The command center was more packed than usual. It smelled like a highschool locker room- thick with the scent of sweat and testosterone. People were packed like sardines, cramped and pushed into the concrete walls. The general atmosphere was that of excitement, the murmuring of the sprinkled with words like ‘victory’ and ‘mission’. In the middle was the mahogany round table, stained with specks of coffee and tea.

Dozens of journals were laid out, and highlighted upon. A binder full of copies and notes was compiled, and Lisa looked just ten percent more serious than usual. Ben twiddled with a pen, waiting anxiously for the meeting to start, while Watson re-read the notes and Jones left cigarette burns on the table.

Lisa’s eyes darted around. Finally, she stood up, slamming her hands against the table.

“You’re all here?” She asked, taking a cursory glance of her surroundings. ”Salute, then.”

The men and women stopped talking and turned to their leader. A hand raised, they roared.

“That’s the spirit.” Lisa grinned. “Good to hear you’re all excited.”

Ben yawned. ”Let’s get to it, Lisa. I really need a nap.” He smiled.

Lisa punched him playfully. “Well, since you insist…” She said. “We’re here to announce the most important mission in the history of the resistance.” Her voice echoed clearly throughout the room, earning herself a hearty cheer.

“Don’t celebrate yet, you idiots.” She didn’t sound disappointed. “Watson and Jones here-” She pointed at the duo. Watson’s face perked up. Jones blowed a ring. “Have found vital clues in the bunker to the weakness of our enemies.”

Yet another cheer erupted, some giving the two some well-intended, but strong pats.

“We have a concrete road now to save humanity.” Lisa smiled. “And that begins today. The revolution will carve itself in the annals of history- today, we make out mark.”

“The first goal is clear. We need to capture the ‘Gate’.” She said, suddenly turning serious. “What happens after is still a bit up in the air, but we know this is the critical part of the enemy’s operation.”

Lisa pointed at a red-dotted map. “This here,” she pointed at a specific pin. “Is Area-51. This facility contains the dimensional travel system known as the ‘Gate’.”

“This ‘Gate’ is how the Lizardmen came to our world.” A round of jeers passed. “And for reasons yet unclear, they are very dependant on the ‘Gate’. For reinforcements, we presume. They do have a severe lack of females.”

“Thus, capturing, or at least, deactivating the ‘Gate’ will hamper their operations.”

The crowd roared once more, their fists raised and pumping. They clamored for action.

“We have a couple very old diagrams of the facility, and have come up with a plan.” Lisa paused. “Failure is unacceptable. Delay, too, is unacceptable. We must act quickly, before it is too late. We don’t know for how long they’ll keep being dependant on the ‘Gate’.”

“Any questions so far?” Lisa looked around. “I guess not.” She motioned towards the three, Jones, Watson, and Ben. “These three,” She held their shoulders. “Will brief you on the plan.”

Jones grunted while Watson nervously prepared a whiteboard. Ben nabbed a stack of papers.

“You guys ready to listen?” Ben asked, tapping the board. “Yes? Good.”

“The plan will be carried out in two days from now. Twelve PM, on the dot.” Ben’s voice was clear and lacked hesitation. ”The plan consists of three separate phases. One, distraction, Two, incapacitation, and Three, infiltration.” He paused. “In reality, they will all occur around the same time. Jones, you go.”

Jones picked up a stick with a good sound. Swinging it, he pointed at the diagram of the base. “Alright, kids, listen up, because I ain’t explaining’ twice.” He said. “Looking at the base, what do you see?”

A couple suggestions were thrown out, like ‘walls’ or ‘windows’.

“Alright, you’re all right- except the idiot who said ‘your mom’. Go sit in the corner.” He pointed at the edges. “The important bits are the heavy-ass fortifications. See these here? Mounted guns.”

“So we can’t win in a direct confrontation. Mid Range combat is also completely out. We’d get stomped.” He swished his stick around. “We don’t play their game, then. Let’s level out the playing field.”

Jones pointed at another diagram, this one showing a modified car. ”This is a really simple thing to build. What it’ll do is kick up a hell of a cloud in a desert.” Jones looked at the audience. “Phase one is distraction. We can’t capture this stronghold directly, so we need to do it all sneaky-beaky like.”

“We distract the enemy first by drawing their fire, and luring their soldiers out.” Jones pointed with a finger. “One group, two thirds of our fighting force, will distract them by using flares, sniper fire, and smokes.”

Jones then pointed at another diagram of the base. “Now, here’s the part where it gets interesting.” He said. “Phase two, Incapacitation. We need to tie the enemy down.”

“We found two spots where visibility will be absolute dogshit.” Jones pointed at two shaded areas. “Unless they overhauled the entire thing, these two spots are going to be blind spots. The other unit will follow a specific route and approach the fortress.”

“Once close enough,” Jones pulled out an intricate steel grenade. “We fill the vents with these. While me and Watson found a couple shitty journals, Ben found a box of these smokes. We have them in mace, sleeping, and poison powder flavors. Lizards may be tough as shit, but we know these can fuck em’ up.”

“Then comes phase three.” Jones grinned. ”Infiltration. Watson, you take this one.” He passed him his stick.

Watson strutted forward, gulping, but not shaking. “Uh… The last phase is infiltration.” He took a deep breath. “A handful of us will infiltrate the base using these openings. Our objective is to capture their security center, which will allow us,” He pulled out a set of pictures. ”As this diagram illustrates, to control the emergency protocols, cameras, and doors.”

“Um… From this specifications sheet, we know this means we can flood entire rooms with liquid nitrogen, set bulletproof barricades, and engage emergency protocols.” The crowd swooned with oohs and ahhs. “Under the havoc, we’ll crawl in, and take control. With that, the rest should go smoothly.”

Lisa stood back up. “Any questions?”

A hand shot up. “What about civilians and other humans?”

“We don’t think there will be many human soldiers or civilians inside.” Ben said. “It wouldn’t be a secret if they just let anyone in... Besides, this is how they enter our world. Secrecy is key.”

“Who will be part of the infiltration group?” Another said.

The room went silent.

“It’ll be me, Watson, Ben, and about five more.” Jones said, breaking the silence. Watson looked ready to complain. “No, you’re coming with. Any volunteers can tell Lisa. She’ll sort you out.”

The room went silent again, but no questions emerged.

Lisa walked to the center and crossed her arms. ”Is that all?” She asked. “Dismissed, then. Before you go, Ben will have assignments for you. We’re busy until the big day.”

The crowd applauded and dispersed.

It was a very cold night. With each breath drawn, the body shivered as the freezing air streamed in. Every exhale created a small mist, and people’s snots were frozen.

Dozens of cars were parked just beyond visual contact of Area-51. Indeed, they had been busy. The cars had some new upgrades, bulletproof shielding, rakes, turbines, and even a couple megaphones. Scouts were perched far away, their scopes focused on the heads of the sentries.

They didn’t even bother disguising themselves out here. Area-51 was manned and staffed by scalies mostly, only a few old men in white robes being shuffled around here and there. The building was as old as crusty as the manuals, much to the resistance’s delight. Some sections were patched up, but the structure was mostly the same, a minimalist concrete bunker.

Silently, everyone got into position. Lisa stood back, behind the main lines. She stood with an arm raised and her eyes locked on her wrist. The seconds ticked by, the fighters standing by in nervous anticipation.

Watson and Jones were sitting in their Leyland as usual. This time, Jones got the wheel. He hummed a song while Watson checked their equipment for the hundredth time. Other cars were nearby, all gutted to the core. Mobility was key for the vehicles, as they needed to close the gap to the fortress as quickly as possible. Jones certainly didn’t mind having no doors.

A minute passed, nothing of note happening. But then, suddenly, a loud droning surrounded the fortress, mostly ignored by the soldiers as mere desert winds. Soon, however, the area was covered in a layer of sand, and alarm was raised.

Then the gunshots rang. Clink, clink, clink… From the distance, muffled by the air, bullets rushed through the cold air, finding a warm home in their enemies’ heads. Crummy old Mosins may not affect the lizards too badly, but these were factory new .50cal rifles - built for the purpose of stopping tanks.

But they hadn’t seen anything yet. As the lizards prepared for retaliation, Lisa fired the tightly-gripped flare, the red light soaring into the sky like a reverse shooting star.

First came the modified cars, bringing with them sounds, more dust, and havoc. They weren’t a real danger. One or two had mounted LMG’s, but their intent was to distract. And that it did. Soon after, a battalion of troopers and a set of tanks rolled out, wheezing an angry note.

Jones and Watson prepared themselves, pulling up a pair of goggles and gas masks. Jones stepped on the gas, letting the pretty little engine roar with a battlecry. Behind him, other cars followed suit. Jones weaved and waved, taking a roundabout, but unpredictable route to the fortress. The distance was about half a mile, and the gap closed quickly.

A couple of grunts fired blindly into the group. Jones heard shots and shouts, but only registered one loss on their part. He didn’t care about any of that right now- he needed to focus. Through the thin layer of desert sands, he couldn’t make out much. The other cars followed in a pattern similar to his.

The lizards began organizing themselves better. Fire was returned to the distraction duty soldiers. Their fighting force was sizable, but not very well equipped. Sitting behind sandbags, the battle started to turn into a firefight for them.

Jones arrived by the fortress walls around that time. He almost crashed into it, but managed to veer into the side just in time. Most of his caravan made through, save for one car.

The second group moved quickly, spreading around the perimeter with their bags full of canisters and grenades. Jones gathered his minions, as he affectionately called them, and rushed for one of the planned entrances.

The battle for Area-51 had just begun.

The plan was going smoothly. Jones’s team managed to avoid being seen until halfway in. The gases streaming through the ducts made the soldiers- and sadly, the scientists- easy pickings, although they stuck with stealth for the most part.

Trouble came halfway in, when they realized the smoke didn’t reach that far. They had their own, but it was in limited quantities. They needed other tools too, after all.

Another issue arose when they realized some of the interior had been remodelled. They didn’t recognize some of the hallways and vents. Thus, they did the only thing they could- they split up. Jones led the first groups, including him, Watson, and two grunts, while Ben led the second one.

Jones checked his belt. They hadn’t been geared with much. Jones had a set of flashbangs, a sleeping gas grenade, and his pistol. He upgraded for this mission, now sporting a flashy Desert Eagle. Watson carried his Grandpa’s ol’ precious, and the two grunts he’d picked wielded shotguns. Additionally, they all wore bulletproof jackets.

Trouble found them eventually. A pair of rushing soldiers, presumably headed for the firefight outside, finally noticed the group. It was, however, a little two late. The two Skinks reeled back in surprise, and got kicked back from the Shotguns’ impact. It wasn’t exactly subtle.

“Shit.” Jones said. ”Now the fuckers know where we are. Watson, how much more?”

Watson fumbled with his copy of the map. “It’s- We’re a bit over halfway in.” He said.

“Fuck.” Jones kicked the wall. “We’re screwed if they activate that shit on us.”

“What should we do?” One of the grunts spoke up.

Jones turned to them. “We gotta keep moving. The whole plan rests on us.” He said. “If we fail, then the whole plan fails.”

“But what do we do now? We’re a button away from getting locked up.” Watson looked worried.

Jones pondered for a moment. “I have an idea. Come, come, follow me.” He said, running off towards the corridor. “We’re going to split into two. There’s a closet over there, I think. We climb into the ceiling vents and split off.”

Watson panted. “Are- you sure that’s a good idea?” He huffed.

“What else can we do? They ain’t got cams up there. We can only hope they’re understaffed. It’s a cat and mouse game now. Let’s split their attention.” He said. “Keep your masks on, by the way. Use your grenades effectively.”

Jones kicked a wooden door down, revealing a janitor’s closet, filled to the brim with tools. Jones picked up a box of nails, scattered it on the floor behind them, and placed a ladder under the vent ducts.

“Watson, you’re with me. Hurry.” Jones gestured him to follow as he crawled in. Watson heard shouts and footsteps in the background. He hopped in, dropping on all fours, and sped as fast as he could.

“Do you know where you’re going, Jones?” Watson asked, taking in a deep breath.

“You’re the map guy, Watson. I’m just guessing here.” Jones answered. “But this is the right direction, right?”

“I can’t tell for sure.” Watson said. “But I think so.”

“Good. Then hurry. I’m sure the fuckers will be onto us soon.” Jones said.

The vents were cramped, but spacious enough to be just comfortable enough. A warm air gushed from their backs, leading deeper into the base. Once in a while, the two had to stay low and wait as they heard the sound of soldiers below them. Getting shot at wasn’t a good idea, as the metal was only a couple millimeters thick.

Occasionally, they heard gunshots and shouts. Some voices they recognized. Watson curled up in fear as he heard some blood-curdling moans. Not everyone survived, it seemed.

About fifteen minutes later, they’d made decent progress. Jones peeked through the rafters and found the lodgings. They were almost there- only about a quarter of a base away, the control room sat.

But here, their fortune saw an end. The vents grew narrow, making further progress impossible. Jones poked his head out, confirming no enemy hostiles or cameras, and slowly hopped out. After Watson managed to crawl himself out, Jones pulled out two of his mace grenades and popped them into the vents.

“We’re on foot now, Watson.” Jones said. “We gotta be careful from here on. Best case, we don’t get seen by the camera. I don’t think that’s possible, though.”

Watson nodded. “You lead, Jones.” He said. “I checked the map. We should be close, I think.”

Jones grinned. ”We better be. I’d love to see the Lizards panic when I show up.”

Jones led the charge. After each bend and exit, he poked his head out, slowing their progress. Most soldiers were already deployed, and they encountered no hostiles so far. But he had no doubt that the control room would be guarded. The Lizards weren’t stupid, after all.

His suspicions were confirmed shortly. “Pssh, Watson.” He said. “I hear footsteps. Hide behind that bin over there.” Jones pointed at a set of recycling bins, just big enough each to cover one.

Two Lizardmen passed by. Unlike the Skins before, these were tall, buff, and muscular. Their skin was shiny and metallic. Every step they took, the floor shook a little. It wasn’t a good sign.

“Shit.” Jones whispered, watching the sentries walk by. “I think they’re like the one we saw at the gas station.”

Watson frowned. “You mean-” He shrinked. “The huge one that changes shape?”

“Yeah, but they’re kinda different. They don’t move… Robotically.” Jones whispered. “I think these may be tough as shit and clever.”

Watson gulped, and shuffled uncomfortably. ”What’re we going to do?”

“We have to get past them. I think we’re about three corridors away, and then we just gotta get past the door.” Jones said, muttering insults under his breath.

“How?” Watson’s eyes were moist.

Jones tugged at Watson’s shoulder. “Don’t whine, Watson. We’re so close.” Jones nibbled on his fingers.

Watson watched as Jones considered the options.

Finally, Jones sighed. “I think there’s only one option, Watson. The old fashioned way.”

Watson looked confused, then frightened. “Oh, please…”

“Only one way, buddy.” Jones tapped Watson’s shoulder. “You have to decoy for me.”

Watson looked hopeless, but he took a deep breath. “...Alright.” He said, looking dejected.

“Good.” Jones said. ”Run down thataway. Throw a flashbang as far away from me as you can.”

After Watching watson charge ahead, Jones dashed out as well.

Moments later, he heard a large bang. Watson had done his job- now, it was all up to Jones.

It all went smoothly. Carefully, he hid behind statues, machines, and tables, watching as security rushed by to capture Watson. Jones relaxed a bit, taking a slower route to the control room. He shouldn’t have.

As he turned his second-to-last corner, he failed to check properly. Stepping out, he watched in horror as a Lizardman stood, wide-eyed. Jones rolled for cover, just barely making it to behind a vending machine. But the Lizardman was faster, and Jones had taken a shot to his chest.

Thankfully, the Skink wielded an SMG. It hurt like hell, but the vest held. Jones clutched his pistol tightly and blindly fired. Feeling his magazine empty, he threw a flashbang.

Taking the momentary distraction as an advantage, Jones reloaded and repositioned himself, diving into a nearby room. He watched as another Lizardman came from the hallway he’d just passed, and nailed a shot through its eye.

The Skink threw a grenade into the room. But Jones was prepared. He had kicked a table over by the entrance. The grenade bounced off the wooden table, landing in the middle of the hallway. After the explosion cleared, Jones peeked out, and gave the Skink his dues.

Watching his foe crumble, Jones stepped out, and rushed to the control center door. Reinforcements would be here soon.

He looked at the complicated set of metal panels. He’d have to blast it open. He searched the dead guard, and found another frag grenade. He was about to set it up when he heard a yell for help, coming from the direction Watson had run to.

Jones hesitated. He should just get in that room, and then think about rescue. It was for the mission. A single life was nothing compared to the magnitude of what was going on.

Besides, he didn’t care about anyone.

Or did he?

Jones cursed. He clutched the grenade and attached it to his belt. He ran as fast as he could, charging into the hallways.