Killzone : Meetings and Ends
Outskirts of Halbourne on the Planet Vilnius
Private Mitch Heckler had grown used to sleeping with the constant echoes and vibrations of falling Helghast mortar shells. The city which the 23rd ISA regulars regiment was assigned to defend was nothing more than rumble and makeshift bunkers made from what was left of the last few standing buildings. After two weeks of a never ending barrage of high-explosive shells on a city of three million people there wasn't much left to see… or hear. Heckler was nineteen and three weeks out of ISA boot camp. This was his first assignment. The other four hundred soldiers he had trained with where also sent here to replace causalities here on Vilnius. The first week was mostly digging a trench waiting to be assigned to a squad that needed a replacement. Finally his chance came in a mix blessing. With fierce fighting all around the planet, every ISA unit was taking hits. Heckler was soon assigned to a squad with only seven soldiers instead of ten. Hearing about what had happened to them wasn't too great of news seeing what was about to come.
Halbourne was under siege but not one but two Helghast regiments of the finest breed. Each regiment had enough tanks and heavy mortars to give a well defended city a trashing, which was what the ISA troops found out as they hunkered down in their trenches. Heckler pulled the thermal poncho closer to his body as he rolled over to trench wall. He had joined the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance after he couldn't afford college any more after a year. The Helghast invasions of the Outer Colonies was worry back on Earth due to the over population problem that sent millions out past the galaxy in search of a new place to call home. But the war had been dragging on for five years now. Both sides had lost heavily in lives and machinery. From what they had been told by the government, the Helghasts weren't considered human. A head taller than most humans, and had to wear some sort of breathing unit because the planet, Helgan, they lived on had mutated them so they could no longer breathe oxygen. Another strange side effect was that it effected their vision so they also had to wear menacing orange-glowing goggles.
" Heckler quit rolling around!" snapped Sargeant Minnie Davies in his casual gruff and angry voice. Davies wasn't a bedside manner person by any means… even if he tried. At thirty-one he was everyone's senior by ten or so years. He had been in the ISA for the better part of seven years and the war against the Helgans gave him a boost in rank which suited him just fine. Heckler lazily opened his eyes to see the haggard, prickly bearded face starring down at him.
"Sorry sarge just trying to sleep good." Heckler told him politely. Davies snorted and walked away. Heckler pulled himself up into a sitting position against the trench wall and saw another private looking out into the mine littered no-man's land.
"See anything Gator?" Heckler asked the stocky private who wore a dented helmet. Gregg "Gator" Hanson snapped his head around and would have gave Heckler a toothy grin if four of his front teeth hadn't been knocked out by a Helghast rifle butt.
"Nothing but booms." Gator said in a high-pitch draw that annoyed everyone around him. Heckler grunted and rose to his feet before grabbing his rifle that was leaning against the trench wall. Also leaning against the trench wall was probably the most shadowy man Heckler had ever met in his life. Private first class Rios. Everyone had forgot his first name long ago. Like Heckler he was of average height, but easily forty pounds heavier of powerful, unrelenting muscle. His face was ever drawn into a tight, almost pinched, unsmiling face while his shiny, green eyes never let down their guard. He had a scar on his right cheek from a Helghast knife blade. Rios now carried the knife. When Heckler had first met Rios his first instinct was to make any small talk that might upset him, especially after he saw him pick not one but three mortar shell cases that weighed sixty pound apiece.
" Have nice nap?" Rios asked in his soft, dark voice that sometimes made Heckler wonder if Rios was really an angel of death. And seeing he never talked much anyway was another factor that made Heckler wonder if his time was up.
" Yeah Rios, how about you?" Heckler asked, not knowing his voice was a little shaky. Rios picked up his rifle and walked away from him. Gator was snickering as he peered over the trench wall.
" Quit trying so hard kid, Rios is Rios."
" Sometimes I think he's on their side." Heckler told Gator once he was sure Rios was out of earshot. Gator made a clucking sound with his tongue.
" No boy, you defiantly want him on our side." Gator reminded the newbie, remembering fighting with Rios on another planet… and the planet before that. A man with crisp fatigues came in, hands on his hips, wearing no load out other than a pistol and a fresh helmet.
" What the hell are you two yacking about?" corporal Simon Yearland demanded in a harsh tone. Yearland had a knack for drawing new gear constantly and for trying to be tough… which was a little hard when he earned no respect among his fellow squadmates. Heckler quickly found out despite Yearland's rank, he had no authority among them. Gator looked innocently surprised at Yearland's appearance.
" Yacking sir? Oh no Mitch, orangies is com'in to get us now." Mocked Gator using the slang ''organie" for helghast. Yearland tried to glare them both down but failed miserably. Yearland turned on his heels in mud made by the recent melting of the snow fall and headed off towards his comfortable dug out. Gator snickered some more and exchanged a high-five with Heckler.
" Works every time man." Gator laughed as Heckler adjusted the strap of his helmet to his chin. His helmet that had been issued to him had been the helmet of dead ISA soldier. With the planet cut off by Helghast aircraft supplies where thinning out until the ISN got their act together and plowed their way through. This was unlikely seeing it had been a week now since their squad had been given a resupply of ammo. Heckler fortunately hadn't used too much ammo since he had got here. Most of his time here on Vilnius was spent cowering in trench while tons of high-explosives where dumped on the city behind them. Their SAW gunner, Mack Bruaner, had only three belts left for his hell hammer of a weapon. In basic, Heckler had seen the rate at which a SAW spat out its heavy rounds. It could tear a house apart with a single belt. If anything, plenty of belts for a SAW was always welcomed.
Without warning Yearland came running around the trench corner, one hand keeping his shiny new helmet on his head. At first Heckler thought Yearland had forgotten something, but the fear in his beady, pig-like eyes was real.
" Sargeant Davies just got a call from company command. We're going over the top in five!" Yearland said excitedly, expect for the fact his hands shook a little. Gator rolled his eyes as Yearland stood there, bobbing his head up and down.
" Get your rifle fool!" snapped Gator as Yearland again spun around and ran off for search of his rifle," And he calls me a swamp homie."
Heckler felt his gut turn at the order. Running across a mine field wasn't something they trained for him to do. And why would they want to charge against a larger force which had pill boxes set up all over the place opposite of them. Never the less, an order was an order. Turning his rifle over so the shell ejector was facing him, Heckler snapped the bolt forward with a flick of his thumb, shoving the first of thirty 7.92mm bullets into the chamber of his rifle. The official name for it was the M82G,but to Heckler it was a rifle. At a first glance it looked like it had been put together by a child, but in actuality it was very reliable and accurate weapon. There was two versions of this weapon. The "G" model which was the most common came with a 40mm grenade launcher while the other, the "S" was simply a sniper rifle version of the weapon that came with a higher optical scope and match grade barrel.
Gator did the same with his weapon and came down from his perch.
" Might as well meet up wioth everyone to see what's going on." grunted Gator as he trudged past Heckler. It sounded reasonable enough for Heckler to follow him. The rest of squad was around the bend in the machine gun nest circled around sergeant Davies who was giving them a quick brief.
" I don't like the idea of going against the organies when they got better numbers than us any more than you. Let alone across a mine field, but at least those mines have FOF on them when we go across in the tracs." Heckler sighed in immense relief. Going in a APC with three inches of armor between him and any Helghast bullet was always welcomed. It was also better because each APC had a 30mm chaingun and ten Dragonbite anti-tank missiles.
" Our objective is to try and probe out where those mortars are. Air defenses are tough out there and every drone we've sent out has been shot down." Davies paused for brief second, " The entire company is going out and their will be combat. Everyone keep their shit together or else I'll put it together for you. Understood?"
A chorus of "yes sirs" and "hoo-rahs" came up from the undermanned squad.
Heckler was surprised to find out how afraid he was as the APC rumbled across the friendly mine field. Sure enough to Davies's word, the mines did have FOF signals, which meant they could distinguish between friendly and enemy vehicles. The noise inside the APC was enough to give anyone inside a headache within minutes of travel. Luckily for Heckler he was too frightened to notice the noise. It was his first real time in combat. Most of time was spent hoping a mortar shell didn't land on top of time. He preferred those chances than a Helghast soldier spraying at him with a fifty-round clip from his Sta rifle. Heckler was sandwiched between the broad shouldered frame of Rios and the stocky build of Gator, neither of which was comfortable. Glancing out through the corner of his eyes, Heckler looked at Rios. His tight, unsmiling face was calm as ever, his own rifle barrel down between his legs. Gator was nosily smacking away at a piece of chewing gum in his mouth.
" Yo swmapie!" snapped the large, pitch-black skin, figure of Mack across the APC, " Knock it off! Sounds like your chewing on some gator hide or somethin'." Gator flashed back a strange, gap filled grin.
" How 'ya know its not hide?" Mack's dark face drained in color as he was going to be sick. Heckler was too busy fretting to hear the exchange. His heart raced as he felt the APC slow down, preparing for them to embark from the protective cocoon of steel. Hail Mary full of grace… Heckler forget all the other words expect for the last. And at the hour of our death amen. It had to count for something at least. Heckler had never been to church in his life. His girlfriend had tried to make him come but Sunday football beat mass any day of the week. Now strangely Heckler found himself wishing he had followed her there.
" Out ladies out!" yelled Davies as the thick steel doors swung open in the rear of the APC. The deep rattle of the 30mm chaingun engaging unseen enemies was a hopeful sign that they might be dead before they got out. Heckler was quickly moving out when someone shouted "Incoming!" and the APC twisted sideways and darkness followed.
Rios had thrown himself away from the APC before the rocket had hit it. A alone, black armor clad Helghast soldier was stupid enough to be standing above a shell-potched pillbox holding the tri-barrel rocket launcher. Rios and another solider tore him apart before he could get off another rocket. Even as the Helghast solider tumbled backwards, Rios was on his feet moving towards the flaming APC. A gaping hole was blown in one side. Looking inside, Rios was surprised to find only two of five men inside where dead. Gator was dazed shaking his head, but in one hand he clutched onto his rifle.
" Come on!" shouted Rios grabbing a unconscious Heckler and dragging him out by one arm while the other dazed soldiers piled out. The snaps of high-velocity rounds whizzing past them filled the air along with the crackle of automatic rifles.
Heckler slowly came to a dazed state of awareness when Gator was bent over him slapping him on the face.
" Wake up sonny we go work to do." Gator shouted above the noise tossing him a rifle. Heckler picked up the rifle and ran after Gator in a crouch. Tracers flew all around them. From inside the pillbox, Heckler could see the orange glow of Helghast goggles. Only then Heckler realized he was in fight for his life.
Twenty meters from the pillbox, Rios aimed his grenade launcher at the pillbox which contained two heavy chainguns that were chewing them apart. With a loud thump, the shiny brass round leapt from the thick barrel underneath the top one and flew inside the pillbox. A red explosion followed by a sudden bursting cloud of smoke and dust. Leaping up to his feet Rios ran forward as rounds buzzed all around him and dove into the smoky pillbox. Through the hazy smoke, a dazed Helghast soldier remained, staggering around with his rifle in one hand, the other on a ear. Rios never hesitated as he put five rounds into his chest, blowing splatters of blood against the wall behind him.
When the pillbox exploded, Gator raised his head from being prone in the mud with Heckler beside him.
" Come on, lets go." Gator shouted pulling Heckler to his feet as other ISA soldiers charged the trench. Heckler saw the man in front of them fall as three tracers burned straight through him. He fell into the mud, trying what puddles around him red. Heckler sprinted forward, everything around him a blur as he followed Gator towards the Helghast trenches.
Rios slapped in new clip as he stepped over six freshly killed Helghians that had been riddled by 7.92mm bullets from his rifle. He was moving along inside the trench in a crouch firing his rifle at any Helghast that presented himself to be a target. Already the blouse of his uniform was caked with a mixture of mud and wet blood. But he wasn't going to stop yet.
Heckler heard a plop in front of them and found himself starring at a helghast style frag grenade.
"Kick it back!" screamed Gator frantically. Heckler did so, and watched the shiny, steel, lemon shaped grenade sail over the trenches, before a muzzle flashed at them causing them to drop prone into the mud. Again they found themselves pinned down.
Heckler did so, and watched the shiny, steel, lemon shaped grenade sail over the trenches, before a muzzle flashed at them causing them to drop prone into the mud. Again they found themselves pinned down. Only this time Rios wasn't there to save them with his grenade launcher. Blindly the ISA soldiers returned fire with their rifles and a few tossed grenades. The exchange of fire was intense. Heckler could feel the heat of tracers flying past his helmet and face. Somehow he found the courage to crawl forward towards the trenches even as bullets sprayed mud up onto his uniform.
" Mitch you crazy son-uva-bitch!" laughed Gator who was close behind him pausing every now and then to return fire with Helgan soldiers in short bursts of his rifle. Heckler's ears rang from the roars of their M82 rifles. After a few feet of crawling under heavy fire, Heckler could peer down into the trench. Several dead Helghasts lay in the final pose which death left them. Blood seeped over their leather trench coats from their fatal wounds. The smell made Heckler gag as he rolled into the trench. Gator rolled into the trench with his rifle up and ready only to find the bullet riddled bodies.
" Guess we kinda late." he commented as they swiftly moved along the trench line to clear it of Helgan soldiers. Heckler was ready to reply when he saw a glimpse of Rios ahead of them.
"That's Rios , come on!" shouted Heckler as he chased after Rios.
Rios charged around a corner to see three very surprised Helgan soldiers manning a chaingun. Rios clubbed the closest soldier with the butt of his rifle as the other two tried to draw their Tropva machine pistols. Swinging his rifle as if he was hitting a baseball, Rios's rifle stock connected with the gas mask covered jaw of another. The mask was ripped clear off the Helgan's face, the gas mask flipping up into the air. The Helgan crumbled to the ground clutching his throat trying to breathe. The last Helgan drew a bead on the large but fast moving ISA soldier. Rios ducked as the machine pistol emptied itself at him. Rios dove away as the eighteen-round clip was emptied almost directly at him. He could feel rounds graze his flak vest before the gun went dry. The surprised Helgan looked at his useless pistol as the massive ISA soldier slowly drew himself up. Fumbling with another clip, the Helgan tried to reload his machine pistol. Rios drew back his rifle and slammed the shoulder of his weapon into the goggles of the Helgan with as much force as he could muster. The orange tinted goggles shattered upon impact, along with driving facial bones into the brain of the Helgan soldier.
Heckler turned the corner to watch Rios slam the butt of his rifle into the Helgan's face. Gator saw a Helgan on the ground reaching for his rifle and shot him in the back twice. The arm reaching for the weapon flopped to the ground motionless. Rios turned to them, his face splattered with some blood, his green eyes blazing with battle rage.
" We need to get out of the trench." He told them calmly despite the situation. Gator nodded and pulled out his GPS locator and looked at its palm size screen. The blue dot was their location, and showed them in a massive trench line dotted with pillboxes. What the GPS didn't show was dozens of Helghast soldiers. Heckler kept watch, waiting for a Helgan soldier to turn around the corner. His heart pounded in his chest waiting for that moment to arrive.
" Mitch!" shouted Gator as Rios boosted him over the trench wall," Come on!"
They had a way out of the trenches… now they jest had to find the mortars.