NationStates Jolt Archive

The MXX Stiletto cut through the water towards the oil rigs. It had been launched from a cargo ship in international waters. Now it, in turn, launched a landing boat.

Two of the six shadowy figures left the landing boat to swim towards the oil rigs, while the rest continued in till they were a mile from shore. Their they abandoned the landing boat, which was completely devoid of any identifying marks, and swam in to the shore. There they shed their biodegradable backpacks and assembled the various rifles, pistols and machine guns contained within. They then split up.

Meanwhile, near the oil rigs, the two Shadowmen treaded water while donning Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus gear. Each carried a largish package of C-4 to place on the structural supports of the oil rigs.

OOC: Didn't think you would do it. Is this in the Confederacy, on Griffincrest's corporate island, or at the oil fields in the Scandinavians?

A Mirage patrol boat zipped by in the water just a few yards from the Aeson men. Its lights swept the water, but the lazy and unsuspiscious crew did not see them bobbing in the water. The men on the rig continued on patrols and doing their normal work.

On shore, a man patrolled, with his AR-550 leaning on his shoulder. He lit a ciggarette. In the fire, the golden griffin on his right breast seemed to spring to life. About twenty feet away, was a watchtower, manned by two men, one with an M60, the other with an AR-550.

OOC: I rarely make idle threats. I suppose this would be the corporate island, provided it has oil drills. Also, happening at night, of course.

IC: The C4 was affixed to the structural supports of one of the oil rigs. They signaled to each other that the job was complete, before swiftly swimming out of range. The C4 was then detonated, causing, among other things, a shockwave through the water that the Shadowmen were able to ride a significant distance towards shore.
***
"Moron," breathed one of the Shadowmen, watching the faint glow of the cigarette through a sniper scope. The men in the watchtower were similarly found. However, no action was taken, other than to surreptiously circumvent their line of sight, taking them further inland.

OOC: Part of Griffencrests security teams at one point were from Quincy Mining Corporation. I am going to assume that some of my personel are about doing some more advanced protection systems.

The Cyclops UAV made a banking turn as it began another leg of its journey. The unit was a first generation only and not known for being the silent, deadly killer that the Cyclops II and III had become known for.

However the UAV did have the off center engine and boom with a balancing naccele of various cameras and sensors. Within that array of sensors was an IR camera that passed over the shore and nearby dunes, looking for odd/errant heat signatures.

The ISS system that the Shadowmen wore contained a internal temperature control system. With a few modifications to the design provided by Beta Auregine, that had become an insulation system. In essence, any thermal imaging hardware would detect, at most, a few degrees discrepency from the outside temperature.

Nevertheless, upon hearing the incoming Cyclops UAV, the Shadowmen threw themselves flat and remained motionless until it passed, at which time they started moving forward again.

OOC: Blackhelm, what kind of targets are there on this island? A CEO? Major manufacturing, refining or storage facilities?

OOC: Griffincrest Manor is on a cliff at one end of the island, the CEO is off in Paradise City though, and there is a whole bunch of refineries and such all along the coast line. The road to Griffincrest manor is highly patrolled, and towers line it.

The chief of security was jolted awake by the explosion. He ran to his window, to see one of the many oil rigs in the water tipping over, with guards and workers alike spilling into the sea. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OUT THERE?!?!?!" he screamed at the nearest mercenary. "PUT THIS BASE ON RED ALERT, SCRAMBLE THE PREDATORS!"

In moments, jet black humvees spewed out of garages and onto the shore, and with a spotlight next to their .50 cal they began to comb the beach. At the airbase nearby, three Gnat fighters, and a small fleet of Predator UAV's blasted off, looking for any signs of life. Soldiers around the island were put on high alert. Mirage class patrol boats gathered together, looking for the enemy, while ignoring the pleas from nearby workers in the water. A worker attempted to climb aboard, but was shot, and made an example. Two Mi-24's were also scrambled, and they assisted in the search.

Leif lay on his stomach. Most of his body was covered with sand, and it was unlikely anyone would see him until they were right on top of him. He slowly and smoothly lifted a RPG. In his sites was one of the oil refineries. He pulled the trigger. He was crawling away even before he heard the explosion. Once he was some distance from the refineries, he again covered most of his body with sand, holding a silenced pistol in one hand and a razor sharp knife in the other.

The two men operating the cyclops didn't take much notice of the odd thermal images that were too cool to cause the automated processing systems to alert them. But the first explosion caused the UAV crew to bank the craft back to investigate.

"Hey what the hell was that?...I've got a thermal plume right there on the edge of the sensor...f*** someone just hit that refinery. That's got to be an RPG plume...inform the Duty Officer..."
*******
Brat Morrison, Security Advisor to Griffencrest was woken not by the explosions but by the buzz of his red phone. He didn't turn on the light but picked up the phone...
Sir This is the Duty Officer, we have an apparent explosion at rig 45 with a severe damage and list. We have also received conformation of an explosion at an oil refinery. The locals have scambled on a defensive posture....we have conformation from the Cyclops team that they detected an RPG launch within the dunes.
"Tell the locals the location of the RPG plume....get our ready team rolling...and rustle the cutter out to do escort the rig tenders to deal with the damage..."
*******
Emergency Signal All Griffincrest Security Rocket Launch Detected at ***/** by ***/** Heavy Response Team Moving

The door of one of the sheds opened and one of the Heavy Response Vehicles moved out and onto the road. It looked like an oversized armored dune buggy with six knobed tires and a turret towards the rear. A design built for protecting mines nestled in the snow covered artic, they did decently well in the sand.

The Quincy cutter was a refurbished, out of date frigate with a few anti-air/anti-ship launch cells, a decent rolling block missle air defense, and a rapid fire 5 inch gun. She was called QMNC Pathlock II and she slowly emerged from her berth to escort the rig tenders to the scene.

OOC: I am asuming that these rigs have the standard tenders that take supplies out to them and back...

The RPG was also picked up by the Predators around the island. One swooped down, releasing two hellfire missiles into the last known position, while another relayed the position onward to Humvees on the ground. With the double confirmation from security, they were pretty sure they had a lock, and eight of the black humvees soon formed a circle, along with about 12 mercenaries on foot, around the last position of the RPG, and began to tighten the noose.

The Mirage patrol boats continued to sweep the water for intruders. Others cast their lights along the shore. One of them picked up the boats the men used to get to the island, and radioed back to the security base of what they saw. A small team was sent for the boat, and the Mirages were ordered to form a circle around the island. Noone was leaving.

Leif waited until one of the mercenaries was right on top of him, before firing his silenced pistol at the man's face. He rose up from the sand like something out of a child's nightmares and shoved the man towards the nearest Humvee, before sprinting towards the smoking ruin of the refinery.
***
Meanwhile, another Shadowman lurked in the shadows outside of one of the garages where the Humvees had come from, assessing the security, and trying to find out how many vehicles were left in it.

The mercenaries were taken aback at first by the suddenness of the attack, but quickly regained themselves, and opened up. The .50 cal on the Humvee pumped away into the night sky, as the other men opened up with their G36E's. Leif was running right at another Humvee, and three more men, who also began firing towards him. He was completely surrounded, and it seemed like his time was running short.

In the garage, a small post was at the gate, manned by a single soldier with a G36E. Inside was about 12 mechanics, and 5 guards. Most of the Humvees were out looking for the intruders, but still, 3 remained in the garage, as did a large stockpile of ammunition.

Leif threw himself to the ground, firing his pistol at one of the mercenaries, and throwing the knife (poison tipped, of course) at another. Quickly rolling to one side, he pulled a grenade and threw it at the Humvee. He knew his time was running out, but he was determined to do as much damage as possible to his enemy before he died.
***
The Shadowman outside of the motor pool crawled towards the post, careful to stay out of sight. With a little luck, the door would be open, and he could kill the guard before the pathetic little pawn knew what had happened. If not, he would have to improvise.
***
Yet another Shadowman crouched on a dune, assembling a small UAV. With a little luck, even if it was spotted, it would be dismissed due to the large number of UAVs currently flying about. He launched it, and began controlling it from a small laptop. Skimming the dunes, but avoiding the main road, it headed towards Griffencrest Manor.

The Humvee exploded, as the two men both dropped to the floor. A Predator overhead recieved the location of Leif, and loosed a volley of Hellfire missiles. The survivng mercenary dove behind the wreck of the Humvee, and took aim, firing a burst of bullets at the Shadowman.

As the Hellfire missiles crashed around him, Leif bit down hard on the cyanide tablet in his mouth. Not that it was necessary, what with the Hellfire missiles and bullets, but Shadowmen took no chances.
***
The UAV fired a small missile at the mansion, and then broadcasted a signal on a large range of radio waves. The message was as follows.

"You never saw us until we struck. We destroyed your home. We could have killed you. Remember that. We'll be in touch."

The mansion's roof caved into the middle structure. The building burst into flame. The nearly 600 year old villa was now alight. Mercenaries rushed to put out the flames. The two wings survived, but the main area was destroyed. A large marble statue toppled over, killing a nearby guard.

The chief of security announced "NOONE GETS OFF THE ISLAND" over the radio. A Gnat swooped in behind the offending UAV, and got a lock, then loosed its missiles. The Mirages tightened their circle on the island.

The SotG Shadowcarrier moved towards the island, keeping track of the Mirage patrols, and looking for an opening. If at all possible, the captain and skeleton crew had orders to extract the Shadowmen. However, they were not to risk their destruction. The Shadowmen's mission had been accomplished, after all.

The cyclops had noticed the low flying UAV to late to do anything, armed with a pair of anti-ship missles it was rather ill-equiped...however it could turn to where the unidentified bugger had come from.

****
Back at the motorpool a truck with a spare humvee crankshaft arrived. QMC operated a small machine shop as part of their operations here. The sargent had decided to move the parts back to the motor pool incase they were needed.

Humvees scoured the beach. Anyone not supposed to be around was not going to see tomorrow. The Mirages continued to sweep the coastline with search lights, while the Mi-24 buzzed around overhead announcing "Intruders, we know you are here. Surrender and you will be treated according to the Geneva Convention. Resist and be annihiliated. You sre surrounded."

Due to the obvious ability of an RPG to be backtracked to the source, several of the Shadowmen were carrying an expiremental new weapon. Essentially it was a grenade launcher, however, it used compressed air to launch the grenade as opposed to rockets. The result was that the launchign wouldn't register on any thermal imaging system.

The explosion, however, was another matter, especially when it was launched towards a vehicle like the Humvees now circling in for the kill. The Shadowman started moving as soon as he fired, placing another grenade in the CAGL (Compressed Air Grenade Launcher) and firing again.

When the Humvee exploded, the chopper immediatly zipped over to the area. A Mirage came right up to shore, and Humvees and soldiers began forming a cordon of the area, which gradually got smaller

Aeson, don't let this die please

OOC: Blackhelm and I already agreed that this is over. Don't worry, next time Griffencrest rears it's ugly (and I mean UGLY:p ) head, the Shadowmen will be back.

(Oh, right... wasn't sure if it was just forgotten about. Either way, Check on the GASN forum, and if you havn't already, check out my GASN escort force thread.