There is a saying that one cannot understand the value of life until they experience death. I had always thought the human piece of wisdom to be odd although, for a while at least, all that I saw die were my enemies. The Age of Heroes was started under that vain mindset. Power was granted to mortals who did nothing to deserve it and it instilled them with a confidence they should not have had. When the bodies started piling up, we still not see the problem. After all, heroes were there to protect Arda. More heroes could be created, the entire world could have been given the blessing of heroism! The problem was one of scale of course! We simply had to accelerate, to keep plugging holes in the rotting ship.
The only I Divine I have ever considered a brother died on the final day of the Age of Heroes. Worldbreaking began, I saw mountains rise and valleys form, floods wash lands away and firestorms as high as the clouds, and I could only watch for finally, the lesson had been taught. One can never understand the value of life until they experience death. Parathus’ death was that lesson for .
The Age of Heroes shall never be repeated. Arda already has a problem with too much power on the planet, Divinity ensures of that. As the Age of Heroes proved, Divinity is no teacher for power, for Divinity has never been taught how to wield their own strength in the first place. We tried to skip the most fundantal foundation of a school, ensuring that a teacher class existed. The natural hierarchy of this world, as it exists, cannot be side-stepped and equalized through bringing mankind to the level of Divinity. And likewise, there is no way to bring Divinity to the level of Humanity.
There is no way to standardize power, the single uniting factor we have is that we die. It is the one lesson that every creature on this will learn. It is the one ti a God or a Man are the sa.
The value of life is trendous indeed. The fools who claim it is worthless are nothing but fools, for there is nothing to debate on that regard.
But likewise, any who claim that it is priceless are just as wrong.
Death teaches the value of life. The unsaid truth in that phrase is that not that life has value, but a value.
- Excerpts from the private writings of God Arascus, of Pride.
Private Schneider groaned as he hefted yet another shell the size of his forearm from one of the end to the other. When he first heard he saw handling these fucking things, he couldn’t fall asleep out of the fear one of them would explode if he gave it so much as a tap. Now, he fucking wished that one of the stupid fuckers would just blow up and end his life. This was worse than any job he had ever done before.
Schneider avoided tank-commander’s Schroif’s legs, burned by the sun, groaned, grit his teeth and spun around the tiny compartnt of the already-small cabin that was his duchy in this tallic kingdom. The high-explosive shell fell into the loading chamber, it clattered and bounced about for a second. By Schneider’s side, private Hansen, the radioman, leaned away from the gun chamber. “Drones report movent, six kilotres out and closing quickly. Goddess Fer is eliminating their counter-artillery.” Schneider wiped the sweat of his brow and pulled on the stiff lever which closed the firing chamber. He finally took a breath and reached for the water bottle.
“Schneider?” Schroif’s voice ca over the radio, supposedly, these vehicles were to be quite enough that people could speak in them. They must have done the test with elves or Divines, without the headsets every team-mber had, no one would be able to hear so much as a word over the eternal rumbling of the Duke’s roaring engine. Allian tank, Doschian crew.
“LOADED!” Schneider shouted.
“Don’t shout into the fucking radio!” Corporal Schulz, the tank driver a tre ahead and a tre below hissed back.
“Adjusting trajectory and firing.” The final mber of the five-man crew, private Bayer, the gunner, answered. “Hold position for a mont.”
“Holding.” Schulz replied. Schneider took a deep breath and drank so more of the water from his plastic bottle. There was air-conditioning here, but the air-conditioning was not made for desert air, nor did it manage to beat away the heat created by five n constantly moving around and sweating.
“I have position, Fer-confirmation?” Bayer said. They had to run a Fer-confirmation before every shot, of course, it wasn’t mandatory, but no one wanted to be the man who ordered a shelling on Goddess Fer, of all people. There was the level of unprofessionalism they were at now, with everyone stripped down to their desert shorts, and then there was firing at the position of an Emperor’s Daughter.
“Fer-check.” Hansen said over the radio. “Clear? Clear! Bayer, clear, shoot!” A red button was pressed down on the control stick as Schneider already began turning around. The front of the Duke tank was a mass of screens and gauges, the rear was simply darkness now that soone had accidently kicked the plastic light in the roof and broken it. For a mont, he tensed when he heard the gun begin, then, he rocked forward as the vehicle slid in the soft sand below them. These fucking Allians did not build like the Dosch, that was for certain. He reached down, instinctively reaching in the darkness for where the next shell was and heaved it up.
Fortia looked over the maps as she began to adjust markers.
Private Schulz looked through the window of his driver’s cabin and held his breath. Fer’s satyrs, the support infantry that were here to pick off stragglers so that the cannons could concentrate on firing into the general mass of demons in the distance, were beginning to shoot. The first group had been annihilated by a combined volley of the 46th Armoured. The second as well. Groups three and four had engaged from the sides, both at once ant that there was simply too many bodies. “Gun temperature hot commander.” Bayer said. “I…” He trailed off and had to restart. “I’d advise taking a break. A minute or two.”
Fifteen shells in the span of five minutes had been fired. The air-conditioning was simply not keeping up. Schulz was sure that he had drank enough water to burst his bladder twice over now, and he felt like he had sweated twice that amount sohow. A small ridge pooled the sweat and it was fucking filling. He tried not to think about it every ti he heard the bottom of his boot splash into it. “There’s another force moving on us from the north.” Hansen reported. “And command says that seven klicks south is another group, they’re hoping to encircle us!”
The volley fire of the 46th Armoured had abated, the massive lines of organised shelling that Schulz watched through his window which ripped up massive swathes of sand and bodies, as if soone was dragging a finger through the ground, had given way. Now, every dozen or so seconds, another thundering drum would signal that another tank had fired and another explosion would sound. And every now and then, the tank-driver would even manage to spot Fer as she dashed from demon to demon, hunting down their magicians.
The first line of demons fell to gunfire. “Captain! Should I fire with the machine gun? We’re in good with them now.” Bayer asked.
“Conserve ammunition.” Captain Schroif replied. At least he had an easy job and fresh air. The man could stand not be inside the belly of this steel beast. “They’re getting clo…” He trailed off, unhurt obviously, it was the trailing off of sothing catching his eye. “Red flare just got fired, that’s the signal Schulz, begin retreat.”
Schulz finally leaned away from the seat. He felt as if his skin had glued to the material. Each hand landed on a track control, as did his boots. “How fast captain?” The machine actually rocked when it began moving.
“Slow and steady.” Schroif replied. A mont later, the captain’s voice ca over the radio. “Schulz?”
“Yeah?”
“Faster than that.”
“Report losses.” Fortia began to take away counters. Well, these were vehicles that were designed for mass production anyway.
Tank Comannder Schroif stared that the massive demon that was running towards his Duke tank. The top of the vehicle was charred now. Scratched all over too from cleaver hits and claws and when so terrible winged bat-creature had tried to claw at the armour before it got ripped to shreds by infantry gunfire. “FASTER SCHULZ FASTER!” Schroif aid his pistol at the massive creature, it had co with the next group. Honestly, the tank commander had stopped counting how many demons they killed at this point. A full day of combat, with naps caught when they could, did nothing good to counting abilities.
“I’M GOING!” Schulz shouted back through the radio. The tank did not accelerate in its reversing whatsoever. In the distance ahead of them, another set of explosions ca from the tanks in the rear. Schroif should have not overextended. He closed one and aid at the massive demon. It was coated in black armour, no one knew how thick, its eyes were beady. One trigger squeeze, Schroif didn’t even know if he hit. From behind him, another tank fired. The shell missed and was sent into the swarm of smaller creatures behind monster. And again the commander fired, aiming for its head, specifically its eyes. He had not clue where the bullet went. The entire magazine was emptied, the monster began to raise its axe.
“LOAD LOAD LOAD SCHNEIDER FUCKING LOA-“
“LOADED!”
“FUCKING FIIRR-“ The Duke tank slid backwards on the loose sand as private Bayer slamd his thumb down with all his strength on the button. The barrel retracted as the entire chassis arced backwards. An instant later, the body of the demon erupted in fla. The tank still drove backwards.
“Did we get it?” Bayer asked over the radio.
“I don’t…” Schroif said as he stared into the black cloud. There should have been a crash, shouldn’t there? There… His eyes caught the glint of tal. The demon roared and sprinted out of the smoke, that massive weapon raised. Schroif had seen tanks split in half by those blows. “RELOAD YOU FUCKS!” He shouted, shoving another magazine into his pistol. “FUCKING DIEEE!” He scread, not even bothering to aim this ti.
A teorite descended from the north and ripped through the beast, dragging it down in one blow and spraying loose, hot desert sand everywhere. Schroif’s eyes went wide when he heard a roar and the splintering of tal. Blood sprayed upwards, it shifted, a plate of tal was launched to the side. Then ca the splintering of bone and the ripping of flesh which sounded like the collapsing of a massive tree.
The sand fell back in a brief rain and tank commander Schroif saw a Divine climb out of the crater she had left in the demon’s body. Fer stood, covered entirely in the dark crimson blood of the beast she had just torn through them the side. She looked out to the horizon ahead of them, her ears shifting to catch the sounds. She turned her head around to look at the Imperial troops.
For a mont, Captain Schroif felt his entire world co to a halt. He had seen before, when her eyes were gold and her face was a smile. Now, the Goddess of Beasthood stood covered in blood, her ears weren’t bouncing, her tail still, her claws extended and vicious and dripping. And her eyes had turned blood-red, not a shred of humanity in them. That huge demon had been terrible, the fear it had brought one had been pure adrenaline of imminent danger that activated every nerve and made him feel worthy of being alive.
The dread he felt under Fer’s crimson caught his breath.
Fer turned back around and jumped towards the demons.
Fortia looked up from the map when one of her captains began to report. “Kandai wishes us good luck.”
“Missem pills ca in.” Bayer said as he opened the little tub of the pills. One of the reload crews had given them it, and fresh bottles of water. The canteens were long gone at this point, thrown out because they had been used for when one of the n inside the tank couldn’t hold it anymore. He popped one of the bitter things in his mouth and swallowed it with so water. Apparently, those in Esberia got these mixed in with chocolate. He wanted chocolate right now. He used the shirt to wipe the sweat off his front. Actually, no he didn’t. It would just beco spread in this heat. “What are we even doing here?” Bayer asked, he leaned through his periscope, his thumb itching over the trigger.
Through the viewport, demons were approaching. Well, demons were always approaching but this was the proper army. Not those small groups. Fer wasn’t venturing into that swarm, that alone said it was bad. Even from this distance, he could make out the huge figures of the massive demons which could crush a tank with a single swing. Armour Piercing was needed to deal with that armour. And Armour Piercing needed a good hit to actually drop it. In the head or the heart, the shoulder and the beast could still cross a kilotre before it dropped.
“We’re to hold and report.” Hansen said.
“Holding and fucking report.” Schulz repeated in a mocking tone. “Well here’s your fucking report, horizon to horizon, there they ar-“
“Shut the fuck up for one minute Schulz.” Schroif said from his perch. The commander was in a better mood. Sunburned he may be, but frankly, it was a good trade. He could either burn through the porthole or he could cook in the oven of this tal can. “They’re coming. I see them from here.”
“I can see they’re coming.” Schulz said.
“No.” Schroif said. “Birds.”
“Birds?” Bayer looked through his aiming periscope.
Imperial birds with steel wings and hearts that burned off fuel and not blood. Bayer saw them at the very top edge of his view port, at least planes flying in a line high above the Tartarian lines. Fighters with bombs strapped under their wings and bombers with cargo bays. Their squawks were jet engines, they attack was the whistling of bombs falling from the sky. “Fuck yeah.” Schroif said over the radio, whether it was to himself or to soone else, it didn’t matter.
“Fuck yeah.” Bayer repeated as he watched the horizon, from one end to another, be ripped apart by a rain of steel.
Fortia flicked off at least a dozen Tartarian counters away from her map.
“That real or not?”
“What’s real or not?” Bayer replied.
“Turn the gun around and look behind us.” The bombing runs were coming in every hour now, almost constantly. It seed like every plane that could have been sent to Kandai had been sent to Kandai, they would appear from the north, they would be shot at with flas from the ground, once, Schroif watched one of the tal beasts cascade down.
Slowly, the turret of the tank began to turn backwards as it kept the eternal retreat. Schroif shifted with it, struggling to keep his eyes open. The past ten days had seen maybe a grand total of twenty hours of sleep, the entire crew was operating on Missem pills, adrenaline and sheer montum at this point. “Fucking hell boss that’s just a line through the periscope.”
A line. A line of trenches, hopefully, a line of artillery in the distance. Hopefully. A wall that had been pulled up from the ground, hopefully. But Schroif wasn’t sure, they had all seen won in the desert, ghosts and demons fighting more ghosts and demons. Schneider never looked into that compartnt with the broken light because the loader was sure that sothing lived in there. It was sheer fatigue bring their delusions to life. There was no other way around it.
Schroif turned around to the horde chasing them. A line of demons that was now only getting pumlled by the constant bombing runs. The tal planes would peel away and fly back. It had to be bad, gradually, they were getting higher and higher up. That could only an there was such a mass of demons accuracy wasn’t important.
Schroif blinked, then flinched when he heard thunder boom from behind himself. “Did you hear that!?” He half-shouted, half-slurred the words. Before the crew could confirm it, every single one of those black spikes pointed upwards and retracted. Schroif narrowed his eyes to protect them from the bright explosions. He looked up, there were so many shells in the air he could see the line they made. “You heard that, right?”
“I heard it.” Bayer replied. And again, Imperial artillery of the first defence line fired. “I heard that too.” The third volley was launched just as the first volley made impact. Detonations ripped through the Tartarian ranks, demons were flung into the air, or knocked down by the shockwaves of the constant barrage. More planes ca over from the northern horizon, those two were a constant stream at this point. Bombs were being in mass, on massive carpet runs.
And through it all, that horde seed to only swell whenever one of its mbers was defeated. Every demon vapourised in an explosion gave its spot to another body. They charged forward in an endless mass of writhing bodies.
“That’s real.” Schroif said. “That has to be fucking real.”
It was Schulz, the driver, who had just reversed this tank for hundreds of miles, who confird it. “That’s real boss. We’ve made it.”
Fortia re-read and sent the ssage to Kassandora: “They’re in Ainai, green light on missiles.”
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