On a patch of grassland to the north of the city laid the camp in which Michael remained. With him were fifty other Androids standing guard.
Michael was inside the tent situated in the center. There, he finalized the operation that will end the Theocracy.
The plans for the operation were laid out as a holographic projection. In the projection were the divisions which were labeled accordingly.
Three infantry divisions of ten thousand drones each. One division of armoured vehicles and one division consisting of Mech Walkers and mechanized battalions.
The three infantry divisions were situated north west, north east and south. The armoured division was situated to the north and the mechanized division to the south west.
The airport which was situated to the southeast of the city was under a blockade of their warships. The airport itself had been rendered useless after the bombardment and thus no troops are needed to reinforce.
A small battalion of Androids were dispatched to take formal control.
The airforce consisted of one hundred Assault Drones and twenty fighter jets. The fighter jets were the newly reverse-engineered but low quality variant of the prewar modern fighter jet employed by the human government back then. Despite lagging behind the original, the fighter jet was still more than capable in fulfilling its role of shock and awe.
These were the summary of the forces tasked to capture the city. All of which were under Michael's command. From his tent, Michael relaxed as the deadline was almost over.
Suddenly, Michael heard footsteps. They were getting closer and closer to his tent.
It was Artemis. Wearing his full commander clothings.
(Everything is in place except his hair is black and his expression was cold)
"Ah! Commander, glad to see you" Michael said.
"I see" Artemis said. Artemis was dragging behind him a chair since he thought that Michael won't have a spare. And he was right, there was only one chair inside Michael's tent.
He placed the chair against the holographic projection directly facing against Michael and sat down.
"What brings you here? So far off from the battlefield" Michael asked.
Artemis pushed himself against the back of his chair and said. "You cancelled the bombardment, it's been a day and a half since the last shell. I was curious of your plans since you have not informed me directly of them"
Michael smiled but his face was that of an Android, and so his smile was only in his mind.
"Commander, I only wish to bring upon you success! I know for certain that you have already deduced what I intend to do and so I had decided to refrain from telling you" Michael explained.
Artemis was confused but ran along with it.
"I do, but I wish to hear it personally from you first and I would like to give my comments after you do so" Artemis said.
"Brilliant! Then I shall do as you say," Michael cheered.
And so, for thirty minutes, Michael explained every minor and major detail to Artemis. Even Artemis was surprised at the depth of which his general had come up with. The plan in paper seemed foolproof and required only proper execution. And knowing his drones, it will be properly executed.
Michael made sure he took the major factors that may disrupt the plan, mainly magic.
The ruling council was the only real threat. Magic has so far been fairly weak against their technology but has dealt damage nonetheless.
Michael finished explaining but Artemis was already not paying attention.
Why did he also take into account the state of the ground?
Artemis thought.
It is as if he is going to split the ground.. that would be good though
Michael leaned against his chair, waiting Artemis' comments. Artemis stood up and tipped his officer's hat.
"I expect nothing but success" He said. Michael stood and saluted like any other normal soldiers to their commander. Artemis left the tent and headed to his hovercraft.
After boarding, the hovercraft flew towards the Holy City. From the hovercraft's windows, Artemis looked down on the battlefield.
Smoke belched from the fires that were widespread across the fields and the outer city. The smoke annoyed Artemis for it reminded him of the wildfires that the Theocracy started that covered the sun for weeks and killed the local flora.
Once city falls, he would order the army to demobilize and start the rebuilding process. One day and a half before the beginning of the real hell.
The survivors thought that they were already living through hell, the underworld, suffering and death. But the real atrocities were just about to pop their ugly heads and wreak havoc.
The infantry divisions have dug themselves in in accordance to Michael's order. The armoured and mechanized divisions were reinforced while the airforce disappeared from the airspace around the city.
Calm befell them. It was an uneasy period for the defenders as they were divided. They did not know whether or not the metal demons were actually leaving them alone.
Some feared that they were digging down the ground and would appear inside the barrier. But they themselves have tried to dig out but the barrier also stretched deep into the ground.
When the miners struck the barrier, a shockwave sent the miners flying and the tunnel collapsed, crushing everybody who was inside.
----------
Inside a makeshift tent in the midst of the devastated inner city, a lone regimental officer stood firm. Despite the anarchy that was unfolding outside, he smoked a small pipe and would clench his fists in intervals.
The regimental officer was Owen Brown. Owen was the last remaining regimental officer. The term "officer" and the position thereof was a relatively weak and low position given to the commanders of regiments.
The term "officer" itself was often used as an insult by high-ranking nobles to those in the military with lower standing than them. Although the Senadate Theocracy was a theocracy, the same military culture was applied as well.
But this officer, despite his low rank and social prestige, was given command of what forces they had left. As he stood firm, his mind was working around the clock. Thinking of ways he could improve their defense and give their enemies hell.
And then he sat down, his legs feeling numb. Just as he sat, somebody burst into his tent, demanding some food.
It was a nobleman. Despite being a noble, the horrors and toils of war were ever the more present in his dress and face. His body bruised, clothes ragged and face ruined. He looked more like the peasants he belittled rather than a noble.
"Officer! Give me your food, now!" He shouted at Owen. This was not the first time someone of high prestige and regard would burst into his tent and demanded food or whatnot.
Owen then took a bag from a corner that had two small potatoes in it. The noble saw the bag and was about to snatch it from Owen' hands. Owen slapped his hands away and angered the noble.
"How dare you! A mere of-" the nobleman was given a taste of a hand to the face. His weakened body was no match against a powerful slap and he fell on his back.
"H-how dare!" And again, as the nobleman tried to crawl out, he gave him a taste of his boot. The noble was knocked out.
Owen then called for someone to drag him out. Two young men answered his call and dragged the noble out. Although Owen was inside, he already knew what was to become of the noble.
Food was going short. People wanted to survive and how can they survive? Make do with what they had.
If one was to pay attention, there were no corpses in the inner city. Only the bloodstains smeared all over the rubble and the walls. Small fires were spread about with pots and stoves.
Over them, they were cooking meat.
The people, however, did not really take kindly in eating such a disgraceful meat but Owen said otherwise.
"Would you rather starve and get killed by the demons? Or eat and have a fighting chance" These were the exact words he shouted. One by one, they gathered their sustenance. They placed down their pots and pans. They lit up the fires and they cooked.
And then when the food was finished, they ate. And they were nourished and they forgot who they were eating. Some then preached that it was the duty of those who passed. Not even their physical forms that they abandoned would be wasted for they shall serve as the energy the survivors needed.
This is good. They thought.
Delicious, they whispered.