The trio landed in a crater whose brim was lined with remnants of a fallen structure. This extra cover let them approach the edge of the crater without the risk of being seen. Just ahead was the bombed out building. They could see it plainly.

“I don’t see movement,” Juno said. A bomb sounded off somewhere near, echoing across the ruined landscape.

“Maybe it’s empty?” Grensly half asked, half hoped.

“No. They’re in there. I know it. They’re just waiting for us,” Harlowe growled beside them. Juno agreed.

“They’ll stay hidden until we pass right under them. Then, they’ll hit us hard when we have our backs turned. Someone needs to scout it out, maybe even draw out their positions.” Grensly became deathly still.

“Don’t worry, rookie. You aren’t going,” Harlowe reassured the private, double checking his rifle to make sure there was a round in the chamber. Before he did anything else though, Juno put a hand on his shoulder.

“You aren’t going either.” She said, prepping her gear. Then, she touched some LED buttons on her wrist. She was maxing out her shield.

“Sergeant? You can’t go. If we lose you, we’re done for sure.” Harlowe was right. If the squad lost Juno, it was all over. The Sergant was the only reason any of them made it this far in the first place. But, that thought never passed her mind. A job needed to be done, and she was the most skilled to do it. They couldn’t afford to be cautious with their resources.

“We don’t have the time to mess this up. I’m going. You two just be ready when we start the assault.” Harlow silently nodded. Grensly was in aw. She was brave. Fearless. A sergeant who volunteered to jump in harm’s way? He wondered if she was special or were they all like that?

“What’s the plan?” Harlowe asked.

“I’m gonna go knock on the door and see who answers. When they come out, I want you both to hit them hard with suppressive fire. Make sure to count your targets. We need to know how many of them are inside. Don’t let this risk go to waste.” Juno triple checked her gear. She was ready to move.

“I’m gonna plan my exit strategy. Stay down and wait until you hear return gunfire.” Juno crawled around the crater to its left side, and then looked for a path that would give her cover back. She found a spot, a small path that would be a good retreat pnt when the fighting started.

A block of stone had cracked in half and fallen over. The object gave reasonable cover from the building. It was also at an angle to the structure’s face so the defenders couldn’t get a perfect shot in that direction. This meant it was a good place from which to assault as well.

On the other side of the crater, she found a better position to lay out suppressive fire. A hole in the ground was protected by a standing slab. From there, she could hit the building with cover fire, the position granting good views of both the second and third floor windows, while also drawing fire back onto herself. Meanwhile, her team would assault from the concealed position on the left.

Returning to the others, Juno relayed the information. “I’ll draw their fire and return from the left. Cover me, until I get to my position on the opposite side. Then, from there I’ll draw enemy fire again so you two can assault the position from the left. Once inside, cause some chaos until I get there. We only have one chance at this. Hit them hard, and keep the element of surprise. Let’s get it done.” The team nodded at her.

She readied herself, bolstering her confidence with a deep breath. Don’t make a mistake. Make this work. Then, Juno swiftly ascended to the top of the crater and slid down the rubble to a depression below.

In the depression, Juno crawled to the edge of her cover and carefully peeked over, using the ocular tool in her helmet to zoom in and scout out the building. There were plenty of access points in. Her team could enter from the left with good concealment, and flank anyone at the windows. She could keep them pinned down from her position on the right side while Grensly and Harlow picked them off within or Juno could enter on the right when the assault commenced. The latter would create a good cross fire between them from both flanks.

That revelation excited Juno. This was doable. Crossfire would shred the enemy to pieces before they knew what hit them. Now, the ambush favored their side instead of the enemy’s.

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Hopefully, though, there weren’t any soldiers posted on their flanks. If there were, the fight would be prolonged and reinforcements would surely arrive before Juno and her team secured the position. The attack would have to be fast, and they’d have to be lucky.

Juno hugged her rifle to her shoulder. Slowly, she stood up from her cover and tread carefully down the rest of the rubble pile until she reached solid ground. Before her rose the doomed structure. Support spires poked out from the collapsed roof like jagged, fractured rib bones.

Rounds popped behind her at their holding ground. The fighting was fierce. Bombs and shells pounded the ships in the distance in soft rumbles, and the ships returned fire, their guns loud thunder claps. Then, a dull pop sounded as their shells smashed into enemy positions miles behind their lines.

But here, it was quiet. Too quiet. Only the sound of fire crackled in far off places. It was a definite ambush.

Heart pumping, Juno continued, walking slowly, silenty towards the dead structure. At any moment a head could pop out from the window, see her and take their shot. She was completely exposed. Her heart pounded.

She made it to the outside walls. Where windows, walls and doorways used to be, only the concrete understructure remained. It was all marred with soot from old explosions and wild fires. She hugged the exterior with her back, popping her head into the building to have a quick look around.

The interior was completely ruined. It was all ruptured brick and steel and fallen concrete. Nothing remained of the old building. She couldn’t even tell what it used to be, either. Everything had been buried when the ceiling collapsed.

Partially satisfied, Juno took her first step inside. The fires burning somewhere behind the building cast a hellish orange light inside, and dark shadows, elongated, flickered wildly. The noise of the fires was so loud it drowned out the crunch of her footsteps as she tread over wreckage scattered on the floor.

She was fully inside, now. Juno made no attempt at hiding herself. She wanted the enemy to see her, and hoped they would open fire. The more the enemy shot at her, the more they revealed themselves. She was confident her shields would withstand the abuse, allowing her to retreat before they reduced completely. Still though… she stepped carefully.

The lobby of the building was empty. The second floor was mostly gone, but extended about a quarter length into the building. Juno was still beneath it where she was. If there were enemies inside, they weren’t on ground floor, and they hadn’t posted guards on the flanks. It was a perfect opportunity to reverse the ambush.

Stepping deeper into the heart of the building, Juno stopped when she heard faint voices above her. The number of voices were lost in the noise of the fire, as well as what they were saying, but their words echoed through the dead building loud enough for Juno to catch them. She crouched and listened for a moment to make sure she wasn’t hearing things.

Upon confirmation, heart skipping in her ears, Juno carefully regained her posture. She slid up against a wall, and very quietly slipped along it, trying to get as close to the edge of the second floor as possible. She wanted to get visual confirmation before she sent the assault. It was a risky thing to do, but she’d come this far already.

As she drew closer, up above the voices became unmistakeable. Feet kicked around rubble accidentally. Someone was chewed out for it.

Dust suddenly fell in streams from the edge of the second floor, just in front of Juno. It swirled in the air before her. That was her sign not to push her luck. The enemy was right above her.

She abandoned the visual confirmation, and quickly retreated through the building with disregard to noise, entirely. She trampled stones, and kicked up rubble, her footsteps loud and echoing. When she exited the building back into free air, the voices behind her sounded as if they were questioning whether or not they had heard her. Juno didn’t stop. She bounded towards the depression she’d hid in earlier, quickly climbing the rubble pile again.

Juno made sure they knew she was there, too. Raising her rifle to the sky as she moved, Juno fired off a couple wild bursts into the air. Then, she dove into the depression, expecting enemy fire to sizzle overhead.

When that didn’t happen, Juno hesitantly peeked over the depression’s edge. The enemy’s voices were plainly coming from inside, now. Talking loudly amongst themselves, the enemy still questioned what was happening, unsure if they should make their presence known yet, or not. The language was foreign to her, but she could tell there was a disagreement between some of the troops.

Juno readied her rifle again. She wanted them to come out, not argue behind cover. Juno fired a solid burst towards the windows, the shots skittering against the stone. Suddenly, voices called out. Another angry voice responded to them. Juno took another curious burst into a random window.

Finally, springing out from cover, soldiers appeared at the windows. Without waiting for a target, they started spraying their guns in the direction they’d heard the shots coming from. Juno ducked.

The crater around her splattered into dust. The sizzle and pop of hot bullets tore through the atmosphere. Juno didn’t have the chance to get a good read on them. She’d only counted four, but there had to be more of them.

Above her, her team started shooting back, their guns blazing overhead. Bullets ripped into the windows in controlled lines. The enemy tried match their pace, but the surprise attack caught them off guard. Juno could hear the enemy struggle to let off a string of rounds before her team would do the same, snuffing out their fire instead.

This was her time to move. Juno’s plan was to dash from cover and head back down the hill, breaking to the left, towards the place she’d marked before. She didn’t know when it would be safe enough to move. It was a guess, and then a hope that her shields would hold up. WIth that in mind, Juno took another deep breath, and then sprang from her hiding spot, out into the line of fire…