Story:Kings of Strife/Part 50

Chapter Fifty
Leader Rin ordered Moritaka Posmos to shoot down the first Inusian airship he saw in the Shorican airspace, and his soldier did not hesitate. They did not have the time to investigate the ship as it fell; the Corps continued driving, all caravanned in a single truck, racing back towards Shorekeep. Rin took it as a dismal sign, but not one to be worried about.

The next time he saw an Inusian airship above him, the sky was darkened by its presence, along with the fleet that accompanied it.

“We’re too late…” Allen Trius sighed and wiped at his face with his hands. Every Corps member looked up to the veritable fleet of Inusian airships headed towards the city of Shorekeep, which seemed to stand in stark defiance of its upcoming conquerors. All Corps members looked up except for Moritaka Posmos, who sat on the roof of the buggy, nonchalantly cradling his rocket launcher.

“On your word, Leader Rin,” Posmos casually called down to the open windows of the Corps’ transportation, “and I will fire.” Behind him sat Dolfh Rveld in the bed of the truck, cradling his own rocket launcher with more anxiety and hesitation than his peer.

“No, Posmos. To attack one of them is to bring the wrath of all of them down on us. We can’t attack.” Rin kept his eyes forward, focusing on the road and trying not to look up at the skies. He drove the truck that the Corps rode in, and he continued to navigate it forward as quickly as he could. A snow-covered hill stood in front of the truck, and a few miles beyond the hill stood the tantalizing portrait of Shorekeep.

“They’ll lay siege to the city, sir,” added J. Horn. He sat behind Rin, and as he spoke he poked his head between Rin’s shoulder and those of Alma Venu, who sat in the front passenger seat. “We won’t make it in time, no matter how you look at it.”

“I know,” Rin growled, “but we will still fight. And besides, Wensteinvy and Omas are there. They won’t sit around and let the city be taken.”

“If they aren’t busy having an orgy with that horn-dog Baron Arensten, at least.” Shinten Asuko, one of the three soldiers in the backseat of the truck, sat back in his seat and sighed.

“Nah, Omas likes girls, right? So I guess Baron Arensten would just watch…?” Despite the situation, Horn couldn’t help but snicker and go along with Asuko’s joke; the two were best friends. After Rin gave the two a look in the rearview mirror and Venu turned back to give the two a withering glare – despite the fact that her eyes were covered – the two silenced their laughter.

“I don’t think they’ll siege the city just yet,” Venu stated. “There are only five airships, and assuming there is a nearby ground force of the SSR main force, they will simply invade.”

“That sounds about right,” Rin said with a nod, “and you’re right; it is the most likely option. There is only a fraction of Vainia’s infantry still in the city, and without the Queen there to motivate them, they likely won’t fight to the death against an immensely superior force.”

“But the castle won’t fall. Omas and Wensteinvy won’t give it up. Right, Leader Rin?” Trius, with his long hair pulled back into a bun, looked up to his square-faced superior with sureness.

Rin had no answer for him. ‘I know my operatives won’t give up,’ he considered, ‘but there are only two of them, and the castle’s defenses are only so strong. And my sons aren’t in it…’

“If they seize the throne room, it’s over,” Horn added. “The city will be officially theirs, and we won’t be able to take the castle back. We’d lose the city.”

Leader Rin grit his teeth and frowned, but Moritaka was the next one to speak. His voice drifted downwards, calmly and without concern at all, as if he had absolute confidence in the “elite” team beneath him. “The others know that as well. They won’t let the castle fall easily, so we just have to infiltrate and defend it.” His shrug was almost audible.

The interior of the truck sat in silence at how simple he described a monumental task – and how easy it seemed in their hearts now that it had been spoken into existence. Rin nodded, reluctantly. “Yes, Posmos is also correct. We will hold the castle.”

“Wait,” Trius probed, his defined eyebrows knitted together in thought. “He said infiltrate. Why do we have to sneak into our own castle?”

Finally, the truck overcame one of the tallest hills overlooking Shorekeep. The country around the citadel on the coast was hilly, until one came within a few miles of the city itself; at that point, the ground naturally flattened and lowered, as if the city sat at the bottom of a bowl and behind it rested the ocean, bordered by cliffs and boundless, snow-covered land.

Directly in front of the city, almost at the border of its limits, a massive group of men in various colors of cloaks and armor stood encamped, ready to rush into the city at any moment. In front of the army stood a much smaller force in uniform tan, standing behind a hastily constructed tall wall of black seastone. It was clear that the two forces had been in stalemate for a good amount of time, perhaps a few hours, but the situation was tenuous; above both groups, hovering and flying around in threatening circles, were the five Inusian airships.

The Shorican forces would be destroyed in less than an hour of combat, without a doubt. It was clear now that the Corps would indeed have to infiltrate their own Black Castle, for the way there would be paved by SSR and Inusian forces.

Tlerius Rin said nothing to Trius, nor was the truck involved in any more conversation once every passenger noticed the situation around their home. They sat in stunned, prepared silence, weapons held tightly to their bodies.

*****

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