Streetwar Fragment

Running low, Dercis heard the snap of las-rounds flashing overhead, punctuated by the roar of plasma bursts and rolling rattle of projectiles. Behind him, moving from cover to cover came the rest of the squad.

He signed Bern and Parna to move to a raised balcony where their autocannon could get a wider field of fire.

The rest he deployed in pairs in a loose line across the street, sending Freth and Mena to take the battle-scarred foyer opposite Bern's impromptu gun nest.

Fragment - Pinned

The fighting became more intense as the day wore on. The Geline, the elite forces of the enemy had fallen back quickly from the walls before the mobile armour could be brought into range, which left a hard street-by-street, house-by-house, room-by-room struggle to the infantry.

Ducking below a fallen block of limestone, Rath heard the sharp crack of sniper rounds pocking craters into his cover and the surrounding balustrades of the bridge across the canal. Flipping his bead down he called in the hazard - "Sniper high on the south side - got me pinned on the bridge, think third and fourth floor."

"Closing, one minute."

"'Kay. In your own time." Rath grimaced and shifted his position, drawing his feet closer to tuck under him. He risked a quick peek past the block's edge and rocked back as more shots blew small chunks from the floor and nearby wall. He risked a blind spray on automatic into the air to keep their attention on him.

There was two low thumps and a booming rattle of debris that flew past him, followed by a slow uncoiling cloud of vapourised limestone dust. The snipers' guns were silenced.

"That do you? Stop napping, get scouting"

Drone Fragment

The faint buzzsaw crackle was getting louder as the drone returned, swooping on its lifters like a malevolent fly. The large composite lens structures of its sensors, and the pulse gun slung beneath it did little to change that impression.

Grace popped round the corner briefly and fired a burst of flechettes at it, spinning back behind cover as strobes of laser fire burnt through the space she'd just left. She grinned at Tanya, even as she slapped a trip mine on the wall and pushed her along the corridor.

"At least we know one thing now" she said, her pistol burping another cloud of flechettes and knocking back the drone as it emerged from the corner. "You can't dodge lasers, but the targetting motors on that thing aren't half as good as claimed!"

She shoved her charge through a fire door and triggered the mine with a small remote clipped to her belt.Even with their weight against it, the door trembled against the shockwave, but it didn't give way.

There was a pause and a sprinkler system came on, shockingly cold and making making them both yelp. They made for the doors at the opposite end of the short tunnel that led back out to the plaza. Tanya muttered under her breath, Grace kept an eye on the door behind them, but there was no further sign of pursuit.

Bolter Background

Tanya looked at the bulky pistol, trying to work out what was so different about it. It seemed to be made of ceramic and plastic components, which made sense, but the magazine was thinner than expected and there didn't appear to be any external ports to eject casings.

Instead there was a thin grill that ran round the sides and back of the main block "What is it?"

"Its a bolter - designed for zero-g and pressurised environments - like planes and subs" She was holstering one of her own. "Israeli forces developed it for counter-terrorism - its got a high penetration against soft targets where microcharges blow the bolts inside - damages soft tissues and organs, relies on pain to incapacitate. But against hard shell armour or surfaces - like plane fuselages, habitat walls, things like that, the bolts shatter harmlessly."

"Always?"

"Well, mostly... but if they do go through, its only a little hole - easily patched."

Tanya put the pistol back down on the bench.