The Storm Queen
Chapter 11: 11 - Gears of Nations Turning: Armies Near and Far (Edited... Yet again)
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"Alright you pukes, listen up!" I shouted, addressing the mass of armored Skili before me. "Today is your long awaited graduation ceremony! You've been put through hell, forced to train in the worst conditions, but you've pulled through! Now you are all ready to get out there, and show our enemies a hell five times worse than what me and your Commander have put you through!" I looked out across the muddy field as rain poured down on us all.
The first group was the Darkstriders, bearing pure Black Iron (something the old Storm King used commonly) splintmail armor with belts that held pouches full of firebombs and Obsidian Orbs, and all of them were wielding specially made segmented greatbows with quivers of great arrows, as well as estoc's and claws. They also wore heavy obsidian silk cloaks that covered their features along with Black Iron masks. These were the ones made for the more covert operations, trained in espionage and CQB. They were great when it came to infiltrations and taking out high profile targets, but a head-on confrontation would be the end of them. Still, they were just what I needed for any special operations. Especially the few I had in the works.
The second group were my main force, the Lightbearers. They wore full plate armor with sallet helms made to fit them perfectly, aventails being the only bits of visible chainmail on them. The pauldrons were covered with a layer of cragadile scales on top of the metal, and specially made cragadile tassets covered their lower regions along with heavy scalemail. The scalemail and plates were made of the last bits of Spinmetal I had from dismantling the excess weapons and armor I had. It took a long time to figure out how to work with the metal, and even more to teach the smiths, but I managed in the end. The armor was decorated with engravings of fire filled with brass.
The Lightbearers had bucklers made of pure steel, and simple iron ultra greatswords pretty much exactly like the ones from Dark Souls. They also had longbows.
And then, there was my most elite of the Vanguard Legions. The Legion of the Betwixt. They had scalemail armor made from cragadile and kraken scales, the black and grey scales complimenting their name well. The only pure metal pieces of armor on them were their masks and things called heroic cuirass', which were basically those cuirass' with abs and pecks, and these ones were made of Stormwill, our newly acquired metal. The sea green metal reflected the lightning that flashed in the sky. Their masks were also made of Stormwill, and were similar to what the Storm King's old guard used to wear.
These guys had nagamaki's, which were excessively long-handled Japanese swords, and they too were made of Stormwill. Other than that, they had gauntlet shields in the shape of stormclouds, the lightning bolt being what covered the forearm. Also made of Stormwill.
I grinned under my own mask, before looking to Tempest and giving her a nod. She nodded back, then used her magic to unveil the mass of weapons on a table behind us. There were ultra greatswords fashioned after the Pursuer Ultra Greatsword, and to top it off, they were all made of Hadium, which for some reason I had a regenerating amount of. Seriously, I looked at my inventory one day, found over five hundred flakes in it, and took 'em out, only to find the next day that another five hundred had replaced the last bundle. I cannot tell you how much I fangirled after that, nor will I.
There were daggers made of silver that were enchanted by the best enchanters in Canterlot to be hella durable, and they also had Fire Rubies in the pommels that would give them a deadly flare for a last resort. Took a lot of work to keep that all secret from the Princesses. Couldn't let them know about my elite soldiers yet.
Then, there were the guns. After a full two months since we found Stormwill, I finally managed to get our mass production of guns going. The Lightbearers were getting .75 caliber handcannons that looked less like assault revolvers and more like, well, literal hand cannons. They were purely steel, and had large magazines and bulky, yet streamlined barrels. Next to them were the symbols for the Lightbearers, their insignia. A leather sash with a mark of the Traveler with a Bonfire in the middle of it.
The Darkstriders got guns that were modeled after one of my favorite fictional guns of all time; Alucard's Jackal. They were black and blocky just like the original, with explosive 13 mm rounds. The only difference was the inscription on them. Instead of 'Jesus Christ is in Heaven Now,' it was, '...I am a painful truth.' Their symbols were on a set of pocket watches made of Black Iron, the symbol being that of the crescent moon from the Darkmoon and the Darkness symbol that popped up every time you died in Destiny.
Finally, the Legion of the Betwixt got the first batch of rifles the factories had made. They were simple Nosler Model 48's, with floral patterns on the stocks, which were made of ash wood. They got Armlets made of steel that had engravings of a scale on them.
I turned back to the groups assembled before us. "When we call your names, come up and take your new badges of station along with your standard issue weapons!" I called out.
One by one we called them up, and as we did and each Skili soldier was given their items, my grin grew.
Phase One of my Rebuilding plan was now complete. Now it was time to give a little show.
One Month Later...
"My Queen! My Queen! A letter from the new regent!" called a Griffon messenger as he burst into the rebuilt throne room of Griffonstone.
Gilda turned her gaze to the messenger, sitting on her golden throne and wearing the crown she'd never wanted. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"What, you mean that upstart Storm Queen?" Gilda asked.
"Yes, my Queen! She sent us a letter!" the Griffon explained, flying over to hand the scroll to her before flying a respectable distance back and bowing. Gilda read it over quickly, then, her eyes widened. Soon they returned to normal and she gained an eager grin.
"Well well well, seems she wants us to head over with a few champions for the Skili Festival of Fellowship and Strength," Gilda noted.
"Shall I assemble these champions, Your Highness?" the messenger queried. Gilda snorted.
"Pfft, nah, I'll choose 'em myself," she said, standing up from her throne and stretching her wings before grinning."This should be fun."
In the Changeling Province in the Badlands, King Thorax was fretting and pacing back and forth in front of a small group of very well decorated Old Guards. These guards had been Chrysalis' finest, but now they were his. And the recent letter from the Storm Queen had pushed Thorax to choose them to be his three champions. Still, he was worried. He'd only just recently gotten onto the world stage and become a ruler, and he was scared that if he made the wrong move at the festival he'd instigate a war.
"Hey, bro, calm down, you'll wear a hole in the floor," said Thorax's older brother and one of his champions, Pharynx.
"How can I calm down?!" Thorax cried, turning to face his brother. "You've heard what Starlight and the others said, this Queen is all business, what if I accidentally break a sacred rule of her people's? Or if I accidentally insult her? Oooh, this is a bad idea! Maybe I should send a letter back saying I'm sick or-" Pharynx knocked his brother upside the head. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!"
"Calm down bro, just remember what I told you," Pharynx instructed.
"Look tough and be up to snuff?" Thorax asked, rubbing his head. Pharynx nodded.
"That's it. We'll be fine, and if worse comes to worse, just leave it to me, okay?" Pharynx told him.
"Right... Right," Thorax answered, before looking to the distant horizon out the window. "Oooh... I hope things go well..."
"I thank you Your Majesties, for letting us join you and easing our worries," said the Queen of the Zebras, Zendaya. Her boar tusk crown and platinum dzilla neck rings adorning her form along with a tribal cloak of furs. Her chocolate brown eyes seemed aglow with interest and kindness. Her mane was done up in dreadlocks.
"Of course, Queen Zendaya, what are friends for?" Princess Celestia said with a warm smile.
Once again the ponies were on an airship to the Island of Storms, but were joined this time by the Zebras. The pony's champions, consisting of two of the Pillars, Starswirl and Flash Magnus, and Bon Bon, or Sweetie Drops, were also there.
The Crystal Empire had it's own champions, chiefly Shining Armor, who was accompanied by two of his best Crystal Guards.
And the Zebra's champions were down below deck, doing some meditation.
"I'm just glad I get to come with, even though this Island of Storms sounds pretty scary," said Spike, peeking over the edge of the ship.
Starlight came over and pulled him away. "Careful there Spike, don't need you falling off."
"Oh fine," he huffed, crossing his arms. Zendaya giggled.
"Eager, are we? Too bad we have seven days free," she said with a mirthful glint in her eyes.
"I know! I wanna see the place already!" Spike whined.
"You will see it soon enough, young Spike," Luna said with a kind smile. Spike just waddled off, grumbling to himself. The royals watched him go as the others ambled about, talking excitedly amongst themselves.
"So, what do you think this is supposed to be?" Zendaya asked, dropping her rhymes and bringing her voice to a low whisper. Celestia frowned.
"I do not know," she replied in the same low whisper.
"A show of force, mayhaps?" Luna proposed. The other two's frowns deepened.
"Hopefully things won't turn hostile or cold if such is the case," Zendaya said hopefully, looking to the horizon.
"Yes, hopefully," Celestia agreed, her own gaze moving towards the horizon.
The Gears are turning...