MassasaugaSergeant Harald, Gallian Milita
"Hunt, get some fire on that window! Imps at the door! Fuck 'em up, Glaive! As the Imperials woke to the sounds of explosions and gunfire, Harald hurried to direct the squad's fire to the locations he deemed most critical. This time, he was able to give directions quickly without the need of relying on radio reports to make his decisions. Putting himself on the front line with the rest of the squad had proved to be the correct decision.
*PingTingPheeew!*
Of course while it negated the performance loss they had suffered in the training battle, it also left him open to being shot. A hitherto unnoticed machine gun opened up from the ground floor of a small house on the other side of the crossroads, raking the area with bullets and very nearly putting Harald's career to an abrupt end when a bullet ricocheted off a rock and flew past his ear. They had to deal with that gun before anyone in the squad was injured. "Bons! McDonald! SOMEBODY put a lance into that machine gun! A mortar shell detonated in the streets, and another landed on the roof of a different building, adding to the overall confusion of the scene. Ducking as the machine gun swept back again before resuming his own firing, Harald shot wildly into the windows of the houses. They just had to buy enough time for the flanking group to do their job.
Lilly's Post
As per Corporal Stichler's instructions, Lilly kept behind Kyo and Sykora as the two charged (quietly) towards the building. With all the explosions and gunfire coming from the front of the town, the majority of the imperials were running in that direction, save for one. A scout ran out of the back door, no doubt intending to attack from the side flank of Harald's portion of the squad, but was stopped by a blow from Kyo's sword. The sight made Lilly queasy as the man was nearly cut in half by the overhead chop. Such a gory and painful way to die... she could have sworn she saw the man still twitching as he fell into the grass. This was different than bullet or knife wounds, and the sight was so intense that she nearly vomited. She barely managed to force it down and continue with the group. Just focus on the mission, Lilly... Just keep calm and do your job.
With no imperials guarding the rear and the door already open, the process of clearing the house was off to an easy start. Brenna and Kyo took the first floor, running around and clearing out the few imperials that had not moved out of the building, while Lilly ran up to the second. At the top, she spotted a single man dressed in fatigues rather than armour. Clearly this imperial had been sleeping at the time of the attack and had only had enough time to grab his sniper rifle and move to his position at the window.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Three shots later, he was dead. ... but his position might let her spot where the other imperials were hiding. Quivering as she gently pushed the man's slumped corpse off to the side (and then quickly wiping off the hand that touched him), Lilly 'borrowed' his sniper rifle to aid in her spotting, before kneeling at the window and taking aim.
Her shaking and queasiness made it difficult to see anything through the scope, but when she finally calmed down, she spotted several soldiers through the windows of various buildings and saw a machine gun open up on the forward squad (though the angle prevented her from shooting at it). In another house, she saw a pair of shocktroopers scrambling for their gear and rushing to the windows to fire at their assailants. At first, Lilly planned on shooting one of them with the 'liberated' rifle, but switched her priorities when she spotted a man in red armour rushing around and directing the defense. An officer! If she could down him, the imperials might get sloppy without a commander issuing them orders. Though she was not confident in her abilities to hit a target at this range, she had to try.
Lilly rested her elbow against the wooden frame of the window and squinted through the scope as she tried to adjust it and take aim. She was not used to this particular design of rifle, and probably couldn't load it, but how much different could pulling the trigger be? When the officer stopped to point out a target, Lilly set the rifle's sights on his center of mass, said a quick prayer, and pulled the trigger.
*CRACK!!*
The rifle's recoil was much worse than what Lilly was used to, knocking her back a bit and serving as a testament to the bullet's power. Setting herself up again, Lilly looked again at where she had been aiming. Did she hit him? Did she miss? She didn't see him anymore. A second later, one of the shocktroopers looked back, yelled to his partner, and then ran over to where Lilly had been aiming. As she watched, the man helped his commanding officer to his feet and Lilly spotted a large wound in the man's upper thigh. No... I didn't kill him, maybe this will slow him down. WAIT! If I can get one more shot off... Lilly didn't have time to ponder this, as while she attempted to figure out how to cycle the bolt on this foreign piece of equipment, the roof of the house just across from her exploded in a brilliant blue flash from a mortar shell.
"KYAAAAAAAAA!!!" The force of the shockwave threw Lilly back, and splinters peppered her uniform. When one of the soldiers from her group ran up to check on her (and drag her down so they could continue on), Lilly barely managed to muster a weak "I-I'm... I'm fine." She was more in shock from the start than anything else (the splinters had caused only minor cuts), and shakily stood up. Nodding to whoever came up for her, she said reaffirmed her status. "I'll be alright. We need to move to the next house.
Evan's Post
From the comfort of the APC, Evan watched the battle unfold through the night vision optics. The damn imps were starting to get organized... and the flanking group was now either inside or too close to the buildings for him to be able to lend any more support with the APC's mortar. Kicking his feet up on the passenger's seat, Evan leaned back and stretched. Not a whole lot he could do now, anyways. Might as well make himself comfortable.
