<strong>PFC Jones – 3rd Squad – Outside the Colony</strong><br/>--------<br/><strong>“Sounds like the new LT likes to throw my kind of party,” she said to Marcus as she came up next to him, “but why do I get the feeling he knows something we don’t?”</strong><br/><br/>Marcus chuckled and glanced over at G.S. Danko, giving her a quick wink. “I’m guessing he know plenty of things we don’t, for instance what the inside of mental asylum looks like. Not human? Give me a break. Besides Mathias’ ex, what could that<em>possibly</em>be? Rabid space dogs maybe?” Marcus had never liked scare tactics. Sure, something strange was going on but he knew exactly how dangerous humans could be and didn’t need some big, scary monster built up in his psyche to know he had to watch his back.<br/><br/>He returned his gaze to the door as Fields finished bypassing the locking mechanism. As the door began to open Marcus furrowed his brow and brought his rifle up, scanning for signs of life. For a few seconds, everything remained in the same state of eerie calm. Taking a slow breath, Marcus was just about to let himself blink when the incoming fire came. The unmistakable sound of pulse rifles and shotgun blasts filled his ears, as deadly projectiles whizzed passed his head.<br/><br/>“Fucking hell,” He growled as he saw Cooper take a hit and fall to the ground, sparing only a fraction of a second to see if the kid was still alive. “Deep breaths, lover boy!” He called out when he saw that Cooper was still breathing. “You hurt? If not, get your ass up and kill something!”  Even as the words left his lips, another blast came from behind them taking Mengsk through the shoulder. Though it looked painful enough, Marcus knew with a glance that it wasn’t a kill shot and returned his eyes to the front, firing in response several three-round bursts with his pulse rifle.<br/><br/><strong>“Holy shit!”</strong>He heard Danko shout as she turned to meet whatever was behind them. A predatory smile crept across his lips as he moved in to block the smart gunner from the frontal fire, with his life if necessary. He fired again and again at anything that even remotely looked like it was moving.<br/><br/>“You did say you liked it<em>hot</em>,” He called to her over the din of battle.<br/><br/>