Shady business (Open for all squad members)

[Pickman37]

Berkowitz watches Mullins lean up close to the spiked head, listening, and is a little more than rattled...

What in God's name is he doing? Tobias stares wide-eyed...

He realizes he has orders and moves towards the screaming girl. He has to shut her up but he is not sure what Mullins wants or expects....

He covers the girl's mouth with his hand and pleads with her, even though he is unsure she understands...

"Shhhhh.....!" Tobias whispers. "If you keep it down, you will live..."

He is not entirely sure. He glances back towards Mullins to watch the horrible spectacle...

[Seon]

"Man, I don't think she speaks English," Hobbes hissed, quietly.

"...Tobias, is our commander doing what I think he's doing?"

[Pickman37]

Tobias speaks to Hobbes without taking his eyes off of Mullins...

"I...I think so..."

His hand presses tightly against the girl's mouth in order to keep her quiet and, almost unconsciously, in an attempt to hear anything from the severed head...

[Dave Syrinx]

Behind the large shed Mullins becomes aware of Hobbes and Berkowiz not being with him in his technique. "This place ain´t safe, men. These are Ngai women. Evil spirits." He puts his hand in the mouth of the head and pulls out the tongue, then tucks it to his belt, where already one tongue hangs.

The young woman under Tobias´ protection wriggles but remains quiet.

Stunned from the scene Hobbes and Berkowiz now hear the incoming helicopters.

Whitehouse and Sarge for a second watch straight into the eyes of the four year old that looked up in the sky. The two feel a strange sensation behind the eyelids, as a fever growing. Then the boy looks up to the sky again, concentrating at the first heli sweeping down on the village. Beckett gets ready to leave the shed when the heli touches down.

[Mr. Handy]

"That must be our ride," says Eric. He remains in position keeping watch and covering the others until ordered to move.

[Pickman37]

Ngai...? Berkowitz is confused as he glances down at the two women tied up on the ground but then his attention immediately turns back to Mullins when he tears the tongue out of the mounted head...

Tobias' mind is racing in confusion when he hears the sound of the choppers, causing him to regain some composure...

"Sarge...." Tobias addresses Mullins."I think the choppers are back to get us..."

It is then that Berkowitz feels a dread premonition. He looks back down at the two women, his hand still covering the mouth of one of them, then he glances at the decapitated body lying next to her...

"Shit..." Tobias mutters under his breath while casting a fearful look at Hobbes, wondering what their seemingly insane sergeant may do next with the prisoners before leaving the area...

[Seon]

"Uhh... Sargent? We have to get out of here, now."

[Pickman37]

Berkowitz looks at Hobbes, slightly stunned, but acknowledges the sound of his voice and follows suit. He looks back at Mullins and agrees...

"Damn Sarge! We gotta get outta here!"

Tobias hopes this is enough. The anticipation is sickening him to his stomach..

[Dave Syrinx]

Mullins steps away from the spiked pole and puts away his knife. "Yeah, fall out!"
The helicopter gets ready to touch down in the middle of the village, stirring up dirt and sand. The little boy stands still, staring intesly at the big metal bird. Then, in a ball of fire, the helicopter explodes...

The shockwave sends debris from the metal carcass in all directions along with splinters and stone grains, hitting everything in it´s way.

Out of danger, Mullins, Hobbes and Berkowiz hear the havoc and are spared from the spray. Sarge, Whitehouse and Beckett, however ducks in cover to escape injury. Over the radio, Sarge hear, "We´re taking fire! Bird deklta foxtrot is down. We´re going in hot. Prepare for air cover. Over!"


In the air above the burning helicopter, three more helis turn up. They circle and look for another LZ.

The boy looks form helicopter to helicopter, untouched by any debris, only dirt covers his face now.

One of the tied up women... or rather older girls scream towards the mayhem. "Tao Song!!!"

OOC: Whitehouse, Sarge and Beckett, roll against DEX to avoid 1d3 damage from the explosion debris. 1d20 against DEX. Lower is success and you duck for cover.

[Mr. Handy]

Eric instinctively dives for cover, letting out a stream of curses.

[Pickman37]

Berkowitz hears the explosion of the helicopter and with it, the cry of 'Tao Song', from one of the hostages....

He was shaken by Mullins' performance but the explosion and the chant cause him to react uncharacteristically...

He releases his grip on the younger hostage and slaps the older, noisy one in the face...

"SHUT UP!" He growls....

Even as he smacks her, he stares at his hand in disbelief..like it doesn't even belong to him...

He proceeds to cover her mouth while giving the other hostage the evil eye, as best as he can....

[Dave Syrinx]

Sarge unfortunately is a bit too slow to duck. The shrapnel, however only rips the uniform causing a small scar that turns red. It barely feels through the strain of throwing his body on the flooring.

Inside the shed, Beckett takes cover effectively and hears the chimes get bombarded of flying debris.

The boy focuses on the middle of the three helicopters. As he does, the heli to the right fires a .50 at the square. Not finding a viable threat, the square is ripped by a long salvo. Dirt flies up at the boy as a figure can be seen by those at the shed. It´s a woman rushing towards the boy from the edge of the woods. She shouts "Tao!!!"


Having slapped the bound girl, Berkowiz hears the other voice shouting. Hobbes scans the woods for a target attacking the helicopters. Finding no threat he stares at the small boy in disbelief. He gets his gun up and takes aim. Could it be?

Mullins jogs up to where Hobbes waits and waves at the helicopter to spot him and stop shooting up the square.
"Motherfuckers, we´re here..."

The two bound girls wriggle trying to get loose of their ropes. The one next to the one Berkowiz slapped gets free and gets to her feet.

[Mr. Handy]

Eric takes out a bandage and tries to bind Sarge's wound, but he only ends up making things worse.

[Dave Syrinx]

"Man! What are you doing? It ain´t worse than I can lick it up faster than it pours out. It´s nuffin!" Sarge buffs Whitehouse away and gets up. "What are those birds doing? Get down here already!" He exits the shed and follows Mullins´ example waving at the choppers to stop shooting.

[Mr. Handy]

Eric shrugs and stands up too, waving his arms at the helicopters in the hope of getting them to land. "We could use a signal rocket, Sarge," he says. "They won't be able to miss that - but neither will the enemy."

[Pickman37]

Berkowitz stands shocked by his actions and the excitement around him...

He has never hit a woman and he is not sure how to react but when he sees the one prisoner wiggle free, he attempts to tackle her...

Syrinx,I am attempting to bring her down. Should I roll Grapple (25%) or are my military training skills (i.e. Hand-To-Hand) in play here? Also, does my gear factor in as a penalty?

[Dave Syrinx]

OOC:

Spoiler:

Below DEX on a D20 should do the trick. If Tobias is fast enough on his feet, he will be able to tackle her down.

Tobias launches himself at the girl who just freed herself... Mullins keeps on waving at the helicopters getting shrouded in dust and sand.
At the shed, Sarge gets a SR up and aims up in the air and shoots the indicator. Soon, a green light falls, slowly towards the square.

From behind the shed, gun fire is heard as well as shouting. Both in Vietnamese and English.

Several bursts of fire get closer for every moment. Over the crest of the path come six Viet Cong soldiers. The first three seem barely wounded. After them come three who look quite bad. Two of the first angle to go around the shed. The rest of the VC stay at the crest and go prone and take aim at the visible threat of the three helicopters.

Hobbes, having heard the incoming force, lays cover fire on the crest.

The woman who had shouted at the boy, runs and snatches him in her hands and runs for the trees again. All under the smattering of the fire from the crest and Hobbes´ .50.

Beckett takes aim at the rear window and presses his back to the wall next to the door opening. "This isn´t happening..."

The helicopters circle a little and notice the target at the crest as well as the signal rocket.
One opens fire at the VC while two descend to pick up soldiers.
The salvo hits directly at the crest, covering the four VC in mud and lead.

The side doors of the two helicopters fly open. "HURRY UP!!!"
A female officer shouts at the shed. As she shouts, two marines exit each heli and cover the perimeter. Two of them face the shed while the others are facing the large buildings.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's move," says Eric, leading the way towards the helicopters in a low crouch, his rifle at the ready. He takes advantage of the covering fire to advance from cover to cover, trying to steer closer to Hobbes's position if possible in case he needs more ammo.

[Pickman37]

In the chaos, Tobias is focused on preventing the girl from escaping. He dives for her feet as she runs but misses, landing face down on the muddy ground. He glances up, the grime mixing with the sweat on his face but she has put at least 5 yards or more between them. He rises to his feet to continue the pursuit when he hears Whitehouse...

"Let's move..."

He realises his companions are making their way to the chopper and he follows suit. He glances back just in time to see the girl disappear into the mist of the jungle rain...

[Dave Syrinx]

Eric reaches the farthest helicopter and notices Hobbes has a band of ammo left. Berkowiz pass Whitehouse at the helicopter and enters. "Good work, private.", a voice booms from inside the heli.
Sarge sprints to the closest heli seeing Eric pass it and run to the second one. He sprawls on the floor of it and is hyperventilating.
Meanwhile, Beckett, still in the shed, can´t make himself to leave the wall. He fiddles with his M16 and keeps it steady in both hands, pointing it at the window.
Waiting for a head to pop up, his eyes widen as a grenade is lobbed in through the window.
The chimes´ wooden clanking come to a slow motion speed. The grenade´s arc is fulfilled and the explosive lands next to James. who gets to his feet - a bit too late.
As the grenade goes off, the blast lights up the interior of the shed and James is nowhere to be seen.
In the ball of fire, James feel the heat of the blast as it hits him dead on. Luckily his helmet [AC6] protects him from a directly lethal blow. His larynx, however gets ripped and he feels an excruciating pain in his throat. His left forearm is blown right off, leaving a stump halfway down the elbow. He doesn´t feel a thing. The flak jacket is perforated by the blast and James is thrown back at the wall. The chimes get back to normal speed. Beckett fails to remain conscious as the chimes pick up speed. The last thing he sees before the relief of oblivion is his left arm in front of him - on the floor of the shed. "That must hurt...", he thinks and fades off.

The two VC behind the shed come around the corner at the same time as the grenade goes off. Both hold M16 rifles and shoot wildly at the square, hoping to hit anything. Hobbes lets the M60 eat away at the crest and the four soldiers prone over there. The salvo goes high and the four VC get up and charge the helicopters!
They have barely left the crest when Mullins walk through the swirling sand of the helicopter closest to the large sheds, unarmed. He places a hand on a handle and sets a foot on the ledge. "Let´s leave and bury this in flames."

The fire from the VC by the shed fly wild and smatter at the the hull of the two helis. Fortunately, the rain of lead is stopped by the obstacles of the helicopters and the soldiers protecting the perimeter return fire. One of the shots of the VC go through the glass of the first helicopter and hits the pilot, though. Hit in his left upper arm, he is also scarred by shattered glass. The visor of his helmet saves his eyes. He manages to stay alert. He does, however move the lever for the gas and the heli lifts from the ground in an awkward way, tilting to the right. The soldiers firing at the VC scatter as the rotors roar and threaten to get to close. This make the two marines to miss their shots.

All civilians except the one girl still bound by the clearing have left the square. From the north, shouts in Vietnamese can be heard through the gun fire. It sounds like more men reinforcing the VC.

"I said let´s leave!!!", Mullins screams at the pilot.

**************

Beckett down in the shed.
Sarge on board on the careening chopper... wounded pilot.
Mullins and Berkowizon the second heli, telling it to leave.


Eric and Hobbes, still on the ground.
Eight uninjured marines, holding the ground.
(No sign of the first squad who walked to the hill. Most likely they were taken out by the VC coming over the crest.)

Four charging VC from the crest. Two laying fire from the right side of the shed.