As dawn broke one morning, Edwards and Tanner slowly made their way back to the fighting unit’s last LUP. They’d been on sentry duty for the last three hours and were quite knackered as they tried to stay alert while walking back, a task not easily accomplished with only three hours of sleep in the last 24.

As they closed in on the first set of tents, Davies and Kirov greeted them with tired looks.

"Edwards and Tanner reporting in, sir," Tanner said to the Major.

"Right," Davies replied. "No signs of alien movement?" he continued. The two soldiers shook their heads. Davies gave them the nod to go and get some sleep, a suggestion they keenly accepted and five minutes later practised.

Davies and Kirov headed off towards the sentry position Edwards and Tanner had just left. Davies stumbled through the bushes and trees, trying to move as stealthy as he could. Kirov followed behind, still a little worried about the Major’s leg injury. He decided against commenting what he thought was best for the XO; some rest.

Suddenly Davies stopped and lifted his head as if he’d just spotted something. The Major began sniffing the air around him, like he was an old dog who’d just picked out a weird smell. He turned to Kirov.

"You smell that, Alex?" he asked, squinting against the morning sun. Kirov took a few quick breaths through his nostrils.

"Yes sir, it smell like...like...dead man."

"Come on," Davies said and motioned for Kirov to follow. He moved through some bushes and went around a huge rock. Propped up against the big boulder was the dead body of an X-Com soldier. Davies grimaced at the sight of the corpse.

"Christ I wonder how long he’s been dead?" The skin had begun to rot away and it was a really horrifying look. The smell was there, although it wasn't really strong anymore.

"Months I would say," Kirov said, taking a closer look. There was a laser rifle lying next to the body, along with some papers.

"Hey what’s that?" Kirov said as he kneed to pick up the rifle. He picked up the papers and began examining them. Davies walked over to Kirov to take a closer look himself.

"It’s a map of this region," the Major said as he recognised the area portrayed on the map.

"Yes I think so also," Kirov replied and handed over the map to Davies. The latter was able to make out a dotted location just west of the NAARO position, also marked with a big "X".

"What does this mean?" he asked Kirov. The private frowned and then lit up.

"I know! There is one base there, sir. X-Com base, I mean." Davies look in sudden surprise at Kirov.

"You sure?"

"Yes, sir." Davies looked a little distant as if to sort something out in his mind.

"Ok this could be big. Let’s go tell Scott." The two soldiers gave the ex-X-Com a final look and a quiet nod, then headed back to the LUP.