Italica, East Gate, November 29th, 0545 AT
In an instant, death and destruction stormed on Italica's eastern gate.
Her head down, Jenkins was running on the wall's walkway towards the blond knight ordering men with bows to fire back at the bandits, only to realize the same thing as Jenkins did a few seconds earlier.
A blue force field was getting in the way of every projectile that tried to hit the group of attackers.
« Hey ! she yelled to the knight whose name she didn't remember. What the hell is going on ? Why can 't we hit them ? »
« One of them is using magic ! » yelled back the knight, dodging an arrow that was coming his way.
« Ah fuck ! » she cursed, taking one of her M67 grenade in her hand.
After taking off the pin, she launched the small ball-shaped high explosive device to see if it would be useful. To her disbelief, the grenade was like grabbed by the blue light and thrown away, exploding in midair and causing no damage. In the middle of the war cries, almost no one heard the explosion and the attackers continued to progress towards the wall with their ladders.
« Look ! barked the Staff Sergeant to anyone that could hear her. In front of the door ! Green hair ! I think we have our fucker. »
In the middle of the group of bandits, a woman was standing out of the rest of the rogue soldiers. She was small, maybe as tall as Rory, but the vivid green of her hair made her a visible target. Her hand was in the air and she was muttering something. Without a doubt, she was responsible of this magic protection.
« A Harpy ? We need help ! Have you contacted the ones at the South Gate ? » asked the knight.
« I tried but it is not working ! answered Jenkins while trying to start another communication with the rest of the team. Recon 3-5 to the rest of Recon 3 ! Do anyone copy ? »
But nothing came back to her except for the same buzzing sound.
« Shit ! She must be jamming my comms ! I can't contact them ! »
Turning towards the inside of the walls, he started to yell in the direction of the group of militias waiting for the battle.
« I want the two fastest runners to go warn the princess in the castle and the Men in Green at the South Gate ! »
Without really checking if he had been understood, he returned towards an enemy that had managed to put his ladder against the walls and started to step on the walkway.
« It's now the time to battle. Fight until your death ! » the attacker yelled before his chest plate was ripped apart by a burst of several five fifty six rounds.
But something felt wrong to Jenkins. On the face of the recently killed bandit, there was no witness of pain. Instead, it was showing a completely different feeling.
He was smiling.
Italica, South Gate, November 29th, 0600 AT
« Am I the only one who hears gunshots ? » asked Marc, waking up Clark that was almost asleep next to him.
« The fuck you're talking 'bout, Marc ? »
« Shhh… » was the only answer the Corporal gave, putting his hand in front of his mouth.
The American officer tried his best to hear something. At first, he didn't noticed anything unusual, but after a few seconds being focused, really faint noises came to his ears.
Each one of them was really short, and they were coming in groups of three or four.
Like a machine gun.
« Oh fuck you're right ! Lieutenant ! »
« I heard that. West or East ? » asked Anthony, taking his FAMAS that he had put on the ground.
« I think it's coming from the East… »
« AN ATTACK ! THE EAST GATE IS UNDER ATTACK ! »
A young man appeared from behind one building running as fast as he could, sweat and blood making large marks on his shirt. He arrived so fast that it took the whole group of soldiers by surprise. Anthony noticed that he wasn't older than 18 when he stopped next to the barricade, trying to take back his breath.
« What did you say ? »
Anthony heard him right, but he just wanted to be sure.
« The bandits ! They're at the East Gate ! There are too many and we need help ! »
« Oh fuck ! » he cursed.
Quickly grabbing his radio, the Lieutenant tried to contact Jenkins that was at the East Gate.
« Recon 3-5, this is Recon 3 Actual. What's your status ? Over. »
But the only noise that came back was a loud buzzing sound.
« Recon 3-5 respond ! Jenkins, can you hear me ? »
The buzz continued for several seconds before Anthony turned off his radio.
« Fait chier ! he cursed again. Chaumond, you call the reinforcements if we can contact Command. Clark, get the Humvee. Elkader, you stay here with the girls and the militia. Everyone else is going to the Echo Golf. Understood ? »
« Understood. »
« Yup. »
« Affirmative. »
In an instant, the whole plaza became full of activity. The diesel engine of the light utility vehicle roared back to life, waking up anyone that was sleeping, including Rory, Lelei and Tuka. Hypnos doesn't care if you are a mage, an elf or a demi-goddess. Tiredness always strike.
« What is going on ? » asked Tuka to an Italican passing near the haystack that had been transformed into a large improvised mattress.
« The East Gate is under attack, and the Men in Green are going to help them. »
« The East Gate ? They were supposed to come here ! » yelled Rory, definitively upset that the fight was not going to her.
As the Humvee was heading towards the fight, the elf tried to reach for her bow, but was interrupted by Ellkader, jogging towards them.
« You don't need them right now. You all have to stay here. »
« What ? »
Rory started to poke the ground with halberd in frustration.
« For our brass, started to explain the private, you are all civilians, and we don't want to take the risk of one of you getting killed. »
« Me ? Getting killed ? You definitively don't know… » the Apostle started, but she stopped by herself.
She started to shiver.
« Huh… Miss Mercury ? You are alright ? » asked Elkader, unsure of what to do.
In front of him, she was tightening her grip on the black handle, breathing and sweating like she was feeling some kind of intense pleasure. A pleasure too strong that forced her to sat down against the wall of the building they were right next to.
« No ! It's… It's too much… At this rate, I… I… I'm going to go crazy ! »
« What the hell is going on ? The fuck is she doing ? » Elkader launched to Lelei as he started to panic.
The facial expression of the young mage was unchanged even if she was in front the Apostle that started to scream.
« She is the Apostle of Emroy, she started to explain, the god of war. When a warrior dies in a battle she is near to, his soul will pass through her body to ascend faster to the realm of Emroy. It affects her like an aphrodisiac might. »
« Seriously ? Holy shit it doesn't look good. Can we do something ? »
« No. For now she is trying to restrain herself to not cause any damage, but it makes her suffer. It will be less painful for her if she "goes crazy", but she'll start to massacre anyone she'll identify as an enemy. »
« So you mean that there is no risk for us ? » asked the private, starting to feel fear of the demi-goddess that couldn't control herself.
« As long as you don't directly attack her, you'll be fine. She knows the enemies are the bandits, and she will target them, but it is always useful to be careful. »
Camp Alnus, Airfield's Briefing Room, November 29th, 0604 AT
« What time is it ? »
« It's five past six. Fucking hell I hate white nights. »
« Sun will rise soon… Staying up for nothing. »
The two lieutenants yawned at the same time, much to the indifference of the other officers and pilots present in the room. Some were playing with their phones, other were reading the translation guide and a handful of them were taking a nap.
« Imagine they attack now. » started to laugh one of the two, not thinking it seriously. But he stopped his laugh as the radio turned on.
« Overlord, this is Recon 3. Echo Golf is under attack by a large enemy force. We need reinforcements now ! Over. »
« Copy that Recon 3. We are sending the Cavalry right now. Overlord, out. »
Without any order launched in their direction yet, everyone in the room started to prepare themselves, waiting for the word.
« This is Overlord to all Nomads and Shooters elements. Everyone to his helicopter. Operation Roman Charlie is on the go. »
In an instant, the briefing room emptied itself, each officer going towards his men and each pilots going towards their machines. The air was now filled with the sound of rotors spinning and boots striking the macadam of the tarmac.
Every Black Hawk was equipped with two miniguns on its sides, except for two. Those ones had powerful speakers mounted where the gunners normally sat.
« Overlord, this is Nomad Leader. Are we clear for Psyop ? » asked one of the few passenger of the helicopter, a laptop on his knees.
« Nomad Leader, you are clear for psychological operation. Just stick to the chosen music this time. »
« Copy that Overlord. Nomad Leader out. »
As the pilots of the Black Hawks and the Tigres were receiving the take off authorization from the control tower, the man selected the song that was sitting at the top of the song list.
Playing :
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son
The first guitar notes were welcomed by numerous cheers coming from the helicopters that were taking off in direction of Italica. The psyops guys had the reputation of being huge fans of Vietnam war movies, so some soldiers expected something more classical like the Ride of the Valkyries and not especially a rock song.
As the large group of aircraft flew over the walls of the base, some started to sing along.
Some folks are born, made to wave the flag,
Oooh they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays Hail to the Chief,
They point the cannon at you, Lord.
Passing over the refugee camp, they saluted the locals that had been woken up by the noise of the cavalry unit.
« Where are they going ? » asked Kato to the Lieutenant of the Recon Team currently tasked of guarding the camp.
« Italica. They are going there as reinforcements. » answered the officer as he was lighting a cigarette.
« And when will they arrive there ? »
« I don't know… Half an hour maybe. »
« Half an hour… Incredible… »
The sun started to rise behind the Black Hawks and the Tigres. They were heading towards their first fight in the Special Region.
It ain't me. It ain't me.
I'm no senator's son.
It ain't me. It ain't me.
I'm no fortunate one, no.
For the bandits, the battle was going well. The first wave of attackers completely took the Italican militia by surprise and captured the East gate in only a quarter of an hour. The large doors were now opened and the melee was now taking place between the gate and the large barricade.
For the princess, the battle was getting worse every second. The bandits hadn't fall into trap that she had planned at the South Gate. Now the East gate was burning. Behind the barricade, she was on her horse, trying to coordinate the defenders.
« Prevent them from passing the barricade ! » she yelled to anyone that could hear them.
The sky was slowly loosing his dark blue color in favor of a light orange. The day was rising, making the fight easier for everyone.
She heard a rumbling sound coming from behind. At first it was very faint, almost inaudible, but it rapidly drew closer.
On the large street, one of the three metallic carriage was speeding towards the battle. It stopped right next to Pina, making her steed panic for a second. The doors of the vehicle opened and the nine men in green that were inside hoped off. The officer quickly jogged to encounter the princess.
« What is the situation ? » he asked, his hand on the grip of his wand.
« Can't you see ? We are losing this fight ! she yelled back with an anger she couldn't control. They are too many of them and my men are massacred ! »
« Well… That's all I need. » he simply came back before turning back towards his men and yelling something in their language.
The two men in green that were holding the longest wands nodded before entering a building and going to the upper floors.
But before she could say anything else, she was took by surprise by a group of detonation coming from the intense fight.
The "Lieutenant", as he was called by his men, cursed as he realized who the only person capable of producing those detonations was. So he started to yell in the direction of the melee.
He yelled a name.
« Jenkins ? Get over here ! »
In the middle of the group, the black skinned woman in green yelled something back to show her position to the others. She was struggling with a bandit that had managed to close the gap between him and her and was trying to stab her with his sword. She dodged the blade in extremis before taking her knife and putting it on his back. He fell down, his face on the ground twitching of pain as blood started to pool under him. After quickly taking back the dagger-sized elaborate blade from the bandit slowly becoming a corpse, she started to scan the fight with her eyes, looking for someone.
The Harpy.
She was on top of the wall, a strangely shaped bow in her hand, shooting at any clear target she could find. Every arrow was finding a piece of Italican meat to cut through. Without thinking, Jenkins started to lie suppressive fire on her while going towards the stairs. This girl was capable of blocking bullets with her magic, and capturing her was now the main objective of the machine gunner.
Feeling the numerous impact of the men in green next to her, the Harpy stopped shooting her bow and created by reflex a small barrier to protect her. All round her, the other bowmen where falling dead from the thunder magic coming not only from the woman rushing towards her, but also from one building situated behind the barricade and from the barricade itself. In the middle of the battle, she was facing a dilemma. Should she lower her defense to attack the woman and risk to be hit by the magic ? Or should she keep her barrier up and let the woman attack her on hand to hand combat without being able to fight back ?
With only a split second available to think, she decided to let go of her magic and drew her sword. If she was going to join Emroy, better do it like a warrior. But at the instant when the blue field surrounding her disappeared and she started to run towards her opponent, she felt an intense pain going through her right leg, making her fall heavily on the ground. As the black woman was getting closer, the Harpy realized that the tan scales of her leg were pierced by two circular wounds. The blood was flowing as she tried to put her hands on the red circles. The woman quickly arrived at her level and grabbed her to put her on her shoulders, but at this point the pain was strong enough that she didn't really care. The thunder continued to fell on bandits as the woman in green started to bring her back towards the barricade.
The Lieutenant asked something to his subordinate in their language as she passed over the pile of rumble that was making most of the barricade. The princess guessed that the question was in the lines of "Are you fine ?". She answered with a large smile while putting her prisoner against the wall and doing a hand sign to the other woman in green. She jogged towards the Harpy and from her bag, she took bandages and a strange small belt. As she was putting the belt on the bird-woman's flesh part of the right leg and tightening it, Pina asked the question that was burning her lips.
« Why did you captured her ? » she yelled to be sure she would be heard over the noise of the battle.
« She was jammin' our comms with her barrier shit. The intel guys are going to be so happy with the information she'll give to them. » answered Jenkins with half the words of her sentence being in their language that was completely unknown to the princess.
« What she means, simply continued the Lieutenant, is that apparently a side effect of her magic was blocking our long-range communications and that our higher ups are certainly willing to know why. Now everything should work just fine. »
The princess simply nodded as she went back to the battle she was trying to win.
"Recon 3-9, Recon 3 Actual. Do you hear me ?"
"Recon 3 Actual, Recon 3-9. I hear you just fine. Everything's calm here except from Rory having basically orgasms from the death of people."
"What ?"
"I'll explain it later. It's complicated."
"Ok, just don't let them go here. Actual out."
"Recon 3, this is Shooter Leader. Be advised, reinforcement's ETA is fifteen mikes. Over."
"Copy that Shooter. We're waiting for our relief. Recon 3 out."
The leader of the men in green started to shout something to his subordinates who almost all responded by cheers.
« What did you say ? » asked Pina, wanting to know what news could bring such an amount of joy in the hearts of soldiers.
« Our reinforcements are on their way and should arrive in less than fifteen minutes. »
« Fifteen minutes ? And how strong are those reinforcements ? »
« Huh… Fifteen helicopters and around a hundred and ten men I think. »
The princess sighed in relief. If only twelve of those men in green could fend off a fire dragon, a hundred of them will save the city. She didn't knew what a "helicopter" was, but she knew that the victory was here.
But they still needed to survive for fifteen minutes, and that was not going to be easy.
The number of Italican fighters was going down really fast. Too fast even. The numerous minutes that had passed since then had been the time when the highest number of defenders died in the melee.
Even the boost of the moral of those behind the barricade was almost entirely canceled by the arrival of an injured defender, coming from the northern part of the wall.
« Princess ! They've attacked the wall from another angle ! They were too many of them ! We had to flee ! »
« What ? Do that mean they have captured the ballistae ? » she asked as she started to panic again.
« Yes. We have lost the control of the ballistae. They can surround us now. »
The Lieutenant heard the news and cursed. He immediately reached for the black device of communication and started to talk in it.
"This is Recon 3 to all allied aircraft in the AO. Be advised that the enemy has control of the east wall's ballistae. I repeat, the enemy has now basic anti-air capabilities. How copy ? Over."
"This is Shooter Leader. Solid copy, Recon 3. Now be advised that our new ETA is two mikes. Mark the target. Over."
"Roger that, Shooter. We'll mark the Echo Golf with a red smoke."
"Solid copy, Recon 3. Shooter Leader out."
After ending his conversation with whoever he was talking to, the leader shouted another thing to the men in green. This time, it was an order. In no time, all the other-world soldiers leaved their position on the barricade and joined him right next to the princess, forming a circle. Now that the enemy could arrive from anywhere, it was better to watch every angle to survive until the arrival of the reinforcement. He then ordered something the one man in green that was literally facing the gate from his position. The soldier nodded, opened the tube that was situated under his wand by sliding one part, grabbed a metallic cylinder from one of his numerous pouch and slid it inside the tube. Pina noticed that he was now holding his wand in a different way, pointing it towards the sky instead of the bandits.
Thump.
She heard the noise, she saw the small cloud outside the tube and she understood that the man had launched the cylinder over the wall. She expected an explosion or the thunder, but instead, behind the wall, a cloud of red smoke started to rise. She wanted to ask so many questions, but she kept them to herself to not destroy the state of concentration the men in green were in. But the black device came back to life again.
"Recon 3 Actual, Recon 3-9. Rory is closing in on your position."
"What ? I told you to keep them at the south gate !"
"She jumped on the fucking roofs started to run towards you Naruto style ! She's so fucking fast I couldn't do a thing !"
"Fuck ! Keep the other two from getting here, alright ?"
"Copy ! Recon 3-9, out."
He turned his head towards the roofs of the buildings, like he was trying to find something. Noticing that, Pina started to look in the same direction like if there was something wrong.
A shadow passed on the roofs and jumped behind the barricade.
The sudden arrival of Emroy's Apostle stopped the fight between the few remaining defenders and the bandits, paralyzed by the surprise of her arrival.
"This is Shooter Leader to all. In weapon range in 30 seconds."
The sudden silence allowed for a faint melody to arrive to the ears of everyone. It was like coming from the heavens, produced by an unknown instrument. The distorted were following each other in a rapid succession as they grew louder and louder, a strange whisper coming with them.
Mmmmm…
The bandit that was the closest of Rory Mercury, a large man with his face completely covered by a helmet made of several heavy iron plates, tried to attack her as she was rising from her landing position with his flail. As fast as light, she dodged the large spiked ball and swung her halberd in the direction of the man.
Mmmmm…
At her feet, the decapitated corpse fell and the head rolled a few meters away, blood pooling from the two recently separated parts of the bandit's body. The whispering transformed into words. Words of the other-world's language.
Thunder.
Mmmmm…
In the background, the notes started to be accompanied by a strange flapping sound. But only a few inside the walls noticed as they watched in terror the Apostle simply wipe off the blood from the blade of her enormous axe. She was laughing.
Thunder.
Mmmmm…
Outside the walls of Italica, the majority of the bandits was petrified by the music. Those behind the attacking army noticed the small strange black figures that appeared on the rising sun.
Thunder.
Mmmmm…
They were growing closer at a fast pace. After a few seconds, one bandit believed seeing two different types of "birds".
Thunder.
Mmmmm…
"This is Shooter Leader to all. Target is in range. Weapons free. Rocket away."
"2, fired."
"3, fired."
"4, rocket away."
And in an instant, death and destruction stormed again on Italica's eastern gate.
Thunder !
"Target hit. Current targets are now the AA weapons."
The shockwave of the massive explosion that had hit the main group of bandit made Rory's hair fly in the wind. Four green flying monsters passed over the wall, their small snouts pointing towards the ballistae and spitting thunder like the men in green's wands, but at a bigger scale. The sounds of destruction made Pina's horse panic, forcing her to focus on the steed for a few seconds.
I was caught in the middle of a railroad track.
The Apostle immediately jumped in the pack of bandits and started to slash the flesh of the former soldiers as a hot knife in butter.
I look round, and I knew there was no turning back.
Outside, the other flying machines that were all smaller in height, longer, larger and painted black started to attack the mass of bandits with their thunder spitting snouts mounted on the side. In the terror and the chaos no one noticed the men manning the revolving tubes making those snouts.
My mind raced, and I thought : what could I do ?
Some tried to flee, some tried to find shelter inside buildings and some tried to fight back with their bows, but the green and black flying beasts were relentlessly pursuing them.
And I knew there was no help, no help from you.
The bandits came to Italica to bring death and destruction. Now they were the victims of this merciless destruction.
Sound of the drums, beatin' in my heart.
"Shooter to all Nomads. Enemy AA is destroyed. Proceed to your objectives."
"Nomad 6 to Recon 3, mark your position for support, over."
"Copy, Nomad 6. Marking our position with a flare."
The thunder of guns, tore me apart.
The black machines entered the princess' field of view as they flew over the city's walls. She saw the men in green that they were caring in their inside.
Pina noticed the leader of the man in green grabbing another small device and pointed it at the sky. From it, a small shining light started to rise. She didn't had the time to wonder what it could do that one of the machine stopped over them. The wind produced by it spinning wings was making the dust and her cape fly. But it wasn't facing towards the bandits trying to fight the Apostle. Instead one of its side snout was pointed in their direction. Rory, seeing it getting in position, jumped out of the densely packed group of bandits and started to run towards the group of men in green. Pina hadn't witnessed yet the destructive power produced by the device called in the other world the M134 Vulcan Minigun.
You've been…
Thunderstruck
The sound of thunder striking hundreds of time per seconds pierced her ears, but she didn't moved an inch, paralyzed by the infernal spectacle taking place in front of her. She couldn't believe it. Everything was disappearing in the flames without anyone being capable of opposing themselves to such an indescribable force. A force of an incomparable violence that annihilates in a few seconds the notions of honor, bravery and pride.
Tears started to run down her cheek and fall onto the ground like the golden cylinders falling from the machine's snout. From where she was, she could hear the sarcasm of the goddess of war.
When the thunder stopped, two long ropes unrolled from the side and other men in green rappelled down to ground level. Pina was still silently crying as she looked at whatever remained of the large group of bandit occupying the east gate.
Just a pile of cut limbs, blood and fresh gore.
What power did she just summoned to save Italica ?
The last man in green coming from the flying machine touched the bloodied dirt and the rope fell on the ground. What appeared to be the leader of the reinforcements group started to talk with the Lieutenant. Overhead, the green machines were still flying in circle like vultures, looking for a target before making thunder strike with their snout or launching tubes exploding at the contact of the ground.
The leader of the scouting team nodded, showing his agreement with whatever the leader of those with the yellow and black insignia on their shoulder said. As the machine riders started to clear the streets and enter the buildings that could have hosted remains of the bandit army, she was called by the Lieutenant.
« Princess, he started, the cavalry is taking it from here. We have the order to bring you back to the castle while they secure the area. »
The princess simply moved her head slightly to show her approbation and turned her horse towards the castle. The odd group started to make their way to the manor while Pina was deep in her thoughts.
Those soldiers were still the Empire's enemies, and now they were about to capture the most important vassal city of the Empire. Will she have to kiss their boots to save the countess from prison ?
It has been a hell of a challenge to write this battle of Italica.
As you might have noticed, the majority of the battle has been written with the point of view of either the princess or some bandits. It is something that most of the fic I read didn't do. Most of the time you have the POV of the main character who knows helicopters, and the reaction of the locals to them are secondary. So I tried to switch things around. Plus it is also my first chapter longer than five thousand words.
Also if thought that Thunderstruck by AC/DC was a cool music that went well with images of choppers flying and blowing stuff up.
There wasn't any real reviews for the last chapter, but I still want to salute Junior VB. I don't know if I can speak spanish correctly, but thanks for following my story and enjoying it. No creo que puedo hablar español correctamente, pero gracias para seguir mi historia y disfrutarlo.