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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Far-Help6106 on 2024-12-25 10:10:30+00:00.
Sanctum - the following day.
We were working out when Sarge found us and barked, « Listen up. »
We all dropped our exercises and paid attention to the Sarge.
« Command wants us to look at this. I don’t know what it’s about but Command was adamant we watched this. So sit your ass down and pay attention. »
We all looked at each other and wondered. Would this be footage of the Fall?
The stream started and we immediately saw that it wasn’t. It was the video feed from a unit during an op. The screen was split in six squares. All were showing similar footing. The inside of a drop ship.
From the date on the bottom, it was two weeks old.
It started with deployment from the carrier. Soldiers speaking softly, checking gear, shooting the breeze, checking weapons and ammo. Pretty normal. The soldiers didn’t speak much. Just the usual. Pass me this. All checks done? Normal pre-deployment speak.
Then it was the launch tubes. God, I hate those things. Sure, I understood the theory. Launch tubes meant deployed personnel was indistinguishable from the rest of the falling garbage the Navy launches ahead of time to camouflage our arrival. We were just one more rock thrown at the planet. Sure, I understood the maths and how proceeding this way increased our chances of hitting the ground by 14.3%. And sure, I understood that the kinetic force of a falling trooper impacting the ground created a crater ten meters in diameter that was cleared of anything offensive. But it still sucked being shot out of a ship at just shy of 200 km/h and sent barrelling towards the ground, usually into incoming flak. According to the numbers, only 24% of deployments ever reached the ground. And let’s not talk about success rates when they were actually on the ground.
Anyway, we watched in dread fascination as soldiers were swatted out of the sky like so many flies. That’s when it hit me, these guys hadn’t been Augmented like us. These were normies. The camera panned from side to side and I saw thousands of troops being deployed. Fuck me ! It wasn’t thousands, it was hundreds of thousands, maybe more. In any case, this was one hell of a deployment. Why the Hell weren’t we part of it? Why weren’t we even read in?
There were bursts of plasma coming from the ground and as the camera panned out again, we could now see thousands of flaming meteors falling to the ground. The screams of burning soldiers could be heard even through the screen. The six different angles showed pretty much the same thing.
« This is what we have been throwing at the bugs for the moment. Walls of men and women ready to give their lives so that Terra can endure. »
I felt an irrational anger at the Sarge and, under my breath, I corrected, « Holy Terra. »
The feed cut and now, we were watching the view of point of a soldier on the ground. Evidently, some had made it. Again, the camera panned from side to side and we saw a sight of desolation. It was an alien world in all the meanings of the word. Three rings could be seen in the sky, a strange hew of purple in a sea of red. The landscape was lunar, craters all the way to the horizon. There was a mountain range off to the right. I automatically looked for this soldier’s bearings so I could correct myself. West. Off to the west. As the soldier stayed on target, I realized that these were not just mountains. Some were structures sticking out from the ground. Plasma flak emplacements. As the soldier looked around the red land, we saw that there were already troops on the ground. They were off to the South of the soldier’s view point. About two klicks. Around the soldier, there were people screaming, howls of pain and shrieks of fear. My brain went into high gear and I tuned out the distraction. Focus. Identify the source of danger. Determine location. Type of threat. Number. I could feel my mind accelerate and pull me down a rabbit hole.
Sarge brought me out of it when he added, « At this point, the Silent Watchers had been deployed on the infested moon of Hittath thirteen hours. This is the most « successful » deployment we have had since the beginning of the war. Thirty-four million troops deployed. »
The video went on and through the shaky view, I realised that the ground wasn’t naturally red. The squelching from boots told me all I needed to know about the origins of that red hew. As I watched, I could *feel* their terror, the panic. The erratic movement, the constant shifting of position. Eyes everywhere. Calls for help, for guidance.
« How many of them made it back, Sarge? »
Sarge coldly said, « Sixty-two. »
No one disputed the number, nor did we comment on it. Sixty-two out of millions. Sixty-two who had looked in the face of death and had come back to tell the tale.
The feed went on, « Come on, Jimmy! We’ve got to move. Come on! »
The soldier looked at a young man who seemed to be frozen in place. He was white-faced, fear written all over his features. He was clutching his weapon and stammered, « What’s the point? We’re out of ammo. What’s the goddamn point? We’re going to die here. We’re all going to die. »
The soldier slapped « Jimmy » and shouted, « Get it together, soldier. We move, we live. We stop, we die. Now on your feet, Soldier, Terra needs you. »
That seemed shake the soldier out of his state and he got up, saying, « And I answer her call. »
I could feel his pain, his fatigue, his resolve. I looked around the room and saw the same look of pain written on the faces of the other soldiers around me.
There came a crash from the screen and we saw a swarm of Bugs bursting into the area the two soldiers had taken a breather. The feed became chaotic again, broken images of laser bolts, plasma blasts, pincers and stingers. Move, soldier. Incoming left high. I was there with them. Dodge, you bastard, dodge. The feed shifted as this soldier swung his weapon at the bugs, clubbing one on the side of the head. That’s it. Fight! The bug fell to the ground and Jimmy was right there on it, hitting it with the butt of his rifle, striking it again and again and again.
Plasma rained down upon the two as the soldier ducked behind a rock. He looked around and saw that Jimmy hadn’t been quick enough to take cover. His body fell to the ground slowly, a fist-sized hole burnt into his chest. The soldier shouted, « Jiiiiimmmmmyyy!!! »
The soldier then threw caution to the wind and broke cover. He rushed the swarm, swinging his club, howling like a wounded animal. He would die. He knew that. We knew that. But he would go out swinging. He rushed the Utkan warrior too quickly for it to react. He was within the Utkan’s reach but it could do nothing to stop him. He brought the butt of his rifle down onto one of the bug’s spindly legs, again and again and again. The leg snapped but it didn’t seem to phase the bug all that much. There was an increasing in the clicking but the Utkan have no problem killing their own. The bugs quickly surrounded their wounded comrade but the soldier didn’t seem to have noticed. He was sill trying to break the Utkan’s legs. Not that he was having much luck. A kick from the wounded bug sent the soldier’s weapon flying but he didn’t even seem to notice. With his weapon wrenched from his grip, the soldier resorted to using his fists. He punched and scratched and kicked and bit. In the end, he only stopped when an Utkan struck him in the chest.
The feed suddenly stopped and we were back in that room as Sarge said, « This is what the common soldiers have been up against. Scenes like this have multiplied over hundreds of the theatres in the region.»
N’Guyen signed himself and muttered, « My God. »
Jenkins called out, « Why weren’t we told, Sarge? »
There was a grumble of assent among us. We could have changed things. Maybe there weren’t enough of us to turn the tides of war but we might have been able to do something. These men were dying by the millions and we are skulking in the dark, killing diplomats?! What the Hell?! This is not what we volunteered for, not what we were built for.
I yelled, « We need to get to the front, Sarge. We need to help. »
« It’s too late, Specialist. The battle is over. We lost. As I said, only sixty-two got out of that hell hole. And those soldiers are broken. »
Hasan’s voice then rang out, cool and collected as usual, « Why did Command want us to see this ? »
Sarge carefully said, « New strategies. »
I looked confused at the Sarge and he added, « Our soldiers’ standard weapons did nothing against the Bugs. Only the heaviest of armour-piercing rounds seem to do anything. »
Blake slowly said, « Crushing their heads in seems to work well enough. »
I nodded, « Melee seems to work on them. »
Sarge nodded, « Exactly. It looks like when the engagement with the Bugs tends to drag on, blunt force trauma is a viable option. » He then humourlessly scoffed, « With all our technological advances, it still comes down to stick and stones. »
Jenkins drily joked, « Maybe I should get rid of my sniper scope and throw stones at the Bugs instead. »
Blake interjected, « Knock it off, Kitten. »
Kitten and Blake use the RN 13 sniperscope. If you ask me, they’re bitch weapons. Sneaky things sure, they can hit a tango at 6 klicks accurately. Silent as fart in the wind too. These sneaky bastards wo…
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