"Oh for the love of-" James wasted no time diving out of the second floor window as the tank fired, tumbling down the stairs as the second story exploded in a hail of shrapnel and fire. To say he made it out unscathed would be lying though, as an extra large splinter impaled itself in his right leg, about the middle of his calf. Grunting in pain, he dragged himself up and limped over to the wall, leaning down and looking at the damage. It was sticking out the other side, so it had missed the bone, but pulling it out was gonna hurt. "Now or never." Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the sliver and yanked it out of it's place, barely suppressing a scream. With that done, he took up a new position and tried to find a view slot to fire into on the tank, to try and take out the crew. Not finding anything, he shifted to pour rounds on the Imps hiding in the shop.

Lilly/Kyo/Brenna's Post

(I hope you don't mind me commandeering all those characters for this quick scene.)

*Crash!* *Thud!*
Kyo bulldozed his way straight through the door to the next house and knocked down an unfortunate imperial in the process. "RAAAAAHHHHHWWWWWW!!!" Yelling a battle cry as he swung his sword in an overhand chop, Kyo intended to lay open the imperial in one blow. The imp was quick, though, and managed to roll to the side and narrowly dodge the blade. The resulting hand to hand combat was chaotic and noisy as hell, with Kyo diving down to grapple the imp, and the imp trying to strike at Kyo with his armored fists and elbows. Eventually Kyo managed to get into a position where he was able to grab a bayonet from his belt and plunge it into the scout's neck, but not before the soldiers at the front of the house had been alerted.

Brenna made it into the house shortly after Kyo, and immediately ducked behind a large couch (providing more concealment than cover, but anything would do in this situation). When the riflemen in the front opened fire on them, Kyo was forced to roll off the body of his kill and scramble behind a stone fireplace that jutted out into the room. Damn it... He trusted his armour, but he didn't think it would allow him to charge head on into the sights of four imperial riflemen and live. The imperials were obviously well trained as well, shooting in pairs to eliminate a gap in the fire that would be caused by their need to reload. Even with Brenna using her SMG to lay down suppressing fire, it didn't seem like this stalemate would be broken any time soon.

Lilly had frozen half way through the door, when she saw Kyo attacking the scout. Such a barbaric and bloody way of fighting was enough to shock her, even in the middle of battle. Though it only lasted for a few seconds, her freeze up was enough to prevent her from making it through the door when the riflemen at the front of the house opened fire, causing her to have to take cover on the other side of the door frame.

*CrackCrackCrack!*

Lilly joined Brenna in firing back at the group of imperials at the front of the house, though her shots were definitely inaccurate. When ever a bullet whizzed past her, she immediately jumped and ducked back behind the door frame. It was an understandable reaction, she would later decide, for this was the first time she had experienced actual gunfire being directed at her, but that didn't help in this situation.

*CrackCrackCrackCrack!* *Crack!*

While Lilly fired off another volley of shots, she noticed Kyo hiding behind the fireplace. Every few shots, he would take a quick look to see if the coast was clear for him to charge, but one of the riflemen always noticed him when he did and shot a few rounds to keep him suppressed. As... uncomfortable as she was with Kyo's fighting style, Lilly realized that the key to ending this quickly would be to somehow manage to get Kyo close enough to attack. Rifles were notoriously bad at close range, so he could probably end the fight then and there... provided he could actually get within reach before they saw him.

WAIT! That was it! She just had to prevent them from seeing Kyo.

Forsaking the reloading of her rifle for now, Lilly reached into her pack and grabbed one of the smoke grenades she had brought with her. Mr. Hunt had been right... A fragmentation grenade would have been much better in this situation, but she had to make do with what she had. Pulling the pin and waiting a moment for a break in the gunfire, Lilly hurled the grenade as far into the house as she could.

*fsssss... fwoooooooooosh*

After a few seconds, the grenade sprung to life and started spraying a thick cloud of smoke across the room. Seeing what Lilly had done, Kyo waited until the smoke had spread enough before charging headlong into it.

*Slash!* *Crack!* *StabSlashSquelch!* *CrackCrack!* *Slash*

The disgusting sound of metal ripping through flesh, punctuated by the occasional gunshot filled the house, causing Lilly to cover her ears in horror. After a few short seconds, the sounds of combat went silent and a groan was let out from the front of the room. "Cl... Clear."

"What? Shit!" They were moving out from under the machine gun fire. A wise decision, but she couldn't say she was excited about running out under the hail of bullets. Regan heard the pop of the smoke grenade and, once Sergeant Harald had given the word to follow, Regan jumped up and shot off the next round she had ready, aimed for that same machine gun. She could remember where it was, kind of, so hopefully that would be enough to hit it, past the smoke. No time to think about it or watch it sail, she had to move before she got shot. She was already still for too long.

She scrambles to the building, finding cover as she goes or trying to. By the time she reached the building, a tank shot had just shot a hole in the side of it. The private, who had leaned herself up against the doorframe to catch her breath for just a moment before she'd bolt up the stairs, gave a groan and rolled to her feet. No sooner than she had planned, but now she had to deal with a tank.

Private Durandal found a viewpoint on the Imperial Tank, through a window on the first floor. She had to get an angle on the radiator, or her SH-01 wouldn't stand a chance. She makes a run through the house, along the perimeter wall before stopping at a window. She gathered her strength for her next amazing trick and dove out. She rolled her landing and got to her feet, facing the direction she needed to run. The young woman dashed behind the tank and kicked her feet out in front of her to slide, using her shoulder armor to defend herself from the rear. She used her motion to position her lance for firing, using her body as a prop. With one arm down to steady herself and the other positioning her lance, she brought her other hand in to steady it. She lay on her side and fired from her hip. It was hard to miss with an explosive at her range.

The martial artist soldier rolled to a low crouched stance, lance in one hand, and sprinted from stance, hefting her lance in front of herself to be held with both hands. She wasn't out of the woods yet, she had to get back to cover! She dashed back and dove through another window in the building she came from, rolling to her back and laying there to catch her breath. She sat up and took a scan of the room. She should find some friendlies to hang out with before she relaxes so much. Where's Sarge? Upstairs? She rose to her feet to continue on.

'Sir, I don't think they can hold out much longer...' A fresh hail of fire smashed through the shop window, forcing the Imperial soldiers to duck. The lieutenant, who had so recently found himself ranking officer, crawled over to the back wall where the platoon's corpsman was tending to a pair of injured men. 'How bad, Corporal? Can they move?' The young man shook his head in misery, fully aware that with the limited medical equipment on hand, all he could do was make them comfortable. Swearing under his breath, the officer tried to count his options. The Gallians had advanced far enough into the town that retaking it would be damn near impossible for his remaining soldiers. The tank crew had volunteered to stall them, but he knew that they would likely have lancers if not a tank of their own; the crew could buy time but little else. He came to a grim decision.

'Sergeant Auer. My men cannot continue. I am ordering a withdrawal from the village. You are to hold them for five minutes, just five minutes and then retreat along the east road. We will rendezvous a few miles away. Emperor's speed, Sergeant.' As the driver worked to keep the tank facing toward the enemy's shifting positions, their orders came in through a scratchy radio call. 'Thank you sir.', the commander responded, glad to have bought them some respite. 'We'll level the whole damn village before we leave.' He cut the radio and peered back through his limited cupola sights. 'Sarge, HE shell's loaded, I need a target!' There was another brief silence, broken only by the reverberation of the driver's MG. '... Target left, farmhouse, second floor.' Before the gunner could fire, a wash of blue flame eclipsed the cupola.



'She hit it! I think it's blown the engine.' For a moment Celeste dared to hope it might be over, but as she peered over the window sill she found herself staring down the very much intact barrel of the tank's main gun. '... Run! Get out, move!' She belted it toward the rear door, grabbing the first person she could reach to drag along. They almost made it out before the building collapsed on top of them.



Meanwhile the sergeant was distracted by the hail of MG fire spewing from the hull-mounted gun. Valk alone knew how she had done it, but Durandal had slipping in around the damn thing to hit the radiator; by rights it should be dead. Clearly the crew disagreed. 'Bons, Glaive. I'll keep their attention, you hook around the left.' Luckily the fire from the shop had ceased. Either they were lying low, waiting to hit them as they advanced, or else retreated. No way of knowing. The two soldiers hesitated, so Harald sent them packing with a boot up Bons' arse. As they rounded the corner to sneak around, Harald turned his attention back to the tank still hammering his position- just in time to see the main gun fire. His eyes widened in horror as Stichler's building exploded and collapsed inward; he didn't see anyone escape.



Why her? Why do I have to fight Imps with an Imp at my back? Glaive led the way around the back of the tank, with Alonso trailing somewhat unenthusiastically behind. Necessity had forced the sergeant to send them in particular, but that didn't make it any better in his books. He settled in on the tank's flank as she ran further around, no doubt planning to hit it with a satchel charge in case his lance didn't work. Fair plan, he thought, But this Imp's mine. Alonso lined the sights of his Imperial lance up carefully and fired.

James sighed in relief when the tank didn't try to reacquire him, assuming he'd been blown to tiny pieces when the shell hit, and it let him watch the small exchange between the Imps in the shop. He didn't fire anymore rounds and instead took up what he called his speed snipe set up, setting a clip next to the loaded one and waiting. By his count, he had two shots left in his current mag, which was all he would need. The second was more to let him keep up the cover fire after he placed his shots. Just gotta wait... He knew exactly who the officer was based on who was doing the most moving around, and kept his sights trained on the man. When it became apparent that they were going to make a break for it, James sprung into action, though sprung wasn't quite the right word.

Time seemed to slow down for the young and aspiring sniper, and for him, only the sights and the target on the other end of them existed. His breathing slowed and he counted to three in his mind. One. He let his most recent breath out slowly, slowing the movement of the sights to a near stand still. Two. He held his breath, steadying his aim even further as his finger slid onto the trigger inside the guard. Three. And he squeezed the trigger, doing so twice in quick successions. The rounds found their mark, piercing the lieutenant's heart and left lung just as they were technically supposed to do. In reality, James had only been aiming center mass like he was trained.

Then he heard it, the sound of a collapsing building off to his right. Looking as he reloaded, and cursing when he pinches his finger in the process, his jaw drops. There had been three squad mates in that building. And then he realized the tank had realized that the man in the window wasn't dead. "Why the hell do you hate me?!" He screamed as he dove out the window towards the tank, the round audibly passing over him and exploding inside the house and bringing it down too. Still, he didn't move, even after he heard the sound of the lance fire and the impact of the round. Looking up, he smiled as it had impacted the spacing between the turret and the main body of the tank, destroying the gears and it seemed causing a misfire within the breach. "Sweet merciful lord, it's dead! Imps are going out the back of that store, we giving chase?"

Alex had been sitting down at the wall, seemingly rather relaxed in the hail of bullets, though she did not have much to do other than cover their flank as only so many could peek out of the buildings openings. Still soon enough the order for her to use her skills came from their leader, though it was with Bons who showed no love for going with her at all, likely still suspecting of her... He was right, she had been avoiding outright conflict this entire time but she had at least killed, just far from how many she could have.

Motioning for Bons to follow they started to flank the tank, missing the barn being demolished may have been a good thing as their minds were firmly on this task. "You, here" Pointing to the ground she expected him to blow the tank before she moved around the other buildings to flank it. Just as she came out in the open she noticed the tank get a hard round between its turret and chassis, still she was out in the open on the edge of the town so she turned around to scout out any hidden enemies...

"Their retreating.."

Down the road she could see the enemy retreating, and her trained eyes locked onto the highest ranking man "Only a few left." Removing her rifle from her shoulder she took aim, her breath almost none existent as she locked her sights on the man, but as the last effort of the tank was put out by the others she could see him turn around as he pulled the radio off his hip, a look of worry was across his face wasn't it? It was then that their eyes met, even from this distance the light from the flaming tank made her stand out for anyone looking her way.. He knew she had him clocked in and could take him out and yet no shot came, she never pulled the trigger and instead slowly lowered her rifle before getting on the radio "Sir James is correct, they are retreating but I don't have a clear shot. Maybe we should hunker down here, we have taken our objective after all." She was sure no one could have seen that, besides no one could prove anything... She just needed time before she was ready to pull the trigger without hesitation against her own people.

Lilly's Post

"... Run! Get out, move!" They had just finished clearing the house when Corporal Stichler began yelling for the group to run. Lilly was confused by this (they had just cleared the house, where were they running to?), and she looked at Stichler with a perplexed expression just as their house exploded. "Wha-" *BOOOOM!* For the second time in the battle, Lilly was thrown by an explosion. Unlike the previous time, though, this wasn't a quick shockwave that knocked her back with a few scrapes. No, this explosion easily picked her up and flung her across the room, slamming her into a wall with a sickening crunch. As the house collapsed on top of her, Lilly blacked out, her last thought being about how this really was not her day.

...

.....

"...y?" *clatter* *crash* *thud* "...L...ly?" When Lilly slowly came to, she was immediately made aware of a terrible headache and loud ringing in her ears. In the distance it sounded like someone was yelling something, but she couldn't make it out over her impaired hearing and the sounds of rubble shifting around. "Wha... What happened...?" She tried to move but found herself unable to, with a dull pain resonating from her chest and... well, everywhere. When her vision returned and her eyes focused enough to see, Lilly saw just how bad of a predicament she was in. The entire house had collapsed onto of her, leaving her trapped in a small air pocket that was filled with dust and smoke. Through a few small gaps in the rubble, she could see Kyo in a similar but worse situation. He was still unconscious from both the impact of a beam landing on him, and a gunshot wound that showed how even with smoke to mask his approach, bringing a sword to a gunfight had been a less than successful idea. There was no sign of Brenna or Stichler from what she could see.

"..illy! Are you there?!"

From above her she could hear someone calling her name, though she couldn't pick out who it was from the muffling all the rubble was causing. Still in shock from the blast, she could barely muster up a reply. "...Yes... Yes... Yes, I'm here... Kyo's here too." A flurry of activity above caused more dust and dirt to rain down on her. Someone was talking. Someone was yelling. It sounded like people were trying to move some of the rubble.

"Are you hurt?"

Another question was yelled to her. ... and it was a good one. Woozily looking around, Lilly tried to ascertain if she was seriously injured or not. Everything hurt, but it was a dull pain that if compared to heat, was similar to a hot water bottle insulated with many layers of wool. Even if she was seriously injured, she wasn't feeling it right now.

...

Oh.

When she looked down at her stomach, she saw a splinter as thick as her wrist impaling her into the wall behind her. So that was why she couldn't move from this seated position... Blood slowly trickled out of it and the innumerable other deep cuts and bruises that dotted her torso, legs and arms, and pooled around her on the floor. Her armor had done nothing to protect against the shrapnel from the tank's blast, and her body was paying the price for it.

"... I'm fine..."

Somewhere in the back of Lilly's mind she was aware that her injuries could possibly be lethal, but it didn't feel serious. She was actually feeling better. Even as she raised a bloodied hand to her face for inspection, she felt the pain in her body slowly fading away and being replaced by a creeping numbness and feeling of cold. She shivered involuntarily, causing a slight increase in the throbbing pain emanating from her stomach.

"... It's cold... It's very cold down here..."

While she waited, Lilly considered attempting to pull the smaller splinters out of her arms, but gave up when she found out she could barely grip the splinters, much less pull on them. "Oh... I must have overexerted myself... The battle must have been really tiring. Maybe I should rest while I wait for the rest of the squad..." With that, Lilly slumped back against the wall she was pinned against and passed into a state of semi-consciousness, neither asleep nor awake. It was fine that she rested like this. All she had to do was wait on the squad to dig her out. The cold aside, she felt perfectly fine. Maybe once they found her, Mr. Hunt would lend her a jacket to warm her up...

The battle became a flurry of panic and rapid reactions. She felt like she hadn't done much to contribute to the battle. Though Brenna would have a hard time even remembering what happened before that explosion. And that explosion wasn't all too pleasant, though while she did barely escape from the building, she had been knocked unconscious for a brief amount of time. Something heavy had smacked her square in the back of the head, though some could consider her lucky to not be dead from such a incident.

When she regained consciousness, she could first only hear blurred words and noises. Someone had propped her up against a wall along with another person or two. Though Brenna couldn't tell from her blurred vision. She was however, more concerned with the others first. And as her hearing and vision came back, she could make out what all the fuss was for.

Lilly was trapped with possible serious wounds. Brenna stumbled to her feet once she pieced it together. That's when another injury of hers made itself know. She had a deep laceration on her right calf, and was still bleeding from it and a few smaller cuts. But one could think her head injury may be impairing her judgment, because she was moving towards where the others in decent health were working to get Lilly out. She dragged her right leg behind her. A squad member or two tried to stop her, but she either shook them off or swore until they let her go. It was definitely obvious her head trauma had changed her for the time being (or maybe forever).

Once she was at the rubble where the others were digging for Lilly, she joined in, albeit not efficiently. Brenna also seemed to be mumbling randomly to herself.

After some time passed.

Once they reached Lilly. Brenna grabbed Lilly's hand, and held it. She kept mumbling, but it seemed directed at Lilly. "No dying....you'll live....stay alive....stay alive...." This continued until medical help arrived, and Brenna made sure they helped Lilly first.

Once they began to help Lilly, that's when Brenna passed out again. She kept her face hidden the whole time, and now that she was out cold, one could see tears all over her face. Even Lilly's hand had tears on it.


Celeste would liked to have joked about the near death experience everyone just had. But it seemed two people were about to have a death experience. Celeste was luckier that she thought she was. A few cuts, an annoying splinter in her left arm, and the accompanying bruises. Lilly's injuries were unknown, as were Kyo's. It seemed most were fine, except the two in the collapsed building, and Brenna propped against a wall.

"COME ON! LET'S GET THIS RUBBLE OUT OF THE WAY!" She shouted, trying to get people to move as fast as possible. "Don't worry about making a neat little pile! JUST GET IT OUT OF THE WAY! NO TIME TO MESS AROUND!" Celeste was serious, painfully serious. Even though she didn't know Lilly or Kyo well enough to say her yelling was justified. They were still her squad. And hell be damned if she wasn't going to sit idly by while two squad mates perished underneath some rubble.

When Brenna stumbled over and began helping. Celeste seemed to stop her anger filled yelling for a moment. Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of an injured person helping others get other injured people to safety. And completely curious as to why no one stopped her, but didn't bother to intervene. Resuming her yelling.

Once some time had passed and the rubble was clear enough to access Lilly and Kyo. She began yelling to get medical to the two. Celeste had not noticed Brenna's next set of actions.

Evan's Post

The battle appeared to be won, but the collapsing buildings filled Evan with trepidation even as the imperials retreated. Someone might have gotten injured in that fight, and the Darcsen would not be happy if their medical supplies remained out of reach for long. Setting up a course for the hamlet, Evan drove the APC towards the group of people rallying around the buildings.

...

When he arrived, the Darcsen was shouting orders and the majority of the squad seemed to either be tending to injuries or trying to excavate one of the collapsed houses. After he climbed out of the APC and jumped to the ground, Evan hustled over to Harald, yelling: "Darcsen! Just got here. The APC's got medical supplies in the back incase you need it." before rushing over to the collapsed building.

Brutish though he may be, Evan was not stupid. From all the people trying to excavate the rubble, someone had to still be trapped inside and his sheer muscle mass would make him invaluable in the rescue attempt. As he began his work, lifting the heaviest pieces of rubble that the rest of the squad had trouble even moving, he noticed that a few of the wounded were helping with the rescue. The fact that the quiet, usually standoffish girl, Brenna was helping despite her wounds made him concerned. If even she was helping despite her wounds, the attack must not have gone well at all... the majority of the squad must have been wounded. How the hell were they supposed to hold the crossroads in this state?

"ONE, TWO, THREE... HEEEEEAAAAAAVE!"

With a mighty tug, Evan helped several other squad members raise a partially buried beam, revealing a terribly wounded and nearly dead Lilly in the gap underneath it. Straining and bracing himself so that the beam did not fall back down on top of her, Evan yelled to the rest of the squad. "I'LL HOLD THIS! GET HER OUT OF THERE! ... SOMEONE GET THE DAMN MEDICAL KIT!" It didn't look like there was anything around that could be used to prop up the beam in short order, so Evan held it on his knee, before squatting down to position his shoulder under it and lift again. A new shower of dust coated Lilly from the movement of the beam, but that was the least of her worries. Evan was more concerned about if they could get her out before his strength inevitably failed and forced him to lower the beam. He could hold it... He had to. He wasn't going to let someone die because he, he who was easily the strongest in the squad, gave up due to simple exhaustion. His every muscle strained as he held the beam in place, and sweat dripped down his face. The beam did not move, though. He would never let that happen. Fuckin' piece of shit imps... They'll pay for this.

James did his best to help in the excavation efforts to get the buried out of the other house, but fate had decided that he was going to receive an even bigger splinter through the leg for dodging a second tank round, this one only partly through his leg and hurting much worse than the first. When Evan heaved up the beam, James was there, trying to assuage the damage. "Ah hell. Sorry Lilly, but I gotta get you out." Turning to the others, he yelled out, "Hey, she's pinned to the damned wall! Get the med supplies ready cause I gotta pull her off it!" Gritting his teeth against the pain in his own leg, he grabbed Lilly and pulled, sliding her forward. I hat this, I hate this, I hate this. Imps are gonna fucking die.

Lilly groaned slightly as he pulled, but not much else. Grunting in pain and exertion, he pulled again, this time getting her free. Dragging her outside, he pulled off his jacket and put it under her while grabbing the surprisingly intact nearby curtain and putting it on top of the wound and pushing with one hand while slapping her face with the other. "Wake up, Lilly, come on. You can't rest now or you won't wake up. Come on, stay with me, focus on the sound of my voice. Come on." Not eliciting a response, he kept it up for a good couple minutes before looking at his squad mates. "Not a fucking word." And then he kissed her, trying to shock her into wakefulness. The trick had worked for others in situations far less dire, so it might work now. Pulling back, he prayed it had worked.

Just as she was walking along the center hall, beside the stairs, the second round hit. "That thing's not dead- oh. Oooh no." Regan quickly set her mortar lance down and grabbed the hilt of her sword. She felt safer with that in her hand, honestly. Part of the wall buckled in toward her and she rolled to the side. Her sword flashed as she drew it to cut a support beam that was falling toward her, and she used her strength to push the part she cut off away. She was fortunate she was in the stairwell of a two story building. She really only had to worry about-

The roof! And how was she going to deal with it?! Her exit was already blocked. Not that she had time to run anymore anyway. Shit! Well, here we go. Just as Mother taught me... She brought her sword across one section of the ceiling above falling toward her. Before she could make a second swing, it struck her and knocked her out.

~~~

The brunette woke before long, with a mild headache but a terrible pain in her right shoulder. Dislocated, she could tell, but she couldn't see the accompanying gash on her back. The section of roof that hit her... it hadn't crushed her? No, it... looked like there was room to crouch here. As she looked around, she spotted the support beam she cut earlier, with some other rubble in the corner, under a section of the roof above her head. The cut she had made had saved her, the section she cut away was propped over here, against the section of support beam she had cut down earlier. "I... should probably be dead." She ran her left hand through her hair, sitting herself up. She had room to sit up, and she wasn't impaled on anything or anything. A few cuts and bruises, but... Damn.

Ah! She heard voices from nearby. Allies? The private pushes herself to a crawl, favoring her left for the wound on her right. and maneuvers her way through the remains of the building, searching out the voices.

'It's cold... it's very cold down here.'

That didn't sound good. She'd better hurry up. She found a foot amid the rubble, but another approached, and pulled the woman off of her impalement. "W-wait, you'll open her wound!" She winces, peering up from the nearby hole she found that let her see Lilly. To just pull her free like that... Eugh. "Dammit, you fool. What're you- No, stop!" He was dragging her, in her condition? And slapping her? And-- he kissed her?! She had no words, only a sword. Where she had previously doubted her ability to draw her sword from her position, she found her body moving without her. Her left hand moved up and shoved her shoulder back into its socket. She'd never had to do it before, she she'd been intimidated by it. With her arm functional again, her sword flashed out from the sheath and cut through the wall around her. As the wall shifts from her assault, she pushes her way through the debris and emerges, already charging Hunt. "You vile, perverted idiot!" She shoulder checks him with her left, sheathing her sword and kneeling next to Lilly. "Oh, God, ooh, oh god, oh, God, no. I could have... but... aaaah, there's nothing I can... I- I can't... I... M-medic... Medic!" The damage from being dragged and the blood loss from being pulled free from the impaling spike reduced the options to fix it. Even though she'd gotten Hunt away from her, she didn't know what to do at this point, and she didn't have any ragnaid. That was really all she could think of...

Sliding a ways, he doesn't move far when the shoulder check connects, letting loose a growl when it aggrivates the large splinter still sitting in his leg, and returns the favor, with twice the force, putting pressure back on the wound, his face dark. "You want to leave her there and let her fucking die of infection or risk her getting hurt worse?" He shakes his head. "No wonder the regular army thinks ninety percent of the militia shouldn't bother joining it, you're dense as hell!" Someone shows up with a can of ragnaid and James thanks them, quickly applying it to the wound. "Evan couldn't hold the beam forever and the quicker we got her out, the better, made treating her easier and safer for all involved." Satisfied, he put the makeshift bandage back to the wound. "Second, she's going unconscious with heavy blood loss, doesn't take a genius to know is bad. Slapping her was an effort to wake her up, basic field care. If that doesn't work, do something that'll shock 'em awake, surprises them. She'd already gotten a giant piece of wood through her, so I went with the next best thing. And I sure as hell ain't so twisted as to shove my fingers into her wound to make pain wake her up."

Pushing Lilly gently onto her side, he applies ragnaid to the other side of the wound before laying her down and continuing to put down pressure. "I actually enlisted, I got to run actual scenarios where these things happened. While you all were getting slaughtered in Rineheim, the regular army was taking casualties on the border, living these scenarios. We left two people impaled on spikes like that, they were dead in minutes. The one we managed to get to a get free? We were able to treat and safe him. Next time you think you know better than the trained soldier, shove it up your ass. Any further issues should be handled by the Sarge, not someone of my rank."

His eyes remained fixed on the collapsed building as the calls for orders began to come in. Harald considered himself a decisive person, a man of action... but watching half his squad engulfed in flame and debris shocked him to the bone. 'I... No, we... No, pull back, they...' It took a moment to realise he hadn't keyed the radio, long enough for him to rally and come to his senses. 'No, everyone pull back, we have wounded. Start shifting that rubble, move move!' He slung his rifle and ran flat out toward the collapsed building, praying that the others had escaped the other one in one piece. A familiar voice was yelling orders, pre-empting his own. Valkyrian grace, someone made it. He didn't stop to take control, diving into the rubble to shift as much as he could and was soon joined by the others. It took time and effort, but eventually they could see the odd patch of blue under the debris. Brick by brick, he uncovered one section to find Kyo's unconscious form beneath. Luckily he wasn't pinned anywhere and it looked like that ridiculous sword had actually helped buttress the beams that fell on him. 'Bons, gimme a hand.' Between the two of them they slowly shifted the last beam, unveiling the horrifying sight below. Far from saving him, Kyo's sword had proven his undoing. Harald tried to piece together how it must have happened; perhaps as the last beam fell, the shocktrooper had tried to knock it aside with his weapon, only to get stuck. The blade had acted like a guillotine, severing his leg below the knee. Bons staggered away, vomited. Harald had seen similar injuries before, Hell anyone who lived near a forge had, but he couldn't stop the taste of bile in the back of his throat. As the others uncovered Jatmoore's still body from the wreckage, he knelt down to administer some first aid. Can't see any other major injuries... No major cuts or breaks... No way to be sure until Kyo was out on stable ground through, so he grabbed the boy under the arms and heaved.

Luckily the others were too busy caring for Jatmoore to realise the Kyo's critical state, so he and Bons were able to work in peace. It occurred to him that they might be the most experienced medics present, what with their previous experience and training. All the more reason to focus on him, he concluded grimly. Kyo had lost a lot of blood and his pulse was fading fast. 'Bons, we gotta seal the wound and get him back to base now. There's ragnaid in the APC and... and bring a shell from the recoiless rifle.' Ignoring the private's confusion, he set to work raising Kyo's stump and affixing a belt just above the knee. He couldn't hope to stem the blow of blood with just that, but he had another idea. When Bons returned with the kit, Harald began to unscrew the shell, pouring the ragnite-based gunpowder onto the wounded stump. 'Sorry lad, but this is gonna hurt...' Bons' eyes widened as he clicked on, but he didn't object. It was a medieval method, but they didn't have much choice. When all was ready and the wound completely covered, Harald paused to give a rare prayer for Kyo's recovery... then lit the powder. There was more of a crack then he anticipated and their faces were flecked in ash and blood, but the would was sealed, cauterised by the burning ragnite. Kyo would make it... I hope.

Leaving Bons and his personal ragnaid pack to tend to the remaining wounds, Harald hauled the giant medical canister over to the others, just in time to see Hunt drag Jatmoore from the wreckage. Her wounds looked severe but not life-threatening, assuming she got her ragnaid in time. 'Calm down, both of you!', he snapped, already pulling the bolts on the canister's seals. 'Stay calm, work methodically and check your own damn wounds too.' Hunt's words stung, but he knew them to be true. The Militia just wasn't ready for this shit. As he worked on pouring fresh ragnaid over Jatmoore's wounds, Harald glanced about see how the others were fairing. Most had relatively minor injuries, healable with their personal ragnaid. The only one who looked in dire need was Sykora, out cold against a wall. '... Right, she's got enough. Hunt and Durandal, stop arguing and watch her. And next time, try waking her up with the stink salts and not sexual assault, ok?'

Leaving them to their own devices along with the remaining medical supplies, he jogged over to Sykora, calling to the corporal as he did. 'Stichler, did you see what happened to her?' He paused, giving Sykora a quick once over. 'Can't see anything serious, no major blood loss...' He ran his personal ragnaid canister over her entire body anyway, just in case. 'Gimme a hand here, get her armour off.' He carefully removed the shoulder armour, keenly aware that a heretofore hidden injury could start pissing blood at any moment. But... nothing. The sergeant breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her injuries were (hopefully) not severe. 'Alright then... Sorry corporal, but could you fetch me the salts? They're in the medical case, over by Jatmoore.' He sat back heavily, sparked up a cigarette. They had done all they could, hopefully stabilised the wounded. But he knew they couldn't hold the village against a counter-attack, nor push onward. Might have to head back to Fort Breda... Not a cheery thought.

James didn't argue with the Sarge. "Will do Sarge." Setting the can of Ragnaid he'd used on Lilly and going to one side, he sighed. He couldn't afford to ignore his own injuries any longer, the Sarge was right. Closing his eyes, he reached down and grabbed the large piece of wood. Alright, on three then. One, two, three! He pulled it quickly, but it didn't quite come out cleanly, he growled loudly as it tore off some additional flesh then threw the thing aside. "Damn that hurt." He limped to the APC and grabbed a smaller can of ragnaid since he had left his pack stowed further back on the APC and put it on his wound, hissing in pain.

Maybe he shouldn't have responded so harshly to Durandal, not lashed out so much. But he knew he was right, not to mention getting shoulder checked that way had hurt like there was no tomorrow with that splinter. Looking over towards Lilly, he made a silent prayer for her. He then went to scrounging around the debris for gear that the Imps had left behind. He didn't want to deal with the rest of his squad right then, not after what had just occurred. He settled to dig around the nearest building to him and set to work, moving debris around quietly for several minutes.

He pulled out a couple messed up Imp rifles and some blown up ammo boxes before he smiled. Reaching down, he shifted the stone and wood around until he was able to pull the sniper rifle free. Unfortunately, it would need some work and repairs after having the building collapse on it, but it was a decent rifle. It was a ZM SG 2, one of the Empire's better sniper rifles, and the scope was surprisingly undamaged, though the barrel and possibly firing mechanism at least weren't so fortunate. His leg acting up, he finally succumbed to the post battle exhaustion and flopped onto the ground, waiting for either the order to back up or someone else to find him and try and rail him for what had happened.

"A slap isn't going to solve blood loss, you-" The Sergeant cut her off. She flinched, looking aside and taking a deep breath. "Y-yes sir." She got emotional and lost her temper. She should have more discipline than that! She was disappointed, but more than that, she was worried. The private gazed at Lilly. The woman had actually been welcoming to her, as opposed to some of the other responses she got. Hunt's included. She turned her attention to the collapsed building, frowning. She left her mortar lance behind, and it didn't sit right with her. She couldn't let that go. It was her father's.

Instead of returning to the APC, Private Durandal went to the rubble of the building she emerged from. If she could find where she was, she should be able to locate her lance. Here. This section of the roof was cut. Meaning where she dropped her lance shouldn't be far. It should be about... here! The young lady begins to move pieces of the rubble aside with her left arm, not using her right for to save her shoulder, still unaware of the cut on her back. It was closed at the time, but it was bound to open up sooner or later with how much she was moving.

Lilly's Post

Despite Hunt's slap and other... unconventional methods of trying to bring her back to consciousness, Lilly still firmly remained in her stupor. Eventually she fell asleep fully, but the life saving measures the squad had started to take effect. She wasn't in any immediate danger of dying in her sleep. Perhaps it was for the best. Her wounds needed time to let the ragnaid do it's work, and it was unlikely that she would be able to remain calm with a gaping hole through her gut.

Evan's Post

"Ahrrghh..." Evan grunted as he set the beam down, now that Lilly had been retrieved. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Evan turned to watch the first-aid treatment. PFC Hunt had (surprisingly) already managed to drag Lilly away from the wreckage, and was in the process of trying to keep her awake and stop her bleeding. And then he kissed her.

At this point, Evan's face was a bizarre hybrid of shock, confusion and disgust. Just what the FUCK was he doing?! It seemed that Durandal had the same question, as she promptly collided with the man, delivering a shoulder check. The resulting argument was colorful and Evan would have loved to join in, but these two incompetent FUCKSTICKS were forgetting that they had someone who very well might bleed out at any minute under their care. "Guess I have to do everything myself..." With that, Evan scrambled back to the APC to grab one of the emergency ragnaid tanks. By the time he had returned, Hunt had gotten back to trying to treat the wound. Handing the ragnaid canister to him, Evan made a remark in a rather unpleasant tone. "Here, lover-boy. It'll probably work better than your kiss."

...

Evan spent the remainder of the recovery period wandering around and lending assistance when ever someone needed help moving something. He didn't want to stick around Hunt and say any more things that he'd regret - An unusually sensible thought for Evan. As the sun started to rise and light up the crossroads (or what was left of them), Evan trudged over to the APC and turned off the headlights that they were using in the darkness. No point wasting ragnoline. Since there didn't seem to be anything that urgently needed his attention, Evan slumped in the drivers seat for a minute and mentally processed the outcome. What was supposed to be a surprise attack that swept away imperial resistance before they could mount a defense had turned into a bloodbath that left the majority of the squad wounded. What happened? What went wrong? Evan was burning up for answers, so when he saw a certain sergeant finish assisting the wounded and sit down to take a break, Evan hopped out of the APC and stormed over to him. "Darcsen!"

Evan came to a stop just in front of the man. Darcsen just looked worn out and tired as he smoke his cigarette, but Evan wanted an answer and he wanted it now. Putting one hand on his hip and pointing to the line of wounded with the other, he barked his question in a much harsher voice than he was intending. "This was supposed to be a straight forward plan, what the hell just happened?! Half the squad is wounded, Jatmoore's almost dead, what the fuck were you doing out here?!" Part of Evan knew that things changed in the blink of an eye on the battlefield, and even simple things could turn to disaster very quickly... But another part of him wanted to blame it all on the fact that their commander was a Darcsen - a race who should never be trusted with anything other than engineering or mining. And that part was currently winning out.

Only when Harald had time to sit down and take stock did he realise how very dark it was. Granted, they had started the attack in the early hours and it wasn't getting light any time soon, but still... Perhaps half the reason they took the hamlet was sheer surprise. But that hadn't stopped them taking casualties, he noted grimly. Minor cuts and scrapes, even major injuries like Jatmoore's could be dealt with with enough ragnaid and Kyo would probably be fine if he reached a field hospital within the day. It was a marvel that no-one had died to be honest... In fact, two seriously wounded versus a whole Imp squad and tank..? Hell, that's gotta be a record for a first action. Harald was slowly talking himself into feeling good about their victory, at least until Carn stomped over to ruin the mood. 'Oh, shut the fuck up Carn.', he growled irritably. 'It was straight forward and we won, alright?' He sparked up another cigarette and waved a vague hand over to the wrecked tank. 'We assaulted a fortified position, held by an enemy who outnumbered us, were better trained than us and had a Valkdamned tank that we didn't even know about. And we won.' He pulled himself upright, nodding to Jatmoore and Kyo. 'These two? Totally survivable injuries. No casualties on our side. But look over there! Is that a pile of dead Imps I see? Massacred while running away, were they?' His eyebrows arched sarcastically. 'Well, damn! Looks like this was a disaster for the Militia, eh? Two stubbed toes and sprained ankle! Might as well fucking surrender now.' The Sergeant's tone suddenly turned very harsh. 'Man the fuck up, Private. This is war. Today we killed at least ten of them and lost none of ours. That's called a fucking victory and we ain't getting another so clean.' He glared into Carn's eyes, his patience with the mechanic's shit well and truly gone. 'Now once you've calmed down, I've got a job for ya.'

Evan's Post

"The only reason they survived, Darcsen" Carn narrowed his eyes and returned the stare. "is because of how quickly we got to them. If the damn imps had kept fighting, Jatmoor and Kyo would be dead. But you're right. What do I know? I'm just an old mechanic. I'm sure they would have been acceptable losses for a hardened military veteran like yourself. Alright, now what do you what do ya want me to do? Gimme the damn job." An older man who was used to wounds like Lilly's being fatal (since civilians didn't have access to the same ragnaid as the military), Evan was unlikely to consider any severe wounds to be acceptable. And he didn't like how flippant the Darcsen was towards wounds that could easily have turned fatal, damn dark-hairs. The thought that a proper military commander could have prevented many more wounded constantly bounced around in Evan's head as he begrudgingly listened to the sergeant's orders.

'Cheap shot, Private...', Harald growled, uncomfortably aware that Carn had a point. True, the Sergeant had served in a few skirmishes before the war broke out, but he was hardly a battle-hardened vet. He reminded himself of the need for strong leadership, made even more important by his heritage; authoritarianism wasn't in his nature though, so he had to compromise. 'But whatever. Cheer up, old man. You're gonna save a man's life tonight.' He trudged over to Kyo's unconscious form, tended to by a wide-eyed Bons. 'You and one of the others will take Kyo back to Fort Breda, drop him off at the field hospital.' Not a difficult job by any means, but it would mean that those going would have to forfeit a night's sleep. 'Then load up on ammo, come back. And pick up any strays you see around the base, any recruits not assigned yet. The Captain would approve, I think.' The sergeant flicked away another dead cigarette butt, gave Carn a sidelong look. '... and have a hot meal while you're there. Pick your partner and go ASAP.'

Five minutes later once the APC had trundled off, Harald climbed atop one of the ruined buildings to get his bearings. The others had busied themselves with their weapons and equipment as well as tending to Sykora and Jatmoore. He checked his watch; 0324. Cold too. 'Alright kids,', he wheezed into his radio. 'Let's set up for the night.' He waved them over to one of the intact houses and helped move the wounded inside. Luckily the house hadn't been looted, so they were able to lay the injured girls in proper beds while the rest of them made do with armchairs and blankets. Despite the odd bullet hole through the windows, it was surprisingly warm. 'I'll take first watch. Go to sleep people, you did well. 0730 start tomorrow.' With that he climbed up into the attic to take up post on the highest window. Harald once again rolled a cigarette, finally alone with his doubts.

With a hand from the squad, the young lady was able to retrieve her mortar lance from the wreckage of the building. Luckily, it was mostly undamaged. A little dinged up, perhaps, but usable. Someone noticed the injury on her back and got it patched up with a little bit of Ragnaid. The concussion was another matter. As the night continued, Regan became acutely aware of a vague dizziness in her senses, and a degree of fatigue that she wasn't expecting. Combined with a headache, she wasn't feelings so hot. She must have gotten hit in the head when the building fell. Probably by the roof or something.

After Sergeant Harold had declared that they'd be setting in for the night, Private Durandal decided to stop trying to tough it out. It wouldn't be toughed out, that much had become clear. "Nng... Sarge?" The young lancer held a hand to her head, staggering slightly as she approached him. "I don't... feel... so good. Dizzy... and... headache... nnh. Strange fatigue... not sore, just... heavy."