"Each human lost is a tragedy. We will wipe out the Druin, not ourselves." said General Maple.
'Even if I am only one of the few Generals who believe that, I will not make more orphans, widows or break more families apart than what is necessary, otherwise how will I face my girl in the end'.
General Maple looked again across the planet; each ship that exploded made him shudder, thinking of the family they will leave behind and the loyal man that died in that craft.
The battle raged on while the ships carrying human troops touched down on the barren planet surrounding the outpost, the only part surrounding the outpost that was not flooded with humans was the south, making that the natural escape route for the Druin who where fleeing. Once the humans landed they continuously shot their guns at the Druin, overwhelming the Druin shields. The regular soldiers' shields could stop three or four bullets at once but no more. Once another bullet hit the shield it would cause the bullets to ripple before they were pushed away from the Druin. The lower portion of their spear would then sizzle before smoke would be released and their shields would give out, killing a portion of their fungi technology but keeping the spears working as a whole. This allowed the humans with superior numbers to kill inferior numbered Druin soldier, even when they possessed weaker shields themselves.
The Druin Elite had slightly better shields, and far superior armour and weapons, allowing them to continue fighting when a normal soldier would have dropped, but under the concentrated attack they too fell to the human bombardment.
The human troops soon broke though the front lines of the Druin resistance, causing the Druin formation to fall into chaos. As the formation was lost the humans overwhelmed the unorganised Druin, leading many soldiers to abandon their outpost.
The Elite and Gunner Druin soldiers however did not falter like the general soldiers and fought to the last man. When the Elites Druin's tridents had been overloaded and could no longer fire and they were wounded on the verge of death with holes riddling their bodies creating pools of blood under their feet, they took one last look at their fellow soldiers and growled at the top of their lungs, they sprinted into the human lines. Barrelling into the lines they hit the lines of humans and began to throw their arms at any human close to them trying desperately to kill as many as they could until they could no longer hold on. Smiling they blew themselves up, devastating the human lines to allow other Druin to escape.
The battle raged on. The commanders of the human army spilt up battalions into smaller platoons instead of big lines to be able to more effectively combat the Druin army, who used suicide bombers to allow more to escape. The humans had their orders, minimal casualties. That was why they all changed from a formation good for a quick sweep though the entire outpost but would result in many casualties and moved to an urban clear tactic.
The long lines of humans shifted into groups who moved down the street using the building as cover and teams to watch each other's backs. The Druin still counter attacked but it was less effective. Down the right side of a large building a Druin squad of four came from the sewers, hitting the Human team in the middle. They were fast, desperate, swinging their spears at any human they saw. They took down the human closest to the sewers with a three-pronged trident going through the human's chest. An elite led the charge, the trident a darker shade of crimson with the blood staining the tip. The surrounding team moved back fast and opened fire. The bullets fired onto the Druin elite did not kill it nor break his shield, as the humans were not aiming for him they mowed down the Druin soldiers around him before they could advance. Seeing his team die around him the Druin Elite gripped his trident hard and slammed it against the ground. He began running at the team with his trident pulsing as he ran. Just as he was closing in, a rocket blasted him into the building behind him and a second later he exploded, carving a hole in the side of the building.
"Damn they got Jeff" said a soldier.
"Collect his remains for his family. Push forward checking the sewers as you go, these snails will not get the better of humanity, HURA" said the lead of the platoon.
The man closest to Jeff, the dead soldier moved forward and cradled him in his arms, his eyes were lifeless as he slowly dragged the body away, with disgust he shoved the arms of the dead Druin away from his fallen friend.
The battle continued to rage on, Humans vs Druin. Long into the night, the drawn-out battle allowed many Druin to flee, all regrouping with loved ones at the oasis south of the outpost.
Deep under the feet of the terrified Druin, Seth had begun to wake slowly. As his eyes opened he saw Maria staring back at him from her desk. Swimming to the surface, Seth emerged, his body no longer black, blue, red but smooth and free from blemishes. He began coughing up liquid from his lungs as he expelled the last of the liquid from the tank.
"How long was I in for" he said between coughs to Maria who was still watching him.
"Much longer than I thought would be needed. You were much more injured than you told me."
"Please Maria, How long?"
"Fine don't answer me.... 5 hours"
"Damn, so we are still on this rock"
"You know we are not allowed to travel before you are healed if our position permits"
"So, the battle for the outpost?"
"It has been raging on for hours"
"How long until we can move and head back to the main ship"
"I don't know, ask Mongrel about that"
"Maria, you were in communication with the ship were you not? Why are you not telling me"
"When you are honest with me Seth, I will be honest with you"
"Please Maria, I am sorry for keeping how injured I was from you"
"Huh better, we were in communication, we had to go dark to avoid the Druin above our location from finding the ship"
"The Druin above?"
"ahh, they swarmed in like cockroaches holding up above us, go ask your damn friend Mongrel more about it, I am exhausted I am going to go get some sleep"
Maria began to leave the med bay and before she left Seth called out to her "Maria, Thank you for everything"
"It's fine I enjoy it sometimes" she said before she left.
Seth walked over to the table with his gauntlet on it, Maria's desk and saw a mountain empty snack containers, clearly, she had not left the room during the 5 hours he was in the cylinder.
"She is so hard to figure out" Seth said to himself.
"Isn't she, but don't let her hear ya say that" said Mongrel from the door.
"She would probably skin us both alive." said Seth.
They both chuckled. For Seth it was the first time he laughed in a long time.
"Why did ya never ask her out?" said Mongrel
"You know I couldn't, we work together, plus I can never tell if she likes me "
"She sat by ya side while ya healed for hours, she likes ya" said Mongrel.
"You think?"
"Yes, ya thick idiot. Think of all the time ya have wasted already being so stupid, ya could have already"
"Mongrel!!, she will really skin you alive if your finish that sentence"
"Ahh, I know, I just want ya to be a bit happier, it's been three years man"
"I am still not over her Mongrel"
"She would want ya to be happy, she would not be able to bear ya being like this"
"And she would not like to see me with someone else"
"True, but maybe, she would let it be if it made ya happy"
"Who said I am not happy Mongrel"
"Ya know ya are not happy, ya have been taking more risks like this time, not calling for backup with the Druin numbers being so high, are ya trying to rush to ya grave to meet her again"
"I wanted to kill as many of those bastards as possible."
"That won't bring her back to you."