Volunian system, 378th corps, Metternich’s position.

Galiupus 10th, 9:37 Local Time.

“How many hours have pa.s.sed since the start of this battle, Butz?” the young commodore asked his aside.

“About three and half sir, it feels more like three and a half days though.” the lieutenant replied.

“In the army manuals they always fail to give an accurate timetable on how long a battle could last, if I ever survive this military career, which my undeserved reputation has obtained me and I manage to write my memoires, I will always add the timetable of the battles, any decent military book when having a battle should have them, especially the fictional ones!” Metternich thought to himself as he observed the fight from his vantage point on the very same hill on which he destroyed the Federal cavalry, from there he could observe the battle around him and the tactical map which was besides him.

“Looks like we are at a standstill, our a.s.sault seems to be kept in check, what’s the cause of that?” he asked Butz.

“Reports coming in say, that a priest call Eist has rallied the defenders and is holding his own against Colonel Werner.” the lieutenant replied.

“A priest? I’ve heard of divine power, but this is not exactly what I had in mind!” Metternich said, surprised at what he just heard.

”Look in our archives; tell me all you can about this priest.”

Butz complied with the order and after a few moments of searching, he found the knowledge he was looking for.

“It says here, that he was ordained five years ago by the Darangan, and was trained at Turweistan Military School.” Butz informed him.

“Oh, wonderful, a Darangan warrior monk, is there any other bad news you have to tell me?” Metternich asked sarcastically.

“Yes sir.” Butz said not getting the gist of it.

“Looks like he is here to complete his initiation.”

“Initiation?” Metternich said and he could feel his stomach pains that had subsided after the fight with the cavalry, returning. That, combined with the fact that the aforementioned priest was giving a black beret colonel trouble, did little to help alleviate his growing pains.

“Yes sir, his initiation into the League of Guardians.”

“A Darangan Crusading Commando and a Federal Guardian, if that isn’t reason to exit stage left I don’t know what is! Sometimes I wish Jonathan or Akanthos was here, against either one of them that Guardian would not be a problem.” He took a deep breath to try and steady his nerves and his stomach, while taping his fingers across the metal surface of the spider-wolf jeep.

“Currently we’re at a standstill, it’s a bit early to use my trump card, but still…..” he thought to himself as a idea occurred to him, it was risky, dangerous and every other synonym for the two, but at this point he didn’t have any choice, it either near-certain death now, or certain death in the future if they lost this battle.

“What’s the situation with the special a.s.signment unit?”

“They had to go the long way around, but they’ll begin operations as soon as they get into position.”

“Good, until then move us to that peak; I need a better view of what’s going on, and a better place to receive news from the overall battle.”

“And I’ll also be far away from the front and as snug as a bug in rug, up there!”  He though the last part to himself.

“Right you are sir, but we will have to move through that rocky terrain over there, to avoid detection and the snake body is not suited for that.” Butz replied.

“Then let us banish the snake and summon the spider!”Metternich said and immediately after that the jeeps began to change. Their bellies (which were all like a snake’s belly) broke up into several semicircle ring section, then at the middle of their length they broke into two equal halves.

Thus, eight spider legs emerged from the former snake body.

 After the jeeps finished changing their means of locomotion, they began their march towards they’re new position.

“Call down, you need to calm down.”

Metternich said in his mind, towards his aching stomach.

 ”I know you like it when I put the cooked bodies of dead animals inside you, and you’re not too keen at the prospect of  becoming the stomach of a dead body, but we must stay calm if we are to survive!” he finished his thoughts and looked on, the words only partially managing to sooth his nerves. The reason for this was that he wasn’t sure if what he just said was true, after all by his own admission he was a pretty good liar, and to fool others you must sometimes fool yourself.