The drawling thunder of the Cadian artillery was one of the many background noises of combat, a horrifying addition to the already massive onslaught in the rest of the city. The Gallians watched as the Cadian Tanks prepared their advance down the main boulevard, with the Colonel's own Superheavy tank leading the assault. The rest of the Regiment would come in behind them, but Squad 7 had been elected to go around, through the hedges. Still, most could only stare with awe at the supersized Cadian vehicles. The Baneblade was a terrifying reminder of the First Europan War's multi-sponson tank strategy. But it was even more heavily armored and armed.
Welkin stared at the Cadian AFVs with anticipation and an ever-building sense of dread. Beside him, Alicia was seated, rifle in hand, with Isara checking the Edelweiss's internals. Suddenly, the artillery intensified. Either they loaded faster, or brought in more guns, but from a steady, slow drumbeat, it turned into a hammering sound. From their higher ground, the group could see the other side of Vasel being hammered, buildings destroyed, positions eliminated...
"God..." One of the Shock Troopers next to Rosie and Edy, a Darcsen, murmured, her eyes wide. She turned toward a boy with short hair and glasses and said "I think we can honestly be glad they're on our side."
"Yup." The guy nodded, seemingly shaky...
Alicia looked to Welkin too, then asked "You okay?" upon noticing the frown on his face.
"Just... Still a bit in shock." Welkin returned, frown withstanding "They're more brutal than the Diebal mountain lions, but... They're kids." and he watched as a battalion of them marched, bayonets affixed, next to the vehicles, to prepare for the assault. Isara poked her head out too, looking at the battle group prepared for war. They donned their gas masks and goggles for the assault, rifles' bayonets glimmering in the faint light.
"Same..." Alicia nodded, tugging at her collar. She noticed Matias stand up out of his hatch, to look around. He stretched and wanted to leave his vehicle to go address his officer corps. And the Scout Sergeant felt a chill creep up her spine. Gazing around at the buildings, mostly focused on the rooftops. They'd cleared out several of the surrounding buildings and acquired the important assets from nearby, thinning out the Imperial defenses to only those centered around the Library and Town Hall... Yet...
She gripped her rifle tighter, staring at either the roofs or Adrian. Her heart began to beat harder as she said "Something's wrong..." whilst still scanning the area. Her mouth felt dry, her head thumped... And the more she looked at the walking Colonel, the worse she felt. It wasn't sickness toward him or his soldiers, but... It felt like he was in... Danger... With the corner of her right eye, she spotted a faint flash of light from a window about half a kilometer away...
... A gunshot rang out.
The Cadians turned to their Colonel, readying weapons and the Gallians mobilized themselves into cover. That was close... Too close. Welkin had chosen not to dive back into the tank like Isara, instead looking to his left, to where the Gunshot had come from. He saw the black-haired Corporal Marina Wulfstan staring down the scope of her rifle. The barrel was smoking as it had just been fired... And her scope was locked onto that same building from which Alicia saw the flash, she noticed.
The sniper pulled back the bolt, letting the empty casing drop to the floor, before slamming the bolt back in, with a fresh round fed right into the barrel from the two-round magazine. She slung the weapon onto her back by the strap and turned to the Colonel, who'd just about drawn his Power Sword and Las Pistol, eyes locked to where the shot went...
"Enemy Sniper. 500 meters away. He's down now." The girl reported to the Colonel.
"... I take it he was aiming for me?" The Colonel smirked, stowing his half-drawn weapons. The woman gave a nod... And the Colonel's smile widened "Well, thank you, Corporal. What's your name?"
"Marina Wulfstan, sir." She nodded calmly, before stepping back toward her squad. The Colonel crossed his arms and shook his head, grin withstanding. The Corporal joined her squadmates next to the Edelweiss, leaning herself back against one of the houses in the square. She was next to the squad, but elected not to interact with anyone for now. She had to focus.
Some of the Cadians gave her curt, respectful nods as thanks. Some smiled behind their masks. The Colonel also donned his helmet now, clipping it and the Vox systems into place on his armor, before climbing back into the Baneblade. He flicked on comms and said "To all Gallian and Cadian units within sector 3-Alpha of Vasel. We are about to begin operations within the city itself as we prepare to retake the West Bank from the False Imperials. See you on the other side. The Emperor Protects."
"The Emperor Protects." Chorused the Cadian children.
"See you on the other side, Lieutenant." The Colonel spoke directly to Welkin, before the engines of the Baneblade powered...
Welkin looked to everyone and said "Alright, Squad 7! Let's move!" as the engine of the Edelweiss rumbled to life. As the vehicles and squad advanced, Welkin looked over an area map whilst they went via a side-road. Marina was one of the last behind the tank... Their objective was to advance down a slope, toward the edge of the river, then attack from that flank. On the map, there was also a second square where the library was, linked to the main town square by a multitude of close-quarter Alleys.
Whilst the Cadians and the rest of the Regiment would come down the main Bridge Boulevard, they would flank through from the Riverbank and that place and... Mhm. Good plan... He tapped his com and said "Largo, take a small detachment and form a defense in the Library Square. I'll take the rest of the squad and punch through from the Riverbank while you provide a distraction. Copy?"
"Loud and clear." The Lancer Veteran smirked. "Coren, Nelson, Jung, Inglebard, Thompson, Peron and Cheslock, with me! Bossman's orders are we split up!"
"With you." The blonde Juno said, racking the bolt of her Gallian rifle. The team split midway through, when they found the alleys that led into the square, whilst the rest went with the tank. And, of course, with the tank, Marina's rifle was the first to go off. An Imperial Officer that led a platoon meant to counter the squad was felled by a direct headshot that tore his helmet off his head. Welkin looked around. To their left was the embankment that held the houses above the River. To their front was a paved road flanked by tall, green grass.
Alicia took a knee and readied her pair of binoculars, scanning the top of the embankment while Rosie and the others made ready to respond to any incoming threat, among which the platoon coming down the ramp ahead. Marina's rifle cracked the air again and an Imperial soldier that came down the ramp tumbled and fell. His heart was eviscerated by the round.
The Sniper girl watched as Alicia advanced with the other scouts, while Rosie and the Shock Troops maintained a line of suppressing fire. The Edelweiss' tracks grinded onto the pavement, with Welkin turning the turret toward the tall grass. Alicia moved up beside the Edelweiss, with 3 other scouts:Noce, Susie and Wavy. They kept their eyes on the grass too...
Alicia called out "Enemy hiding in the Tall Grass, to the left of the Edelweiss!"
As the enemy soldier willed himself up to his feet, he raised his SMG to fire at them... But soon, the grass he hid behind was turned a harsh shade of crimson. Marina's sniper echoed across the Riverbank. She racked the bolt of her rifle back, dumping the empty shell to the right and sliding the bolt back into place. From the front left of the tank, Rosie had witnessed the shot...
"Good shooting..." She murmured. "Eyes open, kiddos! We may have more of them!"
... Just as she said that, from within the grass near the water and to the right of the tank, a Lancer emerged, shouldering his AT weapon and aiming right to the weaker side armor of the Edelweiss... Marina's rifle dropped the man just as he pressed the trigger. The rocket tip slammed into a building, breaking glass and brick upon impact. Rosie, two scouts(Ted and Musaad) as well as a pair of Shock Troopers (Hannes and Jane) regarded Marina with both surprise and respect.
The Sniper racked the bolt and slid in a fresh stripper clip with three rounds, then stepped off, sprinting toward the rear of the Edelweiss, whose main gun roared. An AP Shell narrowly missed an Imperial Light Tank that advanced toward them. The girl bounded toward their own tank just as a return shell from the snub 75mm Cannon of the Imperial Light Tank came over her head. The explosion behind her made her stumble...
She looked up at a roof and watched as an Imperial Sniper took aim for Alicia, or for her...
The Gallian Sniper slid to a halt, shouldering her rifle and squeezing the trigger.
An Imperial Sniper's corpse fell onto the pavement from two stories up. Marina's rifle was a bullet lighter than before. She once again took to bounding toward her teammates, before taking cover with the Edelweiss, where two of the Engineers were. She tapped one of them on the shoulder. Said engineer turned toward her, revealing her Darcsen Heritage. She gave a nod to Marina, pulled her ammo box forward and extended Marina a pair of extra clips for her rifle, which the girl calmly took, giving a silent thank you, before re-emerging from behind the tank.
She scoped in an Imperial soldier that seemed different... A shock trooper just on the right of the ramp. His teammates, in the grass with him, were raked by the SMGs of the Gallian Shock Troopers... But he was fine...
... Not for long...
The bullet from Marina's rifle punched through the side of his helmet, bouncing down and penetrating through brain, jaw and chest. The man fell, dead before he even hit the floor.
"God above, what is with your aim!?" Jane balked, eyes wide, at the woman.
Marina simply hummed, before watching as the Edelweiss bounced a shell from the 75mm Cannon aimed for its front armor... Welkin turned the turret of the tank as they just came over the slope and fired. The shot was point-blank, punching clean through the Light Tank's armor. Mussaad, a tan-skinned man and veteran of EWI, had been distracted enough by the detonation that a round struck him in the shoulder, pinning him against the Edelweiss's side.
"Damn! Musaad's been hit!" Alicia called out.
"It's not bad!" The man responded, standing back up and picking up his rifle "Had worse during EWI! Keep moving!"
Ahead of them, the fortified Town Square... A Gatling Gun raked the tank with bullets. A mere annoyance. But there was a second tank moving toward the Library Square... And it burst clean through a wall, toward the square where Largo was. The Gallians scrambled into cover behind lines of sandbag walls, while others fired toward Imperial troopers taking cover farther into the place. The Town Hall was in sight...
Marina scoped in the Gatling Gun that started to pin them down, noticing it had a narrow slit in its bullet-resistant shield to allow the gunner to see it. And as it angled toward her, she slowly took aim. Beside her, a line of bullets cut a swath, leaving holes in the walls of houses, in the pavement and sandbag walls, but she stood, on her feet and steady, aiming at the slit. The bullets were now mere millimeters from her, on her right. She could hear the pinging against Edelweiss's hull...
Before the tank itself could fire a mortar round to wipe out the Gatling Gun, Marina's sniper rung once again. The round punched through the slit and the man's helmet, nailing him right between the eyes.
"This woman is freakin' Terrifying!" Rosie laughed aloud "Nice shooting!"
Marina's response was, yet again, a simple, wordless nod. She took cover behind a sandbag wall as the Edelweiss's turret traversed. Gunfire echoed and the team saw the unit in the Square advancing, rifles, SMGs and lances barking. O'Hara managed to snipe a Shock Trooper officer, smiling. And Largo bore a grin on his face as he raised his lance and snapped off a shot toward the tank that came after them. Said tank detonated in a blaze of fire.
Marina's rifle barked again and a Sniper near the sandbags defending the front of the Town Hall lost his head.
"Okay, NOW, she's starting to scare me..." Alicia said, firing her own rifle. An Imperial Trooper staggered as a round nicked his leg, tumbling to the floor. Rosie's SMG greeted another one with six bullets right to the chest. He died faster than the last one... The Redhead turned her gaze toward the Darcsen Engineer, Nadine, tending to Mussaad's wounds...
The teams formed up at the center of the square with the Edelweiss advancing. Its main gun roared again and an explosion followed. An Imperial Shock Trooper drew and threw a grenade. It arched up and began to fall, landing right between Alicia and Juno... The former grabbed it off the floor and tossed it, before crying "TAKE COVER!" and ducking behind a sandbag wall with the blonde as it exploded.
Edy filled the man who threw the grenade full of lead. She smirked, leaning against the wall, and spoke to herself "I got one..." before calling out "I GOT ONE!"
"Good shootin' Grey!" Rosie smirked, jumping over a sandbag wall and dashing into another set. Her SMG raked a squad of Imp Scouts as they moved to intercept her. Several wounded and several dead were what remained. Rosie slid into cover and reloaded her gun, before watching Edy glare at her. Redhead smirked and called out "Call me when ya can do that!"
Marina's and O'Hara's snipers roared again. The latter missed. But the former hit again. An Imp collapsed...
The rumble of engines filled the Square. And the loud BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT of the Punisher's main gun sounded off. A hundred heavy rounds filled the bridge full of lead and the Gallians now noticed both the Cadians and the East Imps advancing toward each-other. An East Imp light tank had been filled full of hot lead. Following it, 11 Barrels chorused a song of death and fire, lighting up three more Light Tanks and the Imperial Half-Tracks behind them...
The Baneblade came into view, with the Cadian Infantry and Gallian squads joining together in an assault. Heavy Weapons Support Teams proceeded to set up their gear. Mortars, Rocket Launchers and Autocannons began to rain down onto the advancing Imperial reinforcements, whilst the Cadians, among which Commissar-Major Colin and his Cadets leading, advanced.
Marina's sniper barked again... And Colin looked to his left, to see a False Imperial with a knife collapsed, a bullet in his throat. The man spasmed once, before one of Colin's cadets pumped a single Las-Pistol shot into the traitor's head. Colin, meanwhile, turned to Marina and gave her a nod, which she answered in kind, before forming up with her squad...
As the False Imperials beat the retreat, Squad 7 finally managed to sit down and catch their breaths...
Marina was eyed by several people as she sat alone. Quickly, the Huntress disassembled her weapon and began a thorough cleaning process. The West Bank had been a mess to clear, but they'd done it relatively quickly. And Marina never once missed a shot... She was thankful her aim remained true even after joining the Militia. A lot had happened and the situation seemed... Very calm.
At least for now...