Elias
“GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” I shouted over the giant bug uttering its surprise in one of my ears, while in the other I heard the chittering noise of untranslated gibberish. The APC finally started just as the aliens raised their rifles and I heard the all too familiar whine of rifles charging to shoot. We shot forward and I was pressed into my seat just as a small crater appeared where we were just a moment ago.
“HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!” I shouted as those overgrown bugs continued to take potshots at us while running after us.
“YEAH, I CAN FUCKING SEE THEM THANKS EINSTIEN,” shouted the soldier as he swerved to narrowly avoid some of the rubble crowding the street. Then in a voice that was closer to a regular speaking voice, “Sergeant, be advised, transport has been secured, making our way to you.” He risked a glance behind us at the charging aliens that were keeping pace with us. “Five plus foot mobiles in pursuit.” He looked back over to me. “They’re going to keep making potshots at us until we either get to the line or get blasted into paste, see if there’s a launcher somewhere in there we can make use of.”
“What?” I shouted, desperate to be heard over the whine of the engine and the zap of plasma all around us.
“Find a launcher and return fire! The fuck do you think I’m speaking Chinese?!” He shouted as he swerved again.
“Ok ok,” I said as I clutched the back of my seat and shakily stood up. It was funny, the shaking and overall lack of control reminded me a lot of my time growing up on Mars. We would always find excuses to get out of the city we lived in and riding along the deserts of Mars on the buggies that we would steal from the neighbors. But back then there wasn’t the threat of aliens the size of buildings chasing you hellbent on killing you. I shakily made my way back to the troop transport portion of the vehicle and searched in a panicked state for any kind of weapon that we could use to dissuade our attackers. I hazarded a glance up at the attackers and saw that they were actually making ground. “Can this thing go any faster?!” I shouted at the soldier who looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“The armor of this thing wasn’t the only thing that was shot to hell when it was abandoned! Find a launcher or something!” he shouted as he tried to get the APC to shift into another gear only to hear the horrible grinding sound of metal on metal.
I returned my gaze back to where the weapons should be stored, but couldn’t find anything, not even a handgun to try and defend myself with. Hope started to fade as the whine of the engine slowly got louder and louder. Before my hearing was completely subsumed by the sound of engine problems, I heard a clanging sound of metal on metal that drew my eyes over to one of the seats I was clutching onto for dear life. Ducking down a bit, I saw the one thing that might save our lives. I reached down and pulled out the launcher and hefted it onto my shoulder. It reminded me of the time I had to move a fridge with how heavy it was. “I found one!” I shouted. It seemed to be beaten to hell and back, but what I assumed was the indicator said it was loaded, so that was good enough for me.
“That’s good! Do you know how to use it?” the soldier asked.
“I’ve never held a gun much less used one!” I answered.
“What goddam self-respecting Terran do you think you are if you can’t handle a fucking gun?!?”
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“We never needed one on Mars! It’s not like Terra was!” I hastily shouted as the soldier started swearing more than I thought possible by one man.
“Dammit! Fine! Take the wheel, and if you crash and kill us, then find you in the goddam afterlife!” he shouted as he started to stand up.
I dropped the launcher on the ground as I dived for the wheel of the APC, desperately trying to prevent us from crashing. The soldier hefted the shoulder mounted launcher and shouted “Keep her steady! We only have one shot and I’d rather not fuck this up!”
I swallowed and focused my eyes on the road that was scarred and broken from the fighting, trying desperately not to crash. I hadn’t been behind the wheel of a vehicle, not since moving onto The Strength Through Diplomacy over three years ago, but I still remembered how to do it. I heard an ear shattering explosion behind me, and I couldn’t help but look behind me as I saw the rocket, almost in slow motion make it’s way to the center mass of one of the Yalayans and exploding there, causing the kaiju to fall and collect its green blood on the street. I let out a rebel yell seeing one of our foes dying there, but that didn’t mean I didn’t see the other four falter a bit at the corpse now at their feet. It didn’t take them long to get over the loss of their comrade though, because soon after they continued their chase after a moment of hesitation.
“How many blocks?” I shouted, desperate to be heard over the engine that I’m sure was three seconds away from catching fire.
“Two blocks! Keep it together man, you’re almost out of this!” he shouted back. I wasn’t sure if that was for me or for himself.
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Sergeant Grays
“ETA one minute Sarge, and get those bolters ready, because we had a one-use launcher and four hostiles coming in fast!” came the call over the radio.
“Copy that soldier, we’ve got you on cams,” I replied. True to my word, I saw the APC speeding past cameras with some really pissed off looking aliens following them. I pointed down the street that they would be coming from. “Collins! Get a welcoming party arranged down this street!”
“You got it Sarge!” came the reply as the gunner shifted the LMG like gun from its old position in front of a pile of bodies into one where it covered the new angle of attack for the Yalayans coming in. I posted up at the corner of one of the buildings.
All in the nick of time, too, as we heard the sound of an engine screaming bloody murder at the top of its nonexistent lungs, along with the telltale sound of plasma being fired. It was only a second longer when I saw that same APC that was beaten to hell and back with one terrified looking civvie at the wheel for whatever reason. But we didn’t have time to focus on that, because four Yalayans shifted into view, their kaleidoscope eyes focused on the APC, until it noticed Collins behind the trigger of the LMG that started tearing into them. Their ranks became more and more disorganized as they took casualties until only one remained and jumped into an adjoining street. That was my cue to swing into that street and put one in between those freaky buglike eyes these damn xenos have. The APC came to a halt and out collapsed the whole reason this endeavor was taken: one Elias Varela. He expelled the contents of his stomach onto the street and after a few moments of catching his breath, he finally looked up to me and Collins.
“Thanks for that back there,” he said.
“Don’t thank us yet, we still have a battle to win here,” said Collins without skipping a beat.
I nodded. “As much as we can all hear the ice in the glass, we still have a fight to win. I pointed at the soldier. “Get yourself some actual transport and then get this man to the evac point.”
The soldier saluted and waved the civvie over to follow him. The ship shuddered, reminding me that there was still a war to fight, and we don’t have the luxury to lose.
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Admiral Elin Chaplain
“What’s the status on the Strength Through Diplomacy?”
“We just lost signal with her last escort Admiral,” replied a communications officer.
“And what’s our ETA?”
“We’re one minute out,” said a navigations officer.
“Good.” I flicked on open communications to the entire fleet. “Attention everyone. We will be arriving in the battle around the Strength Through Diplomacy in one minute. The Yalayans seem to think that we will just roll over at the first sign of trouble, but we will make them know what it means to provoke United Terra and her people.”