Chapter 133: The Battle for Dresken (2)
"Its too late. They’re already here." The base commander said, placing his hand on Lieral’s shoulder.
"Get to your vehicles and ready the cannons." The commander yelled. "Those on the Sraiaz, target the dragons that you can."
A thunderous roar reverbrated off the walls of the city, and the commander looked up, his eyes wide as he felt the mana in the air seem to stand still. He felt sweat trickle down his neck.
"Why did Lord Mithrael order us to cease producing the mana circles?"
The breath from the dragon landed, incinerating two of the Sraiaz launchers imdiately.
Felicity growled as she launched her breath. She flew freely in the air, mana in the air circulating into her body as she inhaled.
"This is for my sister!"
She let out another breath, destroying a Llrathel at the outside gate. The Cartharic forces at Dresken began to fire back, and she felt the air around her lessen with mana.
She looked down, seeing the other Sraiaz system aiming for her.
"Not good! Fall back!" She yelled.
The other dragons heeded her warning, and they flew out of range. She looked down to where the 6-8 forces were and smiled. "We did our jobs. It is ti to do yours."
She turned to the other dragons. "Alright, now we go join 6-8. Let us assist them in human forms. They have too many Sraiaz still operational."
The dragons landed next to Eric.
"Did you get it done?"
Felicity shook her head. "We were able to take out a few of the systems, and a couple of Llrathels. We were unable to do much more than that."
Eric sighed.
"I figured as much. Even with you guys here, we are fighting an entire city. Very well. Good job on doing the best you can. Fall back in with Team Foxtrot. We will now engage them from the ground."
Once Felicity left, Eric grabbed his radio. "Teams Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, you are free to engage."
The "thunk" of tank fire answered his command a few seconds later. Flashes of light and smoke brought large waves of pressure over the valley as Eric watched with crossed arms. Tanks engaged Llrathels, and craters began dotting the landscape outside of dresken.
He saw a flash of light in the distance, and grabbed Michael, tackling him to the side as their vehicle got destroyed. The two n landed a few feet away, and Eric groaned. "Dammit! That was a new one."
Michael trembled as he looked at the twisted chasis. Steel lay twisted into a pile where their vehicle had once been, and a Sergeant ran up to them. "Master Sergeant! Are you okay?"
Eric grabbed the Sergeant and threw him down. More explosions echoed from behind them. "Tell the soldiers to get down! They located us. Have the paladins shift fire. Focus on the front of Dresken!"
Eric and Michael retreated further down the hill as the top of it was assaulted by more cannon fire. Jessica ran up. "Dad, we can’t get close! They have too many cannons. The tanks are trying to target them, but we have lost two already."
Eric groaned, looking around. The Sergeant from earlier handed him a radio, and he took a mont to survey the battlefield.
"Echo, Foxtrot, and Hotel, use the AT-4’s on the top of the gates. Take out those mana cannons! Charlie and Delta, engage the Llrathels."
More thanks echoed across the valley, with large explosions reverbrating through the air. Erich felt his ribs rattle with each shot fired, and he clenched his teeth. He looked at Jessica. "We need to do ’that’."
Her eyes glinted dangerously. "You told
we should never rely on it."
Eric sighed. "Sotis, a situation calls for it. Right now is one of those tis."
Jessica sighed.
"Whatever. Are you going to be okay though? I haven’t seen you train it in a while."
Eric smirked as mana began coalescing around him. A pressure burst of purple mana flowed out from him like a gust of wind. His eyes glowed, and mana shimred like dust motes.
"I’ve been training far away from the house because when I do train, it tends to destroy everything around ."
Jessica nodded. Her eyes glowed with crimson as she released her own mana. She exhaled and pulled out her weapon. "I’ll take right."
Eric smirked and grabbed his own weapon. "Then I’ll take left."
Lieral felt the air change around him. So far, the battle had gone well. Their new mana cannons had forced the enemy soldiers to retreat behind the hills. They had lost ten Llrathels and four Sraiaz launchers, but overall they had lost little capability.
Those thoughts dissappeared as he felt his hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Reload the mana cannons! Ready the Llrathels! Push forward! Sothing is com-"
His words were cut off as a large portion of the front wall exploded. Bricks and equipnt barreled towards him, smashing into him and crushing him. He coughed up blood, collapsing.
"Maria..."
His vision went dark.
"The Lieutenant is down!" A soldier yelled from farther back. "Ready the def-"
The other soldiers words were cut off as another wall exploded. The entire front wall for their defenses had been breached, and purple fire began to mix with crimson fire. Ammunition that had been stockpiled near the gates exploded, causing larger portions of the wall to collapse.
Eric and Jessica kept firing rounds at the front of Dresken. There were ten total mana cannons, and as their barrages targeted them, they fired back.
Eric counted his rounds, and felt fresh blood trickle from his forehead.
He thought back to the scene of Daniel. The first twenty one gun salute on Brishan still echoed clearly in his mind. "I won’t lose another soldier today!" He growled, firing another round.
His round hit the cannon dead on, and a massive explosion lit up a large section of the wall. He collapsed against the hill, groaning in pain.
A few seconds later, Jessica’s round hit the cannon she was aiming for, and her section of the wall lit up in fla. Secondary explosions continued to ring out, shrapnel and debris exploding in all directions.
Eric looked at Jessica and nodded, both of them retreating behind the hill as they released their mana. Eric’s forehead began to bleed freshly, and the wounds in his stomach reopened.
Jessica ran to him. "Dad!"
Eric waved her away. "I’ll be fine. You have a team to lead. They need you. Michael and I can finish clean up."
Michael ran up to Eric, shaking his head. "You crazy bastard. You’re still injured this badly?" He looked at Justin. "Kid, tell the convoy to push forward. Tanks will secure the periter. Ground forces will breach the inside. I will get Eric to the dics."
Justin nodded, getting on the radio as Michael fireman carried Eric back to the rear of the convoy.
Each step was like fire in Eric’s legs. It hurt to breathe as he felt a burning sensation every ti air filled his lungs. Each gasp ca labored, with his vision blurring with blood. He looked ahead to the triage unit at the rear.
"You know Mia is going to skin us both, right?"
Eric let out a weak chuckle. "If I hadn’t done that, we would have had more losses."
Michael shook his head, and dics ran up. "Master Sergeant? Captain?"
"No ti to explain. Patch him up the best you can."
Eric looked around. The rear of the convoy was filled with soldiers either missing limbs, or covered in sheets. He clenched his fist. "I couldn’t save them." He gasped.
Michael slapped Eric’s non injured cheek. "Snap out of it. No one knew Dresken would be this fortified. These soldiers did what they could. Now, it is up to us to finish the job."
The dics began checking Eric out, and Michael left.
"Honestly. That guy is insane." He murmured.
Back at Echo’s command vehicle, Justin began barking out orders. "Bravo, charlie, and Delta, secure the periter. All other units, breach."
The Battle inside Dresken walls was over before it began. As soon as the first ground troops made it inside, all the Cartharic soldiers were kneeling, with their weapons by their side. Jessica looked around, shaking her head as she radioed to Justin. "The Cartharic soldiers have surrendered. We now control Dresken."
Justin smiled, collapsing to the ground.
"We did it."
Michael walked up, taking the radio.
"Alright, secure the soldiers of Cartharic. We may have control of the outer walls, but there may be pockets of resistance in the inner city. Proceed carefully."
"Roger."
Jessica handled securing the soldiers. Search and rescue began for soldiers under the debris, and rubble began to be cleared away. She looked down as one section of the wall was lifted. An unconscious soldier laid under the pile. She walked up, checking his pulse.
"Hey! This guy is still alive. Quick, get dics and healers here."
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