The creatures were huge and relentless, rushing the lines heedless of casualty’s. From the moment they had first made ground fall the war had been a constant cycle of retreats with little hope of success and then, just as all hope was lost the advance stopped. Odd skirmishs still took place occasionally but the aliens unstoppable advance had proven that “unstoppable” was actually the wrong word for it. Huddled in trenches up and down humanities last line of defence soldiers held their breath for hours, days then weeks waiting for the hammer to fall. Every minor incursion was treated like a full scale assault, tension constantly twanged like a bow string in every soldiers muscles.

The soldiers of delta squad, 4th company, were no different to any others, they had held the line and fought with all they had throughout the war knowing their very survival was at stake. In recent weeks they had become accustomed to the routine of watching and waiting so when their moment came they were ready. A single bug, apparently trying something new, rose out of the muck and detritus in front of delta’s trench line having burrowed forward under the surface. Massively, monstrously tall, carried on six gleaming chitinous armoured legs with a glowing energy weapon, that no one had successfully been able to analyse or explain, where it’s mouth should be it pushed forward towards the trench as delta squad with practiced skill opened fire pouring shot after shot into it’s torso in hopes of hitting or creating a weak spot that would allow them to bring this creature down. As the energy weapon at it’s front began to charge up ready for a shot that the squad knew meant almost certain death to any caught in it’s path they redoubled their efforts. Bellowing war cries some of the squad leapt from the trench and charged round to the flanks to try and distract the creature from their comrades still in place. Just as all seemed lost and the glow from it’s gaping maw seemed to be reaching a crescendo delta found their opening, a single armour plate buckled and then failed in the creatures flank and a shot found the soft flesh beneath, the creature bucked sideways as more shots found their mark and the roaring energy beam from it’s mouth blasted into the sky leaving the squad unharmed. The creature made one last effort to stand before slumping down dead and defeated.

Delta squad continued to hold the line in this way and like all of their comrades proved the fighting heart of humanity for another six months before the alien creatures finally made their last push and wiped out the last of the colonists on Selena Vega. Why their assault paused as it did no one can explain but that pause and those brave soldiers bought humanity time to devise better defensive strategies against the oncoming hoard. The war has cost us much but we have held the line, the bugs will not defeat us, delta and all their comrades will not have died in vain.