“I’d like to dedicate this chapter to the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Kamdesh, Battle of Wanat and others like it. You are brave SOBs. I wanted to write this chapter as an effort to bring awareness to forgotten battles, to show the bravery and sacrifices our troops made. There are many battles throughout history that have been forgotten in the pages of history, stories people never get to hear or see.”
___________________________________________________________________________
"The United States Congress has formally created the territory of Alcatris (a combination of the names Alnus, Italica, and Valtris into one name). The next stage is for the treaty to be sent to each of the proposed City-State for ratification. The City-States targeted for territorial unification areItalica, Valtris, Atler, Malrtis, Lorsiss, Naiktai, Daze Ferry, Kipliten, Sekorn Town, Deabis. Alnus Hill has a opt in clause within the treaty
If these cities merge into one territory, the population is about five and a half million. The largest city being Valtris, with one hundred and twenty thousand. Italica with forty-two thousand people, Naiktai with eighteen thousand, Kipliten with twenty-one thousand people. While not part of the proposed territory, Alnus Hill has reached the fifteen thousand mark (not including the eighty-five thousand military personnel) and is expected to reach twenty- three thousand mark by the end of the war.
Congress did not initially back the proposal to unify the region as their focus was on the war. Countess Myui Del Formal has been the originator and most prominent supporter. She proposed the idea to the State Department, and since then, they have operated in a supportive role. During her second visit three weeks ago she made a strong statement for unification, stating it is vital for the future of the region's economy and security. Stating that they want to fully separate themselves from the past and embrace the future of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Countess Myui has stated that the City-States need to unite to maintain economic supremacy and influence; otherwise, they will be sidelined by future powers and competition. That cooperation corporation will continue the region's prosperity.
Currently, the regional economy is going through a wartime boom. Early in the war, all these cities' economies were pushed to the brink of collapse. The Imperial embargo cut all imports and exports in the hopes of devastating the economies of cities under NATO control, hampering the war effort. While the regional economy is still less than it was before the war - with the growing amount of NATO troops flooring the region, the demand for food and other goods replaced the need to export, plus much-needed infrastructure investment it is recovering quickly.
Myui has stated that the current wartime boom will not last forever, and the Counts and Countess must prepare for the future. She believes connecting the proposed Alcatris Territory to the United States economy and, by extension, the Earth economy will position the region to become the region's economic hub.
References to this economic hub are the current economic competitions like manufacturing plants like aerospace, Internet providers, and farming goods. Air travel will become a new industry in the region once the current airliner competition finishes.
One key issue with the proposed territory is the topic of slavery. The Falmart Economic Trade Agreement (FETA) states that all Counts and Dukes who sign the treaty must dissolve slavery as an institution within five years of signing. The treaty sets up a straightforward incentive program to help weed the local economy off the institution, like paying slaves for access to the military and Earth market.
At this point, only Italica, Malrtis, and Daze Ferry have entirely abolished slavery. While Valtris has little need for slaves because of its demand for skilled labor, it is still phasing out the institution. Most of the other towns are still in the early phases of ending the institution as they need time to adapt.
According to the United States Constitution, slavery is abolished. Any City-State that signs the treaty would be required to abolish the institution if fully annexed. That is why there is a clause in the treaty to bar Alnus Hill from fully joining the territory, allowing the Federal government to treat Alcatris as an occupied territory rather than a commonwealth like Puerto Rico and Guam before Statehood. This should give the region enough time to fulfill its obligations. The clause states that after fifty percent of the City-States abolish the institution, Alnus will be allowed to join the territory, allowing the domain to become a federal territory. After that then the topic of Statehood could be brought up if the territory chooses.
Assuming the treaty is signed by at least 1/3 of the proposed towns, Congress decided to make General Charles Stanford the territory's military governor. The purpose of this is to help ease up logistics for the war effort. Once the war is over, the military government will be reconsidered by the US Senate.
Questions have been raised regarding the border towns north of Alguna Kingdom, Vaerret, Jymale, Amosy, and then the Mealud Valley. An Imperial-Elbe insurgency is happening around Jymale, and Mealud Valley is still hotly contested.
A recent study believes the combined population of Falmart is around three hundred a fifty million between the Common, Beast, and Darkling races; however, no one knows the percentages between the three groups. The Empire, being the largest nation on Falmart, represents around two hundred and ten million subjects. However, only around one hundred and ten million of them are actual citizens or high enough in the complex Imperial hierarchy." – Alnus Liberty News
***
--- Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Dumas Mountains ---
Date: May 26th, 2026
With the sound of artillery and helicopters in the distance. The only thing that is louder is the heavy rain. Colonel Anderson of the 101st Airborne looks at a large table. On it is the layout of his area of operation of the Dumas Mountains.
While there are two task forces constructing highways so NATO can strike Sadera and the eastern half of the Empire by ground. The one Anderson is operating from is FOB Kalsu(1).
“The British COP Lima was struck last night; there are reported three wounded,” Major Baker said, pointing to a mountain. “Once our RRF reached them, the Imperialists fled.”
“That is the fourth attack this month but good, our RRFs need to be on the spot,” Anderson replied. “If we are late, then a COP could be overrun.” That is when he sees a strange look from Baker like something is bothering him. He zooms in COP Lima and gets the data. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t like how the Empire fled,” Baker said. “They normally would continue the fight, but they just fled when our relief force arrived. I think they were testing our response time, sir.”
That point is bothering Anderson because he agrees with Baker. It is a possibility that the enemy soldiers just got scared; staring down at an Apache attack helicopter can do that. But this has not been the only attack like this in recent weeks.
“Just like Afghanistan, I hate this defensive bullshit,” Lopez comments.
What Lopez is talking about is the Clear, Hold, Build strategy during the Afghan War in 2008-2010. The other officers did not fight in Afghanistan or Iraq while Lieutenant Colonel Lopez and Colonel Anderson did. Both were part of those operations or heard soldiers stories about being surrounded by the Taliban deep behind enemy territory. Great idea on paper, horrible execution.
Like Baker, Lieutenant Colonel Lopez, and others around the table, Anderson is wearing a military version of the Microsoft HoloLens goggles. While there is a rough physical layout of the sector on the map, the virtual reality goggles add unit locations, suspected enemy positions. Recent battles, logistical lines, highway, Forward Operating Bases (FOB), and Combat Outposts (COP), everything a commander needs. He is taking the Blue Force Tracker idea from a laptop to a goggle.
Anderson looks carefully at the map as his command staff feeds him new information. “It was only a matter of time before the Imperialists figured out our strategy.”
Lopez points to a hillside, eleven kilometers away from the latest construction site. “We need to clear out this area before the engineers reach it.”
The current strategy is two-fold. FOBs – a Battalion to Brigade strength base covering a field of operation. The soldiers at FOBs are supposed to be the response and aggressive part of their plan. Deploying in force and bringing the fight to the Empire.
The COPs are scattered along the planned highway route. Their job is to prevent the Empire from attacking the Army Engineers. No one wants to be in a fixed position, waiting for the enemy to come to you; however, protecting the Engineers is critical. Each of these COPs is manned by a platoon with additional advisors and support personnel – averaging eighty to one hundred soldiers.
The VR displaces the recent League attacks against the outposts. Usually light attacks, testing the defensives of these outposts. Anderson sees all the COPs; his FOB is also responsible for supporting COP Alpine, Monti, Romesha, and nine others. Five of these COPs are manned by the 10th Mountain, two by the 101st, one by the British, and the last by the Spanish. The Brazilians and Italica have squads at each COP to act as advisors.
What Anderson found frustrating is how much resources and effort all this is taking against a simple enemy. If this were on Earth, the war would be vastly different. Sadera would have been taken, or at least this highway would be completed by now. He wonders if the Western Front felt like this during World War One – so much effort with small gains.
"Major, keep your RRF sharp; I want a platoon and Apache ready to respond at all times," Anderson said. "We are not going to leave these outposts alone to fend for themselves."
Lopez points to a mountain range eight kilometers northeast from FOB Kalsu's position. "Colonel, I propose your 2nd Battalion with a platoon from the Polish 25th Air Cavalry should hit this position here. Based on our Space Force ground-penetrating radar covering our sector, we detected a gathering of a dwarf town here. League troops are gathering there."
"Good," Anderson said. "Let's keep these bastards as far away as possible."
***
--- Combat Outpost (COP) Romesha, Highway Eugene Reybold, Dumas Mountains ---
Date: June 8th, 2026
After a yawn, Sergeant First Class Gordan Flores takes a drink from the military energy drink RIP IT. He is looking out at the valley. It is nighttime, his watch states that it is 0128.
In the valley all the soldiers see what they are protecting, the construction of Highway Eugene Reybold. They all can see the construction lights and equipment.
Eugene Reybold, the Lieutenant General who led the largest engineer project in American history during World War Two. He was the Chief of Engineers who organized the war effort. The Engineers who are building this Highway through the Dumas Mountains thought it would be appropriate to name the Highway after one of their greats, to motivate them while they undertake this great task. They know the key to victory is completing this highway and need to keep that objective in sight.
“I have to admit, this is an impressive view,” Sergeant Julio Pinheiro said.
“You say that now, wait until the Bastard appears,” Sergeant Joseph Collins said.
In the distance, they all hear this loud screeching sound. Up ahead they see this figure moving through the bushes.
“That goddamn bastard still screeching?” Sergeant Joseph Collins said as he marched over.
“Cannot sleep too?” Flores asked.
"Fuck no," Collins replied.
"What is that thing making that noise?" Pinheiro asked.
Flores looks to the Brazilian sergeant. His squad and a team of Italica Knights are assigned to this COP to beef up the defenses. "It is a four-legged beast that is the size of a grizzly bear. Its tongue and shoot out, and on its tip is a poison spike that paralyzes its victims. Then you are eaten alive. The damn bastards have this light armor shell around their body, like a turtle making it a bitch to kill. One guy said it took an M320 to kill it. They call the beast lizard bear."
"Holy shit," Pinheiro said.
After another screech, Flores grabs his radio. "Screw this. Get the M107 and kill that bastard."
"Hold on there; you don't need to kill them. They keep the Giant Spiders from infesting these lands."
Flores watches this Italic Knight walk up. Horden Elgordan, a rare mixed-race Human, and a male Neko were assigned to his COP to help, being Italica to assist in the war. Unlike NATO, they know these lands and have been a great assist. He admits, though, it is strange seeing a hybrid human and Neko.
Cat Beastmen or Nekos are some of the weaker races from Flores's experience, not natural fighters, unless they are trained to use their feline abilities, mainly their natural agility, speed and flexibility, to properly fight. Turns out Nekos makes capable assassins much like the bunnies using their agility and climbing prowess, but their most prized ability is the ability squeeze through tight spaces just like actual cats, enabling them to effectively bypass many kind of obstacles and hide in impossible places, this ability also help them stealthily kill enemies in close range. This is the first time he has seen one soldier, being shocked that one is strong enough to carry that heavy knight armor. He assumes it must be his human traits. Now that he thinks about it, this is the first time he has seen any male Neko of any kind before.
He understands that Elgordan was once a slave in Italica but was freed after Countess Myui Del Formal seceded from the Empire and joined NATO. When Myui opened the Knighthood to non-humans to help boost its ranks. Elgordan took the opportunity and became one of Italica's first non-human Knights.
"While dangerous, they are harmless if you employ the right defenses," Elgordan said, walking over to the orange flowers on the COP walls. "These flowers spread a smell that drives the Hopocks away. As long as you keep these flowers around your base and on you when on patrol, you should be safe."
Collins laughs. “Just like in the Zootopia movie. My daughter made me watch it a dozen times.”
Now it makes sense to Flores on what the Captain wanted them to collect flowers last week and not hunting the Legion. He assumed the Lieutenant was just keeping them busy.
"Who knew something so simple could be so useful," Pinheiro said. "What a strange world this is."
Suddenly they all look out, hearing explosions in the distance.
Flores knows what everyone is thinking. The 10th Mountain has earned dozens of stories during its time in Afghanistan and Iraq, being deployed more often than any other Division over the past thirty years. The first conventional unit into Afghanistan was from the 1st Brigade. Units from the Division deployed in the hottest spots and endured the most intense engagements against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Right now, this COP operation reminds Flores of his superior stories from the Afghanistan War. At the same time, most remember the war as Coalitional forces moving in, dropping bombs on the enemy, winning battle after battle. How could an inferior enemy resist the modern war machine?
However, every old-timer knows even an inferior enemy could bite back, like the US defeat in Operation Red Wing, the British struggle at Siege of Sangin, the US-Australia defeat in the Battle of Khaz Oruzgan, and more. While they were the exception, they still happened.
With the Clear, Hold, Build strategy, it reminds Flores of stories about Operation Mountain Lion - where Coalitional Forces deployed in platoon size outposts all over the Afghan-Pakistan border. The idea was like what is being deployed here in the Dumas Mountains. Stop the flow of enemy movement and protect key locations, like the construction of Highway Eugene Reybold.
The strategy was later abandoned because many of these COPs in Afghanistan where many of these COPs were almost overrun by the Taliban became common. Examples are the Battle of Wanat and the most famous and bloodiest, Battle of Kamdesh, where the Taliban almost took the outpost if it was not for the brave and experienced 10th Mountain warriors and last-minute close air support – allowing for the soldiers to evacuate.
“That is the second attack this week,” Collins said, commenting on the intense sounds of battle.
“Just keeping us honest,” Pinheiro said. “We are in a decent position. If the Empire wants to attack, we will be able to put up a fight.”
“It is night; I don’t expect anything,” Collins said. “Maybe a probe, but that’s it.”
“Do not rely on your night seeing goggles,” Elgordan said. He then looks out at the valley. “You must remember you are not fighting in your world. While Humans rule the Empire, there is a reason they employ other races and are willing to fight for the Empire. Elves can move around stealthily. Bats can see in the dark. Orcs with their strength. Volralden for their smell and hearing. Furthermore, your guns can run out of bullets and are not designed specifically to fight enemies who excel in close combat. I can see that your bayonets are just small knives attached to your guns.”
“Even if they are, Collins, go around and make sure our sentries are on their caffeine pills,” Flores said. “The last thing we need is an ambush.
The brass made it mandatory for guards to be on caffeine pills and have a set of adrenaline shots ready. There have been stories of soldiers falling asleep on guard or patrol randomly. At first, the brass thought this was a lack of indiscipline. However, Tuka Luna Marceau and many High Elves showed NATO that elves have sleeping magic much like human mages.
After tests, it was discovered that these pills have a forty percent effectiveness in keeping a soldier awake through one of these sleeping spells. For Flores, all he cares about is that forty percent is better than zero percent.
“I will go with,” Elgordan said.
As the two leaves, Flores and Pinheiro head to the platoon Command Post (CP). Most of the COP is asleep, except for the dozen sentries on duty. “Going, to be honest, glad you guys are here.”
“Don’t be thanking us; you guys are the ones who have been fighting,” Pinheiro said. “My unit was deployed in Rio de Janeiro, fighting drug lords.”
“I see, so you are here for the adventure,” Flores said sarcastically.
“Not at all; I signed up for the food,” Pinheiro said. “But my people do expect NATO membership after this war.”
As an emerging Western power, Brazil, shredding its Socialist past to be an active player in the world. The war created an opportunity to prove that, just like what happened during World War Two.
Flores gets to the CP door. “Hey, fuck politics. End of the day, the only thing that matters is your helmet and pulling that trigger before they are on top of you.”
Inside the CP, he sees the platoon Command staff. The night shift, so the computers are manned at fifty percent. However, First Lieutenant Diego Gisbert is up, paying close attention to the main screen.
“Hey Dick, hey Lieutenant,” Flores said.
Without looking, the Lieutenant asked, “I want the perimeter checked.”
“I already sent Collins and that Neko Knight to go check the lines.” Flores can see the Lieutenant taking the attack on that COP seriously. “What COP is being attacked?”
“The Spanish COP, eleven kilometers away,” Gisbert said. “Strangely, they are reporting that the League is not assaulting their COP. They are just laying siege to it. Aggressively but they seem not to care about our air power. I don’t know; just besieging a base is worthless.”
Flores sees the intense battle on the screen. Spanish soldiers are engaging from their bunkers. Arrows and magical blast hitting the fortifications. To the left of the screen, it states artillery Support fire from FOB Kalsu.
As Flores looks at the screen, he looks at the NETT Warrior feeds. One of the feeds seems off. “What is going on with CAM-3?”
CAM-3 is displayed on the main screen, the feed from PFC Tucker. The camera is looking down at the soldier's boot. “He is asleep.” He grabs his radio to tell Collins to beat the shit out of Tucker.
Pinheiro stops Flores and points. “Look there. Isn’t that a footprint?”
Looking closer, Flores sees what looks like a footprint. Mud on the Hesco bastion fortification. What is bothering him is that the mud print does not look standard-issue Army boot. “Bring up the base cameras, thermal vision.”
“Do it,” Gisbert orders.
On the main screen, the six camera screens appear in thermal vision. Nothing appears until he sees two little heat by a tree base.
“It is just a small heat signature,” a soldier said. “The computer identifies it as a small animal.”
There is an intense silence in the room. “Didn’t the Empire use heat-absorbing hides in Elies? What were they called? Hogus?”
“Correct sir,” Flores said.
Hogus Boars are native cattle on Falmart. What makes them truly alien is that their hides can absorb body heat somehow. Biologists believe this is a defensive mechanism against dragons and wyverns. Because flying beats have heat vision, it is harder for them to find these boars.
That is when Flores sees something move over the fortification where Tucker is. Barely any heat signature. “We are under attack.” He is about to go but is stopped.
As Flores points that out, they hear weapons fire by the main gate. Three soldiers' NW cameras show them engaging an unknown enemy within the fortifications.
Pinheiro points to the main gate. “What the fuck is that?”
Flores looks, same as everyone else sees.
---
“Do you think the human plan will work?”
“The plan is ambitious.”
Elder Ellisar Heivyre looks at his Moon Elves Raiders. From the independent elven kingdom in the Mountains of Ice and Snow, working for the League to maintain their independence and payment.
While the Kingdom of Faeven does not raise large armies like the Empire, Ticaret, the Swestuals, and others. The kingdom makes that up with having trained elite warriors, able to challenge and adapt to any threat. It is how Faeven stayed independent even though most other elven kingdoms have fallen. Heivyre knows this from experience.
“It is a crazy plan however Decius has come through before,” Heivyre said. “He did lead the mission to take down two NATO flying machines and captured their pilots. And if he is brave enough to lead this mission himself then it is worth the risk.”
Heivyre has been impressed with Primus pilus Decius Asellio. An unknown warrior when this war began but quickly moved up the ranks because of the high casualties. He has proven to be an assistant with his creativity and determination.
It was Decius who asked Heivyre for help for this mission. NATO has its own elite warriors which they call ‘Special Forces’. He considers his Moon Elves the ‘Special Forces’ of the Falmart League and his assault on the Valtris Bridge(2) proved it. Now, he wants to build on that reputation.
While NATO is building their road network, the League dwarves build their tunnel to the nearby ridge. From there Heivyre Raiders advanced to the perimeter of this outpost. He is thrilled that their reptilian skin armor and the mud are still hiding his people's body heat, enough to fool the enemy sensors. Just like when they assaulted the bridge.
Once they close enough, Heivyre orders his Raiders to stop. He nods to his faithfully raider Halueth Leolen and best friend Oncith Faegeiros.
Up ahead Heivyre listens as two soldiers complain about their post. The enemy soldiers there are speaking softly however he can hear everything with his extra hearing. He understood this human need to complain about everything.
Leolen and Faegeiros use a magical spell that is natural to all elves, sleeping magic. One of the guards falls asleep but the other wobbles around, placing his hand on his helmet.
Seeing the enemy warrior not falling asleep shocked Heivyre. He has never seen someone resist this magic before from an experienced elf warrior. The spirit spell is a powerful one that is a mana-draining type of magic.
While the enemy soldier was dazed by the spell, Heivyre cannot risk him from alerting his comrades this early in the mission. Quickly, he fires an arrow, going right into the neck. “Go!”
The twenty Raiders move quickly, moving over the fortification. Faegeiros and Heivyre move the dead body in a way to make it look like he is asleep. Leolen kills the other soldier who was asleep.
“He resisted the spell, how is it possible?” Faegeiros said.
“We will figure that out later, but we underestimated them,” Heivyre said. “We must secure the outer gate.”
As his Raiders break the outer Hesco walls, the base lights suddenly turn on. Yelling from the yelling as they react to their presence.
Heivyre knows he does not have to say anything to his men. They all move through the fortification system until they reach the main Gate.
An enemy soldier appears around a corner. Heivyre quickly grabs the enemy soldier, swings him onto the ground, and slices his neck, knowing full well striking the strange fiber armor can blunt blades.
Two of Heivyre's warriors fire their arrows, striking an enemy soldier in the chest. The soldier hits the wall behind him from the kinetic forces but does not die. He then moves around, taking cover as he holds his wound.
“They are over here!” The enemy soldier yells as he moves into cover.
“Damn their armor.”
As the sounds of gunfire echo through the base Heivyre orders to fire a flare arrow and everyone breaches the gate.
They move, most engaging the base defenders. Three storm the bunker with an enemy defender inside but he locked the door and is now shooting from the window.
Heivyre knows battle like this will not last long, that is why Decius has a trick, a discovered weakness with the enemy rifles.
Soon enough the gate blows open from the Darlko Mage. In the dust, a symbol of Darlko cursed dark magic appears. Dozens of soulless Ghoul’s rush through.
The enemy soldiers engage in this new threat. Their mini arrows known as bullets hit the Ghouls and they barely flinched. The Ghouls storm up, climbing up barricades and jumping at the enemy, ignoring the damage taken. It was not long before they stormed one soldier and started shredding him alive.
The bullets that come out of enemy weapons have been devastating against the Empire however against a Ghoul it is like an insect biting on a man, just an annoyance.
“Good job Heivyre.”
Hearing his name, Heivyre sees Decius and his Darlko Mage Allures.
“Legion attack!” Decius orders as more Ghouls and now swordsmen storm through the gate.
However, all three-take cover as a soldier falls from a headshot, showing the battle is not over with.
Wanting to complete the main objective, Heivyre orders half his Raiders to stay here and snipe the enemy. The rest follow him and protect the dark mage invention.
As they move to the valley viewpoint Heivyre sees the next stage of the plan unfolding. Dozens of League forces attacking the Other Worlders. Archers behind the ridgeline begin firing in an arc volley into the heat of the base – out of line-of-sight so the enemy couldn’t pick them off.
Once breaking into a bunker overlooking the valley, two legionaries’ engineers quickly set up a wooden foundation. Then a Minotaur walks in carrying a large metal but hollow tube. The beast places the tube onto the wood foundation.
“What is that?” Heivyre asked. “It looks like something the Other Worlders would use.”
“Because it is,” Allures said. “The Other Worlders call it a cannon. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea, but the principle is the same. We know the enemy uses this black powder from their weapons. So far we have failed to copy it; however, we were about to mimic those with the alchemical magical powder, Raon, that are infamous to cause many explosions in Rondel research districts to operate our cannon.”
“You guys have no idea how hard it was to create these designs. We had to use our best metalworks and enchantments to get it this far. The iron balls we are using have been enchanted. The one they are loading now has been enchanted with lightning. The other with fire magic and the other is energy magic.”
“The cannon is ready my lord,” the Minotaur said.
Decius aims his sword at the construction site. “Fire.”
With a loud, deafening sound, the portable cannon fires. A blue streak follows behind the iron ball. The next thing they see is a bright lightning strike inside the construction camp.
As Heivyre watches the impressive destruction from the cannon, he could not believe what he saw. For the first time, he sees what the Other Worlders see from their point of view with their weapons. A glimpse of their destructive might. “This is too good to be true, what is the catch?”
Allures take a long breath. “It is a secret right now but there is a fifty-fifty chance this cannon, and the hand cannons will explode on the user after each shot. Because we had to rush this so badly it is not thoroughly tested. Based on our test the Raon magical powder is superior to the black powder as it has a bigger explosion however it is more unstable. Plus, we have not perfected the design.”
“It does not matter,” Decius said. “We have a war to fight, and I will take any edge I can get.” He looks to Heivyre. “Now, let’s go kill some Americans.”
---
Seeing the Ghouls trying to get over the inner Hesco wall, Flores tries to kill them with a hail of bullets. To his frustration they are not going down that easily, taking half a clip before they are cut down enough to die.
Looking around Flores sees soldiers doing everything they can to protect the CP. Two soldiers help another one with an arrow deep in his leg. He wishes that was the only wounded, however they are piling up from the volleys and Ghoul’s attack. And that is within the inner Hesco wall, he has no idea what the situation is on the other side of the wall.
“Volley!”
Hearing a soldier call out ‘volley’, Flores takes cover by the CP. Dozens of arrows hit the base, everywhere. “God damnit, take out those archers?”
“I can’t Sarge! The enemy is behind cover and arching their shots. We have not shot.”
“Watch out!” Private First-Class Andy Montgomery yells.
A fireball from nearby catapults comes towards the COP. Both fireballs are destroyed by the COP 20mm Phalanx C-RAM. While they are preventing the enemy artillery from hitting the COP.
After that volley, Flores sees a dead soldier on the ground, another wonder. Others with arrows in their vests but still fighting.
“Damnit, somebody get the goddamn tactical machetes and the tomahawks out of storage! I cannot fight these ghouls with my tiny combat knife, ” Flores shouts. After reloading shoots at another ghoul that is coming at him. After five shots, one in the head does barely anything, he starts to freak out and tries to draw his combat knife.
Elgordan appears and blocks the Ghoul with the US to provide a smaller military version of the riot shield, he decapitates the Ghoul down with his swords.
Flores takes a frustrated breath. He looks away as he hears one of his soldiers screaming for their life. Two Ghouls who got over the wall are on top of Timmy. One trying to rip into his vest while the other biting into his leg.
One Brazilian and two other soldiers rush over and use their M7 bayonets attached to behead the ghouls.
“Arnold, get Timmy into the CP, the rest of you secure this position,” Flores orders. “We do not-.” He was interrupted by a loud burst sound, shocking them all.
“Collins here, whatever that came from the valley bunker, was that you guys?”
Flores grabs his radio and gets on NW. “Negative. We are stuck at the CP.” He then looks at everyone. “Secure the area. Do not let the Ghouls get through. Listen to the Knights and support them.”
As everyone rushes to secure their areas, Pinheiro rushes up. “What the hell was that sound?”
“Let’s go check it out,” Flores said.
As Flores turns his back, an arrow hits him in the back hard, falling to the ground.
Pinheiro quickly turns around and returns fires, taking out a Moon Elf. “Are you ok Gordan?”
Flores feels a pain in his back. “That fucking hurt. But I think I am fine.”
As Pinheiro helps Flores up he checks him out. “Your Kevlar stopped it, but I think you will be bruised up. Might want to get it checked out.”
“I will when I am dead,” Flores said. He then raises his M4 and fires at the kneecaps. The Ghoul falls to the ground but starts crawling towards them. “That is fucked up.”
Above them, the sound of the .50 caliber going off on the roof is deafening but he is proud the three soldiers on the roof are ignoring that firebombing. From what he saw was one of the soldiers strapped a sheet of metal onto his back to act as a shield, so arrows do not take out the heavy weapons. One good hit and they are dead. Thank god for the C-RAM protecting them.
Specialist Eric Thompson and another two soldiers rush up. On his arm is blood and it looks like he is missing a figure.
“What happened Eric?”
“Fucking Ghoul got my pinkie,” Thompson said, breathing deeply. “But I am still good to go. I don’t want the dog to focus on me.” He then points towards the cliffside where the artillery is coming from. His reaction looks like he is confused and scared.
Flores looks and sees a monster hovering in the air.
“Why isn’t the turret attacking it?” Thompson asked.
As the monster hovers, two fireballs are fired. The C-RAM activates, aims for the two fireballs, and takes them out with ease. It then stops, ignoring the monster.
Finding it strange, Flores fires a few shots at the monster. He notices the bullets pass through it and it disappears. “It was an illusion. They must have a mage here.”
As Flores said that, he sees a dark orb forming above the C-RAM. Energy sparks start out but as the orb solidifies the sparks stop. The size of it is just larger than the C-RAM minigun. It then fell, hitting the C-RAM, blowing it up as if being hit by falling meteors.
Now that the C-RAM is destroyed he already knows that is a game-changing moment and not for them. “You three, secure this area. I am heading to the CP.” He and Pinheiro rush to the CP door.
---
Heivyre watches as the mage Allures destroys the enemy's defensive weapon. He was impressed by how effective it was against the light catapults. It took out six fire pots with little stress.
“Finally, that bastard is dead,” Allures said, annoyed.
“Good thing because Decius plan required his light catapults burning this place to the ground,” Heivyre replied. “What kind of spell was that? I have never seen that spell before.”
“New spell we developed,” Allures said as he caught his breath. “We got the idea while watching one of NATO airstrikes. We call it the Falling Death Orb. It takes three of us to form it right now because of how much mana it needs.”
“Then why didn’t you use it first?” Heivyre asked as he unloads his bow.
“I just said it uses a lot of mana!” Allures states. “I was hoping one of my mage's illusion spells would distract it. I don’t understand why it ignored it. If only we can bring in the Mana Towers, since it can enhance our mana capacity for creating more Falling Death Orbs”
Allure’s attitude reminds Heivyre why he hates mages. Because they learned to have magical abilities, they think they are superior. But their spells do impress him.
Still, Heivyre is confused why that weapon did not attack the illusion. Somehow it could see the incoming firepots, but it could not see it. He assumes it can see through it because it is a machine and not alive.
Heivyre moves to get a good view of the battle. He sees the Americans scattered all over the place, pinned. Over by a large building he sees Americans creating a mini fort to protect themselves. He saw them drag wounded soldiers into that building.
Heivyre hears a scream and sees a Ghoul jump on another soldier and they both struggle. Another Ghoul nearby beating tore apart. However, two soldiers appear from their cover and attack the two swordsmen and Ghouls, dragging the dead and wounded soldiers to safety. He always found it interesting how important these Other Worlders in protecting their wounded and dead. While his own mindset finds it as a sign of weakness, he can respect their warrior honor.
Seeing the next wave of Ghouls come through the main gate, Heivyre sees the enemy bullets hit them with little effects. The Ghouls just charge forward, ignoring the enemy weapons. That is until he hears that loud sound from that weapon on the roof.
A stream of the Other Worlder bullets hail from that rooftop, chopping up the Ghouls as the storm in. While the smaller arrows the soldiers are using had little effect, the bigger weapon is tearing a Ghoul apart with a single shot.
“Can you use that Falling Death Orb spell again?” Heivyre asked.
“No,” Allures replied. “Decius wants me to conserve my mama for something else. He said the enemy will send help and he sounds scared about what it might be.”
“Great.”
Seeing a good shot, Heivyre decides to light his arrow with a spell and fire it at a sandbag close to that heavy weapon position. He hopes the spotters on the ridge will see his marker so they can use the artillery to take it out.
---
Opening the door, Flores sees all the command staff organizing the defenses and contacting FOB Kalsu. He walks right up to Lieutenant Gisbert.
“Report Sergeant. What the fuck happened to my turret?”
“Ghouls are all over the place sir,” Flores said. “It is like we are shooting Beebe guns at them. We are barely keeping them at bay but that will not last forever. And a mage took out the turret. It was like some death orb that dropped down on it. Don’t ask me how but they have mages.” He then looks at the main screen. “What is going on out there.”
Gisbert takes his pencil and points to a desk map of the COP. “The main gate is lost and these Ghouls backed by Legionnaires are moving in. The M2 is the only thing keeping us from being overrun right now. Sergeant Collin has converted the storage building into a bunker with three others. He is trying to get the wounded there. Bob and Amon are fighting on the west side. Others scattered around. I have no idea on casualties.”
“And what the fuck was that sound?”
Gisbert is hesitant to reply. “I have no idea but whatever it is CAM-2 saw the enemy carrying something into the Valley side bunker. Then there is a bright light. I already got reports of two dead engineers. They are using our vantage point to strike the highway.”
The soldier on the front computer turns around. “Sir, Major Baker has reported an Apache and two Chinook have just left FOB Kalsu. ETA twenty-seven-minutes. Colonel Robert, 1st Cav is sending an American and Indian relief force. Three hundred strong, eta two hours.”
Another soldier speaks up. “I have contact with Air Combat Command. Nearest units are two RAF Typhoons.”
“What the fuck is the Air Force suppose to do?” Flores asks. “Are they going to bomb us? The enemy is inside our COP.”
Gisbert hesitated to reply as he looked at the cameras. “They can do a flyby. Hopefully, it will shake the barbarian's will to fight.” He looks to his tech staff. As he begins to speak and another explosion on the roof. “Do we have comms?”
“Negative sir,” the soldier said. “Besides basic radio, I lost contact with ACC.”
Flores did not enjoy hearing that. The issues of having a complex military system, especially with foreign nations with different languages. Now they have lost the ability to speak at all means fighter support is worthless. Unless they are going to drop bombs and kill everyone where they need that Apache support.
“Damn, the assault on the Spanish was just a distraction,” Flores points out. “Drawing out our forces. What about the Air Force?”
The building shakes from another strike. Someone reported that the .50 caliber is gone. An arm breaks one of the small glass as a Ghoul tries to get in.
As the guards deal with the Ghouls, Flores looks at the Lieutenant. “We need to retake the main gate.”
“Retake the gate?” Pinheiro asked. “That artillery is going to burn us before we can retake the COP.”
“He is right, we need the mortar station,” Flores said.
“I love this bravery but the problem is how?” Gisbert orders. “You will use up all your ammo before you reach it.”
That is the problem Flores has yet to figure out. He then remembers what Elgordan said. "I know what to do."
"All right," Gisbert said. "Hurry up before the Outpost is burnt to the ground full of corpse.”
As Flores and Pinheiro head to the door, Private Daniel Paterson limps up. "Permission to join, sir? I am just taking up space here."
"You are limping, so no," Flores said.
"Sir, I am combat effective," Paterson said. "I can help, and you need every rifle you can get."
Flores orders two soldiers to go to the CP armory and meet him outside.
Once outside, Flores rallies everyone. He can see bodies everywhere, many of them cut down—half of the building on fire to some degree. Because of the intense fire on the roof, he lifts his tactical goggles. He already noticed everyone else stop using their optics. The brightness from the fire makes them worthless.
Before he starts speaking, they hear that loud sound again. This time a red screech trails in the air. The next thing they see is a large explosion at the construction site. Based on the blast, that magic shot must’ve hit a fuel tanker.
"This is what we are. We have to get out there, retake the Main Gate, and stop whatever that is."
"No fucking away, man," Private Second-Class Kevin said, panicking. "We're gonna be Zerg Rushed easily by those ghouls."
"Look, we are not going to abandon half the platoon," Flores said. "Just staying here means we will be sniped by that artillery, and the Ghouls will overrun us. We go now; we have a chance.
"Pinheiro is going to lead a team to retake the mortar," Flores said. "The Knights will cover our flanks against the Ghouls. The M11 Incinerator will take point. Fix bayonets and form up. Some of you who have access to machetes and tomahawks or e-tool will support the knights and the group to take down the ghouls and any enemy troops who come close."
Avoiding the hail of arrows, the soldiers form up behind the inner gate. On the other side, he hears these strange popping sounds.
The doors open, and everyone storms out, engaging anything hostile they see.
What Flores sees is pure chaos. Ghouls back by swordsmen everywhere, five soldiers are inside HUMVEES as Ghouls swarm them. I have eleven more scattered around the COP in bunkers, buildings, and god knows where else. From what he can tell from NW, nine of them are wounded to some degree. There are enemy swordsmen backing up the Ghouls. In the center, he sees a stream of torn apart Ghouls and swordsmen from the M2 .50 caliber. He wishes there are more swordsmen here.
The fifteen-strong group stops and engages all the approaching targets. As planned, the Italican Knights begin blocking and cutting the Ghouls along with the soldiers with machetes, tomahawks, or e-tool. The soldiers with bayonets are stopping the Ghouls at a distance. This allowed the melee groups to take down the ghouls easily.
As everyone secures their position, something is bothering Flores. He has been deployed here for six months and has faced the enemy many times. This battle is throwing everything he knows out the door. First, all are the Ghouls; they are the primary enemy right now. What is confusing him the most, though, is the lack of swordsmen. This would be a perfect scenario for Imperial swordsmen. Inside the camp after breaking a riflemen line. However, he only sees a few.
That is when Flores hears that pop sound again. Looking at the distance, he sees a puff of smoke. Looking around, he sees holes in the ground and buildings—a dead American on the ground with his head blown off somehow.
A legionnaire knees by a building. At first, it looked like he was holding a stick, but then he noticed something on top of the spear. It makes a loud sound and smoke. The wall next to him explodes, and that is when he realizes it is a projectile weapon.
After taking out that soldier Flores notices other legionnaires with the same weapon, being ordered by this man with a sword. One of them fires, hitting one of his soldiers. The other legionnaire fires, but the weapon explodes in his hands.
Once the soldier whose hands were blown offshoots and the other legionnaire find cover, Flores checks his NW. He sees that the soldier who was shot by that unknown weapon, dead. “What was that?”
“It is like a fucking cannon,” Montgomery yells. “They fucking have cannons now?”
“Cool it soldier,” Flores orders. “I just saw one blow up on them. If they want to play that game, show them we dominate. Just act like they have rifles and stay in cover. Pick them off.”
Once establishing a perimeter, Flores brings the two flamethrowers.
Two soldiers get up front, and they unleash their flamethrower.
The Ghouls that were charging at them. Once engulfed in flames, they let out a screech and run around at random.
"Sargent, it will take them a moment to burn and drop dead," Elgordan said. "They go frail, so you don't have to worry. But stay away."
Seeing that the two flamethrowers blunted the enemy attack, there was still a lot to do. Another wave of arrows came hailing down, hitting a soldier in their Kevlar and another in the leg.
"You, get that man into the CP before he bleeds out," Flores orders. "Pinheiro, go. You four stay here and guard this gate. Nothing gets in. Everyone else with me."
As Pinheiro's team heads right, Flores takes everyone he can around the left side. He needs to reach Collin's position and rally out the survivors.
A soldier with a shotgun takes point and kills a Ghoul that jumps down by blowing off his neck. As it falls, he shoots at a swordsman that is approaching.
"Keep going and secure the motor pool."
---
Sergeant Pinheiro leads his mixed squad, three Americans and one of his Brazilian soldiers, First-class soldier Renato Gomes.
Pinheiro's new squad connects to the joint network, allowing the Americans NETT Warrior to connect to his country's COBRA System - each being their country's infantry situational awareness system. Through his HUD, he can select through each of their point-of-view. First-class soldier Escobar Fernandes is with Sergeant Collins, defending the warehouse. First-class steward Enrico Dias is lying against a wall, wounded. Second-class soldier Diogo Fontes however, is missing. He wonders if the camera is broken.
Gomes takes his machete and hacks a Ghoul as everyone else secures the motor position. Because no soldiers were over here when the attack started, there are few enemies right now.
"Ok, let's get the M120," Pinheiro orders. "The rest cover us."
The American soldiers get to the laptop to figure out the coordinates. During this time, the two RAF Typhoons fly overhead. While it looks like it scared the enemy soldiers, the Ghouls ignore the sounds. Based on that, it was just a flyby; the CP has yet to gain comms with the fighters.
As the American prepares the mortar, Pinheiro looks up, seeing two fireballs fly over. One hits the already burning CP, engulfing it more. The other hit the barracks, lightening it up on fire. He is so happy that the American military deployed fire-proof materials to construct these COPs; otherwise, everyone in the CP would be dead. The brass feared magic attacks and tried to counter them as best they could. He wonders if they expected it would be used against fire pots from catapults.
“I have the arch-trajectory from those fireballs,” the American said. Then an arrow hits his hand and destroys the laptop. The soldier lanes back, grabbing his hand screaming.
Looking to the left, Pinheiro sees Gomes firing down a path as spearmen charge at him. He wonders if the enemy knows what they are trying to do. Neverminded, he must assume the enemy knows what they are trying to do.
Gomes kills one of the spearmen, but a pop sound comes. Looking over, Pinheiro sees two more legionnaires taking cover by the wall and building. One is reloading the strange-looking spears in their hand, and the other aims and fires. “Is that a fucking cannon in thier hands?”
Gomes takes cover by the sandbag.
A machine gun tears into the spearmen and one of the cannon men. Looking over at the inner Hesco wall, there is a American soldier in an open bunker with an M240 machine gun. Pinheiro is thankful that soldiers notice they were in danger; however, it is never good that a machine gun position must aim inside their lines.
“All right, take those fuckers out,” Pinheiro orders.
“Clear!”
The three soldiers put an HP round into the barrel. It fires and goes over the ridge. A large explosion is seen as one of the catapults is destroyed. Another around is fire, and it sounded like they killed some archers. Another round is fired followed up by a large explosion.
“Hold fire,” Pinheiro orders and waits to see if there is another catapult shot. Seeing the lack of catapult fire he assumes they destroyed their intended target. “All right, you, take your friend to the CP. I want us to secure this area and-.”
A loud and intense explosion happened on the valley side of the COP. Pinheiro and everyone else looked at the small amount of smoke. The smoke has this strange glow to it. “Forget this spot; let’s get over there.”
---
After the valley bunker blows up, where the Imperial Engineers who were operating the mobile cannon, Heivyre gets up after being blown to the ground.
If it were not for the Ghouls all over the place attacking the Other Worlders the battle would have gone silent. But the Moon elves and legionnaires stop and watch the colorful smoke. Allures said the reason why the smoke is strange looking is because of the Raon magical powder. All he cares about is that two of his men died from that explosion.
Decius rushes over. “What happened?”
“It finally exploded,” Heivyre replied. “I assume they fired their third shot, and it blew up as Allures said it would. These weapons are useless if they will kill us in the process.”
“They are not useless,” Decius replied, frustrated though. “From that last explosion and the fact we killed two enemy soldiers with the hand-cannons that I know these weapons are assisting.” He watches the smoke; he sees one of the dead soldiers whose hand cannon blew upon him. “But I agree we shouldn’t rely on these until this is fixed.”
To Heivyre frustration, it seems like the enemy has stabilized their position. When he saw the inner gate wide open, and those soldiers appeared it looked like a final last push. What he did not expect was seeing their fire throwers' weapons.
Then watching the enemy using their small catapults to destroy theirs. The goal has been to engage the outpost from as many directions as possible, dividing the enemy response. According to Decius once the enemy can focus their super technology on you, it is over. The trick is to prevent the enemy from coordinating their efforts with each other.
“How many Ghouls do we have left?” Heivyre asked. “Those fire throws seem to be killing them far faster than we planned.”
“Half,” Allures said as he walked forward. He holds up his staff and points it to the enemy soldiers protecting the inner gate. “Let’s end this right now.”
Heivyre watches as nearly thirty Ghouls rally up and start charging the inner gate defenders. Their bullets again have little effect against the Ghouls. Even the fire throwers cannot aim in every direction.
Before the enemy's heavy weapons were able to hold the Ghouls at bay but even though there was no more friendly artillery firing, it did its job in destroying the enemy's defensive weapons.
Here an enemy soldier comes out of one of their vehicles to grab one of their wounded soldiers. While admirable, he sees his target. He aims and fires, hitting the soldier, knocking him over.
Thrilled that Heivyre took out an enemy soldier he grabs another arrow and looks for his next target. Seeing one of the enemy fire throws, he aims, looking to destroy the bulky device on his back.
Suddenly, a row of Ghouls has torn apart into pieces.
Above one of the enemy, helicopters fly over while two fatter ones circle the base.
Heivyre has seen these weapons of war before. From everything NATO has, these attack helicopters scare them the most. They appear out of nowhere, and they carry so many different weapons it is hard to counter them. He has heard Imperial soldiers call them terror dragons and he can see why.
The other two are cargo helicopters. They are used to transport supplies and soldiers to the battle. Heivyre knows it is carrying enough soldiers to end this battle.
The helicopter begins to hover and fires missiles to the cliffside. The archers on the ridge won’t stand a chance against those missiles.
“That thing is going to tear us apart,” Heivyre said. “If we try to run then it will chew us apart but if we stay we are trapped.”
“I was planning on its arrival,” Decius said. He points to Allures and aims his blood soak sword at the helicopter. “Bring that demon spawn to the ground.”
Allures move his hand around his orb and chants ancient words. He holds it up and it glows. Clouds appear around the helicopter. “Unleash sky spell. Embrace the power of darkness and let them see the void.”
The helicopter tries to dodge the suddenly forming clouds but a blue glow forms around the tail end of the helicopter, one of Allures’ mages used telekinesis to prevent the helicopter from leaving.
While the Terror Dragon broke free, due to the mages being too taxed from the telekinesis spell, it was too late. The dark clouds spell absorb the helicopter with only its tail visible. Followed by a large explosion, and the helicopter comes crashing down.
Here they could not believe it, they took out the Terror Dragon. He looks over and sees Allures fall to the ground, exhausted.
“I think we should retreat,” Heivyre proposes. “We’ve accomplished our primary mission and I bet those two bigger helicopters are carrying soldiers.”
“Leave?” Decius asked, shocked. “We are going to burn this base to the ground.” He points to the two cargo helicopters. “They are fleeing. They won’t risk landing now, fearing to be shot down like the others.”
“I know you want to finish this, but the battle is over,” Heivyre said. “Those cargo dragons might not land right here but they will land nearby and march here. If we stay, they will surround us, and we are dead. Our mage is out cold from mana exhaustion and we are almost out of Ghouls. We won, you led us into a victory. Let's not spoil it.”
Decius becomes frustrated. He knew he was so close to slaughtering everyone here but knew that was a long shot. He orders everyone to retreat and use the Ghouls to protect them while they retreat.
---
Flores enters the warehouse. “Collins?”
“Here!”
Colins walks over, holding an M1014 shotgun. “I thought you were dead.”
“Close, CP is on fire,” Flores said.
“I noticed,” Collins said. “Same with every other building.”
Flores looks around and sees twelve soldiers on the ground, dead or wounded. “Shit.”
“We have cavalry, 101st has arrived,” Gisbert said.
Hearing that, any soldier who could go to the door and window and lookout. They watch as 30mm chain gunfire from the primary Apache weapon tear through the Ghouls like they are nothing.
“This is Captain Emerson. We are circling before we land.”
Looking out, Flores sees two Chinooks flying around as they prepare to land. He is so happy to see a platoon strength ready to join in the battle.
“This is Viper-8, locking on the ridgeline. Firing Hydra missiles.”
That hope and excitement go away as he sees these strange clouds appear around the Apache. The next thing he sees is the Apache exploding as it failed to escape.
“Fucking mages!” Collins yells.
“Fuck, we just lost our escort,” Emerson said. “Be advised we cannot land right here. It looked like another mage was firing at it too. I am landing half a click(3). Sorry but I cannot risk losing two chinooks, we are no help dead.”
“Roger that sir,” Gisbert said. “We’ve held this long.”
“Well, now what?” Collins asked.
Flores waits to reply, thinking about what to do. He wanted to recapture the main gate so they could prevent the enemy from just walking in here. Now that their reinforcements are delayed by twenty minutes to an hour he does not know if he wants to know. Looking around he wonders if he has enough bodies to even follow through on it.
“Coming through!”
Pinheiro and his two other soldiers rush in.
“What happens to the rest?”
“One of your men lost his hand from an arrow, I sent one of your guys to help him back to the CP,” Pinheiro replied. “
“Shit, I was hoping for your full squad,” Flores said.
“I don’t think it matters,” Pinheiro said. “It looks like they are leaving.”
Everyone gathers around the Brazilian Sergeant, all asking if it is true.
“It is true, they are leaving.”
“How the fuck do you know?” Thompson asked. “The amount of smoke in the air I can barely see.”
“And our goggles are worthless,” Montgomery points out. “Too much fire.”
“Stop bitching you all,” Collin said.
“That makes no sense, they are winning.” This news confuses Flores. He wonders if the RAF flybys and the fight of the two Chinooks scared them off. “Lieutenant Gisbert, can you see the enemy retreating?”
“Standby,” Gisbert said. “I only have two cameras left… I can confirm. I am looking at the other team’s cameras and I can confirm they are pulling out. Everyone that isn’t a Ghoul is retreating. But there are still a lot of those bastards inside the base.”
Flores turns around. “Alright, we are going after the gate. We need to lock down this place so we can begin sweeping operations. You two stay here and guard the wounded, everyone else with me.”
“Roger that Flores,” Gisbert said. “I am taking the command team and we are going to link up with the soldiers at the motor pool. Good luck.”
Seven soldiers exit and open fire at the enemy, providing cover fire. One of them fires a grenade from their M320, crippling two Ghouls. Everyone else moves around to gain some ground.
As Flores gets around the building, a small cannon shot hits the wall next to him. He takes out that soldier before he reloads. Montgomery comes around but is hit by an arrow. He looks back and then sees where the shot came from.
Seeing that the arrow came from a Moon Elf, he aims his fire and fires. The elf disappears before he can kill it. "Fucking elves."
Looking back, Flores sees Thompson help Montgomery up. "I'm ok, fucking hurts, though. That is the second time today."
Flores points to Montgomery's vest. "Blood. The fibers are busted."
"I am good, Sarge."
Flores knows he needs everybody he can get, and he doubts there are enough medical supplies to even treat him. "Let's go, everyone."
Everyone leaves their position, entering the main plaza of the COP. A firing squad as Collin and Pinheiro lead the soldiers on the other side. Elgordan rushes to his side. "Glad you are still alive."
"I cannot believe I am saying this, but my sword is dull," Elgordan said. "I had to find another one."
"Collin, Pinheiro, I am taking my team to the gate," Flores said. "I want you guys to stay here and cover our flanks."
Once they get confirmation, he orders everyone to move. As they move, he sees three Ghouls charging at them. He orders everyone to stop, and the Incinerator walks up. He burns the three Ghouls, and the rest of the soldiers gun them down.
Once the threat is dealt with, they move again. They all hear the sound of battle. Soldiers still hunkering down, shooting at the Ghouls, and remaining Imperial soldiers.
Up ahead, Flores sees five Legionnaire's in formation. Four of them have swords, and one has a hand cannon. It fires, but the powder it uses burns the soldier's hand, making him scream from the pain. The shot hits the Hesco wall, missing because of the recoil. The seven soldiers all aimed their fires and tore the swordsmen to shreds.
"Elgordan, take three and clear out that bunker so we can take the gate."
Flores watches the Italican Knight and three soldiers rush to the main gate. They all hear a loud screech as a Ghoul jumps off a roof and lands on one of the soldiers, knocking him over.
One of the soldiers grabs his bayonet into the Ghoul and rams it onto the ground. He then unloads a clip into the Ghoul as it tries to reach for him. Elgordan rushes over and chops at the Ghoul until it is not a threat.
As that Ghoul is being taken care of, Flores sees other Ghouls coming out of buildings, once thought dead are not standing up and more Ghouls coming through the gate, all charging at them. Everyone rallies up and engages from all sides.
The Ghouls by the gate are torn apart from two grenades. Then Airborne soldiers appear around the wall and start moving inside, shooting at the Ghouls.
Taking a large relief breath, Flores raises his hand, waving at the Airborne. Once they are seen, the Airborne start moves in, securing the area. He is so happy to see a full platoon walking to them.
Flores NW identifies the soldier as Captain Emerson. "Captain."
"Sergeant First Class Flores?" Emerson asked. "Can you give me a report?"
Taking a long breath, Flores looks around. "I…. I don't know, sir. I am sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Flores," Emerson said. "You boys did great. We are here, and we are locking down this place. Where is Lieutenant Gisbert?"
Flores points to the other end of the COP. "He said he is trying to retake the motor pool. We had guys trapped inside the HUMVEEs. It went quiet there a long time ago, so we think the soldiers there ran out of ammo, so the LT wanted to see if they were alive."
"All right," Emerson said. "I am taking command. Stay here." He then looks to his platoon. "Second Squad, start putting out these fires. The First Squad holds here and watches the flanks. Everyone else begins sweeping operations. We are taking back COP Romesha."
--- hours later ---
While still dark, the sun is beginning to peak out. The fires are out, and there are smokes everywhere. The last Ghoul was killed forty-seven minutes after the 101st Airborne arrived.
Flores is leaning against a sandbag by the main gate. With him are Collin and Pinheiro, all relaxing after a long night.
Outside they hear 25mm chain guns from M2 Bradley's.
"That is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard," Collin mumbles.
"You need to go to Brazil and get laid," Pinheiro said. Then the three men laugh.
As the smoke slowly clears uFlores sees five soldiers walk through the gate. Two of the soldiers are American, from the 1st Cav Division, and the other three soldiers show the Indian flag.
One of the Indian soldiers walked up to the three soldiers and asked, "would you like some water?"
***
--- Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Dumas Mountains ---
Date: May 28th, 2026
As Emerson exits from the Chinook he sees the destruction of the base. “Wow. I was not expecting this.” A soldier arrives to escort him inside the COP.
Most of the buildings are scarred black from the flames. The men who defended this COP are in torn clothes,as if they just went through hell inside, Emerson sees a dump truck full of Ghoul bodies as other soldiers load it up.
“Over here,” Captain Lorance said, a 10th Mountain Combat Engineer.
“You said the enemy used a cannon on the construction site?” Emerson asked.
“That is correct,” Lorance said. “Current death toll is seventeen dead and seven wounded. That second shot hit a diesel tanker. All night construction has been suspended until the investigation is complete.”
“If they wanted to attack the construction site why did they attack this outpost? That sounds like a lot of work for nothing?”
“Simple,” Lieutenant Gisbert said as he approached. “They knew after firing the first shot our sensors would detect their location and counter artillery would blow them a new hole. However, they knew we wouldn’t artillery our own base unless there were no other choices. The enemy leader knew we would hesitate because we value our people's lives which created a shield for them to fire two shots and bleed us a little.”
Emerson looks at the destroyed cannon and all hand cannons used by the imperial force gathered by the soldiers.
“So the enemy is now trying to adopt gunpowder-based weapons huh?” Emerson asked himself as he studied what is left of the cannons. “It was pretty clever and adaptive of them. Never though they managed to create a 13th century hand cannon.”
“You are saying they have discovered black powder?” Lorance asked.
“I don’t think they use black powder Captain, this powder is not even gunpowder. No gunpowder leaving a trail of bright coloured line when the iron ball leaves the cannon,” a combat engineer states. “The real question is how?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Emerson asked. Seeing everyone’s confusion, he picks up a hand cannon to study it. “You have been kicking their asses with our cannons, that's what a gun is. A tank is after all, a complex and efficient cannon. We introduced the concept to them seven hundreds years ahead of schedule.”
“Whatever it is, it seems that a lot of firearms they stole from the ambushed patrols as well as many observations has given them insights to create primitive cannons and hand guns to go against our force,” Emerson states.
“Thank god they don’t know the concept of pressure and suitable metallurgy to build proper cannons or hand cannons,” Lorance said. “According to Gisbert, he reported these hand cannons have a tendency to self-destruct. I assume the misfires were due to poor metallurgy combined with crude and unrefined chemical compounds of whatever the powder they are using. Also, I notice that a lot of imperial soldiers often mismanage the amount of powder necessary to use on these weapons, which is one of the main causes of the backfire.”
“But we should not take this lightly,” Emerson states. “They are adapting very fast so we must be extra careful this time. Not just their weapons are advancing but also their magic too, especially the one that destroyed the C-ram and took down the Apache.”
“When can we get our wizards and witches to support us more in the front line? They are very helpful to deal with situations like this against enemy magic”, Gisbert asked. “If it was not for our Knight allies we would have been fucked.”
“That's up to the top brass but now we know that the Grand High Witch will need to build trust in us, Muggles first,” Emerson said. “I think the brass will now be more open to allowing them into the ranks. Same with native allies.”
“Amazing how quickly military policy can change after losing a fourteen million dollar helicopter,” Lorance said. “
"We really need to arms our troops more tactical machete and tomahawk since the League is using more ghoul rushes as meat shields and suicide force at us. The M11 Incinerator is not as effective as beheading is much more effective. We might need to consider equipping some of our soldiers with a sword or something to handle these... things," Gisbert said.
Reference:
------------------------------------------------
(1)Camp Kalsu honored First Lieutenant Bob Kalsu of the 101st Airborne, who won the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
(2)Chapter 176
(3)click is a nickname for a kilometer
When they say hand Cannon, it remind me of the Chinese hand Cannon.