Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC
Post by kingkonrad » Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:34 pm

Somewhere in Northern Afghanistan...

The world went slow, almost to a dead halt. The paraglider leant over, almost 90 degrees to the ground in it's turn, with the black canopy in mid-flap, blanketing a small part of the sky to the side of the two within. The two heavily armored soldiers sat totally focussed, trained, unrelenting. The Mk19 spewed a 40mil ,with an orange yellow flash of brightness filling the area from it's muzzle, and the Juggernaut who sat behind it seemed content, almost the same as Ross in that moment did. Time as a memory had stopped in their heads, cut out, mid flight, as they felt trapped in a moment. Through the visor, Ross felt an inch of perspiration, as almost in a split second, they were propelled back into life, back into speed. He leveled the whole Flying Devil out, as the 40mil continued to spew rounds below, taking out hostiles that were flanking the Juggernauts' friendly on the ground.
"Erik, we're bugging out, hope you enjoyed the fire, out." Ross said simply and calmly, as he saw most of what had been assaulting his position to be decimated, or at least now flanked and fucked up by the moving German, who seemed much smaller than he really was from this height. Ross checked the GPS and flew back on co-ordinates set for FOB Nevada, aware that it was likely that their work today was done, and they'd be going home.

"Hold up the fire, Carl, we lit them up enough mate- let's not turn it into a scar on this earth." Ross said simply, as he looked over the terrain they now flew over, leaning back as he knew that they had done it. They felt like birds of prey, hunting and taking down their targets well. He looked over his armor, and saw a couple of pretty bad scratches and impacts, aware that he'd have to get it back to a workable state when they got back, and at least replace a couple of the ballistic plates. Their armor was full checked by a base technician, and the armor's composition was effectively controlled- with the dragonskin layer, as well as the kevlar and ballistic plates being needed to be expected in every anal detail, to find no tears, shatters or effectively weak sections. The suits could take a hammering- Ross had himself seen the suit just about take almost 100 rounds of M240 ammo, and be still in a workable state- it was insanely protective, but in reality, if a Taliban with a PKM did that to him, he knew that the chances of psychologically taking the situation to account as a normal one wouldn't apply- it would probably create internal wounding, from the sheer force of sustained fire. Either way, in the mines, it had meant that they could go head on into a situation where that was the only way, and win. And now, as they flew over the arid landscape, back to base, they knew that they had done their job as best as they could.
"Fuck, remind me to bring this thing home. There's some beautiful parts of the UK I've got to see in this thing, it's just so responsive." Ross said, easing on the throttle as he knew that Carl had probably finished with the 40mil and the Hellfires, and was less focused on target identification now. There simply wasn't any targets to pick up- not even the Taliban went into the middle of an arid area like this, and Ross knew that even if they did, the exposure down there was mental. The arid ground was half-desert, and even a few dunes could be spotted from time to time, in between the rocky valleys and dried up river plains.

Re: Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC
Post by BigPapaBelial » Fri Jan 10, 2014 3:05 am

Carl gritted his teeth, a soft hiss sighing from his mouth as the Mk19 coughed and spat. 40mm rounds hurtling groundward, kicking up pillars of smoke, fire and dirt, ripping cover apart, and ripping targets to pieces with HE conviction. For awhile there he shared that slow motion moment with his partner Ross. He watched the 40mil cycle, spent shell casing clinking out of the breech, spinning off to the right, the gun chambering another round then the puff of white smoke, flame and the silver and copper HE round sailing off. He looked almost right down at the ground for a moment, then time caught up with them and he was scanning for targets again. The 40mm kicking again as he ripped apart some flankers. Carl whooped, a good and proper war whoop, something his ancestors would have been proud of. He took a moment to pull a grenade from his harness, pull the pin then huck it down over the side of the paraglider, watching it flip before it disappeared behind some rubble, then kicked up a cloud of debris as several badguys went running. He smiled and pumped his fist calling out, "Score!"

As the Devil swung around he tried to get a few more rounds off, but his angle was all wrong. His fire slowed then stopped right as Ross called for him to hold fire. He clicked his radio, "Good luck Erik, save travels, we'll see you later maybe." Carl let the Mk19 swing, and leaned back in his chair. It was then that he noticed the state of his hands in his gloves, they were shaking from adrenaline and sweating at the same time from holding the firing grips of the 40mil. He let his hands relax into his lap. And took several long slow breaths, "That...was incredible...I'll bet you not even a true CAS wouldn't have done as much damage we did out there."

He gave himself a look over, finding dings and dents in places, a few rounds stuck between armor sections, stopped by the pressure of the plates squeezing the round. He had to pull off his visor and take a close look at the impact fractures from where the round had struck his face plate. He nodded hefting it, "Thing saved my life." He wiped his face slowly, sighing softly, "Time to calm down, take stock...enjoy life abit." Carl sighed, letting the tension ease out of him. In their line of work stress and tension was something they dealt with alot. Didn't mean he could contain it all. He rolled his shoulders, taking a moment to look out over the land, "Reminds me of the Drumheller badlands...just less hoodoos, and more sand...still has an beauty too it." He leaned as far back as he could in his chair, "So...home we go then?" He turned to grin back at his partner, "Sound good Cap'n?"

Re: Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC
Post by kingkonrad » Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:42 pm

"Definitely mate- I want to get back to a brew or something decent at least. Shit, we sent out a hell of a lot of ordinance, and precise too. An A10 is scary, but shit, it can't deliver rounds within 10m or precisely take out targets like we can." Ross replied, looking over at the Canadian juggernaut sitting ahead of him, turned around.
"GPS says another 30 klicks. Shouldn't be too long- I don't think that anyone survived in the village, or down at the mine. If anyone did, they know that the ISAF forces here are packing more heat than they'd initially expect." Ross added, looking out on the plains below them, the emptiness and occasional greenery making it a strangely interesting clime from this altitude.

About an hour later, more urbanization propped up, and a base could be seen on the far outskirts of a small village. Ross looked on over, already aware that they'd completed their patrol for today- they wouldn't be called out to head towards a more inaccessible area, and would be coming back to FOB Nevada for some R and R.
"Command, this is Knight, we've got visual on base. Requesting to land on the northern field, on the helicopter prep area, how copy?"
"Command copies, you are cleared for landing on bearing 080 on the field. We'll get that thing packed away, good job Knight." Ross heard, as he looked to Carl, already putting his visor up as he looked out on the base now passing below. He let the throttle drop and grabbed a firm hold of the toggles, turning left before coming in into a hard right to kill some speed. He eased off the throttle, letting it come down to around 30 percent, before diving the entire paraglider. They hit 60mph, as Ross pulled hard and came in for a sweeping landing, easing off the throttle fully as the canopy used the momentum from the slight dive to keep itself upright. The entire craft slowly inched onto the ground, the wheels contacting hard as the suspension brayed and shook, with Ross's foot completely off the throttle now. Slowly and surely, they coasted along, only taking about 50m to stop, before Ross completely disengaged the engine. Like two badasses, Ross watched the canopy come down as he bundled himself out of the paraglider, Mk48 in hand, as he saw a couple of helicopter ground crew quickly come over to push the Flying Devil away, and into storage. Ross looked over at Carl, and a smile on his face, his visor up, he knew they'd done good. A simple fistbump followed, as Ross slung the Mk48 over his shoulder, the two armored soldiers weathered from the storm and from the fight.
"Command, we're on the ground, the Flying Devil's done her job for today. Any further orders?"
"That's a negative, you're good to go for some R and R Knight. 2nd Lieutenant, I need to see you immediately, after you get your gear sorted out." Command spoke, as Ross whistled, in a sort of interested way. It had to be a promotion- it couldn't be anything else, Ross thought, otherwise it would be through him. As they headed off from the helicopter area, and into the FOB central, Ross looked over, aware that Carl must have been surprised.
"That sounds like a good thing to me Carl- I think you're going up in the world when you're hanging around me. You deserve full credit for whatever he's got planned for you." Ross simply said, as he pointed towards the armory, wanting to get his suit off and at least get some rest in.

As the two headed in, and Ross led the way, opening the door, the back of another Juggernaut could be seen. Ross instantly recognized the camo pattern, as Jenny turned around, smiling- her faceplate off, yet the considerable armor still making her look like a force of nature, as the two others were.
"Hello lads. Looks like you had fun out there?" She said cheekily, as Ross knew that she was only doing it to piss them off, aware that she was fully aware of her position among men. Her tomboyish ways meant that she seemed to click better in their ranks, and at no point, did anyone ever raise that fact in front of her. Ross knew openly well, that when she said that she could do something, she was like them. Perhaps maybe more fragile, but no less, still more determined and adept at making her mark than he knew he would be. She enjoyed what she did, and knew she'd never change her femininity- but to Ross, that was what made her, her.
"Shit, since when'd they send you up here? Nice to see you Jen." Ross simply said, as she kept her FN MAG held tight in both hands, the weapon clearly kitted well to her.
"They said that Erik needed a friend, and I'm going to probably work with him for a little while. That said, I'll probably see you guys around for sure. Just some more patrol ops, with Moore too- shit's quite quiet here, but they need someone like me to deal with when shit gets tough- and it seems that when they attack, they really surge at us." She said, as Ross walked past, heading further into the kit room, where he got to work getting the suit off. The helmet first, and then the neckbrace. He managed to bit by bit, get out of his arms, chest, legs and boots, the heavily armored soldier coming down to a regular t-shirted SOF operator. The backpack fed Mk48 sat on the table, and his chest rig, sidearm and M32 were also there, with the suit being placed on a rack.
"I heard over the radio what happened at the mine- they just brought the hostages back, they seem happy alright." Jenny said as Ross continued, wiping the sweat off his brow as he checked that the suit was neat and tidy to be taken by the technicans later- the suit being modular, but one intraconnected unit, and for sure, a suit that was very hard to separate. A good thing ballistically, a bad thing organizationally. Carl's had undergone some serious modification in Canada and suited him much better to comprise of the hammer to Ross's anvil, he recalled- and knowing him, was likely easier to take off.
"Hmm...to be modest or not, that is the question. Maybe one day they'll remember us, those two armored soldiers who blew up half a mine to get them out and stop them from being turned into Al-Qaeda's newest executions. Anyway, you should get going. We've got R and R to enjoy, and you know how it is." Ross added, as Jenny nodded, the female Juggernaut seemingly a strange choice when looked upon from afar. It was the way she walked, and moved, that set her apart from Ross and Carl, and almost nothing else. Just this air, that the Taliban must have felt- that they were about to get a lesson in firepower deployment from a woman with a GPMG and a serious fucking fury. Her distinct northern Scots accent, half scary and half enticing meant that sometimes, you had to quickly decipher what she said before replying. It wasn't usually that thick, but at times, you could tell it wasn't going to be easy to understand.
"Yeah, I'll see you lads around." She said, as she walked out, her footsteps heavy as she turned her back on the two, Ross fully aware she'd be going out to have some fun with some enemies. After all, she had around the same level that Ross had in his armor- and at the same time, had a whole infantry fireteam to give some more fire if she wanted it. She could move unimpended through fire if she was covered, whereas Ross and Carl would have to rely on each other for suppressing, or flanking fire to charge- but when the fire wasn't heavy enough, the power of two meant that the two defied 7.62 bullets, and hammered forward towards enemies, armed and armored heavily enough to really mess up someone's day.

"Her arse looks good in that thing, gotta say." Ross said casually and almost openly to Carl, chuckling a little as he headed outward, going towards his quaters on the other side of the base. He turned his head back to Carl, as he walked on, aware he had to go another way.
"Anyway, see you in a bit mate. Good hunting." He simply said, as he brushed the dust off his combat fatigues, and headed off for a quick Thermos-based cup of tea. And it'd be a good one.

Re: Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC
Post by BigPapaBelial » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:56 am

Carl held onto the side of the Devil as they soared in for a landing. He was alot more comfortable with the flying machine. He no longer feared it'd come apart on them. Well not as much anyway. He listened and felt as the throttle was left off little by little, he smiled, calling back to his friend as they touched down, "Damn you're good at this man." He smiles, waiting until they came to a stop, grabbing his kit from the holders in the glider, and hopped out. Stepping up onto the edge and then down to the ground. He hrmed as they got the info on the RnR and that he was to report to command once he's out of his suit. He quirks an eyebrow, "Huh...wonder what this is about?" He grinned abit at his partners idea, fist bumping him, "A promotion? You think? Been a second Louie since I mustered out to Arctic patrol. Guess it would stand to reason seeing I have a definite MO now, and have the training to show for it." He walked with Ross to the Juggernauts hanger. Then let out a crowing laugh, "Jen!" He smacked her shoulder in greeting. Stepping by as he made for his portion of the table as he began to take his stuff off.

He smiled, "Good to see you again Jen, so you're Erik's back up? They going to partner you two up?" He looked at her curiously as he pulled his kit off bit by bit. "The kid's got the good deal if that's the case. With you mentoring him, he'll be up to snuff in no time, and we can do four person missions in no time, just remember to give him a good run through. Don't want him embarrassing us at the wrong time." He waved to Jenny as she set out. The scoffed at Ross, "You know, eventually she's going to hear you saying something like that, and she'll deck you. But if you fancy her, you better make a move before Erik does. Me personally, I don't like the idea of dating my co-workers. Bad for moral." He grins broadly again and takes off his chest plate, placing it on the table and sighing in relief, "Oh yeah, that's the way it should be."

He waved to his partner as he walked off then put on a standard issue cap, buttoned up the front of his fatigues and made for the Command HQ.

It didn't take him long to get there. Checking in at the front desk to a very harried looking corporal who waved him in to the commanders office. Where he was then waved over to the major's office rather then the colonel's office. He was asked to remain sitting, as the major was busy.

About 5 minutes later the major comes out and leans on the wall across from Carl who is sitting. Carl makes to get up, his arm already cocked into a salute as he does. The major grins, then salutes him back, "You juggernauts are like gods own finger Second Lieutenant. You fuck shit up, and you do it in the most incredible ways, me and the colonel both agree that you guys are like a miracle. Now the captain is all well and good. But some of the command staff are in agreement that your uniform does not match up." He dug into a pocket then tossed Carl a long black box. Carl caught it. Looked at the major who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. Carl opened the box and found a dress rank cuff. One full bar and one half bar. The Canadian barding for a lieutenant. The major smiled, "You'll be getting the rest of the paperwork within the week. And all the shit that comes with it. Congratulations lieutenant." The major flashed a salute. Then picked the small button out of the box and affixed it to Carl's chest and shoulder where they should be. Carl nodded slowly then saluted the major. The major nodded, "Dismissed, enjoy yourself son." He then walked back into his office.

A few minutes later Carl slid into a seat across from Ross, placing a glass of iced sweet tea and a bowl of stew with some bread to go with it on the table. He nodded, "You were right." He smiled and dug into his food, "I owe you a beer I think." He grinned at his partner.

Re: Juggernauts (BigPapaBelial and kingkonrad) IC
Post by kingkonrad » Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:09 am

"Maybe. But not the piss poor stuff they usually do here. Something proper. And it's good to hear dude- I think for you, First Lieutenant will suit you well" Ross said, chuckling, as he drunk some more warm tea down, aware that despite it being hot, it did nicely for his throat. A Mars bar was it's assistant, and for some reason, Ross had found that the quick fix was usually quite a pleasant one. Drinking some more down, he looked out on the rest of the mess hall, before turning back to Carl. He had seen the new ribbon on his sleeve that showed his rank.
"She's a good one alright. But you know, as you say, co-workers. I had a friend of mine back in the Paras, who had to work with a bird. He was Comms, what we called a "Bleep", she was a Combat Medic. Anyway, because the two of them were posted to each other, and already had relationships back home...one training exercise, guy broke his fucking ankle. Goes to medical, and guess what happened...anyway, he told me later that the sex was just to get it out of the way. I mean, they both knew full well what my mate wanted, and he got it. Call it an unorthodox approach, but after that, never any animosity, or anything spoken on it whenever we were on ops. Crazy world we live in, to say the least- though I do suppose that he did fuck any bird that moved." Ross said, thinking back, as he explained onward.
"To say the least, Corporal Maxwell to this day is still a bachelor, and I can't see him exactly getting married." Ross said, chuckling a little as he thought back to his old Paras platoon. He had started there as a Lieutenant- and then moved to a recon element, the Pathfinders, where he led a squad and went up the ranks. Eventually, he applied for the SAS- and the story of his life began there.
"Man alive, that was some good ass shit. We really peppered them today. Better doing that kind of shit than going with Moore's guys no doubt, we really showed those Rangers what two guys can do alone."