The fight for the future

Day 551

After twelve hours of intense fighting we've finally taken the hilltop. The remainder of the alien cadre have barricaded themselves inside the main house. My platoon took over one of three small cottages that surround the mansion. Currently we are sitting in the common room, having a drink.
"I swear, eight feet tall with big tusks." "You're lying through your teeth!" Cathy says to Lee.
"I'd have gone bonkers!" Ana says, astonished.
"I mean it turns out the white things are tusks, and I mean tusks! And it's woken and it's not happy."
"How could you not know it was there?" Kate asks
"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked."
"Naked?!" I say, surprised.
"And I'm like, oh no, no, it's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars and we are running. Dear god we are running. Then Brackovitch falls and I turn to him and I say."
"I knew we should have turned left!" Erica interrupts and all eleven of us burst out laughing. He has his arm around Erica's waist as they sit in one of the armchairs that are scattered around the room. I have my arm around Kate as we sit on the couch next to Ana and her boyfriend. A medium sized guy with black hair. Good soldier but didn't speak much.
"Well then tin head." Stel says, taking a swig of her beer. "Got any stories for us?"
"I've got one." Kate says smirking.
"Oh dear lord, is this the one from training?"
"So we're doing this exercise where we fight a partner in a room full of spinning foam blades. Now J'son and I get paired up and we go at it. I flip over one of the blades and aim a punch at his head. He ducks but as he's coming up he doesn't see the blade coming around and it smacks him in the face!"
This continues for hours, telling stories, laughing and playing games. This is part of the mental battle solders play after every field operation. Seven hundred soldiers were deployed in the assault on the castle/mansion. Only 150 remain.
"How can you people laugh?" Maria says, astonished at our behavior.
"It's what we do." Lee drawls. "we laugh and party in order to suppress the fear of combat. You yourself certainly experienced it. Don't you want eto get your mind off of it?"
"Yes..." She says meekly and it was true. All of us were deathly afraid of the coming assault and we want to be distracted for as long as possible.
"I was afraid too." Erica says, looking down at the floor. "Many years ago when this was still controlled by the united republic, I fought many battles alongside Lee, Stel and Ana. We've killed hundreds of solders each and we've seen friends die in front of us. I can only imagine what the SSR soldiers have gone through..." She looks down at the floor, lost in memory and Lee gives her a hug.
"I had no idea...I...I'm sorry.." Maria says awkwardly.
"Don't be." Erica says. "We're soldiers. We fight on. The public never sees what happens on or off the battlefield. Have you been filming this whole conversation?" She asks Leiah.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" She asks, allittle afraid.
"Not at all. The people should see what we go through." The rest of us nod our heads in agreement.
"We should get some rest." I say to the group. "We've got a rough day ahead of us." Everyone nods in agreement and begins setting up bedrolls. I take mine out of my pack and lay it on the ground. Kate puts hers next to mine and drops her gear next to it. Maria walks up to us camera in hand.
"May I ask you a few questions?" She says, pulling over one of the metal Adirondack chairs that litter the room.
"Yes you may." Kate replies. Maria sits down in the chair but then the legs snap and she falls to the ground.
"Fuck! Sorry..." She says, blushing.
"It's alright." I answer. "What have you got in store for us?"
"How long have you been in the military?"
"Five years." We both answer.
"So you joined when you were 15?"
"Yes."
"A little young for combat isn't it?"
"We were thrown into it." I say
"If you don't mind me asking, how?"
"The aliens attacked our high school." Kate says
"Oh. What happened?"
"We escaped without ever seeing the enemy." I replied grimly. She asks us a few more questions about our life in the military, not getting too intrusive which is nice but painting a picture of the life of the average grunt. After about twenty minutes she gets up, kicking the broken chair and saying.
"Thanks for your time. You'll probably see this when we get back."
"Your welcome." Kate replies for both of us. As we settle down to rest Kate puts her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arm around her. She curls up into me and we fall asleep peacefully.
***
Seven hours later we are awakened by an air raid siren.
"I want men at the anti aircraft positions!" a captain barks as I sit up groggily.
"Get up lovebirds!" Stel cries, kicking me in the side.
"Go kick Lee..." I groan, siting up.
"Already did." She says, smirking. "lets go, we've got bugs to kill!"
"Bugs? What?" Kate asks, picking up her rifle.
"Flying ones." Stel replies, grimly. She nocks and arrow to her bow and steps out of the cottage. "FUCK!" She yells, diving to the right as a green shape flies over her head. She fires at it and the bug lands about fifty feet away. I give Kate a kiss for luck and throw my helmet on. The visor snaps down as I dive out the door and into the chaos. I duck behind an overturned stone bench and Kate rolls up next to me. Anti air cannons are firing full blast into the sky as large green shapes swoop around us. These bugs are exactly like their ground based brethren but with longer legs and wings. I fire a bolt of plasma at the main body of a bug and it hits home, the bug squeals and spirals off into the dark. Ana ducks as a bug sails over her head and slices it in half with her sword. Liam, her boyfriend, provides cover fire as the bugs swoop lower and lower.
"Shit! They're climbing the cliff!" A soldier shouts and I look over the side of the cliff. He's correct and I see hundreds of bugs swarming up the side of the mountain.
"Get inside the house!" I yell, dropping a grenade on top of the advancing horde.
"The doors locked!" A raw recruit screams in panic. I roll my eyes and run across the hilltop, dodging plasma fire and falling bugs. My platoon reaches the door as a unit and Lee says,
"Stand back!" He then turns a dial on his blaster and fires at the steel door. A hole is burned through the lock and all the soldiers except my platoon rush inside the large foyer. We act as the rear guard, firing full power at the advancing bugs as our forces retreat into the mansion.