by Justin Sloan
More shots hit and he dropped, legs useless. The grenades went rolling. He wasn’t gone yet, so I charged forward, kicking the grenades back to him, then heaved his body up and back down, over the grenades.
The explosion sent me flying, but the soldier’s body armor had absorbed the majority of the blast. I hit the floor and rolled, then recovered to see four Marines enter. They had full special forces gear on, complete with their faces covered, helmets decked out with night vision, and fancy scopes on their rifles. They instantly aimed in on us.
“Whoa, whoa, friendlies!” I said. “We put on enemy uniforms to blend in.”
“Who the hell are you?” the closest Marine shouted. He stared at us through shades that gave him a bug-like look.
I removed my helmet and stowed my pistol, then approached, hands out.
“Major Ryan Ellis,” I said. “And this is Captain Jackie Rivera.”
“Bull,” a man said to his right. “I don’t know either of those names.”
“That so?” The first man stepped closer, rifle still aimed in. “So maybe you’re with the enemy? Maybe—”
“Hold up,” a third said, stepping forward and putting his hand on the rifle to lower it. “Ellis… you know the man. With the game company.”
“No shit?” The first one removed his shades, looking at me in a new light. “Come on then, you two. Maybe you can explain along the way what the hell is happening. You’re lucky we didn’t shoot you on sight.”
“Very,” I said. “Where’re we going?”
“A little hideout we’ve been putting together.” The man stowed his rifle and thrust out his hand. “Gunnery Sergeant Kline,” he said. “Here we have Captain Eckard, Staff Sergeant Lau, and in the back… Corporal Williams.”
“Williams?” I asked, craning my neck.
Williams stepped forward. “Sir, that really you?
“You’ve seen someone else looking like me?”
He laughed, and I noted he had a pistol in one hand, no rifle. His other arm—the one that had been shot earlier, was now in a sling. At least that way it wouldn’t flop around, limp.
“No, sir,” he replied, then looked past me. He frowned at the sight of Rivera, then looked down. “Derrins didn’t make it, I assume.”
“Sorry to say, no.”
The others nodded at that.
“We just lost two more,” Kline said. “Thanks to that mech you took down. How the hell’d you do that, anyway?”
“Sticky grenades,” Rivera said.
“Stolen from the enemy?”
She looked at me, considering, then said, “Yup.”
Captain Eckard was rubbing his chin, assessing me, and finally spoke up. “So, you’re the highest ranking officer here now. Got a plan?”
“Actually, yes.” I gestured as if there were a clock on my wrist. “But maybe you all can get us to this hideout, and I’ll tell you what we know on the way.”
They agreed and, as we went, I filled them in on what we knew was happening, though not all of the details. Some of it, such as the NPCs and their attempt to seduce me, didn’t seem to be need-to-know material. What I did tell him, about the hacker and porting in parts from other games, seemed to resonate.
“We hadn’t seen it on our end,” Eckard said. “But everything the enemy has thrown at us, including the mechs and this city, now it makes sense. Williams was the first to recognize it all.”
“Recognize it?” I asked.
Williams nodded. “The mechs follow the A.I. patterns from that Titanfall game, which is how we managed to survive as long as we did. That was confirmed when Lau tried to take one down by jumping on its back and going crazy on it, and that damn gas started coming out.”
“Good thing the corporal knew his game history, or I’d be out right now,” Lau said.
“Out?” I asked.
“Yeah, you know. Back with command. Not able to help win this war.”
My gut clenched with the thought of telling them the truth about our situation, but they needed to know.
“Staff Sergeant, you do realize that we’re actually dying here?” I asked.
He frowned, and Williams scoffed. The other two paused in our walk to look at me.
“Care to explain that, sir?” Lau asked.
Kline cleared his throat and gestured to a blue wall with a crooked, painted window on it. “Maybe we get out of sight, first.”
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Just, check it out.” Kline moved us around to a stairwell on the corner of the blue wall, then underneath it where some boxes were set up. When he pushed them aside, it revealed a hidden way to a room below.
“I spotted it and realized it reminded me of this house in Salty Springs, from Fortnite,” Williams said. “Guess I’ve still got a use.”
“Fortnite,” I said, frowning. “That was a window in game history I sort of missed.”
“Oh, just there was a hidden room, kinda like a superhero hideout. Well, like this.” They led us down, and sure enough, there was a whole setup with old-style computer monitors, screens on the walls, and even some boxes with grenades and missile launchers.
“Damn,” I said, impressed.
“It’s how we took down the other mech,” Kline explained.
“And that’s actually how we spotted you,” I replied. “So hey, working on multiple levels.”
“Right.” He stared at me, waiting, while others found seats and turned my way.
“The whole dying for real thing,” I said, nodding. “Yeah. You all know we’re not supposed to get killed here, but that’s all changed. Everything’s changed.”
“Damn,” Eckard said. He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his sandy-brown hair. “You’re saying Strickland, Luis, Rand, all of them…”
“If they died here, it’s very likely they’re dead back there. Although, I believe there was a point when the hack kicked in, right around when I killed their general, Omarav. If they died before that, maybe they’re back in command, waiting for us to win this bitch.”
Eckard shook his head. “Nobody was dying at first. Ironic, how that early death would’ve saved us all from an actual death.”
“Omarav?” Gunnery Sergeant Kline asked. “You’re sure it was him?”
“Yes, why?”
“Talk about the worst of the worst. General Omarav is the lynchpin that holds much of the EAC’s war criminals together. The EAC wants something done, they want people or countries put in their places, reminded why the EAC is in charge, they go through Omarav.”
“You hear of something horrible, he’s likely associated with it,” Staff Sergeant Lau said, chiming in. “Genocide, trafficking, all of it.”
“And now this, with us as his next victims,” I said. “Great.”
“Or we spin it around.” Rivera stared at the floor, brow furrowed. “We have a shot at taking out one of the world’s worst human beings. I see that as an opportunity worth embracing.”
“Damn straight,” Eckard said.
“My family’s actually from Central Asia,” Corporal Williams said, and we all turned to him with surprise. He looked about as Caucasian as one could look. “From my mom’s side, so I mean, only half. Got my looks from my old man. But yeah, they escaped before the EAC had full control, and used to tell me how horrible it was getting up to that day, how they hoped the World Council or the Great Americas would step up and put a stop to it… but that never happened.”
“What exactly do you think’s happening right now?” I said. “We’re putting a stop to it.”
“Really, sir?” He scoffed, gesturing to the group. “All six of us? We’ve already lost two, after they pounded the rest of us, I mean. So now you think we’re going to make the difference?”
“I do,” I replied. “And if you don’t, why are you here? Why don’t you simply lie down and let it end?”
He frowned, opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated before saying, “Hope. I hope you’re right. I’m going to do e
verything in my power to see it through, but I have a hard time actually believing it.”
“Well, start believing, kid, because if you don’t believe in yourself, it makes it a lot harder for others to.”
“You have this faith in yourself?” he asked.
I laughed. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that we’ll win this war. Not one I accept. Sure, those thoughts try to work their way up, but then I remind them that I’m a Marine, that there isn’t a chance in hell of me letting doubt and fear rule over me, not after everything I’ve been through with the Corps, not after all my brothers and sisters in arms have sacrificed for over the years. Semper Fi, men. Always faithful.”
“Oorah,” Gunnery Sergeant Kline replied, followed by an “Oorah” from the rest of them.
“Do or die,” Williams said, bitterly.
“And if we die,” I countered, “we go out giving it our all, knowing that it will inspire the next group of Marines to kick ass twice as hard. Even if there’s a chance we won’t win this, in the end we’ll win the larger war, the big picture.”
Williams clenched his jaw, eyes meeting mine, and nodded. “You won’t see me backing down, sir. I promise that.”
“Good.”
“But you left,” Eckard said. “No disrespect, just… trying to understand. When life knocked you down, you left the Marines.”
“First of all, once a Marine, always a Marine,” I countered, though he knew that well enough. “It wasn’t that I stopped being a Marine, it was that I took a break. If I had stopped, I wouldn’t be here today. And yes, it was my choice, and I still believe for the best. Where I was, emotionally, it wasn’t doing anyone any good to have me in a place of leadership with the military.”
“Copy that,” Eckard said, nodding. Judging by the look of respect in his eyes, the answer was good enough for him.
His eyes roamed over to Rivera. I could tell the topic was about to shift her way, when a click in the distance caught my attention. A hissing sounded and I leaped up, already going for my pistol when the smoke flooded in, red lines of light darting across us. And then the shots opened up. Captain Eckard went down, the other three diving for cover behind the semi-circle of computers. Rounds tore into the machines, sending sparks everywhere and starting a fire.
My lightning shot burst forth from the pistol, taking out three of the enemy. Then I was at Rivera’s side at the edge of the room while she opened fire.
“You damn Americans,” the voice of General Omarav said, shouting in a break of shooting from his side. “So cocky. Always assuming you’re the only ones who know anything, who can find a hidden room. Who the hell do you think put this room here?”
We replied with a new round of shots, and I racked my brain for ideas about how to get out of this situation. Only one came to mind—charge them head-on. Just as I was about to give the command, however, a form appeared in the middle of the floor, closer to the door, and rolled to slam a red, beeping device on the floor between us and the enemy. A line of them appeared, breaching the room, just before the bomb went off. I got one glance in to see it was Eckard, that he hadn’t been dead. After this, however, there would be no doubts.
The explosion did more damage to the enemy, I assumed, as we were all still behind cover. And now there was a hole in the floor.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted, already up and pulling Rivera with me. We ran and slid, shooting as we did, and went through the hole. The empty air took us, and then we hit uneven ground below with grunts of pain. We quickly recovered and rolled out of the way.
Or so I’d thought. But when I looked back, I saw Rivera lying there.
“Move it!” I said.
“One sec.”
I frowned, looking up to see the other three come jumping down, and then the enemy looking at down at us. BRRRT! A burst from Rivera took them out, and then she was up and the other three were running too.
Each step was a thud in my head, my mind racing for ways to get out of there. The general knew we’d come, had set a trap for us, and likely had this place surrounded. To confirm my worries, an entire section of the wall to our right suddenly blew away. I saw a mech three times the size of any of the previous ones standing there with a whirring, smoking gun.
We all broke left, only to find two soldiers coming at us from that direction. I lit up the first, while Rivera took down the second in hand-to-hand. A ding sounded and one of my screens popped up, showing I had another level and points. Good timing, I thought, and selected stamina and the second marksman skill. When I turned back and took aim, I was glad to see the skill working. Where before I’d found my focus increase very helpful, now it was like the pistol naturally wanted to go where made sense.
In this case, it was the mech’s power source. I shot out, the beam hitting and stalling the next round of shots, but when I was done the mech was still there, recovering.
“We’re too far to do real damage,” Kline said, but he shot back a few smart grenades. “Still, gotta do what we can to hold him back.”
The grenades went off as we exited that floor and came to an escalator in a department store section. We quickly descended it and found a group of soldiers running past us, apparently not yet aware of our location. We lit them up, then kept moving.
We charged out into the fresh, simulated air, and started to make it to the next building over, when we saw another mech approaching. Rivera stopped, grabbed my shoulder and said, “That thing where you shot it and made it freeze. Do it again, all you’ve got.”
“What?”
She nodded. “Do it, until you see me, and know it’s time.”
“The hell are you talking about?” I shouted, but she was already turning back and running up the escalator.
“Get it close to me!” she called back over her shoulder. “And then blast it like it’s Frankenstein!”
She was off. I saw the mech coming my way, so figured it was time to get out of Dodge. My feet nearly slipped out from beneath me as I turned a corner for cover. A string of explosives sailed past, blasting the far wall apart so that it started crumbling down on me. I was on the move again, and then came about to a point where I saw Rivera at the edge of a rooftop, motioning me back to the mech. Dammit, she was bound to get me killed.
Thudding sounded from the mech’s approach, so I darted around the building, determined to at least be the one to catch it off guard and not the other way around. I bounded up the next stairs and found a window. Before the mech could spot me, I broke the glass and took aim.
Streams of electricity flooded out, hitting the mech and causing it to falter. Whatever commands it was receiving, it wasn’t able to respond to. But this couldn’t last. The pistol didn’t have a limitless energy supply.
A soldier appeared to my right, down below, shooting at me. I had to fall back, and now the mech had recovered and was doing everything in its power to destroy the building I was in. Where the hell was Rivera? I ran as the floor gave way to explosions behind me. Then the walls blasted apart as barrage after barrage of bullets tore into them.
I slid down an old escalator, throwing myself off and over to the floor that led to the exit, then was up and running faster than my legs would allow. When I lost my footing and went sprawling out across the floor, it saved my life—a laser blast went over my head, cutting a few mannequins in half. Then the mech was there, looming over me just outside the door, searching but not yet seeing me.
This was my chance, and I hoped to God that Rivera was ready. I rolled over, took aim, and unleashed. Again the mech was crippled, and again I counted the seconds left of my life. This could really be it—the end. As I held my pistol there, watching the energy indicator drop, I started to worry this plan of Rivera’s—whatever it was—wasn’t going to work. Then I saw her, running, jumping, and finally flying through the air toward the mech’s midsection.
I almost forgot to stop firing, I was so caught off guard.
“Now!” I heard her voice echoing off the surrounding build
ings and released the trigger. The electricity took another second to fade, and I thought she was about to become a burnt crisp. But then it was gone and she’d landed. I watched with horror and awe as she clung to the mech, jamming her Ka-Bar into its body and then using that as leverage. The mech was spinning, trying to find a way to attack, but its arms wouldn’t reach down at that angle. With a rotation, she was gone.
At first, there wasn’t any sign of her falling or already on the ground, but then a body went flying out. I shouted, and then the mech’s arm swung around and hit the body. We all fell back in shock.
But mostly because the body had evaporated into a burst of pixels.
“She got the pilot,” Williams said. “Holy shit, she did it!”
Two seconds later, the mech was running over to our side, glitchy as she got the hang of the controls, but she had captured it! The mech spun and unleashed hell on the building, bursts of pixels flying into the air, and even as raiders flew at us and lit up the mech with shots, we were making it to safety.
Whatever the general had hoped to accomplish by trapping us there had failed. We’d made it, but we’d lost another in the escape. Captain Eckard.
And then behind us came an explosion, and the mech was falling. Something shot out, flying off into the distance, and then the mech hit the ground.
“Oh, shit,” Williams said, backing up.
“What?”
He indicated the mech and the way it was starting to glow, pulsating. “In some games, they do that when they’re about to explode. We need to get out of here, now!”
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” I replied. “RUN!”
We all took off, and I had to believe that Rivera was on that escape pod or whatever the hell had shot off before the mech fell. If she was trapped inside a massive mech that was about to explode, there wasn’t a damn thing I’d be able to do to save her. That wasn’t acceptable.
I took note of the direction of the pod’s trajectory, flung myself behind the next wall, and watched as a platoon of soldiers came charging at us from the other side. Poor fools had no idea what was about to happen. I crouched, hands to my ears, head tucked in case that helped, and watched from the corner of my eyes.