Finally managed to get this chapter done. At first I wrote like 3,500 words for the first draft and then I decided to scrap it and rewrite another one because I found a different approach to this chapter. So that took a bit of time. Also the editing took a while, my co-writer had a busy week with tests and assignments. But now it's finally done. Apologies for the wait, do enjoy the final chapter of Arc 1: Retaliation.
Retaliation: Results
It was funny, Kaeso thought, that there were no birds in the air. Perhaps it was because it was near winter time when the birds would have probably gone south, where it was warmer.
He had a lot of time to think these days, so idle thoughts crossed his mind often. Ever since his liege lord called on his oath of fealty to bear arms against an invader who he had never heard of, his days usually consist of hard marching and more marching and then finding a place to sleep. He rather be back home now, back working the land and gathering enough food to survive the coming winter. The war between the Empire and whoever the enemy was wouldn't care if he was there or not.
But nevertheless, he was bound by oath and so here he was. The highway was long, and his face was full of the dust that was kicked up by those ahead of him in the column. It didn't help that it had rained the previous day, and now the stone road was mucky with dirt and mud that he had to trudged on. His sandals were nearly worn out, having travelled the greater part of a four hundred miles' journey. In fact, nearly all his clothing was worn out; his tunic, his trousers, and the rag excuse of a cloak. Having been a serf his whole life, he didn't have the luxury of affording better clothing. That left him in a state of looking more like a hapless beggar rather than a man fighting for his lord. He was sure that if he were to appear before the enemy right now, they would get a good laugh from him rather than be frightened at all.
The enemy would definitely be frightened of the size of the army coming for them though. He heard men say around the camp fires at night that the size of the army was nearly three hundred thousand. Three hundred thousand! It was simple unheard of. Kaeso knew there was no chance of the invaders triumphing.
Ahead of him, the sound of marching men was like a hammer pounding on an anvil, iron boots stomping the ground, kicking up a vast amount of dust on the road. Horses, thousands of them, led the head of the column, and on them rode legionaries donned with sets of polished armour, their grey helmets topped by dark red plumes. They were followed by the infantry, whose gait were synchronized so that each step taken would echo a resounding noise down the column. The banners under which the men marched were numbered in the hundreds, and each design was different and distinct from one another, sporting from simple insignias to more elaborate sigils.
Kaeso couldn't help but admire the legionnaires, envied their beautiful armour and swords. With men such as them, he wondered why he was even needed. He had no armour and no weapons except for an old woodcutter axe so blunt it was more like to knock someone out than kill. Surely, the legionaries could win the war by themselves. One Kaeso or a few hundred Kaesos was unlikely to make an impact.
He looked up in the sky again and blinked in surprise. Dragons, flying along the column of marching men in patrol. The afternoon sun glinted off their silver scales, and for a moment Kaeso took the time to admire their magnificence. It was a rare thing to see a dragon back in his village, and this was his first time seeing them in numbers. What was it like, he wondered, flying high in the air? Somedays he wished he could ride a dragon, but he knew very well given his luck that he would just fall off the saddle and crash into the ground headfirst.
And so he thought it would best if he stayed on the ground and just marched. Marched where though? Alnus Hill. A name that didn't mean anything to Kaeso as did the cities of Sadera or Italica, names he'd only heard of but never seen. To him, his world was just the small village he was born and raised in, and all that matter was whether he could last the year without starving. The Emperor, the Senate, the kings and lords, he could care less about them.
"Gods, why do they need us here?" Kaeso asked out loud.
"Hell would I know?" Lucius, another man in his late-twenties from Kaeso's village, replied. "The Emperor calls his vassals to war, and so in turn our King Duran call his vassals, and again they call theirs."
"So where does that leave us?"
"We?" Lucius laughed. "We, Kaeso, are the lowest of the low. We spend our entire lives licking the shits under the boots of our betters. And when they call us to arms, we fight for them."
"Then why do we do it? They got plenty of others to fight for them."
Lucius shrugged. "Ain't nothing we can do about it. That's the way it is in life."
Kaeso grunted, knowing that his friend was right. No matter how much he complained, it was not going to change a single thing.
It was then Sir Linus, the man in charge of the levies from Kaeso's village, came back from wherever he had been. He was an aging man, who had once fought in two wars before retiring to the village. He rode on a grey courser, and wore a worn suit of armour that was glinting of polish and old sheen.
"Not far now, men. About another day's journey to Alnus Hill."
The men nodded in assent, glad that the days of marching were now almost over.
"It'll all be over soon, then we can all go home," Sir Linus said, probably not too eager on the fighting himself, having been through enough in his lifetime.
Kaeso could only grunt his agreement to that.
"It won't be much of a fight," Linus said. "Word is, the enemy are less than ten legions' strength."
"Less than ten legions only?"
Sir Linus smirked. "Hard to believe right? But it seems so that way, it's been two months since the invaders arrived to the Empire's land, and yet they still haven't made any further advance. That only signals that they do not have enough men to risk a long campaign."
Kaeso took the news with a surprised face. "Why do they need us then? We have more than sixty legions here."
Linus shrugged. "Our oaths demand it, Kaeso. When our liege calls for it, we fight."
Kaeso looked sullen. He did not say out loud that it was not an oath he made, but that of his ancestors when they first settled in the land and hereby extended to him as long as he lived.
"It won't be a battle then," he said.
"No, it'll be a massacre."
† † † † † † †
The armies of the Empire first appeared on the horizon, heralded by the first specks of dragons in the distant skies, then the horses on the border of hills, before finally the infantries and beasts. Itami and Kuwahara stood on the northern wall of the Special Region Task Force base, watching as more and more arrived, their numbers never seeming to end, each hour bringing forth more men and beasts.
All Recon operations were suspended in the lead up to the coming conflict, and so the Third Recon were in base, watching the enemy. The information they managed to collect told them that the army before them was composed of the many vassal kingdoms of the Empire, called to war by their oaths of fealty. The banners of the different kings and lords covered the edge of the horizon, like an oncoming procession.
They must be confident of victory, Itami thought, especially with their numbers. Opposing them, the Special Region Task Force was barely composed of eight thousand men. Eight thousand vs three hundred thousand sounded more like a death sentence rather than a battle. But Itami was still confident that the Task Force would prevail nevertheless. Nothing the Empire had shown was capable of beating the might of modern firearms. Though, looking at the vast numbers before his very own eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
The progress of the armies was painfully slow and it had taken half a day before they had navigate around the bend of one hill and began setting up their camps. Tents soon appeared, as did a wooden palisade wall around the encampment. Itami frowned at the futility of such petty defense against the firepower the Task Force was capable of.
He looked around at the forward operating base, built around the Gate. In just a short time, Alnus Hill had transform from a land untouched by modern machinery into a hub buzzing with activity of military personnel. The shape of the base was like that of a five-pointed star; it was a strange design, but it was done so that every approach of attack the enemy took, they would be hit with flanking fire on both sides.
All around the FOB, artilleries, heavy guns, anti-aircraft guns for dragons were set out, facing towards the armies of the Empire. He imagined that given the order these guns could strike out at the Imperial camps now, but he assumed that General Hazama wanted the enemy to approach closer first, where the killing would be all but guaranteed. The lack of capable artillery on the Empire side had already decided their fate.
"So, they're finally here." Itami checked the date on his watch. "Two months. Took them long enough."
Kuwahara nodded. "I've never seen that many people in one place. Let alone a battlefield."
"Same here," Itami replied.
"So where are we going to be in the battle, sir?"
"We'll be securing one of those smaller hills to the right of Alnus. Captain Saza wants us to keep a look out there, but looks like we won't get to see any direct action. We're pretty much the reserves of the reserves. Combat units are on the frontlines and I doubt the enemy could penetrate the base's walls. We've built this place to be impregnable to these Imperials, they can't win, even with the numbers' advantage."
"I see, sir."
"Are you disappointed?" Itami looked questioningly at the sergeant major.
The aging man merely shook his head, a light smile on his face. "No, sir. I'm too old to have that combat lust most youngsters have. Kurata and the others might, but me? No, I'm quite content with where I'm put. What about you, sir?"
"Truth be told, a little." Itami rubbed his neck. "I've spent my entire military career in a base, and here's a battle that I never thought would happen and I have to guard a hill away from the frontlines. So yes, I am a little disappointed. But I still haven't forgotten the feeling I had when I was at Ginza and I'm not sure if I want to experience that feeling again…I don't know."
"I understand, sir."
"This reminds of a question I asked myself a while ago. Why did I join the military? Was it because I was trying to be patriotic or was it because I only wanted a stable job? I don't know. If it was patriotism, I should be itching to get into this fight now, to avenge the deaths of my people. But at the same time if it was the other reason, I should be over the moon with not having to fight. I don't feel anything though."
"Maybe it's a bit of both, sir." Kuwahara folded his arms. "Most of the time, the answer to the questions we ask are never so one-dimensional."
"Yeah, maybe. You're right, there."
They continue to watch the enemy in silence, whose numbers seemed to cover every inch of grassland. The noise of their marching could be heard from the distance, their drums beating a rhythm of war. It was war indeed and a battle would seal the fate between the two forces soon to clash. The sun was setting and it would be evening in an hour or two.
"They won't attack tonight I think," Itami said, seeing the sky turning dark. "The battle will be tomorrow."
"You mean massacre, sir?" Kuwahara pulled out a cigarette.
"Yes."
† † † † † † †
"Well, good luck boys," Kaeso called out to the men who would be making the first assault.
He sat on the ridge of a hill where he had a clear view of the coming battle. It looks like he wouldn't be taking part in any fighting since it would be all over after the first assault. The enemy was indeed small in numbers, while the allied army swelled and covered miles and miles of land.
He gazed at the enemy fortification and frowned. It was a strange design, a star-shaped; he didn't know much about castles and forts, but in the distance this one looked imposing. Was this fortress always here in Alnus Hill? He hadn't heard of any castle on the hill before. There was no way the enemy could have built one this size in less than a year.
The enemy they were facing was a strange one. Last night, Kaeso could see bright lights coming from within the base, illuminating the night sky brilliantly. How did they conjure up such lights? If it was the works of their mages, why would they waste their energy on lighting the sky? Kaeso shook his head; he was at it again with those idle thoughts.
He returned attention back to the legionaries of the first assault, six legions of the vanguard, marching forward towards the hill. The rising morning sun glinted off their armour, and they moved with perfect discipline, keeping formation as they traversed the difficult grounds of the area. The leader of the assault group, a duke who like many others Kaeso could not recognize at all, rode near the middle of the ranks, directing his troops towards the fortification.
The dragons were on deck on the peaks of a roll of hills to the right. The riders were grinning from one to another, leaning forward on their saddle pommels, confident in the defeat of the invaders already. They were the best of the Empires, knights who had each won a sword tournament and thus given the prestigious rights to mount dragons, and they waited eagerly for the moment to take flight and wreak havoc upon the enemy.
The allied army was coordinate by a series of flag and horn signals, which Kaeso to this moment had no idea of interpreting and had to rely on Sir Linus to tell him what they were.
Lucius sat next to him, digging into a bowl of broth and stale bread.
"Looks like we won't get any loot," he said with a mouth full. "Once the battle is over, the fortress is going to be stripped of everything before either of us can get in."
"I know right, this is such a waste of time. Looks like it'll be a hard winter once we're back home."
"Aye."
The legionaries were getting closer to the fortress now. Their weapons were now drawn, and Kaeso could see them quickening their pace now. It won't be long before they break into a run and carry the rush of men into the fortress, killing the enemy and sending them back to wherever they came from. The assault group carried ladders, and the minotaurs carried rams to break through the gates of the fortress. There was nothing the enemy could do to stop this torrent of men, surely, Kaeso thought.
Then a bang sounded, followed by a long, ominous din and the next thing Kaeso knew was happening was the sight of hundreds of men going up in flames, blown into the air without warning. A chain reaction of explosions engulfed the six legions, each blast throwing clumps of dirt towards the sky, only to rain back down to the bloodied ground. Kaeso could hear thunder but he could see no lightning, only fire and blood.
"What the fuck!" He stood up suddenly. The land seemed to have erupted.
He could hear the screams and shouts. What the hell was going on? Was this the doing of the enemy?
There was no end to blasts, one after another they kept coming. And men died, burned, blown to pieces. Arms, legs, torso flying everywhere. Kaeso saw the one legionary on the ground, screaming and crying, his left arm missing and the stump overflowing with blood, too much blood.
The signal for the dragons sounded, and the dragons rose into the air, soaring towards the enemy fortress.
Then the dragons started falling to the ground as well, shot by something so fast that it was hard to see. Their blood sprayed over the battlefield as they spiraled to the ground, their scales all but penetrated and pierced; silver tainted with dark red. Their riders tried their best to keep control but it was too late, they had no control any longer, and they died as they crashed into the ground.
Explosions, fires, flames, blood hid the battlefield. When it cleared for a small moment, Kaeso gasped in horror. The leading assault group was gone, and in their place, was the masses of bodies and blood and carnage. They didn't even touch the enemy. They hadn't even made it halfway towards the fortress. They had come expecting to deliver a massacre, but received one instead.
"What just happened, Kaeso?" Lucius asked, equally shocked, standing as well now.
Kaeso couldn't reply. He could only stare as the horns calling for retreat sounded, but there was no one left to heed the call.
They were all dead.
† † † † † † †
Kurata approached warily, rifle hot and finger on the trigger.
The dragon that had crashed into the base after being shot out of the sky laid on its flank in front of him, blood pouring out of its chest and head. It gave a weak roar as Kurata came closer, but then faltered in pain, letting out long, hard breaths, indicating that it did not have long to live.
Its rider, a burly man with a thick moustache, was several meters from where it was, having miraculously survived the crash. However, his legs were broken—shattered by the looks of it—and he whimpered in pain as he tried to crawl away, leaving a messy trail of blood in his wake.
Kurata ran up to him and trained his sights down on him. "Don't move!"
The man froze and began pleading in his language, which Kurata didn't knew a word of.
"Daisuke, Tomita, over here!" Kurata called out, not letting his sights drift away from the legionary, and waited as his two teammates came running. "Daisuke, ask him to surrender."
The Third Recon's smart-aleck spoke the question in Falmart native language, being one of the few who actually took the time to learn the strange language. The wounded legionary responded, unbuckling a sword sheath from his belt and holding it out.
"He says he surrenders," Daisuke said. "Take his sword as a gesture."
Tomita stepped forward and accepted the man's blade. "He needs a medic."
Kurata nodded and lowered his rifle, then spoke into his headset. "Mari, do you copy? We need you and a stretcher right now, over." He received a response and turned to face the others. "She's rushing here."
Their prisoner's face was leaking with tears at the sheer amount of pain and Kurata felt a touch of sympathy for him, despite being the enemy. "Daisuke, can you calm him down?"
"I'll try," the leading private said. "I'm bad with words though."
"I know that—I saw you make a little girl cry once. But just do what you can. Tell him help is coming." Kurata let out a sigh and looked towards the direction where the Empire was making their assault, the sound of guns and artillery vibrating through the air. "Fuck. This is their third assault and they're still throwing more men at us each time."
"They think their numbers can overwhelm us," Tomita said.
"Well, it doesn't. Not against our weapons. Don't you think they would've learnt their lesson already?"
Tomita shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they'll do this until all of them are dead."
"They're just killing themselves." Kurata grunted, spitting on the ground in disgust. "And I thought Japan had a high suicide rate."
† † † † † † †
Night assault. That was the words being passed around camp. Everyone would have to take part. So ready the weapons.
Kaeso felt his hands shaking, and could not find a way to make them stop. He would be fighting this time. What chances did he have of surviving if the first four assaults had failed so miserably? Each time the legionaries hadn't even made it halfway, and the effect on morale was increasingly visible as most began to doubt if their survival—let alone victory—was even possible now.
He gripped his axe tightly till his knuckles were so white that it was visible even in the dark of the night. He would die here, he knew it. What can he do?
A hand fell on his shoulder, and he jumped startled.
"Woah easy there, Kaeso. It's me," Lucius said, attempting a tension-diffusing smile.
The smile did nothing to calm Kaeso. "Oh sorry, Lucius."
"You okay?"
He shook his head. "I can't do this. We can't win this. We can't. We're going to die."
"Shut it. Don't say that. If you're going to be so pessimistic then you might as well slit your throat now."
"I might as well."
Lucius's hands gripped both of Kaeso's shoulders, and he made Kaeso look at him straight in the eye. "Look at me. Don't worry, things will be alright. I'll keep you safe, man."
"How can you say that for sure?"
"It's not for sure. But you can bet I'll do it nevertheless. I'm scared as well, you know."
Kaeso stared straight into his friend's face and saw that he was entirely serious. They had grown up together, went through all the up and downs, the famines, the droughts, the plagues, and each time he had thought it was all over. Perhaps it was the same here? "Aright. Thanks man."
"Come on, Sir Linus is calling for us to assemble."
The men of the village gathered and Sir Linus paced in front of them, giving them a clasp on their shoulder. The old veteran was the face of cool and calm, but yet Kaeso knew on the interior the man must be scared to his core just like the all of them; the sheer scale of destruction and death was something the knight had not seen before throughout his experiences.
"Don't fear!" he said unconvincingly. "We'll pull through. Keep quiet when you move, keep quiet, not a single noise. The key to this night raid is silence. Once we surprise the enemy with this attack, the battle is over and we can all go home. So for the mothers-who-bore-you-lot's sake, keep quiet!"
An hour later, the order came for the night assault to begin. Kaeso and Lucius trudged silently among the masses towards the fortress. Their shoes were covered with cloth so to muffled the noise they made by moving. Each person kept a good grip on their weapon so that they wouldn't rattle against something and alert the enemy of the incoming assault.
The night was especially dark, there was no moon, and Kaeso thanked the gods for that. He reached the stretch of ground between the enemy fortress and the allied camps, and it was there he began climbing through the masses of bodies from the previous assaults, already rotting. The stench was horrible and Kaeso did his best not to puke as his feet stepped on soft, mushy flesh. He lost his footing several times and had to steady himself with a hand on the ground, sometimes touching cold, dead skins, sending chills through his entire body.
The night assault group made it pass the bodies, and Kaeso could see the walls of the fortress loomed closer, his heart pounding more than ever and threatened to burst through his chest.
There were no blasts yet, like there were in the previous assaults, and Kaeso took heart that that meant the enemy hadn't spotted them yet. Someone tripped and cursed involuntarily, causing Kaeso to clinched in worry. But still the enemy didn't stir.
Then, the area was flooded with lights, drowning the darkness. It was so bright that it blinded Kaeso's eyes. He yelped, shielding his eyes with his arm. When his vision returned he saw that the lights were coming from the fortress, and in growing dread, he realized that it was all over. The night assault had already failed.
Someone was calling for the men to sprint for the walls, attack in mass, but Kaeso was inching his way back.
A hand gripped his arm and forced him forward. "Move!"
He stumbled forward, and the press of men behind pushed him forward against his will.
Then the next few moments became a blur as the explosions came again. The barrage began its never-ending cycle—bang, din, blast, dead, repeat. Men only stared in horror as they could do nothing to stop death's hands coming for them. In flames and blood, they died.
The ground beneath Kaeso's feet rocked, gave way, and he fell.
"No. No. NO!" he screamed.
He had dropped his axe somewhere, but he didn't care for it anymore. His legs refused to obey him to get up and he could feel his entire body shaking with absolute fear. The screams and yelps reached his ears from everywhere, the sound of death getting louder and louder with each second.
"Get down, Kaeso!" Someone jumped on him, pinning him onto the ground. It was then, he felt flames suddenly burning his skin and the air turn instantly scalding hot. He screeched in horror. But then it all went away, and when his senses returned he realized who was on him.
I'll keep you safe, man.
"LUCIUS!"
Lucius's back was charred black, and his face, almost unrecognizable, was covered in dirt, grime and blood. He had saved Kaeso's life by pushing away from a blast.
"Lucius!" Kaeso screamed.
He hooked his arms around Lucius and began carrying him towards camp, away from the massacre. All around him, the rout was already beginning. Men and beast, all running for their lives.
"Come on, we need to get out of here!"
Lucius's breath was ragged and slow, and it seemed that each breath only brought him more pain.
"Stay with me, Lucius!"
It was then another explosion erupted to the left of Kaeso, knocking them both to the ground. Something hit Kaeso in the head, and men ran over him, stepping on him without regard as they ran. He let out a roar of pain as his back was trampled on and on, his head kicked and stomped. The chaos turning the assault group's mentality into every man for himself.
The sound of the chaos was deafening and horrible and Kaeso could not get up. The roaring thunder before each explosion, the crash as each blast landed, the cries and shrieks as men died. His ears were bleeding and he clamped his hands to his ears.
It was still too loud!
He dug a hole in the ground, and stuck his head inside, stuffing dirt into his ears to muffle the noise.
Please gods, please let it be over!
† † † † † † †
The vultures were in numbers and force today, hovering in the dull morning sky. The cold, winter day promised insufferable weather to come, with signs that it will only get colder as the season progressed. The silence in the air was unsettling and no one broke it to comment on that fact, many staying to their own thoughts.
Mari squatted down next to one of the thousands of bodies that littered the slopes of the hill. The man had buried his head inside the ground, and his hands were covering his ears. She didn't need to look any further to know that he was dead.
"This one suffocated himself," she said with a heavy sigh, and she looked at the next closest body; it was burnt to bits.
"Looks like it," Shino replied, standing beside her.
Mari glanced around, chewing her lips. Tiredness weighed down on her, despite it still being early morning. "Just what the hell is this place?"
Shino shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the sight of death all around her. "Hell?"
"Seems so." Mari stood up, wiping her hands on a piece of cloth that was already dirtied with dried blood before tossing it away.
Shino placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's get back. I've seen enough."
† † † † † † †
"Battle of Alnus Hill (March 3-8, 2017)
Belligerents:
Special Region Task Force: Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces, United States Marine Corps
The Empire: Kingdom of Elbe, Kingdom of Alguna, Kingdom of Mudwan, League Principality
Commanders:
Special Region Task Force: Lieutenant General Koichirou Hazama, Colonel Robert Jones
The Empire: King Duran of Elbe (MIA, presumably KIA), King Rufin of Alguna (KIA), King Tyre of Mudwan (KIA), Duke Sester of League (KIA)
Strengths:
Special Region Task Force: 1 strengthened Japanese brigade, 3 Marine regiments; 8,244 men total
The Empire: 62 legions; 298,345 men total
Casualties and losses:
Special Region Task Force: None
The Empire: 160,000 Imperial casualties
Result:
Overwhelming Special Region Task Force victory
Empire vassal states incapacitated to fight for the rest of the war
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."
And so the first arc is complete. Man, this battle scene was difficult to write because it was sort of repetitive to just have boom boom, dead imperials. In the end I decided to change from my original plans and write it in this perspective.
Anyways, with the first arc out of the way, the second arc is of course coming next. Now the second arc is where all the interesting parts that I really want to write in this story. A lot of writers say that the middle of story is the hardest to write and they called it the dreaded middle, but for me I find the middle the most interesting to write. Because you can have a great opening and a great ending, but if you have a shitty middle to connect the two, the story falls apart. So here's to hope that me and my friend can produce a good second arc and middle story for you people.
Now having said that, the next chapter is going to be an interlude. An interlude entirely written by my co-writer while I head off to London for the weekend to meet up with highschool friends. I already saw what he plans for the interlude and gave the go-ahead, and I have to say, it's brilliant. A simple idea, but fits perfect into this story. But don't take my word for it, he doesn't need me to toot his horns any more than what needs tooting.
So catch you all soon. Take care, and I'll see you people when I'm back.
