“Commander, permission to speak”

Piernov spoke, eyes looking out at the dark and rugged landscape. The group turned to him, each man in various shades of exhaustion. Jimmie kept staring up at the stars, but felt his attention drawn to Piernov.

“You don’t have to ask for permission on the field Pier, but you got my permission.”

Piernov nodded to no one, glancing around to keep his eyes on the empty landscape.

“Those aliens, what were those?”

Rick perked up, intervening with his own words.

“Yeah, what the fuck was that?”

Bill, who was lying on his backpack, spoke up with a slight chuckle.

“Ugly is what they are hehe”

Dick wiggled closer, within kicking distance, delivering a dull kick to Bill’s hip, saying.

“You’re ugly”

Getting some small chuckles from the group, and a loud, almost unnerving laugh from Piernov. The group looked over at him and heard him talk softly to himself.

“Hahehe, it's true”

“Ooof, you heard him Bill”

Dick said, delivering another kick while smiling wide. Bill looked over at Dick, frowning and looking displeased, whispering out.

“Just because I got a bigger dick than you, fucking twat”

Jimmie chuckled, but stopped himself, he didn’t want to laugh. As the group slowly silenced themselves, the commander spoke up with a soft smile on his face.

“Hehe, yeah. Anyway, Pier to answer your question. Those were Menull. I don’t remember much about them, but what I do know is that we weren’t supposed to be anywhere near them. So thanks command for that one.”

The commander said with a bitter tone, and Jimmie had to sneak a peak, his head going up, seeing the commander with a frown deepening. He quickly shook himself from thoughts, saying.

“Sorry bout that, yeah. They’re a.. Warrior type alien, I think?”

“Religious, this planet has some supposedly religious importance to them”

Dick supplied, and Bill spoke up happily.

“Ooh ooh! Like Jerusalem!”

“Like what?” Rick asked confused.

“Jerusalem, you know, the crusades. You dont know jerusalem? Wow, didn’t you learn anything in school?”

“He’s a fucking medic, of course he learnt stuff in school. They don’t teach jerusalem in school anymore you bullhead, it’s only in your stupid obsessions with museaums that teach you worthless shit like that” Dick said with a frown, staring down at Bill.

Bill turned around to face Dick, his head still laying on his pack.

“Geez, who fucked you in the ass Dick?”

Dick stared at Bill for a second, then massaged his temple, slowly laying himself back down on his back.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean it Bill, it's just been a long day.”

Bill laughed heartily at that, then spoke.

“No probs Dick. And trust me, I know.”

“Guys, it's lovely seeing you flirting like that, but I was speaking.” The commander said with a sneer, eyes practically twinlinkling.

Bill and Dick burst out laughing, kicking at each other and calling themselves cunts. The commander smiled, then coughed silently, getting back the attention from the group.

“As I was saying, the Menull is a warrior priest society, thank you Dick, and their main ways of fighting are using their massive bodies and shells to block most, if not all, forms of attacks, as everyone here probably already knows. They are neigh on impossible to stop once they’ve set their sights on something.”

He paused, took a swig of water with big gulps, depleting it within seconds. He breathed out and continued.

“The best way of fighting them is through high caliber, anti-tank rounds. Our weapons were not made to fight them. So let’s just hope that we won’t have to meet them again.”

And the group fell silent, wind flowing past. Bill snuggled deeper into his backpack, Dick breathing out slowly. Piernov shuffling from one foot to another. And Rick asked.

“Ehm, commander, do you know what happened to that... eeh, fortification?”

“You mean Northfang outpost?”

The commander asked, leaning on his arm.

“Yeah.. That one”

The commander went quiet, staring up at the sky and the stars. Stars that looked so familiar, yet, so alien. This wasn’t home; it would never be. Yes, this place would be their place of residence for the next couple of years, but it lacked, it lacked the small details. The crickets cricketing, the birds chirping, the small life, living. The stars were just a bit off, there were too many suns, everything smelled weird, everything was just a tiny bit, off.

Yeah, this would never be home.

“I’ve tried, there has been no response, only static.” The commander said solemnly, laying down on his back, continually staring up at the stars.

And then, the world went quiet, the commander not outright saying it, but the group understanding the hidden meaning behind his words.

Jimmie looked up at the foreign sky, his mind filled with thoughts of death. And when he closed his eyes, he saw a familiar head, lacking its body like usual. It stared at him with its dead eyes and big frown. But Jimmie had grown accustomed to it, even if he woke up covered in sweat because of it. Although tonight, it was different, this night, the head had two arms on each side, cut over the elbow, reaching forward, clawing for Jimmie. And the face screamed for help. Jimmie was helpless.