Outpost Oregon, Planet Ceago

Colonial Infantry Command Bunker:

West Hall

Sgt. Leroy Haynes looked over at Simone and nodded his head at her. She understood his actions and kept gripping the handle of the heavy assault dual H&R 90mm machine guns. The turret was ready to fire, all she had to do was pull the charging bolt and squeeze the triggers that her palms had grown accustomed to holding.

Sgt. Haynes looked back through the armored wall slit and smiled. Those alien bastards were about to hit the thick of it, and it was his implicit intent to fully rip them a new hole. Beside him, Simone was breathing slowly; perparing herself for the imminent showdown.

The sergeant slowly cocked the handle on his rapid fire shotgun, and then aimed it through a slot in the wall. There was no mistaking the look of happiness on his face, he seemed more alive than he had been in ages. The advancing troops were in range and he prepared to let them have it. Farther down the embankment, a pair of younger men were also keeping watch through another slit and the first one looked up at the sergeant, who made a short chopping gesture with his hand. The man nodded and touched the shoulder of his partner. Both men pulled the charging bolts on their machine guns and prepared to fire.

Sgt. Haynes whispered to himself for what seemed the better part of an eternity, Simone listened to him as he counted the pacing of the advancing alien troops. She could hear him breathing quite clearly and it calmed her down. In a few more seconds, they would be engaged in a firefight and to her, it seemed as if it really didn't matter. She reached forward with one hand and slid the charging bolt back on the turret mounted assault machine guns. Her hands were strangely steady, she felt no emotion or distress at all.

The attack came without any warning for the advancing enemy soldiers. Sgt. Haynes shouted to the others, and everyone that was defending that section of the command bunker started laying down as much firepower as possible. The sounds of the firefight were incredible, and the infantry was hell bent on pushing their attackers back beyond the ridge.

The Aranaii weren't going to give up without a fight though, and their forces dug in as quickly as possible. Using the surrounding trees as effective shields, they took up firing positions and assaulted the small forces that were bravely defending the bunker. With bullets and tracer rounds flying around their forces, one of the ground officers tried to rally his troops into getting closer to the command bunker, but a round from a machine gun hit him directly in the chest and killed him instantly.

The Colonial Infantry were holding their positions, and doing well. Sgt. Haynes looked over at Simone and shouted at her over the noise of the machine guns. She looked over at him for a brief second, enough to let him know that she could hear him.

"Simone! Hold your side for as long as you can!" He told her, as he continued to fire his shotgun rapidly.

Simone nodded quickly and kept firing the turret machine guns. At first, she hadn't been able to aim the guns quickly or accurately- but after quickly getting familiar with the turret, she was now much quicker and able to hit anything that moved. The Aranaii ground forces weren't letting up in their approach to the bunker. Simone wasn't giving up either. She was easily blowing through thousands of ammunition belts as the machine gun's automatic feeder kept them from jamming.

A low flying energy charge struck the wall near her position, and she still kept firing. Intent on punishing the aliens for their hostile incursion against the outpost, Simone knew that the weapon she was firing was their main target. Without the turret firing full force, then the others wouldn't be able to mount an effective defense of the outer wall. But she didn't even care. The Aranaii were firing energy charges in full bursts now, and she still held her ground.

Sgt. Haynes activated a grenade and flung it clear of the wall. The device hit the ground and bounced, exploding right beside a group of soldiers who were advancing behind some shrubs and small trees. The sergeant hooted loudly as the alien soldiers were thrown into the air from the blast.

The Colonial Infantry soldiers were shooting up everything in their sights. Everyone defending the wall was so full of battle rage that they continued shooting at the Aranaii forces even as the soldiers began a suppression retreat. But the aliens hadn't given up on taking the wall. They were just out of range of the weapons and started regrouping their forces.

Sgt. Haynes called up the heavy artillery; men, women, even children- who had been taught to use the rocket and grenade launchers.

As they located their targets for firing, one of the men started taking potshots at the Aranaii soldiers- daring them to move forward again. Simone grabbed a fresh ammo crate and loaded the turret's auto feeder with fresh ammuniton belts. She was taking advantage of this opportunity to reload since she knew that when the aliens started their advance again, nothing would stop them this time.

But the Aranaii weren't advancing. They were staying right where they were. Another Aranaii officer was shouting commands at the troops, motioning for them to stay back. Up on the wall, Simone was looking at all of this. It took her a minute to realize what was happening- but then she caught on. The Aranaii were calling in air support! The ground forces were staying back so that they wouldn't get caught in the blast zones. Simone shouted at Sgt. Haynes to get his attention. Just as he looked over at her, Simone heard the familiar shrill screeching of the airships that the Aranaii used for logistical and air support.

"Haynes! HAYNES! Those bastards called in their air support! They're trying to dust us!" Simone shouted at the sergeant.

He looked off towards the horizon- and she was right, three airships were approaching their position. This was quickly turning into a no win situation. Those ships were sure to blast everything before the ground forces moved in to clean up. They would still have to mount a defense, to retreat would mean surrendering the wall. It was something that he'd hoped wouldn't have happened, but it had. If they couldn't defend this section of the outer wall, then the Aranaii would be that much closer to getting inside their position. Haynes looked around at all the tired, scared, and angry faces. He preferred not to make the decision, but they had no choice now.

"Get ready to FIGHT!! We have to keep those ships from destroying the wall! For sure they're gonna blast down on us, but like hell are we gonna give up this section without a fight! The last person alive will activate the explosives if it comes to that! Everybody- FIGHT!!" He shouted, at the top of his lungs.

Everyone cheered loudly, no matter how they felt inside. The ships were still a distance away, but the remaining defenders were getting ready to take them on. Everyone was passing ammunition crates around, setting up blockades, grabbing extra grenades and explosives. Sgt. Haynes walked over to Simone and looked at her as she busily rearmed a machine gun that rested near her. It was her last ditch defense, she'd use it once the turret was destroyed.

"We're in for it now, huh?" Simone said quietly as she finished slapping a fresh magazine into the machine gun. Sgt.Haynes nodded his head.

"Hell yeah, we are. They're about to wipe us out. You know it, I know it, everyone else does too. It won't take that long. All I know is that when I die, I want to at least be holding a weapon in my hand. Both hands, if I can help it." He told her.

Simone got up from the crate where she had been sitting and looked very closely at Haynes. Suddenly, she grabbed him and standing on tiptoe- kissed him on the forehead. He looked at her, but didn't say anything. Simone let out a shallow breath, then she spoke again.

"Thank you. For everything. I mean it. Even if we all die out here, at least we died fighting." She said.

Sgt. Haynes looked at her, wanting to say something, but he held it instead. As Simone let go of him, he took her hand and placed a grenade in it. Closing his hand around hers, they looked at each other for a moment, then the sergeant walked off to look after his own defenses. As Simone watched him go, a tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away, but not before getting one last look at everything around her. It was certain that those ships would destroy the entire area once they arrived, she wanted to at least breathe freely before it all became dark for her. She wasn't sure that she would survive this battle, or whether anyone else would either.

But she intended to go down fighting for everything that humanity stood for. In his own personal way, Haynes had inspired her. Simone was ready to die. She went back to the turret and took her place, thinking distant happier thoughts.

She was jerked back to reality as one of the soldiers blew a whistle.

Sgt. Haynes screamed, "HEADS UP!! HERE THEY COME!!"