The gunfire and explosions were louder and more frequent in this battle than in any other. This is because there were more fighters of the 2nd Mass. on this mission than on any other, as well as more aliens. Everyone's ears will be ringing for ages, that is if they even survive this. The chances seem slim as the Mechs just keep on coming. No skitters, no alien airstrikes. Just Mechs, and lots of them. Pope's Mech bullets were really taking them all out, but the number of bullets was starting to dwindle and fast while the number of aliens surely were not.

"Come on, Di." Tom growled as he continuously fired at an attacking Mech.

Di played the role of Messiah in this battle, the Savior. He was to come as quickly as he could with rocket launchers that have been taking out the Mechs in an instant. While he made his way over, which was taking longer than it should've, everyone else was forced to stall and take out as many as they could. But they weren't doing too well. Almost all of their ground forces had been wiped out. Only a lucky few remained, though Tom doubted they'd be lucky for much longer. Everyone else was shooting from a sky-bridge that connected two tall university buildings. They weren't sure what university it was, for it wasn't really the time to go on a nice visit to check out the place.

For some reason, the Mech hadn't been able to spot them up there. They had no idea why, but they weren't complaining. One shot in the right place would send the whole bridge, along with everyone on it, falling down hard to their deaths on the pavement below. As of right now, that would include Tom, Weaver, Maggie, Hal, Anna, and Ben. Pope and the rest of the Berserkers were inside the university buildings on each side on the same floor, shooting out of its windows. Most of the other usual fighters were in there as well, but some, along with new volunteers, were the ones being pounded on the ground. If they don't make it through this, and those chances are high, Tom's planning on having a well-deserved memorial for them.

Though not many peoples' thoughts were very positive right now. They had put up a good fight so far, but they really needed Di to come in now. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight. They could probably last only a few more minutes before the Mechs wipe them out. Then what are the civilians supposed to do? What happens when they get attacked and no one's there to protect them. They'd all be goners, and everything they worked for this whole time would've been for nothing.

Anna shot at the Mechs in total desperation. She had a horrible feeling that this was it. There was no way they could win this if Di didn't show up in the next few minutes with those rocket launchers. But she couldn't just die here. Not after all of the fighting she's done. She fought her way out of her town, being forced to make the tough decision of leaving her family behind. She fought with Austin and Rylan in hopes of finding help, three teenagers who had zero survival skills in the very beginning. She killed an Overlord. She immediately joined the army of the 2nd Mass., taking out the aliens one skitter at a time alongside with the close friends she was able to make. She fought the power of a harness and took a ship down when she was supposed to have no control of herself. She lived through the crash and didn't give up on herself while she was stuck under the rubble. She hung in there while she was basically disabled inside of the med bus. And then she returned as quickly as she could to fight again. Fighting and surviving was her life now, but there was only so much one small person could do against a huge fleet of Mechs.

She looked over at Ben, who was shooting just as desperately as she had been, and maybe even more. The same thoughts were probably running through his head, for his life hasn't been so easy either and yet look at him now. A strong, amazing boy that Anna couldn't feel luckier to have met. He noticed her gaze and met it. His body language tried to fool her into thinking that he was confident and not worried at all, but his eyes told her the complete opposite. They looked alarmed and scared.

In the not-so-far distance, they could hear a harmony of footsteps and hums coming from what sounded like dozens of Mechs. Had the aliens finally figured out a way to destroy them?

"We fight until there either isn't an alien body or a human body standing." Weaver commanded. An uneasy feeling erupted in Anna's stomach.

Then the uneasy feeling was replaced with hope as a Mech suddenly exploded right in front of their eyes. And then another. And then another. It almost didn't seem real. When the huge pack of Mechs, probably about 12 or 13 of them, stepped into the picture, so did Di lugging multiple rocket launchers with him. He handed every person one before the Mechs could open fire, and the 2nd Mass. were able to make their first offensive attack of the whole night. Each Mech went down after 3 well-aimed shots at most. It was like nothing they had ever seen as the vicious robots suddenly became nothing more than blown up heaps of metal. Some Mechs did fire at them, causing some but little damage. Definitely not the amount of damage there would've been without the rocket launchers. It wouldn't have just been damage then; it would've been death.

In no time, there was only one Mech left standing. It almost felt too easy and time seemed to stand still as soon as the last rocket left Weaver's launcher as it zoomed through the air and straight at the Mech. With a few stumbles and it's last hum, it crashed to the ground with a loud, ground-shaking thud. Everyone seemed almost too stunned to do anything at this point, but the astonishment didn't last long, for it was soon replaced with a feeling of pride and accomplishment. Cheers erupted from different areas and people began celebrating and jumping around.

Anna felt herself hugging everyone in sight. She laughed with Maggie as they squeezed each other around the shoulders, rocking back and forth on each foot. Hal swooped her out of Maggie's arms and lifted her off of her feet, spinning her around like a child.

"We did it, kid!" She could barely hear him say over her laughter.

Hal set her down and then moved on to Maggie, planting a nice, strong kiss on her lips before she could say or do anything. Anna turned to Weaver, giving him her best salute and getting one in return, before hugging it out. Tom was in the middle of a fatherly embrace with Ben when Anna turned her attention towards him. He looked at her and outstretched his hand, which she took.

"Things might've turned out differently without you. One person can certainly make a difference. It's great to have you back."

He pulled her in and gave her his best bear hug, something Anna hadn't been able to feel since before the invasion. Not having a dad or a mom throughout all of this has been tough on her, but Tom had been the father figure she needed since day one. He did everything he could to make her feel like she wasn't an orphan. Like she had a family. There was no repayment equal to that, but she would try her hardest to find something good enough. He let her go, disappointing Anna, for she had missed that feeling of having a dad, and went off to celebrate with everyone else.

Now Ben came over to her, not as enthusiastic as he was before. This made her feel very uneasy. Had she done something wrong? That question was pushed far out of her mind when he quickly moved to hold her face in his hands and pull it to his. Their lips collided, and that was it. The moment they had both been dying to have for months, the feeling that they'd only had the ability to imagine. He moved his hands down to her waist, pulling her as close to him as she could get. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands through the soft hairs at the ends. The feeling in both of them was real, but whether it was love or not didn't matter to them at this very moment. The fact that there was a feeling at all was enough for them. They pulled away as soon as the kiss turned into a smile. Their faces were still dangerously close, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of hers. A wide smile was plastered on each of their faces and a red tint flushed in their cheeks. She was his. He was hers. It felt so right.

A small distance away, Hal and Maggie were watching, their bodies glued on each other as well.

"They look so happy." Maggie admired them.

"Who would've ever thought that my computer-nerd, know-it-all little brother would get the girl of his dreams. She's perfect for him, and with everything he's been through, he deserves nothing less." Hal admitted, proud and happy for his brother. "Besides, he's been so consumed by her for ages now."

"She has been, too, trust me. Maybe not as obviously as Ben, but you'd be surprised." Hal looked at Maggie with a smirk on his face, but still in disbelief.

"There's no way Anna's been talking to you about Ben while Ben's been talking to me about Anna."

Maggie shrugs, a smirk playing on her lips as well.

"I guess you could say that we both played cupid."

Hal laughed and shook his head as he kissed the smirk right off of her lips.

The site of the almost fatal battle filled with nothing but celebration. Every remaining fighter was cheering and embracing each other. This was it. This was the 2nd Mass'. proof that no fish-head was going to mess with their planet without a fight.

And not just any fight, either. It was going to be a hell of a fight.

A fight that the humans refused to lose.

I just realized how much this chapter sounds like the end BUT IT'S NOT! I still have about 3 more chapters in store for you guys :) Thank you to those who have been religiously reading this and for those who have been reviewing. Some of your appreciation for this story astonishes me xxxxxx