Chapter 88 – The Vileguard Templars (3)

The sergeant handed the binoculars to the trenchcoat-clad officer. The sergeant took a step back behind the officer with his hands behind his back.

“Tough as expected, Sir,” said the sergeant. “Not even the constant shelling does anything to that blue dome aura that that shields that abomination.”

The Officer nodded. “It is beyond every technology we’ve seen. With that kind of technology, the Midland, no, the whole of humanity can advance one hundred years to the future.”

“If we ever break that shielding, Sir,” The Sergeant said. “Hours of constant bombardment do nothing. Not to mention, that searing laser that destroys our ships instantly doesn’t make this easier.”

The Officer grimaced. “How many ships have we lost?”

“Two, Sir,” said the sergeant. “We recently had one shot down when it tried circling the abomination. We’ve calculated the range and attack of the searing laser. Still, we don’t know if this is all the abomination could so, Sir.”

“How many of our men have died?”

“Thirty-three killed in action, ten severely injured from the blast. Only one survived in the first crash, half of the officer’s side is charred. I don’t think that officer will survive to fight this abomination, Sir.”

“Have you given his last rites?”

“Positive. The Chaplain has started the last rites.”

“I see. Put the man’s ashes to the memorial. Let his kin know that he died a soldier facing a monster that would asunder this territory.”

“Aye, Sir,” the sergeant nodded. “Most of the engineers have started scavenging the destroyed hulls. All the technology that has been destroyed is now ready to be returned back for repairs.”

“Good. We shall not leave anything behind. Tell the men to prime the artillery guns. Are those radios working properly?”

“Crudely, Sir, but they are working well enough to serve their purpose,” said the sergeant, bringing up a sheet of paper near his face. “There are technical problems, however, such a static, and worst is that the abomination is interfering with our communication lines. The ship that was recently brought down didn’t get the warning and it resulted in it being unable to dodge the searing laser.”

The Officer frowned. “Are the engineers fixing this problem?”

“We’ve no idea how to fix the static nor do we have a way to rid it. Though the engineers have a theory that as long as we evade the signal that the abomination emits. The communication line will function.”

“I see,” said the Officer. “Tell the Radiomen to continue their shelling. Tell the pilots to avoid the searing lasers and keep them in line for the strategy. We cannot fight this abomination up close and personal. We can only suppress it here until we find a way to defeat it.”

The officer hesitated, before saying. “Sir, what if we our munitions run out? The Gunnery officers have been warning us that we may not last day or two if keep on shelling the enemy this hard.”

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The Officer gripped the binoculars in his hands tightly, his hands showing veins. “Have faith in our artillery, Sergeant. We are the only ones that could possibly stop this abomination. Either we die fighting or let the lands burn.”

“I see. Then may Luci Fera’s light guide us then, Sir.”

“And we may never falter, Sergeant.”

The wind blew heavily. There was a patter in the ship’s deck. The Officer lowered his binoculars and glance at the abomination that was growing bigger as time passes on. Not a single dent in the shield. The abomination was the first monster that they could not kill by shelling it.

Their campaign has always been about artillery. The time of swords and axes were gone. Trebuchets and ballistae were no longer viable. For Artillery can solve most of their problems. Yet, the enemy before them doesn’t fear their Ram-el Type-1 Cannons.

The Officer had seen things that would break normal men of the Freelands. He had seen abominations but never had he seen such thing that could withstand their cannons. The Ram-el Cannons that they have named after Thunder of God were ineffective. And seeing such reliable weapon being unreliable had shaken the hearts and minds of the black-clad Templars of the Vileguards.

They have established five-point battery stations around the area. Each of these artillery guns had been set up to continuously fire at the enemy. They have more stopping power compared to the Ram-el Type-1 Cannons that their ships are armed with. They could not put the cannons on their ships in fear that it would disrupt the equilibrium of the ship. The ship works by emulating the buoyancy of a boat. The thrusters act as the upward force that keeps the ship afloat while the engine that came from a ruin and was reproduced crudely keeps the ship stable.

In the eyes of others, it was a big hunk of floating metal. But to these black-clad men, they are reliable and faster than the floating airships that the Bali and the Cagan forces had made.

It took them years to create the unkempt floating metal for a ship. But it was their greatest triumph and their symbol to why they could fight and go unnoticed to where the Vile was. Yet here it was nothing but a rust bucket metal that could be easily shot down by an abomination. This was a blow of confidence to them and the Officer could understand the nervousness of the Sergeant who had long gong too to do his duties.

He stood staring with his coat billowing against the wind. The rain had already drenched his face. Yet in those eyes, there was a strange spark that would blind any lesser person. There was fervor. There was zeal in the eyes of the officer. Indeed, all of them work under the dark. They have taken an oath that until they are old and weary. When they are unable to make use of their limbs. They shall watch the Holy Midland and its citizens till and protect them from the vile such as these.

Indeed, their chances of winning are low. Their ammunition would probably not last them another two days. But yet, the Officer that watches in the bow of his ship stood stern, his watchful eyes gazing upon the blossoms of fire that his fleet drops down the abomination that threatens the land whole. This was not their home. This was far from their homeland yet they fight here in hopes that those people would not see this abomination in their homes.