Train Ride, Anyone?

Sergeant Michael "Psycho" Sykes was now aboard the train containing the mysterious container that appears to be holding one of the alien things that Prophet and I (Nomad) are fighting inside a huge frozen sphere nearby on the island. Time for a train ride.

When I was a kid, I remember looking forward to summer vacations and a visit to an amusement park in the Midwest portion of the United States. In that amusement park was an Old West train ride that escorted the visitors through a series of trees. Every now and then, the area would open and there would be park workers acting as if they lived their lives in log cabins and villages built in the open areas.

The train path ended up becoming a large figure 8 and when the train arrived the second time, the areas had all been attacked by would-be enemies. At one point the train stopped and the enemies boarded - acting as if they were going to cease the train and take all of us with them. Then, of course, the good guys came and saved the day. Ride was over.

Well, fast forward quite a few years later and change those friendly enemies with a combination of aliens and Korean People's Army (KPA) troops and the goal is still the same. Psycho has to save the day and take care of any of the bad guys surrounding him. Like I wrote before, time for a train ride!



Psycho noticed a few KPA troops near the container and used mounted machine guns to take them out before the train left the station. Looking around, it appeared the train itself is clear. Now, he needed to take out anyone who was trying to take him out ... which he believed would be a lot!

As he approached a set of shacks along the track, he was met with KPA troops forcing hundreds, if not thousands, of bullets at his head. He jumped to another mounted machine gun and cleared the area.

Soon an Armored Scout Vehicle (ASV) approached from behind, with rockets this time aimed at Psycho's head. He spun the gun around and destroyed the ASV after taking a few hits from nearby rocket shots. The Nanosuit healed itself and Psycho was able to continue onward.



The automated train approached a village, loaded with KPA troops. In the far distance, the frozen sphere which contained me (Nomad) and Prophet was in the distance. Psycho hoped to be moving away from that area - not closer to it!

Psycho continued to use the mounted machine gun and some rockets from his rocket launcher to clear out the village as the train continued to roll forward.



Just as Psycho was realizing the effects of handling the situation alone, his radio announced a familiar voice. It was Sam O'Neill, former Raptor Team Delta Force member. O'Neill let Psycho know he was there to assist via the air and began clearing out area ahead of the train.



JSOC was not pleased that O'Neill left his mission to seek and assist Psycho. Just as they started to order him out of the area, the train began to slow - then stop.

This was not a scheduled stop and no one was in the engine car controlling the train. However, this was the perfect opportunity to disable the train permanently and keep it from moving forward up the tracks.

The only bad news, is that the area appears to be crawling with KPA troops! At least O'Neill is assisting from the air ... at least for now.

Disable the Train

The stop was in another area operated by the Pacific Shores mining company. Or, at least it was operated by them before these things emerged from the island. That meant, that somewhere in the area, a control tower should exist which can override and stop the train from continuing forward.

JSOC and Psycho both agreed that this area would be better to monitor the crate than letting the train continue toward it's final destination - which likely contained Colonel Lee and a huge gathering of Korean People's Army (KPA) troops.

Still, there were quite a few troops here that needed to be taken care of, which was part of the goal. However, Psycho had to get to that control tower before staging a war in the area.

Looking around while in cloak mode, the tower was located. Unfortunately, the tower was not aligned directly next to the tracks. That would have been way too easy, he guessed. Between himself and the tower, were quite a few buildings ... and KPA troops. Time to run and gun, Psycho realized.

Using the speed mode of the Nanosuit and wielding two AY69 micro machine guns, Psycho was able to clear a path in his route to the tower. He climbed the outer ladder up to the control tower, while dodging bullets from troops time did not permit him to destroy.

Before Psycho could reach the controls, the train began to move forward again. JSOC's instructions were clear, Psycho had to get back to that train.

There was no time to climb down the ladder, so the Nanosuit was put into armor mode and Psycho leaped from the tower to multiple resting points. He only rested for a second, while he planned his next jump and landing. He then slid down a rock formation and raced toward the train.

He reached the train and found himself arming another mounted machine gun, taking out KPA troops from all directions - including another automated train and a KPA helicopter.

The train reached a tunnel and Psycho was able to take a rest. On the other side of the tunnel, a huge swamp approached. Because of the terrain above, O'Neill was forced to stay back.

The swamp area was clear of KPA activity and JSOC was able to provide updates. The other two remaining members of Psycho's Raptor Team, Nomad (me) and Prophet had made it out of the sphere alive at this point. This is when I (Nomad) was ordered back to the USS Constitution - but not before encountering an interesting VTOL battle.

So at this point, Psycho was pleased to know that we were both still fighting the battle with him and no further casualties remained to Team Raptor of the US Delta Force.

JSOC was still not pleased that O'Neill was in the area and wanted him back to his ordered priorities ASAP. The goal was to send me (Nomad) to assist Psycho, since I was heading toward the USS Constitution and apparently had some free time now.

JSOC reminded everyone about O'Neill's past failure with the Code Blue. He was a risk to be on this mission and needed to abort now. Psycho still believed in O'Neill - even after the Code Blue incident. Eventually, he talked them into letting O'Neill have a second chance.

Then, the train stopped. This was certainly not a planned stop.

The container began to glow. There was no one else around the train, besides Psycho, at this point.

Things were about to get interesting in the swamps.