"Kappa 4 fall back to perimeter 2, repeat fall back!" The comms officer yelled.
"Copy that, Kappa 4 falling back." The squad leader responded, "Kappa 4, FALL BACK!" He yelled, over the squad comm.
"Copy boss. Falling back." Kappa 4-5 reported, "Cover me!" he turned, sprinting backwards towards a nearby building. "Kappa 4-1, 2 and 3, you're covered, go." He shouted, peaking out of the window to fire off short bursts. The rest of Kappa 4 sprinted though the door, taking up positions around the windows. The squad leader sighed, "We can't do this all the way back lads. It'll take too long. Just go. Cover each other if you can."
The squad nodded, stacking up near the door. "Kappa 5, go."
He sprinted out of the door, running down the street. He heard yells from behind him.
"Grenade!"
"Get down, get dow…."
He felt something hit him in the back, sending him flying forwards. He saw his rifle fly away from him, the clips holding it to his back shearing under the force. He hit a wall, then everything went black.
…
…
"All units, this is Gates, they broke perimeter one. Fall back. FALL BACK!"
"Get those civilians out of there, NOW!"
"They just keep coming, set off the charges now!"
…
…
He opened his eyes, vision swimming. He groaned, sitting up, resting against the wall. He opened the squad bio.
Flat lines.
He reached over his shoulder, hand missing the butt of the R-101 he used. He twisted his head around, straining his neck, confirming his fear. No gun. His right hand fell to his hip holster, finding his P2011. He checked the ammo count, 12 in the mag, plus 4 magazines in his armour slots. He stood up, vision swirling from head rush.
He shook his head to clear it. Froze.
The creatures still terrified him. The Amalgamation, they were calling them in briefing. The larger ones moved with a purpose, advancing on their targets with terrifying grace. The smaller ones seemed to lack such subtleties, however, often throwing themselves towards the enemy with reckless abandon. He stood stock still, hardly breathing, hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't notice him. After what seemed like an eternity, the creatures moved on.
The staccato chatter of small arms fire made him turn around. He saw a small group of spectres and civilians running, followed closely by a smaller Amalgamation. He ran forwards, bent almost double to avoid detection the best he could. He stood up, aiming down the sight of his pistol.
Crack, crack crack
He snapped off three shots, feeling the gun kick back against his hand. One of the Amalgamations dropped, three bullets in its head. The civilians flinched, and he saw the spectres turn, bringing their guns up. He stepped out, holding the pistol side facing the spectres, finger held well away from the trigger, "Friendly, Kappa 4-5."
"Affirmative. Kappa 4-5, you will assist in the escort of these civilians to a safer location." The spectre gestured to the civilians,
"I, uh, I was ordered to fall back to perimeter 2, but got knocked out in an explosion." Kappa 4-5 took a few steps backwards, "Which is thataway." He pointed due east, the spectres looking along the line he was pointing.
"Affirmative. Our objectives are not mutually exclusive. We will change our route, help you to your objective. You will help up protect the civilians."
"OK. I'm going to need a rifle. I lost mine in the explosion."
"Unit 4," the lead spectre walked over to one of the spectre models, "You do not need your second rifle."
Unit 4 nodded, handing a Kraber-AP sniper rifle to Kappa 4-5. "You are competent with this model?"
"Serviceable." He racked the bolt, a round sliding into the chamber.
The spectre units turned, walking off, the civilians following them in a gaggle. Kappa 4-5 fell in with the gaggle, his new rifle slung over his shoulder by a sling. One of the civilians, a child, sidled up to him.
"Who are you? Your armour looks SRS, but you wear an IMC helmet, and carry a 6-4 sidearm?"
Kappa 4-5 shrugged, "I'm just a grunt. I work for the SRS, I was assigned to the James MacAllen, but after Typhon I was reassigned to Harmony."
"You were on Typhon?"
"Yeah. Put me right off frontline work to be honest with you."
"Steven, stop bothering the solider." A woman pushed her way through the group, "Sorry about him, he's always asking questions. We keep telling him to not bother other people, but he doesn't listen."
Kappa 4-5 shrugged, "It's fine. It's not like there's much else to do. We're only in the middle of a war."
"Unit Kappa 4-5." One of the spectre units walked up behind him.
"Yeah?"
"Rotate, you cover the rear for the next minute."
"OK." He dropped back, shifting his sniper so it would be easier to ready in a hurry. He hated being at the back of the group, felling powerless it anything was to happen. He kept turning, walking backwards for a short while, using semi-random timings.
He scanned across the street, eyes flicking back and forth between abandoned vehicles.
Movement.
He shouldered his rifle, aiming at the car, "Unit 1. I see movement." He shouted, slowing his pace to improve his aim.
"Affirmative." The unit shouted back, "Civilians, follow units 2-5, I will assist Kappa 4-5."
The civilians broke into a run, talking about what the movement meant. The spectre unit tapped him on the shoulder, "I will investigate, cover me."
He nodded, following the spectre in his scope. He saw it step cautiously up to the car, rifle held out in front, ready to fire.
The Amalgamation form leapt onto the spectre, Kappa 4-5 watching as the spectre grappled with the much larger form. It managed to kick it off, and he pulled the trigger, the round tearing a hole in the Amalgamates torso. It fell over, ceasing movement. The spectre shot it in the head, 3 times, before turning its back, running back.
"Many more forms approaching this position. Signalling unit 2."
Kappa 4-5 swallowed nervously, nodding and racking the bolt again, ejecting the spent casing, "You need a second?"
"No. This unit is expendable. We all carry micro fusion bombs, if I go down, the bomb will detonate after 10 seconds. You will leave. You have helped us perform our orders." The spectre saluted, and Kappa 4-5 saluted back, before holding out a hand for shaking.
"No time. Go." The spectre pointed at the now visible forms approaching, before ducking behind cover, poking its head out to fire off single shots.
Kappa 4-5 fired 3 more shots, exhausting his current magazine, before sprinting towards perimeter 2. He heard the staccato sound of single shots be replaced with the percussive sound of small bursts, slowly quietening as he rounded the corner. The bursts were replaced by the relentless onslaught of full auto, punctuated only by what he assumed were reloads.
The sound stopped.
A high pitched whine permeated the air, intensity building rapidly, followed by a low rumble, thundering though the streets. The fusion bomb.
He turned, sprinting away from the explosion, reloading the Kraber. The sounds of a pitched battle grew, he saw a low flying fighter zip over his position, its guns rattling. He ran to the side of the road, a titan charging down the road towards him, "Grunt. Fall back, perimeter 3."
"Copy that sir. Good luck." He responded.
"You too." The titan disappeared around the corner, its 40 mm cannon booming.
He saw pilots running along the rooftops, leaping gracefully across the gaps between houses. He kept an eye on them as he ran parallel to them along the street.
One of the pilots flinched, blood splattering over the pilot next to them. Kappa 4-5 watched amazed as the pilot, without missing a beat grabbed her injured teammate, seeming to barely notice the extra weight.
A bullet whistled past his head. He hit the ground, sliding on his stomach towards an open door. He rose into a crouch, sprinting the rest of the way. He peaked out of the door, an Amalgamation running at him, gun flailing.
It wore militia colours, SRS. He sighted at the former solider, pulling the trigger, bullet shredding the Amalgamations face. He wrenched the bolt back, hearing a resounding thunk as it returned to its original position.
Another form rounded the corner, another SRS man who had fallen. The squad number was SRS_KAPPA_4-1.
He sighed, pulling the trigger on his former squad mate, turning and running away, back towards perimeter 3, not thinking about what he just did.
Perimeter 3 came into view, a wall built around a landing stage for craft. The fighting was in full flow, the Amalgamation swarming forwards, titans and ground units pushing them back. He ran through the ruined buildings, staying low, constantly watching the Amalgamation to see if there is any sign of it having noticed him. He grimaced as he approached the end of the street, running out of buildings. He took a deep breath, stepping out into the open, walking slowly towards the wall. Slinging his sniper, he drew his pistol, obviously dropping the magazine, pulling the slide to release the round chambered.
"Kappa 4-5, requesting access to perimeter 3."
The gate opened, a group of pilots arrayed around the inside of it, their weapons all trained roughly on him.
One of them gestured for him to walk forwards, "Come on son. We'll cover you."
He heard a roar from behind him, prompting him to start running towards the gate. The pilots opened fire, rounds splitting the air centimetres from his head. One wrong move could get him killed. He ran, the pilots slowly pushing out of the gate, spreading out in a semicircle.
He felt something hit him in the back, pain lancing though him. He stumbled, hearing one of the pilots shout. He kept going, being carried forwards by his momentum alone. He fell, skidding forwards a few metres. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't respond. He reached forwards, dragging himself along as the pilots swarmed out, charging towards his position.
He started to feel faint as the first pilot reached him, crouching just behind him, firing full auto into the advancing wave of Amalgamates as they swarmed towards them. He felt strong arms grab him, hauling him up. He yelled out in pain, the pilot shouting into her radio, "Friendly down, FN, cover us."
A titan stomped out of the gate, the pilots swarming back towards it. The titan opened fire, missiles streaming from its shoulder mounted launch as rounds filled the air, whistling towards the hoard of Amalgamates that rushed towards them. They were cut up, their screeches of pain cutting though the roar of gunfire. The pilot cut under the titans legs, sliding though the gate.
"FN, I'm in, back up."
He heard the titan respond, "Glad you're safe pilot."
He was placed on the ground, seeing the pilot properly for the first time as she warped a makeshift bandage around his midsection. "Come on kid, stay with me."
He smiled, "Not going anywhere." He felt someone lift him onto a stretcher, "Don't think my legs are going to work."
The pilot laughed gently, "No you won't. Got a name? Unit?"
"SRS Kappa 4. James, after MacAllen. Both my parents worked on one of the ships that made it out of Demeter. You?"
The pilot nodded, "ACES. Lucy. Heard most Kappa units were on the MacAllen. Hell, Barker almost signed us up for that show. You know Cooper?"
He shrugged, "Used too. After we got split up from the rest of the fleet at the start of Typhon, I didn't see him until after we'd gotten out, heard he made quite the impression on Gates. And Sarah apparently."
A medics head came into his vision, "How are you?"
"Bit faint. Recon I lost quite a bit of blood. Can't feel my legs."
The medic nodded, "You got shot in the spine, low down, so you only lost your legs. We might be able to salvage something, but you bio's show that it's a mess. If that doesn't work, you'll be getting Sim legs. We'll hook them up to your spinal cord, shouldn't even notice the difference."
Lucy patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck kid. I'll see you on the other side."
"Yeah. Thanks for saving my ass out there. See you." He waved, "Come on," He sighed, "let's get this over with."
Thanks for reading this little idea I had.
Thank to Matteoarts for giving me the go-ahead to write from his canon, and for checking it so it fits.
Tell me what you think of it, I have an idea for continuation of the story, so please tell me if you think i should write it.
Again, thanks for reading, please review if you have the time, it'll help me write better, which means you'll get a better thing to read. Win-win.
Until next time.