Chapter 5: Slaughter and Victory!
Here is the last battle of the defense of Zanxir. After this will be the Shoggoths meeting with the Citadel Council. Thank you readers for all your support!
In the black, spheroid command building in the Shoggoth mountain base of Kr'lwzat, where Saren was staying at, General Wizzian was discussing with his officers about the upcoming battle. The room that the General and his officers were using had a large, rectangular, resin table that had a holographic projector displaying the enemy positions on Zanxir. There were no seats in the room as the shoggoths simply crawled about on many legs.
"Okay, we have received reports that the Navy will come to reinforce in about this noon. So, just before they arrive, we will attack with our combined ground forces against the places with the largest enemy concentrations. Our sorcerers will blanket the enemy ground forces with a dense fog of darkness beforehand. That is it. Any questions?" spoke the large General at the top edge of the table looking at his twelve smaller officers before him. "Sir, how will our Turian allies be able to see through the dark fog?" spoke a female officer of the name Releza. "Our Turian allies will be enchanted with charms in order to see through the illusion. Anymore questions?" replied General Wizzian. All the officers then said "No, Sir." "Good. Let's get prepped to go out with our soldiers. Reminder to you all, let us pray to our patron, the Crawling Chaos, for victory over our enemies." said the General to his officers as they slide, crawled, and walked out of the room.
Saren and unit were brought out of their rooms to the entrance of Kr'lwzat base by Greta and her companions when it was close to noon. Greta and her companions had talked with Saren and his unit about the battle last night, on their way to the entrance. It was a fun conversion on how the pirates were killed and what the scenery was like that night and such. The Turians and the Shoggoths assembled near a flagpole that had its flag aloft in the air. "Is that their flag? It appears so. It looks like the flag has thirteen stripes of green to black to green pattern. In the center of the flag is a white square with eight purple stars arranged in a circle." thought Saren on seeing the apparent flag of the Shoggoths.
When all the Turians and shoggoths of each of the military bases on Zanxir gathered together, rock and roll music began to play from the loudspeakers all around each base. The Shoggoths placed their tentacles in the air as they began to sing the anthem of their empire, The Freed Hunter. (The lyrics are mostly copied from english translations of Guren no Yumiya in youtube. One source is from The Unknown Songbird while the other source is a nightcore version from Ai No Sora.)
Are we the prey, no we are the hunters!
Our names won't be remembered,
If we die like trampled flowers.
I refuse to be forgotten,
Written off as less than worthless.
Scream and cry,
But who will hear you?
Plead and beg,
But who will help you?
You no longer live as cattle
Will you rise and join the battle?
There are beings that live off our fears,
And their words are like knives
As they play with our lives.
They'll try to control you
As if they own you.
Will you let them steal your freedom?
Channel the anger swelling inside you,
Fighting the boundary 'till you break through.
Deep in your soul there's no hesitation,
So make yourself the one they all fear.
There is a wild fire inside you,
Burning desire you can't extinguish.
Your crimson arrow
Rips through the twilight.
This is the moment for war.
Aim your arrow and chase until they fall,
Don't let the target get away.
Shoot your arrow and catch up as they fall, Crush those standing in your way.
Draw your bow until it won't go further back, Feel the tension with your fingers.
Shoot until it dies, peer into their eyes,
See that no signs of life linger.
It's not the hunter, not the weapon,
to guarantee the kill, all that counts in the end,
Is your determination rivaling the hunger of your slayer's will!
We are the hunters...
Feverish as the blazing fires.
We are the hunters...
Ruthless as the howling arctic winds.
We are the hunters…
Soul and arrow, one entity.
We are the hunters...
Plow through every obstacle that's in your way.
To change something there must be,
something else as a sacrifice.
To pave the road to victory,
one must be ready to pay the price.
What can be achieved when we hesitate,
not taking perilous chances?
So are we leaving it all up to fate?
Wild and rash thoughts,
they might be for naught,
even though my courage is blinded still.
Place your bets,
here comes the army of freedom.
Let us running slaves sing in victory!
Freeing your life is just the beginning, because the onslaught is now commencing.
Reclaim the land, and then the horizon, and unto the world that you so desire.
There is a wild fire inside you.
Burning desire you can't extinguish.
Your crimson arrow,
Rips through the twilight.
This is the moment for war.
As the song finished, Saren thought "That was the most beautiful song I have ever heard." It was a thought that echoed in the minds of the other Turians. The shoggoths and their turian allies now started marching to what looked large circles, 26 meters in diameter, written on the ground. The circles had rings of strange symbols and in the center was a small metal cube with letters of an odd language carved into it. To those who looked at the cube, it appeared as though it had more faces and sides than a normal cube. It was also constantly moving. The Turians who looked at this cube felt nauseous and looked away.
Then General Wizzian and his fellow officers arrived at the gathering point. The General, who was wielding a large, black mace, said "Okay, I will explain this to you Turians. This ritual circle will teleport us to the battlefield when it is time to attack. The battlefield will be dark and foggy but you Turians will be able to see in that darkness. Our naval reinforcements will be coming in mere moments so get ready to fight." When all the turians and shoggoths in Kr'lwzat base and in other bases gathered in their respective ritual circles, the strange symbols in the cube and in the ritual circle began to glow purple. Next, the metal cube started to float and spin with arcs of electricity jumping from it to the ground. There was the sound of crack in the air and the gathered Turians and Shoggoths vanished from the ritual circle.
The pirate fleet was there just orbiting Zanxir when suddenly, they observed fogs of darkness covering all of their ground troops. The pirate began to ready their weapons for orbital strikes against this presumed attack by the locals. As pirates were preparing to assist their troops on the ground when in the next instant, great purple tears in the fabric of reality opened up in flashes of violet lightning, depositing terrifying beasts ranging from four kilometers long to 16 km long, in the middle of and around the pirate fleet. The 600 vessels of Amorphous Navy had arrived and they were ready to slaughter the fiends invading a world of the Shoggoth Empire.
On the ground, the battle was a chaotic slaughter of the enemy forces. The pirates and mercenaries had encamped on flat plains of grass instead of settling in the ruined cities to avoid more hidden attacks from the natives. However, they did not expect to be covered in dense, dark fog in the middle of the day. In panic, they readied their weapons in haste but they were quickly fired upon by unknown assailants hiding in the fog. "I didn't think that the magical circle would work but it did. However, it certainly wasn't pleasant. Ugh, my stomach is protesting it still." thought Saren as he and his unit were firing their assault rifles and other weapons they had at the enemy. The turians were able to easily see their targets in this fog due to the magical charm placed on them by the ritual circle before they teleported here. The pirates and mercenaries however were firing blindly at wherever the shots were coming from.
General Orinia and her troops were killing squads of enemy soldiers in front of them while taking cover behind the tough bodies of her shoggoth companions. She suddenly heard what sounded like dark laughter close by. Suddenly, a shoggoth that was running on eight reptilian legs plowed into the enemy soldiers, swinging a black mace into them using one pair of arms while his other pairs of arms launched lethal spells at the enemy. Batarians and Eclipse mercenaries were getting pulped by maces, sliced by claws, sent flying by tentacles, and burned by volleys of fireballs. Other soldiers and vehicles were being blown apart by flying, 0.75 caliber, organic darts packed with explosive, acidic chemicals launched from bone tubes sticking out from the shoggoths. "Those organic darts are horridly effective." thought General Orinia as she observed a Batarian Shock Trooper had his guts blown out of him by a dart the penetrated his armor.
The Eclipse mercs were trying to rally together but the shoggoths would not let them do so. Eclipse Commandos were ruthlessly taken out by Eldritch Strikes, lasers, and volleys of darts. The younger Eclipse members however were knocked out by small tranquilizer spines as an act of mercy by the shoggoths. Those enemies who were knocked out would be taken alive and be imprisoned until their fate will be decided upon by their respective governments. The enemy tanks that were shooting their cannons were pounced on by groups of shoggoths, who pried the tanks open with their clawed hands. The enemy soldiers in the tanks were impaled by lightning fast tentacles. Some shoggoths simply grabbed enemy soldiers that were in reach and ripped them in half before throwing the pieces at the foes who were still alive.
The battle had gone really well for the defenders of Zanxir though they still suffered a few casualties from lucky shots from the enemy forces. As the battle ended, the dark fog lifted over the battlefields across Zanxir. Whatever vehicles the invaders had were all destroyed, blasted into so many pieces that now rest on the bloodstained ground. The air smelled of burnt flesh and foul chemicals. Heads of slavers and mercenaries had been thrown around by shoggoths, as if the shoggoths were playing some odd sport. The victorious defenders were now looking at the sky, seeing pieces of enemy spaceships fall from the sky.
The Amorphous Navy along with their turian allies had finally achieved victory over the enemy fleet. Admiral Sevten Chekat's many fanged mouths smiled looking out at space from a transparent screen in his bioships grayish nerve center. The nerve center of his bioship, like many others, featured a throne made out of stone for the commanding officer, and large tendrils of nerves that other officers in the bioship attached themselves to. At last the pirates were beaten and the world of Zanxir was safe again. Most of the enemy fleet was destroyed with some desperate ships performing blind jumps in order to escape from them. Shoggoth boarding teams captured some enemy ships along with their crew. That was great because there would be a lot of information to be gained from enemy officers through psychic means.
Admiral Chekat turned to his omnitool on one of his limbs and connected it to one of the thought transmitter tendrils in the nerve center. The message he sent General Desolas was as follows. "General Desolas, the enemy fleet lies in ruins. Many of your ships however, need repairs. You are welcome to land the damaged ships upon the surface of Zanxir where we will repair them. We are grateful for your assistance. Also, we would like to meet with your leaders soon, for our Emperor wishes to discuss important matters with them. That is all."