Darkwind - Viewing Topic: A Foolish Venture

4saken
The 4saken
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An HMG and a Rocket Launcher in an Osprey.

A bit much, but worth a shot. Lt. Frank had driven the dual RL version Rock' n Roll many times. He wished there was room for the 5 liter but with all that weaponry and reloads in there it just wasn't happening. The baby v8 would have to suffice.

The HMG will probably make it kick like a mule. He thought of downgrading to an MMG, but he really wanted the killing power the HMG added. As it was, there weren't many people who could make the car work. You had to be able to make every shot count, drive like a madman, shoot and reload with a quickness all at once. Maybe the simpler HMG would work, and add less stress to the reload times.

He would need a competent gunner to test it. At first he thought of McKenzie West, the gang's only heavy gunner with a double sniper certification. But he doubted he'd get to the ranges to make her skills worthwhile. But he still needed somebody good.

Hellman. Joseph Hellman. Anyone that good and with the name Hell in their name didn't need a nickname. Joe was king of the HMG, second only to Greasy Lee in the gang. It would be a bit dangerous, but he was sure Joe would be up to the task, especially if it was something that Frank, being the gang's leader for the past 4 years, would do himself.

Frank would take the car out alone, no escort. He didn't want the distraction of a wingman and wanted to focus just on the driving, the weapons, reaction to recoil. And he had to drive it himself, of course. Frank was always a hands-on kind of leader anyway.

It didn't take long to find a couple pirates willing to take the bait. Frank worked the Osprey up one of the steep hills around the town gates to try to see if he could shake one of them. No luck. Somehow even the underpowered Polt made it up and over. He concentrated on the Mantis. Only MMLs on that thing, but with the 4 liter there was no shaking it. He drew it out into the open and risked a flank maneuver, hopefully before the Poltergeist could get into range.

The recoil was worse than he expected but manageable. The Polt was drawing closer and he unleashed Hell on the Mantis, which went down surprisingly fast. Frank was able to keep the Osprey on target but being straight-on to avoid deflection recoil the Osprey instead recoilled upwards like an overgunned Symph, losing precious traction. He went from 30+ to 12 in no time flat and once slowwed to that speed the effect was worse. But the Matis was out of action. He didn't need the added recoil of it's MML blasts right now.

The Polt let him know he was in range with a volley of weapons fire. With the uncanny luck of pirates the first rocket hit, of course, and the Osprey was still bouncing from the recoil of its own weapons. Joe was screaming bloody murder. If Frank could not get the car turned in time to get some fresh armor towards them it would all be over. An HMG/RL combo was no place your musclecar wanted to be near.

Just then the left armor failed.

Debris and shrapnel flew everywhere. It had been awhile since Frank had seen his own blood splattered on the dash, but Frank was nowhere near losing his cool. He almost had the traction he needed. Then it would be down to a vicious dogfight. And he'd be damned if was going to lose a knife-fight to some drug-addled pirate in a Spirit chassis.

When he spun the wheel Joe didn't brace, he just hung limply in his restraints. Frank grabbed him with his off-hand by the cuff of the neck and pulled him close. Joe stared up blankly, dazed, one eye bloodied from the inside and a jagged piece of rocket shrapnel lodged in his temple. Joe's eyes started to drift in different directions.

Frank was still driving with the other hand, seeing the outside world only through his peripheral vision and trying to get the inside angle in the dogfight. He hoped he could take the enemy car out before Joe gave up the ghost, but he knew every second counted. He had to stabilize him, now, and even Frank couldn't do that and drive at the same time.

He gave himself the space of one heartbeat to weigh the odds and made his decision. It's only a car. Frank jammed on the brakes and flashed his lights twice. He would give up the car and take his chances on foot. Hopefully they would still be following the Conventions.

In the surreal world flashing by outside his windows he could make out the response signal that the pirates had accepted his surrender. With his foot solidly on the brake, he released his steering hand and held Joe's head as motionless as possible against the wild intertia still spinning and bouncing the car from all the maneuvering and weapons fire.

The rest of the world outside the car finally came to a stop. Joe was profoundly motionless, his eyes still staring blankly into nothingness. Time seemed to stop as Frank tried to see some light in the lifeless eyes, something, anything.

A rude rap-tap-tap of a rifle butt against the window on the car's good side brought him back to reality. He let the head of the corpse that used to be his friend slump in his lap, exited the car, and watched dazedly as the pirates rejoiced over their prize, hardly giving him a second thought.

The bloodied Mantis pirates pulled the corpse from the vehicle, looked around once or twice to check for reinforcements, and within the space of less than 15 seconds left Frank alone in the desert dust with nothing but the body of his dead friend and his own morbid conscience to keep him company.

The town gates were not far, but for Frank it would be the longest walk of his life.

......................... vet combatL1 wv1,0,0
Posted Jun 15, 2009, 6:47 pm	Last edited Jun 15, 2009, 6:48 pm by 4saken