Author's Note

Character Tags: Tempest Shadow, Grubber, Storm King, OC
Tags: Dark, Violence, Gore, Sad

Set: 1520 AD; 8 years after the end of The Broken and The Damned.

The Storm against the Eagle~PT. 1

The Storm King adjusted his position on his throne, scowling. He tapped his finger on his chin, frustration growing steadily by the second. He barked out, "How long is this going to take!?"

The yeti technician turned from the Mistwater pool, saluting and telling him, "I'm sorry sir. We're trying to connect to Commander Tempest, but we just can't. Perhaps she's having some interference. Maybe she's busy, and just can't pick up."

The Storm Kings scowl deepened. He had sent Tempest out to secure this new territory he had heard about. It was supposedly resource-rich, had decent influence in the region, and rested on a few trade routes. A stepping stone on his way to his conquest of the east, then the north, then the west. He was almost giddy at the prospect. Said giddiness faded almost as fast as it came due to the forces he had sent Tempest with.

"I sent her with TWO HUNDRED airships! That's over ten thousand Storm Troopers! Even if they're putting up some resistance, there's no way they can stand up to her for all that. It's been almost a day!" He finished yelling, before he said to the technician. "Just... figure it out. Ok?"

After a little more fiddling and testing of the link, the familiar sheen of mist rose from out of the pool of Mistwater. "Woohoo! Finally", he said, clambering off the throne and walking up to it. He was greeted with the dark purple and pale red of his right-hand mare. He said, "Tempest! Good to see you. You weren't sending me the typical message, so I decided to call you. Now, what's up?"

Tempest turned to him, closing her eyes and bowing her head. At least, that's what he thought she was doing. Instead, a loud explosion and a loud scream nearby her indicated that wasn't the case, and she was, in fact, ducking from something. She looked back at him after a second, this time actually bowing her head as she said, "My Lord. I'm sorry, but things have turned out to be much more complicated than initially thought."

"What do you mean?", the Storm King asked.

"Well, the local defensive forces are much better than the usual fare. Well-armed, well-trained, tactically adept. Even with the airships and our heavy armor, they're able to outfight us. Not to mention the superior weapons they have. It seems the only place we match them is in numbers, and even then, they're complemented by militias."

The more Tempest spoke, the more he got angrier. "Are you telling me that you can't handle a few hundred soldiers and some raggedy militia! You are Tempest Shadow! Scourge of Mount Aris, my right-hand-mare! You command the best army this world has seen! Act like it! Push them back, and beat them to a-"

He was interrupted as a voice that sounded like Tempest's own second, Grubber, called out, "Incoming!" A loud crash was heard, and the message cut out.

The Storm Kings eye twitched. "What happened!?"

The technician said, "Tempest lost connection. It's nothing on our end."

The Storm King turned, crossing his hands behind his back. He muttered to himself, before sucking in a deep breath. He was the Storm King; the strongest, most awe-inspiring Tyrant to ever grace this planet. He had seen nations burn, and he had been the one to light the match. This was a minor setback. He said, "Try and to re-establish contact. I want to make sure this, 'Pryha', is brought to its knees. If I have to go there myself, then I at least want to know!"

"Yes sir!", the technician yelled, scrambling back to the Mistwater pool. The Storm King, meanwhile, stepped back to his throne, sitting down and resting the Staff of Sacanas across his lap. He lifted it up, grinning and running his finger across the large crystal as he gazed at his reflection. He'd bring them to their knees alright. Then... well, as they say. Let the dominos fall.

++++~++++

Tempest snarled, peeking over the tipped over cart that was acting as cover. Ahead of her, the defending Pryhans had set up a roadblock, using several of their self-driving carriages, heavy crates, and other bits of debris. Just past this point was the last Pryhan stronghold in the city; a small plaza that was acting as a focal point for their remaining defenses.

Grubber asked, "Should I call in an airship?"

One of the Storm Creature lieutenants said, "No. They have some of those boom-tubes. They'll hit it out of the sky before it can get into proper position to support us."

"Get me as many Storm Creatures as possible", Tempest said. "We'll need to perform a large push to secure the position. From there, we can push them out easily."

Another one of the yetis ran off to look for troops. In the meantime, Tempest peeked over the top of the cart, looking at the Pryhan defenders. She spotted the silvery armor and the royal blue uniforms of the regular army, but they were few and far between. Most of the ones on the barricade were wearing civilian clothes and gambesons, mixed in occasionally with a mail shirt and a helmet. Equipment was also of varying quality, from the 'Thunderlances' of the proper soldiers to clubs, small swords, and tools. However, one thing did give her pause: the large repeating crossbow.

Manned by a pair of the soldiers who wore lighter armor, it was a set up on the barricade and covered the street perfectly. She had gotten to see one up close after seeing it at another position that had been overrun. Hooked up to a wheel, a crack on the side cocked back the string and fired it, gravity loading the next bolt and repeating. She had also seen just what it could do; in front of it was a dozen dead storm creatures, riddled with at least three bolts each.

The Yeti returned and reported, "I managed to find some more troops. At least an additional thirty."

"That puts us at almost a hundred", Grubber said.

"Thank you, Grubber", Tempest said. "Alright, form up in a wedge. Shields up, those not at the front over your head. Once we get moving, we have to get there as fast as we can. Get ready."

The yeti officers went off to organize the troops as Tempest stole another look at the Pryhans. They must've heard the commotion, as they were getting ready to repel them. The crossbow was fully reloaded, and those that had ranged weapons took aim.

Tempest abandoned her position to head over to the assembled yetis. The heavily armored creatures stood at attention, lances, shields, and magic-resistant armor all covered in stone dust or dented. She got behind them as they formed the wedge she requested. Once she was certain they were in the best position they could be in, she barked, "Forwards! For the Storm King!"

They moved around the debris and corpses that blocked the entrance to the street and began to advance, breaking into a loping stride as they entered the straight street. As soon as they did, the Crossbow opened fire, followed by more whooshing sounds and loud cracking. Loud cries came from those in the front of the formation, and as they continued to move, Tempest watched as her soldiers practically trampled those that were wounded or killed. Loud piercing noises were heard, likely from the crossbow impacting her creature's armor or shields.

Despite the somewhat speedy advance, more and more of her troopers were being cut down. She needed to shut down that repeater. She said to one of the yetis at the back, "Toss me."

"What?", he asked.

"You heard me", she said. "Toss me."

The yeti nodded, dropping his lance and shield and grabbing her by the barrel and the hindlegs. He threw her as far as he could, sending her sailing over the phalanx. The crossbow shot up, trying to hit her, but she rolled in the air, dodging the bolts.

She landed next to the gunners, using her momentum on the fall to kick the closer one in the face. He fell back as the other came at her with a curved sword. She jumped back from the swing before pushing off her hindlegs, biting the soldier in the paw and dove down, throwing him over her into one of the other defenders. One of the militia thrust at her with a converted war-scythe, but again she dodged it and swung around, round-house kicking them in the face.

By the time the next attacked her, the rest of the Storm Creatures arrived and pushed through the barricade at full force. The vehicles and crates were smashed apart, while the defenders scrambled to defend themselves. Tempest ducked to the side of a shot, weaving side to side as she ran up towards the soldier with the Thunderlance and ducked under a wide slash. She slammed her foreleg into the base of his throat, before slamming the same hoof into his face. The rest of the defenders began to retreat, and Tempest and the others gave chase.

The narrow street opened up onto a decent sized plaza that had been converted into a field HQ. A few tents had been set up, and a pair of anti-air cannons were set up on either side of a destroyed fountain. Rubble from the nearby buildings littered the streets, and several fires burned in destroyed carts or other bits of wooden debris. However, for the most part, the place was abandoned, save for a few stragglers. The guns were being carted off, injured soldiers and civilians loaded up onto Pryhan Land-skiffs, and others were scrambling around to various points throughout the plaza.

"Habemus omnia, et in omnibus fere est in Terra-scaphas (We have everything, and almost everyone is on the Land-skiffs)", one of the Pryhan officers said, talking to another one.

The other one said, "Bonum. Ut ceteri milites de off linea, et sit scriptor adepto- (Good. Get the rest of the troops off of the line, and let's get-)" They turned to the sound of running, eyes widening in alarm as they saw the pursuing Storm Creatures. "Ive ' interrupit ius latus! (They've breached the right flank!)"

The nearest Pryhans turned to them, several of them surging forward to counter the sudden push. A few Storm Creatures were cut down by gunfire or Pryhan Plumbata, but the rest slammed into the counterattack at full force. Tempest forced her way through the melee, knocking aside or dodging Pryhans as she made a b-line for the Commander.

Two nearby Pryhans intercepted her, a curved sword coming at her from two directions. She reared up on her hind legs, using her steel-capped hooves as mini-shields to intercept the blows, forcing the blades into the ground and using the momentum to backflip over the two of them. She whipped her head back, letting out tendrils of electricity that sent the two fo them crumbling to the ground, twitching, and convulsing.

The other officer used her distraction to attempt to skewer her with a Thunderlance, before forcing her back with a series of rapid thrusts. She grabbed the iron tubes, attempting to wrest the weapon from the bighorns hooves. In response, he pulled the trigger, sending a loud blast echoing through the air. Fortunately, the shot missed, but the heat from the shot made her let go of the tubes. He swung the weapon in an arc, attempting to slice her throat. She ducked under the swipe, bouncing off her hind legs and ramming her shoulder into him. He fell back, Tempest landing on top of him and pinning him. He attempted to use his horns to smack her, only for her to grab them and slam a hoof into his face.

As he slumped back to the stone street, Tempest shot her head up and scanned the plaza. A lot of the Pryhans had gotten into the land-skiffs, which were rolling down the street. Several Storm Creatures chased after them, only for a cannon to pop out of the back of one. The pursuing creatures were cut down by a hailstorm of shrapnel. She could see the land-skiffs rumble out of the city, several boxes of caltrops falling out of the back as they drove off down the road.

Grubber waddled up to her, yelling, "You ok, Tempest!?"

"I'm fine, Grubber", she said, standing up and trotting away from the groaning officer. "This was the last pocket of resistance in the city, correct?"

"Yeah", Grubber said. "This was it. The city is ours."

Tempest allowed herself a slight smirk to grace her lips as she watched her soldiers round up the survivors. Maybe this would be her chance; maybe he would restore her horn. She had handed him Pryha, and with it, the gateway to the East. Certainly a much more reputable conquest than Mount Aris, and maybe that would bring her reward into her reach.

She said, "Get me a Mistwater pool. I need to contact the Storm King immediately."

"On it", Grubber said, running off and yelling for some Mistwater.

Tempest's ears twitched, hearing a loud thumping behind her. She swung her leg back, connecting with the Bighorn officers chest. He stumbled forward, the dagger falling from his grip as he collapsed in front of her. "Stubborn, ain't you?"

"Ire... ad... infernum. Te stupri canis! (Go... to... hell. You fucking bitch!)", he said, his horns keeping his head off the ground.

Before she could do anything else, Grubber and a pair of Storm Creatures came back to her, the latter carrying a pool between them. "Hey, Tempest. Boss was trying to call you anyway, so..." He stopped when he saw the wheezing Pryhan, pointing and asking, "Do... do you want me to have him put with the others."

"No", Tempest said. "You know how much the Storm King likes to gloat. Keep him here. Let him."

++++~++++

"Finally!", the Storm King exclaimed, watching as the flames rose up from the Mistwater pool. The flat sheet of fire coalesced into an image of Tempest Shadow, who had a Pryhan officer on his knees in front of her. "Good to see you're in one piece, Commander. And who is that you have in front of you?"

"You heard him", Tempest said, shaking the bighorn.

"P-praefect S-Surkov. S-second-in-command of the ni-nineteenth regiment of the Imperial Pryhan Army."

"Well, I am the Storm King, your new master", he said, grinning and spreading his arms.

In response, Surkov spit on the image. "Go suck a loaded pistol."

"Yeah, no. Not only do I not know what that is, that sounds unappealing." Turning his attention to Tempest, he said. "Alright, you know the drill. We have their capital, so now spread out. Hunt down the rest of the army, shut down any resistance, and secure the rest of the nation and any magical goodies they may have."

They were interrupted by Surkov, who was lightly chuckling. "What's so funny?", Tempest growled.

"You think this is the capital fo the Empire?", Surkov said, before fullying bursting into laughter. "Hahahahahaha! Fools! This is the Provincial Captial! The Eternal City is several hundred kilometers to the northeast!"

The Storm Kings eye twitched. "What?"

"Yes, and now you've stirred the Ghuls nest. The might of the Pryhan army will descend on you! A hundred THOUSAND soldiers, accompanied by war machines and beasts. We've bought enough time; they'll be here in two days at the most. And then, they'll wipe you and your harry Asinos (Asses) off of the face of the planet!" As Surkov finished, Tempest slammed a hoof into his shoulder, causing the officer to slump into unconsciousness and fall out of the Storm Kings view.

"My lord, what do we do?", Tempest asked.

The Storm King grumbled to himself. It had to be like this; it just had to! He took a breath before he lost his cool, telling her, "Secure your position. I'll send you some back-up. From there, we try all of this again. In the meantime, find out where this 'Eternal City' is." She nodded, wiping her hoof across the image as it dissipated. The Storm King then barked to his own soldiers, "And fine me that Intelligence officer that translated that wrong! I want to wring his neck!"

As several of them ran off, he slumped back onto his throne. He rapped his claws on the armrest, deep in thought about his next move. How he would deal with this issue. One thing was certain, though...

...The war had just begun.