“Get out! Retreat now,” Aquila commanded, a look of horror on her face.

Panic built in me as I surveyed the screens. Most of Team One were now running towards the stairs, rushing towards the main fight where most of Team Two and Three were. The group that had gone down to the medBay had joined in with them as well and they were mostly dominating the fight but the small group from Team One were still stuck, unable to move away from the protection of the elevator.

“Lots of Guardians coming in now. We need to evac!” Aquila stated, her voice was calm but her face was a different story.

I could tell she was worried and unhappy about the way this had gone.

“Use grenades, end the fight. It’s too late to worry about using non-lethal weapons,” she ordered.

The fighters on the screen took note as some ducked down to pull out their grenades whilst others continued to shoot. Blinding flashes quickly followed and I was blinded. My gaze bounced around as I tried to make my eyes adjust quicker but my vision was still foggy.

Is the door damaged? Gem asked, blinking quickly.

I squinted at it, trying to work out what was happening. The doors were all macabrely decorated with blood, burn marks and scraps of armour. It was hard to work out how bad it was or if there was any damage under that.

I don’t know! I sent back, I hate not being able to use our mods!

It was infuriating. Another annoying part of having to watch the battle from afar. If we were there we could use our ocular mods to be able to see more than our normal eyes could but here we were limited by how much the camera could see.

The battle raged on, our fighters were doing well but I could tell they were starting to lag. The Guardians were falling but there were always more and even more were storming up the stairs now. Their thundering footsteps echoed in my head.

What do we do, Aries? Gem asked.

Fuck. I didn’t know. I wasn’t Captain of this ship, that was Fornax, but still, my crew looked to me for answers.

“Can we go down and pick them up? If they can get to the roof, surely we can get them?” I said urgently under my breath to Fornax.

She cocked her head to the side as she considered it.

“There is a Guardian ship up there we planned on them using but it might be safer for us to go to them,” she mused quietly.

I waited hopefully, barely able to breathe and trying not to wince as another fighter fell. I knew it was selfish but going down to pick them up would make me feel better. Then, we’d actually be doing something instead of just watching.

Fornax flicked through the cameras trying to find the one for the roof before projecting it onto the screen in front of us.

My breath caught in my throat. From the security camera, we could see the whole city. I could probably see the orphanage if I tried. The flat gravelled top of the building spread out before us.

“It looks safe enough,” I said.

“It does… Aquila,” she spoke quietly into her screen, clearly speaking directly into Aquila’s earpiece, “could we fly down to get them? It might be safer than them taking the Guardian ship, that might have tracking devices or even be rigged to blow.”

I could see Aquila pondering the idea over.

“Alright, Teams! Get to the roof. Change of plans, the warships are going to come down and pick you up.”

What about Peggy? Cas asked quietly, his hands tightening into fists.

I bit my lip. My need to rescue Peg overwhelming my decision making.

“Andy, what about Peggy?”

The question burst out of my mouth and as soon as it was out, I felt terrible. I was putting Peggy’s life above all of the fighters. That wasn’t how we were trained. The good of the many should outweigh the good of the one.

I peeked at the screen worriedly, waiting to hear Andy’s answer. I knew he’d be disappointed in me but his face showed a war raging inside him.

“If possible, retrieve Peggy. If not, we will get her back,” Andy said, his voice tight with restraint.

“Understood,” one of the fighters replied over the noise.

My gaze bounced between the screens as I counted our still standing fighters. There seemed to be more of our fighters than the Guardians. Most of them had fallen. Especially in the corridor with Team Two and Three. The rest of Team One had gotten there and had somehow blocked the doors open and were peeking out into the corridor to take well-timed shots at the remained Guardians.

“Aries, shall we?” Fornax asked, rising to stand beside me.

I got up quickly, eager to join the fight.

“Alright, crew. We’re going down to Nova to retrieve the fighters. As far as we are aware, the sky is clear so we shouldn’t run into too many problems but once we have picked them up, I can’t say the same. I assume we will be followed so you need to stay vigilant and be ready to go,” Fornax briefed the others.

I listened, my heart pounding in my chest. My crew seemed determined, ready to fight but I wasn’t sure about the others.

“Once we get there, if there are Guardians on the roof, Eln, Acher and Can put down as many as possible. Cas and Gem, you two focus on getting our fighters on board the ship. Check their wrists for monitors because some Guardians might try and sneak on board and then scan their faces with your communicator. If you get any Guardians or anyone it doesn’t recognise then don’t say anything to them but let me know. We’ll stop on a nearby planet for medical equipment and deal with them there.”

“What about me?” Cory asked, his hands clutching at his harness.

“A lot of our fighters are wounded. Work out the severity of each of them and get them strapped down as best you can so they don’t get any more injured as we go through the atmosphere. Does anyone have any questions?”

I glanced around, making eye contact with each member of my crew.

“No? Alright, let’s go!”

Fornax turned and marched into the cockpit. I raced to follow her, my hands twitching to take control of the ship but I knew that she was more senior so she would fly.

I dropped into the seat and strapped in quickly, glancing around at the screens to check and make sure nothing seemed suspicious. The skies were clear. We were safe for now.

“Alright, Aries. I need you to watch the screen. Let me know what’s happening. I want to know every time one of our fighters falls and where the Guardians are at all times. Keep an eye on the roof and on the sky surrounding the building. If any ships approach or if anything looks suspicious, let me know immediately,” Fornax ordered, handing her screen to me.

I held the screen in my hands. It suddenly looked very small as I worrying about how I’d manage to do all of that on just one screen whilst also keeping an eye on the scanners.

It didn’t matter. I had to do this, I had no choice.

“Understood.”