Silence is golden, duct tape is silver.

Durbe continued to repeat that in his mind, attempting to drown out the snoring that came from Gilag and Alit. Shark had simply placed his pillow over his head. The lucky guy had the ability to sleep on anything, so long as nothing could be heard.

And it was just his luck that Durbe would be the total opposite of that.

"I'm seriously considering getting some duct tape," Durbe whispered to himself. He sat up, then yawned rather loudly. It didn't matter.

No one else could hear him, anyway.

As soon as the silence began to finally take place, a huge BOOOM sound came from outside, followed by the violent quaking of the base. Alit screamed and rolled off the top bunk, landing on Gilag when he scrambled from his bed. Shark growled and emerged a little more calmly, and Durbe simply jumped from his spot.

"What's going on here?" Shark asked, his hands balled into fists that were raised in anger.

"Sounds like a bomb just went off," Durbe replied, yawning again. (He seriously needed this sleep.) "C'mon, let's go see what's up."

All four of them went speeding out of the cabin just as another BOOM came, with another shaking of the Earth they stood on. Gilag and Alit almost tripped several times, while Durbe and Shark continued without a problem.

Shortly after them, the general came rushing from her area, with most all of the other soldiers. Whoever wasn't there was asleep, and lucky as could be at the moment. No one wanted to be awake right now.

"What the hell happened?" the general questioned, her rifle gripped in her hands. "Did a bomb go off on accident?"

"I don't think that's the case," Durbe whimpered, his eyes wide with fear.

"And what makes you say that?"

The gray-haired soldier gulped. "That," he said, pointing to the soldiers that stood outside the gates. Many of them had grenades clutched in their hands.

Can't I ever get some sleep around here for this kind of thing!? Durbe wondered as he raced to get his rifle.

Because at the moment, it would've been nice if he could see what he was going to need to shoot.

A few more explosions came from the area that everyone was fighting in. Durbe growled when he came back outside, then took aim on some of the soldiers from the enemy's territory. He shot a few of them, and was unable to tell whether he had killed them or simply wounded them. But did it matter?

Either or would cause them to stop attacking the base.

BANG! Another soldier from the opposing territory was down. Durbe smirked at his work. He was getting better with every shot he took.

And then, a shot rang out. But it wasn't from the rifles on his side. Durbe yelled when the bullet pierced his skin, going straight through his shoulder and not stopping until it became wedged in the cement behind him. Blood spattered on said cement, making Durbe start to cough.

"Durbe!" Shark yelled, dropping his rifle and running over to his injured comrade. "Durbe! What the hell happened?"

"They...s-shot me." Durbe managed to choke it out before he moaned in pain. He stared ahead of himself, then gasped when he saw what was being hurdled their way.

A grenade.

"Shark! Watch out!" Durbe croaked, shoving the purple-haired soldier clear across the other end of the small field section. (Thanks to him stumbling over)

And before Shark could react, the explosion occurred. His hair went blowing backwards, and shards of the ground went flying everywhere, forcing him to close his eyes and shield his face.

Durbe was able to stifle a horrifying cry of pain as he was thrust backward. He landed hard on his arm, and a bunch of loud CRACK sounds were heard, followed by a pained scream from him. His vision was becoming hazy as he tried to stand up.

That didn't work for long. In a matter of seconds, Durbe fell to his knees, clutching his right arm as he moaned in pain. Shark got up and rushed to his fallen comrade's side, grabbing his shoulders and propping him against himself.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Shark demanded, glaring and gritting his teeth as he stared at Durbe. "You just about killed yourself!"

"I-I know. But it's my j-job to keep people s-safe. So I d-d-did..."

Durbe didn't even speak another word. He simply fell against Shark, his vision beginning to blur even more. The gray-haired soldier smiled weakly.

I'm sorry, Mahpari, he thought. I may have just let my little moon fairy down.

And then, everything went black.

XxXxXxXx

The dim light poured into the tiny room, illuminating it a horrid red color. Despite being so small, the room currently housed over one thousand soldiers. Each one had a rifle clutched in their grasp, with grenades hanging on their belts, ready to be thrown. A huge hole in the roof was still being fixed, as were the two walls that had been blown away by the nuclear bomb from the other week.

On the balcony stood the leader. His violet eyes scanned the room, a demonic grin appearing on his face as he stared at each soldier individually. The shadows hid him completely from the soldiers below, but even at that, the deputy could still see his outline when he came up the stairs.

"Did you do what I asked you to?"

The deputy nodded. "Yes, sir. It was easy. I sent the soldiers over there, and they started blowing things up before I could even give the order to. I think they have it covered."

Now, the leader laughed, lowly and darkly. He turned, the same grin on his face as he stared into the sky-blue eyes of his deputy, Kite Tenjo.

"Good work, Kite. I'm impressed with you."

Kite smirked. "You should be Vector. But like I said, it wasn't a challenge." He walked to the balcony, being engulfed in the shadows as he stood next to Vector. His sky-blue eyes stared at the soldiers that littered the ground below. "So, what do we do now?"

"We wait patiently until it's time to strike again." Vector chuckled, his hand going into a fist as he threw it up. "This war will be ours. That, I can guarantee. Victory is mine!"

A snicker came from Kite. "Okay, whatever you say."

This made Vector turn around, a questioning look on his face. "Just what do you mean, Kite?"

"They called their best soldier back."

"You mean Durbe? Why on earth would they do that?"

"Because he's their best soldier. He always pays attention, he's very strategic, and can shoot a rifle. That's everything they need. He's perfect."

Silence surrounded them for a moment. Vector turned away, a growl emitting from his throat. "I suppose we'll have to do something about that, won't we?"

"We shot him, but I don't think we killed him. There isn't much else we can actually do. If we take him hostage and kill him, that could result in an invasion. Use your brain, Vector."

The orange-haired leader growled again and glared at Kite when he turned around. "You're lucky you're my deputy. Otherwise, I would dispose of you like a piece of trash. Besides, I wasn't planning an invasion."

"Then, what were you planning on doing?"

"That's a good question. I'm sure I'll figure it out soon, though. Right now, we should just worry about succeeding in this ambush."

Kite simply nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. I'll let you know if anything else changes."

The two walked away, preparing themselves for whatever might be thrown at them.