I ran up the stairs to the floor we just came from. Mitch went first to make sure the hall was safe. While he was gone I talked to Jake and John about life before the military. John was single and Jake had a wife and two kids. We were in the middle of a conversation when grunt crashed through the door. Jake grabbed his pistol and shot the creature in the chest. Mitch walked through the broken door covered in purple blood.

"What did you kill?" I asked since I had no clue what we were fighting.

"I killed two Elites and one Grunt." Mitch replied pointing at the corpse.

I followed the marines through the door. I saw two burned corpses and assumed those belonged to the former Elites. Jake kicked the smoldering Elites and laughed when he saw they had turned to ashes.

"You really got pissed off didn't you Mitch." Jake chuckled.

"Hey, they're dead aren't they?" Mitch shot back.

I ran down the hallway trying to reach the door to my cabin before anything else bad happened. I nearly made it. The Fusion core exploded ripping a massive hole in the Phantoms hull. Mitch managed to grab hold of something but the rest of us were thrown forward. The Phantom Spirit was thrown forward by the explosive decompression of the engine room. I got off the ground and saw that Jake was clutching his nose.

"I think I broke my nose." Jake gasped fighting the pain.

"You didn't break your nose you're just bleeding for no apparent reason." John said with a smile on his face. "Mitch fix his nose before he starts crying."

Mitch walked over and picked Jake up off the floor. Jake whimpered in pain as his nose bled harder. Mitch looked at Jake one more, smiled, and decked him. Jake fell unconscious onto the floor in a heap. His nose was set and the bleeding had stopped.

"Mitch drag the body into the cabin." I said as I unlocked the door.

The Phantom hit the planet's atmosphere and burned off most of the Phantoms metal armor. I ran into the cabin and locked the door. Jake was on the bed and Mitch was cleaning his gun. John was on the floor reading a book. I sat down in the corner and closed my eyes.

"I would say the Hail Mary if I were you." John said without looking up from his book.

"I'm an Atheist. I don't believe in God." I replied noticing that Mitch was kissing a silver cross.

"Well you better do something." John said as he finally looked at me.

I was about to say something when the ship suddenly lurched to the right.

"Gentlemen it was nice knowing you." Jake groaned as he regained consciousness.

The Phantom plummeted toward the ground creaking and groaning as what remained of the bridge crew tried to slow the descent of the ship. The pilots strained against the momentum of the Phantom but slowly managed to level the ship to the ground. As the ship reached 4,000 feet the pilots activated the emergency wings that managed to slow down the ship to a slower but still deadly speed of over 750 mph. The ship sank lower and lower, retaining its obscene speed. As it entered a mountainous region it began to drop faster. The pilots expertly steered the ship through the deadly peaks. A near miss smashed the right wing forcing the crew to retract the left wing in order to keep the ship stable. The pilots managed get the ship out of the mountains and into a hilly plain.

The bridge smashed into a hill killing the rest of the crew causing the ragged ship to fishtail. The tail smashed into another hill destroying the cargo deck. The ship started sliding through the hills coming to a complete stop in a small valley. Smoke filled the sky as the fires inside the ship burned out leaving charred remains throughout the ship. I pulled myself out from under my bed and saw that all three marines weren't there. I walked out into the hallway and saw that Mitch was rummaging through scattered supplies.

"Mitch where are the other two?" I asked him as I walked over to him avoiding the brunt corpses.

"John went to see if there are any survivors and Jake went to see if he can find a ride." Mitch replied as he picked up 9mm pistols.

"Make yourself useful and go look for some food." Mitch said as he gave me both guns and a Fragmentation grenade.

I took the weapons and walked down the hallway. I noticed a huge pile of ashes and decided to go investigate. I kicked the pile and was startled to see that it was still alive. The mound stood up and revealed a Hunter. Hunters are massive brutes who hide behind steel armor and attack with a huge plasma cannon. I pulled out my pistols and started blasting away at the beast. The Hunter was hit three times in the torso but the rest bounced of its armor. That pissed it off. I turned around and bolted back the way I came. Mitch had his shotgun ready by the time I rounded the corner with the Hunter right behind me.

"Get down Jacob now!" Mitch roared as he brought his shotgun to his shoulder.

I fell on my face. Mitch fired his shotgun twice before running towards me. One bullet shattered the Hunters chest plate while the other hit the plasma cannon. Mitch picked me up off the ground and started running back towards the cabin. We both dived through the door right as the plasma cannon exploded. The superheated gas melted the floor causing the hunter to fall to its death.

"How the fuck did that thing survive the crash?" I asked while cleaned the cut in my arm.

"I don't know you have to ask Jake that question." He replied as he reloaded his shotgun.

"Guys we have a problem." Jakes voice said over the radio.