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We walked into the briefing room solemnly, the once packed room was now only occupied by Corey, which was a great relief to me, but the way he just stared blankly and angrily into nothing frightened me. Of the eight of us that entered the room, I was the only one brave enough to sit next to him. He didn't even acknowledge my presence, he gave me no smile that he usually would when we were reunited again, he just sat there, motionless.

The commander walked into the room from the doors behind the large holo-table, accompanied by Dr. Werner and Dr. Yu. He put his hands on the table and took a deep breath before speaking. "We lost a lot of good people today. I blame myself; I shouldn't have put them in a situation where we didn't know what we were fighting." He looked at Corey, whose gaze didn't stray from the table. "I'm sorry Captain. If I had known what waited for us at that drop point, I never would have sent you in." Corey continued to remain silent.

"Commander...there was no way of knowing what was waiting for us there, you can't take all the blame." Yu spoke. "If we had just gotten them more equipment sooner...maybe the outcome would have been different. I am to blame for that." Werner stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You cannot blame yourselves; zat will only lead you to doubt your decisions in ze future." She spoke in her thick German accent. "Zere vas no way vee could have known vat vaited for us. Ze enemy has completely changed their tactics, so vee must do the same to counter theirs."

"How?" Corey asked. All eyes in the room turned towards the Lynx. "What tactics can we adopt now? We had our best men out there on that mission and they were slaughtered! Our training meant nothing to them! Their giant suits shrugged off everything we could fire at them, bullets, lasers, rockets, nothing we had could make a dent in them. Their assassin units ripped our snipers apart! Colonel Rush didn't stand a chance against those things. They wiped out the vast majority of our most talented and trained men in one mission, hell if the commander didn't give the order I would have gone down fighting too. How, doctor, how are we supposed to adapt to that?"

There was a painful silence in the room now. Werner was taken a back at Corey's outburst, he'd never snapped at her before. "Like every challenge vee have met so far, vee can adapt, Captain. New training, new equipment, new soldiers. Vee haven't lost zis war yet." Corey didn't retort again. He just remained silent the rest of the debriefing, only speaking when he needed to. He described horrific scenes to the room of the terrifying new threats we now faced. When the debriefing was over, we were all dismissed. Corey was the last one out of the room, and I waited by the door for him.

"Corey?" I asked, but he just walked right by me down the hall. I followed. "Corey, please talk to me." He just kept walking, so I grabbed his arm.

"What?!" He shouted, which made me flinch and retract my arm quickly. "What do you want Justin?"

"I...I just want to talk and...see if you're ok."

He turned his head away from me and clenched his fists. "Justin, I just watched my entire team get brutally murdered. I don't want to 'talk' about it. I want to be left alone." He began walking away again, but I stepped after him.

"But Corey if you just-" I stopped mid-sentence as he spun around at me.

"Justin my entire team is dead! And I am alive! Why do I have the right to be here and not them? Just, leave me alone for a goddamn while and let me think to myself!" He spun back around and stormed away, leaving me in the hall by myself, shaken. He never spoke to me like that before, and the way he acted made me more scared than the things he described back in the briefing room. I pulled the heart-shaped locket out of my shirt and opened it. I looked at the picture of Corey and myself, happily together before all this happened. I ran my thumb across the engraving that said "my love" on the inside of the locket, then looked up to watch that very man walk into an elevator that lead to the surface.

I roamed around the large underground base for quite some time, looking for things to do, people to help. I ended up helping a few engineers with some heavy lifting, and all the while, I kept worrying about Corey. It was no secret around the base that he and I were lovers. When we were first assigned to the project, the commander tried to separate us to different bases, but it quickly became evident that he needed us both under his direct command. Corey is the best heavy gunner in the entire resistance, and I just happen to be nimble and a fast enough shot gunner to pull us out of even the most dire of situations. Our skills are invaluable to the war effort, so we were allowed to stay together at one base, although the commander still tries to keep our teams separate to avoid any rash decisions from either of us.

After I was done helping the engineers, I headed into the barracks for some food, and on my way down the stairs into the mess hall, I saw the wall we stuck the pictures of our fallen comrades on. I saw Colonel Rush's picture was on the top. The Beagle had a cigar in his mouth and was propped against his sniper. It was then I realized that Corey was now the ranking field officer, and would be in command of his own fire-team now. I turned away from the wall and went on to the cafeteria, unable to look at the faces of some of my closest friends.

***

A few weeks passed without any new contacts. Corey remained distant but he at least started talking to me and others again. I could tell he was scarred from his last mission, having to watch his entire squad die, and be the only one left alive, I couldn't fathom the pain he must have felt. He would hold me whenever he could though. Maybe to him it felt like we were our old selves again. We were called into a meeting with the commander and top doctors one day, Dr. Warner was at the head of the room when we entered and sat down. "Thank you for coming everyone. Although it in no way pleases me to call zis meeting, Dr. Yu and I have come to an ultimatum regarding ze new alien threats." She paused and looked back at her colleague. "Zere is a way zat vee can "level" ze playing field, so to speak."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Corporal Zachery Nelson, one of our last support gunners asked.

Dr. Werner and Dr. Yu looked at each other, and Yu stepped forward. "With the recent addition of the mech trooper to the alien's assault force, we've come to realize that the only way to quickly address the new threat, is to heavily augment a soldier using cybernetics to create a weapon capable of combating the hostile mechs in equal combat."

"Yes, vee have also looked into specific gene modifications that vould furzer enhance our soldier's ability in ze field." Werner added.

"Woah, cybernetics and gene alteration? Isn't turning someone into a psychic bad enough as it is? You're talking about further changing people to fight these things?" Corey spoke up, angered at the suggestion the doctors were proposing.

"Unfortunately zere is no other easy vay out. Vee do not like it any more than you all do, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Werner said.

"So what, you change us into freak weapons that have no use outside of war for an easy way out? Isn't that exactly what the very aliens we're fighting did?" Nelson spoke up again. "What happens if we win the war? What happens to those you 'augment'?"

The doctors looked at each other again, troubled. "We must win the war to think of that."

"So the end justifies the means." Corey said plainly, glaring at the doctors.

"Unfortunately, yes. None of you have to worry though, we will not alter anyone against their will. We will only accept volunteers for augmentation, even then, it is with heavy hearts that we must perform such atrocities to a human being." Yu spoke solemnly.

The Commander spoke for the first time of the meeting. "I cannot ask any of you to do either of the things Dr. Werner or Dr. Yu spoke of. They are merely alternatives that we have access to should we want to use them." He looked at the doctors. "Do you two have any more to add?"

"No Commander." They both said at once.

"Then you are all dismissed." He walked out of the room, as did we, only Yu and Werner remained in the room.

***

"Can you believe them?" Corey said as we walked down the hall way. "How could they even suggest that we stoop to their level just to give us the upper hand?"

"Yeah, it's absolutely crazy, I'm glad you're so against this Corey, I don't want to see humanity follow in the footsteps of the aliens. I don't want us to pick up where they left off." I said. The thought of us becoming like the very foes we fought sickened me to no end.

"Just forget they ever mentioned it." He put his arm around me. "Hopefully this'll all be over before we need to resort to anything like that." He kissed my cheek. "You'll never have to see me as a giant mech trooper!" He laughed heartily as we walked. We headed up to the surface, under an old drooping tree to watch the sun set under the horizon. This was the one place in the world that we could be alone, the one place that we could be ourselves. He rested against the tree and I against his shoulder, my hand in his.

This is what I wanted again, more than anything else. I just wanted to see the world at peace again, back the way it was. I wanted to be with Corey like we were before, a happy couple. Maybe we could get our own place, maybe a dog too. So many warm thoughts raced through my mind as I sat and watched the sun set with my lover. I closed my eyes and I saw that world again, free of aliens, free of death. And I saw Corey standing at the end of an aisle, in a tuxedo, next to an alter. That world faded as I felt Corey gently nudge me awake. "I have to go" He said, "We're under attack."

We rushed back into the base and Corey suited up as quick as he could and headed to briefing. The aliens were shelling Chicago and a team needed to act now to stop them. Corey, being the new strike-team leader, had to pick from the handful of able men we still had left. He assembled his team, but they were still one man short of being 100% effective, so I showed up in full gear at the Osprey.

"No, you're not coming." He said and turned to walk into the ship.

"Yes, I am, you need me." I followed him and he turned and put his hand on my chest.

"Justin, please, if...if anything happened to you I'd..." He stopped and I turned his head with both paws to make him look at me.

"Don't worry Corey, you know I can handle myself. And you will need all the help you can get, you need me for this, and you know it." I watched him look around for anyone else to take, but I was the only man he could bring that was able.

"Please, please for the love of god, be careful. Ok?" He moved aside.

"Of course dear." I said teasingly and sat down and strapped into a seat. He sat across from me and the ramp closed and we lifted off to Chicago.

***

When we landed things were a lot worse than we expected. Fire engulfed most of the city, people were running for their lives in every direction, and the aliens were dug in, as if they were waiting for us. We fought though waves of brutes that sieged us by the drop ship. We were doing a good job at defending, until Jackson, our squad medic, spotted a little cub, crying in next to a dumpster as a brute stomped toward her. He broke our line and dashed for the little girl. Every brute in the vicinity took a shot at him. Amazingly, they all missed their shots, all but one. As Jackson was running back with the little cub under his arm, a bolt of plasma got him in the back and he collapsed to the ground howling in pain.

The cub crawled out of his arm and tried desperately pulling her savoir to safety, but to no avail, his armor made him too heavy, and he was too wounded to move himself, so he shouted at her to run for the ship. She did and made it, I ushered her into a safe area and told her to stay put with the rest of the survivors we saved. Then I looked back out at the field at Jackson. The brute that was walking towards the girl was now advancing on him, seeing its wounded prey. The squad had eliminated most of the other threats, so I made a judgment call. I packed my shotgun onto my back and took off as fast as I could towards Jackson.

"J-Justin?! Damn it GET BACK HERE!" I heard Corey yell and then open up his machine gun on a brute that poked its head up. He shouted for the rest of the team to cover me. Corporal Nelson advanced behind me a bit to cover my flanks as I ran. I had almost made it to Jackson, when a stray plasma bolt hit me square in the chest, making me stumble a little.

My armor had absorbed most of the impact of the plasma, however it ate though the chest piece, leaving me exposed. But that didn't deter me; I kept sprinting towards Jackson, who was trying to crawl away from his assailant, who had yet to see me. I blind-sided him into the ground, surprised that my small form was able to topple his, I then grabbed my shotgun off my back, shoved it against the alien's forehead, and pulled the trigger. I was splattered with the creature's blue blood. I took a breath, stood and turned to look back at the rest of the squad. They had finished off the remaining brutes while I did my own thing. Corey was looking right at me, machine gun in hand, with an expression of relief on his face. I waved a little at them, signaling that Jackson and I were safe. I hoisted up and put his arm around my shoulder and we began to walk towards the ship.

The other men sighed in relief and chuckled a little, as did Corey, but then he stopped, his face filled with a sudden despair. He jumped out from behind his cover and started sprinting at me, screaming my name, he was looking behind me. It was as if time slowed down, with Corey running at me, I slowly turned around, and then I was face-to-face with the incarnation of terror itself. I threw Jackson clear of the charging monster and reached back for my shotgun as quickly as I could, but I was too slow. It stabbed its pincer-like jaws into my exposed chest before I could raise my gun, lifting me off the ground. I stared down into its empty, glowing yellow eyes, my gun slipping from my grasp and landing on the ground with a thud. It lurched upwards and pierced deeper, through both lungs and my heart. The lurch caused the pendant I wore to slip out of my armor and dangle. Everything began to fade into blackness as I watched the sliver heart shimmer amongst my spilling blood, the last thing I felt was hitting the ground, and the last thing I ever heard was Corey screaming my name in agony.

***

(Corporal Nelson)

Captain Reynor was at a dead sprint towards the creature, who had just dropped Sergeant Andrews from its clutches. The captain unloaded on the creature; at a full sprint he fired every single round at the alien, most of the bullets hitting their mark. The creature fell over dead in a mangled mess. As Reynor reached Andrews, he threw his weapon to the ground and picked up his corpse in his arms, and uselessly tried shaking him and waking him up, but it was too late. The rest of us ran to them, Jackson was up now and looking down at the body of his savoir, and the Lynx crying in anguish. We formed a circle around them; we remained silent as Reynor pleaded to whatever god had long forsaken us for his loved one. He cried uncontrollably as he held Justin's body. We looked at each other, knowing what was going to happen in a matter of minutes.

"Sir," I said, more quietly than I intended. "Sir, he's gone...but the creature it..." I was interrupted by loud groaning; the empty husk of what was once Justin Andrews began moving about in Corey's arms. He just stared down at it as tears dropped onto the corpse's face, it began thrashing about and we backed up. It struggled away from Reynor and it stood itself up and growled incoherently. Reynor stood and looked at the body of his lover. An uncontrollable seething hatred filled his every being as he watched his lover's body be played like a puppet by the embryo inside. With tears still flowing from his eyes, he gave us an order.

"Leave us."

None of us questioned him. We all turned and left, Jackson propped up on my shoulder. I turned my head back to look at Reynor. He was shaking and it seemed he was talking to the shambling corpse. He reached for his sidearm, and rested it against the forehead of the only one he ever loved. I turned my head and we continued towards the Osprey We all flinched and froze when we heard the single shot go of, it echoed through the dead city.

We loaded everyone up and waited for him. He came slowly walking towards the Osprey, with Justin's corpse in his arms. He walked up the ramp and it closed behind him, he sat with Justin still in his arms as we lifted off and headed back to base. No one spoke the whole flight back, no one looked at the Captain either, he deserved his privacy with his loved one. I was the one sitting closest to him. I heard him whisper 'If only I was faster...o-or stronger...I could have saved you...'

The ceremony was short. We all had things we wanted to say, but no one dared to. Reynor stood at the casket that contained the remains of his loved one. The twenty-one gun salute went off in the background, and then the casket was lowered into the ground, completing the row of 30 graves. Reynor, Jackson and I were the last ones to leave, and when we did, we didn't speak. We just headed back into the base. Jackson went his own way, while I followed Reynor a bit more, he took a turn into engineering and I peeked through the door to see him approach Dr. Yu.

"Yu." He said with pain in his voice. The doctor looked up from his work. "You have your guinea pig."