Chapter 1 (Will change)

Chapter 1

It was early in the morning, just before sunrise. Stephen took off his helmet and hung it on the right handlebar of his dirt bike, the cool morning breeze played with his black hair and send a chill down his spine. he leaned on the handlebars with his elbows, his friends Brian and Donald came with him to admire the view. To them it was a familiar place, they came here often when they headed out into the wilderness to ride on their bikes. Even though the cold climate, the planet Soro was beautiful. The sun was about to rise above the horizon far of in the distance, between them and the horizon lay a vast grassy plain. The dark yellow color of the sun made the grass look like it was made of gold, it danced in the wind with a gentle sway. The few clouds that sailed the sky were framed with a yellow and orange halo, in contrast with the dark blue color of the clouds. Like the underworld itself burned behind them and the flames fell of the edges of the clouds, Stephen watched in awe. He took a deep breath, the fresh air filled his lungs and made him feel revived.

"This is so much better than a dusty classroom." he said to himself, "This place is simply perfect."

Brian walked to the edge of the cliff and stood watching, his hands on his hips and his right foot on a boulder. "You can say that mate, until I mark it with the trail of my dirt bike."

Stephens VI went off, "Incoming audio link" said the female VI voice on his left wrist. Annoyed he woke up from his hypnotized state and looked who tried to call him, "School" Stood in the holographic screen. He canceled the incoming audio link, he didn't want a preach from his teacher right now.

Donald chuckled and shook his head, he gave Steven a faint smile. "What?" Stephen replied and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing, it's just funny that they keep trying to call you every time, you hang up every time, they'll never learn will they?"

"Not my problem."

"It will be when your mom hears about it." Brian said with a sarcastic tone, not looking away from the scenery before him.

Stephen grunted, "You know Brian, I can easily push you off that edge."

Brian turned around with a broad grin on face, his red hear looked as if on fire. "listen mate, I'll bet you 10 credits that your mom will call you within 2 minutes."

"Ok Brian, point taken."

not long thereafter Stephens VI interface popped into existence again, his custom made VI interface hovered slightly above his arm. "Incoming audio link" said the female voice again.

Stephen moaned, "really?"

"I told you" Brian murmured, just loud enough for Stephen en Donald to hear it.

Donald had a faint smile on his lips. "You better take this one... Stevie".

Stephen breathed a sigh of exasperation "I should murder you guys". He felt awkward when they teased him about the concerns of his mother, he accepted the incoming link.

"Mom" He replied and tried to sound surprised.

"Stephen Forrester! Don't try to sound so surprised, you know very well why I'm calling you" She said with a sharp voice. "Your teacher called me because you deliberately cancelled his call, you should be in school, and your childish friends too." Stephen felt his face started to turn red, Brian and Donald struggled to suppress their laughter. "Come on guys, I know you're there" she continued, her voice softened a bit "You are practically graduated, you just have to hold on those last couple of months".

Out of nowhere Donald pointed up into the sky, "hey look at that... what is that?".

Brian and Stephen turned their heads to look at what Donald had spotted, hundreds of small objects hung far away in the sky, descending from space. They disturbed the beautiful view, slow but sure they grew bigger. Like the ships moved towards them.

"Ok, this is odd" Brian said "This is creepy"

"Hey, don't change the subject" came Stephens mom over the link, "I'm not fi...".

"wait a second mom" Stephen interrupted her, "there is something odd". The audio link remained silent, but she didn't disconnect.

Donald scanned the objects with his VI, his face grew concerned as he received the results. "unidentified flying objects, This isn't a federal fleet" Donald looked at Stephen, their eyes widened when they realized what this meant.

"mom!" Steven shouted at his VI, Brian and Donald hurried to their bikes.

"Could you please explain what's going on Stephen?" She said.

"Warn the colony, hundreds of U.F.O coming your way!"

"you sure?"

"Yes... no... I don't know... better safe than sorry." Stephen touched a couple of buttons on his VI interface "I'm putting you on my helmet radio" he said whilst putting on his helmet.

"Can you hear me?" He heard a lot of static over the audio link as he glanced to where the space ships came from. They were quite close now and went straight for the colony, His heart pounded in his throat.

"Yes I can hear you" his mom replied "Hitting the alarm now, you better be sure this is not a cheap trick to escape your punishment". Stephen, Brain and Donald already started their engines and raced towards the colony at full speed. He heard his parents through his headset, they tried not to panic as he heard how the slow whoop got louder and louder.

The young men headed through a dark green pine forest, it was a short-cut back to the colony. Stephen couldn't recall ever driving this fast through any forest, but then, he had never been this scared before in his life. The first ships flew over their heads, a lot of frigate size ships with a bigger one here and there. Their engines roared, so loud that Stephen heard them well despite of his helmet. I dearly hope the trees will conceal us, or we'll be dead for sure he thought as he evaded rocks, logs and pits in the ground. He switched to the next gear and drove even faster, tree trunks flashed by as he passed Donald. Brian drove up front, he feared nothing when we sat on his bike.

One of the bigger ships, about one kilometer in length, fired its main gun, a ballistic shell aimed for the colony. The explosion was dreadful, he heard chaos through the headset in his helmet. "Oh shit!" screamed his mom "Peter, the school is hit!" and she started crying "Evy is in there".  Stephens heart skipped a beat, briefly he saw the image of his little sister, torn apart by a brutal explosion.

More of the larger ships fired their main guns as well, a few seconds later they hit their mark with devastating effect. The audio link had died, communications were offline or his house was destroyed. Stephen tried not to think about that last option, or he would start to panic. The last thing he could afford right now was to crash, he tried to focus on driving.

After a couple of minutes Brian reached the edge of the forest first and stopped, Stephen stopped right beside him and looked at the colony down below. There was five hundred meters of open terrain if they wished to reach the edge of the colony, five hundred meters of being an easy target. The organized colony Freyeon Fields which housed more than two hundred thousand citizens, was now in a state of utter chaos.

Burning buildings, destroyed buildings, firefights scattered randomly throughout the colony. Improvised strongpoint's at strategic locations gave the defenders a small chance of survival, at least that was the plan. as long as the militia was able to hold their ground, other civilians had a chance to reach the government center. But Stephen noticed that the plan had become a dramatic failure, the streets were littered with the corpses of people who had tried to flee for the government center. At the heart of the colony it stood, protected by a kinetic shield bubble just big enough for that one building. The shield deflected all high speed projectiles like bullets and shells. People, on the other hand, could pass through.

Brain pulled of his helmet and looked in disbelief "by the writer" he murmured.

Donald pointed up in the sky "look at them, they encircle the colony like vultures"

The alien ships in the sky did indeed encircle the colony, they fired their side cannons with great effect. If the aliens succeeded in taking out the shield generator inside the government center, they could level the building in seconds. But they needed a ground team to do that, the fierce battle around the government center indicated that they tried.

"what shall we do?" Donald asked.

"what they taught us during militia training" Brian replied "We grab a weapon and we hold the line, fall back to the government center if necessary"

"A sound plan, let's stick together and we'll survive" Stephen said with a sudden determination. Although there is no real line to hold, he added in his mind.

With haste they crossed the open ground toward the colony, with the writers blessing they made it without being anyone's target. Stephen took the lead and maneuvered through the rubble covered streets toward one of the strongpoint's, unfortunately they met a dead end. The sight of the bodies and the state of the colony were in stark contrast compared to an hour ago, his stomach turn upside down. We cannot linger here, there is no time to look for survivors, he told himself. He didn't expect that anyone nearby would have survived anyway, without any hesitation Stephen stepped of his bike and ran towards the big pile of rubble that blocked the street. A massive shell must have destroyed the entire top half of the building down the road, it had collapsed on the street and blocked it from side to side. Stephen looked behind to see if Brian and Donald still followed him, they did, along with some other unwanted guests. He had never seen such hideous monsters, humanoid but far from humanlike. Claws instead of hands and a gray skin, cracked open at some places where it showed another layer of dark red skin. Their yellow eyes in their bald heads stood aggressive, they began to point their alien weapons at him. As quick as their hands and feet could move they climbed the pile of rubble, sweat dripped down Stephens back as a bullet missed him by a hair. He leaped over the ridge, followed by Brian. They looked at each other with widened eyes, speechless and shocked. They started to climb down, a shout of pain on the other side of the ridge caused Stephen to look up in terror.

"Donald!!!" Stephen shouted, but Donald did not answer.

"Shit, shit, shit" Brian cursed and climbed down even quicker, Stephen leaped down and broke his fall with a roll.

He took a short breather and looked around to see how to proceed from here. Brian started to panic "They shot Donald" he murmured "They shot Donald!" he grabbed Stephens shoulders and shook them back and forth. Down the street a horrible scene took place, Civilians were abducted by aliens. Women were dragged across the street, their hair used as tow. Children were beaten until they weren't able to resist the monsters anymore, The men slaughtered. They took everyone, dead or alive.

"I know Brian, get a hold on yourself man. we should reach one of those strongpoint's if we wish to live, Come on!" Steven led the way towards an alley, Brian followed just behind. The slow whoop filled the air, in an attempt to give invasion an extra layer of horror. The alley would lead them to the plaza in front of his house, if he remembered correctly one of the strongpoint's would be right there. Some dead people laid in front of the entrance, they probably tried to flee through the alley as well. The wide open eyes of the mutilated dead looked at Stephen, fear still written on their faces. He had a hard time keeping it together, but his will to live was strong. He stepped over a dead body into the alley, somehow he felt a little safer.

An explosion shook the building on his left side, small pieces of the building rained down. Brian cursed the writer some more, Stephen couldn't blame him, his brave friend was always like this in tense moments. Stephen moved on in silence, focusing on the ever increasing sounds of battle in the distance. They almost reached the end of the alley, he could vaguely see a glimpse of the chaos at the strongpoint. With his hands above his head to protection it he ran on, he had a hard time to hold his balance, the ground trembled beneath their feet.

A brief moment later Stephen stepped out of the alley into the plaza, he wondered where the actual strongpoint was. He saw a lot of militiamen, a lot of them dead. Big chunks of debris reinforced with all kind of other objects were meant to act as some kind of perimeter or wall, they roughly covered the major roads that led to the plaza. Brian came running out of the alley as well, he experienced another small shock

"this is it?" he said and tried to catch his breath "This is our defense against a planetary invasion... we're screwed..."

Stephen and Brian walked into the chaos, they looked around for someone who was in charge of this mess. They found out that there was no such person. only one way to go from here, grab a gun and survive Stephen thought to himself. He scanned several objects nearby and hoped to find anything useful, a corpse nearby looked promising. Stephen headed over to the body and began to take of its helmet, he struggled with the strap.

Brian's face turned pale "You can't just start moving around corpses, it's disgusting" and looked away. Stephen went on with his business, unmoved by his friends objections. As soon as he could he put the helmet on his own head, his hands trembled as he tried to connect the straps. He now began to untie the man's chest plate, Stephen was glad the man's arm was broken so that he could easily push it back through the porthole. Another blast shook the ground, he staggered and his hand with which he leaned on the chest plate slipped away. His hand disappeared in a gaping wound in the man's belly, all the way down where he felt the hard bone of the spine. Stephen almost puked, he closed his eyes and with a grim face he pulled his hand out again. His arm was red from the warm blood, drops of blood dripped from his fingers. With all his will he regained himself and focused on the chest plate. I must survive, I must put this on... no matter the horror. The other arm wasn't broken so he had to open the clasps, three of them. His hands shook and it took a long time to untie them.

A shell exploded in the center of the plaza, the shockwave hit them in the belly and dirt rained down on them. It clattered on Stephens helmet and on Brains head, who tried to protect it with his hands.

"Man up Brian!" Stephen turned to his friend, disgust and terror had taken control of his voice. "You are always the tough guy, don't stop now. If you want to live, grab yourself some gear and stop whining."

That seemed to do the trick, he narrowed his eyes and nodded. With a grim face he started to look around for his own corpse to strip, he saw one a couple of meters away.

Another shell exploded, it obliterated one of the perimeters. the militiamen who occupied it were destroyed by the blast, some flew several meters through the air. One collapsed into another man who was knocked of his feet by the incoming body, the man tried to get back on his feet. Stephens heart skipped a beat when he realized who it was... it was his dad, Peter. He is standing in the open, an easy target... I have to get to him Stephen ordered himself. With one violent pull he took the chest plate from the corpse and put it on, only one of the clasps still worked. He took the man's rifle, a couple of magazines and started to run.

"Dad!" He shouted, but the thunder of the explosions was to loud.

Another explosion on a building nearby, the force of the blast caused the upper half of the building to collapse. Stephen stumbled for a moment, he protected his face with his arm. When he glanced over his arm the aliens were already pouring through the breach in the perimeter, only several meters away from his dad. Peter stood at the ready, his shimmering bayonet attached underneath the barrel. Stephen forgot the world around him, he sprinted so fast that he wondered how his feet were able to keep up. More and more aliens came running through the breach, Stephen feared that the strongpoint would soon be lost. Peter got in a nasty hand to hand fight, he parried a claw with the back of his rifle. Another alien engaged Peter as well, he was outnumbered and overwhelmed. At the precise location where his dad was fighting, a shell hit, followed by two more strikes. In less than a second Stephen watched how the explosion tore his dad apart with its brute force, nothing remained where he had just been. Like he had vanished with the blink of an eye, Stephen hoped from the bottom of his heart that it was all just an illusion... but it isn't he told himself. The battle around him faded into slow motion, all sounds dimmed. Militiamen clashed with the horrible aliens, claws and bayonets tried to injure the adversary. No, he thought, why him... why my dad. Sadness tried to overtake him, and it seemed like it was succeeding. His dad, gone, dead, irreversible... Horrible.

A body slammed into him and stopped the slow motion, he fell on his back and looked at the sky. He shook his head and looked around startled, I'm not hit by a shell, I'm still alive he checked. My legs are still there, arms too.

"Hey watch out!" Said a vicious female voice, Stephen looked in her direction and saw a slender girl. She used the back of her rifle to help herself back on her feet, did her helmet and rushed over to him. She held out a hand to help him. "You're not very bright are you? Sleeping in the middle of a battlefield!" She shouted to overcome the battle noises and ducked as a shell exploded in the distance. Stephen took her hand and nodded, he observed her for a moment. "Thanks" He shouted back at her, wondering why she had that faint smile on her face. Her sharp face was framed by white hair that stuck out under her helmet, it reached her shoulders. Her sapphire blue eyes examined him in return, the moment she saw that he was alright she nodded and hasted towards the fight. He wanted to follow her but she had vanished into the chaos of the battle. I should be there too, not wandering around like an idiot, he mustered his courage and dragged himself towards the battle. Maybe his mom or his sister were still alive, as long as he didn't know that they were dead he had to keep fighting. With a grim determination he pushed through the crowd toward the heart of the battle, so that he could take part in the bloody chaos. Soon he reached the fight, where human and alien were engaged in a fierce melee.

He lingered for a moment, deciding what to do next now that he got here. He looked around, an alien spotted him and charged right at him, his claws at the ready. A sudden rage took control of Stephen, a flood of hate that discarded all fear. He charged the creature head on, fired his rifle from the hip. The bullet grazed the monsters hip, it was just enough to break its charge but it kept standing. Stephen Charged on and slammed into his foe like a wrecking ball, his bayonet disappeared in the monster's belly and his helmet smashed it's face. The alien fell backwards, Stephen was knocked sideways and landed with his face on the hard ground. He blinked his eyes and pushed himself back up, he felt his nose hurting but adrenaline kept it on the background. He moved over to the alien who lied wounded on the ground, he had some kind of unrecognizable expression on his face and pressed the belly wound with both its claws. Stephen grinned and reloaded his weapon, he aimed for the head. His hands we shaking, but his mind was pretty clear. He pressed the barrel against the monsters head which caused the bayonet to disappear in the monsters cheek, he pulled the trigger. The bullet stopped it's miserable life in a heartbeat.

A loud roar to his left, louder than the sounds of battle and more horrible than any roar he had ever heard. He slowly turned his head, to his left he saw a big muscular alien standing over its prey. A slender female from about his age lied on the ground, her hands waved towards the creature to repel it. the enormous monster, two times the size of a man, bent over. It ripped of her helmet with ease and threw it away, it stared at her on its leisure. He recognized her now, it was the same girl that helped him just moments ago.

An alien jumped on him, it threw him to the ground. Stephen was shocked for a moment and tried to hold him off, the wild creature on top of him tried to scratch, bite and slam. "Help!" Stephen shouted and tried to push the alien away with his knees, but his enemy was strong. The alien swept his arms like a wild beast, it tried to scratch his face with a burning desire. Stephens arms began to give in to the weight of the alien, it scratched him on the cheek. It bit him in the fingers that clamped the weapon, with its head it snatched out to bite Stephens face. Stephen screamed in pain and pushed with all his might. A shot fired from close by, the alien paused for a moment and fell to the right. Stephen breathed to catch his breath, he realized that he was still alive. He got back on his feet and nodded to the man that shot the alien on top of him, the man nodded back.

Stephen remembered the big alien, he turned around to face it again. It reached out for the girl with one of its claws, the three fingers clamped her head and raised her up in the air. She hovered in the air and her body shook wild like she had a seizure, the monsters arm was stretched as if she weighed nothing. He held her there, hovering above the ground. Stephen couldn't hear it, but saw her scream. Nobody dared to attack the creature, it produced another one of those horrible screams. Everyone nearby reached for their ears to protect them, some fell paralyzed to the ground in fear. The monster brought the girls head closer to its own, it showed her it's gigantic and sharp teeth.

Stephen became cool, he weighed the odds. The distance, it's size, it's weak spot. He didn't waste a second, reloaded his weapon and aimed for the head. the shot hit it's mark but the creature wasn't killed, instead it dropped the girl on the ground and wavered for a second to see who shot him. It noticed Stephen, and became enraged like a predator disturbed on its feast. It let out a horrible scream and filled with rage it slammed its clenched fist on the ground, before Stephen realized it the creature stormed at him out of control. It leaped into the air with its fist ready to crush Steven into a pulpy mass, the massive body closed in through the air, Stephens mind froze for a second. By impulse he rolled to its left, just in time to get out between the hammer and the anvil. The massive fists slammed into the ground, the ground trembled. Stephens turned around his axis by sheer instinct and pushed his bayonet into its throat, dark red blood spayed out of the gash. The pushed harder and pulled the trigger, the creature looked at him startled. He pulled the trigger again and with a fierce pull he drew the blade back out, blood sprayed all over Stephen. The alien screamed and roared, swinging its arms around. One of the claws hit Stephen hard on the chest, it flung him several meters through the air. He landed into some other humans, others lined up before him in a way of protection and opened fire on the big monster. The big creature tumbled, the loss of blood killed it.

Someone grabbed him and pulled him on his feet, "Are you insane!" Brian said. Stephen leaned with his hands on his knees catching his breath, his entire body felt battered and bruised. "where is... the girl"

"What girl?"

"I saved her... from that thing"

Brian frowned "You attacked that thing, tried to get yourself killed, acting like some kind of mister hero... because of a girl?"

"No Brian..." He noticed the enemy retreating, the militia kept the pressure on them and drove them back through the breach. "Never mind" Stephen sighed hard, the pain was killing him. I must have broken some ribs, he thought. A whistle, a second later an explosion. The militiamen on the vanguard were obliterated, ripped to pieces. They had become an easy target Stephen realized, The enemy was gone and the militia was packed together. Another explosion on the rear lines close to Stephen and Brian, They were blown to the side."We should get out of here!" Stephen Shouted to Brian "we must fall back!"

Brian nodded, and got back on his feet. Stephen stood up as well, with clenched teeth he managed to keep standing. The strongpoint had turned into an anthill, it was now every man for himself. Shells rained down nonstop, wreaking havoc at random positions throughout the plaza. Brian grabbed Stephen by his shoulder and pulled him along, "No time to look for your girlfriend right now!" He shouted. His eyes lay deep, staring at him fateful. The dirt and dried blood mingled on his face, "We need to save ourselves!"

"Let's go!" Stephen shouted back and looked around. Most Militiamen ran via the main road that led to the government center, that was where the enemy would concentrate their fire Stephen guessed. A bit to the right was the entrance to a department store, Stephen knew it had an exit on the other side. They could reach the government center through the residential area that lay behind the store. This way they could reach the government center and keep away from the rain of shells that would concentrate on the main group of humans. Stephen ran towards the department store, Brian followed. They evaded other defenders, wavered for a moment when another shell impacted close by. After a short but intense trip they reached the entrance, Stephen looked behind one last time before he got in. Aliens attacked again, they poured through the breach like water. He couldn't see the girl anywhere, he realized that there was a big chance she had died. He forced the thought out of his head and entered the building, he needed his mind to concentrate on the way forward.

Other militiamen entered the store as well, Such herd animals we are Stephen couldn't help to think. Brian led the way, he was uninjured and faster than Stephen at the moment. Others passed them in their stampede through the aisles, they didn't care for Stephens inability to sprint. They ignored them and tried to save their own lives. Behind them was gunfire, the aliens must have followed them into the store. Brian looked back and gestured Stephen to keep going, he heard his friend firing his rifle behind him. That was only for a short moment, Brian caught up with him soon. He grabbed Stephen by his arm and drove him forward, his face pale and weary. "They are right behind us!" He shouted and drove Stephen to run faster. Stephen felt the sweat streaming down his back, he tried to ignore the pain. A fierce firefight behind them, bullets flew by way to close to Stephens liking. He managed to move even quicker, his heart pounded in his throat. The horrible screams came closer, the enemy was unstoppable and relentless. To his right a group of militiamen turned around and opened fire on the enemy, for only a brief moment. After half a minute their fire stopped, he guessed it wasn't because they had defeated the enemy. Stephen ran, his life depended on it more than ever, the exit of the store was in sight. He evaded rubble, corpses and wares. A single misstep would mean the end. Brian reached the door first, he pulled with all his might at the handlebars. Rubble blocked the door, he used the back of his rifle to smash the window. Smoke from burning buildings outside found its way in, Stephen protected his face with his left arm, he had to cough because of the smoke. Brian looked at what happened behind them, his eyes widened. Stephen heard shots, the bullets kept flying by. Brian helped Stephen through the hole in the glass, bullets passed them by with increasing intensity. More and more enemies must have had them in their line of fire, which means even more reason to get out of here He realized. Stephen ran into the thick layer of smoke outside, he did his best to hold his breath.

It was quite a challenge, when a couple of ribs are stinging your lungs he cursed. But Stephen kept it together, he managed to cross the street alive. Brian was gone, Stephen hoped he made it but the smoke had separated them. He had no time to go looking for him, Brian was probably faster than him anyway. He found a damaged door, a person was ripped to pieces against it. There were heavy markings of Claws carved in the door, decorated with the blood of the victim. He checked if the door was locked, it wasn't and he slipped inside. He closed the door behind him, two bullets slammed into it.

Stephen caught his breath for a moment and looked into the dark room, the lights flickered every now and then. It gave him the chills, he readied his weapon and crossed the room towards a hallway step by step. He tried to breath soft but it was painful, He coughed up some blood, he spit it on the floor with a disgusted face.

He walked into the hallway, trying to orientate in the flickering light. There was an open door on the right and a stairway leading up on the left, on the far side of the hallway was another door leading outside. He chose to go for the door on the far side, he had to keep moving towards the government center. He passed the open door on his right, the lights flickered longer this time and he glimpsed into the room. A sudden rattling came from the room, Stephen aimed at the doorway with his rifle. He fell because of the quick turn, and slammed with his back against the wall behind him. His heart pounded in this throat and his hands trembled, This is the end he thought. He closed his eyes and prepared to meet his doom, he held his breath. But nothing happened as the rattling sound continued, he narrowed his eyes to see what made the sound... A dishwasher. Stephen sighed deep and closed his eyes, he swept a hand through his face. This had costs me another year of my life he thought. The lights dimmed again and the rattling noise stopped, the power was cut off and the house was silent again. Only the sound of battle was on the background. He got up and hobbled towards the door, it was locked. He bashed the lock with the back of his rifle, as hard as his body allowed him to. He heard the door on the other side of the building opening, he gave the lock another hard bash... it broke and the door was open. He listened before he opened the door, a single person entered the building on the other side of the house. The other person moved careful and slow, could it be a human Stephen thought. He chose not to find out and opened the door as quiet as possible, it made a squeaking noise. Of course, Stephen thought, of all the doors this one had to be a squeaking one. The other person stopped moving for a moment, he must have heard the door he thought. Stephen opened the door even further, just far enough for him to pass through. He got out and pressed himself against the wall next to the door, he listened to the other person inside. Stephen was now standing in the garden, alone he thanked the writer. The other person inside walked to the door in a steady pace, he bumbled in some alien language. An alien Stephen concluded, he held his weapon close with the bayonet towards the door. Moments passed, he heard the alien stop at the door. Stephen didn't move a muscle, writer be with me, let this not be my last chapter he prayed in his mind. The alien lingered at the door for a moment, uncertain whether to go outside through the door or not.

It rushed outside without a warning, in a split second Stephen stabbed it with his bayonet. It penetrated the gray skull, blood spurted from the wound. Stephen fired his weapon to make sure the enemy was dead, It slid of the bayonet and fell on the ground like a ragdoll. Too close, Stephen thought shaken, way... way to close. Without any further delay he started to run, he ran out of the backyard into an alley. Stephen was not familiar with this part of the colony, he chose the direction that he hoped would lead him to the kinetic shield, which loomed in the distance behind the buildings. After some time he reached the main road that led towards the government center, there were still other humans who tried to make it there as well. He mustered all his courage and took a deep and painful breath, and started to sprint. He ignored the pain, he ignored the fatigue, there was only the blue transparent kinetic shield in the distance. Only two hundred meters, he almost made it. Bullets passed by, a shell exploded on the other side of the street. Stephen ignored it, with clenched teeth and grim determination he kept running.

A blast just to his right knocked him of his feet, the blow ripped off his helmet. His sight blurred, his hearing muffled. A high frequent beeping tone ripped through his skull, he grabbed his head with his hands as he laid there. "The enemy is advancing" he told himself "So what... I'm going to die anyway". A blue wall to his left, the kinetic shield was almost within reach. He moaned and groaned as he tried to get back on his feet, he failed due to the pain and fell back on his hands and knees. On hands and knees it is then, he crawled on. Stabs of pain pierced him with every move, "one hand before the other" He grunted.

He tried to stand up again, with a lot of effort and energy he managed to keep standing. "One foot before the other" he murmured and wandered toward the government center, uncaring about his surroundings. He touched the kinetic shield with his hand, a faint tingle went through his body. After a long moment he started to regained his sight, a couple of figures came running from the government center towards him.

A terrible pain through his left shoulder, then his right chest. He was shot and tumbled through the shield, he fell on his knees again. Stephen respired, the pain was unbearable how much can a human sustain. He was lifted by his shoulders, two people carried him inside while he hung limb as a ragdoll. they dropped him on the floor and laid him on his back, they were Brian and the girl.

Someone pushed them aside, a man bent over him and slapped his cheek with the back of his hand. He heard him say "Stay.... son..... not.... die.... my watch"

The world turned black, the pain ebbed away until he felt nothing.