His name was...not important anymore, he was now only called by a series of numbers and letters, a meaningless designation that had been assigned to him when he entered the army. He had lost his identity and everything else in the resource wars that had ravaged the second half of the 21st century.

He still remembered that time, the darkest of his life, when his city was attacked among others in a stupid regional conflict.

The bombers had arrived in the middle of the night, the rotors buzzing in the darkness announcing an omen of doom. Then all hell broke loose, dozens and dozens of bombs rained down on innocent civilians, tearing apart men, women, and children by the hundreds.

The automated DCA system kicked in at the time, unleashing tongues of tracer rounds in the dark sky but there was nothing much they could do against a deluge of good ol unguided cluster bombs.

There was no need for modern smart missile systems to reduce a general area full of civilians to a bloody mess.

One of these bombs hit his house, pulverizing the roof and reducing the building to a pile of rubble.

He was buried under stone and metal in an instant, he was lucky enough to survive with broken legs. His parents however did not fare as well and died on the spot.

He had to lay in his own blood next to his parents' bodies for what seemed like an eternity. It was a miracle he didn’t become crazy from that alone.

Finally, a rescue team found him several hours later, barely alive.

He didn't remember exactly what he felt that day, fear, anger ? Mostly despair at his helplessness. He swallowed bitter tears and probably cursed a bit, but what could a crippled war orphan do ? Shit all, that's what.

For people like him, there were not a ton of solutions to even survive, let alone fight back, he decided to join the only place that would accept him in these troubled times, the army. A place where he thought he could become stronger, make a difference...That's what he believed at the time anyway.

His country was not an example in terms of human rights and conflicts were legion in this remote region of the world, child soldiers, it did not shock anyone anymore...

He was raised as one for the next years of his life, or rather trained. An animal whose only mission was to kill, and he was rather talented.

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The images scrolled in his head like a movie.

The hellish training, the live-fire shooting sessions, the knife fights in a subterranean center reeking of disinfectant and bathed in a cold, monochrome white light.

Pretty fucked up if you thought about it.

Many young people did not survive this treatment and that was only the beginning, many more died when they were injected with what they called "the circuit". Millions of nano-bots injected into the bloodstream, burrowing their way inside the body, changing it. They were the result of countless years of research and allowed a considerable increase in the physical strength, reflexes and mental capacities of an individual.

But the price to pay was heavy, in addition to subjecting the body to intense stress, the pain of having their nerves burrowed in was such that those who did not die on the spot fainted while screaming, the survival rate was barely 60%.

But he had survived and his life continued in a hellish cycle: eat, sleep, train, repeat. This was his daily life, but he was not stupid, despite the military propaganda that was served to them day and night, he was not losing himself, he kept getting stronger. His body and mind hardening over the years.

Then one day he received his personal equipment, an X-54 carbon fiber exoskeleton covering his entire body.

Both flexible and resistant, it offered effective protection, allowing him to fight on any terrain with superhuman strength. Powered by a fusion battery, it could function autonomously for several years with minimal maintenance.

He also received a SAW-49 rifle, a monstrous beast measuring about 1 meter in length and weighing around 40 pounds, far too heavy to be used effectively in combat by a normal man.

Its barrel was slightly smaller in diameter than a golf ball and its solid-core ammunition could pierce an engine block without difficulty at several hundred meters.

Then came his first field operation, he was appointed as squad leader thanks to his training results, he felt excited, not because of any sense of duty but because he knew that by proving himself he could quickly increase his accreditation and go up in ranks. Maybe even get a safe spot at a HQ far from any of the numerous active war zones in the region.

Gone were his original thoughts of saving the world, now he would be happy if he could barely save himself.

Outside the complex, reality was brutal, and cliché at that, it's not like no one saw it coming, the world was dying chock full of years and years of intensive pollution turning most land into a smoggy mess barely livable.

Beautiful view for his first time above ground in many years.

After several hours in an overheated convoy, piled on top of each other, they finally arrived at their objective. He smelled the battlefield before he saw it. The smell of blood and metal hung in the air.

His squad was only here to recover anything that seemed useful, whether it was the exos carried by the corpses from both sides or the ammunition scattered in the mud, scavengers in short, but hey, they had to start somewhere.

A large-scale fight had probably taken place here, charred remains of buildings laid here and there, bullet holes were scattered on the few walls that were left standing and craters were not scarce on the main road. These ruins stretched for miles and his "enemies" were littering the ground in pieces, although it was difficult to tell friend from foe after all that slaughter. The sight was unappealing, but they had a job to do.

He was picking up a few bloody magazines when a shadow moved behind a low wall and the threat sensors on his exo went crazy ! Among the blaring alarms he saw the red laser diode of a ground combat drone that was only half dead.

"Get down! "

Was the only thing he could yell before the 30mm gatlings tore through the ground in front of him. Sprays of dirt and blood flew in all directions as one of his teammates was turned into a bloody pulp… When the fire died down, all had taken cover except for the youngest of the troop who stood frozen in place, shaking with fear. The drone's sensors spotted her and the targeting lasers converged on her...

She wasn't the sexiest of women, a small, slightly cute blonde at most, hell, he didn’t even bother to learn her name. Yet "...Why did I interfere? " was the last thought that crossed his mind as he pushed the girl to the ground and heard the sound of the rotating cannons starting to spin.

Then it was nothingness.