Somewhere in northeastern Azuria.
June 10th, 1427.
Brigadier General Stanford stepped off a UH-24 helicopter powering down its ducted rotors, setting his foot on the fine, white Azurian beach sand. This would be a nice place for vacation, he thought. No air pollution, no noisy drunkards and no stress… What a wonderful place. Had it not been for what he’s here for, he’d love to spend some R&R in Azuria.
He looked out to the sea, observing the six large ships - two Anchorite-class amphibious assault ships and four Yelyzaveta-class landing platform dock ships patiently as they unload the vehicles and men carried within their hulls and onto the beach via several LCUs (Landing Craft Utility). Several Fisher-class frigates also stood firm in the water, protecting the amphibious assault ships as they continued to unload their cargo onto the beach.
A deployment of this size by the 9th and 10th Marine Expeditionary Task Forces hasn’t been done ever since the United Federation’s intervention in Yunna in their homeworld a couple years back, but this time it was different. The stake wasn’t creating an ally or spreading the country’s influence, it was for the United Federation’s existence itself, or so he was told.
Major Eli stepped off from a different helicopter, signaling the helicopter’s pilot to move back to the ship to join the unloading effort. Having been transferred from Anzuri City, he was here to help the Brigadier General to coordinate combat operations in this new land. He adjusted his red-colored beret, setting it straight before saluting to Stanford. “Good afternoon, General.”
“At ease, son.” Stanford said, walking along the beach with the Major. “Not even a decade and we’re already doing another foreign intervention…” He sighs.
“A shame, General.” Eli said. “But one that President Irwin deemed necessary.”
“Necessity is all political talk nowadays, Major. I lost too many good men throughout the years. They had to pull me out of retirement for this shit, guess I’d have to be in the Corps for another while until they got this clusterfuck sorted out.”
“Pardon me for asking, General. But why not return to the Corp as an advisor? You have the experience and citations, not to mention multiple medals. The brass would’ve gladly agreed to let you become an advisor to new leaderships, no?”
“Well, I don’t trust any idiots out of officer school nowadays to be in charge of this brigade. I served in the Corps for thirty years already, this is home for me, nothing else would replace it.” Stanford stopped before turning to his back, noticing a number of Azurians in brightly colored suits of armor standing guard, stopping several villagers nearby from approaching the Marines landing on the beach out of curiosity.
Stanford felt a strange, yet familiar excitement in his heart at the sight of these fantasy-like folks. He had been in the Marines for as long as he remembered, even down to the day he saw that recruitment poster on the wall in his old neighborhood when he was a broke and homeless teenager living under a bridge. ‘Join the Marines today!’, ‘See the World!’, he remembered. Although he joined out of desperation, the Marine Corps became his home through the years. It’s a tough life, filled with many sorrows, but that motto of the Marine Corp was drilled into him: ‘No challenges too difficult. No sacrifices too great.’
He met eyes with some children waving at him, their expressions cheerful and welcoming, others puzzled and surprised, mostly at the armored vehicles they’re unloading and the ships carrying them. Some of them have animal features but others are just straight up humanoid-looking animals, they continued to wave at him and the landing Marines.
“Well…” Stanford pauses, taking in a deep breath. “This isn’t so bad. Maybe we are doing good deeds this time.”
Stanford turns back to Eli. “Major, I want you to brief me on the situation. What kind of threats, terrains, operational theater and more.”
“Your command vehicle is here. Follow me, General.” Eli points at the MT-CV Canyuza command vehicle driving off an LCU landing craft.
“Let’s get this done.”
Lasselanta, Yarian Empire. 12 km from the border with the Kingdom of Azuria.
June 16th, 1427.
The Yarian Empire is known to be extremely harsh, most likely the worst place one could find themselves being in. All around, there are nothing but large plantations, filled with slaves and their masters either wiping or torturing them if they fail to keep up with the quota. Large beasts were used in fieldwork, not for their muscles but for their intimidating appearance and to tear any inobedient slaves who were chained to the beast itself. Conquered settlements would be used for goblin breeding, with slave women being sent inside repurposed houses to seal their fate for the goblins to endlessly breed with until they died of exhaustion.
“So, tell me about the war preparations,” a kingly man ordered, ignoring the brutality around him.
Hawk Yaria, the third king of the Yarian Empire, was a man who wished to carry out the Yarian dream of conquest more so than his father. His father managed to tame the goblins, a feat once thought impossible and conquered half of the continent using them before succumbing to illness, unable to complete the dream himself. His grandfather has established the Empire, bringing order while his father expanded it, bringing the monsters which roamed the land under his control to carry out his conquests.
“King Yaria,” a muscular knight in silver armor kneeled. “We are nigh ready to commence the assault. One hundred thousand goblins of our vanguard force as well as fifteen thousand men are ready by the border of Azuria, ready to annihilate the Azurian lowlives.”
“Excellent,” King Yaria responded as he allowed several servants to tend to his beard. “And of the mysterious new allies of the Azurians?”
“From what I have heard from rumors, the so-called ‘United Federation of Elysia’ is an island nation almost as large as our great Empire after we conquered the Elvish. I do not think this is reasonable, since it would be impossible for anyone to have missed such a large landmass so close to our continent. It is much more likely that Elysia is but a small island country, situated on several island chains to the east of Azuria beyond the Great Sea. They are a land without wyverns, so I doubt they pose any threat to our goals. It seems that they like to make up far-fetched claims about ridiculously advanced machines of theirs in order to convince the Azurian to seek an alliance with them, how pathetic they are!” Adem let out a small laugh.
“Our capacity to upkeep these lowly goblins is reaching its limit, General Adem. We do not have much time left to begin the attack. Tell me, what do you think would happen if we attack?
Adem flashed a confident grin. “My King, Azuria may be large, but they are a nation of farmers and lowly demihumans. Their military is at most a tenth of our own, if we count the goblins. The Principality of Lior, their ally, is the poorest kingdom in the world and their will to fight is but non-existence. They will yield to your rule after we conquer Azuria and cut them off from their vital food supplies. After that, our mages will release the disease on these lowly goblins to make way for our resettlement of the land.”
“Hmph, excellent. Inspect the men, ensure that they are ready.”
– –
Outskirts of Avatia
Yarian Eastern Conquest Army.
Lieutenant General Adem stood upon a hill, admiring the vastness of his army. With the order to attack scheduled in just a few moments, he wanted to take one last savory look at the amassing horde of goblins, soldiers and wyverns.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” A voice said behind him.
“My King!” He kneeled. “They are indeed, beautiful. But nothing is more beautiful than seeing the continent united under your banners!”
King Yaria glances back and forth between Adem and his army of ex-bandits, “Once this war is concluded, I shall appoint you as governor of would-be conquered Azuria for your work. You can have anything you would ever want.”
“Words cannot describe my joy upon hearing those words, my King.” Adem smiled sinisterly as he pulled a magical communication device to his mouth. “Men, it is time. Commence the attack! Release the first wave!”
– –
Avatia, Kingdom of Azuria.
From what Captain Parva’s scouts could determine, the Yarian forces just outside of Avatia consisted of around a hundred thousands goblins and at least ten thousand men. Most were swordsmen, but what worried him was the number of wyverns at their disposal. Boasting the firepower of more than two hundred wyverns, the defenders of Avatia couldn’t stand a chance. The best they can do is buy time for the citizens to flee. Upon hearing the horns of the advancing horde, Parva felt despair. The evacuation had barely begun, and there was no way all of the citizens of Avatia could flee in time, even if Parva’s men fought to the last man.
“Has headquarters said anything about our allies?”
“Yes, sir. They said that the Elysian 5th Marine Brigade is coming, but their base is constructed near Azuria so I expect them to arrive in two days on horseback at most. Their air support is coming, though.” The technician answered.
“What do you mean air support? I heard the Elysians don’t have wyverns.” Parva asked the man, unknown of the details of what had occurred in the city. As someone who grew up on a farm much like everyone else in Azuria, the fact that the incoming air support wasn't composed of wyverns from the capital like usual was strange.
Suddenly, a faint buzzing caught his animal ears, which has enhanced hearing compared to human ears. “Are you hearing something?”
“What do you mean, sir? I heard nothing.”
Stepping out of the command tent, he looked up to the sky as he looked for the strange sound. His ears wiggled around for a moment, before quickly retracting at the sudden screech.
Dozens of streaks of light flew across the sky above him, leaving long smoke trails as they head towards the Yarian wyverns, annihilating them in a spectacle of light and fire. The large formation of buzzing and screeching metal dragons in the sky accelerates towards the Yarian positions and multiple explosions can be heard from the distance, catching the attention of the defenders. The defenders ran up to the recently constructed wooden wall, watching the rising columns of smoke in the distance. Some were confused, while others cheered as chaos erupted amongst the Yarian ranks as they halted their advances.
The screeching ones were much faster than the buzzing ones. Flying higher, they launched more smokey arrows at the Yarian wyverns, completely decimating them with explosive magic. Several of them ran out of arrows, turning around to spat small fireballs at incredible speed at the wyvern, causing the Yarian riders to explode in a mix of gore and fire as they joined their fallen brethren in the grass field in front of Avatia. The slower machines dove down on the Yarians, dropping bombs and spitting out larger explosive magic on the Yarian’s advancing goblin horde.
Even though the Yarian ranks were disorganized from the sudden attack, some goblins still made their way to Avatia’s defensive wall. Many lodged themselves into hidden spike traps, unable to move as they groaned in pain before dying of blood loss, others were cut down by pikemen as they tried to scale the wooden walls or shot by archers, their bodies tumbling down, adding to the growing pile of goblin corpses. Few managed to scale up the small wooden wall through the dead bodies before being mercilessly cut down by Azurian defenders, who stood their ground as they gave the small creatures no quarter with their blades.
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As the last of the goblins were cut down, a voice rang through the mana communicator. “Come in, Avatia. This is Brigadier General Stanford, how do you copy? Over.”
Captain Parva picked up the communicator. “We heard you, General.”
“Our light fighter aircrafts is already engaging hostile elements of the Yarians. The 5th Marines would be there in a few moments, I want you and your men to keep the area secured. Your reinforcement will also arrive with us. Over.”
The information puts the technician and the men around the command tent at ease, with Parva unable to help himself but giving a light smile.
“Thank you, Colonel. The place will be safe in our hands. We can take care of the stranglers, leave it to us.”
“Solid copy, Captain. Transmission out. Over.”
Parva turned around, grabbing his sword before leaving the command tent. Stepping on a ledge, his pose and attitude attracted the attention of the men in reserves.
Seeing that his presence had been noticed sufficiently, he cleared his throat. “Honorable defenders of Avatia! You all commit yourselves to a seemingly hopeless battle to buy time for the citizens of Avatia to escape, none of you are supposed to survive today.” Parva looked at his men, gauging their reaction. “However! Our reinforcement will arrive far earlier than expected, thanks to our new ally. We all die someday, but I guarantee you all, it will not be today!”
“YAH!” The thousand men cheered as they raised their blades into the sky. Captain Avatia mobilized all of his reserves, splitting the men as one half moved to their defensive positions, firing arrows at the unorganized goblin attacks while the other half aided with the evacuation of the town, hastening the moving of cargo and children into wagons.
The distant explosions continued for another hour as less and less goblins charged at the wooden defenses, ceasing entirely after another hour, with only silence filled in for the thick atmosphere of a dying battle. The defenses were littered with hundreds upon hundreds of goblin corpses, many hung lifelessly on the spikes while others were cut down, mangled beyond recognition if not for their green skins.
A runner ran up to Captain Parva, informing of the situation. “Sir, the Elysians reinforcements have arrived. We’ve also taken care of the strangling goblins.”
“So it would seem.” Parva comments as he looks back at the long, rising trail of dust from the east.
– –
Eastern Conquest Army
The proud wyvern squadrons of the Yarian Empire were blown to bits after the howling light arrows slammed into their formation, wyverns and riders alike fell from the sky en-mass, creating a small yet heavy rain of blood and corpses as Lieutenant General Adem and his men watched in shock. Panics started to spread as they attempted to comprehend what had happened to the wyverns. Officers ran on to check the corpses while others maintained order, wondering what just happened.
Then, it happened.
As if the sky was roaring, dozens of shrieking iron machines flew over Adem’s army at unthinkable speed, creating a loud boom as they flew past the bewildered Yarian below them, startling the horses and men alike. The shrieking ones fired their weapons, shooting down more of his wyvern riders with ease as if their smoking arrows had a mind of their own before spitting dozens of fireballs at any remaining riders in the sky, cutting some in half with explosive magic. After his wyverns were shot down in quick succession, multiple buzzing noises followed, coming from the machines behind them.
Unlike the other ones that came before, these flying machines were slower, but still outpace wyverns in terms of speed. They began to descend, heading straight for his army. Adem’s instincts were overwhelmed, as if something terrible was going to happen in no short time. The machines dropped several objects from their wings, before quickly ascending upward.
“ENEMY BOMBS!” He screamed loudly upon the realization, hurriedly turning on his mana communicator. “Everybody scatter!”
But it was for naught, the objects splintered mid-air, scattering hundreds of smaller bomblets which turned into hundreds of explosions, consuming his army in an instance. The men and goblins in the ranks were blown up in quick succession by the explosives packed inside each bomblet.
“Shield!” The mages shouted, creating a magical dome to cover themselves and Adem.
Shrapnels from the exploves pelted the hastily constructed magical dome, which quickly gave out after the bombing by the machines were done. The mages which had constructed the dome fell to their knees from exhaustion, never having conjured a spell so quickly and decisively in their life. But not everyone is unscathed, some still got injured despite the magical protective dome, but the gory sight of what had happened to the rest of the conquest army still made the mages glad they haven’t joined them in death yet. Thousands of men and goblins lay dead on the field, with some lucky few who somehow survived the bombardment walking about, still comprehending the horror of what just happened.
The mages lifted themselves up, finding Adem knocked unconscious with half of his legs shattered from shrapnels.
– –
3 km from Avatia, Kingdom of Azuria.
5th Marine Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
Steel ravaged the earth below, treads tearing the humble dirt road apart as hundreds of refugees stood by on the road, watching the armored vehicles rolling past them towards the border with the former Elvish Kingdom. Composed of one MT105 Casmira light tank battalion, three MT25A Catalina infantry fighting vehicle battalions, and one MT127 Catherina self-propelled howitzer battalion and a single AH-24A Orca attack helicopter regiment, the 5th Marine Mechanized Brigade spearheaded the first combat deployment by the United Federation ever since arriving in the new world.
Marines sitting on top waves at the refugees, signaling them to make way for the vehicles as they cleared a path through to the battlefield. Some stood still, staring at the men sitting on the armored vehicles while others cheered as their own soldiers rolled past on their own trucks and horses. The helicopter regiment flew overhead at low level, kicking up dust with their dual coaxial rotors, prompting the refugees to cover themselves from the strong winds generated by the aircrafts.
Inside his own MT-CV Canyuza armored command vehicle, Colonel Stanford cuts the transmission of the mana communication device given by the Azurian. The appearance and aesthetic of the so-called ‘mana communicator’ is wholly anachronistic to the powerful radio and computer display set sitting beside it, glowing an ominous mix of blue and white compared to the bland orange lighting used to highlight the frequency gauge of the radio set.
“I’m not sure how the Azurians can even make this thing, seeing how their technology is still around the medieval age.” Colonel Stanford comments on the peculiar object. “Do you know anything about this thing?” He asked the radio operator.
The radio operator responded, flipping through papers and documents inside the relatively spacious command vehicle. “They didn’t make it, sir. According to them, these devices are imported from a country called ‘Holy Celestial Empire’. I still don’t know how this thing even works,” he picks up a purple-colored magical gem. “The Azurians said to insert this thing into the device to power it up, the rest functions more or less how our radios work, with frequency channels and all. What’s strange is that the radios can’t pick up the signals emitted by this thing and it can’t pick up radio signals either. I’ve tried for the past hour with no results.”
“Huh, peculiar. I’ll have someone look over these things after we’re done with this.” Colonel Stanford comments on the object. He began looking outside through the vision slit which was reinforced by armored glass, his eyes dashing between several Azurians. “Looks like the refugees are ok, I’ll have the aid workers set up temporary housing near Anzuri while we build up the FOB (Forward Operating Base).”
The brigade moved along the dirt road without incident, arriving at the outskirts of Avatia. Even from here, the Marines could see the aftermath of a hard fought battle, discussing among themselves and the local Azurian refugees on what had happened.
“Driver, halt.” A voice crackled over the vehicle intercom as the vehicle came to a stop. “We’re here, General.” The vehicle commander said, putting his head down from the armored cupola. The vehicle’s rear ramp drops down, allowing foul air from burnt corpses to enter the vehicle.
Having been notified of the Marine’s arrival, the Azurians defender had quickly tried to gather the remains, throwing the goblin corpses into ditches before setting them on fire with magic and torches.
Colonel Stanford stepped outside and walked toward the awaiting Captain Parva, giving him a handshake after he finished with the usual salute. “I’m glad your men held up.”
“All thanks to the support from your iron dragons.” Parva replied after doing the strange gesture. His eyes are still half-puzzled and bewildered at the long lines of vehicles behind the General in front of him.
“Tough fight, I assumed, Captain?” Stanford asked the half-beastman with the animal ears, looking at the burning ditches where they had tossed the goblin corpses into.
“Uh- Ahem.” He composes himself, realizing he’s talking to a General. “The goblins shan’t give up their charge once they’ve been pushed to attack by their tamers, unfortunately those are nowhere to be seen yet thus we have yet to return them the favor of attacking us.”
“You did a fine job, Captain Parva. Don’t be let down so easily.” Stanford patted the Captain’s shoulder. “We’ll take them on in the early dawn. Come with me, I need your help with something.”
Stanford invites Captain Parva into the command vehicle, the inside is already laid with maps and stacks of neatly organized documents, detailing the Yarian’s movement as well as their formations with impeccable details. The technician is still working diligently, updating the map as new information from the patrolling aircrafts is fed to him via the computer set inside the vehicle.
Stanford pointed at the red marker on the map, its shape distinct from the rest. “This is the enemy’s command center.” His finger slides to the blue line, occupied with several smaller boxes, identifying themselves as the four maneuver, one artillery battalion and one attack helicopter regiment.
Parva marvels at the map, having never seen the land he grew up in mapped out in such impeccable detail. The hills, individual houses and even the forest’s limit were much clearer than the artistic hand drawn maps he was used to.
“The Yarians have a significant stronghold here,” He points out at one settlement at a junction. “Our Air Force’s LF-54 light fighters and LA-12s light attackers can’t get to them due to large numbers of civilians present. Surgical strikes by small diameter bombs on their outer defenses have been only marginally effective in whittling down their numbers, so we need to assault the town directly.” Stanford continues, his finger sliding to the red square-shaped symbol. “They have reorganized a significant defense of around ten to twenty thousand men, probably a division worth. Intel suggests that the number of goblins have also increased, the reason… I already know.”
Captain Parva’s face lowered, knowing the implications. “...They’re raping the women there to repopulate and replenish numbers.”
“Unfortunately, that seems to be the case.” Stanford facepalms, realizing that he’s in no position to help them.
Parva explains. “The goblins have an incredibly fast growing period, only taking around three days at most to come out of the womb if the host is a healthy human and a month to mature.” He gruntled. “While I do not like the Elvish Kingdom next door, and I was sort of happy when the Yarian took them down, I have realized that I was wrong. They were acting as a buffer.”
“I’m not familiar with the politics of this region, can you elaborate? Captain?” Stanford asked the beastman.
The beastman Captain nods as he prepares to recount whatever he could remember from what he learned in the town’s library. “The land beyond the border was the Elvish Kingdom, who was our rival for many centuries. We frequently fought wars, at least one around fifty years, fighting for influence over the Eastern Continent. They attack us, we retaliate. We attack them, they retaliate. It seemed to me that it would never end… until around three years ago when the Yarians caught them by surprise and invaded them from the far west of the Eastern continent. They were wholly enslaved, with tens of thousands of people having no choice but to come to Azuria to seek refuge while they still can, as the Yarians are far worse than roaming packs of bandits. We welcomed them out of compassion, and with so little, many could hardly hold a grudge against us anymore despite the centuries of war. But then we would have to stand alone.”
Parva sighs. “We underestimated the severity of our situation, happily accepting the destruction of the Elvish Kingdom… What were we thinking? Now a worse enemy has emerged from the Elvish Kingdom’s ashes, far more brutal, far less compassionate.”
“You’re not alone, Captain Parva. Learning from mistakes is one of our virtues.” Stanford reassured him. “As long as we do so, we won’t make the same mistake twice. But before we do so, we have to finish this war.”
“Agreed, sir Stanford.”
Satisfied with the answer, Stanford turns to the Major next to him. “Eli, tell the Air Force to keep an eye on that settlement, multiple civvies.” He ordered. “I want the men ready by 0230, we move out at 0300 tomorrow. Tell the engineers to doubletime it.”
“Copy that, General.” He salutes.
