June 17th, 1427.

4:05 AM

The ground shook lightly as dozens of 127mm rounds impacted the outpost ahead, sending chunks and rubbles from the walls into the dark sky above. Smoke could be seen rising, even from a distance thanks to the fire that had broken out due to the artillery barrage.

“Woo! Eat that, motherfuckers!” Joker can’t seem to contain his excitement, “Nice lasing, Lewis!”

Richard whistles, amazed at the sight. “Phew. Now that’s a rare sight you don’t see every day, I stopped feelin’ bored already!”

Milton joined in, not wanting to be left out. “And that ladies and gentlemen, how barbarians should be treated.”

Unlike the others, Rita remains quiet, silently observing the artillery pounding of the poor outpost.

Joker turned around, noticing Rita’s quiet observation of the artillery strike. “Hey.”

“Y-yeah?” She snapped to attention.

“Watch your back out there, this ain’t bootcamp.” He spoke with a softer voice, seemingly uncharacteristic of his usual attitude.

“I know…”

A small group of Azurians hop down the crater, holding their large shields on their arms and a shortened sword on their hip. Their appearance is as distinct from the Elysian Marines as ever with leather pads and chainmail armor covering their entire body.

One of them talks to Richard. “Such destructive sorcery… did your leader cast his magic?”

“W-what? Oh, I get it. He called the artillery in, but the rounds came from Avatia though.”

The Azurians got even more confused, not believing that modern artillery has such range and power. They cast the question aside, focusing on the task at hand.

“We’re assigned here to support you, providing mobile shields for the assault on Luerico.”

Richard responded. “Well we’re not gonna be there for another whi-“

Milton tapped Richard’s shoulder, pointing at the outpost ahead. “We got movement!”

Several figures emerged from the rubble, rushing in all directions. A few, then a dozen, then nearly a hundred figures. About two dozen of them are rushing towards their position, clearly disorganized but heavily armed.

“Goblins! Light those fuckers up!” Milton shouted as Richard squeezed the trigger on the R-125HB, spraying lead towards the small goblin horde and quickly dispatching them as their bodies hit the dirt, lifeless.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The MT25s joined in, using their 25mm autocannon to fire high explosive rounds into the small horde and nailing the stranglers that survived with the coaxial machine gun, making sure that they wouldn’t stand up again. The small horde was quickly reduced down to nothing with killer efficiency, which surprised and somewhat terrifies the Azurians, who can’t help but observe the carnage ahead while covering their ears from the deafening display of firepower. The MT25s then switch to the other groups and continue their engagements, blowing them up until no movements can be seen.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Sergeant Boris orders through the small radio. “We’re clear!”

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“My god…” One of the Azurian cheered. “That was incredible!”

“Firearms, baby.” Joker laughs. “Serve ‘em right.”

“You think we could use those ‘firearms’ one day?” The Azurian shieldman asked. “These crafts are said to require no magic, so in theory we could use them right?”

“Maybe, but not for the time being.” He answered. “Leaving that aside, there’s a war for us to win. Get ready.”

The Azurian nods, putting on their helmets which are imbued with a light golden tan color, distinguishing themselves from the Elysian’s helmets which is a mix of camouflage nettings, wires and a strange tube-like object attached to it.

Sergeant Boris and Lewis ran to the crater, joining the fireteam. “Mighty fine shooting there, Richard.”

“Thank you, Sarge.” He answers, grabbing another short belt from his pouch and reloads the machine gun.

Lewis’s radio backpack crackles, attracting the attention of everyone in the crater. “All dismount companies! Move forward towards the objective. Clear out any resistance!” The battalion commander ordered over the radio.

An illumination round shot overhead, shining its light onto the battlefield below.

Boris pulls out a bayonet and fixes it to his rifle. “That’s our go signal. Let’s move!”

The group stepped out of the crater, marching on foot as the Azurians moved ahead of them, holding their shields up to cover the Elysians. They looked around, more than a thousand troops visible under the artificial sun, marching towards Luerico. Few survived the previous onslaught as only the injured goblins are still breathing, unable to move due to their injuries. To their curiosity, they saw a human corpse among the goblins wearing strange attires, a cloak covering his entire body along with a half broken, bloodied skull mask where a bullet had struck him in the head.

“Poor sucker, at least he got it off lucky.” Lewis comments, eyeing over the injured goblin near to him who was quickly finished by Sergeant Boris with the bayonet.

“He’s a beast tamer, responsible for leading and controlling the goblins.” The Azurian shieldman explained, observing the corpse himself.

The group continued forward, keeping their eyes out for anything out of the ordinary. Luerico was just ahead, beyond a low hill. The Azurians and Elysians, together, eventually crest the hill along with the armored vehicles. “All maneuver elements, hold your positions.” The battalion commander ordered.

A pair of AH-24s flew past them on low level, destroying several catapults and strafing the outer wall defenses with their front mounted 25mm autocannon. Archers attempted to fire back at them through the gaps in the wall, only to find their arrows fell short or missed entirely. Some archers were lucky, hitting the fuselages when a AH-24 hovered next to a stone tower, unleashing their high explosive rounds into the inner structure through the window. They were for naught as the arrows harmlessly bounced off the AH-24's fuselage, only chipping some paint off. The attack helicopter returned fire, firing a 70mm rocket into the source of the arrow which collapsed part of the wall.

“This is Whiskey-2-1, all units be advised. I got a large grouping of heat signatures heading towards the large building in the center of the plaza. Looks like they’re rounding up the civvies. Over.” The pilot reports over the radio. “Gunner, laser on.”

“Copy. Over.”

The radio beeped, signaling a new frequency has joined in the channel. “This is Colonel Stanford, give me a sitrep. Over.”

“Sir, we got visual on the civvies and some strange monsters on the inner wheat field. Looks like they’re… they’re massive! Suspecting twice the size of a UMT truck. No civvies sighted around the thing, requesting to break RoE to engage. Over.” The pilot’s hand hovered over the radio button, his helmet mounted display already displaying the images of the beast. Several smaller thermal signatures ran up to the monster, trying to break its chains. “They’re trying to free it! Gunner, shift target!

“You’re cleared hot, Whiskey-2-1. Over.” The Colonel announced over the radio.

“Weapon tight. Target spot. Tracking.” The front gunner pressed the missile button. “Rifle!”

The FTM-127 TOLAT missile flew off its wing-mounted side rack, tracking the laser towards the beast and blowing it up as well as several Yarians nearby, spraying white color all over the wheat field on the FLIR display. “Hit. Target kill.”

“This is Whiskey 2-1, we’re Bingo fuel, Winchester on cannon rounds. RTB to Avatia. Switching shifts with First Squadron.”