Testament XVII: Sieges Were Laid
1st Day of Siege, 1 hour in…
(Queue 'The Holt Ambient')
Shamble looked on as the fortress was continually battered by his demonic artillery; The projectiles he was using, which were mostly just random broken materials doused in poison and gasoline, were very effective for his initial plan, which was to cause pandemonium within the fortress.
From here, he would continue his demoralization efforts; He had a few ideas in mind for how to break the little minds of these pathetic humans-
"How dishonorable."
Shamble exhaled angrily, hearing Pride's prideful and loud remark. He glanced over at her in annoyance; Having someone openly berate his plans was never good for army morale- even if they were all demons.
"I didn't ask, Pride."
Pride looked down on him, her eyes gleaming with extreme arrogance.
"Those who are truly powerful have no need for petty tactics like artillery barrages. If you were truly a warrior, you would siege those walls as one and exterminate them ALL."
Her calls for action were mirrored by her own army, as well as some of the Old Age and New Age demons gathered under Shamble's banner. He shot a menacing look at them, however, and they soon quieted down. He turned his wrathful gaze back to Pride.
"We're fighting a war here, Pride," He said, enunciating her name with the utmost disgust and contempt. "Perhaps your small-minded tactics are suited for pyrrhic battles, but waging war is an entirely different- HRK!"
He was suddenly cut off as Pride grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up from the ground; She was a staggering 10 feet tall, easily towering over Shamble's 6' stature. Nonetheless, he refused to show fear to her.
"Remember who you are TALKING to, you festering parasite!" Pride chastised him harshly, spittle flying from her mouth in deranged outrage. "Has your squalor made you forget I am your superior? I ought to throw you to the ground and CRUSH your head between my boots!"
"GET -HRK- YOUR GRIMY HAND OFF ME, OR I'LL IMPALE A PIKE THROUGH YOUR STINKING KISKA AND LET THE HELLHOUNDS FUCK YOU TO DEATH!"
Pride leered back at Shamble's atrocious words, dropping him from her grasp. Her eyes were brimming with deathly rage.
"HOW -FUCKING- DARE YOU SAY SUCH SHAMEFUL THINGS TO ME!"
She unsheathed her massive broadsword, over sixteen feet in length, and brandished it menacingly; Shamble and his army turned on Pride's army, and it seemed as if bloodshed would soon erupt.
Pop!
"OOOoOoOohhhhhHhhH… Who is speaking such EXOTIC language? AaAaAaAhHhHhnNnNnn…"
Both Pride and Shamble were surprised as Lust suddenly manifested out of thin air, appearing in front of them; Her light-pink, demonic scales persistently oozed some kind of viscous liquid as she rubbed herself over in a very discomforting, lecherous way.
"What the fuck?" Shamble muttered.
"Lust, you are supposed to be running the Khimera facilities!" Pride shouted angrily at Lust, who merely turned to look up at her, a sickly grin permanently embedded on her face.
"Oooooooohhhhh, Pride… I have a kink for giantesses… ohhhh, can't we break this siege and find a nice little shelter to enjoy ourselves in…?"
Pride grit her teeth, clearly frustrated by the turn of events- and disturbed by the foul language being thrown at her so casually.
"Were you not a key factor in this war, I would slay you where you stood, Lust." Pride hissed. "Return to your post and do your damn job!"
Lust groaned, still rubbing herself all over; Her mere presence excited the troops, including the Khimeras, all of who turned their eyes on her. Shamble could tell they were on the cusp of having their way with her, and that would be absolutely disgraceful for this mission.
"OhHhHhHh… if you insist…"
Her glimmering, kaleidoscopic eyes gazed towards the distant fortress for a moment, an unnaturally-long tongue jutting out from her wickedly fanged teeth.
"A simple favor… ohhh… if you will." Directing her request to Shamble. "If you… uhhhnnnn… keep any of them alive, make sure to let your demons fuck them raw; Let them breed their women and emasculate their men; If they have animals-"
The next words she said were so foul and downright evil that even Shamble had to close his ears by the end of it.
"You are a disgusting, disgusting being." Shamble muttered, pushing back the urge to vomit- A reflex he had never considered possible as a demon. Lust merely moaned lustfully upon hearing his words.
"Save your… aaaaahhnnnn!... Foreplay for after the siege, Shambllleeee… I ask this only because these… hnnnn… acts will rejuvenate my strength. It has been eons since I was last awake."
Shamble shivered in sheer discomfort by the way Lust had said his name, before she promptly disappeared once more; Leaving Pride and Shamble to an awkward silence.
"..."
"..."
"...Let us continue the siege." Pride said, attempting to divert the topic back to something normal and dignified. Shamble nodded begrudgingly.
"Let's."
(Queue 'Phobos Base' by Mick Gordon)
"SHIT, THEY TOOK OUT OUR AMMUNITION DEPOT!"
BLAM-BLAM!
"WE HAVE RESERVES BELOW THE FORTRESS, BRING THEM TO THE ARTILLERY PLACEMENTS!"
BOOOOM!
The fortress, though still in pandemonium over the continued siege upon them, was beginning to function somewhat again, as squad leaders and officers began relaying orders to the other soldiers; Many returned fire, trying to hit the faraway horde of demons that simply watched on as they continued to get barraged mercilessly.
Moxxie and Millie, who had been playing Blackjack with Dusty's squad, had decided to join up with them as they went to their own respective duties; Mainly, to deploy as a vanguard scout into the desert and relay information back to Isabella and the rest of HQ.
The squadmates hopped into two separate heavily-armored but fast-traveling vehicles, designed by Commander Hayden near the beginning of the war. They were intended for going at high speeds across rough terrain, with wheels that adjusted quickly to sudden bumps or pitched slopes.
"Get in our car, Moxxie, Millie!" Seymour shouted, gesturing for them to enter.
"This fucking blows!" Moxxie raged. "I had a pair of Aces, I definitely would have won that last round!"
"Honey," Millie said sweetly. "Is that really important right now?"
They eventually climbed in, and the two cars took off on a ramp, which opened up out towards the desert; They revved their engines and sped out of the fortress, the thick door closing behind them.
Meanwhile, Isabella hunkered down in the intelligence bunker deep underneath the fortress, where other officers were quickly running around, relaying orders over radio, checking radar pings for the enemy's position, and generally maintaining the welfare of the base in a panic.
Isabella quickly unfurled a map of their surroundings, generously auto-generated by VEGA a few hours before their travel here.
"Alright," She said hastily. "The enemy is positioned to the east of the fortress, about a mile or so away; If we can intercept their artillery positions, we'll have enough time to aim our own artillery at their-"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A distant explosion rocked the underground bunker, causing everyone inside to scream in panic- A few moments later, a bloodied soldier stumbled down the stairs, gasping in pain.
"OUR… *cough*-HOWITZERS ARE- *hack* -GONE, MA'AM!"
"SHIT!" Isabella cursed aloud, thinking quickly of what to do next. "Protect whatever remaining artillery we have! Mortars, shell-firing guns, rocket artillery- GET EVERYTHING INSIDE!"
"YES, MA'AM!"
The bloodied soldier quickly went back up the stairs, as distant explosions and gunfire echoed down the stairwell. The officers hastily scrambled back to their duties, while Isabella hurriedly began issuing commands over the radio to the different divisions within the fort.
Meanwhile, Adams and Annie, who had been initially wandering the fortress, were now holed up in one of the corner offices, Annie using her sniper rifle to take pot shots at demons she thought to be critical while Adams unfurled his artillery pad, gritting his teeth angrily.
"You motherfuckers," He rasped. "Always ruining my fucking dates! I'm going to make you regret your existence!"
With a few touches and swipes, Adams deployed several hundreds of flat, rectangular blue devices from within the base, having been stored temporarily; With one click, they turned on, flying out from the room with their embedded turbofan engines and arranging themselves into a spaced-out square formation.
"Take this, assholes!" Adams shouted aggressively, slamming his finger onto the 'ARM' button.
Immediately, the hundreds of mini-artillery pads clicked as their small mortar attachments were taken off safety. Adams created a designation zone over the distant army on his control pad, then pressed the next button.
'DEPLOY'
The pads began automatically aiming towards the distant army, auto-calculating the trajectory, velocity and other aerodynamic variables.
PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT!
PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT!
PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT!
PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT!
PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT!
Hundreds upon hundreds of small explosive shell hurled over the fortress walls and towards the distant army, whistling menacingly through the air as they closed in on their target.
"What the fuck is that?!" Helena, Shamble's right-hand commander, asked as she spotted the incoming volley . "Didn't we disable their artillery?"
"TAKE COVER!" Shamble shouted, diving to the ground, only seconds before-
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
The air shook violently as the explosions completely tore through the demonic army, sending soldiers flying in every direction as the others scrambled for cover- Only Pride was left standing proudly in the aftermath of the barrage.
"COWARDS!" She berated those around her, unsheathing her sword and slaying a few demons in outrage. "WE ARE THE LEGIONS OF THE DAMNED! HELL'S OWN WRATH INCARNATE! AND YOU DARE COWER AT SUCH PATHETIC SCHEMES!"
She unsheathed her sword, pointing it at the distant fortress.
"ALL THOSE WHO SEEK GLORY AND BLOODSHED, CHARGE THE FORTRESS, AND SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The horde was alight with fervor, as their morale was quickly regained by their unwavering leader. They charged, stomped and ran forth, following the glimmering, armored Sin that led the assault. Shamble wanted to facepalm intensely- half the plans he had painstakingly put together were completely fucked, now.
Looking back exhaustedly at the remaining demons that had stayed with him, he felt a grim determination surface; The majority of troops here were composed of his Khimeras, and that filled him with a deep pride.
Disciplined, resolute, silent, and efficient. Just as he had designed them to be.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?" He bellowed, noxious gas seeping from his maw. "BACK INTO POSITION!"