No Gods, Nor Masters

Rolling Stones

Richard sat, watching Tyuule sharpen her blade against a whetstone she'd brought with her. Beside her, Sarah and the others checked their gear. A resupply truck stopped behind one of the berms and unloaded food and ammunition for the convoy while a battery of Akatsiya artillery pieces set up there as well, the Russian and Ukrainian artillery crews working in conjunction to unload, prepare and dig in.

The battalions of troops had begun squeezing the pocket of the Imperial Capital, now being only maybe thirty kilometers from it. They'd surrounded the place and the ONI agents inside were already reporting major issues pertaining to resupply in the city itself. He sighed deeply, stood up and walked past a series of defensive positions and trenches being dug by their NATO comrades.

Henry was there, too, gazing down a pair of binoculars as the Sun rose meekly to their right. His rifle was dirty and the scope looked a little cracked, courtesy of a late-night raid by the enemy. He asked Richard, "You got coffee...? I'll even take the lukewarm canned shit the SDF sent our way..." to which Dick snorted.

He handed the man a can of coffee and took the binos from him, peering through them while the man popped the can open, hearing a very weak hiss. It wasn't a Soda, so that wasn't exactly a problem. No real reason for gas to form inside, either, the UNSC Lieutenant thought as he scanned the distant walls of the capital.

Helicopters, Jets and Drones circled the heavens above, too, some taking potshots at enemy units not marked on their DataLinks with missiles and their autocannons. Two Romanian F-16s flew low overhead, their engines roaring as they turned to the left. Torres sipped from his coffee, then said, "The entire AO is swarming with allied units..."

"Joint Command agreed that we're better off not going in guns blazing," Dick quipped, "Because of the risk of Civvie Casualties, y'know? They wanna drag'em out for a fight if possible."

"We've got those weird Flying Ginsu Hellfires. Could take Zorzal out in one tap," The American mumbled, then crumpled the can, took his bag off his back and tossed it in there. Dick raised a brow, to which Henry told him, "I recycle, dude... Showing a little respect to mother nature, no matter what shithole we fight in," then he zipped up his bag and slung it back on.

Richard nodded, "Respect for that, bro..." and he looked ahead, "Fuck, man... Hope we won't be taking tanks into that when we do go in," all while another Chopper flew overhead. It dumped flares, an archway that extended out like a ribcage of flames and smoke forming on the Heli's flight-path. It jinked hard left, dodging a Jackhammer's heat-seeker missile.

"Yeah, same... Ikari!" Torres barked. The Sniper didn't need to be called upon twice, her rifle roaring loudly and busting the AA rocketeer's skull wide open. The Sniper gave a nod to the man, then scanned the treeline for other targets. The two men sighed in relief, then continued watching the vehicles of their allies arraying around the AO.

Rosie sighed as she leaned back against a box of ammunition, watching their Lieutenants talking as Taylor loaded his MG beside her. The other Marines of Torres's platoon were fast asleep, meaning she whispered when she said, "Looks like we're nearing the end..." while watching Stavrov take a puff of her cigarette. Overhead, a Lynx helicopter flew. It had British markings, obviously.

"Sure looks like it..." Taylor nodded as supporting Apaches from the British Armed Forces glided in ahead, dumping a missile toward an enemy position ahead. One of them was raked by the HMG on the back of a Warthog, while another veered left and dived hard just as a railgun round zipped through the sky at Mach Fuck.

Stavrov voiced, "Would not bet on it," then flicked her cigarette away and shifted her rifle over as she told them, "The Innies are spread across this entire shithole of a continent, as are the Imps... We've got a huge area to deal with, not just the Capital," then she watched a Wombat drone overhead scouting the capital out.