The forest was thick as expected. It was taking the full strength of the Leman Russes' engines and their dozer blades to overturn the trees and clear themselves a path through. Up above, enemy air had arrived to reinforce them, not allowing the Aeronautica's Valkyries and Lightnings to provide air cover. It was a footsloggers' mission this time, through and through. Sitting atop the Baneblade, Matt held close his weapons as they advanced. Word from what little Air Recon was able to spot was that the False Imperials were building up large artillery pieces.

A certain degree of worry was felt by most of the officers in all three Regiments as they advanced. The Death Korps's Riders were providing scouting ahead, however, meaning they had eyes on the enemy force already... Sat beside him was Colonel Stern, holding a Voxcaster microphone in order to maintain coms with the Riders. She hummed, set the microphone aside and just listened, scanning the treeline with her binoculars.

A convoy of vehicles advanced behind the Leman Russes as they cleared the way through the trees, including more of their sibling tanks, plus whatever the Third Regiment deployed and even a couple of their own lighter artillery pieces. Chimeras brought up the rearmost section of the staggered formation, all of which maintained spacing to ensure that no crews were lost wastefully to any enemy artillery that might've been pre-sighted.

The company of Death Korps members advancing through the forest next to Alicia and the rest of the Sevens seemed their usual stoic calm, almost machine-like as they pushed forward. Matt voxed, "All troops, disperse a further five meters... Death Riders report enemy an enemy superheavy gun that's active." before diving back under the cupola of the Baneblade.

Stern hummed and dismounted from the vehicle, stowing her bionculars and drawing her Power Sword and pistol. She marched to join with the ranks of the infantry, blade crackling with energy. She made several hand signals to the company, then looked to Sergeant Melchiott and gave her a 'come hither' sign. Alicia looked to Edy who was beside her, then ran forward and advanced with the Colonel. She asked, "Can I help, ma'am?"

"I'm going to need a leader for my Grenadiers, Sergeant. I do not trust this job to anyone lightly, but if we are to assault an enemy position, I've seen what you can do in combat in Barious," She spoke, scanning the horizon and the hills, "I trust you can do this job."

"I'll do my best..." Alicia nodded, shifting from one foot to the other as they walked, wary. The Colonel offered her a nod, then squinted toward one hill. One raised hand chopping down and a pair of Long-Las-carrying Korps snipers moved up, shouldering their weapons. She clicked her personal Vox bead twice and got a single click back, 'permission' and 'granted'. She nodded to her shooters.

Two sharper, focused beams snapped. An enemy spotter's head exploded into a cloud of metallic mist and vaporized blood. She nodded to her shooters, then raised a balled fist as, first distant thunder, then a whistle filled the air. She scowled as her Vox-bead crackled, then yelled out, "Enemy spotter had us zeroed! ALL UNITS, SCATTER AND ASSAULT! Attack pattern Eta!"

Cadians dismounted from armored vehicles as the whistle grew closer, heavier, lasguns on their backs. The members of the Darcsen Volunteer Corps moved with them, ancient lever-action slugthrowers and bolt-action rifles in hand alongside more modern equipment. Whatever of the Third Regiment still stayed mounted also jumped out of their Halftracks, tanks pulling to the side...

The whistle grew closest...

Then the ground exploded, the shockwave rippling through the forest. A massive, azure blast scattered debris in an upward geyser, a mushroom-shaped cloud lancing up into the sky, large enough to be visible to the crews of Aeronautica pilots engaged with the Severan-False Imperial Air Force overhead. Barreling out of the cloud of smoke, First came the Edelweiss.

As the Riders of the Korps came back to their allies, Stern rose, dusting herself off and running a finger over the cracked visor ports of her gas mask. Combat-set, the woman ignored the pain in her side, only looking to see a faint trickle of ruby running down her longcoat and her pants. Below her had been Sergeant Melchiott, who was now trying to recover her hearing.

She grabbed the girl by the arm, hefted her onto her feet and told her, "On your feet, Sergeant! We are moving!" before she rallied her men, "Raise your guns and leave the dead and wounded to the Medicae and Quartermasters! Attack before they reload!" and she looked to see the Baneblade emerging from the smoke as well, alongside much of the armored core of the unit.

Telos appeared out of the top and voxed, "All units, dispersal pattern gamma, attack pattern Eta as instructed! Counter-battery fire requested from Dillsburg at grid Oh-niner-niner-oh-four-five! Let the Emperor's fury bear down on the traitors! Lieutenant Gunther, Captain Varrot, follow us in on the flanks!" before he looked to Colonel Stern. The woman gave an approving nod and began to move forward in a full sprint.

Beside her was Alicia. Behind Alicia was a squadron of the death-mask-wearing Korps Grenadiers, their Lucius Hellguns ready to spit a volley of furious energy at the enemy. Some carried Plasma Rifles and one even carried a Flamer with a backpack-attached three-tank fuel container. She powered it on as the commissar advanced beside them, plasma pistol and power fist charged and at the ready.

Stern gave one hand signal to Alicia, a left-hand chop to their ten o'clock. Alicia nodded, rallied her squadmates and the Kriegers and took to the left. In the corner of her eye, she saw Amy and Colin leading two platoons of Shock Troopers, one of Darcsen, a Chimera and a Russ past the hill. Distant thumps filled her ears as well, forcing her to call out, "Mortars! Maintain dispersal and keep moving!"

"The Emperor Protects!" Chorused Lynn, the new shock trooper, from beside her, her newfound assault SMG raised high.

Alicia smiled at her as the staggered echelon formations advanced up toward the hills and away from the killzone while armor scattered as to not get destroyed. The group stopped by the base of the hill, taking cover nearby a steep incline as the mortars finally impacted among the forest, taking the lives of a few Third Regiment members and Krieg soldiers that hadn't managed to wade out of the shrubs quickly enough.

Two Death Korps soldiers pulled grenades off their belts and pulled their pins, then long-armed them over the side of the hill. Two dull thumps filled their ears, a trickle of dust and debris running down the hillside. Following up, the two Kriegers and their platoon scaled the hill, Hellguns aimed up. As they crested the lip, they opened fire in preparation, bolts of scarlet fury boiling the air between them and what seemed to be an enemy trench line.

The enemy defensive position's soldiers were suppressed, but return fire came from the second line as Long-las-armed Severan members and even False Imp snipers took potshots at the troops. Alicia crested the hill with Rosie, the other Shock Troopers and her Scouts, their SMGs chattering and rifles cracking like thunder. Up ahead, in the trench, resided about two platoons worth of enemy troops.

With bayonets affixed, the Death Korps members pounced, blades piercing through the plate and flak vests of the enemy. The Commissar's fist crackled with energy as she slammed it down on an unwitting Severan member, the power field cracking through the helmet and basically folding the man in on himself. She hefted her plasma pistol and shot toward a second Severan trooper, the bolt of plasma obliterating him and leaving only a pair of legs.

Alicia and her friends jumped in next, with the girl being the first to bring down the butt of her rifle onto the head of an enemy, her surprising strength denting the helmet in and cracking the man's skull open. She then rammed the butt of the weapon into the jaw of a Severan soldier, sending him spinning. Lynn hefted her assault weapon beside her and lit the man up, turning him into Gallian cheese as he fell.

A Krieg Flame trooper jumped in and aimed down the length of a communication trench, squeezing the trigger of her weapon. It puffed, then a tongue of flame the length of the entire trench washed the advancing Severan reinforcements in a shimmering golden hue, Promethium burning with a sickeningly sweet scent. A platoon of Cadian Shock Troopers jumped over the trench faces, a couple taking a knee and switching their Accatran Lasguns to automatic.

Bursts of scarlet lanced into the trenches, replied to by automatic weapons and Severan las-rifles. Two Cadian kids took bolts to their stomachs, while a third lost her legs as the enemy swept low. She screamed in pain and aimed at the shooter, before putting a dozen bolts into the man's skull. A Cadian medicae jumped the trench with one of the Third Regiment's medic sisters and dragged the girl into cover.

"Bastards," The girl scoffed, the Adrenaline probably keeping her from feeling any more pain than she'd felt initially. She poked over the parapet of the trench and blasted at the enemies as the doctors tended to her. Alicia had no time to go check on her. With that in mind, neither did anyone else. Edy charged forward, a knife in one hand and her SMG in the other, its stock extended, pressed against her shoulder.

She pounced into the line, screaming a battle cry worthy of remembrance mated with various expletives as she lit the enemy up. Her blade found the throat of a Severan female soldier, while her SMG chattered like a bat out of hell, piercing the armor and bodies of another pair of False Imp shock troopers. She gasped as an enemy Fencer, a melee-specialized unit, charged her.

Yuri jumped in, drawing twin knives and parrying the massive sword while yelling, "END HIM!"

She had not addressed Edy. The Darcsen had addressed one of her comrades, who stood at the top of the parapet of the com trench with a double-barrel shotgun. Both barrels, being six-gauge, roared, the thunderclap of the twin high-caliber flechette shells reverberating across the place. The enemy melee soldier's helmet dented, cracked and the flechettes pierced. He fell to the floor in a heap. The man jumped in, reloading his shotgun.

Yuri looked to Edy, told her, "We've got this side! Join the others!"

"Gotcha!" Edy nodded. She motioned to their Engineers, among which Homer, to advance. She, however, ducked as a sniper's bullet narrowly, and by that it meant within inches, missed her head, scratching her forehead and sending her doubling back. Marina's shot came in reply, the new anti-tank rifle she'd been equipped with thundering like a cannon. The armor-piercing round struck the enemy sniper and went through his mouth and out the other side, spilling his lifeblood onto the floor.

She racked the bolt, letting the massive casing fall to the floor, before repositioning with the rest of the sharpshooters. Edy gave her a smile that went unseen, then pushed through next to Rosie, who hefted her assault rifle and opened up. Edy told her team lead, "There sure is a lot of'em!" as she slid the knife back into its sheath and aimed her SMG with both hands.

"We gotta keep moving! I can see the artillery base!" Juno called out beside them, eyeing the place with binoculars. Indeed, a massive FOB had been set up ahead, with two massive artillery pieces, one of which was still being constructed, laying dead in the middle of it, colored a matte gold. Beside them stood mortar pits, artillery, machine guns and even more layers of defenses.

"Uh, speaking of-" Rosie murmured as she looked at the finished supercannon. She saw the flash first, then heard the rumble. With a blink, she cried out, "SCATTER!" as the massive shell arced toward them. The Edelweiss and the Baneblade had just crested the hill alongside the armor, firing their cannons, when the shell nosed down and landed amongst the ranks.

Another chunk of land turned into a blue-burning crater, a good bit of the trench-line suddenly disappearing. Along with it, a dozen Death Korps members and ten more Cadians also vanished, with the round damn nearly killing Vyse. The man crawled out of the fire, coughing hoarsely, before taking cover beside Aika, who patted him down and removed the dust from his body.

"Well, now we know they aren't afraid to fire on their own..." Stern murmured with a bit of begrudging respect. She looked to the Korpsmen that were now joining the ranks, then gave them a multitude of sharp, quick hand signals. A Heavy Weapons team moved up with a trio of 122mm Mortars, a squad of riflemen jumped into the trench as the melee was still ongoing between the two sides and the Death Riders rode around both sides.

She looked over toward the Allied tanks to see that the Baneblade shielded the Edelweiss, her main battle cannon roaring once. A shell arched toward a platoon of False Imperial and Severan Leman Russes and nailed one dead center, but their return fire was nigh as accurate, geysers of dirt and debris kicked up into the sky by the impacting high-caliber shells. She then voxed her Riders, "Act as battery distraction. Harass the enemy base... See if you cannot have them fire that heavy mortar after you..." and only got a click in reply, the affirmative.

"This is Telos. The Edelweiss is stuck. We're working on moving it back now, but we're going to need cover... Or a distraction for that artillery cannon..." Matt stated.

... Isara was sat aboard the Edelweiss at first. She then got out to check the status of the tank, see if there was damage. She found it stuck with its track at the bottom of a trench, almost destroyed. With a sigh, she checked her equipment, then radioed to Matt, "Matt, I think I can fix the track... Maybe..." before a ghost signal came through the Vox transmissions. She eyed a ridgeline in the distance, then hummed. She radioed, "I'm gonna need a replacement... If you can keep the Edelweiss and my brother covered, I'll make a run for it!"

"Got it, Is!" The man replied, "Take two soldiers for cover!"

"I'll be fine..." Isara replied. She stood to her feet and told Welkin, "I'll be back!" before dashing back over the hill, under the cover of allied fire. She needed to make it back to Dillsburg fast, which should've been a ten minute run. There were still chunks of the Imperials and Cadians in the back. She could potentially grab a ride on a Chimera carrying wounded, or-

She felt herself thrown off her feet, concussive force coursing through her body. She hadn't even heard the whistle, but knew it was a heavy mortar. She felt weightless, then felt all her weight come crashing down as she landed in the forestry. A whine and a grunt and she rubbed her shoulder, eyes slowly opening. She examined herself quickly, checking her wounds, and found nothing but a bruised shoulder.

Incredibly lucky, she thought to herself...

She scanned her surroundings. How far had she flown? Her body still felt a little sore from the concussive force, but the fact she wasn't missing any limbs was good enough for her to try and stand up. She wobbled a bit, scanned the trees, then saw nothing familiar. Not even a hint of familiarity. She'd fallen through the canopy, she was sure. She'd heard branches snap from the drop.

She was lost...

And the creaks beside her worried her. She pulled out her sidearm and thumbed the safety off, suddenly trembling. Figures appeared at the corners of her eyes and she suddenly cursed herself for being so hotheaded as to run back. She'd just wanted to prove herself more useful than just as a driver and look where it'd gotten her. She blinked, hearing a lasgun's charging noise...

Only to pause as she heard a heavily-accented voice, "Hold, Guardsman..." And turned to see a Commissar clad in a tattered outfit, a red sash wrapped around his shoulder and a chainsword hanging loosely off his brown leather belt. The man arranged a pair of large-rimmed round spectacles on his nose and examined the girl, hands behind his back. She also saw a Bolt pistol clipped to his belt. He spoke, "Looks like a local Gallian. Darcsen, too."

"Number 01 is gonnae be happy ta see one of'er kind, sir..." Commented the Guardsman who had aimed his rifle. He looked to be wearing much lighter armor than the Commissar, a simple flak vest and a bandana wrapped around his head. The man, however, was built like a brick house, muscled up and with a clean-shaven head and several scars.

He nodded, "Agreed. Let's get her to Colonel Rimmy and the 422nd ASAP. She seems injured..." and Isara scanned her surroundings. She saw a dozen more Guardsmen, each armed with battered-looking rifles, clad in a mix-and-match of armor colors and patterns. Some even had Autoguns, while others carried larger Las-rifles and even Jump Packs. The Commissar, a man on the taller side, walked up to her and asked, "What's your name, young lady?"

"S-Sir... Corporal Isara Gunther, Squad 7..." She spoke, dumbfound. The sound of distant gunfire woke her up. She gasped and said, "Oh, no. I have to get back!"

"That your squad engaging, then?" He asked.

"Yes! Alongside two more Guard Regiments! Cadian 13th Youth and a Krieg Regiment!" She yelled. The squad of men stood there, stunned for a moment, before the Commissar looked upon her and motioned for her to follow, straight-laced and straight-faced. The young woman now noticed the shoulder pauldrons of each man bore two scratched-in X symbols. XXth? Twentieth, then? She asked him, "Who... Are you?"

"Commissar Digby Tatham-Warter, corporal Gunther," He replied, "Come with us. We might be able to help you take out those guns and help your squad."

She nodded, then holstered her pistol. She followed the platoon of men along, with the Commissar noting, "You're lucky we ran into you. We were running a patrol when we heard you land nearby. This forest is full of the Ravens..." as he drew his Chainsword and Bolt Pistol. He ordered, "Regiment! Echelon formation! Let's make sure miss Gunther gets safely to our camp, aye?"

"Aye!" The group cheered.

Isara once more took her time to examine the men as they marched through the thick shrubs, toward the tall rise of a few steep hills. The unit settled into a loose wedge formation around the girl and Commissar, with the burly man carrying the heavy lasgun in the lead. Digby hummed as he looked around, then quietly started humming a tune that felt familiar.

To Isara's credit, the girl didn't jump when she heard the groans of the dozen men and women with them. Digby scoffed at the reaction and said, "Oh, shut your yaps... Ungrateful sons-of-Groxes..." before turning to Isara and stating, "Forgive them. These idiots lack the tact of a normal Regiment, though they certainly have their own bloody charm about'em."

"We just don't wanna get found by the Ravens, sir," Shot back a soldier clad in a fairly tarnished Cadian OD Green uniform and vest, his earpiece crackling audible all the way to Isara. He grinned to the girl and told her, "Look, the Commissar's great'n'all, but we'd rather have a nice, calm trip back to base, eh? He ordered us to getcha back there in one piece, kid..."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, corporal Simpkin," The Commissar replied, then huffed.

Isara giggled, rubbing the back of her neck as she felt a little awkward. The group climbed the hill and went into another forest, finding themselves in a secluded opening, the distant sound of gunfire rippling all the way to them, followed by the roar and rumble of another heavy shell. Isara looked around at the Regiment's troops, all sat around old, worn-down halftracks and trucks, a few Chimeras and a pair of Leman Russes that looked like they'd been through hell sitting, hidden by the canopy. Three-wheeled Gallian trucks painted black with red stripes also sat in the motorpool, alongside Gallian infantrymen that Isara had never seen before. There was a... Tank similar to the Edelweiss close by, too.

A dark-haired young woman carrying a heavy-duty sword-gun-lance combo leaned the weapon on her shoulder with surprising ease as she listened to a quartet of officers speak, all of them sat together around a box with a map. She turned to see Digby and said, "Commissar. How'd the patrol go?" before Digby gave a 'so-so' gesture. He motioned to Isara and the elder Darcsen hummed and gave her a quick nod.

Digby approached the quartet of officers:A ginger-haired young woman clad in a sports bra, her weirdly modified black Lasgun sat beside her. Two piercing blue eyes stared at the map, while a man clad in a black uniform with red lines resembling those of Gallian ones spoke with the other Imperial Guard officer, a man with a hat made out of what seemed to be a local animal and clad in a long-coated Carapace uniform. Another Gallian officer, one with scarlet hair that grew silver at the tips, listened on.

"We can't sidestep the camp. The Ravens are set up there and we need to wipe out that gun before the Main Force arrives with their Generals," The Gallian explained, "And you can hear our troops are already engaged."

"I know, I know..." The man sighed deeply, his own accent heavy, though different from Digby's "Look, I'm tryin' to set up a team, but we don't know who we're dealing with out aside from the Ravens. Last we checked, the cunts have a company of Leman Russes lended to them by the Severan. And then there's that blonde bimbo leading the Ravens that we might hafta deal with and that's another tank..."

"Ahem," Digby cleared his throat, "Colonel, Major. Lieutenant. Sergeant."

All four looked up. The ginger-haired girl with another weird accent said, "Digby! Hallo!"

"Major Whiskey," He gave her a nod.

The brown-haired Colonel looked at Digby and said, "Done early with the patrol, mate..." before eyeing Isara, "... Who'd you scrounge up on yer way over here, Digby? I'm pretty sure she's not one of ours."

"Sir. She isn't. Corporal?" He looked to Isara.

She took a step forward and saluted, "Colonel, sir. Isara Gunther, Corporal, Squad 7. We're a Militia squad of the 3rd Regiment, cooperating with a Cadian and Krieg Regiment and engaging the enemy encampment as we speak... I came to ask for your help. One of our tanks busted a track and we're pinned down by some fierce enemy resistance..." before she blinked, "W-Wait... Who are you folks...?"

The man hummed, then said, "I'm Colonel Rimmy... And you're looking at the Cadian XXth, Isara. Welcome to our little corner of hell." with a smirk on his ash-covered face.