158 Chapter 8.13 - A Monarch beats its Wings

"Have the bait bombers been dispatched?"

"Yes Commodore."

"Excellent. Dispatch the fire flights towards the southeast fields. They are a bit out of the way of General Edel's Soldiers. All of the fields must burn. No single stone shall be unturned."

The sky was littered with ships. The attack was not a critical strike on the GWA's critical targets. It was a wave, washing over the land and burning everything it touched.

Commodore Thanatos stood in his military dress. He stood just shy of 2 meters tall, had a full salt and pepper beard to match his hair which was kept a bit long for the military but still looked appropriate. He wore an eyepatch that covered a scar over his right eye, the other shined an icy blue, as opposed to the black and blue uniform he wore. A few medals and awards were on his chest, but other than the epaulettes that denoted his rank, the only other adornment was a a large lapel pin of a cog pierced by a tuning fork.

That tuning fork denoted the entirety of what he was was just for show, as Thanatos was a Transmuted, part of the race of gelatinous slimes uplifted into sentience. All who served on the monarch, as well as a large portion of Haven's aerial navy, was made up of his clan. His clan's trait allowed them to withstand the kinetic shock of the large scale naval weaponry, and so the monarch beat its wings.

However now the monarch was mostly overpowered. It wasn't being used offensively. When the towns and cities were ransacked and populations were abducted, the monarch efficiently laid waste to them.

Thanatos' second in command had not served as long as the others, as the more experienced the slime, the more likely they were to lead other ships. His second, who went by Zare, was too kind for the work required. She had taken on the teachings of Thanatos' masters to heart, or well to her nucleus.

Zara stood next to Thanatos, surveying the damage being done to the fields.

"The second and fourth fleets have headed southwest, while the third and fifth fleets have headed east, we are tasked with heading straight in. Below us, at the town of A5, we have successfully exfilled 90% of the population and removed all useable materials. There is still a mounting resistance within a previously undiscovered tunnel network."

"Is there a shrine or relic site at this town? Do the clerics detect the presence of an enemy divine's stronghold?"

"No, it is assumed these tunnels were built to evade aerial bombardment."

"Understood. Relay this information to General Edel and we will make preparations to depart."

Zare stood with a small frown.

"Is there something wrong, Zare?"

Zare had a bit of a frown, "Permission to speak freely, Commodore?"

"Granted."

"When we leave, we will obliterate this town, correct? We have already stolen the people and ransacked the goods. Why do we need to wipe this place off the map?"

Thanatos nodded. "Zare, do you remember what you were taught about us transmuted? Do you remember where we came from?"

Zare nodded, "We came from a frozen wasteland, beholden to evil masters who controlled us and fed us only enough to keep us docile. We were taught by the Great Father Urik that these people were humans, and had that gate not opened, we would never have been able to live our wonderful life. What does this have to do with burning farmer's fields?"

Zare referred of course to the Transmuted escape from their homeworld. Not much was known about the Transmuted, where they came from, or how they came to be, but they did know that this land was inhospitable.

"Zare, do you know why staying fed is so important?"

"Transmuted lose higher cognitive function as we go without nourishment, eventually becoming no more than monsters until we have been able to take in sustenance."

Thanatos smiled, "Zare, this is not true for just Transmuted. Almost every race is like this. If you starve a human, the more his hunger grows, the more he devolves into an animal, and as his baser instincts take over, he starts to make mistakes.

We are starving out the enemy. And with the enemy's hard reliance on blood magic, their requirements for food are even higher. We will continue to abduct the working populations for Lord Serin, burn the crops, and destroy the farming villages. The average city in the GWA has enough food stored to last two weeks. Then they will start to eat each other with their magic.

When that time comes, and they try to flee the cities, they will find only desolation as far as the eye can see. There will be no refit and resupply for those fleeing the cities, only the waiting arms of our Forged nappers. And if they stay, they will eventually cease acting like a country and devolve into a den of starved monsters.

I would rather fight a den of starved monsters. Do you understand now, Zare?"

Zare understood. She did not agree, but she understood and would follow orders.

She knew that this war would be brutal, and she wanted nothing more than it to be over. She wanted to return to her Grove, and continue living with the Elves that they shared the Groves with.

***

Detnus stood proud, covered in cuts and bruises. When the enemy had attacked, he had been unable to lead most of the populace to safety, but he was able to take a large portion of them to the safety of the town's designated underground bunker. These were developed in the past 10 years in an effort to stall the enemy's advancement should the territory come under fire from the flying forces of Haven. From there he had engaged in small diversions and had even successfully injured several of the enemies, which were promptly recovered by their own and the area bombed.

But Detnus would not be hindered. His ragtag band of former adventurers and soldiers would continue their guerilla warfare against this occupier.

After a grueling few days, they were surprised. The enemy had left. Detnus smiled as he knew this tactic. Haven was raiding settlements and using those food stores to keep their people fed as they continued their march towards the larger cities. Detnus had seen such tactics at the academy he attended as a child.

However, Haven had missed a large enough portion of the population that this would not be a dead town. It would recover. It would prevail. Their underground reserves would definitely last, and in a few years, the fields would be regrown and the young would have children of their own.

Detnus smiled. Haven' attack was no different than an inexperienced farmer cutting a weed with a scythe. As long as the roots remained, they would regrow.

The soldiers had left and the navy had scattered. But something was wrong. As Detnus peered up from his hideyhole, he saw the largest ship in the fleet turn around, aiming its cannon directly at Detnus' town.

Detnus watched a blinding flash, and then found only darkness.

A5 had been removed from the map, and Haven's forces continued their march.

***