Starcross

Chapter Eleven - Whole

Washington D.C.

19th Street and Pennsylvania Ave.

 

      Peering down the ring sight, lining it up with the three pronged fore sight at the end of the barrel, Spinnaker waited until the black, armored trooper stepped around the corner before squeezing his trigger four times in rapid succession.  Clad in armor that looked to be a bit thicker than what was worn the first time he encountered their kind, the soldier jerked to the left as the rounds found their mark in the softer material just below the neck. Firing the last few rounds in the magazine, the spent brass casing ejecting out from the side port, Spinnaker dropped the rifle from his shoulder and pulled the empty clip out.

      Fluidly, in a very practiced motion, he reached into his webbing and pulled a fresh one out, knocking it against his helmet a few times to clear any dirt or debris from the spring, before inserting it in the well and thumbing the slide release to push a fresh round in the chamber before sighting up again.

      He, and the rest of his ragtag unit put together from the Marine Corps Honor Guard for the President, were positioned around a cluster of office buildings near the Pennsylvania Avenue expressway. Normally he would be fighting with combat trained Marines but his unit was deployed elsewhere so he had to make do with what he had; and because they all trained the same at first, every Marine being a rifleman whether they were a cook or a doctor, he was able to hold the block quite effectively.

      Out in the distance, he heard the soft popping sound of other rifles being fired and the acrid smell of smoke and gunpowder wafted across his nose. During the initial airstrikes, multiple units were brought in from the surrounding areas to hold the Capitol from the Druidth infantry. Luckily, the military had brought in anti-aircraft guns a few weeks before due to the increase in activity around the globe. Under a hail of gunfire, the alien dropships had to wave off and land outside the AA coverage or get blown apart by the large, explosive 20 millimeter rounds.

      Even now, he could see the bright rapid flashes of the emplaced guns, shooting up at whatever radar contact they could find in the blackened sky; the few American aircraft that weren’t shot down left the area hours ago. At first, a good handful of the ships, similar versions of the ones he saw back in California, were killed and crashed around the city which was good for the morale of the men. If you know your enemy can bleed, then you know you can kill it.

      Another trooper leaned their head around the corner and Spinnaker, roused from his thoughts, fired again. This time, however, the rounds impacted in the concrete and the alien soldier ducked behind the wall, firing blindly at Spinnaker’s position in the recessed doorway. Plasma hit the stone, melting some of it, and splashed across the wall harmlessly.

      “Keep it up, Asshole,” He grunted.

      Edward dropped to his knees and popped around the corner, his rifle poking around as well and he waited for the soldier to come around again. He grinned as, right on cue, he saw the shiny armor come around and jog towards the blue mailbox on the corner. Squeezing the trigger another couple of times, he watched as the man jerked again and fell face forward onto the asphalt. It was difficult using the basic iron sights on his rifle in the darkness like this, normally he would have been using his night vision monocle and the IR laser for aiming but the Druidth had some kind of new gizmo with them that allowed them to hone in on electronic signals that equipment like that emitted. During the first few hours of the invasion a lot of good troopers were killed by using their advanced gear.