Starship Troopers: Havoc of Z-75

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Field Perimeter

He was starting to run seriously low on ammo, he had one belt with 200 rounds left, then he noticed Stitch working on a downed Marine and what was obviously a demolitions expert.

"Damit, Lyle, Kevin, Shawn, with me!"

He ran towards their position, the fire accompanying him ensuring him that there was at least some friendlies with him. Coming to a halt next to the marine whose name tag said Turaan, he opened fire, bug parts flying in all directions as the heavy rounds cut through them as his final rounds ran out, he crouched down

"Reloading! Lyle, Shawn, Stitch fall back, take that marine with you!"

With practiced ease of years and years of fighting, Daniel slipped the final belt into his machine gun, he cocked the action and stood up, opening fire, again the rounds swept through the swarms of bugs, it was then that he felt the ground starting to tremble under his feet, not waiting to see if it was a bug or an earthquake he let go of his machine gun, which snapped on the strap around his neck as it was suddenly released and he turned, grabbing Turaan and Kevin as he ran after the retreating marines, the ground caving in behind him to release the bugs that was digging their way up, he saw that the Lyle, Shawn, Stitch and the marine made it to the relative safety of the rock formation. Putting on a burst of speed for the last few yards he was relieved when his boots slapped onto the unforgiving rock, he let go of Turaan and Kevin and turned, grabbing his machine gun and opened fire as more bugs started to pour out of the new hole.

"Stevenson get the plasma pack for the medic and somebody get me ammo, I'm running on fumes here!!"

It was then that his ammunition ran out, looking he saw a discarded rifle and picked it up, checking the clip he found it nearly full, he turned and fired at the nearest bug, the rounds digging into the nerve stem, he laughed as he started firing at another bug

"Come on motherfuckers, come and get a taste of Thunder"

 

[Ravvyn]

Name: Kerrigan 'Stitch' Syphers
Specialty: Field Medic
Position: Rock Formation

She had gotten the marines wounds under control but there was still work to do and she couldn't do it where she was. Both Thunder and Turaan called for her to fall back so as she had with Banks she slung the man on her shoulders and made her way back, a slightly bigger chore being that this guy must have weighed over three hundred pounds with all his gear on. She brought him to where she left Banks glad to see he was still breathing. Both men were bad off and if they ever got out of this rock formation and to the base she would need help carrying them. Hearing Thunders call for ammo she finally took note of the large bag the marine she'd just carried to the formation had strapped to him. There was a good fifty pounds of ammo in that pack.

"Regenram!" She called out to him, tossing the pack near his feet. She assumed he found it as she had more pressing matters to attend to. After a quick check on Banks who was holding steady she resumed her work on the other marine Private Reichel. If it was possible he was in worse shape than Banks, even though he only had he one wound. The slash across his shoulder cut diagonally towards the center of his chest, depending how deep it was he may have punctured a lung or worse, his heart.

"This is gonna hurt." She warned him before digging her fingers into his wound searching for the depth. His heart was thankfully unscathed but he definitely had some damage to his lung. If he and she were lucky it would only be a superficial scratch, if not he could very well die due to drowning on his own blood. She rummaged her finger tips around the lung, it's integrity was holding which meant it hadn't been punctured bu the splintered ribs were a concern. They needed a proper medical facility.

"Any chance we're on our way to the base?" She called out to whoever was in earshot. there was little she could do here.

 

[Varshanka]

Name: Rachael "Ghost" Agymen
Specialty: Long Range - Sniper (Barrett M82A1)
Position: Mobile Infantry - Orbital Drop Shock Trooper


Rolling onto her back Ghost pulled her hand gun, firing at point blank range at the flier that had tried swooping in on her. Unfortunately for it, as a trained sniper, she detected the atmospheric disruption, as well as the whistle of air against it’s wings. The shot ripped through it’s neural cortex with a gooey wet mess exploding from its carapace.

Rolling back over with the skies above clear for the moment, Ghost scanned the area, taking out the more important targets first. Each dropping with a single pull of her finger. And as she searched for targets her scope traveled across one troopers backside and she paused for the briefest of moments. ‘Nice butt,’ she thought her weapon sweeping up and firing over his head, the neural center of the bug exploding.

 

[DormantEvil]

Name: Tali 'Talon' Turaan
Speciality: Specialist. Intelligence/diversion/demolition

Position: Standing on solid rock.

Running across the dirt whilst trying to keep some suppressing fire on the bugs was difficult, and as Tanker moved them along she did what she could. He liked taking control it seemed, and she smiled inside at the thought. She suspected a lot of the guys, and women would enjoy that.

Kneeling down as soon as they hit solid rock, she began to help Thunder keep the bugs back, taking over more specifically when he was reloading. Looking down over the land they had just retreated from, it was now plainly obvious they had been sitting on the fringe of a mass warren.

"Anyone bring the nukes? Now would be a good time."

She pulled another magazine from her webbing, slamming it home and raised the rifle again. This time taking more time as she was already running low. Each bug would have to die with less than a solid burst, so several smaller three shot bursts would have to do. Her eyes scanned down to over the terrain, stopping on the drop ship.

"Is anyone still down there?" she questioned, looking up at Thunder with a raised eyebrow.

Unless the drop ship had something to create a path, then they would be in trouble.

Behind her a bag dropped onto the ground, and she ripped it open. More ammunition.

"Here, I'll take over whilst you reload...I think more firepower is better." It was a stab at a joke, but her humor just never seemed to come across. Instead she passed over the bag, took a step forwards and began to cut down bugs with enthusiasm. At some point, she removed a grenade from her belt, slid it into the chamber and fired it into a gathering of bugs trying to move around to the side of the rock formation.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

He dropped the assault rifle when it ran dry and chuckled at Turaan's words, opening the bag he found that there was indeed belts for his machinegun as well. He pulled one out and fed it into his machinegun, cocking it and a second later the heavy rounds screamed through the air again, he shouted at Turaan over the firing of his weapon

"The nukes was stored along with the Javelin in the dropship, we will need to get to it"

He shifted so that he could reply to Stitch

"Just keep them alive Stitch, as soon as we had enough target practice we can head for the base"

The gun ran dry and Daniel pulled out two belts marked 1k, that meant thousand rounds per belt, pulling a tool from the pocket of his webbing, he linked the two belts, before loading it into the machinegun.

"OK guys and gals we need them nukes and the Javelin and we needed them yesterday! I'll be going down to the dropship to get them, who is with me?"

 

[DormantEvil]

Name: Tali 'Talon' Turaan
Speciality: Specialist. Intelligence/diversion/demolition

Position: Heroics and suicide...totally go hand in hand.

They were going to get the nukes. Fair enough. How they would do that, go straight through part of the field that was scattered with bugs. Most dead, but there were still many alive. Some already were dragging away their dead. It looked rather gruesome, but the less she had to deal with the better. She wouldn't complain.

Patting Thunder on the shoulder as she fell back to reload again, she checked her belt. Hopefully the dropship also had the spare ammunition crates, and the extra medical kit. They were going to need them.

"I'm up for a stroll down Suicide Lane..."

She laughed, putting a grenade ready in the chamber and making sure she was good to go.

"Lead the way, I'll take out chargers, flyers and anything not getting mowed down by your big gun."

Scanning the area, she could still see one of their snipers out off the side. Currently only the flyers seemed to be picking on her location. Kneeling down, she picked up any spare magazines for her rifle and stuffed them anywhere they would fit on her webbing. Making sure they were strapped in tight before stepping forward again.

"Let's go play with some bugs. Hoorah."

Gosh she hoped that would not come back and bite her in the ass, although, the lifespan of a mobile infantryman wasn't the best statistic. But fearing death would not be the way.

 

[Ravvyn]

Kerrigan looked at Thunder as he told her to keep them alive while they went off to play cowboy.

"What the fuck does he think I'm trying to do." She grumbled as she began to earn her nickname, stitching up Reichel's wound. He would need more work later but if she sewed him up for now he might at least be able to stop him from bleeding out. She could worry about internal bleeding later.

"How you doing Banks?" She looked up to him between stitches, he raised his one remaining hand and gave her a thumbs up. Tough son of a bitch he was. Then again this whole group was made up of tough guys and bad ass girls. Which was good because it didn't figure to get any easier from here.

"Please God let there be an end to these damn bugs." She finished her stitching and now could do nothing but protect them. The painkillers had set in and Reichel thankfully was able to hold his assault rifle up, she noticed Banks had dropped the pistol and snatched it back up, holstering it on her hip and cocking her shot gun hoping they would soon be evacuating the area and without anymore casualties.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - En route to MI-15 dropship

Three more marines offered to go along and Daniel picked up the last remainder of belts, he now had two thousand rounds on him and with a grim expression he motioned them forward. He led them along the rock outcroppings, only firing when absolutely necessary, but judging from the bugs that just seemed to drop dead, he knew that a sniper was hard at work. The last twenty yards to the dropship had no signs of rock and he just hoped that they could get to the dropship.

"Move move move"

He crouched down and aimed down the sights, just in case bugs did pop up, after they have crossed Daniel followed them, with a slight sigh of relief he ran up the ramp and into the holding area where Kilord was busy trying to open the secure locker. As Daniel moved closer to him, he finally got the combination right and opened the door, he looked up at Daniel in near panic

"I...I can't fire the Javelin...it's..."

Daniel shoved him aside and pulled the Javelin from it's holder and tossed it at one Marine

"You know what to do, waste that fucker before it kills our troops on that outcropping"

He pulled the two nukes from their holder and handed them to Turaan who clearly knew more about them than he did, he just knew they killed lots of bugs. By now the remaining marines held the blood plasma pack for the medic and more ammunition, he saw that there was a backpack labeled with his machine gun's number and he slipped it on, testing the weight. He went to the ramp and was on his way down when Kilord's voice squeaked up

"I'll have you court martialed for this"

Daniel turned to face him

"And I have witnesses who will tell the supreme command just how you refused to fire a weapon upon an enemy...traitor"

With those words Daniel walked down the ramp and opened fire as the warrior bugs around the Tanker was almost on top of them. Again parts was sent flying in all directions, then the Javelin's round whooshed past him and slammed into the Tanker, penetrating it's thick carapace and it exploded in a plasma ball that killed off nearly all the warriors around it. Daniel led the group back to where the remainder of the marines was holding their own

"Get that plasma to stitch"

He looked at Turaan

"You know what to do and once your done let Stitch look at that bump you carry with you"

He strode forward to take a place among the defensive wall of marines and opened fire, mowing down the remainder of bugs that still came streaming out of the warrens below.

 

[DormantEvil]

Name: Tali 'Talon' Turaan
Speciality: Specialist. Intelligence/diversion/demolition

Position: Heroics and suicide...totally go hand in hand.

As they made their way along the rocky outcrop, everyone conserved ammunition, and once they were out onto the flat ground again they made a way through. Once inside the drop ship, Tali took up a point position guarding the ramp. Keeping the bugs at bay along with the other MI troopers. When Thunder came back down the ramp, he passed the nukes to her, and she nodded her head and moved to a forward position. The other soldier prepared the launcher, whilst she armed the warhead. It started to beep and escalated in frequency. Sliding it into the launcher, she patted him on the shoulder.

"Fire in the hole!" she yelled out, letting everyone know the nuke was live and about to be fired.

He looked at the tanker bug, it had moved rather close...but was still out of range of hitting them with the blow back. He smiled, and squeezed the trigger. Launching one of the nukes straight into the tanker's abdomen. It exploded instantly. Turning the entire area bright orange and taking out a few more bugs that were nearby. Luckily everyone had taken cover behind the drop ship, which gave them enough protection.

"Let's move out, from higher ground I could probably get the bug hole and seal it up once and for all. I can't get shit on the angle from here!"

Slipping the nuke into her webbing, she shouldered her rifle. Ready to begin the trek back.

"You better make the call for everyone to move to the rocks, it doesn't look like he's going to anytime soon." Her words were spoken in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw attention to the fact she thought their commanding officer was a cowardly, non-combat worthy piece of bug shit.

 

[Varshanka]

Name: Rachael "Ghost" Agymen
Specialty: Long Range – Sniper (Barrett M82A)
Position: Mobile Infantry - Orbital Drop Shock Trooper

Firing, and killing Bugs was boring, if a mild adrenaline rush. They had no true sentience, so tracking them was simple enough and they didn’t dodge or make erratic motions. Unlike a human. Humans made harder targets.

So while they were an easy target, the challenge lay in killing them all. And that fucking Tanker wouldn’t move into position. Well, if it wouldn’t move into position, she’d have to take care of other problems, and maybe convince it to move.

Retargeting she aimed at another cute ass and then shifted downwards, a soft pull and the weapon fired, the shell transecting the space in a microsecond, ricocheting off a stone it deflected upwards, passing through a nerve cluster. Rendering the bug quite dead.

Shift and fire, shift and fire. The tip of her barrel moved centimeters, but her targets were yards apart. Her breath didn’t disturbed her surroundings, but the projectiles she fired killed with each whisper of passing air.

And kill she did, her supply was beginning to get depleted, but it would last. And each one would count, or she’d blow her own brains out.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

Turaan was right, why oh why can't they just have one competent CO left, he switched his comm unit to wide transmit

"This is Daniel Regenram, all units fall back towards the rock outcropping South East from the dropships, we have a nuke inbound in T minus twenty"

He noticed that more bugs was fixed on Stitch's position

"Help move those marines to shelter!"

He leveled his gun and started firing, how on earth did 28 not know of this amount of bugs? Was 28 even still standing is the other question. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on killing the bugs that was threatening to over run them, they were starting to run low on ammunition, their casualties was sky rocketing, they needed a break.

 

[Ravvyn]

Name: Kerrigan 'Stitch' Syphers
Specialty: Medic
Position: Rock formation.

Busy with her work she had to depend on the other MI's to worry about the bugs, she knew there would be more marines to treat but there was only one of her. She heard the call to move to the southeast side of the outcropping and quickly packed her things up preparing to make the move.

"Someone give me a hand with..." Her sentence was interrupted as a bug jumped into the narrow crevice she was treating the two marines in just barely missing her before charging at her. She barely ducked under a swiping claw and scrambled backwards. A pelting of bullets into the warrior bug allowed her to put some space between it and her before finally the assault of ammo brought it down. She looked back to see who killed it but they had already moved on and she saw nobody.

"Dammit, okay guys I'm going to get you out of here just.." Her words were again cut short as she saw her that her two patients Banks and Reichel had been beheaded, likely from that first swipe of the bug. Stitch fell to her knees, furious and disheartened at once to see her work wasted and two marines dead. She remained motionless as she stared at the two corpses.

 

[FelMarch]

Lester Bowville

"Stitch!"

Lester had been hurling himself throught the rock crevasses as best he could with his ungainly payload since the second Tanker had been reduced to paste and he'd abandoned the gunnery position aboard the dropship.

A screech from behind - a Warrior pressing up through the crevice behind him. The bastard was climbing down from above, each claw finding purchase instinctively on the rock. Wish I could climb like that...

Still, the narrow crevice meant the Bug was an easy target. He struggled about and let off a burst from his Morita. It screamed and fell in a jumble of mandibles and claws, blocking the way back. Good thing I weren't planning on headin' back that way anyway. He turned and kept running, almost sprinting right past the branch where Stitch was tending her injured troopers.

"Sitich! Hey, Stitch!" He rushed over to the kneeling Syphers and unlimbered his cargo. "Checkit! Coupla field stretchers from the dropship. Figured they'd come in handy for moving - the..."

It was at that moment he noticed that Banks and Reichel had earned their citizenship.

"Wounded. Ahh, jeez."

Lester put a hand on Syphers' shoulder. "C'mon, Stitch. Can't do nothin' more for these boys. But look on the bright side:

"You still saved the life of the most important trooper in these platoons, right?"

 

[Ravvyn]

Stitch had left the present, left the battlefield. She was back as a kid watching helplessly as her mother died. That helplessness and vulnerability she felt as a child manifested itself within her as she stared at the two men she'd worked so hard to save. She was snapped out of her psychosis when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up to him as he spoke, ignoring what she assumed was his attempt at humour and slowly got to her feet, finally coming back to reality as the sound of bullets and battle which had dimmed around her in that moment came back and she found herself momentarily disoriented.

"Are we falling back?" She asked solemnly taking one last look back at the two marine bodies that would soon become food once they retreated.

 

[FelMarch]

Lester Bowville

Name: Lawrence "Lester" Bowville
Speciality: Electronics Tech
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

Lester shrugged, covering the crevasse with his rifle. "Back, foward, down, up, don't much care right now. Long as it means killin' Bugs and gettin' our asses to safety - whatever that means 'round here."

He knelt, took the bloody dog-tags from what remained of the two troopers' necks, looked over the medical gear Sypers had spread out. "Let's make sure their families get these, huh? Need me to carry anything?"

 

[DormantEvil]

Name: Tali 'Talon' Turaan
Speciality: Specialist. Intelligence/diversion/demolition

Position: Higher ground run.

Forming a defensive perimeter they moved off, making their way up the slight rise in terrain to come up to the side of Stitch and Lester. The rocky outcrop was a good angle to fire the nuke down into the center of the bug warren. Tali and the other marine moved off again. Climbing up on top of several other boulders to get the final height needed. Kneeling, the marine prepared to fire. Taking out the nuke launcher.

The added height drew the attention of several flyers in the area, who diverted their attention off one of the snipers. Taking a knee, Tali fired concentrated bursts, shredding the wings of the first one. Sending it crashing down into the rocks below.

The second one was tougher, it arched and dodged, obviously smarter.

But with almost the last of her magazine she shredded it's wings. It was coming in fast though, and with a shout she called out a warning to the marines below.

"Watch out!" Pointing at the falling beast. It looked as if it would hit the rocks directly above them, but that also allowed for it to crash down onto them from there.

Scanning the area around them quickly, and with a shout from her partner in nuclear crime, Tali lowered her rifle and armed the nuke. Sliding it into the launcher and patting him on the shoulder.

"Fire in the hole!" she called out over the comms. Letting everyone know that the main bug warren was about to get a nuke down it. The marine pulled the trigger, and the nuke was fired around the same time the flyer would have hit the ground. It did a bit of an arch before following the bug warren hole. Seeking out a deeper place.

Soon, after a few seconds had passed it detonated. And the explosion caused the majority of flat area including the drop ship to lift up. Then as if a wave was spreading out there were several rings of explosions that worked their way out. Like the ripples in a puddle of water. The drop ship fell down into the hole that was left. And not a bug seemed to move apart from those that had been far enough away. Numbers were dramatically reduced though.

With a cheer, she pumped the air with her fist. The marine beside her doing the same.

God I love those.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

"Sergeant Kilord? We have neutralized most of the bugs, seems like they are pulling back"

There was just static

"Sir?"

He frowned and looked at the marines close to him

"What now?"

"...zzzzzzrlt...fuel leak...can't move...help me!!!"

Daniel took a deep breath, he could see that the marines around him really didn't want to go back to fetch Kilord

"Hold on sir, we are..."

There was a loud WHOOMP and the dropship erupted in a fireball, the shockwave and flames killing a few bugs that was too close to the drop ship. Daniel rested his foot on a higher rock and looked down at the carnage, his arm resting on his thigh.

"He may not have been much, but he was a Marine"

Some of the Marines chuckled and Daniel just had to grin

"So who is in charge now?"

 

[LeoHawk35]

Name: Castel "Specter" Hawk
Specialty: Spec Ops - Recon
Position: Perimeter Outskirts

Specter turned and fired off another shot. He stood and moved off toward higher ground near the dropship, putting a round through a warrior that got a little too close to him. He clambered up the rocks and stopped at the top of the stack, turning to look through his scope at the bugs still advancing. He squeezed the trigger and a flyer dropped from the sky. He watched the main MI group advancing with the nuke launcher out of the corner of his eye. He heard a warning over his comms and then the nuke fired off into the main warren.

A bright blossom and the nuke detonated, frying the bugs standing near the hole and collapsing it. A cheer from the MI's on the hill. Specter heard something garbled on his comms and put his middle and index finger on the side of his helmet, turning the comms set to try and clear the signal. He turned to glance at the dropship and realized with a start that it was leaking fuel. He stood rapidly and ran at the edge of the rock set he was on. He jumped off just as the dropship detonated.

The heat slammed into him and pushed him further away. He hit the side of a slope and cursed several times as he rolled down the gravel. He hit the ground and a rock smashed into the back of his helmet. Stars danced in front of his eyes, but he stood anyway, shaking it off. His eyes shot upwards instinctively and he fired his rifle from the hip, taking down one of the last warriors around him. He dropped to a knee and coughed up blood inside his helmet. Blast. he thought to himself, and stood again, eyes scanning for any additional threats. Most seemed to be retreating, however.

 

[Ravvyn]

Name: Kerrigan 'Stitch' Syphers
Specialty: Field Medic
Position: Rock Outcropping

"No.. I'm fine." She responded to him as she angrily stuffed her supplies back into her bag and thrust it over her shoulder. She forced herself not to look at the soldiers she'd let down as she headed towards the others. Kerrigan was caught off guard as one of the drop ships exploded, her arms instinctively raising to guard her face. She watched as several bugs burned alive, she was almost paralyzed by the sight. Wishing her eyes could intensify the flames.

"Burn baby burn." She whispered to herself as she came up on Thunder.

I say we figure out who's in charge after we get to the 28. Guessin' we just lost the Sarge? Leaves very few options."

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

Daniel gave Stitch a grin

"And who do we listen to until we get there Stitch? Since you gave the order, why don't we just make you squad leader until we get to 28?"

He stood up straight, hefting his gun to point skywards

"C'mon Stitch it won't kill you"

He turned his attention towards Ghost

"Or how about you? You seem capable to give an order or two"

He grinned again

"Don't worry people, it's not permanent, just until we get to 28's HQ, better step up before the bugs decide again that we look tasty"

 

[FelMarch]

"'Ey, Thunder!" Lester said with a grin on his face, offeirng the big trooper his fist. "Ro-sham-bo you for it!"

Lester dropped his fist and shook his head. "Regenram, you're big, you're dumb and you got no sense o' self-preservation. 'Cha know what? Y' ain't Kilord, 'n' that right there's one shitload of an improvement. Lead the way, Boss."

 

[DormantEvil]

Name: Tali 'Talon' Turaan
Speciality: Specialist. Intelligence/diversion/demolition

Position: Pecking order...run from responsibility.


Jumping down to join the rest of the squad, Tali laughed at the thought of promoting one of their own. Some of them were purely here just to kill some bugs, and get their citizenship at the end. A privates life wasn't that bad if you ignored the cannon fodder element.

"Yeah, you know, I think I might have heard Kilord actually promote you in the field to Sergeant before the dropship exploded. Something about realizing he was doomed and the necessity to continue the command. Something else about how awesome we all are, and how he was glad to have served with us, bla bla bla."

There was a devilish grin plastered across her face, and she hopped off to keep an eye on the perimeter.

 

[DeathsKnight]

Daniel Regenram

Name: Daniel "Thunder" Regenram
Speciality: Heavy Machinegunner
Position: Z-75 - Rock outcroppings

He shook his head as even more Marines voiced their opinions in the support of making him squad leader.

"Just great, just because I have some experience you think I'm a leader. Well don't blame me if you wind up dead"

He checked that his weapon was locked and loaded and held it at arms port

"Alright ya saps, mount up and move out, if you are hurt Stitch will check you out on the move"

Leading the way down the outcropping, Daniel felt that same resignation, which he always felt when there was no fighting to do and he had to lead other people.

 

[Ravvyn]

Name: Kerrigan 'Stitch' Syphers
Specialty: Field Medic
Position: Rock Outcropping

She scoffed at the idea of putting her in charge. Knowing he wasn't serious, or at least if he was he was crazy. She was in charge of fixing soldiers, something she wasn't doing a good job of so far.

"Yeah of course it's not your fault if we die. Everyone will be busy pointing their finger at me." She was still racked with guilt over the two marines that died in her care, there was nothing she could do about it but it didn't make her feel any better.

 

[FelMarch]

"Oh, yeah," Lester replied. "For sure. Me too. I'll be all, Hey, it was Stitch's fault I ran out of ammo. And, like, if it weren't for Stitch, the racks on the Buford would be all nice and soft! Oh, and why did stitch have to make my Daddy beat me and my brother when we were kids?"

Lester turned and jogged up beside Regenram. "Speakin' o' things bein' people's fault, Danny-boy: I look at it this way. All ya gotta do is screw up a coupla times, then they bump the obviously superior trooper - me, by the way - up to 'toon corporal and you don't gotta worry about it any more!

"Anyway, just how far is it to the two-eight's last position? And, um..." He leaned closer. "You worried about Sitich as much as me? She's takin' them two troopers dyin' on 'er pretty hard."