Drake took a deep breath in lieu of
checking his ammo reserves again, trying to steady his nerves
for the upcoming battle. He wouldn’t be of any use to anyone if
he froze up in the middle of the fighting. One of the older,
more senior members of the ACTF saw what he was doing.
"The first one’s always the hairiest,"
the man, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Edwards, said. "Hell, I
near-panicked when I first caught sight of one of those ugly
freaks. And I didn’t even have the kind of intensive training
you got with that Barker guy to fall back on. You’ll do fine,
Shep, just keep your mind on what you’re doing and you’ll come
out of this with your skin intact."
"Thanks, sir. That helps," Drake smiled
with grim good humor.
"I thought it would," Lieutenant Colonel
Edwards said.
The harsh rumble of the truck’s engine
and the sensation of movement both stopped at the same time, so
all of the soldiers knew that it was time for them to get off
their asses and start killing some Zoanoids. The doors of the
truck unlocked, and were then shoved open by Lieutenant Colonel
Edwards.
"ACTF, fall out!"
Drake ran out with the other
soldiers, falling into a rough semicircle with the rest of his
unit. Out of the corners of his eyes, Drake could see three of
the four other ground gunner units doing the same. The
headset-radio he was wearing crackled with static as it
activated, and Drake knew that the real fighting was just about
to start. This was the big moment.
God, I hope I don’t screw this up,
Drake thought as he saw the
ranks of Zoanoids just starting to charge. He wasn’t quite sure
if that was a prayer or not.
Bringing his Zoanoid Buster Cannon to
bear, Drake aimed at the nearest Zoanoid and fired. The horned,
green, lizardlike Zoanoid stumbled forward as its head was blown
apart down to the shoulders. Just like that, Lieutenant Drake
Shepherd claimed his first kill. Instinct and training took over
after that, and for Drake the battle became a series of moments.
Breathe in.
The cries of another Zoanoid as it
attempted to blindside him were cut off as Drake fired a Cannon
shell directly into its face. The body disintegrated after the
head was gone.
Breathe out.
Running soldiers obscured Drake’s view
of the battlefield for a moment, and then a mottled-brown
Zoanoid with huge shoulders came into his line of fire. Drake
took the shot.
Breathe in.
Ducking a swipe that would have taken
his head off, Drake rewarded his attacker with his
second-to-last shell.
Breathe out.
The doors of the last remaining
transport had opened, and now the Alpha unit and the ACTF’s own
Guyver were out and mixing it up with the Zoanoids. Drake was
glad to see them in a detached sort of way.
Breathe in.
Firing his last shell at an apelike
Zoanoid, Drake took a moment to reload while the others covered
him. Chambering another round, Drake stepped to the side and
fired at another lizardlike Zoanoid that had come up while one
of the others was reloading.
Breathe out.
Drake could hear someone shouting for a
reload, and ran to the place where he saw another of his fellow
soldiers kneeling. Handing her one of his spare ammo-packs,
Drake watched as Barker dealt a lethal blow with his arm-blades
to another ape-Zoanoid.
Breathe in.
Another of the lizard-Zoanoids charged
at the group of soldiers that Drake had found himself among.
Firing another shell, Drake watched his enemy’s midsection
explode in a shower of bone and blood.
Breathe out.
Two of the Alpha units overtook Drake as
he ran, firing at the knot of Zoanoids that had been attempting
to brake the defensive lines around the ammo storage truck.
Drake smiled coldly, and returned to his lookout duty.
Breathe in.
Drake found that he was running, and he
took a moment to reorient himself. The cries and screams of
dying Zoanoids still echoed around him, so the battle couldn’t
have been going that bad.
Breathe out.
Drake stood in a line with a group of
other ACTF soldiers, shooting at a charging knot of Zoanoids
that had managed somehow to get past the Alphas.
Breathe in.