March 21st, 2017 of the Gregorian calendar
After a whole year of facing human waves being mowed down effortlessly time and time again had numbed him. At first he was shocked that they would throw themselves needlessly into certain death but now it though admittedly cold hearted, became boring. Johnson knew not what they'd face across the gate and at first expected to be attacked by fearsome monsters out of Lord of the rings and overpowered magic which had for the most part not gone into fruition. The enemy's best attempt at causing as many casualties as possible had while causing some damage had also mostly failed miserably, the only real instance of high casualties being Sadera itself and even so, the casualty ratio was extremely skewered to an absurdly laughable degree.
So he naturally for the most part felt numb about throwing body after body in a pile in some farmer's field about two miles outside the city walls where they could still hear the the thundering roar of explosions in the distance. The only thing worse then his aching muscles was the vile smell that attacked his senses as the corpses began to rot, the soldier thanking god it wasn't summer or else they'd reek more.
So far they were halfway with the pile of bodies and instead of burying them, they'd simply be dosed in gasoline before setting them alit. Even with the highway through the Dumas being completed it'd take time for proper digging equipment like excavators to arrive, the Americans clearly underestimating how much dead they would have to collect and dispose of. The bodies would often be buried under rubble being feasted on by fat rats which would often time burrow into the torso where dozens of them would reside and reproduce and other very disgusting stuff.
Johnson tried not to look at the man he was holding by his legs while Collins held him from underneath the armpits, but failed as he saw how half of his lower left face was blown off with maggots where his eyes should've been. He quickly swallowed the vomit that had rushed up his pipe but once they had thrown the body down, he kneeled down and let it out, cleansing his body of his meal. But then the men in the immediate vicinity stopped what they were doing and looked up to the east to see dozens of B-52s in formation about several hundred feet above soar past.
It was both a memorizing and terrifying sight to behold, giant engineering marvels yet tools that could set the world on fire. They reminded him of goose flying back home after the passing of winter, only much bigger and way more loud. Then a thought popped into his head, 'I wonder how they'd react to these?' He already knew that answer, they'd be crippled with paralyzing fear wondering what in the world was flying above them. But he moves his eyes away from the spectacle and continued on with his job.
Mars 21st, 688 of the Imperial calendar
Maximus was awoken by a violent explosion, as a flower vase shattered upon hitting the floor of the insula room. He practically hopped out of bed and grabbed the Kanoni laying on the ground before cautiously walking up to the window to see the commotion. From the third story window he saw a battle between a group of Other-worlders behind their blocky iron wagon and about three dozen Kanoni-armed Saderans using a rudimentary barricade made of wagons and pilled up bags of sand.
The dozen or so Other-worlders had yet to spot him so he was more then wiling to not give out a hand in the fight after all, he had deserted from his post just the previous night and he wasn't stupid to just walk back into paid enslavement with certain doom in front of him, content to watch the two sides fight each other. Then iron wagon using its long and thin snout, let out a slow loud burst that destroyed the barracade and damaged Maximus' hearing in the process. With their cover shot to bits the soldiers dropped their weapons and fled, only to be cut down.
Suddenly there was a loud bang and something heavy bounced off the head of the wagon. He looked down the street carefully to see a multi-floored building that had been quite damaged, presumably from the earth-shake though it still stood strong enough to house a full-sized kanoni. The hail from the building was much more intense and he watched a Other-worlder collapsed, dragged behind cover as he gripped his leg in pain. He flinched and fell over as a project wizzed by, narrowly missing the former soldier.
'Way too close for comfort!' He thought as he brought himself back on his feet only for a series of nearby explosions to force him back on the floor with his hands over his ears. Once after some time after his ears had stopped ringing, he slowly stood up and like a panther peeked out of his refuge to find huge clouds of smoke and dust obscuring the building though there was no doubt in his mind that it had been leveled and the men were buried under the rubble either dead or alive, preferably the former.
Meanwhile underneath sadera
The emperor's refuge shook from a rather strong explosion but the tunnel roof held much to his relief. Without notifying his top generals and his army trapped within the capital he and his newly wedded wife Tyuule abandoned the city through the many tunnels hastily dug before the battle as to evacuate nobles along with priceless treasures. It had taken time but Tyuule had managed to convince him to leave his suicidal spirial and to use the noble sacrifice of the Imperial army to reform a new one to one day defeat the technology superior Americans.
This particular tunnel ran from the Royal guard training grounds towards the village of lacus occidens where they could move on to Telta. He was sure sooner or later their supply lines would be stretched far beyond what was sustainable and a major battle would begin where Sadera would finally have a victory, it was only a matter of time. The royal couple followed an old slave who while neither knew of his name, he didn't hesitate to lead the way with torch in hand.
"We are almost there my lord." The slave said quietly, so quiet in fact that the dripping of the individual water droplets were louder. "That's good news." Answered Tyuule who lagged behind somewhat but he could care less, they had to escape. He marched on despite seeming being stuck in an endless loop deep underground while caring less for the men whom would be sacrificed in the name of buying valuable time.
The faint sound of explosions after an eternity went silent and his nerves at least began to calm down. Since the attack on the Imperial palace in Dianeos he was in near constant dread of the next attack that could claim his life and that damn ringing in his ears didn't help but keep him awake at night.
"Are you alright my love?" He turned his head to Tyuule who looked at him with bright eyes that rivaled the beauty of his dynasty's treasures. "Y-yes...I am.." It was clearly a lie but she didn't seem to care, she was too intelligent anyways, if she wasn't then her forces would've been defeated long before they had and more good men would be alive.
His feet began to become sore from the distance they had traveled, his prolonged stay in the capital having robbed him of his physical conditioning. As a matter of fact he had began to lose weight as his impressive muscles that had been so proud of began to shrink as he did more administrative work then the other activities he'd usually do but he still had immense amount of strength left in him.
He let out a quiet sigh of relief as he saw the dead end where a latter sat ready to be used. "We're here my lord." Said the old slave with looked at him, Zorzal smiling while the emperor looked at his salvation from the endless tunnel. "I'll notify you when the coast is clear." The old slave then shakily climbed up the wooden latter, the emperor walking up to the structure to watch his guide push a trapdoor open which revealed the blinding sun light. After a few seconds he got his response.
"It's safe to come out." It was good news, he couldn't take any chance that the enemy could kill him or worse, capture him. He had to restrain himself from just bolting up as he feared that it could break under his weight thought thankfully, it held firm as he popped his head out above ground. Having climbed out of that rat burrow, he basked in the sun's warm touch as he looked on to the woods that surrounded him.
But he heard something faint that was partially masked by the peaceful sound of nature. The emperor of Sadera and of Falmart, the twenty-ninth to hold that title, and the man that had once promised victory over the other world savages; stumbled his way through the trees and into a crescent of a hill where he could see his city burning like a funeral pyre.
It was pure torture to see Sadera like this, a once proud and unconquerable fortress city be ripped apart by an army that not only had an unfair advantage but also seemed to care so little about proper rules of life. Hundreds, possibly thousands of shock waves form from explosions gutted the city as their giant wyverns flew overhead. Smoke rose up like a mystical beast from the underworld threatening to block out the sun to bring damnation to the world. He had spend so long in his shelter underneath Sadera hill that he failed to understand the devastation brought upon the capital.
He then felt something wet and cold form in his eyes before sliding down his face, he was about to wipe it off but stopped him as he came to the realization that he was crying. Zorzal had only cried once in his life and that was the death of his mother whom he loved dearly. With despair tearing at his heart he dropped to his knees and allowed himself to breakdown like a child. Zorzal had finally realized that he had lost everything, his throne, his army, his empire, his wealth, his power, everything.
He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed for some time until he had mucus dripping down his lips and on his royal rob but didn't care anymore as he was consumed by sorrow. His eyes now was unable to create anymore tears and was left red. Having cleanse his body of his emotions, he was ready to head off towards telta to continue the war. He closed his eyes shut and cursed out loud for all to hear as to keep himself from breaking down again.
Tyuule and the slave were quiet, too quiet. He turned around to see the slave nowhere and Tyuule with burning hatred in her eyes as she will all her might stabbed him right in the liver with a dagger. His break was taken away and the worst pain he ever felt flood the area of the wound while blood quickly darkened the robe. His mind for a second went blank as it tried to process what was happening at the moment of life and death. Was it the end? Why did Tyuule betray him? Why?
"W-why?!" He asked as the two glared at each other. "You think I could ever love a human? Let alone the one that enslaved me and eradicated my people you bastard." She then let out a manic laughter as she twisted the blade, earning a groan of pain from the emperor. "You bitch!" He roared as he with both hands, gripped her throat with all his might and with a sickening crunch broke her neck.
As soon as he let go they both dropped onto the grass like dolls thrown away. Zorzal tried to shout for help or even get up but his attempts proved in vain. 'No, no, no, no, no!!! I can't die like this!' He though as he placed a hand on his wound, 'N-not...like...this...' He lost conscience and preceded to die on the hill along with his wife, a dagger to his liver, his city burning and the old slave nowhere to be seen. It then clicked, how foolish could he be to believe that after all those years that she would just fall head over heels for him? It was a mistake to believe that beasts could feel true love other then animalistic lust. As his strength faded he excepted his fate and let himself slip away, after all, it was only fitting for an empire to die with it's emperor.