[IC] ~ Valkyria Chronicles - Changing of the Guard ~

[Landaus Five-One]

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Diana’s Flashback - Before and During Boot camp

Diana had many things on her mind from boot camp, which she was thrust upon by some recruiters that conscripted her into the military. She had really no choice since they told her beforehand, she would be classified as a coward. She didn’t really want that at all because of her behavior to stick to a thing, she picks. She didn’t really understood much since she was pretty naïve to the whole act of war. However, she wanted to be highly patriotic to fight in a war. The Recruiters told her she can tell her mother goodbye before she was sent to the boot camp.

”Mother, I am going off to war,” Diana said, a bit proudly.
”I will miss you dearly. Please don’t die my sweet little child,” Rebecca said, noticing the recruiters behind her.
”Don’t worry ma’am. We will make sure she gets the proper training so she can return with glory and something to brag about,” One of the Recruiters said.
”You better hope, she does. You don’t want me to make a scene now,” Rebecca said, a bit annoyed.
”Mother, I will make sure I will return safely,” Diana said, happily.

The Recruiters looked at Rebecca and knew how much of a overly protective mother Rebecca is. The recruiter that spoke led, Diana away from her mother. Which was in turn a pretty common thing, since they had to recruit this overly patriotic girl to help in the war. However, she in turn learned not that much quickly that you cannot really play ‘soldier.’ Which she learned exactly at Boot camp when she arrived and the loudest training officer was sizing up the new recruits for the war. The Training officer looked much older than most people in the boot camp, since he had some gray hair showing.

”Oh look, we have a shorty entering the war,” He said, towards Diana.
”D-Don’t call me shorty, asshole,” Diana said, in a bit of a frustrated at the blatant calling her short.
”Hmm… I have to say, what’s your name Shorty? And make it snappy I don’t have all day here to wait on a girl, who cannot answer a superior officer,” He said, with a slight look of how much can he push her buttons.
”W-What…? Why would I tell you my name since you are pissing me off right now? I don’t think you need to know my name,” Diana said, even more angered at the training officer, her eye twitches and her hands were shaking.
”Spoiled Rotten Brat, Shut the fuck up and give me your fucking name immediately. One more outburst out of you shorty will be the last straw!” He yelled at Diana specifically since he could visibly see the girl was being annoyed at him calling her shorty.
”W-What…? Don’t call me short… My name is Diana Elana Vastergoth, Sir,” Diana said, a bit shaken and scared of the man in question.
”Looks like I was right about you being spoiled rotten then, Diana. But you have to run laps around the boot camp since I did tell you no more outbursts,” He said, a bit happier now that he utterly saw this coming a mile away.

Diana heard the training officer, but didn’t move until he started yelling at her to get moving immediately. He pushed her to keep on running until, she was tired and other things. She was highly exhausted from the training officer, however, she was given a very short time to get a nap. She was supposed to be on the firing lines to shoot off her weapon at targets. She was yelled awake by the specific officer in question, which made her realize all her childish fantasies were completely untrue. He laughed at the spoiled brat, which was still wearing her pendant necklace from her parents. Diana looked at him and wondered why he was specifically targeting her.

”S-Sir, why are you targeting me?” Diana asked, nervously and looking down at the ground.
”Because I don’t really like your family’s hardheadedness. Which it tells me you are exactly the same as your parents and grandparents. I have to tell you a secret my name is Victor Elton Mannerfield. I guess it’s a good thing I am too old for this war and better at being a boot camp trainer,” Victor said, sighing never thought he would be training his granddaughter’s childhood friend on the art of war.
”T-That’s all? Just because of my family’s hardheadedness. Oh my god, I am friends with Anna Raina Mannerfield. But she never really talked about you,” Diana said, a bit shocked and gained new insight.
”There’s a reason why, but I am not going to tell you that though. However, you got a lot of work to do before you become a competent soldier. The only way for that is literally go on the front lines and fight the Imperials for the Federation,” Victor said, smiling a bit.

Diana took the words from Victor to heart. Even though, she couldn’t help to be nervous about every single thing. However, Victor stayed on her ass to make sure she did her damnedest at boot camp to take what she learned her to the front. After that, it was time she was shipped to the front. Her boot camp training as a conscript was complete, it didn’t help that the trainer at the boot camp was held her to a higher standard than the other conscripts. However, she barely passed in the ‘conscription’ training mostly because of the fact her parents didn’t really taught her about the war. It did help that Victor was completely hard on her and kept her head on a swivel while she was going to war.

---

Diana’s Brutal Reality - Late to the Front - Garnian Salient Hill 58 Battle

Diana woke up by herself and couldn’t really sleep on the train, because of the fact she was highly nervous about what will go on. ”I hope the battle didn’t start without me…,” She thought to herself with a slight annoyed look in her eye, while looking outside. She was looking around on the train and noticed someone approaching her, which was a male soldier looking for somewhere to sit. ”You can sit here. I don’t mind,” She nervously said specifically at the soldier that was looking for somewhere to sit. He saw Diana motion to him and sat right besides her and could tell she just woke up from being woke up by the train.

He smiled towards her. ”You definitely saved me, what’s your name?” He was pretty friendly and had a pretty much a strong but an easy going fellow. He noticed her beautiful sky blue eyes and wondered why she was here and not at home since he noticed the necklace around her neck. He kept his hands in his space since most girls don’t really enjoy getting their space invaded.

She blinked at him, when he asked her name, which she shyly looked down. ”My name is Diana Elana Vastergoth, what’s yours?” She asked, a similar question to him. She was becoming a bit nervous at the fact, he was so close to her and moved a bit closer to the window. She kept her eyes down and trying not to look directly into his eyes.

He laughed when she said her name to him. Mostly because he was in the boot camp where she was yelled at by Victor, a complete hard ass old retired sergeant from before EW1. ”My name is Richard A. Donster. I definitely remember you, you made an impression. A funny one that you get so easily frustrated at being called Shorty. Nothing against you but I dislike brats.” He responded to her question but blatant insulted her.

She listened to the boy next to her, and she got frustrated at the fact he called her a shorty. However, she started to cry when he said what he said, after the insult. ”W-Why are you being mean to me?” She asked, with tears going down her cheeks. She couldn’t really understand why someone who is sitting by her is being mean to her. It makes no sense, since they are required to be fighting on the same side. She looked into his eyes and recognized him finally, which reminded her to never associate yourself with a Donster. ”Can you leave me be I want to be alone to think.” She dismissed him from her seat with a slight annoyed look on her face.

He laughed at her question mostly because of the fact, the Vastergoths and his family have a somewhat of a feud going on. His family hates how friendly the Vastergoths are to the Darcsens since they treat everyone as equals. He has a massive hatred of them. ”It’s kinda simple its because your family are Darcsen lovers. Even though I have no idea, how the super protected latest child feels about them. But I will still call all you Vastergoths foolish hardheaded morons.” He told her in as much as literally insulting her family and how they treat Darcsens. He watched her look at him and felt like the girl felt insulted enough. He laughed at her outright dismissal of him but did get up, just to walk away from her. He did enjoy her tears, however.

Diana couldn’t really stop crying when he went close to her and started telling the real reasons why he hates her and her family. She was a bit shocked at the sudden reality, however, something snapped her out of her crying fit. That was the train finally stopped at the front she was supposed to be deployed as, reinforcements. She got her equipment for being a rifleman, and she wiped her tears a bit. ”I-I hope I am not going to be deployed near that asshole Donster.” She thought in a serious complete hopeful that she was going to be deployed away from him. She got off the train, and there was some officers there and they looked at the late reinforcements, which just arrived. ”Sir, I am reporting for duty? Why are you looking at us like that?” She questioned the superior officers with a naive question to them.

The officer looked at the first soldier that asked a question, which was no other than Diana. ”Hello, you are late. The Battle just started and you need to get to the front immediately. You can help anyone in the front. Also, no retreating when you hit the battlefield or else,” The commanding officer said. There was noise of gunfire in the background, which was highly loud. He didn’t enjoy giving grim orders since he’s a bit more of a kinder commanding officer but other people on the battlefield is a bit more efficient in getting the new recruits into a fury.

She heard the commanding officer speak as loudly as possible. She heard all the sounds of a battle near the front lines being waged. She was completely shocked that this was what war feels like, she got highly nervous because of that. Her naive nature and her body language didn’t help the matter. ”Therefore, I will do my best for the Federation to defeat the Imperials, sir.” She responded to the commanding officer. She was definitely a bit hardheaded in wanting to be a good soldier, which didn’t help at her inexperience at this whole thing.

He looked directly at the girl who was showing off her patriotic beliefs. He sighed in slight regret in what’s going on here. ”Before you go, can I get your name? Then get to the front as quickly as possible.” He responded to her response. He put his hand on his forehead and rubbed it a bit, he was getting to old for this shit and all these young recruits were a bit annoying. However, he was grateful it was raining, since he did notice the girl in question was crying.

Diana looked directly at the commanding officer he asked, her name in question. ”My name is Diana Elana Vastergoth, sir.” She gave an answer to his question. She remembered something that what the commanding officer had said, who was greeting the reinforcements. That she cannot retreat from the battlefield at all or else, she gulped at what that exactly meant. She walked in single file towards the front lines with no one in her group that was the jerk, whom made her cry. However, the march was a forced march to the front line since they needed to get there as quickly as possible.

She was getting closer to the battlefield, and the noises of gunfire from both sides was being pretty intense. She wasn’t able to keep track of what was happening while they were forced marching towards the front line. She arrived at the front line, which felt like hours passed but it wasn’t at all. It was less than her internal clock was on, it was probably the train lag that made her feel a bit different. She couldn’t help but hear the noises of the Federation firing on imperial positions, and the Imperials doing the same in return. ”I hope I can help some of our soldiers and get them to where they are needed,” Her mind wondered in hopefully helping her fellow soldiers.

She could see the trench ladder into the battle proper, but she heard bullets going over her head from imperial positions. She breathed in and thought what everyone taught her in boot camp of not dying that is. She equipped her bayonet to her rifle since it is definitely needed. She remembered exactly what Victor taught her specifically, keep moving, get to cover, or she’ll get a bullet in her head. She built up a bit of courage and couldn’t help but be highly nervous. But she was supposed to be the reinforcements to the people who is fighting this battle. She walked over to the ladder, however, the smell finally hit her since she was being a bit too focused to notice the smell in the trench. She held her weapon by one her hands, just so she could hold her nose. She let go of her nose, figuring out that getting on the battlefield is better than being in this trench any longer. ”God this is an awful smell… what is that? I never smelled anything this badly…” She looked up at the ladder lost in a bit of thought.

Diana started to climb the ladder and she definitely was not ready for what she saw, a no man’s land. She had to start climbing the hill to reach people in particular ala, the first wave that launched their attack that is. She was holding her weapon tightly while trudging along through the no man’s land. She only knew the objective must be what’s on the hill. She was pretty much pretty fast for herself, since she was forced to run a lot by the trainers there especially Victor. She couldn’t help but be a bit terrified of the entire thing in question, she was going into the jaws of death for glory. ”This… is terrifying… boot camp didn’t tell me something like this was going to happen,” She said, in a pretty teary tone. She continued to push forward towards the hill where all the Atlantic Federation was heading and dying. She was a bit nervous seeing all the dead bodies while she was walking forward.

She looked up while she was walking forward, since most of the time she was looking down while walking and moving towards the set piece in question. However, she could see someone a bit in front of her walking in the same direction she was, but moving ahead of her. She focused a bit as much as she could since it was raining much. She could see the standard equipment of a sapper on the person in front of her but that’s much she got out of her trying to focus, while rain was hitting her. ”This is still terrifying. Stay calm Diana. You need to live through this for your mother,” She thought to herself, while trudging through No Man’s land. Her movement and body language definitely showed she wasn’t enjoying her time here. However, she caught up to the sapper in question, but was still a bit behind the person. She was hopeful, whomever the sapper was could hear her. ”Hey.. Can you uh let me catch up so I can be your support?” She asked a bit loud, even though it was raining and gunfire was happening everywhere.

@Conscripts

[SMS]

Kalisa wasn't aiming for any Imperials in particular, but she figured that not firing back at all would have given them unnecessary confidence in simply shooting at them for free. Leaving herself open for a moment, she left her cover and opened fire towards the Imperials as the squad she had been following pushed forward. Once her rifle was empty, she ducked back into cover and waited. She had heard someone shout to wait for the reload, and so she reloaded herself while noting the timing of the gunfire. Once the bullets stopped hitting the cover and ground around her, she once more left the safety of the broken wall she was behind and ran forward to catch up with the rest.

And it was a good thing that she did, seeing as the wall had finally broken down after another wave of bullets slammed against it. The unfortunate ones who stayed behind became the sponges for the next wave of bullets that came down. Kalisa heard their screams of pain, and immediately felt bad that she wasn't able to communicate the order to move to them and instead just followed her instinct.

She eventually found herself rejoining the squad that she was following earlier. She took one of the unoccupied pillars that was closer to the front of the destroyed establishment they were using as cover. They had all been tense watching the Lance Corporal rummage through another soldier's body out in the open. "Is no one gonna help him?" She shouted at nobody in particular.

But before anybody could respond, a bullet had hit the Lance Corporal's head. Time looked like it had slowed down for her as he fell over in front of all of them. The slow agonizing fall felt like minutes even. It was surreal, watching somebody get shot in the head in front of you. The Lance Corporal's body eventually laid on the ground, without so much of a thud or a splash. And the rest of the group was silent. Although there was still the hail of gunfire at max volume, Kalisa heard nothing but her own ragged breathing and heartbeat.

And then he got back up. It took Kalisa a moment to realize that he indeed was alive. His helmet apparently having saved him from splattering his brains out. Once she had regained her bearings, he had begun to pull the soldier's body once more towards them.

She found herself running out and helped him drag the body and himself into safety once he was close enough. The Lance Corporal had placed the corpse against the wall before pulling out his binoculars. "This guy is nuts." He just about luckily survived getting shot in the head and the first thing he does is to survey the situation and formulate a plan of action.

"You got balls, sir." Kalisa had unintentionally let out. "You got my support." Not that many people could take a bullet to the head and still be as levelheaded as he is after narrowly living. The plan itself was pretty basic, the gunners provide covering fire as they run up. Once they were up there, clear everybody out. Seems easy enough.

She had begun to double check her equipment to prepare for the upcoming charge. Ammo, several magazines, check. Grenades, a few, check. Rifle, bolt is still working, check. Bayonet, mostly clean, check.

"Alright, on your mark."

@LetMeDoStuff

[Ithradine]

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Push. Faster! Go Faster! No looking back. I said faster dammit! Kill them first! No backing down! Avoid running in a straight line!

Daniel ran at what the limitations of his body would allow and then some. He didn't even manage to notice that there was no one following him anymore. They were all pinned down in whatever cover they could find or dead, lying face first in a mixture of their own blood and mud. He was going to take this hill and kill every last imperial in it. There was nobody else he could rely on to do this with him. The sounds of bullets whizzing past did nothing to halt his advance. A silent rage burned within him directed at the enemy before him. Daniel wanted to do more than kill them. He wanted them to suffer. Once again he found himself alone...which was fine by him. That was until he saw, just out of the corner of his eye, a small, round object fly through the air and land off his right side a few meters away. There was no time to react as a ear-shattering explosion knocked him clean off his feet while his consciousness faded away.

Daniel's eyes flickered open revealing a flat, completely white landscape...far from the endless sea of brown mud of the battlefield. He slowly rose to a sitting position where, to his surprise, he found he was no longer in his uniform. A loose white shirt and pants had replaced the green fatigues. He took a survey of his surroundings as he stood up, looking around in all directions. Daniel's heart nearly dropped as he saw her, the love of his life, emerge seemingly out of a white mist "Elizabeth?" His voice suddenly felt weak as he ran over to the smiling angel and wrapped his arms around her. A few tears fell from both their faces as the two embraced with a word being said.

"How...how is this possible? Its..you!" Daniel finally broke the silence

Elizabeth simply stared up into his eyes "Listen, we don't have much time.." Her voice sounding like before the disease took her.

Concern immediately gripped his face "Wait, what do you mean?!?" He was not prepared to say goodbye a second time.

She simply shook her head at his question "It is not yet your time, my love. Please, just listen to me." Slowly she slipped out of his arms and instead held both of his hands "You're not going to be able to do this alone. You need their help, and they need yours. Don't just throw your life away! You promised me! You promised you would live on! Put your faith back in people, please...for me." Her words rang out strongly causing Daniel's arms to shake with the raw emotions he felt.

Tears flowed from his eyes down his cheeks "I can't...I want to stay here with you!" he almost yelled back at her. Elizabeth responded by moving closer again and cupped his face with both of her hands, bringing his forehead down to touch hers. Daniel laid his on top of hers as the tears continued to fall for both of them "Not yet...not yet, my love." As soon as those words were said, her body became transparent and Daniel could no longer feel her touch. The white mist returned and Elizabeth began to slowly be pulled towards it.

"No...no! Don't leave me again! I need you!" He cried passionately, reaching out for her but unable to move his feet forward.

A sad smile spread across Elizabeth's lips "We'll see each other again. But until then, live on. Live a full life. Trust in your brothers-in-arms. I love you so much." An unseen force pulled on Daniel's body, dragging him backwards as Elizabeth faded from view "Elizabeth!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as the white scenery was pulled away, including the floor, and he was left falling in a dark void. Daniel could see a small light below him that was coming closer and closer. He had to close his eyes as he neared it due to the intensity.

The first thing that Daniel became aware once he passed into the light was a concentration of pain centered around his right arm and the center of his back. Next was the complete absence of sound except for a strong ringing in both of his ears, though the right was far worse. When he finally opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a gray sky. It wasn't until the flash of a bullet flying overhead that he remembered where he was. He immediately rolled over, luckily finding all his limbs intact, to see where he was positioned. It was difficult to see anything with the disorientation, but he could make out the ruins of some building to his left.

His body ached and he couldn't hear for shit, but he managed to pick up a rifle next to him and stand up. It took some effort but he began to run for the ruins, the words of his dear Elizabeth still fresh in his mind. She was always right, but that didn't make it any easier. By some miracle, he managed to avoid direct fire and made it to the ruins where he was surprised to find others of his squad including the two lance-corporals. Everything they said was muffled to the point he could barely make it out, but it sounded like some kind of plan. With his back against some stone rubble, he used the time to check the rifle he picked up. Everything checked out but he just wished the ringing would die down.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. The entire squad here seemed be readying for a charge from this position. That was something he could get behind. Just this once, he would listen to her advice and work with the others instead of on his own. It was unfair she made him promise to live a full life. However, there was never an argument he could win against her. After a quick check of his gear, he was ready to go. He might actually respect the writer a little more if this plan actually worked.

[Conscripts]

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How Michael made it all through all of that without dying, while so many others didn't, he did not know. He could not know. Even some of the NCOs was laying dead in the mud now. Not even the rich or the poor. War made everyone equal, as they all rot in the dirty mud. Michael himself had gone through multiple close calls himself. Just a while ago, if he had been the one among the first ranks instead of her, she'd be the one having to lift his dead body out of her. And while he was making his way up the hill, the private right in front of him were shot dead right in his track. The bullet stapled right into his chest. Had he not been right there, Michael would've been the one in his place. And many more occasions where he could've been lying in the mud, being worm's food. And yet here he was. But he was far to call this a miracle. He was still barely halfway up there. And the closer he gets to the top, the more susceptible he would be to enemy machine gun fire. The cross must do a lot more work than just that.

'We can't just run into the muzzle like headless chickens like this!'

Is there any plans at all to this? Where's the two Lance Corporals in his squad? Dead? Or is he still digging in at some cover in the midst of the hill? He couldn't see either of them from here. The rain was blurring his eyes, as it mercilessly continued to pour down upon the sapper. But his hearings was still good enough. Hopefully so. If it hadn't been ruptured, and wasn't fooling his senses right now, Michael could hear a man screaming for his rank and telling him to fall in. He was calling from the direction of an old ruin where a few guys appeared to be taking shelter from the machine gun fire. A ruin of an old church. Just as if the Advocate was guiding him toward. It was definitely not a life insurance, but he could definitely use a breather and formulate something rather than just mindlessly charging forward to be slaughtered.

He bent low, as he was ready to rush for the old ruin. But his subconsciousness halted Michael right in his tracks, as a fairly high-pitched voice shredded through the hails of gunfire, seemed to be asking for something. Nobody was around him, so he must have been who she was addressing. Turning around, it was a small young girl, though seemingly older than those like Paloma or Lucia, with blonde hair that was tied up neatly under the hard helmet, along with a fairly tanned skin color like Jovan. But all of that wouldn't paid him no attention. Instead, what shot him right into his core was her eyes. A beautiful, innocent and lively sky blue. Michael was still walking forward, but his pace slowed, as something tucked right at his chest. It wasn't the first time he saw those eyes. Just minutes ago, she was...

His arms began to shook. His hand still stained with the blood from the trenches. It wasn't just the cold, or the heavy equipment. For a split second, he felt like he was going to choke, as he had to swallow twice to dampen the pain in his chest. Not now. Not this time...

But then suddenly, the rapidness of the bullets was suddenly cut by two thirds. The lack of whizzing bullet recalled Michael back to his sense. One of the leading machine guns firing at Michael's squad suddenly stopped. Did someone kill the gunner? Or was it just ceased to reload? He didn't know, but now is his once in a hundred lifetime chance. He wouldn't make it for the enemy trenches, but he could make it for the ruin alive for sure.

"Here. Let's go!"

And he definitely wouldn't leave her behind.

"We cannot slow down and dig in now. Not until we get to those old ruins!" Grabbing her by the wrist, the sapper helped her up from the two dead bodies that piled up like a staircase, and pulled her along the way to the church ruin. She looked tired from the runs, but the barrier between life and death was just a dozen meters away from both of them. He doesn't want to see any preventable deaths out there.

@CFProxy@Landaus Five-One

[Landaus Five-One]

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Diana’s Brutal Reality - The Front lines - Garnian Salient Hill 58 Battle

Diana was continuing to walk forward towards the sapper in question. She noticed all the dead bodies around her, which made her nervous. She looked up and noticed the sapper, turned around and was looking directly at her. She saw that the sapper in question was a young boy. She was a bit shocked in what he looked as, but he carrying a lot of sapper equipment on him. ”Whoa… why is a young child doing here?” Diana thought to herself, she was a bit impressed he can carry all that heavy stuff.

She could feel like he was looking her over for some odd reason. It made her a bit nervous and shaky having a boy look her over. She stared at him directly in his eyes and could tell he was staring directly at her sky blue eyes. She was was walking still forward, she noticed his pace slowed but didn’t notice why he slowed. She was holding her rifle a bit more normally. However, she was a bit more nervous at the fact, her hands were shaking. ”Come on… Diana. Stop freaking out this is what you wanted to do,” Diana thought to herself, trying to keep an eye on the boy in front of her.

She could hear herself think again, since the battlefield changed. Which made her get out of her thoughts since she was a bit shocked at what was going on around her. She was a bit happy that the gunner stopped firing at them, a slight smile. She looked directly at the sapper in question. She had some surface inner thoughts going through her head in why everything is happening now of all things. It didn’t help that she was utterly naïve when she joined the Military and said yes to simple questions. She wasn’t going to return to where she started since she’s in the thick of it now, no turning back so to say.

"Here. Let's go!"

She nodded to him since she wanted to reach some cover from all gunfire. She did see the ruins that he was looking at. She was a bit nervous and wanted to say something to agree with what he was saying, but nothing came out. Since she was a bit shocked that the gunfire stopped slightly. She blinked at this and had a dumbfounded look on her face. She saw all the dead bodies of her fellow soldiers and it turned her stomach but to reach the church ruins would be going over them.

"We cannot slow down and dig in now. Not until we get to those old ruins!"

She felt him grab her wrist and definitely did want to get to the church’s ruin. She felt a bit exhausted but agreed with what he was doing, to help her along to the ruin in question. ”Y-Yeah, getting to those ruins feel like the best place to take a break. I've ran too much to get on the battlefield.” She responded to what he yelled but she had a nervousness in her voice. She was picking up the pace a bit, since he was still holding her wrist in a motion of wanting to get out of this entire area as quickly as possible. If it wasn’t for all the running at the boot camp, this would be a bit much for her to handle. She sighed a bit for how hard the boot camp trainer in question was on her.

@Conscripts

[Letter Bee]

Archibald Andrews - Sapper

Archibald had charged towards the hill, the hill where the enemy artillery was situated. Many of his fellow men and women had fallen - cut down in the prime of their lives, their potential to enrich the world forever ended. Was it the same for the Imperials as well? How many potential inventors, artists, and poets had been cut down in the prime of their life, in order to fight against the tyranny and absolutism slowly engulfing the continent? Then he grit his teeth as he reached the ruined church being used as cover; it mattered not: They had to come back victorious, or they were going to die, either by enemy hands or at the hands of the officer tasked with shooting deserters.

On arrival at the church, he nodded in acknowledgment as their remaining Lance Corporal thought up a plan. It was going to require coordination, grit, and above all a determination to live. As he saw the late arrivals - another Sapper and a Rifleman - running towards them, Archibald looked at Jean and said, "I'm with you, Lance Corporal!"

Facing Michael and Diana as they arrived, Archibald spoke to the former, "Give me your equipment, kid! You'll need to be as light as possible if you're gonna live!"

Archibald didn't need to give a reasoning as to why he said that; he felt it was self-evident and that his words told enough.

Once Michael had handed his equipment over to his fellow Sapper - Once, not if; Archibald planned to take the equipment if Michael insisted on carrying the extra weight - Archibald will continue as briefly as possible, "We're charging from the hill; Shocktroopers here," he gestured to Kalisa and Daniel, "Will throw grenades and clear a path." A pause as he continued, "Our other Lance Corporal - Isaac, I think his name is - will shoot along with our other Gunner; their Machine Guns will provide covering fire."

A last pause as the metaphorical clock ticked down. "My name is Archibald Andrews, by the way; I'm from Vinland."

There were no more words to say, no more elaboration on his life story to give. All that there was is to wait for the charge.

[Jeep Wrangler]

---

For quite some time, there was nothing but the emptiness of her heart when she first saw them take the first steps up the ladder. As a bystander, someone who could not prevent, save nor assist those savagely scouting out the frontline she hadn't yet seen, her mind dropped into a spiralled anguish of fear. She closed her eyes when the first whistle of a tipped bullet splattered through the first man and woman who dared to show themselves upon ascendance. It was a small glimpse before she cowered away, but Lucia had seen enough to truly strain her mind from peace. For quite some time, she didn't look, but heard several thuds and shouts of pain ring throughout the trench. An innate reaction to cower forced her head to look away, ensuring that she wouldn't force her eyes open to see the result of those climbing the ladder. It was clear that some were starting to scale and reach the top, taking their initiative to run in different directions. Several shot their guns as the scarily familiar tone of the Longfield rifle could be heard amongst the now rapid engagement of gunfire.

She tried to block out the sounds. Her mind drifted to happy places of colour and light, where she used to run through the meadows with friends and family members alike. A coat of daisies and poppies were always nearby when she was at home, allowing her to spread her wings and float like a gentle butterfly. In those memories, there was nothing but glee and carelessness to contain her inner sorrow, but now there was a world outside of that bubble she'd been thrown into. The more she tried to block it out, the more she realised that this world was not another world by all means, but in fact was a measurement of the hell she'd been refusing to accept.

Suddenly, when her mind became distorted and reduced to static imagery of the one peaceful past she'd experienced, there was a strange silence. It wasn't the ringing in her ears caused by the uproar of gunfire, nor was it the slightly distant growls of men and women charging into the fray, yet it was her sudden shock to see what was before her. A tremble in her eyelids forced her to open and bear witness to what was before her, and it was far from satisfactory. There were no more men nor women climbing the ladders as such, spare for a few more who had fallen back. Some had bullet wounds in their arms or hips, yet they were still being told to walk up the ladder a second time. Her eyes drew colourless and devoid of all light, tone and shade. Nothing stood before her except the manifestations of the demonic movement, slaughtering the men and women around her like common cattle. Her legs nor body couldn't move and were frozen by the mixture of fear and chilled temperatures surrounding the trench. A worse smell flickered across her face as tears dribbled down her cheeks. The bottom of the ladder and on the top edge of the trenchline laid bodies that were freshly mangled by the rain of bullets upon them.

Hundreds of souls were being condemned to something she couldn't see outside of the trench. Within seconds of being called to the frontline she'd seen nearly a hundred dead bodies littered only around her specific part of the trench. She could no longer feel anything except the numbness of human regret. Was she really supporting the regime by joining this military? No, of course not. She was conscripted like all of the victims of war. She was nothing more than a tool of kindled violence, a toy of the Cartesian Devil. She shivered and broke down into a pup-like whimper, crying for help silently beneath her own condensed whisper.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She must have blanked out for at least five minutes, as the battle had already taken its toll on certain individuals. At the top of the trench, retreating for their own life, a woman suddenly appeared and began to climb down the ladder. Her soldier's instinct suddenly was halted as they realised Lucia had forced herself to bring up her rifle. Their heads turned and their eyes met. Both paused in position, the lady barely halfway down the ladder in her own panic.

The sound of Lucia's Longfield, shivering and shaking in her own anxiety, was almost as loud as the battle raging on above. Her eyes were now a source of continuous tears, flourishing and dominating her pure smooth skin. Her legs were trembling in a tremolo rhythm whilst her gun struggled to stay aimed on her. She tried to say something, realising that failing to do her duty would result in not only punishment on her end, but also for the individual who'd just retreated before her. She was assigned the duty of murdering her comrades, at least the ones who retreated, without remorse. Lucia couldn't face the orders, nor could she keep her bright red cheeks from glowing. A ray of sunshine, amongst the dark clouds and rainfall, shone on her, enhancing her features more and more. With a petite call, the woman remained frozen on the ladder, almost trying to beg for forgiveness telepathically. Lucia finally broke the silence between the two with a broken sentence, drowned in her own fresh tears.

"H-Halt!" There was no threat in her tone, only a beg for saving. The poor girl was a victim, more of a victim than anyone else in the war, for having to not only commit crimes against the enemy but instead against her own people. "I...I...I n-need to...s-shoot if you..."

But before she could continue speaking, she collapsed onto her knees, bursting out into a loud cry of tears and sniffles. She consistently kept on repeating herself, stating that she was sorry not only to the woman but her family that had been killed in the past. She'd become a shadow of her former self, one that was ripped into several broken pieces without friends, comfort not morality. The woman she'd been aiming at looked at her, still in fear, before slowly rising back up the ladder and rejoining the fight, leaving Lucia to swallow her own tears in agony and solitary confinement.

[Conscripts]

---

It was right there. Just thirty footsteps away. He knew that every seconds passed was a gold mine slip away from his hand. Any seconds now, that machine gun could open fire again, and could potentially snub out his life, his ambition and his potential to this world forever. But his foot stride converged. He could not rush forward any faster. Because behind him was also Michael. Was also Paloma. Was also Jean, Isaac, anyone he could list the name and faces. It was another human being, a living breathing feeling creature, who also had a family waiting for them back home, had something to live for. And he was not going to recreate that scene again.

But fortunately, very fortunately, for both Michael and Diana, the noose decided not to drop today. The machine gun continued to remain silent. They were probably struggling to handle those weapons. Drops of water leaked into his eyes, forcing the lids tight, and him to rub his face onto the muddy shirt. It’d prove to make his face less attractive, but everybody was equal. Now the ruin was twice as large as before. Come on. Nearly there. He just need to push on a little longer.

It wasn’t his stamina that led to the rash ins and outs of air through his lungs. It was his heart pounding his chest, and echoing into his mind, once every half a second, a stark and constant reminder of how thinly it was the line between life and death. Not even half a second notice, and your lifespan would be cut short by a few decades.

The moment his two legs stepped onto the stone-paved foundation of a once holy place, he could hung his mouth in relief, as his chest ceaselessly moved up and down. But the tiredness from the stress of moving that far ahead with the threat of dying all over him could not be compared with the bliss he was in right now. He was alive. The girl’s alive. He made it. For now at least, but he made it...

Finally, he let go of Diana’s wrist, also letting the girl have her moment. She managed to catch up with him for that much, considering she also just made all the way from the front trenches. That was an accomplishment to say the least. He had lots of remarks on that, but nothing materialized from his dictionary, nor could he access them right now. Instead, he simply gave her a thumbs-up, if she could see it that is.

’Now what’s the plan?’

He turned to Isaac and Jean, who were busy scouting the area. Their plans were being made and voiced out, yet it was completely overwhelmed by the man right beside him. A blonde-haired man, that his chin stood at Michael’s height. He was insisting to have his equipment carried, in order to increase his chance of survival as he put it. It was hypothetically a good idea to do that, but a sapper is no sapper without his equipment. What if when he got up there, he needed those equipment? He’d not only risk being prosecuted for discarding his stuff, but he may likely endanger his allies. What if the guy died before reaching the trenches? Didn’t even need an answer for that.

”I’m alright. I can carry all of this.” He replied, knowing that the guy had mistakenly addressed him as a kid, but he didn’t care to correct him now. Not when bullets were still zooming over his head. But the guy was persistent. He still tried to convince Michael to give him his equipment.

”I said I’m alright. I’ve been trained for this.” He was a little annoyed, but politely raised his hand in rejection, before turning over to Isaac and Jean, trying to hear their plans. So Isaac and another gunner would be suppressing the machine gun up there, and he would-

’Tch’

It was that guy again. He still hadn’t let up despite the clear objection. Who is this guy think he is? He isn’t anywhere above the rank of Private? And yet he’s saying these things to Michael as if he is one. He has no rights by law.

As the man continued to press on, his patience grew thin. Until it finally reached boiling point. Just as Archibald was reaching out for Michael and his gear, with a swipe of his hand, the man received a slap on the wrist by the ‘kid’ that he perceived him to be. But the expression on his face and his voice as he addressed the man was far from being kid-like, cold and austere like ice.

”I may be a kid to you, but I don’t take orders from you. You are a Private. You have no rights by the military law to act superior over me.” He said, unrelenting. ”If you have the strength to carry twice a sapper’s equipment, then you better save it for the climb ahead.”

If he dared to go forward after that, he’d report this directly to the Corporals.

Once said, he could finally hear the briefing of the plans. It was a quite simple and by the book plan of suppressive fire to back the advances of the shocktroopers and other backbone troops. He was fine with that though. A familiar plan for the better most of the time.

”Hurry, while the guns are still silent.”
@Letter Bee@Landaus Five-One@LetMeDoStuff

[Landaus Five-One]

---

Diana’s Brutal Reality - At the Church Ruins - Salient Hill 58 Battle

Diana was keeping an eye out, while quite terrified and a bit scared since she never felt this much pressure on her on her all at once. She felt her heartbeat beat very fast since this was more or less an life or death situation. She kept up with the child that was holding her wrist since it’s much better to stay alive then die. ”Come on me. I can do this even though I am exhausted… I’m grateful to this kid at least.” She thought to herself, with a slight smile on her face. She got out of her thoughts trying to focus on the task at hand, which was reaching the place in question.

She was breathing in and out a bit rapidly. She didn’t hear the machine gun, which would’ve been the end of her journey in the military by her dead. She had a small sigh of relief come from her lips even though it was still raining. She never really liked rain, since it disallowed her to play outside when she was still at her home in Castleton. However, this rain was making it miserable to do a war and felt if this is what rain made her feel like, how would snow. She was pushing as fast as possible to keep in tandem with the child that is keeping her from falling onto the ground. She could feel like she’ll need to get a rest break a bit more than usual because her feet is killing her right now.

She felt her feet touch stone-paved foundation of the church’s ruins. She had a sigh of relief come out of her. Mostly because of the fact, she and this child made it to the church ruins. It made her feel she needed to relax a bit since her feet was killing her. Her breathing and heartbeat was still going really fast even though she could relax a bit more. She remembered that the child was still holding onto her wrist.

She felt the release of her wrist by the sapper in question, which was holding onto her wrist after all. She moved her wrist a bit and happy to have full movement of her hands and body. She noticed the child’s thumbs up and she saw it. ”T-Thanks, sapper.” She responded to his thumbs up. Even though she wanted to say something else but felt it would be pretty rude.

She was a bit overwhelmed to see certain people she didn’t really recognize at all. However, they look like they were apart of the platoon, she was supposed to reinforce at what the plans they were planning. However, it made her a bit confused at the fact since she doesn’t really understand military strategy of charging an enemy position just to die to an enemy. She noticed the blonde man in question that was talking towards the person who helped her get here. However, she didn’t know how important sappers were to battles since she was thrusted into this war with very little training on what the other roles do. She moved slightly but her body language made her pretty noticeable in how unprepared she was.

She listened to the back and forth between the blonde ‘wonder’ and the child that saved her. She couldn’t really understand what was going on but Sappers do carry a lot of equipment. She could see the child was a bit annoyed. She had a nervous look and was looking down slightly. ”It would probably to allow the person who’s trained to the job. To do the job they are assigned.” She responded not trying to show authority but to stop the argument that is happening. Since she kinda dislikes those types of things.

She heard the blonde wonder’s name and rolled her eyes a bit. ”Your name is nice, I guess. My name is Diana Elana Vastergoth, a private rifleman.” She replied to the blonde wonder’s name. She listened to the briefing and it was pretty simple in question, what will be happening. She wasn’t really trained that well but it didn’t help that her drill sergeant was an complete asshole by the name of Victor. She was confused what most of the things meant mostly because of the fact, she wasn’t taught much about other roles but her own.

However, she knew how to follow orders since she wanted to be a good soldier and take some glory back for her family. ”U-Uh… I wish I knew what all these terms met.. If I joined this via a different method I would have probably learned more things about this whole thing. But I was conscripted and my parents wanted to keep me away from this.” She thought to herself, the look on her entire face kinda showed what is going on in her head. She was a jumbled confused mess, which was nervous around all the males near her. She looked down to cover up the fact she was embarrassed.

”I’ve felt like I ran longer than a mile… in a short time. And that’s great advice, child.” She responded to the child sapper in question. However, she didn’t realize these words would be completely incorrect to what he is really. She had a feeling like she put her foot in her mouth since she did hear him be slightly annoyed at being called kid.

@Conscripts @Letter Bee @LetMeDoStuff

[Jeep Wrangler]

---

_{Garnian Salient: Front Line, August 25th - The Battle of Hill 58}

---

By the time he'd finished his scouting spree, the group around him had already thickened in numbers. The rubble they were hiding amongst was starting to become cramped, which was a dangerous constraint onto the group's possible survival. All around the hill's ascendance, troops were still beginning to climb up, some even taking the time to shoot whilst they clambered up with little aim. More and more were starting to reach the top, but those behind the church rubble were still finalising their plan. It was an honest and smart move to make, but Jean still felt under pressure from those behind him. What if they were being framed for cowardice? Lieutenant Middleton was always going to be on their back, he felt, especially with a Darcsen like Jean. Before he could initiate the plan, the gunners were still shifting on their stomachs to line and deploy their armaments, giving him a few seconds to take in the scenery of the comrades around him. All of them were grizzled and drenched in the rainfall. Some had specks of other people's blood soaked into their uniforms whilst others were somewhat clean for the conditions of the battle. A thick ooze of mud slopped off of one's helmet like a guttering gall sloping from a liver. For starters, he saw two individuals having a bit of a small argument, one that seemed to irritate Jean. The man, at least from Jean's perspective, was persisting to take his tools to give him better speed. For what? Jean was already on edge from the stress of the battle, the violence taking its toll around them and the dropping of bodies left, right and centre. This was not needed. Jean, still squatting, crawled forward and broke the two a part, his eyes starting to stress out with red veins of worry.

"No one is taking anyone's gear. N-No one, you hear?" Jean was required to raise his tone to compensate for the gunfire in the morning's dew. There was still a tremble to his tone, letting everyone know that he was in fact afraid, possibly more than anyone else. Jean had someone, a very interesting looking girl, compliment him on his act of heroism and bravery towards fishing out a dead Sergeant's body. What cruel irony. "U-uhh...t...thank you, uhm...Private."

Whilst he didn't know Kalisa's name, the impact of her outspoken compliment was quite a lot to take in. Had he really transformed so quickly as to garner some minor respect within the first ten minutes of conflict? It was a large consideration, yet he still persisted in awkwardly nodding. And so, Jean stood up slightly, still concealing his head only slightly below the ridges of the debris. Jean whipped out the binoculars one last time, checking the situation. The pathway was still clear, but only if the gunners did their job. And now was the only time they'd have to move, knowing that the overflowing numbers of friendly soldiers taking cover behind the broken church would only justify mortar or artillery barrages on their position.

Jean took to the front of the rubble, holding his rifle and checking that the bayonet was still attached to the tip. It wasn't blocking the barrel and still allowed for him to shoot, but it still gave some extra weight to its tip, making aiming slightly more trickier for the young Lance Corporal. Everyone was behind him and his heart pounded with fear over whether or not it was a plan he could comprehend. Some of those waiting for the signal were watching him with beady eyes. Jean then started something he couldn't imagine doing ever. If anyone paid enough attention to him, they would have seen the singular tear dribble down his right cheek, signifying that he was desperately wishing to be elsewhere. All around them, bodies continued to fall and others managed to narrowly dodge the rounds of Imperial gunfire, yet he still found his inner emotion to panic. And with that, he turned back to the gunners, and raised his hand hesitantly with constant shaking.

"O-Open fire, Gunners! Go, go! Follow me, i-if you will!"

Jean, for once, didn't hesitate to stand up and be the first one to run as soon as some of the gunner's began to open fire. The wall of suppression holding them back was a risky challenge but Jean was determined to see himself survive. However, it wasn't out of bravery or nobility, but cowardice and fear itself. He rushed forward, knowing that some of the shocktroopers and other vital soldiers were behind him. He couldn't guess who was and who wasn't. In all honesty, Jean would not have blamed if all of them stayed behind the cover and waited for him to run alone into the faces of death. They were human too, and the Darcsen Lance Corporal was nothing more than a sub-species of the rest of the group.

When he took those first steps from behind the church, his mind and ears fell silent. Everything became muffled as he let his legs desperately carry him onward. There was nothing but then poetic reality of the battlefield all around him. His mind spoke in rhymes and cryptic stanza as they rehearsed what needed to be said about the battlefield. The damnation of mud, blood and soil corroded into the facec of the mountain in such a way that Jean thought they could dig beneath the entire battle. Obsolete shots of retaliation came from the barrels of unnamed soldiers all around him, committing to their own charges up the hill. It was as if everyone wanted to triumphantly conquer this piece of hell, yet it was futile to even think in such a positive manner. Jean was desperate to prove to Olivia that this was to be the time he joined her in the heavens above. With a stride forward, he continued the pursuit. The pitter-patter of bullets from the Federation machine guns seemed to slam against the hill's peak, pinning down those who were quick enough to dodge their incoming hellfire. Frantic squeals of whistled bullets sprayed above his own head, passing from both in front and behind. Footsteps were somewhat audible in the splatter of the mud below their boots. Jean was scared, beyond all comprehension, which was why he must have continued the pursuit of the hill's top.

Metres turned into drawn out miles as they continued what felt like forever's distance. It was clearly not as far as he thought, but the wave of unrelenting sombre ensured that he was in a drawn out suffering that lasted an eternity. But despite this, he finally fell into it. By some miracle, he and several others began to drop into the foxholes just below the hill's peak. It was the specific place he had designated their plan to call a rendezvous point. Quickly, he turned, taking the time to breathe and take in the massive achievement of surviving up until now. Without thinking, he turned and barked out, in a trembled and fragile manner, to those who'd followed him.

"S-Shocktroopers! Lob the b-b-bombs! Lob 'em now!" This was it. Throwing the ignited bombs into the trenches would give them a small segment to jump into within their hiding place. From there, it would be a brutal case of close quarters engagement and bloodfest. Jean just hoped that it wouldn't be as bad as he imagined the gruesome battle would conclude. However, he knew deep down that he was wrong.

_{@Conscripts@Letter Bee@Landaus Five-One@Ithradine@SMS@FalloutJack@Bushman501@AtomicNut}

[AtomicNut]

---

Mila Wagner

_{Garnian Salient: Front Line, August 25th - he Battle of Hill 58}

---

Filthy. Filthy. All filth that surrounded her. All filth that refused to go. She was surrounded by all of it. Wounds that oozed filth. Boots that flung filth. Souls that reeked filth. Minds full to the brim with filth. She tried and she tried and she couldn't scrub all of it off. For she was filth too.

Gone were the days where she could act. Where she still did a pretend game of big sister. They were so young in her opinion. Just like the siblings back at home. They needed a guiding figure. A soothing hand. Even if she herself wasn't sure of it, she did her best to be reassuring and smile. Everything was going to turn okay, she whispered to the souls that huddled against her, like baby chicks in a storm seeking comfort. Comfort that she provided. Comfort that she claimed was going to give all times.

But she had been wrong. The combat started. Left. Right. It was unlike any training exercise. She was overwhelmed. Like everyone else. She could barely react. And... people had fallen already. All for a bunch of mud. What was the point she was trying to make? Patriotism? Show that she wasn't a traitor. They all were humans and bled. There was no difference. And yet... for the sake of idealism, people younger than her were thrown on this hell.

The stray bullet had splattered all the contents of the head, the face disfigured in horror. But she had recognized the corpse of the fallen soldier on her way towards the gathering point. Sandra. Daughter of a baker. Wanted to make cupcakes. She was a bit of an spoiled little girl, but not a bad person. Too bad she would never heard how well Mila was going to do her gingerbread recipe from now on. No. Her brains were now filth on the ground. The same filth that stained her clothes.

Everything was filth. But what was the point of it. Was her destiny to become filth? It may have to be. But she remembered. Her family would be sad. All the little girls who huddled under her and looked up to her would be saddened. She felt her stomach convulse, as the lance corporal vomited his orders. Very much like her breakfast now. More filth upon filth.

Filth. She was filth. But she had to pretend. It was us versus them. Every soldier killed was an ally spared. She was such filth. And yet... she could not bear to not kill. She had to kill. For the small ones. For their hopes and dreams. Even if it meant hugging her siblings with blood-soaked hands, she would fight. She stood up, trembling. Her heart was thrumming in her ears, barely able to hear the Lance Corporal instructions. The orders came. She felt her chest exploding, a numbing fire spreading through all of her body.

And yet... she was fine. She was calm. Sharp. Focused. Her eyes narrowed, her stance assumed the positions that had been beaten into her by the drills. She spoke, in a voice that was perhaps too sweet and nuanced for the confident Mila, as if years had been taken out of her.

"I am going to murder every single one of them I find on my sights." She said in a singsong voice, hoisting her weapon, and charging. Rage that gave her wings, that numbed all sensations of pain and fear. More than machinegun fire, or dying by bullets, she feared to not be the big sister everyone looked up to. She advanced to a pace she had never thought she was capable off, her teeth gritted in a warped grin, a far shot from her usual smiling stance.

Lob grenades, he said. And she lobbed her, into the trenches. That would be enough to win time, but she had to breach. The Lance corporal was besides her now. She grunted, eyeing a corpse of an Imperial soldier she had seen in the battlefield. "Rise and shine, corporal. The only way out is through!" She smiled, full of dirt and malice, before setting off the imperial grenade at the corpse's belt and kicking it back into the trench.

It was satisfying how they never expected a booby trapped corpse of their own. They were filth, and so was she. And then she jumped, her eyes narrowed and her posture slouched, as she lashed at everything vaguely resembling an imperial trooper with unladen fury.

"IF YOU KILL THE PUPPIES, THE BITCH TEARS YOUR THROAT, IMPS!" She said, as she cackled, drunk on rage and blood.

_{@Conscripts@Letter Bee@Landaus Five-One@Ithradine@SMS@FalloutJack@Bushman501@LetMeDoStuff}

[Landaus Five-One]

Diana’s Brutal Reality - Close Quarters - Salient Hill 58 Battle (August 25th)

---

Diana looked around the church’s ruins and noticed a arrival, which came from what looked like they were scouting. She couldn’t really put her finger on it but something hit her like a ton of bricks. Which was what her mother told her, don’t ever insult someone based on prejudices only based on their actions. She had that beaten into her head ever since she was growing up in the Vastergoth home. She usually only played with her childhood friend Anna. She was friendly towards anyone who wanted to play minus the Donster family. ”Mom told me to respect everyone equally, which includes Darscens. I hope our commanding officer is alright he seems highly nervous. But I am also nervous too.” The thoughts on her mind was mostly about certain lessons her mother had given her. She was highly nervous and had to look down at the ground.

She heard his voice coming from him, literally ordering blonde wonder to stop asking for the child’s gear. She had butterflies in her stomach, mostly because she has to take another person’s life in a war, which she was conscripted into. She couldn’t help but feel she’ll have to do some real damage to the enemy sooner than later. Her body was shaking from being rained on and it was a bit annoying to have all this happen. Her facial feature couldn’t really help to hope to make her ready for what was about to come together next.

She couldn’t really put anything into perspective because everything was new to her. She bite her lower lip, because she was utterly frustrated. She couldn’t help that her entire fantasy was crashing down all around her. She hasn’t really fully comprehended most things with what is going on. She was hopeful the lance corporal could fill in the blanks of what’s going on and able to comprehend things better than her. She noticed the Lance Corporal’s hand shaking when he was about to give an order. She heard the order and wanted to help the Lance Corporal in anyway she can, in terms of supporting him. ”I will follow you, Lance Corporal!” Diana exclaimed with a bit of excitement and was a bit louder than the rain and gunfire but aimed at the nervous Lance Corporal.

She started to follow the Lance Corporal since she exclaimed that she will follow him. She didn’t really have time to look at her weapon since she wanted to get into the fray even though she hasn’t shot her weapon at enemies. She was nervous at the fact that’s going to be the case. She was following Jean as much as one would do with rifleman gear. She couldn’t help but to run even though her feet was utterly killing her but she couldn’t quit until they get this battlefield over with. She completely had a dumbfounded look on her face, while following the lance corporal, which she didn’t even know his name. ”I wish I knew what his name was. I was late to the party so to speak.” She pondered a bit but snapped herself back to reality because of something that scared her out of her thoughts.

She was utterly shocked at the fact the lady in fact, said those words in question. She had a bit of a look on her face of a bit of fear at the shocktrooper saying those. But she did remember hearing from Victor that there was an ’candy lady,’ spoiling the recruits, who was older than her. ”S-Something tells me, she’s angry…” She thought with a bit of fear mixed into her face. She was worried at what made the candy lady so livid. She hoped the enemies of the federation is the one that the candy lady is angry at. ”I hope the candy lady has candy for me. When she returns to her normal kind self.” She smiled with that thought even though she was a bit terrified.

She continued to follow the Lance Corporal to the enemy’s entrenched position. However, all she had is the rifle she was equipped with, with a bayonet attached to it. She saw, the candy lady jump into the imperial’s entrenchment and was completely shocked. She shivered down her spine when she heard what she had said. ”O-Oh… Shit… T-That’s terrifying. The candy lady is pissed.” She shakily replied and was a bit terrified at what the candy lady has became. She, however, knew she couldn’t retreat even though what the candy lady yelled and started to crackle made her a bit terrified at what is happening.

She got down and started to get stuck in, against the Imperials since she joined this war for glory and other such things. However, she was a bit nervous only because the Candy lady’s outrage against their enemies. She raised her rifle to point it at a imperial and attacked the imperial in question, with the bayonet end of her rifle. ”I hope I am doing this right… Please for the love of my family I do good. This close of quarters… with your enemies is insane.” She thought with a bit of a family pride more than anything.

@LetMeDoStuff @AtomicNut @Letter Bee @Ithradine @SMS @FalloutJack @Bushman501

[Letter Bee]

Archibald Andrews - Sapper

Archibald's first impulse was anger, anger that Michael had refused his request. The next impulse was to acknowledge the truth, and continue on with his summary of the plan for attack as though nothing had happened. The impulse after that was to consider how much time had been lost attempting to help someone who only looked like he needed his help. Finally, all the aforementioned impulses gathered together to compel him to say, "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have assumed. And you're right."

This was a bad omen; causing unecessary conflict with a fellow soldier. His attempts to help had become annoying, and it had been seen by the rest of his squad. He looked at the Lance Corporals, hoping that their attention had not been diverted by the the minor dispute. If they had been, Archibald will take one last moment to say, "I'm sorry, sir, it will not happen again."

A promise that he wanted to keep; a promise he was going to keep. Archibald heard the slight tremble of Jean's voice and knew where it came from, but sympathized with it instead of the contrary. Fear made his commanding officer human, and right now, humanity was what he sought for in said commanding officer. But enough thoughts about that, it was time to charge that hill before the enemy's artillery was ready.

As he ran up said hill, his strong legs proving that indeed, he was able to move fast despite the weight of his equipment, the Sapper drew his rifle while the Lance Corporal reached the foxholes - the reason why it didn't take so long from his perspective, while it took a long time from Jean's, was because, with all due respect, Archibald was suppressing his urge for melodrama.

The Shocktroopers had reached the foxholes, covered by the Gunners' machine gun fire. Grenades were being thrown into the enemy trenches, and all Archibald can do was follow the other troops as they were in their element - Close Quarters Combat. A glance at Jean; the Sapper worried about his Lance Corporal. From his looks and demeanor alone, Jean looked like someone forced into battle; courageous and determined, certainly, but would deny it when pressed. What could have happened to force him into such a bloody conflict?

Shots whizzed above his head, a sign that it wasn't safe to think. In fact, the fact that he can spare time to think at all was the result of the Sappers still having a few seconds to get into shooting range.

Yet he can't help himself, even as he ducked down to keep a low profile, running in zig-zags like his father taught him in order to increase his chances of survival. Humanity was cruel, innately cruel yet at the same time innately kind. The cruelty of humanity had made this conflict in the first place; whether Cruxian or Yggdist or even Atheist, no religion or lack of can deny that Humanity was a mass of virtues and sins, and those combined to make this war a reality.

As he finally got into close quarters, shooting at any Imperial unlucky enough to survive the Shocktroopers' onslaught, Archibald finally realized the truth his father had tried to teach him: War was Hell. That was why his family had chosen to embrace the Good News, the Good News of the Cruxian Faith, and its promise of salvation and redemption for those who would reach out and take it.

The Purpose of War Is Ultimately Peace, he thought to himself, managing to spell out the capitals in his own head. If I survive this, I will teach my children how to avert such a conflict from happening again. May The Savior bless -

An Imperial Soldier rose up of a heap of corpses, bayonet swinging up to skewer Archibald. Shots fired as the Sapper lifted up his rifle, shooting the enemy over and over again in order to ensure that he was truly dead. At last it was done; he had killed his first man, his first fellow human. It had to be done, Archibald thought. I hope that Yggist or Cruxian or Non-Believer, he is in a better place now.

There was no time for further prayers.

[Ithradine]

---

---

Small fragments of rock and dust were sent through the air as a stray bullet struck the piece of rubble that Daniel was positioned behind. This momement of respite allowed his hearing to gradually get back to normal, although the ringing still made it near impossible to hear anything beyond his own thoughts. He couldn't help but wonder if that vision of Elizabeth had been real or merely a figment of his imagination. No, it was definitely her. There was no way his mind could construct such a vivid vision and besides, the words she spoke were definitely hers. Even in death, she was his guardian angel. He would keep her promise cause in the end...he couldn't really ever say no to her.

It was difficult to put his interest in the apparent squabbling between the two sappers, though if he could hear what was being said he would have told them both to knock it off. One observation he made was quick to put him on edge. There was a considerable amount of women now filling their little rubble pile, and even worse was that two of them bore shock-trooper equipment. One seemed to have more than one screw loose and the other seemed riddled with anxiety and uncertainty. It did not give him great confidence to be fighting near them when they charged the trench-line again.

Though a sea of calm was present in his features, he could feel the rapid beating of his heart in his chest. Was it fear? Anticipation? Excitement? He couldn't place it, though it coursed through his very blood and made the skin on his fingers twinge. Was it because he now had to fight to keep a promise rather than to simply kill and survive? Ever since Elizabeth passed away he cared for very little beyond what served him best at the time. However, her ghost had put the smallest crack in that hard shell he made...a chance for others to break through to him.

Since he was unable to properly hear orders, he instead watched every movement Jean made like a hawk. Through doing this, he could see the terror that gripped the young lance corporal's heart. Daniel had no words of comfort to ease the horror nor advice to push past it. Nothing beyond ending this battle as quickly as possible was going to help. Daniel's eyes narrowly as he watched the Darscen's hand raise and quickly moved into a position to move. The coils of muscle within his legs bundling up and ready to spring forward the moment that hand dropped. He had resigned himself to doing the terrible things that this war would require, so that others wouldn't.

Dirt was kicked up into the air as soon as the signal was given. A hailstorm of machine gun fire lit up the path forward for the charging infantry. Instead of rushing ahead this time, he took up a position alongside the lance corporal. If he would stop for any reason Daniel was determined to kick his ass all the way to the trench. A responsibility now rested on his shoulders and Daniel would be damned if he let Jean get out of it. The various aches and pains of his body were washed away with the tidal wave of adrenaline that pumped into his body. Every broken piece of his heart...every scar on his body...he did not suffer through them to die in a place like this. We was going to live if only in defiance of every challenge life sent his way.

Daniel slide across the mud into a foxhole next to the lance corporal. He managed to check the chamber of his rifle before the order came that he had been waiting for. A glance at the beserk shock-trooper was enough to tell him what to do as he ripped the explosives off a couple dead imperials and threw them into the trench. Explosions rocked the fortification kicking up a black cloud of wood, dirt, and blood. Unsurprisingly, the berserk woman was the first to rush in with Daniel quickly following suit. The ringing in his ear had mostly faded leaving behind only the somewhat muffled sounds of combat. The instincts of his training consumed him as an imperial rifleman peeked from cover. Daniel snapped his rifle against his shoulder and lined up the cross-hairs with his target's chest. He wasted no time pressing his finger against the metal trigger and felt the familiar feeling of the weapon press into his braced shoulder. The shot tore through the air and ripped into the imperials chest before making a clean exit into the dirt wall behind him.

"IF YOU KILL THE PUPPIES, THE BITCH TEARS YOUR THROAT, IMPS!"

Those words bore through the clog in Daniel's hearing straight into his mind, pushing every other sound out with its sheer ferocity. The full and sudden return of his hearing went unnoticed as he glanced at Mila in almost complete disbelief. That was when he heard the battle cry of an Imperial charging from his blind spot. Quickly, he pivoted his feet and pushed off his toes as the sharp blade shot past where his chest had been. Daniel's weapon was dropped to the ground as he reached with his left hand and grabbed the Imp's right arm and used the soldier's momentum with his right hand to lift him off his feet and slam the bastard on his back. Daniel immediately jumped onto the soldier, straddling his waist and locking his legs with his own, and tore his weapon away from him. Then he latched his hands on his neck and began to squeeze, his thumbs purposefully digging into the soft flesh.

The Imperial reached and clawed at his arms and chest in panic while falling just short of Daniel's face. Blood began to seep from his neck as Daniel's thumbs dug deeper. While the soldier struggled to breath, Daniel lifted his head and began to smash it against the ground to the sound of cracking bone. Within seconds the last signs of life disappeared from the soldier and with one last desperate attempt to pull away Daniel's fingers...his life was ended. Daniel let out a loud exhale as he removed his hands from the corpse's throat now covered in blood and dirt. He stood up and picked up his rifle before plunging the bayonet into the Imp's chest. The lack of reaction was enough to confirm his death. He felt nearly nothing from taking this life but the age of the man struck him. The Imperial had to be no older than he was. Daniel quickly took his mind off it. It was us or them, and right now he had to make sure it was them.

@LetMeDoStuff@AtomicNut

[FalloutJack]

ISAAC BLACK

Britta Hagen

With a plan having been put into motion, the two Gunners got into position and set up. This would be at least better than those times on the ground, trying to pinpoint the muzzle flash of the distant enemy and letting loose. With the hill closer and able to be viewed in all the horrible details of war, they would have clear targets and clearer shots. Staying out of view on either side of the hole they were going to operate out of, the two of them had just a little time to make sure their guns wouldn't jam, and converse, before the new charge began.

"You have any trouble making it up here?"

"A few close calls. Sounded like you drew some fire, yourself."

"Must've been close to the mark, then. Almost had me too."

Guns were checked, ammo was assessed, and bipods were prepped. They wouldn't reveal the presence of their guns, ready to give that hill some righteous hell, until the moment arrived. As much surprise as possible. That was the idea. They waited, watching the other here getting prepared.

"Jean seems to be doing alright."

"Yeah, I was kinda' worried about that, but I think he'll be fine."

"Did he really pull in the Sergeant's-"

"Yes, he did."

Jean was a proper gentleman, pulling in the Sergeant's body. This same Sergeant had been a hardass with them, prior to their charge out here. It looked like a number of their own had made it here. Hell, some that hadn't been there before started coming in! Their Sapper had helped in a blonde girl, right along with another Sapper he hadn't met. Speaking of that Sapper, he was causing something of a situation with the shorter one. Isaac shook his head at the insinuation that he might be a child on the battlefield.

"He's not a kid, Private! They'd never let him on the battlefield if that was the case!"

While Isaac knew that the recruitment standards could slip, and that men and women could be conscripted into battle, they hadn't let anyone in who wasn't in their teens, so unless somebody at the office was blind, they couldn't possibly have missed the guy's short stature. For them to allow him into this mess, he had to have proven to them that he met requirements in age. He certainly didn't sound like a kid when he spoke, so he was just a short man. Another thing that seemed a bother about the taller Sapper was that he was repeating orders that both Jean and himself had already spoken. Not that it was wrong to make sure in such a loud place, but everyone had clearly heard both of them, Jean with his plan spoken and Isaac reinforcing it in a show of support to this frankly decent idea. There was no need to repeat that again.

The short Sapper owned him, however, bringing a smile to Isaac's face as Jean went to straighten things out. All was right with the world, once more. Well...all except this damn war. That was gonna take alot of oversight. They had taken the first step: They were out here. Now, Jean would signal the next one. They all waited as he carefully watched the scene of battle out there, as though trying to determine the perfect time to go. Then, in an instant, the word was given.

Now!

Both Gunners brought their weapons down to rest on rubble and suddenly opened fire on some unsuspecting Imperials. Some of them dropped, having been paying attention to the wrong thing at that moment. Isaac shouted "Bonus!" as that happened, and the rest of those minding that side of defense ducked for cover. From here, Isaac and Britta waited for new heads to pop up or some kind of movement they could take a shot at. Because, you see, after the first couple of ammo clips, if they kept just shooting at a wall, they'd just run out of ammunition, and then where would their troops be? Up a hill without a machine gun, that's what!

Nevertheless, Isaac saw a bunch of them make it to the foxholes, where he could've sworn one of the other knew arrivals was shouting and laughing like crazy. What...? Just...what? Was she cracking up? What was going on out there? Did she say 'Imps'? It was kinda' hard to tell with all the noise and- Ah shit, the enemy was moving on those in the foxholes. One or two had already been on the move and they'd been too close to get a shot on. The Gunners poured it on from their place, keeping alot of people pinned, wounded, or dead. The rest was up to them, at least until there wasn't much of anyone left to suppress.

Come on, guys. The grenades, then the push. We can't get you in any farther than at the gates.

[Conscripts]

---

His eyes were split between the sight of the two gunners and the sights of the Imperials on the hill, as he silently watched both. Just a little faster, please? He voicelessly whispered his thoughts. If these Imperials caught wind of what was happening below them, they'd never let this happen. On the while, he heard comments and talks about him and his short and child-like stature, the worst offender being the girl he just pulled into the church, who later introduced herself as Diana - Diana Elana Vastergoth. As annoying as it sounded, this was no time for correction. Explaining it to them that he was actually not a kid wouldn't do anything if all of them were dead on the ground a few minutes later. He'd rather let them be for now, let them indulge the plan and hopefully would stick to them.

The moment his superior broke into a run, the gunners immediately lit up the hill with their hail mary of rounds. Now's the chance. As much as Michael liked to stay behind the thick cobblestone wall of the old church, he knew too well that if he did not die by the enemy's bullet right here right now, he'd die by his ally's bullet later on in the battle. And his death would not only be it. He did not underestimate the power of rumors. He feared both, but better to die being a loyal soldier rather than a coward, so that his family would not suffer after his departure.

He watched as his comrades began to charge up the hill, following the straight line of gunshots from the two gunners. He followed suit shortly thereafter, as his rather short silhouette moved with the swiftness that was rarely seen and expected for a man of that size. The two joints of his leg bones shifted smoothly as he glided here and there along the way up the hill, praying a bullet would not make it into his head, and that those who were ahead of him could distract them just enough for him to make it up the hill alive.

And indeed he made it. The sight of that mound of dirt brought a heavy exhale of relief. But it was short-lived, and he knew it. The moment he stopped to be attacked by machine gun bullets was the moment he would be assaulted by the infantry inside. Michael was not at all confident in his ability as a close-ranged fighter, despite being told of having an unusual amount of strength in him. But at least he could be using his weapons right now instead of sitting ducks down there.

With a short leap, Michael had stepped his foot onto the enemy's trenches for the very first time. And just as the call of the devil, the soldier next to him turned around, his eyes widened in surprise. Surprise quickly turned into anger. As it was evident, he was an Imperial. Both of whom swung their weapons around, but the Imperials judged the situation differently than his enemy. Knowing how close they were, the Imperial instead surged forward, instead of trying to shoot his rifle, he tried to ram the weapon onto him instead, the sharp bayonet like a scythe of death from the reaper himself.

Michael's luck all of a sudden dropped to his low. His prayer did not reach in this very particular moment, as his hand shook the moment he pulled the trigger on his rifle. The bullet went right pass the guy's chest harmlessly, thus allowing him to attack undeterred. A shout came out from his lips as he was certain of a quick kill. Time all of a sudden seemed to stop...

"Honey. If you ever feel like you're in a black hole in this universe, remember that I and Papa will always be waiting for you back at home, will always take you in even if the entire world turns your back against you."

"I know I am being hard on you, but you have to remember, I am doing this all for your own sake. I cannot afford to have anymore child than you. So you are the only culmination of our hopes and dreams. Remember that, so you can live a life worth living."

"Be safe. Write to me every chance you can get. I love you..."

No...

His eyes looked up

No.

His grip tightened.

NO!

The moment that soldier noticed the fire burning, he was already at his mercy. A powerful side swing of his own Longfield Rifle redirected his bayonet to the wall of dirt nearby. And his legs had plunged him too deep. Now he was right in front of Michael, and the sapper's bayonet was in active position. And who in the right mind would give this man any mercy at all, when he gave him none.

An earth-shattering frontal kick sent the Imperial stumbling a few steps back into the trenches. A merciless frontal force brought a piece of metal straight into the man's heart. Within seconds, the life in the young soldier's eyes were drained out of his soul, just as the metal bayonet continued to impale deeper into his veins. Michael proceeded to twist his rifle, making sure the man finally left this earth before he pulled it back.

It was his official first kill.

He honestly wanted to choke. But now that the blood had already stained his bayonet, he knew nothing better than to swallow it, even if he didn't want to.

He turned around to see a group of few Imperial soldiers running in the opposite direction of him. And unobscured by the rain, he could see some of his squadmates from the church ruin. Hopefully they were seeing what he was seeing.

[SMS]

The church was getting crowded. Slowly but steadily, more people were gathering at the ruined holy space. Several she recognized from the briefing, but also a few that weren't present earlier. She overheard one of the small groups that had formed had started to bicker, but was quickly stopped when one side backed down rather easily.

With his command, the Lance Corporal had rushed out as the gunners provided them covering fire. Kalisa let the adrenaline push her forward as she followed him a step behind on his left side, as she had now realized that they were not only headed towards the enemy trenches, but they were definitely gonna be meeting the Imperials face-to-face soon. Not a very thrilling prospect.

Killing Imperials wasn't one of the things she signed up for when she enlisted for the military. But in this war, it's kill or be killed. Nobody cares about your lineage, you're here to fight for what you believe in. And Kalisa believes that ending and winning this war would lead to the best possible ending for everybody. And that is what kept her going.

Patches of dirt would fly up around her, bullets grazing by and hitting the land. Kalisa found herself ducking for cover as they closed the trenches. The sounds of gunfire and screams of people being shot drowned out everything else. Except for one particular person.

"I am going to murder every single one of them I find on my sights."

The girl looked to the owner of the voice. She... didn't seem right. She looked fine and calm, but her actions were anything but. Taking the Lance Corporal's orders to heart, she ignited one a grenade on the body of an Imperial corpse before kicking it back in towards the trench. She thought it was a pretty morbid way of setting an example, but it proved effective.

Kalisa cocked a few of her grenades and promptly threw them towards the farther side of the trench, away from them to avoid hitting any friendlies. The girl then followed the madwoman down into the Imperial trench, and found herself looking at an Imperial soldier who was struggling to aim at the madwoman with his rifle. He was scared out of his mind, but he had his sights targetting her. Unfortunately for him, Kalisa was ready. She quickly took aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit and pierced him through his stomach. He reeled back in pain as he realized what had happened. He looked down and saw blood seeping through his clothes. He then looked at Kalisa, his shooter.

She herself was also shaking. She had fired her rifle before during training, but this was the first time she had actually fired at an actual person. She wasn't sure how to feel, but that he was aiming at a friendly, so she had to stop him. The soldier took this chance to try and aim his own rifle back at her, but the pain and his weakening body could barely lift the gun back up. Kalisa however, rushed forward the moment he tried to lift his rifle. Being a bolt-action rifle, reloading for her next bullet would have given the soldier a chance to shoot at her. So the next best thing would have been to just use her bayonet given their distance of several steps away.

Kalisa wasn't aiming for a particular part, she had just aimed to drive the blade into him enough to incapacitate him. The blade struck his chest, and pinned the soldier to the wall as Kalisa kept the blade pushed against him to keep him from moving. She was mentally apologizing to the Imperial, but kept a firm face to avoid showing any weaknesses as he struggled against her. It didn't take long before he stopped moving all together, and a look at his face revealed that the life has extinguished from his eyes.

The girl pulled the rifle back to release him from the bayonet, and his body crumpled onto the ground as she processed what just happened. Everything had happened in about the span of maybe half a minute, but everything felt like it lasted for hours. The gunshot, to the stabbing, his struggle, and his eventual death.

"This is war... huh?"

@LetMeDoStuff @AtomicNut

[Jeep Wrangler]

---

_{Garnian Salient: Front Line, August 25th - The Battle of Hill 58}

---

It was a shock to see the first volley come so successful. Initially, the shocktroopers threw their ragnite bombs into the opposing trench quickly in large clusters. A few panicked shouts from Imperials notably noticing the approaching tools of explosive destruction filled the air. It was as if they had seen the legendary Valkyria on the battlefield, which in of itself was a myth that could never be relieved. A second volley was tossed, this time from those who weren't shocktroopers. It became a realisation, to Jean, that these were people suddenly switching in their human natures. They were almost programmed to act, and to kill, for their own sake. One, the notable sweetheart that had falsely complimented his facade of bravery, pulled the pins on an Imperial corpse before shoving it back inside the trench. And as the final few bombs landed within the trench, everyone covered their ears and heads from any falling debris. The explosion shuddered the foundations of Europa's soil, physically moving the small fragments of earth beneath their roughened boots. The once human shouts of realisation and panic were soon drowned out by the inevitable expansion of ear-piercing white noise. A ghostly shatter broke the once peaceful repertoire caused by the machine-gun's cannonade. The orchestration of automatic fire was temporarily ceased when the ignition of shrapnel and handheld discharge spilt blood from those still pestering within that quadrant of the trench. A sharp pain spun in Jean's inner-guts as he was brutally reminded that despite not acting upon the detonation, it was his idea to commit to such brutality. His eyes widened and his breath drew short. A heavy burden lay itself upon his shoulders with a wide reach, pampering him with self-loathing and discriminatory backlash.

When the explosions were finished, the conclusion opened a window of opportunity for those committed to the war already. Some of the subjectively braver companions within Jean's platoon were quick to take the mantle, rushing inside with their bayonets. One woman in particular bespoke of a ruined ritual that showed chaotic nightmares in her wake. Jean froze, not getting up in fear of what this woman was doing. She'd risen from the ashes of the explosions she'd set off and vowed revenge on some small individuals he did not know of. Her violent underlining terrified him, making him realise that within seconds people had the chance to lose their innate humanity for that of a barbarian.

More and more were following in her footsteps and Jean could her the first few shots from the barrels of the Longfields. Those insane enough to make the first move were quick to jump in, leaving Jean and a few others to struggle as he tried to find his own courage. Eventually, Jean arose from his foxhole and slowly began to ascend the final few steps of the hill, watching over the trench around him. What laid within those trenches was far worse than what he'd ever experienced thus far.

Men and women were engaged closely in hand to hand combat. Those with loaded and bolted shots at the ready quickly aimed and fired. Several soldiers were still injured from the explosions and stood no change from those like the madwoman who violently led the charge. He remembered the words that the crazy female had said, about how the only way out was through the mess. But before him laid more than hell and dirt, but instead the destabilisation of mankind's own intrinsic and virtuous ethical standards. Jean, a lowly Darcsen, felt as if he could look out in disgust at the race that had descended to such atrocity. Those who looked kind and sweet before were being forced to react, taking their sharpened bayonets and striking them deeply into the chests of their adversaries. Human life was being extinguished like the fires of nearby forests almost instantaneously. Around him was war, but not in the way his homeland had portrayed it. Jean's instincts were to descend himself into the trench, making sure his comrades weren't alone in the struggles, but he soon realised how much of a mistake it was.

Some were already struggling in the narrow corridors, but where Jean had landed placed him directly in front that of another Imperial, one who seemed to carry similar versions of his own native gear. A rifleman, most likely, judging by his gear. The two stared at each other in almost unified disbelief of the terror around them, but Jean was late to raise his rifle first. The Imperial, only about four metres before him, raised his gun and aimed it directly at Jean, slowing down the passage of time. Was he staring in death's own jaws? But where the bullet didn't eject instead came the unforgiving click of a jammed rifle. Jean was stunned as the Imperial looked back down at his rifle, realising the mistake of its muddy components. Jean raised his rifle without hesitation, for once, and quickly pulled the trigger.

The rush. It was unbearable. The recoil felt almost nothing like it had during training. Almost throwing itself from his hand, Jean saw the muzzle flash signify where his hostile's end began. A spout of blood shot from his chest and almost exploded from the compartment that was hit. A gaping tear sprang through the Imperial's freshly made uniform, one that had been clean before the battle had started. Whatever he'd shot, it was effective in instantaneously ending his foe, one that he questioned. Jean's eyes widened as the foe dropped, letting him stand there amidst the chaos with shocked arms by his side. He couldn't reflect upon the moment for long before a large blunt object slammed into the rear of his helmet, knocking him down to the ground quickly.

Jean's face collided with the bloody dirt, blending that maroon substance with the pale and tainted face he carried upon his weakened shoulders. The concussion wasn't enough to keep him stunned for too long as he rolled onto his back, seeing the figure that had attacked him. Another Imperial, this time dressed in the plates of iron worn by shocktroopers, lifted a fist to slam into Jean's face. It was a quick punch, one that brought a lot of pain to the Darcsen man. He could hear the Imperial shout as he landed the first fist onto his cheeks.

"Darcsen scum! It'll be days before we off you all!" A second fist rammed into Jean's head, causing him to become woozy and almost lost in place. A large boot slammed into the side of his thighs and rolled him against the walls of the trench, the man seemingly toying with him. It was a terrifying situation to be within, but Jean was determined to try and survive the hellhole for some strange reason. Previously, all hope had been lost, but that wild and feral intention of survival began to kick in. Jean lifted his knees up and kicked the man back, throwing him against the opposite trench wall. It gave him a small window of opportunity to create some distance, allowing the weakened Lance Corporal to leap up and run further down the trench, unfortunately further away from the squad he'd entered with. He'd only managed to muster a few more metres when a shot went zooming past his face, scraping his cheek gently.

Jean fell. Whilst it hadn't dug into his skin, the opening of his of blood, like a cut from a sharp razor, suddenly caught him of guard and caused him to stumble against the wall before him. Two hands grabbed onto his shoulders from behind, this time from a different soldier, and threw him against yet another set of duckboards. Two were now acting as his hunter, one standing above his head whilst the other at his feet. They held all of his limbs in place for a second, as if he were confined to a bloody stretcher, and tried to draw their own blades. The imperial at his feet had to remove one of his hands in order to reach for his sharpened tool, giving Jean the freedom to kick once more. As he slammed the steel-toecaps of his left boot into the man's throat, aiming to take him away from the action for a few seconds, the once aggressive and toying imperial shocktrooper looked at his friend in surprise. This hesitation, much like the one Jean was accustomed too, gave the Darcsen another opportunity to strike. He freed one of his wrists and suddenly grabbed whatever he could to hsi side. The groggy fingers wrapped tightly around a rock, one sharpened by its natural carvings in the hill, as he threw his arm upwards. The stone harshly slammed against his captors head, throwing him off once and for all.

Without a moment's rest, Jean got the upper hand, shouting to himself in a faint war-cry of fear and agony. One by one, he began to lower the rock again and again. The man's face began to bludgeon and crack beneath the constant pressure of Jean's assault. Even though he was likely dead from the fourth hit, adrenaline still wounded Jean's mind as he continued to slam. Blood began to stain both of their uniforms. And around the seventh hit, Jean stopped, looking down at his second kill of his life. He froze, started to shake and threw himself off of the body, crawling away backwards against the walls of the trench once more. What had he done? How had he done such a horrible thing?

During his panic, the man he'd kicked before rose up once more, and was preparing to strike again, when the sudden noise of a clean slice suddenly forced Jean to turn. And like many parts of the battle, he regretted facing it once more. With one single swipe, a large ceremonial sabre had cleanly torn the head of the last aggressor from the shoulders and laid it onto the floor, not too far from Jean's crumbled body. Before him stood...him. And with a strange smug grin, one that was quite surprising to the very least, he began to talk down to the fallen Lance Corporal.

"You're supposed to be leading by example, Dark-Hair. Can't have a rag-tag bunch-of-greenhorns messing up the plans now, can we?" Jean was still in shock from his beating and the head that Middleton had cleanly swiped from its previous body. There was still life in its facial features yet it was clearly dead. Jean was simply blown away in fear by the terrific presentation of war Middleton had bestowed upon him. "Liven up, you coward. They're retreating down the opposite end of the hill. Time to call it some quits whilst our boys shoot them in the back as they run. If you can't handle a simple scuffle like that, Darcsen, then you ain't fit to fight here."

The last few imperials who were unable to get out of the trench were quickly ganged up on by the forcing natures of the Federation wave. Those who'd survived the climb and the battle in the trench were eager to sit down, but many were being reported to the opposite end of the trench to inspect the artillery pieces they were called up to claim. Many of the trenches systems were open areas were the large cannons laid, but the tightly weaved segments connected them all together. Now most of them were filled with either corpses or tired Federation soldiers.

Middleton wandered off, aiming his revolver down and shooting it at a struggling Imperial who was begging for redemption. His departure temporarily left Jean alone, alone long enough to feel the tears pour from his eyes. He started to cry. Jean was crying silently to himself, begging for someone to rescue him from this darkened depression.

_{@CFProxy@Conscripts@Letter Bee@Landaus Five-One@Ithradine@SMS@FalloutJack@Bushman501@AtomicNut}

[Letter Bee]

Archibald Andrews - Sapper

Was it over? Trick question; it wasn't - this was merely a lull. But Archibald's thoughts were not on how war was innately savage and against all ideals of altruism and civilization; he knew things weren't that simple. People made war because there were reasons to fight war, and sometimes, those reasons were actually compelling. Saying a hurried Cruxian prayer, Archibald headed to his depressed-looking commanding officer, just in time to catch Lieutenant Middleton's last words. Not being suicidal, he waited for the Lieutenent to wander off before walking towards Jean, who had begun to cry.

Quickly, out of pity, Archibald positioned himself in front of the Lance Corporal in order to somewhat hide his tears from other people's judging looks. Now, how to reassure the other young man in a way that wasn't over-familiar? Archibald finally settled for saying, "Lance Corporal, it's all right; we're still alive - your squad is still alive." He paused, then opened his mouth a little. "I know that war is brutal, I knew that when I volunteered for this and so far, it hasn't disappointed me. I also know that people are cruel; they're naturally like that. But you're not a coward; we're still alive because of you, sir."

There were no easy answers to war, no easy answer to the question on how to endure terror and brutality. But Archibald still believed that beyond war, there was peace, that there can be a world without war in the future. The appeal of the Cruxian faith was not in material benefits like Yggdism, but in its promise of absolute good, compassion, and self-sacrifice Sometimes, the first and last principles can be twisted until one was as brutal as a Yggdist, but this isn't what was going to happen today. No, this day, he was going to show Jean that someone cared for him, that his subordinates cared about what he was suffering through.

A faint smile as Archibald said, "I know the worst is yet to come, Lance Corporal. The Federation and the Imperials; they have an arsenal of nasty tactics and perhaps even weapons to unleash on each other. But some of us here, some of us will live through that and we will be with you." A pause. "It's a faint promise, but I will still give what I can, to make sure that whatever comes, you have someone to stand by you. You've won the loyalty of your squad today by getting them through. And right now, you've showed them that you're not a coward but a human, and right now, we require humanity from our commanders."

That was a jab at Lieutenant Middleton. "Tell you what; if you make it through this, even if I don't, go to Bangorburgh, in the United States of Vinland, and ask for the Andrews Inn. Tell the inkeeper you're my friend, a friend of Archibald Andrews, and he'll give you the best beer and sweet rolls the New Edinburgh region of Vinland can produce. And if I do survive, I'll serve you and everyone you bring myself."

A wider smille. "So what do you say, want to make it through this?"

It might not be enough to snap Jean out of his depression. Heck, Archibald might not be able to keep his promise and he might die. But he was trying to help; wasn't it enough?

[Landaus Five-One]

Diana’s Brutal Reality - Aftermath - Salient Hill 58 Battle (August 25th)

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Diana hadn’t believed she killed another person, but it was clearly on her bayonet blood of another human being. This frightened her a bit too much, however, she couldn’t run home to mother to get this entire war out of her mind. Out of everything, it caused her to shake really badly and looked around the battlefield and noticed the Lance Corporal and the Blonde wonder. It was apart of war, her mind was racing but couldn’t help but cry at the entire thing. ”I-I can’t believe this… Is this the ‘real’ reason my mother Rebecca was protecting me?” Her thoughts were an avalanche of emotions since her mother was highly hardheaded compared to her safety, even more so than her older sisters that is.

Her movement towards the Lance Corporal and Archibald, the blonde wonder was a bit sluggish mostly because she was exhausted. She finished walking up to the Lance Corporal and Archibald, in terms of sitting right next to the Lance Corporal. She heard the words from the blonde wonder, which made her not as annoyed at what he had done. ”L-Lance Corporal, what’s your name? My name is Diana Elana Vastergoth. I feel like crying…,” Her words coming out was nice and a bit more true to what she was like as a child. The tears coming down her face was mostly because she couldn’t take this harsh reality.

Diana looked at the Darcsen and had a somewhat small smile on her face, even though she couldn’t stop crying at what was happening. ”L-Lance Corporal, you shouldn’t be crying. Mostly because I need help with how this world works under the circumstances.. I don’t like killing at all.” She had a bit of a nervous tone in her voice and trying to calm down the Lance Corporal some more. However, it was her that was completely stricken with regret what she had to do to that Imperial. She couldn’t really cope with killing another person, it really shocked her to no end.

She moved her hands to her face and couldn’t stop crying from what was happened, it was probably her naivety that was getting to her. There was many things, she didn’t get at all. ”I-I would like to get to know you better, Lance Corporal. You’re nervousness and scaredness helped me realize not everyone loses themselves in everything. I am feeling quite nervous… The world turned terrifying in a split second. I hope you can help me understand about the world around us. I have no idea what is going on since I was Conscripted.” The words coming out of her mouth was truthful and was hopeful that the Lance Corporal could help her out. He does look like the intelligent type and was sweet in his own way, in terms of what she thought of him.

She moved her head towards Archibald and sighed a bit. Her thoughts was still remembering what she called him. ”I-I’m a bit sorry for my rude behavior when you introduced yourself. But you didn’t really make a good first impression, Archibald, the Blonde Wonder.” Her words weren’t forced in what she was speaking truthfully towards Archibald. She realized only moments later, she had literally said what she thought of him and face palmed at her foot in mouth syndrome she has. Her face turned and looked directly at the Lance Corporal, she moved her hand on his shoulders. ”It’s alright, you got everyone in your squad to help you out, sir. I don't like when people say mean things about Darcsens. Everyone deserves all the kindness in the world and you deserve it more than others in this case.” Her words were a bit naive in what they meant but she didn’t know that wasn’t a good thing to do, the other part of what she was saying was her family's honored tradition of treating Darcsens as equals. Being hard headed didn’t help her situation, she wanted to be a good soldier and friend to everyone in her squad. It didn’t help that her training didn’t tell her the proper behavior that lower rank people shouldn’t be doing what she just did.

@LetMeDoStuff @Letter Bee