The dying screech of a Mutalisk, followed by a loud thud as it slammed into the ground behind our overworked Missile Turrets was becoming a common sight. The waves had progressed throughout the day. The numbers never changed from two-thousand, but the composition changed for the worse.

At first, it was a relatively balanced landform of Zergling and Hydralisks with a few hundred Mutalisks coming at us from the air. Nothing too terrible, after the first two waves of that we noticed a significant change slowly happening in each wave. The Zerglings were growing smaller in number, while the Hydralisks were increasing. The Hydralisk alone was a problem in large numbers, increased size and random ranged attacks hitting our line as they charge.

The real problem though was the Mutalisk. They had gone from a few hundred to a thousand. It split the swarm in two directions and forced Fernando to split a third of our Marines to the Missile Turrets in the hope they could stem the tide enough for our missiles to take them out. Luckily the System had not been stingy with Missile Turrets.

Throughout the day I had also taken a single Hellion and Medic out with me to rescue more ‘stranded’ individuals that had spawned in. I had several close calls, but thankfully with the Hellion, we trampled all the Zerglings that charged at us, as well as burning Hydralisks that weren’t being sent into the next wave.

I had managed to save, including Fernando's team, a total of fifty Marines, twenty Medics, five Hellions and ten Firebats. The last ten were real lifesavers. Combined with the Hellions flamethrowers they were able to clear the worst of the Zerg charges, saving us a lot of ammo. Sadly, it cost us a lot in accelerant. Which I had hoped we had a large amount of but was quickly told otherwise. It forced me to limit when, and how often, the flames were used in the waves.

Other than the needed numbers I managed to secure, there was equipment. Some munition stores that I was forced to leave parts of behind because the Hellion simply couldn’t carry all of it back, a lack of space.

The equipment was what had me giddy though, mostly because one was another C-10 Rifle, which I promptly gave to Fernando, who went on a shooting spree of near-perfect accuracy. Every single shot he made killed something, Zergling, Mutalisk, and Hydralisk. The man alone was like a machine who had simply lacked the means to do what he did best, kill Zerg.

Needless to say, I felt a wee bit emasculated at the show of skill. The fucker was frightening as a leader of men, and a one-man killing machine. I had asked Reynolds and Goose why the fuck that man wasn’t higher in the ranks and was told he had authority issues. That part made me blink, but a bit later I understood. The monster disobeyed any and every order that would actively kill his men without being assured the outcome was worth his men dying. Made his men love him, and the higher-ups hate him. Apparently, he never lost an engagement against whatever, or whomever, he fought through. At least, until the Zerg Swarm hit Mar Sara with all of its might and savage fury.

A part of me believed that was mostly because all the Marines here, save maybe a few, were Militia ranked Marines that didn’t have a whole lot of experience. Added to that Mar Sara was a backwater colony planet in the game itself made it seem more plausible.

A loud bang and the resulting death cry of another Mutalisk made me look at the man in question, regretting to a degree that when this tutorial map ended, they would all be gone. I could really use a leader like Fernando in other parts of this fucked up System Game.

When this wave ended, I let out the breath I’d been holding slowly. I’d successfully increased my personal kill counts by a bit, mostly thanks to my personal C-10 Rifle which seemed slightly better than Fernando's. Mostly because mine was an upgrade higher.

According to my heads-up display, it was now twenty-three hundred hours, Mar Sara Standard Time. That meant we had an hour before the third day. An hour before another wave, unless the System did what it did today and changes the method again, a very likely outcome based on what knowledge I had gained about this. Frowning a bit I shrugged it off. Nothing I could do about it for now.

“Fernando! You Monster, what the fuck were you before?” I yelled at the middle-aged man, which probably meant he was far older. I mean, the only reason I knew he looked middle-aged was that I’d FINALLY seen one of the Marines lift their fucking visor, not even Goose or Reynolds did that yet, nor any of the Medics (some were male after all apparently).

“A soldier” was his stoic reply before he started shouting for an Ammo count, and for the injured to head toward our overworked Medics. The injured tally had grown over the day, with the increased Hydralisk count the spikes they launched were increased as well. The single reason we’d had no deaths at all was attributed to the narrow bridge and the fact only the front row of Hydralisks in each wave could safely launch spikes without killing their own kind.

The Mutalisks normally fell before they got to close, each Missile taking a few out at a time in the swarm from them, thankfully, So they weren’t as much of a to our lives yet. Fernando also had the firing line of thirty men switched constantly so that each Marine was allowed a minute or two to steady themselves before moving up to take the front of the formation again.

Sighing, I hefted my rifle and started over to Reynolds who was overseeing the ammo count. A small pinch made me freeze mid-way there before continuing my walk. This fucking suit was amazing, but skin tight did not help your dangleberries much. My single saving grace was that at least a small bit of armor was at my waste to block their sight, even if all it did was cause the pinching to be worse.

“What’s the count Reynolds?”

“Commander! You startled me!” I fought the chuckle that rose up at that line as he continued. “We have about one-hundred and ninety thousand rounds left, thanks to your trips out, nine-hundred Long Missiles, ten barrels of accelerant, and that nuke. All the grenades were used in the last wave.”

I could feel my eye twitching at that news. That was a huge loss of our munitions. I had a very bad feeling that if I hadn’t gone out for the equipment drops as well, we would have been overrun in the third wave. Ignoring the perspiration that formed from the fear of that knowledge I nodded slowly. “Go tell the Lt. Where’s Goose?”

“Sir! Goose is at the Medic Station. He took a spike to the shoulder and it managed to shred through it.”

He took off toward Fernando and I looked toward the Medics. That was a bit trouble, Goose was the deadliest with the standard Marine rifles and if he was down an arm that meant we would be in a bind at some point.

I made my way there and sighed in exasperation. This son of a bitch was flirting with whatever female Medic was working on his arm. “...I’ll keep you save beautiful, my Angel of Mercy. Just give me a kiss, yea?”

Right, he was fine if he was doing that. I also greatly approved of this Medic, because I heard a metal smack ring out and figured she’d whacked the idiot upside his head for making light of our situation.

I looked around at the others here, I saw a few noticeably missing an arm or a leg. Thankfully that number was low, but it lowered our fighting force. I new Fernando had these men moving the ammunition and getting new clips ready between waves while they moved around the base itself with pistols, ready to take out any of the increasing numbers of drop-pods that landed in our base.

I did feel better about our chances, more so with a competent commanding force like Reynolds, because while I was ok, I was not at that level. Give me a squad and I’d blow your socks off, a force of anything over twenty-five and I was lucky to move anyone where they needed to go in time.

I made the rounds to the injured, being a ‘good’ Commander while waiting for the next wave. I only waited because no notification came of another drop, hadn’t for the last two waves. I could only assume that meant I’d obtained everything the System was willing to give me for now.

Finally, though, the clock struck zero, signaling the start of a new day. No new wave occurred though, no tell-tale screech, no mass of Zerg on the horizon barreling toward us, and no Mutalisks diving at our base. What DID show up, was the System though. What it said made my blood run cold.

System Announcement!

Congratulations Player: Damian Fern. You have successfully made it to the third, and final, day of the Tutorial Map - Mar Sara Evacuation.

Congratulations Player: Damian Fern. You have successfully made it to the third, and final, day with all of your granted Soldiers surviving.

Congratulations Player: Damian Fern. You have succeeded in rescuing all spawned units, as well as a legendary ranked entity in the Terran Tutorial Map Unit: Lieutenant Fernando. Individual unit is the equivalent of a minor Heroic unit in the main campaign and fell in the initial Swarm invasion with General Decimus. You have changed an outcome!

-WARNING- No story changes will carry over from Tutorial Map - Mar Sara Evacuation.

Congratulations Player: Damian Fern. You have obtained all bonus objectives, aside from one.

Attention Player! Xal’gul is pleased with your performance. He feels that you deserve to be challenged further. The system has increased difficulty by one point, above max difficulty. -WARNING- Player death is all but assured.

Attention Player! Due to a scheduled increase in game difficulty at the tutorial stage you have been granted a full replenishment of all your ammunition, as well as doubling the size or your ammunition stockpile.

System Announcement! Player: Damian Fern has received a personal message from Administrator Xal’gul!

Goodmorning, Damian. That is the Human saying, correct? No matter. You have amused me. But I felt it was all too simple, as such you will now have progressively increasing difficulties to be announced at unknown times. I wouldn’t want our ‘War Hero’ to get complacent and think it was easy, after all.

From the officer of Third Tier Administrator Xal’gul.

System Announcement!

Attention Player: Damian Fern. From five-hundred hours until twelve-hundred hours your position will be subjected to a non-stop wave, as per the difficulty increase. Hold out for seven hours while maintaining your current completion of bonus objectives and you will receive a special prize based upon the difficulty increase. Good luck Damian!

I read, then re-read, and then re-read the fucking messages again just to make sure I had indeed NOT gone insane. Then was proven wrong as I got funny looks for punching the air in front of me and screaming out incoherently. I assumed I was left alone because the others felt I was doing a very strange celebration and releasing pent-up frustration.

That….Smug fucking energy dildo! Goddamnit! I was finally making headway. I felt good about our chances, even with the lack of ammo. Now though, that mother fucker, INCREASED the difficulty and would continue to do so. God-fucking-dammit!

During my tirade and little show, Fernando had made his way to me. He waited patiently for about twenty minutes before I felt his hand grip my shoulder and him shout at me. “Get a grip, Sir! We have a problem you need to see.”

I winced as his armored fingers dug into me before snapping myself back to reality and following him. What I saw made things worse though. The Zerg were massing on the other side of the bridge but were making no move to cross yet. Instead, they just continued to increase in number.

I could literally feel everyone around me lose their motivation as the moral plummeted. I couldn’t blame them either, what was blatantly building up would come for us in five hours. Apparently, the System was allowing us a small reprieve to give everyone some form of rest and even out the odds with the difficulty increase.

I took a deep breath, only to notice Fernando looking at me, waiting. Oh shit...Nonononono I would not do what this guy obviously wanted me to, what most of the Characters in the game had done before big battles. Give a speech.

I ignored him instead, he just continued to stare a hole through my head. I could feel my eye start twitching before I glared right back at him, the lot of good it did me. I relented, eventually, because I did notice the men around me slowly seem to lose all the will they had to keep fighting as the Swarm across the bridge only grew in number. I couldn’t even see the building anymore, after only ten minutes.

Clicking my teeth, I moved onto the bridge, climbing the Auto-Turret and gave a sharp whistle, garnering their attention.

“What’s the matter boys! We made it! It’s the third day, our rescue is just around the corner. Why do you think those ugly fuckers are massing? They know they can’t get us! That they won’t get us!” I paused, seeing a few of the men look at the swarm, then the bridge which had literally been died red and purple with thousands upon thousands of dead Zerg.

“You all have survived! We made it this far, and what do I see? Men giving up. Where are the Marines that chose to stay behind and fight so those Civilians, your Families, would have a chance? Where is that fire I saw on the first day?”

A few lifted their guns slowly, seemingly standing taller. Dear lord, this was cheesy and ill-prepared.

“You withstood the Swarm for two entire days, thousands upon thousands of those fuckers were felled by you men! Your will to survive, to defend your families kept you standing, let you hold this line to keep what you want to protect, safe. Yet you lose hope at that paltry little incursion? Do you want them to die?” I paused a moment. “DO YOU!?”

A ragged scream met my scream at the end, a resounding NO, from one-hundred and fifty voices that let out all of their fear and frustration. I raised my own voice over theirs.

“Then what the fuck are you afraid of!? What are we!?”

“Marines!”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE!!!”

“MARINES!!”

The air practically shook with the ferocity that they displayed, meanwhile, I just died a little inside at what I had done. I mean...yea, it worked, but really? I’d have to do better another day. For now though, at least it worked. Each and every single one of them was standing straighter, a firm grip on their weapons, and staring at the Swarm that would likely kill us all with hatred.

I sighed, hopping down from the turret and had Reynolds get people to move it. When I went back to Fernando I just glared at him “Good job, Sir.” My only real thought was ‘fuck you, you Monster.’ Thankfully I didn’t say it.

“Fernando, blow the bridge once they swarm across. Keep a few lookouts aswell, just because the fuckers aren’t moving on us yet, doesn’t mean they may not try something. The rest of the boys need to sleep some. We have to hold until twelve-hundred hours. That’s when our rescue party shows up. Can you do it?”

Fernando eyed me, at least I think he did. “Sir, you gave me the chance I needed to save a few more boys, and the Civilians. I’ll hold this line until my last breath. The bridge will be blown when the Zerg swarm covers it, but we still have the flyers to worry about.”

I nodded, looking at the increasing blackness that was the Mutalisks overhead. The numbers alone would blot out the sun soon. I sighed, looking at the munitions pile, where I knew the Nuke was. The System had said it doubles all our ammo, maybe that was doubled as well?

Thinking a moment, because I had no clue if we could launch the fucker as it was, I asked Fernando.

“If I can get a line of sight, can we launch a Nuke at the Mutalisk Swarm?”

Fernando complicated this a bit, obviously thinking very carefully before he answered me. “Yes, Sir. But...It’d have to be at a medium range. There is also no guarantee that the force of the launch wouldn’t detonate the damn thing in the Missile Turret tube.”

Wait, what? Can Missile Turrets launch Nukes? Ok...right, Game like reality, but not the game. Ok, need to remember that. Taking a deep breath, I stared at Fernando with as much confidence as I could while giving my order. “Set one Missile Turret to manual fire, and load one of the Nuke in it. I’ll stay behind once the Bridge blows, and you move all the men to the ramp and transport ships to hold out against the fliers. When the numbers grow, I’ll launch the Nuke. It’ll buy us some time.”

Silence met me. Then, very slowly, Fernando lifted his right arm and gave me a perfect salute. “Sir, yes Sir.”

Myself? I was fucking shaking like a leaf. It was at most a fifty percent chance I wouldn’t go boom, killing us all. But if I didn’t do this, how could we even have a chance?

The hours ticked by slowly, and I learned that the Nuke had not been doubled. Apparently, because it was a system reward and not a starting munition for the Armory it didn’t get doubled. That...was frustrating in so many ways, but it wasn’t anything I could change.

We loaded the Nuke into an empty Missile Turret carefully. Then, Fernando, had a few of the more tech-savvy Marines set the Turret to a remote button firing system. As for me? I got to sit my happy ass there with a big red button that all but begged to be pushed, while everyone else went back to the bridge.

A short time later, the sudden screeching roar of the Zerg Swarm was heard. The noise was difficult to describe. Imagine the worst nail-on-chalkboard sound you have ever heard and then multiply that by ten thousand, adding in the sheer terror that it was coming from millions of Alien creatures hell-bent on killing you as they charged in one massive swarm toward you.

Now, I admit to being terrified, more so than before, because I was utterly alone as that sound reached us, and then I witnessed the Mutalisks start rolling in a wave, not sure how they did that while flying, toward me.

Gunshots burst out shortly after, over and over they fired. I could hear the Helbats, and Hellions sending waves of fire at the Zerg as they came as well. About half an hour into the assault, Mutalisks going to town on our Missile Turrets, disabling a few firing pods, even as they were blown to smithereens, I felt the trimmer and then heard the explosion as the bridge was destroyed.

Now, I admit that it was spectacular to see Zerg flying through the air, to their deaths. But what really tickled me was the fact that the blast itself had also sent several Zerlings flying high enough to slam into the Mutalisks, taking a few hundred down with them. It was just a drop in the bucket, but hey...every drop counts.

I was pretty sure that my suit would need to be cleaned, mostly due to the growing yellow stain that was now covering my lap. The reason? Oh, you know...MILLIONS of Mutalisks firing their weird glaive things at me, and the Turrets. One had even come close to striking the Nuke itself, that one was what caused the piss. So, perfectly reasonable.

It had been another hour since the bridge was destroyed. The lack of land enemies made the Zerg seem to triple the Mutalisk threat, but we held on. I could hear the shots fired by my men on the ramp leading to the Civilians, even saw gouts of flame from the Hellions and Helbats. Good to know, they could hit air units that dove low.

Finally, when I couldn’t risk waiting any longer, and yet another Missile Turret lost a Missile pod, lessening our chances by yet another percentile, I pushed the big red button. The moment I did, I fully expected it to go off and take me, and everyone else, with it. Instead, it fired lazily into the air, moving at an increasing speed toward the swarm above.

I stood in a daze, looking at it before it finally hit that I was WAY too close to the launch point. Right, time to run like Hell itself was chasing me. Looking into that sky, I wondered at the accuracy of my statement.

Taking off in a mad sprint toward the furthest part of the base from the Nuke launch site, I realized just how close we would still be, and was worried it would ultimately be for nothing. But I continued running, making it to the bottom of the ramp before everything seemed to go quiet and still, even the Mutalisk Swarm seemed to freeze, and then a roar unlike anything I had ever heard was let loose. Then I was thrown, literally, up the ramp by the resulting concussive wave.

After that, everything was a bit of a blur. I remember only pieces, shouting, screaming, and a hail of bullets aimed at the sky and the ground as Mutalisks fell to their deaths. Then, nothing but blackness. Then the fucking blue boxes.