Anime & Manga GATE: And Thus the UNDF Fought There V2

She can't. A Earth-born Deity masquerading as The Doctor put the fear of the Time Lord in the Gods of Falmart to make the message "You goofed, you pay the price" stick and stop them from pressing a Reset Button to mantain the Status Quo they so love, chapters ago.
Thanks.I read it year ago,so i forget .Well,then Saderan are as fucked as in canon,if not more.
All we need is knew which SI get which Saderan girl.
But - there is one thing interesting.Western Europe now is doing everything they can to become muslim caliphate.Putin is practically lost Syberia to China.
So,how it is possible,that Russia,Germany,France and Spain still exist ?
 
Battle of Proptor Wikipedia Page
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Chapter 18: One If By Land, Two If By Sea part 1
'The charade worked', thought Norra as she watched the otherworld soldiers and their strange iron pegasi fly away, back to their base atop Alnus Hill. She had thought her plan wouldn't have worked, and that the encounter with these strange soldiers would've ended in even more bloodshed. But no matter the outcome, the Imperial soldiers were going to die regardless. However, she was sure that Kucy and Melion would've made short work of those soldiers at such close range. In the end, she had accomplished her mission given to her by the Empire. She, as well as many other shapeshifters were sent to gather information about the otherworld armies without raising suspicion. She had learned they were easy to fool and were looking to sway the local population against the Empire.

"That dialect is certainly an odd one," her 'husband', commented as he looked down at the corpses of the legionaries. "If I'm not mistaken, what they were speaking was old Imperial Dialect. Only the highest nobles and military officers can speak it."

"It is certainly odd for why they would speak in such outdated tongue, but it would explain the awkwardness of their speech. What little Imperial Tongue they did speak seemed rather strange though. I believe they used their strange magic to talk, but I'm not certain."

"The Imperials will certainly be interested in hearing that. It means they either don't know our language, or they've yet to completely learn it. Do you have any ideas as to how we can exploit it?" he asked.

"Perhaps later, but their behavior is far more interesting and easier to exploit." she replied. "If all of their soldiers are that friendly towards the average peasant, it won't be difficult to report on their movements. Nor would it be difficult to kill one that strays far from the pack. That would almost certainly guarantee a way to Alnus."

" But also the most dangerous," He cautioned. "You can wear the skin of one, but without a mage trained in the arts of memory stealing, it would be impossible to walk among them properly."

"Even still, it is still a glaring weakness, one that the Imperials will seek to exploit." she said. "But only time will tell. For now, we must retire from the region, and report to Italica with our findings."

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"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten."

Calvin Coolidge


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One Week Ago

Fort Hadrian

Alnus Hill, Special Region


"So you weren't able to get any information from the locals either?" Mitchell asked Gideon as he jumped out of the Warbird with his team. "Because neither Lee or Harkov managed to get anything useful from those they encountered."

"And I'll take it by the tone your using, you somehow did?" Gideon asked in response.

"Yeah, and that's what's bugging me. Everyone else was reporting that those they found could barely understand anything they said."

"We are using regular Latin in our translators, aren't we?" Lee asked.

"That's exactly the problem here," came the voice of the Italian Captain, who was walking in their direction. "Languages evolve over time and can become indistinguishable from their common ancestor. Assuming these assholes are the descendants of a Roman legion gone missing, that's over 1,000 years of evolving and mixing with local tongues. Standard Latin is pretty useless.

"But we did manage to interrogate many of them early on with our translators before, why won't they work now?" Harkov asked curiously.

"Most of those we did question were high ranking officer and legates. They likely had access to greater education and the like due to their standings. Damn near every regular legionary couldn't understand anything. Hell, only some of the elves we captured knew what we were saying. Those that did understand had to translate to the rest who couldn't. And until we fully translate their language, trying to talk to the average peasant won't work."

"Which begs the question as to how the hell you and your team managed to speak fluently to anyone." Lee inquired.

"Are you sure these weren't some nobles that disguised themselves so they could escape?"

"Not very likely," Mitchell answered. "Aside from the fact that these people looked and smelled like someone of this era would, they were in a wagon coming this way towards the hill. A group of legionaries attacked them just as we found them and were ready to do some not so pleasant things to them."

"And how did that go?" De Luca smirked, already knowing the answer.

"We fucking massacred them. They wouldn't surrender, so we defended ourselves when they attacked. And quite frankly, I don't intend on taking a bunch of rapists and murderers as prisoners. A bullet is cheaper than a jail cell." he said firmly.

"While I don't disagree entirely, we can't act like barbarians while we're here. We did encounter a small group of survivors just to the south, which we rounded up nicely." the Italian gestured behind him as MP's marched seven exhausted looking legionaries to a nearby truck, which would haul them to the holding area. "Thankfully we've were told the Saderan word for surrender, while I had my medic point at them, while raising his arms. They didn't give us much trouble. They were just scared shitless after the other day." he finished explaining.

"So where's this leaving us? If we can't properly communicate with anyone here, what can we do?" Mitchell asked.

"Supposedly the intelligence agents back home managed to, with the help of those demihumans, make a translation book, however its still pretty bare bones in regards to phrases and such." Gideon told them. "Command wants us back near the top of the hill, from there they'll pass out the translator books, and assign us into recon teams. Higher ups want to know what's around here, and if possible, make contact with local villagers. Still alot we don't know about this place, so getting more information will really help out."

"What time they want us rolling out on Recon duty?" Lee asked.

"Not for another week or two. Give us some time to not only study the language, but also rotate in some more troops. We need more than we currently have, but that's gonna fix itself within the following weeks. Command also won't let us go without proper protection, which means proper vehicle and air support. Engineer brigades are gonna be working their asses off to get an airfield built, while transports keep bringing drones and helicopters through Alpha Point. ELORAN towers, 3D printers for supplies, you name it, their bringing it through. After the welcoming party our forces received from the Saderans, no one is willing to half ass this operation."

"Makes sense when you consider how pear shaped the battle went. Sure, we won, but that larger dragon was far larger than what we encountered before. We're definitely gonna need air support before making any major moves outward." Mitchell said.

"That's why 10 klicks is the farthest anyone is getting sent out right now, with how limited our forces are. Otherwise another surprise pops out and nails more of our guys." Gideon told them. "All recon teams are being called back, and fresh troops are being brought in to secure the perimeter around this hill. Head back to the staging areas and get some rest, the real fun will start later in the week."

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Kingdom of Elbe

One Week after Imperial Defeat on Alnus Hill

Imperial Calender 687

King Duran's Private Chamber


The Lion of Elbe had been enjoying this particular day. After a week of bonding with his son, out hunting in the forests of Elbe, he came home to his beloved country, and loving wife. After washing up from a very exhausting night with his queen, it was time to attend to the matters that directly concerned him and his rule of Elbe. He expected to do nothing more than deal with tax collection, trading agreements, and of course paying tribute to the Saderans. A tribute that has ever so greatly gone up since the war several years ago. He, like the other vassal kingdoms sick of Saderan rule, thought they'd could break away from the rule of the Empire, and finally knock them off their seat of power. However, what none of them had expected the the skill of Rondel Mage Corps that was under Saderan control. While the Immortals were a known threat, the introduction of the Flame Dragons had decimated any who opposed them.

Despite ravaging the countryside, as well as subjugating the various demihuman tribes that populated Falmart, they didn't destroy them. Molt hover, did make an example out of quite a few nobles and even some kings. The Saderan Empire had established an iron fist over the continent, and it seemed that none could oppose them. Even the Imperial Navy was making great strides to explore and subjugate any lands that lay beyond the Empire's already bloated borders. But recent news from travelers and merchants had brought some most disturbing news to his kingdom's doorstep. Rumor spread about the about the Gate opening on the Holy Hill of Alnus. At first he regarded it as nothing more than lies from the Saderans, who boasted that they would send an expeditionary corps to conquer what lay beyond. That was until he received a letter from his good friend Count Formal, of Italica. He said he was being forced to bring half his army along with the Imperials in their new war of conquest.

It had been months and he hadn't heard anything regarding the Count, or if he was even still alive. And from what else Duran was hearing, whomever the Empire had invaded, had tossed them back. Hard. Rumor began to spread saying that half the Imperial Army, thousands of Immortals, and even Flame Dragons were among the dead. merchants and religious pilgrims had claimed to see the corpses of the mighty beasts, as well as an unknown force atop the hill, constructing a fortress. He would be lying to himself if he said such stories didn't terrify him. Because they so very much did. After seeing what those monsters had done to his army seven years ago, as well as the dark elves, and warrior rabbits, he feared a force that could kill one, let alone three.

As he sat alone on his thrown, pondering what to do next, an Imperial messenger had entered his chambers, flanked by four of his royal guard, and his son. The man carried a scroll in his left hand, got within fifteen paces of the king, before stopping, and kneeling before him. "Your majesty, King Duran of Elbe, I bring news, and a request from Emperor Molt Sol Augustus." the mere mention of the man who had brought so much pain to his country, had caused those in the room to glare daggers at the man. After all that he had done, he had the gall to request anything of Elbe?

"What news do you bring with you, and more importantly, what is this request?" Duran questioned.

"The Imperial Army is currently engaged with a new enemy at the Holy Hill of Alnus, and has become a stalemate. Those from the otherworld slaughtered those we sent through the Gate without provocation. The hill has since been a bloody battleground between our forces and theirs. If the deadlock is to be broken, and the savages of the otherworld to be defeated, we need reinforcements." the force of the request had nearly knocked the wind out of Duran, and nearly made him lose his composure. The rumors he heard were true. The Empire had indeed started another war with a foreign power, only this time to be defeated. Who or whatever the Empire had angered, had managed to not only beat them back, but successfully grab Imperial territory, and defeat the forces defending it.

"So the mighty Imperial Army needs the assistance of my lowly kingdom?" Duran said in a mocking tone. "And what of your mighty Flame Dragons? The beasts capable of ravaging whole armies and destroy whole countries?" the messenger could only glare angrily at the man, as anything more would likely get him killed. Duran knew he had insulted the man, and the Empire, but could do nothing.

"This new enemy possesses beasts on par with our own dragons. They fought each other to a stalemate, forcing both our armies to clash steel with one another." the man retorted. "It is not just your kingdom, but those of Alguna, Toumaren, League Principality, Mudwan, and the other vassal states being requested. The combined might we share will toss the otherworld invaders back, and together our nations will share in the riches to be had."

"And if we refuse to take part in such a campaign? From what I've heard, the Imperial Army was defeated at Alnus Hill, and the otherworlders have complete control over the it. What do we have to gain from throwing ourselves into the slaughter?" the messengers' face grew angrier, and a scowl formed across it. With a low tone filled with spite, he spoke once more.

"You know, you were lucky not to have had your capital burned to the ground like Toumaren did. Their army flailed helplessly as the Flame Dragons tore the city asunder. The same could always happen to Elbe, if you don't cooperate." he smiled wickedly as he said that last bit. "After all, we all but demanded Toumaren to send the entirety of their army to fight the otherworlders as punishment for the rebellion all those years ago." As Duran looked behind the man, he could see his son reaching for the blade on his right hip, murderous intent in his eyes.

"Very well," King Duran said, causing his son to pause and stare at him in disbelief. "While I have no intention of sending the entirety of my army out against an unknown force, I will bring sufficient forces to combat this threat. Run along to the Emperor and let him know my army will join his in battle." with that, the messenger gave a weak bow, and was escorted out of Duran's chambers by the royal guards. When the doors had closed, his son spoke.

"Father, you can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "Are you going to let them bully you into submission? To force you to take part in another of the Empire's conquests?" King Duran could only sigh in response.

"Son, one day, when you'll be king of Elbe, you'll learn that sometimes you have to give way to those with more power than you. You were but a boy when Toumaren was nearly destroyed by the Empire. The fragile nation has barely recovered, and is now being forced to send its whole army in a bid to appease Molt. Our beloved city was lucky to not have encountered the same fate as theirs. I will lead a portion of our army, alongside the other kingdoms, and figure out what truly is going on."

"And what if you don't come back? I've heard these rumors from merchants as well? What if death only awaits you father? A force capable of killing a Flame Dragon would almost certainly kill you all!" he all but begged his father not to go. He didn't want his father to die in some pointless war started by the Saderans.

"If I refuse and do nothing, than the Empire will make Elbe an example to the rest of the kingdoms, just like they did with Toumaren. I will take a force of 25,000 men with me to Alnus, the rest shall stay here and guard the kingdom. If I do not return, you will assume my duties, and lead our nation forward. Can I count on you to do that, my son?" his son stared at him unblinking for what felt like an eternity. They both knew there was a large possibility that Duran wouldn't come back, but he had duties to fulfill. His son merely nodded his head in agreement.

"Of course father."

"Good, now go along and focus on your studies. I have much planning to do if I'm to join the other kingdoms in our march on Alnus Hill." he said as he put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Do not worry my son, I will come back. If the Imperial Army is not present, I doubt the other kings will choose to stay and waste our time."

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USS Doris Miller

Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, United States of America

April 14th, 2081

0900 Hours


Count Colt Formal was awestruck by the sight before him. As of now, him, and the 167 surviving members of the Italican soldiers that came with him, were aboard a ship more massive than anything they could ever have imagined. He looked around the naval base the ship was currently moored in, and only further realized how badly the Empire was outmatched. Among the dozens of smaller vessels moored in place, which were still far larger than anything the Empire could ever build, were two more ships of similar build to the one he was on. These ships were floating cities, capable of supporting thousands of sailors. All around the port he could see transport vessels loading up with thousands of soldiers and marines alike. Among them were dozens of iron elephants and just as many flying chariots. He was told this was only part of the invasion force going through the aquatic Gate the Empire had opened up.

But him being here wasn't just to show off their might to him. In exchange for his services, he and his men would eventually be allowed to go back home. But first, there was a pressing matter that needed to be attended to first. The only thing he knew was that when he was picked up by those same three individuals that questioned him all those months ago, they mentioned something about the vassal kingdoms on the march. Still, he wondered just why they needed him, when they were more than capable of wiping out the vassal armies just as they did the Saderans. No matter what, he pledged that he'd help, in exchange for his city being spared their wrath.

"Your probably wondering why we want you here, am I right?" the dark skinned woman had asked him.

"To show just how badly outclassed the Empire is? To mock us with your strength? Nothing surprises me anymore, otherworlder. After what I have witnessed, I don't believe there is anything you can't do." he said in a defeated tone. She chuckled lightly at the Count's defeatism.

"Not exactly," she replied. "When we first met you mentioned that you knew the leaders of the vassal kingdoms very well, didn't you?"

"Yes, I'm well acquainted with King Duran of Elbe, as well as the king of Mudwan. Why does this matter?"

"Don't worry, we're about to show you." as they made their way into the bowels of the ship, Colt couldn't help but notice the stares he elicited from those working aboard. Male and female alike, he and the few soldiers he chose to take with him, where met with icy stares and looks of contempt. "You see, this ship should be getting ready for decommissioning. Same with about a dozen other older ships we had to pull out of reserve to prepare for this operation. The vast majority of the sailors and marines you see right now were reservists, sitting at home with their families, friends, getting ready to enjoy the holiday celebrations with family. When your people arrived, they were called into service, to prepare for another war."

"I see," was all Colt could mutter out. He realized that the feelings of all those aboard the ship, and in fact all those of this world, were justified. Even his surviving soldiers still didn't understand the hatred directed towards them. In fact, he didn't even understand it at first, not until the dark skinned woman escorting him, whom he came to know as Williams, had explained it to him. Not only was the invasion of their world a great affront to them, the act of mass rape and enslavement of thousands had sent shockwaves of hatred, vengeance, and patriotic fervor swept their population. The full undivided attention of this world's might was completely focused on the Saderan Empire, and its allies. Something that still greatly terrified him, and his remaining men. "So where does this leave myself and those I led here? Does the same fate await us who were forced to join this folly?"

"Like I said before, your situation is being revived by our leaders, just like with the demihumans. However, if you can assist us with our current problem, you and your men may find themselves home quicker than you may think." Angela told him. They continued walking for about another minute, through the confusing corridors, until finally reaching a long hallway, with a number of armed guards flanking both sides of the group. The door at the end, had two massive guards on either side of the door. Count Formal had picked the largest of his remaining men to accompany him on this journey, but these guards easily stood a whole head or more taller than them, as well far more muscular.

"Are these the VIP's?" one of the guards had asked Williams, as he eyed the Count.

"Yes they are, authorization has already been granted to allow them through." she told him. The man grunted as he and the other guard stepped aside, and opened the hatch, leading to the command center below the decks of the aircraft carrier. She nodded her head and led the Italicans into the mostly dark room.

"I had to miss my daughter's birthday because of you people." the other guard said as he pushed the last of Colt's bodyguards through the hatch, before slamming it tight, locking it, and resuming their post.

As they entered the room, the wall on the end of it was brightly illuminated by bright lights. As the Count looked closer, he could see movement all across the wall, with numerals all over it as well. It was what these people called a projector, something that despite how much they tried explaining to him, he couldn't fathom. The best way they could describe it, to make him understand, was that they used strange devices that could show events from anywhere in their world, without delay. The way it was done had escaped him, but after all he'd seen, he didn't believe it a lie. As he looked closer, the wall had appeared to have the view of wyvern rider high in the sky. A massive campsite was being watched, but of who, he didn't know. But soon, he would find out.

"How far are they from Fort Hadrian?" Angela asked to one of the men sitting on the far left of the screen.

"Roughly 100 miles ma'am," the white suited man responded. "Darkstar Drones had captured movement to the south roughly two days ago, and has been observing them ever since. At their current rate of marching, they'll reach Fort Hadrian in ten days."

"And what of their numbers and units? What are we dealing with?"

"Roughly 100,000 enemy combatants, mostly human, with some goblins, orcs, and even a small contingent of dark elves. We noted roughly 20 War elephants, 35 wyverns, and one large ogre near the center of the camp. There's also another 15,000 camp followers are present as well. The unknown forces have not moved for almost two days, but we believe we have identified their leaders." as he finished speaking, he pointed the remote in his hand and the images on the screen focused on the large, ornate tent that lay in the center of the camp. As Darkstar zoomed in further, it focused on a group of older men approaching the tent, laughing with each other while doing so. "We believe these individuals to be the leaders of this force. They meet three times everyday, at roughly the same time. From what intel was provided earlier in the campaign, we believe these are the vassal kingdoms that inhabit the southern portion of the Falmart continent."

"I know them," Count Formal said as he stared at the screen unbelieving. He had recognized two familiar faces among the men, before they entered the tent, and out of view of the drone. Those in the room turned their attention to him, wanting to know more.

"Which ones do you know?" Williams asked him.

"King Duran of Elbe and Duke Ligu of League Principality. Duran wears the red armor, while Ligu wears green. Both of them are the leaders of their respective countries. And there!" he said pointing at the flags posted around the tent. "Each one represents a different vassal nation. No doubt they've been called to slaughter by Molt himself." the last bit filled with sadness as he realized that this meant almost certain death for them at the hands of the United Nations of Earth.

"What are the names of these nations?" the man in white had asked.

"The kingdoms of Elbe, Mudwan, Alguna, League, and Toumaren are the major nations present. They were always the most influential and powerful of the vassal states. The rest are minor ones, ranging from city states like my own, to small nations like Alguna or Mudwan. However, their strength and much of their autonomy was stripped from them after the rebellion. Toumaren itself was nearly destroyed by the Empire for leading the war against Molt. In all, 21 nations of varying size and strength. I'm not sure why that matters to you, not after how easily you've shown your superiority on the battlefield." he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"For all of our advantages on the battlefield, we're smart enough to realize that these kingdoms are not the responsible for the attack on Iceland, nor are we at war with them." Williams told him. "Our war is with the Empire, and the Empire only. That's why we brought you here, otherwise you'd be rotting in a cell for the rest of your life. You know them very well, and they are likely to trust you. We don't wish to slaughter another hundred thousand men if we don't have to."

"You want me to negotiate on your behalf?"

"That's precisely what we want you do do. Show them that your still alive, convince them any way you can that their fight isn't with us, but the madman who sent them to die in a useless battle that will only succeed in robbing thousands of families of their husbands and sons. We already know we can stop them long before they reach Alnus Hill, but they don't. They are blissfully unaware of the fact their being watched by something that could easily decapitate their leadership. We'd rather make alliances, than have to constantly looking back, wondering if the locals want to kill us. Making alliances will be most beneficial to our long term goals, rather than destroying every government already in place, and destabilizing the continent."

"I see," Count Formal was left baffled. He half expected to see his old friends get destroyed when he realized what was happening. No country he ever knew, especially with such a powerful military, would think of trying to negotiate when in such a position of power. "But what if they don't believe me? What if they think your forcing me to say what you want? Will you choose to slaughter them after that?"

"Is a white flag still understood as a banner of truce or surrender?" Williams asked.

"Well of course, but I don't have to see what that has to do with anything."

"When we bring you through to Alnus Hill, we'll have a small convoy prepared for you. Each vehicle will be carrying a large white flag, as so they don't attack us. A number of diplomats, alongside a few platoons of soldiers will be escorting you to their lines. The diplomats will be carrying recordings of the Battle of Reykjavik, as well as the Battle for Alnus Hill. It'll show just what we're capable of doing. Barring that, the bodies of the Flame Dragons are still very visible, as we haven't been able to move them yet. Should that fail," she deliberately left off on that, as it was obvious where the conversation was going.

"Then they become lambs to the slaughter." Count Formal said gloomily. "I'll try to convince them that you aren't their enemy, for however much that'll help. I don't have a choice in the matter, and my men want to go home. When do we leave?"

"The fleet is scheduled to leave port tonight, and link up with the Canadian and Mexican navies, before heading to Iceland. However, you and your men will be transported aboard aircraft and flown to Iceland, as the trip will be much shorter. In addition to the recordings we'll be sending you with, we have a number of historical documentaries to show you, to give you a better understanding of our history. Not only do we want you to view them, but give them to the leaders of vassal kingdoms as well. We hope that between those films, and the carnage that lay around the Hill, they'll believe you, and choose to seek peace with us instead of war."

"For the sake off all those men, I pray to the gods you are right. Otherwise it plays directly into Molt's hands."
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Two Weeks after battle of Alnus Hill

Vassal Kingdom Army Campaign Trail

100 Miles south of Alnus Hill

Imperial Calendar 687


Across the mountains that straddle the northern border of the Kingdom of Elbe, and laying just to the south of Alnus Hill, the 100,000 strong Allied Kingdom's army was on the march. Under orders, or in the case of some kingdoms, threat of annihilation, by Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, the remaining two thirds of the vassal armies were on the march to face off against an as of yet to them, unknown enemy force. An enemy that according to stories from travelers, had dominated the Empire on the battlefield. For the kings and dukes leading the Allied Army to Alnus Hill, that had caused significant worry amongst their ranks. They were told an Imperial force was already on the Hill, awaiting reinforcements. After the rebellion of seven years ago, they never thought they'd live to see themselves called up to service of the Empire, much less assist them. The memory of Toumaren was still fresh in everyone's mind as a reminder of what happened when they tried escaping the grip of Molt. While that was behind them, the warning was still there. Do as we say, and march to battle, or your capitals will be the next to burn.

"What have the scouts reported regarding the enemy force on Alnus Hill?" King Duran asked as he took his place at the table. King Varialus of the Haweth kingdom was the first two speak.

"My horseback scouts just came back earlier this morning. While their report is a few days old, they reported a massive fortress being built by the otherworld armies, with signs built all around the Hill close to three leagues from the fortress."

"You said armies? You mean there's more than one atop the Hill?" Duke Ligu asked.

"It would seem so," King Reynald of Alguna said. "I gave orders to my wyvern scout to fly carefully on his way to the Hill. He gave a report very similar to your own scouts, a large fortress atop Alnus, as well a detailed report on enemy forces present. From what I was told by my scout, dozens of flags could be seen around the Hill, with a light blue flag at the center of them all. We don't know what it means, but my scout reported there's anywhere from 40-50,000 enemy troops atop the Alnus, with more continuously pouring through. The area for at least two leagues surrounding the Gate is becoming a fortress, and that's not even the worst part." Reynald's demeanor turned sour as he thought about the last thing his scout had told him.

"What could possibly be worse than that?" King Harold of Mudwan asked.

"Around the Hill, three Flame Dragons lay slain, including the mother dragon." as he said this, the blood of every king and duke went cold. Some of them thought he or his scouts were mistaken in what they had seen. The idea of a Flame Dragon, much less three of them, being killed on the battlefield, was unthinkable!"

"Are you sure your scout is correct? Did they mistake something else for the Flame Dragons?" the king of Toumaren asked fearfully. He was a king, but he was by far the youngest there. With his father slain by the Empire, the 20 year old prince soon rose to rule over his nation, or what was left of it.

"I'm afraid he's adamant about what he saw. The combined armies of the otherworld had obliterated whatever Imperial force was defending the Hill."

"My scouts reported the same thing." King Varialus said.

"So it seems the rumors are true after all." King Duran muttered. "That the Imperial Army bit off more than they could chew, and was chased back by a force beyond their own in strength. What about enemy dragons? Did your scouts report any present?"

"No, all they saw was a multitude of horseless carriages moving around, as well some flying pegasi taking to the sky, patrolling around the edge of their fortress. No enemy wyverns or dragons to be seen. From what the report said, only human soldiers could be seen. Even some enemy scouts had spotted them, but only waved at them." the kings in the room pondered the situation, especially Duran, whom was deciding how to approach this new enemy. The Imperial messenger had said that this new enemy possessed dragons of their own, but its possible he could have been lying to save face.

"How can we fight an enemy that strong?" one king said.

"Falling back might be our best option at this point." another said.

"Retreat is not an option gentlemen." Duran said flatly. "If we retreat, it only gives Molt an excuse to attack our cities with his dragons and mages. If we refuse to fight, Molt takes it out on our countries and our people. If we march to Alnus Hill, it may mean that only we'll be the ones to suffer. I know it is not a choice we like, but for the realm, and our families, we must try. Better to die with honor on the battlefield, than cower from any opponent." Those in the tent knew he was right. Retreating would mean their kingdoms would suffer more at the hands of Molt's madness.

"Then it's settled then," Reynald said. "We march to Alnus Hill, and take the fight to this new and unknown enemy. May we catch them by surprise." By evening that day, the Allied Army set out on the march once more. It would take another 10 days before they would be in a position to fight the otherworlders, taking the camp followers, war beasts, and wagon train into consideration. In all, they had hope that their numbers and element of surprise would win them a victory, or at least not give the Emperor an excuse to destroy their kingdoms.
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"What kind of fighters are the Viet Cong that you met here?

"I would give anything to have 200 of them under my command. They're the finest soldiers I've ever seen."

"The Viet Cong?"

"That's right. They're dedicated, and they're good soldiers. They're the best I've ever seen."

An exchange between reporter John Laurence, and Major Charles A. Beckwith, c. 1965.

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USS John Paul Jones

Faxa Bay, Iceland

April 15th, 2081

0900 Hours


Phase One of the United Nations counterattack into the Special Region was successful. Ground forces had successfully established a foothold on the other side of Alpha Point, clearing away what resistance the Saderans had offered. But there remained an even bigger hurdle to pass. Bravo Point, located in Faxa Bay, was the Saderans secondary means of invading Earth. Since Bravo Point was secured back in December, Iceland was host to the single largest naval gathering since the War. In the aftermath of the Battle of Reykjavik, anti-submarine nets had been set up around the entirety of the portal, alongside naval mines, and other measures to ensure that invasive species from the other side didn't enter the world's oceans. Some ships even blasted sonar to further deter what may lay on the other side.

But for the crew of the USS John Paul Jones, they had a completely different task. On board of one of the 3 remaining Arleigh Burke destroyers in the United States Navy, the crew would be undertaking the first aquatic incursion into the Special Region. This task would involve sending a submersible drone through Bravo Point and into hostile territory. With naval preparations nearly complete, command wanted to know just what was waiting on the other side. Everyone remembered what happened the Coast Guard cutter that faced off against the dragon. No one wanted to see a transport, or god forbid an aircraft carrier, get ambushed from below the waves and split in half. A complete identification of Saderan assets was required before even a single soul was to enter Bravo Point. and any weapon, conventional, or nuclear, was on the table.

"Slow and steady, Petty Officer Raikes," Lieutenant Alex Hopper said as he watched the feed of the Beluga UUV as it pierced the inky blackness produced as it entered Bravo Point. "That drone is carrying a nuclear payload inside, so let's not take any unnecessary risks."

"But aren't we going to detonate the mines if we encounter any of those kaiju?" Raikes asked, he gaze fixated on the controls as she guided the drone in with sonar, as the camera wasn't capable of seeing anything.

"Yes, but that's only if we see it first. And preferably point blank so the pressure pops it organs like a fucking balloon. But that's only if there's one present, otherwise you bring it back home." he explained.

"And if there's more than one? What do we do then?"

"There's a four nuclear torpedoes in that drone, right? Then you have your answer." the Lieutenant's answer was somewhat reassuring, but she was hoping what the drone had was enough. "From what out intel guys got out of the prisoners, and from what those ground pounders did in Alpha Point, there won't be many left. At most there's a single one around Bravo Point."

"That's good to hear then. Anyway, it looks like we're about to exit out the other side." she informed as she pressed ever so gently forward with the control stick to increase the speed of the drone. Before they knew it, they had entered the clear, blue waters of the Special Region. "And we're through Bravo Point, all sensors are running optimally. Ascending to periscope depth." As the periscope of the Beluga breached the surface of the small sea, what was awaiting them on the other side came into full view.

"That's one big fucking fleet!" Hopper commented as he looked wide eyed at the drones feed. As far as the eye could see, dozens of ships sat motionless in the waters around the entrance to Bravo Point. Upon closer inspection, they looked reminiscent of ships from the late Middle Ages judging by the design and the unmistakable presence of gun ports on the sides of the ships.

"I thought the reports said that gunpowder was unknown to these people." she asked as she moved the periscope in a clockwise manor as to get a full view of their surroundings.

"Supposedly it was, but then again, that was only about their ground forces. Only naval action that was seen in Reykjavik was with the Obama. Begin the surface scan, we need to know how many of these ships are around here." he ordered.

"Yes sir," Raikes followed the command and booted up the sonar scanners on the drone. The sonar was much smaller compared to what most modern vessels had equipped, but it could still detect targets up to 5 miles away. Enough range to get a solid number on the Saderan naval fleet guarding the portal, as well as anything else the sea might be harboring. And with how close they were to the fleet, the former wouldn't be a problem. "Charging sonar blast in three, two, one." she counted down and the drone emitted a loud sonar ping through the headsets of herself and the Lieutenant.

As the pulse went further outwards, more and more targets registered themselves on the screen and were cataloged by the targeting computer. In less than a minute, they had a full count of all surface contacts near Bravo Point. The number, 91, appeared on the screen before them. There were two different types of ships that they could distinguish. The most numerous of which shared the appearance of traditional Roman Navy Trireme's, which were likely the bulk of their transport fleet. The next were the ones that looked most out of place in this world. Middle Age vessels with gunpowder cannons were certainly the most surprising aspect of this situation. Sure, these Saderans had magic, but this still felt odd to him and those who were seeing the drone feed.

"One very large contact on sonar, but I can't get a visual with the periscope." Raikes informed the Lieutenant. Hopper looked at the screen and was surprised at the size of the vessel. Far larger than any of those they could currently see, as well as having an array of other ships in formation around it.

"Well that's certainly something." he responded perplexed. "I want to see just what these assholes are hiding. Launch the airborne drone, let's get a headcount on just how many of each type there are. Command isn't going to want a single detail left out of this."

"Affirmative, preparing to launch aerial drone." this time it was a different Petty Officer that responded. A console lit up on their end as they prepped the UAV. Once the Beluga surfaced, Hopper gave the signal, and the hatch near the rear of the sub opened. The DR-1 Seagul, a quad rotor drone designed specifically for aquatic deployments launched into the air. Since there were no ships within close proximity, the drone would have the advantage of surprise, allowing it to gain altitude above the fleet and not get spotted. But even if it was, the Saderans possessed no anti air capability.

"How we doing, Petty Officer Lopez?"

"Camera feed is coming in strong and clear," Petty Officer Lopez reported. "Sensors are green, activating targeting system." Using the datalink that connected the Beluga, Seagul, and the Jones, the computer system aboard was able to effectively categorize each and every ship it put it's camera over. The Trireme's were listed off as Transport, which numbered a total of 65. The cannon equipped vessels, labeled as Warship, numbered a total of 25. This left the last vessel, which resided at the center of the fleet. It was roughly seventy meters in length and about twenty meters wide, which resulted in the computer program labeling it as Flagship.

"If I had to guess, that's where their admiral is located. However that layout seems rather odd for a flagship." Lopez remarked as he zoomed the camera in on the deck of the ship. A number of rather large wooden hatched littered the decks, which none of them could determine a purpose for. There was also a number of sailors present on the decks, which seemed to be carrying spears and pails of what seemed was assumed to be food.

"From the design, it might be a transport vessel." Raikes added.

"Can you get the camera to zoom in further on those holes in the hatches? Or get us closer to see what's inside?" Hopper asked.

"The zoom is maxed out unfortunately. If I get any closer, the tangos on the decks will see the drone and put it at risk of getting destroyed. I might be able to maneuver the drone to the side and peer inside." however as Lopez was guiding the drone, a large amount of activity picked up on the deck of the ship. Upon closer inspection, there was a group of sailors lifting a hatch that led beneath the deck of the ship. Once the hatch was lifted, a wyvern shot from beneath the decks and took to the skies!

"Holy shit!" Lopez exclaimed as he watched the creature dart from the ship and begin hovering above it. "I'm guessing these guys also have aircraft carriers or in this case, dragon carriers?" he asked as he looked over to Hopper, who stared at the monitor with a look that can best be described as, WTF. Hopper just rubbed the bridge of his nose before replying.

"Well that certainly something new." he said as he looked disbelieving at the monitor. "Like seriously, how in the ever loving fuck did the concept of an aircraft carrier appear in their minds?"

"This world really is full of surprises, isn't it?" Lopez asked to no one in particular.

"I'm pretty sure we were all sick of surprises the moment these asshole stepped foot in our world. This entire situation got old real fucking quick. Raikes, what you got on the drone?"

"Nothing good sir," she said as she zoomed the camera closer on the deck of the ship, as well as the airborne wyvern. The sailors looked curiously at the Seagul, knowing not of what it was, or its purpose. The wyvern however, didn't care for what it was, it was simply driven by its primitive instincts. The rider attempted to reign it in, to no avail. It was thanks to Raikes' quick reflexes that allowed the drone to narrowly miss becoming chow for the flying reptile.

"Bring the drone back in now." Hopper ordered as the drone's camera feed jumped around wildly as Raikes attempted to out maneuver the wyvern. The effort was useless however, as the drone was knocked from the sky when the wyvern came back around. The last images transmitted by the camera showed the body still within the jaws of the wyvern, and the camera falling into the sea, before losing connection. "Well that was anti climatic." Hopper said slightly disappointed.

"What were you expecting sir? That I could maneuver it around and reconnect with the UUV just before it came back again?"

"Kinda actually," he admitted. "Like those action films where the seemingly impossible gets done at the last moment. Unfortunately, the universe isn't so kind for that."

"At least we got the information we needed sir. We cataloged their numbers, as well as their previously unknown capabilities."

"Fair enough."

"Sonar contact, two miles out!" Lopez informed, causing Hopper to turn his attention the sonar screen, trying to figure out just what was approaching the drone. An unknown contact, roughly 60 meters long, was approaching the location of the fleet at 18 knots. The size made it unlikely to be a Dragon, as it was too small for those encountered so far, unless it was very young. "What do you think sir? It'll be about five or six minutes before it reaches the fleet, and then our camera can get eyes on it."

"Looks far too small to be one of those dragons we encountered before. It's not moving nearly as fast either." Raikes pointed out.

"Yeah," Hopper said. "I think it might be another one of the local lifeforms. We'll find out once it gets within range of our drone, assuming it gets close enough to actually get a clear picture. Either way, prep the nuclear torpedoes for loss of signal detonation. If we lose contact with the Beluga, for whatever reason, that fleet, and any creatures that dare get close, are gonna learn to fear the power of Oppenheimer Light."

"Affirmative, prepping detonation sequence." Raikes said as she typed the codes into her console. One by one, four red lights on the Beluga read out turned green, indicating the nuclear warheads were live, and could detonate if given the order, or if contact with the drone was lost. Now all they had to do was wait. Wait for whatever it was that slowly making its way closer and closer. Now with only a mile between them and the unknown object, they waited with bated breath to catch a glimpse of whatever it was. However as they did, a disturbances in the water was detected coming from the object, and at a rather astonishing speed, sped past the camera, leaving only a blur visible. "What the hell was that?"

"No idea, gonna try and shift the camera and figure out where that blur went." the computer plotted the path of the very fast object, as well as its speed, and quickly concluded that whatever it was, it had made contact with one of the Saderan transport vessels above them. "The computer had calculated the speed of the object, which was roughly six meters long, was moving at a speed 1,500 kilometers per hour!" Lopez said in utter disbelief. That was well beyond the speed of any torpedo used by anyone. As the camera finished panning over to the Saderan ship, they noticed a large hole in the hull, and a rather large number of sailors and legionaries falling into the ocean. The camera zoomed in on the situation, watching the men try desperately to swim to the surface to avoid drowning. But it was soon realized that by the expression of terror growing on the faces of those looking downward, there was something else to fear. Something far, far worse.

"We have contact! Raikes exclaimed as a very large horned creature swam past the Beluga, devouring the drowning sailors, and ramming the ship hard enough that it broke apart, throwing more men into the sea. Those in the CIC of the Jones could only watch in horror as a swarm of these creatures appeared from the depths, shooting more of those projectiles into the fleet, breaking the hulls open, and spewing the occupants out, and into the gaping maws of the creatures. "What the hell are these things?" she said to no one in particular. Her expression was mirrored by everyone else watching. What could they say? There was nothing in Earth's vast oceans that could compare to something like this, and while they had encountered and killed multiple Class A Kaiju, this creature was entirely water based, with a unique set of abilities. Abilities that would make dealing with the difficult.

"Yes sir, your seeing the feed right? And you got our analysis of the fleet and these creatures?" Hopper said as he put two fingers to his earpiece and walked a few feet away from the console. He nodded his head a few times and responded in affirmation to whoever was on the other side of the earpiece. At last he sighed and walked back over to Raikes and Lopez. "Activate the detonation sequence, command wants those creatures gone yesterday. Each torpedo has a 30 kiloton yield, I'd love to see either that fleet, or those creatures survive that. And if they somehow do survive it..." he left the rest up in the air as he stared at them.

"What will happen?" Lopez asked.

"Aside from the Inouye and Basilone being part of the spearhead through Bravo Point, USACOM has authorized the deployment of two McRaven Class Destroyers to accompany the defensive forces. The Gallagher and Sledge are enroute as we speak, and will be here in two days. The Halsey and Rubin are also on standby should the operation require it. The USS Doris Miller will be arriving with them as well, as they'll represent the bulk of our sea based airpower for the operation." Those in the room looked at each other in astonishment at what their Captain just told them.

"Is that necessary sir? The McRaven's are the most advanced destroyers on the planet? Is it really worth the risk of possibly losing them on the other side worth it? Or does command truly believe we need all that firepower?"

"Given what we just saw Lopez, I think it best we bring whatever we can to ensure what's happening to those poor bastards," he said gesturing to the screen, the feed displaying the horrors being inflicted on the Saderan fleet. "Doesn't happen to our own men. Now initiate the detonation sequence." he ordered firmly. As Lopez and Raikes tapped in the commands into their control consoles, watching the nuclear hazard symbol flash across the screen, they felt the ship jerk to port, maneuvering away from Bravo Point, just in case some back splash came through. Soon the screen stopped flashing, instead replaced by a 30 second countdown before the detonation would occur. The alarm blared and all personnel above deck were ordered inside, with other vessels in the immediate vicinity doing the same. As Hopper, Raikes, and Lopez continued watching the feed, they realized the drone had finally been noticed by one of the creatures. It turned toward it and opened its wide mouth, intending to swallow the drone whole. But right before the creature could devour the drone, the timer expired, and the feed from the drone ceased.

In three days time, when UN naval forces crossed Bravo Point and into the oceans of the Special Region, they would figure just how much damage the nuclear torpedoes had done to the Saderans and creatures both. While fears lingered about the aftereffects, or if any of the creatures had survived, they had nothing to worry about. Modern nuclear devices were clean compared to their primitive counterparts, while the entirety of the Saderan fleet was destroyed, and the organs of the unknown creatures popped like balloons from the pressure caused by the explosion. But in a different plane of existence, forces more powerful, yet restrained in their ability, could only look on in horror at what one of their own had unleashed into their world.

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USS Bougainville

Faxa Bay, Iceland

April 19th, 2081

0900 Hours


The day had finally arrived. The preparations had been finished and the road was safely paved for the naval assault to begin. Nearly 20,000 Marines from a dozen nations had been mobilized for this mission. While American and British Marines had been present for ground operations in Reykjavik all those months ago, that was but a few thousand, tasked with clearing the city streets of enemy combatants, and helping to rescue civilians. They were defending during the battle, but now they would be going on the offensive. American, British, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Indian, Spanish, Filipino, and Mexican Marines, aboard dozens of transport vessels, surrounded by just as many escorts, were ready to begin the next phase of the United Nations offensive against the Saderan Empire. The last of the aging American Arleigh Burke Destroyers had paved the way against the Saderan fleet that remained on the other side, meaning there would be no resistance once they passed through the other side.

It was below the decks of the America Class LHA, American, Filipino, and Mexican Marines did final checks and preparations for the upcoming battle. Ensuring vehicles were fully fueled and loaded, enough ammunition was available, rations were evenly distributed, and all personnel accounted for. This was a far more dangerous path than the ground invasion was. Uncharted seas, full of creatures from humanity's wildest stories, ones that could slice a ship in half, or beings who could enchant entire vessels of sailors, and lead them to death. It was because of this reason than everything from destroyers, attack submarines, and minesweepers, were going through first. Equipped with powerful sonars intended to deafen and kill any creatures stupid enough to get close to the transport fleet. The subs were the biggest hurdle to overcome, requiring to grab the smallest still in active service, and even then they had barely just fit through Bravo Point.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONELL, PREPARE FOR PORTAL CROSSING!" The claxon blared throughout the ship. Marines grabbed onto the closest objects or vehicles they could, ready for whatever turbulence would come their way from leaving the comfort of their seas, and into the unknown. For Corporal Antonio Barrera, this was not only his first time on a ship, but his first real mission. He was feeling the effects of seasickness as the ship rocked in the waters, as well as general uneasiness as he realized he really was going to step foot on an alien world. He thought he had hid these feelings from the others around him, but him shaking his right leg up and down, and chewing of his finger nails, made it clear he was uneasy about the mission.

"Your first time aboard a ship?" an unknown voice asked him. As Barrera looked up, he saw the source of the voice. An American Marine, tall, well tanned, and despite his rugged appearance, good looking. He took a seat next to him and continued. "Don't worry, you'll get used to the feeling of Poseidon churning the waves beneath your feet. The ship might be old, but she's got some history. From the Korean War, First Contact War, and now this bullshit. She's pretty and tough, a rare combination in our world." he said.

"Yeah," he stammered out. "I haven't been on any ship before, much less on a mission like this. Just worried about some ungodly beast tearing this ship in half. You remember that from Iceland, right?" he asked.

"That's why all the destroyers and minesweepers went first. With all the sonar their blasting beneath the waves, nothing will get anywhere near us. And even if something does, torpedoes and depth charges will turn Jaws into chunky salsa." he explained. However he didn't think the Mexican caught the Jaws reference he had made, as he noticed him raise an eyebrow at the term.

"Still, I'll be more comfortable once we can find a beach and get on dry land. At least on land we can easily defend ourselves from whatever this world has in store for us. You heard about the mermaids right? Just like the old stories from back in the day. Make men wreck their ships and lead them to their deaths." The American just laughed at the last comment. He understood what he was talking about. Mermaids would sing songs that would attract sailors to them, wanting to have sex, only to kill them once they got within reach.

"Well I guarantee you that won't work on me, because unless these mermaids come in the male variety as well, I ain't wandering off the deck into the water. Some of these heathens however," he said gesturing to the group of American and Filipino Marines shooting the shit before they had to head to their respective staging areas. "They'll probably fuck anything that moves and has a hole for them. Likewise for the girls too, if its got anything resembling a dick, they'll go for it. But as I've already said, with the amount of sonar we're blasting right now, nothing will be left alive in those waters to attack us. Only living things will be us, members of Earth's finest fighting force, ready to go knock on the door of an enemy who dared awaken us from our peaceful slumber."

"Alright Marines, drop your cocks and grab your socks, head to the designated briefing areas now!" one of the older NCO's barked into the well deck full of Marines. "We're getting ready to cross over any minute now!"

Around the ship, Marines and sailors scrambled to their designated briefing areas, or to their vehicles to prep them for the upcoming operation. Some of the Marines on this ship had fought in Reykjavik back in December, but most had never seen real combat. In the next few hours, that was all going to change. As Barrera and his fellow Marines gathered with the Americans in their section, they noticed a projector screen with a map of what looked to be the area they'd be coming out in. There was a small sea, with a roman like structure, the same used to visually describe Alpha Point, in the middle. According to the measurements he was reading, Bravo Point wasn't very far from land.

"Alright, listen up!" the full bird colonel shouted to the Marines packed in the well deck. "What you see here is a map of the local area. The body of water Bravo Point leads to is known as the Blue Sea. If our measurements are correct, we will be roughly 100 miles from the main source of the attack. Our target is a port called Proptor, the main naval base for the Saderan Empire. It was the source of the naval attack by the Empire against Iceland, and the port itself is connected to a major river network that runs across the continent. Most importantly of all, the port is a stones throw away from the Imperial capital of Sadera. If we take this port, ands we will take this port, we will have a clear route directly to our enemies front door. The moment our carriers cross the other side, our planes will cleanse the sky of any hostile forces, and start mapping the port by air."

"Looks like we'll get to reach their capital before the army does." a familiar voice said off to his right. "What do you think about it, huh? This war might very well be over before the year is out, especially if we're that close to their capital." he said gesturing to the map on screen, which was zoomed in to show the relatively short distance between the port of Proptor, and the Imperial Capital of Sadera.

"I guess so, I'm just concerned about what they'll throw at us the moment they know we're coming for them." The American Marine, who's name tape said Martin, just shrugged.

"Hey, the more they throw at us now, the less we have to worry about later. Have them throw their capital defenses at us once we get dug in, and we'll massacre them. Once that's out of the way, we roll straight up to their city, and secure it."

"You Americans make everything sound so easy, so straight forward. But what if they choose not to counterattack? What if they wait for us?"

"Then we fight them street by street, house to house, just like my father did with those purple skinned bastards in the nuked out ruins of Miami." the last part sounded both prideful and painful. He had read about that battle in history class, American military units, with Mexican remnant forces, and Canadian troops, spent a month taking back what little was left of the city. If there was one thing American soldiers were good at, it was the brutal urban combat that they'd spent decades doing in the Middle East before the First Contact War. Now they, alongside the Europeans, Russians, and Chinese, were masters at it. "No matter how you slice it, we have to fight them at some point, just better to get it out of the way now. I'll admit this ain't gonna be easy, those dragons could easily chomp a ship in half."

Berrera shivered at the thought some unknown creature coming up from the depths and tearing the transport ship apart. Every precaution was being taken, even to the point of fast attack subs making sure nothing was left alive, but it still unnerved him. It was an alien ocean after all. "Thanks for reminding me about that fact." he said sarcastically.

"Like I said, it won't be easy, considering what we already know, but these guys are spread thin as it is. Between Iceland and Alpha Point, we've killed or captured 150,000 of them. Considering that this is an ancient empire, that's no small amount. Even with those mighty dragons, or those silver armored bastards that shrug off gunfire, they can't be everywhere at once. Whether we wipe most out or do it piecemeal, they won't have much left. If they do decide to hold out and fortify their capital, we can bomb the shit out of them from the air, and roll in once ready."

"Still, we're heading directly into their most important port. They probably have more than just a few thousand legionaries guarding the place."

"Well that's what the carrier aircraft are for. No matter what, we sure as hell won't be going in blind. Hell, depending on just how hard the fly boys hit them, they might very well surrender before we land. A few thousand more prisoners and a newly captured port would be fine to me." before either of them could continue, they were startled when the ship's lights flickered off for a second, and the ship rocked a little harder than he ever felt before. When the lights came back on, they refocused their attention on the Colonel, who had his finger on an earpiece, listening to someone on the other side. When he let go, he looked back towards the Marines.

"You know what that means boys and girls!" he said with a grin. We now just crossed over to the other world. I've told you everything there is to know. In a few hours, you'll disembark from this ship, and prepare to hand these fake Roman jackasses their asses on a silver fucking platter. But for now, we gotta wait a little longer until our pilots give us an idea of what's waiting for us. Enjoy these last few moments of peace, because we're about to show those army boys at Alpha Point what the Marines are capable of, Oorah!"

"OORAH!" was the response of the American Marines aboard the vessel, although the Mexican, Japanese, and Filipino Marines also joined in, throwing their fists in the air, and becoming equally rowdy as the Americans were. They were all ready for a taste of action, and they were going to get it sooner than they ever thought.
 
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Chapter 18: One If By land, Two If By Sea Part 2
USS Enterprise

Blue Sea, Special Region

April 15th, 2081

0915 Hours


Aboard the George Washington Class Aircraft Carrier, was a collection of Marine Corps and Naval pilots from across the United States. Pilots from the 2nd Marine Air Wing and VFA-103 were present aboard the ship. They were not only some of the most experienced pilots available for the operation, but every pilot gathered on the flight deck of the Enterprise had fought in the Battle of Reykjavik. Among those pilots was Captain Daniel "Dragon" Allman, the pilot in the room who boasted the highest kill count of wyverns in the room, at five confirmed kills, and one shared. These pilots had been sitting in the cockpits ever since they crossed over, waiting for final checks and fittings to be done. Well, they hadn't been waiting that long. Most of the waiting was warming the fighters up, as they had already been fueled up, and armed beforehand.

"So what do you think of this shit?" a voice came through in Allman's headset. the voice came from Lieutenant Commander Riley "Oddball" O'Brian. "About this new war I mean. This is straight out of those Lord of the Rings books my father passed down to me from his father. Fucking elves, dragons, goblins, all that weird shit. Not exactly the enemy we were ever trained to fight."

"Doesn't really matter to me, sir," he replied. Honestly, it didn't for him. Sure, it was bit jarring at first responding to the desperate calls for help from Iceland of all places, only to be met by literal dragons and roman legionaries. Now it seemed normal, or at least, as normal as things could be. "Although I think I'd rather be doing this than running drills all damn day."

"Some excitement is good for your health." came yet another voice over the net. This time it was Lieutenant Junior Grade Brittany "Hera" Daugherty. "The Air Force might have beaten us to the skies in Iceland, but we will reign supreme here, and draw first blood."

"Yeah, I suppose I could use a few more wyvern markings on my jet." he said as he looked down through the canopy and on the side of his fuselage, were 5 wyvern markings, and half of a large dragon. "Kinda bullshit though on how the Obama got credit for killing that big dragon, when we fired at least a hundred air to air and anti ship missiles into the thing. Perhaps this time we'll get a full marking on our planes."

"I doubt we'll get that much action while here," O'Brian said. "We'll be running interdiction against enemy air while our recon planes map out targets and points of interest for the ground forces. Their also deploying SEAL and SBS teams to laze targets for us. We've got a few hours before the ships will be in range to launch the landing craft, so that should be plenty of time to ensure the airspace is secured and port mapped out."

"Either way, whoever's in charge of defending the place won't know what hit them." Daugherty remarked.

"All pilots, prepare for launch sequence." the voice of Admiral Sullivan came over the net. Yellow short Aircraft Directors and handlers began taking their places across the flight deck, moving aircraft to their assigned launch points, while green shirted Hook Runners made final checks on the ship's catapult system and recovery gear. Aviation and Ordinance specialists cleared the deck as the aircraft were lined up in launch order. The FA/32 Fury II, was the mainstay of American naval aviation. Capable of mach 2.6 and carrying capacity of 20,000 pounds or ordinance internal and external.

"Alright, lets get rolling." Allman said as he put on his flight helmet, and began syncing the HUD with the rest of the Marine and Navy aviators in the flight group. The system in place meant that any airborne objects caught in the radar of one aircraft, would be seen in the HUD's of the rest. This meant if they faced off against more than one hostile, planes didn't have to worry about going for each others targets. Once one plane locked in and fired on a target, said information would relay to the rest. It was a way to save missiles in combat, and not get confused over who went after what. "Flight Control, this is Dragon, all systems are green, over."

"Oddball ready for take off!"

"Hera ready to go!"

As each pilot sounded off in affirmative, the flight of 24 fighters began their launch preparations, lining up, and hooking themselves to the catapult systems of the carrier. One by one, F-32's began screaming off the flight deck and into the clear blue sky of the Special Region. When it came time for Allman to take off, he pulled the stick back, going full throttle as the catapult system launched him off the carrier, and into the sky above. Twelve and twelve was the split between the Marine and Naval aviators as they formed up in the skies above, linking up with fighter aircraft launched from the Miller, Prince of Wales, and Kiev, forming a massive array of warplanes as circled in a holding pattern for a few minutes until the reconnaissance aircraft could launch and catch up.

"Hot damn," Allman said as he admired the sight before him. Four aircraft carrier with full airwings, at least twenty amphibious assault ships, twelve cruisers, twenty three destroyers, fifteen minesweepers equipped with powerful sonar blasters, and at least three fast attack submarines. The sight was absolutely breathtaking. Combined with the full carrier wings still being launched, adding to the already overwhelming presence in the skies of the Special Region, nothing could stand against this force once it went for a target. "Hard to think this isn't even the whole fleet right here." he remarked.

"No shit mate," one of the British pilots said over the comms. "And to think you Yanks still have another carrier waiting in the wings. Then there's the Chinese, French, that joint German-French carrier, the Japanese, and possibly the Indians as well. This is shaping up to be one hell of a task force."

"I almost feel bad for these sorry bastards. If only they knew what was about to hit them, they might actually surrender."

"By the time that happens, we'll already have pounded the living daylights out of them." another pilot said. It wasn't long before the massive array of aircraft broke their holding pattern, and rocketed off towards the coastline to the north. While the first wave of aircraft took off, to provide escort to the reconnaissance drones and aircraft, further squadrons were still being prepped on the carriers, and loaded with air to ground ordinance, and waited for targets to be identified.

"Enough chatter!" the Navy flight commander ordered. "Game faces on, it won't be long before we see coastline, and even less when we get within radar range of any potential aerial targets. Keep your eyes and ears open, I'll be damned if we get caught unaware by anything out here."

"I concur, just focus on the job lads, worry about anything else later." the British flight leader said.

"Our job is to soften up defenses around this port and make it easier for marines on the ground." the Russian flight leader added.

Holding at 500 miles per hour, the trip to the port was relatively uneventful. It wasn't about 20 miles out that contacts started appearing on the radar. Not that many of them, a total of seven were counted. Due to the flight profile of wyverns and dragons being uploaded to aircraft combat computer databases, they quickly determined that it was a squadron of Imperial wyverns. Based on the route they were flying, they hadn't, at least not as far as anyone could tell, knew the aircraft were coming their way.

"You think they know we're coming?" a British pilot asked over the net.

"Unlikely," Allman answered quickly. "Its still early in the morning, could be a patrol doing their rounds over the city."

"All flights, check telemetry and targeting systems. Check your targets and engage when ready!" the Marine flight leader ordered

"Copy that!" Allman said as he switched the tactical view of his HUD on and locked the targeting computer onto a target. He was the first to lock in on one of the wyverns, followed up by two Russians, two British, one Naval aviator, and another Marine locking onto one of the creatures. He flicked a switch on console before him, arming one of his AIM-135 active radar-guided missiles, arming it, and letting rip. "Fury Three, Fox Three!" he said as he flicked a switch on the joystick and the missile left the hook, and accelerated to its target. Over the net, the other pilots who had targets sounded off, and let fly with their own missiles.

"Fury Five, Fox Three!"

"Tempest 1, Fox Three!"

"Missile away!"

They all watched as the missiles streaked through the clear morning sky, travelling at Mach 5 towards their unsuspecting targets. They hit their targets in less than 30 seconds, leaving small, but visible explosions in the sky as proof they had hit their mark.

"All direct hits!" one pilot exclaimed.

"Poor sods never even knew what hit them." one of the British remarked.

"Oh don't worry, those on the ground will know what hit them!" one of the Russians joked, causing many of the pilots to laugh in response.

"They definitely know something is up now, so be prepared for more targets to start popping up."

"Roger that, Flight Lead!" Allman responded. "Looks like we're about to be directly over the city, so keep focus on those radar screen. We need this city mapped out as best as possible." as they got in orbit over the city, the various drones and recon aircraft of the America, British, and Russian navies went into overtime scanning the city for any potential targets of interest, as well road layouts, barracks, holding pens for wyverns, coastal forts. What few wyverns took to the sky were effortlessly shot down by the CAP established by the fighters above. "Got a group of wyverns on my radar, taking off from somewhere in the western section of the port." he alerted his fellow pilots.

"Roger that, I see them too," Hera responded. "I've got the two on the right locked in, what about you Dragon?"

"I'll take the ones on the left," Allman responded as he prepared another missile launch. "Fury Three, Fox Three!"

"Fury Eight, Fox Three!" they both flicked the switch and two more missiles left the underside of their wings and streaked towards their targets. The missiles, moving far faster than anything the wyverns or their riders had expected, hit their targets, turning them into bloody chunks of meat, bone, and scales. Each of them got a two for one with the last hit. Dragon was up to eight total wyvern kills, with Hera at two.

"Still got a while to go before you can catch up to me." Allman said playfully.

In the end, the resistance that was put up was ultimately futile. As the second and third wave of fighters arrived, they began striking targets of interest across the port city. First being the forts dotting the harbors meant to prevent sea attacks. One by one, fortress after fortress crumbled as guided munitions slammed into them, turning what was once a symbol of Saderan strength, into mere rubble. Troop barracks which had been identified by legionaries swarming from them, were destroyed swiftly as well. In just over an hour, nearly all defensive fortifications across the city were destroyed, and the local garrison, or what was left of it, in utter dismay. Warbirds began landing SEAL's and SAS around docks and wharfs to make way for the coming landing force, which was steaming towards the city at astonishing speed.

By the time of the second hour, what defenders had remained had either taken to hiding in buildings occupied by civilians, or try to mask themselves against the rubble, waiting for a potential invasion. Ships in the harbor weren't targeted, and after SEAL teams had reported coming across slaves in both the decks below, as well as in surrounding buildings, further air strikes were called off. The main targets had been destroyed, the skies belonged to the United Nations, as did the sea, and soon the land would follow. Directly off the coast, sat two McRaven class destroyers, the most advanced naval destroyer in the world. They, alongside other destroyers in the fleet, had launched cruise missiles onto targets lazed by drones in the sky above. But they would soon find themselves fighting a very different target. Across radar screens of both planes and ships alike, a massive signature came barreling towards them from the north.

"We've got a very large contact moving our way, and fast!" Oddball said as he maneuvered his fighter in the direction of the contact. It wasn't long before he saw, and realized what it was. "All aircraft be advised, we have a Special Region Class A Kaiju on approach, take appropriate actions!"

"Shit, watch out!" a Marine pilot screamed as he just barely pulled a hard left to avoid the incoming Flame Dragon. "Where the hell did this bastard come from!"

"Wherever he came from, he's about to die!" Oddball said as he locked his targeting systems onto the beast. "Fury One, Fox Three!"

"Fury Eight, Fox Three!"

"Fury Three, Fox Three!" missile after missile left the pylons of their fighters, and streaked towards their target. Dozens of explosions impacted across the Flame Dragon's body, but barely any damage had been done. There was even an attempt by a Russian fighter to hit it with an anti ship missile, but it unfortunately missed, impacting a building below. "Our missiles alone aren't going to take this damn thing down! We'll need something heavier!"

"Anti ship missiles could do the job, but we can't hit! Its moving far too fast for us to land a direct hit!"

"This is the USS Sledge to all aircraft in the skies above Proptor, fly southward towards the coastline. We'll handle everything from there, over." came the voice of an America sailor over the comms. "Just lower your altitude and give us a clear line of sight on this beast."

"Roger that, all aircraft pull back!" the Naval Flight Leader ordered. Soon, the array of aircraft and drones over the port city began turning southward, accelerating at top speed away from the creature, who couldn't even break mach one. Off in the distance, a bright greenish-blue glow could be seen in the distance. Then another. Without warning, two massive explosions of light erupted from the sources, and two extremely fast projectiles zoomed past their aircraft. On their radars, the large contact that was behind them, decreased dramatically in speed, and impacted the ground.

"Target Eliminated!" came the destroyer's voice again. As the pilots and drones looped back around towards the Port once more, they saw what had happened to the Flame Dragon. The two railgun rounds fired by the destroyers, which were guided by advanced computers aboard the vessels, had impacted the dragon in the head, and chest respectively. Each round travelling upwards of mach 15, and weighing 45 pounds, tore straight through the creatures thick scales as if they weren't even there. The once mighty beast dove headfirst into the beach, kicking up sand and dust as its body skidded across the ground.

"Hell yeah!" Allman exclaimed over the radio, echoing the cheers of the other pilots present. As he looked at his radar screen, not a single aerial contact remained. The skies were completely there's now. Nothing would hinder the naval force making final preparations for deployment of Marine forces. What was left of the defenders, if they still chose to fight after everything that had happened, would get mopped up by thousands of Marines currently making their way towards the beach. Until then, they'd remain in the sky, acting as guardians and watchful eyes for their brothers and sisters about to land on the beaches.

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USS Bougainville

10 Miles off the coast of Proptor, Blue Sea

April 15th, 2081

1200 Hours


The klaxon blared as the well deck was opening up and the amphibious assault vehicles and landing craft prepared to depart their various transports. Thousands of Marines from a dozen nations had been assembled for this mission, and they wouldn't back down. Thanks to aircraft and drones that had reconned the city just hours before, and had greatly neutered its defenses, which would allow the Marines an easier time on the beaches. Five landing zones had been selected in and around the port city. Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, and Orange Beach. Blue Beach would be led by the United States, with Mexico and the Philippines joining in the assault. Red Beach beach would be assaulted by the Russian and Chinese forces. Green Beach with Britain, France, and Germany. Japan, Korea, and India on Yellow Beach. Finally was Orange Beach led by Italy and Spain. In all, 13 nations would be part of the first assault wave, with more coming behind them once the port of Proptor was secured.

For Antonio Berrera, as the well deck had opened, the ramp lowered, and the AAV he was in plunged into the waves, the mission was just starting. American attack helicopters and transport helicopters spun off from the deck and made their way north towards the city. Soon, American, Filipino, and Mexican assault craft filled the waters of the Blue Sea in the Special Region. While he was still slightly unnerved at the prospect of being in these unknown waters, the large display of firepower being deployed helped ease his nerves. Cruise missiles from so many naval destroyers continued to pound away at the Saderan port, further degrading the already savaged defenses left. As the vehicle swayed front and back in the waves of the water, his squad members spent their last few minutes of peace chatting with each other, as well as American and Filipino Marines over the comms.

"Its about time we get to see some action!" he heard one of his team members said.

"I've got no idea why the prospect of combat excites you so damn much." Berrera said with a raised eyebrow.

"Not every day we get a fight that's this easy," he said cockily. "Besides, I can't be the only one wanting to get some elf pussy, am I?" he burst out laughing, as did many others in the AAV. He even heard American and Filipino Marine join in on the conversation.

"Nah brother, I want me a cat girl or some shit. Elves are overrated anyway." said one Filipino Marine.

"Brother, I hope you realize you'll be coughing up a hairball in short order if you try eating her out." the American laughed loudly over the net.

"Y'all do realize that shaving is practically nonexistent as a practice in these time right?" another American said. "Unless you introduce your girlfriends or boyfriends to 21st century hygiene habits, you'll be getting a mouthful of hair pretty damn quick." once more, the comms lit up with laughter at that comment.

"Simple, give her a razor and shaving cream. In a few hours you'll get a nice clean shaven high elf, dark elf, catgirl, or or some of those snake head or bird creatures the doggies found on the other side of Alpha Point."

"You people aren't right in the head." was all Berrera could say as he shook his head, a smirk growing on his face as he did so. "You don't have anyone waiting back home for you?" he asked.

"not really, I was hoping to actually finish my first four years before finding a girlfriend, but look what happened. Now we've got a world full of beautiful blonde elves and all sorts of fun shit. Just wait until we get liberty, we'll be treated like liberators to the locals. Forces of democracy defeating the evil and oppressive Empire. We'll be drowning in horny locals."

"You Gringos must be fucking delusional if you think that's going to happen." Berrera said as he rolled his eyes. "The non human inhabitants here will likely just see us as another Empire of humans rolling in, and will at best stay away from us and out of our way." the chatter between the Marines continued on until they were but mere minutes from the beachhead. Through the viewports, smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the fortresses that had been turned to rubble.

"30 Seconds!" the AAV driver radioed. Berrera flicked the safety off his M4 rifle and chambered a round. From inside the vehicle, he could hear explosions erupting out ahead of them. Attack helicopters and fighter bombers above were hammering away at any sign of resistance. When the vehicle exited the water, and came to a halt, he gave the command to dismount.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" he shouted at his men as they exited from the rear hatch and stormed up the beach. Far off to his right, he watched a Filipino landing craft hit the beach, and off its ramp rolled two M1A3 Abrams tanks, old surplus from American stocks that weren't needed. His nation's own tanks weren't far behind, maybe a minute or two slower. As he and his Marines hauled ass up the beachhead, a number of bright blue flashes appeared throughout the rubble of the fortresses and buildings maybe 100 meters or so ahead of them. Then without warning, blue streaks of light began erupting their way, some tearing straight through exposed Marines on the beach. Without hesitation, many of them dove for shell craters blasted out earlier in the day, or behind armored vehicles for protection. Tanks and IFV's fired towards the sources, but seemed to explode on a very faint blue shield that flickered each time a round had hit it. A Filipino Abrams began to brew up as a large blue fireball shot from the buildings, hitting directly between the drivers hatch and turret, sending flames spewing from every available open crevice.

"What the fuck was that?" one of his men screamed as more fireballs and blue streaks of light hammered away at them. Soft skinned vehicles like JLTV's began going up in flames as well. Berrera and his men returned fire at the source, as did the now hundreds of Marines on the beach. Attack helicopters flew overhead, hammering away with everything they had left on the enemy positions. A bright white flash blinded them momentarily as the shield that was protecting whoever was left in the buildings, finally broke. Tanks cannons roared with cannister and high explosive rounds, while IFV's scoured the buildings with 35mm cannon fire and anti tank missiles. It wasn't long before they got sight of what had caused them trouble. Silver armored beings, with blue glowing swords began sprinting from the ruins and directly towards their positions. "LIGHT THEM THE FUCK UP!" Berrera screamed as he took aim and let rip.

"Thousands of rifle, machine gun, autocannon, and tank rounds went downrange towards the surviving Immortals. Many had tried desperately to duck or doge the incoming hailstorm of ordinance being thrown at them, but to no avail as the Immortals fell like wheat to a scythe. Rifle rounds did little to their armor and magical aura surrounding them, but IFV's and tanks could make short work of them. This wouldn't be like on Alnus Hill. They weren't going to be allowed to get close whatsoever. As if from On High, an FA-32 flew in low towards the beach, and let rip with its 30mm cannon, tearing into the advancing Immortals, before pulling up, and breaking the sound barrier as it darted back upwards. Cruise missiles began impacting ahead of them, sending fragments and debris towards their position, forcing the Marines to take cover behind the armored vehicles. Once the last Immortal had been gunned down, and the barrage of the ruins had ceased, they got up and began advancing forward.

"Is that it? Are they all dead yet?" one of his men asked.

"I fucking hope so," Berrera said as he looked around. Just in his genral area, he counted twelve dead bodies, and even more men twitching and screaming after taking glancing hits. Two of those down were from his squad alone. Another three from the Americans, and the rest he couldn't tell. "What the hell were they even using in the first place?"

"Some type of magic swords that shoot energy or some shit." one of the Americans said. "All they need to do is point it at you and they can blast your ass. They proved a small problem in Iceland, as well as on the other side of Alpha Point. Lets just hope we don't encounter anymore of them."

"I doubt anything would've survived that," a Filipino Marine said. "But then again, there shouldn't have been anything left alive after the first bombardment."

"What this means is that we'll have to proceed with caution." this time he heard the familiar voice of Martin, the American he had met earlier. "Once we breach the wall, we'll be in the city proper, at which point we'll have to deal with urban fighting." armored vehicles moved forward, with Marine forces following closely behind. Every landing force had successfully hit the beach, and was making their way to the city walls. While each beach had met stubborn resistance from Immortals and even a mage which were found dead among the ruins of the forts and buildings, they now advanced almost unimpeded into the city.

"Alright men, let's get moving." he ordered his squad. As they breached the walls and began pressing forward into city streets, it looked as though they wouldn't meet any more organized resistance from the locals. While some buildings were flattened, the pilots had taken care not to carelessly bombard houses and shops holding civilians. Obvious military targets were erased however, as they soon came along the ruins of a building, which had dozens of pieces of armor and weapons strewn about the rubble. Practically no one was left on the city streets. Some Marines had found the occasional group of Legionaries hiding in alleyways, or in the back of carriages, and captured them without a fight.

"This is Deadly 1-3, we've got two hooded figures running between the buildings here, trying to flush them out!" Berrera heard from the attack helicopter pilot over his radio. The helicopter flew over and ahead of him, a few blocks up north, tracking whatever or whoever it was that was trying to escape. "Gonna try and OH SHIT!"

The helicopter jerked hard to the right, trying to escape a number of glowing projectiles that shot up into the air, turned, and shot down directly onto the helicopter. The explosion lit up the sky in a beautiful blue, green, and purple glow. Even in the afternoon sun, the bright display was beautiful. However he quickly snapped back to reality when he realized the helicopter, and its pilots, were now vaporized. Frantic shouting over the radio could be heard as all available helicopters swarmed over to the area.

"What the fuck was that?" one man shouted.

"Its gotta be one of those fucking mages we were warned about. Those bastards are said to have quite a few tricks up their sleeves." Corporal Martin said. "One of those bastards was among the rubble back on the beach. If I had to guess, he's the fucker who took out the Filipino Abrams. I say we hold position until-" he was cut off by a scream of ordinance bearing down on the block where the helicopter had been shot down. Thousands of feet above, drones had been monitoring the whole thing, and directed fighter bombers to drop their ordinance on top of the mage. Combined with an entire squadron of attack helicopters letting loose everything they had left, the area in which the mage had last been seen, was thoroughly destroyed, with thick dark smoke trailing from the area.

"Move up boys, we've got you covered from up here!" one of the other attack helicopters radiod in to them.

"You heard him, lets move, Marines!" Martin ordered. As his and Berrera's squad moved up, supported by two LAV-30's, and a Mexican Abrams, the soon found that the area in which the mage had resided, nothing was left standing. All they could find as they went through the streets was rubble and the occasional body part. Eventually, Martin came across an arm wrapped in a strange blue cloth. He had guessed it was the remains of the cloak he wore, as well as the only surviving portion of his body. "Deadly 1-1, we've confirmed KIA on the mage. Repeat, mage is KIA!"

"Roger that Corporal, thanks for getting confirmation. That son of a bitch got Williams and Rodriguez. Glad to know that sorry bastard got killed. Doesn't look like you can expect much more resistance throughout the city though. The remaining defenders are flying white flags and throwing down their weapons. The Chinese took down another mage on the beach, but aside from that, I'd say the city is ours now."

The helicopter then flew off northward to the outer edge of the city, joining the others in forming a perimeter around the city. Stereos hooked up to transport helicopters had been blasting down demands of surrender on the remaining Saderan forces throughout the city. That didn't mean all of the remaining legionaries surrendered. Some still tried ambushing Marines around the city, causing a few more casualties before getting put down. But as more aircraft flew over the city, and armored vehicles moved in the streets, their morale had completely given up. One by one, over 2,000 Saderan Legionaries came out from buildings, carriages, and even hiding in gardens and bath houses. It soon became apparent that their morale nearly collapsed when the coastal forts, barracks, and wyvern pens around the city were destroyed by an enemy they couldn't see. Soon the Marines around the city were dragging legionaries out of houses, herding them into groups, and keeping guard over them until appropriate transport could be arranged to send them back through Bravo Point.

"You what's fucked up about all of this?" Berrera said as he walked over to Martin, who was assisting in guarding a large group of legionaries. When Martin didn't give and answer and only shook his head, he continued. "If only all those poor bastards that died on the other side of Alpha Point were as smart as these guys are, many more mothers, wives, and children would be grieving over their loved ones. Estimates show that this is half the garrison surrendering to us. Aside from the Immortals and mages, these guys weren't nearly as fanatical as the rest we've fought.

"We did hammer these bastards from the air for hours on end, and finally brought in a landing force that completely shattered what was left of their defenders in less than a few minutes. At Alpha Point, they had to fight on the ground at relatively close range. Here we decimated their heavy units before we ever got within sight." Martin just sighed as he looked over at another squad of Marines herding more legionaries into the already large group in the center of the road. Among them was 1st Lieutenant, who made their way over to him.

"What's the situation looking like over here, Corporal?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Well sir, it could've been far worse. The initial beach landing was rougher than we liked, but we made it through. Lost three of mine on the beachhead to those magic fuckers. What about you sir?"

"Two of my men are dead, another wounded. Playing urban warfare in a cramped environment like this, against assholes trying to shove swords and spears into you isn't fun. One of our LAV-30's got cooked by that bastard who took down the helicopter. Same thing happened over on Red Beach, a Chinese LAV got shredded as it landed. Being honest though, we all thought this fight would've lasted longer."

"Well sir, we did paste them from the air pretty badly. That's gotta count for something."

"I can't argue there," he said as he looked over at the Saderan prisoners. "Still, feels weird having over half the garrison surrender to us. Either way, this fight's over for now. All we got to do is count the prisoners, gather our dead, and secure the perimeter of the city. We're not very far from the Imperial Capital, and word will reach quickly about this city being lost. They'll be liable to send a whole lot of men and dragons at us when they do."

"Yes sir," he said as he looked back and saw a convoy of IFV's rolling through the streets heading north, followed by dozens of lighter vehicles and infantry following closely behind. The sound of helicopter rotors above and the scream of jet engines intensified as a few more missiles streaked north, impacting some unknown targets.

"Its all over but the shouting, Corporal." the LT said as he watched the aircraft streak northward. "The city is ours and they don't have have in hell at taking it back. Within a week, this place will be more Marines here than you can shake a stick at. Once that's done, we'll Thunder Run our way straight to their capital, and make these sorry bastards pay for what they've done."

yes sir," once again, all Martin could do was nod his head up and down. He didn't doubt for a second how this war was going to play out. Within the next few months, the United Nations would emerge victorious over this new enemy. There was already 20,000 Marines storming the beaches here now, with close to 50,000 soldiers at Alpha Point. It wouldn't be much longer until that number surpassed 100,000 troops. All Martin could think in his head as he watched the seemingly never ending convoy of vehicles pass by, is why did this Empire invade Earth? Why and how did they think they could win? As he looked back at the Saderan legionaries, the looks on their faces said the same thing. Just one look at the fear in their eyes gave a pretty clear answer. They did not know, and neither did he.
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25 Days since the Battle of Alnus Hill

Allied Army Campsite

9 Miles south of Alnus Hill

Imperial Calender 687


The morning sun rose beautifully over the campsite of the Allied Armies. A total of 100,000 men awaited the orders to march to Alnus Hill, and fight this new otherwordly enemy that had invaded Falmart. For the kings and dukes inside the command tent, making their final preparations, the thought of what awaited them wore on their minds.

"The preparations are almost complete," King Reynald said. "Within the hour, our armies will march and do battle with this new enemy. We shall clash steel and regain our honor which was stolen from us by the Saderan Empire." he said those last words with disgust. Still reeling over the rebellion seven years ago, all those present hated how quickly they got brushed aside by Molt's new weapons. Since those fateful day, their armies haven't seen any fighting since then. Now they were being ordered to clean up a mess that Molt had blundered into, blinded by greed and power.

"Have our scouts reported anything new from the otherworld base? Any change in their numbers." the king of Mudwan asked.

"My scouts have reported that the corpses of the Flame Dragons have been moved," King Varialus said in reply. "From what they told me, they were moved in such a way as to make room for more fortifications. As to how the otherworlders moved it, and constructed forts so quickly, is still unknown to us. They also reported a sizeable increase in the number of soldiers atop the hill." What he said had unnerved those in the tent. What could possibly move the corpse of single Flame Dragon, let alone multiple? Even worse, the steady increase of troops was concerning as well. In ten days, 10,000 more troops had been brought in, and had built up even more fortifications.

"My Dark Elf scouts have reported similar things to me," Duran said. "They even report coming fairly close to otherworld scouts, who had noticed them, but decided not to pursue. They also reported on some strange flying chariots and arrowheads lifting off into the sky and flying in many directions. I still don't know what to make of that."

"Just what has Molt stepped into?," King Federyc of Toumaren said. "It seems the mighty Saderan Empire has finally bitten off more than it can chew." he said, his words filled with spite.

"Something isn't right about this," Mudwan's King said. "I have feeling were sent here to do nothing more than distract the otherworlders, and give Molt more time to figure out how to solve this mess." many in the tent had agreed with him. Hell, they knew this from the beginning, but disobeying the Emperor would only lead to their kingdoms suffering more from it as a result. At least here they could spare their kingdoms the reprisals of the Empire, and die a noble and honorable death. But before any of them could continue, a scout burst into the tent, panting heavily, and trying to stammer out something.

"M-my Lords, the-there is something-"

"Calm yourself son," Duran said as he approached the man. Outside he could hear men frantically running around and yelling to each other "What is going on? Are we under attack?"

"No sir, there is a large caravan of horseless carriages is waiting outside the campsite sir! The lead carriage is carrying a large white flag, sir! We think they might be coming to negotiate with us!" King Duran turned from the young man and looked at his fellow leaders. All of them worse puzzled expressions on their faces as they processed what they heard. This was something they hadn't expected. First because they never thought the enemy would even try to open talks with their armies. But the bigger concern was the speed at which they had supposedly arrived.

"My scouts got back barely an hour ago and never reported any such movements!" King Varialus said in astonishment. "How could they get here so fast?"

"I do not know my friend." was the only reply Duran could give. He honestly didn't know and wasn't expecting this to happen. He looked back at the scout, who had finally caught his breath, and was awaiting orders from his king. "We shall see what the otherworlders want. Go out to them, and allow their caravan into our camp. Keep the men on alert to any possible tricks. We'll see what it is that the otherworlders want." as he finished, the scout saluted Duran, and ran out of the tent.

"What do you make of this Duran?" King Reynard asked.

"I don't know. I highly doubt they've come to surrender, which means they may want to talk terms with us."

"Terms for our surrender most likely." Mudwan's king said.

"We aren't going to kill their messengers or diplomats. We'll see what they have to say and go from there." with that, Duran walked out of the tent, ready to meet these otherworlders face to face. He'd was ready to see what they were going to offer or demand of him and his allies. As the rest of the Kings and Dukes came outside to witness the arrival, they noticed a low rumbling noise that got louder as the caravan approached. As they looked closer, each carriage was painted a dark green, some with wheels, others with strange methods of moving that they couldn't comprehend.

"Just what are those beasts?" King Federyc said, not trying to hide the astonishment and terror in his voice. Half of these carriages had some strange cloth over the rear that flapped in wind, while the other half had some type of snouts, resting on some mount atop the carriage. Other small ones also appeared, which maneuvered around the rest of the caravan, strangely dressed soldiers poking out of the top, also with a strange snout next to them. They could count at least a dozen different carriages of different sizes. As the lead carriage came to a halt in front of the command tent, everyone braced themselves for what happened next.

A door on the side of it opened, and lowered to the ground like the gangplank of a ship. Like the others, men in green cloth and strange armor piled out, forming a perimeter around the caravan. Likewise, the snouts from them also shifted towards the allied soldiers that formed around them. Out from the lead carriage stepped three more individuals. The first one being a dark skinned female, which he mistook for a Dark Elf until noticing her ears weren't pointed. The next was man who's skin was slightly yellow, and eyes were more narrow than he'd ever seen. The last was a rather pale man, who's face was absent of all emotion.

"Would it be correct to assume you are King Duran?" the woman asked him, in very rough, but understandable Saderan. He looked back at his friends, all of which stared strongly at the sight before them.

"Yes, I am," he said somewhat unsure of what was happening. "And who might you be?

"My name is Agent Williams, of the United States, with me is Agent Sokolov of the Russian Federation, and Agent Zhao of the People's Republic of China. We're here to represent the United Nations of Earth, and wish to establish friendly relations with you and your countries." King Duran did a double take, as did the others present as he heard that. Some of them stared unknowing of what to say. Others began to laugh at what she said.

"And why should we trust you?" Duran questioned. "You are invading our world with your armies, why should we make peace with you?" the woman tapped her ear, seemingly speaking to someone who wasn't there. She then turned and looked back at the carriage she and her companions came from.

"Perhaps he can convince you of why," she said as she stepped aside. Out from the metal carriage came a face he never thought he'd ever see again. The middle aged, blonde man stepped out into the sun, and looked directly at his old friend.

"Count Formal!"
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Unknown Location, Southwest of the continent of Falmart

"I've heard some rather interesting tales from some of the merchants who traveled from the Wonnoa kingdom, on the southern tip of the Falmartian continent." Alex Wise told his compatriot as they entered the nearby tavern.

"I thought I told you to stop listening to those fools. They are either drunk out of their minds or spinning tall tales to earn more gold." his friend, Edward Worley, told him. "What stories have they managed to convince you of?

"Not necessarily convinced me of, but are interesting either way."

"Before you tell me tall tales," he paused and looked around for a waiter. Soon enough, his eyes found prey. "Excuse me, miss, two pints of ale for me and my friend if you would be so kind!" he politely asked the rabbit eared waitress who was nearby.

"Two pints coming right up," she responded cheerfully.

"I'm glad I finally found you, haven't seen you weeks old friend!" Worley said as he slapped Wise on the shoulder. "Now tell me, what have you been up to lately?"

"Aside from making my father proud by joining our Defense Corps, spending most of my free time in the library researching old history." a sly smirk appeared across Worley's face at the mention of the library.

"Still trying to bed the librarian? The blonde elf, not the short old goblin, I mean." the last comment made Wise chuckle slightly.

"I wish, but luck is not on my side just yet," he paused, eying the rabbit girl who came to drop off their pints. "Thank you darling!" he said as he picked up his mug and threw back nearly the whole pint."

"A few more of those and I'd say you'll be ready to ask the librarian to bed." Worley laughed, while Wise turned red in the face upon hearing that. "Relax mate, I'm only kidding around. I've seen the way she looks at you, so it won't be much longer before you'll have her." he assured Wise.

"Sooner rather than later hopefully, my father told me next stop after joining the Defense Corps is to get a wife. Although I told him that's going to have to wait."

"Thinking of the next generation is always important. Can't rely on our location to always keep us safe. We'll always need new citizens, and new soldiers from them. But enough of that, what stories have you so intrigued my good friend?"

"Stories that revolve around what stories our fathers had told us. And their fathers before them, and those before them. How they had looked to the skies, and saw that no dragons lived there. They searched high and low, and found none in all the secret places of the Earth. To make up for this absence, man built dragons of iron and steel. Unfortunately, man built his dragons too well, and when the real dragons appeared, they were no match for man's steel dragons." Worley gave Wise a rather quizzical look as he finished speaking.

"What in the blazes are you going on about? Were you already drunk before coming here?"

"What I'm trying to tell you is that we may have answers to where our forefathers came from. We know they travelled a far distance away from Imperial territory when they arrived in this world. How they arrived, and how they came here is unknown, but they did. A great many more came upon these lands over the years, some looking very similar, others not so much. Some carrying the same flags as our forefathers, others not. Despite the many differences held by them, they came together in this world, and built a new nation, away from the Empire, and all who wished them harm."

"Yes, I know about the history regarding how our nation came to be, how sailors from many nations became stranded here, and forced to put aside their differences to survive." he replied impatiently. "What the hell does this have to do with anything?" he noticed Wise reach into his bag he always carried around with him. From inside, he pulled out a folded piece of red, white, and blue cloth that looked very familiar. His eyes went wide in astonishment as Wise stood up and unfolded the flag, holding it from end to end. The flag he was holding bared a striking resemblance to one of the flags flown around the island. Thirteen stripes of red and white, with a large number of white stars in a blue square near the top corner.

"Where in the devil did you find this?" he said, not taking his eyes off the flag.

"Merchants who did business with soldiers of the Saderan Empire. From what they told me, it was the loot they brought back with them from their latest conquests. I wasn't the only one who was with these merchants when it occurred. Izuki, Meyer, and Golay were with me. We bought all the flags they carried that bore resemblance to our own."

"Who else knows about this?" Worley asked.

"We're preparing to bring these flags, and the stories we've heard to town hall. Hopefully they'll listen to us, and we can finally solve the mystery of where our ancestors came from, and if its possible to find them."

"Then let us waste no time," Worley said as he smacked a handful of silver coins on the table, more than enough to cover the cost of the drinks purchased, much to the appreciation of the waitress, and ran out of the tavern. As they ran towards the town hall, seven flags flew atop the Governor's house. The flags that had been made to match the flags of their ancestors that arrived in this world. A red, white, and blue tricolor; thirteen striped flag with 48 stars; a white flag with a red circle in the center; a red flag with a black cross running down the center that held a white circle, with a strange cross with the arms bent at right angles; a white flag with a blue stripe on the bottom, with a red star on the left, and a harpe and hammer on the right; a red cross on a blue background with white around it; and a blue flag, with the later flag on the top left corner, and a shield in the center.

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Realm of the Gods

DAMN YOU HARDY!" Zufmuut yelled in anger at the Goddess of the Underworld. "It is because of your carelessness that you have brought a force to this world that not only will likely leave it in ruin, but a force that has forced us to sit by an watch!" Such behavior from the God of Light and Order was very unusual, but he was beyond pissed.

"Indeed, if it wasn't for me personally having to close that other gate you opened on the southern continent, the forces unleashed in our world would've not only destroyed each other, but the world as well!" Wareharun said angrily. "And even then, over two thousand of those strange beings remain, tearing through everything they come across, including my apostle!"

"Your childish antics have cost this world dearly, even by our standards. Especially after what the otherworlders did in the Blue Sea." Duncan said. "If the mages of Rondel can learn from the otherworld, they will gain the ability to learn nuclear fusion! We cannot allow this to happen! Our world will become a wasteland as both sides destroy one another."

"I don't hear any of you complaining to Elange or Ral about how many times they brought otherworlders here? All those ships and strange metal dragons laying around our world, from all the times they brought people here with technology that didn't belong." she said smugly.

"Don't you dare drag us into this you vile bitch!" Ral snarled. Those we brought, as well as their descendants are all isolated from the main powers in our world, and were even warned so long ago. They've happily stayed within the boundaries of the islands they live on, and have never moved outward."

"Suffice to say, you've completely and utterly destroyed the balance this world held." Deldort said as he looked off into nothingness.

"Now it shall know a new balance." a new voice said. They all froze, turning to the source of the voice they heard, curious as to where it came from. As they did, they saw an old man standing before them. He was pale white, his hear all grey, and his face showing pain. Not physical pain, but as they looked into his eyes, they could tell his pain was psychological.

"You again?" Emroy said in surprise.

"The weapons you saw unleashed in your world were the culmination of my work when I still lived. I helped devise it as to end the bloodiest war we had ever fought amongst ourselves. These same weapons proved to be our salvation when our enemy from the stars came and attacked us. I often remember a sacred text that I always think of when remembering my time alive, when I worked to develop this terrible weapon. Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." the man said before disappearing in a flash of light. Just as soon as he came, he was gone. And for the beings that fancied themselves as gods, felt a very human chill run up their spines at what he had told them.
 
That escalated quickly.Unless Saderan gets more monsters,mages and modern weapons,they are done.
If they become smart and use small groups of immortals with one mage to attack Earth forces,they would delay their demise,but not change.
What next ? i think,you should made slice-of life about catgirls and marines.Or nation-building.Maybe both ?

Or next danger ? i once read "Krakens wake" by John Wyndham - excellent book,by the way - and you could use locals powerfull like aliens from that story.That kind of thread would be really serious even to your Earth.
Those aliens lived in sea and sink all ships using sonic weapons,here they could do the same.

Maybe mages capable of teleport magic ? all they need would two people - one teleport,one fire mage - to teleport among Earth forces,kill few and retreat.

Another problem - Putin is loosing Syberia,and western Europe is overtaken by muslims.There should be much smaller Russia,and European caliphate,not states as strong as in 2020.

Please continue.
 
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Chapter 19: A Desperate Gamble
God damn, I really have neglected coming back here, haven't I? Oh well, here's my next few chapters that I forgot to put here.

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25 Days since the Battle of Alnus Hill

Allied Army Campsite

9 Miles South of Alnus Hill

Imperial Calendar 687


They listened for what felt like an eternity. They listened intently as the Count explained everything to the Kings and Dukes of the Allied Kingdoms. The failed expedition into the otherworld, the near total destruction of the legions sent forward, his subsequent capture and imprisonment, the treatment he received while their prisoner, all leading up to the capture of Alnus Hill by the United Nations. Their holding of Alnus was the only reason the Allied Kingdoms were sent to fight against them. Count Formal used his own words to the best of his ability, and where that failed, the agents who escorted him assisted. Using a device they called a "projector", they displayed all the battles fought against the Empire. First in their world, then atop Alnus, and then the port of Proptor. When the projection ended, and the light was let back into the tent, the Count could see that the color had drained from the faces of his friends.

They just stared at the United Nations soldiers in their tent, who packed up the strange device, and walked out of the tent. The expressions of horror written across their faces as the Flame Dragons fell to their weapons, was the same thing on his when he first saw one of the mighty beasts slain by the flying ships of the United Nations. Most of them were questioning what they had seen, and just what had the Empire angered. Seeking to break the silence, it was Agent Sokolov who spoke first.

"Just in case you believe this to be a trick, just look at the three Flame Dragons that lay dead, rotting near the Hill." he said, his rough voice snapping everyone out of their trance like state.

"What do you want from us?" Duran said, trying his hardest to keep his composure after seeing what they had shown him.

"We want you to leave," quickly came the reply, this time from Agent Liu. "Our war is with the Empire, not your countries. You have done nothing to earn either our anger nor scorn. There is no reason for you to suffer because of some shortsighted, ignorant, and greedy emperor."

"Us having to kill tens of thousands of soldiers brings us no joy, especially soldiers from nations that have done us no harm." Smith said. "It harms all the wives who'll lose their husbands, mothers lose their sons, and children lose their fathers. We've already killed a great many soldiers, and very likely many more will follow. Your countrymen don't have to suffer such a fate."

"She speaks the truth, Duran," Count Formal said. "Hell, all of you listen to them. After everything I told you, everything they showed you, do you really believe that if they wanted to fight you, that you'd win? They have no quarrel with any of your countries, just Molt and his rotten Empire! Yes, they have a powerful army, but they don't seek to crush everything they see! They have no reason to attack your kingdoms if you don't attack them!"

"If we turn back, then who's to say the Emperor won't finish us off with his Flame Dragons." King Federyc said, turning to face the Agents. "He'll do the same to all kingdoms like he did with mine. You have the means to kill Molt's abominations, we don't, so I fail to see why us retreating would do us any good."

"That's why we offer an alliance with you," Sokolov replied. "While the details can be worked out over the next few days, we wish to enter an economic and defensive partnership with you. We can guarantee your sovereignty, and the Empire, no matter how angry, would have to get through our forces to get to your kingdoms. All we ask in return is access to certain resources in specific areas. Aside from protection, we offer trade with our world, which will greatly improve the lives of both yourselves and your peoples. All that we ask is you don't attack us, and let us pursue our war with the Empire. You have no reason to pay with your lives for actions you had no control over, nor committed."

The Kings and Dukes in the tent began muttering amongst themselves, debating over whether or not to accept the deal being offered to them. Some where worried about letting such a force into their kingdoms, while others argued that trying to resist may give the otherworlders a reason to use force, and destroy them.

"What exactly are you after in our territories?" King Duran asked. "Gold, silver, and copper are important for our economy, and we aren't looking to pay tribute to another Empire."

"Not at all," Smith quickly replied. "While gold, silver, and copper are certainly useful in our world. those aren't the resources we're after. In fact, the resources we're after aren't ones you people use at all. We don't expect tribute from you either, just establishment of friendly relations, and trade agreements to be established with our governments."

"And what exactly do you have to offer in return for access to trade in our lands?" King Reynard asked.

"While the list of what we offer is very long, we offer more advanced tools to farm crops and tend to livestock, something we believe will help relieve the burden on your peasants, and improve crop yields." Agent Liu said.

"We also offer better means of cleanliness for your people's, medicines that can cure nearly any ailment, clothing better suited for the climate, access to traders from our world, and even access to some of our weapons, so you may defend yourselves in the future without completely relying on us." the latter had caught their attention. Agent Smith wasn't lying when she said that, however she wasn't going into full details. Older model rifles, such as the British SA80, German G36, American M16's, and older AK rifles were being dragged from storage, as well as appropriate ammunition for them. Nothing too dangerous, and given the current situation for the Empire, more than enough to allow the vassal kingdoms to defend themselves in they try sending a Legion or two as retribution. "That's all we can say for now, unless your willing to deal with us, in which case we ask you to stay for the next few days, so our diplomats can work out agreements with your kingdoms."

Duran looked around at his fellow Kings, all of them waiting for him to make the decision. A decision that would decide the fate of all those in the tent. He looked towards Reynard, towards Rigu, and the others. None of them said a word, just waiting for Duran to make the final decision. He then looked at Count Formal, who's eyes told him that if he didn't agree, he'd spend the rest of his time living regretting it.

"Very well, we'll speak with your people, and we won't attack your forces atop Alnus Hill." he said putting forth his hand. One by one, the three agents shook, and the soldiers in the tent, looked greatly relieved by this, as did the various kings and nobles. Now there was one less threat to worry about, and another ally to have in this new world. No unnecessary bloodshed would occur, which is exactly what Emperor Molt had wanted. He'd sent them to die, to by time for his Empire to figure out what to do. Now, like with his previous plans, that too had failed.

Port city of Proptor, Falmart

April 20th, 2081

1400 Hours


"Line those bastards against the fucking wall now!" Eric Jansen heard an Italian Marine yell. About 20 feet away, he saw Guliwe walking towards him, a worn out expression plastered across her face. She made her way over the L-ATV parked next to him, dropped her medical bag, and sat down against the tire, her head in her hands.

"You look like shit, Guliwe! What the hell's going on over here?" he said as he knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"One day," she muttered. "We've been here less than a damn day, and we've run so many rape kits on the surviving citizens that we've run out of testing kits, and are waiting on more to be brought in. I just got back from comparing one of the DNA samples taken from a legionary to a kit ran on a 13 year old girl." she stopped, not wanting to go on any further.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," was all he could say as he ran his hand through his messy hair. He looked over at the Italian and German marines herding a group of legionaries against a wall, a wall riddled with bullet holes. "Let me guess, those bastards had DNA that matched some of the people we rescued?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied while nodding her head. "237 matches so far, and their executing every rapist they find. Quite fitting if you ask me, considering what they've put these folks through."

"I won't argue with you there, just makes me wonder how many we'll be putting against a wall by the time all the tests are taken."

"Far too many if you ask me," a passing German soldier said. "The more we keep lining up, the more victims we'll have. These people have already been through hell, let's just hope the number dies down, and we can get on with our real objective here." as he finished speaking, gunshots went off in the direction of the Italian and German marines. Jansen and Guliwe looked over, and saw a dozen corpses fall to the ground in a heap. They were picked up, tossed in a pile next to an alleyway, and more legionaries were brought up to take their place. However another noise, one different from the gunshots that were being heard around the city, filled their ears.

"Papa!" they heard a young boy shout. Looking to their left, they saw a women and a young boy trying to get past the soldiers on the street, and to the legionaries being lined up. They were very quickly stopped by some MP's who ran in front of them.

"Quo ducis ei?" the woman yelled, tears running down her face as she tried to get past the MP's, who were having none of it.

"Sit papa ire!" the transators were barely able to make out anything of the Saderan language, but this they could understand. One of the legionaries being lined against the wall, was the boy's father. He tried and tried to reach his father, but it was to no avail. One of the Italians let out a grim laugh before turning to the kid.

"Your father is a rapist, son," he told the kid, who was crying and thrashing in the grip of the MP's. "Trust me, the world is far better off without scum like him." he finished, turning back to the rest of his men, they leveled their rifles at the legionaries, and opened fire. The legionaries slumped to the ground, lifeless like the others. The MP's let go of the mother and son, who ran over to the deceased soldier. Both cried uncontrollably, and the mother throwing curses at the soldiers in a language they didn't understand.

"Let's start getting these bodies cleared out of here," one of the Germans said. "One hell of a biohazard if we let them rot in the street."

"Sucks to be that dude's wife and son," Jansen said to no one in particular.

"They are better off without him." Guliwe said, a tired expression still across her face. It was barely past noon and she looked as if she was done with it all.

"You need a break," he said picking up her bag and hauling her to her feet. "The Americans and Germans have already set up one of those PX things they love so much. Come on, I'll take you to the one they've got set up on the beach." he said practically dragging her by the arm.

"We've still got wounded civilians to take care of, and I-"

"The Europeans and Canadians just brought fresh units of medical officers and supplies when they arrived with us this morning." he interrupted her. "They can handle it while your gone. I don't need to make it an order, do I?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"No, not really," she conceded. They walked towards the beachhead that was set up from the invasion the previous day. Already there was at least a dozen or so shipping containers, all of which were here for the sole purpose of providing snacks, drinks, and other luxury items to the soldiers and marines currently deployed. One of them included a container that was practically as small kitchen. It served hot food from a popular American fast food chain. He paid for their lunch and they went and sat down in the recreation area set up for troops to rest in.

"This was isn't going to last much longer," Jansen said as he took a sip of soda. "We've taken the best the Empire has and spit them out without too much trouble. Now we're a stone's throw from their capital city, and it won't be long before they thunder run the city."

"I'm just worried about all those missing people that have been in this world since before Christmas. There's alot of people we have to find and bring home, in mental states just as bad, or even worse than those we've found here."

"With how many soldiers are going to be patrolling this continent, there won't be a single stone left unturned. We'll find them all, don't you worry." he said reassuringly. He was certain they'd find all those the Saderans had kidnapped. It might take a while, even a year or more, but the United Nations resolved to eradicate slavery in this world, come hell or high water. They would free those who were stolen from Earth, and they'd make sure that whoever took them, would pay a dear price. Guliwe looked up at him and smiled.

"Are you always such an optimist?" she said playfully.

"I mean, would either of our nations be here today if we weren't optimistic about the future? Would we have built our nations in the ashes of old corrupt South African government, who sought to drive both of our people's out of the lands we lived?" she shrugged at that.

"I guess not, but it is always a good idea to plan for the worst just in case."

"I won't argue with you on that. Besides, if there's a single good thing to come out of this, besides from this truly testing our world's unity, is that I got to meet you." a smile smile grew across her face as he said that, prompting his own in return.

"You do know we were both stationed at the same base, right?" she said smiling. "Who's to say we wouldn't have met there?"

"Well for one, without the Saderan knocking on our front door, we wouldn't have been mobilized, and I was likely to get put on a different base to assist in training new recruits. You just recently got stationed at the base. Even assuming I didn't leave, its unlikely our paths would've crossed, and even if they did, nothing much would have come of it."

"So this is your idea of a date then? Ask a girl out in the middle of a combat zone?"

"Well it worked didn't it?" he said sheepishly.

"I guess it did," she admitted. "Your lucky that I like you, otherwise I wouldn't have gone for all of this."

"I'll guess that makes me special."

"You're definitely special." she said rolling her eyes.

"Oh I'm hurt!" he said as he put a hand to his chest, feigning a broken heart.

"I can actually hurt you if you don't knock it off." she said cracking her knuckles.

"You can't threaten me with a good time." he shot back. She laughed in response.

"You really are something else, aren't you?" she said as she got up and put her kit back on. "Tell you what, depending on how the rest of my day goes, we can try again later tonight, and maybe you can learn how strong I really am." she said with a wink before departing. As she strode off, she walked off in a far more exaggerated manner, showing off what she had to Jansen as she went back to her duty.

"God damn I really am lucky aren't I?" he asked to no one.

Imperial Palace, Sadera

Falmart, Special Region

Imperial Calendar 687


"AAAARGH!" Molt yelled as he threw his wine glass towards the wall of his chambers. The news of the Empire's latest defeat reached Sadera rather quickly. The otherworld armies had taken the Port of Proptor, a major trade hub, and the largest naval base in the Empire. Hell, it was the only naval base they had. Now it was in the hands of the enemy, his fleet destroyed, and Tiberius yet to return from his mission in the Glass Sea. Upon hearing the news from messengers who raced from the city, he immediately summoned his commanders to his chambers. Now stood Grand Mage Godasen, Commander Germanicus of the Immortals, his son's, Zorzal and Diabo, and his daughter, Pina, alongside dozens of legionaries and Immortals both. "How dare they think they can land on our shores, and be but a stones throw from the Imperial Capital!"

"This insult to Saderan power must not be allowed to go unpunished, Father!" Zorzal said, a look of anger present. "What do you suggest we do against the otherworld forces occupying the port, and the fleet they've amassed offshore?"

"My brother is right, the enemy is now practically on our doorstep!" Pina proclaimed. "We must act swiftly if we're to stop them from advancing any further!"

"For once, I agree with Pina. What do you suppose we do father?" he watched as his father closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to think of a way to throw back the otherworld attackers. After a while, he opened his eyes and spoke.

"We have lost much to these otherworlders. To compensate for our losses, I ordered the vassal kingdoms to march on Alnus Hill, and take the fight to them there. It will distract them long enough, and rid us of the vassals who will certainly seek to rebel once more. But we still have considerable power at our disposal. That's why I've decided on this course of action. Commander Germanicus?"

"Yes your majesty!" the Immortal Commander replied.

"You will lead a legion's worth of 5,000 Immortals, with your wyvern mounts, and attack the enemy force at Proptor. The rest of your soldiers will stay here to defend the capital, as well as the small garrison you have at Italica. The rest march will march with you."

"It shall be done." he said.

"Grand Mage Godasen?"

"Yes your majesty?"

"You are to take your best mages, alongside 50 of the ogres, and the Father Flame Dragon, bestow them with the strongest enchantments you can possibly cast, and join Germanicus in his assault on the enemy at Proptor." as the worlds left his mouth, those in the room went wide eyed at what they heard Molt say. He was sending Sadera's best units, the same units that are responsible with defending the city itself, to fight the enemy who was threatening them.

"Let me join the attack father!" Zorzal said, further surprising his siblings. "Just like how I led the conquest against the Warrior Bunnies, I shall lead this one. And like before, I will lead our armies to a glorious victory against the enemy." Molt thought it over for a moment before giving his son permission.

"Very well Zorzal, you shall lead alongside Germanicus in his assault."

"Thank you father!"

"And Pina, I have a special assignment for you!" he said turning to face her. "You and your Rose Knights will reinforce the Italican garrison, alongside the 13th Legion. You must ensure that the city does not fall, do you understand?"

Y-yes father, I understand!" Pina was at a loss for words. Before this crisis, her Rose Order was treated as nothing more than a ceremonial color guard, never meant to be put into battle. But all that changed with the opening of the Gate, and the subsequent invasion from the otherworlders. For as shocked as she was, she knew this was her chance to prove that the Rose Knights were more than just children from influential families, but actual soldiers. She had a duty to fulfill, and she would do it.

"Then let's not waste anymore time," Molt said rising to his feet. "The longer we wait, the more time our enemy has to prepare to attack us here. As soon as all preparations are made, we shall march to Proptor, and take the city back from the otherworlders!"

Port City of Proptor

April 26th, 2081

0600 Hours


In the week following the seizure of the Port of Proptor, over 10,000 more soldiers and marines had arrived, along with more weapons and equipment to fortify the area. Three defensive phase lines were set up in and around the city. The first one was Phase Line Alpha, which was right on the northern section of the port. Fortifications, artillery batteries, surface to air missile systems, self propelled anti air guns, and mortars were scattered around the area, daring anyone to attack. Phase Line Bravo, 1,500 meters north, was the secondary defensive point, with even more tanks and armored vehicles, was established. Phase Line Charlie, the outermost defensive zone, was set up just atop a hill 3,000 meters north of the city, overlooking the plains that led to the Imperial Capital of Sadera. Landmines, mortar teams, and tanks sat atop the hill on overwatch, on the lookout for any possible counterattack. But that was no longer the case today, as thousands of United Nations soldiers and marines watched the entire hill get engulfed in flames. Burning vehicles rolled down the hill, some occupants still alive inside, but most rolling down aimlessly.

The Saderan Empire had launched a counterattack on UN forces in the early hours of the morning. Reconnaissance drones had spotted them from far out, and artillery and aircraft were sent to wipe them out. But they failed. An army of over 5,000 Immortals, backed by 50 ogres, over 100 wyverns, and numerous mages marched forwards towards their position. But that wasn't the worst thing about the invading force coming their way. Something far more terrifying was accompanying them, and nothing they had was stopping it.

Explosions shook the ground and lit up the sky as UN forces in Proptor were fighting for their lives. it had been barely a week since they had taken the port city, and had since established a perimeter. Now they were under attack by a Saderan force that was by far more powerful than the armies of the United Nations met on Alnus Hill. Blue lightning shot up into the sky, creating a terrifyingly beautiful display of lights in the atmosphere. Every single naval ship off the coast was pouring fire onto the abomination that was slowly walking its way towards the city. Hundreds of aircraft took to the sky loaded to the brim with everything they had, supporting the thousands of marines and soldiers fighting desperately to hold the ground.

"God dammit, we can't hold them back! There's to many of-Ahhhh!"

"The landmines are barely fucking slowing them down!"

"All units fall back, I say again, fall back to Phase Line Bravo, over!"

"This is Badger 1-1, we can no longer hold this position, I repeat we cannot hold our ground. Falling back to Phase Line Bravo, over!"

"This is Deadly 1-1, 1-4 and 1-7 are down, I say again, 1-4 and 1-7 are down. Enemy has unknown anti air capabilities and we can't get through that damn shield to knock them out.

"Nothing we have is breaking that fucking shield! Where the hell are the railguns!"

"Fury 1-8 reporting no effect on target! Repeat, ASM fire is ineffective against the target, over!"

"Mosin 2-5 here, were on the way to provide air support, standby!"


As Antonio Berrera listened in over the radio, it seemed as if the world was ending. A cacophony of explosions filled his ears as the artillery batteries fired nonstop, hoping to stop the enemy force closing in. He watched as multitude of tanks and armored vehicles drove northward, heading to join those on Phase Line Alpha and Bravo. Around him and his squad, dozens of men carrying guided anti tank rockets and anti air launchers raced alongside the vehicles. Mortar crews worked overtime sending round after round overhead, impacting into the formation that was moving ever so steadily closer to them.

"Target distance 3,000 meters, at 10 O'clock!" An American Lieutenant screamed into his radio as another another marine next to him sent another anti tank rocket downrange towards its target. A spotter who was positioned up ahead ran back and reported the situation to the Lieutenant.

"No effect on target! No effect!" the lance Corporal reported with fear written across his face. The young officer on the radio could only nod in affirmation as he reported the situation to command.

"No effect, I say again, no effect on the target, over!" the Lieutenant screamed, before looking over at a nearby Captain. asking him for orders. "What the hell are we doing sir?"

"Our mission Lieutenant, assuming we can't break those fucking shields, is to delay their advance long enough for our ships in the port to pull out with all the noncoms, now keep firing!" he screamed as another tank drove past him, its cannon roaring, sending another 120mm round downrange.

"Mosin 2-5 here, all units open fire!" He heard over the radio as a loud hovering sound broke in over the frantic screams and barks of orders. As Berrera looked up, multiple squadrons of attack helicopters flew overhead in a tight, but spread out formation. All at once, they let rip with everything they had, flashes erupting from the rocket pods and thousands of pounds of ordinance screamed towards its intended target.

He then looked forward, towards the source of all the pandemonium occurring. The entirety of Phase Line Charlie was burning, the hill covered with flames, and from it, a massive shape tearing through it, exposing itself, and its gigantic size. A Flame Dragon, far larger than any encountered before, with a bright blue aura around its body, was making its way closer and closer to UN lines. As each missile, artillery round, and tank shell hit the beast, only a white flash erupted as they made impact with the shield. Berrera could only look on in horror as the best weapons in their arsenal, was doing nothing to the beast. UN forces that survived the destruction of Phase Line Charlie, made a disorganized retreat from the hill, both on foot, and from the vehicles. The subsequent sweep from the Flame Dragon fire breath took down a great many of them however.

"God fucking dammit, nothing we have can get through that shield!" he heard one of his countrymen yell as he reloaded his guided missile launcher.

"With how long we've been hammering them, if those shields don't go down soon, we're fucked!" a Boer infantryman said as he rushed forward with a Javelin launcher. Like the others, he took aim, locking onto the beast, and letting rip. The missile hit its mark, but did no damage to it. Looking up in the sky, they saw a glowing projectile hit an attack helicopter, sending it spiraling out of control, and slamming into the ground. "Hell, our fucking D-30 batteries overheated their barrels, and can't fire now!"

"Same thing with our pieces, and all of our fucking tanks were at Phase Line Charlie, so what's over here is what's left of us!" Berrera screamed back in reply.

"Our T-90's and APV's are moving up now, but that's all the support we've got left on our end!" he yelled back. Before either could continue, more lightning shot up into the sky, but this time at the Flame Dragon. Looking behind them, seven elves were rushing towards their lines. Three blonde ones and four dark skinned, all using their magic against the beast. When their abilities struck home, they noticed it temporarily shorted out the area of the shield it hit. This gave Bererra an idea.

"Hey!" he yelled towards the older blonde male. He turned towards him, to which Berrera gave a hand gesture to come closer. "Do you think you can hit it in the neck with your magic?" he asked, barely able to hear his own words over the sounds of cannon and tank fire. The elf looked back up, squinted his eyes, and turned back.

"I will try." was all he said before leaping back into the fight.

"Target its goddamn neck!" Berrera screamed towards his squad members who had launchers. The elf fired off his magic, striking the beast in the neck, causing it to flinch. Berrera gave the order to fire, and two anti tank rockets left their launch tubes, and streaked straight towards the dragon. One hit below the hole in the shield, but the other hit home. It blew a chunk of scales off the creature, before it turned towards the source, a look of anger visible in its eyes. This was noticed by many on the battlefield, and soon those on the field were concentrating their fire on the spots the elves attacked. Soon a few of the elves began attacking the main force that was steadily getting closer to Phase Line Bravo. Land mines had taken their toll, but the aura over them had not dissipated. The elves saw this and went into action. However, right as they did, the aura soon exploded in a ball of white light, and when it was gone, the army marching under its cover, was now exposed.

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Zorzal watched with sadistic glee as the magical shield protecting the Father Flame Dragon held against the otherworld weapons. He had asked his father to let him lead the attack against the otherworld armies. Those who had dared get so close to the Imperial Capital, and think they would not be punished for it. His force, consisting of the Dragon itself, 5,000 Immortals, 150 of their enchanted wyvern mounts, and 50 Ogres were marching towards the port of Proptor. Behind them, Grand Mage Godasen, alongside mages Cato El Altestan, and Mimoza La Mer, the most powerful mages in the Empire, were using every bit of power they had to endure the battle would be an Imperial victory. Godasen personally projected the aura over the Flame Dragon, while Cato and Mimoza projected a large barrier over Zorzal and his army, further shielding them from the cowardly long ranged attacks the otherworlders were so fond of.

"Nothing they have can stop us now!" He said with a maniacal smile on his face. Numerous flashes of light erupted along the barrier, but nothing broke through. They steadily approached the outer defenses the otherworlders had hastily constructed. Their might steel elephants and staffs did nothing to stop his advance. "Commander, shatter their lines and leave no survivors!" He ordered to the Immortal Commander marching alongside him.

"It shall be done your highness!" The man replied in a voice devoid of any emotion. He lifted his sword up in the air, and slashed it down, signaling for his soldiers to charge forward into the enemy lines. This also meant they'd leave the safety of the magical barrier above them as they did, but the distance wasn't far. Many otherworld soldiers attempted to retreat, while their carriages and elephants continued to spat fire into their ranks. Many Immortals fell, but they closed ranks quickly.

"Now I shall have my own fun!" Zorzal chuckled as he leapt forward, his ornate red armor also enchanted to provide additional speed and protection. He looked around for targets that best suited his interests, and he soon found it. A small group of soldiers in a formation around another soldier. However this one did not carry a staff. Instead he carried something slumped over his shoulder, which was pointed in their direction. He darted towards their direction, their weapons doing nothing to his enchanted armor. As he and his Immortals got close, they cut them down, one by one, until only the soldier in the center was left.

"Die you son of a bitch!" The man screamed in a language he didn't understand. He dropped the strange device that was slung over his shoulder, and pulled out a smaller staff in a thigh holster. It didn't matter. He thrusted the sword into the mans stomach, and yanked it out violently. He collapsed into a heap, almost certainly dead. Satisfied, he savored the sight before him, until he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"My liege, the first line of defense has been destroyed." The Immortal Commander informed. "All otherworld forces are dead or in retreat."

"Very good, now let's move on and destroy all that remains of these barbarians!" He ordered. Looking back at the device dropped by the soldier, he tilted it up slightly, looking directly into a dark reflective surface on the end, before laughing, and tossing it down. His forces had now overrun the outer perimeter of the otherworlder defenses, and he watched from atop the hill as the survivors retreated chaotically down the hill towards the next line. Once again he let out a sadistic laugh, knowing full well how this battle was going to end. As the Immortals advanced forward, he noticed random eruptions on the ground they walked on. It was said that the otherworlders would plant strange devices into the ground that would explode if you stepped on them. He was seeing far more of these devices take down his soldiers than he liked, but they did nothing to the ogres, or the few mages in his ranks, which were attacking the flying pegasi.

"Your highness, there may be a problem," one of the mages alongside him said, pointing to the Flame Dragon. Magical lightning, typical of what high elves were capable of, were slamming into the beast. His eyes widened as he saw that they left holes in the shield over it, and otherworlder weapons were hitting the dragon.

"WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM!" he roared angrily at the mage, who stepped back a few paces.

"It would seem from within the city itself, or just outside of it, far from where we are now." the mage told him. Zorzal just snarled and pushed past the man, gripping his sword tighter than usual. He wouldn't let these otherworlders, or those damn knife eared traitors get away with this. He'd kill them all with his bare hands if he needed to. But as he advanced further, and further, a flash of bright light blinded him momentarily. When he opened his eyes, the shield over them was gone. When he realized what had happened sunk in, explosions started engulfing his forces.

He felt a hand grab him, and pull him back. Two mages cast an aura around him, threw him atop a carriage that was with them, and they began to flee. However it was for naught, as an explosion erupted nearby them, sending the cart on its side. When Zorzal came to, he tried to run. He stripped his armor off and cast down his sword, fleeing the destruction behind him. But as he kept running hearing the screams of pain from his guards and mages as they were cut down, a mysterious figure in black armor appeared in front of him out of nowhere, and punched him directly in his jaw.

"You killed my son!" the man snarled. "Now get up and fight me you fucking coward!" the man said as he jerked Zorzal up by his shirt, before cocking his right arm back and delivering yet another blow to the dazed prince. He stumbled backward, regained his footing, and threw a punch towards this strange warrior. The man easily dodged it, grabbing his arm in the process, pulling it behind Zorzal's back, and slamming his elbow down on it, breaking it. His right arm dangling useless to his side, Zorzal tried desperately to get away from the man, but to no avail. The black armored soldier kicked him hard in the side of his knee, blowing out his knee with a sickening crack, and tearing every muscle and ligament in his right leg. If you were to try and stand Zorzal up, his leg would dangle, bent at an angle, unable to move.

"N-no, get away from me!" he cried as he tried crawling away from the man. As he looked forward, he saw the otherworld soldier he had killed earlier, and the strange device he had dropped. The same device who's black eye was staring directly at him. Zorzal was flipped on his back, and the man threw himself onto his knees, and delivered blow after blow to the Imperial Prince. Crack after slickening crack could be heard as Zorzal was beat down continuously, without mercy from the soldier. His vision faded in and out as blood pooled across his face. His left eye was ruptured, a side effect from the metallic glove that covered the soldiers hand. All his teeth were broken, and his mouth filling with blood. All he could do was whimper as the man cocked his arm back one more time, ready to finish the prince off, but was stopped as two more black armored soldiers grabbed him, and pulled him off.

"Elias, he's had enough, get off of him!" one of them yelled.

"Dammit Rorke, he killed my boy! He killed Logan!" the soldier yelled, trying to break free from his comrades.

"No he didn't Elias, he's still alive!" was all Zorzal heard before the man stopped resisting, and ran over to the soldier laying on the ground. Through his functional eye, he could see numerous soldiers and demihumans surrounding him. Mainly Warrior Rabbits, who stared at him with such rage that would make Palapon and Emroy proud. That was all he saw before one of them drew a blade from her sheath, and plunged it into his chest, killing him.

Airspace of Proptor

"This is Fury 1-3 here, nothing we have doing a fucking thing to this dragon!" Allman exclaimed as his ASM hit the beast, but did nothing to it.

"They just overran Phase Line Charlie, if we don't stop it soon, that thing will reach the city!" an Indian pilot said as he too fired another missile towards the target. The airspace had been clogged more than it had been an hour ago. 150 blue glowing wyverns attacked the outer defenses first, prompting a launch of all available aircraft. 150 new wyvern markings would be going on the planes of dozens of pilots across the board. They could fly faster than normal wyverns, but they still fell to an air to air missile. The same however, couldn't be said about the Flame Dragon that was the major force of this attack. Hell, even the advancing army with it had a shield that they couldn't breach. They were about out of ideas when a drone operator came over the radio.

"This is Watcher 2-1, I'm picking up a blue trail that's heavy with infrared emissions. I'm tracing it back behind the lines, and I think I may have spotted the source of all this bullshit!" the drone operator informed them. "I'm sending you the camera feed now!" and he did just that. Soon dozens of pilots were locked into their HUD's, watching the feed of dozens of blue hooded figures directing two blue beams of light towards the dragon and Immortals respectively. Many of the figures were on the ground motionless, while others still kept up what they were doing. Without warning, another one fell to the ground, causing another to come to their aid. Suddenly, the shield protecting the Immortals dissipated, and the pilots watching had put two and two together.

"Looks like we found the source of this fuckery!" Hera said as she banked left towards the sight of the mages. This was followed by at least 20 other fighter aircraft in the sky, some of which flew in from Fort Hadrian on Alnus Hill, including three B-52 bombers which were transferred to the Special Region. 88 existed before the First Contact War, 12 survived, and today 6 flew, with the others used for spare parts. One of the bombers diverted with the fighters, while the other two circled around the flame dragon, carrying GBU-45's and MOP's, meant to tear the creature to pieces. "I'm locked in, Fury Eight, Fox Four!"

"Fury Five, Fox Four!"

"Fury Three, Fox Four!"

"Shiva 1-1, firing!"

"Missiles away!"

They all watched with great concentration as all of their missiles and bombs streaked towards their target, tearing through the sky at speeds the mages would never have time to react to. As they watched the drone feed, a close up revealed one of the mages embracing another in a kiss before they were finally overcome with the bright red flashes that indicated a hit. Every last munition had its target, and aside from some of the figures that had already been retreating beforehand, and weren't being tracked, they were all dead. New drone footage was synced to their huds, which now showed the blue aura around the dragon disappearing. Now the tide had turned in the UN's favor, and by god would they make damn sure that the following lesson would never be forgotten by those who witnessed it.

"HELL YEAH!" Allman screamed into his comm set as dozens of pilots cheered and maneuvered back towards Proptor. Seeing the dragon now defenseless, ground, air, and naval units poured everything they had left into it, and the ground forces that still marched forwards. The Railguns of the McRaven Destroyers off the coast tore into the creature, one shot slamming into the creatures jaw, leaving it hanging down. Dozens of ASM and cruise missiles impacted the creature, blowing hole after hole in its body.

"Arclight has been authorized, dropping ordinance now, standby!" said the B-52 pilots as they unleashed their ordinance on top of the Flame Dragon, tearing the creature apart upon impact. Much of that same ordinance raked the remaining ground forces of the Empire, shattering their formation, and blowing the remaining Immortals and Ogres into bloody chunks of meat across the battlefield. It was over in mere minutes. The force that had caused the UN so much trouble, and caused them so many casualties, was firmly obliterated once their mages were taken out. Not a single survivor could be seen across the battlefield, aside from one man who was seen fleeing, only to have a guided artillery round impact near his carriage. The man stumbled out, and tried to run, only to be intercepted by a Special Forces operator, who proceeded to beat him down in front of all those watching.
‐---------------------------------------------------------------------------
They couldn't hold the barrier much longer. Arch Mage Cato El Altestan looked around at the students they had brought with them. Most of them had passed out from exhaustion by assisting in holding the magical shield over the Flame Dragon and Zorzal's army. Seven of them had drained themselves so much that they died. Aside from Godasen, himself, and Mimoza, only a few were left holding the barriers. Among those were Lelei and Arpeggio, girls he had rescued from their village when they were but small children. Imperial Forces had sacked a village many years ago, and Cato happened to be with them. Some of the legionaries wanted to kill them, but he personally intervened, and vowed to raise them as the children he never had. He had raised them well, and was very proud of them. They were his daughters and he would never think otherwise. As he looked at them now, they were tired and exhausted. He didn't want them to end up like his other students, so he forced himself to make a hard decision.

"Lelei, Arpeggio!" he yelled to them, trying to get their attention. Suddenly, Mimoza was thrown back as the force of the otherworlders weapons was too great for her, and she couldn't hold it anymore. "NO!" he yelled as he ran over to her, forgoing his magic spell that kept the magical barrier over Zorzal's army.

"MOTHER!" Lelei and Arpeggio screamed at the same time, running over to her. She was drenched in sweat and extremely tired. She was barely able to move her own body, a sign of how badly the otherworld attacks had drained her. Even after all the studying they did of the books they had brought back, it wasn't enough.

"Girls, listen to me, and listen carefully, take the others and retreat back to Rondel," he ordered them. "Talk with the remaining members of the Defense Corps and the Mage Council. Let them know what happened here, and that it's in Rondel's best interest to seek peace with the otherworlders in this war."

"What?" Godasen said in a strained voice as he looked over at Cato, while still holding the barrier. "We can win this fight, and this war, we just need a little more time, and victory will be ours!" he said. All those still alive and conscious thought he was insane.

"Look around you Godasen? Look at all the mages we brought with us, and how little are left standing now!"

"Most of them are demihumans, you shouldn't have expected much from them in the first place."

"You sorry son of a bitch!" Cato said as he looked back towards Godasen with disdain. This was all his fault in the first place. Enlarging the Gate, and continuing to side with the Emperor in this useless war. "GO NOW!" he yelled towards the surviving mages. The others had to practically drag Lelei and Arpeggio away, and onto their wyvern mounts. With tears in his eyes, he saw his daughters for the last time. As he watched the light from their mounts get fainter and fainter, he looked up in the sky and saw bright streaks of light coming towards him. He accepted his fate, and meeting his eyes with Mimoza's, they shared one last kiss before everything went dark.

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"Stay with me son, you hear me? Your gonna make it!" was all Elias Walker could say as he held his dying son in his arms. The sword that impaled him had lucky gone in at such an angle that it missed his spine, if but just barely. Even still, Logan Walker had lost a lot of blood, and was still losing more as each minute passed by. Combat medics from the various Tier 1 teams from Fort Hadrian, including a SEAL, an Iranian, Japanese, Norwegian, German, Canadian, Korean, Israeli, and many others were doing their best to try and save him. But with the severe physical trauma he had taken, on top of the blood loss, meant he was barely coherent. "Please son, stay with me," he pleaded, tears filling his eyes.

"I believe I may be able to help." said a voice he didn't recognize. Walking towards them was a blonde elf, one who looked to be a teenager. She sat down next to them, closed her eyes, and a bright blue glow formed in both of her hands. As this happened, another elf joined in, this time a darker skinned one. They pressed their hands down on Logan's wound, their eyes glowed blue, and they began speaking softly low enough that they couldn't hear them. Rorke pulled Elias away from them, allowing the elves to perform whatever they were doing. As seconds went by, they noticed that the gash in Logan's body began to slowly, but surely seal up. The blood that pooled on the ground was receding back into his body, and his insides were being repaired by the magic the elves were performing. Before long, Logan's eyes shot open, looking all around at what was going on. The elves simply smiled at Elias, and looked back down at Logan, who still wore a startled look on his face at what just happened.

"He should be alright, although I wouldn't recommend sending him back out to fight for a while." the darker skinned elf said. Without warning, Elias rushed forward and locked the elf girl in a bear hug, much to the surprise of herself and others present. But for those who had children, they realized it was nothing more than a grateful father thanking those who saved their child.

Realm of the Gods

"Thunderchild." the being in front of them said.

"And what lesson have you brought forward this time, trespasser?" Emroy said, agitation growing in his voice at the repeated intrusion of this being.

"When I was alive, I wrote a book. A book that became rather popular, and inspired a great many authors to write similar stories. In my story, the world's largest Empire came under attack from a menace from a red world. A world that was dying, and whose inhabitants looked at other worlds to take. My world just so happened to be in their sights. When the invaders came down, the might armies of the British Empire, who were dominant force in the world, were no match for the invaders. In exchange for tens of thousands of men, they killed but a few invaders here and there."

"What does this have to do with recent events about the Empire losing its war with your world?" Palapon asked angrily

"Because when the British unleashed their most powerful weapon, their navy against the invaders, even their strongest ship, named Thunderchild, could do no more than kill a few of the invaders before being ultimately destroyed. What you just saw occur was almost the exact same thing as what I wrote so long ago. An Empire who is used to exploiting the lands it takes, and subjugating the people's of those lands, can do nothing to a force that is superior in every way. Isn't that what you wanted, Hardy?" the figure said as he looked towards her, a grin growing on his face.

"I wanted the Empire to learn a lesson, and for the landscape to be shaken up," she admitted. "I admit however that this has gone far beyond what I had wanted." she said sighing.

"Then let this be something you learn from as well. Interference with mortals, especially those of our world's will not be tolerated."

"Our world's?" Deldort asked. As if one cue, a round headed purple being sprang into being, an unamused look on her face.

"You were told not to interfere with either of our people's, and clearly you didn't want to listen. And since I have no interest in being around them," he shot a glare towards the purple being. "I shall be off, have a wonderful day!" with that, the being left in a bright flash of light, and left them with the new, and unknown being.
 
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Chapter 20: Changing of the Guard
Hawaii, The United States of America

Mauna Kea Observatory

April 26th, 2081


"So what are we looking at here?" Elias Drucker said as he studied the most recent photographs from the Deep Space Defense Network. Satellites of the United Nations Space Defense Initiative, had captured these photographs' mere hours ago. These same photos that had sent Space Defense Analysts and military officers from around the world in a frenzy since they were transmitted to their headquarters in Houston, Texas. Even after hours of studying thermal, infrared, and spectroscopic imagery, there was no denying what they were looking at. Even after hoping and praying that it was a mistake, or some type of natural phenomena, the results weren't wrong.

"There's no denying it," Sarah Yeager said grimly, passing a photo off to Drucker, one with a far more detailed analysis. "Thirty two satellites and fifteen ground based observatories are showing the same thing. Massive thermal trails behind what are obviously objects of mechanical nature. All indications point towards this being craft propelled by a type of fusion drive, and from what we can see so far, almost 100 objects have been independently verified by our satellites." She watched as everyone in the room processed what she had just told them, and what they were seeing as the screen at the end of the room.

"As of this moment, we have no idea who they belong to, but they are far slower, and use obviously different propulsion methods than our old enemy. While we've yet to achieve a clear and precise photography of what they look like, they aren't anything we are familiar with." Came the voice of Adam Larssen, one of the Initiative's head researchers. "While our computers are still running simulations, estimates say that at their current speed, they won't reach the outer edges of our solar system for another ten years."

As he said that, military officers all around the room pulled out phones and began conversations with unknown personnel on the other side. More than a few of the researchers were obviously nervous, and it showed on their faces, and the way some of them jittered in place. Officers from every nuclear power and space capable nation were locked in conversation with their superiors over these developments, some doing little better to hide their feelings than the researchers. The war with the Phauthi was in living memory, and currently the United Nations was already engaged in yet another war, in another world. Having a third force of extraterrestrials approaching Earth, with another large fleet? There was no better way for the old scars and memories of the past to be dredged up, and thrown back in Humanity's face.

"Where are they coming from?" Asked an Officer of Indian Navy, drawing nods of agreement from others in the room. Larssen waited a few seconds before giving his answer.

"While we haven't been able to narrow down exactly where they came from, our current analysis shows that due to the alignment of nearby stars, the historic positioning of our interstellar neighborhood, the speed at which these craft are travelling at, they have likely come from the direction of the Constellation Cetus, and the closest planet in that constellation, Tau Ceti, is situated just under 12 light years from Earth." Larssen clarified. "While there is still much research to be done, the most likely candidate planet is Tau Ceti. How we never caught wind of a civilization inhabiting the system, we don't know."

"Assuming they are even from Tau Ceti in the first place." Drucker said. "The Tau Ceti system is low in iron, as well as other vital elements and metals that would be key for a civilization to arise there. Not to mention the star itself is older than our own, so that raises further questions about the validity of these new aliens being from a star of such composition, and such close distance to us."

"But you can't deny the obvious, Elias," Mathew Zinn argued. "All our computer simulations, analyzation of star charts, and the historical orbit of every star in the path of this fleet, point to it originating from that star system. While I'm just as baffled as you are about this, we can't stick our heads in the sand over this."

"I'm not denying what this is, but there's so much that doesn't make sense about this! How can it be coming from Tau Ceti of all places!" Drucker asked.

"We believe we may be able to help with that," a new voice said from behind them." As everyone in the room turned to face the voice, they were met with the sight of half a dozen men and women, dressed in sharp black and white suits. Behind them, were twice as many soldiers, wearing dark blue berets, escorting them in.

"And who might you people be?" Drucker asked.

"People who have information that will help you to determine the origin of these spacecraft." The lead suit said. "While your models seem to be correct, there's a lot more to this than you realize. Please, take a seat, this will take some time to explain properly."

"I'm not sure what else there is to explain here," Yeager answered. "There's another fleet of alien starships on approach to Earth, a fleet mind you, that's approaching Earth less than a century after the War of First Contact began."

"One that's far different than the Phauthi as far as we can tell, and is approaching from an entirely different vector of arrival." Larssen added, whose gears began turning in his head at the realization hit him like a grain of sand at 99% light speed. "What a minute, do you mean to tell us you've known about this?"

"Yes and no." one of the suits answered quickly. "But when this came to our attention, it made some other pieces of information we have, make a lot more sense."

"What kind of information?" Drucker probed. After he asked the question, the soldiers that came with them, closed and locked the door, with half a dozen of the soldiers staying outside, to make sure they weren't disturbed.

"Information that isn't to leave this room." Another suit said, looking behind himself at the now locked door, before turning back to those in the room. "Now, let us explain what we know, and how it pertains to what you've discovered."

-----------------------------------------
As the images from what was occurring in Proptor came across the TV screens all across Fort Hadrian, thousands of UN soldiers, marines, and sailors, could only watch in wide eyed horror and astonishment at what they were witnessing. An army was marching on the UN positions outside the port city of Proptor, which had been captured not even a week ago. Thousands of Immortals, dozens of Ogres, an assortment of Mages, and at least a hundred wyverns, were slowly making their way towards the city. A large, blueish-white shield was cast over the approaching army

A Flame Dragon, far larger than any that had been encountered to date, was bearing down on the UN Positions in and around the port city of Proptor. And that wasn't even the worst part about what they were witnessing. No matter what the troops on the ground, aircraft in the sky, or ships at sea threw at it, the beast wasn't slowing down in any fashion. A bright aura surrounded the creature, keeping it safe from unholy barrage set upon it by United Nations Forces. What made the situation even worse was that the army accompanying the Dragon had the exact same barrier over it, rendering them untouchable to anything being thrown at them. Bright flashes of light erupted from just behind them, followed by arcs of lightning shooting up into the sky, and hitting a number of helicopters flying over. Some of them even went down, engulfed in blue flame, before slamming into the ground.

They watched as the army marched forward, unimpeded by the UN assault, and finally reached the outer defensive perimeter. The hill became engulfed in flames as the Flame Dragon torched anything and everything in its path sending hundreds of UN soldiers and marines fleeing for their lives, and burning scores of them alive. Soft skinned vehicles rolled down the hill, covered in flames that melted through the thin armor and composite materials of its construction. Most rolled down aimlessly, their occupants having been burned to death, but some were still obviously being controlled by drivers, who tried to veer out of the path of the Flame Dragon's wrath, as well as their fellow soldiers.

Some of the heavier vehicles, those that weren't destroyed atop the hill by either the Dragon, or the Mages accompanying the army, desperately tried to cover the retreat of their comrades. A Mexican Abrams, that fled not to far behind its colleagues, still fired at the Dragon, hoping to draw its attention off the vulnerable infantry on the ground. The tactic worked, although a bit too well as the assortment of Mages focused their power on it. A dozen bolts of blue energy slammed into it, piercing the armor, and sending the turret flying off into the sky as the ammunition compartment erupted into flame.

"Jesus Fucking Christ!" Master Sergeant Davids exclaimed as he stared slack jawed at the TV inside the planning room. His feelings and reactions weren't that much different than all the other team leaders present in the room. The room erupted into agitated conversation between the various squad leaders in the room, all of them just as baffled as the rest over this new development.

The news feed soon shifted to a combat cameraman who was among those trying to flee from the onslaught of Saderan forces. While his camera feed was shaky, there was mistaking the sheer chaos and pandemonium occurring at the UN lines. It wasn't long before the cameramen themselves were overrun, as Immortals rushed into the frame of the camera, cutting down the squad of soldiers assigned to protect the com cam. Then, a new combatant entered the frame, right as the camera was dropped, clattering to the ground, and just the right angle to show the combat cameraman drawing his pistol at the new foe.

The soldier fired at the knight rushing towards him, but it was to no avail. The knight dashed forward, and plunged the sword directly into the soldier's stomach. The soldier coughed out blood as the knight pulled him in closer, impaling him even further on the blade. The soldier collapsed, blood pouring from his mouth, and soaking his uniform where the sword had pierced. The same knight who had impaled the soldier, looked over at the camera, and began walking towards it. He titled it up, staring into the lens for a few seconds, a maniacal grin plastered across his face. The blonde haired man let out a laugh that sent a chill running down the spine of many of those watching the live feed. He then threw the camera aside, and continued on with his mission. Right before the live feed was dropped, those in the room got a good look at the combat cameraman, laying on the ground, unable to move, and his eyes wide in terror and pain.

It was at that moment that the feed was cut, and shifted to a different angle of the battlefield, specifically from a camera crew well behind the front, within the Port city itself.

"How the fuck is this happening?" Lieutenant Jack Mitchell asked to no one in particular, as he watched the scene unfolding on the viewscreen. He wondered how something like this was even possible. Sure, they had magic and dragons, but they had previously encountered, and beaten them. They thought they faced the bulk of the Imperium's elite and most powerful forces at Alnus, with whatever it had left scattered across the continent. Now, here they were, with a force far more powerful than they had ever arrayed on the field against the UN. A dragon, the size of which dwarfed the mother they killed atop Alnus, leading a new army marching upon Proptor. Mages who had enough power to place a literal energy shield over an army of thousands of Immortals, and a wide assortment of ogres, and other monstrosities, stood arrayed against UN forces in heated battle.

Outside, the roar of jet engines could be heard as bombers and fighters both began taking off, heading towards the Port of Proptor. Bombers and fighters that were loaded down with the most powerful ordinance they could carry, hoping it would be enough to end the carnage at Proptor.

"And here we thought we had faced the best the Saderans had to throw at us," Captain Giovanni De Luca said with a sigh. "We were wrong, and now thousands of our men are paying the price for it."

"There's no way we could have known they'd be capable of this!" First Lieutenant Gerhard Weber said solemnly.

"Quite a bit in that regard it seems," Captain Rajiv Singh replied, pointing at the TV screen in front of them. The image of the giant flame dragon stampeding over UN positions was proof enough of that. It was a sight that hurt those watching. Knowing they couldn't do anything about it, hurt even more. "One of my friends on the flightline says they're loading nuclear ordinance onto fighters heading for the city. Comm channel keeps saying they're trying to evacuate what they can from the city just in case they breach the second phase line."

"This has turned into a grade A clusterfuck," Captain Gideon said with an angry sigh. "Barely a week and it looks as if we might actually lose. Makes me wonder what other surprises these bastards might pull from their sleeves."

"It seems we have some surprises of our own, look!" Davids said, pointing back at the TV screen. As everyone turned to face it, they got a close up view of elves fighting alongside UN soldiers on Phase Line Bravo. Those in the planning room stared in awe as they conjured up lightning from seemingly thin air, which they shot up towards the dragon. That same lightning, upon contact with the glistening barrier the mages had put up around the dragon, and by extension the army it was leading, broke holes in it. The room stayed silent as UN troops directed the elves to focus their magic on the head and neck of the beast, allowing soldiers with anti tank missiles to target the gaps made by the elves magic.

Multiple rockets hit home on its neck, making the dragon flinch back in pain, and stare down at the source of the attack. But right as it got ready to unleash its flaming breath upon the nuisance it saw before it, a blinding bright light erupted atop the dragon, as well as the entire army marching on Proptor. When the light dissipated, the aura that had previously shielded not only the dragon, but the entire Saderan force, was now gone. Within moments of the protective barrier falling, all hell broke loose upon the Saderan formation.

The feed switched to another live feed present at Proptor, showing naval gunfire from just off the coast, a combination of railguns and anti ship missiles streaking out from the sea, and impacting the dragon. Aircraft high in the sky rained down fire on the army beneath it. On top of, in front of, behind, and all along the sides, bombs and guided munitions pounded the Saderan forces without mercy. The once mighty dragon that had but moments earlier threatened to overrun and destroy UN forces at Proptor, was torn to bloody ribbons from naval gunfire from ships directly off the coast. From above, a flight of B-52 bombers dropped Massive Ordnance Penetrators and other heavy penetrating explosives meant to rip through the dragon's tough scales.

Within minutes, the tide of the battle had turned from a slow grinding loss for United Nations Forces, to a wholesale slaughter as Naval and Air artillery tor through the previously invincible ranks of Imperial troops marching upon them. In the relatively short time the battle had waged, it swung violently from the United Nations being put on the backfoot by the most powerful force the Saderans had ever assembled, to UN forces regaining momentum, and obliterating the Saderan force that had come so close to tossing them out of the port city. However, it was thanks to the abilities of the various demihumans assembled on the field, that the line had managed to hold, and the Flame Dragon bearing down on UN forces, was able to be defeated. Their unique abilities, combined with the later known fact that the Saderan mages had become nearly exhausted from the United Nations bombardment, allowed the United Nations Defense Force to hold onto Proptor, and defeat the army arrayed against them. An army which up to that point was the most powerful ever assembled against them.

It was on that day that the demihumans had not only proved themselves to the United Nations, but had also gained their trust. Trust that would go a long way when the war was finally over.

-----------------------------------------------------
Port City of Proptor

Between Phase Line Bravo and Phase Line Charlie

April 26th, 2081

1630 Hours


The smell of burning flesh permeated in the air as Corporal Alex Jansen walked along the charred grounds between Phase Line Bravo and Phase Line Charlie, taking in the sight of destroyed and wrecked vehicles, charred bodied, and the mutilated corpse of the Flame Dragon that was left sprawled across the ground. Its body was a reminder to him and everyone else still alive in Proptor, of the damage the morning's battle had been. Nearly 1000 troops were killed, with half that number wounded, dozens of vehicles were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and seven helicopters had been shot down during the course of the battle. Many of them had a hard time believing it was possible, yet it happened. After the Battle of Alnus Hill, it was thought that they had faced the best the Saderans could offer, but they were wrong.

It was a lesson for everyone to not get complacent, not to get sloppy. But at the same time, there wasn't anyone who could have predicted what happened. After all, if they had that power, why didn't they use it the moment they invaded Iceland? Or when the UN took control of Alpha and Bravo Point? In the end, it didn't matter. The Saderans struck with everything they had left to throw at the United Nations, hoping to dislodge them from the city. In the end it failed, but they had made the UN bleed, and made them pause to reevaluate the situation. Before Jansen could think about it any further, his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of shouting off to his left.

The vast majority of the wounded UN troops had suffered severe burns when their positions were overrun by the Flame Dragon. Medics on the ground had been nearly overwhelmed by the amount of third degree burns which the wounded were suffering from, and the logistics for treating them had been just as strained. Helicopter blades and VTOL engines roared overhead as flights to evacuate the wounded had been ongoing ever since the battle had ended earlier in the morning. It had been a rush to offload the wounded onto the mercy ships, and quickly transport them back through Bravo Point, which still carried on even into the afternoon.

"Move Move Move!" shouted a medic who brushed past Jansen, who was unaware of the stretcher team coming up behind him. He watched as a group of two medics ran past him, carrying a badly burned American soldier on the stretcher, and onto a waiting helicopter. Once they offloaded the wounded soldier, they sprinted from the helicopter, and went to yet another stretcher. As Jansen looked on, he saw over a dozen helicopters and VTOL transports were lined up along a makeshift runway, loading up all the wounded they could, and heading back out to the ships off the coast.

It was at this moment he realized just what he was doing. He was trying to find Private Guliwe after the chaos of the early morning battle, to make sure she was alright. He knew she was in the same Phase Line as he was, but that didn't stop some of the Immortals from managing to breach their lines and wreak havoc. When the fighting had finally ended, the various medics took care of the wounded, and infantry like him set out to retake the outer perimeter. Now that he was relieved by a newly arrived force of Boer Airborne flown in, Jansen was now free to find his friend.

As he walked up to the medical section of the outer perimeter, he couldn't help but stare at the hundreds of body bags that littered the ground, with soldiers all around to keep wild animals and scavengers away. So many were killed in so short a time, and most in the most horrific of manners. He shuddered a little at the thought of what they went through in their final moments. As he made his way through past the threshold, and into the encampment proper, he was met with an even more depressing sight. Dozens of medics, covered in blood and viscera, sat outside of medical tents where just as many other medics still worked on those with wounds not as severe as the rest. Some of them had their heads buried in their hands, some were crying, and some just stared off blankly into space. It was a dreadful atmosphere, that much was certain.

He went tent to tent, looking for Guliwe, hoping she was alright, and praying she wasn't among the dead and wounded. Luckily, it didn't take him long to find her, outside a triage tent near the center of the medical section. But as he approached, he noticed she didn't look up from the ground where she held her gaze, even as his shadow loomed over her.

"Hey, Guliwe," Jansen said, sitting down next to her on the bench. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern mounting inside him.

"Oh, hey, Jansen," she said tiredly, looking at him with a very exhausted expression. "Sorry, I'm just tired is all. It's been a long day."

"No need to be sorry, I see what you've been busy with. I'm just glad to know you're ok." Jansen said, smiling as he patted her lightly on her back.

"I appreciate you checking up on me," Guliwe said, turning to face Jansen. "You finally off duty too? Or do you have to go back on patrol soon?" she said, a bit of hopefulness in her voice as she asked.

"Yep," Jansen said as he unslung his rifle, leaned it against the bench they were sitting on, and took his combat pack off his back. "So, you hungry?" he asked, unzipping his pack, and reaching inside.

"What you got?"

"Well, I stopped by one of the field kitchens set up by the Zulu soldiers just across the Phase Line." He said, pulling out two styrofoam carry out trays, one of which he lay next to his rifle, the other he handed to Guliwe, who seemed to perk up slightly as she took it in her hands. "Roasted pig with ujege, two mobolo plums, and some rice. Asked one of your friends what you normally eat and he recommended this to me. Hope you like it!"

Guliwe's eyes went wide, and her once sour expression on her face turned brighter, and actually formed the beginning of a smile. As she opened the tray, the delicious aroma of the meal hit her nostrils, and made her stomach growl very loudly. She sat the tray down next to her, and practically lept towards Jansen, wrapping him up in a tight, appreciative hug.

"Thank you, Eric!" she said sincerely as she hugged him. Jansen wasted no time in reciprocating the gesture, not caring about how dirty and bloody her uniform was. "Seriously, I really appreciate it. This day's just been an absolute nightmare for us. Back and forth, back and forth, inserting IV's, applying medgel until we ran out, listening to the screams of wounded men and women, many we could do nothing to ease the pain of." she gave another tired sigh, before picking up her tray, grabbing the utensils, and began to dig into her very late lunch.

"Believe me, I know," He replied as he took a bite of his food. "Passed by the bodies on the way here, and the wounded that were being flown out. Today was a goddamn mess."

"A lot more than a mess," She replied through a mouthful of roasted pork. "It's a damn bloody nightmare is what it is! We already taxed our medical facilities with the wounded civilians we recovered when we got here. Triage became a bitch and half with all the burn victims we ran out of burn gel, the hospital ships were overloaded, we can't move all the wounded, we can't evacuate the dead, it's just..." Guliwe paused, swallowing her food, and repeatedly stabbing her pork aimlessly.

"Horrible," Jansen finished. "No other way to put it, it's just horrible. Shitty situation all around." Jansen said as he started at his own food. The two of them said nothing for a few minutes as they enjoyed their meal, doing their best to ignore the sounds and smells of the morning's horror that the medical teams were still trying to handle. In the skies above them, the roaring of jet engines and helicopter blades roared overhead, heading northward as they shook the ground beneath them. But what made the two of them jump and reach for their rifles was the sound of cruise missiles soaring overhead.

"Relax you two, we ain't under attack," came the voice of a man with a distinctive Zulu accent. Standing before the two soldiers was a Zulu Army Major, his uniform also covered in blood, mud, and very obvious wear and tear all over. The two attempted to stand up in reflex, but the man just put his hand out, halting the two of them. "All that is meant for the Imperial Capital up north. You two stay seated, I won't bother you two for very long."

"Is there something I can do for you, sir?" Guliwe stammered out, wide eyed at her commanding officer standing before her.

"Actually, I think I can help you," The Major replied, reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a napkin, which he used to wipe the blood from his hands. He then used his clean hand to reach into his other pocket, and pulled out the rank insignia of a Lance Corporal. "You did fine work out there today, Lance Corporal Guliwe!" he said, putting emphasis on her new rank.

"T-thank your sir!" she stammered out, standing up straight to the position of attention and rendered a salute, a gesture the Major quickly returned, before motioning for her to sit back down.

"You earned it," he replied, handing her the new insignia. "I've also put in a recommendation to command that you to be awarded the Medical Service Cross. I expect they'll accept it once they read the report I put in. You saved a lot of lives today, don't you forget that. Now, with that said, I'll make good on my word, and leave you two to your meal." With that, the Major walked off towards another tent, and disappeared past its flaps, getting straight back to work. As he left, Guliwe simply stared at the rank insignia in her hand, part of her still not believing what just happened.

"You should be proud of yourself, Ulwazi, you definitely earned it," Jansen said.

"I am proud, I just didn't expect a promotion is all, much less a promotion and a possible accommodation for just doing my duty." Guliwe replied. "If I'm being honest, I don't feel like I earned it. Not with all those who died, not with all those like me who worked as hard or harder than me. What makes me special?"

"Don't say things like that," It was at that moment Jansen's hand reached out and grasped Guliwe's own, which caused her to turn her head towards him. "You helped keep many of those men alive! You were the one making sure more of ours didn't die! In this day and age you don't just get promoted on the battlefield for doing nothing! You got it because you earned it!"

"I just...I don't know, it's just unexpected is all. I just can't help but think of those who died. What do they get?"

"They won't be forgotten, Guliwe. They'll all be honored for their sacrifice, but that doesn't mean your own shouldn't be either." He said, gripping her hand tighter. "Look at your hands, Guliwe! That's proof enough of all you've done today."

"Thanks, Eric!" she said. "I really do appreciate it, it still feels weird though."

"You'll get used to it. Besides, if nothing else, more rank means more pay." Jansen chuckled, getting a light punch in his arm from Guliwe.

"Asshole," she laughed. "I'm not doing this for money."

"Neither am I, but extra pay doesn't hurt, does it?"

"More money to send back home is a good thing I guess." Guliwe admitted, looking down at her nearly empty food tray, and then over to Jansen's. Smiling, she took her fork, stabbed the dinner roll on his tray, and brought it to her mouth, smiling as she bit into it.

"Hey!" He said in mock anger.

"What?" she said with her mouth full. "I'm still hungry!" Jansen just rolled his eyes at the medic, who just giggled at him in response.

"You could have at least asked." He said, looking down at his now empty food tray, and shaking his head. Again, Guliwe just smiled even wider at him.

"Sorry," she said after swallowing.

"Still hungry, huh?" Jansen asked, standing up, and outstretching his hand to Guliwe, who gladly accepted it.

"Very much so, although I'm in the mood for something different," Guliwe said. "And since I'm now off duty, I do have some time to myself."

"Looks like that makes two of us then." Jansen said. "Well, that restaurant the Americans brought in is still open, if you'd like me to take you. They just got a fresh shipment of supplies in today as a matter of fact. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to!" she replied, walking out of the medical section with him.

----------------------------------------
As they both made their way towards the rear lines, they bore witness to the material cost of the battle.

In the vehicle park, tanks, APC's, and trucks bearing massive burn marks sat off together in one area, as mechanics and repairmen assessed the damage. This also included the Boer Republic's D-30 batteries, which had sustained severe wear and tear from the previous battle. The cannons themselves were already old, and combined with the constant firing they were subject to, put them at their limit. The barrels warped and unfit for further use, with one even exploding from overuse during the battle. Another section had the charred and burnt remains of those destroyed during the battle, those that had been pulled off the field at any rate. Quite a few downed helicopters and destroyed tanks still remained where they had been lost.

"God fucking dammit!" a familiar voice cried out from the artillery section, making Jansen snap his head in the direction. "Fucking piece of shit is useless!" the man said, throwing his wrench at the damaged artillery gun he was supposed to be fixing.

"Anders?" Jansen called out to the man, whose gaze shifted over to him.

"Jansen?" the man replied, a wide smile forming across his features. "We thought you were dead, man!" he said as he walked over, and embraced Jansen in a tight hug.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," Jansen chuckled. "How are you and the boys holding up?"

"Well aside from these old pieces of shit," Anders said, gesturing the D-30 batteries that looked as if they'd seen far better days. "Never been better! We brought six of these things over, and most of them are going to be out of commission for a while."

"And we've only got two spare barrels with us to replace the ones that are fucked," another soldier said.

"That bad, Marcus? I knew we put them through hell this morning, but I didn't think it was that bad." Jansen replied.

"Yeah, well the good news is that the rest of our motor pool made it out relatively intact." Marcus said. "Really, we got off lucky compared to some of the other units. A Lot of vics got chewed up at Phase Line Charlie."

"Say, whose your new friend?" Anders asked, turning his attention to Guliwe.

"Lance Corporal Ulwazi Guliwe, 5th Infantry, a pleasure to meet you two." She said, outstretching a hand towards the first of the two men. Anders was the first to take it.

"Corporal James Anders, 1st Boer Artillery." he greeted.

"Sergeant Adrian Marcus, at your service." Marcus said, his eyes darting to the medical armband she wore. "A combat medic, huh? Heard you lot have been busy all damn day after what happened."

"You can say that again," Guliwe said. "I'm just glad it's all over, for now anyway. We've been run ragged all day with all the casualties we took."

"Speaking of casualties, just how many did we take this morning?" Anders asked.

"Over 1,500 dead and wounded is the final count, give or take those that have yet to be recovered from the vehicles." Guliwe replied.

"Jesus," Marcus whistled. "I knew we took some heavy losses today, but that's a lot more than I thought."

"I guarantee you heads are gonna roll somewhere because of this," Anders put in. "Especially since it was all live streamed back home too. What I want to know is how the hell they even got this far in the first place?"

"Easy, we're a stone's throw away from the Imperial capital," Jansen replied. "Maybe 100-200 miles away, easily less than a day's drive away. Makes sense they sent a force to try and dislodge us."

"Kinda reminds me of the original War of the Worlds to me," Marcus said. "How the British threw their best at the Martians, including the Thunderchild, where its appearance temporarily confused the Martians, but ultimately fell to them. I think that's exactly what just happened here."

"Makes sense if you think about it," Guliwe added. "This was their last chance to keep us away from their capital. Now that they've failed, they'll have nothing left to throw at us."

"Nothing worth a damn anyway," Jansen said. "From what we've gathered, that was the bulk of their elite forces and heavy units. The elves said that was most of their capital defense force, so even more of a blow to their army."

As he finished talking, another barrage of cruise missiles from the ships off the coast, one even larger than before, screamed northward towards their target. The missiles were followed shortly after by a squadron of fighters, who were escorting unmanned drones and AEW aircraft. Marcus let out a chuckle.

"They'll have even less by the time the navy is done having their fun with em," Marcus said. "Make it even easier when we make a run for their capital." he said confidently.

"Yeah, let's hope you're right." Jansen said as he watched as the missiles and aircraft disappeared over the horizon. "Last thing we need is any more surprises waiting for us in the capital."

---------------------------------------------------
"...I knew I'd lost a bunch of guys. I said a prayer to God saying, basically, if you need any more guys from my platoon, take me. Don't take anymore of my men..."

Mike Heaney, United States Army, talking about his experiences in the Vietnam War.

---------------------------------------
As Logan Walker awoke, he was met with piercing bright light that blinded him. He groaned tiredly, draping an arm over his hurting eyes in an attempt to shield it from the light above. It was then he realized he was laying in a bed, a hospital bed to be specific, and with all sorts of IV's and tubes in his arms. Beeping from a heart monitor was the only sound he heard in the otherwise quiet room. Sighing, he tried to turn over on his side, hoping to get back to sleep, only to feel a sharp pain explode across his abdomen. He couldn't help but yelp out in pain as he jerked back to his previous position, clenching at his stomach, as memories flooded back into his mind.

Memories of recording the battle at Proptor, as Saderan forces pushed relentlessly towards the port city that the UNDF had captured a week prior. How some new, unseen magic abilities had made the Saderan forces damn near invulnerable to their weapons. How he was at the front, recording the battle at the outermost defensive line, when everything went to hell. Even their best and most powerful weapons were almost useless against the new attacking force the Saderans had mustered against them. A force protected by some magic barrier, and lead by a dragon far larger than any they had seen before. When they were forced into a rout, he and his squad were left behind.

That's when he remembered how he ended up here. A large, heavily armored, blonde knight raced towards him, surrounded by a group of Immortals. They hacked down his squad, leaving him the last one standing. He had tried to fight back, but the knight stabbed him straight through the stomach with his sword, which put paid to any hope of resistance. Whoever he was, the look on his face as he yanked the blade from his stomach, made it clear that he was a sadistic bastard.

He couldn't remember much after that though. Sporadic memories of his father, some combat medics, and the face of an elf who knelt next to him. After that, he didn't remember anything. Again, Logan tried to lean forward, and sit up, only to feel the pain intensify once more.

"Careful!" He heard a woman's voice call out to him, as he felt a pair of arms grab his shoulders, and easing him back down onto the bed. "You aren't able to get up yet!" She said to him.

Looking over to the source of the voice, Logan was met by the face of a beautiful woman. An elven woman. The same elf he had remembered from that night atop the hill. He remembered how her body glowed a bright blue as she placed her hands over his wounded stomach. How she had managed to heal his wounds, and prevented him from bleeding out in this godforsaken land, he didn't know.

"What is your name?" Logan asked.

"Tuka Luna Marceau," the elf replied. "How do you feel, Logan? Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember being stabbed. I remember everything getting colder, hearing my father's voice, screaming, cursing, and then you." Logan answered, running his eyes up and down the blonde haired elf. "You saved my life out there, Tuka. Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Tuka said with a warm smile as she reached out and grasped his hand lightly. "It was the least I could do after everything that has happened."

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, not saying anything. But when both began to try and speak, another voice cut in and interrupted them.

"Mr Walker is awake now," A nurse said, standing halfway in the doorway and looking out in the hallway. Not a moment after she said those words, a number of uniformed men hurried into the room, including Logan's father, and his team. All of them sported worried looks on their faces as they flooded into the room, Logan's father chief among them. His already graying hair had become even grayer. His usual old, tired expression, one gained from decades of experience, and being a veteran of the First Contact War, looked even worse than it usually did. However, that old, tired expression Elias held on his face, evaporated into one of pure joy and relief as he lunged towards his son's hospital bed, and embraced his son tightly.

"Careful, he's still in recovery!" the nurse cautioned, a frown crossing her face as he words went unheeded by the man.

"Told you he'd be alright, Elias," Rourke said, smiling. "Your son's a tough bastard. And anyone who survives a sword through the gut is a tough bastard."

"You got that right," one of the other soldiers said. "Lotta us thought you weren't going to make it through, Loggie."

"Yeah," another soldier began. "But we can't forget those who played a hand in helping him pull through it either." he finished, turning his gaze over to Tuka, who stared back. It wasn't long before the entire room, Elias and Logan included, were staring at the young woman. Tuka's ears twitched and her face grew warm as she found all eyes on her. Her eyes darted to the floor, trying to ignore all the attention now focused on her.

"I-I was only doing my job," she replied hurriedly.

"You did one hell of a good job, if I do say so myself," Logan said, a pleasant smile across his face as he gazed over at her. "Thank you, again."

"Once again, you're welcome." Tuka said again.

"So, is he good to come back with us, doc?" one of Logan's friends asked.

"Well, we still have to keep him under observation," the nurse replied. "But since his wounds have been healed in a manner I don't understand, I see no reason you all can't stay here with him, at least for a little bit longer. I'll go and see if I can't discharge him early, or if the Major wants him to remain here any longer."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll be back as soon as I can." with that, the nurse left the room, leaving Logan and Tuka alone with his friends and family.

----------------------------------------
"We were disdainful of them. We overstated their incompetence because we wanted to overstate our importance."

Tom Valley, USMC, on the performance of the ARVN during the Vietnam War.

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50,000 Feet AGL

Skies of the Special Region

April 28th, 2081

Above the city of Rondel


The city of Rondel, by all accounts, was by far the most dangerous place in this new world. It didn't boast that large of a garrison force, or because it was home to massive flame dragons, which it in fact did. Although they were far from what made the city such a high priority. What made Rondel so dangerous was that it was the home to the Empire's mages. Mages with honest to god magic and sorcery, the likes of which only existed in fairy tales, and which the United Nations had few easy counters to. The recent battle at the port city of Proptor made it clear just how powerful that magic could be, if properly utilized. Magic shields that could cover entire armies and shrug off a wholesale bombardment from ground, air, and sea, produced by a small group of individuals, was a great danger to UN forces in the Special Region.

And while the attacking force had been completely destroyed, the Empire had shown an ability that no one could have guessed they had. Granted, the UN also had the help of the High Elves and Dark Elves, with all their own magical abilities, but many had asked what would have happened if they weren't there. The answers weren't good, and they painted a significantly higher number of casualties.

Rondel was the source of that magic, and it needed to be dealt with. So after much deliberation, it was decided to launch a large scale strike on the city, to render its ability to contribute to the war effort, to nothing.

That's where Darkstar Flight came in.

Darkstar Flight's job was fairly simple, scout out the city of Rondel, locating its defences, and pointing out key points and installations for destruction. Destruction which would be brought by the American bombers trailing only a short distance from Darkstar Flight.

At 50,000 feet, the unsuspecting locals on the ground never knew it was there. Inside the operations center at Fort Hadrian, the drone pilots zoomed the camera in around the city, noting points of interest, defensive positions, and likely locations for members of the Defense Corps. Accompanying the drone was Darkstar's 2 and 3, each one using its high sensitivity cameras and electronic surveillance equipment to locate any possible threat within the city itself. At the helm of Darkstar 1, was Jessica Goldfarb, a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, and the leader of the Darkstar squadron assigned to scout out Rondel, before the lead American bomber arrived.

"We've got two dragon pens already identified," she said as she relayed the coordinates to the American pilots, who were carrying enough ordinance, nuclear and non-nuclear, aboard their bombers to level a small country. "One Special Region Class A Kaiju in each pen, and several smaller wyvern pens across the city. Thermal readings indicate large numbers of individuals in barracks style buildings near the southeastern portion of the city."

"Roger that mama bird, just let us know when it's clear!" The American said over the radio.

"We've got a large number of individuals moving out from the center of the city," Flight Officer David Cummings said. "I'm magnifying the feed!" as the feed of Darkstar 3 focused on on the center of the city, it revealed a large group of mages surrounding what appeared to be a very large concentration of peasants. Upon closer inspection however, it was soon realized they weren't normal peasants.

"Sweet Christ!" Goldfarb exclaimed as it became apparent just who they were. While their clothing war torn, and they were extremely dirty, they could tell those being escorted in the group were none other than civilians kidnapped from Iceland during the first day of the war. Present among them were a few Icelandic police officers, whose uniforms had been all but destroyed from living in conditions she didn't want to think about. The higher ranking officers in the room frantically began making calls to their superiors, wanting to update them on the change of events.

"Flight Lieutenant, tell the bomber to enter an orbit around the city, but to not drop their ordnance, command has called off the strike!" came an order from Wing Commander Irvine.

"Yes sir," she replied dutifully. "BUFF 1-1, you are to enter an orbit around the city of Rondel and await further instruction! I say again, the strike is called off, acknowledge!" a few seconds went by until she got a reply back.

"Roger that mama bird, shifting to a holding pattern, over!"

Goldfarb threw herself back in her chair as she stared at the screen, watching as the Darkstar's cameras and sensors began counting all the civilians down below. The high resolution optics within the drones were state of the art, and had an extremely long range, capable of discerning the identity of an individual even at a height of 90,000 feet, and with a height ceiling even larger than that. To have the ability to accurately identify and catalog over 1,000 people in such a way would be deemed impossible in the early 21st century. But it was 2081, and technology had come a long way.

When Operation Whirlwind had been authorized in response to the Saderan attack at Proptor, the B-52's were the only aircraft that had the range to reliably hit every major city within the Empire, be able to hit multiple targets on a single mission, and carry enough ordnance to do the same. While they were over a century old, they were still reliable, and were seen as best suited for the mission. However, the mission had changed. There was no way the United Nations could justify a nuclear strike on a city, no matter how dangerous said city is, with over 1,000 kidnapped citizens residing in it. Not when a prior effort to rescue them hadn't been mounted first, something that is sure to happen now.

"Well this just got a whole lot more complicated," Goldfarb said as she ran a hand through her hair, watching as the sensor array continued to count more and more civilians down below, syncing the data from the three drones watching above. "Why the hell are there so many of them this far out there?"

"Might have something to do with the mages trying to learn more about our technology," Cummings said with a shrug. "After all, a lot of teachers went missing, as well as mechanics, doctors, and other people who you'd think would be useful in creating and maintaining a modern civilization. Even police officers, as we can see right there." he said, pointing to the feed. Thanks to genetic profiling, facial recognition, and every other piece of important information you'd expect would be compiled for those missing, for each and every face that Darkstar Flight captured, a separate profile appeared across the screens in the command center.

And there were a lot of names. Icelandic, British, Norwegian, American, Canadian, Russian, Swiss, Australian, Japanese, the list went on and on. While still many of the Icelandic civilians weren't among those down below, or at least as far as they had seen, most of the foreign nationals captured in Reykjavik, were among them. No, levelling the city and any target within wasn't possible any longer.

"1,200 and counting, sir," Goldfarb said, watching as the numbers kept increasing. "Orders sir?" she asked, turning to Wing Commander Irvine, who was speaking into a headset with those higher up the chain than him. He glanced over at her for a few moments, still speaking to whomever was on the other end. He acknowledged her query, but said nothing in reply. He didn't know what to do, at least not entirely. The minutes passed by in the operations center as Irvine spoke with those on the other end, which soon turned into ten, then twenty, and then thirty. The live feed was streamed not only to those in other ops centers around the base, but even back through Alpha Point to Geneva.

Delegates and commanders from every nation, and chiefly from those whose citizens were now confirmed alive and imprisoned by the Saderans, argued fiercely about what steps to take next.

"Yes sir, understood sir! We will-" Irvine said into the head set, before being interrupted by one of the operators calling out in warning.

"Enemy contact on approach!" the camera operator of Darkstar 2 called out, as they panned their camera over to the rapidly approaching contact. "Visual contact confirmed, one Class B Special Region Kaiju, rapidly approaching BUFF 1-1 at a distance of three kilometers, and closing at approximately 550 kilometers per hour!" he informed.

"DO NOT ENGAGE!" Irvine snapped towards the drone operators. "Do you hear me? Tell the escorts not to fire on that wyvern! Do not do anything to endanger the civilians down there!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" Goldfarb responded. "Lightning Flight, do not engage the wyverns, I repeat, do not engage!"

"Lightning Lead copies, Momma Bird!" Lightning Lead replied, his voice booming over the speakers in the room. "Are we clear to engage if the wyvern turns hostile?"

"Yes they are," Irvine said. "Just tell them to keep a distance from the wyvern, and do nothing to antagonize them."

"Did you hear that, Lightning Lead?" Goldfarb said through her headset.

"Solid copy!" the pilot said with a sigh.

On the radar screen showing the battle space above the city, the escorting fighters on both flanks, symbolized by blue dots, pulled back. Meanwhile, a red dot, symbolizing the wyvern on approach, steadily grew closer. Before long, the rider and his mount, both of which were glowing with a light bluish-green hue, had finally caught up with its intended target. The lead B-52 bomber trailing behind Darkstar Flight, was where the rider flew towards. The man, wearing some type of robe, and not carrying any type of weapon, simply flew alongside the bomber, slack jawed and wide eyed. Darkstar 3, which was closest to BUFF 1-1, was situated in just the right position relative to the bomber, was able to aim its camera directly at the man.

The high resolution camera caught every slight wrinkle and twitch on the man's face. His expression off pure shock and terror was very plain, and no one could mistake it for anything but. His teeth chattered and lips quivered. Despite the bone chilling cold at the altitude, and his magic aura around his body, beads of sweat rolled down his face. As his wyvern steadily picked up its speed, he was soon, eyeball to eyeball with the pilots aboard the bomber. While Darkstar couldn't see the pilots inside the bomber, they nonetheless gave the wyvern ride a number of obscene gestures for his trouble.

Then, his attention became focused onto Darkstar 3, who was but a few hundred meters away. The long, sleek, dark, and arrow shaped drone made the man's color drain from his face. He yanked hard on the reins of the wyvern, and took a steep dive back down below, darting towards the city of Rondel below. The command center was quiet for a few moments, before the voice of one of the escort pilots broke the silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the smartest Imperial in the world!"

Some light chuckles followed the comment, but as Goldfarb looked back at Wing Commander Irvine, the look on his face was anything but joyous. She understood what he was feeling, and many others felt it too. There were close to 2,000 captured civilians below in the city, and before long, the Imperial garrison within the city would know they were there. Civilians that would be at their mercy, and would undoubtedly be used as living shields. The Saderans may have been unaware of their presence earlier, but they would soon know now.

-----------------------------------------

Magic Academy

City of Rondel


Inside the walls of the Magic Academy of Rondel, Lelei La Lalena, Arpeggio, and the few other surviving mages who narrowly escaped the massacre at Proptor, had gathered what was left of the master sorcerers, and other assorted combat mages who had since returned to the city, even without permission to do so. The few dozen of them that were left, sat nervously in the room, flinching as the sounds of the explosions outside, and the shaking of the ground from the Otherworlders unholy bombardment of their city, made them wonder if they were next.

"So that's it...they're all dead?" Chida El Fumma said, looking over at Lelei and Arpeggio with an expression of pure defeat and dread. A look shared by the majority of those in the room. "What are we going to do now?"

"We lost Grand Mage Godasen, we lost Grand Masters Cato and Mimoza, and now so many of my students." said the once assistant to Cato and Mimoza, and now the highest ranked master at the Academy. In all her years, Treina La Alnis never thought she'd ever be the Headmaster at the Magic Academy of Rondel. If the circumstances had been different, she'd be absolutely ecstatic. But right now, she felt nothing but pure sorrow and pain in her heart. Her best friends were now dead, some of the brightest and best students she trained, killed in another of the Empire's useless wars. So many lives, so much potential, gone with but a single man's orders. "All because of Molt and his damned appetite for more land!" she bit out.

"An appetite which will bring a force to our doorstep so powerful, we can't hope to face them." Lelei said, as serious as the girl always was. But her deadpanned and grim words only served to worsen the mood in the room.

"I don't know what we can do to stop them." said one of her fellow mages and survivors of the failed assault on Proptor.

"We can't," another survivor added. "We were the finest mages in the world, and look how they decimated us!" the man said through gritted teeth.

"If these 'United Nations' are as powerful as you all say, I don't see what we can do to stop them." said the head of the Rondel Security Council. "So what does that leave us?"

"I don't see what options we have aside from surrender, Tornam." Arpeggio said, looking over at the dwarven man with a scowl on her face. Not aimed at the Head of Security, it was just an expression she'd kept since she narrowly survived the carnage at Proptor. "If we fight them, we'll be massacred."

"But if we make any notion of trying to surrender, the Emperor may seek retribution against us!" Tornam argued. "The Imperial Barracks in the southeast will mobilize and attack the city if they get wind of us surrendering! But...I don't want to keep fighting at all. I already lost my son, I don't want to lose my wife and daughter too."

"You're not the only one whose lost family you know." said another of the survivors from the Proptor massacre. But before Tornam could make a retort, Arpeggio slammed her hand down on the table.

"Now isn't the time for us to be fighting among ourselves!" she growled. "We have to figure out what we're going to do. We need to come up with a plan."

"The question is how long do we have?" Treina asked, right as the door flew open, and a wide eyed and panting scoutsman burst into the room.

"The...the..." he panted out, pausing to catch his breath.

"Easy son, what's going on?" Tornam said, getting up from his seat, walking over to the young man, and guided him to an empty seat in the room. "Catch your breath, and tell us what's going on." The scoutman merely nodded and panted heavily for another minute, before speaking.

"The otherworlders, sir! Their giant metal birds were seen flying above the city! They've been circling like scavengers for an hour by now!"

"What!" Nearly the whole room said at once, fresh worry and fear on their faces as they heard the news.

"They've been above us for how long?" Arpeggio choked out.

"One of our sentries thought it an illusion, but soon realized that something was above the city. When they dispatched a wyvern rider to investigate, he managed to get close enough to the metal bird to confirm that it was just that."

"He managed to get close enough to see it? They didn't attack him?" Lelei asked skeptically.

"No, they didn't, and that was what was concerning. They seemed to actively avoid our wyvern scouts when they got closer to their birds." Everyone in the room, especially those who had fought against the otherworlders, looked at each other in bewilderment. "But the expressions and gestures they gave him were not in any way friendly however. But that's not the only thing I have to tell you."

"What else is there?" Arpeggio asked, half dreading the answer.

"We have a few fae among the otherworlders at the otherworlder fort at Alnus Hill. They report that many of the demihuman auxiliary have joined the otherworlders against the Empire. And while they express no regret in doing so, their own connections with our fae scouts allowed them to send us a very important message to us." the scoutsman paused, his face going pale as he remembered what he had been told.

"What did they say, lad?" Tornam asked.

"I don't exactly know what they were talking about, but it terrifies me. They said that the otherworlders loaded their flying birds with weapons called 'City Destroyers'."

Lelei, Arpeggio, and the rest of the mages present, who were privy to information about the otherworlds and their capabilities, looked at the scout in abject horror, while Alnis and Tornam looked bewildered, not having been told about just exactly what the otherworlders had at their disposal. The silence in the room was deafening, as no one knew what to say in reply. The silence dragged on for a half a minute before one of the survivors of the massacre at Proptor, burst into scared and ugly sobbing.

"I don't want to die!" they sobbed.

"we're doomed," another said. "They followed us here from Proptor, and now the whole city will suffer for it."

"What are we going to do?" a third asked.

"We can't fight them," Lelei said, her usual passive expression turned to one of dismay. "I know you are concerned over the Imperial garrison within and around the city, Tornam, but if the spies are correct, it won't matter in the end. If we don't surrender to the otherworlders, we will be wiped from the face of the continent. We can deal with the legionaries here however, and we must."

"And how do you propose we do that? Our defense corps won't stand a chance against the flame dragons the Emperor has put here to keep us in line."

"The flame dragons will only turn against us if their handlers give the order and stir the beasts from their slumber." one of the other mages said. "If we can kill them, or at least incapacitate them, they won't be able to order them against us."

"As for the legionaries and other Imperials around the city, me and others like me who possess the ability to use spirit magic, can put them all to sleep." added one of the few elven mages present. "Once done, that should give the defense corps enough time to round them up, take their weapons, and lock them away."

"That's not liable to work against The Immortals though," Arpeggio added. "We might be forced to fight them directly."

"We can win," Lelei said confidently. "We know how they operate, we helped create them. We know their strengths and weaknesses both. It won't be too difficult."

"And there's not that many of them here either." Alnis added. "When the war began, most went off to Alnus Hill to fight. None of them ever came back."

"Indeed, which makes our job much easier." Lelei replied. "So are we all in agreement, then? We make preparations now, and kick out the Imperial occupiers."

"But what about the otherworlders!" Tornam said. "You said if we don't surrender to them, we'll all be destroyed, but how exactly do you propose to surrender to them in the first place? They don't even have an army outside our gates? Just metal birds of death circling our great city!" Tornam's look of confusion only grew deeper as Lelei's face sported a wide, and slightly maniacal grin across it.

"Don't you worry about that, I have a plan to get a message to them." she replied, before turning back to the scoutsman. "Are the wyvern scouts ready to fly once more? We require them if we are to pull this off." At the request, the young lad jumped to his feet and rapidly nodded his head.

"Y-yes ma'am, they are awaiting orders on what to do next."

"Good," Lelei said. "Now listen carefully, and do exactly as I say!"

----------------------------------------------

Inside the Command Center at Fort Hadrian, everyone who was watching the drone feeds from Darkstar Flight had expected a massacre of the prisoners being held down below. It was expected that once the wyvern got back down to report what it saw, every last citizen kidnapped from Iceland, would be put to the sword. But what was coming across their camera feeds, was something they never expected. In the large dragon pens, which held the flame dragons, robed figures began sneaking in and around the building, slicing the throats of the guards outside of them. Infrared and electromagnetic sensors picked up heightened readings inside the buildings for a few minutes, then it all ceased. Then, more robed figures began approaching the barracks and living area for the legion that was stationed in the city.

Everyone in the room watched with amazement as the patrolling legionaries began to drop one after the other. The few that saw what was occurring had no time to react before they too had succumbed to whatever was spreading amongst their ranks. Once the last one had finally dropped, dozens of robed figures began to materialize from nearby buildings, disarmed the legionaries, and began dragging them inside the barracks. Inside the barracks housing the Immortals, blue and green bolts of energy slammed into them from all sides, killing the Immortals standing watch, and setting the barracks aflame.

Some of the Immortals ran out, weapons at the ready, looking for whoever dared attack them, but just like the legionaries, they stood no chance. Magic bolts tore through them like a hot knife through butter, and in less than a minute, there was no more movement from the building.

To the point of view of everyone watching, it was as if the local mages had staged an open revolt against the Imperial garrison there, and had won. Not only that, but the dragon and wyvern pens were showing no activity, and there wasn't a single Imperial troop left standing. It was an amazing sight, and most of those in the room wondered just why they had done that.

But the answer would soon become obvious as one by one, the robed figures standing in the streets or on the rooftops, began gazing up in the sky. Some nowhere near Darkstar Flight and the bombers and escorts with it, others appearing to be looking directly into the cameras themselves. Then, a group of wyverns began to take flight, large white flags draped across the creatures tails, and they began circling the city. Before long, other white flags began to be hoisted across rooftops all over the city, in every corner, and tall building. Even the vaunted magic academy had taken down the Saderan flag it held, and replaced it with a flag of truce.

"They're surrendering," Goldfarb muttered incredulously. "They're actually bloody surrendering. And we didn't even fire a shot."

"I don't fucking believe it." Cummings said, his eyes wide in astonishment, as a wide grin grew across his face. "We aren't even gonna have to fight the bloody bastards! They've already thrown in the towel!"

"Is everyone else seeing this?" Lightning Lead said over the comm channel, clearly as surprised as everyone else.

"Looks like it, Lightning Lead. Looks like we won't be needed over here, but I'll be damned if I complain." BUFF 1-1's pilot added.

Everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief at what they were witnessing. No more innocent lives would be lost, and no blood spilled, at least not here. It actually made some of them happy, happy that they wouldn't get a first class seat to a massacre in the making.

"Lightning 2-5 here, anyone else see what I'm seeing down there? Just want to make sure I'm not going blind here." the pilot said, jolting everyone back to the task at hand.

There was indeed something new for them to take notice of, something that made them do a double take before realizing what they were seeing was real. In the center of the city, standing atop a large building, stood a blue haired girl wielding a large staff. Around her, stood a group of mages, and they all joined her in projecting a message into the air, hovering above them, and large enough for it to be read well enough for the drones above. In large blue and green letters, read the following message;

We do not wish to continue this useless war against your peoples and wish to surrender. We were drawn into this war against our will and seek to make peace with the United Nations of Earth. Spare our city from your City Destroying weapons, and we will offer no further resistance against your armies here or anywhere else in Falmart. We do not wish to continue Emperor Molt's useless war and suffer for it. Please, spare our city, we will accept your terms for surrender, and turn over the Imperials we have within our city, as well as control of the flame dragons, to your armies. We beg you, do not destroy our city.
 
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List of Cities hit by Nuclear Ordinance during The War of First Contact.
The America's:
The United States
: El Paso/Ciudad Juarez, San Diego, Clearwater, Miami, Salt Lake City, Laredo, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Lockport, New Iberia, New Orleans, Gulfport, Largo, Palm Harbor, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Palm Beach, Boca Raton. Numerous saturation strikes in and around hardpoints in the United States, which carried cobalt warheads, combined with global warming, has rendered most of Louisiana, Southern and Eastern Florida uninhabitable, including most of the coastal regions. As such, the coastal areas are both flooded and radioactive, and even cities like Pensacola, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Mobile, while not suffering from nuclear strikes, suffer from the effects of rising sea levels. As it stands today in 2081, all of Florida south of Tampa Bay, is abandoned due to tainted water supplies, and radiation. The same applies for all of southern Louisiana, and all of coastal Mississippi west of Gulfport.
Brazil: Brasília, Rio de Janeiro
Mexico: El Paso/ Ciudad Juarez, Laredo, Mexicali, and Tijuana.
Chile: Talca

Europe:
France:
Toulouse, Toulon, Nice
Italy: Rome
Turkey: Izmir, Sirnak
Russia: Sevastopol, Krasnodar, Astrakhan, Nazran, Grozny, Sochi, Rostov on Don

MENA
Libya:
Tripoli
Egypt: Aswan, Port Said
Israel: Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth, Jericho, Bethlehem
Iran: Tabriz, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Hormoz Island
Syria: Homs, Hama, Idlib, Ar Raqqah, Aleppo
Iraq: Baghdad, Tikrit, Fallujah, Basra, Kirkuk
Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, Buraydah, Tabuk, Jeddah, Damman, Al Khobar
Bahrain: Manama
Qatar: Doha
UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Al Ain
Kuwait: Kuwait City
Oman: Muscat, Sohar

Asia:
Pakistan:
Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan
India: Varanasi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai
China: Lhasa, Kunming, Baise, Tiandong, Nanning, Chongzuo, Sanya, Xingyi, Pu'er, Hong Kong
Singapore: Singapore
Republic of Korea: Pyongyang
Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City

Australia: Sydney
 
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Chapter 21: Operation Whirlwind
I know some of yall are disappointed that it took me this long to make a new chapter, but please understand that I have responsibilities and hobbies outside of writing, and my personal life has been up and down this last while. Luckily things are looking up for me now and ever since I moved to a different section at work, my mental health is doing a whole lot better. Hell, even my dating life is getting better despite not having done this shit in years. So yeah, personal life and work has kept me from writing as much as I would like, but things are starting to change.

Here's the next chapter of UNDF, hope yall enjoy it!

Also, who can guess the next future couple of the story?


"Please for God's sake stop sending our finest youth to be murdered on places like Iwo Jima." Contents of a letter sent to Navy Secretary James Forrestal by an unidentified American mother regarding the losses taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima.


50,000 Feet AGL

Skies of the Special Region

April 28th, 2081

Skies over Sadera


While the bombers attacking Rondel had been called off, the strike as a whole was not. The cities of Sadera, Telta, and Bellnahgo, as well as smaller cities such as Italica, and Crety, were still ongoing. In fact, since the bombers were called off Rondel, it meant that more ordnance and airframes were available for Operation Whirlwind.

A campaign of Shock and Awe against the Empire, against important Imperial infrastructure and military assets. Weapons stores, legionary barracks, dragon and wyvern pens, and the Temple of Immortals, where the legendary super soldiers of the Empire were bred and trained. By the time this operation was over, it was hoped that the Empire's military would be so crippled that it would be unable to respond to raids by barbarians or nomads, much less further military operations by the United Nations Task Forces.

It was also the hope of high command that such a display of destruction would finally convince the Royal Family, as well as the Imperial Senate, that the war was unwinnable, and sue for peace. If not however, then the United Nations would march onwards to Sadera and every other major city, and take them street by street, and house by house if that was necessary. It would be bloody for both sides, and to lessen the casualties on the United Nations' side, many Imperial troops would have to die.

"Darkstar 1 to Task Force Dagger, all targets have been marked, and synced with AWAC data link system." Flight Lieutenant Jessica Goldfarb said over the comm channel. "You are free to pick targets as you see fit."

"Roger that Darkstar," One of the squadron leaders called back. "We're five mikes out from Sadera, what's the status of Hammer Flight?" They asked, referring to the three active B-52 bombers.

"1-1 is currently in a holding pattern over Bellnahgo with Darkstar 2," Goldfarb replied. "1-2 and 1-3 are en route to Sadera and Telta respectively. Time to target for 1-2 is 10 mikes. Time to target for 1-3 and Darkstar 3 is 15 mikes, and should arrive just in time to rendezvous with the other half of Task Force Dagger."

"Affirmative Darkstar, splitting off now, and headed to respective targets. See you over Sadera, out!" The squadron leader said, switching to a different channel. Now all they had to do was wait. Wait as the fighters from Fort Hadrian reached the skies over Sadera, and the carrier based fighters in the Blue Sea reached Telta. The wait wasn't particularly long, but for Goldfarb and her flight mates, it felt like an eternity. They said nothing for a few minutes, silently waiting for the fighter groups to get into position, and for the green light to be given to rain hell upon the Empire. Then one of the flight data officers spoke up.

"Darkstar's one, two, and three have confirmed the existence of 107 prisoners of Earth origin within the cities of Sadera, Bellnahgo, and Telta. The numbers are still increasing as well, especially in the slave quarter of Sadera." He said, the expression on his face one of sadness as he selected the profile of one of the prisoners. One who shared his last name. There was no missing the tear that ran down his face either.

In the postwar world, DNA samples taken at birth were extremely common, as all hospitals were mandated to take them. This system meant that a significant number of murderers and rapists were brought to justice if they left behind any DNA on their victims. It also meant that everyone in the military, as well as dependants and family were cataloged as well. In the very rare case a UN servicemen popped up on the display of data, the profile would come up as dark blue, with family and dependants a light blue color.

"This God damned war!" Flight Officer Cummings cursed. "God damned Imperials! Why couldn't these bastards have just left us alone?"

"All these bastards know is war," Flight Commander Irvine answered in a tired voice. "But they don't know war like we do. So we'll show them how we fight the war we know. Lieutenant Dowling?" Irvine called out, looking over at the man in question.

"Yes sir!" Dowling replied quickly.

"We have operatives in the city, don't we? The ones helping provide targeting information?"

"Yes sir, there are five teams on the ground in Sadera right now," Dowling said, typing a command into his datapad, and projecting the information onto one of the view screens. "One Ghost, one Japanese, one Israeli, one German, and one Austrian team are in the field, with half the Japanese and German teams located at the safehouse. Bringing up their locations on the tac-feed now!" He said, and one of the view screens lit up with the drone feed of Darkstar 1, and the location of the five teams in real time.

The JSDF detachment outside the safehouse consisted of six men split into two teams; Team 1, with callsigns Saber, Archer, and Lanser, were atop a roof with a clear view of the Immortals Temple, providing laser targeting for the incoming bomber. Team 2, callsigns Berserker, Rider, and Caster, were lasing the large Flame Dragon pens that were visible from their position. The Israeli team was on the opposite end of the city from the slave quarter. The Germans were about 1,000 meters away, while the Austrian team was less than 100 feet away from the slave quarter. Less than 100 feet away from where the younger sister of one of his subordinates was being held.

"Whose in command of the Austrian team?" Irvine asked. Dowling tapped his datapad a few more times and the profile of an Austrian Army Major came up on the screen.

Major Felix Cabanac, age 35, Squad Leader, Austrian Jagdkommando Group.

Irvine had served with the man nearly a decade ago, flying one of the last active Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon in a bombing mission against a small holdout of Phauthi soldiers who attacked the city of Río Gallegos, Argentina, after fleeing from their bunker in the Andes Mountains. It was the last holdout active on Earth, and the two men were part of the large task force that drove the aliens from the Andes, and eventually battled them through Argentina. Of the four Typhoons in his squadron from The Falklands, his was the only one not shot down. If not for the timely arrival of American F-35's from two American carriers, he would have joined his squadron mates in the afterlife.

He was the first pilot to respond to a call for assistance from then Lieutenant Cabanac, whose position was close to being overrun, and in desperate need of assistance. The bombs he dropped that day saved many lives, and broke the back of the alien holdout, which was subsequently wiped out by American Airborne and Marine forces who landed mere hours later. Cabanac told Irvine that he owed him one, and whatever he may need, whenever he may need it, he could call in the favor he was owed. Major Cabanac's team was also in the middle of placing IR targeting beacons across the various barracks building across the city, while simultaneously marking targets for the incoming fighters. Irvine then looked over to his subordinate, Lieutenant Harris.

His younger sister, a mere 16 years old, was but a few dozen feet away from a single member of Cabanac's team, who was disguised in the middle of a crowd in the slave quarter. A good commander takes care and looks after his subordinates. Irvine had a decision to make, and he had already made it.

"Patch me through to Major Cabanac, it's time to call in a favor!"


"Access Code White Wolf Authenticated. Secure Line to Asset Black Eagle 159 Granted."

"It's been a long time, Flight Commander Irvine," Major Cabanac said as he ducked into a nearby alley, and out of sight of patrolling Legionaries. "Last time we spoke, you were my best man at my wedding."

"It was a much better time back then." Irvine replied.

"Indeed it was. So what do I owe the pleasure of this call? You finally get out from behind a desk, and back in the cockpit?" Cabanac asked, to which Irvine just chuckled.

"I'm afraid not, my friend. Do you remember the favor you owe me for Argentina?" Irvine asked, getting straight to the point.

"I didn't expect you'd ever let me forget about it. What do you need, my friend?"

"You are aware you and your team are next to a slave market, are you not?"

"I am, and I have noticed a few of them are most certainly our own people. But we-"

"The sister of one of my men is in the slave market just a hundred feet away from you, Cabanac!" Irvine interrupted. "I wouldn't be asking you to intervene if it wasn't for a good reason. But I am calling in that favor."

There was silence over the comm channel for a few seconds, with a few of Cabanac's team linking back up with him in the alley, and looking to him for further orders.

"Do you understand what you're asking sir? We're close to the safe house, but we have no support." Cabanac said grimly. "We could do it, but even if we get them to the safe house, we cannot get them all out of the city."

"Yes I do, Cabanac, and I will take care of that. I just need you to get those people out of there!"

There was another few seconds of silence on the line as Cabanac glanced over at his XO and Staff Sergeant who awaited further orders. Letting out a sigh, he answered.

"Roger that, we'll get it done. Do you want us to grab all the slaves, or just our own people?" He asked.

"I am not going to order you to leave people behind, but our people need to come home, Cabanac." Irvine said.

"Understood. We'll take care of it! Just make sure we get some help to get them out of here."

"You will, my old friend. Thank you for this."

"It's not a problem, Irvine. Black Eagle out!" Cabanac said, cutting the transmission, and turned to his squad members.

"I guess that means we're getting these people out sir?" Staff Sergeant Lukas Fischer.

"You're damn right it does, Sergeant! Get the other teams on the radio, and let them know what we're about to do. See if we can't at least get the Japanese or Germans to help us out here! Lieutenant Bauer, ready the men, and let's get our people out of here."

"Yes sir!" the two men replied immediately, and set off to carry out their orders.


"Thirty seconds to target!" The commander of the second half of Task Force Dagger called over the radio.

"Hammer 1-2 is on station and has eyes on the Flame Dragon pens, preparing to drop ordnance." The B-52 bomber pilot announced, the data uplink in the Tactical Operations Center being updated as the bomber targeted the sleeping giants with its heaviest ordnance.

"Be advised, one of the dragon pens is empty, and the 4th Flame Dragon is currently inside the city of Telta." Flight Lieutenant Goldfarb said.

"Affirmative Momma Bird, we got eyes on the ugly reptile sitting in its pen," Hammer 1-3 replied. "Got a full payload of bunker busters and high explosive for him."

"On station and ready to engage, Darkstar 1!" Said the commander of the first half of Task Force Dagger. "All HUD's are synced properly and each aircraft has selected their targets, just waiting for you navy boys to get in position!"

"Ten seconds to weapons release!" Goldfarb said, the anticipation becoming almost unbearable.

"Black Eagle is in position sir!" Lieutenant Dowling called out. "Both the Israeli and Japanese teams are enroute to assist now sir!"

"Good!" Wing Commander Irvine replied, looking at the clock as it counted down to the last seconds.

5

4

3

2

1


Across every screen in the TOC, indicators flashed signaling the release of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of munitions were let loose upon their targets. Twenty seconds later, multiple impacts were registered all across the TOC as dozens of guided bombs and bunker busters were dropped on the cities of Sadera, Bellnahgo, and Telta. As the bombs exploded, and plumes of smoke and flame shot up into the sky, cheers rang out across the room as the mightiest units of the Empire, and thousands upon thousands of its soldiers, were systematically wiped out. It had even seemed as though the Imperial forces were caught sleeping. In some cases, they in fact were.

In Bellnahgo, the single Flame Dragon present in the city was asleep in its pen. It never knew what hit it as multiple bunker busters and vacuum bombs were dropped directly atop the creature. The barracks buildings, armories, and smaller wyvern pens followed in quick succession, as the legionaries within the city, being so far from the front, grew complacent. Only the barest of patrols were on the city walls and parapets and no wyverns were in the sky over the city. Their complacency became their downfall as bombs flattened buildings full of sleeping and resting Imperial troops. Legionaries who had been enjoying time off in the city proper or had been out on patrol, soon found that they had nowhere to return to. Many thousands of men lay dead in their now crumpled barracks, most of their weapons burned in the bombed armories, and what was left of the garrison was in disarray.

In Sadera, the defending garrison was awake, expecting an attack. However, what they were preparing for did little to help them. The Temple of Immortals, who was undergoing a changing of the guard, with half the Immortals returning from patrol, and the other half preparing to leave, was the very first target to be hit by over two dozen guided bombs, of which the lightest was 2,000 pounds. The city shook under the massive explosion that overtook the building as thermobaric munitions fell atop the building directly after the high explosive ordnance. Hundreds of Immortals, some intact, others torn apart, flew through the air, and slammed down to the ground. Air was sucked from their lungs and the concussive force from over 20,000 pounds of high explosive bombs shattered their bones and turned their internal organs into liquid. Hundreds of bodies were soon strewn about the streets, seemingly intact, but blood gushing from holes in their armor. Even if their legendary armor hadn't been broken, their bodies were broken.

Mere seconds after the Temple of Immortals was turned to ruin, the three Flame Dragon pens were assaulted directly by Hammer 1-2, as well as a quarter of the fighter bombers and drones now present. Two of the dragons had been awoken by the initial explosions, while another was already awake. The two newly awoken dragons barely had time to look up until multiple bunker busters and armor piercing guided munitions slammed into their heads, neck, and torso. Chunks of flesh and scales flew into the air as the various mages and legionaries around them either disintegrated, or fled in terror from the massed aerial assault.

The third dragon, which was in the process of eating, opened its jaws and let out a loud roar right as a 2,000 pound Paveway guided bomb flew into its mouth, and lodged itself in the creatures throat. A second later, the bomb exploded, blowing its neck apart in a shower of blood and gore that coated the area in and around the pen. Half a dozen other bombs fell atop the creatures body in short order, further desecrating the dragon's body.

With the biggest threats now neutralized, the aircraft over the skies of Sadera focused their efforts on softer targets. Many dozens of barracks, small and large, and any armory and wyvern pen within the city was bombarded from the air. A few wyverns managed to take to the skies, but were soon swatted town by the handful of fighter escorts with complete air to air loadouts. The massive encampments just outside the city, with hundreds of tents and thousands of men, were doused with napalm and high explosives, creating a firestorm of death and destruction in the ranks of the Imperial forces.

Finally, in Telta, the outcome was more or less the same. The Flame Dragon was blown apart in its pen, the barracks and armories destroyed, and the encampments built outside the city turned into an inferno of charred bodies and craters. The only difference at Telta was a mass gathering of Imperial Navy ships in the Rho River, which was in the process of offloading thousands of legionaries into the city, as well as loading cargo and war beasts. It was a massive gathering of Imperial troops, a gathering so large that hitting it would be a major blow to the Empire. Half the naval aircraft in the strike force had targeted the fleet all along the Rho River, and what resulted was nothing short of a complete, and utter massacre.

Hundreds of vessels ranging from troop transports to warships were assaulted by aircraft carrying incendiary bombs that set the Imperial fleet ablaze. Within minutes, nearly the entire fleet was burning, the dock and port facilities destroyed, and many ships sunk at anchor, or sinking in the middle of the river. The Rho River ran black as burning debris and bodies choked the waterway. Some ships with crews having already been burned alive, sailed aimlessly in all directions. Some beached themselves, some sunk, and some even went so far as to collide with other ships on the river.

One Japanese pilot who took part in the strike on the Telta Naval Port would go on to say that; "It was the Empire's Pearl Harbor, only it actually crippled them."

As crude as the comparison was, it wasn't wrong. Even Admiral Yamamoto couldn't have dreamed of success at the levels of the Telta Massacre. While most of the warships of the Imperial Navy were sunk off the Icelandic coast or from the nuclear detonation right outside Bravo Point, it had many transports left to ferry troops around the continent via the Rho River. The Empire's remaining warships not at sea, were located at Telta, and every last one was destroyed or critically damaged.

Tens of thousands were either dead or dying by the time the strike force had offloaded its deadly cargo, and turned for home.

By the end of Operation Whirlwind, a significant portion of the Empire's remaining military strength had been destroyed, with heavy emphasis on the naval massacre at Telta, which killed tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers and sailors on the Rho River alone. Much of its experienced cadres were dead, their training and war camps in ruin, forts and armories destroyed, and the remaining forces in total disarray. Sure, there were hundreds of thousands more Saderan troops across the continent, but they were either being mobilized and trained after many years of civilian life, or were too far to be of actual use for the Empire.

But the full extent of Operation Whirlwind would go beyond just the military aspect of the bombing. In the city of Bellnahgo, the last bombs dropped by Hammer Flight had landed atop the Magic Academy within the city. An Academy where magical concoctions and potions were experimented with and created for the Imperial Army's Mages. Those very same potions were potent ones, and in the case of one new potion, very incendiary. When the explosions overtook the Academy, they set off a cache of what Grand Mage Godasen had named "Saderan Fire", meant for wyvern riders to drop upon enemy formations. The fires that resulted from the destruction of the Academy had spread all over the city.

Homes, businesses, smaller barracks that were intentionally avoided due to proximity to civilians, and even houses of worship. As United Nations aircraft left the airspace over Bellnahgo, the fires reached the Temple of Hardy, where many thousands were gathered for prayer, and for safety. Thousands of men, women, and children burned inside the church as the city was engulfed in an inferno. While the Empire's remaining military strength had been all but destroyed, the United Nations had unwittingly committed the largest massacre of civilians in the Earth-Saderan War.

The path to the Empire's major cities was now open for the United Nations, but it had come at a horrendous cost in the lives of innocents, including some of the citizens captured by the Empire during the Battle of Iceland.


Samantha Harris had almost lost hope in ever being rescued. She and all those poor souls who were kidnapped in Iceland all those months ago. Ever since that fateful day, she and thousands of other people from dozens of nations were forced into slavery, and subject to hellish conditions. Murder, rape, assault, sleep and food deprivation, humiliation, anything and everything you could think of that could be done to someone, was done to them. In the brutal march from the portal atop that damn hill, through the city of Italica, and finally to Sadera, hundreds had died. Most were tossed into unmarked graves or left for the vultures to pick clean.

The majority of the men had been beaten and the women raped. Not even the teenagers or young children were spared these atrocities. Not even she was spared that horrible ordeal. Many times in the night she'd be dragged away and raped. Sometimes by one man, sometimes by a group. Harris had noted that her and the other teenage girls were chosen more often than the older women for their sick fun. Some of the nobles even preferred the younger girls that were amongst them. The trek across the continent was absolute hell for them all. So many had died while going from that wretched hill to this disgusting city.

Although once they reached Sadera, the treatment had improved, if but marginally. The Saderans had wanted to sell Samantha and all the other survivors as slaves. So the troops weren't allowed to rape them as they wished, which annoyed them, and they had to be fed more. Everyone had lost so much weight that the extra food was a godsend to them.

But for many, it still wasn't enough. Some had medical conditions that were exasperated by the lack of food and brutal treatment, and despite the orders to treat the prisoners better, some had died in the pens. Then without warning, rations were cut again for all prisoners. At first they didn't understand why, then they started to hear whispers. Whispers of men in dark green, brown, and black, who massacred the Imperial troops at Alnus, and that retreating Imperial troops had been ordered to burn fields of crops and poison water wells leading to Sadera. That the main port in which goods for Sadera came through had been lost and that the army sent to take the port back had been slaughtered to the last. Even those gigantic dragons that left that day hadn't come back.

Many of them knew what had happened, and were holding out hope of being rescued. Harris had even seen high flying planes in the sky over the city. When she saw those planes, Harris knew that the United Nations hadn't forgotten them. She just had to hold out hope that soon an army would be outside the gates of the city, and would storm it just as the Coalition of the Willing stormed Baghdad in 2003.

Then the explosions began.


The moment the explosions sounded all around the city, Cabanac and his team moved into action. With most of the legionaries and slave traders disoriented or frightened by the multitude of explosions that rocked the city, they failed to notice that instead of running away, some men were getting closer and closer to their position. By the time any of them noticed, it was far too late. Cabanac shrugged his cape off, raised his StG 89 rifle, and fired. From alleyways and rooftops, the Austrian Commandos tore through the slave market, killing slavers and legionaries alike. Some tried to fight back, but most were too stunned to react. Some who weren't frozen in shock and fear attempted to flee, but were given no quarter.

One Corporal jumped off a nearby rooftop, landing atop a legionary standing guard aside a slave pen. Locking the man's head in an iron grip, he twisted the legionary's neck hard, and sickening crunch sound was heard by those inside the pen. Within moments, the slave market was cleared of hostiles, as well as the resident merchants. All those left alive were the members of Black Eagle and the slaves kept in the assortment of cages all around them.

"All clear?" Cabanac's XO shouted as he swept forward with his fireteam towards the western entry to the market, as Staff Sergeant Fischer's fireteam secured the eastern approach.

"Clear!" Fischer yelled out, firing two shot from his rifle at two legionaries who tried running towards the slave quarter, gladius' at the ready. "We'll keep them back sir, let's get these people out of here."

"König, Haas, start getting these cages open, we got two minutes to get the hell out of here!" Cabanac ordered as he took aim at the lock on the central slave pen, and shot it off. He threw open the door and walked a pace inside, pausing to tap at his wrist console from which a holographic display of a woman came up. Continuing onward, his helmet visor turned clear, and he made his way over to a woman that his HUD had highlighted, and knelt down beside her. "Samantha Harris?" He said, watching the girl's eyes light up as he said her name.

"Yes!" The girl answered back shakily, eyes welling up with tears as she realized that her own personal hell had just ended.

"You're going home, Miss Harris." Cabanac said. "All of you are going home!" As he said this, many of those within the pen, as well as those in the surrounding ones, broke down in sobbing disbelief. They were finally rescued and they were going home.

"It's over," One woman whimpered as she staggered out of the pen, and collapsed into the arms of the team's medic. "It's finally over!" She said, gripping the man in a tight hug and crying into his chest.

"It is alright," He said in slow, accented English. "You are safe now."

"Darkstar Actual, this Black Eagle 159, all prisoners are secured, retreating to safehouse Alpha now." Major Cabanac said as he helped Harris out of the pen, and motioned for the others to follow.

"Roger that Black Eagle! You're in the clear right now, but you need to haul ass to the safehouse immediately!" Darkstar Actual replied over the comm. "Berserker's team just intercepted a group of legionaries trying to reach the slave quarter, so the path is clear for now!"

"Affirmative Darkstar," Cabanac said. "Let's go, we've gotta get out of here!"

"We have a problem, sir!" Sergeant König called out.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Cabanac said as he turned, and was greeted by the answer. The market held hundreds of slaves packed densely together in overcrowded cages. They could account for just shy of 100 citizens of Earth among the many hundreds of slaves present. But the rest were an assortment of elves, catgirls, warrior rabbits, and other various demihuman species. All of which looked hopeful at the handful of Austrian soldiers who were seemingly shepherding away a group of select humans, but leaving the rest of them behind. They all looked hopefully at commandos, hoping that these were the saviors they too prayed to their gods for.

"You won't leave us, will you?" One of the rabbit women asked, whose left ear was half cut off.

"Please take us with you." A male human pleaded.

"We can't just leave them, sir," Private Haas said. "We can't just take a few and leave the rest. It's not right sir."

"Damn it!" Cabanac cursed under his breath.

"I'm not going to just leave them here," Corporal Haas said as he took his pair of bolt cutters to the remaining cages, and broke the locks with trivial ease. "Come on, all of you!" Haas said in slow, heavily accented Saderan.

"You all safe now! We take you safety!" One of the Lance Corporals in his squad added.

"We're gonna get bogged down in these streets pretty damn quickly if we take them all," Staff Sergeant Fischer said.

"We'll get bogged down in these streets regardless of what we do," Sergeant König replied. "And I agree with Haas, we aren't going to leave them behind!"

"We better figure it out soon!" Lieutenant Bauer called out as the ground began to shake and many of the slaves cried out in panic and fear. From the east, an ogre was stomping their way at a trot, and would be on them very quickly. "Weber, load the Gustav!" Bauer ordered, although a bit late as the Private had already unslung it and had loaded a round in the breach.

"Backblast clear!" Weber called out as he pulled the trigger. A loud bang followed as the round left the tube and slammed into the ogre a split second later. The 84mm High Explosive round blew a hole in the beast's armor, which caused the armor to fall apart, leaving the ogre's chest exposed. Its bloody and gory chest, its heart exposed to the air, and beating furiously. The monster roared in pure anger and pain, and the look on its face became one of pure murder.

"Shit!" Weber cursed as he loaded his second and last round into the Gustav's chamber.

"Let's go! We gotta go!" Major Cabanac called out, signalling for his team to rally up, and motioning them down the empty street towards the evacuation site. Another loud bang and the ogre let out a gurgling death rattle as the second round, an Area Defense Munition loaded with over 1,000 flechettes, acted as a point blank shotgun blast into the ogre's heart and lungs.

"Now we can go!" Weber said cheekily as more explosions began to rock the city, and familiar, yet unknown sounds of low flying aircraft engines could be heard. Looking to his right, Weber saw a warrior rabbit, a child by her size, with a broken foot who was desperately trying to keep up with her comrades, who seemingly ignored her. "I got you little one!" He said as he scooped her up with his left arm, and made his way with the fleeing masses of former slaves, and his fellow commandos.


"This is Black Eagle 159, all HVT's secured, but we ran into a bit of a problem!" Major Cabanac called over the comm channel.

"We can see that. I take it there was no option to leave them behind?" Flight Commander asked, not entirely seriously.

"Not unless I wanted half my squad to mutiny and take them anyway," Cabanac replied with utmost seriousness.

"Should have guessed that was the case." Irvine replied. "I got something similar from the German squad commander when he reported in about the slaves they rescued."

"Yeah, well there better be enough room for us to get them all out, or it'll be a slaughter!" Sergeant König interrupted.

"We already planned for this contingency, just get to the evac zone, and you'll be safe." Commander Irvine's replied. "I am uploading the location to you and the other teams HUD's. Get there and we'll be able to get them all out of here!"

"Yes sir, we will be there!" Cabanac replied. Shifting focus to his HUD momentarily, he saw exactly where the extraction point was located. 500 meters directly south, right outside the main gate to the city. And as Cabanac and his squad ushered the hundreds of freed slaves towards their destination, they soon realized how tall an order they were given.

While the barracks and wyvern pen around the gate had been smashed to hell and gone, there was still a lot of legionaries on the streets. Legionaries were also coming out of the buildings, and his already stretched squad, were stretching themselves even thinner to cover all the gaps, but it wasn't good enough. There was just too many of them and they were too large of a group. Panicked and pained shrieks came from the group as many were cut down by swords and spears. Black Eagle squad tried to defend their charges, but they were simply too outnumbered.

"THEY'RE ALL AROUND!" Private Weber yelled out as he emptied the mag of his StG 89 into a charging legionary, whose body fell forward and collapsed directly in front of the wounded bunny girl whose hands gripped his leg in a vice like grip that seemed almost impossible for a girl of her size. The girl cried out in a language he couldn't understand, but one word she kept on repeating transcended any language barrier.

"Momma! Momma! I want my Momma!" She sobbed out as Weber hurriedly reloaded, and lifted the girl back into his arms.

"WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!" Sergeant König shouted just before an arrow slammed into his helmet, staggering him, and disorienting him for a few seconds. That few seconds was all it took for an Immortal to leap from a nearby house, and land a blow that sent König flying into a group of civilians behind him. Looking up at his attacker, he noted the blue flames licking out from the eye holes of his helmet, and the glowing blue sword that was raised, and had begun to fall. But as the sword came halfway down, the blade was shattered by a bright blue-green projectile that tore through the Immortal wielding the sword. The loud bang that accompanied the projectile sounded as if it had come from a cannon. Another loud bang followed and another projectile blew the head of the Immortal apart, forcing the headless corpse to fall to its knees.

"Who said you boys were alone?" Came a strange, electronically modified voice over the comm channel. The voice was joined by gunfire from at least two dozen different sources, all of which sounded as if they were above ground level.

Picking himself back up and grabbing his rifle, he looked to the source of his good fortunes, and saw a soldier wearing an exotic and unknown set of Exo-Skeletal Armor, wielding what looked to be a miniaturized railgun with a glowing barrel. Standing to either side were two more soldiers in a similar set up, albeit with slight differences.

"We got you covered, get those civilians to the extraction point!" Came the voice of the German squad leader as his team began raining fire upon the slowly decreasing number of legionaries in the streets around them.

"Ogre coming up the street!" One of the Japanese Operators called out. The beast stomped their way, shaking the ground with each footfall, and swinging a massively oversized club. A second later, more loud booms and bright flashes lit up the street, and three glowing projectiles ripped through the beasts armor as if it wasn't even there. The creature fell flat on its face, two smoking holes on its torso, and one in its head.

"Go goddammit!" One of the garbled voices called out again over the net. "Every last legionary that ain't at the palaces is converging on our position!"

"You heard him, men!" Major Cabanac said as he loaded a fresh magazine and rallied his men forward. "If we don't get moving, we're going to be overrun!"

On they went, tearing through the hundreds of legionaries who came to meet them on the street, leaving a bloody trail of carnage in their wake until they were but 100 meters from the main gate to the city, and to freedom. German, Japanese, and what Cabanac could only assume where the vaunted and secretive "Task Force Ghost" were leaping from rooftop to rooftop in order to follow and provide support for the team and the civilians they were leading out.

"We're almost there everyone, just a little bit further!" Sergeant König shouted to the mass of people following them. As tired, exhausted, and brutalized as they all were, the idea of freedom being just outside the main gate was enough to give them just enough energy to keep them going. All of them seemed to run faster at the urging and the realization that their nightmare was almost over. Then, a stream of blue bolts came their way, and three of Cabanac's team were cut down. Two of his men fell screaming, one did not.

"Incom-" The Japanese operator was cut off as a nearby roof was hit with a large glowing ball of light and exploded. One of the SOG's was incinerated instantly, while the other went flying into the air, before landing on the ground with a sound reminiscent of a watermelon being hit with a baseball bat.

Up ahead, they could see the source of their problems. Blocking their way out of the gate, was a mage, with about 20 Immortals, standing guard around many dead and wounded legionaries and Immortals alike. They had been expecting Cabanac and his team, and had them right where they wanted them. More bolts cut through civilians who couldn't fall to the ground in time, and another of his men was struck by three bolts to the chest, and crumpled instantly. Half of the Immortals focused solely on them, while the mage, a Human woman in her late 20's, with a horizontal scar across her face, focused her efforts with the other Immortals on the rooftops and surrounding buildings.

One by one, the buildings around them were either collapsing or set afire, and the operators atop them had to flee or be killed. Based on some of the chatter they could hear, there were more casualties among the Japanese and German teams, but the Ghosts were oddly silent. Of the buildings closer to the mage and her Immortals, windows and doors flew open, revealing crossbow armed legionaries who got their hits on the operators on the street. Cabanac and his team were being funnelled into a killzone and like rank amateurs, they fell for the trap. But how and why was there a mage and force of Immortals laying in wait around the main gate? Or were these Imperials just very lucky?

None of them had time to think about that. All Cabanac and his team were focused on was their immediate survival, which seemed less and less likely as the bolts continued to come their way. At least two of his team were dead, half were injured to varying degrees, and a bloody toll had been exacted on the newly freed slaves who hid behind whatever cover they could find, or simply lay on the ground, hoping they wouldn't be hit.

They had walked right into a killzone and were paying for it. Even as familiar sounding booms and flashes rang out behind them, and Immortals fell over as if they were bowling pins, the massacre continued. Even as smoke grenades were thrown out in front of them, and the vision of the enemy obscured greatly, their position was still very tenuous.

"They're tearing us apart, sir!" Corporal Kassel moaned as he clutched at his horribly burnt chest. A blast from an Immortal had vaporized his armor, and had just enough energy left to leave a terrible open wound, surrounded by burns across his whole chest. Corporal Westfall, the team's medic, had done his best to treat it, but he needed a trauma center. Facilities in Alnus or Iceland wouldn't be enough, they would have to evacuate him to Britain or Germany.

But that was assuming they would make it out of here. Something that most of them had begun to doubt, until half a dozen of the "Ghosts" appeared seemingly out of thin air, each spaced out evenly across the width of the street, and each holding a strange rectangular shaped device in their hands. As one, they each pressed a button on the devices, and placed them down in a hurry. Stepping backward a few paces, a loud buzzing sound could be heard, then suddenly a wall of light came forth from each, rising into the air, and to either side, interlocking with the other devices, and creating a solid wall of light.

A solid wall of light that stopped the bolts from the mage and her Immortals dead in their tracks. It was at that moment Cabanac and his team realized what they were seeing. They were looking at an honest to god energy shield. Not a trophy system that took out rockets and mortars before they reached their target, but an actual energy shield that absorbed the hits as if they were nothing.

"Gott in Himmel!" Lieutenant Bauer gasped.

"I'll be damned," Private Weber muttered as he held the still sobbing child in his left arm.

"You will not be damned if we have a say in it!" A very feminine sounding voice said as three beams of light connected with the shield, and seemed to not only make it grow in height and width, but also in strength. Three demihumans, an orc, a warrior rabbit, and a dark elf, advanced slowly but steadily, arms pointed forward as they each projected a different color from their body. "Where are your giant metal birds? I intend to see this vile bitch torn asunder by those explosive arrows they wield!" A tall, green skinned orc woman with white hair asked, her voice laced with venom.

"You know that bitch?" One of the Ghosts asked in the garbled voice their helmet gave off.

"I'm the reason she has that scar on her face," The Orc woman growled. "And why I have the ones across my chest and stomach." The rage and hatred in her voice and eyes was visible to all, and none wanted to get in her way. She seemed ready to leap over the shield and charge directly at the mage and her Immortal guards, but she would never get the chance. The roaring of engines and sight of five low flying aircraft brought cheers to the Special Forces operators and civilians who had been captured in Iceland.

Wraith Combat Drones, designed by the United States, Great Britain, and Japan, were the cutting edge of unmanned ground attack aircraft in the UNDF Air Arm. Capable of reaching speeds of mach 1 and with range and armament size equivalent to most legacy fighters still in use, Wraiths were a terrifying drone to face on the battlefield. And given that they were fully autonomous and made their own decisions, Wraiths were extremely deadly.

Missiles were launched and they flew into and exploded among the masses of legionaries, auxiliary, and Immortals in and around the main gate, to include the force that was bearing down on the assorted operators trying to escape. A mixture of high explosive and shrapnel based warheads made quick work of the vast majority of the Saderan forces on the ground. In fact, the only one who seemed to have survived the initial bombardment was-

"Well I'll be damned!" One of the Germans remarked.

As the dust settled and the smoke cleared, there was only one person still standing amidst the carnage. The female mage who led the ambush against Cabanac and his team, eyes glowing a bright blue the same color as the shield around her body. She looked up at the source of her misfortune, glaring impotently at the five flying death machines that now turned their autocannons against her shield. She winced and fell to her knees as she focused her energy into keeping the shield raised around her.

"There's no fucking way!" One of the Ghosts remarked as they deactivated their energy shield, and the remaining operators and their charges slowly inched forward.

The mage looked back up, this time at the operators, and more specifically, the three demihumans who were leading out front with the Ghosts. Her eyes burned even brighter as she caught sight of the orc woman, who had already pulled a purple glowing sword from a sheathe on her back, and made ready to charge at the Imperial.

"You will die!" She snarled, gripping the sword hilt tighter and leaping forward. The Wraiths ceased firing and pulled back as the orc woman began to approach the mage, and her shield began taking on an even brighter and less transparent glow.

"Not today, you orc scum!" Were the only words she spoke as the shield turned bright white, momentarily blinding all those looking in her direction. As the orc woman swung her sword and was preparing to make contact with the shield, it disappeared, taking the mage with it, and any hope of revenge for the orc woman.

The orc looked stunned for a few moments, looking back at where the mage once was, but was no longer. The look of rage on her face twisted into one of pained regret and sadness. Slowly, she put the sword back in its sheath, looked back towards the group, and motioned for them to follow.


'It was over,' Samantha Harris thought to herself. 'Its finally over.' She had almost broke down and cried when the special forces team freed her and her fellow slaves from the cages they had spent weeks in. But when they finally escaped the city, and she saw the waiting aircraft sitting just outside the city gates, guarded by hundreds of American and Russian airborne soldiers, and was ushered aboard one of the massive planes, she did. Months of agony, despair, and feelings of hopelessness came surging forth, and poured from her like water from a running sink. All those who had been taken from Iceland that terrible day, and had survived long enough to be rescued, were no different from Harris.

No matter the gender, the race, religion, or sexuality of those rescued today, everyone cried. Cried tears of joy at finally being rescued, tears of sorrow for those who didn't make it to see this day, and tears of pain from the absolute hell they went through. For those native to this world, but also forced into the shackles of slavery, they too cried. Especially the nonhumans, who Harris had come to learn were horribly mistreated in this world. The rabbit women especially so. Saderan legionaries would often take them away for hours at a time to gangrape them. The physical and mental scars that had left on them...Harris didn't like to think about. Harris especially didn't like to think about the times she had been raped by those damn barbarians, but every single time she slept, she would see those men in her nightmares. And after being captive for so long, and raped so frequently, Harris had begun to think she was pregnant. She was very late and it didn't take genius to figure out why.

"I don't want to have it," She mumbled to herself, just loud enough that a nearby medic tending to an injured bunny child heard her.

"What was that, ma'am?" The American soldier asked, looking over at her.

"Get it out of me!" Harris mumbled again. "Please, get it out of me!" She pleaded. The soldier's eyes widened slightly as he realized just what she meant. Tapping his wrist console, he quickly pulled up her file with all her information on it.

"Sweet Jesus," He swore as he saw her age. Looking back at her, he nodded to Harris, and put on the friendliest smile he could. "We have medical teams standing by on the field right now. We'll get you taken care of when we land, alright?"

"Thank you," Harris said with a nod of her head. "Thank you so much!"

"I'm just sorry we couldn't have gotten here sooner." The soldier replied sadly. "But we made those bastards pay. Barely any of them left when we pulled out, and there'll be even less when we go back."

"Won't be much longer at this rate," An injured Austrian Special Forces soldier said as he slowly rocked a bunny girl to sleep in his arms. "And if those fucks don't surrender by the time we're ready to kick the door in, we'll burn that fucking city to the ground.

"Might just burn the city down regardless of how quickly they surrender," A tall orc woman sitting next to the man added. "Flare knows the Imperials deserve it. After everything they've done to us, their whole rotten empire deserves to burn!"

"What is she saying?" Harris asked as she looked over at the Austrian. The man smiled and said,

"She says the Saderans are gonna regret the day they ever fucked with us!"
 
Well,normally i am against killing babies,but in case of rape i undarstandt that.

That aside - @Quickdraw101 , your RL is ALWAYS more important then writing.And i wish you happy time with your girlfriend,and many healthy babies.

Story - they could forget bombing normal soldiers,they are no danger to them anyway.Just kill dragons,immortals,ogres and mages.

Speaking about mages - why imperials keep captured mages with other womans ?
That was mistake.
 
You see Saderans, Whirlwind was Earth being calm and generous.

After the last part of the chapter?
To paraphrase a webwork,
"When fucks are gone/
Undo this lock/
And send us forth/
On a moonlight walk!
Release restrain level: ZERO!
"
Yes,always amused me how Saderans in canon enslaved japaneese and others captured people after Japan destroyed their army.
Every thinking leader would not hurt prisoners from country which destroyed his army,but in Gate Saderans behaved as if they win battle,not lost it.

If idiot Zorzal was leader,i would undarstandt that,but Emperor supposed to be smart.

P.S dear author,it is Gate - which mean,that demi girls from Sadera must get good boyfriends !
 
... well, at least it isn't like a version of GDI that I've been working on... let's just say the ancient and dread-inducing phrase "RAISE THE RED FLAG" gets uttered and leave it at that...
 
... well, at least it isn't like a version of GDI that I've been working on... let's just say the ancient and dread-inducing phrase "RAISE THE RED FLAG" gets uttered and leave it at that...
Keep working! we love all stories with red flags.Althought..."No prisoners" are nice and dandy,but those who do not run would fight to the death.

Why not use soviet approach? told enemy that they should surrender and be treated well,and when they surrender,send to gulags and kill 90% of them.
Like with german prisoners in Stalingrad.

You kill them ,but they work for you before that - it is win-win situation.
 

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