Steel and Mana

The early afternoon light, as dim as it was, tried to break through the clouds with very little success. At least the snow stopped falling for now, and I am happy for any positive boon coming my way, especially before a battle. I sat in my personal chair aboard the Camelot while the bridge was filled with my command staff. Oleg was also present, directing the troops on the ground from this vantage point, while I would be focusing on the battle in the air. I watched as the projection of the eastern borders was displayed on the Imaginary... and how a new, black cloud was drifting towards us.

"The swarm has entered visual range," Kustov announced, knowing full well that I had seen the same thing, but the protocol was the protocol.

"Estimated two hundred targets. Mixed sizes." Seltana added, standing next to Oleg, who was speaking into his own communicator, relaying orders to the troops on the ground.

"Kustov, give me a closer look," I spoke, watching as the Imaginary zoomed in on the approaching monsters.

Through the magnified view, I could see the winged bastards moving in a disorganized mass, though the chaos felt deceptive, and I knew that. They weren't flying blind, or there would be multiple collisions inside that mess, but there wasn't. Not one. The larger 'birds,' easily the size of the same truck that sent me here, held the upper layers of the swarm. Maybe they were the commanding variants, as my ship was also perched high up in the air, organizing our defenses. Below them were the bulk of the swarm, made of medium-scaled, in my estimation, horse-sized beasts with a bit thinner, leathery wings than their bigger variants. They also had more pronounced, ridge-like spines and a thinner, eel-like body. Their sharp talons that hooked under their bodies like scythes looked dangerous, but I wasn't sure they would be able to rip through the Camelot's hull. As for the planes... There was a certain danger if they got to claw at them, yes. Moving my eyes downward, beneath the horde were circling the smallest of the pack, no bigger than large dogs at best, but they were quick and twitchy, moving in tight, zig-zag lines like hummingbirds.

Their approach was steady, seemingly silent at first, but then the tremble of the air reached us, created by the flapping of hundreds of wings. It was a growing resonance, like the rumble of a waterfall distorted through the wind of a coming storm. It made the hair on my hand rise a little.

"Hold until range markers light the targets," Oleg ordered, his voice hard enough for me to hear, even though he wasn't shouting yet. Sitting there, Luna stood to my right and Mikan to my left, both watching the same feed while Sasha was down in engineering, making sure the Camelot's core and magic were functioning at their best possible capabilities.

"Cannons are hot," Seltana reported, receiving calls from the ground, one hand resting on the console before her, displaying the ground artillery coordination. "Airburst fuses set to detonate at the middle of their altitude."

I was surprised she picked up on the terms and weapons we had in our arsenal so quickly, but according to Oleg's constant reports, she was a natural. She was serious and quick and had unique ideas that she dared to share after realizing Oleg was open to implementing them. Suddenly, I wanted to thank the Khulmans for sending such gifts, as Lucca reported something similar. In the Markothian Pass, Rashira was also proving herself to be useful. She wasn't as well-versed in tactics as her sibling, but she demonstrated a splendid understanding of how to effectively implement our cannons and artillery. Lucca even gave her a chance at coordinating a barrage a day or two ago.

But... I had to focus on the present.

Below us, the fields of modified howitzers and cannon encampments erupted in a sequential order. The spells were altered in a way that they either split after a few seconds, like a cluster bomb, creating smaller, eight-threaded fireballs, or they stayed the same until it was time to explode. Then, they would result in a violent burst, burning away oxygen and creating a shockwave that could knock the bastards out of the sky. The latter didn't need a direct hit... but its range was minimal compared to what we were accustomed to, firing at targets that were not even visible at a distance.

Still... it was a show to behold. The explosions were like loud pops from our positions, but the effect was immediately visible in the Imaginary. A handful of monsters were blown apart in midair by the first salvo, as they didn't know what to expect. We watched as dozens of smoke trails streaked the sky, and the swarm scattered in reflex around the spots they were hit. But... They didn't break formation. Instead, they adapted.

"They're widening their shape," Seltana observed, watching the same image as the cannons kept firing, "Typical flocking behavior... They are trying to minimize impact per square meter."

"It is within what we expected as a reaction," Oleg responded, raising his communicator, "Use compensation pattern delta."

"Acknowledged, shifting firing pattern," echoed the ground troops' response.

Below, in under ten seconds, the sequence of fire changed at once. Instead of wide-spreading fire, the flak focused in a kind of bracketing bursts, trying to herd the swarm rather than break it apart. We were trying to prevent them from becoming wide and thin by firing at their sides and keeping them in a tight formation so our cluster spell could do the most damage. As a result, more bodies dropped from them. Some monsters burned or had their wings clipped by the explosions, spiraling down into the snowfields, while others plummeted like falling stones, vanishing in distant puffs of white after impact. They may still live after landing, but cleaning up will have to wait until we are finished with them.

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This may take some time as they kept pushing.

"They are getting close..." Luna whispered, making me nod.

"Send in the first wave," I ordered, which was immediately repeated.

"Fighter wings launching," Kustov reported, "All squadrons airborne. Eagle's Nest reports full deployment."

"Reaction!" Seltana called out immediately, "They split up and are heading straight at us at full speed!"

Oh... it was on. Through the projection, we watched our planes go full-throttle, heading straight towards the swarm, just as the monsters themselves threw their numbers at us. When the first wave of my planes got close enough, we saw a bright tracer fire lancing into the enemy ranks. Monsters burst into a bloody mess while the others around them twisted away, surprised that their enemy birds weren't even at clawing or biting range, yet still managed to hurt them. Good... they are not able to communicate telepathically, so nobody relayed the way the pursuing ones died a few days ago.

I watched one of our pilots pull a tight corkscrew, evading a pair of the smaller creatures before spinning into a snapshot that tore three in one salvo open from throat to tail. Another of the same group as him, doing his best to keep up with his wingman, clipped a mid-sized monster with its wingtip as the swarm tried to close in on them, blocking their escape vector. It caused him to spiral into an emergency dive while another squadmate did his best to cover him, diving, shooting those bastards that also dived after his 'injured' aircraft. We watched as the pilot managed to jump out right before the plane crashed into the forest below... Well, it was the first loss, but I knew it wouldn't be the last. War is war, after all.

"Keep ground artillery firing at their backs where they are still clear of our fighters," I said. "We can't afford friendly fire. Tell the Rook to aim at the big ones at the highest altitude!"

"Roger," Oleg nodded, and the moment later, Polo's mech, with the massive cannons on its shoulders and both arms, began spewing fire at last.

His spells aimed to fly almost straight up before coming back down, landing on top of the swarm with bright, beautiful explosions. For a few heartbeats, as I gazed at the arranged chaos, the sky seemed like something out of my old life when I was at the frontlines... fire, blood, oil, torn-off wings, and smoke. I could almost taste it.

Still... Their numbers were... a lot... And some of them ditched the dogfighting and decided to head straight at us and the Eagle's Nest.

"Impact on the topmost deck!" one of the officers called after a dull thud rang through the Camelot.

"Breach?" Kustov asked with a clipped voice.

"Negative," came the answer after a second or so, "External contact only... But some creatures landed on the top of the ship."

"Deploy the internal teams," I ordered. "Make sure none has the time to claw its way inside."

Up on the top of the ships, both on the Camelot and the Eagle's Nest, my soldiers were already moving, climbing out from the service hatches, surprising the dumb bastards, and cutting them down like how small fishes clean the body of a shark.

"More breaking through," Seltana warned, watching the change in the shrinking swarm. "Here come the small ones!"

"Fast..." Mikan grimaced, "They are slipping under the dogfight and cannon fire."

"Track them," I ordered, and Oleg was already issuing orders.

Half of the Imaginary shifted the view at once. Several clusters of the quick, dog-sized creatures dived down and then skimmed low across the snowy plain, moving at dangerous speed. It seemed they were almost too fast for their own good, as some crashed into our cannon and howitzer encampments, flipping them over while dying in the process. Damned kamikaze bastards! However, they didn't really mind, as those who made it through kept moving forward. Some idiots even hit the outer walls of Markoth and were turned into a meat-paste. However, the slower ones got the memo and managed to soar straight over the walls, arcing toward the city streets.

"Report," I ordered, and Pion's voice came through the comms built into my chair.

"Engaging now," he said clearly and without panic. "Intercept squads ready and deployed!"

From above, we watched my soldiers take the beast head-on. Like practiced executioners, they were in both the alleyways and on rooftops, their weapons blazing with power. The moment the flying creatures descended low enough, a wall of elemental weapons, including lightning, ice, and fire, met them. The first wave died before they reached the inner city. Then, from the second wave, a few managed to get through. No matter... they were also met by sword, spear, or the edge of an axe the moment they came into range.

I saw as they tried to grab onto my people, trying to lift them up like a bird adept at fishing. But their talons met with armor made of massive beasts' scales, not something they could cut through, at least, not with one go. So, their rewards were my soldiers grabbing onto them, pulling, hacking, and whacking them like mad berserkers.

As they realized it was futile to try it that way, they began circling around the city... which was then met by the Princess's salvo. Yuri was stationed in the city, this time equipped with the same modified cannons, hitting them with airburst spells, forcing them to land back right in the meat grinder.

By then, the fight had stretched across the entire sky. We lost five more planes, their wings sheared by the bastards. Ground teams were keeping up the fire, some groups even spreading out, providing alluring targets to drag them down from the sky, many times working too. They never flew back up.

We were winning, of course... The enemy was visibly thinning out.

"They're losing momentum," Seltana said after a few long minutes, her eyes moving rapidly between battlelines. "Their wings are folding inward," she added, furrowing her brows. "They're going to retreat; I had seen the same behavior on the hawks Meyli was keeping back home!"

I exhaled slowly.

"No, they won't," I said. "Tell the Eagle's nest to follow us and prepare for pursuit!"

"Yes, Sovereign!" Kustov nodded, relaying my orders.

True enough, after a minute or so, the remaining birds, whittled down to a hundred or so by my estimation, began turning and flying away. By then, my Camelot, followed by the Eagle's Nest, flew after them, and it was time for our cannons to open fire. Both magical... and physical.

"Leave none alive." I said right before the first salvo's thundering echo rang through my ship, "I want each and every one of those bastards to crash to the snow either in pieces or as a charred corpse."