Orwell had been waiting for combat in a less than zen like state... muttering comfortable facts to clear his head. "Maximum effective range of an M16-A4 at a point target: five hundred and fifty meters. Maximum effective range of an M16-A4 rifle at an area target: eight hundred meters." He continued with a hand over the boom mic in fear he might be overheard, despite the fact his channel was closed.
Mecha combat was an entirely new experience for Orwell, the moment he had entered his Thor he strapped in and tested the quick release function... three times in rapid succession until he was satisfied he could escape in a timely manner. Then in further irrational paranoia secured the rappelling rope to a bulkhead safely out of his view, the end of the rope coiled at his feet . Despite the warnings of mechanics and ground crew that guided him out of the hangar he had left his cockpit open to the air, much akin to a knight leaving his visor up to gain a better view of the battle around him. Some of the monitors adjusted with little hassle while others forced him to lean forward and crane his neck back to view their readouts... either way he'd make due.
"Maximum effective range of an M-4 Carbine..." He trailed off as he heard the screech of incoming projectiles. "Eyes out fellas, I have ground impacts. Maintain overwatch and keep hunting I'll scream if I need help." He informs over the radio before rapidly switching to Mjolnir control. "Noriko, this is Fenris Three-Delta-One-Alpha... I'm sorry may I call you Noriko?" Orwell begins falling easily into the feigned confidence he had lived his entire life by. "We are engaged, negative on visual over." He continues feeling a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth and allowing it to distort his face into the wicked smile he couldn't face in the mirror.
He pressed his Thor against the corner of a nearby building of at least equal height, angling the mech so the thickest part of his armor was between the impact sites and himself... as well as one of the particle beam cannons. He played the scenario out in his mind, shoot first, shoot second, and pirouette around the corner of the building into cover only to rush to the other side and repeat the procedure.
... or if nothing else shoulder the building over in a desperate attempt to reach cover he reminded himself, immediately realizing his agility on foot would not necessarily translate to piloting a multi-ton automaton.
"*shhk* Fenris Three-Delta-One-Alpha, you may call me Noriko if it is more comfortable for you", she responds with a hint of a smile in her voice. "At present we have zero intel on the objects beyond their ballistic trajectory and the rough impact locations of three of them; grid squares 118156, 118111, and 118195." She pauses briefly before continuing, "We tracked at least five objects on descent but lost track of the others near impact."
"Thanks for the update Noriko, I'm Icarus by the way." He chats back while punching the grid coordinates into his equipment and zooming in on the locations. "If you could divert us some aerial drones with live feeds we'd sure be grateful... I need to contact our hangar and see if we have any available, if so I'll have my guys link it in with your system. Notify Mjolnir gunnery crews to keep an eye out to the north impact site, I'll have my air team divert to the eastern impact site first then jog back up north, over." Icarus requested as his eyes darted back and forth between displays.
He crept towards the western impact site, torso twisted to the side once again taking advantage of its thickest armor. The Thor's beam cannons were perpendicular to one another covering his forward and left arcs, pausing occasionally to check a corner with the camera mounted near the end of each cannon. He kept his back pressed as close to building walls as his amateur piloting made him comfortable with.
"This is Macabee, Tally-ho!," Mason checks his radar for the ground impacts and then visually scans the area for targets. "Ensign, I have no visual on those hostiles, can you help me out?" Ens. Fujikawa repeats the data she had given Orwell moments before. Without any clear targets, he checks that he has his wingman in sight. "Trout, do you have anything worth shooting at?" Continueing to scan the sky, Mason quickly considers tactics: stay in fighter mode, save hybrid as a surprise. Hopifully when the time comes that mode will be just like flying a Harrier with better agility.
"Negative, Macabee," Gregorov says into his radio.
"Combat control, have we got ground coordinates on the impacts, over."
Ensconced in the cockpit, Gregorov finds himself itching to gain altitude, but decides against making himself a more prominent target to any ground-based antiaircraft the enemy may have.
Ensign Fujikawa repeats her intel once more, giving the estimated coordinates of impact.
"Alright, Trout, let's head for Tango Delta and see what trouble we can get in. Do you have my six, or should I take yours?" Mason checks his on-board inventory, accounting for every bullet and missile. From the sound of things in orbit, he suspects that he will need every single one.
"Trout, Mac. I think it would be a good idea if you guys hightailed it to the eastern site to repel the enemy first. they have a better angle with Mjolnirs weapons on the north and I don't like how the eastern site is near their flank and engines... Search and Destroy then head back north and hammer them as they are moving towards the Mjolnir; it's guns will likely catch them in that killzone provided by the main runway and hopefully give them reason for pause. I'm moving in on the western point. How copy?" Icarus suggested as the plan continued forming in his mind despite having to divide his attention tactical displays, the sights of his weapons and movement.
You're overdoing it Brody, you're no good to them dead... yet. A small voice in the back of his minds cautioned, causing him to shake himself out of his trance-like planning session and encouraging him to begin sweeping his sectors of fire more attentively as well as focus on smoothing out his Thor's shuddering steps into a more predatory gait.
"*shhk* Icarus, Fujikawa. The Mjolnir has been ordered to avoid firing into the urban areas. Apparently top brass are concerned about property damage." The disgust is plainly evident in Ens. Fujikawa's voice.
"That's not a problem at all, just tell them to keep an eye out and inform you of any enemy troop movements. This might just be a technicality but I don't think the runway counts as incredibly urban... take from that what you will." Icarus responds suddenly happy at the distraction as he gingerly crosses yet another intersection.
"Copy that, Icarus," Gregorov says, nodding as he quickly scans the tactical display. "Looks like it's Tango Beta, Mac."
Search and Destroy. Nice and simple. No friendly fire to worry about, no conflicting orders, just targets.
The VF banks as he directs it to the south. Man, what do they call this? Reac technology? Reflex technology? Who cares, I want one.
"Mac, you're technically higher rank, so I'll step face first into danger like a good airman." Forcing down another dig at the UN marines with a small grin, he guns the accelerator.
"Copy that, Icarus, diverting to eastern impact. Trout, rank has nothing to do with it, so why don't you take my six, and let the Marines lead the way," Mason stops himself from continueing with: as we always have and always will. Now is not the time to restart old Corps-Navy rivalries. Mason banks the Veritech to the new course, thrilling to the mecha's response and power. It may have been based on the F-22, but no conventional fighter ever handled like this. It was almost like the craft was sensing what he was thinking, and responding to that.
"Ensign Fujikawa, this is Macabee. I'm concerned about possible colateral at our target. What is the current disposition of any civilians at Tango Delta?"
"*shhk* Macabee, Fujikawa. The civilian presence in that area is light, although firm numbers aren't available. Be watchful."
With slight irritation, Gregorov realizes that a supersonic jet is not the most ideal platform for fighting hostiles in an urban environment. The jet configuration of the VF-1, though ideal for aerospace superiority and passable as a bomber, is completely unsuited for close range search-and-destroy.
Okay, in the urban simulations, closing ground quickly without overshooting was best handled by the.. uh.... Ground Effective Reconfigure- no, Reinforced ... Wing? Wings? Winged? Ah chto za huy. Guardian mode. So much for a clean dogfight.
Moving his hands across one of the levers, he just barely remembers to ease off on the acceleration from the Overtechnology Reaction power plant at the heart of the craft. With a shudder that he is still unaccustomed to, the VF's aft thrusters suddenly bend forward as the fuselage seems to sprout arms, resembling a bizarre bird of prey.
"Trout, switching to, ah, GERWALK mode for approach. Eyes peeled."
Icarus eases his Thor into a suitable spot of cover and turns to view the Veritech transformation for the first time. "Fuckin' A Trout, it looks like your bird has scoliosis!" He forces out a laugh over the radio before returning to his arduous pattern of clear area, move, and wait before repeating the process.
"Damnit, I wanted to save this for a surprise!" Macabee growls into his comm. "Switching to guardian mode." With his wingman switching modes, he had no choice, as to remain in fighter mode would most likely split them up. Never leave your wingman. Besides, given the urban envirment, and the possibliblity of civilians in the area, the guardian mode allowed for more control and agility. Mac eased the trottle and settled the controls for the transformation sequence. As the Veritech sprouted limbs, it suddenly gained many of the characteristics of a helicopter. With the practiced hand of someone would had flown both Apaches and Harriers, Mac guided his mecha through the change into a VTOL. "Alright, Trout, if we are finished playing around, let's go hunting. We'll approach low over the terrain and see of we can catch the bastards napping. Ensign, do we have any movement from the impact zones yet?"
Just as Sgt. Mason asks the question, the radar lights up. Three unidentified moving targets near impact Alpha, another three near Beta, and a final 3 more at Delta. The three near Alpha appear on everyone's radar. The targets near Beta and Delta, though, are only picked up by the Valkyries; the distance and intervening terrain prevents the Thor from registering them.
"*shhk* Fujikawa to Fenris-Three-Delta-One - you've got several airborne tangos incoming. ETA five minutes". The Ensign's voice comes across the platoon frequency to everyone.
As Lt. Orwell clears his current intersection, he catches a glint of light-on-metal over the roof of one of the buildings about a hundred meters away.
Meanwhile, back at 1st Platoon's hangar area, a disgruntled Dr. Eckhard Sasche is roused from his work on a faulty leg actuator by the jarring impact of something nearby. Assuming the rest of his team is being their usual, annoying selves, Dr. Sasche shrugs into the regulation body armor before sauntering outside. Gazing up into the sky and squinting because of the bright sun, he mutters to himself in exacerbation. "Can't anyone get some work done here! WHY are you guys buzzing the tower?" He is about to continue his tirade when the sun is abruptly blocked by a rather large humanoid figure ...
Phew. I may have to start leaving out the dialog from the previous scene in the new scenes - it's taking up the majority of the scene, heh.
As of now no one has visual sight of the targets. They're keeping close to the buildings to avoid aircraft from being able to spot them easily.
We're about to enter combat, which will once again shake loose any problems with how I'm running the system, heh. Speaking of which, I did away with the hex numbering because it was essentially a hack. The virtual table top I'm using doesn't actually number hexes so I originally made a transparent hex field with numbers in a separate program and overlaid them on the Macross map image. This then became the background for the virtual table top but I could never get the hexes to line up properly. So, screw it - just use numbers and directions to describe where you're referring to in reference to yourself or something else. E.g. UT-002 is 2S+1SW of Icarus. Of course, for targets you can just use the designation.
We're gonna try using an actual initiative system. This will only come in to play when effect timings are important. The order of battle is:
| Macabee |
| UT-004 |
| UT-005 |
| UT-006 |
| UT-007 |
| UT-008 |
| UT-009 |
| Icarus |
| Trout |
| UT-001 |
| UT-002 |
| UT-003 |
Feel free to post outside of that order, just be aware that actions will resolve in that order.
Please limit yourselves to two actions per post (movement, shoot, etc). You may take additional actions, but each one past 2 will incur penalties.
"Hey Noriko, Icarus, what's the word on those drones?" Icarus inquires while squinting towards the glinting light.
ReplyDelete"*kssh* Negative, Icarus, no drones available. Sorry." She sounds genuinely upset at being unable to dig up additional support.
Delete(OOC: Your instincts are screaming "SNIPER!")
"Here we go, Trout! Let's clear these three bandits nice and quick, 'cause Icarus has a three-to-one problem devolping," Macabee drops as close to the ground as he dares, going almost to the point of being of walking. He angles in on the nearest target, the one labelled UT-005. "Trout, I have UT-005, you take his buddy UT-004."
ReplyDeleteI should be able to see the bastards by now, Macabee thinks. Doesn't matter, the radar sees them just fine. He lines up his target, waiting for the tone that means the system has locked on. As soon as he hears it, he calls, "I have tone, safty free, Fox 1,2,3!" He feels that all too familiar shudder from the mecha as three missiles drop from their places on the hard points, kicked clear of the craft by small charges. A split-second later, the rockets kick in, and three messengers of death scream toward their intended victem.
[OCC: Just so we are clear, I am flying toward the eastern impact from my current location, and specificly headed for UT-005. I am also firing my launcher at full ROF, targeting UT-005.]
The missiles arc towards their target, making a straight line for the radar signature. Unfortunately, as they're designed primarily for air-to-air combat they aren't that good at avoiding obstacles - the missiles impact on a pair of buildings between Mac and the target.
DeleteAs the buildings crumble, an armored humanoid standing approximately ten meters tall is revealed. It brings it's rifle to bear on Mac and opens fire.
Mac puts the VF into an inverted roll, trying to avoid the shots coming his way. Despite his best efforts the packets of volatile energy rake across the VF's fuselage. No permanent damage was registered, though - apparently the roll managed to displace the majority of the impacts' force.
Even as Macabee thrills at the power and agility of the craft that has just saved his life, he cannot help but be filled with dread. Please, Lord, let those buildings be empty, he prays silently, please don't let me be the cause of harm to innocent civilians. Pushing such thoughts to the back of his mind, he thinks, can't be helped now. You have a job to do, Marine, and a lot more civilians are going to get hurt if you don't!
Delete"Control, I have visual confirmation of enemy destriods on the ground, and have exchanged fire!" Mac finishs his roll, and realigns the VF on his target. "Switching to gunpod." He flips the switch to disable the safty on his GU-11. "You want a gunfight, asshole, I'm gonna give you a gunfight," Mac growls, not caring if his comm was open.
Reacting on pure instinct Icarus pops smoke from his hip launchers into the intersection while simultaneously pivoting his Destroid at the waist, once again putting the massive shoulder armor in between him and his intended target. He switches to aiming with his instrumentation and stabs a particle beam cannon at the flashing of metal.
ReplyDeleteTime seemed to halt for a moment, allowing him to question whether his beam cannon, debatebly his most powerful weapon was the appropriate tool for the job. *Fuck that!* his mind screams, overkill is a civilian concept... just something the brass put on paper to convince civilians that they disdained war as well. Icarus wouldn't fool himself though, he loved the adrenaline rush, overkill was the hallmark of self-preservation.
"WYATT FUCKIN' EARP!!!" He roars quoting one of his favorite movies, not caring whether his comm channel is open or not as time reasserts itself while he lovingly squeezing the beam cannons firing stud. His first taste of combat since the incident, the maniacal grin he had been suppressing only minutes before was in full display from ear to ear.
"Negative Mac, after clearing your area head back north I've got this." He orders with barely concealed glee only to realize his comm channel had in fact been open during his outburst. A moment of clarity comes over him as he lets off his mic... This was the Icarus that got people killed.
A last sobering thought crosses his mind *... This isn't self preservation, I want to die... Please Lord just let me be useful before then.* He thinks while trying to keep himself in check.
((OOC) YEAH! Haha I really like this character if anyone is wondering where this is all coming from check my character sheet on ObsidianPortal and look and at Orwell's Psyche and flaws... luckily he has willpower to match though so don't be too concerned.))
((I did notice that. I have a feeling that during downtime RP, Orwell's damage will come to light))
Delete((OOC) Haha I'm thinking about writing his therapy sessions as a blog in the obsidianportal adventure log if Steve isn't opposed to it. unfortunately it looks like bi-weekly is going to be bi-yearly in play time haha.))
Delete[OCC: Great, our CO has a death wish. I would like to take this time to remind folks that the duty of a soldier isn't to die for his nation, it's to help the enemy die for his (please forgive the bad paraphasing) ]
Delete[OCC: Ah... there was supposed to be a humored emotioncon at the end of that statement]
DeleteThe cannon starts glowing as it builds up energy and discharges a moment later. The cohesive packet of destructive energy races toward the target.
DeleteWhatever it was, it seemed to know the shot was coming as it dropped back behind the building ... which then takes the brunt of the blast! Support beams crack under the pressure of annihilistic forces, mortar and dry-walls disappear. What's left of the building the building are scorched metal beams, twisted and broken.
The upside is that the building is no longer blocking the target. A towering armored humanoid about a head taller than the Thor is slowly revealed as the dust settles, it's rifle aimed at Icarus.
Gregorov winces as he sees the heavy-duty missiles deployed into a civilian area. Buildings. Civilian buildings. Bozhe moi please don't let this be another Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteBiting down an angry outburst, stomach muscles tightened as though ready to throw a punch, he flips up a switch on his control stick. "Trout, weapons hot, firing!"
Centering the reticle on the newly-revealed figure (Just a destroid, just an anti-UN destroid, keep it chilly) he triggers the VF's GU-11 gun pod, keeping his eyes peeled for additional targets and ready to take evasive maneuvers in response.
((Shooting the gun pod, ready to take defensive action, hopefully not gonna do too much damage to surrounding infrastructure. playing this dood as though he doesn't know that half the island isn't about to be folded past the orbit of pluto :) ))
((Clarify: I meant target UT-005, and I'm aiming to avoid doing any more damage to the building))
DeleteAs Trout zeros in for a shot, two other targets lean out from behind the remaining buildings. The first (UT-004) unloads a rapid fire burst at Trout. Trout pulls the Valkyrie to the right, then loops up and back around to the left in an attempt to avoid the shots. A few rounds manage to embed themselves into his thrusters (-1 MP). The second (UT-006) unloads on Macabee but apparently cannot get a fix on the wildly rotating Valkyrie. His shots go wide and impact harmlessly on the hull of the Mjolnir.
DeleteTrout gives as good as he gets, though. Though momentarily shaken he manages to line up the shot and grazes the target's helmet. The target stumbles back and appears mildly dazed.
Hissing in the controlled aggression normally reserved for the gym, Gregorov comes out of the loop, ignoring the red lights that have started to wink on his display.
Delete"Trout, engaged! Mac, approaching from the north!"
In a fashion that oddly reminds him of both jet and VTOL piloting he maneuvers his craft to the north street, centering the targeting reticle over the target that his HUD is designating as UT-004, ready to spray it down with more fire from his gun pod.
((Move and shoot. Let me know if I have to wait till next round or something))
Taking advantage of his VF's VTOL ability while in guardian mode, Mac drops below the local buildings until he is only a few feet off the ground. "Trout, these bastards seems to be interested in a streetfight, so I suggest that we give them one. Drop low and use the buildings as cover," Mac is barely aware that he is still growling over the comm. Targeting UT-005, he sets his fire conrol for a 3 round burst, and prepares to deliver it center mass as soon as he has a clear shot.
Delete[As soon as it is my turn again, I'm moving defensively as described above, and I will fire my gunpod at UT-005 at ROF 3.]
UT-002 glances up from its rifle, trying to pierce the smoke screen left by the Thor. Apparently making a decision, it pops a single shot in Orwell's general direction, piercing the area where the Thor's head had been moments before. Fortunately, Orwell had already begun moving laterally as soon as his shot went off. Old habits die hard. Once the shot is off, UT-002 takes cover behind the remaining buildings.
ReplyDeleteNot a peep is heard from the other two targets on the western end - presumably they are regrouping.
"*sshhk* Icarus, Fenris-Three-Delta. I understand you're fighting a war out there but try to keep your team from causing too much collateral damage." The voice of Lt. Cmd. McAllen pipes over the direct channel to Orwell. "I've got UN brass so far up my ass right now they're eating my breakfast!"
[OOC: The way we'll handle things is like this - you go ahead and post what you're going to do whenever you have the time to do so. I'll process the actions in the proper order. Once your action has been resolved, feel free to post your next action. Basically, you can have one "active" post going. I'll do my best to stay on top of the action.]
The doctor dives for a newly formed crater, and huddles there not really tied into the tac net, and just watching missiles and explosions arcing in twisting nets above him. He belatedly remembers his handheld, and he twists it to a combat frequency, managing to get a confused swirling mishmash of snippets of comments about the situation. The one he fixates on is that the drone racks are offline.
ReplyDelete"Sheisse!" he exclaims, and even while huddled in a shell crater amid what appears to be a full out attack, starts hacking into the drone racks and the launcher, trying to get decoys into the air as soon as he can. He keys the communit. "Trying to get decoys launched. Give me vectors!"
"Doctor this is Icarus, link them in with Ensign Fujikawa's tactical network." He replies before switching frequencies.
Delete"Noriko you hear that? Doctor Sasche is getting drones online, coordinate with him and we'll see how we can best utilize these... If we were hurting for drones I'm sure other units are as well. Tell Sasche I'd like the first two drones to do a flyby over the projected non-powered crash sites then deploy one to each of my teams and the rest as you two see fit... I don't know him very well and he's a civilian, so I'm sure he'd be a lot more willing to listen to a pretty voice than myself... I know I sure am." He exclaims, absolutely thrilled by the prospect of eyes on intel.
Mac slides the mech around the southern corner of the city block, strafing left. As he crosses the smaller street, he tags a lock on the invader and depresses the firing stud. The giant form twists and crouches, trying to provide as small a target as possible. Many shots miss the target, impacting in various buildings nearby, but one round connects right between what could only be the thing's eyes. A red geyser erupts from the entry point as the giant form topples over.
ReplyDeleteTrout, meanwhile, comes in from the north almost directly parallel to Mac. Where Mac opted to slide past and take the shot when it presented itself, Trout headed directly for the target. Not having to correct for lateral movement, his hail of 55mm slugs flies true. Each round takes with it a souvenir and leaves a fine red mist. There remains little of the target beyond this mist and a crumble of twisted armor.
Dr. Sasche manages to hijack the drone frequencies and disable the encryption in record time - sometimes terror is a good motivator! Apparently someone hasn't been doing proper maintenance on the racks, though - there are blockages and friction points inhibiting launch. It takes Sasche a minute [OOC: two rounds] to reroute the launch sequence. Once complete, he'll be able to launch two drones per round.
[OCC: Steve, can I tell if my target is out, or just wounded? For instance, is it still moving? I need to know in order to call my next move.]
Delete"Damn fine shooting, Trout!" Mac roars over the comm. "Splash one party crasher, and mark yourself your first official kill of this war! See if you can tag the third bandit [OCC: UT-006] while I make sure that mine isn't getting back up."
Mac cautiously approachs his target, GU-11 at the ready. It that bastard so much as twitchs, it's getting a full burst.
[Basicly, I'm moving in on UT-005 to make sure that it is dead. If the target makes any movement, I'll shoot at full ROF.]
"Copy that Sir, I told them to meet me behind the playground after school but they're mean and won't play nice." Icarus chuckles good-naturedly immediately understanding Mcallen's dilemma. "But Sir I'd be happy to explain to the Brass that we aren't out here playing Space Invaders and simply shooting into the air I'd appreciate it... These aren't Mechs sir, these are literally Giants"
ReplyDeleteIcarus begins moving east towards the Mjolnir hoping that the sounds of battle cover up the thudding footsteps of his Thor trying to reach the end of the block before the smoke had fully dispersed. Reaching the end of the block he edges the muzzle of his left beam cannon around the edge of the building aiming down the smoke filled street and presenting only the cannon as a target. If the Giants were smart they would move up tactically as a team, stacking up along the buildings as Icarus would have instructed a team to breach a door... If he was smarter he would catch them in the act and be able to pour enfilade fire into their formation... If he was downright lucky he would core through all of them with a single beam of energy.
Rretreat back towards mjolnir, ready action to fire on targets after they move into position... Hopefully tricking them with some form of tactical genius.]
Three in the shoulder. Red. Lots in the arms it tried to use to shield itself. Leaking Red. Dozens in the center mass. Red red red. That's no destroid. That's a giant wearing a suit of armor. A living giant fucking alien wearing its own combat armor.
ReplyDeleteAs if from a distance, Gregorov directs his VF to gain altitude to hop a building. "Copy, Mac."
Aliens. Bozhe moi, they're really aliens
((Moving over to the Impact Beta hex, and if there's a clean shot at UT-006, I'll take it. In this case "clean shot" means, "a miss won't swiss-cheese the side of a residential building" they can repair streets))
Icarus moves back towards the Mjolnir to set up an enfilade firing position. As he approaches the mouth of the street his radar notifies him of a target coming up on his right side. Making the snap decision, Icarus turns to engage UT-003.
ReplyDeleteStepping out of the street and facing the target directly, he quickly thumbs the trigger for the 25mm autocannons, followed by the lasers of the gun pods on the Thor's chest. The giant, seeing the Thor step out from behind cover, goes into a slide in an effort to drop below the machine's weapons. Fortunately, Icarus is faster - though not by much. The AC rounds pepper the giant in multiple locations but most severe in the gut. The lasers, on the other hand, core out the center of the giant's helmet. The target finishes it's slide with a dull and wet thud - it is not moving. Orwell finishes the skating maneuver around the end buildings and comes to a rest fifty meters south of the dead giant and staring down the street.
UT-006 makes a dash for the buildings to the south - right now Gregorov is not someone it wants to mess with. As he passes through the street he takes a pot shot at Mason. What would have probably been a good shot had the target not been running is instead a glancing blow off the fuselage with no real damage done.
Both UT-001 and UT-002 move up into the street where Orwell used to be - likely they've heard the shots fired but are not sure if it was Orwell or another of the vermin infesting this planet. For good measure they pour fire into the smoke filled area, hoping to catch a lucky shot.
[OOC: I'll post the next update, complete with everyone's most recent actions, later this weekend (by Sunday, of course)]