91 Meanwhile
Living Saint Rana Beckett saved the Eyham from the Night Lords but with heavy cause. Sisters of Battle lost Sister Superior Sorella of the Order Hospitaller and 62 Sisters total from this battle. Meanwhile, Rana's White Lion lost more than 900 soldiers and 159 knights which were veterans of war three years ago, and members of the knight houses who are loyal to the throne. Still, the loss would have been much greater if it wasn't for Living Saint's golden light and miracle from the Emperor, many of the wounded would have perished during mid-battle.
After burying and collecting what could be salvaged, Rana and the rest of the troops head towards the great trade city of Eyham. Right away, survivors of the city who witnessed the fight welcome them, not caring where they came from or who they are. The city itself isn't destroyed or to everyone's surprise, wasn't burned down but maintained minimum damage since Night Lords was going to use the city as their base of operation. Because of this reason, the city itself can return to normal within a few days of repairs but recovering the mental state of the citizens will take years to come.
After welcoming, Rana took the first step to maintain order and re-establish a sense of governing with her limited men. At the same time, Rana has Sisters to regain communication with the capital city to send additional help from reserve forces to reinforce the Eyham and replace many of the lost soldiers from today's conflict.
By the third day, Rana received her reinforcement from the capital as Admechs and a small army of Imperial guards came with vehicles, ammunition, and supplies. The first thing Admechs did is to repair disabled tanks from the battlefield and bring it back to life with rituals and actual mechanical repairs. Meanwhile, officers of the Imperial guards, Sisters, and Rana herself discuss the next step to meet with the rest of the armies.
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Meanwhile,
Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed stood on top of the hill and observed the city in the distance while his Imperial Guards work on their assignments and moved along with their duties. Behind them, a separate regiment from Death Korps of Krieg is repositioning their artillery, aiming towards the city walls and beyond.
'I asked Lord William to give me the biggest obstacle among this 'Peacekeeping' campaign. I can take this city before the end of the day.' Lord Creed thought to himself and turn his gaze at the city wall. With his naked eyes, Creed clearly saw movement within the top of the wall as soldiers of the native world scatter around like worker ants, and a few of the officers instructed them to reinforce the defense. Just by looking at the soldiers in the same uniform, Lord Creed can see that these are professional soldiers and not some local defense forces organized by the lords at the last minute. Still, this didn't change anything, Creed is ordered to take out the city no matter the cost and he will make sure he will complete the task given to him. After all, he and his guardsman have four more cities to take before rendezvousing with rest of the Lord William's forces.
"What time is it?" Lord Creed asked one of his aides behind him while maintaining his view on the enemy city. Behind him, he had a hand full of aides, bodyguards, and a few of the officers under his command wait patiently and assess the situation to provide advice or recommendation for the upcoming battle.
"My lord, it is 20 minutes after 1." The senior aide of the Lord Creed said after checking his pocket watch from his chest pocket.
"I see. Well, it seems we missed our lunch because of our busy schedule. Okay, let us return back and have decent lunch. Major Sarkren, posts guards around the base camp and has boys from the Kreig start firing artillery towards the city wall. I don't want to see that walls by the time I'm done with my lunch." Lord Creed gave his orders and return back to base camp. Just as he was about to enter his camp, a ground-shaking sound of artillery began in the distance as Death Korps of Krieg moved as one to continue artillery fire every few minutes.
By the time Lord Creed and his officers finished their lunch, Death Korps of Krieg were still firing and their rate of fire increased after each fire. Creed took his time during his lunch and had a cup of decaf with a few of his close officers, discussing their previous military expedition or thoughts on the new chapter of Space Marines.
When Lord Creed stepped out, the sun was setting and after realizing the sound of artillery going off, he instruct an aide with a vox communicator to stop firing. With orders given, Creed returns to the hill, lit a brand new cigar from his mouth, and gives his full attention to the city. To his expectation, the city wall is completely gone including a few rows of building behind the wall.
The countless artillery bombardment on the city wall made hundreds of small craters around it and with the sound of death gone, few of the survivors emerge out from hiding to check the aftermath. Creed saw all of these and he didn't say anything while puffing his cigar. No one behind the Creed considered asking him what is his next order or should they call it a day. They all knew Creed have a plan of his own and no one thinks of stepping out of his plan even if that plan doesn't make sense at all. After all, Creed is the man who defended the Cadia to the end when odds were against him 100 to 1. After a few minutes of smoking a cigar, Creed turns around once again to give the next order.
"Colonel Milland, send in the guards to take the city. Make sure to capture every noble no matter how minor their status is and if any one of the resists the order is to shoot to kill. Also, send in the tank battalion to handle the inner city wall." With that, Lord Creed officers moved on to pass the next order and 10 minutes later, an army of Imperial guards and tanks move out from the base camp to take the city.
As the sun starts to set, the sky turns bright red, and the sound of lasguns and tank rounds can be heard beyond the rubble of the city wall. While this was going on, a large group of city guards, ruling nobles, and their children escape into the hidden tunnel with servants carrying treasures.
Once artillery bombardment began, they gather everything they could and ran into a secret escape door that lead to a tunnel outside of the city. When they reach the end of the tunnel and open the hatch, they were welcomed by a small group of large men with strange weapons. Unkown to nobles and city guards, Creed sent a fire team of Catachan jungle fighters to capture escaping nobles at the exit while he flushed them out with artillery fire.
Expecting a possible escape tunnel or route, Creed sent Catachans to scout beyond the city parameter to find one and simply set the trap. After the world-ending experience of artillery fire and destruction of city defense, it was obvious to find them using a tunnel in which all Creed have to do was capture them like a mouse on a corner.
'All too easy.' Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed once again left the hill and took the rest of the guardsmen to the city. With the flag of the Imperium attached to the leading vehicle and the rest of the heavy vehicles following it, Creed simply smiled and enjoy a flask of Amasec (Common alcohol from Imperium).
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Eastern Region,
"What do you mean the five cities fell already? How can one man and his army already conquer cities within a few days?" Head of the house noble asked his knight commander as news of the fallen cities increased each and every day. The fast pace of losing cities and military power put a toll on the rest of the surviving houses and some even gave up without fighting the invaders.
"House Kalos and House New Solonor open their gates and welcomed the invaders without firing a single arrow. My lord, I'm afraid we are the only ones still standing, and no one coming to reinforce our cause." The knight commander delivers dire news to the noble and just when he was about to deliver more news, a roaring sound interrupts them. Everyone approach the castle window to see the cause of the noise and from distance, they all saw the most terrifying thing approaching the city walls.
Standing above the height of the wall were two mechanical humanoids, armed with destructive weaponry beyond their imagination. In a matter of a few seconds, the two metal giants fire their weapons, creating a huge hole in the wall and burning anything standing behind the wall. With city defense compromised, big warriors in a full plate of armor rush to the city with their versions of ranged weapons and swords ready to use.
The city guards and knight already lost their will to fight the moment they saw Imperial Knights and when they saw a walking giant of warriors, they quickly surrendered by dropping their swords and shield. As quickly as the city's outer wall fell, the middle section followed, and soon, invaders reached the inner section of the city with a single gate blocking their way.
"What do we do? How did we not see the metal giant approaching the city?" The head noble panicked and didn't know what to do. At this point, most of his guards had already run from their positions and only a few including the knight commander remained to protect him and his family.
"We didn't see the giant coming because we allowed it." The knight commander said to the head noble and drew his sword from his hilt. Without hesitation, he strikes the master of the city and cut him down with a single swing. With the head noble dead, the rest of the nobles and family members screamed with terror.
"Why? Why did you betray your oath to the house?" The eldest son demands an answer as soldiers under the knight commander surround them with weapons pointing at them.
"Because people under your father's protection suffered while you and other nobles enjoyed torturing them for entertainment. I broke my oath and made a deal to save lives. For that, I'm willing to sacrifice a few lives. As long as it belongs to you all." Knight commander approaches the reaming nobles and just like before, he kills the eldest son. Following his example, the guards did the same, killing the same people they swore to protect with their lives and avenging innocent people who died from their hands.
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A few days ago,
Ciaphas Cain and his Valhallan Ice Warriors (A total of 1200 guardsmen) left the capital city to conquer the North-Eastern legion. The primary target is the mountain city fortress of Onyxfall, a large city surrounded by the three mountains known for mining and brewing potent ales. The city itself is a fortress because the city was originally built by dwarfs long ago and many of them stayed after completion to live in the city.
Due to the city being located on top of the mountain and infamous for all-year-around snowfall, William instructed Cain to take a group of adventurers who had previously been there before as guides. To everyone's surprise, the group of adventurers is former hero's party members led by Tina who was the first to break from the cursed mind control of the disgraced hero, Makato. Cain objected with good reason but William persuade Cain to take them and even gave permission to execute them if they cause any trouble. So, Cain ends up taking five additional women under his command and has a few of the guardsmen watch them round the clock.
When Lord Commissar Cain and Valhallans reached the city, they went into a siege and establish a base camp just outside of the fortress range. As usual, Cain and officers of the Valhallans plan the next step to take the city without destroying it. In the end, Cain unintentionally volunteers himself and a small team to infiltrate the city to take out the leadership after finding out that the city has a hidden entrance. Of course, Cain's personal adjutant Ferik Jurgen joined Cain's adventure as the team including five adventurers ventured through the night to gain access to the city's underground sewage system just around the corner of the nearest mountain.
It turns out, that this region was where the hero's party stopped by to investigate where the black dragon's lair is located. According to the rumor, one of the painters during the construction of the fortress witnessed the black dragon flying over the mountain as it was looking for a new lair to settle. That painter was later inspired to draw paintings with clues to where the black dragon settled and later, the hero's party made a quick stop to find the clue (Of course, without helping the local nobles with their issues or investigating local legend on secret society somewhere in the city).
For most of the night and early next morning, Cain and his team of infiltrators have the most ridiculous adventure of their lives.
