Ever since the assault was initiated, Captain Adranos rode past the ranks of former soldiers, shadows of various leaderless armies had found themselves working together at this moment. Torn banners and coat-of-arms remained on their armor, they have forsaken their oaths for the war they were supposed to have. The horror they witnessed at Alnus Hill was something they all shared, no matter who came from where.

Since a small group of soldiers had broke through the siege and reinforced the Italica garrison, the mercenary captain had told Commander Vlad about what he knew about these foreigners. Because of this, the pillaging around Italica had ceased for a final push into Italica, a fine tribute for Emroy. Pillaging this town and sacrificing its inhabitants to the gods would be a fitting reply for the betrayal the Saderan Empire had on the allied armies.

If the strange sounds behind the walls were anything to go by, the foreigners were fighting alongside the rabble and taking up their slack. Thankfully, he convinced the commander that sending the meatshields first would soften up the enemy and tire them out throughout the fighting. Once that was truly over, the heavily armored mercenaries and dismounted knights would be sent to open the gates and give an opportunity for his company to charge through and cut them down.

When Captain Adranos had found his company, the surviving heavy cavalry stood at attention. Then he turned his horse to face the town's walls while he waited for the light infantry to open the gates. This was the time for blood and once his company retrieved their armor and looted Italica he would leave the lands of the Empire and find other worthy wars to fight in.

It should be a swift victory as soon as those doors open.

Bodies were littered around the gates, most of whom were trying to open them while the rest tried to charge the defenders. Of course, they fell to the gunfire, but it also displayed their sheer determination to die trying. More brigands climbed over the battlements, trying to open the gates through sheer will despite the threat machine guns and assault rifles trained on them.

After several agonizing hours of fighting, Artyom dropped onto one knee from exhaustion. Most of his energy was focused on trying to keep himself awake as he reloaded another case of ball-bearings into the Hellbreathe.

Uhlman joined him and patted his back. "You're doing fine. Every Ranger feels like shit after their first battle."

He wiped the sweat from his brow. "How is Maxim?"

"When the Japanese arrive we're going to hand him over to their combat medic. She'll do her best to take care of him."

Another battle cry echoed from battlements as the bandits descended down the stairs once more. "More of them are coming."

"Then let's put them down like the others." He replied before raising his assault rifle.

As the fighting continued, the first few men who lead the charge succumbed to the gunfire. However, those who survived their encounter with the knights of the apocalypse made their way to the bottom of the stairs and towards the gates. Artyom raised his Hellbreathe once more, its burden worthy of the firepower it carried. When he heard his railgun discharging electricity with each shot, the next victims screamed at their pain. He would never know how they would feel about their pain, but hopefully they wouldn't die in a terrible manner.

The DShK suddenly stopped firing before Alexsandr began to check his weapon. "Reloading."

While Artyom continued to fire his railgun, he noticed he was firing more than one shot to kill a single person. Then he began to check his weapons battery power, only to see it was at the halfway mark. It should suffice for now. When he returned his eyes back on the sights, he noticed one man was being shielded by the others as they were slowly being cut down by the Rangers. "One of them is rushing for the gate!" He shouted to the top of his lungs.

Uhlman heed his warning. "Timur, kill him." It wasn't a proper order, but it was direct.

The Ranger slung off his sniper rifle and began to aim at the men protecting their fellow warrior. "Artyom, we need to pick them off!"

The duo unleashed sniper and railgun firing as the men forming the shield wall were succumbing to the firepower they unleashed, but it was not enough. More bandits came down from the wall with shields in hand, protecting themselves and the others.

Alexsandr caught their attention once more with these very words. "It's my last box. Let's make this count." Then his machine gun returned to life bringing death to those protecting the man opening the gates. The high-caliber bullets tore through their bodies without mercy, leaving little chance of surviving their wounds.

The rate of gunfire increased with hope they could stop this assault once and for all. As Artyom fired away, he pulled the trigger once more to watch one of the shield men fall. However, the man who was shielded had already done the deed. The very plank that made sure those doors stayed closed was now being carried in his arms while he tossed it onto the ground.

Fear of what was to come had entered his mind. The young man got rid of the empty case and pulled out a new one into the spring. Once his ammo was locked in place, he squeezed hard on the clamp - getting the battery life back to the maximum. When he was finished, he returned his eyes back on the single man, who had survived the ordeal through sheer luck, only to find him pulling the doors open.

He squeezed the trigger twice, but what was done was done. The gates were open as a great war cry from the outside had flood through the crack in the gates. Unlike the men who stormed the walls, these were heavily armored and were far more organized. They had officers telling their troops where to go while a thunderous clap echoed on the other side. It was that of horses.

Then Uhlman spoke his mind. "Shit they got through. Timur, get behind the palisade and set up a sniping spot from the rooftops. If you see someone shouting orders, take him out. We can't let this get out of hand."

A rumbling sound echoed throughout the town behind their backs. Artyom looked over his shoulder to see a vehicle that appeared to have been similar to the buggy that fought alongside him when he was at Ostankino Tower. The doors swung open as several Japanese soldiers ran out to greet them. "Alexsandr, how are you guys doing?"

The heavily armored Russian spoke up. "Not too good, we just took heavy casualties and Maxim took a spear to the leg. Can you get a medic to help him out?"

Amongst the Japanese soldiers, one of them stepped forward and spoke. "I can try, but you'll have to get him away from the fighting."

"If only we had support right now. It's not looking to well for us."

One of the Japanese soldiers, a lieutenant, had spoken. "Air support is coming, but we do have someone to help us out."

The ground shook, making Artyom turn his full attention to the frontline, but clouds of dirt were kicked up in the air. As the debris began to dissipate, there was a lone girl standing between the defenders and the garrison. It was the most surreal sight he had ever seen before. Sure he had seen many strange sightings in the Metro, anomalies and ghosts, but this topped it off. Whoever this girl was, she was able to carry a long weapon with one side appearing to be heavier than the other. It didn't make sense to him as he noted the fear in the eyes of the enemy.

They were stiff in their tracks as the little girl laughed at their terrified men before she turned her head to take a glance at him. She smacked her lips with wanton desire for something, but he didn't know what she could want out of this. Who was she and why was she here? Then he heard a cry from one of the heavily armored brigands. "It's the Apostle of Emroy, kill her!"

A dozen men broke ranks and rushed towards the little girl with their weapons out; however, they were met with an untimely end. In a single strike, all of the dozen men were tossed around like dolls as they were killed in the midst of the swing. No one could have survived that.

"Forget about her, take Italica for ourselves!" The flood of blackguards ignored the girl as they charged towards the defenders behind the palisade.

Uhlman was quick to react to this change of events. "Alexsandr, tell the Japs we could use a bit of help here!"

The armored Russian relayed the request from the man in charge as they formed a firing line beside the wagons.

"Open fire!" The Russians and the Japanese troops unleashed a storm of bullets in the general direction of the enemy. In the meantime, the girl in the strange desk began to lunge herself at the enemy troops with her long polearm. Each swing tossed men aside and cut a swathe through their ranks. The officers trying to organize the mess were easily picked off by Timur's sniper rifle.

Artyom fired his weapon, piercing even the most heavily armored foes who tried to charge him. A Japanese woman stood beside him, firing her assault rifle, but she continued to steal glances from his railgun. "What? Why are you looking at my gun like that?" He wondered.

She seemed surprised by his reaction as she continued to fire her weapon. "What is that?"

Was it really necessary to ask a question when there was an army of bandits out to kill you? "It's a railgun." He answered before firing another shot at an on-coming enemy.

For some odd reason she was freaked out by short and simple answer. "Wait, a railgun?! How the hell is that a railgun?!"

"More shooting, less talking." Artyom stated. "Then we can talk about my weapon after we survive this."

Despite the fresh reinforcements arriving to assist the weary and the tired Rangers, there was just too many of them. Alexsandr's heavy machine gun chewed through the many bodies who came through the gates, but it wasn't enough to kill all of them. Some even managed to get to the barricades, where the town's militia would lunge their spears at the trespasser, hack them with swords, or simply beat them to death with bludgeons. Even the man who saved Maxim was engaging in a sword fight with one of the bandits.

A loud horn blew on the other side of the wall. It was a signal, but for who? The bandits at the gates began to make way for somebody, but the sight of horse riders outside were charging inside. "Cavalry!" Artyom shouted. There had to be a way to stop them from penetrating through the defenses any further. "Cover me!"

Then Uhlman shouted for him. "What the hell are you doing? You'll get yourself killed!"

He ignored him as he took position farther away from the others before slinging the railgun over his shoulder and taking out his Kalashnikov. The cavalry needed to be stopped, but he had a plan. Unstrapping his belt of grenades, Artyom slipped out the incendiary grenades out of their slots. He gunned down two brigands who tried to rush him while the little girl swung her halberd into the first ranks of the cavalry. Those who did survive, immediately charged towards him. Perhaps it was because he was in the open. Artyom fired his assault rifle, but in the midst of firing his weapon it stopped.

Taking a quick glance at the gun, he was horrified what had happened. Tossing Bourbon's Kalash to the ground Artyom pulled out his sub-machine gun and sprayed at each rider trying to run him over. Men fell off their horses, but others were indirectly struck by his gunfire. A squad of riders formed up and lowered their lances towards him, but the Ranger felt he wouldn't be able to kill them all. Grabbing his incendiary grenades, he threw them at the warriors who didn't even stop at his attempt to hold them back.

When the grenade shattered upon impact, the riders exploded with flames around their bodies. They screamed in agony while the horses whined about the fire upon their backs. What little self-preservation they had was focused upon putting out the fires, but gunfire from behind his back had cut them down.

More riders charged towards him as he tossed grenade after grenade at the enemy. Fragmentation, incendiary, or sticky, they all shared the same goal at inflicting too many casualties into their ranks.

However, one survivor got through as he rode towards him from the right flank. Artyom glanced over to his flanker, but he was surprised when he recognized a familiar face come to his rescue. The knight rammed a spear into the rider before glancing over to him and giving him a nod. A payment for saving him earlier.

The entire battle halted to a stop as both the enemy and the besieged heard a strange sound echoing into the air. Violins and music was heard that even the enemy did not know what it was. Then strange sounds buzzed through the air with chaos reigning supreme beyond the gates. The invaders were filled with terror as sudden explosions erupted outside the defenses and a strange sound of a higher caliber cried out.

Artyom froze in place as a shadow of a vehicle flew over the gates. He didn't know whether to feel in awe or of fear. Then he heard one of the Japanese people talk. "Our air support is here!"

Shuhrat called out for him catching his attention. "Boy, get back you're in the danger zone."

The Ranger turned to his rescuer as he grabbed his equipment. "Fall back!" He quickly rushed for the palisade as Uhlman gestured his hand to hurry up. He did what he could, but his body felt spent in this exhausting fight.

When Artyom and the nameless knight arrived at the wagons in front of the palisade, one of the aircraft fired away as he covered his ears with his hands. It was too loud for him while he watched more than a dozen enemy soldiers cut down in a short moment.

Was this what Alexsandr meant by air support? The power of the skies to strike down upon your enemies without a single chance? Was it the same kind that destroyed the city of Moscow?

The dirt slowly dissipated back to the ground with many wounded and crying at their pain. Whatever organization that remained was shattered by this short burst of destruction while the defenders cheered at their victory. The enemy was finally repelled with the surviving enemies fleeing through their corridor of death while the skies beyond the wall would be met with the same fate.

Uhlman found him leaning on one of the wagons as he expressed his warm smile he was known to have. "We finally killed the rats. Maybe we should all celebrate it with a drink?" Then he glanced over to him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Artyom dismissed his worry with a wave of his hand. "I'll be fine." When he closed his eyes, he stumbled to the ground.

Despite falling into a slumber, the veteran Ranger was able to get off a bad joke. "Looks like you'll miss the afterparty."

Author's Note: I was supposed to update another fic, but consider yourselves lucky since I didn't want to leave this event incomplete.

king Quinn The Last Heir: No, because I don't think the Metro Dwellers want Falmart in the first place. However, it would be a massive asshole move to not allow the Metro Dwellers access to the modern world or deny the United Nations access to help them rehabilitate themselves to a modern society.

headreviewer mk2: Ever since Metro 2033 (Original), I always liked the idea of a makeshift railgun, because it also displays the possibility to engineer something like that.

Assistant Elite General Matteo: Expressing love with a fifteen millimeter ball-bearing projectile from afar.

EnriksD8: Of course.

jaalco: It's also because I actually like what I'm typing. Not to mention, it's popular on SpaceBattles as well.

Sigma-del-Prisium: You should check out my thread on SpaceBattles. It's funny since I used Powerwolf instead.

Psihopatul: The Dark Ones? I'm going to have fun typing them.