Me- Howdy ya'll. After nearly three months of trial and error I finally managed to come up with something presentable.
Spyro- Whats the excuse this time.
Me- Writers block, injuries, and other issues I will not go into. Anyway enough delaying.
All- ON WITH THE SHOW!
"3, 2, 1, FIRE"
Taylor sat atop Warfang's wall and watched as a block of city housing collapsed, completely blocking off a side street. The cloud rose into the late night sky and slowly dispersed in the steady wind.
"It's good." He shouted to a group of mole engineers. "A tank won't be able to cross that." He looked down the long central avenue of the city as similar explosions occurred in ever side street and chunks of the city skyline disappeared in clouds of dust and smoke.
Terrador flew up and landed beside him. "All the side streets are blocked off. A shame to lose so many buildings, but necessary."
"What about our little surprise outside the walls?" He asked.
"Volteer and a few engineers are setting that up as we speak."
Silence fell between the two and they looked out towards the distant forests that obscured the base of Mt Malefore. Volteer appeared over the lip of the wall and landed nearby. "The trap is set." He said.
"Good." Said Taylor. "You guys should head back to the temple and get some sleep. You'll need all the energy you've got when the enemy arrives."
"Agreed." Said Terrador. "What are you going to do?"
"I'll stand watch for a while." Said Taylor.
Terrador nodded and he and Volteer flew off back towards the temple.
Taylor leant back against the battlements, carefully scanning the open plains outside the wall. Suddenly he heard footsteps. He turned and saw Schlesinger climbing the stairs on the wall.
Schlesinger walked slowly down the wall and sat next to him, puffing on a cigaret. "A nice night don't you think?" Said Schlesinger.
"It would be," replied Taylor. "if it weren't for the fact that I know there are 40 000 assholes out there ready to swarm in here and eat us."
Schlesinger snorted in amusement. "Cigaret?" He asked.
"Why not." Said Taylor. Schlesinger removed his officers cap and pulled a packet from the inside band. He removed a cigaret, lit it, and handed it to Taylor. "Thanks." He said. He took a deep puff then released the smoke.
"You know, a year ago, I wouldn't have believed any of this possible." He said.
"I still don't believe most of this is possible." Said Schlesinger.
"Yeah," said Taylor. "But..." There was a distant screech. But it was not the screech of any mortal creature. It was a sound both of them knew all to well. The sound of a tank. "Their here, sound the alarm." Shouted Taylor. Schlesinger ran off to inform the guards while Taylor watched the enemy.
6 large tanks emerged from the edge of the forest and began plowing across the grassland towards the city. Between them were tight boxes of infantry, and Taylor could see the glint off many weapons. Behind them came six more tanks, these even larger than the first group.
As the moved into the moonlight he identified the lead tanks as Panthers. The second row comprised of two King Tigers and 4 of the new MAUS tank destroyers. Bells and horns began to ring across the city as soldiers ran for their battle stations. The cheetahs who had been issued human weapons took position in a line along the wall, their rifles and SMGs at the ready.
The enemy line ground to a halt a few thousand yards from the city wall, well out of range of any return fire. Siverna observed the city from on top of one of the MAUSs. In the moonlight she could make out soldiers running back and forth. She turned to her field commander, a rather tall Reptalon with a huge broadsword on his back, he also carried a 98k.
"Is everything ready?" She asked.
"Yessss massster." Said the Reptalon with a hiss.
"The forward armored vehicles will fire on the gate, rear line at the city. Understood."
"Yessss massster." The Raptalon responded again. The he raised one taloned hand. "Fire." He shouted.
The result was not the massed volley that Siverna would have liked. One tank fired as ordered, two tanks in the rear row fired at the same time, only 4 seconds late, the rest of the rear row followed in staggered fire, one tank in the forward line didn't fire at all and the rest just fired into the ground a few hundred yards away.
Of the twelve shell launched only 4 hit the city. One slammed into the gate, knocking a large chunk from the outer side and blowing a large hole in the portcullis, and the others flew over the wall an and exploded somewhere in the city.
"You idiots, you missed!" Shouted Siverna. "Fire again."
The tanks with their poorly trained and inexperienced crews took a long time to reload.
"Fire when ready." Said Siverna. Several heavy guns roared.
Taylor felt the entire wall shudder as the heavy shell smashed the gate. "Hold together." He shouted as some of the troops tried to edge away from the wall. They immediately returned to their positions.
Barlow suddenly appeared, his sniper rifle and Taylor's Enfield in hand. He tossed the rife to Taylor and took a glance through his scope towards the enemy. "Their reloading." He said as he watched turrets and guns turn towards the gate.
"Brace for impact." Taylor shouted as the boom of gunfire echoed around them. Four 110mm shells slammed into the gate, tearing it clean off its hinges and hurling it into the street below. With a roar the enemy infantry surged forward, the lead tanks setting off in pursuit.
"Make ready." Shouted Taylor and raised his rifle, the cheetahs around him did the same. "Take aim." The cheetahs lowered their rifles into an aiming position. "FIRE!" He yelled.
Loud cracks issued along the walls as nearly 100 rifles fired at once in a mass volley. Enemy troops in the front ranks fell, but for every Raptalon felled their was another behind them.
A black cloud rose up behind the enemy army as they advanced. "STRATAGONS!" Shouted Barlow.
"I believe thats where we come in." Said a voice next to him. Taylor and Barlow turned and saw... "Spyro, Cynder. Nice of you to join us." Said Taylor.
"Shouldn't you still be in hospital?" Barlow asked Cynder.
"On paper yes, but they don't know that i'm here." Said Cynder slyly."
Taylor's chuckle was drowned out by a barrage of rifle fire.
"We'll take the dragons up and slow down the Stratagons." Said Spyro. "You hold the infantry."
"Ok, fly high and stay out of range of the ground troops. We'll meet you at the second defensive line, good luck." Said Taylor
Spyro and Cynder took to the air, behind them, Cyril lead 250 dragons in formation against the mass of stratagons.
Taylor looked back towards the enemy as bullets began to ping off the wall around him. Nearby, a cheetah took a direct hit to the head and fell backwards as bits of brain and bone splattered the ground.
The enemy had closed the distance to the wall and were now approaching the gate. "Fall back to second defensive line." Shouted Taylor. All the soldiers on the walls broke from their positions and ran for the stairs. Once they had cleared the wall Taylor stopped, It was time to use their secret weapon. He shouldered his rifle and pointed it towards a small grey barrel half buried in the dirt outside the wall. He took a deep breath and fired.
The barrel exploded and triggered more explosions up and down the line. Fire spread from between the explosion and formed a flaming wall 10 feet high in places. "Thank god for Volteer and his "Napalm". Taylor whistled.
"That was one big ass explosion." Said Barlow from nearby.
"Yeah." said Taylor. "Lets get to the second line.
2000 ft straight up
The two flying armadas collided with a thunderous crash. Armor clattered against armor, claws tore though scales and bodies fell left right and center. Although the dragons were fewer in number than the Stratagons, they had an advantage. Their elemental abilities.
Spyro pulled straight up when the two forces met, smacking a nearby Stratagon in the head with his tail blade, the creature froze for a moment, stunned, and was brought down by a blast of fire.
Nearby, a stratagon bit through a dragons neck armor and tore a chunk from its throat while at the same time the stratagon's tail was ripped off by a passing earth dragon. It was utter chaos. Through the melee, Spyro spotted Cynder, back winging away from three Stratagon's who were trying to pin her in. Spyro raced over and lopped the head off one of them. This gave Cynder the opening she needed, she darted forward, sprayed a poisonous cloud of gas in the face of one of the stratagon's and buried her tail blade in the chest the other.
Cynder turned and acknowledged Spyro with a bloody grin. He returned it and the two of them rushed into the next mass of Stratagons.
BELOW
Taylor and Barlow ran up the main street towards the second line, a row of barrels, overturned carts and building rubble forming a wall across the street. The odd bullet pinged off the ground around them as they ran. Many of the Reptalon's had abandoned their human weapons, having no knowledge on how to reload them, and had simply opted for their swords and spears.
Taylor dove down behind the position and looked back down the street. A panther tank was just crushing the remnants of the gate as infantry swarmed in around it. He looked at the soldiers who had gathered with him. A few cheetah riflemen and some carrying bows and swords. A panzershrek crew sat nearby as well as one of the MG-42s, manned and ready.
"MG, let em have it." Said Taylor. "You, with the launcher follow me." He gestured to the cheetahs carrying the panzershrek. The two nodded and moved after him. The MG began to chatter, killing several Reptalons at the end of the road and forcing the rest into cover. The tank continued to trundle up the street, its hull MG spitting defiance at the determined defenders.
Taylor leapt over the wall and dove into a partially collapsed alleyway, the two cheetahs close behind. "Target the enemy armor." Taylor said to the cheetah with the launcher. The cheetah nodded and aimed the launcher down the street. He fired. The rocket flew down the street and slammed into the tanks forward armor, but ricocheted off the sloped plating.
The tank lowered its turret at the barricade and fired. The shot was placed slightly high though and missed. Taylor wrenched another rocket from the cheetahs pack and primed it before jamming it into the launcher. "Fire again." He said. The cheetah took aim at the tank but there was a sudden burst of enemy gunfire and the cheetah was hit in the shoulder and slumped forward.
Taylor cursed and grabbed the cheetahs shoulder and pulled him back. On doing so he found the cheetah dead. He pushed the body aside and shouldered the launcher. He slowly peeked around the corner and jerked back as a pair of bullets slammed into the wall next to him. He peeked around again and aimed the launcher. The tank slowly climbed a pile of rubble and Taylor spotted a target, the weak hull plate below the frontal armor.
He pulled the trigger. The launcher jerked back in his hands. The rocket flew straight and true and hit the weak plate head on. Fire erupted from every hatch in the tank as the rocket exploded. The armored behemoth turned slowly to the left and jammed into a shopfront on the side of the street, effectively blocking roughly 3/4 of the road.
Taylor grabbed the cheetah carrying the ammunition by the collar and dragged him back behind the barricade. He was met by Barlow and the newly arrived Schmitt. "We just picked up a radio transmission." Said Schmitt. "It was weak but we've found out that the Canadian 4th armored has overtaken the German division and is racing towards us at full throttle. They'll be here within an hour."
"If we hold that long." Muttered Taylor as he watched enemy infantry scramble over the knocked out tank. A King Tiger had moved up behind the destroyed Panther and was attempting to nose it out of the way. It was working quite well.
"We need to start a fighting retreat." Said Taylor. "We haven't got anything powerful enough to stop a Tiger and I don't want to find out what those new prototypes can do." The tigers turret turned and pointed at the barricaded street. "MOVE." Shouted Taylor, and dove away from the wall. Everyone nearby did the same. The tank fired and part of the barricade vanished in a cloud of dust and fire, so did several soldier who were too nearby.
"We need to fall back. Forget the first defensive positions, our only chance is to hold the temple." Everyone broke from cover and ran. Shells and bullets screamed overhead and slammed into the ground all around the retreating soldiers. Only when they were out of range did they slow to a jog.
"Everyone to your positions." Shouted Taylor as he reached the last defensive position." All the available soldiers took positions around the temple steps and doorway. At this position, Strife, Cook and Huey joined them. "Schlesinger has the Canadians on the radio. Their almost here, they're going to use green flares to signal their approach."
Taylor nodded. At that moment the ground began to shake as if from a minor earthquake. A long row of tanks, surrounded by Infantry began to roll towards the temple. At their head, atop one of the experimental tanks, was Siverna.
The row of tanks and infantry stopped. Siverna looked up at the temple and called. "You have fought valiantly, now surrender and you deaths shall be quick."
"Go to hell you silver scaled rat!" Shouted Cook.
"Is that you final word on the matter." Said Siverna mockingly.
"No, this is. NUTS!" Shouted Strife.
"So be it." Said Siverna. "Take aim."
The large guns of all the tanks raised towards the defenders, and rifles, bows, spears and anything else that could be scrounged up was pointed back. There was a long tense moment where no one fired. Then someone pulled a trigger. The rifles sharp retort set off a fury of gunfire. Arrows flew back and forth between the two groups, the tanks fired, taking large chunks from the temple stairs and defenses.
"We will not loose this position!" Shouted Taylor as he bayonetted a Reptalon that got too close. "Keep fighting, hold the steps."
Nearby, Schmitt fired a Gewher rifle at close range. The high calibre bullets tearing apart Raptalons. The chatter of an MG-42 filled the air. Taylor looked to his left to see Cook with one of the heavy weapons mounted on a small pile of dead bodies.
Slowly, the defenders began to give ground. First the forward defenses were captured, then the temple staircase which had been painted red by the time it was lost. Everyone who was left, a few hundred at the most, crowded into the temple. Tables were overturned and used to barricade the main door and everyone took positions to defend it.
"We should be safe in here for a moment." Said Taylor, taking a moment to reload, he was rather low on ammunition now and cursed himself for not requisitioning some while they were in England. "How's everyone on ammo?" He called. Barlow did a quick run around.
"Almost everyone has only two or three rounds left." He said when he returned. "We have a belt and a half between the two MGs and 4 rockets for the launchers." Things were defiantly not looking good.
Taylor looked at the troops around him. They were terrified, he could see that and he felt compelled to do something about it. He called for attention and there was immediate silence, being a colonel had its advantages.
"Things are looking grim." He said. there was a crash behind him. The enemy was obviously beating at the door with something heavy. "But there is still hope for us, even now our dragon friends and allies fight in the skies. They fight for their homes and families and their very lives. Now we shall do the same." Light began to seep into the room as the sun rose.
"When that door comes down, give no quarter for you shall receive none. We are gonna stir up such a stench in this invasion of theirs they'll be talking about us for the next thousand years. About how we didn't hide in the shadows while others fought our battles, but of how we fought and died together against a common enemy." There was another crash and the door began to give way.
"Fix your bayonets." Shouted Barlow. "Form ranks and prepare to charge."
The humans, now joined by Schlesinger, formed a line in front of the lead troops. "If I will die, then I will die with my luger in hand." Said Schlesinger.
The door buckled and threatened to fall. "Ready." Whispered Taylor.
The door fell. "CHARGE!" Roared Taylor, leading his men forward. A roar went up from the few remaining alliance troops as they too charged. Taylor plunged his bayonet into the first reptalon and kicked it back, tripping several others. Cook was swinging his shovel like a maniac, crushing skulls and slicing through chain mail. Schmitt and Strife had both grabbed their automatics and began spraying the writhing mass of enemies. The heavy bullets of the MP-44 tore through enemy soldiers while the lighter bullets of the MP-40 punched through weaker points in their armor.
The fighting broke up into several small groups, which were steadily becoming smaller. Taylor beat down his 43rd Reptalon and looked about. There were practically no alliance troops left a few small pockets of resistance were still holding, but barely. They had failed, Warfang was lost.
Then there was a screaming noise from above. A large gull winged aircraft dove out of the rising sun and dropped a bomb towards the enemy lead tank, which erupted into flames and hurled Siverna into the air.
"Stukas!" Shouted Huey from somewhere nearby. Another bomber dove down and dropped a bomb on the tank three tanks back. There was a whooshing sound from behind them and everyone looked up.
"GREEN FLARES!" Shouted Taylor.
"GREEN FLARES!" Echoed Strife.
"It's the Canadians." Called Huey.
A Sherman firefly drove up nearby and lowered its six pounder gun and fired. A panther went up in smoke. One of the experimental 'Maus' tank destroyers returned fire but missed and hit the temple roof. Another tank, an "Archer" tank destroyer, pulled up on the other side of the temple and fired. Several enemy infantry were blasted away by the heavy shell.
"Fall back, fall back!" Shouted Siverna as she glared up at the Human reinforcements. She though briefly about destroying them all with a simple spell but stopped herself when she realized that it would leave her almost too weak to move. She would get back at them later, she was already forming an idea to hit them at their core.
As the enemy tanks and infantry began to pull back, cheers erupted along the alliance lines. The hatch on the Firefly flipped open and a tank officer clambered out. He looked down at Taylor and saluted. "Sergeant Callard. Canadian 4th armored." He said.
"Colonel Taylor, Warfang Guards." Said Taylor.
"We've been placed under your command ,sir." Said Callard.
Just then, Spyro and Cynder landed nearby. "The enemy flyers have broken and are falling back." Said Spyro. "Enemy ground troops have also pulled out. The battle is effectively over. We have won. Again. Somehow against all odds, they had done it."
Me- Well thats it for now. Hopefully the next update will be quicker, yes.
All- YES!
Me- I'll take that as a yes.
