Chapter 127: | 127 | The Fall of the Colonial Armory Depot
In the confines of the Colonial Armory Depot's fortress, gunfire resounded along with the cries and roars of the colonial guards fighting for their lives. They were getting besieged by a powerful force that practically divided the entirety of the Colonial Dominion in mere moments.
"Continue defending the corridors!" The colonial commander yelled out to his men, who were exhausted. Fighting and retreating didn't do good for the bodies of the colonial guards.
Not only that, their morale was also at its lowest. After all, they were pushed to the brink by the outsiders invading the island.
"Sir! The outer defenses has fallen! We are the only ones left in the armory depot!" One of the colonial guards reported, causing most to grunt in horror. Their numbers weren't to be underestimated, yet they were exterminated without difficulties and mercy.
"H-How can we defend this place! We're probably going to die." A colonial guard expressed with despair. Many of the guards couldn't utter words against him as it was the truth of their circumstance.
"Shut up if you don't want to die!" The colonial commander pointed his flintlock towards the guard and warned. The morale of his men was already low. He didn't want it to get even more lowered.
"P-Please don't kill me. I don't want to die!" The colonial guard fearfully backed away from the colonial commander. While he was in despair, he still hadn't lost his will to live.
He didn't want to die in this island and wanted to return to his homeland.
With this in mind, facing the barrel of the colonial commander, the colonial guard gritted his teeth and ran out of the corridor.
"Hey!" The colonial commander shouted at the guard and immediately pulled the trigger.
*Bang!*
Sadly for the commander, however, the colonial guard had already managed to escape his sight, dodging their death. He clenched his fist in anger and cursed the deserter.
"Piece of sh*t! I'll execute him myself if I ever see him in front of me." The colonial commander wanted to kill someone at the moment, but couldn't bother to do anything towards his remaining men.
After all, using fear to control them in desperate times was always a foolish option.
"Oh? You'll execute him? Will you even be alive by then?" Out of nowhere, a sarcastic voice resounded throughout the hallway. This brought shivers to everyone's spine. After all, this voice could only come from one person.
The colonial commander turned his gaze towards the direction where the voice came from and saw a silver wolf beastfolk with two Minokins beside her. They were holding heavy machine guns with ease, while she had two desert eagles between her hands.
"You must be the invaders! How dare you attack the Colonial Armory Depot! You have declared war to the Colonial Dominion!" The colonial commander shouted in anger towards the beastfolk invaders.
Mercedes didn't respond to the commander and merely signaled her men to end this farce. After all, she didn't have all the time of the world to talk with some colonial commander.
The Storm Fleet still needed the assistance of the rebels and the reconnaissance team to take over the heart of the colony.
Noticing the signal of the first lieutenant, the Minokins nodded in understanding and pointed their heavy machine guns towards the direction of the colonial commander and his men.
Without any hesitation or delay, they pulled the trigger and rained bullets down to the every last human in the hallway.
*BRRrrrrrtttt!!!* *BBRRRrrrrrttt!!!*
Flickering lights flashed brilliantly in hundreds for a mere moment. Thunderous gunshots echoed, followed by the sound of walls breaking apart. Flesh were ripped out from their bodies, turning them into mangled pieces of themselves.
The two Minokins practically erased the direction where the colonial commander and his guards stood. Smoke scattered from the residues of the fortress's stone walls, though it didn't take long for them to fade into the background.
What remained though... Was a horrifying sight.
The corpses of the commander and the colonial gathers scattered throughout the hallway with dozens of bullet holes on their bodies. Their limbs were torn from their bodies, making limbs dangle everywhere.
But Mercedes didn't have much of a reaction towards such a horrifying scene and turned her attention to Minokins beside her.
"Gather everyone and have them find the armory of this fortress."
"The armaments, supplies, and armors of this depot must be collected to be dispersed to the rebellion." She uttered her following orders, which the Minokins humbly accepted.
They immediately walked away from the hallway, leaving Mercedes behind.
Afterward. she returned her gaze to the scene and remembered the escapee. This made her raise an eyebrow since the fate of that guard was an unknown. But, she then walked through the corpses of the colonial commander and his men.
After all, the colonial guard should be on the other side of the corridor.
Luckily for her, she wasn't wrong. In the other side of the corridor was a shivering colonial guard who was kneeling and placing his hands on the wall.
"You were lucky to run away." Mercedes muttered to the guard, who merely froze and collapsed to the ground. It seems that despair caused him to lose his consciousness.
'Well, we have another prisoner in our hands.' She quietly thought to herself while checking the body of the colonial guard for any weapons. Following her check up, she picked the young man and placed him on her shoulders.
She then followed the path of the Minokins and left the confines of the fortress where most of her men gathered. Outside, a dozen of prisoners gathered together. They were survivors of the fortress, and technically, they couldn't kill surrendering adversaries.
So, Mercedes had to shackle them and turn them into prisoners of war. Besides, they might have useful intelligence with them that could be handy for the intelligence department.
She arrived in front of the prisoners and placed the body beside them. They looked at her in fear and backed away, but she didn't care about what they thought of her. After doing what she needed to do, she returned her attention to the mission at hand.
"Leader! Armaments, armors, and supplies have been gathered. It's in surplus, and could be supplied to an army of over a thousand." A SRU beastfolk arrived before the first lieutenant, and reported the status of their goal.
"The compound has also been cleared of any hostiles. We have gained complete control over the armory depot." Another SRU beastfolk arrived and reported to Mercedes.
"Affirmative, contact Espada about the success of our assault. Let him bring the girl and her entourage to the compound." Mercedes nodded in understanding and ordered them.
"We shall do so," The two beastfolks saluted to the silver wolf lieutenant and began contacting the second-in-command, Espada.
On the other hand, somewhere in the island, Hermona walked through the evergreen forest with a large group of beastfolks behind her. Most were from the Tigris and Leo Tribe, who followed her with their respective chiefs.
She wondered why they needed to follow her as she merely planned to return to her ship. But before she could keep walking towards the shores, Espada placed his hand on her shoulders, prompting her to stop.
"Espada, what is it?" She asked while sighing. Hermona turned her gaze towards the giant Minokin who was holding a strange device in his fingers.
"I see... The assault was a success, and the first lieutenant is calling for Hermona." Espada muttered to the radio communicator while nodding in understanding. After speaking to the communicator for a while, he turned his attention to Hermona.
It was at this moment that he noticed that their group had become larger than before, so his actions must have brought the attention of everyone.
And he was right.
He coughed for a moment and relayed the orders of the first lieutenant to Hermona.
"Miss Hermona, the First Lieutenant calls for you in the Colonial Armory Depot. It has already fallen in our hands, so she wants you to be there." Hearing the words of Espada, Hermona raised an eyebrow and realized where Mercedes went.
"So... The armory depot fell? I thought it would take longer and required our assistance." Hermona remarked in shock. She wasn't alone in her words. The chiefs of the Tigris and Leo Tribes were also astounded by the revelation of the armory depot's fall.
"The Special Response Unit are amongst the greatest weapons of the United Navy. We are under the command of the Dragoness Laplace and are the spear of the Fleet Admiral." Espada expounded to the group.
"United Navy?"
"Dragoness Laplace?"
Both of the chiefs had questions, but Espada merely shook his head as he didn't desire to waste a moment explaining information to them. Instead, he decided to pass this trouble to his lovely leader.
'I guess being an underling is a lot better than I previously thought.' He quietly thought to himself as the responsibilities he had weren't as heavy as the ones he had before as the Warchief of the Minokin Tribe.
"I won't bother myself in answering your questions. If you have inquiries, ask my boss." Like a natural underling, Espada forwarded the problem to Mercedes.
Seeing Espada's lack of interest in answering them, Tora and Leonidas decided to not ask a question. Though, they glared at Hermona for the lack of information they had.
"Hehehehe~ Don't mind him. I'm sure you'll know more sooner or later." Hermona chuckled as though it wasn't her problem. Quite a skillful deflection. As expected of the rebel leader.