em boys" the SSgt. said. "We have bears in the LZ men, Hollerman get over here to the door" Hollerman was simply the best shot Rutledge had on board with him. According to the National Match organizers he once drove nails into a crosstie at 1000 yards. "I am gonna have the pilot pull up firm over the LZ, drop the APC. We will hover for a little while and let you scope the area. If you see a hostile, well you know what to do."

The pilot came into a hover over the small grassy opening in the forest. The APC shackle popped and it was released. As the pilot slowly turned the Chinook in a circle something could be made out in the edge of the clearing. "Sir I have a bogey at 3 o' clock." said Hollerman staring through his 10x scope. "Cap him, son!" yelled the SSgt. The recoil shook Hollerman as the massive hulk on the edge of the clearing fell into a heap.

SSgt. Rutledge had the pilot set the Chinook down and the hunting party disembarked into the clearing, each man was leary as the moved towards the large unidentifiable carcass. Laughter could be heard from the point man, Gonzales. "Sir, Hollerman just nuked an elk" All the men laughed at this acclimation. "Quiet Marines, it was a difficult shot and the target was obscured from our vantage point. Take up positions around this clearing while we stowe the rest of our gear, we still have to drop the 2nd APC and the 4-wheelers and provisions from the other choppers. Besides we now have camp meat." yells the SSgt.

The men drifted to positions around the clearing which was about 100 yards wide, apparently it was an ill fated attempt at logging. With all the gear unloaded the Chinook's left the base camp for the two week adventure.

SSgt. Rutledge had both APC's moved to the center of the clearing. As the men moved the APC's they stung out barbwire curls in a circle around the gear and built a huge fire in the center of camp. Two men would take turns on watch while the other men slept in the APC's. The circled wagon's approach offered some shelter to the night guard and to boost defenses of camp, trip flares were added to the perimeter wire to activate if disturbed by activity. The killed elk was processed for steaks and the entrails left as bait for bears.

"Rest easy tonight men, remember watches change every 3 hours. No one is to stay on watch longer than this." says SSgt. Rutledge. "Know get some sleep, we start the hunt in the morning." With that the men crawled up inside the cramped APC's for a protected rest, until they had to perform watch duties.


OOC: This is the arrival post. The Hunting Post will follow shortly.

As the sun rose, SSgt. Rutledge lowered the rear door of the APC and geared up for the long day. His men were already stirring eating MRE's and eating the last of the elk steak taken from the day before. As the men gathered for muster the SSgt. had these words to say, "Men today you hunt something that does not fear or envy you. These Polar Bears look at you as a meal nothing more, be smart, use the Ancient tracking skills of the Apache that we taught you in Sniper School and by all means come back. Confirmed kills will be documented with polar bear ears. Bring back one set for each bear you take. We are going to divide this section of the forest into a grids. Each team will be responsible for working a daily grid. We need to establish feeding patterns, trails used, and correlate this with the tides and moon phases. All this data together will help us be more effective in our presuit of this wiley Polar Bear. Mount up and report back to camp at 1500 hours for debriefing on the days events. Good luck and good hunting."

The Marines climbed onto the new 750 Polaris 4-wheelers and matched up with there partner and rode out from the camp, as SSgt. Rutledge opened the gate by moving the APC. As they rode off the SSgt. stayed behind to coordinate the events and maintain a presence in camp.

It wasn't long before the men hit pay dirt. Hollerman was first to spot the prey. As he killed his 4-wheeler he motioned for his spotter Gonzales to dismount and follow him to the tree-top blown down in front of them. Cracking could be heard although no movement could be seen. "Careful Gonzales, don't poke the bear!" Hollerman said jokingly. "Shut up, man I am scared" Gonzales said as the pair stared into the treetop looking for movement.

Hollerman lay prone on the ground scoping the brushpile when all of a sudden a loud roar made the hair on both men's neck stand up. "He smelled us", whispered Hollerman to Gonzales. Just then branches exploded as the large male Polar Bear charged the pair closing the distance of 75 yards in what seemed like seconds. "BLOOM" the recoil and noise of the .50 Caliber was deafening. The first round just seemed to hack the bear off. "BLOOM" the second round found its mark and the large male Polar Bear collapsed 23 feet from the two Marines.

"You take the ears, Gonzales" Hollerman said. Gonzales didn't move. "I said, you take the ears" Hollerman shook Gonzales who seemed to be in a daze. "Man he almost, uh got to us. You hit him solid with the fifty the first time and he kept coming. I don't know if I want to be out here if a .50 cal won't stop these things in one shot." Gonzales said while trembling as he stood up. "Easy Gonzo," said Hollerman "I had a FMJ bullet in the chamber first the Hollow-Point worked better. I will switch to all HP from now on. My bad, it won't happen again." as he slapped Gonzales on the back. "Now go fetch my ears." and Gonzales walked over to the bear, removed his Combat Knife and cut of the ears of this huge behemoth.

As the Jurrik forces moved about, they ordered in three secure Men Convoys. Each one twice the size of a Tank. Using 8 wheels that were on seperate axles. Making them very durable.

Each Convoy was heavily armored and could hold 20 men plus Two Pilots. Each Convoy held only gear though, as they were moving camp. One man just snapped running into the forest. The General of Jurrik forces looked at the Sniper on the Convoy top. He was made to take out bears. He motioned lightly, waving toward the Sniper as the Sniper took the man out with a Tranq dart. Two men running into the Forest and dragging the Mental delusional man back. They were going to use him as bait.


Finally coming upon trees, they rested the man inside. Covering him with Pig's Blood and tying him to the Tree. He then would eventually wake up and scream and shake. The smell of the Blood rising through the forest. Every Tree within 400ft within the 'Bait' Tree was rigged, with C4. Atleast a pound on each tree, and all around the Tree was Spike Balls.

It was only a matter of waiting now. Only a matter of time.

The group turned and saw 2 polar bear wondering what all the commotion was about, and where did that GREAT smell come from. The screaming was from Joanna, who was probably close enough to smell the bear's breath.

Joanna didn't last long. One of the bear broke for her. Censors cringed as the bear tore her apart. Producers eyes made dollar signs as the camera caught her screaming in agony.

The second bear charged toward the group. Half of the contestants opened fired, and they managed to bring the bear to a halt a few feet in front of them.

Meanwhile, the first bear took aim at Jim the Camera #4 guy. Ratings skyrocketed as the scene swicthed from Jim's camera, which had an upwards angle of Jim's now exposed innards, to other remote cameras that showed the mauling from afar.

Too far away to have accurate aim with their guns, Jillian expertly lobbed her grenade towards the bear. The blast could be heard for miles, as little bits of the bear (and jim) rained down on them.

"I don't know if I can take any more of this!" panted Harry.

"Calm down, ALL of you!" ordered Mario. "We have to get out of here. Now that all this carnage is out here, who knows how many bear will come. ANd if we aren't prepared we are going to end up like Joanna."

"Mario is right," replied Charlie. "We need to come up with a better plan, and we need to do it soon. But we also need to find some kind of shelter. Lets go back towards the high ground... maybe we can find some kind of protection there."

"Alright then, lets go," replied Dick, as he hefted Suzie's unconsious body over his shoulder. "I guess we should bring her, just in case she is, um, needed..."

"We should also grab some of this meat, if its retrievable..." replied Jillian.

The group headed towards the south, with Charlie leading, and Dick taking up the rear. As the episode ends, the camera zooms in on suzie's hand, which is dripping blood behind Dick, and leaving a very visible trail....

Tune in next week to the exciting next episode of NATURAL SELECTION!

Suburban home, Jassan, Voltarum

Viewer #1: What the...! Why is Suzie's hand bleeding??
Viewer #2: Ooooh mAN! It must have been the mole! He must have cut Suzie's hand during the attack! Now the polar bears will track them easier."
Viewer #3: Bah, the bears don't need help, they can smell those raunchy idiots a mile away! Its just a coincidence her hand is bleeding...
Viewer #1: Damn I have to wait I whole week... and they still need 8 more bear. Hey, isn't "Who wants to be an immigrant on?"

*CLICK*CLICK*

OOC:
Dead Polar Bear: 4
Dead Contestants: 2 (Zane, Johanna) (Suzie is not dead yet...)
Dead Crew: 2
Grenades used: 2

OOC: ... but the ratings are wonderful!

As the sun rose, SSgt. Rutledge lowered the rear door of the APC and geared up for the long day. His men were already stirring eating MRE's and eating the last of the elk steak taken from the day before. As the men gathered for muster the SSgt. had these words to say, "Men today you hunt something that does not fear or envy you. These Polar Bears look at you as a meal nothing more, be smart, use the Ancient tracking skills of the Apache that we taught you in Sniper School and by all means come back. Confirmed kills will be documented with polar bear ears. Bring back one set for each bear you take. We are going to divide this section of the forest into a grids. Each team will be responsible for working a daily grid. We need to establish feeding patterns, trails used, and correlate this with the tides and moon phases. All this data together will help us be more effective in our presuit of this wiley Polar Bear. Mount up and report back to camp at 1500 hours for debriefing on the days events. Good luck and good hunting."

The Marines climbed onto the new 750 Polaris 4-wheelers and matched up with there partner and rode out from the camp, as SSgt. Rutledge opened the gate by moving the APC. As they rode off the SSgt. stayed behind to coordinate the events and maintain a presence in camp.

It wasn't long before the men hit pay dirt. Hollerman was first to spot the prey. As he killed his 4-wheeler he motioned for his spotter Gonzales to dismount and follow him to the tree-top blown down in front of them. Cracking could be heard although no movement could be seen. "Careful Gonzales, don't poke the bear!" Hollerman said jokingly. "Shut up, man I am scared" Gonzales said as the pair stared into the treetop looking for movement.

Hollerman lay prone on the ground scoping the brushpile when all of a sudden a loud roar made the hair on both men's neck stand up. "He smelled us", whispered Hollerman to Gonzales. Just then branches exploded as the large male Polar Bear charged the pair closing the distance of 75 yards in what seemed like seconds. "BLOOM" the recoil and noise of the .50 Caliber was deafening. The first round just seemed to hack the bear off. "BLOOM" the second round found its mark and the large male Polar Bear collapsed 23 feet from the two Marines.

"You take the ears, Gonzales" Hollerman said. Gonzales didn't move. "I said, you take the ears" Hollerman shook Gonzales who seemed to be in a daze. "Man he almost, uh got to us. You hit him solid with the fifty the first time and he kept coming. I don't know if I want to be out here if a .50 cal won't stop these things in one shot." Gonzales said while trembling as he stood up. "Easy Gonzo," said Hollerman "I had a FMJ bullet in the chamber first the Hollow-Point worked better. I will switch to all HP from now on. My bad, it won't happen again." as he slapped Gonzales on the back. "Now go fetch my ears." and Gonzales walked over to the bear, removed his Combat Knife and cut of the ears of this huge behemoth.

OOC: Well... actually... hollowpoints will balloon in the fatty tissue, which will look really cool, but won't hurt the bear much unless you hit it somewhere special. AP shells will penetrate the layer - thats what they're designed to do - though will do less damage due to the slacking of the kinetic impact. Still, getting an AP shell in an organ will hurt and/or kill.

As the Jurrik forces moved about, they ordered in three secure Men Convoys. Each one twice the size of a Tank. Using 8 wheels that were on seperate axles. Making them very durable.

Each Convoy was heavily armored and could hold 20 men plus Two Pilots. Each Convoy held only gear though, as they were moving camp. One man just snapped running into the forest. The General of Jurrik forces looked at the Sniper on the Convoy top. He was made to take out bears. He motioned lightly, waving toward the Sniper as the Sniper took the man out with a Tranq dart. Two men running into the Forest and dragging the Mental delusional man back. They were going to use him as bait.


Finally coming upon trees, they rested the man inside. Covering him with Pig's Blood and tying him to the Tree. He then would eventually wake up and scream and shake. The smell of the Blood rising through the forest. Every Tree within 400ft within the 'Bait' Tree was rigged, with C4. Atleast a pound on each tree, and all around the Tree was Spike Balls.

It was only a matter of waiting now. Only a matter of time.

Twenty trees went up almost at once - the deafening explosion did very little for anyones morale, bits and fragments of tree going everywhere.

About sixteen bears had been crippled or killed by the blasts, most still baying in pain around blast circles.

It was the other thirty who were moving in from all sides which were the problem, even if they were concentrating on the vehicles... mostly.

As the men quickly mounted upon the Convoy Systems, upon hearing over their Closed Range Radiosets that the Bears were moving in.

Opening the back of the Secure Convoy systems, they rigged thereselves with Explosives, incase they were compormised. Grabbing RPG Launchers and moving out. Jogging toward the Entry line.

The radar picking up bears. Quickly, the firing began. Mortar launches were planned out and fired.

*whoosh* sounds accompanied flying packets of C4 and Steel Bearings which exploded and made a Sharpnel Circle of hell. Taking out some soldiers but mostly bears.

It was a moving out interaction. Quickly jogging and locking and loading. It was going to be a rough day at the office.

Though, for now, they were gathering up bears and attempting to take some back alive, unless the Soldiers were dead first.

*CLICK CLICK* STARE.

Welcome back to EYEWITNESS ACTION 13 NEWS

"Good morning Voltarum, and to the rest of Antarctica. Topping the news today, a local department store was just about destroyed this morning, as patrons rushed the counters to buy the latest Natural Selection! merchandise. Included in the just released items: A Guy Smiley (the host) T-Shirt, a hat that says "Go Darwin!," a soundtrack put out by Voltarum band sensation Velveeta Mayonnaise, and Polar Bear action figures, some of which include little plastic mangled contestant bodies. The manager, who escaped the rush with 2 broken legs, said with a smile that it was the most profitable day of his life. Sally?"

"Thanks Jeff. Natural Selection! is not only making a splash in the stores, but the latest episode to air broke 50 year old Voltarum Nielson records. Producers, who gave us an exclusive interview from their model-filled hottub, hinted that they were already planning a sequel to the show, where the premise would be very similar, but the contestants would be convicted felons. They admitted both Governments involved would have to OK this, but felt confident. In the meantime, the next NS episode, to air this weekend, is expected to continue with the record breaking. Back to you Jeff."

"Thanks Sally. The reality of Natural Selection! goes a little deeper, as the whole of Antarctica has found out this week. Yesterday, it was made public by the High Order that the three coutries that bordered Vastiva - Taun Taun, Intellectuala, and Relorin - have been overrun by the bear population, and have ceased to exist. Premier Xerco stated in his evening address that the Voltarum would now look carefully at this problem, and secure our eastern border. In addition, the closest nation left to Vastiva, Militant Pingweeners, is confident that they will be able to resist the threatening bears. As a consequence, Antarctica now recognizes a land border between Pingweeners and Vastiva in the North away from this problem. Back to you Jeff."

"Interesting Report, Sally. Time for a break, but when we come back, an update on the War vs the CAD. Channel 13 has exclusive shots of our indestructible navy in the Coral Sea around the imperialist scum continent of CAD. That and Smiley Johnson's weather forecast, after these messages..."

--||Message to Vastivan Airspace Control.||--
--||From Khwarezmian Airforce.||--
--||Request for Emergency extraction of Hunting Team in Vastivan Airspace.||--
--||Permission for one unarmed Albatross Transport helicopter to land and take off.||--
--||One refuel stop required, which will be repaid in full, plus additional fee.||--
--||Over.||--



The hunters sat in silence. Brin slowly dying of hypothermia as cold seeped through his wounds. The Colonel brooded over what he would do when he returned, he had a reputation to uphold, and would have gladly has died out there, rather than face the shame of returning home with a man down and only a skin to merit it. But he wasn't going to cost the Imperial Army two more of their best soldiers.

In their tent, the three Hunters sat and waited for their transport. If it arrived.

--||Message to Vastivan Airspace Control.||--
--||From Khwarezmian Airforce.||--
--||Request for Emergency extraction of Hunting Team in Vastivan Airspace.||--
--||Permission for one unarmed Albatross Transport helicopter to land and take off.||--
--||One refuel stop required, which will be repaid in full, plus additional fee.||--
--||Over.||--



The hunters sat in silence. Brin slowly dying of hypothermia as cold seeped through his wounds. The Colonel brooded over what he would do when he returned, he had a reputation to uphold, and would have gladly has died out there, rather than face the shame of returning home with a man down and only a skin to merit it. But he wasn't going to cost the Imperial Army two more of their best soldiers.

In their tent, the three Hunters sat and waited for their transport. If it arrived.

Accepted.

***

Sixteen Vastivan Nekku-12B heavy transports buzzed the trees, looking for any sign of the hunters.

*CLICK CLICK* STARE.

Welcome back to EYEWITNESS ACTION 13 NEWS

"Good morning Voltarum, and to the rest of Antarctica. Topping the news today, a local department store was just about destroyed this morning, as patrons rushed the counters to buy the latest Natural Selection! merchandise. Included in the just released items: A Guy Smiley (the host) T-Shirt, a hat that says "Go Darwin!," a soundtrack put out by Voltarum band sensation Velveeta Mayonnaise, and Polar Bear action figures, some of which include little plastic mangled contestant bodies. The manager, who escaped the rush with 2 broken legs, said with a smile that it was the most profitable day of his life. Sally?"

"Thanks Jeff. Natural Selection! is not only making a splash in the stores, but the latest episode to air broke 50 year old Voltarum Nielson records. Producers, who gave us an exclusive interview from their model-filled hottub, hinted that they were already planning a sequel to the show, where the premise would be very similar, but the contestants would be convicted felons. They admitted both Governments involved would have to OK this, but felt confident. In the meantime, the next NS episode, to air this weekend, is expected to continue with the record breaking. Back to you Jeff."

"Thanks Sally. The reality of Natural Selection! goes a little deeper, as the whole of Antarctica has found out this week. Yesterday, it was made public by the High Order that the three coutries that bordered Vastiva - Taun Taun, Intellectuala, and Relorin - have been overrun by the bear population, and have ceased to exist. Premier Xerco stated in his evening address that the Voltarum would now look carefully at this problem, and secure our eastern border. In addition, the closest nation left to Vastiva, Militant Pingweeners, is confident that they will be able to resist the threatening bears. As a consequence, Antarctica now recognizes a land border between Pingweeners and Vastiva in the North away from this problem. Back to you Jeff."

"Interesting Report, Sally. Time for a break, but when we come back, an update on the War vs the CAD. Channel 13 has exclusive shots of our indestructible navy in the Coral Sea around the imperialist scum continent of CAD. That and Smiley Johnson's weather forecast, after these messages..."

OOC: Heh. I like.

As the men quickly mounted upon the Convoy Systems, upon hearing over their Closed Range Radiosets that the Bears were moving in.

Opening the back of the Secure Convoy systems, they rigged thereselves with Explosives, incase they were compormised. Grabbing RPG Launchers and moving out. Jogging toward the Entry line.

The radar picking up bears. Quickly, the firing began. Mortar launches were planned out and fired.

*whoosh* sounds accompanied flying packets of C4 and Steel Bearings which exploded and made a Sharpnel Circle of hell. Taking out some soldiers but mostly bears.

It was a moving out interaction. Quickly jogging and locking and loading. It was going to be a rough day at the office.

Though, for now, they were gathering up bears and attempting to take some back alive, unless the Soldiers were dead first.

More shells brought in more bears in a feeding frenzy - they began attempting to topple vehicles, overrunning troops and tearing into heavy weapons, recognizing them as "bad things". A single paw swipe would bring down a small tree - a man had little to no chance of survival, particularly from a hit from the neck up.

Force had met force - and in this land, the bears numbers were far greater.

OOC: Vastiva, sorry about my lack of replies. I have been trying to come up with a way to say this. If you think this approach is bad, let me know.

Also, all of this happens before Soybayun retired.

IC:

~Electronic Communication to Vastiva~
Several days ago, we lost communication with a ship headed to your nation to help with the polar bears. We have not been able to reestablish communication, and all we have found of their ship is a few pieces of metal with what look like claw marks. Pretty amazing to know something can claw through titanium.
We would like a chance to send down a ship to retrieve any remains of the crew and what weapons they were carrying. And perhaps shoot any bears we see in the vicinity, preferably with ship weapons this time.
-Ministress Soybayun
~End Communication~

OOC: Vastiva, sorry about my lack of replies. I have been trying to come up with a way to say this. If you think this approach is bad, let me know.

Also, all of this happens before Soybayun retired.

IC:

~Electronic Communication to Vastiva~
Several days ago, we lost communication with a ship headed to your nation to help with the polar bears. We have not been able to reestablish communication, and all we have found of their ship is a few pieces of metal with what look like claw marks. Pretty amazing to know something can claw through titanium.
We would like a chance to send down a ship to retrieve any remains of the crew and what weapons they were carrying. And perhaps shoot any bears we see in the vicinity, preferably with ship weapons this time.
-Ministress Soybayun
~End Communication~


~Accepted. Good luck with your search.~

The Collapsian party heard continuous explosions from elsewhere in the forest. The bait had since burned out, and no bears had smelled it.

Three spoke up from his treetop position "Sir, when are we going to see a bear? This place is supposed to be crawling with 'em!" Murmurs of assent came from some of the other trees.

Six responded, from his turret "Keep sharp, private. The things could sneak up on us at any moment." A reply came, simultaneous, from all five of the sniper-containing trees "Yes sir!"

The Collapsian party heard continuous explosions from elsewhere in the forest. The bait had since burned out, and no bears had smelled it.

Three spoke up from his treetop position "Sir, when are we going to see a bear? This place is supposed to be crawling with 'em!" Murmurs of assent came from some of the other trees.

Six responded, from his turret "Keep sharp, private. The things could sneak up on us at any moment." A reply came, simultaneous, from all five of the sniper-containing trees "Yes sir!"

OOC: As Jurrik's position is being overrun, you have lots of explosions, gunfire, and whatnot from that direction.

Six carefully considered what he was hearing. Sounds of gunfire, yes. It was obvious to his ears, trained over several years, that only one side in the battle had technology. This was to be expected on a polar bear hunt. However, he could hear desperation in the way the shots were fired. The explosives used were of power, from his judgement, that they must have either been last-ditch measures, or traps. His gut said last-ditch.

He commented to Seven "sir, I think I hear a battle being lost in that direction." Seven asked, "how sure of this are you?" "They're either using traps, or desperate measures, and there are men going down. I hear fewer shots each volley. Besides, what can we lose by investigating?" "Order the men to mount up on the the tank. We're bringing some bears down," came Seven's order. Six gave his order, and five forms, clothed in the whites and grays common to this snow, dropped out of the trees, rolled, and climbed onto the sides of the tank.

It began to roll toward Jurrik's position, following the sound of the explosions. Rather than using its previous slow pace, it moved as fast as it could, rolling over small trees, while dodging bigger ones. The Collapsians were heading into battle.

Accepted.

***

Sixteen Vastivan Nekku-12B heavy transports buzzed the trees, looking for any sign of the hunters.


The EPIRB set off by the hunters meant that they were found swiftly. Three days later they landing at KAF St. Loren, in Khwarezmia. Brin and Fuselle took leave and returned to their regiments. The Colonel was withdrawn from his regiment and the public eye to avoid controversy from the media.

The fuel cost plus 400,000 khwarezmian spoons (100,000 USD) was wired to the Vastivan Government, with the Tsar's compliments, and hopes that relations between our countries can prosper.

OOC: Thanks Vastiva, good fun. My first RP.

Six carefully considered what he was hearing. Sounds of gunfire, yes. It was obvious to his ears, trained over several years, that only one side in the battle had technology. This was to be expected on a polar bear hunt. However, he could hear desperation in the way the shots were fired. The explosives used were of power, from his judgement, that they must have either been last-ditch measures, or traps. His gut said last-ditch.

He commented to Seven "sir, I think I hear a battle being lost in that direction." Seven asked, "how sure of this are you?" "They're either using traps, or desperate measures, and there are men going down. I hear fewer shots each volley. Besides, what can we lose by investigating?" "Order the men to mount up on the the tank. We're bringing some bears down," came Seven's order. Six gave his order, and five forms, clothed in the whites and grays common to this snow, dropped out of the trees, rolled, and climbed onto the sides of the tank.

It began to roll toward Jurrik's position, following the sound of the explosions. Rather than using its previous slow pace, it moved as fast as it could, rolling over small trees, while dodging bigger ones. The Collapsians were heading into battle.

OOC: I'll let them post the scene of carnage.

The EPIRB set off by the hunters meant that they were found swiftly. Three days later they landing at KAF St. Loren, in Khwarezmia. Brin and Fuselle took leave and returned to their regiments. The Colonel was withdrawn from his regiment and the public eye to avoid controversy from the media.

The fuel cost plus 400,000 khwarezmian spoons (100,000 USD) was wired to the Vastivan Government, with the Tsar's compliments, and hopes that relations between our countries can prosper.

OOC: Thanks Vastiva, good fun. My first RP.

OOC: :) Welcome anytime.

*bumped* as it will continue - and things have gotten worse