The capsule shot open and catapulted Axel through the air. He held out his hands and closed his eyes. It would be over in a moment. He'd tumbled to the ground and then there would be nothing. Was it going to hurt? Surely it wouldn't last long. Everything suddenly slowed. The fall stopped. His body became weightless as the emergency anti-grav activated. Now he was floating a few feet above the ground.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around to see if any of his friends were nearby. The room was so big and they'd all be sent in different directions. It was impossible to see anything with the room so dark.

The gravity corrected itself and Axel landed firmly on his feet. His heart thumped in his ears as he stumbled along the gravelly floor. "Striker! Scout! You around?"

His voice echoed through the room. The holographic pods had all turned off. The meeting above them had come to an abrupt stop. This type of thing had never happened in Displincia before. Not even during the Eternal Wars against the Ivarozzans.

He waved his arms around in front of him until they connected with a wall and he scaled it in the direction he thought the exit was. He blinked as the lights flicked back on again. His eyes adjusted and he could just make out a humanoid figure ahead of him.

"Hey!" he shouted, waving his hands in the air. "Over here."

Scout hobbled over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Axel, thank God, I thought we were all goners then."

"Any sign of the others?" Axel asked.

Scout held up her wrist device. "No, but I've got them logged on here, remember."

Axel nodded. How could he have been so stupid?

As a part of being on a squad in Space Division, it was very important to know where everyone was going to be. They'd each had trackers installed so they would always know the location of their team.

"Rolly's not too far away," said Scout.

Axel opened his mouth to speak but another rumble clattered against the tower and sent them falling on top of each other. Scout landed face-to-face with him. They didn't move for a moment. They held tightly onto each other as debris smashed down around them. Once the noise stopped, they took a breath.

"That was close," Axel said and he blushed as he realised how close they were. Scout awkwardly pushed off of him and staggered to her feet.

She offered him her hand, he took it and she pulled him up.

"Come on," said Scout. "We need to get the rest of the squad fast. Who knows how much more this building can take."

"Who do you think is doing this?" Axel asked.

She shook her head. "We have no time to speculate, we need to find the others."

They walked in silence and followed the coordinates logged on Scout's device. The room they were in stretched further than Axel had anticipated. The Galactic Council meeting area was clearly designed to allow the holograms enough space to talk. But why did it have to happen so high in the sky?

The underneath of the meeting room was just one long patch of land covered by the marble floor. A scream caught their attention. Scout checked the wrist device.

Stolen story; please report.

"That came from the same area as Rolly's coordinates," she said. They broke into a run and stopped as they found Rolly on the floor. He groaned as he tried to wrench his foot free from a metal plank. He grinned when he spotted them.

"Should have known it would be you two," said Rolly.

"Shut up," said Scout. She dropped to the floor and hooked her fingers underneath the plank. "Axel, grab the other side."

Axel joined her and felt his face turn red as he tried with all of his might to pull the piece of metal up. He shook his head. "No way we can lift that without some kind of support," he said.

"I've issued a distress signal to the Commander," she replied. "Once he gets our coordinates, everything is going to be ok."

Another bang echoed through the room.

Rolly grimaced. "You can't wait here for me. Who knows how long this place has got until it blows?"

"Don't be stupid," said Scout. "Space Division sticks together."

Her wrist device beeped and she answered the call from Commander Brixton. A hologram of his stern face buzzed up before them. His eyebrows furrowed in a face of concern. "Good to hear from you, cadet. Have you found any of the squad?"

"I'm here with Axel and Rolly, sir," she said. "No sign of Nitwit or Striker yet. We can't leave as Rolly is trapped beneath some of the fallen debris."

"Has he been hurt?" asked the Commander.

Scout showed Rolly to Brixton. He gave him a little wave. "Might have lost my leg when this is all done, sir," he said through grunts of pain. "It's alright though, I've got another."

Brixton didn't reply. Dread clutched to Axel's heart. It was almost as if he knew exactly what the Commander was about to say. Every part of him was willing for it not to happen.

"We need to help Rolly," said Scout.

Brixton shook his head. "You must come to my coordinates. There is no place in our squad for a damaged soldier."

It took a moment for Axel to register the weight of what Brixton had just said. The truth that had just been revealed.

"What shall we do about Rolly?" asked Scout, her face serious and determined.

"There's nothing you can do," said Brixton firmly. "Come to my coordinates."

"But--"

"--no buts, cadet! Come to my coordinates or leave your Space Division career behind," snapped the Commander. A beep came and the call ended.

Scout looked at Axel, her eyes shimmered.

Rolly laughed. "Typical Brixton. The cause is always first. Go on then, Scout. Get out of here."

Scout walked over to the metal and hooked her hands underneath it again. "Axel, get the other side. There has to be something that we can do here."

Axel did what she told him to do. He wasn't ready to tell her what they both needed to hear. Wasn't ready to accept one of his closest friends might not make it out of this...

For five long minutes, they tried to shift it but no attempt was going to work.

Another explosion clattered above them. Axel dived into Scout and shielded her as dust and metal soared down from the sky. They looked up to find the space where Rolly was. It had been covered by metallic debris. They only just escaped the same fate.

Scout cried out. "Rolly!"

Axel pulled her to her feet. "We need to go," he shouted. Tears streaked down the dirt that caked his cheeks. "We can't wait around here any longer. It's too dangerous."

Scout allowed Axel to lead her through the smoke of the room. Neither spoke to the other as they followed the coordinates Commander Brixton had given to them.

They stopped when they saw an orange glow on the ground. Axel bent down to inspect it. It was a metallic disc which was buzzing with energy. They'd learned about these in one of their classes. It was a shaft which led down to the secret underground of Displincia. A place crafted for emergency escape during the Eternal Wars.

"This is where the coordinates lead to," said Axel but Scout didn't respond. Her face looked dead. Any enthusiasm she had for the job had been sapped out of her. "How do we get into these things again?"

She didn't reply.

Axel put his hands on her shoulders and shook her. "Scout. We need to focus."

Scout nodded slightly, then went over to the disc and placed her hand on the top. It flashed blue and lifted up. They moved it aside and Axel dropped down into the underground first. Scout followed him and they pulled the grate back over them.

"Well, well, well," came the voice of Commander Brixton. "I was wondering if you were going to make it."

"We shouldn't have left him," snapped Scout.

Brixton towered over her. "This isn't just some simulation, cadet. The planet is being invaded."

"Where are the others?" asked Axel. He couldn't lose another one of them. This was all getting too much. Where was Striker?

"They've reached the underground. They're waiting in the hanger," said Brixton.

"What hanger?" asked Axel.

Brixton grinned. "Are you two ready to get involved in your first real space battle?"