Church's Crusade #3: First strike
Church moved carefully so as not to disturb the rubble. The troopers were talking idly as they marched. Church slowed as he heard some of the words.
"...just plain scary if you ask me. Their forces
were being destroyed easily. Then this new guy shows up and starts
fighting like he's invulnerable, and with that armour of his and his
squad behind him he practically is."
"Anyone can be
killed,' the other sneered, 'stop being such a coward."
"I'm
not a coward, I just think that we should be careful. I heard he is
the ghost of some primeval warrior from the far past. And if the
Captain is right and that is his squad in there you can bet were in
for one hell of a fight."
Church didn't wait to hear more. He rose and stepped behind the trailing soldier, grabbed his uniform and pulled him back, then promptly slit his throat, he then rose as the other trooper turned at the gurgling cry of his comrade and back-handed his knife into his opponents neck. As the second trooper fell to the ground, Church used the increased strength of his robotic body, shouldered the two rocket launchers and spoke one word as he stepped around behind the other soldiers.
"Fire."
As he spoke he let loose with both weapons, then let them fall and drew his two SMGs and, as the sounds of gun fire came from the building where his squad was holed up, and his two rockets reached their target, opened fire. The enemy never knew what hit them. The three rockets struck simultaneously, killing seven of the soldiers instantly. One of the snipers died before he could even raise his weapon. The other managed to get of one shot as Anna's second shot passed through his ear. Church felt the bullet pass through his left hand, knocking one of his weapons away. He ducked behind cover and checked the damage to his hand. The bullet had almost removed one of his fingers. He would have to fix that later. He took out his last remaining grenade, pulled the pin, and rose with his gun in his undamaged hand. He saw a pair of enemy soldiers hiding behind a pile of rubble and the enemy captain a few yards away. Church hurled the grenade at the pair then brought his weapon to bear on the surprised officer. The captain managed to get of one shot at the advancing armoured figure, but stopped and looked in horror as the figure came on, black oil falling from the holes in his armour. Church aimed and fired, the bullets raking up the length of the captain's body as the gun's kickback began to pull at the weapon. As the officer's corpse hit the broken ground Church heard shots from his team's positions, and a moment later the radio crackled to life.
"Sir. Enemies attacking from behind our positions,' said Anna's voice, pain clearly evident, 'It was a ruse. They must have slipped through during the fight. Eddie's down and I've taken a shot to the arm. Rocky's holding them off, but I don't know about the others. We need help." The signal was suddenly lost, but not before Church heard an explosion and a hail of gun fire. Without further hesitation he grabbed up a fallen shotgun and began to run at top speed through the rubble, hoping he wasn't too late...
The characters Church, Caboose, Tucker, Simmons, Sarge, Grif, Sister, Donut and Doc are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions.