“...Today, we strike fear into a corrupt man’s heart, and tear away at the walls he needs so dearly for protection. Make no mistake, we will face some of the finest warriors the Queen has under her command. All of you will die in pursuit of the goals we have today. But you will die for someone worthy, and I will be there to ensure our mission is completed. Take no prisoner, waste no time, and spare no ammunition. That is all. Now, let’s raise some hell.” 

Jan remained motionless, watching intently as Bulkhead gave his short speech to the troops that accompanied him. He was a man of massive stature, standing a little over six and half feet tall. He wore generally light combat attire, consisting of heavy black boots with steely shin guards, rugged cargo pants tucked into said boots, a light jacket with rolled up sleeves and a number of additional pockets, and a waist belt carrying a number of magazines, grenades, and utilities. Almost everything he wore came with a navy blue forest camouflage. There were some unusual additions to what he wore as well, ensuring he broke the standard for any normal soldier. Bulkhead’s incredibly dark blue colored hair flowed down to his neck from beneath his black cloth covered helmet, which was wrapped with a rifle magazine on one side and an insignia on the other. Upon his right shoulder he wore a large metal pauldron, which bore the exact same symbol as the one on his helmet. He was equipped with an overshield generator that was so uniquely large that he had it mounted on his back, its size comparable to a mini-fridge. Alongside his waist was a mace with a mostly cylindrical head covered in many short spikes connected to a long handle. In a holster on his belt, a golden pistol could be seen, its grip gleaming under the light of a nearby lamp and the moon. Finally, in his hand was a strange looking Ranger AR, its front end being covered in a shiny chromic substance with glowing metallic crystals colored orange pulsing softly around the barrel. This was the young leader of the attack, and he was prepared to teach his men by example what proper violence looked like. 

The men in question were all Enforcers, each one equipped with the same loadout and ready to die. They all carried Light Machine Guns in their hands, and had rocket launchers strapped to their backs. He had heard Hypo whispering in a harsh tone for some time now, but hadn’t paid much attention. 

“...Gransel, Wasp, do you guys hear me?! We are under attack! Does anyone hear me?!”

“...Hypo?” Wasp finally answered. “The hell is going on?” 

“We are under attack! The ice legion is here! They somehow snuck in and are about to launch an attack!” 

“What?! Damn! Send a red flare! We need to wake these mercs back up! They’re after Eirgan!” 

“I can hear you just fine, y’know.” Hypo went dead still and said not another word, for he had just heard Bulkhead on the radio. “...and believe me, we’re perfectly capable of introducing ourselves.” 

Jan watched as Bulkhead walked over to a balcony with two of his troops, and pulled out a flare gun of his own, aiming into the sky. 

*poof* 

The whistling of the flare echoed throughout the area, followed by a bright red explosion that painted the sky a haunting crimson, grabbing the attention of all who stood awake. With the announcement of his presence made clear, Bulkhead and his men pulled out rocket launchers, and began blowing up anyone they could see below with the temporary illumination. Hypo could hear the confused screams of the men below mixed with sporadic gunfire aimed at the invaders, though it was to little effect. He found himself unsure of what to do, pulling out his SMG and holding down at his side. 

We are outnumbered. We don’t have our battle rifles, only sidearms. Each of these guys are heavily armed and can kill us-no. Can kill me easily. I can’t call for help or let anyone know where we are because they have our frequency. All I can do is run for now. 

It was at this point that Hypo’s phone began buzzing, which startled him as he quickly pulled it out and answered the call. 

“Hypo, it’s me.” Wasp informed, not allowing the boy a chance to speak first. “I need you and Jan to regroup with Shiver then swap places with her so she can go on the attack while you defend Eirgan. Got it?” 

“Yeah, alright…that sounds like a plan.” 

“I’ll try to get your gear to you, but it sounds like the enemy is on the upper floors of the castle and holding down, so I can’t guarantee anything. Do what you can with what you got, and try to survive. Out.” 

With that, the boy began to slink away back towards the hidden wall entrance, whispering the plan to Jan and pulling him along. 

“Are we seriously running? I bet we could take a few of them!” Jan argued, pulling out a Hand Cannon from his pocket. Yet, as he finished his sentence, the same sound that the boys had heard while inside the tunnel buzzed out once more, and Hypo was able to now identify it clearly as the grinding of a zipline as five more soldiers landed on the balcony. The zipline itself was connected to a harpoon embedded into the wall, meaning the infiltrators had already figured out a fast and simple way of negating all the defenses that Eirgan had invested in. The situation was only going to become worse.

“We have no choice. We can’t win this fight alone. We’ll fall back for now and hold up with Eirgan while the rest of the army gets up here.” 

“...Tch! Alright! Let’s go!” 

With that, they slipped back into the wall, relocating up a floor unnoticed, thanks to the commotion. 

“OH GOD! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! WHERE WERE MY GUARDS!? MY DEFENSES?! THEY’RE HERE TO KILL ME YOU FOOLS! DO SOMETHING! DON’T LET THEM GET ME!” 

Eirgan’s wails could be heard bouncing off the walls as he clutched onto the still disabled radio for dear life, huddled in the corner of the room. Distant bursts of gunfire could be heard, coming through the floor and windows muffled, putting nearby maids on edge and in fear. The only one who seemed entirely unbothered was the black haired maid who Jan had given an empty bowl earlier. She was in the process of calmly activating barricades that had apparently already been installed, effectively turning the room into a safehouse. She went the extra step to escort Eirgan into his own personal quarters, shutting the door and locking him in, where his cries couldn’t be heard anymore. Finally, she placed her hand on a nearby wall, which caused sections of it to flip around and reveal a rack of weapons, likely for scenarios just like this. 

Surprised and impressed, the duo continued walking past them all, where they quickly found Shiver waiting, already arming herself. Prepared would be the best way to describe her state, though it was nearing towards being plain restless as she almost immediately rose to her feet upon seeing the two. 

“Wasp wants-” 

“I know.” Shiver cut the two off before they could say any further. “Keep Eirgan safe and hold this floor down. Talk to the head maid and get yourself settled. It sounds like the enemy is just below this area. I know Eirgan’s personal guard went down to fight them, but I doubt they’ll last long. These reinforced walls should keep together if the enemy pushes up here, but there’s no telling what they have. Do your best with what you have.” 

She then proceeded to march off, before stopping suddenly and coming back to Hypo. 

“Remove the limiters. I won’t be using my sword, so I can manage.” 

The medic silently obliged, though he bore a certain air of reluctance and uncertainty. 

“...Here. Take these.” He said, not making eye contact with her as he held out a few metal syringes. “I won’t be able to heal you out there, so…” 

She understood what he meant, even as he trailed off, as she took the needles and packed them into one of her pockets. It was as she walked away once more that the boy remembered something that Jan mentioned to him, which prompted him to call out to her, finishing his sentence.

“...So be careful out there!” 

Though he couldn’t see it, a small smile broke through on her face as she made her way to the floor below. 

*BRA-TA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA*

The enforcers were holding fast in key positions upon the floor they had invaded, turning all of the stairways into death traps and firing through windows and over ledges to turn any open area below into killzones. 

“Excellent work, my knights! Our attack has left these dogs in disarray and unaware!” Bulkhead cheered. “But this isn’t enough! They’ll soon regroup and form an attack to counter us! That’s why I’ll be going below to disrupt them myself! Hold strong! We will not fall yet!” With that, he jumped backwards out of a window, falling freely through the air before activating his Grapple Glove on his left arm. He had dropped two stories to the second floor of the castle, swinging through an open window high up in the room, where he could see about seventy or so mercenaries preparing to move up to the next floor. A smile crossed his face as with his right arm he pulled out a belt of three grenades, pulling the pins off of all of them and chucking them out far into the middle of them all. 

*KA-BA-BOOM* 

A large explosion erupted in the center where most of those troops were, leaving them disoriented and confused by the attack. Bulkhead wasted no time whatsoever pulling out his Ranger and opening fire on them. 

*TATATATATA-TANG* 

The Ranger AR wasn’t only modified in appearance, but in performance as well. It fired twice as fast as the normal version, had massively reduced recoil, and as its bullet hit targets, the veins on the gun appeared to glow brighter for some reason. Bulkhead kept his attack short, only firing off about half his magazine before leaping out of the window and repositioning with the grappler, just barely avoiding being spotted by the incoming soldiers. 

“I count…14 killed! Good! Very good! I have to keep this up!” 

He landed on another window within the same room, then reached behind himself to his generator pack, where another belt of grenades materialized into his hand. He stripped the pins and then tossed them out just like before, fired his rifle, and moved on. He continued on like this a few more times, until he was thoroughly sure the hostile reinforcements were in disarray, then ascended to the next floor. 

“Squad B, what’s your progress?” 

“A quarter of the way through.” A girl responded. 

“That works fine for us. If we start to get strapped for time, go light on the explosives, we’ll finish off anything left on our next attack.” 

He then landed on a balcony connected to a long hallway in which he could see a large unit of soldiers round the corner as he peeked in. Once again, he pulled explosives from his generator, but this time chose uniquely round proximity mines without lasers, planting them just out of sight where he stood, then jumped off. The mercenaries unfortunately spotted them too late as they passed by, and in an instant the explosion took out a solid nine or ten men in an instant. A lone man in the middle of the detachment was there to see it all happen. Before the dust had even settled, Bulkhead made his move as he appeared behind them, opening fire and taking out another bunch before disappearing out of sight. Not even four seconds had passed when Bulkhead popped out from the opposite side and pulled the exact same move with just as deadly an effect. Only three remained after the ambush, each of them looking on both sides frantically, uncertain of where the next attack would come from. No direction they chose to look was correct in the end, as the infiltrator exited from the wall directly behind the last standing.

He knew of the hidden paths, and how to use them.

The quiet grinding of the wall opening was enough to alert them, but they had no chance to react as he raised his rifle in a rather relaxed fashion, and shot two of three in rapid succession. The middle man was all who remained, and he wasted no time attempting to retaliate as he fired off his whole magazine into the chest of Bulkhead. Yet, to his shock, his overshield was powerful enough to hold strong against his rifle, leaving him stunned as he dropped his gun and backed away to the window. He could see the invader’s rifle was now mostly covered in chrome, and the crystals on the barrel were now more like spikes that shined yellow.

“I left you for last, cause I’m gonna need a messenger, so listen real close, alright? My name is Siberika, but to you, I’m the guy you call Bulkhead. I was once a proud knight of this castle, y’know? It has been ten long years since I left this place, when you guys went and invaded us. Though you definitely killed our old king, you made the mistake of letting His Highness escape with a group of survivors, one of ‘em being me. So now that he’s lived long enough to group and rally an army of his own, we’re here for our revenge after so much time. The funny part is, we already invaded a while back, our spies snuck in, and gave us the opportunity to launch this attack. Without them, we wouldn’t be here at all. So…you get it now? You guys were doomed from the start. Damned, even. Of course…it’s a little late for me to reveal that to the rest of your friends.” He said, gesturing to the corpses on either side of them. “But that’s ok. You can be the one to tell them the tale. For all the ones who have gone…and all the ones who will follow after.” The lone man understood what Bulkhead meant far too late, as the infiltrator shot one  last time. Instead of a normal bullet, the gun unleashed a burst of glowing hot shrapnel spines that embedded themselves into the man’s chest, the force of which caused him to stumble back. Bulkhead then followed up by kicking him away, sending him clean through the window. His fearful shouts were cut off by a loud explosion that lit the castle grounds up for a split second, Not that Bulkhead bothered to stick around to see it happen. 

“Squad A, I’ve successfully disrupted enemy reinforcements, you’re safe from being overrun for the time being-But! That doesn’t mean the enemy won’t figure out alternate routes to reach you, so be ready. How are you holding up?” 

“No casualties yet. The enemy is being suppressed for the time being, but it appears a few of their captains have arrived to properly organize them. We likely won’t be able to defend these positions for much longer without losses, though we’ll try to occupy them for as long as possible.” 

“Stand tall and deliver death. I’ll try to be on my way, but I’m going to be down here just a bit longer. An enemy general just arrived.” With that, he cut his comms and turned down to the end of the hallway. Moments later, a trail of bullets flew around the corner at him, as he narrowly dodged them by diving to the ground. 

“Wasp! I was wondering when you were gonna go for it!” 

“I was just waiting for the fodder to whittle you down a bit! I’m glad you were dumb enough to let that guy empty his gun into your chest!”

“And so what?! I’ve got plenty of shield left! It won’t really change the fact that I’m gonna bash your head in when I get you!” 

“Alright then! Bring it on!” 

With that, the two opened fire on each other, beginning their duel. Above them, the Enforcers continued holding position, though this wouldn’t last for long as Shiver finally arrived. She descended not from the stairs, but through one of the windows, keeping herself afloat with her wings as she identified the enemy’s situation. They were occupying the whole floor, but with it being so large and the enemy numbering less than twenty, they were spread thin. More importantly, the floor was divided in two, with a large open air gap in the middle, in which a single stone bridge connected them together. On that bridge there were about ten or so, most of whom were actively firing down at mercenaries they could see. She flew above and around to see in either room remained five each, who were holding the stairways as best they could, though they simply lacked the numbers to maintain any real pressure beyond sheer gunfire.  

I don’t have any heals available to me right now so…I’ll hit one of the rooms first. Quick. Get at least two kills and retreat. The loss of defenses should let whoever’s downstairs push up. The commotion might be enough to distract those on the bridge. I can use the mercenaries as fodder to save myself from incoming gunfire and open up the chance for me to attack. This’ll be the plan…and I’ll start with killing…that one.

She pulled out her Combat AR and focused her sights on the nearest Enforcer, and fired. The first five shots she fired were blocked by an overshield, which she mentally noted that were shielded this time, while the next five pierced through his head and killed him. Though, to her surprise, he didn’t shatter. His icy corpse just laid there motionless. She shook her head to rid herself of distractions as the rest of the Enforcers in the room took notice of Shiver, shifting their fire to kill her. She quickly leaped back out of the window and flew around to the opposite side, where she struck again in the same manner. 

Rather than strike again a third time, she instead waited, watching her plan take effect as the distracted Enforcers were quickly flanked from behind as mercenaries rushed upstairs to take out the invaders. The ones on the bridge took notice of the commotion and began setting up defensive positions, creating instant cover as one of them tossed out a round black device

 that spawned in three walls. The set up was one full size wall with a window in the middle, with a low wall connected to both sides, with each of them being made of tier three metal. The soldiers she had hoped would take fire for her were now pinned down at the entrance of the bridge, taking potshots from behind the walls. This left her with little choice but to intervene. 

She flew higher up into the sky, past the glass canopy that Eirgan had in his room, and prepared to dive. Straightening her form and closing her wings, she began rapidly falling through the air, opening her wings a mere half seconds before she crossed the sightline of the barricade the Enforcers had set up. In a flash, she flew right past them, grabbing one of them and instantly dropping him off the side to his death. The infiltrators were left stunned and confused as Shiver rose back up towards the clouds and out of sight, momentarily stopping them from shooting long enough for friendly troops to take position and provide suppressing fire. While the Enforcers were pinned down, she made for another run. Successfully grabbing another unaware attacker, she was preparing to drop him off the edge as well, when an explosion erupted from the room her reinforcements were in. For that single moment, she was the one distracted, continuing to fly without action, only coming back to her senses when she felt the man she had been carrying grab onto her arms. 

Her confusion turned to dire realization as she discovered that on his chest was a bomb strapped tightly. She saw the lights on it shine brighter, and she managed to wrangle herself free of her target just a second before the beep sounded off. Wrapping herself in her wings, she tried to protect herself from the explosion, but regardless, it was still a remote explosive and she was merely meters away. She was blown away, falling out of the sky in a cloud of smoke that trailed after her, limply landing in a large pile of snow that cushioned her landing, just barely missing a snowman next to it.

Back in the middle of the castle, Bulkhead and Wasp were still exchanging rounds, though it was more along the lines of Wasp whittling down Bulkhead’s shield as he attempted to close the distance. In the middle of that fight, the lead infiltrator received another update. 

“Captain, Squad B has just crossed the halfway mark on their mission.” A girl radioed.

“Good, good! But they need to hurry it up! Squad A is taking losses and won't be able to occupy the enemy for much longer! Cut corners if you have to! Our riders can finish off anything you leave, so long as it’s damaged enough!” 

“Understood.”

With that, he returned to fighting, while Shiver finally regained consciousness. She took a few seconds to recognize her situation, her eyes and ears adjusting to the sounds of combat and nearby fires. She shakily pulled out a syringe and injected herself with it, standing up after a few moments of healing. Seconds later, an explosion went off further away, catching an unfortunate few in the blast. She took deep breaths, steadying herself with eyes locked to the ground. 

“...Suicide bombers. They were all suicide bombers. No…wait. They weren’t. Those bombs didn’t go off when they died. Proximity bombs? No. They would have gone off the second my reinforcements entered that room. They weren’t timed either. Which means…the only way they could have been set off…is remotely. Someone who knew the perfect time to set them off too. It couldn’t have been one of those soldiers, the risk of the controller dying before being able to set it off would have been too high. They must be somewhere away from the battle, where they can see all the way up here. A vantage point up high…but there aren’t any mountains around here.” She whispered to herself, as she scanned the surrounding area around the castle. It was then that she saw something, high up in the skies. A shadow. One that slowly crept past the twinkling stars and just under the gaze of the moon. 

“...The Frostwing. Of course. Providing overwatch this whole time…” As her eyes locked on to the first wyvern rider, she soon took notice of two more flying alongside the first. “You have escorts as well…so why don’t you strike? What’s keeping you from simply bombing Eirgan’s room and finishing this fight…?” 

Her eyes trailed along their flight path, which shortly took her to spotting the numerous anti air cannons that had been placed alongside the castle’s outer walls. She vaguely remembered Eirgan being in a state of panic and ordering as many cannons as possible after his first encounter with the enemy pilot. Clearly, his purchase had worked out for the most part. It was then that her eyes tightened as she spotted figures darting between each of the cannons, a group of about five. 

…Are those our men? Why aren’t they in the castle? Did they spot the wyverns too? Then why haven’t they sent a…no. That’s the enemy. They haven’t fired a shot yet, which means…

Her eyes widened as she came to a grand realization.

This was all a distraction. They were never after Eirgan. Of course. A force of less than twenty men? They could never actually pull something off like that. That’s why they had death bombs on them. They knew they were going to die for this, and wanted to take as many mercenaries with them as they could. Why would they alert us all to their position before killing anyone? To drag us all into the castle…and away from the turrets. Those Frostwings probably know they don’t have enough firepower to destroy all those AA guns in time before our men realize what’s going on and shoot those riders down. That’s why they sent in a team to sabotage them instead, with the ones in the castle to make sure no one spotted them before their real goal was achieved. If I let them destroy those guns, there will be nothing to stop those wyverns from bombing this castle to dust. I need to move now. 

With that, she picked up her rifle and sprinted off towards the cannons, and with that prompted a new callout to Bulkhead. 

“Siberika, Squad B is compromised. It’s Shiver.” 

His heart sank, and breath was cut short, and his body tensed up. He knew this was where it ended.