Chapter 16 – The Naggiar Campaign Part 9 Run Run Run!
"Edy can you hear me?"
Ramona's voice was shaky over the radio, clearly a bad sign to Edy as she and Eratria were making their way back to the second position.
"Yes, I can hear you Ramona," she answered. "How are you guys holding out?"
"..." The long pause did nothing to ease Edy's bad feeling.
"Not very well," Ramona finally replied. "We're overrun by those super-armored troopers and that big guy."
"Ty..." muttered Eratria as she followed Edy.
"We should be able to join you guys in a few minutes," said Edy. "Can you hold on for that long?"
"...No," the answer was somewhat surprising to Edy; she had planned for them to be able to hold out for much longer than this. "Most of the guys from the other squad are already dead and..."
"...and?" asked Edy.
"I have to fall back now Sis," Ramona's voice was quivering over the radio. "It's that bad here."
"Well, that's not good," said Eratria as she and Edy stopped at the news. "Hardly unexpected considering they are dealing with Ty though..."
"So what now?" asked Edy. "We're stuck where we are now!"
"Deal with it," replied Eratria with a shrug. "Plans rarely go the way we want them to."
"Deal with it?" asked Edy as she shook her head. "We're sandwiched between Ramona and the bad guys! There's no reasonable way to get to the bunker at the final position without getting shot to pieces..."
Eratria remained silent as she pulled out a map of the battlefield. "We can get there in time but we'd have run straight there from where we are now."
"That's your idea?" fumed Edy. "Why don't we just wear shoot me signs on our backs while we're at it?"
"If you have any other suggestions I'd like to hear them," said Eratria with a slight smirk.
"I...um," Edy tried to come up with a response but there wasn't any kind of feasible plan in her head that would work.
"As I thought~," Eratria chirped. "I sure hope you are a quick runner."
...
"Let's go! To the bunker at the last position everyone!"
Ramona's nerves were nearly shot as she ordered the surviving members to abandon their current position. Like Edy, she knew that doing this would leave her best friend in a most precarious position, but there was no other solution. Staying would have also meant that Elysse most likely wouldn't be the only one of her squad-mates that would meet an untimely end to whoever the sniper was that was out there.
Taking one last look behind her as she ran behind the others, Ramona saw that the Imperials had halted their advance, regrouping for what they believed would be a decisive attack that would undoubtedly rout Ramona and the others...had they chosen to stay.
Please make it to us Edy...
...
Five minutes after Ramona and the rest of the Detachment had retreated, Ty the Immortal found himself standing where they had been, thoroughly disgusted at the weak resistance that had been presented to him so far.
"Looks like they ran off Sir," said one of his troopers as Ty knelt down to look at Elysse's dead body.
Sytreet's victim, he thought as he noted the bullet hole in her chest. Thorough as always. "Where did they go?"
"Our scouts have spotted the remainder of the group heading toward that bunker," said the trooper pointing at the distance. "Once we take that position they have nowhere else to go."
"Finally," said Ty as he stood back up. "Time to put an end to this fight...and to her." Picking up his binoculars he focused in on the bunker that Ramona and the others had dug into. Taking that position seemed simple enough to him; the second rate weaponry the Gallians possessed wasn't strong enough to break his unit's armor, and they could only throw so many grenades and fire so many rockets at his men.
His thoughts were interrupted when the trooper next to him called his attention to an area a few hundred yards to the left of the bunker.
"Hmm?" Looking at where the trooper had indicated he noticed a very familiar looking silver-haired girl followed by a Darcsen woman that looked all-too familiar to him.
"It's her..." he grumbled. "All units attack that bunker! Don't stop the attack until it's taken!"
...
Gotta keep running...Keep running Edy! Every part of Edy's body was hurting, and her legs felt like they were lead weights but she knew she couldn't stop until she reached the bunker and Ramona. Eratria was silently running behind her, keeping pace with Edy.
As the two continued toward the bunker, Edy wondered how the others would react upon seeing that Eratria was a Darcsen, the very opposite of what she had lead everyone to believe.
That thought didn't last long as a pair of Imperial lancer rounds screamed over the pair's heads.
"Looks like they're on to us," said Eratria as the rounds exploded a few yards away from the pair.
"Thanks for the info!" groaned Edy as the two continued to run toward the bunker. A moment later Ramona's voice came over the radio.
"Sis are you insane?"
"Not now Ramona, I'm busy," gasped Edy as another Imperial round flew past her.
"Yeah you're busy trying to get yourself killed! Have you even looked behind you guys to see what's after you?"
"Nope and I'm not gunna start now!" said Edy as she continued to run. "And no, I don't want to know!"
...
Ramona watched nervously through her binoculars at Edy and what looked like a Darcsen woman running toward the bunker that she and the remainder of the Detachment had taken cover in, with the Imperial Elite troopers advancing ever so closely behind them. Bad enough that there was nowhere else to fall back to, but the bunker itself was already heavily damaged, and wouldn't stand up to too much punishment should the Imperials decide to shell it with artillery.
Worry about that later, she thought. It won't mean a thing if Sis doesn't get here...
"Marina, is the enemy in range of your rifle?" asked Ramona.
The sniper looked at her with a confused expression. "...Yes, but the armor they wear makes any attack I make ineffective... Or did you forget?"
"I don't care!" answered Ramona, a small hint of desperation in her voice. "If it will slow them down at all then that's good enough! We need to buy Edy more time!"
Marina nodded. "...Okay."
…
"Faster, you lazy dogs!" shouted Ty as he commanded his troops' advance. I will kill that woman today!
He watched as a group of his Lancer units fired more rounds at the retreating pair of Gallians, which missed, as he expected. If it was one thing these Gallians did have plenty of, it was luck.
Suddenly a loud ping rang off of one of his troopers' armor.
"Ignore their sniper," ordered Ty. "Those rounds won't do anything but scratch our armor. Sytreet, do you copy?"
"Yes."
"Where are you?"
"Where I can see you."
Ty let out a frustrated sigh. "Are you planning on hiding all day or are you going to help me out here?"
"Sorry, but Nonnenkof has ordered me to be elsewhere for the time being."
"What?" Ty could hardly believe this new-found information. "Why?"
"Don't ask me," replied the female sniper. "Besides you don't really need me to finish the job do you?"
"Bah, forget it then!" spat Ty as he returned his attention to his troops. Another ping rang out off of another nearby trooper. Adding to his irritation was the fact that his quarry had nearly made it to the bunker. Moving to one of the few scouts he had in his unit he immediately took the soldier's weapon. Though it had no scope, it certainly had the range to do what he needed done...
…
"We're...almost...there..." gasped Edy as the bunker was slowly getting closer and closer with each painful step she took.
"See? I told you we could do it," said Eratria. "Nothing to it at- agh!" A sharp whistling sound followed a wet smack interrupted Eratria and the older woman immediately fell to the ground.
Edy turned around and went back to the Darcsen woman, unsure of what just happened. Looking down her, Edy saw a growing red stain near the midsection of Eratria's uniform.
"...Leave me..." said the woman as Edy attempted to help her. "I'll just slow you down."
"Uh, uh, you're not getting out this that easily!" said Edy as she helped Eratria up. "You still have a lot of questions to answer you know!"
"..." Eratria remained silent as she let Edy put her arm around her shoulder. Whoever it was that shot me did so with a ZM Kar... Must have been Ty...
"Wow you're heavier than I thought!" groaned Edy as she struggled to keep Eratria on her feet whilst moving at the same time. Almost there...I can even see Ramona now...
Eratria gave no response as the pair continued to make their way to the bunker.
"Hey hurry up, Sis!" shouted Ramona from within the bunker. "Those Imps aren't too far behind!"
"I'll go help her!" said Homer as he turned to exit the bunker.
Ramona nodded. "Okay, then. Just don't get yourself killed!"
"I'm not that lucky..." trailed Homer as he exited the bunker.
…
Ty cursed to himself at his failure to to land a killing shot on that accursed woman. Sure he managed to give her a nasty injury, but he knew she would survive it. She always did..
Thrusting the rifle back into the original owner's hands, he continued to urge his troops forward, intent on finally destroying the irritating Gallians and the wounded prey that was Eratria. He saw that a third soldier had now appeared and was helping the silver-haired gild bring Eratria toward the bunker. There wasn't anything he could do about it now, which was fine with him. In just a few more minutes, those three would be dead anyway.
…
After what seemed like an eternity, Edy had finally reached the bunker with Eratria. They were greeted by Homer near the rear entrance of the bunker.
"Thank goodness Edy!" he said as he helped her with getting Eratria into the bunker. "Is she okay?"
"I'm not sure," admitted Edy as she entered the bunker. "She's hurt pretty badly."
Setting the older woman down, she saw that the injury that Eratria suffered was indeed a rifle shot, the round having gone completely through her.
"Yikes, that looks serious!" said Ramona as she joined them. "Um...Not to be rude but who is this woman?"
"Take a wild guess..." groaned Eratria through gritted teeth.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Ramona was clearly not expecting to hear that voice. "You're-"
"No shit," said Eratria as she pressed her hand against her injury. "...Shouldn't you be worrying about other things right now?"
"She's right," said Edy as she wiped a large amount of sweat off of her bruised face. "We gotta get ready for the enemy right now!"
Ramona looked away from Eratria as Homer began to tend to her injury. "Y-yeah, okay... Um, there's a pair of gun turrets that are ready to be used as soon as the Imps get into range. I've got Ted and that Hector guy on them."
That's good thinking on her part, thought Edy as she looked around at the remaining members of both the Detachment and the other squad. "Um, where's Elysse?"
"..." Ramona looked away from her friend, not wanting to tell her the truth.
Nadine suddenly walked up to the two, clearly upset. "She's dead, along with the rest of my squad-mates!"
"What?" gasped Edy. "H-how?"
"...A sniper," said Marina in a soft tone as she was pausing to reload her weapon. "A very, very good one."
"N-no..." Edy fell to her knees. "How could this have happened...I-I..."
Ramona was quick to reassure her friend, not wanting to see her break down at such an important time. "Hey, get a hold of yourself! There's nothing you could have done if were there. I know it sounds cruel but you need to put that behind you and focus on the now!"
The sound of the two turrets within the bunker firing off along with Ramona's reassurance helped snap Edy out of her desperation.
"Yo, they're in range!" shouted Ted as he and Hector continued to fire at the incoming Imperials.
"This is it Sis," said Ramona. "We can't lose here!"
Edy nodded. All of Gallia is counting on me right now... We have to hold these guys off somehow... But can we?