The fight for the future

Day 550

"Good morning darling." Kate says as I look at the sky.
"Finally up?" I say, turning my head. "Yes I am." She yawns. We had fallen asleep on the ground next to our gear after dancing the night away. I had collapsed on the ground and she used my shoulder as a pillow. Now I look at her, curled up next to me. "Did you sleep well?" I asked her, wrapping her in a hug.
"Very." She says, kissing me. A group of bombers flies overhead and we start gathering our gear together. I slide my arms into my jacket and clip it shut. Next i slide on my gloves and slip my pistols into the holsters at my hip. Lastly my plasma rifle is stuck onto my back before I pull on the backpack that contains the food and water I will need during the upcoming assault.
"Assemble for briefing!" Major Thompson barks and all the soldiers in the area converge on the holographic representation of our target. I tuck my helmet under my arm and wrap the other around Kate. We stand there for twenty minutes while he explains how exactly well be attacking this fortress.
"That's all there is to it. Mount up. We're leaving in ten." He concludes and everyone starts heading for the gunships.
"J'son!" He barks.
"Be right back." I say to my platoon and jog over to where the major is standing with two girls about three years younger than me.
"Sir." I say, saluting him and I see the girls staring.
"These are Maria and her sister Leiah." He says, indicating the two girls. One is roughly five seven and has reddish brown hair and the other is the same height but has dirty blonde hair. "They'll be acting as battlefield reporters"
"We want to show the people back home what the war is truly like." Says Leiah, shifting her feet. i then notice that the two of them are wearing modified versions of our combat armor, minus the helmets.
"You can stick with my platoon." I say to them and they both sigh with relief.
"C'mon J'son!" Kate calls from a nearby gunship.
"Let's go." I say to the two girls, motioning to them as I run towards the gunship. Once were on board the pilot takes off, closing the doors but not the blast shields. My entire squad has their helmets off and they stare at the new girls. "Oh, before I forget, what kind of weapons do you have?" I ask them.
"Ummm...we each have a 9mm pistol. And that's it." Maria says.
"Haha. 9mm won't do shit." Lee laughs.
"What do you mean?!" They both cry. Before Lee can respond an explosion shakes the gunship. "fuck, they've got anti air weapons!" Lee swears.
"No shit Sherlock! Were you not listening to Thompson?!" Ana yells at him.
"Not really no." Lee snorts and Ana rolls her eyes.
"How far are we from the drop zone!?" I ask the pilot.
"Five minutes sir!" The pilot calls back. "Close the blast doors." Erica says as a blast of green light flares up outside and the window slits slide shut, sealing off the cabin and a red light turns on. We slide on our helmets as a unit and I hear someone's radio crackle.
"Rick, your comms got static."
"Got it."
"Red light. Stand by." The pilot calls and we all snap our rifles forward as if we're going to shoot them which startles the girls. We feel the gunship descend then the pilot screams,
"Green light!" Then the doors open and we are plunged into battle. I rush out with Kate at my side and my squad following behind. Maria and Leiah stay in the middle as plasma bolts fly around us.
"Head for the base!" I shout, firing upward at the top of the rock face. Two tank carriers drop out of the clouds and drop four legged walkers onto the battlefield. We reach the bottom of the rock face as a unit, ducking under the lip of rock as plasma bolts rain down around us. As we wait for the order to climb another platoon come running up. However, they are not so lucky as we are. One poor solder gets a plasma bolt full in the face, melting through his helmet. Six more are shot in the chest, the plasma burning through their skin, causing blood to spray forth in a shower of crimson. Leiah turns away in shock but Maria is filming the events with some kind of camera. A shrill whistle echoes down the line and I take that as the que to climb. I take the grappling hook out of my pack and clip it to the front of my belt. Once I see that everyone has one I back out from under the rock lip and fire it upward towards the top. I feel the metal hook grab onto something and I am swung into the air as the motor reels in the rope. There are alien soldiers all along the top edge of the cliff and they fire at us as we climb. Leiah and Maria are filming the hundreds of solders climbing the cliff face with their cameras. I see a tank making its way up the cliff, it's four legs gripping the rock face as it lumbers to the top. "Follow that tank!" I call and we all run behind it. Firing off bursts from behind its massive form.
"Bugs!" I hear someone ahead of us scream before I see the squad above me get torn to pieces by a pack of bugs. Maria gets our frantic reaction on camera as we fire into the pack of alien bugs, destroying them.
"Those fuckers are working together?!" Erica screams over the sounds of battle.
"You don't say." Lee says sarcastically, firing into a bugs skull for good measure as we climb over their corpses. Erica glares at him but keeps climbing. I feel a tap on my shoulder and see that it's Maria.
"Can we interview you once we hit the top?" She asked, looking around for contacts. I sight a bug crawling sideways toward us and I shoot at it over her shoulder, startling her.
"Sure." I reply, knocking a rock out of the way as it tumbled from the top of the cliff. "Follow that tank!" I shout, and my platoon climbs as fast as they can behind the behemoth vehicle.
***
45 minutes of one continuous near death experience later we reach the top. "Jump the lid!" I shout, un clipping my grappling hook and jumping over the lip of the cliff. I immediately duck as a wave of blaster fire sails over my head from several hundred aliens hunkered down behind fortifications near the mansion that they control. A cry sounds from above me and I see that the gunner on top of the tank is dead from a direct hit. I swing myself up on top of the tank as it fires its anti personnel weapons at the aliens.
"Stay down!" I call to my platoon as I take the controls of the tanks cannon. I fire it at the pillbox full of aliens and the whole thing is destroyed. "Let's go!" I shout, jumping down from the tank and rushing forward with my platoon as we join the flood of soldiers entering the mansion .