Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Acceptance

Esthirant, Parpaldian Empire

Remille awoke to hyperventilation and bright sunlight shining through the windows, her sheets drenched in cold sweat from nightmares. Images of destruction wrought upon Esthirant by American aircraft remained branded in her mind, seared and trapped within her fears. Feeling uncomfortable and claustrophobic within her tight blanket, she immediately threw them off, her body enjoying the fresh air. Brought to instantaneous alertness, Remille stood up and attempted to calm her breathing.

“It is but a dream,” she whispered to herself, expressions of worry subsiding from her face. She sat back down on her bed, closing her eyes and allowing her brain to readjust itself to reality. Then, a sudden knock on her bedroom door sent her eyes flying open faster than lightning. Her heart began to palpitate and she became annoyed at the intrusion that had ruined her silence. “What?” She asked in a groggy voice, laced with venom. 

“Mistress Remille,” a feminine voice came through the door, “The alarm has sounded! We must evacuate you away from the city!”

Remille’s eyes grew wide in shock. Her maid was talking about the early warning system developed by Matal. A civilian vessel must have spotted American fleet movements, meaning that an attack is imminent. “Damn it!” She cursed, hurrying to grab a decent set of clothes before their departure. Her worst fears — her literal nightmares — turned true. Hoping that this was a continuation of her dreams, she analyzed her surroundings, desperately trying to find anything that might seem off. 

“Mistress Remille, please hurry!”

It dawned upon her that this certainly wasn’t a dream, and that the Americans were indeed attacking. “I’ll be there in a few seconds!” She said, her voice now stricken with panic. 

With quickness and precision found within the Imperial Guard themselves, Remille donned an outfit she randomly selected from her wardrobe. As he put on her boots, she opened her door, startling the maid on the other side. 

“Mistress Remille, this way,” she extended her hand, guiding Remille toward her carriage as they descended a massive spiral staircase. 

“Have the servants secured my valuables?” Remille asked. 

The maid responded, “Yes, Mistress. They’re loading the carriages as we speak.”

Remille released a sigh of relief. In a world that was falling apart, it was pleasing to know that at least one thing was going as expected. As they got closer to the front doors, the sound of horns grew. The volume culminated as they opened the doors, blaring from defensive units rushing to their posts. 

Covering her ears, Remille entered her carriage with her maid and a small retinue of guards. With an order from the driver, the horses moved, quickly passing a regiment of soldiers as they headed toward a bunker near the Imperial Palace. Along the way, the soundscape of soldiers clamoring and horns blaring became drowned out by a constant, droning rumble. 

Curious about the noise, Remille ordered the driver to stop in the middle of an open road.

“But, Mistress Remille, we must arrive at our destination post haste! We are not safe here!”

“Look around; there are no military targets here. Stop the carriage. I need to see!” A sensation overcame her — a desire to know the outcome of this battle. Would the scenes from her nightmare come to fruition, or could their wyvern lords and overlords repel the invaders?

The massive objects in the sky provided her with an expedient answer as they ignored the city, continuing past the Imperial Palace as they set their sights on the base to the north. Recalling the reports from the American-Lourian conflict, Remille made the sudden connection between the flying behemoths and the bombing campaigns that decimated the Lourian Eastern Subjugation Army. “No…” she muttered in disbelief, eyes wide and glued to the planes as they neared the outskirts of Esthirant. 

One glimmer of hope remained: the wyvern overlords who were waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting aircraft. Remille caught them ascending from the corner of her eye, rapidly moving to intercept the bombers. However, the bombers had already prepared for this and climbed higher at a rate unmatched by the wyvern overlords. The great machines grew smaller as they retreated into the skies above, far outside of Parpaldian combat range. 

Gasps arose from the stunned Parpaldians, quickly transforming into silent, dropped jaws as streaks of light raced from the bombers’ escorts toward the wyvern overlords below. Barely bothering to shift course, the silvery escorts maintained their positions near the bombers while the infamous light arrows twisted downward, tracking their targets. Remille and her companions wanted to hope for the best, but realized what they were up against. The light arrows have never failed thus far, from Louria to Altaras. On the contrary, the wyvern overlords were untested in true combat until now. 

A few civilian bystanders cheered as they saw the glorious reptiles, wings unfurled and bodies angled upward. Their cheers were muted by the deafening explosions that engulfed the erratically moving wyvern overlords. Some tried to speed away to the sides, only to get chased by an unrelenting speed demon whose speed dwarfed that of the championed bioweapons. Others tried to slow down in order to perform rapid, evasive maneuvers, but physics was cruel to them. Unfamiliar with the agility of the wyvern overlords and reacting too slowly, the esteemed knights were unable to channel their imagined actions into their steeds. The wyvern overlords were simply moving too fast to decelerate in such a short period of time. They too, were caught up in the blasts that decimated their comrades. 

From the majestic flight of 24 wyvern overlords, none survived. Given no chance to fight back, it was crushing to see that the best Parpaldian weapons could do no better than the primitive barbarians of Louria. Fading hope and diminishing pride were soon followed by horror and acceptance. All that remained of the once lively and intimidating wyverns included clouds of smoke and red mist lingering in the air. 

Shock prevailed as Parpaldians on the ground stood motionless, their sheltered eyes for the first time seeing their invulnerable military shattered. After tales upon tales and reports upon reports of unquestionable and overwhelming victories, it was nightmarish to see a defeat with their own eyes. It was even worse seeing it happen over the skies of Esthirant. It was heart-dropping to know that despite their military’s best efforts at defense, defeat was inevitable. 

The bombers, satisfied with the eliminated threats, descended slightly as they angled themselves toward the base below. Representing angels of death, the fleet of aircraft opened their bellies, releasing objects that from a distance looked like rain. Indeed, it was raining bombs. 

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Remille turned away as flashes ignited in the distance, followed by the rumbling exhibited by a massive carpet bombing campaign. “I should have listened to Director Kaios…” she muttered, regret driving sharp pains within her. She turned to the driver, “I’ve seen enough of this. Let’s not make His Excellency wait any longer.”

She boarded her carriage as more aircraft flew overhead — more of the silvery escorts that she witnessed in action earlier. This time, however, they were flying much faster and lower, sending sonic shockwaves rippling throughout the air as they passed by. With ear-shattering booms, they flew in an organized manner, leaving behind single, precise explosions. It was clear that they were targeting other military installations simultaneously, and the other bases were likely suffering the same fate. After the screeching machines left, all that could be heard were screams from terrified Parpaldian residents. 

“Could I have stopped this?” She asked herself, shaking in front of her entourage. “Can I still stop this?

——

10 Minutes Earlier

Imperial Capital Defense Base

Crowded over a set of manacomm devices, the base’s commanding staff grimaced as the screams of the dying echoed throughout the room. General Cius shook his head, sharing little of the surprise that infected his comrades. Having expected this outcome, Cius was barely shocked — only disappointed and saddened that the Parpaldian Empire had to suffer this unlucky fate. Differing greatly from Lieutenant General Mayga, whose wrinkled face was plastered with shock, Cius moved quickly and gave orders almost immediately after the wyvern overlords units were confirmed to be eliminated. 

“Technician Paie,” Cius said calmly, “Give the order to evacuate. Have the remaining wyvern units relocate to their preassigned bases.”

The young woman seated by the devices nodded solemnly. “Yes, sir.”

“What?! General, you may outrank me, but command of this base still falls upon me! Technician, belay that order and have all troops prepare for combat!”

“Mayga, this isn’t an order from me. This is an order from Supreme Commander Arde himself.”

“Huh?” Mayga’s expression quickly turned from defiance to confusion. Forced to make a decision quickly, he decided not to question the words of Cius and Arde, opting to follow orders instead. “I apologize, General.”

“Technician Paie,” Cius nodded, giving her permission to continue. “Be quick. We have but a few minutes to evacuate.”

Outside, wyvern lords rushed out onto the runway, hurrying to take off and avoid the incoming doom. Meanwhile, scores of people flocked away from the buildings, abandoning the materials and equipment stored within. Carriages were lined up in open areas far from the base in preparation for the evacuation, causing Mayga to wonder why he wasn’t informed. 

As they approached a group of carriages, Cius stopped and turned to face Mayga. “Lieutenant General, continue south toward the city. Your men will be given new assignments once they reach the gates. I wish I could coordinate these efforts, but I am required to be in the presence of His Excellency,” Cius said with a rising voice, shouting over the sounds of aircraft overhead. He bid his farewell, giving Mayga a salute before turning to enter his carriage. “May the glory of the Parpaldian Empire be eternal.” 

Mayga repeated Cius’ salute, wondering if the order to evacuate was the correct one. Shadows scraped the ground at incredible speeds as the monstrosities overhead blocked the sun. Holding his hands up to his eyes, he analyzed the machines as they flew over the base, unloading an unholy torrent of dark objects. He noticed some troops lagging behind, sprinting away from the base. A few wyverns were also still on the runway — the last to be deployed. 

Like many others before him, Mayga could only stand and watch in hopelessness and helplessness as the specter of death consumed those under his command. Forces that had been heretofore only seen in acts of nature were artificially reproduced. Explosive power rivaled only by volcanoes themselves ravaged the base, granting those on the runway a quick and instantaneous death. Those who were still fleeing from the base on foot were scalded, with those along the outer blast radius suffering heavy burns while those within were cooked alive. The lucky ones were impaled by debris and mercifully put to death. 

Feeling the uncomfortable heat of the blasts and nearly deafened by the constant sounds of hundreds of explosions, Mayga waved his hand, signaling for the evacuees to continue moving. With the night of the Americans now out into a very personal perspective, Mayga suddenly felt grateful that Supreme Commander Arde gave the order to evacuate. He understood the doctrine of living to fight another day, but in the face of such overwhelming power, how could they even fight back?

As he and the base’s survivors trudged back toward Esthirant, they felt their morale plummeting. The devastation behind them had finally ceased, with both the intoxicating smoke and the sounds of receding aircraft fading away. Slowly materializing into their eardrums however were the sounds of turmoil from within the city. A smaller number of aircraft continued to terrorize the city, bombing key targets with precision and sending the civilian populace into a panic. 

Approaching the city gates, Mayga began to laugh. 

“Sir, why are you laughing?” Paie asked. 

“It’s funny… we, Esthirant’s finest, could do nothing against these enemies. Our base was annihilated in mere seconds, down to the foundations. Even the bedrock and ground below were not spared. Had it not been for the orders of General Cius and Supreme Commander Arde,” he lamented, realizing the grave mistake he had almost made, “We would all be dead.”

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