Chapter 11: The Rising Tide
If Shena and Fereen thought the rain was bad before, they had not seen anything yet.
The thunderstorm was now roaring above the ram-shacked outpost. The rain it unleashed surged down with such weight and fury; it was as if the storm itself were trying to bring the entire platoon into submission. But Shena and the others heeded no mind to the storm's desperate cries for attention. It was just water and clouds. And besides they had a much worse enemy to deal with as usual. One that was approaching quickly on the horizon.
Shena had started to run out briskly towards the defensive positions with Fereen trailing right behind by her side. Her last soldiers of the 31st were already stationed near the edges of the camp perimeter in their signature royal marine red and blue which set them apart from ordinary plain army blue of the mainland. Each of their right shoulders marked with the iconic dark blue shield patches with a crimson upturned red trident dead center. The deadly symbol of the elite royal marine corps. Comprised of the best and bravest of the monarchy aquatic army and all it's conquered continental territories, fighting where the fighting was thickest with weapons drawn and at the ready no matter the risk or odds they faced, ready to defend queen and country till the last man. All willing to die if necessary. And all awaiting her orders.
Once the duo reached the outer trenches they hastily crouched down, splashing into the muddy water for cover alongside the others. The seven remnants of the once mighty platoon, now stood on the defensive yet again battered and malnourished; kneeling on a knifes edge between life and death behind makeshift wooden fortifications they had constructed hastily by the battalion before them that had been wiped out before they had all first arrived as their replacements. Which were now in shambles thanks in no part to the raiders unyielding stubbornness. Shena looked around the surrounding desolate battlefield ruins, being reminded of their precarious and desperate situation of what what future awaited their nation if they failed tonight.
Another loud crack suddenly filled and echoed throughout the night air above. Encompassing the cascading sky with it's light and mighty roar that she and her men had sadly grown all too used to over any unnerving silence which most others might have preferred. The soldier's didn't even flinch upon hearing the thunderous bolt of lightning finish striking in the far distance. Hitting and sparking against the tallest pillar in a cluster of ancient watchtower ruins and slain stone titan remains from the days of the Jade Empire that had been destroyed from conflict's long since passed before her lifetime. Briefly Illuminating the age old battlefield of countless generations and wars in a bright blinding light for all to see before vanishing back into near pitch darkness. Shena secretly wondered if this glimpse of a graveyard of lost potential was an omen of what was to come. Was this to be the fate of her once mighty homeland now also on it's last legs she feared? To be forgotten and reduced to rubble for all time as well?
Disorderly vines teeming with thorns now engulfed the forgotten stone rubble and fallen construct warriors the size of monuments which now littered the far reaches of the ancient outpost lost to time; with new life being found in the form of green overgrown flora coiling tightly around anything they could latch on to with the intent of staying put indefinitely. Much like her team had been forced to do in order to survive in this valley of death.
Shena couldn't help but secretly laugh at the irony of their situation. Her ancestors had invaded from the sea one hundred years ago into these very lands through this very pass. Now they were fighting to defend it with every last scrap of manpower to spare in the present day. A understaffed mission with unfathomable stakes for those fighting to keep these lands safe. Just like back then. Not a good sign.
The platoon had been guarding the local mountain pass fortress from falling into enemy hands for weeks now. With the narrow gap still being the only entrance for miles around leading through the unsalable jungle mountains, despite the thousands of littered corpses from both sides now obscuring its path. All of them loyal soldiers from both determined armies dying here every day to either defend it or take the old pile of rock as ordered. 'Why though', she had begun to question in private every waking moment.
'It would all be over soon' was her go to phrase she had once kept lying to herself daily. A foolish wishful thought of self-denial she had long since abandoned, that if they somehow just held out long enough in this ramshackle muddy pit until their promised reinforcements arrived, they would at last save the day and return home themselves. A enticing promise to be sure. And one that had been told weeks ago. War has a funny habit of turning promises into delusions.
So now... Without their much needed support, they had been forced to build up a hasty defensive position atop atop a crumbling fort left in poor condition just a few hundred yards away in front of the narrow entrance of the pass, before then encircling their perimeter with numerously placed traps and barrier's into resembling a decaying makeshift castle surrounded by trenches. All in order to even stand a chance at surviving another day. But that hardly was the most imposing thing about their now permeant home set atop the cobbled together mountain of dirt, mud and blood. A more gristly sight had been constructed as a warning by her former commander's order just three assaults ago in the hope's to aid their now desperate situation. One that had only grown in quantity with the brutal passage of time. Not that it helped though. After all, her commander was one of the first to fall. The recently dug ditch surrounding the heavily fortified encampment now held so many thousands of battered bloodied pikes strewn about so carelessly, it was as if a vast forest of spears had sprout up from underneath their very feet to skewer any slain enemy lying at the bottom. A desperate warning to any who dared enter through the stone pass and wished to foolishly make the suicidal climb up to their deaths yet again.
Yet so..it was in vain. The vengeful creatures lying in wait on the other side of the pass didn't fear anything so meager a display as their own siblings set on pikes, and would stop at nothing until Shena and the others were dead along side their own fallen warriors as painful retribution. Shena had never dreamed in a million years she would be facing anything like this. So chaotic. So brutal. It was unlike anything she could ever have imagined or anticipated. And yet here she was. She would adapt. Or die.
"What have you got for me, sergeant!" Shena shouted. Putting aside her worries knowing they would do her no good here. Quickly raising her deadly ornate rifle above to rest atop the wooden barrier. Ready to start firing within a moment's notice towards the slightest disturbance that threatened her soldiers. Sergeant Kiros, a heavily armored behemoth of a man and veteran of over fifty wars responded to his leader without haste while reading his water pulse cannon. A powerful heavy weapon that would be vital for keeping the mobs of enemies at bay once they reached the top of the mound.
"Neso spotted the bugs approaching our position through the entrance of the pass ma'am! They're bringing everyone they have left of their raiding swarm, my guess is at least a thousand!" The ancient sea turtle alerted loudly in his deep booming voice But it's nothing we can't handle. We'll push em back again and sending em back to that ugly bitch of a mother again!
He was the oldest and and most vocal of the squad by far. Donned in his antique generation one grilled helmet and visor he had to flip up manually. The very same outdated helmet he had worn when he invaded these lands over a century ago as a young man seeking adventure with his comrades in arms at the beginning of the monarchy's conquest of of the continent. He was of the of the few living men in the monarchy army or even the whole world who had first hand experience fighting during the fall of the jade empire. Although instead of fighting jungle native guerrillas as he had done so long ago. Now he was defending these lands alongside the descendents of those he had fought and defeated over a century ago. All out of desperation and a common enemy that now threatened them all. Aquatic and jungle native-born alike. All had to pull their weight tonight. No matter their injures or exhaustion.
At the end of the left flank was the brightly colored combat medic Vesa. A young blue and yellow queen angelfish from the tropics just like Shena. She had been impaled through the left thigh with a spear in the last assault and could still barely stand from the fresh wound she herself had patched up painfully without any remaining anesthetic, wanting to conserve it for the others. Yet despite the pain and hardship she had been forced to endure these fast few nights, she still had her gun drawn on the front line no matter how much effort it took just to lift. Ready to fight and support her comrades wherever she was needed on the battlefield. She would not stand idle one the sidelines. Not without her. It was all hands on deck tonight same as always.
Shena turned to face the right flank and observed two badly damaged but still barely functioning oceanic mark-eight infantry automatons guarding private Neso. The only actual native of these lands the team was tasked with defending. To say he was an oddity among aquatics was an understatement to say the least. For he was a visualy striking and immensely proud bengal tiger born in the jungle territory at the helm of a massive Swiveling Gatling gun pointed at the stone pass entrance, ready to die defending his homeland in monarchy navy blue alongside the very people who's ancestors had fought and defeated his generations ago in these very forests. He didn't much care about the past one bit however. It was only now that concerned him. And more importantly, how fast he could reload his weapon in order to cause as much damage as possible. He and his two bodyguards manning the turret were probably the platoon's best and only option to deal enough casualties to the enemy as quickly as possible before they were all overrun again which was certain. But shena knew he would stand and die by his post no matter what force came in front to face him. Even more fiercely than the rest of the team perhaps. Because for him. This was personal to a degree they couldn't possibly understand.
'Why was she so worried about where everyone was positioned?' Shena thought to herself as she finished her secret inspection. 'She shouldn't have to be. They all knew what they were doing and what their roles were in the defense. Everything would be fine. But despite telling herself there was nothing to worry, Shena still could not help but do just that. She feared that even if one thing was out of place, it could cost them the battle. Or worse their lives.
Was the gun malfunctioning? Is Vesa going to pass out suddenly from her wounds? Should she check just to be certain?
'Stop!'
'You trust them, they can do this. We all can.' Shena said self-assuredly to herself, greatly ashamed. She should and could not afford to question their or her own capabilities right now of all times.
'Doubt is a hindrance that has no place in our family.' Another of her father's many lesson's that had been drilled into her head since she was but a small pup. Shena gripped her rifle tighter and stood up slightly; not wanting to risk exposing much of herself in view of the approaching enemy. She quickly turned her elongated torso behind in order to look upon her last soldiers and speak to them as their commanding officer. Fereen right by her side at the ready as always. Waiting intently for his moment to take off into the air at her orders. The rain thrashing against his light armor and large folded wings in a strangely alluring, picturesque fashion. Ready as always. Good man.
They all were.
"Alright everyone! You know the drill! We keep the round-heads from getting past us and advancing anywhere near the province! The O-eights will cover Neso on the gun. Me, Kiros, and Vesa will keep the bugs from climbing up and making themselves comfortable in the trenches!" She then pointed with her gun high above toward the misty air.
"Fereen will guard the sky and I'll cover him when the elite flyers show up again! Once the bugs start to overrun us, we then fall back inside the fort and shut the gates." Shena pointed with her hand behind them all towards a badly damaged metal device the size of a large canister. One that Neso had barely managed to keep functioning with his engineering experience.
"Once inside we'll use the fountain shield. It has enough energy left to stay functioning and protect us from the raider's fire and ordnance for only ten minutes, so we need to save it for when they start to come within arm's reach of us again! Shena's sharp crescent shaped tail began swaying back and forth as she continued her vengeful speech to all.
"With the dome activated, we can fire outside of it while the crawlies scramble to try and get in. It'll create a choke-point and easy pickings ripe for us to exploit!" Shena unearthed a devilish toothy grin on her face. Wanting to provide her men with some small semblance of confidence and hope that they will prevail in the coming chaos. And maybe to herself as well.
"So are we going to send those disgusting insects crawling right back home underground where they belong?! Shena grinned raised her rifle aloft high in the air in front of them all, her narrow eyes filled with a righteous fury. Her heart raced as she waited anxiously as to what they would be their response. She needn't have worried.
There was not a moment of hesitation or doubt in her soldiers' response at all.
"HELL YES MA'AM!!!!" Everyone of her soldiers replied assuredly in perfect unison with enthusiastic smiles consuming their faces. Apart from the O-eights and Fereen that is however; who had no way to emote on their metal faces but still cheered nonetheless. For a brief second the combined spirited voices of the seven soldiers seemed to bring even the sound of the thunder to heel.
"I don't know about you all, but I feel like squashing a few crawlers today!" Exclaimed Neso enthusiastically before locking his harpoon turret into place.
Shena started to grin to her comrades before quickly bringing herself back to composure and focus. She and the other's just needed to survive and give it their all one last time. Their reward they so now craved of finally being able to leave this pile of dirt for good in favor for a new mission so close they could almost taste it. It was still waiting for them just out of reach. All they had to do now was take it.
Shena quickly knelt back down behind the damaged barrier; raising her elongated narrow spear rifle pressed right against her face to be eye level with it. The precise and deadly weapon aimed at the pass entrance, a seeker of fresh blood. As was the same with her model-1 transpiercer harpoon gun. More commonly referred to fondly by royal marines as the SkewerStick, whistling death, or bugsticker.
Shena closed one eye and slowed her breath for increased accuracy. The shark started to scowl, revealing her hundreds of frightening teeth fully for all to see. Her blood practically boiling in anticipation and the sensation of wrath against these savage enemies she hated more than anything. Fanatical monsters who had slaughtered her comrades just days prior were now rushing at full speed towards them in one final desperate charge, hellbent on claiming absolute victory tonight.
They would never surrender. As Shena and her men had discovered all too well recently first hand. When Army ant drones have a mission tasked by their so called glorious queen, they will complete it through sheer numbers and unwavering determination or die trying with no regard for self preservation. They had been indoctrinated from birth in a barbaric caste system society to view their own lives as worthless, but uplifted with the constant reminder that their loving mother could always make more to continue their noble sacrifice for the colony.
And so now thanks to such teachings, the bodies of dead brothers and sisters had become piled up near the pass entrance that Shena and her men now guarded in recent weeks from their own costly suicidal charge's. Clearly demonstrating their inability to think for themselves when it came to survival. Even more despicable was the fact that the raider's had pushed the hundred's of their own kin's corpses together to form some semblance of a makeshift barrier for cover in their next and final assault.
The reward for her foolish teenage children's blind loyalty now stood on full display as an appalling monument of rotting flesh for all to see.
'The depths some will go to please their parents.' Shena thought to herself disgusted. If also a bit amused by the irony given her own messed up family.
Shena had never been one for supporting needless war's against other races. But these mercenaries easily made the top of her list by name and infamy alone. This wasn't just a war for territory or pay for their kind. It was about spreading their outdated twisted ideology and pillaging everything they came across without restraint. These ancient creature's somehow believed they were above the law and deserved all that they stole just because they had the numbers and support of others above them. That the whole world must bow to their race which they somehow believed superior to all others.
She did not know if they would be able to hold them all back. She didn't care. They were monsters. Plain and simple. And it was their platoon's job to stop them. They were a repulsive vermin that would seek nothing but desolation and plunder if they broke through. Destruction, enslavement, and far worse awaited any caught in the path of the raider's conquest towards Orevan; The last monarchy province of the jungle nation and it's agricultural and sea trade heartland, which was now standing practically defenseless without her soldiers risking their lives for it. It was too valuable to lose. Now more than ever. Orevan, supplied over one third of all the nations crops next to the tropics and the homeland of Mera which could not support everyone on it's own. If this outpost falls tonight. Her nation would starve in the coming weeks. That was what at stake if they lost. They lose. Everything.
No one would probably remember what happened tonight. Most battle's didn't get fancy song's or become legend. She and the other's didn't care. They would fight to the last man in order to keep this bloodthirsty swarm from taking another filthy step further west on monarchy territory. These bugs didn't belong here.
And she would soon remind them of that.
The ground beneath her started to rumble. Puddles of water began rippling. Creating miniature waves that dispersed outwards to the boundaries of the small-scale lakes in the dirt. The sounds of hundreds of united footsteps rushing towards the platoon's position at full speed was getting closer by the second. Everyone held their breath and their weapons steadily. This was it. Her seven soldiers against two thousand army ants. They didn't stand a chance. To which side she was referring to, she did not yet know. Whatever the outcome, both sides were going all in for the final battle.
With nothing left to lose.
A single ant emerged from the foggy pass exit in the distance. Pushing aside and climbing over the rotting corpses of her kin before jumping down and running at full speed toward the mound.
Then two more
Then ten
Then fifty
Finally hundreds.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone