Rewritten, same title.

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...

The dust had settled in the Flash island of Gevaka, but the fight is still going strong between those who wants to benefit from slavery and those who want it gone for good. On this day, 18/7/1702, this could perhaps end it all after more than a year of the war in Havenklein. One last storm of the Commonwealth and the Luftforsvar who came to support their ally.

"MIA taking off now"

Harriers of Flashia that have made their name in recent memories are seen being stationed and now taking from from a new airbase, just outside the city of Terholt. The impromptu airbase was a result of the events that leads to the liberation of Terholt and Vosselberg. This doesn't have a name yet, at least officially, most just call it the Southside Airbase, named after its location in relation to the town's center.

During the renewed offensive and the second push, the squadron had made their point clear that their Harriers don't have that much of a combat range to safely operate from, and were thus had to rely on their wyverns for the most part.

While the Strike Eagles helped bridge the gap, it didn't help that Esterria wanted as much air asset from Flashia in the skies as possible, a measure to mitigate the economic tolls that the Commonwealth were suffering as a consequence of the embargo. And while they are certainly getting back to their foot, they would rather not upsetting the economic stability even further.

Because of this, the Royal Army had arranged a new airbase just outside of Terholt to the South for the grey birds. While this does allow for them to be in range and respond quickly, the fact it was in close proximity to the frontlines means there exist a substantial risk of the airbase coming under any sort of attack by the pro-slavery force.

Two-by-two, the V/STOL aircrafts take off, with the others still on the runway having to wait so that air won't screw them over as soon as the wings are in the skies. Leading today's mission is, as you could probably guess, Hjertsson, who leads the the squadron as a whole.

"Remember boys, we're going to level their shit... and kill their wyverns as well"

...

Northern Outskirt of Terholt On the relatively quiet night over Terholt, a howitzer and 4 crew members is positioned under a camouflage net. The 4 men were getting the howitzer ready for the next mission, as one elevates the artillery, and the others get the ammunitions.

Being about 26 kilometers away from Pannerden, the Flash supplied Bugsaret Artilleri 1948 had no chance of lobbing shells that far away, but this isn't a 48. Instead, it was one of 1983, a heavier, bigger, and more powerful howitzer with a more updated designation convention.

[See Artilleri 155/83 in 'Insignia and More Materiel (Flashia)']

"Sir, you sure this would work?" inquired a gunner, sitting on the left side of the howitzer, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean by that?" the commander asked back at him.

"The net with leaves sort of thing on it, above us right now, are you sure we need it?"

"Oh that... I'm sure, don't worry about it"

"How so?"

"I got a friend of mine from the Wyvern Corps flew above the city in the morning. He came back telling me that he could barely see our gun from up there. That's your answer"

"I see, but why though? Wouldn't our autocannons be able to protect us?"

"Last time I checked, some wyvern riders are very much capable of evading detection before striking..."

Indeed, during the 2nd Battle of Terholt, an artillery from the Royal Army was reported to been attacked by an EAS wyvern before it was promptly shot down by anti-air after having able to slip past the crews' visual. Fortunately, no one in the Commonwealth side in that incident got hurt as they had reacted quickly, but it sure did send quite a message for them.

The gunner just shuts his mouth after that while nodding at the same time. As this was happening though, the crew could hear a distinctive roaring sound from behind them, in the skies.

"Are those the Flashian Harriers?" asked the gunner again.

"First of all, their demonym is Flash" the commander corrected him "Second of all, yes they are"

"Oh, uh, eheheheh..."

The Harriers fly past the artillery as they head for Pannerden. In the meantime, the commander brought his left wrist to chest level and pulled his sleeve back to check the time. The watch, like the cigarette and lighter, is one of those imported from Flashia.

"...We are at approximately three-fifty in the morning" the commander would remind the time for everyone "We should be firing by four at least as soon as those Harriers rain hell on those damned slavers and leave. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" and the likes would reverberate.

...

A rider of the Wyvern Division is patrolling the skies over the occupied regional capital of Havenklein, Pannerden. In recent time, the patrols had become more tiring for this particular rider as it was getting longer, and longer as time marched on with the advent of the Commonwealth offensives.

He'd scans the scenery around him, his eyes meeting the dark horizons of the night, the clouds covering the moon and other wyverns of the Division he is a part of flapping their wings above Pannerden. It's quite a nice, relaxing scene, even amidst the darkness and chaos of the recent more than intensive fighting somewhere else.

The rider yawns as his stead's wings kept on flapping periodically as seconds tick down. He had lost track of time during his air patrol long ago, but it's definitely been a long night for this member of the wyvern division.

"Alright Julia, let's get back to base shall we?" he said, to which his wyvern grunts in agreement.

The wyvern took a left turn, to the direction where the airbase is, as they make their journey back home. They went and went by the city, and eventually the airbase is now in sight. Julia then makes her descent as she lines up on the runway of dirt.

After that, both make their steady approach to the runway, and eventually both of them would touchdown on the ground. As soon as they touched the ground again, the wyvern continuously flap her wings forward to slow down while inertia takes hold for a bit.

They come to a full stop after a few seconds or so, and the rider jumps off of his stead. Ground crews would also come by to take care the rest of things.

"So how are things going Daan?" asked one of the crew members who approached the rider.

"Tiring, very tiring" Daan, the wyvern rider would reply "But still fine..."

"Glad to hear that, what happened in Terholt and Vosselberg shook things up in here am I right?"

"Right..." as Daan turns towards Julia, who is getting some well-deserved treats from the crew "You know, sometimes I wonder what had gone wrong there. I wanted victory to come, but I guess victory don't come easy..."

After saying those words, the crew gave the rider a pat on the shoulder "Don't worry, Daan, we ask the same questions here too. But for now, we will have to stick to the fighting ahead. Everything will be fine"

"...Thanks Jan... Everything will be... alright..."

Just as Jan was done at reassuring the rider, both of them heard a distant sound of an explosion in the skies. They looked up well it came from, and next thing they saw was a wyvern falling to the ground below.

"What the..."

As they look there, another wyvern would be hit by another explosion, then another and another.

"Oh dear..." Jan's eyes widened in realization of what's going on.

As the EAS wyverns started falling out of the skies. They would later hear a faint approaching roar from their South. As the roar became louder and louder, Daan's wyvern suddenly ran towards Daan and Jan.

While the roar went above both of them, the wyvern would run out right in front of them, spreading her wings out. The next thing Daan and Jan knew were explosions near them, behind the reptile, causing them to flinch and get low.

The wyvern subsequently roars in pain, as shrapnel hit her right wing. The crew and the rider slowly looked up after ducking down. How was Julia able to know danger was coming, no one knew, but whatever it was, it granted them another day to live.

"Julia... H-How did you know...?"

Daan then remembers a rumor he had heard of from his fellow rebels, that wyverns have incredibly sharp eyes. At first, it seemed quite far-fetched, but now, the pieces seemingly are now falling into pieces. Both Daan and the crew couldn't see what was falling upon them, but this wyvern seemed to have.

"Good girl Julia, good girl..."

Looking the surrounding now and they can see the airbase being damaged beyond saving. The buildings, hangars are on fire as a result of the bombardment. Jan, the ground crewman would grab Daan's attention for a moment.

"Daan, whatever happens, you have to get out of here!" much to Daan's dismay.

"Why? Shouldn't we just stay here and fight?"

"Listen to me, Daan..."

"No! No matter what, I'm staying to-"

"DO YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE THOSE GUYS UP THERE?!"

The rider froze up in response as Jan cut him off.

"You have to go now, there's no longer any chance we could win here, it's either run or be killed by the Commonwealth"

Daan couldn't believe what was happening right now, for the first time he had felt extremely hopeless in this situation. He turned to Julia, his wyvern who looked at him as if she's telling him that it's not worth it anymore.

"But what about you?"

"I'll stay to help out the boys, just go!"

Jan would run off to the burning buildings, to help out the ones who survived the bombardment. Daan subsequently climbs on Julia, since her wing is injured coupled with the fact they could easily get shot down as they had seen, they won't by flying today.

"C'mon girl, let's get going!"

The wyvern started running off the runway, wings remained close to the body to reduce drag. They will be heading further West where the rest of the EAS forces are, where they still have a strong foothold in the region of Havenklein.

...

"LOAD HIGH EXPLOSIVE!" yelled out the artillery commander as the crew readied up.

Two of the gunners brought a steel tray with a shell already placed on it up for the projectile to directly face to the breech. One from the pair would push it in partially, before being rammed into its proper position.

"Give me the charge!" shouted the gunner as another crew stood behind him with a white explosive cylinder. Unlike their existing inventory of howitzers prior, this one is a two-piece ammunition which might seem inconvenient at first, but considering 155mm is obviously bigger and heavier than 105mm, this is their best option.

Plus it allows for options for different explosive size for more range or for better chance of hitting something behind a mountain.

The crew then got the explosive charge into the breech, the block then get closed with a pull of the lever.

"UP!"

"STANDBY!" yelled the commander.

The crewmen would stand back and prepare themselves against what is about to come.

"...FIRE!"

The other gunner sitting on the left side of the howitzer pulled on the lanyard, triggering the end of the gun-howitzer's barrel to let out a big fireball and a bang loud enough to burst one's eardrum in one go. In the midst of this, one could barely hear someone cheering on.

The breech would open up, spitting out the spent shell without external input. The crew would then get another shell, shoved it into the breech, then also push the charge in there. Upon two of things now in there, the block would close again with the lever.

"Standby!"

Much of the crews would run back and brace themselves for another bang.

"FIRE!"

The artillery goes kaboom once again, recoiling its barrel before returning it to its previous position. The process would then repeat for the third time with another projectile, another explosive charge slammed into the breech, another steps back and bracing.

"FIRE!" as the commander's voice begins to crack from the shouting.

The gun fired off the last shell for the burst at the direction of North where rebel-held city of Pannerden is.

A howitzer like this could potentially be enough to decimate some of the EAS forces. Sure they might be bigger and heavier, but they make up for it by being more powerful and thus outranged their 48 more than twice.

The only problem that stands in their way in their war effort is that they're loud... REALLY loud. The commander brought up his radio to listen in what their comrades had to say, but due to the ringing in his ears, he was only able to barely make out a single conversation.

He simply sighed in disappointment, though even he can't hear much of that.

...

Large smokes are now rising over Pannerden, waves of explosions shook the city, and wyverns fell like giant raindrops. It's like hell itself has came to Esterria, unleashing destruction upon the regional capital.

"...What in the world happened?"

As Kevin Weg stood on the rooftop in silence and horror, while buildings burn, he could hear an eerie whistle before explosions erupt once again in greater numbers than before. The series of explosions were everywhere in all corners of the city, striking many of the buildings.

He then looked at the open fields on the outskirt amidst the chaos, and would see a large spread out formations of carriages of iron of some sorts heading towards the city.

"By the gods..." as he turned around and tries to run back "I must go and-"

Before he could start sprinting upon turning around however, a bullet went straight through his head. Kevin Weg was no more, and he couldn't have known.

...

A merc with a red armband pulls the bolt back, ejecting a casing before push it back and down into battery. Given an older, specialized rifle for a more long-range job, he would try his best at picking out targets from afar...

Actually wait, correction, while this type of rifle is issued to the Esterrian soldiers in various unit, this one is legally his, he brought the gun over himself.



He then catches up to the rest of his squad as tanks and armored personnel carrier alike pushes into the city. The marksman approaches the squad leader, giving him a tap to the shoulder to get his attention.

"The hell you've been?" asked the leader of the mercenary squad who would greet him back.

"Nothing much, just doing my little thing as usual"

"Anything notable?"

"...Actually yeah, I shot someone that looked important"

"Well if he really is, then they got a lot more problems to deal with now... Forward!"

The squad would moving again towards the city. As they moved along he pulled the bolt back a bit to check the chamber, as you can't be too sure in such a situation.

The battle tanks with Esterrian tricolor on the left mudguard would also pass by, entering the city ground alongside them before the foot soldiers would split off to do their clearing. The squad would be bunched up on a randomly selected house.

"Right... you got something to get up close?" the SL would ask the marksman.

"I got a pistol right here" as the marksman slings his rifle to his back, then whipping out a pistol from his (personally bought) holster. This time, it's a Royal Army-issued weapon for the sake of some sort of uniformity and also a companion for when things get too close and personal. I should probably mention that this pistol would have otherwise been exclusively given to officers



"Nice..."

The SL then turns to the front again and taps on the shoulder of the red armband in front, signaling him to breach with the others. In the meantime, the marksman would disengage the safety and cocks the hammer in that order, in a short amount of time.

The guy positioned himself to the door and delivered a strong kick near the knob, busting it open. As it cracked open, he raised his rifle and landed 3 rounds on an EAS fighter who happened to be just standing there.

Then the rest moved in, sweeping corners clean of slavers using their battle rifles, SMG, and a pistol. The pistol might not be as effective as the SMG is, but it might as well be the most compact weapon available to the Royal Army. It's also remarkably easy to use for even the least experienced.

"Hey you good?" shouted a soldier from the other room.

"Yep!" replied the marksman before he shot another fighter with his pistol "Fuckin' heavy trigger..."

Well... this particular model isn't well known for having the greatest trigger in pistols history, so there's that.

...

The loader of an Esterrian tank slams a HESH round into the breech, flips the safety up.

"UP!" he shouted as the Pansar 55 of the Royal Esterrian Army comes to a halt, breech would rotate downward.

"On!" shortly reported back the gunner.

"FIRE!" shouted the commander.

"ON THE WAY!" and then the breech quickly recoiled back and then forward. After that, the breech opens up immediately followed by the ejection of the 105's casing.

"Target!" signaling that they have indeed hit the target, in this case, a building with EAS fighters "Switch to coax, loader, load HESH in advance" with the received orders then being carried out. Gunner shot the tank's coaxial machine gun at the target while the loader grabbed another 90mm HESH and slams it into the breech. "UP!"

"Target, cease fire" said the commander "Driver, move forward" and the tank is moving again. As the vehicle was moving, the commander looked around the tank, seemingly feeling something in the tank.

"It smells like sweat here, did anyone work out here in the middle of a battle?"

Obviously he is refering to the loader, who had been sweating a lot since he's the one that does the heavy lifting. The chuckles of the gunner could also be heard, while the loader doesn't really look that happy.

"Very funny sir..."

...

An EAS fighter stands by the entrance of a house, just in the left corner. On his chest is a vest with magic crystal dust-laced sticks of explosives. He is a part of the 'martyr units' of the slaver rebels, and today, he shall fulfill his mission here in Pannerden for the first and the last time.

When mixing regular gunpowder with crystal dust, they would essentially made an explosive that has the power of a 110lb bomb in a small package. To the rebels, this would probably be enough to take the mighty Commonwealth iron elephant-dragons out of the fight.

Said elephant-dragon would come into sight of the martyr, as he contemplates of what would happen to him. He regret having to leave behind life and his beloved somewhere out there, but he must do his job for the sakes of the EAS's last stand in the city.

"Here goes nothing..." before turning to go for the machine upon it getting close enough.

...

The loader hangs around as the tank moves, continuing to throw him around side-by-side as it traversed the rough roads of Pannerden, drenched in sweat for swiftly moving tank rounds into the breench.

Amidst the muffled explosions and clangs from cannon impacts, the calmness still surrounds the 4-man crew, just rolling around and doing their job quite well. All was good-

"SUICIDE BOMBER!" yelled out the TC "BRACE FOR IMPAC-"

And then a big explosion abruptly rocked the tank hard, causing our loader here to fall to the right side, head first onto the breech. If it wasn't for the helmet he was wearing, he would've knocked out cold from that. After a short while, he'd try to recalibrate his bearing from the initial shocj.

"BAIL OUT! THIS PANTSER IS A GONER!"

Still disoriented, but able to hear his words clearly, the loader grabbed on anything in the turret to help him stand up. As the commander opens his hatch, standing up on his seat, the loader looks up, still a bit dazed, looking for the hatch.

Upon laying his eyes on it, he reached his hand and pushed it open into two. Before he climbs up though, he grabs a weapon by his side, unfolds the stock and switch off the safety of the rifle to semi-auto.



Because of the environment they work with, they had to get a compact weapon to fit in, and MPM was considered the most suitable for this role. But this particular crew wanted something that reached out further, and for them, Flashia did send over some KM69/5, the one depicted here.

The loader put his feet on a seat with rifle on his right hand, and lifted his head up to outside the tank. The first thing he sees is the commander firing a few shots with his own KM69A1 on the right side of the tank turret.

"Sir, you need to go now!" he shouted at the TC "Ihave you covered!"

The TC nodded, and immediately after that, he puts his right hand on the handguard, just near the mag. As he does this, the loader slapped down the charging handle of the gun as literally intended by the manufacturer, and shoulders the stock.

The commander meanwhile puts his bottom down on the right portion of the turret's top, getting his legs out before he orients his body away from the tank and then jumps off the Pansar. The loader in the meantime fires off 3 shots in semi-auto, before switching short bursts after short bursts in full at the EAS direction, hoping to at least keep them away from having the chance to get to the others who are on their escape.

The driver would be the second one out as he is seen firing his MPM repeatedly with the stock still folded, held around his waist height, popping out and back to the directly behind the tank periodically. Then it was the gunner's turn, who exited through the commander hatch, opting to go from the left then off to the back of the armor.

"TWAN, GET BACK HERE!" shouted the commander at the back as the loader, who we now know as Twan, pulled on the charging handle back then up as he had ran out just in time before fully climbing out of the tank. Twan would then jumps off to the left side of the tank before going behind the tank with the driver.

Behind cover, he would pull the current mag out, into his pant's pocket, grabbed a new one from his pouch, then inserting it into the rifle and finally slap that charging handle down again.

"Hey Sander!" he grabs the driver's attention "You go, I'll cover you, sounds good?" to which the driver nodded.

Twan then looks over from the left side of the tank, then raising his left fist up for Sander to see. He lift his index finger up, then his middle, and finally his thumb. After the thumb is raised, Sander ran back to the infantry line while Twan immediately moved out from cover and fired his KM69A1 once more while they're on the move.

They ran and ran, firing shots after shots until both would make it back to the infantry forces and subsequently regrouping with the rest of the crew. Twan is glad that they all made it out alive, but is still regretful that this would mark the first time something once viewed as invincible has been lost in combat.

"...Such a shame..."

...

"14th just lost a tank..." mumbled Vincent before later sighing "...Well, can't really deny it's bound to happen anyways"

Vincent, Piet, Konink and the rest of the squad enters the regional capital of Havenklein, Pannerden, where the battle here might be decisive in the war. The loss of Havenklein was a blow into the Commonwealth's morale, but now with the shiny new equipment, they are determined to take it back.

"So what now sir?" asked Konink as he looks over the city where distant gunshots echo from the buildings.

"...We scout ahead, make sure no bombers get too close to our vehicles" as the lieutenant moves on "We can't let another one be lost"

Piet, Konink and the squad would follow behind, passing by a line of Pansartransporters and then Pansars. As they pass by the lead tank, the squad members checked their weapon. Piet inspected his current mag and gave it double taps onto the SMG handguard before loading it in again while Konink simply pulled back slightly on the chamber.

They eventually caught up with the lieutenant, and from there, the squad marched into the city as they would act as ad-hoc scouts, clearing any potential threat that could take down more of their heavy armor.

"It feels surreal... if I'm being honest" said Konink as he looked around, with Piet turning around to him.

"What do you mean by that?" said Piet.

"It feels weird seeing Havenklein in this shape now..."

"You have been here before Konink?"

"Not only that, I've lived here all my life... Don't get me wrong, I'm happy now that we're taking it back, but seeing this beautiful city in this state is just... I don't know anymore..."

Konink would march on quietly before the silence would be broken by Piet.

"I understand, but rest assured we'll return it to its former glory... I promise"

It's not much of a word to say, but it cheered Konink up a bit. They'd walk slowly into enemy held position, screening ahead for the rest of their forces.

...

The marksman rests the handguard of his rifle on the window sill of a building. From his position, he overlooks the T-shaped road, right at the center, as he keeps both eyes open even while the right looks through the scope.

He patiently wait for something to pop up, as his squadmates advanced up the road, taking cover at any chance they got. Then something caught his left eye, while observing the surrounding. The marksman gets his scope to look over, and lo and behold, a group of EAS fighters are moving through the street.

He would look closer and realize one of them is a suicide bomber, the same kind that took down one of their Pantsers, a rather strange one in appearance really. He realized he would have to shoot him down as soon as possible for fear of the damages that he would cause to the Commonwealth forces. But then, he scanned the surrounding, holding back on the trigger, realizing that the bomber is right in the middle of the moving formation of the enemy.

"Oh boy..."

A perfect opportunity for him is now in sight, putting the reticle on the bomb vest. He waits as to compensate for the movement and distance, breathing in and hold to stabilize his sight, and finally pulling the trigger.

As the recoil force a snappy hard push into his shoulder, a large explosion erupted over the road and the marksman would look away in pure reflex. He then looks back out the window to see the destruction he made while cracking a little laugh.

It's impossible to confirm exactly how many he killed from his standpoint, but he is sure he had took out a lot of birds with one stone... and he also scared the living hell out of some of his fellow squad members.

"Sorry, I just saw an opportunity and took it..."

...

As bullets crack near and light flying everywhere in the streets of Pannerden, the slavers had an especially hard time breaking the deadlock since the recapture of Scharna and Limmenstein. Now the Commonwealth came to Pannerden, which could decide the fate of the war, a battle where the EAS throws everything into the kitchen sink.

With the battle going on, the fighters had to carefully move around, take note of every single windows and corners, as even a little exposure could spell the end of their fight with an accurate shot by gods know what the Royal Army has in their arsenal. With fear taking hold in many of these rebels, a squad of these fighters would find refuge in a house somewhere.

The leader peeks out from a window, checking for a Commonwealth soldier that might be looking in their direction. He looks around, and sees no one looking by for now. After reassuring, he gives out a hand gesture to signal the squad to move now.

They began to cross the street, still wary of their surrounding. As they ran across the street, a Commonwealth squad just so happened to be also seen crossing, to their left.

"Oh fu..."

The Royal Army soldiers would subsequently spot them, called them out for the rest and began raising their weapons. Before they could pull the trigger and massacre this EAS squad however, a mage in the middle of the crossing formation casted an ice wall.

As the ice wall stood up, the Commonwealth soldiers opened fire to no avail, as bullets did not manage to pierce through the cold wall. The fighters just stood there, and then celebrating the fact their new weapons could not go through...

"IT WORKED! IT WORK-"

BOOM

...Until it didn't.

The ice wall shattered as an explosion suddenly erupted directly on it, sending bits of ice at the EAS fighters in high speed, severely injuring many of the pro-slavery men in the process. And then, hails of bullet that was supposed to end them there followed, leaving them no chance to survive the onslaught.

All that's left are bodies of EAS fighters and demoralized ones who may or may not be incapacitated who surrendered upon the ice wall shattering, as the Commonwealth soldiers moved up with the intent of grabbing them one-by-one.

Explosion magics normally do not destroy ice walls instantly, they'd need several shots under normal condition, which are both time-consuming and exhausting for a mage. But here, it's apparent that somehow, one was enough to send ice flying and clear the path.

Nobody knew what kind of explosive magic that does that, so it must've been a new kind that the Queen's men had been conjuring. The Commonwealth however, remains the only one with the answer... aside from Flashia of course.

...

"Get them out of here!" shouted Vincent "Shove them into dungeons or something!"

The soldiers grabbed each of the surrendering fighter one by one, then they would escort them to the rear echelon, where they would be transferred to a camp holding prisoners. Afterward, the squad moved ahead of the main forces to scan the area and take out anything that could pose a threat to the convoy.

They had been slowed down at first by the sudden encounter and ice wall, but not for long, for they had something that comes out of the rifle's muzzle.

"Hey Konink!" said Piet "Good job on that rifle grenade!" to which Konink simply raised a thumbs up. Indeed, they were supplied not only rifles, but grenades that launches off a certain device on the muzzle of the gun.



Like the armored vehicles, these are capable of penetrating through armor of even the toughest carriage out there in Gestrae. It was designed to punch through tanks, and now it's here to destroy the slavers' carriages and ice walls.

Of course, it's not without its drawbacks. Its weight means that it could make the rifle front heavy and velocity upon leaving the muzzle isn't that great. All things considered though, they're very much acceptable by Gestrae's standard.

As the new prisoners are handled by the other squad who had also moved ahead the main formation. The squad is now free to do what they want to do next.

"Let's get a move on boys, we're not done yet" ordered the lieutenant. The squad continued afterwards, as impromptu recons for their brigade. The lieutenant and his soldiers would run past the shattered wall, just going straight ahead while keeping an eye out on every corner.

Often times, they made contact with the enemy, who gets gunned down afterwards by hails of bullets of both 7.62 and 9mm bullets. Some managed to fire their muskets... and one managed hit his mark.

"WE GOT A MAN DOWN!" yelled out a soldier in the middle of the chaos. Indeed, someone was struck by an EAS musketeer as others rush over to him while shots of their own would erupt at where it came from after the fact.

"By the gods... he's beyond saving at this point" commented Konink who checked on him. The soldier in question was hit in the head, the helmet cracked open with the ball clearly penetrated the steel. It reminds them that while their helmet may add a layer of protection, they are in no way impervious to even musket bullets.

"Fuck... Kamst..."

The soldier closed the eye lid of the fallen soldier, as a recon vehicle comes from behind the squad, crossing the intersection. The noble lieutenant stood up afterwards.

"If we win this battle, his sacrifice won't be in vain" he said "Save your tears for later, we have to move now" as the squad move onwards and the 30mm blasting through the street.

...

The Scimitars have made their return to the frontline again, as their tracks rolls through the rough roads of Pannerden. Their autocannon once again giving hell to the EAS forces with HE shells.

"Target, cease fire!" as the autocannon stops firing.

Being a recon vehicle at its core, it was relieved of the role of being the spearhead after Pansar 55 came around, often going for reconnaissance mission or go along with the infantry soldiers in support. While still not as numerous as its 76mm variant, there are still enough to go around wreaking havoc in the urban environment.

Despite the advantages it offers, like most armored vehicles, the crew when buttoned up suffers significantly in terms of knowing their surrounding and what's going on, which is why they have to rely on infantry.

"Infantry, dead ahead!"

"Identified!"

"FIRE!"

The 30mm autocannon fired off its HE ammunition at the EAS forces situated behind a barricade on the street in quite a slow but still significant firerate. Any cover that was there is now basically non-existent as it was shooting explosive out of the barrel at 90 rounds per minute.

The slavers then tried the proven self-propelled carriage, now modified with a magic cannon hastily mounted on it. They hoped that this would take down the Commonwealth vehicle. The carriage then popped up to line up the shot, but much to their terror and glee of the other side, the carriage was immediately annihilated by a cluster of explosions, with the entirety of the crew shortly perishing.

To the slavers, this creature is like nothing like the infamous large 'iron dragon' that was once taken out by suicide bomber. This one was smaller, but it packed more firepower and became the most dangerous threat known to them. Bigger ISN'T better, as it turns out, a polar opposite of what Gestrae had believed.

They could only hopelessly watch as the Royal Army troops and its beast approach their position. Around the same time, the crew of the Scimitar would hear a double knock on their vehicle from outside, followed by a muffled speech:

"Do you want us fucking deaf?! Warn us when you're going to fire next time for fuck's sakes!"

The commander couldn't help but crack up a chuckle after that one angry remark from an infantry soldier, the gunner just simply smiled. The Scimitar then moved on with infantry, closing distance to the Municipal Building of Pannerden.

...

The marksman had found him and his lad a spot where he gets the free reign of the town. As the Commonwealth that paid him for the job rushes on the occupied Central building from all sides, the squad had to move further to the rapidly changing front.

At the moment, they are now on a rooftop within 500 meters away of the building, essentially giving him, and to some extent the machine gunner with a fast firing GPMG a good sight to fire upon any EAS that they lay eyes upon.

The marksman finishes up on loading the 5th round, pushing bolt in then down to battery was the next step he did. The machine gunner closes the cover having loaded a belt onto the feed tray.

He scopes in to get a better view of this at the Central Building. Both his and the MG's weapon are chambered with 7.62x51mm, which theoretically they can reach as far out. That's where the similarity ends though, as one has a scope, and the other doesn't. What the marksman sacrifice for precision however, is firepower, and that's where the MG comes in.

From there, he could direct the gunner's fire whenever necessary, just so they could keep the rebels inside, cowering in cover while any rifle squad come in and finish the job for them. As he scans the building, an EAS fighter would enter his view, looking out the window.

He adjusts for range and breathes in to keep his aim steady and finally, fired off a round. What resulted after that that is the glass of the window shattering and the man presumably drops dead. The marksman then picks up something else, and it turns out to be the slaver infantry on the roof.

"Hey gunner!" he shouted to the MG, pointing at that specific building "Shoot at the roof on that building over there!"

"Which part?" the machine gunner replied.

"Just shoot the roof, they're everywhere!"

"Gotcha" and then the machine gunner immediately shouldered the stock and holds down the trigger, unleashing a whole lot of bullets, firing at a rate of 1000 rounds per minute that also increases over time. The tracers fly their way to the roof, and the unlucky ones on the roof would be seen panicking after it had started, with supersonic bullets coming out of nowhere, raining on them.

In the meantime, the marksman takes his time to pick off some other targets, such as and especially officers. This way, the enemy would become a lot more uncoordinated than they are as well as keep them panicking. As the armored column continued advancing on the Municipal Building.

On the last shot, when the marksman pulled the bolt back, he saw that there's no round left to shoot. And when he checked his pouches, no cartridge would be found.

"I'm out of bullets... great, does anyone have a spare .308?"

...

The Esterrian Royal Army had never been close to him before, much less doing so at a scarily rapid pace.

Valentijn Goggen who had been head of the whole rebellion is just contemplating to himself in his office as gunshots ring out from afar, outside the building and bullets hitting the walls.

He has came to a realization that the weapons, rifles, armored self-propelled carriages of Flashia were just miles ahead of even the most advanced La Ferdinan materiel. Their wyverns were also taken out of the fight very quickly using some kind of cannons and even fighter jets. It's a realization that materialized too late, but it still knocked some sense into him nonetheless.

And now that he thinks of it, how did the Commonwealth gets their hand on even one fighter jet as reported? Something didn't add up, but it didn't matter as the situation worsen by the seconds. Their defense force (not to be confused with the FDF) in Pannerden had essentially been reduced to nothing not even an hour after the Commonwealth launched their attack on Pannerden.

Someone would barge into his room, in a hurry, and it was no one other than Keppelink himself, with a musket in hand.

"The Commonwealth bastards are outside the building!" he shouted in urgency "We won't be able to hold long against their carriages! What is our next move?"

Goggen continued to dive deep into the river of thoughts, trying to think a way to salvage the situation. He would only find himself in some sort of dilemma, as he couldn't land on a single decision. Eventually he did make one, a difficult one.

"...Well we must stand down"

"What?"

"We have to surrender..."

Keppelink's eyes widened in shock.

"B-B-But we can't just end it all like this! What about our ultimate goal? What about-"

"Keppelink" the EAS commander cuts him off "I want you to look around you right now, what do you see?"

Keppelink would subsequently speechless, as the surrounding sounds of gunshots and bullets continue on.

"The war was over the moment that 14-year-old Queen got those equipment from the Flashians, and with those equipment, they managed to re-capture 4 cities within hours each. All those 4 cities took us months to take as ours, and yet the Commonwealth got them back in mere hours. And what does that tell us? The end had come to us, and if we continue this foolish effort, all of us will be dead. So call it in, give it up, we're done fighting"

Keppelink could only nod repeatedly after that, then he rushed out, preparing himself for the surrender of the EAS. Valentijn would be left in his office, sighing.

"...I should have seen this earlier..." he mumbled "I shouldn't have scoffed at those Flashian devices..."

...

Vincent and his squad is situated right outside the Municipal Building, alongside other units and assets such as the armored recon vehicle they followed. They were firing their weapons at the EAS-occupied building, in order to keep them pinned down as an assault team is in preparation to storm the building.

"By the gods, they should be surrendering now!"

They continued firing with the recon vehicles and other armored vehicle, the radio and the manacomms would burst into life.

"All unit cease fire!" ordered who sounded like a senior in the ranks of the Royal Army "We have official confirmation of the slavers' surrender!"

Confusion was the one that came next after the situation. Nobody knows what's going on, but nonetheless, they'd put their guns to safe in accordance. And then something extraordinary happened, something that you could see what these soldiers were waiting.

"That's a white flag right there!" shouted Piet as he pointed at the flag sticking out of the window "We won! We have won!"

Many in the Royal Army present here erupted in cheering. Some were very happy that they defeated the slavers, some cried over the loss they had suffered, but one thing was sure is that this battle is over, the war has finally came to an end.

The lieutenant took off his helmet and held it on his chest, while soldiers of various units celebrated their newfound victory. Some soldiers rushed in to grab the remaining slavers inside, with the noble Lieutenant not being able to resist smiling.

Their year-long war has come to an end, and with this Esterria would be able to step into a new era, a series of rebuilding and finding prosperity within itself. The deaths in the Havenklein War were unprecedented for the Royal Army, but at least those sacrifices weren't in vain after all.

...

From the start of the war to the end, the Commonwealth forces had suffered somewhere over 70 thousands death alongside losses of a few vehicles at the later stages, the EAS's figure sits at around 110 thousands.

From a gradually losing battle to a dramatic comeback, the Havenklein War would become the deadliest war in Esterrian history, and one that saw weapons of another world seeing action in a civilized world for the first time ever.

Insurgencies would still go on and off particularly around the Western and Southern part of the regions near the border of Naeslagtland and La Ferdina. However, a vast majority of them would pretty much made quick work of, mostly by mercenaries in trucks that may or may not have been responsible for some of the massacres of the rebels post-war.

All things considered, Esterria could now focus more on rebuilding their own country and get it into a better shape.

...

Patch notes (20/3/25): Fixed some issues of mispelling, reworded a few bit, and changed the name of the HK33 carbine.