Eastern Terra, Terran Defence Line, June 12, 700 AB
Third-Person PoV
On the eastern border of the Republic of Terra, the Terran Army has set up defensive positions and artillery batteries. A force of 3,000 has been assembled, along with numerous armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, to combat the threat of 30,000 tribal warriors.
As the Terrans on the ground are waiting to face the invaders, Terran aircraft are providing aerial reconnaissance from the air.
"Raven-9 to FOB, enemy infantry formations about 10 clicks away from the defensive line, how copy? Over." reported a Spitfire pilot. "Good copy Raven-9, continue patrol. Over." The tribal warriors were unaware that they had entered the range of Terran artillery guns.
"Fire!" the 88mm Flak and 155mm Howitzers fired their shells at the oncoming onslaught of warriors. No matter how experienced or brave they were, they won't be able to survive artillery shells.
Tribal Alliance First Wave, Same Time
Third-Person PoV
A force of about 7,500 warriors, accompanied by archers, mages, and war beasts, marched towards the Terran border.
"That's strange... why haven't those Terrans sent out any troops to face us?" asked a higher-ranking warrior. "Maybe they got scared of our might and didn't want to face us!" yelled one of the beast riders "Such a shame, I was looking forward to trampling over their spines!" he joked.
"When this is over, I'm going to go home and have some fun with my new elf slave! I'm going to have a good tim-"
Boom Boom Boom Boom
The sound of coming Doom
Explosions rocked all around the warriors of the Tribal Alliance.
"What was that??? A magic attack?" asked the high-ranked warrior from before. "No mana signatures! What's going on?" replied a mage. "Look out!"
Boom Boom Boom Boom
All was silent.
Nothing but blood and gore remained. The mages could not even finish chanting shield spells, but even if they did, it would most likely be useless.
Tribal Alliance Invasion Force, The Rear, Sometime later
Third-Person PoV
"Once we crush the new hero, our dominance over the north will be secured! Not even the Kaze or Silvestria could stop us!" remarked one of the chiefs in the meeting area. The other chiefs laughed in agreement.
Suddenly, a tribal warrior rushed into the tent they were in. "Honourable ones! Our first wave has been hit with large explosions!" "WHAT? Tell me how!" demanded one of the chiefs. "We don't know, honourable one! Our men say they saw big explosions! However, our mages say they detected no magic, so it is likely bombs thrown from catapults!"
"Launch the North-Eastern tribe's Wyverns to destroy those annoyances immediately, the enemy has to be within 270 meters of the first wave if they can use catapults... the enemy must be nearby! Have all our forces advance and attack the enemy immediately!"
Skies East of Terran Defence Line, 30 Minutes Later
Third-Person PoV
A large group of 30 Wyverns flew 1,500 meters above ground level, searching for Terran troops to attack. Wyverns were definitely not as powerful as Dragons, but they were more agile and were easier to tame and breed. Hence, airforces usually had more Wyverns than Dragons.
"That's weird... the enemy should be right here. Did they maybe retreat? But there's no sign of any enemy presence, and they couldn't have all retreated so quickly... Maybe we're at the wrong spot?" thought the leader of the Wyvern group. What he and the rest of the group didn't know, was that the Terran frontline was still several kilometres away, with the artillery battery that fired at the first wave being 10 kilometres away.
A rider spat to the group in frustration "Bah! There's nothing here! Let's just go back and AGHH!!"
Flashes of light rained down from above and tore the rider and his Wyvern apart in seconds. The Wyvern tumbled down to the ground as a big mess of blood and gore. The riders looked up to see who or what killed their comrade and his ride, they looked up and were blinded by the sun.
2 Terran Supermarine Spitfires dived towards the Wyverns with their backs to the sun and fired their machine guns towards the formation. The riders panicked as they had not expected the enemy to come from above and with such speed. 3 more Wyverns were downed and the group broke formation. Suddenly, another 2 Spitfires appeared, taking the riders by surprise again.
The battle that followed could not even be called a battle. It was a massacre, with Wyverns raining down from the skies, riddled with bullet holes. The riders that survived the Spitfires now had to face a fall of more than 1,000 meters while being strapped to a dead Wyvern.
After less than 10 minutes, all 30 Wyverns and their riders were killed, with 0 Terran fighters lost.
However, there was no time to celebrate, and the pilots knew that. The second wave had appeared, heading towards the Terran Defence line.
Terran Defence Line, Forward Operating Base, Present
Third-Person PoV
The commander of the defending Terran force was Colonel Charles Davout. He and other high-ranking officers stood on a balcony overlooking a large map with radio sets surrounding it and assistants constantly updating the map with the newest intelligence gathered.
"Alright gentlemen, we managed to wipe out their first wave, but we probably don't have enough artillery to take out the second. They're sending everything they've got at us, they're air assets, namely what we know to be called 'Wyverns' and 'Dragons', outnumber our aircraft. So far, we have only encountered Wyverns, which our flyboys managed to take out easily. The Dragons, on the other hand, we have not met yet. Our pilots must exercise caution for our first contact with this beast. However, our main concern is handling the next wave." said the Colonel.
"I concur, I propose we send our bombers to bomb them to oblivion before they even reach our frontlines, this way we can guarantee zero casualties for our ground forces." said one airforce officer.
"You think my men can't handle these primitives? The Army will show you what we've got. I propose meeting them in the middle and running them over with our tanks and APCs. This'll crush their morale instantaneously. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they meet our new Tiger tanks!" said an officer from the Army. Obviously motivated by inter-branch rivalry.
"Gentlemen, both of your plans have their merits, but I have some concerns. For the bombing campaign, as I earlier, we have not met these 'Dragons' yet, and we don't know what they are capable of. Also, radar shows that their total air assets number more than a thousand. Our fighters may not be able to cover them all." said the colonel. "As for going on the offensive, we face a similar problem. We have not met any of these beasts they have tamed. Intelligence suggests that they have things called 'Land Dragons'. It has been shown that our artillery has been very effective on them, but as you know, our artillery won't be able to cover them all. And our forces are severely outnumbered."
"Here's what I propose. We remain in our entrenched positions, I want more Anti-Tank Guns and Anti-Air Guns under my command ASAP. The Airforce's bombers will provide support and our fighters will face the enemy in the air supported by our flak guns. While we do not know much about them, they also don't know much about us. They will assume we fight similarly to them, by meeting them in battle. We will use this to our advantage to make them think we have retreated and make them drop their guard."
The officers in the room agreed with the plan and made the necessary arrangements. The trap was set and the Terrans troops were ready to face off against these new, unknown, enemies.