Hey!
I was looking for Kreig shovel pics when I saw the above pic. If only it were that easy...
This month is a nightmare. I'm actually surprised I got this chapter out, to be honest. As I mentioned in the conversation part, September has always been a training-type month for work.
So don't expect too much this month. If possible, I'll try to get a few more chapters for Ex-Doc and Repair-ship. No promises, tho!
Let's get back to it.
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"How dare you! Do you know who I am?" The angry voice of an older Lupo man growled and shouted out the back window of his luxury black car.
The car driver sat motionless with his hands up in surrender, a look of fear across his face as the strange person wearing a skull gas mask and armoured trenchcoat pointed a rifle at them from the front of the vehicle.
"We don't have time for this... Just run him over!"
The driver looks through his rearview mirror at his boss and back at the intimidating fellow holding him at gunpoint. The driver guessed his boss had never been held at gunpoint before. The moment he drops his hands, the stranger will drop him.
*Smash*
The sound of glass shattering fills the car, and the driver glimpses back through the rearview mirror to see his boss being grabbed by his hair and Lupo's ears and dragged through the shattered window by another one of the gasmask people. His boss was kicking and screaming the entire time.
"Ugh! You'll pay for this, you ignorant fools! I'm the patriarch of the Costella family! One of the great families of Siracusa!" The Lupo man shouted as he was picked off the floor and pushed back against the car. Blood on the man's cheek and arms from the glass he was thrown onto when he was pulled out.
The Lupo, staring into the void that was the eyes of the gasmask, spits on him in defiance. A cruel smirk worked onto Lupo's face but was inwardly seething.
Not even a twitch...
In Siracusa, being spat on was one of the biggest insults you could bestow upon someone. Even other nations understood that, but this prick didn't tense or twitch.
What are they? Machines?
"What? Nothing to sa- Ahhh!" The Lupo fell to the floor, back onto the shattered glass and stared up at the person he spat on with shock. He could feel the warm gush of blood rush down his face alarmingly fast.
He could only stare at the bloody shovel his assaulter held in panic.
"W-Wai-"
The man didn't finish his sentence as the shovel was brought down with considerable force, splitting the Lupo's skull in half.
In a moment of panic, the driver lowered his hands in fright, but he never got the chance to understand his mistake as a laser bolt pierced the windscreen and through his skull, killing him instantly.
The two didn't spare the two bodies any attention as the Kriegsmen stared at each other before nodding and looking towards the courthouse.
"Is it time?" The Kriegsman with the rifle asked in a muffled, monotone voice.
The Krieg with the shovel was about to reply when a constant muffled rumble could be heard in every direction, like thunder, followed by faint vibrations in the ground.
"Yes, 5-4-3-9, it's time," His face couldn't be seen, but the bland excitement could be heard.
Anyone could tell he was smiling. Even Kriegsmen could smile, it would seem.
"I am happy? Are those our big guns, 2-3-1-5? They sound more beautiful now than they did in field testing."
"Because this time... They bring only death."
"Yes, happiness. Let's enjoy their soothing sound a little longer," Both Kriegsmen sat on the bonnet of the dead man's car and listened quietly, watching the uncountable flashes in the distance, wondering how many of their enemies were being vaporised at that very moment.
Those two Kriegers may have been content and 'happy' at what was happening, but everyone in this minor static city started noticing the noise and flashes. The unmistakable sounds of explosions were far off in the distance and were targeting another city, but how? and why?
People were starting to leave their houses to watch the scene with concerned and fearful faces. The civilians began pushing their children away and dragging them back home no matter how much they wanted to watch.
As people pointed and stared at the scene between the rolling hills and mountains in the distance, many had multiple ideas about what was happening.
"Is that a catastrophe!?"
"Mafia families and their petty turf wars!"
"Another Oripathy mine explosion?"
"It has to be a catastrophe!"
"What's in that direction?"
"Where's the Catastrophe sirens!?"
"Idiot! The city Palermo is over there!"
"What!?"
"Palermo Medical Academy is in that direction!"
More and more people left their homes and businesses, crowding the streets to see the commotion. Fear and curiosity were the primary emotions held by these people, mostly Lupo and Vulpo.
The two Kriegsmen could only shake in delight at the bizarre excuses for what was happening. Part of them wanted to stand up and announce to everyone the city of Palermo was currently being flattened without a shred of hesitation.
They were not sadists or cruel. They wouldn't actively seek to kill innocent people or shoot children, but they had their duty to do so, and only death would stop it.
Palermo was only the beginning.
The two Kriegsmen walked away from the crowding streets and away from the scene, surprised none had noticed the dead body of a Mafia leader next to the car yet.
"What's that?"
"Ah! Dead body!
"..."
"You two, with the helmets... Halt!"
The Kriegers, walking away, tensed at the strong command of a woman in the distance on the courthouse steps.
~
"Miss Penance, please don't leave without your guards!"
Penance burst through the large front doors of the courthouse, passed some ornate white pillars and down the front steps leading to the street. She only got halfway down when she saw how crowded the road was and how everyone was watching something in the distance.
She was sitting in her office when she heard the muffled cracks in the distance, even through the thick glass windows, followed soon by the whole room shaking; the process kept repeating.
Penance feared it was a catastrophe. This city was small and immobile, so she feared the worst for the people, but once her eyes locked onto the flashes in the distance, she knew this was no catastrophe, and something was terribly wrong.
Because this city cannot escape a catastrophe, an immobile city like this had the best early warning detection systems equipment. If there was a slight chance of a catastrophe, the alarms would be blaring, and they would have at least 45 minutes to run or take cover. Even the distance Between them and Palermo wasn't a factor. The simple fact is...
The alarms should have sounded.
"Miss Penance, a Catastrophe in Palermo? Why was there no warning!?" One of the many courthouse workers and guards who followed her out of the building called out in shock.
Throughout her education and career, Penance was always told to trust her gut and instincts; right now, every one of her instincts screamed at her. Her ears and tail were frozen solid, and a cold sweat broke across her skin.
"That's no catastrophe," Penance said cryptically, her eyes never leaving the distant flashes. Like everyone else, she was mesmerised by it but unaware of how much damage and death those flashes and cracks were causing.
"M-Miss?" One of the younger employees asked, and many people stared at her for an answer.
"Those sounds... Are artificial..." Penance stated as she tore her eyes away and looked around the busy street. Her eyes quickly noticed a dead body by a damaged car in the distance. A car she knew all too well.
The Costella Patriach's car.
"Like what? explosions!?" Someone else shouted in fear.
Penance didn't answer as her eyes scoured the crowd with trained precision. It wasn't long before her gaze fell upon two strangely dressed people in armoured trenchcoats and unique-looking helmets.
With no hesitation, Penance pointed at the two figures, catching the attention of everyone behind her and shouted.
"You two, with the helmets... Halt!"
~
*A few minutes before it all begins*
The sounds of thousands of footsteps all around, the grunts of people helping large machines into their final positions and the glorious symphony of shovels piercing the ground in mass.
What truly made the sight unusual was everyone looked the same: helmets, armoured trenchcoats, a rifle and a shovel, but the most noticeable feature was the gasmaks every single person wore. Not one face was visible in the sea of thousands.
"Lord Commissar?"
The man turned to face the soldier. He had a far more ornate helmet with the Enclave emblem on the front, which gave room for his Cautus ears, a gleaming chest piece and a red sash. The Cautus Commissar held an elegant cane and stared down his subordinate quietly.
(A.N. That's right, the Krieg Commissar is a Cautus bunny boy!)
"Speak..." The Commissar's cold voice gave no room for hesitation or doubt.
"Lord Commissar... High Haven has given the green light. Commander Farsight himself wishes us luck," The soldier's voice droned. You could barely tell the man was thrilled at the green light.
None in the Enclave or others except the extreme few know why the Kriegers of Terra are so monotone and lifeless. It's almost like they had all of the baser emotions stripped from them and have been replaced with nothing but duty and a desire to fight until death.
"... Very well... Call the Siege Artillery officers to action. It's time we show Terra our sacred duty to Lord Farsight."
"Yes, Lord Commissar..." The soldier salutes stiffly and rushes away.
The Commissar drew his sword and stared at it momentarily. Fully aware he is one of the few who uses a sword in this army, he read the words etched across the length of the blade with pride.
"We never retreat. We fight, and we die. That's the Krieg way."
Turning around and looking into the distance, thousands of artillery pieces are uncovered from camouflage netting and pulled into place in their dugouts.
Artillery of every calibre could be seen, from small mortars to some of the most ridiculous ground-shaking pieces the world would ever know.
And every single barrel was currently pointed at the Siracusan city of Palermo.
An innumerable amount of Kriegsmen and women brought every barrel of every artillery to face the unsuspecting city before them, a city that had already suffered heavily from an Oripathy explosion in the past in one of its factories.
The mobile city was rife with oripathy infected and criminality. It also had one of the largest suppliers of Mafia-controlled narcotics and orignium. The infected are the Mafia's workforce. Most are willing if they get a taste of the drugs mentioned, hence why the Enclave cares very little for collateral damage.
This city was a criminal nest.
The Commissar looked at his watch briefly and stared once more at the vast array of death-dealing equipment before him.
This was it...
On his command, the beginning of the end would begin.
"What an honour..." The Commissar smiled, turning his attention to the many artillery communication officers around him waiting for the command to open fire.
With his sword drawn, he points his sharp blade towards the unsuspecting Siracusan city with a dramatic flare for all his men and women to see.
"With the blessing of Lord Farsight and my command, I order you to Shatter the sky and make the earth beneath our enemies quake. OPEN FIRE!" The Commissar's muffled voice roars, unusual for any Krieg.
With the blessing, all communication officers eagerly start shouting to open fire.
Within seconds of the order, the sound of thousands of heavy guns roared into the sky with zero remorse or care for what awaited on the other end of their hate and anger. The ground shakes in terror, and the air quivers from the artillery's sheer jubilation.
The silent Kriegsmen and women watched as the infamous Siracusan city started to shake and wail from the first of many bombardments pounding it. Seconds after being hit, the city was already crippled, and its massive mobile platform could no longer move as it collapsed partially into the ground, anchoring it, sealing its fate.
Had the giant guns gone silent for a second, they would have heard the screams of terror and pain as tens of thousands of people were being blown to pieces.
There was no more hiding. There was no more waiting. With this act, the world will know they exist, and through this one horrific action, all eyes will turn to Farsight once more.
May Farsight have mercy on Terra because the Krieg will not.
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Done!
Well, I've gone and done it. I've started the beginning of the end.
The story isn't close to being over, but it's getting closer, another 50 chapters, maybe? I'm not too sure.
The Krieg are now here to play.
I decided that my Kriegs have designations like 6-7-5-2. They still have their names but only use their numbers for military purposes.
Like I said before, Penance will have a role to play. I'm not sure how I will do it because I'm pretty sure destroying a Siracusan city and killing thousands kind of goes against her moral justice compass.
I'll think of something.
There is lots and lots of artillery at play here. I tried to emphasise how much firepower was displayed by the pictures and thousands mentioned. It made the fall of Chernoborg look childish in comparison.
I own no Art or Gif's
Thanks for the votes and support.
Zero-