Only three tanks were coming to Robert’s company position. Moreover, they looked almost comically pathetic. Just the ugly metal bricks with two small rotating towers on the sides armed with protruding machine gun barrels. Another barrel, from what seemed to be a higher caliber gun, was on top. Not having the ability to move freely, it had to be aimed directly at the whole body of the tank. Slow, huge, low mobile, they were a perfect target… if Rob had any means to destroy them, except a grenade. Or, precisely speaking, two of them.

However, the tanks were not alone. Supported by soldiers, who were hiding behind, they were steadily approaching, while leaving a pummel of smoke behind them. The sound of rotating wheels inside the tracks, the strained roar of an engine together with surprisingly silent infantry created an oppressive feeling. As if it was a huge natural disaster – an avalanche, a tsunami, an earthquake – despite seeing it, the pitiful humans couldn’t do much against it. The single solution was to hide and pray.

The silence covered the whole area for a short time. Remnants of smoke, a burned smell, a mutilated ground, dozens of motionless bodies – every single piece of the scenery only intensified this feeling of dread before inventible. The slowness of advance only made it worse, picturing the tanks as Death itself. The latter never needed to rush, taking hers whenever she wanted and ignoring any resistance.

Somehow Rob managed to stay calm, despite a nascent feat that started to form inside his mind. Moreover, in such odd silence, he could see how the enemy was also afraid. Exactly they were assaulting the defensive position through the open field. All of them just couldn’t hide behind metal bodies. However, the first one to crumble under the pressure was one of the soldiers from Rob’s side. With a loud shrilling scream he climbed from the trench in an attempt to run. This deed would have become the straw that broke the camel’s back and led others to flee in a panic. Would have… because the lieutenant was faster. Reacting almost instantly as if he had predicted such action, he shot the runner in the back.

“Fire! Don’t just stand there as paralyzed idiots! Any attempt to flee will lead to execution!”

The last part of his words was outvoiced by multiple gunshots from both sides. Robert himself was already pulling the trigger when he heard the command. He managed to shoot thrice before he felt as if the main barrel of the nearest tank was aiming at him. Led by intuitive decision, Rob ducked down immediately. The sharp pain in his wound made him stumble, and clumsily drop from the ladder. The landing appeared to be even worse when his knee fell directly onto something metal and hard. Another painful feeling pushed him back directly to the wall only to see the explosion.

The tank’s shell had hit the already dead body of Rob’s neighbor, tearing it apart. The remnants of flash, rifle, and wooden planks flew all over the place. Luckily, Robert’s position made him avoid most of them, but not the sound. The sheer loudness felt like a direct hit in his head, darkening his surroundings for a moment. He felt as if someone had put earpieces on him, muting a whole world. It didn’t last long, when the sound had returned, bringing the horrible cacophony of chaotic war.

Hastily picking up his rifle, Robert forced himself to climb back on the ladder. All his survival instincts screamed against it, but his mind was firm. Catching the figure of the nearest beastman, he exhaled before pulling the trigger. The enemy was in the process of turning around, making the bullet hit the shoulder instead of the chest. Still, the force behind the projectile together with sudden wounding had pushed him back, completely disorientating. Unfortunately for the enemy, that had put him right before the moving tank, the driver of which had a very limited sight. Not noticing his own ally, the armored machine continued to move, easily knocking down the injured beastman and moving further.

Other soldiers tried to help, but any attempt to pull him out from the tracks was stopped by Robert’s bullets. Focusing on killing, he felt as if something was dying in his heart. The grim scene of the enemy being literally slowly crushed by the tank, led by his own comrades-in-arms, was interrupted by a short burst from the machine gun. Aiming right above the trench, it barely missed Rob, making to act without a delay.

Jumping down and ignoring the pain in the thigh, he quickly ran across the trench, already filled with fallen soldiers, before finding another free spot in between two occupied. The previous owner wasn’t far away, lying as a broken toy on the ground. The hast climbing almost ended with Rob’s own death, when he was in the process of peeking out from the cover. At least three soldiers were looking on that spot with rifles ready, immediately sending their bullets, pushing him behind the cover once again. Not wishing to compete in speed with three opponents, Robert hastily took a grenade from his belt, before tearing out the fuse.

Damn… How long do I need to wait? Oh, fuck it!

Throwing the explosive thing over the head, Rob pressed himself against the wall. The burst of air brought the pieces of earth, while the sound was completely lost in the chaotic surroundings. Feeling the pressure of the time, he once again pushed himself up only to find that his magazine was already empty. Leaning to the ground, Robert had conjured a small shield to cover himself, while he was reloading. Unfortunately, it appeared a bad idea as the first shot had penetrated his steel cover, scratching his cheek.

Damn, thicker, I need it thicker!

Cursing his own stupidity, Rob willed the increase of the shield’s thickness. A few moments later another bullet had hit it. Almost going through the whole metal protection, it luckily lost its force before the projectile entered his own eye, being stuck in front of Robert’s face in mere centimeters. Spending a long second observing the small flying death that was very near to sending him to the afterlife, Rob dispersed the cover and started to shoot.

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He managed to empty three more magazines before the enemies got inside the trench. That led to even more chaos when the bullet could come from any direction. Rob saw how other soldiers were blown up with a grenade inside the underground cover in an attempt to hide from the beastmen. Not from the distance, but he basically was in mere ten meters (around 30 ft) from them. He saw it with his own eyes but couldn’t react in time, hastily feeling the magazine with new rounds. Dropping over half of them on the ground, he was fast enough not to be noticed before the first bullet hit the waist of the enemy, where another grenade was. This time luck was on his side, somehow making the explosive weapon trigger right in the moment when the whole group aimed their rifles at Robert.

However, his attention was redirected as new and new soldiers were trying to climb over the barbered wire, completely overwhelming the defense line. Shooting a few more times, Rob had to throw his rifle right into another enemy, not having the time to reload. The improvised projectile had hit his face, breaking the nose of a beastman with rabbit ears, which were stuck out from below a helmet.

Sidestepping the blind shot in response, he conjured an axe. The strong hit had broken the rifle that was hastily put under the swing by the enemy. However, the following strike came to a halt, when another soldier dropped down in the trench. Noticing it, Robert grabbed the clothes of rabbit-man on the chest and forcefully moved him in front of himself. The timing appeared to be good as the bullet had entered his newly acquired shield from the back. Moving the wounded to the side, Rob immediately made a throwing motion with his axe.

The threat made the shooter put the rifle before him in an attempt to defend himself from the projectile… that never came. Instead, he was met with the spear inside his stomach. It disappeared a moment later, raising questions that would never get any answers as the darkness was already covering all surroundings, promising eternal rest.

Robert, on the other hand, had to move fast. Ignoring the dead, he hastily turned around and started to search for his rifle. Unfortunately, he had to stop himself when he heard the twisting sound of metal. Then the sky disappeared, being replaced with the metal bottom of the tank. Not thinking even a second, Rob took his second grenade. Jumping high, he shoved it right into the track, before diving underneath. The following explosion had torn apart the side of the tank, effectively stopping a dangerous machine right above the trench.

Faster, Rob, faster!

Pushing himself back to the lying rabbit, he kicked the enemy soldier in the face with enough force to break the jaw. The latter was in the process of reloading Robert’s rifle, prioritizing the killing instead of treating his own injury, hiding, or anything else. Not that he had many chances to survive from any of these options.

Finally getting the weapon, Rob hastily finished the enemy’s interrupted task, trying to outpace the tank’s crew. Despite immobilizing the armored machine, he didn’t hurt anyone inside. Therefore, he just waited for them to come out. The problem was the location of the hatch, which was on the back and looked in the direction, from where the beastmen came. Moreover, it was in an open field, outside of the trench.

I can still shoot them from here, I guess, but…

Robert’s thought came to a halt when he caught the familiar whistling sound. The image of an artillery battery deep behind their own defense lines immediately came to mind. The whole plan of the higher-ups became clear as day. Nobody wanted to bet on uncoordinated and poorly trained troops to stop the assault, which was additionally strengthened by tanks. Nope, the whole idea was to exhaust the resources of the beastmen before finishing them with fire from above, thus leaving no other option than to retreat to the previous positions. That way they could close a possible gap in the line, reversing the situation to another draw.

It took less than a heartbeat to jump under the damaged tank. It was simply the closest cover to Robert, but definitely not the safest. Conjuring the shovel, he immediately started to break the wooden planks in an attempt to create a deepening. Shuddering from each explosion that raged across the surroundings, Rob continued to act almost in a trance, driven by the simple goal of survival.

The first hit in the tank tossed him to the ground just from the sheer closeness of the explosion, despite being covered by the metal body of the war machine. The latter even fell down slightly, decreasing the height of the trench. The following adrenaline rush made Rob spring on his feet, pushing his big body inside dug out. Covering himself with a summoned shield, he wanted to wait but felt a gaze. Moving his head to the left, Rob saw the aiming soldier, who was standing in the middle of the trench, completely ignoring the shelling.

Robert felt as if his heart was squeezed by a cold hand. He had to use all his willpower to resist a fear, that wanted to capture his mind with a pointed barrel. Each of such episodes, when his life was on the scale, scared him shitlles, and each time he had to overcome it. On the other hand, it was becoming much easier with time. Even now, despite the feeling, Rob didn’t lose even a single moment, instantly putting the shield in front of him, while pushing himself towards the shooter. Slightly rotating his torso to decrease the size of his figure, he used all his force in the legs to move faster. And the fear only added him strength for that.

Rob heard an odd click when he was two meters from the enemy. His body tensed, halting his run, while he was awaiting the gunshot with the following pain. Surprisingly, there was none. Lowering the shield, he managed to catch a panicked expression on the beastman face, whose rifle appeared to jam, before crashing into the enemy at full speed. Robert’s weight and force simply had thrown away the soldier into the nearest wall. However, Rob didn’t stop, smashing into the enemy again a moment later. The body of the latter cracked, going limp. The finishing attack was interrupted by a huge explosion.

Detonation of the tank’s ammunition…

The thought flashed through Robert’s mind, while he was carried by a shockwave. Hitting the wall with his head, he lost consciousness for a few seconds, before finally finding himself on the ground in an odd position. Lying on the back, his legs were upside down, leaning on the remnants of the machine gun, which was blown up earlier. Moving his head, Rob caught a glimpse of the devasted armored machine and completely ruined place of his possible cover.

Rob, note for the future – don’t hide behind something that can explode!

Dropping down, he started to crawl in search of any deepening. The earth itself appeared to be the best protection. Taking into account that shelling started to intensify as if both sides decided to compete over who would destroy the defense line, Robert really needed it. And fast.

Everything will be fine…Oh, God damn it, who I am kidding in the epicenter of artillery strikes? Nothing is fine already!