Corrin scrambled from the ground immediately. His slug rifle pivoted around, looking for enemies. He was alone. He had been lucky. He had barely maneuvered into the clearing. If he had landed in the trees…He shook his head to dismiss the thought. With a slight tug, his knife eased out of its sheath. He sawed quickly at the light ropes of his chute. They fell loose and floated gracefully to the hard earth below.
He unlatched his scanner. The forest was streaming with action. He couldn't readily discern from friend or foe on the tiny device. All he knew was that there were enemies, and if he didn't find someone soon he'd be a dead man.
He quietly moved from the clearing and into the forest. There was a crunch as pieces of bark from a tree too his left blasted his face. "For the Emperor!" Someone roared. He spun around. Three soldiers in ornate, gold flak armor rushed towards him.
He brought his rifle to his shoulder and felt the recoil spit against his bone. One man fell in a storm of blood. The others halted in their tracks and drew odd, advanced weapons. "Damn…" Corrin muttered. The forest exploded around him. Red beams of energy soared past his head, leaving an echoing buzz in his ears.
He was away in seconds, sprinting through the underbrush. "Kill the non-believer!" Another man wailed. They were the zealous kind. There was a ruffle as another figure ran straight into him from the side.
"Shit, Shit!" It was Johnson.
"Johno, calm down it's me!" Corrin whispered. They lay in the green foliage, still, unmoving. The two soldiers marched by.
"Where…did he go?" One asked.
"He fled in the might of the God-Emperor. We do not need to worry of a single man." The other replied with joy. They veered off to the left, towards the noise of combat.
"God, Corrin, you gave me a scare. I thought they had me." Johnson muttered as he stood.
"We're getting pushed back everywhere it seems then. We can't let this happen. We need to get to the City." Corrin replied purposefully. Johnson nodded. They rushed off towards the battle.
The battlefield was Hell. Burnt out trees lay across the blood stained ground. They had not been the first to fight there. The National Guard forces stationed in the City of Angels had fought for many weeks to keep the city protected, but it had fallen nevertheless. Imperial entrenchments lay sprawled out across the smoking remains of the forest.
Now, 6th company had come to take La Ciudad Los Angeles back. The Imperial forces would not give up easily. Corrin's eyes ran across the desolate field. Soldiers of both sides rushed back and forth along the field, fighting and dying. Just beyond lay the City of Angels.
He bounded forward, letting a stream of continuous fire explode from his gun. When he was alone he was nothing. Together, as they were, the Merican Army would not fall.
Two Imperial's fell prey to his biting bullets. A gun emplacement began chugging out explosive bolts from a trench nearby. Corrin lunged left and deftly slid into the gravel tunnel. "Halt, non-believer." Someone said coldly from behind him. He turned. He felt cold steel pressing against his forehead. An Imperial Officer, a look of disgust on his face, stood there with his pistol to Corrin's head. "The plague of unbelief that covers this earth will fade…"
Corrin stood still as he watched someone else slide into the trench behind the Imperial. "…along with you!" The Officer finished. Corrin swallowed. The man's finger slid to the trigger. There was a small blast. Corrin shut his eyes. He felt hot liquid splash across his face.
His eyes blinked open. The Imperial stood there clutching his chest. Confusion and fear was written on his eyes; emotions that quickly faded and left a blank, empty shell. He fell to the floor. Johnson stood behind him. "Can't leave a brother behind!" The man laughed. Corrin ceased to move for a moment, then nodded.
That officer had been like him, yet, so different. The sounds of battle screamed back into his ears. He heard the methodical bursts of death emerging from the gun emplacement a few yards away.
The two soldier's turned in unison. The firing stopped. They watched as the gunners frantically reloaded the huge machine. Corrin, followed quickly by Johnson, charged forward with his gun blazing. Two of the crewmen turned in terror and shouted words of the Emperor's language. One dove behind a sandbag wall. Cold death caught the other.
The main gunner looked up briefly and shot his head back to the battlefield in an attempt to mask his fear. The Imperial behind the sandbags spun out. A burst of light shot from the man's gun. Corrin felt a sharp pang on his shoulder, but continued on.
The man shot back behind the wall, only to emerge again. Corrin was ready. He leapt forward and propelled himself into the man's chest. Sticking his knee onto the downed Imperial's ribs, he upholstered his pistol and ended the unnamed soldier's life. Johnson emerged in the emplacement bunker and fired a quick shot into the back of the gunner's head.
The two Mericans stood there for a moment, examining their work. Then, the silence was broken by a single word, resonating across the walls and echoing through their ears: "Artillery!" The ground shook in terror at the word. A series of explosions rang out across the battlefield. The two only hesitated for a moment. There was a slight whizzing sound. Corrin bolted from the bunker and across the trench, Johnson's footsteps behind him the whole time. There was a horrible burst of sound. Rock and dirt flew around him.
The Bunker was gone. He looked across the field. Merican soldiers were rushing towards the smoking city. They had to join them. "Corrin, Johnson, get back!" Someone screamed. Corrin stopped in his tracks. The large form of his companion rubbed against him. He looked up. A huge, black pod was sailing slowly towards the ground ahead of him. He had no time to move.
There was a blast. The two figures were thrown backwards. All went black.