Albatross: Origins of an Empire

Four

A MASS EXPLOSION shook the interior Northern wall of Centrailia. The spontaneous... unanticipated blast sent abandoned cruisers flying from their parked positions on the side streets. The disheveled vehicles rocketed into ancient buildings that had been vacated within the passing forty-eight hours.

Emerging from the inferno were the silhouettes of the Imperial Sylvanian Infantry. These exceptional warriors were clad in immense, impenetrable armor that entirely concealed their identity beneath emerald metallic helmets. Each possessed a weapons pack mounted upon the rear plating of their suits existing as a power supply to their arms.

These diversely trained soldiers were well knowledgeable of combat South of the Sylvanian border, and outside the atmosphere of Nievia. Their precise skills were committed around warfare with rogue Nephili who might remain lurking on the planet. Though the soldiers were human beneath their armor, they were comparable in combat, which made them a lethal presence.

Their present assignment was to seek out the existence of the Empress' supposed hydra in Centrailia. As warned by Riley, they were marching on a ruthless siege... and would show no mercy to those they expected to encounter.

Jester fortunately heeded Ms. SaLiera's warning... and forced the remaining citizens to evacuate after her initial lead. In their place he filled the vacancies with barricades of his own Infantry, consisting mostly of Nephili. Riley too lingered behind to assist in the preservation of Centrailia.

The Sylvanian Infantry boldly marched onward through
the ample smoke and intense billowing flames. The soldiers presented their weapons ahead of themselves... prepared to obliterate anything that flinched within their range.
A duo of golden eyes observed the troops from the security of a cavern within a sheltered shop front. The gilded irises belonged to Riley mutated outside of her human form into her Nephilim embodiment.

The young creature panted profusely as she ruffled through a canvas sack. Inside were explosives manufactured on her home planet of Brao.

Riley snatched a single cylindrical container and removed it from the sack. She proceeded to secure her bag over her shoulders and flip a small one-way activation switch to power-up the device. Cobalt lights flashed around the top of its casing upon initiation of the timer unit.

The young creature disbanded the security of her port and heaved her activated device into the direction of her oncoming assailants. The device spun rapidly across the open street until it landed ahead of the Infantry ranks. Riley shielded her youthful complexion within the leather hood of her jacket upon the grenade's detonation.

The Sylvanian troops were galvanized from the unanticipated explosion, and immediately expelled iridescent shields from their forearm casing. The soldiers proceeded to assemble and fashion an impenetrable wall with their electrified force-fields. This shell-like casing expelled the flames upward resembling the powerful swell of a tidal wave. The troops beneath observed as the event unfolded in slow motion. Riley withdrew a second grenade and hesitated before being left speechless... her blast did not faze the advance.

"Grr-augh!" She cried while igniting a second bomb and
pitching it. The Sylvanian Infantry proceeded to march onward... through the discharge. Riley froze in shock unaware of how to progress. Desperately she dug into her nap-sack and thumbed on every device she possessed.
In a furious surge she tossed the lethal canvas bag into the troops' advancement, and braced. Simultaneously the devices detonated causing a powerful solitary explosion... the blast wafted the visible facing from Centrailia's oldest buildings and shattered remaining windows.

Riley emerged from her snug brace and briefly perceived
the shimmer of the shields penetrating the veil of debris.
"Damn..!" The Nephilim growled before leaping to her feet and activating a communicator, "Vice Commander Akray the first line of Infantry remains largely unaffected by our first line of defense! They are coming your way! I have been unable to faze them!"
"Well that was unexpected! Line two preparing for
infiltration." Jester responded unenthusiastically.