SEVERIN SECTOR
MALEVELON CREEK
SUPER CALENDAR: FEB 15th, 2185, 1600 HOURS.
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: NONE.
CONTROL: FEDERATION
Space Cadet: Jax O'brien.
"Extreme Violence is the way to Liberty."- Unknown Helldiver.
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Suck.
VRRRRM! VRRRRM! VRRRRM!
“NOW ENTERING, MALEVELON CREEK.”
Jolting from his slumber, Jax woke. The blue-eyed, black-haired eighteen-year-old shivered as the doors of his cryopod slid open.
Fully armored in the black and yellow-stripped B0-1 standard tactical gear of the Helldivers, Jax blinked, his suit’s thermal regulators activating to help defrost his armor and regulate his body temperature as he stepped onto the black steel floor of the Super Destroyer.
He stumbled, his gloved hand reaching out to grab a nearby guard rail as a hand shot out and caught Jax.
“Whoa there, first time?” A feminine voice echoed through the filter of a helmet.
“Y-yeah.” Jax said, turning his head, his VISOR clearing up the frost and identifying the woman as Sergeant Keller. IFF, K2. A Helldiver kitted out in SA-25 Steel Trooper armor. But perhaps what caught Jax’s attention the most, was the cybernetic prosthesis the woman had as an arm that was helping him.
“Make sure to go through the steps rook, we've all been there before, last thing you want is to puke in your helmet.”
“Y-yeah.” Jax shook his head, rolling his shoulders and taking a deep breath before letting out a forceful cough.
“Good?” Keller asked, helping Jax to stand upright.
“Yeah. I'm good. Thanks Sarge.” Jax replied, scanning the processing bay that was filled with ordinance, technicians walking around and bridge officers with pads taking inventory. He inwardly frowned, the person he was searching for nowhere to be found. “Where's the medic?”
“Hasn't woken up yet.” Keller replied as the cryopod dispenser behind the two cycled, flashing lights alerting everyone nearby to stand clear of the machinery as another Helldiver was being dethawed.
The Helldiver was six foot, stumbling out just as Jax had done. However, unlike Jax, the Helldiver was kitted out in white CM-09 armor with a green underbody. The standard kit for Helldiver medics.
“Sweet Liberty. Oh, oh that hurts.” Micheal said, the man's IFF activating and labeling him as M3 on Jax’s visual intelligence sensory operating registrator or VISOR for short. “Ah! Jax!”
“Mike!” Beneath his titanium helmet Jax smiled, embracing his friend with their armor clacking against each other.
“Ah! Look at you! I can't believe they let you become a Helldiver!” Michael exclaimed. “They just let anyone do it these days huh?”
“Did it for the class A citizenship baby!” Jax laughed, the pair breaking away. “Plus I get to smash bugs!”
“Hate to break the touching reunion but there's no bug smashing today recruits,” A commanding voice said, turning everyone's head to the Helldiver in fortified FS-23 Battle Master armor. “At least not where you’re concerned.”
Q1. Death Captain. The IFF reported.
Immediately the trio of divers saluted, forearms held up with clenched fists towards the diver before them who was an officer and a veteran.
“At ease.” Q1 directed, returning their salutes.
“What do you mean sir?” Jax asked, confused.
“I mean we aren’t creating oil today, we’re scrapping metal.” Q1 said, beckoning the two helldivers along.
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“Welcome to the suck.” Keller said, her smirk almost visible beneath her black helmet as she patted Micheal and Jax on their shoulders before following behind the Death Captain.
Jax turned his head to Micheal who shrugged, the two following behind the sergeant.
“Helldiver.” A bald women in a blue uniform said, saluting Jax and the other divers as they passed, a sense of pride swelling up in his heart that made him smile.
I’m part of the elite. Jax said to himself, returning the woman’s salute and smile before turning away and walking to the bridge, unaware that the woman’s expression shifted quickly from a smile to a dull neutral upon his back turning.
“Alright Helldivers. Listen up!” Q1 barked, Jax and Micheal’s heads sweeping across the bridge and the see-through screen that showed dozens of super destroyers, vessels like theirs, busy spreading managed democracy to the blue peal planet below. “Welcome to Malevelon Creek.”
Jax smiled, eyeing the holo table in the center of the Super Destroyer’s bridge that displayed a holographic 3D rendering of the planet below. This was it, this was what he had signed up for. Exploration. Fighting Super Earth’s enemies. Respect. And now he would have it all as he stood at the console with a room full of SEAF officers saluting him.
He was special. He was a Helldiver.
“So what’s the mission sir?” Jax asked, his voice eager and ready, body yearning to bleed for democracy.
The Death Captain remained motionless, saying nothing for a moment before reaching over and touching a panel on the table.
The image spun, showing their assigned objective.
Evacuate priority civilians? Jax narrowed his eyes, looking over the aerial bird’s-eye view of lush forest occasionally marred by big ponds of water. On the map, he could see various facilities, buildings, and what looked to be fortifications. Human fortifications that were churning black smoke. Factories hard at work with workers-
Jax blinked. Eyeing what appeared to be black-clad humans armed with weapons. No uniform that was SEAF approved.
Are these terrorists? Where are we? Jax opened his mouth to speak, yet before he could, the Death Captain inputted a coordinate, causing a klaxon horn to blow and orange emergency lights to flare on the bridge.
“Good luck Helldivers.” A woman with a pad said, smiling to Jax.
“HELLDIVERS TO PODS. HELLDIVERS TO PODS.”
Reacting on instinct and training, Jax jolted, stifling his questions and rushing off to the row of hellpods that lined the front of the command bridge.
“See you on the other side.” Micheal said, standing parallel with Jax as they stood in front of their pods, both men eyeing the contraptions where they’re boots would click into.
“Yeah. See ya there.” Jax replied, the pair spinning in unison and stepping backward, the mechanism on the hellpod identifying their IFFs and latching onto their boots.
Jax swallowed, his stomach sinking as the floor beneath his feet dropped, his body now surrounded on all sides by a cylindrical metal tube. He looked up, eyeing the covering that was sealed before a screen activated in front of him.
[Select Mission Equipment]
Jax eyed the terminal, his gloved hands picking out the AR-23 Liberator, P-2 Peacemaker, and the G-12 HE grenade.
Around Jax, the mechanical noises could be heard, the hellpod being loaded with freedom bullets and democratic materials. A panel slid open on the side, his selected gear prepared for him that he quickly equipped.
Next Jax eyed the STRATEGEMS, mission equipment that would be bound to his forearm TACPAD for the duration of the operation.
He reached up, selecting orbital strike and an Eagle CAS. The only thing allotted to him at his rank and station as a tier 1 Helldiver. Still, this was only the beginning, the grunts back in the SEAF could only dream of being able to call down orbital strikes and CAS on a whim. The expensive toys that were perks reserved for the those who had heeded the call and gone above and beyond. The Heroes of Super Earth.
The Helldivers.
“Standby. Helldivers in pods. Preparing to deploy.”
Jax clenched his jaw, holding his breath as his terminal displayed the area of operation he’d be deploying into and the location his team leader had selected.
Alright. This is what you trained for. This is what the job is!
The pod began to rumble, shift, the angle of the tube changing. Jax closed his eyes, his heartbeat clearly audible in his ear.
And then it happened.
His entire body jolted, a sense of weightlessness hitting his body as his pod was shot out of the Super Destroyer.
Jax clenched his jaw, his entire body vibrating as the inside of the hellpod got hot, the G forces reaching up to 7Gs that was rattling his skull. A sense of lightheadedness touched Jax’s consciousness, his mind blanking out only for a moment before he woke.
“Stay awake J-Four.” Q1 called, the words of the Death Captain helping to focus Jax’s attention as the weightlessness subsided and the shaking stabilized. Now it felt as though he were propped up against a vibrating slanted wall.
“I’m awake Captain.” Jax sent back, his eyes tracking his altimeter on the side of his panel that was rapidly ticking down.
2890.
2700.
2500.
2000.
“Remember to breathe rookie. And don’t puke!” Keller quipped before the line went dead.
1500.
1200.
1000.
Sweet Liberty….!
300!
A loud thud, the iron coffin shaking violently before Jax felt himself rise, the floor panel he stood on pushing him to the surface.
Weapon raised, safety off, Jax went wide-eyed as he scanned his surroundings and baffled at the sight of the deeply saturated foreign fauna and the-
Before he knew what had happened, Jax was laying flat on his back, his eyes staring up at the blue sky filled with ash and Super Destroyer in orbit. One moment he was admiring the dark shaded trees with their hues of blue and the next... he had a smoldering hole in his chest.