Prologue
"Eric!" I yelled. "Throw me the damn ball!"
Eric was my only friend. We were both orphans and had managed to learn enough about growing plants and getting food to eat from our orphanage that we no longer go to. Survival was the most important subject in an orphanage school.
I ran on the red dirt. I saw the flying ball and reached out to grab it. As soon as I did, my friend called out to me.
"Rey! Ya hear that?"
"Huh?" I stopped and listened. Distant rumbling noises were heard.
"Woohoo!" Eric and I yelled and whooped. It was the Interstellar Marines.
A M1114 HMMWV passed by, and another, and another, and another. The gunners on top turned their heads and stared at us until they passed. They were completely clad in black. No skin was showing. As they passed us, they looked forward again and cocked their mounted XM-307 ACSWs. They were nearing their objective. I didn't count how many vehicles, but that was enough for me to think that they were going to wall off a whole area.
After the convoy had disappeared, we ran to our shed and as little eight year old kids, we screamed excited words. "Did you see them?!" "Holy moly! That was awesome!" "I wanna be them someday!"
A few minutes later and the excitement had worn off. Our ancestors once needed a spacesuit, but now, with it's changed atmosphere, we didn't have to. Heat was produced… well, I didn't know how it was, actually. It was getting dark. That means below zero temperatures. We got in our beat-down shack. I had studied everything I could about the Interstellar Marines. Their liquid armor had its own heating system, allowing the person to fight in freezing temperatures.
Eric and I were what people called hobos… no education… no future. To get into the Interstellar Marines, you had to be perfect. Perfect in shooting, physical condition, calmness under pressure, etcetera.
We knew about the dangers out here, what would happen if we were outside at night, what would happen if one of those aliens showed up. The aliens were huge. Almost twice the size of a person. Designed to be an efficient predator, it could live for years actively on one human. And that's what inspired me. Interstellar Marines would go and fight these creatures, kill them off efficiently.
Even now, I heard the Marines firing their weapons, who've obviously come in contact with many of the creatures. I've never seen the creatures, just heard of them.
Their XM307's were tearing the creatures apart, either with .50 BMG rounds or HE rounds. Somewhere along the line, they had started retreating, because the gunfire got closer and closer. But they had pushed the aliens back. The aliens had developed tactics by studying how we react in certain situations and used our weaknesses against us. But the Marines had gotten back control.
"I'm so gonna be them someday."
"Yeah, right," Eric said. "You wish."
"I will wish," I said, acting all cocky and smart. "And I will do."
