Chapter 10
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News spread fast of the invasion and all of Valoran was on alert. The two great powers were once again at work against each other. Armies were equipped and dispatched but no major conflicts ever came forth. Jarvan Lightshield the Fourth was not preparing an engagement but instead trying to defend his land, often showing up just hours after a city or town is razed, or right as the siege begins, pushing the Noxians back with little or no bloodshed. He had sent a request for help from Piltover, to come around the flank and retake some of the captured cities but they too were dealing with hostilities on their own soil.
The streets of Piltover were barren, completely void of all life. Windows were shut and lights were off as distant sounds of turmoil and chaos could be heard echoing through the sky. Only a few leagues away from the city the forces of Zaun marched and the forces Caitlyn and Piltover had rode out to meet them to prevent unwanted civilian casualties. The attack happened so fast that the defenses they were preparing were only half built, so makeshift trenches and torn down trees littered the battlefield. Caitlyn's heart pounded as she and her marksmen sat in cover in the back lines, awaiting for the inevitable battle to ensue. She peeked out of cover and saw Vi standing tall and strong, clad in plate armor with giant pneumatic gauntlets on her hands. She looked back at Caitlyn and nodded and brought her goggles over her eyes and turned back to the south. Beside her stood the main land force of Piltover, two thousand strong. They were well armed but few of them had seen combat before.
Ziggs and Heimerdinger had constructed some strange cannons and set them upon towers that stood a few meters tall. Jayce, Riven, Ezreal and Corki had not returned and Caitlyn knew no help would be coming from Demacia, she also knew the Zaunites would have the full support of Noxus. She expected to be outnumbered at least four to one. She looked up and saw Ziggs standing short and proud atop a tower that had no cannon, dozens of sacks filled with bombs all around him and he giggled madly.
"I can see them! I can see them! He shouted and looked down at Caitlyn and she nodded in reply. "Definitely more of them than us! Definitely!" She sighed and looked back at Vi but she was facing the opposing force now.
"Lock and load boys." She said, almost a whisper but her most elite troops heard her loud and clear and rifles were chambered quickly and guns were set on their bipods. "The armor is weakest at the neck and groin. If you cannot get a clear shot aim for the legs, the rounds should be strong enough to knock them down. The marksmen all nodded and took their positions. The army was now within sight of the marksmen and she was indeed right, almost half of the soldiers bore the colors of Noxus. They did not even wait, the moment they had come close to the Piltover forces the charge began. There was no shield wall here, such a formation would get obliterated by the hextech artillery and Caitlyn knew this well so they had a huge advantage being on the defense.
"Fire!" Caitlyn shouted and a volley of high powered rounds took down a chunk of the charge as they met head on with the main force. Hextech rockets were launched from behind the Zaunite lines but the turrets shot them down in the sky. Caitlyn fired at will from that point bringing down four more soldiers before most Zaunite army was hidden behind her own. "Change position, go go go! To the right!" She shouted and her men quickly moved on.
Vi fought at the front alongside her was the clockwork Orianna and her ball. She was not scared but had not fought in any kind of conflict such as this. The first soldier to approach her in the charge was a man in a Noxian garb and was quickly brought down with a punch to the chest. She charged forward then and Orianna sent her ball with her. She slammed down on a shield while the ball swept the mans legs and she brought down a spiked boot to his head. The ball smacked against someone mid charge and brought him straight down into the ground with a hollow thud. Two men came at her and she ducked down to avoid and ax and caught a spear thrust with her left hand. She turned quickly and broke the shaft against his skull and brought the tip into the axman's belly. A giant beast approached her and slammed down on the ground with a massive tree trunk but she rolled quickly to the side to avoid it. It swung again and this time she jumped over it and charged at blinding speed bringing an impact full punch to the beasts knee. It dropped down and Orianna brought the ball down on its head and Vi brought up a powerful uppercut breaking its jaw and sending it rearing back in pain.
She heard a blast to her left and saw a giant metal golem tearing through the Zaun charge. Arrows and javelins bounced off its iron plating as it brought its massive fists down, crushing three Noxian spearmen. A man tried to run and the right hand of the golem gave off a massive booming sound and launched forward, grasping the man and bringing him right back into the fight. Heimerdinger was mounted on the golem and lobbed hextech grenades and shot off rockets from his position down upon the soldiers. Three men jumped at her but a volley of rifle fire brought them down and Vi smiled. "Nice shot, cupcake." Her part of the force had pushed well forward but the left was getting pushed back hard so she left her area under the control of Heimerdinger and rushed to the losing side of battle.
The leaders of the Zaunite assault led the charge her and Vi could make them out in the heat of battle. Warwick, the man cursed with wolf form, tore through men savagely with his bare claws as a massive zombified automaton fought beside him with a massive double sided ax. Far in the rear a familiar figure could be seen firing off volleys of rounds and rockets. She jumped straight to the fight, pushing her way towards Warwick as she fought, bringing down her fist upon a Zaunite who tried to skewer her with a jagged dagger. She shoved aside her own men and crippled a Noxian by bending his arm in her grasp and finally came face to face with Warwick. He howled violently and lashed forward at her, almost cutting her throat as she feigned down and brought a punch into his stomach. His armor was hard and strong and the blow only pushed him back, unhurt. She charged forward but quickly ducked down as a double ax split the air above her. The zombie murmured and launched itself forward, surrounded with a strange fog and Vi tried to bring her fist into his chest but the fog caught her blow and sent her reeling back. She dodged another swing but got slashed across the breast by Warwick's claw. Her armor was shredded but she was unhurt. The fog dispersed and it took another swing and missed and paid for it, taking a forceful blow to the ribs. It stumbled back and groaned but continued its assault.
Vi backed up and caught an ax swing with both of her gauntlets but the force was strong enough that even with the hextech power of her fists the zombie still overpowered her. She was pushed back and he lifted the ax high, bringing her with it. She let go and kicked off of the ax head, launching herself higher. She pulled back her hand and screamed as she brought herself down on the zombie with an earth shattering blow, directly to the top of the head. The impact brought dust all over the nearby area and once it had cleared the zombie was half buried in a small crater in the ground and Vi stood, looking towards Warwick with anger. He stepped backwards and turned to run but Orianna's ball had caught him in the leg and brought him down to the turf. Vi took the zombie's ax and brought it down on Warwick with bone crushing force and he was still.
She threw down the weapon with disgust and nodded at Orianna's ball but the battle was not over. Her losses were too great on the left and they were being surrounded by the Zaunite auxiliary force. Immediately she looked towards the gunner position which had been overrun and Vi almost collapsed but she caught herself. She had to be strong when her people needed her most. She looked forward into the incoming forces truth and saw her death, so she charged in.