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——

Le Brias

Captain Rial steadied his aim, pointing his rifle at the large opening where the main gates once stood. Constant shelling from Parpaldian cannons rattled the walls, sending stone debris flying down to the buildings below. Overhead, ten wyvern lords flew by, headed straight for the royal castle. 

His eyes widened, and he immediately reached for his manacomm. He contacted the castle in a rush, asking if he should return to help protect the king. 

“No, Captain. Maintain your position and hold the wall against the invaders for as long as possible. Your orders have not changed.” 

Captain Rial wanted to protest — and almost did — but he recognized that the voice issuing this order was none other than King Taara’s. With heavy reluctance, he obeyed the king’s order. Respecting his wishes and reasoning that King Taara is sufficiently defended, he complied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Just moments after the conclusion of their conversation, Captain Rial saw several explosions light up the sky above the royal castle. Lightning bolts from mages soon followed, striking down the wyvern lords that had survived the initial volley of modified ballista bolts. He turned away from the chaotic scene, satisfied with the defense his men exercised. Now, it was his turn to demonstrate an exemplary defense. 

Amidst the predictable volleys of cannon fire, the sound of horns echoed across the battlefield. They were soon followed by roars from land dragons, who rushed through the destroyed gate. With precision accuracy, Rial sniped a dragon’s eye, sending it spiraling into the others in a fit of confused pain. Rial adjusted his aim and targeted the eyes of another dragon, hoping to delay their advance by sowing chaos within the Parpaldian ranks. The blinded beasts stumbled over each other, colliding into buildings and preventing the Parpaldians from pushing up. Fearing becoming trampled, they remained behind the wall’s opening, giving time for the Altarans to weaken the land dragons without worrying about musket fire. 

“Deploy the nets and oil!” Rial directed. His fellow Elite Guard continued to fire into the dragons’ vulnerabilities, further disabling their senses and movement. 

Dozens of weighted nets were thrown from the defensive walls and rooftops, snaring the blinded and deafened land dragons. Once the dragons were immobilized, groups of Altaran soldiers threw pots of oil at the dragons. 

Rial felt a smile growing on his face, giddy with the fact that he and his men were not only defying, but also defeating forces from the Parpaldian Empire. “Throw your satchels!”

Eight brown bags filled with volatile magic gems flew toward the trapped land dragons — two for each dragon. 

Rial turned to the young mage beside him. “Alina, have your mages prepare their fireballs. I want them cast upon the trapped dragons on my order.”

Alina nodded, trembling with nervousness. 

Using debris from the destroyed gate and wall as cover, Parpaldian musketmen finally pushed through. They had realized that the land dragons were immobilized, but did not recognize the trap that was laying in wait for them. After experiencing heavy Altaran gunfire and arrow fire from the left, they were forced to move to the right, where the land dragons were. Seeing no other cover besides the bodies of the dragons themselves, the Parpaldians made a fatal decision. 

“Alina, now!”

Within seconds, Alina and the other Altaran mages completed their chants and sent ten fireballs toward the land dragons. The oil around the area was set ablaze, engulfing the dragons in a flame that burned hotter than even their fiery breath. The scorching heat soon reached the numerous satchels strewn about like mines, setting them off with a luminous flash of light. 

The blast decimated the unfortunate Parpaldian soldiers taking cover behind the dragons. In an instant, almost a hundred Parpaldian infantry were annihilated, with no losses on the Altaran side. The land dragons were charred; chunks carved out of their bodies and damaged beyond recognition. 

However, this still left the thousands waiting outside the walls, ready to flood and overwhelm the Altaran defenders. For now, the explosions and heavy gunfire were enough to force a retreat. Rial thought hopefully, praying that the Parpaldians would see this conflict as too costly and thus pull back. 

His dreams were shattered when a new priority alert came through the manacomm. “Any available units, we require assistance at Zone Four! We are being overwhelmed; the nets didn’t work! Please, help us!”

“This is General Laav, we have received your request and are dispatching one reserve battalion, twelve wyverns, and all Elite Guard units to your location. Additionally, zones one through three are to provide at least half of their forces to assist.”

Rial was shocked by the number of troops Laav was sending to bolster the defense of only one location. He worried for the defense of the other locations. This risky move could certainly prevent the Parpaldians from breaking through, but was also asking for counterattacks along the lightly defended zones. Unless, he thought, the Parpaldians were focusing all of their troops at Zone Four. He then realized why the Parpaldians would do such a thing: Zone Four was closest to the Harbor and was also the only front where land dragons were still active. 

“Damn it,” he said. He looked around as he thought of a plan to deal with the land dragons that were already wreaking havoc on his fellow Altarans. Unfortunately, the only way he could think of slaying one was with explosive magic gem satchels, which could result in unwanted collateral damage. With no other alternatives, he ordered his Elite Guard to continue toward Zone Four. Instead of going along with them, he made a detour to collect more volatile magic gems. 

——

By the time Rial arrived at Zone Four, the Parpaldians had already pushed two blocks into the residential districts. All of the civilians in this area were already evacuated in order to utilize the dense urban sprawl for close quarters combat. However, the fact that a two block radius had already been lost to the Parpaldians was unsettling. 

Groups of demolished and burning buildings signified the Parpaldian Empire’s ruthlessness. Bogged down by Altaran guerilla tactics, the Parpaldians simply decided to lay waste to the buildings around them. Flames from columns of land dragons easily cleared out any Altaran infantry hiding in buildings, causing many to flee to escape the flames. After establishing a defensive perimeter, the Parpaldians cleared out the buildings within their captured territory. Now, an unspoken ceasefire dominated the battlefield; the Parpaldians were too busy consolidating their forces while the Altarans were too weak to engage the land dragons head on. 

The gunfire and sounds of battle simmered down as Rial approached a group of officers crowded around a table. “Who’s the commanding officer?” Rial asked, panting heavily from his run. 

“That would be me, Captain Rial,” an upright man raised his hand. His deep voice matched with his burly physique and manly beard, emanating confidence and authority as he spoke. “I am General Laav.”

“Sir,” Captain Rial saluted. 

“What’s that you’re carrying, Captain?”

“Bomb satchels, sir. I figured we needed a way to deal with the land dragons.”

Laav nodded in approval. “Excellent forward thinking, Captain. These should be sufficient in keeping them at bay while the ballistae make their way here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You can thank me later, Captain. Unfortunately, I have a new assignment for you. A force of about fifty Parpaldians have been spotted pushing through the shoreline. My men have managed to cut off their reinforcements, but have been unable to pursue them. I need you to take your Elite Guard and prevent them from reaching their objective, whatever that may be.”

“Understood, General.” Captain Rial saluted before moving on to gather his men. 

——

Port of Le Brias

The Parpaldian task force moved quickly, but due to their unfamiliarity with the terrain, Captain Rial and his men were easily able to catch up. Slinking through the buildings, they posted up in windows, ready to strike at the cautiously moving Parpaldians hugging the walls of buildings below. Unlike the residential districts near the wall, this region had not yet been evacuated. Consequently, the Altarans were reminded to exercise utmost care and precision. 

Rial tracked one of the Parpaldian men through his sights, his finger itching to pull the trigger. “Hold… wait until our men from the port arrive. We can catch them off guard while they engage our allies.”

“Sir, shouldn’t we strike them now?”

“If we time this perfectly, none of our people will be hurt and we will still be able to take full advantage of the element of surprise.” Rial shouldered his weapon. “Let’s keep moving. It looks like they’ll be making contact near the service gate. Perfect; there will be almost no civilian buildings there.”

The Elite Guard, having trained with the CIA for weeks, maintained stealth as they trailed the unsuspecting Parpaldians. As they approached the service gate, the Parpaldians noticed a group of Altaran sailors coming up from the docks and took cover behind stacks of merchandise and crates. Silently, Rial gave the order to take aim. Each man selected a target based on their position from left to right. 

The moment the Parpaldians lifted their muskets to fire at the Altaran sailors, they were immediately dispatched by the numerically superior Elite Guard. Each Parpaldian musketman received a clean shot to the head, sending blood splattering all over the gate and walls. In the distance however, the Altaran sailors received gunfire from a separate position. 

“What the hell?” Rial did not expect another group of Parpaldians to be active in the area. “They must have split up earlier…” he muttered to himself. 

“Sir, what are your orders?”

Rial gave his orders. “Intercept the Parpaldians and avenge our fallen brothers! They’re making their way to the American warehouses now. We need to hurry, while they’re out of range from naval support.” After giving his men directions, he ran toward the port while simultaneously giving General Laav an update. “Sir, the Parpaldians split into two groups. We eliminated one of the groups and are attempting to engage the other. They’re after the American warehouses!”

“Hold your position.”

Rial put up a hand, stopping his men. “Sir?”

“Hold your position,” General Laav repeated. 

“If I may ask, sir, why?”

“The Americans are protective. They value the lives of their own so much, that I dare say they may be willing to go to war over this… fiasco. Return to Zone Four; we will allow the Parpaldians to complete their objective at the American warehouses. If they ask, we will just say that we were busy defending ourselves.”

Rial looked down, disagreeing with General Laav’s decision, but finding reason with his goal. Do the ends justify the means? With greater reluctance than before, Rial complied, knowing that this decision could very well be what brings the United States into the war. If they were to intervene, the Kingdom of Altaras wouldn’t need to throw away so many lives and magic gems in a stubborn defense against the greatest superpower in the Third Civilization Region. “Understood, sir. Returning to Zone Four.”

——

Burning ships dotted the Port of Le Brias, once a bustling center of economic activity. Black smoke drifted upward, spread further inland by the ocean winds. Sticking out like a sore thumb, one section of the sprawling port was untouched: a section of warehouses and docks belonging to American companies. Sheltered between rows of warehouses, two Altaran merchant ships flying the Stars and Stripes awaited their next orders. 

From within the U.S. Embassy in Le Brias, a small group surveyed the camera feeds from the warehouses. 

“Who the hell are those guys?” Davidson pointed his finger at the men with muskets. 

“Outfit screams Parpaldian…” a woman replied. 

Davidson scratched his head “The hell? What are they doing here?”

“Snapping some pictures, I suppose.” 

“They’ve gotta be here to snatch some of our stuff. I didn’t expect that they’d actually invade our warehouses, but man this makes everything easier. Rachel, activate the ships once the Parps start running after ‘em. Make sure you get the feed too.”

“You got it, James,” she said, munching some chips. “Gee, we didn’t even need to plan a false flag with how ratty these guys are acting.”

“Right?” Davidson said with a chuckle. “Well, at least the operation will look even more believable to the public. Oh, there they are!”

Five Parpaldians noticed the ships and ran after them, hoping to board and view their cargo. Unfortunately, the ships sped into the distance, confusing the Parpaldians who wondered how the vessels were moving without billowing sails or rowing oars.

Rachel pressed a button. “Sending the ships.”

“Kill the warehouses and steer the ships toward the Parpaldian fleet.”

“Done.”

A series of explosions ripped through the only untouched section of the Le Brias Port, destroying rows of goods-filled warehouses. Meanwhile, the remote-controlled motors and guidance systems installed onto the merchant vessels flared up on Rachel’s command. They slowly moved toward the Parpaldian fleet, prompting several warships to intercept. 

“Try to run the blockade.”

The automated vessels increased their speed, hoping to break away from the Parpaldian ships. Then, the pursuing Parpaldian ships opened fire on the fleeing vessels. Because the vessels were rigged with small explosives, a single cannonball was able to cause a detonation, sinking both ships in an underwhelming, but believable fashion. 

Davidson was dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed, but at the same time also grateful. “What the hell? I mean, I’ll take it, but why would they shoot?” 

“Umm…” Rachel shared an equally surprised expression. “Maybe they thought the ships had something to do with the guys at the warehouses getting blown up?”

“Hmm, maybe. Oh well, our job here is done. I kinda feel sorry for the Parps, yknow. For what’s coming to them,” Davidson said. 

“Nah, James. Have you seen the way they treat their ‘subjects’? They’ve totally got it coming. Here, check this video.”

After watching a short compilation of the arrogance of Parpaldians in Esthirant, including the random murders of ‘barbarians’ in the city, Davidson immediately changed his mind. “Well, I’ll be. Let’s give these fuckers some freedom.”