This is My Land

By: Antilles AKA EF

Ugh. Mondays. Even after the crash they still feel the same. Luckily, being an engineer in New Eden means I will have my hands full to pass the day quickly. Especially this guy Oilspill. If I had 100 crystite everytime he landed a thumper correctly, well, I'd probably need to pick up a second job at the Tuna Shop in Copacabana.

Anyways. I roll into work in Copacabana around the usual time in the morning. It's nice to work somewhat close to home. Cerrado Plains is a nice quiet place to live, without being totally disconnected. Has a nasty bug problem though. Out of all the things in the world that had to exist after the crash, it had to be bugs. Damned things. For now I live on my own but I work hard, just like the rest of us left, to get humanity back on their feet after the Melding hit.

"Mornin' Antilles."

It's my brother Cuculainn. He works for the local patrol in Copacabana. Let's just say, if I ever wanted someone on my side of a fight. It was this guy. He is outfitted with a frame commonly known as the "Dreadframe". I like it to call it the "Painframe". I have seen this guy break up bar fights in seconds. Sometimes people have a hard time walking away, physically. We are lucky to know Yoorsh, a Biotech, who usually stops by soon afterward to get those unfortunate patrons back on their feet. Best Biotech in Copa, hands down. That man is a sniper with his heal ball and can get a down soldier back on their feet in seconds.

"Mornin' Cuculainn. How's it goin'?" I said, with the morning rasp still in my voice.

"Oh you know, another day in paradise! Anything special going on today on your end?" he said in a sarcastically cheerful voice. He knows I am not a morning person and Monday was thumper repair day sometimes.

"Oilspill... You?"

He belts out a laugh and says "Well I gotta go check out a bug issue in the Thump Dump. You hear about the reports about this huge bug in the mel-" His radio cuts him off quickly. "Cuculainn, please report to Thump Dump ASAP. Chosen are in the vicinity." His face lights right up. He loves his job way too much and it shows. "Well that's my cue! Try to not work too hard now."

"Psh! Take a swim!"

After a hearty hand shake, he jumps on his LGV (Light Ground Vehicle) and rides off in the direction of Thump Dump. I guess I should report in and see what is actually on my schedule for the day.

I walk over to the job terminal and the display says:
//Antilles_Engineer_Jobs = RepairMolecularPrinter_Copa

Nice easy and quiet Monday for this guy. These things have solders that go all the time. These new Tesla Tools are perfect for the job too. Also great at zapping bugs right off the ground.

I get over to the printer and as usual, there is a line of people waiting on me. Perfect. So much for that quiet Monday. I get right to work and try to ignore the witty comments that are getting thrown at me.

After finishing only a handful of other mediocre jobs, I get to leave early for the day. It's been a very long time since I had time to myself. Copa is almost a ghost town as well. Where did everyone go? I guess I'll head to the Tavern to see if anyone knows whats going on. While I'm at it, I think I might get myself a nice liquid lunch. Why not, right?

After about the third Wicky Wacker, I think it's time to head home. Right before I pick up and leave Aero comes on the radio with a warning. It's mostly static but I try to make out what she is saying.

"Bugs...... Hundreds.... Cerrado...... Closing in on residential....."

Shit.

I push my LGV to the limit, weaving through the forest. The bugs have been getting bad so I guess I should have seen this coming. Hopefully my security turrets will hold until I get there.

I finally make it to my house and there are hundreds of these Aranha's. There is something different about these ones though. They have an odd glow.  I would pull into the garage, but it's already been overrun. Two of the three turrets are down too. Man, I won't be able to catch a break with this, huh?

I get right to work. I throw down two new turrets behind the horde and a supply station right in the middle. I peel what I can off of the house with my Tesla tool, it doesn't take much for it to hit full charge. I throw my Boomerang Shot through the crowd. Cleans up on the way back to me but still only took a small percentage of them out. These are more powerful bugs than normal. Where did they come from? Are they from the Melding? If so, what pushed them out so far?

Two more of my turrets go down. They turn for the house and sprint full speed for it. I'm getting exhausted, I can't keep up with them. Then I remember I made a small modification to my frame. I switch over to my secondary storage slot. It's my grenade launcher. I have yet to use it on anything but targets. I hit the jump jets hard. Throw another Boom Shot into the thick of them, followed by a volley of grenades. It makes quick work of the pack that was heading for my home. My heavy, overworked battleframe slams back to the ground in the middle of the dead mound.

I inspect the bodies and they have a purple dust radiating off of them. The Melding. It has genetically altered these creatures and have made them more powerful, as well as bigger in size. One question still stands: Why are they this far out from the Melding? I have a feeling I am going to find out soon.

I turn and see my last turret fall. I throw down three fresh turrets but they stand no chance has they get crushed almost instantly. I throw a couple grenades into the fray and take out 10 to 15 more of them.

*Click*click*

Damn! Already out of ammo! Back to the Tesla tool... I summon more turrets but this time I keep them alive using my Tesla. I focus most of my time just trying to keep my defenses up and keeping bugs off of them.

The ground rumbles.

"What the...."

A massive roar comes from over the hill. I stop and turn. A Rageclaw. It comes rolling over the top of the hill and right over my turrets and slams into me. I get thrown to the side and my right leg is badly damaged. Things aren't looking good...

The Rageclaw and it's pack start to turn for my house again.

I can't get up with this damaged leg. I look around frantically for a solution. I look down at my information center looking for some kind of hope. Another 30 seconds until I can use anything again. I fire my Tesla at the horde but they are out of range.

This can't be happening. I will not lose my land to these abominations. Not today.

I run my jump jets for all they are worth to get myself closer to the horde. My energy is now depleted but I am in range of these ugly bastards. I throw down a supply pad underneath myself and stock back up on ammo. I switch back to my grenade launcher and throw out Boom Shot. This catches their attention again.

"Ya didn't forget about me, did ya?" I said between long gasps for air. I throw down three turrets in front of me and start to rain down grenades upon my foe. They turn back to me and start to barrel towards my newly made offensive. I focus the Rageclaw with all I have. It starts to roll and I break out the Tesla tool again and just fire straight into this bugs face. This thing is taking everything I have, but I don't let up.

It is getting close to me and fast. I switch back over to my grenade launcher and unload what is left inside of it. It is enough to take this behemoth down right in front of me. It slides to a halt as I look down and take a deep sigh of relief. But these bugs have other plans for me.

The rest of the swarm climb his carcass and come straight for me again. Once again I am spending most of my efforts to just keep my turrets up that seem to be barely denting the front line. The center turret goes down, breaking open the horde right to me. I put my arm up to cover my face from any incoming Aranha's but they all just stop.

*THUD*

"What was that?" I murmured, as purple blood paints the side of my fallen turret.

*THUD*thud*thud*THUD*THUD*THUD*thud*THUD*thud*thud*THUD*THUD*

They are dropping to the ground, and fast. The bugs start running in the other direction but before they know it, they have been laid to waste. I look in the direction of where this rain of death came from. It's Cuculainn and Yoorsh heading my way on gliders. All I can hear is Cucu's manic laughing mixed with the hum of his heavy machine gun.

They land right next to me and Yoorsh quickly sets about patching me up while Cuculainn unleashes a Repulsor Blast to dispatch the last wave of incoming Aranhas.

"I heard you had a small bug problem so I called up Yoorsh and figured we would come and check on ya. Looks like you had most of the fun without us. BUT we still saved your ass. How does that work?" Cucu said as he hefted his gun over his shoulder.

I turn my head to Yoorsh and nod. I look at Cucu and smirk. "Shaddap! But thanks for coming at the right time. Where are these Aranha's from anyways?"

"The Melding." Cucu quickly responds. "It has made them stronger and more dangerous. We have been clearing them out at the Thump Dump for the past week, but today for some reason the Chosen came strolling out of the melding. We think they pushed them out."

"Great." Yoorsh said in a monotone.

The three of us look around at the piles of corpses looking for a place to pile them all up to dispose of them. We decide to take a quick break first and sit down on some rocks near the front of my half destroyed house.

"Feels good to take a quick break from the chaos. I forget how beautiful New Eden can be somet-"

"HUSH!" Yoorsh said as he interrupted Cucu mid sentence. He looks up to the sky. "Did any of you for some reason call down a Thumper?" We all shook our heads.

I jump to my feet and radio into Oilspill. "Did you get any call down requests in the Cerrado Plains area?"

After a few seconds of silence, Oilspill finally came through. "Negative!"

"What the fuck is that?!" Cucu yelled as the object was rapidly getting closer.

I start to lay out my defenses and restock on ammo. Cucu loads some incendiary rounds and hunkers down into turret mode. Yoorsh tops our systems off and readies his healing wave.

"Whatever it is, it wants to die." I said in a calm, but snarky voice.

*eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The door on the unit drops open. Then a large flash blinds us as 5 gray skinned creatures appear before us.

"CHOSEN!" Cuculainn yelled at the top of his lungs as he ramps up his gun.

"TARGET ACQUIRED" My turrets blurt out as they all hone in on their target.

No. This is my land.



TO BE CONTINUED