To say I went along with this very easily is a gross exaggeration, do not mistake my composure for acceptance and me without worry. There are no SOPs for being thrown and lost five thousand years into the future, everyone in the chain of command is probably dead. Probably because I’m sure there will be an Artificial Intelligence out there somewhere still fighting the good fight. Or maybe there's another buried soldier like me somewhere.

For humanity to still be alive is… Confusing to say the least. The Enemy were ruthless in their attack, destroying entire population centres so no one would survive. I’m not talking boots on the ground kicking in doors and blasting anyone in the room. I’m talking taking a dense object into space and dropping it onto the city with the power of an atom bomb.

We learned pretty quickly that massed, static warfare is not going to work. We abandoned cities, often ambushing and forcing them to commit troops to take a world to put a strain on their resources. Not that we had an unlimited supply, but anything was better than rolling over and dying for them.

They took no surrender, killing anyone that tried. They took no prisoners save for ones that might give up valuable intelligence against us but all others soon learned that they would kill you as soon as your value was lost. Humanity was fighting a determined exterminator at that time and was faced with the very real possibility of being wiped out to the last man, woman, and child.

So Humanity decided to delve into the brutal technologies they ever thought of. Safety and morality was no longer a concern, they had us backed into a corner and like a rat we bit back. It started small, suicide bombers was treated as a valid strategy. Kids being conscripted for training was expected. Biological and cybernetic enhancements were desired.

If it could be imagined then Humanity created it.

There was no longer the question of funding, anyone with a degree and a solid plan had resources thrown at them and was told to “get it done.” I was born out of such an idea, 1st Generation Mark 2 clone. Lucky enough to not be the first generation with the problems they encountered, doubly lucky not to be a Mark 3 which was expected to have a short life-span and limited resources.

I am expensive, back when Humanity had the ability to value quality. Now here’s where I start to get confused; why the fuck aren’t we (humanity) dead? I have so many questions to ask Aubsg but I can’t because of the language barrier. I have no interface port in the back of my head to slot in my A.I. Not that it would help as it’s designed to give battlefield analysis. My cyberware in my brain just makes it easier to interact with my own implant like activating my adrenaline rib, or my low-light vision.

I have to learn their language, manually.

It’s like being back in Basic and having to learn how to maintain my Exosuit, so Aubsg and I go back and forth. Really basic shit like nouns, but we got a little into adjectives like ‘good’ and ‘bad’. I learned bad when I ate something he offered.

I have no proper way to communicate with these people, no method to exchange complicated ideas. So honestly it was like being back at base, well it wasn’t so bad most of the guys there were me anyway.

Pretty soon it was before dawn, the sky tinted a deep blue and purple and soon it would change to yellow and orange. We broke camp quickly, I walked in the middle of their formation displaying no fear at being surrounded. Their primitive weapons would barely leave a bruise on my skin and I could kill them all within a few minutes.

Bravado? Overconfidence? Never heard of it. I suppose they could drown me, but they would have to have the ability to restrain me first. In my mind I have regulated them to a combat threat of inconsequential. Their value lied not in their combat abilities but the intelligence I could glean from communication with them. I need them to welcome me into their community, there was an old doctrine I remembered from training; hearts and minds.

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I’ll need to win over their emotions and allow them to become attached to me, and I must also win over the rational ones that see me as a benefit to their group. This has left me with a conundrum, while primitive in their available technology they are aware of what my pistol is capable of.

Honestly it confuses the shit out of me.

Changing my focus onto things that I may actually have an impact on, I take note of the group. Several members seem to have obvious genetic enhancement. I can’t say specifically what the changes do, one of the most obvious ones are animalistic features. Some of them look like a mix between a dog and a human. Snout nose and all. This may be how they detected me, a change of wind and picked up my scent. Ingenious, altering the human genome to accept parts of animals allowing them to achieve what is normally outside the realm of humans.

I wonder what light spectrum they can see in, if they’re colour blind, do they have a shorter lifespan. All things I won’t be able to understand unless I learn the language, this is the new priority.

I’m suddenly brought out of my introspection when the group comes to a halt, the dog type Altered very quickly changed his body language suggesting that things are about to get messy. Aubsg looks at me a few times and I shrug with the best “I have no fucking clue” face I can manage.

Aubsg takes his club into his hands, and a few others draw their assorted weapons. Some throwing dirty looks my way, I take a moment to decide if this is a group I want to ingratiate myself into. We stand on the road for a while and the waiting is starting to annoy me, eventually a man comes out from the side of the road and begins shouting at the group. I take another cursory glance around the forest and spot a few archers who I believe are going to ambush us. I preemptively activate my adrenaline rib and the world comes into focus.

Ausbg shouts back, Miyssiah shifts his weight onto his back foot, he’s readying for a rapid target acquisition to fire with his bow. With no shield at four Enemy archers I expect the group to die within two volleys. I’ve confirmed five Enemy targets and there is a small line that I quite haven’t braced myself to cross.

I’ve never killed a human in combat before.

The thought feels sour on my tongue while I quickly struggle with it. They have armed themselves and pose an immediate threat to life. They are the Enemy, the Enemy exists to be destroyed.

I release my breath slowly until my lungs are empty, I let go of the SERE kit in my hand, I change my stance into a pistol firing position. The man on the road is not a threat, he has a melee weapon but it would take him two seconds to draw it and charge us. I focus on the closest target first, bows are more tricky to use than firearms and require significantly more training. Being closer to us makes it easier for us to be hit.

My body automatically goes through the marksmanship principles on instinct, position and hold, naturally at the target, sight alignment. I fire once and a mist opens up behind the Enemy’s head. Then followed through, a second shot through the same archer's head. Gore and brain matter splattering behind him on the tree.

Change target, second closest. Two shots to the head, the shots echo and reverberate into the surroundings. Two down and three left, I pivot on the spot my weapon must point naturally at the target. I drew the pistol close to my chest as I manoeuvre then I push it back out to the correct firing stance as I fire another two shots, the first shot clips the Target but the second struck home as the Enemy attempts to duck for cover. He falls down to the ground with a scream, the last one manages to fire off an arrow. Tracking its arc I estimate it is going to hit someone in the group with a name who I don’t know yet.

The SERE kit hits the ground.

I push through the group grabbing the one it was aimed for and drag him down to the floor by his neck collar. I take his position to body block the arrow which I catch neatly with my chest. My skinsuit unable to be penetrated by lack of velocity of the arrow, I watch the Enemy’s eyes go wide in disbelief and fear before firing two shots. His eyes now popped out and dangling from their sockets from the sheer force of the rounds entering his skull.

The man on the road hasn’t moved yet, but that doesn’t change the objective. He’s the Enemy, and the Enemy exists to be destroyed. I fire two shots into his head, splattering his brain and bone all over the road. I draw the pistol into a ready stance and check for more enemies before relaxing again.

This should elevate their view of me.