Church's Crusade #7: Fighting for time

Church opened fire with both weapons at once. The enemy, surprised by the rapid spray of bullets fell back to regroup. The next attack came from a group of apparently occupied soldiers in the form of a frag grenade. Church saw it out of the corner of his eye and turned to face it. As it came in close he caught it lightly in one hand and spun, hurling it back into the waiting enemy. As he watched the small object detonate, he felt the edge of a knife bite into the neck of his armour, and turned to find a young soldier backing away. Before he could get any further however, Church tore the knife from his neck and drove it down through the top of the recruit's skull. He then grabbed the body around the neck and brought it up to block the hail of gunfire that rained in, ducking behind the slab and returning fire when he could. As the firing petered off, Church dropped his now empty pistols and brought the two SMGs to bear, firing until these two were depleted, and finishing the one soldier to make it to his position with a blow that almost spun the man's head. Then, dropping the SMGs, he leaned down and picked up the fallen soldier's rifle. Holding it in one hand he looked calmly around at the waiting soldiers, stunned into immobility. Behind his visor, he smiled. To the enemy, he beckoned...

Anna, Rourke and Paul made it into their base camp near to 0200 hours. They were exhausted and almost collapsed the moment they entered the encampment. However they were hauled to their feet almost immediately, Rourke still supporting Paul, whose leg wound had reopened during the run, and were taken to the leader of their battle group, Commander Rieke. As soon as they entered the tent, Rieke took one look at Paul and had him sent to the med-tent. Then he turned to Anna and Rourke, "Would someone mind telling me what is going on here? I'm getting reports of explosions from the enemy positions, and then I see you two and Private Stevens stumble into camp, after being MIA for two weeks. Where are your superiors and what has happened to the rest of your squad?"
There was a moment of silence then Anna spoke, "Private 1st Class Annabelle Sharpe, sir. I have taken on the duties of Corporal Stone at the request of Sergeant Church. On the return from our scout mission we encountered a skirmisher platoon, numbering approximately 30 personnel. They located us and we were forced into a fighting retreat. We eventually took refuge in a ruined apartment block..."

Church fought at close quarters now, using whatever weapons he had to hand. A sawn-off shotgun was his primary weapon and he used it to great effect. However he was being forced back slowly, but surely. As he spun to attack another he felt a close range blast to his left arm and felt it swing loose, all but severed. Church stared at the loose hanging limb then turned on his opponent in rage...

"... we ran through the base. Stevens fell but Sarge managed to get him to Rourke. Then he stayed behind to cover our retreat."
Rieke nodded, "He is dead then."
Anna smiled, "I sincerely doubt that sir..."

Church held his severed limb in his right and laid about him with it, crushing in skulls and breaking necks. He would not fall, but he could not fight on. He turned and ran.

The characters Church, Caboose, Tucker, Simmons, Sarge, Grif, Sister, Donut and Doc are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions.