The squad had looked at the map and chose a place to go. They immediately walked in that direction, hoping that it was empty. With their guns raised, they walked slowly, making quiet footsteps. Gabriel and Larsen were guarding the rear, sometimes turning around.

With every turn and stretch, they were getting closer to the outside of the city. Their goal was to reach one of the shuttles that would take them through a tunnel. Kipmi had notified his superior of his plan.

Gabriel knew that he had something to fear, but he barely felt it. He barely felt the cold that was associated with being nervous, as he was still feeling hot and sweaty after a long fight. He would always turn a corner and expect an enemy to pop up at him and give him a small heart attack.

They passed by multiple towers. With two blocks left until they could reach the tunnels, they walked more carefully, preferring a slow path instead of walking straight down and possibly into a trap.

After turning one corner, they saw enemies walking quickly towards them. With four guns aimed at the Fire Nation soldiers, the Myrmidons made quick work of the enemies, and cleared the hall within seconds. They had to move quickly as there was barely any cover in that particular hall. They haven't seen any activity from either side in the areas that they explored before they got into a fight. They saw no bodies and the hallways were free of any clutter.

They managed to move down the entire hallway without needing to retreat into any of the buildings. They kept shooting at any enemies that would enter. Gabriel and Larsen were once again watching the rear.

The squad reached the next corner and saw nothing but the bodies of nearly a dozen Fire Nation soldiers that they just killed. They then decided to take a break. The distance they had walked was slightly longer than that of an American football field.

The next hallway was still long, but there were other paths branching out on the sides. After sitting down for a few minutes, the squad slowly continued their advance.

"Make sure you check for anything in the other hallways," said Kipmi.

The tunnels were seemingly endless, and Gabriel felt like he was trapped in a maze. There were just countless twists and turns. They had a map, though it didn't track people's locations.

Gabriel and Larsen took the hallway on the right while Kipmi went with Siu. The hallway that Gabriel went through was empty. Kipmi had told them that they found a group of Marines.

Gabriel and Larsen immediately ran toward them.

"Do you know where the enemies are coming from?" Kipmi asked.

The commander pointed to one hallway. They've only come from that direction. At the far side of the hallway, multiple bodies were piled.

"Our goal is to get closer to the edge of the city," said Kipmi. "We've been fighting hard, but it's necessary for us to relocate or else they'll be onto us. Hopefully we can hit them from behind as well."

"We could also go outside," said the commander. "More space compared to these hallways, which could sometimes be tight. There's always the possibility of getting hit from the air, though."

"What are you trying to do?"

"We're holding off the enemy, and every now and then we move places. We always want to make the enemy think and change their strategy."

Kipmi nodded. Individual units were encouraged to think independently and carry out orders in a way they see fit. So far, it had worked, and Kipmi hadn't lost any members of his squad while managing to kill a lot of enemies.

"We're going to spend the night at that side of the hallway over there," said Kipmi, pointing.

"Sounds good," the commander said.

More Marines returned to their makeshift camp. Gabriel counted eighteen in total, which was the size of two squads.

Gabriel's squad set up camp. Gabriel and Larsen were tasked with taking first watch after dinner, meaning they had to spend a few extra hours awake. Gabriel was barely moving, letting his muscles rest, and minimizing the risk of him hurting himself.

"Good night," said Gabriel.

"You too," said Kipmi.

Gabriel spent a bit of time checking his equipment. He cleaned his weapons regularly. He put his armor back on, grateful for the short moment he had when he didn't need to carry the extra weight.

Gabriel and Larsen went their separate ways while Siu and Kipmi slept on each side of the hallway. He was watching the part where the path had four directions. A few other Marines were there with him. Gabriel decided to spend some time kneeling. He needed to rest, but it wasn't a good idea to shoot from a sitting position. He was on one knee and watching one angle. The other soldiers had the other angles covered.

It was quiet for a bit. He didn't bother trying to measure time. He was just focused on guarding his area.

Gabriel heard gunfire, and he immediately saw some of the Marines shooting at the enemies in front of him. Gabriel began firing as well, and the enemies briefly hid behind walls. Immediately, everyone who was sleeping woke up.

Kipmi and Siu were putting on their gear. "Hoodman, I need you run to that side of the hall and help Larsen."

"Yes, sergeant," said Gabriel, and he was already running towards Larsen's position.

Gabriel and Larsen were guarding one hallway. So far, it was empty. They could clearly hear gunfire as the Marines were locked in a heated battle. There were times when things were a bit quieter, then the fighting would continue. Gabriel guessed that multiple waves of enemy soldiers were coming in to try and kill everyone inside. They could come from any side. Just because his squad had repositioned away from the center didn't mean that they were about to admit defeat just yet.

The lights suddenly shut down. Everything became a bit quieter, as there was less gunfire. The soft hum of the engines that provide air conditioning and oxygen had quieted as well. Thankfully, everyone had their helmets on, though Gabriel still felt a slight panic as he had to adjust to the power being cut again. He activated the night vision device that was in his helmet. He was looking ahead, though sometimes he looked at Larsen, who was standing to his right. The gunfire started again, though none of the enemies were walking to their position.

The hallway was still clear. Gabriel was breathing slowly. Out of the corner of his eye, he was looking at Larsen, who was also looking straight ahead. He was feeling tense as the battle continued.

A few minutes passed and Gabriel saw slight movement from Larsen, who looked like she was backing up. He and Larsen turned towards each other at the same time. Larsen was pointing her rifle towards him.

A lot of things happened in Gabriel's mind in quick succession. In less than a second, he had sidestepped and grabbed Larsen's rifle with one hand, concluding that she was trying to kill him. Larsen fired a few shots, but Gabriel was safely away from the barrel, and the bullets hit the walls.

Gabriel kicked Larsen's knee, stunning her momentarily. He took that time to grab the pistol in her holster and put it in one of his pockets. Larsen pulled the rifle from Gabriel's arm and threw it across the hall. Gabriel had no time to grab anything as Larsen was getting ready for hand-to-hand combat. Larsen pulled out a knife. Gabriel dodged the horizontal swing of her arm by throwing his upper body backwards.

When Larsen finished the swing, Gabriel threw a kick, hitting her in the stomach. She was staggered a bit, but she quickly recovered. The kick would send a normal person flying back a few feet. Larsen threw a few quick punches, which Gabriel blocked. She managed to land a punch at the base of Gabriel's neck, just above his armor, but didn't hit his throat. Gabriel couldn't afford to slow down. He threw punches at her body to slow her down. Larsen landed a kick right at the inside of his thigh. Pain flared as the force of the kick slammed against him. Gabriel managed to grab Larsen's waist and throw her before she could find a place to stab him.

Larsen's body slammed against the wall. Gabriel didn't give her time to recover as he slammed his foot down on her body. He was sure that she could feel the force from underneath her armor. He stepped back, wary of the knife. She got back up, knife in her right hand. She tried to stab Gabriel, but he caught her arm. He punched her multiple times with his free hand until he was blocked, and she kicked him multiple times.

He was focused on the fight, but he could still hear gunfire over the sounds of him hitting Larsen. He didn't have time to process everything, as someone he thought was close to him was attacking him. He wasn't too suspicious of her in the beginning, but now he was more worried about providing evidence that she was a killer. He couldn't call for backup. He was just silently hoping that someone would check on them.

Larsen threw a punch, forcing Gabriel to duck, but in the same motion, she swept his leg and Gabriel fell hard on the ground. Larsen pinned him with her left foot and was now trying to push her knife into Gabriel's throat.

Gabriel held up both of her arms with his own. He tried to kick, but it wasn't working. Her knees were pinning his legs down, and he could only look up and try to push her off of him with his arms. Rifles were laid on the floor a few feet away from them. Gabriel also wasn't going to risk shooting and possibly killing Larsen, even though Larsen had every intention of killing him. He would just make himself guilty, and it would be hard for him to prove otherwise. He still had both pistols, one in his holster and another one in his pocket.

Gunfire was still erupting, though there were longer intervals when there was silence. As Larsen tried to sink the knife into Gabriel's throat, he quickly pushed her hands up. It created a space for him to sit up and push Larsen off of him. His legs were freed. Larsen lunged forward, but Gabriel kicked her chest, pushing her a bit. It gave him time to pull out his pistol, forcing Larsen to slow down.

"You wouldn't," said Larsen.

"You're right," said Gabriel. "I can't do this."

Gabriel backed down so that he had room in case Larsen would try to attack him. He needed to take her alive, though he didn't have anything he could use to detain her.

With one hand on his pistol and keeping his eyes on his enemy, Gabriel dialed Kipmi.

"Sergeant, I think I found the mole," he said. "Larsen tried to kill me earlier."

"They're not going to believe you," said Larsen.

"I'm sure I'll be able to convince them," said Gabriel.

Either one of them could play the victim, though it was no use as neither of them were wounded.

Kipmi arrived just as they finished talking. The hall was now silent. He raised his rifle at Larsen, who raised her hands in surrender. Siu was standing behind Kipmi.

Kipmi then used a strong rope to tie her hands behind her back, while Siu grabbed everything that Larsen was carrying. Kipmi then made a call.

"That rope will keep her tied until the military police arrives. It's used to detain insubordinate Myrmidons," said Kipmi. "I'm not sure how long we can hold out for, but they said that a ship is coming here to help us. Let's just hope that it will end the Fire Nation's assault on our city for now."

The Earth Kingdom's defenses were battered. Though the Fire Nation had broken through a few places and entered the city, they had done so at a great cost, as countless bodies lay dead, and vehicles reduced to heaps of metal littered the field once the dust had settled. The defenders were stretched thin by the seemingly endless hordes of soldiers that the Fire Nation kept throwing at them. Yet most parts of the city looked pristine apart from the entrances that the Fire Nation pushed through.

It was now the seventh day of battle, and the weary defenders once made another stand. Vehicles were repositioned to maximize coverage. As each day passed, the battles became more intense as the Fire Nation began attacking multiple areas at once, preventing the Earth Kingdom from concentrating their forces on guarding one entrance. The field had multiple craters from being hammered repeatedly by bombs.

The first assault wave arrived, with tanks speeding forward. Helicopters flew ahead and sprayed thousands of bullets within seconds, forcing the infantry to take cover until they could shoot down enough aircraft. The tanks weren't far, and the infantry began appearing from cover and shooting.

Earth Kingdom tanks fired as quickly as possible to destroy the enemy vehicles. The Fire Nation responded by using the heaps of metal as cover to shoot their enemies. A few well-placed Earth Kingdom snipers picked off the attackers who were hiding behind vehicles.

A squadron of planes made a quick bombing run accompanied by a deafening screech that destroyed a big section of the defensive lines. While there was a gap, Fire Nation tanks funneled into the field, with soldiers beside them. They were immediately fired upon by both sides, but groups of tanks spread out to cover their allies.

The planes attempted a second run, but a few were shot down. The bigger guns were behind the Earth Kingdom's main defenses, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies. For every Fire Nation tank destroyed, they managed to move a few meters toward the city entrances.

An Earth Kingdom spaceship arrived and fired missiles towards the Fire Nation defenders. It moved a little closer for accuracy. Smaller cannons made quick work of the planes that tried to shoot rockets at it. Its hangar emptied and deployed planes and helicopters that shot down the Fire Nation's convoy, which stretched at least five kilometers. Now that the Earth Kingdom had air superiority, the Fire Nation was retreating.

Planes deployed Marines to assist the defenders. They immediately began administering medical aid to the wounded. Some of them immediately went inside as a few groups of military police officers answered the call of a Myrmidon squad that was on the verge of destroying itself.

Hours had passed and Kipmi had just gotten the call that reinforcements had arrived. Gabriel sighed in relief, and everyone else cheered. Gabriel was a bit suspicious that Larsen had been pretending to be happy, though he admitted to himself that she was quite convincing to someone that she didn't try to kill just a few hours prior.

Eventually, a few military police officers arrived. The Marine squad near Kipmi had also been present.

"Thank goodness you're here," said Kipmi.

"We're going to take Sergeant Larsen to our ship for questioning," the group leader said. "We'll wait for you at our dropship."

Two officers grabbed Larsen and they walked down one hall.

"Well, that's the mole taken care of, I hope," said Kipmi. "Hoodman, I want to talk to you for a bit."

Dreading what the conversation was going to be about, Gabriel wordlessly followed Kipmi as they walked away from the group.

"I totally believe you now," said Kipmi. "I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this."

"I feel like I have a big target on my back, but I also think the mole would've tried to blame someone while they killed the whole squad," said Gabriel. "I'm glad I have enough proof now and that you believe me."

"Now that I think about it, I was thinking that Larsen didn't get as many kills as I or some of the squad members did, but there's no way to prove that. She tells me that some of you did more of the heavy lifting than you did."

"Do you think she killed Ghuvi?"

"It's possible that she did, though she must've had some help with cutting the power. The power's out again. There's no way that it's an accident."

"I don't think it's an accident either. There must be another mole that might be a civilian."

"Well, we are going to solve this case together this time. I was a bit too harsh on you earlier in your detective mission."

"It's fine. Really, though my personal quest wasn't as fun."

"I'm a hundred percent on your side now. I promise."

"That's good, sergeant. Siu has always been on my side. The three of us will make a great team."

"Oh, great, now I'll have to be the third wheel."

Gabriel laughed. "Seriously? What happened to the rule against fraternization?"

"The rule still exists," said Kipmi. "If you wanted to try something with her and she feels the same way, I'm not stopping you. Just make sure you do most of it while we're a little bit more relaxed, and definitely not on a mission. I really think you two are cute together."

"Not gonna lie, we work well together and bond quite well, sergeant."

Gabriel was surprised that his commander was teasing him. Clearly, the older man had more experience with women, so he would be able to sense the signs that Gabriel had a crush. It was sometimes necessary to lighten up in the middle of war, and Gabriel guessed that this was Kipmi's way of using humor to lift his spirits. He briefly thought about the times his parents could tell if he had a crush on someone. Currently, he only had a small amount of time to think about Siu, and that was when he was going to bed, when he was alone and not in the middle of a task.

They then walked back towards Siu, who was standing silently with the Marines.

"We're going to solve this mystery together, Siu," said Kipmi. "Hopefully we can get an answer out of Larsen and find out who's really sabotaging our squad."

"I'm glad you're with us, sergeant," said Siu.

They then walked to the dropship where the military police awaited the squad. The ship then took them to a spaceship that hovered above the colony.

As the group of police officers walked forward, the squad was stopped by a group of Marines.

"Staff Sergeant Kipmi, I'm glad you're here," said a Marine. "You won't believe who we found."

The squad followed the group of Marines toward a cell block. Each cell was guarded by an energy field that could be toggled by a switch. Multiple cells were filled with a prisoner, and Gabriel froze in shock as he looked inside one of the cells.

"Tanbur?"