Author's Notes
Hi to everyone^^
I'm sorry for the silence, and this is all I can say. There's been quite difficoult problems, so I had very few time to write. By the way I'm back, and even if this chapter is a bit shorter if compared to other ones, trust me: it will be really compelling.
Many thanks to the new followers and reviewers.
See you soon!^_^
20
«Siege cannons?» Aristhes repeated. «It doesn't sound too good.»
«What are they exactly?» asked Pharmenon.
«You can imagine them like a far bigger and powerful version of the gewehre. They make use of gunpowder and giant bronze spheres. Once fired, they're able to destroy all kind of fortifications, and since they have a really long range they can fire from a safe position, without any hope for us to stop them.»
«What kind of damages could we take?» Aristhes asked as if he didn't want to know the answer
«They've already used against us when they attacked Castria, so we know what they're capable of. Just a couple of those cannons would be enough to open a ten meter large hole in the walls…» then Lunardi stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. «And in this case they brought twelve.»
The generals remained silent, ruefully looking at the ground: somehow they knew their new friend who came from another world was speaking the true.
«And is… there nothing we can do?» Heraclyus
«Not from here. Even if we were to possess weapons capable of reaching them, they're too big and thick to be destroyed just with mere bullets.»
«You still have your vehicles.» said Aristhes. «You can return to Castria and seek help from your companions.»
«General Aristhes, they're barbarians from another world! We cannot trust them!»
«Kleytos, shut up your foolish pride and accept truth!» Aristhes exploded. «This is not a war we can win all alone!»
«General Aristhes is right.» Anthelea said «We all know what Reich is capable of. The Singing People have been the sole ones to defeat them, and they had to use all of their superior technology to do it. If we want to stand a chance, we have to trust Captain Lunardi and what he says.»
«Unfortunately, Generals, there's no time for this.»
«What!?» some of them said
«Even going at maximum speed, reaching Castria and returning with reinforcements would take no less than ten days.»
«Not to mention that most probably all passes are already blocked due to the winter.» Sadee added.
«And so… is there really nothing we can do?»
«Our companions are building a communication system. It should be ready soon, and so we'll be able to call Castria and warn them of the situation. But till that moment, we are on our own.»
«How?» the king demanded
Lunardi hesitated, then he kept on talking.
«We have a plan. The cannons are still being assembled, and since they're quite inaccurate weapons, they'll probably wait tomorrow morning to attack. This way their soldiers will also be able to rest.»
«Which means that if we were to destroy those cannons, we have to do it this night.» Heraclyus commented. «But how can we do that if they're far beyond our reach?»
«We have a plan. Our long-range weapons are as much ineffective as yours against those cannons, but we have some explosives with us. If you're ready to accept our help, we can reach Hardy's Throne and blow 'em up.»
«This would be a suicide!» said Phyleos. «There's an entire army all around the hill, you could never reach it.»
«We'll act during the night. Our technology allows us to fully operate in darkness, we can reach the cannons, place the explosives and come back to the city long even before they can find out that we were there.»
Aristhes and all other Generals looked each other, but at the end they hesitantly agreed with Lunardi's idea.
«Can you really do it?» the King asked
«We can.»
«Then do it. You have my authorization. It's time for you to show me your superior power. And you have my word that if you'll really be able to protect my city, you'll have gained one important ally in this world.»
«Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll lead this mission personally.» then Lunardi and his two companions left the hall.
Before heading to the palace, Lunardi had ordered the rest of the squad to regroup and take inventory of their weapons and ammunitions, so when he, Rocco and Sadee returned to the tower they found the table of the kitchen and the floor around it filled with rifles, rocket-launchers and any sort of bullet.
At first sight one could have thought that was far more than necessary, but the truth was completely different.
«And that's all.» said a rueful Rizzoli. «Ten kilos of C4 with two remote controls, eight light mortars with five shots each, twelve anti-tank missiles for our three rocket-launchers, two long-range sniper rifles, one anti-material sniper rifle with explosive and normal bullets, and a certain number of light weapons between guns and assault rifles.»
«Ammunition?»
«More or less three thousand bullets.»
«Which means less than ten loaders per person. And the vehicles?»
«More or less eight thousand cartridges equally divided between all of the three Browning.»
Usually a common Falcon unit was provided with heavier equipment, especially if their task forced them to operate far from Castria for a long time, but since this time the destination was supposed to be a safe and secure one, high command preferred to avoid unnecessary waste of resources, even considering that supplies from Earth were becoming poorer and more difficult to obtain.
«We'll make do.» shortly said Lunardi, then he immediately started preparing extra loaders.
Rizzoli silently remained to look him for a while, and even if he had never questioned his commander's orders in his soldier life, for the first time he felt the impulse to say his thoughts loudly.
«If I can, sir…»
«Speak.» Lunardi replied without taking a break from working
«This is not our war. Probably they don't know that we're here either, and the city is not completely surrounded. We could leave at night, and wait somewhere far from here until the passes will be free to cross.»
«Considering the kind of arsenal they took with them, it's obvious that Reich aims to completely obliterate this city, together with its library. Orders are clear. The expectations for this mission are incredibly high, and failing is not an option.»
«But, sir…»
«And that's not all. When the most powerful city of the Plains will fall, because it will fall for sure, Reich will be in total control of this region, which means that Castria will find itself completely surrounded.» then Lunardi inserted the last filled loader in his rifle and turned to severely look into Rizzoli's eyes. «This is our war, Salvo. Now call the briefing.»
«Y… yes sir.»
Soon after the entire squad was regrouped in front of the blackboard where all photos of the target had been attached, together with a hand-made map of the surrounding area.
Aristhes and two other Generals were present, and finding themselves face to face for the first time with the incredible equipment of the newcomers they remained completely speechless.
«All right folks, let's begin.» Lunardi said calling silence. «The city is officially under siege, and as some of you already know, Reich's army has prepared a fire point above the hill known as Hardy's Throne. Just a couple of shots will be more than enough to wipe away the walls, and since none of the Calibrians' weapons is powerful enough to destroy them, we'll have to do the work for them.»
«What kind of approach could we use, Captain?» Amato asked after a brief moment of general surprise.
«The only one possible. This night, when most of the enemies will probably be asleep, we'll reach the cannons and place some explosives, then we'll come back to the city and we'll blow them up using a remote trigger.»
«If I can Captain, it's a long walk between the walls and the hill, and surely there will be a lot of sentinels.»
«Rizzoli and Torrisi will cover us from the top of the tower. They'll clean the way of scouts before we advance. Most of the enemy camp is located behind the hill, and there are relatively few tents around it, so we should be able to approach it safely. The Reichians have built a palisade around the cannons, and in doing this they made us a favor: when we'll have neutralized the guards, no one will see us while we place the explosives.
We'll enter in the area from this point, the holes in the palisade for the cannons.»
«The cannons will be surveilled for sure.» Cassetti objected. «And there will be a lot of torches and fires. The risk of being spotted is quite high.»
«Judging from the clouds approaching from south, this will be a moonless night. By the way, we'll be in contact with the sentinels in the tower. They'll be our eyes on the battlefield all the time. The squad will have five people. I'll lead it personally. Rocco!»
«Sir?»
«You'll be in command here in the tower.»
«Yes, sir.»
«Rizzoli and Niang. You'll be the snipers.»
«Of course, sir.» Cassetti replied
«Torrisi and Stefanini, spotters.»
«Yes, sir.» the two said together
«What about the squad, sir?» Wang demanded.
«Argento, Boldi, Valenti and Cassetti will come with me.»
Walter, Argento, Pietro Boldi and Cassetti were all part of the Col Moschin paratroopers division, some of the best and well trained soldiers in incursion tasks. Considering the kind of mission there was real need for a medic for all kind of first aid needs.
«Very well, guys. You have your orders. Prepare yourselves. Mission begins at 2am. Sempre pronti!»
«In questo e in ogni mondo!**» everyone repeated shouting the motto of the Falcon units.
In the deep darkness of the Plains' night, a Reichian sentinel was mounting guard close to Calibria's main doors, well hidden behind a rock two hundred meters far from the walls.
The scene was totally quiet. There was no trace of enemies above the walls, apart for the usual sentinels. The doors were closed, and all of the city's lights were off, probably in the attempt to not give landmarks for the enemy's artillery and siege instruments taking advantage even from the lack of moon and stars due to the bad weather.
It was cold.
Snow was rare in the northern Plains, but despite this during winter it was possible to reach even -10° at night, and since it was obviously forbidden to light a fire there was no choice but searching a bit of warm under the heavy and dark bear's fur used by the sentinels even for hiding.
The sentinel was about to eat some of the provisions in his bag, when a strange noise, almost a brief coughing, persuaded him to look toward the close bush where one of his comrades was hidden.
«Hamil, is something wrong?» he murmured.
Since he was an expert sentinel he was more than able to see clearly even with very little light, and so he didn't need much time to discover that his partner was lying dead to the ground, surrounded in his blood with a small hole in his forehead.
«Hamil!?»
A few seconds later, the same sound echoed again and again, and each time the sentinel heard it someone else of the other sentinels around him fell lifeless all around him, all of them hit with deadly accuracy in the same place.
«Ocar. Barca.» he tried to call, but none of them could answer anymore.
That was impossible. There was no way that someone might be able to shoot dead so many targets in a bunch of seconds, in the most complete darkness and so far from the walls. Even the greatest of the mages wouldn't have been able to do it.
«How can this be…» then he tried to poke his head out a bit to take a look, but the moment his forehead appeared from behind the rock he too was hit by the silent assassin, falling over the stone that rapidly turned red.
«And with this, it's a three to two for me.» Niang said releasing the empty cartridge from his silenced rifle. «You're getting old, Rizzoli.»
«That was mine, you goddamn bunch of coal, you tricked me.» Rizzoli replied while licking the lens of his silenced rifle's thermic finder as usual.
«You're jealous, admit it.» Niang joked, then he spoke into the radio. «Wasp to Eagle, all sentinels are gone.»
«Nice job, Wasp.» Rocco said from the top of the tower.
«That was the last one, sir.» Stefanini reported while looking with binoculars all-around her with Torrisi.
«Alright.» then Rocco too spoke to the radio. «Eagle to Scorpion. The path is clear.»
«Roger that. We're moving out.»
A few second later, five ropes descended from the walls, and Lunardi and his team, once reached the ground, silently headed toward the enemy camp, the darkness all around them under constant surveillance with night visors and guided from the spotters right to their target.
Reich's camp was not very fortified: probably they didn't think that the Calibrians would ever dare to attack them directly, since most of the fortification was a simple wall of slanting wooden poles stuck in in a raised embankment all around the camp.
As the photos had already showed, most of the camp was located behind the hill, but there was a certain number of tents evenly spread around of it, not to mention the watch towers and the fact that contrarily to the City there was a big number of torches illuminating the field.
Thanks to the visors and the watchers' assistance, Lunardi and his squad managed to cross the perimeter and the camp unnoticed by the sentinels, and in a few minutes they reached the base of the hill.
«Don't move, Scorpion.» Eagle said. «Sentinels on the hill.»
Two Reich's soldiers were mounting guard at the holes from which the squad had to enter the firing position, so they flattened against the flank of the hill before being spotted.
«Two sentinels at the holes, and three sleeping guards.» Stefanini said. «Do I order to neutralize the sentinels?»
That was highly risky. Even if the rifles were silenced and deadly accurate, there was a certain risk for the fell of the guards being noticed by other sentinels, not to mention that the noise of the falling bodies was able to alert the other soldiers inside the wall.
However that one seemed the sole option.
Lunardi was at the point to request supporting fire, but a moment before he could do it the radio spoke again.
«They're moving.»
The soldiers looked up, and they saw both sentinels leaving the holes, probably to continue their patrol.
That was their best occasion.
Using sign language, Lunardi ordered to Argento to follow him, so they rapidly climbed the hill using the same ropes and entered in the firing position.
As fast as gods of death, the two soldiers reached the sentinels from behind and cut their throats with the knives, and after having reached the top of the hill themselves Boldi, Cassetti and Valenti did the same with their friends, killing them before they could shout or even notice what was happening.
After that, Lunardi and Cassetti reached the opening on the other side, noting that the guards at the base of the ramp used to move the cannons till the top hadn't noticed anything.
«Clear.» Lunardi said. «Come on, quickly.»
At that point, Cassetti opened his backpack, and all five soldiers begun placing the explosives inside the holes of the cannons, trying their best to ignore their frightening appearance. The drachenmünder were really massive, and it was not a mystery that the terror they were able to provoke was one of Reich's best and most used war tactics, since they were able to provoke unthinkable damages even against the strongest walls and defenses, not to mention the terrifying noise, the smoke and the smell they used to release at each shot.
When all of the explosives were put on set, they were connected to a single detonator connected to a remote control.
«Give me a moment.» said Boldi, the most expert of the unit with explosives. «I need a moment to prepare the detonator.»
«Are we sure this will be enough to destroy the cannons?» Argento demanded
«Even a single crack in the barrel will be enough to make the cannon useless, not to mention that we're literally surrounded with gunpowder. Trust me, the explosion will be so strong that noting will remain of this hill.»
Unfortunately none of them had noted the young, almost teenager soldier sleeping under a pile of wool blankets in search for a repair from the cold.
«Who are you?» he said when the noise, even if minimal, awakened him. «What are you doing? Ala…»
Cassetti immediately shot him with his silenced ARX, but it was already too late.
«What was it?» a sentinel asked to the other
They both reached the cannons as fast as possible, and even if Lunardi and his comrades tried to hide and shot them silently, but just the sight of their fallen companions was enough to pursue them to shout with all of their voices.
«Alarm! Intruders at the firing point!»
The squad killed both of them before they could leave the hill, but at that point the alarm bells were already echoing in the entire camp.
«Shit, they've been found out!» shouted Rocco while the lights among the tents increased.
The units patrolling the camp immediately headed to the hill, but it was just a matter of time before the entire enemy army was upon them.
«Come on, let's get out of here!»
«Wait Capitan, the detonator is not ready yet!»
«There are fifty thousand men heading against us, we have to leave now Captain!» Cassetti shouted
«If we leave, Calibria is lost!» then Lunardi turned to Boldi. «How much time do you need to finish?»
«Thirty seconds sir! That's all I need!»
Lunardi hesitated: that was about to become the longest thirty seconds in their life.
«Come on, let's cover the entrance! Go, go!»
So, when the Reichians finally reached the ramp, they found a rain of bullets waiting for them, and their offensive immediately stopped at the base of the hill.
«Scorpion to Eagle! We need a passage to the city!»
«Hold on, Scorpion! Viper-3 will be with you immediately!»
Then Rocco run out of the tower as fast as he could after having assigned command to Stefanini, reaching Wang and Amato inside the puma.
«Come on, let's go! Hurry!»
The plan had been carefully planned: if anything happened, the puma would have reached the hill passing from the main door, recovering the squad and retreating again inside of the city as fast as possible, before the enemies too could reach the entrance.
A firework was lanced from the tower to signal the guards at the door that the vehicle was arriving, but when the puma reached the doors a couple of minutes later they found them still closed, and the street blocked by a group of spearmen.
«What the fuck are you doing!» Rocco shouted coming down and heading to the captain. «Open the door!»
«I won't do it!» the man vigorously answered
Meanwhile, the noise had reached the Reichian command tent too, and while the camp was still trying to organize itself, Donzark and Octavia came outside
«What the hell is happening here?» Donzark shouted grabbing the first offices he saw in search for answers.
«The enemy has captured the drachenmünder, sir! We're trying to retake the hill!»
«How many?»
«Four or five, it seems.»
«You say me that you're not able to defeat five goddamn soldiers?»
«But they're… they're the Singing People, Sir!»
The two Generals remained speechless.
«What did you just say!?»
«It's true sir. They're the Singing People. We're trying our best to recapture the hill, but their weapons… they're turning us into pieces!»
«I don't care who they are!» Donzark finally said after an endless moment of disbelief, literally throwing the officer away. «Retake that goddamn piece of earth or I'll impale you all!»
«Why are they here?» Octavia demanded when they were alone.
«I was waiting for this. Now I'll make them pay for what they did to my army.»
**Hoc et omnibus mundis (In this and other worlds) is the motto of all Falcon Units, while Sempre pronti! (Always ready!), is Falcon-1's personal motto and warcry.