Suddenly the Tank's engine starts up. On top of the tank Hoek stood, as he called for his squad "Alright squad nine on me!" he yelled as his squad moved to gather around him "Right Seems squad four needs some help, taking A couch house." He said as he climbed down from the tank and looked at the squad, Meyers, i want you and the kid to provide over watch, make sure to keep our shock troopers alive so they can get to the house alive...Paul I need you, Ryan, Jasmine and Kyle to follow me, We are gonna take that house, James you follow us with the rest and support the advance. As he bangs on the side of the tank "This beautiful Gallian machine will provide cover for the shock trooper and watch for enemy armor. We are gonna follow behind it in the tracks. not gonna lie....This is gonna be tough We are the tip of the spear as it were...We are gonna take alot of fire. He said as the rest of the squad nodded silently "Stay safe and make sure to do your jobs." he said as he pulled out a map and pointed out all positions from the squad.

Evan's Post

You know, just once I'd like to be told 'Sure, Evan. Take private x.' instead... As the tank from Hoek's squad started up, Evan finished his inspection of the APC (everything was in order) and hustled over to their group. Snagging one of the trailing engineers before they finished mobilizing, Evan spun the girl around. "Yo. You look like an engineer, and we're short staffed. I need someone to man our APC's gun. Mind helpin' us out, Private... Sorry, PFC Ariella?" Evan quickly stole a look at her name tag as he spoke. When the girl protested, Evan pointed back to the tank (which had already started rolling forward). "Well I'd love to get permission from yer sergeant, but he seems like he's already movin out. Come on. We're going to be down a vehicle if I don't have someone on the gun." It took a moment (the girl clearly was not convinced by this), but eventually she agreed. "Alright! That's the spirit, Girly. Hop in the back and we'll get rollin."

A few minutes later, Evan was back behind the wheel of the APC and starting it back up. "Alright everyone! All aboard!" As squad four piled into the back of the APC, Evan yelled back to the group "Ladies and gentlemen, please give us a big hand for PFC Ariella. She's on loan from squad nine, and will be helping me to provide fire support for you sorry bastards on the ground. Make her feel welcome, would ya?" Once Sergeant Harald had climbed into the seat beside him, Evan pulled the APC back onto the road and began following the tank. "Ya ready for this, Darcsen? We got a whole 'nother squad with us this time. Should be fun." Evan's eyes had a fierce gleam to them (clearly the previous battles hadn't had much of an impact on him), and he was in a phenomenally good mood now that he knew that they would have a second squad with them. Best of all: A proper tank was helping in the assault! As they drove along, Evan started tapping the wheel and singing. "Get your motor runnin... Head out on the highway! Lookin for adventure... And what ever comes our way!" This continued (or rather would continue) until he was told to shut up. He was looking forward to this battle. With two squads attacking simultaneously, what could go wrong?

@Lennon79

Lilly's Post

Lilly was relieved to hear that they would be splitting up (especially since she wouldn't have to storm the house). "I understand, Sergeant." Nodding, she stepped back and let everyone else ask their questions. Despite this, though, she was still very nervous. It might be easy for the muscular gentleman driving their APC to remain calm (he wasn't the one dodging bullets), but it certainly wasn't for her. As she piled into the back of the APC with the rest of her comrades, Lilly kept herself distracted by focusing first on the scratches in her rifle, then on the people she was sitting next to. By sheer chance, she had landed beside Hunt and Sykora. Looking from side to side, she spoke. "Good luck to the both of you. I wish you well in the coming battle." Lilly forced a smile as she want back to examining her rifle. *static* Her nerves were going insane, but she had to focus. Once she got into battle, she would need to shove all that fear out of her mind and act without any thought or doubt. At least if she was fighting from a distance, she had confidence she could hold her nerve; close combat was what really got to her...

@Zarkun @Slypheed

James was running the basic maintenance check on his Viper when Lilly spoke and he looked up at her, a silly grin on his face. "There's no way we can loose with a tank of our own this time. Damn Imps won't know what hit 'em." Still, as he spoke, he noticed the haunted look in Lilly's eyes. It was something that he couldn't let slide, but that he needed to speak with the sergeant about before he took any precautions.

While Carn's antics were usually a lightning rod for his Sergeant's ire, Harald couldn't help but tap one foot along to the beat as the mechanic sang away. Unlike every other battle that had gotten in so far, this time they actually had the material and numerical advantage; it was hard not to feel optimistic. 'For once I agree with you. Let's fuck these Imps up.' As the APC gathered speed, Harald sparked up one of his precious few cigars, grinning savagely. He clicked the radio to talk to the rest of the squad. 'Alright boys and girls, get ready to disembark on my order. Remember which fireteam you are assigned to and don't get separated. Ladies and gentlemen, Valkspeed.' Ten minutes later, the squad arrived at the drop-off point and Harald barked the order to disembark. As the other got organised and the other scouts began to rally on him, he opened up a radio call with Hoek. 'Hoek, this is Harald. We are in position and beginning our advance. We'll go loud as soon as we hear the first shots fired. Good hunting, out.'

Hoek smiled as he listened to Harald " copy that" he said as he watched his squad get into position. After a few minutes the squad was ready " Right everyone here we go.." he said as he climbed on the tank and knocked on the gunners hatch. As soon as the hatch opened the gunner looked up at hoek. "lets get this going." he said as he climbed down. with a smile the gunner got back in "Right boys lets get getting this going" the gunner said before the hatch closed. after a second the main cannon fired, the sound of the gun rung out in the relative silence. after a second the shell landed a few feet away from the objective, knocking up dirt and what looked to be a few rifles and helmets. At the sound of the gun the shock troopers rushed forward moving from cover to cover, just in case anyone returned fire.

Lilly's Post

"Alright, everybody out. Go Go Go!"

As Harald shouted his order, Lilly joined the tide of soldiers spilling out the back of the APC. This is it... Here we go. *static* *crackle* No, Lilly. Hold it together! You can do this! To her relief, they had not yet been assaulted by sweeping barrages of machine gun fire and actually had a few moments to organize. When she ran over to Harald, Bons and Fairglaive, she took note of the terrain they would be fighting in. It was still mostly open but unlike the farmer's field before, there was a fair bit of scrub, brush and long grass to provide concealment. Not much cover besides the occasional tree, but if she dove into the grass, she might be able to avoid detection... *crack* *Pheeeew* A sniper bullet whizzed by the squad, causing Lilly's heart to jump and begin to race. It begins... She ducked on instinct and began following her group as they began their approach. *crack* *crack* *rattatattatat* The coach house started to light up with muzzle flashes as the imperial defenders opened up at the two squads. Squad 9 (who was receiving the majority of the attention) began to return fire and with that, the battle was on. I just pray we make it through safely...

Evan's Post

"All this scrub brush is gonna slow the APC down a little..." Evan muttered to himself as he surveyed the battlefield, before turning back to PFC Ariella. "Well? You ready girly? Hope you're quick on the reload because heeere weeee gooooo!" Evan pressed down on the accelerator and the APC lurched forward. He quickly guided it into a position where it shielded the rest of squad 4 from incoming fire, before reducing the speed so that the rest of the infantry could keep up. *Pling Clank Piiing* A few bullets bounced off the APC's armour as a some of the riflemen in the coach house spotted their squad and fired. Evan scowled as he kept their speed even and continued advancing on the coach house's flank. He and Ariella were supposed to be acting as a shield for the infantry, much like an infantry support tank. ... But unlike a tank, they had only a fraction of the armour and protection to do it with. He trusted that imp lancers would be focused more on squad 9's actual tank, but having to give up their one advantage - speed - left a bad taste in his mouth. Behind him, he heard Ariella loading a shell into the APC's gun, and he shouted back to her. "If ya spot any imps outside the house, fuck 'em up! But watch where you're firing those HE rounds. We wanna capture the house, not level it!"

As they unloaded, James was already slipping into old habits. "Sykora, Rousseau, Skye, on me!" Once the trio was with him, he got them moving low through the brush towards the coach house, eventually using the APC for cover when it caught up to them. Glancing back, he grins reassuringly. "Alright, we should almost be to the coach house. Rousseau, you'll be in first, then me, then Skye, then Sykora. Play it smart but get the floor secured FAST. I know only a couple of you have done this before, but we don't want to take longer than-" A round pings over his head and he curses before peaking out. "Alright, three minutes tops. Ready? Go!" James lead the charge out of their mobile cover towards the coach house, firing his rifle rapidly towards the exposed windows to buy his fire team time to reach the door. Once they were all there, he turned to Rousseau. "On your mark."

Paul
Paul Rushed forward as a hail of fire cut one his squadmates down "damn!" he yelled took cover behind one of the few trees. looking back he could see the hand of the wounded rise up, only to drop and the soldier was hit but a burst of fire "Damn it!" he yelled as he peaked from behind the tree and fired a burst at the house. one of his squadmates rushes by only to be taken out by a sniper. looking at the house he could see the shine of a scope from inside one of the windows. suddenly the figure holding the rifle fell forward out of the window landing on the ground. "there we go..." Paul muttered as he moved from his cover rushing forward. As he ran he noticed one of his squad mates signaling him to stay down, as the tank fired again landing closer to the house. The body of an imperial is ragged dolled into the air much to Paul's amusement. Looking back Paul could see the tank moving forward slowly "take that Imp." he said with a chuckle

Sam
"Three..." she muttered as she killed a sniper in the house. Sam watched as the Imp fell out thee window and landed awkwardly on the ground out front. "body shot huh..." she thought as she worked the bolt and took aim again. She could see Paul rushing forward Must be terrible to be right in the thick of it. she thought as she watched him running some how not getting hit even in that wall of lead. "four,five.." she said as she picked off two more Imps "good day today." she said in a monotone as she reloaded.

After the briefing, Cecilia got her gear together. It was time to siege. Hunt was in charge of their little team and got them moving through the brush. Keeping a low prone position, making their way forward. With the APC coming along side, he orders for Cecilia to head in first. Well, that's great. Hopefully they cover me. She was unaware of which method Squad 4 used, having seen several. She was just going to do what felt most natural for her.

With shots firing, it was time to rush for the coach house. Reaching the door, Hunt looked over to Cecilia, giving her the word. Putting her hand on the handle, she breathed in and out, turning it and pushing through. Her eyes lined her gun. Looking in the corner beside the door from where she opened, she scanned along the wall to the other corner. A corridor, with none of the Imps around. Doors closed. She waited to see if they would attack. Nothing at first, she moved towards the closest door, looking back to see if the others were with her. When ready, she went and opened the door, shots were fired, and she hid back. Waiting for the shots to die down, she kicked the door and saw a couple of Imps, shooting them down, before hiding on the other side of the door frame. She indicated she would move in, hoping someone would follow. She entered, scanning the left side, which was empty.

Sgt. Rhine's Post

*CrackCrackCrack* *rattatattatatatatatat* *CrackCrackCrack*

In the main room of the coach house, Sgt. Rhine was leaned over an unfurled map, studying it and directing the defense of the coach house. Bullets flew through the air around him, but seemed to be no cause of concern for the man as he looked up at the oncoming Gallians. A pincer attack... with two armoured vehicles and many more troops than he had at his disposal. "Focus fire to the front! That's where they're the thickest!" The APC approaching on their right flank started to move up again, and he saw several Gallians charging towards the house's rear. "I want three scouts on the right side! Focus their troopers down before they get in range!" *phew... ting-thud!* Beside him, one of his shocktroopers fell to the floor, a sniper round having impacted his chest. Fortunately the man was still alive, thanks to his armour. "They've got a sniper! Everyone keep moving around, don't give them a steady target!" He waved over one of the engineers from their firing position. "I want this man back in the fight now!" *Thud* *Thud* Despite their best efforts, another scout and a shocktrooper were soon downed by sniper and rifle fire. The squad's second engineer ran over to start treating the scout, but Rhine redirected him. "Leave him! Treat the trooper first!" "But what about-" "Irrelevant. Troopers get medical priority. We need every machine gun we have in the fight." The engineer balked at his statement, but never the less obeyed his command. Good. We need to maximize efficiency if we want to survive this.

*Boom* The tank fired again, spraying the front of the house with shrapnel. It was starting to become an issue. While they weren't actually shelling the house, the explosions were landing close enough that they might kill his men at the windows. ... But they only had two lancers, and the firing positions at the windows were taken. "Lancers, upstairs! Take over the sniper nest and focus your fire on that tank!" *BOOM!* This time it was the APC that fired and landed a shell almost directly beside a window, spraying the interior, and very nearly killing him and his lancers. Damn. This was not looking good. They just had to hold off long enough for their reinforcements to arrive. Just a little bit longer!

*Crash* *CrackCrackCrack* *Rattatatatatatatata*

In the hallway behind him he heard gunfire. Damn it, they must have already breached the rear hall! "Everyone stay at your windows! I'll deal with the hall!" Rhine snatched up his machine gun from the table and strode over to the door. On the way, he grabbed one of the wounded shocktroopers who was awaiting treatment, literally dragging the man with him. "If you're still conscious, you can still fight! Alternate fire with me! We've got to pin down the rear!" While most NCOs used scout gear to let them better survey the battlefield, Rhine had been a shocktrooper before his promotion. The skills he had developed and gear he had chosen were about to serve him very well. Setting the trooper down beside the hall entrance, Rhine flicked the safety off his SMG, chambered a round and then kicked open the door. "THERE!" *RATTATATATATATATATATATATATA* Sure enough, there were a trio of Gallian shocktroopers in the hall who had apparently just finished clearing one of their rooms. Sgt. Rhine sprayed his entire magazine down the hallway, sending the Gallians diving for cover. When he ducked back behind the door frame, he motioned to his wounded trooper who leaned around the door an began firing bursts at the doorways they had ducked into, trying to keep the Gallians suppressed while Rhine reloaded. "Schneider! Where are our reinforcements?!" The radio operator, who was huddled in a corner as he broadcasted his transmissions, yelled back. "They're almost here! The Lieutenant says they're only a few minutes out!" The Lieutenant? An officer was coming? Just who the hell had been sent to help them? Either way... "You hear that, lads! Just hold them off for five more minutes! Once our reinforcements get here, we're done!" As his shocktrooper finished his bursts, Rhine leaned around and tossed a grenade down the corridor before resuming his own bursts. *Rattatat Rattatat-BOOM-tat Rattatatatata* Just five more minutes... They just had to hold on for five more minutes...

@Little_ninja @Zarkun @Slypheed

Evan's Post

"Try and land a shell near the windows, Ariella. See if you can't stop some of that rifle fire!" Evan yelled up to his gunner while continued creeping the APC forward. *Boom* *Clank* *BOOM* As the gun fired and Ariella ejected it's shell, Evan watched as it arced down and exploded just outside one of the windows. "Nice Shot, PFC! Keep it up!" From the upper story of the house, he saw a pair of lancer rounds streak out of a window and detonate on or beside Squad 9's medium tank. It didn't look particularly damaged, though. Good thing that tank could take a lot more than just two lances, it was keeping the fire off of him.

Lilly's Post

Lilly was in the process of playing a very deadly game of whack-a-mole, with her as the mole. She would stand up from the tall grass, fire off a flurry of shots at the windows, and then dive back into the brush to crawl away before bullets started landing at her position. Lilly panted as she reloaded her rifle and took a moment to collect herself before popping up again. The adrenaline of combat was enough to keep her focused and distracted her from the fact that she was going to be absolutely covered in grass stains once this was done. Fighting from a distance helped keep her nerves under control as well, allowing her to have what was probably her first effective performance in battle. *CrackCrackCrackCrackCrack* *PING!* *Thud* She stood up, fired off her magazine and then dove to the dirt again. As she reloaded, she peered through the grass and spotted Hunt and the other shock troopers entering the rear of the house. Good, they were in! She prayed they would emerge unharmed, and if they could clear enough of the rooms, the battle would be theirs! Lilly smiled before crawling away and repeating her cycle. It looked like this was going to be a short battle after all.

James had been right behind Rousseau, just like he'd said he would, and put three shots into an Imperial scout that had been shooting at the Sarge. "Clear on my side, move up." As Rousseau went into the next room, with one of the other Shock Troopers in tow, he spotted the Imperial poke his head out, barrel first. "Move!" He tackled the third trooper out of the way, but took a bullet through his leg for the trouble, earning a yelp of pain from the wound. "Sonova-" In response to the SMG fire coming down the hall, he took a moment to see the firing pattern before firing on the trooper who poked his head out from the right, three more rounds from his Viper flying down the hall and only one finding an unarmored mark in the man's face.

However, he wasn't quite quick enough to pull back behind his own corner and the trooper on the left clipped his shoulder, earning a growl for it. "God damn it! That hurts." Still, he had a job to do and he was fortunate that both rounds had gone clean through rather than getting caught. He poked his pistol out and fired as fast as he could. "Rousseau, Sykora, I'll provide cover fire, you clear that doorway and anything beyond. Can't afford to be fighting them as well."

Oh, it was time to disembark? She remembered she was being deployed with the other lancers, but only vaguely caught chatter about a borrowed gunner and the sergeant's pep talk. She needed to focus her thoughts or it might get her killed. Anywhere near a warzone is dangerous, especially for those involved.

She grabbed her gear and disembarked, trusty sword at her hip. It was strange... she supposed swordplay was ultimately meant for war, but here she was and it wasn't even her weapon. She waited a moment for the other lancers to join her before she'd go with them, to their slow advance toward their target.

She had to wonder, what if they ran into an enemy patrol? Not likely, she supposed, but possible. Even a two man patrol might spell trouble for them, but at least she had a mortar, not an armor piercer. But... not a gun among them.

It was remarkable how quickly a peaceful afternoon could descend into chaos. Within seconds of radioing Hoek, all hell broke loose among the bocage. Squad 4 began their advance cautiously at first, hanging back behind Carn as Squad 9 look the Imps head on. Harald whistled appreciatively as an HE shell sent bits of masonry flying, forcing the shell-shocked defenders into cover. Why hadn't they been issued a damn tank too? It would have made things so much easier in Le Haye Sainte... It wasn't long before the defenders realised they were being flanked. A heavy machine-gun shifted fire toward them as the shocktroopers broke cover to charge the coach house, rounds scything overhead as Harald's section moved forward to provide cover. 'Alright, pop and shoot kids, let's keep their heads down' The four of them split into a ragged line a few metres apart, popping up to fire a handful of rounds and ducking before the MG could zero in on their position. A minute in the sergeant stood to fire again, only to find himself staring directly into the gunner's eyes across the way. 'Son of a...'



Combat was almost more relaxing than sitting about with the squad, trying to avoid the rest of them and their social ways. If he had had it his way, Alonso wouldn't even have to talk to the others... At least now they were too preoccupied by not dying that they couldn't get on his admittedly fraying nerves. He popped up, fired a lance into the second floor; no detonation, a dud. Valkdamned Imp piece of shit! It earned him a burst of fire in retaliation, necessitating a rapid dive into cover. As he glanced around at the others, Alonso was satisfied that at least they were doing their part, keeping attention and such. Maybe they would even make a differ- A burst of fire caught the sergeant in the chest, throwing him to the ground. For a long moment, Alonso lay there staring in horror, until finally he pulled himself together enough to crawl over and pull the stricken Harald out of the line of fire. 'Oh jeez, oh Valk...' There was blood everywhere, holes torn right through his chest piece... Despite his violently shaking hands and a sudden lump in his throat, Alonso cracked open his medical kit and began to patch the sergeant up, to the best of his ability.



'Fu... ck... this...' It has all happened so fast that Harald wasn't even sure what had happened. White hot pain, sudden dizziness and now, Bons looking like he was trying not to cry as he poured liquid ragnaid over Harald's tattered chest. He turned his gaze down, slowly and painfully. Damn, he thought. That's fucked up. When a man can see his own broken bone jutting from his chest, he knows he is in for a rough time. A vague thought struck as his conciousness began to fade; if he were to die, who would take over the squad..? Would they be grateful to have a non-Darcsen NCO replace him? Well... Doesn't matter now. The light slowly drained from his eyes as the battle raged around them.

Having cleared the room, Cecilia turned to see Hunt tackle one of other shocktroopers into the room, taking a bullet to the leg. A spray of bullets could be heard in the hall. "You alright Hunt?" Cecilia asked. Hunt had looked and started to shoot down the hall, taking another shot through the shoulder. He started to bark orders. It's true, they need to keep the pressure on and try to end this quickly. "Roger." she responded clearly, getting ready to push through and down the hall. She looked over to Sykora, making sure she was ready, before nodding to affirm she was about to go ahead. However, she saw a grenade come to the doorway, she quickly tackled Sykora away. Due to the walls, the shockwave wasn't lethal, but a heavy thud was felt by Cecilia, her ears ringing. She was still fine, besides a little disorientated. Once again, she prepared to charge through with Sykora.

When Sykora was ready, Cecilia waited for the brief moment between bullet storms to charge. Shooting down the hall to keep them from coming out. In her line of fire happened to be a soldier shooting out of the window, and another, trying to run across to an injured person. As she unloaded the clip, dropped the magazine and hid just next to the doorway, reloading. As an SMG came into view, she went in for CQC. Hitting up under the mans arm with her gun, lifting the SMG, she used the butt of her SMG to knock him down. However, she didn't realise that some of the other soldiers had turned to prepare to shoot her down. Having knocked away the one thing stopping them from shooting, she crashed her body into the wall as fast as she could and tried to get down, calling to Sykora to get down. In the process, she got clipped in the soldier. before she crashed into the wall, and a couple of shots that had come through the wall had gotten her buttock and her left thigh. Her body was low, but not flat, and kept to the wall as much as possible, to keep hidden. If she had her grenade she could of easily thrown it in by now, but she didn't, since she didn't have her usual equipment.

Sgt. Rhine's Post

"Damn it!" That girl was good... After his comrade had been slain, she managed to rush in and take advantage of the gap in their defenses. Damn near killed him, too! He was lucky that some of his soldiers had spotted and shot at her. His SMG needed reloading, so he drew his pistol and fired off a few round at the doorway before rolling onto his stomach and pushing himself back to his feet. "Everyone upstairs! Move! Grab the wounded if you're close, otherwise leave them!" One of the few remaining scouts joined Rhine in suppressing the doorway as the rest of their squad retreated up to the second floor. Once the remainder of his group had made it, Rhine fired off a few more shots before signaling the scout and rushing towards the doorway to the upstairs himself. *phew... ting-thud!* As he reached the door, Rhine turned around to see his scout fall to the floor, a sniper bullet having pierced his armor. Damn! Rhine didn't know if he was alive or not, but didn't have time to check. He slammed the door and locked the deadbolt to seal off (at least temporarily) the upstairs before rushing up to meet with his group.

A scout and a shocktrooper had already taken initiative and were crouching and leaning around the corners at the top of the staircase, aiming at the door. Rhine would join them in a few moments, after he reloaded his smg and checked the status of his comrades. ...The answer was not good. While he had been busy at the door, a significant portion of his troops had been downed by Gallian fire. Of his sixteen soldiers, now only six were left - two of them wounded. Only one of the lancers was still alive, though he was bleeding from several shrapnel wounds caused by the tank's shells. He was currently being treated by the only surviving engineer and Rhine's radio operator. Another shocktrooper was still walking, but had been shot in his right arm, forcing him to try and shoot with his left arm only. The only combat effective soldiers left were himself and the scout and shocktrooper guarding the stairs. *pheeew!* A sniper bullet flew through the room, just grazing the head of one of his soldiers. "Everyone stay down. Don't stand up, they've got us sighted in..." Fortunately the Gallians (who now controlled the entire ground floor of the house) were being suspiciously quiet. No doubt taking their time to plan an attack where they knew they would need to charge into fire. "Schneider. What's the ETA on our reinforcements?" Rhine's tone had shifted from his usual gruff and coarse barking of orders to a much more grim and somber tone. They were completely cut off. If their reinforcements didn't get here within the next few minutes, he would have to do something that would bring him shame for the rest of his life: Surrender.

"They said they would be here soon, Sergeant, but..." Private Schneider motioned to the radio unit on his back (or what remained of it). It had been punctured by several bullets and damaged beyond repair. Upon seeing this sight, Rhine's heart sank. Damn it. "Alright. ... Listen up everyone. We can try to hold the stairs until our reinforcements arrive, but we don't know when that will be. Obviously they've been delayed, and without the radio we don't know when they will arrive." *Boom!* A nearby explosion rocked the house from the tank firing on their position again. "Or... I can shout to the Gallians and preset to them the terms of our formal surrender." Rhine cast a few quick glances at the faces of his troops, judging their reactions. No one spoke up or protested, and judging by their looks it seemed that they had resigned themselves to that fate. Their friends had been killed or lay wounded and dying on the first floor, and they were unable to do anything more than slow the Gallian advance. Now the last six of them were huddled together in the attic, ducking to avoid sniper fire, and trying to hold onto the one piece of the house they still controlled. It only made sense that moral would falter under the circumstances, and Sgt. Rhine agreed with their sentiment. Unless a miracle happened, fighting would only guarantee their deaths. He refused to throw away their lives out of pride. "Take a moment to think on it, because I am leaving this decision up to you. Who wants to continue fighting?" *Thud! Thud!* The door at the bottom of the stairs rattled as someone tried to force it open. The scout took aim, but Rhine told him to hold his fire for the moment. Short of that action, no one raised their hand to indicate their desire to continue on. "... Alright. Everyone stay down and drop your weapons. Schneider, destroy your code books and smash the remains of the radio. Until a time presents itself where we can escape or rejoin the fight under the banner of the Empire, I relieve you from your duties as soldiers." Pushing past the troopers at the stairs, Rhine walked up to the door and shouted through it. "Soldiers of Gallia, you have won! We are no longer in a position to resist you and are prepared to surrender. I only ask that you would treat those under my command with the respect and rights granted to them by the Continental Treaty." Rhine waited for a response before he did anything else, not wanting to open the door and get shot as part of a misunderstanding. So this is the end of it... Damn it. I had hoped to be remembered better than this. The Gallians wouldn't get anything from them, at least. His men hadn't been given any maps or orders indicating future imperial plans.

Lilly's Post

As the firing from the house ceased, Lilly started to move up so that she could get a better look at the windows. She didn't know if the Imperials had all been killed, or if they were engaged in hand to hand combat. Either way, no incoming fire meant that they could advance, so she got up and began her sprint towards the house. She assumed that the other scouts would be following behind her, and in the chaos of the battle, she hadn't even noticed Sergeant Harald going down.

Hunt mentally cursed with each step he took, the hole in his leg reminding him that he was too damn quick to take shots for his squadmates. He had just reached the top of the stairs, surprisingly quietly as Sykora messed with the door knob. He expected bullets to fly in response, but they never came. Instead, the Imperial Sergeant called out. "Soldiers of Gallia, you have won! We are no longer in a position to resist you and are prepared to surrender. I only ask that you would treat those under my command with the respect and rights granted to them by the Continental Treaty." James stood there a moment, unsure of what to do. Damn it, we're not in a position to handle prisoners right now and we've no idea if there are Imperial reinforcements already on their way here. Acting on a gut instinct, he stepped up.

"Sergeant, this is Lance Corporeal Hunt of the Gallian Militia. As a show of good faith, come unlock and open the door unarmed and we'll do what we can to give your men the proper treatment." He turned to the three Stormtroopers behind him, gauging their various reactions. "And if he tries anything, light him up. But ONLY if he tries something. We aren't war criminals."

Sgt. Rhine's Post

A Lance Corporal... Not only was he being forced to surrender, but to a soldier of even lower rank than himself. Rhine's scowl clearly displayed what he thought of the current situation, but despite preferring to die an honourable death, he wasn't going to drag anyone else down with him. He paused a moment to recompose himself, before yelling back through the door. "Very Well!" He dusted the debris off his armour, straightened his posture, and then unlatched the deadbolt. "I am opening the door. Do not shoot." He spoke in a firm voice, not letting his emotions slip into his speech. They might take his weapon, his squad and his rank, but they could not take his pride as a soldier.

*creeeaaak*

What awaited him beyond the door caused him to fume. Not only was the LC younger than him, but two of those in his company were women. Women. They had been beaten by children, farm hands and women. As the Gallians trained their weapons on him, he raised his arms in a gesture of surrender. "My men are upstairs, Lance Corporal. They have also thrown down their weapons and will not fight you. You have bested squad 141. The coach house is yours."

@Zarkun

Lukas' Post

"Damn it, Damn it! DAMN IT!" Lukas kicked the Siegfried in frustration, an engine malfunction having caused it to break down. "What the hell happened, asshole?! You were supposed to keep the engine in perfect shape, and now a dozen soldiers might be dead because of YOUR incompetence!" Lukas was livid, veins bulging and his face beat read as he screamed at their driver. Sig had gotten reassigned temporarily so as an emergency measure, a regular tank driver had been folded into their squad. And he clearly lacked the skills their previous member had employed.

"But it wasn't my fault, sir! The engine jus-" "SHUT UP! WE GAVE YOU THE MANUALS, WE SHOWED YOU HOW EVERYTHING WORKED! THE ENGINE DOESN'T JUST 'DO SOMETHING', IT'S YOUR JOB TO KNOW ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT IT AND HOW TO PREVENT THINGS LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING!" Lukas' tirade had caused a small crowd of squad 655's grenadiers to gather around and watch the show. They had been attempting to get to the coach house and assist it's garrison in defending it, but mechanical failures had prevented them from even making it half way there. The fact that they couldn't raise them on the radio made the situation even worse.

Despite Lukas' anger, the driver kept protesting. Rightfully so, since the failure had been in an unreachable spot of the engine and it was unlikely that he could have done anything about it, but Lukas was not thinking clearly at all. "But sir! I don't see how you cou-" *Biff!* The man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as Lukas punched him square in the jaw. After that, the two became entangled in a flurry of blows, frantically striking at each other before two separate groups of the infantry managed to pull them apart.

Lilly's Post

All the firing had completely stopped by the time Lilly arrived at the coach house's wall, thank the Valkyrur. Though she didn't know what to expect inside the house, at least she didn't appear to be in danger of being gunned down. She carefully peaked into a window and saw Hunt, Rousseau and Sykora talking with a surrendering Imperial. A sergeant, judging by the rank insignia, had his arms raised in the air and gestured to the door behind them. When Lilly entered the house, she saw exactly what he had been pointing to. On the second floor was the remnant of the imperial garrison, some of them wounded, others just with dead looks in their eyes. In a way, she pitied them. Their war was over now that they had been captured, and they had witnessed the majority of their squad be slain before their eyes. Maybe some of them were feeling the same way she had been after the evacuation of Rinneheim...

A few moments later, the troops of Squad 9 began filtering into the house... or what was left of them. They had taken a number of casualties since they were attacking from the direct front, but even so, casualties were lower than what Lilly had expected. Thank goodness. The fight was over and now they just had to tend to the wounded, secure the house and ask the sergeant just what he wanted to be done with the prisoners. ... Just where was he, anyways?

Evan's Post

"Alright, looks like we're done here!" Evan smiled as he watched Squade 4 and 9's soldiers rush into the house, securing their victory. "Nice work on the gun, Ariella. Now then..." Evan looked out the view ports of the APC and saw the medics of Squad 9 rushing around to treat the wounded. It didn't look like anyone from their squad had been downed and he wasn't a medic, but they did have a rather impressive first aid kit stashed under a seat of the APC. Might be a good idea to check around for wounded and lend a hand if they could.

After pulling the APC up beside the coach house, Evan grabbed the first aid kit and dismounted the vehicle. "Alright, Ariella. Don't think anyone from my squad got hit, but we should give a quick check over our side of the battlefield. After that, we can go check on your squad. See if they need any help." With that, the two of them set out to do a quick search of the grass and brush squad 4 had attacked from. As expected, no one seemed to have gone down and the pair were about to head back when they heard rustling from the bushes. When Evan went to investigate he spotted Bons sitting on the ground, hunched over something. "Hey kid, what's goin... Oh shit. ARIELLA! GET OVER HERE!" Bons had already patched up the sergeant pretty well, though he was still unconscious, but extra ragnaid was never unwanted.

@Lennon79

James kept his pistol leveled at the door as it opened, revealing and confirming that the Sergeant had survived and had given the surrender. "My men are upstairs, Lance Corporal. They have also thrown down their weapons and will not fight you. You have bested squad 141. The coach house is yours." The LC growled at the emphasis put on the Lance part of his rank, but didn't give a retort. Instead, he started getting his fire team moving.

"Sykora, gather up the weapons and get them set aside. We'll see what's compatible with each kit and keep it. Rousseau, get the Imperials still able to fight gathered up and restrained. But do it gently. Emphasis on NOT war criminals. Skye, go find the Sergeant and bring him in here. I think it only right that the two Sergeants talk since someone here can't handle loosing to a Lance Corporeal." And with that, he turned and limped down the stairs, seeing what wounded Imperials downstairs were still breathing. When Lilly came in, he sighed in relief. "Lilly, mind seeing what you can do to help the wounded Imps upstairs? Since their our prisoners, we get to keep them alive."

As the Imperials barricaded themselves to the second floor temporarily, Cecilia waited for Hunt to take charge. She had some cloth and wrapped it around where she got clipped, to stop the bleeding. She still had bullets stuck in her buttock and left thigh, but that would have to come later. Not long after Hunt had come into the room, with Sykora fiddling with the door knob, the Imperial soldiers surrendered. Hunt accepted the terms of the surrender, before telling the team to be prepared to shoot.

The enemy Sergeant had come out raising his hands, gesturing surrender. Cecilia kept her gun aimed, until Hunt gave orders. It seems Cecilia had to round up the capable and restrain them gently. Cecilia moved up the stairs, gun in hand, making sure the soldiers were not playing coy. Seeing that the guns were on the ground, she kicked most of them to the side which would help Sykora. Flicking the safety, she slung her SMG over her shoulder by the strap. Since she had to tie them up, she would have to get close and use both hands. There weren't many who were uninjured, so it wasn't going to take too long. As she began to tie the first person, a couple of the others attempted to sneak behind her. She elbowed the first in the nuts, turning to then strike the other with her other fist. Both were caught by surprise, keeling over in pain. "You shouldn't try anything funny now." she turned to the rest, who seemed to cower a little, mostly due to her tone. After that, they were co-operative and ended up getting tied up, including the two who tried to get a jump on her.

After tying them all up, she headed down to report to Hunt. "Finished tying them up sir. A couple tried to jump me, I had to rough them up a bit."

@Raven_Operative
Today had already been frustrating when they lost contact with a squad. Presumed their radio got hit in the firefight. Lynette had been staring at a map of the coach house and it's surroundings. But all that was cut when she got a report of the Siegfried's engine breaking down. So she decided to go down to the tank personally and investigate.

Having been driven to the location, she was met with a sight. The squadron's grenadiers were gathered around near the tank. So Lynette jumped out of the armored car and walked over. Though it became obvious what was going on before she could even see it. The sounds of fighting. Grunts when hit. The sound of dirt being shuffled around in. As she approached one of the grenadiers had looked back to see the cause of the recent engine noise and started a chain of panicked soldiers moving out of the way so she could get close and see without any obstruction.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" The look of anger present on her face. She was pleased to see her tank crew fighting like idiots and distracting the Grenadiers from keeping the perimeter secure around the Siegfried.


@Lennon79
The fight for the coach house had blurred so much for her, that Celeste couldn't recall a thing she had done. But things had happened as they now held the coach house, everyone on their side had a few wounds, but no one was dead. At least, no one had said anything about anyone taking serious injuries, nor did she hear about any deaths.

But she had to find the Sergeant. Celeste's radio had gotten hit at some point as it wasn't functioning anymore, and clicking the radio on only caused small arcs of electricity to fly from where the bullet impacted. Which made her toss it down in fear of being electrocuted.

Once she had gotten near where the Sargent was, she could tell something wasn't right. Those near him were obviously giving him medical aid. She jogged over so her gear wasn't just left out in the middle of no-where and put it down not far from the Sargent. Then she quickly rushed to the Sargent's body and saw the full extent of the damage. The Sargent had taken quite a beating, but it seemed the others had already started Ragnaid treatment. Celeste looked at Bons "What do you need assistance with?" Celeste knew she'd be next in line to command. She didn't want it though, she wasn't ready.


@Zarkun
Rousseau got the rest of the Imp squad tied up, though what she saw when gathering their weapons was quite hilarious as Rousseau had elbowed one right in the groin. So much for gently tying them up. She laughed mentally. She carried the guns in bundles of five outside the coach house to help with sorting by using the sun. Propping them up against the wall near the door before going back in to repeat the process till all the weapons were outside.

Once done, Brenna walked up to Hunt, gave a brief salute, and said "All the weapons are outside. Propped on the wall near the door."

When Skye came back and gave the news to Hunt, Brenna's posture fell and her face looked a bit panicked.


@Zarkun
Skye nodded when Hunt gave the order to run back to the Sargent and get him up here to talk to the Imp Sargent. Skye jogged around in the area she last remembered him staying in. She admittedly had no idea where exactly he was. After a bit, she stumbled in the group that was near the Sargent.

She wasn't expecting the sight she stumbled into. The Sargent's chest looked like it had seen much better days. Skye didn't vomit or anything, but it did stop her dead in her tracks for a few seconds before reality kicked her in the ass. "Shit, I need to get back and tell Hunt." She turned around and ran back to Hunt. Upon arriving she saw Sykora talking to Hunt, but that couldn't stop her. She got near Hunt, stiffened her posture and spoke clearly "Sir, I have some bad news. It seems the Sargent was hit pretty bad. I think he's unconscious right now. A few of the others are treating him right now."