_ _ _ _Connor Pov_ _ _ _
"Why... why do we always end up in these kinds of situations?" I asked with an exhausted expression, a bullet whizzing above my head as I crouched behind a half-destroyed wall.
"It's part of our charm," Red said flatly, peeking over his cover before immediately ducking down as a beam of icy white mist-like energy nearly froze his head solid.
I watched as the energy collided with a decaying mannequin in the shopping area we were crouched in, freezing it solid almost instantly. "You ever wish things could just be normal for once?" I sighed, realising just how strange my life had gotten. "Literal aliens and giant monsters are one thing, but now we're fighting mutant crack heads with fucking superpowers of all things."
"Be honest with yourself, our lives were never normal," Red said stoically, his expression hidden behind the helmet that he almost never removed. "Anyway, we should make a break for the others while there's an opening." He mused, already getting ready to move.
"Running out of cover in a firefight, what could possibly go wrong..." I breathed, my fingers tightening slightly around the pulse rifle in my hands.
"On my signal." Red's voice echoed from next to me, his words short and simple.
The moment the sound of gunfire lapsed for just a second, he gave the go-ahead. "Now!"
Slamming my feet into the ground, I pushed myself forward, sprinting towards the back of the far left side of the room. (Shitshitshitshitshit!) I cursed repeatedly as bullets quickly began pouring in through the gaps in the structure that they passed.
Fortunately none of them hit me, but that didn't stop me from running full speed until my body smashed into the wall next to what had probably once been the main entrance to this store. Red, of course, wasn't far behind, quickly skidding to a stop beside me a second later. We didn't have the luxury of standing still and catching our breath for long, unfortunately; after all, those outside were already making their way into the structure. Instead we immediately made our way to the doors, or what remained of their busted and dented frames anyway.
Just before we left, though, I unclipped a grenade from my waist, pulled the pin, and tossed it back inside just as the first splicers entered after us. "Enjoy, assholes!" I yelled, giving a mock bow before leaving just as the grenade went off.
(Now here comes the hard part,) I thought, following after Red without even bothering to look back as the grenade exploded into a massive fireball behind us.
"Stick close." Red hummed with a serious tone.
"Yeah yeah, just don't end up leading me to my death will ya." I breathed as we began to pick up the paste.
And so we got moving. As we jumped from cover to cover, fighting back when possible, I made sure to take in the surroundings as much as possible. I mapped out the rows upon rows of shops and entertainment establishments as we passed by, the whole place looking like a half-flooded abandoned mall. Well, a half-flooded abandoned mall currently undergoing a firefight between futuristic military forces and batshit insane lunatics.
It wasn't long before our destination came into view though, a somewhat fortified area being held by the rest of our compatriots that was under heavy assault. Thankfully the angle we had arrived at was relatively light in the amount of hostiles present, so getting over there shouldn't be too hard overall.
"This is an absolute mess," I muttered under my breath as I looked out over the chaotic scene, creeping forward when possible. "At least our body armour is holdin-" Before I could finish that sentence, my words were suddenly interrupted.
"Watch out!" Someone up ahead, I don't know who, shouted a warning just as the wall next to me exploded outwards.
I scrambled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed to death as two massive figures came tumbling out from the dust. Crimson light bathed me a second later; the sound of a revving drill filled my ears as the sight of a Veltour clashing violently with a big daddy filled my vision.
Red didn't wait for me to get back to my feet mind you; he grabbed me by the back of my shirt and dragged me out of the way as I watched the two giants rip each other apart. A good thing he did as well, since I was momentarily stunned by the whole scene, after all it's not every day you see two such juggernauts going at it in a fight to the death.
It, of course, didn't take me long to snap out of my daze. And as soon as I came back to my senses, I opened fire into the behemoth's back as Red continued pulling me away. The bullets tore through the big daddy's surprisingly resistant suit and buried themselves into the mutated flesh beneath. The creature that had once been a man roared. My attacks barely harmed it, but they distracted it long enough for the Veltour to topple it over and begin slashing into its body with the various scythe-like appendages growing from its coral-covered form.
"Nice to see that you two are still alive!" Ashley shouted, giving us fire support along with several others alongside her. "I thought you would have died after we got separated."
"Oh, stuff it," I growled back as Red finally let go once we were safely behind allied lines, allowing me to get back to my feet.
"By the way, Connor, your aim was a little off, don't you think?" she chuckled, causing me to glare up at her.
"I'm an engineer, not a marine!"
"You two," Our argument was swiftly interrupted however, when a familiar figure made their way over to us. "Where are the others that were with you?"
"Dead, unfortunately," Red answered simply.
I nodded before adding. "They were killed when a swarm of those lunatics ambushed us."
Elliott gritted his teeth at that. "Damn it..."
Simply put, when the attacks had begun the captain of the Perseus, Elliott Terra, had grabbed every combat-ready person he could spare. We had then pushed up to help stem the tide, so to speak. Unfortunately, before we could reach the front lines a wave of splicers and big daddys had intercepted us; me, Red, and a few others had been cut off from the main group. Unfortunately, only I and Red had survived to rejoin the primary force.
"We could have used them, especially with guardians joining the fighting as well," Elliott growled, not at all liking the fact that his men died while he could do nothing about it. "In fact, we even have reports coming in saying that several of the female versions of those giants are running around as well."
"You know... I'm really starting to hate this place," I grumbled, the sound of gunfire in the background drowning out my words somewhat.
"Reinforcements?" Red asked as he pulled his heavy sniper rifle from his back; already preparing to support the defence.
"They're on their way. I've already contacted the Queen."
(That's something, at least.) I sighed internally.
For a second I just thought about that before asking a different question. "What about here? How are things looking?"
"The situation could be better, but we are holding for now," Elliott admitted bluntly.
"The key words in that are 'for now.' We have them outmatched in terms of firepower, but they outmatch us in numbers," Ashley clarified.
"Well, isn't that great to hear," I muttered. However, before our conversation could continue a voice cut through the air.
"Hey!" one of the marines yelled over the sounds of bullets being fired and whizzing through the air. "We've got more incoming! Far right side!"
"Oh, fan‑fucking‑tastic," I hissed, moving to take a look, the others following right behind.
Red was the first to open fire; I didn't even see what he was shooting at until a full second later. He had pulled himself up onto one of the barricades that had been set up, using his scope to spot the hostiles that were currently out of view for me.
Once I got close enough to see them, however, I immediately joined the defence. There were dozens of splicers currently rushing our position; those manning this side were holding them back but they were definitely gaining ground. I wasn't a combatant, not really, but I could still shoot.
So I did. I slammed into cover and opened up on them, Ashley doing the same the moment she arrived. There were several splicers with Adam abilities, and by this point we had all learned how much of a pain in the ass those could be, so they were our first targets.
My bullets shredded through one, ripping several holes in their chest, and then another that was trying to flank some of the Calthraxs who were also defending their own positions. Ashley was not idle either, and unlike me, she was actually trained for this kind of thing. Letting out a low exhale, she began methodically eliminating the incoming targets one after another without even the slightest hesitation.
Elliott had also stepped forward, eyes filled with deep disdain as his hand fell down to the weapon holstered on his waist. He didn't even hesitate to aim and fire once he undid the straps, four shots roaring out from the barrel of his handgun a second later as a result. The first two hit their marks right between the eyes, the third tore through the shoulder blade of another, and the fourth went straight through its target's throat, causing them to stumble forward over a balcony and fall several feet.
(These bastards don't know when to give up.) I muttered internally, ducking down slightly to reload. (I know that they're insane and all, but don't they have any self‑preservation instinct?)
Just then, my thoughts were interrupted when a familiar feeling tingled at the back of my mind. <
<
<
It took me a moment to locate what she was talking about, but I eventually saw what she was referring to. <
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<
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Before I could ask what she meant, several bright blue explosions erupted across the battlefield, vaporising dozens of splicers in an instant. It didn't take me long to find the source. Emerging from deep within the complex of abandoned stores and rusted metal came dozens of bloodthirsty Yautja who were practically screaming for a fight.
(That'll do...) I blinked before turning to the others.
"Was that my dear queen?" Ashley asked without stopping her methodical killing spree.
"Yeah," I nodded, rolling my eyes at the "dear" part. "I need you to give me some fire support."
Hearing that, Elliott stepped back into cover and asked, "Why? What are you going to do?"
"She needs that door opened. I don't know why, but I'm assuming we'll be getting more reinforcements," I explained, and he didn't need any further convincing.
"Understood."