Once the head of the salvage team had checked on the stash of Shards on the upper level of the ziggurat they were cleared to head back down through the structure. It was quicker and easier on the way out as they could follow a direct route on the HUD map. The removal of the Crystal meant they needed to activate the lights on their helmets, the walls no longer lit by the internal glow that existed in the Swarm structure while it was powered. Elias was never sure which was creepier - the blue-purple glow that pulsed out of the keratinised layers of the structure while going in or the broken shadows thrown up off the jagged surfaces by the flashlights on the way out. He was definitely pleased to see the sun again at the end of the corridor as they found themselves behind a group of recruits exiting the ziggurat.

"You idiots, why would you bring the whole carcass out." Elias heard someone shouting as they finally got out into the sun.

"You'll only find Shards in the upper torso or brain and the only other valuable part is the end of the upper limbs." It was one of the salvage crew shouting at the new recruits.

Elias wanted to feel sorry for them being used for the grunt work but knew it was the way it went. They would get a bonus depending on their kill count and then additional credits for each Swarm they harvested for valuable parts. A credit a limb; five for a minor Shard. Better than sitting around doing nothing. Not worth it for his team though, not when you had to root around in about ten basic Swarm for a single Shard, and not with the payout they were expecting on their return. Given the thousand plus Swarm that had been killed there was a small fortune to be made but it would be the companies making the profit. The limbs would sell for around twenty credits and a minor Shard was a flat one hundred credits and was actually used as a form of currency in Greenway.

Elias was currently working for Xanon Corps. One of the biggest companies operating in Greenway. He had a nominal three and a half years left on his contract but with payments saved so far could probably pay this down to under a year. It was the way the military worked on colony planets. You were paid upfront for a length of service, normally five years. Your contract was then bought by a company that supplied you with equipment and loaned out services to an individual settlement or across the planet. You got paid to complete the missions but had quite a few overheads that kept the newest recruits in check. Once you paid back the loan for equipment and additional training the aim was normally to save up enough to buy out your initial contract and then renegotiate or retire. Elias had already renegotiated once in contract, meaning his buy out fee had risen but giving him an upfront sum to spend. The plan was to use the money to obtain command skills prior to his next buy out, but getting the practical skills meant taking missions like this.

It was work that was a bit below his pay-grade but meant Elias could negotiate terms and ask for positions that would help apply his skills better. Given the nature of this mission he had agreed a percentage fee with additional bonuses for kills inside the structure. Killing the Hive gave his company rights to salvage meaning he had secured extra for this as well. Obtaining the Crystal was more of a peculiarity of his boss that liked to collect them, they wouldn't miss the hundred credits for missing the last bonus. He checked the details via his neural link which would show the current take real time.

Mission Payments: Percentage take (3%) 418 credits Kill Bonus 53 credits Hive Kill 100 credits

They were only about a third of the way through the salvage so far. They anticipated a haul of over 50,000 credits for the whole operation so Elias was pleased with the numbers so far. As he watched the 418 credits was quickly ticking up. Fingers crossed he would earn much more once the day was over and he had paid off the rest of his squad. They watched as the sunset over the salvage crew and recruits loading up three of the troop carriers with Swarm parts. On their first mission out the recruits were lucky that they had been distracted by the Swarm as the more experienced salvagers had pulled the neural link and armour off their dead colleagues. It was a sombre thought that it only took the two remaining carriers to get them all back to Greenway.

"Hey, Four, that was some good shooting out there." Said Jones to the recruit sat next to him.

"Thanks. My name's actually..." She replied.

"Stick with Four. It suits you." He said before she could finish. "Head to Central when we clock off. I'll buy you a beer."

"Hitting on the fodder are you?" Joked Sammy. "You never buy me a beer."

"I'll buy you a beer." Said Rodriguez, pulling off his helmet and shaking his shoulder length black hair out of his face to reveal the scarred visage beneath.

"Not my type." Replied Sammy. "I like the pretty boys." She said, patting Jones' leg.

"Piss off Sammy." Said Jones, rising to the bait as they knew he would.

The banter continued as they drove through the early evening back towards Greenway. Elias noticed how the recruits that had joined with his squad for the second assault seemed to integrate better and join in with the banter. The others seemed shellshocked and reserved. By the end of the trip Jones had agreed to buy Four, Seven and Twelve all a drink and most of the rest of the group had decided to go along too. Even if it was just to watch him fail to impress as Sammy suggested.