[@Lorddiviness] [quote=@Lorddiviness] [@Kuchenlein] Once the signal was given, a massive bombardment was enacted on the northern trenches, terrifying the troops there. Immediately, a huge barrage of laser and gunfire was laid down on the trenches, shredding unfortunate troops. The Volcron Assualt has begun.[/quote] At the same time, the Harkyiuians divided themselves into numerous smaller hordes that begun to slip into inner Ironeagle bases and wreck havoc. The battlefield was soon immersed in dense mists of purple shadows. The mists would slow, burn and corrode Ironeagle troops, likely crippling them while being a huge pain in the ass. Many unsuspecting Ironeagle troops were murdered, with most of them being twisted into terrific shadowspawns upon death. Most defenses have also been tore down by the Harkyiuians. The Harkyiuians have their numbers hugely increased after slaughtering many horrified Ironeagle troops and then raising them as loyal shadowspawns. In addition, these shadowspawns are hugely empowered within the dark mists engulfing the battlefield. These mists and the rising shadowspawns, along with some Harkyiuians and their pets fading in and out, have very likely created much chaos within the terrified Ironeagle ranks. A rough woman's voice (Goh Yuet-yin) shouted, "The shadows have come... Kneel before the Dragonqueen, little Nazis!" She let out a sadistic laughter echoing in the battlefield and said, "For those who did not kneel before me, my minions, finish them off! Cut them to pieces and raise them as lovely shadowspawns!" [quote]Meanwhile, the Pherithian reinforcements were brought out to attack the western trench. The forces at Riverside Fort were divided into three groups. The first group was to inflitrate lines, the second to flank the western trenches while a third was set as reserve. Meanwhile Pherithian and Volcron Artillery assembled along the southern riverbank... [/quote] The second group immediately went to flank the western trenches. The Pherithians released Spectrum Hovercrafts to the main assault force against the western trench. These hovercrafts are quite fast and they deliver dispersing laser beams that toast most infantry and buildings into barbeque. The First Group took action a bit later, since they hadn't did such a thing for many years and they had little ideas. But eventually they came with a plan and they began acting. Powerful water elementals and wind elementals were summoned and sent to distract the lines. While the elementals soak up damage and deliver some punishments distracting the foes, many other Pherithians of the first group slipped past the lines...... [h2]====================[/h2] [@Lasersquid112] [quote=@Lasersquid112] He accepts the rifle and takes a curious little cord out of it, plugging it into a socket in his suit. He then unclips the magazine, looks at it, nods, and reinserts it. Helmina can see a glowing LED "500 ROUNDS" readout on the side.[/quote] Helmina looked at the rifle with interest. Her own nations have sufficiently advanced weapons, but only energy weapons have any sorts of indicators, and even then the indicators only show power bars. She seemed to be also amazed about the rifle being plugged into a spacesuit. She nodded and let out a big smile, but then she quickly retracted the smile. She reached out to her pocket, pulled out a bar of candies. A faint magikal scent came as she opened the bar of candies. She then took a pink candy out and put it in her mouth, swallowing it in pleasure. As the otherworldly marine began to speak, she and a few other Revitals took out their notepads and began to jot down things. [quote]He smiles and adopts a casual stance. "Well, my empire is, from what I've gathered, long dead. We spanned star systems, this galaxy was OURS. None dared oppose us because of our Legions. Then the Devourer came." He shudders and his suit jerks awkwardly, trying to mimic the movement. "But before those days of Hell, though, we were unstoppable. We were Legion. Billions of billions of billions begged for mercy at our feet until we blew their heads off. Entire worlds, entire [i]star systems,[/i] reduced to their base atoms. All at the press of a button. That's the power we, the Confederacy of Mankind, wielded." He sighed softly.[/quote] "[color=crimson]Whoah... Your empire must have been great.[/color]" the captain expressed in amazement but also looked at him with some confusion and disbelief. But she then turned to look at the rifle, then nodded slowly. "[color=crimson]Hmmm...[/color]" she continued to listen. "[color=crimson]Hmm... wait... Devourer? Who the fuck was that? Was that some sort of eldritch demon? Sounds fucking tough, even your powerful empire could not deal with it, at least without a hard fight...[/color]" Helmina mumbled as she listened and nodded. She continued to listen, while beginning to ponder about possible answers in her head. And she also wrote some of her doubts and questions inside, too. A seemingly powerful empire of humanity that dominated an entire galaxy. Looking at his futuristic suit and rifle, it seemed quite plausible. But it is also likely just a random futuristic tyranny brainwashing the people. But what is a Devourer? [quote]"Didn't matter, though. What use is a Planetary Destroyer's missiles when the enemy's on board, tearing through the crew? We dropped missile after missile onto civilized worlds, ones with trillions of people on them, and simply obliterated them. One second it's a thriving hub of commerce, the next? It doesn't exist." He speaks of it passively, and Helmina can catch a glimpse of him smiling if she cares to look. He then grimaces, and reaches over to his hand, and... Pulls his hand off. But underneath that blue gauntlet is an actual human hand that goes foraging around in a pocket. It finds what it's looking for and brings it up. It's a cigar. He pops open his visor and puts it in his mouth and then looks for a lighter, finds it, and lights the cigar. After a few puffs, seeing that it's satisfactory, he puts the gauntlet back on.[/quote] "[color=crimson]Hmmmm... didn't matter... enemy was on board... but missiles dropped...[/color]" a quite puzzled Helmina mumbled. She then took another pink candy and placed it in her mouth. "[color=crimson]Hmmm...[/color]" she smiled a little noticing his sadistic smile, and slightly nodded. But it was somewhat also worrying for her, but she kept her concerns well concealed... The cigar caught her trivial attention, and she quickly jotted down his love for cigars in the notepad. Otherwise, nothing much happened. Somehow it reminded her of her love for her candies. [quote]"Now, where was I? Yeah, the Devourer. Worlds fell like dead flies. Pop, there went a sector. Earth? Wiped out in a heartbeat. What's Sol? Wiped out in a week." He sighed and puffed on the cigar.[/quote] "[color=crimson]Sounds like a cosmic horror very much...[/color]" said as she took a sip of her coffee. [quote]"But us humans? We're fucking stupid. A smart race would've given up ages ago, but we kept fighting. I was put on the Last Stop, as we stationed there learned to call it. What was it our commander said...?" He looks around with his eyes and through the transparent visor, Helmina can see data flashing across it. "Ah, yes." A hologram of a battle-scarred veteran, his armor scorched and cracked and dented, appears not an inch in front of Helmina.[/quote] "[color=crimson]Either way, it seems you have no choice... wait for death, run to death, or fight to death...[/color]" she remarked, then suddenly a question came in her mind. "[color=crimson]Oh, wait, or did the Devourer offer you guys and gals any sort of deal? No?[/color]" "[color=crimson]An illusion... lovely...[/color]" the lady captain commented as she peered at the hologram with interest. [quote]After a moment, it begins to speak in the voice of a man who has seen glory, who has seen victory and prestige, but also of a man who has seen Hell and walked his way back; who had seen many losses and many, many friends and family die horribly. But he spoke strongly; " 'We do not know what our chances of survival are, so we fight as if they were zero. We do not know what we are facing, so we fight as if it was the end of Creation itself. No one will remember us now and we may never be buried beneath Terra, so we will build our own memorial here. The Corps might lose us and the Confederacy might never know we existed, but the Enemy - the Enemy will know. The Enemy will remember. We will hurt it so badly that it will never forget us until the stars burn out and the Confederacy vanquishes it at the end of time. When the Devourer is dying, its last thought will be of us. That is our memorial -carved into the heart of the Enemy. We cannot lose, Marines. We have already won." A cheer goes out, many millions of men strong, and a scout comes up beside the Commander. He nods, takes out a cigar, and lights it, smiling.[/quote] The lady was very moved by the great speech from the hologram. The tale made her smile greatly, but also some tears came out of her eyes. Upon noticing her tears, she looked away for a moment, removed her tears before looking back and mumbled... "[color=crimson]This... reminds me of Lieutenant Adnan... He was a brave hero also, fighting for his homeland despite all odds against him... he was the one saying, 'we will fight till the last drop of our blood'...[/color]" For the most part, she simply nodded and smiled listening to his tale silently. "[color=crimson]'We cannot lose, Marines. We have already won.' Ahhh, what a cool slogan you have here...[/color]" she praised. [quote] "Tonight, Marines, we dine in hell.' This. Is the day we fought. This. Is the day we died. Scores of us gone in seconds, but we fought and beat them back. We built walls and cover out of the corpses of our brothers and our foes. Didn't change a thing. There were just too many of 'em. Wave after wave after wave... The right flank fell first. Then the left. Me and my men? We were the final bastion of human hope. We loaded up men into drop-pods; I got forced in even though I wanted to finish consecrating that planet with the blood of my enemies. I was in hypersleep for... My suit indicates five to six hundred thousand years." He unclips the magazine of the rifle and checks it again, making sure it's in perfect condition - it's clear he cares about this rifle quite a bit. [/quote] "[color=crimson]Wow, hundreds of thousands of years...?![/color]" "[color=crimson]Hmm, looks like you care about your gun very much, eh? It must have went through many battles together with you,[/color]" she asked out of the blue. Then she came out with a random comment... "Hmm... final bastion of human hope, but too bad they did not send ladies with you guys too... If not, then those others elsewhere can make love and make babies to pass on their heritage..." she finished her remarks with a chuckle. Then she asked again, "[color=crimson]So how were the foes you were facing? They sounded very tough and powerful even for your futuristic empire. Are they all extra-dimensional beings and cosmic horrors?[/color]"