p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"I followed the others and we headed towards the village, we used the forest as cover, no guards saw us. There were four squads in total, seven to ten people in each, two with the mission of clearing the fortified complex that lies in the centre of town, and two to act as a distraction. I was in a distraction unit. We emerged from the trees and silently rushed into the into the outskirts, making sure to remain undetected; and made our forwards. In ten minutes the battle would begin, and all hell would break lose. Finally, we arrived in a derelict building. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The windows faced towards the saloon, the place where Alliance soldiers spent most of their time. Suddenly, a wave of nerves vibrated through me , and my hands started to shake. The leader of the squad walked towards me./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"You good?" He whispered./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"Yeah." I lied./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"Everything's fine, we'll win this… Just try and calm yourself, it'll be over soon."/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"Thanks." I replied./spanA small cloud of smoke floated up from the forest, and we stepped towards the window. The first shots were the loudest. Sparks flew across the air and shouts were heard, my heartbeat drummed unrelentingly through my head; after a few seconds, people started to run out and the soldiers started to clumsily return fire. "THROW THEM NOW!" the squad leader boomed and a man ran out towards the window and launched some grenades towards the enemy. We continued to fire, ducking at times to avoid incoming lasers. A series of flashes accompanied loud booms that shattered glass across the area. Knowing the next step, we turned towards the exit and ran into the dust./p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"All the buildings around us were pierced by shrapnel, I couldn't believe how much damage those small objects had caused. Our boots crunched on the broken stone as we went past the ruins of what was once the saloon. And then I saw the limbs. My heart sunk and the world went quiet. A bloodstained hand lay lifeless on the floor, everything started to spin. I continued forward, obediently following the others but barely able to keep myself up. "It's just shock, it's all okay..." I repeated to myself and slowly started to regain control./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"We hid behind a wall that surrounded a small park to the right of the house we had just occupied. I felt reality start to melt away, my emotions overpowering my body for a few moments. All I wanted was to go home, to be safe, for all this to never of happened but one thing haunted me, the reality of the situation. emWe were going to die/em… emI was going to die…/em/span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"The moon was so bright, my eyes couldn't bear it; the need to vomit rose in me then wandered off only to return soon after. I couldn't do it, I needed to go, I needed to hide, to go anywhere but here. Then we heard the voices./span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"Search the perimeter, and look for casualties." ordered an officer, followed by hurried footsteps. Noise got closer and closer, nearer and nearer. emThey were right behind us…/em The leader of my squad held up his hand, and signalled for us to attack on his command. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. The clenched his fist and we opened fire on the unsuspecting soldiers, mascaraing them into the ground before they could even respond. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-size: 12pt;"FIRE AT WILL" the enemy commander barked, and a wave of light came at us. Two went down, we had seven left. My breathing quickened. Grenades flew at the enemy, causing them to sprint to cover. /span/p
p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-size: 12pt;"Five seconds...Four Seconds...Three seconds….Two seconds… One second… Multiple loud booms echoed through the air and we retreated towards the forest. Losing them wouldn't be easy, but the sacrifice was worth the short amount of time we would buy for the other squads. We switched off of the road we were on and headed down the path that led to the forest./span/p