First in, Last out

First in, Last out

The Siege of Combatbase Gloria

A/N: Song is Metallica, Ill probably get a horsehead in my bed for that, also story is extremely graphic so if you don't like violence or are a pacifist get outta here. Song is called dispodable heroes. I also fixed some grammatical errors and edited some names, the confederation is now the Koprulu Task Force

 
Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
No one to play soldier now, no one to pretend
running blind through killing fields, bred to kill them all
Victim of what said should be
a servant `til I fall
 
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
just do as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away
 
Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow
More a man, more stripes you bare, glory seeker trends
bodies fill the fields I see
the slaughter never ends
 
Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say
had no chance to see myself, moulded day by day
Looking back I realize, nothing have I done
left to die with only friend
Alone I clench my gun
 
Soldier boy, made of clay
now an empty shell
twenty one, only son
but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
just do as we say
finished here, Greeting Death
he's yours to take away

His breathing came in ragged gasps inside the enclosed space of his CMC-500 Combat Suit. His legs, even augmented by the suit were one big ache. The smell of sweat and fear lingered in the recycled air of the suit, the only border between human flesh and the thin vacuum of the space platform. The sounds of a wholesale massacre filled his ears, accompanied by frenzied shouts and the crescendo of weapons fire.

Looking over his shoulder Major James Taggart checked to make sure no one of what was left of his battalion was behind him. No one was so he continued running, his ears picking up the almost imperceptible tickticktickticktickticktickticktick of his pursuers.

As he clambered up a single last metal ridge, which mounted several solar collectors, he finally spotted the extraction zone of all Koprulu Task Force forces. It was setup on a bare metal plain at the fringe of the space platform. Dropships buzzed in and out, picking up men and machines and making a beeline for the remainder of the KTF fleet. As what was left of his battalion filed down the ridge Taggart caught a black shape at the edge of his peripheral vision. Spinning he raised his C-14 "Impaler" Gauss Rifle and opened fire. The last few marines in the column spun and joined in the killing as high velocity gunfire cut down several of the forms in a spray of blood that almost instantly crystallized. The range however was too great for accurate fire and sparks lit up space as the 8mm rounds splattered against the metal deck at more than four thousand feet per seconds.

Taggart opened a wide beam com and boosted the power to max so he could reach the drop zone even as his C-14 sprayed shell casings to the deck. "Attention all KTF forces, this is Major James Taggart of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, we're are the last, repeat, last unit out, enemy clearance is less than two hundred meters" then switching down to his battalion frequency "5-5, your rear guard, if anything's behind us blast it"

They're were a chorus of confirmations and on Taggart's tactical map in the corner of his visor, four green dots moved out of the lead of the column and headed towards the rear.

Taggart released the trigger on his C-14 as four crab-like Goliath armored vehicles clomped past. Making a "lets go" command with his arm Taggart and the five other marines who had stopped to fire began running back towards the retrieval zone. The Goliaths spun their torso's around to face the enemy and slowly followed the marines.

As the first enemy raced over the metal ridge eight 30mm smoothbore autocannons opened fire to greet them. Shell casings and smoke exploded from the auto cannon's breeches as the first of the high explosive rounds reached the enemy. Small explosions caused catastrophic to the unarmored enemy. Limbs and torsos were shattered and severed from one another as the high velocity projectiles sprayed everywhere. Direct hits on the smaller Zerg smeared them against the deck like small insects. While the Smoothbore Autocannons weren't as accurate as rifled barrels, the rate of fire was almost doubled.

Taggart, almost ready to collapse and die in his tracks, clomped up the ramp with eleven other marines. The dropships could only hold eight marines in practice but many where modified so that twelve could be fitted including full CMC armor and weapons.

The four Goliaths walked two by two up their own dropship their weapons still firing; the Zerg continued to die only 200 meters from the retrieval zone. Seeing the hatch close on the last dropship Taggart ran forward to the pilot compartment and yelled on word "GO!" There was a sharp kick as the accelerators fired full blast then drained off as the inertial compensators kicked in.

Looking out of the porthole of his command dropship Major James Taggart couldn't help but feel immense sadness. Below him a living wave of Zerg crashed against the bunkers of the remaining marines garrisoned around the primary KTF base on the space dock above the planet Char. Taggart could pick out the twinkle of weapons fire as the marines fought and clawed with stunning tenacity for every inch of ground even as the dropships sped away from the burning base with what remained of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion.

Taggart had barely spent over six hours on the station, all of it in heavy combat. One of the few units not to get involved in the massive firefight in the southern part of the station, the 1st CAB had caused immense destruction to the Zerg but had taken over 75% casualties. The 1st CAB and its two sister battalions had finally been force to withdraw when the KTF base had folded under a massive counter attack.

The fight back to the dropships was one that would undoubtedly spawn many nightmares. Kicking and screaming wounded begged to be taken with them and siege tanks had been piled high with the KIA, Killed in Action, many of the bodies where horrible disfigured and shredded but Taggart had made sure no one was left behind and everyone was accounted for by collecting dog tags even if it meant recovering the body from a tangle of Zerg. Taggart had only what amounted to an under strength platoon of marines, five Arclite Siege Tanks and seven Goliaths, all his Vultures had been destroyed in the first battle, proving to even the top brass that they where indeed useless in an offensive role. Many of the marines where wounded and all the vehicles where damaged in some form. Zerg where everywhere; popping up from Nydus Canals and burrowed tunnels quickly turning the retreat into a route as many marines died facing the wrong way. Taggart's Battalion had literally stepped onto the dropships as their weapons clicked on empty chambers.

As far as Taggart knew, the Protoss and the UED had suffered the same fate. From the reports garnered over the Communication channels over five thousand Terrans lay cleaved and mangled or where Kilo India Alpha, Killed In Action. From his brief stay at the Earth War College, Taggart knew that this was probably the highest body count of any one conflict, especially in a six-hour period.

Taggart watched through his command screen as the twinkle of weapons fire faded. The platform was still in view but the marines on the ground where running low on ammo and the Zerg where closing in. Several explosions lit the surrounding area as several bunkers filled with marines blew sky high. Taggart offered a silent pray for the commander on the ground whoever that was.

***

Even though he didn't know it, 2nd Lieutenant Larry Bond was the senior commander on the ground and he figured he had about eight minutes left to live. That was how long the nuclear missile armed in the silo next to the command had to blow and he would be damned if any of things got to him before that nuke did. His platoon was gone, overrun in the opening hours of combat and the last dropships had left. All the senior commanders had bugged out or where KIA, leaving a lowly 2nd Lieutenant to blow the nuke.

Holding his C-14 "Impaler" Gauss Rifle to his shoulder Bond peered out of a view port in a smoke filled corridor in the main Terran Command Center with about thirty other marines. He and about a hundred other marines, firebats, medics and even a few ghosts had taken refuge in it after the bunkers had fallen. While not designed to act as a combat station the view ports in the TCC had beautiful fields of fire that turned the entire Terran base into a killing zone. For a second Bond had thought the Zerg where retreating when they disappeared from view under a hail of 8mm spikes and flames. However that was not the case as he could plainly see a wall of Zerglings pouring around structures and other bunkers straight for the TCC. They had just been identifying the main threat and reorganizing.

"OPEN FIRE!" someone in the smoke filled corridor screamed. Even before the words had been fully spoken Bond's world had been turned into a hell of fire and death. Marines opened fire with any weapon available, several had canister rifles taken from down ghosts, and others had only side arms.

Squeezing the trigger on his C-14, Bond took pleasure in the light, sharp kick as the C-14 expended rounds at about 1900 per minute. Shell casing flew from the breach at an astounding rate. Blocking out all other sound he let his marine training kick in as he concentrated on his ammo counter and his sights. Raking the rifle back and forth he traced the muzzle flash across the leading wave of Zerglings. He couldn't count how many he killed as those that where killed or even just wounded were immediately trampled by their comrades. After about twenty seconds the rifle refused to fire and the barrel glowed white hot from the amount of rounds passing through it. C-14s where supposed to have a capacitator to limit the rate of fire but almost no one still had one installed.

Bending down to slap a fresh magazine into his rifle he checked his watch. It read 2:30. Bond finished reloading and rose up to fire when something struck him in his left cheek. His whole body writhed in pain as the Hydralisks spike exited the back of his jaw.

As one of the few remaining medics rushed over, Larry realized what had happened. While the Zerglings had taken most of the fire the Zerg's main force of Hydralisks had worked in close to pin the defenders. Although he was only a lowly 2nd John, Bond knew what came next.

The medic took something from her vest pocket and pressed it against his neck, then ran off to help others who had been hit by the sudden return fire.

A sudden loud thumping overwhelmed the sound of hammering weapons. There were sudden screams and the crashing of claws as the door at both ends of the corridor buckled and crashed inward under the force of massive blows. The roar of small arms fire could be heard as other marines fought furiously in other parts of the TCC.

"MOTHER FUCKER, THEY'RE INSIDE THE GODDAMNED BUILERKKK" the speaker shouted as his head was sent flying in a completely different direction than his body. KIA. The marines next to the door died facing the wrong way as massive claws and teeth sliced flesh from bone. KIA.

Propping himself against a wall Larry watched in horrid fascination as Hydralisks, some ungodly combination of a red snake and praying mantis, poured into the cramped corridor. Too close to their foes to use explosive spines they opted for brute force, their claws and teeth made much more fearsome weapons then their spines. Blood of both species and various limbs sprayed the corridor as the outnumbered Terrans kicked and screamed with every ounce of strength and endurance left in their spent bodies. All the marines fought back-to-back, killing hordes of Zerg before being overwhelmed. KIA. Various limbs flew through the corridor and bounced off walls as their owners were hacked to death in a spray of crimson blood. KIA.

Rising to his feet everything in Bond's world went red. Pure, untainted rage coursed through his veins like a drug. Raising his C-14, Larry took aim at the closest Hydra and opened fire. He held the trigger back as he swept his the flaming barrel back and forth. Hydras dropped or kicked and squirmed wildly as the first 8mm slugs reached them. "COMEONE MOTHERFUCKERS GET SOME, YOU WANT SOME, COMEONE ASSHOLES" Bond screamed as the counter on his C-14 rapidly wound down past the 250 round mark. Several of the marines still alive concentrated their fire on the doorway stacking the Hydra's up like cordwood in front, in and behind the door.

Up ahead a Firebat opened up filling the corridor with flames as a massive claw pierced his flame pack and armor. KIA. Bond kept moving right through them. The screams of the Zerg and Terrans alike grew to a deafening pitch. A wounded Zerg emerged through the flames swung a massive bone claws downward. Bond felt it cleanly slice through his arm. He felt no pain at the loss of half his arm; Bond swung his rifle around and blasted the Hydra's head in a spray of exploding gray matter and chitin. The Zerg sprawled backwards, half of its skull revealed.

Bond cleared the fire, his armor blackened and spattered with blood, Zerg and Terran, comrades and his. Three marines poured fire More Hydras moved through the corridor as the last of the Terrans where eviscerated alive, still shooting. KIA KIA KIA. Slumping against a wall Bond could here the shrieks of the dying, who were screaming not in pain or fear, but in rage as they died fighting. Larry continued firing as his lifeblood spread a crimson puddle under him. The C-14, its barrel long since glowing white hot under the continued fire, finally spent its last round and clicked open on an empty chamber, Bond worked the trigger forward of the magazine. There was a THUMP followed by a massive blast as a 40mm grenade exploded in the close confines of the corridor. He fired again and a third time.

Bond felt fragments ping against his armor and his face, drawing blood. The smell of blood, smoke and burnt organic material filled his nostrils. Everything was deathly quite as the first Hydralisks emerged through the smoke. Bond admired their grace and power as the made straight for him. They moved silently, making a barely audible hiss as the slithered smoothly over bodies. With no weapons left Larry resigned himself to death.

The first Hydralisk hesitated as it hovered over him. The air was filled with a low liquid hiss uttered from the back of its throat. A black forked tongue flicked out. It seemed to be waiting for something and Larry Bond said what anyone other marine would say in his situation, bleeding to death on a god forsaken space platform about to be gutted by three-foot long claws.

"One day someone's gonna come along and stick a combat boot so far up your ass that-"

The rest of the sentence disappeared in the white light of nuclear fire.