Banshee

8. The Mastertest

Karina could see smoke coming from Zevendorp. Not a whole lot of smoke, but enough to betray the recent fighting. Around her, Trena troops were preparing to take the town back...

And perform their atrocities on the population...

...and she was in charge of the whole operation. She wisely kept her helmet on; the troops didn't need to see whatever emotions her face might betray. In truth, she had no idea why she was so nervous to begin with. Okarron had trained her to command for years; she knew exactly what she was supposed to do. Karina had memorized the layout of the town, she had instructed the squadleaders on their duties and attack routes. All she had to do now was give the sign to advance.

If not now, then when?

She stood up to her full 2 meter height and waved her rifle at the town; the advance sign. As one, the troops stood up and made their way towards Zevendorp. At the town's edge, she could see frenzied movement...

They've seen us!

Karina broke into a running sprint, as did the troops around her. This was it. The squads knew what they had to do, all she had to do was coordinate where needed and stay alive to win. This would be her mastertest. If she won this battle, she would proof to Okarron that she was ready for her own command. She could work on her own, away from Okarron's gaze and supervision. Not that she hated Okarron or anything, but he was always there, no matter where she went. There were so many things that she wanted to do, but she knew that she could not do those things while she was still under his tutelage.

This mission was the first time that the Kanarr wasn't around in any way. The siege of the city was took up so much of his attention that he had sent Karina to retake Zevendorp without as much as someone to keep an eye on her; not enough troops had yet landed for him to spare one for supervision. The girl had driven straight to Zevendorp with her alloted troops so she had yet to take advantage of her newfound freedom, but that would come in good time. For now she had a battle to win.

Duck!

Karina lowered herself without breaking her sprint as the sentients opened fire on her and the Trena. Some of them fell, other stopped to shoot back. Most of them kept going however, spurred on by their squadleaders. By the time that they reached the moat that surrounded the town, roughly 150 of the initial 250 Trena troops were still alive.

The sentients are damn effective...

Half of the remaining squads crossed the bridge while the rest unleashed a covering fire that drove the humans away from the shore and deeper into the Zevendorp. Entering the town had been successful, even though she had lost more troops than she had initially anticipated. Once all Trena had crossed the bridge, several squads broke off to pursue their assigned objectives, while 3 squads followed Karina to the town hall.

Most of the remaining sentients had dug themselves in at the town hall. Karina could see some of them sneaking out towards the edge of the town, but the cover fire from the sentients still inside kept any of the Trena from stopping them. Karina broke cover and charged the building, her suit's shield rippling where bullets hit. Several Trena charged after her, but their lack of shields cost them dearly as enemy fire tore into them.

Inspired but foolish...

The Silcar reached the entrance and blasted the doors away with her rifle. Her helmet allowed her to see into the twilight of the hallway beyond. At the far end stood one sentient, clutching a pistol in one hand and a long knife in the other.

Is that...?

Even though her helmet improved her vision in the dimly lit confines of the hallway, the filtered vision kept her from getting a good look at his face. Confident that her shields would hold long enough out of the sunlight, Karina stepped into the hallway. The sentient stepped forward as well, going as far towards the center of the room as she did. She took another 3 steps, which were copied by her opponent.