Guard: We've gathered all barrels of oil we could find sir.
Lt. Chambers: Great, gather with the others at the ambush point
Guard 2: With respect sir, what is oil going to to those things?
Lt. Chambers: If I'm being honest not much, none of us are trained to deal with those things.
Guard 3: What about the wyverns? They can deliver 500 pound payload.
Lt. Chambers: They are not an option, only two places that can call them is the garrison and the royal castle, and we would get splattered by them if those guys don't get us first.
Guard 2: They really planned this, but why would they?
Lt. Chambers: I've been thinking that, they came from underground tunnels, no one can dig tunnels that fast so they had to have known about the Queen's address for a while.
Guard 3: That can't be, they are always announced hours before, they do that to prevent something from happening.
Guard 2: So there has to be a mole, that would be the only explanation.
Guard 3: But that doesn't explain the why, what is there to achieve?
Lt. Chambers: Clearly nothing good, but we can't do anything about it now, we'll find whoever is responsible after we are done with this.
Guard 4: Incoming beasts!
Lt. Chambers: Everyone to their positions! Let's get these bastards.
------
Peter: This is bad, it's already started.
They looked at the capital, several fires were visible around the city.
Arran: You hear that?
They listened to the air, distant echoes of explosions filled the air occasionally.
Peter: We aren't alone, they're here.
Lucas: Nice, just what we needed.
Minerva: So what exactly is the plan?
Arran: All we can do is meet up with what's left of the defenders and try to work together.
Minerva: That's it?
Arran: It's a start, you can't make a plan with limited information, shit they could all be dead and we are just walking into a trap.
Molotov: Well it's too late now, we are coming up on the wall.
After passing through the broken gate, Minerva, Peter, Ga1ahad, and Luna got off the towed wagon leaving Arran and Lucas.
Arran: You guys go get the queen, we'll give Molotov anti infantry support.
Peter: Take care guys.
Arran: You too Peter, we'll see each other later.
The Moskva began driving away, Peter looked at Arran and Lucas as they got farther away and disappeared around a corner.
Minerva: It's time Peter.
Peter: Yeah.
Peter loaded a stripper clip into his Kar98k and closed the bolt.
Peter: Let's go.
------
Finn: They're taking too long, I'm going to go look for them.
Joseph: Emil told us to stay here until they got here, maybe they had to take a detour.
Finn: Screw it, I'm gonna look for them.
Joseph: Finn just stay here.
Finn: Wait hold on, look.
Joseph looked down the hallway, they saw Sierra limping towards them, she waved her arm once they turned to look at her.
Joseph: This isn't good, where's the other two?
Finn: Clearly something went wrong.
Finn ran towards Sierra meeting her half way, she gave him an exhausted smile.
Sierra: I'm so glad to see you guys, sorry for being late.
Finn: Don't worry about that, what happened to your leg?
Sierra: It's not too bad, I guess you can say I'm a bit leaky.
Finn chuckled at her joke.
Finn: That's a good one, let's get you to safety and patched up.
Finn placed her arm around his neck and began doing a human crutch carry. He looked at Joseph who was sitting on his horse, Joseph smiled at them, but then his eyes looked behind them and his smile disappeared as he grabbed his Gewehr 98.
Joseph: Hey Finn you might wanna hurry up.
Finn looked back down the hallway, he saw 2 of the girls from the mansion, with one being Emilia. A shiver ran down his spine as his heart began to pound, the memories of what happened filled him with fear.
Finn: Ma'am I'm gonna need you to hold onto me
Sierra: Whoa!
Finn lifted Sierra and placed her over his shoulders doing a fireman carry and began to move as fast as he could.
Joseph: I'll cover you!
Joseph began firing at the girls to try to slow them down at least, to a varied degree of success.
1st shot made Esther jump to the side, 2nd shot almost made Eva stumble, 3rd missed, 4th grazed Eva's head by an inch, 5th hit Esther in the thigh clearing through. Esther Fell to the ground and slid for a bit before rolling behind the cover of a pillar, Eva followed her.
Jesse: Quickly!
Joseph fed a stripper clip into his rifle and aimed at the pillar, Finn got to Joseph and set Sierra on her feet before helping her up on the horse.
Finn: It's my turn to cover you, get her out of here.
Joseph: You can't handle the both of them.
Finn: It's not my first time with them, I'll be fine.
Joseph: You better be, I'll see you later.
Joseph put away his rifle and grabbed the reins of the horse and began riding away.
Sierra: I thought his name was Rook, care to explain that?
Joseph: I uh... We can talk about that later.
Sierra: Understandable.
Finn took a deep breath as he pulled the bolt back on his MP 40, his hands trembled as them jump out from behind the pillar. He fired a burst at Esther but Eva jumped in front of her taking the burst instead, Esther took another canister from her belt and threw it at Finn. A cloud of smoke appeared from the canister, he held his breath as he backed out of the smoke.
He aimed back into the cloud of smoke while stepping back, running could be heard from within the cloud until one of them bursted running from the far end. Finn held down the trigger as he attempted to hit the person, he scored a couple hits but then heard the other approaching.
He turned to aim but Esther had swung her katana at him, slicing through his magazine causing his ammo to fly out. He pulled the trigger but all it made was a click.
Finn: Shit!
Esther knocked the gun out of his hands and Eva came up from behind and kicked his knee forcing him to kneel.
Esther raised her katana, their eyes met before Finn put up his arms to shield himself as she swung down.
Blast!
A blast of energy knocked Esther and Eva back onto the ground, Finn looked up and saw he was covered with a dark red aura.
Finn: What in the?
Just as quickly it had come, the aura around him disappeared as it funneled into the crystal around his neck.
Esther: It's you!
Finn: Emilia stop!
Esther: Give it back!
Esther was about charge Finn but Eva stopped her.
Eva: We need to go now, leave it!
Eva pointed to the hall, Emil and Chelsea were running towards them, Esther gritted her teeth and began running. Eva looked at Finn, she attempted to say something but changed her mind before following Esther.
Emil: Yeah run you cowards!
Emil began shooting at them but then stopped as they climbed over a wall and disappeared.
Emil: Since when could you do that?
Finn: I'm just now learning about it too.
Chelsea: Is that you Finn?
Finn: Hey Chelsea.
Chelsea: I- We all thought you were dead!
Finn: It's a long story, but the gist of it is that this thing and Joseph saved me.
Finn pulled out the crystal necklace from under his shirt, the once blue crystal was now deep red.
Chelsea: I've never seen a crystal of that color.
Emil: Is that bad?
Chelsea: I don't know, there's very few instances of a red crystal mentioned in historic records so not much is known about them.
Emil: I thought you were a scholar?
Chelsea: I studied medical science, not history.
Finn: We can worry about me later, we need to get to the next stage of the plan.
-----------
Scorpion and Charlotte drove slowly through the streets with a few mercenaries on foot, they turned the corner to a main street. Chambers looked at them from the rooftop, several others were on the rooftops as well waiting on orders.
Lt. Chambers: Send the bait.
The guard nodded as he raised a red piece of cloth, the ones across replied with the same, then a minute passed and a few guards rushed out from abandoned storefronts and began attacking the mercenaries.
Lt. Chambers: Drop them now!
The guard raised 2 green cloths and the others replied the same as the began rolling barrels of oil down the rooftops onto the street.
Tanner: Reverse!
Charlotte began rolling back as the barrels began crashing down around them, managing to avoid being hit. The same couldn't be said about Scorpion who got hit by five of the barrels, Tanner looked up to the rooftops.
Tanner: Bastards are all up there, you need to move Jackson.
Jackson: These morons keep getting in the way.
Tanner saw one of the guard run out with two bottles on fire.
Tanner: Petrol bomb petrol bomb!
Janeczek fired a burst at the guard who fell to the ground, one of the bottles shattering on the ground creating a small blanket of fire.
Tanner: They're trying to set you on fire!
Another guard attempted to pick up the other bottle his partner had but was also shot by Charlotte, but wasn't immediately killed and managed to throw the bottle onto Scorpion.
The oil/fuel mixture bursted into flames as it enveloped the Scorpion.
Jackson: FIRE!
Thomas: What do we do Tanner??
Tanner cursed under his breath as he looked at the situation in front of him, their infantry were getting significantly thinned out by the second and Scorpion was on the verge of being knocked out. He noticed something up in the distance, and recognized the structure.
Tanner: Jackson I need you to drive 100 meters forward.
Jackson: What?
Tanner: Hurry before you get turned into a Beef Wellington!
Jackson barked the order at Jenkins who ran over both mercenaries and guards crushing them under the tracks.
Tanner: Stop now!
Jenkins stopped the tank under the structure, Janeczek raised the gun and aimed at it.
Tanner: Fire!
BOOM!
The 75mm shell screamed out of the Charlotte and slammed into it's target, debris fell to the ground with a stream of water right behind it. The fire quickly died and Jenkins pulled the tank back out and turned it around, Jackson opened his hatch and loaded a fresh box into his M2 Browning.
Jackson: Oh y'all fucked now.
Chambers looked down at the carnage in the street and how his plan crumbled to pieces, he punched the roof tile in frustration, shattering it.
Lt. Chambers: Tell all survivors to retreat and regroup at the royal palace!
He turned to look back at the street, he stared at his men being ripped apart as they fled back into the alleys. A guard fell to the ground, he turned to look at Chambers up on the roof, he watched as his life left his eyes and went limp. The sight sent a chill down his spine, he had seen death, but not to this degree.
------
Krueger looked through his scope down at the street, he had spent his time taking out mercenaries who wandered into his kill zones. But he still remained vigilant as he looked for one person in particular.
Krueger: Where are you Gretel?
He slowly swayed his scope around the top of the buildings, a small shimmering outline appeared for a brief second from behind a chimney.
Krueger: There you are.
He pretended to not see it and once the pearly shimmer appeared again, he swung his scope back to it and pulled the trigger.
The 8mm bullet hit Ember in the chest and was knocked back a bit as her aura took the brunt of the impact and her camouflage disappeared. She retaliated by firing back at him, Krueger took a step back as it tore another chunk off the window frame.
Krueger: You really need to work on your aim
As he aimed aimed back outside, he noticed his green crystal glowing, he backed from the window as he brought it close to his face.
Emil: About time you picked up.
Krueger: Sorry, I'm a little busy right now.
Emil: Well we are going to phase 2, we'll meet up at the royal palace.
Krueger: Roger that, I'll start making my way over there.
Krueger looked outside the window trying to see where Ember had gone, he caught sight of her jumping across the rooftops away from him.
Krueger: Looks like I don't have to worry about her for now.
He gathered all of his belongings and began descending the library he was in, he pulled the bolt back on his Gewehr 98 and inserted 3 round and closed it.
As he approached the door to the outside, the door was torn from its hinges as it was launched at him. It slammed into Krueger sending him flying back, he was stunned and slowly stood back up.
Krueger: What the fuck?
He looked towards the doorway, right outside was a masked man staring at him. Krueger immediately recognized the man and aimed at him and fired, the man dodged as he began closing the distance. He only managed to get another shot out before the man shoved the barrel away from him and delivered a left hook into Krueger's face.
Krueger stumbled back holding his face, the man grabbed him by the throat and tossed him over a table
Jahangir: Krueger! It's so great having the chance to meet you again, it's been a while.
Krueger: Eat dirt.
Jahangir kicked the table out of his path as he approached him.
Jahangir: Well that's not very nice, I thought you would be happy to see an old friend.
Krueger: Gah!
Jahangir kicked him in the liver, Krueger clutched his abdomen in pain.
Jahangir: You and your buddies have really been an inconvenience today.
Krueger: Glad we get to spoil your party.
Jahangir crouched over Krueger.
Jahangir: Oh you didn't spoil it, I still have a lot of pieces left on the board.
Krueger: So do I.
Krueger pulled out a knife he had up his sleeve and went for Jahangir's neck, however Jahangir managed to grab his hand in time.
Jahangir: You did.
Jahangir twisted the knife out of Krueger's hand, then in a fraction of a second sliced his hand off from the wrist.
Krueger: AAHHH!!!!
Blood quirted out from the wound as Krueger used his other hand to slow down the bleeding.
Jahangir: Where is the rest of you?
Krueger: Kiss my ass.
Jahangir punched him in the face again, this time breaking his cheek bone.
Jahangir: I'm running out of patience faster than you're running out of blood.
Krueger: I'm still not telling you anything.
Jahangir: Alright.
Jahangir stood up and grabbed him by the jacket, he then threw him out a window. He walked outside of the building and saw Krueger crawling away slowly, he took out his sword and stood over him.
Krueger continued to crawl on the floor, Jahangir raised his sword and aimed at his neck.
Jahangir: This is your end.
Krueger rolled onto his back and aimed a Luger at his head and pulled the trigger.
Bam!
The bullet pierced through Jahangir's mask and into his brain, his body turned stiff as he fell backwards onto the ground dead.
Krueger dropped his gun he began looking for his gauze, then he pulled out his green crystal.
Krueger: I'm gonna be a bit late.
Emil: What happened?
Krueger: Im missing a hand and was getting beat up by Jahangir.
Emil: Where are you so I can send Chelsea.
Krueger: I'm still at the library.
Emil: Roger.
Krueger put the crystal down as he laid on the street and finished patching his wound.
Krueger: I need a vacation.
------
The man recoiled in pain as he screamed while holding his face, he writhed on the floor in agony.
???: YOU BASTARD.
The man seeped with anger as he stood back up, he smashed the chair he had been sitting on. He took a deep breath and relaxed himself, he picked up the mask he had been wearing which now had several cracks on it.
???: Keep calm, don't let your anger control you.
He walked to the desk near him and picked up the book that was on it, the old tattered book was heavy. The man placed the book in one of his hip bags, then clamped his ornate sword onto his belt.
???: I'm going to kill every single one of them, this is the last time I underestimate them.
-----
Joseph: There's so many bodies.
Joseph and Sierra rode through the streets of the capital, the fighting had bled into the deeper parts of of it. Sierra had a pained expression as she looked at the chaos, Joseph nudged her to not look.
Sierra: I wish I had the tolerance for this.
Joseph: You don't, trust me, being desensitized from this is not something enviable. I've seen many friends full of life in their eyes, then hours later that spark in their eyes is gone.
Sierra: I'm sorry.
Joseph: It's fine, just be aware of that we aren't just numbers on a casualty report, we weren't given that luxury.
Mercenary: It's her!
They turned to look behind them as a group of mercenaries ran out from an alley.
Joseph: Shit, hold on.
The horse picked up it's pace as instructed, but more mercenaries heard the commotion and joined the chase.
Joseph: This is bad.
He made the horse run at full speed to try to get away, they approached a T junction with a group of them shooting arrows at them.
Sierra: Turn right! The palace is in that direction!
The horse rounded the corner and immediately came to a halt, Scorpion and Charlotte were blocking the path. Jackson saw them and racked the Browning and aimed for them, Joseph turned the horse around and ran back around the corner. Jackson Fired a burst but missed.
Joseph: You got any other route?!
Sierra: Turn right on one of the alleys!
Mercenary: I got them!
One of the mercenaries managed to jump and grab onto Joseph's clothes, in response, Joseph punched him in the face and kicked him off. They emerged to the other side of the alley, Joseph looked to the right and saw the muzzle brake from the Scorpion emerging from the end of the street.
Joseph: Man they are persistent.
Joseph made a left and kept going.
Joseph: Tell me when to dodge!
Sierra looked back, she saw the barrel aim towards them and stopped, the way it moved scared her due to her knowing someone was in control of it.
Sierra: Now!
Joseph yanked the horse to the left as the Scorpion fired, the shell flew past them hitting the building to the right.
Joseph: Next!
Sierra looked back but ducked her head as bullets began to fly around them, Joseph began swerving left and right but was hit on the back of his shoulder.
Joseph: Grh!
Sierra: Are you ok?!
Joseph: Yeah!
They made another right into an alley, the emerged onto another street, Joseph looked to the right and sighed in relief as the end of the street was a dead end.
Joseph: We don't have to worry about those guys for now.
They made a left and resumed at a canter pace, the engines from the tanks could be heard in the distance but the noise had gotten quieter.
Sierra: I felt like I couldn't breathe.
Joseph: I know right? You somehow forget you need to breathe.
Joseph looked over his shoulder to make sure they haven't caught up to them, then saw a small shift in the roof tiles. He looked at the spot to make sure he saw what he did, on the roof was a pearly colored aura that then moved to hide behind a chimney.
Joseph: You have to be joking!
Joseph snapped the reins and the horse resumed it's run, he looked back and saw that the aura disappear revealing a person with a rifle running on the roof.
Bang!
A shot rang out in the distance as blood sprayed onto his face, they were both thrown off the horse as it collapsed to the ground and rolled for several feet.
Sierra: Ugh...
Joseph: You okay..?
Sierra: I think I hit my hea-
Sierra went quiet as she looked at the horse, Joseph looked at it and was left speechless. All that was left of it's head was the jaw, the rest was blown or left unrecognizable.
Joseph: Move!
He grabbed his rifle as he pulled Sierra up and began running on foot, he began returning fire forcing their attacker to hide.
Guard: Over here!
A guard was waving them from higher up the street, Sierra ran as Joseph covered her until she made it to where the guard was. Joseph sprinted as fast as he could, he tripped as he was about to make it but the guard managed to pull him inside in time.
Guard: Quickly, it won't be long until she's here.
Sierra: Where's.. the.. rest.. of you?
Sierra and Joseph were panting heavily as they followed the guard through the abandoned house.
Guard: Dead, missing, I don't know, it's just me really.
Joseph: It's that bad.
Guard: The garrison is still standing but there's too many.
Joseph: We are trying to get to the royal palace, you have any way we could get there?
Guard: I just said there's too many, if it was just the mercenaries then yeah it could be possible, but those metal beasts make it far harder.
The guard led them out the back of the building into another alley, then down a set of stairs into a basement, he locked the door as he went to light an oil lamp.
Guard: You guys can wait here and wait things out.
The guard leaned against the wall as he took out a small bag with dried fruit.
Joseph: Let me took at your leg.
He took out his personal med kit, and began cleaning the wound. Sierra whimpered in pain as he cleaned the gash with gauze, and then applied acriflavine onto the wound. She covered her mouth to keep herself from crying as the solution burned her wound, Joseph handed her a piece of cloth.
Joseph: Bite onto it, this is going to hurt.
He readied his suture kit, then gently pushed the needle through, Sierra bit down on the cloth hard as she suppressed her scream. He made the first knot and repeated the steps until the wound was closed, then applied more acriflavine.
Joseph: Alright, you're almost done, let me just put a bandage on you and-
Joseph stopped mid sentence, Sierra looked in terror at the guard who had pulled out a knife and placed it up against Joseph's neck.
Guard: I don't want to hurt anyone I don't have to, so don't make me.
Joseph: What the hell are you doing??
Guard: I just want the queen, that's all you need to know.
Joseph: So you're with those guys.
Guard: Officially no, technically yes. Now you, grab those leather strips and tie his feet, now.
Sierra looked at Joseph, who nodded at her, she limped towards the leather strips, she slowly grabbed them and slowly made her way back.
Guard: Now tie him up.
Sierra stalled, this angered the guard.
Guard: What are you waiting for? Tie him up NOW!
Sierra once again stalled, so the guard punched her in the cheek hard enough to knock her to the ground.
Guard: Useless bitch.
Joseph took the opportunity to grab the guard's knife, the guard attempted to pull it away but Joseph held onto it to dear life.
Guard: Let go you bastard!
Sierra: Take this!
Sierra jumped onto his back and wrapped the leather strips around his neck and pulled him back, Joseph stood up to keep hold of the knife to prevent him from using it against her. The guard backed up against the wall, slamming her into it, her grip loosened allowing him to focus on Joseph. He punched Joseph in the abdomen, who still stubbornly refused to let go of the knife.
Guard: guh!
Sierra had taken another knife he had on his belt, and drove it repeatedly into his back. He fell to his knees and onto the floor as she continued to stab him, eventually he stopped moving yet she continued.
Joseph: Sierra stop! He's dead.
Sierra snapped back to reality, she dropped the knife and looked at her bloody hands.
Sierra: I don't know what happened.. I just.. blanked out.
Joseph: It's ok, don't worry about it, let's see who this guy is.
He unbuckled the strap on the guard's helmet and pulled it off his head. Sierra gave out a small gasp, she put her hands on her head, staining her white hair.
Joseph: What? you know him?
Sierra: Vincent was talking to him this morning.
Hello people, trooper here, at first this chapter was going to be close to 3000 words bet ended up going almost to 4500. I'm really excited because I'm almost done with this story which has been around since 2017, many things have happened since then, promises were made and broken which still haunt me to this day. I will see you guys next chapter, take care and bee good people