Her pen weaved the words into the parchment with delicate precision, as the soft morning light presented the words to her. Her ancient pen acquiesced to her demands, the dwarvish craftsmanship a testament to her father's legacy.
With a stamp of her seal, and a silent roll the paper, she handed the scroll to a petite, green haired girl, who gave her a sad smile as she looked at her with puppy eyes.
"Need anything when I'm giving this to Yggdrasil? A cup of tea perhaps, your highness?"
She chuckled, knowing that her hands and mind were exhausted from defeating such a powerful, yet familiar foe.
"That would be grateful, Hamilton."
But her friend, Hamilton cupped her cheek, as her shorter stature met her friend's eyes
"Pina, we'll always have your back."
She smiled, feeling her pity, a small comfort to the snowstorm she'd be facing. But like a professional dancer, she knew the tune well.
She stared at the expansive bookshelf she had, and grabbed the middle of a set of weathered books, and grabbed the last one.
It was a legend from long ago. Augustus Brutus. A well worn copy, but one she cherished all the same. Even in its decrepit state, it's paper worn from the relentless sands of time, she could still feel the richness of his words, as he forged history from the madness of this continent.
She then stared down, eyes watering with tears as smiled, hearing the irritated sounds of metal clashing against metal, as she watched as her teammates fight with one another. Their chances for real combat dull in contrast to their sharpened blades,yet they still stood firm, awaiting orders for the Emperor's new campaign in Alnus.
She walked to the large open window on her office, eyes tracking down her eldest mentor, Grey. As he taught her knights with every scrape of lesson he knew from the whiltering tree of experience. The old knight respectfully nodded at her, and she was green with envy at his dated, weathered armor.
Yet with a soft glance, they reciprocated one another.
A harsh knock came at the door, causing Pina to scowl as the man brazenly entered in her presence, each step being noticeably heavy.
She turned to see the old, balding man, covering in resplendent clothing to hide from the fact he was past his prime, yet whose frail stature standing upright when meeting her.
It was Marcus, her father;s right hand man, but Pina knows that it was her Father's words wrapped in his voice.
"Your Highness." Marcus bowed to her, carrying out the bare respect he had for her, as his eyes barely veiled the hidden contempt of her. "Should you continue this charade. you'll never be sent to the front lines."
Pina smiled, seeing how the old minister was recycling the same threats.
"It's for the service of the Empire." She replied, arms pressed against her hips, looking sternly at the lower noble, who could not react to any.
"This can serve the Empire even better." He replied, trying to push through."This marriage can seal the deal between Malpacfico and Sadera. Bringing peace to Falmart."
"Like what happened to Lady? And where did that ended up?"
Marcus sighed.
"The Kingdom of Arrun is a worthwhile ally. Look. A monarch has responsibilities in maintaining the ship of state, as dictated by Zufmuut."
It was just an excuse. She knew her Father. And she need not look far to know what happens if you were considered a threat to him. So she marches on, fighting on what little scraps she could keep, against a losing battle.
But as soon as a she could land a fruitless blow, A loud roar boomed through the heavens that rattled the windows with a fury, causing the rose to slip to the floor, pot shattering into a million pieces like their attention.
"What's happening?" She asked, glancing outside
As she scanned the bright blue sky to find meaning or reason for so many trails of smoke that fell all across the horizon, her eyes landed on it.
They were at the west, right where Sadera proper was, as it crawled irritatingly slow. Those black dots that had a grey halo on top began to slowly miss the tree line, to where the residential districts were.
"The captial. The captial is under attack!"
Pina grabbed her plate armor, and donned her seathed sword.
"Knights! Follow me!"
"Raider Team. All accounted for?"
"Raider Team is squared away, Romeo Actual."
"Then Rebel's left."
Isaac commanded his team to take positions against the row of eyes staring at them on the commandeered area, as he stepped on rows of cobblestone to meet with the rest of the team. scanned the perimeter of order the SI managed to carve into the shitshow that was this operation.
It was a an old town square/park, with shops and the like on the far end, half a kilometer away.
He caught the rest of the platoon leaders coordinating in the statue, and even without him entering the Company channel, all of them were speaking wildy about the place.
And in the background, he could see the large amphitheater greeting him with it's solemn limestone facade, it's ominous goliath stature reminding him of how out of place he was.
He watched the multiple eyes that gazed back in his direction around the square, from familiar curiosity from humans to the predatory gazes from others, all equally mixed into one another into a fog of fear and uncertainty that definitely affected the team. He stared at the statue in above him, brushing past the grime and moss covering the 8 foot tall man in armour gazing forward, holding a burnt torch on one hand, and a hidden sword in another.
On his weathered feet, a plaque merely stated in bold, blocky numbers, that stabbed him in the chest as the automatic translator immediately sorted out the letters.
Alexander Brutus. Explorer of the Realm. Last Son of Rome.
Did the node send them back in time?
Rome, like the Empire Rome? He thought. Had the acuberrie node brought them back in time?
His eyes were glued to the words, mind melting against the burning fact, nerves shot to hell as words stopped to form.
"Well, that's something." A feminine voice nodded along, smiling in her comns.
Isaac shook his head and chuckled, turning to the fellow younger lieutenant.
"Didn't expect this today on my bingo card, Alice."
The woman's happiness infected through her voice, as she pumped her fist in the air.
"They did say we travel the Galaxy."
The Martian fist offered his fist to the girl, smiling. Alice accepted it.
"Right on, kid. Right on."
"Rebel Team reporting in." Torres looked around, stomping towards them with eyes peeled everywhere. As he saluted Jasper, he turned to the rest of the Lieutenants.
"Well, we aren't in Kansas anymore."
"Look, now that we're here, we need to discuss this." Jasper noted, spreading his arms wide. "This place is very human. Architecture, script, and people, with a few exceptions."
Torres looked at Jasper with a pointed, seemingly slight accusatory look. "Did Major Lindhall tell you where we are?"
Jasper shook his head, arms against his hips as he stared down at his older junior.
"There's still Opsec. But he wouldn't send the Force Recon section anywhere beyond any support. While blind."
Torres snorted, pressing his palms against his hips.
"A broken clock is right twice a day. That's why we shouldn't follow orders blindly, sir."
Jasper crossed his arms, Isaac feeling his CO crossing his eyes through his Armor.
Alice rolled her eyes at the two.
"Look, let's just assess our new situati- Ian, what are you doing!" she shouted in comms, causing both to turn around.
Without a moment to lose and a word to say, Torres unclasped his helmet, and took in another look at the city with his double coloured eyes.
"Jesus!" Jasper cried out.
He took in a whiff of air, before baring his fangs at the officers.
Isaac could hear the murmurs carried by the wind, as many people surrounding the quater was shocked by Torres' appearance, as the metallic shoulder plate glinted the morning sun.
"Smells just like home."
Alice, meanwhile, smirked. "Isn't Torres a cyborg?" Which had a playful punch at her shoulder, which caused Alice to giggle.
Isaac rolled his eyes, turning to his CO.
"I'm switching to filtration. Supply is going to be livid if we keep using up our air tanks."
Jasper sighed, looking around the crowd, sinking deep into thought as he grabbed any idea ripe in the tree of knowledge.
"Any word on dropships?" Isaac asked, pondering as he gazed at the windows.
Jasper shook his head, head down low.
"All air assets are committed to their respective units. And the Carrier's still dark. Not even kinetic bombardment in support."
"Just great. Goddamnit." Torres looked at the sky, sighing. "Goddamnit." He repeated softly.
"Regardless, we're running out of time for our objectives." Jasper noted.
"Time to do what? This place is not a colony. We don't know where to start. Even then, they're bumpkins who probably don't understand or care." Torres replied, looking straight at him.
"Then make contact with the highest official of this land, inform them that shit's about to go down." Alice commented. "Look, the rest of the task force will come looking for Mexico City. But we're wasting time."
"Drones?" Isaac asked Jasper.
A large data dump appeared on their visor screens, as tactical data was filled for a 20 klick radius.
"We know this is a big ass city. But we caught these."
An image of elaborate buildings, and large, green courtyards.
"We'll have to reach them. They're probably local elite, so they know who calls the shots."
It was then, a notice of several foot mobiles north of their position appeared on their taclink screens, causing Ian to chuckle.
"Well, I know one way to get their attention."
The audio sensors picked up the faint clanking of steel growing closer and closer from all sides, as something straight out of an Old Network show entered with the appearance of medieval soldiers from all sides, accompanied by the barking of orders as the civilians begin to scatter, fear in their eyes as the sight of the black armor plated men, similar to the regular combat armor. What was more interesting was the lion standing upright, in armor.
Jasper chuckled bitterly.
"Shall we introduce ourselves?"
Without hesitation, All of the Force Recon Members flipped their safeties off, holding their large, bulky rifles at the probable threat.
It was then the SNCO came online to the entire section channel.
"Attention. All Force Recon Members. No one fires. And warning shots only when I or Captain Jasper say so. This is a delicate situation, and I will personally skin whoever fires the first shot with a salted K-bar. Affirmative?"
With hesitation buried under a heap of grace, Jasper commanded his helmet to show his face, and approached the group from a safe distance from the tips of their swords.
"Hello, I'm Captain Jasper Quinn of the-"
The bellowing of the beast in armor cut him off with a large roar.
"Surrender, [?]. You destroyed several cities and have killed countless people!"
Jasper stood up straight, looking squarely at them.
"Look, we-"
"Dialogue is useless!"
All of a sudden, the shields were raised up and cut off the only exits of the square, with the mem on the back wielding some sort of crossbow at them.
Their rifles were raised, with Isaac hoping that this would be a short one, and the 10 rounds in his rifle would be enough.
It was then a man appeared, dressed in refined clothing robes to cover the various wrinkles cratering his body, appeared, holding a staff. He then waved it in the air in fervent worship, much to the surprise of the troops.
"H-have they…gone mad?" Torres asked, speech slurred a bit, until the serious tone of Jasper cut into the radio.
" Negative. Hold. We still have the Lankies to take care of." Jasper reminded them.
With that, a large sound roared overhead, as a larger smoke trail appeared above them all the dark clouds spelling ominous doom, raining down on the city, causing a sea of confusion and noises as everyone diverted their attention up above.
Only to see a force of a large eruption of bright white burning through the buildings, a force so horrific that a mangled chorus of screams from civilians as they broke their formations in a panic, with even the foot soldiers looking around with a daze, as their formation was bburted through by a chaotic stream of people.
"Retro Actual, Rebel 2. Multiple impacts. Most are outside the walls. However, a bunch are within the city. I'll deploy markers." Torres' Sargeant relayed above, perched up on the colluseum.
"Thanks for the eyes, Rebel 2." Jasper squeezed out, trying to wade throught the civilians as they ran past
Within an instant, a series of red markers appeared on their HMD.
Without missing a beat, Jasper turned to the other CO's.
"Fuck, we'll have to split. Rebel and Reaper will go to the south. Raider, get to the inner city. Conserve your ammo. Let's go!"
"Hey, puta. You love protecting this city, right?" Torres showed the burning gaze behind his eyes. "Then get moving. This is your tine. Get archers, cannons, whatever shit that can be thrown from a distance. Evacute the people of the city. Now."
You can't tell me what to do!" He screamed, trying to rebuild his authoritative tone, but Ian pointed above, showing the ominous lanky forms that immediately crushed him into cooperating.
"Tell that to it."
The guards immediately dispersed, probably raising other units, as they ran to the barracks.
"You had to be harsh?" Jasper asked, to which Ian shrugged.
"Alright. We have to split to cover ground. I'll join up with the rest of those local troops and try to get native assistance. Alice, Ian. Take care of the larger horde down south. Isaac, go North. They're heading to the admin building. Stop them."
A series of quick affirmatives, as they all dispersed.
Isaac and his team ran towards the wall of buildings, taking a final look of the smoke, as the flow of people began to gush outward the labyrinth. Isaac's team weaved through the human wave with difficulty, each second taking its toll. Isaac caught glimpses of lives, as he could see a young woman clutching her child, a young boy crying out, an elderly woman who caught each breath in desperation to escape. Each and all of them showing desperation and fear taking hold as their limited understanding of what Lankies were capable of, only knowing that they have to escape the possible danger. Isaac was unable to help them, except for one thing.
To kill them.
Isaac heard through his suit someone crying out, and saw he crushed someone's foot on his armored boot.
Isaac briefly apologized, before disappearing onto the crazed crowd.
"World may be different, but cops will be cops. They don't know what we are, but what they do know is we just appeared after destroying several cities."
The drone footage sent to him showed the site was heavily dense in population, houses squished against one another to for a deadly labyrinth. 2 klicks away. Well out of the range of their JMBs. Time was no longer on his side, as the data showed thousands of people in front of them, ready to have fates that were deemed classified by the Corps.
"Fredricks. Where are they?"
"Smoke's still obscuring the site."He noted, before his heart rate spiked in Isaac's HUD "Jesus that's large. Counting at least five lankies emerging just a couple of klicks 12 o clock. They're disoriented."
A large roar shook the site, causing some of the buildings to collapse near them, feeding more into the fear as the sea of people became more choppier, making any cross difficultas they were being pushed against.
"Shit." Carlos noted, seeing the large amount of debris kicking up clouds of dust in front of them. Isaac shook his head.
"Leave them. The more time we waste, the more people get killed."
"Sir, we have a major problem."
Isaac tapped into the Drone's feed, seeing several Lankies emerging out of the crater like a cocoon.
They finally showed their hand.
"Nine Lankies. And Four of us. Jesus."
280 rounds. No heavy weaponry. No support. It would be like kids playing with ants. Isaac had to divide the attention between all of them, otherwise they all gang up on them. But, spreading out in these crowds was next to impossible.
"Everyone. To the alleyway. The wave became a wall. Doubletime."
They waded throught crowds, their pushing so intense that Isaac could barely keep his balance.
Eventually, all four of them got through the raging river of people, to a safe alleyway for a brief respite. Isaac glanced over his team mates, seeing their exhaustion from breaking their willpower apart.
This wasn't part of their training.
Eventually, that safe respite was broken as new info was gathered from Fredricks.
"Their general direction is heading towards the castle palace thing."
"Shit." Isaac yelled out to himself. He then contacted Romeo Actual, who also sounded like he ran through a marathon.
"Shit. They're converging. Stop them. Now."
"It's impossible. And we can't bypass these crowds."
"The alternative is that all of us die. Find a way, Isaac."
Jasper disconnected the call, leaving Isaac with his thoughts. The best and quickest way to kill a Lanky is by the neck or limbs. But, in these conditions. He can't aim that high.
He examined the map data the drones created, and watched the Lanky movement. His eyes caught a hill, where a bunch of large, wealthy estates were located, burning a bright idea.
"... I suppose we get to that hill."
Pina's ears screamed in constant pain, yet the pain didn't reach her mouth, as it stayed shut. She could feel her comrade's eyes staring back at her. All her mind could command was her eyes, and all they wanted to do was watch, even as the smoke began to clash her eyes, as she stood on the edge of a hill, mounted on a horse.
For what greater event commanded her to watch than the burning of the captial?
She watched as the curtains of smoke fell upon the empire, covering the once bright blue skies with ominous red that stretched out the horizon, raining down misery. She could hear the wind carrying the chaotic orchestra of the damned, as cries of anguish and panic began to pick up in volume, the sea of people flooding every crevice and road in the Empire's numerous city blocks. As the numerous shopping areas of the city were ravaged, consumed by several fires that begun to attack.
"... I suppose we get to that hill."
Ever since Leo Mento founded the city as the starting point of the Empire, not even the Flame dragon dared to attack it.
But the raging roar of the creature broke that insurmountable fact. Even under the smoke, she could see them move, like puppets as they slowly revealed themselves in the curtain of smoke, their large, dark forms crawling down.
It was then, Pina's mind took over, as she turned to her assembled knights.
"Knights! To the Palace!"
She could see many of them hesitated, and saw in their princess' eyes the same. She watched as their insecurities laid bare to her, and how that infuriated her.
"Pina. What about his Majesty's-"
Without a moment of hesitation, she glared at her lifelong mentor, and gave him a standoffish look, reminding him of his place.
"Enough about Father! I will not be a witness to our demise!" she said, words coated in an authoritative tone.
"To die from regret or by the sword, I'll choose the latter!"
It was then her Knights were reminded who they were.
Pina's warriors.
Their horses acquised their demands against the cobblestone road, with Panache's horse taking the lead.
The trees that span the estate grew still and silent, as the creatures that roamed it frozen in fear. Her eyes teared as it was bombarded by the thick smoke, as the fires from the lower class districts began to grew uncontrollably.
She knew that the Capital wasn't like this, as an Empire wide alert was sent all throughout Yggdrasil, that cities were being wiped out.
Pina sighed. Such an alert would mean her payment would double.
But that was a drop in comparison to the major storm that appeared to her. The Empire was under attack. And she was determined to find out, and if need be, fight for Humanity's dominance in Falmart.
She then went to the entrance of the walled complex, silence meeting them as the gate stood unmanned, guards disappeared.
Instead, a sea of people of all manmers gushed into the walls, breaking apart the gate, their screams deafening Pina as they ran in a panic, trying to escape to safer areas, regardless of the law that helped fortified that barrier
"Clear the way!" Grey yelled, unsheathing his sword.
But it was a drop in compared to the sea of noises. And her title seemed miniscule from the horde of people.
"There's no use! We need to push forward!" Bozes called, charging forward to her mount.
But the tide of people was too much, and Pina could hear her horse whine in pain as it faced the brunt of it all. Pina calmed her steed, but it was no use, the feeling of bodies pressed against it suffocating him, so he rose upward.
Pina fell to the ground, hard. She could barely felt anything except the hit.
The crowds were gone, retreating deep into the hill.
"Let's go."
Pina never stepped out of the inner walls, aside from the amphitheater, amd various odd missions, but this was the time she saw the city whole.
And it was empty. The once crowded roads were now silent, the insulae next to them ransacked and emptied.
A thought came up to her.
This was exactly what happened with Helga.
She brushed it off, trying to focus on what mattered now.
"Let's go to the palace. The Pretorian guard should be deployed there." Pina commanded, staring in the city grid layers. "Panache. Go forward. I want you to clear a way to the Palace."
Pqqaanache nodded an affirmative, before galloping forward on her steed.
Pina couldn't see above the treeline, but she could feel their heavy steps shaking the ground she stood on, each foot trying to crack the ground apart.
She then heard the prideful roar of a wyvern charge, eyes lit up to see a squadron baring down on one of them.
Their warriors bared down on them with a fury, charging them with their long spears.
Until a swift smack by one of the creature's long arms wiped some of them out, and several of the spears failed to penetrate.
They met up with several pretoreian guardsmen, whose emaciated and scarred forms met Pina's gaze. Their armor was covered in soot, dented.
"Where's your Commander!" she asked with authority to the men.
One of them spoke up, eyes filled with so much hopelessness that sickened her.
"He's dead! We can't defeat them!" He cried out, which caused Pina to grit her teeth.
The man was squealing. A member of the elite order of guards tasked to protect the Emperor, squealing in front of Royalty.
Until a swift punch from a blonde knight stopped him cold.
"You idiots! Do you know what you're doing?" Bozes shouted. "Are you in such a sorry state that a female has to punch you in the face?"
The rest of the Female knights blasted them on their manhood, taunting them.
The man hissed at them, rubbing his bruise.
"You dumb idiots! Didn't you think we tried! Our units were wipe-"
In a flash, Grey fatally stabbed the man, causing everyone to pause.
"I will not tolerate cowardice with the death of humanity in sight!" Pina cried out. She then pointed to where the creatures were heading.
"Head to the palace!"
Isaac peered out of the, seeing the numerous crowds thinning out, leaving behind trash and corpses scattered everywhere, the screams now turning into silence.
"Let's go." Isaac called out to his team, exiting out of the alleyway, watching up and down the road for any stragglers. He then scanned his Taclink of the local map that the drones created. He then coordinated with Carlos
"How long until that hill? Not long. A few minutes on foot would do."
He shook his head at him, his bulking frame slacking as exhaustion taking control of him by the chaotic operation.
"I don't think we can make it. Those Lankies are too fast."
Isaac then scanned the part of the map where a location was mapped for high radiation, which was one of a few in the entire city.
"Ugh. Those bastards must be running a nuclear power plant there."
It was then Jasper came online.
"SITREP?"
Isaac grunted.
"Running out of time."
"Cap, any word from the carrier or air support?"
Jasper granted out frustration, as he could hear him releasing several rounds.
"Some of the Dragonflies are done, but it'll take 20 minutes from them to reach us. Carrier's still dark. It's all up on us."
The connection was cut, which Isaac turning to his squad.
"God, this is one of the hardest missions I'd ever done."
To which Carlos bitterly chuckled.
"No one said it had to be easy sir. That's why they send the STT."
Carlos merely groaned out another year of his life, frustration clawing at them all as their armor carried them across the distance. Their bugsuits' exoskeleton was giving them ample speed, but wasn't enough compared to an ATV or MAV.
"I'm picking up something in my sensors. Faint, but it's growing stronger. I think it's… damn, horses."
"Horses?" Isaac asked. "Probably cavalry. Get into position."
All of them tried to find appropriate positions in the open street and crouched, raising their rifles. Isaac merely stood in the middle of the road, hands raised.
He switched on his personality filter, showing a hologram of his face transplanted to his armor.
Isaac could hear through his comms, the charging of horses straight at him, kicking up dust behind them, creating an almost mythical vibe as the riders readied their lancers.
He caught their faces with his helmet sights, seeing females looking at him with stern faces.
It was then she appeared, stroding gracefully in front of him, eyes burning through him like the radiant red hair flowing behind her.
Many thoughts came into Isaac's mind, even as the swords were aimed at their necks. Isaac's team in turn aimed their weapons at them.
The chaotic mix of their voices thrown at them were automatically morphed into words by the AI.
"Who are you! Are you the summoners of those creatures!"
Isaac shook his head.
"I am not the summoners of these creatures. However, I am summoning them to hell."
She stared at him for a bit, face in a complicated expression.
Without a second to pass, the woman kneeled before him.
"Oh my Lord. Apostle of Mars. Have you come to save us from our plight, or to seek our doom for turning against you on our Terra?"
"Pina, what are you-"
But she glared at them, which caused them to immediately comply before.
"Kneel."
It was then Isaac's mind caught up, feeling the scratches on his armor.
Mars. The God of War. Ah, right.
It also burned bright just as this place had gone. In his audio sensors, he could hear the screams of the damned, just like them.
"I can save you all."
Her smile widened, warmth flushing in her face that made Isaac blush.
"But I need horses. The fastest ones. A carriage maybe. Anything to carry my armor."
Pina smiled, before nodding to her comrades.
"Yes."
Isaac sat in the carriage, as the rest of his team were already away on their own carriages.
Isaac looked to the pink haired lady in front of him, whose slender frame held on to horse tightly.
"Are you sure this horse is fast enough, miss-"
"Lady Panache of the Kaluga household. This horse is the fastest I bought." She replied, patting on her steed, the equine beast's tail wagging slightly. Isaac then looked at it with wonder, as this was the irst time he saw a horse.
"Are your ears covered, Lady Panache?"
She nodded, before speaking up, a bit loudly this time.
"You're lucky, Disciple. This part of town is busy during this time. Shame the gladiatorial fights are gone."
Isaac smiled nervously, accepting the title.
With a swift command, the horse staggered forward, galloping on the empty concrete roads, forcing the wheels to churn forward in a creaky groan that steadily was dampened to a continuous drone as the horses sped up down the road, passed the numerous beige houses that sprouded on either side.
Isaac had savored the little reprive, taking note of the quaint architecture that would've been dwarfed by the monsterous grey clustered mass that dominated the NAC.
Isaac checked the drone feed as he caught the tall monsters a few hundred meters from his location, which he then tasked it to check on the other teams.
Straining beyond the thing's camera lens, he could barely make out the grainy movement of large…birds descenfing on the site.
"Disciple. We're here."
Isaac cut off the feed, and toggled the next function on the table.
He then turned to the knight, meeting her uncertain eyes.
"Cover your ears, Lady Panache.."
The woman nodded.
Isaac grabbed his rifle, eyeing the beast closest to him within range, through his helmet sights.
Even at 500 meters, each slight movement made Isaac tensed in fear.
Why didn't he let Iris take the shot?
Isaac turned on his auditory amplifier system, where a ungodly sound of neo rock poured out of it like sewer sludge.
"Jesus Christ. That song?" Carlos groaned.
"Panache!"
"Got it!"
She commander the horses to run faster.
As the horse and the building surrounding them sped up, Isaac stood up, uncaring of the wooden flooring below him cracking, as he glared at the lanky in front of him, the burning rage wanting to melt away its thick faceplate.
"COME AT ME YOU LANKY FUCKS! YOU WANT HUMAN MEAT?! I'M RIGHT HERE!" he shouted, before raising his rifle, aimed his rifle at the eight storey beast.
The recoil, while reduced, cracked the wooden flooring as Isaac poured half of his mag straight at the Lanky's upper torso, and neck. A decent shot in a moving target, but Iris would've take a better shot.
"AWW DID YOU GET HURT?! TOO BAD! I LOST EVERYTHING FROM YOU FUCKS! HOW'D YOU LIKE THAT!"
The Lankies began to ignore the call, taking the bait by the skin of their teeth.
Isaac watched as they spotted him, and gave them the finger.
The horse whined as it sped down the destroyed streets, barely maintaining a small distance to the larger beasts.
Isaac eyed the creatures through it's helmet comms, seeing the faceless rage behind it's face plate.
"Panache, how close!?"
"Almost there!"
Isaac held on to the wood, trying to keep an eye on the creatures.
Until one of them leaped forward, tearing the building apart.
"Shit!"
Isaac fell out, stumbling onto the hard concrete floor, catching a glimpse of Panache's horse running off.
Isaac's head was nearly mushed, his mind jumbled to form a coherent sense around him.
Minor concussion incurred. [MEDICAL STIMULUS ACTIVATED]
Until he centered his vision into the interior of the ruined apartment.
There, a young girl stared back at him, fear in his face.
Her mother, slumped on the floor, unmoving.
The roar of the Lankies took him out of it. His mind shot to hell, burned with determination, as he found himself holding the cautious child on his arms and slumping the woman on his shoulder., straning the exo suit a bit.
The fallen Lanky crushed the houses the eight story lanky took it's last breath.
But the impending firestorm still continued,
As the Lanky descended on him, but it didn't come.
Instead, it was bombared with several balls of fire, englufung it with smoke.
A Bugsuit can withstand a nuclear blast, but Isaac was concerned on the two, who he buried under his armor.
The rest of the lankies attacked,
Only for several arrows to hit them. Un penetrated of course.
Then, the trump card roared out, as the shrill popping of JMB rifles were sounding off in the hill.
As Isaac laid back on the barrow, stress releasing from his body, he turned to the barely alive woman.
His heart tumbled turned to see his mom lying on the wood.
"Mom?" He asked, voice weakened and parched.
But his mom was gone. The lady was left, barely breathing.
With a shook of his head, Isaac applied the trauma pack on the woman's head.
Pina felt the cold silence squeezing out of her. It was not the finality of a chaotic battle, rather it was like a void of uncertainty, covered in a layer of ash and chaos.
Sadera was broken as her oath to Cesear, defiled by those monsters.
Reports from Yggdrasil's few roots from few and far between, but what few scraps of screams formed to a twisted and defiled horror of a unifed call for help.
Similar to Sadera's exodus back then.
Nevertheless, she turned to the makeshift camp of refugees.
Most of the people had went back to their homes, yet the wounded and the displaced begged to differ.
There were mages of Mirrita present, but they were a thin line of hope in a sea of misery. She could do nothing but watch the dead mounted and the mages were swallowed in despair.
But amongst the carnage was a party of hulking grey masses that stood abound to one another, their plated faces not betraying any emotion as they gazed on the carnage.
Pina remembered the whispers of her tutor about the Exodus.
How Rome was in complete turmoil, where the rot of the corruption in the Emperor and his court had spread all over the Empire.
Not even splitting the Roma in two saved both from the collapse.
But nevertheless, they were here. The worshipers of misery and violence, the tenants that brought her Empire into ruin.
Pina wanted to unsheath her sword, to expulse them from her lands.
But to interfere with the Gods will by touching their servants would be sacrilege, even to her.
The woman did quick work as she soothed the woman with a motherly tone, but the city as a whole needed a lot more than that.
Isaac watched the fires died into ash, yet the settlement was covered in a cloud of smoke.
"Captain Jasper."
"NACS Trinidad and JS Takao are on orbit, conducting relief efforts. They'll pick us up in ten minutes."
"Took them long enough."
"Sure did. Too afraid of another Washington incident. Couldn't blame them."
"Wussies. Could've used their help. Nearly got the situation worse had those knights not arrived."
"Actually, we weren't the worst unit."
"That's an odd way to put it."
"Sorry, but there was a report from Foxtrot Company's 2nd platoon. Sent to a desert area. Immediately the situation gone FUBAR. Apart from the lankies, there were apparently sand worms that terrorised both human and those alien bastards."
The thought of something scaring both Human and Lanky made Isaac weirdly shuddered and amused for some reason. But Jasper shook his head.
"A couple of them got swallowed whole, but the MARS' Silver Bullets took care of it. There were also zombies roaming around. But overall, minimal casualties apart from broken limbs and damp clothing."
"Jesus." Isaac noted, before looking at the burning city in front of him. "This is a strange world."
"And it will only be stranger still."
Isaac raised an eyebrow, confusion and realization hitting him from both sides.
"What? Do you really think we can just leave? With all of this devastation?"
"Of course not, Jasper." Ian chimed in. "We screwed them up too much."
Torres and Alice came up to them, busy coordinating with their own squads.
"Wow, Isaac, such a ladies man." Alice giggled.
Isaac's eyes widened, as realization crashed on him.
"Oh god no."
Both of them laughed.
"Oh god yes."
Isaac groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Ugh. Anyways, how's things on your end?"
Torres then spoke up, stretching.
"It's alright. No one got hurt badly." he noted.
Alice gave her older subordinate a brief side eye, before shaking her widening in disbelief, even with the armor on.
"You had an entire Lanky fall on you."
"Honestly, given my amazing track record, the Corps will care about my Bugsuit than me." Torres replied, chuckling as he shrugged off the fact that a 50 ton creature fell upon him.
"Attention, sirs. We got company to our east. A bunch of individuals riding horseback to our 3 o'clock, moving fast. Their banners look expensive."
It was then another voice came into comns.
"Retro Team, this is Metro 1-2, from Trinidad's nest. We're 5 mikes out and closing."
Jasper then tuned into that comns, voice now steady.
"Metro 1-2, we have a developing situation, standby. And wait for my signal."
Isaac turned to his subordinate, who was looking though his HUD, seeing the new footage over his taclink map.
"Can't we just tuck tail and run?"
Jaspwr merely shook his head, pointing upward.
"Nope. Torres, Isaac, tell your team to go full on stealth."
Isaac watched from a distance, gun aimed at the crowd of cavalry. Most of his team were low on ammo, with the some of the STT having a half a mag remaining.
Isaac held his breath, as he gripped his rifle, as this feature was only against Lankies, not magical humans.
He caught the first of the men dropping his steed, a large, tall muscular figure approached his friends with his blazing blonde hair disturbed by the wind, as he began staring down at him, as his hands curled into fists that could probably kick as hard as his rifle.
Then, the man began to hail him with loud words that sounded like jumbled English but still stung through the language barrier.
Jasper was motioning at the man camly with his personality filter turned on, face calm as he probably talking him down and explaining everything, his demeanour seemingly relaxed chest raised with hardened determination.
Isaac then slowly stepped into position, trying to make sure the men didn't caught the invisible footsteps they left behind.
The crowd was growing now, seemingly standing still, with not a word of them. Was this man a royal?
It was then Isaac caught the princess going to the large man, calling out to him, her face torn with frustration and pleading, to no avail.
The man was a tsunami of emotions falling on Jasper, and was only a matter of time before…
Isaac caught a glimpse of shimmer from his sheath.
It was then Isaac and the rest of the team turned off his polychromatic setting, and aimed his rifle at the troupe of men, catching the face flushed from the men as they were surrounded by grey armored troops with large rifles raised.
It was then, for the encore, Metro 2-1 immediately descended below, it's large 35mm autocannon round looking menacingly at them as the ship's engines screamed at them. as it followed Jasper's finger at the man.
The man quivered, and immediately his body was paralyzed in fear.
Oakley stared at the satellite laid in front of him. The boxy, ungainly thing sitting dormant as a tomb, with the technicians beside it prodding it as if like tomb raiders. It was the size of a fridge, and weighed as much as an arty round.
They were in Charlie Deck, deep where the Fleet Investigation Service offices were, tucked in a deep secret.
JAXA.
Japanese civilian satellites out of Sol? Odd. He never knew they had extrasolar colonies.
Then again, this wasn't out of Sol. Not even Takao's and Trinidad's functional GPS showed any familiar stars anywhere. So why were these all the way out here? And why pre-FTL tech?
Too many questions, on top of so many.
But this wasn't his war. His was in Vinland. But he knows someone who would fight.
He watched as one of the head engineering members approached him, taking off his dusty gloves.
"Most of the memory data is corrupted, which is hardly surprising. But based on the remaining data and sensor types, it's mostly meteorology and atmospheric data."
The man then showed him his data pad, showing an array of data sets.
"Even then, it's surprising. Its readings are quite irregular for a regular meteorological satellite, with new data sets. It's been modified to read a new type of radiation. It only says 'M'. "
"When has it been launched?" Oakley asked
"Data is corrupted on that, sir. But the main components have markings. So early 21st Century manufacture."
Oakley's eyes widened, heat skipping several beats. It was near the mid-21st that mankind had created FTL travel. And even then, how did they end up here? And why Japan?
Too many questions, and Oakley only needed one to answer them all.
"Any ground stations? Where was the data sent?"
The technician looked over his datapad, and responded without looking up.
"There's only one, sir. ALNS. No additional data other than that. And it looks like it's been dormant for a while."
Oakley nodded, then dismissed the mounting questions in his mind. Someone else would answer them.
"Copy the data."