NationStates Jolt Archive

The Plains of Lycaon
Antistratego Lupus, commander of the ten thousand, stared towards the horizon, silently sucking in the slaughter he had witnessed that day. The fields before were covered with strewn bodies of the dead, their insides piled where they naturally should not be - outside. It was a bloody catastrophe, and for Lupus, it was the mightiest debâcle of his military career as a the commander of a mercenary force. His client, Agos Sangrum, was now lost between the myriad of the dead which littered the field of battle, and Lupus, with a much reduced army, had been left alone to contemplate his eventual defeat, or the much more tranquilizing option of surrender, although a Natasar would never think of surrender. He sighed to himself and continued to analyze the destruction caused by this race; astheram against astheram.

As he continued to stand, transfixed on the abroad, one of his soldiers approached, "Stratego!" The man gave a full salute, clenching his fist and slamming it against the left breast of the platelet which covered his body, and then continued, "Agos Viernarum is approaching from the western ravines."

Lupus jumped immediately to attention and responded, "Zeugitès, warn the men immediately! How long ago was it since you saw them? How many men? Answer post haste soldier!"

The other man did not hesitate when he gave an answer, "At least twenty fists, about twenty minutes ago. I shall warn the Baivarabam immediately, Strategos!" The man hussled off, rifle in hand, in search for the survivors of the day's battle.

Lupus stood baffled. His foe was either confident, and thus had a mighty force at hand, or he was a fool, but Lupus was not prepared to take the risk of assuming the latter. He briskly walked to his command vehicle and darted within it, almost immediately beginning the motor and hurridly making his way off. Within mere minutes he had arrived at the main camp, and upon arrival he witnessed pure chaos. Cowards screamed, "They are coming! They are coming! Our death is at hands!" Paying no heed the Strategos headed for his most valuable possessions, his Baivarabam, the ten thousand. Entering the palisaded camp he stomped his foot, and at the stomp ten thousand rose from their pitiful sleeping conventions on the floor, as opposed to the tents that marked the main fort. Natasari did not sleep in luxury. No, they slept in pain, so that the next day, in the midst of a revolving battle, it would just feel like sleep again! They were ready by the time he had arrived and briskly they began to march out, ready to meet the foe in battle.

Lining out for battle, the men showed no sign of fear as their foes expanded before their very eyes, suddenly multiplying in numbers exponentially as they widened their battle line, spearheaded by fearsome tanks and atrocious looking Diamants, as they were called - gargantuan dreadnoughts of the land. But the Natasar stood still, unflinching in the face of the punishing gods themselves, and they soon had rifle at ready, prepared to inflict terrible punishment against those that dared mock the Natasari mercenary military.

All the while, Lupus studied the terrain. The battle fought earlier, where the entire allied army had been gobbled by an unpallable foe, had been fought to the east, and so Lupus found this ground strange. Earlier, his force and the remnants of Sangrum's army had retreated past the Gates of Tetadron and camped on the other side, hoping to persuade the enemy that it would no be worth the adventure to persue the routed army. Apparently, Lupus had underestimated his adversary, for what he saw now could be nothing less than a full blown armada of flesh and gun. Behind the army sat the sparkling walls of sand and dirt which made the Gates of Tetadron, expanding to all sides until the human eye seemed to peter out in visual strength, and that itself was jagged and rocky, incomparable to the firm dirts which produced the ground they were about to meet on now. Behind him he had plenty of plains to use for an escape, but not real mountains to call safe haven, and so a rout would have to be done and completed quickly. He sighed, much deeper than earlier, and then went on.

As suddenly as the enemy had arrived, they had begun the attack. The Diamants had already begun to open fire with their massive armaments, pounding the Natasari line. In the face of explosions, dirt, and then more explosions the battline reeled backwards, attempting to recompose itself shortly afterwards. Fortunately, some of the cowards back at the camp had decided to follow the Natasari army, and so at least Lupius had some replacements to count on. The ferocious bombardment lasted for at least another ten minutes and when it was all done and over smoke covered the men of Lupius' command. When it finally shook off, his men were no less peturbed by the presence of the enemy army; they stood at ready, willing to die for their antistrategos and strategos. One hèmilochitès shouted, "Who are we?" Together, they all responded, "The soldiers of the gods of war!"

From the dust covered no mans land between the two armies, a man on the back of a gergantul, a four legged pack animal, breeded with other genetical pools to make it a warstead, approached the Natasari lines. Lupius acknowledges his presence by ordering his men to stand down, which they did, and he proceeded to meet the strange man between the two bodies of soldiers. They did so and the other man spoke first, "I am General Teriap, army commander of the Fieleden. I bring you hopes of surrender."

Lupius twisted his face in disgust and retorted, "The Natasari do not surrender. We are not cowards."

General Teriap smiled and chuckled, "It matters not; my army most certainly outnumbers yours. Chances for victory, young man, are slim, whether you acknowledge it or not."

The antistrategos stood silent, obviously offended by the reference of 'young man', and he looked back at his army, studying it. Then he turned to the other commander, "This land is protected by the Natasar Mercenaries. I offer you a chance to disengage and leave with your lives. Many of your fine men will die today, victory or not."

The other man gave out a hearty laugh and responded, "You best not waste my time, son."

Lupius rolled his eyes and dismounted his own gergantul, and unsheathed his sword. Bending his back a bit, he drew a circle around the animal the other commander was sitting on, and he said, "Before this meeting is over, and before you step out of this circle, you will give me a response."

Silence swept over the area, and after a few intense, and long, seconds the other man merely nodded and reeled back, heading back for his army. The battle was over before it began...

But Lupius was no fool, and he understood that they would be back. To that understanding he had left the remainder of Sangrum's army to die in the deserts, and he had led his own ten thousand headed east, in the direction in which they came, and where the Belatucadros awaited. The march 'to the sea' had begun...anabasis.

The march East had not been pleasant, and instead it had been the exact opposite, especially with stragglers of Sangrum's army attempting to rejoin the ten thousand Natasari soldiers forming the core of the march. It had been a pain to leave the others to die in the desert, but Lupius knew it had to be done, as he barely had the logistical baggage to feed his own, and truth be told, many of his own would not be fed. All the while, supplies were being consumed at an extravegant pace, especially as Lupius augmented the mileage his army would cross on foot each day. General Teriap's armour had kept right on his heels, and it would not seem as if it would be a soon to come day when Teriap's hordes were not a thorn on Lupius' sides. In fact, foward elements of Teriap's tank brigades had engaged parts of the rear guard, and the fighting had become so ferocious that Lupius himself had to take control of the action. Indeed, the antistratego rolled over the images of the previous day in his mind. Three of enemy tanks, their hulls rusted over, evidence of the fact that the armour was largely outdated and antiquated, had crept over the crest of a low hill, just past a ravenous ravine which the ten thousand had crossed silently, and had begun to pound from a distance the center formations of a rear guard brigade, designed to keep threats like this away from the logistical bagtrain, and from the main body of the army. Nevertheless, Lupius had been called foward, and it took a steady anti-tank guided rocket to knock out one of the beasts, and scare the others away. Since then Lupius' army had been left to relative silence, for better or for worse.

That night the army had established a palisade fortification, allowing it to sleep safely, while sentries and scouts exchanged roles throughout the night, keeping a solid look out for threats. Lupius had stayed awake all night, conferring with Taxiarhos' Entimidas and Carolus, attempting to save what he could of the situation. The other two men were glum, and it took quite a bit of persuasion prowess to turn the tables on their motivation. Lupius took another drag from his pipe, something which looked of the old age, when only the Earth was infested by putrid humans, as opposed to the entire universe. Placing it on the table between him and his generals he said, "We will continue to march east tomorrow. There is a ravine eight kilometers from here, and that's where we'll make our stand. If we survive the battle we will be able to find an escape at leisure - perhaps we could find service in the armies of other warlords. I see no other way out, except to fight Teriap's army."

Carolus shook his name in disdain, "Normally I would not care about being numerically inferior, but this is just... insane. They outnumber us by at least thirty to one."

While Lupius' eyes drew inward, Entimidas brightened his face, "What ravine? I did not see a ravine on my map."

Lupius turned and then took a pointer and responded," Quattara ravine." He pointed at its location and said, "Why? What's the difference?"

Entimidas seemed rather estatic now, "Sangrum spoke to us about his holdings in this area, and he let slip about what he called his flagship. I cannot remember the name." He thought about it for a second, while the other two exchanged glances in confusion. He finally sputtered, "The Belatucadros!"

Carolus rolled his eyes, "And what good will a ship do us now?"

Entimidas shrugged, "Perhaps a clever escape?"

Lupius weighed the results of this new find, but he was suddenly interrupted by the curtain to his tent flapped wide open by a soldier. He immediately stood, while the lesser rank saluted. He gruffly said, "Zeugitès?"

The soldier, now obviously a sentry, was patting hard, and he was slow to respond, but Lupius gave him time. The man garbed in his battle armour gave way to words as he expressed, "Stratego, enemy armour has been spotted with mechanized support at six kilometers north northwest."

Lupius' eyes widened and he began to yell orders, "Generals, wake your men. Zeugitès, good work, have you ever commanded a fist?" The other man shook his head fervently and Lupius' continued before the other could object, "Good, now you will get an experience. You will come with me, and command next to me."

The entire camp was put into order within a good ten minutes, while Teriap organized his men into proper thrusts, giving Lupius enough time to send eight thousand of ten thousand men East, in pursuit of the Belatucadros. The rest would form a rear guard and fight Teriap's brethren until the Belatucadros was found. Like a proper general, Lupius would stay in the rear, while his Taxiarhos' led the main body of the army east. The fighting force had dug in, with their left wing anchored properly on a canyon wall, which rose for at least two hundred meters, vertically. The right wing was positioned in open ground, but it was protected by a screening force of around one hundred men, positioned as a strategic reserve, able to extend the line if the enemy attempted to outflank the position. All could see the lights of the foe as they decended the wide pathway to the Natasari line. Near the front one soldier whispered to his comrade, "And what monster created those beasts?"

The other looked at him and retorted, "The same monster that created man."

As if to punish his words artillery began to rain on top the heads of the men, digging in ever further into the sand. High explosive shells burst overhead, or when hitting the ground, claiming lives with every flash of light. In response Natasari artillery had opened up in a ferocious act of anti-battery fire, spitting smaller rounds out of semi-disposable artillery tubes, designed to move and traverse quickly, and to be cheaply replaced. Unfortunately, the Natasari had no industry to replace them with, especially since Sangrum had died, and his holdings largely ran over by Teriap's barbarous forces. Nevertheless, the two sides pounded each other until it seemed they could pound no more, and an eerie silence fell over the field. The newly appointed fist commander, Lokhagos Fierat, looked over to his idol, Lupius, and questioned, "And what now?"

The other man glumly said, "Hell."

Another explosion could be seen ripping at the right flank, and then the flash of the hulls of fast moving armour, floating on top of the desert sands using the electromagnetically propelled hover skirts. The infantry fought back ferociously, and one could witness the hail of mortars and anti-tank missiles zipping through the sky, witholding no mercy, giving no quarter. Tanks burst into flames, as men cried from the pain of being wounded. Others lay silent where they were, holding their entrails, as their eyes rolled back, signifying the beginning of their new life in the world beyond. But war knew no compassion for animals, and the sharp engagement continued, until the right wing was forced to roll back and bend, bending so much that it seemed as if they had created a path for the foe to outflank it and turn towards the rear of Lupius' soldiers. One fist commander had dared raise the Natasari clan flag in daring and tenacious resistance, but it had served him no purpose, except his prompt dispatchment to the land of Hades. The flag, nonetheless, stood, as if through a miracle, entrenched somehow in the fine sands, and it waved. Soon thereafter the battle died down yet again, and Lupius could see more forces beginning to encircle his forces throughout all sides - except his rear.

Quickly, he ordered Fierat, "Send your reserve company to the front, and begin to tie down one thousand torches, lit on fire. This must be completed within twenty minutes."

The Lokhagos looked perplexed and asked, "Ten thousand within twenty minutes?"

The Archstrategos nodded, and the Lokhagos was off. With that, Lupius planned for a daring run. He had received a communication during the battle that the main force had run up against the foward units of another clan, enemy of Teriap, and the clan would lead them to the Belatucadros, happy that the Natasari, long known for their destructive purposes under the command of Lord Sangrum, would be gone once and for all. So when those torches were lit, Lupius led the remnants of his men east, hoping that Teriap would be fooled. Not many studied the classics, and it was a shame - the classic generals were considered antiquated and bad examples. But this proved just how valuable Hannibal's lectures still were to modern combat. That said, Lupius' army found itself under the hospices of the other clan soon enough, and Teriap behind. He was led to the location of the Belatucadros, in a modified cave based airbase, purchased under a temporary liscence from the local indegenous population, and he had parked his most prized ship, the Belatucadros, ready to rise and destroy what would remain of Teriap's forces - unfortunately, he had been the defeated, not Teriap.

By the next day, when Teriap would find out the dreaded trick played upon him, the Natasari would be gone... the anabasis had begun.

Beginnings...
The Belatucadros was a beautiful ship, named after an ancient godess of a forgotten kingdom at least ten thousand years back - the Celts. She was, just like that godess, master of war, breaker of kingdoms, and she was under the command of Lupius, Antistratego of the Natasari people. The giant warship, expanding in around four kilometers length, took a while to turn on her verticle thrust engines, providing enough force to lift the vessel off the ground and prepare it for the inevitable take-off. Lupius had never been on a ship; indeed, he had been born and bred on the planet of Eradorn - the very planet he so tenaciously escaped from now. She shuddered a bit, attempting to break through periodical disuse, and then leveled out as the massive engines put out enough thrust to heat the planet. The creature creaked and then slowly made its way foward as the rear engines put out a bit of thrust themselves, allowing the ship to hover over the desert strip of the ad hoc airfield Lord Sangrum had 'rented'. It took a while for the Belatucadros to slip out of the hangar and into the airstrip, which released a torrent of dirt and sand under the force of the engines, and then she began to lift, tilting her nose foward, and finally letting go and escaping into the upper atmosphere, and finally breaking free and entering orbit. Lupius held his breath as the ship shook and her hull was covered with a blue fire, and then he released as the hell had ended and he could witness Eradorn in all her splendor below him. To Fortune he owed his life and his escape, but Eradorn had been his home for thirty-three years, and now it was no longer his. He cursed under his breath and then turned to Taxiarhos Entimidas, his makeshift executive officer, and ordered, "Plot the position of Teriap and his army."

The other man arched an eyebrow and said, "Sir?" He was most waranted in his questioning, as although no other warlord on Eradorn shared such a ship, waging war on Teriap would most likely put a further limit on the ability for the Natasar to return to the planet. Regardless, as Lupius formulated no response, Entimidas scurried off and did as told. He returned soon thereafter, notifying Lupius that the targets had been put through the computers. It had taken more time than expected, but the Natasar did not know the ship too well and it took time to accustom themselves. Indeed, they barely knew how to work the Belatucadros! They had never seen something so complex in their lives.

But Lupius had a time table to establish and complete and he asked, "Have the men worked the armaments?"

Entimidas replied, "We know how to work the railguns, sir. That should provide enough firepower to rip through their armies in a hail of a bombardment."

Lupius nodded in agreement and then shouted, "Commence the bombardment!" Entimidas made an about face and repeated the order, which was repeated by the armaments officer and then carried through by laser communications to the actual gun turrets mounted on the ship, and in the vessel herself. It was not half a second before the massive 800mm railguns began to shudder as they released their shells, which plunged through the quasi-vaccuum of space and entered orbit, crashing through the atmosphere and gaining velocity through the acceleration of gravity. Through cameras and high powered telescopes one could witness as extremely high explosive shells tore through Teriap's forces, and most likely claimed the life of Teriap himself. No tank survived, no infantryman - one was to wonder whether those shells were nuclear. But to the Natasar it mattered little - they had received their proper revenge. One would have expected the Belatucadros to leave then, but it didn't, and instead it continued to fly around orbit, waiting for Lupius to make his decision. He made it about an hour later, as the Belatucadros finished her bombardment of Teriap's cities and military installations. Indeed, it was unlikely that Teriap's clan would hold power for much longer, and there was no doubt that Eradorn would plunge into some sort of war between the clans. To this Lupius turned to his executive officer and ordered, "Taxiarhos, destroy the planet."

Entimidas hesitated, but a good Natasar would not hesitate to fulfill the wishes of his Antistrategos or his Strategos, so he complied, giving the order to another, lower officer. Within two minutes the ship's inventory of railguns, missiles and ion cannons had pulverized the strongest clans that inhabitated the face of the planet, leaving Eradorn barren and largely destroyed. Lupius shook his head and then said, "We have saved a people from horror." And with that, the Belatucadros had finished her dirty work, and Lupius gave out yet another order, "Return to the planet, we will take what we can."

The large ship reentered the atmosphere, shaking throughout the entire process, only to land in a barren desert just a small distance away from Hierníos, a fairly large city that had once been inhabitated by over a million people and now lay destroyed. When it finally touched land and her engines shut off, six doors opened electrically, dropping to the ground with a thud, and revealing the shadows of entire groups of soldiers. These men rushed out and rondevouzed in front of the ship to meet their commander. With that, the Natasar, numbering around two hundred men, set forth towards Hierníos as a raiding party. It took them a good two hours to march to the city, but by that time the men were in a lust for some sort of booty to collect. They rushed through the streets in unison, heading straight for the clan administrative buildings, but were suprised to meet the remnants of the clan's security armies. No shots were fired and Lupius met with their commander - apparently some man who had declared himself sovereign of the city. Lupius approached him warily, extending his arm and declaring, "Quite a tragedy."

The other man contorted his face and spat at Lupius' feet, "Yes well, we can't all win, can we? What do you want with us? Have you not caused enough damage?"

Lupius was rather suprised at that latter comment, but kept his aura of superiority and responded, "We come to take from this city what is ours." The other man attempted to intervene, but Lupius continued by raising his voice, "What we want is ours, agreed? Should your men put no resistance no harm will come to them, and we will leave. We merely need to fill our ship."

The other man didn't buy the argument and shouted, "Be gone filthy scum! There will be no treaties of peace with Destruction!" His fellow men shouted in sympathy, and he began to back away and then turned his back entirely on Lupius. The Natasar general shook his head and did the same, signalling to his men. Soon enough, shots rang out, as high velocity bullets electromagnetically escaped through the barrels of the rifles held by the Natasar, slaughtering the security soldiers of the city. The firefight continued throughout much of the day, but it was rather one sided, and by dark Hierníos was Natasar, and Lupius raided it to his delight. In the future, survivors would tell of rape, destruction, pillaging, slaughter, and they were absolutely correct. No quarter and no mercy were given. "To what the Natasar theres."

When satiated the raiders left Hierníon and returned fully laden with goods and supplies to the Belatucadros. The latter once again shook as her engines propelled her back into orbit, and finally, her PION drives allowed her to make good speed elsewhere - the Natasar would have to fine a new home, would they not? And then, in the blink of an eye, the two turbines at the end of the vessel twisted and contorted the fabric of space putting the ship directly into the path of destiny. Suddenly the Belatucadro's sensors had picked up what seemed to be something of immense proportions. One of the officers rushed into the command room and signalled Lupius with a clenched fist to the left pectoral, and Lupius returned. The man gulped and then exclaimed, "We have the traces of seven ships before us, sir. Five frigates, at least telling from the size, and two cruisers, possibly carrying smaller craft. We are talking about massive firepower if the rumours of space travel are true."

Lupius nodded and answered, "Thank you soldier, return to your post." Then he turned back, facing foward towards the array of screens before him and began to think to himself. The Belatucadros was a massive ship, but he had no command experience for such a vessel, and he was put up against something of immense firepower. He would have to rely on his diplomacy and not on his war making abilities. He shrugged to himself and then turned and made his way to the communications room. One of the soldiers was already prepared to send a light databurst to the ships that the Belatucadros had so unfortunately intercepted, and the message was simple.

IDENTIFY YOURSELVES

With that, Lupius waited. The Belatucadros had already began to turn, showing her portside, bristling with turrets full of railguns, and her doors to her missile tubes wide open. There wasn't much else the ship could do, and it would take some ingenious manuevering to be able to survive any battle with so many ships. Nevertheless, Lupius had an ace up his sleeve if it came to violence, and it was to take what he could and run. The Natasar were nothing more than pirates after all, and pirates rarely had the capabilities for an extended fight. Regardless, one would hope that violence was not what concluded of this most unusual meeting between two peoples. With that said, Lupius continued to await his fate. Unfortunately, Fate seemed to be on the opposite side of Lupius these dates, and Fortune herself seemed to befriend Fate.