Chapter Text
The sound of explosions could be heard as smoke and fire danced in the clear blue sky, flanked by fluffy white clouds. A massive orange battleship was barely keeping afloat, its engines whining and whirring in desperation to remain operational for as long as possible. At the top was a mechanical purple monster that vaguely resembled a Caninu, the lines along his muscular build glowing bright pink as he let out a sound that resembled a roar and a howl—both organic and inorganic at the same time.
On the other side of the battlefield was a much smaller machine, one that resembled a tank with bluish-green wings on its sides. Though its gold-laced platinum armour had taken quite the beating, it was still no worse for wear as it faced off against its foe.
The mechanical monster let out another bellow at the tank. Then, he suddenly reared back and straightened up before parting his jaws. Pinkish-purple energy gathered in his mouth as he began charging for a devastating attack—one that could potentially finish off the tank!
But, as if sensing an opportunity, the tank flew straight up to the monster's maw. Sparks of blue electricity began gathering in its machine gun turrets as it charged up its own attack. It might have had less power than whatever the monster had planned, but it also had one additional effect…
Just as the monster's charge was nearing completion, the tank's machine guns were fully charged. Electrical bullets were let loose as the tank opened fire in the monster's maw. Not only did it cancel out the monster's charge beam, but having electric bullets shoved down his throat seemed to fry him from the inside out, rendering him unable to move at all.
With its foe stunned, the tank somersaulted away from the monster, giving itself a wide berth. Once in position, it then tucked in its wings, loaded up its gun turrets, and charged straight for the monster's weak point: the chest area. The monster was powerless to do anything as the tank fired on all cylinders at him before smashing through him, creating a tank-shaped impact hole that went through the chest cavity and out the back. An arrangement of electrical wires and metal were exposed as a pink fluid gushed from the wound.
The monster collapsed on top of the airship, coughing out more of the pink fluid. His eyes became unfocused as he looked down at the land below…the land that he had been so close to claiming, but no longer.
"I… am the Kai… ser…" he wheezed. "I will bring… the Empire… victory…"
With those last words, the mechanical menace's eyes went blank as the airship he was powering began to shut down. The tank hovered above, its passengers watching at the hulking mix of persimmon and violet scrap metal sank below the clouds. It only disappeared for a moment before an explosion could be heard, a plume of smoke being the only piece of evidence that its foe was no more.
Above the battlefield, an ominous violet sphere floated in the sky, its form glitching on some occasions. Leber Kaiser, the tyrannical First Emperor of the Berman Empire, was slain…but the real conflict was far from over.
"The Kaiser is dead, you say?"
A Doberman Caninu glowered down at the injured soldier who stood before him, his legs crossed as he sat at his desk.
The soldier bent down, wincing at the bandages that were precariously wrapped around various parts of his body. "I-I'm afraid so, sir," he admitted. "But the Gasco tank didn't come out entirely unscathed, either."
There was a long pause as the Caninu narrowed his piercing blue eyes to mere chips of ice, his face obscured by darkness. "And where is the tank now? What of the Gargantua?"
The soldier pressed his broken helmet closer to his chest. "The Gargantua…is nothing but scrap metal. The Kaiser fused with it, and then they both shut down."
The Caninu blinked. "…The Kaiser did what now?"
"He…fused?"
"And then they both shut down?"
The soldier quickly nodded.
The Caninu at the desk put a paw to his chin, stewing in this sudden revelation. Then, he sighed. "Well, this is…rather unfortunate," he said. "Perhaps his death was a sign that some gods simply cannot be trusted."
Another uneasy hush fell across the room. It felt like an eternity before the silence was broken by the sound of a chair sliding across the wooden floor as the Caninu stood up and walked to the side of the desk and sat upon it.
"To think that the Empire would be felled at the hands of mere children is almost unfathomable," he muttered. "All that work…for nothing!"
He then turned to the soldier. "Still, I must thank you for passing on the message," he said. "As unfortunate as the outcome of the battle was, the fact that you were able to live to tell this tale is more than enough for me. You are dismissed."
The injured soldier could only give a weak salute before turning around to limp his way out of the room, leaving the Caninu on his own.
At least, he would've been alone if it weren't for the presence of another Caninu…a Doberman like him, only female with deep green eyes.
"So, what happens now?" she asked as the first Caninu slid off the desk and walked towards a window, watching as he adjusted the blinds by a smidgeon.
The man said nothing as he stared out the window, his mind focused on the streets outside. They had already been bad enough before the war, but the rubble that worsened them carried signs of an old skirmish between the Kaiser's former soldiers and the Berman rebels led by his daughter, a feisty Felineko woman named Niere Graus.
"For the moment, nothing," he finally answered. "All we can do for now is bide our time and wait for the right moment. But worry not. We will resurrect Berman into the empire it once was. And when we do…we will make those accursed children pay for what they've done! The Kaiser will be avenged, and he will get his last laugh!"
His ice-blue gaze trailed off to a tapestry in the corner as he said that last phrase. Though the room was still dim, the light that filtered from the blinds was still sufficient enough that one could see its blood-red colouring, along with a particular insignia: one that resembled three black dog heads, all facing in different directions.
That insignia only meant one thing, and one thing alone; something that both Caninu understood as plain as day.
"Glory to the Berman Empire!"
DecibelCoatl presents:
Fuga: Dawn of a New Symphony