Guided ordinance fire crosses over my field of view between the rooftops of the city. Smoke follows the trails of the streaks of light and the violent sound of impact follows shortly in the distance. The city doesn’t subside to silence in absence of the explosion— small arms fire pelts all around. It impacts the dirt nearby, the walls, pings off of fences, street posts, tanks. It never ends.

All out siege isn’t “ensuing”, it has been for days. It is not a rare sight to see a skyscraper completely demolished, full of holes, utterly inflamed, missing a majority of its floors, or all of the above.  

Currently I am in an extremely vulnerable position. I am hiding on the first floor of a half demolished building, looking out from a hole in the wall. It’s in the outskirts of the park in the center of the city where the siege is strongest. 

Small arms fire pelts against the building I am in and around me, artillery impacts in the distance, and a single scream can be heard reverberating between the buildings.

Poor soul. I mourn the loss of someone who I imagine just had their legs blown off. A common occurrence, and not the first I have heard today. Hell, I’ve seen it happen today.

I am a Sergeant in His Majesty, the Emperor's army. My mission was to lead a fire-team under the command of my platoon leader into the heart of the city where the siege is strongest, in order to halt the enemy and allow our forces to flank their vanguard. Our platoon broke off to cover more ground and my fire-team was annihilated by guided ordinance. The last of my soldiers I laid eyes on was quickly paling to grey as he bled out from his torso pooling blood under him like a waterfall. His legs were unidentifiable with the rubble of human chunks on the ground from my brethren. 

I sat and cried for quite a while in this office building I found myself in. I ran until the adrenaline wore off. It’s the next morning after the incident. I cut off all radio contact. I had rushed ahead of my soldiers in order to claim the glory of first contact with the enemy and in doing so I was the only survivor. We had successfully pushed back the enemy, at least it seemed so, and began clearing buildings in the surrounding area while fresh reinforcements held the perimeter. 

I don’t have a plan, but if either side finds me I’ll be killed. I’ve effectively defected from the military after failing my duties.

More artillery impacts in the distance, reverberating down the city blocks. It’s perhaps half a mile away if I was going to guess but it sounds quite close due to the tall buildings of the city containing the sound and channeling it.

I check my canteen on my chest rig. Empty. 

I dropped my rifle outside when the artillery had hit. There’s too much exposure outside to dare step out and retrieve it. 

As a Sergeant we are only issued infantry rifles. No backup gun. No handgun.