Opening Note: Yeah, the girls really aren't enjoying the AC-130 mission at all. While I personally found it a nice change of pace from the rest of the game when I actually played it, I somehow doubt four girls that can bring down a massive demon bird in the entrance exam for their school really need a power fantasy moment. They're more interested in the sense of "oh god oh god I could go down within seconds". It's oddly a novel experience for them to play as someone who isn't able to simply be stunned by a grenade going off right under 'em.
It doesn't help matters that the footage for the mission is eye-straining black and white, and as much as I look at the various footage for things to describe..it just doesn't work partly because it's not made clear who we're supposed to be on the AC-130. There are fourteen people on your average spectre gunship, we hear from maybe three or four of them, and none of them seem to have any personality for me to expand on. Add in the fact that most of the mission is just chatter from these mostly emotionless guys we never really meet, and it's awkward writing this mission.
Still, hope I'm managing to make it fun. Next chapter is already in the works. Don't worry, we'll get out of this soon enough.
Chapter 25
Since any enemies left in the immediate area seemed to be either running away or already hiding, the tv operator didn't see any problem with zooming in on the squad they were covering. Four men per vehicle, one of them at the driver's door, opening it with one hand and aiming a gun at the driver with the other. At least one of the guys at a driver's door decided to grab the poor bastard and toss him out.
[Yang: Hold on! The guy's foot's no longer on the pedal! Shouldn't the truck be moving at least a 'little' right now? Or did he honestly put it on park while he's getting carjacked?]
Price decided it was time to tell the AC-130 crew what he was doing despite the fact that it was fairly obvious. "Wildfire, we're going to commandeer civilian transports on the main highway. Cover us!"
[Blake: Our heroes ladies. Committing grand theft auto just because it's convenient for them.
Weiss didn't know what was more disturbing. The fact that part of her wanted to justify stealing in this case, or the part of her that wanted to blame the drivers who just happened to have horrifically bad luck. Either way, she decided it was better to keep her mouth shut for now. No need to make anyone think she advocated criminal activities, even if it was a little justified here.]
The fire control officer decided to remind everyone while the squad was getting some ground transportation, "Crew, do not engage any vehicles on the highway, those are civilians. Ground units are acquiring alternate transport at this time. Do not engage any vehicles on the highway unless cleared to do so."
[Ruby: Yeesh, it's like they don't have any confidence that the gunner..or gunners, will be able to remember anything that happened more than a few seconds ago.
Weiss: They have some pretty big guns on that aircraft. When a possible consequence is killing innocent people or your own guys, would 'you' take any chances?
Ruby: There's being careful and then there's having absurdly little confidence in your guys. We know what Bravo Six is doing. Price just told us. Someone telling us what we've already heard from someone else just sounds stupid.]
The tv operator took a moment to stare at one of the civilians. For a second or two he was on all fours while half the squad got into his truck. Then he stood up in a flash and ran like hell away from the road. It was doubtful the guy had a destination in mind, he just wanted to get away from the road and whatever trouble was about to happen..and probably trying to ignore all the corpses and craters the squad had already left in their wake. "I bet that guy's pissed. That's a nice truck."
Outright chuckling, the fire control operator replied, "Nah, he's scared shitless."
[Blake: Yes, laugh at a man who's just been robbed by a bunch of soldiers. Especially since there's little to no chance he's ever getting that truck back even if it's left abandoned, and I doubt he's got a lot of money for another truck.
Yang: Scary thought here..are the local troops going to help, hurt, or just ignore the poor drivers?
Ruby: I doubt they'd help..not after the way they nearly shot that old man just for being near where we crashed. So hopefully ignore?]
Price yelled over the radio again. "Wildfire, we've marking the vehicles! Confirm you see the beacons!"
The fire control officer was all business again. "Roger, we see the beacons. Crew, do not fire on the vehicles marked with the flashing beacons, I repeat do not fire on the vehicles with the flashing beacons. Those are friendlies."
[Ruby: You know, just to spite these guys I hope the enemy can do the same sort of flashing.
Weiss:..you're hoping the bad guys make it more confusing for you?
Ruby: I'm hoping it gets to feel interesting again. Look, I get we're probably supposed to feel nice and powerful up in this spectre thing, but..I was really liking the characters, the story, and the way the fights seemed to be going. But we're just so..distant from everything right now.
Blake: Funny. I thought you might appreciate the occasional bit of distance. You 'do' use a sniper rifle.
Ruby: That's physical distance, not emotional. I can't tell who's talking when it isn't Price, and they're so obsessed with procedure that the 'instant' things stop going according to plan they're probably going to panic.
Weiss: Or they might have a procedure for everything that they could possibly deal with. Planning ahead 'works'.
Blake: Only if things go according to plan.]
The navigator noticed something further ahead and started moving the plane away from the squad's current position. "Heads up, hostile forces are setting up ambush points along the curved road."
Now that made the fire control officer hesitate for a moment. "Uh, navigation, which one is the curved road, over?'
If the navigator was annoyed that it hadn't been immediately obvious, he didn't let it enter his voice. "Fire control, do you see the water town, over?"
Now it was the operator's turn to sound less than sure of himself. "Are you talking about the, uh, the water tower near the intersection?"
[Weiss: I think I see 'three' water towers.
Yang: No, I think those two near the top of the screen are just..what are those farm tower things called, anyway?
Weiss: Don't ask me, I know mines and vehicles! Not farming!
Ruby: If it doesn't have anything to do with heroes and or weapons, I'm not the girl to ask.
Blake:..I think silo is the word your looking for.
Yang: Thank you Blake. You are now officially the team's encyclopedia.]
"Roger, that's the one. And next to that water tower is a curved road, do you see that?"
As the fire control officer took a closer look, he had to admit that road wasn't as straight as the rest. "Roger that."
"Track that road into the next village. You should be able to see another water tower in the village further down that road."
[Yang: Just how far away does Bravo Six have to go to get a ride out of here?!]
And once again, the fire control officer sounded a little confused. "Uh, we're having trouble acquiring the village. How far up the road is it?"
"Approximately..uh, hang on.."
[Weiss:..okay, my idea that these guys are absurdly prepared is starting to fade. If the guy who's getting them from point A to point B needs this much of a pause before saying how long they have to go, they didn't do much if 'any' prep work for this.
Ruby: Prepared or not these guys feel 'painfully' lazy.]
"..it's about two klicks along the curved road, going away from the highway."
By this point the plane had already moved far enough that they were borderline near the next village already. Thankfully they didn't have to worry about much of anything in the thick forests, it looked pretty clear. "Roger that."
"We're banking towards the village. Standby to engage ground targets."
[Yang: Well at least you'll have something to do again.]
"We got hostiles setting up along the curved road."
[Blake:..maybe I've just been looking at all this black and white too long but I'm not seeing anyone down there.
Ruby: Hold on, let's try switching.
Blake:..sorry, white and black doesn't feel any different from black and white. But at least it's not giving me a headache..for now.]
The fire control officer checked and confirmed it. "Hostiles preparing to ambush along the curved road. They're partially concealed by the trees."
[Weiss: Seems more like complete concealment to me. I can't see anything.]
"Whoa, someone just fired an RPG!"
[Yang: Bull, I didn't see rocket or smoke trail!
Ruby: Maybe we're just not looking at the right part of the road?]
"Roger that. Crew, go ahead and take out everything in that village."
[Ruby: All I'm seeing is forest, where's the vill..oh..heh, sorry. Should have looked up.
Blake: I don't think "up" is the right word to use.]
"Armored vehicle right there! Right there, coming out of the barn!"
[Yang: I see the truck..or whatever that is. Don't see any barn though.]
"Shot, it's shot!"
[Yang: And now I can't see it. Really wish using the big gun had more of a sense of..impact. All we've got is a big cloud of smoke and..holy shit that thing's still moving!
Weiss: What?! No way it could have survived a direct hit from a gun that big! You must have missed!]
Price was on the radio again. "Wildfire, we're under attack. We could use some help here."
"Crew, track those smoke trails and take them out at the source. Clear a path for our guys.
[Ruby: Yeah, back to the forty.
Blake: It's probably useless, but can anyone see the trucks Bravo's in?
Yang: Nope, not with all that smoke and the way the camera's moving around.
Weiss: I can barely see what Ruby's shooting at, much less any blinking lights..oh, right, they'd probably be blinking black right now. Don't think I've ever seen anything blink black before..and this mess might be why. It's not very eye catching.]
Forty millimeter shells dropped like rain, launching as quickly as the guns could handle. Every shot was accurate, every one of them a hit. Smoke and fire covered the landscape as the sky seemed to fall on top of the little village..and the black and white imagery did not make it look the least bit epic.
Once again, the tv operator noticed something before anyone else. "Personnel on the roof of that U-shaped building."
[Weiss:..they really love telling us about things we don't see and that they don't do a good job indicating.]
The fire control operator took a moment to look, but was left scratching his head in confusion. "Um, U-shaped building?"
"Roger, it's the one with the square structure on the roof. It's the one with the flat roof."
[Yang: Really would help if they pointed us at the right building.
Ruby: Think I see a flat roof, guys on top..I wouldn't call that a U though. More like a number one or a C without any curves.]
"Recalibrate azimuth sweep angle. Adjust elevation scan."
[Ruby: Doesn't look like there's anything left down there..again.
Blake: I can't believe I'm saying this, but doesn't this feel a little unfair? It's one thing to sneak up on someone, or have superior firepower, or shoot them from outside the range they can fight back from, but all three at 'once'?
Weiss: Well as my sister always said -
R&Y: You have a sister?!
Weiss:..yes, I do.
Yang: That's..yeah, didn't see that one coming.
Weiss:..why?
Ruby: Um, nevermindthat! Just..what were you about to say?
Shooting Yang a look that hopefully said "don't say anything involving her being stuck up or cold", Ruby almost breathed a sigh of relief when Weiss just shrugged and continued.
Weiss:..she always said that if you're on even footing and not fighting in an arena or some other place where you're 'supposed' to be respectful and honorable, then you've probably made a mistake somewhere. When it's a fight against grimm, criminals, or anyone else who might want to do you serious harm, take any and every advantage you can.
Blake: You know, I knew someone who gave me similar advice..and he felt like he enjoyed crushing..opposition 'way' too much.
Something about the way Blake said that and seemed to physically withdraw into herself gave Ruby yet another puzzle piece to talk to her teammate about later. For now, they just had to wait for the game to throw something else at them..preferably something more interesting.]
Ending note: Yeah..I know it's another abrupt chapter finish, but when I looked at the next third of the mission, how much dialogue is left in the game to transcribe, and how utterly annoyed I was getting trying to do decent reactions to people reacting to other people reacting..seriously, it just feels weird. Almost like trying to tell the guys from Renegades React to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000. So I decided to take a break, noticed how many words I'd already written and figured "why leave this on my computer? We've probably got around two thousand more words for the battle in the junkyard anyway."
Hope you enjoy, and that I get the next chapter out soon.