Snow 2

\\

The exchange of gunfire between the man and Reptiles continued as Aldrin dropped down into cover with a blue beam passing dangerously close to the back of his head.

Scrambling to lean on his cover, he started to load another bullet. His hands were trembling at this point, and reloading and firing were getting more difficult. The combination of the freezing cold, firing his rifle, and the explosions erupting around him were obviously not helping. The Reptilians, on the other hand, were only getting more accurate as time passed.

'Probably the distance,' Aldrin thought as he managed to load the bullet. As another beam of high energy, certain death exploded behind his cover, Aldrin jumped up and locked sights on his target.

They could no longer launch barrages of any kind now, as there were only three of them left. These three, however, appeared to be the more elite of the group, as anything Aldrin had sent their way was outright dodged, ducked, or dived under.

'The kind I would have wanted to kill on my first shot,' Aldrin lamented as he tried to predict their movements.

Finally, sending a reply just a few seconds later, Aldrin was unable to see if he hit anything as another blue laser screeched towards him.

Reloading as it landed, Aldrin could see the results of his last shot.

'Maybe the distance isn't all bad'

Refocusing before the slight grin he had on his face grew any larger, Aldrin fired again.

It was at that moment, however, at that exact second, that one reptilian responded in kind. An enormous eruption blasted through the snowscape as the slug of metal and beam of energy collided in mid-air.

Not even bothering to duck into cover, Aldrin stared in shock as he watched the bullet halt in midair.

This was the reason why their weapons were made mainly from wood.

The bullet started to glow blue.

Why their armor couldn't be made from metal.

Currents of electricity emanated from the bullet.

And why all those from the front lines called these weapons of pure death.

Death

'But not for them'

Aldrin's eyes regained focus. The Reptilian's armor would protect them from the effects - although it was made from metal, they appeared to not be affected.

His eyes shot towards his remaining two enemies - his final enemies. They seemed almost as shocked as he was at the situation, staring at the growing ball of blue lightning.

He'd have seconds, moments really.

Speed

Ignoring his trembling hands, Aldrin loaded the rifle in near record time.

The Lightning had grown to almost 2 meters in diameter in that brief moment. The crackling sounds of the blue currents provided a kind of countdown for Aldrin as he tried to lock onto the only red he could spot within his vision.

Constricting his vision to only the target ahead of him - ignoring the expanding ball of death - Aldrin narrowed his sights.

Aldrin fired

The eruption of sound that had been rather common in the last couple minutes was drowned out completely by the thunderous sound of the lightning. Its impact, however, was the same as the first he had fired.

Aldrin could swear that he could hear the visor shattering and the bullet blowing its way through the Reptile's skull.

As if spurred on to hear it again, Aldrin grasped another bullet, drove it into the loading chamber, and loaded it before the Reptilian he had just killed had hit the snow.

By the time the lone enemy turned its eyes towards Aldrin's position, another stifled eruption of sound had propelled a second slug towards the only remaining unshattered visor.

The same impossible sound of the visor shattering and skull cracking reached Aldrin.

The last Reptilian collapsed into the snow, illuminated by the now enormous ball of destructive force.

Aldrin gazed up at it with a kind of accepting look in his eyes. The fear and reluctance were still there, however,

'Twelve to one isn't bad'

With a small smile on his face, Aldrin watched the lightning suddenly halt after growing so much that it covered almost Aldrin's entire vision. At that moment, it rushed outwards at an indescribable speed as a shapeless mass of energy.

Everything turned dark

//