<strong>Pvt. Cooper - 3rd Squad</strong><br/><br/>Cooper crumpled and hit the dirt. He'd have liked to have played it off as a defensive maneuver, but in truth the force of the shell had just taken him by surprise. It hurt like hell. The pain was spread over a quarter of his torso, though, which he dimly recalled was a very, very good sign. It meant his armor had held. And that meant that after he managed to catch his breath, he could get back into the fight. Not just yet though -- he couldn't even speak, not enough to tell the rest of the squad that he was all right. It sounded like they had enough on their minds already.<br/><br/>He heard the thunderous sound of Gunny's weapon releasing a cloud of hot death in front of them. And then, for some reason, behind them. Had they walked into an ambush? He rolled onto his belly, but all he immediately saw was ankles and assholes. And nobody else on the ground but him. God dammit. New guy takes a dive on his very first combat. If he lived long enough to get up, he'd never live it down.<br/><br/>Cooper was panting, almost hyperventilating, his bruised ribs protesting as he forced deeper and deeper breaths. Gotta get back up. Gotta<em>do</em>something.<br/><br/>