The screams and salvos of thousands of guns were silenced by the storms of the warp. The furious clash of armies shook the earth and burned forests, even mountains melted from the psychic flames that were carried by the whirlwinds of sorcerers who founded a coven in the ruins of the capital of Alba. The chorus of their voices made even the most steadfast soldiers lose their minds, which is why any attempt to besiege the captured capital was doomed to failure.
The space fleet had not yet arrived, not a single salvo had supported the staunch defenders of humanity, and all that was left was to believe in a miracle. But the greater the despair, the brighter the souls of the remaining survivors shone. Those who sought death lived, and those who sought to live died. One after another, companies left the reserve, striving to pave the way for the first victory in this war. The Rebel Knight had to fall to light a flame in hearts and restore hope.
And I stood in the trench, looking at the purple sky, in which demons laughed. The Rebel Knight was not a traitor, he just wanted power and justice. In his understanding, it was fair to punish his neighbor - he punished. Galahad did not give him a second chance, so as not to create a precedent, but it was the lack of choice that pushed him to fall into darkness. Left alone, listening to intelligence reports about our advancing army ... when we arrived on his lands, chaos had already embraced the souls of the living, and those who did not want to submit were killed.
Burnt villages, kilometers of mines and a multitude of possessed peasants, hung with explosives, rushed straight at us, trying not to defeat, but to delay our advance. However, we still went forward, burning to the ground everything that remained and was desecrated. And the closer we got to the fortress, the more furious the stronghold became, the Knight's guards and real demons began to appear.
However, even before approaching the fortress, the enemy decided to give battle. The filthy war machine and its pilot led the army of chaos into the attack. In addition, another nobleman joined them, putting twenty thousand bayonets against us. And even I did not expect that the forces of chaos would give such an advantage to our enemy. We advanced and were pressed, salvoes from Gareth and artillery did not subside for a moment, but the enemy seemed invincible. Tanks burned and machine guns tore apart the infantry.
Retreat was necessary, but Gareth would rather die in battle with his officers than retreat in the face of a vile enemy. A life of shame was worse than death. And one thousand souls after another went to the heavens, where an even more terrible fate awaited them, for the daemons of the warp completely surrounded Alba.
- This is the end, there are only us, the headquarters and a bunch of wounded left, half of whom will not survive until the morning, - despair took over one of the soldiers and in his sorrowful realization he grabbed his head, starting to sink right into the trench mud. - This is the end... we lost...
"We can still regroup and avenge our comrades. Their deaths have already become meaningless, we have not achieved our goals, but... maybe in revenge we can find salvation for their memory?" the adult man, whose temples were already graying, spoke with trembling lips: he was afraid that the enemy would reach his family in Camelot, but the fear of the enemy was also strong.
I stood silently and looked at the sky full of demons. They laughed at us. At our weakness and helplessness, at our depravity and abomination. Some completely opened their souls to demons and gave in to sin, while others did not find the will to defeat the first. But they tried to instill this shame and disgrace in us in order to undermine us from within.
"Mr. Mordred, an order from Gareth," the staff officer ran up to me, handed me an envelope and the order, and then ran away so as not to be in the open air.
I opened the envelope, read the short and unambiguous order, grimaced slightly, because everything that was happening gave birth to only disgust and hatred in me. However, turning around, I shouted loudly:
- TEAM, FORM UP!!! - my voice, amplified by my psychic energy, rang out like thunder.
I brazenly put psychic power into it, because there was nothing left to lose. Although it seems that no one was embarrassed by this, writing it all off to the madness happening around. However, by sharing my confidence, I gave everyone a little more strength, which was enough to get into line. Soldiers, whose ages ranged from twenty to forty, stood shoulder to shoulder, fathers and sons would meet death together today.
— THE ENEMY IS ATTACKING, BUT GARETH HAS ALREADY DEALT CRITICAL DAMAGE TO THE ENEMY!!! THE COUNTER-BATTERY FIGHT HAS BEEN WON!!! THE SHIELDS OF THE TRAITOR KNIGHT ARE ALMOST DISCHARGED!!! WE JUST NEED TO GAIN A LITTLE TIME AND NOT LET THE ENEMY GET TO GARETH AND THE ARTILLERY!!! RIGHT NOW OUR BROTHERS ARE HOLDING THE LAST ECHELON OF DEFENSE AND WE WILL SUPPORT THEM!!!
And again came the menacing volley of Gareth, sending death towards the enemy.
— AMONG FIRE AND STEEL OUR ANCESTORS STEADILY FIGHTED THE ENEMY!!! AND WE WILL NOT DISGRACE THE MEMORY OF THE HEROES!!! NONE OF YOU WILL RUN AND EVEN IN DEATH YOUR SOULS WILL SHINE WITH HATRED FOR THE ENEMY!!! FOR THE KING!!! — I snatched the noble sword from its sheath and then blew the whistle. — FORWARD!!! FOLLOW ME!!!
After which I immediately climbed up the wooden ladder from the trench. The first rows hurried after me, killing their fear with the first step and the first battle cry. And the faster they ran to the attack, the louder the cry sounded and the more adrenaline entered the blood. It is scary to die alone, but to die for a just cause next to comrades in arms was much easier. They saw an example and followed the nobleman who was ready to take a bullet first. We all had one goal, which overshadowed class disputes.
- FORWARD!!! RAISING THE BANNER!!! - I shouted, urging on the soldiers who were making their way through burning equipment, corpses and craters.
However, soon they started shooting at us from artillery. The enemy lost many guns, but not all. In addition, there were mortars and tanks, and right now the enemy was trying to break through the last echelon of defense. Soon the enemy infantry started shooting at us.
Our tactics were simple. We dug a bunch of trenches and as soon as the first line fell, we rolled back, letting the enemy through and allowing Gareth to destroy them. Then there was supposed to be a counter-offensive and recapture of our own positions. Everything is simple, but in practice the demons and sorcerers introduced too many unpleasant variables. They managed to get a foothold, each of their blows was bloody and inhumane. They went forward and it was impossible to stop them.
And now we have almost reached the trench, lost not much more than five percent of personnel, which can be considered a miracle in such hell. However, on the home stretch, the warp streams went crazy. A fiery whirlwind was born from someone else's anger and hatred, starting to devour the soldiers. Panic immediately reigned, but it was impossible to hide from the flames, neither in a funnel, nor in a trench, nor in a dugout. The streams of fire set everything on fire.
With a cry of pain, I jumped to the side, then rolled into a giant funnel, where soldiers immediately began to extinguish me. We were saved only by the fact that the whirlwind went in an extremely strange direction, apparently getting out of the sorcerer's control. However, how many of our brigade survived? I was afraid to even imagine.
"Commander, how are you?" the soldier shouted in my face.
With pain I opened my burnt eyelids and quickly rose to my feet. Shots and curses rang out through the sounds of battle; a battle was already underway right in the trenches of the last echelon. I had to hurry.
"Fix bayonets!" I roared, and then began to climb the slope to the edge of the crater.
The sword served as a support for me, I clenched the whistle with my teeth again, and when the soldiers in the crater joined me, I gave the signal, hoping that at least half of the brigade had survived. And that they would all rush into the attack again at the signal. The whistle deafened the soldiers standing next to me, but they no longer needed their hearing. It was time to die.
— FOR CAMELOT!!! FOR THE KING!!! FOR HUMANITY!!! — not letting my comrades forget what we were fighting for, I shouted and ran forward, already seeing the beams of laser weapons and flashes of firearms sparkling in the trench.
And with righteous fury and true anger towards the traitors we flew into the trench, falling upon the heretics with all our strength. At full speed I immediately fell upon one of the enemies, knocking him down and piercing his greatcoat with my sword. His death was close, but at that very moment the barrel of the traitor's lasgun turned in my direction:
- A-A-A-A-A!!! - screamed one of our soldiers, who did not jump into the trench and simply fired from above at the heretics.
In his madness, he dealt with three enemies, after which his body was torn apart by a burst of heavy machine gun fire from an armored personnel carrier carrying another platoon of traitor infantry. A bloody brawl began, with bayonets killing as many people as shots. The agony of the dying was muffled by the furious fighting and desperate cries, while the soldiers tore each other's throats like bloodthirsty beasts.
And I was about to rush back into battle, when suddenly an explosion rang out right in the trench and a shock wave brought down the walls, burying both the living and the dead in the thickness of the earth. I was thrown back and stunned by the shock wave. I managed to get up only on the third try, because it was practically impossible to maintain balance. Only the wall of the trench along which I walked helped.
The sword fell out of my hand, but I also had an officer's revolver chambered for a rifle cartridge. A four-shot drum loaded with fiery buckshot. Of course, the recoil was also decent, but in trench battles, such a de facto mini-shotgun showed itself much better than any other weapon.
"GET UP!!!" I roared again, addressing both myself and the other shell-shocked soldiers I stepped over as I moved along the trench, raising my revolver toward the turn where the enemy might appear.
And the enemy showed up, but not the traitor. A vile writhing creature in a half-human, half-snake form crawled out and stared at me, immediately forcing eye contact. Two eyes burned with a purple fire that was supposed to paralyze the will. Few people would have been able to pull the trigger at that moment, and the demon did not expect to see someone so strong and so…
"Servant of Tzeentch," came a vile hiss as the daemon's magic shattered against the natural barriers.
But his words were drowned in a shot and a fiery buckshot hit the vile scale. Purple blood flowed and the creature caught fire, after which, holding back the recoil, I fired again, then again and again, releasing the entire drum into this nit. However, the creature continued to wriggle and show signs of life. Fortunately, the soldiers had already come to their senses, also starting to finish off the demon, and the finishing blow was delivered by a grenade, tearing the vile flesh into pieces.
Although it certainly didn't kill the demon, because these were not born of flesh and their physical bodies were only a temporary shell. They will be reborn and return again, today, tomorrow, in a thousand years - it doesn't matter, only the same evil creatures, capable of absorbing souls, could kill them completely. Although there were probably other ways, there certainly should have been, although neither I nor this world most likely know about them.
- Reinforcements have arrived! They are breaking through! We cannot stop them! The officer corps was slaughtered by demons! The Knight-Traitor has destroyed the tank company! I repeat, the tank company has been destroyed! I request... - one of the soldiers, looking at the floor, shouted the same set of phrases.
Because of his concussion, he did not hear the interference and did not understand that the connection was no longer working. He continued to shout while we were already taking up positions. The situation was getting out of control, the soldiers were one step away from fleeing, and armored personnel carriers with new assault groups were heading towards us. The enemy did not spare people and gave the order to take the last echelon of defense at any cost.
Then the heavy equipment will advance and start shelling Gareth... he won't be able to destroy them all at once, because as soon as his ion shields start flickering, the Knight-Traitor will make his move, who hasn't yet decided to go straight ahead and is striking at the flanks, not staying in place and moving unpredictably so as not to get under Gareth's direct hit.
"What should we do, commander?" one of the soldiers asked in shock, realizing that only a handful of survivors remained from our brigade.
— What to do? — I exclaimed, turning to the soldier, and then pointing towards the machine gun crew, whose bodies were torn apart by demons. — TAKE THE MACHINE GUN AND ARRANGEMENT A WORTHY MEETING FOR OUR ENEMY!!! TAKE POSITIONS!!! THE THREE OF YOU ARE FOLLOWING ME!!! THE ENEMY WILL TRY TO EAT US, SO WE'LL KNOCK OUT HIS TEETH!!! TO THE WEAPONS!!!
An artillery piece, a much more modest 95 caliber, was located in a trench depression. It was pulled out at the moment of firing, and then, at the moment of enemy shelling, it went back into its hole. The defenders did not have time to pull out this firepower, because the demons fell from the rift straight from the sky, causing carnage right in the dugouts while the shells were still tearing up the earth.
- Damn it... the rail is broken, the winch too... - I said, looking into the depths of the gun shelter. - But the gun itself is intact. Why are you standing there? ARE YOU LOCKING IN!!!
And seven hands, straining our backs and tearing our muscles, we gritting our teeth began to pull two tons of steel out. At first everything went well, but in the place where the rail was damaged, the wheels began to get stuck.
"One, two, three!" I commanded and could already hear the bones crunching.
The fighters were choking, spitting, and one of them even managed to dislocate his shoulder, which he would never know about. After all, as soon as we pulled out the gun for firing, a barrage of fire from the armored personnel carrier's twin lasgun fell upon us. The enemy infantry had already landed and was breaking through to our positions through a network of trenches, while they were covered by equipment.
Shots were smashed against the protective plates on the sides of the gun, but the poor guy with the dislocated shoulder was not so lucky. His head popped out for a moment and a moment later he fell to the ground with his helmet and the top of his head melted.
- DIRECT FIRE!!! LOAD IT ASAP!!! - I urged the soldiers, fortunately, operating this weapon did not require any special knowledge.
There was a sight, and when aiming directly, there was no need to set the angle, and the armored personnel carrier did not move away, and for some reason it even stopped shooting.
"The gun is ready to fire!" the soldier exclaimed, slamming the lid.
And at that very moment, the armored personnel carrier fired again, this time increasing its power due to the rate of fire. The powerful beam melted the left barrier, killing another soldier who had not stuck his head out, but still did not survive. Fortunately, his death was quick, because his chest was melted through.
- FIRE!!! - I roared, pulling the cord and firing.
At the same moment, a third fighter with broken ribs flew into another wall, he did not have time to get away, and I forgot how dangerous recoil can be. However, our shell hit the target right on target. The armored personnel carrier did not explode and continued to stand, but quietly and without firing, because the shot literally tore the pilot apart, and then the shrapnel killed the gunner. The vehicle continued to stand with the engine running, even the twin lasgun did not fail.
- FORWARD!!! DON'T BE A COWARD!!! THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING WITH BATTLED BREATH!!! - a young man shouted as he grabbed the officer's sabre of the fallen commander and led the surviving remnants into a breakthrough to our positions.
- Still, there are many more of us who survived, - I said with satisfaction, watching the fighters take up the positions of the previous defenders of this echelon. - THE ENEMY HAS ALREADY LANDED!!! PREPARE TO MEET!!!
The war had just begun and the outcome of this local conflict was unlikely to have any strategic meaning. Tactically, yes, strategically... no, even if the Knight-Traitor is destroyed, he is only one of hundreds of major problems and threats. Just as the loss of Gareth will not turn Camelot into ruins, because at least a hundred such machines are already being assembled there, maybe less, given the fact that not all machines were restored after wars and duels, and not every one had a pilot. Although at such a time, Galahad's requirements for candidates will certainly decrease.
- Ha-ha-ha! Eat those grenades, scum! - a seasoned veteran shouted joyfully, who had dragged a whole box of grenades into the trench and was throwing one after another towards the enemy. - We can stand here for eternity!
But we didn't have an eternity, because at that moment I felt someone else's gaze on me. A mighty machine, corrupted by the warp, thirsted for blood, and its pilot had already turned his gaze on us. And a rift in the warp appeared right above the headquarters, many small demons burst out of it, clinging to Gareth and preventing him from aiming.
The Knight-Traitor was ready to put an end to this confrontation.
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