The last few steps through the canyon into a deep crater where the outpost sat high above the clouds were painful but rewarding.

The 223rd had spent the last few hours running up the mountain. Despite the stims that were being pumped into their system, the thinner oxygen was causing breathing to become much harder and aches and pains started to make their legs and arms feel increasingly heavy.

Their training had prepared them for this. Everyone had the fitness to make it up the mountain even with the two stasis pods housing critically injured soldiers.

Only five hundred metres remaining.

As the battered archaic outpost came into view, all aches and pains appeared to disappear and each soldier found a new lease of life causing them to all sprint along the crater floor.

Jason thumped himself into the door with Westwood collapsing into it just after him. They both struggled initially to inhale any air, but as their lungs acclimatised, their breathing gradually slowed, giving them the energy to prise open the outpost door.

As the doors groaned open the soldiers all collapsed just inside its darkened entrance, using the opportunity to regain their energy and oxygen levels.

Lying on the floor Jason knew that this was the easiest part of the next few hours. With approximately one hundred Ceti's a few hours behind them he needed to make sure that what was left of the 223rd was capable of holding them off for as long as possible.

There was much urgency and turmoil in his mind, but Jason knew to push the troops to the limit now would likely make them an incapable fighting force when it mattered.

He stood to his feet, a sharp pain throbbed in his side. With all the adrenaline and stims coursing through his veins, he had forgotten about his broken rib. Another reminder of why a few minutes of rest would be crucial.

"10 minutes break," Jason ordered.

It was painful to say it but seeing the relief from his fellow comrades provided him with a small amount of satisfaction.

Now he needed to do a situation report (sitrep) of their current circumstances and establish what needed to be accomplished before the enemy arrived on their doorstep.

With no power, it would mean no radio. He had ten physically capable soldiers, with one hundred enemy combatants on their way. Two medical pods had to be monitored at regular intervals and only a finite amount of ammunition for the up and coming battle.

Jason looked up to the sky. It was dark as nighttime gloomed the horizon, but the stars could be seen clearly. He had no idea what constellations he was looking at but they were glamorous. He wondered if any of those stars were actually ships. If he could reach even one of those ships it wouldn't matter if he had to deal with a hundred or a thousand Ceti's. Orbital bombardment from USM forces would be deadly to the onrushing army. The radio was therefore the most important asset in this entire facility, and with the outpost being high above the clouds, it would be easy to make contact.

'Let's just hope that the radio isn't too badly damaged' he thought to himself.

As soon as the 10 minutes were up he got everyone up and focused. They were tired and battered but now eager and willing to do what was required.

Private Schuldermann was the best electronics engineer in the regiment. Jason had followed him into the facility to find its generator and, despite its age, it hadn't taken Schuldermann long to get it activated. As it whirred into life and the lights flickered on they could both hear a cheer from the other soldiers currently awaiting their next instructions. A good sign that morale hadn't been too severely battered.

"How long for the radio?" Jason asked.

Schuldermann looked at the computer screens and the lack of activity on them. "I couldn't say without a proper investigation. Could be hours, could be days."

That wasn't what Jason wanted to hear. "Schuldermann, we have the enemy on their way here, probably no more than 6 hours away. If we can not get this radio working in 6 hours we will likely be dead. Do you understand?"

Schuldermann nodded cautiously, "Yes Corporal."

"Everything hinges on this radio being able to get a signal into orbit." Jason pointed towards the radio "if there's anything you need, whether that's material or personnel, if I can get it to you it's yours. Get that radio working!"

"Yes Corporal. Can I request Lance Corporal Pendergast? She's probably the most capable to assist me in this task."

Jason knew that was true. Aurora was intelligent and tech-savvy. If Schuldermann needed something of a complex technical nature, it's likely she would understand exactly what he needed.

"Consider her yours"

As Schuldermann smiled, without hesitation he turned to the computer and started running diagnostics on it.

Jason provided instructions to the rest of the squad.

The pods were taken to the medical room. The medic was instructed to do what they could to increase the length of time they would survive. A difficult task considering that the facility was so archaic and a lot of the technology had long expired.

Some of the soldiers were instructed to put up defences at the front of the facility. If they were to engage the enemy they had to do what they could to slow them down.

Jason then instructed Westwood to look for any useful munitions which may turn the tide of the battle.

Standing in a darkened room it took a little while for the sensors to recognise that both Jason and Westwood had entered. They flickered on to show a large warehouse with a large stockpile of munitions. While it would appear to be a positive view, Jason knew that most of it would be useless. Either defunct weapons or useless for a team of 10.

"Let's see if we can find something of use" Jason instructed as he looked around the warehouse.

"You've condemned us to death anyway so what does it matter!" Westwood commented flippantly.

Jason sighed and looked to the ground placing his hands on his hips. He was tired of Westwood's attitude, especially at this very delicate time. "Seriously!" He replied exasperated.

He walked up to Westwood who, despite his height difference, appeared to be slightly intimidated by the demanding Jason.

"If we had gone your course, the Lieutenant would definitely not survive." Jason explained. "Some of us, if not all of us, would not have completed that five hundred kilometre trip. Don't get me wrong, coming here is a massive risk but if there's even a small chance that I can get everyone back alive then I need to take it."

"Then the wounded have condemned us, we should have left them at the crash site!" Westwood replied, referring to the Lieutenant currently sedated in his medical pod.

Jason bit his lip and looked away. He really wanted to plant his fist into him one more time, but it wouldn't have achieved anything. He took a deep breath just to make sure that he controlled his anger this time. "What if one of them had been you? What if you had a small chance of surviving and then we just left you? Would you have wanted that?"

For once Westwood didn't reply. Jason could see in his eyes that his words were sinking in.

"We are outnumbered 10 to 1 and only have about five and a half hours to prepare. We are completely dependent on Schuldermann fixing that damn radio and someone to be on the other end listening. I've taken a massive risk bringing us here, but out of all the scenarios I've ran in my head, this is the only one where all of us have a chance of getting out alive. At the moment I need you to act like a second in command and assist me in achieving that goal, can you do that?"

Westwood nodded. "Yes I can do that and I really hope your gamble pays off."

Jason turned away towards the warehouse again. "So do I." He sighed. "Look for anything which we could potentially use."

Westwood appeared to gain a new lease of life and got straight to work looking for various weapons and tools.

Jason sighed once more, this was a massive gamble on all their lives. He could be potentially sacrificing the whole team to save 2 people who were critically injured and may not survive a medevac trip anyway. It didn't matter though, his father had always taught him to make it appear he had absolute conviction in his decisions even if in reality that may not have been the case. These were also his brothers and sisters, not in blood but in bond. If the academy had taught him anything it was that he should protect his fellow soldier at all costs.

It had been four hours since Jason had given the initial orders, and the team had worked non-stop to get the necessary defences ready for the oncoming army. Various munitions had been scavenged from the warehouse and converted into usable mines, positioned strategically based on Jason's commands. Barricades had be erected for protection and obstruction and a single turret had been recommissioned for short usage during the fight.

Jason had tried to get updates from Schuldermann but the technician was now only responding with grunts and curses. The repairs were taking longer than Jason had hoped.

He strolled around the outer defences to examine them before looking up at the sky once more.

It was still night and it was still beautiful, though now a small red glow of Proxima Centauri could be seen in the far distance.

Jason wondered if there was some piece of luck, whether good or bad, in seeing the star now. He was not superstitious in any way, but this was a dire situation so any help was needed.

As he walked past the outer perimeter he could hear two soldiers discussing the situation.

"One hundred soldiers, these boxes and stones aren't exactly going to stop them!" Mumbled the first soldier.

"We are so dead, and all because we had to risk ourselves for the Lieutenant" the second soldier groaned.

"I don't know if Scharn's looking for another promotion or something?"

"Well the Sergeant position has now become available. God did you see him, he was completely messed up in the ship" The first soldier continued.

"Like we'll be!" Grumbled the second soldier.

Jason had expected grumbles. This whole plan must have seemed like a fool's errand to everyone around him. For Jason though, this was the best of all the dire situations.

He came out from behind the defences and walked on as if he hadn't heard the conversation.

"Corporal" both of the soldiers acknowledged.

As he started to walk back to the outpost he was greeted by Aurora.

"Please tell me there's some good news." Jason commented, referring to the radio.

"No idea," Aurora responded. "Schuldermann kicked me out, said he currently didn't need me."

Jason chuckled, despite knowing that he shouldn't, given their situation, but he needed to hear some bit of random news to cheer himself up.

"Do you think coming here was a good idea?" Aurora asked.

"No." Jason replied abruptly, while he pretended that everything was ok in front of his team it was a different story with Aurora. "But then none of the options we had were good."

Aurora sighed knowing that Jason was probably right about this. It still didn't make her happy. "You always go looking for a fight!"

Jason looked at her solemnly. "Sorry Aurora," he sighed, "I've given us into many a pickle in the past and every time I've dragged you along with no thanks or anything. This was the only option I could think of which would allow us to avoid a fight, though if that radio takes too much longer it appears we may not have a choice!"

Aurora screwed up her nose at Jason "Did you say sorry!?" She replied sarcastically. "Wow it must be truly the end of us!" She chuckled.

Jason smiled along with her. He could pretend to be strong around others but Aurora saw right through him.

"I don't follow you because I'm nieve," she responded "I follow you because I know whatever route you take, no matter how dangerous or stupid it appears, it is most likely the one with the highest chance of success," Aurora smiled. "Schuldermann will fix that radio, that guy is far too intelligent for his own good and practically talks in binary!"

Jason laughed and realised that his long term friend had restored the little hope that had got them this far. His conviction was renewed, his faith in his plan renovated, and now it was time to bring it to completion.

"Besides" Aurora continued "I have always had fe..."

Jason interrupted her by raising his hand in a fist. She went quiet, automatically focusing on a gust of wind that swirled around the crater. As she strained her hearing, she could hear something else, something faint but it was undoubtedly there. A thud, repeating like a metronome.

Their focus went beyond the crater, yet despite being unable to see anything but what felt like the edge of the world, the thudding continued, gradually getting louder at each passing moment

"No no no no no no, they're too early!" Jason remarked.

He marched towards the main group with Aurora in tow. The Ceti's were probably only about half an hour away now, a total hour and a half quicker than anticipated.

Reaching the group who were all still gossiping with each other, they had obviously not heard the oncoming doom. Jason barked out the necessary orders. "Everyone grab your gear and move to defensive positions, the enemy is almost on our doorstep.

Initially, no one moved. There was no way they could have made that much ground with an army of 100 in formation, it was not humanly possible.

But then they are not human.

Realising this was not a joke, Westwood was the first to get up and grab his armour, weapon and pack. This seemed to encourage the rest of the team to follow suit.

Jason turned to Aurora. "Get to Schuldermann and get him to fix that damn radio now!" He instructed.

"But he said..."

"I don't care what he said, we have 35 maybe 40 minutes to get it operational otherwise none of us will be here to use it."