No Gods, Nor Masters

Awaiting

Taylor's M240 Bravo chattered, belt links clattering to the floor of his fighting position as the treeline ahead of them erupted in gunfire and magical casting of explosion spells. Beside them, the Wiesels' 20mm autocannons were let to rip, one tracer every fifth shot in the burst allowing the German crews to adjust fire while the TOW-armed Wiesels stayed behind the berm.

The T80s that had rolled up with them were farther in the rear, their crews being forced to move while another 20mm-armed Wiesel dealt with the enemy drone above. A missile streaked through the night and skimmed the top of one of the tanks while the JSDF troops finally joined the defense at the front with the Marines.

Ivanov dropped into the same foxhole as Taylor and spoke, "Sorry for the spook!" before setting up his SAW's bipod and letting loose with 7,62x51mm rounds. Both men flooded their little hidey-hole with the hot brass and broken chains of the links as they fired. Their NVGs glowed, shining onto their eyes as one of them fired with an IR laser and the other simply utilized his helmet's VISR Goggles.

The Wiesels beside them utilized their thermal sights to pick out targets in the trees, with a Platoon of Russian infantry covering their flank on the right not far behind on expending their own ammunition. They were lucky they were in defilade and had the cover to protect themselves, while the enemy continued pounding their position.

A whistle echoed overhead and an explosion thumped behind the two men, washing both in dirt and creating a crater just in front of Richard. The man jumped over it, tossed two more cans of ammo to the men and then jumped into a foxhole next to them, calling out, "Rat bastards have Mortars and their mages are using Spells like fucking shells!"

"First time I'm fighting in the middle of the Night and the Hajis we're shooting hafta have NVGs, too!" Taylor complained, then knelt as he reloaded his M240, his assistant gunner beside him picking up a belt from the box below and slamming it home. Both men shut the top cover of the MG down and Taylor then rammed the bolt home.

Torres, who was taking cover farther ahead, behind a tree that was being ripped into by the enemy's own high-caliber rounds, replied to Taylor, "At least they've got dogshit aim!" before he pulled an M67 Frag off his belt, pulled the pin with his teeth and threw it back. The thump of the explosion came back as rapport alongside a few screams, though all were muffled by gunfire.

Itami and Shino fired their rifles, while Kurata, Tomita and the others prepped to lob their own grenades. Ahead, Rory danced amidst the gunfire, an unfiltered, maniacal giggle escaping her mouth as she cut into any Imperial troops attempting to push their position to engage in Melee. Blood stained the floor, men split in half at the waist by the massive halberd.

Delilah and half of the Warrior Bunny platoon of HITMAN-3 were with her, firing close-in weapons like pistols and wielding their blades proudly, too. Delilah herself felt the taste of battle as Emroy had envisioned it, up-close, body to body, blades drawing blood, but she was thankful to have her guns with her as well.

A Gauss shot snapped overhead, causing Rory to duck and look back. She saw the shot had impacted one of the T80s' turret sides, skimming it, ricocheting and slamming into the ground. The tank rolled back into cover, the crew audibly swearing over the com while their own BMPs rolled up next, 30mm autocannons ripping through the treeline.

"Where is Tyuule!?" Rory demanded, looking back at Lelei as she cast healing spells on wounded soldiers of the Russian military. Tuka, meanwhile, aimed and fired her bow at any figure she saw moving in the darkness.

Sarah beside Delilah replied, "Flanking!" as she dumped her spent DMR magazine and slapped in a fresh one, hitting the bolt home with her open palm and poking out again to fire her rifle. She continued, "Do you not remember, Your Holiness!?"