A few rotations had passed, and Gabriel found himself and his fireteam walking toward the entrance of the camp. It was the team consisting of him, Siu, Choi, and Johnson. About a dozen miners were also at the surface. The gates were opened, and a cargo truck loaded with boxes rolled out. The dump truck followed. Both were loaded with ores, but the ores in the dump truck weren't contained in boxes. Behind the truck was the APC that Gabriel rode on to reach the camp. The fireteam had their combat gear and their weapons were fully stocked.

Right before entering, Choi turned to face her team. "I will stay inside. Siu and Johnson, you man the guns on top. Hoodman, you drive."

The soldiers nodded and entered the vehicle. Gabriel walked a bit slowly as he walked over to the driver's seat. He walked normally, though making it seem like he was confident on the outside. He was shivering slightly on the inside, though. He didn't want anyone else to know what he was worried about.

Gabriel sat in the driver's seat while Choi was down the hall, sitting on one of the rows of chairs that leaned on the side of the car.

He then started the engine. His seat was a bit high above the ground, enabling him to see well ahead. All he could see were the two vehicles and a flat wasteland that consisted of a combination of smooth stone and shifting sand.

Before Gabriel grabbed the steering wheel, he turned the GPS on. The red circle was his car, while the nearby green circle was the truck. He was tasked with driving to a refinery that was a bit far.

He began to drive slowly. After leaving the camp and letting the truck roll a bit far from him, he accelerated and kept the pace. Every few minutes, he had an urge to look behind him, but he resisted, as he was thinking that he would just see Choi's gaze staring back. He took a few deep breaths. He decided to let one thought go. He concluded that if he were to be killed while driving, then the whole mission would be compromised. He also thought that there wouldn't be another murder back in the camp. It would arouse suspicion and the chances of the killer being found were higher.

It had been a while since he heard back from the commanders at Amlin. It felt like forever since he had been at the colony. He wondered when he could go back there.

Although the GPS estimated that he would reach the refinery in five hours at the rate that he was going, it was probably going to feel long for him if he kept being paranoid about being killed. He also thought about another Fire Nation attack. Maybe they were going to be silent, or they would attack the camp again while he was gone.

Gabriel slowed down after a few minutes. Once the trucks picked up some distance, he slowly accelerated again. He only had to keep his eyes on the trucks and could see a little bit of the landscape on both sides of the one in front of him. So far, the landscape had been empty, and all he saw was the illuminated surface of the moon, with some rocks popping out of the group and other rocks lined with cracks.

To stay alert, he looked around multiple times, moving his head slightly. He also forced his eyes open, trying to keep his mind clear and not wanting to get a headache. His communicator was on standby, but he was still worried that he could get startled by the sound it made when someone wanted to talk. It was a little bit less quiet right now, though, as the rumble of the car's engine filled the air. It was certainly louder compared to when Gabriel was on guard duty. He hadn't done anything special in his career in special operations. So far, it had all been guarding miners, though there was that one fight where he had to defend the camp against the Fire Nation. He was still wondering why they haven't returned now that the enemy found the location of one of their mines. This was no time for him to let his mind wander. His main theory is that the Fire Nation didn't think the mine was worth raiding yet.

Soon, the territory was getting unfamiliar, even though the surface had been mapped. He knew that most of the terrain was just made of stone, but there were also pools of lava around the surface. Some parts of Polus were volcanic, and a lot of places were subject to earthquakes. In the areas that he and his squad had been in, none of those hazards were around.

Gabriel jolted a bit as he rolled over a hill, then calmed down as he drove across flatter ground. He slowed his breathing down to focus on the road ahead, but he also felt a chill, constantly wondering if someone was breathing beside him. He stared straight ahead and kept his eyes open. He had to continue being diligent, which was the main skill they instilled in the army, and now he was used to it, having served for five years now, though this territory was unfamiliar, and the anxiety of being millions of miles away from his family had attacked him multiple times.

After several minutes of driving, Gabriel took another glance at the GPS. He and the trucks were approaching the bottom of a ravine by the looks of it. There were no quick ways around and no way to drive up the cliffs. The only way was through, and it was going to take several kilometers.

Soon both vehicles entered.

The beep of Gabriel's communicator went off. He had been preparing for it in case someone were to give him advice.

"Hoodman, the car is barely able to fit between the rocks," Johnson's voice came in. "I suggest you widen the distance between you and the truck. We won't be able to use our machine guns properly, so we will be moving around the deck. Please keep it slow."

Gabriel slowed down slightly to let the people on top move around without being in danger of falling. As he let the truck get ahead, he noticed that his surroundings soon got darker, and now he could mostly see a mixture of black and dark purple, with only his headlights and the truck's taillights guiding him.

The darkness continued for a few kilometers before the road widened again. Gabriel put some distance between the car and the truck, and he saw what looked like a cliff on the horizon. He noticed that he was driving on flat ground, and nearby was a steep drop. He didn't know where it led. As he continued down the route, he saw that there was a pool of lava on the map.

"Hoodman, you may speed up," said Siu. "We're holding on to our machine guns. I can see the steep drop from here, where there is a lava pool."

Gabriel steered so that he was a bit far from the edge. They were at the last stretch of the route. He began to count down the minutes left on the route based on what the GPS said. He still wasn't in any rush. Although he calmed down a bit, he was still a little bit on edge, the thought of the Fire Nation still in the back of his mind.

Once he had gotten past the ravine, the road became a bit steeper. He then saw on the map that this was Mount Wanri, the mountain where the nearest refinery to the colony was. The road was wide, but so far, the hill wasn't too steep. When he went a bit higher up the mountain, guardrails started appearing. He followed the truck on the twists and turns up the mountain. Beside the car, the cliff face was a wall of purple stone. The road zigzagged up one side of the mountain until they reached a higher altitude. The mountain got narrower on the top and the road encircled the mountain. Gabriel wasn't counting the amount of time he spent climbing the mountain. He was just counting down the distance to the refinery. It was still a considerable distance, but within no time they were gaining a lot of altitude.

According to the GPS, Gabriel was now close to the top. He had a few more turns to go. After turning to the right and climbing up, the refinery was in sight, and it was easy to spot since Gabriel had a longer distance behind the truck. Although it was mostly dark, he could see some of the red lights scattered around the building. The building consisted of multiple tall towers, but most of it was in a mass of grey. The area was split into multiple metal buildings that were connected by overpasses. There was a tall silver fence surrounding it, more sophisticated than the one surrounding the camp where he was stationed. There were tall guard towers where soldiers stood.

Gabriel stopped and waited for the truck to move. When he was able to move, he drove past the metal gates, where multiple Space Marines waved him in. The mechanical doors were closed behind them. Gabriel parked at the place where he was instructed. After that, he stopped the car.

After the last few hours of driving, Gabriel took off his helmet. He was exhausted to the point where it felt uncomfortable on his ears. It was exhausting for him to be in a sitting position for so long and constantly being on the alert. He wiped a bit of sweat from his ears and forehead.

"I'll take off my helmet for a bit," said Gabriel. "Don't open anything before I tell you to."

"We'll stay here, Hoodman," said Siu.

He stood from his seat, and he leaned on it while stretching his legs. He looked over at Choi, who was doing the same thing. After a few minutes, he allowed people to open the doors, and he put his helmet back on. He then saw Siu and Johnson climb down the ladder that led to the roof of the car.

A few workers approached Gabriel's team. Beside them were the miners that were escorted. The factory workers were wearing a similar uniform to those the miners were wearing, though their outfits looked slightly cleaner. Everyone was led to the doorway.

A smooth metal ramp led up to a tall and wide gate. The door was twice as tall as a person and was split in two. Red lights dotted the outside. They turned green and brightened before each half of the door slid to the side. A second set of double doors slid open. More employees came from the outside accompanied by automated wheelbarrows. Each machine had a box to contain materials, with tracks that resembled those of a tank.

"I hope you had a safe trip going here," one of the employees said. He stood in the front, flanked by other employees and machines.

"We did, thanks to this Myrmidon unit," said the lead miner from the team. "They helped us feel safe. It took us a few hours to get here. Here's our shipment of polium."

The miners then went to their dump truck, followed by everyone else with their robots. They proceeded to dump countless rocks into each machine. Thirty robots were needed to contain all the ore that the truck was carrying. The ores were a dull color, but they were a brighter shade of purple than the rocks that comprised most of Polus. All the people outside grabbed boxes to carry.

They were taken inside. Everyone removed their helmets once the doors were closed safely behind them. Bright fluorescent lights were on the ceiling. There were small entrances that led to different rooms on each side of the hallway. Most of the floor was made of metal. There was a long ramp that took them higher up the building.

They walked down the hallway to a room where metals were collected. The room was spacious, and the ceilings were high. On one end of the room there was a big funnel that was blocked by a fence. There were small holes where you could put a tray in to dump the ore. The ore then slid down the metal chute into a dark hole. No one could see where the metal went from the room. Gabriel and the other members of the squad took a tray and dumped the contents. They also emptied their boxes and did the same.

"All those space rocks will soon be processed," one of the employees said. "The people downstairs will handle the rest of it."

"What happens when you finish refining?" Choi asked.

"When the metal is ready, it's loaded and taken back to Amlin before it's loaded onto a spaceship," another employee spoke. "Some of the metal is sent back to Earth, while the rest of it stays on Polus."

Everyone walked out of the room and back to the hallway. The employees dispersed, leaving the team of four Myrmidons alone.

"I think the drive here went smoothly," said Choi. "Well done, Hoodman. It must not have been an easy drive for you. I'll drive on the way back. I promise. Just sit in the back and relax."

"Thanks. It wasn't easy because the land was unfamiliar, and you never know what's out there," said Gabriel. "Although it seemed quite scary at first, the thrill made it fun."

"That's good to hear," said Choi. "Let's stay here for a bit because we just spent a few hours on a ride. I'll wait for Kipmi's call or decide after we're done relaxing. He's given us a bit of time to relax before we need to head back. He hasn't reported any enemy activity."

There was a map of the place on a screen on the side of the hallway. Choi looked through it before finding one of the many areas for relaxation.

"We may spend some time in this big room," said Choi. "We will also be allowed to eat and drink.

They walked through some rooms where there were lots of pipes that snaked from the floor to the ceiling. Some of the pipes ran across the ceiling. The area was wide it was one of the rooms where ores were processed, but the walls remained clean.

The lounge was a big, wide-open space where some employees sat on multiple couches. Some of them were occupied with something on their phone or tablet. A few looked up but Gabriel just kept walking with his group. They took off their headgear as it was safe to do so. They also took off the pieces of armor. Their vests lay beside them with their elbow and kneepads. When Gabriel took his armor off, he felt its weight come off his shoulders. He felt a bit freer, even though the protective gear had a negligible effect on mobility. Gabriel also removed his gloves and put them on his lap.

Gabriel sat in silence. Although his worries came to him, he didn't care and just allowed it to happen. He was worried about what was going on in the camp. If something went wrong, they would be notified. However, they were hours away, so it would be hard for them to help. At the same time, Gabriel kept thinking that there wouldn't be another murder. With fewer people, the killer would be more likely to get caught. Gabriel still hadn't let his guard down with his team, though. Nothing reinforced his trust in Choi and Johnson. Even Siu was suspicious to him, but those thoughts never affected him.

He couldn't relax too much, being constantly worried about being betrayed. There were all these mealtimes where people could unwind, and despite everyone being a bit on edge, they were still finding time to have fun. Gabriel barely shared anything about himself. He seemed to be a bit business-oriented, or he mostly talked about things that weren't too personal. Not that anyone cared. He wasn't trying to get attention, but instead he was trying to be invisible. It was probably just his imagination. He saw himself as a guy who could lighten up whenever they weren't on the field. Whenever he was smiling and laughing, it wasn't forced, and he wasn't under pressure to look happy, so he doesn't drag people down with his sadness.

In this room, he wasn't keen on starting any conversation. He wanted to be careful not to keep trying to discuss who the killer was. Maybe they were tired of hearing about it. Gabriel didn't want to voice his concerns about Kipmi and his half of the squad. He was sure the others were worried about the same thing. Gabriel himself wondered if they could come back in time to help them in case the camp was attacked.

"So, when we go back to Amlin, what would you want to do?" Choi asked. Gabriel guessed that she wanted to change the topic and remove the tension between the members by not asking any heavy questions.

"I would explore the rest of it and do all the fun activities there," said Gabriel. "It feels lonely, especially when there are only a few thousand of us. Earth feels a bit more appealing now. It's probably because there are more places to explore."

"Earth is fun if you're not in a warzone," said Siu. "But here in Polus, it feels like a small world. Exploring is dangerous, even though we've seen no life."

"We haven't studied too much about Polus yet, though," said Johnson. "There could be life. We could grow food in the soil, and there's water here."

"This place might seem exactly like Mars. It's barren, yet we'll find a way to enjoy ourselves in Amlin," said Choi. "But we've been on Polus for a few moons now. I'm guessing in about six moons we'll be allowed a break."

Gabriel found himself relaxing and leaning back on the couch rather than bending forward and keeping the muscles in his body tense. He could breathe more easily as well. There were low tables in front of the couches, but none of them put their feet up.

The four of them were the only ones talking while the employees paid them no attention. The miners that they escorted were scattered in the refinery, but some of them sat quietly in the lounge as well. They all leaned back on their seats. Gabriel was a bit exhausted, yet he felt a bit energized. He felt like his mind was clear, even though parts of his body were a bit tired.

Johnson brought his head down after a few moments of thinking. "I think I would enjoy playing video games at the gaming station and checking out a lot of new movies at the theater."

"Yeah, I would want to catch up on new releases," said Gabriel.

"Sounds like a good idea," said Choi. "In my case, I would spend time with my family as well. They all live in Busan."

"I remember traveling to Korea when I was twelve," said Siu. "It was during a period of peace, and it was safe to travel to places occupied by the Fire Nation."

"This past century or so was like that, mostly a cold war," said Gabriel. "But nowadays things have heated up again. I hope my family is alright. I want to check in with them again. On a positive note, I want to enjoy things in the colony and see everything it has to offer."

"I'm looking forward to the games," said Siu. "I hope they have some games where you can explore any virtual environment that seems realistic. I would need it especially since it's too dangerous to explore in real life."

A few more minutes went by, and everyone decided to eat. Gabriel took his time when eating his food. It didn't taste bad, but the food wasn't as appealing as some home-cooked meals and fancy dishes. Parts of the food were organic, while others had been preserved or modified in a lab. Gabriel couldn't tell the difference. He enjoyed the food a little, but after hours of nonstop driving and exhaustion, the food seemed more appealing to him. The mealtime was a quiet affair, with everyone focused on eating.

It had been an hour and a half since the Myrmidons arrived at the refinery. That was less time Gabriel spent driving, but the time didn't feel short for him. He had gotten the relaxation he needed, as well as some time he could spend with his team that had nothing to do with work. The path to the refinery was new and uncertain, and one of the scariest things about the drive was the sheer emptiness of their surroundings. That kept him on edge when he was driving, which was better than having a false sense of security. Downtime was rare at the base and the mealtimes there were short. There was almost no time to do anything before they had to sleep.

One of the miners approached Choi. "We're getting ready to go back, sergeant. We'll get our truck ready. Meet us outside."

"Sounds good," said Choi. "I think we've had a good enough break ourselves. We're almost ready to go back as well, even though we could also wait for Staff Sergeant Kipmi's call."

The miners gathered at the lounge, then they put on their helmets before walking out.

Choi and her group followed suit with their gear. They slowly packed their things as well.

"I'm ready to drive," said Choi. "Hoodman, you may sit in the back."

They walked out of the room and then out of the silence came the beep from Choi's communicator.

"Yes, sergeant?" Choi asked.

"We're under attack! Fire Nation soldiers are moving in!"

Choi's eyes widened and she slowly turned to the rest of her team. The other three halted and turned to their commander.

"Staff Sergeant Kipmi just called," said Choi, speaking quickly, but slowly enough to be understood. "He says they're being attacked. I don't know how long they can hold out for."

Gabriel began to panic internally, though he never showed it on the outside. No matter how much he wanted to panic, he stood tall and tried not to let his mind move too quickly. He wouldn't know what would've happened if they went back immediately.

"We could've left a bit earlier or later and it wouldn't have made a difference," Siu commented. Gabriel himself agreed since he knew that although they might've been expecting an attack, they didn't know exactly when it was coming. The others said nothing as they ran slowly through the halls and outside the refinery.