Even an Extinction-Level Event wasn’t an excuse not to do your job. General Temura, the CO of the Alliance Engineering Corps on Earth, had sent a succinct memo to all personnel.

“I don’t care if you’re elbow-deep in husks, the Engineer Corps does what’s needed. –Temura”

Supposedly the general’s assistant had smoothed over the phrasing of the first draft.

Kenzo’s unit was currently on battlefield sanitation duty. They didn’t bother with side streets, but major routes had to be kept traversable. Logistics was the main component of any attack or defense plan. The street they were assigned to today had recently seen a number of skirmishes with the Reaper forces; the area was strewn with bodies and debris.

They had allied help, too. Some Quarians who had come to Earth on Pilgrimage got stranded when the Reapers attacked. No one was better at recycling and cleanup than Quarians, so General Temura, in an unprecedented move, drafted them into the Alliance military. It might have raised eyebrows with the high command, but the high command were all dead, and no one was going to bother Temura over this during the apocalypse. 

Kenzo amused himself wondering what Temura’s memo might have originally said when an alarm flooded his HUD with a deep crimson. 

Captain Raya reacted immediately.

“Incoming Cerberus troops,” Raya said. “Squad, take defensive positions. Kenzo, get your drones ready. Tassok, prep the cryo charges.”

Varda Tassok was the youngest member of their unit, but in battle she handled herself better than some veteran marines. Kenzo had seen her handiwork up close—he had done cleanup on husks and marauders she had turned into popsicles. 

Kenzo looked up at the sky covered in dark clouds and toxic smoke. “What a lovely day to reduce, reuse, and recycle.”

“What?” Raya asked.

“Earth Day!” Varda piped up excitedly. 

Kenzo laughed. “How does she know it and you don’t, captain?”

“Kenzo, you have five seconds to talk, because we’re about to be quite busy.”

“It’s Earth Day. You know—go green, save the planet from cosmic eldritch horrors.”

Raya’s long-suffering sigh fluttered over the comms. “Focus, people! Here they come!”