Sandra followed Edmund closely, he was her CO now after all. But she felt grossly out of place, her rifle felt heavy and useless in her hands, this wasn't the type of environment it was meant for. She cursed at herself for not quickly grabbing an assault rifle or even a SMG from the armory when she had the time. She'd just have to rely on the marines in keeping her safe, until she could find a good spot to set up. After all, this wasn't the type of weapon you fired from the hip.<br/><br/>Her worst nightmare became truth as an automated message announced the arrival of the vanguard of the Grey boarding team, with more to come in the next few minutes. And just as the message ended, a heavy thump was heard on the outer hull, like some wicked doorbell. A red laser cut through the hull like a warm knife through butter, quickly prompting the marines to put on any breathing apparatus they had.<br/><br/>Sandra lowered her visor and for a moment her world was cast in darkness, as the visor needed a second to power up. But so much happened in that single second. The girl could feel the room depressurizing, making her ears pop. By the time she finally regained her vision, she could see the first slender legs of a Grey drone enter the ship. She ducked into cover, behind the same archway Edmund was hiding, as the first laser almost grazed her. Instead the laser caught the unlucky marine standing behind her, cleanly cutting his head off with a precision that would make a surgeon jealous. The drone made no difference between rookie or veteran as it swiftly cut down two more men.<br/><br/>Sandra had been on the frontlines, she had seen death, but never this close. Her position was normally away from the heavy fighting and the only times she saw death was through her scope. Seeing the real deal, this close, was frightening. She noted how their medic desperately tried to safe the men, despite it being a lost cause. Sandra couldn't help but feel a certain amount of respect for the woman, even if she said something rather unfitting over the comms.<br/><br/>Edmund took the first offensive, taking a few potshots at the drone as it was occupied by the marines in the back. Sandra took this opportunity to lean out of cover, her heavy rifle against her shoulder and lined up her shot with one of Edmund's flechette holes. She jerked the trigger and the gun erupted with a loud blast. It was a good thing the others were wearing ear protection, as anybody who wasn't would now surely be deaf. The flechette did not just put a hole in the drone, but ripped the whole thing apart, causing the thing to stumble before falling over.<br/><br/>But the drone wasn't the only one falling over. The poor firing position, combined with the sheer power of the recoil, had thrown the girl back, onto her back. She groaned as a clear tone was ringing in her ears and her shoulder felt like it had just been punched by an angry reptilian male. She quickly brought her hand up to her shoulder, slowly tracing her fingers along it to see if there was any damage. It wasn't broken, or dislocated, but it would be severely bruised tomorrow... If there would be a tomorrow.<br/><br/>She let out a sigh of relieve and slowly crawled back on her feet, strapping the rifle to the magnetic holders on her back. She wouldn't be firing that thing again anytime soon, unless she wanted to lose all function of her right arm. Instead she picked up one of the assault rifles the fallen soldiers had dropped, making sure not to look at their corpses. And as she rejoined Edmund, she couldn't help but think over what that medic had said over the comms. Their chances of survival were slim, to say the least. A part of her just wanted to give up, perhaps drag some guy into a nearby room and go out with one last good fuck. But, she was a soldier, and a soldier fought till the bitter end and so shall she.<br/><br/>She rejoined Edmund "How much further to the generator?" She wasn't familiar with the ship and also had no idea how big that room would be, but perhaps she could actually set up a firing position there. Then again, what did it matter? Even if they kept the Grey drones out, what was stopping their frigates from blasting them out of space? This day didn't seem like it would have a happy ending.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>