Volunteer

**Key Features** | »MX-15»Pipe bombs»Balaclava/Black kerchief»Tiger stripe camo/Trenchcoat»Lunch (Made by mother with love)

## Tactical Analysis

* **I, Volunteer:** The basic fighter for the Front, the Volunteer is considered one of the most dangerous fighters on Earth. Armed with a smuggled MX-15 rifle, the volunteer is capable of putting a bullet into a target at an incredible range.

* **More than a dream:** The members of the Front also arm themselves with homemade pipe bombs that can be thrown a short distance to clear out structures of frag enemy infantry out in the open. Unfortunately, the Front's pipe bombs work on time-delays, so the throw needs to be timed perfectly.

* **Living and dying by the gun:** The volunteers greatest weaknesses are their lack of anti-vehicle and anti-aircraft capabilities. They're also easily overwhelmed by anti-infantry weapons, and their cost compared to infantry like the cheap GLA rebel makes each lose heavily felt.

* **My own modifications:** After enough time dodging death, the volunteers soon learn two things; that the mechanisms on the MX-15 can be filed down, and the timers of the pipe bombs can be made to detonate in under a second.

## Background

*"And this is why we should seriously deal with the Front with whatever means we have. They appear weak at times they are strong, and they appear strong at times they appear weak. When they are near, they make us believe they are still far away, and when they far away, they make us believe they are near."*

- Apollo Fowl's message at the Satellite City branch of Legion Security
What is the most effective man who fights for freedom? The GLA, PLA, and NRA pump out hordes of practically useless soldiers whose only purpose is to gum up the enemy's actions to the point of uselessness. The Continentals try to operate a proper army on Texas oil money, underground Wall Street deals, and naval raiding. The Phoenix Front has neither the resources for meat grinders, or the reach to wage a proper war. They have decided to eschew the teachings of Stalin; quality has a quality all its own.

Typically, volunteers don't join the Front, but are chosen by recruiters looking for the right qualities the Front values. Instead of a rioter who chooses to charge headlong into the spraying GOOP of an ARV, the Front wants men who hang back and watch for their time to strike. Men who take the third option and live a little longer without killing innocents. Those who accept are quickly spirited away to quiet training areas, makeshift camps and barracks in the cities and countrysides. Using smuggled MX-15s secured in Belfast (Just because they hate the Syndicate doesn't mean they can't use their systems), these volunteers are trained in marksmanship, small unit tactics, and small explosives. This has especially become a problem, as the streets of Northern Ireland are now filled with pipe bombs full of nails waiting to be set off.

Typically, these volunteers work in small, four-man teams to ease their operations. Unlike PK squads that must always remain in visual contact as often as possible, these small cells are able to slip through the streets and countrysides easily, knowing their comrades well enough to meet later at designated points. Masters of the hit and run, the volunteers can easily blend back into the landscape after an attack, meaning the enemies they fight must spend valuable time combing over every possible piece of land to find them. Educated by the men who dodged the Allied sweeps before Satellite City and WWIII, they wage a new and deadly war against the powers that be. Wearing balaclavas and surplus uniforms, these men prove that the Allies will find no easy victory in Northern Ireland so long as they continue to act as they have. Legion Security is likewise troubled, finding themselves restricted in what was supposed to be their own territory, patrolling in heavy numbers barely away from their barracks in Belfast for fear of being ambushed on patrol.

Who are the volunteers then? No one knows. The Phoenix Front doesn't want anyone knowing in fact. Because how stupid do you have to be to fight a guerrilla war and tell the world who you are until you're dead?