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Halo: Left Behind

Chapter 2: Nothing Stays the Same

Harvest Colony 2527

Space

October 9th

Death came in the pretentious form of a massive swirling multihued portal on the far edge of the Harvest system several spacial kilometers from Epsilon Indi. It might have even been beautiful if not for what it would unstoppably unleash. The 3rd fleet's sensors screamed as they were lit up by the arrival of eight unclassified and unknown contacts of titanic sizes. In response to this the fleet launched all of its broadswords and longswords in a textbook fighter screen. In synchronous, the heavier ships warmed up their MAC cannons and opened the first section of archer missile pods along their bows.

The grouping of corvettes dispersed evenly among the defense and prepared to repel fighters. The destroyers were at the forefront of the line, their heavy armor hopefully protecting them from whatever these contacts might have if they proved to be hostile as suspected.

Admiral Dansworth stood on the bridge of his marathon heavy cruiser and studied the tactical display. The man was a veteran of several engagements with insurrectionist forces and was an experienced commander. He had earned many commendations and awards for his service and was one of the most confident and successful admirals in the past decade. Never before had he lost a battle.

But when he studied the holo hovering in front of him, he felt fear and doubt slither into his mind. These eight contacts were each far larger than any ship he had in his arsenal. And the last one.....a cold pang of gut-wrenching terror assaulted him and weakened his knees, unable to even comprehend it.

The holographic representation of the eight clearly alien ships approaching showed eight odd vessels that looked so foreign, as to be something straight out of early science fiction. Four of the ships were smaller, with a length of around 1,782 meters. The quad grouping of unknowns was assembled under another three ships that were each 5,346 meters. Yet, what truly instilled the animalistic need to flee was the implausibly colossal ship ponderously bringing up the rear of this force. It was 28 kilometers long.....the sheer size and scope of the craft was almost inconceivable.

This fleet of alien ships was worlds away from what he had ever seen in his long years of duty. Each had a hook like prow and large bulbous forefront giving them the appearance of oceanic beasts. And their purplish hulls almost seemed to glow with pulsing eldritch light. Compared to his force it looked like a school of minnows curtailing to a herd of celestial whales.

They had been preparing for the worst since they jumped in system; they had fields of mines, nukes ready to deploy, and reinforcements on the way. But what he saw drawing in like the tides of inexorable fate made their once mighty power look like the work of school children.

It mattered not, Dansworth was a soldier, and he would not let his feelings overcome his sense of duty. If these bastards desired a fight, they would get one. No matter the odds stacked against them, they would give everything to protect humanity and her colonies. It was what they all had sworn when they joined her armed forces, to protect and serve the people and their freedoms.

Dansworth called out to his crew to go to battle stations, and he had his comms officer connect him to the fleet. If things went pear shaped he would need to call out orders. He did everything that he could and then was forced to wait as the small fleet of monolithic ships closed in.

Far out of maximum range of their guns, the alien fleet stopped and floated in silent space. What they were doing was unknown, but Dansworth hoped they were here to spread a message of peace and goodwill. Yet as he gazed at their vessels he could not help but pick up a martial air about them, these were no ships of peace. No, these were warships, created for one purpose....to procreate destruction.

**********

J'van Lodamee stood on the bridge of his CSO-Class Supercarrier Light of Faith, wreathed in resplendent golden armor. The attire had an open crested helm that revealed his unforgiving black eyes and fierce razor toothed jaws. The rest of his muscular body was covered in an amber shell embossed with forerunner glyphs. At his waist was his energy sword, a relic from his home keep on Sanghelios. It had been in his bloodline for generations and thousands had been ended by its pronged blades.

As he stared out the viewing monitor in the heart of his ship he could not help but curve his mandibles into something resembling a zealous grin. These humans' craft were even frailer than he had imagined. The largest of their ships barely even reached the size of his three battlecruisers. Their vessels looked weak and unintimidating, rectangular and uncouth dark grey boxes. It would almost be dishonorable to fight such unworthy adversaries.

Yet the sangheili fleetmaster did credit them on a large force. If this was a battle of fleet size rather than the strength of their faith, then they might have been victorious. But their demise was the will of the gods, and so the Covenant could not fail. He was almost impressed with the force arrayed against him. 85 small ships were placed in an obvious battle formation above the planet he had been tasked with destroying. It made him wonder how they knew they would be coming. Or perhaps they did not and this was their defense fleet. Maybe they had been blessed and this was their homeworld. It did indeed look to be as protected.

"What do you think of this...display of force, H'varn?" J'van inquired, turning to his subordinate and gesturing to the screen with disdain.

The other larger white armored sangheili had been studying the monitor by his commander's side with a thoughtful expression. Hearing his name called he turned to face the golden clad fleetmaster. "Appearances can be deceiving; I think it would be wise to not underestimate our foe." He supplied his answer.

The fleetmaster grunted roughly and brought a four fingered hand to the screen and clenched his fist over the representation of the enemy's heretical flotilla. "Perhaps you are right...but ultimately these fools do not pose a threat to us, we shall roll over them and burn their world to ash!" The fanatical sangheili spoke with ardent passion and his eyes blazed with religious fervor. J'van swirled away from his underling to bellow commands to his crew who took up the same avid will of their commander.

H'varn watched his friend and leader as he raved like a madman. He was not as certain as his comrade was about the Great Journey, but they had been brothers since before they joined the Empire's navy. The sangheili was doubtful that in order to progress on the Journey they had to wipe out a race they had never even encountered, all on the will of three San'Shyuum, even if they were the hierarchs. But his duty was to his fleetmaster and he would follow orders.

"Send the battlecruisers in first; I want them to punch a hole into that flotilla. Prepare an opening for the Light of Faith. We shall be the death knell for this pitiful amalgamation of scrap they would dare call a fleet." J'van ordered and the taskforce complied.

Slowly the four smaller battlecruisers increased speed and began to outpace their other forces. Soon they were charging across the expanse of space recklessly, shipmasters eager to rack a fearsome tally and to earn the honor of being the first to strike a blow against this new enemy.

Halfway into their advance, all four of the ships were lit up brighter than a sun; the bridge crew of J'van's ship had to cover their eyes to prevent themselves from going blind. When the light faded the four ships were floating in space, damaged but not destroyed. There were rents all along their hulls and the lead vessel was leaking cooling plasma into the void and listing to port as one of the repulsor engines still continued to run. Something had just happened and it put a damper on their ability to fight.

"What in the name of the gods happened!?" J'van demanded in a rage.

"Fleetmaster, it would appear that the battlecruisers flew into some sort of stellar mine field. The penitence's reactor is leaking, yet the three other vessels only suffered minor hull damage. But their shields are destroyed, and cannot be repaired." One of the sangheili at a holo console down in the front of the elevated command platform listed off the report.

J'van growled angrily and slammed his fist into his open palm. "Filthy cowards! They would employ such underhanded tactics!"

The sangheili spoke again. "What are your orders fleetmaster?"

Taking a moment to quell his rage, the fleetmaster slowed his breath and spoke with more control. "Pull the battlecruisers back and send in the seraph fighter craft and phantom gunships. Harass the human fleet and disrupt their formations. If they have any more surprises, that should take care of them. We will attack when they are least prepared. I want the entire compliment of infantry and vehicles ready to deploy. Once the human fleet is occupied I will bring the Light of Faith to the planet and we will launch an Invasion."

"But J'van, we are supposed to glass this world." H'varn exclaimed in surprise, mandibles splayed wide in shock. He had not expected his comrade to go against the will of the prophets.

"And we will...after we purge its inhabitants and lay waste to its cities. Besides, I am sure our brothers are itching to prove themselves against these humans. Let us see how cowardly they can be." The fleetmaster retorted as he stepped down from the command station.

H'varn watched his friend depart and frowned deeply. What he wanted was pointless and would only result in the needless deaths of their brothers and other members of the Covenant. This was not right.

Was this the truth of the Great Journey?

**********

Admiral Dansworth had smiled in triumph when he saw those four smaller ships head directly into the mine field. But the smile had quickly been replaced with shock as he saw the light die down and spotted the forms of the four ships still intact. That had been enough mines to completely obliterate a fleet ten times that size! Guaranteed the ships were damaged, but they should have been eliminated outright. This did not bode well for them at all. These aliens were as dangerous as they appeared and now more so.

"Admiral, the....super-dreadnought, is launching a fleet of fighter sized craft and so are the other ships. They're at least a thousand of them sir!" A naval rating called out in duress.

A wave of ice-water trickled down Dansworth's spine. But then a reckless idea popped up in his head. "Are the MAC cannons charged?"

The tactical officer nodded in confusion.

"Good, have the ships in the fleet with MAC cannons orientate to fire on grid coordinates A-7 through B-25. I want an even spread, no ship fires in the same space." He ordered swiftly as he saw the flood of fighter craft screech through space right for them, trailing light.

The command was relayed and fifty ships angled their barrels to face the onslaught. "Admiral, ships are ready to fire on your order."

The Admiral nodded and watched his holo screen as the mass of fighters neared. The bridge was in a tense silence for a minute as he waited until the pivotal moment. When the swarm reached the halfway point between the two factions he bellowed out the command to fire. The ship and the space around it shook as it was marginally forced backwards from the concussive force of the massive cannon ingrained into the hull as it erupted.

Seconds afterwards the forty-nine other ships imitated the lead and fired their MAC cannons. The collection of shells leaped forwards from their homes inside the barrel and into space, smashing into and past the hoard of tear-drop shaped fighters.

There was a swath of destruction as the titanic slugs tore into the vulnerable swarm. Shields collapsed and alien hulls shattered as countless fighters were outright obliterated and even more were irreversibly broken by the force of the traveling shells alone. A vast portion of the attacking craft was put out of action, evening the odds for the broadswords and longswords.

Yet that did not mean that victory was theirs, the enemy still had many fighters. There were still many hundreds left to contend with. So even as the scattered enemy craft rallied the squadrons of broadswords and longswords flew from their selected guard locations and headed to the reorienting enemy craft. As the titanium and steel interceptors rocketed forth, so did the enemy. And in a breathtaking orgy of violence, the two forces collided in a fireworks display of death and destruction.

Even with the ship's holo stations, they could not quite grasp the ferocity of the fighter duels playing out for them like a gladiatorial arena. Occasionally they could see into the forming deathballs and could make out a longsword firing a pair of ASGM-10 missiles to either explode harmlessly off shields or gut the alien ship in a brief flash of light and twisted alloy. Their 110mm rotary cannons seemed to bounce harmlessly on the alien shields.

Yet as they watched the battle, they could notice that the longswords while heroic were somewhat outclassed. All it took was a few blasts of light from the enemy's weapons and their armor melted and vented atmosphere into space. As Dansworth watched, a longsword was clipped twice on its left wing and once in the engine and it spiraled off into the dark before exploding viciously as its armament cooked off in the heat.

The Admiral could not stand by and watch as his men and women were butchered. "Lance, contact corvette pack B, have them move to assist our fighters. They need support!" He ordered loudly as he watched the brutal close in warfare.

"Copy that Admiral, corvette pack B is in transit." Even as he spoke five corvettes pulled off and closed in on the dogfighting. The corvettes were equipped with 150mm railguns, autocannon batteries, and Python anti-fighter missiles. They were the best AA ships in the UNSC arsenal.

As the five ships closed in, the many gun batteries along their spines and bows lit up as they sent a cloud of accurate fire on the periphery of the fighter battle. Puffs of light flashed in space as the enemy fighters were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of shells. As they fired targeting data was loaded into the ships systems and they launched the first wave of Python missiles.

The small armor piercing projectiles curved around trailing exhaust as they sought out their targets. The missiles smashed into the fighters and frustratingly, did not do much damage, only providing few kills as most of the missiles either deflected or exploded harmlessly.

"Admiral, the three 5,346 meter contacts are moving to close with the fleet, and they are launching additional fighters!" The comms officer warned, filling the bridge with dread.

"Get me a firing solution on the closest target, label it Alpha-1 and delegate 2-3 to the others. I want all fifteen destroyers ready to fire on my command!" Dansworth called out swiftly, his crew moving to comply.

These ships were fast, almost reaching the halfway point and moving into MAC range. "Now, have the destroyers fire their MACs on Alpha-1! I want both barrels for all ships! Prep the stridents I want a spread of fire between the other two contacts. And somebody get those corvettes back behind the battle line!"

As he shouted commands the destroyers fired their payload at Alpha-1. The thirty six hundred ton ferric slugs soared through space and crashed into the approaching lead ship. And the crews watched in horror as they bounced or skidded off. "Admiral! The MAC rounds were deflected!"

Dansworth grimaced and growled. Before he could order another attack, he was interrupted.

"Alpha-1 is glowing sir!"

Lateral lines all along the alien ship's prow lit up and a blazing beam of boiling light lanced out and bisected two of his destroyers, slicing clean through the two meters of Titanium-A battleplate as if it did not exist. Both ships were cut clean in half spewing oxygen and crewmen as the halves drifted away from each other.

"Admiral, The Indomitable and The Hierophant have been destroyed!"

"Fuck!" Dansworth swore, finally losing his composure. That beam had torn straight through those ships bypassing the thick layer of armor easily! There was no way they could stop that! "Have the rest of the destroyers fire their Shiva nukes at Alpha-1, all of them! Focus strident and Paris fire on Alpha 2-3 I want a barrage of MAC rounds and archer missiles. Take those damn shields down!"

As the destroyers prepared to fire their nukes, Alpha-1 sent another beam out from the left side and bisected one of them, cutting the engines off of a strident in the process. As the two ships were crippled, the remaining twelve destroyers launched thirty-six nuclear warheads that flew past their fleet to strike the objective.

Alpha one was lit up in blinding surge of light and disrupted the entire battle zone. When the light faded the ship...was still there! But it was severely damaged, leaking bright blue liquid like lifeblood from numerous gouges in its hull. The front of the ship was wrecked, blasted open by the tremendous amount of explosive force assaulting it. It was quite obvious that whatever tremendous shields were encircling it were no more.

"Now! Have the marathon cruisers take that son of a bitch out!" Dansworth snarled and watched in feral satisfaction as the alien ship was pin cushioned by twenty MAC slugs. Alpha-1 was scraped, a huge ship punctured full of holes and torn apart.

But its two brothers were very much alive. With righteous indignation they plowed through the onslaught of MAC rounds and archer missiles and retaliated in kind. Almost faster than Dansworth could see, both ships fired those light lances and some sort of homing plasma spheres, reducing his fleet from 81 to 70.

Two of the marathons had been carved deeply, the energy weapons boring into their thick hull and igniting the munitions inside their bays. Both ships died in a fiery explosion that sent shockwaves through space. Another two of his destroyers had been executed by those strange glowing orbs that slammed right into the prows and incinerating most of the hull, leaving the last thirds of the ships to float lifelessly. A Paris heavy frigate and three corvettes were rammed, the far larger Alpha-2 plowing them into stardust. Three stridents were perforated by dozens of stabbing purple beams, turning into spacial debris.

"I want all available MACs to fire on Alpha-2! And empty all archer missile pods on Alpha-3!" Dansworth called out barely restraining the panic he was feeling as he watched his fleet getting decimated.

As ordered the ships that had fully charged MACs fired at Alpha-1 and watched as the slugs once more rebounded into space, causing the energy layer to flicker. Meanwhile hundreds of archer missiles cascaded across the bow of Alpha-3, exploding on the layer of shielding protecting its hull. Both attacks yielded no visible results. And so The Admiral watched as a strident and Paris cruiser was sliced horizontally by those damn beam weapons.

His ship had not sustained damage at this point but it was now only a matter of time.

"Admiral, the marathon cruiser Seattle is on a collision course with Alpha-2!" Indeed, one of the marathon's engines flared and the ship began to fly straight at the alien vessel at full speed. Dansworth watched as the hull crumpled when it impacted directly prow-to-prow, head on. The enemy ship was actually pushed back and when the heavy cruiser detonated its shields shattered lighting up space as millions of infinitesimal shards of energy whipped out from the hull to fade like dying starlight.

Dansworth recognized the sacrifice and ordered the remaining marathons to avenge their fallen brother. Alpha-2 was cut in half as all fire was concentrated on its structurally weaker midriff. The ship split aggressively and was finished off by a fusillade of archer missiles.

At this point Alpha-3 tried to reorient and fire at the weakened fleet, taking out three corvettes and a strident with those purple lasers. But after a withering assault by every surviving ship, its shields collapsed and it was battered by MAC rounds and finally succumbed under a hail of missiles making the alien vessel ignite in a massive pyrotechnic show, discharging into thousands of pieces.

All that was left was to mop up the remaining fighters and see to the fleet, sending out pelicans to look for any survivors. Against only three enemy ships they had lost 23 of his own, thousands of crewmen, and god knows how many pilots. And there were still five enemy ships, including that monolithic super-dreadnought.

"Admiral, the super-dreadnought is heading for the northern hemisphere!" While they had been fighting the massive ship had been sweeping around the far edge of the battle and was approaching the planet.

Dansworth watched as the titanic vessel lowered itself into the atmosphere guarded by the four wounded ships from before...and he felt hope fade. There was no way he could stop a ship like that. Their munitions had been severely depleted by their recent battle, they had taken horrendous losses, and after seeing what they had to do to take out those ships shields, he could see no way to win against that thing.

For now the fleet would lick its wounds and wait for reinforcements. They would not survive another battle as is. It was up to the soldiers on the surface to hold the line.

So when a cloud of objects disgorged from the colossal and glided down to the planet, the Admiral sent a prayer down ahead of them. The defenders would be facing the unknown, and he had a feeling that what the fleet had faced would pale in comparison.

*********

Liam's armored boots thundered down the fortified streets of Utgard followed after by a larger group. The battle in space had light up the afternoon sky and he could see artificial comets streaking down to the planet, remainders of fallen vessels. It would seem that everything he feared had been realized. His home was under attack, and by something he had not even seen yet.

A ship from the fleet had sent a warning that they were about to engage the enemy and judging by the metal rain, they had not stopped them. Now whatever was up there would be coming down here. The centurion tightened the grip on his huge assault rifle and racked the bulky slide. If these aliens wanted his home they would have to fight and die for it.

He shifted his gaze from the sky and to the men and women surrounding him. The platoon of marines stared up at the sky with fearful expressions. Never had they come across something like this. And though Liam may have wanted to give an encouraging speech he could not. They would just have to deal with it themselves.

"Lieutenant, sensors are showing a...substantial aerial force closing in on the capital." Samus' voice broke in over the radio. "Hold the city, no matter the cost. I don't know what you will be facing, but hold the line. Time to put all those augmentations we gave you to work."

Liam flashed an acknowledgment light twice and shouldered his rifle with a purpose. He noticed that the soldiers around him seemed heartened at that simple moment, mimicking him and replacing the frightened looks with determined grimaces. That made the Centurion smile. It was good to be a source of hope for someone, even if he did not have it.

However before he could enjoy the moment anymore the sky darkened like mid-evening and there was quiet and fearful mumbles emerging around him.

Liam glanced up to see an unbelievably huge ship descend upon the city. It was beyond alien, draped in odd hues and even stranger shapes. The scariest thing was how silent it was; he thought that a ship that large would make a godawful racket. But it quietly floated down, almost gently on the wind.

The entire plaza he was standing in was deathly silent. No one made a noise as they watched the terrifying and massive alien ship lording over them. After minutes of silence, the sky darkened further and uncountable forms emerged from the enormous vessel, lowering to the surface. As they swarmed down, the newly erected AA defenses began to roar, filling the sky with death.

The sound of the heavy guns shook everyone out of their trance and the plaza emptied as units of soldiers went to take cover in buildings. Yet while the others fled, Liam stayed. He stood in his massive plate and watched the sky as a miniature of Armageddon took place above him.

The air was thick with flack and missiles, even handheld SPNKR rockets. But the alien ships did not seem to care about casualties. Even as odd purple and ovalish craft exploded or crashed down to the ground, the unending numbers continued. The sky was blanketed with alien ships and they began to fire back.

Blobs of bluish white fell down to slam into buildings and roadways. Houses turned into balls of flame and entire chunks of the road were upheaved. As the battle in the sky progressed, longswords and broadswords from the hidden hangers joined the mix. The interceptors tangled with small ovular craft with two piece wings and teardrop shaped ships. Tracers and missiles howled past to strike and in return swaths of bright blue energy melted steel and charred flesh.

He heard a high pitched droning and looked up to see a flaming longsword streak towards him spinning madly without control. Liam ran forwards at extreme speeds and slid, the ship gliding inches above him to slam into the plaza, furrowing the ground until it crashed into a building.

The Centurion stood up and immediately headed to the interceptor to look for survivors. He climbed over the heated hull and to the cockpit, which happened to be stuck in the building. Liam forced himself through one of the new holes in the wall and lumbered inside. The dining room the nose had run into was destroyed, personal belongings flung everywhere. It was a good thing that the civilian population was in shelters in and around the city. Otherwise he could only imagine the carnage that would have ensued.

Liam looked into the cockpit and sighed. It only took a quick glance to ascertain that no one had survived the crash. As he turned away there was another droning noise, although this was much different, almost like a thrumming hum. The Centurion looked out one of the dining room windows and saw a bulbously craft lower itself into the courtyard. It was dark purple and had a straight Y-like shape. It stopped a few feet from the ground and both sides popped open and released...creatures.

The first group was about one and-a-half meters in height with pyramid like tanks on their back. They had beady eyes and almost amphibian features. They barked and hooted as they jostled around with odd weapons in their grips, tanks clanking noisily on their backs. Most had strange pistol like things that glowed a soft green at the pronged tip. One had a dangerous looking device with pink shards sticking out of the top.

After them came four avian like creatures that defiantly did not remind him of Falco. No matter how ugly they were. Each stood roughly the same size as a human and had glowing blue or orange shields strapped to one clawed wrist. They had the same pistols as the shorties and bloodthirsty razor sharp beaks. Their eyes spoke of a malevolent intelligence and they squawked to each other, one shoving down one of the smaller creature. The group cackled sadistically and after hearing a deep growl, shuffled away.

After them stepped a massive reptilian beast, around the same height as himself. It had a hinged four mandibled jaw, lacking a chin, and had obsidian black eyes. The muscle bound extraterrestrial was clad in blue armor that shined with intricate ruins. In its four fingered hand was a blue double sided rifle. Its helmet left the mouth uncovered but he was pretty sure it had shields. The tall alien warrior strode confidently and had a hilt attached to his waist, meaning it had a sword, most likely composed of energy.

It stepped out to lead the pack and started to walk towards the closest building as the now identified dropship soared away. Growling in its guttural tongue and gesturing to the shield bearing avian like creatures, they moved to comply and closed in on the structure on the opposite side of the square.

Liam gently placed a gauntlet on the windowsill and eased it open, sticking the muzzle of his gun out and aiming the ACOG scope on the large reptilian and its compatriots. As they neared the door, the window exploded and rifle fire erupted from the hole. It would seem that there were marines hiding inside the structure.

In response the four avian things interlocked their shields and the larger being fired from behind the improvised cover as the short creatures babbled to each other and ran screaming. They were not very brave it seemed. Blue bolts pulsed out from the reptilian's weapon and into the window, there was an agonizing cry of pain and the fire slackened to a trickle.

Liam could wait no longer, he squeezed the trigger of his rifle and the huge weapon roared as the massive rounds left the barrel glowing a dark red. The energized bullets shredded through the unprotected rear of the phalanx and exploded out of the bird-like hostiles bodies in a splash of oddly colored gore, but four of his shots deflected off the reptilian's shield causing it to shatter brightly. In a surprisingly athletic move it dodged to the left and turned its rifle to fire in his direction, having already guessed his location, its odd weapon's orb like munitions splattering on the building he was inside of.

Liam followed its dodge with his gun, peppering the ground around it with the high caliber rounds. It roared defiantly at him as its leg was cut off at the knee from a shot that had connected and its rifle went flying. With it temporarily immobilized, he shifted the muzzle of his gun to the shorter creatures and put them down efficiently, and almost flinched in surprise when one of them exploded, showering the plaza in broiled meat and heated metal. Whatever the hell they had apparently made them very explosive.

Liam stepped out of the building and into the courtyard, firing a burst into one of the twitching avians, ending its misery. As he studied the dead bodies and took pics to file away, he heard a guttural snarl from his left. He transferred his attention to see the reptilian-like creature crawling towards him. It had lost a leg and was using its hands to claw towards him. Liam placed his rifle on his back and lowered down to a crouch to watch it crawl over to him. As it made its way across, the doors to the buildings opened and marines filed out, one with gauze draped across his chest.

Liam let it get a few feet from him before pulling out his magnum. He stared into its black eyes and saw nothing but rage and hate....no fear, love, or even sorrow. Slowly, he lifted the barrel of his handgun and brought it to aim at the creature's skull. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger and splattered its purplish blood across the sundered pavement.

Standing up, he locked his magnum on his thigh and turned to the marines. Liam had no need for words; he just grabbed his rifle and reloaded it, keeping the partially used clip. He twisted his helmet in a follow me motion and walked away to head deeper into the city, where the sounds of gunfire and alien weapons echoed. The marines nodded grimly and followed after the Centurion. He had inspired them to press on.

This was a human colony, and no damn aliens would take it from them.