Christmas Eve finds the 58th in dire straits: its transport vehicle, damaged in battle, is hurtling uncontrolled into enemy territory and the pilots must struggle to stay alive with no power, no weapons, and no hope of being rescued.

The 58th enters the tunnels to try to find and destroy a Chig ammo dump. In the tunnels on the way to the ammo dump, Lubin is killed, and Damphousse predicts that one more of them will die.

Shane risks her life when she volunteers to fight an enemy spacecraft with another squadron, led by a former boyfriend whose new love was killed during a mission.

McQueen seeks reinstatement of his pilot status so he can fly what could be a suicide mission: find and destroy a seemingly invincible Chig super-bomber.