Steel and Mana

After a week of planning and preparing, it was finally time to enact Seltana's plan. When I read it, along with the proposals from all the other officers, down to the Khulman riders and their captains, it did seem to be a solid idea. So, we were going to do it. The Camelot itself would stay above the main army, and start with the strongest ping to rattle the bastards out of their hiding places. As for the trap itself, the Knight's Errand was at ground zero, where all of it will culminate in a fiery execution, ready with ten of our mechs already stationed on the ground.

The time it took to get everything into motion was mainly due to the mechs, as Merlin had equipped them with the new 'stealth' shielding, and this would be their very first actual trial. By using it on the Excalibur first, Galahad, and Fila managed to provide precise details to fine-tune it... and now, we were about to apply it on a large scale. As for the operation, for now, I sat back and let my people do it.

"Sonar... initiate the first sweep. Aim it in the flagged, northeast arc." Oleg's voice echoed from the speakers on the bridge as he was on the Stormbringer, stationed a few kilometers away from us.

The next moment, the magical thrum rippled out from Camelot, and it didn't take long for it to ping back to us. The tall grasslands seemed to stiffen immediately, and then the returning wave lit up the bastards like points of light across the projection before me. Heh... as far as I could tell... There were hundreds of beasts hiding there, probably waiting for the army to pass before showing themselves again.

"We have them," an operator said, sitting in the forward-placed sensor cluster on the bridge, "Sending over the data... Multiple clusters... Roughly three hundred signatures."

As predicted, the moment the beasts realized they had been exposed, the packs bolted, no longer trying to lay low but to get away from the hungry monster... from us. What a weird way of seeing things...

With no longer hiding and switching back to regular sensors, I could see on the emerging image that they were hyena-like creatures, at best four meters tall, but most of them looked only half as big. They sprinted in weaving lines, desperate for cover that did not exist on the open plain... They were like frightened hordes of gazelle or something, running from a chasing cheetah. Suddenly, I couldn't bear to look at them as monsters. But only for a moment... Because... to hell with them all.

"Their flight confirms the pattern we predicted," Oleg reported, "Signal the Khulman riders! Begin the herding procedure."

As an answer, trumpets replied from below.

The Khan's cavalry surged into action as a sweeping line, soon riding ahead of the monsters, angled to cut them in, while the Eagle's Nest appeared behind them, letting a ping fly out from its sonar system. Of course, we weren't just using a handful of riders, but about five hundred per wave, making sure to kick up ample dust and let the monsters feel they were trapped.

Smiling to myself, I wanted to be on the Stormbringer and see what the Khan was thinking, that the plan playing out before him was done by his own daughter that he sent over to me... And sorry, my friend, but I am not giving her back. Hehe... I can't wait for him to discover that Jila is piloting one of those machines he had begun to envy... And the fact that she had given up on her Khulmani background... Anyway, I am not going to tell him yet; who knows if he'll flip his shit or not.

Drawing back my thoughts to the beasts, they shrieked and snapped at each other, probably confused as to what was chasing them. A few tried to break through, lunging toward the horses and breaking off from the main horde, but the Khulmani riders responded by showing their own experience fighting monsters like these. They opened their ranks, encircled them, and used arrows with monster-bone tips along with spears to fell them. It was... surprisingly well practiced.

"They are getting close to the designated kill-zone," an operator spoke, "The Punisher's ping directed them straight towards it, and they don't seem to notice the trap... Estimated interception in two minutes."

Ahead, the terrain dipped into a shallow basin ringed by a bunch of low mounds. That was where Seltana had placed the trap, and it was a position well chosen. At the moment, our mechs stood in a half-circle, occupying both the mounds and the space between them. They were motionless, and although visible, without producing the usual magic signals, it was evident that the beast didn't perceive them in time. Perhaps they wouldn't even notice them when looking, thinking of them as part of the land or something.

"Now!" Oleg ordered the moment when the bulk of the creatures were in the mark. The ones in the front had already begun slowing down, as the raiders had stopped chasing for a while and were now finally noticing the mechs, becoming unsure of what to do.

They can die, for one.

It was a second morning appearing before me when I thought that. All of my mechs' cannons opened fire at once, while those equipped with flamethrowers began walking, spewing molten fire in massive cones, dousing the horde in it. One of the beasts tried and leapt at the closest mech, aiming for its chest, but my Knight simply slapped it down with the other hand like it was a fly, stomping on its body, turning it into bloody mush.

Yeah, it was a complete eradication. If not for the fact of what they were, I would probably feel sorry for them again, but compassion is not something these creatures deserve. At the back of the horde, some were about to turn around and back out, it was then that the Knight's Errand opened fire and dropped four more machines in their midst. No mercy and no survivors.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Probably because of the constant howls, another group of them emerged from the northern edge of the region, and this one was led by a larger beast, but still from the same kind. It was nearly twice the size of the others, probably on the verge of creating a core or already having one. Yeah... it had one, because when it opened its maw, sparks leapt between its fangs.

"The new signals are charging in!" the operator shouted, "The leading one... Measuring... It is at ten meters in height, and a strong magical discharge is being detected!"

"Knights, intercept," Oleg commanded without pause.

Two mechs broke formation at the back, heading to meet it. For this mission, considering their numbers and speed, most of the Knights were equipped with large, area-of-effect weapons, meaning cannons and flamethrowers. From the two, the further out one opened with a shoulder cannon salvo, magical fireballs bursting into clusters of smaller ones above the newly appearing horde. While it killed a handful of the smaller ones, the leading creature leapt clear of it, electricity bursting from its body in a crackling arc that aimed directly at another spell in the air, exploding it ahead of time. By then, the second mech waded in, opening fire, setting its flamethrower's mouth to its widest arc, sending ahead a tsunami of fire at a short range.

As if on cue, the beast leaped again, above the cone of fire... which my Knight had anticipated, its other arm already raised, and halftrack-sized bone bolts shot out from its enlarged crossbow-type weapon, skewering the monster mid-air.

It was killed... immediately. The corpse didn't try to land on its feet; it just fell back into the fire, set ablaze just as the rest of its kind.

The new group was dealt with nonetheless. Without their leader, they scattered in all directions, but they had already come too close. The Punisher was built for air-to-ground battles, and the bombardment it laid down, with twice as many downward-facing cannons as any of her sister ships, turned the farmland it hovered over into Swiss cheese.

When the battle ended, the main kill zone was a smoking, blackened pit, while the secondary battlefield was littered with torn-apart pieces of monsters, lying in holes. It was... easy.

"Reports have arrived. The losses we suffered were minimal," Oleg reported through the open channel, meaning we barely lost a few riders when the beasts tried lunging at them. "The operation had been completed perfectly."

I only acknowledged it once, listening to the silence on their end, forming a small smile. I could imagine how the Khan's chest rose and fell heavily, as there was indeed the faint noise of someone breathing more rapidly than the others. I bet he had expected slaughter, yes, but not something like this, and certainly not with so few losses.

Later, speaking with Oleg, he told me what had happened afterward.

Seltana just stood there with her arms folded, her eyes scanning the battlefield, analyzing how it had gone. However, she was not gloating or smiling; she was doing nothing to provoke her father in any way, shape, or form. Though Oleg also told me he knew her well enough by now to see the pride and satisfaction in her eyes.

"Your games," the Khan spoke first in the end, even smiling, "do come in handy, after all."

"To me," Seltana only inclined her head, looking at him once before returning to her duties, "They were never a game, Father."

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While the main army was still within the old Markoth's territory, Pion and the rest of the forward scouting team had been following the river, going northbound.

For days, the convoy pressed against the increasingly more violent current, the banks of the river tightening on either side of them. The muddy banks were now replaced by rocky, hard edges, and the trees were closing in on them, the forest becoming a unified presence. At first, the ships could force their way through, the Dawn's metal bow cutting it easily, creating enough calmness behind it for the sailships to keep going... but, in the end, the boulders were beginning to stick out from the river itself, and it began narrowing so much that no ship could squeeze through.

Pion stood at the prow of the Dawn that had to anchor itself, watching the constant sprays splashing high into the air, hitting the rocks and the ship's sides. The rumble was already a continuous noise, and no matter how far they looked, the river was becoming increasingly hostile. Behind him, the line of ships stretched back into a surprisingly thick morning mist, obscuring the Authority and the Rook from view at the back.

"Nathel?" He finally asked, knowing this was it... from now on, they would head out on foot.

"I am still picking it up," Nathel's voice came from the Seeker, "It's still at north by northeast, and I am increasingly sure it is in the mountains."

"Then we're close..." Pion muttered, making a decision. Not even half an hour later, all the captains and officers assembled on the Dawn's deck as they listened to Pion's orders. "This is where we anchor. The river has carried us far enough, and from here on, we go on foot."

"What about the ships?" The captains asked in unison.

"You stay behind," Pion continued, "You will fortify your position here and create a forward base for us. Turn the ships around and get into formation to be ready to leave if necessary upon our return. As for my men and the mechs, we are going to continue on land.

"How long should we wait?"

"As long as necessary." Pion looked them in the eye, "If we don't come back, you are still going to wait for My Sovereign... For the Union to arrive and tell them everything. Only leave if monsters come and you are in danger of being overwhelmed... otherwise, do your duties."

And they would... There was no other option. Even if they wanted to leave, who would say on the road back that they wouldn't be assaulted by monsters? Without the mechs, they couldn't really stand a chance. Well, they all knew what this mission was about...

With that in mind, Pion's orders went out. It didn't take long for the soldiers to disembark and the mechs to be taken off the Dawn and the Authority. Most of the sailors found it unnatural, as they were so accustomed to the machines being on the ships, almost as if they were part of them. Yet now... they couldn't help but feel as if they were naked... undefended.

As for the Avalonian elite troops, they were mostly silent as they gathered, a hundred black-armored, skull-masked warriors, looking straight at Pion, who had his helmet under his arm, surveying his people.

"From the first column," he ordered, putting on his skull-faced helmet, "We march towards the mountain. Find me that Third Pass!"

"OOORAAH!"