Deep inside his mind, he screamed. No one could hear him, though, as his body was propelled through the day by a mind that was not his own. The slug had been lying dormant inside him without him knowing. And now it was using his own knowledge to disable the Electronic Warfare systems inside of the troop drop pods. There was nothing he could do but scream helplessly inside his mind as he watched the slug do as it willed.

Dan Jennings woke up to the shouts of his Sergeant. Not even processing the words, he began moving. His body began putting on his uniform as the fog cleared from his mind, and the Sergeant’s words started to pierce through.

“MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! ENEMY WARSHIPS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN SYSTEM, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM! BRASS HAVE ALREADY DETERMINED THAT THE BATTLE IN ORBIT WILL BE LOST! THAT MEANS WE NEED TO BE READY TO DEFEND THIS PLANET AT ALL COSTS! BE IN BRIEFING ROOM TWEN-TEE IN FIFTEEN! ON THE DOUBLE SOLDIERS!” shouted the Sergeant at a volume that was only possible for humans who had ascended to that unenviable rank.

Dan finished putting on his uniform and was among the first out the door and began jogging towards the briefing room. His spotter, Kazuo, caught up in moments and fell into the same pace he was at as naturally as he breathed. “So bossman, where ya think they gonna deploy us?” Kazuo asked Dan as they reached the building the briefing room was in.

Dan shrugged, “I couldn’t possibly speculate that they would send us to secure one of the nearby factory complexes.”, he said dryly. Kazuo chuckled as they slowed to a walk and made their way to the briefing room.

They filed in and took their preferred seats near the back. They made idle chatter with some of the other soldiers as they filed in and took their seats. Then Sergeant Fujiwara came in, and the room instantly quieted. Lieutenant Yotsuba followed in as the silence settled on the room as if it was his cue to enter.

The briefing began without fanfare as the Lieutenant began laying out the situation and their orders in a perfunctory fashion. Dan had been right. They would be guarding one of the nearby factory complexes. The invading fleet was apparently human, the prevailing theory being it was some warlord looking to consolidate power to ‘save humanity’. Regardless of who it was, they would want to seize production areas intact, making them highly strategic points for ground fighting.

Dan already knew that as one of the platoons snipers, that meant he and Kazuo would likely be camping on a nearby hill. Maybe he’d get lucky and get posted to the roof. As he thought that, the Lieutenant pulled up a map of the area and began going over details of their deployment, and he sighed as his position on the top of a nearby hill was announced. The curse of competence, being rewarded with the most difficult postings.

He should have bungled his last few training bouts, but he’d NEEDED to wipe the smug look off of that bastard Mark’s face. Who conveniently was getting the roof posting that Dan wanted. He sighed internally, knowing better than to voice his dissatisfaction while the Lieutenant was present.

The briefing ended shortly thereafter, and everyone filed out of the briefing room, quickly making their way to the armory. “So we got stuck up on the hill ‘eh bossman,” Kazuo said cheerfully. He nudged Dan in the arm, “A romantic getaway just for the two of us,” he continued with a laugh.

Dan rolled his eyes, “As long as your idea of romance is a rifle shoved up your ass, I’m game.”, he said, drawing chuckles from some of the other soldiers in earshot. Kazuo just laughed, and the soldiers continued to banter as they jogged to the armory.

Once they arrived, they all began suiting up. Other platoons that were part of the wider company had already begun suiting up. Dan quickly started putting together his gear and switched over to his battle dress. He was ready in short order, his rail rifle dismantled and stowed in his kit. He and his spotter Kazuo were both wearing advanced camouflage that turned them into little more than a blur on the visible spectrum and rendered them nearly invisible on most other spectrums. Only field commanders and snipers had access to those uniforms, given how difficult they were to manufacture.

He was carrying a compact top-loaded SMG of an ancient, but sleek design for his alternate primary. He wouldn’t switch over to the rail rifle until he ‘nested.’ Kazuo, however, sported the more typical and modern Combo Energy Rifle or CER for short. Though it was often referred to as ‘sir’ by the infantry. It could switch from a long-range, highly accurate laser fire mode into a shorter ranged plasma fire mode. The plasma fire mode could be further altered and turn from a rifle-style shot to a shotgun-like blast in exchange for giving up even more range. It was extremely effective, and its versatility had led to it becoming widespread amongst the infantry across the planet.

As Dan strode out with the rest of his platoon to load up, he watched as the other platoons began loading into their vehicles as well. All except the power armored troops who would be running escort alongside the vehicles. The massive three-meter tall powered armor suits could easily outpace the ground vehicles they were escorting. They would bound alongside maintaining a constantly shifting patrol around the rest of the company as they traveled to their destination.

After they arrived, they would set up a small base camp. The invading ships were still in the outer system and taking their time moving in so Dan wouldn’t have to travel into the hills immediately. Which meant he had the displeasure of helping to set up a basecamp he wouldn’t be getting to utilize. He kept the sigh internal as he bantered with the rest of his platoon.

***

Joseph found himself faced with a situation far outside of his norm. He was not happy about the situation, but he wasn’t sure he could ignore it. As he was roaming the mountainside doing his usual hunting, he had caught sight of movement on the old road that led from the nearest city to the nameless frontier town he lived near. Bringing up his binoculars, he’d focused in on it and saw a massive caravan of refugees.

The town definitely did not have the room or the resources for that many people, but there was nothing he could do to try and turn them around. Whatever was at their backs was unlikely to be good either. He’d have to warn the town so that at least they’d have some time to prepare. He disappeared into the trees and flitted through the forest. He had been alone on this mountain for years now, and he had` used that time effectively. His knowledge of the ever-shifting game trails was perfect as he followed them across the side of the mountain back to his home.

He quickly loaded up the truck with hides as there was no sense in wasting the trip. And if anything, those hides would quickly be needed. He took the rough road down the mountain as fast as he dared, nearly flipping his truck twice as the low whine of the electric motor strained in the background.

He finally made his way into town and pulled up to Dirk’s. He pulled out the bundle of hides from the bed of his truck and walked in. Dirk was at his counter as usual when Joseph plopped down the hides. They made some small talk as they exchanged his hides for credits.

“So what brought you down the mountain earlier than usual? Ya don’t have too many hides this time and I know it ain’t been long enough for you to burn through your flour and whatnot.”, Dirk asked as he stacked the hides in a corner.

“There’s a caravan headed this way. Refugess by the look of it, maybe two thousand or so.”, replied Joseph. He carefully watched Dirk as the man froze up and then started moving normally again.

“That’s an awful lot of folk,” Dirk said. “Reckon the whole town including folks like you out in the wilderness is only around three thousand if that. We might have the room for those folks to sleep out in the woods, but we can’t house them. And we definitely can’t feed them.”

Joseph nodded, “I know, that’s why I came figured I’d let folk here know what’s coming. I was hoping that the chaos in the cities wouldn’t reach this far. Looks like I was wrong”, he said, sighing.

“Lot of folk were wrong about that. Well, I’ll get the Sheriff and the Mayor on the line and let ’em know. What are you gonna Joseph?” he asked.

Joseph shifted slightly, pondering the question. “I’m not sure yet, but I don’t think I’m going to sit still. I’ll want a com circuit if you’ve got one to spare. I’ll be in touch.”

Dirk nodded and shuffled into the back, returning with a small device. “It’s an older barebones model, but it works and the battery should be good for months if it comes down to it. I’m listed in there as well as the Mayor and the Sherrif”, he said, placing the com circuit into Josephs’s hand.

Joseph started pulling his credit chit out, and Dirk waved it away. “That ones on me. Just promise me I’ll get to see ya around here again and we’ll call it good”, he said, putting out his hand. Joseph shook it and nodded. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

He left the store and got back into his truck. He’d return home and set out from there on foot. There were things he needed to grab, and trying to drive his truck to the city was likely a suicidal endeavor. If the refugees didn’t bother him, then he’d likely be taken out by any military forces near the city on the approach. Stealth would be necessary, which meant he’d need to go on foot.

He made his way home without trouble and began packing the supplies he would need for a long trip. It was largely just the survival kit he carried with him as he would be hunting along the way. Just more preserved food as well as an old gift that he pulled out from storage. He’d never used it much since he’d come here as he preferred not to rely on technology when his own senses were enough, but he might need it now.

He pulled the small drone out of storage and carried it outside. It powered on without trouble and faded from sight as its stealth systems engaged. He heard the four propellers begin to spin as it began to fly and rose into the sky without his prompting. It would also follow him, keeping him up to date on the surrounding area whenever he chose to check.

He pulled the controller in front of him. The drone had already drifted off, keeping him in sight with one camera and using the others to scan the area. Its built-in AI had already locked onto the town and the refugees in the distance.

There were likely better versions of the drone now, but it had been one of the early prototypes for true stealth technology that his father had worked on so long ago. It was one of the only things he’d kept when he’d come out into the wilderness.

It had a powerful battery as well as a fusion cell if it ran too low. He’d avoid forcing it to use up the fusion cell by swapping out the battery when he stopped. He would sleep during the day while it watched over him, using a solar cell to recharge the spare battery.

He’d wallowed in his own pity for too long, and he’d be a fool to not take the opportunity that had arisen. The time for hesitation was over. The time for his revenge, however, was at hand.