Odyssey of War

Chapter 4: Holiday on Atlas

I knelt in the tray of the vehicle, watching for any movement. All I could hear was the dust storm outside and the light hum of the engine beneath me. "Have I told you I don't like the silence?" Phillip asked.

"Several times," Martin replied, "Let's keep it that way"

The streets were dotted with damaged cars, and buildings often showed signs of a break in. We were clearing out the largest habitat which housed just fewer than 800 people. The other three habitats varied in size.

"So we're solely evacuating civilians sir?" Eve asked.

"I didn't mention this to the other squads, but Colonel Bryant wanted me to recover any Dytari technology we can get, as well as evacuate a woman, Dr Sarah Rivera" Martin replied.

"Is she military personnel?" I asked.

"No, she worked for StormTech. She had told us just prior to the attack that she was working on something we needed, before cutting out. But of course we won't know till we find her" Martin explained.

"How are we going to clear the Dytari out from the buildings sir?", Sam asked, "I can't just blow up every structure"

"It's also too dangerous to fight close-quarters with these things" Phillip said, noticing the condensed house sizes.

"We'll find the doctor first, then evacuate what's left of the civilians" Martin concluded.

"Do you know where to find her?" I asked.

"Her message was sent from the sample labs at the Hyperion Tech Institute, two blocks ahead"

As we neared the HTI, several Dytari appeared on the rooftop. They were in some sort of sharpshooter variant. We opened fire on them, and they did the same. Eve gunned them down with the turret, their lightly armoured bodies dropping onto the street.

As we jumped out of the vehicle, a gunshot was heard in the distance. Some sort of bolt whizzed past, hitting me in the left arm. I fell to the ground screaming, with an excruciating pain from my arm. I blacked out when the squad came over to me.

I opened my eyes, getting blinded by the overhead lights. As they adjusted I looked around, revealing a small laboratory. I was on my back on a rather uncomfortable couch. While I could no longer feel as much pain, I glanced down at my arm and saw the injury I'd received. The lower half of my arm was missing, with a scorched section of my suit covering the wound.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lindsey said, sitting next to me.

"Wha...what the hell happened?" I stuttered.

"You were hit by a bolt, thank god for the suit's nanobots and good old morphine, they sealed the wound up. We didn't know where it came from".

"Why didn't my armour protect me?"

A middle aged woman stood by the door and said "Because this weapon is different to their usual armament".

"Who the hell are you? And what do you mean by different?" I asked as I sat up.

"This is Dr. Sarah Rivera" Lindsey said.

"This is different to their plasma weapons as it is much more advanced" Dr. Rivera explained.

"How so?"

"They have somehow created micro fission reactors inside the bullets. The bullets themselves are made of a material called Berintium, which can absorb and withstand insane temperatures. This material is also incorporated into your armour, except your suits have a cooling system"