It hurt like a ! Jongin thought as he came awake. The glass that had been closed in front of him slid open and he fell and hit the floor with a solid thud. His brain was scrambled. Where was he? Why did every inch of his body ache and hurt? Why was he ? It slowly started to come back to him and he immediately jumped to his feet, and immediately regretted it. His whole body screamed at him, protesting the quick movement. He didn’t have time to think of that though because the Army of New Terra had to be in the facility by now. He had to protect the document tablet, which he scrambled to get from its resting place above his head in the cryogenics pod. 
    Once he had the tablet Jongin began to look around and noticed something for the first time. Dust there should never be this much dust in a research pod, and then the computers. They were broken; screens cracked and coated in dust and all looked dead. Except one which was blinking incessantly at him. He walked over and to take a look and the code next to the blinking light. He could barely work out what it said. He was an officer for goodness sake not a scientist! What he could make out was that it had something to do with the life support system. It said 30%, but that couldn’t be true. One the research pods were not sealed and should run off of the facilities life support and two the life support should never drop below 95%. If he didn’t get out of the, somehow sealed, research pod, he would be dead in twenty minutes. 
    He rushed to where the door was and then realized something. He was still . He didn’t know what was on the other side of the door, but he defenatly didn’t want to face it . He looked for the clothes he had just taken off, and found them in a pile exactly where he left them. They looked old and time worn though and the instant he tried picking them up they disintegrated in his hand. This was bad. How long had he been out? 
    After a few seconds of contemplation he remembered Heechul’s words. He had to get the tablet to a scientist no matter what. So he supposed that his dignity could suffer a little if that’s what it cost. Jongin walked over to the door began to figure out how it was sealed and how to undo it. There was a dna scanner to unseal the door, but his dna wouldn’t work. He wasn’t authorized for this section. He scanned the door and the area surrounding it thoroughly and that’s when he saw it. A pile of bones in a lab coat in the far corner. “It couldn’t be. Could it?” Jongin thought. He hoped to god he was wrong. He walked over to what was once a body and looked at the id badge on the lapel and squeezed his eyes shut. It was Heechul. How? Then it hit Jongin what had happened Heechul had to seal the door from the inside to keep the ANT’s out, and had to shut off life support to save the energy for the cryogenics pod. Jongin cried out. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was sent by his father, the general, to get a scientist and then they were all suppose to make it to a safe house where they would regroup. He wasn’t supposed to be who knows how far into the future stuck in a room about to lose life support with the body of the scientist he was meant to save! 
    He took a deep breath in but it did little to calm him. The air was getting thinner already. He had to get out and he knew how. He knew but it was the last thing he wanted to do. He slowly reached down to Heechul’s skeleton and grabbed his hand, which fell apart the second he touched it. Jongin took one of the small bones of his hand and walked back to the scanner. It worked, the dna in Heechul’s bone was still valid and the door slid open. Then Jongin was hit with another puzzle to work out. 
    Ruble, from the facility that had collapsed on top of the research pod. He was surprised that the roof of the pod hadn’t caved in under the weight of it. There was a small patch of light he could see and he slowly started making his way toward it. Everything was going much slower than he would have liked but he was worried that if he rushed anything he would mess it up and this wasn’t something he could mess up. Of everything he’d ever done in his life this was the only thing that mattered. 
...
    “Commander Wu we have a life sign in the dead zone!” A private announced on the bridge Terra Plain One in the command center. Commander Yifan Wu stood from his seat positioned at the top of the bridge and walked quickly over to the private, leaning over her to get a look at the sensors.
    “That’s impossible.” He said “ Life signs don’t just come out of no where. Reboot the system and check again.” The dead zone was the site of the last battle for the war for Terra. A devastating attack that leveled every building in a several mile radius, and caused a waste land to form where nothing living could survive. At least not for long. That was common knowledge among those trained in combat on Terra Plain One, only about 12% of the population of the engineered island. Most others never gave the land below them a second thought. Which they shouldn’t have to. They were born and raised on Terra Plain One, an engineered island that was designed to float several miles in the sky, and knew that the security team would handle anything that might threaten their way of life. 
    “I’ve done a full reboot, sir. The life sign is still there and its on the move.”
    “What the hell! Get me Victoria of Recon Team 1. Now!” Yifan said. Trying his best not to shout. 
    “I’m sorry sir but Recon Team 1 is on a mission. Recon Team 2 is available, though.”
    “Fine, fine. Patch me through to their leader.” The private immediately opened a communication line to Recon Team 2’s headquarters. 
    “You’ve reached home base of Recon Team 2 this is Baekhyun speaking. How may I help you?” Was said over the line in an almost sing song voice. 
    “Baekhyun this is Commander Wu, get Junmyeon on the line now!”
    “Alright, alright no need to get shouty Yifan.”
    Yifan sighed and put his hand to his head and tried again. He honestly hadn’t meant to shout. “Baekhyun,” he said this time in a more calm voice “this is an emergency. Get me Junmyeon.”
    “Okay all you had to do was ask.”
    “I did ask.” Yifan said in exasperation.
    “You asked what?” A new voice said over the communication line. 
    “Junmyeon, finally, never mind that. We have an emergency and I need your team to check it out.”
    “What kind of emergency are we talking about. What amount of firepower should we pack?” Junmyeon asked, ever the calculating leader. 
    “The situation is unknown. A life sign suddenly appeared in the dead zone and we need to see what’s happening.”
    “You don’t think it’s the remnants trying something do you?”
    “At this point we are unsure. It appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the dead zone and its on the move. I need your team to move out asap.”
    “Understood, sir. We’ll be ready to move out in 10 minutes.”
    “Good. Commander Wu over and out.”
    With that Junmyeon hit a button on the communication panel and a siren began to blare. He heard several curses and a loud thump come from one of the rooms. Most likely from Sehun. He couldn’t believe the boy was still asleep. He thought he woke him up hours ago.
    “Is the alarm really necessary?” Chanyeol asked as everyone began to congregate in the main area.
    “In this case yes,” Junmyeon said. “There is an unidentified life form in the dead zone and it’s our duty to see what it is and if necessary to apprehend it.”
    “So they’re actually sending us on a real mission?” Kyungsoo asked skeptically.
    “Yes, it would seem so.” Junmyeon stated.
    “Finally!” Sehun exclaimed. “I was getting tired of play fighting with Chanyeol.”
    “That’s called training, and we are moving out now. Gear up and meet at the tactical craft in three minutes.”
    “Yes, sir.” The rest of Recon Team 2 said in unison, snapping a salute. Well almost everyone. Baekhyun might have thrown in a little bow, but at least he was listening.
...
    Jongin had finally made it out of the rubble that was the research center, but not without a few rather nasty cuts and scrapes. Now that he was out he was almost shocked motionless. The trees were gone. There had been a forest surrounding the center and now there was nothing. Just a dry, desert like, wasteland. The wind whipped around him and the sun beat down on his bare skin. He couldn’t believe he was still , but it didn’t look like there was going to be anyone around to see him. Jongin wondered if anyone survived the last battle, and if they did where they would have gone. 
    He turned in a full circle taking in his surroundings. The only shape he could make out was what looked like a jagged hill, with what might have been a cave recessed into the side of it. For now it would have to work, because the sun was getting higher and Jongin was not in the mood to get sunburned from head to toe. So he began walking, document pad in hand, toward the hill. 
    It took him a good half an hour or more to make it to the cave in the side of the hill. By now he was dying of thirst, most likely literally, and unfortunately it didn’t seem like there was any water around. He collapsed as far back into the cave as he could make it. At least it was a little cooler back there. Then he heard it a loud whirring sound. Almost like a chopper but more mechanical. Jongin jumped to his feet, head spinning a from the quick movement. Who was it? Was it Terrans coming to his rescue? Or was it ANTs coming to capture him? He couldn’t be sure so he hide the tablet in a crevice at the back of the cave, and began to walk toward the noise, which sounded much closer now. Jongin felt a thud shake the cave and realized what ever it was must have landed. He was so nervous now. What if he had to fight armed men, what if he was captured, what if he was tortured? He wasn’t prepared for any of that! With his thoughts racing he stepped out of the cave and into the light.
...
    “There,” Baekhyun said, pointing to a small dot on the screen in front of him. “That’s him. Or her. Or them. Or whatever they happen to be, we shouldn't judge.”
    “Baekhyun focus of flying, please.” Junmyeon reminded him. 
    “Right. I’m going to land in that opening just before the hill. That seems to be where they’re at.” Chanyeol said, who was co piloting with Baekhyun. 
    “Sounds good. Everyone landing positions.” With that everyone took their seat and buckled in. Chanyeol began their descent whipping dirt up and around the craft. With a thud they had landed.
    “What was that?” Baekhyun commented hitting Chanyeol jokingly on the shoulder. “I could have landed this thing without so much as a jolt.”
    “You can do it next time then.” 
    “Alright enough of that get serious all of you.” Junmyeon said “Get in defensive position A and be ready to move out.”
    Everyone grabbed their weapons and got in position. On Junmyeon’s mark Sehun opened the back hatch and they moved out. They fanned out and circled the craft. Following the life sign, which was moving toward them. Dust began to whip around them this time not from the craft. A ground storm must be brewing. ‘That’s not good’ Junmyeon thought.
    Then they saw it, and they all froze in unison. Weapons all trained on the same target. Who stood staring, wide eyed at the people in front of him, and then with that promptly fainted. 
    Recon Team 2 moved in on the target. Making to secure the area and check to see if the target was armed. He rather obviously was not. Once that was complete the team gathered around the now unconscious target, which turned out to be a man.
    “Okay, but why is he ?” Baekhyun asked rather loudly.
    “Doesn’t matter,” Junmyeon had to shout now. The ground storm was getting worse. “Get him tied up and in to the craft. I think we’ve got a bad storm on our hands.”