Always wary that the Invid Regency may come back to finish the job, we did an assessment of the whole Israeli base- the damage to the facility, the supplies, weapons, and equipment we had on hand.

We found too many dead bodies.

Finally, we all gathered in the main room.

"There's only maybe three days' worth of food at most," said the Israeli soldier.

"Hydroponics tank is shot," I said. "We don't have the equipment here to repair it."

"Our patients here," said Doc. "Their injuries are bad. If there was a place we could taken them, we will have to risk moving them."

Lieutenant Judith Sharavi then spoke with Sergeant Major Rebekah Avital in Hebrew. She then said somethingin Hebrew.

"I need talk to Sergeant Major alone," said Sharavi.

"What is our plan?" Laureline asked Gabe.

"We wait for now," replied Gabe.

And so that was what we did. There was not much to do except play games of cards from this deck of cards we found in the barracks. We had to do something to get off edge. I looked at Itzak; he seemed to be happy now.

Rebekah then spoke to us.

"We have a decision," she said.

We all went to the main room. Lieutenant Sharavi was there.

"We can not stay," she said. "We must go to New Masada."

"New Masada?" asked Gabe.

"The IDF provisional headquarters, located in the hills just west of the shore of the Dead Sea," replied the Sergeant Major. "Heavily fortified, with many tunnels and secret entrances."

"We are going with you," said Gabe.

"We could use that ten-ton truck in the garage as an ambulance," said doc. "I will have to be in the back with my patients."

"Lieutenant Gashtar, I must ask permission to borrow your Strike Garland, as Doc will be inside the ambulance," said Rebekah.

"Permission granted, Sergeant Major."

"Thank you, sir."

With Doc supervising, we carefully loaded the three wounded soldiers into the back of the ten-ton truck. I made a quick cursory look at the engine and instruments, tuning up whenever I could; the truck looked like we could drive it. I noticed the truck was made by Toyota Motor Company, a company that was evacuated from Earth twelve years ago.

After that, Gabe, itzak,Laureline, and I were on our bikes. Rebekah was sitting on top Doc's GR-002 Strike Garland veritech combat hovercycle. Lieutenant Sharavi got onto her own GR-001 Garland veritech combat motorcycle.

Sharavi gave a hand signal to the soldier driving the truck, and we moved out, leaving the bunker via a ramp. We went outdoors. The clouds above were raining upon us hard. I could feel some of the rain seeping under my CVR-03 armor.

One of us- either Gabe or Laureline or Sharavi or me, would move on ahead. If the coast was clear, we would signal the truck to move forward. We kept repeating this pattern even through this heavy downpour.

This was slow. We were averaging 5 kph, what with the darkness, the rain, and always having to check for an ambush from hostiles.

We spent many hours trekking through the land of Israel. It seemed endless.

I hoped that at least this rain would stop.

Itzak drove up behind us. "Invid!" he yelled. "They're approaching behind us!"

"Okay, peeps," said Gabe. "Let's prepare for battle. We cover the truck at all costs."

Gabe, Laureline, and I transforfmed our Cyclones into armor mode. Lieutenant Judith Sharavi and Sergeant Major Rebekah Avital transformed the Garlands and became encased inside the battloids. We opened fire at the approaching Invid mecha. I think I saw one of them go down before they closed in.

There were wounded inside the truck. Doc could not fight, as he had to look over his patients. We had to keep the invid distracted, and away from him.

Those of us on Cyclones frequently shifted modes, using our manuevuierability to keep the Regency mecha occupied, even while firing blasts at their direction.

Our battle with the Invid mecha was like a dance of death. The two Garland battloids provided the heavy firepower this time. I saw an invid mecha go down.

Then I noticed one of the Garlands taking a direct blast. I looked and saw a Regency war machine with two cannons mounted on the shoulders. That was what was called a shocktrooper, with more firepower thant the troopers we were fighting.

"You!" it said. I kept moving even as the shocktrooper fired upon me. The ground around me exploded, kicking up dirt.

As I continued moving around, both in armor and cycle mode, I noticed that thing was coming after me, specifically, and not the truck nor Gabe and the others.

Who was that?

Why does this guy keep coming after me?

I kept moving around, firing back, knowing that my next moment could be my last.

I managed to blast one of the shoulder cannons. I quickly noticed smoke coming out of one of the shoulders.

This shocktrooper was still dangerous even with one functioning shoulder cannon. I continued the dance, moving around even as we fired upon each other.

We kept moving and moving.

And there was amnother blast! The shocktroopers other shoulder cannon was a smoking ruin. It then flew away, retreating from us. I looked and saw the Struike Garland battloid, standing in the rain. For a moment I thought that was Doc, before remembering that he was inside the truck with the wounded.

"Thanks," I said to Rebekah.

The Invid were either taken down or withdrew.

"Doc says the patients are still alive," said Gabe.

Rebekah opened up the damaged GR-001 Garland battloid. I could see a mangled body inside.

That was Lieutenant Judith Sharavi.

The others and I removed our helmets and looked at the dead girl. Rebekah said a quick prayer in Hebrew. It was so sad. She could not have been more than twenty-five years old. She might not have even reached her twentieth birthday.

"Lieutenant Gashtar, we should continue," she said.

"Let's move out!" announced Gabe.

And so we did, leaving Lieutenant Sharavi behind, as the sky rained down.

Ooooooooooo

We continued our trek towards this place that Rebekah called the Dead Sea.

"The rain stopped," said Itzak.

I opened the visor of my helmet. I did not feel any raindrops hitting my face. I looked around; we weerre on a rough road in the middle of the forest.

"Where are we now?" Gabe asked Rebekah.

"we are on a road through the Judean Mountains," replied the Sergeant Major.

I looked in the back of the truck. Doc was with his two patients.

"Are they all right?" I asked.

"They are stable," replied Doc. "I would rather we get to our destination sooner."

We kept going, always on the lookout for the Regency. As we traveled, I noticed the trees were getting more sparse. There were no more trees, just bare rock as well as some low bushes and cactuses.

There were not many hiding spots for the Invid, though we were still on alert.

Eventually I saw a large body of blue water.

"There it is," said Rebekah. "The Dead Sea."

I sort of understood why she called it the Dead Sea. The land around it was desolate. There was very little plant cover.

"No wonder you want to hide here," said Laureline.

"It used to be a major resort area, over ten years ago," replied the Sergeant Major.

We continued along. We were now on this flat section. We would be able to see the Invid from a klick away. We continued, with the Dead Sea on our left.

They would be able to see us as well.

If the Regency were to attack, our only hope was that we could get reinforcements from the garrison at New Masada.

We kept going and going, with Sergeant Major Rebekah Avital leading the way.

I then saw some vehicles approach us on the road. As they got closer, I noticed there were two armored troop transports, escorted by VHT-1 Spartas veritech hovertanks and GR-001 Garland veritech combat motorcycles.

A man clad in an armored doublet approached us. Rebekah spoke to him in Hebrew; I figured he was the officer in command of this group.

"They will escort us to New Masada," said Rebekah.

And so we followed them. It was nice to have allies again. Still, we were warty of an ambush by the Invid.

We then approached this place with towers and turrets. I looked through mny binoculars and there were armed men manning them. This must be one of the entrances to this New Masada place.

We then in through a portal. The air inside was several degrees cooler than outside. I could see military police coming to greet us.

"I must debrief command," Rebekah said to the rest of us.

A soldier clad in rough gear spoke to us. "You are the guests," he said. "We can show you to temp quarters."

And so he did. The tempo quarters were just this bare room with some cots. I lay down on one of the cots.

Ooooo

There was not much to see here in New Masada. We were given a tour of the common arteas, including a recreation center with a pool hall, game tables, asnd video game consoles. We were shown the mess hall, with benches and tables and a window in the back where food was served.

"New Masada started operations in 1970," said a tour guide, a girl in a rough-looking uniform. "that was three years after Israel defeated its neighbors in a six day war."

1970.

That was long before my parents were born.

We went to the rec room and played some of the games there. Most of the soldiers did not speak very good English. Gabe and I played pool against these two soldiers named Aaron and Nadab. It took a few minutes, with Gabe and I ending up playing stripes.

In the end, Aaron and Nadab won.

"Good game," said Nadab, who spoke a little bit of English.

The two Israeli soldiers then looked stiff. I glanced at the entrance to the rec room and saw two IDF MP's with theier white helmets and armed with batons and pistols.

Accompanying the MP was a man who appeared to be in his late twenties. He looked to be an IDF officer.

"Lieutenant Gashtar," said the officer. "We must speak with you."

"Sure," repied Gabe, going with the men.

I decided to walk back to the temporary quarters.

"Where's Gabe?' asked Laureline.

"Our hosts want to talk to him," I replied.

Soon enough, though, it was my turn. I spoke to the officer inside this small office. He introduced himself as Major Amir.

I told him my story, of becoming a privateer for Trans Galactic, how the Golden Eagle was destroyed in orbit over Earth, how I crash landed in Africa, meeting Gabe and the others, and traveling from the Serengeti to Egypt.

And I was asked for more details.

"You may go," said the major after about a half hour of questioning. "The military police shall escort you to the temp quarters."

And so they did. They took us for questioning, one by one- even Itzak.

Rebekah entered the room. "We will feed you in the officers' mess," she said.

And so we ate there, sitting at the table. They served this paste which was hummus made from chickpeas grown in a hydroponic tank, along with some lamb meat. After our meal, we made use of the recreational facilities, playing more games.

"I wish they had a flight sim," said Gabe.

Ooooooooo

The next day, we got the news. We were escorted by the MPs to this conference room. It was a large room, with this painting of soldiers in desert gear.

At the head of the table was this uniformed man in his mid-fifties. He had dark hair, a beak-like nose, and a close-cropped white beard. Accompanying him were other soldiers, who were apparently assigned to his staff. Also sitting in the room was Sergeant Major Rebekah Avital.

"Lieutenant Gashtar," Said the man, "we have come to a decision. We deny your request billet you and your crew here in New Masada."

"Understood, sir," replied Gabe.

"Still, you did rescue two of our soldiers," replied the older man. "If you are tired of fighting the Invid, we can make arrangements for you to smuggle you to Egypt. Our deep cover agents there can help you transition to a civilian life. There are those in Pharaoh's government that sympathizes with our cause. Many of us too wounded to fight were relocated to Egypt."

"An offer of a peaceful life," said Gabe.

"You have done more than your share in our worldwide cause to chase the Invid off the planet," said the man. "Each of you can inform Sergeant Major Avital here of your decision; she has my ear."

We were escorted back to the temp quarters. We all sat on the cots.

"I am not surprised we would not be offered a permanent billet," said Gabe. "This place is hurting for supplies, especially as they are treating those wounded soldiers we brought here."

"A peaceful life in Egypt," said Itzak.

I looked at him. Maybe living quietly in Egypt is not that bad. They had all the comforts of civilization.

And yet, we would be prisoners there, unable to leave Egypt without risk of being killed by the Regency's blockade forces, the way Hermes was killed.

The way Judith Sharavi was killed.

There was no guarantee that the UEF would be able to liberate Earth soon, or ever.

"If any of you take the offer of Israel to be relocatedto Egypt," said Gabe, "there will be no hard feelings. The general was right. Each of you have done more than your share of fighting the Invid."

This offer was on our minds even as we had supper and used the recreation facilities, as well as having a hot shower, which was a luxury to me these days.

Oooooooooooooo

Our decision was made.

And my decision is to stand with Gabe.

We were all in the garage. The IDF has provided us with the ten-ton Toyota truck, as well as food and weapons and ammunition and medical supplies.

We would continue our fight against the Invid Regency.

Sergeant Major Rebekah Avital approached us. She looked at Itzak.

"Do you want to go with them?" she asked.

"They are the family I have," replied Itzak.

"I want to thank your people here for their hospitality," said Gabe. "We are heading east; there are leads regarding Resistance operations, including a fighter wing."

"May the blessings of our Lord God HaShem be with you all," replied Rebekah.

Itzak and I got into the cab of the truck. Gabe and the others rode out of the garage, and I followed them. Within minutes, we were out at the daylight, with the waters of the Dead Sea in the distance.