Verdana 7: Chapter 2 "Sleep Easy…"
I arrived at my bunkpost in no time. I walked in and was surprised to see a few marines bunked in with us. My mind quickly answered my questions by reading the thoughts of others. Thoughts such as "Why do we have to bunk with these freaks?". I wish I could've read some of the ghosts' minds, but the first thing they teach you in psionic classes is to block out mental probes.
I started unloading my personal effects. Small stuff, except for my power suit.
"So you're Williams, huh?" A voice said from behind me. I turned and saw a ghost lieutenant.
"Yes, sir. How'd you know?" I asked.
"Your suit gave it away. What the hell is that thing"
I explained to him over the next few minutes what the design was. Allied Intelligence scrapped together some bit pieces from marine, firebat, and mostly ghost suits. The suit was fully cloakable, and came fully armed, including a Gauss Machine-rifle, firebat butanic thrower and ghost C-10 canister rifle/grenade launcher, along with the requisite clipcizer round manufacturing backpack.
Suddenly, I unpacked an extra standard issue blanket, quickly explaining that it helps me sleep better. The room became deathly quiet, and the sound of a tin cup rattling across the floor was heard. I turned and saw everyone in the building become ghostly pale.
"Folks don't sleep too well here," one of them said. "The jungle… it threatens to come out an get you."
We were silenced by a patrol change alarm. Those on the towers and wall would come down for a break, while we went up to do watch. We were lucky this shift. We received some reinforcements from HQ: three vulture-class bikes, two siege tanks, and two goliath minimech units. We took our respective positions and watched. Then it happened.
Like an explosion of anger and death, they poured out of the jungle growth in hundreds. We all took aim and fired, trying to hold them at bay. But I wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Right out of the ground, just in front of the tanks, they burst out. Easily another hundred or so zerglings, but with them came another 50 hydralisks and an ultralisk or two. Instantly, we went into overdrive. Marines, firebats, and I pumped doses of stimpacks into our veins, heightening adrenaline levels. Siege tanks went into mobile mode and opened fire. Canister grenades launched from vulture bikes.
I saw one of the goliaths pinned down. I rushed over and buried the muzzle of my gauss rifle in the ultralisk's mouth and opened fire. All of a split second later, we were both facing north and pinning down a line of zerg.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Seven hours later, it was over. Dusk was approaching and the bodies were being assessed. While we suffered a few casualties, we won the battle. Bodies of zerg lit up the night sky as firebats set to torching them. All the while, I was sitting on floor of the wall, my back against the corner. I finally understood what the others meant about "not sleeping easy". Our intelligence officers on base told me that the zerg reinforcements that "popped up" were tunneling for at least 16 hours…
"They had it all planned out…" I whispered.
We didn't hear a thing all day, and yet they were coming. And then they were just there…
* * * * * * * * * * *
I returned to my bunk and lay there. My eyes were transfixed upon the ceiling. I listened carefully. There were no crickets chirping, no bats squeaking, or any other jungle life out there. The zerg had taken hold of the jungles and made them deathly quiet. And I knew that I wouldn't sleep well, as long as I knew that I couldn't hear the zerg coming…
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