“My knee! My fucking knee is gone!” Corporal Danniger screamed, digging his gloved fingers into the ground as a soldier drug him away. Blood trailed behind.

Armored soldiers covered the rear and protected the front, firing off rounds in short bursts at unseen enemies. Smoke, and ash rose into the sky around them, rubble stacked in fat piles provided moments of cover.

There were seven left in total, barely two fire teams with their sergeant in command, and the corporal injured. The battle had raged for days. Their side was losing… had lost already.

The Sergeant finally pulled Danniger into cover. She pressed a finger to her comm relay on her helmet, relaying back to the ships overhead. They were on fire, but repeatedly pelted the ground with heavy shells.

“Sergent Major Alloy! This is Sergeant Juno from First Platoon. We’re trapped and surrounded. We need a way out, now!” Sergeant Juno held the title of command comfortably. Her voice was firm, authoritative, even under such heavy fire she kept her cool. She broke off from her comm transfer to shout at one of her men. “Contact Jennings. Get us transport on clear zone six.” The soldier looking over Danniger glanced up at her, nodding.

“Yes, maam!” Danniger was still screaming.

The radio buzzed in Juno’s ear… My god. Sergeant Juno, I can’t believe you’re still alive. I hear you loud and clear. What’s your situation?

“Not good, Sergeant Major. Half my squad is wasted. Not sure about the rest of the platoon, sir.” Her heart was heavy with those words. A lot of good soldiers were dead. “We’ve got a wounded man, and there will be more if we don’t get out now.”

I understand, Sergeant. Keep your men alive. I will return with answers.

“Understood.” An explosion rocked nearby. The blast wasn’t directed at them, but the shock threw some of them to the ground. Dust and rocks rained over their position. Juno rushed to a soldier’s assistance, pulling him back up to his feet. She then spotted enemy movement in the distance, beyond a smoky clearing. She fired a few bursts from her rifle. The expended shells bounded off of concrete and rock. The enemy retreated into cover.

The situation was dire. They were surrounded.

The ships, their ships looming in the sky above the moon’s surface, seemed so near but there was no way to get to them. If only their air transport were more heavily armored it could fly right up to them. If Jennings tried to reach them now, the transport would be shredded like paper.

The clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before someone else was injured.

“Jennings, sergeant. What do I relay?” Maxwell the comms specialist reported to Juno. Juno let another soldier take her position, returning to Specialist Maxwell. She kneeled down next to him, looking over Danniger who had quieted down a bit. The injured man groaned in pain, shaking his head absently. A tourniquet had been applied to his leg, the armor up to his hip tossed aside. The bleeding had stopped.

She pressed her comm relay, “Sergeant Major? What’s the situation? We’re in critical need of help over here.”

It’s not looking good, Sergeant. I have personnel looking into exit strategies, but we’re having trouble reaching the captain. Do your best. Find a place for a landing craft.

“Understood…” She made sure to release her comm relay button before cursing, “Damnit. Alright, squad. Listen up.” Those firing into the smoke ducked into cover, and everyone gave the sergeant their attention. “We gotta find a clear place for a landing craft. That means moving again. Maxwell. Tell Jennings to stand by. Then, prep Danniger for movement. Rachel. Help him out. The rest of you keep your ground and hold them back. They’ll keep their distance until they realize we’re half strength, so fight like you’re two soldiers– better yet, fight like you’re a hundred.”

“Yes, sir!” Her troops responded with vigor, marking up their positions.

Now, about our exit strategy. Juno spent some time looking over possible paths of movement. They couldn’t return the way they came. The enemy was strongest there.

When the assault finally broke and the enemy rushed into their lines, the marines held for a while, but it became a mess of holdouts and ambushes from both sides. With the enemy scattered into their lines, there was no telling what was safe and what wasn’t. She could assume, though, that further in the opposite direction enemy resistance would be lower.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

They’d come from the south, heading north back towards the last lines of defense. From the flames a mile off, where smoke rose like a wall with a miles wide spread, Juno could assume the enemy had made it that far. Soon, they’d try to board the ships still resting above, but that would come hours if not a day or so from now. In that time, the armada admiral would issue a retreat and abandon the moon.

Juno hoped those stranded like her and her squad could make it back there in time. Otherwise, they would all be killed or caught.

The enemy presence from the south was definitely thicker, lessening as the squad moved further northward. That meant only tertiary forces had made it north ahead of them. Resistance would be lighter moving in that direction. Heading East or West would only skirt her and her remaining squadmates around obstacles, not get them away from advancing enemies. So, northward was the only viable option.

But, they had an injured man who’d have to be carried. The squad couldn’t continue on like this. The enemy would catch on to their full strength eventually and start to maneuver to engage them. Their movements would be too slow with Corporal Danniger the way he was to just run to safety. Juno and her squad wouldn’t be able to fight them off and evacuate the corporal at the same time. If they ran, they wouldn’t make it.

Since she’d reached someone, Sergeant Major Alloy of all people, Juno felt a release in her chest, like a weight had been lifted. They weren’t safe, and assuredly still close to death, but it wasn’t hopeless like before. There was a way out, now. The Major wouldn’t leave them behind. Maybe then, they could hold up somewhere and wait for reinforcements instead.

Juno carefully poked her head up from the rubble checking the northern landscape. Ruins dotted the area. There was a half building in that direction that was good cover. It was just twenty yards away. There were probably enemies in it.

The building was some kind of civilian structure whose insides had fallen through. Parts of the floor on the second and third levels remained intact. Those areas were good positions for machine guns because a soldier could see around them from safety and rain down fire without being exposed.

An enemy squad would’ve already taken up position inside, in hopes of surrounding their current position. That’s what she would’ve done.

A fire raged somewhere beyond the structure, choking smoke rising into the atmosphere. The skeleton of the building stood eerily black in contrast to the flaming mass glowing behind it. The sight was ghostly. People had lived and worked there. Now, it was ash and fire.

We don’t have time for this. The enemy would rush them sooner or later. She could hit the building with a couple men and clear it out, or hope it was empty and try to rush around it. They could also choose another path and try to move cover to cover to safety in that way.

That wouldn’t work. With their injured man, they’d never make it unscathed. The enemy would pick off whoever carried Danniger. If they rushed past the building altogether and there were enemies inside, they’d all be dead. It was a perfect ambush point. The best option was to head inside and clear it out.

Who was best for the job? Jessly and Wex were good soldiers. Loyal. They’d follow her into fire if she ordered them to, but that’s exactly why they were needed here. The two of them would hold the line as long as they could. A third would have to stay too, to watch their backs and to move Danniger. She’d leave Maxwell with them. If the assault squad died, then the rest of them would lose their comm specialist. That left Private Grensly, a newbie to the squad, and Harlow.

Harlow was a mean bastard, scarred up to his eyebrows. He was a veteran, lance corporal, with just as many infractions as commendations. He was the right choice for the assault squad. The newbie on the other hand was a terrible choice. Private Grensly was a good soldier, but they were in a dire situation. Juno needed experience.

In truth, the whole squad needed to rush the building, and even then there was a high chance they’d take casualties. Danniger could be left behind for the assault and be retrieved after, but, if they left, the area would be overrun. They’d basically abandon the Corporal to his fate. She could leave Grensly behind instead and take one of the others, but Grensly didn’t have the fortitude to hold against overwhelming odds.

It had to be the three of them. The burden of risk would just have to be assumed by the two veteran soldiers, her and Harlow.

In the back of her mind she knew what this meant, though. The assault could be the end for them right then and there, it was true, but even if the raid was successful, the operation was dangerous and risky. They’d be outnumbered. Assuredly, the assault team would not return unscathed. Juno was sending someone to die.

It would most likely be Private Grensly who got it. But that was the way it had to be…

Juno ducked behind cover again. “Private Grensly! LC Harlowe. On me.” The two soldiers left their posts, Harlowe smashing rounds out of his rifle until it clicked empty before he rushed to kneel by Juno’s side.

“This place is overrun and unless we move, we’re dead. I’ve contacted the Sergeant Major and he’s working on a plan to get us out of this, but it’s taking some time. So in the meantime, change of plans. We need a place to hole up and defend. There’s a building just behind this dust pile that would be a good position to hold until we get word.” She paused and looked at the private.

“The problem is, it’s mostly likely full of the enemy. I haven’t seen them yet, but I know they’re there.”

“I’d bet you’re right. It’s a dead-on ambush position,” Harlowe agreed. His voice came rough and weathered from behind his face mask.

“My thoughts exactly. We need to scout it out, and then push the position.”

“With just us three?” Grensly’s face was hidden by his mask, but his voice was clearly shaken.

“That’s right. Just us three. If we don’t take that position, they’ll overrun us here and we can’t keep running the corporal hurt like that. So it’s do or die. Understand?”

“I hear you, Sergeant,” Harlow growled. He cocked his weapon resolutely. She wasn’t concerned about him.

Grensly looked around them before his shoulders raised and dropped from a deep breath. “I understand, Sergeant.”

“You’ll do fine, private. Remember your training and watch our backs.” Grensly nodded.

“Ready?” Juno asked her squadmates. They both nodded, ready to move. She racked her rifle, and together the three of them moved to action…