Getting up early, despite how often I do it because of all the media, is still a pain in my ass. Not to mention the pain in my entire body from yesterday. Everyone made sure to make a show of how much they don't care for me.

"Stupid fairy," I heard often.

I should have been more careful about changing in front of Stuff. She had noticed my dark purple butterfly wing tattoos on my back I got in spite of my father back in my younger rebellious days before I met Roland and made sure to tell everyone.

"Surprisingly resistant," they said after pushing me around when the officers left for the night. "Thought she'd break her wings if we even breathed on her."

I did not sleep well that night. And the rude awakening of alarms and Sergeant Plum spewing shit about a new day and destiny was not helping matters. I got herded to the building where our exosuits are and into my own. The man who wore the robe yesterday afternoon, Thing I think, was helping me into it. As he was doing so, I couldn't help but notice how everyone else in the squad is getting ready.

Stuff has just strapped into hers and is going through diagnostics before stepping down from the suit's cage. The short dark skinned man, Day, though he prefers Sunny, hops down from his cage and runs in place for a bit. Fang, the pointed man, tests out the arms of the suit with quick jabs into an invisible enemy. Across from me is the taller dark skinned man who I haven't heard say a word at all. He stares at me like prey as he rolls the suit's arms. I try to smile, but his look doesn't fade. I tear my gaze away, seeing Fang attach claymore mines to their suit with duct tape.

"Come on, Brutus, let's have it!" Fang yells excitedly at his friend who is settling the protective torso and legs of his suit over him.

That's when I notice his odd choice of clothing underneath. Well... rather lack thereof. And I'm not the only one who notices as the large man duct tapes a small toy to his chest, an off white mushroom with small eyes and a smiling mouth.

"For goblin's sake, Brutus," Stuff exclaims.

Brutus, walking away from the cage faces the woman. "I got to be free, man."

I do my best not to stare at the pasty whiteness of the man's ass cheeks as he walks around.

"Alright, girl, let's get this show on the road. I gotta suit up," Thing says as he turns his attention back to me, putting my hands where they belong in the suit and fastening the suit around me.

I'm slightly distracted though. There's chatter going on in my head and I'm still so dazed from lack of a good night's sleep that most things don't seem to make sense, no matter how simple. All I know is that everyone has made wearing the suit's look way too easy.

"What's the noise," I ask the big eyed man. He ignores me. "Listen, I've never been in one of these."

Thing looks at the screen next to me, "Yea, well I've never made a move on Stuff, but you can bet when that day comes, I'll make it work."

"Th-Thing-"

"It's Thang," he says past his gritted lopsided teeth.

"Thang. Thang," I commit that to memory. "Just think about this, man. I could hurt somebody."

Thang gives a toothy smirk. "Not with the safety on, you won't." He walks away from me.

Um... safety? They want me to go into this war without even telling about the safety setting. I didn't even know the suit had a safety. How am I to fight, to live, if I can't shoot?

"Wait, where is the safety?"

"Exactly," Thang announces as he gets into his suit with the rest of the squad laughing at my expense.

}{

Elsewhere on the base:

A soldier walks into the training floor, a dark gray painted exosuit surrounding him. The object of his attention is near the back wall.

A soft release of breath echoes around the tall meditating figure, the world meaning nothing at the moment until the soldier gets close enough. Striking blue eyes fall on the suited man, silently commanding him to speak.

"It's time."

The blue eyes disappear behind darkened lids for a moment before the tall figure stands, stretching the lithe muscles unhidden by the black muscle shirt and form fitting slacks. Without a word, the towering man brushes past the soldier and within moments, reaches his own suit.

Faded white paint of the Scottish flag and streaks of blood red decorate the black metal of the exosuit as the imposing figure silently and quickly locks the suit together around him. Soon, he's loading weapons and placing them on his person while the suit powers up. Heavy duty gloves with metal on the knuckles get laced on as well, a solid fist pound to settle them in place. Across from him sits his choice weapons.

A sword looking like a part of a helicopter blade, but made of a much sturdier metal that can cut through the obsidian and amber-like bodies of the Mimics with deadly ease. Settled next to the wicked blade, a staff awaits. This weapon is made from the enemy itself. Those jagged alien tendrils were collected and worked on by the best to create this beauty. Heavy, solid, and lethal. At the top for dramatic flair, a collection of the amber parts of their bodies sits, reflecting any light that falls upon it. The entire weapon a trophy of war.

Both weapons quickly find themselves being picked up. The sword sheathed on his back and the staff in his left hand. Now ready for the coming war, the towering man leaves for his ship, flanked by two soldiers of his choosing. The best of the best who survived Verdun. As they stormed past the hanger doors, a slew of soldiers were gathered, most likely awaiting orders. One person recognizes the imposing man and steps forward out of the crowd.

"Bloody hell, it's the Full Metal Gol-,"

The man swings his staff, sending the idiot solider to the ground. Shaking off the past nuisance, the man continues to the ship with a grim look on his face.

}{

Despite my constant questions about my safety or weapons in general, no one bothered to answer. The only time people talked to me was to give me orders and directions which has led me to marching with the squad out of the exosuit hanger. And I'm having the hardest time trying to walk in this stupid suit. I feel like I'm going to lose my balance if I take too big a step or too small of one. It's settling in that I'm going to die quite soon.

"Thang," I hear Plum call in front of me.

"Sarge?" the large eyed man responds.

"Take care of Private Fae." Now this is what I wanted to avoid! Does no one listen to reason?

"What?! All day?" Poor guy. I hope I don't get him killed.

"Something tells me it won't be nearly that long."

... Well then. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I was just thinking that myself. And I continue thinking about it as we start marching on the air field on our way to the drop ship. How are these people able to walk in time? I keep having to make half steps to stay in line. Looking up from my feet, I see raising platforms full of soldiers waiting to get in their ships. Ahead of us is our designated ship. I can't do this. My nerves are completely fried as I find myself marching away from the squad.

Brutus notices and calls for Thang, both chasing after me yelling my last name and pulling me back in line. They keep a better rein on me until they set me in my place on the ship and into the cable harness. I'm locked in as the rest of the squad gets into place and the ship takes off. It won't take long to get from the base in England to the coast of France just beyond the Cliffs of Dover. Not long at all until I have to fight the Mimics, still not knowing how to turn the safety off or how to use my weapons. I tightly shut my eyes.

I'm honestly frightened. My lack of experience and no one willing to care for me due to being called a deserter has me wishing I wasn't here or that I should have dumped Roland's sorry ass a long time ago and continued toward being a soldier. But I can't change what has happened. All I can do try to make it through this.

I feel beads of sweat gather on my brow, sticking my short hair to my forehead under the helmet when Plum begins talking near the front of the ship.

"We lost Germany. We lost France. If we lose today we won't get to fight another," I can hear her stepping closer. "I know the pressure on you is enormous."

It almost sounds like she cares. Well, she probably does truly care about the little 'Goblin' squad, just not me. One of the pilots yell out that there's two minutes til our drop off.

"It's alright to be scared," Plum continues, "Remember, there's no courage without fear."

I can hear her nearly right in front of me, but I refused to open my eyes even as she walks away. I hear Fang calling to someone. When he continues, I peek open a brown eye to the man on the other side of the ship just to the left of me.

"Oi, I think there's something wrong with your suit."

I stare at him now.

"Yeah," he continues, "There's a dead gal in it."

Everyone in the drop ship laughs collectively. Sunny, strapped next to Fang, looks like he's about to say something, too.

"Watch your back out there, ma'am."

"No one else will," Stuff announced next to me.

Oh... how comforting. Plum yells out saying that there's one minute to drop off. Only a minute to figure out how to use my weapons.

"Hey." I call out to anyone. "Hey!"

"What?" Someone responds to me from behind.

"How do I turn... the safety off on my weapon?" The alarms start blaring around the ship.

"What?" The person asks over the ringing and buzzing sound.

"How do I turn my safety-" At that moment, the floor beneath me opens up, revealing the beach far far far below us. "Oh my god," I nearly scream.

"Thirty seconds til drop off," Plum announces. "On my mark." Pare, I think, looks super excited in front of Plum. "Get set to deploy. Activate drop lines. Remember-"

Half the ship suddenly goes up in flames, shrapnel flying everywhere. Another explosion and more people are disappearing in the flaming holes of the ship. I scream in panic. Plum is yelling at the soliders to drop now. The same order going around to those still left. I'm too busy seeing the flames and watching others release their suits from the ship. One at a time, they fall, connected only by the cable on their suits. Two get caught on the small walkway in the middle of the ship until they relax and continue falling. Pare releases, but a nanosecond later, an explosion pushes him into the ship support beams and rips him apart.

Plum looks at me, yelling over the groaning engines. "Fae! Drop or die," then she jumps out of the ship that's ripping apart every second I stay. Did she do a flip?

Finally, I see the huge red lever on my right shoulder with big black letters saying 'Release.' I slam my fist on the damned thing. Next thing I know I'm free falling and freaking the fuck out until the cable runs out, jerking me for a moment. I'm still connected to the failing ship as are others. As I uncontrollably spin around, I witness two people slamming right into each other and someone completely on fire waving their arms around. I glance above me only to see the ship explode into pieces and the cable snapping, dropping me down to the beach.

I wasn't prepared for the very tall drop I still had left as I face plant into the wet sand, the visor on my helmet breaking off. Somehow, I get to my feet in the clunky suit, spewing sandy water from my mouth. All around me, solider are marching towards the fight, some getting Hail Maried from afar. Brutus, with his stuffie mushroom, is standing in place, cheering about how they made it.

Until a drop ship falls right on him, sending a forceful wave of wet sand which pushes me to my side. Spitting out the grit as I get on my knees and finally back on my feet, it occurs to me once again that I'm going to die.

Completely dazed, I begin following the direction everyone else is. More people are being shot down like ducks at a fair. I can't ignore, as I'm walking, some man's suit going haywire, slowly electrocuting him to death as he flails in the water. I hurry past him, turning my attention to the small screen on my right arm of the suit. How did I get into the language menu? Which button is "back?" No, I did not mean to pick Japanese.

Someone behind me fires their over-the-shoulder cannon, hitting a Mimic dead on only to be shot down moments later. The soldier was so close the thud of his body dropping down was enough for me to feel beneath my feet. I look back knowing for sure that they're a pile of char. Turning forwards I see a flaming soldier walk by still heading towards the fight. A thunderous thumping noise catches my attention. I angle my head since I'm unable to fully use my neck due to the limited mobility of the suit. Oh shit. A dropship is coming a little close to the ground. I pick up my pace away from it when I realize another ship spiraling out of control in my direction. For fuck's sake. I try to run in the stupid suit. A heavy thud unsettles my legs. The crash sounds way too close. I risk a look back as I jump behind a mound of sand and dirt, falling once again on my face.

Too close. Too fucking close. Taking a moment to breathe, I peek up out of my little ditch, glancing around. The dropship I nearly missed still has survivors somehow. One soldier in an exosuit style I can't never seen before comes storming out, shaking off the crash landing like it wasn't a problem. Following behind is a rather tall figure with the staff in hand, I think. I can't think. The garbled radio chatter in my damaged helmet is too much.

I push the damn thing of my head and gaze around the smoke-filled area. Something to my left catches my attention. One of the soldiers, the one with the staff, is fighting off a Mimic. Deep grunts make their way to me as the soldier blocks the wicked appendages of the alien and breaks them off. The Mimic he was fighting goes off to attack unsuspecting soldiers where I can't see anymore behind drop ship scraps. Clearly not done with the alien, the man runs after only to be thrown back. Grunting in pain as he sits up, the cannons on his back set into place and fire, killing the alien. The last fire shot the Mimic had sent his way got deflected my way instead, hitting the ship scraps. I duck to protect my head from the initial fire burst, then get to my knees to get away from the heat of the flames. I pause for a moment. The man is walking my direction, slowing to a stop as he looks down at me.

It's him. It's Bog King. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but lay in awe of his war glory. If anyone can help us win the sudden slaughter, it's him. I go to smile when suddenly, a Mimic fireball strikes him the back. A scream rips from my throat seeing the man land next to me dead still. Blue eyes staring glassily at the smokey sky. Our only hope, gone. I can't. If the best of the best couldn't survive, what was the point? Tears filled my eyes as I run in the opposite direction away from the bloodshed. I just can't. How are we going to get through this?

"Private Fae" A familiar high-pitched voice calls. A suit running straight into me pushes me back. "You're going the wrong way. You're going to miss your moment." She turned me around and pushes me towards a sandy ditch filled with the other soldiers.

As I'm being pushed, I hear Thang talk to himself. "What the hell. They are not supposed to know were even coming."

Sunny falls to his knees next Thang, yelling. "We walked into a slaughterhouse, man. It's a slaughterhouse."

Huge explosions grab their attention for moment.

"Pull yourself together," someone yells as Plum pushes me into the ditch wall.

"On your feet people," she yells, walking past me. "Get in line. Stuff, get me a sit-rep."

If I can't leave, I'm going to give myself a fighting chance. I just need access to my weapons.

"Safety. My safety," I tell Thang and Sunny, but at the same time, Plum is throwing them orders to cover the flank, but I continue my pleading as they walk past. "Please, my safety. How do I get my safety-," a Mimic ball lands not a yard away.

I duck to avoid damage. Thang and Sunny are now too far to continue bothering.

"I'm waiting, Stuff," Plum firmly says.

Stuff looks down at a screen. "I got traces. Five hundred meters and closing in fast."

"Son of a spell," she says softly, though I can still hear her. A soldier pushes me aside right into the ditch well again. God dammit. I get to my knees at least.

"Look alive if you want to stay that way," Plum yells. "Firing positions."

I take this moment to figure out my damn suit speaking in Japanese at me. If I can just find the safety...

"Here they come," I hear the sergeant say while I'm still fiddling. "Mean as imps and thick as grass. Wait till they're right on us! A few more seconds."

I think I'm getting somewhere. Can't tell with the Japanese characters though. Movement catches my eyes however. Something is moving in the middle of the ditch under the sand and dirt. I start screaming for attention, but no one is truly listening. The Mimic starts stabbing people in the back and throwing them away, spinning around like crazy. The people of the Goblin squad are getting murdered, their bodies falling around me. I find my feet and back away as the alien sits still long enough for Thang and Sunny to shoot at it, but it moves so fast they're already corpses. I continue backing away figuring out the suit as bodies keep flying and landing and explosions happen all around. The creature takes a moment to intimidate us, thrashing its tendrils out so fast multiple times they create mini sonic booms as it trill-growls in their weird way before rolling through the sand and taking out more soldiers.

Come on! They shouldn't make it that difficult to turn the safety off. I need to figure this- ah ha! I let out a round the bullets. There we go. I aim for the alien as best I can, completely not used to the recoil as I try to follow the deadly creature and shouting out as if that helps my aim. But the recoil was too much. I fall back shooting into the air for a moment. I glance up to see that the thing is dead. Well shit, I got it! I let out a laugh as the Mimic crumbles and the fire of life inside it dies. I continue laughing with gleeful success. I think I can do this. It's certainly a confidence booster. I feel quite proud.

Until an appendage lands next to my head. I stare at this Mimic as it walks to the center of the ditch, surveying the area around it. This one looks different. Larger, blue fire of life coursing through it, a lower pitch of noises. I aim my weapon and pull the trigger, but the suit's voice is saying to reload. Just my fucking luck. There has to be something I can use. The larger Mimic is joined by several smaller ones. My eyes fall on the body next to me. A claymore sits within arms reach. I peek back at the group of Mimics. I think they know I'm not dead. The smaller ones start flaring their tendrils. The blue one doesn't move, the low rumble of its inner fire scaring me. Suddenly, it looks at me as it's entire body goes jagged and lunges for me.

In a heartbeat, I grab the bomb and hold it to my chest, activating it as the creature stands above me. The alien explodes into pieces, but as the body parts fall I'm burning, melting. There's so much alien. Too much. I can feel myself dying. Fucking acidic blood. It burns...

I sit up screaming. The pain not as strong now. My hands... Silver catches my attention. A bus with Bog King's image rolls by.