37 - Capital of Helga

Rose looked up, she didn't know what day it was, she spent a few moments to remember what had happened

'Oh right… I am in hell…'

She had done as she should and that had landed her in hell

'I reported it… And now I am in hell… Heh… Was this part of your calculations too, Merlin…'

She was currently stripped of her military title, undergoing interrogation with a plentiful side of torture on a daily basis

'Thankfully they have yet to humiliate me… So I got that going for me, which is nice'

Being a Wyvern rider or a former one anyway, ever since she lost her Wyvern and was stripped of her military titles for that matter, she had been trained to endure torture to a certain degree, that said, the sad reality of torture is that everybody breaks, it's just a question of how long it takes

'I'm not long off myself… I wonder where I went wrong…'

After briefly reviewing her entire life Rose realized that she had not gone wrong at any point, she was a good child, an excellent youth, and an outstanding solider

'If it's not me then what is it… The empire?'

Once that thought entered her mind she could not stop it, everything she had seen was reviewed in her mind, as the idea grew like a tree or a tumor, she began spotting various things that weren't okay with the empire, things which she had overseen when she still was a model soldier

'When was it… When was it that my mind became warped like this…'

It was like a fog was hovering over her mind, at some point in between her childhood and her days as the model soldier she had become blind to the atrocities committed by Helga

'When was it… When did I go insane..?'

Rose giggled before she laughed for a bit once she remembered, it was then when she received her blessing from the temple, it was then that something was laid in over her mind, it was then that the fog rolled in, it was then she went insane, and it wasn't only her, every single person that had received the blessing were insane, they had been made so by the blessing

'Was it this Merlin wanted me to know..?'

As she wondered she looked up at the tiny window in her cell, soon the daylight would stream in and with it, a new day of torture would begin…

Merlin woke up again, he looked towards the window to check the time, it looked like it was early morning so he reluctantly accepted that he had to wake up, he, however, closed his eyes for a few moments and listened then he opened them again once he was sure nobody was eavesdropping on his room then he spoke out loud

"Report"

A few seconds passed before a voice sounded out inside his mind

"Force group reporting! We have expended 2 shells, we're currently circling the capital out of their siege weapons range as instructed, we can begin long-range shelling as soon as instructed!"

"Recon group reporting! 0 shells expended! The surrounding area of the capital has been mapped in its entirety, currently, we are loitering out of sight as instructed"

"...Good work"

Merlin sat himself up on the bed, then he opened his inventory and retrieved the tank commander's jacket, he looked at the jacket for a bit before he sighed as his eyes turned cold… a few minutes later he was dressed and had packed his meager belongings into his backpack which he swung over his shoulder before he walked downstairs, he passed the people greeting him without greeting them back as he walked out into the road and muttered

"Buy one M3 Stuart"

[Ding! Buying one M3 Stuart, 83 points deducted, reaming balance 2564 points]

The tank metalized right in front of Merlin scaring away the people that thought they were familiar with him, then he climbed up and sat down on the turret before he made an 'advance' hand signal, with that, the engine roared before the tank charged ahead and soon disappeared from the view of the still confused villages…

People were scared, of course, they were, metal beasts were on the prowl, for days the capital city of Helga with its 2 million people had all heard the stories of the metal beasts that were circling the capital, and the problem showed no sign of being solved, even though a great many lives had been lost fighting the metal beasts they only seemed to be multiplying with new types appearing, of course, efforts had been made to contain the problem but seeing as the vast majority of the armies of Helga were out conquering new lands and proselytizing the one truth Helga had, for all intents and purposes, been caught with their pants down, though the people of the capital had faith in their walls, the very same walls that had repealed invasion after invasion in the infancy of Helga, they had heard the stories of their forefathers defending against insurmountable odds so they had faith

"FV4005, Centaur #1 in position"

"FV4005, Centaur #2 in position"

"FV4005, Centaur #3 in position"

"FV4005, Centaur #4 in position"

"FV4005, Centaur #5 in position"

"This is Centaur #1, Shitbarn group in position"

A youth on the streets of the capital nodded all of a sudden before he spoke

"Find the range to the west gate… Deathfridge group, report"

"KV-2 #1 in position"

"KV-2 #2 in position"

"KV-2 #3 in position"

"KV-2 #4 in position"

"KV-2 #5 in position"

"This is KV-2 #1, Deathfridge group in position"

"Good, wait for the range report, load anti-concrete"

"Here's your order"

"Oh… Thanks, old man… Here's a tip"

Merlin received the order he was waiting for at the cafe a few hundred meters away from the west gate

"Oh, thanks, but are you sure you want to use your hard-earned money on an old man like me? Don't you have a sweetheart?"

Merlin felt a sting in his chest as images of Jane flashed through his mind before he shook his head, then after a bit, he spoke

"No, not anymore… I came to the capital to find a new life"

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that young man…"

"I don't mind, that life has long since ended"

The old man showed a smile after a bit and spoke as he received Merlin's tip

"I hope you find what you're looking for here in the capital"

Merlin showed a wide smile and nodded

"Me too"

"Deathfridge group reporting, anti concrete shells loaded!"

Merlin's smile widened slightly before he muttered

"What about you, Shitbarn group, report"

"Centaur #1 here, HEASH loaded, range 2340 meters, on the dot! Waiting for firing orders!"

"Deathfridge group reporting, setting rage to 2340 meters… Range set, ready to fire!"

Merlin bit into the bread that was fresh out of the oven before he nodded and spoke

"Fire volley one"

People turned their heads towards the west gate as distant thunder sounded out in that direction, then came the HESH or High-explosive-squash-head shells fired from the FV4005's, the projectiles weighed in at about 70 kilograms and had a TNT equivalent of about 20 kilograms each, as the shells hit the wall they 'squashed' flattening out against the 15 meters, 10 meters thick wall before they exploded, the shockwave traveled though the wall and sent bricks on the other side of the wall flying out in a deadly spree as the force of about 100 kilograms of TNT rocked the walls creating pandemonium on the inner side of the walls, though untimely the walls still stood, Merlin, showed a smile and spoke

"Deathfridge group, fire when ready"

Distant thunder sounded out again and a moment later the shells impacted the walls as they penetrated into the walls before they exploded, the walls didn't take well to this as several internal compartments collapsed and so did the walls somewhat, anyways the walls weren't doing so hot at the moment, people had long since fled, the ones that were able anyway, Merlin included, half a minute later another shell barrage hit the walls, it was only when the 12th barrage hit the walls that the capital's Wyvren core had taken flight and began to combat the tanks that were situated a little over 2 kilometers away from the capital's west gate…

The capital of Helga had several districts, on the west was the most densely populated district, the common people's district, to the north was the noble district, to the south was the commercial district and to the east was the workshop district, with the workshops came with an ample need for storage, and in one such storage building a voice suddenly echoed out

"That's the signal, ending radio silence... Satan group commander Satan #1, starting operation!"

"Satan #2, starting operation!"

"Satan #3, starting operation!"

"Satan #4, starting operation!"

"Satan #5, starting operation!"

"Satan #6, starting operation!"

"Satan #7, starting operation!"

"Satan #8, starting operation!"

"Satan #9, starting operation!"

"Satan #10, starting operation!"