Dawn barely touched the horizon on the planet's surface when the screaming started. The Helldivers had barely touched down before they were tossed into a whirlwind of explosions and automated gunfire.
Corporal Duke “The Pro” Maxfield blinked hard as he took in the carnage around him, hearing a familiar voice through his helmet comm.
"Wake up, A5. Wake up! WAKE UUUUPPPP, DAMN IT! WHYYY?!?” screamed a fellow Helldiver, clutching the scorched armor of what had once been his teammate, A5. The twisted remnants lay motionless, a brutal reminder of what a direct hit from a plasma turret could do to a man.
But there was no time for mourning—not here, not now.
"SAVE YOURSELF! EVERY GOD DAMN MAN FOR THEMSELVES!" another voice shrieked over the comms, the panic palpable as a desperate Helldiver broke from the group, sprinting toward a pile of rubble.
The AI buzzed in Duke's ear, its voice cool and clinical. "You have engaged hostiles. Objective remains to secure the outpost and neutralize robotic resistance. Liberty depends on it."
Liberty? Yeah, right, Duke thought. What kind of liberty is this? Ducking behind cover, he looked up just in time to see a wave of towering, metal-clad androids emerging from the smoke like a relentless storm.
"You robot motherfuckers," someone hissed over the comms. "You'll pay... for what you've done!"
Duke grinned grimly, clutching his rifle as he watched a Helldiver leap out, throwing himself against the robot onslaught. "FOR LIBERTY AND ALL THINGS HOLY!" the Helldiver yelled, blasting away as he moved forward.
“All men get down!” shouted Trent, diving for cover as more bullets peppered the ground around them. He shot Duke a look as they took cover together. “Hold on, Maxfield, this is about to get worse.”
They barely had a second before the screech of a descending bomb filled the air. The team’s demolitions expert, Sergeant Mel “Boomstick” Jansen, cackled through the radio. “500-pounder going in on that SOB! BACK UP FROM IT, A4!” The grenade she tossed landed squarely in the midst of the robotic front line, the blast lighting up the area in a wave of searing heat and twisted metal.
Yet even as the androids were obliterated by the explosion, more swarmed out of the dust and smoke, undeterred, methodical.
“We’re surrounded; they got me fucking surrounded! Fuck!” screamed a nearby Helldiver, his voice hoarse with fear. Plasma rounds zipped past him as he frantically reloaded his weapon, eyes wide.
"We're moving; let's go!" Duke ordered, grabbing Trent by the shoulder and dragging him along as the team reformed, pushing toward cover. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burning metal, their only light the orange glare from the battlefield.
Just as they gained ground, Duke spotted a massive android with rotating arm cannons bearing down on them. One Helldiver fired off a round and dove out of the way of its bullets, rolling into prone position, then crawling forward, trying to avoid the rain of plasma rounds. He spun left and right as bullets narrowly missed him, each turn miraculously dodging death.
The Helldiver laughed, a man on the edge. "Motherfucking robots! Hahaha! I’m Jesus incarnate! Oh FUUUU—" His bravado was cut short as a searing plasma bolt tore through his armor, sending him sprawling, lifeless, onto the ground.
Duke gritted his teeth, his focus narrowing as he raised his rifle and took aim at the approaching robot. He fired off three precise rounds, the first two ricocheting off its armor before the third hit a critical joint, causing it to stagger. The machine emitted a high-pitched whirring sound, attempting to recalibrate, but Duke didn’t give it a chance.
