Convoy
Looking at Monte Cassino with binocs, Milena could see a dark clothed figure on one of the upper balconies, a grain of blackened rice silhouetted against the white walls reflecting the rising sun. One more glint shone forth from the center of this figure before it retreated back into the monastery. At the same time the shelling upon the road stopped, the devils work was done. Three trucks were burning and smoking at near uniform intervals of distance from each other, among the debris was Clayton's bike in various pieces. The fourth truck had reached the trenches safely. It wasn't very far for the UGC either.
Hill
"Paulson why the fuck have you not moved? Stay down!"
Jane's shot flew true and made two neat little holes in the helmet. A combination of red, grey and bone matter exiting in spray in the opposite side confirmed a kill. In the few short seconds that the NECO was working the bolt however, the rifle behind the wall made a move as though on cue. It happened extremely quickly, first one leather boot on the top of the low wall, then the other. The boots were connected to a person wearing the same shortened black Panzer uniform that Richard's assailant was previously wearing, except under it was a lithe and graceful woman like Jane herself. She also wore a brown camouflaged helmet of which most of her salt-and-pepper hair was tucked under, the remainder spilling out the side of her head. Standing completely upright on the wall, she used that height advantage to take a snapshot from her scoped KAR98k. That shot skewered Paulson who was lying in a shallow muddy ditch, very abruptly cutting off something he just started to say.
The shells were still coming, this time landing around the opposing sniper and throwing up vast clouds of smoke that hugged the ground. Jane at this range even with NECO eyesight, quickly lost sight of the enemy sniper in the blur of the fog as she jumped back down from the wall, all while keeping a pair of steely blue eyes at the Jewish soldier.
"PAULSON! My God, what the hell was that?" Sam exclaimed, his voice beginning to shake. "Smoke, there's smoke, Jerry is going to attack soon, I have to fall back." The Commando extricated himself from behind a blasted boulder and made a run for the friendly trenches, counting on the smoke over the enemy territory to keep him safe.
His trust was misplaced, a flash from the shrouded low wall, and a bullet bit deep into Sam's arm, narrowly missing his body and heart by half an inch. That level of accuracy in this circumstances was not guesswork, he could be seen somehow. He screamed, but he kept running, he was almost there.
"Jane lass, -ugh-" Sam's pained voice came over the radio, possibly for the last time. "Whatever happens next, don't blame yourself, alreet?"
Bunker
The LT slapped the tip of the pointer on his other hand, and then collapsed it for storage. "In the meantime, we expect to be counterattacked by the Germans sometime soon. Misery is a raincloud, a raincloud means no planes. So after you are dismissed, spread out, find someplace comfortable along the trench line, settle down, maybe take note of the local defenses around you, and prepare to repel the counterattack."
"I may not be nearby to issue orders so use your discretion on what action to take in the face of the enemy, meet back here when the fight is over." He clicked his heels together. "DISMISSED!"
The covered hallway outside the bunker was a triage center where the dead and wounded of the last few artillery strikes were being tended to by medics. Outside this was the trench proper. Soldiers hurried to and fro, laying their last sandbags, digging hopefully not their last ditches, and siting the crew served weapons and AT guns. There would be no calm before this storm.
The Other Side
"Fraulein." A pale man in a black staff officer's uniform spoke. "It is unfortunate that you have decided to leave the program, we understand if you feel that you can serve the Fatherland better back in your old Panzergrouppen. However, we still consider you genetically superior enough to be counted in the program's ranks. As such, you are allowed the honor of continuing to wear our uniform."
He adjusted his glasses, all while continuing to look at the woman with a cold emotionless gaze. "Since you insist on leading the next attack, we have decided have your old teammates Klaus and Elfrede to assist you. We have received reports that Klaus may have met an unfortunate accident, but Elfrede is still be in the field. If you survive, do consider returning to us."
"Good luck." And then he was gone.
