Ryan lay on the side of the street. He was breathing fast and beginning to hyperventilate. He was still in complete awe of the battle he had just witnessed.
Cheetah walked over to Ryan and pulled him to his feet. Ryan looked up at him.
"Ryan, I'd like you to meet the members of our pack." Cheetah said. He turned and pointed each one out as he went.
"This lady here is Fox. She is the only one of us that relies less on weapons but more on her speed."
Fox put her dagger away and shook Ryan's hand.
"Now," Cheetah continued "This gentleman here is Snake. He is stealthy and strikes very quickly and accurately."
Snake nodded at Ryan. He seemed very isolated from the others.
"And finally," Cheetah said "This woman here is Puma. She can strike fast only she is working on the agility."
Puma held one hand over her wounded shoulder and held her sword in the other. She put her sword down and shook Ryan's hand.
"Where are the others?" Cheetah asked.
"Hawk and Eagle are coming." Fox replied.
Sure enough two people came running around a corner. They each carried the outer casing of an alien head with the mouth open.
"Now Ryan this is Eagle and Hawk." Cheetah told him.
Hawk waved his hand. He smiled and stood with the others. Eagle bowed to him and smiled. She had a wiggle in the hips as she walked to the others.
Ryan finally said something.
"What's with the skulls?"
Hawk stepped forward.
"They are the casing for our guns. We have some military issue weaponry and they are so valuable that we encased them in an alien skull. The alien's bleed acid you see and their acid blood can't melt their own skin."
"That's the same reason we were the alien skin as armour too." Eagle said.
Ryan looked at the alien skull guns. Inside it was an M41-A Pulse Rifle with a pump action grenade launcher. The standard Colonial Marines weapon. The mouth of the alien skull was open so when the gun was fired the bullets came out there.
Ryan had another question.
"What happened here? To New York?"
Cheetah looked surprised.
"You mean you don't know?"
"No I don't, I just woke up in my basement."
Cheetah looked at the others. He thought for a bit.
"We'll explain when we get back to base." He said. "Let's go."