The midnight sun beat down on nexus prime as Lieutenant Jason Hill scanned the barren wastelands for any signs of life. Jason always hated coming to the outer rim, but nexus prime took the cake for shitty places to be stationed. The mining operations here were imperative to the successful growth of the core worlds, but for a soldier it was a nightmare. Nexus prime was a moon that rotated in such a way that one day here was equivalent to 3 days Galactic standard time. If long days weren’t enough nexus prime was in the outer rim which lead to the near Infinite sun brought very little warmth or life to the moon. Jason landed with a platoon of battle ready coalition rangers 3 days(GST) prior and the combination of waiting 3 days and the endless sun had made every member of the rangers irritable.
They were stationed here to defend the mine against some of the local militias in the area that had taken up arms against the capital after prime minister Beaumont made a “declaration of power” during the last grand address. This declared it unlawful for class 3-4 workers to work under 20 hrs a day. This address was supposed to promote growth and unity but some for the more degenerate workers in the outer worlds became enraged and attempted a pathetic and disjointed rebelion. They were why he was here, they were why he was forced to protect this mining outpost on a shit world rather than attending galas and boozing with politicians back home… he wouldn’t forget that.
…
The sun had been setting since noon so the rangers were preparing the quickbase for a long frozen night, then they heard the horns. Jason’s head snapped up, “Was that really them?”, he thought, “Of course it was that sound was unmistakable.”
“To the line men, take up defensive positions and hold fire till they close in!”
As Jason ran to the barricade, thoughts were racing through his mind, “Are we too late? How many are attacking? Why had corporal O’Brian not called in the attack?”, the last question was answered when Jason arrived at the front. O’Brian laid just below the forward watch tower, blood painting the sand crimson. Jason sprinted to his side and saw that there were two large arrows in his back and neck, quickly he studied the scene and noticed that the arrows had an angle indicating that the arrows had come from above the tower. He spun around just in time to see a revolutionary pulling back on his recon bow. Reacting quickly, Jason rolled behind the dead body of corporal O’Brian propping him up as a shield. The act of using an ally and more importantly a friend as a shield made Jason feel physically sick and made all the worse by small spurts of blood exiting O’Brian’s lower back where the broad head found purchase. There was a short window where Jason could make his move and he took it. Moving up to a knee he steadied himself, took aim and fired a quick burst. Jason let out a sigh of relief as he was rewarded with a red mist of viscera where the revolutionist stood.
All of a sudden a blinding hot pain erupted from his side as an arrow buried itself deep in his flesh.
“two arrows, two archers….. how could I have been so stupid.”, Jason thought.
The arrow dropped Jason to the ground once again, instinctively he tried to pull the arrow out, but by the color of blood staining his uniform, he could tell it was deep and so he thought,
“It’s no use, right now I need to deal with this other archer.”
By the time Jason had picked up his rifle the second archer was already on him with his jackknife drawn. Jason tried to catch the man with a blind burst to no avail. The rev straddle Jason and started pressing the jack knife into Jason’s battle armor. He summoned the last of his energy and brought his knee up as hard as he could and connected with the small of rev’s back. This thrusted the man forward causing him to lose his grip on the knife; however so did Jason. The rev gathered himself quickly, raised his arms over his head to thrust down and end Jason in one swift movement. Before he could bring the knife down, Jason thrusted the arrow that was once lodged deep in his side into its new resting place slightly left of center and watched the life drain out of the revs eyes. It was always much more traumatic to have to look at a kill close up, the mix of the warm sticky blood, dead eyes, and the potent taste of copper made Jason want to vomit but he managed to hold the sickness at bay. He rolled the body off of him and attempted to get to his feet but the damage that the arrow left proved to be worse than he first suspected. He had to reach some stabili-foam and fast, there was most likely some in the watch tower since it was recently stocked. Jason, half crawling and half limping, made his way up the watch tower and began searching through the boxes of equipment. After sifting through ammunition, guns and optics he finally found the stabili-foam. Jason loaded in a fresh tube of the aqua green gel like substance and placed the deep tissue attachment. He was unsure of how deep the wound was so he inserted the long nozzle into the wound until he found the end and began to spray the foam. It felt as if his insides were on fire but at least it would stop the bleeding… for now.
After a short jog he made it to the main front, this was located at the main entrance to the mine. Large, heavy, steel doors sat in the center of a short fence line which connected the canyon walls; though this one defense almost completely closed off the mine there was a small mountain pass located to the rear of the entrance. This treacherous pass had only one fence and the guard tower that O’Brian was stationed to. This pass could not be used by a larger force but if the revs could exploit it with a smaller force they would have a very dangerous flanking position, Jason couldn’t let that happen!
After arriving at the main front, Jason saw that the majority of his forces had held the position and created a hellstorm for the attackers at the bottom of the hill. From what he could see, there may have been approximately 100 rev casualties from the first assault. This was a good thing, but the coalition ranger battalion also had some casualties: 2 dead 3 injured. this was not crippling by any means, however the feeling of letting a ranger down never set well with Jason.
“Sargent Escalante” Jason shouted over the reverberating ring of battle
“Sir”, Escalate replied with a salute.
“Take squads 2 and 3 to the top of the passand dig in. be prepared they know that the pass exists and may try to overwhelm you.” Jason pointed at the ridge line at the top of the natural bowl created by mountains.
“We will hold the line no matter how many of these dirty revs come up for us. SQUADS 2 AND 3 WITH ME!” Escalante shouted the order and the six rangers that remained battle ready removed themselves from the firing line to follow Escalante up the hill.
Escalante was a very large and intimidating man but he was equally qualified to lead troops due to how calm and collected he was when under fire. If anyone here could hold that pass it was him Jason thought.
….
The first attack came at sunset. The darkness was thick and cold which in turn made waiting for the next attack all the more agonizing. Jason had to give it to the revs for attacking at night like this, since they were on a moon there was almost no light and due to this fact the citadel forces had to use thermal visors which had a much shorter sight range. They wouldn’t see the revs until they were on top of them. Jason could barely get this thought off before the faint sound of footsteps turned into a deafening roar of yelling men. There. They are close enough.” Jason thought
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“Men open it up!” Jason shouted the order, and a storm of bullets tore through the crisp night. Wave after wave broke on the citadel line, but there was no way to tell for sure how many revs there could be in the offensive. The bodies of dead and wounded revs began to pile up on the edge of the killzone but they kept coming in with no regard for their life.
“Lieutenant, Can they see they are being slaughtered?” A soldier asked from the darkness next to Jason.
“I’m not sure what.. what they are...“ Jason could not complete his sentence because a massive explosion came from the mountain pass. It was so powerful that it took Jason off his feet. Luckily He was not looking toward the pass like some of the soldiers were, the heat from the explosion lit up the thermal visors and many soldiers dropped to the ground blinded by the Thermal overload. The line broke and now a steady stream of revolutionaries flowed into the base. the defenses had been exploited and now the front line was at grave risk to fall, Jason had to make a decision, and quick.
“Fall back to the mine! Fall back!” He shouted.
Bullets were flying out of the darkness in seemingly every direction, and coalition troops were dropping all around. There was only 100 yards to move to get to the mine and temporary safety, however the last 20 yards would require running almost directly at the revs coming down from the pass, and they were going to have to take this chance. Jason moved quickly blindly firing in the direction of the pass to provide any amount of cover for his remaining troops. Firey pain shot through his right shoulder as a bullet ripped through, and in quick succession one wizzed right by his ear, It was time to move.
“COVERING FIRE” a ranger shouted from the mine and three other men leaned out and began to suppress the revs from the pass and Jason sprinted to the mine just as he reached the mouth one of the men that had provided cover took a burst of bullets square burrowing deep in his chest with wet thumps. Jason pulled the downed man inside the cave but quickly realized he was already gone.
“What’s our situation, sir” a recruit asked.
Jason looked around the mine and saw how few men had made it, “It’s not good” Jason replied, “we need to find cover and hold down this door.” There were only a handful of soldiers left, not nearly enough to stage a defense, this was looking Bleak.
“Citadel troops!” an unknown voice shouted into the mine, “If you value your lives come out and surrender your arms.”
“Come in and take them” Jason shouted back. He knew what a life in a rev prison camp was like from the holotapes that were shown to him during his training. They would be better off dead.
“We are sending in one of yours to take your weapons .” The voice said and Sargent Escalante stepped into the door. Jason was in disbelief that Escalante survived the massive explosion from the pass however it looked like he was in bad shape. His right eye was swollen shut and bleeding his nose was twisted painfully to the side most likely due from being hit. The right side of his body was severely burned and exposed to the open air, and most importantly he was wearing an odd retrofitted vest.
“Hand me your weapons and come out with your hands up or the workers republic of nexus will bury you with mine.” Escalante said this obviously being coerced.
“We aren't coming out, you bastards!” Jason replied, “Escalate come in here we will cover you.”
Escalante shook his head with a fearful expression. All of sudden there was a high pitch squeal from the vest, “Get down!” Jason yelled but it was too late. a massive concussive blast came from where Escalante once stood. The mouth of the mine crumbled in on itself during the first explosion and three more explosions rocked the mountainside. The mine began crumbling in on itself and large rocks started falling down on the remaining men. Soldiers screams were cut short as the mountain came down on them, as Jason stood there in disbelief unable to accept what was happening around him. He looked up as a large portion of the ceiling came down near him dislodging the platform he was standing on sending him into the darkness of a cave below.
…..
Jason floated in darkness suspended in an ethereal ink. He looked around and saw all the death that he had been a part of, “were all these deaths my fault? I failed them all.” He thought and to his surprise and horror all the dead, soldiers and revs alike, snapped to look at him with glowing green eyes, and all at once they charged him. He couldn’t move, he was a fly caught in the dark web of the abyss. They reached him clawing and tearing him apart with their hands and gnashing teeth. He felt all of it, Jason tried to scream but only a gargled death rattle came from his lips as his lungs were ripped from his body and he blacked out… suddenly he was snapped from unconsciousness spiraling through what seemed to be a red nebula to a planet unknown. landing on the black sands of its surface the first thing he noticed was a city in the distance with towers built in with mesmerizing geometry that enthralled and also nauseated him. The second thing he noticed was that he was alive and in one piece. His chest was unripped and he could move, thought of what he had just experienced made him sick. He looked around the unknown landscape, there looked to be 20 or so miles between him and the huge city in the distance.Between him and the city was winding rough topography painted sanguin by the light of a dying sun. There was a massive lake of bubbling liquid that let off a sour acidic scent, around this lake was a long dead forest of blackened woods. In the opposite direction lay a mountainous landscape full karst pillars Jason looked up and saw five figures on five different peaks. The figures each looked different yet the same, all were partly shrouded in cloaks that looked to be made of pure darkness and they were all holding a different item; However the distance caused Jason to not make out the details of any item. As he observed these figures, he noticed a one pillar was empty. As he pondered the implications of a fallen figure, he realized his back was to the open maw of a massive cave. He turned and looked into the void and saw faint glint of movement.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” Jason shouted not knowing what to expect.
“WHO COMES TO MY DOMAIN” a disembodied demonic roar came from the cave and also from within Jason’s head. He was silent.
“AH A SILENT ONE. NO MATTER YOUR EAR ARE ALL I NEED” a fleshy monstrosity crawled from the cave. It had two large pincers attached to long spindly arms that were connected to a worm like head. The monster had a large mouth with rows of sharp human esque teeth however the rest of it’s head was bare with no other features. The rest of the body snaked down to a large arachnid abdomen which sprouted four bulbous legs, Jason felt sick by just the sight of the beast.
The monster placed its large pincers on either side of Jason, and lowered its head down as if to examine him.
“YOU WILL BE MY SEEKER, MY HARALD, MY APOSTLE. SEARCH THE UNIVERSE FOR MY UNHOLY ARTIFACTS AND TELL ALL YOU MEET OF MY HORROR, FOR ONE DAY OUR WORLDS WILL MEET AND I WILL ENSLAVE ALL BUT THE CHOSEN FEW THAT YOU HAVE GATHERED. TOGETHER WE WILL BRING DESTRUCTION AND TORMENT TO ALL.” The monster said this and moved past Jason who was still frozen with fear. The monster raised his arms to the sky and shouted something in a language that seemed ancient. The ground shook with the echo of its voice caused the land began to buckle and break, a massive pyramid rose from the ground. It was so large that by the time it stopped growing the tip could no longer be seen from the ground.
“GO FORTH AND RETRIVE THE GIFT I WILL BESTOW UNTO YOU, USE IT IN NAME OF THE LORD OF THIS REALM…. LORD AZOTHOTH.” And with that the monster pushed Jason into the doorway of the pyramid and slammed the door shut. There was a faint glow in the room and Jason, in what felt like a lifetime, took a step. The room was smaller then it seemed from the outside and odd hieroglyphs marked the walls each had a strange blue glow. The other side of the room had a mirror of blackness and after a moment of consideration Jason took a step toward it. He looked in and saw himself surrounded in darkness but it was his reflection. Just as he was looking into it tendrils of the inky blackness shot out of the mirror and attached to him. Jason tried to pull away but there was no use, the darkness had him and yanked him into the abyss once again… he once again awoke from unconsciousness, this time in the crumbled mess of the mine. Jason looked up and saw the hole he had fallen through much higher up. He sat up to clear his head of the nightmare he just went through, when he opened his eyes he saw a box, and It was inscribed in the same odd symbols as the pyramid. Jason walked over to the box and found it to be humming with energy, he had to open it. Inside was a large light blue crystal. Jason felt himself seemingly lose control of his actions and picked up the crystal with his right hand. Instantly white hot energy crawled up his shoulder. The immense burn began to eat away at Jason’s arm until it was nothing but blackened bone. Through the blinding pain and horror of his arm being reduced to charred bone, Jason noticed the crystal began to pulse with light. All of a sudden it exploded, embedding shards in his body and face, and destroying the remains of his right arm in the process. Jason fell back landing flat. As he faded into blackness once again he saw revolutionaries looking at him from the top of the mine and 2 repelling down into the hole.
“Just my luck.” Jason thought as he blacked out.