Soda Pop Soldier. Nick Cole

small secondary intel site, simply titled Sulaco Uplink.

      I don’t have time for that. We’ve either got to crack that King of the Hill zone at the end of the street or somehow stop WonderSoft from starting the clock on theirs.

      “Listen up, Fourth … I need you to double-time it to the location I’m marking on your HUDs now. That’s the King of the Hill zone WonderSoft’s gonna try and use. I need you to stage here.” I draw a red circle behind some smaller buildings near the WonderSoft door. “Fifth, I need you to move to this location and put some fire onto that target. Once you’re in position, open up on ’em. Fourth, as soon as Fifth Squad works the target over, move in and finish off any survivors. You shouldn’t have much resistance between here and there, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Softie out there running Stealth perks, so watch the shadows.”

      “Question.” It’s AwesomeSauce. “We can’t take that zone at the loading dock with just what’s left of First and Second.”

      “Have to,” I reply.

      I watch the map as both the fourth and fifth squads move out to intercept WonderSoft. In five minutes it should all go down.

      “All right, First, we’re gonna need you to keep all the Softies heads down for a minute. We’re moving all the way up the street to the loading dock. Once we get there, we’ll hack it and start the zone. Try and keep them off us.”

      “Roger that, Question,” says a guy named BubbasChoice.

      “Well, AwesomeSauce, we’ve gotta take the hill, that’s the name of the game. You with me?”

      “I’ll go first.” Her tone is bored. Flat. Condemning.

      “Anyone got a streak goin’ yet?” I ask over BattleChat.

      “I got Death from Above,” says one of the snipers. “Three kills already.”

      And you haven’t activated it yet, I’m thinking. “Could you go ahead and use it?” I ask him.

      “Sure ’nuff.”

      A moment later I hear a low-flying aircraft high above the battlefield.

      “Air strike, inbound,” warns the game announcer.

      “We need to hit the entrance now,” I shout over BattleChat. “Go! Go! Go! Everyone take the hill. Snipers, do what you can to give us some cover.”

      I rush out into the street, beating AwesomeSauce. Hoping at least one person will follow me, I head toward an abandoned cargo truck canted in the middle of the muddy street, firing short bursts at where I think WonderSoft might be. I reach the truck and pin my avatar against the side. Bullets are flying everywhere, smacking into the side of the truck on galvanized, crushed soda can notes. I can hear the loud, distant cracks of our snipers’ rifles. I lean out from one side of the truck and watch as most of Second Squad rushes up the muddy street around me, heading for the loading dock. Three of them get hit instantly. I draw a bead on one of the WonderSoft shooters and double-tap him in the chest.

      I need four more kills for my next streak.

      What’s left of Second is with me on the truck.

      “Keep firing, First, until we reach the door,” I call out over the chat.

      “Hey, Question, truck’s on fire,” notes AwesomeSauce.

      She’s right. In seconds it’ll explode.

      “Get away!”

      Everyone sprints toward the loading dock.

      The truck explodes behind us.

      Casualties.

      Above us, a small close-air-support aircraft is making missile strikes on the Softies near us—Death from Above. One rocket goes straight down into a building ahead of us, and a second later the entire building explodes, sending a shock wave of debris and flame out at us. My avatar is knocked back and onto the muddy street. I take 50 percent health damage.

      I’m up and moving just steps away from the shadows of the loading dock. I make it to the loading dock. A small sign near the security door welcomes everyone to Hadley’s Hope.

      First Squad is firing from behind a concrete wall down the street.

      I hack the lock, watching as my avatar inserts his high-tech hacking tool into the computer lock and starts the operation. Fifteen seconds later, the game announces, “King of the Hill starts now.”

      The clock starts, and we’ve got three minutes to go.

      “Enemy Drive-by, inbound!” yells the in-game streaks’ menacing announcer.

      “Take cover!” I call out needlessly.

      Down the street, a low-riding flat windowless APC with thick ceramic tires and a small swivel-mounted Hauser minigun turret races toward us.

      I’ve never seen an APC like that on a streak.

      I briefly wonder if it’s some kind of new WonderSoft vehicle, just as I hear Bluuuuuurrrr; it’s the gun erupting in a loud, high-pitched sound as it sends hundreds of miniballs ripping into what remains of Second Squad—except for me, AwesomeSauce, and another guy. And seconds later, that guy’s heavy machine gun–wielding avatar disappears in a shimmering haze of lead as his body receives hundreds of hits almost instantly. AwesomeSauce switches out her HK Mini for the RPG on her back. She fires fast and skips the RPG off the muddy road with a small splash and right into the undercarriage of the APC. It explodes upward and lands on its side with a metal-rending crash as it begins to burn.

      “That worked” she yells over BattleChat as if I need to be told.

      The King of the Hill clock is already up thirty seconds. Two and half minutes to go.

      For the next two minutes it’s a shooting gallery and we’re the ducks. WonderSoft’s elite unit keeps us pinned down behind the narrow confines of the loading dock, making sure they keep up the fire while they reload. We take sporadic shots and I get two of them.

      I need one more kill to activate my next streak.

      I check the CommandPad and see that Fourth Squad is engaging the WonderSoft unit on the other side of the facility. WonderSoft has started the clock on their King of the Hill zone. For some reason, Fifth never ended up where I told them to and they’re moving in way too soon and too close on WonderSoft.

      “Enemy Gunship, inbound,” warns the game announcer.

      If they drop it in on us, we’re finished. I hear the approaching engines of the gunship. It’s an HK. A hunter-killer. It streaks over the darkened sky and begins to hover above WonderSoft’s zone. Its auto cannons roar to life and I watch on the CommandPad as both fourth and fifth squads are wiped out.

      One minute.

      I spot a distant Softie shifting position and drop my sights over him, squeezing off a quick burst. I hit him, and he keeps running. I track a second longer, lead him, then fire again. This time he goes down, and I’ve got my last kill.

      And my next streak reward.

      I call in an Auto Gun Drop and just after the game announcer says, “Auto Gun package, inbound,” a dropship streaks underneath the gray canopy of the storm and drops a parachute containing the Auto Gun package off its back cargo deck. It lands near the beacon I’ve tossed onto the floor of the loading dock. I only have to crawl out onto the platform a little way to unlock and activate the package. Once I do, I watch as the sides of the crate flop down and the gun unpacks itself. Within seconds, its targeting lasers activate, cutting through the gun smoke and gloom as it begins spitting out short staccato bursts of hot lead at any WonderSofties within range. I get six more kills in the space of a minute.

      “Thirty seconds!” calls out AwesomeSauce over the chat.

      I’m down to nine players from both surviving squads, including the two snipers at the far end of the complex.

      WonderSoft