Dreams of conquest flooded his mind... Their enemies slain and their measly cities burnt, as his kin took all the spoils of war as a keepsake for their victory...
The entire continent was at his fingertips, as no being nor empire was able to match the might of his greentide army...
Even more so, no individual that lived on this miserable rock was capable of posing a threat to him in direct combat, as the legacy of a great, orkish warrior ran deep within the green blood that coursed within his veins...
It was a beautiful dream that felt all too real, and it seemed that it was something he could already grasp with his own 2 hands...
Alas though, reality would wake him up from his slumber, as his eyes would open to the sound of a voice waking him up from his rest.
...
...
"It is time to wake up, chief lord."
"... Ahh... How long have I been asleep, Tharok?"
"Too long, chief lord. However, we have already finished with our preparations. Our warriors are in their formations and awaiting your orders as we speak."
High Lord Khaarnak, the greatest ork chieftain among the greenskins who resided in the winter wastelands of Sviethiod, would yawn with his massive, sharp-teethed mouth as he rose mightily from his bed of beast-leather: it had been years since he had finally managed to unite their scattered tribes, and the reason for that success was due to the great strength that dwelled within his toned, muscular body.
Strength... It was the greatest quality that all orks valued the most, as the strongest among them would always be the one designated to rule among them all– anyone else who was too weak would lose their lives to their own kin, for the orks perceived weakness as a more terrible crime than dishonour.
It was a Darwinistic society where only the fit remained at the top, and in the case of the orkish brutes of Xathra's northern lands, their already impressive strength had reduced their society to a chaotic, jumbled mess of warring tribes...
However, all that had changed when Khaarnak rose to the highest amongst their ranks: his strength was the greatest among all of them, as with a single punch from his fists, he was once able to shatter an entire mountain and reduce it to a pile of rubble, and because of this, Khaarnak had eventually earned the title of High Lord, the strongest warrior, as well as the highest form of orkish authority of their now-united tribes.
He had earned this strength through sheer force of will and training– the long lifespan of orks allowed them to reach levels of power and experience that most humans would be unable to, and in the case of High Lord Khaarnak, he had trained himself for over 200 years through a deep isolation training within the darkest, cavernous caves, and it was a hellish experience that allowed him to gain the terrible power he now had in his very hands.
The reason why he had chosen to train himself for that long in order to become this strong? It was not merely to earn this level of greatness; rather, there was a dream that lay deep within his orkish mind, a desire for the common good of his ilk that gave him the determination he needed throughout his years of preservation against the odds...
To expand their domain and reach, and to no longer be bound in these winter wastelands that they called home: once, they lived in peace in the central lands of Xathra, but they were driven out mercilessly by the Neugomian Empire's forces hundreds of years ago, forcing them into the inhospitable place they had lived in for an untold amount of time already.
Several months ago, that dream would have seemed impossible to most of them, as they all firmly believed that the empire could never be defeated, even if they all banded up as a single, united tribe in order to oppose its might... However, the recent events that reached the High Lord's ears in the form of rumours quickly gave life to his gradually dying ambitions.
The Neugomian Empire, the once-invincible empire of iron-blooded warriors that no Xathran nation could stand a chance against, had been defeated by some unknown foe who snuck their forces into Vishnal, the imperial capital, and managed to slay their emperor in one fell swoop, a terrible act that quickly brought the empire to its knees as the last remnants of its loyalist forces were eventually forced into a last stand in the Kingdom of Gresia...
Of course, the power vacuum that had been left was immense: even though the empire still stood strong, as it had simply been conquered by the ones who defeated them, it was an opportunity that Khaarnak was completely unwilling to ignore, as his mind then immediately drew to execute the plans he'd been making to finally fulfill the ambitions he had already long dreamed of.
The Hundred Seats were feeble, and Khaarnak could easily beat any of their members in battle with ease... On the other hand, the once invincible Neugomian Empire that even he once feared had now grown weak, and it was the perfect time to make their presence known throughout the continent: their armies of green will rush into the central lands and claim everything for themselves, pushing through every opposition while slaying any man or nation that would dare stand in their way.
As for the mysterious foes who conquered the empire in a matter of days? They were ultimately 'weak' in Khaarnak's eyes, as they were cowards who relied on cunning and deceit to defeat the empire, and such meaningless qualities were ultimately helpless against the raw and pure prowess of their physical might, or so the High Lord thought to himself.
In short... Khaarnak had quickly concluded that all he needed was brute force in order to defeat those mysterious enemies: they had indeed beaten the empire in their short-lived war against them, but in the end, the High Lord strongly believed that his strength would inevitably prevail against them in the chaotic, ever-changing tides of battle.
"I see... Have the mages prepared the spell that will facilitate our arrival?" Khaarnak uttered, his voice becoming serious as pride and excitement swelled within his body.
"Of course, High Lord. The gateway has already been manifested." Tharok remained kneeling as he gave his answer to his liege. "We've even sent several scouts into the portal in advance, and they've recently returned and reported that the area where the portal will bring us is safe for our march."
"Good... Very good. It's time for us to unleash our assault then..."
Khaarnak would then slowly walk outside, pushing aside the fabrics that thinly separated the interior space of his tent and the outside environment, and the sight that met his eyes would quickly bring an ecstatic smile upon his face– his massive army, which was firmly composed of thousands of orkish warriors, were already preparing for their march and awaiting his commands, as the light of the gateway situated within the vicinity of their formations radiated with an intense luminosity...
His dream was already so close to coming into fruition, and all he had to do was to give his order...
"My great warriors, the time of our reckoning has come! The miserable fleshbags shall finally know what it means to fear us! We will retake our lands that they seized from us all those years ago!" Khaarnak shouted thunderously, his voice bellowing throughout the air with a loudness that his kin, no matter how far away each of them were, could all hear clearly.
"March, my warriors! Take everything from them! Bring glory to our united tribe and take back everything that the humans have pillaged from us!"
________________________________________
The Germanian Republic was a unique country among the nations of Xathra: it was the only democratic state in a continent where kingdoms and empires ran rampant, though despite this, Germania had managed to thrive amongst the lands with their neighbours due to a singular aspect...
The people of Germania were incredibly efficient craftsmen, as they were specifically talented in the art of bending and rendering metal into effective, highly efficient tools for war and construction, and because of this, no Xathram nation had ever dared to stain their relationships with such a prestigious country: after all, what kind of fool would sully their relationship with a major supplier of tools and weapons that was absolutely necessary for their developments? Even the Neugomian Empire had not dared to commit such an act of idiocy, for their reliance on the application of martial might heavily relied upon a steady source of weapons and material, and antagonising their greatest provider of such necessities would severely hamper their ambitions.
Alas though, after hundreds of years of living in peace and performing their craft, the Germanian Republic would encounter an unprecedented threat that would not only threaten one of their major cities but also become an existential danger that would risk the annihilation of their entire nation if it were not to be dealt with at once.
Unfortunately however, it was a problem that they alone would not be able to deal with, which necessitated the help of the lesser evil they had always kept at bay thanks to their usefulness to them...
...
...
The Oltrex Stronghold, one of the few, mighty imperial bastions located to the far south of Vishnal's outskirts, was currently bustling with tireless imperial activity– the recent happenings in the empire had already driven them into a state of panic, and the most recent events that have taken place in their neighbour's domain only drove them into a greater state of restlessness.
"General, new reports just came in! The city of Roztoc is being overwhelmed by a massive orkish army hailing from the north! The stationed forces are being pushed back and are sustaining horrendous casualties!"
"Damn it all... First we have those monsters who brought the shame of subjugation upon us, and now there's another threat that's wreaking havoc upon one of our most prized vassals! How can this situation get any worse?!"
It had all taken place in the span of a few hours– at first, there were reports of orkish scouts lurking within the vicinity of Roztoc's territories. Now however, after only a few hours had passed, there was already an entire orkish army that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was currently wreaking havoc throughout the Germanian city.
What was even more terrifying though, was the fact that the defence forces that had been stationed at Fort Nox, an imperial stronghold near Roztoc which housed a supplementary 100,000-strong army that the empire provided to the Germanian Republic as a form of protection from any form of threat... These soldiers were easily being pushed back by those greenskins thanks to their greater numbers, and it would appear that the problem they had on their hands was only starting to grow even worse as time continued to pass by.
"Hasn't that damn new empress done anything yet?! This incident should've reached her ears by now!"
"You're right! If it were the late emperor, this threat would have long been solved before it even became a threat!"
"Even though they're still busy with those stubborn loyalists in Gresia, the empire still possesses a large number of forces at hand!"
"Fool! If we're going to be quelling those monstrous greenskins, then the numbers we currently have on our hands won't even be enough!"
Though some of them had reasonable points, General Gaeus couldn't help but sigh as he heard the bickerings of his fellow imperial officers within the meeting chambers. As usual, these fools were finding someone other than themselves to blame; in the first place, the new leadership that had reinstated themselves as the empire's new figureheads would obviously still be adjusting and catching up to the vastness of imperial bureaucracy and other matters, and it was already a given that they wouldn't immediately be able to handle the matter of the orkish threat immediately. Although, he definitely couldn't deny though, that if it were the previous emperor who was still ruling, then the orkish army would have been dealt with in only a matter of days.
"I understand the points you're making, however, now is not the time for us to be arguing uselessly with each other." the general spoke loudly, which quickly silenced out the squabbling of his subordinates. "Jaryon, my friend, I have an important question for you... How many soldiers can we currently deploy into battle?"
The man known as Jaryon would stand up from his seat and make a light bow before he spoke.
"About 100,000 soldiers, sire... Woefully insufficient in assisting our besieged forces at Roztoc."
"Even if we rerally and rendezvous with the forces of Fort Nox for a counterattack?"
"... Indeed, I'm afraid. Even if we were to do that, our combined forces would be too insufficient. According to the reports, the loathsome greenskins number at an estimated 800,000 strong..." Jaryon explained. "The forces of Fort Nox number only 75,000 strong, assuming that they have yet to lose at least half of their forces, and combining that with our 100,000 strong... Therefore, 175,000..."
"We definitely won't stand a chance against those brutish greenskins, especially since each of them is already more powerful than us individually in terms of physical strength."
Almost immediately, a wave of new, loud voices would come forth and address their responses, most of which contributed nothing but further bickering to the assembly.
"Even so! The odds may be against us, but we must fight still! Our honour as the Empire's soldiers must not be stained by our reluctance to take ourselves to the front lines!"
"You blasted buffoon! Do you wish for all of us to perish?! Charging recklessly into a battle without any sort of plan in mind would be a greater dishonour to the Imperial Glory than acting cautiously!"
"Honour or not, it is still evident that we need more reinforcements! We need to request more forces from the capital at once!"
Gaeus could only rub his forehead in frustration as their assembly continued to come to a blank conclusion– the meeting had, by now, only devolved into an endless debate with neither side coming to a definitive answer for the problem that led to their discussion in the first place. How deeply problematic, the general thought to himself... The longer they continued to hold this meeting, the more destruction and carnage those orks would continue to unleash, and not even the general himself could find a way to solve all of the predicaments that were laid bare before them...
... Unexpectedly however, a soldier would come rushing into the room, temporarily halting the voices of the imperial assembly as the young warrior rushed to the general's seat and knelt before his presence.
"General! I bear unprecedented news!" the soldier reported, beads of sweat trickling down from the pores of his sweat as he spoke nervously. "The imperial princess... The royal family member who has been missing for several months now..."
"...?"
"She's alive, sire! And for some reason, she's colluding with those demons... She's currently on her way to the assembly right now under orders from the new empress-"
CRREEAAKK...
Silence, and then shock, was what followed suit– the imperial princess herself, Aldyth von Neugomia, the imperial family member who they all thought had perished battling those demons in Polonia... In reality, she had actually survived and was quite alive and well. She was currently even equipped with the signature silver spear in her hands, all while adorning an armour that resembled no other known imperial pattern.
The only problem that came with her survival was the troublesome detail that the soldier previously mentioned… Did the imperial princess truly decide to align herself with those demons who defeated their empire in a matter of days?
"I will get straight to the point, so that we can all proceed as quickly as possible." the princess uttered sternly, a serious expression remaining fixed on her face as she spoke. "I'm aware that some of you don't believe that I'm not truly the princess you know, and I also know that you people have formed rumours about my collusion with the ones who conquered us all in a matter of days..."
"Let me address this matter as plainly as I can: yes, I am the imperial princess you all know and loathe, that is an absolute truth that cannot be argued about, and... Yes, I am indeed cooperating with the ones you consider as enemies, the ones who seized Vishnal in a matter of days and... Mercilessly slew my father, the emperor..."
The princess then wielded her silverine spear with one of her hands, pointing its glistening edge towards the direction of the imperials within the assembly with a fierce gaze from her eyes: it was a threat that quickly drove fear and suspense into the minds of the imperial officers, and even Gaeus found himself a bit unsettled by the intimidating remark.
"If any of you have problems with what I just said, then say them right now without fear." Aldyth mentioned coldly. "In fact, if any of you were to be so brave, I will even allow the act of challenging me to a duel, however... Be prepared for a fight to the death if you do. I can only hope that you won't regret it afterwards."
"..."
Of course, none of the imperial officers would dare to give any negative response to what the princess just mentioned– they were all too aware of the monstrous, physical power that her seemingly fragile body possessed, and none of them would even be able to come close to wounding her if they were to dare to challenge her might... Because of this, Aldyth found it quite easy to shift the direction of this meeting to her favour, as the attention of every single person in the room was now all focused on her.
How easy it had been, Aldyth thought to herself in silence, an invisible smirk forming within her line of thought as her gaze fell upon the imperial soldiers in front of her; in truth, she was expecting that some of them would have at least chosen to put up a fight, and yet not even a single one of them chose to raise their blades against her... It was all too easy...
However, there was one among them who would voice out a concern that wasn't directly related to the matter she was trying to address.
"... Y-your highness... The question I am about to ask may sound rude, but please know that I do not intend to disrespect you."
"Hm, a brave one. Go ahead then, ask away."
"Um... Most of us remember you as... Er... Not having the ability to speak... Did you perhaps manage to restore it using magicks...?"
The princess would eye him for a moment, making the man who had dared to ask her that question become tense in fear– in reality though, she wasn't actually mad at him at all, as she was instead incredibly baffled at how brave this man was being in front of her despite how clear it was that she could easily put an end to his life after posing such a disrespectful query.
"Well... It's not actually me who's doing the speaking. It's funny how a man who I'm not even well acquainted with took notice of this quicker than my own father..." to the man's surprise, and eventual relief, Aldyth would casually give a calm response to his rather rude query. "Magick can't fix my muteness, so instead, I relied on the miracles of science instead. There's a small little device on my neck that's connected to me, and it speaks out the words I want to say with a simulated voice that clearly resembles what would've been mine... If I hadn't become mute, of course."
"In fact… I actually needed to wear a mask in order to use it back then, and it also used to sound unnatural... However, after a few developments made by my... Ahem... Associates, it's now as small as a standard imperial coin, and yet it can still do its job of providing me with a voice rather well."
She explained it so clearly and thoroughly, and she didn't even become mad after hearing such a ridiculous question... The man feared for his life at first, but after seeing the princess actually taking her time to answer his query, a weak sigh of relief came out of his mouth as the tension that built-up within his heart slowly faded away.
"I-I see... Thank you for answering my question, your highness..."
"I accept your gratitude... Now then, is there no one else who wishes to speak? Then I take it that none of you have any problems with my presence in your assembly? Very well then..." Aldyth would finally speak after a few seconds of silence. "General Gaeus, you're the highest-ranking officer of this castle, am I correct?"
The general would quickly rise from his seat with a faint, yet visible fear present on his face. "... I-Indeed I am, your highness. Do you perhaps have a... Question you want to ask...?"
"I do actually..." Aldyth confirmed, much to the already building-up anxiety within the general's mind due to the sheer tension of his dire situation. "I have a question for you, and I want you to answer as truthfully as possible."
"I-I shall try my best to answer as honestly as I can."
"Good, now then..." Aldyth said while lowering her silverine weapon for a moment. "It's a simple question really... Who do you truly serve? Do you serve the empress, or the emperor who came before and had already died?"
This was obviously a trick question, Gaeus spoke within his thoughts as he heard the princess' words: while the general already knew exactly what to say, he couldn't help but feel the extreme necessity of having to be careful with what he would say, as even the slightest slip-up of his words would most likely cause him to lose his head to Aldyth's indiscriminating silverine weapon.
"... I serve the empire, your highness. Regardless of who the current empress... Or emperor is, it is my solemn duty to look out for the well-being and greater good of the empire." General Gaeus gave her his response. "So long as the current emperor or empress is maintaining the empire's glory with her reign, then I will gladly serve them and even risk my life for their cause."
"But what about the loyalists stuck in Gresia, general? Don't you think that they are the ones who truly represent the Imperial Glory? Don't you believe that the current empress is nothing more than an unworthy usurper who deserves to be executed for her travesties?"
The question only became even more difficult for Gaeus– he didn't wish to express his true opinion about this matter, though he had no choice but to say what he truly thought, especially since he was being ordered by the princess to tell the truth, and he absolutely didn't want to risk the consequences of disobeying her simple command.
"In all honesty... Yes, I strongly believe that the current empress is an usurper who doesn't deserve the throne... But I do not believe that she deserves to be dethroned… Or executed, for that matter." the general voiced out his true thoughts with a bit of worry. "As for the loyalists in Gresia... Even though I heard that the crown prince is with them and by their side... I believe that they are nothing more than fools clinging on to the past and are unable to accept the reality of the present... That is all..."
"Hmph... I admire your honesty." the princess remarked. "Then, I suppose everyone here is of the same opinion as the general?"
The other imperials immediately gave the answer, almost as if they were fearing that they'd be slain if they hesitated to answer for even a second.
"Y-yes, your highness!"
"W-Without a doubt, your highness!"
"Wonderful, we won't have any further problems then." Aldyth said with a light smile. "However, since you all claim to be true, loyal subjects of the empire, you will obey and follow through with the first and most recent order that the empress has given us?"
Ah, so that was the reason why the princess came here... While the reason why such an esteemed member of the royal family would even choose to cooperate with their cunning foes, Gaeus knew all too well that they had no choice but to obey.
"We will... Obey any order that Her Majesty has given us." The general relented, and upon seeing this, his subordinates would quickly give way as well.
"L-Like what the general has stated, we too shall pay heed to Her Majesty's orders..."
"... Whatever she commands, we shall do so without even a shred of disobedience."
"Y-Your Highness, please give us the order, so that we may execute Her Majesty's will at once."
"Very well then." Aldyth responded, pleased by how easily they were listening to her. "Gather all the available soldiers we have outside as soon as possible. We'll be holding a very... Important little event."
The general frowned a bit in confusion. "... P-Pardon? What will this 'event' be, if I may ask?"
"Something that will improve the very way we conduct our wars... A modernisation of the way we 'fight'." Aldyth answered as she immediately followed up with a question.
"... Have you ever heard of 'guns' general?"
________________________________________
As soon as the order had been given, it took about an hour for the available soldiers to gather at the designated assembly place, a verdant field of green that lied just outside Fort Oltrex's towering walls, where about 70,000 men stood in lines of formations as they awaited the succeeding orders that would be given to them– the other 30,000 remained on-duty with their guard shifts and other important tasks, though the amount of soldiers that managed to attend was of course still more than enough.
To the 2 imperial soldiers known as Marcus and Kaecilius however, none of the things that were happening right now were making any sense to them whatsoever, it was as if it had been another day of useless activities instead of being truly sent into a battle in order to test their mettle... It had been several months now since both of them had been deployed into one, and by now, they were already starting to get bored of the peacefulness of the fortress they were stationed at.
"Why did they make us gather here all of a sudden? Are they going to conduct another useless training exercise?"
"Haven't you heard, Marcus? Germania's being assaulted by an army of greenskins... I heard those bastards number close to a million!"
"Seriously, you and those rumours you keep hearing, Kaecilius..."
The 2 imperial soldiers weren't brothers at birth, but rather, they were dutiful, loyal sworn brothers-at-arms who had endured through countless battles side-by-side, prevailing through the life-threatening challenges they encountered with their sheer skill and determination, as their experience and knowledge in battle gradually grew greater as time passed by; by now however, the 2 brothers were at a league comparable to that of General Gaeus himself, and the only reason they hadn't reached such a prestigious rank yet was due to both of them repeatedly refusing such a bountiful promotion, even though such commendations came from the distinguished general himself.
It wouldn't take long before the true purpose of their assembly here would finally be revealed to them, and fortunately for Marcus and Kaecilius, they would be one of the lucky few who'd get to witness it up-close due to being positioned at the very front of it all...
"Attention! The princess' most esteemed guardian knight will take the place of the imperial princess who's currently too busy at the moment! She will be handling the matters related to our assembly today!"
Ah, it had finally started, Marcus thought quietly to himself as he heard the booming announcement– he found it strange though, that the one who had initiated this sudden assembly, the imperial princess herself, wouldn't be here right now and would instead be represented by one of her knights to do the task.
However, the title of 'guardian knight' was no small feat of accomplishment that should be ignored, especially since this woman served a true member of the royal lineage: the guardian knights who directly served the imperial family held an authority even higher than the level that General Gaeus possessed, and they were only truly outranked by the ones they loyally served. In this case however, the princess' guardian knight was effectively the second highest-ranking warrior in the castle, holding an authority that was surpassed only by the imperial princess herself.
"Hmm... So these are the men that my liege left me in charge of? This might prove to be interesting..."
And there came the princess' guardian knight, walking slowly to the front as she quickly became the centre of everyone's attention– it was a woman with long, blonde hair and deep, azure eyes, her body adorned with a strange, jet-black, leather-like armour that covered her from neck to toe...
Despite having no trace of mana in her body, which both of the 2 could detect with their innate sense of mana, there was that sense of danger that emanated from the knight's presence despite her supposed lack of magickal presence.
This woman... Marcus whispered in a near-silent tone that only he and his friend could audibly hear... She was either incredibly talented enough to hide the presence of her mana completely, or she had none at all dwelling within her veins, and it was through sheer effort alone that she managed to become the guardian knight of the imperial princess.
Whichever of the 2 options were true though, Marcus could already tell that this woman was someone that one shouldn't mess with so casually...
"The sound-spell magicks have been placed and casted, milady. They'll amplify your voice so that all of them can hear what you'll say." one of the robed figures beside the woman, a mage wielding a wooden stave with his right hand, would whisper to her after he made a courteous bow. "They've been cast within the vicinity, just try not to stray too far from us, and they'll work without a hitch. Please begin whenever you're ready."
"Let's start then, shall we? Soldiers of the empire, heed my words very carefully." the blonde-haired 'knight' spoke with a loud voice that all of the soldiers could hear clearly. "Her imperial highness, the princess, as well as I, her humble bodyguard, have come here for one purpose only, and I think most of you are aware of what this reason is exactly."
"However, to those who remain unaware of the purpose of our visit, I will make it clear to you all in simple terms." the blonde woman continued. "As of right now, your combined numbers won't stand a chance against the orkish army that's laying siege upon Roztoc. Her Majesty is also currently unable to provide more reinforcements for this cause, which is why we chose another form of assistance for you..."
The guardian knight then snapped her fingers, and to her right, a single pair of towering, humanoid constructs of steel, the same famed monsters that had been utilized by those demons in their battles against the empire, would walk towards the blonde-haired woman as they trudged the ground with their broad, heavy bodies– the ultimate point of interest about them however, were the strange, metal tools they carried with their stubby metal hands, as they seemed to be weapons meant for combat, yet none of the men could even begin to guess how they were meant to be used.
"These 'tools', or rather, weapons, are called 'guns'. They function similarly to those imperial cannons that some of you might have seen and heard of, but the one I'm holding right now is a far more advanced work of pure science." the blonde knight explained audibly as she took one of the weapons that the 2 constructs were carrying, slightly raising it into the air to completely show its appearance to the observing soldiers. "This model is a particularly outdated one, though it's easy to mass-produce and relatively simple to use, which is suitable for properly gearing up masses of common soldiers such as yourselves."
"I won't be explaining how its mechanisms work, since that would waste too much of our time, and none of you would be able to understand it properly anyway. As for the proper procedure on how to use it, I'll be showing it to you all, but please give me a moment..."
Another construct would walk into the fray, though this one was carrying what seemed to be a thin, wooden mannequin equipped with a standard imperial pattern of armour, which it would then set down at a distance that was sufficiently far away, yet still within the range of the guardian knight's mysterious weapon. Simultaneously though, the blonde knight quickly began her work with haste, her hands moving and operating the weapon professionally as she readied to fire its deadly energies upon the target that had been laid within her sights.
"Now, let's begin with how to fire the weapon. This part here, the one with a small hole on its tip, is called the muzzle." the blonde woman emphasised heavily as she began pointing the weapon at the armoured, wooden target that had been left in the open for her to fire at.
"Aim the weapon at your target carefully, try not to miss as much as possible. These weapons only have a maximum limit of 200 shots, and you'll need to rearm them after they've run out. After that, you squeeze the little trigger function where my other hand is..."
The weapon sprang to life as it radiated with intense blue lights, its internal mechanisms whirring with its intense energies as its destructive attack was being readied within its metal body.
"And then it will fire like this."
BANG!
A beam of bright, cyan light came forth from the wielded weapon, and it was an attack that happened in a near-instant: the mannequin that was covered from head to toe with imperial metal platings, even though the armour was a standard form of protection that most of the Neugomian soldiers were equipped with, it was still incredibly shocking to see it reduced to a pile of molten slag just from a single hit of that monstrous weapon.
"T-that's..."
"H-how is it that powerful...?"
"This is insane... Are we all going to be given those things?"
As the weapon began cooling down after performing its firing-sequence, the guardian knight would lower her weapon as she faced towards the crowds of soldiers who were watching her.
"Now, as you all know, these weapons are incredibly powerful, and while I did say that they were mass-producible, the amount that Her Highness has currently brought here can only cover half your total numbers... About 50,000, to be specific." the guardian knight spoke. "Even still, these weapons will prove helpful for the battle that's ongoing in Germanian lands... The same battle where you will all be sent to in a few days."
"... Although, just so you all know, these weapons have been... 'Conditioned' to not fire upon certain targets. Some of them include me, Her Highness, Her Majesty, and a few other individuals." the blonde woman's said, with her face turning incredibly serious for a moment. "If you don't believe me, then I will test it out on myself for all of you to see."
The mechanisms of the gun sprang to life once again, though this time its target would be its very own wielder, as its pointed tip was aimed at none other than the blonde knight herself...
"W-what are you doing...?!"
"Y-you'll get turned into bloody mist!"
"Someone stop her at once!"
Her hands visibly trembled slightly, with her mind forming thoughts of hesitation for a moment– even still, the guardian knight knew that this was a task she needed to fulfill, to show them all that, despite the impressive power that these weapons possessed, they could never be used to turn against the ones who facilitated their creation in the first place.
...
"N-nothing happened..."
"So what she's telling is true..."
"Why would you think she's lying anyway?! That's the princess' guardian knight you're talking about!"
She squeezed the trigger several times, and fortunately for her, no destructive beam of light came out of it to reduce her to a pile of smoking ash... As expected, the safety precaution that had been built into them by that pink-haired woman was there to keep them safe from events like this, and it made her sigh in relief for a brief moment...
"... And that's what happens if you try to fire it upon me, much more upon Her Highness herself. It will never fire, even if you use some form of magick to force your will upon it. It's a safety precaution that was placed in each of them, so that none of you can use this weapon against us."
How would such a thing even be a problem... Both Kaecilius and Marcus thought to themselves: even with that kind of limiting feature in them, the destructive potential that those fearsome weapons had was still enough for them to equalise their disadvantage against the massive, orkish army that was raiding Roztoc. In fact, many of the soldiers didn't mind it at all, for so long as those metal tools would greatly assist them in their battles, a simple feature to ensure that they wouldn't use it for malicious purposes wasn't something that bothered them that much.
Alas though, the assembly was finally coming to a close– the guardian knight would begin her closing remarks as she put away the weapon by giving it to one of the constructs beside her.
"These weapons will revolutionise the very way we fight: where once you would require getting close to the enemies in order to do damage, these weapons will allow us to unleash destruction upon our enemies long before they even get the chance to see us." the blonde knight uttered. "However, before we send you all to the battle ongoing at Roztoc, to the soldiers who'll be given the privilege of handling these weapons, we will give you 7 days to practise handling them. Not to worry though, I will give you guidance in these matters since I'll be training some of you myself."
"And that concludes our short assembly. The first batch of soldiers who will receive the weapons, come with me to the training hall, I and a few of my other associates will begin teaching you as soon as possible."
"Praise be to your new empress. May the empire prosper throughout her reign."
The soldiers quickly shouted in unison, as a new-found sense of respect was born within their hearts due to the unique form of assistance that she and the princess provided for them.
"All hail the new empress! We shall serve her until our dying breaths!"