59 Survivor (1/2)
Floodlights lit up the mustering square outside the concrete barracks, both the elves and humans formed up according to their respective squads, both races had been doing joint exercises lately, devised by Staff Pike.
Lt Frank stood watching the men forming up and doing roll calls, ”Why are there like so much missing marines and security? What happened?” He noticed the number of reporting strength is lesser than the usual.
Sgt Collins shook his head, ”Those dumb asses had all reported in sick,”
Frank turned, surprised, ”What happened? Some kind of virus?”
”No, Sir!” Collins replied, ”Recently they have been dared by the survey teams to eat the stuff they brought back without going through proper checkup first, those arseholes thought it was funny.”
”What?” Frank looked pissed, ”Are they that stupid?”
”Bunch of kids,” Collins shrugged, ”Lucky no one is badly sick from the inedible stuff, Doc is quite pissed off too. She's threatening to give anyone else who tried food that is untested a major enema with her largest syringe.” Collins grinned.
”Hahaha,” Franks laughed along, ”Well hope those punks learn their lessons. When Staff Pike gets back from the Pass, hahaha, they are so going to hell.”
Collins grinned wickedly, before turning his attention back to the roll call. ”Alright LT, all here, except for those reported sick.”
”Brief the men, by 0600, all units are to be loaded up and ready to move out at any moment,” Frank ordered.
Collins gave a salute and jogged off, yelling for the NCOs to gather up. The integrated squads now consisted of a single marine, acting as an in charge and a security personnel as the 2nd I/C and the rest of the ten men squad were filled by the Goldies, armed with swords and up teched short ranged repeating crossbows.
The marines turned in their M7A1s and instead carried the 5mm PDWs and everyone also started carrying a sword or a machete with them along too. They used the armory diamond grinder to grind the Empire's short swords into a hacking blade design which the crew preferred.
The Goldie soldiers treated the machetes as some high tier godly weapon as it could cut through armor easily due to it mono blade edges, while the sharpened swords have a better edge compared to before, much to the crew's amusement.
Two half-tracks painted in a digital camo scheme of blues, greens, black and greys, accompanied by another two more jeeps in the same color scheme, rolled into the muster ground. Five squads will set off to the site where the sailors were last seen once the sun is up.
Frank stood inside his office in the barrack's admin building, watching the men milling around by the newly arrived vehicles, and hoped that the mission will go well, which will bond the human and elven soldiers, closer.
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”Ahoy the ship!” The bosun yelled from rocking longboat, of the 30 odd sailors who went down to shore, only nine survived, including the bosun. ”Lower the hoists!”
The bosun had fled the instant he knew that there was something very wrong, thus he managed to survive with the eight others left watching the boat at the beach.
”What happened?” The Captain yelled down from the side of the hull, ”Where's the replacement mast?”
”Sir, it was terrible sir!” The bosun after climbing back up the ship reported. ”Monsters ate all the men! I was barely able to escape!”
”What?” Omaj cursed loudly, thinking quickly, his ship without the top mainmast will lose some speed, especially if they want to run from the goblin pirates. ”The carpenter? And the boy?”
The bosun shooked his head and didn't dare to meet his eyes.
Omaj slammed his fist against the wooden railing, losing the ship's carpenter was a serious hit, the boy slave is just money, which can be earned back, but without the ship's carpenter, if even if they have spare spars to repair the topmasts, they can't!