Wolfran the Knight Avenger
In
The Last Crusade of Altraumzen
Episode 5: Breaking the Horde
“Knight’s Captain, I’m indisposed at the moment,” Konrad’s gritted retort came over Wolfran’s headset. The Magnus’s tone made the Captain reassess his units positions and various video feeds. With a swipe of his hand a drone fell from a port on Wolfran’s mech’s back which sprouted twin electric sparking antigravitational generators, and launched above the battle giving a proper bird’s eye view of the action. There was nothing too surprising.
Their meteor like landfall had shocked their enemies, and the ferocity of the charge had gained ground. Thousands of the legions of the damned had been torn asunder. Still, their charge was finally checked, and on the drones feed Wolfran spied Konrad leading a counter attack on a pocket of roiling fighters pushing against his men’s line of battle which had turned more into a half circle. The tails had folded back against the pressure even as reinforcements joined the line now that no more slaves of Ishtar were snapping at their heels.
More and more of the enemy roiled out of the underground passages spewing a wave of monsters like popped pus filled boils. Around the Captain was the majority of the heavy infantry, and a scattering of three of his knights whose mounts were still functional. Two of the zweihanderkriegers, and one of the Lancer companies. All this information passed across Wolfran’s screen just before a flash showed a heated ray disintegrating his drone. The Captain had spied that the rest of his force was tightly engaged.
“Konrade, will you hold?”
“Patience Captain, I will be with you in a moment,” Konrade said with a distracted air in his voice before a combine strike from the Lancers positioned on a dais overlooking the battle from the center of the courtyard eviscerated the bulging pocket that Konrade and his knights had checked. Most of the enemy in the bulge on the line were cyborg minotaurs that had been pushing the crusaders mechs with their gravitational hammers and cursed blades of ancient battle filled with endless blood of a thousand raids.
However fearsome the foes of varying colored bulls and temperaments were, they were no match for the combined fire from two lancer wings of a mounted knights. Wolfran thanked his savior for the millionth time for having a confident and competent subordinate when the Captain couldn’t be everywhere at once. Or allowed the soul of a berserker to carry him too far afield. This was a fact that must be hidden from the voracious Konrade at all costs. If his pride swelled any further he’d be mistaken for a glutton and unable to fit into his armor. No one wanted a fat Magnus.
“There. I will hold well into the night or until our ordinance runs dry in two marks of the diel.” Konrade said over the intercom as the line of knights and infantry reformed, and braced for the inevitable charge of regrouping demonic horrors.
“Is that all? And your mother had such high hopes for you and your future spawn. I suppose your Captain will have to save you once more, Magnus.”
“Very well sir, but don’t you forget what happens to you if you tarry and my mother haunts your afterlife,” Wolfran smiled and knew his Obenrittenbrudens were laughing and sharing the jokes with their men. It was important for them to see their officer completely unconcerned of the rapidly deteriorating situation.
Of course, such goals were helped by the fact that Wolfran wasn’t concerned. His blood was too high. The love of battle was upon him, and he could taste the fall of his enemies on his tongue. Still, he shouldn’t jabber all day like a gaggle of hags on a log falling into rapids. Not even Konrad would hold forever with no ordnance, and they couldn’t obtain orbital resupplies until they’d secured a beachhead.
“Captain Gotz is your company intact,” Captain Gotz of one of the four Heavy Infantry Skyfall attachments to the wing of mounted knights saluted in his armored suit from atop the bloody mess of flesh and bone that had a vague resemblance to one of the horned giants. He’d been in the act of retrieving his plasma blade from the deceased demon’s sternum.
“Ready and fit for more cleansing, Knight’s Captain Wolfran,” Captain Gotz was the youngest captain on their ship, and not even the tempered denizens and horrors of the nightmare world seemed to temper his enthusiasm.
“Set your brimstone mortars on this rumble, and have the rest of your men rally on the far right flank. When I give the word rain on the enemy lines to our front with such fire that Sodom will remember the flames of the Lord’s wrath. Then we will collapse each tunnel in turn. Prepare your men as I prepare my knights.”
“Just you four for the charge sir?”
“As you can see for yourself Captain. There are none other to spare.”
“More glory for the infantry then sir. I will be off to my task.” So saying the Infantry Captain jumped from his perch in his thousand pound armor crushing writhing bodies with each stride as he waved at his men. Wolfran smiled at the officer’s back. With men at arms such as these the officers of standing must raise their standards, or the knights might just find themselves left behind at the bloody harvest.
“Captain, I hear we are charging the enemy. I claim the vanguard. My long range missile ordinance is spent even if I wished to use them.” Sir Hienrich Von Guthenberg keyed through the general proximity channel as his zweihanderkrieger wielding mech stomped up to his Captain.
He was a veteran that Wolfran knew well from Obenrittenbruden Cunradus’ Bloody Long Sword. The old man had been in the Skyfall knight contingent before Wolfran had lifted his first blade in his squire training. One day he would surely retire if the denizens of Ishtar did not snatch his soul, and that day would surely be after Konrad had finally fulfilled his mother’s wishes with a fulfilling marriage. Dreams could become reality with enough prayer as the Priests always declared.
“I grant your claim Sir Hienrich, did any of you save your ordinance gentlemen?” Each of the remaining knights keyed into their mikes that they had not except for Knight’s Sergeant Ludwig of the Bloody Lance.
“Of course a lancer still has his ordinance,” grumbled Sir Hienrich.
“Someone has to plan for the winter when all ordinance is expelled, and cravens must be cleansed, good Sir,” Sir Ludwig answered cheerfully as he patted the grenade launchers with his mech's massive armored hands.
“Indeed,” Captain Wolfran said as he led the stopping mechs to the far right of the bending line of men and arms and knights holding their ground,” Sir Ludwig, once we gain the mouth of our nearest passage to the hell beneath our feet you are to use your high explosive grenades to fire past the stone frames. Beyond in the tunnel are weaker constructions that as I’ve shown will not hold to sustained fire.”
As if to further Wolfran’s point a wild blast from zweihanderkrieger sent bolts of lightning and plasma against the massive passage doors nearest tunnel entrance. The blasts only managed to scratch the face of a golden bull statue with little actual damage to show for the action. They would most certainly need to fire beyond those ancient stone works. They were lucky that such construction was not feasible for the entire tunnel system.
“Captain, should we not deploy our drones with explosive ordnance, and fly them into the tunnel? As much as I enjoy charges into numerical superior enemies I would prefer bringing the rocks on their heads from a far.” Sir Berthold suggested as the infantry formed up behind their position, and the thin line of crusaders took one grudging step back at a time against the merciless onslaught in front of them.
“Ah, A fair point Sir. But as I have already lost one of my sear drones to automated laser defense weaponry I can only assume we would only manage premature detonations. We will need to gain control of the fortress auto defenses before we may use our drones. Are there any other suggestions?” Wolfran asked the small troop of knights. None answered. Time for them to claim their new fortress.
“Are your men in position Captain Gotz?”
“Ai Captain, we stand ready.”
“Konrad, prepare your extreme right flank. After the indirect fire rains we charge past their ranks into the fray.”
“They are prepared, and they tire of pretending weakness in the face of the enemy.” Wolfran nodded at his Magnus’s confirmation. With more monstrosities boiling out of the ground by the second they had little time to lose.
“Combined strike on right flank. Loose!” Wolfran called into the intercom. A second later the boom and crack of the railguns of the lancers charred the ranks of beasts, beast men, and mechanical machinations ahead of their prepared charge. A moment more, and the plasma mortars bathed the ground in a lake of fire. Each shell blasting superheating volatiles from twenty feet above the tallest giant’s head sending shotgun blasts of infernos on the crowded masses below. Their screams were deafening, and their resolve instantly cracked.
With organized movements the ragged line of defenders dragged themselves, and their injured comrades to either side leaving a most inviting hole for Wolfran’s mixed bag of heavy infantry and knights to fall upon the writhing mass beyond. Sir Hienrich never hesitated for a second. With a quick blast from his and the other mechs’ zweihanderkriegers electro blades, and one shot from Ludwig’s raillance, the veteran charged with Wolfran two steps behind.
The Story Will Continue Every Friday.
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