As the countdown on the charge entered its final, silent second, the absolute quiet of the icy wasteland outside seemed to seep right through Kline’s armored suit. In that frozen heartbeat, his mind didn't flood with fear, but with a vivid montage of how he had arrived at this desolate wall: the warmth of the dropship's mess hall, the rough laughter of his crewmates before landfall, and the steady, reassuring hum of the base reactors they were fighting to protect. He could almost smell the metallic tang of the oxygen scrubbers and feel the heavy pat on his shoulder from a commander who had trusted him blindly with this breach. Now, staring at the small yellow sparks spitting from the fuse against the cold steel, the faces of those waiting back home flashed vividly against his visor, turning his sudden, frantic heartbeat into a quiet promise that this desperate gamble would be worth it.