It was almost dawn when the first shot broke out, disturbing the peaceful landscape. Eren could see cattle scurry away from the sound, and half-clutched his rifle, getting ready for the long battle coming. He yawned and tapped his squadmate's side, "It's starting, let's get ready," he whispered, waking the others.

  The radio shrilled, "Boss, this is Overwatch, over."

  "Overwatch, this is Boss; how we doin'? Over," he replied, watching his squad get ready.

  "We've got the entire camp waking up, and a few units are leading the way towards the settlement. The shot that you heard is a sniper going for the guard towers, over."

  "Okay, Mitch. I need you to get your boys in position to cover the gate. Overwatch, pick off just the snipers, but only when everyone starts shooting, got it?" He checked his rifle, adjusting his bulletproof vest. He took a sip of steaming coffee handed to him by one of the troops.

  "Got it Boss, " Overwatch replied, then Mitch.

  He set down the cup and looked through his sites, spotting a group of soldiers moving towards the main gate of South Settlement.

  "You, " he pointed to one of the squad members. "Take point. Everyone else, follow him, and don't shoot until I say so."

  They got in formation, and moved down the embankment where they had concealed themselves the night before. Eren took a deep breath and wiped his hands on his pants, walking after them and keeping his head on a swivel to spot any danger. Eventually, the squad reached the edge of the road to the gate, hiding in a small ditch beside the road. They saw a squad assembling some explosives, and raised their rifles. "Where the hell is Mitch?" Eren muttered, raising his own. He raised his hand, a heartbeat passed, then dropped it. His squad opened fire, tearing through the soldiers in front. Eren's finger hovered in front of the trigger, his ears ringing from the gunfire.

  "Cease fire! Cease Fire!" He yelled, watchin the enemies fall to the ground in a pool of blood. He tried to ignore the gurgling sound that came from the one who was working on the bomb, but couldn't. He raised his rifle and with one smooth motion, a crescendo led to silence.

  "Reload!" He whispered harshly, watching his squad celebrate quietly. He turned down the volume on his radio and spoke, almost silent, "Mitch, where are you?".

  "We're hiding from some soldiers," came the whispered reply, to the point where Eren had to strain to hear him. "Maybe 200, maybe more."

  Eren paled, hearing the figure, "How long until they get here?" he asked.

  "You've got about five minutes until they get to the gate. Either scram or hunker down. We'll try to get them on the rear flank once they move past us."

  Eren bit his fingernails, his hands shaking. Suddenly, he looked up. "Someone, go grab that bomb and hook it up. Bring the trigger to me." His squad look around, before one smaller, scrawny man stood up and ran over to the bomb, wiping his forehead as he tried to understand it.

  "Put the bomb next to the gate and conceal it!" Eren hissed, thinking he could see the soldiers closing in from a distance. The man placed the bomb to the side of the gate and quickly threw dirt over it, sliding into the ditch just as the large amount of troops came around the bend. Eren took the trigger in his hand, setting it next to him gently. "Everyone, we shoot after the bomb goes off." He whispered, making sure the squad could hear him.

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  He ducked behind the ridge, readying his rifle and nodding to other member of the squad, who were visibly tense as well. He saw the boots move towards the gate, rifles swinging every direction. He prayed that no one would see him, as he could not move now. Everyone held their breath as the soldiers advanced carefully towards the gate, preparing a battering ram. His fingers slipped around the trigger as he clenched it until his knuckles turned white.

  Bam, they broke through the gate. Eren counted to three as they advanced, one... two... three... He pressed the button and a large dirt eruption sent dust flying into the air, along with bodies. His squad opened fire and bullets whizzed at them, presumably South troops defending their places. He raised his rifle and held the trigger, his rifle recoiling harshly from every shot. Still, he kept his aim, and shot until his gun clicked. Everyone else stopped firing soon after, but they stayed where they were, awaiting their Boss's instruction.

  “This is Eren!” he shouted, slamming a fresh magazine into his rifle, eyes settling on the gate.

  “This is South Settlement! Hands up! Come out!” a voice barked from inside.

  “Not a chance!” Eren yelled, tightening his grip. He crouched, pressed the radio to his lips, voice low. “Mitch — South guys?”

  “Yeah… that’s them. But, it’s weird, they’re moving like they’re—never mind.” Mitch’s voice trailed off, tense.

  “Moving like what?” Eren pressed, craning around the corner.

  Static. A whisper. “Like an ambush… wait, yeah, definitely an ambush.”

  Eren dropped the radio, raising his rifle. “Alright. Listen up!” he barked toward the gate. “We’ve got a sniper on you. Step out, one by one, and maybe this ends clean.”

  Through the smoke of dawn and dust from the earlier blast, his eyes caught a silver glint on the ridge. A scope. Mitch.

  “Mitch, you on the hill?” he hissed.

  “Yeah, I see you guys in the ditch,” came the quiet reply. “But… those South guys—something’s off. I can’t read them.”

  Eren swallowed, tension coiling like steel in his chest. He tightened his shoulder, finger hovering near the trigger. Every second stretched.

  He crouched, back against the perimeter, eyeing his squad. He checked his rifle once more, making sure he had a bullet in the chamber. He reached into his vest, pulling out a flashbang, rolling it in his hands, feeling the weight of it.

  He scurried over to his squad in the ditch, their eyes now on him. "Listen up, we're going to do a breach-style movement." He held up the flashbang. "I throw this in, and we move quickly. Try not to shoot them, but it's no big deal if you do."

  He turned towards the gate, pulling the pin slowly, feeling the force of the spring fight for release against his hand.

  He turned towards the hill, the sun no longer reflecting off of Mitch's scope, but he knew he was there. He held up the flashbang, 3... 2... 1... He reached around the corner of the entrance and lightly tossed the flashbang. "What's that?" someone asked, but it was too late.

  "BANG!" The flashbang exploded, and Eren ran into the gate, jumping on one of the soldiers, his squad not far behind.

  "He- Help!" one of them cried out, but then soon went limp.

  "Get 'em in zip ties, move!" Eren tossed out the small plastic restraints and went from soldier to soldier, making sure that every one of them was tight and secure.

  "Against that wall," he ordered, picking up the radio and waving to Mitch.

  "How's it going there?" Eren asked, crouching under the arch of the gate.

  "That was fun to watch, huh?" Came the reply.

  Eren smiled, "While you're up there, see if there are any more Rebels coming out way. I expected more."

  "I just sent a scout up, he'll be back in a bit." Eren squinted, and could see a small figure at the top of the hill. He smiled, kicking the boot of a Rebel corpse that lay on the ground -- A captain, no less, as he saw on the body's ranks. He squinted again, seeing the figure look, then stop. A small pop, and the figure fell.

  Eren squinted harder, "What the hell was that, Mitch?"

  Static, then more gunshots, the hill now giving off a cloud of dust from bullet impacts.

  "We're being ambushed... It's all of them!" Came the reply, a terrified yelp.

  At this, Eren dropped the radio, and started rushing towards the hill. He stopped, "Move it! Now! Move!" He yelled at his squad. They looked up and started jogging towards him. "I said run!" He turned towards the battle and broke into a sprint, heart hammering, lungs burning, and heart pumping.