The shaking is what first woke me. The jerking from one cold metal wall to the other is how I knew I wasn't in my crappy bed back in my equally crappy apartment in the city.
"Ow! What the hell!" I said as I massaged my forehead, smacking that against a hard wall does wonders for waking up too.
"Greetings," a voice sounded in my ears. "It is good you are awake. Do you have any queries for me?"
"Who are you? Where am I? Is this about Vincent? I promise I'll pay him back just tell me what the hell's going on!" I called out as the shaking intensified while I looked frantically around for something to tell me where I was. All I found was the metal walls of the box I was in and I immediately felt my fear of being buried alive surge back. "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE! HELP! HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME? ANYONE?"
"I am the Cybernetic Artifical Intellect within your subdermal implant. You may call me CAI," the voice spoke over my panicked shouting. "You are currently entering the atmosphere of the Scourge infested world known as BS-HP-003. I do not know who this Vincent you speak of is.
I didn't hear all that at first, but after I stopped trying to claw my way out of the, I assumed, coffin, I began to to try to stop myself from hyperventillating anymore than I already was and tried to focus on whoever the hell was speaking.
"Where are you? Who are you? Why can I hear you in my head?" All important questions, I know, but I was panicking, confused, and in just a bit of pain.
"I am located beneath your epidermal layer, within the dermal layer, of the back side of your neck," the disembodied voice spoke again. "I am the Cybernetic Artifical Intellect. You may call me CAI. I am able to speak to you using subtle vibrations through your skeletal tissues that results in my words being heard as though in your head."
"What the hell is going on?" I asked as a new kind of fear filled me.
"You have been chosen by the Wardens of Life to become a soldier to fight against the Scourge infestation that is currently overtaking this galaxy, known as SG-8390. You are the Human Soldier designated as HW-99-SM," as the voice spoke I felt that new fear bloom into full-blown panic and this time I couldn't stop my breathing from picking up as I started to hyperventillate.
"This isn't happening, this isn't happening," I muttered to myself as the voice continued with whatever it was saying now; something about a weapon I think. "I'm going to wake up any moment now and this will all be a strange dream. I know it!"
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I went on like that for several minutes as the shaking began to grow worse, jostling me from side to side more violently than when I had been forced awake by it.
"HW-99-SM, you may want to brace yourself," the voice warned, "you are approaching the point when the thrusters will activate and slow you as you approach the surface of BS-HP-003. The thruster activation may be rather jarring."
I didn't understand what it was saying but I already had my arms and legs braced against the sides of my metal coffin, pushing against it like I expected my efforts to push the damn thing apart and let me out. When the thrusters it was talking about activated, I felt it through my whole body as the coffin began to shake much more violently than it had before now. As the shaking intensified, I heard the voice begin to countdown; at the exact moment "Zero" sounded I felt a rough jolt run through the entire coffin and then all the shaking and vibrating stopped.
"You have landed," the voice sounded in my head again. "Welcome to BS-HP-003. Your mission on this planet is to clear a two kilometer radius of all Scourge lifeforms. To assist you in this endevour the Wardens of Life have tasked a further ninety-nine Humans to aid you. Now scanning for all Human lifesigns."
As the voice spoke, I did my best to take stock of the situation I found myself in, despite only having the hard metal walls that had been my view of everything since I had woken up. I was wearing a dark green one piece suit with hard plates attached to it at points that reminded me of armor. The plates were segmented enough to give me a full range of motion but close enough together that I didn't have any visible weakpoints. Above my head was a helmet, attached to the wall by several straps that held it firmly in place high enough above me that I would have to try to hit my head on it. The helmet had no visible see through portion and looked as if it attached to my jumpsuit to create a completely enclosed environment; guess that was so it could be used when I couldn't breathe normally. Next to the helmet also attached to the wall firmly enough that I couldn't hit it without trying was something that looked suspiciously like a sword.
"There is a problem HW-99-SM," the voice sounded in my head again as I was looking around and still trying not to panic. "All attempts to find human lifesigns on the planet BS-HP-003 have failed. According to all data gathered by your entry pod and the debris that is detected in the landing area, it is safe to assume that all other Human Soldiers sent to the surface have perished on planetary entry."
Before I had time to process and accept the voice's words it continued.
"Per Warden of Life Protocol EP-09756-S you are hereby ordered to survive until contacted by your commanding officer within the Warden of Life command chain. As Humans are a new addition to the command chain and you are the last of the one hundred sent to this planet; you are the closest commanding officer. Per Protocol EP-0643-CL you are hereby ordered to constuct an emergency beacon so that the command ship above you will be able to find you and send a rescue squad. Per Protocol SI-002-PI you are required to clear all Scourge lifeforms from a three kilometer radius to ensure a safe landing zone for the rescue squad. As your Cybernetic Artificial Intellect, I will assist you with your survival by instructing you in any matters you require aid in. How may I assist you?"
As the reality of what was being said gripped me, I think I had a panic attack and blacked out.