(A/N; Okay, since my last Jak story was a flop, I decided to try again. This is just sort a preview, I won't be releasing chapters very fast, but they will be here, and they will be long! Let me know if you want anything fixed. Will take constructive criticism, but flames wil only heat my fireplace, keeping my fingers warm as I type. /Pardon the pun\)
My Life in Hell
The South Town barracks always was one of the best places to pick up on news.
Thin trails of smoke wafted out of the open window of the building they'd cleared out, which also served as a magazine bunker. To put it simply and bluntly, the men slept on crates of ammo. Not the most comfortable mattresses in the world.
Currently, the soldiers of Alpha Company, most of them green recruits, were sitting there, having a smoke. Regulations said to be wearing body armor at all times in case of attack, but everyone had taken their helmets off to get their cigarettes into their mouths.
The door opened, revealing the rainstorm that had gone on for two days straight, and another soldier in blue armor trooped in, a bullet wound in his thigh. Not expecting the hazy air, his eyes watered, even behind his goggles, and he coughed, despite the re-breather/life support pack he wore over his mouth. Currently, the vents on the air system were open in order to conserve the oxygen in the small tank in between his shoulder blades. All the soldiers in the barracks looked up at the new arrival as the man took off his helmet, waving his hand around.
"Mar and Precursors, how many times do I have to tell you guys to ventilate this place every time you smoke?"
One of the soldiers jerked a hand over his shoulder towards the window, snapping back "We left that window open, so don't start bitching to us, Vex."
Vex, a Lieutenant, grew red in the face and, taking a step forward on his good leg, slapped the soldier upside the head, snarling "Just who do you think you're talking to, Private! I told you to ventilate this room, so ventilate it!"
Another soldier, one of the few who wasn't smoking, got up and shoved another window fully open, then turned on the air conditioner.
"At least you've got a good head on your shoulders, Digit." Vex said, sighing and limping over to his 'bunk' which was simply a stack of rifle ammunition.
The soldier named Digit said nothing, sitting back down, bright blue eyes down on the floor.
A dark-skinned teenaged soldier named Scope piped up next, flicking the nub of his cigarette out the window and lighting a new one while he spoke. "Man, homies! When's this war gonna end! I mean, the farmland's gone, the Metal Head's have their nest practically right on top of us, and the KGs are narrowing us down every day! And now look!" He jabbed his cigarette at Vex, who was opening a Green Eco Medkit and applying it to his leg wound. "Vex is one of the best shooters among us, and he's taken a KG bullet!"
At this, everyone smiled, slightly. Scope was actually the best man with a rifle that they had, earning him his name. Vex had even admitted once that the teen was better than him.
Scope continued.
"He's lucky not to have been killed! All those slugs are coated in like two or three layers of armor piercing material. Have any of you ever picked up a KG slug that missed?"
All the other soldiers, used to Scope's crazy ranting, shook their heads boredly. The next statement got their attention, though.
"It's, like, twenty-two millimeters thick! Just getting hit by one of those should kill you, no matter where it goes!"
Shocked looks and murmurs flew through the group as Scope leaned back and took a drag on his cigarette.
Digit looked up, rubbing the back of his neck. His bleached, spiked hair was damp, and he didn't want to disrupt the gel, so he rubbed the hair on the top of his neck to have something to do.
Another soldier piped up, cigarette bobbing up and down as he spoke. "Well, then what the hell are we still doing with pump rifles? Figured they might have given us some of those fancy morph guns they use in training, but NOOOO, we just have to get stuck with the least powerful and most suckiest guns in the world!"
Agreement went around at this. Another soldier, this one with his auburn hair in a long ponytail reaching down over his support pack, stood and, purposefully changing the subject, said "Well, think about it. Why the hell did you guys sign up to fight if all you're going to do is gripe?"
Digit sighed, leaning forward until his elbows sat propped on his knees. Angus always supported the guard, no matter what they did. He'd even supported the Krimzon Guard when the Baron was in power.
Angus went on "I mean, what did you come out here for?"
There were several mutterings of 'I was drafted,' a few of 'To get out of the house,' and one of 'Because my pop was in the Krimzon Guard.'
Angus looked Digit over, but the bleach-head said, quietly "Because I had nowhere else to go."
Nobody heard him, however. Nobody really ever paid any attention to him.
"Well, I'll tell you boys something; I came here on my own. No one forced me, I didn't feel the need to leave. Instead, I felt the need, hell, the DUTY to protect this city."
Before Angus could go on with his appraising speech, however, an alarm sounded, and flashing red lights filled the barracks.
"We're under attack! Take your stations!" shouted Vex, grabbing his rifle and helmet, then dashing out while everyone else scrambled to do the same. About thirty men, most of them teens, followed after him with shouts of "Let's get 'em!"
"Death to Metal Heads!"
"Let's kicks their nuts and bolts!"
Digit was the last one to run out, still loading his rifle. He was always last for everything, but it didn't matter to him.
The first few men had already engaged the attack, a battalion of KG Deathbots, and were already taking casualties. Vex pressed a button on his helmet, activating the communicator inside.
"This is Lt. Vex! Alpha Company's being overrun at point Whiskey! Need reinforcements at Zone 5-5-2-1-3-9! Over!"
The response couldn't be heard by anyone else over the gunfire, but it seemed to satisfy Vex, and he turned to his men, yelling "Alright boys! Hold 'em off! Reinforcements from HQ in five minutes!"
"Where's Bravo Company?" shouted another soldier, firing at a Gunpod that was floating towards their position.
"They're over dealing with the Metal Head front with Charlie! Delta's on the way, though!" Vex responded, smashing a Crawler that had gotten too close.
Everyone brightened at this. Delta was a company of grenade-launchers, which would definantly help with the robots.
A Deathbot, damaged but still operative, rolled around the wreckage of a few others, taking a few soldiers by surprise as it barreled through their front line. Unfolding right smack dab in the middle of them, it opened fire in all sorts of directions before it was taken down, allowing other Deathbots the opportunity to roll closer and open fire. The line of Freedom League soldiers was in disarray, everyone scrambling around, trying to fire at the red blurs they saw.
Vex was trying to give orders and get the company back under control when a bullet caught him in the throat, and he went down.
Digit fired around a scrap pile, then ducked back down as a Gunpod fired back at him. He peered back around, watching as more Deathbots appeared.
"Fall back!" shouted the Sergeant from Delta Company, and Alpha was only happy to comply.
The Deathbots, Gunpods, and Crawlers advanced, eating up ground like a Hip Hog in a corn crib.
Digit was rushing past Vex's body when he heard a tiny voice over the chaos. He looked down at Vex's helmet, then reached down and tore out the radio, holding it up to his own ear, only to hear "Repeat, reinforcements NOT coming! There's a barrier on this side of the Industrial section! Only the KG robots can go through! Lt. Vex, are you there? Lieutenant, respond!"
Digit felt the radio fall from his hand, heard the tinny voice being cut off as it smashed on the sidewalk, and felt dread in his heart.
No reinforcements.
An impassable barrier.
And overwhelming enemy numbers.
They were cut off from their command, being squeezed on both fronts, and had absolutely no hope.
A bullet whistled past his ear, forcing the teen to hit the sidewalk, firing behind him. A Deathbot caught the bullet in what looked like the head, blowing up instantly.
Digit, not wanting to look a gift Zorse in the mouth, scrambled for the rest of the guard, trying to hold their ground on the bridge. As soon as he managed to get behind the soldiers, he started running. He'd only made it two feet, however, before he ran, literally, into Scope. Being smaller, Digit only bounced off, flailing his arms to keep his balance.
"Where the hell are you going, Digit?" Scope yelled, looking like he was getting angry behind that mask.
"To the Gun Range!" Digit spat back, trying to get past again. He just didn't have time for this kind of bullshit.
"What? What for?" Scope snarled, knocking Digit back again.
At this, Digit, the normally quiet, secluded guy, blew up.
"THE REINFORCEMENTS AREN'T COMING! WE'RE ALSO CUT OFF FROM HQ, SO IF YOU WANT TO KILL US ALL, FINE BY ME!"
He stormed past again, and this time, Scope didn't stop him. After a second, he ran up to the smaller boy, hardly keeping pace. For such a little guy, just 5' 3", this kid could run faster than anyone else in the guard, even with his armor on.
"Well, I'm going with you! I'm thinking of trading this dumb shit for a Blaster!"
"And I'm going with you both!" said a voice behind them. Scope and Digit glanced back over their shoulders to find Angus running after them, huffing slightly to keep up.
"Fine by me," muttered Digit, as the Gun Range came into sight. "Just stay out of my way."
As soon as the door opened, all three teen soldiers rushed inside, barreling over a very shocked Tess, and went to three different gun racks.
Digit gave his rack a brief once-over before picking up a Scatter Gun, reaching into an ammo box and fitting a disk-shaped red magazine onto the top, working the pump to get the first round into place. Scope didn't hesitate to pick up a Blaster, fitting the cylinder shaped yellow magazine in and getting the round in place by releasing the trigger, letting the gun open it's breach. Angus took a little bit longer, scanning the guns over and over.
"Angus! Hurry up, dammit! Just grab a gun!" yelled Digit as he pulled the standard guard rifle's ammo out of his ammunition belt, replacing it with Scatter Gun ammo and grabbing a Plasmite RPG attachment. He wasn't sure what it actually was, but the five barrels convinced him he needed it.
Scope was standing by the door, waiting, while Angus finally hefted a Vulcan Fury gatling, fitting in the blue magazine and spinning the barrels for effect.
"Ok, I'm ready. Let's go!"
And all three were gone.
Tess, rubbing her head, picked herself up off the floor, looking around in bewilderment. Three guns, who knew how much ammo, and her experimental attachment were all gone. In their place were three standard issue rifles and a few magazines for them, all thrown on the floor. Tess shook her head, not quite believing it.
'Wait 'till Torn hears about this.' she thought glumly. More red tape to fill out for more guns.
Outside, things were getting panicky. Alpha and Delta, having their numbers thinned significantly, were in full retreat. As they ran past the second tower, trying to warn Bravo and Charlie, the Sergeant looked up, seeing three flashes of blue pass him. He looked back over his shoulder to see three soldiers running toward the horde of robots.
'Holy shit,' he thought 'They're mad!'
In fact, Digit was feeling quite crazy at the moment. He felt that only a crazy person should be doing this sort of thing, and so, he assumed he had gone mad the instant he had picked up Vex's radio.
He finally slowed down, then stopped, allowing first Scope, then Angus to catch up with him as they all saw their opposition.
At least three lines deep, the company of KG Deathbots marched towards them, guns raised and ready, waiting to get in range. Gunpods flew overhead, their camera lenses zooming in on the three blue figures, locking on. Several Crawlers scuttled among the legs of the Deathbots, eager to get up front. All of the robots had one thing on their computerized minds; annihilate the men in blue.
Angus applied pressure slightly to the trigger of his gun, letting the barrels rotate a bit, but not fire. Scope knelt down, activating the laser sights and spotting a little red dot appear on the head of the first Deathbot. Digit brought his Scatter Gun up, drawing a deep breath.
This was do or die time, and Digit knew the result would probably be the latter.
To hell with it though. He didn't fear death.
There was nothing left for him.
With a shout, he gave the command; "OPEN FIRE!"
Immediately, there came a fusillade from Angus' Vulcan as Scope opened up with the Blaster. Digit, slightly closer to the column than the other two, squeezed the trigger, and the gun bucked, knocking several Deathbots back, and destroying two or three Crawlers and Gunpods. The lines were being thinned as they kept up the fire on the enemy, calling for cover fire from each other when they had to reload. They were only forced to give up a small piece of ground, but that was because at one point they'd all had to reload at the same time. However, the KG numbers finally grew smaller and smaller until there were only three or four Deathbots left, and all three were running low on ammo.
Digit jammed a new magazine in, then attached the RPG attachment in desperation, taking aim only briefly before pulling the trigger. A red grenade flew out of the top barrel as they all rotated, ready to fire the next grenade.
The explosive flew towards the robots, detonating on impact and destroying the remainder. All three covered their goggled eyes to protect them from the flash, then looked back up when no more shots flew their way. All that remained of the column was a heap of scrap junk.
There was silence.
No gunshots, no yells; nothing.
And then, a scratchy voice made scratchier on a loudspeaker.
"You three! I want you to come to the Naughty Ottsel! NOW!!"