Counterstrike

"Good work, soldier." Mark said to the soldier, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The soldier's mirrored visor hid his face, he recognized every one of the super soldiers he'd helped train. And he also knew that this particular soldier's identity was classified. From what he remembered, this particular Drengr was taken by C.I.A. agents immediately after training.

"Good to see you again, Alpha Nine. Last time we met was seventeen years ago."

He watched as Alpha Nine cocked his head slightly.

"Ah, you don't remember me. Mark Helms, I helped train you." He said, extending an arm for a handshake.

Alpha Nine shook his hand. Then Maya extended her hand as well, introducing herself. It was almost funny. They'd just fought through half a ship and killed possibly a hundred aliens, and now they were introducing themselves. Then the ship's alarm blared once more. Mark turned, looking at the other two Drengr soldiers.

"Daisy, do we have a nuke?"

"The Amber Clad's got several in the hold, but I doubt that even you could lift one."

"We just need the warhead." He replied. "I have a plan, follow me." Mark said to the others.

He led them through the ship, still checking corners just in case there were more aliens. Before making it to the hold, he found a strange device. His helmet filled with static as he appraisal. He signaled for his comrades to stop, then raised his rifle and shot the device. Mark's HUD returned to normal.

"Talk about jumping to conclusions," Daisy said. "Thankfully, that was the device that was jamming comms."

Mark smirked to himself, then gestured for the team to continue.

"So, what's the plan?" Maya asked.

"It's simple. We take a nuclear warhead, load it into a transport, then board an enemy ship and activate the bomb."

"Same shit, different day." Alpha Nine grunted.

Mark chuckled slightly. "Well, it's worked hundreds of times against the Insurgents, maybe it'll work on these aliens."

As he said that, they arrived in the hold. There were four nuclear missiles, each without a warhead in the missile. Mark signaled to look around for the warheads. The group split, combing the hold for the warheads. Eventually, Maya's voice came over the radio.

"Found them, head to the hanger."

Mark nodded, then jogged to the hanger. Alpha Nine followed. They found a Type 88 transport, and Mark climbed into the cockpit, powering on the systems as Maya arrived. He watched as Maya and Alpha Nine loaded the nuke onto the Type 88, then closed the ramp.

"This is Delta-465, requesting permission to leave the Amber Clad."

"For what purpose, Commander Helms?" Captain Killgore asked.

"We're taking the fight to them."

The hanger door opened, revealing the full scale of the battle over Earth. Fighters zipped by the hanger. Lasers, explosions. Mark saw the U.S.S. Frontier Defender take a hit that cleaved off a section of the hull. All of this happened in less than a second. Mark quickly returned his focus to the task at hand. The Type 88 lifted off, shooting out of the hanger. Mark immediately searched for the nearest alien ship. He spotted a ship almost the size of the Amber Clad.

He steered the ship toward the vessel, only to watch a fighter slam into its shield and explode.

"Shit!" He uttered.

"Daisy to Amber Clad, requesting fire on alien ship, 90 degrees off the bow."

Mark smiled. Daisy always knew what to do. "Good thinking."

"Tsk tsk, I always have to pick up your slack." She replied.

All of the Amber Clad's fire focused on the alien ship. Mark was forced to dodge several other beams as they flew to the alien vessel.

"Rough ride!" Maya said over comms.

"You can say that again." Alpha Nine replied.

Mark was too focused on flying to come up with a remark of his own. He saw the shields on the ship open for a moment as the alien ship fired a beam. An idea came to mind. He steered the ship to where the laser had fired, narrowly flying through when the beam shot. Then he jumped to back of the ship.

"BRACE!"

The transport slammed through the enemy's hull, throwing the super soldiers out. Mark wrapped his arms around the warhead, using his own body to make sure it went undamaged. He was flung. In the air. Into- no, through a wall. The breath was driven from his lungs. He lay there for a moment, catching his breath. Then he stood up, gasping in pain.

"Damn..." He grunted, popping his back.

Mark grabbed the warhead, picking it up.

"Daisy, turn off the external speakers, please." He ordered. Then he spoke over comms. "Alpha, Maya, use comms only. I'd rather get this done as fast as possible, and we can't do that if we get stuck in a fight."

"Understood." Two voices replied in unison.

Mark drew his pistol, carrying the warhead in his non-dominate hand. He stepped through the hole he left in the wall, looking at the wreck of the Type 88. Maya and Alpha Nine were already nearby.

"Osiris is downloading data about the ship." Alpha informed him.

He nodded, then gently placed the warhead down, sighing almost in relief. He leaned against a wall, waiting. But his moment of respite was cut short by a beam slamming into him. His shields held, and immediately raised his pistol to return fire.

"Contact!" He called to the others. He fired at one of the lizard aliens, unloading an entire magazine into it before it dropped. Then he saw Alpha charge in with an alien rifle, firing bursts at one alien while dodging a melee attack from another. Mark threw his pistol at the alien that tried to punch his comrade, shattering the weapon completely. The force disabled the alien's shields.

He ran at it, immediately dodging a swing. Then he landed a kick that sent it flying. Another alien attacked, hitting him with gunfire. Mark grabbed the rifle as his shields failed, bending it with ease. Then he ripped it out of the creature's arms and swung it like a bat, shattering the alien's skull.

"Well, someone's angry." Daisy said teasingly. "Behind you!"

His shoulder chaingun opened fire as Mark moved for cover. He dodged enemy bolts, then grabbed a corpse to use as shield. The enemy fire stopped suddenly.

"Clear!" Alpha said over comms.

Mark dropped the corpse, then returned to where he left the nuke. Maya, who was guarding Osiris, handed Alpha the A.I.'s hardware.

"She's got the map of the ship."

Mark sighed deeply, then picked up the warhead. He activated the chaingun in his wrist, then turned to the others.

"Let's get moving."

"Take the next left, then a right, continue past two halls, then another left. That's the ship's reactor room." Alpha said.

The younger Drengr led the way, with Mark in the middle and Maya to the rear. They moved quickly, even with Mark carrying a warhead. It didn't take them long to reach the reactor. Alpha neutralized the guards in seconds, but then Daisy made a callout.

"We've got an army of hostiles on the motion sensor. Hurry up!"

Mark practically sprinted to the reactor. He set a minute-long timer for the warhead, then turned to the others and sprinted out of the room.

"We need a transport!" Maya called.

"No time!" Mark replied, running full-speed at a wall.

He crashed straight through it, then crashed through several more. Finally, he punched through the hull of the ship, entering space. Looking back, he saw the other two right behind him. Mark nodded to them, then turned and used the likited fuel in his armor's thrusters to propel him forward. The muted explosion echoed in his ears.

Floating through space, he looked around for the Amber Clad. It was too far. He was about to use comms to ask Captain Killgore for a pickup when a YF-1000 decloaked nearby. The fighter maneuvered over to him slowly, and the pilot gestured for him to grab on. Looking back, Mark saw that Alpha and Maya were still right behind him.

He relaxed slightly, then grabbed the wing of the fighter, using the maglocks in his gloves to hold tightly. Maya and Alpha did the same as the pilot flew towards the Amber Clad.