A loud ringing sound was all Dan could hear.
"What the.. where am I?"
"ON YOUR FEET SOLDIER! I need that automated anti-aircraft gun repaired NOW!"
"Wha? Soldier?"
"MOVE!" another soldier screamed in his face as he continued to blast away at what appeared to be giant moths. Finally, Dan snapped out of it.
"I don't know what kind of situation I'm in, but I think I should repair that.. what was it? Automated turret?"
Looking around, he had a hard time trying to identify the soldiers guns - some glowed, while others had floating scopes on them. Each time they shot, streams of light left the barrels.
"What the…where the hell?" Dan was starting to realise, this was definitely not real. A soldier slapped him "MOVE!"
"Ouch, the pain is definitely real" he thought "So where or even when am I..." He shook his head, trying to wake up, then as he realised his situation, he stopped breathing for a moment as a panic set in "I need to pretend… right… the repair…"
He walked over to what he only could guess was the automated anti-aircraft gun.
"How am I meant to fix this futuristic-looking thing? I don't even understand how the barrels are floating like that. Magnetism maybe?"
The turret had six floating barrels with glowing lights at the bottom - upon his inspection, something cam up in his vision.
[Repair MK-271 Automated Anti-air Turret? - 87% complete]
[Yes/No]
"Yes" thought Dan. Immediately, his hands seemed to act on their own. He didn't even need to think.
"What the hell is happening?"
He didn't have a chance to think as a soldier yelled "INCOMING!!!"
A massive moth appeared as the soldiers shot at it - one was wearing some sort of mechanical suit; he launched a missile from a shoulder-mounted missile pod.
"Impact!" he said in a robotic voice as the giant grey moth was engulfed in flame and crashed to the ground, dying while screaming. "I didn't realise moths could even scream" Thought Dan.
Suddenly he received a notification
[30 Exp]
"What the? This is like a computer game." Dan felt himself starting to get excited as he finished fixing the automated anti-air.
The lights on the end of the barrels began to glow brighter, Dan analysed it.
[Charging - 5%]
"It needs time to charge!" he said to the other soldiers, dressed in a similar uniform to him.
"More moths! Inbound!" The process repeated itself once more as the man in the robotic suit fired more shoulder-mounted missiles. Suddenly, a screech travelled across the battlefield - making everyone silent.
A soldier whispered to Dan "That better charge up fast or we're all dead."
Dan checked the charge once more.
[Charging - 60%]
"It's pretty quick" Dan thought.
Suddenly, a black winged creature appeared. Dan would've called it a dragon - except that it had no arms or legs. It was essentially a large flying snake with a beak.
"A black snakeraven!" said one soldier as the flying creature flapped its wings aggressively towards them.
The immense wind kicked up dust from the surrounding desert, temporarily blinding the soldiers. The only one to keep shooting was the man in the robotic-like suit; though his hand-lasers had no effect against the black beasts scales - while his shoulder-mounted missiles were too slow to hit the target.
"That AA is our only hope" a soldier said, wildly firing his weapon into the air, trying to buy some time - though he only made himself a target.
The snakeraven dived at him, and with a snap of its beak, the upper half of the soldier disappeared.
"FUCK!" another soldier said as he pulled out a pin from his glowing grenade. He waited a moment - which confused Dan - and then tossed it just as the snakeraven was diving again. The grenade exploded mid-air, damaging the snakeraven and making it hiss.
Just as it dived once more, a mechanical buzzing sound came from behind Dan. The AA was about to fire as the snakeraven dove again - just before it could kill another soldier, six lasers pierced through the beast, it was like a knife through water. There was no resistance as the beast was cut into small chunks, the six lasers dancing across the sky and lighting the whole area up.
"Phew, we did it" panted a soldier.
"Inform the base - AA repaired, drone guard functional and one casualty on the north part of the endless desert barrier."
"Sir." a soldier saluted.
"Longley, report"
No one answered. Everyone looked at Dan.
"LONGLEY REPORT" the commanding soldier looked at Dan in the eyes. Dan realised he must be this Longley person. He tried to play along.
"Sir. AA repaired."
"Yes, and?"
"Uh I don't understand, sir."
The commander sighed "You must have a concussion or something. Head to medical when we get back."
"Sir." Dan mimicked the other soldier and saluted, right before fainting.
The C.O. (commanding officer) shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Stupid Mechtricians... they're so weak".