The low rumble of a distant explosion sent a small vibration throughout the room that caused a trail of dust and pebbles to fall. Debris plinked on a stained and well worn wooden table and came to rest without notice. A light dimmed, buzzed, and flickered a handful of times before sputtering back to life, illuminating a group of hooded armored figures huddled around a cluttered table. None of which seemed to even flinch at the disturbance. A mix of disagreements, worried questioning, and murmurs could be heard intensely zipping between the figures as they eyed a map laid out on the table. The map showed a once prosperous and proud conglomerate of diverse nations. Now reduced to a series of black hash marks that signified once mighty cities that have been razed and consumed in the encroaching inferno. Eyes from the group kept glancing at that piece, a single skull made from blackened iron. At each glance a cold shiver ran down their spines as it was worryingly close to their marble white castle.
A hard slam of a metallic gauntlet on the wooden table silenced the room, all attention falling upon a figure clad in battle hardened armor. Scratches, scuffs, and dents hid all traces of its once awe inspiring shine. The figure spoke up in a solemn tone, “Men.” he exhaled heavily, “That Infernal Tyrant is upon us. Any minute it shall be breaking down our gates and our soldiers are much too injured to fight. We need to retreat and try to recover what we can.”
Another man shook his head and leaned in as he spoke with a furious voice, “How much more can we retreat Dimitrius! We have been on the run for months now and the automatons have pushed us back on every front! Specifically, IT. He exclaimed as his eyes locked with the metal skull piece on the table. Whispers of agreement and small nods filled the room at his words. Dimitrius nodded and knowing the truth behind that statement, spoke in a defeated voice, “Josiah, if we do not retreat today then we will all be crushed. And if we all perish here then there shall be nobody to fight for our future tomorrow. My men and I will stay. We will distract them, this place, my home, was built to withstand assaults. It will be costly for them to take this. That will buy you all enough time to take the remaining forces and get far enough away to the next fall back position.”
Josiahs’ face flashed through every emotion in just a few seconds before it landed on sorrow as he looked at Dimitrius. Now he could see the exhaustion that plagued his old friend. The spark of life that was once in Josiah’s eyes was long gone. Now, he was only fueled by survival and the slim hope for the future. Josiah’s armored steps broke the tense and grim silence of the room as he took in the sight of his friend before he wrapped his arms around him. The now all too familiar feeling of his throat getting scratchy and tears welling in his eyes were pushed down yet again.
As Josiah released the hug, a pale and bloodied soldier in scout attire burst through the door, heavily breathing. “It's at the gates!” She called with terror, “The Infernal Tyrant, it's here!”
Instantly Dimitrius began shouting commands as the room drew their individual hand weapons and firearms and put on their helmets, rushing outwards. Josiah clamped onto Dimitrius’ arm before they parted ways, “I’ll see you on the other side my friend. And if today you are to travel to the Mothers Gardens, watch over Caroline for me until I get there.”
“Worry not my friend, I'm sure her and my Anya are looking out for each other. But do not come rushing anytime soon. We can wait.”
A somber silence held in the air between them as stalwart emotions cracked and tears streamed down their faces. Each tear carved a path in their dirt caked faces. The moment came to an abrupt end when another quake was sent throughout the halls. Each donned their helmets before giving a nod to the other one last time before they went their separate ways.
The figures spread throughout the castle and gathered their men. Dimitrius and his men all ran towards the front gate frantically putting on their gear. The once beautiful halls of his family's great castle were converted into the war torn citadel that it is now. A triage center replaced a grand dance hall. The sounds of soft music are now replaced by the groans of the wounded trying to evacuate hastily. Machine gun mounts placed at the end of hallways in fountains that once sprayed crystal clear water. They passed a once lush and beautiful garden that has been converted into a mechanics shop. Constant oil and fuel spills had killed all plant life only leaving the brown decaying husks.
Their armored footsteps filled the somber silence as they echoed through the stone halls, the occasional prayer to the gods were the only voices heard. His men knew what was to come next, but none cowered nor ran. Soldiers that were part of the retreating forces gave solemn and grim nods as they rushed the opposite way towards a safe exit where troop transports awaited them. Dimitrius knew his hours were now numbered, but he also knew he would allow others a chance to make this right and end this brutal war against the automatons.
Dimitrius’ soldiers pushed open the reinforced gate to the main courtyard and when they did a gust of ash was carried in. The smell of smoke filled their lungs as they funneled outside. The perfect blue sky of the morning had now been replaced with roiling thick black clouds that blocked the sun and swallowed the land in unnatural darkness. Off in the distance over the walls a low purple light could be seen against a rapidly approaching pillar of smoke. The Infernal Tyrant’s mark, scorched land was all it left behind.
Soldiers climbed up the walls and mounted their long rifles in line and waited for the command. A thunderous volley of deep booms echoed above their heads as cannons fired towards the advancing force. More volleys from the artillery battery rang out overhead as the crews frantically reloaded and adjusted as fast as possible.
A buzzing could be heard cresting a nearby hilltop as a detachment of mighty bombers flew by, slow and fat with payload. In the courtyard a landship was set up facing the gate with its many turrets.
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“Fire!” A man yelled from atop the wall as the cracks of dozens of rifles filled the air and their smoke rose. Shot after shot they fired their entire magazine before they ducked and reloaded as a second row stood up and fired in a repeating cycle. Crew served machine guns rattled out countless rounds towards the enemies beyond the wall as the brass shells clinked and bounced against the ground.
Dimitrius watched in hidden horror as the purple light grew closer and closer. Deep bellowing explosions echoed and shook the area as the bombers dropped their payloads. Bright orange anti-aircraft fire from the automatons rattled volleys towards the bombers as a few of them were hit and the charged projectiles caused engines to spew out trails of flames. For some bombers the fires went out naturally as they were able to turn and limp away from the battlefield. Others did not have such luck as the fire spread rapidly and engulfed the whole frame, desperate attempts to recover were made as they descended until they were out of sight. A flash of light followed by rising smoke showed their grizzly fate. The plume of fire from their crash only mixed with the encroaching flames.
Returning fire could be heard as projectiles began to fly through the air and a handful of soldiers were hit. Red mist filled the air as their bodies were thrown back and fell off the wall. Volleys of bullets were traded as more soldiers fell. Their blood mixed with the ash covered ground, turning it into a thick almost paste like substance.
The sound of encroaching heavy footsteps mixed with a malicious choir of creaking metal as the automaton numbers were now upon the gate. Soldiers focused their fire towards the source of the thunderous steps, trying to harm whatever was on the other side of the gate. A high pitch whistle pierced the air and gained intensity over a few seconds. Soldiers with marks of rank were screaming to get down. Many dove from the wall as they tumbled downwards while some were frozen, petrified with fear. The whistle stopped as a gout of deep purple flame shot up and crawled over the wall consuming the soldiers who failed to jump. Their bone chilling screams wailed out as they began to flail around on the floor for a few seconds before they expired, becoming motionless.
An unsettling silence fell upon the land as the purple light made its way just outside the walls. What remained on the inside of the courtyard had reformed behind cover made of stacked stones and wood. With a sudden flash and deafening boom the heavy gate had exploded inwards as splinters were sent flying everywhere, catching some soldiers. Ash and dirt were kicked up now mixing with the heavy smoke that flooded in. All of the soldiers who were not caught by the shrapnel began to fire with reckless abandon.
Dozens of pairs of glowing red eyes began to appear through the smoke and rush inwards out of the cover of the smoke. The automatons were a foul and defiled mimicry of the different species of the realm, from humanity, the elves, and the dwarves. Their faces were mangled and twisted as if to rip and separate themselves from those they sought to exterminate.
Onwards they pushed in, firing on the move but even their superior numbers could not break through the fatal funnel they found themselves in. They rushed headlong into machine gun and cannon fire only to be cut down like grass to a scythe. Gunfire rang out as brass casings fell on equal level to the ash that covered the lands. The automatons that mimicked the elves chanted spells with monotone perfection trying to break the defenses, only to be countered by a living magician uttering incantations of their own. Marksmen would place a perfect shot on them mid-chant which caused the built up magical energy to dissipate in a violent explosion sending nearby automatons flying.
A single gigantic automaton approached the wall and began to climb it, in response the landship turned all cannons towards it as the howitzer teams atop the building were screaming to load armor piercing rounds and lower the gun. Before the behemoth could fully scale the walls, a barrage was let loose. The landship cannons sparked and shattered upon its impenetrable frontal armor as its looming figure did not even budge. Small dents and scrapes were the only evidence of what was usually a tremendously devastating blow. The howitzers which were now aimed down had a clear shot at its top armor. Their salvo entered the collar area and tore deep into it. Black smoke and sparks spewed out as its mechanical body screamed out and faltered. It dropped down and laid draped over the wall with a single hand in the courtyard as a large cloud of ash was kicked up.
The assault kept up for what seemed like an eternity. Barrels were nearly melted, soldiers were fainting from running ammunition resupplies, and the metal corpses piled up almost forming a second wall, blood and oil turned the dirt to a thick mud. In this courtyard their forces were a match in a hurricane that refused to die against all odds. At once the automatons ceased their assault and retreated.
Screams of victory and joy rang out amongst the soldiers but Dimitrius knew better, he knew it was not over. Right as he was about to call out to regather and dig in once more, heavy metallic footsteps entered the gate as the smoke began to pour in heavier. All the soldiers frantically grabbed their weapons once more and began to open fire blindly at the noise.
Sparks flew as bullets ricochet off of unseen armor. A pair of deep blue eyes appeared through the smoke and cocked its head sideways, almost as if it was curious. More bullets bounced off and in response a smoldering flail slowly dropped to the floor and a crown of floating violet flames ignited around its head. A deafening volley of booms rang out as the landship opened fire. A shower of sparks exploded off of the obfuscated armor, the shells whistled an odd tune as they flew off in random directions. The entity was staggered for not but a single moment. A demonic fury was let loose in reprisal as the very air around it began to shimmer with heat and caused the entire area to become as hot as a desert.
The entity rushed the tank ignoring everyone else. With a mighty leap it soared through the air with a terrifying grace, the smoke obscuring its body the entire time. The crunch and screams of bending metal pierced everyone's ears. A hatch of the landship flew out of the smoke, the twisted jagged metal disk bisected a soldier and pinned their upper half to the wall. In the smoke a gout of flame could be seen disappearing into the landship, a second later the explosion of its ammunition tossed two of its turrets and the hull turned into a twisted metal flower.
After shaking himself back to focus, Dimitrius gave a mighty warcry that was echoed by those around as he charged towards the entity. In response the entity advanced and the flail swept outwards, those it contacted were tossed about and mutilated beyond recognition as limp bodies hit the wall and other soldiers. Another sweep narrowly avoided Dimitrius as he slid below it, the air crackling with the immense heat of the flail which singed his armor. However those around him were scattered as gore sprayed across him. Ditmtrius shifted his weight mid slide into a jump and lunged towards the entity with a swing. Before he could even pierce the smoke a heavy metal hand shot out and grasped his chest, stopping him dead in the air as his breath was knocked out of him. With a blur he was pulled into the smoke and thrown back out towards the door of the citadel as if he were just a toy, at the mercy of this entity who he knew had none. With a heavy impact and a crack he fell to the floor gasping for air, with his final moments of consciousness he looked out and saw the sweeping flames of the flail tearing his men apart. Not but a few seconds later darkness enveloped him, and as he slipped into it, he drew his last breath. Thoughts of his dear Anya fluttered across his mind, only to be replaced by the painful sense of defeat as he knew humanity lost.