The Steel Legion: The Queen's Dilemma and the Shadow of War

A horn bellows, the sound blasting through the air, the sound so intense that Slate and his soldiers instantly scramble to cover, their sensors disoriented, A cry is heard filled by the thundering as the army shifts its attention to the group,and the metallic giants lift their cannons in response, The some soldiers in Slate's regiment set their handheld shield stabbing into the ground, whirring begins as the sound of parts shifting and unlocking fills the air, the sides of the shields extend and connects to the shields beside it, the back extends by nearly 5 feet and a pair of cannons slides out of the shield and slots into place with a hiss as the now wall anchors itself using hooks on the bottom of the shields. A hiss fills the air as it finishes with its setup, The human army falters in their charge as they see the looming metal fortifications, a group of mages cast various attacks, as the spells fly over the army and slam into the fortifications they simply disperse across the surface of the shields, A crackling is followed by an explosion at the location where the mages had stood, the cannons on the wall had fired. A squadron of Mechite fighters can be heard approaching in the distance as the metal planes become dots on the horizon, the fighters fly over the groups in a matter of seconds, the sheen of the metal blinding to look at, each fighter in the squadron fly over the battlefield and loops back around, Slate and his men had taken positions, their visors covered by a face plate, the single slit down the middle gave a chilling feeling to the metal warriors, the single line giving a sinister focus, "WE SHALL FIGHT!" they simultaneously shout to the heavens, "WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER, AND FOR OUR DUTY!" they cry once more, "WE WILL MEET WITH COURAGE AND HONOR ON THE FIELD OF VICTORY OR DEATH!" The army hears this cry and screams in terror, most turning to run in any direction away from the Mechite Regiment now crashing towards them others stand still as though they became statues out of fear, asthe ground becomes covered in craters as they unload their cannons on the army, the fighter jets bombing the fleeing armies camp, the armies tents catching fire from the bombs detonating. Many soldiers became devoured by the overwhelming strength of the Mechite soldiers fighting, the ground beneath their feet became craters, dozens perished,others perished to the sudden rain of metallic projectiles.

"They destroyed the Volkotian army in a mere minute!" A man dressed in red and orange robes said terror in his voice, he was bowed before a young woman on a throne, a silver and gold circlet on her head, "Your majesty, Please we must find out what they want and appease them! They could erase Celheim from the map!" the man pleaded, The woman seemed to think for a second then caught a glimpse of the fighters flying slowly through the air as they did a last check of the battlefield for any more targets, The woman face lit up with wonder, She jumped from the throne and ran through the palace, "Queen Celis! Please don't be rash!" the man screamed as she ran out the room,.

Meanwhile, Jud stood stunned by what he saw as Slate and his regiment set to work clearing a section of forest nearly a km from the battlefield, a transport that appeared to be strictly for hauling supplies and construction drones landed nearby, 4 more followed suit landing in a line, the drones immediately set to work creating a paved area, it was as though a paper roll and been unfurled and now the ground was paved, the drones began creating various structures, most buried partly into the ground as the Regiment formed up and stood in formation, the 6 lines of 10 all at attention, Jud had never seen such coordination and preparedness. The Queen stood at the gateway to the city, the royal army hurriedly following her and sorting itself out, most of the soldiers had a look that seemed to go 'Here we go again what poor sap is she gonna bother this time.' "Queen Celis, we received a com-" a young man said as he came running up, he quickly stopped in his tracks and nearly collided with the guards clearing the city gate of defenses to open it. "Queen Celis? Are you alright?", her breathing was deep and labored, her eyes were wonder and awe-filled, her cheeks lit red as she responded, "Did you see them, The metal objects shooting through the sky and flying as if gravity was not a thing to them!" As she finished several more transports landed at the Mechite encampment, most were the same as the one Jud and the crew had used to arrive however 2 of these transports, however, were gigantic, each nearly a hundred feet tall, they had 6 doors on both sides they opened while still in the air as towering mechite titans stepped down and stood ready, their sensors on full functions, they were scanning everything from visual spectrums to things like magnetic fields and moisture even, the makeup of the materials around them, on their left shoulder was a massive double barrel turret, the smaller transports however simply landed and more of the 12th were deployed, each forming up with the 60 already there, Mythos stood to the side surveying as Poplar landed with Carbon nearby, a smaller transport, help her, Carbon and a few weapons.

"Reporting Commander, 2% of the 12th Regiment has been Deployed, Officer Vexus has begun preparing the arms manufacturing plants," Poplar said saluting just then the Titan units turned to face the city, a second later the turrets on the walls rotated in the same direction, Jud stood nearby with Archon Ferglas and Leonhart, while Astra began to converse with Slate and a few of his officers, Mythos and Poplar moved towards the massive blast doors, the doors slid open as the 12th regiment began marching out of it, a few smaller scout units bolted past all of them, Mythos turned to the 3 standing around, "Let's go, Apparently the Queen has come running towards out outpost and is filled by 450 of her royal guards," he stated calmly a little confused, as the marching regiment moved past Jud and the others, Archon Ferglas was calm as could be, while Leonhart trembled, Jud had a serious look on his face the entire time, Mythos walked out of the doorway through the marching steel automatons, Mythos gave a aura of a confident and powerful commander, the aura seemed to spread to the soldiers , they seemed as though they were able to take anything and be able to shrug it of why devasting anything that had become their target. Jud and the other two followed behind Mythos, Poplar, and Carbon, each had a confidence and air about them as they reached the border to the forest. standing there where Queen Celis was talking to one of her advisors, "Advisor Quire, Please I must speak with them, I beg of you," a little puppy dog eyes were thrown at him, The older human sighed, "I'm getting too old for this, Your majesty let us send envoys first to begin talks before you..." He trails off as Queen Celis runs towards the approaching group of Jud, Ferglas, Leonhart, Mythos, Poplar, Carbon, and Astra, Slate has halted and is standing back with his regiment. "Ahem, Giant metal creature, How do you work!?" Queen Celis asks Mythos, not even noticing the others.

Slate laughed. "THIS is the Queen," his cackle was heard over the surrounding area, Mythos shot him a glare,

Queen Celis seemed to come to her senses," Ah, pardon, Introductions are in order visitors, I am the reigning Queen of Celheim, My name is Katherine Jade Celis, Who might you be?"

" Greetings Queen Celis, I am Prime Commander Mythos, and behind me are Slate, Commander Of the 12th Mechanical Legion, Poplar, Field Scout Division Commander, Carbon, Commander of the 1089th Tank Division, and behind him is Noxis of the Titan Ground Forces, and well if they are willing to introduce themselves, I will allow our companions to introduce themselves." Mythos motioned for Archon Ferglas and Leonhart to introduce themselves.

"Good evening, I am Archon Ferglas, a member of the Artcosian Council of Archons and the representative of a species known as the Artcosian" Ferglas introduces himself courteously, then nods to Leonhart indicating he is done. Leonhart looks at Astra who motions him forward, "Uh hi, I am uh, Mayor Leonhart, Uh, I am the representative of the town of Ravenfall." He then bows and hurries back behind Astra, she rolls her eyes at the pathetic human male, "Damn I see what Jud meant, he is pathetic."

"Huh?" Leonhart asked, before realizing, he realized his mistake and quickly turned the most common shade of red.

"My name is Astra, I was ordered to be at least civilized in your presence ." she said as if she was talking to a child.

Queen Celis glared, "I am royalty, Even if you serve giant metal creatures I demand respect." Astra returned the stare, Queen Celis looked at Jud, "Will you speak or will you stay silent." She demanded more than asked.

"Hero Jud, I feel like we should introduce ourselves as representatives of the Mechanite Federation," Archon Ferglas urged.

Jud finally speaks, "Greetings, my name is Jud, of the Mechanite Federation, We hope to see peace in these lands of Celheim. We have come to form Diplomatic relations."

"Well... To start, who might this "Mechanite" Federation be, are they hidden somewhere on the continent?" Asked the Queen with wonder and slight disbelief.

Mythos chuckled, "Well, we are the Federation! It has been a few centuries since we were last active on this continent" His laugh rumbled as he went on, "But that can wait. For now, let us discuss diplomacy, All we wish to be a recognized body of government and be given the same rights as any other country, details can be ironed out later, in exchange we will assist you with the invasion that we found when we arrived."

The Queen stood with a solemn face," I beg your forgiveness, You may have discovered an aspect of humanity we can not escape from." Queen Celis stares at the mechanical soldiers and then says the words Mythos didn't want to hear.

"Take your people off my land, For I will not trade with you, Even if you give me the destruction of the Volkotian Kingdom" Queen Celis sniped coldly.

This caught everyone off guard, Mythos froze and so did everyone else, Even her own advisors and the royal guard, Archon Ferglas laughed nervously but judging by the look of the robotic soldiers, it was going to be very bad for everyone, Leonhart and Jud watched as they remained silent, Leonhart lost his terrified expression, and Jud continued observing, even the Mechites knew they had to be calm,

"Jud, Assistance please," Mythos asked uncertain what brought about the change in the Queen's mood.

Jud stepped forward, "Your Majesty, If I may be permitted might I explain what Mythos is offering?" The calmness on his face was broken, yet seemed intact in an almost broken way.

"Proceed", A hint of respect flickered across the Queen's face. She seemed to like that Jud was treating her as royalty.

"Your majesty, Mythos is simply asking that the Mechite's be recognized as a country and wish to begin forming diplomatic relations, this will take a bit, so he is offering that while a diplomat from our side stays behind to form the agreement and treaties, We will attack the Volkotian kingdom and end the war for you as a sign of goodwill," Jud bows as he finished explaining.

Archon Ferglas walked up to the pair and bowed, "We apologize on behalf of the Prime Commander, We are just tired of hearing him talking," he laughed and continued, "Before we begin any diplomatic talks, I should inform you that The Arcocian council has accepted an alliance with the Mechanite nation, They feel strongly in dept to the Mechites's as they were the one who vanquished our foe."

Mythos and Queen Celis exchanged glances, an hour went by when Jud interrupted them, "Sorry to intrude but shouldn't Slate join in the discussion, if we are going to plan an attack we need to bring the troops in on the plan."

With a sigh, Mythos accepts Jud's invitation to include Slate in the debate. Poplar raises his hand, "Permission to speak." He states, His monotone voice droned loudly, "If all will listen, a scan has revealed what seems to be a dragon and an army from the Volkotian kingdom on their way here, the should arrive in roughly 4 days as of noon tomorrow.