Arma 3 - Exile AAR

“631m, he is moving towards the left hand side of the technical.” A brief moment's silence as my sniper slowly sets his rifle in accordance to the distance. “Aim for centre of mass, distance is above 600m.” Another moment's silence as I stare my target down through my rangefinders, a soft sigh following thereafter, as I notice a gunner just mounted the DSHK of the technical. Something that would most certainly develop into a problem. A few short seconds later there is a satisfying “Thwump” as my partner fires his rifle, the target drops so we collect our gear and begin to make our way back down the hill. Crouching as he lug, not only our snipers, but our assault rifles and everything we have stolen as well.

This is Exile, more specifically, Republic of Altis Exile. With the rise of so many clans on the server as of late it has been difficult for us to do our more simple cash runs, shipping cars in from the wilderness. The sky is dominated by cheap helicopters as the begginers attempt to scour the wilderness looking for vehicles to sell. Being in such a small group, myself and my friends only really care about ourselves and our individual wants and needs. No base to store our equipment in to speak of, other than our trucks.

Sprinting down the hill we know it’s only a matter of time before the clans send something or someone after us, the third and final member of our little band is sitting in the truck. Having been waiting there for some time, we clamber urgently into the back. Driving off as quickly as we could. Reaching into the truck I equipped myself with my trusty KSVK rifle, a marvel of the modpacks installed onto the server and something that really speaks to me. Used for taking out any vehicular contacts as well as standard soft contacts, but truly, we doubt there would be anything left of a man when they are struck by a 12.7x108mm sniper bullet. After barely ten minutes of driving we arrive at the next destination, a hill overlooking yet another small clan.

I leap from the back of the truck, holding my rifle as I once again sprint up the hill. Being ambushed is far from my mind, having decided to take a less than traveled route the chances of seeing another player are less than slim. My stomach collides with the dirt as I setup my bipod in the nick of time. My eyes lock down my scope, toying with the ranges as in the truck nearby Ethan calls out an approaching helicopter: An Mi24. Approaching high and slow and sure enough from the east the tiniest spot appears in the sky, I watch its flight path and pattern carefully and find it wanting. The pilot clearly isn’t too comfortable with his current chopper, he flounders from time to time as he flicks between auto-hover and standard flight, no doubt attempting to make a landing.

As the chopper begins its descent I waste no time in lining up the shot, the oversized rifle in my arms tracing it through the sky as my breath steadies. A large amount of the helicopter would remain almost unaffected by my shots, having no adverse effects other than a large hole in it’s belly. Seeing that the pilot is facing away from me, my prefered target is untouchable by my rifle, if I shoot the tail rotor there is a chance that he will be able to recover and land it; a less than productive outcome. My target to me is obvious, the main rotor blades. As long as I land the shot, he most certainly fall like a brick.

My barrel follows the chopper still as I line up the shot, I take a breath and count down from 5. 4, the helicopter continues its descent. 3, the clan members that killed my friend Snow earlier, whilst he was on his way to the trader appear on the roof of the structure beneath the helicopter. 2, they place their weapons upon their back: Clearly waiting for the chance to grab weapons that are no doubt filling the majority of the chopper. 1, I squeeze the trigger, a loud bang shatters the quiet calm like a fist through a glass pane .

The main rotor of the helicopter disappears as the descent of the Mi24 speeds up, the nose pitches forward and as it makes contact with the ground a large explosion lights up the night sky. So it was, another day on exile, taking revenge for the wrong doings that had been made against my group. A life for a life, and their most valuable assets as a reminder of just what me and my group are capable of.

Exile is most certainly one of the best mods for Arma 3.