The methodical twang, click, and thunk of his weapon was something Ryon had grown very much accustomed to, these past few days. The twang of the crossbow's string, the click of the mechanism's gears, and the thunk of the bolt striking the target was something he could hone in on, even as the battle continued to rage around him. In a sense, it was the metronome that helped him decide the battle's pace, provided that he's in control of the battle's tempo in the first place. This time around? The sudden attack from the docks and the relentless advance definitely meant that initiative was on their side.
"Forward, my brothers!" The man let out a wild laugh as he fired off another bolt at a distant archer. Now that the beachhead was secured, it was time to press the attack. They would be able to get reinforcements from the other ships easily enough now, and it was imperative that this force linked up with the other force that was storming the gates. They were on the other side of the city, of course, but that didn't make the goal any less important. The squad pushed on ahead, intent on earning their fair share of kills.
When he heard those screams in the distance, Ryon had realized his folly too late. Half of his squad was now overextended, and the Nagri would soon be upon them. He briefly considered ordering his squad to pull back, but that was impossible; a loss of momentum here might mean that their attack would stall at a critical junction. No, as much as he dreaded it, he would have to push up to his other squad members and link up before the Nagri get the idea of picking off each man one by one.
"Nagri, left side!" Ryon shouted as he fired his crossbow at the approaching undead warriors. Their bone-chilling shrieks were more than a little distracting. Upon hearing the dreadful wailing of the Nagri, the lieutenant's aim wavered ever so slightly. His crossbow bolt veered off-course as it thud against a nearby wall ineffectually. Thankfully, his squad was now linked up, and they could face these monsters together, rather than alone.
As the Nagri approached, Ryon pulled back the repeater's lever with speed borne of experience... only to find that he was out of ammunition. His eyes widened in surprise, before his expression shifts to one of rage. He had miscounted this cartridge's bolts, and the fact that these screaming ghouls could throw off his aim with an ear-splitting cry only exacerbated the issue. The men at the front readied their deungpae, forming ranks in an attempt to hold off the oncoming group of Unresting, whilst the marksmen at the back prepared for another volley against the Nagri before they could close in. The lieutenant had no time to perform a full reload of his weapon, and he knew it all too well.
Thinking quickly, the man pulled a ceramic bomb from one of his pouches and lobbed it in an arc towards the front. A moment passed, before it detonated in the middle of the approaching group of Unresting, reducing a few unlucky ghouls to unrecognizable gore. That should help the men at the front, but the more pressing issue was the Nagri. Soon enough, the monsters descended upon his squad in full force. Hang-Jun military doctrine would state that the shieldbearers would protect the archers or pikemen, but in a chaotic fight like this? The doctrine went out the window.
The lieutenant however, had abandoned the playbook quite some time ago. Useful for battles against other nations. Not so much the undead. Ryon watched as a few of the men in his squad lost focus due to the shrieking, only to die in a follow-up attack from those polearms. In life, these Nagri must have been warrior monks. The Nagri ahead of him seemed to know of Ryon's lack of a loaded weapon and moved to attack the man. The lieutenant backpedaled to avoid a frontal stab, then leapt to the side to dodge a vertical swing. He needed to turn the tide now.
Ryon let out a rallying cry as he darted forward, ever closer to the naginata. The Nagri seemed to realize the man's plan far too late, because the lieutenant was already upon it. The man slammed the crossbow's heavy stock against the shrieking ghoul's face, forcing the Nagri backwards. He followed up with a powerful kick to the knee, causing the monster to crumple to the floor. What followed was a less-than-dignified display of brutality as the lieutenant repeatedly bashed the stock of his crossbow against the Nagri's head. On the second or third strike, the ghoul's head gave way with a sickening squelch.
The lieutenant looked up at his squad to see them injured, but alive. They had successfully fought off the Nagri, for now. One or two of them had perished in the skirmish, however, and many more were not able to escape without injuries. Still, in spite of it all, their expressions had mirrored their officer's. These were eyes filled with determination. They would fight and win, or they would fight and die. Ryon gave all of his men a wild grin.
"We'll make sure their corpses are returned to Hang-Jun." He starts. "...but only after we return these corpses back to the earth!" He laughed heartily for a moment, gaining his second wind as he reloaded his crossbow.
"Forward!" The lieutenant commanded.
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Inertia