Hold Up, I'm An Arsenal Bird Now?!

Act 25 - Attack on Calinor

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They arrived, marching through the Degsit Road, all in formation and weapons ready. Dragons and wyverns littered the skies. They advanced towards the city, wary of all attacks. Through the silent mountains they went, they landed on an ambush.

50 Calinorian wyverns brushed past through the mountains straight into the aerial threats. The attackers were surprised by the ambush, but they steeled themselves quickly, and their wyverns took off. The Imperial dragons took defensive positions, and the wyverns rushed at their enemy to protect the ground soldiers. They spewed fireballs at the ambushing enemy. Calinor's riders expected this kind of storm, having experience from their previous battles. The wyverns weaved and glided through the fire. They got closer to their positions with each passing second, and the Imperial Flyers advanced. Both parties prepared themselves for the worst until the Calinorians suddenly dove quickly to the ground. The Imperials tried to close the gap between them, but another 30 ambushing wyverns hooked on their tails and took out a few of theirs. Getting flambé'd, bitten on, knocked off, to name a few. Their attention shifted, and a quarter of their aerial forces fought back against the new arrivals. The Calinorian wyverns flew farther and farther from the enemy's main force, luring the Imperials for what was next.

A rain of arrows hailed from the trees on both sides of the road, with some reaching as high as the dragon's flight. The fliers flew away, of course, but that led to all the arrows plunging into the imperial archers. They raised their bow and fired their storm before being impaled by the arrows. They are now down to thirds. Back to the trees, some Calinorian archers fell from the projectiles but minimized casualties thanks to the infantry protecting them with their shields. With a prompt order, they headed back to the main force. However, the dragons were on them, and they needed to run from it. The fliers burned down the trees and bushes ahead of their direction, forcing them out of the cover into the road. They are exposed. As the soldiers try to escape, the dragons circle them, covering their route in flames.

Surrounded, they try to make their stand as the Imperial soldiers advance. The Calinorian infantry held on with their hope as they pointed their spears at the enemy. The dragons that observed up high went down to demolish the trapped soldiers, but the returning Calinorian wyverns assaulted them. Seemingly too late to react, the dragons had their necks or riders bitten while the interceptors followed their trail to try and protect their Imperial allies.

Silent cheers echoed through their minds before they switched their attention to the enemy on the ground, advancing to their location. Calinorian archers pulled back their bows and aimed high. The release sent arrows flying to the Imperials, prompting them to raise their shields.

The arrows fell onto the soldier, pelleting their shields with a clang. Those unfortunate to have an exposed hole in their formation's defenses lost their knees or feet. As the rain of arrows subsided, they began their offensive, only for a Calinorian wyvern to swoop in and breathe fire upon the Imperials. They screamed and writhed on the ground, and their armor and skin burned beyond repair. Their comrades ignored their pleas for help as they advanced, ready to take on the defenders in a brutal test of attrition.

Up in the sky, it is not going well for the defending forces. Their numbers rapidly decreased every minute as they tried to reduce the enemy's massive army of dragons and wyverns. Hope dwindled, and their failure would risk the entirety of the Calinor empire, but they remained steady, ready to fight to the last man.

Then, a piercing boom echoed throughout the battlefield as several balls of light flashed through the sky. Shock befell all the troops. Then, projectiles from incredible distances hammered the Imperial dragons with terrifying accuracy. Baffled by the unknown enemy, they felt that this new yet familiar enemy had come to terrorize them.

"The Roc... The Roc is here!"

As if on cue, a shadow looms above all. The humming echoes throughout the battlefield. Then, hundreds of shapes dropped down from the giant. Dragons, wyverns, and a set of creatures unknown to them swoop down and engage the Imperial Flyers for dominance in the sky. With the persistent barrage from the beasts of steel and the number of the winged lizards, they made short work of the enemy. Down on the ground, the attackers were constantly harassed by a group of dragons, spreading fire amongst their ranks. Then, iron creatures dropped explosives on the soldiers.

Realizing the attack was in vain, a retreat was issued, and the Imperial footmen turned their heads around. However, a wall of flames blocked their only escape. Dragons and wyverns flew in circles over the battlefield, watching the poor sods down below. Then, the screams of the iron dragons swooped over them, about 50, and each dropping explosive ordinance upon them. With each drop, they split into smaller ones and ravaged the ground.

Time went on as the bombardment continued. Then suddenly, it stopped.

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Transfer View To...
Arbiter
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'Okay. That worked.'

I finally gave my drones custom cluster bombs, and they are fucking lethal. No wonder it's not allowed in the Geneva Convention. Oh well, that restriction doesn't exist here. It's free real estate, baby!

The trucks finally arrived at their destination, and they were relatively late for the party. No harm in that, I suppose. The soldiers in the vehicles scanned their surroundings as they drove through the battlefield. Corpses are everywhere. Burnt, torn, mangled. While they do see combat, they usually encounter devastation.

I'm... quite surprised I managed to stop this invasion before it could get close to the city. That's a plus.

The trucks slowed to greet the Calinorians and guided them back to the city. Because of the many natural barriers here, I thought of making a forward base near the city–

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Something has broken free.
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What?

In the distance, I saw a part of the mountain range blow up, covering the area in dust and snow. Then something crawled up from the crater and–

'WHY THE FUCK IS THAT DRAGON SO HUGE?! IT'S BIGGER THAN ME!'

I'm back.

And sorry if it is slightly shorter than the last. I'm trying to get used to this again.