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 no penal troop or disposable boot ass marine. 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 tears through carapace with ease, 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 south 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 sergeant. 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 sergeants at the least. After that, you’ll be on overwatch on our squad, 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.

Sarn’t, 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. Btn still hasn’t figured out how to fix our goggles and doesn’t give us any damn belts. Remember to stick to the sergeant.

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 RA. 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 bugs are between you and you ran through someone’s line of fire, you’ll move while 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. M250 smart-rounds, so worse stopping power than the M41, but with a faster cyclic rate and better rounds than the 2/4’s M56 smartguns. 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 drums

“Close-in weapons system” - it’s a shotgun. S-4 got the battalion some goodies, though, and we got special-issue buckshot. Either way, the 12 gauge buck can go through three-ish bugs, back-to-back. Could drop two marines, too.

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 M4RA-R2, 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

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…

The UPP guys, Space Operating Forces, Naval Infantry platoon. Their doctrines are similar to ours: 10 infantrymen, officer doing overwatch. They got sentries like we got, they got IFF-capable machineguns like we got, they even got pulse rifles, shotguns and flamers like we got - but all their stuff is a bit different. Their guns also suffer from poor ammo conservability, so it’s not uncommon to see privates running with ammo boxes on their backs.

The green mean recon machines, FORECON squad. They operate in smaller numbers - 7 infantrymen, no overwatch support - mostly performing reconnaisance missions. They make do with less and have a strong aversion to helmets.

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