//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Arrival // Story: The Clockwork Sword: The invasion of Equestria // by Clockwork94 //------------------------------// “Tell me Lorenzo, What day is it?” “Sunday, sir. Sunday the 25th” “How many days have passed since we left home for new lands?” “I think… almost a month.” “One month, Lorenzo. One month. I still remember the great iron tower of the capital city of New Vinci, the beauty and lush of the Great Valley, the factories from the industrial city-state of Tarquinio and the Great Bay from whence we came.” “I miss my homeland, sir. I miss the land of Vernazza” “Like most men, private, we left our homes with the promise of a new world waiting us. Keep looking the horizon, I presume that today is our lucky day.” “Yes sir.” Alfonse Cortez is the name of the captain. A tall and straight man, whose mind is clouded by the days sailing through a strange ocean. He really misses his country… and his family as well. But, Private Lorenzo Aquino is an eager soldier. He enrolled the military force to accomplish his dream of discovering a new land. He stood still over the superior deck. The weather wasn’t pleasant of the fleet presence. A heavy fog covered his sight since the dawn. He took a look of his pocket windup clock. It was ten in the morning, and the horizon didn’t change. “I guess today is not our lucky day after all” muttered Lorenzo. Then a vision, something was behind from the silver curtain, the illusion of a huge piece of land. He checked twice with his spyglass, and then again, and again. His sight wasn’t playing tricks . “I can’t believe it… Land, at last. And I’m the first man in discover it!” With haste, he ran through the ship passing through stairs, few crew members and some crates in the middle of his path. His goal was to reach the alarm bell and the speaker next to it. After reaching it, he pulled down the lever without hesitation and triggered the alarm. “Land ahoy! Land ahoy! Everybody, there’s a new world ahead us!”{ Those words were hear by the entire crew through the ship’s speaker network. The alarm caught by surprise all the idle crew members and the rest of the small fleet. The ship’s captain approached to him. “Lorenzo, are you sure the truth of your finding” He said. “Affirmative. I spotted the land mass at thousand and one, sir. It appear to be a continent” “Great. Call Lieutenant Tolentino’s pilots to make a surveillance flight. I need all the data to establish our first colony.” “Yes sir!” The gigantic ironclad was carrying some ‘air screws’, a type of flying machine which its propeller was an enormous fabric with the shape of a small endless screw. Lieutenant Tolentino and her team of pilots were chosen to do the task. Her piloting skills were well known by the citizens of Vernazza during The Great Clash of Steel, a war between the separated City-States of Vernazza that happened ten years ago. They started the engines and the helix began to rotate. A big gate opened above the vessel’s inner hangar. “First Lieutenant Lenora Tolentino, requesting permission to flight immediately.” “Roger that lieutenant.” And the three flying contraptions lifted off from the helipad and exited from the steel behemoth’s insides. They began to fly with haste towards the beach. Meanwhile, the crews of the three vessels were alerted to disembark. The cargo was ready to be loaded. And the clockwork machines were activated. A voice in the speakers made an announcement. Everybody stopped for a second, just to hear the message of their captain. “Our time has come. Our wait has been rewarded. This was the promise from our king: Pietro Sforza. And we will proclaim this land as ours. For the throne of steel!” “For the throne of steel!” Everybody shouted together, with one voice. Their morale was boosted by those encouraging words. The small army with the main officer went down to the main cargo platform. Square formations were executed. And when the ships touched the land, the platforms were lowered. They marched to the beach with guns in both arms and their backpacks. Cortez was carrying the flag of their nation, a triangular red flag with silver edges in which three gray shiny gears, one big and two small, were crossed with a rapier. “I claim this land, in the name of the King Sforza and the throne of steel!” He sunk the banner in the sand and the soldiers roared with energy, raising their rifles in the air. “Bring the caravans close to that big mountain. We found a good place to establish our new colony.” said the fierce soldier. The trucks which transported materials and tools stored inside the ironclad were mobilized around the beach. “Private Aquino…” “Yes sir!” “You will be reassigned to the scout squad for the area reconnaissance.“ Then he gave to him the authorization in his hand. “Me sir…? I… I… ” He was speechless. He was waiting for this unique opportunity. “Yes, private, you.” Lorenzo swallowed his eagerness “Affirmative sir.” “Then double time! They’re going to depart soon” He ran to the group of soldiers which were receiving their briefing. The captain knew why he entered the first Terra expedition, and the team needed Lorenzo’s orientation sense. Besides, he was the one who spotted the land, he truly deserved that. “The captain gave us the order to…” “Wait for me!” The silver squad captain was interrupted by the incoming soldier that wasn’t part of the mission. “Soldier, explain yourself!” He shouted. “Captain Cortez reassigned me to this squadron, sir.” The officer read the signed paper in which described Lorenzo’s abilities. “Well, I’ve never rejected an assignation authorization from the Captain.” He muttered. “I hope your talents are not just simple words, because we need these skills to explore the surroundings, understood?!” “Sir, yes sir!” “Have a seat, I’ll continue to explain the details of the mission. Now where was I…” Lorenzo took a seat next to the young man equipped with a scientific monocular. He has brown hair and the branch where he was, was from the Terra’s scientific team. “Hey, I’ve never seen you before” He said. “I’m from the 5th squad. And you?” “Well. I am from the scientific team on the expedition. My name is Raphael, Raphael Buonarroti” “I’m Lorenzo Aquino.” Then he focused his attention to his backpack, it looked pretty heavy for a skinny guy to carry. “It seems that you carry a lot of stuff.” “Nah, it’s nothing. I used to take huge encyclopedias inside my backpack when I was twelve. I was worried that it may rag every time I came to home from the library.” They giggled quietly, but the ears of the officer could hear, even the chirp of a cricket. “Aquino, Buonarroti, stop doing that or I will make you peel all the potato boxes that still inside the frigate!” Both rookies stopped and began to pay him attention with a serious face. ”Alright, It’s time to go. Remember; don't spread out too much from yourselves, and don’t go far away than 100 meters from the camp, understood?!” “Sir, yes sir!” All the soldiers including Lorenzo and Raphael stood up and marched to the forest, meanwhile the rest of the forces were managed to build the colony with some civilians who were chosen in this expedition. “Captain Cortez, We placed the wooden fence around the perimeter and we’re ready to build the structure of first bastion on the base of the mountain.” “Excellent, we must build it for the arrival of the duke, at once!” “Yes sir.” “I hope there are no natives around the place or the duke will burn the place to the ground.” He thought.