Squad Leader Mk.2

Month 4 - Close Call

It's been 4 months since Serial Designation X's arrival on Copper-9 and a lot of progress has been made since then. Since his waking from his 2 month sleep, he had traveled around the planet, searching and destroying the spots that his systems had scanned for small groups of Worker Drones.

He had found 103 settlements and exterminated over 20,000 Worker Drones around the planet's vast lands and frozen oceans. On his travels, he had noticed that after each settlement he traveled to, the next would look like as if they had been waiting for him. Just like the one he is currently hovering over at this moment.

X (thinking): This one too, huh? Seems like they've been getting more and more cautious. They've most likely been conversing with other camps because of the sudden destruction of all the others. Oh well, this will be like any other one...

X then begins his descent towards the settlement, deploying his missile launchers in a flash and raining hell down onto the settlement. Aiming at strategic points, he bit by bit destroyed the whole area and left rubble in his wake.

He landed directly afterward, switched to his claws and blitzed through the ruined buildings. Slicing and dicing his way through each Worker he saw.

After clearing any stragglers, he prepared to blast off into the sky like he had done many times before, but stopped as he detected something.

It was a signal.

A radio signal.

He quickly traced it to the source and found it was coming from underground?

X (thinking): Are my systems malfunctioning? No, can't be. Wait a minute...

X thinking quickly, switched to his missiles once again and fired at the source of the signal. He continued until he spotted metal sheets under the ice and blew a hole into them.

He had found a secret bunker, which he quickly jumped into. He immediately scanned his surroundings and found signals of 3 Workers.

Weak, but down there with him. Immediately blitzing towards them and finds a door and crashes through it and deploys machine guns from his hands.

He took aim and studied the room and its occupants.

3 male Workers, all with their own headset and radio transmitter, signaling other places around the planet.

X fired his weapons and dispatched of them quickly, and disabled all but one transmitter.

X quickly heard a voice coming from a headset and quickly picked it up to listen.

Voice from headset: Hello, base Foxtrot? This is base Alpha, do you copy?

X then uses a feature he had called Mimicry, used by removing the voice module from a Worker or hearing their voice to copy it.

X (Mimicking): Yea, copy.

Voice from headset: Oh thank Robo-God, what happened over there?

X (Mimicking): The thing that's been destroying other settlements is dead. We got it, but it also got us. The whole place is destroyed and we're badly injured, we aren't gonna make it.

Voice from headset: Don't worry, we'll send support immediately.

X (Mimicking): NO! N-no, don't waste your time. We're a lost cause. This is our last sign out. Goodbye.

The voice tried to respond but X then cut down the whole system.

X: Close one there, can't be discovered yet. Guess I should get outta here and hide out for a while. Stick to scouting and surveying the cities now. The other settlements are basically wiped out at this point.

X then leaves the hidden bunker and takes to the air back towards his pod, and near the city which he had first surveyed.

When he arrives at his pod and lands, he looks at the city in the distance.

X (thinking): That city by far has the biggest population I've seen around this planet. I estimate around 70,000 Workers are there right now. The perfect spot for the others to land, plenty of Workers there.

X quickly sets coordinates for the rest of his squad to land when they arrive. Right in the center of the city.

X sends these coordinates off to HQ and goes back into his pod to await their response. He sat in his chair and ran through his systems and check his oil reserve.

He finished his check and saw he was low on oil, and he then went to his oil storage box he had in the pod. He grabbed a cup of oil and drank in heartily while waiting for confirmation from HQ. He finished and oil and began cleaning his already clean pod because of boredom.

After about an hour, he received a notification from HQ confirming his location and congratulating him on his progress on Copper-9. He read that within a week he will be sent a package to commemorate his achievement.

He raised his eyebrow at this. What would he be receiving that he would need or want? He decided not to think about it much. He was more focused on the time his squad would land on Copper-9.

X (thinking): 8 months until they make landfall. Not too much longer until I won't be alone anymore. I'll be a leader of a squad and they will be under my care. Just gotta wait a little longer.

He then makes plans on what needs to be done. Now that nearly every small settlement is gone, that leaves the bigger cities. But because of the close call he had today, X decided to stay in hiding for a while. At least until he knows the Workers forget he even existed.

X: Guess I'll take a shorter sleep this time, maybe 2 weeks? Then, after that, I'll begin scouting from the shadows again.

He then nodded, agreeing with his own plan. X then gets comfortable and prepares for sleep mode. He slowly power down and everything goes black once again.