I push myself back into the trench, kneeling down in the rain and mud, trying to breath.

Something hits me in the head, and splashes in the puddle in front of me, water and mud splashing me in the face.

I shake off the impact, and look down to see it was Dave. He had a large blaster wound in the chest, the singed armor and skin smoking, and blood covered the area.

Dave looks at the wound, then up at me. He grits his teeth, blood coating them. "Kell…they killed me Kell…"

I grab his right hand, squeezing it, staring at the wound. His hand was shaking, his entire body was shaking. "No you're…you're going to be fine Dave." I look at Dave's eyes, seeing the fear behind them. Dave meets my eyes for a second before his head falls back. "Dave!"

I stare at his still hand.

I look at Dave's face. It was lifeless, motionless, and the eyes open.

I reach over and close his eyes, then grab the dogtags around his neck, and rip them off his neck. I read it over quickly before I shove them into my pants pocket.

"KELL!"

I look back and see Gunny yelling my name.

"We need to fall back to the second trench!"

He takes off running for the nearest part of the trench that led towards the second trench line.

I run after him, following and trying to keep from tripping over the dead soldiers.

Around me, I could hear more yells and screams of Mandalorians as they charged, and they got louder.

Gunny twists around and runs into the support trench, heading for the second trench line.

I follow him down, and he takes cover behind the second trench line, like I thought he would.

I take my spot next to him. "What the hell are we doing!?"

"Staying alive!" He yells back. Gunny then stands up begins marching down to the trench yelling "EVERYONE! PULL BACK!"

I slowly stand up, and peek over the top of the top of the trench. Some soldiers were still in the front trench, some firing their rifles, some dueling Mandalorians, many more dead.

I drop behind cover, and look up into the sky. It was still raining. If there ever was a hell, this has to be it.

"HARD CONTACT!"

I stand up, knowing what that meant. Mandalorians had penetrated the defensive line.

I jump up and look over the top of the trench.

I see a Mandalorian getting ready to jump into the front trench.

I panic, and pull the trigger on my rifle.

The rounds shoot out, catching the Mandalorian off-guard, and throwing him backwards.

I quickly try to react before the Mandalorian can do anything, and hold my rifle tighter, taking several more shots.

The Mandalorian falls on his back, failing to get into the trench.

Gunny looks around and sees reinforcements were finally starting to arrive, swelling the trench lines.

Gunny relaxes for a brief moment, and for the first time, feels the cold water on his back that had soaked through his armor. His body had numbed it out during the battle.

Gunny turns and leans against the trench wall, falling to the ground. No matter how many Mandalorians attacked, they couldn't overwhelm an entire corps. And with the reinforcements, the artillery from the main complex would be aiming this way.

Gunny is ripped from his brief relief when something heavy and cold lands in his lap.

Gunny looks down and sees a small metal ball laying in his lap.

Gunny immediately grabs it, and tosses it back out, hearing the explosion following only a second and a half later.

DAMN IT that was close!

I lean against the wall, palming the grenade in my hand, my finger ready to pull the pin.

I jump back, and get ready to pull the pin and toss the grenade over, until I see a Mandalorian standing above me, ready to jump in.

Before I can even react, he kicks his foot out, and connects with my left cheek throwing me back. I drop the grenade, but I didn't feel the pin in my fingers, so I assumed it wasn't active.

I collide with the back wall of the trench, but stay on my feet.

The pain in my cheek was momentary, but sharp and quick.

I hear a splash of water, and look up just in time to see the Mandalorian had jumped in, his fist up and ready.

"KELL!"

Gunny turns when he hears someone yell Kell's name.

It sounded like that female private.

He sees Tura, her rifle drawn and pointed at a Mandalorian that had dropped into the trench, standing in front of Kell.

"NO!"

Before the Mandalorian can throw his fist, several rounds hit him from the side.

He twists to the right, grabbing his pistol and takes aim.

"NO!"I scream, grabbing my knife.

Gunny stares as Kell springs into motion.

Kell draws his knife, shooting his arm out, and digs it into the Mandalorians back, and judging from the Mandalorian's screams, he pierced the armor.

With a knife!?

Before I can even process what I just did, I feel a hard sharp impact hit my right temple, and throw me back.

I land on my back in in the middle of the trench in a deep and muddy puddle, feeling my back sink into the mud. But I still had my knife. I still had a chance.

I look up and stare into the barrel of a Mandalorian pistol.

"NO!" Gunny yells.

Before he can stop the Mandalorian, Tura jumps on the Mandalorian's back, grappling with him.

I catch my breath after seeing someone jump on the Mandalorians back, and grab my blaster pistol.

I jump up, and see Tura was the one who attacked him.

"TURA!"

Gunny keeps his rifle up, but holds his fire as the Mandalorian and Tura grapple with each other.

Gunny turns immediately when he hears someone yelling to see a Mandalorian running up to the trench, his sword drawn above his head, ready to hack Gunny in half.

Gunny quickly sidesteps to his right, while the Mandalorian jumps into the trench, hacking his sword down, hitting nothing but water and mud in the bottom of the trench.

Gunny's reflexes take over, hitting the Mandalorian with the stock of his rifle, throwing the Mandalorian off balance.

He then closes the gap between them, and hacks like the Mandalorian did with his repeating rifle, hitting the Mandalorian in the head.

The blow to the Mandalorian's head causes him to fall to the ground.

Gunny jumps on top of the Mandalorian, straddling him, and places his repeater's muzzle on the Mandalorian's neck, and begins firing.

The loud and constant impact of the rounds hitting the metal at this close range was deafening, piercing his ear drums.

Gunny stops when he feels blood splatter his legs, and pulls his rifle out of the Mandalorian's neck. He had blasted through the armor and his repeater had dug itself into the Mandalorians neck. As he pulls it out, it pulls against the sinews and skin that had tangled itself around his weapon.

Gunny stands back up and looks for Kell.

I pivot, holding my knife out, while the Mandalorian reaches back, grabbing and throwing Tura off his back. He then turns around, standing above her.

I tackle the Mandalorian into the wall, pressing him against the wall with my left arm. I push my knife forward, punching it through his armor by the ribs. I feel it work its way into his body, pass the skin and muscle. I even feel my knife pressed down as it hits one of the hard rib bones.

The Mandalorian headbutts me, throwing me back, but I keep my grip on my knife and pull it out as I am thrown backwards. I feel blood fall out my nostrils and more starts getting into my eyes.

I kick the Mando back against the wall, and rush forward, this time lifting my knife and hacking down into the neck armor. I feel it punch through, and dig into the neck.

The Mandalorian slumps down, and I pull the knife out, kicking him over to the side.

I look back at Tura, who was staring me. "Stay alert private! This isn't over yet!" I tell her.

She nods her head, and goes back to her position.

I look around for my rifle, but I couldn't see anything.

It could be anywhere in this damn trench.

I grab my pistol in my right hand, and hold my knife in my left hand. Not ideal for fighting.

Gunny fires into the exposed back of a Mandalorian wearing red armor, firing until the Mando falls to his knees.

The soldier he was struggling with kicks the Mando in the chest, draws his knife, and jumps on his chest, hacking into the Mando's chest.

Gunny walks around him, watching the soldiers fight the Mandalorians and push them back. With the reinforcements, the Mando's couldn't hope to push any further.

Gunny turns when he hears a loud, old, heavy, overworked engine roar as it got closer.

He runs to the wall, and looks over, seeing the largest Mando tank he had ever seen, passing over the front trench.

"DAMN IT!" Gunny curses.

I twist around when I hear a massive BOOM to my left.

I look over to see the massive tank that had been spearheading the attack, sitting on the front trench.

I stare at the tank, dumbfounded by it. It was like an extension of the Mandalorian war machine. It was at least fifteen feet wide, and 25 feet long, with a 10 foot cannon. Judging from the number of scorch marks and craters in the front metal plate, its armor was thicker than anything I had ever seen. It also had a plate of armor welded to its side, protecting its hull and going down to its tread and wheels. It didn't take me long to realize, it was designed to take punishment and power on.

I duck back down, and head for the part of the trench that tank would have to drive over if it wanted to cross the second trench line.

While running, I try to come up with a plan on how to destroy it.

Ok, judging by armor, traditional ideas won't work. Overheating the engine isn't likely. And trying to pierce the armor around the engine...

Jam the turret winder? Probably won't work. Grenade down the cannon? Well, shot to pieces, or try to toss it in. Either way, killed.

Treads…the weakest point if we can cut them. Cut one, the other doesn't work, but to cut them, we'll need something powerful…

That's it!

I begin looking for Gunny, and a rocket launcher. We couldn't screw this up.

Gunny ducks back down, retreating from the fire shot by the Mandalorians in the first trench, which they now clearly controlled.

Even our biggest cannon wasn't able to penetrate that tank's armor, and without a plan, that tank could easily steam over the entire trench defensive system. And blow up all the artillery along the way.

"Gunny!"

I kneel down next to Gunny, him looking at me like I was half-dead.

"We need a rocket launcher!" I quickly tell him.

"Rocket's won't do shit against that thing Kell!" Gunny answers.

"We're not aiming for the front! We're aiming for the treads!"

"You miss the fact they have plates covering the treads and wheels!?"

"Not in front!" I tell him, smiling.

Gunny looks at me, realizing what I was planning.

The artillery we built into the trenches couldn't aim low enough to hit the treads of the tanks. And rockets issued to the heavy weapons team wouldn't penetrate either.

But aim a rocket at the unprotected treads in the front of the tank, and we had a chance.

"I'll see what I can do! Stay here!" Gunny says.

"And do what?"

Gunny grabs the grenades in his belt, and hands them to me. "Go wild!"

Gunny ducks down, hearing rounds hit the ground inches above him.

I should've retired when I had the chance he tells himself as he slogs through the mud.

The second trench was full of soldiers, all returning fire and trying to suppress the Mandalorians, but it didn't seem like they were gaining any advantage. This was becoming a slugging match, and against the Mandalorains, the Resistance rarely won prolonged battles like this.

Gunny stops when he sees a private with a rocket launcher laying next to him, and runs up to him, pulling the private down into the trench.

"You got any rockets for that?!"

"Yea!" he answers.

"Grab em and follow!" Gunny says.

Gunny turns, and begins leading them back to where Kell was.

"GRENADE!"

I toss a frag grenade over, and hear the resulting explosion a few seconds later. A pained scream accompanying the small blast brings a smile to my face.

I grab another grenade, and reel my arm back to toss it over.

I throw the grenade forward, with a hammer smashing into my hand only moments after I toss it.

I drop to my knees, staring at my right hand.

It wasn't a blaster round, maybe a round that ricocheted and split.

The pain finally hits me, burning my palm, causing the nerves to scream back in pain.

"DAMN IT!"

Gunny sits up after having ducked down when someone yelled grenade, and looks around. No one in front of him was hit.

Gunny turns behind him and sees where the grenade had hit.

The private carrying the rocket launcher had his back torn to pieces, his blood spattering the trench's walls.

Gunny leans down to pull the rocket launcher free, lifting the recruit off it. It was a grisly sound as the private's body slid off the rocket launcher in a bloody mess. Gunny then reaches forward, and grabs a rocket from the private's ammo pouch.

I make a fist, making sure I still had control of my fingers after the injury.

Seeing them repeatedly make a fist reassures me that nothing was permanent.

"I got your rocket launcher!" Gunny yells, sliding to a halt next to me.

I grab the rocket launcher and Gunny produces a rocket, and loading it into the back of the weapon.

"How accurate are these things?" I ask him.

"It took a grenade!" Gunny yells.

"So it's a pipe bomb!?" I scream!

"It's ten feet away!" Gunny yells.

"IT'S A PIPE BOMB!" I scream.

"SHUT UP AND GET READY!" Gunny shouts at me.

I let out a breath, and hoist it up on my back.

Gunny stands up, and puts a hand on my shoulder while he peeks over the top of the trench. "I'll tell you when its clear!"

I take a deep breath, waiting for the signal.

"NOW!"

Gunny watches Kell jump up, and take aim, and shoot the rocket at the tank.

It shoots out and hits the right tread, but Gunny doesn't stay standing to observe the damage, instead dropping kneeling down in the trench.

"We hit it?"

I close my eyes, listening to the approaching tank.

When I hear the mismatched sounds of the treads approaching, I could tell we had snapped it. That tank wouldn't get anywhere now.

The ground starts visibly shaking, the water in the trench even rippling.

Soldiers around us all begin running away. Like they were running away from us.

I look up, and see the massive behemoth slowly inch forward, until I see the very front of the tank, and it stops moving.

Above us was the first massive gear that pulled the tank forward, spinning at full steam to try and power forward, but with no tread, that tank would only move in circle.

"MOVE!" Gunny screams at me, grabbing my collar and pulling me away.

I stumble before I get my footing, and follow Gunny as he runs away from the tank through the trenches, jumping over dead soldiers, ignoring the fights and other warnings yelled at us.

When he comes to a stop, I kneel down next to him, and ask through my heavy breathing "What was that about?"

Before he can answer, a loud explosion racks the trench, throwing me on my stomach, and face first into a puddle. I feel my nose smashed, and taste blood.

I sit up, and look back to see the tank had either self-destruct, or blown up. I wasn't sure which.

"That's a Mando Hammer Tank, never captured. Now, you know why. They blow them up rather than loose one," Gunny says through his heavy breathing.

I look at the tank, dark smoke billowing from it like a smoke stack.

Around us, soldiers were standing up on the front of the trench, cheering, hollering, and goading the Mandalorians.

"We win?" I ask.

Gunny stands up, looking around. "Looks like it."

I lean against the wall of the trench, and allow myself to relax.

Gunny kneels down next to me, staring at me.

"What?"

He slowly reaches his right hand out, and touches the bridge in my nose. I feel a brief sensation of pain, and wince at it. Gunny pulls his hand back, and says "You took quite a few blows."

I smile at that, until I feel the sting in my left cheek from my split skin. The adrenaline must've blocked out all the pain I was feeling. With the battle over, and now being able to relax, it stopped.

"Yea, hurts. Well, if you want to check on your friends, do it now, then go to the field hospital, and get patched up," he tells me. "And report back to me."

"Yes sir," I tell him. "Thank you, sir."

"I'm not sir to you," Gunny says, standing up and walking away.

I watch him walk away, before I reach into my pocket, and pull out what I felt.

Dave Corra – DF 498-332

I stare at it, an empty feeling taking over in my stomach.

Well, let's see hope Tanner, Bork and Tura had a better battle than I did.