"GREEN LIGHT! GO! GO! GO!"
The ramp of the dropship hissed open, and the smell of rot hit us instantly.
Shadow Creek wasn't a creek. It was a festering wound on the planet's surface. A swamp of toxic sludge, towering alien fungi, and fog so thick you could chew it.
We jumped. My boots sank into the mud with a wet shluck.
"Form up on me!" I screamed over the comms. "Wedge formation! Miller, watch your six! Jax, take point!"
"Damn, it stinks out here!" Miller gagged, his helmet filters whining.
"Cut the chatter," I snapped. "Hostiles in 3... 2... 1..."
ZREEEEEE!
The air lit up. Red plasma bolts screamed out of the fog.
"Contact front!" Jax yelled, revving his heavy chaingun. BRRRRRRT! The sound was deafening, a chainsaw tearing through the humid air.
"Jax! Shield!" I roared.
Jax didn't hesitate. He slammed his left arm forward, expanding a blue energy barrier. A split second later, a heavy plasma round smashed into it, sizzling against the field.
"Whoa!" Jax laughed nervously. "Nice timing, Boss! That would've cooked me!"
I know, I thought. In Life #3,300, it melted your face off.
I was moving on autopilot. My brain wasn't processing the battle; it was remembering the choreography. I had danced this dance five thousand times.
"Elara!" I shouted, not even looking behind me. "Sniper in the tree line! Eleven o'clock! High branch!"
"I don't see—"
"JUST SHOOT THE FUCKING BRANCH!"
CRACK.
Elara fired blindly into the fog. A scream echoed, and a cloaked alien sniper fell out of the canopy, hitting the water with a splash.
"Holy shit," Miller breathed. "How did you know?"
"I read the script!" I lied, pumping my shotgun. "Miller! Step left! Now!"
I grabbed Miller by the back of his vest and threw him into a patch of thorns.
"Hey!"
BOOM.
A mortar shell landed exactly where Miller had been standing. The shockwave rattled my teeth. Mud rained down on us.
Miller looked at the crater, then up at me, his eyes wide with terror and awe.
"Get up!" I hauled him to his feet. "You die when I say you die, Private! And today isn't the day!"
We were a machine. No, I was the machine; they were just the passengers. I was micromanaging every step, every breath.
Duck here. Shoot there. Wait three seconds. Grenade now.
We carved a path through the enemy lines. It was flawless. It was a "No Hit Run."
"We're almost there!" Jax bellowed, his gun glowing red hot. "I see the extraction beacon! We're actually gonna make it!"
I checked my HUD.
[Casualties: 0] [Distance to Extraction: 200 Meters]
I felt a surge of adrenaline. A dangerous drug called Hope.
Maybe this was the one. Maybe the variable had changed. Maybe I was finally strong enough to cheat the House.
"Push!" I screamed, blasting a drone out of the air with my Ouroboros arm. "Run! Don't look back!"
We sprinted toward the bridge. The dropship was descending, engines roaring, kicking up geysers of dirty water.
"Pie's on me tonight, boys!" Jax yelled, sprinting despite his heavy armor. "I'm gonna eat until I puke!"
Don't say it, I panicked. Don't trigger the flag.