I expected it to be another game. 20 or 30 minutes of combat with a rushed extraction… if I managed to get into the extraction ship. I was a cadet fresh out of story missions looking for thrills in multiplayer. The missions had recently restarted, it was time.
Horde on the planet Valaka, normal difficulty. “Fortify the defenses against a relentless horde. Will you make it back alive?” read the mission description. I had 2/3 clocks, so I calculated an average duration. 20 or 30 mins, maybe? And up to 16 players. From my experience so far, it must have been a routine Starship Troopers Extermination mission.
“I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe…”
The Federal Network showed me that some of my colleagues were already in Valaka. I could see some defenses and the Mobile CG that we had to protect. The orders were obvious: build a fortified base, defend the objective at all costs and defeat all the hordes that dared attack us. I chose the Guardian class and jumped onto the battlefield with my heavy machine gun.
I was new to Starship Troopers Extermination, so I didn’t want to get in the way of the veterans during the build. I took a look around and ran towards my favorite position of this defense as the first bugs appeared. It is a staircase located on the adjacent platform. Many players choose to build the base on both, but in this case they limited themselves to a couple of walls.
The platform was defenseless, so I deployed my Guardian parapet and began slaughtering any critters that came within range. It was easy to defend that narrow corridor. They were my Thermopylae and I was the space Spartan who had to contain the enemy along ten hordes. What I didn’t know was that the defense would stretch out for 50 minutes on the clock… and how bad things could get.
Three or four waves were enough for me to notice several problems: I had to choose very well the moment to reload my machine gun and it was imperative that between rounds I used my knife to cut up the corpses on the stairs. They piled up and would be cover for the next bugs. The visor of my helmet turned green every time a corpse broke into pieces.
Everything was pretty routine until wave six. I ran out of heavy machine gun ammo and had to settle for the pistol. The bugs took advantage of the numerous corpses of their allies and the reduction in firepower to overwhelm me, but I managed to control the situation with some patience.
And when I thought everything was under control and I had replenished ammo in a gun rack I made earlier, a Tiger bug appeared and pounced on me before I could reload the machine gun. No companion responded to my call for help. He was alone against the bugger. I did what I could, but in the end I bit the dust. I was bleeding to death… until a doctor sent his drone and healed me. I took advantage of the bug’s moment of doubt to shoot it. He fled in terror.
It was obvious that he could not hold the position alone. I removed the bodies from the ladder once again while thinking about building an automatic turret and ammunition in the next few rounds. And so I did after a wave seven that seemed like an eternity. It did its job… until the Tigue bug attacked my position again and left me in the dust once again. This time, someone bothered to come to my aid to heal me and help me protect the flank.
The following problem arose. A bug was throwing balls of electricity or plasma? from a blind spot on the base. It was relatively close to my position, although I had to enter enemy territory. I knew it was a one-way mission, so I went and killed him, but I paid for it with my life. I thought no one would help me, but my guardian angel sent his drone again, allowing me to return in a retreat that I thought was impossible.
I returned to my position to repair the auto turret, replenish its ammunition, and clear the stairs of enemies. It was wave nine. He knew he couldn’t withstand the enemy onslaught, but he had to try. As long as he held out was time the rest of the players didn’t have to worry about a flank. However, they broke the turret from an explosive projectile. It was time to retreat.
You may think that there is little defense left, but we are at minute 30… and I remind you that it lasted 50 in total. Everything didn’t matter at that point. All flanks were attacked, although one in particular was bearing the brunt… so much so that the bugs managed to break the wall and enter the base. I had to return to my initial parapet to replenish ammunition because there was not a single box of ammunition left in the base. The situation was truly desperate.
Wave 9 is over. I repaired the auto turret again and ran towards the base. There were corpses everywhere. It was funny to see how the turret didn’t even last one round. They broke the wall and entered the base. We all held our positions, but it was obvious that there were almost no resources left to resist this last onslaught. We are at approximately minute 40. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life as a space cadet.
Finally, we saw the mission completed sign, but we still had to do the most important thing: get to the extraction ship… and we had to go through an esplanade full of bugs. Not to mention that the rest would storm the base as soon as we left and chase us. Most players die right at this moment.
I was clear about the path to follow. Several games ago I saw a player take a safe path by parkouring through some pipes. There are no enemies and it ends right in the extraction zone. I got nervous and fell into the void, so I ran like hell despite the fall damage. I shot like a madman once I was inside the base. I didn’t have to worry about ammunition anymore.
I swear on my heavy machine gun that I dropped the controller on the table and leaned back in the chair as the “Victory” screen, the point count, and all the experience gained, came up. I was exhausted. I was not aware of how long I was fighting in that massacre until I saved and trimmed the video. I went up several levels. It was time to go to dinner. I had earned it.
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