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Description
United Earth Frontier staple-planet Octavius, Morr Galaxy, Stern system.

To sum Commander Maya Viper in one word, it would be 'perfect.' She excelled in her grades at the academy for her young age, strength and speed bordered on the inhuman side, her drive and natural skill are only seen in the most aged and experienced officers, and her beauty is as legendary as her tenacity. Another word to describe her is 'greedy.' She has been known to loot, hell even steal artifacts to make a quick credit, and has gone through enough red tape to sink a freighter. That is where she got her nickname of  the 'Crimson Viper.'

Drops of blood-warm rain were falling, and Viper could here the muted rumble of thunder coming from eighty-caliber cannons as she made her over to the main street of the city of Volks. Civilians and soldiers alike were moving faster as they thought shelter from the coming deluge.

Crimson would have done likewise had she been free to do so, but she was due back at Company HQ by 1600 hours local, where other members of her Tactical Response Squad would sit around and shoot the shit until they were relieved at midnight. Which, based on a twenty-eight-hour day, made for a long watch.
Though she had three hours until she would be considered 'on-time,' plus she made a large deposit. So she was rich and ready to take a chance. She went into a pub, hoping to get drunk and laid, but instead she saw on old friend sitting at the bar smoking a cigarette resting on a pile of dossier tablets.

"Well isn't it the Wolf of the Raven?" Viper said as she sat next to him.

"And aint it the Crimson Viper? What do I owe the pleasure?" He said as as he moved the brown hair out of his eyes.

"Buy me a couple of beers, and you may have the pleasure." She smiled as she took a long drag of a cigarette of her own.

"Tempting offer. But if I tried, I'd go bankrupt. So I'll pass." he made a gesture to the bartender, ordering two more beers. "So what do you want C?"

"Did you hear about the Midway?"

"You're baby? Yeah, who hasn't? Got totaled in the Blitz campaign, right?"

"There putting her back together. She became a bloody icon during the campaign."

"A campaign stars, over twenty-two battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation, Naval Unit Commendation, UEF Defensive Service Medal, and hundred more shiny medals to sink her. Thought they would let the old girl retire with pride, now - now they are gonna make a zombie out of her."

"I also need a crew." She said.

"That is where I come in," the man named wolf spread out six files. "These people don't come with the 'standard crew' package. Instead, I got some of the UEF's best scientists, doctors, soldiers, mechanics and mercenaries. We got dossiers on all of them."

"And you'll be responsible for finding and recruiting all of them. You have better people skills then I do. So who is our first?"

"Corporal Dominic 'the Veteran' Stills." the picture showed a man, heavy with muscles. He was six feet tall, brown eyes and black hair that was aging. His most notable trait was a well trimmed beard that cover most of his lower face. "Loyal, faithful, and vocal, until his little trip to the Black Sea. He values selflessness and would do anything for the people he cares about. Despite a series of unimaginable events, he's persevered and sticks by his friends."

"Says here he was in San Jexium Maximum security prison, but it doesn't say what. Care to explain?"

"His commander went ape, mental break down. So the dog had to put down."

Wolf took another long drink before bringing up the next dossier: the Rookie. Female this time of human race, appeared to be about eighteen. Her skin color was a rich brown color, but it was off putting by her bright blond hair. Even in the dirt of battle it was the biggest attention grabbed.

"Private Alexandra Reaver, daughter of the famous Sergeant Axel Reaver. She's hyper-intelligent and has a sharp-tongue, but she doesn't know when to slow it up. Alex is still charismatic and quite perspective when it comes to her comrades."

"Stationed?"

"On Juno."

"Better dress warm then. Next."

Next dossier: the Jack-of-Trades. A Male, human, around twenty seven. Light skin, blue eyes, short blond hair with a pair of welding googles on his forehead. He appeared to be the thinest of the group.

"Damon 'the Jack-of-Trades' Scotts. Sarcastic, smart, and a bit on the selfish side, Damon is definitely his own man. He is social enough, but he would rather be alone to play with his toys."

"Can he work under pressure?"

"He grew up on Vera. He can do his job in his sleep."

Next dossier: the Ronin. A female, a Tau Fire Warrior, red eyes and a white battletail decorated in gold and gems. From the stare in her eyes, she could balance both beauty with lethality.

"Shas'El Xing T'au Mei. Daughter of the legendary mother, hard-charging Shas'O Cheng T'au Mei. It's hard to grow up with that fact, but she made her own woman of herself."

"Does she have bravado?"

"Not on paper. I know you don't like it, but she is a good warrior."

Next dossier: the Agani. A male Albino Masari lion, braided strands in his mane, and several tribal tattoos painted on his chest.

"Matal, former Agani, lost his title to his brother. Joined ARMCORP to make something of himself. He's a natural leader and a bit on the passive side, meaning he doesn't kill. might come in handy."

Last dossier: the Huntress. A female Imakandi-Songye, slim and tall with a shot gun and heavy machine gun strapped to her back.

"Tal Sha'Korra, or simply called Korra. A bounty hunter out in the Black Seas, I think. She keeps moving so much. Hard to track her."

"You have four years to do so." Viper closed the files and left Wolf with the bill.

Instead of entering another bar for some well-deserved R&R, Viper marched uphill to the north end of town. That was where her CO had set up shop in the same two-story office buildings where one of his Kragg counter-part had been doing business just a few months earlier. The sentry posted outside the front door nodded, but did not ask for ID, since nobody looked like Viper then Viper.

The office was decorated with a well-executed drawing of Kragg outriders' famous death's head logo, plus dozens of scrawled signature. Dead bugs for the most part - all buried in a mass grave outside of town or on the menu for tonight.

Procter was pretty in an understated, no-nonsense in casual sex, which was the kind Viper specialized in. Her bangs were straight, her eyes were grey, and Viper saw what might have been a warning in them. "The captain has been looking for you," she said, without inflection. "He's in his office."

Viper's face was impassive, but alarm bells were going off in her head, because "Captain America," as his fellow marines referred to him, was one of the few people in the Frontier who scared her. Not physically, because even with his specially augmented enhancement he was still no match for her, but in other ways. Captain Steven Grant Rogers was not only mean as hell, he had an inexplicable tendency to volunteer his unit for unit for dangerous missions, even officers who were of higher rank and in a different rank, and that was a threat to the most important person on Octavius: Maya 'Crimson' Viper.

So it was a sense of trepidation that Viper placed her rifle on the wall rack and approached the open door. She rapped three times and entered without the word 'enter,' doing the requisite three paces forward. A lot of officers would have forgone such formalities under circumstances, but not Captain America.

"Commander Maya Viper reporting for debriefing, Captain."

Steve Rogers was about thirty years old and loved to run. There were some people who said he could run the ass of a wheel. And because of that he was not only lean but very sure of himself. In fact, his self confidence seemed to ooze out of every pore of the officer's drug-enhanced body as he lounged behind his desk and took pleasure in the fact  that people like Viper, even with the rank, had to follow his orders The smile arrived slowly. "Hello Commander. Have a seat."
Viper accepted the invitation, settled into the metal chair, and waited to find out what kind of shit details a fellow officer had in store for her. It did not take long.

"I'm going take your Tactical Response Squad out on a mission tonight," Captain America announced, "and you'll be second in command."

Viper nodded woodenly. "Yes, sir. What's the objective?"

"We're going after a civilian collaborator," the officer replied. "A man who took money to provide the enemy with information about neighbors."

"Sounds like a cake walk, what hell do you need me for?"

"I said he was a civilian," Captain America replied. "What I didn't say is that he lives about fifteen miles north of here, in a fortified house, using Kragg technology, on a top of a hill. There have been periods of civil unrest on Octavius - and this home was built for punishment.  So a bit of circumspection is in order. We are going to dress like Kragg de-factors' and arrive in a Kragg transport, which was captured along with the town. It was in need of some repairs, but our people put the ship right and it is ready to lift.

"So if we fly in at night, the collaborator will believe we're there to pick him up," Viper mused, "and allow us to land unopposed."

"Something like that," Steve agreed vaguely. "Round up your team, get some food in them, and order the duty driver to take you down to the warehouse where the captured Kragg stuff is stored. Do you know Gunnery Sergeant Wolfgang?"

Viper felt her heart beat just a little bit faster. "We've met ... yes."

"Good. He's the one who gave us the info, and he set us up with proper gear. Meet me at the landing strip at 2200 hours. And don't be late, ma'am.... . You always know how to piss me off."

Viper knew it was time to leave, and stood. He was halfway out of the door when Steve stopped him.

"One more thing, commander... . Bring a heavy weapon. We might need it."

After spending a couple of hours getting ready, Viper and her squad drove onto the airstrip at precisely 1945, thereby ensuring that they had plenty of time to run a few checks on the team prior to lift off. Lightning flashed in the western sky as the big truck came to a halt and the squad bailed out.

All the necessary arrangements had been made by Corporal Barnes - her friend - so none of the Frontier soldiers opened fire on what appeared to be a squad of Kragg outsiders splashing across what had been a city park, to the row of aircraft parked beyond.

Kragg battle dress was a good deal less formal than the color-coded gear issued by the Frontier. In fact, in many cases the protective gear that each soldier wore consisted of UEF armor plating patched together with iron-leather padding. The uniforms were covered with guild symbols and insane insignias that marked their specialty, a tradition that stretched back to their founding.

The Kragg are a engineered devolved form of Tyranids. They became bipedal, looking almost human while also keeping their parasite beast-like form. The lower ranking ones are still called Tyranids and remain their classic form. The higher ranks are faster, stronger, and much smarter. They became smart enough, and desperate enough, to copy the weapons and tactics of the humans they deemed inferior.

The Kragg knew where the improvised airstrip was, of course, but there was no reason to make it easy for them, so, with the exception of handheld lamps and the spill light that  came from inside the Kragg dropship, the entire area was blacked out. However, out beyond the area that was under the direct control of the military, some of the local citizens were making no effort  to comply with the blackout, and the marines lacked sufficient personnel to chase them down.

"All right," Viper said as his team assembled next to the ship. "Pair off and check each other's gear. Barnes, you're with me."

Corporal Barnes, better known to the rest of the squad as 'the Winter Soldier,' was big and extremely powerful. So strong, in fact, that it was necessary for Viper to actually exert herself to beat Barnes at arm wrestling.

James Buchanan Barnes - or more commonly known Bucky or Winter Soldier - real claim to fame was his relationship to Steve Rogers, which some likened to the bond between a man and his dog. Viper knew that if Barnes was involved, Captain America would be the one pulling on the strings, and that proved to be the case as the squad members completed their checks and trooped into cargo bay. Captain America, now Overseer American, sort of a paradox, according to the Kragg insignias on his clothing, was chatting with the pilot. Once the squad was aboard and properly strapped in, he came back to sit with them.

"Lock and load," the officer said, as engines ran up and the Kragg dropship wobbled in the air. "We'll be over the target in above five minutes."

Each soldier - except the Captain who was only armed with a shield that looked like target - was armed with the standard issue Commando Gauss-Carbine. The most symbolic weapon of the ARMCORP forces that offers a near-perfect  blend of power, accuracy, and range that, along with the blood and bone spraying chainsaw bayonet, makes it a solid choice in many situations. They are also armed with the Solid pistol. The Solid pistol is apart of every ARMCORP and FLEETCORP soldier's standard issue. Though it lacks in power and range, the Solid has a satisfactory firing rate and is reliable to get out of a pinch. Not great in long range, but it's always good when the ammo runs dry. The only advantage the Solid has is that it is semi-automatic, meaning that it fires as fast as the trigger is squeezed.

The trip was short was so short there wouldn't have been any reason for transport if it had not been for the deception involved. But Viper was glad of it, because the faster they could complete the mission and return, the faster she could check into a four year furlough. Wolf was supposed to send two trucks in at 0300 filled with Kragg contraband, and she wanted to be present to get her money.

Both of the ship's door had been removed to make way for an automatic weapon on one side and a rotary grenade launcher on the other, both of which were manned by helmeted crewman. The slipstream blew below zero cold air and rain through the doors, but Viper was glad of that they were opening nonetheless, because they allowed her to catch an occasional glimpse of the countryside whenever a crack of lightning sparked across the sky.

As the ship flew north she saw a cluster of lights and knew she was looking at homes that should be blacked out. And that raised an interesting question... . Since she could clearly see them - did that mean the civilians could see the ships. Would they know that they were carrying Frontier soldiers? And would they recognize that it was a Kragg ship?

The fact that the ships were flying low, only a couple hundred feet of the ground, seemed to suggest that they would be found during lightning flashes. Viper felt something cold run through her bloodstream. Did Rogers want  people to spot the Kragg crafts? And if so, why?

There was no way to know, the Cap loved to keep secrets if it ment the success of the mission. The ship banked right and circled to port. That revealed a brightly lit house. The target, or so Viper assumed.

Captain Rogers was talking with the pilots via his helmet COMs, and while Viper couldn't hear what he was saying, she could read the officer's lips. Viper wondered why she was being cut out of the conversation. As acting commander, she had every right to know if she played the rank card. So was this an anomaly? Or was the officer hiding something? There was no way to know as the transport lost even more altitude and the circle tightened.

Viper, who was seated on the opposite the opening on the port side, caught a glimpse of a large house, outbuildings, and a landing pad with civilians scattering like cockroaches.

"Captain Roger!" Viper shouted. "We had civilians on the pad! I suggest we find a different strategy!"

She would have said more, but was cut off a spikes began to rattle against the fuselage. "That's what we've been waiting for," Captain Rogers said grimly, his voice flooding all of their helmets. "Let those traitor bastards have it!"

The grenade launcher was on the starboard side of the dropship and therefore pointed upwards. So unless they want to fire on the town, it was momentary useless. But the gauss cannon was operational and sent down a stream of white-blue tracers down to explode the estate below. Men, women, and even children were tossed around like rag dolls as the supersonic slugs found them. Empty casing flew through the air, bounced off the deck and rolled away.

But the battle was not one-sided, not by a long shot. The door gunner's head jerked as a slug smashed through his visor, scrambling his brains, and blew the greyish-pink goo out through the back of his helmet As he fell another marine took his dog place and place on the gun.

Viper was out of her seat by then and hurried to confront Captain Rogers. "I suggest that you tell the pilot to land this thing now, Captain! The transport makes use an easy target!"

"Soon," the officer agreed grimly, as a shoulder-launcher rocket exploded against the hull. "Let's make sure everyone in the area sees the markings on the ship first."

Now Viper understood the real reason for using a Kragg dropship in the disguises. The way the Frontier have been recruiting her soldiers have been more drastic; no thanks to the new head of technology, Anthony Stark. They were either taxed into joining, bought in on borderline slavery, or convinced for a better life. This was a scare tactic for to raise moral. Nothing does it better like a faux-terrorist attack to get the patriotic recruits. Thereby reinforcing all of the Frontier's propaganda about the alien enemies atrocity.

And the plan would probably work, that is if Captain Rogers got them all killed, which appeared to be increasingly likely as more enemy fire hit the hull, and holed it. A marine screamed as a piece of shrapnel took his leg off just below the knee and a corpsman rushed to his side.

"Put it down, Captain! Put it down now!" Viper ordered as she stared into Captain Roger's stony eyes.

"You're a coward, Viper," the officer replied tersely as a bullet came through the door, hitting the metal and ricocheted past his head. "And I'll have you charged in minutes we return to base."

Enraged, Viper lifted her weapons and smashed Captain Rogers in the side of the head. The officer was wearing a helmet, but the rifle butt hit so hard it broke through the protective shell, and delivered a blow to the company commander's skull. The ship dropped ten feet, then recovered as the pilot fed more power to the retros. Viper stumbled back.

Captain Roger's body drooped down to the floor as Barnes uttered a roar of outrage. He jumped onto Viper's back and called for reinforcements. Viper managed to drop the marine who came straight for her, but two more tackled her legs, she went down. Barnes wrapped two hands around Viper's neck and cut off her air supply. Viper felt the ship vibrate as the pilot maxed the retros, wondered how she could have been so stupid, and fell into darkness.

Description
United Earth Frontier staple-planet Octavius, Morr Galaxy, Stern system.

To sum Commander Maya Viper in one word, it would be 'perfect.' She excelled in her grades at the academy for her young age, strength and speed bordered on the inhuman side, her drive and natural skill are only seen in the most aged and experienced officers, and her beauty is as legendary as her tenacity. Another word to describe her is 'greedy.' She has been known to loot, hell even steal artifacts to make a quick credit, and has gone through enough red tape to sink a freighter. That is where she got her nickname of  the 'Crimson Viper.'

Drops of blood-warm rain were falling, and Viper could here the muted rumble of thunder coming from eighty-caliber cannons as she made her over to the main street of the city of Volks. Civilians and soldiers alike were moving faster as they thought shelter from the coming deluge.

Crimson would have done likewise had she been free to do so, but she was due back at Company HQ by 1600 hours local, where other members of her Tactical Response Squad would sit around and shoot the shit until they were relieved at midnight. Which, based on a twenty-eight-hour day, made for a long watch.
Though she had three hours until she would be considered 'on-time,' plus she made a large deposit. So she was rich and ready to take a chance. She went into a pub, hoping to get drunk and laid, but instead she saw on old friend sitting at the bar smoking a cigarette resting on a pile of dossier tablets.

"Well isn't it the Wolf of the Raven?" Viper said as she sat next to him.

"And aint it the Crimson Viper? What do I owe the pleasure?" He said as as he moved the brown hair out of his eyes.

"Buy me a couple of beers, and you may have the pleasure." She smiled as she took a long drag of a cigarette of her own.

"Tempting offer. But if I tried, I'd go bankrupt. So I'll pass." he made a gesture to the bartender, ordering two more beers. "So what do you want C?"

"Did you hear about the Midway?"

"You're baby? Yeah, who hasn't? Got totaled in the Blitz campaign, right?"

"There putting her back together. She became a bloody icon during the campaign."

"A campaign stars, over twenty-two battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation, Naval Unit Commendation, UEF Defensive Service Medal, and hundred more shiny medals to sink her. Thought they would let the old girl retire with pride, now - now they are gonna make a zombie out of her."

"I also need a crew." She said.

"That is where I come in," the man named wolf spread out six files. "These people don't come with the 'standard crew' package. Instead, I got some of the UEF's best scientists, doctors, soldiers, mechanics and mercenaries. We got dossiers on all of them."

"And you'll be responsible for finding and recruiting all of them. You have better people skills then I do. So who is our first?"

"Corporal Dominic 'the Veteran' Stills." the picture showed a man, heavy with muscles. He was six feet tall, brown eyes and black hair that was aging. His most notable trait was a well trimmed beard that cover most of his lower face. "Loyal, faithful, and vocal, until his little trip to the Black Sea. He values selflessness and would do anything for the people he cares about. Despite a series of unimaginable events, he's persevered and sticks by his friends."

"Says here he was in San Jexium Maximum security prison, but it doesn't say what. Care to explain?"

"His commander went ape, mental break down. So the dog had to put down."

Wolf took another long drink before bringing up the next dossier: the Rookie. Female this time of human race, appeared to be about eighteen. Her skin color was a rich brown color, but it was off putting by her bright blond hair. Even in the dirt of battle it was the biggest attention grabbed.

"Private Alexandra Reaver, daughter of the famous Sergeant Axel Reaver. She's hyper-intelligent and has a sharp-tongue, but she doesn't know when to slow it up. Alex is still charismatic and quite perspective when it comes to her comrades."

"Stationed?"

"On Juno."

"Better dress warm then. Next."

Next dossier: the Jack-of-Trades. A Male, human, around twenty seven. Light skin, blue eyes, short blond hair with a pair of welding googles on his forehead. He appeared to be the thinest of the group.

"Damon 'the Jack-of-Trades' Scotts. Sarcastic, smart, and a bit on the selfish side, Damon is definitely his own man. He is social enough, but he would rather be alone to play with his toys."

"Can he work under pressure?"

"He grew up on Vera. He can do his job in his sleep."

Next dossier: the Ronin. A female, a Tau Fire Warrior, red eyes and a white battletail decorated in gold and gems. From the stare in her eyes, she could balance both beauty with lethality.

"Shas'El Xing T'au Mei. Daughter of the legendary mother, hard-charging Shas'O Cheng T'au Mei. It's hard to grow up with that fact, but she made her own woman of herself."

"Does she have bravado?"

"Not on paper. I know you don't like it, but she is a good warrior."

Next dossier: the Agani. A male Albino Masari lion, braided strands in his mane, and several tribal tattoos painted on his chest.

"Matal, former Agani, lost his title to his brother. Joined ARMCORP to make something of himself. He's a natural leader and a bit on the passive side, meaning he doesn't kill. might come in handy."

Last dossier: the Huntress. A female Imakandi-Songye, slim and tall with a shot gun and heavy machine gun strapped to her back.

"Tal Sha'Korra, or simply called Korra. A bounty hunter out in the Black Seas, I think. She keeps moving so much. Hard to track her."

"You have four years to do so." Viper closed the files and left Wolf with the bill.

Instead of entering another bar for some well-deserved R&R, Viper marched uphill to the north end of town. That was where her CO had set up shop in the same two-story office buildings where one of his Kragg counter-part had been doing business just a few months earlier. The sentry posted outside the front door nodded, but did not ask for ID, since nobody looked like Viper then Viper.

The office was decorated with a well-executed drawing of Kragg outriders' famous death's head logo, plus dozens of scrawled signature. Dead bugs for the most part - all buried in a mass grave outside of town or on the menu for tonight.

Procter was pretty in an understated, no-nonsense in casual sex, which was the kind Viper specialized in. Her bangs were straight, her eyes were grey, and Viper saw what might have been a warning in them. "The captain has been looking for you," she said, without inflection. "He's in his office."

Viper's face was impassive, but alarm bells were going off in her head, because "Captain America," as his fellow marines referred to him, was one of the few people in the Frontier who scared her. Not physically, because even with his specially augmented enhancement he was still no match for her, but in other ways. Captain Steven Grant Rogers was not only mean as hell, he had an inexplicable tendency to volunteer his unit for unit for dangerous missions, even officers who were of higher rank and in a different rank, and that was a threat to the most important person on Octavius: Maya 'Crimson' Viper.

So it was a sense of trepidation that Viper placed her rifle on the wall rack and approached the open door. She rapped three times and entered without the word 'enter,' doing the requisite three paces forward. A lot of officers would have forgone such formalities under circumstances, but not Captain America.

"Commander Maya Viper reporting for debriefing, Captain."

Steve Rogers was about thirty years old and loved to run. There were some people who said he could run the ass of a wheel. And because of that he was not only lean but very sure of himself. In fact, his self confidence seemed to ooze out of every pore of the officer's drug-enhanced body as he lounged behind his desk and took pleasure in the fact  that people like Viper, even with the rank, had to follow his orders The smile arrived slowly. "Hello Commander. Have a seat."
Viper accepted the invitation, settled into the metal chair, and waited to find out what kind of shit details a fellow officer had in store for her. It did not take long.

"I'm going take your Tactical Response Squad out on a mission tonight," Captain America announced, "and you'll be second in command."

Viper nodded woodenly. "Yes, sir. What's the objective?"

"We're going after a civilian collaborator," the officer replied. "A man who took money to provide the enemy with information about neighbors."

"Sounds like a cake walk, what hell do you need me for?"

"I said he was a civilian," Captain America replied. "What I didn't say is that he lives about fifteen miles north of here, in a fortified house, using Kragg technology, on a top of a hill. There have been periods of civil unrest on Octavius - and this home was built for punishment.  So a bit of circumspection is in order. We are going to dress like Kragg de-factors' and arrive in a Kragg transport, which was captured along with the town. It was in need of some repairs, but our people put the ship right and it is ready to lift.

"So if we fly in at night, the collaborator will believe we're there to pick him up," Viper mused, "and allow us to land unopposed."

"Something like that," Steve agreed vaguely. "Round up your team, get some food in them, and order the duty driver to take you down to the warehouse where the captured Kragg stuff is stored. Do you know Gunnery Sergeant Wolfgang?"

Viper felt her heart beat just a little bit faster. "We've met ... yes."

"Good. He's the one who gave us the info, and he set us up with proper gear. Meet me at the landing strip at 2200 hours. And don't be late, ma'am.... . You always know how to piss me off."

Viper knew it was time to leave, and stood. He was halfway out of the door when Steve stopped him.

"One more thing, commander... . Bring a heavy weapon. We might need it."

After spending a couple of hours getting ready, Viper and her squad drove onto the airstrip at precisely 1945, thereby ensuring that they had plenty of time to run a few checks on the team prior to lift off. Lightning flashed in the western sky as the big truck came to a halt and the squad bailed out.

All the necessary arrangements had been made by Corporal Barnes - her friend - so none of the Frontier soldiers opened fire on what appeared to be a squad of Kragg outsiders splashing across what had been a city park, to the row of aircraft parked beyond.

Kragg battle dress was a good deal less formal than the color-coded gear issued by the Frontier. In fact, in many cases the protective gear that each soldier wore consisted of UEF armor plating patched together with iron-leather padding. The uniforms were covered with guild symbols and insane insignias that marked their specialty, a tradition that stretched back to their founding.

The Kragg are a engineered devolved form of Tyranids. They became bipedal, looking almost human while also keeping their parasite beast-like form. The lower ranking ones are still called Tyranids and remain their classic form. The higher ranks are faster, stronger, and much smarter. They became smart enough, and desperate enough, to copy the weapons and tactics of the humans they deemed inferior.

The Kragg knew where the improvised airstrip was, of course, but there was no reason to make it easy for them, so, with the exception of handheld lamps and the spill light that  came from inside the Kragg dropship, the entire area was blacked out. However, out beyond the area that was under the direct control of the military, some of the local citizens were making no effort  to comply with the blackout, and the marines lacked sufficient personnel to chase them down.

"All right," Viper said as his team assembled next to the ship. "Pair off and check each other's gear. Barnes, you're with me."

Corporal Barnes, better known to the rest of the squad as 'the Winter Soldier,' was big and extremely powerful. So strong, in fact, that it was necessary for Viper to actually exert herself to beat Barnes at arm wrestling.

James Buchanan Barnes - or more commonly known Bucky or Winter Soldier - real claim to fame was his relationship to Steve Rogers, which some likened to the bond between a man and his dog. Viper knew that if Barnes was involved, Captain America would be the one pulling on the strings, and that proved to be the case as the squad members completed their checks and trooped into cargo bay. Captain America, now Overseer American, sort of a paradox, according to the Kragg insignias on his clothing, was chatting with the pilot. Once the squad was aboard and properly strapped in, he came back to sit with them.

"Lock and load," the officer said, as engines ran up and the Kragg dropship wobbled in the air. "We'll be over the target in above five minutes."

Each soldier - except the Captain who was only armed with a shield that looked like target - was armed with the standard issue Commando Gauss-Carbine. The most symbolic weapon of the ARMCORP forces that offers a near-perfect  blend of power, accuracy, and range that, along with the blood and bone spraying chainsaw bayonet, makes it a solid choice in many situations. They are also armed with the Solid pistol. The Solid pistol is apart of every ARMCORP and FLEETCORP soldier's standard issue. Though it lacks in power and range, the Solid has a satisfactory firing rate and is reliable to get out of a pinch. Not great in long range, but it's always good when the ammo runs dry. The only advantage the Solid has is that it is semi-automatic, meaning that it fires as fast as the trigger is squeezed.

The trip was short was so short there wouldn't have been any reason for transport if it had not been for the deception involved. But Viper was glad of it, because the faster they could complete the mission and return, the faster she could check into a four year furlough. Wolf was supposed to send two trucks in at 0300 filled with Kragg contraband, and she wanted to be present to get her money.

Both of the ship's door had been removed to make way for an automatic weapon on one side and a rotary grenade launcher on the other, both of which were manned by helmeted crewman. The slipstream blew below zero cold air and rain through the doors, but Viper was glad of that they were opening nonetheless, because they allowed her to catch an occasional glimpse of the countryside whenever a crack of lightning sparked across the sky.

As the ship flew north she saw a cluster of lights and knew she was looking at homes that should be blacked out. And that raised an interesting question... . Since she could clearly see them - did that mean the civilians could see the ships. Would they know that they were carrying Frontier soldiers? And would they recognize that it was a Kragg ship?

The fact that the ships were flying low, only a couple hundred feet of the ground, seemed to suggest that they would be found during lightning flashes. Viper felt something cold run through her bloodstream. Did Rogers want  people to spot the Kragg crafts? And if so, why?

There was no way to know, the Cap loved to keep secrets if it ment the success of the mission. The ship banked right and circled to port. That revealed a brightly lit house. The target, or so Viper assumed.

Captain Rogers was talking with the pilots via his helmet COMs, and while Viper couldn't hear what he was saying, she could read the officer's lips. Viper wondered why she was being cut out of the conversation. As acting commander, she had every right to know if she played the rank card. So was this an anomaly? Or was the officer hiding something? There was no way to know as the transport lost even more altitude and the circle tightened.

Viper, who was seated on the opposite the opening on the port side, caught a glimpse of a large house, outbuildings, and a landing pad with civilians scattering like cockroaches.

"Captain Roger!" Viper shouted. "We had civilians on the pad! I suggest we find a different strategy!"

She would have said more, but was cut off a spikes began to rattle against the fuselage. "That's what we've been waiting for," Captain Rogers said grimly, his voice flooding all of their helmets. "Let those traitor bastards have it!"

The grenade launcher was on the starboard side of the dropship and therefore pointed upwards. So unless they want to fire on the town, it was momentary useless. But the gauss cannon was operational and sent down a stream of white-blue tracers down to explode the estate below. Men, women, and even children were tossed around like rag dolls as the supersonic slugs found them. Empty casing flew through the air, bounced off the deck and rolled away.

But the battle was not one-sided, not by a long shot. The door gunner's head jerked as a slug smashed through his visor, scrambling his brains, and blew the greyish-pink goo out through the back of his helmet As he fell another marine took his dog place and place on the gun.

Viper was out of her seat by then and hurried to confront Captain Rogers. "I suggest that you tell the pilot to land this thing now, Captain! The transport makes use an easy target!"

"Soon," the officer agreed grimly, as a shoulder-launcher rocket exploded against the hull. "Let's make sure everyone in the area sees the markings on the ship first."

Now Viper understood the real reason for using a Kragg dropship in the disguises. The way the Frontier have been recruiting her soldiers have been more drastic; no thanks to the new head of technology, Anthony Stark. They were either taxed into joining, bought in on borderline slavery, or convinced for a better life. This was a scare tactic for to raise moral. Nothing does it better like a faux-terrorist attack to get the patriotic recruits. Thereby reinforcing all of the Frontier's propaganda about the alien enemies atrocity.

And the plan would probably work, that is if Captain Rogers got them all killed, which appeared to be increasingly likely as more enemy fire hit the hull, and holed it. A marine screamed as a piece of shrapnel took his leg off just below the knee and a corpsman rushed to his side.

"Put it down, Captain! Put it down now!" Viper ordered as she stared into Captain Roger's stony eyes.

"You're a coward, Viper," the officer replied tersely as a bullet came through the door, hitting the metal and ricocheted past his head. "And I'll have you charged in minutes we return to base."

Enraged, Viper lifted her weapons and smashed Captain Rogers in the side of the head. The officer was wearing a helmet, but the rifle butt hit so hard it broke through the protective shell, and delivered a blow to the company commander's skull. The ship dropped ten feet, then recovered as the pilot fed more power to the retros. Viper stumbled back.

Captain Roger's body drooped down to the floor as Barnes uttered a roar of outrage. He jumped onto Viper's back and called for reinforcements. Viper managed to drop the marine who came straight for her, but two more tackled her legs, she went down. Barnes wrapped two hands around Viper's neck and cut off her air supply. Viper felt the ship vibrate as the pilot maxed the retros, wondered how she could have been so stupid, and fell into darkness.