“That sounds lovely,” Audrey commented as she looked down at the menu once more. “I’ll go for it.”

“Yes, me too,” Timothy added.

“Great.” The waitress smiled and took back the menus before heading to the kitchen.

The delivery of the food was fast. Audrey helped Timothy to eat. It tasted unlike anything he had before. Different flavors swirled in in his mouth.

Almost a shame to swallow it.

“Enjoying it?” Timothy asked.

“Yes, it’s lovely. But would be nothing if you were not here with me.” Audrey rubbed his arm.

“I feel the same,” Timothy replied. “There is something I want to show you after we come back from the theatre.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll see.”

A few hours later they are returning from the theatre going down one bright corridor after another.

Timothy frowned. “What did you make of it?”

She was quiet for a moment. “I was surprised that the Emperor had to kill so many. I never heard about all the worlds that were slaughtered. They never taught us anything about that.”

I was thinking the same.

“Yeah, but apart from that? I thought the acting was brilliant.” Timothy said.

“Oh, yes. They were brilliant and I’m so happy we went.”

Lisa lifted up Yvonne’s blood-soaked head and cried. John’s eyes welled up. Luke’s hands covered his face.

She didn’t deserve this.

An Alachin shriek brought Luke back to the present. It was standing on the bodies of its fallen brethren, a large monster even by Alachin standards. More appeared behind it.

Lisa put Yvonne’s head back down and turned to face the enemy, her facial muscles tensed. “We must not let them pass, if they reach the fusion reactor they could jeopardize the orbital defense. Yvonne died defending it, her death will not be in vain.”

Nobody argued with her.

The Alachin charged as the machine guns opened up. Bullets ripped through its torso, still it propelled forwards.

Luke stopped firing and aimed in between its eyes, before opening up again

The creature crashed to the floor.

Smaller ones sprinted over its body. They were close. An Alachin lurched forwards, grabbing the feet of one of the Troopers, pulling her away, screaming.

Luke heart throbbed as he continued to fire. There could be no retreat, as they would be cut to pieces once they turned to run.

He exhaled as the last one fell.

An eerie silence.

What next?

“Where are the rest?” John whispered.

One of the last lines of defense.

Luke hurried to the other side of the hall and down a small tunnel before he reached a metallic door that swung open after the security device scanned his retina.

A cacophony of sound. The centre was buzzing with people running back and forth. He saw John, who appeared to be admonishing those around him, and made his way over to the squadron.

There was only one question on his mind. “Where is Timothy?”

John was shaking. “It’s okay, he should be here shortly.”

“What’s wrong, John?”

“They are coming again, Luke. I just can’t. We’re all going to die.”

“You’ll be fine. I have a drop of whiskey hidden away at the back. It will do you some good.”

John nodded in agreement as Luke led him to the back of the cavernous room and took out.a bottle of whiskey from behind a workstation. “I knew it would come in handy at some point.”

They put their clothes back on in a frenzy, knowing that every second could prove critical.

“I have to go back to my apartment and get something. I hope to see you after the battle.” She kissed him on the lips and walked out the door.

Please survive.

Luke looked at himself in a mirror and waved some of his hair over to the left.

That will have to do. I have to get to Timothy in the command centre.

He rushes out of the room and keeps a jogging pace as he makes his way to one of the main thoroughfares.

The men and women he passed were wearing a kaleidoscope of colors, denoting the various militia and citizen defense networks to which they belonged. All were frantic, some fidgeting with their weapon. No sign of any children or people going about their daily business.

Luke got into a crammed escalator. It took a few minutes to reach the layer of the command centre. Sweat dripped from his brow.

He stepped out into a large hallway. A militia was mounting a heavy machine gun at its centre. These soldiers, all kitted out in heavy armor, were smiling and laughing. Luke recognized them as part of the elite Central Defense Unit.

Her skin had healed, her eyes full of vitality. “Hi Luke, I saw that you were on the way back on one of the surveillance cameras.

“Keeping tabs on me, eh.” Luke smiled. “Coming in?”

She nodded and followed him in.

Luke’s accommodation was spacious. On one side a large ornate double bed, on the other a large sofa situated in front of a holographic display television.

Luke walked over the sofa. “Want to sit and watch some TV?”

There was no response leading to Luke turning around.

Lisa was standing beside the bed. “Well I was thinking, there is a good chance we might die tomorrow. Why wait? That is, if that you would like?” Her top fell from her shoulders revealing her perky breasts.

I like this side of her.

Luke walked towards her. “That is exactly what I want. You are so beautiful.”

She whispered into his ear. “I was hoping you would say that.”

He felt her soft breasts with his hands. They were the perfect size and fitted nicely onto his palms. She kissed him, then sucked on his lower lip. Luke could feel his penis bulge.

She is so perfect. I hope this day never ends.

Luke

A green expanse in every direction. To the West, a large tropical forest wilderness full of exotic creatures and a high diversity of plant life. To the East, and separated by a mile wide river, farmland made up of green fields broken up by hedgerows stretch to the horizon.

John and Luke were at a former viewing area at the edges of the city of Xenos. It was now in the final processes of being fortified and turned into a defensive strong point.

Luke stood in admiration.

“What are we doing here?” John asked. He had been jittery all morning.

“Timothy asked us to check their defense, you know for the big battle ahead,” Luke replied. “Don’t worry, I know what’s wrong with ya!”

“What do you mean by that? John said. His eyes wide open.

Luke laughed aloud. “Ever since this planet’s wonders started working on Yvonne, you’ve been like glued to her.”

“Well, yeah. She looks so hot now. Can you blame me?”

“Come on.”  Luke waved his hand to him to follow. “We need to check the defenses inside too.”

They walked inside and inside a tram. There was plenty of space, The other passengers were sullen with blotched red eyes.

They are terrified over the upcoming battle. And they should be.

Their next stop was ten minutes away. Machine gun positions and bunkers had been set to make the wide corridor would be transformed into a killing zone. It was part of one ring of fortifications of many on each layer of the city.