Y:11 D:04

Orcs as far as the eye could see, holding Manticores, lion-like animals on chains,

were marching with battle drums toward Argos. The drones were following their

movements from a distance. The one that was used as a test and flew close above

the marching army was taken down by a spear in no time, about six hours before

reaching Argos. Clive, Bara, and Alex were waiting by the Eagle, ready to put up a

show of strength. They were standing on a hill in front of an area where the land

narrowed to about fifty meters wide. Once Habo and his men were about a hundred

meters away, Alex shot a large firework into the air. The explosion made the army

stop. Using the Eagle’s loudspeakers, he spoke in Orcish. “Habo. Take your men

back.”

Habo stared at Alex and his flying contraption for a second before taking a

couple of steps forward.

“Don’t move any further!” Alex yelled. “Do not force me to use my weapons

against you.”

The phrase must have infuriated Habo, who yelled something to his people

and stormed forward with all their might. Shocked with their speed, Alex quickly

blasted the underground explosives, which were supposed to act as a scare tactic

and a wall of debris a few meters away from them. The Orcs were fast enough to

pass the line, and the explosion happened behind Habo, about ten men deep. It shot

hundreds of Orcs onto the air, killing them instantly, and hundreds more were left

injured from the blast. A nearly seventy-five-meter-long curved line of explosives

went off right under the feet of the marching army. Bara began pulling Alex into the

Eagle, while Alex was speechless and in shock. In the heat of the moment, Habo’s

curses were heard even through all the screaming. Spears started flying toward the

Eagle, and Clive took off toward Argos. “We only meant to scare them,” he tried to

say, but his voice could barely reach his own ears.

The gore and intensity of the moment made Alex throw up inside the Eagle

while flying away. Bara was trying to keep it together, but the situation was

something he had not imagined before. Habo was furious! Orc cries, screams and

roars were mixing into the air, creating a symphony of death and anger. Habo’s grip

was suffocating his axe, while his fury had all but materialized. He began marching

decisively toward Argos without thinking, leaving behind him his people. The army,

seeing their leader in that state, quickly followed fast behind him. The marching army

had now turned into a flood of hatred-fueled Orcs. Alex gathered himself and began

to assess the situation.

“Clive,” he said, “turn back and fly above them.” Then he spoke to the Orcs

again. “Turn back. I do not wish to kill more of you.”

His words could not be heard at all. No threat, no scare tactic, no display of

power could stop this. Humans were going to be reminded of what war stood for, the

hard way. Although most did not really believe it would come to this, it was now

obvious that in less than six hours, they would face the first battle of their lives.

“Should we open fire?” asked Bara

“No! We will try one more time to scare them with Cerberus. Its landing

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should be enough to stop them.”

Alex and Bara reached Argos and, in the meantime, drones flying around the

army were continuously transferring Alex’s voice, asking them to back down. Alex

reached the point of nearly begging them to stop. The scene he saw with the

explosives was so horrific to him that he was trying to avoid conflict in any way he

could. His voice made Habo turn and look up at the drones a few times, but his

march was decisive to his anger and his leadership. He could not stop. In Argos,

there were already those who began questioning whether the right course of action

was taken. It was too late to stand against Alex’s orders now. The enemy was three

hundred meters away.

“How long till the Cerberus lands?” asked Alex.

“It still needs twelve minutes. They arrived earlier than we expected,” said

Steve.

“We need to stall the battle,” said Bara.

Alex called for Clive. “Get the Eagle up and shoot a few rounds between us.”

The Eagle, which was not tested for combat yet, flew and shot the rounds.

Habo looked at Alex aggressively.

“It’s jammed,” said Clive. “The vibrations caused the weapons to jam.”

“Land and get Steve on board to fix it now!” said Alex, his voice trembling. He

knew they could not depend on the civilians. The thirty trained soldiers were all that

stood between a sea of Orcs and Argos. The Cerberus still needed eight minutes to

land. To his surprise, Habo waited. A couple of minutes passed, and he too looked

stressed and searching in the forest with his eyes. Alex stood there looking, trying to

win as much precious time as possible. Is he having second thoughts? he thought.

“Perhaps we can avoid the battle in the end.” Then Habo took the first step forward

alone.

With an extremely loud “Stop!” all looked up to the light that was coming

down. A large chunk of metal, bigger than a two-story house, landed in front of

Argos. Once the parachutes got sucked back into their ejection box, the nine sides of

the capsule opened up. With a deafening screeching sound, a Cerberus turned on

and sat in battle position against the Orcs. A machine made before the Osiris impact.

A machine that was the latest model of a series of machines designed to have

maximum mobility and inflict as much damage as possible to the enemy. The most

terrifying face of human technology was now facing the Orcs, who looked at it with

fear and anger in their eyes. The walls of Argos were covered with humans

celebrating the landing of their war machine. Arrogant in the eyes of Habo, foolish in

the eyes of Bara, and wrong in the eyes of Alex.

“This is your final warning, Habo! Don’t make me do this,” said Alex in

desperation.

While the Orcs waited for Habo’s order, they began organizing in rows and

shapes that made them seem far more formidable than before. Their chaotic march

was replaced by a well-organized army formation. Then they stopped moving. They

began to hum. Mixed with the suffering and hatred they were carrying while storming

toward Argos, this was a moment of taking a breath before the inevitable. The hums

became louder and louder. Then they began to sing. From the top of their lungs, they

began chanting their war cries in unison. The voices brought terror to some of the

humans, who just barely started realizing the position they were in. The Orcs were no

longer looking at the Cerberus. Their eyes were focused on the humans standing on

the walls and roofs of their buildings.

Habo raised his axe into the air and yelled, silencing everyone.

“You honored your deal! The Hir were always keepers of honor,” said Habo

with a smile.

For a few seconds, Alex thought, That’s it! He is stopping. His words,

however, froze in his mind. From the forest perpendicular to the direction of the Orcs,

something else was moving. Something even larger and more ominous than Orcs.

“How did they get so close without us seeing them? Who are they?” asked

Bara.

“They look like … Naga!” said Dimitri in shock.