Five minutes after the King Raven crashed, Luitenant Gravell pushed the sheet of metal off of himself, the weight of it reluctant to let him go. Slightly dazed, he pulled himself to his aching feet, using one of the broken propellors to hold him up. Three feet in front of him, his shotgun lay unscathed. White noise travelled through his head, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. Gravell closed his eyes, and cleared his head. The white noise became louder and louder. Suddenly, it disappeared, soon replaced with the groans of his squad recovering from the crash. Opening his eyes, he saw two of his squad. One was a short, wide fellow, wearing COG armour that was now scratched. He had a green band across his left arm, and had short, black hair. His face was worn, and contained pure innocence despite everything. This man was Private Robert Lloyd.
The other man was clad in the COG armour, and even wore the helmet. This man held his leg in his hands, rubbing his knee in pain. Robert was checking his leg, and talking to the soldier. The other was Corporal David James.
Gravell approached, picking up his shotgun as he did. "You two okay?"
Robert turned to him, and smiled grimly. "We're fine sir. Corporal James' leg had been crushed under a cargo box. He's fine, just has an ache in his leg. He'll live."
Gravell nodded, and turned to David. "You okay, soldier?"
David said nothing, but responded with a thumbs up. Gravell nodded to him, and tapped Robert's shoulder.
"You know where the others are?"
Robert pointed past David's position. "Sergeant Hilde chased after a Locust scout. I haven't a clue about the others. As far as I know, we are the only ones who survived."
"Think again!" a voice called from behind.
Gravell turned, and saw Private Neil Ashford. He was dragging the overweight pilot Joseph out of the cockpit, his Lancer rifle slung over his shoulder. His forehead was cut, the blood soaking his face. The appearance looked intimidating. The pilot looked dead, but Gravell noticed the man's light movement of his chest. The pilot was breathing.
Private Ashford nodded to Gravell, and slumped Joseph Reed against a pile of rubble. Robert ran to Joseph, and examined him.
"He's alive, just unconcious," Robert sighed with relief, and looked at Neil's injury. "Let me take a look at that."
Neil shook his head, causing droplets of blood to flow down his shirt. "I'll be fine."
"Nonsense," Robert replied hastily. "It could get infected. Let me examine."
As Robert looked at it, Gravell helped David to his feet, tapped him on the back, and walked in the direction that Hilde ran in. He studied the buildings around him. They were old, and most were collapsing. Most were large buildings, reaching eight storeys high. These were obviously businesses once, previously containing suits and secretaries. Now it would contain only dust and skeletons. Between these buildings ran a large road, the road littered with destroyed and useless cars, some cars still containing their dead passengers.
A screech echoed from the collapsing building ahead. Curiously and cautiously, Gravell approached, his shotgun readied. His finger fidgeted on the trigger, prepared to blow a hole into a Locust's chest. He felt a trickle of sweat flow down the back of his neck. Anxiety filled him. It felt new to him, and he hated it. He hated this feeling. It made him feel vulnerable. He hated being vulnerable. The anxiety became hate, and this fuelled him. He was ready for action.
Gravell ran to the turning corridor, and pointed his shotgun, ready to kill-
-and lowered it. In front of him lay a dead Locust. The creature was a normal Drone, clad in rotting COG armour, built like a truck, white, rocky skin, and an ugly, hairless face. It looked similar to a troll. The creature's face was twisted in pain and fear. Its chest was shredded open, and its ribcage was almost non-existent, the only things left of it being splinters from where the ribs once were. The Locust was clutching its Hammerburst in its dead hands, but it seemed to have been useless against its opponent.
"I see you have met our little friend."
Gravell turned to look behind, and saw Hilde leaning against a cracked wall, playing with his combat knife between his fingers. Hilde stared savagely at Gravell, as though the execution of the Locust was a normal process.
"What are you playing at, Hilde?" Gravell demanded. "It could have been a trap! It could have led you to its platoon!"
Hilde shrugged. "I'd have taken care of them too."
"No, you would be a dead asshole!" Gravell snapped, tempted to punch the Sergeant for his reckless attitude. "You could have got us all killed!"
Hilde smiled cruelly, and walked past him towards the ruins of the King Raven. "No sir. Getting us killed is your job."
Gravell stared in front of him a while, restraining himself from attacking Hilde. The Sergeant had endangered them, but there again he had taken care of the scout. He had been lucky this time. Next time, it could be a trap.
Controlling his anger, Gravell returned to the King Raven, and saw to his relief the whole squad was there. He could now see Lodwick stumbling around, trying to regain balance. Another squad member, a short, stout soldier with blond, spiked hair and small, triangular beard named Kiran Bevan, was trying to salvage gear from the King Raven, but to no avail. Robert was finishing stitching Neil's forehead. Hilde was now sitting on a rock. David was holding his radio and satellite transmitter in front of him, and shaking his head. Joseph Reed still lay unconcious against some rubble.
Gravell ran to the squad, but before he could talk, David approached him.
"Sir, we have bad news," David told him emotionlessly.
Gravell rolled his eyes. "I noticed, Corporal."
"No, you don't understand, sir," David held out the satellite transmitter to gravell. Gravell took it, and examined it. "It says we are in South Wales. This is bad, sir!"
Gravell felt his eyes widen with horror. South Wales. They were in enemy territory, and deep into it!
"Shit!" Gravell muttered, and handed the transmitter to David. "Use the radio to contact HQ. Tell them to pick us up ASAP."
David was silent, and shook his head. "That's the other problem, sir. The radio's dead. Something around here is blocking the signal."
Gravell sighed. "We'll have to move out," he muttered to David, and turned to face the others. "Listen up, men! We have a real shitty situation here! Turns out we're further behind enemy lines than we imagined. We're in South Wales!" Most of the men suddenly became silent, except for Lodwick's cry of 'Oh shit!' Gravell ignored him, and carried on. "So we are going to gather as many supplies from here and move out. This is where I need your cooperation. Lodwick and Ashford will keep guard of the perimeter, and watch out for any Locust. Lloyd, Reed and Bevan will search and salvage as much as they can from the crash site, be it food, ammo or medical supplies. Hopefully, we will have some of each. James, you will use that transmitter to find a safe location we hole up in that also provides enough signal to allow us usage of the radio." He turned to face the Sergeant. "Hilde, you and I will search the building you killed the Locust scout in."
Hilde nodded, and stood up. He looked at the others. "You heard the Luitenant! Move it, assholes!"
At that, everyone went to perform their assigned objectives, each one looking over their shoulders once in a while in case of Locust.
Gravell didn't turn, but felt the same way his squad felt. What he did know was that they all had one though in their mind.
South Wales......