The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

Project Marauder

The sun rose over a quiet landscape that surrounded a devastated city. Its citizens were either lying on the ground motionless or were trapped inside the barrier. The smoke that rose up to the sky formed a silhouette against the rising ray of the sun and reminded the survivors of their dread. But through this calmness and the apparent peace that has befallen them, it was only a matter of time before everything they knew and once had will be erased from existence and in its place, a grand empire unlike anything their world has ever seen.

The day of the operation had arrived. The sole remaining scout of the survivors was standing at the very top of the biggest tower that stood over the entire city including the walls itself, you could see the fields outside the city walls when you were on the peak of the tower. With him was a makeshift telescope of laughable magnification but was a telescope nonetheless. Using the telescope, he stood watchful of the enemy's movements. It's been three days since the enemy bombarded them and the uneasy peace showed no signs of actually ceasing.

Until he peaked through the telescope and looked to the north. The Metal Mammoths and metal giant golems of the enemy have begun to move, leaving behind a cloud of dust. The Metal Demons themselves have also begun to move and most of which had disappeared from sight. A day ago he had estimated that there were at least 10-15 thousand Metal Demons to the north but the numbers had fallen.

He then turned his telescope to the west and saw the same situation unfolding. Clouds of dust left behind by the speeding behemoths of the enemy. He lowered his telescope and then through his naked eye what seemed to be an eruption. Wherever he laid his eyes, clouds of dusts appeared as though there was an eruption occurring around the city. He signaled an alarm to the ground and quickly the defenders scrambled for their weapons and got into position.

Owen was in the middle of the chaos and was trying his best to coordinate their defense. He sent the remaining mages to the tower where the scout was to provide additional support and analyses.

Their worst fear seemed justified at first. The dust clouds cleared and the entirety of the enemy had vanished. Replacing them were mounds of dirt and ground of which the enemy had seemingly dug.

"They must be digging under us! They're going to appear below us!" One of the mages screamed in terror after the realization. His words were heard down below and the defensive formation they had come up with fell apart. Chaos broke loose as the survivors descended into anarchy with almost everybody losing their will to fight on and have resorted to their desires.

The chaos was uncontrollable and the barrier was now seen as an imprisonment. Many wanted to escape the barrier itself and would rather die at the hands of the metal demons rather than become the playthings of their own fellow humans. It was a bloody hour.

Owen tried to reassert whatever control he could before he himself was finally consumed by the dread and hopelessness of everything around him. And as the women were dragged off and murdered, the men losing their minds and their wills to their corrupted psyches. An ominous horn echoed.

The sound silenced the chaos. Everybody became frozen in place as the horn echoed through the land.

The scout who was at the highest tower pointed his telescope to the west from which the horn sound came from and thanks to his enhanced eyesight being at the mid stages of C-rank made himself, he saw the shadows of their demise.

Flying Metal Dragons by the hundreds were flying towards them and they were unlike anything they have seen before. It was like a swarm of hornets from a hive that they disturbed. In the middle of the swarm was a larger shadow, bigger than the rest of the smaller shadows that made up the swarm.

The behemoth in the middle was larger than what was seen through the telescope as its shadow covered an entire field as it flew over it. The smaller shadows came closer and they revealed their appearances to the scout. Bulky in size and shape, they were unlike anything the Metal Demons have sent against them so far.