Chapter 1 - Klendathu
"It's a good day to die,
When you know the reason why.
Citizens we fight for what is right
(Duty, respect, honor)
A noble sacrifice,
When duty calls we pay the price
For the Federation I would give my life!"
"Stow it trooper!" A voice called from down the row. The owner of the voice wore a navy green armor plated power suit. The troopers sat in rows facing each other within the dropship. A massive vehicle with the capability of entering and exiting the atmosphere of any planet. Four jet engines outfitted at the corners of the rectangular hold which contained the forces of the Federation along with their weapons and ammunition. "That song is much less motivating when we're minutes away from a drop." The cabin fell to silence as the troopers pulled their rifles from the slots besides their seats and performed final weapons checks. The thirty battle ready men and women sat in silence as they drew their weapons from the slots beside them. Hudson, the young man who played the newly found song of the United Citizens Federation pulled his Morita MK I rifle up to his lap inspecting the circular feeding system.
"Attention on deck!" A voice called out, forcing all troopers to snap to their feet, hands and rifles at their sides. With their chests poked out and heads held high, a man in a similar uniform walked down the middle of the rows. His helmet and face mask were activated, completely covering his face but also came with the feature to retract into the suit upon command. The visor of the helmet was the most complicated part of the entire suit. It controlled a series of commands ranging from activating the helmet to firing any mounted weapons on the body. His breastplate was bulky and thick due to the chest being the most attacked target area. Covering the abdomen was a flexible combination of thick kevlar and metal plating. The gauntlets on the forearms were segmented away from the power gloves which aided in hand to hand combat if it were ever needed. The legs were sealed, with the handle that protruded at the knee. The armor covered from the knee to the instep of the boots. On his back was a power pack with a magnet strong enough to snap his rifle to when not in use. The man swung his rifle upwards before holding it barrel down against his chest.
"At ease." The man said calmly, watching as his men widened their stance a bit, bringing their rifles to their chest in the downwards position. Their faces still locked forward. "We have the honor of going in with the first wave. Leaves a lot of bugs for us to kill and not much support. We will not be receiving any ordinance or aerial support for what can be three hours after drop." He continued pacing back and forth, studying the details of every soldier before him. "Our job is to take out the bug batteries and clear as many landing zones as we can for the second wave. The faster we move, the faster we can get support and plant a foothold on this planet. Remember your training and follow my every order and I can promise you, you will make it back to the dropship for pick up alive."
"Kill anything that has more than two legs and smash the area to pieces you apes!" A man yelled from behind him. He was taller and carried a larger weapon. The Morita Mk III Saw. A light machine gun with a longer barrel and heavier make. Their helmets both retracted into their suits. The larger man had a low buzz cut, a design cut into the right side of his head. His jawline was more narrow and eyes brown. His chin was coated in light hairs along the jaw. The top of his breastplate read "Ratzass" a nickname obtained in battle that has become as common as his real one use to be. The other standing before him Had black hair which was slicked backwards. The top left corner had a small grey patch in the hair. His face was covered in a neat and low beard dark enough to hide the skin below. His eyes were emerald green and face hardened. Johnny Rico, formerly general now bumped back down to colonel. The two exchanged a look before Rico continued.
"We land about a few hundred meters away from our first objective. We smash the area upon landing and jump to the first target. We destroy each target and move before the bugs can even reform their ranks. We do this on the bounce and by the numbers you get me?"
"We get you sir!" His forces chanted in unison.
"Back to your seats we drop in five!" Rico said before his helmet and facemask activated covering his head. Each suit was completely customizable when it came to decorations. Ratzass had two eyes on his helmet and teeth liming the top rim. He tucked his Morita Mk III Saw into the slot beside his seat neatly. With his lieutenant at his side, Rico scanned the cabin for his sergeant. She sat across from him, three seats to his left. Her breastplate read "Harpy" a name coined from her actual name, Elizabeth Harper. Besides her to her right was the platoon corporal named Riggs, an explosive expert known for creating his own explosive in the field of battle in record timing and always carrying some form of ordinance on his person. Rico couldn't help but smile at the stick of dynamite with a burning fuse painted onto the side of his helmet. With their faces hidden, the platoon seemed calm and confident but Rico knew that couldn't be any farther from the truth. Rico blinked both his eyes twice to activate a sensor in the visor to check the vitals of all of his troopers. Heart rates were a bit fast but still in the normal range. A third blink of his left eye displayed the names and ranks of his men on his HUD.
The communications channel opened in all of their helmets as the ship began to shake and rattle. "Hold on to something boys and girls bugs are firing back!" The pilot shouted with a hint of excitement in his voice. The ship picked up speed as it began to curve and sway out of the way of plasma blasts. "Incoming swarm sir," the pilot yelled, "no place to touch down your men are going to have to jump! I can provide cover fire but once you touch down I'm peeling off!" Rico was the first to shoot up to his feet. His men stood in two single file lines behind him as he reached the blast door. It slowly lowered showing the darkness of the night on planet Klendathu. Rico turned to face his men, rifle tugged against his chest.
"Live forever apes!" Rico yelled before jumping backwards into a free fall. Rico could hear his men yell as they jumped into the free fall. The radio chatter picked up as he noticed his platoon wasn't the only one dropping to the ground. "Roughnecks form up!" Rico yelled as his people began to maneuver in the air. Riggs and Ratzass were only a few meters behind him.
"Plasma incoming!" Harpy yelled through the communications.
"Evasive maneuvers! Fall in apes and hit the ground on the bounce!" Rico ordered as he sway out of the way of a plasma blast. His team formed almost a single file line behind him and seconds later, activated the jump jets that were designed right below the power pack of the suits. Rico landed into a stride before dropping to a knee. His platoon was soon behind him with Ratzass and Harpy landing followed by Riggs, Hudson and more. The howls of the Arachnids could be heard in the distance before the first of the warrior bugs charged from the shadows. The warrior bug was a quadrupedal insectoid being. Three meters long and colored in yellow and black to blend into the desert terrain of Klendathu. Their rear legs are much larger than that of the two in the front. Those powerful legs give them the spring to run at high speeds and climb surfaces. Their pencher like mandibles are thick and powerful enough to crush rock and burrow through the touch ground. It can rip through our suits and tare a dropship apart in just minutes if swarmed. The two side mandibles are used as claws that stab with the thrusting forced of a speeding truck. Their exoskeletons are thick and can take almost a full magazine to put down if you do not hit the nerve cluster. Their eyes were on the sides of their larger mandibles.
"Contact left!" Riggs yelled as he squeezed back on his trigger. The high caliber rounds spat from the Morita Mk I rifle blew off one of the Arachnid's rear legs and cut holes into the body of the insectoid beast. Its body crashed to the ground lifelessly. All fell silent for only moments before more howls were heard. Arachnids charged from seemingly every section of the planet.
"Contact, hostels coming from all around us sir!" Harpy yelled as she blinked twice with both eyes to display the position and number of enemies on her HUD which also included an aim assistant. She turned and squeezed back on her trigger as the bugs grew closer. Ratzass squeezed his trigger, letting loose the power of his Morita MK III Saw, mowing bugs down as he blasted through their exoskeleton and hitting the nerve cluster.
"Come on bugs! You think I give a rat's ass if I die!?" Ratzass roared his signature war cry as he dropped to a knee, making him more stable as his weapon kicked back roughly on each round.
"Roughnecks, push them back and advance!" Rico yelled through the coms as he stood to his feet. Riggs pulled a grenade from his belt and chucked it overhead into a group of Arachnids. Their bodies blew into pieces which flew into different directions once the grenade exploded on impact. The entire platoon moved forward as one, shooting down the numbers of the Arachnids as they continued their push. The dead bodies of the Arachnids began to pile as more and more of the m fell to the bullet storm. The platoon reformed its ranks at the base of a hill. "From here on we push east. Riggs, close any bug hole you see, I could do without an unexpected ambush today." Rico commanded. Rico's mind wandered to the first drop on Klendathu. His friends and squadmates who lost their lives on these sands. How he almost missed pick up due to an Arachnid driving its mandibles downwards pencer into his thigh. The pain long gone but still there mentally as he remembered himself laying there before the howls of his worst fear came crawling his way. He couldn't remember how but he knows Ratzack pulled him out of the grinder.
"Sir, we got movement! About a hundred warriors coming from the north flank!" Ratzass snapped him from his trip down memory lane.
"Push to that hilltop," Rico said as he extended his hand towards the mini hill shaped platform. "On the bounce!" Rico yelled to signal his soldiers to activate their jump jets. It was a short jump to the hill, most of them landing in the middle of the platform. Riggs left the bugs a small explosive as a surprise. The small explosive went off, taking a large amount of the bugs with it. The last to make it to the platform was a pirate named O'hara. Her breastplate read "Raid" and helmet was decorated with a spray can and a bug laying on its back. The Roughnecks made a half circle formation on the platform, taking up the best firing positions they could. The platform itself would force the bugs to move uphill, making them easier targets to hit from above. Crawling over their fallen kin, the bugs continued their forward push, attempting to swarm over the troopers. Their constant fire dropped more bugs as they continued forward even through limbs being blown from their bodies. Ratzass took a step forward and held down his trigger, spraying rounds into the final Arachnid warrior. Its body jerked left and right as it struggled to take even a half step forward before falling to the ground down. Ratzass noticed its eye move and locked onto him. He turned around and aimed directly for it before emptying what was left in his magazine.
"Always check for a pulse boys and girls." Ratzass said as he swung his massive rifle onto his shoulder.
"Roughnecks!" Rico called out, catching the attention of his team. "Proceed on mission," hos command was met with a more effective pace to get back on mission time. They were behind by a total of twenty minutes thanks to the skirmish with the bugs but to his delight, he had yet to face a casualty. Rico could only hope the same for the other platoons. They bounced a few times before stopping at the edge of a cliff overlooking a field of Plasma Bugs. Harpy noticed a squad already engaged and pointed them out.
"HUD says that's Alpha Team sir," she explained.
"Doesn't sound good sir," Hudson said. "There are reports of heavy losses coming from Alpha sir." Hudson was the team communications specialist. He was what connected the Roughnecks to every other team.
"Send their feed to my helmet," Rico said as he heard a voice he faintly remembered.
"Transmitting now sir," Hudson responded as he gave the flip up panel a few taps on his forearm.
"We're really in the grinder now boys, push these bastards back!" The voice was loud and clear, one of the survivors of Planet P and a great friend to Rico, Ace.
"Ratzass take point. Riggs and Harpy on the rear, get in there and kill em all!" Rico ordered. His platoon moved as one, sliding down the hill and following Ratzass as he cleared a path to the field. A trooper looked over his shoulder at the oncoming reinforcements.
"We got backup boys!" He yelled as he continued ripping through the bugs with his Morita MK III saw. What was left of his squad formed up on his position, giving suppressing fire while the Roughnecks moved into position. The two platoons together began pushing the bugs back, ripping their bodies to pieces with the combined fire power.
"Rockets up!" Rico ordered. Riggs, Hudson and another private whos chestplate read "Jones," dropped to their knees, using a series of blinks to scroll through their options menu within the helmet to finally activate the missile packs slung onto their left shoulders. The large box shaped launching barrels shifted and rested on their shoulder before opening to expose the rockets within. "Fire at will!"
"Back blast clear?" Riggs called out.
"Clear," Jones and Hudson answered up in unison.
"Fire in the hole!" Riggs called. Their HUDs lit up with red circles as the targeting system locked on to the Plasma Bugs. The Plasma Bug was the Arachnid's planetary defense system, acting as anti aircraft and artillery units. They have enormous abdomens which swell up and launch a plasma burst into the planet's orbit. Surprisingly enough, these monsters are accurate and carry enough punch to deflect an asteroid or split a starhip in two. The rockets propelled from their base, dancing in a tight formation as the reached closer to their targets.
"Take cover!" Rico ordered aa he finished off and Arachnid warrior before dropped just below a small ledge. His troopers as well as Alpha team did the same and within seconds came the massive explosion, setting off a chain of explosions from the Plasma Bug's position. Body parts flew past them as the sky glowed a bright white and blue. Returning to a standing position, the Roughnecks and Alpha team faced off.
"Hell yeah!" Riggs cheered at his handy work. "Ya'll see that? Perfection!"
"Assistanded by the hero of Planet P himself," Ace said as he extended his hand. Rico took it at the forearm as the two pulled each other in for a brief hug.
"You're an Exterminator now huh Ace? What," Rico taunted, "Roughnecks get too tough for you?"
"After making rank, they gave me a platoon to command and it's been hell. I'm still not a leader Rico, not like you." Ace admitted to both Rico and himself.
"Hey, us old wolves have to keep pushing so the cubs here can live to fight another day." Rico said in encouragement. "Any other platoons make it this far?"
"Negative, the resistance is too strong and we only have about an hour's time to take down another position in this sector." Ace explained.
"The combined forces of our platoons should be enough," Rico suggested.
"Then let's get moving, Exterminators fall in!" Ace's men formed up behind him. "By my count we have nine casualties."
"On the bounce!" Rico called as he ordered them to make their first jump. Harpy was leading on point while Rico, Ace and Riggs were in the middle ranks keeping order. Covering the flank was Ace's lieutenant, a woman with the name Deadeye on her chestplate. Her helmet had a bullseye on the right side of her helmet. She held the Morita XXX Snipe Rifle clutched against her chest. "Hudson," Rico's voice came in through cos calmly, "scout ahead, paint me a picture of what's over the ridge." Hudson picked up his pace, running up the ridge and giving a live feed of what he could see to Rico's helmet.
"How bad does it look up there?" Ace asked.
"Not good," Rico replied. He could see the bodies of what looked like multiple platoons spread across the battlefield in bloody pools.
"It's an ambush sir and another platoon as walking straight into the grinder!" Hudson called out.
"Listen up you apes!" Rico got the attention of both platoons, "Over this ridge is a swarm and by the looks of it, we have to get through the swarm to get to the final objective. A platoon is already walking straight into the grinder but M.I. does the dying. We smash the entire area, pull our boys out of the grinder and blow these bug bastards to hell!"
"Sir yes sir!" Both platoons answered up.
"Prepare to engage!" Rico ordered as both platoons formed up at the top of the ridge. Hudson was visibly tense as was Ace. He looked towards Deadeye who gave a reassuring nod of her head. "Engage!" On his word, Rico was the first into action, jumping over two hundred meters and landing in a full sprint trying to catch up to the platoon ahead. The rock sides bottled into a small canyon, prime spot for a swarm to rain down on troopers. The closer he got, he could hear their coms and yelled for them to stop hoping he could get to them in time. After the first howl he knew he was too late. The canyon walls seemed to open up as the Arachnids rushed into the small canyon. The troopers opened fire but there wasn't much they could do at that range. Opening its powerful mandibles, a warrior bug gripped a man by his stomach and held him in the air as its powerful jaws began to crush down, ripping through his power suit. His team pumped the creature full of rounds but its grip never gave. The bug fell to its death just as the power suit and the man within was ripped in half. Rico came within firing range and let loose as he continued his sprint. Ace came up behind him, helping with his light machine gun. Soon joined Ratzass and Harpy while Deadeye stayed closer to the back, slugging Arachnids in their nerve cluster with deadly accuracy. Stabbing its side mandible through the chest of a trooper before throwing his body completely to the side, a warrior bug howled to alert the other bugs that there were reinforcements. The Arachnid rushed forward, knocked a trooper onto his back before trampling over him, impaling his body repeatedly as it rushed for the new set of troopers. Ace turned his attention to the aggression of the bug and began to unload on it. Its body jerked and struggled to step forward. Riggs and Hudson aided Ace in putting the bug down.
"Harpy, Riggs, Hudson take to the left wall. Killjoy, Bomber, james take the right!" The six troopers climbed the walls of the canyon, using the high ground to create a cross fire, forcing the bugs back into the holes. "Push them back!" Rico yelled as he and the main force pushed forward. The remaining members of the trapped platoon joined the combined force of The Exterminators and the Roughnecks. Pressing forward as Riggs sealed the holes with the aid of another explosives specialist. Making it through the canyon and having a clear sight to the last target. The bugs were already in route to attack them.
"What do we do?" Hudson asked as he watched the swarm charge.
"Get in there and kill em all!" Ace yelled as he rushed forward. Rico nodded before following suit and the combined forces pressed forward. The first Arachnid dropped to the ground before any of them could pull the trigger. Ace heard Deadeye confirm her kill before continuing to fire from her position in the back ranks. The number of bugs began to pile as some fell back down the slight hill and others died crawling over the fallen. With a jump, the troopers were over the pile of bodies and pushing the swarm back.
"Reloading!" A voice called through coms. Rico could see the trooper shift behind the front lines and reload before rejoining the ranks within a matter of seconds. The troopers put themselves into a diamond formation, slowing their run to steps as the swarm grew closer.
"Shit there's just too many!" a voice called as a bug hole opened up and more bugs began to pour out.
"Hold the line!" Rico called out as he found his weapon running dry. He reloaded and watched as the swarm inched ever so close. More bug bodies dropped from the side where the hole formed.
"Nine hundred and ninety one, nine hundred and ninety two, nine hundred and ninety three," Deadeye counted off as she continued to let loose with her rifle. An Arachnid sprung from underground, kicking up dirt and rocks towards Harpy. Her attention immediately turned to the insectoid charging to her. Her helmet locked on to the nerve cluster as the bug opened its mandibles and just as it lunged, Harpy squeezed back on her trigger, causing its lifeless carcass to fall onto her, pinning her to the ground.
"James, help Harpy!" Rico ordered. James had a white cross on the forehead of his helmet signifying that he was a medic. He rushed to her position, shoving his boot into the dead bug, knocking it over. The ground shook, causing the two to pause as James was in the midst of helping Harpy to her feet. The ground shook again and again until they saw the beetle resemblant face of a Plasma Bug.
"Plasma Bug!" James yelled as he and Harpy joined the ranks. Rico turned his attention to the Plasma Bug, its body slowly beginning to turn. Riggs activated the canister on his shoulder, firing one rocket into the abdomen of the Plasma Bug just as its shell and wings opened and began the charging process. The explosion knocked everyone to the battlefield to the ground, even killing a few Arachnids in the process. Rico made his way to his feet, still seeing a swarm of bugs charging his way. Deadeye stood and instantly continued her barrage of deadly accurate shots.
"On your feet!" Ace yelled as he grabbed his weapon and began cutting loose. Riggs and Ratzass moved to the front lines, roaring as they fired into the mass of the bugs. The combined platoons could see the bugs continue to crawl forward even while their bodies were pierced with heavy rounds. The death of one bug only seemed to spark the appearance of two more. The sound of heavy clanking and radio chatter could be heard in the distance. Rockets shot overhead, bombarding the charging Arachnids as they desperately fought to protect their forces. Gatling guns whined as they sprayed thousands of rounds into the hordes. The bugs began to press the offensive, charging forward in a much more rushed pace. Their bodies tightened up as they ran, making themselves as small and hard a target as they could. The troopers found it exceedingly more difficult to lock their sights onto a target and put it down.
"Flank left!" Rico called out. He took a step to the left as Ratzass rolled to his left shoulder before crouching against the wall of a rock and dropping a warrior bug. The Roughnecks swept left, leaving Ace and his platoon to hold off the frontal assault. The bugs hadn't caught on to the idea of being outflanked.
"Sir, in about a minute we are gonna wunna get down!" Harpy called out as she picked up radio chatter from Fleet Command.
"Rico, hit the deck!" Ace called just as the sounds of the engines became audible. The star fighters raced overhead, drooping their payloads of small canisters. The canisters smashed into the mass of bugs, bouncing and mashing their bodies before exploding into a blaze of fire.