Hells Bells

Massacre upon the hillsides

Originally written in 2022

April 4th, 2025. Innerworld. Unknown country.

Balls of flame fly up into the sky, illuminating the area. The forest surrounding the plains begins to move, as soldiers begin to march in thick columns. 

Talun looks through his field glasses at the advancing columns of red. The tank levels its barrel out over the trench that surrounds it. 

The light dies out, and the infantry ducks to the ground. Talun focuses on the officer riding on horseback, the night vision highlighting him.

 Distant thuds break the silent, with streaks of fire painting the skies and curving toward the armored lines. Talun closes the hatch, when one of the streams lands near them.

 The infantry moves forward again, with a lone soldier on horseback leading them from the front. The tank's gun focuses on the lone soldier. The sky lights up again with balls of fire, illuminating the tanks in the trenchline. The soldiers stop once again and the streams of fire once again bombards the trenchline.

 Once the sky darkens again, the US soldiers in the trench line peek over the top, their guns trained on the columns of men. Talun opens the hatch and scans the plains with his field glasses once again, with the approaching infantry growing ever closer, his ears pick up the soldiers murmuring what he could only assume are prayers. 

The infantry pass the motion line and the tanks fire. The shells fly out over the plains and explode in red smoke, blinding the infantry. The infantry stumbles forward, when the air starts to whistle, the soldiers are blown away, as the cluster artillery shells pound them into the ground. The firing ceases, as the smoke settles, the tanks load in more lethal ordnance. The soldier on the horse stands unharmed, waving his sword in the air, to encourage the remnants of his men. He is then set upon with a hail of high explosive ordnance, as the tanks fire another volley. The plains become chaotic, with the infantry opening up with machine gun fire, the soldier mounting the minigun beside Talun, lets loose, spraying deadly bolts of hatred. The battlefield falls back under obscurity with the artillery and tanks now targeting the forest. The constant sound of thunder and barrages stop after 20 minutes. Talun looks at the plains, seeing the wounded limping back to their lines and the unscathed leaving them behind in a complete rout. His eyes fall upon the lone horseman still standing, him and his horse unharmed. The soldiers notice this as well.

OFFICER: That's one tough son of a bitch.

The officer turns to the soldier on his right.

OFFICER: Rack his skull with a fifty, will you?

The soldier racks a round into the chamber, he levels his barrett at the lone horseman's head. The sniper pulls the trigger, and the round zooms toward its target. The bullet ricochets a few feet before hitting the soldier. The men let out an annoyed sigh at the sight, knowing it's gonna be another pain to deal with. 

A tank engine comes to life, and a Laser Bradley drives up and parks itself over the trenches. The turret levels on the man, firing a purple beam that shoots through the horse, exploding behind it. The man falls down being crushed under the horse's body. The Bradley fires again, destroying the man. The battlefield falls quiet, with the rising sun plastering the ruined fields with light.

April 6th. Washington DC. Oval Office.

STOKINS: Give me a sitrep on the situation in the Innerworld?

ODIN: All the rifts have been closed, and military operations have ended.

Stokins lights his cigar, looking out upon the White House lawn watching the gardeners go by.

STOKINS: Our allies have chosen to set up bases like the Japanese did, and I am poised to do the same to further cement our influence in the region and to see what that world is keeping from us.

ODIN: Copy.

He swivels back to lean on his desk, now focusing on the presidential paintings on the wall.

STOKINS: Now onto a more pressing issue, I have heard that a certain southern traitor crossed dimensions and attacked some Russian warship on a scouting patrol in 335. First I want to know how he got there, and second, I want to know how a Russian ship slipped past us.

ODIN: The traitor somehow got a hold of a portal device, we have a sneaking suspicion that Ozvey helped teleport him there.

STOKINS: Any reason why he would leave a world where he had a god under his finger tip, to a dimension that treats men as second class citizens?

ODIN: We believe that he left after failing to convince commander Blechin to join him and the subsequent manhunt by our forces due to him directly attacking him. He probably was told that we have no presence in that world, now how he got that information is another question.

Stokins thinks about that sentence and can think of several entities that would give him that information, but he saves that for a later phone call and continues on.

STOKINS: So he escaped to avoid the eventual downfall of his long built scheme after stepping too far into the deep end by angering the wrong people. I want commander Blechin's division to hunt that bastard down, if we keep him alone it might come back to bite us.

ODIN: Sir, the 101st is currently executing an operation in the Gods, and I think having them investigate the way he teleported from the gods to 335 would be better.

STOKINS: The 101st can investigate the teleportation and hunt him down. The reason I am asking for them is due to them being the only ground unit to be deployed to that world and their commander knows how that man thinks. I also know that he is very close with the God of Arragon in many ways, just have them finish their operation, ask the god and get them on their way. If he needs convincing into leaving that blown powder keg send in some naval and ground units. until we sign the treaty with the French, I am in charge. Get it done, and while you're at it monitor those Russians some more

ODIN: Yes sir.

Stokins places the phone on the receiver.