Solus Hill was not quite far from FOB Alpha. A few hundred kilometers to the northwest, near the border of the two kingdoms.

In the distance a large force approached Solus Hill. Several banners flew in the air. Further behind, thousands of tents were propped up surrounded by wooden pallisades and stakes.

They split into two forces as they approached the hill, 12,000 on each flank.

[Filtering video noise. Stabilizer engaged.]

The video feed flickered unsteadily. The image sharpened.

"On the right flank is Duke Peron. His forces have the Red Fox banner. Nasty bunch," Lord Commander Matthew said. "The Peron Academy mages focus on area destruction spells."

[OPCOM: Force Size: 6,000. Contact designated: "Red Fox".]

"On the left flank is King Finian's forces. Although I doubt the King is among them. Marshall Thomas must be leading them. His banner is the Red Dragon."

[OPCOM: Force Size: 8,000. Contact designated: "Red Dragon".]

Matthew looked through his looking gla.s.s and sighed, "It looks like Magister Tinon joined the battle as well. Our reports say that he has 3,500 mages. If you see any White Spire banners among the two flanks, those are his."

[OPCOM: Contact updated. Force Size: 3,500. Designation: "White Spire".]

Matthew put down the looking gla.s.s and shrugged. "We will engage them at noon," he said, "Our forces number 18,000 but we hope that you, Lord Somnus, will be able to turn the tides. What do you think our battle plan should be?"

[Comms: Somnus, Oracle. New contact. Designation: "Gold Eagle". Size: 3,500. Acknowledge.]

[Comms: Somnus, Oracle. New contact. Designation: "Two Towers". Size: 3,000. Acknowledge.]

"Designation "Matthew". Identify contact: Gold Eagle. Identify contact: Two Towers. Comply," Somnus rumbled, his voice so loud it carried through the a.s.sembled ranks of the Astoria forces.

"Hmm. The Gold Eagle must be Count Fergus' troops. The Two Towers are Count Bisland's. Count Bisland used to be part of the Kingdom of Astoria, but he seceded a few years ago. His brother, Count Jean, is with us," Matthew said and pointed towards several thousand troops flying a Black Tower banner.

[Probability Matrix: Designation "Jean" motivations: 23% Vengeance. 45% Betrayal. 32% Other.]

Lord Commander Matthew waited patiently for Somnus to say anything, but came to the realization such a thing would not happen. He pressed on. "Lord Somnus, we were of the opinion that our entire force should fight on the right flank, while you hold back the left flank. But some of us have expressed concern that this task might be too difficult for you. After all, we do not know what your capabilities are. We merely have... some reliable reports."

[Weapons: Missile Batteries loaded with cl.u.s.ter munitions.]

"Mission success probability: 100%."

Lord Commander Matthew gulped and nodded. "You appear to be very confident. As for the reports about Atmohim, if he should appear, we are holding back our 2,000 mages to engage him. Is that acceptable?"

[OPCOM: Designation "Atmohim" Threat Level: 5.]

"Acknowledged. Query: Is designation "White Spire" archive match: "Imperial Mage"?"

"Ah, not necessarily. Magister Tinon is with the Arsalan Magisterium. But we believe that Imperial Mages are among their ranks."

"Affirmative. Operation commences in 1 hour, 12 minutes, 33 seconds."

Matthew nodded, stood in place for a while and then realized that the conversation was over. He cleared his throat and then walked away.

[Idle mode engaged.]

The machine remained motionless as the sun moved across the sky. Morning came and went quickly, the sun nearing the zenith above.

[Operation commencing in 14 minutes, 22 seconds.]

[Heat source detected. Bearing 242.]

The image flickered and stabilized. A band of noise ran from the top of the image to the bottom. A large group of robed people chanted in unison, and above them, 30 meters in the air, a large, blue, circle appeared. It was filled with esoteric symbols, triangles and circles.

[Linguistics: No language match. Symbols: No archive match.]

The magical circle flickered and became brighter, its color spectrum s.h.i.+fting towards brilliant white. The symbols in the outer ring rotated. A loud click echoed.

[Radio source detected. Contact is possible EM radiation weapon.]

[Defenses: Deploy smoke and reflective chaff.]

A series of thumps echoed around Somnus as it launched canisters from the joints of its eight legs. They burst in mid air, shrouding the area in smoke within which glittering particles swirled.

The robed men stopped chanting. The inner ring in the magical circle rotated and another click echoed. The sound carried throughout the entire area.

"Oh no! Mages! Protect Somnus!" Commander Matthew shouted. He was far away, well on his way to meet the Arsalan king's forces on the right flank.

The Astoria mages didn't have a chance to react.

A loud crack boomed through the area as a brilliant blue beam pierced the air. It was like a straight lightning bolt, so luminous that one couldn't look at it.

The beam pierced the smoke and struck Somnus on the left side. It deflected and turned upwards, blowing away the clouds. It remained in existence for 4.59 seconds.

[Armor: Section F through H damaged. Armor remaining: 48%.]

[OPCOM: Threat level updated: 6.]

[Heat source detected. Bearing 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, 270, 300, 330, 0.]

Yellow magical circles sprung into existence above and all around Somnus. They rotated malevolently, as if looking down on the machine of death and destruction.

[Laser Batteries armed.]

A loud hum emitted from the warmachine. Its pitch s.h.i.+fted up and stuttered near the end of the charging process. A loud hiss preceded a loud crack and a blinding light painted the grey armor of the machine, as the laser batteries spat out two lances of dark red energy.

In the blink of an eye, the twin beams reached the group of robed men and carved into the hill. The two beams went into opposing directions as they swept the area with their deadly luminosity.

The magical symbols surrounding Somnus shattered into glimmering fragments of iridescent light.

[OPCOM: Target destroyed. Commencing operation.]

Armor Status

Section E 100%

Section F-K 58%

Section L-P 100%

Section Q-U 100%

Section V-Z 100%