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- PROLOGUE - KNEE DEEP IN THE DEAD
- I was left by myself to defend the perimeter. Our battalion had
- landed just over an hour ago, ready for combat. One hundred men and women,
- and I was left alone. I was used to it though. I found that many people
- took an instant dislike to me, more of a distrust really. I wasn't fully
- human anymore. I was a NewType; a Neural Enhanced Warrior, the last one
- still alive. Ten of us were made 384 days ago, connected with 'juice'
- harnesses to pump various drugs into our already perfected systems. The
- last one.
- The first went out gloriously, taking with him some forty seven men
- in some nameless civil war back on Earth. It was the second that began
- concern over NewTypes. A week of inactivity proved too much for the
- NewType, who proceeded to kill the twenty nine other members of his squad in
- a fit of beserk fury. Three died of drug overdoses, attempting to improve
- themselves beyond neccessity. Two others finished their tours in the heat
- of combat. Another lost it's objectives in combat, going beserk and killing
- over sixty troops from both sides before a heavy weapons squad brought her
- down. It was reported that she had one hundred and seven bullets in her
- before she went down. The last one died the best of all. After killing off
- two squads of his comrades, fifty nine men and women, he had set the base's
- reactor to overload. The resulting explosion destroyed everything within a
- ten kilometer radius. He was still moving after that, and was killed by two
- gunships.
- I was the last one.
-
- I stood alone before the hangar doors, listening to the screams over
- the open comm link. An hour of shouting, cursing, screaming and gunfire.
- An hour of people dying. Only Gray Death survived this far; a squad of at
- most twenty men, now at half that number. Ten men out of a hundred. What
- the hell was in there?
- They whispered quietly, moving cautiously down the last access
- tunnel. They had all gone in excited and anxious, ready to kick some enemy
- ass. Life was dull on Mars Base, then suddenly the chance for action. Now
- only ten veterans lived. It was now a battle for survival, no room was left
- for glory. They should have taken me along, but there was no trust in them
- for me, the last of the NewTypes. If they could make it out of the compound
- to the vehicle bay, they would be able to level this entire base in minutes.
- "Okay everyone, B1 formation. This is it, the final leg. Let's not
- do anything stupid." Lieutenant Stavens called over the comm. The bay door
- swished open.
- "Fuck me ..." Jansen said in a whisper.
- "Small arms!" Stavens yelled out, soon to be drowned out by shotgun
- blasts and pistol shots. Screams and unearthly howls were heard in the
- background. "Move out! Rakens, Moritz, cover the rear! Huffman, take
- point! Let's move!" Stavens cried over the gunfire, followed by another
- shotgun blast.
- "L.T.!" Huffman screamed, "Bastards! Eat this ... aaarrggarrch ..."
- Another one dead. The rest rode in to the rescue, the heavy chain
- guns firing. Nine little soldiers, all in a line ...
- "We're almost home, boys." Stavens said, grunting with relief.
- "Deevers, ready the launcher. Anything big, you level it."
- "You got that right, L.T."
- The elevator came to a stop with a heavy bang, the doors opening
- quickly.
- "Mary Mother of God ..." Collins gasped, his voice dropping into
- nothingness.
- An other-worldly roar echoed over the comm. Guns opened up,
- rockets fired. Screams, shouts for cover, roars ... silence.
- I was the last one.
-
- I was used to being alone, months of distrust and hatred lay between
- myself and the human race. Now it proved to be an inconvenience. The
- transport ship we arrived in required a crew of five. I could possibly
- perform the function of three of them, but not all. That left me with one
- choice; to get to the vehicle bay by myself. The entire battalion, ninety
- nine human beings, failed to achieve that goal. But then, I'm no human.
-
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