Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Torinn

 When the sun set over Alessia, the hundred and first day of the Siege of Deadar ended, still with no success. Deadar was another large city, with strong, high walls, similar to Meridian, but it didn't take much to surround the city. Torinn had divided his army into four different camps like he did at Meridian, but besieging Deadar proved more challenging. It wasn't surprising since the south of Alessia was more militarized than the north. Satoru and Michio were getting restless as the siege entered its third month, but Torinn was more patient. It wasn't the first time he's waited through a siege.

"I mean, can't Valeria send us equipment to scale the walls?" asked Satoru.

"They're too high," said Torinn. "The Alessians would cut the ropes by the time we reached the top."

"Right," Satoru admitted.

"And you can probably bet they've reinforced the storm drain," Michio suggested. "They've learned from what happened at Meridian."

"Exactly," agreed Torinn. "Besides, in the months that we've surrounded the city, there hasn't been a single effort of a counterattack from the Alessians."

"It just means they're not stupid," said Michio. "As if they would try and openly attack us." Suddenly, the lights at the top of the city gates flashed green, and they began to slowly open.

"I take it back." Michio mocked, drawing his katana. "They are stupid." But the ones that came through the gates weren't Alessian soldiers. They were wearing the same light silver armor as the Epsilon assassins that tried to murder Queen Valeria, and there were hundreds of them.

"Silver Hawks," Torinn growled, raising his greataxe.

"You mean those Epsilon assassins from Torriban?" asked Satoru, as he took out a pair of tonfas. "What are they doing here?"

"Fighting against our Queen, obviously," Torinn answered. The rest of the Draconians rushed to the front lines between them and the Epsilon, setting up plasma barricades and crouching down behind them. They fired bolts of red plasma from their light machine guns, but they couldn't penetrate the Epsilons' silver armor. When Torinn realized that the assassins didn't have firearms themselves, he raised his greataxe into the air and unleashed a roar from between his jaws. The Draconians and mercenaries charged to face the Silver Hawks. Torinn was at the front of the charge, and he cut one of the assassins down with his ax before he could swing an odachi at him. As the other Draconians and mercenaries clashed with the Epsilon, Torinn suddenly felt something strike his armor. Three dented shurikens fell into the grass in front of him, then a Hawk charged at him spinning the weight of a kusarigama. The metal ball struck his armor and didn't even dent Torinn's chest plate. When the Epsilon began to step back in dread, Torinn sent him flying with an upward swing of his glass ax. Suddenly, one with a long, silver odachi rushed at Torinn, swinging his curved blade. He blocked the silver blade with the shaft of his greataxe, then threw the Epsilon back with a punch to the chest. Somehow, the Hawk was still standing, then Torinn noticed a faint, white aura around him.

No wonder the plasma shells did nothing, he thought. All of the Silver Hawks had barriers around themselves that protected them from plasma shells and magic attacks. The only thing that would do any good was their blades. Torinn roared as he swung his ax down, and the Epsilon dodged to the side. He made another swing with his odachi, then Torinn grabbed his arm, and threw him to the ground, before crushing him with the blade of his greataxe.

"Torinn!" Satoru suddenly shouted, pointing to the city gates. They were still opening, and couldn't be closed again until they were completely opened. Still, their chance was now. Torinn raised his ax into the air and roared from between his jaws. When the other Draconians roared back, they charged at the gates, letting the mercenaries deal with the last of the Silver Hawks. They swarmed through the city before the gates could close, and were met with an Alessian army. A dozen machine gun positions began to fire green rounds of plasma from behind barricades, and the Draconians kept charging, cutting through the barricades with their glass blades and butchering the gunners. They stopped when the ground suddenly shook.

"What was that?" Michio asked.

"I have a good idea," Satoru answered, pointing down the street. Something massive came around the corner between two of the buildings. It was a mechanical monstrosity that walked like a person but was three times the size of even the Draconians, with two enormous cannons on its arms.

"That," said Satoru.

"I have never seen anything like that," Torinn growled.

"There's plenty of those in Torriban," Michio added. "But we are out of our league."

"I doubt that," Torinn argued, then he roared at the machine. He and the other Draconians charged at the robot with all of their strength. The robot pointed its cannon at them, firing a heavy shell of green plasma from one of the cannons on its arms. A few hundred of the thousands of the Draconians were killed, but the ones left kept charging. The machine stepped back, but Torinn eventually caught up to it, swinging his greataxe at its leg. All that happened was the blade denting its armor, and sticking into it. Torinn couldn't pull it out and looked up in terror as the robot's arm cannon pointed right at him. Suddenly, an explosion struck it. Torinn ripped his ax out of the mechanical monster's foot as it staggered back, then endless plasma rounds from the other Draconians' machine guns flew at it. Pieces of the robot's armor flew off with each round that struck it. Torinn then raised his ax again, and made a slash at the machine's ankle, damaging the joint that connected the foot to the leg. When the machine stepped back some more, Torinn chased it down and landed another strike on its ankle. He then began to chop the joint with his greataxe. The final slash severed the foot from the leg completely, and the machine fell backward, crashing into the street. It didn't move after that.

"What is the status of the gate controls!?" Torinn roared in Draconic.

"The other gates are open, Warchief," one of the Draconians said.

"Spread to every street!" Torinn ordered. "This city will fall before sunrise!" And it did. The arrogance of the Alessians allowed the rest of the Draconians and Moonblade mercenaries to storm Deadar, crushing all resistance. When Torinn's forces reached the center of the city, drenched in blood, with dents and scratches in their armor, Torinn unleashed a roar with triumph as he raised his greataxe. Deadar was theirs.