"Flashlights on and stop all the noise." Elias shouted and sent over the comms.

He was met with silence as one by one the recruits started turning on the lights on the shoulder of their armour. Now the crystal had been deactivated his message should be heard clearly by the rest of the platoon spread out around the ziggurat.

"I'm amazed that you were able to read my mind. I just started thinking I should ask for volunteers for first watch tonight by asking them to shoot their weapon into the ceiling." There was a hard edge as Elias joked with the group.

"All of a sudden someone shoots, it's almost like I had thought out loud." A couple of the recruits laughed and Elias cut them off. "Since I didn't see who actually shot, I will assume you all volunteered. Just as an aside, you never discharge your weapon in celebration. We are not in a film or at a wedding. And if some idiot decides to shoot at a wedding, I'll shout at them too."

They swept the room in silence after that, the initial elation of completing their task tempered by being reprimanded. A few acusatory looks were thrown around but fortunately the culprit remained anonymous. As they set about their task Elias allowed them to chat. The social conversation, talking about whether a hot meal or hot shower was more important soon put the punishment out of their minds.

"Sir. I have a cache of shards here." Kyla said over the comms.

It was one of the side rooms. Here there was a collection of shards located in individual sockets in the wall. Elias panned his light over the area noting that there was enough space for about ten times what had been collected so far.

"Interesting. Looks like this was how the Hive planned to know they had enough shards to expand the zig." Said Elias to no one in particular.

"Sir, shouldn't we collect them, get them somewhere safe?" Asked Kyla.

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There was one major Shard and about thirty minor shards collected. Elias quickly calculated that was 13,000 credits. He didn't need to know that was a greater prize than they would get from harvesting the entire hive's worth of Swarm. It was carefully collected and placed in Kyla's pack with instructions to report straight to Mouse on leaving the ziggurat. There was little of immediate interest so the group made their way back down to the lower level collecting the rest of the recruits as they left the ziggurat.

The visual effect of the dome going down alerted Mouse and Slim who had driven in from their position. The honk of the horn on the vehicle made Elias jump and his hand go to his holster. It had the desired effect as Mouse was bent as near to double as he could manage while seated laughing loudly. Slim gave a little wave and thumbs up from her seat next to him. The steady and thorough way they had cleared the ziggurat it was close to dusk as they stepped into the fresh air.

"What's the plan boss." Mouse asked, jumping out of the cab now he had had his fun. "Time's short to set up camp."

"Well we have a camp." Elias said with a smile, pointing at the massive structure behind them.

"No. You don't plan to sleep in there? We wouldn't be able to see if Swarm were coming for a start." Mouse looked shocked and a little worried.

"Why not?" Asked Elias. "Set some lights up to cover the approach. Easy to defend. We don't need to do any building." He watched as Mouse's eyes flicked back and forth from the entrance to the ziggurat.

"No, you annoying oaf, we won't sleep in there. The Swarm could come in any direction and it would be terrible for morale." Elias had his little bit of fun back, winding up Mouse.

The normally jovial Mouse turned surly and frowned at Elias.

"Fine, what's the plan then?" He asked.

Elias pointed to the ziggurat again, and then lifted his finger so it was pointing further up.

"We camp on the roof." He said, smiling. Mouse's frown deepened.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yes. There's a good view of the surrounding area, no exits from the ziggurat and Swarm are unlikely to climb up. We can set lights up around the carrier down here and set camp above." Elias had thought through the plan, initially considering sleeping inside. Having seen the recruits response to the lack of light and poor visibility he dismissed the idea.

"Well, let's get on with it before the light goes." Elias clapped his hands and waved the recruits over. "Oh before I forget. Kyla has something for you Mouse."

The shards distracted Mouse as the recruits set camp under Elias's instruction. They climbed the carrier and a ladder from its roof allowed them to reach the top of the lower level of the ziggurat without difficulty. The injured recruits were checked over once more before being released from duty for the night. They were all issued double rations and the 'volunteers' took first watch. It took a few minutes for Elias to set the rest of the watches, trying to be fair to the first group which came from several of the squads and ensure there were enough bodies on guard at all times despite the injuries. Happy with his work he took his meal out and joined the recruits sitting in a circle under the night sky.