E1M1: The Black Gate

Zand was a dervish in the Haboob, using it to conceal himself and suppress the sound of his pulse carbine spitting a four by four array of 6.5mm caseless into the swarm. A more perfect weapon for the task could not be imagined.

The terrorbugs did not appear to see the laser emitted from his carbine. Grouped as they were dozens of them wrre reduced to a lambent green pulp. Zand noticed that the bugs nearest the dead were induced into a feeding frenzy and evermore of them began to tear another apart. That part of the swarm soon consumed itself.

Still, hundreds remained...

The swarm was thinning, but still dozens remained. There was a sickening crack over the squad band as one of the bugs managed to make it to Mellencamp. It stabbed into the suit with gleaming metallic mandibles. Mellencamp, defenseless and unconscious didn't react much, but flailed in pain as his SOLI added "Lacerated Limb, Bleeding" to the readout. The terrorbug skipped back from Mellencamp's flailing prepared to strike a mortal blow.

Mellencamp, roused by the pain woke with a labored wet cough, and a wheezey scream. Brought to crystal focus he shot the terrorbug and began crawling to cover. "Agh fuck!" He gurgled out coughing even more foamy blood in the process. "I feel real cold." He whimpered and the sound of his teeth chattering could be heard - with the wheezy rattle in his chest Mellencamp was likely already dead.

Thematic Music

The dust still swirled, the impotent rage of the red planet, utterly inneffective against the powered armor suit encapsulating the marines. While it obscured well enough, it wasn't enough to limit vision at close ranges. In the aftermath of the firefight there was that cold silence as the dust muffled all sound.

Mellencamp still struggled crawling out of the hole he had sheltered in. His teeth were loudly chattering, and he was mumbling something quietly. "I'm sorry mom think I won't be home for dinner." Delirious from bloodloss and pain Mellencamp sagged, he made one desperate attempt to sit up but fell, silent and still. His sign of life indicator hadn't yet flatlined. It updated itself again, Massive Bloodloss, Internal Bleeding.

Tseng limped to his body and opening her satchel retrieved hypodermics filled with medigel, a bloodplasma, analgesic, and antiinflammatory cocktail. As well as a syringe of combipan. The suit was already inducing clotting factor into Mellencamp. Tseng waved the others over. "I can keep him alive for a few hours, but he needs surgery. I hate to say this..." She trailed off unwilling to finish the sentence, instead drawing her sidearm. "He's suffering." She looked to Badger then Zand. The drugs were powerful, most every member of the squad had been saved by them before, but it came at a price. And there was no way to determine how many hours it would take to return to the dropship.

Technically Rochenko had command, but he was occupied trying to retrieve the commander from the field of pink radiation. McCleod was helping trying to lasso the commander. The rope stopped dead, defying gravity, hanging in the air.

Tseng wasted no time, pulling the velcro over Mellencamp's armor, tearing off the trauma plate. "That's the problem Badger. This will definitely wake him." Under a zipper holding the outer shell of the armor, Tseng revealed the underarmor. She placed the combipan autohypo into a designated port. She also opened a panel in the underarmor. "Oh fuck." She whispered under her breath as blood began to leak from the exposed seal. She pressed a folding catheter into Mellencamp's lung. Frothy pink blood immediately squirted out and Mellencamp began to breath again. She applied flexseal to the inserted catheter.

"Hold him down, he's gonna feel this." She gripped the pistol grip on the autofire, thumbed the safety off, and waited for someone to restrain Mellencamp.

Mellencamp awoke with a ragged screech of pain. Gasping hard as he cleared his lungs of yet more foamy pink blood. "Oh, um! Ah fuck it hurts." His diaphragm tried to hyperventilate but the pressure in his lungs made it impossible. "Sucking-chest-wound, Doc!" The combipan was obviously working as he grabbed her pulling Tseng to his helmet. Training took over as he began to diagnose his pain. "Shrapnel in chest. Its in my liver!" Mellencamp whimpered as he realized exactly how slim his chances of living were. "Don't lemme die like this!" His face through the visor and blood was barely recognizable, twisted as it was in agony.

"He moved! Uh shit, you guys the commander moved! Hes stuck in that pink field but we got him to move. Give us a hand!"

McCleod had managed to tie off the Commander's legs and was pulling down against the pink field. Pulling hard, making onlg centimeters of progress.

Theme Music

Cydonia - 1045hrs

"Saber, we are assuming comms are down, we have read nine KIAs. The dust storm makes an orbital insertion extremely hazardous. You must rally at the dropship automated extraction protocols will bring you home. Bring the commander home at all costs."

Though static garbled the sound quality, Captain Diego's voice was unmistakable. A ping on your HUD indicated the location of the dropship.

"Be advised, there are more of the terraforming bugs in thr area. Proceed with extreme caution."

McCleod thrust a line into Zand's hands. "Get me the right angle. Like ice fishing but completely banjaxed."

Rochenko was attempting a breach. He had given himself to the machine his body slumped over. Something must have happened with an unseen computer system. A holographic interface and field of soft blue light localized around Rochenko. It took form...

It was Rochenko, and he was just just as shocked to see you.

"Oh no wha-" The look of pain and horror an instant of regret and Rochenko was gone. His sign of life indicator read flatline, the electronics in his suit fried.

The blue halo Rochenko was derrezed into flashed and and from it came:



"Welcome Reclaimer. The Monitor is active." It droned on a monotone. It had a Welsh accent.

It stares transfixed upon the commander. Subtle movemebts in the lenses of the Oculus gave it the appearance of thought.

Mellencamp relaxes under a massive dose of opiates and begins to code. He enters Bradychardia, his pulse stopped, for a few moments. But it began again at 30bpm.

"That's about all we can do for him until we can get him to surgery." Tseng reassured Badger.