Chapter 19: "Priority: Icia"
-World building fact-
Earth year 400 BC, a gate opened on Earth due to a malfunction in the gate control program. This event brought the first humans to colonize Falmart continent on planet Spes. At that time, the darklings broke free from the low-powered Prothean containment facilities and start conquering the land turning everything into barren land. An alliance of the great kingdoms of elves and dwarfs was formed to fight them but it was a futile fight.
As more humans escaped the famine of Italy peninsula on Earth to migrate through the gate, Sadera became the first human city on Falmart and it was under Rome's government. At first, the human stayed out of the war despite the cry for help from elves and dwarfs, but as the war raged on it gets closer to Sadera. At this point, Rome agreed to form a temporary alliance with the other races and sent its army to help in the war against the darklings.
During this 100 years war, the Roman army slowly transformed from phalanges in phalanx into legionnaires. Roman legions lead the alliance to push the darklings all the way back to the North and with the help of the Apostle, built a great wall to guard the lands of men. For thousands of years, there have always been no less than 10 legions guarding the Great Northern Wall.
The valuable experience and resources gained on Falmart allowed Rome to become a great Empire on Earth as history recorded. Sadera became human capital on Falmart and rose to become the Empire as it is today while the elven kingdoms and the dwarf kingdoms slowly decline and were eventually conquered by Saderan Empire.
-Training simulation building, Fort Alnus-
The training simulation is a large, but empty, building with holographic devices capable of creating random combat scenarios from frontline battles to special operation missions. It allows UNE troops to train in close-to-real combat situations and it is completely different every time. Unlike in real combat where they're equipped with TAC suit for their protection, in the simulation they only get 1 life. This means that if they get shot once, they're out and the mission is fail.
"Really, Commander? Patrol duty and now training sim?" David complains as Ava leads the 5th SIF into the training simulation building.
"Well, Operation East Shores Express is going well and straightforward. They have no radar or any real AA defenses so our flyboys could freely take out the enemy's supply convoys, there's no important target to assassinate. There's really no need for special ops yet, so here we are" Ava says.
"Couldn't they send us on an exploration trip like before?" David asks.
"The Planetary Survey Corp sent a battalion and took over that. Come on, let's start the sim. It's either this or guard duty" Ava says as she tabs on David shoulder and wink.
"Alright, Ash, get up there and start the sim" Ava orders.
"Any specific enemy, Commander?" Ashley asks.
"Hmmm, do they have one that fights with swords, spears, dragon, orcs, trolls and magic?" Ava half-jokingly replies.
"Well…" Ashley is going to say something but Ava has an incoming call from General Nguyen.
"Hang on" Ava says as she accepts the call and a holographic screen appears in front of her. She stands at attention and salutes "General".
"At ease, Commander. Meet me at the briefing room in 10, something came up and I need your unit to do it" General Nguyen says.
"Yes, sir!" Ava salutes then the screen disappears.
"Hell yea, about time" David cheers.
"Gear up, I want you all to be ready in case we have to go now" Ava orders as the platoon salute her "Yes ma'am!".
-Briefing room, Fort Alnus-
Ava is sitting in the room waiting for General Nguyen to arrive. The door opens and Ava stands up thinking that General Nguyen has come, but it is Commander René Laurent of the 9th SIF that enters the room.
"René?" Ava surprised.
"Ava? It's good to see you" René says as he shakes his hand with Ava.
"It's good to see you too" Ava replies as General Nguyen enters the room.
The two commanders stand at attention and salute the General, but what surprises them are the two persons that follow General Nguyen into the room.
"Commanders, I'm sure you're wondering why King Duran and Ms. Rory are here. I'll explain later, now let's get started" General Nguyen says as everyone take a seat and the lights dime out.
"Approximate 7 hours ago we received a message from Special Agent Viktor Volkov of the location of the cube object, identified as the key for the security control of the Prothean main facility on the other continent. According to the intel, the cube is being kept in a secret chamber inside the temple of Minerva in the city of Icia" General Nguyen says.
The holographic screen then shows the Icia keep. It is a large structure, bigger than the one in Italica "The temple is part of the main keep and is heavily guarded. The Imperial Army has been using a new type of arrow that capable of damaging our shield and TAC suit but I'm sure you can handle them" General Nguyen continues "The 8th Marine division from the 9th Terra will conduct a frontal assault on the city to redirect the garrison attention away from your objective. The 23rd Armored Battalion will also be deployed to support them and various air assets.
In the 31st century, all infantry units are mechanized. Each company has 2 APCs for the HQ platoon and 6 IFVs to carry troops from the 3 combat platoons. When deployed, they're usually airlifted by the air force or the navy present on the planet.
"Now the part where King Duran and Ms. Rory come in. According to Elbean intel, which was confirmed by Viktor's source, the chamber is sealed with a set of powerful magic runes and guarded by the apostle of Minerva. The cube is a sacred object to the people of Falmart so they won't let it go easily. King Duran has agreed to provide his own mages to accompany you to break the magic runes with the condition that he joins you in this mission" General Nguyen says.
"As for the apostle, Ms. Rory here has agreed to help you to fight him. While our larger weaponry is capable of incapacitating apostles or even killing them, your smaller caliber weapons might slow them down but they can still take you out and even kill you. This was proven in many tests we conducted with Ms. Rory here." General Nguyen says "we don't know which part of the temple is the secret chamber and the search area is large so the 9th SIF is going to assist the 5th SIF on this mission".
"A detailed plan is shared on your TACNet" the general continues as the 2 commanders activate their TACNet screen and review the plan "Is there any question?".
"Why didn't we ask Lelei to help us with the runes, sir?" Ava asks as she turns and looks at King Duran "No disrespect for you men but she is more familiar with our unit and seems to be very smart".
"No worry, commander" King Duran replies.
"According to Ms. Lelei herself, she is an apprentice mage, not fully a mage yet. Therefore, she is not specialized yet in any magic-wielding field. Plus, she's helping the Department of Science lab to understand magic and potential incorporate magic with our tech. King's Duran mages, however, are experienced war mages who specialized in combat magic would be a better choice for this mission" General Nguyen explains.
"Copy that, sir" Ava nods.
"Ava, you're taking lead on this mission, Commander's René unit is going to assist you. You leave now, the assault is going to start soon. Dismiss" General Nguyen orders.
Ava and René stand up and salute then everyone leaves the room. Once they're out of the briefing room, Ava approaches King Duran.
"Your Majesty, may I have a word?" Ava asks.
Kind Duran looks at Ava already guess what she wants to talk about "Yes, Commander?".
"I understand that you're a king of your nation, but in this mission, I'm the commanding officer and that means you have to follow my orders to the letter. Are we clear?" Ava says looking straight at Duran's eyes.
"Yes, I understand, Commander" King Duran replies calmly.
"Good, try not to fall behind because we will leave you if you do. Our objective takes priority" Ava says.
"Roger that!" King Duran replies "That's how your soldiers reply to commands right?".
Ava nods "Yes one of the ways, now let go".
The 5th and the 9th SIF platoons are standing in straight lines and ready to go as Ava and the others arrive at the landing pads of the D-20Bs.
"We're ready to go, Commander" Ashley reports as Ava approaches.
"Get him a white suit" Ava orders as she looks at King Duran.
A white suit is the hostage rescue suit, the same ones were used during the rescue of the 2 women from Chairon mansion. It doesn't connect to TACNet and don't have the sensors of the TAC suit but it does allow TACNet to monitor the status of the wearer and it is sturdier.
"He's coming with us?" Ashley surprised.
"Yes" Ava nods and replies with a blank expression.
"Why?" Ashley continues asking.
"Because orders" Ava replies still showing no emotion "alright, everyone mounts up!".
As Ava walk away heading towards one of the D-20Bs waiting, Rob approaches Ashley "Boy, she's not happy isn't she?".
"Well, we're babysitting a medieval king with no training and familiarity of our doctrine so…yep" Ashley replies while looking at Ava "Well go get him a white suit and mount up".
"Yes, ma'am" Rob replies then runs into one of the hangars to get the suit.
-Province's capital city of Icia-
Since the arrival of Zoral's legions, the city's morale is higher than ever. The crown prince took over the city and ordered a huge amount of preparation to get the city ready for the battle against the barbarian from the other side of the gate. Zoral gave Cripus the responsibility to see his orders through.
With the arrival of the extra 3 legions, the total legionnaire in the city is now 50 000. Icia large population allows an additional 9000 militia. Every able male from the age of 13 up, except for the cripples and the ones that are too old to fight, were conscripted to the militia. Every able woman no matter age will take care of logistics such as bringing food, water, ammo and taking care of the wounded in battle.
Houses and buildings 50 meters diameter (164 feet) around the keep were destroyed to create a kill zone where archers and siege engines from the keep could fire down in case the enemy broke through the outer walls and the city streets. Materials from the destroyed buildings were used to create barricades in the city's streets to hold off enemy infantry. Crispus and Zoral, not understanding how hover vehicles work, ordered the men to use spare materials and create obstacles to stop the enemy's war wagons.
Zoral's plan is to use a small part of the garrison troops with repeating crossbows on the wall to inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy before they reach the wall. Once the enemy is at the walls, they are to fall back into the city where they will regroup with 2 of his legions and fight on the streets and in the houses. This will remove the enemy's coward range advantage. Finally, the most elite legion will stay in the keep to put up a glorious last stand should it comes to that. However, both Zoral and Cripus are very confident that the enemy won't reach the city's keep.
"The preparation is done, Your Highness. We have done everything we could to prepare Icia for the battle ahead, all we can do now is wait for them to come" Cripus reports.
Zoral is sitting at a large table in the dining room with the city's governor, he swallows a large piece of meat and replies "Good good, keeps sending out scout and increase the lookouts. I don't want those barbarians to surprise us".
"As you wish, Your Highness" Cripus bows then leaves.
The governor just sits there in silence as he is intimidated by the crown prince. He inherited Icia from his passed away father when he was in his 20th. Although he does not have the brave characteristic of a warrior, he did earn the people's heart for being a brilliant governor and created a stable province for all humans to live in. The lower tax in slaves trading makes his province the go-to place for slave traders, which in turn attracted all kinds of traders to Icia to either buy slaves for their business or take the opportunity of the busy market. Stricter rule and unfair treatment of the non-human races means more opportunities for the human of the Empires.
When the news that the other worlders army is making its way East from Alnus Hill, he has been following them every step and came to the conclusion that he has no chance of fighting against them. Therefore, he intended to surrender Icia to them and strike a deal that would benefit him and they would allow him to stay in power. However, his plan is out of the question when Zoral and his legions arrived.
"Governor, you have been very quiet" Zoral says.
"I'm just enjoying the good meal with you, Your Highness" the governor replies.
"Very well, are you filled, governor?" Zoral asks.
"Yes my prince, I'm full" the governor answers with a slight bow.
"Good, let us take a walk and check on the city defenses" Zoral stands up and says.
The governor follows Zoral out of the keep's wall. The area that was once occupied by taverns, markets, inns and busy shops is now an empty piece of land littered with obstacles and rubble. The street to the inner wall layer of the city is empty and patrolled by groups of legionnaires. The inner wall is thinner than the outer wall but it was designed to stop infantrymen and protect the upper level of the city rather than siege engines. Standing on top of the inner wall, one can see the entire lower level of the city where the commoner market and slave market locate. Covering it all is the outer wall layer curving from one end of the city to the other end while the mountain protects the rest.
"What do you think of our preparation?" Zoral says as he and the governor look down the outer wall.
"Very impressive, Your Highness. The number to siege equipment on the wall is almost triple since your legions arrived, I'm sure the other worlders will meet hell once they're here" the governor replies.
"I'm going to send them all to Hades and prove to my father and the people of the Empire that I'm the savior of the Empire. I'm going to make my father admits that he has grown weak and force him to give up the throne" Zoral says.
Hearing that, the governor can't help but think of Zoral as an ambitious man. However, the crown prince is ignorant and delusional. He can almost be certain that Zoral has been ignoring the reports from the frontline and he is blinded by his own ambition.
"Your Highness, it is not that I doubt your brilliant plan but I've heard that the enemy defeated 50 elite legions in the battle of Alnus Hill. Our force here is much smaller, do you think we stand a chance?" the governor asks, hoping that the prince will reconsider his order to stand against the other worlder.
Zoral turns and walks to the governor looking straight into his eyes, which makes the man terrified. He then turns to the city and says "They didn't have the high walls to protect them, the enemy used coward tactics and dark magic to murder them in mass. However, the enemy is weak in that they afraid to kill peasants and the unarmed, which prevents them from using their destructive magic on us".
He waves the governor to come and stand next to him and point to where the children, the disabled and the elders are taking shelter "Look at them, we'll use them as human shield to prevent the enemy from effectively killing our soldiers so we can get in close and slaughter them"
Zoral then turns to the governor and come close to his face "Most importantly, they didn't have me at Alnus Hill".
As the two standing on top of the inner wall looking down to the lower level of the city, suddenly most of the larger siege engines such as catapults and giant ballistas on the outer wall exploded in a blue fire which completely evaporate them and the crews.
"W…what just happened?" the governor is terrified by the sudden explosions, deep down he could guess what that means.
"They're here!" Zoral shouts "sound the horns! And man the walls!".
The sound of 5 large battle horns from Icia keep echoing through the city signaling the beginning of a great battle against the evil forces from the other side of the gate. Legionnaires rush to their positions, some man the remaining siege equipment, others take up on the walls with repeating crossbow ready. Once everyone is ready, Zoral tries to look for signs of the enemy but they are nowhere to be seen.
"God damn it those cowards! Show yourself!" Zoral frustrated.
-Command Center, Fort Alnus-
At the same time, recon drones relay the live feed to Fort Alnus command which is displayed in a hologram. The SF-40s with ground attack loadout have successfully taken out most of the large siege engines on the outer wall of the city using AI control self-guided anti-ground missiles.
"This is remarkable" General Nguyen says
"Sir?" one of the command center crew asks.
"We have been fighting them for weeks and their incredible discipline still amazes me. Most of their main defenses just got blew up out of nowhere and they're still keeping order and not panicking" General Nguyen replies.
Looking at the holographic display, he can see that the Imperial soldiers is getting to their positions in a very organized fashion. Although, when he zooms in he could clearly see the confusion on their face.
"Alnus command to Dagger strike wing, make another pass, take out the hostiles on the outer wall then RTB. Over" General Nguyen says.
After getting confirmation from Dragger lead, General Nguyen watches as the 2 SF-40s making another pass to unleash their arsenal on the enemy below while 2 other SF-40s with air superiority loadout fly higher to watch out for hostile air force.
-Province's capital city of Icia-
As Zoral is pacing bitterly trying to figure out what is happening and where the enemy is, the governor is shaking in fear.
"Cowards, come here and fight with your honor!" Zoral shouts furiously.
Just as he finished his sentence, the entire top of the outer wall explodes and is engulfed in flame. Some towers even collapse from the sheer force of the explosions. Once the smoke is clear, most of the 3000 men on the outer wall were gone.
"Your Highness, we must get them off the wall!" Cripus shouts from the base of the inner wall.
Zoral looks at him then look back at the outer wall "Fall back, fall back to the first line of barricades. Bring the old peasants to the front, Now!" Zoral shouts his orders.
A series of battle horns sound to signal the surviving troops to abandon the wall and fall back to the city streets.
He looks up to the horizon and is horrified by the sight that is right in front of him. Hundreds of D-20s carrying troops while IFV or APC attached underneath along with 4 SD-20s carrying the 23rd Armored Battalion. These are being escorted by 6 GS-12 gunships and they're on the fast approach to the city of Ica.
The governor falls on his knees as he is too terrified to stand "Th…they're here".