Sgt. Ben Markin wiped the sweat and dirt from his face and surveyed the barren wastes around him. After days of warfare against the Zi Clusters, the wretched bugs were finally retreating back into their holes. The ground was littered with miles of carcasses, mostly Zi claws and abdomens but plenty of Markin’s comrades as well.

Let the Zi have this shithole excuse for a planet, Markin thought. After these last three months of being stationed on Prixin, he was ready to get back to his family on Earth-Ten. If the transports could finally land safely, he could be back on those golden beaches in seventy-two hours time, with Sara and the boys in his arms.

Standing behind him, Lt. Chris Pennington crinkled his nose. “What’s that awful smell?”

Before Markin could open his mouth, an explosion came from behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with a humongous Zianth, one of the largest he had seen. This one must be a lead, he thought as he quickly realized his rifle and the squadron ran up behind him.

Pennington shouted “Quick now boys! One last sad sap to put out of its misery before we go!”

The Zianth was already charging its laser cannon, a pulsating red light coming from its claw.

“Fire, now!”

Ten sets of blue lasers shot forth from their rifles. Each one was a direct hit on the Zianth but it barely reacted. This didn’t give any of the men pause, they were used to this now and each got out their protector shields to block the impending blast. When it came a few moments later, the ground shook but the men were protected. But their shields would quickly wear thin.

Markin looked at the Zianth, right into its ugly face, and saw its red beady eyes. They wanted nothing but death and destruction. The Zianth had no conception of love, attachment. How could it, being the disgusting brute it was?

Then a thought came into his head. “I do love.”

Then another one. “Please. I have a family. Don’t kill me.”

As he fired another blue beam into the creature, he now saw more in those red eyes. He saw tiny pupils of white. And as he saw even closer, an endless ocean of white and warmth.

This creature does have a family. It does know love. In the span of a second, Markin saw this Zianth’s entire life. He saw the entire history of the Zi. How this was once a beautiful planet, with marvelous cities and breathtaking crystal white oceans. The Zi were an incredibly accomplished people.

“I do love,” the thought lingered in Markin’s head.

“I do love,” he said aloud. Pennington turned next to him “The fuck you say?”

Markin looked at Pennington, the man who had been fighting alongside him for the past three months. His friend…no his brother. How could he say something like that to him?

“I love, Pennington. I love.”

“Ben I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about but if you aren’t going to help, step the fuck back! One last round should cut through to this fucker’s organs.”

Markin felt hurt. Why was Pennington filled with such hate? Markin couldn’t have that. He turned his rifle towards Pennington and shot a blue blast right into his face. As Pennington disintegrated, he heard the gasps and screams of disbelief.

“Quick, Ben’s been compromised!”

Eight rifles rose up towards Markin and eight blue blasts met him head on.

‘How warm’ was the last thought that went through his head before he compressed into molecules.

In the next instant, the Zianth fired a particularly charged red blast head on at the squadron and evaporated them.

The Zianth then crawled away back towards its hole. If it was lucky, it would catch one or two of its dead brothers fresh on the road and have a fine dinner later.