We thought we were making a dent, chipping away at their numbers just enough to keep them down, keep them at bay. The smaller ones were retreating, and the commander ordered us to refocus our fire on the largest of them. It was formidable, had taken out dozens of us already, some of the bodies still skewered on its long metal legs. I didn’t hesitate to empty my blaster into the thing. I don’t think anyone did. I kept going until the barrel was too hot for me to take, and then...

Nothing.

The creature stood still, the lights that lined its body falling dark. There was a moment of stillness. Someone in the back let out a holler. Another laughed. The cheers grew hesitantly, and even Griffin broke into a smile. He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it.

“It’s over, Enno. We fucking got them.”

But I kept my eyes on the creature. Something was wrong. Beneath the chatter and cheers, a hum. My feet heard it first, then my chest, finally my ears. A low thrum building and building upon itself, until it was so loud it drowned out my pounding heart. The lights along its body once lit yellow came back to life, glowing red. Its legs jerked back to life and twisted into the cracked earth, the few bodies still stuck driven into the dirt. More orders were shouted, but I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Its mouth twisted and expanded, the red glow blossoming in its throat. Blasts of blue began to pepper its face, we were firing again, I was firing, it was doing nothing, and the hum was so loud now I could feel it n my skin through the mech suit.

Griffin grabbed my elbow, yanked me back form the front lines. He was shouting something over the com, still not loud enough to break through the hum, but I understood. My legs were brought back to life then and we both ran as the crackling red expanded in the creatures mouth, the hum rising to a climax as useless blasters beat against it. Griffin and I pushed past advancing soldiers, against people I was beginning to grow close to, my friends. Fearlessly charging back into danger. I watched them join the rest on the front line, just as all the noise cut out and the creature glowed brightest. But I looked away when it fired.