The Will of Humanity

The Fall of Smoynia

April 12th 4001 AF — about 30,001 AD/CE, Nation of Smoynia, early morning

The Smoynian guards on the wall watched a gathering of clouds approaching from the north, weary about them as the sky moments before was completely clear. Lightning forked between the clouds as they watched, hearing the crashing boom of thunder moments before the lightning was arcing towards them. Cries rang out as those not blown apart by the lightning were deafened by the explosion of thunder, the wall they were standing on now reduced to just a pile of rubble. The chaos was followed by figures in red armor rushing through the breach in the wall, Lord General Korin's legion leveled their stormers at the guards and fired a burst of rounds at them. Those unlucky souls barely felt the enchanted electricity of the rounds before they were struck, bits of blood and bone went flying everywhere as the rounds exploded before they could scream in pain.

Moving into the city the warriors fired at the forces rushing to meet them, cutting down those who got within range of their energy enhanced swords. Smoynian adult and child soldiers were staring in horror as their guts spilled onto the ground in a bloody heap, others were losing torsos, heads and various other body parts in clouds of red mist. The wounded were screaming in agony, those who survived getting hit by stormer rounds by losing arms and legs that was. The streets of the city soon were soaked in oceans of blood and various gore from the valiant defenders, the Sanguine Swarms were cutting their way to the keep at the center of the city. Emilia was watching the carnage from her ship as the Smoynian magic users and her maintained their conjured storm, lightning occasionally struck defenders standing in the legion's way and either fried them to blackened husks or blew them apart into boiling bloody mist.

The power of the storm flashed in her eyes as her warriors advanced, the defenders of the keep were putting up a valiant effort. Despite watching their comrades getting blown into red mist around them, making Emilia wonder where their magic user was. Just then the doors of the keep blew open, and a wave of shadowy flames flowed out of the keep. The Smoynians surrendered to the figures in red armor before them, not understanding that the dark and scary flames were on their side. The flames hit a Sanguine Swarm, and killed him instantly before Emilia and her magic users took control of the flames and turned them on the inhabitants of the keep. Screams echoed across the island, making the inhabitants of the next town shiver with dread.

After the battle Emilia panted from slight exhaustion, like she'd just intensely worked a muscle she hadn't worked before. Her magic using companions comforted her with words of what a natural she was at magic, and to not overexert herself as while she was powerful she was still technically learning the proverbial ropes of her magic. She merely nodded at them, her expression reminding them that she was the empress and they served her. With that out of the way she clearsy her mind, focused on just feeling her magic instead of openly using it. This seemingly pointless exercise was necessary to build her abilities of what she could do with magic, like exercising different muscles in the body in order to lift more weight overall.

She then ordered her troops under Lord General Korin to march for the next city on the island, this was the second to last island in the chain that was Smoynia. This next city was just another stepping stone on the way to controlling all of Terra, what Emilia saw as vital to taking mankind back into the stars that were once theirs. Which was the reason she chose a phoenix as the symbol of her new interstellar nation, to show that humanity would rise from the ashes of their destroyed empire. Emilia then consulted the newly captured magic users, few as they were since the majority of those from the city they had just taken used their magic to conjure shadow fire and died when it was turned against them. She presented them the same offer as those who had already joined her, that being to join her or get a stormer round into their skulls.

Very few refused such a generous offer, those that did resulted in a demonstration of her resolve. Their skulls were reduced to red splatter on the ground as their still beating hearts pumped their blood out until they registered that the body had died. A mess she looked at with cold resolve, since it was a sad loss of human life but they left her no choice. Emilia and the magic users moved on with the rest of her army, Lord General Korin and his Sanguine Swarms were leading the way followed by Lady General Madini Rivers, Lord General Mário Castilho, Lady General Willow Carter, Lord General Viktor Evandal, and Lady General Laila a'Lonche. The march was slow and methodical, giving Emilia time to think about the other name she used for her Kingdom Marines — Fulgur Gladii, because they were fast and deadly like a sword forged of lightning.