The fighting began to become half-hearted. Even the most vicious and thoroughly loyal, hard-as-nails soldiers of the Hierarchy began to want the fighting to end so that both Alliance and Hierarchy could focus on The Others that, with every death, just brought together more of the monsters. Turians lit up the shadows as much as possible, making stealth impossible, Humans and Mechanoids watched from their lines with sorrowful looks on their faces.
"We can't keep going on like this." A Turian commander was cornered by his subordinates, all of them tired of the war, tired of the terror in the night, tired of the artillery and gas and the 'spoiled meat' the Humans compared their dead-by-gas to. Tired of having to go through leaps and bounds to get food when they apparently have the Naval superiority.
"What do you expect me to do, then?" The commander was not impressed with his subordinates' attitude, irritated even, that he was bringing this up to him.
"Surrender. Spirits, the Alliance is practically showing us the way to safety! Runway lights, even!" The soldier was waving his arms, seeing the obvious route to living five feet behind him.
"They're the enemy, soldier. We don't negotiate with the enemy. That stunt you pulled with the returned note was serious enough!" That was enough of a headache, he didn't need another one!
"They're in this too! They were trying to clean this planet when we invaded, it's because of us that we're in this situation in the first place!" The soldier pointed a finger accusingly at his commander, who glanced at the offending appendage and glared at the owner, while the others nodded just a tiny bit, afraid of retribution. "And you are keeping us here!" The commander unfolded his arms and stepped into the finger.
"What are you going to do about it? You're a soldier, you follow orders and you do nothing but. As a soldier of the hierarchy-"
"To HELL with the Hierarchy!"
The silence was so strong that one could hear a pindrop from a mile away.
"What did you say, soldier?" The commander said, voice a deathly hiss.
"I said: To HELL. With. The Hierarchy."
His friends were shocked when the commander retrieved his pistol from his hip and put a bullet in the soldier's head.
Shocked stupid, his friends stared at the body with eyes wide and jaws dropped.
"Mutinous insurrection," the commander started, pistol still at the ready "is punishable by death." The pistol raked over the remaining soldiers "Anymore?" the others shook their heads mutely, eyes wide and tears stinging as their minds caught up to the events that just happened.
"Get this filth out of my trench." He waved dismissively at the dead body. To hell with whatever happened to it. It.
They picked up their friend, still warm and leaking blood, and slowly, somberely took him from the trench and out into the No-Man's Land.
When out there, one of them didn't immediately start coming back in.
"Come on," began one of them hollowly "Come back in."
The Turian soldier looked pleadingly toward the Alliance lines, seeing not the enemy lines but a chance. A way to live.
He began walking for the lines.
"Come back!" The Turians pleaded, shouting after him but too scared to run after him. Between the Alliance guns trained on the trenches and their murderous commander behind them, they didn't dare move but their desire not to lose another friend was tearing them apart.
He just continued on. A spotlight fixed on the Turian and with waving arms, he was called over to the opposite lines.
The commander, getting wind of what was happening, came out armed with a sniper rifle.
The weapon extended, he aimed.
The Humans and Mechanoids watching saw the Turian's forehead explode out in a shower of blue gore mixed with bone and exoskeleton.
He slumped forward.
"Anyone else?" The commander challenged.
No one moved.
"My God.." shuddered a Gynoid as she watched the Turian fall over. If her knowledge of physiology was any good, even of Alien physiology, he couldn't of been more than 19. "Why?" She slumped against the trench. Her fatigues well stained from mood, blood and grease.
Her allies had no words in return.
What could they say when their enemy would kill their own for wanting to live.
