The New World Pt. I
Fear ran through his spine, urine down his lower garments and the sound of his blood rushing inside his ears as he desperately tried to regroup with someone. A squad or platoon or even another lone soldier would be better at this point, he just didn't want to die alone in this forsaken valley. He prayed to the gods of where all this went wrong, what had he done to be damned to the chaos around him? He had heard his orders, followed his battalion and leaders in a march to the Artisian Valley where he and his fellow soldiers were to stop the advancement of an invading force and reclaim the land. It was said that they would have an easier battle in comparison to the Allied Kingdoms that would attack Alnus Hill. It was a lie that they all were paying dearly for with their lives.
When he first heard these orders, he believed that the holy site should have been the duty of the Imperial military to recapture from the invaders, but his opinion did not matter since he was just another no named soldier in the military in the eyes of the nobles. Now as he stood shaken at what laid before him, he regretted not following in his father's steps into becoming a merchant within the grand capital. He'd die a nobody trying to retake this valley, where only just a few seconds ago, a battalion of men he shared a meal with not three hours ago were obliterated and consumed in a mass of fire. He watched as the flames swept passed overhead and bared witness of what used to be three hundred men now reduced to charred husks, the screams of those who managed to evade them echoing in what used to be a cold night. Reason being was for the fact that those flames were so intense that their armor was literally melting into their skin.
He dared not make another step and watched as a metallic carriage emerge from the Gate, confused as to how it was being drawn without a horse although it slowly eroded away back into fear. The nameless soldier watched as it came to a stop and its passengers emerged, individuals dressed in some sort of uniform garbs although it was who they were that drew his attention. The ones that exited were three men, three women and a young girl although the last two who came out drew his anger if only minutely as their appearance was all too familiar. Cat people had betrayed the Empire and brought with them some sort of military force, daring to wear the enemy's own colors to boot.
The group was soon joined by a fourth young man with pink hair and a scarf around his neck, wearing a similar uniform like the rest except for a missing sleeve on his right arm. Even at a distance the soldier could see a fire burning within his eyes, a glare set in that it matched one of the most terrifying creatures most people knew to exist, a dragon. He soon discovered that this young man was the culprit to all those deaths as his body became alit with flames, but he didn't scream in pain, rather he was producing them himself. They stood there watching as his fellow countrymen ran in different directions in order to regroup and soon a war horn was blown to notify the night creatures to begin their assault. The horn was blown by one of the captains as he rode his horse forward, giving out a shaky war cry as he began his attack. It would have inspired some of his troops into action if it weren't for the fact that the space before him erupted chaotically, the culprit being one of the women who had two buns atop her head as she began to lower her hand.
The captain's sacrifice was enough time for the creatures to close the distance and now stood side by side with Imperial soldiers, their bloodlust radiating off of them. These hellions were the first to charge the Gate head on, the soldier glad that their fear was barely registering into their tiny minds although his grew even more once a powerful lightning strike decimated the first wave of them. The blonde-haired man had his fist extended to them, the audible crackling of the lightning surrounding it being heard from where the nameless soldier stood. The first wave was defeated, but the creatures continued to swarm and it made those individuals split off to tackle their situation, an opening some soldiers took as a way to advance. He didn't know whether they were stupidly brave or bravely stupid to try and continue the attack after what they saw, but he was soon being shoved forward towards the melee.
He kept a lookout for the pink haired enemy as it meant a quick death once he unleashed his flames, but once he caught sight of him, he stared in bafflement as one of the cat people grabbed onto his back and sprouted wings. He couldn't believe that such a thing was possible although now it made the situation much worse as they flew off to the larger area of congregated monsters and set them on fire. The nameless soldier couldn't tell whether the pink haired young man was spewing those flames from his hands or from his mouth, but it only served to remind him of the stories his grandfather had told him about the fire dragon. What lion's tail had his Empire stepped on to bring such ferocity upon them?
His thoughts fell back onto the battle as one of his fellow soldiers came crashing right before his feet, soon followed by even more until he looked at the source. It was one of the women, her hair just as bright as Princess Pina Co Lada's although the difference between the two was that this woman was much more than a princess. Legends spoke of women who breathed combat, ones that were worth more than two thousand men on any battlefield and can make the greatest of differences in a battle. He thought them as mere tall tales that only fueled the Princess' desire to create her Rose Order Knights, but now he could see the tales coming to life. The scarlet haired woman fought off ten men on her right and ten more on her left, her movements swift and agile but also deadly. Her body would shine brightly before her clothes would miraculously transform into armors he had never seen before but served to make her even more powerful.
The old legends of the War Maidens were real and his people were fighting against one. Gods help them.
He tried to move his feet forward, backward and any real direction just so he could move and make sure he wasn't dead yet. He barely moved two feet before another body landed on top of him, throwing him to the ground and before he could get it off, the last thing he saw was a boot before his world turned black.
"Erza, we've cleared up enough for the rest of the units to start pouring out!" Minerva called out as she blew up the space in front of a group of goblins rushing her. "It's time to change the tide."
"Lucy, fire the signal!" Erza commanded as the blonde transformed into her Sagittarius form and launched a shining arrow into the Gate, the signal Erza implemented to allow the Special Forces time to clear out space for the rest of the forces before they moved in. "Laxus make your way to the rear, reinforcements will join you shortly!"
"On it!" Laxus sent out a thunder wave to give him enough breathing room and make his way to the rear of the Gate, his job was to make sure they weren't blindsided. "Rogue come with me!" The shadow dragon slayer nodded before running alongside him, taking out as many enemies as he could to ease the flow that would charge in once he left his area.
The rumbling sound of vehicles grew louder as the first of the Rhinos started to pour out of the Gate, Fiorean soldiers and Rune Knights quickly pouring out into squads before taking on the enemy. The Special Forces kept their eyes on them as these were essentially the second part of the vanguard so casualties were to be expected although many wouldn't allow it to happen if they had any say about it.
Amongst those in the Rune Knights attacking, Field Commander Hugo Sharp followed alongside his men into battle. His owl helm's eyes glowing ominously as magic began to radiate off of him and the next thing many of his allies had noticed was that any enemy charging at him lost the will to fight and fear was plain to see across their face, be it a man or one of the goblins. In a single instant, with their defenses dropped, Hugo cut them down without a second thought and moved on to more enemies.
Many of the Rune Knights already are aware of his magic, but to those who didn't, they would think that his magic makes his helm much more terrifying and quickly dispatches his foes before they have any time to recover their senses. Their assumptions are almost close; however, Hugo wields the magic of Overpower, essentially breaking down an opponent on a psychological level with an overbearing aura that leaves them defenseless. Useful against such opponents now although the stronger the will, the more power it will take to break them.
"Keep a tight formation, avoid spreading out too much!" Hugo took out another group of soldiers as they tried to sneak up behind him, but he wondered how much was the enemy willing to throw at them before they gave up. "Push them back!"
The Knights were carefully trained and drilled since the changes to the Magic Council and for the better as it has helped them grow vastly. Rune Knights have made themselves into a formidable force over the years now that the Council is Wizard Saint run and so that meant that their tactics were far superior to the ones their predecessors had been using. Less casualties and more results, which they are doing so at the very moment as they continued to push back the enemy although they were far from perfect. They hadn't expected to be continuously hounded by arrows from a distance so defensive magic was implemented more often than any offensive as a few who had tried were struck by arrows. Since they joined the attack, the Rune Knights have lost twelve people although the same could not be said about the Fiorean soldiers as they were losing more to the arrows than to melee combat.
"Commander Scarlet, protect your men!" Hugo shouted as Erza deflected a hail of arrows trying to attack a few wounded soldiers that were being carried away by more able-bodied ones. "A knight protects those weaker than oneself or have you been too busy enjoying the glory of combat?"
"I have my best ranged fighters dealing with them, I know what I'm doing!" Erza replied back, not one to be criticized on her battle plans let alone her position as a knight. "Reinforce yourselves with your shields! Arrows and spearman are approaching!"
As Erza had pointed out, a hail of fire arrows was about to descend upon them before the scarlet head requipped into her Adamantine Armor and casted a large shield to protect them. They bounced off easily enough thanks to the massive shield, but it didn't stop the approaching spearman as they jabbed at the Expeditionary Forces. The shields the Firoean soldiers had were reinforced steel that held out against the spears, but it was because of the reach the enemy had that the Firoeans couldn't counter. The formulated line of spearman began to push against their advance, causing a stalemate of shields and spears. Erza would have assisted if it weren't for the arrows that she needed to defend against and those who could deal with them needed to split their attention between helping thin numbers and getting rid of the archers. Hugo had noticed this and would have come to their aid, but the protective inscriptions had yet to be finished to give cover from arrows in his defended area.
"Turtle formation, advance on my command!" Hugo shouted as his shield wielders formed a defensive shell, allowing the wounded time to move out of the line of fire and the script mages to finish in safety.
It took time, but the script mages had managed to complete the protective barrier for the secured point where the wounded would rendezvous, so it was one problem less for them to deal with. Once Hugo was informed of their completion he marched his units forward alongside the rest of the vanguard, disappointed at the lack of advancement the commander has made since the battle had begun.
"Squads Three and Five, advance to the line at the east. Those men won't last any longer with those creatures hounding at them." Hugo commanded as the mentioned squads broke off from the Turtle and rushed their way through enemies to support a group of Firoean soldiers. "We need the breathing room Commander, but we can't afford to be spread out so thinly!"
"We were doing fine until the archers began their barrage, my ranged supporters have too much interference to correctly deal with them!" Erza called back as she toppled another advancing group of soldiers, her attention divided between them and her allies behind her. "Are the runes completed?"
"Why else would I be here for?" The red head couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or if he truly answered her in such a manner, but just nodded in understanding. "Tell your people to cover the wounded and join the fight, having their commander in the back lines isn't helping our cause."
"I need to protect my own, do I not? I can't press the attack if it leaves them wide open" Erza threw his jab back at him, but she was unsure if it had any real effect because of that owl helm he was wearing.
"You're not protecting them, you're babysitting them! If you really were protecting them, you'd lessen the burden they have to deal with in this fight!" Hugo shot back as he parried three blades at once and cut his attackers down in quick succession.
Erza was conflicted at his reasoning because it did make sense for her to try everything, she could make it easier for the soldiers, but at the same time she couldn't risk leaving them open to ranged attack. Lucy was trying her best alongside Minerva; the blonde had the ability of a mastered archer with razor sharp precision, while Minerva had area of effect explosives on her side so she was bound to hit something if she generalized the area she targeted. Though the other ranged attackers weren't a gifted as them, so the likelihood for them to strike down the archers were much lower. This was why Gray would have been ideal in this situation, his defenses were phenomenal, and his ranged attacks would have dealt with those archers in a second. It was up to her to make her mind as soon as possible for the betterment of her troops, but her mind kept her conflicted.
Luckily a saving grace came in the form of an ice arrow flying past many heads before creating an ice explosion in which a number of enemy archers were located in. Erza dared to hope that Gray had actually made it in time to help them, but it was dashed as the woman she saw at the briefing jumped off the roof of her Rhino. Her hood was pulled up as her bow glowed a beautiful blue hue, smiling towards the captains and commanders that had taken notice of her arrival.
"Don't worry, the main unit's already here!" Colonel Alexis Shiverpeak called out as even more Rhinos began to pour out of the Gate, this time the volunteer mages were coming in to support as well. "The boys with the big toys will be helping you here, my people and I will reinforce the rear!"
Hugo nodded to her before getting back into combat, but Erza was confused at her claim as she thought the Jupiter Cannons were situated at the rear to allow charge time and clearing of the more immediate enemies. No later did Alexis leave that the last of the commanding leaders of the Rune Knights emerged from their shared Rhino, Major General Tyson Hammer and Supreme Commander Jura Neekis.
"Glad we ain't missin' the party, I reckon we can deal with your archer problem in not time, girly." Tyson said as he moved forward, his band of Rune Knights and Firoean soldiers quickly forming up behind him, each carrying automatic magic rifles. "Supreme Commander, I'll be needn' the earth mages to create gun placements for these ladies and gents."
"I'll also be assisting you in this endeavor Major Hammer, the troops will need as much support as we can offer." Jura signaled for the earth mages to follow his lead as he began to erect structures that gave vantage points and with enough cover to stop arrows. From there they created barricades that were tall enough for a person to be crouched behind and be completely covered.
Tyson sent the squads of heavy gunners he came with towards the structures while he led the rest towards the barricades, many of the troops prepared to open fire once he gave the order although there were those who nervously looked around the battlefield before them. The more seasoned troops kept their focus on their Major, but most of the civilian volunteers couldn't help themselves as this would mark their very first time in actual combat. Though the novelty wore away as Tyson's booming voice commanded that all attention went to him, the preparations he was waiting for finally complete from the earth mages.
"Riflemen, and women, y'all are going to provide cover fire for our people. The Hammers will focus on suppression so the enemy don't gain any footholds as they pull out." He turned to see an explosion a distance off and assumed one of the volunteer mages needed more room for themselves. "Them barricades will give ya cover to reload, but I want at least three people firing for every two that need to reload. Your job's to hold them off so we can advance and gain more ground once the MK. III's show up."
"Major General! Hammers are placed and ready to fire on your command!" A corporal called down from one of the earthen short towers.
"Good, I'll fire the signal for the rest of ya to give surpressin' fire." Tyson made his way to overlook the barricades and could see just enough spacing to give his units enough room to do their jobs, grateful that the earth mages raised them a bit higher off the ground so the rifles would be shooting over allied heads. "Hey Cherry, get the troops out of there! Did ya hear me, Commander Cherry!?"
Many of the soldiers were unsure of who their Major was talking to, but they followed his line of sight towards the Special Forces commander. Many were aware of her reputation and wondered why he was referring to her in such a way, but kept their mouths shut for the most part. They watched as she didn't respond until a Fiorean soldier had pointed out that she was being called and turned with genuine confusion to whoever was calling her.
"Bout time you looked, move your people back and let us deal with them." She looked conflicted for a brief moment before she gave the order to fall back. "Alright everyone, you know what to do. Pick your targets, keep an eye on your magic cartridge and watch the crossfire!"
Tyson outstretched his hand and fired a pulse of blue magic at the enemy, which was the signal the towers were waiting for and let loose a deadly barrage of magic rounds. The Hammers opened up as soon as the Fiorean knights brought up the tower shields to defend their backs and began to help the wounded. Their job wasn't to accurately target the enemy, it was to suppress their movement and make it impossible for them to advance against their retreating allies. Though it didn't matter much as the congestion of enemy troops was so large that the Hammer gunners immediately thought of shooting fish in a barrel with how easy it was to kill an enemy. The archers that were giving the knights a hard time found it impossible to even draw their bow as the number of magic rounds being fired dropped three archers before even one managed to pull an arrow from their quiver.
A rifleman recruit who was helping lead knights out of the way of combat took the briefest of moments to be awe struck of the power the Hammers possessed, though he had the lingering question about what they were exactly. He's heard of magic guns ranging from pistols to revolvers and snipers to sub-machine guns, but he's never seen such a thing like those heavy guns before. A sergeant, who was also helping the knights at the moment, took notice of the private's wonderment and realized that he was a civilian volunteer rather than a fellow Rune Knight. He was green and that meant that he was responsible of making sure the recruit does his part, this integration they needed to do to bolster numbers was going to take time for him to get used to it.
"Recruit, keep your focus! As soon as the knights clear out, we'll be needed at the barricades." The sergeant reprimanded, though he understood that he might not have seen some of the weaponry they use.
"Sir, yes sir!" The recruit responded as he understood that he should listen to his superiors at all times, a point that was drilled into him in that week of training. "This seems to be the last of them." The recruit said before another blue hued beam was shot in the air, this time as the advancing signal from the Major General.
"Rifles, move on up! Groups of seven for every barricade!" Tyson called out as his troops rushed forward, each one already taking aim at every enemy in their sights. "I want results, make sure my trainin' don't go to waste!"
The first volley of blue magic shots erupted from a curved line of barricades that mowed down enemy troops as they rushed the Gate. Tower shields were erected in response to this but were no match for the piercing power each magic round had within it, so they fell in a matter of seconds before the rifles might.
"Seven behind shields on your left!"
"Goblins running down the center, take them out!"
"Those goddamn archers are still up in the back!"
"I'm empty, reloading!"
Callouts were crucial for all rifleman to use as it goes a long way in making sure everyone had situational awareness, the other reason for using a dated tactic is because some of the riflemen couldn't use magic so lacrima would be harder to use. In any case, the recruits were doing their best to match their more experienced peers, but half the time they fired needless shots into a downed enemy or grazed them instead of a direct hit. Though it was nothing compared to the way they fired their rifles, it went against all that the Rune Knights had been trained to do under the command of Tyson.
Tyson's garrison of Rune Knights was made up of very well-disciplined riflemen and women that understood perfectly about the benefit of burst fire, thus gaining their nickname as the "Burst Platoons," so watching civilians fire in full auto alongside them had struck a few chords. Something Tyson had taken notice but searched for an opportune time to call them out on it, which luckily came in the form of a recruit trying to figure out why his rifle was already empty.
"You burned through all yer shots too fast, city boy." Tyson began as the recruit looked up at him, the white-haired man quickly pointing to a Rune Knight still firing. "Reload a new cartridge and watch how the professionals are doing it. Burst fire's the way to go, keeps ya fighting longer and keepin' yer accuracy intact."
"Major, aerial units inbound!" The corporal from earlier informed him as he noticed the figures coming into view, dragon riders.
"Attach long barrels and have Hammers on AA duty, bring them overgrown lizards down!" Tyson ordered as a quarter of the heavy gunners reconfigured themselves to try and shoot down the dragon riders. "Keep em' from getting close overhead, last thing we want is for these punks to be bombarding us with rocks." The trucker hat wearing man knew that the Hammers weren't exactly made to shoot down flying targets, but it would at least keep them at bay, so they only needed to worry about the enemy on the ground.
"Tower Two, focus fire; forty degrees west!"
"I'm out, pass me another cartridge belt!"
"Dragon rider down! Three for me, Dolan!"
The strategy kept pace and began to riddle down the enemy's initial assault's numbers by a fair margin, giving the FEF plenty of breathing room to advance once again. The barricades were raised higher as well allowing the rifles to shoot overhead without worry of friendly fire, this in turn made the return of the vanguard back into the fray much easier. Positioning was key, so melee fighters formed tight-knit squads to defend their backs and fight in numbers to overwhelm most opposition. The dragon riders had been a minor nuisance for a time before Natsu had stepped in and cleared the skies entirely but later disappeared from view until a fiery explosion rocked them from south of the Gate.
Natsu's anger was blazing now that he was fighting his enemy face to face, his emotions flaring so rapidly that Panther Lily burned his paws on occasion. It was only when his most recent dive bomb attack that Panther Lily was allowed to cool his paws from the burns, but Natsu had decided for the Exceed to go on without him. The scarred Exceed was unsure if it was the best course of action to leave him unsupervised but was reassured when Laxus informed him that he'd watch over the pink haired slayer. Lily gave in although he made it apparent that Laxus would have to speak with Erza if she started to complain about anything, in which the lightning mage sighed in acceptance. As for Natsu, he was unchained and ready to show everyone what happens when you mess with the wrong people.
The pink haired dragon slayer first rushed a small squad of armored soldiers so fast that they couldn't raise up a single sword before Natsu's flaming fist had pierced through their armor. His unwavering anger, fueled by his passion for combat made his flames burn brighter and hotter as he fought every last soldier he came across. Every blade coming his way melted before his flames, armor became useless when he could kick his way through it and range was out of the question when he could shoot his own fireballs. He carved his way through squads, decimating them to the point that charred bodies that were intact was the best any of them could ever hope to be left as.
His eyes burned when blood splashed onto his face, seeping down his forehead and now left to be literally seeing red. He made to wipe the blood off his face, but his mind wandered back to the battle in the capital. To the moment of him seeing the enemy killing a Firoean citizen for the first time, he wore the blood to scare the other captives and smiled savagely as he dragged a woman by the hair and pinned her against a wall. The image burned into his mind at the sight of her tears and her pleading for him to let her go, to stop what he was about to do to her and her cries as he began choking her. His anger flared intensely once again and this time his fist not only pierced through the shield put in front of him, but also through the armor the soldier wore and his lung.
Onlookers stopped in their tracks at the sight of one of their comrades having a fist going through their body, but Natsu took advantage of their horror and continued his assault. He pounced on another soldier, using him as a makeshift club as he swung at anything that came close to him. Those who were smart enough ran from the impending death that was the pink haired pyromancer and were the lucky ones since they were dispatched with a Wing Attack in one fluid motion instead of having every bone in their body shattered by one of his strikes. The pink haired slayer would have continued his pursuit if it weren't for the cries of fellow Firoean soldiers getting overrun not far from him. As swift as the wind, he tore through ranks of soldiers and erected a wall of fire to give his allies some breathing room as both creatures and men were nearly on top of them. They gave him smiles of gratitude for the chance to get their bearings again and Natsu instructed them to fall back as they pushed too far without support and were lucky he was in the immediate area.
It was then that he noticed the state of his allies and how they weren't fairing as great as he was, so he reluctantly reigned himself in to support them before it was too late. Natsu created a multitude of fire walls to help fend off the enemy to assist the wounded as they tried to retreat, but even he wasn't fast enough to save everyone as a small group of Fiorean soldiers were overwhelmed by the enemy and the dragon slayer could hear their cries of pain amongst the chaos. He wasn't aware of their losses; how many were too hurt to keep fighting but he did know that he was taking down ten enemies for every one they lost. It was a fair enough trade and as he turned to fire a Dragon's Roar at a cluster of monsters coming at him, a familiar iron arm sword cut them all down in a few swift strikes.
"Keep the roars when you're in the air Salamander, you might char some of our boys' bodies." Gajeel reprimanded as he dealt with an approaching team of spearmen with an iron club. "We need to send them home in one piece and recognizable to the families."
"I thought you were at the front with Erza?" Natsu questioned as he blasted three soldiers away with a Dragon Talon.
"I was, but the rest of the forces have shown up. I'm here to clear a better path for those reinforcing this side, but it looks like you've been busy doing that for me." Gajeel had actually wanted some more action, but with all that's going on at the front it seemed he'd get hit with a stray magic shot if anything.
"These assholes haven't paid for what they've done for yet, there's still more for me to do!" Natsu cried out as he struck a soldier with an Iron Fist, no doubt destroying his internal organs, which cleared a path in front of him as the body toppled others as it flew away.
"Too bad, Commander Scarlet has ordered you to get back in the sky." Gajeel said as Lily flew down into the battle next to him, his sword drawn as he parried a blade coming at him. "Lily's here to take you back to your post, now go!"
"Tsk" Natsu clicked his tongue, allowing Lily to grab onto the shoulders of his coat and lift him into the air. "Just make sure you take a lot of these assholes down for me, alright!?" He called as he was being lifted away.
"Whatever" Gajeel responded but was glad he got the pink haired slayer out of there. He noticed his handy work and knew it was best to stop Salamander while he was ahead, who knows what the others would find further out into the battlefield. Best if he let that thought go for now was all the iron dragon slayer had to think about on the topic.
The overview of the battle would show that the southern area of the Gate was much more manageable now that Natsu had reduced quite a number of enemies that had closed the distance earlier in the fight, with the situation slowly eroding away from a stalemate into an advance at the forefront. A busty blonde fighting in the area was trying her best to ignore the growing soreness her arms were feeling after firing what should be around her two hundredth arrow after Erza told her switch into a ranged attacker.
Lucy, in her Sagittarius dress, made her arrows count and made use of Loke's Gatlin Regulus with Sagittarius' scatter arrow. She created a very powerful attack she dubbed "Star Fall" that allowed her to fire a multitude of arrows in various directions to give her a wider effective range. It was doing well as she suppressed larger groups from banding together and allowed Minerva to clear them out with her spatial magic. An effective team up if she had to say, but while her attacks merely stunned, knocked out or blocked enemies, Minerva was the only one really gaining any confirmed kills in this. Everyone had their way of taking on this battle, but she couldn't bring herself to let loose like the those around her. She even order Taurus to be cautious when repelling the enemy; enough so they won't get back up, but not so much that they outright die.
"You and I make quite the team, don't you think?" Minerva said as she blew apart a pack of goblins, shielding them both as bits flew at them.
"We are pretty good working together." Lucy replied although her stomach may have lurched a bit at the sight of a goblin hand sliding off one of Minerva's shields. "Too bad I can't do what you can."
"Don't be foolish, you most certainly can do what I can. Your conscious is what's holding you back, but I will say that's a good thing for you." Minerva knew the blonde was trying to ease her mind of the battle at hand, but sometimes a good push is what is needed. "You can be just as powerful as I am in your own way, so buck up and make sure you deliver Fiorean justice."
Some support is all Lucy was really asking for and Minerva gave her piece of mind, if only a little but it was worth something. She was doing her best for her country, but the blonde couldn't stop thinking about her friends as they fought gallantly around her. As she continued to fire arrows into the enemy ranks and help eliminate archers, she worried about Natsu and his state of mind now that they were in a life-or-death battle. Then there was Erza who she believed to be having the hardest time as Lucy's noticed how the owl helmed mage seemed to be questioning the red head's leadership skills at every turn. She didn't know what was that all about, but it didn't sit right with her for some reason. Although she wondered if he was being that harsh because he was a veteran who really knew how to lead troops into battles like these. Lucy would never really know until she found out for herself.
"Focus your efforts at hitting those on horseback, I believe they are fundamental units to this battle for the enemy." Minerva informed as she had taken notice how they seemed to rally their allies be mere shouts and blowing horns, an act she found quite annoying after the twelfth time.
"Leave it to me" Lucy drew her magic bow and activated a specialized spell, Piercing Scope, which allowed her to zero in on her specified target at great ranges. "One horseback rider going down"
"Move forward you cowardly lot! We will not be defeated so easily!" An Imperial captain shouted as he tried to control his horse, desperately trying to keep order while holding himself together. "This is our land and we won-"
He did not finish his sentence as a glowing arrow of light had struck him directly in the chest, knocking him off his horse with such force that the Imperial soldiers had thought a javelin launcher hit him. Many panicked at the thought that someone on the other side was that accurate with one, but it only paled in comparison when they were reminded of the streams of blue light that came at them much faster than a hail of arrows and much deadlier. Some cowered to their knees praying to the gods that the streams of light would miss them, while others dared to face the blue lights head on.
Further in the back lines, a prominent general for the Imperial army clutched his hair in desperation to figure out some way to pull victory for this ever-losing battle. Reports said that the initial force that went in to plunder the land on the other side only faced resistance by sword and shield, with the deadly addition of magic. He was given elite fighters and strong mages with him to take back the valley, but his magic users died at the opening of the battle, those that remained fell back and were tasked with healing. Melee combat was a fair fight if barely so as his troops had made progress and fell enemies as they pushed back, but it ended abruptly when the flashes of blue light began and his soldiers fell one after the other. Though terrible the outlook was, he was a renowned general who never really lost a battle and he vowed that he wouldn't be starting now.
"General, we've lost another company. I advise that we retreat now before it is too late, we aren't fighting with a full force anymore." One of his advisors claimed after receiving word from a lieutenant about the current status of the army. "This is a loss, if we do not mobilize we'll lose more of the experienced soldiers."
"We will find triumph in this battle, my reputation and that of the Empire shall not be tarnished by these invaders!" There was a lot at stake for the general, his position in society and the Emperor's favor was hanging on the fact that he recaptures the Artisian Valley and the Gate. "Continue to advance, overwhelm them with what soldiers we have left and those of the monsters as well. There is no way they'll be able to hold off a horde before fatigue sets in."
"Understood, Sir." Those near the general were weary of his strategy as the battles under his command never truly showed such casualties as they are now, so such a reckless plan contains the high chance of failure.
As for the average soldier of the Empire, they were not blind to the fact that the majority of their human allies dwindled shockingly fast as many were lost to the blue beams of light and to the more pronounce wielders of magic on the battlefield. Concerning the creatures under their control, the numbers were still vastly larger in comparison to them from what anyone could tell although uncertainty set in as those numbers weren't such great margins away from each other. A few commanders had theorized that the General may commit to pouring the remainder of their forces together for one last desperate attack, which would rally the troops enough to obtain a victory from the clutches of defeat. Once the order had been passed along to do such a thing, all soldiers prepared themselves to bring about the Underworld to these invaders.
Most of the FEF High Command had taken notice of this growing congregation of troops aiming to over run them, in what could be considered a suicide blitz, that would have been a major issue to deal with if it weren't for the fact that the vanguard had finally managed to secure enough space to allow all the MK. III's to exit the Gate. With almost all their munition primed and ready to fire as they exited the Gate in pairs, the Jupiter Cannons totaled sixteen cannons with eight lined up at the front and eight making their way towards the rear of the Gate. This was the final call as the MK. III's reconfigured from tank mode into artillery, taking aim at targeted areas to send in the crippling blow.
"Tyson, Hugo it's time for our forces to fortify themselves." Jura said as he poured magic into a small communications lacrima, comm-lac for short, and tried to connect to the vanguard commander. "Commander Scarlet, fortify the vanguard. The Jupiter Cannons are ready to fire."
"Understood, we'll hunker down for cannon fire." Came her reply as Jura changed connections over towards all sixteen cannons to put an end to this battle once and for all.
"MK. III's, final target check. Prepare to fire on my order." Jura gave them a few moments to reply once the Jupiter Cannons were locked on and once they did, the time had come. "First volley, fire!"
The vanguard had used fortifying magic on their tower shields to stabilize themselves once the shells hit their target and held themselves together as much as they could against the enemy ramming at them. They could hear the loud explosions of cannons firing and many of the troops had a chill go down their spine as they heard the whistling of falling shells passing overhead.
Then came the tremendous flash of light lighting up the battlefield as dust clouds began to rise at the impact zones, followed by shockwaves that toppled any and all those that had not prepared for them. It was deafening to hear as a near clean line of eight impacts struck deep in the enemy's back line sending what some could tell as bodies flying dozens of feet in the air. The next volley didn't lag far behind as the next eight impacts created more chaos, the enemy scrambling in futile attempts to escape and it was an unbelievable sight to see. The vanguard watched in awe from behind their tower shields as more and more of the enemy were consumed by explosions while the riflemen continued to lay down fire at any and all enemies they could spot.
In only five volleys from the Jupiter Cannons, the entire enemy force had been wiped out as meager straggles ran for their lives. Any quick shot sniper could have easily eliminated them, but all forces were to stand down by the command of Jura. The Wizard Saint stepped out in front of the vanguard, carefully stepping over the dead that fell against his forces and looked out onto the destruction they wrought upon the Empire. There was a bitter feeling within his heart to see such a thing, but he vowed to his fellow councilmen that he wouldn't show weakness during this campaign. Quickly riding himself of the solemn face he knew he was wearing, he turned to face all of Fiore's hope and threw a victorious fist into the air.
"The battle is won! This is a victory for Fiore!" Jura cried and was met with the cheers of the entirety of the FEF, who he knew were glad to have survived their first battle in the new world. "And to you, the FEF!"
"FEF! FEF! FEF!" Came the cheers as they had given the chance of delivering some of the greatest news to those back home after the events of Crocus. It would be a day long remembered in Fiorean history of the brave men and women who fought on the behalf of Firoe in search of justice, but it would only be a stepping stone in the grander movement the FEF would be involved in.
As the Imperial soldiers retreated and the night creatures ran for their lives, a small team of soldiers dressed in green camouflage began to pack up their gear as well and head back to their base. Intelligence told them that a sizable army was marching past Alnus Hill, Imperial in origin, so they were sent out for reconnaissance to discover what they were going to do. One idea was that they were trying to get around their base for a pincer attack, but it was swept away as they continued to march further south of the base. That's when they stumbled upon the Empire's meeting point and had become privy to the introduction of a new group of individuals and the fire power they possessed in this battle, some of the green camo wearing soldiers wondered what this meant.
They had no real answer to give for what they just saw, but one thing they do know was that they were now far from being the only Gate in the region.
Far from all this combat, Lelei shot up from her bed with a start as the radiance of powerful magic could be felt in droves. She looked around her room to find the blue furred cat she picked up a few weeks ago standing with his paws against the window, a look of pensive wonder on his face as stared out into the night. There was much the young magic user wanted to ask him, though she had a hard time communicating with the blue feline. Luckily from what little they could get through from their language barrier, she had learned its name for the most part and could understand certain non-verbal cues.
"Happy..." Lelei's accent was very strong as she said his name, but the blue furred cat knew what she meant and nodded his head as he turned to look at her.
Happy had sensed it first and the closer he got to the window the more he could feel it, so it went without saying that this overflow of powerful magic had woken up Lelei too. There was no doubt in the Exceed's mind that something major involving all of that magic was happening some ways away from them, but he couldn't help have the strangest feeling of knowing Natsu was there. That's all he needed to keep his hopes up, if his best friend was here in this world then that meant he can get home again. He was thankful to Lelei for rescuing him though he really wanted to get back to Fairy Tail, back to his friends since he's had enough of this "adventure" to last him a lifetime.
"I'm here waiting for you, Natsu..."