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3:16
The fluid that was pelting his face made trooper Tent feel the best he had for as long as he could remember - he felt strangely refreshed. Tent slowly reached his free hand to his chin, released the strap and let his helmet fall to the ground next to where he lay. He ran his hand across his unshaven face and rubbed his eyes until he felt the liquid had been cleared away enough to open them. He was on his side staring down a city street that was covered in debris. Broken concrete, smoldering APCs, and shell casings were littered as far as the obfuscating smoke would let him see. Further down the street he could make out trooper Pumpkin squatting by an open APC, gesturing madly at some troopers running towards the transport, maybe Pumpkin wanted the troopers to get in the vehicle?
Tent tried to wriggle his other arm free from beneath whatever it was that was pinning him to the ground, and discovered that his legs were also immobilized. He turned to look at the chitinous mass of alien than lay across his body and found a handhold inside what he believed was the head, and tried to shift it's weight enough to slip out from under it. The movement of the alien body caused more ichor to exit the gaping wounds in it's exoskeleton, flowing over Tent's face and down his arm. Tent freed himself and crawled over several broken trooper bodies before he began hearing the dull thumps and rattles of what sounded like heavy MG and slug rifles firing.
If they were in a battle, Tent thought he should at least be armed and began looking for a rifle of his own. He found most of the top half of trooper Carlsson beside him, still gripping his rifle and pried it from his lifeless hands. The thumps and rattles became more clear and now he could also hear what sounded like voices in the distance yelling, and another sound, a larger sound; a heavier sound.
Using the rifle for support, Tent slowly stood up despite his vision spinning around like he had one (or ten) too many Terran Meads. He turned toward the direction of the open APC and saw Pumpkin closing the doors from the inside. Pumpkin took one last look out the doors and apparently noticed Tent because he stopped, threw open the doors and a few brief moments later trooper McNulty popped out the top and manned roof mounted heavy MG. Three other troopers jumped out the doors of the APC and took firing positions - Pumpkin began his furious gesturing and Tent thought he could hear him shouting something as well, then they opened fire at Tent.
Trooper Tent felt the air shift as slugs and tracer rounds sped past , the muzzle flashes illuminating the vista of destruction surrounding him. He was standing in the center of an absolute massacre - craters, razor wire, broken bodies, flames, blood and exposed bone as far as the smoke would let him see. He suddenly recognized the large, heavy sonance as the sound of tens of thousands of alien legs skittering and plodding towards him; the same sound he heard this morning before the first wave had overrun their positions. He heard impacts and inhuman screams from behind and without turning, put one aching foot in front of the next, and tried to get to Pumpkin, McNulty, and that waiting APC.