A tense atmosphere roamed the lands as the Fire Army marched west towards the Candy Kingdom. No one conversed with each other as their footsteps rocked the earth. Tons of mobile artillery vehicles could be seen moving at a steady pace, following the golems that were accompanying them. From a far distance, the whole march was reminiscent to that of a lava flow. The elemental's physical bodies shown through the early morning darkness created a sense of fear and intimidation.
Ironically, everyone was afraid.
They slowly passed by the mountains that were under the Ice King's domain, melting the ice effortlessly as they created a path. A group of polar animals, including Gunther watched like spectators from a local parade. Although in this case, the procession was not festive.
The troops then exited through the snowy landscapes and transitioned into the border regions of the Grasslands. The path they traveled on was the same as they left it, charred and desolate from all the troop deployments. Bits and pieces of discarded equipment littered the area which was fairly negligible for the company to brush aside. But as they traveled further into the mainland, they were greeted with a massive grave that consisted of all the flame troops who died from the previous battle. Swords, spears, and crossbows were littered everywhere followed by a vast collection of knight's armor.
Phoebe and her friends shared distraught expressions as they surveyed the fields. Although the deceased elementals turned to ashes, the equipment they left behind was a lone testament to show the cost of war. It was still a morbid sight for everyone handle.
Jake continued to march through the barren landscape until his gaze focused at a particular direction. His eyes expressed sadness the more he stared and he sniffled briefly until Phoebe walked beside him.
"I'm so sorry about the house," the fiery monarch said quietly.
Jake snorted to recover himself, "It's fine, Finn wouldn't have minded. He actually predicted the place was in the way for you guys, so we got our things packed beforehand."
She could only nod as she considered Finn's thoughtfulness, "But still, I was hoping to leave it alone in one piece. I was trying to win this war without having to uproot anybody, especially Finn."
Jake chuckled dryly, "Truth be told, he was planning on moving out sooner or later. He'd even consider you did him a favor, actually."
Phoebe was appalled and shook her head in disapproval, "No, not like this. How could he think something like that?"
Jake replied, "I don't live with him anymore since I moved in with Lady and the kids a while back. We still hung out at times, but they were becoming less frequent. In time, he said his hero duties became more busy and before you know it, the guy becomes a stranger to everybody." He sighed, "One day, he decided that he wanted to leave. He believed there was nothing left for him to do since.. you know, and that it was time to move on and start over."
The elemental struggled from the tears that were threatening to burst, "I-I had no idea."
"He would have understood," Jake affirmed. "But right now, let's just focus on getting to the kingdom."
"Alright." Phoebe wiped her face subtly from a stray tear that ran down her left cheek. She berated herself mentally for being weak, and then took on a hardened expression. "There's only a few miles left before we reach the kingdom," she said as they started moving again. "We'll probably be there by dawn at this rate."
Jake grunted.
Phoebe walked over to a different section of the marching company until she found Jake 2 and Cinnamon Bun accompanying the ranks, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
CB nodded, "You're going to need someone who knows the kingdom's layouts, princess. And it's my sworn duty to help you win this war, effectively and efficiently."
The monarch nodded and left towards another section of the military column. This time, she met with the Supreme General, "Everything all set?"
SG answered in neutral voice, "All comms are fully operational. Commander Erwin's unit reports they are still standing by."
"Good, very good."
The two walked together in silence momentarily until SG sighed, "Sis, I'm sorry for how I acted back there. I'm just trying to look out for you that's all."
"You could have done that without having to make a scene," she chided. "But, I accept your apology. If anything, I'd say you owe one to Jake and Flambo."
"Okay," he said demurely.
"Hey," she called for his attention. "We're getting through this, alright? There are more pressing matters to attend to in the meantime, alright?"
"Yes, sister." She shook his left shoulder a couple times with one hand out of comfort until he mustered a small smile, "Okay, okay!"
Phoebe ushered with her head, "We still have ways to go before we get there. And even then, we'll take one last break before it starts."
He nodded gratefully, "You got it."
The rest of the trip became silent once more as the army made its way closer to the Candy Kingdom outskirts. The moon had long passed over the horizon and the sun slowly made its ascent in the far distance. When the last troops passed over the Grasslands, they were once again greeted with a graveyard of their fallen comrades. The magma blood that spilled from the recent engagement had already cooled to create an out-worldly, barren landscape.
Phoebe ordered all ground forces to hold as the Candy Kingdom became clearer in view. The civilization looked relatively the same from last time with an active force-field surrounding it, and the only thing different was that a recently constructed trench network surrounded the kingdom like a make-shift moat. The fiery monarch was initially surprised that Princess Bubblegum didn't offer any resistance prior to reaching the outskirts, and then realized it was a tactic to instill false hope.
"All units," Phoebe radioed. "This is the last time we'll partake in a break. If you need to gather yourselves before we start, you may do so now."
The men stretched briefly and breathed deeply, while others ate a last minute snack. Once everyone settled themselves after ten minutes, Phoebe announced, "Our families are counting on us, gentlemen. There are no pulled punches and there is no margin for error. Fight with your heart, mind, body, and soul! The enemy will show no mercy if you do not give your best. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, ma'am!" The men shouted collectively.
She conjured a flame sword, "Prepare yourselves!"
The men readied their weapons, while the mobile artillery vehicles armed their rockets.
Phoebe surveyed the crowd before her and observed their faces. Troops young and old were willing to sacrifice their lives despite having a tremendous fear of uncertainty. She stared at them fondly, hoping for the best. But deep down she also knew a lot of lives would inevitbaly be lost. It was a bitter truth she had to accept with herself.
Before the monarch would have a chance to let her emotions take over, she quickly raised her blade and flung it towards the direction of the Candy Kingdom. Large collective whistles signaled the infantry to charge wave after waves, while the artillery provided supporting fire with a barrage of rockets.
The ordinance traveled fast above the attackers and detonated as they reached their target. None of them were able to cause any damage, but the resulting explosions was also intended to draw Princess Bubblegum's attention. The Candy monarch watched the spectacle in a security room once again and radioed Peppermint Butler.
"Activate the kingdom defenses," she ordered.
"Yes, princess," the mint replied.
Seconds later, a large fleet of aerial drones flew outside the kingdom. The men below glanced at the incoming threat and soon they were screaming and yelling from a hail of bullets and rockets. Then, one half of the drone fleet proceeded to fly further past the ground forces until they encountered the artillery units.
A steady chain of explosions surfaced as the drones engaged their targets. Some of the mobile vehicles were left in a smoldering haze, while others were reduced into a hundred pieces.
"Back up," a fire trooper radioed. "We're sitting ducks!"
The vehicles moved in full reverse and took evasive manuevers. Once they reached the edges of the Grasslands, an officer ordered, "Engage anti-air targeting!"
Flocks of drones were blown to pieces as a salvo of short-range missiles sped through the air. A moment of respite was given to the attackers, but the troops still suffered in the front lines. The kingdom's outer walls was designed with a wide array of defense emplacements which included machine guns, lasers, mortars, and long-range artillery. Hundreds of drones roamed the skies and continued diminish the infantry with strafing runs, but they were slowly being repelled over time.
The elementals were reaching the first line of defense as they charged through the crossfire. Bullets whizzed by their location and soon hundreds of men were spurting blood from the wounds they gained. Some of the knights along with the golems used their shields to provide cover for friendly units, but they were quickly dispatched from being hit from either the legs or sides that were exposed. At the same time, the ground shook repeatedly with ordinance the Candy Kingdom delivered. Dozens of men were easily lost but the company continued forward nonetheless.
"Divisions one, three, eight, and nine are taking high casualties," a fire officer radioed. "Oh, glob! How many have we lost?!"
"Medic," a trooper shouted in the field.
Another rushed to his side and yelled, "He's gone, move up!"
Roars and shouts of protest could be heard in the distance as the Fire Army continued their assault. The Supreme General was running alongside a large group escort to provide direct aid until he noticed his forces dwindling at an astonishing rate. Distressed over the heat of pressure, he pulled out his communicator and said, "Phoebe, we have to abort!"
"That's a negative," Phoebe exclaimed indignantly. "Maintain your course!"
SG darted his eyes at the ensuing chaos and cursed, "Gob-danggit, Phoebe! We're getting murdered out here!"
"Brother," she addressed with bewilderment. "If we retreat, we will lose the mission, it's that simple." She paused as a large explosion went off in the distance. SG waited anxiously for the rest until he heard, "If we don't stop Bonnibel now that window is lost forever. We will lose this war!"
SG gulped reluctantly as he slowly gained his bearings, "I read you, sis. Over and out." He then switched frequencies until he reached another contact, "Commander, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, general," Erwin replied.
"You are clear to engage! I repeat, you are clear to engage!"
"Solid copy. See you on the other side, sir. Over and out."
SG holstered his communicator and ducked occasionally as bullets ricochet past his location. He continued to run forward with the ground troops until he spotted a set of craters that were deep enough to be used as cover. "Over there," he motioned to everyone.
Once he arrived at his destination, the rest of the troops joined him shortly after. A few minutes passed as he tried gathering his thoughts until he was accompanied with familiar faces.
"Hey," Flambo chuckled to calm himself.
"Brother," Phoebe acknowledged.
SG asked, "Where are all the others?"
"They're behind cover elsewhere," Flambo answered. "I saw it myself!"
"It won't be long until those long-range guns get a fix on us," Phoebe stated. "Do you have a plan?"
SG contemplated as he watched stray soldiers wander hopelessly into the killzone. Friendly artillery was seen covering the skies with anti-air rockets, which gave him and the others a brief moment of safety. He glanced over at the trench network before facing his sister and everyone else.
"Listen up," he began. "There's a high-powered machine gun nest in those trenches over there. We cannot hope to advance our unit without being slaughtered. I need a team of five to make their way towards the objective and take it out."
"I'll go," Phoebe volunteered while four grunts followed suit.
SG was about to protest until he saw her fierce expression that wasn't up for debate. He slowly shook his head and said, "Just run as fast as you lumping can straight up the middle. The others and I will lay down covering fire from here."
"Got it," Phoebe nodded with a determined expression.
SG shifted himself and readied his rifle, "Alright, men! Be ready to provide covering fire!"
