Stronghold

Prophet and I made it up the hill near the bridge we just crossed under as noted in my last post. When we reached the top of the hill, we were met with a deployment of US Forces, including Major Strickland's Recon team. Just when I thought we would be the only two humans left on the island, I was again surprised by Strickland's ability to help save the day.

Prophet and Strickland took a few minutes to catch up. Basically, Strickland told him that he was glad to see him again. Like the rest of us, we all thought Prophet was dead a few days ago when one of the machines stole him without warning.



From looking at my radar, the area around the rock where the machines escaped has turned into a large sphere of ice. I am going to guess that the temperature inside the sphere is in the negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit range now. Too cold for even the Nanosuit, in my opinion.

Our next objective is to meet up with Keegan, who has assumed control of this part of the island. Keegan's team is going to help us evacuate the island. Just as we arrived into the area, quickly came some of the aliens/machines.



Since I pushed the remaining SCAR ammo from my fallen teammates into one of the last machines we met near the bridge, I left the SCAR behind and picked up a Gauss Rifle again. I also kept the futuristic gun Prophet stole from the machines. I still need to figure out where and how he managed to get that gun. He's not asked for it back yet, so I am going to not bring up the topic just yet. This gun just might save me!

After several of the smaller machines arrived, we were met with some of the larger machines. Using the Gauss Rifle, I was able to destroy the smaller machines with one or two shots and the bigger machines with two or three shots. This is what it looks like when you take down one of the big machines with the Gauss Rifle.



I used the shelter of the base to recover my health after being hit, which recharged the armor function of the Nanosuit. Within a few minutes, the area was clear. With a finite amount of ammo and that ice sphere seeming to be migrating toward us, our next step is to continue down toward the valley so that we could prepare for extraction from this crazy island.

So, Prophet got in the driver's seat of the Hummer and I took position at the gun. I was really wishing I could use the Gauss Rifle while riding, because of the amount of power behind the gun. As I thought about it more, I would probably not be as accurate with the driving style Prophet had to employ to keep us moving down the hill.

I believe I ended up waxing two or three more large machines on our way down to the valley. Including this last machine that tried to surprise us from behind the trees.



The key was to wait until the machine closed in on us, then release as much lead as possible into the center core of the machine. The vehicle-mounted gun was very good at taking down these machines, while still allowing us to travel toward our next way-point.

We received radio contact. The VTOL that was going to take us off the island had been hit. Both pilots were not moving and the distress call came from a female aboard the ship. It was Helana, Dr. Rosenthal's daughter. She was hiding out in the crashed VTOL and needed to be rescued. We could see the flame from the crash just ahead.



The Hummer was in bad shape by this point, so I decided to venture toward Helena on foot. I would plan to use the speed mode of the Nanosuit. I need to get over to her as soon as possible, because I am pretty sure she is unarmed.

I need to get to her now, so I will touch base soon.

Nomad ... signing out.

Hunter

I arrived to the crash site where Helana Rosenthal was hoping for a miracle. Just above the crash site were several alien/machines patrolling the area - looking for any existence of life. Prophet is not too far behind me. I hope to take down some of these machines by the time he arrives. For now, I am going to be Helena's miracle.



Using the Gauss Rifle, I was able to eliminate the smaller machines without any issues. I saw Helena. She is still alive and looks to be in good shape, albeit very scared. I told her to stay in the hull of the ship and I will keep the area clear until more troops arrive.

I jumped into a heavy machine gun and prepared for battle as some of the larger machines arrived.



The true challenge here was being able to navigate the guns toward the machines before they managed to hit me first. Since the gun on the Hummer was able to take down these machines, the heavy machine gun that I was sitting in had no trouble taking them down.

I could still catch a glimpse of Helena from time to time. She seemed more calm now that more of us had arrived into the area and were taking care of the situation. Special Forces - there really isn't a better job when it comes to saving lives!

We cleared the area and a second VTOL arrived. To keep Helena safe, we sent Prophet with her. Hopefully, he could some much-needed repairs done on his Nanosuit. I still can't wait to hear about his adventure with the machines. I thought my adventure was wild, but I was never stolen by the machines. Instead, I took a private tour of their facilities - nearly paying the ultimate price before I managed to escape. At any rate, Helena and Prophet's VTOL left the area without us noticing any issues.



A loud rumble began to shake the area. I would tell you that I was shocked by what I heard, but I think my surprise mechanisms have all turned numb by this point. When I looked behind me, I noticed an even larger machine/alien walking toward us.



This huge spider-like alien/machine destroyed my heavy machine gun shortly after I tried to take it down using the remaining ammo in the guns. The spider machine continued onward, toward the same location which is our next way point. The other troops tried to take it down, but their ammo didn't even stun the machine. I used Prophet's alien gun, which had no effect either.

My goal was to race forward and try to beat the machine to my next way point. I took a high road on the way there and managed to get a pretty decent photo of the spider machine for potential future reference.



I need to head toward my next way point, because I can see a lot of fire power heading from the direction. My guess is that Strickland is down there and he probably has his name of this spider-machine. Heck, he probably wants to mount it's head or something on his mantle back in the US.

I will be back in touch soon!

Nomad ... signing out.