They encountered more One-eyes after that, but none of them were in groups like the last attack. The numbers dwindled a little more in the one-through-three range, which was a match more suited to the troopers' liking. It was easier to shoot when you weren't out-numbered by your targets. With each shot, each cyclops taken down, it grew easier and easier. With more experience, the troopers were learning their enemies' movements and habits. Sure, they were getting a lot of information now, but without their Commander's little tutorial on the second floor, it would've been so much tougher.

"Alright," Rino brought her squad to a stop at the entrance to the fifth floor. "You've done great this far, but I know for a fact that on the other side of this wall is going to be the hardest challenge yet of this mission. Your shots are spot-on, so I'm not very worried. But still, Risk, you're going to stay behind with these three and help take the cannons. I'll go after Unim."

"What about you?" Tyson questioned quietly. Yeah, they were doing an amazing job hitting the glowing red targets in the center of the droids' heads. Plus, they'd all taken down plenty of the bastards with their bare-hands and the claws Molindi provided from the first two droids. The four of them could last quite a while on their own now. "With all due respect, sir, the seventh floor is going to be even tougher than this if the droids are defending Unim-"

"We don't have time to discuss this."  Rino cut him off. "The longer we talk, the more soldiers are shot and killed outside. The sooner you get to the cannons, the sooner you can help them. Don't worry about me, I've got this." Her concern and willingness to help the other soldiers surprised even them and her troops realized just how serious she was back on the gunship when she said just how much she cared about the clones. "I'm going to let you guys handle the One-eyes. While they're busy with you, I'm going to make a run for the next stairwell. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." They all nodded.

* * * * * * * * * *

She made sure to leave out the whole 'If I'm not back in fifteen minutes with the scientist, then I'm probably dead' speech. They didn't need to hear that right then. Instead, she wished them luck and kicked down the door between her troops and the battlefield that was the fifth floor. Tyson took the lead this time with Risk to his left and Axel to his right, while Breaks and Rino were the farthest ends of the formation.

The commander was right when she said the cannons were hard to miss. There were three of them- manually-operated with one seat and one barrel each, resting on the floor at the very edge of the room so they could shoot out what used to be windows. Sitting in each seat was a cyclops droid, along with the other two that accompanied each one. Nine claw-wielding demons in all. And this time, they actually had blasters. 

Using the element of surprise, a tactic they'd been relying on a lot on this mission, the soldiers shot and fired at each One-eye. In the first few rounds of blaster-fire, they managed to knock down two droids on their feet and one that'd been sitting at the nearest cannon. By then, the other clankers were aware of what was happening and shooting back. Old boxes and piles of science equipment sat scattered around the room, moved out of the way so the cannons could have plenty of room for their destruction. Stupid mistake for the droids, that gave them perfect cover.

"Take cover!"  Commander Rino shouted over the blaster fire. She tucked and rolled to the side, choosing a pile of metal crates to hide behind. Axel went for the same crates to escape the bolts of red shooting at them, while Tyson and Risk hid behind a large rectangular telescope-like device as tall as their hips. Breaks epicly slid across the floor on his side, simultaneously shooting at the enemy before disappearing behind another stack of crates.

"You should go now." Axel told the commander. He stood on one knee and lifted his blaster, shooting a few blue bolts in between the crates in the droids' direction before finding the sanctuary of cover once again. The commander did the same, then sat with her back against the metal for a moment. "While we've got them pinned behind the cannons. We'll cover you." She nodded in understanding and peeked her head over the crates once more to check what the best route to the door would be. 

The door to the next hallway leading to the stairwell was over ten yards away, ten yards into enemy territory of the room. The cyclops were all up near the used-to-be windows, using the cannons for cover, leaving the entire wall to her right as a perfect way to the exit. Calculations and logical assumptions were made in her mind and a second later, she had a plan. 

"Alright, I'm gonna run for it." She told him and held her twin blasters tightly in her grasp. She wouldn't shoot unless she was being shot at. If her guys were as great with their guns as she believed them to be, she wouldn't even need to use her own until she was out of the room. "Stay alive." Commander Rino took a deep breath, working up the nerve to put her legs to action, then leaped over the crates. 

Her heart pounding, blood pumping, adrenaline running at a million kilometers an hour, she put everything she had into those two seconds it would take for her to get from cover to the door. Even though Bean wasn't freaking out like he would've been, Molindi still ran like there was a rancor after her. It seemed like her boots barely even touched the ground, she was so fast it appeared as if she were just hovering over the floor. Two graceful strides and she was already half-way there. And not a single red shot was headed in her direction. Either she was faster than sound itself, or she'd gotten lucky with the new guys assigned to her squad.

The commander was less than three yards away from the door when she jumped up, blasters extended out in front of her, and spun to face the cyclops mid-leap. Using only three shots from her twins, she blasted three of the One-eyes who were too busy trying to pin Tyson down to notice her. By the time she'd rotated all the way around and landed gracefully back on her feet, the droids were laying in a heap on the floor. Using gravity to her advantage and the speed built up from her sprint, she somersaulted across the tiled ground and the heels of her boots crashed against the door, knocking it to the ground. 

Without another thought, the commander jumped to her feet and turned around from her spot at the threshold of the doorway, shooting one more droid down before running down the hallway to the next stairwell.

"Did you see that?" Risk shouted over the sound of the remaining gunfire. There were only two One-eyes left, but they weren't going down without a fight. "Did you see that? That was frickin' awesome!"

"Stay focused!" Axel yelled back and kept firing. But he couldn't hide the slight impressed tone in his voice. He'd never admit it, but he was just as amused with her abilities as his fellow troopers. It was getting harder and harder not to like her when the fact that she could kick their asses kept making her so much more attractive. No, stay focused, Axel told himself. The last cyclops fell and its eye shattered into a million crimson shards.

* * * * * * * * * *

It didn't take long after that for things to start working a little more in their favor. The four clones figured out how to work the cannons and demolished the enemies wiping out their brothers in the snow below. A look at the screen on the control panel of the cannon showed that there weren't many clones left. Less than fifteen, who waved and punched the air in a happy show of being rescued from their deaths.

"Great work, fellas." Tyson congratulated them. They all cheered happily at their success, at their first mission as a squad not being a failure, then remembered something crucial and their celebrating stopped- the commander. They were missing Commander Rino. Axel's eyes widened. She'd left the fifth floor seconds after they'd destroyed all the One-eyes. That was well over fifteen minutes ago. They didn't speak, the four of them just grabbed their blasters and made a run for the door.

"Commander Rino," Breaks spoke into the communications device inside his helmet. The four soldiers sprinted down the hallway, running past and leaping over destroyed One-eyes in their way. Carnage was good, carnage was better than a dead body. "Commander Rino, are you there?"

"She should've been back by now." Risk pointed out in a worried tone. They made it through the sixth floor without a hitch, there were no droids to worry about. All they saw was scrap-metal, each droid-corpse sporting a scorch-mark in the center of their face or a metal finger protruding from the center of their eye. One unlucky cyclops had its entire hand jabbed through its eye-socket and out the back of its head, pinning it to the wall in a quivering frenzy.

"Maybe we shouldn't be so worried about her..." Tyson trailed off as they ran past the self-impaled One-eye on the wall. Axel nodded in agreement, but they kept going anyway. When they reached the sixth stairwell, leading to the seventh floor, they quietly listened before they heard a relieving voice.

"It's safe, boys! Just taping myself up!" The commander called from Unim's lab. Alive and sounding perfectly fine for a woman who'd taken on more droids than they could count. The four still sprinted the last few paces to the main laboratory's entrance, but stopped when they looked inside. Their jaws dropped. Boy, would this be a story for the record books.