The next morning the Gallian artillery spoke signaling the beginning of their new attacks. For ninety minutes, Gallian 90 mm and 105 mm guns pounded the Imperial lines. Throughout the day Gallian forces will launch repeated attacks against the Imperials and achieve only minor success. The Imperial airplanes played a major role in this attacking the Gallians with machine guns, bombs, and rockets. Since the Gallians had no dedicated weapons to shoot them down, these attacks are very effective. Due to the losses sustained, the Gallian army calls off the attacks until nightfall when the Imperial air force will not be a factor.

With nightfall, the Gallian divisions readied themselves for their attacks. Just like before their artillery guns shattered the peaceful silence of the night. They lit up the night around them with brief and bright flashes of light. 90 mm and 105 mm He shells pounded the Imperials for an hour before the guns fell silent and the infantry attacked.

"Alright ladies you know the plan! We're to break through the Imperial defenses and liberate Hilwarsen from Imperial occupation. Questions?"

No one spoke up. "Outstanding! Mount up!"

They climbed into the half-tracks while others climbed onto the tanks. They can still hear their artillery as they move out. Jackson checked his watch and nodded. He'd timed it so when they got close to the Imperial positions the bombardment will be finished.

"Uh, sir? The bombardment is still ongoing."

"I know rookie. I've timed it. We're not going to be killed by our own artillery." One of the scouts grabbed his shoulder. "Relax. Jackson knows what he's doing." Two minutes later, their artillery fell silent. The half-tracks pulled slightly off the road and stopped. "We're walking from here people!" The squad dismounted and supported the tanks as they moved. Through the trees, they can see smoke rising from the Imperial positions.

"I have eyes on the Imp positions. Looks like our artillery did a number on them."

"Aim for MG positions and anti-tank guns. Load HE."

"HE loaded sir."

"Do not fire until Jackson's tank does." They didn't have to wait long until Jackson's tank fired. Vellers's tank followed up and the infantry moved into cover while staying close to the tanks. They're fighting in a wooded area but not so much that the tanks are a liability instead of an asset.

Vellers turned out and used his binoculars. Their artillery had done damage to the Imperial positions, but not as much as he expected. "The Imperials are dug in far better than our reports stated. It will be difficult to dig them out."

"Difficult or not we'll dig them out sir!"

"Gunner. MG nest at our one o'clock."

"Target acquired. Firing!" The shell hit the MG nest near instantaneously destroying the nest and killing the gun team. "Target destroyed. Second MG nest at our eleven o'clock." The turret rotated, "Target acquired. Firing!" The MG nest disappeared in a cloud of Earth. "Target destroyed!"

Suddenly, what sounded like an explosion ripped through the turret and Vellers blacked out for a split second. When his eyes opened, he found himself against the back of the turret and his head is pounding. He gently felt the back of his head and hissed at the sharp pain it caused. When he looked at his fingers, he found them wet with blood. He blinked a few times and looked at his gunner. He's dead, the massive wound to his chest proved that. Seeing that he patted himself down and, thankfully, didn't find more wounds. His vision started to swim as the pain from his head wound worsened.

He leaned against the gun breach as he tittered on unconsciousness. "Sir, you alright?"

"...Got a nasty head wound and definitely a concussion. You?"

"Shrapnel tore my left arm up and I took a few pieces to the chest." He groaned and stood up letting Vellers see his wounds. His left arm is covered in lacerations and a few pieces of metal are embedded in his chest. His blue uniform is being soaked with blood from his wounds. "How's our gunner?"

"Dead. Shrapnel damn near tore his chest open."

"Fuck."

It is only now that they notice the tank has been moving. "Sergeant!? You alright!?" He winced from his driver's shouting. "No. Our gunner is dead. Get us to the backline. Our battle is over."

"Sir!"

"Lieutenant Jackson, my tank was hit by an AT gun. Gunner is dead while myself and my loader are injured. We're falling back. Out."

Jackson cussed when the transmission ended. "Chase! Back us up!"

"Sir!"

He grabbed his binoculars and unbuttoned. He jumped when a bullet ricocheted off the turret. "Son of a bitch." He raised his binoculars and searched for anti-tank guns. More rounds started hitting the turret and he went back in. "Can't see the gun. Keep backing us up."

"Lieutenant Jackson, we've spotted an AT gun off your one o'clock!"

"Driver! Rotate front to one o'clock!"

"Sir!" The Firefly's left track stopped and it started to turn. A shell screamed in and hit the side armor. Thankfully, at the angle it hit, it bounced off only raddling the crew. "That AT gun has us in its sights!"

"I don't see it sir!" Jackson turned out and searched with his binoculars. A second shell landed just in front of the tank's hull. "Adjust three degrees right!" The turret rotated. "FIRE!"

"Short! Elevate two degrees!"

"Gun loaded!"

"Firing!"

"Direct hit! AT gun is nothing but flaming scrap metal!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Chase hold here. We'll provide fire support from here."

"Understood sir!"

Brooks ducked into cover as the tree was riddled with bullets sending pieces of bark flying. To her left, Cole is crouched down behind a fallen tree with Thomson. Bullets tore into the dead tree causing pieces of it to fly off. "Where the hell is that HMG!?"

"No idea! I can't see an MG nest!"

"What happened to our tank support!?"

"Veller's tank was hit by an AT gun. Jackson's tank has backed off to avoid getting hit!"

"Hey! I've got this lance that isn't doing much good right now! Cover me and I'll hit that position!"

"Alright! COVERING FIRE!"

Anyone who heard her shout leaned out and fired. They're not aiming at anything particularly; they're just trying to keep the Imps heads down. The scouts tried to aim accurately but the Imps have good cover. During this, the lancer stood up and fired. The sound of it firing is masked by the roar of gunfire but the explosion isn't. It slammed into the Imp battlements but only did minor damage. "Damn! Fell short. Reloading!"

An increasing amount of fire is thrown at the Lancer's position pinning down anyone near him. "We need to move!"

"How!? If we move we're dead!"

"On your bellies! We'll crawl out of here!" They started crawling away from their previous position. Seconds later, a mortar lance slammed into the position. They would have all been dead had they stayed there for another second. "Too fucking close!"

"Jackson this is Brooks! We're going to need heavier firepower if we want to break the Imp defense! Over!"

"Understood sergeant. I'm trying to get artillery support but they're busy at the moment. I'm moving up to assist directly. Out."

Another lance slammed into the Imperial positions with slightly better results than the last. Once again, heavy fire is focused on where the lance came from and the lancer, along with two scouts, are killed. "Scouts! Aim your rifle grenades for the inside of the trench! Blow them out of their defensives!" A few seconds later, multiple scouts fire their rifle grenades; not that anyone noticed as their sound is swallowed up by the ever-growing roar of fighting.

The explosions aren't heard but they're definitely felt and seen. Brooks can't see it, but she knows Imperials are killed by the rifle grenades. Multiple explosions happened directly in front of the Gallian's line and they're slowly getting closer. "Mortars!"

A mortar landed directly in front of Brooks. The tree protected her, but the shockwave left her ears ringing. The Gallians hunkered down as the barrage continued. A mortar-lance slammed into the base of the tree sending it toppling down. The Gallians near it jumped away as it crashed down. Once it hit the ground the infantry around it scrambled to it for cover.

Sara crawled up to the tree and leaned against it. "The fuckers are trying to drop trees on us!" Sara and the others laughed. Mortars continued to fall on the Gallen troops. "These mortars are giving me a damn headache!"

"You have a quip about everything don't you!"

"It's part of my charm!"

Sara fired multiple bursts at the Imperial line. She took cover to reload and looked behind her. Jackson's tank has rolled forward and is engaging with two M1PCs supporting. Their firepower forced the Imps to stay in cover taking some pressure off the Gallian infantry. "If we don't move their mortars are going to kill us!"

"If we charge the Imperial defensives, we'll be dead as well!"

"Sergeant Brooks, I've secured artillery support. Expect rounds to be landing in a few seconds. Out."

"Everyone hold your positions! Our artillery will pound the Imperial positions! Then we make our push!"

Three seconds later, shells started pounding the Imperial defensive line. This continued for thirty seconds. Jackson's tank moved up in front of the squad and started engaging. "Let's go!" Brooks charged the Imperial line; the rest of the squad followed after her. By the time the Imperial got back into position, the Gallians are basically on top of them.

Brooks jumped into the trench and dodged the butt of a rifle. She countered by slamming the butt of her rifle into the Imp's head. He staggered a bit allowing Brooks to shoot him. A second Imperial charged her with a bayonet. She killed him before he could stab her.

Sara jumped in off her left and fired down the trench. She killed two Imperials before she took cover. Behind her, Brooks took cover and reloaded. She leaned out and fired killing another Imperial before taking cover. A bullet hit the wood a few millimeters from her face. She looked behind her and Sara had leaned out of cover to fire. She raised her rifle and when Sara went to reload fired to cover her. She hit an Imperial three times in the body dropping him. Sara leaned back out and fired.

Brooks turned back around and saw two of her squadmates jump into the trench and start clearing. "Sara, clear!?"

"Clear!"

Brooks turned around, "We're moving down this trench. Take point." She nodded and moved forward with Brooks right behind her. They quickly moved through the trench and the path split. They checked left and right. "Clear this way."

"Our squadmates are further down on this side." Sara turned and moved down the trench. Brooks stayed back to cover her. Sara stopped and pressed herself against the left wall. She raised her SMG and waited. Four seconds later, two Imperial Shock troopers came sprinting down the trench. She fired two bursts dropping them both. She slowly moved forward, and a scout turned the corner. He already had his rifle up but before he could fire, a bullet hit him in the chest, and he fell backward. Sara gave a quick nod to Brooks and held the corner as she moved up.

"The trench ends here."

"Let's push out then."

They move out of the trench and Brooks raised her binoculars. Around two hundred meters behind the first defensive line is a second. The Imps are trading fire with some of their squadmates who have pushed forward. "Jackson, we've secured the first defensive line. You're clear to push forward. Over."

"Understood sergeant. I'm moving forward with two M1PCs in support. Out."

Brooks looked behind her and saw his tank crest the hill. The gun fired and the tank moved forward. Three seconds later, the M1PCs crested the hill and opened fire. Brooks and Sara moved up and took cover behind some boxes. Brooks leaned out and fired a few shots before ducking back into cover. "Sara cover me!"

She stood up and fired multiple bursts at the Imps. Brooks quickly moved across and took cover behind an abandoned AT gun. Sara fired on the move as she moved to the AT gun. She took cover as bullets pinged off the gun.

Further to their right, a six-man fireteam is pinned down by machine gun fire. York readied a rifle grenade and fired. The grenade sailed through the air and slammed into a machine gun position. "Good hit!"

"That was my last grenade though!"

"Damn! That means we're out!"

"How are we going to take out those MGs then!?"

"We shoot the crews that's how!"

Justin poked out and fired before a hail of fire forced him down. "Easier said than done!" A scout next to him is hit and he falls. Justin checked for a pulse and cussed when he didn't find one. He looked up and saw one of their M1PCs moving to assist. The machine gunner opened up providing much-needed fire support for the team. He looked back at the Imps and noticed their fire had slacked off. "That's the break we need! Move forward!"

The five-man team quickly moved to the next cover position. Justin and York split away from the team and took cover behind some boxes while the rest of the team took cover behind some empty ammunition crates. York squeezed off three shots killing three Imps. He spotted two Imperials setting up some kind of weapon and squeezed off a shot. It hit just in front of them. He adjusted and fired hitting one of the Imps in the head. The second Imp dropped the gun and took cover.

Justin aimed at where the MG was and fired keeping the team pinned if they weren't dead already. "Justin! I'm moving!"

"Got it!" He let off three to five-round bursts as York moved forward. He quickly reloaded as York reached a shell hole close enough to the Imps to toss grenades at them. He looked to his left and saw the rest of their fireteam pushing forward. He took a deep breath, breathed out, and sprinted to the shell hole. It only took a few seconds to reach but when under fire, a few seconds can feel like hours. He dove into the creator landing on his stomach. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, then, he crawled up next to York.

"Justin! Good to see you made it! I need you to hit the Imps with a grenade!"

"On it!" He readied a grenade and through it. It exploded and they went to a crouching position to fire. They killed two Imps who were disoriented from the grenade. York is hit and fell to the bottom of the crater. Justin dropped to his stomach and crawled to York. He's still alive if the groaning and quiet cussing is any indication. He's already used his ragnaid and nodded to Justin. He nodded back and peeked out of the crater. Their fire team has rushed the Imp position and are fighting for control of it. Their M1PC has moved forward but is still safely in the back.

"York! How you doing!?"

"I've been better!" He moved up next to him. "How are we looking?"

"Our fireteam is fighting for the Imperial position. You up to assist them?"

"Yeah... I'll cover you."

Justin scrambled up and sprinted to the trench. He jumped into the trench and looked left. He killed two scouts before they could bring their rifles to bear. He saw his fire team members at the other end and waved to them so they wouldn't shoot him by accident.

York jumped in the trench, "Looks like we have the position."

"Yeah, but we have another position to take." Justin looked over the trench and spotted muzzle flashes from another Imperial position.

"Well, let's get moving."

The M1PC rolled up to the previous Imp position and the gunner took some long-range shots. They all fell short though, so he ordered the driver forward. A four-man fireteam is following behind the M1PC. York and Justin moved up behind the M1PC and joined the rest of their fireteam. "You four are with us!"

"Sir!"

The vehicle stopped and they moved out. "Split up and find cover!" The team separated and took cover behind various objects. York fired at the muzzle flashes but it's impossible to tell if he hit anyone. Next to him, a Shock trooper emptied the entire magazine at the Imps before reloading and moving position. He fired multiple bursts at the Imps before having to reload.

Behind them, the M1PC started moving again. The gunner laid down constant fire until the box ran empty. He reached down, grabbed another box, and reloaded. Bullets pinged off the armor and the driver ducked. "Shoot them dammit!"

"I'm reloading!" He pulled the charging handle and opened fire. He racked fire from left to right keeping the Imperials' heads down. Something exploded directly in front of them. "I think that was a lance!"

"Back up then!"

The driver slowly started backing up while his gunner laid down an unending stream of fire. A bullet ricocheted off the armor and hit the gunner in the neck. His hands shot up and grabbed his neck and blood flowed freely. When the half-track stopped, he fell down into the troop compartment. "Hey! Why aren't you shooting!?" He looked behind him. "FUCK!" He scrambled out of the driver's seat and checked his wound. "Double fuck!" He grabbed him and dragged him out of the half-track. He leaned him against it and used his Ragnaid; It didn't do much. "Stay with me buddy! MEDIC!" His hands and arms are rapidly being soaked in blood. He grabbed his gunner's Ragnaid and used it. "MEDIC! I NEED A GODDAM MEDIC!"

He flinched as bullets pinged off the half-track. He looked around and saw four Imperial scouts heading his way. "You have got to be fucking kidding!" He drew his sidearm and fired. He hit one while the others took cover and fired back. Three bullets ripped through him knocking him down. He didn't feel any pain and kept firing. Bullets impacted the dirt or pinged off the half-track. He went to reload when a bullet nailed his sidearm. "Fuck!" He shook his hand, crawled over to his gunner, took his pistole, and started shooting again. A fourth bullet tore through, and he dropped the gun. He couldn't find the strength to pick it. Hell, he could hardly find the strength to breathe.

He's not sure how long he laid there. Eventually, his vision went blurry just as someone crouched over him and started shaking him. They're saying something but everything is muffled, and darkness is closing in. He briefly felt weightless before he was set on something, and darkness took him.

"Lieutenant Jackson! Message from Lieutenant Lane! Her squad has broken through!"

"Excellent. Hopefully, the other squads will break through as well." He unbuttoned and raised his binoculars. The Imperials are abandoning their positions and falling back leaving a scant few to fight a rear-guard action. "Sergeant Brooks, our other squads are starting to break through. Let's wrap this up."