Omrai and his forces crested the hills they had predetermined as their launching area. It was time to break a siege.
They were well-rested, having ridden the massive transport the whole way, slow enough for the giganotos to follow. Omrai wasn’t sure he would call floating thousands of feet in the air, heading for a battle against a nigh invincible army, resting.
Revin and Beadoróf were in a small transport they’d found inside the behemoth ship. They remained hidden near the cliffs to the east.
In the distance, almost a dozen massive round flying ships hovered over the Ateyan capital. Smoke billowed from the military barracks, the martial compound, even the industrial district where the forgers worked. The palace on the great hill, however, looked untouched.
Almost immediately the ships abandoned the attack on the city and moved in Omrai’s direction.
“Revin, are you in position?” Omrai mindspoke.
“We’re ready to launch once you give the order. Man… that’s a lot of ships. How many automatons in each?”
Omrai looked at his own army. This would be the third time he had faced off against an army of automatons, and this would be the smallest army he’d had. But he had a far greater number of saurians than before, and now he had the giganotos. Every man and beast were grouped into a platoon. Each with a giganoto, its sides painted with the platoon’s number. Surrounding each giganoto were several saurians and a large company of men. Every soldier had orders to protect the giganotos because once they were lost, the regiment would lose its mobility. Every soldier would have to stand his ground near the giganoto or wander too far and be crushed by Jebuthar’s weight-weapons.
His men gripped their rifles and shields in anticipation, some shook. The saurians kicked up dirt as they held their ground, despite wanting to barrel in. The giganotos looked… angry. Growling and chomping their teeth.
He heard loud metallic bangs and turned to the enemy. The ships had landed, and their massive holds opened.
His heart sank.
Pouring would be a vast understatement. Hundreds of thousands of metal warriors marched from the ships and lined up in their formations. Covering the green grass and the brown earth with a dull gray gleam, armor and weapons all. This force made that first battle look like a pissing contest. This was war.
He turned his mount around and faced his men, raising his spear tip in the air like a sword.
“Soldiers! Saurians! Citizens of Ateya!” Omrai said, shouting.
His men turned their attention to him.
“See that wave of metal approaching? That is the greatest army the world has ever seen! But we, man and saurian, stand against the man who would enslave us all. We are few, but we are strong! Though Jebuthar would take away our homes, our lives, and our freedom, we will not hide! Though the other nations cower in fear, will we?”
“No!” a great shout rose from the army and the saurians roared in agreement.
Omrai’s chest vibrated at the sound.
“We are small, but their weapons cannot use our weight against us!” He looked at the enemy army. In front of him, the first wave moved, picking up speed.
He turned back to his men. He did not turn. Even as he knew the enemy was charging, likely lowering their weapons. He had to show them. No fear.
“Let them break like the cheap clocks they are!”
His men cheered. Omrai turned back to the enemy, touching his sword grip. The enemy moved in like a wave of silver water flowing down a stream. Despite the fact those automatons were intent on killing him, it was a beautiful sight. Fear echoed through his army as the automatons came closer. Lowering their rifles, aiming for Omrai and his men. He heard thousands of low, short whistles as the automatons fired their gravitonium weapons.
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Omrai flinched and knew his men did too. Many had been in that last battle in the canyon, some very familiar with the crushing sensation of those weapons.
But then… a miracle happened. The enemy bullets dropped prematurely, hitting the ground between the armies. Some hit the shieldmen in the front, but apart from some bullets embedding themselves into the metal, nothing happened. Not a single warrior felt his weight increase. Omrai smiled. The giganotos spines had worked. His men let out shouts of relief and courage.
Then Omrai heard a series of explosions much louder than the automatons guns.
He looked up; the huge motherships fired their heavy cannons. And a wave of cannonballs approached rapidly.
Before Omrai could seek cover, the cannonballs landed. Fear rushed through his men as the projectiles struck man and saurian alike. But not many. Most of the cannonballs lost their arcs early because of the giganotos’ spines, and they smashed into the automaton lines more often than Omrai’s army, breaking automatons in violent splashes of gears and metal shards.
His men cheered. Courage and confidence surging through them again. They wanted to charge. He could feel it. But he knew this wasn’t the time.
His shieldmen switched places with a row of musketmen, who stepped forward and knelt, muskets raised. Omrai gripped his spear in anticipation.
More automatons came, covering the earth like a blanket, stepping over their fallen comrades. The blue cores from automatons who’d been half destroyed were stomped out by metal boots.
“Ready men!” Omrai shouted.
Omrai watched intently as the automatons stepped closer, row upon row. The automatons spread out wide, slowly coalescing back into ranks. The waiting was over, now was the time.
“Fire!” Omrai yelled.
Their musketballs blasted through the air, ripping through automaton armor, more than half-destroying the first few ranks. Sparks flew and metal tore. The first few enemy ranks were a chaotic mess of broken metal. His men reloaded and the saurians itched to attack.
The next wave of the enemy climbed over the fallen. These automatons had discarded their guns, drawing only swords and spears were out. Omrai had expected this. He smiled in relief. Maybe he was beginning to understand Jebuthar. Omrai guessed that Jebuthar would realize his guns were useless. But Jebuthar still had the advantage of sheer numbers.
But Omrai had the superior troops.
“For our dead!” Omrai shouted, pointing his sword at the enemy. “Fight!”
Behind him, the giganotos and their large squads moved in. On the far sides of their line, coming in around from the side and moving in to attack from the left and from the right, were more giganotos and their squads of mainly tyrannos.
The saurians moved in first, bellowing with a boiling rage.
“ Make sure no one gets in their way,” Revin thought to Omrai.
The crushjaws and ankylos charged ahead first, followed closely behind by the squads of soldiers and Omrai himself. Scarback charged in front of Omrai, lowering her massive and thickly armored head.
Then, as one, they hit the enemy from all sides.
The saurians tore through the automaton lines. The shield heads tossed automatons into the air like dolls, the giganotos and the crushjaws crushed and shattered all in their path. The ankylos and the ceratops battered them into little more than balls of crumpled tin. So great was the saurians’ wrath that his soldiers only had to clean up the few automatons who’d managed to break through that line of raw power.
Omrai himself waded past the shattered automatons and met the first automaton he found standing with a swing of his blade. With a loud crunch he severed its head from its shoulders, broken gears tumbling away. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
The fighting was furious, his men working hard to defend the giganotos, going after automatons with spears and taking them down. The earth was torn and tossed into the air by giant feet.
A ceratops went down with automaton spears in its side, honking in agony. Omrai’s heart broke for it.
He looked to the sky. One ship, a larger one, hovered above the battle. It had been hard to make out before. As they’d suspected, Jebuthar’s command ship was here, overseeing the battle. Omrai turned his thoughts to their own ship.
“Revin, launch now!”