Prologue

  AS he carefully rounded the corner, he heard multiple shots- Gauss-powered, 9mm incapacitating rounds, by the sound of it. That worried him. Tetra was an excellent markswoman, not to mention a fanatic advocate of conservation, never taking a shot without knowing it would reach its target- and then some. She must be in trouble, since those shots obviously weren't hers.
  He dived into a roll that took him to the next passageway. The underground bunker, with its low ceilings and nigh innumerable pathways, was profanely easy to get lost in. However, each level had exactly the same layout as the rest, so it was an equally easy task just to memorize one floor plan for use throughout the mission. You just had to remember which floor you were on.
  As he raced down the passage, he heard the hissing of pnuematics behind him, then a sound immediately distinguishable from any other- one that would strike fear in the heart of even the most hardened soldier- the deadly humming of a plasma cannon powering up. He spun around on his heel, swinging his handgun around to face the new threat. Even before he saw the ceiling-mounted turret, he knew he was too late to do anything about it.
  "Oh-" his expletive was cut short by the fact that he no longer has a mouth. Or a head.

GAME OVER

YOUR HEAD A-SPLODE

  "Blast!" Zak yelled. "Dude, what happened?!"He demanded into his headset. "You were supposed to be covering me, and I get fragged! Where were you, back at the tutorial?"
  He got an in-game IM back: <Sry, 2 much lagggg on my comp>
  "Zak! Please take out the garbage, honey!"
  He sighed and got up from the leather, ergonomic seat, the computer monitor he was sitting in front of still flashing the "GAME OVER" screen.

END OF PROLOGUE