The smell of burnt fur, the taste of copper as I get up from the last blast.

I was damn lucky to avoid that...

"Get down you idiot!" shouts Corporal Molten Ash as I stumble around, dazed. He loads another clip into his rifle and fires a few rounds at the ever closing wall of zebra warriors. I quickly crouch down and start to set up my next mortar round.

"Target!"

"40 meters true north, no wind." A deep boom echos as the round is fired off. The shot lands a few feet off from the target area, but I still manage to take out a couple zebras with the shrapnel. "You a little shaky, Breeze?" calls Quiet Surprise, my spotter.

"Just shut up and give me the next target. We don't all get flak vests." I retort, annoyed.

"Hardass," Surprise mutters as he peers through the sandbags for the next target. "Twenty-seven meters due north, 4 degrees west correction for wind."

Dropping the next shot into the barrel, I make sure the angle is right again and pull the cord with my teeth.

THUMP

Of fuck all kinds of duck..

I cry out as the failed mortar bomb detonates in the tube and blasts me back. I'm thrown several feet by the explosion, riddling me with shrapnel. Bleeding, deaf, and barely able to move, I look around, moaning weakly for someone to help me. I then see a cadet running towards me with a potion in his magical grip. He says something, but I can't hear him over the ringing in my ears. Next thing I know, a potion is being shoved into my mouth and I feel the cool liquid running down my throat as my wounds close.

"Are you alright?" I barely hear him speak, but I nod, staggering back to my hooves.

"Thanks," I say before remembering Surprise. Oh shit shit shit shit shit.. I gallop back to where he was and find nothing but his corpse with half a face and filled with debris.

"God damn it Surprise… Why'd you have to die?" I mutter, holding back tears. Don't cry.. Don't cry.. Be strong, this is something that happens in war.. Get used to it.. That's what they told us in boot camp.. But why him? My eyes widen as I see a falling star come down from the sky. The entire battle seems to quiet down as we all watch the star fall.

Wha..? The star hits ground as I recognize what it was. Megaspell.. I raise an foreleg defensively as the flames get too hot and hard to look at. Well.. At least I don't have to deal with this bullshit anymore.. The last thing I feel is intense heat.

[Author's Note: Hello everyone, Lunaih here. Please give me any critique you have at lunaspersonalescort . I will try to answer as many as possible. And to answer, yes, I know it's short, but I wanted to see how this would turn out.]

Perks Added:

Rad Child - You regenerate 2HP per 200 rads absorbed

Atomic! - In irradiated areas, you gain +25% movement and attack speed, +2DT, +2ST. In excess rad level, AP regen scales from 1.1 times to 1.5 times normal