Day 12.
April 1st, Year 583 A.G.
General Sylvari Charr was relentless.
Early that morning, the General led the Federation Army on another raid against Iron Reef, a raid that resulted in more heavy casualties for the rebel city.
That morning, literally all the high-ranking Lieutenants of the rebel army were injured, Ren Nora included!
This was how much the war situation already deteriorated.
In 12 days, Iron Reef showed a tenacity that no other rebel force that rose against the Omnicore Federation had ever shown over the years and centuries but in the end, a C Rank Ascended is a C Rank Ascended.
In 12 days, taking one step at a ti, General Sylvari Charr thodically dismantled the city, abusing the power that was beyond what 99.9% of Ascended in Neo-Tokara can ever hope to attain.
A few days ago, Purgatory no longer beca enough to fully keep the Federation Army at bay as the Federation flight vessels and warships flew into the city, bombarding everything and everywhere indiscriminately.
Buildings were leveled to the ground, entire districts were set ablaze, and apartnt containers were lted by the indiscriminate bombings!
2 days ago, Leon’s apartnt was also destroyed, rendering him holess.
And just like the other soldiers who were rendered holess in the indiscriminate attacks, he was forced to stay in the ergency camp quarters that were being erected by the rebel army.
Leon now stayed inside a tiny tarpaulin tent.
This was how dire the situation in Iron Reef was, and this was how far General Sylvari Charr and his army have pushed the city.
Apart from the casualties everyday on both sides though, another important facet of this war was that neither of the two armies had unlimited war resources.
The Federation Army periodically got reinforcent and supplies from their nearest city, but this was not enough to fully offset the damage being caused by the war.
In 12 days, both armies already lost thousands of transports and warships each.
Such amount of money was not sothing that could be counted in millions, this was a financial drain in hundreds of millions if not billions of Neo Credits!
As for the transports and warships still surviving in both armies, apart from there being 60% less transports and warships than in the beginning of the war, they were heavily damaged now after 12 days of the war between both armies.
The chanists in both armies were forced to be relentless, working non-stop to keep the aerial transports and warships in working condition.
The war was relentless and just as it harvested lives, it also harvested money.
For the rebel army, the morale in the city was at an all-ti low and this was epitomized by the injuries that were dealt to Ren Nora and his 5 Lieutenants.
To the soldiers, they could accept them getting injured and even dying during this struggle for freedom but seeing their Commanders get injured left them feeling that there was no hope.
And that was where Ren Nora ca to the picture again.
Injured with the right side of his face still bleeding from a deep gash and with bandages wrapped around his left hand, the rebel leader faced his soldiers with a resolute expression on his face.
He had another speech.
Ren Nora took a deep breath. "Free folk... my brothers, my sisters... my family in this long night".
"12 days". He rasped.
"12 days since this war carved a wound into our city, 12 days of smoke-choked air, of sleepless watches, of streets that no longer rember laughter, 12 days of relentless battle".
He exhaled. "Today, you see standing here broken, stitched, barely upright..."
"You should know this: I’m not whole because I’m strong, I’m whole because you are still here with ".
"My brothers in life and death". He smiled.
"Our Lieutenants currently lie in d-bays, wrapped in bandages instead of banners. Our fighters limp instead of march. The city groans under blackout and grief, and the Federation believes this gloom is the beginning of the end".
"They think exhaustion is the sa as surrender".
He laughed. "They have never understood us".
"We never asured life and fight with the sa trics that they used".
"To them, this is hell but to us this is our normal live". His eyes glead. "They rely adapted to the gloom, we were born in it".
"We fight because of what we stand to gain, we fight for freedom, we fight because we want to rid our world of this gloom".
"It’s not new to us". He grinned.
"They believe in statistics, we believe in the purity of pain, gloom, and unity towards freedom".
"They can never break us," he patted his chest zealously. "Because what burns inside us is not fuel, it is fire".
"A fire that does not dim when the body fails".
"A fire that does not obey orders or spreadsheets".
"A fire lit the first ti a Synth and a Geneform looked at the corporate tyrants and said, no".
"Look around the city. Most of it is gone, but here we are. The heart of the Freegrid army never dies".
"And this," he gestured at the city. "This is not a grave, this is a forge".
"And for 12 days, it has been hamring us into sothing the Federation cannot comprehend".
"Every bruise in our ranks, every broken bone, every wound and every death, it only served to forge us into unbreakable diamonds".
"12 days...," he grinned. "Still, we defy them".
He laughed, twisted his mouth, and spat out a lump of blood, then he continued. "We’ve shown tenacity, we’ve shown endurance beyond anything they ever expected of us".
"General Sylvari Charr," Ren Nora’s face took on a mocking expression. "He expected us to shatter by now, to beg for ceasefires and concessions, to crawl back into the cages that they built for us".
Ren Nora’s back straightened with pride. "Instead, they find a city of people who rise each morning with less strength but with more resolve".
He exhaled and looked down at his soldiers. "I will not promise you relief tomorrow, I will not promise you victory soon".
"I will not insult your pain with easy hope".
"What I promise you is this," he took a deep breath. "As long as one heart still beats in defiance, the Federation has not won".
"As long as one voice still dares to speak freely, their rule is a lie".
"And as long as one Geneform refused to kneel, the fla survives".
"It doesn’t even matter if I die". Ren Nora revealed a crazy grin. "If I fall, others will speak".
"If this city falls, others will rise".
"This movent was never about one leader or a council or a battlefield, the Freegrid Collective is a will, an idea".
"A will born in alleys and factories and forgotten neighborhoods".
"A will tempered by loss".
"A will that has learned the true cost of freedom and chose it anyway".
"So stand tall," Ren Nora smiled brightly. "Stand even if you must lean on one another, breathe even if every breath burns".
"Carry the fla even if your hands are shaking".
"The night is heavy, but dawn always cos at the end and it has never asked permission to surface". He grinned again. "Hold the line, hold each other, and never... never let the fire go out".
The surviving soldiers stared at their Commander in quiet reverence, and by piecing clues together, the smart ones among them realized that this was probably Ren Nora’s farewell ssage.
The tone of the speech suggested a farewell and the mont they realized this, they beca emotional.
So broke down in tears and amid the tears, they raised clenched fists high and chanted. "Long live Ren Nora!"
The others echoed. "LONG LIVE REN NORA!"
At the end, Ren Nora smiled and added one final line. "I want you all to know that I will never give up, I will try to attempt the C Rank Trial before I die, even if it ans today and even if it ans I die while doing it".
It was a single sentence, it felt like a farewell speech, but it was an important layer in the intricate web of psychological warfare.
That evening, for the first ti in days, despite the heavy casualties that they also suffered in the morning battle, General Sylvari Charr led the Federation Army to attack the city again spurred on by Ren Nora’s last sentence.
Iron Reef rained blood and fire.
The battle lasted more than 3 hours, lasting till night.
And yet, despite the heavy casualties, the city survived to see another day and it was in the imdiate aftermath of the evening battle as the city catalogued the dead and tried to recover that he made his move.
In the veil of night, imdiately after the battle, a still injured Ren Nora snuck out of the military base.
He left a decoy behind.
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