Chapter 39:
The Dragon's Den
November 5th 2019, Valdurmon Airfield, Tokū Solis.
All eleven Royal Knights were gathered in an empty hangar of the airfield. All of them were reunited for a debrief in the operation before tackling on the upcoming assault, the Emperor's Palace. The Royal Knights were tired, beaten and injured yet they stood up with dignity, respect and duty around the small, foldable metal table with the map of the city laid out.
Alphamon had his arms crossed over his chest, despite his left shoulder aching. In all honesty, he didn't want this meeting to happen, he just wants to take a small break for once but the humans were adamant when they want their report and information. He sighed heavily before turning his gaze at Examon, Dukemon and Sleipmon; all three Royal Knights were called in by friendly forces to intercept Lord General Tactimon in the prestigious Imperial Officer Academy.
"How did it go with Tactimon?" He demanded plainly.
Dukemon shrugged nonchalantly, "Could've gone worse; the place was filled with heavy armour, infantry and artillery but we managed to push through."
"We sadly lost four of our own back there, along with numerous humans whom perished once we got in." Sleipmon informed them sadly.
"And through all of that, Tactimon didn't put up a fight... He simply surrendered." Dukemon concluded, earning him surprised looks from his peers.
"He surrendered? Just like that?" Ulforceveedramon asked in disbelief.
"Yes. He set up a heavy defensive position and gave up in the end." Examon told him with a frown, "He decimated an entire battalion of soldiers and dared to show his hands up."
"I presume Examon knocked him out after that ordeal?" Dynasmon asked with a sly smirk. Dukemon nodded in confirmation, making him chuckle under his breath.
"Well that's great news, Tactimon is captured alive. Which leads us to you two." Alphamon announced while shifting his gaze at Duftmon and Magnamon, finding them abnormally quiet.
"We failed," Duftmon bluntly replied, "We've lost six of our own, Tyrantkabuterimon annilihilated a whole company of humans, traumatised Sergeant Shinegreymon and escaped alive."
"He slipped right through our fingers while he butchered those men," Magnamon added blankly, his hands furiously curling into fists, "They were dead in a couple of minutes." Duftmon rested a hand on the knight's shoulder and squeezed it in comfort.
"Our task force is ineffective, almost destroyed in a day." The tactician continued the report, "Enemy forces were about to swarm our left flank, I had to call in an air strike to destroy the Senate. I request that we merge our task force with another to strenghten our numbers and morale."
"I'll see if Ouryuumon could spare more troops to your task force. As for Tyrantkabuterimon, do not take the blame, he's a tough and powerful digimon, we all know this. What's important is that you made it out alive, it will be a huge blow to our morale if one of you died in battle. All of you for that matter." Alphamon stated, staring at his knights, "The Order and our allies look up to you all. We are the figures of hope and justice in this world. Keep your chins up in the face of defeat, you're not dead and that is a mistake from the enemy."
"He's right," Omegamon concurred, finally speaking up, "We've lost many of our soldiers, brave digimon with the same ideals and values as us. The humans have lost more but they keep fighting no matter what. We will end this war once and for all, here in this city. We need to keep focus on the mission. More men and digimon will die, that is the nature of war but if we prevail, we liberate a grateful world for untold generations from oppression. The hopes and dreams of billions of digimon are with us, let's not disappoint them."
Omegamon's passionate words were etched into the hearts and minds of every Royal Knight, igniting a fury that has been extinguished from within, their eyes once filled desperation and sorrow were revitalised with hope and determination. Omegamon gave them the will to fight another day, to fight for justice and peace in the Digital World.
"Damn, I wish I came up with that," Alphamon chuckled. He gave a proud pat on the white knight's back, "Glad to have you back, old friend." He said warmly, making Omegamon sheepishly rub the back of his head, "As for the others, take a break, recover your strenghts and regather your forces. In two days, the humans will launch a final assault for the palace, the enemy's last bastion, and they will send everything they have at it, attacking the imps on all sides with firepower and extreme prejudice. We need to get in and capture the Emperor first because they all want him dead. But if it is necessary, we will eliminate him. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Alphamon!" They all replied proudly.
"I declare this meeting over. Get some rest, you've earned it."
In seconds, the Royal Knights parted ways, leaving Alphamon alone in the hangar. The Aloof Hermit folded his hands behind his back, watching solemnly the humans performing and executing their tasks with speed and effeciency. Numerous helicopters landed on the tarmac, soldiers rushed in to carry the wounded out of the metal birds and rush back to another transport vehicle. Meanwhile other helicopters were about to lift, waiting for ground troops to board in and send them to a combat zone. This was the grim reality of war.
This war, that have dragged on for more than a decade, changed everything in the Digital World since the humans arrived. Warfare changed for them, putting more focus on intel gathering before hitting the enemy where it hurts. The humans, from his observations, were good fighters with a strong will to win, their courage cannot be questionned. At the face of great danger, they always fight back... but victory has a price. Casualties were high for them, it was obvious; they weren't trained to kill digimon nor were they well equipped to protect themselves from most digimon.
Death, his dull red eyes narrowed in confusion, frustration, anger and sadness. Recently he had vivid nightmares of the Grim Reaper, clouds turning into a dark sickening hue of red that rained down a heavy stream of blood, piles of bodies would look up at the crimson sky, eyes wide open in petrification and lifeless. Human corpses were so eerie and discomforting for him. Since then, he started to doubt his existence, his belief and morals. It was now a fact that Humanity created them, from computers – so what's the point of religion here? God, Yggdrasil, the Four Holy Beasts, Goddramon... They're digimon, just like him and the rest of this world. Should he consider the humans, their true creators, as gods? Can't be possible because they were too many and were as mortal as them.
What's the point of all of this?
With a heavy sigh, Alphamon pushed those troublesome thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to question about life, he must clear his mind to prepare himself for the next day. Another day, another battle. Soldier on, as they say.
Combat Outpost Devil Alpha, Imperial District, Tokū Solis.
His combat boots landed soundly on the broken concrete road. The vehicle that dropped him off drove away. The Marine sighed and walked towards the command tent in front of him. The tent's flaps were moved out of the way and gently fell back into place after he pass through them.
The tent was big enough to serve its purpose, multiple tables and chairs with radios and maps with one table at the center of the available space. Two Marines stood next to each other, their backs facing him.
Raymond coughed loudly to catch both of their attention by surprise. Achieving his goal, both men got startled and immediately turned around, at first annoyed but then surprised to see him back among the living.
"Skipper?" The executive officer asked in disbelief while Dukeman charged at the captain and roughly jabbed him a couple of times.
"Where the fuck were you? You piece of shit!" The gunnery-sergeant demanded sternly, but not seriously.
"Hey! I just got back from heaven all right! Give me some space or else I attempt another reckless and suicidal stunt." Raymond joked while pushing the senior sergeant away from him. He turned to First Lieutenant Sullivan, whom stood at his attention despite having exhausted eyes and a dirty face, "How's the company holding up, Sullivan?"
"Good, skipper, as always. Though morale was down when I announced the bad news."
"Yeah well, now's the time to announce the good news," Raymond said with a playful wink. His laid back tone soon shifted to a more serious behaviour, "Jokes aside, what's the general status of the Marines."
Sullivan's small, tired smile turned downward, stoic as he reports on the company's status, "Got word yesterday that Sparks didn't make it... he's dead. We've put Staff Sergeant Rodriguez in charge of First Platoon, they are holding on so far. We've also lost ten Marines in an ambush two days ago... our numbers are depleting, just under eighty men,"
"What about Corporal Cyberdramon?"
"Cyberdramon is no longer fit for duty," Dukeman began grimly, "His condition was so critical, they basically had to... uh de-evolve, I think? Basically he isn't Cyberdramon anymore and can't be for a long time. He's back in his Rookie form." He explained uncertaintly, not completely understanding digimon medical terms.
"The imps are getting meaner, skipper," Sullivan continued on, "Each day is a slow crawl for us, they're picking us off, making us bleed. In two days, the entire coalition will launch the final offensive for the Palace," He pointed their position on the map, "We'll be attacking with the JSDF and their armour. Command estimated that we will be able to stomp through their defenses after air and artillery bombardments."
"Clearing a straight path for us to take the palace," Raymond assumed pensively, "Bold but that'll only get more men killed once we get in."
"I'm afraid so, but the digimon are getting restless and impatient, and so are our men." Sullivan stated with a sigh.
They all heard the flaps behind them fluttered open . They turned around and instantly stood with their backs straight as a wood plank and formally saluted the senior officer before them.
"Ah, I see you're back among the living, captain Raymond," Lieutenant-Colonel William Richards chuckled lightly, saluting them back briefly, "You boys got him up to speed?" He asked at the executive officer and the gunnery-sergeant.
"Yes, Colonel." Dukeman replied dutifully.
Richards nodded and walked towards Raymond. His emerald eyes bore on him before he snickered and gave a quick friendly hug, patting his back happily. "I'm glad to see you back in the fight, Stephen. I've got to admit, you got me worried during those days." He stated honestly.
"You know me, sir, I do reckless shit and come back without a scratch." Raymond said jokingly.
"Tell me about it." Dukeman said sarcastically under his breath, rolling his eyes in addition.
"Is there something you wanted to tell us, sir?" Sullivan asked curiously.
"Yep, I just got permission from Eversman that I'll be joining you in battle, to the frontlines with everybody else," Richards replied with a proud smile, "If this is going to be our last fight to victory, then I want to be in the thick of it," He explained plainly, "Plus I got sick of constantly sitting around with a radio in hand." He admitted sheepishly.
"It'll be an honor to have you in the battlefield, sir." Raymond responded respectfully.
"Just like the good old days." Dukeman pointed out, remembering their time as a platoon, before the world shook drastically since the Battle of Tokyo.
November 7th 2019, Imperial Palace, Tokū Solis.
The ground rocked violently as artillery barrages shattered the sky, the heavy shells plummeted from the clouds with terrifying shrieks. Earth shaking explosions erupted around the palace, buildings were crushed and perished due to the amount of shells raining for the past couple of minutes or so, razed to the ground into large piles of rubbles and ash. Fire began to spread across the devastated and abandonned ruins, nothing was spared from the continous rain of death and destruction.
Shortly after the artillery barrages have ceased, numerous jets and bombers flew overhead the area of operation, dropping bombs and striking down any remains on the ground with missiles. The second wave of bombardment flattened the urban landscape, now a wasteland of rubbles, concrete, steel and ash.
Barely after all of this, hundreds of aerial digimon flooded through the devastated streets, striking the imperial stragglers and striking through the heavily weakened defenses with lightning fast attacks, punching straight lines through the enemy line. Following at a slower pace behind them were the humans, supported with heavily armoured and armed vehicles with helicopters above them to provide close air support along the way. The soldiers of the IDDF were tasked with eradicating the enemy and cleaning up the streets – and so far, they were rolling through them, crushing any resistance under their threads, with firepower and prejudice.
It was an onslaught for the few remaining loyal legionaires, very few were spared from being coldly gun down or taken away as prisonners. The human troops were stampeding through the city all the way until they've reached the Imperial Palace, the last imperial bastion and last hideout of the Emperor. It was there that they meet heavier opposition. The legionaires, overzealous and faithful to their leader, fought bitterly against overwhelming odds. The digimon of the coalition were being pushed away, taking too many casualties to breach in the palace. They require the combined volume of fire of the humans to crush the remaining resistant force. A long and hard uphill battle ensued.
The Imperial Palace is a massive structure, a shining symbol of the Imperium's wealth, power and might. This multi-level giant of a structure is made from concrete, marble, stone bricks, steel, granite and gold. The building consists of five linked structures: the main and the largest structure is at the center, it is a large square building hosting as a hub of the palace; four other circular structures, the rotundas, are built of its four sides, linked up by an open portico between them. These four buildings acted as the lobby, foyer and administration offices with guard posts and personal quarters for the numerous staff members. Each of them have a shining golden dome roof with a flagpole at the very top, the Imperium's flag waving proudly over the battle scarred city.
The main structure as a more traditional but impressive roof, hosting a small bell tower at the center on top of it, narrow passageways are built around the roof to allow guards to patrol overhead. The building is limited by the spacious and master-crafted porticos, it is like a forest of columns that protected the palace's borders. Despite being an obvious and big target, the palace still stood tall proudly, even with the numerous battle scars inflicted by the ongoing battle.
"Keep the pressure on them! Aim for the windows and watch the rooftop!" Richards instructed his Marines under enemy fire.
Bullets and rockets flew at them, chewing up through their numbers. Armoured vehicles provided close ground support at a distance, spitting out salvos of heavy hitting rounds at dangerous threats and important targets. The Digital Marines have set up a firing line on the Eastern flank, taking cover behind craters and ruins.
"Rhino 2-4, this is Warlord Actual, hostile machine gun on the rooftop, above the fourth window from the left!" He requested urgently through the radio.
"Copy that, keep your head low, sir!"
"Firing!"
A deafening thump shook the ground. A loud explosion erupted on the designated target, parts of the gigantic palace caved in, a ton of concrete, wood and steel squashed the imperial soldiers on the floor below it.
"Good hit, 2-4, keep up the good work!" He said gratefully before looking around for Captain Raymond. He found the man a couple of meters away from him, "Alpha Actual, secure our right flank, I see armour trying to outflank us!" He ordered through the radio.
"Copy, we're moving out!"
"Third Platoon move to our right flank with Second Platoon! I want mortars up and running!" He heard the captain yell from the distance.
Once satisfied that their position was locked and secured, Richards bent down and resumed to take over the radio, his communications specialist sat against a half destroyed wall, his left leg wounded by a gunshot.
"Get me Overlord, son." He demanded calmly. The Marine obeyed and managed to get in contact with command, "Overlord, this is Warlord Actual, we've managed to soften the enemy position on the Eastern flank. What are your orders?"
"Warlord Actual, you have clearance to breach in the palace. Try to relieve some of the pressure for the JSDF units, Royal Knights should come in once an opening has been made. Good luck, over and out."
"Incoming!" A Marine shouted near him.
Several Marines swore and dived for cover as a missile flew overhead them. The projectile soared across the street and hit a M1A3 Abrams on its left thread, immobilising it on the spot. Sparks shot out the vehicle as it was rocked backwards by the powerful explosion.
"Shit! Rhino 2-4's hit!"
"2-4, status report!" The Lieutenant-Colonel demanded concernly, "2-4, do you read me?"
"Aah... this is 2-4, tank got hit pretty bad, the driver got hit by shrapnel and third degree burns. We're trying to pull him out of here..."
"Hang tight, 2-4, I'm sending you a team to get your guy out. Can you still fight?"
"Affirmative, Colonel. Guns are still online. However we're sitting ducks here." Reported the tank commander through hasty breaths.
"Calm down, 2-4, you still have enough cover to get through this. Switch target to the right flank, do not let them get through."
"Roger that, we're operational in a couple of minutes,"
"Steel 6, this is Warlord Actual, I need you to put a hole through the palace. Make a way for our boys!"
"Copy, Steel 6 is sending out the breaching hammer!"
A thunderclap cracked through the air, a shell sped across the battlefield and hit the palace on the intended target in a spectacular explosion. Richards gave the orders to Charlie company to rush in while Bravo and Alpha company provided cover fire.
"Warlord Actual, this is Overlord, be advised, Marsoc units are egressing by air to the objective, breaching in from the roof. Callsigns are Tombstone 0-1, Spartan 1-3 and Spartan 2-2 "
Three UH-1Y Venoms travelled across the devastated grounds caused by the ongoing battle. The pilots put their focus on trying to avoid the incoming enemy rounds, the side gunners fired short bursts in retaliation to suppress the enemy. The Force Recon Marines of Spartan 2-2 waited stoically, watching at the battlefield below them. Renamon racked the M4A1 carbine's charging handle, chambering a round in. She glanced at her squadmates, making sure they had their game face on before peering at the other two helicopters.
Against Colbert's protests, Staff Sergeant Renamon insisted to join with her Marines in the final battle despite her wounds holding back some of her abilities. But she wasn't dead and she wanted payback, she made sure Colbert understood that. In exchange however, Colbert firmly ordered that her squad will be supported by another Recon unit; she didn't mind it, more hands will do the job.
"ETA 40 seconds," The pilot announced flatly at the Marine operators,"Friendlies have breached in through the Eastern rotundas, so keep that in mind. LZ's going to be hot, be ready to jump out."
"Got it!" Renamon replied to the pilot with a thumbs up.
"Shit! Incoming!"
The helicopter abruptly jerked sideways, almost throwing Rookie out in the air, and nearly missing a surface-to-air missile. "Hang tight!" One of the gunners shouted as the pilots try to get the bird stable in the air.
"You're still up, Juliet 6-8?" Asked the pilot of another chopper.
"Yeah! Although I almost threw one dude out!" The pilot turned around at the Recon Marines, "Sorry about that, bro." He apologised to Sergeant Blade.
"Get ready to jump!" Renamon instructed as the helicopter got near the roof.
Once the Venom hovered in place, Renamon disappeared from sight while her squadmates jumped out of the transport helicopter, hitting the roof and sliding down its face. Meanwhile Renamon swiftly took out the surprised legionaires on the walkway. Not too far from Juliet 6-8, the helicopters Douglas 0-9 and Juliet 1-5 were letting the spec ops units rappel down to their designated spots: Spartan 1-3 was deployed on top of the Western rotunda while Tombstone 0-1 breached in the palace through the bell tower.
"Hostiles down! Let's move to the Eastern rotunda! Double time!" Renamon ordered as she ran on top of the portico's rooftop.
"Spartan 2-2, this is Overlord, we've just got report from Marines that they're taking heavy casualties from a troll. Assist them in anyway you can to eliminate the threat ASAP."
"Solid copy, Overlord! Spartans are oscar-mike from the roof!" When the squad reached the golden dome, they started to place C4 explosives in a circular pattern on its surface. "Breaching! Breaching!"
Sergeant Blackburn detonated the charges, a large piece of the dome fell in and crushed a barricaded position of enemy troops. While Graves and Rookie set up rappel ropes, Renamon and Coal provided cover fire, gunning down any remaining hostile troops. Simultaneously the Recon Marines rappel down the ropes with Renamon jumping in graciously, narrowly missing bullets. The vulpine digimon landed harmlessly on the ground and quickly eliminated any nearby soldiers in hand-to-hand combat before her Marines could join in. But they knew that she could handle well on her own.
Renamon twisted the arm of the Sealsdramon before shoving their own combat knife through the neck, a thick fountain of blood spurted out of the slit wound and spattered on Renamon's plate carrier and on the white marble floor.
"Oh crap..." Rookie pointed out with dread.
Renamon turned around and saw a huge and intimidating digimon. She sensed its energy since they were on the roof, it reeks with hatred and blood lust, and for once in a long time, she felt nervous in front of her opponent. Facing the Recon Marines was a Titamon, several corpses of Marines laid scattered around it with a dozen phantom entities floating above them. Its greatsword was already stained with the blood of the victims, the lifeless eye sockets on the greatsword lit up and growled menacingly at its new preys. Across the rotunda, behind the Titamon, were Marines of Charlie company, dragging away their wounded while the rest got into a firing line.
"Now what?" Coal asked unsurely.
"Unfortunately, I do not know," Renamon admitted truthfully, "This digimon is supposed to be extinct, a myth from another Digiworld."
"Great... So we have to deal with zombies now?!" Rookie grumbled in frustration.
"Keep your distance and take down the phantoms!" Renamon instructed before she leapt into the air and launched her "Diamon Storm" attack at Titamon to draw its attention.
"What's the plan, Ma'am?" Graves asked loudly while they opened fire at the phantoms.
"Hold them off until the knights arrive!"
"I hope she's right about that." Rookie remarked doubtfully.
"Shut up and fire your weapon!"
Titamon let out a feral and furious roar, the phatoms charged straight for the humans while the digimon focused on Renamon. The vixen gracefully leapt over the sweeping greatsword, easily outmanoeuvring the colossal monster. But that was the only thing she could do. Her attacks would do insignificant damage and even bullets couldn't penetrate Titamon's rough skin.
"Just need to buy some time." She thought bitterly, she frequently glanced at her squad and Marines, the humans desperately fend off against an endless wave of phantoms.
Fortunately, Titamon still had its eyes on her and was extremely slow, his attacks and sword strikes were effortlessly dodged by the skillful and agile fox digimon. Once again, she rolled over another sluggish sword swipe before leaping backwards just before the greatsword slammed on the floor, creating large cracks around the impact. She shouldered her weapon and fired a short burst before swiftly shifting one spot to another, launching her "Diamond Storm" attacks from the air. Titamon relased another furious growl, irritated at the agile digimon that keeps dodging its attacks. Fumes escaped from its lifeless maw, its digicore boiling with increasing rage.
Her carbine clicked empty, demanding more rounds to be fed. Renamon quickly searched through her plate carrier and cursed at herself, that was her last magazine. She pulled out her sidearm, a P226 pistol, and sprinted towards her opponent. Blood and data pumped into her system, transforming into a rich flow of raw adrenaline, her senses and reflexes hightened. Sweat poured out of her and swept away as she dashed across the rotunda, dodging narrowly each attack. With the rush of adrenaline pumping into her, she didn't know how her body was actually exhausted, surpassing leagues over its limit, crying and threatening to collapse at any moment. But she ignored those warnings and pushed herself further more, probably going over 200 percent of her capacity.
She launched herself at the top of the greatsword, using her strong legs to push herself forward with the momentum and leapt just over Titamon's head, pistol aimed for the eyes. Time slowed down as Titamon looked up at her with wide eyes, shocked for once in its existence.
Renamon unconsciously grinned and fired two shots at its left eye and shot the eyeball above the loincloth. She landed a couple of feet behind the giant monster, howling in pain and anger and clutching its wounds as dark purple blood dripped all over the floor. The vulpine digimon pulled her combat knife out and jumped on its back. Titamon thrashed around to throw her off but her sharp claws and steel-like grip held on its skin while she began to stab it repeatedly behind its neck, hacking away its flesh with each powerful and violent strike.
Several violent thrashes later, Titamon huffed and reached around its back, catching the much smaller digimon and slowly crushed her a bit before it threw her away like a tennis ball. Renamon yelped in surprise as she was thrown away, closing her eyes and waited painfully for the hard impact. But instead her body hit something much softer and made it grunt. She could hear the sound of claws skidding across hard surface before it abruptly halted.
"You alright?" Her eyes flung open and turned her head around, not believing her sheer luck.
Guilmon managed to catch her in mid-air and safely landed on the ground, holding her securely in his arms. The red saurian gave her a childish grin, happy to see her fine and alive afterall. Like her, he was covered in dirt, sweat and a couple of battle scars; mostly bruises and cuts. Nevertheless, his golden eyes sparkled like his charming smile. Renamon immediately hugged him dearly and gratefully, relieved to be rescued by him at the last second.
"Perfect timing there, Lance Corporal!" Raymond shouted across the hallway while Marines of Alpha and Bravo companies rushed in to aid their brothers and sisters in arms, "Form up, Marines! Royal Knights are on the way!"
Guilmon let her go and passed her a couple of magazines for AR-15s, "Make it count, love." He told her before running off and joining his squad.
Charlie company quickly pulled back, covered by the reinforcements of Marines and soon of JSDF soldiers, gunning down the wave of phantom warriors while rockets were used against Titamon. Bursting through the roof as planned, Dynasmon and Dukemon dived through the breached hole and landed perfectly on the ground, standing upright and staring defiantly at Titamon and its small army of phantoms.
Dukemon took on a fighting stance, his body hunched over with his shield and lance raised while Dynasmon grinned and cracked his knuckles with delight.
"I suggest to fall back, lads! This will blow to pieces!" Dynasmon warned the human soldiers, whom obeyed without a protest, "Dragon's Roar!"
Two powerful energy beams shot out of his palms, radiating with raw and combined elemental powers. The beams slammed against Titamon, piercing through its skin and flesh with ease and disintegrating its army of entities. The undead digimon wailed in agony, its body going numb from the extreme pain. But the Royal Knight duo didn't waste time to finish it. Dukemon glided towards Titamon close enough to charge his Aegis at full capacity, the shield glowed brightly with holy light, lifting it up at its chest.
"Final Elysion!" Dukemon screamed as he braced for the attack's recoil.
A large beam of light shot out and bursted through Titamon's whole body, consuming and extinguishing its digicore with overwhelming power. The undead digimon exploded into a cloud of data before it could scream in pain and defeat. Dukemon staggered a bit backward, his left arm twitching due to the strong recoil of the attack. He flinched a bit once he felt a tinge of pain on his shoulder. Which increased when Dynasmon unknowingly slapped him on the injured shoulder.
"AAH CRAP!" He yelped in pain, "Dude! That hurts!"
"Oh... sorry 'bout that." Dynasmon said while he raised his hands in apology.
While the Marines regrouped and pushed back the few imperial stragglers, Renamon and her squad decided to rest and help out Charlie company with the wounded. Well... it was more Renamon resting and them working.
Renamon still held onto Guilmon's shoulder, the adrenaline rush faded and she nearly collapsed out of exhaustion. Thankfully Guilmon still saved one chocolate bar which she rapidly devoured in seconds, refilling a small amount of her energy. The vixen rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying her small measure of peace with the one she loved. Guilmon responded with a gentle and smooth caress on top of her head. She nestled closer to him, enjoying the loving strokes she received from him. However their intimate moment was interrupted abruptly, much to their dismay.
"Lance Corporal! Move your ass and regroup! Double time!" Yelled his new platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Rodriguez.
"Aye, Staff Sergeant!" The saurian digimon responded sharply, "Sorry, sweetheart," He whispered into her ear after a light kiss on the left cheek, "See you later."
Renamon wordlessly stared at him as he went farther away. Her attention was drawn elsewhere when Rookie stood near her, awaiting for her commands. The rest of her squad was gathered around her shortly after; tired but still ready for more action. She stood back up, grabbed her carbine and eyed her men.
"Let's go end this war today, gents." She said with a small smirk.
"Oorah!" They replied with some enthusiasm.
Most of the palace has been captured thanks to the arrival of the Royal Knights and their Strike Force. Human troops swept through the floors of the grand palace while the Royal Knights headed straight for the throne room, where the Emperor was currently residing in.
Examon, Dukemon, Magnamon and Ulforceveedramon stayed behind, tasked with aiding the Strike Forces to repel enemy forces in and out of the palace and provide heavy support for the humans.
With two synchronized attacks, Alphamon and Craniummon eliminated the last two Knightmon elite guards and paved the way for the rest of the Royal Knights, reaching the throne room's massive iron double doors. The Royal Knights took a brief moment of respite, preparing themselves for what it would be the toughest fight of the war. Intense firefights echoed loudly behind them, the screams of soldiers struggling in close quarters combat filling the empty hall.
Alphamon gazed at his brothers-in-arms, after a quick check up, Omegamon gave him a firm nod to which he replied with his own. They were ready for the fight, determined to win at all cost.
"Here we go..." The Aloof Hermit mumbled as he began to push the iron door open, Dynasmon pushed the other side open aswell.
The doors let off a resounding creak, almost painful to their ears but once they were fully opened, the Royal Knights emerged in the wide throne room and were confronted to a large group of Imperial elite guards, outnumbering the holy knights.
Standing proudly in front of the throne was the Emperor, CresGarurumon, the digimon responsible for plunging the DigiWorld in more than a decade long and bloody war, a war that ruined and devastated many states and kingdoms, causing millions of lives lost and spreading famine, poverty, chaos and tyranny around the world. CresGarurumon is also responsible for disrupting the link between the DigiWorld and the Real World, Earth, attacking the humans savagely and provoking them to war. That was a big mistake for the Imperium for he has awakened a fearful giant, driven by revenge and swift justice, a giant capable of fighting against all odds and emerge out victorious.
Declaring war on the humans is his downfall; and the Royal Knights will make sure to deliver justice... either through trial or death.
CresGarurumon is flanked by two Pharaohmon and surrounded by a dozen of Ravmon and Knightmon. Every digimon in the room tense up and took their fighting stances, bracing for the fight. Duftmon and Omegamon examined their targets precisely, calculating their strenghts and weaknesses. Meanwhile Alphamon, at the head of the group, stared sternly at CresGarurumon, opting to give him and his guards one last chance of redemption.
"CresGarurumon!" He spoke in a firm and authoritative tone, "By the orders and demands of Yggdrasil, the Sovereigns and the Council of Network Security along with the United Nations of the Real World, you are under arrest for grievous crimes against Digimon and Humanity. You will face justice by trial. If you refuse the demands, we will use deadly force." Alphamon's red eyes narrowed and slightly glowed with anger, his tone shifting to much darker and colder one, "This is your last chance, CresGarurumon, end this war right here and right now, spare the lives of your soldiers and citizens, end this decade long bloodbath now while you still can."
Silence was his answer; for a moment, Alphamon was about to give in and commence the attack but the heavy silence was disturbed by deliberate slow and loud metallic claps coming from the Emperor himself, a smug smile plastered on his face.
"Bravo, Alphamon! You do know how to display a show!" He said sarcastically, "You know, for being the Aloof Hermit, you're quite naïve to think that after all these years I'll finally bow down on my knees and beg for mercy..." He chuckled dryly before his gaze hardened on Alphamon, "Lord of the Empty Seat, have you lost you're grasp on reality or are you that stupid? I've once ruled a third of this world, brought down numerous kingdoms and empires to their knees, guided by incompetent and brain dead fools! I have proven to the whole world that the gods could do nothing against me! They are all like us, mortals and cowards! False gods that want to destroy our world! I have brought salvation to Digimon! To fight back these false deities and secure a better future for us!"
"You've brought nothing but death and misery in this world." Omegamon retorted coldly.
"You brought tyranny and caused chaos and anarchy to many regions of the world." Duftmon pointed out sternly.
"And you've caused great instability to the Network and the link between our world and the Real World." Alphamon added with a hiss.
"Enough!" CresGarurumon yelled furiously, "I'm done with this shit! Kill them! Show them no mercy!" He ordered his troops, who obeyed on command and charged at the holy knights.
"End Waltz!"
"Garuru Cannon!"
"Dragon's Roar!"
"Digitalize of Soul!"
"Ernste Welle!"
"Urgent Fear!"
All six deadly attacks launched at the elite Imperials, colliding in a big and spectacular explosion that made the whole room tremble violently as it was filled in a thick cloud of smoke. Without checking for survivors, the Royal Knights rushed into the smoke, ready to eliminate anyone on sight. Dynasmon summoned his Wyvern and used the aura to swipe away and clear the smoke.
The wyvern let out a powerful roar as it swept left and right across the throne room, instantly killing any digimon crossing its path. As planned the smoke cloud cleared, revealing a few standing guards and unharmed Pharaohmon and CresGarurumon.
The two lumbering undead digimon summoned their staves and scimitars and moved in between the emperor and the holy knights. Rhodoknightmon, being the most agile and nimblest knight in the Order, sprinted straight for them, his body-sash blades ready to strike at a moment's notice. The first Pharaohmon swung the scimitar in a downward diagonal angle, attempting to cleave the pink knight in half. Rhodoknightmon elegantly dodged the strike by diving and rolling forward, using speed to pratically launch himself right between the undead giants.
Now behind the two Pharaohmon, he aimed his Pile Bunker at the back of the first one and fired a strong shockwave at their back. The volatile projectile crushed the digimon's armoured flesh and bones, causing them to wail in unbearable pain.
"Spiral Masquerade!" His body-sash blades soared out and sliced through the second Pharaohmon's legs and back, causing more pain and blood raining on him.
Wounded and distracted, Craniummon and Omegamon rushed in for the killing blow. The white knight thrusted the Grey Sword through the first's chest, pushing the blade forward until it got out of the back. Meanwhile Craniummon violently bashed the second with his shield, Avalon. The Pharaohmon helplessly fell on the ground, fully exposed and vunerable to the Royal Knights. Craniummon simply plunged the Claiomh Solais through their Digicore, instantly killing them. Omegamon pulled the greatsword out, a waterfall of blood came out of the undead's wound before he swipe the blade along the neck, decapitating them in one fluid motion.
"Look out!" Omegamon warned urgently as he spots a golden blur coming straight for Rhodoknightmon. He tried to intervene by firing a shot from his Garuru Cannon but his reflexes were too slow.
Instead, Craniummon pushed Rhodoknightmon aside and lifted Avalon in front of them.
"God Bl- " The purple knight was caught off guard by the sheer speed and force of the incoming attacks, "Shit!" He growled as he tries to stand his ground and hold the punishing attacks off.
CresGarurumon halted his merciless strikes and delivered a powerful kick at the shield, the force being strong enough to push Craniummon to the ground with Rhodoknightmon crushed by his much large comrade.
Without a warning, CresGarurumon glided for Omegamon, the Yellow Beast Crescent Moon Blade aimed for his Digicore. The Royal Knight deftly parried the deadly blow but was immediately cut across his left thigh, deep scarlet liquid flowed out of the recent wound. Grinding through the pain, he lifted the Grey Sword up just in time to block another deadly blow from his opponent.
"Garuru Cannon!" He screamed prior firing at point blank range a lethal round of absolute zero.
The round exploded as it made contact with the Beast Knight's armoured torso, ice formed around the impact as the extremely cold temperature burned CresGarurumon through his armour, causing some of his muscles to be paralysed. Angered by this, he drove his armoured knee at Omegamon's chin. The white knight's head violently jerked upwards as his face was numb from extreme pain, his vision became hazy as he fell pathetically on the ground.
"Dragon's Roar!"
A bright beam of energy punch CresGarurumon away from his foe, sending across the throne room and colliding with his own royal throne, breaking it to pieces upon impact. Dynasmon flew after him, driven with rage and vengeance while Duftmon and Alphamon helped their fellow knights up.
"Are you alright, Omegamon?" Alphamon asked concernly after helping the white knight back on his feet.
Omegamon only responded with a slow nod, hot tears raining down his cheeks as he was sure that the pain was too much for his jaw to move correctly. He is also pretty sure that he was profusely bleeding from his mouth and nose. They both turned around to the iron doors when they heard a violent crash.
"Oh great... just what we needed..." Rhodoknightmon said dreadfully as a Titamon and a couple of additional Ravmon charged at them.
The way to the throne room was quickly blocked off by the remaining elements of defenders. Having the high ground, the defenders threw everything they had at the attackers: grenades, bricks, chairs and molotov cocktails in addition of suppressing the humans at the bottom of the staircase, not letting them an inch forward, proving to be a difficult obstacle for the Marines and Japanese soldiers.
"We need grenades now!" Richards demanded loudly.
Two Marine grenadiers hurried behind cover near him, preparing to fire their underbarrel grenade launchers. Unfortunately, as soon as they stood out of cover, they quickly met their death by enemy machine guns, resulting in a fountain of blood and gore.
"Guilmon!" Raymond called out, catching the red saurian's attention, "On me! Let's go!"
On command, Guilmon followed wordlessly his company commander, trying his best to avoid being shot at; eventhough his scales were bulletproof, it doesn't mean that it hurts like hell when being shot, he knows from experience.
The two managed to get slightly closer to the Imperial barricade at the top of the staircase. Their only piece of cover was a single marble pillar. Raymond threw a few glances at the Imps' position, nearly losing his face by a ricochet.
"Alright, on my signal, I'll provide you cover fire, I want you to blast the barricade away, carve a path for us. Is that clear?"
With a hesitant nod, Guilmon mentally prepared himself for the risky task. Raymond quietly counted down to zero and leaned out of cover with his M4A1 up, firing short bursts at the enemy.
"Go!" He yelled urgently.
Guilmon rushed out of the cover and ran up the deadly staircase, his forearms up to this face to protect himself from the swarm of bullets. The saurian growled in pain as thousand bullets was concentrated solely on him. Irritated, he deemed to be close enough for his attack to have a more devastating effect. Channeling every energy into one single attack, he felt his throat burning as fumes started to come out of his nostrils. His eyes narrowed in concentration and fury, his maw opened, the strong attack glowed inside his throat and mouth.
"Pyro Sphere!"
The attack was far larger than the regular one. It soared upwards and hit its mark, destroying the barricade and engulfing the Imps in the intense inferno.
"Barricade's clear! Move up!" Richards ordered sternly, his Marines roared in reply, eager and determined to finish the enemy.
The humans charged up the staircases, coldly gunning down or stabbing the survivors in their way. However the fight didn't end there yet. Reaching the top floor, the humans were met with a fierce and suicidal charge of Imps. A row of the enemy were quickly gunned down before the humans resorted to hand-to-hand combat.
Althought greatly outnumbered, the Imps showed no mercy or fatigue as they fought the human soldiers to the bitter end, inflicting as many casualties as they possibly can before they were completely annihilated.
Additional troops arrived, reinforcing their presence in the palace while others got their woundeds out of the palace. The humans spread out and cleared every room in the hall. Raymond and First platoon were ordered to head to the throne room.
The Marines sprinted across the destroyed hall leading to the throne room. From the distance, and to their dismay, they can see another Titamon fighting against Rhodoknightmon and Duftmon, Craniummon and Omegamon were fending off a group of Ravmon and Alphamon and Dynasmon were facing CresGarurumon, the High Value Target. Luckily for the Marines, no one seemed to notice them as they enter the throne room. They formed up a firing line behind Titamon.
"Open fire!" Raymond yelled, causing Titamon to looked around itself.
Angry barks from the automatic rifles and light machine guns spat out volleys of bullets, ripping apart Titamon's tough skin and guts. The Marines focused their fire at its head, forcing it to retreat and cover its head with its left hand, making it vunerable to more attacks. It was the opportunity the Royal Knights needed... or so they thought.
Titamon was getting furious, roaring in a savage rage before it charge straight at the humans in disregard of the incoming bullets. Raymond quickly caught on with that, his plan ironically backfired.
"Fuck! Spread out!"
The Marines did as commanded, running away from the stampeding digimon. Titamon slid to a halt and swiped its greatsword in a downward arc. Two Marines weren't fast enough to avoid the sword slash, their bodies cut in two in a gruesome manner. It then immediately spun on itself, turning into a dangerous spinning greatsword, slowly directing towards Raymond and couple of other Marines.
Fearing for his life, Raymond quickly ran as fast as his legs could, who were already exhausted since the battle began. By a pure streak of luck, Raymond slid beside a pillar just as Titamon carelessly collided with it.
The greatsword chopped right through the marble pillar but the giant digimon violently bumped its head against the pillar, destroying it to pieces and being left out in the open disoriented.
"It's fucking dumb!" He breathed out in relief.
In a cruel twist of fate, Titamon recovered from its temporary daze and set its eyes on Raymond.
"Oh come on!"
Titamon lunged an arm out, aimed to grab hold of the human. Fortunately Raymond's reflexes were on par at that moment, managing to pick himself up and dodging the arm by ducking just below it, running between its legs and ending up behind it. Without a second thought, Raymond opened fire at its rear and back. Entities appeared out of thin air and charged at the lone human. In a hasty maneuver, Raymond lobbed a frag grenade out before running away from the phantoms, the others tried to shoot them down.
The hand grenade exploded right beneath Titamon. It howled in pain as hot pieces of metal pierced its skin and melted its decaying flesh. The Marines saw this as another opportunity to eliminate it with more gunfire.
Rhodoknightmon dashed towards the big digimon, doing his best to avoid being shot by friendlies. He equipped two of his sash blades and jumped towards Titamon. In mid-air he twisted his body around rapidly, turning into a tornado of razor sharp blades. In an awesome and incredible display of acrobatics and agility, he swoop down and cleanly chopped Titamon's head off. He landed gracefully in front of the headless corpse, panting heavily as more blood rained on him, covering his once clean and pristine pink armour in dry and fresh blood stains.
"Dude... that was awesome!" He heard a Marine praising excitedly.
Rhodoknightmon simply giggled and shook his head.
"Watch out!" A Marine screamed suddenly.
He turned around just in time to see Dynasmon hurling in his direction. Not wanting to be crushed by another knight, he leapt in the air to avoid Dynasmon. The other Royal Knight hit the wall on impact and fell back on the ground. Groaning in pain Dynasmon dazily looked up at Rhodoknightmon.
The pink knight hastilly ran to his side and picked the unconscious knight out of the throne room.
"Where are you going?!" Duftmon asked surprisingly.
"Getting him out of here!" He replied through gritted teeth, "I'll be quick!" Without letting the tactician to protest, he left with Dynasmon hauled over his shoulders.
Omegamon finished off the last Ravmon, pulling the Grey Sword out of their chest. Suddenly he felt another presence behind him. He spun around and raised his sword to block a strike from another wounded Ravmon. The cyborg humanoid was then neutralized by a squad of Marines. He briefly thanked them before joining Alphamon and Craniummon in the fight against CresGarurumon.
CresGarurumon is a skilled and strong warrior, there is no doubt to that as both Alphamon and Craniummon were getting tired from constantly dodging and blocking while unable of landing a single attack. However, it was only a matter of time before more reinforcements arrive to surround the emperor.
"Garuru Cannon!"
The Beast Knight digimon deftly dodged the incoming round from the air. Sensing another presence behind him, CresGarurumon slid to the side, avoiding a slash from Craniummon and parried a sword thrust from Duftmon. He smirked once he has the two Royal Knights in a deadly trap, hitting two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, Duftmon caught on with that a second too late.
"Beast Great Wolf Rotation!"
In the blink of an eye, CresGarurumon spun on himself, turning into a lethal weapon. The sharp blades on him and his weapon sliced through the heavy armour of both Royal Knights, causing enormous wounds and profuse bleeding. Cutting through his rivals, he stopped the attack and instantly blocked a sword strike from Omegamon, their blades sent out sparks as they clashed for dominance.
His strenght was far greater than Omegamon has anticipated, he felt him pushing the Grey Sword aside with little effort. The white knight was about to shoot at his foe only to be violently interrupted by a strong punch to the face. The force pushed him backwards, his face going numb once again. His vision blurred as tears were threatening to fall. The cyborg warrior kicked him to the ground, stomping on his chestplate with his mighty armoured boot to cause more suffering. Omegamon screamed as he felt his ribcages being crushed, his lungs cut off of air supply.
He painfully looked up to witness CresGarurumon rising his halberd above his head, ready to strike at his Digicore. That would've been the end for the white Royal Knight, were it not for Alphamon's timely intervention.
The black Royal Knight tackled the large wolf humanoid digimon across the throne room. He kicked him off and summoned the Seiken Gradalpha, taking on a defensive fighting stance while CresGarurumon slowly stood up, growling as he glares at his new opponent.
Without a single word exchanged between the two, they charged at each other where their blades clashed. A duel for dominance by strenght ensued and Alphamon was a match for CresGarurumon. However it will not last longer as the black knight felt his strenght grew weary. The cyborg wolf sensed this and smiled maniacally. Using his full force, he wiped Alphamon's weapon away and drove his armoured knee hard on his side, the chestplate actually bent inwards and cut through the flesh.
Alphamon cried out in pain and lunged his head forward, the headbutt collided violently with CresGarurumon's snout, breaking the bone and making the other howl in agony. The two warriors backed away from each other, dazed by the exchanged blows.
Alphamon clutched to his wound, hissing as blood spewed out of his armour. He used one end of the Seiken Gradalpha as a prop to lean on, his body beaten and exhausted to fight on. However the fight wasn't over as his opponent quickly recovered from his improvised headbutt, spitting out blood and glaring furiously at him, blood dripped out of his nostrils and mouth.
CresGarurumon could've easily finished Alphamon in two blows but unfortunately for him, a minor annoyance appeared in front of him.
Rushing beside Alphamon were dozens of Marines, the famed "Digital Marines", forming a firing line around the emperor, weapons aimed at him. From behind, Vademon crashed into the throne room, running away in panic as fast as his tentacles could before a BlackRenamon fazed in front of him and grabbed him by the throat, slapping effortlessly his ray gun away. Following behind her were more human soldiers along a couple of digimon, all pointed their rifles and weapons at him. A large group of human troops rushed in from the second floor, shouting orders as they took their positions and aimed their rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers at him.
Finally, more poured in through the main entrance accompanied by numerous digimon, including Dukemon, Ulforceveedramon, Rhodoknightmon, Kaisergreymon and Ancient Garurumon. The battered bodies of Craniummon, Duftmon and Omegamon soon joined in the show of force.
Everyone remained quiet as the heavy and tense silence weighed in the room. CresGarurumon let a feral growl emanated from his throat. He was completely surrounded and eventhough he could take on the army of humans, he will surely be deleted when up against numerous powerful digimon. His Imperium has perished, everything he fought for, his victories, his conquers, his riches and powers gone by the intervention of humans, creatures who were far weaker than digimon.
Humiliation and anger was all he could feel, his pride was violated, defeated. And to add salt to the injury, a single human being stepped forward, daring to stare straight into his eyes in defiance.
The lone man raised his sidearm and pointed at the tall bipedal wolf without any fear, staring at him coldly and sternly.
"Drop your weapon and get on your knees with your hands behind your head!" The human warned sternly, "This is your last warning so don't you dare do anything stupid or we will open fire. You have ten seconds!"
Weighing his options and their consequences, CresGarurumon has found none that will end in his favour. He knew that fighting will end up with his demise. With whatever dignity left in him, he made his reluctant choice.
"I surrender..." He stated with dread.
Dukemon walked behind him and forcefully held his arms behind his back, attaching his wrists tightly with Chrome Digizoid hand cuffs. The Hazard knight lightly pushed him forward, earning him a growl before CresGarurumon walked forward, out of his throne room escorted by Dukemon and several Strike Force members. During his long and painful trek outside his own palace, he observed the damages done to his palace, home and empire caused by the human-digimon coalition.
The humans stood aside as they watched the emperor of the Imperium exit his own domain. Only anger and murderous glares was received from the human soldiers, all of them preferred him dead than alive.
Off in the distance, CresGarurumon could see a large group of his loyal soldiers, gathered as they were medically treated then evacuated as prisonners of war. An Imperial officer saw the emperor and proudly stood despite the humans' orders. The officer perfomed the formal Imperial salute, pounding resoundly their left fist against their Digicore. The others soon followed suit, saluting and cheering at their beloved emperor in the face of defeat. However he could see in their eyes hope, a new hope for the Imperium for he is not dead. As long as he lives, the Imperium lives on, not as a gigantic empire but in spirit.
CresGarurumon couldn't help it but smile grimly. He did what was thought to be impossible: defy the deities and Royal Knights and conquer half of the DigiWorld in a few years. His rapid dominance will resonate through the years to come. He achieved the impossible, breaking the barrier between two worlds and creating a link. His accomplishments will echo in the History books of millions of Digimon. He left a big mark on History.
And that, in his mind, is a victory.
In the following weeks, the humans gathered their dead and wounded, and with the digimon coalition huge efforts were mobilised to rebuild cities and towns, to restore order and security for the local populations, and install a temporary government for the troubled and devastated continent.
News of the end of the war spread across the Digital World like a wild fire, even reaching the ears of the Sovereigns and the Heavenly Choir. Cheers of relief and victory echoed globally, grand parties and feasts were made in celebration and commoration of the fallen soldiers who fought for the right causes: freedom and peace.
However no celebrations were held from the men and women of the IDDF. The war was over but victory came at a high cost. They just wanted to go home. Leave this world for good.
Author's Note: Welp the war is over and so is this story, well almost over. Two more chapters left before moving on the sequel and prequel... oh boy. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, leave a review if you want. The next two chapters will be posted at the same time. As always... à la prochaine! :D