The young teen looked nervously at the helmet he held, he wasn't prepared for this, he wasn't ready to face death in the jaws of a carnivorous plant or perhaps death to a spike in the head. Yes he had already died once before, but that experience was quick and painless. He looked around the small company of undead, a nervous look on his face for he knew what faced him on the other side of the graveyard wall. He looked at his shoulder as he felt something rest itself on it, it was the decaying hand of his commanding officer, Raptor, a General Supremo.
"Don't worry, you're in safe hands." Spoke the decaying general, reassurance in their voice.
"Th-Thanks..." The young Foot Soldier placed their helmet on their head and un-holstered their Z1-Assault Blaster. He checked the ammo pouches he was wearing, he had four extra clips plus the one already loaded into his weapon. 'This isn't going to last me the whole battle', he thought to himself. He held the weapon tightly and had one last look around the company. Their Engineer support was provided by a Mechanic named Phil. Their suppressive firepower would come from the Marrick twins, Arnold and Pellopese, a Hockey-Star and All-Star respectively. They would be healed by a Chemist named Charles while Raptor and himself would keep the Peashooter's off the roofs and provide support from above using their blasters. A siren went off and the gates to the graveyard opened, for a few seconds nothing happened and Phil launched his Zombot drone. Once the drone was over the walls and flying towards the garden, the company moved out, except for the young teen who stared out of the gate and right at a Chomper who seemed to be taunting him. He watched as it spat a strange, purple like substance at him. As he was about to be hit, Charles tackled him out of the way.
"What do you think you're doing, Zach?" Asked the Chemist angrily. "You have no idea how sticky a Chomper's saliva is." Charles got off of the young Foot Soldier and ducked just as a Pea flew over his head. The Chemist growled lightly and ran to catch up with Pellopese, the All-Star had been shot a few times and needed to be healed. Zach got up, the weight of the rocket launcher on his back weighing him down. Once he was back on his feet, Zach ran for the nearest house and hit the Rocket Jump button on his launcher and it propelled him onto the roof. The young Foot Soldier stumbled when he landed and fell onto his face. He winced when something slammed into his ribs from the side so he rolled onto the other side of the roof and looked at where he had been hit. A large part of his uniform was stained by a direct hit from a pea. The impact point stung and he struggled to get onto his feet. Once he was back on his feet, Zach peeked over the crest of the roof and took stock of his situation. In the distance he watched the Marrick twins easily take care of a Fire Chomper and a Toxic Peashooter while Charles helped Phil dispatch of a Commando Peashooter and a Bandit Cactus. Zach ducked just as a Pea flew over his head and he scanned for the Peashooter that was shooting at him. After a few seconds he noticed a Peashooter on a roof opposite his, the Peashooter seemed to be as inexperienced as he was. Zach pulled his Assault Blaster up to his shoulder and aimed straight at the Peashooter. He went to pull the trigger, but something seemed to stop him from doing it. He nearly dropped his blaster when the sound of someone yelling out startled him.
"PULL THE TRIGGER TO SHOOT YOU STUPID BOY!" The yelling came from above. Zach looked up to find a Command Airship flying overhead, it was dropping different supplies for his comrades. Zach looked back at where the Peashooter was, the plant was gone. Zach frowned before he jumped off the roof and searched out the other members of his team.
Zach gripped his blaster tightly, the streets were somewhat quiet, an occasional shout and sound of something being vanquished echoed through the decaying streets. Zach walked slowly towards a row of houses, windows seemed to be smashed. Just as he got to the gate, the sound of the ground being split apart sounded out from behind him. The young Foot Soldier turned in horror and watched as the crack in the pavement got closer and closer. Before it reached him, a sonic grenade hit the ground and a Chomper burst out of the ground. Zach pulled the trigger in fright, the yellow pellets taking out the Chomper which yelped in pain. Zach dropped the blaster in shock and curled up into a ball. After a few seconds, someone placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him.
"Hey, newbie, you alive?" Zach uncurled and looked up at the mechanic, Phil. "You're lucky I showed up or that Chomper would have had you." Zach was grateful for the Mechanics help. He got to his feet, picked up his Blaster and set off with the Mechanic to find Charles, who had left Phil to try and find the Marrick twins. After a few minutes of searching, Zach and Phil found Charles healing the Marrick Twins, as well as Raptor, the General Supremo had a scowl on his face.
"Good to see you're alive, Zach." Spoke Raptor quickly. "Charles. Heal Zach, and then I will take him with me and we will hit the garden straight on." Zach shook his head in slight disbelief, he did not want to attack the garden, even with Raptor's help.
"I-I'm not ready to do this..." Zach spluttered out.
"Look, Zach. You're young and inexperienced, I get that. But you need to grow a pair, alright? This is a war-zone and if you want to get through it, you have to follow my orders, capice?" Zach nodded at Raptor and let Charles heal his wound. After a while, the group of six moved out and prepared to charge the garden. Zach looked at his Blaster, there was only around eight shots left in his current clip, he would have to reload soon.
"Alright, Marrick Twins. You suppress the plants on the garden, Zach, Charles and myself will get onto that garden and force off any defenders while Phil, you'll use your drone to dislodge any snipers at the back. Alright, let's go." When Raptor finished speaking, he ran out from behind their cover and used his modified rocket launcher to rocket leap onto the garden. Charles used his warp ability to get onto the garden while the Twins fired at the garden to force the plant defenders to seek cover. Phil used his Zombot Drone to attack the few Cacti in the back. Zach took a deep breath and ran forward. He got onto the garden without any trouble, but as soon as he was on the garden, he had entered a hellish display of fighting. Peas, Spikes, Pellets and goop flew all over the place. He pulled the trigger and shot out at anything he could see, he succeeded in hitting the same wall with the last eight shots in his Assault Blaster's clip. He didn't notice he was out of ammo until a Chomper started to run at him and he pulled the trigger, only to hear a terrifying 'click' that told him he needed to reload. Just as the Chomper was about to engulf Zach in it's gaping maw, Zach bent over and hit the buttons on his rocket launcher in a flurry. To his surprise, a quick jingle played and a rocket flew out of the rocket launcher and took out the Chomper. Zach stood still in shock before shacking his head and reloading his weapon.
Once reloaded, Zach started taking time to aim before shooting as the plants seemed to be more focused on Raptor, Charles and Phil's drone. Zach cringed slightly as he took out a Sunflower and a Cactus before having to reload once again. As he reached into his ammo pouch, he winced as he had been hit from behind by a Pea. He finished reloading and turned to face the plant behind him. Zach had a scowl on his face as he pulled the trigger. The Peashooter jumped to the side and shot Zach again, the Foot Soldier winced again. The Peashooter's expression changed from anger to shock and worry, their root was stuck in a crack in the pavement they stood on. Zach smirked as he pulled the triger once again. The Peashooter growled as they were brought close to death, they lay on their back and watched as Zach walked up to them. Zach reloaded his weapon as he slowly walked towards the injured plant, 'Do it. They're the only one left. Get it over and done with', he thought to himself. He grabbed the plant and held his blaster to their head. The Peashooter looked down at the ground and closed their eyes as they waited for the shots that never came. Zach released the plant, he couldn't do it.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Asked the bloodied plant.
"Go...before I change my mind." Zach pointed his Blaster at a wall and shot in frustration. The Peashooter turned and hypered off in a seemingly random direction. Zach looked up to find Raptor with a scowl on his face.
"You let the enemy go." The General Supremo let out angrily.
"I...I couldn't do it..." Replied Zach sadly.
"I'll let it slide this time, that plant was young, he won't last out there." Raptor's reply was stone cold. After that, Raptor helped Zach up and gave him the rest of the week off, Zach was to spend the weeks at the academy to try and beat the sympathy out of him.