A siren blared out. The loud and urgent sound sent people running. Barten looked around and found that those who were sent running were everyone other than the new recruits. One of the sergeants stopped by and shouted, “Active combat siren. Everyone to your waiting positions. Now!” And then she was gone. They all shared a look and then everyone scattered.

Smith found Barten first, and then they rallied the rest of the squad. With the squad together a destination came via a message from Myles on their terminals. And they all moved to the briefing room where he was waiting for them.

“What the hell kind of alarm was that?” Conners asked as he slumped down into a seat. “Just about scared the shit out of me.”

Myles shook his head. “It’s new to me as well. But it seems to be the one they use for active combat. I’m guessing that given the urgency and fast paced transfer some things were forgotten.”

“So the base is under attack?” Smith asked.

“That’s unknown to me at this time. Jamieson, help me get this blasted thing set up. There should be a channel that I can connect to for reports.” After a moment's fiddling they managed to get the laptop setup, authenticated, and streaming the base wide report.

“-strange object activity. Each one launched a rocket that arced through the air before leaving the planet. It is unknown what the purpose is at this time. Only that at least one of the rockets has been shot down by a team keeping watch over the g object.”

“So we aren’t under attack?” Monroe asked. “Or maybe an incoming attack?”

“Seems that way. But what is the purpose of the rockets?” Barten asked. “They wouldn't do something for no reason like that right? At least we wouldn’t.”

“Until we know more, it’s probably safeish to assume that any ali-xenos would have similar thought patterns as humans. But only safeish. Since they might be so alien to us that we have no way of comprehending their actions,” Jamieson said.

“So you’re saying that we got nothing, until we find out what that nothing is. And then it still might be nothing?” Conners asked. Jamieson only shrugged in reply.

“Where does this leave us?” Smith asked. “Should we move towards the davs? Or should we stand down? Or just hang out here?”

“One moment,” Myles said as he typed away at his laptop. “The sergeant chat seems to be in favor of standing down. But command wants us to stand by. There isn’t any guarantee that a rocket might not be fired at the base. If that happens we will need to evac fast. We probably won’t have 5 minutes warning before impact.” he squinted his eyes and they rocketed left and right as he read the updates. “Seems like they might put us into the bomb shelters. Oh. Yup. It’s happening.” Myles snapped his laptop shut and pulled it away from the dock. “Alright. Let's go.”

Myles took off from the meeting room and ran down the hallway towards the hanger. It only took a moment for the squad to share a look and take after him. Given their upgraded stats it wasn’t hard to catch up with Myles. “I never knew that there were bomb shelters on base,” Monroe said.

“There were some on Echo Base as well. 10 meters deep. Pretty much the only thing that was up to date at all,” Myles said. He led them to an oddly placed door that didn’t seem to lead into the hanger itself. There were several other groups of people slowly entering.

The doors opened up to endless stairs. And after descending for who knows how far they opened up to a fortified compound. Tunnels branched off from the stairs along with rooms. There was even fake sunlight shining down from a blue painted roof.

“This must go deep into the mountains.” Barten said.

“It must. Given how far we walked,” Smith said.

“Is this a bad time to say that I tend to be claustrophobic when I panic?” Conners said. Jamieson clasped him on the shoulder.

“I heard that hugs help with that. So at any time let me know if you need one,” Jamieson said. Conners looked at him a moment before nodding.

“I’m surprised you didn’t, you know,” Monroe said.

“Sounds like Monroe wants a hug too,” Jamieson said.

Conners nodded. “Right. Let's get her before she runs away. Might be dangerous otherwise.”

“What, you guys, awww.” The three of them huddled together and hugged while laughing. Barten shook his head. But he was noticed by the other three and then tackled and hugged between them.

“Wait, where the hell did Smith end up?” Conners asked as he looked around. “I see Myles over there, let's get him instead.”

“Maybe not. Chain of command and all that,” Monroe said and looked at her terminal. “Seems like we got a room assigned to us. So might as well head that way.”

The room wasn’t much better than the rooms they had in basic back in the day. One long room with several bunks, there was a small empty room with just a table and chairs in it. And then several toilet stalls and bathrooms. Considering that it was a bomb shelter it was better than being huddled together in one large room. “Whelp. I guess that this is going to be home for a time,” Conners said. When he spotted Smith he shouted, “There he is! Get him!”

***

Alpha Base was on lock down for about a day. Just enough time to start to get used to the cramped quarters. As well as just enough time to start to miss the surface. They hadn’t been topside for more than a few hours when the base rang out again with the now familiar combat alarm.

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“What do we have this time?” Smith asked. “The false start and all that waiting is wearing on me.” They were in a different meeting room than the last time. It was much bigger and probably could have fit another couple of squads.

Myles looked up from his laptop that he was trying to align with the dock. “This is a real one. I’ve been briefed enough to know that we aren’t going to wait for the enemy again. We’ve given them too much time as it is.” There was a satisfying click as the laptop connected and the screen in the room flicked on.

“It’s pretty much the same plan that we were going to go with in a few days. Just more all in and aggressive,” Myles said and showed a battle plan map. Lanes were traced around the object where each of the squads were expected to assault. Squad 5 was given the eastern flank.

“What’s changed? Did they find out what was in those rockets? Jamieson asked. “If they left the earth then they probably weren’t for combat.”

Myles shook his head. “They weren’t. Report is that the rockets were filled with materials harvested on Earth. Columns of them, packed tight or otherwise preserved for extended storage. Some of everything that the beetles sampled.” There was a pause as Myles screwed his face into a frown. “The key point being that human remains were found as well. Whatever these things are, are harvesting the planet of all its resources.”

They sat there for a moment while they processed the revelation Myles had mentioned. “I always knew something was off about them,” Jamieson said. “They can’t be allowed to exist on our planet anymore.” Barten nodded along.

Conners shook his head. “We’ll just have to shoot them off the face of the planet is all.” Monroe rubbed her biceps and sighed.

“Before everyone lets their anger get to their heads. What are the risks of such an assault?” Smith asked. “Didn’t they have some sort of beam defense system? We never did hear about the plans to disengage or bypass it.”

“It’s not a nice plan at all. But we are going to be putting people on the ground first and foremost. Their goal will be to damage or otherwise incapacitate the weapon apertures right before we march. There are also some experimental artillery designs that have been built. But they are quickly made and not expected to last more than a few shots.”

“So the plan is to throw everything at them and then hope something sticks then?” Smith asked.

Myles shrugged. “More or less. Since you lot have had training in the davs your role has already been decided on. Though it’s expected that the davs will have a higher rate of survival than those on the ground.”

“What is being done to support the ground forces,” Monroe said. “Infantry is the heart of any army. We can’t just send them to their deaths like that.”

“That isn’t the goal at all,” Myles said. “We are just lacking too much information. We’ll start by supporting their withdrawal with the davs. So it will be up to you pilots to do everything that you can to support them.” She shook her head and muttered to herself while she bounced her knee.

Jamieson reached over and placed a hand onto her shoulder. “The best that we can do is ensure that the enemy’s attention is on us. So we’ll blast them away. Again and again. And as many times as it will take.” She looked up to him and nodded slowly.

“If we had more time then there might have been a better option. But now that we know they are harvesting humans and shipping them off planet… Well. It’s got more than a few people in command riled up,” Myles said. “Now. We’ll go over the plan a few times. Both to make sure that everyone knows what their role is. But also to make sure that you know what to do when everything goes pear shaped.”

“Are you expecting something to go wrong?” Barten asked.

Myles looked at him for a moment before he spoke, “It always does.”

***

The time came.

Delta Squad 5 got into their davs and started the long march towards the fight with the g object. There was no rousing speech. There was only a quiet determination of those involved. The pilots in their suits. The infantry in their apcs. And the crews moving towards the artillery locations. Everyone knew what it was they needed to do. It was simple really. Win.

“Try as I might, the jitters just don’t seem to be going away,” Barten said. “Usually by now they would have.”

“Don't worry about it. I still have mine as well. Usually I don’t get them. But this time is something special,” Conners said.

Jamieson chuckled. “It just shows that we are still alive right? We’ll keep moving until we are dead.”

“Dark, but fair,” Conners said. “Anyone feel like saying anything? Or any lucky charms? We never had any. If anything that was our lucky charm. Don’t question the fact that chances are someone won’t be coming home.”

“What the hell kind of lucky charm is that?” Monroe asked. “We would always sneak in a handle of booze. And the night before each of the squad members would pour themselves a shot and we’d promise to win.”

“I mean. It takes all types right? You do you. Don’t see why you have to run all over my parade.”

Smith cleared his throat. “We didn’t have a lucky charm for going out. Instead it was remembering the fallen. Thanking them for their service. Along with the promise to live well, enough for both those that survived and those that were lost.”

After several moments of silence Conners spoke, “Come on Barten, Jamieson. The rest of us are pouring out our souls here. How about adding something as well.”

“Ugh, well. I’m racking my brain for it. But we didn’t really have anything. For going out or coming back. And really just sat around shooting the shit. Acting like we weren’t full of holes. Both our rides and ourselves,” Barten said.

“That’s kind of sad,” Monroe said.

“Ah. We did share silly things at times. Like how far a squirrel would have to fall in order to hit terminal velocity. Usually things to do with height.”

“Kind of dark. Can’t believe that I’m saying that twice in one conversation.”

“Well. It came up the one time. Because one snuck aboard a heli. And before they noticed it was onboard, it ran out the door and into the sky. Seems like squirrels don’t have a terminal. They land just fine no matter the height.”

“Okay. Now share something new. You’re chewing up all our time and Jamieson might not get a chance.”

“I overheard one of the techs talking when I walked by earlier. They were calling the suits Davids. I guess that someone, somewhere shorted it to davs.”

“It seems to be a common thing,” Smith said. “At least from my experience. Shorter syllables, means quicker talking. Which can be important in combat.”

“Wait,” Jamieson said. “If we are David, doesn’t that mean that the g objects are Goliath? We, the smaller disadvantaged ones, are fighting against the giant who should be outside of our powers? I’ve been wondering for a while what the g stood for. It’s more thought out than I would expect from outfits I was with in the past.”

“Huh,” Conners said. “Guess you learn something new everyday.”