Baptism of Fire
After the night of negotiations between Wolfpack, ATLAS, and the griffons; a conclusion was reached: The griffons agreed to help Wolfpack and ATLAS on their mission against the Equestrians plus covering their needs and amenities while they were there, and in return ATLAS agreed to lend Wolfpack to the griffons' ranks to quell griffon rebels known as the Firehawk Rebellion as they may interfere with their plans in the future.
The Firehawk Rebellion first sparked to life when one of Emperor Nofus' generals, General Eurythius Firehawk defected with a large portion of troops from the Griffon Imperial Army in order to create a new nation in an opposing move against Nofus' reign which they deemed filled with tyranny and corruption.
Wolfpack was tasked with joining the Griffon Imperial Army in their war efforts against the Firehawks by attacking headquarters around Gryphonia including a massive mountain fortress known as the Havengard Citadel. The Firehawks' main headquarters. According to Nofus, none of his generals (excluding his son Stormcrest, since he was deemed to be too young and inexperienced so he was never placed in charge) could scratch that fortress yet; which was why Wolfpack was brought into their ranks.
After a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast that morning, Wolfpack gathered on the castle's entrance hall with two platoons of Griffon soldiers and Prince Solarwing himself; fully armed and equipped. He had offered them a 'look-around' tour last night which Wolfpack accepted for the sake of "tactical advantage" and frankly they were eager to explore the castle grounds and the city. The Storm Fortress had been moved from the castle''s courtyard to be stored with other griffon war machines and of course nobody complained on that since they all agreed that the massive mobile base was destroying the courtyard's aesthetics.
They also learned that the castle's name was Skyhall Keep.
Solarwing showed them around in the castle grounds, showing and explaining every detail along the way. At the end of the castle tour, Wolfpack mentioned their favorite locations; Alexandra seemed to have taken interest in the great gardens, Caroline was very interested in the castle's huge library, Victor and Heinrich have taken interest in the castle forges and armory, while Monsoon and MAMBA have taken their interests in probably the most morbid place of all: the torture chambers.
As Wolfpack strode through the city's streets, they realized the city was much more lively from ground point of view. Colorful flags and banners afluttered from the city's great buildings, well-maintained hanging gardens grew all over the city; seemingly integrating with the buildings they were grown from.
Although the Skyhall Keep was of Victorian architecture, the city was a mix of architectures from around the world with European architecture being the most prominent.
Griffons of all ages crowded the streets with merchants hawking their wares, griffon younglings chased each other in the skies, and so on. Most griffons they encountered castes curious glances at the newcomers but seeing one of their leaders walking with them, they knew there was nothing to worry about.
They learned that the city was separated into three districts; the Sky district, where Skyhall Keep and other governmental buildings were situated and the highest district in terms of altitude. The Cloud district where the markets and major rivers were situated,where they were currently positioned. And finally, the Wind district where residential areas and minor rivers were located. After exploring Cloud and Wind districts respectfully, they headed out from the city. It was in the afternoon and the sun was high in the sky, but due to the cool-breezy mountain air of Gryphonia; that didn't cause much problem."
"Where are we heading?" Alexandra asked "I thought we finished exploring the whole city."
"Really now?" Solarwing smirked "Its just not about the city, there's something else I want to show you."
Just before Alexandra could ask, they arrived on the city's battlements. Massive and sturdy walls surrounded the city with defense towers and in addition,large catapults, balisters, and even ancient cannons were stationed there; ready to defend the great city.
"Impressive is it not?" Solarwing asked as a platoon of soldiers passed by and saluted him which he returned. Wolfpack nodded.
"But as elite soldiers, I am sure you are very familiar with these things. But this is not what I meant to show you." Solarwing said while stretching out his wings before flying up the wall with his troops. But just as Solarwing recalled that the humans were flightless , Wolfpack raced them up with their own wings; their exo flight gear. Seeing this, the prince rolled his eyes.
As soon as they reached the top, Wolfpack was astonished by what they saw- an endless sea of towering healthy green trees with its natural scenery and biodiversity- were laid out before their eyes.
"Absolutely...breath-taking." Caroline said.
"What you are seeing here is the largest forest in all of Gryphonia, the Emerald Woods. Would you like to take a walk?" Solarwing smiled "I can use a walk there myself." no responses were needed as the look in Wolfpack's eyes and faces told everything. Without further delay, both humans and griffons glided from the wall and into the forest below.
After hours of strolling through the charted parts of the forest, Wolfpack and the griffons returned from Emerald Woods to the city; talking about their trip that day. Solarwing had dismissed his escorts, he told them to go back to their homes and rest; but two griffon soldiers insisted on staying by his side. Thundertail, A large grey-feathered male griffon captain and Rhea, a medium-sized scarlet-feathered female griffon mage. Despite not the largest of griffons, but they were still larger than any member of Wolfpack.
"Man that was awesome! That forest looks very much like Kashyyyk." Victor said merrily.
"A what now?" Solarwing inquired.
"It's a fictional planet in one of Earth's most famous films- er, motion picture." Victor said.
"What's it called? I love motion pictures very much!"
"It's called Star Wars." Victor said as they finally entered the Cloud District and see merchants packing up for the day as evening was upon them "When we are not so busy with this damn conflict, I'll show you."
Solarwing smiled but his attention was soon caught by a couple of frail-looking elderly griffon merchants trying to stack large boxes before closing their stall. Seeing this, he excused himself and quickly made his way towards them and started helping. Although the merchants seemed to be very reluctant due to Solarwing's royal status, they finally relented to let the prince help them. Wolfpack watched with admiration before a voice interrupted them.
"You carry such trivialities with you to the battlefield?" Thundertail asked with a tone of disbelief "I thought you 'elites' are supposed to stay focused."
"And let your mind being pounded by your mission?" Victor retorted "Relax, live a little."
"I hope your way of relaxing will help us on our cause." Thundertail scoffed while walking ahead of them, catching up to Solarwing who had finished in helping the old griffons and was receiving a basket from them although he did some chit chat at first before finally accepting the gift. Victor was about to retort again, but he felt a talon on his shoulder.
"Don't mind Thundertail, he's just a bit old-fashioned." Rhea said "He could be a pain your rear at first, but you'll get along once you know him well." she told Victor who nodded at her in return, his expression was unreadable due to his juggernaut helm; but Rhea was sure he had taken it positively.
"Hey, if you want I can help you with that." the mage said while looking at Caroline and her small collection of plants and small animals she had collected in small specimen tubes while they were on the forest.
"No thanks, I can carry them by myself." Caroline said nonchalantly.
"I know you could." Rhea chuckled "But I am offering help in your studies. That's why you are collecting them, right?"
"Well--" Before the field scientist could say another word, Alexandra stared at her. Knowing her meaning very well she said yes to Rhea, and the griffon cheered.
"Mind if I tag along?" Monsoon asked "I want to know more about the poisons you use here." Caroline was dumbfounded by this as Monsoon rarely if not never expressed his interest in anything. But the two accepted.
"Wolfpack, Rhea." Solarwing called them with Thundertail by his side, holding a basket filled with red apples in his right talon. They quickly jogged towards the prince to answer his call, as soon as they got in place Thundertail gave them one apple each. For the humans, the apples were at least twice the size from Earth apples and were glistening red in color.
"These are called honey-apples." Solarwing told them "honey-apples are native here in Gryphonia, and very sweet in taste. Although it's save to eat for us gryphons, you should do precautionary steps before eating them." He said while taking a bite of the apple.
"Don't worry, I'll do it." Alexandra said while taking out her knife and sliced a piece of the apple before she chewed some off. Despite the blissful sweet taste, she held her appetite for a moment and felt no side effects had occurred "Dig in! This is so good!" and the group did what their CO instructed them.
"Eat up!" Solarwing chuckled "Remembering the situation, I am sure father will have tasks for you soon."
As they were eating up the treats, the orange sky above them slowly turned into indigo as the sun were setting down behind the mountains. In amidst of chatting, the sound of galloping hoofs could be heard approaching them. And soon, a familiar unicorn appeared from the market's entrance and trotted up to them.
"Your Majesty." Shadow Specter bowed before scanning the others as well "all of you need to come with me." Before they could ask why, Shadow's horn glowed with magic and moments later they were standing in the war room of Skyhall Keep in an extremely nauseous condition.
"A bit of varning next time?" Heinrich asked with an aggravated tone though Shadow did not reply.
"Forgive me for the suddenness but we have a situation." Stormcrest said as he saw Wolfpack, his brother, and two griffon soldiers still recovering from their trip; so he gave them some time. After they recovered, the general continued "A messenger came through just now and he reported that the rebels have captured one of our towns called Falconhamn due to it's large silver mines. If they get their talons on those resources for too long, this rebellion will be much more difficult to quell. Not to mention they are giving hell to our citizens there." He said while marking a forested spot on the map of Gryphonia "Go and recapture the town, destroy the rebels and recover anything of use there. Any questions?"
Heinrich raised his hand to which Stormcrest nodded.
"Since ve are not familiar with the terrain here, can ve perhaps get some assistance? Like coordinates or such?" He asked.
"We are going to give you more than that." Solarwing said with Rhea and Thundertail by his side "We are coming with you."
Falconhamn, Gryphonia
1900 hours
Operation Silver Salvation
The forests of Falconhamn, tranquil and quiet under the dark of night. Nothing else were heard other than the singing of crickets and the howling winds.
But suddenly, a burst of yellow light followed by loud cracklings shattered the darkness and tranquility of the night.
"All systems online." Caroline said as the Storm Fortress' systems recovered from the teleportation "thank God no malfunctions this time."
"Yeah, I fuckin' hate those." Victor said as he took off his now repaired helmet.
"Prince Solarwing?" Alexandra asked through the comms "how are you and your troops?"
"For creatures who couldn't handle the effects of teleportation...you sure are strange ones." The prince replied from the hangar comms as he and eight of his troops were in the hangar including Thundertail and Rhea. Shadow Specter was also there. One hundred elite griffon troops were already en route by flight but due to the necessity of quick response, Wolfpack and Solarwing went ahead of the main force in order to conduct a clandestine operation against the enemy.
"That means ve are good." Heinrich said "so, ve move out or vhat?"
They disembarked the Storm Fortress after instructing IRENE to keep the vehicle on cloak and to be on guard, they walked through the forest under the cover of darkness. The walk was silent and uneventful, nothing but fluttering glowing insects and the thick vegetation were in their sights. After what felt like hours of walking, they arrived at the edge of the forest; overlooking Falconhamn. The large trees gave them natural cover, concealing them from any prying eyes.
Wolfpack quickly scouted the area with their optics in night-vision mode and saw a moderately large town with wooden walls, four watchtowers in the direction of the points on the compass, and of course a lot of guards with flickering torches on their talons.
"That's a lot of guards." MAMBA stated.
"Quite unusual for night patrol." Monsoon said "But there's nothing we can't kill."
"Wolf Mother?" Caroline asked while still looking down her thermal scope.
"We have the element of surprise, but that could be ruined if those watchtowers are still operational." She stated while eyeing the town "which is why we need to kill the guards up there; Ice, that's you."
"Roger that." She said while fitting a suppressor to her heavily modified Lynx rifle.
"Stay here, cover us and keep it down, but go loud when things went to shite. So don't use that special ammo just yet." She said before turning to the rest of her subordinates.
"We are going in silently, suppressed weapons only." She said before looking at Victor "I think you'd better stay here." The major decided due to Victor's tendency to blow things up including their cover.
"And let you hug all the fun?" He smirked while taking a suppressed Bal-27 from his back complete with CQC attachments.
"And here I thought you are some ignorant explosive brute." Monsoon taunted him, but Victor responded not.
"Well if that's all settled..." Solarwing said while walking towards them; fully clad in black steel heavy armor, the prince looked even bigger. He drew a greatbow from his back. Wolfpack marveled at the size of the bow as it was five times as high from a normal human, even for Solarwing himself which was bigger than any gryphons they encountered this far (save from Nofus and Stormcrest) the weapon still seemed cumbersome. Even the arrows were as large as steel spears which could skewer it's targets like pigs. Thundertail and several other large griffon soldiers also carried the bows; albeit, a slightly toned-down version of it.
"What?" Solarwing asked nonchalantly as Wolfpack was staring at his greatbow "oh this? This is called a Dragonslayer Greatbow. Based on its name, this is used to...well, slay dragons." He said while taking one of the massive arrows "I got it when I was-- that's a story for another time. We got a mission on our talons." He said "As I was saying, my troops and Shadow Specter will secure the guards outside of the wall. Rhea will mask our approach." And then he nodded to his battlemage.
Rhea closed her eyes, seemingly in deep meditation. Suddenly, clouds of thick mist crept out from the trees and into Falconhamn.
"A thick mist? It's no problem for us but how about your troops?" Heinrich asked.
"This is no ordinary mist, it's filled with magic which allows us to see through the fog but our enemies cannot." Thundertail explained "you better learn fast about magic, humans."
The Hauptmann was about to retort but he caged his ego in. And true, as soon as Thundertail said so; they peered clearly through the mist.
"Before you go." Shadow Specter approached them "see that manor in the center of town?" He said while pointing at said structure "Get in there first and secure any information you can find. And after that, give us the signal so we can proceed to our next move."
"Which is?" Alexandra inquired.
"Securing the town with as little collateral damage as possible." Solarwing stated "It's not about the structures or properties, but it's about the lives of our citizens there. So whatever you do, do NOT get them killed."
"Wolfpack, comms check. Over?" Victor asked through his comms to make sure everything was going in order. The team nodded in confirmation.
"The spell is in full effect, my prince." Rhea said.
"Ice, your turn." Alexandra said.
As soon as instructed, the sniper fired at the watchtowers' guards. The illusory mist did not reduce Caroline's accuracy as each bullet found their place perfectly on the guards' skulls. Killing them where they stood guard and alerting none of the guards in town.
"Excellent shooting, sergeant." Solarwing praised her.
After seeing that the coast was clear, Alexandra handed Ice a tablet in case they need to communicate with the griffons. She nodded to her comrades and Wolfpack fired their grappling hooks into the nearest building; entering the fray.
"Damn fog, I can't see a thing." a Firehawk guard muttered as he and another of his comrade patrolled the streets of Falconhamn "How did this fog get here? It was all a clear night sky and suddenly...this!"
"This place is haunted Bleak! I told you so!" said the other one in a hushed tone.
"Damn it Quill! you superstitious bastard." the guard replied harshly "Haunted or not, I don't like the looks of this."
The two resumed their conversations, unaware that they were being watched by invisible entities lurking within the mist...worse than ghosts.
Suddenly, two *pops* were heard and the guards crashed into the ground. Dead, with blood gushing out from their heads.
"Tangos down." Victor said as he and Alexandra quickly dragged the bodies off the street; hiding them behind a small house.
Regrouping, they quickly made their way through a small alley towards their destination. Arriving at an intersection on the main road, Alexandra held up her fist; signaling them to stop. And true, only mere seconds later; a platoon of Firehawk guards marched pass them. After they were gone and a short walk later, they arrived at their destination. Closing in to the walls, Wolfpack saw some guards patrolling the walls and rooftops.
Using their grappling hooks, Wolfpack quickly made their way up to the walls and rooftop with Alexandra, Victor and Heinrich sweeping the walls while Monsoon and MAMBA sweeping the rooftops; dispatching multiple guards along the way and securing the location of any remaining guards.
At last, the team rendezvoused at an entrance door on the left side of the manor, not the main entrance but this was even better for them for there could be a large amount of resistance waiting for them on the main gate.
Victor activated a mute charge followed swiftly by a breaching charge to the door and mere seconds later, the team had entered the manor.
Two more guards slumped dead on the ground with bullet holes carved on their heads, streams of red blood flowing out from them.
"All clear." Monsoon said after he snapped the neck of a lesser Firehawk guard with a sickening *snap* and blasting the head of a downed griffon with his suppressed pistol.
"Zis must be it." Heinrich said as they arrived in front of a large elaborately carved door "ze intel place."
"Only one way to find out." Victor said as he activated yet another mute charge and a breaching charge to the door; shattering it to pieces.
"What a shame." Alexandra remarked at the destroyed door as they finally entered the room. The room was a medium sized reading room with lots of large bookshelf lined with multiple books for all to read, a circular exquisitely crafted wooden table was also present in the center of the room.
"Vell, ve better start searching." Heinrich mused while walking towards the table. But the table was not empty at all as there were three items laying on it. A thick account book, a map of Gryphonia with troop movement charts all over it, and a map of Falconhamn.
"Vell, vhat do ve have here?" Heinrich mused yet again while flipping a page of the account book "Now this...is a lot of silver flowing through. Flocken."
"I am scanning the maps. Standby for transmission." Alexandra instructed while scanning the maps with her HUD before distributing the digital version of the maps to her team "Ice, patch me through to Prince Solarwing."
"Alright."
"Greetings, Wolfpack." Solarwing said as his visage appeared on the team's HUD "I see you've made it inside the manor. Have you found something?"
"Indeed, your majesty." Alexandra said before sending a digital copy of the maps and account book to the tablet.
"I see, you have been most helpful. Take the original pieces with you as well, just in case." the prince said "Now wipe out the stragglers from the inside, leave the rest of the guards outside to us."
As Solarwing ended the conversation, he took out his greatbow, anchored it on the ground, before fitting a great-arrow on it's long-sturdy string. He held the massive bow with his left talon while his right talon drew the bow string to it's maximum capacity; the rest of the great-archers did the same.Seeing this, Caroline walked away from their firing trajectories.
The great-archers took aim at the patrolling guards nearby and unleashed volleys of dragon-slaying arrows upon them. Impaling and ripping apart the Firehawks with screams of pain. Some of the smaller griffons were shredded in half while the larger ones were impaled to the walls of Falconhamn.
Possessing eagle-sharp eyesight and the light from the full moon, the great-archers made short work of the Firehawks who were blinded by the illusory mist.
The enemy's defense soften, Solarwing told Thundertail to led the griffon troops to aid Wolfpack in securing the town while Rhea stayed behind with the prince and Caroline. But just as Thundertail and his troops took flight to the town...
"Prince Solarwing, we've got a surprise for you." Alexandra said "Come over to the gates."
"Oh well, might as well join them." Solarwing mused while slinging his greatbow on his back and closing his helmet's visor before turning to Caroline and Rhea "Come, we are heading to the gates." Rhea and Caroline nodded and the three flew to the gates.
Just as they were approaching the gates, they saw the rest of Wolfpack, Thundertail and his cohort, with twenty Gryphonian guards standing in line. Evident as they wore the imperial's signature leather armor and iron helms with Gryphonia's coat of arms engraved on the pauldrons: a golden griffon spreading its wings with two golden crossed crossed short-swords in the background with links of golden chain circling the outline.
As Solarwing, Caroline, and Rhea landed in front of them, the griffons saluted the prince in a Roman fashion, the prince returned the salute. Just then, Alexandra and the rest of Wolfpack came forth.
"Wolfpack, I see you've acquired some help! Well done." Solarwing smiled "I assume there are no civilian casualty whatsoever?"
"Negative, prince." Alexandra replied "As for the guards here, it took some time to convince them that we are friendly." Solarwing acknowledged her and turned to the guards.
"Where is your captain?" Solarwing asked them.
"He is dead, prince." a guard spoke up "Killed in action when he defended some escaping younglings and grifonesses."
"Then he died honorably." Solarwing stated "Is his body still here? I want to give him final respects."
"No sir, those rebels burned him." the guard scoffed "But soon we will have a memorial build in his name."
"And for your fallen comrades as well." Solarwing added. This caused Wolfpack to respect the prince even more.
"It was an ambush! Their forces caught us off-guard at night and it was a slaughter--" the guard was silenced as the prince held up his talon.
"What happened, happened. But heed my words, guards of Falconhamn. Should anything like this happen ever again, then you can consider yourselves permanently removed." Solarwing said sternly.
"Sir yes sir!" The guards replied in unison.
"Return to your homes and families, rest for tonight. Tomorrow we will send out a patrol to find the younglings and grifonesses and repair the damages here. We are save, for now." Solarwing said out loud "Me and my troops will watch over the night."
"With all due respect sir." the guard from before spoke up "I think we've rested enough."
"But you still have your wounded." Thundertail intervened before turning to Solarwing "They are not going to fight well in battle, nor it is wise to strain them any further."
"Very well." Solarwing said "My medics will tend to the wounded, and for those of you who are still able bodied, have to guard the night in scheduled watch shifts. My troops and I will take the first watch." the prince declared. The guards saluted and dispersed to carry out their orders.
"Sir, we can bring in the Storm Fortress if you want to. To patrol the walls for the night." Victor suggested.
"Bring it in but keep it invisible. I don't think these folks are ready for what you have in store." Solarwing whispered "I think they need time to warm up to you."
"IRENE, get the Storm Fortress over here." Alexandra instructed through her comms "We have a long night ahead of us."
The night passed by with a few small events. The 100 elite soldiers who were on their way before arrived at Falconhamn when dawn broke. A small detachment of guards had also been sent to look for the missing citizens of Falconhamn, although it had been at least eight hours since they left; there were no signs of them. Shadow Specter teleported back home that night to Skyhall Keep in order to report the successful mission directly to Emperor Nofus and General Stormcrest.
That morning, the griffon soldiers and some members of Wolfpack were working on some extra fortifications of Falconhamn, unarmored and unarmed. But they didn't need to worry since half of the soldiers were watching over them from the walls, fully armed and armored. And should an attack occur, they could retreat inside the walls and gear up quickly to fight back. Not to mention, they have Wolfpack and the Storm Fortress with them.
Solarwing was coordinating the fortifications, Rhea and Alexandra were tending to the wounded in the guard barracks, Caroline was studying the specimens she found on the forest trip in her small lab in the Storm Fortress despite Rhea saying to "not begin without her" . Thundertail, Victor and Heinrich were helping with the construction, Monsoon was up alone in a watchtower nearby, scanning the horizon while also musing to various thoughts. And MAMBA was scouting a small hill nearby.
The fortifications went smoothly as they repaired the stone walls by replacing the damaged ones with new stones and strengthened them with mortar, set new protruding palisades as extra defense, and finally they dug a trench around the walls and filled it with sharp wooden stakes and oil.
As they called the day off, most of the working soldiers returned to the barracks due to exhaustion. But Prince Solarwing, Thundertail, and Rhea had a different idea in their minds. After putting on their gears and collecting Wolfpack (minus Monsoon who returned to the Storm Fortress to rest) along the way who were making a good progress with mingling with the citizens there, they headed to the most famous tavern in Falconhamn: the Hobbling Falcon.
The group sat on one of the large tables in the tavern. Seeing a member of the Royal Family, the barkeeper immediately told his waitress to serve the best food and drink for them. And true, eight tankards of ale and eight plates of large steaks and vegetables were served before them. Solarwing handed the waitress some gold coins, but the bartender intervened and declared the meals were free; thanking the griffons and Wolfpack for saving them.
As they began to eat, Victor asked a question.
"What's up with the armor and sword? You heading out again?" he inquired while looking at Solarwing.
"Call him with 'sir' or pr-" Thundertail retorted only to be stopped by Solarwing.
"Listen, from now on just call me by my name! Calling me by 'sir' or 'prince' and et cetera all the time is really stressing me out! So cut the formality crap and call me 'sir' in only certain situations!" Solarwing said with an irritated tone, causing all of them to look at him.
"Forgive me, I am just...concerned about the patrol I sent earlier today." Solarwing said while rubbing his head and taking a swig of ale.
"Don't worry, my love. They will be alright, maybe they are still looking." Rhea said comfortingly while placing her right talon on Solarwing's shoulder, this caused Thundertail, Victor, and Heinrich to choke on their food while Alexandra and Caroline stared at them with their mouths agape. Luckily, the rest of the tavern didn't seem to hear.
"Say what?" Victor said after taking a swig from his tankard.
"I know, a big surprise isn't it?" Solarwing said while putting his talon on Rhea's "My father wont approve of this, a royal blood having an affair with a common is forbidden to him. But love isn't about blood, race, prestige, honor, riches, or rank. It's simply because you feel happy and comfortable being with he or she who you love." he said solemnly while staring tenderly at Rhea's eyes which she returned "So, please don't tell my father." Wolfpack and Thundertail nodded with smiles on their faces (save for MAMBA whose expression remained unreadable beneath his gas mask, but his dilating eyes suggested that he was emotionally affected).
"Well damn Solar! I don't know you--" Victor was cut off by the long sound of a trumpet. Moments later, a guard barged through the door and saluted him in a Roman style trying to catch up his breath.
"What is it soldier?" Solarwing asked rising from his seat, knowing something urgent was happening.
"Sir, you must come to the entrance battlement at once! It's the patrol!" the guard replied.
With no more words, the group took off at once to their destination and five minutes, later they arrived. As they stepped up to the battlement, they were greeted by an unwelcoming sight. A large Firehawk force, outnumbering their numbers by 3 : 1 gathered in front of the city's heavily fortified walls and gate. Among them, eight griffon patrol soldiers and four griffonesses and six younglings were held with their talons and wings bound together.
The apparent leader of the Firehawks, dragged the leading patrol officer and secured his head in a field-stock. The griffonesses cowered in terror, covering their younglings' eyes as they knew what was coming.
"The gods will give us victory today!" the leader shouted. His soldiers cheered loudly.
"You tyrants have stolen our lands! Killed our brothers and sisters! And dishonoring griffon-kind! I curse you! " The leader shouted at the Falconhamn griffons. He unsheathed his sword and held it high in the air, the griffonesses cowered in terror, covering their younglings' eyes as they knew what was coming. And with a loud shout, he brought it down upon the officer's neck; severing his head from the body with blood gushing out from his neck. The Firehawks cheered loudly.
"I am not leaving them to die." Solarwing said as he and the rest of the group walked down from the battlement "Muster fifty troops and meet me at the gates."
"Sir, let me lead them." Thundertail said.
"It's my order to send them out there and now it's my responsibility to get them back safely." Solarwing said as he received his helmet from a passing soldier "Muster the troops and tell them to bring their wing-shields with them, fetch mine too."
Thundertail saluted and went on to do as he was instructed. Then, Solarwing turned to Rhea and Wolfpack.
"Rhea, you and Wolfpack are to defend the city at all costs." Solarwing said.
"Bullshit!" Victor said "We belong in the front lines!"
"And as I 'd like to fight beside you, but this one is mine. It's because of me those troops are out there, not to mention the civilians." He said as he saw his troops were fitting themselves with their wing-shields: armor for their wings which could also function like shields; a pair of large blades had also been fixed into the outer edges so they could also be used offensively . Solarwing also did the same as he received his from Thundertail.
The wing-shields protected their wings against even the most powerful blows but the only drawback was a great decrease on their flight speeds. But Solarwing had another idea in mind, and he wasn't thinking about flying. As they fell in line Solarwing whispered his prayers...
"Repthar, Father of Victories and Soldiers. Do not bring misfortune to my legion. I accept what must be sacrificed and done. But I beg thee, do not bring misfortune to my legion." he said as he drew his breath and turned to his troops "Do not be afraid for Repthar stands with us! Will it be victory or Cloud Sanctuary!" the troops cheered loudly.
"On my command! We form the Tortoise formation! Ready?! Open the gate!" As the large steel gate slid open the griffon doubled their marching speed towards the enemy forces. The Firehawks let out their cries of battle and charged towards Solarwing and his forces. As the prince led his legion to battle; his defending comrades wished him well.
"Tortoise formation! form!" Solarwing ordered. As if they were synchronized together, Solarwing and the griffons in the front used their left wings as shields while the rest of the forces lifted their wings up to protect against attacks from above. And mere seconds later, the two forces clashed. Despite the fierce blows inflicted by the Firehawks and their sheer numbers, the battle-hardened elite griffons swatted them aside; thrusting from behind their shields with swords or slicing their enemies with their shield's bladed edge.
"Advance!" Solarwing shouted as he decapitated a Firehawk with a single thrust from his sword. When they were only steps away from the hostages, Solarwing shouted again...
"Defensive circle! form!"
At this point, the griffons formed a sturdy defensive circle around the hostages, circling them and Solarwing.
"Here! cut the others free!" Solarwing said while handing his dagger after he cut loose a patrol soldier. "Hold the circle!" he shouted again.
The two quickly freed the hostages and once they were all freed, they were preparing to retreat until a long trumpet call stopped the Firehawks from attacking but Solarwing's legion held their ground.
"Hold the circle!" Solarwing ordered again. But as soon as he said that, he saw two large dragons closing in from the distance. At this point, the remaining Firehawks were already retreating.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Solarwing shouted and his legion followed suit. Solarwing snatched three of the younglings with his beak and placed them on his back and took off by flight back towards the wall, ignoring the weight of his wing-shields while the remaining three were carried by the griffonesses who were flying beside him. Solarwing and the griffonesses quickly reached the gate, and after handing the younglings over to them and commanding his great-archers to ready their great-bows; he quickly returned to the field to help the rest of his legionnaires who were still out in the field with two large spears in his talons.
"Quickly retreat back to the walls!" He shouted as some legionnaires ran pass him and made it back into Falconhamn. But not all were so lucky. Ten griffons were incinerated by the dragons' fiery breath and two were half-eaten. Enraged, Solarwing threw one of his spears at one of the dragons with such force that a vapor cone formed around the spear and directly pierced the dragon's heart at a blistering speed and force. As the large beast crashed down to earth, another one was making its attack run.
As Solarwing took his aim, a loud boom was heard and half of the dragon's body was obliterated in one large explosion; sending it down to earth with a shower of gore. Solarwing turned to the source of the sound and saw the Storm Fortress with Victor standing over the turret with his thumbs up, which he returned with a salute.
As Falconhamn exploded into cheers of victory, Thundertail, Rhea, and Wolfpack flew towards Solarwing who was kneeling over the remains of his fallen legionnaires.
"May the winds carry you up to the clouds, brothers." the prince whispered solemnly before turning to his newly arrived comrades "We are winning this pointless war. One way or another."
And something just gots updated!
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! for those of you who celebrates it (what are you kidding? everybody celebrates Lunar New Year 
)
Soo, for those of you who didn't know the Tortoise formation or the Testudo formation was a formation used commonly by the Roman Legions during battles, particularly sieges. Testudo is the Latin word for "tortoise".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testudo_formation#/media/File:Testudo_formation.jpg
This formation is also used by modern day police force in riot-control events.
I had to think of some other way for the griffons to do this formation as I don't think they will be fighting on two legs with a tower shield on their left talon and a sword on their right. That's where suddenly the idea of developing the wing-shields came to life.
I also watched the movie "The Eagle" to see the Testudo as how they used it back in the day and that final fight scene was inspired with this particular scene
(author's disclaimer: I don't own anything other than this story itself)
But I am sure there were no dragons back in the day, or were there?
So, in the next chapter we will be coming back to the ponies and sentinels and see how they they are living out their lives and maybe we will get to see some revelations in the new chapter.
That's all from me for now, hit that thumb's up and star button if you like this story and please do comment because to be honest your feedbacks are one of the main reasons I am still writing this story and I really wanna hear out from you guys!
And if you don't want to miss any new ficts from me hit that eye button so you won't miss them and since I got new stories coming this year...you may want to do so
You will click that eye button and you will hit that star and thumbs up button *waves hands like a jedi*
I am just joking, you have your own free will. Alright, stay awesome guys! Lightning Spear out!
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6918457 MLP: FIM and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
This is great. Keep up the good work.
6919109 thank you so much buddy! How's your story coming along?
6919833 Good. Thanks for asking, man.
Nice reference. Dragonslayer Greatbow.
6919973 no problem buddy
please do not kill your story.
6920428 a fellow Souls player are you?
Oh yeah...
Hey this is a great chapter, good thinking putting that video at the end.
Also this took a bit longer than a week but still a really good chapter.
So please amuse me with more!
P.s
I've been waiting for a LONG time!
6932886 oh no problem sir, it will be my genuine pleasure
And thank you so much for reading
Glad to hear that we go back to the sentinels in the next chap.
(Witch I hope comes up soon)
The reason for this is becue there us something with that griffon prince that makes me susspisos. I dont thing he tells us all he know.....
6953986 oh really now?
6954316 Yep. He rubs me the wrong way for some reason.
6955208 hmm, could you give me an explanation?
6955564 Like he is eather the leader of the rebelion and the whole attack was a ploy or he will try to kick the king or the wolfpack in there metaphorical nutsac.
6955784 now that's quite an imagination you got there
but...no
6955805 anyway when can we expect the new chap?
There are two ways I see this story turning out
1. Like season 3 of The Walking Dead with Mitchell being Rick Grimes, and Alexandria being The Governor. (You'll know what I mean if you watch that show)
2. Wolfpack will be the ones supporting the griffin empire, and the Sentinals and Equestrians will be supporting the griffin rebels
(Yes, no, maybe?)
6956784 maybe two weeks from now, I am going to go on another school trip on next week's Monday till Friday so there will be no time.
6957580 hey doc it's been a while. Although I like your thoughts, but...nope
6957633 damm it.
6973959 fictional cousin to Jonathan Irons
6974690 keep on reading
6976466 was this mentioned in the game
6976498 I haven't actually played the game, I have seen gameplay of it
6976562 oh
I'm now caught up and engaging the tracking beacon for this story...
Keep up the good work!
6976640
6976668
Alright, now before things go even more awry...I am gonna get some things straight
Now, Mark Irons is a distant cousin to Jonathan Irons (the CEO of ATLAS whom Sebaste mentioned) who got his ass fragged during a raid in New Baghdad, Iraq by the Sentinels. Since Jonathan is dead, his distant cousin took over the company (this is my own idea and version of the future of the Advanced Warfare universe)
And also, thank you both so much for reading
6978469 oh ok that makes sense but one more question are the ATLAS soldiers helping them the good guys?
6978997 in the game or in this story?
6979010 the story
6979078 maybe yes maybe no