Night falls, they fall!
Evan Stonebrook and his men are clearing a fairly undamaged building. There was no fight for the flats; it was a strole in the park for the dreadnaughts. Easy, too easy Evan thought but he was already concentrating about his next move.
"Private Griffith."
"Yes sir?" the young private replies.
"We're setting up camp here for the night! I want snipers posted through out the building and machine gun posts in the lobby." He tells the Private.
"Yes sir!" he responds, "right away sir."
"Ohh and Jack!" Evan continues.
"Yes? What is it sir?" he inquires.
"I want them swapped every 4 hours! I want every1 to get some rest tonight. Tomorrow their counter attack comes, so wake up is 0500!" Evan tells him putting his hand on the Private's shoulder.
"As you wish!" Jack responds.
Jack leaves the room and Evan walks over to the window and looks out at the dark sky filling with big black rain clouds. A summer storm approaches, but that's not what's worrying Evan, he worries why so quiet, why was it so easy, why is the suspense of a coming event bring fear into his heart when he knows he mustn't have fear!
"Captain? What's up?" Tim asks now standing next to Evan.
"This mission was way too easy!" Evan answers.
"Thought you were being more careful than usual" Reggie adds.
Evan turns to his Comrades, his friends and looks at them.
"Keep your weapons loaded lads!" he suggests, "we might be up for a rough night, but I know we got one hell of day ahead of us!"
0300
Evan sits next to a window left ajar, half asleep with his rifle loaded in his arms. A noise in the streets bellow wakes him and he takes a few second to realize that he's in the fifth floor of a high rise flat with Tim, Jack and Reggie by his side clutching their weapons tightly as they sleep. He becomes alert and looks round the streets below for the cause of the noise.
He looks in to an alley way and sees figures of his enemy. He knows instantaneously this was what he was waiting for, what he knew would come to pass and it has. He looks down to his machine gun posts and the soldier on duty cocks the weapon.
"Jack, wake up." He whispers to his Comrade.
"Huh?" the Private says dazed and confused from being woken from his sleep.
"We've got company!" he continues to whisper. Jack gets up and goes to the window, looks out and sees the enemy preparing for their attack, like a tiger before it pounces on its unsuspecting pray.
"Shit!" Jack muffles out.
"Go and get the men awake and the sentinels ready for action!" he orders quietly. Reggie and Tim awake hearing the relatively quite conversation.
"Are they here?" Tim asks the good captain.
"Ah-ha! Over there!" he says pointing out from the window the dark figures of the enemy in the alley way.
"Tim." Evan says softly.
"Yes sir?" he replies equally as quiet.
"Tell every one to fire on my signal!"
"Yes sir!" he says leaving the room quickly.
Reggie and Evan raise the guns and aim at the dank alley way.
"It's dark!" Reggie informs Evan, "our muzzle flashes will give away our positions!"
"So will theirs!" the wise captain replies, "And it won't matter if we get the first shot off because they'll be dead!" he looks over at Reggie who give him a nod saying fair enough. They both aim at their targets again and Tim and Jack enter the room.
"Everything is ready!" Jack tells them.
"Good work." Evan loads his grenade attachment.
They pause and aim at their intended targets who still hide in the shadows across the street.
"Fire!" he roars firing the grenade attachment and watching as the grenade devastates their ranks. Machine gun fire cuts down the soldiers who charge out of the alley trying to find cover. The buildings on the opposite side of the street light up with enemy muzzle flashes. Evan moves his fire to the buildings. Sounds of crackling gunfire and breaking glass fill the area and in the corner of Evan's eye he sees a man with a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher locking in on his position.
"Shit!" he screams, "take cover." Everyone hits the deck except Reggie who was so caught up in the heat of combat he continued to fire. The rocket finds it's target, blowing both Reggie and the window to smithereens. No scream was heard, no cries of pain, nothing just a loud blast and their beloved friend was gone.
"Reggie!" Evan roars in grief, picking up his rifle and mowing down the rocket wielding soldier who took Reggie from them. The rain begins to fall from the summer storm and strikes ok lightening light up the dark battle field.
Rain pours into the top story where Evan and his men now stand unleashing a storm of their own, a storm of lead. The roof damaged by the blast that took the sergeant and now the floor is flooded from the heavy rain that pours down over them.
Evan's clip runs dry and when he loads another in he sees that his hands are covered in blood. He looks in one of the hundreds of shards of glass to see his face covered in his dear friend's blood.
His blood boils and he becomes enraged. He stands up and bares his teeth.
"They will pay for this!" he bellows and the enemy cowers at the sound of Evan's threat, as his voice so loud, so filled with fury, that it is scarier then any battle cry could ever be.
Evan beings to rain the enemy in his gunfire and they fall, they will all fall for this!
The Casino car park echoes with the sounds of sporadic gunfire from both sides and puddles of rain water fall through the cracks in the roof. Bull shoots across a car bonnet, firing recklessly at his enemy. His clip runs dry.
"Clip out!" he roars ducking behind a car quickly as Jonesey stand to continue their suppressive firing on the enemy.
"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up Captain!" Bull continues turning to Jonesey just in time to see his leader take a shot in the head. His limp body hits the ground and it takes Bull a few good seconds for it to really hit him.
"Shit! Jonesey!" he screams, "Medic!"
A medic two cars down begins to rush to the good Captain's aid but instead becomes the receiving end of a 30 caliber bullet. The medic falls and is dead in an instant.
"Fuck!" Bull roars getting to his feet and unleashing a storm of fire against the enemy's position.
"Medic!" he bellows and looks to the other side to see another medic make his way up. Billy stands up and sprays and prays with Bull, giving the medic more covering fire.
"Can't let you have all the glory Bull!" he screams still with his finger firmly down on the trigger.
"Yeah." Bull replies still distracted about the Captain. Is he dead or is he alive, the thoughts race through his head.
"Everyone covering fire!" he commands at the top of his voice.
Immediately every able bodied man stands up and releases their weapon's clip at the enemy. Screams of agony as me are literally torn apart by the wave of bullets, those unlucky enough to be in the line of sight.
"He's gone sir!" the medic tells bull.
His blood boils and becomes filled with an unstoppable fury, and uncontrollable rage. His anger builds and builds until he bursts.
"Attack!" he Roars jumping over the bullet ridden car bonnet, he runs into the no mans land between the two forces and the Dreadnaughts follow his lead. The enemy dazed and confused at the charge of their enraged enemy begins to flee and Bull cuts them down in his tracks. His sword unsheathed, his pistol drawn, he runs and kills many.
The Dreadnaughts follow Bull's lead and the slaughter the now fleeing enemies, their blood is spilt, their head's roll and the might of the Dreadnaught Force overwhelms them.
Bull continues his stride up the entrance ramp, not many enemies are in front of him now. They head toward the park, Bull stops and turns, his men follow up after him victorious and filled with blood lust.
"Come on!" he bellows and begins the chase again, he runs down the street with only the casino lights and a single street light remaining to light the dark early morning.
The rain still pours down on them as they run hard toward the park. Bull reaches the big rusty steel gates left wide open and runs through it; he runs hard, his heart thumping against his ribs. He finds a ditch filled by the torrential rain and jumps into the muddy puddle in the ditch.
Billy, Damo and Bob jump in closely behind Bull and land awkwardly in the rain filled ditch.
"So your leading us now Bull?" Damo inquires.
Bull gives him a looks and shrugs, he's just picking up the slack, just looking after the men and he's not in this for a promotion. Lance Corporal Cameron Fairlane jumps into the ditch beside the men already in there and creates a splash when he lands in the murky water that fills the long trench like ditch.
"Cam!" Bull says as the Lance Corporal breathes from the advance he had just undertaken in.
"Yeah Bull?" he says till breathing heavily and his heart pounding inside his chest.
"Can you get General Lennox on the radio for me?" Bull asks the young Lance Corporal still huffing and puffing.
"Sure thing Bull!" he manages to say in-between deep breaths of air.
"So what's the plan?" Bob questions.
"I'm gonna get some more men, some tanks, some walkers and were gonna take this park. It's a big park and if we go any further we'll be to spread out, so we gotta wait!" Bull explains.
"Yeah but that'll give them time for getting themselves organized!" Billy throws in his two cents.
"How 'bout we get some artillery on their position and send some small attack groups up to keep them in chaos. It'll prevent them from creating a counter attack!" Bull Continues.
"I like it!" Damo tells the group, "Let's do this thing!"
"Here he is sir!" Cam says handing the receiver of the radio over to Bull.
"Thanks Corporal!" Bull says and puts the receiver to his head! "Hello General Lennox!"
"Sergeant Bullock! What is it?" he asks, "and please call me Jason!"
"Yes sir! Captain Jones has been killed and we have made some ground into the park but I need serious reinforcement to take complete control of the park." He tells him.
"At the moment I've got my forces a little spread. I got one company of infantry and a sentinel company spare that's it!" he replies.
"Shit! Sir where are the rest of our men?" he questions.
"We're waiting for the next fleet to arrive… it should be here in about 48 hours!" Jason answers.
"We gotta hold out until then? Dammit! Anyway I'll take those companies you have free and in the mean time with the remains of the 3 companies I have we will send up battle groups to keep the enemy disorganized. If you could get me an artillery barrage behind them to keep supplies and reinforcement from getting to their lines it would be much appreciated sir!" he requests.
"Can do! The troops and the barrage are on their way… oh and by the way congratulations on your promotion captain!" he says turning a negative into a positive.
"Thank you sir!" he says with little happiness in his voice, for his Captain's Death was something he wouldn't dare celebrate. He hands the radio receiver back to Cameron and turns to Billy.
"Billy!"
"Yes?" he responds not knowing of his friend's promotion.
"You know what to do!" he tells him and immediately Billy stands grabs his gun and grabs his rabble of men and heads into the park. He turns to the rest of the Dreadnaught Soldiers who have finally made it to the front line.
"Ok everyone! Re-supply and get some defences happening!" he orders them.
"Who made you boss?? Some cocky soldier from another Company says in disgust of the order he just received.
"General Lennox! So don't give me shit soldier or I'll use you as bait!" he roars at him.
"Ha, kept him in order!" Damo says trying to hold back his chuckles, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks." He says getting a little bit blue, "It's sad don't you think?
"What's sad?" Damo inquires as he has no clue what Bull is on about.
"The only reason I got a promotion was because Jonesey got killed!" he says, his voice filled with remorse and sorrow.
"That's not the only reason." Damo insures him.
"What other reasons can you come up with?" he says feeling sorry for himself.
"Well you're a great soldier, and tactician! You just got these companies out of the Casino and 400 meters into the park. You have the enemy in chaos, that's pretty impressive if you ask me sir!" Damo tells him and Bull cheers up immediately after hearing these kind words.
"I hadn't thought of it like that…thanks Damo!" he says thankfully.
"No probs mate! Anytime!" Damo says patting him on the back.