Axial Age

Chapter 14 - Capitalization

Rand, The commander of the royal guards, saw the enemy appear in the sky above the royal palace courtyard from the hallway next to the operations command room. Running into the operations command room, he gave orders to the 0th to 2nd Royal Guards through the comms officer to intercept their enemies.

He immediately moved to contact Patagene to request extra troops from the north gate to return to the royal palace. From the emergency meeting room, Patagene also witnessed the dropping of several enemy soldiers into the royal castle.

"They sent their army through the air?!"

Wyverns couldn't lift heavy objects and the most that they could carry was only 2 people. Since they don't have deployment tactics which let their valued dragon knights interact with the regular infantrymen, they never imagined infantry deployment from the sky let alone in such numbers they.

The tacticians, having received the report from Rand through the comms officer, reported to Patagene.

"The commander of the royal guards has requested reinforcements. He believes that the enemy is aiming directly for the king."

"F**k! So the attack that destroyed the gates to the walls was a diversion?! But... If this isn't an operation to capture the king and the attack on the royal castle is a diversion, sending men back to the castle would mean that the gates would fall easily..."

"But if we lose the king, there won't be anyone to keep the kingdom together! Since we have levied more taxes to fund the wars, there's only the possibility that the citizens and the lords will revolt! If we lose the king, it's all over!"

"Kh! I can't believe we've been cornered to this point...! Leave half of our men at the north gate while the other half are to head back to the castle! Kick them out of our capital!" With a despairing face, Patagene barked out orders.

Rand, who was tasked with guarding the royal hall on the 4th floor, was receiving reports from the demon-like strength of the enemy infantry that had come. In his vicinity, the 0th Royal Guards and several mancomm officers lie in wait. At the corner of a room was a workbench where several manacomms were placed. The manacomm officers received reports at breakneck speed, reading them out loud before they could even understand their contents.

"They have taken the meeting room on the 1st floor. The enemy is currently advancing to the hall on the 2nd floor and are currently in contact with the 3rd Royal Guards stationed in the east courtyard."

"The 3rd Royal Guards have been wiped out. The enemies wield objects which resemble magic staves which release streams of fire."

"Our Armour cannot block against the enemy's magic attacks which are easily penetrating them. Furthermore, it seems that the silver armor worn by soldiers which are effective against magic attacks can't block them. However the enemy doesn't seem to be wearing any armour."

"They have taken the hall on the 2nd floor. They are currently marching to the minister's conference hall on the 3rd floor. The 2nd Royal Guards are responding."

The frightening speed at which the enemy advanced gave Rand no time to issue orders as the royal guards were readily and swiftly mowed down. Given no choice but to listen to the depressing reports, Rand readied himself for the fight against NATO's forces. He talks to the vice commander standing next to him.

"Just what the hell are they? There's only supposed to be a few of them and yet the speed at which they advance is unheard of!"

"Certainly... It's said that a soldier's strength comes from their skill but I wonder just how much training they do day by day... Since it's reported that they wear no armour, it appears that they've given importance to their speed. If we could get in range of swords, they may not be able to fight back."