Chapter 19
Even with all the flying she had done in the past week, Gilda was convinced that she was somehow less susceptible to tiring out, ready to take on skirmishes around Aricia.
She was wrong. She underestimated the huge toll it took on her due to the lack of water and the non-stop dashes of short flights. Even if they rested and slept well for the night, fatigue was building. From what she had seen, the griffins in the group—and the Marines as well—were feeling it.
The Arician scouts discovered the Cloven vanguard the morning after the attack on Aricia. It was a tactic she had read about in the Codex. The Cloven vanguard would basically find pathways for the main attacking body to concentrate their numbers on. They were also responsible for growing new Hearts near their attack zones as to quickly reinforce their numbers as they began to fight through the defenses.
For the past two days, one wagon and two spears of griffins had disrupted the march of at least five vanguard groups, even destroying an incomplete Heart being built just west of Aricia. They faced the Cloven in open fields, tall grass fields, and right now, in a forest.
“Again!” Gilda shouted, her mouth dry as she signalled all the griffins in the sky with her to turn around. “Ready crossbows! Fire!”
Bolts flew true towards the small group of Flyers. The way they arranged themselves made it easy to fell them in one pass. Those still in the air shrieked and with a flap of their grotesque wings, they began to converge, casting a shadow in the sky.
Gilda didn’t even need to shout a warning; everyone with her knew what was coming. The griffins separated, flying in evasive maneuvers as the Flyers unleashed their powerful spikes. Desperation lent them speed, but the fatigue and lack of water seemed to have finally caught up to them. Griffins that usually dodged such counterattacks with ease flew a little too slow. They got hit in wings, their bodies, or necks, bringing them down. One spike even grazed Gilda’s wing. She ignored the pain.
Down below, she couldn’t see what was going on, but the reassuring sound of gunfire told her that the Marines and earth-griffins were still alive and fighting. She imagined a few earth-griffins and Marines working together to bring down Troopers, maybe even a few Corrupted, though she hoped there was no mage in the mix. No trees falling indicated that there were no Rams, so that was something at least.
Gilda looked around as the surviving griffins began to rally with her again. She looked at Nydia, the lone mage of the group. She looked a little strange, with her usual staff missing. Instead, she held onto a wooden frame shaped like a crossbow, without the firing mechanism or bolts.
“Is it enough?” Gilda asked.
“A little more!” Nydia replied.
Gilda nodded, ignoring the numbness in her wings that was slowly affecting her flight pattern. “You heard the mage, griffins. Let’s do one more turn!”
Her group once more began to build speed, arching towards the right as they approached the Flyers. They were grouping in more tightly, something she was aiming for. The next volley of bolts cut through the smaller crowd of Flyers, forcing their dwindling numbers to join together. This was a tactic she had personally witnessed before.
Normally, coming together in bulk would make them easier targets. However, Cloven didn’t think like griffins. Casualties weren’t important in their strategy because they could increase their numbers fast. For them, it was more important to them to kill more of their enemies as quickly as they could.
Faced with Gilda’s strategy of easily picking scattered groups of Flyers, they responded by combining their numbers, using their bulk as a shield to absorb the griffin bolts while the rest would shower the griffins with a wall of spikes that stood a higher chance of hitting them.
Gilda was counting on that, and the fact they haven’t noticed the mage—the only thing that would make the Cloven scatter—in her group just ensured her victory.
“I think that’s big enough!” Nydia declared.
“Do it!” Gilda shouted.
Griffins gave way, giving Nydia a clear line of sight. Magic formed around her quickly, a bright light coming from the imitation crossbow she held. When the light faded, the weapon transformed to a staff. With heat building around her, Nydia shouted as she swung it. A large blue ball of fire shot out towards the grouping Flyers. It exploded in a fiery red of sunburst. The Flyers began falling, parts of their bodies aflame. Any still airborne were quickly shot down by crossbows.
Gilda loaded a bolt, looking around. The Flyers were in disarray, easy pickings for any griffin, so she concentrated on the ground. The gunfire seemed to come out less and less, and she hoped it was because they were winning too. But the thought was given momentary doubt when the pace of fire suddenly picked up sharply before it ended with an explosion that rocked a group of trees, even uprooting a few.
She waited with bated breath, wondering what just happened. After what seemed like a few hours, she saw a griffin flying clear of the trees. Gilda shouted a phrase, and the griffin shouted back the proper reply before giving the all-clear signal. She sighed with relief.
Looking at her group, she signaled to look for downed survivors.
By the time Gilda and her surviving griffins reached the meeting point—a clearing just outside the forest—the Marines and the griffins that came with them walked out, both looking exhausted. One of the Marines, Lenihan, if she remembered the name correctly, was limping, his green pants now stained black.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Got fucking stabbed by a Trooper’s tail,” Lenihan replied, then added, “ma’am.”
Imlay smiled. “Our boy here finally got poked on his date, but like a true Marine, he stood back up, and poked the fuckers even harder.”
“Lenihan was on fucking fire,” another Marine spoke, slapping the wounded Lenihan on the shoulder, earning a wince. “We didn’t even notice the mage until he started shooting the hell out of it.”
“A mage?” Gilda frowned. “We missed that when we saw them approach.”
“Doesn’t matter, ma’am,” Imlay said. “It’s dead, blown to pieces. Come on, I called the wagon. Let’s get some first aid and, hopefully, hydrate.”
It took maybe a few minutes, but the ponies arrived with the only surviving battle-wagon in tow. Two Marines were riding it, one on the big fifty-cal doing an overwatch, and the other waving at them.
“Good haul, Patterson,” Imlay said, whistling as he looked at the blue cylindrical water containers that were filled to the brim, almost threatening to spill its contents out of the small spouts. “You found the stream, I guess?”
“Free from any nasty shit,” Patterson replied with a grin.
“Let’s make sure of it, then,” Imlay said.
Nydia came to the wagon first, followed by the rest of them. The mage raised her glowing staff on top of the water containers, and after a moment, she nodded. “It’s clean,” she said.
“Thank God for that,” Patterson said as he began to distribute drinking cups to everyone around. Even the Equestrians joined in.
The water was cold. It was good, wonderful even. Gilda shuddered as she felt the fatigue being washed away, more refreshed than she’d known in days. It had been just a few hours since they had finished whatever water they could get from Aricia, and she was too thirsty to protest when Imlay proposed to have the wagon look for any nearby water supplies. After hours of almost constant battles, this was the best reward she had received for today.
The griffins and Marines around her seemed to agree as well, absently dousing themselves with it after a sip.
“Ma’am?” Imlay suddenly called. “Can we talk?”
Gilda grunted and finished her fourth cup in a hurry as she followed Imlay just a little ways away from the wagon. “What do you need?” she asked.
“We’re making good progress,” Imlay said.
“Too good, if you ask me,” Gilda said softly.
“Something bothering you, ma’am?”
“So far, these vanguards are just small squads,” Gilda replied. “We’ve been running nonstop to prevent them from mostly trying to establish a lot of footholds near Aricia, to keep them from surrounding the town.”
“Yes we have,” Imlay nodded.
“Doesn’t it feel a little too easy?” Gilda asked. “Two days ago, they crippled us. You’d think they’d have attacked by now instead of just sending more and more vanguards to die.”
“I think there’s a reason for that,” the Corporal replied. “Received traffic from our comms today. It seems our reinforcements have destroyed the last three steadholts controlled by the Cloven.”
“Really?” Gilda asked.
“Yes,” Imlay grinned. “Apparently, some dastardly villain had crippled one of their taken steadholts days ago and the Cloven were too slow to recover. That made it easier for our reinforcements to overcome.”
“That’s good news.”
“Only the good news,” Imlay said. “They missed the Overlord, obviously. Also, the Cloven have built up a massive and effective defense that slowed down our reinforcements’ march. From what I gathered, they still have huge numbers basically walling them away from us. However, it does explain the odd slowness of their response.”
“They didn’t have the numbers to attack sooner,” Gilda nodded, understanding. “And the Overlord has to coordinate a defense and an attack in two different places.”
“That’s the strongest guess we have, ma’am.” Imlay frowned. “However, while it sounds good that the attack is delayed, they are still coming. From this morning’s report, your scouts have already spotted the main attack force nearing the last picket line. And right now, we’re being run ragged.”
“I’ve noticed,” Gilda agreed. “In your recommendation, should we stop?”
“Yes,” Imlay replied. “I think we’ve done all what we can. My Marines can still probably continue, but I want them fresh for when the main body of their attack group come in.”
Gilda pondered on her next actions. She wanted to continue, to give First Spear a bit more time, but she could see that those under her were already slowly breaking. Even with water, a lot of the griffins were laying on their stomachs, panting. Their wings were already showing signs of stiffness. The Marines looked less like themselves, breathing a little too heavily.
Would it still be worth buying the First Spear time at the cost of leaving them too tired to fight the main attack force?
Gilda tried to remember her last meeting with him this morning. The First Spear had confirmed that they finally got as many water containers as they could get their claws on, and were in the process of completely filling them up.
She also remembered his increasing worry about the state of the town defenders. The attack two days ago had led to more casualties than she’d realized at first. Some of the Cloven had attacked those that guarded the food stores mercilessly, leaving a lot of injured and dead. It was so bad that he began to heavily concentrate on recruiting more volunteers.
“Let’s do one more task,” Gilda finally said.
“What do you have in mind, ma’am?”
“Let’s go to the streams and refill those containers, then bring it back to Aricia.”
Imlay smiled. “A little does go a long way. Alright. Time for more work.”
Gilda nodded, hoping she made the right choice.
Aricia was busy as they arrived. The defensive lines were carrying wooden stakes to plant in the ground, as well as a hurry to build even more rock fences. In the town itself, Gilda could see earth-griffins joining together to lift many different things up the town wall. She recognized the ballista, the newer quick-load versions, being secured on top of the battlement, and familiar-looking metallic spheres on the towers. At the back of those, she saw catapults being assembled, and large stones serving as its ammunition gathered together.
On the ground, Gilda saw a few mages casting a spell, probably something to harden the soil to make it more difficult, though not impossible, for any Corrupted Diamond Dogs to dig through.
As she and her sky-griffin group landed on the pads just near the entrance, the battle-wagon rolled up. Imlay and all but two Marines—the one with the fifty-cal, and the other the injured Lenihan—dismounted. The Corporal nodded towards the Equestrians before the latter moved once more, probably to bring the wagon back to the Inn.
“What are those, ma’am?” Imlay asked as he joined her, pointing at the metallic spheres.
“Lightning Orbs,” Gilda replied.
“What do they do?”
Gilda looked at Nydia, who looked a little too eager to answer that question. The mage gave her a thankful glance. “It absorbs lightning spells cast from two mages, which then get redirected by a third mage. It can shoot one strong bolt to the ground or air that can split up to hit multiple targets, or concentrate its power to one specific location.”
“Oh, fuck yes. Griffies got Tesla Coils as well,” a Marine said with a wide smile.
“Tesla Coils?” Nydia asked.
Before anyone could explain, Doc made an appearance, wading through the crowd with purpose. His forehead was scrunched, a worried expression in his face.
“Doc,” Imlay greeted. “You missed Lenihan. I sent him back to the Inn.”
Doc nodded. “I’ll look after him, but you need to hear this. It’s about Lakan.”
Gilda faced him, frowning. Last she heard, he accepted Doc’s invitation to help out with the wounded. “Is anyone giving him trouble back at Medico?”
“He may have put himself into trouble,” Doc replied, shaking his head. He looked at Imlay. “He means well, but I’d rather you talk to him about it. Or rather talk him out of it.”
“Out of what?” Imlay asked.
“He volunteered as a town defender.”
Gilda’s beak clenched. “Where is he?!” she demanded.
“In the Inn, I think, but—”
“Ma’am, wait—!”
Gilda had already launched herself into the air and turned to face the Inn. Last thing she heard was Imlay saying, “Not again,” before she darted forward.
She landed on the rooftops, and without wasting any more time descended the stairs and walked the hall until she got to the room where Marco, Tara, and Chris stayed. She didn’t even hesitate to knock on the door.
Tara was the one who opened it, and instead of the friendly smile, Gilda was faced with a somewhat hostile expression and puffed eyes. “Did you put him up to this?” Tara asked in a hard tone.
“No,” Gilda replied quickly. “Is he here?”
Tara crossed her arms across her chest. “No.”
“Where, then?” When Tara didn’t answer, Gilda continued with a bit of steel in her tone. “I need to talk to him about it, Tara. Where is he?”
Tara frowned, hesitating, before she said, “With Gletscher. He said… he was going to practise. Just… follow the gunshots, I guess.” Before Gilda could leave, she added, “Gilda. Please. Stop him. I couldn’t convince him, and Chris won’t even try! He just gave him that stupid gun!”
Gilda looked at the trembling Tara and nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
Before Gilda knew it, she was back in the air again. She tried to focus on hearing any gunshots, but the town was as loud as it was active. She could hear the blacksmith either sharpening weapons or fixing armor, and the crunch of wagon wheels moving to and fro. After minutes of useless searching, she realized that she was thinking about it the wrong way. Where would Fortrakt allow Marco to practise shooting?
The answer was simple. Taking to the air, she made her way towards the Northern Gate and followed the wall westwards. After a bit of traveling, she found it.
The shooting range was easy to spot. Instead of the usual thicket at the base of the high rise mountain that dominated the northern part of Aricia, it was a cleared out area; the ground was sifted, making the surface soft and somewhat sandy, and planted on the soil were crossbow targets, metal plates covered in green and black paint behind sandbags, arranged into different rows.
Griffins converged at the location. A whole lot of them were sky-griffins, some armed with crossbows. However, they weren’t shooting, and were mostly covering their ears as they watched a human and griffin standing in front of the targets.
Marco looked… well, strong, capable, and appealing if she dared think it. Over his shirt, he wore a leather vest with metal rings layered on top of it, probably given to him when he volunteered. She wondered how long the blacksmith took to adjust it to his body type. On his legs, he wore regular jeans, but his waist had a black belt with a few gems hanging on the side and multiple pouches. Attached to his right thigh was what looked like a holster for his handgun.
The weapon on his hand looked like a rifle, but the design looked completely different from what the Marines used. It was longer and its body made of mostly dark wood rather than black metal.
She watched him for a moment, her anger at him vanishing as she watched with fascination as he took a shot. The sharp crack of the rifle was followed almost instantly by the loud ring of metal from a struck target, the steel plate recoiling slightly from the impact and now sporting a small but fresh hole. He lowered the rifle a bit and pulled sharply on the metal handle, like a crossbow notch, expelling the spent a metallic casing, before he pushed the handle back to its initial place, which Gilda knew automatically loaded the next bullet. Immediately, he raised the rifle back on a new target and pulled the trigger. He took a shot. Clang. He pulled back the handle and pushed it back again. Another shot. Clang. And he did it again. Clang.
After the last shot, Marco finally lowered the rifle. Beside him, Fortrakt finally uncovered his ears and began to talk excitedly to the human. That action reminded her why she came here.
She landed just behind the crowd. Her windstream attracted the lot of them, and it took but a moment for the griffins to realize who she was. She returned their salutes perfunctorily, then all but growled at them. “Clear out. Now.”
They couldn’t have cleared out faster unless they flew.
The only ones that stayed were Marco and Fortrakt, the latter looking at her with wide eyes. As she approached them, the tiercel seemed to say something to Marco, and stepped forward to meet her.
“Gilda,” Fortrakt began, but she cut him off.
“Silence, Gletscher!” Gilda exclaimed, walking past him. The sudden dismissal seemed to cow him into silence as she finally stood in front of Marco.
“I guess you heard,” Marco said, surprisingly calm considering Gilda felt like she was about to burn holes through him with her eyes.
“Crows take it, Marco,” Gilda said. “Do you love bringing trouble to yourself?”
“Maybe,” Marco replied with a shrug. “Admit it, though. This turns you on, even a little bit.”
Yes, it did. She wasn’t about to say it, though. “That’s not the point,” Gilda said with a sigh. “Why, Marco? You know what’s coming here. Two days ago, you were almost taken.”
Before Marco could say anything, someone behind Gilda shouted, “Lakan!”
Turning, the eagless was surprised to see Imlay coming at them, with Doc beside him. Marco sighed and nodded. “Let’s wait for Imlay so I won’t have to repeat myself.”
The Corporal looked completely enraged, something that surprised Gilda. He always seemed so cool under pressure, and seeing him like this was a cold shock to her. He stood in front of them, his hands crossed over his chest, rifle rested in between the arms, pointing downwards.
Imlay turned to her and asked, “Have you convinced him to unfuck himself, ma’am?”
While she didn’t understand the term, Gilda got the gist of it. “I just started talking to him.”
Imlay nodded, then looked at Marco expectantly. “What’s going on, Lakan? Did everything that happened to you in the past few days knock a few screws loose in your head?”
“Could be,” Marco admitted.
“Hey!” Fortrakt protested, and Gilda glared at him.
That didn’t shut him up, though, and he looked ready to give her a piece of his mind when Marco raised his hand and said, “It’s fine, Fortrakt. They’re worried about me.”
“I’m fucking glad you understand that, Lakan. After everything you went through, you’re now going to try and put yourself in the line of fire?” Imlay demanded. “What is it? Did surviving all of that shit make you somehow think you’re fucking invincible? Do you even appreciate the danger that is marching here right now?”
Marco’s face scrunched up in anger. “Of course I fucking do!” he exclaimed forcefully, taking Gilda aback. The human seemed to build himself up, to say something more, but instead looked down. The rifle he held shook.
“How can I fucking not?” Marco asked, more softly. His left hand began to hover over his throat. “I can still remember when that Diamond Dog held me. I can still smell its stench, feel its sharp claws. I remember feeling utterly helpless when it dragged me away.”
“Then why do this?” Gilda asked.
Marco sighed. “Because this… I can do this at least.”
Imlay looked at him for a moment, then sighed. “That Mosin Nagant also another gift from Mr. McClain?”
“A loaner,” Marco replied.
“Familiar with it?”
Marco looked at the rifle with a small, nostalgic smile. “This is the first gun I used for target practise, before Chris got me the SIG.”
Imlay nodded. “Show me, then.”
Marco stood a little straighter. “What do you need me to do?”
“Reload,” Imlay ordered.
Marco nodded and moved his hand towards the rifle’s… well, if it was her crossbow, she’d call it the stock. Like his belt, it had a few pouches wrapped around it. He opened one and took out what looked like a group of five long bullets held together with a metal bar.
Pulling back the handle all the way back, he placed the grouped bullets on top of the opening. Lifting the top bullet up, he pushed the whole group down, grabbed the empty metal bar, then pushed the handle back to place with a click.
“Contact front, fifth row targets,” Imlay pointed out. “Charging Cloven. Engage.”
Marco nodded and lifted his rifle up. Gilda covered her ears, then watched as he took a steadying breath before going to a shooting position. He aimed, took a shot and hit a target. He went through the motion of readying another shot, almost like a workman. His face was sweating, but his hands were steady. He hit another three targets and was about to shoot a fourth when Imlay suddenly shouted.
“Too slow! They are now in the first row! Kill them!”
Gilda expected Marco to panic. He did. The last shot got out, but hit nothing. He hesitated, but instead of reloading the rifle, he lowered it towards his belt. Magic suddenly washed over him, and the rifle disappeared in a flash, the hanging gem on his belt glittering. He went for his right thigh, taking out his handgun, and began to steadily shoot the targets in the front row.
By his sixth shot, Imlay said, “Contact front. Eighth row. Charging Cloven.”
The motion was practised. Marco holstered his pistol, tapped the gem, and magically extracted his rifle. He took another five bullets out to reload, and after a moment, began shooting again.
He didn’t even get three shots out when Imlay added again, “They are at the second row now.”
Marco reacted faster than earlier, using the Storage Gem to hide the rifle away before he went for his pistol again, shooting twice more before he extracted the magazine from the gun. He went for one of the pouches on his belt, grabbing another magazine and reloaded quickly. He shot three more times before Imlay ordered him to stop.
“That’s enough!” Imlay shouted, and Marco lowered his gun, looking at the Corporal. “Not bad, but this is just target shooting. The enemy won’t be keeping still.”
“I know that,” Marco replied.
Imlay nodded. “Okay. However, Marco, you have other options. You can cook or help with the wounded.”
“I couldn’t get anything but oats and flour at the market since two days ago,” Marco said. “And ask Doc how I do with the wounded.”
“He fucking sucked, Corporal,” Doc replied. “I hadn’t seen such wasteful use of bandages and disinfectant in all of my career.”
Imlay shook his head. “Even if that’s true, Lakan, almost anything is safer than what you just volunteered to.”
“Safe? How fucking safe?” Marco pointed towards the horizon. “You have some sort of Zerg rushing at us that also use undead! They fucking dug under the town and can do it again! I was in the Inn, away from supply buildings and the frontline, yet I was still almost… taken. How safe can I really be?”
Imlay took a step forward. “So you think you can, what? Win this war because you armed yourself?”
“No,” Marco replied. “Screw winning the war. I just… I just don’t want what happened to me happening to Tara. To Chris. To Brennan and Henderson. Hell, even that fucking asshole Raleigh.”
“And you think you can protect all of them by having a gun?”
“Maybe,” Marco replied. “It’s better than doing nothing.”
Imlay looked at him steadily. “Aren’t you scared, Flip-Boy?”
Marco looked at him for a moment, then to Gilda. He nodded. “Of course I am. But does it matter? Everyone’s scared. That doesn’t mean I should stand back and do nothing. Not when I can help.” He looked at them, steady and unyielding. “I trust all of you. You tell me that I can help better by cooking, I’ll fucking cook oats and bake fucking bread. You tell me that I can help better by treating the wounded, I’ll try not to turn them to mummies. I’ll return this armor, forget this nonsense. Just tell me that you can use me elsewhere.”
Gilda couldn’t reply to that, partially distracted by how… well, cool, Marco looked right now, and mostly because she couldn’t really give a good reason. Food was already rationed and prepared. The Medico didn’t really need any more help and was well-stocked. In fact, the only reason Marco even went there was because of Doc’s invitation.
More importantly, they did need more defenders.
She looked at Imlay, and he didn’t look as reserved as he was earlier. Doc frowned, but shook his head, silent as well.
After a while, Imlay finally spoke. “We won’t let them get close to Aricia.”
“I know,” Marco said. “If it ever happened, I know you guys are already dead. Yet, shit that happened two days ago can still happen again.”
“Maybe,” Imlay replied. “If it does, keep your distance and find cover. Pick your targets carefully. And try not to fucking shoot the other defenders.”
“So, you’re fine with this?” Marco asked.
“Fuck no,” the Corporal answered. “But what am I going to do? Throw you in the brig?” He looked at Doc and Gilda, and then motioned them to follow him.
As Doc and Imlay walked, she took one last glance at Marco. He gave her a tight, nervous smile she didn’t return. “This isn’t over,” she warned him.
“I’ll be here,” Marco offered.
Gilda looked at Fortrakt, and he looked solemn. Shaking her head, she gave a claw signal, to have him watch Marco. He smiled, and replied with a very quick affirmative. Walking away from them, she approached the waiting Doc and Imlay.
“So, Doc, what do you think?” Imlay asked when she got into hearing range.
“He’s got conviction, I’ll give him that,” Doc replied.
Imlay frowned. “Is it the shock talking?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised, considering what almost happened to him.”
“So it's pushing him to this?” the Corporal asked.
“The whole situation is pushing him, Corporal,” Doc replied. “I do note that he seemed to at least have put a lot of thought on this and it’s not something he decided on a whim.”
Imlay gave a soft chuckle. “No shit, he thought it through. Did you see him switching weapons, using a Storage Gem like that? Fucking genius. And he’s shown to be at least competent with a rifle. He got the three steps down: lined up the front and rear sights, the stock solid on his shoulder, and shooting after exhalation.”
“I still don’t like it,” Doc said. “That’s why the military was created, so civilians like him won’t have put themselves on the firing line.”
“In a nice, ideal world filled with women in bikinis, maybe,” Imlay countered. “But the world we live in?”
“We’re fighting in a world inhabited by talking colorful ponies and mythical griffins,” Doc pointed out.
Imlay nodded. “True, but my point still stands.” Then he looked at Gilda. “How about you, ma’am? You’ve been very quiet.”
She took a breath. “From what we’ve known of him, did we expect anything less? He strikes me as someone who’d rather face things head on and very protective of his friends. He’s also got a making of a warrior. Remember that he wanted to become a Marine officer?”
Doc blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Imlay replied. “He admitted that he was planning on going to OCS until McClain invited him to the trip. Though, don’t tell the others that.”
Doc just nodded.
“He’s also smart,” Gilda added. “When Marco and I had that tussle in Arnau, he ran, but also made a point to arm himself afterwards. He also started to train in combat. From that show earlier, he also knows how to handle guns.”
“So he’s had some training,” Doc replied. “What convinces you that he can do this?”
“When he said he was scared,” Gilda said simply. “I think he knows the consequences and still chose to volunteer. He isn’t being driven to act by arrogance. It’s a choice I can understand, and I won’t disrespect him by taking it away from him.”
Doc snorted. “Even if you would, ma’am, how? It’s not like you can assign him to latrine duty.”
Gilda shrugged. “If I felt that he was volunteering thoughtlessly and wouldn’t change his mind, I’d invite him to a walk where I’ll accidentally push him into a wagon’s path—hopefully breaking his legs.”
Imlay blinked. “A little extreme, don’t you think, ma’am?”
“Less extreme than to see him charging around recklessly,” she replied. “But I don’t think he will. He’ll be careful.”
“I think so too,” Imlay agreed.
“You’re going to get busted down for this,” Doc said, shaking his head. “God help me, though, I agree with both of you.”
Before Gilda could add to that, two griffins landed near their position. Upon spotting her, the lead tiercel, someone she’d never met before, approached and saluted.
“Sub-Tribune, the First Spear sends his compliments and advises that the scouts have spotted the Cloven attack group. They are marching in force on the Eastern Gate and are about to meet the first picket line.”
Gilda was about to reply before far away explosions started ringing out. She looked at Imlay, and the Corporal shook his head.
“I guess they ignored the minefield,” he said.
“Hopefully the claymores killed a lot of them,” Doc muttered.
“I’m going back to the Inn and get my Marines ready,” Imlay said. He looked at Marco. “Any advantage you can give to him will be appreciated.”
Gilda nodded, then looked back at the tiercel. “Tell the First Spear I’ll meet with him as soon as possible.”
“He’s at the Eastern Gate, sir, preparing for the assault.”
After the Corporal, Doc, and the griffins left, Gilda walked back to Marco, who looked a little apprehensive.
“They’re coming,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” Gilda confirmed. “Marco, you can still—”
Marco shook his head. “No.”
She nodded. “Tara is not going to like this.”
Marco chuckled. “It won’t be the first time I’ve disappointed her.”
Gilda motioned to Fortrakt. “Wish she’d blame him more, though.”
“What?” Fortrakt sputtered. “Why would I get blamed?”
“You’re always with him when trouble starts brewing,” Gilda replied, not facing him so he wouldn’t see her bearing a small smile. “The duel? Now this.”
Fortrakt couldn’t reply except by leaving his beak open. Marco laughed, which alleviated some of her conflicting emotions. She found herself mentally shaking her head.
“Nah,” Marco said, smiling. “Fortrakt actually tried to talk me out of it first.”
Gilda saw the tiercel nodding quickly at that. “Uh-huh,” was all she said.
“If I had to blame someone,” the human continued, “it’d be that recruiter, Fillius.”
“First Spear?” Gilda asked, a little surprised. She turned to Fortrakt, who nodded.
“Gave a pretty good speech too,” the tiercel added.
That was unexpected. While she knew First Spear was worried about getting more recruits, she didn’t expect him to go out personally to find them.
“A very convincing speech,” Marco affirmed. “Something along the lines of ‘enemies at the gates’, ‘we need volunteers’. Oh, and that special line.”
Gilda felt herself wondering what that special line was. Looking at Fortrakt, he too seemed curious. “Which was?” she asked.
Marco suddenly spoke in an odd Equestrian accent that drawled on a few words. “Now you have to make a choice: you either can sit and wait, or get any weapons you have and do something really stupid.”
Fortrakt snorted. “I never heard First Spear say anything like that.”
“I was paraphrasing a movie,” Marco replied, grinning. “Which reminds me, Pacific Rim. Another movie making the list.”
Gilda found herself chuckling before shaking her head. “Okay. We’ll watch anything you have when we go back.” She sighed. “Sometimes, I wonder if you are just distracting me so you can avoid our conversations.”
“Blame the Cloven,” Marco replied. “I, for one, always look forward to any future conversations with you.”
“Hopefully short in length. And filled with less headaches.”
Marco smiled. “You’ll probably be disappointed in that.”
Gilda snorted before shaking her head. “Do you know where you are assigned?”
“Northern Area,” he replied. “From what I gathered, it’s near the Inn.”
Gilda sighed with relief. Either Marco was very lucky or whoever assigned him knew he wasn’t experienced for this kind of thing and put him in an area with a minimal risk of attack. Her money was on the First Spear. Still, she could do more. Looking at Fortrakt before going back to Marco, she said, “If I have time, I can make arrangements to have Fortrakt transferred as your partner. At least, if you don’t have one yet.”
Both Fortrakt and Marco suddenly seemed to back a step, shifting about uncomfortably. The latter scratched the back of his head, nervously. “Yeah. About that…”
“There you are,” a voice, a very familiar voice, called behind Gilda. Fortrakt winced, making her blink. Turning around, her eyes widened as she recognized Ondrea landing in front of them. “Come on. We need to go.”
Oddly enough, the Talon wasn’t speaking to her.
“What are you doing here?” Gilda asked coldly.
Ondrea’s eyes widened. “Sir!” She saluted. “I didn’t recognize you.”
Gilda could buy that. Her back was turned when the Talon had landed and she didn’t really have any identifying features on that side. “You didn’t answer the question, Talon,” she still demanded.
“I was just looking for my partner as we need to be at our assigned area.”
“Partner?” Gilda asked, confused. She watched the Talon nod and look expectantly at Fortrakt. Or at least, it looked like she was looking at Fortrakt from Gilda’s angle. After a moment, Gilda realized Ondrea’s eyes were directly gazing at Marco.
The human gave Gilda an apologetic expression. Her eyes narrowed in realization.
Turning to Ondrea, she said, “You are his assigned partner? You’re a Talon. How in the crows did you get appointed with Guard duties?”
“My wing and foreleg are still stiff and won’t allow me to effectively fight in the frontline, sir,” Ondrea replied. “So I’ve been reassigned temporarily as an Auxiliaris and as Lakan’s partner.”
“No! Absolutely—”
“Sir,” Ondrea interrupted, “there’s really no time to argue. I’ll watch out for him. You have my word.”
Gilda closed her eyes, wondering for a moment if she was okay with this. Not a second later, she knew the answer was a complete and absolute no. The idea of breaking Marco’s legs herself was slowly becoming more and more appealing, only beaten by the notion of breaking Ondrea’s neck.
However, the Talon was right. Cloven were coming and she was needed elsewhere.
It still didn’t mean Gilda liked the situation.
“Keep him safe,” Gilda growled.
Ondrea just nodded.
Gilda looked back at Fortrakt, who looked a little fearful that she was going to rip his head off. Her cold tone didn’t help as she just said, “Let’s go.”
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*gasp*
A new chapter!!!
7081709
Enjoy. ^_^
Hurrah for Chapter!
Praise the Sun!
New chapter!
7081716 I did. Just finished reading.
...But now I have to wait again,
7081751 7081754
7081769
Chapter 20 won't take months. I put a blog out to explain it. I have no idea when Chapter 21 will begin. I only have a rough idea in my head.
Yeahh, a new chapter, took long man, well, now for changalling roun, or another chapter of this.
Wow, has it really been three months since the last chapter?
Also, I really hope we get to see the griffins actually watch the movie list.
Aww yeah, DEL's got some words out there. Let's go!
a nugget of all guns ?!
YAY!!!!
Kick flank and take names, Marco... 
stay safe or you'll never get your round with Gilda, and we'd all be very disappointed...
Enemy at the Gates is a particularly apt metaphor for Marco wielding a Mosin-Nagant. If you don't know why, read about one of the greatest snipers of history, and then watch the very good (if slightly embellished) movie that showcased his exploits...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zaytsev
I love the ideas of the gryphons Tesla Towers, and I'll incorporating a variant of it into my Rise of Firefly story as well. Thanks! This was a joy to preread, as always, and looking forward to seeing more!
I do wish things would start 'happening'...
It's been basically battles for so many chapters, but the stakes really aren't well-defined. From all appearances, things are at somewhat of a stalemate, and the Cloven have no personality at all, about the same as a Zerg rush for the most part.
And the story actually states this:
But compare how the main story behind StarCraft is constructed and flows... the game play revolves around battle tactics and resource allocation... the story does not.
I found the stated premise of the story interesting initially, but it's devolved into mostly fighting magical necromancer monsters that don't even speak and the ponies are now totally absent. The war with the Cloven has overridden everything, and I find myself wondering where all the other species in the world are. Surely they know how dangerous the Cloven are by now. None of them can fight capably in the least? If these enemies are truly as dangerous as it they're made out to be, then there's a larger world out there to consider with a war like this, and we need to start hearing more about it.
I think the attempted scope has outstripped the original notions of the story, really.
So happy to see this great story hasn't been abandoned (though I'm hardly one to talk)
Fuck yeah tesla towers.
Pacific Rim, now that'll blow their minds.
Also, it's alive!
When I see bolt action rifle and oncoming horde, I think of Zulu, Lee Enfields?
Have they got razor, or even barbed wire yet, for combining with the claymore fields?
Trouble is, because they are horribly under equipped, every time they come up with something the Cloven get to use it and counteract as well.
Would you like to see an entire squadron of Cloven Dragon? Fireshield and multi blast atacks?
Good show, Marco.
"Yeah, about that..."
Oooooh shiiiiiiit....
7081936
It's a solid gun.
7082022
I don't call it hax, really. I call it technological limitation. Except technology is magic in this case.
.
7081825
I already know the ending chapter before the epilogue. Marco and Gilda watch Bad Boys 2.
7082140
Still trying to put more elements together for the future chapters. We'll see.
Next chapter prediction: Marco gets into some shit.
Just counting the days till we see some corrupted humans mixed with the Cloven forces. It's bound to happen eventually
Nice chapter. Hope next one will be bloody (on the enemy side).
BTW.
I think that “We’re fighting in a world with fucking magic, and inhabited by mythical creatures.” would sound better.
My last experience with a Mosin Nagant: After around twenty rounds, the barrel had warped so that the front sights were about half a centimeter to the left of center.
Yay! You're not dead! And neither is this fic!
ohhhhh took forever to get around to reading this :D :D :D :3 Im so happy keep up the awesome work :3
7082013 I think he ended up drawing too much from Codex Alera, while also trying to avoid doing doing that. So we've got an enemy that's the Vord in all but name, but lots of details surrounding them are not present.
The Vord were a unique challenge in that they were a constantly adapting foe, that the Alerans already struggled to beat on their first encounter, and as time went on every battle hinged on Aleran commanders innovating and outhinking the Vord. Any advantage they had in furycrafting was lost as the Vord were able to mimic it, and their technology level was that of the griffons.
Humans throw a wrench in all this. The Vord/Cloven are suddenly not some unstoppable wave that can only barely be slowed. Instead they are a much more vulnerable, but still dangerous, enemy force. The Vord/Cloven's biggest strength, their ability to adapt and utilize the weapons and tactics of their enemies, is entirely absent from this conflict, since they simply cannot match the combat capabilities of a 21st century military.
Simply put, it's an enemy that was designed to be a colossal challenge, with the fate of the world on the line, where every battle is seconds away from utter defeat.
And it's getting completely mowed down by a small group of riflemen. It's sort of similar to creating a character, with the intention of having them face challenges that would inspire and force them to develop their personality and the like, but due to their very nature, every challenge they face isn't really a challenge. They're never really put to their limits, so they never see their full potential unlocked. That's kind of what I'm seeing here, and unfortunately, I don't see a way to suddenly make the Vord/Cloven such a challenge without resorting to events or developments that would be decried as artificial or forced. (i.e. Vord/Cloven growing organic guns, suddenly becoming completely bullet/blastproof, every soldier having all their guns vanish. (Even ammo-wise, it's been noted before that the Marines brought a LOT of ammunition with them, so unless that somehow goes away, they're not going to find themselves running out anytime soon.))
I'm still enjoying this story, to be sure, but I worry that the whole situation surrounding the Cloven is a bit too disjointed. They're an enemy that's presented/designed in such a way to be the "unending horde of death and devastation", and they're just not capable of doing that when modern human armed forces are in the picture. The unstoppable force has hit the unmoving object that is the U.S. Marines.
7081778
No one noticed the claymores going off? You'd think that kind of noise would have carried further, heh. If the undead managers are as clever as they seem, it worries me a bit they may have started disabling the traps or worse, taken them to be used as lobbed IEDs against the Allied Forces. Although that level of intelligence could be a bit beyond them right now... or the higher ups (Overlords) just don't feel it necessary to waste the time on little things like that versus the bigger picture of a glorious zerg rush.
I do wonder how fast Equestria would loosen/drop their weapon bans when the Cloven start sweeping into their territories? Then again, they do have a few alicorns and that weaponized rainbow. Still, it's kind of unfriendly they leave the other countries swinging in the breeze to be slaughtered, piecemeal-- or would have if not for the humans turning the rout into a surprise stalemate.
7087703
Claymores were set off. That's how they knew the Cloven were coming.
As for Equestria, while we can assume the word is out, and that the humans on the other side of the planet (not really that far, but vivid image and all) have heard of the news. Even if Equestria has lifted the ban, there's transportation issues, bureaucratic issues and other real life things they have to take care off. My timing of this war was only going to go for a few months, maybe a year. The Marines in Gryphon will have to survive that long.
7087507
First, I think 7082013 is overlooking a lot of things, and the story may not really be his cup of tea. Secondly, I think you're a little too assumptive considering the war (or skirmish, really) just started. Cloven attacked in a bad time, almost without any real intelligence, and that caused them a few setbacks. Like I said above, it's barely been a month since the attack started. And the narration takes place in a limited perspective. I'm hoping to expand that a bit more, and yes, I do have plans for Cloven to counter the humans as they are currently presented. I got plans for the second story on that part.
7087904
I'll always have them, for some reason.
7082794
Ouch.
7082516
XD I'll tell you you're wrong, but I do plan to have a nice Marco-centric chapter. I just think it may feel off considering a lot of the narrative perspective is on Gilda.
One of these days i need to make a list of rereads So i can re-understand stories that either don't update often or are similar to other stories i'm reading. I'v read so many stories that i'm at the point where they are starting to blend together into a single fanfiction world. This makes a lot of romances hard to keep strait, and others extremely awkward due to suspicious timing.
7090425
Happens a lot to me. Right now, I'm reading a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction. I keep forgetting which ones don't have a Ron the Death Eater trope (there's quite a lot of them that use that trope to some silly degree), and I keep wondering why Tonks is the main squeeze, when last time, it was Luna. And then I wonder what happened to the harem angle, then I realize I am reading a completely different story.
Commence read.
Glad to catch an update to such an interesting story.
Gilda still needing a day off, but until then Cloven.
7094505
My pony land has so much shit going around in it that it feels like a real world that could function.
I have read so much stuff all at once that i'm having a hard time remembering whats cannon in the show! Mid season 5 i was wondering where Twilight's 'coltfriend' was and then had to try remembering which character he was. Only to remember like.... ten minutes later that she doesn't have one in the show.
Pretty sure the lines between the stories in my head are blending into the grass now. Still, the problems of a fanfiction writer/reader are minor compared to what we deal with in in the physical world.
This is awesome! I've been hoping for this fic to continue!
Definitely appealing... Keep up the good work. Though i'd like to request the editors step up on their game, I am still seeing errors in abundance.
Easily now one of my favorite stories on FIMFiction. Keep up the good work.
It's really rare to see such a great story that's still alive.
Great work!
7082240 I look forward to it. Also don't you just hate how Fimficiton automatically purges notifications?
>mosin nugget
Oh hello /k/. Didn't see you there. What are you doing in this fanfic?
I can't believe I'm so late catching up with recent chapters of this fic.. It's definitely one of my favorites.
Ah, a Mosin Nagant, huh? Sheesh, you'd think they'd have sprung to get Marco something a bit nicer... Though I suppose if you're going to take something that might get confiscated, a Mosin is a good choice. I've got a couple of them myself, and my biggest issue is the way the bolt tends to stick after a few rounds.
And on that note, a little humor... AK-47s vs AR-15 vs... Mosin Nagants...
With his armor and weapons he is indeed safer.
Magnificent chapter