Jim's Convenience Store had been deserted for over a year now - the owner having fled at the first sign of alien invasion. Now, it was a temporary command post for Captain Sam Wychin, leader of the Cold Force. The little town had yielded a surprisingly high bounty - apparently, one of the inhabitants had stockpiled weapons in his store. Wychin didn't put much thought into why the man had illegal weapons in his house... was he a terrorist? An arms dealer? It didn't matter. The important thing was that those weapons were now in the hands of the Cold Force. Mr. Hunter's store had also yielded a basement full of food. In addition, a squad of rookies had arrived from the cave base, reinforcing the unit's strength, as well as Wychin's confidence in that the aliens hadn't found out about the cave complex.

At that moment, First Lieutenant Kevin Harrison walked into Wychin's "office", which consisted of an M16 lying on a store counter and a comfortable swivel chair. As Harrison saluted, Wychin returned the salute, without getting up from his chair.

"What's up, Kevin?" Wychin asked.

Harrison lowered his hand. "Nothing much, sir. We've got ourselves a basic weapons stockpile - but no way to move the weapons from place to place. Even if we all wore two hiking backpacks apiece, and stuffed them full of all the guns we have, plus carried some in our hands, we still wouldn't be able to move everything."

"Some would consider that a good thing." Wychin chuckled. "Just means that we'll have to keep some of the guns stockpiled here... Anything else?"

"Yeah. We found some tracks just north of town - tank tracks, leading east. They're pretty recent, too - and there's at least four sets of tracks, maybe more."

"We should check that out... get the men... uh... troops, together. It'll be worth the walk - at least we'll get to look at some really neat burning wrecks." Wychin was in a joke-dispensing mood.

Harrison, however, was not. He frowned.

"Sir, if I may speak freely?"
"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Sir, you blew that floater's head off! It surrendered... and you killed it! Why? Forget the moral standpoint of the thing - wouldn't it have been more beneficial from a military standpoint?"

Wychin stopped swiveling in his chair and looked at Harrison.

"Don't you remember what I told you back at the caves? I intend to practice what I preach, Lieutenant. We wouldn't have understood the alien, and it would have tried to kill us anyway, the second it got the chance. I've got no regrets about blowing the bastard away... I hope you realize, and soon, that you shouldn't either." Wychin's expression hardened. "I believe you heard me, Lieutenant. Get the troops together. Leave a small detachment here, the rest I expect to be ready in ten minutes."

"Yes sir." Harrison saluted. As he turned around, he scowled. Either the stress is really getting to him, or the captain really is a heartless bastard... he thought. Then, he marched out of the store, barking out orders. Soon, the troops were gathered and ready to march...

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Written on August 21 by Andrew Pokrovski AKA Captain Samuel Wychin.