"Space Command, this is Minutemen-Actual. We request imminent reinforcements. Aristocracy forces have breached our first defensive line and are on the verge of collapse. I repeat, requesting imminent reinforcements, or we will lose our foothold." – Colonel Hackett

"Minuteman-Actual, this is Space Command. Good to hear from you again. A QRF has already been assembled, as we assumed the closer of the Bridge was enemy action. A Battalion is in preparation. Please standby." – Space Command

 

March, 5th, 2048 (Military Calendar)

Temple of Indolass, the former Confederacy of Daru'uie

Nevali Region, Aldrida, Alagore

 

*****

 

At the final defensive line, Comanche, with the rest of the Minutemen and Rangers, held the enemy off as best as they could. There had already been cracks throughout the line where the melee forces could explode.

A group of alg-based beasts charged forward in front of the Commanche section of the line. The M2 machine gun seemed more effective because of its size and force, which are 50 caliber. A rocket from a roiled rifle impacted one of the beasts, destroying it and proving that raw firepower can get the job done. However, it needed to be sufficient to prevent the group from reaching their position.

Seeing one of the alg-based monsters break their line, Ryder fired his M31 into its chest, and his ammunition proved ineffective.

He then saw the tip of a blade appear through its chest before being sliced in half. As the upper stage of the body fell, it was cut into multiple pieces.

On the other side was Natilie, the Valkyrie Templar. "What are you doing here?"

"I am not going to die lying in bed," Natalie said as she thrust her sword into the monster's head.

"I couldn't agree more with that statement," Ryder said. "What is going on in the rear?"

"The Command Post was hit," Natilite said. "But it is secured. The Militia is clearing out the enemy forces behind us."

Ryder looked toward the mountainside and saw Militia fighting the enemy melee forces. The Captain was thrilled that they were not about to be flanked, at least for the moment; however, he understood that this would only last for so long.

"Can you take care of these things?" Ryder asked.

"Yes, I can," Natilite said. "They need to be broken up, so they become useless."

Seeing the Valkeryie speed toward a nearby monster on top of a bunker, Ryder felt a sense of relief as he could not focus his attention on the incoming enemy force.

Mathew Ryder watched the Amplifier Walker pass what was left of the first defensive line. Geomancy mages had already moved much of the Hesco bastion sections to allow units through easily. There were Infantry of many variations all over the battlefield, protected by the shieldmen, walkers, and crawlers as they advanced toward the final defense line.

Seeing that the enemy was advancing, getting close to the last American defensive line, Comanche struggled to figure out how to deal with the enemy platform.

The walker stopped, and the giant Orb glowed orange. A large flame spit out and impacted Charlie's company section of the line.

A missile was fired by an unknown group heading toward the walker. Like before, the walker switched from offensive to defensive, creating a barrier and destroying the missile before impact.

"That thing is killing us," King said.

"I know," Ryder replied.

Natilite appeared all muddy from dealing with the alg-based monsters. "Maybe I can flank it with one of your explosive projectiles. My speed could get around them."

"There is no way we could cover-."

Everyone heard a loud sound as Ryder spoke before watching an object punch through the Amplifier Walker shield, impacting the large Orb. The walker exploded into white flames as particles spread. The resulting explosion caught all of the enemy infantry by surprise.

"What the hell was that?" Natilite asked.

The Captain's mind only drew a blank until he felt the ground tremble. Turning toward the mountain, he saw an Eaton push through the Hesco bastion, clearing a path for the additional Infantry behind it. According to his IFF, they came from the 1st Battalion, the 3rd ABCT, 4th Infantry Division, the Quick Reaction Force.

Ryder heard some of his teammates cheering and showing relief that heavy reinforcements had arrived. That only meant that Fraeya Holiadon would reactivate the Bridge, making their suffering meaningful.

"What is that?" Natilite asked, taking a step back from the giant bulky vehicle.

Sergeant Burno Barrio turned around as he wrapped his arm around Higgins. "Sweet mother of God, I've never been so happy to see a Eaton.

"That is what you people mean by a tank," Natilite said. "Very different than a Walker."

Ryder watched as four M35 Eaton Main Battle Tanks drove past them, breaking through what remained of the Hesco bastion. They fired their cannons into the enemy crowds, forcing the ones who were not killed by the blast to scatter while the remote machine guns cleared out the ones who were the closest.

The four tanks stopped before the second defensive line, protecting against the enemy while the Americans regrouped.

"Enough celebrating everyone," Barrett said. "Form up and place pressure on them."

Coming through the interior of what remains of the temple, fresh American infantry and Salva Milita rushed toward Comanche and the Ranger's position, reinforcing the second defensive line.

The advancing Aristocracy force stalled from the sudden fire superiority the Americans regained. The enemy was forced to return to the first line of defense from the armor fire and reinforcements. The Eaton tanks stopped halfway between the two lines, absorbing the enemy fire.

Ryder watched as the enemy regrouped, focusing on the new threat. The Aristocracy forces reacted like Natilite, perplexed about countering the heavy armored vehicle with a powerful cannon.

What bothered him was that the enemy was not retreating, only regrouping. This could only mean they were planning something.

Hearing soldiers approaching from behind, Captain Mathew Ryder left their bunker and approached the fresh infantry. He saw them standing, staring toward the enemy and planet above them. All of them absorbed that they were in an alien world—a reaction he could relate to only half a day ago, but right now, they had no time to waste. "Get in the game! I want you all to reinforce the right side."

The head NCO, a Sergeant First Class, took the hint and regained control of his men's force before rushing to defend the temple grounds.

The entire line opened fire on the enemy, picking off anyone not already covered. For the first time in the battle, the momentum started swinging toward the American side, and everyone felt it.

Hearing a sudden loud chain of explosions, Mathew Ryder rushed back into the bunker. Looking out the window, he saw the Eaton taking a massive fire of small arms. While those infantry weapons would only scratch the paint, the immense impact from a Circiletum Walker damaged the tank.

"The enemy isn't giving up," King said. "What is the plan?"

Struggling to respond with an answer, Ryder saw enemy mages and infantry attack the tank, throwing everything they had against the armored beast of machinery. A combination of energy, fire, ice, and ground magic impacted the tank. Like before, the ground underneath started giving away while the enemy artillery shells affected all around the tank.

The excitement before completely evaporated as everyone watched the intense bombardment from the enemy against their armor. Ryder looked to the right and saw one of the four Eatons that came through the Bridge also receiving significant damage. He then heard over the radio that the tank on the northern flank lost its primary cannon from concentrated fire.

"To all commands, this is Colonel Hackett. The Bridge has been reactivated. Begin withdrawing operations."

Hearing his team's grumbles about having to retreat only infuriated the Captain. He understood that his team felt that everything they had done at this point was now pointless, but more importantly, they lost.

Seeing that the 4th Infantry Ivy soldiers were setting up a rear guard to provide the Minutemen, Rangers, and all the other support units the necessary time to retreat, Ryder turned toward the tank, watching it being hammered by the immense projectile and energy firepower. Its armor was steaming and scorched.

Staring out, Ryder felt his rage slip away, replaced with shame—the shame of defeat, loss, and broken promises. While no soldier wishes to be defeated, his actual loss came from being a failure of a husband, breaking his promise to his wife, Carlie Ryder.

Recalling the Templar question about what he was here, deep down inside, he didn't have an answer, only a sense of direction. He had hoped coming here would bring answers and a renewed purpose.

"Is this really how it is going?" Ryder asked himself. "Nothing but defeat and failure? Again?"

Taking a deep breath, Mathew Ryder turned to see the enemy forces. Confused, he saw a break from the cloud cover, peaking through the sky. The Captain looked up and saw one of Tekali's children, which looked like a giant crystal with mist trailing it like a comment. If he called, Natilite called it Virmina. This star system's sun's light reflected off the moon and partly burned the magical cloud on the battlefield.

Finding the phenomenon strange, he looked back toward the light. The enemy was still focusing on their tanks. An explosion against Eaton's tracks destroyed them, making the tank immobile.

"I don't know how much more it can take," Forest said.

"They are throwing everything at it," Ford said.

"Get your head in the game," King ordered. "They are taking the hit so we can withdraw. So, let's move."

Ryder thought carefully about the word as he watched the enemy smash the tank. A power projectile from one of the enemy circiletum impacted the armor, heavily damaging it. However, that was different from what the Captain was focused on. His team was correct; the enemy was concentrated in the tanks. However, he also noticed that they focused on nothing else.

The chaos suddenly disappeared, and everything became clear. While the Americans were confused and unknowledgeable by what the enemy had, this also was the enemy's mindset. While they struggled to find counters to the enemy's magic because of lack of experience - like the alg monsters- the Verliance Aristocracy had no experience against heavily armored vehicles. Their solution was to throw everything at the problem and hope it would remove it, ignoring almost everything else, ignoring them. He had no idea if this was out of fear, confusion, or lack of coordination by the enemy leadership, but everything became clear as day.

The reflective sunlight from Virmina that burnt through the artificial clouds quickly faded as quickly as it appeared.

Accessing his radio, he said, "This is Captain Ryder, Comanche team of the Minutemen. Belay the withdrawal; the enemy is distracted by the armor. All Minutemen, Rangers, Ivy, Militia, charge forward now!"

Wallace turned to face his Captain. His usual calm attitude was replaced with a baffled look. "Are you kidding me, boss?"

Ryder ignored the question and his men's reaction. He knew this was their last chance to win and to have a place in this world. He jumped over the sandbags and rushed toward the Eaton.

Seeing two enemy soldiers who noticed the Captain, he was forced to stop and fire his rifle. He could kill one of them; however, he failed to fire enough bullets against the other hostile to pierce its armor.

Noticing a shadow, Ryder saw one of their robotic warriors running toward him. He turned to the new threat. While the 6.8mm did damage, he was not quick enough to destroy it before getting close.

A short blur next to the machine-warrior before being sliced in half.

Once his eyes adjusted, he saw the Templar of Hevera, Natilite, standing there as she finished the machine-warrior. She lowered her sword and raised her left arm, forming a small gold energy shield as flechette was deflected.

To the Captain's right, he saw Warrant Officer 1 Rommel King and others of Comanche. They removed the enemy unit before them, clearing a path to the tank. Over the radio, he heard Hackett giving the order to advance and not retreat. Either the Colonel saw what he saw or entrusted his subordinates he did not know but was thrilled to have a backup.

Comanche reached the Eaton. The damage was worse than they had hoped; however, the main cannon was still functional.

The tank commander opened the hatch and looked toward the Comanche Captain. "You guys are a sore sight. I thought we were toast and were supposed to be saving you."

"Can the 120mm still fire?" Ryder asked.

"Yes."

"Then light those bastards up," Ryder said. "Were sending them to hell."

He then turned to see his team and ordered them to recapture their first perimeter. Among them, he saw Rangers, Ivy infantry from the 4th Division, and what was left of the Salva Militia pushing forward behind him.

Hearing a Salvo from the tank toward the enemy, everyone pushed forward. The rear guard provided suppressive fire toward the enemy, covering the forward force. A walker from before attempted to protect his comrades, but another 120mm round pierced through its shields and destroyed it in a massive white explosion.

With the renewed spirit of the American forces pressing against the Aristocracy forces as they tried to regroup at the first defensive line. Still, with the tank's support, the enemy fled back to their comrades on the slop, fearing being overwhelmed by the sudden turn of the tide.

Seeing a few remaining defenders, Comanche rushed forward, killing the three enemy soldiers and allowing them to secure the bunker.

Comanche was able to secure its formal position, using the bunker to target the retreating enemy.

As the firefight began, Barrett told his Captain, "Ryder, they stopped firing their artillery at us."

The Captain looked up out of habit and heard nothing. Barrett was correct in saying that the enemy had stopped firing their artillery. This only happened as they engaged close to their forces, which made him believe that Kallem was trying to avoid friendly fire.

Ryder turned to Natilite, who finished executing a J'avais melee soldier. She pointed her sword toward the enemy. While unable to understand her words, her meaning was clear. They couldn't stop here as it would only give the enemy time to regroup, and they had to keep the pressure on the enemy.

After Ryder ordered the advance to continue, Comanche rushed through the enemy, creating open spaces in the Hesco bastion. As he expected, the enemy tried to regroup on the slope to the temple grounds and did not withdraw from the battlefield. An enemy mage casting a barrier to protect his comrades, however, was quickly destroyed by a rocket.

As the Americans drew closer to the enemy's position, an intense firefight engulfed the land as the enemy tried to halt their advance. Stray melee was forced to charge forward to give their comrades time. Still, it was quickly cut down by overwhelming firepower and lack of coordination. This included the few shieldmen who needed help to form a proper shield wall before being taken out by the overwhelming firepower.

"Ryder," King said as he approached. "Look on the hill."

Looking toward the top of the slope, the Captain saw a large force taking position on the high ground. It looked like another enemy battalion trying to contain them from an elevated position.

Among them, he saw two smaller walkers, the size of a van, perking over the slope. The one on the right fired a pink static-like ball toward the American force, bursting into an electrical blast. The nearby soldiers collapsed from the shock, and some reported that the CPUs of their battle suits malfunctioned, short-circuiting, or needed a complete system reboot. While they could still move as the Itlian exoskeleton was designed to act independently from the suit computer, it was limited.

Ryder approached his communication member, Sergeant Charlie Higgins, and called over Staff Sergeant Kurt Higgins. "Kurt, paint those walkers. Higgins, guide our armor against that Ridgeline."

Quickly enough, the two Comanche soldiers directed their armor at the target. As the two walkers resurfaced to fire a second volley, Forest instantly painted them, allowing Higgins to coordinate with the remaining American armor. Two Eatons fired in near synchronization and destroyed both targets. A remaining Archer approached next to a damaged Eaton, whose hull was battered but still functional. Now that it was under Eaton's protection, it sprayed the slope with its 50mm cannon with airbursts.

Seeing that the enemy was suppressed, Ryder took his team, and they continued their advance, heading to one of the natural curved pillars that led to the mountainside. The other American forces followed close behind.

Seeing a Vampire giving direction and gathering any remaining forces to form a defensive line, Ryder ordered his team to remove the officer.

Wallace focused the fire on the surrounding infantry, and Ford loaded his grenade launcher.

Sergeant Benjamin Ford then fired his underslung grenade launcher at the Vampire officer, instantly killing his target. Witnessing their leader falling in such a manner seemed to break the enemy's spirit as they started retreating. Unlike the first time, the enemy retreated in an organized fashion; this time, everyone was routing.

As the order was given to continue the assault, the sound of enemy artillery was heard. Dozens of shells landed near their position. The ground burst into a giant green flame, spreading into a long line that prevented the American advance.

Natilite sprinted in front of the Americans and signaled to stop with her hands, clearly not wanting them to get close to the green fire. Whatever the meaning of the color, it was clear to Ryder that it was not an ordinary fire.

As the enemy artillery slowly faded, everyone stood silently, almost waiting to see what happened next. With the realization that the enemy was not regrouping or preparing for a counterassault this time, soldiers started cheering.

Hearing cheering from behind, Captain Mathew Ryder turned and saw his fellow Americans starting to celebrate. Rangers thanked the Ivy Infantry for providing reinforcements. Americans and Salva Militia are shaking hands for assistance. Even his team was celebrating, and he couldn't blame them.

Fraeya was seen rushing through the crowd, heading toward Comanche.

"I did it!" Fraeya yelled. When she finally arrived, she stopped and caught her breath. "I am so happy you are alive."

As his fellow Comanche teammates congratulated her, the Captain approached her. "Fraeya."

The elf girl turned to face him; her ears perked as her eyes showed confusion.

Ryder held out his hand. "Thanks to you for opening the Bridge. We won the first major battle. Your father would be proud."

Fraeya teared up. She ignored his hand gesture and hugged the Captain. She left blushing and started dancing among the team.

The Valkyrie approached and said, "Good job, Captain. Nice call in charging the enemy."

At first, Mathew Ryder was shocked that he could understand the Valkyrie but then realized Fraeya's translation amulet was close enough, allowing them to understand each other.

"I was just staring at the right place and time," Ryder said. "It wouldn't matter if it was not for everyone."

Natilite giggled and then crossed her arms. "I see. Unable to take a compliment."

Rommel King approached with a laugh. "It's why we like him—not being one of those highly educated, self-entitled officers. And thank you for helping turn the tide within the camp. If it were not for you, we would have been overrun."

The Templar returned the complaint with a curtsy, acknowledging her deeds. She then joined in the celebration with the rest of Comanche.

Captain Mathew Ryder then looked up as the artificial clouds faded, reliving the bright sky and Tekali. He had no idea if there was any truth behind the Tekali religion. Still, he gave an approving nod to the blue gas giant and returned to his team, joining the celebration.