บท 540: Misery
The New World, Old Kingdom of Foral
"How persistent are those people!" Blue Thunder panted as he used every ounce of his strength to fly and dodge the attacks aimed at him. He turned his head back and yelled, "Don't you know that girls do not like over persistent people!"
"Save your goddamn breath!" Stamford cursed as he fiddled with the radio set. "Unicorn, Unicorn, this is Dragon One. Do you copy, over?"
"Fuck!" Stamford cursed again as no one replied to him on the radio. "We should be at the border soon!"
A fire bolt trailing sparks streaked overhead making Stamford duck his head while he checked his charts. From behind, Dek squeezed off a long burst back at the mage who tossed the spell at them. They had taken almost a week to reach the border without any sight of their pursers, allowing Blue Thunder and the rest to recover some of their stamina.
But when they were about to reach the border, magical flares burst out into the skies and attracted several dragons. It appeared that their enemy had lost their tracks but instead of searching blindly, they had placed lookouts along the way to the border and upon sighting them, they launched magical flares up to alert the others.
Now groups of dragons swooped in from different directions, aiming to cut them off and force them away from the border. With wounds barely fully recovered, Blue Thunder could only endure as much as he could as he weaved around the air with a frightened Saphia following his tail tightly.
"I'm out!" Dek suddenly yelled from behind. "Gun is totally empty!"
Stamford made another curse as he ordered, "Work on radio and see if you can raise our escort on the channel!"
"Yes, boss!" Dek replied and he took his own radio set and started playing with the dials. Stamford looked down behind them and saw they had left the forest behind and a large grassland stretched out beneath them.
He calculated that they would still have another twenty or so kilometers to fly and the terrain beneath them was too open for them to hide and take cover. He could see Blue Thunder laboring hard away, knowing his wounds were taking a toil to his stamina. Looking behind, he could see the winged figure of Saphia following closely behind them and for the umpteen time, he wondered if it was worth the trouble to keep that black dragon with them.
Another spell whizzed close enough for Stamford to feel the heat of its passing. Blue Thunder made reflex dive, trying to shake off the attackers when he suddenly gave a yelp of pain and everyone on his back felt a shudder underneath their seats.
"Blue is hurt bad!" Dek yelled from behind. "He's leaking blood!"
"I... fine!" Blue Thunder growled through gritted teeth. "We are almost to the border city!"
Stamford peered over the side of Blue Thunder and saw a trail of dark droplets being blown off by the wind. He cast again glance at Saphia whose eyes were wide as she could see Blue Thunder's injury from behind them and he really wanted to abandon Saphia to their pursers who seemed dead set after them.
Just as he was making his decision, there was a sudden loud boom and everyone jerked their heads towards the sound, seeing a small black ball of smoke in the air and a med weight dragon missing some parts of its body trailing smoke and blood, dropped off the skies.
"Dragon One, Dragon One, this is Unicorn Four, how copy?" The comms suddenly blared out much to everyone's joy and relief. "We see you have some flies on your tail. Will clean the skies for you, over."
"Dragon One, Unicorn Four! You guys are right on time!" Dek replied excitedly on the radio. "Will be mightily kind of you to clear our tails! Be advised black dragon on our tail is friendly! Over."
"Roger that Dragon One," The rotor drone of the two attack helicopters soon could be heard as two sleek looking shapes appeared over the horizon. A puff of smoke erupted from the stubby wings and the new wire guided missile came screaming out of its launch tube trailing behind a wire.
The co pilot of the AH - 1 Unicorn gunship, Unicorn Four, controlled the TOW, Tube launched, Optically tracked and Wire guided missile towards one of the surprised dragons. The TOW missile traveling at over 250 meters per second was guided directly into the body of the dragon. The co pilot briefly saw the shocked looks on the dragon and its passengers before the display screen on his console fuzzed out.
Another black ball of smoke erupted out in the skies followed by a loud and sharp crack and the remains of another dragon dropped down to the ground. The rest of the dragons seeing the situation changing, scattered in all directions as they tried to regroup against the new adversary.
Chin mounted 20 mm guns roared and chased after the dragons trying to evade the fiery thunder spells but their speed was no match for the high velocity shells, and chunks of flesh were blown off their bodies and the screaming dragons fell. Seeing death appearing out of nowhere, the rest of the dragons turned tail and beat their wings madly to escape death.
Blue Thunder spread his wings as wide as possible as he glided tiredly towards the grey blot of the Meccan border city in the distance, happy to let their escorts clear the skies of enemies. He let out a deep sigh and mumbled to himself, "Next time, I am not going traveling!"
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The New World, United Nations, Haven, Fortress Singapore, Command Bridge
"Sir!" The bridge duty crew snapped to attention at the arrival of Captain Blake. He waved the crew down and stood before the tactical plot table and glanced at the data displayed.
"What's the situation now?" He asked the command staff gathered around the table."Why didn't we have any advanced notice?"
General Joseph straightened up and said, "Sir, the Protectorate appeared under the cover of the seasonal typhoon. We did not expect their timing to be so... lucky... Our advance warning outposts were all blinded by the storm, allowing them to travel so close unnoticed..."
Blake let out a deep sigh as something like this was something that no one other than a God could predict. He shook his head before he asked again, "So what's the situation now?"
"Fort Hensink is still engaged with elements of the Protectorate airships and ground forces," The Army general reported. "But... the typhoon is picking up again and once that happens, we will lose the advantage of our air power..."
"And at the same time, the Protectorate will also be in a similar position as our forces," He added. "Unable to advance forward or attack with their airships."
"What are the enemy numbers we are looking at?" Blake asked next. "Can the Fort hold?"
"Intel suggests over fifty to sixty airships at least," General Joseph replied. "The storm is making it hard for our radar and sensors. They estimate at least forty thousand ground troops."
"Fort Hensink if supported by air power will definitely be able to hold," The officer said. "But with the storm all along the coast, we can't dispatch any reinforcements nor air support from other bases due to the weather..."
"I have dispatched reinforcements by ground to support Fort Hensink," General Joseph tapped on the map displayed on the tactical plot table. "But depending on the weather, they might get bogged down. We are expecting the typhoon to last at least another three days..."
"What about the Vengeance? Can we get Ford on the comms?" Blake asked next. "What is their last known location?"
"Sir," Another officer replied instead of General Joseph. "The UNS Vengeance last known position is three hundred twenty kilometers off the coast of Hensink. They were expected to reach Fort Hensink within a day."
"Their last communique was that they were experiencing strong weather, and their arrival might be delay due to the storm," The officer reported. "We lost comms with them at 1342 hours when the typhoon broke across the North East seaboard."
"Inform them of the situation when comms is restored," Blake said. "Inform the Vengeance to make full sail to support Fort Hensink when possible."
"Joseph. do what you need to reinforce Fort Hensink and destroy the Protectorate landing force," Blake ordered. "They had dealt enough damage to the land and the people already. Once is enough, they will not get a second chance to do it."
"Yes, Sir!"
-----
The New World, Mecca, Fort Hensink
Dark ominous storm clouds gathered across the skies, their underside lit up in reddish pink from the dozens of fire and tracers flickering everywhere. The Protectorate airships unable to gain an advantage over the Fort had pulled back from its umbrella of deadly AA fire, leaving behind at least ten airships carcasses burning on the beaches and surroundings of the fort.
More wreckage of ornithopters covered the land mixed with a few UN aircraft wreckage. Thunderous booms continued to erupt out from the fort followed by blinding flashes and echoing explosions on the surrounding terrain.
Dark monstrous shapes lumbered across the land, their thick metal armored bodies briefly lit up by tracers or explosions as they slogged through the mud. Rain fell down heavily, further turning the battlefield into a scene of suddenly bright flashes and darkness.
Even with illumination spells, parachute flares and powerful spotlights, both sides could barely see a few meters before them in the heavy rain and for a moment both series came to an unspoken cease fire and the Protectorate forces dug in as they waited for the storm to pass while the UN forces conserved their munitions until they can see what they were shooting at.
The remaining ornithopters of the Protectorate retreated under the storm with the UN aircraft doing the same, as the weather was more of a danger to the aircraft than the enemy. The soldiers on both sides hunkered down miserably on whatever cover they could find as the rain pelted them mercilessly.
Both sides could only endure the wet and cold, cursing and channeling their hate to the other side for their current miserable situation. They fingered their weapons, doing their best to keep them dry and waited for the storm to pass as once that happens, they can vent their hate and misery.
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The New World, Empire of Bluewood, Imperial Capital, Palace
Emperor Aslan stood behind the glass windows that were imported at a great cost from the Isles, staring out at the distant mountain range, deep in thought. He barely moved when one of his aides came in and kowtowed behind him. "Greetings your Majesty! May you live for a thousand years!"
"Did you find him?" Aslan asked without turning around, his eyes glued to the view outside.
"Your Majesty, we have scoured everywhere, but... there is no news of the Sage..." The aide nervously replied. "It... seemed like... he has vanished from this world!"
"Could the United Nationer had taken him?" Aslan asked as he finally turned away from the window. "Is that why he could not be found?"
"That is impossible, your Majesty," The aide replied. "As far as we know, none of the United Nationers had even stepped foot on the island... And there were many eye witnesses that saw him that day together with your Majesty before he suddenly disappeared!"
"How can one suddenly disappeared into the thin air when there's an entire army around?" Aslan snapped angrily. "Did you all searched everywhere?"
"Y- yes, your Majesty!" The frightened aide answered quickly. "We searched the surrounding forest and even all the ships! We even spoke to all the guards and soldiers... But no one had any idea where the Sage has gone to!"
"I do not care!" Aslan yelled. "FIND HIM! YOU MUST FIND THE SAGE BACK!"
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