Once the teams were armed and provisioned with backpacks full of essentials, the students gathered again for a briefing.

"So more weapons... Does this mean we're going to keep patrolling the city?" Sakura sighed.

"I assume so. It seems super haphazard to ship us weapons after we already cleaned up the city, but it is the government after all," Benzo chuckled.

Just then, the room went silent. The grizzled military man C-team had encountered before strode out to the center of the gym, still wearing his shades despite being indoors at night. He cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for your hard work in the field today. With your help and sacrifice, the city is now much more secure than it was. Our work isn't over, though. the crater in the center of town is still a focal point for these invaders. We have it on good authority that they are coming up through the crater from deep in the earth. It is unclear if the object that crashed into our city simply released them from the earth or if it brought them here to begin with.

He paused, taking time to look over the student body and make eye contact with as many as possible. This was a man who was used to leading people. Taki listened with a sense of foreboding. The way he said "our work" even though he had clearly been riding around town supervising all day. This was also a man who was used to selling people something they didn't want.

The man cleared his throat again. "What I will now ask of you is this: we must take the fight to them. You have new, improved weapons. Please continue the fight by venturing into the crater and fully eliminating this threat."

There was a collective gasp from the class.

"What!?"

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"That's insane. That's suicide!"

Teachers and the principle shouted for silence. They didn't get it, but a low murmur would have to do.

The man in shades continued, "We will provide you with the means to survive this. Along with your new weapons, you will also have armor. We will coordinate transportation to and from the Crater as needed. And once this is done, I promise you, we can all go back to our homes and get back to a normal life." He stood aside and allowed the principle to now take the limelight, ostensibly to provide a more familiar face for the remaining detailed instructions.

Before he could speak, however, Natsuki spoke up. "What are teachers doing to combat this invasion?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"The teachers. And really any adults here. What are they doing to help with the fight? What is their civic duty?"

"We, er...well we are helping coordinate..." The principle stammered. He had clearly assumed they wouldn't be questioned on this.

The man in shades stepped back in. "Listen well, everyone: we've all got our jobs to do. The adults - your parents included - are fighting on different fronts and in different ways. We are protecting this country on a national level and coordinating with foreign governments to fight this threat globally. By doing this, you are helping your town and your country. Don't question it - just get it done and you can all have your old lives back."

"One other thing I would like to mention, since some of you have been raised with an unseemly rebellious streak." He glanced pointedly at Natsuki, "Please also keep in mind - we consider desertion treason. If you should decide not to help with these efforts, you will face dire consequences."

"The hell with this," one of A-Team's hot-boy clones stood up and made for the door. "I'm going home - no way I'm crawling into a hole to fight god-knows-what.

BLAM

The tall boy fell to the floor, a bleeding hole in his back. He sputtered and jerked, lying face-down in a quickly spreading pool of blood. Sakura screamed.

The shocked students were silent, mouths agape as they slowly came to grips with what had just happened.

The man in shades holstered his handgun and resumed a poised stance. "As I was saying, desertion is considered treason and, as you are now aware, is punishable by death."

He looked around the room. This time his eye contact was not as friendly.

"See you all bright and early tomorrow morning. Let's all do our best." The man smiled and exited the assembly, carefully stepping over the corpse of the student he had just murdered.