Double The Fun, Double the Ransom!

Orwell's Point, Docks

"Light 'em up!" The Lieutenant of Falcon company, Platoon 4, yelled and the powerful floodlight flashed to life, its powerful beam bathing the silver Imperial river barge with a glow as bright as day.

The Imperial Knights and guards flinched away from the sudden glare of light beams that covered their ship with surprise.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT BOTH YOUR HANDS UP!"

"ANY RESISTANCE WILL BE DEALT WITH LETHAL FORCE!"

"I REPEAT DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER NOW!"

The guards and knights looked at each other in confusion but they did not surrender. Instead, they rushed to man the ballistas and armed themselves. "Prepare to repel boarders!"

"Sir! The Blue Boys are not showing any signs of surrender!" The platoon sergeant commented. "And the two ships upriver is weighing anchor and appears to be coming to support the silver ship here."

"Take them both out!" The LT of Platoon 4 ordered. "Boss says dead or alive..."

-----

Orwell's Point, Harbour Defense Tower

"Gunner! Target Bravo One!" The 3" gun commander ordered. "Loader! Give me HE!"

"Aye!"

"On!"

The gun commander peered out of the firing slit of the tower bunker and yelled his order. "FIRE!"

The 3" gun sited inside the five storey high artillery tower roared as the gunner yanked the firing cord. The gun crew leaped into action before the echoing roar of the 3" gun disappeared and started to service the weapon without even checking where their shot had landed.

-----

The HE shell spiraled out of the five meter long barrel in a shower of fiery sparks, smoke, and gas. It wobbled slightly it tapered nose plowed through the night air with a shriek at a velocity of roughly 800 meters per second.

Less than four seconds later, the shell's nose impacted one of the river barges designated Bravo One, near the forward quarter top deck. The force of the impact drove the twin fire rune wafers together 0.2 seconds later. By then, the shell had punched through the top deck and hit the inner deck before detonating.

The force of the explosion in the confined space of the barge lifted the stern of the ship upwards while the bow was forced into the river water. The hulls bugled out and splintered as they could not withstand the force of the explosion.

Immediately, the forward half of the barge vanished into a mess of smoke, fire, and wood splinters. The explosion lit up the river and echoed towards Orwell's Point's dock. if the roar of the 3" gun did not wake or scare the people in the city, the dying roar of the river barge most definitely did.

-----

The gun commander grinned with satisfaction and turned around, "Good hit! Now target Bravo Two!"

"AYE! ON!"

"FIRE!"

-----

Knight Seargent Kylan turned to look at his men gathered at the open gangway of the river barge. The illumination spells of the barbarians were surprisingly overpowered, as the glow of those spells lit up even the interior of the open hatch, casting a bright white glow.

"The attack must have gone as planned!" He said to the men. "The signal for our attack hasn't gone up yet, but since the enemy is alerted, we will fight our way out!"

"Ready men?" He yelled. "The ships upriver will come down and assist us! We must take the docks for them to land!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE!" The Knights and men in arms roared as one. "FOR ROTHSCHILD!"

"Good! Shield bearers to guard our front! Make sure your protection spells are boosted to the maxi-"

A sudden roar of thunder could be heard, cutting off Kylan's words. He turned his head to the direction of the thunderous roar and wondered what was that when suddenly another thunderous roar could be heard and a flash of orange glow could be seen from the open hatch.

"What is that?" He and the men peered out from the side hatches at the direction of the rising fireball, "What in the heavens is happening?!"

-----

Governor's Estate, Ballroom

"-ucker!" That low bred short ears yelled with a triumphant expression on his face while his filthy hands held onto Lady Titanna's body.

Judis hissed in anger and drew his sword, ripping the peace bound bindings in a smooth move and pointed his sword at the barbarian's face.

He ignored the dozen barbarian that surrounded him and his men. The crowd hushed at his actions and quickly moved away, creating an emptied space for them. "Take your filthy hands off her or I will cut them off!"

"Na nee na nee boo boo~" The barbarian made a strange mocking sound, and even stuck his tongue out at him, making his anger rise even higher.

"You asked for it!" Judis roared and he suddenly darted forward with a speed of a striking viper.

Mills's mocking smile disappeared as the Imperial before him suddenly appear to vanish. He threw himself backward while hugging the surprised Titanna tightly in his arms. He turned his body just as he felt a stinging bite on his back and hit the floor of the ballroom with a grunt.

"DIE!" Judis stood above Mills and Titanna and he reversed his sword and stabbed point down.

"FUCK!" Mills rolled away with a screaming and struggling Titanna in his arms, dodging away from the sword thrust. Once he was clear, he shoved Titanna away from him, making her slide across the ballroom floor.

"Come on, asshole!" Mills rolled to his feet and put his fist up in a fighting stance. "Dare to fight like a man? Without magic?"

"Pfft!" Judis stood there cockily, "I am not even using magic!"

"Really?" Mills whispered into his mike. "He's not?"

"The anti magic field is already up!" Came back the reply in his earpiece.

"Oh fuck me..." Mills cursed softly. He eyed Titanna dusting her self off the floor and grinned wickedly before gesturing Judis to come at him. "Come at me, bro!"

Judis's eyes narrowed and he sheathed his sword. "I am going to so enjoy beating you to death!"

He strolled forward confidentially towards Mills without any putting any defense up. "I shall show you the difference between our strength! And make her watch how you choke in your blood!"

Judis unbuckled his plate mail off and dropped the heavy armor to the side. The armor made a dull thunk as it hit the floor.

"Oh, sure! Take it all off," Mills grinned evilly before he suddenly straightened up and quick drew his taser out from his holster and fired without a pause.

The twin prongs of the taser dart dug into Judis's clothes and bit against his skin with a sharp prick.

"What is this?" Judis looked down at the small dart on his chest and reached towards it to tear it off. A millisecond later, the dart dumped 25,000 volts of electricity into his body, making him spasm and jerked on the spot.

Judis stood there with his senses blanked in a strange pose. He barely could think and move, finding his body seemed to be locked up and the pain was like liquid fire, coursing through his body. "Y-you... ch- chea-..."

"Aww fuck," Mills gave a look at his taser. "I accidentally set it to half power."

"Now this is the correct setting!" Mills grinned evilly and he emptied all remaining four shots of his taser on the body of Judis.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRHHHHHGGHHHHH~~~~!" Judis did a sort of dance on the spot as a total of 200,000 volts ran through his body.

"Oh, he peed his pants," Mills commented as he watched Judis spasming on the floor. "Tech wins, bitches!"

-----

Docks

"Impossible!" Knight Seargent Kylan cried out in horror as he saw the burning silhouette of one the river barges. "How did they..."

"SURRENDER NOW! OR WE WILL USE LETHAL FORCE!"

"Those heathens!" Kylan cursed. "KILL THEM ALL!"

"KILL!" His men roared out and they charged off the gangway.

They advanced in a formation, shields to the front, top, and side, similar to the Roman's tortoise formation. The Knights were extremely confident in their formation, with magic boosting their defenses, this formation was neigh impossible to break unless they have mighter magic or very heavy weapons.

-----

"Sir, looks like a free target for us!" The Platoon Sergeant grinned from behind the sandbagged bunker. "Too bad, we can't turn the 3" gun on them."

"We don't want to destroy the docks..." The LT replied with a smile. "MGs! Make ready!"

"FIRE!"

Four MG - 1 and one .50 cal team had set up shop covering the docks for the purpose of the visiting delegates. The men had remained hidden under sandbag bunkers on the roofs of warehouses and fortified buildings around the docks.

The Imperial formation came forward down the pier in a blistering march only to slam into a wall of machine gunfire. Sparks and ricocheting rounds lit up the docks as the bullets impacted the magic barrier of the Imperials.

The formation came to a slow halt as the force of the bullets hammered the Knights, forcing them to brace against the rain of bullets. One by one, to the Knights' horror, the magic barrier of protection shattered as the heavy fire overwhelmed the magic.

Finally, the last barrier shattered into sparks and the .338 and .50 caliber rounds no longer facing any arcane resistance, punched through the shields of the Knights and the whole first rank of bodies starting dancing and jerking on the spot.

Bits and body parts started flying as the more powerful .50 cal plowed through the Knights, shattering their morale and lives as easy as tearing paper.

"Cease fire! CEASE FIRE!" The order rang down the line of Marines and the last ricocheting round disappeared into the night sky like a supped up firefly.

Barely five minutes, on the docks, men laid dying among grisly remains, screaming and crying. Further off the river, the burning hulks of two river barges lit up the night.

-----

Governor's Estate, Ballroom

"Sergeant Mills!" Lt Silverstar gave a frown at the half naked hooman getting medical attention. "You could have given him a heart attack with the number of taser darts!"

"Well, Sir," Mills grinned unabashedly. "Marine basic 101! Shoot first and sort out the bodies later!"

Silverstar shook his head helplessly at Mills. "We want him to be in one piece, so we can question him... you know that right?"

"Sir," Mills gestured with his chin at Judis who was being restrained on a stretcher and carried off to a secured facility. "That asshole is pretty tough. Better be safe than sorry!"

"Good job, Sergeant!" Captain Joseph suddenly appeared. "You stopped that Imperial and protected the Lady Titanna."

Mills turned and saw Titanna with the girl mage, Liz at one side, surrounded by Claymore Two troops. "We have gotten them all, Sir?"

"Yes, everyone," Joseph nodded. "But we will need to do a sweep of the city. We do not know how many men they infiltrated into the city."

"But with this fail attack," Joseph grinned. "We destroyed the main power of the Rothschild."

"All his Knights that he is so proud of," Joseph gestured to the outside window. "All defeated in one swoop. Now, with all the prominent locals seeing our strength and the defeat of the famed Knights of Silver, our position will be more stable."

"Even if Rothschild sends twenty thousand troops down, without the support of his Knights," Joseph continued, "He can't force a siege on us."

"The only threat that he has against us has been destroyed," Lt Silverstar understanding Joseph's meaning, said, "What we are worried about is the insertion of his troops under the cover of his Knights' power."

"We can stop massed infantry but not tiny pockets of raiders protected by magic," Silverstar explained to Mills, seeing his confused face. "Those Knights will wreak havoc on the city and behind the lines if they managed to break through the defenses. But tonight, we managed to take them all out!"

"And now, with his youngest son and his only daughter in our hands," Mills grinned and rubbed his hands wickedly.

"We can double the ransom! HEHEHEHEEHHEEE!"