Sgt. Rhine's Post
*CrackCrackCrack* *rattatattatatatatatat* *CrackCrackCrack*
In the main room of the coach house, Sgt. Rhine was leaned over an unfurled map, studying it and directing the defense of the coach house. Bullets flew through the air around him, but seemed to be no cause of concern for the man as he looked up at the oncoming Gallians. A pincer attack... with two armoured vehicles and many more troops than he had at his disposal.
"Focus fire to the front! That's where they're the thickest!" The APC approaching on their right flank started to move up again, and he saw several Gallians charging towards the house's rear.
"I want three scouts on the right side! Focus their troopers down before they get in range!" *phew... ting-thud!* Beside him, one of his shocktroopers fell to the floor, a sniper round having impacted his chest. Fortunately the man was still alive, thanks to his armour.
"They've got a sniper! Everyone keep moving around, don't give them a steady target!" He waved over one of the engineers from their firing position.
"I want this man back in the fight now!" *Thud* *Thud* Despite their best efforts, another scout and a shocktrooper were soon downed by sniper and rifle fire. The squad's second engineer ran over to start treating the scout, but Rhine redirected him.
"Leave him! Treat the trooper first!" "But what about-" "Irrelevant. Troopers get medical priority. We need every machine gun we have in the fight." The engineer balked at his statement, but never the less obeyed his command.
Good. We need to maximize efficiency if we want to survive this. *Boom* The tank fired again, spraying the front of the house with shrapnel. It was starting to become an issue. While they weren't actually shelling the house, the explosions were landing close enough that they might kill his men at the windows. ... But they only had two lancers, and the firing positions at the windows were taken.
"Lancers, upstairs! Take over the sniper nest and focus your fire on that tank!" *BOOM!* This time it was the APC that fired and landed a shell almost directly beside a window, spraying the interior, and very nearly killing him and his lancers. Damn. This was not looking good. They just had to hold off long enough for their reinforcements to arrive. Just a little bit longer!
*Crash* *CrackCrackCrack* *Rattatatatatatatata*
In the hallway behind him he heard gunfire. Damn it, they must have already breached the rear hall!
"Everyone stay at your windows! I'll deal with the hall!" Rhine snatched up his machine gun from the table and strode over to the door. On the way, he grabbed one of the wounded shocktroopers who was awaiting treatment, literally dragging the man with him.
"If you're still conscious, you can still fight! Alternate fire with me! We've got to pin down the rear!" While most NCOs used scout gear to let them better survey the battlefield, Rhine had been a shocktrooper before his promotion. The skills he had developed and gear he had chosen were about to serve him very well. Setting the trooper down beside the hall entrance, Rhine flicked the safety off his SMG, chambered a round and then kicked open the door.
"THERE!" *RATTATATATATATATATATATATATA* Sure enough, there were a trio of Gallian shocktroopers in the hall who had apparently just finished clearing one of their rooms. Sgt. Rhine sprayed his entire magazine down the hallway, sending the Gallians diving for cover. When he ducked back behind the door frame, he motioned to his wounded trooper who leaned around the door an began firing bursts at the doorways they had ducked into, trying to keep the Gallians suppressed while Rhine reloaded.
"Schneider! Where are our reinforcements?!" The radio operator, who was huddled in a corner as he broadcasted his transmissions, yelled back.
"They're almost here! The Lieutenant says they're only a few minutes out!" The Lieutenant? An officer was coming? Just who the hell had been sent to help them? Either way... "You hear that, lads! Just hold them off for five more minutes! Once our reinforcements get here, we're done!" As his shocktrooper finished his bursts, Rhine leaned around and tossed a grenade down the corridor before resuming his own bursts. *Rattatat Rattatat-BOOM-tat Rattatatatata* Just five more minutes... They just had to hold on for five more minutes...
@Little_ninja @Zarkun @SlypheedEvan's Post
"Try and land a shell near the windows, Ariella. See if you can't stop some of that rifle fire!" Evan yelled up to his gunner while continued creeping the APC forward. *Boom* *Clank* *BOOM* As the gun fired and Ariella ejected it's shell, Evan watched as it arced down and exploded just outside one of the windows.
"Nice Shot, PFC! Keep it up!" From the upper story of the house, he saw a pair of lancer rounds streak out of a window and detonate on or beside Squad 9's medium tank. It didn't look particularly damaged, though. Good thing that tank could take a lot more than just two lances, it was keeping the fire off of him.
Lilly's Post
Lilly was in the process of playing a very deadly game of whack-a-mole, with her as the mole. She would stand up from the tall grass, fire off a flurry of shots at the windows, and then dive back into the brush to crawl away before bullets started landing at her position. Lilly panted as she reloaded her rifle and took a moment to collect herself before popping up again. The adrenaline of combat was enough to keep her focused and distracted her from the fact that she was going to be absolutely covered in grass stains once this was done. Fighting from a distance helped keep her nerves under control as well, allowing her to have what was probably her first effective performance in battle. *CrackCrackCrackCrackCrack* *PING!* *Thud* She stood up, fired off her magazine and then dove to the dirt again. As she reloaded, she peered through the grass and spotted Hunt and the other shock troopers entering the rear of the house. Good, they were in! She prayed they would emerge unharmed, and if they could clear enough of the rooms, the battle would be theirs! Lilly smiled before crawling away and repeating her cycle. It looked like this was going to be a short battle after all.