DaN Posted July 24, 2007 Report Posted July 24, 2007 Damn that was loud! Another mortar round exploded not 20 metres from their current position, and muddy rain started to fall around them. Someone was yelling to my left - it was Sergeant Green "Fischer! Get on the comms now and tell arty we need that mortar knocked out ASAP! They're gonna get their range soon and those idle bastards haven't fired a shell yet!" As he turned back to his firing position, he caught sight of me staring. "Garret! What are you doing looking at me and not watching for the enemy?!" I started to open my mouth to reply, but he cut me short "Are you gazing at my beautiful flowing locks Garret?! Are you undressing me with your eyes?!" "No sergeant!" I barked. "Get shoulder that rifle and get your ugly face back to the wall you waste of space, or I'll bayonet you myself!" Someone to my right sniggered. Dammit, I wasn't even meant to BE here on the line - I was just a cook. But the enemy had broken through a position and advanced in force, and they were aiming to take this camp, situated on the area designated simply as "Hill 34". Now everyone in the camp had to take a weapon and stand the line - cooks, clerks, drivers. He'd hardly remembered the basic training given him when he was drafted into the guard, and retraining wasn't exactly regular. He'd been in the guard about 3 years now, and the nearest he'd come to any actual fighting was 30 miles from the front line. Now it looked like he might actually have to fight for his life, here, on this Emperor-forsaken shithole of a backwater planet. The trenches on the slopes of hill gave a commanding view of the surrounding area, but the treeline was disconcertingly close. The barrage had been raining down on the line for the past twenty minutes, creeping forwards foot by foot - every now and again someone on the line would catch sight of a spotter and snipe him before he had time to relay coordinates, but it was only a matter of time before there was a frontal assault. Luckily, there was no heavier artillery, the majority of the enemy forces pushing forwards in a different area. That was probably why there was no air cover or artillery available for them at the moment. A whistling sound as another mortar round crashed several feet along the line to his Left. No casualties so far. He checked the safety catch glanced at the ammo readout on his rifle; a standard Imperial Guard issue lasrifle. Bayonets had already been fixed and darkened as per the sergeant's orders. Apparently, darkening the blades eliminated the chance of the sun sparkling on the metal and giving an enemy sniper something to shoot at- it made sense I suppose. "Garret - you DO know how to fire that thing don't you?" Asked trooper Kiurcher sarcastically. "Yes I do - would you like a demonstration?" "Ha, I don't want you to shoot yourself accidentally Garret, if you're alive you're something else for the archenemy to shoot at before they aim at me!" Kiurcher laughed. He was such a know-it-all git, but he had a point. Most of the squad he'd been temporarily assigned to at this section of the line felt the same way - I was only here to bolster the numbers - to give the enemy something ELSE to shoot at. Suddenly there a whistling that seemed louder than the usual mortar rounds I'd heard yet. "COOOVVVEEERRR!" Yelled sergeant Green, and then the world went black briefly as I was pushed up violently against the wall of the trench as the force of the mortar's explosion blasted behind me. As I regained my vision, I realised I couldn't hear anything over a high-pitched whistling tinnintus - dammit. My head was swimming - how close was that round? I was about to turn and talk to the sergeant when I saw something move in the treeline... The archenemy! A foul heretic of Chaos! He must be the spotter! I sighted my rifle, I hesitated. Would someone else fire? I couldn't wait any longer - if I didn't fire, the spotter might get another chance to contact the mortars. I took a deep breath, and gently squeezed the trigger. It was strange - I'd never been used to the lack of recoil from the lasrifle, but now with my hearing loss it was even more surreal. A bright lance of energy flashed from the barrel of the rifle, and the figure in the trees dropped like a sack of potatoes. I gasped - I'd hit him! I'd actually hit something! But there was no time for celebration - as I opened my other eye and scanned the treeline I could see more shapes forming, and las-fire started to ripple along the rest of the line. Oh Emperor protect us - the assault was starting! Again, I was about to turn and speak to the sergeant, when a wave of the archenemy BURST from the treeline below. They were not more than 50 metres from my position, and the wave stretched all along his field of view as hundreds of them started to sprint up towards me, firing as they went. Fire spattered my position and all along the line, as hard rounds, las-fire and grenade rounds came from friendly and enemy troops. As they charged, I could see the foul face of Chaos that the rest of the guard had been fighting, that was now coming at me - wanting to kill me. They were all shaven bald, skin pallid and covered in scars and cuts, bleeding to same colour as their spiked, filthy red armour. Their mouths open in silent screams, and eyes screwed with hate, they waved vicious-looking chainswords and axes, and fired from the hip as they raced maniacally up the hillside. I resighted the rifle, unclipping the ammo pouches on my belt - I knew this magazine would be gone soon. I tried to shift himself further to the right to a more central position, but for some reason I couldn't move my legs - dammit, they must've been trapped by the trench's rear wall collapsing when that mortar round hit. But there was no time to dig them out now - Gripping my rifle firmly to my shoulder I began to fire. My first shot went wide of my target - a particularly ugly brute with a bolt pistol and whirring chainsword that had managed to race a little ahead of his group, he managed to take a few more steps, and stared at my position, right at me, before my second shot hit him squarely in the chest and he dropped heavily to the ground, tripping a number of other enemy as he dropped in front of them. I dropped the barrel a inch or two and picked them off as they started to pick themselves back up. All along the line I could see lasfire from other guard positions hitting their targets and archenemy were dropping in huge numbers. But they seemed unstoppable, made of countless numbers. In my periphery I could see bright flashes of fire to each side, but it all seemed quite far away from my position - nobody in this section of trench seemed to be firing back. Oh no - the mortar - had they been injured? A round whizzed and spat mud up into my face mere inches ahead of me as I spotted the man that fired. Fortunately his running wasn't helping his aim and his next shot fell short too. I quickly flicked the rifle to burst and as the first shot went over his left shoulder, I slightly adjusted, and the next two rounds exploded his chest and he fell from view as more enemy clambered over him. Dammit, how many of them were there. As I continued firing gaps started to appear in the enemy's line. Finally, they were thinning them out. As a grenade exploded in the group of enemy over to my left, I could see the treeline again. Thank the throne, I might just make it. I squeezed the trigger again as I saw a trooper about 20 metres away unclip a grenade from his belt. Nothing happened - shit, I must be out. reaching down to my belt, I grabbed another mag as I turned my rifle to the side to press the mag eject with my other hand. The spent mag dropped down beside me, as I slammed the fresh one home. The trooper below had already unpinned the grenade by now, and was reaching back to throw it - there was no time aim carefully, as I started to squeeze the trigger again, I also flicked the selector to auto and sent two rounds fizzing into the ground several feet in front of him, he began to bring his arm back in a throwing arc as the third round hit him and broke his rear leg's shin. As his body's weight was centred over that leg, he began to drop backwards, his face first grimaced in pain, then changing to panic as he realised he still grasped the grenade. His arm was still arcing, but collapse backwards had caused him to outstretch his arms instinctively, and a nearby enemy trooper barged into it as he fell. The grenade toppled from his hand and the explosion took out at least 5 or 6 of the still-closely packed enemy. ... More to come soon ... Quote
callumrice Posted July 24, 2007 Report Posted July 24, 2007 hmm, its not bad, I like the storyline and its good to see someone attempting something like this again, its been a while since the last one. there are areas that would need tidying up sentences like "he began to bring his arm back in a throwing arc as the third round hit him and broke his rear leg's shin" doesn't quite seem worded right. I personally would have had "the third ripped though his shin, just as his throwing arc had come to bear, smashing the balancing leg to pieces" or something similar. Not that Im trying to tell you how to write your own story! All in all its a cool story with imo a few wording issues but those are easilly sorted. Cool! Quote
DaN Posted July 24, 2007 Author Report Posted July 24, 2007 Aye, cheers Callum. I was writing this as it CAME to me, which is why it's not grammatically super-fantastic - also, the fact that it was about 3am might've had something to do with it... I'll finish it off later. Glad you liked it though. Quote
callumrice Posted July 24, 2007 Report Posted July 24, 2007 Tis cool like I said, just needs a wee tidy up here and there. Good work though, especially for 3am! Quote
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