Chapter 1
Four engines roared with life as our landing boat came to life. My pulse raced as I inhaled in an attempt to calm its pace. My body stood stiff as we formed ranks at attention. The docking bay darkened in a deep yellow as the boats made final preparations for takeoff. "Just get to the ground," I said internally. There wasn't a fear of battle or death. The many months spent in basic training along with the psychic prep nullified any indignation of fear. What the boys in Psy-Ops hadn't accounted for was the excitement. I felt like a horse trapped behind the starting gates. I inhaled slowly, releasing my breath when my lungs reached maximum capacity. My chest pressed against the padding of my armor. On the outside you could say we looked like a mass production of robots. The truth was behind every layer of metal was the flesh of a human. I clutched my Morita MK One rifle to my chest plate as the light flashed a crimson red. The few seconds before our orders felt like an eternity. The landing bay doors opened.
"Load up!" A voice yelled into my ears through the helmet communications system. We rushed into the bot in silence. The hangar bay was lined with seats facing inward along the walls. We each insured to latch our rifles in their holding slots before seating ourselves. I felt a strong pull as the magnetic pull of the seat activated, locking my body into place. My heads up display adjusted the lighting within the cabin. Names of my squadmates flashed as I looked in their direction. On the bottom right I took notice of my munitions supply. The powered armor systems were easy enough to use. A mixture of buttons under my chin strap and various blinking techniques allowed me to flip through communications channels, my jump jets and shouldered explosives. Powered armor gave a single trooper the ability to combat a small horde of our enemy.
"Listen up," another voice boomed into my ears. "We are dropping onto the most hostile planet in the AQZ," Lieutenant Rasczak bellowed. The AQZ or Arachnid Quarantine Zone is a cluster of planets surrounding the Arachnid home world, Klendathu. While we refer to them as Arachnids they are more akin to ants than they are spiders. Their exoskeleton is tough to crack but a solid shot to their nerve cluster can bring them down for good. They stand on four legs with two mandibles, but that isn't their most dangerous weapon. Their jaws can rip through a gunship with enough time and treat powered armor like tissue paper. You can blow off a limb or even three and an Arachnid is still extremely combat effective. The men and women of the Mobile Infantry have given the Arachnids the nickname "bugs" which I feel fits.
"We will drop from this boat in ten minutes," Rasczak said. "Use your jump jets to slow your descent. The moment we touch down you smash anything with more than two legs. We have forty five minutes before recall, more than enough time to give the bugs hell! Remember your training and you will survive, you get me?!"
"We get you sir!" Our unified response boomed as the final mission briefing ended. Under that armor Rasczak looked like any ordinary middle aged man, save the prosthetic arm. Rumor has it, after the First Bug War, he became a teacher. One who discouraged his students from joining the Federation. Yet, once he dawns the armor, he's the leader of the most decorated platoon in the Mobile Infantry, Rasczak's Roughnecks. The highest confirmed kill count and often the first in battle. The lights in the cabin flashed red. Voices murmured through coms but were silenced by our lieutenant. Rasczak was the first from his seat to the bay doors.
"Remember no heroes! No one goes off alone and everyone watches each other's flank. Everyone fights, no one quits. You don't do your job, I'll shoot you myself. Are we clear," Rasczaks words were demanding and our response came again in unison. The boat rumbled as it hit Klendathu's atmosphere. The doors opened and we were released from our magnetic pull. We stood, weapons at the low ready before turning to face the doors. "Drop," yelled Rasczak as he was the first to jump. We surged forward, jumping into free fall. The instant feeling of weightlessness brought back the anxiety. The twin moons of Klendathu brightened its sandy surface just enough as we plowed through the clouds for us to see that our landing zone was clear.
"Activate jump jets," Rasczak ordered. Our descent slowed to avoid injury. Boots hit the soft sands of Klendathu as the night vision mode of my HUD took over. I glanced at the gray sky.
"No plasma for once?" And like an answer to a call the bright blue flashes of light fired upwards from the planet's surface. The Mobile Infantry has a twelve percent fatality rating on drops that's hard to crack. I hoped the other platoons would make it to the surface safely. My HUD began to indicate platoon drop locations and mission areas. Our first order of business was to destroy the nearest plasma batteries. Massive beetle-like creatures that fired concentrated plasma from their thorax. Enough plasma bugs can lay waste to a fleet in orbit or worse, blast asteroids across the galaxy. My home was the victim of such an attack. The thought made my blood boil. We pressed forward into the darkness.
"Form up," Rasczak ordered us into position at the ledge of a cliff overlooking a swarm of bugs and three Plasma Bugs. The wails of the Arachnids reached our position from the distance and the bright blue flashes of plasma lit the entire area like a candle in the dark. Another platoon took position to our immediate right, protecting our flank. "Jones, Rivers, Gonzalez prepare for bombardment!" Rasczak's eyes never left the bug's anti-air positions. I could hear the heavy canisters on my fellow troopers shoulders shift into a firing position as they took aim. "Fire when ready," Rasczak gave the final order and three nukes rushed from their canisters and ascended into the glowing sky. The climb stopped and the nukes arked downwards. "On the bounce.
We jumped to our feet, activating our jump jets and climbed weightlessly into the air. As we landed I felt myself take a few striding steps. A bad landing could end in broken bones or torn tendons.
"Brace for impact," a voice called as the entire area flashed into a blinding white light. My night vision deactivated and shaders took over to avoid the powerful light. Seconds later followed the loud boom of the explosion. Wind blew past our position, almost knocking me to the ground. I've never been so thankful for the stabilizers in my boots. As the light faded and night vision reactivated, the platoon to our left known as Zeta platoon split into squads. A platoon consisted of thirty two troopers and individual squads had eight. Zeta quickly pushed forward on the right as Rasczak extended his hand ordering us forward as well. We fast marched in silence. Being careful not to kick up too much sand. I chanced a glance at the mission clock. Thirty eight minutes to recall. More than enough time to smash the area and peel out without a hitch. If only I took into account the combat prowess of the Arachnids.
Rasczak held his arm bent upwards at ninety degrees to stop our advancement. I found the motion odd as we were on a timed schedule. "Lt has that itch," a trooper named Martin said. I looked over my left shoulder to his position. He was down on one knee sweeping the area with his Morita MK SAW. A monster of a rifle meant for our big boys. They usually were our biggest and very often not our brightest. The SAW was created as a big brother to our standard MK One with the purpose of thinning our arachnid swarms.
"Something up," I asked as I began to sweep the area with my rifle. As I looked at the sand mounds and rock like walls formed around us I felt it. Like eyes watching all around us. In that instant I understood why we came to a halt.
"Swarm," called out a trooper. Howls bellowed as Arachnids charged from our left flank. Mandibles and jaws stretched as their legs carried their armored bodies forward with blinding speed. Martin opened up with his SAW, mowing down bugs as round after round punched through their exoskeletons. Bugs pushed the dead and dying out of the way as they continued the charge, closing distance as fast as they could. I took a deep breath before squeezing the trigger, picking targets and making sure each round found a home. I watched as limbs flew and the howls turned to dying screeches. I watched as my rounds tore through the advancing bugs and was surprised to see just how true the stories were. Even with their limbs exploding from their bodies and their kin dying all around them, the charge did not waiver. Their morale seemed endless as the increasing number of their dead did nothing to cause it to falter.
I ripped a grenade from my belt, flipping off its pin with my forefinger before lobbing it into the horde. "Grenade out," I yelled. The explosion threw more bodies and limbs aside. The Arachnids showed zero give in their advance. Crawling over each other and clawing their way to our ranks. Martin activated the Gatling gun on his shoulder as they grew closer.
"You're gonna have to work a hell of a lot harder for this kill!" Martin let loose with a complete spray of bullets. The automated targeting system of his Gatling gun picking off bugs as he continued to mow them down with his SAW. Our platoon had four men with heavy weaponry, one per squad. To my immediate right Connors, another large man with an even larger amount of ammunition was laying into the bugs.
"Martin, Connors, Jones make a hole," Rasczak ordered. The three positioned themselves side by side. Their automated shouldered weapons silenced as the grenade launchers over their opposite shoulders activated. A salvo of grenades were fired in a tight formation. The Arachnid ranks blew to bits. "On the bounce!" Rasczak's order was met with our jump jets activating as we broke contact. As we climbed I saw just how much trouble we were truly in. Zeta Platoon was now in sight and the bugs were ripping them to pieces. A massive swarm converged on the right flank and completely overran their position. Armor and flesh were torn to bits, the survivors jumping in desperation to escape the Arachnid hordes. Just as we began to descend, the recall bell sounded. The Terran trumpets were like music to my ears, yet something felt off. I checked the mission clock to see we still had twenty nine minutes. The beacon was only three klicks south of our position.
"We make for the beacon, move out!" Rasczak's orders were sharp and the moment we touched down we broke into a full sprint. Jones, Connors, Martin and David were all positioned in the rear, their shouldered Gatling guns keeping them bugs at bay. What was left of Zeta touched down in front of us in a mad dash for the beacon. My HUD fed me more indicators both blue and red. Blue for friendly and red for hostile and there were a lot of hostiles. Only one klick away from the beacon and I could see a mob of shattered platoons fighting their way to the recall square. The boats could be seen just above the clouds as troopers and bugs made their way to the landing zone.
"What the hell is going on," Martin asked as he caught up to me.
"I don't have a damn clue just keep shooting," I yelled back. Panic began to fill my mind as whatever was left of the first Mobile Infantry Division mashed together in a desperate attempt at survival.
"General retreat, all personnel report to recall. I repeat, general retreat, all personnel report to recall." A feline voice broke out over the general communications network. A general retreat is a mass recall of all dropped troopers. Someone had to shit the bucket on this drop.
"This is fucked," a woman said. Her name read Laundry and a howl snapped us all back into action. We unloaded on the nearest bug, dropping it in a hail of bullets. Just as instantly as it went down, another replaced it. Malice intent in its black eyes. They surged forward again, no remorse and zero mercy shown as troopers were snatched by legs and dragged into the ranks of the bugs only to be pulled apart.
"Drop everything you've got," Rasczak boomed. I began lobbing grenades into the frenzy of bugs. A few chin taps and blinks activated my ordinance payload over my right shoulder. I had three rockets and with a quick shift of my eyes and three more blinks I picked three target zones spaced out amongst the advancing bugs. A final blink as confirmation sent the rockets free. Three explosions sent more bugs to their deaths, yet the advance continued. Laundry was now at my side as she also released her payload which turned out to be a freaking nuke. I hoped to hell she sent it far enough out, then I watched her break into a sprint. This caused a massive break in ranks as troopers hauled ass to the beacon. Once massed around the beacon the explosion finally sounded and another blinding white light that lasted what felt like hours blinded my vision until the shaders kicked in. The battlefield fell silent as the bugs stumbled and fell.
We had seconds to recover and it was almost as if the bugs were defeated. Until they began to stand, that is. What was left of our forces stood upon a small rise roughly sixteen hundred meters in diameter. There, we made our stand as the boats descended. Platoons began to jump as the boats hovered and opened the bay doors. I fired round after round as the bugs continued to advance, clawing their way up the rise. A scream caused me to snap my head to the left. It was Laundry, her ankle snagged in the jaws of an Arachnid. With a single pull her body was heaved into the mass of bugs. I caught a glimpse of her hand as she ripped a grenade from her belt.
"Fire in the hole!" Her last words as the bug dragged her deeper into the swarm until the grenade's explosion created a small hole in their ranks.
"We gotta get out of here," I yelled as I stepped back. A smack on the back of my helmet cleared my mind.
"Moore," the sound of my name coming from Rasczak's voice snapped me out of any hysteria I was feeling. "Get your shit wired, now isn't the time to fall apart son." I steadied my breathing and aimed my rifle. Three bugs charged and with seven carefully placed shots I put them down. I continued marking and dropping targets, giving way to my training. More and more troopers broke contact to evacuate the battlefield. We inched back meter by meter to keep our formation tight. Evacuating teams jumped from the middle of our cluster while the defending teams kept the bugs from swarming our last bit of real estate. I noticed a trooper too far from our circle in a fierce battle with a warrior bug. It stretched out for him with its mandibles but his Morita continued to spit out bullets. It's body swung from side to side before it's jaws reached for the sky as it fell to the ground. I could see the slight shift of his chest plate indicating he took a deep breath. That moment was his downfall. The Arachnid lunges with a final dying effort and plunged the spike of its upper jaw into his leg just above the knee. I could hear his cries of pain.
"Oh god," he yelled as his body rolled about with his leg clutched in his hands. More bugs converged on his position. In a fraction of a moment his Morita was in his hands. He cocked the pump action handle of his shotgun attachment and fired a heavy round into the closest bug. It's upper jaw somersaulted away from the body as it dropped dead. Another cock and fire sent the next sprawling as the shot hit the nerve cluster, punching a hole in the exoskeleton. A third cock and fire sent the bugs pincer claw flying. He cocked again and while the shot found a home, the bug continued forward. I broke into a full sprint without thinking. I could hear footsteps behind me but didn't care who it was as I fired from the hip. Not many rounds landed effectively but the bug went down still. I slid to a stop on a knee and took down the next two approaching warriors.
"Get him on his feet," a voice called through my coms. I grabbed under the downed man's arm. His suit read as J. Rico. I dragged him in the sand, still firing as the number of remaining troopers began to dwindle. Latching my rifle over my shoulder fo my pack, I ripped Rico to his feet just as another man appeared to take his other arm. We both activated our jump jets before the order was given to jump from Rasczak. I burned the remainder of my fuel getting to the boat and almost collapsed the moment my boots hit the metallic floor. Troopers rushed to grab Rico and treat his wounds as I crawled forward on all fours to the nearest chair. My chest heaved as the boat began to take off. Rico passed out from his injuries but I couldn't get the mangled image of his leg out of my mind.
The ride to the starship felt a lot shorter than the drop. We couldn't exit the boat until the starship exited Klendathu's atmosphere. The hangar of the Rodger Young was a mess of medics units scrambling to patch the wounded.
"There's almost no wounded at all," a voice said to my left. My indicator showed the name Watkins. His helmet slowly turned in my direction. "That was a hell of a stunt you pulled," he said, "luckily, me and Lt were right behind you to help pull him out."
"Just making sure no man was left behind," I said in a defeated tone. "We already have enough dead left on Klendathu."
"You did your part, and kept a guy from buying the farm," Watkins tapped my shouldn't. "Ain't much more you can do than your job. Stay alive kid, the Mobile Infantry needs a few crazy people here and there."
