19:46, 2/08/1620 PD
Cornulan District,
Cornucopia

While the Cornucopia Air Force had done an excellent job at holding off the invading forces, slowly over time they began to rang BINGO. Meaning they had to reload and refuel from the intense fighting. Even so, the Venterran landing ships and drop pods had made it through the aerial defence. Now the task fell to the ground forces. While most of the suburban areas had been evacuated to either underground bunkers or off-world, they were an easy target for the Venterrans to land and establish a foothold on the planet. Attacking the Spires right away would be a death sentence as they still were impregnable fortresses. The Venterrans would have to bring heavy ground support to make any offensive attempt feasible. That is if they cared for their troops lives. However, Field Marshal Häkkinen had other plans and he would let the Venterrans bleed for every corner, every street, every house for as long as possible. That was the Stoinian defensive spirit and today it would be up to the ground forces to keep that flame alive. 
Sergeant Major Nimrata Jastar Kaur, a female Sikhian, a hardened veteran from the Mardakii Crusade. She looked through the binoculars from the top of a building. More and more Venterran dropships were unloading their troops and hardware. The 226th Battalion was sent out to eradicate them in the designated area about 40 klicks north of Ascension Spire, the HQ of Cornucopian Defence Command. She packed her binoculars and turned to her CO, 2nd Lieutenant Zheng Guanting. A rather large man for the Qingese stereotype, but such was the Terran diversification over the centuries in the Star Kingdom.
- "Well, Sir. We better get moving. Any word on support from Major Van Houte?"
- "Aye. As soon as the 364th Armoured Battalion arrives at our position, we'll hit them hard. Get your squad ready as you'll be up front."
- "Yes, Sir!"
Nimrata then headed down to mobilize her squad. The 19 other soldiers were already prepping themselves up with the mobile armouries as the battle hardened veterans they were. Despite their older age status, their experience was of great value to the younger Lieutenant. That's why they would be send as the vanguard. Her troops chatted with her as she came down the stairs.
- "Ah Chief, we finally gonna move our asses?" asked Gunnery Sergeant Iulian Collinescu, a broad Reachian hailing from Bostoreș. Back from the days when the Rhodesian Sector was the Reachian Sector. His family were originally farmers of both Neerian and Sinaian descent, but the Velutarian War had changed their careers indefinitely. Now he was Nimrata's right hand and he wouldn't disappoint her.
- "Yes, Ol' Rock. Let's get the ol' sacks moving. We're going to escort the 364th Armoured and hit the Mardakii lovers before they can secure a foothold." she replied with a stern voice.
- "Good. So get their rockets from them, stick it up their ass and then light them back into orbit? I like it." Iulian was was no man for sugar-coating things. His Sinaian bluntness and creativity combined with Neerian vulgarity always brightened up the mood of the squad.
The squad laughed as the squad made their final preparations. Viggo Sundin was a Private 1st Class of Skandian origin. Despite his tall height, he sometimes seemed like fresh Marine if it wasn't for his blonde beard. Curious as ever he asked a question to Nimrata.
- "Well Sarge, what I just don't quite understand is why tops brass didn't declare for a Crusade yet?"
- "Does it really matter? As long as these bastards are invading our home, that's reason enough for me to shoot their asses." Collinescu replied.
Nimrata wished she could give a clear answer to the younger member of her squad. Unfortunately, she didn't have any of it.
- "Well... Guess maybe they don't want to declare a Crusade against fellow Terrans. Regardless though, we've a job to do that doesn't involve astropolitics. Now let's move it." she replied while handing over a M41 SPNKR rocket launcher to Viggo.
Her squad moved out and were greeted by the column of Grizzlies they were to escort. It seemed their mission was quite an important one as the Grizzlies weren't toys to be used lightly. After jumping on top of them, the combined forces rolled out. Even the Air Force wasn't done and continued to hold bombing runs on the area they would attack. After driving through the wide suburban streets for about two kilometres, they were to approach the enemy. Or at least a first batch of them. 
- "All right squad, keep an eye out on the ridges. They might try to ambush us."
Then a Venterran gunship appeared as the blue hue of plasma made it distinct noise. The Marines instinctively jumped off the Grizzlies and began to scatter. The Grizzlies dual cannons aimed for the gunship while unloading its anti-air missiles. However, those missiles were absorbed by the gunship's shields. The first three Grizzlies of the column then unloaded their dual M310 120mm Smooth-Bore cannons in a volley. They made quick work of the gunship as it was sent to spiral, barely having any time to react to the column. After the short interjection by the gunship, it became quite apparent the enemy was close by. 
- "Ol' Rock! Take your section to the left flank and watch the ridge above us. We'll cover you."
- "Affirm, Sarge. Come on boys, let's keep the convoy rolling!"
Their joyride on top of the Grizzlies was now over. Nimrata headed the right section and quickly checked any street corners for any dangers. Luckily, for now there weren't any and could see how in the other streets similar combined convoys were moving towards the same target. Without the convoy stopping, it seemed like this was going to be quick small scale operation. This brought up a smile on her face.
- "What's so fun, Sarge?" asked Lance Corporal Goran Kadić. The Sorbian who followed her footsteps.
- "Just a happy thought that this might be a quick operation." she stopped to check the corners. Just the other Marines from the other columns. She continued to march forward to the end of the junction and then continued to talk with Kadić. "If we don't get any wounded, I'll give you boys a round when this is over."
- "Ha, Sarge. Just like after Bogo Rai then? Sure would be appreciated. Tell you what you do that and I'll handle the grill."
- "Just make sure to bring your pastrami again."
- "No worries, I'll make sure it's mutton so you can eat as well. Here Sarge, let me take over from you." he said while tapping on her shoulder two times. A sign to stop which Nimrata did instinctively.
- "All right, Corporal. Just don't slow us down now. We've got a pretty good momentum going on."
- "No worries, Sarge." he replied with a wide grin on his face.
Goran headed slightly with his head to his right at the next street junction. He scouted the area quickly and decided to march forward. It was then when he could see red light shine in his directions, quickly followed by an energetic sound. The next few milliseconds he saw a plasma bullet come his way, but it went right through his skull before he had even time to process what the light actually meant.
For a second, Nimrata froze as her good friend was taken down by a Venterran sniper. Quickly processing what just happened, she immediately turned to the convoy.
- "CONTACT!"
With that the Marines began to group up forming a line at each street corner, guarding the are from the other section's side to which they were exposed. It was unclear whether this sniper was alone, but there was only one guarantee to assure the convoy could keep going forward towards the objective. As soon as her section's last man was in formation, he tapped three times to the one in front of him, who then passed it forward, she looked at the other section. It was Ol' Rock who then nodded at her. She nodded back and marched forward looking into the direction from where the bullet might have come from. Quickly altering her pace to throw the sniper off guard and then the rest of her section followed her to cover her in case the sniper took his shot. However it was seemingly quiet and all was well. Was this a lone sniper perhaps? Unlikely since the objective was roughly 400 m ahead. Though she couldn't rule out a scouting party. And just as she turned to watch her section pass through the junction, the sniper eliminated the last man in her line. The penultimate member of her line jumped forward to safety and began to scream when he landed.
- "Tenth building on the right, second floor!" shouted Private 1st Class Matthys Wessel.
- "You sure?" Nimrata asked for a confirmation.
- "Positive."
Nimrata then turned towards the Grizzlies and tapped on the comms button of her helmet, opening a line to the Troop Sergeant of the eight Grizzlies strong convoy.
- "Troop Sergeant Foss, I need a round on the second floor of tenth building on the right. That's the sniper's location."
- "Copy that, we'll blow the bastard to pieces."

Troop Sergeant Fabio Foss then ordered the lead tank to eliminate the sniper. The tank drove forward while rotating its cannons. Five seconds later, the high velocity cannons made short work of the second floor's balcony. The convoy then proceeded to drive forward, but that was when new opposition appeared.
- "Contact up front!" said Collinescu over the comms.
There a group of purple floating speeders headed towards the convoy's direction. The lead tank was quick to fire another round and eliminated one of the five speeders.
- "Shoot the damn rockets." Nimrata shouted.
Her men who carried the rocket launchers then kneeled into position. The speeders however began to shoot volleys of plasma at them. Throwing them off guard and taking a few of her men down. The lead tank drove slightly to the right and made way for the second tank to shoot as well. The speeders were eliminated a short while later after a few rocket launchers were fired. 
- "Sergeant Major, is everything under control?" Lieutenant Guanting asked over the comms.
- "We're five down, Sir. But good to go forward now."
- "Copy. I'll come strengthen you up front as well."
The convoy then move forward again. Now just 200 m away from where they were supposed to launch their attack. Before Nimrata could check the street corner, she could hear the sound that was similar to the gunship they met earlier. She figured it must be some sort of enemy vehicle and raised her left fist in the air. Signifying the convoy to halt. She leaned forward and was greeted by another sniper bullet. She did get a small glimpse however of the small roundabout on her right and described it over the comms.
- "Enemy sniper instalment with multiple heavy armour 50 m away. Lieutenant, plan of attack?"
- "Form up with the tank and head towards the target. Clear the zone out."
- "Affirmative."
Her section tapped again to signify they were ready and the tank moved forward a bit. Its canon was already rotated toward the direction of the enemy to maximize their element of surprise.
- "Mark." Lieutenant Guanting ordered.
Nimrata and her section then moved towards the Venterran encampment firing volleys of bullets from their M65 assault rifles. Giving the Venterran forces of all sizes a blue hue. The Venterran tank was quickly eliminated by the Grizzly's rounds and it seemed Nimrata and her Marines would have a clear win. It was then when she heard another cannon round from a Grizzly, but didn't saw where it landed. She turned around and saw three Venterran tanks heading their direction, firing large plasma bullets nearly half the size of the Grizzly tanks. 
- "Take cover!"
Nimrata and her squad scattered around as one plasma round landed behind them and one hit both of the lead Grizzlies. Throwing them up in the air in a blazingly bright blast that blinded the Marines for a good amount of seconds. Nimrata and her squad were now being pinned down. The encampment had been cleared due to the enemy plasma round taking out the rest of the encampment. The threat on the right of the convoy was no gone, but the newly Venterran armour on the left was proving more than a challenge. On top of that, in the front of the convoy a wide array of Venterran ground forces headed towards from the buildings. It seemed this was an ambush and they fell right into it. But these Venterrans perhaps forgot they were fighting against Stoinians.
In a wild and unorthodox decision, the two remaining front tanks revved their engines and launched themselves forward. Their aim was to run over the enemy infantry and the next tanks in line would take care of the wraiths as the tanks unloaded a volley while heading towards the infantry. Nimrata ordered her men to help out the tanks and cover them from any Venterran clever enough to throw grenades or even board the tanks.
The firefight lasted no longer than another minute and the friendly tank convoys from the next streets had helped clear out the Venterran forces. The convoy's forces were now at half the strength they rolled out with. The situation which once was a hopeful guaranteed success, was now drenched in blood.
- "Sergeant Major, the enemy's more entrenched than we initially thought. Command has ordered us to press forward to eliminate them while we still can."
- "Lieutenant..."
- "I know, Sergeant Major. But we have our orders. I'll coordinate with the other convoys to strengthen our convoy.
- "Yes, Sir." she replied after letting out a small sigh.
She knew the Lieutenant was well aware of their situation and that this was likely the best course of action in the grand scheme of things. She couldn't help but feel her stomach nagging about the situation. Nonetheless they continued to press on as the large enemy encampment was within striking rang now.
Nimrata and the rest of her squad ran forward across the buildings as the convoy drove forward like maniacs. Surprise was no longer a factor. Only eliminating them as quickly as possible was an option. Thus the Grizzlies fired volley after volley. Sending dozens of Venterran troops flying into the skies. 
- "Well, guess that's one way of sending them into orbit." Collinescu chattered over the comms to lighten up the mood. This was after all the sort of humour that kept Stoinians sane in the heat of the most severe combat circumstances. 
Without a second thought, Nimrata jumped from one of the Venterran barricade ramps and threw a grenade out into the general direction of a large conglomeration of small alien forces. After giving the smaller aliens a taste of metal, Nimrata rolled over as soon as she landed on the ground, using her motion to position herself in a knelt position. From that position she fired volley after volley and the all too familiar sound of the M65 assault rifle was like music to her ears as the Venterran aliens scattered in disarray. 
Her squad followed her example and started to clear out the Venterrans without taking too much damage themselves. Soon the Lieutenant's squad arrived too, as well as the other Marine forces from the other convoys that now attacked the large encampment from multiple angles. Grenades exploded over the sounds of plasma and the high velocity cannons hitting their targets. It was then when Nimrata saw the leader of the encampment. A towering Mardakii.
She headed towards him after shooting down three more of those jawless xenos. When the Mardakii stood just ten meters in front of her, she tossed her assault rifle on the ground and unsheathed her combat knife. The Mardakii reciprocated her actions, accepting her challenge and deactivating his shields. As the brute ran towards her in a frenzy, Nimrata unexpectedly jumped forward. Rotating mid air so she could land with her back on the ground as she flew between the legs of the Mardakii. The brute was too sloppy to catch her as she flew between his legs. There, she had the perfect opportunity and put her knife into what she suspected was a weak spot between the joints. When the knife sliced effortlessly into the Mardakii's groin, she knew she had struck gold. 
After standing up she looked over the paralyzed Mardakii as the rest of the fight began to tone down. She gripped her knife again and thrusted it further into the Mardakii and twisting the knife. The Mardakii screamed out in pain and fear, spreading terror to the remaining Venterran forces as they were cut down by the other Stoinians. No mercy was shown and Nimrata finally put her knife just under above where the Mardakii's Adams apple would be. Letting him drown in his own blood. The zone was now cleared out and Gunnery Sergeant Collinescu came to see Nimrata's achievement.
- "Well... That one is going to make a fine rug, Chief." he complemented on the Mardakii's fur as he grazed through it with his hand.
- "Might make a coat of him though." she replied jokingly.
- "Ah... Guess there's enough hide and fur for both."
A Grizzly then drove forward and stopped in front of Nimrata. The hatch opened up and Troop Sergeant Fabio Foss appeared.
- "Well Sergeant Major. My compliments to you prowess. I always pitied the Mardakii, but you just gave a whole new level to it. I don't think I've ever seen someone twirl so elegantly while cutting down a Mardakii."
- "The pleasure's all mine, Troop Sergeant. I'll try to sing next time as well." she replied laughing off while she cleaned her knife with her armguards.
Lieutenant Guanting then approached Nimrata as well. 
- "A job well done, Sergeant Major. In my book you've already earned more than ten lifetimes worth of a General's pension. Now let's hea-" he stopped mid-sentence as he listened to an incoming message. 
Nimrata heard something too, but it was something different. It was something reminiscing plasma weaponry and it quickly became louder and louder. She looked up and saw a plasma bomb dropping straight on a Grizzly tank. A green blast of plasma flared up the roundabout and plasma rained from down the skies. She wanted to look up, but her instinct got the better of her and lead her to cover. She then looked around and saw all Ol' Rock, Sundin and Lieutenant Guanting dead half-burnt on the ground. This couldn't have been an ambush, so it meant the Venterran reinforcements had arrived late. 
She checked her ammunitions and noticed she had only her knife and grenade at her disposal. She took a deep breath as she heard energetic sounds and Venterran xeno chatter. She looked around, but no one was seemingly left to coordinate with. Where could she turn to? The chatter grew closer and closer. No, this was it. This was her stand.
After saying a short Sikhian prayer to welcome her death, she armed her grenade. Screaming as she tossed the grenade and herself over the barricade she used as cover, she lashed out into a final blaze of fury. Heading straight towards to a jawless xeno. Though there was something odd about these Venterran soldiers. They wore different armour compared to the rest, but Nimrata didn't have any time to think as she was shot in her left shoulder by a plasma carbine. 
Thudding against the ground, she put her hand on the place where she was shot only to quickly take her hand off as the heat was immeasurable. She looked at her wound and she'd been shot right in between the armour plates that were supposed to disperse the plasma. Her flesh was both seared and burnt. The stench grew beyond her tolerance and she couldn't help but be bugged by it. She crawled back to her barricade while her wound spat both blood and scabs. Slowly she began to calm herself and held her knife even tighter. 
The jawless xeno that had shot her than jumped right next to her, sending shivers down her spine. As her body slowly began to fall into shock and she struggled to maintain consciousness, the xeno knelt before her. Its long neck bringing his face closer to hers. It said something in his native language, but Nimrata couldn't help understand it as her ears were easily overloaded by the slightest sounds now. She decided to make one last stand, tightening her grip on the knife and then slashing it towards the face of the xeno.
She had actually missed, but was able to slice off some of the xeno's left mandibles. The xeno remained unphased and reached for his energy sword. Activating it and thrusting it into Nimrata's abdomen. As her eyes began to close and the pain overtook her thoughts, Nimrata could only do one last. Smile as she met her death at the hands of a Venterran Hell Diver.