Through the binoculars, the command centre was teeming with life, which sits in a crater where the nuke struck. Soldiers were seen marching past, some guarding the watchtowers and shining light on the ground around it, some carrying supplies to makeshift depots at the base. Tanks lined up row after row and attack choppers at a makeshift helipad took off. Doug put down his binoculars and radioed in.

"Is everyone in position?"

"Yep, we're all in," reported everyone.

"Vespin, give me a number count."

"Wow, there are far too many to count."

"Roger that. Terry, have you tapped in to their radios?"

"I've intercepted a report from them. Six commanders will be here by midnight. It's a good chance."

"Good. By 11:30, everyone is to maintain radio silence. Synchronize watches to 11:25. I want everyone out by 12:15, once the assassination is complete." Doug put the radio back to its pouch behind his back and looked through the scope of his rifle. Maddie was beside him and both of them were alone at their hiding place.

"Yee Lin, I was wondering. If this operation fails and we die, we'd miss the 'fun'. So we should have some 'fun' now," said James.

"Aw, come on. Don't be so negative. It's going to be successful," replied Yee Lin.

"Take this as a 'precautionary measure'. If we die tonight, we should at least be happy and cherish the moment," said James, sweet-talking his way into Yee Lin's mind while fiddling with her blue hair. Yee Lin just giggled.

"So, what are we going to do for the next 35 minutes?" asked Doug.

"Come on, commander. We've got a job to do," replied Maddie playfully. Doug giggled a bit and looked through his binoculars. He aimed towards a small slit on the ground where James and Yee Lin were hiding. He saw them 'getting it on'.

"Man, they're on," commented Doug. Maddie turned and looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"They are. Wow, Yee Lin raised her leg."

"Gimme that." Maddie snatched the binoculars from Doug. Doug frowned. Maddie looked at the sight with her mouth gaping open. Doug snatched his binoculars back.

"Are you surprised? I thought we did that last …………"

"Shut up, Doug," said Maddie playfully. Doug gave her a peck on her cheeks.

"What was that for?" Maddie rubbed her flushed cheeks.

"For stealing my binoculars," said Doug, before looking at the location again. Maddie just shook her head before looking through her sniper scope.

Vespin, who was hiding with Ivan at a ruined structure a thousand yards away from the base, was trying to make a conversation with Ivan.

"So, how long have you served in the armed forces?"

"Ever since this war started"

"So, it's been five years. Then how long were you in Alpha team?"

"Why are you asking more questions? You a journalist now?" Ivan started to get annoyed.

"Hey, I was just trying to make a conversation. You don't have to be so mean."

"Now's not the time to make conversations. You know that killing them all will shorten the war?" Vespin kept quiet.

"Good, remain low while I try to get those bastards."

At another location, which was across from where Ivan and Vespin were hiding, Terry, Cheryl and Peach were looking over a ledge near the base. They were the nearest to the action, and they had a completely clear view of the field. Sadly, it's too late for the snipers to know about this. Terry spotted the convoy entering the compound. The convoy was escorted by a new kind of vehicle that looks like it was pulled out from The Matrix. It had a pilot controlling humanoid machines that had machine guns as hands and walked on two legs. Even Doug was surprised that the Nationalists had that in their arsenal. Vespin pressed a button on her cyborgs' eye to take a video record of the beast. Nevertheless, the team remained unmoved on their assassination plan. Everyone started counting down.

"10"

"9"

"8"

"7"

"6"

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

In unison, they sniped all the commanders who were at the scene that were about to enter the tent. The army got into disarray. The new war machines started moving about, finding for the assassins. The ground troops started moving into all locations, searching for any hiding spots around the area.

"Ok, it's our turn now," said Terry, and all three of them came out of the barricade and fired at the pilot of one of the machines. The pilot was killed, and the troops near it spotted them. Terry, Cheryl and Peach ran away, distracting the other machines to follow them. When most of the troops at the base left, the rest came out of their hiding places and killed the rest. They were willing to do more than just killing the commanders. They've set up charges around the base, and then leaving the base. With a push of a button the base blew in a bright orange that filled the night sky.

"That one bases less to take care off," commented Doug. The rest of the team scuttled off away as far as possible, to a rally point they decided. After reaching the rally point, all they had to do was wait.

Running from Nationalist forces was no easy task. They keep catching up on you as you try to lose them. That's the situation with Terry, Cheryl and Peach. The machines the Nationalist forces had were hot on their trail. Soldiers were not seen for a while although they had been chasing them for almost an hour. Terry tapped into the Nationalist's radio signals and heard they're coming in with airstrike against them. But there was one piece of news that put a smile on Terry's face despite the situation. He heard that all the officers in the region have been assassinated, but left a few corporals who now couldn't control their slave armies. That explains why the foot soldiers that were on their trail were slowly dispersing away, using the pursuit as a form of escaping Nationalists' grasps.

"Hah! Come get us with your dwindling numbers, you fascist pigs!" yelled Terry at the mechs before turning at a corner. They all hid behind a building to lose the mechs the Nationalists were using to track them, and also to catch their breath.

"Everyone here?" asked Terry.

"All body parts intact," replied Cheryl, huffing away. Peach just wiped her forehead. Then they heard a sound of machine rotating faster and faster. They all lie face flat on the ground as the mech that found them shot through the walls with thousands of bullets. Not risking a minigun overheat, the minigun stopped, and the mech waited there for blood to flow from the corner. But from behind the corner, Terry pulled the bolt on his rifle and looked ready to strike back.

"Ready?" asked Terry. Cheryl and Peach gave a nod. Terry then leaps out of the corner, firing at the mech, but missed the driver. The driver tried to fire at Terry, but Cheryl peeked out of the corner and shot the arms. The driver turned the mech around, but felt a gun pointing on his head.

"Sogni d'oro, figlio di puttana!" said Peach before firing a shot on his head, blood splattering all over her. She pumped her shotgun and a bullet case came out.

"Okay, any one can ride this?" said Peach, standing triumphantly on the downed machine.

"Damn, you are fast!" commented Terry, recovering from the ground. Cheryl wiped her sweat over her forehead.

"No one knows a shotgun like I do," said Peach. Then another mech appeared behind Cheryl. Cheryl turned around to see the minigun already rotating, going to spew out lead from its six barrels. Everything went in slow motion for her. Peach leaped from the first mech and got in front of the second mech, firing a few shots as she landed from being airborne. The shells burst the poor bugger's head, giving a new meaning to the word 'headless zombies' as the body still controls the machine. The machine acts as though on its own free will, but died down soon after. Terry was impressed by her marksmanship. The two girls celebrated the moment.

"Rather than standing around celebrating this minute victory, we should be going. The helicopter arrives in three hours," stated Terry.

"Well, aren't you going to steal one of these mechs? This could be valuable for our continuous war against the Nationalists," stated Cheryl. Terry sighed and hopped on the mech, removing the carcass lodged in the exoskeleton of the mech, then commandeering the mech on his own. The start was a bit shaky, but he managed to gain control of it.

"Hop on. This will take us to the rally point faster," said Terry.