We Are Men
"Cut the chatter! Initiating drop sequence!"
I'd heard these words countless times, in all honesty it just sounds like one giant word at this point. My team and I slammed our safety bars over our chests, readying for the drop as the cruiser drifted lazily over the planet. The mission was simple. Kill the Militia operatives before they could hack into our database, while destroying any of our intel we came across. "Torch and Burn" Blisk had called it. Seems redundant to me, but no one cares what I think. After all, I'm just Private First Class Adrian Miles. A grunt.
"Anyone know how many Pilots we'll have on site?" One of my fire team members asked. Jonathan Spencer. My best mate since boot camp.
"Five are going in via drop ship. Another's dropping in with us. So six in total. I hear the Militia's only coming in with four." Another said. Corporal David Burton. Our team leader. Rumor had it he was the brother of one the best Pilots in the IMC.
"Why they going in with so few?" Our fourth member, Gerard Everett, asked as a loud screeching noise filled my ears. The drop pod was forcefully ejected from the cruiser as we entered the atmosphere of the planet, a wall of fire gathering outside our windows.
"Militia's sending in twice as many grunts as we are! Trying to get us to focus on them so we forget about the Pilots!" Burton shouted over the screaming wind and roaring fire. The pod landed with a loud crash, rumbling for a moment before settling.
"Sounds like a dumb plan to me. One Pilot's worth a hundred of us. Maybe even more!" Jon shouted as the drop pod door opened, exposing the massive hangars at the Levi Military Base. I grabbed my carbine from my right and aimed forward as I ran out of the pod and crouched down.
"Tell you what mate, when we get the blokes runnin' the Militia, you can tell em' yourself." I said as Burton and Everett pulled out in front of me. Jon pulled up to my side, wielding his Spitfire.
"You know, that's a good idea! I might just do that!" He said as we followed Burton through one of the massive buildings. Must have been a hangar from the looks of it. Several IMC drop ships hung from rafters on the ceilings, all of them covered in dust and dirt.
"Oi, these things have seen better days, eh?" Everett asked as we passed underneath them.
"Yeh, IMC had to abandon this base after a mutagen was discovered that could have infected everyone on site." Burton said as he turned toward a doorway. We quickly followed him inside. The room contained several computers and files in addition to a medium sized table in the center of the room, holding what looked like drop ship blueprints.
"This is some of our intel. Private Miles, start placing satchel charges." Burton said as he moved toward the other side of the room. I moved forward as Jon and Everett turned to look behind us, covering our flank.
"So what's keeping us safe from the mutagen?" Everett asked. I placed three satchels along the computers, then went back into the hangar. Next to one of the drop ships was exactly what I was looking for, fuel canisters.
"Remember that medical examination five days ago?" Burton said as he took one of the gas canisters from me. I grabbed another one and started pouring fuel onto the files and the middle table.
"The one where we had to get that random vaccine?" Jon asked. I tossed aside the fuel canister and reclaimed my weapon.
"That vaccine prevents you from obtaining the mutagen. Problem is, it only lasts a week." Burton said as he gave us the signal to clear out. Jon and Everett went ahead of us, I followed closely behind. Burton came out shortly after I exited.
"Punch it." He said to me. I nodded and pulled out the detonator to the satchels. I pulled the trigger twice, and the hangar blew up in flames. The fire radiated heat through the doorway, making me sweat a little. I whistled.
"That's the second biggest thing I've seen this week." I said as I placed away the detonator, pulling my carbine back out.
"Oh yeah? What's the first?" Everett asked as we joined another fire team.
"Blisk's ego." I replied. Jon laughed. The second fire team raced toward a much larger building, possibly the main command centre of the base. There were enormous hangar doors leading into the building, leading to yet another room filled with dust and dirt covered drop ships. The only differences were that this one had a data center at the upper right of the hangar, and it had a series of stairs and catwalks across the walls and ceiling.
"There's a Pilot up there, check it out!" Someone from the second team shouted. I looked up to the catwalk, and surely enough, there a Pilot was, blasting and kicking his way through a horde of Militia grunts. He carried the same R-101C carbine Burton and I did, only he had what looked like a Holosight attached. The Pilot jumped towards the hangar wall and started running along it, then blasted off the wall with his jump kit, then proceeded to jump kick yet another grunt. I whistled again.
"No matter how much I see stuff like that, it never gets any less impressive." I said. Everett nodded.
"I hear ya mate." He agreed.
"Stop gawking at the Pilot. We've got a job to do." Burton stated sternly. We quickly ran up the stairs leading to the catwalks, and proceeded into the data room. Upon entering, we found another friendly Pilot sticking his data knife into a USB port on the central terminal. Within seconds, every screen in the room went to static, with flashing red text that read;
"WARNING! FATAL MEMORY VIRUS DETECTED!"
The Pilot pulled out his knife and placed it back at his side. After which he pulled up a C.A.R. and used his jump kit to exit out of a smashed glass panel in the ceiling.
"Now why don't we get those?" Jon asked. Burton nodded.
"No kidding. Those data knives could make this mission a lot easier." He stated. Jon shook his head as Burton lead us to a door on the other side of the room. He kicked open the door and looked left and right before proceeding onto another cat walk. As soon as he stepped on, gunfire came from below.
"Militia! Right below us!" I shouted as I placed my weapon to my shoulder and started firing. I sidestepped onto the catwalk as Burton started running across, slightly hindered by the Archer strung along his back. I raised my rifle and sidestepped again as Jon leapt to my side and fired his weapon as well.
"I'm seeing ten-plus Militia below us! Watch your hind out there!" Burton shouted as he too started firing. The familiar clicking sound made it's way to my ears, soon after which, I dropped my empty mag and reached for a new one. I slammed the fresh mag in and started running for Burton, allowing Jon to sidestep and let Everett onto the catwalk.
"Two hostiles dropped!" Jon shouted as he made his way further down the catwalk. Everett started opening fire with his Longbow as the Militia went for cover, allowing Burton and I to rush down a set of stairs. The room was filled with computer terminals and metal cubicles, giving us an ample amount of cover to choose from.
"Moving up! Give me covering fire!" Jon shouted from above.
"Roger that!" I screamed as I popped out from a metal cubicle and opened fire on another grunt. All six of my shots hit their mark, dropping him instantly. A bullet whizzed by my head, forcing me to take cover again. Burton opened fire, killing another member of the Militia and forcing the others to take cover.
"We've got a friendly fire team coming in behind us!" Everett shouted over the gunfire. I looked back up to the catwalk, seeing another team of five running behind Everett. One got his brains blown out by a stray bullet, leaving only four.
"Someone toss a frag!" Burton shouted as he ducked behind cover to reload. I popped back out and fired five more rounds before I was forced to take cover again.
"Copy, frag out!" Someone from the new team shouted. I saw the grenade fly towards the Militia forces, heard the enemy grunts shout a warning, and saw one fly across the room from the blast. I ran forward and fired at two grunts who had ran from the blast. I took down one, while the other one charged me and grabbed my carbine, wrestling with me for it.
"Come here you dirtbag!" He shouted as I struggled to reclaim my weapon. I tried to elbow him, but he just shrugged it off and shoved me away, taking my gun with him. I sprinted towards him, tackling him and bringing him to the ground. I was able to land a punch on him before he caught my next punch and gave me a solid hook to the jaw. I backed off of him and placed my hand to my mouth, and he charged me into a wall.
"Get off of me you bloody wanker!" I shouted as I head butted him, causing him to back off , holding his head. I kicked him back to the floor and ran to retrieve my weapon. I quickly scooped it up, and turned to open fire on my adversary, only to see Jon firing rounds into his head. I was panting now, and Jon rushed over to me.
"Bloody heck, you alright mate?" He asked. I nodded and groaned.
"Yeh, just caught me off guard." I responded. Jon nodded and patted me on the shoulder, then looked behind me, then charged me.
"Get down!" He shouted as he tackled me to the ground. I felt the wind rush out of my lungs as I hit the ground with a thud. A rocket whizzed over our heads and sailed into the back wall, where it exploded in a fiery burst. Jon helped me to my feet and shoved me toward one of the empty hallways.
"What the heck was that?!" I shouted as I ran towards the rest of the squad.
"Spectres! Go!" Jon replied. Before I could process this, we were caught in another hailstorm of bullets. I dived behind one of the cubicles as the walls sparked from the impact of the bullets.
"More Spectres on the catwalk! Request back up!" I heard Jon shout from behind me. I hid behind the wall of the cubicle as the Spectre continued to fire at me. A momentary lapse in fire allows me to run out and towards Jon, who was firing up at the catwalks, joined by four other grunts.
"Did you see where Everett and the Corporal went?" I shouted as I slid back behind cover, checking myself for hits. I was clean.
"Yeh, they went onto the next room while I went for you! Thought the Militia got you!" Jon replied as he reloaded his weapon. I popped out and fired my weapon to give him covering fire.
"We got a friendly Pilot coming through!" Another grunt shouted. I turned my attention to a quickly moving streak. In an instant I saw the pilot run across the wall while firing off four shotgun blasts, completely obliterating the Spectres on the catwalk.
"Nic'a bloody time too!" Jon shouted. I came out of cover and pointed my weapon, only to see even more Spectres headed our way. I fired as much as I could, taking out one of them before the grunts behind me unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on them.
"Let's go! We need to regroup with the others!" I yelled at Jon as I started sprinting to another open doorway.
"Oh yeah, never mind we just fought off over a half-dozen murderous robots!" Jon called back.
"Just shut up and follow me!" I said back as I turned right into the doorway. I aimed my carbine left and right while I waited for Jon. I found myself in some sort of open area with various vehicles lined against the sides and hangar doors on either side.
"Everett and the Corporal can't be too far off, let's get moving." I ordered. Jon followed closely behind me. Suddenly, a deafening banging sound came from our right. Jumping, I aimed at the hangar door, only to see massive dent in the center of the door. Another loud bang sounded as the door began to creak and groan, lifting slightly off the ground.
"Is that...?" Jon started.
"HIDE!" I screamed. Both of us blasted into full out sprints to the nearest vehicle. Another banging sound reached my ears as we reached one of the old drop ships. I climbed up the ladder next to it and fired on the cockpit. It shattered after I emptied half of my mag into it.
"In here, quick! I shouted, diving in as quick as I could. Jon jumped in right behind me. Again we heard the thunderous bang, as both he and I ducked behind the console. I stayed under the console while he crawled into the holding area.
"Thank God that glass wasn't bulletproof!" Jon whispered. Before I could respond, one last thunderous bag sounded, followed by a long screeching noise, and the sound of thundering footsteps.
"Stay... Quiet..." I said slowly. Cautiously, I peeked over the dashboard of the cockpit, trying to see what had destroyed the door. I was horrified to see an enormous Ogre with a quad-rocket launcher standing no more that a few meters from us. Not only that, but there were Spectres and grunts all around it, more than I could count at a mere glance.
"Holy crap..." I whispered as I lowered myself back underneath the console and stuffed myself underneath it. I could see Jon prone looking back at me, worry and fear written across his body language.
"What? What did you see?" He whispered. The sound of the Titan's footsteps and the chatter of the Militia grew steadily louder, I knew they were getting closer.
"Ogre Titan, at least 20+ foot soldiers, all blocking the hangar exit." I said back. Jon nodded and looked slightly above me, after which, he ducked his head back down. I pulled my carbine close, clutching it firmly against my chest as the footsteps sounded like they were right on top of us. I formed a fist with my hand, signaling absolute silence. He nodded and placed his head to the floor.
"Hangar clear!" I heard from behind. Whether it was a grunt or the Pilot within the Titan, I did not know. And I didn't want to find out either. I heard the stomping feet of the Ogre march away from us, and heard another loud banging. I flinched as the sound reverberated in my ears.
"Stay down." I whispered to Jon as I gently peeked the top of my head over the cockpit. I looked to my left when I heard another banging noise. The Titan was repeatedly punching the second hangar door, trying to break it down. Behind it were the Spectres, along with about half of the grunts. I looked back to the front, and counted six Militia grunts. I ducked back down as one last bang sounded before screeching and gunfire erupted.
"Enemy Titans spotted!" I heard from the grunts below. I crouched and motioned for Jon to rise as well. I looked towards the hangar door, and saw the Ogre advancing slowly, with even more grunts charging ahead of it, the Spectres trailed behind the titan. This was the distraction we needed.
"They're focused on something else, let's go." I said. Jon nodded and followed me outside the cockpit. I climbed down the ladder and waited for him to catch up, then proceeded forward. We moved slowly and carefully toward the now destroyed hangar door opposite the Militia.
"Reaper 2-1 this is Reaper 2-2 and 2-4, do you copy, over?" I said into the mic as we made a right turn. Outside was pandemonium. Grunts on both sides engaged, with Spectres leaping high onto the rooftops of the buildings. Two Atlas Titans strode the battlefield, battling a massive IMC Ogre. I quickly led Jon to a large building to escape the chaos outside.
"Reaper 2-2, this is Reaper 2-1, good to hear from you. Thought we lost you in that gunfight. Rendezvous in the north west barracks. Be aware, the Militia has grunts all over the bloody place. Watch yourself. Out." The radio responded. I looked over the room in front of us. Mostly just a bunch of bunk beds and a few scattered belongings.
"Whoever was here must'a left in a hurry." Jon said.
"Yeh, probly' thanks to that mutagen. What do you think makes it so dangerous?" I asked.
"Don't know, I don't wanna stick around long enough to find out." Jon said. I nodded and aimed my carbine forward once more. Jon followed closely behind me as we proceeded to another door. I placed my back to the wall to the left of the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. Jon followed my example on the other side of the door.
Jon looked at me for a quick moment, then nudged his head toward the door. I nodded and quickly readjusted to be facing the door, my rifle in front of me. Jon reached toward the door knob and twisted, pushing it open. I carefully walked in the door, and instantly froze. Inside the kitchen like room, was a Militia Pilot, some kind of rectangular device in one of his back pockets.
At the sound of the door opening, the Pilot turned towards me, his orange mask looking like the face of a demon. I knew that on my own, I was no match for a Pilot. I slowly placed my weapon on the floor, and raised my hands in the air. The Pilot rose a pistol to me, slowly walking towards me.
"Tell your friend to stand down." I heard the Pilot say with a deep and gravelly voice. I backed away slowly, the Pilot following me. I had no idea how the Pilot knew Jon's whereabouts, but I knew better than to oppose such a dangerous operator.
"Jon... Lay down your gun." I said quietly. By this point, I was well out of the kitchen, and Jon could see me with my arms raised. Seemingly angered by this, Jon quickly turned and pointed his weapon at the Pilot, demanding he stand down. What happened next, horrified me.
The Pilot quickly grabbed his arm and twisted it violently, resulting in a sickening crunching sound. Jon tried to scream, but was drowned out when the Pilot then punched him in the face, and quickly slammed his head against the wall, followed by the sound of two gun shots. Jon crumpled to the ground, two gunshot wounds in his chest. I could hear him groan sickly and reach his hand to his head. I wanted to rush over and help him, but I was frozen in terror. The Pilot turned back to me, and once again rose his weapon at me.
"Try anything, and that's how you'll end up." He said. I nodded slowly, looking back to to Jon, he was looking down at his wounds. He was wheezing heavily, and held his hands over his chest, blood pouring from them. Looking back to the Pilot, I seldom even breathed.
"Turn around." He said. I nodded, and slowly did as the Pilot ordered.
"Place your hands on your head." He then said. I complied.
"On your knees." At this command, I shakily knelt down, trying not to move too quickly, and thus invoke the Pilot's wrath. I heard the Pilot walk up to me, and felt the barrel of the gun against my neck. My entire body tensed up, and I waited for what I felt was inevitable.
The next thing I heard was a series of rapid gun fire, and I heard the Pilot groan. I then heard two loud thumps, followed by the clinking of a gun hitting the floor.
"Private Miles, are you alright?" I heard from behind. Looking behind me, I could see Burton standing over the dead Pilot, his arm outstretched. I grabbed hold and he pulled me to my feet. To our right, Everett inspected Jon, attempting to aid him.
"Forget me, what about Jon?!" I shouted back. I tried to run over to him, but Burton held me back.
"Calm down, Everett's checking on him right now. For now, I need you to check that Pilot for intel." He replied. Looking over to him, I saw Everett pulling out a medical kit, and Burton walked over to him. I heard the Corporal reassuring my friend as I looked down at the body of the Pilot. He had several bullet wounds in his back, no doubt due to the other members of the squad. I could still see the strange device still in his back pocket. Turning over his body, I worked the device out of his pocket. Now that I had a good look at it, I recognized it as a Data Storage Pad. I rotated the device in my hands, checking it for damage. Thankfully, the onslaught of bullets had spared it.
"Corporal, I found something." I said, holding up the Storage Pad. Burton stood and turned to face me. Upon seeing the pad, he began to walk over to me.
"DSP, eh? Let me take a look at that." He said, reaching out his hand. I held it out to him, allowing him to take it. He began to look it over, and I walked over to where Jon sat, kneeling down to look at him. Everett noticed me and stepped slightly to the left.
"Oi mate, you holdin' up alright?" I asked slowly. Jon looked up at me and groaned.
"I feel like a bloody arsonist lit a wildfire in my chest. That answer your question you daft git?" He asked as he laid his head back against the wall. Shaking my head, I looked over to Everett, who was injecting him with morphine.
"How is he?" I asked. I heard Jon sigh as Everett looked over to me.
"Not good. One of the bullets gave 'im a collapsed lung. The other one is stuck in his chest somewhere. It's gonna take some serious surgery to get him back on his feet." He said.
"Yeh, yeh, just patch me up and get me back in the fight." Jon said as his words slurred together. I patted him on the shoulder, and Everett started wrapping gauze around his wounds. He also took out a small bottle. Taking a pill out, he brought it to Jon's mouth and helped him take it.
"What is that?" I asked. Not looking towards me, Everett gave Jon a pat on the shoulder.
"New drug the IMC's testing out. Supposed to get him alert more quickly after the morphine. Supposedly it keeps the numbness for pain, but I have my doubts." He explained. I nodded and watched as Everett patched the exit wound in Jon's back.
"Well this is concerning..." I heard Burton say from behind us. I turned to face him. He was looking down at the pad, swiping his hands across it, as though he were looking for something.
"What is?" I heard Everett ask, who was still tending to my friend. Turning towards us, Burton walks over to us, turning the pad towards us. I could see a page listing several files, each listing important looking names like "data projects", "weapons testing", "carrier prototypes", things like that. However, each file was marked with what looked like skulls, and red x's. Text read along the files saying: "Error".
"All these files are completely empty. But why in the world would these files still be able to be opened if an error occurred? Wouldn't they be inaccessible?" Burton asked us. At this point, Everett turned to face the data pad, noting all the missing files. I pondered this as well.
"Some kind of virus?" I suggested. Burton shook his head.
"Militia nabbed the intel, then destroyed the files. Hacker most likely..." He said, turning the data pad back towards him. Everett looked at the pad, seeming troubled. I looked back at the files again, and noticed the one that made Everett appear afraid. The file read: "Other Base Data". Data like that had the coordinates of other bases on it. The Militia had our numbers.
"If the Militia did all that, we won't be able to track where those files went. And if they have those files, they're going to know about our research centers. It'll be a massacre if they don't have any warning or protection." He said. Burton nodded, placing the data pad in a back pocket.
"Which is why we need to get this to command. If we can inform them, they might have enough time to prepare defenses." He said. Everett and I looked at each other. I knew we were thinking the same thing. I voiced them.
"Corporal, with all due respect, what chance do we have? There's Spectres, Pilots, heck, even Titans all over the place out there. And to make it worse... One of us is hurt, bad." I said. Pointing towards Jon. I heard him groan, and looked towards him.
"I... I may be down... But... But I'll be damned before I'm out." He said, pushing himself to stand. Everett stood and helped him to his feet. I placed a hand on his shoulder as he pulled out his holstered P2011.
"Jon, I can't let you go back out there. You're too hurt too badly." I said, noticing the twinge of concern in my voice. Jon panted heavily as he shook his head.
"Come on Adrian... I'm not leaving you guys on your own. Especially now." He said, his words still slurring together. I looked at Everett, who nodded at me.
"I know we're just grunts..." I heard Burton say. I turned to face him. He was still holding his carbine in his right hand, and his Archer was still slung across his back. However, his helmet was off, held loosely in his left hand, revealing his face. His blue eyes, and short, buzzed red hair stood out to me.
"I know we've got a wounded man, and I know we're seen as cannon fodder..." He continued. He held his helmet out towards us, a determined, courageous look in his eyes.
"But I think Private Spencer just proved a powerful point. Regardless of anything, we are still soldiers. We are still IMC. And most importantly..." He paused for a moment.
"We are still men. So we can still do this. Now..." Burton began to place his helmet back on his head, holding his weapon between his elbows. He patted the helmet on, and looked back at us.
"What say you we get this intel to command?" He asked. Not surprisingly, Jon was the first to respond.
"Right, let's do it." He said, determination and resolution in his voice. Looking over to Everett, I watched as he looked to the side for the moment, then back at Burton.
"I'm with you to the end Corporal." He stated. I looked back to Burton, and saw him staring at me. He held his rifle in his hands, and his Archer was still slung across his back.
"Well Private Miles? What do you say?" He asked one more time. I paused a moment, then looked back to Jon. Even with both me and Everett having to support him, I could see his resolve in his stance. It was as if he were some kind of stone pillar. I knew what my answer had to be. Resolve filling me, I turned back to Burton.
"Let's show the Militia what happens when you mess with the IMC." I said. Burton chuckled at that.
"That's what I like to hear. Now let's move out." He replied. Raising his rifle, he rose his arm and extended it to the door. Everett followed soon after, carrying Jon on his shoulders, his DMR dangling from his side. Jon walked along with him, grunting as he tried to squeeze through the door. I went through last, keeping my weapon pointed at the ground. We found the exit to the kitchen, and found ourselves in a long hallway with several doors. At the end was a metallic door marked as an emergency exit.
"Command, this is Raptor Team, request immediate evac. We've gathered intel on Militia battle plans, and we've got one wounded man. Please respond, over." I heard Burton say as we walked down the hallway. He placed his back to the wall across from the door at the end of the hall. As I got closer, I could hear the familiar sound of gunfire and yelling. Everett adjusted himself so that him and Jon could lean against the wall as comfortably as they could. I planted myself beside Burton.
"Affirmative Reaper Team, be advised, there will be a friendly dropship deploying fresh troops at a barracks 200 meters north of your position. ETA is three minutes." I heard from my radio. I could tell it was Spyglass from the voice.
"Copy that command, we'll be there. Out." Burton replied. Looking over to me, he motioned his head to the door. I nodded and positioned myself in front of it. Once I was ready, I looked back over to Burton for confirmation. He gave me a quick nod. I reared up and gave the door a solid kick, and immediately rushed out. There were two Militia grunts that got surprised and leaped away from us. I opened fire and took them both down as the rest of my team followed me outside. Aside from the other combatants, I could see several more large buildings being connected by make shift roads, signs revealing the street and building names.
"Attention all Grunt fireteams, this is Reaper 2-1. Request all available fireteams to proceed to the following coordinates on your HUD." I could hear Burton say. I saw him start jogging in the direction we needed to go, and set out to follow him. I could hear Jon grunt, and looked behind me. Everett had hoisted him up and was carrying him on both his shoulders so he could keep up with us. It was a good thing Jon was in too much pain to protest, otherwise he'd be screaming protests and profanities at Everett.
Turning back to Burton, I jogged after him, following him through the various streets that lead to the specified location. Grunt teams rushed past us, entering inside of bases, fighting grunt teams on the other sides of the building, and dragging wounded teammates to safety. Just as we were about to reach our destination, I could see a small green beam a few meters in front of us. Burton held out a hand for us to stop, and observed it a quick moment.
That's when I heard some kind of electronic whirring, followed by a distant boom that resonated through the sky. After that was a series of small explosions, followed by the rushing of wind, and finally, a thud as a storm of dust was knocked in front of our faces. When the dust began to clear, I nearly dropped my rifle in fright. A blue energy shield in the shape of a dome was the first thing I could see, and I knew what that meant, and it filled me with a sinking dread that I could feel in the pit of my stomach. Before I had the chance to, I heard someone shout the only thing that would come to my mind.
"ENEMY TITAN! TAKE COVER!" Immediately, I ran to one of the buildings and threw myself at the wooden door, hoping to quickly break it down. Nothing. I backed away and smashed against the door again, gaining a splintering noise, but nothing else.
"It's getting up! Everyone get the heck out of here!" I could hear Burton shout. I began to panic as I rapidly threw myself at the door again and again in rapid fashion, never getting more than a slight splintering noise. I looked to my right, and could the Titan slowly rise from it's kneeling position as some grunts started firing at the dome shield surrounding it. I stifled a scream and rammed against the door with increased force. The door gave a slightly louder splinter, but nothing else.
"Out of the way, let me try!" I heard from behind me. Looking that way, I could see Everett charging over, Jon hunched over his shoulders. I backed away as he braced himself then charged at the doorway. The doorway completely shattered under the weight of two people, and he lurched into the room. I charged right after them, practically diving into the room and frantically running after them. Everett ran through a door to our left and I followed him inside. There was a small kitchen area, in addition to sitting area with a large television and few couches. I rushed and stopped at a wall, panting heavily as I slid down it.
"Thanks a lot ya wanker… God that hurts…" I heard Jon say. Looking over, I could see Everett walking over to a couch and setting him down on it. As he was laid down, he grunted again and covered his chest with his hands. Once he was set down, Everett sat down beside the couch and began breathing heavily.
"Reaper team you still there? Please respond over!" I could hear from my radio. A heard a few coughs before I responded.
"Reaper 2-1, this is Reaper 2-2, we're okay…" I said, out of breath. Everett looked over to me and shook his head.
"Okay? We've got a Titan outside, and that means there's a bloody Pilot. If that doesn't mean not okay, I don't know what does." He said as he stood up, and walked back over Jon.
"Reaper Team, be advised, the Dropship launch has been temporarily aborted. Scanners indicate a hostile Titan capable of destroying the Dropship on sight. Clear the area of hostile forces to allow evacuation and reinforcements to arrive." I heard from the radio. Spyglass again. I groaned angrily and slammed my hand against the wall.
"Are they takin' a bloody piss?! They expect us to take down a Titan?!" Jon shouted angrily. He tried to sit up, but groaned in pain and fell back to the couch the second he did. Everett placed a hand on his chest in an attempt to keep him down.
"Easy now mate. Try not to move too much, you might do more damage." He said calmly as he began undo the gauze. I stood up and walked over to Everett, observing Jon's midsection as the gauze slowly became undone. I was not prepared for what I saw. Splinters from the door had made it through the gauze, and had pierced him in even more parts of his chest, one of them even made it into one of the bullet holes, tearing it open further. I recoiled in shock, and could see Everett sadly shake his head.
"No…" He said quietly. Taking a moment to collect myself, I watched as Everett's head drooped, and, with another shake of his head, he brought his hands to the back of his helmet, and slowly pulled it off. His short brown hair was revealed as he brought his hand to his forehead and rubbed it.
"This is my fault… I shouldn't have broken that door down…" He said, his voice wracked with guilt. I stood there, shocked, and horrified to see what had happened to my best friend. Jon looked down to his midsection, and let out another groan.
"Just gets better and better…" He said. I walked closer to him, and noticed a large splinter ingrained in his stomach. Enraged, I grabbed hold of it with an iron grip, ready to rip it out of him. Everett's hand slowly closed around my arm, and I turned a murderous gaze onto him. I was ready to scream at him, but that's when I saw the tears in his eyes. I loosened my grip on the splinter as he closed his eyes, hung his head, and shook it.
"You… You gotta do it slow… Might make it worse otherwise..." He said quietly. I sighed and nodded as I grabbed hold of the splinter firmly. Slowly, I pulled it out of Jon as I could hear him groaning in pain.
"What's going on over there?" I heard Burton say from the radio. In my peripheral vision, I saw Everett put his helmet back on. I managed to get the splinter out by the time Burton gave his response.
"Reaper 2-4's got major shrapnel damage. Some it might be under the skin… There's no way for us to remove it here." He said as I tried to find another large splinter. I found a decently sized one and slowly took hold as Everett reached out behind him and pulled the medical kit back out. As I pulled the splinter out, he opened it and pulled the morphine out. He replaced the needle and got some more of the painkiller ready. By the time he was done, I had gotten the splinter out.
"Bollocks… We need to get him out of here NOW." He said through the radio. Everett injected Jon with the morphine, gaining a satisfied from him.
"Sir, there's a Titan out there. What can we do against a Titan?" I asked. Silence and dead air was my only response. Feeling hopeless, I collapsed a sitting position, and placed my hands to my forehead. Everett looked over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, the radio sprang to life, startling me.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! WE ARE IMC! WE ARE MEN! WE ARE NOT GIVING UP!" Burton shouted. Temporarily stunned, I rose to my feet, trying to get a handle on my rifle.
"Listen up you two, there are other grunt fireteams out there, and a LOT of Archers on the ground. We're gonna take em', we're gonna use em', and WE are gonna take that thing down!" He shouted. I looked over to Everett, who was grasping his DMR. The plan was suicide, and we both knew it. I shook my head.
"It's insanity. We're just grunts, we can't take a Titan!" Everett looked over to Jon, who had fallen unconscious. I heard him sigh.
"It's his only chance." He said solemnly. Looking over to Jon, I could see him in a fitful and restless slumber, seeming to groan in pain at the slightest movement. That was the deciding moment for me. I couldn't let him die like this. Not when it was me who had caused this. He had rushed to my defense against a Pilot, he had to have known that was a hopeless fight. But he had done it anyway. Because he was my friend. My best friend. I had to repay that now. I looked back to Everett, and nodded.
"Just give us the word boss." I said into my radio.
"That's more like it. Get to the door." Burton replied. Holding onto my rifle, I walked towards the door leading outside. Everett was close behind me. Outside, we could see several grunts firing away at grunt teams, who were desperately trying to fight back.
"It's almost like they're targeting us…" Everett said. I watched as a grunt got squashed and recoiled slightly.
"They must know we have the intel." I responded. Looking across from me, I could see Burton in a building adjacent to us, holding his Archer in both hands, with his R-101C dangling from his side. He nodded to me, and I nodded back. Looking around the battlefield, I tried to find myself an Archer I could use to attack the Titan. A grunt was running up to the Titan, crouched, and aimed his weapon, but a burst of fire from what sounded like a chaingun cut him down.
"Do you have eyes on an Archer you can use?" Burton asked through the radio. I nodded and placed my back to the wall.
"Okay… On my mark…" I heard him say. Looking over to Everett, I saw him planted adjacent to me. He looked to me, and I nodded at him. He nodded back as Burton began his countdown.
"3…" I reared back, ready to launch of my feet.
"2…" I grasped my weapon tighter than I ever had.
"1…" I let out an anxious breath as I shook my head to loosen it up.
"MARK!" I heard Burton shout. In an instant, I rushed out the door, avoiding a stream of friendly grunts running to or away from the Titan. I sidestepped one who was running right at me, and stooped down to grab the Archer and a spare rocket. I could hear the pounding of the Titan's earth shattering steps, felt the sound of the chaingun fire reverberate in my head. I slid on my knees to hide behind a building, planting my back firmly against it. I could see Everett running forward, rushing to a fallen grunt who had an Archer next to him. I watched him grab it and dive behind a wall as chaingun fire cut down a line of grunts around him.
Quickly, I charged out of my cover, and followed a group of grunts attacking the Titan. That's when I saw it. Enormous, painted a dull green and orange color, wielding a massive chaingun. It was an Atlas, I could tell from the build. Quickly, I crouched down as others continued running up to it. I waited until it turned to face me, then fired. As soon as I had, I rose to my feet as I sprinted to the right to avoid oncoming fire.
"Solid hit!" I shouted into my radio as I dived behind another building. As I began to enter my second rocket into the launcher, I peeked out for a moment, and watched as another Archer rocket slammed into the Titan.
"Shot out!" Everett shouted via the radio. I wasted no time once I was finished reloading, and popped out cover and opened fire on the Titan once more. As I did, I saw a second rocket firing from the side, and making contact in the form of a fiery burst. I ducked back behind cover and began to look for ammo for my now empty Archer as I heard Burton say over the radio;
"Four successive hits! We've brought down its shields, keep it up!" He said. I noticed a dead grunt a few meters away from me who was carrying another Archer. I quickly ran over to him to grab the weapon's ammo. I had just reached the grunt when I felt a massive heat rush past me. Looking the way I had come, I saw a large series of explosions coming from where I had formerly been. The Titan had fired a cluster missile.
Trying to shake this off, I inserted a rocket into my empty weapon, grabbed two spare rockets, and looked to my right to make sure the Titan wasn't coming after me. Luck wasn't smiling on me though, and I watched as the Titan crushed a grunt underfoot, and aimed its massive chaingun right at me. For a moment I froze in fear, waiting for it to fire. That's when a rocket rush right by it, just barely missing it. The Titan ducked and turned to the direction of the shot, and I ran away from it and onto one of the roads. Seeing a fork in the road I was on, I made a sharp turn right and dived behind the wall.
Breathing heavily, I hung my head as I tried to calm down. Shaking my head, I peeked out of cover to see the Titan opening fire on a group of grunts in front of it. I took this chance to pop out of my cover. I held the Titan in my sights for a few seconds before firing my shot, watching as it connected with the shoulder of the Titan. Seeing it stumble, I ran back to my cover, and kept running as I began inserting a new rocket into the weapon as I heard Everett on the radio say;
"It's taking damage!"
"Good!" Burton replied. "It can't take much more, keep it under fire and bring it down!" He finished saying as I slammed the rocket into the launcher. I saw a group of fleeing grunts and ran the way opposite of them, holding my Archer over my shoulder as I swung my other arm in front of me. I could see Everett in the distance, aiming for another shot. That's when I heard two rapid rushes of air, and saw the Titan doing what must have been dashes, crushing five grunts under it. I saw Everett stumble and knew I had to act. I knelt down, and aimed at the Titan as I saw it turn to face Everett, aiming it's weapon as it did. Before it could, I fired my Archer at it. The connection of the rocket caused it to lurch forward slightly, throwing off its aim. I saw Everett sprint away from the monstrous machine, his Archer still in his hands.
That's when it turned to face me, and aimed its weapon at me. I stood to run away, and watched as the Titan fired a rocket from its shoulder. I tried to get away, but the rocket detonated right behind me, causing me to be blown forward, drop my weapon, and slamming me into a wall. I writhed on the ground in pain, and groaned in agony as I heard thundering footsteps. Looking to my right, I watched as the Titan stomped over to me. It stopped a few meters in front of me, and rose its weapon at me. I knew this was it. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily as I waited for the end.
"Everett! FIRE!" I heard. Opening my eyes, I saw Burton rushing towards me as I noticed an orange light coming from the direction of the Titan. In one swoop, he grabbed hold of me and hoisted me over his shoulder. He charged over to another building, all while I bobbed up and down on his shoulder. I heard chaingun fire before he made it behind the wall. He waited a few moments, then set me down against the wall.
"Miles, you alright?" He asked me. I groaned in pain as I tried to move around. My entire body was burning in pain, my right arm in particular. I realized that I must have taken the full force of the collision there.
"I think my arm's broken…" I said. I heard the thundering footsteps move away from us, and saw Burton turn to it's direction.
"Okay, okay, just take it easy Miles, I'll figure something out." I held my arm as I watched him look around. I could his Archer was out of ammo.
"Everett, do you read me? I need to know how many rockets you have left." He said. For a moment there was only silence, then I heard on the radio;
"Guys, this is bad, I only have one rocket left, and I've already scavenged all the others I could find!" I heard him say. Burton slammed his fist into the ground and looked around for a moment, clearly frustrated. His eyes landed on my kit, and I noticed him straighten.
"Private, do you have any remaining satchel charges?" He asked me. I groaned and nodded.
"Give them here." He said. I stared at him for moment, unsure of what to think. As fast as my broken arm would allow, I grabbed my three remaining charges and handed them to him. I demanded I hand him my detonator as well, and I obeyed. That's when I saw something that really didn't make sense. He began activating the charges, causing them to beep as he attached them around his waist.
"Corporal… What are you doing?" I asked. He looked at me, a moment, then reached behind him. He pulled out the DSP from earlier, took my one good arm, and tucked it underneath me.
"Private, I need you to keep this safe. Once we're done here, call in the evac, get you and the others out of here." He said firmly. That's when it clicked. He was going to kill himself to save us. I grasped hold of his arm, trying to keep my voice from breaking as I said;
"Burton, we can't lose you." He used his free arm to take off his helmet and smiled at me sympathetically.
"Adrian… My job is get you guys home safe. No matter the cost." He said. I gripped his arm tighter as he placed his free arm on my shoulder. His blue eyes radiated kindness and understanding. And something I didn't ever expect to see. Pride. He was proud of me. I could tell just from the look in his eyes.
"I couldn't imagine having a better team. Thank for that Adrian." He said. He pulled my arm off of him as he stood, detonator in hand. He picked his helmet up for a moment, then detached the microphone from the front of it.
"Everett, listen to me. I'm going to detonate satchel charges on that Titan, get it on its last legs. Once I do, fire your rocket, that'll be enough to take it down." Before Everett could respond, Burton threw the mic to the ground and crushed it. Looking to his helmet, he chuckled as he picked it up. He observed it for a moment, then tossed it to me.
"Consider it a memento." He said before he charged off. I tried to shout for him to wait, but he was already off. I placed the DSP behind me in one of my pockets, and shakily rose to my feet, groaning in pain the whole way. I slowly walked to where I saw Burton turning away from the wall. I heard two pistol rounds go off, and I knew it was him who fired. I stumbled as my legs ignited with pain, and I grit my teeth.
Forcing myself through it, I stood and kept Burton's helmet clutched tightly in my broken arm. I breathed heavily as I turned the corner. Burton was charging the Titan, which had turned on him and started firing. He sidestepped over and over until he slid under the Titan. I reached out to him as I saw him pull the detonator in front of him. I shouted his name once, and once only.
After that, I saw him explode in a fireball underneath the Titan. I heard a long metallic groaning as the Titan kneeled and several electrical bolts rushed across it's body, in addition to a few small explosions. Then, I saw a rocket slam into the Titan. That did the trick, and the Titan blew in a giant cloud of smoke and fire. What was left of it collapsed onto it's knees, it's top half completely blown off.
Overcome by sorrow, I collapsed to my knees and felt another inferno of pain light my body. But at the same time, it was like that pain wasn't even there.
"We… We did it! WE DID IT!" I heard Everett shout over the radio. I blocked his voice out and stared at the ground, unsure of what else to do. The radio came to life once more.
"Reaper Team, scanners indicate the Titan has been destroyed. Deploying dropship now." Spyglass said.
"WOO! YEAH BABY! Miles, I'll grab Jon and meet you and Burton at the dropship! Let's get the heck out of here!" I heard Everett shout into the radio. I rose my head at the sound of rushing wind, and saw the shape of the dropship fly down to the surface. It was time to go. Solemnly, I rose to my feet, and slowly walked towards the dropship, Burton's helmet still clutched firmly in my hand.
I reached the dropship not too long after. I could several Grunt fireteams leaping off and aiming around, ready to move out. I saw a Pilot among them, who charged beside the grunts before leaping to one of the buildings and running along its walls. I could see Everett and Jon, and watched as another Grunt helped lift a still unconscious Jon onto the dropship. Everett looked over to me, and rushed over to greet me. He stopped when I got close, and noticed Burton's helmet in my hand. He backed away.
"No…" He said quietly. I walked past him slowly, and tried to lift myself onto the dropship, only to be forced to the ground by the burning pain. Everett walked over to me and helped me up, and I took a seat on the dropship. He sat across from me as I removed my helmet with my good arm. He removed his own, and I could see him with a hollow look on his face. I could tell he found out what happened. I sniffed and rose my arm to eyes, and felt wetness. I was crying.
"Everyone buckle up back there. We're going up." I heard the pilot of the dropship say over the speakers. I lowered my head and placed my left hand to my forehead, grief overcoming me as I began crying softly.
The End