6.

1234 Hours, July 9, 2776

Astoria System, Cronus .5, Vault Caves, Compound Bunker Four

It was four days later when strange scratching noises came from the largest door that hadn't been opened yet: the entrance into the Compound Bunker. Captain Neth had decided that whatever was trying to scratch its way in was attempting in vain. That was a thick vault door that was made out of a meter of Titanium-A.

The other garage sized door across from the store was in fact a garage, where two HUVWVs were parked along side two hydraulic lifts. There were six shelves filled to the brim with tools and replacement parts for the two military vehicles. Much to his delight, Lieutenant Way unearthed a AutoHov Hoverbike which was hidden underneath a tarp. He claimed it as his own.

On the fifth day the scratching sounds started on in the morning and continued all day long with very short stops in between the scratching. Finally the scratching got to Lieutenant Way while he was playing ping pong against Amy Larson. He threw the paddle down hard against the ping pong table and swore as the ping pong ball bounced on his side and went off the table.

"Can somebody answer that?!" he asked, glaring at the door. "If someone won't, I will." His modified SAW assault rifle was stored in the armory, but he wouldn't have a problem opening the hatch and retrieving it.

"Negative El-tee," Captain Neth replied, sitting on a chair reading a book that he had found in the store. "Just wait a couple more hours and they'll give up eventually."

"Here," Corporal Black said, handing the DOBRMN a small device. "Try this for a change."

Lieutenant Way stared at the device and pressed one of the four buttons on the front panel. Music filled the air, almost drowning out the scratches. Most of the people in the main room recognized the music as Mash-the modernized sound of the centuries old genre Rock.

Brian French walked into the main room from the bathroom and glared at Lieutenant Way; then at the small device in his hand. "Turn that obnoxious junk off," he said. "I've been annoyed enough by that scratching!" He pointed at the main door.

The DOBRMN looked at him and shrugged. "It's better than nothing."

Sergeant Dray looked into the main room from the armory. He had been doing an inventory with Nancy Parker. "I don't mind it; although I won't mind some Rectro or Smirk."

"Smirk?" Lieutenant Way scoffed. "Now that's junk."

Suddenly there was a boom emancipated from the main room that echoed through the entire Compound Bunker. It had resounded from the meter thick Titanium-A door. Every stared at the door which began making several clicks. The scratching stopped and the music was drowned out by the noises coming from the door. Jack Meservy stepped out from the medical bay and stared at the door. Nancy stood by Sergeant Dray.

Captain Neth jumped to his feet, drawing a pistol from his holster at his hip. The door began to open, and a slit of light peeked through a tiny crack. A dark figure stepped into the small light that had been growing, casting a shadow over the light.

"Stay back!" Captain Neth ordered the figure, aiming his pistol at the figure. "I've got a loaded weapon here, and if you make a move I'll shoot."

The figure stood fixed in the doorway which continued to open slowly. They didn't respond, or move. Lieutenant Way brushed past Sergeant Dray and snatched his SAW assault rifle. He was back in the main room just before the figure finally spoke.

"Don't shoot," it said, its voice sounding male. "I'm Captain Sterling; Colonial Soldier. Identification number zero zero, two nine eight, fifteen oh-eight two-C.K. Who are you?"

There was a confirming beep from his tactic, as it searched through the database for the identification number and name-they matched up. Captain Neth lowered his gun a little. "Captain Neth… Colonial Soldier, identification number zero zero, five one two, twenty nine sixteen-C.A."

The door was finally open. The bright light of the sun broke through and filled the entry with light. Captain Sterling walked in to the compound with seven other people behind him. "It's good to hear your voice," Captain Sterling replied, his voice excited. "We've been camping outside for the past couple days when Sergeant Gage found the door to this compound."

A DOBRMN that stood behind Captain Sterling nodded. His hair was a lot longer than Lieutenant Way's hair, but not by much.

Holstering his pistol, Captain Neth and Captain Sterling shook arms. Lieutenant Way lowered his SAW assault rifle. Everyone stared at the newcomers. This was obviously one of the other groups that had also been stored in a different bunker.

Nancy gave a loud squeal and ran forward and embraced one of the men who had walked in. They began kissing in front of everyone.

"I thought you were dead," Nancy cried in the man's embrace.

"Me too," he replied.

Neth ignored them and looked at Captain Sterling. "What's the world like out there?"

Sterling shook his head. "Like a post-apocalypsetic disaster. Eynstin City is in complete ruin."

"Any sign of Skorpthi?"

Sterling shook his head again. "None; but their planetary-shield around Cronus point five is still on. We've been out of our bunker for three days now looking for the other bunkers. This is the second one that we've found."

The group with Sterling only consisted of eight people. "Where's the other group?"

"Dead. The front door had been destroyed completely, and inside was a mess. Nothing worked, the food was nothing more than what once held them, the weapons and ammunition stored there were completely useless due to the time exposed to the Skorpthi's parasitic nanites."

"What about the cryo-chamber?"

Sterling nodded. "That was the worst of all; the modules were piles of twisted and deformed pieces of metal, the group of eight by then had decomposed."

"Now what?" Lieutenant Way asked. "We go out there and go shoot up some alien butt?"

"Not quite yet, Lieutenant," Sterling answered, facing the Lieutenant. "We need to find the last group before we start up a war."

"A war?" Sergeant Dray asked. "Captain Neth told us that the only thing that's out there are nomads. I mean, we send those Dobermens"-he cocked his thumb out at Lieutenant Way and the other DOBRMN-"and the job is done."

Sterling laughed. "You think nomads are the only thing that's out there? Those Skorpthi travel in groups called hordes, led by a queen. And those hordes grow well into over a thousand, Sergeant. This is a war where we are completely outnumbered and outgunned-just almost like the War of the Alliances forty years ago." He realized he had made a mistake in the date; the number was much higher than that. "Three hundred and thirty years ago.

"The only way we won that war was because of stealth and espionage." Sterling frowned. "If we're going to win this war... we'll need both."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Are you saying that there are thousands if not millions of these aliens?"

"That's what I'm saying," Captain Sterling replied, not bothering to look at Jack. "Neft have you told these people nothing?"

"I told them what I saw fit at the time." Captain Neft replied. "No need to worry about what's out there."

"Yet." Lieutenant Way growled. "When were you going to tell us? When we were facing a horde of Skorpthi? I'll tell you one thing. I won't be standing next to you when that happens."'