With no-one attacking Eva and Emilie, Elizabeth turned her attention to the matter of actually trying to thin our the swarm of Empire soldiers attacking them, given that standing around and doing nothing were not the sort of things that would actually help win the battle. So she fired off a snap shot from her pistol towards one Empire Soldier, but unfortunately for Seranos she narrowly missed her target with the bullet flying past the Volksgrenadier and thankfully not hitting anyone else in the melee. Needless to say, some silent cursing, fuming and general discontent was running through her head at this turn of events, along with a temptation to forgo staying at ranged and instead try using her Pernach to do some more up close and personal damage dealing.
Suppressive fire thundered overhead as the combined efforts of Noble and Emile sent the Empires reinforcements scurrying for cover. While a few shapes were cut down as stray impacts nicked or ricocheted limbs and torsos causing minor wounds or incapacitating those unlucky enough to be hit in a vital limb, the effort was much appreciated as the brutal fighting in front of them was slowly changing towards their favor. The initial momentum of the super heavy had been robbed as it continued on past, single mindedly chasing after the one thing that could possibly destroy it. With every death, the Empires foothold weakened and the defenders rallied slightly more even as casualties began to reach the breaking point for both sides. Nearly two hundred bodies lay lifeless around them. Victims to friendly fire, close ranged detonations, stray shots, decapitating melee swings, or simply running out of fates good graces. Even as the rest continued to struggle, slide, and grope against their opposite, it was only a matter of time now before the battle swung in one sides favor or the rest. Even the battlements which were continuously the subject of new fire fights as more Imperial soldiers scaled over the walls in different sectors were quickly and violently ended. Yet for every moment the Empire managed to hold the defenders here, it was another moment that their true objective was reached... Seeing the true threat trying to escape, Evas well placed shot opened up the briefest window of opportunity as the round flew true straight into the heavy guns ammunition feed. Detonating inside of the breech, the high explosive round was enough to cause a chain reaction as the belts of incendiary rounds began to fire off in random directions. In such tight quarters and with nowhere to go, the two Imperial soldiers were riddled with holes which singed flesh and caused smoke to flow like water from gently burning impact craters in their now lifeless corpses. Too far to make it out in detail, it had been a shot of a lifetime and at the moment there was no one to notice as to why the rear gunners were now mysteriously silent as the tank finally came in range with its secondaries. Several small hatches which one might have mistaken for instrumentation panels flopped open and short ranged machine gun barrels were slotted into place. Even as the artillery crew readied for another salvo at a target less than a hundred meters away now, it was too late as a hail storm of lead and tracers stitched the ground in front of it. The obvious reason as to why the machine guns had remained silent before was revealed as hundreds of rounds missed their target yet there was plenty to go around. The sheer intensity of the lead storm blew the gunnery crews apart, sent limbs flying off bodies and peppered body armour to the point it might as well have been used as a hammer. With one gun dealt with, the tremendous mass of the super heavy slowly shifted its grotesque bulk with the whine and screech of tormented gears and suspension rods. Treads reversed and advanced simultaneously as it rotated, its guns firing the entire time to cover the second gun with similar results. However, the slow rotation speed had given the gun crew time enough to mostly vacate the area and attempt to outrun the tanks rotation. Unarmed artillerymen sprinted for their lives in a somewhat ridiculous fashion around the tank as they had nowhere to escape to that wouldn't be peppered with gunfire or smashed by the ranks bulk. Instead they were content with simply running around it as the tanks crew focused almost entirely on ensuring every last one of them was dead...a small grace since its commander didn't simply drive over the guns and wrecking the emplacements. Seeing the predicament and faced with the reality that the tank might return to repeat the scenario on their flanks while the defenders were still pre-occupied, there was little time to act on how to deal with it while also holding the breach. At least with Emiles heavy weapon there was little chance of the Empire charging en masse any time soon but that would only continue so long as there was ammunition to fire...ammunition that was rapidly dwindling even as smoke wafted from the barrel and steaming shell casings rained out from the receiver. _________________________________________@GoreWrencha Rushing out of a nearby building, uniform drenched in blood and one side of his head heavily bandaged while his right side was being held up by Sergeant Bakerson, the two exited from the fortresses main armory hatch in the curtain wall just in time to see the super heavy trundle on past, guns chugging away at the screaming artillery crew which were dancing like chickens around it trying to outrun an imminent demise in the form of 4,000 rounds a minute fired at almost point blank range. Screaming into Mikaels ear just to be heard over the roar of the thundering barrage of enfilade fire, Bakerson motioned towards the nearby artillery piece. While neither had much, if any experience towards using one, chances were that at this range they probably wouldn't miss. Half sprinting across while bearing Mikaels still recovering mass as the duo half skipped, half ingloriously stumbled they made it to the heavy weapon. Fumbling over the rotation gears, Sergeant Bakerson was muttering out loud about trying to recall which gear rotated the gun and which one changed the elevation before finally settling on taking his pistol and simply firing it point blank into the gear control to release the barrel down so that it was pointing straight when he couldn't figure it out fast enough. Crashing down with enough force to cause the entire carriage to momentarily lift, as if threatening to roll over, it stabilized and the barrel dropped the last twenty degrees to be at ground level. Together with Mikael, the two started pulling at the guns barrel to manually rotate it into place and after almost a minute of sweat, blood, a healthy amount of cursing that would make a whore blush, and several torn bandages later, the barrel was pointed mostly towards the tank which continued to rampage seemingly without any of its crew noticing that it hadn't technically finished the job. Now all that was left was to fire the damn thing. Reaching down for the priming switch, Bakerson lifted up the control wand and then after a few moments threw it at the wall. While one might have mistaken it for a burst of rage, they would have been correct but for the fact that the detonation cord had been severed leaving no way to fire the heavy howitzer that they could think of. It seemed almost bitter irony that just when the answer to their current problem was presented, fate would shit all over them before kicking them off the cliff for good measure...
With the autocannon emplacement on the rear of the super tank taken care off, Eva switched targets and aimed at the Imperial soldiers fighting in the courtyard around them. She didn't care if it was overkill for such targets with an antitank rifle, she didn't want to waste the time switching weapons. Putting one such poor sap in her sights, she pulls the trigger and another clap of thunder escaped the end of her barrel as another round meant to pierce thick metal plates went to go meet a meaty target instead.
The fight between Ferdinand and the random Imperial soldier ended when he grabbed his pernach with his off hand and while the soldier blocked a blow from his axe the pernach came around and smashed into his helmet. It left a rather large dent that clearly extended into the man's skull as blood began to pour out from his head. Seeing his opponent is dead Ferdinand started to regain his sense of scale and remembered he had a squad so he looked behind him to see Eva firing her massive anti armor weapon and decided to run over to her and presumably the rest of the squad. @BuriasDempsey He dove into the dirt near her and adjusted his mail coif and took cover. He turned to her and spoke first in Alemannian by accident then in the appropriate language. "Is everyone still alive!?" He yelled over the battle.
Errmanno started doing quick motions in the air and suddenly the air picked up around him and those closest to him. With the support of the very air he decided to take the opportunity that Eva had opened up on the tank. With a quick dash from his chosen sniping location, Noble primed a Anti-Tank grenade before tossing it with all his strength. It was a long through but again the air helped as it landed perfectly through the hole in the rear of the tank. One can hear an explosion going off as it devastated the interior of the Super Heavy tank but what Errmanno didn't tank into account was the extra explosives already in the tank getting set off in a chain reaction. As he hear secondary explosions starting to happen he reversed his movement taking the wind with him back toward the cover he just ran from. " Frag Out, Frag Out. GET INTO COVER NOW!!!!" As he dived for the best cover he could find.
**Edited** John and the enemy he was engaged with both staggered back from the parried attack, but just as they were about to lunge in for another go when a fellow Soldier took advantage of the opportunity. Jumping on his former foe the two rolled around in the mud and grime. John caught a glimpse of Errmanno making a run for the tank hatch from across the way. He was moving incredibly fast, or John was seeing things in slow motion, either way he had to move. Both running from different direction towards the tank hatch to minimize their chances of being targeted, John watched as Errmanno tossed a grenade into the opening. Trying to add to the destruction of the tank John quickly grabbed one of his own grenades and pulled the pin. Lining up his throw he drew his arm back and threw.... But the grenade was not meant to reach its intended target. Instead fate handed John a stacked deck, and not in his favor! Almost as soon as the grenade left his hand it detonated in a rain of high velocity projectiles! There was nothing John could do as the detonation threw his body like a rag doll through the air. John laid in a growing pool of his own blood, unable to even call for help as the darkness began to take over. All of the sights, sounds and smells began fading away, as if they were at a great distance. The darkness quickly consumed him..... Wounds Remaining 0 (Forgot to add in the 1 wound for bleeding)
Through either the stars aligning or perhaps fates mysterious hand, the lone frag grenade bounced off the hatch just as it was beginning to swing closed and landed within. Unseen as it continued to roll across the ground and thunk down the narrow stair well into the engine room compartment, a lone engineer looked up at the sudden noise and barely had time to register before everything was engulfed in blinding light. With the force of a megaton bomb, the pressurized cylinders powering the super heavy detonated in a fiery display of flames, smoke, and razor shards of metal as fuel lines ruptured, ammunition stores cooked off, and an unknown more mysterious engine cylinder imploded. Engulfing the interior of the engine room mere mili-seconds before the tank exploded, the engine compartments prototype components self vaporized and greedily consumed at the component rich interior before rapidly destabilizing and causing the reaction. Yet despite being unseen and unknown to the defenders, the result was the same. First the tanks massive turret was blown off into the sky by the sheer force even as a concussive wave powerful enough to knock other vehicles over and artillery pieces that were bolted into the ground like rag dolls. Soldiers, friend and foe alike, were swept aside in a hurricane like gale knocking both the resolve and breath out of everyone within the fortresses confines. Hairline fractures swept across the tanks chassis before it to could not withstand the building force and exploded outwards in a hail worst than even the most skilled wielder of mono filament wires liquefying the survivors of the artillery nest, Sergeant Bakerson and Mikael to the point all that was left was a red mist which blew off into the wind. Johns semi-heroic attempt was put to an embarrassing display of self-humiliation as his crippled form was unable to either escape or move out and like a leaf in the wind, his body was sent flying off to impact sickeningly against the curtain wall. Blood gushed out from his last gasping breath as his vision finally blacked out into an assumable peaceful slumber. As the now mostly boneless corpse collapsed into the ground, it landed on top of Elizabeth smothering her prone form which had been rendered unconscious by the tanks inhuman death throes. Unable to move the mostly liquid mass off of her lithe form or even move as more bodies began to land back down unto the battlefield like hail, she slowly suffocated to death, forgotten and alone in a slowly cooling mass of corpses. Eva and Ferdinand who had been the farthest of the squad away and behind a half barricade wall were spared the brunt of the detonation but watched helplessly in despair as many of their friends and comrades were obliterated in a heartbeat. Where once victory had seemed certain, now there was nothing but hopelessness as everything was snuffed out as easily as the naked flame of a candle. Yet just like said candle, the light of the world disappeared and darkness engulfed their minds for what seemed like an eternity...falling, through distant memories...falling through ghosts of those they once knew and even as they reached out to grasp them, as if they could bring them back, reality continued to rush by until...they were back. ++++++++++++ Blinding light was the first thing to greet four members of Squad Hammerfell. It blazed uncaring from sodium light bulbs encased in thick concrete walls stronger than even the sun on the hottest days of the solstice. Cold, sterile walls and metal slabs pricked on the edges of feeling as one by one, the senses returned. Upon waking the four would find themselves in a small room dotted with banks of machinery and what appeared to be an army of wires linking them up to sensor arrays, delicate instruments, and bizarre constructs of questionable usage. There was no to be seen in the hospital like enclosure yet there were no security devices that could be detected. No doors, no shackles...an erie nothingness just as the air itself that lazily circulated in the dust free air brushed up with the faintest, delicate brushes...they were alive...but even stranger, it was becoming harder and harder to remember what had just happened. How they had come to be within this strange facility and more importantly...where the bloody hell were their clothes!? The only thing for sure was that the current environment was "safe" and that as of current if they had survived so had most of their squad mates. It would only be a matter of exploring their surroundings. Based off the assumption of not being shackled they were in an allied facility or at least nothing held by the Empire and that with the lack of visible injuries...and the fact John was now entirely whole...whatever they could still remember must of been just a bad dream which they had all shared. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cF9iVuT9XE
From being blown back by a massive explosion to laying down naked in a cold hospital like room to say the least Ferdinand was confused. Despite the absolutely massive amount of wires and other medical contraptions hooked to him he attempted to pull himself into an upright position on the bed or whatever you would call it. "Scheiße , was zum Teufel ist passiert?" He said in his native language as he reached back to scratched the back of his head. He then looked down and realized he wasn't wearing any cloths and gave off an annoyed grown. He then put his hands to his chest and began taking off the wires. The memory of what had happened quickly faded to a mere recollection like one would a dream which was strange considering the realness of it all. Around half way through getting the wires off of him he looked around the room to see there were three other individuals in nearly identical contraptions as him. Baring the fact that they were clearly younger and one was a woman, who was also naked which surprised him for a moment but since it wasn't the first time he'd seen the female form it didn't strike him like it would a younger man. Pulling the rest of the wires off of him he slid his feet off of the bed and onto the cold hard floor causing him to quickly bring them back up in surprise at just how cold it was. He grumbled again and he remembered the names of the other three as members of his team. "Martin(@BuriasDempsey) Kroll(@kanila) Noble(@TechCaptain) up and at em!" He said in a commanding voice hoping to wake them if they weren't already conscious. This was most assuredly a very strange day and one for the war journal.
The last thing John remembered was the grenade going off and immediately flying through the air as the tank exploded. As his senses returned he let out a blood curtling scream as the last remnants of the memory faded away. Sitting up he nearly ripped out some of the strange cables that were running to his body. He squinted in the near blinding light as he slowly realized he wasn't laying in a bloody heap smashed against the wall. Shielding his eyes from the light he slowly took in his surroundings as well as looking for the injuries he so vividly remembered receiving. Aside from being stark naked, save the cables and wires now plugged into him, it seemed the injuries were nonexistent. Was it all some crazy dream? A hallucination? He wished he could answer even just ONE of these questions. Slowly swinging his legs over the edge of the bed he finally noticed other members of his squad. All just as naked as the day they were born, with just as many wires running to them as himself. He held his head as if doing so would help make sense of all that had happened. It HAD to be a dream..... right? "What happened? I feel like I was just tenderized. Does anyone know where we are? And where is everyone else?" He didn't mention the 'dream', he was still shaking as if a cool breeze had blown against his skin. But a nagging feeling at the back of his head told him he should say something to explain the sudden terror filled scream. "I'm sorry, I just woke from a horrible nightmare. It just felt so real." He placed his head in his hands as he rubbed his face, hoping to clear the fogginess from his mind.
"I have no idea the only thing I can really remember is an explosion and then everything going black and now I'm here with you three, without any cloths I might add." Ferdinand said as he scooted himself off of whatever he had been laying on braving the cold floor. "Perhaps we're still in the dream, this is a pretty damn strange room if I do say so myself and again we are not wearing any cloths which is rather inconsiderate." Ferdinand said keeping his gaze above the man's shoulders as to not get any sights he'd rather not see.
