LCPL Fitzgerald’s Guide to CM-SS13: PVE USCM

You’re not on the Almayer anymore. You’re on the Golden Arrow, marine.

Most things they teach you over there don’t work here. Here, you’re indispensable; from the lowliest footslogger to the OCS-trained eye in the sky. You’re the ultimate badass; state-of-badass-art. Nobody wants to fuck with you.

You’re tougher, better equipped, and coordinated. You got the incinerators’ auto-spray functions, buckshot load that can knock 8ft horrors on their chitinous asses, tank-round firin’ DMRs, 571-C sentries with deadlier setups, insulated armored gloves, integrated welding screens on welders, electronic ball breakers, knives, sharp sticks…

You’ll find all this fancy new gear in the armory. Some of the equipment you’ll receive are newer models, so they kick way more ass than their Falling Falcons counterparts. No requisitions, though. What you get is what you get - unless the powers that be send something through the supply lift north of prep or the hangar bay storage rooms.

One more problem: you might take longer to die once you’re down, but you’re not gonna live forever. Once you’re dead, that’s that. See you next time, buddy.

How to avoid dying? Listen to your squad leader. If he’s not barking orders, listen to the gunny. If the gunny’s dying, listen to the lieutenant. If the lieutenant’s panicking, well-

“That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over!”

But, lemme give you some tips before you head down there, marine.

These are important - assuming that you’ve already gone through the basics of combat in the Colonial Marines.

If you’re still greener than grass? Shit, man, what’re you doing here? Ask around, we’re nice. Mostly.

“Fitz, what’s my job?” USCM

Do I really gotta tell you? Fine.

Well, sir, you’re in charge. Company Command’ll relay mission orders, sir. You gotta make the plan, tell the gunny and the squad leads at the least. After that, you’ll be on overwatch on our section, tellin’ us where to go, what to do. This is a whole lotta responsibility but it’s pretty relaxed, sir. (P.S. God and Company Command will be talking to you plenty.)

Gunny, you’re the real boss. Get your stuff ready, corral our asses, Maybe issue out that DMR, and haul us off to brief. LT tells you n’ the boys what to do, and you’re usually the one in command when boots are on the ground.

Doc, you’re the only one that can keep us alive. Your kit that involves putting us together is in the backroom of the sickbay. Your kit that involves tearing bad guys apart has to be taken from our prep. You gotta keep us from dying - once we’ve bled out (-200%), we’re gone. Concentrated adrenaline allows us to get up after being downed, but it does heart and oxy damage. Ouch.

Lead, you’re my boss. 3 guys under you, a smartgunner and two riflemen. Keep us close, keep us organized, keep us safe, bossman. Gunny’s gonna give orders, you’re gonna pass ‘em on.

That’s me. And you. We get a smartgun, it’s in a locker in prep. Batallion still hasn’t figured out how to fix our goggles and doesn’t give us belts with plenty of pouches for drums. Remember to stick to the squad lead.

Buddy, you’re the grunt. If you take the special gear - flamer and sentry - and keep it fuckin’ safe. Follow the sergeant’s orders, yeah?

Friendly fire is bad for you USCM

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Friendly fire is statistically the worst thing that can happen to you on these ops. Getting shot sucks, ‘cuz it hurts way more than those claws the bugs got. Shrapnel, brute, bloodloss - you may be tougher, but none of you are invincible.

And if a bug does get in your lines:
  • Use your M41 or pistol. Hit the bug directly. Don’t shoot in the general direction. You’ll ventilate a jarhead’s chest.
  • Don’t use your shotgun. The buck will go through the bug. And still have enough power to kill. You see that photo at the top? Delaney killed two marines here, barely any time to react.
  • Don't use the A6. The uranium round will go straight through 3 bugs and a fellow marines armor. Probably shut their kidneys down too.
  • Don’t use the M40s unless you’re sure. Window frames, girders, corners are bad. HEDPs can instantly kill a marine. Delaney wiped out a squad with one.
  • Don’t use the flamethrower, either. Napalm sticks to marines too. It’s not worth the trade, trust me. Don’t be like PFC Delaney.
Or, better yet, let the smartie turn around and gun it down. He can’t really shoot you unless he wants to.

I would know. I’m your smartgunner. I’m coming for you, Chumpkins.


Hold your ground USCM

On the Almayer, they might teach you to dance around, dodging enemy fire. It’s different over here. Find cover, set lanes of fire. Look for a choke to funnel the bugs so you can pour lead on ‘em.

Running and gunning with the old MK1s makes for less accuracy. Sure, if you’re with a few guys or alone (uh oh!), you could move it while spraying your rifle. Definitely do this when fighting human enemies.

Sure, you can have some wiggle room, but don’t do the dance of death. You’ll get shot or fuck someone over if you move too much.

Charging is stupid. You’ll shoot each other because the idiot is now between you and the bugs. Congratulations, idiot! You ran through someone’s line of fire, now you’re moving whilst shrapnel cuts up your insides, and so on. Hunker down n’ weather it out. But, if the situation gets desperate? Better get moving.

A movie

Pop culture lied to you folks. The last time a marine counter-charge worked, it was when our enemies didn’t bleed acid and have sharp teeth for weapons. Eat your heart out, Stallone.

Your hardware USCM

Workhorse rifle of the Colonial Marines. Soon to be phased out in favor of the MK2, but we got stuck with it. Supply’s low on the explosive-tip rounds, though. Not much difference from the 2/4’s side-grades, actually. Just that we all get one.

Squad support weapon. Typical ammo are the M250 10x28mm rounds, so it hits harder than the M41, but burns through the ammo thanks to a much faster cyclic rate of fire. These rounds are miles better than those the 2/4’s M56 smartguns get saddled with. IFF stops ya if there’s a marine in your sights, but ya can’t cause friendly fire. Better also have someone help carry your spare rounds, each gunner gets a box of loose rounds to reload their drums from.

“Close-in weapons system” - it’s a shotgun. Six in the tube, one in the chamber. Fires as fast as the action cycles. Comes with a baby grenade launcher, holds less than the 41’s PN 30mm. Neat little one-trick pony.

An older shotgun from when your great-great grand-daddy shot nazis instead of commies. Still in production today, now brought up to Uncle Sam’s standards. Worse than the M120 in all aspects, but you can’t ever beat the classics.

The ‘bake-a-flake’. It’s got an automatic function, so spray and pray if you wanna. Just remember that it burns fuel fast. Napalm scares bugs off though, and they’ll try to go around it. But if they’re left with no choice? They’ll run right through it.

Your guardian angel. We only get 2 drums of 500 10x28mm per unit. Upgraded sensory package, fire control system, and modified feeding system. That means it acquires targets a second faster, four times the rate of fire, and a two shot burst. Goddamn…

The M49A6, loved by some, hated by your corpsman. This baby’ll go through just about any armor or wall you throw at it, Marines included. Got some fancy pants depleted uranium rounds, thankfully the corpsman says it’s not radioactive, just highly toxic! The corps barely made any of these bastards so we only get one, gunny likes to issue it but if you take it I’m sure they won’t mind.

There’s a few varieties of these bad boys aboard; mainly the M40 HEDP, the M72A2 illumination rounds, and the M47 HSDP smoke grenades. The M40 & M47 can be primed and thrown, but also load in the underbarrel grenade launchers. Launcher-fired rounds explode on impact; hand-tossed ones take a few seconds. Just be careful, these suckers don’t have a minimum arming distance…

You’ll find all of this stuff in the squad prep bay, both squads get issued one of each of the special shit in the armory just east of the prep bay. Additional gear includes M314 motion detectors and a box of M40 HEDPs per squad. Ammos in the crates, break ‘em open with a crowbar. Just make sure you aren’t stealing the other squad’s stuff unless you ask first.”

Our corner of the Golden Arrow USCM

This is our platoon’s jump point.

I’ll be bumming around the hangar supply bays, probably. Don’t tell the Gunny.

Golden arrow

These other guys USCM

Some people say that command is concerned with other forces operating in our sector. Here’s what I heard…

Progs, tin cans, commies, yadda yadda. Naval Infantry’s a longer word for “marines”. Armor’s greener, bullets are a helluva lot bigger, but it’s almost like looking in a mirror - if I was indoctrinated with post-Marxist communist-socialist bullshit, anyways. Less toys to play with when the Party gets generous, but they’re our peers as the only other real “Space Operating Force”. Just ask the guys from the ops back on Arcturia and Tientsin.

Force Reconnaissance. Name’s on the tin, and they do as advertised. Recon-in-force. Lighter kit, smaller unit, shittier job - depending on who you ask. Not quite special forces, but they do like getting stuck in real deep from time to time. Recon marines go fast, go hard. High speed, low drag. Fragile, but real fucking sharp. But like ye olde saying goes - “burn bright, burn quick.”

Hired killers with permanent employment. Corp grunts. Like rest of their buddy-fuckers in the ICSC, they’re serious business - on the job when we’re not wanted. Most of their hit-teams are tactical, direct action; nothing heavy like we got. Lots in common with us on the western end of the Line but strictly light infantry with shinier ceramics and better retirement plans.

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