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Chapter 12

1930 Hours, April 13, 2547 (Military Calendar) /
Derias System, Derian Prime Theater
of Operations

Green plasma littered the clearing, the sound of weapons recharging, men and women screaming, and general chaos filled the air. The camp was being hit from all directions.

A split second later, the plasma bolts were answered with the solid sound of ballistic projectiles, fired in every direction except inwards. Trees exploded, metal cases shattered, and plastic tents melted from the onslaught. The forest around the troopers seemed to be alive, endless chittering and squeaking filled the marine's ears, along with the weapons fire. Alpha, Bravo and Echo squads engaged what they could see, trying to fight what seemed to be an invisible enemy. Manny peered over the fallen tree he had dived behind. He caught a glimpse of yellow armour, a green glow and the alien artefact that appeared from behind a bush. He ducked back down just as a plasma bolt struck the tree, sending wood splinters flying.

He raised his rifle over the log and fired blindly into the trees; if he had hit anything, he didn't see it dead on the floor. The incoming stream of green and blue was still just as strong. He looked down the ranks of his men, crouched behind whatever cover they could find. Walker, Fincher and Harris were to his right, trying to see anything in the dark woods. Sarah was on her belly to his left, Grace and Tanya lay next to her.

Grace had slung her sniper rifle and was using her pistol to try and pick out a target, but Tanya lay in a heap on the floor, blood seeping from a wound in her arm. Purple shrapnel littered the ground where she lay, but she appeared to be okay, just a little shaken. He could see her head moving, and her chest was falling and rising quickly. She may have been injured, but she was conscious, and above all, alive.

Someone landed heavily on the ground next to him. Manny glanced to his right; a red faced Harland turned to him, yelled something inaudible, then fired a steady stream into the forest in front of them. He came back down, slamming his back against the log. He glanced left, then right, then settled his eyes on Manny.

"Any injured?" he yelled, his voice barely a whisper next to the loud cracks and sizzles of battle. Manny pointed over to where Tanya lay. They both took a quick look over at her, to see Greggs at her side, tending the wound, his med pack open in front of him. Harland clicked a switch on his mic, "Bravo and Echo squads, any injury's to report?"

"This is Bravo team, only a slightly singed arm, but nothing serious. We were ready, so every one was behind cover."

"Echo team here," came back Bogg's corporal. "We have three down, we weren't so lucky. Two are just flesh wounds and slight burns, but one is serious. Our medic is with her now."

"Only a handful of casualties, good. Let's keep it that way." Replied Harland. He peeped over the log, only to be knocked back by the blast of a nearby plasma grenade. "How many do you reackon, Private?"

It took Manny a few seconds to realise he was talking to him. He looked at the older man, a look of surprise on his face. "I'd say upwards of around twenty, maybe more. It's impossible to tell."

"And they've got us pinned down," another voice said. Raynes had settled in behind Manny, his rifle locked and loaded in his hands. "They're held back by the pure fact that we're too well dug in. But they know we won't last forever."

Manny took a look around and realised someone was missing from the whole equation.

"Where's Brad?" he shouted, only rather than coming off as a simple question, it sounded more like a squeal for help. Raynes looked at him, a look of anger on his face.

"God knows." He shook his head. "The moment they hit us, he was gone quicker than a fly off shit! If he's out there, he'd better make a difference."

As if he had been waiting for his cue, Bradley piped up over the com. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Manors," the stony voice filled Manny with relief. "I've just down a reconnoitre of our enemy. They got twenty at each position, fifteen grunts and at least five jackals, give or take a few."

"What about those big bastards you told us about?" What big bastards? Manny looked at Raynes sceptically, but got no answer to his question.

"No sign of them, Sergeant. Like I said, they don't fight because there is no need to. Believe me, we, or should I say you, won't see them until they want you to see them." There was a click that signalled the end of the conversation. Manny glanced at Harland and Raynes in turn. Neither of them looked happy. A blast nearby shook the log, showering them in dirt and grass.

"Sixty of 'em" Harland muttered to himself. Raynes composed himself and clicked his mic on.

"Alright people, we're wasting ammo here. I just got word that we have twenty Covie bastards each. At least fifteen grunts, and a handful of Jackals. This isn't going to be easy, gentlemen."

Hilner's voice echoed in Manny's helmet. "We need to co-ordinate. If they keep up at us like this, we're going to get cut to shreds, not to mention the fact that the fire coming in can hit any one of our squads."

"What do you suggest, sir?" Bogg replied.

"Well, try and get that Manor's boy to take a few out himself, that should make them uneasy." Hilner said. Manny looked at Raynes as if to say does he mean me? But the sarge shook his head. "Bravo squad, Bogg, only fire if you have a target in sight. At the moment, it seems they are only trying to find weak spots. If they find that we re firing blindly, they will capitalise. Same goes for you, Alpha squad. But I'll be sending the Lieutenant round to your side, so be ready to make a move. You with me people?" a series of yessir's and roger's came back over the frequency.

"Right, you heard the Major," Raynes said to his troops. "Manny's brother is gonna take some of the flak off of us. When he's clear, I want a rocket in there, as well as grenades. Once the dust has cleared, we're going over. Once that is done, we'll spit up and sweep round to help out Echo and Bravo." He looked around at his men. "Let's do this." He snapped back the catch on his rifle and fired a burst into the woods.

For five minutes they waited, popping up in two's and three's, firing off a few rounds at a time. Between those five minutes, the enemy's fire calmed until only when a marine stuck his head up did they fire. As the fire died down, Manny strained to hear his brother, a few metres away, but all he got was a ringing sound in both ears from the constant gun-fire.

Since the start of the battle, only Tanya had sustained any serious injury, and after a once over from Greggs she was back in position, her rifle tight in her grip.
Manny looked over at Sarah, he face rigid with anticipation. She was taking long, deep breaths. Others would have seen it as a sign of nervousness, but he knew it was the adrenaline pumping. The moment the signal was given, she would be the first out of cover. She glanced over at him, gave him a wry smile, then went back to concentrating on what was to come.

There was a loud bang, and the all-too-familiar voice of Bradley reverberated in his ears. "Six down, Sarge, they're all yours!"

"Let's hit them marines!" Raynes yelled, his voice a roar. Walker stood up straight, the Jackhammer launcher on his shoulder. A split second later, a rocket had exited the chamber and flew towards the nearby trees. As it exploded against the nearest living thing, the rest of the squad threw their grenades. Half of them bounced harmlessly out of range, but the other half destroyed a ten-metre area. Manny heard screams and cries of pain from what he could only gather was the enemy. Purple and blue blood spattered nearby trees, black scorch marks scathed the ground. As one, the squad leapt out from where they were hiding and sprinted into the woods, rifles at the ready. Manny came up next to Raynes, who swiped his weapon backwards and forwards, looking for a target.

Something shouted from behind a bush. Manny rushed forwards to the green foliage, dived through it and came out the other side on top of a small beast. It couldn't have been more than a metre and a half tall, wearing a thick yellow suit. It's stubby legs waved in the air as it lay flat on its back. It tried to bring its arm round, but couldn't due to Manny's bulk on top of it. A grotesque mask covered the alien's face, and the noises it emitted were high pitched and hurt Manny's ears.

But before he could silence the creature, a shot rang out, and it's head exploded in a mist of blue liquid. The marine looked up to see his brother there, a smoking rifle in his hands. He offered his sibling a hand up, which Manny gladly took. They both smiled hesitantly at each other, before they realised that duty came first, war stories came second.

Manny looked around at the rest of the team. They had finished their check and were awaiting Raynes' orders. Without uttering a word, Raynes made a series of hand movements, and then jogged off to the left of the camp. The squad split in half, with Harland going to the left and Raynes leading to the right. Manny fell in behind his brother, who favoured the Corporal's side.

In silence, except for the hustle and bustle that their armour and packs made, they made their way round to Echo team, and their attackers. Settling in twenty metres away, they got a clear view at the enemy. Positioned a few metres into the forest were a large group of grunts, with jackals taking up flanking positions on either side of them, their shields covering everything but their plasma pistols.

"Okay people," Harland whispered "here's how it's going to go. I want the front two using grenades on the grunts. The lieutenant and I will take out the furthest group of jackals, the rest of you take out the nearest." He waited a few seconds. "NOW!" he yelled.

The forest erupted in a hail of bullets. Two well-placed grenades took out over half the grunts, and all but two of the jackals were left standing. The bird-life aliens pivoted in towards them, bringing their shields up, and firing of a lethal volley of fire. Manny sprinted forwards, covering the twenty metres in a few seconds. He lashed out with a foot at the nearest jackal, knocking the alien to the ground. He kicked the shield away from the jackal's body and fired into its chest, spilling purple blood onto the ground next to it. It's head lulled forwards for a second, struggling for breath, then it went limp. He looked up to see that the remaining jackal had been taken care of, as well as the rest of the grunts.

Echo squad came up from behind their cover, moving swiftly over to them, Hilner giving Harland and his men a nod. Manny felt a moment of triumph rush over him, but before he could let it take him over, his thoughts were shattered when he heard a blood-curdling scream from behind him. Not ten metres away lay Greggs, his arms cradling his chest and stomach. The others knelt beside him, looks of terror ripe on their faces.

Manny rushed over to them, crouching down by Greggs' head. The large man lay sprawled on his back, blood gushing from multiple wounds on his chest and stomach. The ground was slick with crimson. Echo team's medic was fumbling through his pack, trying desperately to help him.

"What happened?" Manny yelled. He looked around at his comrades. Tanya was at his side, sobbing into his blood stained chest; her eyes were shut tight, tears running down her face. He felt dread run through him, a moment of anger, and then utter helplessness.

"He took three needle rounds in the chest and stomach." Muttered Harland, who stood rigidly over the prone figure. If the Corporal had anything more to say on the matter, he kept it to himself. Greggs screamed out again, spitting blood into the air as he did so. Manny wanted to look away, but couldn't take his eyes of the man's gaping wounds.

The medic, on the other hand was doing his best to avert his eyes as he tried to hold in Greggs' intestines. He pulled out a can of bio-foam, stuck it in the open wound and squeezed. Greggs screamed even louder. The medic then quickly wrapped the wound, but the moment the white fabric touched his body, it turned a deathly red, soaking up the blood in an instant.

Manny reached over and grabbed Greggs' hand, squeezing it tight.

"You're gonna be alright, buddy," he said, "you're gonna be alright." He looked into the other mans eyes; they were glazed and full of pain, but through it all he managed a smile.

"Don't lie to me." he said, a painful smile crossed his face and he screamed out again. Tanya grabbed his other hand.

"Hold on, you son of a bitch, I won't let you die on me!" she yelled, the emotion rushing out of her. She wiped her face and smiled down at him, but as quickly as the smile came, it faded, and her face crumpled up again. "Don't die on me..." she whispered.

But it was too late.

The large form went limp. The man's eyes stared blankly up into Manny's. And even though he knew he was dead, Manny still gripped his hand as tight as he could. He didn't know how long he had been kneeling next to him for; it could have been hours, days. He felt a hand on his shoulder, knowing whose it was and he grabbed for it.

"He's dead, Jon," the soft, female voice came. He didn't want to hear it, but he'd rather it came from the woman he loved than from anyone else. Slowly, he got to his feet, finding the strength to wrap himself around Sarah. And then he just let himself go. He cried uncontrollably into her shoulder, feeling her embrace tighten around him.

He heard people shuffling around him, heard murmurs of the man that once was Greggs, heard Raynes' voice, Harland's, Grace's, Fincher's. But it was the scream that came from Harris that brought him crashing back to reality. Greggs had screamed out of pain, something that any other person would have done. But Harris screamed out of complete devastation.

Manny turned to see him cradling Greggs body in his arms, rocking backwards and forwards on his haunches, tears streaming down his cheeks, his face full of sadness and anger. It was more than anyone could take, losing a comrade. Echo and Bravo teams drifted back to the camp, the rest of Alpha squad gathered round Harris as he continued to hold the still form that was once his best friend. From that day onwards, none of them would be the same. None of them would be this emotional about losing a friend again, they would hold it deep down inside of them, only to let it out when they felt right. They all knew this, every single one of them.

And even though Harris calmed down to a hushed mumbling, the sound of his cry of anguish would be etched in their minds for all eternity.

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