Dummies vs Noobs

## Marcus Tsun, 23, Dominian Soldier (Assault)

`Map: Dune`

Running towards a group of fellow soldiers, dodging grenades and bullets and bionic kicks of cloakers. Recons fired at enemy infantry, attempting to cover me and other soldiers sprinting to the wall.

### 10 years ago

> I’m sorry young man. There’s nothing we can do.”
>
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> “No… we can’t lose him!” I yelled.
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> My brother had been mortally wounded in a battle against the noobs. I didn’t expect him to die this quickly. Only a year ago, he had joined the army. He was the only family I had left apart from Mom and Grandma. Grandpa, Dad, Uncle and my sister Sarah had been killed during battles with the noobs. My brother was always sharing about the battles he fought and triumphed. But his streak ended with a heavy cost: his life. I saw through the glass, sobbing as my brothers heart rate monitor went to a line. He was gone. I saw his bloodstained uniform on the bed with his body. Deep inside, I swore to avenge him.
>
>

### Present

Sprinting to the wall, I ducked behind a stack of crates, narrowly avoiding a shower of bullets.

I made it!

I peered out, seeing bodies of other domanians, who were not as lucky as me. I ran to the top of the wall. There, there were other soldiers shooting like crazy.

“Get down!”

Ducking as fast as possible, I saw what the fellow dummy had meant: a cloaker tried to kill me. Rolling and getting on my feet, and pulled the trigger.

***BANG!***

His lifeless body tumbled onto the ground. The bionic kick almost beheaded me.

“Thanks!” I said to the person. He gave a nod before continuing to fire at the noobs. The noobs summoned APUs to try to burn us. Rolling out of the way, dodging the APUs landing. Dashing to the back of the wall, yelling for someone to launch an RPG. Eventually a Recon Sniper managed to kill the operator. Seeing a group of shielders, I aimed into the eyeholes like my commander taught me.

***BANG! BANG! BANG!***

Sighing a sigh of relief, I ducked back to the sandbags. Soon I killed more infantry and cloakers. But eventually, I got caught of guard…

Firing at a squad of gunners, I did not know that a sniper was behind me. Concentrating on the gunners, the sniper aimed at my chest.

***Bang!***

I felt a burst of pain in my chest. “NO!” I heard a soldier say as I fell to the ground. It was the same guy who had saved me from the cloaker. Smiling a weak smile at him, I was thinking in my head.

*My end is near… Mom, grandma… I hope you know I’ve tried my absolute hardest. Jeffrey, bro, I’m going to the same place as you now. I’m coming…*

A gunner walked towards me. With a malicious look in his eyes, he released a shower of bullets onto me. Closing my eyes, I waited for the end.

***BANG!***

## Nariz Khai, 25, Noob/Nusian Soldier (Shielder)

Map: Archipelago

> Let’s get ‘em guys!”
>
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> ”YEAH!” We yelled back. The sounds of battle could be easily heard. Speedboats whirring . We were waiting to arrive at the Archipelago, to kill the dummies there. My friend was a shielder like me. We were going to kill dummies and help Tempest.
>
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> ***BOOM.***
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> We were suddenly hit by RPGs!
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> ”FIREEEE!!!” One noob screamed.
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> “JUMP! NOW!” Our commander said.
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> Without protesting anything, I jumped off the burning boat. My friend was behind me. Noobs were jumping off the boat. One was even on fire. Then, bullets rained on us!
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> “Come on!” I said.
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> Derek (my friend) and I dived underwater. Bodies of fellow noobs and the red of blood stained the water. Just then, I saw a small green object coming towards us.
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> ”RPG! DIVE!” I screamed.
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> *Boom.*
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>

### **3 hours later…**

> I awoke with a daze. My final memories were the RPG. Derek was still alive, elated I was too.
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> ”Let’s reach the island.” He said.
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> The situation was terrible. The dummies were holding off us extremely well it became worrying. If we couldn’t land, Tempest wouldn’t be able to come. We swam towards the island, noticing a dummy there. We shot at him. He surprisingly survived but barely. We shot hom in the chest, and he was motionless. Dead. We scanned the island. There was nothing else.
>
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> “Hello. Unit 4782 to HQ. This is Nariz Khai. I’m still a live with Derek Foreson. Other Noobs eliminated and all other of our unit is wiped out. Requesting backup!” I spoke into my walkie talkie.
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> ”Hello. HQ to Unit 4782 Nariz Khai. Received message, sending 10 more units. Call back when the island is ready for Tempest to arrive. Over and out!” The walkie talkie blared back.
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> Soon, I saw multiple boats! I swam towards the Archipelago. Shooting at dummies, Derek and I took out some soldiers. Help came and we wiped them out. Tempest was coming.
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> Once he came, more dummies came out. It turned out that they had a teleporter. If we take out these guys, we can teleport to their HQ!
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> Shouts of both dummies and noobs were heard as the battle raged on. Tempest shot his white-and-blue electricity rays at them, killing them in an instant. Firing my shotgun furiously, I took out a scout and recon. One had almost killed me. He rushed with a machete towards me while I was assisting others. Luckily Tempest saved me.
>
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> ”You ok, kid?” He asked me.
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> I nodded. More dummies came out and Tempest was almost killed. Blocking bullets they fired, I approached them slowly in an attempt to take them out with my shotgun. It’s more efficient in short range. Killing 3, one had a really powerful rifle called the Armour Peeler. Dodging rays similar to that of Tempests, I slammed him with my shield. He flew down, screaming for the gods to have mercy, and he hit against a metal barricade. Blood splattered everywhere he landed. He was motionless. We slowly escorted Tempest down the stairs, being fired at by dummies the whole time. Shielders like me and Derek formed a small barrier around the noobs. Recons killed one Cloaker, shooting him in the head. We silenced him quickly with our shotguns. The APUs soon joined us and the dummies were shooting more rockets at us. Our infantry threw a grenade. Wiped out a squad of recons just like that. The remaining dummies teleported away. One did not and glared at us. He had a few grenades in his hands.
>
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> ” We would let you live if you surrender and let us teleport .” A cloaker said with a malicious smile.
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> “As if.” He replied and threw all the grenades. I shot him, and the grenades were detonated. He did nothing. He lay on the ground, and he looked like he was writhing in pain. We walked up to the teleporter. All of a sudden, we heard him laugh.
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> “I’m going to die anyway. Might as well do this!” He pulled all the 10 grenades pins on his jacket.
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> *KABOOM.*
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> I flew into a wall, vomiting blood. The area was full of blood of the dummy and fellow noobs. He had killed himself, but he took me and 3 others with him. And the teleporter … he destroyed it.
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> “NOOO! NARIZ!" Derek screamed, shaking me. I cried tears of sadness while his were of grief and anger. Ma, Pa, Derek… I will go to the next world. Maybe one day I’ll meet you there. My blood was flowing like a river. I fell into the dark abyss… of death.
>
>

## Old Wounds

### Lara Svorik, 17

#### International Noobic College, 7th July 2043

”Attention students, please turn in your papers.” the robotic voice said through the intercom. There was a shuffling of papers as all the students closed their tests. One by one, the teachers got up and moved around the room, collecting tests in alphabetical order as they had done for the past several years.

Everyone filed out of the room. I couldn’t believe it. The middle of a war, and there were still exams!

#### 10th July 2043

I failed.

Almost scraped a pass, but at the last second I had changed my mind on one of the questions.

#### Dinner

I had smuggled a jar of antidepressants from the medicine cupboard and laced my food with maybe two or three of them. One way or another, I would eventually forget about all this.

Wooo, heart attack! My favourite surprise event!

#### Nusian General Hospital, 04:02, 11th July 2043

I woke up in a hospital bed. There was a faint beeping next to it, probably the heart rate monitor. My parents were standing over me, but they didn’t look happy at all. It was almost as if they wished I had died.

”What did you think you were doing?” my father said. “Thought you could get out of facing your failures?”

#### Home, 19:32

They shouted at me for an hour.

**A whole hour.**

Then they grounded me. I was a social outcast, they said. Everyone would hate me, they said.

That night, I ran away.

#### 17th August

I’d been living rough for the last month, working freelance jobs 12 hours a day to be able to pay for food. I had made several friends, one of which was [NAME REDACTED]. He was a washed-up war veteran with nowhere to go, just like me. The only difference was, he was 47. He said he had just come back from a war with the Dummies with five bullets in him and no pension. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not.

#### 22nd August

It was announced they were starting conscription for the war again. Decent pay, good food and a roof over your head.

I signed up.

#### 23rd August, 13:30

”Please fill in your forms. Any discrepancies and you will be fined in court.” the voice echoed.

#### 25th September, Unspecified Nusian Army Barracks

It was a pretty good life compared to what I had experienced at home.

I hadn’t been sent overseas yet. Our platoon - 742nd Nusian Munitions Specialists - was mostly training in weapons for the war several thousand miles away. I had been given a medigun and told to heal my teammates. They had also given me a machete for self-defence. Combat drills every day, followed by weapons training and target practice.

#### 26th September, 21:21

We had been called into action.

The Nusians were suffering too many losses attacking an archipelago west of Dominia. They kept attacking, hoping one day we would capture it and have a forward operating base against the Dummies.

The buzz of the transport helicopter’s rotors was the only thing we heard as we flew across the sea. The sun was shining. How ironic.

Against my intuition, I fell asleep. My watch told me it was 9 PM.

### 27th September, Archipelago

Someone tapped my arm. I woke up.

Bullet tracers whipped through the air near the helicopter, but sparked off whenever they hit it. The helicopter touched down in the sea near the north island.

”Go, go, go!” the pilot shouted. The rear doors opened; everyone filed out, including the pilot and the co-pilot. We’d landed behind a ridge that temporarily sheltered us from the Dummies, but sooner or later we’d have to attack.

Sooner or later was, apparently, now.

#### Wave 6, 14:22

I never understood why they sent us in waves. Why not just send all of us in a spearhead and capture the base?

#### Advancing Order

It was hard.

Nusians blindly rushed the central island from all directions. Dominians were firing back. Every so often, there was a scream and then a buzz as a defender was mangled by a Cloaker or an APU, and then revived.

We couldn’t get through. The medics kept reviving each other.

Our platoon leader gave the signal to advance and we crept over the ridge.

I flicked the switch of my medigun to “Operating”. At least I wouldn’t see any brutal deaths in the ranks of my teammates.

#### Subwave 2, 14:25

Apparently the Dominians weren’t expecting a medic on the enemy team.

The leader shouted. At once, eight guns opened fire in our general direction.

We passed by a Nusian infantry soldier. There were twenty bullets in him and he was begging to be put out of his misery.

I couldn’t let that happen.

The medigun shot a beam of purple light straight towards him. The blood staining the sand extracted itself and flew back into his severed arteries. His skin closed up and he stood.

”Thanks, I owe you a drink.”

By now, half of our attacking forces were dead. We had called in tanks and APUs, but they had been blown to pieces by RPGs. The platforms wouldn’t arrive until wave 7.

Bullets kept thudding into the sand or into a Nusian soldier, but the medigun kept healing. Everyone started grouping around me, hoping to be healed if they got shot.

#### Vitacharge, 14:30

I did not expect the medigun to create a force field, but - actually, you know where this is going.

Everyone was reloading. The force field would last half a minute, and then I wouldn’t be able to heal anyone for a few more seconds.

#### Shield Down, 14:31

The force field ran out, and immediately bullets wee raining down on the attackers. There was a Specialist on the enemy team, and he called in an artillery strike. Instantly, half my squad was blown to pieces, and blood splattered all over the sand.

“Lara! Can’t you heal them!?” someone called.

”I can’t! They’re already dead! And I can’t heal someone who’s in pieces!” I shouted back.

The medigun went back up, but it was too late. Three quarters of the attackers were dead. In fact, half of my Disaster Squad had been brought down and now there were about 10 of us left.

10 Nusians versus 8 Dominians.

Someone was using an Overcharger. Bullets sparked off them, and they were suddenly in the midst of us, hacking and slashing. Builderman wouldn’t have allowed this to happen. The war, the violence, any of it.

Suddenly, it was just me left.

*Oof.*

#### Extraction, 14:32

Wave 7 reinforcements were on their way. I would only have to survive for another minute, but that in itself seemed extremely unlikely.

I was, to put it lightly, screwed.

At least my Vitacharge forcefield was up, so I could scavenge weapons from the dead Nusians while the 30 seconds lasted.

Now I had an assault rifle, two grenades, and still my machete which had flown with me here from Nusia.

*Only a hundred to one, Lara, this is completely fine.*

The forcefield ran out.

I’d holed myself up in the control room.

A Dummy with a shovel entered, but the Medigun fired at him. His life force was being drained… he was literally withering before my eyes. He crumbled into dust before he had even reached the first row of seats. I wouldn’t have wished that kind of death on my worst enemy.

Slowly, the remaining seven Dummies advanced. I managed to down six of them, and was retreating back up the staircase. The extraction helicopter was already on the sand, and I could see a couple of Platforms in the distance.

One on one. The odds were even.

We faced each other across the pit. We had both raised our weapons, but I had made two mistakes. First; I was out of ammunition. Second, I didn’t react fast enough.

Almost immediately, three bullets flew through the air and hit me in the chest. Something warm trickled inside my shirt. Blood. The blue was rapidly becoming purple, and I was losing consciousness. At that point, my legs gave out and I crumpled into the sand, now slowly turning red around me.

He walked up to me, raised his assault rifle, and took aim. My vision was narrowing, and it was blackening too.

His smug face was almost all that I could see now. I had almost lost consciousness and probably had several minutes to live. Unfortunately, I had lost my Medigun while I was heading up the stairs.

I reached into my pocket, drew out one of the grenades, and pulled the pin. He saw the movement.

*”What are you doing?”*

I threw the grenade.

The explosion was louder than expected. It knocked him off his feet, but he quickly recovered.

I threw my machete.

It flew straight and buried itself in his arm. He dropped his assault rifle and yelled in pain.

I crawled towards the waiting helicopter. Two Nusian medics had already clambered out, and if I could reach them I would probably live.

I managed to haul myself onto the stretcher. A horn blared. Wave 7 had begun.

”Don’t worry, you’re safe now.” one of the medics said. I turned my head towards her face.

I smiled and blacked out.

(Transcribe note: Lara Svorik survived and is currently recovering in hospital.)

## Lara Svorik, 18, 742nd Nusian Munitions Specialists

### Nusian International College

I’d decided to give my education a second shot. After all, failing it had got me here in the first place.

When I recovered from my wounds, the doctors told me my parents had been conscripted into the war to attack a mansion.

My classmates were probably surprised to see someone barely an adult already with three bullet wounds, but they just silently stared at me and said nothing.

### 7th July 2044

Another exam. This time I’d studied harder and I was sure I’d pass.

### November 2045

Our battalion - now 100 people to complement the losses in the last year - was in Dominia. We’d been sent to defend a supply bunker the Dominians were attacking. I’d been designated “Gaia” and had even been given the title of a superunit.

### Wave 2, Subwave 2

They’d planted the bombs.

Now my objective was to stop them from escaping and blowing the whole place up.

We could see the location of each Dummy on our HUD, but killing them was a whole different matter.

### Lots of Saboteurs

Slowly but surely, we were gaining the upper hand. Dummies kept stepping on Saboteur land mines, wasting their teammates’ revives.

A Dummy with her Overcharge percentage set to full charged into the corridor. It was a tight squeeze, and about 10 infantry were killed by her before she stepped on a Saboteur land mine and was blown to pieces.

### Specialist

We’d cornered the last Dummy.

*”Freeze! Put your hands in the air!”*

He raised his hands. He was holding his strike tablet.

*“[EXPLETIVE], get back!”* the commander of the base shouted*.*

I saw his thumb press down.

**Artillery shells rained from the sky and decimated everyone.**

I was thrown back against a wall. After my eyes regained focus, I saw that everyone around me had been obliterated. The entire room had been stained red, and I was blinking blood out of my eyes.

The Dominian approached me. He raised his melee, presumably to kill me and everyone that was still alive.

*“Any last words?”*

It was the same one that I had thrown my machete at back on the Archipelago. His arm was bandaged. That’s how I knew.

I shook my head.

I turned my head away, expecting to feel the scorching pain of being stabbed or bludgeoned any moment, but it didn’t come.

One of the last surviving Infantry had crept up behind him and had got him in a headlock. Skall Zinquhao - I learned later that was his name from his ID card - managed to raise his melee behind him and hit the Infantry in the face. He crumpled into the snow - but he had done enough.

He turned back around. I was holding my machete.

He charged and there was a searing pain in my abdomen, like my skeleton had turned into a hot wire and was actively pressing against my flesh. I blacked out.

#### Nusian General Outpost Hospital, 1 Day Later

I was told by the medical staff that paratroopers had dropped in just after he’d stabbed me and killed him, then airlifted me out. I returned home. Not an easy life, but a preferable one to military service.

**(LOG END)**

## Last Defenders

> “Stronghold 5-5 , an Eagle’s Cry has been confirmed. They’re sending all they got left, give it all you’ve got. HOLD THE LINE!”- Aerial reconnaissance, wave 10.
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> Maximilian Morve, 19, Stronghold 5-5, Assault.
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> ”Show ‘em why we are here, what we’re made of, why we’re standing in front of them right now. STRONGHOLD 5-5, FIGHT TILL THE VERY END!!!!” The commander said.
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> 3 bosses, Tempest, Gaia and Sparta, and about a bajillion enemies spawned. Racing towards a group of infantry with my friends Ryan and Paxoy, I fired my rifle while Ryan fired his SMG and Paxoy with his medical bow. After successfully eliminating the first group, Paxoy and Ryan ran to the roof with me. However, a grenadier launched a grenade at me, sending me flying. Groaning, I hit the plank. Hard. Paxoy fired a healing shot at me, letting me pull out my Overcharger to eliminate cloakers and more infantry. Racing to the roof, I raised my Blade.
>
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> SMASH!
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> The plank collapsed, taking 5 shielders with it. Just then, Ryan pushed me onto the roof face first. A blue ray flew by. TEMPEST. Thinking quickly, I told Ryan to fire as fast as he can while I fired at Tempest too. Soon , his armour broke, leaving a fleshy back. He was extremely careful, though. He summoned cloakers that hit my arm! I groaned. Paxoy helped me heal while Ryan killed it. The other guys of the unit were holding the mansion gateway. Using my Overcharger to finish off the guys,
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> “I GOT HIM! I HIT HIM!” Ryan said.
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> Indeed Tempest had vanished. We slid down the pole - and met Gaia. Narrowly avoiding a machete, an escort knocked by rifle away.
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> ”NO!”
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> We picked off the escorts one by one. Then, all eight of us started meleeing Gaia. I don't know what she felt then, but it was probably extreme pain. I don't know, I'm not a psychologist! Anyhow, Sparta had appeared.
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> *Click!*
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> I was out of ammo. With no other option, I raced in with my overcharger.
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> WA-TING! SHING! SPLLLLLRRRRRTCH!
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> Sparks flew as we clashed around the area. My teammates fired and broke his armour. He turned around, about to use a AOE attack. He exposed his fleshy back and…
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> SPLLLLLTHCHHHH!
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> He fell to the ground, with blood pouring out from the wound. He called in helicopters and he got out. We fired but he dodged all attacks. We did it. We'd survived the Eagle's Cry.
>
>

## Saida Inglet, 23, 115th Nusian Infantry Battalion.

This was it. We were the last attackers. The Dominians had defended all of our attacks until this point. Now, it was do or die.

### Dune

We teleported in off the eastern mountain. To our right, the Dominian holdout was inside the valley.

”Really? 8 Dummies?”

”Those aren’t just dummies. That’s Stronghold 5-5”.

### Blazing Star

About 100 infantry had come in with us, along with a few Shielders and Cloakers. Tanks and Platforms were rolling in, but they were still miles away. The APU drop ship was inbound with an ETA of one minute. The supply trucks with the Engineers were still a few minutes out. Saboteurs had come in, but they were still several hundred metres away. We were also fighting alongside Prometheus, Gaia and Sparta.

The horn sounded. The final assault had begun.

### E A G L E C R Y

There was a Recon nest on the western mountain. We saw the unmistakeable red circle, before an APU dropped in. Two Recons were sent flying and another was burnt to a crisp.

*Three down, five to go.*

Two Scouts had appeared.

*“There they are! Open fire!”*

Bullet tracers were heating up the air from both sides. The air had grown clammy. Smoke was rising from twenty different gun barrels, and we were all going through our ammunition. At least nobody seemed to have brought an Overcharger to this fight.

Prometheus was going ham. None of the Dummies had jet packs, and he was making light work of them, but we’d taken too many casualties. Subwave 2 had begun.

Gaia had dropped in and was now healing Prometheus. Together, they were unstoppable.

One of the surviving Assault Dummies had appeared over the barricade and was now firing at Prometheus’ fuel tanks. A stray bullet hit the red capsule and Prometheus exploded. Gaia was knocked off her feet.

”115th. Your objective is to *protect the Gaia.* Do **not** let her die!” the order came in over our radios.

We’d made it down the hill, but Gaia was being bludgeoned half to death by the remaining three Dummies with their melee weapons.

Everyone opened fire. About a hundred bullets soared through the air, and all of them found their target.

*“Mission success. Dominian stronghold has fallen. Proceed to the capture point; we will airdrop supplies in. Sending medical forces for Gaia and other injured soldiers.”*

How long before they would launch a counterattack?

## **Ruan Maie, Nusian Forces 538 battalion (Infantry)**

### `**Map: Urban**`

*Boom.*

RPGs fired at our APUs and tanks, flinging operators everywhere. The domanians have been attacking us for a week now, trying to recapture the Urban city. Taking cover from a deadly hail of bullets.

“Hey!”

I turned around. A specialist. Thinking quickly, I slid towards him when he fired at me.

*BAM!*

I slammed him with my rifle. Surprised, he fell to the ground. I pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Blood splattered all on me. Sitting down, I sighed a sigh of relief. Aiming carefully, I unleashed a flurry of bullets. All found their targets. Suddenly, a yellow flash landed near my feet. Recons. Diving behind the building, a bucket grazed my uniform. Whoa. APUs landing with the red circle, taking down all dummies in the area. Perfect. I followed a group of infantry into a building, checking if any domanians were present.

“RUAN!”

Turning I saw it. A overcharger user. Ducking swiftly, I barely dodged him. On the ground now, I was helpless. He lunged. I felt sharp pain in the right side of my gut. A warm liquid poured out into my uniform. Blood. I then saw darkness.

### **2 hours later…**

I woke up in a cyan bed. A hospital bed.

“We saved you when you just passed out. A cloaker killed him.”

”Thanks, I owe you my life.”

*BOOM.*

“Domanians! They’re attacking us!” A Nusian screamed.

But attacking a hospital is just ruthless.

*BOOM.*

Many people were screaming. I panicked to grab my rifle. Domanians charged into wards and soon they were in mine. Screaming, I fired at them. I took down 6 before I felt a burst of pain in my chest. A sniper. Domanians surrounded me with shovels and machetes, some with overchargers. Immense pain emerged from all directions, and I knew my health was waning. A guy with a Overcharger raised and aimed towards my head.

*Slash.*

## The End Of A Legend

### Rosh Svan, Stronghold 5-5 Dominian Special Forces (SCOUT)

Map: Mansion (new)

*BANG!*

Infantry left and right. Rolling to my right, I used my pistol to skilfully take out 2 of them. The last one stood there running at me. Pulling out my machete, I threw it at him. He screamed in pain. I jumped forward, pulled out my machete and kicked him off the roof. He screamed all the way down.

*Boom.*

A explosion rocked the distance. A platform. Using my Terminal Velocity jetpack to soar up into the sky, I aimed at the platform’s weakest point. Firing the RPG, it hit. It imploded. Ronan, an engineer, had built multiple turrets to help us fight, but Saboteurs were sapping them, making them ineffective. Blue lasers crisscrossed the air, and tank shells flew between the wall and the mountain. Slowly but surely, I fired my RPG. Boom. One down. Boom. Two down. However…

“Stronghold 5-5! Hermes has been identified!”

A second later, Hermes came in and took out 5 of us. 3 left. Using my gunslingers, I took out a shielder, a gunner and even damaged Hermes. But he replied with a flurry of bombs.

BOOM! BAM!

A dummy flew across the building, on fire and full of blood. He didn’t scream or have any expressions. It was me and Ronan left. I flew up and used my RPG to take out a APU, which exploded and took 5 infantry with him. Hermes flew in and knocked me over. Screaming, I tumbled down from the roof and lay in a bloody pool. Ranon was at my side.

”Take… my… jet… pack….” I told him weakly.

He nodded sadly, took my jetpack and flew away. Hermes shot at him but was unsuccessful; my teammate escaped. Hermes patrolled the area for any remaining domanians. I lied in the pool of blood, still waiting to die. An APU came in. But the exoskeleton had been badly damaged and the operator had a minor cut on his legs. He pointed the flamethrower at me, and I felt like I was in an incinerator.

## The Newest Superunits

### Ranon Kamie, Stronghold 5-5 Domanian special forces (Engineer)

Using Rosh’s jetpack, I flew and flew and flew (with stops of course). I sat at a canyon, watching the Nusians fighting our soldiers. I dared not be involved because I was extremely tired from all that jetpacking. Opening my bag, I saw what I had left. Machine parts (of course), a machete, my hammer, a rifle, ammunition, and a few packets of biscuits and tacos, as well as 2 bottles of water. Sitting by the canyon, I ate my rations to gain back energy. Once I was done eating and drinking, I put back my bag and jet-packed towards the temporary headquarters of the Dominians fighting. My arm was still wounded from the fight. Once I entered the temporary HQ, I told them that all of Stronghold 5-5 had been killed exceptt me. The general there told me to go back to HQ, using the teleporter. I teleported home, and informed the head of the army what happened.

“Sir, I’m the only survivor of stronghold 5-5. The rest was killed.”

"What!? Stronghold 5-5 was - ***IS*** - the best squad of soldiers we had!"

”The Noobs overwhelmed us.”

”Hmm. Well, at least we know this early. If you died too, we wouldn’t have known until you never came back.”

“Yeah.”

”Help me send papers to others and tell them that Stronghold 5-5 is recruiting soldiers.”

”Yes sir.”

So I began putting up posters about the recruitment in town.

##### `3 weeks later`…

Suitable candidates appeared. After a series of tests, 10 candidates were left.

“Now the final challenge - try to survive an onslaught of dummies-disguised-as-noobs. Don’t worry, it’s only blanks.”

Seeing the candidates do perfectly reminded me of MY time when I did this with the late stronghold 5-5. They all passed.

## The Bombing (Epilogue)

### Ronan Kamie, Stronghold 5-5, Dominian special forces (ASSAULT)

Map: Epilogue Forest (duh)

Panting heavily, I walked into the helicopter.

“Good luck, stronghold. You’ll need it.”

The helicopter whirred as we soared onto the skies.

### 4 hours earlier …

”Ok, so Stronghold, your objective is to bomb the Nusian satellite base in the snowy region. It is surrounded by a forest. Intel tells us that the front doors are sealed. Explosive bags had been - by accident- scattered around the floor. It is very heavy, so you need full strength to carry it. Plant 4 bombs at the entrance. Others that are not carrying the bombs, escort them to the front. Daedalus, Fusilier or Tempest will come in. After that, the Nusians should have bombs in cases. If not, find a teleporter. Activate it using administrator keycards. The administrators can be found in panic rooms. Hack the terminals and eliminate the admins. Spare bombs can be found. Beware, the bombs are heavily guarded. After planting all bombs, Gaia, Trident or Sparta will be informed and come. Defeat them. Afterward, run towards an exit. Pry open the doors, and escape. Prepare to get ambushed by Nusian forces. Try to be careful or hide in a panic room for a moment because the maze will be flooded with poisonous gas every 20 seconds but will be cleared. At the end, an elevator will be there. Once up on the surface, Nusian forces and a helicopter will be there. After killing them all, Prometheus, Achilles, Hermes or Ares will appear. Take him out. After that, escape with the helicopter. 3 Dominian units will help.”

”OK!”

**Present**

Aiming my grenade cannon at a horde of shielders and cloakers, I hit in the centre. Bullseye. They all lay on the ground, the bloody bodies motionless.

“Last bag!” A dummy said.

“WAIT! A CLOAKER! AAAA-“ A crunch was heard. Pulling out my defibrillator, I scanned the area and saw it. A mangled. Two mangled. A cloaker was definitely somewhere. The radio noises grew louder - I was nearby. I hid behind a tree. He silently stalked a teammate- like a wolf hunting its prey.

“YO BRAN! YOU PROBABLY WANT TO DUCK!” I yelled.

He ducked, narrowly missing a massive bionic dropkick. Aiming my rifle, I shot him. Headshot. Pulling out my defibrillator (again), I revived one mangled teammate while another dummy came in to help.

”Any bag yet?” I asked.

”Nope.” The dummy said.

”CHARGES ARE IN! STAY CLEAR!” Someone screamed.

”There you have it.” He joked.

”Stronghold and units, beware. Showtime 11 has confirmed a Fusilier approaching. Waste no time throwing back the grenades.” The radio said.

”HE IS HERE!”

*Boom.*

Indeed. Fusilier fired grenade after grenade, explosions rocking the distance.

“RAY!”

I noticed it. A grenade coming towards me at full speed. Grabbing and doing a rather stylish 360, I threw it at a handful of shielders. Shields flew everywhere. One hit Fusilier and he turned around, confused.

“NOW!”

We unleashed a hail of bullets- all 104 of us- and the deadly hail found its target. Fusilier screamed, but soon he was no longer moving- we killed him.

“Let’s enter.”

We arrived into the base and found a armoury, ammo fabricator and modifier. I upgraded my shovel into an Overcharger, knowing that the invulnerability to most things would be useful later. One soldier opened the box where the bombs will be.

”Uhhh, the boxes don’t have anything inside them.”

”WHAT? Check again.”

”No, they quite have nothing in them.”

“Curse our luck! How can we blow up this place without bombs?”

"If I were you, I'd blame HICOM. Regardless, any ideas?"

”Hmm… if I remember the briefing, he said that there should be a teleporter somewhere.”

”Weird.”

”Let’s go, team.”

”LOOK OUT! ENEMIES INBOUND!”

”SNIPERS!”

A million (I’m exaggerating, of course ) laser pointers aimed at us.

“TAKE COVER!”

Smoke filled the air and brightness filled the room with muzzle flashes as bullets flew everywhere. Dummies fell left and right.

“NO!!”

Fuelled by rage, I rushed in with my Overcharger. All lasers aimed at me. But…

*SLASH*! *SPLLLRT*! “ARGH!”

Blood of the snipers splattered on me and my Overpowered Katana.

“The teleporter!”

”Nice.’Use four level 5+ keycards to activate.’ I remember this. We gotta hunt administrators!”

Going to a room, I defeated the gunners and medics and hacked the panic rooms.

*SLASH! SPLLLTZZZ!*

Blood rained everywhere.

“Ray to Everyone! I got a keycard!”

”Nice one Ray.”

”Salem to everyone! A keycard!”

” Tarsel to everyone! Keycard!”

”Malo to everyone! Keycard.”

”Teleporter time.”

We used the keycards to unlock the portal then activate it.

”Ok, we should be able to get bombs. Get eight and scatter em around the base.”

”Alright.”

Grabbing two bombs, I placed them into highlighted areas. Easy. Gunners ambushed me left and right. A spotted a group of fellow dummies. We open fired. About half of the bullets hit the targets. Many fell. We ran out and bought some time. A hail of bullets and arrows fell on them; teammates. 7 bombs were placed. I guess the dummy that had the final 2 placed one before dying. After searching a lot and killing more noobs, we found the last bomb and placed it.

“HQ to everyone. Hotel-Tango has spotted a Disaster Squad coming your way. Avoid its immense firepower and immediately try to take down the healer, Gaia. Beware of the life stealing medigun.”

Shortly after that, I felt dizzy and saw purple- Gaia. With the remaining strength I had, I ducked behind a bunch of supply crates. A bullet or two grazed my arm. All escorts and Gaia were approaching towards me. I pulled out my Overcharger and went into OVERCHARGE. Slicing left and right, Nusians fell all around me. Escorts, gunners, snipers, infantry… you name it! Once I was done, I felt wet. Blood. Nusian blood on me.

“YO RAY!”

I ducked. Gaia shot a laser; I narrowly dodged it. She kept firing at me, and my cover broke. My life was draining. And soon… I saw red…

###### 20 Minutes Later…

I awoke. A medic told me I got revived before my injuries got too critical. I bought a jetpack, and upgraded it into Aerorig with my immense amount of Reserves.

“Are…you… ready…?” Our commander asked.

”Yes.”

Shaking, he put his hand into the lever. I gulped. I looked around and noticed that only 57 of us remained. 150 of us reduced to 57 in a matter of hours. But we were doing a great deed, eliminating about more than HALF of the Nusian Forces.

Commander pulled the lever.

“GO! GO! GO!”

Using my Aerorig, I grappled around the place, dodging Noobs. Dummies were dying. I spotted a bunch of shielders. If I couldn't contribute into the battle alone, at least I must kill.

*SLASH!*

The entire group got sliced like paper.

“GUYS! THE ROOMS ARE FLOODING-" the voice was cut off.

I felt giddy… the poisonous smoke was to kill me. With my final strengths, I crawled into a panic room. One of the medics was there. He shot me with his medical bow and I felt better instantly.

After the doors opened, we raced through the tunnels. Bullets flew through the complex. We were navigating the underground maze, and we'd almost made it to the safe zone.

### Surface

Dodging Sniper bullets and the shots of Shielders. I slashed with my Overcharger and flew around using my Aerorig. Hundreds of Noobs were coming; we had to escape.

Someone started the helicopter. We had to survive for 5 minutes.

### 3:15 remaining

"Stronghold 5-5, infamous superunit Ares has been confirmed to be - [muffled screaming, gunfire] - deployed. Hold the line," the message came through. We had to survive him and the other Noobs for three minutes.

All 8 of us shot at him, but bullets sparked off his armour. He pulled out his LMG and started firing at us! One of our men was shredded in the initial impact. The Medic was out of commission patching him back together. I engaged my Overcharge. The shots ricocheted off me and dealt no damage. Suddenly, he equipped his RPG. A red light shone in his targeting equipment. "GET TO COVER!"

I ducked just in time. Four rockets soared overhead and exploded behind me. Ares equipped his knife. A wide red line stretched between him and me. Too late, I realised what it was.

Ares covered the distance between us in under a fraction of a second. I jumped aside just in time. The knife just grazed the tip of my finger but even so, extreme pain rocketed through my body. Ares threw his knife at someone else, but he missed. It exploded and he drew a new one.

A red circle appeared under me. I dodged skilfully and Ares missed his stomp, which would have vaporised me.

Finally, several bullets made it through. Ares was seemingly downed. Unfortunately...

### Exactly 9.47 seconds later

Ares got up. He brushed the dust off his armour, and then drew both his LMG and his rocket launcher. He fired rockets at one of our Scouts while keeping us at bay with the LMG. One of our Recons had an Armour Peeler and was trying to snipe Ares. However, it didn't do much good, because Ares was suppressing him with his LMG each time he peeked up.

“EVERYONE, DISTRACT HIM!”

We all shot at his seemingly impenetrable armour. It dealt no damage but he turned and unleashed a flurry of rockets.

“YO YOU MIGHT WANNA DUCK!”

BOOM.

We were losing hope. Two of our guys lifelessly dropped onto the ground. Using my defibrillator, I revived him but the other one… was stomped. Gone. Mutilated. Suddenly, a scout started out of his cover. "What are you doing!?" the recon next to him shouted. "Buying you time!" he replied. While Ares was busy shredding the scout's lifeless body with his LMG, the recon popped out, drew his Armour Peeler, and...

BOOM.

Ares ragdolled across the map. The 9.47 second revive delay would allow us to get in the vehicle. We escaped using the helicopter. Another victory for Stronghold 5-5! ~~Just then we heard a beeping noise. A bomb. I dashed to the dummy pilot but he… had disappeared. The dummies betrayed us. After all we had done… it was all in vain. Beating 10 waves of non stop noobs, defeating the mastermind, securing the mines… bombing and killing more than half of the Nusians… this was how it was going to end? Beep. Beep. I closed my eyes. It had truly been a magnificent experience. It was a life full of adventure. I don’t regret any part of it. None at all. Beep. Boom.~~

`LOG END Written by Stronghold 5-5 journalist Ray Lance. Class: Assault—————- edited by Government of Dominia. Inserted into Database. Ending: Stronghold 5-5 wins and returns safely. Domania wins.`

As you can see, the Domanian Empire has been lying this entire time. Stronghold 5-5 was betrayed. Domania won the war but at what cost? They killed their best weapons. They had killed a team that trusted Domania the most. So who is the real villain? Is it the Nusian forces who had lost to us? Why were we taking out so many noobs… but what for? Are the Nusians really the real villains? Or did Domania shape us to THINK they were the villains… but in reality, Domania is the evil one? We will never know… the logs of stronghold 5-5 in the database during the Epilogue time was nothing but mere Errors. There is something Domania doesn’t want to show us. Something… big. Domania is hiding something from us, the players. It is your choice, if the noobs are innocent or not. It is your soul. Your choice, your brain. But what we know… is something different. We have not even seen the bigger picture. Maybe we will, maybe we will never find out the truth.

## The End Is Near

### Nire, 19, Nusian Armed Forces (infantry)

Era: Baseplate’s end (2052 onwards)

Time: Baseplate’s final years

It had been about seven years since our victory over the Dominion of Pinzhao. A meteorite nearly killed all of us last year. Volcanic activity has been detected from supervolcano Mt. Me-zhuo in Domania. A post-war disease caused majority of the population on the baseplate to be infertile. Meteorologists warned that the eruption of Mount Me-Zhuo could cover the entire baseplate in soot and ash and trigger a global cooling event, causing the population to freeze to death. Their predictions came true. In mid 2051, the supervolcano erupted and all life forms in Dominia went extinct. This triggered a global cooling event, worrying all surviving life. The Nusian government declares a global catastrophe and opened a new company called LAMB to build bunkers to ensure the safety of the people. I was invited as a guard and helped to build. The republic closed all banks, declaring them bankrupt, relying on private institutions. The military and police begin giving out rations to the public. Some of the Nusians were angry at the government and held protests. The protests flared all over the country and soon the continent. Many protesters attacked the military. The government gave the military permission to shoot down protesters if they were attacking. I was guarding a underwater bunker, our biggest one yet. We were then to connect all bunkers to make one super bunker. However, the water currents started to rapidly change and become more violent. The bunker started to crack, and then collapse.

“MOVE MOVE MOVE!!”

People swarmed out of the bunker as seawater flowed into the bunker. I ran towards the exit, but I was caught by the water and swept away. With my remaining consciousness, I grabbed onto a wooden beam. After that, my consciousness faded away.

**2 hours later…**

I was rescued by the Nusian Coastal Guard from Nusian Naval Forces.

“Hey, are you okay?”

”Yeah.”

”The LAMB has finished constructed all bunkers. As a guard, you are to go there.”

”Yes sir.”