With memories of the last mission fresh in my mind I strapped on my battle armor confident that this mission would be a success because, after all, my unit was the best. My black armor is a little dirty from the last mission; faint stains of blood and mud blemish the shine so I order a Grub to get rid of them. The Grub, a small wizened sub-human creature, scurries over. His bright green eyes are the only colorful thing about him; his skinny grey arm, lacking in any muscle, scrubs away at the stains. I watch as he cleans but he is silent because Grubs, who are allowed to live amongst us, may only speak in the presence of an Upper if given express permission and I hadn't told him to speak. Behind me I hear Dawson, my battalion buddy, shout out.

"When that trog is finished with you send him over to me, my boots are dirtier than Kozlov's mind."

The rest of the squad, including Kozlov, laughed. The Grub remained silent and I wondered if he could talk. Most could but there were a few so feeble in mind and body that they were nothing more than walking organic trash, not even worth the sludge they were fed on. This one's eyes are different from the last few Grubs I've seen; they were brighter and looked rather beautiful and had an iridescent shine to them. Maybe this one was intelligent, maybe this one could make it in our society. The Grub finished wiping the grime off my armor and scurried over to Dawson, who was currently involved in a biceps flexing competition with Tarasov, and started wiping the mud off his huge boots.

The changing room was full to capacity and every available bit of bench was cluttered with bits of kit, ammo, knives, grenades and bullets. Beside me Yongpo was checking his sidearm, a monstrous looking creation with a long barrel and extended clip, a fine weapon for someone who just made Corporal. He was spinning it around his finger like they did in the old movies, "That's some piece." I said to him.

His face broke into a grin and I looked at his gap-toothed smile, a reminder of an old bar fight with Dawson a few years ago. "Thanks dude" he replied, "Just one of the perks of being a Corporal, now drop and give me fifty Private." We both laughed and he slapped my back in respect as we comrades do. We were brothers, bonded by blood and bullet, by explosion and by devastation. We were Our Leader's finest Shock Troopers and we were about to have another successful mission.

Twenty minutes later we were in our battalion chapel. Father Sadyrin was giving sermon, asking that Our Glorious Leader give us strength and guidance in our forthcoming endeavour. I didn't know what our mission brief was; we wouldn't find that out until the service was over. After prayers Father recited the names of our brothers who died in the last mission. Twelve names were read out and after each one we stood up and said, "We love and miss you brother (or sister) comrade."

When he was finished Sadyrin sat down, his long flowing red robe rode up his body a little and I saw his metal legs. Dawson told me he lost them thirty years ago at the Battle of Memphis and that when Sadyin was a Trooper he was the baddest man in the battalion with hundreds of kills. With the service over Captain Villa, our new company leader, stood up and walked to the front of the pews and spoke with the padre. He was a small man, much smaller than Captain Rasmussen our last captain. Rasmussen bought it four missions back when an Unbeliever Devastator Trooper incinerated him with its flame-thrower. I watched him, as did the rest of the battalion,disintegrate in front of my eyes. We loved Rasmussen, he was a great leader and fine soldier and as a unit we descended on the Devastator. I unloaded all my ammo on it and barely made a dent. It took the combined effort of all our grenades, about fifty of them, to destroy it. When the smoke cleared I looked at what was left of it. Lying in a deep crater, the operator was still alive, but only just. Her arms and legs were gone and all that was left was a smoking torso and a blinking face. She looked like she was in great pain but I didn't do anything because I hated her. I hated her for being an Unbeliever, for being an enemy of Our Leader and for what she did to my beloved Captain Rasmussen. I should have finished her off, put a bullet between her eyes, but I wanted her to suffer as I was suffering now. I raised my visor and was greeted by the smell of burning flesh. I liked that smell, I had smelt it before and I would smell it again. The Unbeliever, choking on blood, asked me for help. I remained silent and watched her expire a few minutes later. Those few minutes must have been horrific and I hoped that when I went it would be quick. My earpiece burst into life and I heard Lieutenant Villa's voice in my ear.

"Lieutenant Villa assuming command; form up comrades, battle formation."

There was much toing and froing until we got into the right formation. Some comrades had bought it and we had to adjust the formation to suit the lower numbers. I found the massive bulk of Dawson and with Villa leading us we successfully completed the mission. After the battle the Field Grubs, Grubs who were bigger and fitter, retrieved what was left of Captain Rasmussen's body and we brought him home to Our Leader.

Villa stood at the front of the chapel surveying his Troops. His armor was shiny but worn, with dents and scrapes all over it; each one a story or heroic deed to tell over beers in the mess or over the vanquished bodies of our enemies. All of our armor was dented and scraped. It was our battalion's way, proved we had seen the field of combat, and proved that we were brave and that we loved Our Leader. Villa's shoulder guards had changed from the green with red and white stars of a Battle Lieutenant to the all purple of a Captain. If he led us on three successful missions then his guards would change to the purple with gold star of a Battle Captain. Yongpo was sitting to my right and I saw that he was wearing the yellow shoulder guards of a corporal. The guards were shiny and new.

He leaned into me and said, "I hope I dust up these babies today bruv."

"You will" I said smiling, "Rumor has it we're going subterranean on this one."

He let out a low laugh and said, "Bring it on."

From the front Captain Villa spoke, "Comrades listen up. Like all of our previous missions this one will be no different. It isn't going to be easy. We have received information from the Hoffin spies that the Grubs' have been stockpiling weapons below the Dekard District. Where they got them from, we don't know. Rumor has it that there is a group of Believers who have betrayed Our Glorious Leader. These traitors were your comrades but now they live amongst the Grubs. We will not tolerate this and I want to shoot them on sight but Our Glorious Leader has decreed that they be captured alive and brought back to the Ministry for questioning."

"I'm killing those suckers on sight" Dawson whispered in my ear. Silently I agreed. A few of my bullets would be going stray on this mission.

Villa went on, "We are going in first. Battle Captain Brystov's company will go in behind us and Captain Hun Lee's will enter last. Battle Captain Mac Sweeney will remain in reserve. Colonel Koscheck will be in overall command and will monitor from headquarters."

I did the math, three companies with one in reserve meant that there would be two hundred and forty going in, with eighty in reserve. That was much less than we usually went in with, but I suppose that they were only Grubs. Yes they had a few Uppers thrown in with them, but that shouldn't pose too much of a problem. In fact this should be easy; Dawson could manage it on his own. Maybe the bosses are holding something back from us. With the brief over some Grubs brought us our pre battle drink of mood enhancers, proteins and stimulants. It tasted of raspberry this time and I drank it down in one and immediately I felt it go to work. My senses tingled, my muscles tight and bulging felt strong enough to take on Dawson who was a genetic superman, seven feet tall and three hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle.

We left the chapel pumped up and ready and made our way to the hanger. As we were going underground we would be using our tanks instead of the drop ships we usually used. The hanger was dark, with thin lights casting muted rays of light over the hulking beasts that were our tanks. I could see ours, The Equalizer, as we nicknamed it up ahead. Like our ship, it was a beautiful creation. Twenty foot high with huge thick wheels encased in a metal caterpillar track and laden with rockets and guns. On top was the gun nest and from the nest stretched out the ten foot cannon, capable of firing 200mm high explosive squash head ammunition and believe me, when those babies hit something its goodnight sweetheart. There were also three smaller pods, from which machine guns jutted out. These guns, although much smaller than the cannon were also powerful and fired .70 caliber armor piercing rounds. The tank was also equipped with flamethrowers, grenade launchers, sonic boom guns and one small nuclear tipped bomb for when the battle was lost. There was no way our enemy was getting their hands on our machines, not when we were leading on the new technology front.

I slipped on my helmet and switched it on. My visor sprang to life and I could see the hanger clearly. My stats were displayed down the side as were those of my battalion buddy Dawson. We fought together, drank together, bunked together and would die together (I hoped). My ear piece crackled a bit then the familiar voice of the computer spoke in my ear. "Battle armor functioning normally, gun and ammo check reveals no abnormalities. It is safe to proceed with the mission."

The next voice I heard was that of my squad leader, Sergeant Lo, "Viper squadron form up on me."

We all ran over and lined up, all fourteen of us, two by two, Dawson beside me; Davies and Grabowski in front; O'Neil and Rhybus behind. Lo, our squad leader since Sergeant Kim bought it, stood at the front tall and proud, his rifle across his body, "Comrades, Viper, Leopard and Scorpion Squads will go in The Equalizer, I know it will be a tight squeeze, you can thank Man'aa and his fat ass for that." Everybody laughed; I could hear them in my earpiece. "We will make our way to the site. They will be expecting us so nobody do a thing until I say, I don't want any heroics until we are ready, you got that Dawson?"

"Yes sergeant."

"Good."

"Asshole." Dawson replied forgetting about the mic and earpiece.

"I heard that idiot, you're on a charge; I'll deal with you when we get back, that's if you make it smartass." I had no doubt in my mind that Dawson would make it back. There's yet to be a soldier finer than Dawson and I'm alive because of him, I owe him everything. "Now everybody in the tank quick as."

We all got in the tank. I sat beside Dawson as I always did and got squashed against the arm rest. His massive bulk could be a hindrance sometime. The tank was fitted out for forty people and we would have fitted in fine but in our age of genetic advancement our soldiers were getting bigger. There were at least nine Supers, as we called them, in the tank; each one around seven feet tall. Some were shorter and some were taller and I remembered seeing a nine foot monster a few years ago at the Battle of Oklahoma. She took out about fifty of us out with her cannon and I went down with my foot blown off. Dawson took her out with his blade when his cannon jammed, threw it straight through her neck. He got a medal for that one. The Supers took up two spaces and there were grumbled from my comrades, but that was all it would be. None of us were strong enough to take them on as Corporal Yongpo will tell you.

Our tank trundled slowly out of the hanger followed by the other tanks which held the rest of my comrades. Lo sat at the front beside the civilian driver, who looked Grubish to me, in silence. His orange shoulder pads were dented and I wondered what happened. The tank, on entering the highway sped up and I looked out of the window as we sped past the unbroken grey jungle of the city.

We drove on through the Weyland Quadrant, which was where the Grubs lived, and stopped at the muster point. We had nicknamed the area Grubsville; the Grubs called it, 'The Free City' and believed that they were actually free. In reality, in our world, they weren't free and were lucky that Our Leader allowed them such a place. If I had my way, I'd wipe them all out now because, as I have been taught from day one, I believe in Our Leader and I am merely here to do His bidding and those who do not believe in Him are my enemy. I cursed the Grubs in the Name of Our Leader.

Lo and the driver conversed with their visors up and I couldn't hear what they were saying, not that I could anyway because Dawson, as usual, was singing in my ear. After a few minutes Lo's voice sounded in my ear, "Listen up comrades, we are about fifty clicks from the Dekard District. We are going in from the east; the others will go in from the south. Once we've destroyed the building above the cavern, we're going in first; Viper leading. Got that."

We all stood up, struck our left fist against our chest and shouted, "In the name of Our Leader yes sir."

We all sat down again and I saw Captain Villa exit out of a small room at the back of the tank. He was carrying his helmet in his left hand and his rifle in his right. He walked the line, checking each of us out and stopped at O'Neil, "Tuck that hair in private" he said pointing at her long blonde hair which was sticking out from underneath her helmet.

"Yes sir" she promptly answered and stood up. She pulled off her helmet and tied her hair back. She was beautiful, very Scandinavian looking with ice blue eyes which complimented her high cheek bones. Her perfect face was marred only by a large burn scar which covered her left eat and part of her face, a memento of a disastrous flamethrower malfunction at a little skirmish just outside Toronto a few years ago. Once her hair was fixed she put her helmet on and sat down. Villa walked to the front and sat beside Lo. I thought of the mission ahead but wasn't scared, the drink was still working and I was confident and fearless.

After about twenty minutes we stopped. I peered out of the window and saw a desolate place, devoid of charm and meaningful life. Grubs of various shapes and sized sauntered about as grey as the sky. This place was horrible with crumpled buildings and rubbish everywhere; broken transports and craters littered the floor and the buildings which were standing were pallid and decrepit.

This mission should be easy. Villa spoke again, "Standby, commencing firing in one minute, nobody exits this transport until I say."

I counted down in my head, eager to get out there and do Our Leader's work. I checked my rifle again, and read my stats; looking good as usual. When my count hit twenty the firing started. It didn't come from us. From buildings all around us the sound of thousands of bullets filled the air. I could hear them hitting the tank armor, could hear the clang of metal against metal and knew that the bullets were big. Grubs didn't have weapons that big and I wondered what was going on. The turrets above us sprung to life and we returned fire, spraying the buildings with wave after wave of metallic death. The cannon fired, the noise deafening and I was glad of my helmet and its protection. The fire fight lasted for about three minutes and we sat in silence. Outside the air was thick with smoke and I struggled to see anything out of the windows. The front screen was cracked and to my surprise Lo was headless, his blood and brain was splattered over Captain Villa. Villa turned around and with his strong unfaltering voice said, "In the name of Our Leader, Yongpo you're sergeant, Rhybus you've just made corporal."

Both replied, "Yes sir."

There were a few congratulatory handshakes and back slaps and we then we were out and on the ground in battle formation. Most of the smoke had cleared and I could see more of the devastation our tank had made. Almost all of the buildings were gone and in the smoking ruins I could see the burning bodies of Grubs and traitors Uppers alike. I cursed the Uppers, how could they turn against us and Our Leader? I was proud to be an Upper, to be above the Grubs and their heretic ways and I cursed the traitors. They had got what they deserved.

Villa spoke again, "Form them up sergeant."

"Yes sir," Yongpo said, "Battle formation men, on me."

We formed up in a V-shape, with Rhybus at the front and the rest of us fanning out behind him. Yongpo and Captain Villa, who decided that he would go with our squad this time, took up position at the rear and we set off at a slow jog. The ground was strewn with rubble and spent shells and we ran over them keeping in formation. Co-ordinates, programmed by Captain Villa's computer, appeared in my visor and we ran towards the site. Occasionally small arms fire came from the rubble and we, as a unit, returned the compliment. Twenty meters from the target Rhybus stopped us and ordered us to stand in a line. He ran to the back and conversed with Villa and Yongpo. We were given instruction a minute later by Villa.

"We will split into two sections, the first seven Troopers will go with Sergeant Yongpo, and the rest of you will go with Corporal Rhybus. Yongpo you are A section, Rhybus you are B section."

We all answered, "In the name of Our Leader yes sir."

Yongpo shouted, "A section on me."

We all formed up behind him and we started running off towards a fallen building. I could see B section to our right running in battle formation, their guns pointed out in front ready to kill for Our Leader. Behind us, the other three squads which made up our company held fast, protecting us from any attack which might come from the rear. We ran on, all of us, shouting Our Leader's name. On my stats screen I saw that my heart rate was increasing too fast, in my fervor I was becoming over stimulated and my computer administered a small dose of sedative to calm me down. My heart rate instantly decreased and I felt sick for a moment, but a short dose of adrenaline to counter the sedative leveled me out. Our in suit computers were excellent, a true marvel of just how far we had come. The computer controlled everything: GPS, health stats, psychological wellbeing, and weapon function ability. It could also show you your comrade's stats and told you when you were given an instant battlefield promotion (skill dependent). My favorite aspect of the computer suit was the medical part. The computer could administer drugs when the Trooper was in need of a boost. When the mood enhancing drink wore off the suit, if needed, administered adrenaline and stimulants to keep the soldier going or sedatives and blockers to calm them down if they got too excited. We had medics as well who could also administer these drugs to us. They could even override any substance we administered to ourselves because all of our stats were programmed into their computer. On a few occasions, in past battles, medics had boosted me when I got scared. I hoped I wouldn't be scared on this mission, but I had never fought underground and I was a little apprehensive.

Our speed served us well and Yonpo halted us outsider what was left of a tower block. On the ground below us was a large hole which was above a dark cavern. Yongpo ordered Dawson forward and instructed him to fire off a shell from his bazooka. Usually Devastator Troopers carried bazookas because their size allowed for easy carry, but Devastators although devastating were slow and we didn't have any on this mission. Dawson, the seven and a half foot monster, loaded up the tube and fired down into the cavern. The sonic wave was huge and I felt the ground rumble. Mintu, who was standing beside me, lost her balance and fell over. I picked up whilst silently laughing to myself.

Once the smoke and fire had cleared Yongpo ordered us into the hole. From my back pack I took out a long thin metallic rope which had a dart like attachment tied to the front and put it down the barrel of a small flare type gun I had strapped to my belt. The dart clicked in and I fired the dart into the ground. The gun was so powerful the dart embedded itself into the ground and I jumped into the darkness, the rope trailing out beside me. My comrades joined me in the descent.

About three hundred meters my feet hit solid ground. It was dark so I flipped my night vision on and saw that the cavern was smaller than I thought. Several tunnels led off in various directions and once we were all on the ground Yongpo ordered us to buddy up. I found Dawson easily and after a short briefing we split up, each of the pairs taking a tunnel each. With Dawson at my side I felt confident and he led us down the twisting dark tunnel. Occasionally we came across the charred remains of things that could have been Upper of Grub, it was hard to tell. Unfazed we moved on, Dawson counting his kills as we walked. Our tunnel led into another tunnel and we found O'Neil and her battalion buddy Amoah. The four of us walked on, down the twisting tunnel. The temperature was getting hotter, I could see it rising on my visor screen but I didn't feel it because my suit kept my temperature at a very comfortable level.

The tunnel opened into another large cavern. We were alone, the four of us, and we scanned the cavern looking for signs of the enemy. Our scanners were silent, no bleeps and we relaxed a little. I wondered where the others were, and if they had discovered anything. Against one wall was a large rock and just as I was about to sit down my earpiece screamed in my ear, "Comrades to me, everybody on me." It was Captain Villa's voice. Is computer linked in with ours and new co-ordinates appeared on my visor.

"Let's go." Dawson shouted and we were up and off. Our computers had scanned the tunnels and we easily found Villa. He was standing in the centre of a massive cavern alone, his gun pointed and ready."

"Everybody here, double time." He commanded.

We ran over to him and stood beside him, our scanners picking up multiple hidden enemies. There were hundreds of them, their dots so many that they formed large yellow blobs on my visor. My adrenalin went through the roof and my suit countered it with a burst of downers.

"What's going on?" O'Neil asked, "Where are the others?"

We didn't have long to wait for the rest of the squad ran into the cavern. We all, as a unit, fanned out and took up battle stances. Yongpo and Rhybus spoke with the captain through the headsets and my legs started shaking. I hoped my suit would have enough chemicals to keep me moving.

"What do we do Captain?" Yongpo asked.

Villa didn't answer; his head was bobbing from side to side; from his movement I guessed he was terrified; maybe he wouldn't make it to Battle Captain after all. "Brystov, Hun Lee come in, can you hear me, Brystov Hun Lee where are you?"

There was no answer from the other Captains and I felt something bad wash over me. From a tunnel to the right there was movement and we spin around guns at the ready. I squeezed my rifle's trigger but stopped when I saw that it was my comrades who had arrived. Two squads lead by Sergeant De Bois and Sergeant Tae-se ran into the cavern with their squads who were depleted. Tae-se with five Troops and De Bois with four.

"What happened men?" Villa asked.

"Resistance" Tae-se added, "They surprised us in one of the tunnels, a few of us bought it."

"We'll mourn later" Villa said and went on, "Form up with the rest; it's going to get messy." We all stood in the centre of the cavern, the dots multiplying as we watched our screens with disbelief. My guts started somersaulting and my throat went dry. Villa sounded in my ear again, "Hold fast Troopers, do not fire until ordered to."

There was a movement to the left up in front and a nervous Trooper fired. Less than a second later my finger was pumping the trigger and bullets were flying through the dank cavern air. The flash from Dawson's Gatling type rifle illuminated the bodies of my comrades who were standing beside me. I could hear Yongpo and Villa shouting, "Cease fire, cease fire." Nobody listened and it wasn't until Tien Len, who was almost as big as Dawson, slapped them across the back of the helmet that they stopped. Captain Villa raised his hand to get our attention and it all went bright.

A loud explosion rocked the cavern and I was blinded by a white light. The blast knocked me onto my back and I lay stunned. The world went silent and my visor screen went blank. I bashed my head on the floor, hoping that only a circuit was loose but my screen remained blank. My computer was out and I was helpless. From outside my helmet I heard muffled bangs and blasts. I flipped my visor up and felt the hot moist air of the cavern on my face. Dawson was above me, his gun lighting up the darkness which suddenly had enveloped us. Our computers were down and we were fighting blind, with only muzzle flash and flame-throwers to guide us. I grabbed hold of Dawson, and fired with my left hand. In front of me, and in the darkness, I could see dark shapes moving towards us. Dawson was cutting them down, whoever they were. All around me my comrades were engaged in desperate battles, and every now and again I heard one of them scream out in pain. Bodies fell and comrades died in pain. I felt bullets hit my armor and I cried out to Our Leader for protection.

In front of us I could see hundreds of bright green dots and they were encroaching on us. I was confused for a moment and then I realized. It was the Grubs. Their eyes were glowing in the dark and they were attacking us with confidence. They could see in the dark and we were pinned down like a butterfly in a collection. It was every Trooper for themselves and we fought alone, firing our rifles and throwing grenades in a desperate attempt to stay alive.I stuck as close to Dawson as I could, his rifle flash becoming my best friend. Wave after wave of Grub came at us and they were all armed. In the darkness I couldn't see how many of my comrades had fallen. Dawson and I were walking backwards, my ammo was running low and I prayed to Our Leader that my death would be a quick one.I felt a burst of pain in my right leg and went down. A series of direct bullet hits had destroyed the armor on my leg and a few had burst through, shattering my femur as they did. I cried out in pain and Dawson cried out too. He bent down, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder with ease. With his free arm he continued to fire that gargantuan rifle of his.

To our right was a big flash, and seconds later I felt a wave of energy hit us. Dawson went down as and as he was carrying me I joined him. I was lucky he didn't land on me. The cavern stayed illuminated and my heart leapt when I saw Captain Hun Lee and his company enter the cavern. They were pushing one of our huge spotlights and we were glad of the light. His Troopers were firing wildly, cutting down Grub after Grub and with the cavern illuminated I could see that there were Uppers amongst the Grubs; traitors who were armed and killing their former comrades. They, along with the Grubs, were cut down.

With the cavern illuminated I could see what was happening. Most of my company was dead, they lay on the floor in bits and some were so badly injured that I couldn't make out who they were. Corporal Yangpo lay in a heap, his yellow shoulder guards stained with blood, whose blood I did not know. Sergeant Tae-se, well half of him, lay with his back propped against the wall, and to his right lay what was left of one of his Troopers. We were surrounded by thousands of Grubs, not all were armed but those who were gained on us. We didn't need a supervisor to tell us what to do and those of us who were left formed together and fought our way out of the cavern. We managed to get into one of the tunnels and we walked backwards blasting those who got too close. I didn't walk, my leg was too badly busted and Dawson carried me without any effort.

With my blood loss increasing with each passing moment I passed out. Dawson had tried desperately to keep me awake by pinching me with his massive hand but the blood loss was just too great.

***

I woke up three days later in hospital. My right leg was gone, destroyed in that cavern of death and I had lost the sight in my left eye. I could feel stitches holding the left side of my face together and I ached all over. Dawson was sitting at my side, the chair barely supporting his bulk.

"Hey buddy, how ya feeling?"

"I've been better."

He smiled and gently ruffled my hair. "Look buddy I'd love to stay but I've got to get back. They're re-structuring the company."

"Who's gone?"

"Almost everybody: Yongpo, Rhybus, O'Neil, Mintu, Davies, Grabowski, Tarasov, Man'aa, Kozlov, Grybo, Talin, Hun Lee, Daniels, Hicks and Hamilton-Jones, all dead buddy." Tears welled up in my good eye and I turned away from Dawson, I didn't want him to see my weakness. "Don't worry Bud, I'm still here and once they've attached a new leg to your puny body we'll be crushing Grubs and Unbelievers like we always do."

I gave my best friend a smile and watched him leave the room. The funerals would be starting now and I desperately wanted to go to pay my respects but only if the nurses let me, and they were a tough lot, tougher than Dawson, and I knew my chances were slim to none.

I wondered about the battle and wondered how the Grubs had managed to disable our suits. And their eyes, how we could not have known that they could see in the dark? And why was this even possible? With these thoughts in my mind I felt troubled and wondered how long it would be until I served Our Glorious leader in battle again.