Disclaimer - I own Advance Wars! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(A couple of workers at Nintendo appear and beat up Ascension.)
Ascension: Let me rephrase that... I don't own anything in this fic except
Red Sun, its COs, Azazel and several random extras.
Note - Sorry for the delay people. I was a bit stuck on the battle scene.
*****
CHAPTER 5: ECLIPSE
Orange Star stood no chance against the fury of Red Sun. Following Andy, Max and Sami's respective defeats, the Red Sun army had laid waste to all between them and the path to the capital. At one point Kelalith and Yal'Dan were at a stalemate with their enemies on a mountain pass, but they were joined by Cabal's forces from the south. After that, Orange Star lost all chance it might have had.
All the Orange Star COs had teamed up to repel the siege, but it was in vain. After the fall of the capital, the country surrendered. Fortunately for Nell, Andy, Sami and Max, they managed to escape to the safety of Blue Moon.
Their victory over one nation only served to whet Red Sun's appetite for war, and now they turned their attention to Blue Moon. But this time they would not have the element of surprise. The Blue Moon COs had already received the details about Red Sun from the Orange Star refugees and tightened their defenses on the borders.
*****
Kelalith and Yal'Dan could see the line of mountains that marked the border between Orange Star and Blue Moon. Both men wore identical grim smiles. Though a portion of their forces had been left behind to secure their grip on Orange Star, they were still confident of victory over the second target.
"Wonder what the Blue Moon COs are like?" wondered Kelalith.
"We'll find out soon enough," said Yal'Dan. "I'm sure they're expecting us."
"Let's get a move on then..." Kelalith had barely finished his sentence when a voice came from behind them.
"Hold!" It was Cabal. "As much as I am sure of your success, only fools would fight without any knowledge of the foe. Allow me to scout ahead and test their strength."
"All right," replied Kelalith. "We'll wait here. But be quick! My gun has almost cooled down."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it," said Cabal with a rare chuckle.
Like most of his rare chuckles, this one had no humour in it.
*****
"Straighten up, yer horrible man, and listen!" Olaf was practically screaming at Grit. "Those Red Sun forces don't like naval combat, so they're all going to be squeezing in from that narrow bit of land between here and Orange Star. It's your duty to guard it, because if you don't, Blue Moon will be lost!"
"Who cares?" yawned Grit with a shrug. "It's just a big bit of land in the middle of the ocean."
"Why you..." a stream of colourful language, accompanied by large quantities of spit, piled over Grit like a tidal wave.
*****
An hour or so later, Grit was lying on a patch of high ground along with his rockets, artillery and snipers. Unlike Max, he specialized in long- range units and could usually make them perform beyond normal standards.
Grit was about to get some sleep when a shadow clouded the sun from him. He shivered. Why was it so cold all of a sudden?
"I greet you," said the cloaked figure. "It is known to me that you care little about the petty feuds of the countries, so I shall leave decisions to you. The Red Sun army numbers more than sand on a beach. If each of them represented a distant star, they would outshine the sun itself. Know this: they have no mercy, and the red on their uniforms is not only colouring but also blood - both their enemies' and their own."
He stopped for a few moments to let Grit digest his words. "I leave you to your choice to face them in battle or not. Either way, balance be served."
Grit blinked and the figure was gone. He had no doubt that that was the mysterious person Sami kept talking about. At first he had been slightly doubtful when she described him vanishing into thin air, but now...
*****
"Cabal still isn't back," muttered Kelalith. The last he had seen of his strange companion was of him going over the mountains, and then all contact had been lost. Even his radio was switched off.
Yal'Dan was sitting under a tree twiddling his thumbs in boredom. They had been waiting for hours already.
"Let's just go without him," he suggested.
"I suppose so," said Kelalith. "Not much we could do. But Cabal usually isn't like this. We might have to fear the worst."
"Oh, yes. I'm sure we do," said Yal'Dan.
Kelalith had picked up the sarcastic tone. "I have a feeling that our ideas of 'the worst' vary greatly, my friend."
An awkward silence followed.
"Come," said Yal'Dan stiffly. "Let's go kill people."
*****
At the Blue Moon HQ, Olaf was saying things that would bring this story's rating up to NC-17 if displayed here. Grit had left his post and departed from Blue Moon all of a sudden. His reason was that Red Sun kill only those who resist them and if the Blue Moon army backed down, their civilians would be safe. That was the while point of fighting wars, to protect them, right?
But Olaf didn't think so. Andy, Sami and Max were cowering in a corner as the overweight CO swore the living daylights out. Eventually he calmed down and stormed away in a huff, muttering something about commanding the forces himself.
*****
The three armies met several kilometres southeast of the Orange Star/Blue Moon border. Red Sun on one side, Blue Moon and the remnants of Orange Star on the other side. Grit had brought along a fraction of Blue Moon forces with him when he deserted, but Colin was en route with reinforcements. Olaf was sure that he would win. If the allied armies couldn't stop Red Sun, the weather would. Olaf favoured snow, and after long years of training, he could actually summon blizzards at will on some occasions.
The armies stopped about a thousand paces away from each other. From a high vantage point up a nearby slope, Yal'Dan spoke through a microphone, making sure everyone heard.
"Anyone seen a fat, bearded git around? He's supposed to be a Blue Moon CO or something."
Olaf's explosion could be sensed miles away.
Taking advantage of the temporary delay caused by Olaf's swearing fit, the Red Sun army charged. Realizing that he fell for the oldest trick in the book, Olaf ordered his units into defensive formation.
"Let the winds of war bring snow!" bellowed Olaf. Almost instantly, the sky clouded over, a cold gale whipped up and snow fell. Within minutes, the whole battlefield was a metre thick with white powder.
"Impressive," said Yal'Dan. "But I'm afraid that snow won't stop me. May the cleansing flames burn your souls."
As soon as he had uttered those words, multiple fissures split the ground. Red-hot fires burst forth, melting the snow around it. Blocks of burning brimstone shot up into the sky and shattered into a million pieces, flying all across the field and punching holes through anything unfortunate enough to get hit. Yal'Dan's bombers soared ahead, dropping more fire to clear away the snow.
Olaf stumbled a few paces back in surprise. This had never happened before. Undeterred, he increased the power of the frozen tempest and ordered his tanks to advance.
The Orange Star COs could do nothing but hold their troops back and watch. They knew that marching into the deadly dance of frost and flame was suicide for anyone except those used to the elements.
*****
At the same moment, Colin was double-timing his troops to rendezvous with Olaf's. The boy could scarcely believe that Grit, one of his two idols, had run away! What reason could he possibly have?
But right now was not the time to ponder on such things. The fog was heavy, so Colin ordered a short break and sent out recons to find a detour. He was standing alone near his own transport vehicle, waiting for news, when he suddenly noticed his teeth chattering. Strange... it wasn't this cold a few minutes ago.
A cloaked figure emerged from the fog and looked at Colin in a way that made him felt X-rayed.
"Ah, yes." He finally spoke. "The imbalanced one."
"Who? Me?" stammered Colin, bravely holding his ground.
"Tell me, Colin. How much money do you have?" He continued before Colin could answer. "Money and material possessions are nothing. We were born into this world with nothing, and we depart with nothing. Riches are an illusion, nothing more than a dream from which we wake from."
"You're wrong," said Colin. "I've won plenty of battles. Money buys... p-p- power."
The cloaked figure showed no emotion to his response. "Yes, I thought you might say that. Everyone has been lost in lies before, but reason is the hammer that awakens us from our slumber. I think I should wield that hammer upon you."
"West of here are some neutral bases. You will have time to capture them. Deploy as many troops as you can afford. I shall meet you with nothing more than twelve infantry. Then see how much good your money does you."
Stars suddenly burst in Colin's vision. When they faded away, the cloaked figure was gone. Just then, the officer of his recon patrol approached.
"Sir! We've found some bases west of here! Could I suggest taking them and deploying additional forces?"
"Yes, we'll do that," replied Colin quickly, still thinking about the stranger's challenge.
*****
Hours later, Colin's army marched at a steady pace, their ranks thickened by the units he purchased at the bases. He was just beginning to think that the cloaked figure had vanished without a trace when a series of explosions were heard in the middle of his troops, causing a commotion.
Trying to keep order, Colin could swear he heard the strange man's voice through the noise.
"On guard, Colin."
Colin ordered his soldiers to branch out in all directions and catch the unseen enemy, but it was all in failure. They struck from the shadows, lobbing explosives into Colin's forces and disappearing instantly.
Suddenly, Colin spotted a flash of white. "There!" he yelled. A round of concentrated fire burst in the direction he pointed to, and the rest was silence. After a few seconds twelve bodies seemed to just fade in. Twelve corpses of infantrymen wearing white uniforms with black linings.
"Is it over?" asked Colin to no one in particular.
"No, Colin," came the reply. The cloaked figure strode into view. "This was intentional, to show you one thing money can't do."
He closed his eyes, seeming to drop into a meditative state. Colin's instincts screamed at him to fire or run away, but something held him back. Some unknown force mesmerized him, clouding his judgement and telling him to stay and watch.
The cloaked figure spoke, almost as if chanting. "All life begins in death, and all death begins in life. Wounding is healing, and healing is wounding. The wheel of time turns... the circle is complete."
And before Colin's horrified eyes, the bloodstains on the twelve soldiers' uniforms disappeared and they stood back up, alive and well once again.
Colin tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn't obey him.
"Convinced now, Colin?" said the cloaked figure without showing any signs of triumph. "Deny it if you will, but you know that you have lost."
"No," said Colin weakly, and then a surge of anger rippled through him, giving him strength. "But that was cheating!" he shouted angrily. "If you didn't so that, I could have won! Money still helps!"
The cloaked figure's eyes flashed. Colin felt his momentary strength leave him, and he fell to his knees. What would his strange foe do to him?
"A man forced against his own will is of the same opinion still," said the cloaked figure. "Hmm... interesting. Thank you, Colin. You have given me something to think about."
The next moment, he was gone.
Note - Sorry for the delay people. I was a bit stuck on the battle scene.
*****
CHAPTER 5: ECLIPSE
Orange Star stood no chance against the fury of Red Sun. Following Andy, Max and Sami's respective defeats, the Red Sun army had laid waste to all between them and the path to the capital. At one point Kelalith and Yal'Dan were at a stalemate with their enemies on a mountain pass, but they were joined by Cabal's forces from the south. After that, Orange Star lost all chance it might have had.
All the Orange Star COs had teamed up to repel the siege, but it was in vain. After the fall of the capital, the country surrendered. Fortunately for Nell, Andy, Sami and Max, they managed to escape to the safety of Blue Moon.
Their victory over one nation only served to whet Red Sun's appetite for war, and now they turned their attention to Blue Moon. But this time they would not have the element of surprise. The Blue Moon COs had already received the details about Red Sun from the Orange Star refugees and tightened their defenses on the borders.
*****
Kelalith and Yal'Dan could see the line of mountains that marked the border between Orange Star and Blue Moon. Both men wore identical grim smiles. Though a portion of their forces had been left behind to secure their grip on Orange Star, they were still confident of victory over the second target.
"Wonder what the Blue Moon COs are like?" wondered Kelalith.
"We'll find out soon enough," said Yal'Dan. "I'm sure they're expecting us."
"Let's get a move on then..." Kelalith had barely finished his sentence when a voice came from behind them.
"Hold!" It was Cabal. "As much as I am sure of your success, only fools would fight without any knowledge of the foe. Allow me to scout ahead and test their strength."
"All right," replied Kelalith. "We'll wait here. But be quick! My gun has almost cooled down."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it," said Cabal with a rare chuckle.
Like most of his rare chuckles, this one had no humour in it.
*****
"Straighten up, yer horrible man, and listen!" Olaf was practically screaming at Grit. "Those Red Sun forces don't like naval combat, so they're all going to be squeezing in from that narrow bit of land between here and Orange Star. It's your duty to guard it, because if you don't, Blue Moon will be lost!"
"Who cares?" yawned Grit with a shrug. "It's just a big bit of land in the middle of the ocean."
"Why you..." a stream of colourful language, accompanied by large quantities of spit, piled over Grit like a tidal wave.
*****
An hour or so later, Grit was lying on a patch of high ground along with his rockets, artillery and snipers. Unlike Max, he specialized in long- range units and could usually make them perform beyond normal standards.
Grit was about to get some sleep when a shadow clouded the sun from him. He shivered. Why was it so cold all of a sudden?
"I greet you," said the cloaked figure. "It is known to me that you care little about the petty feuds of the countries, so I shall leave decisions to you. The Red Sun army numbers more than sand on a beach. If each of them represented a distant star, they would outshine the sun itself. Know this: they have no mercy, and the red on their uniforms is not only colouring but also blood - both their enemies' and their own."
He stopped for a few moments to let Grit digest his words. "I leave you to your choice to face them in battle or not. Either way, balance be served."
Grit blinked and the figure was gone. He had no doubt that that was the mysterious person Sami kept talking about. At first he had been slightly doubtful when she described him vanishing into thin air, but now...
*****
"Cabal still isn't back," muttered Kelalith. The last he had seen of his strange companion was of him going over the mountains, and then all contact had been lost. Even his radio was switched off.
Yal'Dan was sitting under a tree twiddling his thumbs in boredom. They had been waiting for hours already.
"Let's just go without him," he suggested.
"I suppose so," said Kelalith. "Not much we could do. But Cabal usually isn't like this. We might have to fear the worst."
"Oh, yes. I'm sure we do," said Yal'Dan.
Kelalith had picked up the sarcastic tone. "I have a feeling that our ideas of 'the worst' vary greatly, my friend."
An awkward silence followed.
"Come," said Yal'Dan stiffly. "Let's go kill people."
*****
At the Blue Moon HQ, Olaf was saying things that would bring this story's rating up to NC-17 if displayed here. Grit had left his post and departed from Blue Moon all of a sudden. His reason was that Red Sun kill only those who resist them and if the Blue Moon army backed down, their civilians would be safe. That was the while point of fighting wars, to protect them, right?
But Olaf didn't think so. Andy, Sami and Max were cowering in a corner as the overweight CO swore the living daylights out. Eventually he calmed down and stormed away in a huff, muttering something about commanding the forces himself.
*****
The three armies met several kilometres southeast of the Orange Star/Blue Moon border. Red Sun on one side, Blue Moon and the remnants of Orange Star on the other side. Grit had brought along a fraction of Blue Moon forces with him when he deserted, but Colin was en route with reinforcements. Olaf was sure that he would win. If the allied armies couldn't stop Red Sun, the weather would. Olaf favoured snow, and after long years of training, he could actually summon blizzards at will on some occasions.
The armies stopped about a thousand paces away from each other. From a high vantage point up a nearby slope, Yal'Dan spoke through a microphone, making sure everyone heard.
"Anyone seen a fat, bearded git around? He's supposed to be a Blue Moon CO or something."
Olaf's explosion could be sensed miles away.
Taking advantage of the temporary delay caused by Olaf's swearing fit, the Red Sun army charged. Realizing that he fell for the oldest trick in the book, Olaf ordered his units into defensive formation.
"Let the winds of war bring snow!" bellowed Olaf. Almost instantly, the sky clouded over, a cold gale whipped up and snow fell. Within minutes, the whole battlefield was a metre thick with white powder.
"Impressive," said Yal'Dan. "But I'm afraid that snow won't stop me. May the cleansing flames burn your souls."
As soon as he had uttered those words, multiple fissures split the ground. Red-hot fires burst forth, melting the snow around it. Blocks of burning brimstone shot up into the sky and shattered into a million pieces, flying all across the field and punching holes through anything unfortunate enough to get hit. Yal'Dan's bombers soared ahead, dropping more fire to clear away the snow.
Olaf stumbled a few paces back in surprise. This had never happened before. Undeterred, he increased the power of the frozen tempest and ordered his tanks to advance.
The Orange Star COs could do nothing but hold their troops back and watch. They knew that marching into the deadly dance of frost and flame was suicide for anyone except those used to the elements.
*****
At the same moment, Colin was double-timing his troops to rendezvous with Olaf's. The boy could scarcely believe that Grit, one of his two idols, had run away! What reason could he possibly have?
But right now was not the time to ponder on such things. The fog was heavy, so Colin ordered a short break and sent out recons to find a detour. He was standing alone near his own transport vehicle, waiting for news, when he suddenly noticed his teeth chattering. Strange... it wasn't this cold a few minutes ago.
A cloaked figure emerged from the fog and looked at Colin in a way that made him felt X-rayed.
"Ah, yes." He finally spoke. "The imbalanced one."
"Who? Me?" stammered Colin, bravely holding his ground.
"Tell me, Colin. How much money do you have?" He continued before Colin could answer. "Money and material possessions are nothing. We were born into this world with nothing, and we depart with nothing. Riches are an illusion, nothing more than a dream from which we wake from."
"You're wrong," said Colin. "I've won plenty of battles. Money buys... p-p- power."
The cloaked figure showed no emotion to his response. "Yes, I thought you might say that. Everyone has been lost in lies before, but reason is the hammer that awakens us from our slumber. I think I should wield that hammer upon you."
"West of here are some neutral bases. You will have time to capture them. Deploy as many troops as you can afford. I shall meet you with nothing more than twelve infantry. Then see how much good your money does you."
Stars suddenly burst in Colin's vision. When they faded away, the cloaked figure was gone. Just then, the officer of his recon patrol approached.
"Sir! We've found some bases west of here! Could I suggest taking them and deploying additional forces?"
"Yes, we'll do that," replied Colin quickly, still thinking about the stranger's challenge.
*****
Hours later, Colin's army marched at a steady pace, their ranks thickened by the units he purchased at the bases. He was just beginning to think that the cloaked figure had vanished without a trace when a series of explosions were heard in the middle of his troops, causing a commotion.
Trying to keep order, Colin could swear he heard the strange man's voice through the noise.
"On guard, Colin."
Colin ordered his soldiers to branch out in all directions and catch the unseen enemy, but it was all in failure. They struck from the shadows, lobbing explosives into Colin's forces and disappearing instantly.
Suddenly, Colin spotted a flash of white. "There!" he yelled. A round of concentrated fire burst in the direction he pointed to, and the rest was silence. After a few seconds twelve bodies seemed to just fade in. Twelve corpses of infantrymen wearing white uniforms with black linings.
"Is it over?" asked Colin to no one in particular.
"No, Colin," came the reply. The cloaked figure strode into view. "This was intentional, to show you one thing money can't do."
He closed his eyes, seeming to drop into a meditative state. Colin's instincts screamed at him to fire or run away, but something held him back. Some unknown force mesmerized him, clouding his judgement and telling him to stay and watch.
The cloaked figure spoke, almost as if chanting. "All life begins in death, and all death begins in life. Wounding is healing, and healing is wounding. The wheel of time turns... the circle is complete."
And before Colin's horrified eyes, the bloodstains on the twelve soldiers' uniforms disappeared and they stood back up, alive and well once again.
Colin tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn't obey him.
"Convinced now, Colin?" said the cloaked figure without showing any signs of triumph. "Deny it if you will, but you know that you have lost."
"No," said Colin weakly, and then a surge of anger rippled through him, giving him strength. "But that was cheating!" he shouted angrily. "If you didn't so that, I could have won! Money still helps!"
The cloaked figure's eyes flashed. Colin felt his momentary strength leave him, and he fell to his knees. What would his strange foe do to him?
"A man forced against his own will is of the same opinion still," said the cloaked figure. "Hmm... interesting. Thank you, Colin. You have given me something to think about."
The next moment, he was gone.