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"