Surrender

"Watch out!" Hati barked and tackled Akiko next to him to the ground, using his shield to protect them both from the incoming projectiles. While they were technically still in a forest, the ongoing fighting had taken its toll on the vegetation and there was barely any undergrowth left to hide them. Several trees were closer to death than life, and the only growing was done by dark purple mushrooms. 

The shooting stopped, and the two Lockettes quickly got back up on their feet, but still covering behind Hati's large shield.

Akiko readied her sword.

The unit of corrupted soldiers did not leave their hiding place yet.

Hati mentally cursed himself and Akiko for having been so foolish. They should have expected an ambush.

They had come across trenches in the ground. Surely their enemies hid in another one.

"West-Southwest", Akiko muttered next him, her voice barely audible. Hati nodded abd began to move towards this direction.

A new round of shooting greeted him. He was certain he could hear voices among the noise. He smiled grimly to himself. 

With a loud roar thundering over the battlefield, he and Akiko gave up their cover and charged and the trench. The trap was now reversed, as there was barely a way for the soldiers to escape. They continued shooting at the attackers, but the hardness of the Lockettes' shell was not what they had expectedto encounter.

The following fight was quickly over, as most of the soldiers preferred to surrender instead of fighting in the narrow trench against two enemies they could barely wound.