Robinson had a smug look on his face as we breezed past the queuing soldiers to the front of the line.

"Did you buy the VIP pass or something?" I enquired.

"We're big goddamn heroes, Brains, didn't you know that? Saved all of these schmucks when we took out the bunker."

The guard beside the entrance of the tent was a huge insectoid creature, nearly nine feet tall. Robinson's chest puffed out proudly as the bug, ratcheted its posture up a notch or two at our approach.

We didn’t have to wait to enter. Robinson brushed arrogantly past the tent flap. I paused in shock looking more closely at the soldiers in the queue. Many of them were human. The man at the front of the queue had dark hair and strong Hispanic features, the man looked human, and he could have come straight from Miami beach.

A little voice inside me was excited. We weren't alone. I had been convinced that the four of us were the only humans on this rock!

"He was human!" I exclaimed.

Robinson said nothing; he was standing rigidly and staring straight ahead.

Shit. The major.

"Sorry, Sir," I said, straightening up and performing what I hoped was a competent salute.

I turned to face the front and stared into the flared nostrils of an older man. His hair was greying slightly but he was still muscled and his posture was straight from a military handbook. From his sourfaced expression I could tell I hadn’t made the best of impressions upon him.

I shrugged mentally. Nothing new there. I’ve been disappointing authority figures ever since I was born.

Seated in front of the angry officer were the rest of our squad. Sarge had a concerned look on his face.

"Sergeant Reynolds has been telling me all about you. You're unruly and unable to follow orders. In short, you are a lousy soldier!" The major's words dripped condescension.

I kept my expression neutral as more angry words washed over me. If there was one thing my father had taught me, it was how to endure criticism. This would pass.

"Are you listening?" Spittle flew out of the major's mouth.

In all honesty, no of course not. After all, who does when someone is ranting incoherently at them? This I thought angrily, but silently.

"Yes, Sir," I responded crisply. If my Marine training had taught me one thing, it was that it was better to tell officers what they wanted to hear than the truth.

Major Dailey grunted in satisfaction at having vented his annoyance. Then continued in a quieter tone as he fixed me with his gaze, "Despite this, for some reason, Sargeant Reynolds values having you in his squad."

I gulped as I nodded. Well, that was good news, at least.

"Take a seat private. Now you're all here, we can discuss your next assignment."

I dropped into one of the small metal chairs in front of the Major's desk. The chair was damned uncomfortable, slightly too small and without padding of any sort. Within moments I was squirming. From the look of this officer, he probably wanted people uncomfortable when he addressed them.

I stole a glance at the others.

So far, the Major had ignored Kuwta’s existence, but that didn't appear to matter. She was watching him intently with a rapt look on her face. I wasn’t sure if her stare was one of analytical caution or perhaps she simply had a thing for authority figures.

Sarge and Westcott sat rigidly to attention and were the very model of good soldiers.

Robinson also sat upright but winked quickly when he spotted my glance. Then instantly, he was back to being the good Marine once more. That made me feel a little better. At least not everyone had joined the Major's fan club.

"Congratulations on securing the objective squad 264. That was good work and has allowed the Imperium to regain a foothold on the planet. Further troops are incoming to reinforce our position, but we cannot tarry and allow the usurpers to regroup." The Major banged the desk dramatically before continuing. 'No! Now is the time to push our advantage, and that is where your squad comes in."

Sarge nodded with enthusiasm I didn't share. As far as I was concerned, we'd just finished a dangerous mission, I wanted some downtime and a good meal more than anything. What I definitely didn’t want to do was to dive back into the fray. Sadly, as usual, the wishes of a grunt had no bearing on the reality of military life.

The major looked down at a notepad in front of him. "Lets review the resources we have available. There are five people in your squad, Robinson, Peters, Westcott, yourself and ..” his nose wrinkled a little as he paused, “Kuwta?”

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“Yes, Sir.” Sarge responded with gusto.

The major nodded appreciatively, everything was running to expectations. That made him happy.

It was then that he noticed Buzz Kill lurking behind my legs like an overgrown dog. “Who or what is that?”

Buzz Kill reared up slightly, his mandibles klicking together quickly, “We are a who.”

“Buzz Kill is a new recruit. Sir.” I interrupted, a discussion upon the creatures sense of self probably wasn’t going to help with the majors mood at this point.

The Major nodded, “Very well.” There was a note of annoyance in his voice. Great, another demerit for team Peters.

“Can each person confirm the nanobot upgrades they have taken, starting with yourself Sargeant.”

“I have taken the following traits, Squad Sense, Combat Reflexes, Accuracy and Dodge, Sir.” Sarge punctuated the end of his report with a salute. The man appeared relieved to have a human officer giving him commands again. Being the person making decisions had obviously weighed heavily upon him, and he was happy to be back in the familiar bosom of the larger military machine.

The Major made some notes on his page and then continued, “Westcott.”

“I have acquired the following traits Sir, Accuracy 1, Dodge 2 and Fast Draw. Sir.” Westcott replied, almost perfectly mimicking Sarge’s earlier response.

“Good,” The major muttered, not even bothering to look up. “Robinson?”

“Combat Reflexes, Fast Reload, Brawling 1 and Regeneration. Sir.” Robinson was smirking, proud of his enhancements.

The Major looked up, “Regeneration soldier?”

“Sir. Yes Sir, The trait became available when I raised my strength to 19 Sir.”

“Interesting.” The Major scribbled more ant trails upon his page. “Peters?”

“Identify Species, Identify Weapon, Combat Reflexes and Telekinesis I .. Sir” The sir came out with a slight pause, what can I say I have a problem with authority.

The major fixed me with a glare, obviously antagonised. At first I thought it was my attitude, but his words corrected me. “A human soldier doesn’t have access to those skills.” The major insisted.

“A human soldier might not, but apparently a human researcher does.” We glared at each other, but I stood my ground stubbornly.

“Very well,” He conceded, “Peters you are barred from taking any more Psychic improvements. This is for your own good as it might otherwise cause mental instability.”

It might have been my imagination, but I felt the tone of voice implied that it was probably too late to save me from this fate.

“If you say so,” I indicated sullenly as the Major wrote ‘possibly problematic - monitor mental situation,’ next to my name.

Yup, making friends and influencing people. That’s me.

“Kuwta?” The major enquired moving on.

Kuwta’s mouth curled slightly showing a large incisor before she answered in oddly stilted English. “Me, Orc warrior.” One of her large meaty fingers prodded her bosom to emphasize her meaning.

The Sarge raised an eyebrow, but wasn't interested in her deceit except for maybe how it impacted our standing in the eyes of the major. Robinson and Wescott were only mildly curious, while the Major himself hand-waved it almost entirely.

"Why, yes. I suppose she's a savage after all. No matter."

For me, however, it was a matter. Surely she did not intentionally demean herself?

I started with the realization that I was now much more adept at reading my squadmates as I had once been. Perhaps it was a side effect of my new mental abilities. I quickly adjusted my focus back to major Dailey.

“Buzz Kill?” The major addressed the final member of our squad.

“We are a hive mind. The central mind has upgraded, but in our current state our skills are limited.” Buzz Kill explained patiently.

The major scratched the back of his head with his pen before deciding he didn’t care enough to pursue the topic. He didn’t even bother writing anything down and just scratched a line across an entry on his pad. “Very well.”

Having assessed our skills the major unrolled a map on his desk, and we all instinctively leaned forward to peer over it. It was easy to spot our current location upon it. The major tapped a location some way inland.

"This is the main Adamantium mine in the region. It provides the heartbeat for the invaders. The Adamantium from that mine allows them to create spacecraft and potentially prevent our reclaiming the planet for its rightful owners. Keeping the mine running requires a continued influx of resources, and your mission will be to incept and destroy them before they reach the mine."

“What are the resources?” I enquired.

“That isn’t important,” the major replied dismissively. “What is important is that they’re travelling by train.”

I started to reply sharply, but a look from Sarge stopped me in my tracks. Not a good idea his glare informed me.

The next half hour was spent with the Major detailing our upcoming incursion behind enemy lines. As a small mobile unit, we would be able to sneak through the countryside past patrols and destroy the train carrying the resources before it arrived at the mine.

That was the theory anyway. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

None of us were given the option to decline the mission.

While this was an alien military, it was still the military. You received orders, and you undertook them.

Sarge and the others didn't even question our mission.

I, however, gazed upon the map and the plotted course through the enemy countryside with trepidation.

It seemed we'd survived one suicide mission only to be given another.

“Time is of the essence, you leave in the morning so I suggest you take advantage of the downtime by visiting the mess hall. As well as food you’ll find tablets which will allow you to request equipment from our limited supplies and also allow processing of new upgrades.”

The major tucked the documents away before calling for the next waiting soldier to enter. Our meeting obviously concluded we stood and trooped out.