Apocalypse Reborn [GameLit 4X] [Fantasy] [Strategy]

V11: Epilogue

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Interlude: Grimnar

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The Trueborn called for us to battle against our diminished cousins, and we answered.

Henrick was our first casualty.

"They are strong." He recovered swiftly. His arm had been set aflame by a fiery strike from the air. His armor saved his limb, but he required interment in a healing pod to regain control over it. "How goes the battle?"

"Poorly." I answered him and motioned for him to follow. "They showed more aggression than expected."

We reached Loretta, who was still observing and analyzing the battle for any weakness.

The narrow slit that delivered reports from her edifice was empty.

The army that we were attached to was burning.

"The flame that they use has been refined since their first deployment. It sticks to armor, and there were metal shards within that kept setting it alight, even after the initial flame was summoned." With the sun at their backs, the fearsome aerial cavalry of the King of Wisdom had launched a preemptive attack on our forces. With Citadel-forged guardians flanking us, we feared nothing from the ground and were duly punished for our hubris. The artillery corps put their air-burst shells to work and exacted a heavy toll upon the fliers, but they and many others perished. Even now the battlefield burned, while the rest of our force was faced with a terrible challenge. "The same goes for their firearms."

Seizing an Academy gate-fortress was simple. Endure the attacks by the defenders, break through, and kill the guards within. Academy gate-fortresses were designed to endure warlords of centuries past. Not professional militaries. With enough supplies from a nation and enough armor, the fortress could offer little in reprisal.

Such was not the case for this fortress.

The approach was turned into a mire of mud and muck through magic. Fierce winds flowed from the fortress and battered formations while slowing our projectiles and speeding up their own. Razor wire was laid down three layers deep. There were steep moats whose walls were slick with mud and partially filled with water. Then, finally, the stone walls of the fortress itself were covered in additional plates of armor.

Our new artillery was the only hope of taking the position without so many of our own dying, but they killed it first.

Now, from that monstrous fortress, the King of Wisdom's forces reigned fire upon us. Conquerors fired their rifles forged by the Citadel and punched through our lines. Auxiliaries were ripped apart by barrages of rifle fire from regular troops. Then, finally, our best-armored forces were struck by a new cannon, which was able to shoot a dart of Citadel Alloy with a lead core. Whatever it struck was pierced through and killed with utmost ease.

"Loretta, record everything about this battle. The Trueborn must be informed." Baseborn were dying in droves. Shield walls were crumbling. The mud slowed their rigid advance immensely. The crack of cannon from the castle walls signaled death for even Henrick's kin. If our mages struck, they would be hit in moments by the King of Wisdom's own. They were lesser in number, but they were specialized for fighting against their arcane peers. More than once, a ball of flame was gathered and launched only for a barrier to appear at the same time as a reprisal attack, much like a shield instantly being raised along with a spear being thrust. "Is there any word from the general?"

The general was Trueborn and blessed with the Ancient's gifts. He and his retinue were the reason why none of the King of Wisdom's Champions have come forth. They could not face him in combat along with his subordinates and the thousands of Citadel Guardians at our disposal in our territory. If the other generals trying to take the Warden's lands were here, we could make a frontal assault and seize the fortress, but they were not.

We were the only ones here.

"There is the call to withdraw after this engagement. This assault is a failure, but we will learn all that can be learned." I nodded at the response from the officer attached to us. He was a young lad. The armor he had worn had been unmarred and shone brightly when we first met. Now, he was muddy, there were scratches on his chest plate from glancing blows, and there was blackened soot on his sides. Without a single change to his mind by the scholars, he stood by us. Trueborn in spirit, if not in body. "I believe, Sir Grimnar, that you will be returned to your role as hunters rather than remain attached."

I bowed my head at his words, even while Henrick grunted and held his tongue.

Loretta would be pleased by Trueborn's decision, as she had written to me privately about her concerns. Her wisdom in seeing us as hunters rather than soldiers was now echoed by the Trueborn after this battle. Having her as an advisor and heeding her words was proving to be a great boon. Her mind and insight provided me with inklings of the Trueborn's future decisions.

There was nothing more to be said after that, and I turned my eyes to the battlefield to see my fellow baseborn give their lives in service of the Trueborn.

The fortress will remain standing today, but through their sacrifice, we will one day take it for the true inheritors of this world.

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Interlude: Celia

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The Merchant's Citadel towered high into the sky, and from the walls that surrounded it came forth legions of Citadel constructs. The Ancient's defensive measures were plain to see. High, armored walls with ranged troops, an incessant stream of constructs to drown the enemy, and endless supplies for those who were within. Sieging a Citadel was about bringing overwhelming force to overcome its defenses, not starving those who held out within.

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Though we didn't have time to starve them, even if that strategy was viable.

"Is the vanguard ready?" Mallory and Christine were in full armor and by my side. They were coordinating with our generals to seize the wall. Our own Citadel Guardians manned the frontline. We had greater output than they did, but ours needed to travel from our lands to theirs. It was only thanks to the King of Wisdom's advice to build a surplus before we attacked that we had enough to match the Merchants, and even then, ours needed to be supported by almost a quarter of our available mages. "Are there any issues with the amalgams?"

"None, and they have taken well to the additional armor placed upon them." Amalgams were composed of the bodies of the deceased. Masses of enervated flesh and bone empowered by magic to shamble forward to break lines and walls. Living battering rams that could withstand immense amounts of punishment. We had more than five hundred of them, and they were intended to bring down the Citadel's walls. Some had explosives hidden within them that could be activated by the corpses within. "They are ready to advance at your call."

"Thank you. Christine?"

"The hives have been configured for the siege. They will focus on destroying the ranged defenders." Our flying swarms were meant to counter the King of Wisdom's aerial supremacy, but the energized forms of flying creatures could also attack normal targets on the ground. They were magical projectiles with limited instinct and the ability to obey orders. Aerial cavalry was just one target that they could be aimed at. "By your command, they will fire."

I nodded at the news before looking at the rest of my troops.

My Undead ranks took on the brunt of the fighting. Most were reassembled after battles from the corpses of our fallen foes. With our glut of supplies, they were easy enough to rearm. However, in a siege, volleys of fire were of little use. My artillery and the amalgams were key to overcoming the walls, but I was lacking in elite, heavy infantry.

If I asked, I would be provided with Conquerors. They would descend from the sky along with a deluge of frozen Citadel Guardians from the flying bastion Jack commanded. The ramparts would be cleared, the gatehouse seized, and the doors would open. Then, I could put my people to work to besiege the doors to the Citadel itself, and after that, kill those within.

Much time was to be spent.

Almost too much time, in fact, since I was spending not only the lives of my people but also Jack's.

The more time spent here… the more indebted we were to him.

So, I readied myself to order the start of the attack and consign much of my forces to destruction.

That's when a horn blared from the east.

"Mallory and Christine, with me!" I reacted swiftly. The horn signalled unknown approaching forces from our eastern flank. Both my knights came to my side and placed their hands on my shoulder. I unmade each of us and became mist. We took flight, everything around us turning into a blur, until I reached the edge of our eastern force. I reformed us and took a vial of blood from my belt and imbibed it to recover my strength. The one who blew the horn had wide eyes and stared at me. "Report."

The young man with pale surroundings around his eyes through his helmet pointed down the road.

"A moving carriage with a white flag raised." He spoke, and I followed his finger. Trundling down the road surrounded by abandoned buildings was what looked like a wagon, but at its front was a cannon. It had wheels that turned belts of metal, and it was itself covered in Citadel alloy. As the watchman said, it flew a white flag above it. "My lady, what shall we do?"

I was about to speak when a hatch atop the vehicle opened and Ayah came forth from it.

Some sort of hidden weapon of the King of Wisdom?

No. They looked much too heavy for transport, and he had no rail lines. Not to mention his bastion was already filled with supplies.

It must have been the Merchant's secret weapon.

I went to her, and she gave a curtsy, still clad in an impeccable maid uniform, despite the ruined city all around us.

"My lord sends his regards. Our spy network in this land discovered a plot to use more than a thousand of these armored wagons with cannons to destroy the siege." My teeth grit at the words. Why wasn't I informed? "Harper only relayed the information a mere two weeks ago. We moved swiftly to find all the caches across the capital region. His majesty has taken a sample for study, but the remaining nine hundred and fifty are yours."

The declaration made my mind almost go numb.

Almost a thousand armored war machines at my disposal?

As I looked down the road, more appeared from the streets. Each one is in perfect condition. Each one is armed with a cannon at the front and covered in Citadel alloy.

The perfect answer to the Citadel's walls.

No.

The perfect answer to the Merchant's stubborn resistance.

"I don't even need to put them to siege, do I? I just need to show them that they no longer have any card to play." I felt numb as Ayah said nothing at my words. Jack could have given a message, but that may have threatened my position. "Who pilots these?"

"Merchant rebels. It took time to train them. They only know how to move into position and shoot. Bring down the gate, and maybe the door, but no more." I suspected as much. The crews must have been the most loyal of the Merchants to be trusted with these war machines. "They will be your citizens soon. Think of them as help from those who see you as liberators."

I grimaced but gave a single nod.

"Leave us. We'll finish this fight swiftly. Tell him that."

Ayah gave a curtsy before leaping straight up to the nearest rooftop and disappearing into the city ruins.

"Christine and Mallory, clear a path down the road."

Both my knights nodded while I approached the nearest vehicle and clambered up.

Inside the hatch was an able-bodied crew, but they had the faces of children.

The efforts of Harper were clearer now more than ever. I had permitted this to occur, and this was my own sin. These children were birthed to become soldiers from the moment that they were born. Filled with drugs to grow faster, so they required surgeries to remove unnatural growths and repair more terrible fractures. Many of the children sold to the Merchants were to be fodder for the front line, and I faced against them in their multitudes on their approach.

What if I gave our secrets to the Merchants, Forgers, and Wardens?

Could the undead have been trained to crew these weapons of war?

Would the Merchants have managed to create necromancers and call upon lines of Undead instead of children?

What if we shared all that we had with one another instead of seeing each other as rivals?

Would that have been enough to stop the Forgers from their mad sprint into turning their people into half-metal, mindless constructs?

Would these children be here now? Would they have to fight for their freedom in a world where they were sold as soldiers? Would there even be a battle between myself and my former allies if we had trusted each other more and if we were willing to do more than what we did?

So many questions resounded damningly in my mind, but for now I focused on what was at hand.

I focused on what I could do.

Jack had moved to save as many of his people as he could, and now he moved to save my future people as well.

It was time that I tried to do the same.

"My name is Celia of House Adil. I lead the Guardians of the Moon, and I now fight to take the Citadel of the Merchants. What would you have in exchange to fight for me?"

The children forced into adulthood stared at me, unprepared, but I was prepared to listen to each crew in every vehicle.

I would have them all at least be treated and respected as my soldiers if I were to send them off to war.