Anika had dedicated the last couple of weeks to planning this assault. There were many variables to consider, but so far, all was going according to plan.
About fifteen minutes ago, they left the five strongholds they had claimed, leaving only a skeleton crew behind to hold the fort. Most of Starfall’s army were now moving on, but not towards the adjacent islands or the big main city-sized fortress looming on the horizon.
They were going after the Red Crows.
The flapping of thousands of wings and the screeching and other noises coming from the flying mounts graced Anika’s ears with a soothing melody that vanquished most of the worries in her mind.
She glanced at her flying army, hovering high above the waterborne fleet composed of 18 galleons, 31 carracks, 52 cogs and 107 smaller ships.
It didn’t take long for such a massive fleet to meet its first challenge: a full blockade was waiting for them at the first narrow passage between two central islands.
Twenty large enemy ships were pointing their cannons at the coming fleet. They were not alone. A garrison of two hundred soldiers on each side was gawking at them. A total of thirty cannons were lined and ready to fire as soon as the assaulting forces entered the ideal range of firing.
Despite the defensive forces ahead, the gap between islands was 231 meters wide. That was a large distance for someone on foot, but it was dangerously tight for any fleet to maneuver that elongated “s” shaped stretch.
Anika opened the guild menu and gave the order for every member of the Winged Division to hear. “With me, now!” She then tapped Smokey twice on the neck. The dragon obeyed, retracting its wings and dropping into a sudden dive.
The wind clawed her, stretching the skin on her face by how fast they were falling. With one pull of the rein, the dragon reeled back, opening its wings to fight the wind until the freefall turned into a glide.
Hundreds of swooshing sounds, screeches, and exciting shouts soon followed, indicating they had all followed her lead. Anika brandished her spear, a signal for everyone to get ready.
Down below, under a hundred meters from them, the allies’ and enemies’ cannons were blasting at each other. Along the sandy beaches and shallow sea, the cannonballs were now ruining that once lovely, scenic place.
“It’s Brazilian Barbecue time, Smokey,” she said.
The black dragon retreated its head and bared its sharp teeth through which flames leaked from the gaps in its half-opened maw. Then fire rained below as soon as they reached the line of blockading ships.
A mage and a sorcerer cast a defensive barrier above a galleon. The flames fell over the spell in a hellish embrace that was held in place for a few seconds. Then, in a flash, the magic barrier shattered like glass, releasing the built-up fire like a downpour over the ship, incinerating its crew and burning its strongest defenders.
The few who survived jumped ship, embracing the cold waters of the sea as they began to swim for their lives.
Anika looked over her shoulder and smiled as the scene of her flying allies wreaking havoc on the blockade came into view. The poor NPCs tried to fend off with arrows and spells, but they were clearly unmatched to face her mighty alliance.
Soon the last enemy ship sank, but not fully. The shallowness of those waters could not fit the largest vessels below the surface. That meant that those wooden carcasses would stay there for quite some time.
“Maybe they should stay half-sunken anyway, as a reminder of the day I conquered this dreadful place,” Anika mused.
They broke the first blockade with ease. The next ones met the same fate, and as soon as Anika’s gaze fell on the fifth one, she rejoiced for sticking to her gut. Over fifty vessels were rallied and lined up at the southern beach of the main island, but Anika’s fleet had taken a detour between the even more southern landmasses of the archipelago.
“So long, my AI friends,” Anika said, ironically saluting them.
Luckily enough, most of their ships remained there. About a third of the vessels sailed back to their respective ports. Anika guessed they were saving their forces to face the invading guild that would rise victorious from the coming battle.
“If that’s the case, they’re not wrong,” Anika thought.
Mid-sentence, a silver-winged lion flapped its wings and flew by her, maintaining a close distance. Its rider was her husband, a warrior clad in grey armor. He turned towards her and said, “My scouts reported that they’ve entrenched themselves inside their fortresses.”
“Looks like our stroke of luck has ended.”
“We should’ve come later.”
“If we did that, they would’ve conquered the main stronghold by now, and we would've had to fight them and a whole batch of freshly spawned garrison.”
“But if we had timed our arrival better, we could’ve taken them by surprise.”
“That’s a big ‘if we had’ and ‘could have,’ my dear. Be glad that it's all going well for us for now.”
“You’re right,” he said, slowing the flight speed of his mount with a tender pull of the rein.
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Side-by-side, their mounts flapped their wings in unison while their riders talked.
There were no more blockades to breach or circumvent, only a path of crystal-clear waters adorned with lush green vegetation waving along its shallow bottom.
After half an hour, the first couple of fortresses currently held by their rival guild took shape far on the horizon. They were only tiny spots by now, but Anika knew from her previous assault attempts over the years that one of those small dots was actually a colossal stronghold, the main bastion of the eastern islands.
They approached with no hurry, always on the lookout for any sign of looming threats. Those small dots from before took shape, revealing their true mighty walls and high towers for all of Starfall to see.
“I’m coming for you, little crows,” Anika said.
***
Starfall's army swarmed the sea and skies of the western front of A5 Island. Their hundreds of ships were getting dangerously close to the shore, while their thousands of airborne units were hovering above them to ward off any coming threat.
Crown was leaning over the battlements of the main inner fortress located at the back of the largest eastern stronghold. He had gathered his generals and elite units to devise a plan of action.
“We still have some time before they start disembarking their main forces, but that doesn’t mean we should take this opportunity for granted. So, hit me up with your latest updates.”
His Master Engineer spoke first, a cheerful short-haired girl with sharp eyes and a tiny nose. “The canons are ready, the alchemical contraptions are in place, and so is all the arcane machinery.”
Then Crown’s eyes drifted to his Master Quartermaster, a stocky fellow with kind eyes encircled by his rounded helmet. His big mustache twitched when he said, “All supply spots along the wall were fully restocked with all types of munitions.”
Right after the Master Quartermaster finished, the Supreme Crafter, a tall, slender, lilac-haired man, reported under the shade of his freaking huge black hat, “Our crafters were able to reinstall the main gate in time, but it’s still damaged despite all their efforts to fix it.”
“Great, thank you all for your timely report,” said Crown. “I’m glad to hear that we were able to repair most of the structures and still fix some of the defensive machinery.”
“Are we ready?” Gust asked, uncrossing his arms.
“We are.” Crown relaxed his posture before saying, “Everyone. You all know what to do now, and for the love of the gods, follow the plan. This is not the time or place to be a hero. So… Battle stations!” He loved to say that.
Each of them went their own way. Most called their mounts and took flight toward their designated spot, only a few of them began to run along the wall.
“You want me with you, right?” Gust asked.
“Yes. You’ll be my bodyguard while you learn the ropes of a team captain and Supreme Leader of an alliance. But first you’ll be accompanying our swordmaster on a special operation.”
The knight’s eyes widened. “You’re training me to replace you?”
“What? No! Not now at least. That would be Júlia’s case. I want you to see how serious and dedicated we are at our craft.”
“Gotcha!”
And so began the walk toward the main gate located at the southern quadrant of the island. Along the way, Crown began to show and tell all the important aspects of a large-scale siege battle between two dominant regional forces.
“Things are quite different when it reaches this proportion. It’s almost impossible to roll out a small, stealth operation.”
“Really? That sucks.”
Crown nodded, aware that it hurt the knight’s expectations. Gust was as green as it gets. A rising star, a solo player that achieved remarkable marks in 1v1 combat, small skirmishes, and in a few large battles, but even then he always acted solo, even in a crowded battlefield.
But Brazil did not yet have a player worthy of Dante’s Crown. There was no undisputed best player from that class to wear his armor and hold his hammer.
The truth is that Gust was clearly not ready to fill the shoes of the best player the nation had ever seen. He was a gamble, a shot in the dark that could go nowhere, or maybe the country’s best chance in raising the trophy. Despite his inexperience, he had to start somewhere. Crown was resolute in making this work, so Gust would be his last project, his last apprentice.
He looked at the young man clad in armor walking to his right, gazing at the sheer size of the place he was in. Every building featured thick, black stone walls. There were no angular roof tiles, only flat ceilings to resist the incoming bombardment.
The houses were organized in small, walled blocks that could be closed off and isolated by locking their gates. Everything there was built with the purpose of holding a siege and surviving the next day.
That walk would take a while, and by the looks of it, Gust was too stunned to start a conversation.
“Here’s a quick summary of what to expect on most of the sieges you’ll be in from now on,” Crown said. “All I’m gonna say is from the perspective of the assaulting forces. Okay?”
Gust nodded, and Crown went on. “The first part is the Arrival on Disputed Land. In Starfall’s case, it’ll be a landing; that'll be great for us for obvious reasons. Second, is the Building of a Field Camp and its Defensive Structures. You can’t arrive or land in enemy territory and not expect a counterattack, bombardment, or the arrival of enemy reinforcements on your rear or flanks. You HAVE to build a camp, or at least lift a makeshift wall, and a few magic wards to protect you from enemy Fireballs and Lightning Bolts. Gods forbid they have talented mages, then you’ll be in real trouble."
Gust’s eyes were fixed on Crown as he said, “All right, keep going.”
“After the perimeter is set and secured, you’ll have to deploy your siege weapons with utmost care, but as quickly as possible. Then you have to protect them with your life. You cannot count only on your warriors headbutting a steel gate to breach it.”
“Makes sense,” the knight said, nodding.
“Then it’s finally time to run to the gates. I know, I know. All I just said sounds easy on paper, but every one of those steps has hundreds of branching paths and ways to go south, it’s hardly straightforward like that. For a moment it might look like you’re doing great, that you’re holding your castle like a hero, but in reality, your enemies were digging a tunnel from the very beginning. And now they’re in your courtyard, slicing your royal guards, and about to open the gates for their main forces."
Gust’s head tilted to the right. “How’d you keep up with so many variables?”
“You have to trust your friends and colleagues, they’re your brothers in arms. As I said before, it’s a team effort. Everyone has to play their part for it to work.”
As they closed in at the gate, Crown now could tell that their enemies were about to fully disembark on the west coast. The war galleons were lined up, interspersed with medium-sized ships and surrounded by the smallest vessels.
It was impossible to parse the distance from each ship to the others, but it looked like they were perfectly lined and spread to harden the job of Red Crow’s arrows, bolts, spells, cannons, and all other siege weapons.
Anika and Trigo surely did their homework.
When Crown and Gust set foot atop the main gate, the summoner said, “This is gonna be hard, you ready for this?”
“Hell yeah I am!”
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