It was winter in Dronev, and the harsh cold of the winter storm rocked trenches dug hastily in the snowy ground. The air was quiet at the moment, but the men inside the trenches knew better. They could smell the zombies just over the ridge. Sargent Ray Halston peered through thick black binoculars over the white haze ahead.
"Can't see shit in this fuckin' storm." He muttered, dipping his hand slowly into a breast pocket for a cigarette.
"Good news is neither can they, at least for the moment." Said a Paragon Contractor who was standing off to the left, his hands busily checking a machine gun for any signs of ice.
"They'll come, Breckman, and it won't matter how far we can see when they get this close. We can smell 'em, they can smell us in another way." Ray replied, tossing the binoculars to a nearby table, "How're your boys doing over on the east end?"
Smirking slightly Breckman responded, "They'll smell you but I traded in my meat suit for cold steel, east end? Theres probably enough armored might sitting over there to put a hole in anything they throw at us... unless the bastards landed some PAs while we weren't looking."
"I hope to piss they di- ah, just a sec." The Sarge pointed over to a private near the table and signaled him to check over the wall while he leveled his rifle on the battlement. "You might want to get ready to light these sons-a-bitches up."
Just over the ridge, a shuffling mass of zombies began to ooze over the hillside. Soldiers in the closer trenches were starting to take potshots, hitting a few here and there. As they closed in, A straight standing figure could be seen in the center of the mass, but couldn't yet be made out amongst them.
Both men's COMs crackled to life, *This is Raider 3 confirming thermal bloom, beginning my run over.* Overhead the distinct whine of thermonuclear lifting fans drowned out the wind as a Paragon gunship passed extremely low over the trenches, the roar of it's chaingun audible over the engines. Fountains of dirt, flesh, and bone announced themselves as HEAP and SAPHE rounds found targets among the mass, the pilot seemingly to add to the carnage lofted several dozen 3 inch air to ground rockets from his VTOL's massive arsenal. Before passing over the ridge and out of sight.
"Nothing like close air support eh?" panned Breckman.
"Nothin' to do without it 'cept run!" called the Sargent over the roar.
Both men's attention was drawn to streams of plasma coming up from behind the hill, clearly aimed at the now out of sight gunship. The sounds of it's actions however left little to the imagination. A few seconds later the Gunship reemerged making a beeline for the Paragon FARP setup several kilometers behind the two infantrymen's position. Scortch marks clearly visible on the snow white camoflague paint attested to the amount of firepower sitting just out of sight.
"Well, piss." This time, Ray was the one panning, "Time to run, then. OKAY BOYS! FALL BACK TO THE EAST SIDE AND TAKE SHOTS IF YOU GOT 'EM! Stay loose and don't forget your grenades." As if to punctuate, Ray lobbed a NAM grenade over the battlement and took up a steady jog. Over the ridge, three Nekovalkyrjia appeard, showering plasma over the trenches. Ray clambered over the remains of a private and turned to cover the rest of his unit's retreat into the next section. One of the Neko's was coming close to the trenches, so he let his rifle sing out, the bullets popping uselessly against hemosythetic flesh. "Come over here, you fat bitch!"
"Here catch!" shouted Breckman as he tossed a Paragon battle rifle to Ray. The magazine had a band of red tape.
"Shoot it, don't throw shit at it!" The sarge replied, snatching up the new rifle and letting off a few more rounds. The Neko made her way now towards him, firing bolts of hot plasma in his direction. The weathered sargent found cover with a smile on his face and his grenade detonated, throwing her back towards the ridge.
Breckman smiled as he pulled back the machine gun's charging handle, "Don't need it." he whispered just loud enough for himself to hear. Settling the holosight's crosshair on the other neko he squeezed the trigger letting off a stream of 9.3x63mm shells. Under the machine gun's wrath, the Neko wrangled to stay upright with her feet dug into the snow. Gritting her teeth, she sent more plasma their way before falling over on her back. The third Neko set her sights on the two men approach from the air, jumping in a long arc. Before Ray could raise his rifle, a barrage of bullets slamned into her from further down the line, knocking her way off-course and into a snowy pit. The privates had made it into the next section.
Taking the cue, Ray moved on hefting the new Paragon rifle under an arm as he jogged through the winding path of the trenches. As he rounded a corner, he stumbled into a small group of zombies and rattled off a few rounds before hopping back to come alongside Breckman.
By now the contractor's attention was focused on the closest neko, sending a continuous stream of heavy caliber rounds in her direction. "Bout ready to displace?" he shouted.
"Well, I certainly ain't about to re-enlist!" The Sargent shot back, still firing into the clump of zombies. He dropped the rifle and drew a handgun, reaching for another grenade with his free hand. "Unless you got any good ideas?"
As if on qu, five artillery rounds burst over the hill, spraying the soft targets with hardened tungsten flechettes. It was very clear that if one was to displace now would be the time.
"Displace!" he shouted as he picked the machine gun up off it's mount.
In response, Ray peppered the miniscule horde with a series of shots from his handgun and broke through the mass at a run, scraping the Paragon Rifle off of the ground on his way. He kicked a zombie mid-stride and led the way into the next section. They were still a few sections away from the armor-friendly zone, so he kept up a steady pace, only looking behind occasionally to check the Neko's positions. They were slowly gaining on them.
Turning on his heel, Breckman stopped briefly, firing a long burst and forcing the pursers to take cover. All the while shouting constant reports into the COM, these were punctuated by closer and more accurate artillery fire as a battery of linear 155mm SPGs continued to lob supporting rounds to the entire area. Ahead, the privates were holed up in a bunker, firing the odd one or two rounds at some zombies pulling on the door. Everytime a Neko got close, the mounted machine-guns amongst the openings sang harmoniously to push them back. Ray pushed on for the door, filling zombies with lead as he went. He grabbed his own com and signaled the platoon to open the door for him and Breckman as they made their approach.
"Zeus one advise danger close fire, I repeat advise danger close fire!" shouted Breckman as he followed the Sergeant toward the opening, they had mere seconds to take cover. Ray squeeze off one more round before diving into the door and pulling Breckman in behind him. The private who opened the door slamned it shut behind him and returned to his post at the turret, only to be dusted by a well-placed plasma bolt from outside. Another private quickly shoved him aside and took his place, keeping his head low and firing into the den. Ray took this opportunity to light the cigarette he'd clenched between his teeth before the combat broke out.
"Well, we've got two more sections, boys. Grab as much explosive shit as you can and gather at the back door." He provided, pointing at the armory. Smoke curled in the air, occasionally being tossed around by the wind from outside artillery fire seeping in from the turrets.
"So.. what now?" asked Breckman to no one in particular.
"We play mouse a little longer while we make our way to the east side, then your boys play with their fancy toys. You think you can get them to get that monstrosity running before we get there, Breckman?" Ray answered, a gleam in his eye as he asked the latter question.
Pulling a small 'smart' roll from his armor, Breckman unraveled it. A moment later they were staring at a look down view from a spy bird somewhere overhead, in the center of the image was something so huge it was hard to believe. "Its already on the way, we'll probably sta-"
The entire bunker shaking.
"MOMMA'S HOME!" A voice could be heard outside amidst the roar of fire.
"Thats not us, its still ten klicks away." said Breckman, scrolling the image.
"I think I have an idea who it might be." Ray replied. He signaled quickly for the privates to abandon their posts and make for the exit. The bunker shook again, this time distinctly from the direction of the front door. A small dent appeared in the thick armor. The dent grew. Breath was held and weapons were raised as the dent grew again. The sound of another shell hitting outside was followed by silence. Everyone exhaled.
"Okay, get the fuck out of here before she gets up." Roy said. He grabbed up a grenade launcher himself and made for the door. Breckman followed, the machine gun still craddled in his arms. Just as a private began to open the back door, the sound of tearing steel screamed through the bunker as the front door was torn from its frame. Standing in the doorway, clad only in a few pieces of charred armor and white snow, was a bloodthirsty Neko, a savage look of bloodlust scrawled across her demure features.
"Go! Run, and don't look back!" Sargent Halston urged the privates on before turning his battle rifle on the battered Neko. Fire erupted from the barrel, but she advanced anyway, walking slowly in the dim light as the bullets lightly rocked her body. Ray waved back the privates again and turned to check on Breckman as he backed towards the door, only to see the contractor's gun falling to the ground.
He'd almost overloaded his legs, the large stress marks in the bunker's floor indicated this. He'd reacted on reflex, dropping his machine gun and sprinting full speed toward the gynoid much like a linebacker toward the opposing team's thrower. The three-hundred fifty pound cyborg hit the neko with a force comparable to a large truck, picking the neko off her feet and slamming her almost two feet into the bunker's heavily armored wall. Not wasting a second Breckman began pounding the creature with his fists, every blow comparable to an industrial press. The neko was reduced to a shivering spot in the wall. The forces of the blow hadn't killed her, but rather pushed her so deeply into the thick armored wall that she would have to push against it for hours before she could get out. Ray lifted the grenade launcher to level with her and spoke to Breckman, "Clear the room, fire in the hole." Breckman rolled back, moving toward Ray and retrieving his LMG on the way. The Sergent grabbed him by the arm and pulled firmly towards the door, stepping back slowly himself as he went. When they were both outside, he fired into the bunker and in one quick movement pulled the door shut behind them. The small building rocked for a brief moment, before ushering smoke unto the already melting snow. "One down, two left." Ray uttered with a sigh before discarding his cigarette and making his way further into the trenches to catch up with the privates.
"You know, we should have brought gauss rifles" said Breckman almost laughing. "I wonder how long those three have been around, I mean 17s, damn." crunching snow to their rear signaled round two was about to begin. Ray turned on his heel and raised the grenade launcher high. Behind them, a group of infected soldiers were approaching, dragging a swollen woman behind them. The group fired their sidearms wildly, although with little accuracy. Some of their shots were even hitting each other.
"Shit, they got a pregger, means a squid is out here somewhere." The sergent quipped, firing a grenade over their heads. The resulting explosion knocked them all forwards onto their faces and Ray took the opportunity to switch weapons and lay into them with his rifle. Breckman shouldered the LMG again, unleashing a hail of withering heavy fire into the group. Two zombies dropped immediately, their bodies shredded. "Fall back dammit your not a cyborg!" shouted Breckman as he continued to back away from the slithering mass in the women's corpse. Ray loosed another grenade towards the back of the pack and lead the ay further onwards. In the distance, the looming shape of the massive tank could be seen and the screech of smaller tanks approaching could be heard.
"We're almost there!" He shouted, another bunker in front of him as he rounded the next corner.
Their COMs once again crackled to life and the message was something neither man would appreciate, *All units be advised, flash, flash, flash, grid square B-14, I repeat all units flash, flash, flash.*
Ray snatched up his com as he pulled open the door to the bunker, shouting into it, "Didn't you read the fucking contract? No goddamned nukes on our fucking planet! You'll kill us all, you fucker!"
*Change of plans, Halston. We're pulling an evac of the place. Squids overran us in the City, and in the surrounding outposts. Just get to the Extraction Point on the East Side and hold the line till we can get everybody out.*
"YOU FUCKERS!" The enraged officer shouted at the top of his lungs. He yanked the door of the bunker the rest of the way open and scramled inside. "EVERYONE GET IN HERE AND STAY IN HERE! THEY ARE NUKING US!"
"Well would your rather have a parasite gnawing on your brain?" deadpanned Breckman as he followed Ray in. "When they take something with that kind of population density a nuke is a mercy killing for your population, trust me on that one."
"Piss on the fucking nukes! Those were my fucking kids and the broken down jalope of an ex-wife I couldn't stand." Halston was pulling the privates away from the turrets and raising the metal shutters as he talked, occasionally stopping to shove one of the crying men towards the back door. "We're going to wait for the impact to end, then rush out the back and get these little babies to the extraction point. Little babies: Shut up your fucking mouths and grab some more guns. There's two more cats out there, and those bitches can hear radio waves. They'll take cover."
The warhead was mounted on a short range tactical ballistic missile, the order for it's launch had come down from the planet's own government who'd become desperate to contain the Mishu outbreak. Most had come to realize that taking the city would be an impossible objective, once final authorization had been approved Paragon had been handed authority to use their weapon.
In this case the device was a 1.5 megaton binary anti-matter-fusion warhead, this design would spare the area any long lasting nuclear isotopes rendering it safe for resettlement within a couple of weeks.
The missile executed several slight course changes after passing through the midpoint of it's ballistic trajectory sending the Mishu's intercept solution into chaos. The weapon detonated at an altitude of four thousand feet, everything flamable within twenty kilometers ignited in the thermal pulse. The city's buildings near the hypocenter flashed white shortly before their windows exploded from the sudden temperture change. In the streets everyone alive screamed as they boiled alive and carbonized, the heavier types would be unlucky enough to survive long enough for the blast which arrived a few seconds later. The city's downtown area was completely destroyed as was much of the city center, outlying areas were flattened and very heavily damaged. Firestorms and vortexes of smoke and flame ravaged the area as the weapon's signature mushroom cloud rose over the hell it had created.
Back in the bunker, miles upon kilmeters away, the sound of the explosion was still deafening. The ground shook softly and dust fell from the walls. After a couple of seconds in silence, Ray spoke softly to everyone around him in the darkness. "Everybody, head on out the back door. We've got one more section. The bunker in that section doesn't have a roof, so there will be no smoke breaks this time around. Be careful, stay together, and keep an eye out for the cats. Those bitches will be on our tail until we can take care of them permanently." The privates cleaned their tears and shuffled towards the door, each of them bruised and exhausted. The com units popped and fizzed with interference momentarily before scratching back to life.
*This is Governor Keaton. General Morton has advised me that we will be evacuating the entire region. We're broadcasting this on all channels, public or otherwise. Please head to the nearest evacuation point you can safely get to. The NMX threat is still present, yet minimal. Out reports from orbit indicate that the fleet has turned back the Mishu ships, and we're waiting for unmanned drone reports from the city before we fire again. Please be careful. Good luck.*
As soon as the speech was over, the com lit up again, *Halston, this is Morton-- get your boys out of their and let the big guns deal with what's left. We're gonna drop some more big ones out there once the area's clear.*
"Roger that, General. We'll be out of here when it happens, over." Ray snarled. The anger was still fresh in his eyes and his tone. With his orders, he pulled the back door of the bunker open and ushered the privates out into the snow. They plodded slowly with their head low between their shoulders, loosely carrying their guns in one hand, some just letting them dangle from their straps. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Mishu warfare" panned Breckman as he followed, weapon up and searching for the remaining NH-17s. "Trust me when I say it could have been worse, you guys only had one landing zone to worry about." A brief flash of white caught his eye, "Contact!" he shouted as he let off a burst in it's direction.
The neko that had beend hiding in a mound of snow beside the bunker shot up into the air and rained plasma down from above. Sevral of the privates scrambled off towards the next bunker. Sevral more of them had been hit by the plasma and fell to the ground, dead. The Neko kept firing into the group of men as they made their hasty retreat. As they were instructed, they didn't look back. This proved especially useful considering that most of their friends were being reduced to black jelly just a meter or two away. Ray took the initiative to fire on the Neko as she drifted slowly down towards them, leisurely changing magazines in her plasma rifle.
Breckman's machinegun beltched it's last round, locking the bolt open. Tossing the useless weapon aside the Paragon contractor looked up at the floating agent of death and chaos, his cybernetic brain making power adjustments to his legs and back prostethics. Before she could meet a similar fate to her sister, however; the Neko was reduced to slag by a tank round, raining Yamataian science all over the trench.
Just a few meters away, the first tanks were wheeling their way towards them. A cheer rose from the few remaining privates as the tanks lit up the hillside, blowing zombies in every direction imaginable. Finally the last Neko emerged from her snowy hideaway and dashed downwards into the trench. Without a moment's notice, she took up Ray into her arms and whipped him around between her and Breckman.
"Here's a game, my little mousie!" she cackled, "Kill me without killing the meatsack and you win!"
Ray grunted under her vice-like grip, "Just kill us both, damnit."
Displaying a slight grin toward the creature Breckman produced a large viscous looking combat knife from his armor's web gear, "Come now sweetheart you know you want to end this in a funner way" he said while stepping slightly closer.
"A true gentleman." she remarked, displaying her own wicked grin. For her next number, the Neko formed a hemosynthetic knife from her arm, slicing open Ray's arm as she tossed him aside in the same motion. The sergent moaned from his new home on the ground looked upward to fast-approaching troop transports coming to pick them up.
Breckman merely made a 'come here' gesture while taking up a fighting stance. The knife in his left hand. In response, the Neko took a small bow before pouncing towards him with her 'knife' raised high, bringing it down towards his head. Side stepping slightly Breckman caught the neko in the stomach with his knee, slamming the creature as hard as the prostetics would allow. Although the blow was hard, the Neko stood firm and brought her blade back in with her, grazing Breckman's armor and tearing his uniform. She stood her ground again and prepared for a piercing stab. Breckman grabbed the blade with his freehand attempting to force it back or just snap the limb off, his left hand brought the knife around going for the neko's side. His opponent smiled harder as a hook formed in her blade and she pulled hard against him, throwing even his massive weight across the trench. Unfortunately for her, she also drove his knife into her in her toss, leaving a wide stretch of a gash behind, deep and critical. She stood for a moment, dazed, and turned her head slowly towards Brackman's form in the snow. No longer smiling, she plodded slowly up the side of the trench and into the cold air above, staring down at him as her arm formed an utterly sharp and deadly point.
"You've broken my heart." She said, raising her knife for the final blow.
Breckman rolled as the blow came down dodging, "Well you are one crazy bitch." He said before kicking the neko in the wound. The force of the kick sent her tumbling across the snow-covered ground for sevral feet. When she came to a stop, the wounded tigress rose to her knees and raised the plasma pistol she'd been avoiding the use of for the duration of the knife fight. Her tracking system laid in a bead on Breckman and her finger squeezed the trigger. She exploded violently in a rain of rubble as the tanks found her in their sights now that she was out of the trench. The now charred plasma pistol flew through the air and landed at Ray's feet as he was beggining to stand, cradling his still-bleeding arm.
"Who ever that was I owe you a beer" said Breckman over an open COM, sheathing the knife he limped over to the neko's remains, to his amazement the head was intact and glaring at him. Grabbing a fistfull of hair he picked up the odd thing in a slight bit of amusement. "Well now you dun fucked up eh?" he said to it's face before glancing back at Ray and holding up his prize.
"That's very nice, Breckman, now get it away from me." Ray moaned. He dusted snow from his uniform and picked up his rifle, pulling himself onwards to the open-topped bunker where the transport was taking in the troops. Gunfire rang out from the tanks, and little white and yellow dots appeared scattered throughout the distance. A thunderous roar came from far away as the super-heavy tank fired its main gun, nailing a small building on the other side of the ridge.
Ray made his way to the transport and beckoned Breckman on behind him. Inside, medics were treating the wounded privates and he wanted to hop on that gravy train. Perhaps out of some hope for comedy Breckman held the severed neko head up for all to see and shouted, "I got another one for the wall!". The pilot of the transport flashed a toothy smile and a thums up from the cockpit in return, though he probably hadn't even heard what Breckman had said. In the distance, the fires still burned.
Turning to Ray, Breckman spoke, "So, you looking for work?"
Ray put one foot on the running board and turned back to quip, "Only if it's cleanin' floors, 'cause I've had it with this shit."
"Can't see shit in this fuckin' storm." He muttered, dipping his hand slowly into a breast pocket for a cigarette.
"Good news is neither can they, at least for the moment." Said a Paragon Contractor who was standing off to the left, his hands busily checking a machine gun for any signs of ice.
"They'll come, Breckman, and it won't matter how far we can see when they get this close. We can smell 'em, they can smell us in another way." Ray replied, tossing the binoculars to a nearby table, "How're your boys doing over on the east end?"
Smirking slightly Breckman responded, "They'll smell you but I traded in my meat suit for cold steel, east end? Theres probably enough armored might sitting over there to put a hole in anything they throw at us... unless the bastards landed some PAs while we weren't looking."
"I hope to piss they di- ah, just a sec." The Sarge pointed over to a private near the table and signaled him to check over the wall while he leveled his rifle on the battlement. "You might want to get ready to light these sons-a-bitches up."
Just over the ridge, a shuffling mass of zombies began to ooze over the hillside. Soldiers in the closer trenches were starting to take potshots, hitting a few here and there. As they closed in, A straight standing figure could be seen in the center of the mass, but couldn't yet be made out amongst them.
Both men's COMs crackled to life, *This is Raider 3 confirming thermal bloom, beginning my run over.* Overhead the distinct whine of thermonuclear lifting fans drowned out the wind as a Paragon gunship passed extremely low over the trenches, the roar of it's chaingun audible over the engines. Fountains of dirt, flesh, and bone announced themselves as HEAP and SAPHE rounds found targets among the mass, the pilot seemingly to add to the carnage lofted several dozen 3 inch air to ground rockets from his VTOL's massive arsenal. Before passing over the ridge and out of sight.
"Nothing like close air support eh?" panned Breckman.
"Nothin' to do without it 'cept run!" called the Sargent over the roar.
Both men's attention was drawn to streams of plasma coming up from behind the hill, clearly aimed at the now out of sight gunship. The sounds of it's actions however left little to the imagination. A few seconds later the Gunship reemerged making a beeline for the Paragon FARP setup several kilometers behind the two infantrymen's position. Scortch marks clearly visible on the snow white camoflague paint attested to the amount of firepower sitting just out of sight.
"Well, piss." This time, Ray was the one panning, "Time to run, then. OKAY BOYS! FALL BACK TO THE EAST SIDE AND TAKE SHOTS IF YOU GOT 'EM! Stay loose and don't forget your grenades." As if to punctuate, Ray lobbed a NAM grenade over the battlement and took up a steady jog. Over the ridge, three Nekovalkyrjia appeard, showering plasma over the trenches. Ray clambered over the remains of a private and turned to cover the rest of his unit's retreat into the next section. One of the Neko's was coming close to the trenches, so he let his rifle sing out, the bullets popping uselessly against hemosythetic flesh. "Come over here, you fat bitch!"
"Here catch!" shouted Breckman as he tossed a Paragon battle rifle to Ray. The magazine had a band of red tape.
"Shoot it, don't throw shit at it!" The sarge replied, snatching up the new rifle and letting off a few more rounds. The Neko made her way now towards him, firing bolts of hot plasma in his direction. The weathered sargent found cover with a smile on his face and his grenade detonated, throwing her back towards the ridge.
Breckman smiled as he pulled back the machine gun's charging handle, "Don't need it." he whispered just loud enough for himself to hear. Settling the holosight's crosshair on the other neko he squeezed the trigger letting off a stream of 9.3x63mm shells. Under the machine gun's wrath, the Neko wrangled to stay upright with her feet dug into the snow. Gritting her teeth, she sent more plasma their way before falling over on her back. The third Neko set her sights on the two men approach from the air, jumping in a long arc. Before Ray could raise his rifle, a barrage of bullets slamned into her from further down the line, knocking her way off-course and into a snowy pit. The privates had made it into the next section.
Taking the cue, Ray moved on hefting the new Paragon rifle under an arm as he jogged through the winding path of the trenches. As he rounded a corner, he stumbled into a small group of zombies and rattled off a few rounds before hopping back to come alongside Breckman.
By now the contractor's attention was focused on the closest neko, sending a continuous stream of heavy caliber rounds in her direction. "Bout ready to displace?" he shouted.
"Well, I certainly ain't about to re-enlist!" The Sargent shot back, still firing into the clump of zombies. He dropped the rifle and drew a handgun, reaching for another grenade with his free hand. "Unless you got any good ideas?"
As if on qu, five artillery rounds burst over the hill, spraying the soft targets with hardened tungsten flechettes. It was very clear that if one was to displace now would be the time.
"Displace!" he shouted as he picked the machine gun up off it's mount.
In response, Ray peppered the miniscule horde with a series of shots from his handgun and broke through the mass at a run, scraping the Paragon Rifle off of the ground on his way. He kicked a zombie mid-stride and led the way into the next section. They were still a few sections away from the armor-friendly zone, so he kept up a steady pace, only looking behind occasionally to check the Neko's positions. They were slowly gaining on them.
Turning on his heel, Breckman stopped briefly, firing a long burst and forcing the pursers to take cover. All the while shouting constant reports into the COM, these were punctuated by closer and more accurate artillery fire as a battery of linear 155mm SPGs continued to lob supporting rounds to the entire area. Ahead, the privates were holed up in a bunker, firing the odd one or two rounds at some zombies pulling on the door. Everytime a Neko got close, the mounted machine-guns amongst the openings sang harmoniously to push them back. Ray pushed on for the door, filling zombies with lead as he went. He grabbed his own com and signaled the platoon to open the door for him and Breckman as they made their approach.
"Zeus one advise danger close fire, I repeat advise danger close fire!" shouted Breckman as he followed the Sergeant toward the opening, they had mere seconds to take cover. Ray squeeze off one more round before diving into the door and pulling Breckman in behind him. The private who opened the door slamned it shut behind him and returned to his post at the turret, only to be dusted by a well-placed plasma bolt from outside. Another private quickly shoved him aside and took his place, keeping his head low and firing into the den. Ray took this opportunity to light the cigarette he'd clenched between his teeth before the combat broke out.
"Well, we've got two more sections, boys. Grab as much explosive shit as you can and gather at the back door." He provided, pointing at the armory. Smoke curled in the air, occasionally being tossed around by the wind from outside artillery fire seeping in from the turrets.
"So.. what now?" asked Breckman to no one in particular.
"We play mouse a little longer while we make our way to the east side, then your boys play with their fancy toys. You think you can get them to get that monstrosity running before we get there, Breckman?" Ray answered, a gleam in his eye as he asked the latter question.
Pulling a small 'smart' roll from his armor, Breckman unraveled it. A moment later they were staring at a look down view from a spy bird somewhere overhead, in the center of the image was something so huge it was hard to believe. "Its already on the way, we'll probably sta-"
The entire bunker shaking.
"MOMMA'S HOME!" A voice could be heard outside amidst the roar of fire.
"Thats not us, its still ten klicks away." said Breckman, scrolling the image.
"I think I have an idea who it might be." Ray replied. He signaled quickly for the privates to abandon their posts and make for the exit. The bunker shook again, this time distinctly from the direction of the front door. A small dent appeared in the thick armor. The dent grew. Breath was held and weapons were raised as the dent grew again. The sound of another shell hitting outside was followed by silence. Everyone exhaled.
"Okay, get the fuck out of here before she gets up." Roy said. He grabbed up a grenade launcher himself and made for the door. Breckman followed, the machine gun still craddled in his arms. Just as a private began to open the back door, the sound of tearing steel screamed through the bunker as the front door was torn from its frame. Standing in the doorway, clad only in a few pieces of charred armor and white snow, was a bloodthirsty Neko, a savage look of bloodlust scrawled across her demure features.
"Go! Run, and don't look back!" Sargent Halston urged the privates on before turning his battle rifle on the battered Neko. Fire erupted from the barrel, but she advanced anyway, walking slowly in the dim light as the bullets lightly rocked her body. Ray waved back the privates again and turned to check on Breckman as he backed towards the door, only to see the contractor's gun falling to the ground.
He'd almost overloaded his legs, the large stress marks in the bunker's floor indicated this. He'd reacted on reflex, dropping his machine gun and sprinting full speed toward the gynoid much like a linebacker toward the opposing team's thrower. The three-hundred fifty pound cyborg hit the neko with a force comparable to a large truck, picking the neko off her feet and slamming her almost two feet into the bunker's heavily armored wall. Not wasting a second Breckman began pounding the creature with his fists, every blow comparable to an industrial press. The neko was reduced to a shivering spot in the wall. The forces of the blow hadn't killed her, but rather pushed her so deeply into the thick armored wall that she would have to push against it for hours before she could get out. Ray lifted the grenade launcher to level with her and spoke to Breckman, "Clear the room, fire in the hole." Breckman rolled back, moving toward Ray and retrieving his LMG on the way. The Sergent grabbed him by the arm and pulled firmly towards the door, stepping back slowly himself as he went. When they were both outside, he fired into the bunker and in one quick movement pulled the door shut behind them. The small building rocked for a brief moment, before ushering smoke unto the already melting snow. "One down, two left." Ray uttered with a sigh before discarding his cigarette and making his way further into the trenches to catch up with the privates.
"You know, we should have brought gauss rifles" said Breckman almost laughing. "I wonder how long those three have been around, I mean 17s, damn." crunching snow to their rear signaled round two was about to begin. Ray turned on his heel and raised the grenade launcher high. Behind them, a group of infected soldiers were approaching, dragging a swollen woman behind them. The group fired their sidearms wildly, although with little accuracy. Some of their shots were even hitting each other.
"Shit, they got a pregger, means a squid is out here somewhere." The sergent quipped, firing a grenade over their heads. The resulting explosion knocked them all forwards onto their faces and Ray took the opportunity to switch weapons and lay into them with his rifle. Breckman shouldered the LMG again, unleashing a hail of withering heavy fire into the group. Two zombies dropped immediately, their bodies shredded. "Fall back dammit your not a cyborg!" shouted Breckman as he continued to back away from the slithering mass in the women's corpse. Ray loosed another grenade towards the back of the pack and lead the ay further onwards. In the distance, the looming shape of the massive tank could be seen and the screech of smaller tanks approaching could be heard.
"We're almost there!" He shouted, another bunker in front of him as he rounded the next corner.
Their COMs once again crackled to life and the message was something neither man would appreciate, *All units be advised, flash, flash, flash, grid square B-14, I repeat all units flash, flash, flash.*
Ray snatched up his com as he pulled open the door to the bunker, shouting into it, "Didn't you read the fucking contract? No goddamned nukes on our fucking planet! You'll kill us all, you fucker!"
*Change of plans, Halston. We're pulling an evac of the place. Squids overran us in the City, and in the surrounding outposts. Just get to the Extraction Point on the East Side and hold the line till we can get everybody out.*
"YOU FUCKERS!" The enraged officer shouted at the top of his lungs. He yanked the door of the bunker the rest of the way open and scramled inside. "EVERYONE GET IN HERE AND STAY IN HERE! THEY ARE NUKING US!"
"Well would your rather have a parasite gnawing on your brain?" deadpanned Breckman as he followed Ray in. "When they take something with that kind of population density a nuke is a mercy killing for your population, trust me on that one."
"Piss on the fucking nukes! Those were my fucking kids and the broken down jalope of an ex-wife I couldn't stand." Halston was pulling the privates away from the turrets and raising the metal shutters as he talked, occasionally stopping to shove one of the crying men towards the back door. "We're going to wait for the impact to end, then rush out the back and get these little babies to the extraction point. Little babies: Shut up your fucking mouths and grab some more guns. There's two more cats out there, and those bitches can hear radio waves. They'll take cover."
The warhead was mounted on a short range tactical ballistic missile, the order for it's launch had come down from the planet's own government who'd become desperate to contain the Mishu outbreak. Most had come to realize that taking the city would be an impossible objective, once final authorization had been approved Paragon had been handed authority to use their weapon.
In this case the device was a 1.5 megaton binary anti-matter-fusion warhead, this design would spare the area any long lasting nuclear isotopes rendering it safe for resettlement within a couple of weeks.
The missile executed several slight course changes after passing through the midpoint of it's ballistic trajectory sending the Mishu's intercept solution into chaos. The weapon detonated at an altitude of four thousand feet, everything flamable within twenty kilometers ignited in the thermal pulse. The city's buildings near the hypocenter flashed white shortly before their windows exploded from the sudden temperture change. In the streets everyone alive screamed as they boiled alive and carbonized, the heavier types would be unlucky enough to survive long enough for the blast which arrived a few seconds later. The city's downtown area was completely destroyed as was much of the city center, outlying areas were flattened and very heavily damaged. Firestorms and vortexes of smoke and flame ravaged the area as the weapon's signature mushroom cloud rose over the hell it had created.
Back in the bunker, miles upon kilmeters away, the sound of the explosion was still deafening. The ground shook softly and dust fell from the walls. After a couple of seconds in silence, Ray spoke softly to everyone around him in the darkness. "Everybody, head on out the back door. We've got one more section. The bunker in that section doesn't have a roof, so there will be no smoke breaks this time around. Be careful, stay together, and keep an eye out for the cats. Those bitches will be on our tail until we can take care of them permanently." The privates cleaned their tears and shuffled towards the door, each of them bruised and exhausted. The com units popped and fizzed with interference momentarily before scratching back to life.
*This is Governor Keaton. General Morton has advised me that we will be evacuating the entire region. We're broadcasting this on all channels, public or otherwise. Please head to the nearest evacuation point you can safely get to. The NMX threat is still present, yet minimal. Out reports from orbit indicate that the fleet has turned back the Mishu ships, and we're waiting for unmanned drone reports from the city before we fire again. Please be careful. Good luck.*
As soon as the speech was over, the com lit up again, *Halston, this is Morton-- get your boys out of their and let the big guns deal with what's left. We're gonna drop some more big ones out there once the area's clear.*
"Roger that, General. We'll be out of here when it happens, over." Ray snarled. The anger was still fresh in his eyes and his tone. With his orders, he pulled the back door of the bunker open and ushered the privates out into the snow. They plodded slowly with their head low between their shoulders, loosely carrying their guns in one hand, some just letting them dangle from their straps. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Mishu warfare" panned Breckman as he followed, weapon up and searching for the remaining NH-17s. "Trust me when I say it could have been worse, you guys only had one landing zone to worry about." A brief flash of white caught his eye, "Contact!" he shouted as he let off a burst in it's direction.
The neko that had beend hiding in a mound of snow beside the bunker shot up into the air and rained plasma down from above. Sevral of the privates scrambled off towards the next bunker. Sevral more of them had been hit by the plasma and fell to the ground, dead. The Neko kept firing into the group of men as they made their hasty retreat. As they were instructed, they didn't look back. This proved especially useful considering that most of their friends were being reduced to black jelly just a meter or two away. Ray took the initiative to fire on the Neko as she drifted slowly down towards them, leisurely changing magazines in her plasma rifle.
Breckman's machinegun beltched it's last round, locking the bolt open. Tossing the useless weapon aside the Paragon contractor looked up at the floating agent of death and chaos, his cybernetic brain making power adjustments to his legs and back prostethics. Before she could meet a similar fate to her sister, however; the Neko was reduced to slag by a tank round, raining Yamataian science all over the trench.
Just a few meters away, the first tanks were wheeling their way towards them. A cheer rose from the few remaining privates as the tanks lit up the hillside, blowing zombies in every direction imaginable. Finally the last Neko emerged from her snowy hideaway and dashed downwards into the trench. Without a moment's notice, she took up Ray into her arms and whipped him around between her and Breckman.
"Here's a game, my little mousie!" she cackled, "Kill me without killing the meatsack and you win!"
Ray grunted under her vice-like grip, "Just kill us both, damnit."
Displaying a slight grin toward the creature Breckman produced a large viscous looking combat knife from his armor's web gear, "Come now sweetheart you know you want to end this in a funner way" he said while stepping slightly closer.
"A true gentleman." she remarked, displaying her own wicked grin. For her next number, the Neko formed a hemosynthetic knife from her arm, slicing open Ray's arm as she tossed him aside in the same motion. The sergent moaned from his new home on the ground looked upward to fast-approaching troop transports coming to pick them up.
Breckman merely made a 'come here' gesture while taking up a fighting stance. The knife in his left hand. In response, the Neko took a small bow before pouncing towards him with her 'knife' raised high, bringing it down towards his head. Side stepping slightly Breckman caught the neko in the stomach with his knee, slamming the creature as hard as the prostetics would allow. Although the blow was hard, the Neko stood firm and brought her blade back in with her, grazing Breckman's armor and tearing his uniform. She stood her ground again and prepared for a piercing stab. Breckman grabbed the blade with his freehand attempting to force it back or just snap the limb off, his left hand brought the knife around going for the neko's side. His opponent smiled harder as a hook formed in her blade and she pulled hard against him, throwing even his massive weight across the trench. Unfortunately for her, she also drove his knife into her in her toss, leaving a wide stretch of a gash behind, deep and critical. She stood for a moment, dazed, and turned her head slowly towards Brackman's form in the snow. No longer smiling, she plodded slowly up the side of the trench and into the cold air above, staring down at him as her arm formed an utterly sharp and deadly point.
"You've broken my heart." She said, raising her knife for the final blow.
Breckman rolled as the blow came down dodging, "Well you are one crazy bitch." He said before kicking the neko in the wound. The force of the kick sent her tumbling across the snow-covered ground for sevral feet. When she came to a stop, the wounded tigress rose to her knees and raised the plasma pistol she'd been avoiding the use of for the duration of the knife fight. Her tracking system laid in a bead on Breckman and her finger squeezed the trigger. She exploded violently in a rain of rubble as the tanks found her in their sights now that she was out of the trench. The now charred plasma pistol flew through the air and landed at Ray's feet as he was beggining to stand, cradling his still-bleeding arm.
"Who ever that was I owe you a beer" said Breckman over an open COM, sheathing the knife he limped over to the neko's remains, to his amazement the head was intact and glaring at him. Grabbing a fistfull of hair he picked up the odd thing in a slight bit of amusement. "Well now you dun fucked up eh?" he said to it's face before glancing back at Ray and holding up his prize.
"That's very nice, Breckman, now get it away from me." Ray moaned. He dusted snow from his uniform and picked up his rifle, pulling himself onwards to the open-topped bunker where the transport was taking in the troops. Gunfire rang out from the tanks, and little white and yellow dots appeared scattered throughout the distance. A thunderous roar came from far away as the super-heavy tank fired its main gun, nailing a small building on the other side of the ridge.
Ray made his way to the transport and beckoned Breckman on behind him. Inside, medics were treating the wounded privates and he wanted to hop on that gravy train. Perhaps out of some hope for comedy Breckman held the severed neko head up for all to see and shouted, "I got another one for the wall!". The pilot of the transport flashed a toothy smile and a thums up from the cockpit in return, though he probably hadn't even heard what Breckman had said. In the distance, the fires still burned.
Turning to Ray, Breckman spoke, "So, you looking for work?"
Ray put one foot on the running board and turned back to quip, "Only if it's cleanin' floors, 'cause I've had it with this shit."
