Come morning, his canine ears immediately picked the sounds of footsteps and voice all around him, pulling him out of sleep. He sighed and blinked heavily, the grogginess that overtook him was due to the less-than-comfortable mattress the backplate of his armor proved to be. Aleko rolled himself on his feet and latched the the locks back in their place, refitting the suit on his frame to prepare for the march. Outside, he was greeted by men packing their tents and readying to move camp further North, then general Bulkwyn greeted him and offered breakfast before leaving him the call to start the final march. The still-dizzy Aleko only nodded to the rodent as he retreated to a more secluded portion of the advancing party camp to take care of his morning duties; after a quick breakfast and a brief wash of his teeth, the Emperor let out an ear-piercing whistle, lifted his fist to expand his fingers, then, point them towards the general direction of their march. It was time to move again.
As they went on, the cold became a more and more dangerous presence, welcoming the small army to the highlands of human territories. He couldn't help but feel a knot tying in his throat as he advanced, knowing that he was once again walking into enemy territory, garrisons could be hiding anywhere near their marching direction; he hoped that word didn't reach the enemy of this rather bold movement, placing his confidence in the fact that no one was expecting the smallest of the bigger factions to start acting up. That, if anyone knew of Cyrus's campaign spearheaded by the only heir of the late emperor. Among his own thudding of footsteps resonating against the closed helmet, the canine could hear the general talking to him once again, as she decided to pair up with her new favorite chatting companion; the shepherd could still feel slight annoyance towards her presence, the lackluster attitude and seriousness just didn't bode well for a general in his opinion. Strangely enough, though, he could find enjoyment within their brief conversations, her being there next to him comforted him for some reason, even though he didn't really trust her as a general. That was the real reason Aleko chose to conduct this operation, even though he felt rather intimidated by the prospect of commandeering a military unit a hundred times larger than what he used to order around.
I have to get over such fears, he thought to himself,
I am the supreme commander of the army, now. My army. How queer.“We must have entered the province of Northspark a few hours ago.” General Bulkwyn spoke to Aleko.
“There won’t be much cover until we reach our destination so we better march more cautiously. We wouldn’t want word to reach the fortress.”"That would indeed be counterproductive, general." He replied, his own canine slightly clattering before he finished the sentence.
“Is it always so cold around here?” She asked, obviously affected by the less-than-warm weather. To that, Aleko shrugged his shoulders, his own armor clattering together with a shiver of his own.
"Consider this but mild weather. I heard that winter here is worse than far in the north. They do say that it isn't so cold during snowfall."
The forest's unnaturally strong scent of pine scent got to him too; at first it was pleasant, he would take deep breaths of the air every now and then to reinvigorate his lungs, but it soon intoxicated him as well to the point of nearly retching his awful breakfast. In time, the olfactory system got used to strong odor, but Aleko suspected that his nose had burned and there was no chance for him to regain normal smell ever again. Once the final camp was set near the fortress, the heir found himself sitting in front of a fire with the slightly tipsy the female general; he had a wooden mug clasped in his hands, his first and only wine for the night. It was half full, the other one went down the hatch with some of the salty bacon and tough bread; as awful as this may be for more puffed up nobles, he felt right at home in these 'standard military issue' situations and even though he admittedly missed the warmth of a good bed and the rich taste of freshly made food, he preferred the unique charm of being on the field. He followed the female halfling with his eyes, noticing the grin on her rodent snout. It was a contagious smile, so contagious that he also smirked with a hidden corner of his mouth.
"Something on your mind, general?" He asked, realizing only after he had uttered that he opened a conversation with the FSC.
“These aren’t ordinary pines. They are Mage-Trees. You know, some kind of artificially-made species of pine allegedly created by the mages from this kingdom. They say that its sap has some weird properties that alchemists find valuable.”"Huh." Aleko replied as he glanced up at the majestic trees. "Well, why would that interest us?"
“Well, it means that once we take over this province, we have access to this resource. I hear it’s quite rare and who knows? Maybe we can find some use from it later.” She replied.
"Hm." He took another sip of his grape juice before he put it away. He pushed himself on his feet and picked up his ASAR 1044, clutching its wooden handguard and trigger grip before sighing heavily. "Every little thing may be useful for someone out there, even dust mites. General, you'll find me on night watch if you wanted to converse some more. I can never sleep before operations."
But it seemed that the female just glued herself to him like a large flea. He simply couldn't have a moment to himself and think out his intentions, his motivations for driving forward this campaign. Until now, he's been an admirable soldier for accepting his role and set plans in motion, but he didn't quite give himself enough time to think through his own view over the initiative he was taking.
How is this beneficial for me? Why should I do it? If it weren't for their sake, would I still be here? were several questions floating in his mind as the general went on about everything that she could have an opinion about. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that she had queried him about Eagleblade and the War of Tulips. His eyes glued off the horizon to glance at her shape as he finally deduced what she wanted to know. He turned his snout back at the horizon, pushing the visor and bascinet too, and thinned his lips.
"I saw quite a bit of its farmlands. Nothing impressive, they look exactly like any other farmer's settlements. You'd think that they would be richer, since Eagleblade's the nexus of all trading in Avalon, but no; the rich remain rich, the poor poorer. Once the expedition was done, we boarded the ship and went back to Freedom." He omitted what happened afterwards, since he suspected she knew about his boldness in front of his superiors.
"Must be warmer, at the very least”"Warm enough to start sweating under the sun." Aleko admitted after a breathy chuckle. Her gaze only briefly turned to the Emperor before she returned her attention forward.
“Have you ever fought Wizards before?” She asked quite bluntly, her tone changing in an instant. That drew his attention to her, curious about her sudden change of mood.
"Not real-" he barely mouthed before she interrupted him with quite an amount of gall.
“Whatever you do, don’t underestimate them based on their appearance. Patience is key, keep your distance and more importantly stay out of sight. If you need to close the gap, be quick and keep in mind the previous advice, one mistake and it’s all over. With their magic bullshit they make us and the rest of the Elite Rangers look like kids with slingshots.” A grunt of frustration escaped her before she leaned in a little closer to Aleko, as if trying to tell him something in private
“If you ask me, I think it’s pretty damn… unnatural for someone to wield that kind of power.” She admitted to him. The canine wrinkled the top of his snout.
Had a nasty run-in with a wizard once, haven't you? He questioned her in his mind, but abstained from voicing the inquiry. He lowered his head a little to have a better look at the general as she leaned in close to him; for her it may have been very natural, but he felt more and more uncomfortable about her presence, mostly because it reminded him of something much less military-esque. He felt as if he was counting the stars on a clear night sky with a sweetheart, rather than paying great attention to any incoming threat.
"I under-" but he stopped mid-word as his sensitive ears had picked up a sound coming from nearby. He turned his frame abruptly and raised his rifle towards the general direction of the sound, lining up the rear and front sight for his right eye. Shortly after, his vision was filled with an armored hand as it pushed his rifle down in a quite curtly move; Aleko turned his gaze to Bulkwyn, whatever small seed of sympathy that had grow in him somewhere quickly dried out as he was remembered about her unprofessional demeanor. While it felt completely natural for a general to shoot down a lieutenant, he tried very hard to get used to the fact that he was more than that now. While not his merit, he disliked being treated like an underling in front of other underlings.
It soon became obvious who approached them, the Emperor nestled his rifle into his chest in a resting position, the armored right arm cradled the wooden butt-stock of his firearm. He only nodded to the infiltrator as he greeted him, rather impressed by the fact that he knew immediately that he was the Emperor, and not some nameless Elite Ranger. The discussion was short, but he learned everything there was to know about the castle and how his bit of the plan will work out. The agent seemed rather bemused by the fact that Aleko would actively participate in the takeover, but as Bulkwyn implied that he wanted his role at all costs at the threat of execution, he couldn't feel but a little amused at the expression of the dark elf. Just to continue the joke, Aleko met his gaze with his own icy pair of eyes and slowly lowered his head. Hearing him reply in a meek tone drew a light smirk on the corner of his mouth. He quickly glanced to the left, noticing one of the other rangers stifling an amused snort. Once the infiltrator was given the free to go, Bulkwyn clapped his shoulder and invited him to a more secluded region of the forest, where, she offered him a stone. He inspected it curiously, analyzing its faces and edge thoroughly. He couldn't help but chuckle at her quip on the Wizard's precaution.
"We do have to appreciate his thoughtfulness." He remarked, smiling at the stone. "Good night, Pepper." Only a second later, he realized that he called her by her first name. Quite a gaffe on his part, but he just let this one slip as he inspected it further, when he realized something.
"Did he, by any chance, tell you how I'm supposed to use it?" Seeing that she already trailed off to her tent, Aleko did the same. His mind chewed on the day's bits of information in contrast with the fundamental doubts of his presence within this life-changing situation. He deepened his thoughts as he laid down to sleep in his tent, plagued by doubts of his own capabilities, of his fitfulness within the larger scope of the campaign. Sure, he could manage skirmishes, but entire wars? An entire Empire? He was but a boy of noble descent that knew how to handle a rifle with accuracy and how to defeat people in melee bouts; sure, he knew how to dance and how to act diplomatically, but these alone didn't make him fit for the crowned head of an empire. Quite ironically, the nightmare nagged at him just with these thoughts. He should have known better not to let himself sleep, for he had to remain focused for the next day.
Day 7
-Battle of Castle Northspark-
The heir peered into the fire, having the urge to just sit down and steal some more time of slumber, but his attention was needed for the rest of the day, the whole operation depended of his effectiveness up on the castle walls. There was a frown of his angular eyebrows over a pair of blood-injected icicle eyes, dark semi-circles dug under his lower eyelids contrasted the white coat of thin fur on his halfling face. Steam formed as he sighed through his nose before he swallowed a mouthful of the washy tasting broth, that luckily still had some heat to it to warm his insides. He looked down at the discolored liquid in his bowl to drive his rough spoon and take more of the broth, feeling blessed by the Gods to have found a stray carrot in there to enjoy something different to taste. To his disgust, it had a very earthy tinge to it. Hearing the yawn behind him, he turned his body to noticed the general doing the first womanly thing he ever saw at her, tying up her hair.
“Good morning, sire. You’re an early riser today. Anxious about the fight?” She asked the canine as she approached him.
"Good morning, general." He replied with a rough voice. "Any day's a good day to die, why would this one be any different?"
"No signal so far, huh?" She asked, glancing in the direction of the fortress. Aleko shook his head and blinked slowly.
"Nothing yet. They only had a few hours to do anything before the main force had woken up." He uttered.
"The troops from the castle probably already left or are leaving soon. We would still need to wait for them to put some distance from the fortress, lest they get their own signal and suddenly make a 180 and charge at us in the worst possible moment.”"That wholly depends on the agents. If they put up the signal before the troops get any distance, they will see it and make that turn, yes."
A rather loud grumble noise interrupted the conversation, the shepherd turned his snout down at the feline.
“Hehehe… Guess I should grab some of that dried meat. Excuse me, sir.” Bulkwyn giggled at her hungering stomach, the dog also let himself amused by it and grinned.
"Better than this tap water with freshly unearthed carrots." Aleko commented as she walked back to her tent, rummaging through her rations. Getting to see her in her natural habitat explained her demeanor a lot, and in a sense, he could see himself in her personality. He too felt a lot more comfortable here and of course he looked for this sort of comfort when he found himself aboard the ship. Maybe she didn't quite know how to adjust her behavior in front of others, but neither did she care about it. It was an unhealthy sort of honesty.
While she had her breakfast, the canine stared at the fortress, taking in its shapes and visible structure. He tried to envision himself crawling on the top of those walls and sneaking down the towers, muffling the clattering of his armor from any possible enemy guard patrolling the area. After that, he mentally placed himself skulking in the courtyard through the tightest crannies to reach one of the gates of the fort, deal with the guards there and open the gates for the main force to swarm inside and aid with the takeover. The general eventually joined him, he kept his gaze affixed to the military structure and kept pondering on how to proceed once inside, balancing the range and deadly effectiveness of the rifle with the stealthiness, yet more dangerous to maneuver longsword.
“Have you already picked the three lucky blokes to accompany you in your operation?” She asked, genuinely curious of his choice. To that, Aleko could only open his eyes wide, realizing that he completely forgot about the fact that he won't be alone up there.
"Bollocks, I haven't." He replied, lowering his gaze at the ground. "I've-"
been troubled by doubts. I may be able to take this castle, but will I be able to take Avalon?. "I suppose it's prime time I pick my three men. Allow me a moment."
With that, he walked off, leaving his empty bowl behind to go find the nearest sergeant of the Elite Rangers company Bulkwyn commandeered. He approached an amalgam of tents that seemed to from a platoon of rangers, where he immediately spotted the individual differing from the rest thanks to a subtle insignia on both pauldrons; the infantry leader immediately noticed the white-furred heir and immediately dropped the whetstone he used to sharpen his falchion to throw his hands at his back to salute his superior. Aleko did the same, showing mutual respect for each other's rank.
"At ease, sarge." He uttered before he walked closer to him and grabbed at his own belt strap holding his own dual-ringed longsword on the right side of his hip.
"I'm going knee-deep in hell and I'm looking for three unlucky sods to follow me." He explained himself, the stout, ginger-furred male cat nodding at him. "Can you point me to your best scouts?"
"Aye, milord, that I can." The feline turned his head towards the camp and whistled at the rangers playing card games on several stumps. They all raised their heads, some even stood up to present their own reverence in front of the Emperor. "Hardpaw, MacFinlay, Borland, hut-hut!"
Aleko saw three men from different locations of the camp jog towards the two and quickly line up in order by height in front of the emperor. A scarred lynx, a white-furred wolf with a more sandy shade of blonde hair and a stern-faced mink, a rather mismatched trio Aleko had to judge and pick.
"Milord, all three of 'em 've seen combat and tactics in their life. Finla-"
"Thank you, sarge." The canine interrupted, lifting a hand before pointing his finger at the lynx. "Hardpaw. At ease and as you were." The sergeant raised an eyebrow as the Emperor sent off the lynx. Aleko glanced at the sergeant, then back at the two remaining rangers. "Scars mean that he had been seen and hurt before. Taking one to the face can only mean you've been careless. You three will do."
"Sir, yes milord!" The three quickly replied, to which the heir lifted his hand and shook his head.
"While you're under my command, you will address me as sir, Commander, or by my designation, Frost. Present yours."
"Thunder." Replied sergeant Yearling with a nod.
"Meek." Uttered the pint-sized mink in a surprising baritone.
"Bedpan..." MacFinlay admitted, obviously unenthusiastic about his alias. Aleko cocked his head back at him, Meek had to hide a grin under his lowered muzzle. The shepherd's eyebrows raised, his mouth gaping slightly at the wolf's accomplishment. He could only suspect just how he had been decorated with such a unique, glorifying code name and chose not to ask any further details.
"Well, Bedpan-" he nearly lost his composure and chortled on the spot "-I do appreciate having the creative sort under my command." He cleared his throat and gave them all a long glance. Their personalities were very different from those he worked with in the past, but they all were rangers. His rangers. Aleko spent several minutes divulging the infiltration and conquer plan to his newly formed fire team, all nodding and paying attention to the words of their leader, Commander Frost. Once done there were only a couple of questions regarding equipment and method of entry.
"As long as your weaponry is made for personal defense and not battlefield-only application, you may bring anything that suits your ability. In essence, that excludes pole-arms of any sort, greatswords and cannons. Anything else is suitable. Even bedpans." The wolf was obviously displeased of the quip, but the rest of the fire team could share a chuckle of their relaxed, but serious Commander. "Method of entry will be elaborated by the infiltrators that are now inside those walls. Once we are given the signal, we will approach the fortress in that specific direction and look for the secret access inside the fortress. Is everything clear? Any other questions?"
Once he had finished with them and exchanged salutes, Aleko returned to the general to report his choice. From there, there was only a matter of time to wait until the signal arrived. And it did, several hours later. Once he had seen it, he latched his armor tighter than before, tightened the straps of his longsword scabbard, dagger sheath and sidearm tucked under his dagger. He found his three men, all clad in their own sets of typical Elite Ranger armor ready to follow him to the castle and start working. There were very little words exchanged between them as they advanced towards the fortress through the shrubbery, stepping on thorns and rocks and moss, covering their armor with ripped leaves and sap, to reduce the reflection of light. Aleko appreciated them being silent as they walked behind him in a wide formation, each determined to do their task with professionalism in front of the Emperor himself. Aleko glanced through the eye-slit of the visor at the men to his right and left, seeing them advance with the buttstock of their rifles pressed against their shoulders, yet, the tip of the barrel pointed downward, their indexes off the trigger, as any serious ranger should be brandishing their highly lethal firearm.
This feels so good. He thought to himself, smiling in the confinement of his faceplate.
This is home. This is what feels right. This defines me.They quickly found themselves at the base of the wall where the signal had been put off, their backs pressed against the cemented stone.
"What're we expectin' precisely, Commander?" Inquired the sergeant as he looked around him, the feline kneeling with his rifle still in resting position.
"Drows." Aleko replied in a whisper, looking up at the wall. "Or a tunnel. Or a crumbling wall to reveal a secret entrance, with poorly disguised dark elves. Anything."
"Knowing those dark elves, they got in prostituting themselves to the worms." Commented Meek in silence.
"If they didn't dig themselves through like worms." Added Bedpan in a hushed tone.
"That's why I suggested a tunnel and poorly disguised dark elves, now close those muffs, soldiers, or they'll shove their poisonous pricks down the hatch." The team could barely contain their amusement, until they saw a head peer down at them, moment in which they all froze in place. They relieved their stress in unison as two ropes unfolded down the wall. Aleko and Bedpan quickly knelt and cupped their hands so that the other two could spring up and reach for the ends of the ropes. Yearling jumped off Bedpan's hands and shoulder and successfully latched onto the rope. Meek, being on the shorter side, had to step on the Emperor's head to catch the rope. Aleko grunted as he felt his muzzle bump against the bascinet and sighed to himself as he watched the mustelid aptly walked up the wall and stretched an arm downwards. Sure, he didn't have a large body to drag after him in his ascent, but he had to sustain Aleko's. The canine took momentum by taking a few steps back, then, charge at the wall and jump up it, grabbing for Meek's arm, which clasped together. Thunder managed to grab hold of Bedpan also. Aleko quickly crawled up and over Meek in a few painful moments, but he managed to get enough distance from the mink as he scaled the castle wall. The view slowly become a frightening one, falling from up there would definitely be fatal for the canine, but he kept his focus on his muscles as they pulled him up the wall, his feet pushing and keeping his balance. In no time, he walked between the crenelations of the wall and knelt on one knee, quickly taking his rifle back in his arms. Soon, the rest of his fire team finished the ascent and quickly pulled the ropes back up. The Commander met with the disguised elf and listened to his report.
"Good work, brother." Frost congratulated the elf. "Now take some time to rest, we will take over from here." He then turned his attention to the three anthros.
"You heard him, three more guards on the North and East side. We split now, take the lookouts and secure the gates. Thunder, Meek, you take the North lookout and the entrance that's there, the back one. Bedpan, you're with me, we take down the two on East and the front gate. Questions? No? Move out, Rangers lead the way."
And off they were in separate directions. Aleko and MacFinley advanced towards the tower, which they quickly secured and checked it to be clear. They both inspected the exit door towards the Eastern wall, where they saw one of the guards stand still and watch the world below, the other seemed to be approaching them. The Emperor could feel that dread in his stomach, the sort of fear that made him grow determination to succeed and avoid danger and death. He was in a tower of an enemy fortress, albeit less impressive than Kyrm. The peril was still there, especially since there was still daylight.
"Sir, he's approaching, what do we do?" Bedpan asked as he inconspicuously peeked through the frame of the door as he knelt at the opposite side of his commander. Frost glanced back at the tower, to look for any hiding spots that they could use to surprise the incoming guard. Seeing nothing but a desk, a drawer, some drapes and an old shield, the halfling came up with a more unorthodox plan.
"He's going to enter the room. You trip him, I lock his head and throw him down, then you knock him unconscious."
"Have you... tried this before, sir?" Asked Bedpan.
"In my imagination, yes." Aleko replied. MacFinlay swallowed dryly.
The guard was close enough to have his footsteps echo through the tower. As soon as the tip of a boot crossed the door frame, the wolf extended both of his legs, against which the lookout managed to bump into and lose balance. Aleko caught him quickly and redirected his fall inside the tower, so that the other guard won't outright hear his colleague topple over. As soon as the humanoid embraced the floor and kissed it hard, Bedpan jumped out and tightly grasped the buttstock of his weapon; due to his rather rushed approach, the wolf managed to trip over the guard's own legs and fall flat on top of him, bumping his helmet against the temple of the downed foe, essentially knocking him out cold and leaving an ugly dent in the skin. The wolf rolled on his back and grabbed his helmet, his legs curling as his muffled groan expressed sheer pain. The other canine slapped the faceplate of his own helmet in annoyance before he turned his gaze back at the window slit; he crawled himself there to see the other guard lean his head to see what was the origin of the sound. Of course, he too started walking towards them, but this time he didn't have Bedpan's cultivated skills in subtlety on his side. Aleko pushed himself into the wall and slowly unsheathed his dagger, which he dubbed Pickpocket. He didn't use it to cut purses and steal money, but the blade definitely served a more sinister purpose. He saw with the corner of his eye, through the slit, as the guard rushed inside and saw the mess sprawled on the floor.
"Wha' in th' world's goin'- who are yo-" He couldn't finish his sentence, as Aleko lunged from behind to wrap his gauntlet against his mouth. He lifted his shoulder and drove his arm at his confused foe, driving the pointed tip of his dagger through the chain mail, effectively piercing and breaking several interlinking chains as the blade sunk into the raw flesh of the neck hidden under the multiple layers the gambeson offered. It wasn't enough to save his life, as blood sprayed out when the halfling drew his dagger out and shoved the man down. The guard managed to crawl a few paces forward, gurgling on the blood flooding his larynx. Soon, the insufficient amount of blood reaching his brain had dragged the opponent into unconsciousness, which would soon turn into coma. Then, non-existence. A sigh could be heard from the shepherd as he knelt beside the guard and cleaned the blade of his dagger against a piece of cloth before he tucked it back in its sheathe. He then pointed his finger at the other one.
"I suggest you do the same. They sleep for only so long."
Bedpan could only groan in pain.
With their wits recovered and guards eliminated, the two descended on opposed flights of stairs leading towards the main gate. They had arranged to each take down two of the guardsmen, by distracting one, executing the other, then, return to the first one. Simple enough in design, application would definitely be less clean. Aleko uttered a few words, which drew the attention of one guard, MacFinlay mimicked a man crashing and hitting something. Bedpan swiftly executed his guard by driving his dagger right in the eye of his enemy. Aleko wasn't as lucky: he had to drop his dagger and draw his longsword out, quickly sliding his left foot behind to balance himself out in a steady stance, his arms lifting the long-bladed sword with trained elegance in a high guard against the spear. Knowing that he would lose the fight fast while trapped in the tight spot, he rushed into his foe by swiftly battering the spear against the wall with a curt snap of his wrists, aiming the blade downwards and to his right, from where he quickly wrapped his left gloved hand against the flat of the blade to fall into half-swording. The canine roughed up the guard, forcing him back out. The other guard Aleko was supposed to take down quickly lowered his spear, befuddled by the sudden action, while the one Bedpan was supposed to take down started to dash to the side and towards the inner gate to warn the others, but to his dismay, he found himself tackled by a pouncing ranger and slammed against the floor. The other canine managed to sink the tip of his longsword above his enemy's collar bone, but he had to reel away as the second spear head threatened to drive itself into him. He soon realized that he could have taken that hit with no repercussions, as it would have glanced off his plate armor.
Now, he had two men with spears pointed towards him, a situation in which he wanted to pull his handgun out and execute them on spot, but that would have made quite an audible racket. The two tips lunged at him at random intervals, unable to catch a moment to charge in for a counterattack. He returned to a normal grip of the sword and fought off the spear heads with quick snaps, engaging his elbows and wrists in the parries. He kept himself skittering away from corners and walls, as to not trap himself in a fatal situation, but this stalemate was finally put to an end as Bedpan appeared in the scene, twirling a falchion around his body as a menacing distraction for his opponents. The wounded spearman turned his attention to the wolf, taking a quick, but failed jab at him, Bedpan now essentially assaulting the man with slashes left and right. Aleko took this as an opportunity to batter away the remaining spear with a lot more force, free enough to put his entire body into the strike by winding up his entire torso in the directing of the sideways cut. As the spearman forced the shaft back in a guarding position, Aleko lunged forward and latched his left hand against the shaft of the spear, the right hand cocking the longsword over his left shoulder before he launched a curt cleave downwards, inflicting a snap-cut at the spearman's glove; the momentum, the weight, balance and sharpness of the blade were enough to dig its tip into the wrist and cut connection of the first three fingers from the spearman's right hand. There was a grunt of pain, but it was silenced as his mouth had been filled by a right-side steel pauldron smashing against his teeth and nose, sprawling him on the floor. The canine didn't waste any more time and half-sworded again as he dropped his knee against the man's chest and drove the tip of the blade into the downed foe's throat three times.
Bedpan was parrying the spear expertly, but the limited reach of his flachion prevented him from advancing on his foe to finish the job, his lunges and graceful snaps of the wrist were simply not enough to cover the length as the slender blade swirled and cut through the air with a high-pitched whoosh. Then, it would cry a metallic clang as the spine slapped the shaft away at Bedpan's twist of the arm while changing the fore leg of his stance from left to right. Suddenly, the next jab didn't arrive. When he lifted his gaze, he saw the tip of a pointy blade protrude through the throat of the spearman. The wolf understood what happened and gave his blade one last forceful twirl, launching blood stains off the steel blade. Aleko drew his longsword out and lifted his visor, revealing a panting canine.
"The winch is on my side." He declared through his panting. "Hold your ground until I open the gate and the rest of the forces arrive." He quickly turned to run back up the stairs, swishing his own longsword to the side to throw the drops of blood off the tapering blade.
MacFinlay dashed to the enemy he wrestled with and quickly drew his dagger out of his face with a sickening crackle of the cracked skull. He sheathed both of his bladed weapons and took position in the doorway to his flight of stairs, where he pulled his rifle from his back by its sling and gripped it tightly as he waited for the emperor to open the gate. He could hear the chains creak and groan before they made the rather obvious racket as the thick metallic fence lifted up; Bedpan briefly glanced over his shoulder at the outside world before he drove his attention back forwards. Soon, the heir arrived and took the same stance as MacFinlay, only on his side.
"D'you think Thunder and Meek managed to open their gate?" Asked the shepherd as he tilted his head to the side a little to take a better look of the courtyard.
"Sure hope they did, sir." Replied the wolf. His head cocked up as he heard the blare of a war horn that wasn't familiar to them. "Oh, bloody bollocks, we're compromised!" The wolf yelled over the horn, his voice breaking in a squeak of frustration.
"Hold position until reinforcements arrive!" Frost yelled, gritting his teeth as he fought the numbing wave of fear washing over his body, cold sweat trickling down through his fur at the thought of facing the remaining defensive force for themselves before their own main force could reach the castle.
"Conserve ammo an-" but he couldn't finish his sentence as he noticed a musketeer rushing across the courtyard.
Aleko tried to pelt him, a deafening blast of fire shooting a medium caliber bullet down the courtyard, but a few paces in front of the rushing musketeer. He saw him topple down, dropping the aged rifle, then try to crawl away from the line of sight. Then appeared the several batallions of spearmen falling into formation, MacFinlay's frame recoiled a couple of times in tandem with two more blasts before he quickly turned his exposed body to safety, a musket projectile crashing through the stone corner, dust and bits flying in the air and on the cobblestone. Then, a lick of fire trailed along the walls, at which point Aleko remembered Pepper's warning; he pivoted 180
o and threw himself on the floor, landing against the first few steps leading up on the wall, where he covered his head as the ball of fire collapsed in itself, then, expand in a large explosion of flames. The heir managed to survive the blast and rolled on his back, immediately spotting a panicked Bedpan clutching his rifle as he tried to push himself up the stairs.
This is not good, Aleko thought to himself. "Bedpan! Run for the towers, we can't han-" but his voice was covered by a thunderous crowd of voices, his heart freezing in place. But soon, he felt himself reanimate as familiar troops swarmed inside the castle. He guffawed and whooped as he pushed himself off the stairs, feeling more alive than ever.
This is what I am. He retook his position, the general appearing once more in the frame. For once, he was really glad to see her; they only exchanged glance before each had taken aim for the more important targets. Aleko used his intuition, and his acute vision, to line up the sights again, pinpointing the head of a musketeer; not knowing what he would do next, he simply squeezed the trigger of the firearm, the buttstock kicking his right shoulder as the barrel launched the round down the courtyard. He saw a spark where the round landed on the breastplate of the man, but then, he saw a hole in the plate and his coif falling off, a large, fleshy wound taking half of his foe's face. the bullet split most likely and completely ruined the target. He leaned some more until he had another musketeer at his sights and pulled the trigger again, unflinching at the blinding flash of light and deafening boom; another toppled to the ground lifeless. He fired again, missing his target by mere inches, as he was forced to reel behind cover as a salvo of musket rounds pelted the stone walls. Once it was safe to creep out again, Aleko leaned his whole torso and took another aimed shot, putting down a spearman instead of a musketeer.
A loud clang took his attention, as the last spent case flew out the receiver and bounced against the wall. He forced himself on his hind on the stairs, where he slapped his palm against a knob in front of the ammunition magazine. The empty metal box with a spring and metal feeder fell in his lap, he quickly recovered it and shoved it in a large, empty pouch slung on the small of his back. He shoved his fingers in a different pouch and pulled a full magazine, the copper bullet protruding from the box; he tapped it against his head a couple of times before he loaded the fresh ammo in the magwell and pulled at the bolt, chabering the first round in the receiver. Before he could join the fight again, the general pushed him further away as fire rained from the skies. He then had a facefull of Bulkwyn yelling a plan him, which in the heat of the moment, Aleko accepted without thinking how exactly he would do it. He only did it, like a true soldier. He rushed up the stairs leading to the top of the wall and promptly tumbled in a crouched stance, pushing himself against a crenelation. He peeked from behind it to memorize where the mages were holed up; with adrenaline replacing his blood, the shepherd rushed towards the tower entrance, keeping himself crouched through his flanking maneuver. The armor seemed to allow even the most uncomfortable stances to be carried, as Frost cradled the rifle against his chest while he scurried up the stairs in the same low-profile posture.
Eventually, he reached the top, the wizard in front of him, another in the distance promptly eliminated by the general. The canine didn't waste a second and pushed himself on his feet to dash at the magic-wielding foe. Very late did he realized that if he rammed the mage off, he would have followed him in the fall, so he had to stop his advance and still neutralize him without opening fire.
Gods, forgive my cretinism. The shepherd sprung up and brought the soles of his boots close together, aiming them at the back of the wizard and flexed his knees. As soon as the flying dog felt the jolt of his feet connecting with the back of the battle-mage, he grunted loudly as he mule-kicked the man off the platform to his doom below, the heir landing on his belly on the floor in a loud clatter of armor crashing against stone. The inertia of the target was enough to stop the shepherd from flying down in the crowd, but the wizard was less lucky. Aleko rolled on the floor until his body hit a wall and pushed himself back up on one knee. He gasped and shook his head, the shock of the hard landing getting to him, but he quickly lifted his rifle towards another mage through a murder hole, dizzy and half-blind; there was no time to lose, so Aleko gritted hard as the butt of the riffle pounded his shoulder five times, firing the entire five bullet magazine at the last wizard perched on the top of the other tower. He couldn't tell which shot got him, but in the end, he succeeded in neutralizing both of his targets. It took him a while to come to the realization that the plan was an utter success, being too busy to reload his rifle as he rushed back down the stairs and into the courtyard, where he saw the massacre the two-pronged attack left behind.
"We... we did it." He muttered before he took a deep breath and drew back his head to look at the sky, steam rolling out through the slits of the faceplate. "Northspark's ours."
He took the hours of winding down to help with the bodies and organizing the defenses of the castle, but he allowed himself to sit down and enjoy the bittersweet taste of victory. He perched himself on a small crate, together with two of the rangers of his fire team.
"To Meek." Aleko uttered, his eyes avoiding to meet Thunder's as he lifted a cup of water. "Ranger, lead the way home."
"Ranger, lead the way to heavens." Thunder and Bedpan completed, lifting their own cups. The feline smacked his lips and shook his head.
"Basterd pile o' cow shit pretendin' to be dead n' stab 'im in the back." He snorted in disdain and shook his snout again, a sour smirk taking over half of his feline maw. "Feckin' lowlife."
MacFinlay could only gaze into the rippling surface of the liquid in his own cup, his nose wrinkling at the thought of the rather inglorious way his comrade had fallen. Aleko sighed and closed his eyes, lowering his gaze into the ground, his boots swinging back and forth alternatively. Event though he couldn't have known him, he felt the loss personally; he had been trained to treat the entire Elite Ranger force as a massive band of brothers.
"Brothers of the same whore of a kingdom, aye-" would say general Hacket "-but still brothers we are. So you'd all better act like it."
Thunder finished his cup and placed it on the crate as he slid off it. "Requesting permission to shut-eye, sir." He muttered, saluting his Commander. Aleko lifted his gaze at him, finding his golden eyes. He could see that there was no resentment for him, after all, it had been a dangerous mission; even so, guilt still clung to him.
"Granted, sergeant. Pristine work. Go do some rack ops." The shepherd replied to him, then, turned his attention to the wolf. "You should hit the fart sack too, Bedpan."
MacFinlay shrugged and took a reluctant sip of his water. "All due respect, but I can't sleep properly between tasks, sir." To that, Aleko smirked.
"Just like me. Can't get sleepy after pitching a tent?"
"No sir." MacFinlay stated, chortling lightly. "Too many pricks around to think about women. And way too many of us had general Bulkwyn in our minds to be fun anymore."
"Oh, gods." Aleko coughed up his sip as he tried to stifle his laugh to not coke on his water.
"Apologies, sir. I, uh, forgot that-"
"I'm your superior?" Aleko completed. MacFinlay looked up at him, his mouth gaping a little at the fact that the Emperor read his mind. "I was only a lieutenant when the wizard plucked me from my duty in a small town. Today was the first day I had an army under my belt. Which was still led by a general, so I cannot really take a lot of credit for our success today."
"Well, we did knock over some guards." Bedpan commented, having a glad attitude about himself.
"Knocking them over would be an understatement, Bedpan." Aleko stated, lifting his eyebrow. The wolf then shrugged at his commander.
"Better than knocking them up, I suppose." To that, the shepherd lowered his head and clapped his forehead with his palm, snickering at the jest. "What? It's horrible if you think about it, a two-men-made child waiting home for you to return. Half of your wage would be eaten away by the man-bride back home, and for what? For a deformed sprogget with two cocks?"
Aleko couldn't hold it anymore and burst out in a hearty laughter, unhinged by the doubts and fears of tomorrow; he was glad to have found a moment of relaxation through a shared laughter with a just-as-tired comrade. Bedpan also startled to chortle, which quickly turned into a laugh too.
Later, the light-hearted ambiance had been replaced by planning and tension together with the general.
“Apologies, sire. Those were good men and their loss is on my head. I will do my best to prevent such needless casualties in the future, I promise.”"General, they were my men too. Responsibility is
ours, not only yours."
"Well…I guess we should get some rest. I’ll have some men keep watch. The flag will also be changed come tomorrow morning, when the main force with their general will return they will have quite the shock when they discover they no longer have any fortified position to hide behind.” A faint, almost forced, smile made its presence on her nuzzle.
"If we weren't trying to convince them to surrender, we would have welcomed them inside and murder them all from all directions." Aleko then waved his hand dismissively. "Pay no mind, that is revenge talking."
“Despite everything, today we achieved victory.” She bowed
“It was an honor to fight alongside you, sire…now…if you will excuse me..”Aleko bowed too, noticing the less enthusiastic attitude of the woman. "I'm honored to have served with you, general."
I had my doubts, but you're not half-bad. You've lost someone dear to a fight against war-mages, haven't you?With the eventful day coming to an end, Aleko spent most of his times inside the sleeping quarters, honing the blade of his sword and cleaning the barrel of his rifle and the blade of his dagger; he had something to sup on before he washed the sweat of the day off his fur and lay on the bed. There, he rewound the entire infiltration and elimination process, feeling more and more grateful to have made it alive and unscathed even.
One of these days, my luck will run out, he told himself as he looked over his own furred torso. More and more images flashed in his mind of the brief scuffle in the courtyard, the mages, how he dropped one... there he remembered, maybe he would still produce a nice bruise on his chest after that. He then remembered about Bedpan and his clumsy antics, chuckling himself to sleep.
Where did he start and where had reached. An unwanted child turned soldier, then, Emperor spearheading a new faction. Although it felt like the beginning took place eons ago, it had been but a week. Seven days, from the rest of his life.
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Zamokra41
