Alex had her eyes closed for most of the trip, but when she heard the captains orders she suddenly opened them and peered around to the others in the APC. She hadn't been sleeping but was there more people than before? She asked herself before expecting to get ready to leave on the scouting mission, however instead she was just to sit down and eat... It was a little disheartening but she couldn't complain now that she was here she had to follow orders like the others unlike what she did in her own country.

Standing up a little in the APC she allowed the people that had jobs to exit it before she sat down again so that she could eat. Rations were never the best but given that they were just the Militia she suspected they were even worse than the army issue, still it was eatable and that was all that matters... She would have been lying if she said she had not missed the fine dinners and food that was always given to her back home though. Shifting her cap a little she made sure it wasn't in the way but turning it to the side while she ate, also to see the new members and their faces. "Sir." She asked looking towards Harald "I suspect that we have no type of support during this?" Mortars would have been lovly... would have been but given their state she bet there was no such thing ready for them.

James looked over at Lilly before returning his attention to the field and the view of his binoculars. He spotted a couple of MG nests in a pair of windows facing the road leading in from their side and a small group of soldiers, four if he counted right, on the ground outside the houses, two on either side of the road, though they didn't seem too worried about anyone attacking. "I'm inclined to agree with you, Lilly, but we gotta find a way across without alerting them, meaning smoke is counter productive. For now, let's head back and let the sarge know." Slinking back from the edge of the forest after storing his binocs back in their spot, he jobs back towards the APC.

After a couple minutes, he spots people setting up camp and whistles three times to let the guards know he was a friendly before entering the camp and going to Harold to give his report. "Well Sarge, I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is the Imps are too damn confident in their position to actually worry about getting attacked here. The bad news is that we have virtually no cover to approach with, bunch of plowed fields with the occasional tractor and farmhouse dotting the way and a few of the houses had smoke coming from them. Might be Imps, might be locals who are hoping they get to remain uninvolved in this war. Either way, it's not promising."

The rest of the trip didn't have anything of note. So she just looked around at the others in the squad. The new addition included. Celeste wasn't wary of her at all, in fact, she was happy to have another person with them. The more they had, the better chance they stood.

Once they stopped again, the Sergeant ordered three scouts to go ahead and get an idea of the enemy presence. And it seemed he put two up on watch. He then let the rest have a bite to eat, which she was thankful for. She left her lance in the back of the APC as she sat down outside it. Celeste sat behind the vehicle, waiting to see who would join her. She opened her pack and grabbed one of her rations, nothing much, just some vegetables it seemed. She reached back in, fishing around for a spoon or fork. She knew she grabbed one.


So far, Brenna was relieved that the first magazine she had picked up had actual bullets. But she'd check the others later to make sure they also had bullets, and didn't have chalk. Though it seemed that would be way later, as in, in the middle of battle later. Because she wasn't going to let that interfere with her desire to eat.

And luckily the Sergeant let most of the squad sit down to eat. And waited for everyone to find their spot, before she found her own little spot, a bit away from the rest. Then Brenna pulled out a ration, and her sketch pad. She didn't know the Sergeant's thoughts on this, but she brought it anyway, and began sketching someone, who looked closely like Lilly. Brenna couldn't figure it out, but she had a few dreams and nightmares involving her, as well as the Sergeant, and Glaive. The ones involving Glaive made her incredibly curious, as she had never even fought alongside the woman before.

Fresh, juicy and with just a hint of fine wine. Harald was very glad of the time he had spend preparing his steak and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as the rest of the squad tucked into standard issue rations. He had some bits and pieces lying around and they were bound to salvage some supplies from the village... maybe he would whip up a nice stew once La Haye Sainte was secured. The squad would probably end up staying the night at this rate. 'Hm?' He grinned at Glaive sardonically. 'Us? Support? Since when do the Militia ever get support?' It was a valid point though. Chances were they were outnumbered and the Imps had an ideal defensive position in the hamlet. Using lancers as direct fire artillery, they could probably blow any MG nests they found easy enough, but it wasn't anything like having their own dedicated fire support battery. 'We'll have to improvise. Lancers can take out hardpoints in the buildings and our new friend has a mortar lance; she might be able to provide some covering fire.' The Sergeant gave Durandal an appraising look. 'What do you think, Private? How accurate are mortar lances anyway?' The sad fact was that Squad Four would have no real support in their attack, no heavy artillery barrage to soften up the enemy, no tanks to draw their fire. The approach into town would have to be either all guns blazing to keep the Imps suppressed, or completely silent to avoid detection. Before he could continue, Bons caught his attention with a frantic hand signal; someone was approaching. By the time Harald had grabbed his weapon, he heard the pass code for friendly forces and relaxed back against the tree with a sigh of relief...

'Ey-up, Hunt. Can't say I'm surprised. If I were holding a set of well provisioned farmhouses, I'd be pretty cocky too.' His smile faded as the scout gave his report, replaced by a grim frown. The lack of cover would put a serious cramp in their plans, as any open assault would be like reliving the First Europan War... 'Well, shit. I guess we'll need to take another tact. Good job you three. Settle down, have a bite to eat. Stichler! Over here, if you please.' He stood heavily and walked a short distance away from the others as he waited for the Corporal to catch up, rolling another cigarette absent-mindedly. 'Well, looks like we have a bit of a shit job ahead of us. You heard Hunt, our approach into the town is all open fields and there's a chance that the Imps have sentries scattered around the outlying farmhouses.' Sparking up, he leant against a tree and produced an old ordinance map. 'Piece of shit belongs in a museum, but I think we can assume that these fields here and here are watched. That gives them full line of sight on all angles of approach, bar this little bit on the other side.' He pointed out the dividing line between two fields, on the far side of the town from where the squad was camped. 'I'm thinking a two pronged night assault. You and three others sneak around while the rest of the squad prepares to move over these fields under cover of dark. We hit them in the front, hopefully once we're close enough to do some real damage, while you slip in behind and begin clearing buildings. We'll draw their attention, so you should be fairly clear. By the time you reach the fourth and final building, we'll have forced a breach and cleared it. Hopefully.' His eyes flicked back to Stichler's. 'Whaddya think?'

For his own part, Andrew didn't really have much to do while the scouts did their thing and went ahead to gather as much accurate information about the town that they would be assaulting as possible. The rations were military grade and thus tasted as horrible as always, but at least it filled you up... Maybe next time they were back at base he could convince a couple of his squad mates to help him... acquire something with a bit more taste and possible even spices to flavor that food with from the proper army officers. Wasn't like the noble bastards were going to miss a bottle of wine or two from their drinks cabinet for long anyway...

Considering what the Sergent was eating, the man would approve of such... economic redistribution for the good of the squad as a whole. As the scouts returned from their job and were given the command to rejoin the squad to eat something, Andrew waited until they were at least seated and had taken advantage of a few bites to eat before asking "So how bad is it?"

"Stansoooon! Where did you set that watermelon?" "It was right there, Sarge. I left it out last night." The sergeant looked around a second time, before shrugging. "Well it's not here now..." "...weird..." The two cooks looked at each other, puzzled. Just where had it gone? Watermelons didn't just walk off on their own...

Evan's Post

*MunchMunchMunch* Evan was in the process of happily devouring a rather large slice of watermelon while the Darcsen discussed tactics with the Corporal and a few others. The remaining 3/4ths of the fruit sat on the seat beside him with the combat knife he had used to carve it sticking out of the top. "... What?" After noticing a few envious stares being directed his way he shrugged and proffered the remainder of the skewered melon. "Alright fine, I'll share. Who wants a piece? Alonso? Andrew?"

Soon enough, the spoils of his pilfering were gone and Evan had to resign himself into eating standard rations like the rest of the group. Digging into one, he was surprised by the fact that it actually tasted almost edible. Half smiling as he ate, he held up the package for emphasis and made an announcement to the soldiers around him. "Ya know, I think they're improving. Shit still tastes like cardboard, but I gotta say this is the best damn cardboard I've ever eaten."

Lilly's Post

Some people like the Sergeant had taken the pains of bringing homemade meals with them. Others, like Carn, seemed perfectly content with their military rations, and the majority of the squad appeared to have resigned themselves to their fate and were managing to tolerate the military food. Lilly fit into none of these categories, her disgust plainly visible on her face as she poked away at the tin of what looked like... some sort of sausage. When Carn offered to share some of his watermelon (just where had he procured that from?), she gratefully took him up on his offer. After she thanked him profusely, Lilly dismounted the APC and began looking for a less crowded place to sit and... attempt to eat. Mr. Hunt had already told the Sergeant what they had seen, so there was nothing forcing her to stick around at present.

A little ways away from the group, she spied Brena sitting down and sketching. She had not gotten a good chance to speak with her since their flight from Rinneheim, so Lilly decided to head in her direction. "Good afternoon, Miss Sykora." She smiled and gave a small wave as she sat down. Noticing the sketchbook (and knowing full well that Brena was not going to be the one to initiate a conversation), she decided to bring it up. "Oh, you draw? Do you mind if I ask what of?"

Nodding to the Sergeant, sticking to the field protocol of not identifying NCOs and sergeants to the enemy, James grabbed his pack and headed over to a tree that gave him a decent LOS of the are they were in. Pulling out his flask, he takes a swig and gives a satisfied nod before storing it again and fishing out a couple pieces of jerky that he'd procured from one of the cooks in exchange for a flagon of the extra rum he'd gotten the night before, He also had bread, a couple cans of beans, and some grapes, but those were being saved. It had surprised him how much the flagon had gotten him and he was sure he'd have left overs when they got back to base.

Regan had been forcing herself to eat for the majority of their journey. It was slow going, but she was managing. She'd been using water to aid it going down. She'd sought out someone that had talked to her to sit with while they went. The driver seemed like he might be a nice man, and that other girl who offered her water, as well. She'd have to learn their names...

The sergeant asked her a question, snapping the girl up from her daze. "Mm, yes sir." The private sipped a bit of water and swallowed the bit of ration she had in her mouth. She continued, then, "it's a little tricky to aim, since you don't really have a sight. You have to arc it into your target, though you should probably aim for their feet. It'll go near enough to where you point it." She took another bite from her ration, considering what else she might say. "Getting the right range can be tricky."

From the sound of it, she would be sent out to fight. Who would she be going with? Her ration finally finished, she listened to the rest of the Sergeant's plan. It sounded like it would work, but they'd have to be careful anyway, naturally.

(-B- Brenna -L- Lilly)

-B-

Different things" Brenna indirectly replied as she continued to sketch. The person she was sketching was taking more shape, no longer a face with a body outline. A female wearing some fancy, high class clothing. No background yet, but Brenna didn't feel up to the challenge of providing a background. She also occasionally ate some more of her ration as well, not phased much by the taste or lack there of.

When she did take a moment to look up at Lilly, she noticed she had eaten some watermelon. "Don't like the rations?" Brenna asked, a bit of curiosity visible on her face. She had expected everyone to at least be tolerating the rations, maybe some enjoying them. But it looked like Lilly rather avoided her ration all together, and acquired a watermelon from somewhere.

-L-

Lilly smiled wryly at the comment about her disliking the rations. "While I understand the need for the preservatives and salt that give the rations their... unique taste, I still cannot help but feel that it would be more flavourful and nutritious to eat the packaging they come in. Private Carn's generosity is the sole saving grace of this meal." Lilly held up the slice of melon for emphasis. She was indeed thankful for the mechanic providing her with non-disgusting tasting sustenance, and wondered what she could do to repay him. For the time being, though, the best way would be to pay it forward. Offering the melon to Brenna, Lilly asked: "It is a large slice. Would you like me to break off a piece for you?" Surely she could not have been the only one who desired something more tasty than their rations.

As she ate, Lilly watched Brena sketch. She would have said she never expected Brenna to be an artist, but Lilly had no idea what to expect from the quiet girl at all. What was she sketching anyways? Moving closer, Lilly asked the question "May I see what you're sketching?"

-B-

Brenna shook her head when Lilly offered a piece of watermelon. Letting Lilly have it all to herself. But when she asked what Brenna was sketching, but Brenna seemed a little nervous when she held up the sketchpad for Lilly to see. It wasn't nervousness for her skills of drawing, it was for the close resemblance to Lilly. Or what Brenna thought about Lilly as a civilian. Though, despite that, she did maintain eye contact for once, and kept the sketchpad as stable as she could.

-L-

When Brenna held up the pad, Lilly leaned in closer to get a better look at it. From what she could tell, Brenna was a fairly skilled artist. The sketch (which looked curiously like her) was quite well done so far. Satisfied, Lilly sat back and nodded. "You draw very well, Ms. Sykora. Did you use someone as a model for this, or is it entirely of your own imagination?" The drawing looked accurate enough that the girl might have used someone else for the basis of the design, but Lilly was too humble to believe that the drawing had purposely been of her. Maybe Brenna had a sibling?

-B-

"It's...someone" Brenna nervously answered. She watched Lilly's actions afterwards, but it was nothing severe, just her sitting down. Brenna thought she could relax, but that would not be the case as Lilly stayed. She set down the sketchpad next to her to finish her ration. Brenna kept looking over at Lilly, her watermelon slice looked delicious, but Brenna didn't want to give into temptation. Though, Brenna's cheeks were a little red after Lilly's compliment.

-L-

"Ah, I see." Lilly decided not to press that line of conversation, as Brenna seemed increasingly nervous with her questioning. Turning back to her rations, she dug out the tin of meat(?) that she had been eating and began to force herself to power through it. She would eat the watermelon afterward. Brenna seemed to be of a similar mind, and the conversation dried up as the two girls went about eating.

Lilly finished (or rather, couldn't stomach any more) her ration surprisingly quickly and began to go about attempting to consume the watermelon. Having been raised in an aristocratic setting and never been instructed on how to 'properly' eat a watermelon, her attempts were rather amusing looking. Eventually she settled on a way that, while still ridiculous looking, was at least functional by cutting off pieces with a knife and eating them with her fork. Half way through the process of eating a piece, Lilly suddenly felt like she was being watched. Looking over, she saw Brenna gazing in her direction. This time, it was Lilly's turn to go red with embarrassment. "W-what?" After a moment's consideration, she noticed that Brenna wasn't looking at her as much as she was the watermelon piece. In an attempt to both mask her embarrassment and be friendly, she asked again: "Are you sure you do not want a piece, Ms. Sykora? There is still plenty left."

-B-

Brenna stared at the watermelon for a moment. But she gave in and nodded. Though Brenna was caught off guard by the way Lilly was eating the watermelon, a bit peculiar, but it somehow emphasized the type of lifestyle she was raised in. Brenna moved closer and waited for Lilly to give her a piece. But Brenna could feel her heart start to pick up pace when she moved closer.

Once Lilly gave her the piece Brenna held her piece by the rind and ate towards the rind. Though she couldn't help but think of what Lilly would think of this way of eating a watermelon. Surely she'd think it was crude or barbaric, but it was the way she knew how to eat a watermelon. Though she'd have to deal with the sticky aftermath for a while until they got to source of water.

After discussing the plans with Celeste, Harald called the rest of the squad together in an adhoc briefing. 'Well then kids, judging by Hunt and co's report, we won't be able to make a frontal assault. Therefore we've thrashed out a plan to grab the Imp's attention while hitting them in the rear.' Laying his map out before them, he and the Corporal explained the plan in detail, making sure everyone knew their roles. '... and that's the gist of it. Stichler's team will be fighting in close quarters, so I want Kyo and Sykora with her. Jatmoore too, since they'll need a good pair of eyes. The rest of you will hit the front with me. Durandal, MacDonald, you guys will be responsible for knocking out strongpoints in the windows. The rest of us will pour on as much fire as we can, then move in to secure the first building. If Stichler's team hasn't caught up with us by then, we dig in and hold that farmhouse. All good? Good. We still have a few hours of sunlight; grab some sleep. We move at 0200.'

0220 31st March 1935 EC
La Haye Sainte

'Quiet now lads... Nearly there.' Crawling prone across a muddy field, Sergeant Harald was focussed entirely on the flickering light coming from an upper floor window ahead. Only a couple of hundred metres ahead was a low wall, close enough to the farmhouse to be a good firing point, but far enough away to provide decent cover. If the squad could just get that far before getting spotted, they might stand a chance of pulling this off. Harald froze as a beam of light shone from one window, all but certain they'd been had. After a tense moment, the light disappeared... Someone fucking with a torch perhaps. Bastard near enough gave me a heart attack... He continued on, the rest of the team fanning out around him as they approached the wall. They were nearly in position. They had already rehearsed the attack beforehand; once everyone was ready, the lancers would punch a few holes in the farmhouse. Once the Imps responded, the team would have to weather the storm and pray that the others made it. Harald finally reached the wall, leaning his shoulder against its reassuring firmness. 'Alright then... Lancers?', he whispered. 'Fuck 'em up.'

'This feels good'

Alex could not help but think this as she felt the cool mud brush across her skin as she crawled along with everyone else, this was what she was built for; ambush and rush tactics. Her eyes were focused and sharp all the way to the house, however the moment that she light shone out of the window a small amount of panic shot through her body, and it seemed like forever until finally the light vanished from view. Still the panic had set in, her grip tightening on her rifle as all she could think of was 'what the hell am I doing?'

She had abandoned her country for this, to make sure that crimes of war wouldn't happen and yet not for a moment in her childish mind did she think that she could have to kill her own people...

'Fight or die dear daughter, no matter the foe your life is always more important.'

Far from completely ok, she was confident that she could at least fight back, so she relaxed and gave out a tiny cute sigh. Peering around she checked to see that no one noticed before moving up next to Harald, readying herself to stand up and start the attack when the launchers kicked everyone off with a epic boom.

James had listened to the plan and nodded as the Serge spoke. The whole thing was crazy and potentially suicidal, but he didn't see any alternatives to be taken, especially since he'd been one of the scouts to oversee the terrain. "I'll be ready to move with the rest, Serge."

---

James moved through the underbrush towards the wall with the rest of the squad assigned to pull the Imps attention to the front of the village. He'd silently hoped that some reassignment would be in order and that he wouldn't be back in the direct line of enemy fire so soon, but it was what it was. When the reached the wall, he checked either side of him to see who he'd be sharing a grave with if they got unlucky and an MG survived the initial Lancer shots or a lucky grenade and found he didn't recognize either one. Welp, at least I won't die alone.

Leaning up against the wall, he waited for the lancers to fire before popping up to fire himself. Come on already, the suspense is killing me.

Lilly's Post

"Shhh... Quiet. There's a soldier in the window." Lilly whispered as she motioned for the rest of the group to stop. They paused for a long few minutes, as they waited for what looked like a shock trooper to finish his smoke break and head back into the building. Being the scout for the group, Lilly (to her distress) had little choice but to be at the forefront of the flanking group so that she could keep an eye out for sentries and was inches away from having a nervous breakdown.

...

....

"H-he is gone. We can move closer." When the imperial finally left the window, Lilly waved for the rest of the group to follow her, before continuing to crawl forward herself. She was surprised with how quietly her group was managing to move. Brenna made sense, as her quiet personality seemed to translate into quiet movement quite well, but having a lancer (Celeste) and a shock trooper with a rather unusual weapon did not seem to mesh well with the ability to be stealthy. She prayed that neither Celeste's lance, nor Kyo's sword got caught on anything as they crawled. Valkyrur, please don't let us get spotted... Lilly was well aware that if they were discovered, she would probably be the first one to die due to being the closest and least armoured of the group.

Eventually she called a halt one final time. The group had crawled just about as close as they could get before the residual light seeping out of the houses would illuminate them. Laying flat on the ground, and trying to distract herself from the filth her uniform had acquired from being dragged through a freshly tilled farm field, Lilly waited for the trio to catch up to her. "When the attack starts, do you want me to run into the buildings, or should I let the three of you go first?" Lilly whispered to Corporal Stichler as she waited for the attack to begin. She was fast enough that she could probably make it inside one of the houses before anyone else... but her rifle was unsuited for attacking things up close, and she didn't have the armour the shock troopers had. Once she received an answer, Lilly nodded. "Very well. I will do as you say."

It didn't take very long before the attack finally came. A sudden volley of rockets from the lancers exploded against the walls of the barn and farm houses. "So it has begun..."

Evan's Post

"Come on, Darcsen... What are you waitin' for out there.." Evan drummed his fingers impatiently off the barrel of the APC's recoilless rifle. Though the APC was stationed in the treeline, a fair distance away from the village, the mounted rifle had enough range to still be able to hit it. Loading an HE shell, Evan crouched a little and tilted the rifle so that it's shot would arc and come down on the roof of the buildings - a necessary tactic for the heavier explosive shells. In a way, this configuration was similar to a tank's mortar, so Evan found himself putting his small amount of gunner training to good use.

*FWOOMFWOOMFWOOM*

Just as he finished his calculations, a trio of lances fired, blowing apart walls and windows on the house. "Alright, Darcsen, now it's my time to shine!"

*FWOOOOM!*

Pulling the trigger, Evan watched as the round sailed high, arced towards one of the barns... and then overshot, missed it's intended target, and landed in the middle of the crossroads. Evan turned beet red as he loaded another shell. Hopefully the Darcsen didn't see that. He didn't need any jabs at him about not being able to hit the broad side of a barn once the battle was over.

*FWOOOOM!*

Another pull of the trigger sent a second shell flying, and this time it hit it's mark, detonating on the roof of one of the houses and collapsing part of it. Satisfied, Evan grinned before scrambling down into the driver's seat and driving the APC to a different part of the treeline. Though it's armour was improved against lances, Evan did not want to test his luck. Their prolonged survival depended on this APC remaining in one peice, and he wasn't about to let the imperials get a bead on its location.

One could say they felt the tension in the air. But it wasn't an accurate statement of the situation. Very open terrain meant moving quickly to what cover there was to use, because without any cover, death was certain. This applied more so to the group that was going to play distraction for them. Though Celeste was more than happy to have Lilly's eyes with them. Saved her small group from being spotted.

When Lilly asked about her position when the attack started, Celeste thought for a minute. "Once the attack starts, I want Kyo and Sykora to go first, I'll be behind them. You will be behind me, watching our back. I don't want any sneaky Imps getting the jump on us while we jump his buddies. But I want everyone to keep an eye out." She whispered to the others, waiting for their nods or whispered replies. Once they had agreed on the plan, they laid there for what felt like hours until the first shots were fired.

Once the first hits were scored, Celeste spoke, keeping a whispered tone "Alright, let's move. Keep your voices down until we fire our first shot, I want us to be a big surprise." As she said that, they began to move. No real formation in mind, but it seemed everyone was doing as she planned. Kyo and Sykora in front, her in the middle, and Jatmoore in the rear. And she hoped everyone was keeping their eyes peeled.

The private was thankful for her shoulder plate. It deflected bullets, shielded her from blasts, and now it served as a sled. She'd have to clean it when she got back to base, or Sergeant Atten-

Attenborough... would scold her.

The young woman gave a huff and refocused herself. Her mind couldn't be drifting right now. Already at the wall (when did she get there, again?), the young woman waited for their signal. She had her mortar lance ready to go, and once Sergeant Harald gave the signal, She pushed herself into a crouch and hefted her lance. With careful aim, she chose a second story window for her target. She took just a moment to really feel it out, and she watched the arc of her round as it steered toward her target. It flew true, through the window, and detonated within.

"Lucky!" Regan dropped back down behind the wall. She didn't think she'd actually make the shot, but there it was. The young lady got the next round ready, but thought she might wait for an opportune shot. She only has so many rounds.

As soon as the first of the lancer rounds made impact, James popped up and fired into a window they hadn't hit, catching an Imp who was coming around to return fire towards the wall and putting three rounds in his face, though that was because windows only provided so much to see and the torso, where PFC Hunt would normally put his rounds, wasn't super visible. He was immediately forced back into cover though as an Imp with an SMG fired towards him. "Damn Imps. Really wish they'd give the militia proper fucking support." Ones the rounds pinging off his section of wall stopped, he popped up and fired off the rest of his clip towards the owner of the SMG's position, unsure if he hit anything as he ducked down to reload.

"Hunt, get some fire on that window! Imps at the door! Fuck 'em up, Glaive! As the Imperials woke to the sounds of explosions and gunfire, Harald hurried to direct the squad's fire to the locations he deemed most critical. This time, he was able to give directions quickly without the need of relying on radio reports to make his decisions. Putting himself on the front line with the rest of the squad had proved to be the correct decision.

*PingTingPheeew!*

Of course while it negated the performance loss they had suffered in the training battle, it also left him open to being shot. A hitherto unnoticed machine gun opened up from the ground floor of a small house on the other side of the crossroads, raking the area with bullets and very nearly putting Harald's career to an abrupt end when a bullet ricocheted off a rock and flew past his ear. They had to deal with that gun before anyone in the squad was injured. "Bons! McDonald! SOMEBODY put a lance into that machine gun! A mortar shell detonated in the streets, and another landed on the roof of a different building, adding to the overall confusion of the scene. Ducking as the machine gun swept back again before resuming his own firing, Harald shot wildly into the windows of the houses. They just had to buy enough time for the flanking group to do their job.

Lilly's Post

As per Corporal Stichler's instructions, Lilly kept behind Kyo and Sykora as the two charged (quietly) towards the building. With all the explosions and gunfire coming from the front of the town, the majority of the imperials were running in that direction, save for one. A scout ran out of the back door, no doubt intending to attack from the side flank of Harald's portion of the squad, but was stopped by a blow from Kyo's sword. The sight made Lilly queasy as the man was nearly cut in half by the overhead chop. Such a gory and painful way to die... she could have sworn she saw the man still twitching as he fell into the grass. This was different than bullet or knife wounds, and the sight was so intense that she nearly vomited. She barely managed to force it down and continue with the group. Just focus on the mission, Lilly... Just keep calm and do your job.

With no imperials guarding the rear and the door already open, the process of clearing the house was off to an easy start. Brenna and Kyo took the first floor, running around and clearing out the few imperials that had not moved out of the building, while Lilly ran up to the second. At the top, she spotted a single man dressed in fatigues rather than armour. Clearly this imperial had been sleeping at the time of the attack and had only had enough time to grab his sniper rifle and move to his position at the window.

*Crack! Crack! Crack!*

Three shots later, he was dead. ... but his position might let her spot where the other imperials were hiding. Quivering as she gently pushed the man's slumped corpse off to the side (and then quickly wiping off the hand that touched him), Lilly 'borrowed' his sniper rifle to aid in her spotting, before kneeling at the window and taking aim.

Her shaking and queasiness made it difficult to see anything through the scope, but when she finally calmed down, she spotted several soldiers through the windows of various buildings and saw a machine gun open up on the forward squad (though the angle prevented her from shooting at it). In another house, she saw a pair of shocktroopers scrambling for their gear and rushing to the windows to fire at their assailants. At first, Lilly planned on shooting one of them with the 'liberated' rifle, but switched her priorities when she spotted a man in red armour rushing around and directing the defense. An officer! If she could down him, the imperials might get sloppy without a commander issuing them orders. Though she was not confident in her abilities to hit a target at this range, she had to try.

Lilly rested her elbow against the wooden frame of the window and squinted through the scope as she tried to adjust it and take aim. She was not used to this particular design of rifle, and probably couldn't load it, but how much different could pulling the trigger be? When the officer stopped to point out a target, Lilly set the rifle's sights on his center of mass, said a quick prayer, and pulled the trigger.

*CRACK!!*

The rifle's recoil was much worse than what Lilly was used to, knocking her back a bit and serving as a testament to the bullet's power. Setting herself up again, Lilly looked again at where she had been aiming. Did she hit him? Did she miss? She didn't see him anymore. A second later, one of the shocktroopers looked back, yelled to his partner, and then ran over to where Lilly had been aiming. As she watched, the man helped his commanding officer to his feet and Lilly spotted a large wound in the man's upper thigh. No... I didn't kill him, maybe this will slow him down. WAIT! If I can get one more shot off... Lilly didn't have time to ponder this, as while she attempted to figure out how to cycle the bolt on this foreign piece of equipment, the roof of the house just across from her exploded in a brilliant blue flash from a mortar shell.

"KYAAAAAAAAA!!!" The force of the shockwave threw Lilly back, and splinters peppered her uniform. When one of the soldiers from her group ran up to check on her (and drag her down so they could continue on), Lilly barely managed to muster a weak "I-I'm... I'm fine." She was more in shock from the start than anything else (the splinters had caused only minor cuts), and shakily stood up. Nodding to whoever came up for her, she said reaffirmed her status. "I'll be alright. We need to move to the next house.

Evan's Post

From the comfort of the APC, Evan watched the battle unfold through the night vision optics. The damn imps were starting to get organized... and the flanking group was now either inside or too close to the buildings for him to be able to lend any more support with the APC's mortar. Kicking his feet up on the passenger's seat, Evan leaned back and stretched. Not a whole lot he could do now, anyways. Might as well make himself comfortable.

'Fuck 'em up.' Alonso didn't need to be told twice. He squeezed the firing stud on the repainted Imperial lance at the same moment as the other lancers, sending a round low into the closest building. The round impacted at just the right angle, blowing clean through the front wall and exploding within. Alonso pumped his fist triumphantly, thrilled to finally be taking the fight to them. Amid the rising sound of gunfire and falling masonry, he ducked down to reload for a second shot.



'Bons! McDonald! SOMEBODY put a lance into that machine gun!' A fresh burst of MG fire chipped away at the wall inches above his head and Harald swore vehemently. Luckily the gunner had fixated on him, giving the others a chance to put him down, assuming they could get a shot o- there was another sudden explosion and the incoming fire immediately ceased. 'Good shot, whoever that was!', he yelled without thinking and popped up to keep firing on the survivors. He got two rounds off before realising that the MG was still there. 'Fuuu-' The Imps didn't let him finish the profanity, pouring a fresh stream of fire on his position. As the bullets pinged off the wall inches from him, Harald came to a snap decision.

The resistance was far stronger and more organised then they had expected; if the squad didn't get into proper cover soon they would take casualties. He quickly pulled a smoke grenade from his bandoleer, followed by a frag and threw them both overarm, toward that MG. 'Listen up!', he roared above the gunfire. 'Break cover and make for the first farmhouse! Three, two, one, follow me!' It probably would have been smarter to give the squad a few seconds longer to process the order, but fuck that. Rolling quickly over the wall, Harald pelted it toward the building while presenting the smallest profile possible. The smoke had spread just far enough that the MG nest couldn't see them, but that didn't stop the bastards from filling the air with lead. He heard a thunk and an impact, but kept going until he barrelled through the broken ground floor window. As the others began to arrive in a similarly harried fashion, Harald ducked under another window frame with a good angle on the second building. As he knelt he felt a sudden sharp pain in the neck and was surprised to find a bullet-sized hole in his shoulder armour. He looked away after a long second. No sense dwelling over how lucky he had been when the battle was only half fought. 'Spread out and fire from the windows. Upstairs too. If anyone gets hit, call me immediately!' The skirmish had barely lasted five minutes so far, but Squad Four had cleared at least one building. He prayed that it was going as well for Stichler's team.

James didn't waste time following the Sergeant from behind the wall into the farmhouse, though his cheek had a new cut on it and his arm as well. Still, he was fortunate it wasn't worse. Sliding into the doorway, he popped out and fired off a quick series of shots towards the MG nest, making the guy who'd been manning it duck in cover long enough for the rest of the squad to make it in. The wall had been getting a little dangerous anyways, with most of the Imps already zeroing in on where they were hiding behind it and that just wasn't safe for them. Once the last person was in, he stepped back to reload in time to hear the order to spread out.

"Copy that, Sarge." Heading upstairs, James finds a good window with a decent vantage point and good cover and starts making more aimed shots, trying to take out the more immediate threats and worrying less about the small groups of Imps running around and not firing. They weren't likely to be an immediate threat any time soon. "But then again..." He shifts again and starts firing on the men further back trying to reinforce the buildings the Imps were in and soon there was less foot traffic. "That's how we want it."

If only it wasn't for all that blast armour, Celeste might have reached the first building in time to assist in clearing it. It didn't matter though, as the others had already done a good job of wiping the Imperials out and were already at the windows and flanking the enemy defences. She clunked in to the house behind the others, taking a knee by a downstairs window. One house down, three to go. Sykora was doing a good job of keeping a low profile, peering through a broken window to the next building, home to a determined rifle team. Unsurprisingly Kyo was raring to go, his sword held ready to bust down another door. Celeste was a bit nervous of that, wondering if perhaps that might alert the Imperials to their presence; so far most of the enemy forces hadn't noticed they had been flanked and the longer that lasted the better. Having Kyo smash his way through into the second house would be quick but loud and might draw unwanted attention... She agonised over the decision for a long moment before an explosion and a shrill yelp jerked her body into action. Pulling a battered Jatmoore from the ground, she came to a snap decision. 'We will check your injuries soon, but we have to keep moving. Kyo, please open that door.'

He didn't need much encouragement. All semblance of stealth abandoned, the Darcsen charged bare-arsed across the narrow street. His sword connected with the door with the force of a small car crash, sending the poor Imp who was about to open it sprawling. The rest of the team spilled in, gunning down the hapless defenders before they even know what hit them. With the enemy now undoubtedly aware of their presence, Celeste ordered the others to take up defensive positions. With a strong point behind the enemy as well as in front, the Sergeant should be able to push forward.



But of course, they had already pushed forward. The remaining Imperials were thrown into a state of panic as the wounded officer realised his situation. 'They're falling back, pour it on!' Harald kicked the nearest door open, leading a few men out into the street. With Hunt firing from behind and Stichler's team in the building on the right, the Imps only had one house left to hide in. 'Push forward!', he roared, firing wildly at the fleeing figures before them. The last building stood a bit apart from the others, with empty stalls and a shop front downstairs. Caught in the crossfire from both Gallian teams, only a handful of Imperial troops made it inside, taking up positions on the shop floor. Harald and his men made it halfway before the first shots began to ring out, sending them scurrying for cover. Surprisingly enough the enemy fire was sporadic and badly aimed, indicating either panic or retreat. The Sergeant leaned ever so slightly around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse of the area behind the building. The tell-tale chugging of an heavy engine gave it away. 'Carn! Get your fat arse up here and slot that tank! Lancers, keep him busy!' Within seconds the Imperial tank rolled around the corner, the last of the crew diving into the turret ring. They opened up with twin machine guns, raking the street with fire as the turret tracked in on Hunt's position.