Bachmus walked quietly through the forest. He held his rifle in a ready position as he carefully picked his way through the brush and over the blackened and gnarled spots from artillery rounds. Around him hundreds of other men moved, scanning their surroundings.

“I can’t wait to massacre those bastards.” One of the men near Bachmus grumbled.

Several other men grunted in agreement, while another added, “What kind of dishonorable, wicked beings attack men in their sleep.”

“Quiet!” Zarn barked, “ You’ll get your revenge soon enough.”

They continued walking on and on, until eventually large grey stone walls came into view ahead of them. The man in front of the group motioned for them to stop, and quickly brought up a radio to his mouth. “Control this is Lagatus Rexris, we are in position.”

“Clear Lagatus, wait one.” A female voice answered him.

The group stood, silent with anticipation. Some fidget, while others performed last minute checks on their gear. Making doubly sure all was in order.

After a moment the voice came back over the radios, “All units are in position, standby for bombardment.”

There was a distant whumpf! Quickly followed by more. Then a whistling sound grew louder and louder, until Boom! The night was lit up by brilliantly bright explosions, and the sound roared over the trees. Soon after more and more miniature suns lit up the night and the crescendo of explosions drowned out all other sounds.

Then suddenly it stopped. The light, and sound slowly faded, but the enemy fortress stood, A blue shimmering dome hovered over it, casting a faint glow into the night.

“Enemy shield sighted.” The voice over the radio squealed, “Intensifying bombardment.”

The sound of artillery fire roared to life again filling the night once more, but the shield endured. It stood triumphant, its faint glow almost mocking the Imperial soldiers, daring them to try and bring it down.

“Enemy shield stronger than anticipated,” The voice called again, this time tainted with annoyance, “Commencing orbital bombardment.

Suddenly a green light lanced down from the heavens above, slamming into the shield. The flash lit up the night like a supernova, forcing the soldiers to look away. Then a loud Boom! Thundered through the night. Crashing over the forest and causing the trees to sway. Then more and more blasts hammered into the shield.

As the soldiers watched the spectacle, the shield began to glow even more, and a slight flicker, like a shiver, rippled over it. The voice came back over the radio, “Base shield failing, adding additional firepower.”

The wumpf! The artillery sounded again, joining the thunder of the orbital blasts. The shield glowed brighter and brighter, and the flickering became more and more frequent.

As Bachmus watched he felt someone move in closer to him, he turned to see Varsorus, Cortin and Xanes huddled together next to him. “Stay together” Varsorus shouted over the noise, “Watch each others backs and hopefully we all make it out of this.”

Bachmus nodded before turning back to watch the shield. Just as his eyes settled on it, its color instisified then it began to fracture, with cracks appearing all along it. It flickered twice more then faded, causing the blasts aimed at it to slam into the fortress below. A second later the guns fell silent and silence returned to the night.

“Enemy base shield down.” The voice called over the radio, “All ground forces clear to engage, repeat, You are clear to engage.”

The man holding the radio clipped it back on to his belt and lifted his hand into the air. The men around him tensed with anticipation, mentally preparing for what was to come. Then the man dropped his hand and yelled, “FORWARD!”

The Imperial soldiers surged forward, sprinting out of the forest and towards the fortress ahead. Some let out war cries, while others continued on silently, their eyes filled with determination or dread.

As they cleared the trees and neared the fortress, Bowin soldiers sitting atop the wall opened fire on the crowd. The blasts caught a soldier next to Bachmus. He screamed as the angry red energy burned holes in him and crumpled to the ground. Some of the soldiers stopped to fire up at their assailants, trying to cover their compatriots' approach. However more and more soldiers were cut down as they ran, but were replaced by more Imperials streaming out of the forest.

Bachmus slid into the ditch in front of the enemy walls and quickly scampered up the other side slamming himself against the cold stone wall. He was quickly joined by Varsorus, Cortin, Xanes and even Zarn. As they huddled close to the wall, staying out of the reach of the enemy above, Zarn and Cortin both reached into their packs and began pulling out gray half circles and sticking them to the wall. All along the wall imperial soldiers did the same until the wall was dotted by numerous circles clinging to it.

“Charges Set, get down!” A man called and dove away from the wall. Others followed suit, slamming into the ditch below them and covering their heads with their hands. A second later the wall was lit up by miniature explosions as the charges detonated. The wall cracked as chunks were blown out of it, it stood battered, for a brief moment before the cracks grew larger and larger and the entire thing came tumbling down in a mass of dust, debris, and screams of those standing on top of it.

As the dust settled the Imperial soldiers rose from the ground. The Lagatus yelled, “Into the breach!”

The Imperial Soldiers charged up and over the rubble and into the fortress beyond. Bachmus followed suit, climbing over the rubble and into the chaos beyond. They descended into a mass of surprised, but prepared Bowin soldiers. Laser blasts filled the air, cutting down anyone unlucky enough to be in their path. Some soldiers, too close to fire on each other, engaged in hand to hand combat.

One soldier sprinted toward Bachmus, screaming a war cry. He quickly swiveled, bringing his gun to bare, and aimed a quick shot at his assailant’s throat, sending the man's body crashing to the ground.

He started to turn to fire on another soldier when a hand reached out and grabbed his rifle. Bachmus struggled for a moment trying to wrench his gun free from his opponent before letting go. He drew his knife, and in one fluid motion jammed it under the enemy soldier's helmet, plunging it into the man’s neck. Greenish blood oozed from the wound as Bachmus pulled his knife out and grabbed his rifle, letting the man’s body tumble to the ground.

A spattering of bolts slammed into Bachmus’ armor. He swiveled to try and return fire only to see his attacker falling to the ground with a burning hole in his neck, and Varsorus standing over him.

The scuffle around them was dying down as Bowin soldiers retreated farther into the base. Imperial soldiers gave chase, firing as they went. Bachmus and the others moved to follow but stopped when Zarn turned to look at them, “You four wait here, with some of the others. Kill anyone who tries to escape.”

“Sir!” Varsorus responded.