Let's rewind a few days. The 22nd platoon had notified us that they had spotted an army of Vikner warriors and giants. 

So I ordered another platoon to be sent along with supplies and an experimental mortar to be tested in actual combat. 

Until the next update, I was in my office along with Elrand and Elora. A while ago, they came to me with a proposal to make some alcoholic beverages due to the lack of them within the base. 

It was hard for us to purchase alcohol because of the lack of stock; its price had skyrocketed. So we decided to make our own.

At the moment, we were tasting eleven alcohol, which was considered a high-value commodity. It was made by one of the other elves who worked as a winemaker back in their old village before it was destroyed. 

"Woah, this taste is addicting!" I exclaimed. Though I didn't know what types of fruits were used, they went well together, which made me want to take another sip.

"I know, right? Our master winemaker is very dedicated to brewing this type of wine. Only the most dedicated were allowed to know its recipe, and her master was also a renowned winemaker."

"Really! Would she be okay to produce more of these? I'll be happy to set up an area for her to make alcohol." 

"I'm pretty sure she would be quite happy too. But the type of fruit needed is hard to find and only grows in small quantities." Elrand said in disappointment.

"Wait! We can have the lab look at it and see if they can do anything!" I suddenly jolted up. 

"Oh! That's a great idea. That artificial selection idea of yours worked wonders."

"Uh, well, it wasn't my original idea; I'm just borrowing it," I said as I bought out a few bottles of alcohol from the mini fridge I had installed in my office. In the bottles, there were Beer, Cider, Vodka, and Whiskey. 

However, I was interrupted by Ayumi calling me on the emergency line. 

"Supreme Commander, sorry to interrupt, but our radars have picked up something flying towards our locations. Four F-16 have been scrambled and are prepared to intercept with force." 

"Do we know if it is an attack?"I asked.

"I have requested the spies to report, but they have nothing about a plan to attack. The F-16s are only a few minutes from the location; please come to the command room."

"Okay, sure, I'm heading over there now." 

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"Command, this is Tempest; we are at the location, radar is still picking something up, but there is nothing in sight. Mana levels are abnormal; permission to use mana disrupter?"

"Tempest, this is Command. Permission granted."

"Copy that."

A few combat aircraft have been fitted with a large mana disrupter rune that can disable magic in a 15-meter radius. It was a tried and tested weapon against creatures that required magic to fly. 

The four F-16s began to increase the distance between them, and the mana disrupter was activated. Immediately the surroundings started to distort, and a small ship appeared. 

It was a small wooden ship with a big jet engine attached to the back, but it was most likely running on magic as the ship began to nose dive towards the ground. 

"This is Tempest. A wooden ship has appeared in the sky; our disrupter has most likely affected the ship's system to fly and is currently two minutes away from impact."

"This is Command; we can see it on screen. Please disengage the disrupter, and allow the target to maintain flight. Use the speakers to communicate and request them to land. If they do not comply, use the disrupter again."

"Copy that. Tempest out" 

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Surprisingly, the ship followed our instructions and landed at the newly built airfield inside the forest. I had cobra helicopters at the ready and a hundred armed units for precaution, but it was all for nought. 

The crew of the flying ship...well, it was just a girl...and a talking sword? 

Ayumi went to greet her but had to pry her off the Cobra helicopter, something about wanting to take it apart and discovering all its secrets. 

After that, they arrived at my office. As interesting as it was, the talking sword had to have a scabbard due to safety concerns. Since it didn't have a physical mouth, it could still talk. 

As soon as they entered my office, Ayumi began with introductions. 

"Supreme Commander, Merci of the Seven Mages, and Rico, a magic weapon, have arrived."

Yup, you heard right. A sage. 

We have basically no information on any of the sages; the ones we have are all just rumours that made no sense at all. For example, the ones we have on Merci say that she is actually an old hag who uses dark magic to keep herself youthful. 

If it was true, it also applied to her personality, as I see nothing but a child acting like a brat in front of me. I had Elora, as well as two other units, beside me, as she could see the flow of magic within a person. She gave the nod to confirm that Merci could be the real deal.

"Give me one of those flying metal boxes, and we will talk," she says whilst pouting and crossing her arms. 

"My apologies; they contain military secrets, so we will not be able to gift you any of our equipment. We do have processed goods that you probably have never seen before."

"Merci, I told you. No one will give you a secret weapon as a gift. Let's just take those goodies." 

"No, I don't care about those! I want-" she suddenly stops having a mini outburst and starts sniffing around. "sniff, sniff. This smell... it can't be!"

"Hey, Merci, you're gonna have to explain what you smell because I don't know if you remember, but I'm a sword." 

"Shut it, Rico." Merci's word set shivers down my spine, whilst Rico, the sword, stops his sarcastic remarks. "You there, elf, tell me. Have you ever heard a vintner named Elros?"

"Eh? Old Elros, he passed away during the attack. Wait, have you been to our village before?" Elora asked. 

"Hmm, I met him when he was still travelling. It was a few years ago if I remember correctly."

"Merci, your sense of time is terrible. Your last time meeting Elros was ninety-seven years ago, and you were drunk the entire time." Rico butted in.

"I told you to shut it, Rico. But man, he made the best wine in the world; it's unfortunate that he died. Is that the wine he was famously known for, I smell?" 

"Not exactly," I replied, "The wine was made by one of his pupils. I haven't tried the original, but this is already amazing."

I opened the mini fridge to bring out the only bottle we had, but it suddenly disappeared, along with all the other bottles of alcohol. I turned back around to see that Merci had taken all the bottles and was drinking whiskey out of the bottle as if it was just water. 

"W-what the hell? This amazing burn and this taste. Tell me what is this, and where can I get more of it!"

"Wait, you're not meant to chug the whole thing!" I tried to stop her, but she simply teleported to the other side of the room. I was bamboozled at first, but then I remembered she was likely the real deal. 

"Come on, don't be such a buzz kill. Plus, I just heard that I lost an old friend. Can't a young lady wash away her sorrows with alcohol?"

"Young, are you sure about-" I couldn't even finish my sentence. All the wind had knocked out my lungs, and I fell to my knees. I involuntarily curled up whilst cradling my crown jewels. The surprise attack was driving me crazy with anguish. What I was feeling was the pinnacle of male body pain. 

Is that a white light I see? Is it my time already?....