The Cadians watched the Bridge Boulevard with intent. The last few hours of combat were meant to clear out most of the False Imperials from the West Bank of the river. They were now left with only one stronghold, right next to the western bridgehead and after that was dealt with, the east Bridgehead would be secured. The Gallians watched with awe as the Artillery Pieces that had been on the hill, supporting their advance into Vasel no less than an hour ago, were brought forth under the escort of a platoon of Cadian troopers, only to be settled in the square they captured. The bridge was a tall, monolithic structure formed of two castle-like bridgeheads and the retracting platform itself... It wasn't far from them, but a heavy fog had started setting
Cadian Troops, meanwhile, had begun a systematic house-to-house cleanup business, wherein they'd burst through the door of a house either occupied by a False Imp sniper or spotter, or maybe a squad of them. The following would be a ten-second skirmish wherein the Cadians would fire 'till the barrels of their Lasguns glowed a hot red. No False ones would survive that tidal wave of fire whenever it happened...
One such troop was Scout Platoon 6. Elaine's boys and girls, with her in the lead, marched through the alleyways between the many houses around. Their target was a small house not too far nearby, that apparently belonged to one of the maintenance workers for the bridge. Their mission was to secure the house and see if the man had left any plans for the drawbridge.
"Maintain staggered column." Elaine said briskly, eyes locked on the broken windows overhead. Their boots crackled against the broken glass from explosions and detonations that shattered them. Artillery had been thorough in blasting whatever cover they could apart, but not this deep within the city. Elaine lead her squad and took cover behind a wall, peeking over to her left as they prepared to move through an L-shaped intersection. The road was clear, save for some rubble and dust. She waved her team forward and continued her quick advance, before taking a right...
The team was approaching the riverbank, where the house was. They could hear and see Imperial troops resting by sandbags or in the windows of the Town Hall. They took a right, to avoid falling into the enemy's line of sight, then saw it... A small, two-story building with a flat roof. The woman took position by the windowless back door and her team followed...
"Try the door..." Elaine said, scanning the other two alleys in front of her. One of the guardsmen pushed the door open, only to wake up with a rifle pointed at his face. He responded by raising his own, before the Lieutenant noticed the nutmeg wood stock and receiver and whispered "Lower it!" in whisper. "It's a Gallian rifle!" to the soldier. He nodded, slinging his weapon onto his back as the Lieutenant pushed the man's rifle down... She took a pause, to notice he had dark-blue hair and eyes and the look of a ragged engineer. His collar had a pattern of lines and hexagons etched onto the edges...
He hummed, surprised "You're not Imperials?"
"Not the East kind, no, but we're allies to Gallia." Elaine stated calmly. The man gave them a once-over, a glint of surprise in his eyes as he saw children, then he looked around and said "C'mon in. This is still part of the Imperial Front Line after all." quickly urging the team inside. The Cadian infantrymen moved in, weapons low and the door shut behind them. The Lieutenant looked to the working man and took her helmet off.
"You Jonah? One of the bridge maintenance members?" Elaine asked.
"Maintenance Chief, yeah." Jonah gave a nod, placing his rifle on the wall... A door opened to their left and one of the Cadians raised his rifle, but Elaine was quick to push it down... A little girl that had eye and hair color matching her father's appeared from behind the door, trembling and afraid... Jonah pursed his lips and said with worry "Mika, please, go tend to your mother..."
Elaine seemed to ignore the man's request toward his daughter, undoing the button of a pouch of hers and pulling out a square pack of tin foil with a black top and golden writing. She extended the foodstuff, a chocolate, to the girl slowly... The girl seemed to take cover behind the door, hiding herself further from view. A Cadian nudged his comrade's elbow, smiling, and looked on... Elaine opened the top of the candy bar, ripped a piece for herself and put it in her mouth, chewing and letting out a satisfied "Mmm..." before speaking "It's good..."
The girl, clad in a silk dress and with a scarf with the same pattern and coloring on it as her father's collar, appeared, eyes wide... She slowly approached the Lieutenant and took the candy... She couldn't have been any older than 4. Slowly, the girl bit into the chocolate, leaving patches of it on her lil' face... And as she chewed, her face, which was grim and sad before ,lit up partially... Elaine smiled too, then stood up...
"Are you here to take Papa away? Or harm him?" The girl asked, her eyes full of a child's fear... And Elaine staggered, her smile vanishing.
She shook her head "Emperor above, no... We're friends to the people of Gallia. We aren't here to hurt anyone." and turned to Jonah. He pursed his lips, then sighed. The girl smiled again, happy to hear it seemed, but said no more... Meanwhile, the Lieutenant turned toward him and asked "The False Imperials tried to take you?" that or they said that the next time they came around, they would.
"They said they'd come today, soon... And I am not able to run. My wife... She's supposed to be giving birth any moment now." The man responded. "Why are you here?"
Elaine took a moment, then looked to one of his troopers and said "Medicae Lyana, go check on the woman."
"Ma'am." Nodded the soldier carrying a medical pack, before looking to the girl and saying "Say, lil' one. How about you lead me over to your mama... Maybe I can make her better."
The girl turned to her father, a look of fright... But the nod from the man eased her in. She took the medicae's hand with a smile and pulled her along into the room. The Lieutenant sighed, then said "We're here to retrieve plans of the drawbridge itself... Possible weaknesses and such in case we can't retake it and we have to go with the... Less desirable approach."
... "No." The man shook his head "If you're intending to blow up the work of hundreds of people, including some of my ancestors, used as Slave Labor by the Empire to build this damn thing, you're in the wrong."
"'Slave Labor'?" The Lieutenant turned toward him. "What did your ancestors do?"
Jonah took a moment, surprised, then asked "You... Do know what we, Darcsen, are, right?"
"Not even the faintest idea as to why you're different to any normal human, save for your hair and eye color and..." Elaine spoke, then pointed at the patterned clothing they wore "That. But... I can't imagine it's anything good for them if they used you as Slave Labor."
"An old legend that a local religion was based off of depicts my people as those thirsting for power, who built an empire by oppressing the other peoples of Europa." Jonah explained, taking hold of his rifle "And those whom apparently opposed our 'expansion', the Valkyria, being hailed as Saviors and Goddesses for stopping what became known as the Darcsen Calamity before it became any worse."
"So false idols saying you've caused a Calamity and that they are the saviors..." Hummed Elaine. The calmness with which she stated the following sentence left the Bridge Engineer speechless for a good few minutes... Calmly, the woman uttered "Heresy, as was expected. This 'religion', this 'cult' and its followers are, at least, lying through their teeth about your people and at most, over-exaggerating the events of the past. And your people suffer for it today. To what degree?"
Jonah took a moment to ponder the speech of the girl before him... He sighed "We can't work any jobs outside engineering or mining and we've been stripped of the right to have family names."
It was Elaine's turn to be speechless. What kind of vile... Sighing and shaking her head, the woman looked to her fellow guardsmen, most of which seemed as surprised as her. Turning her gaze to the man, despite being younger than him, she spoke with all the tenor and believability of an adult "If this... Unfounded discrimination is spread out everywhere, all thanks to a sacrilegious and false Belief that directly contradicts His Holy Word, neither I nor the other True Imperials will take it at face value. And nor will we let the Darcsen suffer for it... You are human. Perhaps your only mutation is the hair and eyes, but other than that, there's no perceivable change to you that leads us to believe you are some kind of monsters, vying to harm those of the same species as you."
She put her helmet on and shouldered her rifle, much to the Darcsen man's surprise, and stated plainly "Maintenance Chief Jonah, I and my soldiers hereby vow we will stay with you and your family until you and they can safely be moved to our lines. If the False Imperials show at your door, they will be met with the God-Emperor's Hammer blasting them apart with the red fury of our Lasguns." and she turned to the soldier carrying a pack of communication equipment, before ordering "Call the Colonel. Tell him of our situation. Perhaps he can send a second squad to assist. I fear we may be facing a more substantial False Imperial unit than "
"Yes, ma'am!" The Voxcaster spoke, taking a knee and prepping the equipment... And after a few minutes, she spoke "Allied reinforcement of two Chimeras and the Punisher will attempt a push toward us as soon as possible!"
Jonah stared at the teenager with a weapon before him, then uttered a simple, surprised "Thank you..." and received a nod in response. The Lieutenant moved to find suitable locations for her men to set up in as the Voxcaster spoke into the mouthpiece, calling their Superior, probably. The man watched as a squad of troopers in the emerald-green armor and fatigues of Cadia prepared for what could very well be a battle...
He went to the room where his wife and daughter lay. The Medic of the team, a young girl, tended to the woman, keeping her eyes open while she worked around her to set up a welcoming(and defensible) safe spot for the child and his mother to hide in. Beside them, his daughter played in front of a barricaded window with a stuffed doll. The Medic turned her lilac eyes and said "Hello, sir." with a smile... She was younger than the Lieutenant, clearly.
"Hello." He nodded, walking to and taking a knee beside his wife.
"She'll be fine... I've administered a painkiller that should dull much of the pain of labor." The doctor nodded. And the man nodded back, noticing her rifle was leaned against the barricade just behind her daughter. He hummed, then looked toward the woman. Chin-length hair and calm eyes, as well as her usual smile. He took her hand and smiled back.
The Lieutenant stepped into the room and said "Looks like they'll becoming earlier than we thought. Auspex Scan shows approaching enemies due west. Plus 20." readying her Las Rifle. "Medicae, get the lady and her daughter somewhere safe and prepare yourself."
"The Emperor Protects, ma'am." The Medicae said, standing up and grabbing her rifle, before picking up the little girl and placing her next to her mother. She then turned to and helped the woman into the safe spot behind the bed, telling her "Keep yourself and your daughter hidden. Damned I be if I'll let any False Imperials come through those windows."
The woman nodded, bringing her daughter close. The soldier overturned the bed and took cover behind it, aiming at the window and readying her weapon for the kill. At the front of the house, Jonah and the others had overturned furniture, preparing a killbox around the door... And as the first boots came a-treading and the first knock was heard, the soldiers and Darcsen readied their weapons... Elaine looked to the gunner of her squad, who had his Stubber ready... And heard the voice of a False one speak aloud "Alright, Dark-Hair! We're here! Hope ya said yer goodbyes! Open the door and let's go!"
It was a female commander...
Elaine snorted, then turned her gaze to Jonah. A grin was plastered across the Cadian's face as she showed him to be quiet, shouldering her Lasgun and supporting it against the overturned table she took cover behind. The Stubber's bolt silently locked, feeding another round into the long-barreled weapon's chamber. The bipod was set and the iron sights were aligned...
Another knock. And an angry voice "I ask again, you Dark-Hair bastard! C'mon out unless you want us to kick the door in!"
The Cadian youngster Lieutenant shook her head toward Jonah, then eyed down the scope of her weapon. As the third knock came, the female commander wanted to speak. But instead all they heard was a grunt. The door flung open and a stunned soldier in feudal armor stood in the doorway, eyes wide... Elaine smirked and said "Greetings, False Imperial... Go to hell."
The hall erupted into hail-fire. Lasgun rounds scorched and singed the wall and the street as the squad opened up onto the Imperial infantry. The heavy gunner's Stubber rippled and bullets punched through the thin plaster wall, killing a few Imp troops before they could take cover. The Imperial Commander that was to follow the breaching trooper dropped onto her stomach and fired her SMG into the room, swearing all the while.
Elaine fired. The crackling red beam punched through the head of the first Easterner that came into view and left a neat and tidy cauterized hole whilst the corpse fell to the floor. Autogun fire came from the enemy unit as they reorganized themselves and formed a decent firing line. A lasgun crackled and another imp fell, a round to the chest. Jonah's rifle barked twice and another died.
The Medicae, meanwhile, focused on two things at once. Firing her lasgun and tending to the woman, that was. Within a moment, she stood up after the windows shattered and fired. The woman she tended to held her daughter close, eyes nearly-shut as she watched the lasgun-toting teenager fight for all three of their lives. She could hear gunfire coming from the upper floor as the rest of the squad engaged to thin out the Imps' numbers...
The girl stopped firing as she saw a grenade fly inside, without the pin. It was a stick grenade... She tried to kick it out, but the damn thing hit the wall and landed not too far from the bed itself... Not a lot of cover from an explosion... The Medicae gritted her teeth, tossed her Lasgun aside and cried "TAKE COVER!" To the woman and girl, before pouncing onto the grenade and curling up around it... If anything, her Flak Armor would take the brunt of the blast...
The pregnant woman gasped, then hid, closing her eyes and standing over their living daughter as the grenade exploded... The only thing she saw from the Medicae was a burned hand, armor and clothing torn, appear from behind the bed. Her lip trembled... She barely knew that girl and, hell, she was a teenager... But a soldier. And a random person that she'd never met before today... Yet there she was. Dead, because she was trying to protect the woman and her children, one of which was not born.
A Guardsman appeared into the room, eyes wide... He raised his Lasgun toward the window and fired six shots. Two corpses collapsed, but the Guardsman managed to move, taking to the side of the woman and ask "Are you well?" and receiving a nod from the scarred woman, who still stared with disbelief. The Guardsman stood up and went to check on the Medic. He pursed his lips, then shook his head and called out "Ma'am! Trooper Medicae Lyana's dead!"
The Lieutenant didn't have time to mourn. She barked "Hold the line in her stead! Keep the Chief Engineer's wife and child safe!"
The response was the crackling of a las rifle and the metallic thud of an armored corpse falling to the floor in the other room. The Cadian appeared in the doorway and gave a nod, before turning and shouldering his weapon. Exchanges of fire continued for what felt like hours as more and more East Imperial troops arrived to reinforce the damned squad.
"MOVE, YOU INSUFFERABLE BASTARDS!" The commander of the squad ordered "WE'VE GOTTA GET THAT DARK-HAIR AND HIS FRI-"
The las-round that melted the bridge of her nose shut her up. And it wasn't from inside the house...
The Voxcaster listened into her earphone, then pumped her fist up and cheered "YES! Lieutenant! We've got reinforcements!"
"Get me a stretcher." The Lieutenant called out, watching as a squad of heavily-armored troopers swept into the alleyway, Lasguns barking. One of them had an anti-tank launcher on his back and was seemingly ready to go for the kill of an AFV, but for now, rested the launcher on his back, holding onto his Las-Carbine. Jonah watched as the Mech. Infantry streamed into the house... Followed by a boy clad in what looked like a turtle's carapace as far as armor went, as well as a cape and rank pins denoting a high rank in his unit. He had a scar on one of his cheeks and a smile on his face.
"Lieutenant... Sorry we're late." The soldier said.
"... No problem, sir..." She said, watching as one of the Guardsmen put a sheet over Lyana's corpse. She felt a heavy, armored hand land on her shoulder and turned to see the Colonel, a sympathetic look in his eyes. And the two watched as the woman was carried out on a stretcher, with her younger daughter, toward a Chimera. The Colonel looked to the Lieutenant again and spoke "You did well, Elaine... You did damn well." receiving a sigh and nod from her.
Turning on his heels toward Jonah, the Colonel marched toward the man and said "Greetings, Chief Jonah. I'm Colonel Telos, of the First Youth. Forgive the brash rescue, but we've been busy trying to liberate Vasel."
"Y-You're the Colonel?" The man stuttered... "Not to sound disrespectful or... Not thankful, but... How the hell are you and your regiment so bloody young?"
The kid gave a chilling, very friendly smirk "It's just our home's way, Chief... C'mon. We've much to talk about."