Strength of the World

[Joel]

Joel grimaced at his mic "Shit." he groaned. In truth, he was hoping that Kureno would have the charges set before the advance scouts came. The fact that they showed up meant that the main force was very close. "Kureno, engage and destroy the enemy scouts if you can, but don't give yourself away. They must be getting close. Get back to your position." Joel perked his ears up. Something was wrong. The forest was too quiet. Even the birds had stopped singing. He heard something whistling through the air... CRASH! An explosion knocked him sideways into a tree. He stood up, dazed, and turned on his radio. "SHIT! Everybody! Get back to your defensive positions! They have the area zeroed! Get to cover! Move move move!" It was all going bad. They somehow were one step ahead. Joel sprinted through the trees, explosions blossoming all around him. As he ran, he listened to the noises. He heard a distant rumble. The rumble was getting closer and closer. Their armored column was moving up. Joel pushed the talk on his radio "Get anti-tank weapons up, we have enemy tanks coming in." He finally reached his hole on top of the plateau and threw himself down into it, charging up his rifle. He shook the snow of his radio. "To all troops, they know we are here charge weapons and engage at will. Lead them into the center of us, then blow those charges. We can still pull this off!

The rumble was very close now, right beyond the mouth of the valley. The rumble reached its loudest peak, and Joel stared at the brutal killing machine that had crashed its way through the trees. It was shaped like a man, only much much bigger, with horrible machine guns for arms and tubes attached to its back that spat out a horrible black smoke. He blinked in confusion. What was this new monstrosity? He had never even seen seen this type of horrid machine before, and with the machine guns strapped to it and the tubes that spat, he was terrified. He had never even seen machine guns the size of the ones that this one was equipped with. As the walker advanced, infantrymen came rushing by it, firing blindly in front of them and up the hillside. "Open fire! I repeat everyone open fire! Kureno! Get the fuck out of there and get up here! Move it!" He raised his rifle and fired a few shots at the infantry. Every shot he took connected, but for every man he killed, more rushed forward. He heard a faint whirring sound and saw the walkers cannons begin to rotate. He ducked just in time. The air above him was split by the terrible shells. He could feel the wind being dispersed by each round above his ears. He screamed into his radio "Anti-tank crew! SOMEBODY! Get that thing off of me! I'm pinned down!" He chanced a peak around the rock, and he felt something hot smash its way through the soft tip of his ear. He quickly retracted his head. Joel felt something sticky run down the side of his face and neck. He clutched the tip of his ear in pain and screamed into the radio for someone to kill the armored monster.

[Vanbael]

At the sound of the canons, Vanbael launched himself to the ledge reflexively. "Fuck," he said to himself, "got to get to the other side of the canyon...and fas-" he stopped mid-word as he found his route. He quickly started sprinting towards a tree with a branch extending at least a quarter of the width of the canyon quickly clamored up it to the branch which was dead. As he stepped on it he heard a creak, "This might draw their attention," he pushed himself from the trunk as he heard some shouting in the distance he reached the end of the branch and jumped, causing the branch to crack and fall while the arctic fox flew through the air. As he drew closer to the other end, he reached out and grabbed the ledge before slamming into the wall hard as he hear some bullets whiz past him. He pulled himself over and started running to the entrance of the canyon.

"Kureno, get the fuck out of there, I'll cover you!" He shouted on his mic. He grabbed his lever action rifle and drew it before sliding behind a rock for cover before siting in a scout and taking a shot, the subsonic round made no noise as it exited the barrel and hit a scout square in the chest. "Captain, I'll rendezvous once our raven gets out of there."

[Kureno]

This was stupid, but hell, it could work. And do well, at that. This was a suprisingly deep crevice in the rock. A couple more thin people could slide in here if they wanted. He had a slit of vision, yet was more or less invisible, the rock wall providing all the cover he needs. Sure, he couldn't exactly shoot from in there as it was too cramped, but gets him the jump on the targets once they're in. With all the supplies, it was worth the risk. He peeked out just in time to see a silent round slam into a human male's chest. Said man was surrounded by a newly surprised half-dozen others in the NGE uniform scrambling and looking for the source of the bullet, and that's only in his obscured vision. These scouts were armed with some variety of long and bulky rifles. Stifling a yelp, he jumped back into his hiding place, turning his beak back to the radio, whispering into the mic quietly but sharply while backing himself into the opening.
"Negative, Van. Stuck down in here with too many of'em close ta slip out, even with cover. Imma IN the bloody canyon. Stick with the plan an'get them in the center, blow the charges. They can't get at me in'ere."
Kureno pressed against the wall of rock nearer the entrance to his hiding place, losing vision, but more ready to get out. A few stray bullets whizzed by with an alien high oscillating whistle he'd noticed a few times. He prayed they weren't intended for him. He doubted they were, they couldn't fire at him if they didn't see a target, let alone a clear one. A talon grazed the barrel of his carbine for comfort, able to feel the cool of the light metal even through the nerveless claws.
"An'hurry up about it, I'll get in there with the grenades once'cha guys get the machine guns firin'. I shouldn't be too close ta the entrance ta get any of the blast from the charge. I hope..."

That last note was added almost silently, more a reassurance to himself than an actual message. He closed his eyes and swallowed before reopening them, adjusting himself to be ready. Of course he chose the group with the highest casualty rate to be armed with close combat weapons and trapped in a canyon with Germans...
The walls around him shook as an explosion went of nearby. Shit, tanks? Rockets? Either way, why the hell did they have either with an advance scout? Joel shouted orders across the radio. Grabbing the mic in his hand, he thrust it towards his face.
"Cap, pinned down'ere meself. Can't get a shot off at the scouts without puttin' me in the open with no cover. I can get out'n help once the Germans are stuck down 'ere, so keep goin' with the plan."
"And everyone, I know this ain't the best time, but the language ain't really necessary."
Kureno couldn't help this, everyone was spouting 'fuck' like a hooker with Tourettes Syndrome. He bit back a chuckle, unable to hide the humor in his voice. This is war, not a funeral. Or with any luck, not his. Kureno was used to being in the line of fire after a few encounters. He was anxious, but not terrified by the turn of events. Not having seen anyone 'sides the scouts helped this feeling.

[Joel]

Joel stopped huddling down. The firing suddenly stopped. Curious, he peaked his head over the rock once again. The machine-thing had moved on. It must have seen the blood come from his head and thought that it killed him. "Oh" Joel mumbled "Well, that's a reli---" His voice was cut short by a cocking sound behind his head.. "Stand up slow, make no moves." said a voice thick with accent behind him. He did as he was bid, already coming up with a plan to dispose of whoever got the jump on him. "Turn slowly" the voice said, and he did. He was looking into the face of a young NGE soldier. He was a German Shepard, big, muscly, and probably very strong. Joel sighed "Why do I always get the big thick ones..." "Raise hand, slow" the soldier commanded. Joel set his plan into motion. He raised his arms slowly, right until he reached the barrel of the soldiers rifle. He grabbed the rifle with his left hand and pushed it away, keeping it firmly in grip. At the same time, he pulled his combat knife from his side holster and plunged it deep into the soldier's side. The soldier was too stunned to even cry out in pain. Joel twisted the soldier's wrist violently. It snapped, breaking. The rifle clattered uselessly to the floor. Joel let out a snarl and pulled out his combat knife. A small flow of blood came from the new wound. The NGE soldier grasped at it while trying to tear the knife away from him with his other hand. Joel growled in his fury again and plunged the knife through the soldier's hand to his ribs, pinning his hand to his chest. The chaos of close combat overtook Joel. He stabbed and retrieved, stabbed and retrieved. This time, the soldier did scream. At first in terror and pain, but as Joel overpowered him, they became raw, and wet, and ragged in the essence of misery. Joel plunged the knife into the German Shepard's neck. He dropped to his knees, opening his mouth and letting out a gush of blood. Joel retrieved his knife and the body collapsed, lifelessly to the floor.

Machine guns started to fire off in the distance. This meant that the bulk of the NGE force had reached the center, and it was time to set the trap. Joel went to flip on his radio, but he saw it was already on. "Blow the charges, and set the ambush in full motion" he commanded. He switched his radio to general frequency. "To all troops, if you can hear this, the plan is in motion, I repeat the plan is in motion. Target armored targets first and watch your cross-fire" He touched the side of his head and a flare of pain shot through it. His ear was torn by several bullets of a large caliber. He groaned "I'd better get a purple heart for this" he said, as he leaned over the rock and started engaging the enemy once again.

[Mike Draconibus]

"Aaaaaah FUCK!" is all he could say to the sounds of cannons. He quickly unscrewed the suppressor from his rifle as it was useless to keep it on now, he needed all of the range and power he could get now.

He heard the command through the radio and looked around for Kureno in the valley. He yelled over the radio, "Damn it man! Where the hell are you? I'll help you outa there and blow the charges if i need to, but i need to know your postition before i can fire on these guys!" he waited for a response before taking out another experimental weapon from his pack, what he called a "fold-able rocket launcher." He prepped the weapon before yelling over the radio, "You better hurry and tell me where the fuck you are before i start blowin' soldiers to hell!"

[Kureno]

Almost every soldier besides that quiet sheep was screaming at him to "Get the fuck out of there." Helpful, it really is. Kureno sighed and nudged his forehead into the rock. He was sweating regardless of the cold, and he absently watched the stray drops trickle down through crevices, slowly absorbed by encrusted soil, before replying quietly.
"Oh goddamit guys, what part of 'I can't get out yet' don't'cha get? Jus' blow the damn charges once the Germans get in'ere an'I'll be fine ta join in."

Hazarding a peek, he slipped his head through the opening, beak scraping harshly against the stone corner. The NGE convoy had already passed by and was approaching the centre of the valley. Kureno leaned out, holding the edge he had been peeking around with one hand. He was safe enough, the charges were too far to catch him in the blast radius. Just then, a tank with some sort of coil in place of a cannon barrel trudged through the entrance loudly, splattering the dead troops already shot down by Vanbael. The tank's turret turned, crackling with a bluish light, and Kureno bolted back into his shelter with a gasp. Not worth getting seen, and while he could take a bullet fair enough, a tank shell normally would blow him to bits. Not a fantastic image. Then again, where would the shell come from? The coil didn't have an opening. It didn't look quite like the light shooters either. Meh, pondering wasn't the reason he came to war. Closing his eyes, he counted to 5 as the tank rolled across the entrance. It appeared to be a rear guard, nothing was behind it. Pushing his beak right into the microphone of the radio, he whispered to Michael and Vanbael.
"Trap's set, blow the charges!"

Kureno flattened himself against the wall prepared to jump out the moment the bang went off, talons loosening the strap on the shotgun. He was breathing heavily, pumped full of adrenaline from being in the line of fire. He estimated they were at most 20 metres past his hole at this point, easy shot. His time to shine, and with any luck the convoy might be carrying a treat as well as war supplies. Those bastards knew how ta make a great cake sometimes. Hell yes, that would be an awesome way to end a mission. Or every mission.

[Joel]

The charges exploded, splitting the sounds of the fight with a thundering roar. Massive sheets of rock slid down into the entrance and exit, blocking any hope of NGE escape. Panicked, the soldiers began tossing grenades and other explosives, blasting trees away and scorching the earth. The walker was hit by a anti-tank round, and a spray of blood was visible in the cockpit shortly before it erupted into flames and dropped to the ground with a shuddering whump. Everywhere was complete chaos. Men trying to drag their wounded away were massacred by the squad. Soldiers ran out of ammo and had pulled their knives and melee weapons, the fight was too intense to have enough time to reload. The battle dragged on, then died out after almost a hour of deadly fighting. Joel walked to the center truck of the convoy. He heard a gun cock, and he ducked just in time. A burst of ammunition exploded over his head, drilling into the snow directly behind him. As he ducked, he cocked his rifle one more time and fired. A scream was heard from inside the truck, then a slam. Blood splattered onto the windshield, and smoke came from the bullet hole.

Though the battle was over, the land was scarred. Trees were stripped down to the stumps from ballistic and laser fire, and lay like skeletons, smoldering. Some we still alight, and they blazed with a unnatural fury, as if the souls of the fallen were trapped in the fire. The convoy was wrecked. Two of the eight trucks were turned on their sides. One was flipped completely over, and the rest were riddled with bullet holes, crashed into the sides of the canyon as their drivers tried desperately to turn back. Joel turned on his radio and called out; "Enemy convoy destroyed. Part two of the plan is in action. Gather all salvageable supplies and weapons, and set proximity det charges on the rest. Use the enemy charges if you've used up all yours. Recon flights above us have indicated that the rest of the NGE army was notified, and they are now mobilizing for a counter-attack. We have one hour to gather what we can and leave. Get to work, D. Command out." He switched his radio off. What he said was true. During the fight, recon flights above him had told of enemy reinforcements. They needed to get what they came for and leave, fast.

Joel walked to the back of the lead truck and grasped the handle. He pulled on the door with all his might, and it came off, flying into the snow. He regained his footing and shined his light into the back of the truck. There was boxes and boxes of food, ammunition, and weapons. He beamed at the sight of the provisions. He switched his radio back on one more time. "Make the lead vehicle a priority for recovery. We hit the big one up here." He raised his head and smiled at the fast shrinking sun. If the battles kept their current pacing, they might just make it home, after all.

[Mike Draconibus]

When the orders were called for the charges to be blown, he yelled "SHHIIIIIIIIII-" He was cut off by the explosions, and he was right inside the blast radius of the charge, the shock wave pushing him back a bit, nearly toppling him over and sending the rocket launcher with him. His hyper sensitive ears were ringing and bleeding, he couldn't even hear himself screaming in pain or the sound of fire around him. His vision was blurred as he ran out of the trees and out into the valley with the chard remains of the tank.

The valley and fire spinned around as he bled even heavier from his ears as the ringed louder and louder with more and more pain. He wobbled his way over to a road and fell over, the wind knocked out of him and in too much pain in his head to stand. He picked up his radio and almost yelling said " I need *pant, pant* i need medivac, i got hit with a shock wave and I'm loosing blood from my ears. I cant hear shit so dont bother responding, i *panting harder* am lying at the side of the road... *hands starting to shake* nee.....neeed help.." He lets his arm drop and let go of the button of the radio, his heart beating quick because of the adrenaline in his system.

He struggles to keep his eyes open as he waits for the medics to get there.

[Joel]

Joel was walking down to the end of the column when he heard shots in the distance. "Artillery again?" he wondered. He waited for the noises to stop, but they didn't. Instead, shells came whizzing down out of the air, implanting themselves into the ground. The shells looked different then the standard ones. There appeared to be vents on the sides, and they had slats that began to open. Suddenly, he realized what they were. "Gas!" he screamed "Get your masks on!" The shells began leaking their poison, a thick, yellow gas. Joel scrambled and was barley able to get his mask on in time. One man close to him fumbled with his mask, but couldn't get it on. The gas surrounded him, seemed to force its way down his nose and mouth. His gloved hands tore at his throat as he dropped to his knees, gasping for air. Then, his hands dropped and he tilted his head back, shrieking in agony. Blood erupted like a fountain from the soldier, and he flopped over, dead onto the snow. There was a rustling in the pass above them, and a single word was shouted in German: "Laden!" The treeline on either side of them exploded with activity. It was the NGE special forces, or "Ghosts". They were equipped with prototype stealth technology and energy weapons. The Ghosts moved into the valley on both sides, catching the men completely off guard.

Joel guessed that they must have snuck up on the machine gun crews, then killed the men and waited for the gas to come in, creating as much confusion as possible. Joel jabbed at his radio and shouted. "It's a trap! Those bastards are using our own positions against us!" The now scorched valley was filled with a thick yellow gas. The air itself was heavy with the essence of bullets and blood. "They must have somebody on the inside" Joel thought "No one else could set something up this perfect. Joel heard engines above them. Then, a NGE biplane dived into the valley. The incendiary ammunition set the trees alight, chewing men, friendly and NGE, into pieces. Joel was barley able to see the insignia on the biplane as it pulled up. "The NGE have air support!" he shouted into the radio They knew what we were doing! No wonder this ambush was so easy! We need to get out of here! Kureno! Get Mike up and out of here! Vanbael! Cover the retreat with me!" Joel pulled his special rifle and cocked it, checking the sights before slamming the bolt into place. "So much for a easy operation..."

[Kureno]

When the charges were blown, Kureno was first into the fight, almost following the booming roar of explosives and tumbling stone. Complementing the initial confusion, Kureno gleefully threw grenades rapidfire into the fray in the Germans' general direction. Valley canyon, little chance of a miss, gory sight to behold. None of this seemed to register on Kureno's face as he then barreled towards the german convoy to seize the initiative, captain really did plain this right. Already out of ammo, soldiers pulled knives and bayonets, but many were injured, more were soon dead, victim to shotgun shells to the face courtesy of him or sniped from the valley walls by the other soldiers, before they could react. One soldier with alarmingly spiky hair swung a bayonet horizontally trying to swipe at his chest, but Kureno blocked with the shotgun, gashing it as he was pushed back, landing on his rear, before knocking the attacker off his feet with a blast to the chest. Discarding the empty shotgun, he stopped and knelt down. Pulling a feather from his arm with a wince, he swept the long edge of the feather across an open wound on the dead soldier, before reaching under his pants' leg and pressing it into the fabric amongst several others. He took a deep breath and quickly rifled amongst the dead and the convoy, picking up one of the pistol-type light shooters. In the back truck, scorched slightly by laser fire, he found some form of light metal box. About to open it, he heard orders desperately screamed over the radio.
"The NGE have air support!...Kureno! Get Mike up and out of here!"

Kureno shrugged. Guess they had to ditch the better part of the supplies, and it was too late to destroy the rest first. Scaling the walls quickly after tying the box to his back with a dead soldier's belt, he scanned around trying to find Mike. No point wasting what they did get. Where the hell was he? Running past the entrance, he'd almost missed the black eyed wolf barely conscious blown against a tree, bleeding from his ears. Shit, he musta been close. Not stopping to look at the wolf further, he turned his back and pulled Mike onto it while speaking. Good thing he used the shotgun first, woulda been uncomfortable for the guy.
"Don'talk, let's get'cha outta here. An'get'cha some revenge if'cha feel up ta it?"

Standing up with a jump with Mike piggybacking and straddled sitting on top of the thin metal box, he landed heavily, bending his knees, said box ringing deeply as Mike dropped onto it. Woah, big guy was a bit heavier than expected. Kureno adjusted his passenger and reached over his shoulder, pushing the scavenged laser pistol between his and the wolf when he heard a whistling. Looking up, he grumbled. Weird shells. Vents. Gas. Great. His gas mask was tied to his neck, so he didn't even need his hands, slipping his beak into it snugly. After doing so, he remembered his charge and reached behind him, furiously struggling to push the wolf's mask into his face. No, he ain't gunna let the man die to that sort of death. Managing to get it fit before the shell hit earth, he was greeted with a sight obscured by a thick yellow gas. That...did not look healthy. Other armies had bad enough gas shells, yet the NGE would be leagues worse. Unholstering the carbine, he carried it in one hands by the grip and jogged towards Objective Beta. He remembered the general direction, had a map in case he missed it. He would be there 3-4 times as fast, but his bones were thinner by genetic, and the added weight slowed him down. This is why he didn't take a machine gun, the recoil would throw him back for miles. He chuckled, then stopped embarrassed when he remembered the soldier on his back. In the middle of wondering what was going on, shells dropped and burst, setting fire to the foliage. At least they were just incendiary, right? No chance of the blast messing with them. Regardless of this self-comforting, he increased in urgency as he made his way back to the rendezvous objective, taking a poor potshot at the biplane before it flew out of sight.
"Cap, Mike's down, bringin'im back now. Also, a side note, the HELL is goin' on?"

[Mike Draconibus]

The sounds of the shells hitting the ground and the gas hissing from them was starting to get clearer and clearer as his ears healed themselves. He slowly sat up, still light headed from the shock to his body, he took his claws and dug out the crusted blood from his ears. Aaaaahhh, good to hear my ears weren't permanently damaged. He said as he did a quick gun check, "Hey, Kureno, just stop here and let me off, I've got a score to settle with these Krauts."
He waits for him to stop before he hops off the truck and runs into the trees, looking around for the germans as he went along his sneaky way.

He could only see clear outlines of what looked like solders and the effect their bodies had when they pushed through the deadly yellow gas, he used this to pop a few of them off as he went along, hitting a few in the masks and watching the gas around them push out to the air moving around their falling bodies.

[Vanbael]

Vanbael fought off a couple remaining sentinels after being rocked by the explosion. His ears picked up German phrase which he quickly translated in his head, 'Flanking from behind.' He released his Winchester from his hands spinning around, his hands fell faster then the rifle as he grabbed one of the combat knives hanging from his belt and threw it at the soldier. A gasp of pain escaped the feline as he before falling over trying to block the bleeding from his neck. Vanbael quickly ran over and ducked behind cover behind the tree next to the dead soldier. He pulled the knife from the neck and closed the cat's eyes "Rest in peace," he said softly before unholsetering the German's pistol.
He unloaded the magazine from the Luger P08 and discovered something, "well, this isn't standard at all." He quickly loaded the charge pack back in, and aimed at the remaining soldier, double tapping the German right in the chest with a couple bursts of energy.

He froze when he heard 'gas' over his radio. He quickly put on his mask and recovered his rifle and the other soldier's Luger before regrouping with Joel. As they made their retreat, he holsters his rifle and drew both of his P08s. "Kureno, Michael, keep moving," he took aim at a couple points of cover behind his two struggling allies. He then saw a bush move outside the pattern of the wind, he opened fired upon it only grazing a Ghost. "Look for disturbances in the snow, vegetation, they are invisible but they still make tracks." He aimed around keeping his senses on high alert.

[Joel]

The party had traveled to point B from the failed ambush. Morale was at all time low. Out of the sixty-five that set out, only twenty-three remained. The snow was really starting to come down, cutting off any hope of contact with the base camp. Ghosts were everywhere. Usually, the snow rolling off their suits made them easy to see, but every now and then one would get really close and the combat would be purely physical. Ammunition was very low, and quite a few of the men were injured. The sun was dropping low in the sky, and soon the night would fall. The group had no food or water, so they had a tough choice. Stay and bear with the storm as best they can, or try to risk a run back to the main lines that was probably filled with ambushes. Joel grabbed his rifle from a tree, and walked over to the small group.

"We were ambushed. The NGE knew we were coming and they sent a small decoy force to throw us off. They sat in the forest and waited until we went to salvage, then they opened up when we were most vulnerable. I have reason to believe that we have a traitor in our midst. How else could they know that we were planning this? We have two choices now. We can stay here and hope the storm dosen't freeze us. Of course, our wounded probably won't survive. It is supposed to be far below freezing. Coldest weather here ever, and we are caught in the open. We can also risk a mad dash back to our front lines. The NGE probably has men stationed up on the path to there, just waiting for us. The going will be tough even without any ambushes, especially because we have wounded." Joel set his helmet down on his head and smiled "Looks like the odds are against us yet again. Just what we are used to. I won't force you men on a desperate gamble back to HQ, but I won't leave the wounded in a place where they will die. I am going to gather all the supplies I can, then I will be setting out. If you want to join me, grab supplies and help the injured." He stood up and went to grab his pack. "Just another day in the military..." he grumbled.