Pirates! - Stalker's POV

Log Title: Pirates! - Stalker's POV

Characters: Beachhead, Chance, Gung-Ho, Red Shadows troopers, Red Wolf, Stalker, Torpedo

Location: Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa

Date: May 05, 2016

TP: Red Shadows TP

Summary: G.I. Joe attempts to rescue an oil survey ship taken over by pirates!

As logged by Stalker - Thursday, May 05, 2016, 8:57 PM

Zodiac boat
This rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy. The inflatable collar allows the vessel to maintain buoyancy if a large quantity of water is shipped aboard due to bad sea conditions.

Chance considers this, and then replies "Can we do a diversion while someone else perhaps cuts through the hull to get to the hostages? " he asks, guessing though it was a bit late to change the game plan.

Stalker points up at the side of the Aden Explorer as the zodiac boat comes alongside it. "Put the grapples up there on the railing!" he yells over the storm, pointing up to where he wants them to go. As Gung-Ho fires the grapping hook up towards the ship, Stalker turns to Chance. "I'm not sure we'll have the stability and time to cut through the hull, but if you want to try to blast through it, now's your chance!"

Chance considers this, then shakes his head as he stands "You're right, and I don't know WHERE in the ship they are. I'll save the charges for important things." he says to Stalker, and prepares to pull himself up after the others.

He heard the scream as well, and shivered a little bit, glancing out into the waves.

Stalker nods to Chance, turns to look up at the Aden. *CLANG* The grappling hook hits its mark, and Gung-Ho tugs, securing it. "Gung-Ho - first up!" Beachhead yells, and in response the big Marine starts hauling himself up the line. At that moment, a huge wave hits the small zodiac boat, slamming it against the side of the Aden. Stalker yells as he's thrown from the boat, while Beachhead is silent as he's swept overboard and disappears immediately into the sea. Torpedo dives after him.

Outside> Tomahawk #505 continues to hover above in his holding pattern while continuously scanning for the order and opportunity to attack the pirate ship. With plenty of apples!

"Shit!" yelps Chance as the wave soaks him to the bone. His hand was on the rope to follow Gung-ho up, but out of the corner of his eye, he instinctively makes a grab for Stalker, his hand finding soaked shirt through the soggy gloves.

Gung-Ho holds onto the rope as the wind slams him again and again against the side of the Aden. He looks down and sees Chance holding onto Stalker, keeping him from disappearing beneath the water. "You got him!" Gung-Ho exclaims with relief. "Where's Beachhead?"

Chance is holding on as best he can, but his grip - either on Stalker, or the rope - was starting to slide rather quickly "NOt for long!" he strains, hoping Stalker was still awake.

Stalker recovers quickly, turning and grabbing the rope himself. "I'm OK," he yells, though he's finally lost his beret. "Go! Go! Go!" He turns and abandons the boat as he prepares to haul himself after Chance and Gung-Ho.

Chance nods, waiting until Stalker had a good grip before he started to shimmy up after Gung-Ho now, his rifle slung over his back as he puffed, steam rising from his lips as he followed the other Joe, not daring to fall behind now. Once on deck, he crouches immediately and moves to one side, out of the way.

As Chance pulls himself over the railing, a pirate comes out of the crew's mess, looking a little seasick. He's looking behind him as he leaves the mess, saying in Kalingi, "You're a cruel man, Ismael! That wet and heaving deck could be the death of me."

Immediately Chance taps on Gung-ho's shoulder as the pirate emerges. Not wanting to leave it as a risk, he slides sideways to move up behind the pirate, waiting as long as he dared - until the door closed and kept other eyes out, before moving to grab the other from behind, a glove going over his mouth, if he succeeds.

Gung-Ho looks over as Chance neatly grabs the seasick pirate. "Nice." Behind him, Stalker climbs up onto the deck. "He's going to be missed soon if he doesn't come back. We'll have to deal with his buddies or we'll lose the element of surprise."

Chance knocks the sailor out, and moves to drag him to one side, using some zipties to lock his hands to something to keep him from falling off the boat, and then gagging him. "... I just hope he doesn't throw up while gagged." he muttered, nodding at Gung-Ho. "Flash bomb through the door then?" he asks.

Gung-Ho nods to Chance, and moves to one side of the door while Stalker takes the other. They wait for Chance to move in with the flash bomb.

Chance stands to the opening side of the door, flash bomb in one side. And then in his usual fashion... He knocks.

And the moment the door was open, he merely flipped the bomb through the gap, at knee-level so as to roll it between anyone's legs who was standing there.

In the water, Torpedo pulls Beachhead to the surface, and starts pulling him towards the Aden. "We're going to have to kick hard to catch up to the ship. You up for it, Beachhead?"

"You set the pace, Torpedo," Beachhead replies stoically. "I'll be right with you."

Inside the crew's mess, one of the pirates asks, "What's taking Ahmed so long?" Another replies, "I'll bring him back in. He can use a bucket for all I--" He frowns as there's a knock on the door. "What's Ahmed's problem?" he asks, and opens the door, eyes widening to see Chance... *FLASHOOM!* *AIEE!* The pirates nearest the door are blinded, as captive crewmen crouch in the mess, trying to stay out of the line of fire.

One of the pirates who was shielded from the flashbang stands and aims his rifle at Stalker in the doorway.

Chance had looked away, and then back once more and used his foot to kick the door the rest of the way open, allowing it to swing out now as far as possible. He doesn't step INTO the doorway just yet though, but looks through at an angle, his own rifle now at the ready for the nearest knee-takeout.

From above the cloud cover descends what can only be described as a large red flying skull with TIE Fighter-like flight planes on either side of the grizzly main cockpit. As it drops from the heavens it makes a beeline for the Aden Explorer its many weapons whirring to life.

Stalker raises his silenced pistol and *PHUT* silently kills the last pirate guard standing, while the rest moan in pain from the results of the flashbang. "Resistance taken care of," he says calmly.

The American crew look at these new arrivals in fear.

Chance nods and moves in with the others, dripping water everywhere, to restrain and ensure no surprises later.

In the crew's mess, the phone rings. "Don't answer that!" Stalker yells.

"Not answering will alert the bad guys jus' the same," Gung-Ho frowns. "No win all-around!"

Chance looks at the phone, and then over at stalker, and then at the awake men "Cant' trust them to fake it either. Bridge or look for the hostages?" he asks Stalker.

Stalker looks at the American crew that were held at gunpoint by the Kalingi. "OK. I need you all to keep calm and stay here in the mess until we finish what we have to do. Do you know how many other pirates there are? And were they have Dr. Burkhart?"

Outside> Roboskull swoops down buzzing the Aden Explorer and scanning for targets. Since most of the Joes are either in the mess hall or in the water the Roboskull's pilot sees nothing for now. Still he banks around for another pass.

Chance moves to untie any of the crew that need it while Stalker gets information and questions. The phone continues to ring and he looks at it annoyingly.

Three troopers dressed in red, their faces hidden by helmets adorned with a skull and crossbones, emerge from belowdecks and advance on the Joes. "Blood for the Baron!" they screech in unison, firing their weapons.

While Chance and Stalker see to the crew, Gung-Ho guards the door. He spots the Roboskull flying overhead and announces, "We've got company, and it's weird." He ducks back to remain unseen by the Red Shadow air support, only to nearly sprayed with fire by newly arriving troopers. "Who are these para-militaries?" Gung-Ho yells, firing back. "Cobras?"

"What difference does it make?" Stalker yells, taking a knee and firing back from the doorway.

Chance is not one to wait around to negotiate... at least, not on some days. He joins Gung-Ho with his rifle, moving to gesture the civilians to take cover. Dropping to a knee, he fires, low and dirty for the Red ones' knees and legs. A blink "... Baron? I thought feudalism was so sixteenth century!"

>> Chance misses Red Shadows troopers with Rifle . <<

As the remaining pirates on deck run for cover and hide, Gung-Ho and Stalker unload on the Red Shadow troopers. "The Baron?" Stalker asks, "I wonder if they work for Baron Ironblood. But he's a European terrorist - what would he be doing mixed up with pirates on the high seas?" Not waiting for answers, Gung-Ho and Stalker crouch in the doorway to the crew's mess and fire short bursts at the Red Shadows from cover.

>> Stalker strikes Red Shadows troopers with Carbine . <<

Two of the red-suited troopers manage to avoid the incoming fire, but the third is caught in first one and then a second burst from the Joes' weapons and goes down in a heap. The remaining pair open fire on the ranger.

>> Red Shadows troopers misses Stalker with Smg . <<

Chance has fog on his lenses it seems as his shots go wide. He mutters again in French under his breath and moves closer to the door, trying to catch them in the crossfire, although the door made it an awkward bottleneck for the Joes. He taps his radio, then rolls something out the door towards them.

[G.I. Joe] Chance says, "Flashing them in three two one..."

>> Chance strikes Red Shadows troopers with Flashbang. <<

>> Red Shadows troopers temporarily loses motor functions from the attack! <<

The pirates flee the gunfire, and head for the lifeboats.

Gung-Ho and Stalker are given just enough warning to cover their eyes and duck back into the mess while Chance tosses his flashbang. As soon as they hear it go off, however, they step right back onto the deck, Gung-Ho crossing over to duck behind some crates to give Chance and Stalker more room in the doorway. Before the Red Shadows can recover, however, the Joes unleash another heavy assault.

>> Stalker strikes Red Shadows troopers with M16A1 . <<

The troopers throw their arms up to shield their eyes, but too late, as the flash-bang explodes at their feet. Their helmeted heads turn to and fro, their weapons firing uselessly while the Joes retaliatory fire is right on target. Both troopers are struck. One takes a few rounds to the neck and flops to the deck, gurgling. The other is struck in the shoulder and thigh and goes down to one knee, unable to see his attackers.

Beachhead and Torpedo finally reach the side of the Aden Explorer, and grab the grappling lines to join their Joe teammates above. "How do we know what's waiting up there, Torpedo?" Beachhead asks, pulling himself up the line.

"You don't need to know. You just have to shoot," Torpedo replies.

Chance nods in satisfaction as he opens his eyes again. Time was of the essence, and he dares to move through the door and crouch to one side while firing, making his way towards the front of the ship, slowly. "Who knows? The entire world is interconnected at this time." he replies to Stalker. As only one was left, crouching helplessly, Chance bolts towards him to smack him on the side of the head with his rifle and knock him out.

Outside> Roboskull> Red Wolf sends a radio transmission.

Outside> Roboskull meanwhile continues to circle overhead trying to line up for a clean shot at the Joes.

>> Chance misses Red Shadows troopers with Heavy Punch. <<

Stalker sees the Red Shadows go down, and straightens up slightly, looking up as the Roboskull moves into attack position. "Gung-Ho! Get below - we need to stay off the deck. We'll make our way to the bridge below-decks and catch them unaware." He moves quickly towards Chance, seeing him attempt to knock out the Red Shadow on the slippery deck. "Get below, Chance," he orders, and aims his pistol at the trooper's head, attempting to just finish him off with one shot.

>> Stalker strikes Red Shadows troopers with Pistol . <<

Red Shadows troopers is overcome by injuries, losing consciousness.

Outside> Roboskull> Red Wolf sends a radio transmission.

[G.I. Joe] Chance says, "Watch yourselves. Probably more of them around."

Chance slips on the tilting deck, mossing entirely as he crashes to the floor. He doesn't hesitate though, picking himself up fast and nodding to Stalker. Puffing heavily he looks about and finds the stairwell or hatch, checking carefully before descending down.

Roboskull zeroes in on the Joes and opens fire strafing the deck and stepping bullets right towards them as they rush for the hatch...

The remaining trooper doesn't even see the shot coming. The round shatters his helmet and the organic material inside with equal ease, and he crumples, bleeding out onto the deck.

Stalker stays behind until the last moment, firing up at the flying skull to give Chance and Gung-Ho the chance to get below.

Roboskull zeroes in on Stalker and opens fire. Roboskull targets Stalker with its weapons.

Roboskull> The computer beeps. "Target acquired."

>> Roboskull strikes Stalker with Light Machine-Gun . <<

Chance nearly dives down the hatch as the skull opens fire. He remains there though, not wanting to leave his friends behind TOO far, and fires from that general safety on the skull "One thing after another." he grumbles.

>> Chance strikes Roboskull with Rifle . <<

Stalker cries out as machine gun fire from the flying skull cut into him, bypassing his armor and coloring his wet uniform with blood. He struggles to the hatch, waiting for Chance and Gung-Ho to get below before dropping down himself.

>> Stalker retreats from the area, leaving himself open to Chance. <<

[G.I. Joe] Stalker says, "We've got highly-motivated yahoos with no compunctions about suicidal attacks coming on strong! We need air cover! Open season on anything wearing red!"

Chance reaches out to drag Stalker yet again to safety, despite any risks to his own person. Chance has left.

Below Deck - Aden Explorer
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "Acknowledged, almost into range..."

Stalker is dragged down below with Gung-Ho and Chance. "OK," he says, struggling to stay conscious. "We have to make it to the bridge, save Dr. Burkhart, and then get back to rescue the rest of the crew. Mara's almost in range with our ticket out of here."

Chance nods at Stalker "Will you be okay here? " he asks, checking the wounds and trying to find his little first aid kit "I think me and Gung-Ho can handle it. You're about to fall over."

Stalker nods his head heavily. "You're right. You two go. You can pick me up on the way back." He gives Chance a confident grin.

Chance smiles and nods "Don't go anywhere or have too much fun then." he remarks, looking to Gung Ho for the go-ahead.

Gung-Ho nods respectfully to Stalker, and then grins confidently to Chance. "Let's go!" He says, and starts leading the duo through the ship towards the bridge.

Chance moves to follow the other Joe now down the corridor, his boots squishing with every step. "Remind me of this phase of the plan? " he asks Gung-ho "or is it still standing since the first part flew out the door?

"I guess the plan now is to save Burkhart and get off this boat!" He leads Chance to the ladder leading up to the bridge. "You handled the situation in the mess pretty well -- you got anymore bright ideas -- or toys?" Gung-Ho hefts his huge gun in case the plan becomes 'shoot their way in'.

"I have... one more flashbang, three extra strength burritos and two with extra beans." a pause "Oh, sorry. Flashbang, three regular charges and two smokes."

Stalker chuckles. "I got your meaning. Well, without Torpedo here, you're the explosives guy -- what do you suggest?"

"Depends on what's a head. Another 'ambush' or if I get to make holes in things." explains Chance as they climb up, his voice falling to avoid them giving away their plans.

Gung-Ho and Chance move up the ladder to the door of the bridge. From above, a woman's voice can be heard exclaiming, "That's a G.I. Joe Flying Submarine! Your assets aren't going to help against the Joes - they're the best there is!"

Chance blinks at the voice, and mouths 'Adele' to Gung-Ho. He checks for door guards, glancing around as best he could to try and see before moving into view.

There seem to be two Red Shadows guarding the door. It's hard to see into the bridge otherwise from this angle.

Chance hrmms a little and holds up a flashbang, and mimics tossing it up the stairwell, and looks at Gung Ho with raised 'shall we'? eyebrows.

Gung-Ho grins broadly, and gives an 'oh, yeah!' enthusiastic silent reply.

Chance nods, and holds up three fingers with his other hand. Then he drops one... and two... and then the third one, closes his eyes, hits the trigger, and after a pause to time it going off, flips it straight up the stairwell!

[G.I. Joe] Chance says, "Team Alpha, I think its' done."