I awoke after some time to the sound of gunfire. I was lying on a bed, again. I sat on the bed and looked around. I found out that I'm in a small room all alone, and I also heard the sound of rapid fire coming from the other side of the door. After opening the door, I had to crouch to avoid being shot by the bullets flying around. I saw twenty-five people lying, crouching and hiding behind the walls sandbags and what not, all shooting in the same direction.
"Alan, are you here?!" I yelled
"Sir! You're awake!" One of the soldiers said
"Alan is on the other side, lad. They left you to us because you fainted." Said Aurelius the centurion.
"How long was I out?" I asked
"For two days, you weren't giving any signs of life during the period." he answered solemnly
'Shit, again. Why does this always happen to me' I thought and then asked the centurion:
"What the hell is happening here?"
"First take a gun and kill some cyborgs while I explain it to you." He said and threw a rifle at me. I caught it and aimed it at the opposing side. While I was searching for a target to shoot at, Aurelius spoke:
"We've been assaulted around midnight two days ago. The mist we saw was the usual thing that happens before they attack. But, since they last attacked Gronos a very long time ago, I had to search up info on them just to know how to kill them. They do not die when you hit 'em in the heart."
"Who are 'they'?" I asked
"They are the Core Sect followers, lad." he said in a rough voice
"They are the product of our colonization and since the big rebellion they are trying to destroy Gronos." he added
"Where is everyone?" I was too curious to not ask
"Only our century is alive as far as my info goes. We're holding the armory, this part of the barracks and the last two teams are trying to get us some APCs. But we didn't hear from them for half a day now so there ain't much hope for getting out of here."
"Who is in command of my team?" I asked.
"Not you, lad." he said in a cold voice.
"Why am I not in charge of them anymore?"
"They said that you fainted from fright of the enemy. So I gave the command to another one and..."
"They said that!?" I yelled surprising Aurelius and the soldiers around us But most of all I amazed myself with my courage and powerful voice. Haha. I may be short, but I'll be fiery when needed, or not. It looks like I've changed a lot since my coma.
"Aurelius, sir. I would like to go to the armory to join my team." I added.
"You plan to go all alone thru all those cyborgs? Are you nuts, lad?" the centurion was flabbergasted by my question.
"No, sir. I just want to straighten things up between me and my squad. So I'll ask again. May I take my leave, sir?" I kept my mind in order, not willing to let him save my life.
He looked at me with that look in his eyes. I just can't describe it very well, it is not pitiful nor mocking. It was in between. It made me interested in his background, especially why is he so 'attached' to me. I turned around and fired a burst of bullets at the enemy. After I saw the enemy fall, I turned around again and got into the building. I jumped out of the window and crawled away.
After a few minutes, I was behind another building that was not protected by our fire.
'The armory is on the other side, damn it. I'll need to enter a fire exchange with those bastards.'
I ran out of my cover behind a wall and got to another one. I peeked above the short wall I was hiding behind.
I had something to see.
Space-warping.
They were getting in dozens of soldiers every time they activated the machine. It was also emitting that irritating fog.
It is still incomprehensible for an ordinary Gronosian man to travel from one point in space to another without losing time. It is what I'm seeing at the moment and it is what is happening in front of me.
My mind turned blank. I couldn't think about anything no matter how hard I try.
This kind of incomparably advanced species cannot conquer us in one assault?
Bullshit. They must be toying with us.
But, something far more disturbing entered my vision.
I saw legate Arnold, and Mark the centurion among a great number of enemy cyborgs. All of which are armed to the teeth. At first, I thought that they were imprisoned, but their behavior changed my mind. They behaved as they behaved before the attack, giving out orders that cyborgs carried out.
With my mind still dumbfounded, all I could think of was getting to the armory to get a proper weapon and rape Mark with it. So I moved away from the wall I was hiding behind and started crawling towards the next building. According to my approximate estimation I still have at least one kilometer to crawl before I get to the armory. Shit. To hell with it.
I got up and started running. Soon I heard bullets whistling around, all of them hitting the ground around me. Then a familiar voice boomed:
"Halt or die, Shorty. These are warning shots."
It is Mark. Urgh, that bastard. I turned around and shot at him, hitting him in the shoulder. He didn't even budge. He laughed instead and roared:
"Prepare yourself, idiot. You're gonna see what a real hit is."
He took a pen from his pocket and pressed a nearly invisible button on it. My mouth dropped to the floor as I saw his pen transform into an assault rifle. He shot me straight in the knee, and I fell and screamed.
"Hahahaha. It hurts, doesn't it? Well it's supposed to do that, you know." he approached me and squatted.
"You shouldn't have left the safety of Aurelius' cover point. Now you've got yourself a status of POW. Do you like it?" he added mockingly
"Don't play with the experiment number 666, Jay Grayson." said one of the cyborgs as it approached. It had short black hair and was of normal height. It looked completely human, except for the eyes, they glowed green.
I struggled to speak because of the pain, but I succeeded at voicing out a word:
"E-Experiment?"
The answer didn't come as Mark, or should I call him Jay, took me and threw me over his shoulder. He carried me back to the place where they warp in their troops.
Jay dropped me to the ground without a bit of regret. I howled in pain. As Jay walked away from me shouting orders to various cyborgs around, legate Arnold approached me with a confused look on his face. His left eye glowing blue.
"Where did this maggot jump out from?"
"He was sneaking around our outpost, sir" answered the green-eyed cyborg.
"And you had to destroy his knee, Looks?"
"It was Jay, sir. Jay shot him after experiment 666 fired at him, hitting him in the shoulder." responded the cyborg named Looks.
"Looks like you've peed your pants, Shorty. And why the heck did you leave the security of the Aurelius' side?" Arnold turned to me and looked at me with an amused face.
I mustered my strength and answered:
"I went to get back the command over my squad."
"To get it back. I told you not to disappoint them or they will leave you. What did you do to make the situation so shitty, my dear new friend?" he looked like he was having fun.
'Oh, no you won't make fun of me you treacherous bastard.'
"And why did you betray our country?" I asked with an acidic look in my eyes. He looked deep into my eyes and said:
"Life has its own reasons, lad. Don't push it or I swear I'll kill you."
'So cold' I thought
"Ok, then. Why is this cyborg calling me an experiment?"
"Well, because you are an experiment. Forgive him he ain't a cyborg, he is a complete robot. So he belongs to the hive mind that controls them."
"Weren't you all cyborgs here?" I asked out of curiosity.
"No kid. Cyborgs are humans with some robotic or metal body parts. Everything that was left of him after a grenade blew him up was half of his brain on the wall. He still knows what he was, but he doesn't know what he is now." Arnold replied with extreme coldness in his voice. It sent shivers down my spine.
"Now, lad. Listen up. I have a proposal for you, if you accept, you'll be considered a traitor of Gronos. If you do not accept, however, you'll just die." He then added in the same voice.
It took a while for me to weight out both things in order to see what's worse. Definitely death. I steadied my mind and spoke with a firm voice as I could use right now:
"What is it?"
"Well, you can go with me when I head back home. Or you can stay here. If you come with me, I can have your leg fixed and even make it better. You'll, of course, become a cyborg, but your other choice is to die. So what'll it be?"
I remained silent for a long time. So long that Arnold got up from his squatting position near me and continued giving orders to various cyborgs around us. Robot Looks was still standing above me, so I called out:
"Hey, you." he didn't even blink. "Can you answer some questions of mine?"
He still didn't move. It was like I was talking to a statue.
"Oh, c'mon you shitty robot react a little will you!" I finally cried.
"Oh, were you talking to me experiment 666?"
"No, I was talking to a piece of shi..." I wanted to play smart but he kicked me in the rib cage. I coughed blood.
'I'll die at this rate' I thought and then struggled to speak:
"At least tell Arnold I wanna speak to him before you beat the hell out of me."
Looks stopped for a moment, as to consider my plea. Then he roared:
"Arnold, get your fleshy ass over here! Experiment 666 has decided."
Arnold came and ordered him to take me thru the warp.