I wasted no time getting off the shuttle. Armed with Arondight and Aegis, I jumped off the ramp and landed on the concrete runway, looking around for enemies. My upgraded glasses scanned my surroundings, threat alerts and targeting reticules dancing around my lenses in holographic images. Too bad I didn't have a gun, or I could shoot, but it didn't matter.
There was no enemy in the vicinity.
The runway where our dropships were setting down on was clear of enemies. General Gallus of the Avalon Army wasn't stupid enough to send his reinforcements to a suicidal landing right in the middle of the enemy, and we didn't have drop pods anyway. So our dropships were landing in long secured landing airfields normally used by the Avalon Air Force. I could see the heavily armored black dropships bearing the legions of the Order crashing down upon the field in force, leaving plasma contrails in the heavens.
We were the first because my shuttle was the fastest, but I didn't hold that against them. I had taken a huge risk, trusting in the maneuverability and agility of my shuttle to avoid the worst of the enemy's antiair fire. The Sagittaurs were throwing up a massive net of antiair flak, hoping to down the beetle-shaped aircraft that descended upon Avalon like angels.
The Descent of Angels, that was what the soldiers of the Avalon Army would call them later when they saw the armored knights of the Order disembark, blazing swords and archaic bolt pistols in their gauntlets.
I didn't pay much attention to the knights of Carmarthen, knowing that Lionel Johansson would organize them himself, and so I focused on the battlefield. I could see a line of destroyed Avalon tanks, but there was still a colossal column of armor grinding forward, relentlessly advancing under the heavy fire of Sagittaur lance weaponry.
The centaur-shaped aliens brought no vehicles. Instead, they were mostly galloping around on bare hoofs, holding up crossbow-shaped weapons that fired emerald bolts that had an amazing range. These beams speared into the durable adamantium hull of Avalon tanks and blew them up with explosive impacts.
The Avalon tanks, I saw, were shaped similarly to those on Earth. They were blocky and box-shaped, with an oblong top. Plasma turrets spat out fiery bluish-white streams that burned with the heat of a star. Hull mounted laser cannons fired searing lances of ruby beams that scythed down the Sagittaurs. Designed to punch through the thick armor of enemy tanks, the flesh and fur clad Saggitaurs could do nothing but fall like wheat and chaff to the precise strikes of the laser cannons. Whole formations were vaporized by expanding shockwaves of plasma blasts.
Infantry ran in between the tanks, using the massive vehicles as cover as they dodged. Each of them carried a laser carbine with two hands, yelling and gesturing to each other to advance in staggered formations as they ducked under screaming emerald lances from the Sagittaurs' crossbows or shrapnel from obliterated tanks. There were a few who snapped off a few shots with their laser carbines, but the red beams faltered and dissipated over the distance. They weren't within full effective range of their small arms yet, another technological advantage the Sagittaurs had over them.
Worse, the Sagittaurs outnumbered us. I could see them setting down emplacements at the rear of their lines, setting up artillery. They might not have armor, but they certainly had artillery. If their crossbows could already deal so much damage to armored tanks and from such a long range, I shuddered to think what their artillery could do.
Nonetheless, I wasn't going to wait and find out. Nodding to my hovering Aegis and Arondight, I gave instructions mentally.
"Orbital strike support in these coordinates. Take those artillery emplacements out and thin the Sagittaurs."
"Roger."
"Understood."
Aegis and Arondight didn't hesitate, using quantum technology to communicate with their components still embedded within the ships' bridges. The Crusader and the Stalwart were already in support, guarded by the still crewed Straight Arrow, Swift Blade and Striking Spear, who maintained a tight patrol just in case any enemy ships popped out of nowhere. The Templar class cruiser and Squire class frigate slid into orbital positions above Avalon and rained down apocalyptic fury from the heavens. Titanic lances the sizes of tornadoes erupted and seared through the atmosphere, crashing down upon the Sagittaur positions with the wrath of the gods. Entire artillery emplacements vanished, consumed by hellish infernos and obliterated by divine retribution. The Sagittaur soldiers simply ceased to exist, the centaur aliens completely disintegrated by world ending storms.
Smoking craters were all that remained of the enemy positions, sand glassed by the sheer heat and molten red-black rock smoldering with acrid fumes. The infantry hung back, but the tanks pushed forward, their sheer durability allowing them to weather the extreme temperatures with impunity. Their treads dug up liquefied soil as they forced a route through, their plasma turrets rotating about to fire upon shellshocked Sagittaur survivors who had survived the initial orbital bombardment.
"Now that felt good!" Gallus had patched into my communications channel, his face appearing in a holographic window. "We've been on the receiving end of that for a few hours now, and it feels so liberating to turn the tables upon them!"
"It's not over yet, General," I told him as I advanced ahead of a column of knights, their armor protecting them from the heat. As for me, I had Aegis form a dome of protective energy around me, Lin Xue and Shang Xiao, and thanks to the antigrav generated by the same barrier, we could hover over the ground and levitate across. Though I suspected it was just easier to animate us flying than us actually walking…the studio didn't have that big a budget, after all.
The initial positions had been pulverized, and we were able to seize back a huge chunk of territory from the Sagittaurs, but there was a looming mountain just above the horizon. Mount Excalibur, where the Sagittaurs were erecting a stronghold. An orbital lance strike from above struck the massive mountain, but despite leaving molten craters, the sheer immense size of the mountain meant that it was little more than superficial damage.
The enemy was dug in too deep inside the natural fortress to be taken out by orbital bombardment.
"We'll have to secure the mountain the old-fashioned way," Johansson said as he came to my side, leading his command squad. I noticed Rex Luther beside him, barking orders to a communications officer carrying an ancient radio pack on his back. "Close quarters fighting. We were made for this, so give the order and send us in."
"Yeah, I will. But it'll be pointless if you guys get killed before you can get close. Use the cover of the tanks to get in. General Gallus, if you don't mind providing General Johansson's knights the support fire and diversion that they need to infiltrate Mount Excalibur."
"Consider it done, Commander Li."
The tanks bellowed as they opened up, plasma slamming into gun emplacements in the mountain and disintegrating unfortunate Sagittaurs who were trying to snipe us from afar. The knights ran weaved through the slowly advancing blocks of tanks, marching inexorably toward the mountain under their covering fire. The Sagittaur's retaliation was fierce, with more emerald bolts slamming into tanks and infantry with inhuman precision.
"Over there!"
I highlighted a route toward the forest that covered the foot of Mount Excalibur. Hoping that it would appear on the visors of the knights' helms, I left it to Johansson and Luther to instruct them to follow. I didn't need the cover of the forest because of Aegis's protective forcefield, which had absorbed a few emerald bolts and dissipated them harmlessly, but I didn't think I would set a good example by running through the thick of enemy fire like an idiot.
If I wanted my subordinates to follow my lead, then I had to lead by example.
Reaching the trees, I all but dove into the woods, deactivating the barrier and landing on my feet. I rolled toward cover of the trees and crouched next to it, ducking under superheated splinters when a stray emerald bolt incinerated a nearby tree. Brushing them off, I got up and began running toward the mountain, guided by the holographic route displayed on my lenses.
Behind me, the tanks continued to trade fire with the Sagittaur's mountain-placed artillery, howling plasma and shrieking lasers against roaring shells and bellowing bolts. The slowly darkening sky was illuminated by bluish-white, red and green, the devastating rays resembling shooting stars.
I called for more orbital bombardment, but targeted isolated clusters of Sagittaurs and artillery emplacements that were far from the mountain yet solid enough to give the Avalon Army trouble. The more enemies we eliminated, the less stragglers we had to worry about later. Furthermore, I wanted the Avalon Army to concentrate fire on the mountain for now. They were already taking heavy casualties, and I hated the idea of increasing losses.
Not on my watch.
"Here!"
I waved toward a squad of knights who had made it to the cover of the forest. They nodded and lumbered toward me, slow and clumsy in their heavy armor. I had seen a few of them weather a few shots from the Sagittaur, their armor actually shrugging off bolts with the same success rate as the larger Avalon tanks. It appeared that the armor made each knight a resilient walking man-sized tank. I wouldn't be surprised if they had the same saving throw characteristic, despite having differing toughness values.
Ah, it was a bad habit to equate everything to a game. This was reality, not a game with dice and datasheets. As much as I was looking forward to tenth edition of my favorite science fiction wargame, I shouldn't confuse it with reality. I had to focus.
"Gather!" I held up a hand and gestured for the knights to assemble around me. More squads were breaking into the woods and ducking under branches, using the trees to shield them from the enemy's line of sight. I doubted it would do anything against barrage weapons, but we had extra cover against indirect fire, so there was that.
Once I managed to gather a sizable force, including Johansson, who moved up to discuss with me our next route, I led the way.
"There's a path through this forest that will lead us straight to the mountain," I explained as I hurried along a trail. Alien animals scuttled and scampered out of the way, while sleek predators lurked back, recognizing that they were no match for heavily armored human knights. I caught a glimpse of a black panther-like predator pouncing from branch to branch, while far away, a herd of massive rhinoceros-like creatures the size of a house retreated, not wanting to be bothered by our mass migration.
The going was slow, but we made good progress. At this time, I envied the knights their armor – unlike me, they didn't have to worry about thorns, vines and other vegetative impediments that I had to bashed. Arondight cut a path for me, the hovering sword leading the way in my stead, but I still found my clothes catching on thorns and barbs all the same.
Lin Xue and Shang Xiao suffered similarly, but neither of them complained. And so I didn't as well, though I winced when the thorns cut open a wound on my arm when I shoved it out of the way. Ignoring the pain, I pressed my other hand down to stem the bleeding and soldiered onward.
"You're hurt," Lin Xue said, but I shook my head.
"Aegis says it's free of poison, so I don't have to worry. It'll stop bleeding soon."
"Be careful."
"Yeah," Shang Xiao agreed. "We haven't started fighting yet, and you're already hurt, kid."
"Don't worry about me." I sighed. "I'll do my best to avoid getting injured."
I said that, but I bashed through the foliage, only to jump back at the stab of more vines. Ugh. Just give me a break already.
Fortunately, we didn't have to trek through the forest for more than an hour before I finally saw a solid wall of rock stretching indefinitely upward. I smiled when the sensors and holographic map on my lenses confirmed my suspicions.
"We're finally here. Mount Excalibur."
"That's good," Johansson said, trampling his way forward through the vicious vegetation and staring up at the mountain impassively. "But how do we actually get inside the mountain?"
I glanced around for a moment before pointing vaguely toward the right. "That way. I think there's a cave over there, and if I'm not mistaken, it's connected to a network of interior tunnels in the mountain that the Sagittaurs are using to set up their base."
"Let's go then." Even with his face concealed behind his helm, I could tell that Lionel Johansson was grinning enthusiastically. He had one hand resting on the pommel of Victory. "It's time to test our blades against this foe and see how they fare in close quarters combat."
"Yeah," I concurred. "It's time to get these aliens off their high horses."