The response to Vreta from inside the building was a burst of static and a few half words. “Is Saddam inside?” Athena asked. “Likely. Moving!” Knossos called, fast-crawling toward the crashed flier behind cover. Soldiers on both sides were in a pitched battle now, with energy rounds flying across No Man’s Land. Thebes was still co-ordinating from the front, spraying plasma down range at Athena and Vreta.

Knossos unclipped a smoke scrambler and lobbed it by the edge of the flier pointing back toward Thebes’ own spawn. It exploded in a large puff of smoke, covering most of the vehicle and also providing cover for Knossos’ approach. The veteran soldier tapped the Marine sergeant on the back of the helmet and pointed. “Moving left! Give me cover!” The other man nodded and relayed the order down the line.

Knossos wasted no time getting up from behind cover and sprinting toward the smoke, drawing fire from all angles.
[hr]
The drop troopers supporting Kjartan’s ill-fated push into the apartment building had stacked up around the hole he’d made in the wall. They’d caught the opposite team in a bad spot with sparse cover, and had wasted two of them in the corridor almost immediately. The other two had smashed through into adjacent apartments and were firing doggedly from the doorways.

Unfortunately, they were so preoccupied with trying to stamp out the other Marines that they missed Carthage emerging from the ruined remains of her fight with Kjartan. They missed their opportunity to suppress her position, and only returned fire when she was halfway across the fire-stricken lobby. 

Vreta ordered a retreat right when she found them. “We could use some support! Oh, shit. Contact left!” The squad leader shouted as Carthage sprayed the opening with energy. She changed weapon and disappeared from view before bursting through a nearby fire door, ripping it off its hinges as she did so.

She absorbed a few panicked energy bursts from the closest trooper with the loose door before sending him flying with a blast from her freshly-retrieved shotgun. She then pivoted and blocked the butt of another soldier’s gun from smashing her visor.

Carthage flicked the weapon out of his hands, discarding it on the floor and bending his arm the wrong way when he tried to punch her. He screamed as she flung him straight into the squad leader who had started unloading his rifle at her while shouting orders. They both clattered into a wall.