Bullets flew through the air, shattering upon impact on the walls and occasionally a body. My squad and I were holding out, if only barely. I come from behind my cover, showering the enemies with bullets of my duel wielded SMG guns, and then just as quickly diving back into cover, plasma bullets flew by, too close for comfort. I look over at what remains of my squad, putting our numbers up against how much of the enemy I saw. Let's just say that it's amazing that we've stayed alive for this long. Just an hour ago, our station was ambushed by those bastards, taking no prisoners, killing anyone that wasn't on their side. By the looks of it, they've managed to have killed all the scientists at this base, and over half of the marines stationed here. About three full phantoms came out of thin air and took out most of our defenses before letting about thirty squads of those little shits to take out what was left of our base.
Being the only squad on this floor left, I glanced over to my comrades to see how they were holding up. Not very well. Jenny had blood oozing out of her side like no tomorrow, while Kim was doing her best to patch it up. Jenny's eyelids flickered, fighting to keep conscious as Kim finished sewing up the gash. Jenny was a pretty average girl I would say, straight brown hair that went just passed her collar bone and hazel eyes, average personality but something about her made me pick her to be on my squad. Probably her determination to get the job done, up until a moment ago she was fighting like no other, taking down a few grunts and even a few jackals with her pistols and shotgun. Thankfully for us, there weren't many elites on this floor, one or two dead but not that many were left. Kim was special; she knew everything about the human body and could figure out what was wrong with you by the sound the bullet made on your body. She had her black hair in a bun, and chocolate brown eyes were complemented by her dark skin. Her upbeat personality made her impossible to be hated. Well, by humans at least. She's the medic of the team. She is also the one in the group that keeps everyone sane.
"Eat this you son of a bitches!" BOOM! Well, almost everyone.
Terra was currently chucking grenades over the make-shift cover we're using while laughing a sinister laugh, aiming for the center of the enemy groups and taking out the ones around them. She had short red hair that could make you see her in any sized crowd, it being so bright you could hardly miss it. Her green eyes stood out the most though; they somehow almost glowed in the dark. Her cocky and bad assed attitude has gotten more than enough fights out of almost everyone on the team, but her aim and throwing arm makes her a great asset to the team. A sudden movement caught my eye and I turn to see Dan shoot a rocket at the mass of jackals at the door. They try to dodge but they aren't fast enough, the luckiest of them only gets out with 2nd degree burns. Dan has black hair with the front few strands being cobalt blue. Though it goes against protocol, he says it's natural, and we are damned well lucky to have him here. Damn, now here's a guy I'll never forget. He's saved my ass more than a few times in the past, more than I would allow for him to say. He's the explosive kinda guy, even though he has a calm nature on the field. His trained blue eyes scan the battle before ducking back into cover, a few plasma burns on the wall behind him not a moment too soon after. When we aren't on a mission though, he can get a chuckle or two out of anyone, even Mike.
Mike is a stern guy, the strong silent type someone could say. He's the stealthiest person around, even though he's the biggest person on the squad. Standing at 6'4" ad weighing over 210 pounds of pure muscle, it's a wonder how he can stay hidden in a room and not be noticed. He's the brother of Kim, his features being the same color as her's but a tone darker. He's also the sniper in the team; he can make a hit even if he can't see you, the bullet bouncing off a wall or two before making its mark. Turning my head, my eyes flicker down at our most recently dead team member. Jimmy had blond hair, though now most of it was soaked with the blood coming out of the head shot. Damned bastards brought a few snipers with them. His bright blue eyes would never see the light of day again, and he was so young too. The freckles on his cheeks were covered with dirt and grime from him running in after spotting the ground troops closing in on our position. It was raining when this all started, though I have no idea if it still is or not, since we're two floors underground. He had been one of the newest members, fresh out of boot camp, along with his twin sister, Ally.
Speaking of her, I took the risk and glanced at her, her tear-stained face twisted in sorrow for the loss of her brother, and the hatred of his killers. I can only imagine how hard it is, losing a twin right before your eyes. Identical twins always were said to have a special bond, and these two defiantly had it. No doubt she felt the same pain he felt before shutting down; by the way she's giving the enemy hell with the torrent she got her hands on. They were the prankers of the team, always getting a riot out of us; good or bad. Then last member of our squad was- An agonizing scream sliced through the air as time seemed to slow down. Slowly turning my head, eyes wide in disbelief and horror at the sight. A body being suspended in the air by the glowing sword, through the chest cavity and right up to the hilt, was- "NO!"
I shot straight up, sweat covering my body as I fought to catch my breath. The monitor going off the chart, people began rushing into the room. I fought their attempts to calm me down, tears streaming down my face. I finally had it and screamed a low, sorrow filled cry, just before pain shot up my arm and the world went black again.
It hadn't always been like this. The world used to be normal, yeah a few wars going on, humans against humans, but we had a better chance of surviving those fights. Now, those already low chances of survival were divided in half. The day the world turned up-side-down, I wasn't even born. Both pairs of my grandparents were in the military then, all still in their teen years, unfortunately they were killed when their kids hit the ages of eighteen and twenty. It hit my mom and dad hard, but they made it through. Then my parents joined the military. After they got out, they met up again and got married. My parents had my brother, Jacob, and had moved to a different habitable planet called Harmony after a few years of the battle on Harvest. Back then, the news that Harvest had been attacked by aliens shocked everyone, we always had a feeling we weren't alone in the universe, but we never would have thought that we would have come in contact with another life form.
Or, in this case, being contacted by them with a plasma bullet through your gut.
Harmony is in a different galaxy, yet close enough to the galaxy Harvest was in where the aliens could come and attack our world just as easily as they had done to them. Unfortunately, the planet was glassed. Billions, if not more, of lives lost in the attack. A few years after my parents hadn't heard anything from the UNSC about the attackers near Harmony, I was born. My brother got his looks from our mom, and I got my looks from our dad; maroon-ish hair that shown red in the light, with eyes that resembled a storm. I like that whenever I'm mad, they look like their moving, like the clouds do while a raging storm is going on. I'm sure that if Jacob would grow his hair out, he would almost pass for our mom when she was 10 years old. I used to make fun of him for it, being the annoying little 7 year old sister I was, and he would make fun of me for looking like our dad if I cut my hair too short, which the hairstylist occasionally did on accident. They've known us for years yet they always seem to make the same mistake. Very suspicious.
We didn't mind the teasing each other though; to us, our parents were heroes.
They were both in the military, dad being a soldier, and mom being a pilot. She flew his team into a battle against Reach, and almost immediately had to turn around to pick up the survivors. Apparently, there were some mine fields there and it didn't turn out too pretty. Dad and a few other surviving members of the squad were transported on her plane, and made some small talk to try and keep the wounded alive. I guess then they grew on her and she used to visit them in the medical bay, keeping their minds off their wounds temporarily. Some of the members on dad's squad said they had a few crushes on her, some of them didn't even need to say anything it was so obvious. Dad himself had a crush on her, I mean, who wouldn't? Looking at a few pictures of her in those years, she was very beautiful. Golden brown hair with the brightest emerald eyes anyone has ever seen. She didn't date anyone she worked with, but dad was an exception. Jacob's eyes were a tone darker, making it look forest green, while his hair was a lighter color, dirty blond pretty much. Luckily Jacob didn't get her beauty looks, or else she would've dressed him in girl clothes. She always wanted a girl, so they had me.
Too bad I wasn't the girly girl my mom wanted; sarcasm included. Nope, I was a downright tom boy.
When I was a kid, I didn't play with dolls, I played in the mud. When I was in school, I played sports instead of gossiping. I was 17 when I joined the Marine Corps, Jacob was 20, but started a year before me. He wanted to get college done and over with, so he did that and I went straight into the military after high school. He got four years of college done in two, yeah- he was that smart.
He always did get the better grades and aced all the tests, but if the test was a physical one, I could still pin him down easily. I had never shot a gun in my life, other than in video games. To say I was excited was an understatement. I couldn't sleep for days, I was so eager to learn how to shoot a gun. Though I nearly fell asleep on my feet the day they would train us with guns and had to do pushups until my arms felt like they would fall off; it was worth the wait. I knew I would have to kill something with that knowledge, I didn't like it but I never said anything. It was obvious. Besides being a tough gal, I cried for all the lifeless bodies I saw, even the ones not on our side. Not in public, mind you, but whenever I was alone I would.
Then came the day where I was sent off on a mission, a real one, not a search-for-survivors-after-the-battle mission; that was a day I will never forget. Every second of that day, I remember. I didn't sleep again, insomnia was a regular thing by now, and I had gotten separated in the middle of the mission. The mission consisted that we were to be back up for another squad unit, who came under fire by unknown forces while checking out a new habitual planet. Probably the alien bastards again. The gunshots had stopped and I spotted something while we were looking for more attackers. Curiosity ran in my blood, so I checked it out. Before I realized it, I was lost, and had no idea where my squad was.
I was a private back then, 3 months after getting out of boot camp. I was in some kind of warehouse, the occasional flicker of a surviving light bulb, and it was dead quiet. I kept my gun ready, just like they taught us in the camp, and checked behind me every so often. As I sneaked almost silently down the hall, nothing but the slight crunching of my combat boots, I heard something shift.
My muscles tensed, I paused, listening. A tiny whine came from further down the hall. Making as little noise as possible, I crept up to the location. Peering around into a room with the door half knocked off its hinges, I came face to face with the enemy. I froze up, my pupils widening behind my helmet shield. My breath caught in my throat and my eyelids snapped shut as I waited for something, anything, to end my life. Nothing happened. I cracked open an eye and realized that there was only one, was hurt, and didn't know I was right there.
Its eyes were closed, it's odd mouth shut tight as it groaned in pain. One of its hands was covering up a hole on its stomach, a dark liquid seeping out beneath its fingers. One of its legs was twisted and the other hand was clenched into a fist. I blinked; it was in no condition to fight. Taking it one step at a time, I entered the room. The creature didn't seem to notice me until I was a few feet away from it. The thing opened one of its eyes; the orange color of it surprised me. I froze in my movement, staring at the alien as it stared at me. I took a hesitant step closer, it didn't move. Another step, it didn't move. The only thing telling me that it didn't die right after it looked at me was the small rise and fall of its chest. I slowly kneeled down by it, gun still pointed at it. I licked my lips, then after a few deafening minutes, softly asked-
"Can you understand me?"
It only blinked, confusion showing lightly in its pain filled eye. I bit my lip in thought before asking again.
"Please… can you understand me?"
Its other eye opened before it said something. Huh, for an advanced civilization, it didn't have very good translators. Humans at least could figure out what the heck other humans were saying. The language was very odd to me, but I heard it from a few aliens, the larger ones mostly. I never looked at them enough to realize that other than their shapes and sizes, and guns, that they were very different from the others. This one had four things on its mouth... or was it its mouth? Now I knew why other marines call them "split-lips". They moved every time he made one of those noises, and I caught a few glimces of sharp teeth that made my blood change temperature. The armor it was wearing reminded me of the armor people used to wear, it being some kind of metal but not fully covering all its body. The face was mostly visible, even though I knew the aliens had some kind of energy shield around that was hard to break through.
I sighed, we're not gonna go anywhere this way. I find that my hand had subconsciously taken out my carry on medical kit. Looking at the wound in its gut, I made up my mind and opened the kit. Taking out some gauze and antibiotics, I look up to see its gun in my face. I gulp; looking up through the alien machinery gun is a scary thing. I slowly let go of the stuff and hold up my hands. I lick my lips.
"I'm not going to hurt you; I just want to patch up that wound." I nodded towards its torso.
It's blazing orange eyes never looking away from me. I licked my lips again, a new forming habit of mine when I'm nervous.
"Please." I say, looking up at its eyes.
Its eyes narrow, then slightly moves the gun down and away from me. I sigh in relief and pick up the supplies, the gun always pointed at my head, its eyes always following my movements. I slowly shift so I'm by its side, and I set the supplies on the ground. I glance nervously at the gun, and then up at the towering being. I look down at the wound and slowly reach to grab the hand, it lets me, and I set its hand by its side, giving me a good look at the wound.
It doesn't look too good. I can see the creature's organs function, and blood pumping out of the wound.
I swallow the lump in my throat, keeping my stomach at bay even if slightly so. I was never good at biology things, and seeing the insides of a living being always made me sick to the stomach. That's why they're on the inside, so you don't have to look at them.
I glance back up at the gun while reaching for the wound. I grab what looks to be the body suit, and I tore it open a little more to see the whole wound. The dark skin and the purple blood and organs clash, even in the darkness of the room. I grab the disinfectant and glance up at the being, its long neck and head being taller than me by at least a good two or three human heads, even when it was slumped against the wall. Damn I hope it doesn't shoot me when it stings.
I take out a cotton swab and dunk it in the alcohol, then start dabbing the wound. The being growls as it starts stinging and I glance at it again, its eyes showing distrust, pain, and hatred for my race, but it doesn't show any more signs that it'll shoot me. I finish dabbing the alcohol around the wound careful to not let it touch its organs. That would seriously hurt like hell, and add some things to my death warrant. I put it aside and grab a cloth, wiping up the indigo blood that still seeps out of the wound, and then I grab the alien hand and put the cloth in it, then set it on the wound. Putting a little bit of pressure on it makes it growl louder and I flinch before taking my own hand away. It keeps its hand there while I take out a needle and string it. I take its hand off and I try to get the skin by the wound to come together again. When that's done, I start to sew it up. I started thinking, my hands sewing up the wound with minds of their own.
I have no idea what has come over me, to help the enemy when I could have easily killed it before it got its gun and aimed it at my head, but here I am, patching the thing up. It'll probably shoot me when I'm done, but strangely I just want to finish patching it up before that happens. I cut the string, the wound making a decent sized scar, about five inches long I would say. I take out some more cloth and dab the rest of the blood away before putting more medicine on it. Then I take the gauze and tape it on, covering the newly patched up wound. I sit back on my legs and sigh, wiping the blood on my pants.
I look up as it shifts into more of a sitting position, it looking at the bandages. I didn't even realize the gun wasn't aimed at my head anymore. Looking at its leg, I see that the worst it could be, is a sprained ankle or, err, hoof. Putting away the medical kit, I pick up my gun and stand, and then turned to the alien. It wasn't there. My eyed widened when the barrel of a carbine touched my back. Slowly, I looked over my shoulder at the alien, wide eyed. It stared at me before pushing me towards the hall. Gun lowered, I did what it wanted. Facing the wall now, I heard the footsteps stop, and then started to fade away. I faced it, it's back behind me.
"What…?" It barely made it passed my lips before I heard a human shout my name. I looked down the opposite hallway, then back at the alien. It was looking at me over its shoulder, I stared back. It gave me a curt nod, then resumed walking down the hall. I blinked, hearing my name again. I still stood there, watching its retreating form.
"Jay"
It stopped, looking back at me. It's orange eyes blinked at me, then at the hand that was pointing at myself.
"My name is Jay."
When it turned back around, I felt crestfallen. I thought I could learn his name, then maybe see him again on the battle field.
He resume walking, leaving me standing in the hallway. Without looking back, it said something that sounded like "Zeuk" before disappearing around the corner. I blinked. Did…. Did he just understand me? I then turned when I heard them call my name again. I started running down the hall, towards the voices. Zeuk… I hope we meet again, on the same side.