Act 1, Chapter 2: War is All We Know
NEW EPHYRA PENITENTIARY.
Built directly into the mountain range that one side of New Ephyra was built against, the New Ephyra Penitentiary was arguably the most secure detention center ever built by the COG. It was here, specifically in its maximum security wing, that the invaders captured on G-Day were being held for their crimes and for the purposes of intel gathering via questioning. Among the many invaders being held, those of high authority or standing were the first to be interrogated and of course, Princess Piña Co Lada was one such person.
"Your highness, we should find a way to escape from this place"
"No, Bozes"
"Princess, please...there must be-"
"Enough Bozes! There is no escaping this place! Not when an army of mages stands between us and the Gate!"
Bozes became quiet and sat up against the cell wall, drained of hope.
The two Rose Knights clad in orange jumpsuits now sat in their cell, wondering if there was any chance at all of returning home safely. This was assuming there was even a home left to return to. Piña wouldn't put it past the enemy to destroy the Empire in its entirety out of vengeance.
"Was I fool to think that I was ready to face the realities of war? Perhaps father was right, perhaps I was unprepared to shoulder the burdens that comes with being a knight", Piña mentally questioned herself as she thought about the disastrous result of attempting to subjugate these people, which raised another question for Piña.
"Wasn't a knight supposed to fight to defend those who couldn't defend themselves? Wasn't a knight supposed to protect and inspire feelings of security and hope, not attack and inspire feelings of fear and hate? Was everything I was told about those 'acts of self-defense' in all of the Imperial campaigns of 'benevolent expansion' all lies? I can live with killing in genuine self-defense, but not mercilessly butchering the innocent...The Rose Order should have stayed ceremonial, away from it all, like it always had…", Piña contemplated. She remembered how she forced herself and her fellow Rose Knights to slaughter the innocent in the name of preserving their image and honor as members of royalty that led by example, examples of how the Empire really carried out their 'benevolent expansion' campaigns.
She, along with the surviving members of the Rose Order, now had to live with the fact that they had stained their hands with the blood of the innocent.
"The Rose Order, so many of its members, so many of our closest friends, now dead from the wrath we have incurred from an enemy we cannot hope to defeat and for what? Honor? Pride?"
"Your highness, you cannot blame yourself for what has befallen us, the barbarians are to blame!"
"Are they really, Bozes? We have captured or slaughtered many unarmed people! We allowed so many innocents to be subjected to atrocities committed by our own people! Those innocent people did not deserve what happened to them!"
As Bozes was about to say something, the iron door to their cell opened, revealing two enemy prison guards armed with staves.
"You, come with us, we need you for questioning", one of the guards said as he gestured for Piña to come with them.
"How dare you speak to her highness in such a manner!", yelled Bozes as she was about to attack one of the guards, only being stopped by Piña immediately holding her arm out in front of her. Despite Bozes being stopped, the guards were being more wary just in case either of them tried anything else.
"Please Bozes, I don't want you to end up dead too, we must do as they say lest we die now and lose the chance of ever returning home"
"But Princess..."
"Bozes, everything will be fine, trust me"
While Piña was one of her closest friends, she was also her superior, the captain of the Rose Order, the daughter of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus himself. With this in mind, she complied but not without some reluctance.
"If you say so, Princess...", Bozes said in a defeated tone.
Piña in response gave her a reassuring smile, although deep down she had no idea of what was about to happen. She had said it more out of maintaining what little morale they had left.
Soon, the guards and Piña left, the iron door closing behind them and locking shut with a loud metallic clang.
As Piña was being escorted by the guards, she couldn't help but look around at the other cells, wondering how everyone fortunate enough to be still alive was faring. Before she knew it, they had arrived at their destination and the guards led her into a small room with a large mirror on one side and two metal chairs and a table to be the only things in the room. There was also a man, sitting at one end of the table, clad in a blue suit of sorts, holding a thin wooden board that held sheets of parchment in one hand and in the other hand, held a short thin black stick he was writing with, much like a quill. The guards pulled out a chair for Piña who promptly seated herself.
"State your name"
This was only the first question and she was already nervous, unsure if she would be punished for refusing to answer, so she complied.
"Piña Co Lada"
"Where do you come from"
"I hail from Falmart"
"Falmart? Is that the name of the country directly on the other side of the structure?"
"'Structure?' I presume you are referring to the Gate and no, Falmart is the name of the continent the Empire is located in"
Piña knew that this enemy would inevitably find the Imperial capital with their extremely fast horseless wagons and iron pegasi, so hiding the Empire's general location was pointless.
"The Empire?"
She knew she was definitely in another world if this man wasn't aware of the existence of the Empire.
"The Empire was responsible for what happened nearly a week ago...", she said, thinking back to all the traumatic things she witnessed and had even committed herself.
At this answer, the questioner was writing on his thin wooden board in a significantly more interested manner.
"Where do you stand in this 'Empire'?"
Now came the hard question. Piña wasn't sure if she should reveal her position as an Imperial Princess or the fact she was the daughter of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus. Most armies that captured royalty, especially the sons or daughters of royalty, held them for ransom or use them as a particularly powerful bargaining chip to get what they wanted from fathers and mothers of nobility. Until the armies got what they wanted, they would typically indulge themselves in 'making use' of the captured nobility and using these acts to further pressure the noble parents to giving what they wanted sooner.
Yet, here, she and Bozes and what she presumed to be everyone else, were being treated with an incredible amount of fairness. Their cells were brightly lit, they had warm beds, three hot meals everyday, magic latrines that would somehow wash away waste with a simple pull of a small lever and even time to talk to the other captured Imperials during their allocated recess. However, the one thing that still surprised her the most was the fact that the enemy had used a healing sorcery they called 'Stim' to promptly mend the incapacitating wounds they had inflicted on her and the others for the sake of swift and practically effortless capture. She was certain that they would throw her in a dark cell and simply let her succumb to a completely untreated injury, but they didn't.
On top of that, the enemy in general displayed little to no acts of discrimination against ethnicity and race, something that was practically unheard of in the Empire. The fact that the people of this world would go out of their way to do all of this for them, for an enemy that wanted nothing more than to subjugate them, spoke volumes of the kindness and gentle nature of these people behind the exterior of being an unstoppable and terrifying force.
Furthermore, she realized if the Empire was going to have any chance of surviving at all, she would need to prevent the Empire from commencing an all-out war with the people of this world before any serious irreversible damage has been done. There was simply no other way around it and gaining trust and exchanging information was a good start.
"I am an Imperial Princess, the daughter of his majesty Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, and tenth in line of succession to the Imperial throne", stated Piña.
The questioner looked visibly surprised, in contrast to his otherwise stoic and professional nature.
Some members of the COG's top brass that were observing and listening in from across the other side of the one-way window had their undivided attention caught by her answer. A powerful member of the other world's governing body was right there, in front of them.
Before the questioner could continue digging for more information, Piña spoke up.
"I beg your pardon, but despite myself being in no position to make any requests, I would like to ask something of you, if you will humor me"
The questioner was intrigued at where this was going and fortunately for him, the members of top brass that were observing the situation gave him the go-ahead via his concealed Tac-Com.
"And what would that be?"
"That you allow me to find any information in regards to where your kidnapped people may be found, so that we may help you return them home safely as an act of good faith and allow me to convince my father, the Emperor, to not instigate a war with your people"
This request put forth by Piña greatly satisfied the top brass's agenda. Her cooperation with the COG would greatly facilitate information gathering, thus allowing future missions in the operation to run more efficiently.
Additionally, in the event that Piña did successfully convinced the Emperor to not start a war, the COG could focus more sooner on rescue efforts, resource gathering and rebuilding instead fighting another pointless conflict that would waste precious resources, time and funding. As such they gave the questioner the go-ahead once again and told him to tell her that he would make the arrangements to make this happen.
"I shall make the necessary arrangements to help you achieve that"
Piña was completely taken aback at how the questioner accepted her request with little hesitation but she was nonetheless absolutely delighted.
"You have my sincerest gratitude"
"You're welcome, now then, I will continue to ask further questions and you will answer them"
"Certainly"
With this, Piña had begun to pave the road to a peaceful coexistence between the Empire and the people of this strange world.
JUST OUTSIDE NEW EMBRY SQUARE AND ALLFATHER'S PLAZA CONTAINMENT SITE.
In just under two weeks, the Construction DeeBees had finally finished with the construction of the containment site around the Gate, dubbed 'Austere Point'. Constructed from reinforced concrete, and utilizing barbed wire, laser trip-wires, machine gun nests, sniper nests, and around-the-clock DeeBee surveillance and security, the chances of any hostile force coming out of the Gate and surviving were slim to say the least. The site even came equipped with its own barracks, supply depot and armory. To top it all off, the Gate itself was enclosed in a large dome made of reinforced concrete with the only entrance being a large set of magnetically-locking reinforced steel doors, which created a convenient bottleneck for the security measures to take advantage of, should a hostile force intend to try invade New Ephyra from the Gate again.
It was just outside this heavily-guarded site that First Minister Anya Stroud stood in front a massive crowd of Gears, ready to give a speech, a speech to remind the Gears of G-Day and the campaign the COG would take part in because of it. A campaign to rescue those taken captive by the Empire and to ensure that the Empire stays out of Sera. Locust War Veterans and recruits just fresh out of boot camp alike, stood to attention and in formation, to hear what she had to say.
Being given their undivided attention, Anya stood before a podium on an elevated stage, with Onyx Guards standing by stoically on both of her flanks and Phoenix Omen flags flying proudly on either side of the stage. She took a moment to take note of all the Gears before she took a deep breath and began her speech.
"War..."
Upon uttering this word, dead silence quickly permeated throughout the entire venue.
"It was, is and will always be what we know"
"The Age of Armageddon...it taught our ancestors the purpose of war, that victory was synonymous with survival..."
"The Pendulum Wars...it taught our forefathers and foremothers consolidation of power, that to pledge an allegiance is to devote oneself to a single path..."
"The Locust War...it taught us what it meant to fight a common enemy, that uniting under a single flag was the only way to avoid our extinction..."
"The Emergence of the Swarm...It taught us that we must always stay vigilant even when our surroundings say otherwise, that we may never assume we are ever truly safe..."
"And now, G-Day, the reason why I stand here today before all of you, my fellow Gears."
"Now, in a time where we have put aside our differences and come together to rebuild, a force from beyond this world had arrived, in the very heart of this city, through the Gate"
"They did not come in peace..."
"They came to bring us a war, another bout of bloodshed, another reason to once again take up arms to defend our home"
"They call themselves the 'Empire'. They sought to conquer us, to take away our families, our friends and our homes. They sought to take away what we have worked so hard to rebuild. They sought to claim dominion over us"
"They did not succeed and we will make sure they never will"
"War and vengeance are not the objective, rescue and defence are what we are aiming for"
"We will traverse through the Gate and into the Special Region, as we have called it, we will find the friends and family they have taken from us and return them home safely, we will secure a foothold on the other side to prevent the Empire's inhumane actions from returning to Sera"
"War is what we know, but it doesn't have to be only thing we can know"
"We can still continue this era of peace. We can show the Empire that war isn't the only way to prosper, we can show them that peace is a better alternative, if they will allow us"
"Make no mistake my fellow Gears, should they choose to attack once again, we will not stand by and do nothing, we will defend ourselves and our way of life, a way of life that is only possible today because we never gave up defending our homes, because we never allowed war and the death and destruction it brings to consume us, because we never faltered, even in the face of death itself"
"We will be taking our mission, our knowledge and combat experience, to a completely different world, one in which we know almost nothing about"
"We will stay vigilant, ready to overcome any threat to the best of our ability, ready to once again learn from any mistakes that we may make"
"We shall set foot in an unknown world to do what we can to secure a certain future, a future of peace and prosperity, a future we will not allow to be taken away from us. A future we as a people will always strive for"
"Today marks the day that the COG, for the first time in Sera's history, will embark on its first military operation in another world"
"As of this moment, I hereby authorize the commencement of Operation: Chain Breaker"
"I wish you all the best of luck"
With this, the entire crowd in attendance responded with a resounding round of applause, cheering and loud optimistic affirmations.
TEN MINUTES LATER,
AUSTERE POINT'S STAGING AREA.
"At least now we know we aren't alone in this universe", Del stated.
"Say Del, maybe we'll finally get to see some 'wizards' on the other side"
"Really JD, this again?", Del responded in slight irritation.
"Okay, okay I know that one's old...But not as old the wizards were going to find"
In response, Del only sighed.
"Captain, Lieutenant"
Recognizing the voice behind them to be that of Colonel Landry's, both Gears immediately stood to attention.
"At ease, men"
"Lieutenant Walker, Captain Fenix, I came by to commend you both for your courage and dedication to uphold your duty on G-Day, you two are exemplary officers"
"Thank you, sir", both replied.
"Sir, permission to speak freely?"
"Permission granted, what is it Fenix?"
"I saw you fighting on G-Day but weren't you supposed to be at COG High Command?"
"My rank would say as such, but I'll be damned if I stayed sitting at a desk while I let those savages just murder those civilians"
"I understand, sir"
"I will be leading Operation: Chain Breaker and I've been told you two are taking part. So, can I count on you, Walker and the rest of the Gears crossing the Gate to get our people back home safe and teach those backward savages not to mess with the COG?"
"Yes sir!"
"Outstanding, now you two need to get yourselves prepped for Chain Breaker. I got to head back to Command to finalize a few things for General Hoffman before he can commence the operation. I'll see you boys on the other side of the Gate"
"Yes sir"
With the brief exchange over, the Colonel boarded a King Raven bound for COG High Command.
"Remember G-Day if you find yourself hesitating to put one between an Imperial's eyes!", the Colonel yelled to the two Gears over the sound of the propellers of the King Raven spinning up. The two saluted to him as the King Raven took flight, following the Colonel's signal to the Raven pilot.
"Come on Del, we got some wizards to find"
"Seriously JD, give it a rest"
"I'll give it a rest when we find at least one, I promise"
Again, Del sighed in mild frustration.
With the banter ceasing, the two headed to the armorer to requisition the necessary gear for the world-changing military operation they were about to embark on, the likes of which would forever change the course of human history.
"All call-signs, this is General Victor Hoffman, Operation: Chain Breaker will commence at 1530 hours, I repeat, Operation Chain Breaker will commence at 1530 hours, standby for the go-ahead"
With this notification being transmitted via Tac-Com, all Gears occupying Armadillo APCs to enter the Gate prepped themselves accordingly. Last minute vehicular system checks, weapon and equipment checks, small prayers...you name it, they did it.
It would be a simple mission, traverse the Gate and immediately secure the area on the other side of the Gate to establish a forward operating base, from which future missions of the operation would be conducted from. However, any number of things could go wrong, which would end up complicating an otherwise simple mission. As such all personnel involved in the mission were to exercise caution.
"All call-signs, This is General Victor Hoffman, Operation: Chain Breaker is a go, I repeat Operation: Chain Breaker is a go. You have the green light, good hunting"
"All Centaur units, advance and lead! All Armadillo units, follow the Centaurs!", Colonel Landry ordered.
The Centaur Tanks and Armadillo APCs in formation to advance, lurching forward and traversing asphalt that soon transitioned to the all-encompassing dark void within the Gate. Within the advancing formation, Centaurs took the lead to ensure anything hostile that may get in the formation's way could quickly be destroyed, minimizing the risk of losing any troops currently in the Armadillos.
The mechanized units crossed into the Gates entrance at a cautious pace. The pitch black void that was the interior of the Gate made the Centaurs and Armadillos seem like they were driving on nothing. Most Gears stayed silent during this traversal with occasional call-outs and comm checks being what most could hear other than the rumbling of engines. The nothingness surrounding the Gears was surreal and despite moving forward for a while, the void never seemed to end. Fortunately, the Centaurs at the fore front of the formation eventually called out spotting a bright light ahead, an exit.
"Centaur units, form a defensive perimeter after crossing through and scan for any potential threats! All Armadillos, once the Centaurs establish a defensive perimeter, stay behind them and offload troops! All Gears and DeeBees, once you've all disembarked, take defensive positions and help scan for any potential threats beyond the defensive perimeter!", Landry ordered on Tac-Com.
Soon enough the Centaurs exited the other side of the Gate and they positioned themselves in a defensive perimeter surrounding the Gate and looking outwards for any potential threats. Once all vehicles had successfully crossed through, all Centaurs present continued to scan the horizon for any potential threats while all Armadillos started to offload dozens of Gears and DeeBees. Almost immediately, they got into position and started to survey the immediate area.
"All Centaur units, expand the defensive perimeter to the base of the hill! The construction DeeBees need room to build the FOB and the Gears and other DeeBees need room to set up dug-outs. All Gears and DeeBees, get those fighting positions dug out and dig in!"
The defensible perimeter expanded accordingly, while maintaining constant guard. A thorough scan indicated no potential threats were within a klick of the hill, just the local fauna.
"All Construction DeeBees, commence FOB construction!"
The construction DeeBees began constructing the FOB, centered on the Gate they had exited from. The Gate allowing radio signals to pass through was extremely convenient and allowed ease of communication across either side of the Gate, something that would be paramount to operating efficiently. With this fact, preliminary reports and other updates on the situation were being relayed back to COG High Command back at New Ephyra.
As per the Colonel's orders, the Gears and DeeBees guarding the construction teams dug out fox-holes, trenches, crudely dug-out machine gun nests and other defensive fighting positions behind and above the Centaurs. This was to facilitate shooting off any hostiles that may climb on the Centaurs and to bolster overall defenses using small arms and even more long-range explosive ordnance to assist the Centaurs, such as Mortars and RL-4 Salvos. To further add a layer of defense, caltrops and barbed wire were set up approximately four hundred metres out with DeeBee smart frag grenades being planted in concealed holes roughly six hundred metres out. Now, they waited.
"So, this is what the other world looks like?", JD commented as he took his new surroundings in from within a dug-out along with Del.
"Kind of looks like some of the places back home", Del replied.
"I don't think the grass was ever this green back home though..."
"All Gears and DeeBees, be advised, hostiles have been spotted approaching from the northeast! All mortar teams and Centaur units, prepare to engage", Landry announced over Tac-Com.
"They're about to experience the worst kind of rain there is", Del commented.
"Yeah, hate to be them right about now", JD responded.
THREE MILES NORTHEAST OF ALNUS HILL GATE,
IMPERIAL MILITARY CAMP/STAGING AREA,
SUBPRAETOR'S COMMAND TENT.
"Those barbarians...They may have defeated three legions on their own soil but let us see how they fare against twelve legions on our homeland", Subpraetor Tiberius Co Vetus thought to himself as he looked over a map of the area surrounding the hill.
The sound of someone entering the tent was heard, it was one of his scouts.
"Ah, have there been any developments?"
"Nothing that will disappoint you, Milord"
"Excellent, so I take it the first wave of two legions has begun its attack on the Sacred Hill?"
"Yes, Milord"
"Have the legates of the next two legions to prepare for the second wave and attack on my order"
"As you wish, Milord"
With that, the scout was on his way to relay his orders.
Orders that would inevitably send many to have an early meeting with their patron deities.
For Legate Vibius, the sight of over ten thousand Imperial soldiers marching onwards to Alnus Hill, along with two thousand humanoid auxiliaries, to mercilessly purge it of the barbarians was truly a sight to behold, but it also raised a question.
"Are these 'two-legion waves' truly necessary? What are your thoughts on this, Avitus?"
"It is a sound strategy, albeit a little excessive, but one that will ultimately guarantee victory in the end"
"Agreed"
"Well, I shall see you again once we have won the battle and gathered our spoils, my men cannot be without their leader now can they?"
"Of course, Avitus"
With this, the two legates on horseback returned to command and guide their respective legions in the coming battle, unaware of what they were about to get themselves into.
"Assume testudo formation! Archers, get behind shielded legionnaires, auxiliaries to the front!", Ordered Vibius.
With the order given, the cornicen close to him blew on his cornu in a certain repeating pattern to relay his commands to the legion.
By in-grained discipline alone, all those under his command immediately complied.
The legionnaires got into formation with their shields raised, the archers taking cover behind the formations and the non-human warriors moving up to the forefront.
"Keep advancing! We are less than a mile from the enemy"
His legion along with the other legion advanced at a steady pace, side by side. If one were to look at their approach from the front, it looked like an army of monsters with a wide and moving wall of shields behind them. It was a common practice to use this just before entering the battlefield to intimidate their foes and hopefully weaken their resolve, with the steady pace boosting this psychological effect. However, the COG weren't like any of the other foes they fought and they would soon learn that.
"So far, so good", he thought to himself.
"The enemy is within sight! Prepare yourselves!"
To this, the shielded formations tightened up, the archers stuck more closely to their shielded allies and the humanoid warriors could barely contain their savage sense of bloodlust.
At this point, the COGs dug-out defensive positions were visible to his legion and the others.
"You shall regret coming here, barbarians!", he yelled as he unsheathed his sword and raised it.
Soon after this loudly stated sentiment, a whistling sound in the air could be heard, growing louder as each second passed. Vibius and the other Imperial soldiers looked around, trying to figure out where the whistling was coming from. They got their answer when the incoming high explosive mortar shells above them had quickly split up into a hail of explosive projectiles, detonating on contact and utterly laying waste to the two advancing legions.
Formations were meaningless against the raw explosive power of the mortar shells, dismembering and violently blowing apart the bodies. Blood, guts and other viscera sprayed everywhere, leaving the corpses of the men, horses and non-humans completely unrecognizable. The shrapnel from the shattered armor and swords added to the mortar's already extreme lethality, cutting up and slicing through the legions, like a hot knife through butter. The ones that did survive the initial barrage of mortar shells lost arms and legs and massive chunks of themselves and were screaming out in terror, helpless in the face of death. Very soon, the Centaur Tanks joined in the defense and began firing a barrage of canister shells, literally shredding through the enemy ranks. The literal rain of mortar fire and barrage of canister shells continued for two minutes straight, with increasingly larger and larger clouds of dust, dirt and smoke kicking up and completely shrouding the targeted locations. By the time the debris clouds cleared, the targeted locations were nothing more than a crater-riddled landscape with shrapnel and body parts scattered around. Just like that, the first two legions were annihilated.
The Imperial scouts that had witnessed the devastating explosions consuming the two legions were shaken to the core. So many dead in such a ridiculously short amount of time. The scouts briefly took a moment to ponder on the potential source of the explosions and given the current situation, there was only one logical answer, the enemy on the hill. Thus, they began to seriously worry about how exactly the Empire would overcome this enemy, an enemy who wielded explosive magic and can use it to utterly destroy their opponents at extreme range. Remembering their duties, they brought themselves back to their senses and headed off to report to the Imperial general.
"Come again!? The first wave was completely wiped out in a matter of minutes by sudden eruptions and explosions conjured up by the enemy!?"
"Yes, Milord..."
"Very well, are the enemy at least exhausted enough to not be able to cast anymore sorcery for a while?"
"From what I and the other scouts have seen through telescope, I am afraid not, Milord"
"Clearly tiring them out will not be a viable strategy…"
"What are your orders, Milord?"
"I want the second and third wave to attack from the sides in order to distract the enemy while the fourth wave take the enemy by surprise"
"Yes Milord, I shall relay your orders"
"All Gears and DeeBees! Be advised, multiple reports are coming in on hostile units closing in from the northwest, southeast and southwest! All mortar teams and Centaur units, prepare to engage", Landry announced on Tac-Com.
"Flanking with even more units?", Del assumed aloud.
"They must be getting desperate", JD commented.
"All right men, once the legions on the sides of the hill have begun their attack, we shall begin ours shortly!", ordered Legate Aulus
"On my command, we shall charge into the fray and bring ruin to our enemy!"
While awaiting the order to charge forward, everyone among the two legions standing by to take the enemy by surprise could hear the footfalls and war-cries of the other legions. They could also hear the thunderous booms of the enemy's explosive magic that the scouts had claimed to have seen.
"Hold..."
Everyone was dead silent and steeled themselves, white-knuckling their weapons, shields and reins and sweating slightly from the anticipation of the imminent charge. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they waited for the order.
"Now!"
Upon utterance of the word, a wave of ten thousand men and humanoids alike emerged from the fringes of upwardly inclined terrain, just out of sight of the enemies on the hill. Charging into battle, war cries could be heard along with the stampede of thousands of footfalls, drowning out any other sounds. The noise made was of no concern since, the enemy would be too slow to react in time, or so they thought.
Once the two legions had emerged from the upward-incline, they were very soon met with a hail of shells, soon followed by another barrage of canister shells, both of which indiscriminately brought explosive death, forcefully blowing apart the Imperials' polished formations, tossing limbs, viscera and other body parts high in the air. They were subjected to the same explosive wrath as the initial wave and the carnage was just as devastating. Large sections of smooth land that was once laden with lush and green grass were now reduced to a visceral and crater-riddled wasteland devoid of any recognizable form of life.
The barrage of mortar and centaur fire continued for a further six minutes. Once it had ceased, not a single legionnaire or humanoid survived. Only ash, bone and charred flesh remained. All three waves were utterly and totally annihilated at range. The additional mortar fire had turned the terrain on the targeted areas into something akin to a battlefield straight from the Locust War. A wasteland of dark earth, craters and clouds of thick smoke.
"Do my ears deceive me? Are you telling me that the enemy have wiped out all three waves!?"
"Y-Yes M-Milord..."
Livid was one way to describe how Tiberius felt, but it was an understatement to top all understatements.
"Enough fooling around! Have all the remaining legions and support units await my command, I shall lead them into battle myself!", he yelled in pure rage.
"R-Right away M-Milord"
With the legionnaire exiting the tent to relay his orders. Tiberius contemplated the situation as it was now. The enemy on the hill had so far wiped out eight legions. The enemy had wiped out forty-eight thousand soldiers with impunity. Were they fighting an army wielding power that could rival the very gods themselves?
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard of the enemy on the hill taking a single casualty, based on reports from his surviving scouts. Was the enemy insurmountable as it was destructive? For the first time in his life, he felt true fear. For the first time, he understood what it meant to fight for survival, not for wealth or power. In his mind, there was without a shadow of a doubt that this god-like army would reduce the Empire into nothing if his army couldn't defeat them here and now. Even with the fact that he would be going in with even less units than the last four waves he had sent out, he knew giving it all they had now was the only way of having any chance of saving the Empire. If the Empire was to fall, it wouldn't go down without a fight.
With this in mind, he glanced at his sword that rested on a table along with his ornate armor. With a look of hardened resolve, he donned his armor and wielded his sword.
"If my life and the lives of every Imperial soldier here today is the cost of ensuring the survival of the Empire, then so be it", he mentally stated to himself with a sense of finality.
He exited the Imperial Command Tent and mounted his horse and promptly rode off to rally the remaining legions and military assets to charge at the enemy in one massive wave; a wave of four legions being supported by Imperial Wyvern Riders and Armored Ogres. Such a strategy of throwing everything recklessly at the enemy at once was unheard of and would be deemed to only be concocted in the mind of a lunatic. He wouldn't blame anyone under his command for thinking he was one for doing this, but considering everything that had transpired in the last hour, they would think otherwise and perhaps even be inclined to agree with him.
As Tiberius on his mount stood in front the remaining four legions and other support units, he took a deep breath and made what may well possibly be his last statement and last order.
"Listen up! I have personally come to lead you all in one last all-out charge on the enemy, for if we fail to defeat the enemy here and now, there will be nothing to stand between them and the Empire! They will show no mercy to the Empire and its people. The Empire has stood proud for nearly seven centuries, and it will surely fall if we stand by and do nothing! On my command, we all shall charge forth and bring ruin to the enemy or die trying!"
Many among the legions were in agreement with his sentiment but some of the less zealous were skeptical on the possibility of winning at all if the effort to defeat the enemy today dragged on this long and with so many losses suffered. Regardless, all of them had an obligation to fight for and defend the Empire.
"Prepare yourselves! For if we succeed we shall be forever remembered as the heroes that saved the Empire from otherwise certain doom!"
Thousands of cheers could be heard with many among the legions raising their weapons and shields in support of the subpraetor's sentiment.
"On my word, we shall charge into the fray!"
Other than the sound of dozens of cornicen relaying orders via cornu, silence reigned over all of them in awaiting the command. As with the first and second attempt at defeating the enemy, the remaining Imperial forces were positioned on upwardly inclined terrain, just out of sight of the enemy to hopefully get the small advantage of not allowing the enemy to anticipate their approach before hand. The remaining Imperial forces steeled themselves for what would be a pivotal battle that would ultimately determine the Empire's fate. With white-knuckled firm grips on their equipment and heavier and slower breathing, they were ready.
"May the gods watch over us...", the subpraetor said under his breath.
"Attack!"
The command echoed out for all the Imperial forces to hear, with cornicen relaying it to ensure the enemy on the hill would face every single last one of them.
In almost an instant, dozens of Armored Ogres advanced forward, stomping towards the hill with earth-shaking force, a flock of Imperial Wyverns took flight and soared high and fast towards the enemy, thousands of legionnaires and humanoids charged at the hill at breakneck speeds while they cried out their demands for bloodshed and glorious combat.
"All Gears and DeeBees! Be advised, multiple reports are coming in on hostiles approaching from the southwest with large armored ground units and aerial units! All anti-air units, prepare to engage! All mortar teams and Centaur units, prioritize the large armored units, all other targets are secondary!", Landry announced.
"Sir! The Mortar teams and the Centaurs are reporting in on their ordnance reserves running low and the fabricators don't have enough energy to give them a full resupply!", Del radioed in response
"Solid copy. Control, requesting an immediate fabricator power cell resupply!", Landry requested.
"Affirmative Colonel, it's on its way now"
"ETA on resupply?"
"Bad news, Colonel. I just received word that the supply trucks are experiencing major technical issues. Mechanics have just been dispatched to deal with those trucks but until they get them up and running again, the ETA on that resupply is unknown"
"I think we can make do with just small arms for a while but tell those mechanics to do what they can to get those trucks moving again ASAP"
"Wilco"
"All anti-air units, prepare to engage! All infantry units, open fire once the enemies are within four hundred metres! We need to hold out until the resupply convoy arrives!", Landry ordered.
Unholstering his Lancer GL, JD got into a firing position, with Del ready to mow down anyone unfortunate to get in line of sight of his Tri-Shot.
All Gears and DeeBees remained silent as they waited with the distant war cries and stampede being the only sounds that could be heard clearly. The sounds of the approaching horde grew louder and louder with each passing second. Eventually, explosions could be heard emanating in the distance.
"Planted frags have been tripped, the enemy is six hundred metres out and closing in! Prepare to engage!", Landry announced.
"Why in Emroy's name is the hill erupting!?" Tiberius exclaimed as he witnessed the vanguard of the charge spontaneously dismembered and maimed by explosions coming from the very ground they stood on. Fortunately, these eruptions occurred for a few moments and ceased, leaving the rest of the advancing forces unhindered.
The charge was going smoothly for a while, until the Imperial forces got themselves caught in what appeared to be metal bars and wires lined with spikes. As they struggled to get free, flashing lights could be seen at the hill. Almost immediately, fatal wounds began to suddenly manifest on them as blood began bursting out of their suddenly perforated armor. The Imperial forces were dropping like flies before an unseen force that made its presence known by a series of whistling sounds, as if many unseen objects were flying past them at incredible speeds.
"What manner of foul sorcery is this!?" Tiberius exclaimed yet again as he wondered how the enemy was able to wield a power that allowed them to eliminate his forces at extreme range with impunity. Before he could ponder further on the enemies powerful magical abilities, he felt extreme pain explode in multiple parts of his torso, causing him to fall on the charred soil along with his now bullet-riddled mount. He clenched his teeth and grunted loudly in pain as he made many attempts to move forward. However, he soon realized he wasn't going to get far and decided to accept his fate. So, he simply laid there, ready to inevitably join his allies in the afterlife.
"So...t-this is h-how I die...", he stated to himself as he strained to talk against perforated organs. All he could see now as he lay on the dark and scorched earth was plumes of rising smoke against the dark evening sky. All he could feel was the stampede of the remaining Imperial forces advancing on the Holy Hill in a vain attempt to purge it of an enemy that commanded unholy sorcery. All he could hear was the 'death whistling', the many war cries it silenced and the many screams of agony that it caused.
"E-Emroy, t-this is is not a b-battle, this is a m-massacre..."
With the utterance of these words, he took one last deep breath, with his vision fading into darkness as death welcomed him to the afterlife.
"Aren't these guys going to quit?", Del questioned aloud as he fired into the advancing hostiles with his Tri-Shot.
"Doesn't look like it", replied JD as he launched what probably was his one hundredth grenade from his Lancer GL.
For roughly the next ten minutes, Gears and DeeBees alike unloaded seemingly never-ending streams of lead and copper at supersonic speeds towards the advancing hostiles. The sound of reloading weapons and opening ammunition crates were completely drowned out by the cacophony of continuous gun-fire. The corpses of the enemy infantry rapidly piled up over the caltrops and barbed wire with each passing second. Many armored ogres had holes punched through their thick and crude iron armor by EMBAR hypersonic rounds and they dropped dead with forceful thuds. The Wyverns were being struck down by laser-guided Salvo missiles and dropped out of the sky in droves.
"All Gears and DeeBees, cease fire! I repeat, cease fire! Multiple reports are coming in on all advancing hostiles being neutralized with the remaining being in full retreat!", Landry announced.
Many Gears and DeeBees found themselves standing in an ankle-high layer of empty cartridge casings by the time they had finally ceased firing. As their glowing red-hot and smoking barrels began cooling, the tense atmosphere across the dug-outs soon transitioned to one of eerie silence and stillness. Another twenty-four thousand hostiles had fallen, along with all of their aerial and ground support units, with only dozens of survivors just barely making it out of the carnage alive to tell the tale.
(Achievement Unlocked)
(20G - King of this Hill)
(Read Chapter 2)