No Gods, Nor Masters

Death Before Dishonor

Wide open fields lay where an Imperial Army of a thousand men had gathered to meet the enemy. Italica had fallen less than two days ago and the momentum of the Ones from Beyond The Gate and Those From Above had not halted. Four more major towns and several villages surrounding them in the nearby fiefdoms had fallen to the enemy, whose banner was raised high above their capitol buildings. Some of the men in this force of Legionnaires came from the villages and cities that had been taken. Aside from them, around two thousand Auxiliary beastfolk had been brought in to serv.

The single Wyvern and rider that had returned from an early patrol reported that an enemy force of metal beasts was rushing toward them at breakneck speed, aided by their own flying creatures, also made of metal. The men stood in ranks, in their respective contubernia, prepared to meet the foe. Last in the Army was about five hundred Elite Mages recruited from the village of Rondel, now an Imperial Fiefdom for their own safety.

The mages had been evenly spread out among the contubernia of the Legion, as to allow all of them the capability to fight the oncoming foe. The general leading the force sat on his horse, gazing outward, to the distant peaks. He wondered just how long it'd take the enemy to reach them here, by the borders of the city of Salinas. One of the last couple of cities until they reached the capital.

They'd hold the line here...

The man hummed, then saw massive plumes of dust approaching from far ahead. He squinted as the cloud of dust that formed began to obscure the peaks. First to come into view were the enemy's flying beasts, metallic machines resembling mockeries of nature. Four of them escorted the rest of the enemy line. Metal beasts barreled forth, faster than any horse could, their strange horns staring at the units.

... The Chinese First Armored Division 'Red Dragon' rolled forth. Its assets represented the best of China's arsenal. ZTZ-99 Main Battle Tanks rolled forward at high speed, their stabilized guns locked on the horde of enemy units. Behind them, ZBL-08 IFVs moved, carrying the best of China's youthful warriors of the PLA. To their right on the other side of the dirt road, advanced Russian T72Ms, T80s and BTR-95s, each carrying troops.

"Sokol, this is Battlemaster Actual. Status report." Demanded the commander of the lead tank and the overall UN Force as he glared through his commander sight at the enemy forces, all of them lit up a burning white on the black-and-white thermal display. Three thousand five hundred targets to kill. Easy prey for anything even remotely capable of shooting a bullet. Much more for modern firearms and tanks.

"Battlemaster, Sokol Actual. We are on schedule. Enemy targets have been pre-sighted and lased," Replied the Russian commander, this one a female, "HEAT loaded."

"Copy. We will prevail," The Chinese tank commander replied, "Range to target is one kilometer. All helicopters, engage at will." As he regarded their WZ-10 attack helicopters pick up speed. The ten aircraft, armed with rocket pods, sped toward the targets. Thirty-millimeter cannon fire lit the sky first, tracer and shell roaring through the sky and impacting the lines. With the thermals, the leading Chinese tanks could clearly see the men in the line being torn asunder.

Flames spouted from their ranks as return fire, balls of orange fire arching into the sky. One washed over the belly of a WZ-10, scorching the paint and partially heating the hull, but the pilot was quick to return the favor alongside his brethren. Explosions blossomed across the enemy line as unguided HE Rockets left their pods, the return fire dwindling down.

"In optimal range," Battlemaster reported, "Gunners. Fire at will."

The leading ZTZ-99 and T-80 rocked back as their guns recoiled. Smoke filled the fighting compartments, only to rapidly be filtered out alongside the spent cases that were ejected. High-Explosive Anti-Tank Fin-Stabilized rounds left the barrels of each tank, arching high and flying straight as arrows, before striking the enemy's positions. Flames and smoke lifted to the sky as the Battle Tanks surged over a small hill, followed by the IFVs on their rear.