Axial Age

Chapter 13 - Hopelessness

The countless bullets of light launched by the enemy impacted the heavy infantry battalion with immense force. While the standard bullets went blunt at the moment they impacted the shields, they nevertheless pierced through eventually even penetrating the armour worn by the soldiers.

Patagene, watching the heavy infantry fall one after the other from afar, fell into despair

"I knew it... They are far too powerful that the heavy infantry could never stand up to them... How will we-... Wait... What?" Patagene said, only to cut himself off as he squinted his eyes to see several streaks of like breaking in the distance.

Virtually most of the heavy infantrymen had been eliminated by the bullets of light. All except for one.

Schwal held his ground as the bullets of light deflected off his shield which he propped up diagonally, aware of the capabilities of sloped surfaces against projectiles such as Arrows.

"What the F**k?" A man with a French accent uttered as he momentarily stopped firing the machine gun atop his Main Battle Tank. In-fact a few IFVs stop as their crew observe the event.

"Well Damn..." A Swedish gunner said peaking out of her IFV.

The sole surviving soldier advanced forward alone when the storm of light stopped and propped up his shield when it resumed.

"Hey! Who's that guy?! How is it that he could stand up against their attacks?!" Being somewhat excited, Patagene asked an aide near him.

"I-I... umm.." The man frantically flipped through the register of the heavy infantry battalion.

"Ah, here... His name is Schwal, he was the only one to not bring the issued shield, he stated it was due to the shield being damaged and risky to use."

"...For a single person to handle such a barrage... Of course one is not enough to turn the tide, have everyone sally out and attack the Enemy from the sides we have an opening!"

Schwal felt the violent force of the enemy's attack push against his shield. Each shot was powerful, making him feel like he was going to get crushed. He deeply thanked his wife for convincing him to bring it and his ancestor to procure it. He was the only one left among the heavy infantry. The enemy must be focusing all their attacks on him.

'So this is how it's come to be... If I die, this shield will have just been in vain. Am I really going to leave my wife and child behind...? . . . No... I shall never yield, and I'm never letting go.' He thought. The fight was still not over. Schwal felt hope that he might see his family again.

Several other soldiers and cavalrymen charged just in the distance, closing in on the Enemy formation.

["I must say That soldier sure is catching my interest. Smart enough to start using a shield like sloped armor to deflect the finest bullets!"] A Russian commander atop a T-90 tank radioed to a nearby Leopard 2. By setting the metal plate diagonally, it can deflect the kinetic energy of projectiles elsewhere and bounce them off. Even if the armoring wasn't thick, its sloped nature can achieve a noticeable defensive effect.