When Hope Fails
Chapter 10
"Lynette the Terrible, Raguna the Merciful"
"Sir sir!" a soldier came up to Camus, "There is a Sechs general here!"
"What!?" Camus said in shock,
"Yes! He is by the entrance of the camp!" the soldier added,
"I have to go get the others!" Camus yelled,
"But hurry! He is injured!" the soldier warned.
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"What business do you have here?!" Russel interogated general Seric,
"I c-c-came to warn Kardia.." Seric said with a hoarse voice, "The Sechs.."
"Aren't you a Sechs?" Lukas said, "Why are you warning us on your own empire?"
"Maybe it's a trap!" Raguna said and unsheathed his blade.
"No!" Seric yelled, "I-I deserted my force..."
"Why?" Russel asked, a serious face on him,
"They want to do things... I did not want to be part of..." Seric responed,
"Like what?" Camus inquired,
"They want to massacre all the Kardians..." Seric said, "The orders are to burn the village to ashes and kill all its people... I do not want such atrocities on a peaceful town to be on my head..."
"Massacre all of Kardia!?" Raguna yelled, "Who gave those orders!?"
"The Emperor himself!" Seric said, "So the commander of my force will not even reconsider! She is fiercely loyal to him!"
"When will they be arriving?" Russel asked,
"By noon last I hear... H-h-h-he..." Seric started to wheeze, the instantly collapsed off his horse, the injury had gotten to him.
"We need a medic!" Camus called out,
"No need... He is dead." a soldier reported, taking his fingers off Seric's neck after checking for a pulse.
"Give this man a soldier's grave!" Russel said to a group of soldiers, "He valued morals over orders! He died with honor!"
"Aye, sir!" the soldiers saluted and carried Seric's body off.
"We are not prepared for a Sechs offensive... Yet." Raguna said with a smug grin,
"We better rally up the troops!" Lukas said with a laugh.
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"Kardia!" Lynette said as she caught sight of the town, "Soon to be an insignificant little pile ash and the source of the Empire's new power!"
"Ma'am!" a general rode up, "We are ready whenever you- you.." he stammered when he caught sight of the armies supplied by Norad heading their way.
"Oh..." Lynette said with a smile, "They are defending themselves? Nevertheless! They will be defeated! Men!" she yelled, "We have little town trying to protect itself! However, we are the best! They will fall to the Sechs! So bring glory to our emperor!"
"YAHHH!" the soldier cheered and took to their positions
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"Looks like they're moving!" Russel said, "Archers!" he ordered, and the archers got into positions, "FIRE!" he yelled.
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"Look out!" a Sechs soldier yelled as the incoming volley of arrows rained down on them, taking out some amidst of them,
"Archers! Retaliate!" Lynette ordered, and her archers returned fire.
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"Take cover!" Raguna yelled, and the armies, had time to block the arrows with their shields, but there were still some casualties, "Now! Charge!" he yelled and led his attack.
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"So, they want the action?!" Lynette said as she saw Raguna's charge, "Let's give them action! HA!" she yelled and led her own force.
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"HAAA!" the great roar of soldiers sounded as both Sechs and Noradians clashed in the battle field.
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"Take out those archers!" Lukas told his wizard force, who used their spells to take out some archers,
"I have your back!" Russel came up and gave signal to fire, which his archers took out some of the enemy wizards who tried to counterattack.
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"Left! Left!" Camus said as his cavalry force ran around the battle field to face off against that of a Sechs general.
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"When do we go?" Neumann asked Zavier as he saw the battle from the distance,
"Not yet! Till Lukas gives the signal!" Zavier responded, "But we'd best set Ol' Red up!" he said as he patted the stolen Sechs tank, which was now painted red.
"Alright!" Neumann said and started to load ammunition made by Leo.
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"Hargh!" Lynette yelled as she hacked away on some Noradian soldiers who were trying to dismount her from her steed, "Back off, swine!"
"Argh!" a Sechs knight yelled as he was struck by an arrow,
"Yah!" a Noradian screamed as he was set ablaza by a fire spell.
"Ma'am!" one of Lynette's generals cried out, "We're in a stalemate!"
"What!?" Lynette said in anger and struck down a knight, "How!?" she growled and then looked off to the opposite side and spotted Raguna, who was fiercely fighting and giving orders. "Take out their general!" she yelled and gave the order.
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"The battle's getting rough!" Lukas said as he watched the scene, "Shall I give the signal!?"
"Not yet!" Russel responded, "Raguna and Camus have it under control, we just have to keep giving ranged support!"
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"Hyah!" Raguna said as he swung his shortsword, unaware that one of the Sechs generals was charging at him.
"Raguna!" Camus yelled above the cries on the battlefield and started to dash over on his horse,
"What the.." Raguna turned around to see the general, lance ready, and started to try to dodge the attack.
"I got you-" the general was interrupted as his head flew off,
"Right on time!" Camus said as he placed down his claymore,
"Thank you!" Raguna responded, "Now let's get back to business!"
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"He's still not dead!?" Lynette yelled, seeing Raguna was still in the fight, "I guess I have to take care of him myself!" she said and charged towards him.
"Woah!" Raguna said as he barely avoided her attack, "I see you must be the leader!"
"I am Commander Lynette! And I kill hounds like you for sport!" Lynette spat and started to swing her blade, Raguna deflecting all of them.
"That's not a nice thing to say!" Raguna responded and counterattacked, but Lynette blocked them all, "But I can say you have excellent sword skills!"
"Flattery will not save your head from falling off your shoulders!" Lynett told him and continued the duel, now completely oblivious to her surroundings an only focused on him.
"Ha!"
"Hyah!"
"Hargh!" Raguna yelled and delivered a blow that manage to cut Lynette's left arm,
"You dog!" Lynette screamed and started to swing wildly at him, managing to get Raguna's thigh,
"Argh!" Raguna growled in pain but held on in his defense.
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"Looks like the battle is getting out of hand!" Russel alerted, "Give the signal!"
"Don't mind if I do!" Lukas said and then used his staff to send three fire balls into the air, which then exploded like fireworks.
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"That's the signal!" Zavier said, "Start him up, Neumann!"
"Alright!" Neumann yelled in excitement and turned on the tank, which steamrolled down towards the battlefield.
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"Impossible..." one of the Sechs generals said as he saw the tank roll towards them,
"Fire!" Zavier yelled from the open hatch, and a shell fired straight at the Sechs forces, stunning them for a few seconds.
"Retreat!" the general yelled,
"No! Fight to the last man!" Lynette yelled over him, "We will win!"
"The odds don't look so good now!" Raguna told her and struck.
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The battle was tipped over to Kardia's favor at the arrival of the tank, the Sechs started to fall back, but their foolish commander kept them in the fray.
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"Ma'am!" a captain yelled, "We can't hold them off! We must ret- ACK!" he screamed as he was struck by an arrow in the chest.
"Grr..." Lynette growled, "I can't be defeated by a small town!" she said, "And by you!" she turned to Raguna,
"Admit defeat!" Raguna responded, "There's no way you can win with your force!"
"I just wasn't expecting a defense force!" Lynette spat,
"A commander like you should be ready for anything!" Raguna retorted,
"Are you questioning my military prowess!?" Lynette yelled and started to strike with more ferocity, "Damn you to hell!"
"Woah!" Raguna yelled as he tried to block the hits.
"I will kill you!" Lynette said and raised her blade, only to stop midway when an arrow struck her stomach. "A-a-ag..." she whimpered and capitulated into a fetal position, then fell off her horse.
"The commander is down!" the men yelled, and they started to flee, having no authoritative figure amidst of them.
"Strike them down!" Camus ordered his cavalry, who cut the fleeing Sechs off and started a great slaughter.
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"We have won." Russel said in relief as the last of the Sechs forces raised their arms in surrender,
"It was a team effort." Lukas added, and the two rode off to meet Camus and Raguna.
"Nice job!" Raguna told Camus, "Without your cavalry, the battle could've turned downhill."
"You're the one that kept the battlefield in check." Camus responded and shook his hand,
"Excellent work you guys!" Lukas said as he came up,
"I guess we have to round up our prisoners." Russel said, pointing at the Sechs soldiers.
"Sir!" a cavalry man came up with two soldiers, who were holding Lynette by her shoulders, "We have captured the Sechs commander, it is your call!" he told Raguna.
"My call for what?" Raguna asked as he looked down at the weak Lynette,
"Do you not know?" the officer asked, "We must finish off the commander, lest she escapes and leads another force!" he explained and handed Raguna a sword, "It is customary for the leader to do so."
"I will not." Raguna said and rejected the officer's sword, "She was just doing what was ordered, just as we were."
"What!?" Camus, Lukas, Russel, and the officer said in shock.
"Come on, Raguna..." Lynette said as she looked up to see him, "Finish me off... Or are you to kind to do so? That's not a warrior."
"I will not kill you." Raguna said, "I may be a warrior, but I'm no bloodthirsty barbarian... Take her away." he ordered the officer and the soldiers, who followed and took Lynette away.
"What was that all about, Raguna?" Camus asked, "She's the one that wanted to wipe us off the face off the Earth!"
"She was just following orders!" Raguna defended himself, "She couldn't help it! What if they did the same thing to us? We're following orders too!"
"But it's not the same!" Lukas added, "She's the enemy!"
"Are we not the enemy in her eyes?" Raguna said, "Enough of this! I'm going to see if she can tell us anything on the Sechs mission here."
"Oh.. Intelligence!" Russel said, "Smart thinking! As a commander, she should know much on the Sechs plans!"
"See?" Raguna chuckled, "Now, I'm going... Round up the prisoners." he said and rode off back to camp, where Lynette was being taken..
I know I said it was two chaps a day, but I was very busy so I could not upload anything at all! Please forgive me! I hope you like the new charcter addition and I will try my hardest to add new chapters! Please Review!