Author's Note: So I'm back! And i've decided to try uploading more frequently to make up for that terrible two months of hiatus and cliffhanger. Without further ado, welcome to chapter 5, hope you enjoy! Do remember to leave reviews, it can be anything as long as it is constructive (If it is criticism) or positive! Have a nice day :)
Cage was jolted back to the real world as the suit's stimpacks was injected into his bloodstream, millions of nanomites rippling throughout his suit as it shifted to bear the weight of the burning metal that sat above Cage. Cage grunted as he lifted his hands to push the metal off him, the wreckage scraping against each other as he shifted it slowly. At last, he managed to push off the last of the metal wreckage from his body, and stood up to assess the damage. The hanger he had been in had be targetted by a javelin missile, bring it down upon him. Luckily, Cage was wearing a near indestructible suit that could withstand high amounts of damage, thus he managed to survive the missile shot. He glanced downwards and noticed a hand sticking out of the rubble. He grabbed the pieces of the wreckage and moved them aside to uncover the body, and it turned out to be the engineer that had helped Cage put on his suit. No time to bury him though, for the air was full of gunfire and the shrieking of a million mimics.
Cage accessed the aerial view of the base and activated the night vision overlay. The mimics had destroyed the first zone of the base, Zone A, where the soldiers trained. They were attempting to breach zone B and D, where the hangers and quarters were. Often, a javelin missile was shot from behind the enemy lines, only to be shot back down by the anti-aircraft guns. They were not perfect though, for a small number of missiles managed to breach the zone and destroy buildings. Cage's helmet beeped, taking note that there was a hostile incoming from the right, and closing fast. Cage tuned to his right and lifted his handgun - and the last thing the mimic saw was the angel of death himself, as he shot a single bullet that pierced its heart.
Cage reloaded, taking note that the handgun that was inbuilt had a small magazine of three bullets, but they could deal heavy damage if aimed right. He started sprinting towards zone B, the mechanics of his suit speeding up and growing hotter as Cage accelerated to 40 miles per hour. Cage took note of the damage done to the hangers as he sped past zone C, the zone he was in. He spotted the area where the main battle was, the mimics digging straight into the hard concrete with their tendrils, creating trenches between the humans and the aliens. Cage jumped, the boots of his suit propelling him forward together with his momentum. He landed heavily on the right flank of the enemy line, throwing mimics into the air as he immediately took out a mimic with his handgun and punched another so hard that its face crumpled under the force of his punch. The mimics were so surprised that a single human was so daring and reckless so as to jump straight into their lines, and a few of them started to tunnel under him, going underground so as to surprise Cage.
Cage swapped his handgun for his rifle, the suit neatly accommodating for the loss of the rifle and the new addition of the handgun in the holster. His helmet instantly identified hostiles and his hand went up automatically, firing a few shots at mimics with deadly precision that took them down easily. When his rifle spat empty shells, he swapped his rifle for his handgun, as the suit automatically started reloading the rifle on his back, taking no less than 15 seconds to fully load the rifle. Cage continued the massacre, swapping ever so often between his handgun and rifle, and soon the mimics realised they no longer had the advantage of surprise and darkness. A call went up in the distance, as the mimics started to fall back.
"Pursue them!" Cage roared, his voice thick with bloodlust. "Kill every one of the aliens!" The soldiers behind him repeated his order as they rushed to follow him into the darkness. "Cage, come in, come in" His helmet beeped as he ran over the debris of zone A. "I hear you, who is it?" "It's me, Rita. The mimics are falling back in zone D, I'd be joining you in zone A." "Negative, stay in your zone and defend if needed. I'm pursing the mimics out of zone A, you stay at the base and check for any survivors."
"Damnit Cage, you better not overextend. Don't lead your soldiers into a massacre" Rita said. "Got it, I'm closing onto the mimics. Talk later." Cage could see the edges of the field that the mimics had set up base camp at, and the hordes of mimics climbing back into it. He muttered into his helmet, and a second later his rifle was in his hands, and he was gunning down stragglers. The mimics turned around and shrieked, and started clawing their way to Cage. He turned around, his soldiers were nowhere to be seen, the mimics were suddenly turning extremely aggressive and soon surrounded him. He punched and shot into the crowd, but whenever he downed a mimic two seemed to replace it. Out of the corner of his eye as he was busy killing the mimics, a giant shape rose. The helmet suddenly started blaring alarms that told him to retreat if he did not have enough firepower. Cage was startled, and turned to the shape in the fog. From the shadows of the mimics and the bodies that lay on the ground, an alpha mimic came into view. "Shit." Cage cursed, and directed all his firepower to the alpha. From tens of metres away, the alpha started moving towards Cage, as he felt the tendrils of the mimics stab into his back with no avail. Suddenly, it happened. When the alpha was about twenty metres away, it suddenly shifted out of focus and disappeared.
Cage had no time to think, and immediately diverted his gun to the other mimics. Suddenly, the alpha shifted back into focus, right in front of him. Cage gasped as the alpha swiped at him, throwing him back a few metres straight into the trunk of a tree. He felt something crack in his body, as the helmet informed him that the suit integrity was at 43%. The nanomites were failing as there were not enough of them to protect his body, and the last thing Cage saw was the alpha lifting him up, and squeezing until the suit cracked and his entire body felt nothing but pain.
Cage sat awake and gasped, his body slick with sweat. Was it just a dream? He stumbled out of his quarters, as it suddenly hit him. He had revived. He had reset the day, since he still had the power of time control. He shook his head. There would be an attack on the base that night. He had to warn the General, he had to warn everybody! He grabbed his phone and dialled for the General, requesting an urgent meeting with him immediately. His secretary said he was currently in a meeting, he could meet Cage in about 30 minutes at his office. Cage shook his head, there was something amiss in the fight. How did the mimic suddenly disappear? He replayed the events of the fight, and winced as he remembered how the suit had cracked around him, his protective shell being breached as his helmet screamed out warnings and alerts. His bones being crushed in the grip of the alpha, as his life was squeezed out of him. He shook his head, went to grab a cup of coffee from the mass hall as a migraine formed in his head yet again.
"Sir, you have to believe me. There will be an attack from the mimics tonight, at this base! They will breach Zone A first, then attempt to enter zone B and D. Our defenses would stand a chance against them. You have to listen to me, this is not a joke or a prank. This involves every single life on this base, and we need to be ready for tonight! Sir? Are you listening to me?" Cage demanded as he explained to General Brigham. The General paced his room, taking it in. "The reports shows that the mimics are currently staying within their base of operations, with no attempt to leave anytime soon. It's hard to track their numbers, since some of them reportedly have tunneling abilities and have possibly set up an underground base. Our defenses are good enough and can withstand attacks from the mimics. Major, you are wasting my time. Dismissed." Cage took a step back, horrified at how the General had dismissed the idea of an attack on the base so easily, with a flick of his hand. Remembering what had happened the last time, Cage made no comment, and left the room.
He went back to his quarters, thinking of what he needed to do. He had to tell Rita! He needed to make sure that she would be prepared, and they could learn how to use the CENOS quickly so as to defend the base as fast as possible. He contacted Rita, but her phone was off. That meant she was probably training. He found her doing her favourite legless pushups, and urgently told her that he needed to talk to her. Rita looked annoyed at having her training interrupted again, but once she saw the look on Cage's face she knew something was wrong. "Dr Carter is going to give us a set of new suits later today. We are going to need it. He's gonna be outside my room soon, to test the suit out. We need to train in them while we still can." Cage explained as they headed over to his quarters. Rita looked lost as she asked Cage what did he mean. Cage stopped, speaking rapidly and using his hands to gesture wildly. "The mimics are going to attack the base tonight. I was killed the last time by an alpha that i tracked down to their operating base. This is our chance! Firstly we need to train in the new suits that Dr Carter designed, we need it to defend the base tonight." Rita said no more, understand the urgency of the matter.
"Major Cage? Meet me outside hanger 14B in 30 minutes time. Major Cage?" They found Dr Carter hammering away outside Cage's quarters. "Oh, you're here. I was just going to..."
"No time to talk, Rita, we need to move to hanger 14B. Dr Carter, there will be an attack tonight. Suit us up so that we can train further and defend the base tonight." Cage said, as Dr Carter looked confused. "Dr Carter...?" He prompted, and Dr Carter snapped out of his daze. "An attack? Oh god. Let me take you to your suits." With that, the trio got to hanger 14B, and started training.
They suited up once again after eating something light, for Cage always believed that you could not fight on an empty stomach. They waited in a hanger around the perimeter of zone A, waiting for the mimics to come. Cage had tried to warn General Brigham yet again but was send out with a warning not to come back and talk about that "nonsense" again. They had no choice but to use everything they had, for the defense of the base rested on their shoulders. "They should be coming soon." Cage whispered into his helmet. "There will be an alarm and the mimics will destroy the perimeter guns first. " Before he could say anything else, a chilling shriek of the mimics sounded in the distance, as the alarm started to blare. The perimeter guns came to life, their motion sensors identifying mimics and gunning them down. The hordes of mimics reached the perimeter walls, and easily overtook the perimeter guns. Cage signalled now and the duo burst from their hanger. The mimics were surprised as they did not expect the humans to suit up so fast and respond to their threat, but quickly overcame their surprise when they noticed that there were only two humans blindly firing into the hordes. However, these two humans were covered in a bleeding-edge technology suit, and could not be killed easily. They started gunning down mimics, throwing a grenade here and there to cause even more havoc and chaos in the mimic hordes. The mimics split up as Cage and Rita backed up, heading to attack the flanks of the soldiers that were reaching the perimeter of zone A.
Cage continued firing into the hordes of mimics, taking hundreds of them down with precise rounds to the heart or the skull. Another cry went down the line of mimics as the first javelin missile took flight, and smashed into the group of soldiers. Most of them died instantly, the rest slowly burning out, cooking in their jackets as the flames licked up their charred bodies. Cage said a single word into his helmet, and Rita instantly moved at the same time Cage did. They propelled themselves forward, and jumped, their momentum bringing them up into 15 metres in the air, as they each unleashed a rocket from a rocket launcher that they had gotten from the armoury. They fell as the rocket detonated, blowing up hundreds of mimics and tossing the mimic carcasses aside. The duo landed in the mass of mimics, and took out their knifes, a serrated knife that was enhanced by vibrating in their hands to ensure cleaner cuts and quicker deaths. They went hand to hand combat with the mimics, hardly feeling pain when the tendrils of the mimics stabbed at their armour. "Suit integrity's at 65%, you?" Cage yelled as he took a mimic down by slicing its face open. "58%, it's going down slowly!" Rita yelled back into her helmet, busy making mincemeat of another mimic. "Remember, 40% or lower and you need to back up!" Cage said, his body starting to become worn out from the tiring battle.
Time passed in a blur. Mimics were slashed, gunned down and punched. Bodies piled up on the ground, and the two soldiers found themselves fighting back to back while standing on the dead mimics. The mimics were wary of them, as they kept a tight circle around Cage and Rita. Suddenly, the circle opened up as two mimics stepped backwards. Cage tried to say something but never got to say it, as an alpha materialised out of thin air and slammed into Cage, knocking him into the air. Cage hit the ground with a loud thud, the nanomites sacrificing themselves to prevent Cage from breaking any bones. Rita cried out "Cage!" As she was lifted by the mimic, and Cage heard the distinct cracking of the suit as it opened up and Rita died in the tendrils of the alpha. Cage stood up warily, knowing that he needed to die, but something stopped him in his tracks. It finally hit him, the one missing thing he overlooked. Cage took off his helmet, squinting into the darkness as the night vision turned off. The alpha leapt upon him, going in for the kill.
"Ah!" Cage screamed, as he bolted upright again in his bed. He had died again. This time, however, he knew what was different. He knew what the alpha could do. The alpha was green in colour, different from the blue alpha he had killed. This time, the alpha did not have time controlling powers. He sighed, knowing that the aliens had come up with something new to defeat the humans, and they were succeeding.
The green alpha could teleport.