The Dirus Family gathered around the main hall alongside Captain Oliver Frost carrying reports on enemy movements thanks to the efforts of various other Troopers who were present. According to the reports, the Ninth Company only has a total of Five Hundred Soldiers while the combined force of the Festus Alliance comprised of a total of Three Thousand and five hundred soldiers. Their reasoning? To enforce a special rule within the Charter that states that if the Government cannot uphold it’s anti-magic laws then it is up to the people to put the matters into their own hands.
Mark looked at the reports and was shaking, not out of fear but of excitement. This may not be the Civil war that he was hoping but this was the best chance he can get. He felt a hand on his shoulder and found Miriam with a reassuring look on her face but it was clear that in her eyes that she was on the verge of tears.
Mark was about to speak up and talk to her but then a Servant entered the room with a surprised look on her face.
“Settlement Master Setsuna Shinomori and Captain Neil Uchiyama is—”
The doors opened widely to reveal the two of them, Setsuna was Gaige’s grandfather while Neil was the Captain of the Eight Company. Mark and Miriam smiled as they exchange looks, thanks to Mark and Miriam’s connections to the Shinomori family.
“Settlement Master Shinomori,” Mary said with a look of awe and surprise. “I—”
“Say no more Dirus, your children have been good to my Grandchild.” Settlement Master Setsuna said with a reassuring smile on his face. “We shall help you and this branch of Hashira Enterprises will provide you the equipment necessary.”
“Guess that settles our logistics issue then,” Mary said crossing her arms as she pointed him towards the map which showed the entire battlefield of the Settlement of Fenrir, which was a single massive fortified city with a handful of artillery on each corner and they had only around forty eight hours before the Alliance would arrive to raze them to the ground. By this point, Owen, Gray and Cecil had already went home and hopefully evade the alliance and arrive with an intervention force to help them.
Their parents looked at Mark and Miriam who was watching it all unfold, with a sigh Mark stepped out of the room while clenching Arthur which was still holstered into his waist. And by the time he was already in the hallways when he heard the voice of Miriam running towards him with a confused look on her face.
“Mark!” Miriam called out to him. “Where are you going, the war meeting is over there?”
“Let them do the planning, I have a plan of my own.” Mark said pointing to himself with a confident smile on his face.
“Then let me come with you, two heads are better than one after all.” Miriam said walking towards him as she spun her pistols in front of him as though she was trying to prove herself to be just as capable as he was. Which was true but he didn’t want to get her bloodstained too much, he needed her to be a paragon in this conflict and Mark didn’t mind getting too much blood in his hands as he had done in the past.
“Who says you guys are going just the two?” The two of them turned around and smiled as Gaige and Arnold was walking towards them while carrying several bags of unknown content. Mark was about to asks about the contents of the bags but they were interrupted by the sound of someone loading their shotgun. The four of them turned to find Cecil with their Silver Wolf transforming into a halberd and rested it over their shoulder.
“You stayed?” Mark said in confusion.
“I think it would be help boost morale if you have the Champion of the Princess by your side,” Cecil smirked on their face as they were now wearing a pair of goggles instead of shades.
“So what’s the plan?” All four of them turned to Mark with an excited look on their faces. Mark smiled as he would begin the explain the plan. The original plan was for Mark to go into disguise and assassinate the leaders of the Alliance but with having a team of four other members he can have them do other potential avenues that can help hamper the attack.
He can perhaps work with this.
The five of them, now wearing a set of armored jumpsuits that have been modified for stealth purposes, were carefully sneaking into various possible campsites for them to use as a forward camp in their siege. And so they spent the entire night planting traps and explosives, not to kill but enough to wound them, according to Mark they can obtain the moral high ground by only injuring their enemies so they can be patched up again for future assignments.
Mark was with Miriam in the middle of preparing trip mines filled knockout gas which is among the many things Mark can use to disable and hold back the advance, he sensed immense movement causing him to reach for his Archiman Pattern Battle Rifle and aimed it to find Alice Festus, dressed in a fitted bodysuit and a dagger pressed against her neck.
“Put the dagger down,” Mark said slowly dropping the rifle to the ground and reached for Arthur and do the same thing as well. But he made sure not show the stun pistol that he had in the back of his belt which will serve as his contingency plan in case something were to happen.
“I see you’re making traps,” Alice said with a smirk on her face as she pressed the dagger deeper into Miriam’s neck.
“You know I’ve always wanted to have a slave with Magecraft abilities,” She said waving the dagger around like it was a toy as she held Miriam with a glare on her face.
“Your problem is with me, not with Miriam, leave her out of this.” Mark said raising his hands in surrender hoping that he can bait her into thinking that he is gonna surrender easily.
“Pft, you really think I’m gonna fall for that old trick in the book?” Alice said with a scoff. “Besides we don’t care about the fact that you’re a Mage or not, all we care is taking you down.”
What do I do? If I get Miriam killed I’ll be in deep trouble that’s for sure. Mark thought pondering the options he had in mind, it was clear that she isn’t interested in negotiating and like the rest of her family they are after their heads instead. But then he spotted from the corner of his eye was Cecil who was sneaking behind them with Silver Wolf in their hands and so an idea popped into his mind.
“You really don’t want to negotiate? Maybe we can sort something out without the need of excessive violence?” Mark said raising his hands keeping her eyes on him, Miriam on the other hand gave her a confused look on her face all the while Cecil was finally near her and—
Alice quickly pulled out a stun baton and electrocuted Cecil causing them to let out a cry of pain, dropping Silver Wolf to the ground. But in the ensuing chaos Miriam elbowed Alice causing her to let out a grunt while Miriam quickly pulled away causing her to aim her twin pistols at her. Alice seemed to be unfazed by the gesture and instead reached into her bag which she carried the whole time.
“Brother told me to assassinate you but honestly this is better.” She pulled out a pump action grenade launcher causing the two of them to back away as the Grenade launcher unfolded and turned into a mace.
“Boys and Girls, this is Bone Breaker.” She said licking her lips excitedly and then charged at her with a shout. Her first Target was Miriam who rolled to the side as Alice smashed the tree behind her causing it to erupt in an explosion of splinters.
‘Get Cecil, I’ll go and distract her.’ Miriam mouthed towards Mark who nodded in agreement and ran towards the unconscious Cecil and carried over his back while the sound of gunfire and explosions can be heard behind him.
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I need to get them to safety so I can help her. Mark thought to himself as he ran towards a nearby tree and placed Cecil there, as soon as he found her to be safe Mark doubled back and sprinted towards the sound of Gunfire to find it partially in flames due to the explosions caused by Alice's Grenade launcher.
This is getting beyond my expectations, Mark thought as he pulled out the Proto Augment Driver which was given to him by Gaige earlier before he and Arnold went off to plant mines within the nearby roads. Mark put on the Belt and placed the Direfang keycard into it and shouted "Augment!" And upon cue the Armor was completely deployed as he jumped down the ridge and found himself staring down the barrel of Alice's pump action grenade launcher.
"Nice armor." She complimented him and fired a round sending him flying to a nearby tree, all the while Miriam retaliated by switching her ammunition from Rubber to live ammunition as she opened fire on Alice. But Mark wasn't the only one armed with bulletproof armor as her spysuit too was fitted with armor plating preventing her from getting harm while a helmet unfolded protecting her from headshots.
"Did you really think I didn't come here prepared?" She said as she heldher grenade launcher with one hand as it changed into a Mace and started spinning it around. Mark on the other hand grabbed Arthur and switched to it's Pridwen mode and assumed a fighting stance. But as he was about to charge at her, a flare was launched causing Mark to clench his teeth. It was a signal flare designed to signify the start of the siege.
"Sorry Mark but it seems the siege is about to start," Alice said holstering her Mace and started sprinting back to where she came from all the while the Mark and Miriam just watched as they heard the sounds of an oncoming Army.
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[Rise of the Dark Hound]
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The entire City was on full alert as news have broken out that the Festus Alliance is coming faster and worse of all was that Mark and Miriam have yet to return from their disappearance.
Joshua reloaded his rifle as he and the rest of the Field Commanders, which comprised of Oliver Frost, Neil Uchiyama and Malcahi Dirus, were running along the ramparts armed with various weapons all the while their own troops were busy loading up the cannons and artillery along the walls. The plan was fairly simple, they were to remain holed up in the walls sniping and shooting down as many as possible as they take up positions within the four corners of the walled city.
But there was a little bit of good news as they needed to hold out for a few days until the 1st Stormtrooper Company of the Archimans, which was the largest Company within the Stormtrooper Regiment, would arrive and intervene. According to Owen, this was considered an act of disrupting the peace and they’ll need to intervene.
It was good news yes but that did little to ease the worry within the defenders. Not helping is the fact that Mark and Miriam have yet to appear leaving him worried.
Joshua loaded his Battle rifle and aimed at them who all aimed their rifles at him, causing Joshua to swallow hard as the rest of his men were aiming their rifles at one another. They were all colored differently based on the color of the House they represent, House Festus was colored Gold, House Stone was colored stone grey, while House Fiero was bright orange meanwhile the Stormtroopers of House Dirus was snow white and the Soldiers of House Shinomori are fitted with Gunmetal armor. At the head of the army and standing on top of a Military Truck was Settlement Master Lucas Festus who was armed with a chain ax on his hands all the while accompanied by his son was Clint Festus.
“Stand down, we only want the Dirus family.” Lucas said as he revved his chain ax in one hand and then pulled out a noose on the other. “Hand the Family over and we’ll make sure they’ll be put to justice.”
Joshua’s grip on the rifle tightened, it was no secret at the Festus, Stone, and Fiero family were military Families who have fought in the Neogean-Vakarian War, and thus it was no secret that they have a deep disdain towards anything Magic related. And added the fact that all three of them dislike the Dirus Family for having close ties to the Archimans well it was inevitable that this is to happen.
I can end this here and now. Joshua said tempted to take the shot but he decided to decline and decided to stall and maybe they are still able to negotiate.
“How about we do a wager? Single combat winner submits to their demands?” Oliver said raising his hand.
“We’ve got nothing to negotiate, hand over those Mages or we’ll put this city to siege.” Lucas Festus said with a smirk while two other Trucks rode up to his side, this time carrying Settlement Master Archibald Stone and Kyle Fiero on their backs.
“Can’t we discuss this over tea?” Neil Uchiyama said holding up his compound bow showing that he was not willing to fight them unlike the others. Meanwhile as they were trying to stall, the troops have already set up defenses within the inner working of the City so should they decide to start attacking they are prepared.
“You don’t negotiate with Monsters,” Kyle said crossing his arms. “Surrender and we’ll consider making the deaths of the Family quick while at the same time not harming the townsfolk despite being acquaintances with monsters.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to put us to the sword.” Oliver said confidently as a group of Stormtroopers armed with Machine guns and opened fire at them causing the three Settlement Masters to scatter while the other Stormtroopers pulled out a series of shields and formed a shield wall behind them.
“Kill them all!” Settlement Master Lucas shouted as a handful of Shocktroopers pulled out Missile Launchers and began to open fire on the Walls. But the walls are several meters wide, had dealt with various Bandit raids, and thus it will endure albeit shaking the defenders up due to the impact of the blast.
The defenders would then proceed to retaliate by continuously firing back at them with not only the machine gun fire but also Missiles and other explosives that they had at their disposal. Joshua kept firing his Battle rifle through the gaps in the barriers that protected them from the gunfire and arrows launched by the Attacking Stormtroopers all the while various Trucks were driving towards the Gates armed with the same Missile Launchers as before.
“Take out those Trucks!” Neil shouted as a handful of Soldiers open fired at the Trucks destroying them one by one but the last two managed to drive through the Barrage of gunfire and missiles and rammed the Gates in one hit causing a breach into their defenses. The immediate response was for the Troopers to hurry towards the entrance towards but they were immediately gunned down by a dozen or more Attackers who abased on the armor they wore, were the Colors of House Festus.
“The gates have been breached!” Oliver shouted as he got behind a barricade and proceeded to arm themselves with the Bayonets on their rifles and proceeded to engage in intense melee combat as the Stormtroopers from House Festus began pouring in forcing the Stormtroopers from House Dirus to clash with them forming a river of Gold and Snow along the main entrance of the City.
Grabbing a Sword, Joshua jumped down the ramparts and impaled a Stormtrooper and started cutting down as well pulling out a pistol and started gunning down the enemy Stormtroopers with his free-hand. He rolled to the side as he dodged an ax from a nearby Stormtrooper and then aimed his gun at her and began open fire causing her to flinch but she was immediately impaled from behind by a Dirus Stormtrooper and his Bayonet fixed Rifle.
Joshua then turned his attention towards the incoming group of Festus Stormtroopers and took a deep breath as he dropped the pistol as had run out of ammunition and gripped the sword with both hands and then charged forth at the enemy cutting down as many Stormtroopers as much as possible.
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[Rise of the Dark Hound]
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Mark, now with his armor deactivated, and his group continued to sprint through the woods all the while being fired upon them by incoming Stone Stormtroopers, they tried to fire back with Miriam and Gaige firing their respective firearms at them all the while Mark carried the unconscious Cecil with Arnold being the Vanguard.
Thump!
Boom!
The four of them scattered as an oncoming grenade round landed near them causing an explosion to erupt. It was Alice and she had returned to mess with them.
"Where are you going? Let's still play." She shouted through the darkness of the woods and fired another round of grenades at them. Mark quickly handed Cecil to Arnold and pulled out Pridwen and took the burnt of the explosion.
"Is that the best you got?" Miriam shouted as she combined her pistols into a sniper rifle and started firing to the direction where they last saw her.
Don't taunt her, Mark thought to himself as he took Cecil from Arnolds arms and then they continued to sprint towards the way they went back.
"Hnng, what's going on?" Cecil said as they finally regained consciousness. Mark was about to explain but Cecil's shades fell off revealing a somewhat amusing but frustrating truth.
"Dammit Gray why did you stay!" Mark said as Gray got off, her ears slightly getting red from being carried by Mark.
"I want to help you, you're my friend after all." Gray said with an adorable pout on her face.
"I appreciate the gesture but you're the Princess, you can't afford to be involved in some squabble between nobles." Mark lectured her clearly upset at the fact that she had chosen to do this.
"Honestly can't you guys be anymore louder?" Mark transformed Pridwen to Excalibur while Gray used Silver Wolf to it's Halberd configuration as they turned to Alice on a ledge with her Grenade Launcher aimed at them.
"Honestly your lovers spat is so annoying!" She said as she was accompanied by a handful of other Stormtroopers in armored spysuits as she used Bone Breaker's Mace mode and aimed it at Mark. “The ginger with a trick weapon is mine!”
It was going to be a long day.