>>2962353
>discord
dropped

>>2962353
>women
no

Suitably Motivated, you trudge off to the Admin Center. You get this strange sense of deja vu - like you’ve been here before. Probably just your memories of Basic coming back to you.

The line for assignments isn’t too long, and you’re soon staring down an error message. Apparently the system misplaced your file. You suppress the urge to groan, and hit “search profile.”

>Name:
>Callsign:
>Specialty: CQB, Sharpshooter, Tactical, Medic, Recon
>Original branch of service: Marines, Navy, Army, ONI

First suggestion to three votes takes it for each category. You can suggest one item for each category.

Default suggestions:

>Jackson "Berserker" Hughes, CQB, Marines

>Kelly "Artemis" Lancer, Sharpshooter, Army

>Thomas "Backtalk" Felton, Tactical, Navy

>Emily "Spare" Travis, Medic, Army

>Dana "Lizard" Green, Recon, ONI

>>2962385
>Thomas "Backtalk" Felton, Tactical, Navy

>>2962379
Here's the Twitter, forgot to put it in

https://twitter.com/Telemac39455609

>>2962385
> Corporal Daniel "Winnie" Churchill, Sharpshooter, Marines

>>2962385
> Corporal Daniel "Winnie" Churchill, Sharpshooter, Marines

>>2962427
supporting

>>2962427
Locked in. 15 minutes to write the next update.

My tripcode has been lost to the ages, but I'll be monitoring this thread anyways.

File: ODSTSniper.jpg (28 KB, 384x480)

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I just realized I posted the character sheet in /QTG/. I'm a fucking idiot.

Corporal Dannie “Winnie” Churchill, Sharpshooter, Marines

STR: 3 - Controls melee, lifting, etc.
CON: 3 - Controls health, damage resistance, etc.
DEX: 4 - Controls vehicles, reflexes, shooting, etc.
WIS: 3 - Controls spotting, healing, etc.
INT: 2 - Controls operation of equipment, knowledge, etc.
CHA: 1 - Controls persuasion/intimidation, certain dialogue options, etc.

Two years, not counting Basic, in the UNSC Marine Corps has seen you go from “an okay shot” to an ace sniper. You tallied thirty-four confirmed kills before your Sergeant recommended you for the ODSTs.

As a Marine, you have undergone advanced physical training, giving you +1 to physical attributes (STR, CON, DEX) and as a Sharpshooter you gain +1 DEX and WIS, as well as -1 to CHA.

File: HalcyonClass.png (56 KB, 350x188)

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Now that the computer remembers who you are, it spits out an assignment: The UNSC Shadow of Wings, a relatively new Halcyon-Class Cruiser. You’ve been assigned to one of their six remaining ODST squads, to fill in for a Sniper lost in a recent engagement on Verge. The Shadow is currently en-route to a world called Fracture; you’ll be taking a civilian ferry to an anchorage it’s resupplying at and transferring on there.

…
The ferry ride is long and dull, but you’re a sniper, so you know how to occupy yourself - napping, reading, PT, napping, napping, and for some variety, napping. The crew doesn’t bother you too much, and your fellow soldiers don’t have much to say to an ODST. The most exciting incident is when you and another ODST’s lunches get switched around. In about a week, you reach Anchorage-461, aka Arandal Anchorage.

It’s standard UNSC construction, which is to say angular, grey, and functional. By necessity, though, the station has a sizable civilian population, who’ve littered the place with plants, banners, paint, and other wastes of launch mass. At least three hawkers call out to you on your way off the ferry, but a quick glare sends them all packing.

The Anchorage doesn’t have much in the way of windows, so you don’t exactly get a great look at the Shadow on your way. You’ve seen a Halcyon-Class before, though, so you don’t feel like you’re missing much.

Being onboard a Halcyon, though, is new. The bay you walk into - along with a few dozen other Marines - is high and somewhat oddly laid out. The Shadow has been loaded for a ground support mission, so there’s a few more Scorpions then are probably necessary.

You look around for the welcome wagon you know is on standby, and find it pretty easily - it’s the group of people with “NCO” practically stamped on their foreheads. You wander over while the green Marines behind you are still gawking at the tanks.

“Corporal Churchill, ODST. Reporting for duty, Sergeant.”

“Ah, our new Helljumper. Deck 3, room 286. Oh, and here’s your ship ID.”

The Sergeant shuffles through a stack of cards before handing you one with your face, name, and other important info on it. You slide it into your belt, and head off for an elevator.

While you’re walking, your comm chirps.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Corporal. I’m Durandal, the Shadow of Wings’ shipboard AI. Would you like a quick tour of the ship or directions to your quarters?”

>Tour
>Directions
>I can find my own way around

>>2962753
>Directions

>>2962753
>Directions

>>2962753
>>Directions
Stay out of people's way, we're just a squaddie after all, other than the rest of the ODSTs there's not much reason for others to bother with us.

>>2962753
>Tour

>>2962761
>>2962768
>>2962774
Directions it is.

File: ODSTPelican.jpg (160 KB, 640x480)

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“Directions, please, Durandal.”

The AI’s chipper, young-sounding voice guides you through the somewhat mazelike corridors of the Shadow, down two flights of stairs, and through the crew quarters deck of the ship. On the way, Durandal points out in passing the way to the Pod Bay,[\blue] Hangar,[\blue] Gym,[\blue] Mess Hall,[\blue] Armory,[\blue] Medical Bay[\blue] and Bridge.[\blue]

The ODST quarters are unsurprisingly close to the Armory and Pod Bay. There are quite a few rooms. Most are empty. Durandal points you towards the eighth door on the left, and “leaves.”

Heavy metal spills out of the room, which itself has a very unofficial-looking plaque above it naming it as “Hell’s Waiting Room.” According to Durandal, it’s against regulations, but the Captain lets it slide as they are the most senior ODST team on the Shadow.

You don’t bother knocking - they wouldn’t hear it over the music. The door opens as you get close anyhow, and a curious-looking young man with messy just-past-regulation-length hair sticks his head out. Spotting you, he beckons you inside, and you hear some shouting before the music is turned off.

The inside of the quarters is garishly painted with graffiti showing stylized versions of the ODST sigil, cartoon weapons, a diagram that displays how “Tank beats everything” in a game of Rock Paper Scissors Gun Grenade, and some kind of bird that took up the entire ceiling.

“Corporal Churchill, reporting to 8th Squad for quarters.”

“Churchill, huh? You our new Sharpshooter?” A burly man, who apparently just finished a freehand drawing of a trebuchet, looks up from his bunk.

“Yessir. I’m Sniper certified in all targets and trained in -”

“Yeah, we get it, you’re good. We know. We’re all Helljumpers here, man,” says a woman from the bunk above the big man. “Speaking of, I’m Widow, that’s Bear -” she gestures down - “Mop” - the young man - “and Valkyrie. Respectively, Tactical, CQB, Recon, and Medic.”

“...Right. We’re heading to Fracture, right? Anyone mind filling me in on why?”

“Some big dog Innie has set up there and ‘incited the populace to rebellion,’” Valkyrie sneers. “We’re gonna slap some Innie shit, retake Crater City, show some gun. Standard fucking Trebuchet shit.”

You settle in quite easily - bunks are bunks are bunks. At 1930, lights go out, and five minutes later, so do you.

>Time lapse to mission
>Explore the ship

>>2962972
>Time lapse to mission

>>2962972
What year is it?

>>2963004
Late 2518, about midway through Trebuchet

>>2962972
>Time lapse to mission
Let's start with a bang, fuck it

>>2962972
>Explore the ship
Just the armory.

>>2962972
>>Explore the ship
armory

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>2962998
>>2963033
1
>>2963105
>>2963140
2

>>2963177
Timelapse

Sorry for the delay.

File: Briefing.png (155 KB, 500x290)

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The weeks at the Anchorage pass quickly. You “shore” leave every few days with the other members of 8th Squad, learning a few things about each. Widow (Ana García) is the squad’s lead, a position she inherited when their last commanding officer took an Innie sniper round on Eriadnus. She’s stoic, not easily impressed, and doesn’t care much for regs. She tells you more than once that “Everyone in the 8th is an equal, but I’m the boss.” Valkyrie (Mary Donet) is the squad’s second. The foul-mouthed medic is cynical, superior, and disturbingly into her job. She only really listens to Widow. Bear is the third in command, and very friendly for an ODST. He’s the only one most regular Marines feel comfortable talking to, and, despite his size, speaks gently and tends to move out of other people’s way. Mop (Dylan Geiss) is best described as “sudden.” He tends to stare into walls for long stretches before getting up and running 200 laps. He talks like a gatling gun and moves like a stuck pig, but Widow says he’s actually a really competent infiltrator.

Eventually, the time comes to ship out. The SFSSD on the Shadow is top-of-the-line, and the journey to Fracture - a recently settled Outer Colony - is rapid. It isn’t long before you’re in a briefing room, the Shadow’s XO - Lana Tyr - giving you a run-down of your mission.

“Crater City is the only settlement on Fracture that’s large enough to matter. Once it’s ours, so is the planet. Your objective, 8th, will be to disable a set of anti-aircraft guns that are preventing our Pelicans from approaching the city. The three guns we care about - CDI Wolverines - are positioned in Shaw’s Canyon, one of three major canyons that lead into the city. Once you disable the guns, you’re to link up with Marine forces and push through to the city. In the city, you’ve been assigned to eliminate a HVT - one Eli Bradshaw, a self-styled Innie General.

Drop is in 5. Good luck, Helljumpers.”

Choose your loadout:
>Primary weapon: DMR, Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle
>Secondary weapon: Magnum, SMG
>Ordinance: Frags, Stunners, Sensor packages
>Tool: Jetpack, camo cloak, sensor system, ammo bag

Details available on request

>>2963242
>Primary weapon: DMR
>Secondary weapon: Magnum
>Ordinance: Sensor packages
>Tool: Camo cloak

>>2963242
>Sniper Rifle
>SMG
>Sensor packages
>camo cloak

Going to sleep. Good luck.

>>2963250
Sweet dreams, Anon. We make our own luck.

>>2963242
>Primary weapon: DMR
>Secondary weapon: Magnum
>Ordinance: Sensor packages
>Tool: Camo cloak

>>2963254
You know you say that, but d20s crits active isn't exactly what I'd call low on the RNG.

>>2963242
> DMR
> Magnum
> Frags
> Sensor System
We're a marksman with a squad, not a sniper in a dedicated team, we're better off focusing on stuff that lets us act as essentially, a rifleman that can reach out a bit further than the average bloke. Sensor system (I'm guessing) will let us give a bit better tactical awareness and frags are literally never not useful, whereas a camo cloak is something we can only use to its fullest potential if we're not working with the rest of our unit.

>>2963242
>Primary weapon: Sniper Rifle
>Secondary weapon: SMG
>Ordinance: Sensor packages
>Tool: camo cloak

>>2963262
>Two years, not counting Basic, in the UNSC Marine Corps has seen you go from “an okay shot” to an ace sniper.

Sniper is our role man. DMR is fine but we may have to break away from the group and cover with sniper fire sometimes

>>2963265
>>2963262
You could carry two primaries, but it will slow you down (AGI penalty) and you'll be limited in CQB.

>>2963272
Nah I'll adhere to whatever primary wins, they are both fine. I just wanted to make it clear that sniping can still be part of an effective team and shouldn't be neglected

File: MA5B.png (211 KB, 700x264)

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>>2963272
>>2963279
?

>>2963265
I'm sure in that situation we'll be given an actual sniper rifle. DMR is squad level.

>>2963298
Marksman.

>P: DMR: 2d10+4 DMG
>S: Magnum (ODST issue, silenced) 1d8+2 DMG
>O: Sensor packages (4)
>T: Camo Cloak (+5 to all stealth-related checks, +10 to Hide checks)

File: Feet_First.jpg (6 KB, 200x150)

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>>2963305

You grab your gear from the armory - sparing a longing look at the Anti-Materiel rifle on the wall - and follow your squad at a jog to the Pod Bay. Your gear fits neatly into the side panels, and you climb in after, belting in nice and snug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGHCoVzqtk

“Pod Check. Pod 1, Widow, systems good.”

“Pod 2, Valkyrie, nominal.”

“Pod 3, Bear, go for drop.”

“Pod 4, Mop, I’m good.”

“Pod 5, all systems green.”

“8th Squad green across the board. Durandal, send us away.”

The doors beneath you slide open, the atmo shield flickering on to hold in the air. The planet below lives up to its name: massive canyons crisscross the surface, which if intel holds up is a giant sheet of ice above a thriving ecosystem living off geothermal vents or something. Basically it means that there aren’t many threats from the local fauna, and there’s a lot of minerals here.

It also means that if Durandal fucks up your drop, you’re going to get stuck on a giant sheet of ice in -39 C weather with no backup. You really hope he doesn’t fuck up.

“Confirmed, tasking callsign is ‘Jackal.’ Jackal, prepare for drop in 5… 4… 3… 2… Mark.”

There’s a tug of acceleration as your pod darts out of the bay. The Shadow is making a low pass, and you hit the atmosphere in seconds…

>1d100

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>2963323

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>2963323
Tossing one in.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>2963323

>>2963344
>>2963388
>>2963398
64 is a success. With that, I sleep.Will resume tomorrow.

File: IntoHell.png (176 KB, 550x326)

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There’s a jolt as you hit the atmosphere, then things start heating up. You watch the pod temperature gauge. 5C. 15. 30. 40… it’s unbearable. Coolant blasts into the pod, but relief is short lived, and it isn’t long before all four of your coolant canisters are used up. Thankfully, at that point you’re through reentry, and there’s another jolt and a THUD as your chute deploys. 20 seconds to impact. 10 - the thrusters engage with a roar, and you grimace as the g-force drives you into your seat. There’s a SLAM as the pod impacts, and the charges detonate like a 21-gun salute. You’re up and moving before you consciously process that you’ve landed. You sweep your drop zone.

You’ve landed in a widened clearing in Shaw’s Canyon. Odd shaped trees that look like inverted umbrellas ring the edge, interfering with the reflections from the glacier to create a strange shadow play along the walls of the canyon. Widow landed first, and is currently intently watching a small hand terminal. Bear’s pod slams into the ground about 200 feet in front you, making you jump. Valkyrie lands a second later. Then, Widow swears.

“Mop was off target. He landed in a canyon, so he won’t freeze, but he isn’t going to be much help until we can get a Pelican in to pick him up.” Unsurprisingly, Valkyrie lets loose with a string of profanity, Bear sighs, and you just heft your rifle and pull your camo cloak’s hood up.

“Nothing much we can do about it, Widow,” Bear says in his Reach accent. “We need to get moving. We’ve got three hours before the invasion proper.”

>3 hours remain

It isn’t long before you come across a nest of Innies. They’re anchored into an ice cave that’s carved into the side of the canyon. The brush has covered your approach, but they’ve chosen a good location for their little firebase. There’s very little natural cover on the canyon floor below, but the idiots have apparently been sorting through salvage in the clearing and have left several crates, rusted vehicles, and other massive pieces of cover down there.

Your team is currently situated on a bluff overlooking the salvage yard/firebase. From your current position you can see at least twenty armed Innies, plus a Cyclops that’s sorting the scrap and a Warthog, AA gun intact. Widow activates her comm and talks to Durandal:

“Jackal Actual, this is Jackal 5. We’ve encountered an Insurrectionist outpost, roughly twenty armed hostiles. They have access to military materiel, including a Cyclops and armed Warthog. Advise.”

“Jackal 5, Jackal Actual. Engage, capture one if possible.”
“Roger.”

Widow twists from where she’s lying to face the squad.

“Bear, Valkyrie, with me. We’re going to punch through. Winnie, overwatch. Don’t shoot until they start shooting.”

With that, your three teammates slide down the incline into the junkyard below.

You scan around. This section of the canyon has several juts of stone along the walls, which would be excellent vantage points, but would limit your movement and might be tricky to get up to. You could also remain where you are, which doesn’t have such a great angle of attack but has quite a bit of cover.

>Stay here
>Vantage point

>>2964964
>Vantage point

>>2964964
>>Vantage point

>>2964964
>Vantage point

>>2965139
>>2965154
>>2965349
Locked in, writing

Hunched over, you trot to the canyon wall and pull yourself up onto an outcrop. From there, it’s a short jump to another table of stone, a shimmy along a tiny shelf, and you have an excellent view of the firebase below.

From this new vantage, you can see above most cover, and you’ve got a clear line of sight into the cave. Your camo cloak conceals you well against the canyon wall, and the shelf you’re on is just wide enough to lie down and stabilize your DMR.

Looking through the scope, you can see the rest of your team highlighted on VISR. As you scan around, you notice that two Innies are converging on your squad. They don’t appear to be aware of the ODSTs yet, but that could change quick. You could take both of them down, but you were ordered not to fire unless shooting had started already…

>Shoot them
>Warn Widow
>Do nothing

Sorry for the delays everyone

>>2965544
>Warn Widow

Don't worry about the delay, I'm hyped for this.

>>2965544
>Warn Widow

>>2965544
>>Warn Widow

>>2965544
>Warn Widow

Rolled 8 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>2965571
>>2965596
>>2965606
>>2965865
Widow's roll

Rolled 17, 16, 16 = 49 (3d20)

>>2966032
“Widow. Two hostiles incoming on your left rear flank.”

Widow starts a bit, but motions to Bear and Valkyrie, who quickly shuffle their position around. Bear draws an eight-inch knife, Widow brings up her silenced Magnum, and Valkyrie does likewise with her SMG…
>Combat rolls, DC is 10, 2 successes necessary, bonuses are +4, +2, +1 respectively

>>2966304
It unfolds like… well, like three highly trained ODSTs taking down two farmers in fatigues. Bear pounces on the first in a manner that doesn’t seem fitting considering the man’s size, and Widow drops the second with a single shot.

Unfortunately, the second man’s hand squeezes on the trigger as he dies, and a three round burst echoes around the canyon. Every head in the camp swivels towards the noise. Shit.

Widow: “We’re busted, split up. Winnie, go loud.”

You grin, and sight in on…
>The Cyclops operator
>The target closest to the rest of the team
>Wait for the rest to engage

>>2966434
>Wait for the rest to engage
they won't know their even being sniped when the rest of the gunfire starts.

>>2966434
>The Cyclops operator

>>2966434
>The Cyclops operator
>An ounce of sniper is worth a pound of suppressing fire.

>>2966452
>>2966448
Could probably do both

>>2966452
>>2966467
Locked in, writing

So this isn't a 'active session' quest and more of a 'update when I can' quest huh?

>>2966986
welcome to /qst/

>>2967021
Some quests still manage to do it like Court of Swords and Into the Skies.

Just trying to figure out what this one was so I don't waste too much time checking in on it.

>>2966986
I'm sorry, I've got homework and shit. Also it's my dad's 50th, so that. It'll pick up in updates around evening on Fridays, noon on Saturdays, and evening on Sundays. Other than that I can't promise much.

I'm also a perfectionist asshole which slows down my writing.

File: SeeYaDeadCowboy.png (408 KB, 569x571)

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Alright folks, I can't update here anymore. Quest will resume Friday about 5pm PST (8pm EST)

See ya space marines.