CHAPTER 13: OPERATION SOLID SNEAK

In the aftermath of that last Beastman council, news about Ursura’s acclamation as their new ruler spread like wildfire among the tribes living in the lands of the Avinus. Of course, they knew of her; I always made sure she was visible almost every time I dealt with the problems of her future subjects. From her reputation as the ‘Human Chief’s follower’, she could now carve her own path to glory and fame, and take back her tribe that once abandoned her.

“…”

For the past ‘long sleeps’, people from the other tribes trekked to the Chicken tribe’s village to take a glimpse of what’s happening. By the time we finally decided to introduce Ursura to everyone, the crowd swelled to huge numbers that we had to ask some of them to camp out the village’s walls for the meantime.

With the monster hordes gone, it is safe to do that nowadays…

“Ursura! Ursura! Ursura!” the crowds’ cheers filled the air of the village, just as their queen passed along the road lined with the Black Feathers. Then, she stood at the podium, right beside the paramount chief of the Avinus, Gislaine, as well as the other elders.

“My fellow Avinus, brothers and sisters from other Beastmen tribes,” the Eagle elder opened her speech, “it is with a joyful heart that I stood here before you to introduce a special friend to our people. As you know of our struggles and triumphs, this person is always with us—along with the Human Chief. And now, times have changed. A new era beckons to us, as we steadily marched into our destiny as the great Beastmen of the old; one that is worthy to stand beside the Lord Gaius, and the hero, Cassandra David!”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon hearing that. Fortunately, I controlled myself. If these guys only knew of what happened to their Lord Gaius…

“…”

But I guess, they are better-off not knowing that their god is now a hentai and eroge fan.

“And with that, we stand here before you, Great Beastmen, as a proof that when we’re united in one goal, we can achieve better!” Chief Gislaine continued, “Our new ruler, the Queen Ursura of the Beastmen, would lead us to victory and progress!”

Everyone erupted in celebration as their new queen stepped forward amidst the applause. Some of the Avinus even showered petal confetti, and the people on the ground threw flowers at her feet. And then, she gestured for them to be silent…

“My Beastman and human friends!” Ursura spoke, “I believe…uh, err…”

“…” the bear-woman’s words suddenly deserted her, and she looked at me as if asking for help. But then, knowing that this was her moment, I could not simply take over once again and steal the spotlight from her. I just gestured to Ursura apologizing, and urging her to go on.

The bear-woman sent a glare on me and went back to addressing her subjects, “Tch. Okay, let’s just stop with the formalities and I’ll be blunt. I’m Ursura of the West Ursus, and I volunteered to be your queen, after that one man whom we expected to do that backed out.”

There was laughter among the crowd as the chiefs stared at me, amused. Nice passive-aggressive statement there, Ursura!

“So, what am I going to do? I lead you against our enemies, particularly those humans still living off in the lands of our parents. We’ll kick those bastards’ asses to the skies that they would run crying to their mommas!”

“Yeah! We should drive them out!” a man from the crowd shouted, and many agreed with his sentiments.

“But yeah, I don’t want to kill those jackasses though,” the new queen revealed, “for this is the stupid mistake of Lady Konka and the Beastman Saint. You don’t want any shit to happen on your kin, right? So we do the same to the humans, though they whooped our butts before. In honor of the Human Chief, let’s spread love and goodwill…you know, the good stuff? After all, the Human Chief taught me that not all humans are violent, rape-y assholes.”

“The Human Chief is not like that!” it was Rishnu who screamed that, at which the others also concurred.

Seriously guys, you’re making me blush…

“Yes! But he’s a dense idiot; I wanted him to be my mate and he rejected me!” Ursura revealed, much to the delight of the crowd, “Well, returning to the topic, I understand your feelings to slice the throats of those fuckers, but let’s stop this cycle of hatred and begin a new relationship with the humans; one that is based on mutual respect and dignity. Let’s just hope that they are not as dense as the Human Chief!”

Another round of laughter. Seriously, I just don’t want to ruin the mood, but I wanted to hit this cute bear-woman queen in the head.

“But they don’t respect us!” another person in the crowd pointed out, “They think they are superior just because they can use those demon weapons!”

“Well, dreaming is free!” Ursura told him, “See, we got plans to defeat them one final time, so that they’d realize, it’s better for us to be their friends rather than their enemy. So if you got no other questions, I’ll finish my speech and yeah, this will be a new page in our lives! Cherwind will continue to march to its great destiny!”

At that point, the crowd once again exploded in cheers. Ursura’s first speech as the queen of the Beastmen was not the kind of speech you’d expect from a monarch, but it electrified everyone’s morale and galvanized support for her rule. As I watched the beautiful bear-woman bathed in glory and acclaim of her people, I realized the gravity of the responsibility for me to deliver…

And that is what I will do.

----------

***The Black Tower of Malvette***

Running across the hallways of the human fortress was the Duchess’ chamberlain, Jarvis. On his hand was a piece of parchment, rolled into a scroll, and sealed with a wax bearing a strange symbol. Upon reaching the Black Tower’s throne room, he fixed his appearance first, then took a deep breath, before commanding the guards to open the doors for him.

“Ah, Jarvis!” the Duchess of Malvette sat on the throne, at the other end of the room. She greeted him with a smile, “Got any news? You seem to be hurrying here!”

“Y-Your Excellency…” the chamberlain trembled as he handed the parchment to her.

“What, another summon from the Beastman Saint? She left my forces to die by monster hordes, yet she still has the gall to send for aid?”

“N-No, milady…I think it’s a different person, the one that sent this message.”

Intrigued by her chamberlain’s words, the Duchess undid the seal and opened the letter. “ ‘To the Lady of the Black Tower, we are aware of your struggles and weaknesses. The humans have long suffered because of the enmity between our peoples. Because of this, we offer you peace and aid. However, it is without conditions. We require you to hand over the control of your fortress to us within a couple of days. Submit to us, the Queen of the Beastmen, and you will be treated as our equals and be allotted lands you can live in. You have our word and name in this promise. Please understand that if you don’t answer after two days, or outright refuse, we shall be forced to capture your keep within a day.’… What in the stupid prank is this, Jarvis?”

“I-I don’t know as well, Your Excellency,” the chamberlain told her, “However, it was sent to my window through an arrow that nearly hit my neck.”

“The Queen of the Beastmen? Ha! This is the first time I heard of such jokes! These barbarians can’t even unite under a Saint, and they dare to challenge the humans for our land? This is preposterous!”

“W-What should we do, Your Excellency?”

“Muster the army.”

“But milady, our soldiers are still resting from the previous debacle. And their numbers are still low after the destruction of Malvette.”

“I don’t care Jarvis! Call them up once again,” the Duchess stood from her throne, “We’ll defend the Enclave ’till from these vermin!”

----------

**Kuro**

I think by this time the Duchess of Malvette had already received our ‘diplomatic’ message.

“…”

This was the second phase of our plan. Before engaging the humans in direct combat, we’re giving them the chance to consider their precarious situation and think it over. Also, that message we sent the Lady Malvette was designed to intimidate: either she’d be enraged enough to make erroneous decisions, or damage her morale and be scared to submission. Both would be helpful to us, but I really wish she would take the latter course of action.

“So…” it was Ursura, peering into the sea from the open deck of our steam ship, “…what do we do now, Kuro?”

“Well, we’ll wait,” I told her, “We gave her two human days to decide after all.”

“I hate waiting,” she commented.

“Haha…you should learn to be patient now, Your Majesty,” I teased, “A lot of good decisions and plans require patience.”

“I told you to stop from calling me that! I’m still Ursura of the West Ursus!”

“Yes, you are…though you should add the ‘Queen’ before your name.”

“Tch. I’m still adjusting, see? Someone suddenly passed the leadership to me, so I’m not yet used to it.”

“You’ll be fine. You got your friends to help you,” I winked at her, “But yeah, I guess you really need to step up on your game, fast. The kingdom won’t wait for you learn the ropes.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?”

I only laughed at her words, and then took my telescope to peek into the shores of the Enclave. Several ‘long sleeps’ ago, we embarked on our fleet of steam ships from Navaren, together with the Black Feather units, and some Eagle and Falcon warriors as well. Our goal to invade the human territories should be on time, and swift, thus we planned to launch operations in a direction they won’t expect…from the seas between the Enclave and the Cauldron.

“…”

“What do you see, Kuro?” the Queen asked.

“Well, peaceful human villages within the range of our cannons.”

“Wait, you’re not thinking of—”

“Of course not,” I reassured her, “We don’t want them killed, but we also need to announce our presence, so we’re going to wake them up. Now, where’s Sir Loin?”

“You called, lover boy?”

“!!!” I almost jumped in surprise when Sir Loin suddenly appeared, dangling from the ship’s crow nest. However, I quickly regained my composure and told him, “We’re going to wake the humans up. Have you prepared the cannons?”

“Why yes! Should we fire it now?”

“Yes. Make sure the villagers would hear us.”

“Alright! Operation Solid Sneak begins now!”

“For goodness’ sake, Loin…that’s another lame name for a military operation! Can’t you think of a better one?”

“Hey, lover boy, I’m the one who’s taking the brunt of the combat operations, I get to name it,” the parka guy countered.

“You guys are really weird…” Ursura quipped.

----------

The harmonious sounds of our cannons tore into the peaceful atmosphere of the Enclave’s shore villages. However, though we rudely awakened the sleeping human families, there was no destruction, for we never used shells so as to avoid casualties. The ‘bombardment’ lasted for several minutes, enough for the humans to come out of their houses to see what’s happening.

Just like what I wanted…

I had the Black Feathers, as well as the other warriors, form up along the decks of our ships—in clear sight of those from the beaches. As this was the Avinus’ first battle against the humans, I made sure that they would present themselves as an organized force, contrary to the common human connotation that they were barbaric creatures. So to this end, I requested the tribal weavers to create uniforms for them.

The Black Feathers were given black coats with gold trimmings, and they wore their black feather armband on their left arm. Their muskets were on their shoulders, and swords to their right. For the Eagle warriors, they wore green coats with red pipings. As they were not yet fully trained in musketry, they were armed with swords and spears, made of iron-mithril alloys. The Falcons had red and gold coats, plus a headband with three red feathers on their head. According to them, it was the symbol of battle prowess, second only to black feathers in line of honor.

Well, the bright colors not only served to identify our allies in the chaos of battle, it was also meant for keeping up the morale.

“…”

The Avinus’ spectacle made a scene among the humans, who were both terrified and amazed at our display. The children were jumping in excitement at what they were witnessing, but the adults were trying their best to silence them.

And then, after we made sure that they were wide-awake, we stopped our ‘bombardment’ and steered the ships a few distances away from the shores. It’s time to make the final preparations for our assault.

----------

***The Black Tower of Malvette***

The reports of ‘strange exploding Avinus ships’ appearing to the south brought great alarm to everyone in the Black Tower. As a result, the Duchess of Malvette ordered every human—old and young, men and women—everyone that could bear arms, to fight. The resulting vacuum in the farms, shops and markets caused further strain on the Enclave’s economy.

“Your Excellency…” the Chancellor Bellingstein pleaded to Lady Malvette, “…please reconsider your decision. The Queen of the Beastmen swore she would help your people, and we know how the Beastmen keep their words.”

“Chancellor, I think you should stay out of my fief’s affairs,” the noble lady replied, “You don’t know a thing about these barbarians. Telessaria is a grave example for us never to trust them. And you’re counseling me to surrender the Enclave to these vile people? I could have your head for treason!”

“But—” the Chancellor was interrupted by the Lady Henristone.

“That’s enough, Sir Dane,” she whispered to him, “Lady Malvette is the lord of this land.”

The Chancellor had no choice but to back down. As someone who had experienced hardships when he was the sentry captain of Sekhtem, Sir Dane Bellingstein couldn’t help but to sympathize with the plight of the common folk. But as he was outranked by the Duchess of Malvette, the Gryphon Knights captain could only watch in silence.

“Lady Malvette,” it was Lady Henristone, “I believe we should begin our search for the Lord Kuro now, thus, we have to leave Black Tower. In behalf of the Saint Madelaine Ann Rubinforth, and Chancellor Dane Bellingstein, we thank you for your accommodation and help.”

“Lady Henristone,” Lady Malvette answered her, “this is such a convenient time for you to search, when my fief is in danger of being invaded.”

“Pardon me, Your Excellency. But I believe we had an agreement that we will not be involved in your battles against your enemies. Our goal is to find the Lord Kuro, not fight for your wars.”

“Yes, I remember. And I’m being invaded. So it’s a defensive war.”

“But in the first place, it’s your men who earned the enmity of the Beastmen! Naturally, they would fight against you.”

“Are you telling me it’s wrong we defend ourselves?”

“No, but what I’m saying is that it’s wrong that you enslave and violate the Beastmen. I know it’s been the system before you were appointed to govern this land; but you did nothing to stop the slavery, nor do anything to gain the favor of the natives!”

The Duchess of Malvette stood from her throne and pulled out her sword, “Aren’t you getting arrogant, Lady Sylvia Henristone? Who are you to tell me—the lord of this land—of what to do? Are you my adviser?”

“I’m the captain of our Saint’s Paladin Guards Corps, and I represent the interest of Her Holiness! Moreover, the Human Saint represents the interest of her subjects, the humans.”

At that point, the lord of the Enclave lost her composure and shouted, “I won’t be told of what to do! If you won’t believe me, then I guess you’re better off seeing for yourselves how barbaric these beastmen are! Guards, disarm them!”

The paladin captain and the Chancellor tried to pull their swords, but ultimately decided against it. The Duchess of Malvette’s guards were armed with demon weapons, and if they made a wrong move, hundreds of bullets would pass through their bodies.

----------

**Kuro**

Our ultimatum finally expired.

“…”

The last spy report came just before the third part of our operation began. It was from a dog-girl slave from inside the Black Tower itself, through her relative whom we sent back to Malvette with the purpose of contacting her.

“Four hundred human guards equipped with demon weapons, swords, spears and armor,” Sir Loin handed to me the report he compiled himself, “Looks like my boys and girls would be busy when we attack.”

“Isn’t that what you guys want?”

“But I guess, we’re still lucky,” the parka guy added, “There were reports coming from the other spies about the movement of a huge army of humans towards the coast. I guess the Duchess took our bait.”

“Well then, we should at least land a full wing to hold a part of the fortress, before sending in the other wing,” I circled the part of the battlements in the map that was easiest to hold, “I’ll pick Rumia’s 1st Wing to be the first to the assault. How many guards at the parapet?”

“I think she put it at around 40 men? The numbers grow to 60 during the ‘long sleep’,” the parka guy answered, “Also, if I may add, we might encounter other humans soldiers inside.”

“What do you mean?” I took a sip of the tea that was served in our ‘war room’.

“The reports indicated that there’s another group of soldiers staying in the Black Tower. She said they were knights from Chersea?”

“Huh?” I put down the tea cup, “Chersea?”

“Well, it’s what she said!” Sir Loin pointed at his report, “The relative I interviewed told me exactly what the slave relayed to her. Female knights from the Chersea Saint’s guard. And a group of knights riding gryphons, too. According to the slave, they were guests by the Duchess of Malvette, and they were looking for some lost nobleman, I guess?”

“…”

“Man, don’t look at me like that; I just put in writing what our spy on the mainland said!”

“Those female knights…I can’t think of anyone else but the members of the Paladin Corps,” I pondered, “And the Gryphon Knights under Sir Dane Bellingstein…how did they cross into Cherwind?”

“Are you alright, Kuro mah boy?” Sir Loin tapped my shoulder, “You’re getting pale.”

“Sir Loin.”

“Yes?”

“I’m coming with the first wave,” I took my sword and started fixing it on my right arm, “I know those guys; I don’t want any harm to come to them!”

----------

Operation Solid Sneak. Please pardon the name, but this was our ‘code name’ for the ‘surgical strike’ at the heart of the human territory. The third and final part of our strategy to subdue the humans and unite with them under Queen Ursura’s rule.

“…”

The operation called for the insertion of the Black Feathers directly to the fortress’ parapets, subduing the guards if possible. Then clearing the entire area, and capturing the Duchess of Malvette, executing a ‘decapitation strike’ at the top human leadership. Since the chicken warriors couldn’t fly high and far, the airlift would be done by the Eagles, escorted by the Falcons as our ‘fighters’. It’s basically similar to what happened at the Battle of Navaren, though we’re fighting against humans this time.

When Queen Ursura got wind that the ultimatum was ignored by the Duchess of Malvette, she was asked to talk to the Beastmen soldiers who would take part in the attack to raise morale. Taking the stage on the lead ship of our fleet, she addressed them…

“Beastmen warriors! Brothers, sisters! Fathers, and mothers…” the Beastman queen began. However, she paused for a long while after that introduction that I was worrying if she’s having a stage fright. But then, she continued, “Ah, fuck it! Your queen commands you, just get those bastards!”

Ursura shouted that last part with all of her heart, releasing the frustration and anger that she kept against humans, consequently encouraging the warriors to do the same. Soon her line became popular among the soldiers, that it was unofficially adopted as their motto.

Well, it’s not the typical dignified speech of a ruler, but if it works, then I guess I’m fine with that.

Anyway, Sir Loin, Rumia and I would come in the first wave, along with the rest of the 1st Wing. Then the Eagles would return for a second airlift, this time inserting the 2nd Wing under Luka. Ursura tried to discourage me from going, but I insisted. The lives of my friends from Chersea was at stake here, and I couldn’t sit back and wait for news.

Before the first batch of Eagles took flight, I activated my power and called out some rain clouds to cover our operation. We had the Eagles apply some oil on their wings’ feathers so that it won’t be drenched and they could go for another wave.

“Ready for lift-off!” As the first Falcon formations appeared overhead, the captain of the Eagle contingent called out to her men, which was their sign to begin the airlift.

The cannons from our ships also joined in the offensive and opened fire on the shores. The artillery crews were using empty shells, just as to intimidate and impress the villagers below while giving us the farewell salute at the same time.

From my viewpoint, I could see the formations of the Eagles and Falcons, which we practiced long before we came to the Enclave’s shores. Even if I see it for countless times now, I still couldn’t help but be impressed at how it looked.

“…”

It reminds me of the Allied planes that inserted airborne soldiers during the early hours of the 1944 D-Day invasion, back on Earth.

Anyway, I kept on powering up the adverse weather…but yeah, I should stop this soon, or I won’t be able to control its intensity.

By the time I stopped the spell, the rain had gained moderate strength, and occasional peals of lightning would flash from the clouds. Nevertheless, the formation held on, partly because we covered a huge distance inside the human lands unmolested. A few moments later, the silhouette of the Black Tower, and of the city of Malvette, appeared through the fog.

“!!!” I was brought back to my senses when I heard Sir Loin’s railgun firing. Apparently, he started hostilities when he saw some guards gathering at the parapets to oppose us. I think he took down several of them, and even knocked a part of the Black Tower’s wall. Soon enough, we were flying above the fortress, and the Duchess’ guards were caught unprepared.

“Get ready to land!” the captain of the Eagles called out.

----------

The battlements of the Black Tower were too small to land our entire contingent at once, so we had to land in batches. Sir Loin provided cover from above, circling with his Eagle partner and raining down high-velocity projectiles to groups of our enemies. Those who were injured and trying to stand up were immobilized by the first Black Feathers to land, including Rumia.

“!!!”

I landed with the second batch; 10 people strong, and together with the first 10, we immediately formed a defensive perimeter where the next batches could safely insert. The rain I caused soaked the gunpowder of our enemies, rendering it useless. On our side, we refrained from bringing out our muskets when we landed, thus keeping the gunpowder dry. In the melee that followed for the control of the battlements, the Black Feathers’ Beastman strength proved superior.

“Kill only those who would kill you!” I shouted orders, “Don’t harm the ones who surrender!”

“Yes Human Chief!” Rumia acknowledged.

Because of the speed and surprise of our entrance, the parapets of the Black Tower’s keep was quickly brought under our control. At that point, Sir Loin also landed, and he joined us in assaulting the upper floors of the fortress.

“Rumia, stay here with 20 members of the 1st Wing! Guard the landing zone for the 2nd Wing!” I told the dog-girl, “The rest would follow us.”

Sir Loin waited for us at one of the doors of the Black Tower that led inside. When he deemed that we’re ready to attack, he fired his railgun on the hinges and we broke through, killing those guards who tried to resist.

What confronted us next was a long, stone passageway, wide enough for at least 12 people to march abreast.

“Form ranks! Muskets out!” I commanded. The Black Feathers arranged themselves into eight rows of 10 men standing side by side. As per our standard battle tactic, the first rank kneeled, while the second stood. The third and the rest of the ranks would march a pace forward once the first and second ranks discharged their volleys.

“Fire!” came the thunderous order. The counter-attacking human guards were instantly shredded. “First and second line fallback, third and fourth advance! Fire!”

Another volley of bullets tore through the humans, and forced them to hide as we advanced.

“:Fifth and sixth lines forward! Fire!”

The third hail of bullets crashed on the human side, but it was less effective than the first and second volleys.

“They’re using magicians to cast barriers!” someone shouted.

I guess we had to get up close and personal, huh?

However…

“!!!”

Sir Loin fired his railgun once again, and it skewered the magicians who tried to put up magic shields. Just as their comrades fell, the humans used the opportunity to counter our volleys and fired back, but it was a disorganized attempt. Their bullets fell short of our formation, and those that luckily reached our lines only caused light wounds and grazes.

“Don’t let them fire back!” I encouraged our soldiers, “Seventh and eighth lines advance! Fire!”