Resurrection

Prologue

Gunfire cracks through the air as a battle rages around the valley. Explosions crash like thunder in a storm, and the screams of men dying caterwauled past everyone else. This battle is known as the Battle of Mitrum, and all it took to tip the scales in the Marines' favor was one man.

...one man who's about to soil his pants as he leaps off a transport shuttle before it explodes. All this man had on him was a simple combat knife, yet all it took was a couple of stabs to end the seemingly endless war. Ah, a couple of hundred stabs. This man is named Peter Quince, simply a Federation Marine, a private at that. Peter's arms flailed as he came crashing down in the midst of burning wreckage, only to land in the center of five aliens wielding plasma casters. Peter quickly realized his situation as plasma bolts flew over his head.

Peter ducked, and he weaved, straight into his first victim of war. He slammed into the alien, knocking it off balance. Peter reaches for his knife and plunged it into the alien's throat, stopping at the hilt. He slammed his fist into the alien's elbow, then ripped the rifle-like weapon out of its hands. He spun around and fired at another alien as it was about to squeeze the plasma caster's trigger. The plasma bolt slammed into its skull, instantly killing it while also knocking its aim off. The shot went wide and got the third alien. Peter pulled the knife out of the first alien's neck and threw it at a fourth, firing at a fifth alien.

When those five aliens lay on the ground, Peter dropped the gun and ran towards a cluster of aliens and fellow Marines, attempting to wipe the green blood off of the blade. He gripped the tip of his knife and lobbed it towards an alien standing over a Marine on the ground. He walked up and offered a hand down. The faceplate flipped up to reveal a smiling black man. "Pete! You're alive!" The Marine exclaimed. "Barely. That damn energy railgun blew out the rest of the passengers. Give me your gun, Bruce." Peter said while pointing to the Marine's sidearm. "What happened to yours?"

"Destroyed in the explosion. I didn't get a chance to grab anything except my knife." The Marine shrugged and handed the sidearm. "Give me support. I'm high on adrenaline," Peter growled while cocking the handgun and sticking extra magazines into his vest. A man walked up, shouting orders. He stopped in front of Peter, seeing him hold the sidearm. "Marine, where do you think you're going?" The dude shouted. Peter glanced over at his shoulder, seeing the Officer rank patch, then sighed. "I'm going to go kill some aliens, avenge my wife. Get out of my way, sir." When the dude didn't budge, Bruce shook his head. "With all due respect, Officer Winston, I'd get out of Private Quince's way. He's on a killing spree," Bruce said. Officer Winston crosses his arms. "Private, get to those other soldiers at the battlefront!"

"No." Peter stared into the face of Officer Winston, watching anger build up. "I outrank you, Private! You follow orders or you'll be charged insubordination!"

"No. I'm going to do in fifteen minutes what you dumbasses couldn't do in four years. End this war. Now get out of the way, or face the consequences. I could use that shotgun of yours," Peter growled. "Get to the-" Before he could finish, Peter slammed his fist into the middle of the officer's face, a sharp crack ringing out. Officer Winston stood still as a statue, then slowly teetered backward. Bruce leaned forwards to look, then slapped his knee. "Hot damn! He's out cold!" Bruce laughed. Peter bent forwards and pulled the shotgun off of Officer Winston, as well as just one shell. "You know what, Bruce? Can I take your rifle as well?" Peter asked.

Minutes later, Peter sprinted forwards, screaming bloody murder as he fired at aliens. Sict'zar, as they're called. He leaped forwards, slamming the stock of his rifle into the face of a Space Pirate. Peter gripped the rifle in one hand, sidearm in the other, running through the other side spreading death among the enemy. After killing another Pirate, Peter looked up to see a figure in black armor, seeming to give commands to the aliens. It stood on top of a giant mechanical brain-like object, connected to the ground via mechanical "spine." Peter was about to run forwards when he was pulled into cover.

He opened his mouth to complain when he realized who pulled him out of danger. The Hunter, in his silver-and-gold power armor, pointed a finger into Peter's face. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked. Peter's mouth opened and closed as he tried to speak. "Ah, I'm gonna end the war."

"What?"

"I'm going to end the war, sir!" Peter pumped the shotgun, one single shell loaded. The Hunter stared at his shotgun, then sighed. "I'll distract it while you climb up. This is most likely the one chance we get," the Hunter explained. Peter saluted, and the two parted ways. The Hunter fired his weapon at a few aliens, then started waving his arms. "Hey! You! Standing up there! I'm killing your troops!" Peter chuckled as he slung his weapons over his back and grabbed hold of the "vertebrae." The brain seemed to sense him and started trying to spin around to look. However, the figure stomped its foot against the metal exterior the way a parent would scold a child. Peter grinned as he continued climbing.

He swung his leg up and climbed onto the machine. Sneakily, Peter stuck his blade into a fuel slot and popped it open for later use. Peter reached for the shotgun, taking a deep breath. His end goal, the one reason he joined the Marines, is so close now. In one fluid motion, Peter jammed the barrel right into the least-armored part of the monster's back. He leaned forward and whispered, "Die, you son of a bitch." Peter pulled the trigger, ejecting the single shell's contents. The birdshot exploded out the front of the figure's armor, glowing blue hoop and black metal flying around ten meters forwards. Peter quickly reached up to his vest and yanked an energy grenade off. Pulling the pin, he dropped it into the open fuel port, then leaped off the edge."Duck for cover!" He screamed as he covered his head with his hands.

The machine that's known more as Axis Core 428 exploded, blue and orange fire clouding around it. Metal shrapnel dug into the ground around Peter as he knew that his job was done.

With the Axis Core and the figure killed, the aliens started to drop dead. The figure must've been controlling their bodies for so long, the sudden isolation was fatal. Peter slowly stood up and raised the shotgun into the air. The Hunter walked up and put a hand on his shoulder. The two walk back to Federation outposts to hitch a ride back to Federation space.

That man, Peter Quince, goes on to be promoted to High Officer and was given a Medal of Honor. He was also not charged with insubordination. Despite his initial wishes, Peter decided to continue working for the Federation as there's nothing left for him otherwise. However, this story is not about Peter. No, this story is about the creature he killed. That being's story does not end here. This is simply the end of a chapter.