"Come in Moonbase!" A voice rose above the hustle and bustle on the bridge.

"We're kind of busy Numbuh One." Rachel replied quickly, continuing her conversation with one of the many operatives who had all but invaded the bridge. Sending the operative off, she turned to face the bald pre-teen who had appeared on one of the many screens attached to her control station. "What do you need?"

"I thought the planet wasn't supposed to be in range for another week."

Numbuh 362 rubbed her temples. "It wasn't. But according to our scientists, they put the pedal down."

The pit in Nigel's stomach deepened. "How long?"

Rachel sighed softly, donning her own worried look. "The planet has already launched…" She paused, trying and failing to come up with a good descriptor. "something. It shut down some of our systems. And half the escape pods."

"How long?" Nigel repeated.

Neither wanted to hear the answer. "Five minutes." A silence fell over Nigel, but Rachel continued talking, keeping busy in order to distract herself from the impending attack. "The S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s are being prepped for evac, but I'm not sure how many will be ready in time. Who would've guessed a planet would have the element of surprise?"

"Right, well, I'll be waiting for you down here."

She stopped and looked up at him with a solemn face and a quiet tone. "Don't get too hopeful. If we can't get everyone out, I'll be staying here."

"But we need you down here. If that thing gets past the base-"

"If that thing gets past the base, they'll have you and they'll have Mandy. I need to be up here, to make sure they don't get past my moonbase. Now go. Tell all treehouses to prep their landing pads. Moonbase out." Rachel cut off the feed, the thought that those might be the last words she'd ever say to him stinging in the back of her mind. She turned her attention to her best friend, who had been waiting behind her. "Fanny, status report. How are we on S.C.A.M.P.E.R's?"

"We've already launched five, which carried all out scientists. Except for uhh..." Numbuh 86 flipped through the stack of papers clamped onto her clipboard. "Numbuh 74.239. He's opted to stay. Didn't say why. Unfortunately, the engineering and repair crew says they can only prep another five before whatever it is gets here."

"Of course he did. Well, fill those last S.C.A.M.P.E.R's to the brim." Rachel was about to leave, but paused for a moment before grabbing the clipboard right out of Fanny's hands. "Wait. Just sciencetists?" She asked, frantically skimming through the many reports. "What about the recruits? I thought Sector W were supposed to be the first off the base."

Fanny knew the question would come, though she still had hoped it wouldn't. She sighed, defeated. "Yeah…"

"Well?" Rachel followed up, fury rising in her tone.

"They..." Fanny thought about the best way to word her reply. "Well, they decided not to board."

Her wording, however, failed to stave off her superior's seldom seen, yet terrifying anger. An annoyed growl emerged from Rachel, and she shoved the clipboard into Fanny, forcing her to the ground. Turning completely around, she pointed directly at the communications officer, who sat wide-eyed at his desk by the monitors. "YOU!" He flinched in fear but managed to stand at attention. "Get my stupid brother on the phone!" She ordered.

He saluted her. "Yes, Numbuh Three Sixt-"

"NOW!" She screamed, cutting him off. A soft squeak could be heard from the officer as he began typing away. "I swear, if he's not in a S.C.A.M.P.E.R..." Rachel muttered through gritted teeth as her friend got up and brushed herself off.

She tapped her foot impatiently until the officer stood up and called out to her, stuttering from fear. "M-Ma'am, I have Numbuh 363 on monitor 7. Transmitting from vehicle bay."

The monitor switched over to show a young Harvey McKenzie. Upon recognizing his sister's furious expression, he froze in fear. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE!?" An audible gasp emerged from every operative within earshot. Swearing, or "Adult Talking" as it was known within the organization, was technically against the rules, not that anyone would've dared try to punish Rachel for it at that moment.

With Harvey's paralysis keeping him unwillingly silent, his squadmate Sonia stepped up, taking his place in front of the camera. Placing a hand to her head, she explained her sector's actions. "Ma'am, we elected to stay."

"Yes, I know! Why?"

"Because Ma'am, we're Kids Next Door. We don't run away."

Rachel sighed, unable to argue with that statement. "Still, you're just recruits." In an instant she'd gone from strict older sister to caring commander.

"Actually, we're technically full-fledged operatives. Sector W. Paddy may be home sick, but we're still a team." To prove her point, Sonia hooked her arm around Lee's neck, forcing him on screen with a sharp tug.

"You've only been active for a month. This was your first time up here. I don't want it to be your last."

The comms officer, his nerves calming as Rachel's anger dissipated, watched his commander with admiration.

"It won't be." Sonia replied, determination and enthusiasm erupting from her words.

"You're not scared?"

"Of course I am. But I'm more scared of what could happen if we aren't here."

Rachel stayed silent for a moment, knowing she would regret her next words, no matter what they'd be.

"Okay. Fine." She gave into the young operative's loyalty. "But if you're gonna stay, you're gonna have to work. Go help prep the S.C.A.M.P.E.R's. And actually, get Numbuh Mach 10 for me."

Sonia and Lee saluted before dragging Harvey off. A few seconds later, a young man with a pilot's helmet appeared in their place. "What's up?" He inquired, not having to bother with formalities.

"How many can you have ready?" Rachel asked, getting straight to the point.

"That depends. How much time do we have?" He answered with a question of his own.

"A minute and a half. Two at most."

"Well, like I told 86, we can probably get the next five done, but after that, your guess is as good as mine. Really depends on how much that thing messes up my hanger."

"Just five? How long does it take?"

"Ma'am, these were designed to hold one sector, maybe two. They're not buses. At least, not until we prep 'em."

"I know. Just... do what you can." Nothing was going satisfactory, so at this point Rachel was more rolling with the punches than actually trying to fight back.

"We are." The screen went black as the boy returned to his work.

"Okay, put me on the loud speaker." Rachel ordered her communications officer, walking over to his station and donning a headset.

"You're on."

"Attention all Kids Next Door operatives." Her voice resonated through the entire base. "We're about to get hit. We don't know with what, but it's probably not good. With the planetary bases lost, we are the last line of defense before Earth. We are fighting an enemy that we've never encountered, but an enemy undoubtedly like nothing we've ever seen before. But we can win. We always have. We always will."

"We have visual contact."

Rachel looked out through the gigantic glass dome that encompassed the bridge, focusing on the light green projectiles finally able to be seen amidst the planetic background.

As the final minute passed, one-by-one, operatives stopped their work to stare at the unavoidable attack. Among the final to cease work was Fanny.

"Are you scared?" Rachel looked over to her friend, her neck sore from staring up at the incoming objects. She stared into Fanny's eyes for a moment, making sure it was in fact Numbuh 86 who has said that, previously unaware that the toughest operative the KND had to offer could speak so quietly. So solemnly.

"Yes." Rachel thought about returning the question, but realized that by asking it, Fanny had already answered it.

Slowly, the young commander approached her main console, and was handed a mic from her predictive comms officer.

"Kids Next Door! Brace for impact!"