Serpents Mission: The Hammer

[Retroboy]

The valley seemed a good place for a battle to begin. Dawn had just broken, and the wind had finally died down from the howling it had made the night before. The soldiers could see their breath in front of them, and some huddled in the light of the sun to try and keep themselves warm. The smell of fire filled the camps of both armies, and a excited energy permeated the Void Serpents as they prepared for what would most likely be the fight of their lives. Never had the forces of the Imperatrix marshaled in so great a strength before, without regard to tribe or background. Today, the Yahm would fight alongside both the Free and the Unchained, ready to strike out against the enemy as brothers in arms.

Apophe walked with her greatest warriors, clad in her her mismatched armour. A red cloak fluttered behind her, caught by the slight breeze. Her gaze crossed her men as she passed, and she could see the willingness to begin spilling blood in their eyes. She wondered if the men of the other side were looking forward to this as well. It seemed unlikely. After all, what man looked forward to his own execution?

She wheeled on her heels to face her men.

"Void Serpents! Today, is a good day," she announced to her soldiers. "Because today we establish ourselves as something more than just raiders. Today, we are an Imperium. We shall whet our axes on the bones of the enemy, and we shall take the city behind them and establish our control of this planet. We cannot just defeat the enemy, we must crush them, destroy their wills and show to them that there is no future to Zakuul but one in service to the Void Serpents."

There was hooting and hollering. Apophe grinned. The morale was high, and that was good. Battles were won by how willing an army was to fight, and even a peasant could defeat a knight should their vigour and skill be great enough. She had a strategy of course. She would lead from the centre with the greener men while her veterans fought on the flanks. When she had told the idea to her generals, they had balked at the idea, but Apophe had assured them that she knew what she was doing.

She looked around again. It would be time to begin soon. Her eyes drifted to the great mountain walls that surrounded them on either side, all hard grey basalt. These would be the key to her victory.

Apophe called up a runner. "Where is Eris? She needs to know we're going to begin soon."

"I shall find her, Imperatrix," the runner replied, and went to go retrieve, or at least report on the status of, the great Palatine.

@Baobhan

 

[Baobhan]

'Victorious warriors win first, then go to war.
Defeated Warriors go to war, and only then seek victory.'​

... The light of the rising sun shone across the horizon of the planet of Zakuul, it had been no longer than a couple months with the Void serpents and yet she was already returning home. Having been a long time resident of the planet, Eris was key to the establishment of the mission parameters. For more than a couple of days she had been working with city maps in an attempt to give the Imperatrix all of the information she could about the place they were intending to attack, a city which a spire rose out of, penetrating high into the heavens. Within it, was an intended target, who'd soon be boxed in by the hovering ship above their heads as the armies of the Yahm, Chained and the Free were launching planetside in order to begin their assault, Eris too would have to leave. Stepping with her contingent of Elite honor-guard as well as two of her Chaplains, they would enter the oceansprey freighter that would take them to the surface.

Even Eris could see from here that there was a force rallying against them.​

“Look at them all...” Eris spoke under her breath to those around her, not expecting a response in return. “Given the commander overseeing them in this city, I'm surprised they can even form ranks... That spineless coward son of the emperor will suit our needs here nicely.” Eris' eyes moved from the window to address her men, calling their attention to her as she would stand at the head of the cargo area as the freighter began to shake upon entering the planets atmosphere, the roar of the outside world silenced by the ships shields. Fire cascading across the wings of the ship as it pulled

“Men of mine! I call upon you all to liberate our home from those who would infest it... remember that in ancient days, this world was united under the outsider... Then, we were one culture, One people... And I seek to bring that unity back with the aid of our new-found allies. Allies whom respect our beliefs, fight along side us as brothers-in-arms, bleed for us... Die for us! So now, Look to the man to your left! Know that you can rely on him to be your shield. Look to the man to your right! And know that you can rely on him to be your sword! Remember who we are! Today, we do not fight as one man... or as ten, or as a hundred men! Have we ever been alone?! No. We not only fight with our new comrades! Our ancestors guide our hands and strike with us as one! You know, that they walk this battlefield within each, and every one of us!!! Live up to their greatness!! Let their combined strength well up within you, let it become your strength!! Be not one man, but the culmination of ALL our people! And together, as one, we take back what's ours, we take our HOME!!!”

The roar of her men, could be heard from the surface, evidently it had been broadcast against her knowledge.​

... Upon her landing, the ship which carried her opened up as Eris took to her heel, marching out with her personal contingent behind her as her other ships began to land all around them, dozens of men exiting, a small force compared to that of the Yahm, but it was a force none the less of a few hundred of her Order. It would be seconds before a messenger would call her to the side of the Imperatrix. Nodding, she announced that she was on her way immediately, moving past the Yahm messenger as she would push past with haste. Seeing the giantess upon the horizon from some distance away, she would mentally prepare as she would await to hear the intended battle-plan of their leader.

“Apophe, you called? So, tell me, what's the situation?”

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe was happy to see Eris. It was not often that people earned her respect in such a short order, but the dedication of the Palatine and the talent of her leadership had endeared her to the Imperatrix. It helped that now she would rely much on the woman's talent with arms and skill at command to help carry the day. Apophe needed an able commander to complement her own command in turn.

"Eris, it's good to see you," she said as she walked with the Palatine, her eyes once again drifting over her men. "You're going to be really important in this part. I'm going to be leading from the centre, with the newbies and the light troops. I'm putting you on the right flank. That means you're with the veterans."

Apophe looked out to the enemy army. She could see faint traces of them from the limits of her vision. A shudder of excitement crept up her spine. She looked forward to crushing them. Still, their numbers would prove something of a worthy challenge. A shame that numbers were only one component to victory. A component that could be overcome by a cunning mind...

"I'm going to advance ahead of you, goad the enemy into chasing us," she said, once again considering the enemy. "You will hold the flanks. The men I am leading will solidify into a line once we've dragged them in... creating a pocket for your forces to slam into. Their numbers won't mean much with how close-up they will be... Then, we're going to try something risky."

She looked at Eris sideways. "Total envelopment. It's going to be a slaughter."

@Baobhan

 

[Baobhan]

'Total Envelopment!?'​

... Eris had been listening intently, but even she had not considered the thought that this would be Apophe's plan... had this battle been fought thousands of years ago, sure, it was a good strategy, but the enemy force likely contained armour, albiet light armour that would be able to be deployed early and quickly at that. They would need a plan to deal with air-strikes and strafing runs and not to mention the fact that the opposing forces would likely want to engage at a pitch blaster battle where they would entrench, as they were the attackers and they were the defenders, they didn't have to move if they didn't want to. The worst part of it all was the nature of their combined forces... at least the forces of the Yahm and the Order themselves were veterans in close quarters combat, though many of them utilized blasters, it was far from their most preferred method of dealing with an enemy. Encircling was a tactic best used against those who fought in close with their hands, not enemies with rapid-fire rifles that could spray death from the hip.

But that was not to say the plan 'couldn't' work...​

... Eris spoke up quickly so that plans could begin to be made. “ Simply planning a retreat then encircling an opponent from back here is lunacy Apophe. There's no guarantee they would give chase unless they were ordered to. If you don't play this one a little smarter than that, you'll lose too many men, and we'll have to pull back from the encounter entirely. ” Eris began, speaking bluntly to the leader of the faction without care for the repercussions, she figured her leader was not the prideful kind nor the kind easily offended so long as what was said made sense. “ Their leader isn't on the battlefield, and he's a brat. Stall the battle to send him a message, and insult him in front of his men and advisers. Make him want us all dead at all costs. He'll issue the order to pursue to wipe us out where any sane commander wouldn't... I know I wouldn't.”

Traps were too troublesome, and if they needed to come to you, why not be ready?​

... There would be a small pause as Eris would allow her words to sink in, but not quite so long to allow her to respond as she would continue on her second point. “ As for the encirclement, our men are close range fighters, I hope you have a plan to get them there without being shot to pieces. If they chase us down, they will have vehicles, fighters, maybe even bombers. I'm fine to take the flank but you better have bought some point defenses in to deal with the issue and close in safely. If our wall cracks, we're done for... But otherwise, it's a good plan, ensure your front-line men all carry a grenade at least. Lobbing them into the center of their ranks will annihilate them in tight formation, and sew enough chaos to prevent them from uniting and charging any one side. ” Eris finished, moving her gaze from the commander back to the forming armies around them, her men behind her kept silent and behind her, all except the Chaplain who stood close to her side, a full seven foot tall man in ceremonial armour, bearing what appeared to be an electrified Heavy Mace at his side and a hip mounted heavy repeating blaster. Large as he was, he barely made a sound.

And So, Eris awaited the reply of her commander.​

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe grinned behind her helmet. The plan was certainly archaic, but she had other things to work in her favour. What Eris suggested was good, of course, but she had a feeling the Palatine considered her a little mad. Which, given, Apophe was. All the head trauma had not been good for her sanity. But she knew what she was doing here. She wasn't entirely useless in a tactical plan like this. Although, she was admittedly taking cues from some oral histories of the Yahm. But she's used these tactics before, and they've worked, even with more socially advanced enemies. Some strategies remain viable longer than one would expect... as long as one was willing to account for changes in technology.

"Your suggestions are noted," Apophe said. "Yahm have carried grenades as long as as javelins have been out of vogue. But I have some insurance."

She gestured up to the hill.

"You can see them, but I've had artillery emplacements up there," Apophe said. "For the most part, they're going to focus on shredding armour. But if the enemy decides they want to stay still and pepper at us, they're going to have a very, very bad time."

Apophe looked back out at the enemy. "This battle is important. It's the first real pitched battle we've ever fought as a united force," she said. "A lot is riding on this. This'll set the tone for everything that comes after. We need to win, and win big.

 

[Baobhan]

'So he had bought the artillery.'​

... Eris smiled at the knowledge that the Imperatrix had at least set up a means of dealing with armour, she would ensure that there would be some answer to any threat from the sky, though, sadly, her men were not the dog-fighting kind. It would be the unchained if any of them to have pilots worth their salt within their forces. Eris would nod at what the Imperatrix had to say, before chiming in with her next small part of input. If they had long range artillary, unless they had the means to get exact co-ordinates on the battle-field, they would need a couple of dedicated spotters to highlight the co-ordinates of the materiel that was coming their way.

“Seems like you have everything sorted, though, call me paranoid, but do me a favor and pull a couple of your best pilots from the unchained from the fight, have them load up a dozen combat worthy jets and have them waiting just in case. Never hurts to be prepared. Sure, they'll be pissed if they miss out, but it's better to be safe than have 1/2 out men blown to hell just because we only targeted the ground. Aye?”

The Thought was a simple one.​

... Taking one more glance at the imperatrix's response, there was little more she was able to do in this fight. She had her honor class armour on, so, should there be explosives on the battlefield or ships incoming, she was sure that herself and her men would be able to make a quick jump or two to safety. They would just have to keep one eye on the horizon. Her chaplain friend? Well, with the amount of armour he was wearing, she assumed that even a direct hit might not 'actually' stop him. But she'd rather not need to put it to the test. Smirking at the inward joke, she would pat the imperatrix on the back, just under her ribs with one hand, a symbol of endearment, as she would take the helmet from under her arm and place it over her head. The HUD sparking to life as it began targeting the world around it.

It was almost time.​

“Well, unless you have any objections, I have a politician to piss off.” Eris said with a laugh, beginning to move towards one of the many impromptu command tents that had been established behind the lines of their amassing men.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe nodded at Eris. Scrambling pilots didn't seem like a bad plan at all. She had little experience fighting enemies with fully stocked air forces, even though she was a decent pilot herself. Planes could decide battles with decisive bombings and strafing runs. Not to mention wreaking havoc on the back line. She needed to consider these things more closely. Well, this was why she didn't leave all the planning to herself.

"Godspeed," Apophe said, waving off the Palatine as she went to radio in a request for some pilots to get themselves ready for takeoff.

She found herself in a sweltering tent where men stood almost shoulder to shoulder, looking between each other and discussing. Her general's staff. They all snapped to attention the moment she entered, though some seemed sluggish and tired. They had all been planning throughout the night. She could tell that some of them were apprehensive as well. None of them had ever fought a battle as big as this, and they knew just as well as Apophe that this one would decide a lot... including who would please the Imperatrix and maybe gain some lofty position. Nothing wrong with seeking glory in war, right?

She picked up the radio from its hook, looking to the other men. "At ease," she said, watching them all relax, before she called in. "Going to need some fighters scrambled. Enemy might have air support."

She dropped the radio back on the hook, and then readjusted her armour. The fight was almost upon them. She could feel sweat beading on her back already. We're going to win, she assured herself.

 

[Baobhan]

'And so, the clock kept ticking.'​

... Eris moved on to her tent, looking to her men and moving to open up a short range open comms channel to anyone who cared to listen. She announced herself clearly and concisely. That her name was Eris Morgana, that she was a Leader of the insurgent force that threatened the city they were currently looking down the barrel of.

“Greetings, people of Ishar, my name is Eris Morgana but I have come to be known as many things. The Star Haired Child, Champion of the Void Serpants, the army that knocks at your very door, and most notably, Palatine of the Outsider Order, an Order Older than the buildings you inhabit, native to this very world. To which some of you may even subscribe. This world and its people have become comfortable, complacent, lazy and cowardly. All qualities your ruler in this very city encompasses. Many thing us conquerors, and this is true, but far more, we are liberators. We would have you strengthen and live up to your potential to be truly great, and spread that greatness to the world. To your cowardly, spineless leader, I issue him a challenge if he so much as deserves to be called a man, more than a boy playing king. Meet us and best us with all you have, else, your people will see who is truly worth their salt. Though, from what i've seen so far, you'll be but the stepping stone for a greater battle with your brothers and sister... ”


... So it was the speech continued, the rallying call to the people of the ruler of this city, as well as the jeers at the prince as others regailed Eris of his failures and exploits, so that she could read and tailor her argument as she saw fit. The holonet picked up the story and ran it quickly in the local area, the news of the attack spread like wildfire with the messages, even in highlights throughout it. it was a PR nightmare for the leader, and would no doubt, push him to need to make a show of force to keep the respect of his people. However, it would mean emboldening their men, morale would be high, but the morale gained before a fight evaporates with the first blow. As soon as the first bomb drops on their forces, as soon as they saw death, they would internally prophesise their own. When that happened, it would be all over.

... Handing the message over to one of her men to continue to attempt to rally people out of the city, those who wished to not be in danger should move to safety in the shadow of the city, leading to storms of people running for the hills, the screams of the coming attack could be heard on the wind. Looking to her men, Eris would make a single gesture to have them all move out to the eastern flank of their forces, ready for the coming storm. She would ensure that they would have shields and heavier armoured legatines in the front with their order chaplains among them, while Eris and her Honor-guard were positioned to jump into the fray afterwards. Her men were well equipped, well trained and eager to write their stories. Eris had given them their war time speech, her helmet firmly upon her head, it was time to remind Zakuul of their lost religion. And bring others towards it.

They were here to inspire~​

“Imperatrix, we're ready...”

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe took one last breath of the air before it was to be filled with the smell of blood and death. Now, it was time. She moved to the front of her men, looking at the eager expressions on their faces. They really did trust her completely. She could never bring herself to let them down. Not ever. Now it was up to Apophe to lead with a valiant heart and a cunning mind, to be the leader that the Void Serpents knew her to be.

"Serpents, march!" Apophe called to her men, and they began to move. The Void Serpents under Apophe's command, despite their inexperience, moved with admirable determination and discipline. They weren't going to rush and charge like the Yahm had in many battles before. They were going to fight defensively. They were going to bait the enemy into charging. Into moving into the jaws of the waiting Serpent. Apophe's eyes drifted back to her men again. A lot of them were going to die. There was a chance she was going to die.

It was going to be glorious.

Every minute leading up to when her men could first see the enemy clearly felt like an eternity. Adrenaline ran white hot through Apophe's veins, making her heart pound. The fury was plain on the enemy's face, whatever insult Eris had cooked up for them doing much to get them nice and angry. That was good. Apophe needed the enemy to be angry, she needed them to want to shred her army to pieces. It was strange, to be on the other side of that sort of fury, where sense and reason fell away. But it was welcome, too.

Blaster fire opened up on both sides. Hot bolts flashed between the two forces and the skirmish began. But the Zakuulan's had no intention of keeping it a skirmish. Enemy armour began to move up past the footmen. It was the first time many of the Yahm had ever seen such things. A few let out cries. Apophe held firm. She knew what was coming.

A series of thunderous cracks came from the cliff-sides. Within an instant, soil was thrown into the air and smoke began to choke the battlefield as great tanks were reduced to slag, their crews instantly atomized or writhing in agony, wishing they had shared the fate of their brothers. The response was quick. Apophe heard the scream of fighters overhead, moving to eliminate the Serpent artillery. The Unchained pilots worked to try and keep them from doing so.

The trade of fire was uneven. The people of Zakuul had numbers on their side. But this first phase wasn't ever expected to beat the enemy. Apophe watched as good men fell around her. She grit her teeth and kept up the fire. She had to make sure the enemy would be angry enough to follow them, and to make sure that it wasn't obvious she was leading them into a trap. If it was too plain, even the most impetuous, wrathful soldier would not follow her and her men. She had to make sure.

Then, finally, it came time. She rallied her men and called for them to fall back, firing as they retreated. The enemy, the Gods bless them, followed. Apophe radioed in.

"Eris, get ready!" she cried into her commlink as she continued to fall back, only barely managing to avoid being winged by enemy fire. It did not occur to her in that moment that she had come to trust the Palatine so readily. She simply did, and knew that Eris would reward that trust.

The enemy were upon them. Now was the time for slaughter.

 

[Baobhan]

'All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him.'​

... Some things never changed, as Eris and her men got into position on the battlefield, she could see in the distance Apophe and her Yahm go to war. Each and every one of the hardened warriors had no idea what they were marching into, the Yahm were raiders, not soldiers, they couldn't fight as a unit, unity to them she bet simply meant not fighting each other in the middle of battle. However, the Palatine was open to the idea of being surprised. As much as she held a great amount of distaste for the Yahms' current form, the raw potential that they held was staggering. IF she could get them to fight cohesively, they could easily raise to a prime that the Yahm had not ever seen in their culture's history. To that ends, stood Apophe, the liberator, and the sole hope of that ever accomplishing. Had Apophe not been the leader of these men, they would have no hope of becoming anything other than scoundrels which would ultimately be put down by one government or another once they bit off more than they could handle.

She was the pilot light of the savages.​

... The battle began to wage, and the war cried of the Yahm began to echo over the Horison, Eris looked to her men, getting one of them on comms while they were at a distance while she operated a distance measuring scope, looking over the field of battle. The enemy seemed to be in a rage, which was good, but that ferocity was not falling as quickly as Eris would have liked. A mixed blessing. If they broke their morale they would scatter, it would be an easy win, but the sweep up would be far less effective. Meaning urban combat within the city would be far more likely. Urban warfare however was Eris' strong-suit, not a pitched battle in an open plains. However, as soon as the gearous churning of enemy materiel could be heard, Eris scanned for it quickly. Grabbing the co-ordinates, she would get her men to radio them into the artillery teams one by one before handing over the scope and delegating the remainder of the task.

She could hear the cheers of the artillery crews from where she stood.​

... The direct hits, on unsuspecting enemies had an effect of doubt on the troops, however, their morale quickly returned after pilots went roaring over-head. Yahm pilots met them in turn. But simply put, they were outmatched here. Pilots of the Zakuulian empire were modern pilots, they would likely loose the dog-fight. Their only advantage stemmed from the warbirds used by the enemy were bombers, slower, less maneuverable. They had the advantages of numbers and experience, but they had underestimated their enemies' response. The battle would likely end in a dead-lock. However, two of the bombers managed to break free from their qurrel, making a daring rush for the locations of the artillary. Eris cursed under her breath, ordering all of her men and those in wait into cover.

"Everybody down!"

... It was outstanding, an entire unit moving into the shadows of rocks and tents to not be seen by the warbirds flying over top, all that was, except for Eris, who, drawing her spear would hit a switch. The head of the lance would bifricate, revealing a barrel as she would take careful aim with her combi-weapon. Taking in a deep breath she woulc count down mentally as the ships would approach... She was unseen, which made this so much easier. Letting out a single bolt of energy on an intercepting path with her heavy weapon, the massive raw bolt of anti-materiel plasma was let fly like an amber comet, straight into the wing of the bombing craft heading for their artillery. The explosion resounded loudly as the blastergas evaporated on impact because of the speed. But the wing of the ship burst into flames, sending the ship spiralling downwards. The second however, made a single successful bombinb run on one of their artillary batteries before being chased down by its pursuers. Eris could hear the damage and screams from the operators. From the look of the flames alone, she surmised maybe a fifth of their artillery had been hit by that one bomber and its torpedos.

But it could have been fourty...​

... It was then Eris' men called to her, the battle-plan seemed to have succeeded, the Yahm were pulling back, technicals and soldiers were charging them down in an attempt to wipe them out but the Yahm, firing as they made a tactical-ish retreat wouldn't let them get too close. Of course, there were stragglers, men were falling. Eris heard Apophe call out to her to be ready, and ready she was, she need only wait for them to be in position. She remembered the training session that she had given her men moments before the Yahm arrived on her world. Not to attack an enemy from their sides directly, to come in slightly behind them... surround an enemy at 120 degree angles, so that your foe must always be blind to one of you. Strike too soon, and you run the risk of the enemy strafing backwards and facing you all down. So, she would wait, she would wait until even the Yahm thought that they weren't coming before they would move... wait until the perfect, opportune moment.

wait until the perfect, opportune moment.

“ALL UNITS, SHIELD BEARERS IN FRONT, CHARGE!”​

... A mighty roar would echo over the battle-field as the charging units would speed down, Eris and her honor-guard leading from the center of her men as they would charge from their spot to flank the enemy on an angle slightly behind them, making an effort to withdraw, simply impossible. With the thin side of their force exposed to the legatines and Yahm on the other flank, they would move to crush the force in between them and surround them if they managed to put up any sort of resistance. Just as possible however, was the chance that the enemy force simple crumbled. These soldiers were soldiers, they were open, there was no trench to dive into. Only what vehicles they bought and boulders and hills the landscape provided. Blasted as it was.

Eris and her men as soon as the legatines were close enough, having taken the brunt of their charging assault on their shields would make their move, engaging the jump packs of their honor class armour, they would rocket over the top of the men in front of them, weapons drawn as Eris held her vibro-lance and aptly decapitated one of the Zakuulian soldiers before hitting the button on the weapon again, opening the canon and turning to blow another which dodged backwards from the swing away. The bolt which had blown out a ships wing hitting him directly in the torso as the humanoid simply ceased to be. The charging forces began to fan out to encompass their quarry as Eris and her honor-guard would attempt to cave in their center and push them to crumble. Her lance swooping from one side to another as she hunted men down like animals, swooping out a leg, firing her canon into clustered groups as the diffusing bolt left its thermal pulse in her wake, burning those who would move into it.

She could feel their morale crumble, and it was beautiful.​

 

[Retroboy]

The enemy was now in the midst of what could be conservatively described as a massacre. Panic spread through the ranks of the Zakuulans, and some began to rout. Others tried to push themselves to more advantageous ground, but now the more trained of the Yahm, who were fresh to the fight, descended upon them alongside their Order brethren. Pleas and cries rang out from their throats, but were drown out by the calls of sadistic glee from the Yahm. Limbs were split from torsos, holes blown in backs.

Apophe threw herself into the crazed melee. Though she was tired, she could feel the red mist descend upon her. She hacked with her claws and pulled joints from sockets. She took some hits, but in her state of transcendent battle-rage, she barely noticed. None of them were severe enough to be potentially fatal anyway. She could hear the call of the Yahm war-chanters behind her.

We break the chain
We free the blood
We call up Hell
We eat the Sun!

She exalted in the sensation of battle, chasing down her fleeing opponents who desperately scrambled away from her. In the ruckus, her helmet had gotten knocked loose, revealing her insane grin. This was what true victory felt like.

Before long, the combined might of the Void Serpents pushed the Zakuulan to breaking point. Now, only a fraction of the enemy remained willing to stand and fight. Those that still kept fighting had earned the respect of the Yahm, for what little good it would do the. They would be taken as captives, or, barring that, be made into war trophies to honour their memory.

Apophe felt herself come out of her haze. She looked around, and then at her hands, coated in blood.

She sighed, and radioed in.

"Status report?"

 

[Baobhan]

'The Silence which then fell, was deafening.'​

... As soon as the battle had reached its crescendo, was as quickly as the cries began to die down. The attacking force of a couple hundred hand been reduced to almost nothing. Flaming technicals lay scattered around the area as some of the military vehicles had, had their drivers shot out, leaving them somewhat mobile and intact. The Yahm had suffered losses, but, Eris was not one to weep for the loss, their death, glorious in battle, meant only that their essence would be absorbed by their family, making them stronger should they learn to tap into that inexhaustable willpower. Taking a knee, bringing her spear to her head, Eris would give off a small prayer as the battle ended in victory for their men. Those few who still fought, Eris could see some value in, she would have her men route up some of the strong who had fought well, order them to show them kindness and respect as they would hope to fill their ranks with them, convert them, show them the way.

The path of the outsider was appealing to those with nothing.​

... The call for a report over her comms signaled Apophe seemingly returning to the path of the sane, Eris would speak loudly, taking deep tired breaths in between it all, not bothering to yet remove her helmet, as enemies still lay in wait around them. “Total victory, they fell for the plan, I bet the baby prince is defecating in his silken pants right now. What are your orders?”

... Eris hoped to hear something good come from all of this, it seemed while some of her guard had been wounded, the legatines had taken some casualties, but the decision to keep heavy shields in the front was a good idea. The losses of the flanks which had kept a high wall were six to one, and many of them were wounded severely and in intesive care, rather than killed outright. The chaos had seemed to play its part well. Though it was outstanding to Eris that the front lines had not lost more men due to the armour and other vehicles that they had bought to bare. The pilots had done a good job as well, even if their sole tactic was merely to stall for as much time as possible in lieu of winning their dogfight.

The task now was to bring the fight to the lord.

And hell hath no fury like the darkness of the void.​

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe took a moment to compose herself. The high of battle still ran in her. But she had to focus, she knew that. The battle was not yet over. She had to clinch this. Otherwise the Zakuulans would find a way to rally themselves and strike back at them. Now was the time for a decapitation, to leave the people of Zakuul recoiling and scrambling, so they could be herded up for domination.

"We go and take down the prince," Apophe said. "Meet up with me and we'll take some veterans with us."

Apophe looked over the carnage once more. She wondered just how many troops the little princeling might have with him. A lot had been thrown at the Void Serpents, but surely he wasn't enough of a fool to leave himself without any guards, right? That would sign his death warrant. But then again, desperation made people do very, very foolish things. She could only hope that this fight here had made him desperate enough.

Suddenly, she was aware of her wounds. Pain oozed through them, although the adrenaline drained their worst effects. She realized that some of the blood on herself was hers. Damn, didn't know I had so many, she thought to herself. It amazed her how much she could ignore when the battle rage overtook her. She wondered how many she had killed. It was so hard to keep count when she was like that. She called over a medic, who was quick to supply her with bacta shots. They also advised that it might be best for her to lay down, to rest some, but she dismissed their advice. She needed to press the attack now, or the prince might be able to assemble something more formidable to defend himself.

The veterans that were called to join her were in high spirits, happy that they had been able to participate in such a fierce battle. Most had some wounds, although none of them severe enough to inhibit them any. Apophe wondered how well Eris and her forces had fared.

 

[Baobhan]

'She'd forgotten something...'​

... Listening to the radio, eris clicked as soon as the prince was mentioned. That was who she'd forgotten! the bastard would likely be running for the shipyards to retreat back to wherever he came from. He'd run to his brothers, and that was not something Eris and her Yahm partners could abide. It was in their best interests to capture him now, perhaps fake his death at their hands so that they could reveal him later... Or perhaps simply puppeting him from the shadows, or even overtly, it didn't matter in the end. However they decided to use him in the long run, it didn't matter, it was too good an opportunity to give up. Looking around the battlefield Eris called out to two of her best men, her chaplain and one of the captains of her honor guard, with them at her side the trio would have mobility and diversity at their hands, though, they would likely need to be quick...

It was a good thing they had so much enemy tech lying around.​

... Without so much as a hesitation, Eris would run to one of the downed technicals, ripping the door open and hurling the corpse from the drivers' seat out of the vehicle. Her men each did the same in turn as Eris quickly attempted to see how this speeder seemed to operate. While it would have been difficult to impossible for her to operate foreign vehicles, this was a zakuulian model, it was local to her. They had come into contact with them before, and while this one seemed to be a little more advanced than what they were used to, it only took a few moments of orientation to rediscover the familiar controls before the engine would erupt into a satisfying hum. Eris marveled at the working machine before engaging the thrust and punching it in the direction of Apophe, if the two of them were going to get the precious prince, then they would need something a little faster than charging the place down on foot.

And this was the best Eris could think of.​

... 30 seconds passed, and Eris was on top of Apophe's location swooping in from the side, her men on the back gripping on for dear life. It was true while Eris was familiar with this technology, she was not the best driver in the world. She was reckless and borderline mad behind the wheel. This drive was going to be a hellova ride. Looking to Apophe and her men she would yell in their direction, pointing her thumb towards the back-seat she would yell in their direction with an amount of haste and stress in her voice.

“Quick, get on, some-one take the gun, we may have some resistance on the way in!”

... If someone were to ask if Eris was sure about this, she wouldn't know what to say, but, as soon as Apophe and her men were firmly on board she would push the pedal to the floor, the engines would hum loudly as the vehicle would lurch violently in the direction it was pointing, narrowly missing another Yahm as she turned just in time, aiming the vehicle like a rocket as she would bullet towards the city space port.

​

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe piled into the vehicle with her men, one of the Yahm moving to take the position with the gun. She relaxed into the seat, looking over at Eris.

"You're look-- AAA!" Apophe screamed. It was not normally like her to shriek, but the Palatine drove like a madwoman and Apophe wasn't entirely prepared for that. Her cry was not anything like the contralto she normally projected. It was high-pitched and girlish, and embarrassing enough that she quickly silenced herself, looking at her men to see if they were judging her.

If they were, they had enough sense to make sure she couldn't tell.

After that, Apophe remained composed. She had ridden a swoop bike before, so she was used to rocky riding. One of her tribesmen, the one not operating the gun, was not as fortunate. Mercifully quick, he spilled the contents of his stomach out but made sure to do it out the side and in such an angle that it would not splash back onto any of the riders in the vehicle. The gunner called out some jeers to his comrade, although it was purely in a friendly sort of way. The puker grumbled, although he did not retort back.

Apophe's eyes turned to Eris. "I have no idea what we're going to find in the city," she said. "I think he's probably going to turtle up with his guards though!"

She looked at the city before them. The sheer size of it was impressive. The buildings were big and tall, much taller than what she was used to. Yahmsborg will look like this some day, she thought to herself. Perhaps once they had taken this planet she could turn to some of the architects that had designed the city in order to convert Yahmsborg from the rag-tag, frozen shanty town it was into something worth being the capital of her new empire.

 

[Baobhan]

'Oh, you're never living this down...'​

... The sudden shrill shriek of her direct commander penetrated her mind and, although her face was hidden by a mask, she was smiling devilishly underneath for but a moment before her concentration focused like a laser on her intended target. It seemed the men on the gun in the back after a little recovery were ready, even though they moved quickly, the path as of now was largely in a straight line, and Eris was booking it. Like a lethal slalem through the former battlefield they had just left, bodies of Yahm and Zakuulian alike littering the no-man zone as they proceeded towards the city in the distance...

It didn't take long to meet resistance.​

... Eris would do everything she could to avoid the long range blaster bolts of what little defensive force had been left behind to guard the city from the invaders. But this was the one wall the group of them would have to cross. The enemy speeder that they were driving in full retreat had provided them some concealment and disguise at long range, but now that the armour of the occupants and the uniforms they were wearing could be identified, a single shout at four hundred meters called frightened people to arms as they would fire wildly at the speeding vehicle while the enemy formed a firing line. Two men leaping from their position into a seated turret that looked dangerous enough to blow the speeding vehicle out of existence.

Meanwhile in the distance, Eris, and most of the city would be able to hear the massive thunderous clanging of a hangar door opening the size of a small football stadium. Something was planning on leaving, and silently, the Palatine knew that the timing could not be more conspicuous. That hangar that seemed to overshadow much of the city would be where the prince had his personal ship... And they were going to have to either intercept him on his way to it... or claim it for themselves once he was already on board. Either way, take off was not an option for them.

Not without them on board.​

“I'm going to speed up, do something, FAST!” Eris called out louder as the firing line would seem to get more serious about hitting their target as they approached the 300 meter mark, getting more and more dangerous as the seconds passed them. Plasma blasts would collide into the side of the ships armour as Eris would try her best to avoid the worst of the blasts, all the while attempting to stay ahead of the swivel of the larger guns that would soon be moving in their direction.

They'd be cutting it close.​

... The honor-guard, looking over the side of the technical LAV would open fire with their long range rifles, the speed and movement of their transport proving to be as much of an obstacle for them as it was for the enemy to hit them, while hitting little, they could push a couple of the enemy soldiers into cover or pin them from moving.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe steeled her nerves, and put herself into the mindset of a commander once again. Her eyes darted between the attackers, and a plan, simple as it was, formed in her head. She called back to the gunner, and ordered him to take out the turret first, and the firing line second. Not content to let the enemy gain the advantage, she unholstered the sunspear blaster from her hip, and rose to stand, placing her foot on the dashboard to stabilize herself.

She loosed six shots. Only two men went down, but she was quick to reload. She fired again. Another down. She was mostly just buying time at this point before he gunner could turn on them. A blaster bolt hit Apophe in the chest, enough to be lethal if she weren't wearing armour. Instead, she just found herself winded and cursing. Mercifully for her, the gunner had dealt with the turrets, leaving a smoking mass for each. He swiveled around to face the enemy, and began to unleash hell onto the firing line. Apophe took the chance to reload again, helping the gunner despite the vast different in firepower between them.

The firing line crumbled under the pressure as the remainder threw themselves out of the way of the speeder, leaving the vehicle a chance to progress further. However, the Zakuulans were not quite ready to concede the life of their prince to these invaders quite yet. Before the vehicle laid a maze of improvised explosive devices, packed with enough power to vaporise the speeder and its crew. Fortunately for the Void Serpents, they were conspicuous enough that it was entirely obvious what these devices on the road were.

Apophe slumped back down in her seat, her breastplate still smoking. She looked over to Eris.

"You might wanna avoid th--WOAH!" Apophe said, suddenly cut off by the loud crack of a powerful blaster bolt just whiffing by her head. Her eyes following to the source, she now realized that not content with simply laying mines down for the speeder to avoid, the enemy had set up a sniper nest to finish the job should the explosives fail.

"Sniper!"

 

[Baobhan]

'Some advances are best solved with the most direct route.'​

... Eris smiled as the heavy gun on top of the Lightly armoured speeder ripped everyone who dared to stand before them apart with unbelievable precision and merciless resolve allowing them and their cargo to speed through unhindered. Eris could smell the faint smouldering of something in the front seat with her, not daring to take her eyes off the road long enough to see that it was her companion beside her that was the source of the scent. The glint of the rifle in the sunlight however, was something that Eris was never going to unsee on the road ahead of them. Pushing the wheel to the right just a little, enough to shake the entire vehicle, it was just enough to offset the aim of the rifle enough to miss his target by inches... then there was the matter of the mine-field that seemed to be ahead of them. The field was likely to be remotely detonated, it was the only possible conclusion, as they were no doubt waiting for the insurgent army to come across this area and be blown to hell, but were thus-far, disappointed.

Something needed to be done-fast.​

... Eris would command that everyone hold on as tight as they can, while in the same breath, order her honor-guard to be ready with his pack. nodding and waiting, moments before Eris and the group approached the mine-field, she would slow and hit the breaks, another rifle round pounding into the side of the vehicle as the Soldier on the back of the vehicle launched high into the sky, drawing his grappling gun, he would fire and repel to land rolling and running on one of the roof-tops, charging towards the location of the snipers' nest like a bat out of hell... Meanwhile Eris, would have turned the vehicle 180 degrees for but a moment, bursting away from the explosives and turning once again to face them...

“Here we go, Chaplain, be ready to fire on the explosives with heavy rounds in 3...”​

... She would mutter a moment before flooring the acceleration, dust flying up in every direction as her man on the roof was waiting in place, pinned by the sniper who was panning his view between the impending threat, and the target he was here to rid himself of. Eris would tell the Chaplain still on the back to be ready. '2...' Eris could see the line of sight of the sniper on them as they would begin to approach his effective range once more, moving towards the explosives, Eris would call 'NOW!' as the Chaplain would leap from cover with his heavy repeater, firing on the IED's causing a massive chain reaction as Eris would duck and those on board would take cover. The heat-wave would be massive, and the flash would be enough to blind the sniper who had been looking through his scope. The reaction was enough for the honor guard member to break cover and charge, shooting his quarry in the chest with his rifle before using his jump-pack and hook to re-connect with the vehicle as it had slowed for the explosion, before speeding through the aftermath... Returning to the open road towards their destination.

... Revving now, could be heard in the distance, moving closer, quickly, as they passed one of the many main roads the group would quickly gain a glimpse of 2 more Lightly armoured vehicles like their own as well as a small squad of speeder bikes approaching their location. The sniper, dead as he was, would have likely radio'd their position... company was coming, and they weren't too far behind them. Though, they were making excellent time towards the hangar, which seemed to have opened fully.

 

[Retroboy]

Apophe sighed to herself as she heard the revving. She hadn't expected the enemy to give up easily, of course, but their tenacity was starting to both impress and irritate her. Well, it wasn't like they were going to just let their prince get captured.

As the enemy gained on them, Apophe began to formulate a plan. The gunner turned his focus onto the enemy, ripping into them, but they were organized right now and that meant something more would have to be done if the Void Serpents were to turn this to their advantage. She began to stand in her seat once more, waiting for the enemy to get closer to them. One of the speeders managed to avoid the hail of blaster fire that the gunner was putting out, and pulled up next to the Serpents' vehicle as it raced along, the biker readying a blaster against Apophe and Eris.

Apophe didn't give him the chance to fire. She flung herself into his bike and nearly caused it to spin out as she kicked the biker off, leaving him to roll along the road. She managed to just barely regain control, repositioning herself to sit down and pilot the speeder.

Her veteran looked at her with concern. "You know how to drive that thing," he shouted.

Apophe shrugged. "It's a bike, I'll manage!" she called. "You focus on the big guys, I'll work on distracting the bikers!"

Apophe didn't give the gunner a chance to respond as she decelerated, pulling her back with the rest of the bikes. Now was the time to sow chaos. She ended up in between a pair of bikers at the vanguard of the formation, both of whom quickly took aim to fire at the Imperatrix. Grinning, she decelerated once more, allowing the pilots to hit one another rather than her. Their bikes promptly lost control, zooming off into nowhere in particular. The remaining bikers reacted promptly, moving to enclose around her.

"Crud," Apophe muttered under her breath. This was not ideal. Thinking quickly, she loosed a blaster bolt from her pistol into the biker to the right of her. Then, she veered hard into his position as his bike fell away. The biker behind her wasn't having that, though, and quickly moved into position to try and bump her back into the centre of their formation. Only then did the biker see just how large Apophe really was, and realized their life-ending mistake. Apophe hefted the biker up and hurled them from their bike into one of the bikers ahead of her, promptly giving her a space to exit the jaws of the enemy formation.

Meanwhile, the Gunner had his work cut out for him. The two enemy armoured vehicles were gaining fast. At the very least, the Imperatrix's little bike ride was making sure that he'd only really have to fight two instead of who-knows-how-many enemies. He grit his teeth and began to lay into the first armoured vehicle, on the left. To their credit, a gunner of their only quickly got into position, but the Serpent Gunner wasn't having that. The moment the enemy took his place, the Gunner lit him up. To make sure, the Gunner also wheeled to fire into the other vehicle's gun emplacement as well. Then, he turned back to his first target, laying into them with blaster fire. Finally, it went down. He swiveled back to fire upon the other, his gun ripping the enemy apart. Then, once the other vehicle had fallen, he moved to fire once more upon the remaining bikers, only to find he was finally out of ammunition.

With the last of the bikers now on her tail and very, very angry, Apophe kept pushing on, desperately hoping an idea might come to her. After a moment of hard thinking, something did. She yanked the bike, forcing it to turn around, and let loose with her blaster once more. One by one, the enemy bikers fell off their bikes, clutching wounds. Some fired back, but none had the accuracy to take Apophe. Soon, they were gone.

Apophe wheeled around and went to join with the others, pulling up beside Eris. Her face was dripping with sweat, her strawberry hair sticking to her forehead. She smiled, although the exhaustion was plain.

"Well, that worked," she said, sounding vaguely surprised. Her gaze turned to the hangar, which was fast approaching. That is when she saw what may have been the final threat for the Void Serpents to manage... The Princely Guard. Small in number by highly trained, they were cast in gilded armour with flowing red capes, their guns at the ready to put the hurt into the Void Serpents in a last ditch effort to keep their charge safe.

 

[Baobhan]

'Being a Legend, is not about persistent acts of unbelievable skill
It is but a few, that shine about the rest.'​

... Eris could see the blocade ahead of them, she could not help but think that she had been through this scenario before. She and her honor guard and the chaplain w noticed that the men who had lined up before them were none other than the kingsguard. Elite fighting troops that Eris had come into conflict with before during the civil wars on Zakuul and their moons. She had seen them, and even had the pleasure of fighting one of them. Though they were few in number, a dozen of these men were some of the best trained 'all around' fighters in the galaxy. The group of them were up for a fight... There was no way that the lot of them would be able to pull through their blocade in the already shot up vehicle they were travelling in. The vehicle would be torn apart by the time they got there. It was then Apophe pulled up to the side of the vehicle, for a moment, she would not see Eris in the drivers' seat as she would have leaned over, taken her blade in but a few moments and pulled one of the panels off the floor, revealing the engine of the speeder.

Taking two mag-grenades from her person, having not used them in the battle, she would, with a keen eye, time the distance between her and her opponents, slowing the speed of the speeder to account for any of the mismatch before placing the two of them nearest the power core of the speeder that she could. The team on the speeder would have seconds. With the wind-shield already gone, Eris would quickly pull herself up through it, taking a single shot from a blaster rifle to the back-plate of her armour as she let out a cry of paion. But she would not allow the distraction to make her falter. Gripping either side of the wind-screen she would pull herself free, ordering an abandon ship as she would activate the burst on her jetpack, throwing her dozens of feet into the air, looking down on the battle as her honor-guard would do the same. Her chaplain, would simply jump off the back with the Yahm as the speeder carined for the princes' elites who would fire at the armoured transport while it screamed towards them...

By the end, the light armoured vehicle was just a flying fireball, before it detonated.​

... The thunderous roar of the explosion of the vehicle would shatter the glass of the nearby buildings while the shrapnel and force of the explosion would envelop some of the blockade, the heat and shrapnel lighting men aflame and penetrating what gaps in the armour could be found as the field on their side turned into nothing but screaming chaos. Those men who were out of range, on the fringes of the formation would be distracted just long enough for Eris to come screaming down upon one of them. Using the third and final boost of her pack horizontally from on high, she would descend like a Valkyrie with her vibro-lance. Penetrating one of the men directly through the chest-plate with her spear, and turning them to the others. Her honor-guard, taking her lead did the same, only to miss, entering combat with the elite soldier while the Chaplain, with a single burst of his heavy repeater, swept at the wounded and the stragglers of the explosion. Eris would move from member of the prince-guard to the other, having flanked them, much of the battles were one on one. Ducking dodging, drawing her blade in one hand with her spear in the other she would maneuver around them with quick cuts, testing their guard and waiting for them to strike. As they would lash out she would parry with her blade and make a quick strike for their leg, effortlessly blocked by the guardsman, she would hold her spears' position and bring her heated blade up for the mans' neck. The men were skilled, but quick weapon advantage and taking the opportunity of the chaos was key.

Yet, in total, they had only halved their forces, making the fight more even than a solid win.​

... Apophe and her yahm would need to enter for the coup-degraces to the enemy. But they were close now, the chase from the bikes had been long enough that they were more or less in the courtyard at the opening of the immense space port that lay in the city. The huge hanger seemed to be open as they were no doubt preparing for immediate departure. If the princes' guard were here, he was likely already inside, either making his way to the ship, or already aboard it and heading for the bridge. The team needed to be quick, there was not much time...

So close...​

“Speech”