My name is Chloe Brooks I'm in Squad Fifteen, Sixth Regiment, Ninth Army under Command of General Damon. Tensions with the Empire have been raising ever since the outbreak of EWII and the army is on high alert.
My squad is being sent to Ghirlandaio to reinforce the garrison there. I pray we are not dragged into this much larger conflict but I'm afraid my country is too tempting of a target to ignore.
Four trucks rumbled down a bumpy dirt road. Inside of each truck sat eight people all dressed in the standard blue Gallian army uniform. There was a tension in the air; they all knew of the rising tensions between Gallia and the Empire and they were being sent to where the war would presumably start, Ghirlandaio.
"You really think the empire would declare war on us?"
"They have their hands full with the Federation. They wouldn't pull troops off the front to invade Gallia."
"What if they do? There's no way a single company can hold Ghirlandaio against the Imperial army."
"You scared of the Imperials private!?"
"They're a thousand times our size and can drown us in soldiers and armor! Of course I'm worried!"
"Worried!? HA! You sound scared! Don't tell me you're one of those country mice!"
"You son-of-a-"
"Can it you three! This ain't boot camp!"
"He started it!"
"You volunteering to run to the citadel private!"
"No sir," he mumbled.
"I didn't hear you private!"
"No sir!"
"Good."
In front of the sergeant was a corporal who had ignored the argument right next to her in favor of writing in her book. She was so engrossed in it she didn't notice that someone was trying to get her attention. Her shoulder shook violently and she turned her head.
"Glade I could get a moment of your precocious time corporal. What's with the book you writing to your boyfriend?"
That got a few chuckles out of the men and the corporal smirked. "No, just something to keep my thoughts in."
"Hell, what is it with women and diaries?"
"Well unlike you us women like to write down what we think. If you had a diary you wouldn't remember half of what you wrote in it."
"Oh damn!"
"She has some bite in her!"
"I said can it! I swear it's like I lead a bunch of high schoolers."
They rode in silence for a few minutes before it started to become uncomfortable. The corporal noticed this when she looked up seeing everybody awkwardly look at each other. 'Fuck me Hawk is right. They're like a bunch of teenagers. Then again they ARE teenagers.' She caught one of them sneaking glances at her assets. 'Yep, defiantly teenagers'
"Hey! Moss! Stop staring at my tits!"
"AH!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"DAMN!"
"Hahaha! Well, I guess that's on way to break the silence!"
Moss turned red as a tomato and tried to stutter out a response. "I-I-I h-have no idea w-w-what you're talking about!"
"Oh for-"
"Seriously Moss?"
"Even the densest of women could tell you're lying!"
"Come on man!"
"I wasn't expecting her to call me out on it," Moss defended.
Hawk smirked when he said, "You'll have to do better than that Moss. Brooks has been dealing with that ever since she joined the military."
"Hey, what's your size, Brooks?"
SMACK!
"AHHHHH! What the hell was that for!?"
"You don't ask a woman what size her breasts are," Brooks said with a glare.
He raised his hands, "Alright, alright point taken."
"Sometimes I wonder if you have any sense at all."
Chloe rolled her eyes and put her diary away. She leaned back and closed her eyes hoping to get some sleep.
Two hours later
"Hey, Brooks wake up."
She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "How long was I out?"
"Two hours. We're entering Ghirlandaio now."
She nodded and rolled her neck. The truck stopped and they jumped out. The other three trucks stopped and the rest of squad fifteen jumped out. They got in formation and Lieutenant Tyler Bell stood at the head of the formation and silently inspected them. Once he was satisfied he spoke, "Alright boys and girls listen up! This is Ghirlandaio for those who are stupid Ghirlandaio sits right on our border with the Empire. With EWII kicking off command decided that our border needed to be reinforced in case war does break out."
"Now, if the Empire knows what's good for them they won't come within ten kilometers of this citadel! But if they think they have the balls to take it you will drive them back with their tails between their legs! AM I RIGHT!"
"SIR YES SIR!"
"Damn right I am! Sargent no name here will lead you to your barracks." Sargent no name glared at Bell but he ignored him. "Get used to Ghirlandaio and the surrounding terrain it's going to be your home for the future. DISMISSED!" The squad saluted and Bell returned it. He jumped off the small box he was standing on and walked away.
"Squad fifteen! Follow me!"
Its been a month since we arrived at Ghirlandaio and we quickly settled into a routine. We do morning PT followed by rifle and grenade practice and then do whatever was assigned to us for the day.
General Damon himself arrived a week ago along with five tanks and a squad. Didn't think Damon was the type of man to command from the front. At first, it was a moral booster knowing we had a General who would fight with his troops. Now I wish he just stayed wherever he was.
He's a stereotypical noble: fat, a pain in the ass, thinks he's better than everyone, looks down on us 'peasants' as he calls us. I don't know how he was made a general or how he's still in the army. Probably due to his name or his parents pulled some strings.
All I know is my squad is here for another week, then we get to go home. I can already taste my mom's home cooking.
"ARTILLERY!"
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
"It's the Imperials! They're attacking!"
"Come on! We have to get to the walls!"
Chole banged her head on the bunk above her. She groaned and rolled out of her bunk and fell to the cold stone floor. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and could see other soldiers rush past her. She felt the citadel shake as artillery fire hammered it. Someone grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet.
"Brooks! Now is not the time to daydream!"
She shook her head and her vision finally cleared. "Sargent?"
"Guess you hit your head harder than I thought! How many fingers am I holding up!?"
Chole pushed his middle finger away, "Very funny sir."
"It worked, here," he handed her a rifle, "The imperials are attacking. We have to drive them off!"
She loaded the gun, "Lead the way sir!"
They rushed out of the barracks to a scene of chaos. Soldiers ran across the courtyard using the stairs or elevators to get to the walls. Others carried stretchers with wounded on them out of the citadel toward the medical tents at the backline. Two tanks, one standard and another heavily modified, used the elevators to get into position. The modified one took the left elevator and most of the soldiers inside the citadel followed. The other used the right elevator and only a token force followed it.
"Damon is launching a risky counterattack on the Imp's flank! We're going to reinforce the right flank and make sure they don't get encircled! MOSS! With us!"
"Sir!"
They rushed up the stairs along with two shock troopers.
BANG!
A sniper shot hit near Moss's foot and caused him to stumble. He managed to get his feet back under him and Brooks fired at the sniper's position pinning him down.
"How the hell did they get inside the citadel so quickly!?
"No idea! I do know there is an entire armored division on the other side of these walls! If they break us here the entire line will be thrown into disarray! We have to stop them here!"
"No pressure then sir!?"
"None at all Corporal!"
They passed the tank which had parked itself around a corner ready to ambush any imperials who pushed. There was a scout on the corner trading shots with Imperials.
"What's the situation Private!?"
"Sir! Imperials have pushed up to those buildings! We put down a wall of tank traps to slow them down! So far they haven't tried to push!"
"We have to hold them here until our forces on the left take their base! FOR GALLIA!"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
"These bastards are good!"
"Of course they are! What did you expect that we would be fighting rookies!?"
"A man can dream sir!"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
"We can't stay bunched up like this! MOSS! Move up to those boxes! We'll provide covering fire!"
"SIR!"
"You two, go with him," he pointed to the scout and one of the shock troopers.
"Sir!"
"COVERING FIRE!"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
"I got one!"
"Don't care! Keep the pressure on!"
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
"Sir! More Imperials coming up! Looks like another squad!"
"We're going to need reinforcements!"
"You're in luck Private!"
Lieutenant Bell came up behind them with two shock troopers and a pair of scouts. The two shock troopers moved up to the beginning of a staircase and killed two Imps before they could get into cover. The scouts were further down the wall firing at the Imperials from the side. They killed one and wounded another who was dragged into cover by an engineer.
"Nice of you to join the party Lieutenant!"
"What's the situation Sargent?"
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
"We got two squads of Imperials pinned behind those buildings sir! What's the situation with Damon's counterattack!?"
"Stalled! The Imperials are holding and starting to push them back!"
"Well, we'll just have to launch an attack of our own!"
"Thinking the same-" RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"Get down, get down!"
"HEADS DOWN!"
The two shock troops in the front were mowed down before they had a chance as a stream of tracers flew from the Imp's ranks. The Gallians hid behind cover as the bullets landed all around them tearing chunks of stone away from their cover showing how hard those rounds hit. After five seconds of continuous firing, the gun fell silent.
One of the scouts moved up to where the shock troopers were to check if they were still alive. A round tore through his helmet and he tumbled down the stairs.
The Gallians returned fire catching six Imperials in the open as they advanced. Three were killed and the other three managed to dive into cover. They ducked waiting for that gun to open up, but it didn't. Realizing they were safe for the moment they tried to keep the Imps pinned so that gun didn't have a chance to open up again.
"General Damon! This is Lieutenant Bell! The Imperials are pushing our right flank hard! We need reinforcements!"
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
"Now you listen here Lieutenant! I will not have my victory squandered just because you got cold feet! We are pushing the Imperials back and I will not waste our momentum!"
"General! If the Imperials overrun our right flank they'll capture our base! Then you won't get your precious victory!"
"Watch your mouth Lieutenant! You are speaking to a superior officer! If it makes you feel better the tank on your side is under your command!" Damon cut the transmission.
"General! General!? Fuck!"
"What's the situation!?"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
"Damon won't send us reinforcements. Although that tank is now under our control!"
"Better than nothing!"
RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!
Another stream of tracers tore through Moss's cover. The two men with him were mowed down and blood rapidly pooled around them.
"MOSS!"
"Gallian tank this is Lieutenant Bell do you copy!?"
"We read you Lieutenant."
"Imperials have some sort of machine gun that's tearing us apart! Move forward and take it out!"
"Understood. Rolling."
The tank rumbled forward and presented its front to the Imps. Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, BOOM!
A high explosive shell blew a chunk off one of the buildings sending debris crashing down. The tank rolled forward and provided cover for the Gallians.
"Brooks! Go check on Moss and the men with him! See if they survived!"
"Sir!"
"SUPPRESSING FIRE!"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, BOOM!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
BOOM!
Brooks sprinted to Moss's position and checked to see if anyone was alive. The scout and shock trooper with him were dead but Moss was alive barley. He'd caught a round in the chest and the stomach. His breathing was shallow and he had lost a large amount of blood.
"B-Brooks?"
She slung her weapon over her shoulder. "I'm here Moss. I'm going to get you out of here." She pulled him to his feet and slung him over her shoulders. No easy task as with his gear he easy weighed a hundred pounds more than she did. Adrenaline pumping she carried him into more solid cover. She used her ragnaid and it slowed his bleeding and somewhat stabilized his breathing.
"Sir if we don't get him to a medic soon he's a goner."
"Alright, scout!"
"Sir!"
"Get Moss to a medic ASAP!"
"Sir!"
BOOM! Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
"Armor moving up."
"Wait! If you move up you won't have our support! Back up back up!"
BOOM!
The tank's ammo was detonated blowing the turret off. It's machine gun ammo cooked off causing a mini fireworks display. This did work in the Gallian's favor as the Imps couldn't advance without the risk of getting wounded. Of course, without the tank, they can no longer hold their position.
"Son of a bitch! We need to fall back!"
"General our right flank is in danger of being overrun! We need reinforcements!"
"Was the tank not enough!?"
"It was destroyed sir!"
"How did you-"
"It charged the Imp lines sir! Got itself killed! We lose the right flank you'll be cut off! We need reinforcements!"
"RAAAAAAA! You idiots are useless! No better than county mice!"
"General! Dammit!"
As they retreated they disabled the elevator so the Imps couldn't use it. They fell back to the stairway leading to the courtyard and dug in there.
"We're gonna die! We're gonna die," the shock trooper cried.
SLAP!
"Pull it together! You're a shock trooper for fuck sake," Brooks shouted.
"I'm not dying for a lost cause!"
Click!
"Trooper! If you run I will shoot you myself," Hawk snarled.
BANG!
A sniper round tore through the trooper's head splattering blood and brain matter across the wall behind him. Brooks snapped off five shots and the sniper fell over the wall and landed in the courtyard below. She dived to the deck as more Imperials came into view.
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Four shots four kills.
"Dame fine shooting Brooks," Hawk complimented.
"Lieutenant, you need reinforcements?"
"Indeed, what's your name scout?"
"Private Kelly sir!"
"Well Kelly you may have just saved our right flank. Defensive positions!"
The six of them took cover just behind the stairs. Brooks looked over the lip of the stairs and saw a woman dressed in full black with silver hair leading the Imperials. That's surprising because the empire didn't allow women into their ranks. Everything about her just screamed leader so she took a chance.
Bang, Bang, Bang!
RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
"Grenade out!"
BOOM!
"God damn Brooks, are you crazy!?"
"That woman is their leader sir!"
"Since when do Imperials allow women into the army?"
"Now apparently."
"We can question it later! Right now we- Bang, Bang!
Thump!
"Brooks!"
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Thump!
Brooks groaned and tried to stand up only for someone to push her back down.
"Medic! We need a medic!"
"Don't move Brooks!"
Ratta, Ratta, Ratta, Ratta!
Hawk used his ragnaid, "Stay still!"
"We need to get her to a medic now!"
Bang, Bang, Bang!
"Brooks stay with me! Focus on my voice!"
"Sir! That woman is advancing!
"Shoot her!"
Bang!
RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!
Bang, Bang, Bang!
Ratta, Ratta!
Bang, Bang!
Ratta!
RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!
"Grenade!"
BOOM!
"General! The right flank has collapsed! You need to fall back!"
"Stay with us Corporal! Stay with us!"