Once everyone had read their letter, they gathered in the operations room. Alex immediately noticed a change in the atmosphere and the sense Hesh was giving off. He looked calm, cool, and collected on the outside, but she knew inside he was as furious as ever. Logan still looked upset, but a strong fire of anger filled his eyes. It was such a strong indicator that whatever was in their letters made them even more pissed off than they already were.

"Alright." Merrick's voice sounded, snapping Alex out of her thoughts. "This time tomorrow we are going to be in a full fled fight with the Federation. We have the numbers and the fire power to hold them off for a while until Black Hawk gets here. They'll be joining us in the main assault on the Federation assault ray."

"Who's going to be on the deck?" Kick questioned as he leaned against the table they were surrounding.

"With me now corresponding everyone's resources as grid commander from Elias's chair, I'm having Hesh lead this one. He'll be the active field commander."

Hesh stood a little taller. "Who else is going out there?" he asked.

"Just Logan and the other soldiers on board. Kick, Keegan, and Alex you are going to be flown out to Colorado and have radio contact with our friends above the stars at the space station. You'll also be keeping tabs on the Federation side and be on the line with me the whole time. Neptune, you're going to help me run the show from here."

"Are you sure you don't want us on the main assault?" Keegan suggested.

"I don't wanna put too many in this firefight. You guys going to Colorado and working with our team there and the guys up at the space station is going to do us a lot more than having you here."

"Where are you going to be?" Alex asked her brother, not entirely sold on leaving the carrier without him with the mess that would happen tomorrow.

"I'll be here until it comes time to jump ship and fly out of here. I'll meet you guys in Colorado after the fight here. Logan and Hesh will then go to the control center and order the kinetic rods to strike the area. After that's done an evack will fly you guys back to Colorado where we can figure a plan out to take out Rorke."

The room fell silent for a minute before Neptune spoke up. "We're going to kick some ass." He concluded, slamming his fist on the table. Merrick smiled. "Kick and Alex I need you go to the armory and run through our weapons one more time. Keegan and Neptune I need you to make the announcement and make sure everyone's ass is in gear tomorrow." He told his team. "Hesh, Logan, I need you to come with me."

Alex and Kick left for the armory and Keegam and Neptune went to make the announcement to the carrier while Merrick led the Walker brothers to the barracks where Riley stood. Hesh smiled and the dog ran over to his handler. Hesh kneeled down and ran his hands through Riley's fur. "What do you need Merrick?" Logan asked as he leaned back against the wall and Hesh rose to his feet.

"Just wanted to remind you what we're going up against. Hesh, I'm trusting you to lead this one." Merrick began. "Both of you are great soldiers and you're father saw the same potential in both of you to be great leaders like he was."

Hesh crossed his arms and lowered his head. Logan tucked his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. "Here Logan." Merrick said as he held out a mask to the young Ghost. Logan took it and examined the face on it. "That belonged to him." Merrick explained. Logan half smiled and put the mask in his pocket.

"Sorry boy, you're staying out of this one. You're job's done." Hesh told Riley.

"He'll be safe." Merrick assured him.

Logan turned to leave and Hesh went to follow, but Merrick stopped him. "Hold up another second Hesh." He said, his voice sounding more serious. Logan stopped at the doorway and looked at his brother. "I'll catch up with you Logan. Take Riley out to get some fresh air." Hesh told his brother.

"Come on boy." Logan commanded, motioning for Riley to follow him. Once they were gone, Hesh turned to face Merrick who was now leaning against the table with his arms crossed, facing Hesh. "What's up Merrick?" Hesh asked.

"Look I don't know exactly what is going on between you and Alex…" Merrick began. "And quite frankly I didn't think I would be having this conversation for a while yet and with you of all people." Hesh didn't know whether to be scared or offended at this point. "But either way, Alex is the only person in this world I have left. She's my little sister and I may not have won any awards for best brother when we were growing up but you can be sure as hell I'm making up for that now." Merrick stood up straight and took a couple of steps closer to Hesh, making the twenty -eight year old feel a lot smaller than he was even though Merrick wasn't much taller than him. He was only an inch or two shorter. "So I am going to say this one time and one time only. If you hurt Alex in any way, if you so as much make her shed a single tear or upset her in anyway shape or form…I will fucking bury you." Hesh swallowed and kept eye contact with Merrick. "She is my sister and I will not let some guy be the one to break her. I like you Hesh, I do, but she is still my sister. Hurt her, and you're done. Are we clear?"

Hesh nodded. "I wouldn't hurt, Merrick." He said when he was finally able to find his voice.

"That's what a lot of guys say." Merrick retorted as he stepped back. "That's all I wanted to say."

Hesh all but scurried out of the room, making Merrick smile a bit. He meant every word he said, but he was glad Alex chose Hesh off all people to get involved with. He was loyal and protective. He knew Hesh wouldn't let anything hurt Alex, but Merrick still knew he could hurt her. And he refused to let him do that.

OOOOO

A little while late Hesh and Logan were in the rec room while Riley slept on the floor. "Are you sure, Hesh?" Logan questioned as he cleaned his pistol. "Logan he killed our dad." Hesh reminded his brother. "We can't let him get away. Dad told us Rorke would be at the control center to oversee his own operations in our letters for a reason." In Hesh and Logan's letters was enclosed information on Rorke from Elias. He wrote that the control center was the main command area and Rorke was sure to be there to overlook his operations from there. If he was there when Hesh and Logan were, they had a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Take out the kinetic rod delivery system and Rorke all in one throw. If Rorke got out of the control room, there was a train he would use as an evack and Hesh and Logan could easily board it if they had enough time.

"But he dated the envelope the day we came back from No Man's Land."

"He probably didn't want to make the others suspicious of why ours were dated differently. He wants us to go after Rorke. He knew we could do it."

"What happens is he's gone before we can get to him."

"We're going to get to him Logan."

Logan sat forward. "If we do this Hesh, we're risking more than everything we have left. We're risking out lives."

"Logan…we risk out lives every day."

A short silence fell amongst the brothers before Logan met his brother's eyes. He let out a breath. "What are you going to tell Alex?" he asked. Hesh's face fell. He made the plan in his head and didn't even think twice about Alex. He knew she would be pissed when and if he got back from the mission if he and Logan succeeded, but he also knew she would get where he was coming from. "Alex will understand." He told Logan as he stood up. "This is out shot Logan. It's all or nothing." After saying that, Hesh left the room.

OOOOO

In her room, Alex was packing her bag to leave the carrier. Her, Kick, and Keegan were leaving before the assault began and she had already packed up her clothes on her duffle bag and was now in the process of pulling photos out of picture frames and safely tucking them into Ziploc bags. She only had a few more when there was a knock on the door. "It's open." She called out. The door opened and in walked Hesh. "Hey." He greeted as he closed the door.

"Hey." Alex greeted as she closed the Ziploc bag in her hand. "Everything alright?"

"Other than the frightening talk I had with your brother, yes."

"What-"

"Don't worry about it."

Hesh walked over to where she was and looked at the pictures. "Need a hand?" he asked. Alex nodded. "Could you just put the rest of these in a Ziploc for me?"

"No problem."

Hesh picked the photos up from the bed and tucked them into a bag. He looked at Alex in the corner of his eye and watched as she neatly put the three small Ziploc bags of photos in her bag. Then she walked over to her dresser and pulled out three separate sets of dog tags and put them in the bag as well. "After we leave the carrier we probably aren't going be coming back so Merrick said to pack all of or shit and take it with us to Colorado." She explained. Hesh handed her the bag in his hand and she took it from him, tucking it in her duffle bag and zipping it closed. She picked the bag and set it by the door. "That's everything." She said through a breath as she walked back next to Hesh. "May I ask why you decided to stop by?"

"Well I know you're leaving early tomorrow so I figured we could just watch a movie in the rec room tonight." Hesh suggested. Alex pretended to think. "Hmm…" she began as she took a step closer to Hesh. "Well the chances of the rec room being empty tonight are slim so we could just…stay here." Hesh half smiled as he slipped and arm around her back. "And do what?" he asked her. She smiled mischievously as her arms slipped around his neck. She didn't say anything, but instead pressed her lips to his. Hesh put his other arm around her and kissed her back. It almost hurt to kiss her. Here he was with her in his arms and his lips against hers and tomorrow might be his last day on Earth. Part of him felt selfish and guilty, but he knew what had to be done to end this war. He knew he had tonight with her. Tonight for it to be just him and her.

After a few seconds, Alex pulled away and rested her forehead against his. "Any idea ideas?" she asked. Hesh smiled and got a firm grip on her waist before lifting her up. Alex wrapped her legs around his waist immediately and couldn't fight off the smile on her face. "I think I have a pretty good one." He told her as he turned them towards the bed. "But we have too many clothes on."

"I think we can fix that." Alex replied as Hesh laid down on the bed and kissed her again deeply. Alex's hands traveled to the hem of his shirt and she bit his bottom lip as she lifted it up over his head.

Please R&R!