MINDSPRING- I forgot to thank my reviewers!

SomeOtherPerson- Thank you for being the story's first reviewer! The support is awesome- hope this chapter meets your expectations!

TheMacUnleashed- Okay, those compliments really meant so much to me! Thank you so, so much!

Sorry if the second part in the last chapter was sort of confusing. I'll try to clear it up by only using one POV per chapter from now on, so they can be more detailed and longer. And, don't forget—please review!

~Caitlin~

We had been driving for two hours, and the sight of the big white ranch house was a relief. Not that I don't love Mo and Nat like sisters, I do; it's just that sometimes they act the part too well. They had insisted on playing Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love a Bad Name' over and over again, yelling the words at the top of their lungs. It got old really fast.

The day was perfect. Blue sky, big white puffy clouds, a little warm but with a perfect breeze to cool us off. I took a sip of my water and nearly choked on it when Nat slapped me on the back of my head. "You lied to me!" she cried, acting like a drama queen. "You said this was the one with, like, thirty-two bedrooms and a pool!"

"It does have a pool- that pond, right over there! Don't you see it?" That earned me another little slap. I laughed with Mo as Nat frowned and pouted.

The ranch house was completely visible from the road. A gravel road led up to it, and there was a barn and cattle area right behind it. A red metal fence surrounded the entire property. Fields bordered the cluster of buildings on all sides. As we neared, I realized it was eerily silent, even though it was the middle of the day.

At first, I thought that someone… well, I'm not really sure I knew what I was thinking at that point, because it was all too quickly overtaken by horror.

There were bodies strewn all over the lawn of the ranch house. Bodies. Human bodies, wearing some sort of white armor that covered the entire body, including their heads.

I stopped laughing. "Oh, my God…" Natalie breathed, making the sign of the cross. My stomach dropped, and I felt sick. It looked like a friggin' massacre. Slowly, I got out of the car and unlocked the gate. Instead of getting back in, I started to walk forward, towards them.

"Caitlin! What the crap are you doing?" Maureen hissed. I waved a hand, shushing her without taking my eyes off of the bodies. There were at least ten bodies that I could see, and they all had some sort of black mark on them. I felt nauseous as I realized that they had been shot. But by who? And when?

As I swept my eyes over the grisly scene, I faintly heard Mo drive the car up into the property, then cut off the engine. They both got out, and walked toward other bodies. Natalie stood there, staring, as Mo turned towards me, horrified.

Blast marks covered the sides of the barn and house closest to us, and as I looked farther, I saw huge pieces of metal strewn about. With a jolt I recognized them as the robots that escorted those two people into the White House a few days ago. A man named Count Dooku, and a woman named something-Ventress. Were they armed when they met the President? How could that have been allowed?

I closed my eyes and clutched at the gate as I saw that the ranch house had been the scene of a brutal, bloody attack.

I knelt down next to the closest one. He was different, because instead of all white, his armor had some blue markings on it. I reached out and touched the breastplate hesitantly and murmured, "I don't know who you were, but it seems unfair that you died like this." My fingers hovered delicately over the blast mark on the left side of his chest. In a moment of sheer hope, I bent over where his mouth would be and listened for breathing, and then picked up his arm and felt for a pulse on his wrist.

And, to my utter surprise, there was a faint one.

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. "Natalie! Go in the house, get some water! Now!"

Without asking why, she turned and leapt up the stairs leading into the house.

"Caitlin! What happened? What's going on?" Mo called, running to me. I looked up at her and said quietly, "He's still alive." I heard the shock in my voice, and continued, "See if anyone else is still… here."

She nodded and hurried away, kneeling next to the next closest one and checking for a sign, any sign, that someone else had survived.

I took a breath. This is crazy, I thought. We don't even know these people. He could be a dangerous psychopath, and as soon as I let him know I'm here he'll kill me.

I leaned over him, settling in a much more comfortable position. "Can you hear me, sir? Listen to me, you're all right, we can take care of you. Are you there?"

A weak groan. He turned his head to the side and clenched his fists. He was in pain. I looked at the wound again and noticed it went through to his skin. It wasn't bloody, that was the strange thing. It was black, like it had been burned. He was coming around, that was for sure. I heard Natalie running towards me, and I looked up as she handed me the water.

"Thanks. Go around and check if anyone else is alive, like Maureen. Just see if they're breathing, or if there is a pulse." She nodded, her skin pale. I could tell she felt sick by the sight of injured, or dead men just lying here, scattered.

"Ahh… We were attacked… Ambushed…" I looked, startled, down at him again. His voice was deep, and to my intense surprise, he sounded Australian, although I knew he wasn't. I knew he and his fellow men weren't from Earth. Their armor was too advanced, and his gun was sleek, a much more complex weapon than anything I had ever seen.

His breathing was fast and shallow. I said softly, "Sir? I can't help you until you take your helmet off. Can you do that?" When he didn't do anything, I realized that I wanted him to make it. I wanted him to live. I repeated it, with more force.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he reached up and unlatched his helmet. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It was nearly noon, the hottest part of the day. I couldn't even begin to imagine how hot he must be. I took the helmet from him as it came off, and his hands clenched into fists again. I placed the helmet next to me and stared at his face.

He was tan, with bright blonde hair, cropped close to his scalp in a buzz cut. He had a square jaw, and several scars were healing on his face. His eyes were squeezed shut. I smiled from relief. So far, so good.

His eyes opened. I bit my lip, for he had an intense stare, and his eyes were the color of amber. Sweat was beading all along his face. After a few seconds of staring, his eyes closed again and he murmured, "Water…"

I quickly helped him sit up, and leaned him against the fence. I handed him the cool glass and watched as he drank it in big, thirsty gulps. As he drained it, I looked up at the others. Maureen was hovering over a man as she clutched his hand, speaking to him. She looked about ready to cry. Natalie was kneeling next to another man as he came around. I could hear his small cries of pain as she tried to calm him. She looked up and tried to smile at me, but only succeeded in grimacing.

I stood and ran to my Jeep. Opening the trunk, I pulled out a portable chair and brought it over to the one who I had been taking care of. While he looked on, confused, I opened it and set it next to him. Crouching by his side, I put my arm around his waist to support him. He settled into the chair stiffly and looked at me. I said quietly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's just a little… ah, little wound. Nothing serious." His voice was getting stronger, but he grimaced when he felt his injury. He looked up, saw his fellow troops, and tried to stand. Even though my heart went out to him, I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Sir, you're not strong enough yet. I'll go get some more water. Stay there."

I ran into the house and grabbed three water bottles, than ran back outside to his side. I cracked one open and handed it to him, before going to Natalie and Maureen and giving them the other two. Maureen thanked me and said, pointing, "Those three are dead, for sure. No pulse, not breathing. And Natalie found one dead. So far, though, every other one is alive, but unconscious." Her voice was shaking, and she looked about ready to cry.

I nodded and said, "Keep checking. How about we cross their arms over their chest? Whoever's dead, I mean. So we know who is gone and who isn't?" Instead of answering, she bent down and gently placed two hands over a still chest. Her shoulders bent with silent sobs.

I ran back over to the blond man, who was now watching Nat and Mo check his men for survivors.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"We were ambushed by a small droid infantry. Where are they?" Droid infantry? I turned and looked at the pieces of robots, and realized that they had killed all of the 'droids'. Well, if you could kill a robot.

"Destroyed. Over there." I pointed the remains out to him. He nodded, satisfied. But his face was quickly overshadowed with some deep emotion as he saw the white bodies.

"How many men did we lose?"

"I… I don't know. At least four. I'm so sorry, sir."

"That's war." His tone struck me as dangerous one to stay on, so I changed the topic.

"Do you need a place to rest? For a while, I mean." That didn't sound odd at all.

Apparently, he didn't hear it. "My men and I can stay out here. We've been through worse." He still wasn't watching me, and I smiled grimly.

"You think I'm going to let wounded soldiers stay outside in this awful weather? Yeah, right. I'm sure we can find room for everyone in the house." I gestured to the house as he looked up in surprise.

He paused for a few seconds before answering curtly, "It wouldn't be right."

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. "Sir, no matter what you say I'm still going to take care of you and your men. And, that includes room and board. You forget, I'm not the injured one." I smiled, and he tentatively gave a little one back.