Chapter VII:
They could not believe it. It had to be a dream, a fantasy that was a figment of their mind, but unfortunately, what had just happened left the Kankers speechless. They saw, they witnessed, how the "Witches" and the others arrived to unleash a fierce counter-offensive. Bullets and "Magic" fell like a relentless deluge on a city that could not long withstand the surplus of water and that caused complications in its streets. Marie, Lee and May had to retreat from their observation post when it was hit by the missiles that Sanya had launched and one of them hit one of the "Shadow Neuroi" ships, which received a direct and severe impact, unleashing a fire and its subsequent fall to the ground, hitting that box installed by their henchmen and that, now, had become a pasture of flames along with the columns of smoke that rose and "exchanged" their respective colors when they made contact with other flammable materials in question.
Lee was not going to stand idly by, rage boiling inside her, just like a bull ready to charge the bullfighter wielding the red cape. She ran until she reached one of the machines, grabbing one of her henchmen and facing him.
- What are you waiting for, for Christmas to come?!. Shoot, you idiots, take down those Witches! I don't intend to lose these valuable positions. If you fail, I swear I'll send you as "cannon fodder" to the front lines!.- She seemed to be out of her mind, under that red hair, her eyes were almost popping out of their sockets because of everything that had just happened in a matter of mere seconds. Behind them, a few meters away, a new explosion shook one of their war machines, which was engulfed in flames.- Marie, May, deploy the Anti-Aircraft Artillery now, we must protect those laser and plasma cannons!
They said nothing. It was a coming and going of bullets and "Magic". They ran, while the cannons under Lee's care were aimed, loaded and started firing, covering the Skies with red and green flashes, in an attempt to stop the enemy bombardment.
From the Firmament, Eddy along with Ed, Erica and Francesca initiated evasive action. It seemed like the ideal setting for a movie about World War I and the aerial battles of the first airplanes. Manfred Von Richthofen, alias "The Red Baron", would have been pleased to see a duel of that category and that came to life in those turbulent times. In a quick distraction maneuver, the short boy and the black-haired Italian traced several circles in the air and charged against a group of heavy ships, which received, by surprise, a rain of shrapnel that left them reduced to mere debris and burning dust, which fell, resoundingly, to the ground.
- Very good!.- Congratulated Charlotte, who kept firing and loading her weapon, which were a "Browning M1918" automatic rifle, a "Thompson M1 A1" submachine gun, a "Colt Government A1" pistol and her "Bowie" knife. The ammunition of his second weapon had already run out and he passed with the first, opening fire without stopping, left and right. A rival jumped from one of the ships, taking her by surprise and threatening to make her fall because of the accumulated weight, however, the girl was faster and with her "Bowie Knife" she pierced the neck of the lackey", throwing metal debris and other components through the air, falling to the ground.- A warrior is not attacked from behind, coward!.- Shouted the red-haired Liberion and returned to the charge.
A ship had her in its sights, but Eddy and Francesca took charge of blowing it up, destroying it completely, and from there they went, together with the others, to continue cleaning the area.
Marie and May kept shouting for orders and for the ranks to reorganize again. Both were seeing that their Armies were beginning to suffer serious casualties with respect to the amount of "troops" they had and the "Sixth Hive" could be in danger that, by some mistake or distraction that led them to lower their guard, an enemy infiltration would occur, leading to future destruction.
- Hey, May, have they left a good "Garrison" inside the "Sixth Hive"?.- The dark blue hair wanted to know, while she kept on making regrouping signs.
- There always are, but in this case, I'm with my hair standing on end and I try not to think about it. I have faith that it will be well protected and that no one will enter...I hope so.- Was the answer that sounded a bit "neutral" from the blonde Kanker's point of view, who clenched her fists tightly.- This should not be like this, we should have been winning...we were winning and now we are in serious trouble!.- She roared furiously.
- Hey, I brought them this victory. We didn't expect you to get to those annoying "Witches".- Marie defended herself against a possible verbal attack from her sister.
- No, stop being paranoid, but, what I'm talking about, is to reverse this at any cost.- May maintained seriously and then looked with hatred at Erica Hartmann and Ed, shaking her fist in the air.- If I'm honest, I'm having the impression that this has just begun and I don't know why, but I have the impression that, what we were looking for, is not giving the expected results for our conquest.- She warned.
- What do you mean?.- Marie asked, turning to face her.
- What I am trying to say is that I may be wrong, that terror is no longer something that causes populations to desist from defending themselves. I think we are seeing the same thing that happened to King Antiochus III The Great of Syria: He believed he had everything under his power, implementing fear among the different cities and civilizations that fell before his feared and invincible Armies but... every Empire knows its beginning and its end. He claimed, theoretically speaking, while emphasizing that historical reference: "The Seleucid Dynasty made a lot of mistakes and especially messing against the growing Roman Republic, that was the worst thing they could have done.- She pointed out and Marie looked at her with astonishment, unable to say a single word more.
- I hope that what you said is false, because I fear very much that we will lose something that we have worked so hard to maintain and conquer.- She said, crossing her arms.
- I may fail, but I would say that we should be prepared.- Said May, as a piece of advice, and from there they returned to their task entrusted to them by Lee.
For her part, the redhead of the Kanker sisters was on the verge of an outburst of rage against the "Witches" and the Peach Creek boys. She found it hard to believe that everything that had cost them so much time was now sinking into the marshes of war. Even with a reorganized and well-defended perimeter, the Artillery was not giving enough range or power to bring down the opponents who, at all times, were leaving a trail of death and destruction over the enemy ranks. The war machines that had been forged by the artificers and slaves they had, were now huge fireballs that did not stop burning, while their fleet of ships was reduced to piles of tiny dust that disappeared before touching the ground.
She thought of what her grandfather, Dr. Reginald Kanker, had told them before he died, surrounded by them and the other members of his family. Before the "Angel of Death" went for his soul and took him for his respective trial, the old man had asked them never to be defeated by anyone, not even by a simple group of girls with magical abilities. The failure of "Project Warlock" and General Mallory had been an unforgivable mistake for those who could have employed the technology of the "Neuroi" for the Future. That military man had been a fool when it came to demonstrating his ideal before the scientists, because of him, that Future that shone and was within their reach, was a distant and already old one. He tried to soothe his anger with a sip of water, but nothing seemed to calm that "internal storm". The only way to put an end to all those annoying "insects" was the defeat of the "Witches" but could it be done? At what cost?
She looked from one side to the other, the battalions and regiments they counted on were scarce and barely conformed to be a solid temporary defense. Sooner or later they would fall. The cannons and other weapons, among so many war machines, had been distributed and he left the orders for the fleet to reorganize to launch a possible air attack against the rivals. They only needed an order and nothing more than that. A simple task, wasn't it.
Once they had assembled their armies, the girl noticed that new columns were arriving from the East. What she hated the most came true: they had brought a good part of the armies that were on the Eastern Front in order to make up for the losses suffered there and she hoped that those who remained there could take over the oil fields and industries. It was a game of chance, where whoever had the opportunity and the best strategy to emerge victorious would win. He brought a hand to his head, it seemed that a vein in his brain would burst because of all the accumulated pressure. He let himself be carried away by the air that moved his hair and from there he took a deep breath.
Now they had a good resistance, the reinforcements formed a real "Wall" from which no one could cross or bring down their ranks. They only needed to prove their resistance capacity and with it were their war machines and weapons that were deployed when the "Witches" began to acquire a fast attack formation.
- What is going on over there?.- Sanya wanted to know, who took a pair of binoculars and looked at the "tide" that was still and in formation, waiting for a new attack, "I don't like this.- Warned the girl and from there came Eila and Double D, who was recovered after having used much of his "Magic" against the enemy hosts.
- What's going on?.- The boy wanted to know and his girlfriend passed him the binoculars, pointing downwards.- Ohhh, this doesn't look good at all. We'll have to be careful when opening fire.- He asked everyone else, as they would have to take extreme precautions against the "Shadow Neuroi" and their defenses installed there.
- Fuck, the only thing we needed was for the Kankers to position themselves to give us the great Battle of Thermopylae, just like in the movie "300".- Said Johnny seriously.- If we could open a breach, even for a few seconds, we could dislodge them from here as soon as possible," said the boy with his "friend" "Plank" at his side.
- We can do it, my friend Plank, the question is how. If we go down, they will turn us into soup like the one Rolf's grandfather drinks," warned the dark blue-haired foreigner, "Sergeant Yoshika, Commander Wilcke, what do we do," he turned to those officers.
The red-haired woman analyzed every part of that "formation", that "Wall" that seemed impregnable. There must be some weak point, something that would allow them to unleash an offensive to destroy those armies, liberate the area and thus secure the borders. Even so, every attempt she carried with her was in vain, everything seemed to go to nothing but, to the surprise of all of them, including Kanker herself, from different points they began to hear explosions, battle cries, a compact mass of forces that were marching towards where they were.
- GO FORWARD, BROTHERS, LET'S FREE OUR LANDS FROM THOSE DAMN INVADERS! LET'S HELP THE "WITCHES" AND THOSE BOYS IN THIS WAR!.- Ordered a couple of Commanders, a man and a woman, who were from Suomus and Orussia, who led a fierce charge with their hosts and war machines, which were closing the way to the attackers, in a perfect pincer movement.
- Just what we needed: A distraction! Now, to the attack, friends, let's finish this job!.- Minna ordered and they began a sharp descent against the enemy ranks, unleashing, once again, the Battle of the Frontiers.
The restart of the combat took the Kankers off guard, speechless and frozen before what their own eyes were witnessing: Their enemies, whom they thought defeated and subdued, enslaved and working for them, were now on a fierce charge and razing everything in their path. Lee felt his body trembling, not only his body, but also the pulse in his arms and legs. She was about to fall and from there she had to turn to her sisters, who held her tightly.
- Sister, we have to retreat, they will tear us to pieces.- May asked in desperation.
She did not react, it seemed that her body and mind were "petrified", she could not respond to what was happening with her hosts. These were falling under the fire of battle, a confrontation that tipped the scales against him. What he hated so much and hoped would not happen. May watched as her ships and "Elite Troops" were wiped off the face of the Earth by the "Witches". Her knees could barely stay intact but she ended up falling to the floor, remembering what she had read in those History books. However, in the midst of all the disaster that was happening, she noticed Lee running towards her and Marie.
- We're getting out of here! Retreat!. You'll see, damn you! We'll crush you, we'll destroy your damned uprising, your awakening will fall back under the eternal sleep! You won't be saved!.- Swore the redhead and from there she called the "Limousine", which landed and they got out of there.
Once inside, Marie and May began to send a series of messages to their ships and hosts about the retreat. When they accomplished their objectives, they stood by and watched as those forces fled in panic and panic. They were machines but, in a way, just as Yoshika had experienced during 1944, when she had that encounter with a "Neuroi" that took human form but did not attack her. Now, escaping for their "lives", if that concept was compatible with what was seen down there, she was putting the Kanker Forces in check.
- How are the results coming along?. I want to know about the official number of casualties, May.- Asked Marie, who was busy, in the company of Lee, delivering the orders to retreat to the East.
- We have less than 30% of our total ranks and they will still continue to fall, in case this "Awakening" reaches national levels and even happens on Suomus.- Warned the blonde.
- Fuck!.- The dark blue hair cursed but the other girl stopped him.
- Don't worry, let them celebrate yet, but on the East of Orussia we still have some good "Reserves" of our hosts on those territories and they are still besieging the oil fields and industries. If the last cities that make up the "Volga River Line of Defense" fall, then they will have no choice but to flee or die in the attempt.- The girl relaxed and leaned back calmly.
- Do you think so?.- May asked doubtfully but earned a stern look from her sister.
- I hope you're right, Lee. I don't want another setback like in Brittania, North Africa, Antarctica, Romagna and then Karsland.- Marie warned seriously.
- Don't worry, you will see, this is only the beginning of the end for our enemies.- She said, bringing calm to those present, while the "Limousine" moved away together with the retreat of her armies from the front that had just lost to the "Witches" and the Peach Creek boys, who had won the victory that day.
[The long awaited "Awakening" has arrived, but the Kankers do not intend to give up. What will happen next? We will see in the last three chapters of this "Arc".
I send greetings and thanks to Matfix, Franco M. Romano and the other followers.
Take care, friends and I wish you an excellent start of Thursday from me.
See you in the next chapter, Comrades].
