The Grand Offensive (Siren's POV)

### **The End is Near...**

For over a decade, Corpus has lorded over reality with an iron fist, its power insurmountable and indestructible.

But no more. Today, the brave men and women, those dauntless soldiers who still remember the old Earth, fight one last battle for its fate. They are Stronghold, and they will not flinch, nor falter.

But when your enemy blots out the stars... what hope can you possibly have?

### \_\_\_

Siren released a deep breath as the transport was shaken yet again by a volley of laser blasters. It was a terrifying thing to know you could be blown out of existence at any moment and there was nothing you could do about it. For now, though she was simply thankful that the shields were holding, and that a majority of Corpus' attention was on the large armada of Tri-Kingdom Alliance.

Siren had never been one for religion, especially not after the entire universe had fallen into the hands of tyrants, but she prayed for the Trussians, Cazathans, and Korribanites who were in those fleets. It was suicide, but it was the only way to get an opening for Stronghold forces onto the command ships.

She prayed for everyone else in the transport, that they would arrive at their destination and complete their own task.

She even prayed for the enemy... that they would get their just rewards and burn in an endless fiery pit for all of eternity. The German Shepherd didn't know if prayer worked like that, but she figured any morale boost was a good one.

She felt a hand being laid gently on her shoulder. She turned to her right, seeing a canine completely covered in a black, high-tech jumpsuit, with white gloves and boots, and a helmet, goggles, and mask that obscured his entire face. Siren herself was wearing the same uniform, as were the other 18 agents of R.O.P.E. in the insurrection pod.

The only thing that marked the agents apart, aside from body build, were small badges on their hearts and shoulders. This particular agent's crest was blue circuitry on a golden background, denoting the agent himself as Duke, Siren's partner in both war and love.

"I'd say something encouraging, but, uh... wouldn't want to jinx us..."

Siren managed a small chuckle. For all the darkness of the last decade, he'd been a point of light. Always there with a joke, or a movie reference, even when staring death straight in the eye.

Others might take that as naivety. Siren knew it was because Duke was just as terrified as the rest of them, and, while he might allow himself to get depressed, heaven forbid he allow anyone else to fall into despair.

That went triple for Siren herself.

"Prepare for impact in 30 seconds," came the pilot over the intercom.

The time for thoughts was over. Siren took a deep, calming breath before performing one last check on her loadout. Despite this easily being her millionth time doing such routine, a shadowy sense of fear still persisted in her veteran mind.

"Activate HUD", she barked.

Siren's visor lit up. Immediately, her field of view became illustrated with details about her vitals, equipment, squad status and environment.

Her gun, a plasma carbine, swung out and rested on her shoulder. Siren checked her ammo. 2500 plasmic units, enough for two days of firefighting. Next, she inspected her equipment: grapple hook, tactical sensors, grenades, medspray, knives, stims. This amalgamation of weapons and gadgets weighed a ton, yet the metallic exo-chassis that wrapped around her back and legs offset the mass to near nothing.

Suddenly, the pod was plunged into total blackness before being illuminated by an angry red light.

Impact in 15 seconds.

Siren survey the insurrection pod for perhaps the final time. Her HUD briefly went blank except for a single message.

*Mission objective: Secure blackhole generator. Destroy if necessary.*

10 seconds.

Siren held her breath, closed her eyes and waited for the imminent impact.

It came with a deafening shriek as the pod's diamond drill-head pierced through the Corpus capital ship's hull. The sudden change in inertia produced a jolt that nearly ripped her through her harness.

A few seconds later, the exit hatch buzzed open and smoke poured into the room. In a rushed yet orderly fashion, Siren went down the ramp with her carbine raised. Duke was in front leading, his dual energy repeaters poised to decimate anything that moves.

Coming out of the smoke, Siren could see they were in the middle of a long, empty corridor. It was dark for a few burning embers from their pod's "sudden" insertion.

"Status report" Duke inquired through the radio.

"Area clear." An agent responded.

"Right. First order of business, find a computer terminal, it should hold ship schematics. From there, we find our way to generator," Duke said as a blue light emitted from his helmet, scanning the walls.

"Power lines point to the right. Move-out!"

She followed him down the hallway, before turning to the right and passing a few identical hallways, then a left, another right, down yet another corridor, then-

"Contact!" came the shout from behind them. A small Corpus trooper detachment had come through one of the hallways they had passed. The largest members of the team, Luxembourg, Matterhorn, and Crates had already deployed their portable barricades. Corpus unfortunately didn't have the decency to make those Star Wars-styled corridors with the nifty outcroppings one could use for cover.

"Jammer active!" shouted Duke, tapping a few buttons on his wrist mounted computer. Corpus would still lose contact with these guards... but that was **all** they would know.

And with that, Siren took aim, centering one of the three trooper's heads in her sights before pulling the trigger.

A bolt of green plasma streaked through the air, splashing against the crimson energy shield of the Corpus trooper, who took little, if any, notice.

Siren ducked back behind the energy barricade as a volley of crimson laser fire cut through the air. Stronghold did **not** have the shielding technology their enemies did... and that tended to weight even skirmishes like this in Corpus' favor.

"Siren," barked Duke, coming back down after taking a few shots of his own, "Take Halifax, Welsh, and Calavera to flank them. We can't afford being pinned in a firefight right now."

She and the other three named agents nodded, before getting up and running as someone threw a smoke grenade at the enemy.

*Mores soon...*