<img alt="[​IMG]" class="bbCodeImage LbImage" data-url="http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7489/8kazz.png" src="http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7489/8kazz.png" style=""/><br/><br/>Operation: Emperor's Glory<br/>Planet : Undisclosed<br/>time: 13:21<br/><br/><br/>"What do you mean we can't have air support for THIRTY damn minutes?"  A woman clad in an officer's coat shouted at the hand held receiver for the squad radio, which currently sat on a lain wodden table in the once-embassy that the trio of marines was occupying.<br/><br/>She was fairly tall for a woman, her face pale and gaunt and her body lean, her features were marked with nicks and cuts, grazed from shrapnel and her neck was bleeding heavily though the worst of her injuries appeared to be her right arm, the limb mangled and useless at her side. Her coat was matted with blood and torn flesh around the wound and slowly droplets of her crimson life-blood hit the scuffed and battered wooden floor.<br/><br/>The black-haired woman roared almost, slamming her good fist into the table as the officer on the other side relayed the same disappointing apologies and assurances. " I don't fucking care right now, here we are all but cornered by the damn shamblers and YOU'RE telling us you can't scramble ANYTHING." The radio call was cut however, another assurance of evac in thirty, 'just hold tight'.<br/><br/>A tan hand landed on the tall woman's shoulder and she jumped almost, turning to face a thick, powerful bear of a man, a skinner male in glasses behind him. " Don't worry, we have this Leftenant. We still have around three hundred rounds for the automatic rifle-"<br/><br/>Alice hushed the man, cutting off his assurances with a sharp gesture of her hand. " NO. I won't see you or Redding dead, you got that? I also wont see this building and our flag fall til . I"m going to hold out for support, you will both just have to cut back behind the lines and link up with another squad."<br/><br/>The man before her, which she had given the friendly nickname of Bear to in the past paused, fighting with his thoughts for a moment, his soulful brown eyes fixed on her bloodied and cut up face but he just shook his head and Redding behind him remained all but silent , the pale man in glasses always taking to silence as his sanctuary. Eventually though bear turned back around, fed up with it all . " We just can't leave you here to die-"<br/><br/>"You WILL and that is a damn order. I wont have you two dying while you still have fight to give for your Emperor! I am an older dog and I still have teeth but  I have nothing to lose! Now this is a fucking order , bear. You leave now, and take as much battle rifle ammo as you can carry and have Redding take his radio, you make fucking sure that command sends me that bid. Now quick, before the damn shamblers regroup!"<br/><br/>The rest was carried out with naught but a salute and almost teary-eyed glances from Bear before he and Redding slipped out the back door, their muddy boots marking the once pristine wood of the embassy floors as Alice sighed. As they left the woman seemed to age twenty years in an instant as all the stress fell on her, her eyes were red and bloodshot and her body was running on nothing but adrenaline and fear.<br/><br/>The very thought caused her to laugh though, fear. It was said to be what separated heroes from cowards , and here she was scared as could be of what was about to happen, would the shamblers finally do her in? Would her last conscious feeling be of their teeth sinking into her flesh? Or perhaps would the world be merciful and let her bleed out before that... her one good hand went to her face, then ran up to her short-buzzed hair slowly. Her pale fingers ran through the fuzz, pale pillars parting the sea of black before she stood and fetched the squad's automatic weapon.<br/><br/>It was a heavy thing, though not too far removed from the SAW of old. It was still heavily standardized, made to take the standard solid projectile ammunition the regular battle rifles used though this one came equipped with a two hundred round, belt fed box and a fully automatic fire option as opposed to bursts, though standard 30 round magazines could be used in a pinch.<br/><br/>Quickly she took the stairs to the roof, throwing open the hatch with her shoulder and closing her eyes almost as the bright sun almost blinded her. It was hell outside, the light was filtering through dust and fog and the still steaming corpses of shamblers and her marines alike littered the ground, bloodied and broken both of them. The roof itself was fortified with sandbags and simple Kevlar boards with firing holes so the infantry could rain fire with -some- protection.<br/><br/>And there on the far end of the field of corpses was her fear, a large number of the good-for nothings- gathering on the edge, all of them baying like hounds. The baleful and miserable sound cutting through the air and making her cringe as she set up the gun, bracing her feet against the sand bags and making sure the bolt was pulled back, sighting down at the poor bastards.<br/><br/>With a deep breath, and the acceptance of her death that was to come, it started. A tight-patterned burst of 7.76 rounds took down the first two, their bodies crumpling much like wet cardboard as the rounds destroyed their heads. Their 'comrades' roared and the chase began as they quickly shambled towards her now. They knew somehwere deep down in their primal minds they'd eventually drown her in bodies and she'd be a meal to fill one of their distended , flesh filled bellied. What they didn't count on however was her sheer determination, the flag flying behind her serving only to inspire her.<br/><br/>Alice was making use of her fear now, directing it to keep herself awake despite her blood loss, her vision swimming as she fired burst after burst of rounds into the ghouls. Eventually the barrel was cherry-hot and smoking, casings surrounding her on the rooftop and still they kept coming.The Leftenant laid back, smiling as she pulled out her sidearm and prepared for the worst. "seven for them, Alice, one for you."<br/><br/>The engines of the bird she was awaiting broke her thoughts though, the nose-mounted guns spooling and firing . The twin-linked cannons raining steel-cored death onto the horde below. Joy Rose in Alice's heart, and her vision went black and her head swam as she felt a rain of brass fall on her helmet and burn her neck and exposed hands, still, she bore a satisfied smirk as consciousness eluded her.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>