The Trooper Witch

000 & 001

A transmission from an audio signal plays, and a recorded message, initially beginning with a voice of a female in her late twenties was speaking, while sounds of gunfire and torturous squealing was heard, followed by men and women screaming. This female was breathing in and out, as if she had been exhausting herself a little while she spoke. "This is Colonel Paula Schmitt... recording from a goddamn bunker in Outpost Werno, Planet Rize. These bugs really aren't gonna let up... Warriors breached some electrical fences all because-" She stopped speaking when some gunfire was heard from the audio getting closer. "Damn it! Send a banger through the windows!" Paula cursed and barked orders before more gunshots, presumably from a sidearm, were heard as footsteps were evident in the recording, suggesting she was running. "Bugs have overrun Werno's defense grid and are now surrounding the Command Bunker! Communication isn't possible, and we're dead in the water without a supporting fleet to back us up in the same sector!"

More audio was heard and minutes have passed before she stopped running, with gunfire now distant from where she was. She panted as she spoke. "These bugs are getting a lot smarter... All those events that played from the Brain Bug's capture from Planet P right to a Bug Queen controlling a bunch of these bugs just tells me a lot about this attack. They're here for her. They want power and they want the best for it, and somehow... they knew, thanks to a crashed transport full of military scientists. Intelligence is gonna grill me for this. I hope it's not too late. I'm on my way to the elevator. I hope she's okay."

About 10 minutes had passed and sounds evident to walking and light jogging were heard all throughout the audio clip while sounds of a functioning elevator were evident. A man then spoke to Paula as she was walking, hearing alert sirens ringing in a hallway and other connected ones. "Colonel, she's not ready. Even if we try to send her like this, she's not completely combat-capable. She can handle exactly the tasks given, but fighting these bugs will completely change her mental stability factor."

Paula replied. "All I care is that she's able to hold a rifle, fire, and survive. If she's indeed who she says she is, she stands a way better chance of defending herself next from a bug attack like this."

"If that's the case, we better pull out soon. I'll tell Ramsey to gear up. We need to be out in ten minutes." The man replied this as he walked off of Paula's presence.

It was minutes later when Paula had reached an almost quiet room. Sounds of a sliding door were heard before she spoke up. "Vina Jepsen?"

"Y-yeah?" A girl in her early twenties responded to Paula. This was Vina, who seemed only half confident in her resposnse while she spoke more. "What's going on?"

"You already know. While Outpost Werno is a high-tech facility, these bugs could still get into the minds of people. Such is their nature. But we gotta go. Grab your rifle and-" Paula was cut off by Vina after the younger one gasped.

"LOOK OUT!" A hostile squeal was heard in the background and some rubble collapsed onto Paula, hurting her while also cutting off the sounds from the recording.

The recording was halted since there was nothing else to hear. That time, Vina closed her eyes, looked down and reminded herself that her hands and feet were clamped together by restraining cuffs, made of some sort of steel metal that ordinary men couldn't break out of. She opened her eyes again, still having knowledge that she was looking up at three judges sitting behind their benches observing her closely. It was mostly dark, but she had a single light source above her. She looked at these male judges in their mid-40's with hostility.

Vina spoke up to these judges. "So you don't wanna understand that I tried to save Colonel Schmitt from death. I wasn't restrained against my will. They tried to protect me from something I once feared. Then... When I realized I could actually fight after I saw her die, I had to start squeezing that trigger and kill my first warrior bug." She chuckled, then looked down at her cuffs. "I could just as much free myself if I wished, but then you'd shoot me."