I’m enlisted in the Ipsilon armed forces. After Ipsilon overthrew the United States government In 2030 ish, all existing security got promoted to ORCs or Outbreak and Riot Control. While I’m not old enough to have been on the original security team I was promoted into ORCs recently.
My job currently is civilian transport. I’m heading out to a general populace bunker out in Montana, normally a transport from a closer city would deal with it however Montana was hit pretty hard during the takeover and is still considered a dead zone.
I was driving an Ipsilon truck with a personnel transport module attached, basically like a semi truck with a camper fixed to the back instead of a trailer. The windshield was armored with camera feed from the outside displayed on the inside, to the driver it wouldn’t look any different from driving a normal vehicle.
I would’ve been able to see outside perfectly fine if not for this dam dust storm kicking up sand everywhere, thanks to the dead zone the storm also had a sickly green hue. I could still navigate down the highway thanks to the navigation system installed in the truck.
“I’ll deal with the checkpoint up ahead.” My partner had spoken up to say
I simply gave my partner a nod in response to his statement.
He was a pathfinder, basically he had replaced everything but his brain with cybernetics. Pathfinders often aren’t what they are by choice, many pathfinders faced illness or severe injuries and were on death’s door before getting such a prosthetic. The exact process I have no clue as I’m proud to say I’m unmodified.
I kept driving until the checkpoint came into view, since I could barely see anything ahead I pretty much had to slam on the brakes the second I saw it.
“Smooth” my partner had said before stepping out into the storm.
Him and another man with rotten looking skin stood in front of the truck, just as my partner had pulled out money to pay the toll, and then the mutant he had been talking with was shot in the head. The mutant fell on the spot, they may be some tough mother fuckers but some lead in the head is enough to drop most people still.
I watched a long blade deploy from either of my partners forearms, he dropped to a lower, wider stance and the edges of the blades lit up a vibrant blue.
Out from behind some debris stepped who I assumed to be responsible for that mutant’s death. The man raised a modified repertor to his face, I realized as they did so that they were an oxy junky.
The junky drew a long sword with a similar blue edge to my partner’s blades. The junky dashed at impossible speeds towards my partner, his sword met my partner’s blades. Nearly the second their blades met the junky had reared back his leg and kicked my partner, he was thrown back into the grill of the truck and went limp.
I knew I had to do something, so I dramatically threw open the driver side door and jumped out. Instantly the junky turned his attention to me, not even a second after I’d stepped out the man was lunging at me sword level with my head.
Adrenaline kicked in and I moved to dodge the attack, The sword was mere inches from my head. I watched as the momentum of his attack carried him to the ground, and got an idea. I stood in front of the driver side door as the man composed himself.
I stood there like a red flag held before a charging bull. The man lunged again, I’d barely processed that he began his attack before his wrist was in my hand. I dropped to the ground letting my full weight pull his wrist. He tripped over my crouched form kicking me hard in the side in the process, then I heard a thump behind me. I jumped back from the truck turning to see the man.
He sat upside down, his full weight resting on his neck which was twisted in a grotesque manner, and there was a dent in the driver side door now. As the adrenalin began to wear off I fully realized what I just did and all I was able to do was stand there as I stammered.
“OH SHIT!” Was all I managed to say
I then remembered my partner, I raced around to the front of the vehicle.
I found my partner on the ground in front of the dented truck grill, I could see a hole in his front plate carrier. The scorch marks surrounding the hole made me quite grateful I hadn’t been hit by that lunatic. My partner jolted up, his yellow glowing eyes blinking back to life.
“Mother fucker has a hell of a kick.” He said bluntly.
“I thought you were dead, Y-you have a goddamn hole in your gut!” I blurted out.
Following my remark one of his yellow eyes narrowed and he tilted his head looking puzzled, “All my life support systems are located in my chest.” I didn’t know a pathfinders life support took up such little space.
All I could muster in response was a slightly embarrassed “Oh”
My partner climbed to his feet, looking around as he had done so. “What happened to the junky, …and what happened to your ear?” That last bit he had said pointing at my left ear,
“Wait, what’s wrong with my ear?” I asked as I raised a hand to feel my ear. I didn’t feel my ear, As I pulled my hand away I saw my fingertips now were coated in crimson.
“Fuck me!” I said annoyed.
I placed my hand back over my ear as I explained “So uh… the junky is dead.”
I motioned for him to follow me as I stepped around the front of the truck to the driver side door. My partner rounded the front of the truck and saw the junky propped up on his broken neck
“You did this?” Without waiting for an answer my partner began again “Gotta give you props rookie, most unmodded woulda been toast.”
With that he tossed the junkie’s body a few feet from the truck and got into the driver’s seat
“You get shotgun.” Before I could protest the door was shut.
I got in the passenger seat, as I relaxed a bit I felt the adrenaline fully wear off and suddenly felt like shit. I felt nauseous and my lungs stung from standing outside in the dead zone, my side where I’d been kicked didn’t feel much better and my entire head ached from the slash across the side of my head. I began feeling light headed and nearly passed out in the seat.
“Looking a little pale there, you good rookie?” My partner said, looking as concerned as a green metal robot could.
“I’m fi–” I got halfway through my reply and then everything went black.
Next thing I remember is waking up in the infirmary back in the city. A nurse that was standing over me noticed I woke up
“Oh good you’ve woken up, you had us all worried for a while there.”
I sat up “H-How long was I out for?”
The nurse motioned for me to lay back down “Roughly 39 hours”
She handed me a pill and set a glass of water on a table connected to the bed. “Mutation blockers, it’ll put your cells on high alert for mutations, though some perfectly healthy cells may be affected so if you may begin to feel a bit weaker.”
“Thanks” I had said.
I spent most of my medical leave recounting my first job here so I’m going to be back in the field soon. If you have any questions regarding my job as an ORC soldier go ahead and ask and I’ll try and cover that topic in a future post.