28 hours before the detonation of the light mass bomb
Sergeant Durant sat on a pile of rubble and pulled out his pistol. He slowly checked it over, making sure it was loaded and that everything was in working order, a procedure he went through whenever he got the chance.
"You're so paranoid," said Rowe. Durant looked over at his squad mate and friend and shook his head.
"I would have assumed that by now you would understand," he responded
"Oh, I understand," Rowe stated sarcastically. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before their attention was drawn to a King Raven approaching. The chopper kicked up dust as it swooped in making a landing approach.
"Who the hell is this?" Durant asked.
"Guess we better find out," Rowe replied, reluctantly and pulled himself to his feet. The two made their way to the chopper. By the time they reached where it had landed it was already preparing to lift off again after having dropped off a single troop, who was tightly clutching a longshot sniper rifle. His helmet was off and his long blonde hair was barely short enough for regulations.
"Private Flint reporting for duty sir!" The young man said proudly and then added with a grin, "I heard you guys needed an expert marksman in your squad." Durant and Rowe glanced at each other as in disbelief at the new guy's cheek.
"And I suppose that's gonna be you, kid?" Asked Durant skeptically, his voice sounding more gruff than usual.
"Yes sir! Best shot in all of boot camp!" The young soldier stated excitedly, handing Lamma his transfer papers.
"Well I'd say that doesn't count for shit in the field if it didn't sound like such a cliché," Durant said looking Flint's papers over, "Tell me, did they tell you why we needed a new sharpshooter?"
"No sir. I assume the last guy just wasn't up to the job of nailing locust from over a mile away," Flint said, sounding cockier than ever.
"Nope, he was a hell of a shot, to be honest. So good in fact that he took position on a hill that overlooked the warehouse we were clearing, in order to give us better cover. He must have killed himself at least thirty drones. He was so busy cracking locust skulls that he didn't notice an emergence hole open up a few yards behind him. A drone snuck up on him with a lancer and cut him in two. We had to request two body bags to return him to his family." Durant handed back Flint's papers after signing them and began to walk off. "Welcome to Zulu squad."
"Christ! What's his problem?" Flint asked Rowe, after Durant was out of earshot.
"Sergeant Durant's not a bad guy. He's just had too many friends die in this war. Just get yourself a couple hundred kills and he'll like you just fine," Rowe said jokingly. This was how it always went with new recruits. They got off the chopper eager as hell, and immediately had the shit scarred out of them by Durant. Luckily Rowe was always there to balance things out.
"So what's the deal with this squad anyways?" asked Flint, "Nobody at boot knew who you guys were."
"Yeah, the brass usually likes to forget us when it's convenient."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that we get the mission's nobody volunteers for, in the sectors nobody wants to go to, doing the jobs nobody wants to do. We do the dirty work."
Durant made his way to Corporal Saxxon, a beast of a soldier. He was the team's official communications and mechanics expert, and their unofficial human shield. He was nearly seven feet tall and was built like a raging bull on steroids.
"Any news?" Durant asked.
"Not yet Sarge," Saxxon replied, "But command is due to contact us any minute now." Just as he finished speaking, the voice of Colonel Hoffman buzzed over the communications channel.
"Zulu squad, this is command, do you read me?"
"Roger command, this is Sergeant Durant, we read you loud and clear"
"Durant, prepare to move your squad out, we need you to assist in Delta and Alpha squad's recovery. They are located in sector 2-4 deep in enemy territory. They are on a mission to retrieve a device called a resonator. This resonator must be protected at all costs, do you get me son?"
"Yes sir, I get you. What does the resonator do?"
"It's designed to map out the locusts stronghold. When planted in the right location it will show us exactly where the locust are and with that info we'll be able to program the light mass bomb. This device could be the turning point in this war. We are dispatching KR 2-5 to pick you up. KR 2-4 will be flying alongside and will pick up Delta squad while you clear the area. Be ready for a fight. Command out," Hoffman concluded, as he deactivated the comm. Signal. Durant glanced at Saxxon.
"Alright, you heard the man. Pack up; we've got ourselves a mission."