Realm 17, The Gestalt Hive
Bukubuku Chagama slid along the floor, pacing and circling a human bound before her. The human was a bald man, he was totally hairless, no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. On his forehead was carved a glowing six pointed star. He was held aloft by chains of flesh and sinew, the living chains shifted and writhed as it held the struggling man in place.
"Are you certain?" Chagama asked.
"Affirmative. Confirmed with 99 subjects. Pattern too consistent for random chance." a voice replied.
The owner of the voice slid forward, it looked like a black worm born in some eldritch realm. Its skin was black and it had green glowing sacs growing from the side of its head. Multiple appendages protrude from its body and its mouth was slit like maw with rows of serrated teeth.
"The past subjects are all the same? Exactly?" Chagama asked.
"Affirmative, consistency absolute. Same crude spun sequences. Inefficient, violates core life directives. Subjects infertile, severe degeneration of sequences due to abyss corruption. Have kept one functional as requested." the creature replied.
"Thank you, Abathur. I will speak with it." Chagama replied wearily.
She slid in front of the man and the flesh chain binding his mouth retracted allowing him to speak.
"Monstrous filth." the man spat.
"Do you have any idea what has been done to you?" Chagama asked.
"I have nothing to say to the likes of you." the man spat in reply.
The creatures in the room all hissed and growled at the insult. Chagama however was unfazed, seemingly as if she didn't even hear it.
"Faith is a dangerous thing, it can push you to do unspeakable things, profane things. My wayward child, you have suffered for naught." Chagama said.
"I suffer for the six, the gods will deliver me. If not in this life then in the next." the man replied.
"You can still fix some of the damage you have done, tell me all you know. Then perhaps Momonga san will have mercy on your soul. Then I... can have mercy on your soul." Chagama said tenderly, with the tone of a mournful mother begging a child to come back home.
"Six take you, foul creature." the man hissed with venom in his voice.
"My child…" Chagama said as she extended a multicoloured tentacle and gently rested it on the sides of the man's face. Although the man tried to turn away, the moment the tentacle touched his face, he felt a great peace come upon him.
The man turned to face Bukubuku Chagama with tears in his eyes and remorse in his heart.
"I… I understand now… I'm sorry…" the man wept.
"I know, I know… I'm sorry too." Chagama replied, when she finished her words a flash of light appeared where her tentacle touched his skin. The man screamed in pain but he stayed still every muscle in his body cramping up paralysing him.
"Why… I understand now…" the man croaked out.
"I know you do child, but you only knew when I gave you the answer. If I am to accept you back it would not be fair to your brother and sisters… a mother must not play favourites." Chagama replied with a voice filled with sorrow.
Chagama pulled her tentacle away and wisps of white light followed her tentacle.
"I am sorry, I need your memories to save your brothers and sisters. Forgive me…" Chagama said as she pulled her tentacle away completely and tore the man's soul from his body. The man's body slumped with eyes wide and mouth gaping. His body still lived but it was not an empty husk, like a ship with no crew sitting listless in open water.
Chagama looked down at the small blue orb that rested in her hand. The orb was cracked with black fissures running along its surface. Chagama gently touched the soul and the soul shattered into wisps of light. The light and dark separated and the light coalesced into her hand.
Abathur watched as the Goddess of Life drew the soul back into her being. She is progenitor of all life, all life can trace its heritage back to her. No being understands the key to life, the soul better than her. As she internalised the knowledge Abathur felt his soul wilt as a rising rage welled up from the goddess before him. The monsters around him, each a life form of considerable power. Fell to the ground, their souls trembling from the rage of the Goddess of Life. Abathur himself found himself on the fleshed living floor of the room. Before his eyes the floor squirmed and writhed as the weight of that rage threatened to shatter their souls like the fragile marbles they were.
Then as quickly as it began the rage ceased, those in the room struggled to their feet. Their very core shaken, they were once again reminded that the 41 are powers beyond their comprehension. Abathur himself assisted with Project 41, the creation of the Herald of the Abyss. Abathur himself predates the Ordo's and has served diligently since the number of realms could be counted on two hands. He was lucky to be a select few who are handcrafted creations of the 41.
Abathur himself can spin the sequence of life, thus he works closely with Bukubuku Chagama and Blue Planet. He is head of sequence research for the Gestalt Hive and is tasked with all matters of gene crafting. He is also the regulator for Bukubuku Chagama's final solution. The Gestalt Hive is not just a realm, it is a living weapon. When a world is considered truly lost, one of 41 final solutions may be chosen to… as the supreme ones say, reset the world, scrap it all and try again from scratch.
The Gestalt Hive is a super organism the size of a world made of billions of smaller minds forming a Gestalt Consciousness. This creates a hive mind that is as relentless as it is dangerous. When the Gestalt Hive is unleashed upon a world, great pods of biomass rain down onto the world. The hive quickly consumes any biomass that it can access, plants, animals, people. All are consumed before the tide of living flesh. Creatures are spawned that destroy whatever feeble resistance that can be mustered against it. Thus far the Gestalt Hive has never been defeated, for oddly enough, the Gestalt Hive shares the same advantages as an undead army.
It's forces are bolstered with every foe they slay, their biomass assimilated into the Gestalt Hive. They do not tire for all life before they are simply broken down and assimilated. The life it consumes is turned to energy to fuel the destruction of the world. However, unlike the static undead that has fixed forms the hive evolves as it fights. If its opponents favours fire attacks, fire resistance is rapidly evolved into the hive. As it devours the population of the world, it starts to learn the weakness of its opponents physiology. It then releases a red miasma that starts to spread out from the hive. The Red Miasma is a concoction of toxins and pestilent plagues that the world's populations are especially vulnerable to. Once the hive reaches this phase all resistance crumbles as the very world withers and dies. Soon all that remains is the hive, leaving behind a world that is quite the opposite of dead one. It leaves behind a world more alive than any world should be.
The mortals call this fate the Red Flood, a living weapon that consumes all. It is life cut loose, life without the checks and balances imposed upon it by the 41. It is raw primordial power, much like the Sword of Damocles of Ulbert Alain Odle and the Abyss Walkers of Momonga. This "solution" is rarely used because of the cruelty of it. Compared to the other forty methods this one kills much more slowly, like a cancer that spreads and slowly consumes everything in its path. The end is slow and painful, the inhabitants of the world watch as their world turns to red, their seas turn to blood, their mountains grow eyes, their city walls grow fangs and the clouds turn crimson. The blood red clouds then weep tears of blood that spreads the flood ever further, ever onward, until there is nothing left to consume. Which is ironic because this is the only method of the 41 solutions that does not "kill" a world.
"Abathur, you will go to Realm 235. Momonga has need of you there, he has my blessing for any tasks you are given." Chagama said softly, still gazing at the soulless body before her.
"Blessing?" Abathur asked.
"You may ignore the Core Life Directives as necessary." Chagama replied.
"Yes Bukubuku Chagama sama…" Abathur replied.
Holy Kingdom Flagship, HMS Bessarez
Alahan looked over the sailing ship with it's crew bustling on deck, he could feel the wind on his face, smell the salt in the wind. To most this might have seemed like a peaceful scene but to him it unsettled him. He was not like the other Paladins, he was not dogmatic in his faith. Yes he came from a prestigious family line and he was raised to worship the six above all. However, as he grew older he started realising the logical inconsistencies in the faith, how it advocated peace while crying for war. How it preached obedience while encouraging free thought within the bounds of the faith.
He joined the paladins more out of a sense of obligation to his nation than anything else. He saw the suffering of his people as they were sent to the wall to fight constantly. He joined to help alleviate some of that sacrifice, he hoped he could get more of them back to their families at the end of their service. Funnily enough that was what made him such a capable officer. How often he has seen Paladins order suicidal commands to their soldiers, promising the six's protection and if failing that their reward in the next life. From his experience in a melee the six protected no better than parchment, old rotted wood would be better. Tactics, wargear and sheer grit was what won the day. Wars were not won on faith, they were won on competency of their command and the bravery of their soldiers.
When he was training to be a Paladin, he was selected for special tactics training. His mentors have identified him as having a unique knack for strategy. Thus he was granted access to restricted parts of the library. These sections included records on the Morning War, the war that ended the reign of the 41. It was the war that ended the darkness of the 41 and heralded in the light of the six hence the name the Morning War. Of particular interest to him was the final battle against the Ordo Malleus Templar headquarters, which used to be located in Hoburns. The headquarters no longer existed of course, it was demolished and the royal palace was built on top of it to symbolise the triumph of the six. Fortunately the stronghold was not made of the indestructible black stone found at other strange sites.
During that battle 5000 Ordo Malleus Templars held their fortress along with the remains of the Ordos Hereticus, Mechanicus, Hospitaller and Iustitia. The total was around 6000 soldiers, they held the fort against a combined army of 100 000 soldiers. They held the fort for two years, by the end of which all of the defenders were killed but not before the 6000 culled 50 000 men. They fought tooth and nail for every inch of ground, their tactics were extensive. They used different tactics constantly greatly reducing the effectiveness of the six's strategists.
Later they recovered some of their records, the records were mostly destroyed. The defenders chose to destroy their records rather than let them be taken. A tiny fraction of the records managed to survive and were recovered. Combined with reports of the way the Ordo Malleus fought the scholars were able to reconstruct some of the knowledge that was lost. What they found was that the Ordo Malleus were as bold as they were efficient in their strategies. They were not afraid to give ground if it meant weakening the assaulting forces. Once weakened they would break the assault and retake their positions. This tactic was known as Defence in Depth or Multi Layered Defence. It consisted of multiple layers of supporting defences that moved fluidly along the length of the line allowing breaches in the line. The breaches created bottlenecks and kill zones. The attackers didn't take the position, they were allowed to take it.
Allahan himself utilised this tactic to great effect in his defence of the wall. He let the demi humans take a section of the wall but he poured arrow fire and spells on top of the demi humans that occupied that section of the wall. With fire pouring from multiple directions the demi humans were cut down in droves. Soon their attack was broken as their casualties became too much to bear and the assault was repelled.
Disappointingly when he advocated the increased study of the Ordo Malleus tactics he was shot down by command. They said these tactics were dishonourable as they drew from the knowledge of the old gods. Although he was shot down, he suspected the reason has less to do with rhetoric and more to do with the riskiness of the tactic. If executed poorly it could lead to the collapse of the defense line. This suspicion was confirmed when he realised no one stopped him from using the Ordo Malleus tactics. They in fact rewarded him with titles and medals for valorous service. This is also why he was chosen to help lead this invasion, it was a break away from conventional tactics. The plan was coined by Gustav Montagnes, who like him has studied the knowledge of the old gods and saw the merit of landing a decisive strike at the outset of the war.
There was an issue however, he had received news that their fleet has been spotted by a small group of fishing boats. At the sight of them the boats had turned and sailed at full speed towards E-Nairu, their intended invasion landing zone. His fleet could not hope to catch up, those sloops were small with large sails and light unarmoured hulls. They could easily outspeed his ships, chasing them down was a fool's errand. He should have brought lighter intercept ships as well, his lack of naval experience was starting to show. If the captains of the ships had suggested it he would have readily agreed. They must have been afraid to voice their opinions in the face of the famed Kelart Custodio. That hierarchical fear may have just doomed this invasion. Or would it?
"Alahan, I just got word that we have been spotted?" Kelart asked as she stomped up the steps of the command deck. She has been resting in the captain cabin for most of the trip, leaving most of the command duties to him.
"Yes, they are sailing towards E-Nairu." Alahan replied.
"Have you sent pursuit forces?" Kelart asked impatiently.
"No, their ships are too light and fast. We do not have any vessels that can catch them, what's more we were spotted from a great distance. It is impossible to catch them." Alahan replied.
"Damn it." Kelart spat as she slammed her fist into the railing of the command deck.
"My lady we should consider our next move. I believe the original invasion plan should be revised." Alahan replied evenly.
"Yes, summon the admirals. Keep the course of the ships for now." Kelart said as she gestured to a nearby soldier.
"My lady I feel we should retreat, if we get caught in a pitched battle the whole army is at risk of being destroyed." Alahan said quietly to Kelart so as not to be overhead by the rest of the crew.
"What? We fly the Queen's flag on a great galleon that bears her house's name and you wish to retreat after meeting fishing boats?" Kelart snapped in response.
"They know we are coming, E-Nairu will be ready for us. We would still take it but the delay would be enough for intercept forces to attack us before we get to the capital." Alahan replied calmly.
"No the invasion stands, if we retreat then we will lose the initiative in the war. It is only a matter of time before the Draconic Kingdom is cleaned up and the full might of the east will come crashing down on the Ice Gate Valley." Kelart hissed in reply.
His commander was right, if they retreat they lose for sure. But winning goes out the window if a third of their army just evaporates at the outset of the war. The total military strength of the Roble Holy Kingdom was 150 000 men. There were 50 000 men in this fleet, if they lost this army. The Roble Holy Kingdom was done. The Theocracy cannot respond to the defense of the Holy Kingdom, not with three Empire legions and a Re-Estise army staring them down at the border. Not to mention the elves on the southern border that the Theocracy have been trying to exterminate with little to no success these past 600 years. The knife ears are nothing if not tenacious, if they get word of the Theocracy being spread thin, they would undoubtedly attack. The lands near the Elven border were mostly farmland, it was the breadbasket of the Theocracy. This farmland was built on fertile elven lands, which means it was lightly defended with fortifications, if the elves burn all the farmland the Theocracy will starve. There was a reason that the southern border was known as the Theocracy's soft underbelly.
Everyone knows that the Theocracy has a military alliance with the Holy Kingdom. They have fought their wars together since time immemorial. Once war is declared the Theocracy must join them, the Theocracy ambassador said as much when he and the queen conferred. This invasion was approved by both the Holy Kingdom and the Theocracy, if it were to fail… they would lose everything.
"Then we must change our plans, we should land somewhere else." Alahan replied.
"I assume you have a plan." Kelart replied, crossing her arms.
"Yes, the responding army will head to E-Nariu, the ships spotted us heading straight towards E-Nairu. If we find a different landing ground, someplace unpopulated, we can sneak pass the intercepting army. What's more soldiers from the capital will no doubt be siphoned away to aid this intercepting force. We can turn this discovery into an opportunity." Alahan proposed.
"Hmm, very well. That is an acceptable plan. I will propose it to the rest when the meeting is convened." Kelart replied with a satisfied nod.
30 minutes later, HMS Bessarez Command Cabin
"So we land here, it's a wide flat stretch of beach, no reefs and a forest about 100 metres inland. It's secluded and it's terrain forgiving for a landing. The nearest village according to our charts is a day away by horse. There should be no prying eyes, if we eliminate the E-Nariu as a landing zone this is our best chance." Kelart explained.
"Very cunning, Lady Kelart. You do your house great honour." One of the senior paladins replied.
"Thank you, now that we know our tasks, captains I expect you to change course for this beach. There we will strike a mortal blow to the six's enemies." Kelart declared, a smug smile on her face.
Alahan cast a sideways glance at his commander. Taking credit for your underlings work is classic nobility behaviour in the Holy Kingdom. So it didn't faze him, still he had hoped just this once with the fate of their nation on the line they could put aside all the pride and vanity. It appears his hopes were all for naught, he will just have to carry on as he always does.
Below the ships swam 5000 naga, they have been shadowing the fleet for the past few days. Their lizardmen brethren were standing by closer to the coast, all of them underwater and deep enough that they could not be spotted from the surface.
High above spy planes and Fallschirmjager circled the fleet, when the fleet changed course the word was sent back to command. So the great fleet of the Holy Kingdom, who in the past held absolute absolute naval superiority, now sailed into the Ordo Malleus's jaws. Like a fish drawn to an angler fish's lure, thinking that light was victory, they will soon realise that the light holds no salvation. It is nothing but the lantern lure of an ancient apex predator...
Ordo Malleus Defence Line, Holy Kingdom Theatre, Serpents Coast Sector
"So Serpents Coast huh, nice of command to give this place a name." Varian said as he sat in his fox hole.
"Yeah, the Re-Estise Kingdom Western Coast Sector B13 just doesn't have the same ring to it. They must have come up with it after the Naga showed up." Genji replied, his head poking over the edge of the heavily camouflage foxhole.
There were bits of foliage, arranged around the front of the foxhole. Genji had seen what the front looked like, he didn't get a good look of it from the beach but he was sure that the enemy would not be able to spot the line of fortifications.
Genji looked to his right and there was a tank that was literally half buried in the soil. It sank into the ground until only the turret was exposed. The tank was also dyed in a green camouflage pattern and it was covered in foliage to help disguise it. However, there was a ramp of soil in front of the tank, allowing it to roll out from cover at a moment's notice.
"Don't know how I feel about killing humans." Varian grumbled.
"It's the same as the beastmen, you shoot them and they die. We all die the same." Genji replied.
"I see your taking your new role seriously Sergeant." Varian replied wryly.
"It's a probationary position, that's why they only gave me half a squad." Genji said.
"You mean what's left of the squad, the rest got re-organised, we're still waiting for replacements so they grabbed whatever's left and gave you a command." Varian replied.
"Yeah exactly, we're going to have to guide the new guys when they get here. We can't have the officers babysitting them like they did for us. We're veterans now, we've seen war and something tells me it's going to get a lot worse from here on out." Genji said grimly.
"Really? Human's can't be worse than beastmen." Varian retorted sceptically.
"You sure about that? So by your reckoning, the beastmen are wolves and we humans are rabbits. If we did get swapped to hunt easier prey, why did they give us bigger guns?" Genji replied as he held up their new rifles.
The past rifles were single shot beach loaded rifles, they were now given semi-automatic Karabiner Pattern Rifles. The rifles could be fired five times before they needed to reload, the reloading process was also much simpler. Once the rifle was empty, a mechanism ejected the clip out the top of the rifle automatically. All the soldier had to do was to take a new clip, load it in from the top, pull the bolt and the rifle was ready to be fired again. Five times the shots and half the reloading time. Although, this rifle does fire smaller rounds than his previous Hephaestus Pattern Rifle. The bullets were thinner but they were longer, the officers said this weapon has higher penetration power as compared to the old models.
There were cons of course, this weapon could jam. Sometimes when the rifle is firing a bullet can be lodged improperly in the mechanism. The soldier then needed to manually eject the bullet before he could resume firing. Not only that the rifle was also much more complicated to maintain as it has many more moving parts as compared to the simple design of the Hephaestus Pattern Rifle.
Not all the soldiers were granted these rifles, only the ones the officers deemed capable enough were given the privilege. It was easy to understand why, it was harder to maintain and harder to use but if used properly was much more effective compared to the older design.
"7.62 FMJ, was it?" Varian asked as he gazed down at his own rifle.
"Yea, Full Metal Jacket. Apparently it makes it better at shooting armoured targets. But they warned magic can negate the armor penetration of these bullets." Genji replied.
"Then what about those metal guys, Skities or something." Varian asked.
"The Skitarii?" Genji asked.
"Yeah those guys." Varian replied.
"I heard their rifles are… Galvany, Galvanic? Galvanic Rifles I think? Some kind of energy weapon apparently. Closer to firing spells than shooting an arrow head." Genji said with a shrug.
"Why can't we get some of those?" Varian grumbled
"I heard from Lieutenant Dan, that those Skitarii can shoot the flea off a dog on the horizon, apparently that's around 5 kilometers away." Genji added.
"Uh huh, you think I was born yesterday? You can't even see someone that far away." Varian replied with a snort.
"I'm serious, that's what Lieutenant Dan said." Genji said indignantly.
"I think he lost more than his legs in whatever battle that got him those set of metal replacements." Varian replied with a laugh.
"Careful, I'm obligated to report any form of insubordination from my men." Genji warned with mock seriousness.
"You wouldn't." Varian replied with a laugh.
Genji didn't reply; he merely stayed silent and gazed sternly at Varian.
"You wouldn't" Varian replied again now without a laugh. Genji, still silent, continued to leer at Varian.
"Surely not." Varian said, his voice now going up a pitch.
Still the silence as his answer.
"Surely not!" Varian said, now visibly sweating.
"No I wouldn't." Genji replied with a laugh.
"You're an ass!" Varian said as he kicked a wad of dirt in Genji's direction.
"You should have seen your face, noo please don't report me! I don't wanna get court martialed." Genji replied as he laughed at a very sour faced Varian.
"Very funny." Varian growled in reply.
"Come on you know I wouldn't do that." Genji said, trying to suppress any further laughter.
"How do I know? Maybe you've gone crazy with power, we all know the stories of nobles that go crazy once they inherit their estates." Varian sniffed in reply.
"Ah yes, the corruption of power. All shall tremble before Sergeant Genji Aico, Lord of this hole." Genji replied sarcastically.
"Hey last time I checked I'm in this hole too." Varian said.
"Don't worry I wouldn't ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself." Genji replied.
"You would do a lot of things I wouldn't do." Varian countered.
"Err… I don't have a reply for that." Genji replied.
"Alright, enough chatter, they'll be here in an hour." an officer said suddenly from behind them.
"Lieutenant Dan." Genji said in surprise as he raised his arm in salute. Varian scrambled to his feet and threw up a salute hastily as well.
"At ease, ready your fighting positions, the landing will take about 3 to 4 hours. So eat some of your rations and drink some water. It's going to be a long bloody day." Lieutenant Dan added gruffly.
Aye sir
3 hours later
Alahan stepped onto the beach, he felt his feet sink into the sand and he took a look around. The beach was pristine, there was no deformation in the sand, no footsteps, no marks, nothing. Just a clean stretch of sand as far as the eye can see. It looked truly deserted, it seemed they were safe for now.
"It appears your prediction was correct, Paladin Alahan." Kelart said as she got off the landing boat.
"It appears so my lady." Alahan replied.
"This beach is pristine, I don't think anyone has been here for awhile." Kelart said.
"We should send out some scouts into the forest just in case. We can have them report back to us in case they spot any movement. We don't want to get caught off guard." Alahan suggested.
"Very well, send for them." Kelart said with a dismissive wave.
Shurie was a scout enlisted in the Holy Kingdom's army. She grew up in one of the border villages. In her village you had to hunt if you wanted to survive. So she was adept at hunting and concealment. When she was drafted, she found she liked the military. There was just something inspiring about fighting for a greater cause. So she decided to enlist as a career soldier, her commanding officer at the time recognised her skills as a hunter and had her promoted. She upgraded from your average line grunt and was turned into a scout. It was her dream to be selected to be part of the Outrider Rangers. An elite unit consisted of peasants, with an ennobled peasant as their leader. That was her dream so she worked tirelessly towards it, honing her skills. Finally this was her chance to prove she was capable in this great invasion. The priests said this was a holy war and this army was a spear that shall pierce the heart of this heretical nation.
When Shurie got the orders she eagerly gathered her equipment and met up with the other scouts. As she tread towards the coastline, she suddenly felt at home… as if the forest was welcoming her…
[Axii] an Ordo Hereticus delusion operative muttered under his breath as he cast his charm sign on the female scout. The scout walked forward, right past the fox holes, right past the tank and the massive frame of the dreadnought.
Shurie walked forward and noticed there were some strange holes with strange green man sized plants in them. Best to avoid them lest she fall and hurt something, then she came across this large metal boulder. It was covered in moss and plants, she had heard some plants can feed on the minerals in rocks. Nature sure is amazing!
"Those Ordo Hereticus guys are good…" Varian whispered.
"Quiet." Genji hissed in reply. He looked at the ever growing army being offloaded by transport dinghies.
"60% of hostile forces are in the kill zone, hold fire until ordered. I repeat hold fire until ordered." a voice spoke into the earpiece in his ear.
"That's 60%? There's at least 30 000 men there." Varian muttered.
"Wait for the command." Genji replied.
Below the waves, the Naga and the Lizardmen waited. Zaryusu and Zenberu stood next to each other on the shore bed and looked up at the dinghies passing overhead.
"Come on warmbloods, sail to your end." Zeneberu rumbled with a laugh.
"Patience old friend, the dish isn't ready, it is unwise to pluck a fruit until it's ripe." Zaryusu replied.
"The anticipation is killing me…" Zenberu growled in reply.
Alahan watched as one of the scouts returned, she was wearing leather armor and had a head of short brown hair. She was clearly a career soldier and was as eager as a soldier could be.
"Report." Alahan said
"Private Shurie sir, the scouts are in position, we have not found signs of any hostile forces." Shurie replied.
"Anything strange? Out of the ordinary? There could be an ambush." Alahan pressed.
"No my lord, there were a few plants I've never seen before but I've never been this far east." Shurie replied.
"Very well, stand by here for now. I may need you to deliver additional orders to the other scouts." Alahan said.
"Yes, my lord." Shurie replied as she snapped a crisp salute and stood off to the side.
Alahan turned to face the coast and saw the last of his army on the transport dinghies. These dinghies were specially built. They were larger, able to fit up to 80 soldiers and were able to move at a relatively fast pace along the waves. The best thing about having so many smaller ships was that it was much more efficient at disembarking forces rapidly. His fleet composition was primarily small transport ships with the larger line ships to be used as combat forces if needed. Each wave of boats could land about 3000 soldiers, this meant he could rapidly get his army off the fleet and onto shore.
This is Major Kirahee to all Ordo Malleus ground elements
Weapons free, I repeat weapons free
Alahan heard a thunderous boom then he felt a shock wave and was thrown face first into the sand. His ears ringed and his vision swam as he looked up. He saw one conscript standing there bewildered, then a streak of light struck him in the chest. The conscript's torso disintegrated his arms flying in different directions leaving his waist and legs to go tumbling backwards in the sand.
Alahan staggered to his feet and saw flashes of light all along the tree line. Streaks of light poured onto his army dropping his soldiers like flies. An ambush? But the scouts? Traitors? Alahan turned to see the scout, standing there at attention oblivious to the carnage around her. Another streak of light struck her in the back and came clean out the other side. Her expression unchanging with still that loyal eager gleam in her eyes. She fell to her knees and fell over to the right, her eyes still locked onto his face. She's been charmed…
"ORDERS SIR!" a voice cried snapping him back to reality.
Alahan turned to see one of the junior paladins gazing at him terror in his eyes.
"Battle formations! Paladins to the front! Priests defensive buffs, summon angels, we need to stop their spell fire!" Alahan shouted in reply.
"Alahan, we are under attack!" Kelart shouted as she ran towards him.
"I can see that my lady, we need to get a shield wall up. I need your priests buffing our front line. We need to resist their missile attack, if not we're going to be cut to ribbons." Alahan shouted over the chaos.
"You don't give orders to me…" Kelart began hotly.
Load HE, fire for effect
Alahan heard a whistling and he instinctively leapt towards Kelart, tackling her to the ground. There was another boom a few metres to his right. He grimaced as he felt sand rain down onto his head. Then he felt something hard strike him on the back. He rolled off Kelart and saw what struck him was the decapitated head of a paladin still in its helmet. It's gaze empty and unfeeling with a look of shock on its face. He looked to the source of the blast and saw a crater with bloody body parts littered around it.
Alahan grit his teeth and roughly dragged Kelart to her feet. Kelart looked stunned as she gazed at where a group of her soldiers were just standing a few seconds ago.
"My lady, we need to organise. I need your priest to send some angels to the tree line. We need to buy time to form up in formation." Alahan shouted.
Alahan watched as Kelart once again instinctively snarled as he gave orders to her but then another blast struck a group a bit further away, raining sand and offal in all directions. A bit of flesh landed on the front of Alahan's chest plate with sickening splat spraying blood all over Kelart's white robes. Seeing this Kelart gritted her teeth and wheeled around shouting orders to the priests.
Alahan continued to command his army the best he could, units were all in the wrong places. The supplies were half unloaded and the horses were all gathered in one place. That one place was hit by a slew of explosions blasting most of their steeds into oblivion. It was utter chaos, but he needed to bring some order or they were all dead. He tried to organise best he could trying to do a thousand things at once. Finally he saw angels taking off into the sky in formation, getting ready to bring the fight to the foe…
Aerial targets detected
Identifying…
Confirmed, targets ArchAngel Flame
Vulnerable region, Neck
Skitarii engaging
Alahan looked on horrified as a wave of green streaks slammed right into the angels tearing them to pieces. Each of the angels were hit perfectly at the neck severing their heads from their bodies. The priests tried to resummon them in panic but it was like trying to plug two dozen holes with a dozen men. The hundreds of angels were whittled down more rapidly than he could ever imagine.
"[Summon: Principality of Alleviation]" Kelart intoned and a larger heavily armoured angel appeared granting defensive buffs to all the angels. It helped reduce their damage taken but it still only took a few shots to down an angel. At least with this they could attempt to mount an attack.
Load, Sabot shells
Sabot shells are shells designed for their armour piercing qualities. Usually shells are designed with an exploding warhead but Sabot shells are essentially giant tungsten darts whose whole purpose is to pierce armor and shatter the weaker interior of the target using its massive amount of kinetic energy. Sabot shells are currently the design with the highest armor penetration for kinetic weapons. The ones being used by the forces being used are Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot shells or APDS shells.
Alahan looked up and saw a yellow streak strike the angel in the chest. There was the loud sound of metal tearing and the Principality of Alleviation staggered back. It's chestplate had shattered and bits of molten hot metal flew out from impact hitting the surrounding soldiers. Then a volley of the green streaks struck the Principality of Alleviation each shot melting more holes in it's thick armor. It wouldn't be long before the angels to be shot down; he needed to act fast.
Alahan barked orders left and right, soon some semblance of order was restored to the battle field. The companies were all mixed up and soldiers were standing next to the wrong person but at least the overall formation was starting to take shape. The heavily armoured paladins stood at the front, their shields up and their defenses enhanced by magic. Most of the projectiles were bouncing off but some of the heavier ones smashed right through killing dozens. Behind the Paladins were the conscript pikemen with their long spears designed to go over the paladins and create a wall of spear points. Usually they had mounted paladins but their steeds were mostly killed so they joined the front line on the flanks. In the rear was a formation of archers that stood at the ready. The priests still kept summoning angels to buy the army more time but constant summoning was rapidly depleting their mana reserves.
"Archers, fire at the tree line!" Alahan ordered and a volley of arrows flew towards the tree line.
A wave of arrows descended on the tree line and some of the fire dyed down for a moment, before resuming as if nothing had happened. They are entrenched… this trap was a long time in the making, but how? Was it a traitor afterall, if that's the case should he still use conventional tactics? If there was a traitor, no doubt the enemy knew of their tactics long beforehand, they would be marching to their deaths. However, if they sat here they would be dead anyway, he couldn't use any unorthodox cavalry tactics because he lost all of his cavalry. The initiative was firmly in the enemies hands. Alahan thought frantically but he came up empty, there was nothing for it. He would have to march his army straight at the trees and hope the enemy could not overcome his army in melee.
"Archers hold position, staggered volley fire." Alahan commanded. The enemy fire dwindled each time he fired his arrows, he assumed they were hiding behind some kind of cover. If he staggered his volleys he could create a constant stream of arrows forcing the enemy to risk the arrows if they wanted to fire back.
Then another whistling sound as another yellow streak struck the Principality of Alleviation, this time punching clean through and splashing down into the sea behind him. The Principality of Alleviation crumbled into motes of light and Alahan watched as Kelart began summoning another one. That was however, before another volley of those green projectiles shredded half the angels in the air. None of the angels could even get close to the tree line, it was all the priest could do to command the angels to try to dodge the shots and draw as much fire as possible.
"Forward march." Alahan commanded and the army began to move. Alahan left the archers behind as they needed a certain distance for the arc of their shots to fly over the heads of his soldiers.
If push came to shove he had one last risky card to play. He could order his fleet to fire on the tree line. The ballistas on the ships could be used as artillery but their accuracy was poor as they were primarily made to fire on large ships. If he asked them to fire on the beach there was a chance it could do significant friendly fire. If he had to do it, he could only use it for its initial shock and use that chance to charge the gap in the enemies fire. He would be leaving the fate of this army to lady luck and that was not what a good commander would do.
Alahan watched as his army marched towards the treeline, enduring withering fire. Every ten seconds one of the whistling projectiles would punch through their defences and kill dozens. But still, the army pressed forward, as they watched their comrades blasted into pieces. They have already lost almost 10 000 men. Most of them were conscripts as their thin armor made them vulnerable to all the projectiles. One stray shot was enough to incapicitate if not outright kill a conscript.
The army progressed at a brisk marching pace, their defensive buffs flickering and powering out constantly as the burden of defending against so many high powered projectiles drained mana in torrents.
"Running out of mana…" one of the priests gasped.
Mana potions were being constantly drunk but they didn't have that many on hand most of what little they had were still on the ships. Soon some of the priests started collapsing into the sand as exhaustion started to wear them down. The angels have long been decimated, now the green streaks were tearing at his front line. Paladins both senior and junior were torn to pieces by the hellfire, all were equal in the face of death.
They were 20 metres away from the trees when they ran into an obstacle, suddenly from the sand ropes emerged and they were pulled taut. From the sands emerged rows of steel stakes, the ropes were dropped but the stakes were held in place. The stakes were too close together for him to march his army over in formation. If he wanted to attack he would have to break formation and do a haphazard charge. Thinking, Alahan made his choice, it was time to gamble. May the six have mercy on their souls, he cast a message spell to the captain of the Bessarez and he heard silence…
HMS Bessarez
Captain Bolivar, looked on dumbstruck as Naga burst out of the water high enough to sail up the 8 metre tall ship and land on deck. They carried wicked tridents that glowed with an eerie green glow, the sailors drew weapons and began to fight but it soon became evident that they were outmatched.
For the glory of the deep onesssss
One Naga dressed in gold armor roared, this battle roar was echoed by all the other Naga and their fury increased. Swinging their tridents with a monstrous fury, their weapons with enough strength to snap swords and break spears. There were a few paladins left on the ship, though they were a match for a Naga but there was only one paladin for every ten naga.
Bolivar drew his sword and blocked a swing from an approaching Naga. The Naga's strength was immense with each swing, he felt his arms go numb from the force. The tridents they used were large savage weapons that were both spear and club. Bolivar rolled under the swing and he felt the trident cut through the air a few centimeters above his head. He heard the railing behind him splinter and crack as it was struck by the trident.
[Lesser Dexterity] Bolivar intoned as he felt the Martial Art pulse though his body enhancing his speed. He deftly dodged another swing and plunged his sword into the side of the Naga. The Naga roared as it thrust its trident in his direction. Bolivar dodged but he watched as the trident smashed the wooden steering wheel to pieces.
The Naga clutched it's side as as blood flowed from the wound, it raised it's hand and saw the blood on it's hand and its face twisted in a snarl. It brandished its trident and was about to charge him when a hand was placed on its shoulder. The Naga froze and turned to reveal another Naga, this one was a head taller than the already large Naga he was fighting. The Naga wore ornate gold armor and it's trident was much larger and had numerous inscriptions.
The gold armoured Naga jerked it's head toward the lower deck where Bolivar could hear screams and shouts as the Naga culled his crew. The smaller Naga hesitated for a moment before bowing its head and slithered down the stairs.
"Youu figghht welllll for a humannnn." the Naga hissed.
"We are stronger than you know." Bolivar replied, his sword still raised. He could see numerous chips and scratched along the blade. It wouldn't hold out much longer against the Naga's powerful strikes. He wouldn't be surprised if this one snapped his sword with a single strike.
"Nowww you faceee a Slithereeen Guaaard." the Naga hissed as it grasped its trident and slowly approached Bolivar.
Bolivar readied himself, if he wanted to win he needed to strike a decisive blow at the start. Even if he killed this one he would still have to deal with the rest of the Naga on the ship. Things looked bleak but he couldn't falter in the face of such evil.
[Ability Boost] [Evasion] Bolivar intoned and he readied himself to spring forth like a coiled spring. He shot out intent on piercing the Naga through the eye and ending the battle with a single thrust.
The Naga raised its trident and slammed its butt into the deck. [Crushing Depths] the Naga hissed as a wave of green energies flowed from the impact point like a tidal wave. Bolivar was thrown back and he rolled head over heels along the deck. As he tried to rise he realised his body felt impossibly heavy. It felt as if there was a great weight crushing him into the deck. He raised his head and saw the Naga swing it's trident towards him. He tried to raise his sword in a desperate attempt to block the strike but all he felt was the impact and the pain.
Bolivar felt himself crash against the back railing, his vision swam from the impact and he saw his right hand was a pulped mass of bloody flesh from the strike. His sword was shattered to pieces and the hilt lay a meter away broken on the deck. He looked up and saw the Naga approaching, he tried to raise his body but the weight still remained crushing him against the deck.
"Feeel the oceaans weiighhht." the Naga taunted as it approached.
Bolivar saw white flashes in his vision as the pain of his wounds began to wrack his body. With each breath he felt cracking sensations in his chest and his chest was getting tighter with each breath. He coughed and sprayed out a mouthful of blood staining his uniform.
Then he felt a searing pain as the Naga stabbed its trident into his abdomen. The trident was as wide as his chest, he knew this was a mortal wound. It appears he would die here, Bolivar thought to himself. He felt a hand grab his hair and yanked his lolling head up to look the Naga in the eyes.
Weee commeee to paay the scoooore of centuriiieess paast
Yoourrr coasstalll towwwnnss and villaggeeess we will reeaave
Thereeee shall beee nooooo warm bodieees
Theeee coast will ruuunn reedddd
Allll will drooowwwnn
With those words the Naga savagely ripped the trident free tearing out half his entrails in the process. The Naga grasped his neck and threw him overboard. Bolivar felt the crash of striking the water, then the cold icy depths, then he knew no more…
Air Zone Serpent Coast
Lieutenant Cortez sat in his cockpit as he and his squadron beared down onto the beach. He was flying his Tengu Pattern Multi Role Transforming Fighter or Tengu MRTF for short. He caught sight of the fleet and banked towards the lighter ships. The lighter ships were of little use to the Ordo Malleus; they were just inefficient and vulnerable targets. They only wanted the capital ships and the rest of the fleet was to be sunk. The Kriegsmarine has little use for such poor equipment.
"Fox 1 engaging." Lieutenant Cortez said as he lined up for a strafe on one of the light ships. This one was a small sloop, too small to be an efficient transport or line ship and too large for a scouting role. Basically it was useless, so Cortez pressed the button on his flight stick and he raked the sloop with rounds shredding the small ship.
As he pulled away he looked back and watched as one of the Fallschrimjagers finished the kill with a spell blasting the ship open. The mast collapsed and he watched as what's left of the burning crew jumped overboard.
Cortez spun back around and looked at another small cruiser, this was why his wing was brought to this fight. Fallschirmjager lacked the raw fire power to destroy ships efficiently, so his wing of Fighters were called in to help bring the firepower needed. True the likes of Scarlet Wing could bring more firepower to bear than his swing of fighters but the average Fallschrimjager lacked the firepower.
He locked his firing system onto the ship and let loose one of his Hellfire Missiles, the missile sailed towards the ship striking it in the side. The missile flew into the centre of the hull and detonated, blowing the ship in half. The forward bow and the stern both lifted up as the ship cut in half by the xplosion began to sink beneath the waves. Cortez could see as the small flaming figures of the sailors jumped off into the water in the hopes of extinguishing the flames.
As he looped back around he saw one of his wingmates blast apart another three ships with missiles. By the looks of it more than half of the lighter ships were in flames and sinking.
"Fox 3 out of rockets, RTB." Cortez heard over the comms and watched as one of the fighters peeled away from the fight and headed for the airfield.
"Fox squadron, ground forces are requesting strafing run. Be advised hostile ground elements have been confirmed to have limited anti air capabilities. Advise caution. Target will be marked. Over" a voice crackled over the comms.
"Fox 1 copy, moving to assist. Over." Cortez replied as he banked his plane towards the beach.
He flipped a few switches in his cockpit and a heads up display appeared. He peered at the battle line and saw a red line indicating the strafing vector. He pulled his plane up and circled to ready for the attack…
The Beach
Zaryusu burst out of the water followed by 8 000 lizardmen warriors, the archers near the shore blanched pale as they saw the roaring charge of blood thirsty lizardmen. Some managed to fire a few arrows at the lizardmen but these arrows were either deflected by weapons or simply bounced off the Lizardmen's thick hide.
Zaryusu leapt right into the mass of archers and roared [Icy Burst] freezing dozens of the archers. Some of the escort troops tried to rush in to protect the archers but their numbers were only a few hundred. Zaryusu cut his way through man after man reveling in chance for vengeance.
He heard a booming laugh from his right and saw Zenberu smash a paladin into the ground with his armoured right hand. The paladin was pulped into a mass of flesh and steel. Another Paladin tried to charge but was grabbed by Zeneberu. Zenberu opened his jaws and tore the paladins head off with his powerful crocodile jaws.
One of the Temple guards smashed one of the few remaining paladins in the shield with its halberd. Over and over the temple guard smashed the shield, each strike denting and splintering the steel plated shield. The shield buckled and split, then the shield came down the paladin groaning in pain as his arm now horribly fractured from the force hung limply at his side. The paladin tried to raise his sword but the Temple Guard smashed it aside with a vicious blow shattering the Paladin's wrist. The Temple Guard then swung at the paladin with the butt of his halberd smashing the paladin into the sand before raising his halberd and bringing it down viciously on the Paladin's chest. The Paladin's chestplate gave way as easily as parchment, the force of the strike crushing the Paladin's organs.
Soon the archers were routing and scattering in all directions but most did not get far. Lizardmen could easily outpace a human on most terrain and they were run down easily. They were hunted down like dogs, no quarter was given, no survivors left standing.
Alahan watched numbly as his archers were torn to pieces before his eyes, all the while his fleet burned in the background. He turned back to see another steak tear a hole in his line killing dozens of his men. Then he heard a loud roaring from above, he looked up to see one of the metal birds flying straight at his army. The priests summoned more angels in panic using what little mana they had left, sending them to the metal bird. The metal bird let loose a hail of projectiles that shredded the angels and fired off two fireballs. One struck the Principality of Alleviation blasting it into pieces of flaming metal that rained down on the screaming priests below. The other struck a group of priests in front of him engulfing them in a fireball.
Kelart was caught at the edge of the blast, the heat and incendiary munitions making her catch fire. The sight of Kelart screaming and burning in the sand snapped him out of his daze and he rushed forward. While another hail of projectiles from the metal bird strafed his front line of paladins tearing large holes into his line.
[Cleanse] Alahan cried as the metal bird steak overhead deafening him. The fire went out and he pulled Kelart up into his arms and looked at her wounds. Most of her hair was burned off and her body was covered in deep black burns, her right arm has been burned almost to the bone. He could see the white of her bones peeking out amongst her flesh, [Light Healing] Alahan intoned as he felt the last of his mana drain away. He had been buffing his front line for the past hour and now he was utterly spent. Kelart gasped as the spell healed her wounds to an extent, burns still covered her face but they were now merely surface burns. Her right arm was still badly burnt but now only appeared to be a flesh wound.
Kelart gasped and groaned as she was wracked in pain. One of the priests staggered over, he was covered in shrapnel wounds and was barely able to walk as he fell to his knees next to him. Alahan looked at the priest and saw the despair in his eyes, his bloody and hopeless visage stood before a background of death and fire. His army was decimated, even if he won here he wouldn't even be able to march a kilometer inland with the state of his army. Even if he could the metal birds would hound his army tearing them to pieces.
"My lord, what… what do we do?" the priest stammered.
Alahan looked down at his superior, the once radiant Kelart Custodio who was now almost unrecognisable because of her burns. She now lay unconscious as the pain of the burns overwhelmed her.
"Get me a white piece of cloth…" Alahan replied, his voice and visage the very picture of defeat.
Alahan drank one of the last mana potions, cast a [Lesser Divine Shield] around himself and held up his white "flag". It wasn't a flag per say, it was the burnt remains of a priest's white robes tied to the end of a broken spear. The flag was a very clear picture of the state of his army, beleaguered, exhausted, decimated and defeated. He looked over at the rest of his army, there were about a quarter of the troops left. The fire dwindled down once he walked out in front of the line, the white flag raised. He heard the screaming of the metal birds approaching, as soon as it got close however it banked away breaking off its attack. The spell fire dwindled and soon silence save for the screams of dying reigned over the battlefield.
"Drops your weapons!" Alahan commanded once the assault ceased.
The army hesitated for a moment before one by one they threw their arms into the now blood red sand. Then from the trees emerged a line of green dressed soldiers. Behind them rumbled forth massive metal chariots and metal golems. Their strange staves were all pointed at his army. He heard the screaming of the metal birds again and he turned his head to see the metal bird transform mid air and slam down into the sands on the armies flanks. From the dust cloud emerged metal golems that trudged forward. From behind them they heard shouts of alarm as the Lizardmen closed in on their rear. Above them hovered flying mages all wearing the red of the Ordo Malleus.
"We surrender!" Alahan shouted at the line of soldiers before him. They were not many, numbering only a few thousand.
From the trees emerged a red dressed soldier, he wore a peaked cap and had a long flowing greatcoat. On his chest was emblazoned the sigil of the Ordo Malleus. Alahan recognised the symbol from the old archives, the symbol was of a circle design. It had a mailed fist clutching a hammer over a pair of crossed swords. He knew their words by heart, the records showed it was emblazoned on almost every piece of equipment and architecture of the Ordo Malleus.
No Sacrifis De Magni
No Fraudis Es Minori
He knew not what it meant, that has been lost to time. It was the language of the old gods, known to the followers of the six as the Dark Tongue. As it was the language of the dark age of the 41.
"You wish to capitulate?" the officer asked.
"Yes, I am acting commander of this army. I plead for the lives of my men and request mercy." Alahan replied trying his best to hold his voice steady as he thought of the defenseless men behind him.
"And what army would that be?" the officer asked.
"The Holy Kingdom second army." Alahan replied bitterly.
"To whom do I speak and who does he fight for?"
"I am Commander Alahan Fionn, Paladin of the Holy Kingdom. I serve Queen Calca Bessarez." Alahan replied through gritted teeth as he swallowed this humiliation.
"And her full title is?" the officer pressed.
"Queen Calca of house Bessarez, first of her name, the Sovereign of the Roble Holy Kingdom." Alahan replied.
"Good, now say the whole thing to your army, order them to surrender." the officer said calmly.
Alahan froze for a moment, how much more humiliation must he endure? He grit his teeth hard enough that he swore if he bit down any harder he would crack his molars. He turned to his army charred makeshift flag in hand and took a deep breath.
"I am Commander Alahan Fionn, acting commander of the Holy Kingdom second army, Paladin of the Roble Holy Kingdom. In the name of her majesty the Queen, Queen Calca of house Bessarez, first of her name, sovereign of the Holy Kingdom, I order you to surrender your arms." Alahan commanded his voice now shaking.
"You lot hear that? If any of you try anything, I will feed you to the Naga." the officer barked at his army.
Alahan watched as his army lowered their heads. The paladins grit their teeth, their fist clenched and shaking. The more junior paladins caved in quicker but some of the senior paladins still held their heads high. Defiance clear in their eyes. Alahan stole a furtive glance at the Ordo Malleus officer and saw him looking at the few defiant faces.
"Now line up for prisoner organisation, as long as you obey you are granted protections of the Wormbane Accords." Major Kirahee said
Re-Estise Kingdom, Valencia Palace
"Wormbane accords?" Renner asked quizzically as she gazed at the projection before her.
"A set of laws the Ordo's signed, stating that prisoners that fulfill certain criteria in certain circumstances will be afforded protections. Those criteria are rather strict and violation of those criteria will result in the prisoner being stripped of those rights." Maeve replied from the side glass of ambrosia in hand.
"What are those criteria?" Draudillon asked, curious as she saw no such quarter given to the beastmen.
"It's rather long, but to keep it simple. The prisoners must not pose a significant threat to the captors, the prisoners must possess a certain level of reason and civility, the captors have the right to decide if the prisoners will be afforded those rights, if the prisoners at any time are proven to have aggressive behaviour or conspiracy to resist then their rights are stripped." Maeve clarified.
"So for the beastmen they were not reasonable and civil enough?" Draudillon asked.
"Yes and the guards available would not be strong enough to contain them safely. So the doctrine applied was extermination. You can't rebel when you're dead." Maeve replied calmly.
"Why the name? Wormbane accords?" Jircniv asked as he watched what's left the Holy Kingdom's army being lined up and corralled like cattle.
"When things die they end up in the ground as food for worms. We choose to capture rather than kill denying the worms that food. Hence the name." Maeve replied.
Jircniv nodded as he understood the reasoning, although the sentiments were laudable. It also rang with practicality, the accords were at best a luxury when the situation permits. Judging by what he's seen from the battle, of which he has the luxury of a front row seat. He is once again reminded how brutally effective the Ordo Malleus is. Judging by the fight it would be surprising for the 41's forces to suffer even a thousand casualties, most of which would be light wounds that can be easily healed.
With this the Holy Kingdom's naval supremacy was over, now their coast has become a massive border to guard. With beings such as the Naga now free to prowl the waters, their ship based economy is going to grind to a halt. His intelligence services have informed him that most of the Holy Kingdom's internal trade happens by sea. With most of their major cities near the coast. Now with the seas no longer secure, the Holy Kingdom must now resort to land based travel, no doubt their road system is underdeveloped. This alone would be enough to weaken the Holy Kingdom greatly. Now with half their army gone, their days were numbered. Now there was just one piece on the board, the Slaine Theocracy. He wonders how they will react to their closest ally falling to flames.
Excerpt from Ordo Malleus Military Archives
Kinetic Munitions
Name: High Explosive Capped Anti Armor
Acronym: HECAA
Common Name: High Explosive
Purpose: Anti-Infantry, Anti-Large
Penetration: 50 mm
Area of Effect: 10m
Effective Range: 300m
The HECAA shell or HE shell as it is called by frontline troops is the standard shell used by guns of the 75 - 150mm class. Widely used for its general purpose and reliability it is safe to say the majority of the shells flying through the air on conventional battlefields will be a HECAA shell.
Name: Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot
Acronym: APDS
Common Name: Sabot
Purpose: Anti-Armor, Anti-Large
Penetration: 100mm
Area of Effect: 3m
Effective Range: 250m
The APDS shell was designed to counter the more heavily armoured targets such as dragons and other armoured vehicles. The APDS trades destructive force for raw penetration power, although it does lack accuracy at long range, it is a cheap and effective shell with a price tag of 300 gold per shell. It is the shell of choice against weak dragons and mid to low tier armoured vehicles targets
Name: Armor Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot
Acronym: APFSDS
Common Name: FS Sabot
Purpose: Anti-Armor, Anti-Large
Penetration: 170mm
Area of Effect: 1.5m
Effective Range: 400m
The successor of the standard APDS design, it featured a thinner needle-like projectile. It improves on the past design. It is more accurate, has high penetration and is effective at longer ranges. The main drawback is that it does less damage compared to the past design, thus it is primarily used when the intended targets possess considerable armor
Name: Armor Piercing High Explosive Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot
Acronym: APHEFSDS
Common Name: HEFS Sabot
Purpose: Anti-Armor, Anti-Large
Penetration: 170mm
Area of Effect: 10m
Effective Range: 300m
The Armour Piercing High Explosive Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot or APHEFSDS shells which is the same as the previous stated shell but this one explodes once it enters the target. This shell is much more expensive compared to the other shells in its class sitting at 800 gold per shell. This shell was designed to address the issues of units lacking the fire power to take down larger targets. This shell's design results in a yellow streak that strikes the target with a sound like a thunderclap, thus the troops on the ground have called it thunderbolts.
Name: Abyss Prismatic Alloy Capped Armour Piercing Fission Detonated Fin Stabilized Graviton Propelled Discarding Sabot
Acronym: APACAPFDFSGPDS
Common Name: Dragon's Wail
Purpose: Anti-Armor, Anti-Large
Penetration: 20m
Area of Effect: 100m
Effective Range: 13 000m
The Ordo Malleus often finds itself in the situation that there is always bigger prey to fight. When the situation calls to fight creatures that most mortals would think to be gods, the necessity of ever increased firepower becomes paramount. The crown jewel of kinetic class shells is the Abyss Prismatic Alloy Capped Armour Piercing Fission Detonated Fin Stabilized Graviton Propelled Discarding Sabot or APACAPFDFSGPDS shell.
High command realised the acronyms were getting too long to say in combat so they came up with a name for the shells that wouldn't require a breath and half to say. So names such as Sabot, FS Sabot, HEFS Sabot and for their crown jewel they chose a name that fit its stated purpose. The reason that this shell was created was to hunt Primal Elder Dragons and occasionally lower tier Outworld Devourers. This shell produced a screaming sound as it traveled due to its high muzzle velocity of Mach 5 or 6100km/h and it's extremely dense materials. So the name they gave it was Dragon's Wail Shells. This shell can only be fired from special Graviton Railguns usually mounted on special artillery platforms or the Takemikazuchi Class Super Heavy Tank. This shell is extremely expensive to make and it's market price is hard to ascertain considering most of its materials are highly restricted. A conservative estimate would put it to about 5000 Prismatic Coins or 5 million platinum coins which is larger than the economy of some worlds. In addition due to the size of Primal Elder Dragons these shells often have to be volley fired. So in the rare case of these battles taking place the Ordo Malleus has to fire oceans of money at these creatures.
Author's Notes:
Hey guys hope you liked the chapter. Chapters might come out slower now because I just started Uni. So the chapters may start to take awhile, I want to make sure they are good enough before I release them for you guys.
Hope the fight was enjoyable to read, I wanted to capture the confusion and chaos of combat to the best of my ability. So hope you enjoy this glimpse of what it is like to be decimated by the 41. So once again tell me what you think and see you guys in the next chapter!