A Despot's Redemption

Ferric watched from his binoculars as he waited for Daniel's arrival. He zoomed in onto the city gate where several vehicles lined outside as lasers scanned their equipment.

A soft breeze swept throught the forest , carrying with it the scent of perfumes, soap and other home remedies from the nearby transports

Ferric checked the time on the top portion of his binocular screen. It was 2:45 pm meaning it had been 45 minutes since Daniel left.

"What was taking him this long?" Ferric asked himself

Before long, a figure on horseback came to his view. Ferric grinned. Daniel had finally returned.

As Daniel approached them he proceeded to disembark from his horse.

"So Daniel, what have you found." asked Chloe

Daniel told them everything from the air force base to the soldiers stationed by the ditches and the turrets hidden in the walls. 

"That;s all I was able to get the sergeant."

"Then we must get ready to attack." said Shammil

Daniel hopped back onto his horse and glanced back at the troops. 

"Daniel , where do you think you're going?" asked Chloe

"I said I came here to assist you not to partake in battle. I'm done with fighting, I don't want to harm another soul ever again. I've given you all the information you need, now you must continue without me.":

Chloe's orb started to glow but Ferric stretched out his hand to stop her. 

"Let him go Chloe, we'll let him do his own fight. For now we need to come up with a strategy.

A few minutes had passed since Daniel left and the rest of Shammil's forces had assembled themselves in the forest. Dalia reached out for the map placed behind the tree and unfurled it onto the nearby log.

"Alright so from what we know the airbase is in the southwestern portion of the city.Soldiers have been stationed in and outside the walls."

"And how do we plan to counter them?"

"Chloe will use her orb to destroy the weapons and the ariforce but we will need to lure them in. Ferric ,Shammil , you will lead the charge."

"You heard her men, it's time to assemble."

A few minutes had passed since they had made their strategy with Shammil and Ferric clutching the reins of their horses. The scent of grass filled the air as they saw the machine guns laid out behind them. Ferric clutched his chest as his pulse began to quicken. The attack on Shankoa was about to take place and if they failed, Shammil would lose all his trust in him.

Shammil raised his first to the air , signalling the start of the attack. A multitude of horses charged towards the wall. The clattering of hooves caught the army's attention.

Ferric braced himself as the soldiers dashed to their turrets mounted near the edge of the long ditch that stretched out before them.

Dalia called her troops and ordered them to split up.

A moment later, a loud screech echoed throughout the field followed by large shadows that swept past Shammil's forces. Ferric gazed upwards as a fierce gust whipped against his armour. His heart raced.

Abovr them was a fleet of hover jets diving down for a strafe. The shape and swiftness of a jet fighter along with the hovering of a helicopter made them a formidable weapon in Lumea's air force.

But before it could launch a missile a blue aura formed around it and the other jets. 

Ferric grinned. Chloe had gotten control of the air force. The jets began to fly back and sent missiles flying towards the nearby soldiers.

Clouds of dust filled the air as missiles rained down upon the trenches and nearby walls. Parts of the wall began to push aside revealing the turrets hidden inside. Despite this they were no match for the air force under Chloe's control and a moment later the missiles came flying towards them.

Regardless , they continued to charge. Ferric pressed against his earpiece to call Chloe.

"Chloe, it's time to blow up the wall."

A moment later the jets swooped by the wall and sent a missile that blew up the gate. Ferric could feel his heart race as his horse dashed towards the gate. Once inside they found themselves surrounded by several turrets that fired down on them. Several soldiers fell from the saddles as the rounds exploded on impact. 

 Despite that the army cointinued to push onwards and made it past the gate and into the city. 

The locals looked in fear and rushed back into their homes. They had finally made it into the city. The rest of the soldiers stood by and fired down from the houses, only for their bullets to bounce off their armour. 

Shammil's army yelled in triump as the fleet flew past them. Suddenly, a beep rang in Ferric's earpiece, prompting him to answer.

"Chloe, what do you need to say?" The sound of coughing sent shivers down Ferric's spine.

"It's the jets, they're no longer under my control. They're swooping in to attack you now.

His heart raced. He pressed against his earpiece , this time talking to Shammil.

 "Shammil, get your army ready to disband. The air force is no longer under Chloe's control."

But it was too late a missile had been sent towards his company, sending men and horses flying across the street with a trail of blood flowing across the road. Dalia rushed by and rode beside Ferric.

"We need to get out of the aircraft's range." said Dalia

"And where do you plan to go?" asked Ferric

"We have to split up and go into the alleys."

Ferric nodded and followed her to the nearby alley. He glanced up to the sky, looking for any jet that might potentially shoot down on them. Fortunately for them the gap was too small for the jet to aim and it was forced to fly elsewhere.

Ferric breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back to Dalia whose black hair had been tied up into a braid. 

The two halted their horses for a moment as they reached for their backpacks.

"You remembered to bring those RPGs right."

"Yes, we knew that Chloe would lose her control so we made sure to bring RPGs from the sultan's army. The only thing left is to fire it."

Dalia pulled a side lever that opened up the scope for the rocket launcher. After that she aimed it at a nearby jet passing by. The scope flashed red, indicating the target had been locked on and now she squeezed the trigger.

 The rest of Shammil's army followed suit and several of the rockets came flying towards the jets.

Once they felt it was secure they rode out of the alley and into the open town. Ferric motioned to a giant tower that stood above the rest of the town. He grinned. That was the home of Shankoa's governors. They checked both sides and noticed a group of horsemen in the distance. It was what remained of Shammil's group after the airstirke. 

His right arm was covered in wounds and the armour had shattered like glass. But that didn't matter , they had to reach the tower. Shammil and his squad orchestrated a plan to get to the tower as the aircraft tried to evade the missiles being sent towards them.

After a few minutes Shammil rallied what remained of his army and went to surround the palace. Ferric looked back up at the sky and saw that the jets had been taken control again by Chloe and were circling the tower.

Ferric rode his horse to the nearby tower where the governor and his wife looked down at them from the balcony. He could see the worriness on the governor's face and that he had lost the battle. The majority of his air force had been destroyed and those that remained were aimed right at him alonn with tanks being blown up by the nearby RPGs.

The governor took a nearby microphone which he had placed on the balcony and spoke to the whole of Shankoa. 

"Fighting men of Shankoa. You have fought valiantly today, but unfortunately the enemy has gotten the advantage. Therefore we urge you to lay down your weapons for we have resigned our position and will be moving the power to Shammil."

Shammil and Dalia cast off their turbans high into the air as yells echoed throughout the street. A nearby soldier came by and hugged Ferric tightly. They had done it, they had won the battle of Shankoa.

"Alright Ferric, your plan worked."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well we have to get in contact with the Supreme Commander of the Pangean military but that will take time. For now let's celebrate!"