Post by Brett on Jul 10, 2011 16:53:30 GMT -1
"Attention!"
The group of two dozen snapped to attention, gazing down at the ruins of Highland city. Six thousand and some years had passed since that day, but the atrocities still tugged in the minds of the Melaer who had been there. Alaister stood not far from the group observing, being Melaer felt like a lifetime ago and yet those memories were imprinted upon him, the cries of battle and the city in ruins as Myr'aelaer bombers strafed it and their artillery fired from all directions.
"Present arms!"
Five Melaer stood in front of the group raised their plasma rifles toward the sky, aiming at nothing in particular while everyone else gazed at the small memorial, a rather lacking symbol of remembrance for that day. Upon the order to fire, the five release a volley in unison that whizzed upwards into the sky over the city like shooting stars going toward orbit rather than from it. They fired twice more after that, and Alaister gazed down upon the city as did several others.
The battle of Highland had been the turning point in the Myr'aelaer wars, it had been the pyrrhic victory that had caused the rest of the galaxy to take a stand and begin military operations against the Myr'aelaer, including the rest of the Melaer who had not been a part of Alaister's fleet. During the moment of silence, the eyes of several in the crowd glazed over as they were taken back to that time, tears forming in the corners of their eyes at the sheer amount of Melaer and Highlander lives lost in the battle...
Part 1: Cailen's War
"We need APCs here now!" Cailen yelled, his platoon was hiding in the rubble of what had once been a towering apartment block in the city.
"Sir, field command says they can't get to us, the path is blocked. They're sending a transport instead!"
Knight-Captain Cailen Vigil regarded the Highlander under his command, then looked back at the platoon made up of Highlanders and Melaer. He knew fully well that the transport would likely be destroyed on the way, the sounds of plasma and lazer fire in the distance was coming closer, not to mention the rumble of enemy armour. The platoon dived as a large artillery bolt flew over their heads and exploded with a shockwave of plasma just out of range of causing them harm.
"Alright, we need to clear a perimeter for the transport to land." Cailen indicated for everyone to follow his lead, unsheathing his sword and brandishing it in his right hand with his plasma pistol in his left.
"We've got drones!"
A contingent of mechanical Myr'aelaer drones began firing on them, causing the platoon to take cover and fire back. The large exo-skeletal drones began to advance, the purple electrical discharge of their weapons charring the cover the platoon had taken. They advanced so quickly that soon they were forced into melee combat with the drones, and it appeared there was a flesh and blood Myr'aelaer commanding them.
"Hold out, the transport will be here soon!" Cailen reassured them, the conviction in his voice was believable despite his own doubts.
The blade of Cailen's sword began to glow as energy rushed up its length, and he began to use the charged sword to cup through the metal limbs and bodies of the drones like a hot knife through butter while taking pot shots with his pistol which at one point shot up and took a drone's head clean off. The lack of fleet support due to them being locked in combat in orbit by the much larger Myr'aelaer fleet was making the fight on the ground near impossible, the Melaer and Highland forces were losing ground rapidly and the trenches outside the city had already been deserted.
Casualties for the platoon mounted as the contingent of drones were reinforced but fortunately an air of relief soon swept them as the sound of the transport approached, firing all of its weapons at the Myr'aelaer reinforcements not yet in the melee it took up position over the battle. Caelm Sunwielder leapt out of the transport into the middle of the melee, weaving his magic he set of a conflagration at a group of drones which caused their metal exo-skeletons to melt until they were inoperable.
"It's about damn time you got here!" Cailen yelled over the sounds of battle.
"We had a bit of trouble avoiding an AA emplacement they put down to the south of here!" Caelm replied, also yelling due to the battle.
The Myr'aelaer commander came running toward Caelm and Cailen with the purpose of taking them out, Caelm and Cailen had other ideas however and Caelm fired off two streaks of white lightning at the attacker, which he formed a shield to stop only to have his focus broken for a moment which made Cailen able to slip behind him in one fluid and co-ordinated motion with Caelm and take the Myr'aelaer commander's head off his shoulders with a swipe of his sword.
The drones became confused and lost co-ordination, which saw them defeated by the platoon and barrage of missiles and rapid-fire plasma weapons on the transport, which then landed and allowed to platoon to get on board before taking off to return to field command. The transport rattled and shook violently as it took glancing shots from the AA emplacement Caelm had mentioned, the pilot was just that good though and Cailen slipped into the cockpit to find Menirea at the helm and Silya in the co-pilot's chair.
"Thanks for the save," he told them, holding on tight to the wall of the ship as it rattled again.
"Don't thank us yet!" Silya replied, and then unstrapped herself and opened the side door to the cockpit. "Get me closer!"
This kind of thing would be considered odd and a suicide mission, but Silya like Cailen and Menirea was a highly trained Ashan Knight, able to take on entire contingents by herself if need be. The ship came to a halt only briefly and Silya leapt from the the transport which continued on toward field command, Silya unsheathed the katana-like ashta from its sheathe on her belt and with a rush of energy it began to glow as Cailen's had before she started to cut through the drone crew that manned the emplacement effectively neutralizing it.
The transport came in for a landing at the highly fortified mobile command, which was essentially a large tank with thick armour plating, covered in weapon placements and surrounded by tanks, soldiers both injured and capable of fighting and landed bombers that were returning from strafing runs on enemy positions. Cailen and his platoon exited the transport, carrying several injured with them.
"Captain Cailen, the general wants to see you."
"I'm on my way."
"You too High Magus."
Caelm nodded and left with Cailen, the platoon being seen to by medics. Entering the mobile command, they found General Halaan looking irritable, she always did when Silya pulled one of her stunts as she had with the AA position.
"General Salea." Caelm greeted.
"We're knee deep in it!" she exclaimed, looking down at a large circular holographic display of the city showing enemy positions, they were being swarmed and now only the very centre of the city was theirs, fortunately the centre of the city was also like one big stronghold.
"They've got a lot more forces than us to begin with, plus they're getting reinforcements and we just have to cope with what we have." Cailen stated, looking irritable himself for a moment. "What about fleet support? We getting that anytime soon? I mean I'm glad we got the bombers but a few fighter strafes and orbital bombardments would be nice."
"Negative." she replied, looking up at him with a sigh. "The admiral can't send us any help, he's pinned in just keeping them from sending anymore forces down here and being able to orbitally bombard us."
Cailen looked down at the holographic map, they truly were surrounded but with the loss of that AA placement Silya took out, it meant their bombers could at least take off again. Studying the map and pointed at key position to fortify, looking back up at Silea and Caelm with a serious expression.
"We fortify these positions, without that AA placement we can get bombers out again, put tanks on all the main paths in the centre of the city and make them pay for each step. Tell sharpshooters to target Myr'aelaer not drones, without their commanders they become disorganised."
Caelm and Silya looked down at the map and nodded slowly in approval.
"Alright, disperse the Ashan Knights among the fortified positions. Caelm, command the Magus Corps and disperse them the same way we are the Ashan lot, Cailen you're getting a field promotion to Knight-Commander. You're my second-in-command, poor Sidan took a plasma bolt to the chest."
Caelm and Cailen both saluted with motion of the right fist placed over the heart, then moved out to fulfill their orders and dig in for what was to come...
The group of two dozen snapped to attention, gazing down at the ruins of Highland city. Six thousand and some years had passed since that day, but the atrocities still tugged in the minds of the Melaer who had been there. Alaister stood not far from the group observing, being Melaer felt like a lifetime ago and yet those memories were imprinted upon him, the cries of battle and the city in ruins as Myr'aelaer bombers strafed it and their artillery fired from all directions.
"Present arms!"
Five Melaer stood in front of the group raised their plasma rifles toward the sky, aiming at nothing in particular while everyone else gazed at the small memorial, a rather lacking symbol of remembrance for that day. Upon the order to fire, the five release a volley in unison that whizzed upwards into the sky over the city like shooting stars going toward orbit rather than from it. They fired twice more after that, and Alaister gazed down upon the city as did several others.
The battle of Highland had been the turning point in the Myr'aelaer wars, it had been the pyrrhic victory that had caused the rest of the galaxy to take a stand and begin military operations against the Myr'aelaer, including the rest of the Melaer who had not been a part of Alaister's fleet. During the moment of silence, the eyes of several in the crowd glazed over as they were taken back to that time, tears forming in the corners of their eyes at the sheer amount of Melaer and Highlander lives lost in the battle...
Part 1: Cailen's War
"We need APCs here now!" Cailen yelled, his platoon was hiding in the rubble of what had once been a towering apartment block in the city.
"Sir, field command says they can't get to us, the path is blocked. They're sending a transport instead!"
Knight-Captain Cailen Vigil regarded the Highlander under his command, then looked back at the platoon made up of Highlanders and Melaer. He knew fully well that the transport would likely be destroyed on the way, the sounds of plasma and lazer fire in the distance was coming closer, not to mention the rumble of enemy armour. The platoon dived as a large artillery bolt flew over their heads and exploded with a shockwave of plasma just out of range of causing them harm.
"Alright, we need to clear a perimeter for the transport to land." Cailen indicated for everyone to follow his lead, unsheathing his sword and brandishing it in his right hand with his plasma pistol in his left.
"We've got drones!"
A contingent of mechanical Myr'aelaer drones began firing on them, causing the platoon to take cover and fire back. The large exo-skeletal drones began to advance, the purple electrical discharge of their weapons charring the cover the platoon had taken. They advanced so quickly that soon they were forced into melee combat with the drones, and it appeared there was a flesh and blood Myr'aelaer commanding them.
"Hold out, the transport will be here soon!" Cailen reassured them, the conviction in his voice was believable despite his own doubts.
The blade of Cailen's sword began to glow as energy rushed up its length, and he began to use the charged sword to cup through the metal limbs and bodies of the drones like a hot knife through butter while taking pot shots with his pistol which at one point shot up and took a drone's head clean off. The lack of fleet support due to them being locked in combat in orbit by the much larger Myr'aelaer fleet was making the fight on the ground near impossible, the Melaer and Highland forces were losing ground rapidly and the trenches outside the city had already been deserted.
Casualties for the platoon mounted as the contingent of drones were reinforced but fortunately an air of relief soon swept them as the sound of the transport approached, firing all of its weapons at the Myr'aelaer reinforcements not yet in the melee it took up position over the battle. Caelm Sunwielder leapt out of the transport into the middle of the melee, weaving his magic he set of a conflagration at a group of drones which caused their metal exo-skeletons to melt until they were inoperable.
"It's about damn time you got here!" Cailen yelled over the sounds of battle.
"We had a bit of trouble avoiding an AA emplacement they put down to the south of here!" Caelm replied, also yelling due to the battle.
The Myr'aelaer commander came running toward Caelm and Cailen with the purpose of taking them out, Caelm and Cailen had other ideas however and Caelm fired off two streaks of white lightning at the attacker, which he formed a shield to stop only to have his focus broken for a moment which made Cailen able to slip behind him in one fluid and co-ordinated motion with Caelm and take the Myr'aelaer commander's head off his shoulders with a swipe of his sword.
The drones became confused and lost co-ordination, which saw them defeated by the platoon and barrage of missiles and rapid-fire plasma weapons on the transport, which then landed and allowed to platoon to get on board before taking off to return to field command. The transport rattled and shook violently as it took glancing shots from the AA emplacement Caelm had mentioned, the pilot was just that good though and Cailen slipped into the cockpit to find Menirea at the helm and Silya in the co-pilot's chair.
"Thanks for the save," he told them, holding on tight to the wall of the ship as it rattled again.
"Don't thank us yet!" Silya replied, and then unstrapped herself and opened the side door to the cockpit. "Get me closer!"
This kind of thing would be considered odd and a suicide mission, but Silya like Cailen and Menirea was a highly trained Ashan Knight, able to take on entire contingents by herself if need be. The ship came to a halt only briefly and Silya leapt from the the transport which continued on toward field command, Silya unsheathed the katana-like ashta from its sheathe on her belt and with a rush of energy it began to glow as Cailen's had before she started to cut through the drone crew that manned the emplacement effectively neutralizing it.
The transport came in for a landing at the highly fortified mobile command, which was essentially a large tank with thick armour plating, covered in weapon placements and surrounded by tanks, soldiers both injured and capable of fighting and landed bombers that were returning from strafing runs on enemy positions. Cailen and his platoon exited the transport, carrying several injured with them.
"Captain Cailen, the general wants to see you."
"I'm on my way."
"You too High Magus."
Caelm nodded and left with Cailen, the platoon being seen to by medics. Entering the mobile command, they found General Halaan looking irritable, she always did when Silya pulled one of her stunts as she had with the AA position.
"General Salea." Caelm greeted.
"We're knee deep in it!" she exclaimed, looking down at a large circular holographic display of the city showing enemy positions, they were being swarmed and now only the very centre of the city was theirs, fortunately the centre of the city was also like one big stronghold.
"They've got a lot more forces than us to begin with, plus they're getting reinforcements and we just have to cope with what we have." Cailen stated, looking irritable himself for a moment. "What about fleet support? We getting that anytime soon? I mean I'm glad we got the bombers but a few fighter strafes and orbital bombardments would be nice."
"Negative." she replied, looking up at him with a sigh. "The admiral can't send us any help, he's pinned in just keeping them from sending anymore forces down here and being able to orbitally bombard us."
Cailen looked down at the holographic map, they truly were surrounded but with the loss of that AA placement Silya took out, it meant their bombers could at least take off again. Studying the map and pointed at key position to fortify, looking back up at Silea and Caelm with a serious expression.
"We fortify these positions, without that AA placement we can get bombers out again, put tanks on all the main paths in the centre of the city and make them pay for each step. Tell sharpshooters to target Myr'aelaer not drones, without their commanders they become disorganised."
Caelm and Silya looked down at the map and nodded slowly in approval.
"Alright, disperse the Ashan Knights among the fortified positions. Caelm, command the Magus Corps and disperse them the same way we are the Ashan lot, Cailen you're getting a field promotion to Knight-Commander. You're my second-in-command, poor Sidan took a plasma bolt to the chest."
Caelm and Cailen both saluted with motion of the right fist placed over the heart, then moved out to fulfill their orders and dig in for what was to come...