A Winter Siege - Hannibal's Story

[Luftkommando]

I'm not white-listed for Synth. I'm just making a backstory while I try as I try to get a reputation for the application to go through smoothly. It'll just be a collection of stories regarding a planetary campaign against the CLF Hannibal was a part of. Length depending on my level of creativity.
Planet: LV-314
Local Region: The Drifts
Colony: Nokae's Drift
Colony Assignment: Mining
Assigned Ship: U.S.S. Wichita
Date: January Seventeenth, 2147
Subject: Hannibal
"The air in this location is below the average human's comfortable temperature range. This individual must have succumbed to hypothermia judging from the lack of external wounds." Hannibal spoke steadily. Looking at the corpse of a CLF in front of him that was thoroughly frozen. One of the planet's many ice-storms had apparently claimed the body as its own for the marines to find. The Lieutenant Commander stood next to the synth, the only sign of his humanity being lips that held a lit cigar between them. All other skin was covered in wrappings to stave off the cold. Hannibal himself never changed his appearance. A red jumpsuit with blue accents being his main 'uniform' on and off the Wichita.

"I'm well aware of what probably killed him Hannibal." Lieutenant Commander Yorik wasn't exactly gruff. He just disliked synths a degree more than the others aboard the Wichita. The cigar moved from the left corner of his mouth to the right. Letting out a stream of smoke between his lips as it did so. The Synth was known for pointing out the obvious around him and to Yorik that wasted time. "I want to know if we can salvage anything from him that might give us a clue regarding what other Liberation cells are up to."

The battle had been rough, The Wichita's Alpha squad had gotten decimated in the first engagement with the CLF. The beachhead had proven more difficult to take than initially thought but with assistance from Bravo, Charlie, and Delta they managed to secure it. Charlie had gotten wiped from lack of supply and encirclement after CLF forces had trapped them in a pocket and set up anti-air to shoot down any supplies that attempted to reach the surface. However, through grit and determination Bravo and Delta along with the remnants of Alpha had managed to grind down the CLF and expunge them from the area. Reinforcements were en-route but for now the Wichita would have to hold the Drifts until those reinforcements arrived.

"Well Lieutenant Commander. The temperatures likely dropped too low for the corpse's communications device to continue functioning due to the accrual of water that would have subsequently frozen in the electronics. Would you like me to attempt to thaw it aboard the U.S.S. Wichita anyway?" Hannibal looked at Yorik who nodded absentmindedly. Then returning his gaze to the corpse Hannibal very swiftly grabbed its head and twisted violently. The frozen corpse's head breaking off at the neck as if it were a part of an ice sculpture.

"Christ Hannibal, you didn't have to rip the poor fucker's head off." The Lieutenant Commander jumped back slightly at the sudden crack of ice as the head was disconnected from its torso. Hannibal turned back to the Lieutenant Commander. Offering a nod as a way of respectfully acknowledging Yorik while Hannibal placed the cranium under his arm like a soccer ball.

"This is the quickest and most effective way to bring the communications device aboard the Wichita without possible damage as I remove it from the corpse's ear. Surely you understand this Lieutenant Commander."

"Well yes I do understand Hannibal but we don't need to go ripping a dead man's head off, it's barbaric."

"It is most certainly not barbaric Lieutenant Commander. It is effective. Although the two are not mutually exclusive in all terms I believe you are using the word in its most common usage to describe an action that is, quote, 'savagely cruel ; exceedingly brutal'. This action was not these terms as I only did so to create the simplest outcome."

With a disgusted grunt the Lieutenant Commander looks to his left. Plucking the cigarette out from between his lips with a thumb and forefinger and placing the free hand to his ear to speak into the comms. "This is Lieutenant Commander Yorik. Scene is gruesome but otherwise clear Commander. Most if not all the CLF have been wiped out. Hannibal and I have secured a headset from a dead Liberation trooper and are bringing it up to see if we can make it tick again." With that stated Yorik began trudging through the snow back towards the LZ. Hannibal following closely behind with the dismembered head tucked under his arm.

[Sulaboy]

This is some good writing, nice work. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this.

[Royal Griffon]

Ooo this could get ya it
Trust me it takes a bit luckily however you don't have to worry about xeno mains -1'ing you just cause they want to stop bias'ed characters (pred applications I've heard can get like that sometimes apparently) and so you only have marine mains looking at you
Also you need to rp, A LOT, like that's a major thing, "DO YOU RP GOOD AND DO IT A LOT?" If not it won't look good (which is why I go shipside roles so I can rp a lot, and try to rp even as a squad marine and such) and if you do and a lot of people back up that you do indeed do good at RP then you're better

[Luftkommando]

For the moment new stories are probably going to happen fairly rapidly. The weekends are the shifts where nothing happens so I can just spend time writing.

Planet: LV-314
Local Region: The Drifts
Colony: Nokae's Drift
Colony Assignment: Mining
Assigned Ship: U.S.S. Wichita
Date: January Eighteenth, 2147
Subject: Hannibal
"Keep fucking calm alright? It was our first engagement so we were liable to lose it anyway. Most of our boys barely had fired a rifle before this point. Now that they're here we can consolidate our forces on their position." Derrick Black, the planetary CLF general, glared at the rest of his command team. "They've got their ship but we've got numbers and the home-field advantage. Look back at the map, that's where they landed and we can..." -------------------------

"Fortifications are proceeding according to standard U.S.C.M.C. doctrine Commander." Hannibal didn't actually have to physically talk to communicate over the radio. It was an internal system and so he could simulate his vocals directly into the radio just as fine. "Estimated time to an operational state is in thirty minutes. Time to a fully functioning base of operations is approximated at one day seven hours after that from the simulations I've run. This is well within standards set by U.S.C.M.C. and will include an operational Officer's qua-"

"I'm aware of what U.S.C.M.C. dictates as a completed base of operations Hannibal." Commander Bretson interrupted the synth before Hannibal could go on with the list. "Have you managed to make any progress with the headset?

"Very little Commander. I'm devoting ten percent of my processing power to the problem at any given point however. The ice would have pushed the electronics in a semi-standard pattern according to their crystalization. I have a possible arrangement but it would require several more days at the least to get a more accurate representation of the device's internals."

"Copy that Hannibal. Keep me posted on every breakthrough." Bretson responded curtly before going quiet on comms.

"Of course Commander. I will remain planetside to ensure the construction proceeds as planned." After that was silence. Although the Commander wasn't exactly known for his attention to comms at times like this so the silence didn't set off any alarms for the Synthetic. More pressing was the construction of the FOB. The snow was cleared for the most part and used to create snow-bags for the outermost defenses. Strongpoints of steel barricades dotted the line and some bunkers along with trenches in the second line provided cover in case the CLF brought artillery to bear on the position. Hannibal had a better view of the operation than most ground-commanders however as he could directly access the ship's live footage of the landing zone. The Northern sector was the most sparsely defended as it comprised of the few Charlies who were in the medical wing following their almost total destruction and a few volunteers from Alpha, Bravo, and Delta. Although after zooming out somewhat it was also the least likely to be assaulted by CLF due to the natural semi-mountainous region that comprised the actual 'Nokae Drift' that they would have to assault through to get to it.

"Commander, we have reports of CLF scouts on our Eastern flank." Lieutenant Daniels' voice was heard over the command comms. Hannibal's gaze in the Wichita's orbital camera flicked from the North to the East. Fortifications were fully operational on that end and while Delta had taken some casualties in the combat and lost some from transfers to the Northern fortifications they were still currently the highest strength squad of the Wichita's complement.

When the Commander didn't reply to the Lieutenant after three minutes Hannibal spoke instead. "Lieutenant Daniels, it seems the CLF may have regrouped and are preparing for an offensive if what you say is true. Keep your men at their post and I will have Bravo's sniper move to provide an overwatch in case they probe further. Tell your men to observe standard doctrine regarding light enemy contact and remind them that abandoning their post, even to pursue a fleeing hostile, is considered abandonment of post according to Tactical Operations Doctrine article seventeen subsection eight dash B."

An audible groan was heard from the Lieutenant. "Copy that Hannibal."

[Weaselburg]

¨Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape and they will prefer death to flight.¨

I shall always find a way to bail the fuck out.

[Luftkommando]

Planet: LV-314
Local Region: The Drifts
Colony: Nokae's Drift
Colony Assignment: Mining
Assigned Ship: U.S.S. Wichita
Date: January Nineteenth, 2147
Subject: Hannibal
"Picked off another one. That makes seven." Georgie's voice rang out over the comms. He was Bravo's specialist and a damn good sniper. Some of his fellows swore he could pick off a high value target if they were half-way across the planet.

"Most excellent Sergeant Georgie." Hannibal's tone was that of mild disinterest. Although it wasn't exactly Hannibal's fault that he spoke like that. "I will be certain to relay that information back to command." Most of the veteran troops in the Wichita's complement were well aware that Hannibal sounded a little off, so his apparent disinterest in their exploits was easily shaken from them. Although new transfers always felt this was a conscious effort on the synthetic's part and so decided to use this as an opportunity to release some anger at the synthetic who simply shrugs it off. Continuing in his duties as though nothing had happened.

For the first time a in a few hours Bretson spoke into the comms. "Any breakthroughs with the headset Hannibal?" His voice was rushed with a twinge of anger, although Hannibal had no reasoning as to why the Commander would have such emotions.

"Nothing yet Commander. I am still trying to learn the proper origin points for each of the crystals." With that, there was no response. Hannibal quietly waited for a moment before going back to his duties. The probing from CLF forces was growing and according to past contacts with these forces Hannibal had no doubt a full scale assault was on the way.

[Luftkommando]

Planet: LV-314
Local Region: The Drifts
Colony: Nokae's Drift
Colony Assignment: Mining
Assigned Ship: U.S.S. Wichita
Date: January Ninteenth, 2147
Subject: Hannibal

An artillery shell flew over Hannibal's head. The synthetic only marginally taking that into account in his head as several of the younger marines around him in the middle echelon ducked from the whistling sound. They had been bombarded for close to seven hours now. The probes had clearly just been finding ranges for their artillery. Twice had the CLF attempted to assault the fortifications in that time as well. Hannibal very clearly saw the forces were using a tactic developed during the First World War on Earth. Artillery rolling through their lines as the CLF tried to assault the positions while the Marines had their heads down. Unfortunately for the CLF the Marines were much better equipped and trained, to a degree, than their counterparts in that time and the Front's artillery was nowhere near as numerous as their strategy would require. So twice they tried, and twice the CLF lines broke upon the U.S.C.M.'s lines. This also gave the Wichita's forces a chance to try and estimate enemy numbers. They were the only platoon sent due to belief that the number of forces was only seventy to eighty hostiles. U.S.C.M.C. forgot to factor in the press-ganged civilians and those who had loyalist sympathies and LV-314 was a fringe colony. Barely paid attention to by the United Americas government or Weyland-Yutani and so was a hub of Front activity outside of the core unit.

"... and so we fight! The CLF don't want freedom they want anarchy, they want to destroy the American way! I say fuck 'em. Let the reaper sort them out, ooh-rah!" With that the Delta Staff-Sergeant raised his rifle. Letting the following ooh-rah of Delta follow before he releases another shout of "Forward!" and with that the squad leaped over their barricades. Charging forth as Hannibal speed-walked over to their Lieutenant's watch-point.

"Lieutenant Daniels. This charge is not in accordance with standard U.S.C.M.C. doctrine regarding a siege involving heavy artillery from the hostile force. Article four section two will further clarify what I mean." Hannibal stood there for a few seconds. Arms placed behind himself in an 'at ease' stance while looking at the Lieutenant. After the seconds of silence passed Hannibal walked forward and placed a hand on the lieutenant's shoulder. Then the synth gave the fascimile of a frown. The Lieutenant had been shot with a small caliber however the hole was situated right in the upper skull. Hannibal looked back out over the area and watched Delta squad push forward into the snow. Firing at anything that moved in their sight. Hannibal surmised the lead had learned of the Lieutenant's demise and thus taken it upon himself to lead a counter-charge against the CLF.

"This is in violation of at least three different protocols."