The crater felt like it was shaking as the dust settled and the Ceti army appeared within the canyon. Their well-disciplined march in complete harmony instilled a sense of dread for the eight soldiers manning the outer defensive perimeter of the outpost.

As each step thundered forward, the breathing of the soldiers became more ragged, more uncertain, more strenuous. It was at this time that they had to remember their training to maintain their own discipline. If even one of them broke it would put their fellow compatriots in jeopardy.

"Form two ranks. Remember no one fires until I give the order." Jason spoke assertively to ensure they each listened to his instructions.

They formed two lines of four. The first line hid behind a quickly man-made wall of metal and debris. They laid down and placed their rifles comfortably on the defences. The second line was just behind them standing up behind a second man-made wall, once again placing their rifles on the quickly assembled protection.

Jason watched on, rubbing his finger on the side of the trigger of his weapon. Looking through the scope he watched as the Ceti force appeared through the canyon.

There was a loud shout from the mouth of the Canyon "Shu'ruk M'tar!"

They all stood still, staring intently through their menacing visors toward the small band of survivors. Each standing upright on their sturdy hind legs, their bony knees protruding behind their legs like a mammal instead of the front like a humanoid. As each held their sceptre in their three-fingered hands, they looked like a roman legion ready for battle.

"Is the mortar ready?" Jason asked quietly through his commlink.

"In position and ready to fire at your suggested coordinates." Instructed the soldier at the mortar deeper in the facility.

"Westwood, are you ready?" Jason asked.

"Awaiting instructions and raring to go!" Westwood replied.

The defences were as ready as they could be, now it was a matter of waiting for the enemy's first move.

"Schuldermann, radio ETA?"

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the radio. Schuldermann had been working flat out for the last four to five hours with absolutely no breaks as he slogged away to complete his task, and his exasperation was evident in his tone.

"No longer than ten minutes."

Ten minutes was a long time in a battle like this and Jason knew it, the whole thing could be over in three or four if they were not able to hold the Ceti advance back. However, only ten minutes left to restore an archaic piece of equipment that had not been used in decades, Schuldermann had done a sterling job. "I'll put you in for a medal if you get it done quicker."

There was a nervous chuckle from the other soldiers. They all knew that Jason would have no authority to do that but they also knew that the comment was designed to ease the tension.

"Scruptek fo Prveyed" the call came from the lead Ceti who had his arm raised. Its deep voice boomed from a distance and echoed from the edge of the canyon. Its call had encouraged all the other Ceti's to raise their sceptres and open them up revealing the six long deadly blades.

Jason could feel a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead and made him rub the side of the trigger even more anxiously, why weren't they attacking yet? Was there something that they were waiting for? Or perhaps it was an intimidation tactic. The wait was even making him apprehensive, which would suggest the tactic was working. Jason had to admire his adversary, it appeared that the enemy was well versed in the act of psychological and physical warfare.

But this delay worked to their advantage, it would mean it would allow more time for the radio to be fixed.

"Kro'rus" the lead Ceti shouted.

They started to march forward in unison, slowly at first but gradually picking up momentum.

"Mortar, high altitude anti personnel rounds, fire for effect." Instructed Jason

"Affirmative, 5 rounds, anti personnel, high altitude, danger close, fire for effect." The instructions were repeated by the soldier at the mortar followed by a pop in the distance.

They were now 500 metres away and jogging towards the outpost.

There was a whistle and then an explosion to the right of the main pack with the impact of the explosion pushing some of the Ceti's towards the centre of the group making them lose their footing and causing a little disorganisation among the ranks.

Another pop, whistle and boom in roughly the same position. While it wasn't causing a maximum amount of damage to the enemy it was encouraging them to not expand their ranks.

400 metres.

As anticipated the Ceti's were starting to split ranks and attempting to thin their line in order to surround the small defence force. They were avoiding where the mortars were landing so they kept pushing their formation on the opposite side, that was until a loud explosion and a few of the Ceti's flew into the air. Not long after, another explosion and a few more Ceti's were propelled into the air. As per Jason's instructions, the mines that had been laid in the depths of the canyon were playing havoc with the advancing enemy.

As anticipated, this discouraged the Ceti's from expanding their ranks.

So far Jason's plan was working. If they surrounded them they were dead, keeping them directly in front of the team would mean the battle was manageable.

350 metres.

"Prepare to engage," Jason ordered. "Pick your targets, squad one fire on my command."

300 metres.

Jason could feel his breathing getting a little erratic as the large force was rapidly descending upon them. They were certainly quicker than what he was prepared for, but he needed to make sure he kept his calm for the state of the team. They too were likely to feel under pressure.

250 metres.

It was now or never.

"SQUAD ONE OPEN FIRE! SQUAD TWO PREPARE TO ENGAGE" Jason shouted followed by a barrage of energy weapon fire directed towards the enemy.

He hesitated briefly before issuing the next order "SQUAD TWO OPEN FIRE!"

All he could see through his weapon sight were short bursts of red laser energy being absorbed by the initially transparent shields leaving a blue shade on impact.

The constant bursts were not killing them, just slowing them down but Jason knew he couldn't give up this form of attack.

200 metres.

The first Ceti's shield collapsed and then the Ceti almost immediately fell afterwards. Jason felt some pride in taking down his first enemy until he realised that his weapon battery was almost empty. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the rifle to quickly recharge, but considering how far that one unit had travelled before it had died it meant that it wouldn't be long before they would be engaging in close-quarter combat and rumours were that they were exceptional at it.

150 metres.

"Squad one retreat to the 2nd defence, squad two maintain position."

The front four soldiers didn't take much persuasion in getting up and sprinting to the 2nd line of defence. Jason and the other three soldiers continued to try and take down as many Ceti's as possible.

With all the mortar fire, mines and rifle fire, they had probably only taken down eight Ceti's.

"Damn they were resilient." Jason thought to himself.

100 metres.

"Squad two fall back, squad one provide cover." Jason ordered. He lowered his weapon and started sprinting towards where squad one had already positioned themselves. Red bursts flew on either side of them, hopefully continuing to slow down the enemy.

Jumping over the second barrier Jason pushed himself back into it to maintain his cover, peering over the defences he watched as the Ceti's started clambering over the first set of defences.

50 metres.

"DENONATE!" Jason shouted.

The first line of defence exploded violently. Debris and Ceti's were flown into the air in all directions leaving a pile of smoke billowing from its origin. The ground nearby caved in leaving a steep incline to the 2nd line of defence, something to slow the enemy's advance even further.

They couldn't see what the Ceti's next plan was due to the amount of damage the explosion had caused. They probably had halted their advance briefly, but if Jason was in their position he would attempt another flanking manoeuvre.

"Westwood, attack their right flank." Jason ordered.

Westwood appeared from behind them in a mechanical exoskeleton. He towered some three metres tall and carried devastating heavy weaponry. Missiles from a launcher strapped to his back shot past the defence force and caused a number of additional explosions to their left, the Ceti's right. The pulse lasers on his arms sent out a barrage of energy toward the enemy once again slowing their advance.

It appeared the enemy was starting to feel a little vulnerable and was surprised by the sheer ferocity of the attacks the small defence force was throwing at them.

It wouldn't take them long to realise that there weren't many more tricks up Jason's sleeve. They would eventually reach them and undoubtedly slaughter them.

If the Crazy Tigers were to go out fighting, it was best to take as many with them as possible.

"Pick your targets," Jason encouraged "make sure they know what it is to engage the Crazy Tigers."

There was a roar from the other soldiers, it had seemed the pep talk was what they needed to boost their confidence.

"Schuldermann to Scharn, Schuldermann to Scharn, the radio, it's operational!"

Those were the words that Jason had been dying to hear. Now there was a glimmer of hope.

Jason sat behind the barrier trying to ignore the loud explosions, the constant enemy fire and the thundering footsteps of the enemy.

"Echelon command this is Charlie Tango two seven five six four Zulu Hotel requesting immediate orbital support, I repeat Echelon command this is Charlie Tango 27564 Zulu Hotel requesting immediate orbital support." Jason called over the radio.

No response.

Frustrated Jason called to Schuldermann "Are you sure it's working?"

"Of course it's working" Schuldermann responded in an arrogant tone, "maybe no one is listening!"

This was not the response Jason needed. He called on the radio again repeating his request for support.

The Ceti's were starting to climb the incline towards their position. It would not be long now before it would turn into a bloodbath.

The radio then crackled to life "Charlie Tango 27564 Zulu Hotel this is Echelon Command, request authorisation package over"

Jason raised his hands in the air in celebration, his excitement almost distracting the rest of the team. "Authorisation Seven Seven One Whiskey Zulu Golf Niner over."

"Authorisation received, roll in strike package delta receive?"

"Receive copy, danger close-fire mission 50 metres, friendlies at grid coordinates 72.356 by 21.773, over." Jason instructed.

"Received, fire support in T minus 22."

This was great news, they just had to hold out for another 22 seconds or thereabouts. Jason looked over the wall seeing that the enemy was only a few feet away "Prepare for CQC" he instructed the team. "Pendergast, laser grid kill box alpha 200 Romeo 50 delta."

"Affirmative." Aurora responded to the instruction and disengaged from combat using her HUD on her helmet to create a 400-metre wide imaginary circle 50 metres from their position, the circle was then locked in on her HUD.

It would take out ninety percent of the enemy with a direct attack.

The rest of the team were doing what they could to push them back away from their defences, using the butts of their rifles to hit them hard to hopefully disorientate them and keep them back, but it didn't take long before two soldiers were injured by the sheer speed the Ceti's were using their Sceptres.

Amongst the cries and the shouting, Jason then heard the words he had been waiting for.

"Strike package delta in position, on your command"

Jason smiled "Bring the rain!"

From a small dot in the night sky, a small blue burst of energy could be seen followed by another. They rapidly increased in size and were heading directly for their position.

Jason looked up at the menacing fireball hurtling towards them "Everyone hit the dirt!" He ordered followed by diving behind the cover of the defences.

There was a bright light and an excruciating loud boom followed by a second one. A dust storm flew over the top of them along with a couple of the Ceti's that were originally close by. Jason didn't hesitate to take out his knife and stab the nearest Ceti before it had the chance to regain its bearings.

The rumbling continued and the dust carried on streaming past overhead but the chaos was now starting to die down.

Jason peered his head over the top of the barrier, expecting to see a Sceptre swipe for his head he instinctively raised his rifle to protect himself but nothing happened.

As the dust started to settle he could barely make out what was happening, but it appeared that the remaining Ceti's were running in the opposite direction. Knowing that the Crazy Tigers had orbital bombardment capabilities had knocked the fight out of them. Retreat was now their best option.

Jason slumped down. He took a deep breath and then started laughing uncontrollably. He knew it was the exhaustion kicking in, but it was also pure relief.

The gamble had paid off, not without injuries, but with no major casualties and a chance to get the critically injured off the battlefield, the engagement would be considered a success.

There was a massive cheer from the soldiers who all slumped down from exhaustion before realising there were injured among them. They went to congratulate Jason, shaking his hand and patting him on his back, treating him like he was their saviour, but he didn't feel like it. Everything came together today and all things fell into place. If even one situation had not gone in their favour, no one would be alive to relive the tale. It felt like luck had been on their side.

He looked up at the sky, the stars and the small moving dot of the supporting spaceship. He then looked towards Aurora who crawled her way over to him and threw her arms around him.

"You did it!" She cried.

"We did it." He replied, exhausted.

"But it was your plan, your risk. It was nothing short of..."

"A miracle!" Interrupted Jason. Somehow even by being the victor he looked at the injured and felt he hadn't won.

He could evaluate his mistakes later, to make sure no one got injured next time, but for now, it was the time to get his team home.