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Coast of the "Great Sea"
3 days after the Cataclysm
(17:42 / 5:42 PM)
Pirwoon, Warlord of the 7th Air Regiment
Hot…
How fucking hot it gets here…?
Even being hundreds of meters in the air, this did not prevent me from suffocating in this horrendous heat wave... We had appeared in the middle of summer or what? The heavy armor covered in bronze to appear to be made of gold was now like being inside a furnace, so I was forced to remove some pieces that were not very important, but who could get equipped quickly .
The armor was heavy like that of the cavalry due to the relatively low speed that the dragons had in the air, something that caused us riders to be easy targets. In addition, since we were always on our dragons, the weight of the armor was not that important.
The few infantry at my disposal were fortunately not being hit as hard as I was, as I not only had to deal with my own heat, but I also had to deal with that of the dragon.
Several meters below our aerial formation, three ships floated, loaded to the brim with supplies and cannons we had looted from the fleet. Everything we had not been able to take with us had been burned by our dragons
I need to find food soon, because my dragon was running out of fuel to spit... Should I let it eat the enemies if they resist? It wouldn't be something new to me and in fact that was the norm... but still...Now we weren't in a game
Marching on the coast meanwhile was the bulk of the troops and prisoners, plus of course all the cart full of supplies that had not been loaded onto the ships.
The coastal city was not far away, in fact the infantry should already be able to see the walls.
Sighing, from the dragon's back I took out a long pike which had a long imperial banner placed at the end. With some difficulty, I placed the banner in a special space next to my right leg while resting the rest of the long pike on my right shoulder.
My banner was ready, I looked at the horsemen flying in a formation behind me. The other dragon flew closer to the ships to offer cover, meanwhile the wyverns and their riders flew after me in a V formation with me at the head. In case of enemy dragons or wyverns, or any air defense really, they had to defend my beast while it destroyed any fixed defense on the ground.
For the umpteenth time, I checked the seat belts that kept me strapped to the saddle in case I fell unconscious, then I checked the supply of flares I had, I hated having to "manually" aim my beast's breath.
The ships had their orders to run aground near the city to lower their cannons and supplies, since it was clear that a coastal city of this size would have some kind of fleet, even if it was originally a fishing fleet. Therefore the ships should be ready for combat, and these being full of cargo was the opposite of "ready for combat."
I did not want to destroy the ships completely, they could be useful to us, so the other dragon was prohibited from using his breath unless necessary, since the dragon's breath could burn even while floating on the water, I was also under the same restriction because I did not want to turn the city into ashes, something especially easy considering that according to reports, most of the structures were made of wood and straw, the only targets I could set on fire were any infantry that left the city to finish off my numerically inferior soldiers. The rest I could only act in melee
Going into melee with a species that can fly usually always ends with losses that you normally shouldn't have suffered, I myself prefer to stay in the air, but the danger of causing an inextinguishable fire was too high.
Beginning my descent over the city, I used my carbine's scope to search for fixed targets. Fixed defenses like artillery, I've seen the damage that a ballista could cause, they were no small feat. They probably won't kill my dragon with a single hit, but it certainly won't be able to fly if it gets a lucky shot on the wings.
I really prefer there to be dialogue, but considering we can't understand each other... Hope for the best and prepare for the worst I guess...
The ringing of bells was heard, we had finally been seen
"May the abyss reveal its strength to me,
May the shadows cover me and strengthen me,
May the voices of the void guide me to victory,
May chaos be my ally.
"This is my will."
I began to pray while gripping the pike tightly as we descended. From the skies I saw dozens, or hundreds of people fleeing in terror, I also found my objectives
On the walls there were small ballistae of a design similar to the classic scorpion, maybe no strong enough to be of any real danger to my dragon, but it would certainly put down the wyverns, also on the tallest building there was a strange banner, a banner that we could not allow to remain standing in case of attack.
But it was not yet the time for it, this was nothing more than a reconnaissance pass, in addition to intimidation. My beast roared as it adjusted its wings to barely pass over the city.
Making another pass over the city, I made sure that everyone had seen us, not only our mounts, but our banner. Flying back, I landed not far from their main gate, far enough that the fire from their muskets, if any, wouldn't have much effect, but far enough to be a walkable distance.
Behind me, the rest of my air force landed in an elegant show of strength. "Show strength when you are weak, and look weak when you are strong", right? And behind them, at a long distance, the prisoners were visible, with cannons armed with grapeshot and chainshot. Without banners, these munitions should be capable of killing dozens of them if they tried to rebel.
The minutes of waiting were agonizing, but fortunately no muskets or ballistae were fired from the defenses, and after a few more minutes, the city gates opened, revealing what appeared to be a cavalry unit. I heard the sound of carbines being prepared to fire, so I raised an arm to prevent that.
The unit trotted along at a proud pace, flags and banners protecting their bearers and those around them. I did not stop praying at any time in case this was an ambush.
The horses, clearly frightened, wanted to flee at the sight of our beasts, but their riders prevented them as best they could, resulting in a rather comical image. Once they were close enough, the group of cavalry led by an elderly man greeted me by raising one arm with his palm exposed before me... It was strange to see their faces, really. The riders began to speak this strange language that no one understood, so I waited for it to finish before speaking.
- Greetings, I am Pirwoon, Imperial Warlord - I introduced myself before indicating to one of the wyvern riders to bring one of the prisoners. Because I already knew that communication were going to be impossible, I had ordered one of the prisoners to be brought alongside some paper and ink, and some bags of wheat.
As expected, the strangers murmured something when they realized that verbal communication was useless, but they did not dare to raise their voices, probably due to the presence of the beast on which I was mounted.
The rider quickly approached with the prisoner held by one arm while with the other he carried a sack of wheat.
The strangers murmured aggressively as they saw the man being forced to his knees, and the wheat bag left not far from him. I crossed my fingers before speaking with hand gestures.
- Is this man from your guild? - I asked while pointing to the prisoner before pointing to his banners. The message seemed to be sent, as one of those present pointed to another banner, this one was a purple one with a golden coat of arms in the center, was purple dye cheap here? If I remember correctly, purple dye represents royalty because it is expensive and difficult to make - What about you? Am I imperial - I said pointing to myself and then to my banner.
The strangers seemed to debate my words, but then responded by pointing to another banner, this one was simpler, a white one with black letters that I didn't understand. After pointing to that banner, they then pointed to the same purple and gold banner
After that, the strangers pointed to the prisoner and then to the city
I shook my head before taking out a piece of paper along with the tools needed to write.
"EXCHANGE" was written at the top, the rest of the paper was divided into four with a line in the middle. On one upper side I drew a stickman, on the other I drew two bags with an improvised grain in the center of them. In the lower area I drew a stickman with a plume on top of his head similar to the one used by the prisoner centurions, and in the last section, I drew a ship
Using arrows, I indicated what I asked for... They had bows, they would understand what the arrows mean, right? Maybe their symbols are completely different from ours.
Knowing how important the image of power was, I handed the paper to the rider that had brought the prisoner, along with the thin brush I used and the thick ink. He took it and handed it to one of the horse guards, the young man saw the contents before passing it to the old man.
The group present seemed to admire the paper for a few moments before really focusing on the contents. Those present seemed to debate it for a few minutes while we looked at them, it took so long in fact that even my mount fell down.
As soon as this is over... I'm diving head first into the water, armor and all.
After a few minutes, the old man addressed me in his language as well as hand gestures. He pointed to the bag of grain, and I pointed out the example bag that we had looted from the camp. The man stopped to think for a few moments before crossing out one of the bags. He also drew two more stickmen next to the "centurion" with centuries on their heads.
They were bargaining?
When the paper was handed to me, I put on an act that I was thinking about . After a few moments of solitary deliberation, I drew half a bag next to the other, and crossed out one of the centurion stickers. After that I gave the paper to the rider.
The man seemed to think about it with his subjects, and then began to draw two normal stickmen next to the two centurions before returning the paper. Hmmm…. Maybe aggressive policies are more favorable? With a snap of my fingers I caught the attention of my mount which looked at me out of the corner of its eye, when I knew I had its attention I made a special whistle to send a message, the beast's pupils expanded momentarily before staring at the prisoner. In one swift movement the dragon devoured the man, leaving only his legs exposed, which began to kick in terror.
The order was not to kill, simply to "capture." But the strangers didn't really know, so to them it must have seemed as if I had ordered my dragon to eat one of their own, although since its feet were still exposed, there was still room for negotiations, or at least I hoped that message would be sent.
The men looked at me in horror as their horses whined in terror while I pointed at the rest of the prisoners.
Then I took the paper and erased the two extra stickman
- Think carefully - I told him, knowing that he did not understand my language, but I knew that the message was universal.
The strangers debated quickly, since surely the prisoner's screams were a great motivator, fortunately the man leaned down from the saddle. Did that mean they accepted? With one more whistle, my mount spat out the prisoner, huffing in disappointment at not being able to eat the man.
The group of strangers turned around, paper in hand, meanwhile I ordered that our group to return with the rest
Back with the force of my troops, the first thing I did was remove the breastplate from my chest, the helmet from my head, and gauntlets from my hands, things that quickly relieved me of much of my heat, revealing the red padded jacket. I would take it off too if it weren't for the fact that I wasn't wearing anything underneath.
Well, considering that there were many "women" who had taken off the tops of their clothes and armor because of the heat, I wouldn't stand out much. But it was because these women were actually men playing with female characters, something somewhat common, so they have no shame, it didn't help that the Celts were here lowering the expectations of prudence.
Although now we were all isekai'd... those poor bastards are going to regret having chosen those characters... fools, although there are some species that are necessarily of one sex, I must pass on my regret to those people
Ughhh… This heat… The worst thing is that it is not only hot in temperature, but also humid and sticky from the lake and sweat… I want to get out of here and be able to bathe, I want to lie down in a cold bed… why did I agree to come?
My silent crying ended when I was informed of multiple boats approaching, as I looked, these were small fishing boats, but boats without a doubt. There were some larger than others, but it was obvious that these were not battleships, in fact only a small number of these were being propelled by sails, but rather by oars.
But they will do, it looked like they could carry weight
From the city, multiple cars and soldiers marched carrying sacks of what they hoped was food.
With a handful of orders, I began to prepare the troops to make the exchange. Counting troops by grain, unloading ships to exchange officers. In total, I got about 3 boats in exchange for the officers, two of them were large rowing boats, while the third was much larger, more Roman-style with eyes in front, for the soldiers I got about 500 sacks.
Unfortunately, they refused to pay for the civilians, but there were so few of them that I really didn't mind keeping them for future negotiations.
Meanwhile, let them row the boats, let them earn their grain
Hours later, everything had been exchanged, and no army had arrived to finish us off, so we were able to leave the city without further combat.
The grain had been loaded onto the new ships under our control, while what could not fit was loaded either onto the carts or onto the dragoons. That meant that neither of them could fly, but at the moment that was not necessary.
…
I'm going to have to release the dragons so that a cake…Until now I didn't want to let them go for fear of night combat without their help, but if I don't… the truth is I'm afraid that our dragons will confront us…
Dragons, unlike wyverns, are much more independent, or at least that's how it was in SaS. So it was not unusual to release them completely at night or when one disconnected so that they could eat what they wanted and come back in the morning or with the sound of a whistle satisfied.
I even did it many times with this dragon! The thing was that if they killed and ate something they shouldn't have, we simply paid for it, even if they killed people, but now...?
But of what contrary…If you are too hungry… May they have mercy on our souls
Grasslands of the rabbit warriors
3 days after the Cataclysm
(19:12 / 7:12 PM)
Gaius Em Rossi, Legio Legatus, 4th Imperial corp
- The barbarian tribes are beginning to gather not far from here - One of the Legions indicated on a map on the table
- If we advance with the 7th cavalry at dawn, we should be able to break their ranks before the 4th advances for the final thrust - I indicated to my superior, this was none other than his highness, the first imperial prince Zorzal
The man was currently sitting on a mobile throne worthy of someone from the imperial family.
Nodding at the proposed plan, I thought the topic of discussion was going to end, but those present were surprised by the call of a messenger from outside the store. Looking to His Highness for his prior permission, I allowed the boy to enter, who greeted us as per protocol.
- Urgent message from Garamar - The messenger gasped as he handed the letter to one of the guards present
- Is the city under siege? - One of the legate present asked the boy
- YES! I mean no! - The messenger shouted before correcting himself
- Take a breath, soldier, what's happening - I asked.
- Fire dragons, Domine - A chill ran up the backs of everyone present... A fire dragon?! - Two of them to be exact - TWO?! Oh Emroy protect our souls… When the note finally reached me, I began to read it
The note explained something that should be impossible... It told how the 3rd cohort of the 4th corp had been facing strange subhumans, probably from the far east. They fought against the cohort with strange magic, and could not annihilate them because in the middle of the combat multiple dragons appeared...
…Non-imperial dragon riders… And these were apparently led by two fire dragons which were being ridden by strange knights in golden armor and red cloth.
After retreating thinking that the subhumans and horsemen would finish off each other, they were ambushed at night in their fort by those dragons and magic that turned them invisible, ending in numerous casualties and the survivors captured.
The image of a fire dragon being... invisible... I can't even punish my men for surrendering!
Fortunately the surviving cohort was freed by King Hatti who somehow managed to buy them back with wheat and three ships.
There was also another report from King Hatti reporting that not long ago, an island appeared in the center of the Great Sea. Apparently he had sent a report to the capital in addition to Rondel seeking explanations.
The letter was signed with the seal of the Hatti family, and the seal of the Primus Pilus of the cohort
- Your majesty, this... could be a serious wall in this campaign - I muttered as I handed the note to your highness, who was still undestandably disturbed by the news of two fire dragons flying through the imperial skies.
Minutes later his highness finally looked at the map
- The tribes in these areas are weakened, if we withdraw now the only thing we will achieve will be "nothing and less." The 4th Corp will capture their villages with support from the 7th Cavalry as planned. Let the dragon rider corps withdraw from the front and go to Garamar with the 5th corp as support in case those savages return. Let the fleet investigate the supposed island -
- Your highness, if the fleet abandon their current mission, the front lines may collapse due to lack of replacements - I indicated, whether I wanted to accept it or not, these barbarians, apart from being excellent bedwarmers, were surprisingly effective fighters. But they weren't soldiers, superior Imperial logistics would make them eventually bow their heads or be forced to lose them.
- Silence! Just push these barbaric villages and hold the line for a while - Zorzal ordered, to which I simply bowed my head in submission.
- This will be done, your highness - I said before preparing the troops. I had to send messengers to the different units, and that took time, time that apparently we didn't have.