DISCLAIMER: I do not own Falling Skies or the characters... if I did, then I'd be rich. :D Anyway. No slash or other romance, just pure angst and possible violence. Actually, make that probable, because I write violence a lot. Season 2 ish I'd suppose. Anyway. Read & Review...

A/N: Muah! Time to kick it up a notch! Everyone ready? Gotta get some pretty serious war in soon. :)

BEN POV

There it was. An entire company of mechs, skitters and fish-heads moving our way. It was clear they knew where we were, and clear they were planning on wiping us off the face of the earth. Perhaps me murdering one of their overlords had pissed them off. Good and bad. It was satisfying to know that, but at the same time, we had to get the hell out of here as soon as possible. I ran back to camp as fast as possible, dodging around the guards who seemed a bit startled by my sudden appearance. "Captain Weaver!" I screamed, trying to get his attention from the middle of a large group of people. Everyone turned to look at me, surprised. Ignoring them, I weaved through the crowd to reach Weaver, who, interrupted, turned to look at me with an expression somewhere between annoyance and curiosity.

"What is it, Ben?" He asked, with his 'I'm busy' tone falling from his voice.

"There's an army of skitters and mechs heading our way. Dozens of them," I said, and all annoyance faded from the group. People began to move towards the buses and trucks to get them loaded even before Weaver spoke.

"Everyone get prepared to move out! We need every available fighter to get ready to hold them off until the civilians make it out!" I got lost in the crowd for a moment before running forward and catching up to my dad and Hal. Somewhere up ahead, Maggie and Jimmy were pushing civilians to hurry up. In the far distance, I could hear the echo of mechs moving closer. I hoped they didn't bring in air support. There was no way we could hold that off.

"Where's Matt?" I asked, looking around and realizing I couldn't see him.

"He's with Anne helping to move the wounded so we can transport them better," Tom said, grabbing several weapons from the cache. We all lined up at the edge of the camp, where a barricade had been rapidly constructed. It wouldn't last very long. It might just give us a few more seconds of defense before they broke through. In the back of my mind I wondered how many people would be lost in this battle.

The evacuation was going smoothly. I lay behind the barricade in between Hal and Tom, guns sighted on the distance where I could see flashes of silver through the trees. "Hold your fire," Tom ordered, and there was a collective build-up of anticipation. We would wait until they were all gathered up right in front of us... and then...

"Now!"

Grenades went first, to take out as many mechs as possible. It went surprisingly well, taking out nearly seven of the ten mechs that had arrived. The Berserkers were the only ones who had mech bullets, so they would be firing at the three remaining mechs. We took aim at the skitters, dropping as many as possible. A missile landed right in front of me, blowing dirt in my face and I ducked down as another followed, pulling Hal down beside me. The second hit with enough force to blow both of us back, and I grunted as dirt flew on top of me. A split second later we scrambled back up and began to attack again. I saw a fish-face behind the crowd of skitters, and I couldn't help but adjust my aim. A split second later, the creature went down. The skitters continued to run forward with furious speed, hissing in rage. Again and again they went down. That's when another line of mechs came forward. Over a dozen of them. My eyes widened in disbelief.

"Pull back! Now!" Tom yelled as a series of explosions rocked the barricade, knocking several people back. We took off at a run, and I was relieved that the civilians had gotten out of sight. I looked back to see Hal straggling at an almost-run. Behind him was a wounded fighter being supported by two others. I was surprised to see that the army of mechs and skitters had stopped and were drawing back. Why weren't they pursuing us? The bad feeling I had increased exponentially. Something was wrong.

"Dad, we have to go-"

I broke off to a violent rumbling beneath my feet, so strong that I would have toppled over if my dad hadn't reached out and caught me first. What was going on? I looked back. Hal had fallen over, stumbling on his hands and knees in a way that made me cringe.

"Hal!" I screamed, running towards him. My ears were ringing, a static echoing through my head. It pounded violently, almost bringing me to my knees too. The ground in front of me crackled and split, a long crevice appearing in the earth. Part of it lifted upwards, and smoke poured from the slit. I stumbled backwards as the ground continued to crumble at my feet, and the ground raised further, large sections of the earth falling away. From the collapsing of the earth, a long metal leg appeared. Then another. And another. All red. The metalloid slithered from the earth; huge, with six long legs moving at its sides. It was like a spider, yet it had a wolf-like snout and long, curling wings around its back. Two sharp, powerful pincers appeared from its muzzle, entire body smoking and steaming. A low snarl – or growl – reverberated through its shaking frame. All around me were the sounds of more creatures rising from the earth.

My head was on fire. Practically swimming in lava. The crackling and static and ringing was not going away. It was getting stronger, louder, more powerful. I was sure my head was going to crack open. It reached the point where I was writhing in the dirt, screaming in pain, aware of nothing even as my dad dragged me away from the edge, and the creature that was still getting ready and freeing itself. It was like the time when the radio had been used, the one to interrupt the skitter's signal. I couldn't think or know what was going on around me.

And then, as if a switch had been turned off, everything went silent.