[color=ed1c24][h3]Sgt. Rhine's Post [/h3][/color]
[b]"Damn it!"[/b] 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. [b]"Everyone upstairs! Move! Grab the wounded if you're close, otherwise leave them!"[/b] 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. [b]"Everyone stay down. Don't stand up, they've got us sighted in..."[/b] 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. [b]"Schneider. What's the ETA on our reinforcements?"[/b] 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. 

[b]"They said they would be here soon, Sergeant, but..."[/b] 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. [b]"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."[/b] *Boom!* A nearby explosion rocked the house from the tank firing on their position again. [b]"Or... I can shout to the Gallians and preset to them the terms of our formal surrender."[/b] 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. [b]"Take a moment to think on it, because I am leaving this decision up to you. Who wants to continue fighting?"[/b] *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. [b]"... 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."[/b] Pushing past the troopers at the stairs, Rhine walked up to the door and shouted through it. [b]"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."[/b] Rhine waited for a response before he did anything else, not wanting to open the door and get shot as part of a misunderstanding. [i]So this is the end of it... Damn it. I had hoped to be remembered better than this.[/i]  The Gallians wouldn't get anything from them, at least. His men hadn't been given any maps or orders indicating future imperial plans.

[color=0072bc][h3]Lilly's Post[/h3][/color]
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.