• The display flashed and the light lanced into Zepher's eyes and landed right in his brain. Ignoring the pain, he looked through the myriad of information that was being fed to him from the various sensors in his armor. First on the list were stats displayed in a sickly green color and Zepher idly wondered at the intelligence at making that the 'in working order' color. Next, everything was displayed in yellow. That was his suit's way of saying 'hey dumb a**, might want to keep your head down next time'. Then the list of red words started to scroll by. And by. And by. His suit was not happy with him at all.
    Zepher got the info that he needed and taped a button on his palm unit. Two in the red and one in the green. He guessed things could be worse, as there was always something waiting to go wrong and turn the s**t storm into a hurricane. Ammo was one of the lines that was printed in the angry red color. Ejecting the clip, Zepher confirmed the count in his clip then repeated the process for his sidearm.
    Switching the display back to combat mode, Zepher glanced down at how much liquid metal there was left to armor him. Sure enough, as he had planned on, the number had dropped a little as the viscous material settled. It was standing steady at 83% and that was the best that he could hope for. Even through all of the red numbers on his display, that little green glow made him think he still had a chance.
    As Zepher stood up and flipped the bottom half of the visor down, there was a rush of air as his suit sealed itself once more, he looked down at the last red item from the list.
    NUMBER OF SQUAD MEMBERS ALIVE: 1/53
    That last line was the only one that had been flashing. The computers way of telling him; 'you are so ********'. Zepher had been out investigating a shadow he had seen. The Sergent had refused to send anyone out chasing ghosts as it was hard enough to hold the bunker without painting a target on themselves. Zepher had stormed out after the 'ghost' as he knew he had seen something and also not just a little because he had to get out of his home for the last two weeks.
    The action had either saved his life or doomed his comrades. Zepher told himself that one man would not have made that much of a difference but everyone knows how useless that is. Thinking that it was just a small squad, Zepher had not taken any extra ammo with him when he left and started trailing his prey. It turned out that it was just one bug that had lured Zepher away from the bunk but before he could take it out, an explosion rocked the ground. The bugs had tried to lure as many out as they could so they could attack the offending bunker in an all out assault.
    Zepher hoped and prayed that his read out had been wrong and that there would be a few stragglers from his squad that had managed to survive the attack but there had not been anyone alive. Not only would more bodies mean more bullets, but that would also improve the chances of a rescue coming to pick them up but there was no way they would send one in for just one survivor.
    The ammo cache had been what had caused the initial explosion so that was scrap and the rest of he members of his unit had used up most of their ammo. In the end, Zepher was only able to scrounge up two extra clips for his over sized rifle and three more for his sidearm. Zepher was never happier that he had the 'assault' model combat armor as it was the only one that had any thought of close quarters combat in its design.
    Zepher made his way back out of the tomb, stepping over body parts all the way. Before he left the nominal safety of the bunker, Zepher called up his map on the display on his visor and confirmed his destination then marked it. As the map fell away and the combat display took over again, Zepher fell into a crouch and leveled his rifle at the door. Raising only slightly, Zepher ran at the door and then slowly raised his head to look around him. The coast was clear. The next bunker was about six clicks to the west. With a small smirk on his lips, Zepher started to jog as he remembered how much he used to love running at night.
    Zepher was about half way to the bunker when his com unit started to crackle. In another dozen meters, the noise refined itself into voices. Zepher stopped and knelled down behind a log to listen. His own mic being damaged only made him move faster once he confirmed they were under attack as well as he could not tell them he was on the way. When he hit a small hill, Zepher charged up it and threw himself down to the ground only when he was almost at the top, then crawled the rest of the way. When he crested the top he was greeted by almost the same exact sight his own bunker had provided him when he returned. The only difference was that there was still muzzle flashes coming from the portholes.
    The bugs were also swarming all over the structure. Bringing his gun up, he called up the 4x zoom on his rifle as well as a list of all of the squad members from this bunker. Zepher ran over the building with his scope and found a suitable entry point then started to pull the trigger on his rifle. Most of them bounced off the carapaces of the bugs but a few lucky shots managed to get though and purple blood went up in a spray.
    Before the other bugs could turn to the new threat, Zepher was already up and running at the bunker, firing as he went. His clip went dry and his hand went into motion and locked a new one in place less then a second later. His shots started to go wide but that was the least of Zepher's concerns. Three more bugs fell as his second clip dropped from his gun, followed almost immediately by the rifle itself.
    Four blades emerged from the wrists of his armor and muscle augmentations powered on. The one in for his left arm sputtered and flashed red, but the ones in his legs and right arm remained green. The readout of squad members still alive blinked then updated itself; two thirds were now dead. If Zepher did not hurry then he just threw his life away in this assault. As he closed on the bugs at his entry point, the blades on his right wrist started to spin around his hand, and just as they reached peak speed he slammed his fist into the back of the head of the nearest one.
    Opening his hand as soon as he felt the beasts carapace fall away, Zepher had the most pleasing experience of his life as he literally squeezed the creatures brain into little more then juice. Brining his knee up right away, the head exploded, sending out a spray of dark purple blood. Zepher then swung his left hand out in front of him in a wide circle and the next two bugs fell to the ground with their blood spilling over the dirt.
    The last two creatures at the door managed to prepare themselves and one of them started to swing its razor sharp limbs at Zepher while the other tried to circle him and get behind him. Bringing his right hand up to the foe in front of him, he manged to stop three of the blows by grinding the limbs away with the rotating blades but the last one managed to hit his left arm. The liquid metal did its job and just about all of the damage was absorbed but his protection dropped from 83% to 55% with that single blow.
    Ignoring the yellow alert that protested his armor levels, he drove his left hand into the creatures midsection then brought his right arm back up and drove the blades deep into the creatures left side. He continued to push until he felt a shiver rack the body then pulled his right arm out. His left arm was lodged in place by the plating the animal had and he could not pull it out in time to defend himself against the second bug he had forgotten about.
    Launching an attack at the same spot its fellow had attacked, it managed to slice Zepher's left arm completely off before the lost liquid metal could be replaced. Letting out a scream, Zepher lashed out blindly with his leg and was able to hear the satisfying sound of power servos revving and then seeing his opponents head explode. As he stood over his fallen foes, Zepher was about to cave in the chest cavity of one of the bugs that was still squirming when he realized something was wrong. Looking down at his left arm he realized that the automated first aid system had malfunctioned and his blood was quickly dripping from the stump on his arm. Gritting his teeth, he activated the backup systems and let out a scream as his arm was severed at the shoulder and tied off. The remainder of his arm fell from its sleeve as the mesh in it relaxed, and hit the ground where it twitched a few second then lay still.
    Turning on his heel, Zepher stopped the blades on his right hand from spinning long enough to pull out his sidearm then set them to spinning again as he kicked the door to the bunker in. The sight that awaited him just inside was the same as the one at his own bunker. Red blood was sprayed all over the inside of the walls with very little purple mixed in. The ground was littered with bodies but none of them were whole. The squad listing flashed again; only ten remained alive.
    Zepher sprinted down hall after hall listining as the sounds of combat grew louder and louder. Another one fell. Rounding a corner, Zepher ran into a group of three bugs that were making a meal out of some of his fellow soldiers but they quickly fell to fire from his sidearm. As his armor automatically replaced the spent clip, which now lay in pieces on the ground after passing through the rotating blades, Zepher rounded another corner were there were even more bugs milling around; he was getting closer. The remaining survivors were now down to five, three Assault model armors and two Sniper models.
    The last clip was loaded into his gun and then emptied less then two seconds later. His gun clattered to the floor in pieces and the last two bugs followed the pieces, one from Zepher's boot being planted in its chest and the other with a hole in its head. Then he listened and heard gunfire coming from the next room and the squad counter was remaining steady at five; there was still a chance for them to make it out.
    The door to the next room had a large pile of bug bodies in front of it and the muzzle flashes were emanating from inside along with the rattle of rifle fire. The hope that he had made it started to flicker but remained alive and he doubled his speed and burst into the room with his blades spinning and ready to rip into the nearest bug. But the nearest bug was across the room on the other side where the survivors were fighting off a relentless wave. The bugs from this side had apparently given up when they managed to break a hole in the wall and were now pouring through it in droves.
    The other thing he had not known about was the sensor he had tripped, alerting the survivors that something was about to emerge from the doorway. One of the snipers was already aiming the space in the doorway when Zepher's head came into the view. The explosion that propelled the bullet from the chamber was no different from the rest of them, but it was like bomb to Zepher's ears as he realized the gun was aimed at him. Time slowed to a crawl as the sniper moved and checked his aim as he tried to shift it to the side.