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Captain Hendlow had been coming out from his position to plant the C4 when the Drathonians came swarming onto the battlefield. "F%@$!" was all he could blurt out before scrambling back. He had to act quickly or they'd just overrun his position and tear him into millions of pieces. He punched in a five-second detonation on the C4, leaned out from cover and lobbed it toward the Drathonians. Four of them were blown apart, two more were incapacitated, and the rest were left stunned and/or surprised. Hendlow took a deep breath of relief and sprinted back a few yards, preferring to keep his distance from the Drathonians.

The combination of C4 and a spray of laser blasets thinned the numbers from thirty to about eighteen. The survivors spread out and got behind cover, one taking the time to close the door, seal it, and lower an extra blast door. The rest began firing from their cover, focusing on the point where Thomas' fire had come from, and where they thought Garrett was. The two provided adequate distraction, leaving the rest of the squad unaccosted. Withering fire from Rose, Sehene, and Nakamura managed to keep snipers and those in higher levels at bay, but a new wave of shelling started whistling down toward the APC and (almost) systematically evaporating much of the shrubbery and trees.

Dante would be able to see Garrett's mad dash and subsequent retreat, so Kai kicked him out of the hole they were hiding in and into a slightly smaller one next to them, before yelling "Get closer to the building, the shells won't hit close to it, and you're more likely to survive a laser than a shell"

Thomas swore and ducked as a blast of energy nearly clipped off his ear. Okay, they knew where he was, they could direct fire at him. No charging yet. Either wait until they reloaded or shift positions and put some fire down in the meanwhile. A deeper crater appealed to him; he could see one maybe twenty yards to his right. Further than he'd have liked, but close enough to cover in just as many strides. That wasn't far. He checked his cell; still full, he could let loose another hailstorm. He braced himself against the far wall, kicked off, and ran. As he ran he fired from the hip, letting off maybe fifty bursts of energy before he stopped at the far end. Man, he'd known he was gonna burn through power cells, but not like this. How long could he keep this sort of thing up?

Jack looked on with mute interest, watching Thomas run for cover. All the fire seemed to be aimed at him and Hendlow, which meant the dumb lizards hadn't even noticed him. "Craziest my a**, the title doesn't need to be defended." he muttered into the com to Hendlow before charging off to the left flank of the spread Drathonian defenders. With deft ease, he went barreling into the furthest crater, a slightly undersized Drathonian occupying it. Running right into its crossfire, Jack quickly drew its fire, but too late. Several weak bolts sizzled into his chest armor as he leapt into the hole, ramming an elbow full force into its face. The lizard, smart for a runt, rolled with the blow, rolling to the left side of the crater. Quickly on its knees, it drew its Beater rifle up, only for it to be smashed down by Jack's Sugar rifle. Using the arc of the swing to draw back around, he brought his improvised club cracking into the side of its face. It fell sideways, stunned, and Jack decided he'd wasted enough time. Inches from its face, he fired a few rounds out the barrel of his gun.

Crouching back up to the edge of the crater, he peered out to see how good of a line of fire he had at all the defending Drathonians to the right of the crater.

Thomas did not like that door. That door was between him and true safety. They were not safe out here. Thomas could rush, but that would get him killed, unless there was somewhere to rush to. Could he find something? A small crater, only large enough to take cover within if he were laying down. It was a mere ten yards ahead. He could cover that in as many strides. Now, to lay down some cover fire. He emptied the remainder of his cell, reloaded it, then leaped up, moving relatively quickly and throwing himself onto his stomach within the crater. A shot glanced off his shoulder plate; that had been close. No permanent damage, just a scorch mark, but it was a reminder that he needed to stay safe.

Emma recieved and loaded the data, noting that it mostly corellated with hers, except for a tenth of a degree difference in nose attitude. She fiddled with her calculations again before realizing the discrepancy was because she was calculating for a space-spec Scimmy, not the ones with aerial modifications they were flying. she followed suit, noting to herself that she needed to remember those minor differences in flight characteristics some day. She followed the squadrons in, a bright smile on her face, she was happy to be flying with the squadron. Slightly bored by the short trip, she opened up a monitor with some long range sensor relays, and noted the battle going on down below. Drathonian shelling was beginning, with the ring of APC's closing within range. in a couple minutes, they would arrive, just before the fighter squadrons, and begin the assault. "Green lead, four here, We need to hurry up or the Grunts are going to get beaten to a pulp" she commented to Steven.

A bolt of energy scorched Thomas' helmet, glancing away and pulping a little rock. That was again far too close. This cover idea hadn't been so grand after all.

Then a missile hit. They had air support. Almost subconsciously, he pumped his fist into the air.

Slapping his communicator, Thomas had a simple request. He wasn't sure if it would go straight to the pilots or not; he didn't have enough mental focus to ensure that it did. "Get some air cover on that door!" he shouted. "Put a few holes right around there and let us get close enough to be safe!"