Phoebe was racing against time as she and four soldiers charged at the bunker. With her brother and the rest of the group providing suppressing fire, her squad managed to traverse the field briefly in safety. As they were halfway towards their destination, the defenders suddenly returned fire, claiming two men in the process. The other two squad members, unfortunately were later caught indirectly from a stray mortar shell, leaving the monarch by herself to destroy the objective.
The elemental used her powers to dash forward at the last second as the sound of an ominous whistle closed in on her position. Seconds later, the whistling ceased as it was quickly replaced by a mortar shell exploding on impact. Pure adrenaline coursed through Phoebe's body as she rushed towards the bunker's blind spot. Once she was close, she threw a fireball with one hand that struck the wooden crates stockpiled with ammunition. A large explosion engulfed the emplacement from the inside out, and her communicator went off moments later.
"Great job, sis," The Supreme General praised. "We'll need the respite. The others and I are moving up!"
"Copy," Phoebe replied. "I'll secure our position."
As the transmission ended, Phoebe noticed a dozen guards were approaching from a far distance. She quickly went into a crouching stance and sprinted towards them, dodging a fury of bullets. As she got closer to them, she powered her flames to unleash a rapid volley of projectiles from both hands. Six men were lost while the rest continued to return fire from the hip. When the princess encountered them for close quarters combat, she conjured her flame sword on the run and began slashing her closest target. None of the guards stood any chance as they made poor attempts to melee with their rifles and they fell quickly as a result.
SG and the rest of the flame troops met with Phoebe after the skirmish, but none of them were ready to rest yet.
"You feelin' alright?" SG asked in concern.
Phoebe nodded hastily, "I'm fine."
"This area seems like a good spot for our guys to go through," SG stated as he surveyed his surroundings. He then looked over to Flambo, "See if you can radio the others to meet here if they haven't broken through the perimeter yet. If they can't get to us, tell them to sit tight and wait until we've disabled the rest of the trench defenses."
The flambit saluted, "Ya got it, boss!"
SG then looked to the company, "I need half of you guys to go this way, and the other to go that way. Remember, stay in cover and keep your head down. No heroics. We'll meet in a full circle if we execute this perfectly. Any questions?"
"Sir," a private inquired. "What about those guns?" He pointed at the outer wall's defenses that continued firing artillery and lasers in all directions.
"It'll be taken care of in due time, soldier," SG comforted. "Now move out!"
Overpowering the defense line was not an easy task despite the heroes' direct intervention. There were too many bullets and laser beams flying overhead that eliminated the possibility of a swift take over. As a result, Phoebe and SG had no choice but to fight methodically alongside the troops. The firefights were usually conducted in small, confined passageways which offered little to no cover, but the elementals slowly made ground regardless.
The walls constantly echoed with sharp rattling machine guns as both armies fought. Men from both sides sustained high casualties as the bullets tore through armor and flesh. Sometimes the troops would even suffer dismemberment in the process as they lost an arm or a leg. Blood splattered the area as the battle continued with people yelling in tremendous pain.
"This foxhole's clear," SG shouted as he casted a stream of flames inside a different bunker with both hands. The men inside could be heard screaming in agony as their bodies became charred. Some of them made vain attempts to put out the flames by frantically waving their arms and legs, while others were seen walking slowly in a state of numbness before they collapsed facedown.
"Any luck finding a way through?" Phoebe asked him as her gaze flicked twards the Candy Kingdom.
SG shook his head, "All of the tunnels we've burned out so far only lead to dead ends. Our only chance at this rate would be to rely on Erwin's unit."
Phoebe withheld a sigh, "Let's hope they pull through." She was about resume the fight when suddenly a distant explosion flared from the skies. A high-pitched whine followed shortly afterward as a Candy drone spiraled downwards erratically from losing a wing. SG stared in fascination momentarily at the display until his eyes widened in realization. The drone was heading straight for his sister.
"Phoebe!"
The monarch felt herself being tackled from the stomach at the last second as the drone bursted into a fiery wreck on impact. She lost her breath initially as she landed flat on her back, and then her eyes were squeezed shut briefly as she tried recovering from the pain. Fortunately for her, she sustained only minor cuts and bruises across the upper body.
As the pain subsided, her eyes opened and widened in horror as she saw the elemental on top of her staring with an empty gaze. His face was covered in a crude mixture of blood and dirt to which Phoebe gasped in shock.
"Sister!" SG's voice was heard in the distance breaking her thoughts.
She looked over to her left as he rushed to her side. Once he was close, he assisted his sibling by rolling the dead trooper aside. He then pulled Phoebe up with a helping hand moments later and asked, "You okay?"
Phoebe was panting as she noticed the corpse dissolving into ash and hugged tightly in response, "I-I thought you were dead!"
SG patted her back in assurance with one hand before parting, "Right back at you. I was too far to make it, sis. I'm sorry."
"Y-you did your best," she replied as she started composing herself.
"Stay close this time," SG resolved. He made a quick inspection from bottom to top, "Seems like the blast missed you by a thread. Do you need a moment?"
She shook her head before shifting into a determined expression, "I'll be fine."
Meanwhile, Peppermint Butler was supervising the battle inside a private bunker behind the Candy border. On his desk, he had a map layout of the outer defenses along with a stationary radio. The troops he deployed from earlier were making progress at first, but now they were being overtaken from the Fire Army's superior numbers.
"They're breaking our lines," the mint radioed to Princess Bubblegum.
"It matters not," the monarch assured with arrogance. "They still need to breach the barrier if they are to become an actual threat! Maintain fire down the field and take them out!"
"Princess," Peppermint inquired. "What about the men out there?"
"What about them?!" She asked with annoyance. "They've served their purpose. Leave them to their fates."
Suddenly, the transmission beeped from another caller. The butler switched frequencies to find it was a Candy officer reporting in distress.
"Sir, we're getting high levels of seismic activity in the area!"
Peppermint acknowledged then switched back to PB, "Are you getting this?"
"These readings are too abnormal to be an earthquake," she answered from her palace as she typed on a computer. Her eyes then narrowed in confusion, "That's strange, there's currently no dramatic shifts between the tectonic plates. And the fault line seems intact as well... Wait hold on, I'm getting something else."
The monarch typed in silence momentarily before continuing, "Scanners are now picking up surging levels of heat signatures on your position!"
Peppermint tried to brush off his nervousness and said, "W-well there are millions of flame troops..."
PB shook her head, "It's coming from within the barrier, you dingus! I want all available units dispatched on site now!"
"A-and the outer walls?"
"The kingdom's force field is specifically designed as a one-way barrier," she said matter of fact. "You don't need to worry about a single flame troop waltzing through it anytime soon. The defense turrets will also hold them off in the meantime. So until then, defend those generators!"
"Yes, your highness!" Peppermint then switched back to the Candy officer, "The princess has made it a priority objective to defend the generators. All units are to respond and eliminate enemy personnel on site!"
"Understood."
Hundreds of footsteps could be heard as the guardsmen assembled at the kingdom's city limits. Some of them were lined up above the nearby rooftops, while others were seen at ground level accompanied with a convoy of tanks. The recent tremors the kingdom sustained led to a small formation of crevasses found on several streets and intersections.
"Do you have a visual?" Peppermint radioed to one of the troops.
One officer made a direct observation from the rooftops with his binoculars and replied, "Negative."
At first, the cracks below were pitch black from within. There were no signs of life and the only thing the guards could distinguish was the lingering silence. But as a few minutes passed, the air within the area began to grow heavy and dry from a sudden rise of temperature. The sudden humidity caused many of the guards to sweat profusely and before they knew it, they were becoming anxious.
"Steady," ordered one of the officers. The men beside him were wiping their faces occasionally with one hand while they held their guns in place.
Suddenly, the defenders arched themselves for battle when they noticed a distinct light reaching the surface. Slowly but surely, the crevasses became brighter with red and orange colors. The ground rumbled once more causing some of the buildings to break down slightly with fallen debris.
When the light finally reached a certain brightness, everything stopped. The ground was no longer shaking and the only sounds that were heard were the defense turrets firing from the distant background.
Moments later, the crevasses erupted with blinding explosions. The men who surrounded them recoiled from the shockwave, stumbling backwards.
"Troopers report," Peppermint radioed. "What's going on out there?!"
Hundreds of flame projectiles began flying in several directions through the smoldering obscurity. The defenders at street level were being decimated by the dozens until they ran behind the tanks for cover. As for the men on the rooftops, they returned fire using mounted machine guns. Red tracers and orange projectiles were exchanged between the two forces with no apparent end as the fire fight started.
"We got enemy hostiles in the city," a Candy officer replied on radio. He glanced from a corner building behind cover and noticed Flame troops crawling from one of the crevasses while they fired simultaneously. "Requesting backup!"
Peppermint could only listen as the radio chatter became flooded with more officers calling for help. The papers on his desk were scattered everywhere and his hands held his face from overwhelming stress. His thoughts were broken however, when he received an urgent call from his phone.
"It's like you're not even trying!" PB shouted in disappointment.
The mint recoiled and stammered, "I-I'm sorry!"
"I gave you a simple job, Peppermint! This is unacceptable!" She tapped her fingers on her desk impatiently as she contemplated her next decision. Finally she said, "I'm sending my champion to sort this out. Can you at least handle your own for just a few minutes?"
"Of course," he replied hastily.
"You better," she stated while wagging a pen. "Or you're going to wish you'd perish in the hands of the enemy!" With that, the call ended.