The Fortress/News Archive 3

This is an archive of old news concerning Team Cold Cell of the Fortress.

Two unnamed reports, early 2009

Written by Roy Orbson, February 16, 2009

Team Cold Cell has undergone an incredible surge of popularity during the final days of January and early February ’09. On January 29th, able recruits Redfields and PeAcHeS3 both graduated from Boot Camp to the Cell, to much acclaim, and were invaluable assets to the team thereafter. However, no more than a week later, on February 8th, 2009, four great recruits were released from Boot Camp, of which two joined the ranks of Cold Cell. Both GE Da Mighty Bob and GE ORakoo have already proven their value to their new squad mates and have been reporting in earnest.

This most unusual development may be attributable to the great influence the inestimable BC instructor, mjrahabim, whose former combat squad was none other than Cold Cell. Unfortunately, this has raised controversy in the rest of the Fortress, as Jensonson, the Head of the Fortress himself, has stated “because of the high number of recent Boot Camp members, we won’t be able to accept more applications to join Cold Cell for a while.” However inconvenient this edict is to new recruits, it is an intelligent and just decision, as the three other combat squads are incredibly diverse and all need members.

Cold Cell has had an enormous increase of members over a rather short period of time, beginning after Deployment Soldier Horgant Morrowind’s graduation in November 2008, there have been seven new recruits in as little as three months. Commanding Officer of team Cold Cell Amano Jaku has often stated how pleased he is with the recent influx of members, stating “That's a shame [they’re turning recruits away,] after being [a] small group of only 7 active members 6 months ago Cold Cell has grown into [a] nice strong force this new year, it [sic] been good to have more people want to join our relaxed little group. Still working on forming mini groups within the team based on Horgants suggestion so that we have good coverage of all times zones 24hrs/day.” Considering there is now a greatly bolstered number of active squad members, it should be a simple task to achieve his goal.

The true test for these new recruits will come in the second week of February 2009, when Cold Cell makes another attempt at completing the arduous Chain Kill Fortress Achievement Based Award, colloquially known as an ABA. The team’s first attempt of the New Year unfortunately stalled in its seventh hour; however the entire team has been extremely confident in their ability and the Cold Cell forum has been rife with anticipation in preparation for this feat. Perhaps, with all the new recruits and completion of the Chain Kill, Cold Cell will come out as the leading combat team in 2009.

Written by Jame334, January 23, 2009

Cold Cell divides into 3 teams.

A couple of days ago a very active Cold Cell member, Horgant Morrowind, decided that we should divide into 3 teams in order to make Real Time Strikes easier. Each team will also have team commanders, who will report to Cold Cell's commander. It was approved extremely fast and shortly everybody had registered themselves to the appropriate team, Team 1 being the largest. Currently we haven't used the team yet but they will probably show themselves useful. This is also the first time ever in Fortress history a team is divided into teams of their own.

I personally hope that each team will prove themselves extremely useful in the battlefield.

Operation Reclaiming Ridleybank

Written by Jame334 and Ruinator, October 6, 2008

Ridleybank, the sacred ground of zombies and home to the Ridleybank Resistance Front (RRF), Has laid in waste for months now. It’s a place where many people have entered, many have fallen, and from where few have returned.Cold Cell, a team full of brave men and women, headed in where few others choose to tread.

The goal was to reclaim as many ruined buildings as possible and get the lights back on in the depths of Ridleybank. For far too long the RRF have been running amok throughout the suburbs of Malton unchecked.Cold Cell drew the line and said, “No More!”

When we first entered Ridleybank, it was a shocking sight - the ruined buildings engulfing the skyline and dead bodies lay slain in the shadows . It was all silent, but we knew that the zombies where out there and out there in great numbers.

We found a safe-house in a fallen building, dark and scary. Even the bravest among us were terrified. Ruinator couldn’t sleep at all that night. He sat at his makeshift desk – nothing more than a few stones piled together – and laid out plans for the coming days.

The initial strikes were very successful – several buildings were quickly repaired and barricaded before the RRF became aware of our incursion onto their turf. Several other survivors were in place, willing to assist us in our goals.Amano made several major repairs, most notably a massive 87 AP effort, allowing the opportunity for fellow team mates to move in and barricade around him, in an effort to keep him alive until he was able to move to safer ground.

Lights began to dazzle the suburb of Ridleybank with hope and life. Survivors began arriving but, alas, not alone. The RRF took note of our actions and retreated back to counter our advanced efforts. The RRF's dreaded Gore Corps began to infiltrate our recovered buildings and PK our team members and allies. After several of our members fell to their questionable tactics,Ruinator decided to move out to the next operation point.

However, never the ungracious guest,Ruinator decided to leave parting presents for our hosts. Several Gore Corp members were hiding in an unpowered Cinema.Ruinator, Jame334, and ht1237 moved in. Ht1237 supplied the power to shine the light of justice on these renegades. Lord Morloch himself was the first to fall, followed by dgw. These were two of whom had most recently PK’d members of Cold Cell. We moved in to send a message to the RRF. In response to our actions, The Fortress received an “Official Complaint” from the Ridleybank Resistance Front concerning our actions on their home turf.

Operation Firestorm

Written by Victor Vandregas, August 14, 2008

Never, in all your years of playing Urban Dead, will you see a level of highly efficient coordination and indomitable power to match that displayed by Anaconda, Cold Cell and Dark Watch when we headed out to Fort Perryn with one objective on our minds - to take back the Fort with an epic triple-team assault.

We’d been taking it easy in Blesley for a few days when Commander SubforM laid our plans. The first step was to run scouting missions across Pennville and the North-East area of Whittenside. This reconnaissance was vital; obtaining the necessary intelligence would allow us to gauge the zombie presence around Perryn and determine the best route into the area.

When we had mapped out the suburb, we moved in, recading as many empty buildings as possible before retreating to the safety of the Mall. This process was repeated over a couple of days to monitor the zeds’ activities and ensure our survival among such a large horde.

Once we’d gained a foothold in Pennville, we secured a number of safehouses and set up shop. This suburb would be the spearhead from which we would launch further raids on our target. We made sure our turf in Pennville was firmly under our control, then swept into Whittenside from the North-East, executing a pincer movement alongside Team Anaconda to secure our beachheads in the stricken suburb.

We took and held predetermined safe houses, preparing ourselves for the next - and definitely biggest - phase of Operation Firestorm:

The attack on Fort Perryn.

Now is a good time to mention that we in The Fortress had a little help from our friends; namely the Cannonball Crew and the BMC. Our Ambassadors made sure these allies were on the same page. We set up conversations with whatever instant messaging systems we had. We psyched ourselves up for the monumental task ahead. At 20:00 hours on the 22nd May 2008... The first wave struck.

The plan was beautiful in its simplicity; reclaim the Gatehouse, the cades of which the Cannonball Crew would maintain, then cleanse the Fort of the undead infestation. We were a phalanx; not even hordes of this size stood a chance against our combined might as we swept through the Fort like a flood, all but annihilating the zed presence. Within thirty minutes we were finished; with just a handful of zeds still standing and only the Armoury still ruined, the second wave would have an easy job mopping up.

An hour later, the second wave moved in. In less than twenty minutes, the Armoury was back in business and the remaining zeds had been forcefully evicted. The easy part was over. Now came the hard part - holding the Fort against the massive horde outside.

Soon enough, the retaliation began. The zeds struck out with a string of small break-ins, but they were (relatively) easily repulsed. After a day or so, the order came through for Anaconda to move out of the Fort and turn their attention to the local NecroTech buildings - because as one might expect, an organised horde would aim to cut off the supply of syringes. Needless to say, the Condas weren’t gonna let that happen.

The break-ins came thicker and faster, with more and more zeds getting in. We managed to stay on top of the situation, but with zed reinforcements sure to arrive in great numbers, and a few zed spies wreaking havoc within the Fort’s walls, the whole scenario looked rather bleak.

But that was all about to change.

We received very welcome news that Team Dark Watch were en route, and other survivor groups were being summoned to the Fort. The game was most definitely on. A number of us headed to the thankfully operational Joachim Mall to restock.

When the 27th came around, SubforM announced a plan that might win us this battle. He’d been conversing with other combat team CO’s and the leaders of other survivor groups about implementing a “drawbridge” approach to defending the Gatehouse. In the past, the Fort Perryn Defence Force had successfully held the Fort for over two weeks - against a Feral Undead horde numbering at least 150 - using this method. The idea is that the cades are held at EHB until a group of survivors needs to get in, at which time the cades are dropped to VSB. Once they’re inside, the cades are immediately brought back up to EHB. It requires considerable coordination from all involved, but it works like a charm.

By this time, the defences had been breached and the Fort had fallen once again, with at least 30 zeds inside at any one time. Needless to say, this had us miffed - but, in a way, we had to thank the z-bags. Wanna know why?

Because they gave us an excuse to plan the biggest RTS in the history of Malton.

Having optimised their inventories at Joachim (kudos to Tommy Crowbar for his ingenious restocking philosophy), the combat teams made their way back down into Whittenside. Constant recon runs into the Fort kept us on the ball with regard to zed numbers and building conditions. The CO’s had been conversing with our allies and the timing for our planned attack was leaning towards Sunday. The plan was to go in, guns blazing, and completely clean house. At midnight on Sunday, the Gatehouse cades would be raised to EHB and the Fort would be completely locked down; no survivors in or out.

We organised ourselves, rallied the participants, and at 5PM GMT on Sunday, we descended upon the Fort like Death himself, slaying every zed that stood in our way. The result was incredible; 27 zeds, several bodies and all but one ruined building before, no zeds, no DB’s, 3 lit buildings and cades as they should be after. Over 30 survivors took part in the attack; a truly unprecedented assault that should serve as an example for survivors all across Malton. This, my friends, is how it should be done.

But, as one would expect, we weren’t out of the woods yet. There were 63 DB’s and 11 standing zeds outside, with almost 7 hours still to go before the big lockdown. Previous intel had led us to believe that the Feral Undead and the RRF had moved North to Fort Creedy, but they had since heard of our retake of Perryn and were talking of heading back down to crash the party.

At midnight, as planned, the Fort was locked down - and immediately the break-ins began. However, with 30+ Fortress members keeping a steel-wall vigil over the cades, every break-in was quickly quelled and the cades bumped right back up. A few extra Fortress members - namely Warlord and CouponBaller towards the start of the lockdown - managed to squeeze in during the zed break-ins. Clever guys. For the most part, it was a matter of battling with the active zeds to keep the cades up. While they relentlessly attacked from outside, we worked frantically on the inside to keep the cades healthy. Despite the dangerous situation, there was no shortage of comedy as BlackOps1337 kept us all giggling with a whole new, vegetable-esque take on the Mudkip craze.

By now, even the greens of Boot Camp were partying with us. Drill Sergeant Officer Duncan had brought the newbies along to help us keep the Fort firmly under survivor control, but after several days, he felt it was time for BC to bow out; the Fort was holding, with all break-ins deal with swiftly and the Gatehouse cades generally kept high.

After a few more days, Team Anaconda left the Fort for pastures new, as per orders from Miss Elainious. They were soon followed by Cold Cell and Dark Watch as we moved out to prepare for our next operation. To say we were proud of ourselves would be a massive understatement. We’d held Fort Perryn against a sizeable horde for over a week. Every break-in was handled swiftly, and we were so well-equipped and well-coordinated that when a generator was destroyed, it was replaced and fuelled up in seconds. Operation: Firestorm stands as a true testament to the unparalleled skill, dedication and efficiency of The Fortress.

Stay Vigilant!

Crowbank - Operation: My Life with the Chain Kill Kult

• This article was written 11 March 2008
• This article was written by Victor Vandregas

Aside from "Santa Felt My Presents", I've never seen such an awesome name for an operation. And what an operation it was...

The aim of a Chain Kill is to keep the chain going for as long as possible, with at least one recorded kill per hour. To date, the greatest Chain Kill acheived by a single Combat Squad was Team Battlehawk's assault on the Brennand Building, a NecroTech facility in Shore Hills. The chain lasted over 20 hours and was only brought to a halt when the 7-man team had slain all 25 attacking zombies. Needless to say, it set one hell of an example. My Life with the Chain Kill Kult was Team Cold Cell's attempt to surpass the Battlehawks' stellar performance in Shore Hills.

As per the rules, the Chain Kill can only take place in a single target building; in our case, Burt Square Police Department in Crowbank. Our team consisted of 9 challengers:

Ruinator, temporary Commander of the Cell, SubforM, who had stepped back into the ranks for this op, Max Dusseldorf, Sub's Lieutenant, Fishel, the Cell's legendary Havoc Knight, Amano Jaku, a seasoned veteran of the squad, Ulecqeldroma, a talented Battalion Ranger, Daishii, a Campaign Master of incredible skill, and finally myself and Mjrahabim, the not-so-new newbies out to claim our first ABA.

It should be noted that another recruit, Beasty92, had been grounded for God knows how long, but has made a stylish return to active duty within the squad. He could not take part in the Chain Kill, and as such was not allowed to contribute to the Chain itself, but the support he gave us through healing our injured, helping to secure other buildings and generally Staying Vigilant was invaluable. The newly reinstated SubforM rewarded Beasty's hard work with a long overdue promotion to Engament Squaddie.

Our original target had been elsewhere, but when I headed out to the predetermined HQ to find it - and almost every other building in the vicinity - ruined, I fell back to Crowbank. Using this information, Ruinator announced a new, spur-of-the-moment target; Burt Square PD. Being ruined, with a mob of zeds inside, and less than 5 AP from our HQ in Crowbank, it was the ideal spot for the Chain Kill to take place.

And so the preparations began; the challengers dug into the suburb, helping the cause through healing and cading, all the while saving their huge amounts of ammo for the Chain Kill. Having had the challengers post in the preparation thread with times at which they would be available, Ruinator drew up a (relatively) flexible schedule. Once we were all ready, we got into position. At 17:00 GMT on Friday 7th March, the Chain Kill officially began.

Ruinator was up first, claiming the first two kills before falling back due to low AP. Amano took the next kill, but not without a fight; he was attacked by a zed while claiming his kill. The two teamed up to grab the next kill at 20:00. Amano moved in again for another kill, again suffering a few injuries. The next kill, at 21:00, was handled by Max Dusseldorf. Fishel popped his head in and slew the next zed in just 5 AP. Max's turn again; he grabbed yet another kill. MJ moved in next, securing her first kill.

Yours truly followed up with the next kill - my only kill of the Chain, since I was low on ammo and had to go to bed immediately after dropping my zed. Our dear CO SubforM handled the next kill. He, too, felt the sting of the active zambahz within the PD. About two pages of worried discussion later, Ulecqeldroma made his impression upon the zombie scum with his first kill of the Chain. MJ popped in again and claimed an easy kill; apparently, her second victim was below 10 HP. Fishel scored another kill; he seemed to be randomly turning up and laying the smackdown on some unfortunate zed before vanishing again.

This was swiftly followed by a third kill from MJ, who had the AP and ammo for a fourth. She tried to claim said fourth kill, but was unlucky in terms of target and hit chances; she kept missing with her shots and the zed she was attacking was one of the annoying majority with Bodybuilding and a flak jacket. She fell back to a safe building, well and truly out of the Chain. Fortunately for her, Ulec picked up where she left off and slew the zed she had weakened, just in time to keep the Chain going. Ulec claimed yet another easy kill; a 12 HP zed whom Fishel's attacks had missed ten times in a row. Daishii made his contribution soon after. Sub stepped in, claiming a second kill and reducing another zed to 2 HP.

Amano took the next kill and noted something which had us worried for a moment. The PD was running out of standing zeds. If no more would enter the building, the Chain was at risk of being broken. Nonetheless, we'd made the fifteen kills required for our Chain ABA. Ruinator attempted to keep the Chain going, but was 8 minutes too late, and thus the Chain was broken. I tried to slay a zed in the Leggetter Motel to celebrate, but just as I brought it below 15 HP, it became active and started attacking me. I was forced to retreat and wait to be healed. How's that for bad luck?

Ruinator delcared the Chain Kill a success and officially handed command of Team Cold Cell back to SubforM, who promtly promoted Beasty92 for his outstanding work while we challengers put on the Chain ABA badge for which we'd worked so hard. We may not have surpassed Team Battlehawk, but we had a damn good shot at it, and of that we are all proud. This incredible Chain Kill is just one of many demonstrations of the determination, organization and brutal efficiency of the most powerful squad of survivors in all of Malton:

Team Cold Cell.

Stay Vigilant!

Operation Dead On Arrival

Part 1 by Ruinator and Part 2 by Victor Vandregas. Written July 7, 2008

Coming directly off of the Uber-Operation, Fortress United, the Fortress’ Finest, Team Cold Cell, found themselves coming down from the extended adrenaline rush of zombie killing and head stomping. The best cure for that? Get right back in the fray!

The mission is to directly combat the coming onslaught of the The Dead. We had some to plan and restock, then move into our positions. Team Commander Subform divided us into smaller units – or Cells – to better make use of guerilla tactics. The likely first targets of the on-coming horde were identified and given higher significance for vigilance. Team members made a mad dash for supplies and equipment that would best serve us during the op. Personally, I had a great time on a shopping spree at the liquor store – what can I say, they had a fire-sale on whiskey!

Unfortunately, barely a full day into the operation, the Dead arrived in numbers far exceeding our expectations. All field trips were cancelled and the team bake sale had to be rescheduled. (I was able to save the special brownies!). The team had to scatter; Cells were broken and reformed in response to the tactical situation.

Sleeping mostly in ruined buildings with the doors wide-open in hostile territory taught us all about vigilance. Several team members died, but enough of us had sticks to quickly bring them back to our side of the light. We conducted daring raids and sniping runs into zombie-held buildings, frustrating the horde when they thought their victory was all but assured.

Commander Subform drew up new plans in response to the current battlefield. We successfully took and barricaded buildings, then retreated to our DWOR cover. The zombies would pour through their action points taking down what we few put up.

About a week into the operation, an opportunity opened up for us to make a big strike against the horde – sneak in under their noses and reclaim Nichols Mall! This would establish a much-needed supply line directly into Fortress Four and really kick the zeds in the pants!

Here is the record of the eventual Real Time Strike that occurred to recover the mall:

SubforM, Max Dusseldorf, and that handsome devil Ruinator got together earlier today to conduct a small RTS.

Ruinator was the first to arrive at the mall and found it nearly deserted and unpowered. All the cool kids must have been out of town on a holiday I suppose. Max found the light switch and the situation became illuminated.

Most of our work already been done for us - we're not complaining - we turned our attention to securing nearby locations that might prove helpful in the future. Several buildings were repaired and barricaded to keep the zombies out. Much searching was done in the Went NT building, however no whiskey was found - we will have to dip into our emergency reserve supply.

Max and Ruinator are doing shots in the Vere Cinema waiting for the projectionist to get off his arse and get the movie going. SubforM had to step out, but will no doubt return soon. Hopefully he will remember the ice we asked him for.

Next began the bitter struggle to retain control of the mall. The rest of the Cellians joined the expeditionary force already in the engagement and secured a beachhead next to the discount electronics store. Several promotions were earned with blood and sweat in the following days as the mall was secured and cleared of the living dead.

Leaving the mall in the hands of the quickly returning non-aligned survivors of Malton, Cold Cell began their move directly to Fortress Four. The area was in shambles, ruins and corpses littered the landscape. Over the days that followed the Cold Cell Engineering Corps began the long slow work of rebuilding and making a safer suburb.

Once secured, the Cold Cell Mascot himself, Ruinator had to take leave to pursue a foe from his past, long thought to be lost forever… but that’s a different story.

---

Part 2, by Victor Vandregas

Losing Ruinator for the remainder of this op didn’t affect Cold Cell at all. We’re too efficient to let the loss of one member slow us down. We continued our efforts, operating as Commander SubforM instructed, restocking at Nichols while we could.

Not too long after Ruinator’s departure, SubforM made a new friend in one Judge Clandestine, who had been showing us how best to waste AP with his RP. He even had the nerve to punch Sub before he split. Despite this rather odd turn of events, Sub was unfazed, even amused. He carried on as normal, hearing no more from the Judges. But of course, it wasn’t the Judges we were worried about.

It was The Dead.

Sub stumbled across a revived member of The Dead and checked their Wiki pages, discovering their last known location to be Caiger Mall - five suburbs away from our location. His first thought was that this was just a straggler who got separated from the main horde, but we took no chances and maintained our Vigilance. A proposed RTS on Pole Mall turned into quite a washout as only Sub and Max Dusseldorf attended. The Commander scheduled another RTS the very next day. Numerous people slapped up times at which they would be available while making the occasional one-man run into the Mall to slay a zed or two.

It seemed Lady Luck didn’t want us to make a half-decent RTS. A dangerous number of zeds on our doorstep forced us to relocate to a safer HQ and the majority of the team (or rather, the ones who were alive at the time) got the hell outta Dodge. Those who needed sticking were stuck in a timely manner, but we were soon forced out of our second HQ. The zeds knew we were there and they didn’t like it.

I was one of the first to feel their hostility first-hand after this second relocation. Having been killed just 17 minutes before I logged on, I grabbed a few more zed skills and shambled with unmatched annoyance to our pre-determined revive point. Still, we in The Fortress look out for each other, and Sub revived me within two hours. We pondered our secondary objective of helping out the Knights Templar and Max came to a rather surprising conclusion. He believed the Knights Templar didn’t exist. He put forth some interesting reasoning; he’d only ever seen three members in-game, and two of them were of a low level. He had us mostly convinced, and we bore this in mind as we continued with the mission.

Soon after this, SubforM revealed the op badge, stating that the op would be more or less finished once the Mall had been retaken and the KT’s base (if they existed!) reclaimed. However, we weren’t out of the woods yet, and we couldn’t afford to let our guard down; intel received indicated that the RRF seemed to be moving south, and such an occurrence would greatly hinder our efforts. Later, with our mission almost complete, the plot thickened when we discovered that the Knights Templar (for they did indeed exist) were being targeted by a PKer group called the Flowers of Disease.

Once again, we scheduled an RTS among our general Vigilance, but seemed to be running out of buildings to reclaim and undead freaks to kill. The team worked together to fix a spot of overcading and save KilroyStick from death. All seemed well.

On this incredible note, SubforM declared Operation: DOA a complete and utter success. To quote the man himself:

“We've survived in tremendously difficult circumstances... we lived amongst the undead... we reclaimed a Fortress base... we laid down vital support in getting the Knights Templar on their feet again...

You have all done great things during this operation... we've worked within the hellmouth and developed our skills to new levels.

Cold Cell = Combat Evolved”

Truer words were never spoken. We were on a supreme high as we moved out to Blesley Mall to rendezvous with Anaconda and Dark Watch in preparation for our next op.

Joachim Mall - Operation FU Fighters

• This article was written Feburary 20, 2008
• This article was written by Ruinator

The dust had settled from Operation Evil Dead and the Fortress Holiday party finally wound down. Reports were coming in that Fort Creedy was under attack and also that the Feral Undead, one of the more organized zombie hordes, was moving on Joachim Mall.

Our beloved and revered Jensonson stepped down from command of Team Cold Cell in order to better serve his duties as el Presidentison of the Fortress. In his stead, relative newcomer SubforM was appointed by Jensonson to Cold Cell Commander. SubforM selected Max Dusseldorf as his Left-tenant.

SubforM took a vote and Cold Cell wanted to go shopping. Scouts were called into play to find a safe route and new headquarters. We moved into position and found fewer survivors than one would expect to see in a secure mall. Outside the mall was the explanation – a horde of twenty-four zombies, many of them Feral Undead members.

The Cell moved in to our temporary headquarters and established some entry points. For several days we monitored the cades, healed the injured, and doled out headshots to the few zombies that managed to break in. The mall was holding and staying powered. Certain newcomers to the team – Victor Vandregas and Mjrahabim – brought formidable skills and enthusiasm to the table. In some cases our good Victor had to be restrained, his zeal for combat was so great.

The leader of the Feral Undead, Bullgod, received numerous headshots and stab wounds from stalwart Cellians. That combined with the growing pile of dead bodies from its membership, made the Feral Undead take notice of our actions and they showed up in even greater numbers.

The tide began to turn against us – survivors were slowly drifting away or being dragged out and munched on by the relentless hordes. Generators were taken off-line and destroyed, cades were staying down longer, and more zombies were parking themselves in the food court, the electronics store, and the erotic novelty store. Though what they were doing with all those toys I don’t really want to know.

Completely in ruins, unpowered, and rife with zombies – the mall seemed entirely lost. The undead were bringing in their rotting coffins and setting up shop next to the Information Booth. Parking was an utter nightmare, if not impossible. It appeared that all was lost. Crowds of aimlessly wandering shoppers of this size hadn’t been seen since the last holiday season before the outbreak.

Appearances proved to be deceptive however as a well-coordinated Real Time Strike on the part of the Cold Cell returned the mall to survivor hands. Guns blaring – the brave blue warriors stormed in. Zombie guts and brains splattered the walls, we re-carpeted in Feral Undead sculpts, and ditched the remains outside. In the space of a few hours survivors came flooding back, no doubt hoping to score the latest video game releases available from the Game Stop.

Turned back from their intended the target, the Feral Undead fell to disarray and began attacking the less-defended buildings surrounding the mall. This activity did not fall under the Cell’s radar and they too saw the business ends of our combat boots. Steel toes to rotten skulls and crotches brought things back to working order in no time.

Frustrated with the stalwart defense of Cold Cell and the assorted crew of random survivors, the Feral Undead began to seek targets yet farther out and migrated over to Lumber Mall. Cold Cell made some strafing runs against the horde and managed to spare some resources for the general defense. However, repeated attacks against the southern portion of Joachim Mall showed that we had not yet shaken the attention of the Feral Undead. Our mission was not over.

Our female membership briefly doubled in size as Commander Swinky swept in during one of our darker hours and helped restore mall defenses. En route to her new post as Fortress Two Commander, she decided to stay a bit and no doubt find some good deals at Joachim Mall.

We battled on – losing ground, then quickly re-taking it – for days, weeks. I began to run low on whiskey and became despondent. The zombie hordes returned to Joachim with a vengeance. Another Real Time Strike made progress on re-claiming the mall, but wasn’t able to fully restore services. The few survivors in the surrounding areas began to thin out and give up the area to the vile walking dead. No allied groups to speak of, it was left to the Cell.

Did we give up in our darkest hour? No. Did we bury our guns in the ground? No. Did we drink ourselves into a stupor and get sick all over the living room rug? No. (well yes, but I would have done that in victory as well). Did we let the corpses of the damned reside in our mall without a fight? NO! We stormed over-whelming ranks of the undead and threw their stinking carcasses to the side as we led the way for returning survivors to aid in rebuilding the mall. No toxic trailers for us! Our barricades returned and held back the flood of filth known as the Feral Undead.

Their will broken, the horde moved on to easier pickings. The continuing vigilance of Team Cold Cell proved to be too strong, our blue too bright, for them to take. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire: Team Cold Cell!

During this mission under SubforM’s leadership, Team Cold Cell formed together in an unprecedented display of team-work, coordination, and determination over the course of several weeks. This participation was in part fostered by an Experience Point gain competition, won by the illustrious, dashing, and incredibly good-looking hero, Ruinator. (He is also highly intelligent and good with the ladies.) For his hard work and dedication he has secured an exclusive badge, command of the team for a week, and bragging rights. (Unfortunately bragging rights may not be tendered for whiskey - I’m still working on that.) Coming in second place is the very dangerous and dedicated Amano Jaku! Pulling into third place is our very own Lt. Commander – Max Dusseldorf!

This is undoubtedly the first of many well-executed and well-documented missions for the Fortress’s best – TEAM COLD CELL!

OOH-RAH!

Fort Perryn - the brave fight

• This article was written December 29, 2007
• This article was written by SubforM

The snow has fallen across Malton.

Across this desolate and peaceful landscape, where christmas lights flash and gifts are exchanged, one might stand in the streets of Whittenside and think that the Zombie outbreak was all but a dream... if only.

This battle is over, but the war rages on.

The stand against The Second Big Bash was a valiant one. Team Cold Cell had painstakenly formulated a strategy through extensive scouting missions, standing in the footprints of the enemy... watching, documenting and waiting.

When the horde moved on, retaliatory cading operations and resource maintenance was the MO to recover fallen suburbs and defend Fort Perryn.

The morale across the team was as ever, vigilant and resolute. Acting CO Fishel could not have put it better...

"We have hidden in shadows for far too long. We have been running for far too long. We have lived in fear for far too long! And, now, it stops here. We will no longer run away from our foes. We will stand here! We will fight!"

And with all our strength, fight we did...

Whilst enforcing a strong communications network across Whittenside to update the survivors in the resource buildings, we held position and maintained the barricades across Fort grounds and surrounding areas.

The Cold Cell elite fought off hourly gatehouse break ins, revived the fallen, pacified survivor in-fighting, healed those that were dragged from the buildings and preserved the NTs like they were as important as Perryn itself...

The Big Bash horde was a sizeable, yet not an impossible foe.

The fight raged on for over a week, but coordinated Bash strikes resulted in the largely inactive survivor population being overrun... and no matter how vigilant Cold Cell was, it could not hold off these extremely well coordinated attacks single-handedly.

So with a heavy heart and an audible frustration that resonated across the Fortress, Jensonson called for a tactical retreat. There was no alternative solution.

---

As the blood dried and the screams of the less vigilant died down, a ray of light cast itself over Whittenside. The war was by no means over... and the Bash had by no means secured the victory that they so hungrily shambled towards.

Team Cold Cell was no longer alone in this suburb.

Anaconda.... Battlehawk.... Shadow Wolves.... Combat Veterans... Bootcamp.... The entire Fortress is here

Why?

Because every single goddamn year we celebrate Christmas.

The smell of mince pies and mulled wine, the warmth of the fire, the good times and the festive spirit in our hearts... all signify that we fight in a war that we simply cannot lose.

And yet whilst the crackers are pulled and the laughter echoes... our purpose remains.

Oh yes, the war is far from over... and 2008 will bring a new chapter to the surburbs of Malton.

When the glasses are empty, and the embers die down... The tide will turn and The Fortress will introduce the survivors of Malton to a very... very... Happy New Year.

Cold Cell News - Rebooted

• This article was written December 6, 2007
• This article was written by SubforM

Team Cold Cell has exhibited a silence of late. Their unvoiced productivity has however echoed across the Malton cityscape, continually healing the injured, repairing the infrastructure and decimating the rotting human waste that walk our streets.

It has been has declared that the heroic actions of Team Cold Cell - Ulecqeldroma, Hellya, Ruinator, Micro102, SubforM, XGoatX, Amano Jaku, TinyD, Gorge Leman, Max Dusseldorf, Rendr, The Liquid, Fishel, Daishii and of course our esteemed leader Jensonson - are to be recorded once more...

So I ask you to keep your eyes peeled on this section and in Malton for this Combat Team. If you are a survivor, expect your chances of survival to increase. If you are not... expect a headshot.

The Cold Cell boys are about to wreak havoc on the The Second Big Bash... and this is where their story will be told...

Operation Pegging: Leg One!

• This article was written June 2, 2007
• This article was written by BigLong50

This mission is the first of a series of mission we have set forth. We begin with the "Leg." The "Leg" is important to any "body" of a mission. Without left "Leg," you cannot set your pace and balance. So starting off well with this mission was very important. For this left "Leg" to drive the rest of the "Body" to a great start, it must have balance and a pace.

Pegton was the only suburb around the area labeled "Very Dangerous." We couldn't let this one suburb be the start of a very big leak. Our mission was to plug it up and repair it as best we could. In order to do that, we had to do advance scouting and collect as much information as possible before we could set out on our mission. That fell into the hands of BigLong50. His main job was to get into contact with any survivor groups and establish contact with them on a constant basis. He was able to get into contact with Individual 11, Pegton Special Branch and St.Matthews Hospital Branch. We were able to find out that the main force we'd be going against were the Undeadites. They had been plundering and ransacking and killing without remorse for the past few months. These groups who claimed Pegton as their own were forced to leave to other suburbs, to regroup and hope for some kind of help. That help came in the form of Team Cold Cell.

From Intel provided from these groups, Team Cold Cell was able to find out how bad the area really was and they came up with a plan. Tiny was able to scout ahead and find a place to call "Home" and make sure it was safe for the rest of the team. Once they were able to safely cade a few buildings and set up an HQ, the rest of the team came packing guns, faks, needles and an eagerness for some action. The next part of the mission was to cade more buildings up, especially hospitals and NT buildings. The team started working fast and quickly. With Tinys' reports on where zeds were at (inside and out,) the Assault team was able to go in and do a "Sweep and Clean." One of the first buildings they cleared out and started cading up and securing was St. Siricius Hospital, St.Matthews Hospital and St. Elizabeths Hospital.

Once the 3 hospitals were secured and cleared, Cold Cell informed the other groups and they started coming back to reclaim Pegton. PSB, I-11 and St.Matthews group all came back almost at the same time. PSB claimed the responsibility of maintaining St. Siricius. St. Matthews group claimed St.Matthews Hospital (For obvious reasons), and I-11 claimed St. Elizabeths. With these three groups back in Pegton, Team Cold Cell made sure to maintain these key buildings by setting up generators and supplying them with fuel. Once these buildings were powered up, the biggest problem was that they were attracting active zeds. That's where the Assault and Support team came in handy. Tyro and Bucky were able to make sure that any large group of zombies gathering outside any hospital was swiftly thinned out, in order to make it unpleasant for our undead visitors. Daishii went in a few times to have some fun as well.

With all these groups back in Pegton, it was hard for Dennis to go for his ABA of Heavens touch. I-11 and St. matthews group specialized in healing and reviving. With so many people doing the same thing, Dennis was unable to revive as many people as he wanted and as many people his team wanted for him to do. He was able to revive a few people at the very beginning. But with the groups coming back, undead patients were few and in between. But he saw this as a good thing, that the tide was turning into Pegton’s favor. Another disappointment was that no one else in the group attempted in trying to go for an ABA. However, I'm sure they will be attempting one soon.

All in all, the mission was accomplished with a few bumps. Tyro killed the most zeds during this mission with about 9 or 10 kills. Bucky was close with 7 or 8 kills while BigLong50 had about 6. Dennis was able to get a few heals and revives under his belt, not enough for an ABA but nothing to be ashamed of when he had about 3 other groups full of members doing the same thing. Wiers is getting his feet wet and is learning to hang with his new family fresh out of boot camp. Sorry Wier, but you’re the newbie right now but your family loves you. And the best part, Pegton was dropped from "Very Dangerous" to "Moderate." Not bad for almost a good month work.

Operation Fryerbank Assistance

• This article was written May 22, 2007
• This article was written by BigLong50

The members of Cold Cell headed in to Fryerbank To bring stability back to the suburb. The combat team was divided in to 2 parts, Team A and Team B.

Team A consisted of: Fishel, BigLong, Tyrosarius, TinyD, Jericho Croix and Fivepointslow and was in charge of securing the SW corner of the suburb.

Team B made up of: Dennis Albrum, Buck Weathers, Daishii, Vaelin, Dokk Pepper and our leader Jensonson, was to Secure the SE corner.

The following is an account from BigLong, the lieutenant of Cold Cell and reporter.

"The mission started off to a slow and rough start. I won't sugar coat it at all. We had a few set backs at the start. Our C.O. Fishel was dealing with R.L. issues and couldn't be there for us like he wanted to, but we understood and respect him. The second set back was the inactivity of other Cold Cell members. Members had to deal with school and exams (which in itself is a pain in itself.). This resulted in members not knowing the location or the state of other members. Even with only few active members, the team would pull together and make this mission work and make it work well.

Dennis took control of the team as temp. C.O. in the absence of Fishel. He was able to lead his team to secure and clear out any and all buildings that were given to us by Jensonson’s cade plan. Dennis showed leap of maturity in such short notice. Giving orders and making sure everyone was on top of everything, with a little guidance from Jensonson. But hey, that's Jensonson's job of makin' sure we're still on top of our game. Buck Weathers(a.k.a. Bucky) showed his eagerness to want to kill as many zeds as he could get his dried fingers on. Good at scouting but eager for a kill, Bucky showed great promise during this mission and has quickly moved his way up in rank.

In the absence of Fishel, I was forced (but happy) to take a bigger role in this mission. A 5 man was team reduced to 2 and TinyD (or you can call him Tiny for short,) and I had to scout and secure the whole SW corner by ourselves. We had a little help from Jensonson, but we were still undermanned. But Tiny came up big for us and showed us what he could do. Once he was able to report to SW HQ, he discovered a better way to scout and shared it with the rest of us. Because of this, we (epically me) relied on Tiny on his superior scouting reports through our mission. He's received so much praise for his scouting report. Tiny has also worked his way up in ranking on the team as well. Because of his scouting, we were able to cade all our priority buildings in a quick and efficient way.

At the end of the mission, we discovered that even though we were short handed. We could still come together and pull off a mission and do it efficiently and effectively. Tiny and Bucky both showed their loyalties and great abilities in overcoming a short staffed team and didn't seemed flustered at all. Dennis was able to lead the team with such a short notice of being C.O. and showed an uncanny way of not faltering. All in all, the mission was a complete success."

Operation Zed Takedown

• This article was written on October 31,2006
• This article was written by Charlie Mon.

Shackleville, the home of the Fortress was looking rather shabby. Returning from a mission in Wray Heights, Cold Cell took the mission of cleaning up Shackleville. With the help of Jensonson and his Shadow Wolf brother, Bensonson, Shackleville was in tip top shape in no time.

Operation Restore Humanity

This article was written by Danny Lee

This Article was written in September 1, 2006.

Reporter Danny Lee would like to say sorry to Team Cold Cell for not writing about this sooner.

"Operation Restore Humanity has begun. It is time to move out." Cold Cell Commander Seebee ordered. Operation Restore Humanity had begun.

Timing the operation, Team Cold Cell infiltrated Shackleville as Team Anaconda commenced Operation Malton Vice, thereby creating a two-pronged attack. Team Cold Cell quickly barricaded a building without attracting zombie attention and got working. They quickly rebarricaded Fortress 4 and other buildings, clearing dozens of zombies and saving many survivors from the zombies' grips. Team Cold Cell cleared Fortress 4 from zombie presence with amazing efficiency.

Danny Lee admits that "If it wasn't for their actions in Shackleville, Team Anaconda would have had to fight their way in after completing Malton Vice. I'm sorry if it offended any members from Cold Cell; you weren't willfully ignored. I hereby promise to monitor ALL team forums so this kind of mistake never happens again."

The Head Jensonson congratulated his soldiers in Cold Cell after the mission.

"I've been meaning to say this about Cold Cell for quite a few weeks now but after securing Fortress Four and the surrounding grounds I feel that now is the right time.

When Grey Swiftaxe took command of Cold Cell earlier this year, he found the team to be in a state of disarray - most of the recruits were split all around eastern Malton and Fortress Two, their designated building, was crumbling. After Swiftaxe reassembled the team his command was passed on to AngelWitch3 who swiftly turned the combat team around making it into the formidable combat team it has become. Following on from AngelWitch, Commander Seabee took control of a much stronger Cold Cell team and I believe that retaking Fortress Four is the team's defining moment.

Cold Cell was formed on Boxing Day last year, but eight months in I am proud to say that Commander Seabee's troops have achieved their finest moment and proven once again what a strong survivor group we are all a part of.

Congratulations troopers!"

Not-so-Silent Sentinels of Fort Feral

Written by Roy Orbson, July 5^th, 2009 Cold Cell’s own Horgant Morrowind has been the subject of much buzz in the Fortress lately, as it has recently come to note that he holds a great many positions within the group, the least of which is being lieutenant of his combat team! Apart from Cold Cell, he also heads diplomatic relations for at least seven allied groups (it’s hard to keep track!), was recently elected onto the council and was also hired, along with Cellian Intelligence Officer Jame334, by the Fortress’ Director of Communications, PrepH, on in a relatively new position, Communications Staff. PrepH on his new staff, “With, now commander, theYeas as my DDoC it would appear that Cold Cell has taken a distinct liking to the Chain of Allies. They have my thanks for helping me keep our allies active and involved! “

Cold Cell’s first operation under their newest commander, theYeas, is an ambitious strike deep into Feral Undead territory, to retake the suburb of Whittenside and restart the running of Fortress one...Fort Perryn. Planned very carefully in large part by Horgant Morrowind in anticipation of a large amount of zombies (the wiki page had not been updated for over two months), the suburb turned out to be nearly deserted and was up and running within a week. Team Dark Watch, fresh from their latest “Assassination” operation, amiably joined up with Cold Cell and shortened the task of retaking the suburb greatly by providing daily real-time strikes (not to mention the twice-daily Cold Cell strikes run by Horgant all week). After securing the suburb, the target of the united Fortress teams was Fort Perryn, anti-climactically cleared and powered within the same week of returning the surrounding buildings back to working order.

The Fortress’ newest ABA, the Silent Sentinel, came into play in Whittenside for Cold Cell, as most of the suburb was uninhabited and as a result, the buildings had fallen to disrepair for some time. The two Cellians mentioned above, Jame334 and Horgant “Highwind” Morrowind, achieved respective scores of 110 AP and 96 AP. Last, and undeniably not the least, was Kevin Turvey’s attempt at the new ABA: an incredible 276 AP repair, lasting over five days! Many antics and several break-ins later, Kevin had this to say, “I would like to thank Cold Cell, particularly Horgant, Roy, TinyD, Jame, Hank & Scout; plus a thank you to Holy Pac Man who played his part too. I would also like to thank my Mum & Dad, sisters Wendy and Karen; my wife and children... and everyone else who knows me...” The fact that this building lasted two thirds of a year unrepaired is amazing in itself and it is safe to assume that Kevin Turvey will hold the title of Lead Architect for a great while hence.

With Cold Cell, Dark Watch and allies from all over buckling in for the inevitable seige of Fort Perryn, there will be much more to write about of this already magnificently successful operation in the coming weeks. Getting to work with and meet the members of another incredibly efficient and successful Fortress combat team, despite the quirks and differences of both squads, will most definitely stand out in the minds of current Cold Cell members, indeed the added manpower of Dark Watch during real time strikes may very well be missed. With the recent successes of returning Whittenside to the living within a week and the three silent sentinel ABAs awarded, it is clear that team Cold Cell has landed upon its feet since the departure of their former commander only a month ago.

Cold Cell in the Summer

Written by Roy Orbson, May 28^th, 2009 An investigation into zerging claims in the Fryerbank area yielded an accusation of well-known Cold Cell commander Amano Jaku on the Resensitized forums. The implications seemed driven by a personal vendetta and indicated a mass zerging ring, with ties to long-time Fortress allies Dragonhead as well as Amano. Concrete evidence surfaced, and Amano owned up to some of his allegations (including running Dragonhead) and, this being his second zerging offence while with the Fortress, was expelled from the Fortress. As a direct consequence of these events, the Fortress’ alliance with Dragonhead was taken into careful consideration and ultimately cancelled.

Despite shortcomings (a very human quality), Amano was a well-liked and very able commander, and he left very large void to fill in the commanding role of team Cold Cell. Max Dusseldorf , Amano’s former lieutenant, has stepped in as temporary commander of Cold Cell; however, there are several very accomplished candidates who received nominations for role of commanding officer. Cold Cell members theyeas and Horgant Morrowind both recieved nominations to lead the excellent combat team, their experience and knowledge of the ins and outs of their team members would invariably help them in a leadership role. Ziptrickhead, recently elected council member and experienced moderator, also stepped forward, citing his tactical knowledge and experience, as well as his rank of Campaign Master earned from his expertise. Whatever the outcome, the newest Cold Cell commander has the ability well within his grasp to revolutionize this excellent combat squad and lead them on to grandeur.