***

--- Combat Outpost Serenity, Havcristen, The Greater Elies Region ---

October 30^th, 2025

 

"I don't like this," Rory said as she walks back and forth.

She and the other girls are on the third building next to the American outpost, waiting to be as a backup.

"You said that sixteen times now Rory," Lelei said as she is reading a book, sitting down in a chair.

She looks over to her blue hair friend. Lelei is reading some book but she has noticed she only read five pages for the past thirty minutes. "I don't care. I don't like it. I sense Palapon all over this. Since when he learned that bastard General is here, he has lost it."

"Be nice Rory. He is under a lot of pressure. He is just trying to do his job," Lelei said.

"Pressure under who? No one asked him to come up with this crazy plan of his. Why does he feel like he has to face him?" She said.

"You already know why Rory. You said it five minutes ago," Lelei said back.

She glares at Lelei for a moment but knows she is right. All of their theory is that Sharpe is starting to inflate this with his previous issues with that Drug Cartel King(1). The one who slaughtered his men and that one family like animals. Lelei and her have decided that this is all that is about, that he never moved on from that loss.

As she walks back and forth, she just feels flustered on what is going on. Being pushed to the sideline to act as a backup, away from his side.

"I do not understand. The blame seems to be good. Look at that Imperils did with my people. Used as a lure," Tuka said.

She looks to her and sees that she is preparing her bow. "It is Imperialists. And you need to understand something Tuka, it is our job to make sure he does not get himself killed. You see, he puts himself in danger all the time to achieve his goals."

Lelei closes her book and looks up. "Wasn't he the one who saved you two or three times now?"

Rory looks to her, remembering Italica, Sadera, and the village with the Minotaur. "That is my point. He is going to get himself killed."

"I hate to agree but Rory is correct. He is a man, after all, doing things without considering their own wellbeing," Lelei points out.

"Exactly," She said.

"I don't understand. You two are always so positive and supportive. What has changed?" Tuka asked.

"It's complicated Tuka," Lelei said.

"Yup," She said.

She then explains what happened in Mexico with Sharpe and his old unit to Tuka, so she understands the context. Explaining how that shaped the man they see today and why he goes to extreme lengths to protect his team and people in general. She also explains much weight that places on his heart.

"As you see, he is overcompensating. He thinks we will get hurt so he puts himself in danger," She said.

"Ok, that makes more sense. So, what, are we just going to sit here?" Tuka asked.

She takes a deep breath, annoyed by this. She is not angry but worried. She has found a man that she wants to support and protect. But no matter how hard she tries it seems Palapon presence continues to come back. "Why can't he just move on."

She looks over to Lelei.

Lelei is sitting there, not looking at her staff. While Lelei is acting in her normal self, she can tell that she is also worried.

 

---

 

Sarah is walking around inside the Combat Outpost Serenity main command center. She looks over and sees Colonel Yang and Colonel Robert Barnes in the room. And there is the bait, the Lieutenant General in the other room talking over the radio, making last arrangements.

Yang walks over and hands her a cup of coffee. "You look tired. Here."

She takes it and smiles. "Thank you, sir."

"No problem. It is going to be a long night. Just ignore the taste." Yang said.

She was just about to take a drink from her mug but stops after he said that last part. She glances down at the coffee and then sniffs it. She shrugs her shoulders and takes the drink. "No wonder I do office work… better coffee."

Yang chuckles. "That is a good reason." He then looks to her. "Are you ok? I heard he was not happy with you."

"Yeah, everything is fine. I expected that when I brought her," She responds.

"Did you say I did approve it?" Yang asked.

"That shut him up. It doesn't matter, she might play a role or not. Is everything ready?" She asked.

"As much as we can. It all assumes Krysist shows up."

"Sharpe thinks he will."

"He thinks a lot of things right now. If there is a time for the Imperialist to make a move now is the time."

"I guess sir."

Sarah then feels a pat on her side.

"I wouldn't worry about its Sarah. We will do this the Army way. The Ranger way," Yang said.

She looks to him and nods. "Agreed. Is everything ready?"

"Yup. Got word from Colonel Banton right before I walked over here. She has a company of Marines outside the city and ready to assist this outpost. Got Rangers and 1st Cav all around the outer perimeter ready to country whatever they might have planned. The table is set," Yang said.

"Cool. Let's go talk to the Lieutenant General then, see if there anything last things he wants to be done."

 

---

 

After getting across the river with thanks to three Darfellan citizens, his small but elite force is now on the American side of the city.

Darfellan is a coastal sea humanoid race who like to trade. They like to swim up to this city and do trade.

He knees down and looks to his men.

Everyone was briefed on their mission. The plan is to trip the enemy trap, however, that is only a distraction. His hidden force and any willing citizen of Havcristen that joins in will burn the city. What remains of the seventh Legion will push across the river and storm this section of the city. The goal is to attack from as many sides as possible.

Once he sees that everyone is ready, they begin to move.

Two men in black clothing show up, some of his men who were hiding inside the civilian population. They know the city inside and out, allowing his team to bypass much of the Other Worlder defensive positions.

They use the tunnel network to move through the city.

After some time, they get back to the city level. Once there, he looks around, trying to get his baring's.

"There is the compound," He said, looking around the corner.

"Sir, doesn't this feel too easy?" One of his me asked.

"Of course, it is. It is a trap. Keep your wits though, he is planning something," He replied.

As he looks at the building, trying to see a way inside without being spotted. Seeing no clear way, he decides to move up one part of his plan.

He looks to two of his men. "Send the single. It begins now." He looks to someone else. "You, give me the Dar."

The soldier opens a small box and inside is this small female Dar. She is in her natural form, looking like cat-person at first glance. However, with many different features between the two.

He singles to the little Dar to jump on his back.

He then sees his two archers fire to arrows high into the air. They are light up, acting as flares. Two arrows, telling the city that it is time to raise.

 

---

 

Sarah could not help herself but yawn from the boredom. It is close to midnight and she is not used to being up this late.

One of the staff soldiers’ rushes into the command room she and the other officers are in.

"You all need to see this!" The female soldier said.

She looks to her, confused.

She rushes out of the room and heads to the balcony.

Outside she starts to see fighting happening all over the place. All around Combat Outpost Serenity, all the checkpoints seem to be engaged by an unknown enemy.

The sounds of gunfire can be heard all over the places as NATO forces realize what is happening.

"Oh god, what is happening?" She asked, still realizing what is happening.

"It is the city. The people are attacking. I saw this back in Iraq(2)," Yang said.

"The whole city is rebelling against us?" She asked, looking to him.

"I doubt the whole city, but this is still a lot of them," Yang replied.

Robert walks up and looks out. "Your right, this is way too many and happening ways to organized. See there, and there."

She sees that she got caught in the middle of both Colonel's conversation. As They tell their past experiences in the War on Terror. Any other time it would be interesting to listen to war stories however the city seems to be burning.

"This was not part of the plan; we weren't expecting to fight the city again." She said.

"What is going on here?"

She turns around and sees the bait of the operation, the Lieutenant General.

"Sir, we are under attack," She said.

He walks up to the balcony to see what they are seeing.

"Damn, I didn't see this coming," The Lieutenant General said, in a frustrated tone.

"It is our fault; we saw this in Iraq and should have seen this coming. We should cancel the operation and stabilize the situation," Yang proposes.

"No, he is coming. Colonel Robert, if you don't mind going out there and interduce them to the eighties."

Robert could not help himself but smirk. "Will take care of it. I recommend bringing in the Marines. Would use the assist."

"Agreed."

She takes a step back and watches Colonel Robert leave the room, to take direct command of the situation outside. She then looks to the Lieutenant General. "Sir, I think we need the Major, not the Lieutenant General here."

"He is coming, get ready."

"Lieutenant, go get the other Rangers, lets beef up the security here," Yang said.

She looks to the Colonel and nods.

"I will join you, take a look around," The Lieutenant General said in an anancy tone.

"Your place is here sir. I will get Vanguard-7," She said

After that, she heads back into the main command center.

She then stops though, hearing something. She looks behind her to see the Lieutenant General and Colonel Yang. Their expression also looks confused, hearing what she is hearing.

To her left, the wall bursts open and this large beast comes charging through.

She looks at it and sees it coming right at her. She then feels herself be tackled by the side and lands hard on a wooden chair, breaking it.

 

---

 

Krysist is right behind the Dar beast. He had her form into this extra muscular eight-foot-tall beast. The form is a beast known as Kurashs(3), a tall, strong, brainless beasts with the strength of five men.

However, this version is not brainless like the wild ones, this one will accept his commands. He did not want to use the Dar yet, wanting to save it just in case something bad might have happened. But seeing all the security and knowing it would not take long for them to react to the threat, faster is better than stealth.

Besides, he assumes that Sharpe would expect him to attack using stealth. He probably near would have expected a direct approach.

He pulls out his sword and follows right behind the beasts. The beats just missed this female soldier before his target narrowly saved her.

"Attack, kill them all!" He yells, pointing to his men.

He can hear the enemy weapons fire as one of his soldiers get hit in the side.

He cannot deal with that; his men must take care of themselves. Two of his swordsmen rushes pass him and go into their war room.

He follows right behind them.

He sees his Dar beast start to take hits by their weapons, as blood pours out of their arm. It seems like the guard is using their smaller weapon called a pistol.

He rushes and jumps onto the table and slides to the other end. All around him is pure chaos as both sides fight for the war room.

"Lift the table!" He yells as he slides off.

As the table if being lifted, to give his troops more room to fight, he looks down and sees his target.

When he was with Major Sharpe, he made sure he learned as much as he could. How they fight, how they talk, their military structure, everything he could.

Of course, he could only learn so much in that short amount of time, but he understands their rank system. Major Sharpe wanted to use their General as bait, he accepted the offer.

As the Major General. He reaches down and grabs the man by the vest and tosses him into the wall so he can see the man's eyes before he kills him.

He rams his foot into the female chest, to keep her down so she does not interfere in his assassination.

"I'm going to slit your throat." He said as he places his knife to his neck.

As he looks at his face, something does not seem right. He recognizes the face. "Major Sharpe, you're the General?"

Sharpe looks directly at him. "Anytime now buddy." He said with a couch.

His eyes widen, wondering what he means. "Anytime what? To die?"

"Not talking to you. Wolf!" Sharpe yells.

"Wolf?" He asked, not understanding the context.

He then looks to his right at the raging battle as he hears the wall breaks open. This Volraden comes out and jumps right on his Dar beast back.

The Volraden begins clawing and attacking the beast. While small in frame, Volraden are very fierce and deadly warriors.

"What the…" He could not help himself from saying before being hit in the head by Sharpe's helmet.

As he lets go and backs away from the sudden changing environment, he receives a punch in the head and chest. Quickly recovering he blocks the next attack.

 

---

 

As Sarah gets back up, she looks out and sees Sharpe insurance policy taking effect. Wolf is going head-to-head with whatever that beast is.

She looks around and sees Ranger’s security and Colonel Yang fighting off the Imperialist soldiers.

She pulls out her pistol and aims, killing this soldier that is charging at her.

She then ducks as this arrow flies right where her head was at. As she is behind cover, she looks up and sees Sharpe and Krysist throw themselves into the next room. It looks like they are both giving it all.

She grabs her radio. "Rory, Lelei, we need back up now. Johnson, bring in Vanguard-7 now. NOW!"

"Sarah, we are engaged. The Outpost is being attacked from all angles. We are currently cut off from the main building. We will be pushing through soon, just hold out," Johnson said as gunfire can be heard in the background.

"First Lieutenant Rose, we are currently busy right now," Lelei said.

She could not believe it. She thought Sharpe was being paranoid however it seems Krysist was as big of a threat he assumed. She wonders if this is what it is like for Delta and the Navy Seals.

She stands up and fires the weapon again, trying to protect Colonel Yang.

Wolf jumps back and pulls out his staff. It seems he is not strong enough to kill the beast and needs to use his weapons to try.

"What do you mean your bust Lelei?" She asked again, not understand.

The reason why Sharpe wanted them off the base was to prevent them from getting hurt in an opening attack and to act as the hammer if needed.

"Well…”

 

---

 

"Well… We are currently facing this Dark Elf. The same one from the fortress(4) I'm am sorry but I don't think we will be able to get there soon. Not all of us," Lelei said as she looks to the Dark Elf.

She cannot believe what she is looking at. This is the same Dark Elf that Rory and she killed back at the fortress. None of it makes sense.

"Lelei, I will go to Sarah and help out. If you two can cover me. Besides, I am useless against his magic," Tuka said.

Rory takes a step forward in a combat-ready position. "Ok, Tuka. I am trusting you. Lelei and I will take care of him."

"Sarah, Tuka is on her way."

"Ok, be careful out there," Sarah said as she fires her pistol.

"Tuka, go help them. We will deal with him," She said.

As Tuka jumps off the roof and head to Combat Outpost Serenity, she looks back at the Dark Elf.

He is just standing there, wearing a black rob. His hands are up to his sleeves and his arms are crossed.

"How are you alive!?" Rory yells, frustrated.

"Rory, you disappoint me," The Dark Elf said.

She thinks about that last engagement. When she fought him in that magic dual, he used Phantom magic, extremely rare magic that she has only read in stories. It is an immensely powerful set of spells that takes decades if not centuries to learn.

Rory chopped him into three pieces but he is standing there as normal.

She looks directly at him. "You are an Apostle."

The Dark Elf chuckles. "You are a smart one."

"But… how do I not know you? I know almost all the apostles. I cannot sense you at all. How is this possible?" Rory asked, demanding answers.

"I have lived in isolation for my entire life. That was before I serve my master Krysist. I learned to suppress my abilities, so I do not attract unwanted attention. You may call me Frayen."

"But… you can do that?" Rory asked, shocked by that.

"There are many things Apostle can do that we do not know about. Most of us never take the time to learn our own abilities and just mindlessly carry out our god's will," Frayen replied. “This is more to live than brute force Rory.”

"What god do you serve then?" Rory demands.

She thinks about Rory's question. Knowing what god might help them come up with a way to fight him.

What she knows about the Dark Elf is that he is a powerful magic Apostle, using magic no one has seen in generations. How he speaks show he is intelligent.

She looks more closely and sees how he is dressed and how he holds himself up.

"I will be happy to tell you, Rory. However, I can see your friend Lelei La Lalena has figured it out." Frayen said.

"You know her name?" Rory said, getting protective.

"It is my job to serve my master. Part of that is knowing who opponents are," Frayen responds.

"Your god is Elange," She said.

"How do you reckon that?" Rory asked her.

"Yes, please explain Lelei," Frayen asked again.

"Well, first you use Phantom magic. To learn that requires a special set of skills and understanding of the world. Not just to access and see the other realm but to travel in that realm too. That means you must be highly intelligent, as a magic-user and for an Elf. Elves cannot lean magic like Humans do so you learned a spell that normal Elves cannot said a lot. That has been buddying me sense Legrath. Most mages worship Elange or Ral. However, Ral never would appoint a male to be her apostle. That only leaves Elange."

After explaining that, Frayen begins to clap. "I am glad you live up to my expectations."

Frayen then places his hand on his chin. "I must ask, what kind of magic did you use on me? I take its knowledge you gained from their world? Remarkably interesting. I never considered mixing our magic with their science. One day I must go and see."

"That will never happen!" Rory yells.

"I must ask, why are you here Frayen? This makes no sense. Why do you serve the Empire?" She asked.

"I do not serve the Empire. I serve my master Krysist. I am here to carry out his will. Just like her." Frayen said.

"I am not a slave and Sharpe are not my master! No self-respected Apostle would ever degrade themselves to that level. Why do you lower yourself like this?" Rory asked.

"That is an interesting point of view Mistress Mercury. However, you still serve and obey loyally to that man. You listen to him, carry out his will when asked. You are even here right now doing his bidding without question. Now I may ask, what is the difference? I serve my master and you serve yours. We just use different words to fit the reality we want. That goes with both of you." Frayen carefully explains.

Listening to Frayen's words, she finds it fascinating on his point of view. Everything in the world is how you see it.

"Here I the different Sir Frayen. Sharpe sees us as equals. While we follow him and carry out his will, he does not see us as lower or inferior. We choose to follow him because we believe in him. We do not have to address him as master or some degrading title," She counters.

"I already understand that. I found it fascinating myself. I understand how you think that blue one. However, with Mis Mercury here, I can say the same thing. Apostles are not equal to this world as they have abilities and duties above mortals," Frayen counters.

"And yet, you serve Krysist and call him master. That shows it is a slave and master relationship," She responds.

"I do not serve him because I am an apostle however, I serve because I am a Dark Elf. As part of this world, I have responsibilities that do not concern you. I am here to carry out my master's will," Frayen said.

"And that is to fight us," Rory states.

"If that becomes necessary yes."

"What do you mean by that Frayen? We are at war with each other. Enemies fight," She said, confused about how this Dark Elf is acting.

"My duty is to prevent you all from helping your master. Both must fight for the sake of all, so one must stand, and one must fall."

She wishes he did not phrase that sentence like that, knowing that Rory will flip out. The truth is, she did not like hearing that herself. Sharpe has become a very stable figure in her life. A source of balance and growth.

While she has had mentors in her life, many of them are good. She enjoys Sharpe style. That first time she ever felt like she was part of a close family. She has no intention of losing that feeling.

She takes her staff and fires an energy bolt.

Seeing that, Rory bursts forward to strike at the Dark Elf.

 

***

--- Combat Outpost Serenity, Havcristen, The Greater Elies Region ---

October 28^th, 2025

 

Sharpe ducks down, dodging Krysist sword and then rams right into his gut.

They break through this thin wooden door and into another room.

He sits up and grabs his sword hand. He starts ramming Krysist hand onto the ground, trying to make him let go of the sword.

As he did that, Krysist grabs his vest and tosses him to the side.

He rolls over and rolls back onto his feet. He pulls out his knife and looks directly at him.

"Very interesting. Using yourself as bait."

"Learned it from you," He responds and charges forward.

Here they go at it again.

Sharpe grabs Krysist's arm and stables it with his knife.

His armor block most of the blade however enough damage happen to force him to let go of his sword.

That left him open to being kicked and forced back.

Krysist follows up and throws a punch towards Sharpe.

He grabs the fist and swings him over. He drops him over the table, breaking it. He takes a step back and pulls out his pistol, aiming.

The wall behind him breaks as Wolf breaks through the wall. This made him drop his pistol.

With the distraction, Krysist gets up and grabs Sharpe.

They struggle against each other, as they tried to get the upper hand.

All around them are soldiers from both sides battling each other.

They keep going until they both push away from each other.

He recovers and looks up, seeing Krysist running towards him with a knife.

As he fights, be wonders where the hell is the backup. Are his Rangers tied up with the fighting outside he wonders?

They both do this stance, both trying to lure the other one in. It was him who went into the attack first as he tries to grab the hand with the knife.

However, Kryrist force forced him back and both fall backward.

He tries not to get distracted again as the unknown beast and Wolf continue to go at it, breaking room after room.

 

---

 

Second Lieutenant Johnson is moving around outside Combat Outpost Serenity. He takes cover behind some sandbags, which is filled with arrows.

"I need a report," He asked.

"Massive engagements all across the city sir," Alicia responds.

He looks up and sees this Stryker .50 caliber weapon firing into a large ground of hostile civilians and soldiers.

"It looks like the Empire hid some soldiers in the population," he comments

"More than that sir," Randy said as he rushes up.

"I have seen this before in the Middle East. Enemy soldiers and civilians working together," Randy continues.

"No shit, sir! Air support useless because the enemy is all over our lines," Alicia said.

"Calm down. Get on the horn, report that we are holding checkpoint 32B. We are going to hold here and push them back." He said.

He stands up and looks around. From what he sees, the enemy is not well equipped, using whatever they can find.

If everyone stays close together and hold in their fortifications, they should be found.

"Sir, Marines are inbound. They are engaging an enemy force right now. The two closest by Combat Outposts is pushing this war." Alicia said as she listens to her radio.

Then they all hear this explosion behind them. Two blocks away are this Combat Outpost they are defending.

"Any word from Sarah or Sharpe?" He asked.

"No sir, the base coms are dead," Alicia said.

He looks toward the outpost and see it on fire. He can tell there is a massive battle raging and is pissed there is nothing he can do right now.

He looks out and can hear the Marine response force coming.

"Alright, Rangers let us move. Scott, Frost stays here and helps the Cav boys hold this point. Once the Marines arrive, direct some of them to the outpost. Everyone else let's go."

 

---

 

As Wolf moves through the air, Krysist lands against the ground hard, barely breaking it.

He places his hand on his head, recovering from the toss. His ears perk as he hears that monster charging forward.

He looks right at it, slowly getting up. The beast has bullet holes and cut marks all over it. Its fur is covered in its red and black blood.

When the female American Human Sarah said he was requested by the famous Major Sharpe himself. One of the great warriors from the Other World.

Wolf has been wanting to get into the fight and he finally got his chance. He wanted to show these Other Worlders that he had a place in their war, wanted to prove himself. All those times Delilah saying the time will come as been worth it.

That is until he started fighting a Kurashs. He has no idea what a Kurashs is doing here or why it is so smart. He has fought them before and defeated them. While strong, they are easy to trick. Something is different about this one.

He forces himself up even though his body is tired.

He sees the female Human Sarah get between him and the beast.

"Just die you son of a bitch!" She yells as she fires her pistol.

The beast gets up to her and smacks her hard.

He sees her flying back and he jumps and grabs her.

He lands on his feet and leys her down.

Sarah is grabbing her side as she is in pain. "Ouch… that hurt."

Her vest is all slashed up, from the beat’s cloths.

Wolf then looks back at the beast. It looked like her bullets slowed it down as the beast seems to be at its limits. The problem is that he is at his limits too.

He gets ready as the beast charges forward.

They both collide ad their hand's interlock with each other. Both pushing against each other, using all their remaining strength. For a moment he thought he had her however she slowly is pushed back.

"I am going to feast on you." The Kurashs said quickly.

Then the beast's eyes open widely from this what looks like pain. She lets out this screech of pain and looks behind her.

He looks around the Kurashs and sees the Elf girl Tuka, standing there with her bow. She is reloading and fires another shot.

The arrow hits the back of the Kurashs and it yells again from the pain.

Seeing his chance, he uses all his strength and lifts the beast. He then aims the beast to the staircase. He then throws it down and watches as the beast rolls down into the main floor.

He rushes down below and then jumps on top of the Kurashs and grabs its head. With one twist, he rips off the head.

He then stands up and places one foot on its belly. He swings out his arms and lets out a mighty victory roar.

Wolf then looks to the side after his victory roar and sees the elf women. He notices that she has her bow aims towards him.

She fires an arrow, and it flies by him, hitting this imperialist soldier that was charging behind him.

He looks back at her. "Thank you for your help."

"You are welcome. That is my job." Tuka said with a smile.

He then sees Colonel Yang and about five other Rangers rush up.

He then sees Vanguard-7 arriving.

"Good to see you two. Rangers begin to mop-up operations. Secure this building."

"Johnson, follow me up the stairs. We’re finding your CO and finishing this."

 

---

 

Frayen was about to shoot an energy blast to Rory but hears that roar of a Volraden. While not knowing what that means, he understands that it is not good. There are no Volradens here in Elies, at least none working for the Empire.

He looks back to Lelei and sees her tired.

While she is powerful with magic, she is still Human. Magic does not come naturally to them, so it is more of a drain for them. Not like Elves where is part of how they live.

He looks around and sees the battle raging all around. It seems the assault across the bridges did not pan out. That was always a risk but a needed one.

It has been a while since he last heard of his Master and he is starting to get worried. It sounded like a brutal battle at the American outpost. The battle is even raging longer than planned.

He jumps up and swings to the side as Rory swings right passed him with her weapon.

When he lands on the ground, he looks to Lelei. "I have enjoyed our time together. I bet we shall meet again."

During this fight he did not use his special phantom ability, not seeing the point. All he wanted to do is delay them, not kill them.

He phantomized himself and goes through the roof of the building.

 

---

 

Krysist is hiding around this corner, hiding from Sharpe.

With his fist he wipes the blood off his chin, panting heavily.

He looks around the corner and sees Sharpe looking for him.

He sees how he moves, exhausted however still defiant. Moving quietly, making sure he makes no noise. Ignoring the wounds that he has suffered.

It has been a harder fight this time, being more prepared for this fight.

He places his hand on his side, where he was stable. While his armor blocked most of it, part of Sharpe's blade still went through.

He hears a Volraden and knows his Dar has been defeated. He just saw his Dar be lifted by that Volraden and tossed down to the lower levels. It will only be a matter of time him and his last troops will be overwhelmed.

He looks around, trying to find a way out of this situation. The best way is the way they came in however Sharpe and his fellow Soldiers back in the war room is blocking him.

Most of the building walls have been destroyed and he begins to wonder how much longer this place will remain standing. Those two beasts surely did a number on the outpost.

All he must do it get to the other side of the room.

He takes a deep breath as he forms a plan. He sees this small piece of wood in front of him.

Quietly he reaches down and picks it up. He then looks around and watches, waiting for Sharpe to look the other direction.

When he turns his back, getting ready to investigate another room, he tosses the piece of wood over into the other room with the destroyed wall.

As Sharpe looks to his distraction, he rushes with all his might.

By the time Sharpe realizes what is happening, Krysist grabs his arm with the knife. He tosses him into a half-broken beam and pushes him back.

Seeing that he is losing the strength of arms, he throws everything he has left into his fist, bunching Sharpe's gut. He then pushes him back.

As Sharpe moves backward, holding his gut with his free hand, this small amount of dust falls between them.

He sees that is the answer, the building. He looks to the means between them and rams it as hard as he can.

Sharpe rushes forward to stop him but gets caught up in a small number of debris that falls. Some wooden roof frames fall, some of it hitting him. It forces him to back away to the balcony behind him.

Seeing his one opportunity he turns around and starts running. As he gets to where the war table was at, the beginning of this mess.

When he got there, he feels someone get up behinds him, making him trip. He falls on the ground and sees that it was Sharpe. He seems to be a fast warrior.

As he gets up, he notices that female soldier from before, the one Sharpe saved from the Dar attack. She looked wounded and backing away, looking for her weapon.

He stands up and grabs her. He then turns around, placing his arm around her neck, making her choke a little for air and places his knife to her back.

He then looks directly at Sharpe, seeing him frozen in place.

"Let her go Krysist, this is between you and me."

"Then you shouldn't have included your friends."

He slowly backs up, heading to the balcony.

"Let go of me you…" The female soldier tries to say before she chokes her some more.

He hears footsteps and then sees helmets coming up the staircase. More of the enemy soldiers.

"Let her go, there is no way out of this," Sharpe demands, slowing keeping his pace.

"Sir… just go for it. Don't think of it… Ah!" The female soldier said before he stabs the knife into her a little.

"I am a General of the Empire; you already know how far I am willing to go Sharpe.

He then sees this older different looking man walks up. He looks like to be another one of their military officers based on his he carried himself.

Around him is that team he was with, Vanguard-7.

To his right, he feels the presence of phantom energy and then Frayen appears.

Without needing a word, Frayen grabs onto him.

 

---

 

When Sharpe sees this Dark Elf appear out of nowhere, he charges forward.

However, his eyes could not believe what he just witnesses.

As the Dark Elf grabs on top Kryists, they became see-through like a ghost. He goes right through Sarah and stops right behind them. He turns around and sees them go down below.

All he can do is look down at where they just were. His mind is racing, not believing what just happened. "They went down below!"

"Major, get down!" Colonel Yang yells.

He looks right at Colonel Yang and sees this worried expression on his face.

He feels this one arrow hit his back and breaks his Kevlar inside his vest. He falls forward to form the impact.

He can hear gunfire from the Rangers weapons, firing at whoever fired the arrows.

He does not care that he was hit or that his body is screaming to quiet. All he can think that Krysist just took one of his Rangers, one of his friends, his first friend when first came to the Rangers.

"They went down." He said again as he forces himself back up. He rushes to the balcony and prepares to jump over, hoping to drop down and catch up.

"Don't do it!" Tuka said as she grabs him and pulls him back.

"Let go Tuka! Let go! We don't leave people behind! I don't leave people behind!" He said and he pushes her away, unsuccessfully though.

He feels this hand on his left shoulder and he looks to see who it is.

"Major Sharpe, this is a direct order. Stand down and regroup. Now!" Colonel Yang commands.

He looks at him and then looks down below, seeing it would have been a far jump down.

 

 

Reference:

------------------------------------------------

(1)Chapter 52

(2)US Occupation of Iraq 2003-2009

(3)Looks like Kucy monster form in the manga, chapter 89

(4)Chapter 73

 

 

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