Dust Star waited as the Dropship approached the rocky moon. The Solar Conglomerate's Sunguard, their primary military force and way of keeping the Lunar Exodus out, had noted an increased presence of Exodus ships in the area, and had set up a garrison on this moon to establish the rule of the Solar Conglomerate. Only thing was, this system was actually Lunar Exodus territory, just the Conglomerate considered everything their territory, just everything outside their borders was 'not yet colonised'. So, the Lunar Exodus was striking back. This was their moon, their planet. Another Marine looked up.
"Hey, what's your name?" He asked. She looked up.
"Hm? Oh, Dust Star."
"Nice name. Binary Gale."
"Thanks. I just wanna get this over with, okay?" She sighed, looking over her rifle.
"So do we all. The Lunar Exodus has it hard enough, fighting just makes it worse."
"We're practically nothing compared to the Solar Conglomerate, the best we can do is keep them off our turf. Whenever we try to strike into their territory they just crush whoever goes in. Almost literally." Another Marine spoke up.
"Yeah, like the 107th..."
"They broke Sunguard defenses like it was nothing. They headed into Conglomerate territory, and then-Wham! Less than an hour later and the Lunar Exodus has lost 500 good soldiers and we're back where we started. Just with 500 less soldiers." Binary Gale huffed. The Dropship began to slow as it flew over the warzone, where battle was already raging. One Marine got on the dropship's hatch gun as the back began to lower, revealing soldiers fighting and bullets flying over the waste. The Marines all turned a small knob on their helmets, and a dark blue visor dropped over the gap in the helmet and sealed itself, rendering the Marine's suits airtight and ready for non-atmospheric combat. The Dropship stopped as it reached ground level, and the twelve soldiers jumped off, landing on the hard, dusty rock.
At first, when you drop into combat, it seems like everyone knows what they're doing. As soon as you jump off the thing that got you here, it chaos, disorder. Dust Star noted this once again as she charged through a currently Lunar Exodus-held trench, spinning a corner to face three Sunguard soldiers, too busy firing at Exodus soldiers outside the trenches. Taking cover behind a recess in the wall, she raised her rifle, firing at the soldiers. Within 10 shots, they were on the floor, the visors of all three smashed. One was already dead. One fell and scrambled loosely for the side of the trench briefly before falling motionless. The third flailed. He wouldn't stop. Dust Star walked over and, pointing her rifle at the head of the dying pony, fired three shots, silencing the Conglomerate scum. Looking up, she saw some Exodus troops charging down towards her. One yelled "Get down! Gunner!" Before she saw the familiar spinning barrels of the Gunner's minigun. She dived back into the recess in the trench side, before the Conglomerate Gunner began firing, cutting down the four Exodus soldiers. He already knew she was there, and kept firing. The light beam shots kept burning tiny craters in the side of the trench. She had a counter to this. Pulling out a small sphere from her suit's belt and, clicking a small button, flinging it upwards, the device turned on, creating a hologram of her leaping through the air. The Gunner turned his weapon up, trying to shoot what he thought was Dust Star. She poked her gun out, firing six shots into his chest. He stumbled, dropping his gun, before the hologram device hit his head. It was also an explosive. After a bang and a spray of red, the soldier dropped dead, his head vaporized. Twelve Exodus soldiers ran past her, two of them Gunners. She followed, turning and cutting down an Exodus soldier on her left as they ran, reaching a Conglomerate-held bunker. Two of the Lunar Marines were cut down by a stallion wielding an LMG, before one of the Lunar Marine Gunners filled his chest with lead. Dust pulled another of her hologram emitters out and chucked it into the bunker above them, before the squad's Sapper threw two grenades in after it. Three explosions passed and an arm flew over them. At the same time the Exodus soldiers pulled a grappling hook from their belts and threw it up, latching into the concrete bunker railing and throwing themselves up. Dust Star had to shoot quick to stop a Conglomerate CQC from blasting her with his shotgun, but he was dead before he could aim. Within moments the Lunar Marines had taken the bunker. The Sapper planted an explosive on the heavy cannon keeping Lunar Exodus tanks at bay, before they sprinted around and leapt into the next trench, weapons fire cutting down a number of Sunguard soldiers.
With the bunker destroyed (and actually destroyed), the LE tanks began approaching down this small break in the Sunguard's defense, bearing down on nearby Sunguard bunkers nearby and shattering their bunker defense, leaving troops and the fort wall in the way. Artillery moved into position and laid down quite the impressive show of missiles on the Solar Conglomerate trenches, before the converging Lunar Marines charged, tearing into the confused Sunguard troops. Dust Star wasn't sure who she was shooting at anymore in the haze of gunfire, bullets and blood, but she knew the Marines were advancing at a steady pace. Before she knew it she had reached the side of the wall. Break into here, and the Lunar Exodus had practically won already. The fort's cannons fired, tearing apart the artillery. Damn. Every Marine who had grenades left threw one over, and the resulting screams were cut short by the blasts. A tank, keeping its distance, fired at the gate, leaving a considerable dent in the gate. Turning a corner, Dust Star saw some dead Lunar Exodus soldiers, among them a Sapper and a Weapon Tech specialist. She ran over, slinging the explosives sling over one shoulder, and picked up the mobile gun crate before running back, leaping out of the trenches and threw down the gun. It handled the rest, unpacking and preparing itself. One working, fully loaded Heavy Minigun.
"Who knows how to use Charges?" She called. One Marine raised his hand. Throwing the sling, she watched as he grabbed it and latched it onto the gate, after the tank fired another shot into it. Dust Star warmed up the gun. The Lunar Marines hurried, forming two firing positions on either side of her as her weapon began spinning up.
"Three! Two! One! Detonate!" the Marine with the detonator yelled before firing the charges, ripping the door out. Immediately, the Lunar Marines and Dust Star began firing, shredding the Sunguard troops waiting before they had a chance to react. The Lunar Exodus tank fired again, the shot flying overhead and obliterating a Sunguard tank. Dust Star left the gun, charging in as another Marine took the gun.
The next few minutes were chaotic as the Lunar Exodus forces ripped into the base. Dust Star focused on the east tower, in which several Gunners were firing into the Marines. Hitting one in the head and dropping him, Dust ran to the tower before heading up the stairs, followed by two other Marines, throwing a grenade over her shoulder onto the platform above. The grenade fired. A Sunguard Gunner was sent flying into the haze of bullets below. The three Marines fired into the remaining forces' backs. The tower was down. She really was impressed by herself sometimes. Looking out, she saw a Sapper drop a ton of explosives down a chute. There was thunderous boom, and the base's power went out. The Sunguard advance had been countered, neigh, utterly demolished. The Marines raised their weapons above their heads in triumph as the Lunar Exodus celebrated another victory. Unfortunately, this was the extent of their victories; any attempts at advances of their own were a certain failure and led to devastating losses, every single time. But, they were happy to have protected their territory and smashed the Sunguard troops. The Solar Conglomerate's attempt to counter the Lunar Exodus' efforts had been thwarted, and for today, that was all that mattered. Dust Star blinked as dropships came to pick up the troops, as a small smile came across her face.
As she watched the settling field, the hatch closed, and the tired Marines opened their visors. While the airtight suit was by no means uncomfortable, but sometimes it felt claustrophobic, restricting. Opening the visor was a little relief from that. Most Marines liked to take their helmet off, but she always felt that little bit safer with it on. Marines who knew her called her 'helmet-head' sometimes as a result. Those who weren't dead, anyway. Three of her five friends died in the Lunar Exodus' last attempt to advance on the Solar Conglomerate. She looked up. Prior to the fight, the Marines looked anxious, scared, almost unwilling. Now they were smiling, cheering, chatting, celebrating. She did not join in the little party. She had been in the Marines long enough to know these small victories meant little, and the celebration was a short, dead respite from the nightmare of war. Sighing, she turned and looked out the window as the ship approached an Exodus starship.
Author's Note
Don't expect this to be a friendly story. Or a happy one.
