Eirik was walking back to the frontline and called out as soon as he was within range. "SOMEONE GET ME THE NUMBERS OF THE DEAD AND WOUNDED!!" He didn't have to wait long before Knud called out from behind him.

"No wounded or dead on our part! As for the enemy, you better ask someone who can see them!"

Eirik had to suppress a smile at the doctor's sass. He always knew how to make Eirik think about something other than whatever was weighing down on him. Las'Tai came walking up to Eirik and he greeted her.

"Estimates put the Kloxna losses at around 5-6000. Merely a small chunk of the army, but a good first fight." She said. There was something off about her voice, but Eirik couldn't place it.

"What is on your mind Las'Tai?" He asked. They could not afford distractions in this fight.

"It's nothing Captain. Coming to terms with the situation!" She responded, a little faster too fast. Eirik was not convinced but decided that she would speak if and when she wanted to.

"Alright, Las'Tai. I won't pry. Are there any wounded among the enemy casualties? Or did they all die?" Eirik changed the subject to something more pragmatic. SHe always buried herself in work when she needed to think.

"Many. Most of them will not survive to see the night, but some of them can still survive." She answered, still with that strange quality to her voice.

"Get your claws on as many as we can. Use the soldiers at the defenses to help bring them to Knud and radio me if there is any trouble. I need to check on the southern section for now. I will be back within 15 minutes. David takes control of the defense in my absence. You can find him up on that roof." Eirik pointed to a tall building that used to house the administration of the complex. By far the tallest building around.

"What is he doing on that roof?" Las'Tai asked curiously.

"What he does best, Las'Tai. Utilizing a talent I do not have. He is one hell of a sharpshooter and he uses that ability during fights, such as these, to pick off the enemy command structure by killing every officer he can find on the battlefield. Without leadership, no army marches to war." Eirik explained before he turned and started walking away.

He saw Jesper carrying ammunition boxes towards the front and waved him over. Exchanging words for a minute, Jesper suddenly smiled broadly and nodded vigorously, hurrying along with his boxes.

5 minutes later Eirik came jogging up to the southern defenses to see half the soldiers resting in the shade with the other half lazily keeping a half eye on the south from the defenses. Tina approached him as soon as she laid eyes on him.

Eirik stared at them, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. "What is going on here?" He asked quietly.

"We heard the shooting a little while ago, but since it stopped again quickly, we figured it was just a probing attack. About half of the troops guarding our escape moved towards the main force 3 minutes ago." Tine answered.

"...So you decide the best thing to do was lounge in the shade instead of informing me of the enemy movement?" Eirik's voice was barely above a whisper, but Tina heard every word as if he had shouted them. She knew that tone of voice from her old commander. He had only used that tone of voice when someone had screwed up in such a massive, so unimaginably epic way, that a court-martial was a very real possibility. Or summary execution, depending on the situation.

"I was never trained for frontline combat!! I am a supply and logistics NCO! I never asked for this command!!" She started rambling as the dam inside of her broke. The past weeks running, fighting, running again. Seeing your friends get picked off one by one and knowing you could do nothing to stop it. Seeing the half-starved Kloxna soldiers throw themselves on the ones that surrendered in a bestial display of gorging themselves on the still screaming people.

She could not take anymore and she just wanted away from everything! She did not have the skills or instincts for combat and she was going to lead them all to death because she couldn't take command of soldiers. She started screaming and tried running past Eirik who tackled her to the ground and tried calming her down.

"CORPORAL, RELAX!! What the hell is going on with you? SOMEONE COME HELP ME RESTRAIN HER!" Eirik called out to the soldiers who were watching with wide eyes. A few jumped to help Eirik and they soon had her locked in a room nearby.

"What happened, sir?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Battle fatigue. Or shellshock, if you prefer. Her nervous system has been taxed to its absolute limit and she broke." Eirik answered with a heavy voice. He had seen it before.

"Can it be cured?" Another asked hopefully.

"Only with peace, quiet, and plenty of rest. Nothing else will help. Once she calms down a bit, I want you to take her to the field hospital. Knud may not be a psychologist, but he has first-hand experience to rely on instead." He turned around to face the rest of the TA soldiers staring at the scene in front of them. "AS FOR THE REST OF YOU. I NEED AT LEAST 150 OF YOU, THOUGH I WOULD PREFER 200. I DO NOT CARE HOW YOU DO, DRAW STRAWS FOR ALL I CARE! BUT IN 10 MINUTES I WILL SEE ALL THE MEN I WANTED, BY THE EASTERN DEFENSIVE LINE!! "

Without waiting for confirmation, Eirik turned around and walked back to the soldiers to the east.

Upon arrival, a man at the gate called out that the enemy was stirring amongst the hills, according to David. Eirik put on his helmet and set the frequency of his radio to go to everyone.

"Listen up! The enemy will be upon us once more in no more than 20 minutes. They will most likely blind-fire while charging in an attempt to suppress us, which WILL succeed. I do not want any of you to die under a literal wall of fire because you are impatient. When they show themselves, you will take cover and prepare for close-quarter combat. Shotguns and pistols. No melee if you can avoid it. If they manage to tie you up in melee, you are already dead.

Trust in the heavy weapon emplacements on the roofs and in the defensive line to cover the long-distance fighting. Once the enemy has closed the gap they will stop firing to avoid killing more of their own than they have to. Expendable as they may consider them, We bloodied them good and proper last time. Once you hear the explosions and get the order, You will charge from the defensive line and push the enemy back. It is our only chance to get out of a ranged engagement." He finished talking and was about to switch back to his private frequency, reserved for the command staff, when he remembered something and opened the channel again. "And yes, Of course, you can blindfire at them as well."

Eirik looked towards Jesper on his right flank and received a thumbs up when they locked eyes. It was ready.

some 170 TA soldiers arrived soon after and Eirik started briefing them on what he wanted when the cry came from the front.

"CONTACT!" immediately followed by several sharp *SNAP* as energy weapons impacted on the defensive positions.

"HURRY!!" Eirik shouted at the TA soldiers who started running towards the northern part of the defensive line. As Eirik had predicted, Every single Kloxna running over the hill was firing their weapons wildly as they were running as fast as they could towards them.

Eirik ran the short distance to the defense and pressed himself against a wall. He could feel the vibrations of the enemy fire through the wall.

The closer the Kloxna came, the higher the volume of fire became, until there was a sudden pause with only the sound of clawed feet sprinting over dry earth left to be heard. Eirik swung around the corner of the wall, his arm-mounted gun already spinning, and unleashed hell upon the charging Kloxna that was close enough for him to make out the differences in the sigils on their weapons. 30 meters away.

All the way down the line, Eirik's soldiers followed his example and started unloading their weapons to the best of their ability, the shotguns wreaking havoc on the clustered troops. Those with pistols aimed to take out those that got through the wall of buckshot to great effect, and for a moment the rolling wave seemed to vanish once it hit a certain point in front of the defenders. It didn't last. 25 meters away.

Slowly, meter by meter, second by second, The Kloxna were pushing their way closer to the defender, some using their dead sisters as grotesque shields against the gunfire. 15 meters away.

Somewhere in the defensive line, a roar started rising from the defenders as every man and woman present was being forced against the metaphorical wall at their backs, and the reality of the situation set in. This was a do-or-die moment. There was no retreat at this point. If they lost the defensive line, they lost their lives.

_____________

Eirik was chewing through ammunition faster than he liked, and there was no end to the enemy. Some of the weapons fire had even resumed, the Kloxna commanders commanding troops to fire from the hilltops.

"SQUAD LEADERS; FOCUS FIRE ON THE HILLTOPS!! GET THOSE SHOOTERS OFF OF OUR BACKS!" He roared into his helmet mic as he lowered the minigun and lifted his left arm to start unloading his explosive shells from the shotgun modification in the arm, while a fellow soldier changed out the large ammunition box mounted on his back.

For a moment, he remembered Trasti and his face when he had asked Eirik why the explosive ammunition had become standard loadout for the siege armor shotgun. Eirik had told him that more explosives were always a good thing and the horror on the young Kloxna's face had caused the entire armory to bend over in laughter, much to the dismay of Trasti. Eirik was still suffering under the revenge pranks.

It was as if time had slowed down, making the sprinting Kloxna move at a slow jog to Eirik. He was in the zone. This is what he was born for. He lived for these moments. Where he became a judge of life and death on the battlefield. Life for those he ignored. Death for those he focused on. Like a dark spirit with murderous intent, his attention roamed the battlefield, taking life wherever he turned his focus. 10 meters away.

Suddenly, Eirik heard 2 clicks from the small speaker in his helmet, the sign he had agreed on with the TA soldiers. Another second later all 170 TA soldiers opened fire from the northern flank. While the Kloxna commanders had been solely focused on breaking through the stalwart defense they were facing, the TA soldiers had successfully snuck out of the industrial complex along the river bank, and were now firing into the flank of the attacking force with extreme prejudice.

All their suffering at the hands of the Kloxna had finally found an outlet in the flanking attack and the soldiers held nothing back. The fire was sloppy and erratic, but it did what Eirik wanted. It diverted the attention of the Kloxna commanders. Kicking the handle of a detonator on the ground, he set off the explosives Jesper's crew had buried 8 meters in front of the defenses.

"CHARGE!!!" He roared into his helmet mic, moved around the corner, and began running towards the smoke and still falling debris.

With a collective primal scream of rage, the defensive line surged forward to push the enemy back.