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them cut off from any support for long periods of time.  Every marine knew that they would be the first in and sometimes the last out and this reality afforded marines a sense of brassiness.  Chief would never downplay the importance of the Army; it was just that the two services usually had different tactical objectives.
    Thinking about the Marine Corp brought Duntan back to reality, a reality where there was a high probability that the UPF was now in an armed conflict with unknown forces.  He also thought about the other Marines that had been stationed in orbit, attached to the Frontiera Defense Fleet and wondered if any of them were still alive.  Taking a slow breath inside his insulated helmet, he pushed those types of thoughts from his mind and focused back to the mission at hand.  Standing there in the thick snow he continued to monitor Captain Porter as she coordinated Echo Team and the Army engineers they were escorting.
    He was proud of how she was handling herself during this tense situation. She already had two of the engineers standing beside the container entering a security unlock code to open it. Duntan knew the Captain well and had full confidence in her leadership ability; after all he had chosen her for the position over a year ago. He let her lead for the most part, only offering advice when need be.  For moment there was no real need for him to take command of the unit. 
    Scanning the rest of the ridge he noticed two other engineers off to the side prepping a piece of real estate on which the new Tactical Laser Data Relay system would sit.  The TLaR, as it was referred to, was able to absorb tremendous amounts of data and relay them almost in real-time to other laser datalink receivers across the battlefield.  While not a new technology it had been improved upon over the years to be a very effective backup system in case wireless data systems went offline, such as was the case now.  The only limitation was that, as a laser, it worked only by line of site. 
    To help allevi ate this limitation General Stelle had launched a squadron of drones fitted with full communications payloads.  These would receive laser signals from all over Telfor and relay them to the closest units or relay stations.  This was also why they were all now working on this mountain ridge, installing the relays at the highest point possible to make it easier for incoming signals to be received.  The mission was already proving to be successful as the five relays they installed hours ago were already transmitting and receiving messages.  The TLaR they were working on now would be the last and would help cover Destona, the capital city of the planet, and the land surrounding it; finally reestablishing some contact with the city.
    Destona was a city of almost two million inhabitants, which made it the most populous area on the planet and in the event of war the civilians living there must be protected at all costs.  It was the military’s job to defend the city by all possible means and in the event such was not possible, those civilians had to be evacuated.   The city was also home to the majority of military families living on planet.  Since the unit rotations lasted a minimum of two years, most soldiers brought their families with them, making adjusting to the new living arrangement easier.  This fact made Colonel Slaige cringe a little inside.  The soldiers on the ground had enough to worry about in times of war without having to worry about the safety of their family as well.  It would make some of them crazy and perhaps reckless when the realization of the situation set in.
    The Colonel remembered when the policy changed for forward deployed soldiers.  With many years having gone by without wars, the la w makers felt it was alright for deployed soldiers on duty have their families join them if they so wished, it didn’t hurt to raise their popularity either.  The decision for the individual soldier was a simple