The Legend of Spyro: World Fury Chapter 51: Between Hammer and Anvil, a spyro the dragon fanfic

Hey everyone! Well, I'm still kicking so don't you worry about me none. Weathers done cleared up and now it's buisness as usual again. On an upside, we can finally get started tearing down that old wasp nest of a firehouse on the hill and start building a brand new one.

Anyway, I want to tell ya'll something funny that happened to a cousin of mine a few days ago. He was out drinking with some buddies when in walks this guy and asks the bartender for the strongest thing on the list. Turns out the strongest they had was a 190 proof shot.

The guy orders it, my cousin, wanting to save the guy a load of embarrassment, tells him that he won't be able to hold it and the guy scoffs and tosses back the shot anyway. After a few minutes, he's still standing and smiling and looks at my cousin with an 'I told you I could do it' look and then, without warning, falls backwards, perfectly straight, and lands flat on his back and is snoring. His buddy who came in with him comes up and taps him, asks him why he's planking in the middle of a bar and then tells the bartender he'll have what his friend had.

Needless to say, after a few more minutes, there were two people lying in the middle of the bar floor with people trying to wake them to ask them why they were planking.

For all of ya'll looking forward to this benchmark, here's chapter 50!

Chapter 50: Between Hammer and Anvil

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Day 92

17 Floodrain, 1933

0600

Record of Master Sergeant Vasili Alexandr

They're calling it a bloody miracle. As if I was some sort of angel from God. The train we fought so hard for and that Mikail and three others died for was not a troop train, nor a supply train. It was in fact a POW train that was to start heading west towards Rotiart.

One of the officers we captured broke under 'interrogation' and told us of radio reports indicating Federation and Syllian forces were heading here and that they meant to open a third front.

Naturally this news went over like a seven-day liberty to some, but to others it was like a lead turd in the punchbowl. Lots of bad blood between Tellanos and Syllia, most of it our fault but people don't like to admit it.

The prisoners we rescued from the train are a motley bunch, some riflemen, some heavy gunners, pilots, mechanics, even got six or seven full tank crews. Only problem is that most of them are sick with dysentary, some have the shakes, others are simply too exhausted to do a damn thing. They spent the better part of yesterday going through some of the fresh rations, and the whole night barfing them back up.

Radio transmissions are getting stronger, meaning our friends are close by. However, we've also picked up a few enemy transmissions. They've got a new commander, and there's three things he doesn't take: bullshit, excuses, and prisoners. Sounds a bit like our Commander, only his men have to fear getting shot by us. This Sergei Rasvitan guy, he's six kinds of crazy. Shot a kid for stepping outside to take a shit calling it 'desertion'. Pistol went off halfway in the draw so the round hit low. Kid'll live, but he'll have to take care when sitting down for a while. Bastard's crazy, but not stupid.

I hope our friends hurry the hell up or else there won't be anyone here left to save.

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"This is Junior-Lieutenant Eli Pasternak of the Tellanian Tenth Army calling Allied Task Force. If you can read me, please respond."

The radio gave only static in responce though it was again broken by the same message that had been coming through for the past six hours.

"This is the FNV Gorchek of the Tellanian Federal Navy, we are broadcasting on all Federation frequencies in the hopes of reaching the Resistance cells still fighting for the Motherland. We are currently sailing with the Syllian, Espan, and Anoziran Navies in an attempt to open a third front. This message is to encourage those of you still behind enemy lines to keep fighting and for those of you close to where the Pelican's Nest overlooks the Bay to head there with all haste as we shall be arriving there within days. If you can transmit to us, send any intel you have to us along secure channel Dog-Four."

The monotony was broken by one of the more mechanically-minded soldiers accidentally dropping a wrench as he worked to repair some of the weapons that were in a poorer state of repair than the others. Even Vasili had (reluctantly) surrendered his rifle so that the proper repairs could be done on the battered weapon. Thankfully, there was plenty to do while his weapon was being repaired. The train station was massive, almost as large as the factory, but thanks to some rushed fortifications in the early days of the war, it had withstood the occupation better than the factory. The only real weak spots in the building was the large skylight in the roof of the Grand Terminal and the almost wall-sized glass overlook where, in more peaceful times, children and adults alike would stand with rapt attention as trains pulled into and out of the station.

The rest of the structure was more akin to a fortress than a civilian structure. But that was to be expected.

Federal Military Stature 141B/4-TS was the law that required all buildings deemed 'vital to military and national safety' be reinforced to what, before the war, seemed a ludicrous extreme. Passed after the Callinar Incursion, everything from triple rebar-reinforced concrete slabs, two-inch thick steel panels, even laminated glass and the very expensive titanium support brackets was used to bolster the defenses of said buildings. They even went as far as to create two-man pillboxes on the roof and fit quad AAA guns to the corners. The reinforcement had destroyed what some would have considered the 'natural asthetic' or 'beauty' of the buildings but when the word started to get out about the invasion, people who had snubbed the defences found themselves flocking to any building that bore the 'Red Star of Safety'.

The sign was, obviously, a giant red star on a white metal sign with the following words:

THIS BUILDING HAS BEEN REBUILT/REINFORCED WITH MILITARY-GRADE MATERIALS IN THE EVENT OF WAR. IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES, CIVILIANS SHALL BE ABLE TO TAKE SHELTER WITHIN THE STRUCTURE UNTIL THE DANGER HAS PASSED.

It may not have been much done to the station, but what little reinforcement had been done had worked wonders. Earlier that morning, a Rotarian recon fighter managed to evade the AAA and drop a bomb damn near the center of the building. The tempered glass of the skylight shook, and a few soldiers cursed at getting dust from the roof in their coffee but nothing else happened. According to the engineers they had, it would take a direct hit from a high-velocity tank shell to even scratch the drywall. The engineers had designed the buildings to withstand attacks from the air, given the amount of devastation wrought by the Callinians during the early days of the Incursion.

So far the enemy hadn't done anything but every man and woman in the group knew that the Rotarians were massing for a push that would knock them out of the city. Meanwhile, Alenkov was hunched over a man like an old man trying to decipher what had obviously been a riddle in the message. After cleaning his hands and stopping by the mess to grab a plate, Vasili came up to Alenkov and set the extra plate by him and sat down at the table.

"Alenkov. You need to eat something. If you keep staring at that map so intensely you're going to burn a hole through it." Alenkov grunted and sat down to poke at the pieces of canned ham they had been given.

"I just can't understand it. What the hell is 'the Pelican's Nest' and what Bay does it overlook? There are at least thirteen spots the message could be talking about and I have no idea where they're going." Vasili took a swallow of the bitter coffee and chuckled.

"Reminds me of a story my Father told me of the last war we had with Syllia. It was just after they crossed the border and all they had was a blank estimated map that they were to fill in as they advanced. Anyway, they wind up getting lost and one of the soldiers asks him what do they do? How do they find their way? My old man looks around, spots a bush and tells the private to go shake that bush. The private asks him why and he smiles and says: 'If you shake that bush and a bush here on the map shakes, then that's where we are.'"

Alenkov snorted and halfway spat out the coffee he had just took a sip from as he heard that and started laughing. Vasili smiled and then took a sip and turned back to him.

"Here's another one. A captain was sailing the high seas looking for enemy ships. One day, the lookout spots something, sounds the alarm, and the Captain, calmly, turns to his cabin boy and tells him to bring him his red shirt. The boy does so and then the Captain changes and they go into battle and win a tremendous victory. After the battle, the first mate turns to the Captain and asks why he wanted a red shirt to which the Captain replies that if he were wounded, the crew would not see the blood and continue to fight on."

"The next day, they spot another ship and the Captain again asks for the red shirt. They go into battle, another victory. The next day the same thing. Now, this goes on and on for several more days until finally one morning, the lookout peers out, pales and calls out an alarm that there's twenty enemy ships on the horizon. The crew, despite the challenge, look to their Captain, expectantly. The Captain, calm as can be, turns to the cabin boy and says: 'Boy. Bring me my brown pants.'" Alenkov laughed louder than before and sat his coffee down to avoid spilling it. Then, once he recovered, he chuckled.

"That's a good joke Vasili. Heh, can't beat mine though." Vasili smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's have it."

"Okay, these four soldiers were in the middle of a boat in the middle of a lake. The oldest of the men was a real loyalist and told the other three that any man truly loyal to his country would be able to walk from the boat to the shore without getting his feet wet. So, the first man, in an attempt to prove his loyalty, leaps out of the boat but splashes and sinks like a stone before swimming back up and climbing back aboard. The second man tries it and also sinks, swims back up and gets back in." Vasili chuckled, he liked where this joke was going. Alenkov continued.

"The third man now, he's seen his two friends fail and the old man looking more and more unimpressed. He gets up, takes one step out of the boat and then breaks into a dead run for the shore, barely even touching the surface of the water, much to the amazement of his fellows. Well, he reaches the shore. The two others and the old man come up to him and they ask him how the hell he did that. He turns to them and says: 'Oh, you mean you guys didn't know about the stepping stones in the lake?'" Vasili let out a loud guffaw and banged his fist on the table laughing. Mishka, overhearing the jokes, came up laughing and set his plate down with them.

"If you don't mind, I also have one. My father was a fisherman and told me this one. One day a pirate was walking through the street when a kid came up and started looking at him. He had a peg leg, a hook, and an eyepatch and asked what happened to his leg. The pirate told him he'd been in a ship battle when a cannonball took his leg clean off. Instead of binding it up, he grabbed a broken piece of wood, stuck it into the stump, and hobbled back to his cannon."

"Then the boy asks, what happened to your hand? The pirate chuckles and tells the boy he was in a sword fight and the fellow he was fighting chopped his hand off. Instead of retreating, he grabbed a hook from the deck, stuck it into his arm, and continued the fight. The boy, enthralled by the story then remembers the last thing and asks the pirate what happened to his eye. The pirate then tells him that the day after the sword fight, he was looking up and a seagull swooped down and plopped one right in his eye. The boy looks to him and says 'That's not enough to make you lose an eye'. To which the pirate replied: 'No. But it was my first day with the hook.'"

Vasili chuckled at that and gazed at Alenkov who had rocked his chair back too far and suddenly, without warning, the chair slid out from under him and he landed on the floor, still laughing. Alenkov rose, fixed his chair, and still chuckling to himself, sat back down and poked at his lunch again.

"That's very funny Mishka. You said you father was a fisherman? Yet he lived in town?" Mishka shook his head.

"No, he used to be a fisherman till one day he met my Mom while he was selling his catch in town. They told me it was love at first sight and he was able to talk my Mom's Dad into granting a position in his repair shop. It was better money than simply fishing and it allowed him to be closer to my Mom. Anyway, he used to fish out of a little village called Cardis which was on the Kolymski Bay. I remember that on his off days he would often take me fishing off a little shoal called the Nest. The seabirds, mostly seagulls and pelicans, were friendly enough that I was able to feed them what was too small for me to keep."

Alenkov suddenly looked at Mishka as if the words he'd said turned to gold and landed in front of him. He went to the map and pointed to it with an 'Aha!' moment and yelled for Major Rasvitan who came over, a little disgusted with being called in such an unprofessional way. Alenkov belayed his arguement with a finger to the map.

"Major. I know where our allies are landing. They are going to land here, near the town of Cardis. It's the only place that makes since. The waters around it are shallow enough for fishing vessels so, by comparison, they must be shallow enough for landing craft. There is a shoal there called 'the Nest' that hundreds of seagulls and pelicans use for hunting grounds." Rasvitan gave a smile as he looked at the map and then nodded.

"Good work Lieutenant. Now, we must formulate a plan on how to keep the enemy in place here so that they cannot rush the beaches and hit our reinforcements." Vasili looked to the Major who let his smile fade as he now had the undivided attention of his troops.

"Our allies and reinforcements shall land near Cardis, merely twenty-seven miles from Dovograd. In other words, we are all that stands between our allies' success or failure. For the sake of saving our country, we cannot be defeated and pushed back here. If we do, we give the enemy a clean shot at our vulnerable comrades. To borrow a popular phrase: we are the line in the sand. We cannot retreat, nor will we surrender. We are all that stands in the way of the enemy claiming final victory over the Federation." Vasili realized he was right and shuddered, speaking aloud.

"The fates of the many rest in the hands of us few." Rastinov turned to him and nodded.

"That is correct Master Sergeant. Effective immediately, I want all able-bodied soldiers to start doing double patrols. Anti-air gunners, instruct a few other in their use and operation. Engineers, I want all weapons capable of firing repaired, loaded, and issued to the soldiers before the day is up. If you have to cannibalize a weapon for parts, do so. If it is broken, either fix it or use the parts to repair another weapon. We will also need some more improvised explosives to trap the paths to the station and send a demo team up the tracks to destroy them and prevent the enemy from dropping an armored troop train on our heads."

As Rastinov turned away, a lone voice broke through the ranks. All turned to see one of the engineers, dutifully working on a rifle, starting to sing a song they had not heard in quite some time.

'Tellanos, our homeland, the land of the free men. Tellanos, the glory of our deeds are yours. A strong heart, a firm hand, an unbending will shall see us triumphant wherever we roam.'

'Rise! Glorious Tellanos! Union of our Motherland! Our bodies, our lives, and our honor is yours! Never shall we flee or fail. Always, we shall win the day. Beloved Motherland, we adore you still today.'

Vasili rose and removed his cap and joined with the young man.

'Our home is the forests, the snowbanks and seas. From North to South we all are as One. Whene'r we are threatened we rise up with valor, to crush those who hate us and raise steel to us!'

Now all the others in the station started singing, adding their voices.

'Though we prefer peace, we shan't waver in war. If our Motherland calls us, we shall answer her. With saber, with rifle, with axe and with cannon we defy all our enemies no matter their numbers!'

When the group stopped singing, Vasili glanced around and saw not one among them had a dry eye. Even Rastinov watched them all through eyes shimmering with tears. The national anthem of Tellanos was a song that told of love for their country. It was this unwavering loyalty and love that had driven them thus far.

It would continue to do so again.

As the first group to patrol gathered their weapons and gear, Mishka walked forward to Vasili.

"Vasili. If it's alright, and you don't need me at the moment, I'd like to head out with the patrol, try and get a sense of the terrain." Vasili looked at the young man and nodded but placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't need my permission to do something like that Mishka. As far as I'm concerned, you are a man now and you are entitled to do what you think is right. If you feel your place right now is with the patrol, then go with them. Who knows, you might just prove lucky for them." Mishka nodded, grabbed a rifle from the pile and ran after the patrol.

Just as Vasili finished his lunch, another squad of soldiers sat down where he was and started talking. He rose, walked over to where the engineers were repairing his rifle and they handed it to him without a word but a glance that told him the work was complete. He nodded his thanks, grabbed an ammo belt and walked up the stairs to the third floor hallway that overlooked the north. He, along with three others, were assigned to this post as sharpshooters.

Gazing out of the blown out window wasn't the most exciting post he'd ever held but, compared to other situations, Vasili figured he'd much rather be bored at a time like this rather than on edge. Grunting as he pulled the old canvas tarp up around his 'nest' he'd made for cover, he settled in for what he hoped would be an uneventful six hours.

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(Five hours later...)

The artillery shell whistled loud enough to deafen anyone as it passed overhead, impacting the rails leading into the station, destroying them. Vasili kept hold of his rifle and chambered another round and sighted a Rotarian soldier trying to charge his way down the center. He didn't get far before Vasili's shot took the top half of his head off. On his left and to his right, the other marksmen were firing just as effectively if not as quickly as he was.

The attack had started just ten minutes ago with what the soldiers called 'incoming mail' from the fortress to their south. Vasili would have slapped himself for realizing that, by moving to the train station outside of the city, theyhad sacrificed the cover of the structures and therefore the island fortress had a near perfect firing plot to rain hell down on their heads.

Thankfully, it seemed that Rotarians didn't understand Tellanian artillery because their shots kept missing but, for ever one they fired, they kept crawling closer and closer to the station. Any moment now, some bastard would get lucky and send a shell straight through the roof.

The sight of the bodies outside the fortress was all the incentive Vasili needed to cast aside those thoughts. He was mad.

Mishka had come running back with word that the patrol had been ambushed when he caught a round from a Rotarian sniper in the back. Alenkov had run out to help him and wound up getting shot for his trouble as well. The two of them were lying there, bleeding out and all Vasili could do was sit tight and wait for the enemy to break off their assault.

Worse was that the enemy had managed to drag a few tanks through the ruins and now they were closing on them. Thankfully, for medium tanks, the ones the Rotarians had brought up were poorly armored, allowing for quick kills by the soldiers with the working bazookas. He reloaded his weapon, aimed and fired, managing to kill two enemy soldiers with one bullet. Turning, he saw a cluster of five men trying to set up a machinegun to rake the building and force the snipers back. Vasili killed four of them before they even had the tripod deployed and the last man was ripped to shreds by one of the Tellanians own machineguns. For good measure, a soldier hurled a grenade at the gun, destroying it and rendering the position unusable.

Besides the usual grenades, Vasili found, with a mix of relief and horror, that several boxes of phosphorous grenades had been with the supplies captured from the train. Phosphorous, or Incendiary, grenades were used to deny enemy access by setting fire to areas or setting enemy soldiers on fire. The only thing more deadly to Vasili's knowledge was the infamous T Grenade the Syllian-trained Reed brothers had developed.

The 'T' stood for 'Thermite', a mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide that, when exposed to open flames, produced a flame capable of melting or setting fire to absolutely anything. T Grenades were used for terror tactics, sabotage, and ambushes. Fewer things were more frightening than seeing someone being burned alive by flames that no amount of water, sand, or anything else could extinguish. Vasili couldn't help but wish he had at least six T Grenades to lob at the tanks and vehicles the enemy kept sending, despite their losses.

Halftracks with reinforced armor suddenly roared through the Rotarian lines, machinegun rounds and even bazooka shells bouncing off the sloped frontal armor. Soldiers deadlocked behind barriers rose up and formed ranks behind the halftracks and let them shield them as they advanced. Thankfully, the halftracks were too heavy to trigger the landmines they had placed in their way.

The enemy soldiers, not so much.

Funny how mines work. With anti-personel mines, you could drive a tank over the little bastards and not do a thing but the moment you put a foot down on it, it does one of two things: one, it instantly detonates; or two, if explodes as soon as you lift your foot off the pressure plate. Anti-armor mines are the opposite, people can walk over them but the second a tank or other vehicle rolls over them: Boom.

The first notable success was when the first sixteen soldiers who, huddled close to one another behind the armored vehicle, vanished in a ball of fire and a red haze. Vasili remembered a gruff old sergeant he had trained with who was fond of rigging 'ambushes' for the recruits he was training. The popular line when you triggered an 'ambush' was that: 'You just blew off your legs and we gotta send out a search party for your nuts'. Unsure of what just happened, the infantry continued on and stumbled right dead center of the minefield. It was only after six more groups met a similar fate that the powers that be ordered a temporary withdrawal.

The halftracks on the other hand, kept advancing.

Then suddenly, a roaring the likes of which Vasili had never heard befor esounded just over his head. He saw red tracers shoot past and riddle the lead halftrack with holes. He then realized that the crew of one of the flak guns had removed the limiter gear and had angled the gun downwards to fire at the incoming armor. The tough frontal armor was enough to stop bazooka shells but the top and side armor didn't stop shit.

Vasili managed to fire off another four rounds when suddenly he caught sight of a muzzle flash in his scope and felt a red hot pain lance through his arm. His rifle seemed to come apart in his hands, the Rotarian rifle round smashing the foregrip, shredding the magazine and trigger guard before piercing his right arm just above the elbow. The force of the impact knocked Vasili backwards and he saw someone rise and call out to him. Looking up, he saw a medic rushing to him with an apologetic look on his face and wrapped what looked to be an oil cloth around his arm.

"Master Sergeant, can you still fight?" Vasili gazed at the young marksman who had asked the question and nodded.

"Yeah but I'll need another rifle. Listen, there's an enemy sniper across the railyard hiding by that old water tower. He's likely relocated but still, check the area." The young soldier nodded and Vasili was helped down the stairs to bottom floor where the mechanics were working on several firearms. Glancing over, he saw, of all things, a complete TR-31S.

The TR-31S was the sniper varient of the TR-31 standard rifle. It was a fairly new weapon. Semi-automatic, twenty round box magazine, improved gas-recoil system, and a ten power scope. To put it bluntly, it was the one rifle that most snipers dreamed of getting their hands on. One of the mechanics saw him looking at the rifle and handed it to him.

"The man who used this gun died yesterday. He was one of those wounded at the factory. We've repaired it so it should be good for service. I think he'd be glad to know it was being put to good use." Vasili nodded his thanks before suddenly just detecting something out of place.

No more shells were falling on them.

"The artillery stopped!" At those words a radio operator with a big smile plastered on his face came running to them.

"It's happening! Our allies have just started their landing operations! Furthermore, the carriers RNV Leviathan, FNV Ranger, AGN Pyrennes, AGN Bonne Richard,and ENS Genesis have launched several sorties against Fort Zemlya. The island fortress is burning and now we have relief from out flank. All that's left is to hold out until our allies push towards us."

The soldiers who heard this cheered loudly and even Vasili allowed a cheer until he saw medics dragging in the bodies of Alenkov and Mishka. Alenkov was dead, of that there was no doubt, but Mishka looked to still be fighting for his life. Still, judging from the wounds Vasili could see, he wouldn't last long.

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The allies have landed! The allies have landed! Man, I huess ya'll have been waiting for this part to arrive huh? Well anyway, one more chapter for the Tellanian soldiers here before I switch over to the heart of the matter: The hunt for the Silver Griffon.

Next Chapter: Forlorn Hope