"This is Commander Kirkland calling Nova Base, I am requesting immediate evac. Do you copy?" A gruff voiced man shouted into the radio.
"This is Nova Base, we read you loud and clear Commander, Things are a little hectic here so it might be a while on that evac. Can you give us your status and location?" A young woman replied.
The red and silver suited man turned and looked around our cramped bunker. We were a sorry sight here in this desolate place. "I've got 8 marines stationed between two bunkers and a missile turret operator. We have two wounded and one on the verge of mental collapse. We also have a Ghost operative with us. Over."
I winced slightly when he mentioned me last, it showed just how untrusted I was, even among my comrades. I looked out the window at the barren wasteland and wished I had my Vulture, I'd take off like a shot out of a gun and be gone long before the Zerg showed up. Unfortunatly I was misinformed of the mission and left to die here with these brave men….well, men at least.
At this thought I remembered Private Nimitz, Nim for short. He was sitting in a corner about ready to cry. We had had to hold him down and unarm him, just for safety. A few hours ago he had seen Major Samson get ripped to shreds by a pair of Zerglings only moments before our bullets tore through them. The look on his face as his friend fell to the ground, a pile of bloody meat, was nothing short of shock, disgust, and fear.
"We read you, Commander Kirkland, We will send evac as soon as we can." The woman's voice said.
"ETA?"
"Unsure… I'm sorry commander but we've got a large battalion of Zerg forces knocking on our door. Once they're dealt with we'll send help. Nova Base, out." Then the radio went dead.
"They're not coming for us, are they? I knew this was a suicide mission…I knew we was going to die…." Nim began to ramble and stutter from the corner.
"Nim, Shut your trap, you fuckin' pussy…." Another marine, Gregory, said with a growl.
"FACE IT, MAYHILL! We're fucked out here!" Nim yelled as he shook violently.
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration as the two began a very loud shouting match. Nim still claiming we were going to die, Mayhill saying we just need to hold out for transport. This was the fourth time in the past hour that they had gotten into that argument, and it was beginning to drive not only us in this bunker, but also the marines in the other bunker, insane.
"STAND DOWN, RIGHT NOW YOU TWO!" Kirkland's voice boomed as if a grenade had gone off in the bunker. Both of the marines shut up and looked at him. "We're not fucked, we will survive and we will be home before nightfall." He said, pointing at Agria's horizon. It was a dramatic gesture, but it worked nonetheless.
"He's right guys," I began, regretting it immediately but continued anyway, "They haven't told us they're burning us, they simply are having the same problem we were an hour ago, the Zerg. I personally think we need to…"
"You have no say in this, Ghost. You don't understand fear like us." One, very angry, Corporal Jefferies snapped at me. "You have that damned cloaking device and could probably walk home if you wanted to."
"That is enough, Jefferies." Kirkland snapped at the man. "That's enough, all of you. Marcus is right, we aren't fucked, just held back."
I was surprised that he agreed with me, even more so that he used my real name instead of my code name, Whisper. A look of disbelief crossed my face to emphasize that fact when I glanced over and saw the commander half-way smiling at me.
"We're gonna die out here, you know it, I know it, the fucking emperor knows it!" Nim began to stammer again. Then he broke down into repeating "We're gonna die out here" over and over again.
"For fuck's sake, will someone shut him the hell up?" Gregory said with a heavy sigh.
"Why should we? He's just saying what we're all thinking. They're not coming for us, we're stuck out here." The only female here, Lancaster, said from behind her power suit's visor. She didn't like having the visor up, said the place smelled too much like death. "The only person here who stands half a chance of getting out alive is Amherst there," she said, pointing at me. "The rest of us might as well just drop our guns and wait for the Zerg to get us."
I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head. They still thought me to be as evil as the Zerg out there. I had to get out of there for a little bit, had to walk. Silently I stood and grabbed my C-10 canister rifle. Before I made it to the door, Kirkland stepped infront of me and stared at me coldly.
"Where are you going soldier?" He asked me, his voice never wavering.
"Recon, sir…I wanna see just how bleak our chances are." I told him, hoping he'd let me go.
"How can we be sure?"
"If I don't come back within an hour you can shoot me in the balls next time you see me."
"I'm gonna hold you to that."
I slipped past him and made my way around the bunker, heading up the hill we were beside. It was roughly eight Kilometers to Nova Base, and I wanted to see if there were and issues between here and there. When I reached the top of the hill, the sight before me made my heart drop. Between us and Nova Base was a massive Zerg colony.
Maybe Nim was right, maybe we were fucked after all. I could hardly believe it but the situation had just taken a turn for the worse. I was just about to go back down the hill and tell them Nim was right, but something caught my eye in the distance. This was just the chance we needed to keep going, to get out of here. I quickly ran back down the hill, heading back to the bunker to tell them the news.
When I entered the base everyone looked at me then went back to what they were doing. Commander Kirkland was at the radio yelling at the woman on the other end.
"I don't care what string you have to pull, just get us out of this fucking place!" He yelled, his temper hitting it's breaking point.
"We're doing the best we can, but with the Battle in orbit happening now we have to divert resources to assist."
"What about us out here in the sticks? You're just gonna leave us here to die?"
"That is not our intent and you know it, Commander. Now calm down and sit tight. ETA on the next transport is two days."
At that Kirkland grabbed the array and threw it out the window, letting off a fair string of profanities after it.
"Okay, let's think this through. We're about eight clicks out from Nova Base. We can walk that in what, four hours? Why not just pack up and walk home?" Jefferies said, trying to calm things down.
"Try about twelve clicks or so." I piped up, causing everyone to turn to me.
"What do you mean, Amherst?" Kirkland said, arching an eyebrow.
"Between us and Nova base is eight clicks of zerg hive. However, I did spot a canyon system off to the side, it'll extend our walk but it looked fairly clear. Plenty of places to hide and it runs straight towards Nova base. I say that's our best bet." I explained, drawing a crude map on a sheet of paper.
"It's a feasible plan, and it might just work….okay boys, Strip this place clean. Jefferies, I want you to make us a small skiff or cart so we can carry all this crap out of here. The rest of you, gather all the guns and ammo you can find here and get ready to roll. I want everyone ready to roll in one hour. I'll go tell the other bunker what's going on." The Commander said with a smile, patting my shoulder as he walked out. For once I felt like I had done something these guys could respect.