Flying through the night sky was a C-130 carrying the experimental Chevliar squad and a small platoon of units. They were sent as an advance party to verify information from merchant sources.

"Chief, we are five minutes from the LZ; prepare to jump!"

After hearing the pilot, Chief, the leader of the Chevalier squad, got up to do some last-minute prep talks.

"You heard the pilot! Everyone weapons check! Mute, I want you to take the team of stocks and reinforce the main gate. Take this flag; it has the House of Thuland on it. Make sure they know that we are allies.

The rest, you're with me. We have unconfirmed information that several knights have revolted against the House Of Reinford, and the castle is under attack from the inside. So our mission is to verify that information. Wait, where is Riot?"

"Riot jumped a while ago when you had your back turned," said Noble, whilst cleaning its spear. "and its parachute is still here."

"I sure hope Riot leaves some bad guys for the rest of us; it's time for us to show the Commander what we are made of," says Titan.

"Someone's still mad about yesterday," points out Demo.

"That Red serpent kill was meant to be mine, but Riot threw a grenade down its mouth, and it exploded everywhere. I was in the sanitation station for 4 hours to get rid of all the gunk."

"Well, at least you are nice and shiny for this mission; now shut up, we're jumping; remember, complete the missions-"

"Hey, Chief! It's your favourite unit, Riot!" suddenly came through the comms system.

"Riot, where the hell are you?"

"Oh right, I'm in the castle you mentioned. Did you know the castle has a secret escape tunnel leading out to the garden?"

"No, but wait, how do you know that?" said a concerned Chief.

"I don't! I tried to ask this group of people nicely, but they attacked me. Saying something like, "Waoh, who the hell are you?" Or "Stop moving; you're dead." So I tased them all and wrapped them up nicely.

One of my new friends here spilt the beans. They worked under that Water Knight, who had revolted against his now-dead lord. It seems that the daughter, Fire knight and Earth Knight are holed up on the top floor. The information was correct; we can skip to Phase 3 of plan A.

But uhh, Chief, it looks like I have some new friends here, so I'm gonna say hello."

The comms go silent. Everybody looked at the Chief to see how it'd react.

"Stop idling and jump."

Tens of units began dropping from the sky. However, all the parachutes were the brightest colours, making them easily spotted by the people on the ground. It was no doubt the work of the prankster.

                                                                                                               ⯁ ⯁ ⯁

"Captain, we can not hold on any longer, and the door is about to be breached!"

"Nonsense, we are knights, and we do not give up until we meet our end. We only need to hold on until Ivote has been notified of his cousin's betrayal." Scarlett, the famed Knight of Flames, shouted with a parched throat.

She has been fighting with her fellow knight, captain Yon, The Earth Knight, against the traitor who was once their comrade Mihel, The Water Knight.

"Here, drink some of this." Yon offers Scarlett a leather pouch full of water.

"How is Lady Isadola doing?"

"She's surprisingly doing good despite the situation. Shows that she is definitely mature enough to understand the current situation."

Scarlett looked at Isadola, who was staring out the window. Her attitude had changed massively since the news of her father's death. But it wasn't going to change the situation.

Mihel's aim was to capture the daughter of the Duke they once served, and it was very likely that he was working with the prime minister. It was also possible he had a part in the ambush, which resulted in the death of their lord and their comrade, the Wind Knight.

Scarlett had no idea if the message even reached Ivote or if he had also betrayed them. Even then, she doubted they could hold on until reinforcement came.

The only thing stopping the enemies was the heavy door and the exhausted soldiers using their bodies to prevent it from opening.

Suddenly the great panels of glass windows were smashed through, and five figures landed in the room.

"Through the windows, how?! Stop right there, or else I will cut you down!" Scarlett regained her composure and drew her sword despite being taken by surprise.

"We are reinforcements on behalf of Baron Thuland." Chief pulls out a dagger with the Thuland Family crest and presents it to Scarlett to see. "Are you Knight Captain Scarlett?"

"That I am; what is your name, knight, and how did you get in through the top floor?"

"I am no knight, but I am simply called Chief. And we jumped in from the sky. More importantly, is Lady Reinford here?"

"Yes, she is, right over there. But we need to find a way to escape immediately. Mihel and his forces are right outside that door."

"Don't worry, we will take care of it. Take this bag; there is food, water and medical supplies. Leave more injured ones to me." Chief turns to face the rest of his team, "Titan, I want your barrier up to protect the injured. Noble and Demo, you get to have the fun part whilst ill begin emergency treatment."

"""Understood!"""

Everyone began to move the injured behind Titan, and treatment began. All units were capable of essential battlefield treatments for humans and Units. But the more severe ones required proper medical units.

Titan activates its barrier, which extends from its shield, covering everyone in the radius. Whilst Noble and Demo were waiting in front of the door.

Finally, the door was smashed, and soldiers tried to funnel into the room. But Demo was blocking the way with its shield up.

"Hehe, this is where the fun begins...Exploded into million pieces!"

Demo's shield shot forward an explosive blast, sending limbs and bodies back outside. Noble then attacked from the side, killing soldier after soldier before they could even retaliate.

"Such lack of skills, have you, people, not been training! Those weapons are wasted in your hands; put them down before I make you." Noble said as it swiped off a man's arm and continued on its rampage until a spear of water appeared from its blind spot.

"Hmh, such cowardly tricks, something like that will never stop me." The water spear was easily dodged and slashed until it broke onto the floor like a mere puddle of water.

"It seems that you're quite proficient with that spear. What is your name?" the one responsible for the water spear appeared from the back.

"I am Noble; what is yours?"

"I am Mihel, and I challenge you to a duel to the death!"

"Duel accept! It's about time; I can feel the warrior blood flow through my circuits."

And thus, a duel was initiated. All the fighting had stopped to watch the champions fight. If it was a regular duel between the two sides' leaders, whichever side loses all surrender.

But Mihel had no plans to play by the rules. Instead, he planned to play the dirty way. His sword was coated with a poison that caused immediate paralyse, and eventually, every organ would stop working. All that was needed was a single cut, and Mihel would win the fight, or so he thought.

The two made a standoff waiting for the other to make the first move. But the first move never came. A single gunshot echoed, and Mihel exploded into a thousand pieces. Everyone stood aghast.

"Woah, I did not expect that to happen. Maybe Merci labelled this wrong?" appearing from what seemed to be nowhere was Riot. In its hand was a revolver burning so hot that it turned a golden colour.

"Riot! Why must you interrupt a duel between warriors!" shouted Noble.

"Cool your circuits; he was clearly going to cheat. There was poison on his blade, and who knows what else he had planned. But still, this weapon is the definition of a war crime."

"Try that again, and I will ensure you will never play pranks on anyone again."

"Good luck with that! Oh hey, Chief, how ya doing?"

"Riot, I don't even know what to ask first."

"Well, let me start. I found coded notes and plans belonging to Mihel and his group. The code is quite simple, and I uploaded it to the database system. Most of the Mihel's goons are either dead or unconscious, except for the ones here. Also, I have a gun that commits war crimes."

Everyone in the room, ally and foe, was shocked at what looked like the most confusing situation they had ever been in.

Meanwhile...

Daniel was originally a mage for the Cerenth Empire and then a prisoner of war. But now he was working as a researcher for the people who took him as a POW. Not against his will but as a proper employee, they also moved the rest of his family to a lovely new home close to his own apartment.

"Professor Merci, I have the report from Test 23. There seems to be a mistake. The explosion radius was the same but released a large electric current that shut down the test units around it." reported Daniel

"What, how did that happen? I must have written the wrong script. No, it can't be..."

"Also, we can't find Test 24, and the last name in the access log was yours, professor."

"No, no, no, I'm so done for! Wait, where is it? I swear I placed it there before I left yesterday!"

"Professor?!"

"Fine, I might have misplaced it, and I mixed the scripts up because I was drunk."

"You know I have to report this, Professor."

"Please, Daniel. You don't have to do this! It's a small mistake, I'm sure that it will turn up soon, and we can just rewrite the scripts. It's no biggie; it's not like someone died because of that mistake. Right?..."

A few days later, when I heard about this incident, Merci was given a week alcohol ban. It was initially going to be two weeks, but considering Riot did take the weapon without proper permission and exploded a man into bits with it, that was not Merci's fault.

Riot was banned by Merci from entering the lab from then on.