“... you remind me of a younger me!” The voice of my ultra wise & super liberal instructor echoed out as I clipped the standard issue cloak upon my shiny armoured shoulders. A pride built up inside me as if responding to the pride he held for the rewarding job of raising new Helldivers to fight for what truly mattered in this merciless universe we thrived in.

Managed democracy.

Though there was one thing about his words that got me to furrow my brows under my standard issue helmet. “But I’m a woman…”

Well, there was no need to worry about that, the fight for super earth was just around the corner and about to knock.

There is never a chance that a citizen of Super Earth would ignore its call. Not to mention; this would be the first time I’d be able to proudly accomplish something that hasn’t been carefully curated by my overbearing parents.

“Well… Mostly outside.” Hearing a sudden crack I looked at my hand only to discover that I was clutching the military supplied Stims so hard that it ended up snapping in two.

Looking at the remains I couldn’t help letting out a sigh before throwing it aside without bothering to look at the name written proudly on each.

“Socialism never sleeps so neither will I!” I screamed as I stepped into the cryopod to be put to sleep with the knowledge that I’d soon wake up in command of my own super destroyer.

-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

No longer did I wear the standard issue as I stood calmly while looking at the war effort on the large table which projected it.

There was nothing more satisfying than watching freedom expand into the greater universe yet there was also something refreshing about seeing new helldivers aid in reclaiming what has temporarily been lost. I had seen a lot before the outbreak of war within our own borders however nothing made my blood boil more than the numbers slowly tick down.

“New soldiers truly can’t do this alone…” Instead of watching the map (which sometimes reminded me of the good that was happening especially in the Umlaut Sector where we often filtered the noobs into in order to deal with the lower infestations as bugs were easy till Chargers hit the field) I walked away.

Soon standing in front of the window with my visor reflecting as another Orbital Laser came to aid another diver take out some more malevolent machine when standard issue bullets alone couldn’t.

There were easily hundreds of Super Destroyers sitting in low orbit, each one representing a Helldiver taking part in the fight for super democracy.

However these rookies weren’t enough.

“Fellow Super Destroyers destined to dock in T-2 hours.”

A swift reminder from my officers actually reminded me that I’d soon be joined by three more comrades in my long fight for freedom - my parents no doubt failing to predict the outcome of war.

Then again, who could expect the creation of a new mechanical enemy as well as outbreak of the insectile pigs we bleed to feed our faster than light technology. Certainly helped me ruin their plans for me to sit untouched in my super destroyer. All this in order to gain military credit to assuage the lower SCC that we do our part.

Because I’ve been doing my part.

Even before the bugs & bots I have been hard at work suppressing any attempts to manifest anything other than perfectly managed democracy in the chaotic universe. The average citizen has no clue what it truly means to protect freedom as there were always small clusters of aliens to fight. Not that I’d have it any other way.

My blood already boiled at the thought of tearing apart metal with my bare hands - something I often was able to do due to the benefits provided by being the daughter of the number one medical contributor.

A lot of enhancements.

Life had always been easy for me and now I was using that to do my part.

Apparently that was terrifying nevertheless sometimes a little bit of terror was needed when we were fighting against scum.

Since I feared no commie I saw no need to hide; my armour being pure white that made me a beacon for the managed democratic seeking and a warning for the enemies of manifest fate. There was even some black on my shoulders and knees as well as some tassels that fell across my chest from a DP-40 & DP-53 respectively. Each piece I had earned the right to wear through my contributions for Managed democracy.

My armour was a modified B-27 Fortified Commando that was not simply white.

Over the years I had fought too much to trust my life with some resistant fabric so I had taken the clean plates of the FS-11 Executioner armour to apply to my own. Sadly this wasn’t a happy story nor were the countless cloaks I had wrapped around my left arm. They were the opposite of trophies of war; each was a sign of a comrade who failed to extract but whom I promised to continue their legacy of alien blood.

Thinking of the faces that had likely rotted to bone by now - I couldn’t stop myself from resting a hand over my eyes as well as my mid-length hair (more convenient for fitting in my helm than my old long hair). An act that made my 7 foot frame accidentally knock over a service person who was playing as much attention as I was. 

Taking my hands away revealed it to be the very person who helped keep this ship as a well oiled machine.

“Another day another fight.” She said with a sad smile as she saw me heading toward the wall where I not only stored but proudly displayed my array of gear. Obviously that didn’t include my armour since I hardly ever took that off if not to maintain it as well as my own health & hygiene. I was still a girl after all.

“A fight for freedom.” I replied without a shred of doubt toward what we were doing. It was not humanity's fault that the universe was not ruled by us but we sure as hell were going to correct that mistake. That is what manifest fate truly meant; something the lower rungs of Super Citizenship Classification.

It would be a shame if they tried to argue about peace when they didn’t understand the threat to freedom that other species represented.

There was no need for more talk as we nodded to each other with the understanding that we fought on the right side of history therefore there was nothing to discuss when it came to our actions. There I finally found my helm which was essentially just a B-24 Enforcer with imitation antlers as well as the “enhanced targeting” of the SA-25 ST.

Because damn did the SPEAR not like targeting by itself.

Together I’ve grown to call them the BU-11 Super Herald of Indispensable Tolerance although it is hardly complete without the rest of my gear.

Since it was a mission for the bots I promptly strapped myself with a P-4 Senator as no sidearm popped heads quite like this trusty high-damage revolver. Of course I went over it with white paint. Next choice was the unpopular but powerful JAR-5 Dominator that I clipped onto my equipment belt for now.

I was always tempted to carry in an impact nade but high-explosive is the best bet for dealing with those fabricators as I have learned through “experience”.

Last and most important… My cape. By now I had many options, not including those which I picked up from my fellows that made the greatest sacrifice, yet I always utilised the first Foesmasher I got from my training days all the way back when times seemed brighter.

Of course it looked quite different as the bottom was ragged with many holes littering across its surface however it stood the test of time. Half of it had been dyed orange like a darker Bastion of Integrity while I had painted a white stag with mighty antlers upon the back to represent my role. A protector as well as a beacon of safety for my own while a weapon to be pointed to those who dare resist.

Stag of Democracy is what they’ve grown to call me as well as this cloak.

Still a girl though.

Anyway, I needed to prepare for the three others so I returned back to the galactic war map with my helmet protection & my cape billowing behind me.

There was much to be done.

-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If there is a god they are an unjust one.

“For fuck sake what are we meant to do with a complete noob!” Shouted a fellow Helldiver that I was sure wouldn’t make it very far in the grand scheme of things. You often find these sorts who get hyped up on their own achievements on the simpler planets then speak as if they know everything about the game.

Already I was tempted to show him the effectiveness of a Senator against his light SC-37 Legionnaire armour however I was the senior officer here so I had to be a shining example of  managed democracy.

Looking toward the shivering figure of the cadet girl who was at the receiving end of this vitriol I was forced to take a deep breath as it seemed out last just gave me a pitiable smile. It was fine as I had developed a perfect plan that perfectly utilised the core principles of Super Earth.

Turning back toward the super chief prime with surprising quiet for how bulky my armour was - I took another breath as he was about to open his mouth again. Letting forth the wisdom that the ancestors of freedom have taught me.

“Shut up already you yellow bellied bellend.”

That did the job as all three of them looked toward me in shock as this was actually the first time I spoke after they arrived on my Adjudicator of Equality. Compared to me the Legionnaire was actually the second shortest at around 5  foot 11 while the silent but caring comrade was standing a far more respectively democratic 6 foot 2 inside his white CM-14 Physician armour. Then there was the micro cadet in a B-01.

She was 5 foot 7; tall among the citizens but nothing toward the peak of humanity that made up the various proud cadets of Super Earth.

Still, if she passed the exams, that meant she was prepared to do her part.

Then there was me who had years over even the most experienced here. It was often said that you could tell a lot about a Helldiver based on their cloak. Of course the cadet had a Foesmasher while the cocky space prime had a Tide Turner equipped which fitted his thoughts that he was the most capable.  

Fortunately there was a torn up Tyrant Hunter on the back of our final member - a sign that he has seen his fair share of troubles. Such troubles are what make the Helldivers into the elite force we are. Sadly a requirement that couldn’t be met due to the swarm of new cadets who sought to fight against our new and old enemies,

My presence meanwhile no doubt was enough to-

“Oh great, the mighty stag is a woman who got here due to being a Class A, guess I’ll just have to carry us to victory despite this being the hardest planet!” The brat once again spoke as I suddenly heard a fairly loud crunch that made all the others in the room step away in fear. A confusing scene until I realised that I had once again crushed the rim of the Galactic War map.

… At least I’m keeping my engineers busy?

“If you’re quite done it’s about time we get to doing this mission; you may have all the time in the world yet the poor citizens below do not.” Rising up while putting my hands behind my back. Trying to seem as unguilty as I can for destroying the precious hard work of Super Earth’s finest.

“We must stamp out those automatons who dared attack our good people without provocation!” They were likely trying to free their own masters from our mines but that was their problem not mine. Or I guess it was my mine since my family had a few?

I quickly took advantage of them being stunned to begin outlining my plan for this operation. Obviously there will be descent from the more annoying among us however that can be discussed once we actually have something out there. “We will drop in the east where there is a tank defending air support that we need to eliminate before we even think of getting our own out of there.”

Pointing toward the rear of the base - my hope was to do this as quickly as possible as things would only become more difficult the longer we stayed there. These automaton were no different from rats in how quickly they swarmed our bravest as soon as they got a whiff of our activity. Fortunately it was not nearly as intense as with the bugs; the amount of Bile Titans wasn’t the issue but the Chargers.

“How are we supposed to take out a tank when this little girl's bullets can’t even piece the armour of your rank and file bot? Plus we’ll be shot to pieces before we even get close. We can summon in energy shield backpacks but this rookie likely hasn’t even got enough credit let alone merit to have one!” An actual fair point from Legionnaire nevertheless I simply shook my head at this.

Afterall, he was overlooking one major point. “She just needs to stand behind me and I want one of you two to drop a spear so we can eliminate the enemies of democracy from afar. This will help us get away before they even know what hit them. To succeed and get you guys out we’ll need to have as little conflict with the enemies as possible; can I rely on you to bring both that and an ammo pack as well, Physician?”

Of course he nodded along as he understood the advantages of this kind of plan in the higher enemy intense areas.

“What about getting samples, credit and merits?!” A sudden complaint comes up from the Legionnaire making the silent Physician actually let out a very very long sigh. I couldn’t exactly blame him considering how this was quickly getting old.

Surprisingly the little cadet spoke up. “I don’t actually care about that so much as helping to deliver democracy to the areas where it is most required!”

Such a wonderful sentiment!

“Well I clearly wasn’t talking to you as all you are is a liability - if you guys just do the objective then I’ll run off to clear up the other enemy camps before meeting up at the extraction point.” Honestly that was the best we could hope for so I could only nod along with his idea. Other than that there were discussions of what weapons & stratagems each of us should pick.

This was something that took more thought.

“I… I can only bring my Liberator, machine gun and precision strike.” Nervously speaking up however none of use were surprised since it was quite normal that she wouldn’t have anything

“Personally I’ll be calling in a jump-pack, arc launcher that I’ll keep in reserve, a railgun which I’ll give to the cadet and finish it off with a 500kg just in case things start looking dicey.” Two of them nod along however I hear a scoff from the obvious asshole. Letting out a sigh I turned to hear what nonsense he had to say.

“You’ll die without a shield plus you aren’t even bringing a railgun for yourself so how do you plan to even take out any units with armour.”

“It’s you that chose light armour not me; I’m quite confident my armour alone will be enough to keep me running long after you’ve tasted an enemy bullet.” The other two seemed content with what I’ve outlined so we decided to just call this meeting here. Finally it was time to set out to do our part for Freedom.

It was time to fight on marvelon creek.

-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“All helldivers to hellpods.”

With that declaration I lifted my wrist to tap the interface of my suit's inbuilt computer in order to link the coms in our helmets with one another. Stepping into the footholds as I found myself lowered down into my hellpod as the top closed to leave me in complete darkness.

“Get ready to call in your gear as soon as we land and finish scoping the area!” Commanding down coms as one of my longest term allies certainly forgot to do that more than one time - only realising when he was already in the middle of a Terminid stronghold. Soon I felt my pod vibrate as the sound of me being jettisoned down onto the planet was all that I could hear in the silence.

This kind of turbulence was the reason why it was risky to carry support weapons in the same pod as Helldivers since… Well it wasn’t a great idea having high explosives flying around. As such it was more cost effective just to send them down separately as, that way, any “errors” wouldn’t directly effect the Helldiver who planned to use them.

For the next minute all that existed was the rattling of my pod.

Fortunately it didn’t exactly take long for us to crash into the surface of the planet - the top popped off as we were once again pushed out the pod. I could see that both Legionnaire & Cadet were focusing on calling down their strategies that they never even bothered to check where they were.

In a terminid controlled area it wouldn’t be too bad but that kind of carelessness is a death sentence against these bots.

Sure enough I spotted the turrets in the distance turning towards them; I couldn’t be sure who it was pointing towards so I just decided to save the effort by charging at both of them. The major positive about being so big with such heavy armour is that I had a lot of momentum. Diving into both of them with my arms outstretched allowed for me to easily carry them both behind a rock while hoping the foliage would do the rest of the work.

“What are you doing, you’ve made me mess up my call in, what the hell is your problem?!” Of course he began complaining however I didn’t have time to babysit him so I just brought my gauntlet to slam across his helmet to make it shake around like a bobblehead for a moment.

Although I’m pretty sure that would be the reaction anyone would have when slapped by me. A large 7 foot woman who was wearing the heaviest armour in the Helldivers. “If you are quite done trying to get yourself blown up, get to following your orders, soldier!”

While he was still stunned I took my time to look over the rock to see that the monstrous turrets atop the tall metal wall turned past us. I couldn’t help clicking my tongue as it would be far more convenient if we landed on the other side where the anti air likely were located. There would be some turrets however if we kept our range they wouldn’t be too bad as we could just call down the spear to do a quick in & out.

Now I’d either need to go in alone over the wall or flank around while avoiding the turrets.

Looking towards the panic filled cadet quickly let me realise that there was only actually one choice as I couldn’t exactly leave her unprotected.

Taking in the actual surroundings offered the view of a lot of different cover due to all the trees and random debris however that was combined with a lot of foliage. For someone with as many boosters as me it wouldn’t be difficult to bulldoze through.

This lot likely wasn’t that fortunate, however.

At most they would have two or three that mostly focused on enhancing their resistance to injury or increasing their stamina regeneration.

Still it wasn’t impossible as long as we believed in the wonders of managed democracy. As such I began to type on my wrist mounted touchpad to call in my stratagems.

I wasn’t the first as I noticed a marked rolling beside me and turning toward the source revealed Physician taking cover behind a tree; simply nodding towards me which I did back. In no time at all a support pod landed in front of us with a spear & matching ammunition pack.

“Cadet pick up that pack then pick up the railgun I leave to you - if we come up again a hulk you’ll need to take it out by aiming at the glowing spot.”

“Right!” Nodding along as she quickly slung the ammo pack over her shoulders as I grabbed the most powerful rocket launcher we Helldivers had access to. Honestly I disliked using the spear since it was difficult to get to work but I didn’t exactly have a choice when we needed a quick in and out.

This was a group with two liabilities that should still be in training however one doesn’t even want to accept that as the case. Stuck in the mindset of “I’ve found what works for me therefore it is the only thing that works” that you often find in the ignorant. Simply put… I didn’t have time to deal with his attitude due to the danger this planet represented for those who let down their guard.

Fortunately he’d soon be out of my helmet hair since his gear seemed to have landed while the railgun for the Cadet and Jumppack soon followed. Throwing then clipping the jump-pack onto my back (as well as under my cape) was simple enough since I was very used to it by now. I then threw the railgun to the Cadet who, although clumsily, managed to catch it.

Before I even had a chance to look back the Legionaire had went and fucked off - something I wont be complaining about if I’m going to be quite frank.

Physician promptly made his way over as I confirmed that we’d be heading around the wall which led to us quickly running with me admittedly being the slowest among us. While I could use my jump-pack to increase my mobility as I usually do, however, it makes me feel far more secure if I’m on the ground and able to quickly react to any dangers. We quickly managed to get to the other side but there was trouble.

Or rather…

There was an open field.

“Of all the places the forest decides to end…” Even the Physician couldn’t help complaining as he sounded completely annoyed with the situation we find ourselves in. The hope was to simply launch a few spears in to call it a day. Sadly that no longer seemed plausible for your average team of helldivers.

But I’m not your regular light armoured helldive.

“Stay behind me; cadets focus on reloading my spear as I take out the anti-air and the tank if it ends up getting in the way of our mission.” Both seemed bewildered but I wasn’t afraid of taking a few laser blasts if it meant helping maifest fate come into existence. It is our job as Helldivers to give our utmost to Super Earth and it was my job as a veteran to protect the future generations!

I didn’t even bother giving the two a choice as I ran into the field while looking toward the automaton base and as soon as I spotted the first of the anti-air turrets I pointed the spear towards it. Fortunately it decided to be co-operative as a rocket soon came flying out to impact the anti-air. Getting us one step closer.

Cadet was quick at her job as she slid another rocket inside while I once again began to run as fast as my armour would allow me.

Sure enough the tank, not happy about the fall of its charge, began to roll out as it’s turret turned to look at me directly. I returned the favour however every time the rocket seemed like it was going to lock on it suddenly lost it’s target despite being a gigantic tank. “For sweet lib-”

*BANG*

Not even giving me time to finish; the tank shot me directly in my chest sending me flying backwards due to the sheer force of the impact. It wasn’t enough to keep me down, however! I didn’t break anything but there were two clear marks left in the dirt as I somehow managed to stay on my feet.

“Damn you’re as monstrous as they say…” I heard that from behind as our resident medic slammed a healing stim right into my back as any cracks that may have occurred no longer ached. Instead I turned my spear toward the last anti air while speaking to the Physician. “Use an orbital on that tank!”

I couldn’t see any sign of agreement though I also wasn’t looking at him so that’s hardly surprising!

Either way I trusted him to get the job done as I focused on my job - lining up the spear while praying that the thing actually locked on. Mercifully it seemed to be doing better against things that were above so I could only let out a sigh of thankfulness. Not hesitating to pull the trigger as I saw a red line form in the corner of my eye only for the familiar sound of an orbital rail cannon shredding through metal to echo out.

“Retreat to the objective!” There was no need or time to check if the tank was dead as we had to rush to evacuate the science personnel before those grubby bots figured out what we were up to. Fortunately both of them listened as we soon were on our way into the forest in hopes that we’d lose any pursuers.

This may have slowed us down but it was the straightest line to the facility where the researchers were taking shelter from the robotic presence.

“That could have gone much worse, however, remember to pay attention as we could run into an ambush at any time while in these woods.” They both nodded with the cadet practically radiating nervousness as we could see the bot drops flying overhead towards where we just left. Certainly a nerve racking situation.

Still we stayed united as we headed through the jungle - occasionally we did run into a bot patrol yet we often heard them before we saw them. In that way it wasn’t too difficult to avoid running into them. At the same time the Physician refilled the ammo pack on Cadet’s back (using the four ammunition packs he stored on his back) just in case we needed to rely on the spear since who knew when we’d run into another tank.

We could only hope it actually locked on next time.

Sadly it wasn’t as peaceful as I’d like yet that is just the nature of war. Fortunately there was two of us who had already experienced enough dangers to deal with these kinds of situation as well as having the required gear to deal with it. Cadet didn’t have anything but the railgun that could puncture the resident hide of the robotic menaces but we made do with what we had.

As that is what Helldivers do!

Any party we ran into was quickly dealt with before they could call in reinforcements although there were definitely some close calls that required us to get a bit messy. Still we soldiered through if with our amount of resources slowly dwindling due to the breaker that the Physician had not exactly being the best when it came to ammo or armour penetration. He made do which I couldn’t complain about however it had taken its toll on our supplies.

“Radar is showing a party ahead.” Just as we were coming to where two large rock walls met I heard the words from the Physician who was looking at his wrist. Obviously that wasn’t good news so I decided to stop while opening up on my own to see that they were indeed waiting for us on the other side.

If we wanted to avoid a conflict we’d need to circle around and even then there was no confirmation that we wouldn’t just run into another patrol.

In fact… Longer we took, the higher the chances of running into something.

“Stay here and hide; I’ll check them out.” Finally utilising my jump-pack to land atop the rocks where I carefully peered over in order to see what hid on the other side.

Seeing them I couldn’t help letting out a sigh while thanking the mother of liberty that there wasn’t much to be worried about. Deciding it would be best to just deal with it as quickly as possible I lined up my dominator with the display over my eye in order to aim carefully as I aimed for the skull of one of the armoured bots. I didn’t even wait for him to fall before turning to shoot another then another.

The sound of the Jar-5 Dominator exploding through their bodies no doubt alerted my allies however Helldivers were trained enough to follow the orders that matter. Their confidence in me allowed me to easily target whatever bot tried to fire a flare without worry about covering them. In no time at all the entire party was dead but that also meant we’d need to pick up the pace.

Activating my jump-pack as I jumped to the floor, avoiding any damage from the impact with the floor, as I quickly signalled for the two to regroup on me. Promptly running as fast as I could.

“We’re a third of the way there so, with our current pace, we should be able to get there within-” Sadly I never got a chance to hear how long the Physician assumed we would take as he was suddenly cut off before he could fill us in. It wasn’t due to sudden enemies this time but by…

*BOOM*

A mine.

Abruptly a fiery explosion sent both me and the cadet flying to one side with only the thick forest preventing us from going even further. My head rang as if someone put my helmet into a belt then proceeded to shoot it with the MG-43 Machine Gun.

Looking over to the cadet revealed that she was in even worse shape as she groaned while pulling a branch from her between her armour plates before popping a stim.

Still…

We were the lucky ones.

Glancing over towards where our medic should be; I saw a whole lot of blood with me being required to actively look around until I saw what remained of our Physician. There likely wasn’t a bone not broken in his body with his legs being the worst of all. The only fortunate thing was the fact that he no longer seemed to be conscious so couldn’t experience the pain he’d otherwise be in.

“We need to quickly stim him up!” I commanded while looking towards the Cadet since my own supply would only make this situation worse than it already was.

Unfortunately one look at her made a pit form in my stomach.

She must have used her last one however that isn’t an issue since I can just call down a resupply then use one of the 2 supplied in each pack to heal him. With those thoughts I quickly went into my wrist console however that pit in my stomach already grew to a blackhole. I even felt heat beginning to form across my entire body at the message on my console.

“N-no… Why…?!” The cry of my comrade pulled me from my wrathful thoughts only to see that they too had a similar idea to me. Nevertheless, unlike her, I understood exactly how this came about. “The Super Prime must have called down the resupply for himself.”

That was enough to cause the poor little thing to collapse against the tree while looking around for some way to save the Physician but I’m afraid… There is nothing we can do. Instead I slowly walked up to him to carefully move his body in a more dignified position while taking the cape from his back. Promptly tying the burned Tyrant Hunter around my bicep.

“... Let’s move on.”

“B-but we can’t jus-”

“NOW!” My voice made them shake (whether in anger or sorrow I didn’t know) yet, as an experienced Helldiver, I am sure he wouldn’t want us to give up the mission just because he couldn’t make it to extraction with us. I refused to let a comrades sacrifice go to waste.

As such I grabbed the shoulder of the still stunned cadet to forcibly drag her along. At first she showed some resistance to my actions but that didn’t stop me and it wasn’t as if there existed a world where she could overpower me. “We need to finish the mission and that explosion no doubt caught the attention of those bots which means they are now guaranteed to know where we are going…”

I didn’t bother lying to her about the terrible situation that we were in (made even worse since we now lacked another set of hands) as I finally let her go. She shivered for a little before running back to him, making me sigh.

Not everyone could deal with the stresses of war and carrying around someone unwilling would just make things more difficult.

It seemed likely that he would have told us it’d only take a few minutes to arrive in the group of buildings since that is what was the case. At least it did for me alone. There was no time to think about that as I quickly slapped the console of the nearest bunker to call the researchers up so they could be evacuated.

I quickly rallied them as fast as I could as I knew fine well the bots would soon invite themselves into this operation and - sure enough - soon the sound of metal crushing foliage echoed out. Immediately I put myself between the running civs as lasers soon came flying down onto my bulky frame. Promptly returning fire to take out the armoured units first as one of the blasted bots came flying at me via a jump-pack.

That wasn’t enough to make me struggle as I shot of their sword wielding arm only to raise a foot to slam into the fuckers chest. They went flying back as I shot them. The jump-pack on their back exploded as they flew into a small group of bots.

From there I quickly activated my jump-pack to land atop a rooftop in order to see where the next bunker was located. Taking the opportunity to shoot some of the bots in the distance when I saw a hulk in the distance. Fortunately I kept the spear, may he rest in peace, so I pointed towards the heavy armoured bastard before letting a rocket fly out.

There was no time to watch the bastard explode so I instead used my freshly recharged jump-pack to clear as much distance as possible.

Landing in front of another bunker where I slapped the button before screaming at those inside to hurry out as I did my best to chaperone them through the suppressing fire of the bots. They were regular humans so a single rogue shot was enough to end them. The same couldn’t be said for me.

Using my body to take as many hits as I could as it felt like every second where I wasn’t pulling the trigger was because I instead was reloading the damn thing since it was restricted to 15 per mag.

More made it than didn’t but that number quickly dropped with every trip she made while the shiny white plates that adorned my figure seemed to become more bloody soaked & ash covered by the second. That was not enough to stop me. Only slowing down as I made quick work of any bots that got directly in my way.

Walking around the corner towards another bunker led to me walking straight into a hulk whose flamethrower began to spit out fluid. Quickly making the tactically decision to activate my jump-pack which sent me flying backwards onto another roof. Taking a few moments to get my spear out only to realise I had made a rookie error… I had no rockets for it.

My worry on how to deal with it quickly soon became for naught as a bullet flew faster than any regular firearm could manage; cleaving a smouldering hole where the bastard's glowing eye used to be.

Of course I recognised a railgun when I saw one but I was fairly confident that the useless bastard didn’t suddenly decide to help out the team. I was proven correct. Turning around revealed that the Cadet had actually come back with a familiar full-auto shotgun replacing the basic AR she once used.

We simply nodded at one another for a while before I once again jumped from the roof top to reach the last bunker while hearing the sound of shots in the distance. Soon guiding them towards the evacuation place while bots swarmed at us with me no longer having time to even aim. Just spamming the trigger against those who took more than one shot to take down.

Neither of us even have spare heals since someone decided only they mattered; still the cadet proved themselves worthy of trusting my back too. Even with no experience nor supplies she fought fiercer than most other Helldivers I’ve seen. Fighting without fear for managed democracy.

Finally the last civilian made it to shelter as I turned towards the Cadet who was standing among mountains of bot parts with one hand falling uselessly to her side while she limped. I was in better shape due to being sturdier nevertheless I only had one mag in my JAR-5. “Lets rush towards extraction and I’ll message the Super Prime to tell him that-”

“Extraction called in.”

That familiar voice echoed through my helmet as I couldn’t help standing there stunned; we fought so hard yet that piece of shit actually planned to leave us behind?

“I don’t think so.”

Even if I couldn’t get out I would ensure the future generation of Helldivers could continue the fight for the manifested fate of Super Earth!

“What is th-EH?!” I didn’t give her time to even ask as I threw her over my shoulders/neck as I finally took out a stim from my collection to shoot it. Suddenly an uncontrollable anger overcame me, demanding violence, as I had no need to hold back I unleashed it.

It could result in someone bleeding out due to increasing the blood flow to fuel the increase in power it granted my muscles but I trusted my armour more than I did my gun.

Using this newfound temporary power to charge forward without care for anything in my way; a building stopping my path? Head butted through the walls. A tree in the way? Shoulder says otherwise. Even as I felt her hand grab my helmet to scream about an enemy patrol in front I didn’t slow down.

We had no time to waste so I lowered my head as their red eyes turned towards me - not giving them a chance to even fire as the fake-antlers on my helm punctured through the metal hide of the bot.

Throwing my head back to, in turn, throw that wreckage over my back without a fuck about the garbled nonesense that came from the others. In the corner of my eye I saw the 4 minutes quickly dropping down as that glowing blue space-laser seemed to hardly get larger no matter how hard I ran. Regardless I didn’t give up as those words did not exist in the diction of the brave soldiers of Super Earth!

With such vigour I ignored every obstacle I could and used my jump-pack to get over those I couldn’t.

Arriving at the evacuation point just in time to see the pelican touching down as a familiar bastard barely managed to dive into it before a hulk sent flames the way where he once stood.

In front of me an army of bots swarmed the pelican which was already surrounded by the scattered remains of a turret.

Which type I couldn’t tell nor did I care.

“We… We can’t make it…” The voice of the brave cadet rang out from above as she didn’t even sound sullen but just exhausted with it all. I could understand her feelings as this was likely her first mission but she encountered everything that could possibly go wrong.

Though what she didn’t understand was that her statement was factually wrong for one reason; something I’m confident in proving as I lift her up from my shoulders. Ignoring all complaints as I grab her firmly while breaking into a sprint towards the army of automaton. Utilising my jump-pack as I threw her forward just as that ship was beginning to take off.

She didn’t even seem to realise she hit the back wall as her helmeted head met with my own and this time it was only me who nodded.

There were no regrets as I saw the bay door close nor as I fell down atop one of those blasted stabby bots that didn’t even put up an attempt to resist getting crushed. Popping another stim as I held my Jar-5 in one hand then the senator revolver in the other. “FOR FREEDOM!”

My scream caused the bots to stop firing at the evacuation shuttle to focus on the actual threat and a threat I intended to be. Firing as many bullets as I could without bothering to even aim. Throwing my empty Jar-5 towards the head of one of the fuckers to watch his skull satisfyingly burst open.

Soon enough a hulk came charging through as I tried shooting it only for my bullets to ping off.

Clenching my teeth I reached down to retch the blade from the bot I crushed when I landed - charging forward as I saw the flames beginning to spew forth. Diving under the flames only to quickly stand up to ram the red-hot blade through the crimson eye of the hulk. Kicking off it’s body while activating my jump-pack to be sent flying past.

Flipping around I used my momentum to shoulder barge through a crowd of bots as I headed to the outerwall where there was a conveniently placed turret on the wall.

Grabbing the turret (after sheathing my sidearm) then resting a foot on the wall where it was mounted securely; tearing the gun from its restrictions to turn around and fire. Laughing out as I saw bot after bot fall to my swarm of bullets. “SUPER EARTH WILL NEVER FALL!”

It seemed like they just kept appearing as taking one bot down made it seem like two more appeared.

“YOU THINK YOUR NUMBERS SCARE ME- JOKES ON YOU - THE MORE OF YOU TIN CANS THERE ARE THE MORE I GET TO TEAR APART HAHAHA!” Whenever one of them got close to me they were met with my boot or even just getting slammed in the face by the turret.

“Report in helldiver; where are you?!” I heard the familiar voice once again in my helmet as I dropped the turret in favour of ripping the head off a bot's neck.

“Fighting for managed democracy!” Not caring about how loud I was since I needed every second to ensure I wouldn’t fall in the next. I knew that the ship would soon leave low orbit so I quickly took this moment of respite to call in my arc thrower.

Although it didn’t seem that she liked that response. “What, no, you need to get out of there right now as there has been an order to evacuate from this sector let alone the planet!”

“I got left behind by that traitor to the cause so I’m going to be fighting till we take over this planet and stomp out the automaton threat!” Picking up the turret with one hand as I threw out grenades with the other to keep the robotic menace at bay.

“There has got to be some way off the planet!”

“Don’t want to!” Once again holding the turret in both hands to unleash a hail of bullets as I backed towards another since who knew how long this one would last.

“Won’t you run out of ammunition?!”

“Isn’t that what the Arc-Thrower is for?” Speaking of; the arc thrower landed down toward me as I reached a hand out to store it upon my back for now since I still had enough bullets to teach these fuckers an important lesson about the right the bare arms!

“But-”

“Another day another fight - I’ll see you lot tomorrow when the light of freedom once again falls upon Malevelon Creek…” With that I once again turned away from the evacuation to learn over the thick jungles of this hellhole.

Deciding to further dive into hell.