“Stand your ground!!” I yelled as my rifle barked in the silence of the vacuum, sending a trio of rounds at the unseen foe. A salvo of plasma fired replied with a vengeance, throwing up the weak lunar dust as it impacted the ground around me.
“Dammit LT!! We can’t hold them off for much longer!” cried Corporal Hendricks.
“Artillery is on the way Corporal! We can’t let the bastards through!” I yelled, still firing at the enemy.
“Shit, they’re flanking from the le…” one of the soldiers was hurled back as plasma burned through his suit and flesh with incredible ease.
“Hold the bloody line!” I yelled frantically as I slammed in a new clip and lined up a target.

But it was too late. My squad was breaking cover and retreating. Hell, they weren’t retreating, they were running. Every soldier knew that running was more dangerous than fighting, but we had all seen what the aliens did to their prisoners.

I kept firing until my clip went dry, even as plasma scored the soil around me. Where was that artillery?