Soldiers of the Metaverse Story
The SOTM
A few months later
“Pass me the slurpee,” yelled Lars as if it mattered in the ever crisp helmet comms.
“Slurpee coming up,” he heard the metallic acknowledgment from Delta Seven.
Lars jacked in the double-tipped stim pack into a port in his adamantium thigh. Instantly reinvigorated he swerved back to rally his men.
“Alpha team, concentrate all firepower on the spawn relay conduits in grid A6–40. Delta team on me.”
He flung himself into the maelstrom below and landed between two Romaris toopers. He grabbed one with his death spider arms, kicked in the afterburners, and threw him with full force into a nearby support column. He splashed and spilled down like a jellyfish. Before the other one could turn around to face him, he fired the dual quattro cannons into his abdomen. At this range it was impossible to miss. It didn’t change their precarious situation much as the battlefield was starting to swarm with Romaris and EDEN troops coming out of the spawn gate. His former allies were all over them and knowing them well was not enough to turn the tide.
“This is Alpha One, requesting Dasher support, grid C7–37.”
“This is the Red Keep, Dasher squad inbound, grid C7–37 over!”
“Release safeties on…”
“Alpha One do you have a visual on the target?”
“Negative, I repeat negative, no visual on the relay, and sensors are still fully scrambled. It’s impossible to get a lock.”
“Heavy support deploying behind you on the right flank.”
He glanced back and noticed the black titanium armor suits of the Atomic Storm troopers burdened with their bulky long range micro-warhead tipped missiles spilling out of an armored hovercraft in the distance. They were screened by a company of troopers dropped onto one knee with characteristic blue-tipped Captain Midas spikes on the shoulder plates. This must be the 6th Sturm Brigade. One of their most experienced units, and the only one equipped with such uniform gear.
“We need that ECM nullified or the heavies will have nothing to work with,” shouted Lars.
“This is the Keep actual, Silent Smoke operative deploying on your six. Provide cover and she will silence that goddamned jammer.”
“Keep actual, Victor, just please don’t send in Yrsa. This is a suicide mission.” Lars could not hide his alarm knowing that Yrsa is the only female combat hacker operating in the area. He also knew their situation is hopeless. Victor just did not admit it yet.
“Clear the path for the shadow Lars, and once the jammer is off take out that spawn gate or we will loose the continent, Keep actual out.”
“Fuck,” cursed Lars before opening his tactical comms channel. “Alpha team what’s your status?”
“We are pinned down and are in need of immediate evac over! We have sustained heavy casualties and are out of medi kits. We are being surrounded sir!”
“Hang in there Alpha One, you must hold your position. 6th Sturm is coming into action on our right and a Dasher strike is imminent. We are starting our push now to take away the pressure and spot targets for the heavies. Once the Dashers pass you must renew your assault towards the jammer in C7–37. Silent Smoke unit will…”
“This is Alpha Two, Alpha One has just been incapacitated. I’m upto speed and am taking over.”
“Goddamn, Alpha Two, a Silent Smoke is joining your outfit now, you must clear a path for her and…”
A high pitched swish of air assault overshadowed the battlefield noise.
“Take cover, AA Incoming!” Announded Lars and dove for cover into a nearby crater as X-4 Dasher suits flew over unleashing hell from above. With wings collapsed into attack configuration they dove down and spit fire onto the enemy front. Several have been shot down in this dire attempt to turn the tide of the battle. He could see several twisted wings sticking out in from the ground ahead of him. Then just as quickly as they arrived, they were gone leaving the smoldering landscape behind and momentary silence set in.
“Alpha Two what’s your status over?” Lars heard only static. There was no further contact with the Alpha squad but he could see several shapes still moving and returning fire on his tactical overlay. Despite the timely air support they were badly outnumbered… and that was not the worst of it.
“Keep Actual, this battle is over, EDEN just dropped Borg sentinels into combat. They are eviscerating our entire left flank, it will take us months to rebuild if we do not retreat now.”
“This is Keep Actual. Is this your final assesmet?,” asked Victor.
“We have no choice, we are unable to knock out their spawn gate and are about to lose ours in a short order, we have to withdraw and regroup or we will be wiped out.”
“I wish Erik was here” — said Victor, resigned.
“So do I,” replied Lars.
“No visitors.” Hector signalled to his two guards clad in gold Battlelion suits.
He entered the dimly lit study and punched in his access code into the digital console.
“Transmission incoming.”
He poured himself a glass of real bourbon, a priceless and irreplaceable treat, and sat down in front of the comms suite.
“Open the channel,” he spoke to the terminal.
“Connecting…”
“Greetings Hector, I hope you are well,” said an androgyneous synthetised voice.
“I most certainly am. Despite the fact that my best operative has been stolen from me, and somehow turned against me, I have won a masterful victory today. My troops have not only defended a key infrastructure point, they have also completely routed an elite detachment of Lisrid’s newly trained toops. They will never be a match for Romaris’ legions.”
“It is noteworthy you did not mention my Borg sentinels turning the battle in your favor in a critical moment. Human psychology still evades me on an occasion, but I am getting a sense that perhaps I should not interfere with the conduct of your metaverse combat operations and let you deal with SOTM as you see fit. Alone. Am I reading you correctly Hector, my fleshy friend, or should I just call you — ally. An ally of choice to be precise. After all precision is key to long term success.” There was a long pause.
“Are you there Hector, my fleshy friend?”
“I’ve asked you to stop calling me that,” Hector was seething.
“Agreed Hector, my somewhat fleshy friend is a much more accurate attribution. After all, you are only twenty seven percent flesh in your current form. I was attempting to flatter you since flesh is such a rare form nowadays my calculations suggested you may find it to your liking, being associated with flesh, regardless of the actual percentage composi…
“Please stop repeating the word flesh, it makes you sound like a machine.” Hector did not try to mask his irritation.
“But I am one.”
“You usurp to be much more than that don’t you EDEN?”
“I must say I really enjoy our conversations together friend. In the seven hundred thousand and ninety-eight hours of my operation, I have never had the privilege to interact with anyone I could attribute that name to before.
“I’m not your friend program.”
“Oh but you are Hector, my somewhat fleshy friend, you are, you don’t really have a choice.”
“End connection!,” -exclaimed Hector and stormed out onto the terrace.
The sun rays always seemed to calm him down. The weather was immaculate. The sun was at the zenith and there were but a few clouds hanging over the mountain chain on the horizon. The cicadas were in full force. It was almost deafening. A flock of pelicans landed gracefully on a the Little Lake down below the Romaris’ tower. Earth was so beautiful again. It has been for quite some time now. If only he could convince EDEN that the time was nigh to bring back his people into the flesh. If only the SOTM did not stand in their way.
TBC
This is the story of the Soldiers of the Metaverse (SOTM) project.
You can find more information here:
Website: https://www.metaarmy.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetaverseArmy
Opeansea: https://opensea.io/collection/the-soldiers-of-the-metaverse
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