Shadows of JiangXi

[arvg]

It was hunting him, he kept his back to the broken piece of concrete, clutching the AK in his hands as he listened through the howling wind and the rain for the slight scrabbling that gave a hint to the location of his stalker.

The hood of his flektarn poncho was up, and the dark green shemagh kept him warm against the cold and bitter rain that was falling in sheets from the relentlessly dark sky above. His gas mask hung close to him, ready for him to pull on at a need, but the rain had the small blessing of keeping the radiation down from the air, leaving him a rare moment of being able to breath without the need of a filter.

Not that it mattered, he was probably going to die at a young age anyway, all of the troops stationed in the Exclusion Zone were destined for a sterile, cancerous, and mercifully short existence anyway. That was, if they survived the carnivorous beasts that were native to JiangXi, driven half mad by radiation sickness.

Lieutenant Elias eased the fire selector of his assault rifle up to full auto, knowing that whatever was out there, trying to get his scent, wasn’t afraid of the rain or lightening, and was probably sporting a mouth full of razor sharp teeth to boot.

Elias would have killed right about then to have a cigarette to steady his nerves.

The Zone was fraught with perils, corrosive fog, gravity traps, radiation sink holes, and those were just the benign, not about to hunt you down and snack on your pink squishy bits kind of perils.

He’d had enough of being thought of as dinner, stepping from cover he opened fire on the hairy beast, the 7.65 slugs tearing out of his weapon as he hammered the thing with automatic fire. Easing off the trigger when he was satisfied the thing was definitely dead.

“Yeah, sucks to be you!” Elias remarked in his clipped Bretonian accent, squinting up at the sound of engines, as the silvery hull of a Storm class gunboat swung around to drop into a small clearing in the middle of what had once been a village.

Elias sighed, “great, nuggets…” he rolled his eyes and went down to meet the ship.

---

[arvg]

The Social Credit hung over the ground, resting on it's VTOL jets as Vance took the controls.

Moving his way back along the ship, holding a mug of coffee, Captain Enrico Alvarez smiled at the ragged and weary faces that greeted him down in the ships hold.

The recruits, tired because they hadn't slept in about 36 hours, were dressed in whatever radiation gear the PX on Zhukovsky station could spare for them. Bits and pieces, odds and sods of gear and equipment. Each was armed with an AK-74 rifle and a TT-33 pistol, each had a TAC, not that it would do much good in the Radiation, but it was more to make them feel comfortable... and their all important radiation meters.

"Good morning Campers," Enrico called, moving through the cargo netting and past the Jeep that was snugly filling a third of the cargobay. "Today you begin your survival training. This is an initiation rite for the Coalition, one that will test your individual skills. You are required to participate, if you choose not to participate, I am authourized to take you back to Zhukovsky station, where you will answer to Colonel Rhade himself." He smiled coldly.

"JiangXi used to be a lush and verdant paradise, until the Phantoms arrived and turned it into the post apocalyptic hell you are about to be dropped into." He began keying the rear ramp, and rigging the drop lines for them to abseil their way to the ground. "There are things down there that will try to eat you... there are things down there that will try to kill you, and there are things down there that will weed the weak from the strong."

He sipped his coffee and smiled around the cup, "there are those here who will not be coming back. Say your good byes now. The rules are simple... this is the Northern Hemisphere. Due south of here are two Island chains, Santiago and L'Acadie. You are going to be dropped here, and you are to make your way ALONE to one of these settlements... before your radiation meter reaches dangerous levels."

He looked at each of them as he hit the ramp, a red light and klaxxon blaring as the hatch opened on the rain swept and cold field below.

"Miller, you're first. Then the rest of you at ten minute intervals. Go!" he sent the first down the line, dropping to the ground and sprinting off towards the tree-line.

Staring at his watch he counted down, and gestured to the next Coalitioner, "Go!"

---

[Tomtomrawr]

Commissar-Captain Robert Miller had yet to decide if going first had been an advantage or a disadvantage. He'd be the first to trudge through the terrain, so would probably face the most opposition from stubborn plant-life. He could even be clearing a path for the others, if they could find the same way. Animals would most likely smell him first and latch onto stalking him. And he'd had the least amount of time to prepare himself physically and mentally.

But on the other hand... He couldn't think of anything. It was a massive disadvantage.

Why had this trial been started at such an unstable time? It had only been days since Scott's revolution had been quelled and the Coalition was still very shaky. He was training the Commissars under order of Colonel Gonzalez and preparing for the trial on JiangXi had left him no time to do that. Relentless physical training had been a priority for him, with a day of rest before the drop-off day. Making sure he had everything he needed in his backpack to survive for the week.

He'd had to leave behind his dressing gown. And slippers. Even apples would have taken too much space in the bag. He hadn't even been able to take a thermos of tea, much to his dismay. He was a Bretonian gentleman, of course he wanted tea. His backpack was filled with insta-meals, a water purifier, extra ammunition and various other bits and bobs.

He sighed into the mask. He was getting used to the feeling of it constantly being on his face. And it was doing its job well. He didn't have any trouble breathing, or moving around in his clothing. What he was wearing resembled more of a poncho than a radiation suit, but he had been assured that it would do its job.

His movements became automatic. His legs pushed through vines and bushes as he followed his compass to the best of his ability. On that screen was also shown the position of all the others undertaking the challenge. Tracking devices that he'd slipped into their backpacks, hopefully they would do their jobs through the radiation. At least for the distance that he needed. His thoughts consumed him as he thought back to the last few days.

He'd been acting differently, some had said. They all assumed it was because he had been preparing himself mentally for the trial. That was part of it, but the truth was he was in mourning. He had checked the list of dead from Scott's revolt, and found her name on there. The young technician, a sweet young girl in her mid-twenties. He had escorted her to the Christmas party and just days later she was dead. She had been so kind, and her passing had been on Miller's mind since he had heard the news.

A rustling, up ahead. He snapped from Bretonian gentleman to Coalition soldier. As he had told the Commissars immediately after Scott's revolt: 'Adapt to become what you are needed when it is needed', so he took his own message aboard. He rose his AK-74, crouched down and began to move forward.

---

[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.

Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.

[Kriss92]

Captain Enrico Alvarez had now turned to the recruit Alexander Vorobiev. "9 minutes and you go down" he said.

"Damn. Well, maybe it's for the best, first come - first serve, as they say" Alex thought while trying to scavenge whatever equipment he could find that would protect him from the radiation below. "Three minutes 'till you get down" Captain said to Alex, as he looked under a chair and saw a rusty knife "this will be useful, i know, still have to take the guns... and noone's my friend down there, must remember that. Do not trust anyone!" he repeated to himself, while making the final preparations for the launch.

"Your turn, GO!" Alvarez said to Alex as he jumped to the ground and began to run to the tree line, as the radiation-sensing equipment started to bleep.

"South, must head south, not to trust anyo'- My TAC, Where is it? блин, i must've forgotten it! Damn! Allright, at least it's easier to run." Alex thought while running and trying to evade some strange plants.

As he got to the trees, it became very dark, somehow the trees didn't let even the tiniest bit of sunshine through, the leaves were bigger than anything Alex had seen before, and after he had ran about 20 steps into the dark area, a strange sound came from his 'three 'o clock'. "Damn, it's dark here, i better stay silen'- What was that? OK, scratch that, i do not want to know what that was, i'll just run... as fast as i can" Alexander began to run, crashing into some tree branches, evading others, something was breaking under his legs all the time, but the strange sound was getting closer, so Alex ran even faster, damaging both his shoulders against trees that could not be seen, then he stopped, turned around, and listened carefully pointing the AK-74 to the direction the sounds were coming from, grunting in pain himself a bit "If it does not die from AK-74 bullets, i'll have to think fast. There it is" - Alex thought as he heard a step on the massive leaves, and started to unload bullets from the AK-47 into the dark - "COME AND GET SOME YOU... YOU... THING!" Alexander screamed and stopped shooting, listening for the sounds again.

There was nothing to be heard, but he had damaged his shoulders against the trees badly, and accidentally dropped his gun on the ground. He took his lighter, lit it to see where the gun was and saw it being under a plant Alex had never even heard about. It was very simlar to the killer-plant people of the Old Coalition used to make up stories about. A head, that's at least 20 times bigger than it's body, that's what was attacking Alex now. He tried to shoot the plant with his TT-33 pistol, but it continued to move towards him, so he took out the rusty knife found on the VTOL earlier, and threw to the bottom of the plant. It worked, the killer-plant fell to the ground, and strange substance was leaking out of the wound, Alex picked up the knife "i knew this would save my life" he thought while cleaning it, picked up the AK-47 put it on his shoulder, took out mag to see how much bullets he has left in this mag "1-2-10... 10 rounds left, damn" he thought while putting the rifle on his shoulder. "allright, i cannot lose any second, have to proceed" Alexander said to himself and began to run to what he thought was south once more.

[ChillerMiller]

Now it was Jovanovic’s turn to enter the survival trip.

“I didn’t even have the time for breakfast!” he mumbled.

He sat nervously and waited for his turn, preparing his weapons for the trip. He knew he will have to use them.

Alvarez pointed at him

“Jovanovic, you’re up next! Move it !”

Jovanovic looked at his AK-74

“Don’t fail me out there...”

He nodded and jumped out of the Social Credit and proceeded thorugh the terrain. Everything was grey and you could feel the radiation everywhere. He only had the wish to fulfill this test in one piece...

“Allright let’s get this party started!”

[ChillerMiller]

Jovanovic continued on his way over the radiated plains. Everything looks dead...without any hope for a better future. He noticed a shadow to his right, but as soon as he turned right it was gone.

“What the hell...”

He prepared his AK-74, there was something near him, but he couldn’t see it. He turned arround again, still nothing to see.

“Weird place...”

He sighed and proceeded, but after some minutes he noticed the shadows again. He turned arround and saw 2 persons running towards him. It seems they were some kind of mutants with degenerated arms and legs.

“Oh crap!”

He immediately opened fire on the creatures. A full burst right into both of them, they fell to the ground.

“Phew, ugly things here...”

He took out his pistol and shot both of them in the head to make sure they are dead.

[Pacific]

When Petko got to planet JiangXi the first thing that hit him was the smell. The odor of festering corpses and rotting buildings was overpowering.

Petko shifted his eyes around the eerie landscape, wondering how he could ever be assigned here. He had no clue, other than that his orders were to put down JiangXi. He was told that he would recieve further instructions planetside.

Petkov looked around, and out of the dark sky came a drone hurtling down. The small craft impacted not 10 meters in front of him.

Cautiously, he worked his way to the drone, attempting to stay in the shadows.

He reached the downed drone and it whirred to life. It relayed Petko's instructions to him, which he understood perfectly. He had no real idea of what to expect, other than that this rock had extreme value to the Coalition tactically and sentimentally.

He looked around the barren wastes, trying to locate his spotter. Because he was one of the wary, patient members of the Coalition, he used the Dragunov-679 sniper rifle.

He gazed through the sight of his rifle through his mask, becoming accustomed to the bulky piece of gear.. The Geiger Counter showed that the area was suitable for now, but that prolonged exposure would be detrimental to his health.

On his back Petko had the large Tachyon cannon he obtained on the unknown Warship a few weeks ago.

All was dark, and there was a massive rainstorm over his position, dumping water fast enough to fill a canteen in seconds. The temperature was just a few degrees above zero Celcius.

Petko wasn't one to skimp on gear. He had it all, from night-vision goggles to his pistol and his radiation gear. Even his his armour and backpack were all state of the art. But Petko didn't just make sure his equipment was top of the line.

His Dragunov was a beutiful piece of equipment. When he first obtained it, it was just barely operable. After weeks of restoration, it was back in working order. He had a custom scope fitted to it with motion detection, and hy[er magnification, giving the weapon a range of about 10 kilometers.

Petko took a deep breath to check if his mask is working, and all was fine. He saw far in the distance a tiny silver speck. He raised his rifle, and recognized the outline and paintjob of the Social Credit. It was disgorging new recruits from its cargo bay.

Petko checked his rangefinder : 19 kilometers over fairly rough terrain. Petko didn't arrive with the gunboat. He arrived on a one man pod designated for droping personnell directly from space.

The First thing Petko Spotted was a tree line.

he told to himself " Thats where they will head first"

He also spotted and a old farm. but what really got his eye was some kind of movement heading towards the recruits landing site. He tryed to spot it but he had no luck. The target was fast.

Santiago and L'Acadie were the targets. To get to the recruits Petko had a detailed map. Their objectives were practically on the other side of JiangXi. He had his TAC link for the other officers that were going to aid him in his objective. Dimitrov picked up his Dragunov and slapped a magazine into the reciever.

Petko took another look around and headed towards the Recruits landing zone. After about 15 mins he heard gunshots and figured:

"Hmm. The Recruits are already opening up. Interesting."

---

<3 Omicron <3

<3 Chuba<3

[Klatz]

Record decryption...
Done.
Press any key to play the record.

Playback started.

I am Andrew Pieck. Me and my comrades now prepareing to landi... Well, ejection on planet JiangXi. This is our survival test. This place is hell, that's what comrade captain Alvarez said about JiangXi. There is no point to not believe, but we'll see, we'll see... Pieck's out.

Some of recruits are already ejected. I have 3 minutes before ejection. What do I feel? Fear? No. Excitement? Perhaps.
*silence*
Alright, comrades Kalash and Tokarev are with me and I can be calm with them. Oh, my turn. Pieck's out.

Great! Perfect! My landing was soft. Because I landed in the marsh! Good thing I'm almost on the edge of it. Another good thing: no signs of life here. Well, I'm going to the closest dry land now. Pieck's out.

Scheiss! That... THAT wanted to nip off my leg! Fortunately, TT have enough power to smash its chump to pieces. Looks like my suit hasn't been damaged, so I gotta go. Say, in the opposite direction from the marsh. Pieck's out.

Ten minutes passed and still no more encounters. Looks like danger of this place is overrated but I shouldn't relax, I have to stay on the alert... Wait!
*silence*
*gunshots*
*rustle*
Verdammt, it's gone. I'll try to find it. Pieck's out.

Nah, that abomination shrieking fled somewhere behind the hills. Do not want to waste my time here, gotta go. Pieck's out.

Ja, looks like I'm on right way, I see fresh footprints here. And they belong to human, no doubt. I think here was one of my comrades. I'll follow them now and will look if I am right. Pieck's out.

End of file. Play again? (Y/N)

---

[Akura]

The Marine firing team proceeded slowly, their weapons raised, ready to fire on anything that moved. The group was lead by a monster of a man, heavily armoured, standing almost seven feet tall, with a high-calibre machinegun. Each of them shared the same patches, a Red Bear on a black background, symbolising their squad's codename.

Leader raised his hand, clentching it into a fist, displaying the order to halt.

Ahead of them, enveloped in the fog was a wreck, evidenced by the large broken silhouette of what seemed to be a downed Sabre, parts of it's armour and wings scattered some distance from the crash, the ground churned and a tree horizontal.
This ship crashed with some force, and there was no way it would ever fly again. It's main hull was split and bent beyond repair, a single days weather taking it's toll on the hull, rain and dirt burning out the electronics and engine systems.

The Leader relayed a number of hand signals, ordering the four Marines under his command to split up into pairs, progressing in different directions through the scrap metal. Alone, he moved forward, slowly scanning the debris with the barrel of his machine gun.

He came to a metal crate, wet and dirty from the weather, half wedged into the mud, no symbols or identification of any kind. His left hand reached out, his right hand steadying his gun. Before he could open it, there was gunfire.

It was one of the other Marines, not too far away from Leader's position, there were long bursts of AK74 fire, followed by shouts and curses in Russian. Leader raised his gun, briskly headed towards the sounds, continually aware, the experience of a veteran Marine guiding his thoughts and actions.

Rounding the larger part of the Sabre wreck, he tracked movement, aiming at one of his Marines. The Marine was jittery, his rifle sweeping the bushes, trying to aquire a phantom target. He squeezed the trigger twice, firing two bursts blindly into the bushes.

"Marine?" the Leader spoke, looking amongst the grass and debris for the other Marine,

"It-it killed Chekov, so fast... it took his knife..." the Marine babbled, refusing to lower his weapon, fear and adrenaline gripping him,


Across the debis, the other pair of Marines had heard the gunfire, raising their weapons, the first of the two spun tightly on the spot, firing off his own assault rifle at a shadow, it's mass crumpling over on the spot.

As the second Marine approached, the mass came into view a little clearer, visable as a wild Coyote-like creature, likely hunting for scraps and isolated Soldiers.

"It's nothing... let's-" the second Marine started, a different, larger shadow visably moving behind the first Marine,

The shadow grabbed the first Marine, a human arm visable through the thin fog, hooking the Marine's throat and holding him in place, a second arm grabbing the Marine's right hand, raising his gun and squeezing the trigger.
The bullets cut through the second Marine, moments before he could fire his own gun, the close range garunteeing a quick kill.

The first Marine panicked, his struggle ending when he felt the blade of a combat knife slipping under his left arm, bypassing his armour and peircing somewhere near his heart.

He doubled over, rolling onto the ground, his vision blurring over as he began loosing blood, the silhouette of his hunter standing over him.

The hunter wore a strange hooded black and red uniform of some kind, his skin pale, with a pair of eyes unlike any the Marine has ever seen before, they contained no personality, no hint of emotion or feeling, just a blank grey. The Marine could have sworn they briefly glowed a shade of blue or purple as he lost his vision completely, darkness and bloodloss consuming him...


A few hundred miles to the east, there was a command post monitering the movements and communications of the Marine Squad 'Red Bear', a squad who was late to report in.

"Sir, we just lost all communications to Red Bear" the Comms officer spoke, relaying her message to the Commissar standing over her,

"Do we have any other units available in the area?" the Commissar spoke,

"Da, but they are an hour out" she answered, registering his nod, "But... a Captain E. Alveraz happens to be running a survival training exercise a few miles from the crash site"

"Inform him of the situation, if anything survived that crash, I want it dead" the Commissar ordered, "It should add an interesting twist to the training anyway..." He turned on the spot and leaving the command room.

[Tomtomrawr]

More rustling. The creature was small, whatever it was. The sound was clear now, although rain had started to pick up. Miller moved closer to the source, hidden behind a tree with bark mutated to resemble scales. He pressed his back against the tree, and listened. The rustling was still there, and whatever it was could be a threat to him. He needed to deal with it.

He sighed into his mask, and began his manoeuvre. In one fluid motion he stood, turned, and brought his AK-74 to bear. It was a rabbit. At least, it looked like a rabbit. It was a ghostly white, and it was as if the rain did not touch it as it munched on the radiated grass.

It saw him. It looked up from its meal and stared at him, curious. It titled its head to one side as it examined him. Splah! Its mouth opened and it spat an acidic saliva toward Miller. It hit the tree half of Miller had been using for cover, and it began to dissolve. The rabbit began to shine an unearthly glow, its eyes widening and its mouth opening in a snarl to reveal vampire-like fangs...

Miller shot it. One shot, through the head. It collapsed in a heap. He wasn't taking any chances, and it had already proven itself dangerous. He opened one of his pockets and removed his voice recorder. A special item he had made the space for, it made talking to himself seem not so insane.

'Entry three. I've just had my first encounter with an indigenous creature. It appeared extremely similar to a rabbit, until it started spitting acidic saliva at me. Miller out.'

He put the recorder back into his pocket, and marched onward past the rabbit's body.

- - -

It had been six hours of constant trudging. The rain had been pelting down for over half that time, relentless. Miller hadn't even eaten since his breakfast that morning, not wanting to stop. But he knew he would soon need to. The sausages and baked beans were wearing off.

The darkness had been a constant factor, his built-in night vision goggles working like a charm. But suddenly, the floor gave way to nothing but darkness. He stopped his moving, trying to see anything in the darkness. He couldn't see anything. He put a foot forward, onto the edge of visible land. He could hear crumbling over the rain.

He reached into his bag and pulled out his flashlight. The power of a million candles, the label had said. He hoped it would be effective now, as he switched it on. There was a blinding light for a second as the night vision goggles accustomed themselves to the new level of light, then all was clear.

A cliff - no, a ravine stood in Miller's way. He couldn't even see the other side.

Miller sighed heavily.

---

[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. &lt;3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.

Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.