Turning the Tide

In the heart of the conflict, I witnessed Brielle crash into the rebel front line. Her rapier was a silver blur, a flurry of devastatingly quick strikes. Her velocity was inhuman; the rebel infantrymen had no hope of dodging her assault, and most were cut down or left grievously wounded where they stood.

To support her, Cera unleashed his water and wind magic against the approaching lancers. He raised his staff, his lips moving in a silent incantation I couldn't hear from my position. Moisture coalesced in the air above, transforming into a storm of innumerable ice spikes that rained down upon the cavalry like a volley of deadly arrows. The crystalline shards pierced the flesh of both horse and rider. The result was a graphic spectacle, though the distance spared me the goriest details. It was still difficult to reconcile the existence of magic in this world.

With breathtaking agility, Elara scaled the city wall, simply running up its sheer face. Reaching the top, she nocked an arrow, her bow aimed at one of the siege cannons. The arrow ignited in mid-flight, a streak of fire against the sky. It struck near the cannon, detonating in a fiery explosion that annihilated the crew and mangled the war machine.

The trio's incredible feats bolstered the morale of the city's defenders. The foot soldiers, who had been pinned before the wall, surged forward, pushing the enemy back. I could hear their battle cries as they carved a path through the enemy ranks.

But the archers on the battlements couldn't effectively retaliate while the siege towers continued their relentless bombardment of the wall. The constant shelling even claimed a few of their lives. We had to act fast.

"Northeast, 200 meters, pikemen! Closing quickly!" Cutter's voice crackled in my ear. I saw them then: ten pikemen charging our position. "Arc, take them out!"

"Understood," I replied, switching my assault rifle to semi-auto and shouldering it. I sighted one of the pikemen and put two rounds into his head, dropping him instantly. I repeated the process for the others, each kill a clean, two-round burst.

"Prep your grenades!" Cutter ordered. We were poised to shatter the enemy's left flank. They seemed oblivious to our presence, their attention fixed on the city's defenders.

I pulled a grenade from my vest, yanked the pin, and lobbed it deep into their formation. "Frag out!" I yelled. Cutter threw one as well. A few enemy soldiers glanced over at the unfamiliar objects we'd thrown, but before they could react, the grenades detonated.

BOOM! BOOM!

The twin explosions tore through their ranks, scything down men with shrapnel and concussive force.

"Hyaah!" Cutter roared, his cutlass a blur as he hacked through the fractured enemy line. I drove the bayonet fixed to my rifle's muzzle into the chests of the few who stumbled into my path.

"Arc, use the LAW to destroy that siege battery!" Cutter yelled over the din. I slung the LAW from my back and extended the tube, sighting one of the massive siege towers. I waited until we were closer to ensure a clean shot.

The rocket slammed into the tower's wooden framework. As the massive structure groaned and began to collapse, the surrounding enemy soldiers scattered in panic. The falling behemoth crushed a number of unlucky souls beneath its weight.

"Hooray! GAIA Three is here! Well done, brother! I'm buying you a beer after this is over!" Bard cheered over the radio.

"This is GAIA Two," I murmured, my eyes tracing the OSC Marine Corps emblem on the barrel as I loaded another rocket. "Those OSC Marines sure know how to pick their rocket launchers, don't they?"

"Damn right," Bard chuckled. "Gotta love the Jarheads."

"Cut the chatter, you two!" Cutter snapped. "We need to take down the second tower."

I spotted a lancer bearing down on us from behind. We were playing a deadly game of chicken as we closed the distance. I twisted in the saddle, drawing my sidearm. I put two rounds square in the lancer's chest, sending him tumbling from his mount.

Another lancer immediately targeted us. Cutter leveled his shotgun and let loose a three-round burst. The blast shredded both horse and rider.

"Hraah!" Another lancer charged from our left, but Cutter met his thrust with a parry from his cutlass. I finished him with a single shot to the head.

The remaining lancers pursued us from the right. "Grenade out!" I yelled, pulling the pin on my last one and tossing it toward them.

The explosion sent lancers and their mounts flying with agonized screams. "They're down!" I reported.

"Arc, take down that second tower! Time to earn our pay," Cutter commanded.

I sighted the final siege tower with the LAW and squeezed the trigger. This time, the rocket struck the top of the tower, igniting the gunpowder and cannons within in a massive chain reaction.

"GAIA Lead, this is GAIA Two. Final siege tower is down. How copy, over?" Cutter reported into his comms.

"Solid copy, GAIA Two. We see it. The final tower is coming down," Bard confirmed.

Just then, a pikeman lunged from the chaos and drove his weapon into our horse's flank. The animal shrieked and collapsed, dragging us down with it. "Shit!" Cutter yelled. His leg was pinned beneath the horse's dead weight. I scrambled to my feet, grabbing my assault rifle. I saw a ring of enemies closing in, their swords and spears glinting. The rest of their forces were still engaged with the Albian loyalists. I could see the fear in their eyes, a clear result of our display of modern firepower. But all they did was maintain the circle, hesitant to attack.

I settled into a combat stance, aiming my bayonet at them. I closed my eyes, calming my breathing and focusing my hearing to track their slightest movements.

"Hyaaah!" One of them charged with a yell. I sidestepped the slash, my eyes snapping open. I countered with a butt-stroke to his head. As another swordsman swung for my head, I ducked and drove a kick into his midsection. A single shot to the head finished him.

Suddenly, two swordsmen attacked simultaneously from my front and rear. I parried the forward attacker's blow with my bayonet, then spun, using his body as a shield against the rear swordsman's strike. Shoving the corpse aside, I fired a three-round burst into the second man's chest. It wasn't enough to kill him instantly, but it took him out of the fight.

Six pikemen charged me at once. I raised my rifle, aiming for their heads, but before I could pull the trigger, a volley of ice spikes rained down from above, impaling them.

"Arc! Captain Cutter!" Cera's voice called out. "Are you two all right?"

Just as he spoke, an enemy soldier appeared behind him, but Cutter dispatched him with a clean shot to the head. "I'm good!" Cutter yelled, lowering his USP 45. I rushed to his side and helped him pull his leg free from under the dead horse. I helped him to his feet. "You okay?" I asked, giving him a quick once-over.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, buddy," he grunted. We found ourselves facing a new group of about twenty enemy footmen.

"Foot mobiles, three o'clock!" I called out, and we both brought our weapons to bear. They were only a few meters away, forming a loose semi-circle, their fear of our weapons still palpable.

"What the hell are you waiting for, you bollocks?!" Cutter taunted them with a yell. "Come at us!"

The taunt worked. They rushed us. I opened fire, dropping five of them in a wild spray before my magazine ran dry. As I reloaded, Cutter blasted away with his shotgun at anyone who got too close.

But as I fired again, my rifle seized up. "Dammit!" I slammed the forward assist. "Rifle's jammed!" The bolt wouldn't budge.

An injured swordsman, still full of fight, lunged at me, his blade arcing toward my torso. With my rifle useless as a firearm, I braced it like a spear, waiting for him. Before he could reach me, Brielle intercepted him, her rapier piercing his side. The man was tough, though, and with a roar, he turned his attack on her. But before his blade could find its mark, another knight in the armor of a Valorian soldier appeared and decapitated him with a single, clean stroke.

More knights in the same armor charged into the fray. They moved with brutal efficiency, cutting and slashing through everything in their path, yet seemed to take no injuries themselves.

"Who the hell are they?" Cutter asked, moving to our position.

"They are the fifty knights of our Maxton chapter," Brielle explained.

"Vance, get us inside the walls! I need to coordinate with your commander and plan a counter-attack," Cutter ordered.

"Understood!" she replied with a nod. She turned to her knights. "Hold the enemy! Clear a path for the Knight in Green!"

The knights of Valor formed a protective circle around us. "Yes, ma'am!" they roared in unison, driving back the encroaching enemy.

Brielle then turned to Cera. "Cera, you have command here."

"Alright!" he said with a grin. "You can count on me!" He immediately began chanting another incantation.

"Let's move!" Brielle yelled, and we broke for the city wall.

Cutter blasted a path with his shotgun while Brielle cut down any enemies who dared to stand in our way. I slung my jammed Type 91 over my back and drew my sidearm, firing at enemies attempting to flank us. The 9mm rounds wouldn't guarantee a kill, but they were enough to disable them. From atop the city wall, Elara and the other archers provided covering fire, their arrows raining down to support our advance.

We finally reached the base of the wall. Soldiers above dropped ropes for us. Brielle went first. I fired a few more rounds from my sidearm to cover Cutter before starting my own ascent. As I reached the top, Brielle grabbed my hand and hauled me over the parapet. I looked down to see Cutter scaling the rope, but an enemy soldier was leaning over the edge, about to cut it.

"Cutter! Enemy at your six!" I yelled.

The Captain understood instantly. He swung up and smashed his elbow into the soldier's skull. As the man staggered back, Cutter fired a point-blank shotgun blast that obliterated his face. He then fired blindly at the other soldiers near the edge. I added my own covering fire with my sidearm as he resumed his climb.

Once he was safely on the wall, I moved to cut the rope, but he stopped me. "Let them climb," he commanded.

"What are you doing?" one of the city guards exclaimed. "If you let them up, they'll kill us all!" Cutter just ignored him, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Just wait for it, mate," was all he said. A moment later, several enemy soldiers were swarming up the rope. Cutter unsheathed his ballistic knife. He laid the blade against the taut rope, grinning at the topmost soldier, who was now just feet away. The man's eyes widened in pleading terror, but Cutter simply sliced through the rope. The entire string of climbers plunged to the ground with terrified screams. Cutter pulled the pin on a grenade and casually tossed it down into the writhing pile of fallen men. Then, in a classic action-hero move, he turned his back just as the explosion erupted below. I felt like I was in a Michael Bay movie.

"Are you quite finished, Captain?" I asked with a deadpan expression.

"Yes, I am," he replied, a slight grin touching his lips.

A young man in ornate Albian knight's armor approached us. With his long blond hair and striking purple eyes, he had an almost feminine beauty, but the toned physique visible beneath his armor left no doubt about his gender.

"Greetings, valiant heroes," he said, his voice smooth and cultured. He gave a formal bow. "I am Sir Bors, Grandmaster of the Order of the Gilded Circle and a trusted general in King Alaric's court. It is an honor to meet you."

Captain Cutter returned the gesture, his tone mimicking the formal courtesy. "Captain Cutter, leader of the Global Reconnaissance and Expeditionary team. This is my second-in-command, Lieutenant Arc. The honor is ours, Sir Bors."

"Your actions have turned the tide, Captain," Sir Bors remarked as we all looked out over the battlefield. "You have raised the morale of our troops. We will win this day." Indeed, the loyalist forces were now driving the rebel army back decisively.

"Are reinforcements on the way?" Cutter asked.

"Yes, the Fourth Air Cavalry Regiment is en route... ah, and there they are now," Sir Bors said, pointing to the sky.

I raised my binoculars and saw a swarm of over a hundred dragons and griffons descending from the clouds. The sight of the arriving air cavalry shattered the rebels' remaining resolve. They broke ranks and fled in a full-blown panic. The fantastical beasts fell upon them, crushing, burning, and even devouring the fleeing soldiers.

"GAIA Three to all stations," Bard's voice crackled over the radio, filled with awe. "I'm tracking multiple large airborne hostiles over the battlefield. Can anyone confirm visual? Are those... dragons and griffons?"

"That's a solid affirmative, GAIA Three," I replied. "They're dragons and griffons."

Witnessing those creatures in action was astounding. They were living gunships, and I was profoundly grateful not to be on the receiving end of their assault.

As the rebels were completely routed, a roar of victory went up from the loyalist forces. Cutter and I, however, remained impassive. It wasn't just about maintaining professional composure; we had our own reasons for being here, our own objectives for helping them win this fight.