The red army from that western direction switched their run to a jog, then a walk, then a complete stop. A foreboding army, a sea of red, and a dove at it's front.
Ladden in red armor. And as Hierd put it; "Samurai looking guys." Large orient flags were flown; waving left to right and to the ones up front; horses and spears pointed at Hierd's army.
And at the very front of this more than organized army; a man clad with white armor, wholly distinct amongs't the monotous red. "That is the commander of this army I say." Heduc commented. "But they wouldn't last in the face of our guns."
Hierd looked on, and saw that the commander in white was trotting forth with his horse forward.
"He wishes to talk." Hierd pulled back and smiled.
A distant yet clear and loud voice came from the man in white armor. "A talk between leaders! I wish to talk to your leader!"
Heduc looked to Hierd. "Shall I give you some escorts?"
"That's not needed. The man comes by himself, let me show him some respect." He frowned a little bit.
"Alright lord."
Hierd jumped over the rather shallow trench and on to the hard ground on the other side of it. Fixing himself up a little, rubbing dirt off his black uniform, and fixing the position of his cap. The walk was quite long and rather intimidating eyeing up that large army, that courageously dastard man in white at front. If he were to pull his facade out the window, he'd be screaming and heart beating. But Hierd didn't let down.
Stopping just a few meters away from the horse.
"You wish to speak." He stated, easing himself.
"Yes, commander." He hopped down from his saddle, putting the leashes on the horse's back as his feet touched the ground. He walked to him. "The second duke of Krimvald wishes for I and my country to risk battle with an alien foe. I say;" -he looked at the armament behind Hierd's- "certainly is it alien looking for us men."
"I will give you time to forfeit, surrender, turn back to your land while we deal with Krimvald's ire. As commander to commander, this is my suggestion. I am sure the duke knows of the weapons I and my army wields, and that mere bows and sharp spears will do nothing in the face of it." His face turned stern. "Turn. Back."
The commander in white sighed in exhaustion. "I cannot exactly take that, the duke paid hefty for this coming of ours, and wishes his pay be got in for what he wishes do."
"What do you wish to do, commander? Stay there to await your deaths with my bullets, or simply retreat without harm of your men. Two options. Two. I give you this as my final resolute opinions."
"There is." His eyes turned slit. "A third option." He grinned. "I have no qualms with the duke and his kingdom. May Krimvald live the way it wants to live but the emperor wishes something else. To form an alliance with you."
"What the fuck!?" Hierd was amused, both in his mind and in his outer appearance. "This is some filipino history type of traitorous shit!"
"You suprised me there, commander." Hierd laughed quietly. "You wish to betray Krimvald? I want first for us to settle a deal. You, who are you?"
"Ah, yes. I am General Fuso II, of the Betelion empire."
"Well then, General Fuso II; I, Hierd Die Grace, chancellor of the German kingdom. Wishes that we two work together to bring down a kingdom." The two clasped their hands together and shaked. "Ease down, General Fuso; tell your men of this deal of ours. And we shall talk later."
"Yes, liege."
---
"What are they doing?" A noble looked on from the highest tower of the castle. "They have yet to battle with each other! This is stupendous!" He turned to the king. "My liege! Let us unleash our knights out in the roads once more, now that we have the dragoons, those iron behomoths will be of no danger to us."
Breevil looked defeated. But managed a retort in light of the king's silence. "Lord, the knights have ben defeated by many and the dragoons still recuperating. The rest of the knights have been rounding up, and we will be ready to advance at night."
The noble walked up to Breevil, his face hiding that subtle frustation. "Night?" -his face lit up- "Night!? You can see them drinking tea and conversing upon something trivial! What the duke has brought are traitors!" He looked at the king once more. "Overrule him, overrule your captain, that Breevil is but a sham of a captain! We must retreat into another city, a mere day's travel and shall you reach my territory, and that shall be our last battle! Not this!"
"Shut your mouth!" The king yelled with furious eyes. "You do not own the round table! I do! You must not talk without my command! You must not talk! You. Must! Not! Talk!" The king ran to the noble.
"My liege!?" He trembled to his feet and lied on the floor as the king faced him.
*SHWANG!
"AGHH!" The noble cried out in pain as the king unsheathed his sword and into the man's stomach. He scrambled every which way, but to no avail, as the king took another slash this time, to his gullet.
Bloodied yet more relaxed. The king threw his sword down on the carpet floor and sat on his seat once more. The room was silent, distraught, the other nobles who sat there were distressed yet at the same time captivated by the king's killing.
"Clean it." He said to the knights that were guarding the door.
"My liege?" The knights shivered a question.
"Clean it!" He cried out in anger!
"Y-yes your grace!" They hurriedly went to the body of the deceased noble, respectfully closing the man's eyes and then after, pulling the body out of the court.
The door shut.
"We wait till night, when the dragoons have rucuperated their injuries. So too the knights. Start rebuilding the wall." He stood up. "Either we have been betrayed. Or the duke is dead."
( * )
"Two armies to one weaker one." Fuso commented as he drank his given tea. "This is nice tea, liege, does your country make it?"
"Yes, it's called Jasmine tea, however, it is done overseas. But I'm willing for a trade."
They chuckled together.
"Overseas." He repeated. "Germany's lands are of another then? Another continent?" -His eyes widened after saying that- "and Unchean, the Krimvaldian city, has been taken over by your grace?"
"You are correct."
"I apologize for my frequent questioning, but;" -he put down his cup- "I would like to know where Germany lies in the continent. I understand that the world is vast. The seas unmapped, the mountains afore still locked to us. The Latessian and Siean continents, the two ones the people know most about, and of all our lives, only. Two."
Hierd chuckled a little, when internally he was breaking down thinking of a response. "I am afraid that if I were to say where Germany was, where a new 'continent' a new land was, my country's people would be very mad. Too my royal advisers. I have yet to show the full potential of my country's power, neither have I seen the true potential of the continents. I shall not release this information till kingdom come."
"I see, liege. I do understand that myself, as a General of the betelion empire."
Hierd nodded. "Let us agree to something, after the course of a week, I wish for a diplomatic mission." -Fuso's mouth began to open- "This is of course about the relationship of us two countries."
"I see, liege. I shall tell this to my esteemed."
"Thank you." He smiled.
It was an hour or so after that small meeting of theirs that the Betelion commander had ordered for a thousand of his men to retreat back to land whilst the remaining one thousand stay. With Hierd's hospitality, they were given tents and food, and they rejoiced.
"Thank you, liege." Fuso said to Hierd, thanking for the hospitality given.
---
It was roughly six in the afternoon, Hierd stayed in his tent whilst his soldiers rummaged throughout outside, scouting for enemy movement at the castle, which seemed ever so abandoned and ghostly from afar.
It was lively in the small residential district of tents made. The people were fond of the conduct of the soldiers, treating them fair and nice, and the commodities they needed were given to them straight without payment. Was it all too good to be true? Well, they didn't have a second choice in the matter, so whatever gives?
In his tent, Hierd twiddled his thumbs while looking at the map displayed on the table.
"My men are all around the castle, plus the warships. It'll probably be good even if hopped outta here. Besides, shit's over already." He stood up from his seat. Seeing Heduc come in, he called for him. "Heduc!"
"Yes, my lord?"
"The citizens at the wall, have they retreated out from it?" He looked at Heduc.
"My lord, I think we should be getting the last batch of citizens. But other than that, There should not be any other left."
"Good." He sighed exhaustedly." Because I'm going home."
"What!?" Heduc was flabbergasted.
Hierd laughed a little. "I talked about this with Adelheid, but not nessasarily with you and Friedrick. But I wish to retreat the citizens towards Unchean to engage the Home Plan."
"Are you sure lord? The plan was supposed to be done after the battle-"
"Can't you see it's already ended? This is a one-sided battle. With or without me; you will accomplish the task. I do not know of this Betelion guy, but if they even try to betray us. Make sure to implant into their heads that we are the superior power. Capice?"
"Capice, lord?"
"Nothing." He walked off. "Just make sure they know we mean business."
Heduc smiled. "Yes, lord."
---
It was dusk when several hundreds of citizens left by truck and towards they went to Unchean. The rest of the army stayed, with the tents and all; cleaning up after the civilians and still looking out for the castle, seeing if they will make another move.
"They haven't." Friedrick entertained Fuso's question. "As far as we know. No movement. They have probably known your betrayal and should be planning on a retreat of sorts. But we have soldiers posted up at every side in the castle's perimeter. If they were planning a retreat, my soldier should have seen so by now."
Fuso sat down on the wooden seat offered to him by a second lieutenant. "My men wish for battle, they'll be fat cows by morning's dawn. I want to siege their castle."
Friedrick threw the papers he was reading on the desk and stayed silent for awhile to think of a response. "I will see if it is possible. General. But pardon me if I do not accept it."
"Can't you see, dear comrade, Friedrick; they are of the lowest of lows now, your warships shall do damage plenty!" He sighed almost in frustration. "I do not understand why you play diddle in this tent."
"Logistics."
"Logistics...?"
"The army has been here for almost a day, we expected two days so we packed as much as we could. But after awhile, our food has of course and most defintely plummeted, and we fear that our armaments for some of the warships for shooting the flying dragoons will have run dry after a second or third fusilade of fire. General, though we are powerful through our strength alone, use wit." He frowned.
Fuso stood up.
"By tommorow, before dawn, supply vehicles shall arrive from Unchean to resupply the warships and our food. Wait till' then, General."
"'Till' then.'" He cracked a half smile and went out the tent. Friedrick went for his papers. Seeing to it that everything has been done due diligence.
Someone flapped open the tent, Friedrick looked up.
"He certainly is a general." Jeane came to him chuckling a little.
"Ah, Jeane." His mood lifted a little with the appearance of a familiar face. "Please sit, what is it?"
"Well I'm not actually here for small talk."
"Hm?" His right eyebrow went up. "Then what're we doing?"
"A second lieutenant has reported movement at the castle's back gate. We suspect an advance, they repeat; 'let us attack.'"
Friedrick smiled. "It's almost as if the timing couldn't be any better." He stood up. "Tell that general fellow to come to the frontline, it seems our enemy wishes to battle one final time. Get in line with Adelheid for me please, tell them all their guns shall aim and fire at the castle."
"Yes, sir."
---
The night's glare was more than cold. And in the absence of a city, the light and warmth of one. It was frigid inside house to house. Wherein those houses hid the platoons of soldiers spying in on every crevice of the castle's perimeter.
"Moving north, sir." A soldier relayed his findings. "They are normal knights, the mage battalion's knights are nowhere to be seen."
"Then good." The second lieutenant said. "Has my wish been granted?" He looked at the soldier who operated the radio further back in his platoon.
He stood up. "No sir, just silence. I believe we should wait a little before firing."
"Aye to that." The second lieutenant smiled a little and walked back to the first soldier he was talking to. "Dragoons?"
"None to the eyes, sir."
The man stood back, waiting impatiently. His soldiers around him, his platoon, looked all drowsy from staying awake with the cold air helping the fact. When suddenly, the radio operator jumped up. it relayed;
"RETREAT. RETREAT. RETREAT FROM POSITION. NOW. RETREAT. BOMBARDMENT."
This repeated for a couple seconds. In the silent rooms the soldiers stayed in, the voice from the radio's side sounded like a horn blaring in a sea. And the word; 'retreat' gave them shivers more so than the cold they felt. Once the second lieutenant heard so; he had to act fast. "Everyone! Leave the house! Backdoor! Backdoor everyone!"
The hard footsteps of boots making thuds on the wooden ground made the whole house sound like it was infested with rats. Each soldier had their blood pumping. After a whole two hours of nothingness, they were finally introduce to the climax of a story. A bombardment, nothing more exciting than that to witness, from afar, atleast.
Swiftly, the men broke down a wooden door leading to some back alley. A spacious back alley. One by one they went out with the second lieutenant coming out last. The rest of his men have went on to go to the docks, (where the camp for soldiers in the city was set up).
It was subtle, but even the second lieutenant heard it. A booming shock coming from behind the buildings, from yonder that. The sea. Then a swish in the air coming high above. The man looked up and to the white tower pearing from the two storey house he had just left.
*BOOM!
Multiple hits and multiples shocks!
Fire engulfed the bottom half of the castle, had it hit the gunpowder of the cannons? Uncertain, probable.
Then soon another barrage of turret fire made most of the towers crumble over, cascading down and barreling to the ground, the sky was once again lit up, it was beautifully castastrophic. Yet as the second lieutenant and the other soldiers looked up at the aweshocking scenery happening above. They wouldn't have predicted what'd happen next.
A deep booming hail crashed onto the wooden house's roof, crumbling it in mere seconds. A part of the tower, and looking up, the second lieutenant saw more parts coming down.
"Everyone! Run for cover! Cover! Get inside!" He cried out, his adrenaline getting ahold of him. He felt the thuds of rock and rubble crash behind him, making craters that shocked the ground, making his legs vibrate and shake.
Getting ahold of himself, he reached the crowd of soldiers running for their lives. Some were hit and were injured slightly, but fortunately, none dead. He and a couple of his platoon smashed the glass of a noble's house, it was a brick building, and was way more secure against rubble.
"Secured! Everyone inside!" The soldiers ran into the windows and busted down the doors in a hurry.
Everyone looked exhausted. "May the lord have mercy!" The second lieutenant yelled out! "Why didn't they wait till' they got confirmation we were out!?"
The radio operator stood there motionless with the radio pack straddled to his back. The lieutenant looked at him with stern and furious eyes. "Why!? My men would've been dead! Tell that to sir Adelheid!"
"S-sir..." He stuttered to speak. "I-I am sorry. I had told the radio that we were out, when we left the house."
The second lieutenant's eyes were firey. "Idiot!" He slammed his hand on a wooden desk. His eyes glanced at the young radio operator's defeated and sorry face. His eyes gave enough meaning; that there would be consequences for that radio operator.
He sighed in exhaustion. "Everyone! Head count!"
*BOOSHH!
The impact made by the large sound was no bullet, a heavy, strong tower had just fallen. It was almost as if it were an earthquake, as the windows had shattered and the glass furniture and the other movable decor in the noble house fell and broke in pieces.
And then, in the rumbling noises, and in the confusion of it all. The platoon heard shrieks. Roars.
"Dragoons!" One of the soldiers said in recollection. "They've let out the dragoons! It's hardly going to be safe anywhere, sir. We need to stay under cover until the K-3s have shot them!"
"Yes. Yes." The second lieutenant was overwhelmed. "First, how many?" He looked at the seargent.
"We're fourty five, sir, five missing."
A brief and silent; 'shit' was muttered under the second lieutenant's breath. "Seargent, take ten and search the five, the rest stay here. And you." -his glared heavily at the radio operator- "call sir Friedrick, I need confirmation on our next task."
"Y-yes, sir..." He went to work with his radio equipment.
A moment after, there was a violent deafening roar of anti-air machine gun fire. The soldiers looked out the window to get a better look of it all. "Fascinating." One put it. The sky was captivatingly loud, in color and in brightness. Dragoon breath spilled throughout, bullets, yellow, orange, filled the sky with brilliant lines. It was as if the sky had fallen, and the stars were coming down.
Then, the familiar sound of a blade unsheathing from a metal scabbard. The movement of hundreds of feet. "The knights are coming." Said one soldier.
Catching glimpse of a huge group of them moving in the streets. The second lieutenant had an idea. "Let's give them a taste of our bullets!"
The soldiers were shocked but acknowledged their leader's order.
-1-
-2-
"Three!" A cry and and a crash, the front door opened and the knights and soldiers had met once more.
"Fire!"
A fusilade of bullets and the screams of men. Like butter, the hot shots melted through the iron those knights wore, and the swords did nothing to 'block' it.
A magical chant! The second lieutenant saw the bright crackles of flame that fire magic'd make. "Find cover!" He yelled.
*Click
His STG-44 was out of ammo, bad timing. The fireball blasted forth at high speed and was going his general direction. He looked round; the rest of his soldiers were already running for safety, while he was still out in the open.
With only some arm's width away from it, he dived to a small empty crevice. Not without the flame burning part of his trench suit and his slacks.
"You all right sir?" Questioned the disembodied voice, the seargent from afar.
The second lieutenant lifted his head up, peaking over from his little crevice, "Yes." He stared at the distance, there were numerous dead knights, and his soldiers were keeping on the barrage. He noticed the line slack, the knights were re-routing.
"They're retreating!" He yelled. "Follow them!"
The lieutenant reloaded his STG-44 and switched to semi-auto. His gun and his irons looking at the road and that building where the knights retreated to. With a full platoon at his behind, and his brute strength, he charged carelessly into the building's wooden door.
The crackle of a hundred wooden parts. And the astonishment of the knights who were inside the building.
"Hah!" The lieutenant laughed out. He switched to full auto.
*CRK
A barrage of fire!
From left to right, he swayed his weapon to shoot at the two hallways the door connected by. The knights screamed in pain, as bullet to bullet, heads were shot, hearts were pumping blood out the wrong holes, and blood splattered all about the wood.
The remaining knights inside bolted for the other doors out.
He went back out the way he came in. His platoon stood there with astonished eyes, their lieutenant was covered in blood and he smelled of gunpowder. "Everyone! Get in and follow the bastards!"
"Yes, sir!"
---
"They's a soaring!" Captain Jack said with a smile, then quickly turned the steer starboard and towards the deep sea. The swiftness made the ship list a little. But all the anti-air guns aboard were still shooting with rage at the approaching dragoons.
It was full-steam ahead. The smokestack was spewing a massive amount of black smoke, but in the night sky, it looked like just another cloud obscuring the moon.
"Read'e dee' main turrets!" Jack shouted at the sailor behind him.
"Yes, sir!"
The front and back turrets sprang into life, turning towards the sky, and as instructed, fired hefty hell shells.
The two K-3s behind her sprang their own main turrets anharmonised the treumendous fusilade.
For the sailors, it seemed that every shot was deafening, and that for every second the ship fired it's barrage of guns, it moved away and away from the shore. The sailors clammored onto what dark patch in the sky, where just a second later, that dark patch turned yellow, then orange. Then red.
"A dragoon! Aim!" The sailors swished their guns to that patch of sky. Quickly hurtling down towards their ship.
The sea was frigid, the night was dark. A darkness that one could say would be like the veil of black hiding the other side of a auditorium's stage. Only light was their only direction. They could be sneaked upon from a dragoon at any moment, but Jack kept on the sail.
The heap of the fire kept on the trail, the sailors's hearts beated faster and faster as the dragoon came closer and closer.
Their hearts dropped.
It fired it's molten lava!
"Shit!" Jack cried out.
There was a harsh crash, rattling the ship's hull. Jack fell to his feet, but climbed swiftly up. "Check dee' hull! See if there's leakage! Close dem' bulkheads!"
"Aye, sir!" The sailors on the bridge ran quickly deeper inside.
"An' you!" He pointed at the radio operator. "Radio sir Adelheid, tell em' we needs'a backup!"
"Y-yes sir!" He went immidiately to dial.
A click!
"This is K-3: Adel! Are you K-3: Jack!?" There was a sense of urgency in his voice.
"Yes, this is K-3: Jack! We have been shot by the dragoon, requesting backup!"
Jack ran outside of the bridge, jumping down onto the deck.
His eyes were awestruck, a fire developed, growing bigger at the stern, the brilliance enough for anyone even miles away to see. The sailors were screaming, yet still kept on the shooting, and thankfully with one accurate shot to the head, the dragoon dropped swiftly to the ocean depth.
Jack ran to the aft, and saw a multitude of sailors trying to wash off the flame. A slow battle. A sailor engineer saw Jack and ran to him. "Sir! The dragoon hit the ship's upper stern, we aren't in any danger of sinking, but the fire'll engulf the wooden stern if we don't do nothing."
"Thank you, pleas' help on that fire, it shouldn't be dat' ferocious'a fire."
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing from the corner of his eye, he went to the medical sailors. Carrying out sailors with burn marks and black-like soot on their faces. "Injured!" Jack yelled. "Haw many der' is!?"
"Aye, sir! Bout' five aft, three coming front for aid."
"Gud! But take em' to the lifeboat, I'll be setting off and make it ran to Friedrick!" Jack yelled out.
"Aye, sir!"
Then came he to the lifeboat.
There were several sailors shooting still at the castle's direction, figuring out in the darkness where there would be a dragoon.
"Readi den' lifeboats! We got injured, take em to Friedrick!"
"Yes, sir!" They went to handle the lifeboat's crane, dropping it off and then pushing it off the ship's deck and was now floating over the water, after a second, the lifeboat slowly came down and it was ready to boat on.
The sea was favorable this time around, the waves weren't monumentous, so unlike the action that was happening above it's dark cold waters.
Jack ran to the bridge, opening the door. He saw Adelheid's ship from the distance swiftly closing the distance, still firing all her guns at the distant castle, which basing from the sillhouete, seemed to have crumbled all to the ground, as there were no towers visible.
The bulkhead behind the wheel opened and a couple of sweaty men came out. "Sir! We wont be sinking anytime soon!"
"Good! Now fire those main turrets, keep on the bombardment, me men!"
"Yes sir!"
( * )
"How's Jack's men?" Friedrick questioned to Jeane
"Good sir! We're treating the landed sailors." Jeane said cracking a smile.
"Good." The scene just infront of them was mesmorisingly tragic.
Soldiers were shooting guns left and right, blood was spilling there and yonder. And bombs exploded heap and ho. The castle's knights are crumbling, the magic dying, and Hierd's side winning. The castle fell to it's toes. The regal white color of the towers gone, only crumbled, grey and with the stones.
Fires spread from left to right; the wooden houses burnt and the noble cobbled ones stayed yet was barrated by machine gun fire. Burning hole after hole, to the knights, it was hell, inferno on earth, and to the soldiers; a live fire excerise.
There were some minor stepbacks, the dragoons and their own fire, but they too were soon dropped down onto the pavement, with each dragoon being lit up with bullets. The knights weren't spared with the same fate.
"And what does my army do?" Fuso sat on the truck with astonishment to the amount of damage being inflicted to the city. "I mean, the fireworks are certainly one to admire at." He chuckled nervously.
"Your army has no use to me, General Fuso; if you were to go into the carnage, your own men will be shot down, my soldiers may have the chance of shooting some of your men under the darkness of the moon."
"I see, sir Friedrick."
"A different man than his chancellor. Even if I am of higher rank of him, he shows no regard to it. But I do not know of this Germany, maybe his rank is higher than General. But I have yet to hear a lieutenant colonel being so. Endearing, my esteemed took a good choice to forge a relationship with this country." He gulped.
The fire;
The fire kept burning.
( * )
The ash of the morning, a carnage that lasted mere minutes but the aftermath took several hours. The city was stripped to it's most barren core. Street to street, dead knights, dragoons, and dry puddles of blood. The houses were all but stone, the wood gone from a fire forlorn.
In the wreck of the capital, Friedrick stood on the highest point of rubble. Where there could he see the soldiers fishing about, finding nobles, knights. And most certainly, the king, if even the king was still alive. But to no avail. The sun grew and grew, the brillance making the ground more visible.
Friedrick saw the sea, the warships; Jack's ship most specifically, with the then birch wood turning black from the fire. And all around, there was an applaud. Coming out from each tank and each truck. From the warships and to all the squads and platoons.
"GLORY TO THE LORD!"
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