James looked up from the Imperial he was attempting to bring back to consciousness when Rousseau walked over. "Finished tying them up sir. A couple tried to jump me, I had to rough them up a bit." Hunt nodded, standing when it became apparent that the Imp wouldn't be returning to the land of the living, much like the last two, and limped towards the stairs to look up them as Sykora was grabbing weapons and bringing them down.

"Well, can't say it was a hard thing to resist doing, but what's done is done." He must have decided to look up as Sykora was finishing up, because she was next in line to report the status of her job.

"All the weapons are outside. Propped on the wall near the door." Once more, James nods, not moving to avoid aggravating his leg too much, though there was still his shoulder to worry about. However, he eventually limped out and inspected the weapons. While the weapons were Imperial, he wasn't too concerned about it, since they all functioned pretty much the same way as their Gallian counterparts.

"Looks good Sykora, good job. Rousseau and you head upstairs and mai-" He was cut off by a very worried looking Skye, which was more than enough to get his attention.

"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." James could feel his heart skip a beat at the report, his mind racing to remember the chain of command. I'm third, but who was above me besides the Sarge....come on....It was...Stichler! Best go find her. Hunt, determined, turned to his fire team.

"Alright, Rousseau and Sykora keep an eye on our prisoners and placate their sergeant for the time being. And don't take any of his crap either. Firm and gentle if you will. Skye, help Lilly check over the Imperial bodies, look for survivors we can resuscitate and help. I'll go see how the Sarge is." With an exchange of nods, James sets out, limping towards where he thought he'd seen Skye come from. Neither him or Stichler were prepared for a sudden thrust up a rank so soon, him less than her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to do his best. Of course, he was only moving up to the Corporeal, it had to be hell for her, suddenly under absolute command of all the lives the Sarge had been.

But he didn't have any doubts. When the time came, she'd be able to give solid, reliable orders that kept people alive. When he reached the site, he limped to Stichler's side, watching the Sarge breath shallowly. "Well, Corporeal, looks like you're the new Sarge. The coach house is secure with a small hand full of prisoners."

Lukas' Post

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"

"THIS ASSHOLE FUCKED US! HE SLACKED UP ON MAINTENANCE AND THE TANK BROKE DOWN! THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT!" Lukas was nursing a bloody nose and had several grenadiers standing around him, making sure he didn't try to attack again. His opposite number was in similar shape, spitting blood from a split lip and clutching at his side where he had been kicked. *spit* "No, Ma'am! It wasn't my fault. The... a fucking internal component broke. I couldn't get to it even if I wanted to!" The man took a staggered step forward, causing Lucas to flinch and the grenadiers to close in around the two again, for fear that they would go back to fighting. It seemed like Squad 665 had some disciplinary issues that would need to be resolved.
@Slypheed

Lilly's Post

"Lilly, mind seeing what you can do to help the wounded Imps upstairs? Since their our prisoners, we get to keep them alive."

"Eh?" Lilly looked confused for a moment, before seeing the wounded Imps scattered around the house and... By the Valkyrur, that was a lot of blood... "I-I-I I'll try!" Trying to ignore the smell of blood and gore, or the stains it was leaving on her gloves, Lilly began attempting to treat the wounded. Relying mostly on the first aid kits the imperials had (for her own first aid kit could only treat one person), she tried to remember what she had learned back in training and how she could apply it. The results were... far from satisfactory. Lilly constantly flinching when ever she touched blood and her lack of experience at first aid meant that her first few 'patients' took much longer than they should have and wasted a fair bit of ragnaid. At the start, things were so bad that the imp she was treating growled "Hey lady, would you mind untying me? I could probably do a better job of that..." Well that made her feel good... She didn't untie him, but the imp walked her through treating basic bullet and shrapnel wounds. He must have been one of the squad's engineers. With his advice (and a few more patients to practice on), Lilly gradually became a bit more competent at treating the wounded, though she was still very slow.

After what seemed like hours, she bandaged up the last imp - A shivering radio man - wiped her gloves off on the floor and began to head back to Skye to check in with her. As she left, the radio man called out his thanks. Normally that would have lifted her spirits somewhat, but right now she was more focused on figuring out a way to clean herself off. She was filthy. Filthy. Filthy. Filthy. She was covered in blood, dust and grass stains, and her hair (which she took pride in keeping clean) was a complete disaster. She hoped that they would get back to base soon (or at least find a house with a shower), because the grit on her uniform filled her with disgust.

She found Private Skye on the first floor, treating one of the wounded shocktroopers there. Poor man seemed to have taken a spray of shrapenal from a tank or APC shell... The rest of the wounded seemed to be in pretty good shape, but Lilly figured she should ask to see if the girl needed any help. "Miss Skye? How are your wounded faring? Do you need any assistance?"
@Slypheed

Evan's Post

"Alright, easy there, girly. Lift him into the back..." Evan and the rest of the group around him slowly lifted the sergeant's unconscious form up on a collapsible stretcher stashed in the APC, and laid him on the floor. He wasn't in any danger of bleeding out, but they didn't want to leave him in the grass, so they loaded him into the back of the APC. After closing up the back, they slowly drove back to the coach house and parked beside it. "Yo, Ariella. Keep an eye on the darcsen, would ya? I'm going to go find Stichler" As Evan wandered away, he muttered under his breath "Come on, Darcsen, you can't be dying on us now.".

When he came across Stichler and Hunt, he gave a quick report. "Hey-yo. Darcsen's in the back of the APC. Figure'd it be better to keep him there than on the ground. Ariella's keepin an eye on him." Evan looked, before kicking the dirt a bit. Squad Nine was organizing again, though they seemed to have taken a few casualties, and the coach house was relatively secure. That only left one question: What was squad 4 going to do? "So uh... Whats the plan, guys? We going to stay here until the..." He checked his pocket watch: 12:30. The Gallian assult on Vassel should be starting soon, or maybe it had already begun. "We going to wait here for the army to catch up with us, or are we going to head back to base? Don't think we can really push much further in with prisoners and wounded."
@Zarkun @Slypheed

@Raven_Operative
A very agitated sigh left Lynette's lips. She looked back and forth at the two. "I could gather something broke when I got a report that Siegfried's engine had broken down." She walked up to Lukas first. "But I didn't realize they'd also meant that-" She walked over to the replacement driver "-the crew operating her had also broken down into petty fighting." Turning and walking away, she continued. "And distracted their company of grenadiers WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEEPING A SECURE PERIMETER AROUND SIEGFRIED!"

After a few seconds pause. Lynette turned to face the two, pointing at the driver first. "You. You're going to tell me what broke, and what you were doing with Siegfried when it broke." Then pointed at Lukas "And, you. Sit down and calm down. I'll come talk to you later."


@Zarkun@Raven_Operative
Celeste had wondered off a little when the others started to load Harald into the APC. She didn't know what to do. She was the new Sergeant. But how could she possibly pull off being a Sergeant? There were no hopes to become a Sergeant. Or plans on what to do if she became one. So this was very foreign to her, and almost terrifying. All of this sudden pressure. All of the responsibility she had just been forcefully handed.

Hunts sudden appearance stopped her train of thought and internal panic. And when he informed her of the situation down at the coach house she nodded. It was obvious she wasn't all there. Having a bit of a thousand yard stare. "Good...um..let me uh...let me think for a bit." A poor excuse of a smile found its way onto her face.

Evan then joined into the group. Asking what the plan was. She didn't know. But Celeste did have an idea, but it would have to wait till later. When it was much safer. After a minute or two she looked at Hunt and Evan. "We'll wait at the Coach House until the army has caught up. But Carn, I want you to drive the Sergeant back to base. Take someone with you to watch over him while you drive." Celeste turned to Hunt. "Hunt, if you think there's anything in that APC that we'll need. I suggest you take it now before Carn drives off."


@Raven_Operative
After hunt had left to check on the Sarge himself. Skye followed her orders and helped give aid to the Imps that needed it. Though, the ones that had less serious injuries were full of complaints about how a filthy, smelly Darcsen was giving them first aid. But she ignored it and continued on. But the one that had a serious injury didn't seem to care what kind of person what helping him. He was just quietly muttering his thanks over and over again.

A voice directed at her that also called her name caught her attention. It was Lily. "Assistance would be nice. Treating this one isn't easy for a single person." Skye turned her attention back to the man, resuming treatment while Lily joined in.

@Slypheed @Zarkun @Raven_Operative
With her crimson hues she peered around as she had returned from scouting, the job of making sure there were no run away's or surprise retaliation was a important job after all. However now she had to return after reports of what was going on, things getting a little out of hand even with the only enemy around were too injured to do much! "Fighting among themselves, how silly." She stated to herself before pulling down the cap on her head and making her way towards the others and making sure to avoid the building with the hurt IMPs within.

Though it may seem a little strange to be giving the place such a wide birth but the risk of being called out by one of them were just way too great. Still there was also the fact that she was worrying about the Sergeant also helped with hurrying along to the others with up most haste.

Alex raised a brow when she heard the others talking about what to do next, her hand coming up to her cap to nod her head in greeting. "I can go with Carn back to base, I have completed scouting and I don't see any counter attack coming just yet." She gave her report, it was short and simple but it was at least something, she was thankful she didn't see any Imps on the way through.

James nodded, turning towards the APC as their packs and remaining first aid kits, the major medical supplies staying with Carn so he could keep the Sarge stabilized, coming to mind. "Got it, Sarge." He had started to walk away when he heard Alex's report and turned slightly. "Good to hear. Head to the Coach house, see how things are in there and bring out the Imperial Sargent. He needs to speak with our current ranking NCO and that would be Celeste." With that, he climbed in the back of the APC and started grabbing their gear, packs, and emergency kits, eventually getting them all unloaded. "Alright Carn, you're good to go on my end." The broken remains of the Imp rifle were in Hunt's pack, but then so was his food and medkit, and the last two things were important at least.

Lukas Glockner / Driver

Lukas grudgingly disengaged and sat down against the tank, slowly beginning to calm down. As he did, the driver gave his report. "Ma'am! We were trying to drive over that..." He pointed to the hill that the Siegfried sat at the bottom of. "That hill. H-half way up the hill, I had to give the tank more gas to keep us moving, but... but I started to hear a grinding and grumbling sound coming from the engine. S-some of our older tanks do that as well, Ma'am, so I didn't think anything of it, but then th-there was a loud snapping sound and the tank lost all power. I think something went wrong with the gearings or transmission." The driver's speech was quick and shaky. He was clearly nervous at having to explain his failure to a superior officer, especially after one of the other crew in the tank had gone completely ballistic on him.

Lukas listened in for the mean time while he slowly simmered down. The driver's report was accurate, but failed to take into account that they had instructed him to report any strange noises that he heard the engine making. It probably wouldn't have changed anything if he had reported it, and the driver's logic was sound, but the fact that something went wrong and he DIDN'T inform them immediately meant that he had suddenly become the target for Lukas' ire. As he slowly came to his senses, Lukas started to realize that he may have over reacted when exploding on the poor driver. Maybe. Just a touch. Just a little. Slightly.
@Slypheed

Evan Carn

Evan was surprised at the sudden order to head back to base, especially when it would take until the next day for him to complete a round trip. "Alright, but uh-" He was cut off by the rest of the discussions and shrugged his shoulders. Oh well. "Alright, understood. Should be back by tomorrow morning." With that, he headed off to the APC and began to help Hunt unload. Several packs and kit bags later, the APC was significantly lighter and ready to set out. "That looks about all of it, eh?" "Alright Carn, you're good to go on my end," was the reply he got. Evan leaned against the APC while he waited for his new co-pilot to get ready. "Alright then. It's probably gonna take at least a day to make the trip. You want anything, lover-boy? Could probably pilfer a few things from the fort before coming back." He eyed the young man's wounds as well. "And are ya sure you don't need to nab any more medical supplies from the back? Gonna need to take a look at that wound before it gets infected."

Once the two had finished talking, Evan climbed behind the wheel of the APC and waited for Glaive to show up. When she did, he motioned her in and spoke up. "Ya sure you want to come with, girly? It's going to take the better part of a day just to get to Fort Breda. I'm sure I could rope Bons into coming if you don't want to. Not like that boy likes chatting with the squad much anyways."

What ever her answer, the APC was ready to go. They'd be leaving shortly.
@Kitsune @Zarkun

Lilly Jatmoore

"Assistance would be nice. Treating this one isn't easy for a single person."

That was all the invitation she needed. Though Lilly still wasn't exactly a miracle worker as a medic, she had started to get the hang of it and was at least able to provide the assistance Ms. Skye needed. It took a few minutes of hard work, but the two were eventually able to get the man stabilized. There was still work to do, however. With the most serious of the wounded stabalized, the pair set about treating the less seriously wounded and (much to Lilly's dismay) moving the dead to another room and covering them in sheets. Having to actually touch a dead body and move the corpses shook Lilly up a little, reminding her yet again of the horrors of war. I wonder if any of them were killed by me... She shook her head to clear out the unpleasant thoughts, before heading back to the main room with Skye. All of the imperial wounded had been taken care of, and it seemed that a good portion of them would survive, but what about their squad? "All of the imperials seem to be in stable condition, Ms. Skye, but we should probably check on our own squad too. Some of them may be nursing wounds from the fight as well if a proper engineer has not been able to see them yet."

With that, Lilly left the building and began to seek out different squad members, but She hadn't even checked to see if Skye was following her on the way out. It was safe to say she was more than a little scatterbrained at the moment, her dirtiness, her dissatisfaction with her medical abilities, and the lingering unpleasantness from having to move the corpses all weighed upon her mind.

The first person she bumped into (almost litterally) was Private Glaive. She seemed to be in a hurry, however, and Lilly hadn't spotted any wounds on her, so she kept walking. The second group she spotted was Private Durandal and the group of lancers that were with her for the battle. Greeting them, Lilly asked "Hello, Ms. Durandal. Was anyone in your group wounded? Ms. Muller? How did all of you fair? We are checking on the squad and providing preliminary medical care until we are organized in such a way that the engineers can take a better look at everyone." The lancers apparently hadn't gotten much in the way of return fire, probably due to their abilities to fire from a fair distance, and none of them seemed to be injured. Looking over her shoulder, Lilly saw that Skye had apparently taken the initiative to talk to another group Lilly had overlooked, so she felt like she might be able to spare a moment to chat. "... That aside, how did both of you fair in the battle? It seemed to go much more smoothly than the previous one." After the trio talked for a few minutes, Lilly decided it would be best to move on and keep checking other soldiers for wounds. Waving goodbye to them for the time being, she started to walk away, but felt like something was missing... like she had forgotten to do something...

A sudden wave of realization washed over her, sending Lilly sprinting back to the lancers. "Miss Durandal, I'm busy right now, but would it be possible to talk with you later? I have something I'd like to ask you." She had been meaning to ask this for some time: Regan had looked slightly... off for the majority of the operation. It made sense, her squad had been killed after all, but Lilly still wanted to check in on her and make sure everything was alright (or if there was anything she could do if it wasn't). After receiving her answer, Lilly headed back out to visit the rest of the squad.
@BytheSpleen @CirusArvennicus


"Sir! We're two hours out from the coach house, and the men are ready for battle." A young PFC who had been charged with checking the status of the armoured column ran up and gave his report to Captain Meulemann during one of their few rest stops. A collection of Gallian medium tanks and tank destroyers from the army and militia were slowly making their way across the country in preparation for the assault on the city of Vasel, with the Captain sitting (rather uncomfortably) in the lead vehicle. An hour ago they had passed through the mined crossroads that Squad 4 had been assigned to secure, and after finding them empty, pressed on. It seemed like the squad had moved up to it's secondary objectives as planned. "Excellent work lad, but please dispense with the saluting. We're in hostile territory now, and I would much appreciate not having the snipers pay any more attention to me than they already do." Now then... Tarquin unfolded a map and began to concoct a battle plan. If fortune favoured them, Squad 4 or one of the other units would have already taken the coach house, clearing the way for their assault. From there, they would press into the city from it's flank, forming the southern part of the pincer attack that would hopefully push the imperials back and take the pressure off of Randgriz. Beside him, a certain Corporal was looking at the map with him. "Come to think of it, Helfer, you fought along side squad four during our... disorganized retreat from Rhinehiem before being transfered, did you not? You might encounter some old friends at the coach house."
@Skepic

James stopped when Carn asked if he wanted anything from base and he glanced at his flask. He'd be using that to treat his wounds and only be using ragnaid on his leg. "Perhaps a barrel of decent spirit if you can snag it from the base pub. I didn't have much trouble getting some for myself for the deployment, but I think we could all use something to help us along that isn't a social session." He started to turn away, his limp becoming a touch more prominent now that he was moving, when Carn spoke again.

"And are ya sure you don't need to nab any more medical supplies from the back? Gonna need to take a look at that wound before it gets infected." James chuckled, turning back to the engineer.

"I'll be alright, Carn. Some alcohol and ragnaid will handle it. You'll need it more for the Sarge. But, if you think we'll need more, leave what you think we'll need. Just make sure to keep enough for yourself." With that, he limped away, his can of ragnaid in hand, and found a stump to sit on. Picking up his flask, he poured alcohol on both his wounds, gritting his teeth before applying ragnaid to his leg wound and wrapping it. He waited a little longer before wrapping his shoulder wound and then made his way over to Skye and Lilly as they split up, which led him to chasing Skye.

A short walk later, he caught up to her and waited until she was done talking with her group before getting her attention. "We've done all we can for now, Skye. Go get some food from your pack and rest up some. I'll be finding someone to help me move our packs inside. Sounds like the rest of us will hold the coach house until Carn gets back with reinforcements. Or until the rest of the militia catches up. Whichever happens first."

@Slypheed @Zarkun @Raven_Operative

Lifting her rifle she placed it on her back she clipped it into play with the strap, holding it firmly as if to keep it nice and safe from anyone. Though she was rather stoic normally her face clearly showed a little bit of worry when she was directed to go and claim the Imperial Sargent. This was far from a very good idea in her opinion, though she dared not speak them aloud since that would only prove to make a scene of it. "I... Understand. I will go and get this sargent." When she had finished talking with Hunt she was about to turn away and leave to grab the 'enemy' when Carn addressed her, causing her to take pause.

Raising her cap a little she turned and stared at the man "Girly?..." She raised a brow in confusion before giving a dismissive wave "It seems I have changed my mind. Better to send someone who would benefit from it, not like I have anything to do back there.." With a small shrug and another wave she started to head towards the building where this PoW was located. Pulling up her scarf to cover her lower face with she removed her custom pistol and walked up to the sargent, motioning for him to struggle around. "Ah, I see you like picking our weapons clean.. superior aren't they?" Alex paused for a moment before reaching down and forcing him onto his feet, pressing the barrel against his back so that he would start moving. "Yes they are.." She agreed as she took him to see the NCO as directed.

Regan had been in a bit of a daze, sticking with her her buddy from the lancer detachment they had made for the operation. Sarge got hit... suddenly, she had felt like she was reading the journal again, getting that sense of dread. She'd been thinking about that when she heard her name being spoken to her. "Yes. Ah, that is... no. No injuries. The battle was simple. Bombard key points from a distance." After that brief report, Jatmoore was off running again. She returned before too long, however, addressing her specifically.

"Oh, ah, yes ma'am. I'll be by the APC, when you need to speak with me." Durandal nodded and watched as the woman ran off again. Busy indeed. She never did get to finish her form.

Sgt. Rhine

His snide remark brought him some degree of satisfaction as the girl currently escorting him admitted to the quality of Imperial arms. Imperials had long taken pride in their nation's engineering prowess, so hearing her recognize it was an unexpected nicety. Eventually his escort brought him to the apparent sergeant of the group and Rhine looked her up and down, sizing her up. Another girl who didn't look older than 20, lean and unsure of herself. Was the Gallian army in such a sorry state that they relied on women and children to do their fighting for them? Rhine pursed his lips, irritated, before addressing her.

"So you are the commander who defeated us. I suppose congratulations are in order." Rhine moved slowly, to avoid being shot, as he reached down and detached his knife sheath from his belt. In a traditional (if rarely used) gesture, he slowly handed it over to her. "Ordinarily I would have offered you my blade, but it has been confiscated. Please accept this as a symbol of squad 141's formal surrender." He wanted to make a comment about her age or competency, but he was at the mercy of his enemies and doubted that would be a wise idea. Instead, he waited for a response and to find out what she wanted from him. At least she wasn't a Darcsen.
@Slypheed

Evan Carn

The sergeant was already in pretty stable condition, but Evan didn't feel like risking it. He decided to keep their current allocation of supplies and wandered off to go find Bons. "Alright boy, change of plans. You're an engineer and were the first on scene, so you're going to be the one babysitting the Darcsen. Come on, let's go." Ignoring Bons' complaints, he dragged (almost literally) him to the APC, got behind the wheel and set off.

Just under two hours down the road, they came across a large column of Gallian armored vehicles and tanks heading towards him. "That must be the army, eh Bons? We'd best pull over and let 'em know we took the coach house." After he eased the APC off to the side of the road, Evan jumped out and began to wave and flag down the lead vehicle of the column. Much to his surprise, Captain Meulemann was the one heading the convoy. "Good Afternoon, Captain!" Evan greeted the man in his usual informal way, before explaining the situation at the coach house and their current 'mission'. Before long, they were on their way again.


"Very well PFC Carn, You'd best continue with your medivac then. I'll see to it that your squad has some sort of vehicle lent to them for the time being. Surely there must be a light tank or two we can spare from this column." After PFC Carn drove off, he remarked to the sniper "Well it seems your old squad is doing very well indeed, Corporal Helfer. Very well indeed."

Lilly Jatmoore

It didn't take too long before Lilly had finished checking up on the squad, but the APC had left by the time she was done. It seemed like they would be waiting until the army arrived before continuing the operation, so for now she had at least a little time to relax. The rest of the squad were either relaxing, on watch, or chatting among themselves. Lilly would have joined them immediately, but Private Durandal was waiting for her.

She spotted the young woman waiting near where the APC had been, and waved as she walked over. "Good Afternoon Miss Durandal, thank you for waiting for me." She took a moment to look around and make sure no one else was in earshot, before lowering her voice. "Please forgive me for asking about such a difficult topic, but I thought it prudent to ask. How are you holding up? Are you doing alright? Though they may not discuss it, the squad is not ignorant of what happened to your previous unit and some of them are worried. Is there anything that we can do for you, or are you handling it fine by yourself?"
@CirusArvennicus

@Raven_Operative
Lynette listened to the driver as he told her of the failure. She'd understand Lukas's anger if it had only remained that. He should have stopped the tank when the noises happened and reported it. But she sighed when he finished. "Next time, do report this. This tank isn't like the standard tanks you are used to driving. Her engine isn't the standard, its custom. And the problem with custom engines is that they need to be tested over and over again. So when they make noises that don't sound right, it means just that. Something isn't right." She took a step back. "Remember that next time."

Lynette turned to Lukas. "First off. Are you calmed down?" She waited for his response.


@Raven_Operative
Celeste just blankly stared at a tree while the CO of the imperial squad was brought up to her. Lost in thought, worried about how many would die under her. Sure everyone in the squad was smart enough not to get themselves killed. Or at least she hoped no one was that dumb. She was concerned with her ability to command. Because if anyone died, it would be her fault. I'm not cut for this. I'm just some idiot with bad luck. Celeste actually felt the desire to break down and cry. It didn't matter to her now. Let them see me cry. Let them know I'm not cut for this. That I never wanted this.

But her worry, and self berating were cut short by the sounds of people approaching. Celeste quickly collected herself and turned to the Imp Sergeant. Who had said the first words, though his words didn't make her feel any better. And his gesture felt more of an insult than a compliment. Though she still took the sheath, with intents on sending it to Harald. "I cannot accept the compliment, as I have only just stepped up into the commanding position." She looked him in the eyes. "I'm still only a Corporal, even though the rest of the squad wants to call me Sergeant. I haven't proven myself for anything, and have given orders a store manager could give with ease. But, I will make sure this does get to the Sergeant who did defeat you, along with the blade that belongs in it."

But she decided to test something. To see if someone could see how unfit she was for this. Sure this Imp didn't know her outside of being an enemy. But it doesn't take personal knowledge on someone to see what she knew. "You look seasoned. You have to have seen at least two dozen battles." She took a step towards him. "So I'd like to know your thoughts on me. Because your facial expressions changed when you saw me." Celeste wanted some outside confirmation.

Lukas Glockner / Driver

"Yes ma'am." Lukas had calmed down enough to be reasoned with, and by now had realized exactly how big of a shitstorm he was about to end up in. Apologies and groveling wouldn't help, the only thing he could do now was try to ride it out. Behind the major, he noticed the driver looking relieved that he had not been grilled. Bastard. At least he had gotten a couple good punches in.

Sgt. Rhine

A Corporal who had just been promoted? That couldn't be right. The Gallian advance, while helped by overwhelming numbers and firepower, was too well organized to be something conducted by a green corporal on her first command. Something must have happened to their actual Sergeant during the battle. Rhine smiled. At least their defence hadn't been entirely without effect. When the Gallian stepped forward and asked what he thought of her, Rhine was taken aback. Asking her enemy for his evaluation of her? The idea was... quite frankly, stupid in Rhine's mind. Why would she expect an enemy to give her an honest evaluation of her abilities? Then his mind tumbled to something else: a trap? Was she baiting him to insult her and then make an example of him? Similar things were not unheard of in Imperial disciplinary practices. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was the case either. What was this girl playing at?

Rhine tried to retain a neutral (if somewhat leering) expression as he looked her over again and formulated his reply. "Your form is fragile and your stature betrays your inexperience. You do not conduct yourself like a commander, you have no pride, and you have no confidence. I am relieved to hear that you were not the one commanding this battle, because losing to one such as yourself would have been an unimaginable disgrace." Rhine paused a moment, before asking his own question. "Now why are you asking me this? I am your enemy, and you are mine. Are you truly expecting a positive or even honest answer?"

@Slypheed

James had been about to head in and check on those inside the coach house when he overheard the enemy sergeant and Stichler talking. Figuring that it was best if he stayed near her as her Corporeal, I arrived in time to hear the Imperial Sergeant's small tirade. "Your form is fragile and your stature betrays your inexperience. You do not conduct yourself like a commander, you have no pride, and you have no confidence. I am relieved to hear that you were not the one commanding this battle, because losing to one such as yourself would have been an unimaginable disgrace." Upon hearing this, something in James snaps, but he allows the other sergeant to finish first. Upon the end of it, James is there.

"First off, you don't get to speak about disgrace. Your Empire is full of it, especially since you all seem to love bombing civilian filled cities. Oh wait, you probably didn't know that since all you knew is that they were militia muster points and that's all you cared about. Do us a favor and just shut up until the Captain gets here. Glaive, resecure his restraints and put him with the rest of his men. Let Jatmoore and Durandal know they're on guard duty for a bit. Strange as her using a sword is, Durandal has a close quarters edge with it if anyone tries something."

He then turns to Stichler and leads her out of the Imperial Sergeant's hearing. "Come on, Sarge. You aren't going to be confident if you don't show it. If Command didn't think you could handle being Sergeant if that time came, they wouldn't have made you Corporal. You trust yourself, don't you?"

@Zarkun
Things turned worse for wear. She had hoped to talk to Hunt about this in private later in the day. But it seemed he had walked over to her just as the Imp captain had begun to tell her his opinion. While it was reassuring that someone could see her how she saw herself, it was shattered by Hunts rebuttal. Celeste let out a quiet sigh, and looked at the Imp as Hunt spoke. Only hoping that he'd understand that this wasn't what she was going to do with his opinion. She was going to openly agree with everything he said and state how correct he was. Along with a few other comments.

However, she didn't do anything. She just stood there, looking almost sad. Letting Hunt order Glaive to place his restraints back on and take him back to the Coach House. And once Hunt lead her some distance away so the Imp couldn't hear them is when he spoke to her. That's when he said something that made her snap.

"If Command didn't think you could handle being Sergeant if that time came, they wouldn't have made you Corporal."

Celeste's demeanor changed. Visibly angry, she locked eyes with Hunt. "That's just it isn't it?! Command didn't think! At all! I was just a damn Private in the beginning. I had no qualities that a Corporal would or should have. I didn't even have experience or training in commanding. I was just supposed to be fresh meat for the meat grinder. A grunt. I would have preferred that. But then this squad needed a Corporal. So without thinking, Command slapped a Corporal rank on me. Without even listening to me!" Celeste took a moment to breathe "I was forced into this role. I had been studying like crazy just to fulfill Corporal role I was forced into. But now I'm probably going to be become the Sergeant!" She then began to quickly break down. "I didn't want this..I don't understand why they picked me..." Celeste desperately held eye contact. Tears had already formed in her eyes and she was crying. The pitch in her voice had also changed. "You should have been promoted...I should have stayed a Private..." But she couldn't hold eye contact any more. Her eyes quickly diverting to the ground, as she brought her hands up to rub her eyes. She tried to speak some more, but all that came out of her mouth was incoherent. Her legs slowly gave out, as she wanted to just sit and cry.

@Zarkun@Slypheed@Raven_Operative

Could see the look on Rhine's face that he felt pride in the fact she had mentioned how good Imperials weapons were, and as a fellow countrymen she could understand that pride in their engineering prowess. It was one of the very reasons why she trained in the art of working on such machines so that she could not only use them but also keep them going. In her opinion the gear that she had now was not to her liking, though if she admitted to such a thing she would surely be outed, more so with some of the grope watching her..

Still she had a job to do right now, bringing the sergeant to the one in command and standing by like a good little trooper that she was, silent and only giving a small nod towards the girl that she had brought him too. Still she was surprised by how it all went, the questions and the surrender until finally Stichler came along to put an end to it all just as fast as it had started... Really this felt much more like another was in charge, but that was clear from the questions the girl put forth, she wasn't ready for this, she felt sorry that the girl had been put into such a placement when she wasn't ready.

Reaching up with her free hand she pulled her cap down in front of her face a little, acting like she was just adjusting it she hide the small grimace at what Stichler said about disgrace. With a nod she did as she was commanded and went to secure the mans restraints once more before taking him away back towards the building where the rest of his men was being held. However even now her grooming as a imp commander was pulling at the back of her mind, finally speaking up about his actions. "You know, if your higher ups discover about you officially surrendering like that, I am sure it won't go well for yo." Her crimson eyes traced towards him as they were nearing the building, planning on placing him back where he was before.

Sgt. Rhine

Such anger and lack of discipline. Rhine raised an eyebrow as the Hunt unleashed his tirade. At least he didn't have to worry about him lasting long. Hot heads like him never did. Fortunately the man seemed to be just as eager to get rid of him as Rhine was, and 'ordered' another trooper to escort him back to the house. Rhine didn't even try to dispute the statement made about dishonour. Despite numerous arguments that could be made, all would be lost on such a simpleton. He was below him, and Rhine was perfectly fine not even wasting his time. The girl escorting him, on the other hand, was acting exactly like a soldier should: quiet and professional. It somewhat relieved Rhine to know that there were in fact compete and proper soldiers in this squad, and he hadn't been defeated by a group consisting solely of lowlifes. The way she carried and conducted herself reminded him of the Imperial military. If she had been on his side, he had no doubt that she would have made an complementary soldier. It was this respect that made him not mind answering when she asked about something that really was none of her business.

"You know, if your higher ups discover about you officially surrendering like that, I am sure it won't go well for you." Rhine frowned as she made her remark. Her words were very true, Imperial command was not at all tolerant or forgiving when it came to officers or NCOs who surrendered voluntarily. "Hmph, it seems you should be worrying more about what could happen to your own squad than what will happen to me. But you're right. If I survive this war, I might be jailed or even executed... But my men will live, and not have wasted their lives on a pointless battle. That is an acceptable outcome by any measure." As they approached the house, Rhine brought back his usual stern and leering expression to avoid looking weak to his men, despite the surrender. "That is something you should also consider. You may well find a time where it's your squad holed up in a house, Imperials barking at the door. It's in no ones best interest to prolong a battle guaranteed to be lost."
@Kitsune

Lilly Jatmoore

Lilly spent the next couple hours standing either next to the door or looking out the window in the second floor of the coach house, guarding the prisoners like Glaive had asked. Private Durandal was also there, though Lilly didn't talk to her. The cold silence that she had gotten after asking about her emotional state earlier in the day was enough to make Lilly give her some space for the rest of the day. Clearly her questions (despite her intentions) had not been welcome. Fortunately the Imperials didn't give them much trouble, with most of them either still nursing their wounds or still shaken up from their defeat. That was a relief to Lilly, for she didn't think she would survive a brawl if the prisoners attacked her all at once. Even with Durandal's assistance she doubted they would succeed in beating them back into submission.

About half way through the third hour of guarding, she heard shouting, followed by the progressively louder sound of engines approaching. After checking to see that Durandal had the prisoners under control, she took a quick peak out the window and was relieved at what she saw. Nine Gallian tanks, a combination of medium, light and tank destroyers, were heading down the road towards the coach house with infantry riding on their roofs. Almost two full platoons. Reinforcements had finally arrived.

"Sir, We've made it to the coach house." "I can see that, Private. Please, do not think that my eyesight has deteriorated so far that I cannot identify a building." After he had replied to his navigator's (very unnecessary) report, Meulemann spoke to the driver and radioed the rest of the armour "Alright gentlemen, do lend me your ear. We will be using the coach house as a staging area for our assault on Vasel. Since we are a tank short, We will be drafting Squad 9 and their medium tank into our column and leave squad 4 in reserve in case something unpleasant happens. Please take the time to make ready while I meet with the other squad leaders." With that, the column slowly pulled up to the house and parked along side it. The drivers left their engines running in case the tanks needed to be moved quickly, but the infantry disembarked and began to socialize amongst themselves and the militia squads at the house. While his company was enjoying the brief bit of downtime, Meulemann took it upon himself to check in on Sgt. Hoek and sent a runner after 'Sgt.' Celeste.

***

The report he got from Hoek was less than pleasant. While the squads had managed to take the coach house, Squad 9 had a fair number of walking wounded who couldn't fight all that effectively. That meant they'd have to play the shell game and shuffle around some of the squad members. The prisoners they had apparently taken would also need to be guarded, a duty probably delegated to those not fit for combat. Before he could make any decisions, though, he'd need to talk with Stichler and find out the state of her squad.

It didn't take long to find her, for she hadn't strayed far from the house, so the runner was able to bring her to Meulemann just after he finished talking with Hoek. "Sgt. Stichler, how are you? I trust squad four has been behaving in Sergeant Harald's absence. Now, let us get down to business. Thank you, private, dismissed." After he sent the runner away, he discussed the current situation with Celeste, asking her the state of the squad, who was wounded, if any were dead, followed by telling her the current situation with squad 9. "Unfortunately, I want to have a full squad of infantry accompanying Sgt. Hoek's medium tank, so we will need to do a bit of reshuffling." He crossed his arms and brought a hand up to his chin as he thought. "If we pull one man from every other squad in my company, and combine them with squad 4 and the remnants of squad 9, we should be able to get a decent number of recruits. If we are especially cunning in our organization, we might be able to avoid leaving any single squad missing more than one or two troops." He nodded his head in affirmation as he mulled the plan over. "Yes, that should do it. Sgt. Stichler, I'll leave it up to you to get the two squads organized. Please have them both rally up in the main room of the coach house. I'll send some of my potential candidates there as well. They can chat amongst themselves while we finalize the squad composition. Dismissed." Without further ado, Captain Meulemann headed back to the column, thinking over who he should send to meet with the militia. Corporal Helfer would be a good idea, since he had worked with them before... Soon, several more names had surfaced as potential candidates, and the Captain was calling over individual squad leaders to discuss the situation and send the men on their way.
@Slypheed @Skepic ['@' everyone I suppose]

Cecilia, who was on guard duty, had gone to the restroom to relieve herself. It took a while to finish up. Only after she had finished had she learned the extent of Sergeant Harald's injuries. Don't tell me I'm back to squad hopping she thought to herself. She had barely been here for a couple of days, and already it seemed like she might have to hop again. At least better than that time the squad was reshuffled the instant I arrived and was removed almost as quick as I was placed in it.

Returning to the prisoners for guard duty, she noticed that more privates were assigned to guard duty as well. As she had arrived, the sound of shouting and engines could be heard, it seemed reinforcements had arrived. Just outside the window, Cecilia could hear the squad leaders discussing plans. It seemed that there would be a few more troops joining Squad 4's ranks, so at the least, no squad hopping for now.

Leaning against the wall, relaxed, it didn't seem like the prisoners were planning to act up again. Although the prisoners had the numbers, they were unarmed and tied up, quite the disadvantage. On her way back from the restroom, Cecilia took interest in one of the Imperial's guns, and had taken it with her. Unsure of the squad's policies, she asked Private Jatmoore across from her, "Hey, Jatmoore, do you know if we can take the Imperial guns for ourselves? Or do we have some sort of system in this squad, for example, handing them to engineering at home base?"

Colin wiped the sweat from his brow, Gallian rifle barrel sticking up from behind his back. This must be the coach house. "Well, looks ok. I'll see when I get inside." he whispered to himself, and walked on in. He walked fairly quickly, despite him visibly not being in any kind of hurry. As he stepped inside, he let his thoughts zoom by. He didn't know what squad he was apart of now. His last one had been hit hard and then broken up into God knows how many pieces. They didn't tell him much, but from he had heard from those around him, he was being shoved into another squad like a poorly stitched up pair of pants.

Didn't really matter to Colin, if he was honest. As long as he got to scout and shoot. It wasn't only what he was good at, but he knew a good scout could actually make a difference in the war. He wondered who he'd meet in his new squad. With thick dark hair and similar colored eyes, he smiled generously as he made his way into the center room. Girls, guys, older, younger? One way to find out.

James waited through the first part of her rant to speak, taking advantage of her breath to counter her argument. "Command picked the most qualified among the squad at that period in time to put in the corporal's position. That was you." However, he'd barely gotten two words out of his mouth before her tirade resumed and drowned him out.

"I was forced into this role. I had been studying like crazy just to fulfill Corporal role I was forced into. But now I'm probably going to be become the Sergeant!" Hunt could see it in her eyes, her act of strength beginning to come apart as tears formed in her eyes. I didn't want this..I don't understand why they picked me...You should have been promoted...I should have stayed a Private..." As soon as Celeste started to fall, James caught her and slowed the decent, taking a knee and looking her in the face.

"No amount of studying will ever prepare you for being in charge of other people's lives, Sarge. You think I'm ready for Corporal? I barely managed to keep my fire team out of the line of fire during our capture of the coach house, took two bullets for my efforts. As for why they picked you, they thought you could handle it. No, they KNEW you could handle it. That said, maybe talking with the Captain when he gets here is better than talking to the guy who's never topped Lance Corporal until now. Just...maybe take a break for now, Sarge."

Standing up, James makes sure that no one will see her dealing with her issues and heads out to count the weapons and check on injuries and prisoners.

---

It was several hours later when he heard the sound of tank engines and shouts. Standing from where he was keeping watch along the road for a counter attack by the Imps, James heads towards the column, intent on catching the captain at the same time Stichler was arriving. However, he found himself too slow as Stichler had already been dismissed and the Captain walking away. So he jogged to catch up to Meulemann and matched the Captain's pace. "Sir, Sergeant Stichler had something she wanted to talk to you about I think. And I think it should be figured out before we begin the operation."

"Hey, Jatmoore, do you know if we can take the Imperial guns for ourselves? Or do we have some sort of system in this squad, for example, handing them to engineering at home base?"

The question shook Lilly's attention away from the window and she turned to face Rousseau with a slightly perplexed expression on her face. Come to think of it, she hadn't heard about what they were plannning on doing with the captured firearms. "Hmm... That is a very good question, Miss Rousseau. I am really not sure." She brought a hand to her chin as she thought. "Ms. Stichler would probably want us to wait for a proper inventory before picking over the weapons, but I doubt she would have any issues with taking a weapon or two after that. We will be getting replacement weapons rather soon anyways, so I do not see an issue with it."
@Little_ninja

"Ah, Pri- Well I suppose it's Corporal Hunt now, eh lad?" Meulemann furrowed his brow when he was told that Stichler wanted to speak with him. He had just been talking with her after all, though admittedly he had not left her a great deal of time to make small talk. "I see... Well unfortunatly there is much to do in preparation for the assault. There are several urgent matters that I must attend to before devoting more time to speaking with her. If time permits I will speak with her again, but unless it is something unduely urgent, there are other matters I must attend to first." He paused a moment, before gesturing towards the house. "Rest assured that I will take your report under due consideration. In the mean time, though, you should stop by the coach house. The squads are being reorganized and potential candidates will be meeting there. It might be a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with them."
@Zarkun