Chapter 49: "Priority: Surrounded"
Two shots to the head, move to the next target, two shots to the heart, move to the next corpse. Cracking the sound of bullets breaking sound barrier and approaching near light speed like a rhythm of death.
"No chaos, no destruction, no cheering, no shouting they could be shouting at the top of their lungs and no one would hear them from outside of those suits, yet it's just pure cold death" Diabo speaks to Pina about the SIFs.
"These are the most elite soldiers of the UNE. Out of the few hundreds of millions of soldiers, there are only a few dozen thousands of SIFs. I wanted to form a very elite group like this in the empire's military, but I did not know where to begin. Our generals have neither the experience nor the skill to train our soldiers like this." Pina replies.
"We could ask them to help us create and train our special forces" Diabo replies, he pauses for a second as a fire bolt hits near them then continues speaking "We ask them to teach us how to create the gunpowder and how to build matchlock musket. In exchange, we will support them annexing Rondel".
Pina looks back at Diabo, confused she asks "I thought you said we must not let them have the city?".
Diabo pulls Pina down to shield her from another explosion then continues "Look around you, magic is no match for them. Having Rondel would not make any difference should they want to destroy us. We might as well use it to gain us some leaps in technology. I've been reading their books that you brought back, the gunpowder was the beginning of it all for them and it shall be the same for us. What we would be asking is ancient technology for them, but it would be a great advantage for the empire. No other nations would dare to oppose us when we've mastered the technology".
"I understand, brother, how would you propose we begin that talk?" Pina asks.
"Well, first, we have to survive this mess" Diabo says.
"Heads up, a mass of hostiles the size of 2 companies are heading for us. They're trying to surround us, ETA 3min" Rob reports.
"Commander, we need to protect the empress" Jimmy says.
"No need to concern yourself about me, commander, I'm not a coward" Pina replies.
Rorry giggles "Silly girl".
"Peace is fragile as it is, Pina, if you die this planet will be plunged into another war and the UNE is running out of time to deal with that. You might not understand it but Falmart is vital to the survival of trillions of sentient beings." Ava says in a commanding tone "Knight Grey, have your men clear that build on the left 50 meters up ahead and keep the VIPs in there then provide covering fire for us from above, we'll set up a defensive position on the street. There are hostiles in the building, without TACNet we can't relay enemy's position to your men so be careful and remember your training. Now move." Ava orders, she also motion one of the SIFs to follow the legionnaires to assist them.
"Roger that commander" Grey replies then addresses his men "Legionnaires on me!".
The legionnaires stack up on both side the door with their repeating crossbows ready. One of the SIFs set up a breach charge, throw a plasma grenade through the window then stacks up at the back of the line. As soon as the grenade explodes, Grey gives the order to breach and the charge explodes, throwing the door straight into the house.
Already a disciplined force combined with UNE's training, the legionnaires perform a cross dynamic entry. They rapidly enter the room and engage hostile combatants with overwhelming force and assert dominance.
"Got damn it check your corner!" the SIF that was attached to the legionnaires squad shouts.
At that moment, a small young dwarf hiding behind a tree pot jumps out and stabs one of the legionnaires at the back, through the crack of his armor. The SIF immediately take out the dwarf with a headshot. Another legionnaire kneels next to the stabbed one and turn him to the side, leaving the sword inside of him while trying to stop the bleeding and calling for a medic.
Seeing the other legionnaires are pausing the SIF orders again "Move! You don't stop for anything or you die! Sir Grey get your men moving. Now!".
"You heard him, get your ass moving!" Grey shouts.
They resume clearing again with the SIF is now leading stack. However, the nature of room clearing prevent the SIF to always leading. In addition, the loss of the momentum when they paused and the enemies got time to prepare causing three legionnaires to be injured and one KIA.
Grey sends some of the legionnaires to the roof of the house to set up support firing position that cover most of the immediate area. The rest take up positions at the window, ready to provide the SIFs below with any assistance they can give. Pina and Diabo try their best to take care of the wounded legionnaires in the dining room. On the ground level, the SATs have transformed themselves into sentry mode. They project a mini ring of shield around them but unable to move. Down the street is designated sector Alpha and back the way where they came from is designated sector Beta for ease of combat communication.
"Commander, we're in position. Over" Grey speaks over the radio.
"Get off the roof and stay away from the windows!" Ava speaks quickly and strongly over the radio "Now!"
The mages work together to warp the large blocks of ruin and stones with plant roots then light them on fire and use wind magic to throw them as artillery. A hail of fireballs rains down on their location shortly after. The SAT8s are able to intercept many larger balls with their cannons but there are too many of the smaller ones. Most of the fireballs are the size of an average car tire, they're strong enough to knock the SIFs of balance when hit but do very insignificant damage. However, they are deadly to the legionnaires.
Despite being able to get off the roof, the thin medieval wall offers no protection against the fireballs. They are not accurate but the sheer number of them make up for it. Some of them smash right through the wall and set the buildings on fire. The bombardment lasts for over a minute, injures 3 more legionnaires and kills another one.
Smoke and dust reduce the visibility of the area down to only a few meters. However, it doesn't affect the SIFs in the slightest and they are still holding position as they were before the bombardment, weapons stay pointing at the enemies' approaching vectors.
"Here they come" Ava says as the leader of the hostile force gives the order to charge.
"Everyone who is still able to move get back to your position, now!" Grey shouts his order to the legionnaires, which is quickly complied.
The mages use a combination of plant, earth and magic barrier to protect their warriors in their charge while using wind magic to keep the dust in the air. It makes the SIFs vision less clear and harder to engage. However, there are so many of them packed into the street that the SIFs don't need to aim carefully to hit and the barrier serve little protection against the SAT8s 20mm cannon.
"Commander, sir Grey, the empress is injured. Part of the wall collapsed, and both the empress and prince Diabo are unconscious" One of the legionnaires reports weakly and between his coughs.
Grey is about to leave his position to rush towards Pina but Ava knows and orders him to stop "Grey, do not leave your position. Jimmy, go and take a look at them. David, move the LMG up top and provide cover fire for both sectors. Move!"
"Up top, check!" David replies then packs up his LMG and runs into the building.
Every muscle in him wants to make a run towards Pina but as a seasoned soldier, and he trusts Ava, he takes control of his feelings "Roger that, but commander, we can't see anything" Grey replies.
"We'll focus fire on the bigger targets, have your legionnaires take out the softer targets that get too close. You need more ammo replicate them at the SAT8s we have your bolt blueprint uploaded." Ava orders.
"You heard her, get ready! You, run down and replicate more bolts, I trust you remember how to do that from training?" Grey orders, the legionnaire nodes, salutes then quickly leave for the SAT8s.
There are all kind of creatures charging towards the SIFs' position, including stone trolls, plant trolls, minotaurs, orcs, humans, dwarves and elves. The last 3 mentioned are considered soft targets as the legionnaire's bolts could take them down easily, the SIFs purposely ignore those targets unless they need to and target the larger ones.
"Rory, go take out the mages" Ava orders as the wave of enemies almost overwhelms their position.
The enemies keep charging without slowing down despite countless of their friends have fallen to the rapid gunfire. SAT8s 20mm shells punch through minotaurs' bodies and rip large chunks of flesh off them. As for the smaller targets, getting hit by one of those shells means getting ripped to pieces from the impact force. Mortal shells of the SAT8s rain down on the trolls to keep them regenerating and stop them from advancing forward, sometime the shockwave and shrapnel hit nearby enemy seriously wound or kill them. The PAS-5 rifles that the SIFs carry are less effective but not useless, they do penetrate thinner layers of covers that the mages conjured and the pinpoint accuracy of the SIFs' aim makes them no less deadly.
For the first time in their lives, the legionnaires witness a UNE infantry unit firepower up close. They are terrified by their very ally's power. All of these legionnaires are the veterans of the Battle of Sadera but they were never in direct contact with UNE forces, that is why they are still alive. They could now imagine what it was like for their dead fellow legionnaires to face such a force, and this is without the supporting vehicles and arsenals.
"Snap out of it, men, they're on our side now. Keep fighting!" Grey orders, he knows what is on their mind. He himself had experienced the same feeling when he first fought alongside the SIFs.
The fighting gets more intense as the enemies get ever closer to the SIFs' position. A wave of fire swiping from the flanks of the charging enemies knocks down buildings and kills many of them. Then fireballs appear out of nowhere in the sky and rain down on them. From the ruin of collapsed building, warriors wearing the crest of the fire guild charge forwards and engage the SIFs' hostiles.
Ava knows that the fire guild is friendly to the UNE, she orders the SIFs to stop firing to avoid friendly fire "Cease fire, Jimmy the Fire Guild just came in, give me sitrep." Ava asks.
"The empress has multiple internal bleeding, the prince has it worse. One of the fireballs came right through the window and crushed his right leg completely, I had to amputate but he lost a lot of blood. I only have enough medical nanite for one of them so I gave it to the empress. The prince will have to do with good old medical foam and painkiller" Jimmy reports.
"Can her body handle the nanite?" Ave asks.
"Should be ok, commander, it's just physical wounds. Nothing to do with her genotypes or any complex system, she'll be ok" Jimmy replies.
"Good job, how soon can they move?" Ava asks.
"I can give them a boost and wake them up now, but without the genetic enhancement that we do they'll soon collapse from exhaustion. Same thing for the wounded legionnaires." Jimmy answers.
"Wake them up, they can rest when we reach the inn but we gotta move now" Ava orders.
"Copy that. One more thing, commander, prince Diabo has minor internal bleeding, he's in no immediate danger but we have to get him to a proper medical facility within 30 hours or we're going to lose him." Jimmy replies.
"Roger that" Ava acknowledges.
Amid chaos, a figure in a red robe approaches the SIFs' position seemingly not hostile. The SIFs aim their rifle at the figure, finger on the trigger waiting for Ava's order to fire.
"I am arc mage Carlosie of the fire guild, I wish to speak with the leader of your band of warriors" Carlosie speaks to the SIFs.
"I'm commander Ava Bennett, we need to clear a path to Rondel Inn for our people to set on an important mission the save this city. After that, we're heading to the Council Chamber to find the councilors, can you help us?" Ava asks.
"If it's for Rondel then we will gladly assist. Our followers reported that they saw the apostles took councilor Kristar, is she not with you?" Carlosie asks, confused as he knows Rory if with the other wolders.
"She is coming with another unit to disable the barrier so we could bring in reinforcement, we have no intel of other councilors' status" Ava answers.
"Nobody told you? Councilor Oasar was murdered and they used his death to frame you. That's why the entire city is turning against you. The other two are nowhere to be seen" Carlosie says.
"And you don't think we murdered him?" Ava asks.
"Do not insult us. We are no fools, we know you want to annex this city and the last thing you want in for Rondel to be in ruin. Murdering any of the councilors would only throw the city into chaos and it did, no fool want to annex a ruined city" Carlosie raise his voice.
"My apologize" Ava slightly bow her head "we have wounded soldiers that needed to be moved, can your men keep a clear path for us?".
Carlosie looks up to the balconies and see the legionnaires looking back at him. He immediately slams his staff to the ground, his eyes glow bright red and a ring of fire surround him as well as multiple fireballs appear around him.
"Woa, woa, woa they are with us" Ava immediately steps in trying to stop Carlosie "The imperials are working with us to save the city, we put our quarrels aside until Rondel is safe" Ava says.
Seeing the other worlder steps over the fire ring and swiped away some of the fireballs unharmed, Carlosie is very surprised but he hides it very well. The fire ring and the fireballs conjured by him are both very powerful magic which would burn any normal man to ashes in seconds, but it seems like a child's play for this woman to just step on them like that.
Hesitantly, Carlosie lower his guard and the fire magic disappear "If you say so, lady Bennett" he says then bow lightly "My men should be able to take care of these foes, the path ahead to Rondel Inn should be easier as this is their biggest concentration of force in this area. The rest had moved to other districts after the imperials fled the area. I wish you success in your quest, my lady" he says then nodes and turn back into the fight.
Seeing the trolls collapse into pieces, Ava knows that Rory has completed her task "Rory, regroup we're moving out".
"Understood, commander, heading back to regroup. Over" Rory replies then turn to the fire mages that were just helping her taking down the hostile mages "Thank you boys" she says flirtingly then giggle and leaps towards the SIFs.
Ava doesn't like the fact that her original plan went completely south due to the involvement of the royalties as well as the new intel about Lynk and GIA's mission. However, she is also used to the fact that plans almost always go out of the window as soon as they hit the field.
The SIFs make their way to the Rondel Inn with ease just as Carlosie said, they encounter a few stragglers whom offer very little resistance. The inn is heavily damaged from the prior battle but still sturdy and defensible. Entering the inn, a cloud of sorrow surrounds the legionnaires as they walk pass the corpses of their fellow soldiers who gave their lives defending their empress. In a way, the sight makes them more determination to protect their empress so that their friends did not die in vain. The sun is setting over the horizon as the constant explosion and scream of creatures slowly die down.
After making sure the inn is cleared of hostiles, Ava speaks to the men over the radio primarily addressing the legionnaires "Men, trust me when I say I understand how you feel seeing the unburied bodies of your fellow soldiers. However, it is not time for mourning as we have an important mission to complete. And we must complete it so that their death will be meaningful. We will spend the night here so our wounded can rest up. Legionnaires, I need you to gather the rubbles and anything you can find into a pile in the dinning hall so the SAT8s can replicate more ammo. SIFs fortify the inn but don't make it too obvious, we don't want the enemies to know that we're here".
Jimmy has already scouted out a room that can be used as a place for the wounded to rest, Pina and Diabo will have to stay in the same room with the legionnaires as it is easier for Jimmy to do his job. There will be no special treatment.
"Now, everybody settles in as comfortable as possible. The boosting effect will wear off any moment now and you will crash instantly, so lay down I'll perform medical check on each of you to make sure everything is fine" Jimmy announces after he set Diabo down on of the beds.
"Thank you, lieutenant Jimmy" Diabo says.
"Just doing my job sir, now lay down" Jimmy replies, he opens hit field med kit and 2 small drones fly over the wounded legionnaires to scan them then display the stats on a holoscreen.
After helping the SIFs setting up defenses and making sure that any attackers try to assault the inn are going to regret their decision, Ava orders all the legionnaires to get to sleep while the SIFs will take turn guarding. SIFs are genetically enhanced and trained to operate at peek psychology without sleep for extend period of time, months if they have to while the legionnaires require sleep.
"Sierra 5-2 this is Sierra 5 lead, please come in. Over" Ava calls the 2nd squad.
"Hearing you loud and clear, commander. Over" Ashley replies.
"My plan to go for the councilors is out of the question. How soon can you take down that barrier?" Ava asks.
Through TACNet Ava knows that 2nd squad advance towards the library met less resistance as the area is in total control of hostile forces. They focus on guarding the "border" with other districts rather than patrolling their controlled sector. For this reason, the 2nd squad was able to stealthy sneak to a nearby building that is in line-of-sight with the Rondel Library. There's another barrier surrounding the library as well as numerous guarding hostiles. The barrier is powerful as it is being conjured by a few archmages working together, however it is weaker than the barrier surrounding the city and can be broken. Kaian had asked Kristar to help him charge a spell that could disable the barrier, but it require a lot of time to charge to take down the barrier in a single hit.
The plan is for the SIFs to come in shock-n-awe style when the barrier is disable, taking advantage of the surprise element and quickly bring Kristar into the library. They will then defend the library and wait for reinforcement.
"It should be down by morning, commander. Kaian says there will be a flash of bright light, you will know" Ashley replies.
"Copy that, we'll make our way towards you in the morning if there's no change in the situation" Ava says.
"Roger that, we won't wait for you" Ashley replies.
"Counting on that. Over" Ava chuckles "David, get to the roof and send a report. Let them know our situation".
"Roger that, commander" David replies.
"Sooo, fire guild huh?" Jimmy says.
"What about them" asks Ava.
"Nothing, usually they're the bad guy in movies and anime" Jimmy replies.
"This isn't anime, dumbass" David says jokingly and the other SIFs laugh.
"But is it though? We literally fought mages, elves, minotaurs and trolls just a few hours ago. Hell, we even took down a big ass dragon!" Jimmy replies, getting for excited with each word.
"How did you get through med school again? Oh, that's right, nerd" Rob asks, everyone else laugh again.
A flash of artificial light emitted from the roof of the Rondel Inn is caught by the cloaked D-20B and decrypted. A series of flashes so fast that to the normal eye and any camera with a capture speed slower than ten thousand frames per second would only see 1 flash. The flashes are in the form of the ancient morse code, very effective for line-of-sight communication but high risk of being intercepted. This method of communication is only used when there is absolutely no other option.
"General, we got reports from the 5th SIFs and the embassy. The SIFs have secured empress Pina and prince Diabo. By morning lieutenant commander Ashley's squad will assault the library in an attempt to take down the barrier. The embassy holds strong for now and ambassador Noah Miller is healed. End of report" A soldier reports to general Nguyen.
"Good, inform White Rose to be ready. I have every confidence that the barrier will be down by tomorrow, the SIFs will do their job. That'll be all" general Nguyen replies.