Into the Storm - Part 9 Chapter Draft Complete · 3:48pm Apr 24th, 2018
It's going to prereaders, but even once they're finished, I'm not going to release it right away. I'm behind on making graphics, so I'm going to catch up on those first. That way, you'll have some battle maps to go with the new chapter and follow what's going to be a rapidly shifting battle visually. I'm even devising Equestrian and Gryphon unit symbols loosely based on NATO military standards, which you can get a sense of here:
The new chapter is clocking in at just short of 10,000 words for the climactic phase of the Battle of Cloudsdale. Expect it to be suitably epic and shift frequently between the three viewpoints you've already seen--Virga, Oriole, and Morning Glory. You'll also see an old friend from the first book; a pony most Corps soldiers encountered at some point in the careers.
Best guess for a release at this point is Sunday, but for the extra wait, I think you're owed a second teaser:
Imperial Headquarters bunker
Raptor Base
Opposite Outpost Gamma
September 1st, 1139 AE
1445 hours
Raptor base was in an uproar.
Word had reached us of an unexpected strike from the combined Millennium-sized Equestrian Army/Aerial Corps garrison at Gamma, which had surprised one of our staging areas and wrecked it with the loss of nearly an entire Talon cohort, killing its commander and crushing its rank-and-file.
We had thought the Gamma garrison was pinned, but it turned out we weren’t the only ones who had tunnels—Captain Sirocco, the accomplished and aggressive commander of the Equestrian Aerial Corps 5th Division, had secretly dug a few of her own over the years for just this occasion and they’d worked with deadly effect; half her forces burst out of the ground right on top of one of our assembly areas, decimating its resting Talons with storm clouds and a rain of unicorn arrows before overrunning the remainder with Earth Pony troops, who destroyed the barely-established base and slaughtered its defenders before quickly withdrawing back into their tunnels before reinforcements could reach them.
It had been a very well-planned and conceived operation, over in less than five minutes, and worse, there were also reports that Gamma pegasi were ambushing our airborne patrols via the same method, bursting out of the ground beneath our low-flying patrols to inflict dozens more casualties and forcing the Talons to not patrol in any size formation smaller than a century. Magus Knights had found and caved in the tunnels they used quickly, and the Diamond Dogs had promised they would search for and destroy any others, but the damage was done; we were forced to commit more forces to the siege of Gamma and keep our forces standing to were they to try that trick again.
“’Twould appear, my friend, that I did not give Sirocco enough credit…” A glowering Gaius noted to me once he had issued additional orders and we were alone. “I knew she was capable of a counterstrike, but I did not foresee her methods or that she would attack so soon.”
“We had no intelligence that she had tunnels of her own, my lord,” I offered a defense. “‘Twould seem a major oversight on the part of the Owls.”
His eyes narrowed at that. His opinion of the Office of Owls—and my own—had been markedly lowered of late, as we learned that they had kept secret the theft of our war plans right out of the Citadel’s war room in our Imperial capital of Mosclaw for weeks. Worse, they had then covered up their own massive failure of security by attempting to stop the shapeshifting spies behind it with Ravens alone, not informing us of their pursuit until it was too late for us to assist. The assassins had given chase and by at least one report wounded their quarry, but ultimately failed in their task to stop it before it reached the border. We did not then know the final fate of the Changeling spy or its pursuers, but having lost contact with them, we had no choice but assume the worst—rightly, as it turned out—and were in turn forced to launch the war seven weeks early with barely half our invasion force in place.
Still, tempted though he was to blame them, he did not. “Intelligence or no, I fear our blindness to pony military acumen has raised its head again, my friend. We keep thinking that we alone can come up with good tactics or strategies. Once again, the lie of that conceit has been proven,” he growled, his tail twitching as he tapped his talons on the stone table. “And thus, we are now forced to assault Gamma sooner rather than later lest she tie up too many of our Talons in the siege.”
Twas that moment that Livia Cassius Junius, ever one to tweak her rival, chose to enter. “I have read the reports. Another cohort crushed, I see. So then… still think not striking Gamma at dawn was the proper course of action, Prelate?” the Primarch of Paladins all but sneered. “Perchance we would have suffered high casualties, but they would hardly have had soldiers left to spare for ambushing us later.”
“They could just as easily have used those tunnels to blindside any attacking force, Primarch,” Gaius retorted, though a note of annoyance in his voice told me a nerve had been touched. “Hard as it may be to believe, the ponies have good soldiers and the mind and will to use them. You may be assured they will fight and find ways to sting us. What will define the success or failure of this campaign is how quickly both sides adapt to the tactics of the other,” he told her. “They destroyed one of ten cohorts belonging to the 11th legion. A notable loss, but not a crippling one. They have exposed their tactic and now that we are aware of it, it will not work again!” he pledged.
The lie of that statement was given almost instantly where there was the sound of an explosion down the tunnels, shaking the ceiling and causing a small amount of dirt and dust to rain down. Though we knew the Diamond Dog tunnels were sturdy, we couldn’t help but momentarily fear a collapse, but we soon had other things to worry about as intrusion alarms sounded throughout the complex, announcing that impossibly, the Gamma garrison had somehow found our bunker and broken in.
Despite the danger, I couldn’t help smile as my senses instantly flared into fighting readiness, drawing one of my two swords and shifting to guard the entrance to the Prelate’s office. For ‘twas then I knew my greatest wish was about to be granted and I would be seeing combat in the campaign far earlier than intended.
As usual I'm quite looking forward to this and am testing my willpower by attempting to hold out against the teaser.