Chapter 6.8 - Raining Fire

A small armada of ships sailed through the skies over Ston. Serin had arrived with the monster subjugation forces. Below, Serin could see a city in chaos. Fires burned, buildings crumbled, and thousands of shapes of roaming monsters could be seen. Most of the city had been abandoned and was in flames. Evacuees had arrived in the Noble district, which remained unmarred by the encroaching madness. Serin could also see the advanced team Archangels and Longshotshad made no small impact in ensuring the district's safety. These highly trained soldiers guarded the 3 entrances to the Noble District as well as the entire wall, ensuring all possible encroachments were halted. It would be up to the rest of the subjugation to clear the city, and then wipe out the surrounding areas.

Serin would be personally leading these forces, but he had ordered all present to not address him by his name or title. He did not want the enemy to be aware that he was outside Haven. Although Serin did not feel vulnerable, he didn't want the attention. By guarding his identity, it would ensure any future missions could go off without a hitch. However, Serin didn't belong to any specific fighting team or unit, so while most had names like Archangel One Seven, Overwatch two zero, or Red Talon Four, Serin's Callsign was simply 'Subjugator'. While he didn't think such a dark callsign was appropriate, its universal appeal among his troops was evident. His dark scale armor with dragonbone plate spoke of conquest. His helm was swapped from the angelic visage to that of the skygge demon lord, horns, tusks, and a third eye. Kitted head to toe with weapons and wands, his expected damage output was massive. He was truly terrifying, but more importantly, there was no mistaking his current visage with that of Lord Serin Aegis, High Mage and Sovereign of Haven.

"Subjugator, we are soon to arrive at the drop point."

Serin nodded, "Excellent. Ensure the Archangels are relieved and given time to recuperate. They aren't done yet, but they deserve a bit of rest. Force it if necessary."

The Soldier nodded. Serin had no idea this soldier's name. Since everyone was under strict orders to stay masked when visible from the public, Serin did not know his name, only that he was Hammer One One, and the leader of the Sunset Hammers, a protectorate team that had earned their name from the First battle with Narissa.

Serin sent a message, [Gail, have the windrunner teams do low passes looking for survivors. Relay information to recovery teams.] Serin saw as several escort windrunners broke off from the armada and began doing surveillance passes.

Another leader came to Serin, "This is where me and the Boys are hopping off."

Serin looked below and it was just hordes of low level enemies. "Are you sure?"

The team of 20 looked to Serin, "Subjugator, with that many enemy below, there is no chance of survivors in the midst. Therefore we do not need to worry about collateral damage. So yes, we are sure." Serin looked at their loadout. Swords, Hammers, Spears, Scatterguns. The Rowdy bunch looked ready to destroy anything nearby.

The leader shoulder was marked with "RB-1" and the image of a tankard of ale, saluted Serin.

"Rowdy Bunch, going loud."

With that they jumped. Serin had no worry. The rowdy bunch would most likely survive level 51 of the dungeon. The enemies below were far lower level. And worst case, every soldier was tagged for recovery. And since this was a volunteer subjugation mission, Revivals did not incur a monetary or mana penalty from the state.

Serin looked over to the you Skygge captain. "When will that big thing arrive? You said it left a day after us right?"

The Skygge captain Fineas, laughed, "You mean the Leviathan? It travels faster than us, so it should be coming into view in a few hours. For now we can land. We have supplies to deliver. Then we head back for additional retroop and resupply"

Serin nodded. This ship was a transport vessel, and would be returning to Haven to resupply and then return back to Ston.

As his ship and several others came to rest in the Noble district of Ston, Serin and the remaining crew began to disembark. There were a few soldiers left, but these were to guard supplies and render aid to the civilians and take over for The Archangels and Longshots. There were a few Guardian gole that had come and they were shivering in the lower compartment. When they got off they quickly used the available stone from the cobblestone street of the district to form new golem frames. With the guardian form, they were much more apt to move the boxes of supplies.

Serin Disembarked and met with the Archangel commander. "Subjugator, you have arrived. Let me brief you on the current situation."

***

It was not looking good for Ston. Had Serin's forces not arrived when they did, the city would have been lost. Even now, the archangels were breaking only helping maintain the status quo. A detailed map of ston showed the situation. The leadership of ston was present at the meeting but they mostly stayed quiet. Although they had heard of these monsters from Haven, here they were ensuring their survival.

Serin surveyed the situation. Outside of the Noble district there were several pockets of survivors in various buildings. Over the last 12 hours, a 2 person archangel recovery team had worked to pull stragglers but they had only saved roughly 200 citizens. Serin looked at the situation.

The Rowdy Bunch would continue to do what they do, which is maximum damage to the enemy force at its highest concentration. The Sunset Hammers had taken over the duty of fighting the front lines of the Noble district.

Serin looked at his available troops. "Archangel, your team is relieved for 6 hours to rest and refit. After that time they will be primarily responsible for search and rescue of the pockets of survivors."

"Understood Subjugator."

Serin looked to his other leaders. "Our first priority is to stem the tide of monsters. All the outer gates have been thrown open by the enemy forces, so we will be shutting them. Permanently. Red Talons and The Tricksters, I need you to escort one of our Guardian Gole to the South Gate, where they will shut it. You will need to escort along the wall route, since they will also be reworking the stone wall to be too slick for even the kobolds to climb."

"Finally, we need to shore up the defenses here." Serin looked to the Ston Guard captain. "Captain, i humbly request annexing your available guards so i might arm them and have them begin manning the wall. I am willing to loan weapons to your people, and anyone with intermediate marksmanship will have no trouble wielding them."

The captain was about to speak, when in walked Ston's Magistrate. "Absolutely not! Subjugator, or whatever you call yourself. Under that mask you are either a monster or a deserter. Neither of those are fit to even stand in the presence of our great nobles, let alone deputize them. Additionally, I have a copy of the formal contract between Haven and the Northern Kingdoms. Nowhere does annexing our soldiers fall under the requirement from our Nation. You will subjugate the enemy yourself."

Serin stared daggers at the magistrate. Fat, balding, caked on makeup, and although a fairly large mana pool, not enough willpower to fill it in a week, let alone a few hours as expected from someone suited to combat. He was a Noble Bureaucrat. The lowest form of life. "Understood Magistrate.I must warn you that without said assistance the collateral damage may be higher."

The magistrate waived his hands. "I care not for your excuses. You will protect those within this noble district. All those commoners outside are already dead as far as I am concerned. Otherwise this agreement is voided."

The air shifted with the anger Serin felt. "Understood Magistrate." Serin looked over to one of the team leaders. "I want the Longshot team to continue their post on the walls. Your next resupply is in 2 days, so don't waste your munitions and preserve your mana. I will send a runner to refill stamina and provide you with a bit of jitterweed to stay awake."

The Magistrate, having secured his petty victory, then decided to overreach. "No. I want that team as my personal guard for my estate here in the Noble district, as well as to go and fetch my goods I have stored at my magic shop in the merchant quarter." Serin began to lose his calm demeanor, but the Magistrate didn't notice through his mask.

"Magistrate, that is not within the scope of this operation. I am going to request that you leave the military matters to us. We will not request assistance from your populace, so I will request that you do not give orders to my troops."

The Magistrate, confusing the situation, pressed on. "No. This contract is for your protection of Ston. You work for ME!"

Serin had enough. He pulled out a pistol and shut the magistrate in his enormous gut.

The magistrate fell to the ground writhing in pain. The other nobles stood still like frightened horned rabbits. Unable to move or think, as this foreigner just shot their city's leader in the gut with a powerful pistol.

Serin then leaned in close and brought up the formal kingdom aid contract in his Kingdom management screen, and showed it to the Magistrate. It was still valid.

"Do you see that magistrate? Unprovoked, I shot you in the abdomen. If you notice, It was not considered an act of war, nor have I broken the agreement. If you were a smarter man, you would realize in the wording of the contract, it is not for the defense of Ston, it was for the subjugation of all monsters in the area. If I so chose, I could wipe the city from the face of terra, and as long as the monsters were killed, the contract would still be fulfilled."

The Magistrate sputtered in anger, "you wouldn't dare!" blood present in his sputter. Serin then heard what sounded like Music. Yes it was the sound of a Skygge pipe organ, loud enough to drown out the din of the battle. A runner came inside, "Subjugator. The Leviathan has arrived."

"Are you so sure?" Serin grabbed the magistrate by the back of his robe and pulled him outside leaving a trail of blood as the magistrate tried to stem the flow out of his body.

Breaking through the lower clouds in the distance, there was a ship easily four times the size of the second largest vessel in the Haven Armada. It was so large it was its own ship class according to the skygge, Leviathan class. Since it was the only one, it was just called, 'the Leviathan'. It was not a troop transport or a cargo ship. It was a vessel that carried only destruction and was purposed to leave death in its wake.

Serin looked at the magistrate as he sent the command. "Begin magical and toxin bombardment of the ruins outside of Ston. Continue the bombing until the ruins are all turned to dust. These monster breeding grounds must be wiped clean before we can clear the forces in the city. Our Magistrate here will decide if we use the same tactic closer to town."

Serin was aware that the potent toxin was only so when it was inhaled, and dispersed after 24 hours exposed to oxygen. Serin used the spell [remote viewing] to show the magistrate the crumbling buildings with thousands of monsters exiting, most of which getting caught in the purple fog that billowed 30 feet off the ground.

"As You can see magistrate, every citizen of Haven is wearing a mask. It is not for looks. That poison is harmless to us. It is even pretty harmless to anyone who has a constitution higher than 50. But it will kill any living creature otherwise. I could have started my subjugation by killing everyone here but decided to risk my own people to save yours. So while my subjugation forces continue to do so, why don't you crawl to the healers tent and figure out how you will come back and beg for my forgiveness."

Serin threw him towards the tent. He then messaged the Sunset Hammers Team leader. [The Leviathan is emptying out all of the monsters from their homes. Expect an increase in numbers and level shortly.]

[Understood.]

Serin saw that only the upper leadership of Ston had seen the exchange between himself and the magistrate. It was a different story for the commoner refugees.

The common folk were being served hot meals. A sepecialized contraption that generated hot water for showers was setup and clean simple clothes and towels were being given out. Tents for survivors were being set up with small bedrolls. Serin knew that sickness and disease were not the two greatest threats to the refugees that survived the initial onslaught.

Serin had definitely made an enemy of the upper nobility and leadership of Ston as a warmongering tyrannical monster. The commoners were seeing Haven as a kind neighbor that was selflessly defending Ston from the surrounding terror that their own nation had ignored for years.

The disparity between these two views is where Serin would drive a wedge into The Northern Kingdoms, and divide its people, crippling it from the inside.

Serin heard Olma's voice at the soup line as she kindly handed food to the grateful line of survivors, preparing them with a full belly to hopefully get some much needed rest.

In the distance, a flying battleship rained fire and poison from the skies.

Hearts and Minds.

***