Parlon, Sera – One month after Emergence Day
Bullets rip through the half wall I hide behind, and it is far too close for comfort, I reach my Lancer over the wall and fire a few rounds, in a feeble attempt to stop them.
Them.
"Command, this is Echo, we can NOT hold this position!" I scream over the roar of firearms and the cries of the dying.
"Echo, this is Command, you must hold your position until Lieutenant Margo can be evacuated." It hits me low and hard, that I am going to die for the one stupid son of the bureaucracy that put me here, the most incompetent, cowardly…
No use fighting it.
"Gargh! Oh, fuck!" I hear a pain soaked cry of desperation from the blue armored figure to my left, Private Kemeza, and in instant he's writhing on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
"Medic! Over here!" I scream against the sounds of a lost firefight and the destruction of human culture.
No one hears me, I dive towards Kemeza, I pry off a piece of his armor near his ribcage, made easier by the large, blood-soaked hole already there, there's three bullet wounds the first has an exit wound and seems to have missed all vital organs, the second has shattered his rib, and is probably lodged in spine, and the third has skinned a rib, leaving the bone visable.
I feel my rations start to fight my stomach, I bite my lip, hard. I don't even know how you stop bleeding from the chest, and it doesn't much matter, because now Kemeza has given in to shock, and has died. I rip off his C.O.G tags, and throw them in an empty ammo pouch and take cover behind a pillar.
That's leaves three members of Echo Squad including myself, as opposed to the original six. I glance to identify the other two defenders in the small two floor building, floor one has had the front and most of the sides walls blown away. Private Sokolove and Private Jones are still shooting from their sad excuse for covered positions. I see the medic I called for, well what's left of him anyway. His head is gone, reduced to the bloody stump, with a single bone sticking out of his neck.
I think about what I'm about to do, defy orders, go to prison, It couldn't be worse than this. Another explosion in the street between us and the next building disrupts me, and I see more Drones running down the far street on either side of the building in front of us.
"Sokolove, Jones, regroup!" I start to suppress fire from my pillar, my bullets makes several drones go down to cover, but little more.
I turn to see how far they've come, I look just in time to see a Nemacyst fly through the large open section that used to be a wall of a building and rip Sokolove's body into bloody chunks of bone, flesh and armor. Jones dives behind a low wall, and I tell him that were falling back, he doesn't seem so upset that were committing treason. I tell him to cover me, and I'll run to the APC.
Jones jumps up and starts firing his weapon, the same time I make a dash for the APC, I stay low and fast, and Jones keeps fire up until.
Click.
A jam, Jones goes down by instinct, and I'm not even half way to the APC parked in the street to the left of the building, I hear a loud thud close to me, and in a second the air is filled with dirt and several pieces of what used to be a building.I feel a hot searing sensation over my body, and then the metallic taste of blood, it only stops me for a second, a short time considering the grenade that went off quite close to me. I continue to run towards the APC, the Lancer in my hands feels heavy. I make it to the APC and I slam on the gas to the front of the building, I keep my head low, Jones runs through the front of the blown-out building and mans the chaingun. Blowing countless Drones into pieces. I step on the gas and I don't stop.
"Echo Squad, this is Command, We read that your position is changing, what the hell are you doing!?" I hear a screaming voice of Command in my ear, and I choose to ignore.
"Echo, Lieutenant Margo and his men have not yet evacuated, return to position."
I refuse to die for him, the leader who can't lead.
"Sergeant Valentine, This is treason!"
I know what I'm doing, I tell myself, It's all going be all right, the loud roar of the chaingun hasn't stopped yet, and I see we're being pursued, by Nemacyst and several Locust drones, I see it in slow motion, a Drone realizes he can't keep up, he stops, levels his Hammerburst and fires, I see the bullets coming, Jones still going heavy at the
Nemacyst, doesn't see it coming, two of the bullets rip into his throat, and he goes down instantly.
He falls to the floor, clutching his neck, and begins to make gurgling noises.
"Jonesy! Jonesy!" I scream at him, I fear for the worst.
We make the Locust ridden drive to Margo's position, I see C.O.G bodies everywhere, I hope Margo is among them, I see a unmanned King Raven, and a few Gears running for it, I jump out of the APC, grab Jones and run to the Raven. Jones's eyes have rolled back, and he's not breathing. I fireman carry him into the Raven. I stand in the back, holding onto the rail, a medic lays Jones out on the floor, and attempts to resuscitate him, but my hopes start to falter.
The Raven is in the air now, and I see another one talk off behind us, I swear I saw Margo on it.