Out of Space 391 Urban Warfare

Emperor Varacen was having a pleasant dream when suddenly he was shaken awake. He blinked his eyes in anger and confusion at the frightened eunuchs next to him, "My Emperor! Wake up! Wake up!"

"What is the matter?" Varacen sat up and rubbed the sleep off his face. He paused and cocked his head to the side as his brain registered the clanking of bells outside the room. "An attack?"

"Yes, my Emperor!" The eunuchs quickly kowtowed and before they tried to help dress the Emperor. "The City is under attack!"

Emperor Varacen pushed away his eunuchs' hands and quickly strolled over to the window. He whipped aside the curtains and daylight flooded into the room. He stared with a flabbergasted expression as he saw columns of smoke rising from the distance and strange floating orbs all over the city skies.

"Who... what is attacking us?" Emperor Varacen stormed away from the window and his eunuchs quickly followed behind him carrying articles of clothing. "Call and assemble the war council!"

Loud thunder could be heard, which made the ground tremble and the crystal windows and chandeliers rattled. "Who dares to attack us!"

-----

The City of Silverton, Marketplace

Slow snuggled into a sitting position next to an overturned stall. He rested his machine gun's bipod on the side of the stall and watched the main street that led to the marketplace which he and a few other Marines had taken over.

He offhandedly grabbed a piece of fruit off the overturned stall and bit into it, enjoying the sudden sweet and sour tang of the fruit. As he took another bite, the Sergeant yelled, "Contacts! Make ready!"

Slow tossed the half eaten fruit away and wiped his hand against his uniform and leaned forward into his machine gun's buttstock. Soon a column of Imperial soldiers wearing blue under silver plate mail and lugging along heavy shields and spears appeared around the corner.

"Wait for it..." The Marine Sergeant hissed to the hidden men. "Wait for it..."

The clatter of steel toed boots grew louder and louder as the Imperial soldiers were rushing towards the city walls to reinforce the defenses. The column of unsuspecting Imperials entered the marketplace plaza and the Sergeant cried out, "FIREE!"

Slow clenched his teeth hard as he held down the trigger, and the machine gun beneath him started jerking away like it was alive. The Sergeant and the rest of the Marines had set up a kill zone and it caught the surprised Imperials in a crossfire. Tracers from Slow's machine gun left smoking and burning holes on the bodies as the super hot tracers set fire to the clothing of the Imperials.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" The Sergeant roared over the din of gunfire. "Check fire!"

Bodies laid slurped where the ambush had taken place, and the blood slowly painted the plaza red. "Check the bodies!"

Slow remained in his position as he kept watch on the street and the doorways and windows of the buildings around the plaza for any threats. The buildings around the plaza remained quiet and the windows were boarded, most likely the inhabitants were scared out of their minds and were in hiding.

"Thunder!" A yelled came from a side street and the Sergeant called back the answering code word. "Flash!"

A group of Marines appeared warily, they watched their surroundings alertly and the Sergeant went up to greet them. As Slow returned to helping himself to the scattered fruits, someone called him, "Hey Slow! Is that you?"

Slow turned around and saw a group of soldiers dressed differently from the Marines. Their armor was black and they carried a large variety of weapons. "You guys... are Claymore One?"

Hitsu walked over and crouched next to Slow and joined him in choosing the spilled fruits. "Long time no see!"

"What are you all doing here?" Slow asked curiously as he eyed the Claymore One members.

"What else?" Hitsu grinned and gave a wink. "We are here for the Emperor!"

"Alright! Change of plans!" The Sergeant suddenly called out. "The El Tee here wants us to support the assault on the gates from their rear!"

"So pack up your gear! And Slow! Stop eating the goddamn fruits!" The Sergeant growled at Slow who quickly stuffed a few more fruits into his pockets.
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"Wait a minute!" Sergeant Tyrier of the Hundred and First called out. "Lieutenant... I thought you are agreed to provide support for me to the Keep where the Emperor is at?"

The Lieutenant shook his head, "Sorry, Sergeant... Orders from Command just came in. They want all available units to support the assault on the walls. If the gates don't open... we are all screwed."

"Shit!" Tyrier cursed. "Alright, I guess we are on our own again..."

"Sorry," The Lieutenant apologized. "I can spare you some men... but not all of them..."

"Okay, I take all the help I can get!" Tyrier sighed. "I will need the ASAG!"

The Lieutenant turned and looked at the spider golem following its handler's actions in picking up the fruits on the ground and stuffing them into any free space on its backpack. "Eh... sure..."

"Sarge!" The Lieutenant turned to the Marine Sergeant. "See who we can detail to Claymore One. And add in the ASAG too!"

"Yes, Sir!" The Marine Sergeant replied and he turned and eyed the gathered men. "Alright, I need volunteers!"

"Ok! You, you, you and you!" The Sergeant snapped and picked out six Marines. "And you too, Slow!"

"You boys will follow Sergeant Tyrier here from the Hundred and First, from now on till further notice!" The Sergeant gave a quick brief to the volunteered Marines. "Be proud! For you guys are going straight for the Emperor! You will all be Heroes when this shit is over!"

"OOO RAAH!"

-----

Outskirts of Silverton, Operation Overlord Command Post

Joseph scanned the city walls with his binoculars and frowned as he started seeing more and more figures appearing on the top. Already his mortar fire was losing their effectiveness as the city's magic barriers started to encapsulate the important structures of the city.

"The troops need to destroy the magic barriers or we lose our ranged advantage!" Joseph turned to his command staff. "We need 1st Battalion inside the city to destroy the magic barrier formations! Or they will be trapped inside!"

"Order the mortars to cease fire and conserve their ammo!" Joseph ordered next as he turned back to view the city. "No point wasting mortars on the shields for now."

From his vantage point, Joseph could see the tiny figures of his Marines advancing towards the main city's gates. The Imperial defenders were firing arrows and bolts down at the advancing Marines, now that the mortar barrage had lifted. With the city magic barriers up, the Imperial defender's morale soared as they no longer feared the strange and deadly thunder weapons.

"Order 2nd and 8th Battalion to stand down for now," Joseph said. "Wait for the barriers to drop before attacking again. For now, only snipers to engage targets of opportunity!"

"Yes, Sir!"

-----

The scattered 1st Battalion inside the city started their assaults. Their original orders were to attack any targets of opportunity. Failing that, they were to either assault the Keep where the Emperor was in or attack the nearest gates.

Those units with radios responded to the new orders of finding the city's many magic towers that powered the magic barriers while those without, continued their original orders, ambushing and wreaking havoc inside the city.

The city inhabitants cowled indoors under tables and beds in fear of the barbarian attackers. They hid the children and womenfolk away in fear of the barbarians eating and raping them. The men armed themselves and prepared to defend their loved ones as they had all heard of how terrible their fates would be if they fell into the hands of the barbarians.

-----

The City of Silverton, Moon Gate

Claymore One and the ragtag bunch of Marines quickly advanced up the main concourse of the city. It was literally a highway right to the city's main Keep, but the only thing was they had to pass through two internal city gates and they were all warded by magic barriers.

Tyrier leaned out from cover and peeked at the shimmering bubble formed around the gate before them. "Shit.. the magic tower is behind those walls... We need another way in."

"Blow a hole in the wall?" Slow suggested as he patted the backpack of his ASAG. "Much explosives here!"

"Really?" Hitsu's eyes glowed and he quickly opened the pouches of the ASAG and whistled in admiration. "Wow? Boss, we got more than enough explosives here to blow the entire city up."

"Ok," Tyrier nodded. "Then we plant those explosives at the wall and blow our way in!"

He quickly gave the orders to the rest who spread out from their cover and headed towards a section of the wall where there weren't any barriers or Imperials. Once the explosives were planted, they ran back into cover while the Imperial who spotted them started yelling and shooting arrows and bolts at them from the wall.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" The detonate switch was held down and instantly a thunderous roar erupted and chunks of masonry and stone flew into the skies before raining down. "GO GO GO!"

The Marines and Claymore One troops charged into the smoke, and found themselves in a courtyard were dozens of Imperials soldiers laid dazed on the ground. Tyrier quickly identified the magic tower and he yelled, pointed to it. "Take it out!"

A Marine ran forward and dropped to a kneeling position. He hefted the RPG - 1 tube on his shoulder and took aim at the three storey high round tower with a purplish glow coming from the top floor. "ONE ROUND AWAY!"

The rocket whooshed out and darted right onto the tower and with a dull thump, the rocket slammed into the stone tower before exploding. Tyrier frowned as he saw there was barely any reaction caused by the rocket and was able to yell for another shot, the tower suddenly exploded spectacularly.

The shockwave fanned out in a wave, knocking everyone within range down and the magic barrier at the inner gate just popped out of existence. Tyrier pushed himself up and shot a nearby Imperial that was recovering from the shockwave. "Okay... next time we hit it from a further distance!"

Imperial soldiers suddenly appeared and they spotted the UN soldiers next to the hole in the wall and they charged at them directly. "Kill the barbarians!"

"Contacted!" Someone yelled and the Marines and Claymore One troops started to fire their weapons. The Imperials dropped with loud clanks of metal as they were shot. They tried to fend off the UN soldiers' ranged attacks with their heavy shield but they barely stopped the bullets from broking bones and penetrating the weakened metal.

"Move! Move!" Tyrier gestured left and right. The troops split up and they advanced tactically across the courtyard, firing single shots at any sword or spear wield Imperial soldier. They could hear gunfire and explosions in other parts of the city as they advanced deeper and know sooner or later, the city will be theirs.

-----

Outskirts of Silverton, Operation Overlord Command Post

Joseph watched as plumes of smoke erupted from behind the city walls and knew his Marines were doing their best at destroying things. He grinned when he saw the telltale barrier bubble covering one of the watchtowers vanished.

The watchtower had ballista that was constantly throwing bolts at the Marines hunkered down. When the barrier went down, it received no less than three rockets and the whole watchtower exploded into smoke and bits of masonry and stone rained down from the ruins.

Joseph's smile widened when he saw the barrier belonging to the main gates flickered and vanished. "It's time! Destroy that damn gate!"

Chapter end