White Star of Aturan

VOL. 1, Ch. 8 - The Evening Flames

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North Maldegem, Belgium
May 20th, 2035
6:12pm, GMT+1

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The sun-shone countryside in the evening dusk rocked with the thunderous claps of gunfire and unintelligible battle cries. The light which passed through the overcast skies produced a mixture of grey, blue, and fiery orange, illuminating the ground with its gentle touch. The clear streams originating from the English Channel were left serene reflections upon its surface. However, current events in the countryside were simply not kind to the sound mind.

The enemy horde showed no signs of halting their overwhelming assault through the gate as tens upon tens of thousands of men poured through with their various instruments of war. Mounted dragons of both the flying and land-crawling variety spearheaded each wave of assaulting soldiers with their layered, shining grey plates of steel armour hung on their scaly bodies. Their mounts charged like flying cavalry, sending their heavily bullet-resistant beasts to the frontmost line to face their enemy head-on.

The enemy infantry were armed with their standard issue old, Remington Rolling Block-like rifles, which although old and capable of only single-shots before reloading still presented a significant threat as the rounds it fired were of the heavier-hitting, Spitzer-tipped variety. Each round was of enough stopping force that body armour could not hope to dissipate all its imparted force without its wearer being violent knocked to the ground. Supplementing the infantry were large, moving shields on wheels magically-enhanced with the power of Karein to absorb the impacts of many bullets. It was through little portholes and slits in these walls the infantry fired their rifles, capitalising on their mobile albeit finite cover. Some individual soldiers bore their own smaller similar shields, reminiscent of that of the Roman soldier, with few elegant markings to note and a focus on function over form.

Fireballs rained down from above onto the European forces, catching several soldiers in its area of effect unprepared to ward off the scorching heat dropped upon them. They tried their best to seek cover, but several continued to be engulfed by fireballs and objects thrown by the horrifying telekinetic capabilities which the creatures utilised. From a great height, a hurled dumpster landed upon several exposed soldiers as they retreated to defensive positions, disintegrating into pieces as it made contact with the asphalt of the hellish highway. The impact left nearly a dozen soldiers maimed alive, knocked out unconscious, or left dead and close to death.

The battle was heavily unfavourable for exposed infantry, and Commander Frank Weber saw it clearly through his Schakal's optics.

"Hear that gunner? Those flying creatures are priority targets, engage at will."

"Switching to gun, engaging." acknowledged the gunner as bursts of cannon fire shook the vehicle.

Feeling unsure, Commander Weber's driver felt he had to ask, "The horde's not stopping, commander. Should we back up and widen the kill zone?"

Weber checked his screens with a few additional button presses, scanning the area around him.

"We're further ahead than the rest of our armour, we'll do a fighting retreat. Gunner, engage on the move. Driver, back us up down this highway towards Maldegem."

"Moving, commander!"

Weber and his eight-wheeled Schakal trundled backwards as its gun remained pointed at the flying beasts. Each few seconds were followed by an extremely rapid, buzzsaw-like burst of 30mm airburst shells, which exploded and released deadly shrapnel shortly before impacting the dragons. One dragon fell after another with their flesh and armour pieces torn like the plaster off a brick wall, falling down to the ground crushing the panicked enemy riflemen below.