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Chapter 4: Incoming

      It was now dawn as the squad of survivors awoke to Griffes scream.

      " Holy shit! Covenant Dropship incoming!" The scream alerted everyone from their rest. Grabbing their rifles the fire team approached Griffes.

      " Where is it!? Griffes tell us!" Samarant yelled. Private Griffes pointed his M6D towards the direction the dropship landed.

      " Marines we are leaving!" Taylor yelled as he ran in the direction Griffes pointed out. The squad ran through the woods. As they approached the landing sight they could hear the hum of the dropship's engines. " Fan out encircle the landing zone!" Taylor screamed motioning the squad into position. They found an opening in the trees where the dropship was landing. It was a darker shade of purple like everything else the covenant had and was in the shape of a U with a turret mounted at the front.

      Fire team tango fanned out and watched as the covenant dropship doors folded down and spilled out its troops. Ten grunts pilled out. They were the Covenant equivilant of cannon fodder. About 5' and rather stocky. On their backs were shell like packs that housed a form of artifical enviornment generator creating conditions that were rather cold and methane based.

      The Marines lied in wait. They could hear the grunts as they talked among themselves. Their language was primarially barks, sqeeks, and other high pitched noises. It was nearly three minutes unitl the dropship finally left the grunts. As it did Taylor Stood up.

      " Now!" he yelled. The Marines fired their weapons setting three of the grunts on fire. The rest snapped into combat mode and fired their needlers. Pinkish spikes came flying at the squad only to hit branches and foliage. The needles exploded sending micro-shardes in the air. The grunt numbers fell rapidly leaving only one wounded one on the ground.

      " Get it before it reloades!" Samarant yelled. The Marines charged the wounded grunt. Watson in the lead was right on top of it as it rose its weapon to fire. Watson then kicked the gun out of its hand. The grunt was now screaming in terror as it could no longer effectively defend itself against the squad.

      " Nice work marines!" Johnson yelled. The grunt stopped screaming and began to look around frantically. Johnson looked down at the grunt. " Men take a good look at this little son of a bitch you'll be killing alot of them." Samarant looked down at the grunt's face.

      " Sir how do we kill it? I mean how should we? A slow suffocation maybe, or perhaps a beating, ooh better yet how about breaking every bone in its body one by one." he said.

      " Gordon grab me a plasma grenade from one of those corpses over there please." Johnson asked.

      " Sir!" Gordon replied going off to retrieve a grenade. When he found one he quickly gave it to Johnson. Johnson tossed it back and forth in front of the grunts' face. The grunt watched closely. Finaly it attempted to grab the grenade but was forced to the ground by Spencer's boot.

      " This is for all of my fellow men that had one of these things attached to them." Johnson said. " Break its legs." he ordered. Griffes immediately fired a round of his pistol into each leg. As the grunt screamed in agony Johnson pushed the orange trigger on the plasma grenade causing it to become surrounded by a moderately warm blue plasma flame that did nothing to his hand. He then tossed the grenade on the grunt. The squad ran away from the grunt as it screamed terribly. Then the grenade went off in a plume of superheated blue plasma sending the grunt's remains into the sky and leaving a small crater in the ground.

      " That was cool." Hayward said looking into the sky. Some members of the squad looked over at Hayward with a smirk on their faces. Gordon stepped forward.

      " Sir I believe we should get moving." he said to Johnson. Johnson was looking at the bits of grunt on the ground. They were a sad reminder of the comrades that were lost in such a matter. He had no time for such thoughts to be trailing around inside his head.

      " Alright. Squad let's move out." Johnson said stepping off. The streak of pain screamed acrossed his face once more. The squad this time did not see the pain as it has been growing slowly in the lieutenant. As they continued on their journey they had noticed an hour later that the weather was becoming lighter and heating up at a gradual pace. They also heard the distant sound of crashing waves. Finally the squad had navigated their way through the forest and were once again in the open. To their left was a massive mountain formation.There was also a pile of rocks and a shore exposed to one of the many oceans on the ring. On the other side of the rocks 100 meters distant was a rather unfortunate sight. There were at least thirty of them and they couldn't have been there at any worse of a time for the wounded and the unscathed. The squad ran to the nearby group of rocks. Hayward looked over to make sure. He gulped down his fear and knealt back down. They were all grunts. Mostly red armored and packing needlers.

       " Sir," Hayward said with a look of fright on his face," All grunts sir. Red armored except maybe a few. So far only needlers." Johnson and the rest of the squad all digested this in their minds. Johnson knew what a needler could do to human flesh after the needle impacted and exploded inside of a body. It wasn't a pretty sight. He then took a look for himself and got what little geological data on the area as his eyes could tell him. He then knelt back down and quickly drew in the sand what he saw. It was basically showing the grunts in packs of three to six clustered around the shore. He then quietly spoke pointing to a little circle.

      " We are here," he said. Then he dragged his finger to a little cluster nearby the posistion he had just pointed out. " We take this group out first. Use short controled bursts only. It doesn't take to much to eliminate these suckers. Now stay around these rocks, don't rush out there. Those needlers don't need to hit you to explode they can be nearby and still send micro-schrapnel into the air and I don't need any of you blinded or hit so be evasive to a point." He then pointed to three other groups that were just a little bit away. " After the first group is down hit these. Even though these grunts are all 'field corporals' mainly it seems these ones are more in control of the situation. So we target them second and we mop up the survivors. Be prepared for a long engagement. Let's just hope it isn't one. Alright fan out among these rocks and wait for my signal." The squad nodded and fanned out. Johnson then remembered something. He turned to his men. " If you unfortunately get a genade stuck on you..." he hesitated, " Run at them if possible or run your ass away from the rest of us. I don't want any of us to die, but if only one does the rest of us can live to avenge you in the future. Do you understand?" They all nodded. " Good." Johnson then readjusted himself and had a good bead on the forward grunt of the nearest pack. He then held his left hand up and dropped it at fast rate and yelled, "Now!"

      The air bristled with rifle fire and three streaks of plasma. The first group of grunts fell. The marines then targeted the next group and took out the majority of them. The grunts then went into a panic and ran in all directions. Finally after maybe five more dropped the remaining ones discovered where the attack was coming from and engaged in the direction of their attackers. The marines were now changing clips almost after the man next to them did. It became to the point where when one man was reloading three others were either starting to unload, mid way thruogh their clip, or reloading was an option that was necessary soon. Taylor then saw a blue flame arc through the air.

      " Grenade!" he yelled knocking Watson out of the way. Several of the marines rolled away from the grenade. Seconds later it detonated creating a meter deep crater. The marines were now exposed to the incoming needler rounds. The tiny needles exploded around the squad sending micro-schrapnel into the air around them. Taylor was struck in his throat by some of this and he could feel the tiny fragments inside him moving and tearing barely away at his flesh. He clasped his hand around the wound and returned behind the rocks and continued firing. The grunts were now massing into a single line that was stretched so that they all could be seen. There were now maybe 15 of them remaining. Johnson tossed a grenade and the ones near it hit the dirt. Only three bought some schrapnel, but it had ignited their enviroment suits making them into an instant roman candles. They screamed in agony and ran in circles attempting to put out the flames. Now with the grunts exposed the marines unloaded their weapons on the survivors killing the remainder of them. Gordon gave a victory cry and lifted his rifle high in the air.

      " Don't get cocky now soldier!" Taylor said pulling down Gordon. Gordon was shocked by Taylor's words.

      " What the hell was that for?" Gordon asked. Taylor put his finger to his lip and went shush. The squad then heard it as well. " Oh shit." Gordon said closing his eyes and looking into the sky. The sky ran with many high pitched roars. This was bad for the squad. All of them heard the noises and were nearly accepting defeat when a radio transmission came in.

      " This is Pelican Dropship Gamma 038. I have been engaged by multiple Covenant banshees. Warthog rear gunner is down. If anyone is around this grid please respond." it said. Johnson instantly responded.

      " This is Fire Team Tango. We read you loud and clear. I can just see you now coming around the ridge. We are on your one o'clock. Do you see us?" Johnson said. The pilot repeated his message. Johnson couldn't get through. Either his radio or the Pelican's was down and he could only pray it was the Pelican's reciever. The Pelican then grew even larger and smoke could be seen from it's cockpit.

      " I am going down. Repeat Gamma 038 is hit. I am going down. Sending distress call now." The radio went silent and the Pelican came crashing down at a rapid pace. The Pelican then swerved into the water and crashed ten meters of shore, still in shallow water. The banshees could now be seen. The squad instinctively dropped and stayed still. Johnson looked over to Mclean and Griffes.

      " How much ammo is in those rockets?" Johnson asked in a whisper.
Griffes examined the launcher and his ammo pack. Mclean did the same.
Griffes looked up and held up his right with five fingers up. Johnson nodded and looked over to Mclean. He held up only three fingers. " Alright." The Banshees totaling ignoring the dropship went into a wide swing and pulled straight up and flew away. Hayward let out a sigh of relief. Samarant gave a cough and finaly spoke the first time in the past day.

      " Sir how about we salvage the crash site. They did have a warthog." he said. Taylor looked over.

      " Marines assemble for salvage duty! Let's see what we can find. Stock up on ammo and what ever you can find!" he barked. Everyone went over to the crash. Watson and Samarant walked while the rest of the squad ran to the crash.

      They moved through the freezing cold water to reach the crash. Inside there were many dead, maybe ten and ten feet away from the warthog's location was a carbonized skeleton. Armor was melted away and the fatigues were burnt to rags. The marines didsmissed the sight and gathered the dead marines' weapons and ammo. After grabbing an arm full the marines put them on the shore. There must of been nine M6D pistols, seven MA5Bs, and two S2 AMs. Johnson after gathering weapons and ammo looked at the sight. The top end was still smoking and the warthog LATV would be a problem to get to. Johnson continued his thought and went inside the Pelican. He took the first aid kits on both sides of the cockpit's access door. He opened the door and saw the pilot. He was dead and his head was twisted at an unnatural angle. Johnson saw that he had one hand on the controls and another griping his M90 combat shotgun. Johnson leaned over and took the gun and searched the body for an ammo sack. Underneath the pilot's seat was a bag full of the 10 gauge shells. He snagged them and slung the shotgun over his other shoulder. As he left he looked back once more. A thought had dwaned on him and he decided to grab the pilot's combat recorder. He exited and saw the bodies were along the shore.

      " Men come here quickly and grab a combat recorder from each of the deceased." Johnson said clutching the cargo door of the Pelican. The squad did as instructed. He popped the one he gathered into a small viewing screen in the cockpit. It was crowded with the squad all trying to see what was going on. The screen flickered and showed what the pilot had seen for the past six hours. Although they saw several bits of what happened they quickly skipped to the last 15 minutes. They then saw the combat extraction. He was looking directly at a large amount of grunts, jackels, and a few elites. The Pelican was being shot at and the windshield cracked and fizzled. They heard the pilot's frantic screams as he waited for the marines to get on board. After a moment he lifted off. A red light began to flash on his HUD and an alarm sounded. The transmission he sent to the squad was then said. Johnson stopped to video. He turned to his men. " Let's distribute the weapons we salvaged and get that warthog turned over." The marines did as ordered. Everyone without a pistol was given one and 6 mags for it, then ammo for the assault rifles was distributed, and Gordon and Jacobs took the sniper ammo that was intact. Once this was accomplished the entire squad went over to over turn the warthog.

      Once this had been accomplished Taylor hopped into the driver seat and drove the half water filled jeep to shore.

      " Men use those helmets to get this water out of here." he ordered. Watson and Jacobs came over with two helmets of the dead marines and emptied the warthog to the best of the crude buckets' ability. Watson getting water out the passenger seat saw a metal welder underneath the seat. He grabbed it, looked at it then looked at the dead marines and then the warthog. He turned to Johnson who was examining his new shotgun.

      " Sir," he said. Johnson turned. " How about we weld some of that body armor onto this thing. It would maybe buy us a few more shots from plasma burns." Johnson nodded and he went to work. The others took notice of this and handed him armor when he needed it and went to work on burial detail. " There." Watson said wiping sweat from his brow. The warthog no longer looking the standard green was transformed into a slightly bulkier, brownish turtle loike vehicle. If not for the lack of treads and main 120 mm cannon it could have passed for a small scorpion main battle tank. Gordon looked over from his work to see what Watson had accomplished and gave a whistle of amazement. Watson wiped the sweat from his brow and looked with pride towards his accomplishment.

      " Well now that you've done that you want to give it a spin?" Johnson asked patting Watson on the back. He allowed a small grin and jumped in the driver's seat and started it up. Hayward hopped in the gunner spot and Samarant dropped himself into the passenger seat. Samarant then tapped the dashboard ready to go.

      " Back in ten sir." Watson said.

      " Make it five we need to get moving again soon." Johnson replied. Watson nodded and drove off. He and the others were admiring the view of the ring above them, the icy waters, and the fact that it could almost be mistaken for a colony world if not for the ring's other end in the sky. A minute into the trip the joy ride went down the tubes. They ran into an entire covenant scouting party complete with grunts, jackels, elites, and two creatures they had never seen before in their life. They were big, blue, and weilding some sort of metal shield. Hayward laid down the trigger as Watson made a sudden turn away from the covenant. A few grunts were taken out along with a jackel but much more remained. When Watson met up with the squad they were running to him. He slammed the brakes and jumped out.

      " What happened we heard gun fire? " Taylor said. Watson was catching his breath.

      " There were alot of them. The works and something new. Sir." he replied.

      " New?" Taylor asked puzzeled.

      " Yeah sarge new. They were big, blue, and had a massive shield. They were seperate from the others but they were definitely Covenant."

      " Hunters." Griffes said. Everyone looked at him.

      " Hunters Chris?" Gordon asked.

      " Yeah hunters. They were first encountered on Sigma Octanus IV. I recieved word of them just an hour before we shipped out from spacedock. Every heavy weapons specialist at Reach was told about them. Something about rifle rounds being ineffective against their armor."

      " Well that's just fucking peachy." Samarant said forcing himself out of the warthog. He walked over to the back of the squad and got into a prone posistion. " You people going to get ready or do you want to die? "

      " He's got a point." Griffes said. The squad fanned out and got into defensive posistions. They waited and heard the covenant soldiers yelling and the roar of their feet rushing to the marines. They were about to come over the hill. Finally the first elite ran over the hill. Jacobs was on it instantly.

      Two sniper rifle shots were fired. The first knocked out the shields and the second spilt its throat in two. Now several grunts came over the hill and the marines opened fire. Roberts opened fire with the .50 cal on the rear of the warthog.

      Bullets sliced through their armor and they poured blue blood unto the sandy beach. Many more came and fired on the marines. Plasma fire was being exchanged from both sides.

      The grunts were wiped out making way for the hunters that now slowly came over the ridge. One opened fire on the warthog. The green plasma shot missed and sent an intense wave of heat onto Roberts back. His armor plating fused with his flesh. Roberts jumped off the warthog rifle in hand and screamed in pain as the molten chunk of metal burned into his spine. He let out a final scream of pain and fell to the ground next to Griffes. He twitched and his eyes rolled back into his head as his life exited the body.

      Griffes saw the corpse of his comrade and found a new spark of rage and hate for the enemy.


      Johnson went over to Robert's body. The dead man's face was filled with pain. Johnson could also see the wound that killed him. It wasn't a pretty sight. The spinal cord was fused with the armor plating and alittle spinal fluid leaked out of the wound. He turned from the sight and gathered Robert's combat recording. Johnson stood up and walked over to the warthog.

      He looked in the back and counted the ammo. Two thousand rounds and a six thousand round spare drum of ammo left. He then looked back at the body.

      " Watson," he said. Watson looked over. " Remove what armor you can salvage from Roberts and put it on this warthog. I need it concentrated on the rear of the vehicle.

      " Yes sir." Watson replied. He went and removed the armor from Roberts and carried it to the warthog.

      " Taylor, Mclean, Griffes, Gordon, and Samarant." Johnson said looking off into the neighboring ocean.

      " Yes sir?" the all said.

      " You three got weapons detail. Gather new covenant weapons. Pile those bodies and set up a stash of what they've got where I am now." Johnson replied. They all nodded and went to their tasks. " Jacobs, Hayward, Spencer you three assist me with Roberts burial detail. When we are done assist those that need help." They went to their work after the orders were given.


Chapter 5: Arc Angel


      Burial duty was over and the other tasks were complete. The squad was refitted and ready to move out. Johnson drove with Samarant next to him and Spencer on the rear gun. They traveled at a fair pace to allow the rest of the squad to keep up.

      " Excuse me sir, but I've got a hunch on something." Samarant said. Johnson kept his eyes down the beach and was listening.

      " Well explain this to me. What hunch have you got?" Johnson replied. Samarant grabbed the warthog's radio and activated it.

      " This is Private Lucas Samarant of Fire Team Tango. Does anyone copy? Over." he said. Static came over the line. He repeated the message. Again no response.

      " Guess nobody is out there." Johnson said. Johnson had already given up on radio communication. He never really had luck with it anyway, but the private was not about to give up. So he repeated the message and to his C.O.'s surprise a response actually came back.

      " This is Pelican Tango 756. Is that you Lucas?" the female voice said over the radio. Johnson slammed the brakes and snagged the radio from Lucas.

      " Is it really you Angel?" he said.

      " Sir? I thought this was-"

      " Never mind who you thought it was! Can you get a lock on our signal?" Johnson snapped back.

      " Yes sir. I've got a lock now. I'll come and pick you up." the pilot said. Johnson let out a sigh of relief. He jumped out of the warthog.

      " Men we've got a ride." he said. The squad was in a bit of shock. In the distance they heard the roar of the dropship's engines. It finally appeared and set down fifty meters away. The door was open and five men were in the back. Three with MA5Bs, another with an S2 AM, and the other was gripping a M19SSMRL.

      Johnson's squad walked over to the pelican and hopped in. Johnson himself went into the cockpit.

      " I need you to grab the warthog before we leave." he said. The pilot gave a thumbs up and flew over to the warthog and set down carefully. The tail magnets were activated and the warthog lifted off the ground.

      " Good to see you sir. Where to?" the pilot said.

      " Are there any other survivors?" Johnson asked.

      " I'd assume so sir, but we haven't seen any except for a squad a few hundred miles away. They have a single pelican and a scorpion tank sir. Last I heard they went off on a scouting patrol in hopes of finding other survivors." she said.

      " Fun. I hope you people have found some place to hide." he said.

      " Yes sir. I'll take you there now." the pilot said lifting off.


Chapter 6: Trenches


      The dropship flew for an hour before they were above the Marine garrison. Watson looked out the back end of the dropship. He saw nothing but the canopy top of a jungle.

      " Where the hell is it?" he asked. The marine sniper next to him answered his question by pointing. Watson looked closely and saw a break in the foliage. Not a very large break, but enough to see part of the forest floor through the light fog.

      The pelican hovered down to this spot and broke through the canopy top. It then landed and the pilot shut down the engines.

      " Release the warthog." Johnson said to the pilot. The magnets holding it up were then removed and the warthog fell down gently. Everyone exited the dropship. As the lieutenant hopped out of the back end a single marine ran over to his posistion. He snapped a salute and Johnson returned the gesture.

      " Sir follow me please." the marine said. He and most of the squad followed. They could now see what kind of setup was in place. A maze of trench was dug for nearly one hundred yards. In and among the trenches were roughly 15 marine regulars. Towards the back were also two warthogs guarding the entrance to a cave. The marine that approached Johnson headed for this cave.

      If it weren't for the fog the squad would have seen something much different from a cave. Instead it was a large opening. Not natural in appearence, but artifical. They entered the opening and saw it was more of a large hall. On the walls were pipes, grates for maintence work, and alien carvings that almost looked covenant.

      " Marine tell me what this is?" Johnson asked looking up to the ceiling. The marine turned.

      " I don't know sir. It looks to me like a hall that has electronical systems, a little fog, and a support for the hill above it sir." he said. Johnson frowned at this. They then passed by three men, all wounded. The squad brushed passed them and followed the marine. They could now see the end of the hall. It too was an opening of significant size. Outside of it was a parked Scorpion MBT. Behind it were three marines that were ducked down behind it. One saw the lieutenant. He got up and approached them.

      Johnson recognized the man instantly. " Well well. Look what we've found," he said. " How've you been Bill?" The stopped.

      " Good sir. Thank god you people showed up. I've needed somebody of real rank around here. " the corporal responded.

      " Why's that? Were you the ranking officer here besides Angel?" Johnson asked.

      " Yes sir. I've been in command of this unit. I've got members of Sierra, Delta, and Tango sir. Roughly twenty plus four wounded."

      " Have you made any contact with any other survivors? Maybe the captain, or any others?" Johnson asked. Garrison's head sank and his glance went to the ground. " I'll take that as a no." Johnson said. He heard a roar above the canopy. The other dropsip was coming in by the scorpion. Five men hopped out when it landed. Garrison turned to the men.

      " Report your findings." Garrison said. The first marine to encounter them spoke.

      " Sir we've encountered potential resistance. Roughly a hundred units total. We were lucky they didn't see us. It was an outpost. I counted multiple armor units, standard front line supply crates and comms. You want the numbers sir?" Garrison waved his hand.

      " What unit are you from?" Johnson to the marine.

      " Delta team sir." the marine responded.

      " Alright then. I want to know the armor numbers."

      " There were at least twelve ghosts, eight banshees, and exactly ten Wraiths. Plus assorted infantry."

      " Thanks." Johnson said patting the marine's soldier. He walked off. The men that came with him followed. Taylor rushed up.

      " I'm assuming you've got a plan?" he said. Johnson stopped.

      " I plan to kill those alien bastards." he said with vengeance in his voice. He continued his walk. He stopped in the cavern and activated his radio. " I am going to lead a raid against a covenant outpost. I need volunteers with the will to fight. All willing to come along meet me near the wounded." he said.

      He waited a moment and his squad assembled. Along with them were ten other men. Two snipers, three heavy weapons, and five rifle men. One of them was the marine Johnson recieved the recon from. They then piled into Angel's dropship and lifted off. The corporal stayed behind.


Chapter 7: All Is Missing

      It was night and the dropship set down five hundred meters from the Covenant outpost. Everyone piled out and fanned out. The area was a massive field with a few trees sparced around. Also their target was down hill from their location. Johnson used his radio to communicate with the group.

      " Men we move in quick and silent. No shooting unless your spotted. I'll give the word when we fire. Understood?" he said. Everyone responed with a yes to his orders. " Good. Now let's move."

      The group ran quickly and Angel sped off. They were undetected by the Covenant. They came to a stop and got low. The sight was unnerving. Johnson's mouth dropped open and was confused along with the other marines.

      The area was well fortifed, but one effective detail was missing. Only the Covenant hardware was present. Not a single soldier, pilot, or any other biological unit was there. The outpost was abandoned.

      " Gordon what have you got?" Johnson asked. Gordon zoomed in on the outpost.

      " Not a damned thing sir. All I see is equipment. Nothing else." Gordon responded. Johnson thought this over in his head. Things didn't seem right. " Wait sir. I've got something. A single unit. An elite sir. Looks wounded. Taking the shot." The elite was limping out from a prefabricated structure holding its gut. Blood was seeping from a wound and was catching on its shield. Gordon fired his weapon and it pierced the elite's shield. Its head popped from the anti-material bullet. " Target down sir maintaining eye on the area."

      " Alright then. All marines excluding the snipers and heavy weapons move in. We need to clean sweep this area. All those staying behind watch our backs." Johnson said standing. The men moved in slowly with weapons ready. They turned on their flashlights. They now saw what really happened.

      Pock marks and plasma scoring were on all the equipment. Behind the tanks were blood stains and no bodies except for the elite. The outpost was cooked already.

      " Sir what the hell happened here?" Spencer asked looking at the damage.

      " I have no idea, but we're bugging out. I don't like this." Johnson said. His grabbed his radio. " Fire team Tango to Tango 756. Over." Angel called back.

      " Tango 756. Over."

      " We need immediate evac. The area is," he was looking for the right word," secure."

      " Roger that Tango Leader. Tango 756 on appraoch." The dropship sped inbound a moment later and landed at their posistion. Everyone got on. Johnson took one look back and was rather confused.

      " Angel take us back to base." The dropship headed immediately for the base. It would be a long while before they would make it.

Chapter 8: Devils

      The radio hissed with static and a desperate message was sent to the marine outpost.

      " Sir we've got<static> Can't<static>out. Need ass-<static> arghhh!" it said. Corporal Garrison was confused. He then heard gun shots in the distance.

      " All marines fan out take up defensive positions! All armor teams get ready! Incoming hostiles! Let's move it!" All the marines at the outpost ran to their defensive positions. The gun fire stopped and they waited nervously. Rifles were trembling and a single outline was visible. It was running towards them. It looked almost human to most of them. It then fired its plasma weapon at them. Machine gun fire tore into the target.

      A noise was then heard in the jungle when the target was down. It was an odd noise. It definitely wasn't Covenant or human. A moan was then heard and the trees shuddered. Then all was clear.

      Nearly a hundred targets were in their sights. Most of the marines were terrified. They opened fire. Machine guns, plasma weapons, pistols, and explosives were going off from both sides. Many fell dead.

      The incoming targets never made it passed the foggy outline. They all were dead. Garrison patted the man next to him and ordered him to examine the bodies. The private looked with fear and went reluctantly. He ran into the first body.

      It was disgusting. Tan with spots of green. Its digestive organs were showing, arms were missing and then he saw the face. It was human at one time. He then heard the odd noise again. He looked up and to many to count fell from the sky. They were small bulbulous creatures with tentacles. He fired and screamed. Several popped and they still kept coming. They then forced the tentacles into his body and caused his organs to shut down and he died.

      Now they came from all directions. They grabbed ahold of many of the marines and killed them. Some shot the beasts that entered their bodies and in turned died from the explosive force. Others pulled them out and were killed.
      Garrsion ran for the dropship in the back. Marines were dead or dying. Nothing could stop it. He then made it to the dropship. The pilot was dead outside. He got in and started it up. Another marine got in and they left. The outpost had fallen.

To Be Continued...

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