November 1st, 2552, 2:40 PM

Thomas
The world around me bumped often and worsened my headache which alerted me that I was still alive and coming to. I kept my eyes shut, not wanting to open them, not knowing what I may find or see. I kept them shut until I noticed the voices around me. I cracked my eyes open to get a glimpse. Boots lay before my eyes, they moved a bit here and there. I instantly noticed that I was in mechanized armor but didn't have my helmet on and also that I was laying on a metal flooring on my right side, which was numb. I leaned my head back and made out a vehicle, a transport hog.

"He's moving." A voice said above me.
I looked up to find a man leaning over me a bit, he slid his feet in closer to him and out of my face. I glanced around and found three other people looking at me.
"Wh-Where am I?" I asked the man as I flipped over onto my back.
"Mexico." He answered as he sat up straight. "Go ahead and take a seat." He finished.
He exteneded out his hand and helped me up toward the seat row. I sat beside him.

I looked out from my seat. I counted out four transport hogs in front of ours and two behind ours. I also noticed ATVs, which traveled alongside the convoy at the very front and back on each side. From what I noticed from the ones in the front, a person rode on the back of each one with a M41 Machine Gun, the belt of ammo hanging out of the gun and in their laps. I had never seen anyone use, or even with a M41 without a tripod or stationary stand before.

I looked back at the others, they all still had their attention on me, as though they where waiting for me to do something. I figured they where waiting for me to start asking questions, which I had plenty of.
"Go ahead." One of them said to me so I did.

I asked many questions. I asked what happened to Turf and how I got to Mexico, why I was in Mexico, what happened to the aliens, and other things. The man beside me answered. He told me that they had taken the entire camp, the inner command station and free station sectors. They then went though all the wounded, shooting some and leaving others. He added in that everyone in the convoy where all people from Turf, except the first vehicle.

He continued on about Turf, saying that the aliens had gone though and killed selected targets and left the others. After which they simply left. He told me that after awhile, Albatross dropships soon arived to drop off wounded personal, not knowing that the camp was raided. Notification was soon sent out and pelicans from MCAS Yuma where dispatched to Turf. From there we where taken back to Yuma, soon after we left into Mexico via the convoy just after the alien advancement was destroyed.

He told me that members of the Brazilan and Mexican armed forces, along with the bulk of the 15th Airborne where on their way to America and the two sides ran into eachother during the night when I asked him about it.

We stopped talking for a moment as our convoy came to a stop. I stuck my head out though the rails that travled from the back rests, up over our heads and to the back rests on the opposite side. I noticed a group of soldiers, maybe sixteen or so talking to the driver and inspecting the passengers in the first vehicle. We where at a picket line. They soon let them though and continued to let all of us go without inspection. I checked their insignias as we went by, they where members of the British armed forces. The hog bumped a bit as it came off the street and into dirt. I looked and realized that the street was destroyed from here out and that the land was nearly nothing but dirt now and destroyed hills, I took it as where the fighting had taken place and noticed some smoke ahead.

The group started talking up again about Turf and the aliens. They mentioned something to me that they had been talking over a few hours ago, saying they where starting to believe that aliens may be here to actually help. I instantly questioned their theory. They started their answer with a question, asking me if I had seen any of the green, ball like creatures during the fighting.

I started to think back but had a hard time remembering what happened. It took me a minute to remember and realize what he was talking about. They told me that the aliens had been fighting the small green creautes in Turf, meaning they weren't a alien of their race. They then made a theory about the four month wait, the amount of time the aliens sat in the eastern states and did nothing until we attacked, and said that they may of been busy dealing with the things, trying to get rid of them.

I thought over everything that we had been talking about and thought back to the information I had gotten back in Antarctica. Max said he believed that the aliens where of a non hostile nature also, way before we had even found out about them. The papers had also mentioned about the virus being a acutal physical form that opened up a person and got inside of them while they would be most unaware of it. The papers also said that the aliens had executed certain members and spared the others. I began to figure that if they where executing certain people, then the people they where killing where those infected and sparing anyone who wasn't.

I continued to think and asked them counter questions about why they came in such a manner, the take over of England, and other things. They answered back with questions that made since and I could see how they could be viewed as a non hostile nature in ways, but I still refused to believe they where friendly, no matter what anyone else thought.

We talked on slightly about it and a few other things, only stopping to watch a small squadron of Pelicans pass diagonly over our convoy and off over two giant dirt hills. I had turned away without noticing but quickly turned back. I realized that they weren't hills, but I couldn't tell from where I was. I got up and made my way down by the driver and where there where no bars to keep me from fully standing. I put my hands on the back of his seat and stood up completely, the driver glacned up at me for a second and then looked away.

My eyes where amazed. The things I had taken for as two hills at a quick glance where actually the four legged things we that we encoutered at Turf. They laid on their sides, defeated and destroyed. I also noticed the rest of the destruction that laid around from the battle. Tanks and jeeps sat there on fire and in pieces, bodies of both human and alien lay dead everywhere. There where other weird kinds of things that where there, which I took for to be alien weaponry. I actually rechgonized some from my fighting in England with the British and Russians while fighting them before they over ran everything. There where also allied infantry walking out among the wreckage and checking everything, easily a few hundred of them.

I looked out ahead and could see people walking around far out in the distance and a mobile camp that easily streched out to about a mile in width, there where also some near by units on the path of our convoy. I continued to stand there as we came up and passed a squad of mechanized soldiers from Brail that where on their way down toward the picket line. I continued to stand as we came up on another mechanized squad a bit further ahead. I checked their insignia as we passed to find out that the small squad was from the 15th Airborne, my unit. They where making their way for the camp.

I looked back as we passed them. One of them leaned over and whispered something to another one I took it for. He soon looked back and waved his right arm out, holding his gun in his left. I looked away and back at the others and asked if my helmet was on board, they said I was loaded on without one. I thanked them for the information they had given me before and prepared myself to hop out.

I warned the driver just before I stuck my right foot on the top of his seat. He cussed at me as I did so, glancing up and back out at the hog in front of us as I used the bars to pull myself up a bit further and onto the side. I glanced around real quick to make sure I wasn't going to jump into a group of soldiers and noticed that everyone was looking at me, even those in the hog in front of us where watching with interest.

I jumped off and landed on my feet, breaking out into a semi run on landing as I tried to stay up but ended up falling face first into the dirt and small rocks. I stopped on my stomach and looked back up at the convoy. It continued on, not even slowing down after what I did.
"You crazy mother fucker!" A voice yelled out.
I looked at the hog I had been in. The driver had his head sticking out the side and was screaming his head off at me, quickly stopping for a brief second as he looked back ahead to make sure he wasn't going to rear end the hog in front of him before returning his attention to yelling at me.

I watched the convoy continue on until the mans yelling was to faint to hear. I turned away and back down the way at where the others I saw eariler where. They where all jogging up to where I was. I got up to a knee when they arived, one of them pulled me up to my feet.
"Are you alright Thomas?" He asked. "And I don't mean by the fall, but with your time away from the outfit."
"I'm fine." I replied to the person as I glanced among them.
I glanced around everyone else, they didn't seem to excited to see me. I looked among them and stopped at the man who had helped me up.
"Ryan right?" I questioned.
"That's right sergent." He said chuckling a bit.
He patted me on the shoulder and turned to face the others.
"Everyone meet Thomas." He said among the others.
Most of them just gave a nod or a stared though their visior.
"This is third squad. The unforgiven and uncaring squad." Ryan stated. "In other words, they give out hell and take it back as well. Anyway, lets walk."
We turned and started heading off toward the camp.

I started the conversation between us with a question, by asking him how he had been since he was shot back in Antartica by Max's guards. I was supprised to hear him say that he was never shot, that one of the guards shot at him and the round pinged off his armor and knocked him to the ground. He told me he played dead until he figured he could get the jump back on them. Which by then he hadn't realized that me and the ODST soldier had cleared them out.

He then asked me where I had gone. He had gotten up and only found the ODST soldier and figured I was part of the wounded. He also figured I had been loaded up on the Pelican when the medical evac arived. He hadn't noticed I wasn't on the Pelican until they where almost out of Antarctica. I got a laugh out of it a bit. He was told Max had taken off and that another military team was coming in soon, he had figured they would find me. Hearing this made me a bit mad also, after what I had gone though and not realizing that more allies where on the way and could of gotten me.

We continued on walking for a bit in silence, thinking things over.
"What of the EWCU?" I asked him, breaking the silence.
"What of them?" He asked back.
"Better put, what of the aliens? I'm sure that will sum it up for me."
"The aliens?" He asked back again, looking at me for a second and turning his attention back out ahead of him.
He held off my question for a bit as we approched some guards that hung around the outside primeter of the outter camp tents.

They questioned us a bit and inspected us some before letting us cut in though the tents and into the camp.
"Well. We realized that they are only attacking larger nations around the world, mainly EWCU nations. Except for the recent fight here in Mexico, and the capturing of Engalnd. America is the only WWMF nation attacked. They had started off with India and Africa in the EWCU and just recently and suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked France, China, and Russia. Russia is currently holding its own against them do to the size of the nation and the number of people they can throw into the slaughter, as for China I hear it's about to be completely taken. Serves them right for invading Brazil, Mexico, and into America."

We stopped by some tents as a combat warthog passed by down the row before continuing on.
"The EWCU has fallen apart. Their government no longer has control of it's nations and command over its military. Not that where ones to talk, where right behind them." He finished.
"So this means that the EWCU nations are acting as independent nations?" I asked.
"Yes." He answered, grabbing a mechanized helmet that rested on a box of crates as he walked by, pushing it into my chest afterward. I took it.
We continued to walk in silence for a bit again. I went ahead and put on the helmet.

We continued cutting though a maze of tents and dirt roads until we finaly came up to a large open patch of land that lead out tents on the far side. Here Pelicans sat on standby and other things. Remaining jeeps and tanks sat here as well as masive amounts of contained fuel. We walked silently as we cut though areas, getting griped at by a few grease monkeys working on Pelicans here and there.

We soon re-entered the tents again and made our way though row after row of tents and people until we finally came out to what appeared to be the commanding quarters. There was a large tent ahead of us, easily thirty yards wide and fifteen feet high. It was the commanders quarters. We entered in.

We entered into the bigger part of the tent, a entrence led off to the side sections on the left and right sides. A large table sat in the back and small tables where all aligned up along the sides, gapping by the side entrences. People sat typing at computeres, talking over com systems, and mapping out things. We walked to the back by the large table.

Ryan walked in behind and sat down in the seat, a mexican soldier walked up and layed down a bunch of papers in front of him. I looked around real quick and then at Ryan.
"You..." I started, but was interupted by Ryan.
"Third in command." He answered, knowing I was going to ask if he was in top command.
"Oh... That's nice." I answered.

I glacned around the desk. It had a computer that I had never seen before and took it as a new one that had probaly been made before the alien attacks. There was tons of papers laying around on the table, pens, empty drink containers and a few bullets layed around on it too. A equipment belt sat on the edge. I also made out what I took as a map that was attached to the table, most of it hidden by the stuff on top.

I looked back at the belt and the words written on it, they read 'Steel, T.' It was my name, my belt. It took me a second to catch on as I grabbed it and opened up one of the pouches to find it empty. I looked at Ryan, he was reading over some printed requests.
"The papers inside, i've read them." He said. "Well be talking about that in a minute."
"How did you get it?"
"The Russians." He answered. "They found it as they where going to reinforce Max's position. They read it and know, it's also why they swiched sides. They found out that Max was a false and contacted us. The squad you meet up with was from that battalion obviously."
I looked back down at the belt and sat it back down shortly after, astonished that the Russians had found it.

Ryan soon wrote something down on a piece of paper and stood up. I looked up at him as he walked over to me a bit and sat on the edge of the table, facing me.
"Говорите на русском языке. Мы не можем впустить никого, здесь знают об этом только все же." Ryan said to me in Russian, asking me to speak in Russian so no one would understand what we where going to talk about, I could tell it was about the papers.

He asked me to tell him everything I had leared about the papers over time and everything that happened before I linked up with the Russians. I told him everything as he listened carefuly. We talked for a bit, third squad wispered a few things here and there about us as we did so. After about ten minutes I had told him everything, including things about my time in England as it fell.

He got up and walked back to his seat and stopped, standing there in though.
"Third squad." He said out, the team leader replied. "Rally the troop for briefing." He said to them.
Third squads team leader replied, saluted, and started out, the others behind him.
"You know the briefing. Get supplise while I do so with the others, where moving out." Ryan said to me.