Alex stood at stiff attention, wearing his trademark antique aviator's sunglasses, reflective lenses above his usual smirk. However, with Castle this close, he didn't say anything except for the expected 'Yes Sir,' 'No Sir', and occasionally mumble under his breath. However, when he saw Astrid emerge from the other group of Squad 20, and heard what was going on, he mentally pumped his fists in the air. Without Astrid, they wouldn't have active leadership. Still, even with Astrid gone, they had a significant advantage, because Squad 1 couldn't get their crap together. 

But even with all their problems, he still loved each and every one of them. Sam, even if she did have to be the best at everything. Laura, even if she was altogether too stubborn. Nate, even if he was too selfless for his own good. Francis, even if he had that whole slew of issues going on in that head of his. Rei, even if she was scaring him lately. Liu, even if he did freak out at the mere mention of AGS. Alex knew that he was as equally fucked up as the rest of them, but then again, who wasn't, in this place? Saluting Castle, and breaking away with his Squad, he jogged near the front of the group, as always. Might as well be him, right? Casting a glance back at Astrid, he tried to gauge her personality, and see what she thought of his squad. As he thought, she had that same slight sneer of condescension that the rest of Squad 20 had, whenever they saw Squad 1. 

When they got to Base 2, they had already spent 10 minutes in transit. That meant they had 50 minutes to prepare themselves. Alex stood off to the side, and watched the others carefully, listening to each of their plans, and fighting the urge to question them. These were ideas his squad had, not orders from some... prick. He didn't need to worry about there sincerity or safety. He trusted them. He listened, and then he heard Rei suggest using Astrid as a human shield, or even torturing her with the training rifles. Eyes widening, he stepped over to where Rei was standing, he shoved the gun away from Astrid, and grabbing Rei's shoulders, he looked into her eyes, and said, [color=OrangeRed][b]"Tenrei! We can't do that! That's what AG-"[/b][/color] Alex glanced at Liu for a second, before looking back at Rei. [color=OrangeRed][b]"What [i]they[/i] would do! We [i]have[/i] to be better than them! No matter what!"[/b][/color] 

Turning back to Astrid, he did grin, and say, [b][color=OrangeRed]"However, I'm not suggesting that we don't use her, in some way. Maybe, since she's the flag, we could tie her up and take her with us, and abandon the base, and stay mobile? That's what killed us last time. We're a breaching team, not a holdout team."[/color][/b] He looked to the others, particularly Sam and Laura, the two leaders, for support. Nate was a good friend, but he was in no way a leader, just like Alex wasn't. Rei would be a good leader, if she wasn't so damn [i]robotic![/i] She began to start to be this way early on, around when they all were six, Alex remembered. He had tried to help her, but he couldn't do anything for her, no matter how hard he tried. [color=OrangeRed][b]"If we stay mobile, we can win this thing."[/b][/color]