[IC] Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

[Kitsune]

After given her orders Glaive moved out with the other two towards their intended place to lay in wait for for pray. On the way the girl had to stop several times as she waited for one of the others. Most of the time training she had spent most of the time in trying to enhance her stamina and also stealth skills, so this slow down was a little awkward on her part.

By the time they had reached their placement they had come across the tank already, which caused Glaive and Lilly to dive into the grass to avoid being spotted by it and its escort... She couldn't help but grind her teeth a little at the fact that it was the same five people that had gunned her down before. She really wanted to get revenge on those guys but this time she was following orders to the letter, just so that she would not get another one of those nods as if it was her fault again...

Reaching back she picked up the radio, holding up her hand for Lilly to wait, and whispered into it "Lead, this is Glaive. We have spotted the tank and are ready to engage, it is located at the following place" Glaive would then give off a description of their area and where about they would be on a real map, if they had one that was but it was better than nothing.

[Trinais]

"The hell is going on down there?" Eyes squinted through his field glasses. Old things picked off the body of an Imperial Officer- a relic from his dad's time in the trenches. But they still worked great and he could see the faces of the soldiers clear through them.

Beast snorted, chewing a piece of grass between her teeth. "Playing war. Infantry against armor. Have they got any heavy weapons?"

Eyes shifted his goggles between the two groups, checking weapons over. "Yeah, I got lances in sight. They're fully equipped. Could pull it off."

"Not likely. Squishy infants can't do jack all without us." Beast spit out her blade of grass. "If that tank crew finds someplace to go hull down, then they're shooting lances at the turret. The infantry creates a kill zone around the back by the exposed engine. Retreat or surrender are the only options. We did it a hundred times in the weekend drills."

"No place to go hull down," Eyes said. "Lancers need to get in close. Whoever plays the target for the tank is gonna get a face full of chalk though. Even if they're firing concussive rounds out the barrel, one of those in the group or-" Eyes paused his goggles movement- a heavy machine gun? "Well hello. Someone is about to have a very bad day."

"Noise," Pedal said. "Lots of it. From two directions. Creates confusion and will drive the escorts to cover."

"This blows all the exhaust pipes! If we were in that tank, every single one of those squishy infants would be dead. Dead! Wiped out! 'Dear Sir or Madam' letters and all! What the hells is that crew doing?"

"Maybe the point isn't to wipe out the militia," Eyes said. "Maybe it's to teach them how to think. We're their armored support. And we have no tank. They'll have to get by without us for the time being."

"Like they'd ever have our backs," Beast mumbled. "Infants pitch a fit and pee themselves when they don't have tank support, then get lazy and run away when they do. Happened to Lightning last week. Happened to Furious two days later. Happened to us at St. Courain."

Eyes was content to put the goggles away and watch what came next in the fight, but Pedal, with that inhuman speed and silence with which he moved, was tapping him on the shoulder.

"By the Valkyr, wear a bell, man!"

"Sorry sir. But look, sir." And Pedal pointed downhill, at a parked supply truck. Filled with the chalk rounds and extra weapons. Concussive Lances included...

"The hell are you suggesting, Pedal?" Eyes lowered his voice, leaning in close to his driver. "You're not actually suggesting we go down there and drive into a sanctioned wargame without orders, are you?"

"Presenting it as an option. I can keep us at Thunderous' cruising speed, and Beast can use one of the Lances. Mount it on a tripod in the flatbed. Call it simulated tank support."

"Fuck off," Beast yelled, popping open her cantine. "I ain't never been trained to fire one of those things!"

"You haven't been trained to load it," Eyes said. "Firing it should be simple, like breach aiming. Line it up, pull the trigger."

"As for orders," Pedal said. "We've been ordered on standby until a new tank is available. We were never ordered NOT to participate..."

"Still can't load the lance," Beast yelled.

"That's a fine line," Eyes said. "That's a very fine line between taking initiative and something going very wrong."

"And I still can't load that GODS DAMNED LANCE!"

[Slypheed]

Celeste

For some reason, it felt like an insult for the two scouts to be slowing down or stopping for her. Celeste had quite the amount of stamina, but her small size paired with the heavy lance made her slower. She never really needed to stop, only moving a the pace of a slow jog. While they were moving, her radio cracked, the sergeants voice coming through, relaying the position of the APCs dismantled machine gun. After confirming that she had received the message, Lilly let out a shout. The word plainly obvious, tank.

The dive was slightly painful, her slung rifle impacting her shoulder blade. Luckily lances didn't have sling, or at least hers didn't. But no matter the lances position in the grass, it would be the most visible thing due to it's size. They were lucky that her lance didn't give her away. She moved up to Lilly and Glaive, prone shuffling with a Lance was still quite the challenge to Celeste.

Lilly asked if everyone was ready. Celeste looked at her lance. She had a feeling that the infantry would focus her first if she popped up aiming the lance, but she was prepared to take the sting of chalk rounds yet again. She gave a nod, keeping her eyes focused on the tank. "We just wait for the signal."

[Bright_Ops]

As he sat and watched the training exercise start, Andrew instantly lamented the fact that he did not really have the means of getting a closer look at the 'battle' that was about to take place. Something about there being a limited supply of binoculars or something. So instead he was forced to listen in on the commentary provided by what seemed to be a tank crew without a tank nearby. While watching them bicker for a time was rather entertaining, it was also somewhat informative... such as the fact that they were at St. Courain.

Turning to look at them closely, Andrew tried to recall if he had heard anything about what role the armored division at St. Courain had done; He knew that the infantry had run at the first sign of trouble but didn't recall any mention of what any tanks in the area had been doing at the time. Considering that they were sitting near him instead of either being in a cell somewhere, lined up against a stone wall and being offered a blindfold or being offered the chance to redeem themselves or die trying it was safe to assume that they had actually fought to some extent.

Satisfied that he didn't need to murder them in their ship, Andrew was about to go back to his futile attempts to watch the exercise when the conversation turned towards hijacking their future squads tank and joining the battle. All they seemed to need was someone who could work a lance...

Getting up and walking over to them, a playful smile appeared on his face as he offered them a salute. "Private First Class Macdonald, formally of the 9th Militia Regiment, 5th Company reporting for duty. Give me a lance and I'll be more then willing to be your gunner. So are we doing this or what?"

[Trinais]

The introduction of PFC Macdonald drew a mixed reaction from the crew of tankers.

Pedal looked positively thrilled that someone had shown up, a knight in shining armor to help his scheme come through to fruition. The cheshire smile that spread across his face was equal parts joyous and disturbing as he returned the salute. "Private Pedal, driver. At your disposal."

Beast was on the verge of having an aneurysm at the idea of being replaced. But the tank gunner clearly wanted no part in helping the 'squishy infantry' in their war game. Rather than follow Pedal's example, she kept herself sitting on the ground and drank from her canteen, offering a halfhearted wave of her hand as greeting. "Still can't load the lance," she said to Eyes, screwing the cap back on to the metal cannister.

"PFC Eyes," their third and chief member said, also returning the salute. "Gallian Home Tanker Brigade. That's Private Beast, our gunner. And that is our ride." Eyes nodded at the supply truck at the base of the hill- chalk rounds for the skirmish loaded into the flatbed, and a pair of MPs standing watch over a cup of coffee.

"Your ride," Beast said derisively. "I'm sitting this one out."

Eyes wasn't in the mood to fight her over the point. They could potentially spend a night in the brig for this, but it wasn't like they'd be lined up and shot- Gallia needed every warm body it had right now. They just had to play by the rules- like Pedal said, make the truck a simulated tank. "Our ride, excluding Beast. Can you mount a Lance on a tripod, Private? And is it safe to fire like that going about 25kph?"

[Bright_Ops]

Private Pedal, Private Beast and PFC Eyes... A part of Andrew had to wonder what kind of nickname he would have been given if his first squad had lasted longer...

Shaking his head and driving off some memories that he would rather not have to think about right now, Andrew nodded his head to each member of his new squad as they were introduced out of polite acknowledgement. As their 'tank' was pointed out, Andrew seemed to narrow his gaze as he examined it. "Well... it beats walking. That's about the only bright side here."

Sure, making and maintaining a tank cost money and time but shouldn't the people in charge have foreseen the need to have a strong armored backbone to support their ground forces in the event that one of the factions of the war decided to take a shot at them? Anyone with foresight would have ensured that they had a healthy supply of the damn things then.

Still, you got what you were given so you just had to suck it up and work with what you got.

"Probably not, but if you can keep me from getting hit for a couple of practice shots so I can get the hang of it I'll see what I can do..." Turning to look at Private Beast, PFC Macdonald seemed to consider something for a moment before a grin appeared on his face. "Private Beast, you look like someone who knows how to use a machine gun. And if there is one thing we need right now if we're going to do this right it's something to make their infantry keep their heads down or risk losing them. You sure you're not going to join in the fun?"

[Lennon79]

The wireless crackled quietly. 'Stay down guys, just... stay... down...' Laying on his own a good fifty metres from the advancing tank, Bons silently swore. This wasn't the fucking plan, no lancer should be cut off like this. Damn Meyers and and all damned snipers... At least he had his rifle; it had meant another couple of kilos weight, but it had proven to be a worthwhile investment. 'They're closing to optimal range, Sarge.', he whispered into the radio, sighting down the irons on his lance. It was laying over one shoulder and hidden by a small patch of grass but he knew the camouflage wouldn't last. Squad Six had some damn good men, Hell even their shocktroopers had a keen eye. Their window window of opportunity was closing fast, so Bons lined up his lance on the target, taking care to aim just slightly above his intended mark... Sergeant Harald's voice whispered through the radio once more, this time bracing them for action.'Lances, get ready... Fire on three. Three, two, one - fire!' The chalk warhead shot from Bons' lance a heartbeat later, arcing down onto the target vehicle... but missed. He had misjudged the tank's speed and the shot sailed harmlessly a foot in front of the turret. He cursed, loudly this time as he struggled to reload; unfortunately he had been spotted.

'Shit...' From his position on the MG, Harald winced in sympathy as Squad Six opened up on the lone lancer's position, peppering the area with chalk. there was no way to know if Bons had been hit, but it did give the rest of the squad an opening. 'Fire at will, break 'em up! Meyers, cover Bons, and Bons, fire another shot to keep their attention. Stichler's team, focus on the tank. Everyone else, continue as planned; hit 'em and scatter.' There was still no sign of the other enemy infantry, though Harald had a sneaking suspicion that they were in reserve on the edge of the field... If so, they would be in an ideal position to cut the squad off as they dragged the enemy into his firing arc; of course that would leave them out in the open before him too...

[caliban22]

"On it." Sam said softly as she she over looks Bons. As she watched the the squad six troops pin Bons through her scope "That's one" she says as she took a shot and watches the the round impact right in the face of one the squad six soldiers. As she switched to another target she fired off another round and again watched the round impact in the chest. As the squad realized there is a sniper and dropped and ran to whatever cover they could find. Sam keeps them pinned "Alright Bons hurry it up, there is only so long before that tank figures out where I am and takes me out.." She said quickly as she kept firing as fast and accurate as possible. "Sargent Can we get some shock troopers over? It's just me and Bons over here and we may need the support.

[Trinais]

"Private Beast, you look like someone who knows how to use a machine gun. And if there is one thing we need right now if we're going to do this right it's something to make their infantry keep their heads down or risk losing them. You sure you're not going to join in the fun?"

@Bright_Ops

"Way I see it," Beast said, "judging from all the bullets flying down there, the infantry's all set on that front. All we have to do is sit tight and wait for our real tank to get freed up in a couple weeks. So if you all want to go down there and get busted down to infantry for insubordination, that's your call."

Eyes wasn't in the mood to have his gunner question his lead, but she did have a point. If one of them sat out, their odds of being thrown into the brig for this stunt would be significantly lower.

"Leave her," he said, starting down the hill. "You'll be my gunner for this one. Biggest rule is I call the shots, you aim and fire them off. Pedal, we're only going to approach that tank from the front. Less risk of damage to the truck that way, less likely Macdonald goes flying out the back of the truck if we take a hit."

"Can do, sir."

The two MPs guarding the truck were oh-so-busy smoking cigarettes and watching the firefight. Straight up knocking them out was assault and likely to end in a firing squad, and ordering them away wasn't an option either. That left the third option...

"Hey there... Michael and Allison," Eyes said, peering at the tag on the MPs' uniforms. "You both look spectacularly bored right now. And I have a place I need to be with this here truck. So I have a proposition for you both..." Reaching into his satchel, Eyes pulled out a green-colored bottle with a red label fixed to it. "See, I just got out of St. Courain, and this here, this is the last bottle of 1899 Red from Lord Halpshire's vineyard not in Imperial hands. A good year, I heard. So what do you say I trade you this here for ten minutes with that there truck."

Eyes was not keen to trade the bottle away. As tankers, he and the crew had accumulated a small fortune of trinkets, doodads and baubles in Thunderous, and they'd managed to save some of the more valuable pieces before it was destroyed. This wasn't his Holy Grail, but it was definitely up there in terms of the valuables the squad kept in their packs...

[Kitsune]

With that all hell broke loose, but they had the upper hand! Forcing herself off of the ground and onto one knee Alex aimed down her sights and started to unload the rifles clip into the inventory as they tried to take cover behind the tank, a big mistake when they were surrounded! She showed no mercy what so ever, shown as one trooper took a round to the back of the knee, sending him on his knees until two more rounds plugged his back and head, likely knocking him out given how realistically he fell...

Stamina, stealth and shooting. All these things she had refined over the weeks worth of training that they had all done, and now was the time that she would show it. Peering to her left she spotted a few scouts coming up on their location, but with no time to reload and the lancer setting up she dropped her main weapon to pull out her pistol, forcing the scouts into cover.

[Raven_Operative]

Lilly's Post

It's happening! Fire! FireFireFire!

*Crack* *CrackCrackCrackCrack-PING!*

The shrill sound of the clip ejecting signalled to Lilly that it was time to reload. She had hurriedly joined in on the torrent of bullets that was showering the tank and its escourt, firing wildly with little accuracy. Crouching as she reloaded (for the enemy squad was starting to fire back), she saw Private Glaive shooting at a couple of scouts that were trying to flank them. The rest of squad four must have been flanking around on either side. What should she do? She briefly thought about trying to shoot one of the shocktroopers behind the enemy tank - help keep Private Bons safe, but she immediatly discounted it. If he missed his first shot, he might already be out. That meant their team was the only one with a lance left! She had to keep Corporal Stichler safe. That meant ignoring the tank escourt for now.

When she finished loading her rifle, Lilly scrambled as quickly as she could in her tired state. The scouts were in cover, and though the manuver she was doing terrified her, she knew that meant she had a chance to get to a new position. Crouching as she ran to a small grove of trees, she ducked behind a trunk and cautiously peered out to see if they had spotted her.

...

They hadn't.

As Private Glaive traded shots with them, their attention was entirely focused on her group's lance position. That meant that she could do THIS!

*CrackCrackCrack* *PingPingPing!*

Taken by surprise, an approaching scout's role in the battle was quickly ended. The cover that had been protecting them from Glaive had limited effectivness from the side, and that meant several easy targets.

*CrackCrack-PING!*

By the time Lilly needed to reload, the other three scouts had gathered their senses enough to back off and started returning fire. A fourth man in the background opened up on her, showering her tree with bullets as Lilly dropped to the seated position, thoroughly supressed. That was a shocktrooper. She couldn't fight one of them head on, especially with the other scouts to support him! But if he got in close, their group would be toast...

Where could she go?! Could she flank around? If she-*RATTATATATA*

Her idea was quickly dropped after very nearly eating a half dozen bullets when she peaked around the tree. She was stuck here, but at least it was buying Stichler time. Sighing to herself, Lilly radioed Glaive and Stichler.

"Private Glaive, Corporal Stichler... I am pinned down and a shock trooper is approaching you. Once the tank has been eliminated, you should make haste to the Sergeant and his machine gun. I will cover your retreat, as I am unable to move from my position." Even in the heat of battle, she maintained her overly formal way of speaking.

This turn of events disappointed her greatly. While what she did was correct in her eyes - she was buying her group valuable time and had even managed to eliminate an enemy - she was still doomed. She wasn't going to get out of this position 'alive', and the fact that she would not be able to do more saddened her. She quickly loaded her rifle and made ready for an opening when she would be able to attack again.

Evan's Post

"All Hell's breakin' loose down there, Darcsen. Think they'll be able to take out that tank?" Evan shifted as he observed the battle with Harald. Bons's shot had missed, but they still had the Corporal's lance to count on. If the Darcsen's plan failed here, they were going to be in a world of trouble. There wasn't much that he could do now, though. All he could do was watch and wait.

[Bright_Ops]

Andrew considered the very real chance that he and the members of the tank crew doing this could end up in the brig for a night or so due to their actions. There was once a time when he would have said no to such a thing out of fear of being punished... now however...

Following Pedal and Eyes and listening as they started to try and bribe the MP's guarding the truck, PFC Macdoanld took a brief wander in order to have a look at some of the equipment he would be using for this 'tank' by looking into the back of the truck itself. He was not exactly thrilled but he had worked with worse. "Even if you can't bring yourself to go on a brief patrol to check out possible movement you saw, I'm sure you wouldn't mind us grabbing our gear? The current plan is that we are meant to simulate unexpected reinforcements on the battlefield." This was completely true; No one would be expecting one of the sides would get back up. It would help with the training... It was what Andrew was planning to say when they were no doubt called to answer for their actions and he was hoping the others would follow suit.

[Lennon79]

It wasn't long before the battle chatter began and Harald soon found himself trying to pull his squad back into position. The ambush had gone well enough, but they needed that second lance up now; for whatever reason, Stichler had yet to fire, which left poor Bons cut off and facing fire from the entire enemy squad. 'Roger that Meyers. Sykora, Dresner; break left and suppress the infantry going after Bons. And Stichler, get that damn lance firing!' Already he regretted leaving himself away from the others; it had been a mistake, he realised. The squad leader should always be with the squad. At least he had made it here and not on a real battlefield...

Another long burst of fire swept overhead, shredding the grass inches above Bons' face. He was in a bad position here, with only Meyers for support; she and the others had done their best so far, picking off a few targets as they poured fire on his position. But the tank was still up and he sincerely doubted it would turn a blind eye to the only confirmed lancer so far on the field... Rolling onto his back, he was able to reload the unwieldy weapon and slide it forward, ready to lift and fire the moment he spotted a break in the enemy fire... But it didn't come. More shots arced overhead, more rifles cracked and all the while, their aim was getting slowly better, their shots hitting closer and closer to his little patch of long grass. Only one chance now. Fuck it, he swore and stood up.

From across the field Harald watched as a lone figure raised itself from the long grass and sighed in exasperation when he realised that it was Bons. The result was unsurprising; the lad caught a long burst of fire from the tank's coax, flooring him in moments. But against the odds, he had managed to get the shot off with his lance; even as the chalk rounds cut him down, the shell arced down to score a glancing hit on the tank's turret and cover it with fine powder. The sergeant pumped his fist in triumph; one more shot and the tank would be out of action. From there, clean up would be a piece of piss. 'Alright Carn, it'll be our turn in a minute.' Harald paused mid-grin. '... Shame about Bons though.'

[Kitsune]

Chalk rounds flew past Alex's head a few times before Lilly was able to distract the troops, though now all their firepower was mainly on her! Listening to the suggestion to pull back she came up with a rather fitting answer to Lilly, though she decided to give it to her in person. Unloading her rifle onto the oncoming storm trooper, range was the biggest advantage for the rifle and with Lilly's warning she had plenty of time to put round after round into the guys helmet, likely giving him one huge headache.

"Stichler, fire the Lance and retreat to the ambush point. I will distract them"

Yeah she knew how dumb that sounded given Lilly was already doing just that but Alex was already leaving before Stichler could mention it. After reloading her rifle she slung it over her back, deciding to put all that stealth training to use. Moving low to the ground she spotted two scouts that were clearly planning on flanking the rest of the team; a little clean up on the way was not too much of a bother.

Drawing out her pistol Alex moved up slowly, waiting for the pair to split so that she ground reach out and claim one in a choke hold with one of her arm, while the other aimed and popped the other scout in the back with a impressive boom! Though thanks to the intense fire fight all around it was taken little notice of.

"Hey, what are you do-,"

Leaning her face close Alex peered down to the womens jacket

"Your clothes... I want them."

With a shocked look on her face a poor fate awaited that women, well just the removal of her colored arm band and some chalk powder on her but it was still a shock for the poor girl.

[Slypheed]

Celeste

There were enough distractions happening around her to not pay attention to the signs of It. It wanted to happen now. It didn't care about the impression it would leave. And Glaive telling her to fire set It off.

"I DON'T NEED YOU FUCKERS TELLING ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" Celeste exclaimed, loud enough that the radio was overkill to it's auditory range, even stunned a few of the enemy. She stood straight up, and haphazardly aimed the lance at the tank. Once the round was in the air, she let the lance roll off her shoulder and brought up her rifle. She knew that the lance could be retrieved once the skirmish was over.

Celeste then charged through a flanking enemy. Quite literally, as she threw her body into the poor scout, stunning the boy and kept running to the ambush point. A clear look of pure frustration, anger, and hate on her face.

She never looked back to see where the lance round impacted.

---

Brenna

Brenna hadn't kept track of her partner. If he was following her, good, if not, she could still do the job asked of her. "Roger" she replied into the radio when the Sergeant asked her and Dresdner to assist...well, it was just Meyers now. But she'd still assist and help get her out.

When she arrived, a shocktrooper was flanking around Meyers. Doing a quick sliding stop, Brenna brought her weapon to her hip and let out a flurry of chalk rounds at the boy. A good half impacting and eliminating him from the skirmish. "One" she whispered to herself. Brenna then continued to Meyers position. Upon arriving, she eyed Meyers doing her best to hold her ground and took up a position near by and began suppressing any enemy she saw.

[Raven_Operative]

Lilly's Post

"I DON'T NEED YOU FUCKERS TELLING ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" Kyaa! The sudden outburst from the radio nearly deafened Lilly, causing her to yank the headset off her head and wince. Once the radio chatter resumed its usual volume, she put it back on and looked around. Corporal Stichler had just completely snapped, but Lilly heard the lance go off and she started taking less fire so that must have meant Stichler was in the process of retreating.

Popping out from the tree again, Lilly fired off another volley of shots towards the advancing squad 6 troops in order to give Stichler some cover. She didn't have time to aim, as the second she finished firing, chalk rounds resumed impacting around her position. Thank the Valkyrur this one was a nice large oak... When the shocktrooper needed to reload, Lilly leaned out and wildly fired back another volley. This time she had enough time to at least count the number of soldiers there. ... two scouts and the shocktrooper left. .. But.. Where was Private Glaive? Did she get- *Pft!*

A round grazed her cheek, causing her to shriek and scramble back behind the tree. A scout started opening up on her again while the shocktrooper finished reloading. What was she going to do? What to do? WhattodoWhattodoWhattodo... "Private Glaive, did you escape? Have you been hit?" Lilly frantically radioed her partner, trying to find out what happened. ... Stichler would have gotten away by now, but if the enemy kept focusing on her, they might not follow Stichler fast enough. If that happened, and the Sergent was forced to shoot other troops before they all got into the kill zone, they would spot the machine gun and the ambush would fail!

"Private Glaive, are you there!?" ... No answer... Lilly shook her head and sighed. ... Well if it has come to this, then there is no other choice. With Glaive gone and no one else in need of her diversion, Lilly needed to keep the enemy squad following their plan. That meant she needed to make a break for it. Gritting her teeth, Lilly waited for a pause in the bullets before scrambling out from the tree as fast as possible, sprinting at full speed towards the machine gun's kill zone. Shielding her head with her arms, she tried to ignore the bullets whizzing past her as she ran. Come on, Lilly, run! You'll make it through! *ThudThudThud*

Evan's Post

"Here they come, Darcsen!" Evan grinned as he watched the Corporal come running towards their kill zone. Soon after, he saw the blond girl who got taken out by a tank shell earlier come scrambling after her. ... Unfortunately she only made it half way, before getting cut down by a burst of submachine gun fire. Damn, that girl was either incompetent or unlucky. "Enemies at 3 o'clock, Darcsen." Evan pointed as the first elements of the section that 'killed' Lilly began to crest the small hill the lance had been fired from. "Let's give them a little payback for that girl!" Evan grinned viciously as he waited for the troops to move into the killzone. Those fools had no idea what they were about to run into...

[Slypheed]

Celeste

Once Celeste had run some distance past the ambush point, she turned around. It was hard to make it out, but it appeared her shot made contact as well. She'd guess that her shot hit the side of the hull, it appeared that way from afar, with chalk dust caking most of the side. "One tough vehicle" she whispered to herself. It was unclear if her shot wasn't powerful enough to finish it or if observers were slacking off some and hadn't taken notice yet. She shrugged. If it wasn't taken out yet, then Celeste guessed that Glaive would do her magic again
and rig up an IED right underneath the radiator.

Celeste then moved closer to the ambush point and set herself up to help with the shooting gallery that was going to start soon. Taking cover behind tall boulder that had fallen on it's side. An uncomfortable position when using it as cover, but a great firing platform to help her mediocre accuracy with a rifle.

[Lennon79]

Standing watch high above the field, Captain Meulemann allowed himself an indulgent smile as the second round hit Squad Six's tank. It had taken him a while to figure out the plan his troops had come up with and longer to spot the Sergeant's little MG nest, but as the pieces slowly fell into place, Tarquin could admit to a certain satisfaction. Of course it wasn't a perfect set up and there had been at least one casualty, but for a rookie unit with barely a week's training under their belts, Squad Four was faring surprisingly well. He counted the seconds with bated breath, scanning his binoculars back and forth as the Corporal led the first victims into Harald's killzone. Back in the open field, a disgruntled Sergeant popped the hatch on his tank and waved a signal flag. With the enemy armour neutralised, Squad Four would have to work pretty hard to fuck it up now.

'Not yet...' Laying prone with the MG held tight into one shoulder, Harald tried to focus as the first targets entered his arc of fire. '... Not too soon, or we won't catch them all.' He winced in sympathy as Jatmoore took a burst of fire, but her actions had baited the remaining two shocktroopers, who surged forward after Stichler and her pursuers. The sound of sporadic gunfire from the left told him that a handful must have stayed with the tank, but that almost worked in their advantage; with the remaining enemies split, he could down these four, then shift along the treeline to assist the others, most likely Glaive and possibly Sykora. 'Carn, you take the scout farthest right and I'll sweep from the left.' With the wireless wedged under his elbow on constant broadcast, Stichler would know when to open fire. 'On three; one, two... threeopenfire!'

Perhaps it was the shock of firing such a powerful weapon, but Harald blanked out for a fraction of a second on pulling that trigger. A long chain of heavy chalk rounds cut through the grass at knee height, knocking both shocktroopers down in seconds. As he leant left, traversing the gun to his right, the Sergeant saw the remaining two hostiles go down to Carn and Stichler's rifle crossfire. Removing his finger from the heavy trigger with a visible yank, he grinned up at Carn. 'Well fuck me, it actually worked.' After a long moment scanning the field for nasty surprised, Harald rallied up those in the killzone area and led them along the woods toward the 'destroyed' tank; he left the MG behind, instead using his trusty rifle for this last bit of clean up.

[Bright_Ops]

Looking over towards the battlefield, even if he couldn't exactly see what was going on Andrew noticed the fact that after a loud wave of bullets there was little to no noise coming from that direction anymore. Whatever had happened had happened and odds were it was far to late to do anything about it.

"Forget about it guys. Sounds like it's over already. Might as well go and check up on Private Beast for the results."

With his decision made, Andrew started making his way back to the Private who had stayed behind in order to get a play by play.

[Kitsune]

*THUMP*

The scout hit the ground hard with Alex looming over with her hand reaching for her pistol. "Y-You're not one of us!" The scouts voice was confused, was she even allowed to do this? Though the women seemed not to care in the slightest as she pointed the barrel of her custom pistol directly for the guys chest armor, letting loose a single round into it with a satisfying chalk 'ping'. "That is right, well done. Now if you excuse me" Reaching up she removed the armband and tossed it to the ground before making her way back towards the destroyed tank.

It seemed that the others did a rather good job in the ambush given how little of the enemy she had seen running away, though soon enough she saw her own squad coming in for the clean up. Holding her rifle aloft to make sure they did not shoot her she called out "I think its over!" She didn't hear Andrew say the same thing of course "Not a bad job if I would have to say so." She started to look around, trying to make sure that Lilly and the others made it out of the fire fight, she would mourn their chalk covered forms at a later time.