Interlude - The Fortress

Interlude - The Fortress

The Fortress

Several Months Ago

The sky was slowly getting brighter, but the orange tint remained. The flaming clouds moved slowly, in a circle around the exact center of the territory. The territory was peculiar, and more so than just clouds that were made of fire. The rivers were dark, what flowed through them was not water but liquid metal. The mountain in front of her was tall, and filled with precious ore, some not found anywhere else in the world.

The fortress looming over them all now had never been taken in a straight siege before. The tall black stone walls had been layered over the centuries, the formations and arrays inside of them had been made by the best in the world. It had been at the edge of her territory, a bastion that was supposed to protect the entrance into her lands. Only a fool would try to take the Black Stone Mountain, she had made sure of that when she had it built. It was a city of millions, filled with some of the best metal workers in the world. This had been a forge that fueled the arms of her troops, that created wonders. And now, it was in the hands of her enemies. Fallen, but not through force of armies, not through siege, but treachery.

The Grey Horde closed her eyes, feeling weary. More than a decade of fighting wars, of reclaiming lands that she had lost and punishing those that had dared to turn their eyes on what was hers. And this fortress, this territory was the last of her land that was left to retake. The attacks on her Kingdom had not been a result of the madness that had consumed the rest of the Settled Territories. No, it had been executed too perfectly, too many things had already been in place. Oh, they had taken advantage, of course they had. She had taken her armies away, far to the south to deal with another threat to them all, and then the Tournament, the Dome, Reaction Engine, and everything...

They struck when she wasnt there, they killed her people, taken her lands. They knew exactly where and how to strike; theyve been preparing for a long time. Crippling her Kingdoms economy, taking the key positions, assassinating her governors. By the time she returned, a third of her territory was in the hands of her enemies. And they were pushing to take more, without the bulk of her army there, they were mostly unopposed, fighting only troops that she had left to guard her lands. Which had been insufficient.n0ve(l)bi(n.)co/m

She had returned ahead of her armies, along with a fighting force of her fastest, those that could survive the pace that she kept to return home. The enemy forces stalled when they reached her inner lands, which was one thing she was grateful for. Their foolish attacks had allowed her to test the defense of the core of her lands, and she had found them worthy.

That did not absolve them however for what they had done. Fifteen factions had banded together to wage war against her, and she had crushed all of them. She had rallied the troop remaining in her lands and retaken her territories, fighting a dozen small wars. The progress had been slow until her army returned, and then she had rolled over them all. Taken back her lands and spilled her hordes into theirs, taking everything from them, crushing everything that they have built to rubble.

Only the Black Stone Mountain remained. Her enemies huddled up inside had nowhere to go, she had made a point to destroy their homes before coming here. The factions they used to belong to, no longer existed. It was still not enough to repay for what they had done. Millions of people lived in the city beneath the mountain, and they had butchered their way through it until the rest bowed, just so that they could survive. She knew that they had brought in a lot of their own people over the years, and any information she had of what was happening inside stopped years ago. She didnt even know if any of her people still lived. She couldnt feel them, which meant two things, they were either dead or enslaved, the collars prevented her powers from recognizing them as her own.

And now she had to take a fortress she built to be unconquerable. Grey Horde turned and looked behind her, at her army. The endless sea of troops, the sky was filled with her air ships and combat wings, karura and skreen, flying in lazy circles. The preparations for the siege were being carried out, fortifications built for their camps, siege equipment set up, all done by the drones. The skreen drones were slow, but methodical, give them a task and they would do it without stopping even if that meant their death.

Even now, after so long since she had awoken, it still pained her to see them used in that manner. But that was the reality of the skreen race. Unlike the other races, the skreen didnt have childhoods. No, they were born as drones, mindless beings of flesh and little intellect, relying only on the telepathic guidance of their hive queens to accomplish their tasks, their purpose. Every type of skreen was the same, from the warrior types to the builders and the queens, only their purpose was different.

She herself had once been just a lowly minder queen, responsible for guiding the operation of her hive for the breeder queen. She still remembered the moment she had awoken, and she truly knew herself and the world. It was the day when the Framework arrived, when monsters entered her small hive and killed the breeder queen. She had been the only one left to command the Hive, and she had. She guided her hives grey horde against the monsters, and she prevailed. That was the day she earned her soul and her name. Now, she watched over others of her kind, trying so hard to give them that opportunity to live past their drone stage.

She landed in front of the great gates, and simply looked above at the defenders staring down at her.

It didnt take long for someone to come out and speak with her. A shape shimmered into existence in front of her, a tall minotaur wearing elaborate clothing more suited for meeting rooms than a battlefield.

Grey Horde, he inclined his head. No honorifics, no respect.

She didnt even know who he was for sure, could be one of two people. Both were minotaurs, one put in charge of the city, and the other a merchant prince who was supposed to oversee the exploitation of her mines and the craft of the city.

My army is here, you will not hold the city for long, she said simply. Despite everything, she would still rather avoid death, if at all possible.

The minotaurs eye twitched. You built this fortress so that it could not be taken, I very much doubt that.

He was right, of course. The only reason they had taken it was because they had been betrayed from within, they teleported their army directly inside.

Besides, the minotaur continued. Even if you manage to take it, you will break your army against these walls. Lets not pretend, you left this place for last for a reason. And the moment we know that we are losing, we will make sure that the mountain and the city will never serve anyone ever again.

Her anger rose at that, but she kept it under control. Trklaks words echoed inside her head again, and she made a decision.

Very well then, Grey Horde closed her eyes.

Come, old friend, she spoke, and her awakened gauntlets rose from the depths of her soul to nestle against her arms.

Finally, War Path said. We were always meant to lead from the front.

I know my friend, she said as she activated his War Gear ability. Her body was enveloped in a suit of silver armor, leaving only her wings and antennae peeking out. They would learn who she really was.