Rewritten, same title

Діскорд: https://discord.gg/UqgavrsYUd

...

The Reslanis had started something unprecedented. One day, a supposedly weak elderly man ended the head of the Imperial Administration here, and the next day, they took over the city right after his public execution.

It's a fiasco that cannot take even a day to be dealt with, for fears of ramifications of it spreading uncontrollably like wildfire.

Outskirt of Yelovsk Administrative Capital Foot soldiers of the Tsar Army marches along with their armored self-propelled carriages. Consisting of Varikans this time, they are a part of a rapid response force should something goes extremely wrong here in Yelovsk, though many didn't think they would be called upon for real in their lifetime, let alone where they are needed being the capital.

Their task is straightforward in of itself: defeat the defecting Vassal Army forces and crush the resistance for good.

As the column crept close on their road to the city, the barricades with the Vassal Army would come into view.

"So what shall we do, sir?" asked the carriage driver.

"...Ram the barricades" the commander answered while rubbing his chin "Push this carriage as fast as they could until they break"

The driver, upon receiving those words immediately complied and floored it, going right for the center of the barricades of wood, mainly of chairs and other furnitures. As they got closer, the defectors threw a few bottles with a burning cloth at them.

That left them thinking: 'Why on Gestrae would they throw mere bottles at us?'

The moment that the bottles shatters, is when they realized that it's not just a bottle, it was some sort of firebomb, but not the one they're familiar with.

Normally, with the anti-magic coating on, this model of carriage could shrug off pyro attack just fine. But for reason, it didn't work against the flaming bottles for some reason. Furthermore, while conventional fire magic does a short burst in one focused direction, this one is a lot long lasting and spreads around a radius.

As the flame clung onto the vehicle, the metal starts to heat up, and it was at this point that their first instinct after the impact onto the barricade was to bail out.

The hatch was slammed open followed by a soldier falling to the ground on his side. One-by-one, the rest would hurriedly jumps out of the steel box.

As the rebels score more hits with the same type of weapon on that same carriage, the troops quickly find themselves donning the face of horror. Right before their eyes, the revered self-propelled carriage had turned into an oven of death.

Some who were unfortunate enough to be too close were also set on fire by these bottles, screaming and collapsing as they attempted to put them out, further adding to the horror.

...

"The barricade's burning! First line is gone!"

The Reslani retreated after unintentionally setting the wooden blockade on fire, rendering their frontmost defensive line a goner.

"Tell our other comrades to fall back to the 2nd line! Use this as an opportunity to move on while they're blind!"

They may not be able to use the structure as somewhere to stick their guns out to shoot anymore, but in a way, it still serves them. With the fire superimposing on the street, it would temporarily deters the Variks from gaining ground, as well as providing cover with the black smoke emerging from the blaze.

Though the risk of bigger fire starting here, most likely as the surrounding house remains a problem...

"Hey!" shouted a soldier that caught the Esterrians' attention "We must move on now! Take as much as you can for this battle!" as others took the completed 'vodka' that was on the table.

The Esterrians nodded, topping off the last bottle they were doing, and then start running out where they would make their way to the second line with bottles at hand. Their Reslani counterparts would also follow suit, some meanwhile stayed back, providing cover and take some shots at the Varikan response force from the window before shortly pull away.

...

No one knows who is who and where is where, everyone just run around in a disorderly fashion, trying to process what had just happened to them.

That's how a pair of Varikan boots would put this chaos into words.

With the fire crackling intensely with the carriage completely burning down, the troops devotes their effort on putting out the flames as charred bodies laid around them, and some shot dead by Reslani bullets.

No one was expecting this much of a resistance, no one expected such devastation dealt upon their comrades, and nobody knew they were in for arguably the most haunting moment for a soldier out there.

Officers tried but struggles to rally their troops to adhere to discipline. Many had deserted, taking the opportunity to disappear without anyone noticing until much later.

The troops that stayed in the formations however, continued trample on small parts of the fire, splashed water from the buckets but it was determined fighting it was a waste of time in the end, in 10 minutes that not even the mage could help much.

The carriages could not get through so the infantry had to go around all alone in the town.

Many were reluctant, very much aware of what risks they're taking in this case, but it had to be done for their mission.

They marched on, sweating from the heat emitted from the fire as they maneuvered around. They would eventually enter the city proper, still wary of their position, still advancing slowly on the silent street.

"INCOMING!" abruptly shouted one of the soldiers to response ro a few more of the these bottles lobbing towards their position, the cloth drawing on the background with fire.

Glass shatters, person set ablaze, blood-curdling screams, muskets loudly echo off walls, blood spilt on the ground, then the walls.

...

"What do you mean by the army is struggling to even get into the outer sections of the city?!" Tsar Kovalev shouted in disbelief "I thought those rebels would be surrendering by now?!"

"That was the outcome we were desiring, Your Majesty" rebutted General Bogdan "But it seems that had mounted up stiffer resistance in the most unconventional and baffling ways..."

"How unconventional are we talking about here? Tell me General Bogdan!"

"From the reports of troops fighting there, the Reslanis there used some sort of bottle that left a field of fire..."

"Mere fire bombs?"

"That... somehow managed to b-b-burn through our carriages-"

"WHAT?!?"

"The self-propelled carriages! They were able to disable them easily somehow!"

The Tsar slammed on the armrest of his throne.

"Great..." he angrily sighed "...Say, Bogdan, you did say you have troops with repeater guns in there, yes?"

"...That is correct, Your Majesty"

"Tell them they now have the authority to kill any Reslani on sight"

"But-"

"NO BUTS! I WANT TO SEE THEM OUT THERE MAKING SURE THESE SUB-HUMANS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY RESIST MY AUTHORITY!"

"I- ugh..." General Bogdan is visibly not too happy about it as he look down "Yes, Your Majesty, your order shall be carried out"

"Hmpf, that's what I thought, you are dismissed"

Bogdan turned around and left the room, to do what has been assigned whether he like it or not. Truthfully, he does not trust these so called 'Repeaters', he thought enough regular muskets will do the job. But who knows, maybe they would do a better job.

...

A gun is raised on the sill of the window. Coated in pseudo-gold with wooden stock, it is not something one would find in the hands of a Varikan regular.

With a long tubular device, which allows the shooter to see further and hit their mark more accurately through its lens, this specific type is touted to be accurate and deadly, at least by the Verdecanans from whom the Empire bought them from.



These rifles are in limited service, primarily issued for the best soldiers and the most loyal out there.

"Let's get to work then..." he sighed.

The hammer is cocked back as the soldier quickly acquired a target in his reticle. It only took a pull of the trigger and a resounding BANG to take him down.

He pushd down on the lever with his knuckles so it rotates to perpendicular to the receiver, ejecting the fired casing and loading in a new one to 'repeat' another shot. He set his sight on another one, and that was a boycarrying bottles across the street.

Though young and innocent, the kid still fits his description of a Reslani, and so he pulled the trigger once again, though not without some pause. Recovering from the recoil, he would see the same boy lying on the ground, squirming and bleeding.

It had to be done, he thought.

The soldier sent off more rounds at each of the Reslanis he lay his sights upon, all of which now lie down incapacitated, if not no longer in the mortal realm. After he had reloaded his tube, he would find another rebel, though this time, it wasn't a Reslani.

This one looks more Naeslagtlandic if anything, though he can't really describe what exactly is he wearing other than the red armband that indicated his allegiance. The man crouched down on the ground, aiming a shorter weapon exactly at his location.

"What on Gestrae is this guy doing?" he mumbled

He now knew the soldier was there, shooting his comrades all along.

"Does he know no one else can hit at this range?" he murmured, not knowing what would happen almost 3 seconds later.

The opposing foreigner pulled the trigger, a crack is heard and he lost sight quickly to his flinch reflex.

"WHAT THE?!?"

It felt awfully like bullets sent his way in such a short succession, it shouldn't be possible, not even with the best and smoothest-operating repeating gun, let alone the Reslani revolters possessing such weaponry.

"What on gods' name was that?!" he yelled to himself, before he got back and fired back at the man's direction, trying to match his firepower to no avail, wasting all of the precious bullets he had.

"Damn you!"

The door was then heard forced open, as the voice of another person rang out the room. The soldier hastily loaded 3 bullets, as the enemy crept close. Half of the person was seen at the doorway, and upon laying sight, he fired a shot forcing the opposing force to immediately take cover. He would try to work the lever again... only to be shot dead by a countinuous burst of fire a moment later.

His mission was short-lived, his life ended prematurely, his thoughts left unfinished.

...

"Hey you got that sniper up there?!" a Flash volunteer shouted at his radio, holding onto his M70 underfolder rifle that was sent as aid to Esterria, though never ending up being used, presumably due to the bullets it used, the slightly-shorter-than-normal length and its flimsy-looking stock.



"Yeah, I got him!" replied back his Esterrian counterpart on the radio, to which he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice work out there..."

"Not a problem at all"

And then another gunshot rang out in the city, prompting him to turn his head towards generally where the shot had come from, it seems that sniper wasn't alone after all. Again the radio blared:

"Jan just took a hit, West side! Third floor, he's there!"

What followed is more of the gunshots on that side, its closer proximity, the distinct sound of a Satkian (or generally Newberslawnian) product and the rate of repetition of it immediately tells him it's on their side.

'Man, I thought these guys are musket only' thought the Flash volunteer while he stood up from his crouching position.

A bullet then narrowly missed him, hitting the ground, the shot reporting from his front view.

"Shit!" he hastily took cover behind a wall and brought out his radio again.

"Check North! Another one up there!" as then another Flash volunteer enters the view, shooting the standard fixed stock M70 at where the shot had come from.

He takes a peek to look, seeing the Reslanis also taking cover from the sniper fire. They seems to intend to evacuate those hit, but couldn't due to the danger these new snipers posed.

The Flash shouted to them: "Get them out of here, I'll cover you!" as he disengage his safety with his middle finger, thumb still around the grip, slightly lifts it up as he ensures he would be firing in full auto and began firing in short bursts.

With both foreign volunteers firing, the Reslanis began running over and drag the bodies off the street, while also flinching over the supersonic bullets that flew near them. With the two volunteer firing, they weren't able to hear anymore shot coming from the Varikans nor do they felt one intended for them missing.

Amidst this comes the orchestra of loud gunshots and cracks of air ringing out in the urban area of South-West Yelovsk.

...

"Those carriages are moving again, can anyone take care of that over?"

An Esterrian grabs the radio, put it close while holding on to the button.

"Yeah, we're taking care of it"

He then grabs a tubular weapon and a large green arrow, except it's no arrow. This arrow is in fact, an explosive, an explosive designed to punch through as much armor as possible. It has been repeated that this one is the nightmare of even the most infamous iron monster since it was born.



The Esterrian puts the tubular weapon down on its bottom, grabbing a blue stick, screwing it onto the bottom of the warhead according to the instruction he had been given by the proprietary manual of arms. After that he sticks the back into the front of the launcher, shoving the rest into it then after, and to top it all off, he'd rotate the warhead to the correct orientation so that it's seated properly and held in place until launch.

He stepped outside to meet a line of self-propelled carriages coming for him face on along with his assistant who chose to stay at the sidewalk. His assistant looked behind him as he took off the safety cap, before shouting:

"Clear!"

He unfolds the sights and takes aim at the first carriage of the line, still approaching him. The attacking army and the Reslanis would call him crazy seeing that he just stood there calmly. He cocks the hammer down with the thumb of his right hand and put his finger into the trigger guard while holding his breath.

BANG-FWOOSH

And what came after that distinctive firing sound is the carriage going up in a fiery explosion, and suddenly it all made sense for the onlookers. The Varikans was sent in a panic as the repeating guns began firing at them in the aftermath. The Esterrian along with his accompanying friend casually walks off the street, shouting:

"Welcome to Kramovskiy, damned Variks!"

A laughter followed, and the Esterrian went off the view.

...

A glimmer of hope instantly shattered on impact. They just had gotten their carriages inside now that the obstacle was out of the way, not knowing that they were heading directly to hell. The carriage that lead the convoy had gone up in flames in an instant after the explosion hit it, the rest got hopelessly stalled and now fired upon on both side of the road.

They were losing numbers at an alarming rate that shouldn't be possible even with the repeaters that they know exist out there. Many tried to get their muskets up, few only actually fired, and even then it's not enough of a response for the hail of supersonic bullets.

"FLAMING BOTTLES!"

The dreaded flammable bottles were once again thrown at the Varikan troops by the revolting Reslanis. Those that did not react in time were caught in the field of fire, and the carriages that couldn't move were set on fire.

"COME ON! COME ON! GET THE CARRIAGE OUT OF HERE!"

Screamed out a manacomm operator. The carriages that was at the back of the convoy started to back up in an effort to retreat. When the tailing one of the convoy goes right into the center of a narrow intersection however, it too went up in an all-too-sudden explosion.

The Varikans were effectively trapped, taking fire from pretty much everywhere, as the air keeps cracking, the flame keeps crackling, and bodies keep falling.

...

2 men on a tower, one with a rifle, and one with a binocular, both responsible for hunting down Varikans with repeater guns as they have appeared in this city.

"2-5-5 right?" asked the Reslani-allied sniper, checking the chamber beforehand.

"Yep, 2nd floor in the red building" clarified his spotter.

The sniper scopes in, still keeping both eyes open as he tries to find the red house. Suddenly, a brief yellow light were given off from a window of a red building.

"Yeah I see him"

The sniper puts his finger right inside the guard of the trigger, preparing himself to fire. The trigger is pulled, the sight snapped to something else above what he was aiming at.

"...Did I get him?" he asked his spotter.

"Well..." replied the spotter "That's 5th kill confirmed"

The sniper started laughing.

"Fuckin aye, that's awesome!"

Their job is far from over however, as the sound of another lever-action rifle rang out behind them. Both of them turned to the source direction of the sound.

"That's North-East..."

The sniper pulls the bolt back, ejecting the fired casing as he would place the sniper rifle to North-East before pushing the bolt back to battery, chambering a new 7.62 round in the process. The spotter still on his binocular as usual.

The spotter and sniper looked around for the sniper as the second shot rang out, while the other gunshots flood the other side of the city. As with the previous 5, they would get a hold on the Varikan, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet flies across the city, from the town to a building, violently crashing through the Varikan forehead, sending him to an immediate stiff drop...

...

Over the regional capital of the Yelovsk Vassal, wyverns had been dispatched to secure the skies. These wyverns are different from the normal ones in that they are slightly larger and pack a lot more punch in ground attack. They approach and approach closer to the city, their riders getting ready for what is to come.

"Remember boys, we shall rain hell on these sub-humans!"

The escorting smaller wyverns, more suited for engaging enemy air assets would follow 2 of the larger close air support oriented wyverns. The Varikan Wyvern Corps in no time, is now above what the Reslani down there call Kramovskiy.

The rider proceed with what had been planned beforehand, their wyverns straighten themselves up, literally. At a high enough altitude, the wyverns began diving to their targets. As they dived and dived further, the wyverns opened their mouth, fireballs forming.

They were ready to unleash the Varikan wrath on the Reslanis... if only they could go so far.

"WHAT THE-?"

Light projectiles suddenly cracked the air loudly, the first large wyvern having been killed in an almost instantaneous death. The second fell a second after that, both riders falling to their deaths, if they weren't hit that is.

The escorting wyverns took notice of this and converge on the source of the light projectiles, only to have their efforts be in vain as they were too shot down by other sources that lit up the skies.

"WHAT IN THE GODS' NAME IS GOING ON?!"

"We're falling like flies here!"

"Oh no-no-no-no-NO!"

"These projectiles are every-"

"WHEN DID THEY EVEN HAVE THESE WEAPON?!?"

"Oh DEAR GODS!"

...

As the truck's suspension compress to the recoil of the heavy machine gun- wait, a pickup truck? A technical? How did it get there?



I honestly have no idea how did they manage to get a pickup truck from Flashia to Kramovskiy... my notes here are showing nothing... again... damn it, LD*, we rewrote this fkin chapter and you still have not come up with an explanation... Where was I again? Oh right.

The machine gun fired its .50 CAL bullets every time the trigger is pressed by the thumb of the operator, an Esterrian Royal Navy veteran.

"You seem to be a good shot at this one" said his Flash counterpart.

"WHAT?!" replied back the vet, his hearing already half-destroyed at this point.

"I said you're good at firing this MG!"

"OH THANK YOU! I HAD SHOT DOWN SOME SLAVERS' WYVERN BACK WHEN I SERVED IN THE ROYAL NAVY!" the heavy machine gun fire continued

To the Varikan Wyvern Corps, it's hell from below, to the fighting Reslanis, it's heaven falling from the skies. The wyverns were picked off every time they came into view, with the air support for the Tsar Army been rendered useless.

"HEY DO WE HAVE ANY MORE OF THIS GUN HERE?" shouted the Esterrian operator to his counterpart bringing in ammo boxes.

"Words in that us and Reslanis are getting more of those MG up so yes!" he replied before dropping the boxes onto the bed of the truck.

"GOOD!"

The truck's kept on being rocked back-and-forth, the wyverns continuing to fall from the skies above, to the horrors of the Variks and the awe of the Reslanis before the anti-air power.

...

A platoon of repeater soldiers are being held up at a house surrounded by the revolting Kramovs. The rebels armed with muskets have the numbers, but what they don't have is sheer firepower and accuracy that the Varikan repeaters have, at least that's the rationale these troops were under the impression of.

However, they do realize that just that is not going to be enough, especially when ammo and supply is limited

"Hey, you heard of the news?" a soldier would try to kill time speaking to his fellow.

"What?" replied the colleague of his.

"The Wyvern Corps won't be coming to help us"

"WHAT?!" shouted the Commanding Officer who had heard those words "They're not helping us?!?"

A portion of the morale was lost upon hearing the news, but it didn't completely stop them from sending more shots out to hold the opposing force back.

"Why? Why aren't they coming?" the officer inquired.

"They said they were having... uh... technical issues"

"Don't they understand anything about this at all?!?"

In the chaotic sound of fighting going on, the air is only getting tenser after it was found that the Wyvern Corps wouldn't be arriving.

"Repeating guns... they're effective... but the ammo for them" as he push the lever down, ejecting a casing "Is running out... Don't they see our dire situation here?!"

"I'm sure they do understand but-" before the other soldier could say anything, the air cracked up again with projectiles passing near, forcing the Varikan soldiers at the left window to duck for cover. Same thing happened with the right.

"Hey, HEY! What's going on here?!"

"We are getting shot by something" as one of the soldiers took a peek, only to be forced down again by the strange projectiles "I don't know what it is but it's too much! And it's allowing them to get closer!"

The officer turned towards the soldier who is next to him, who seems to not know what they're going to do against the unknown threat. He looks back to the other soldiers.

"Form up a line facing the entrance, they won't be able to advanced any further with tens of bullets awaiting them..."

...

"Oomph!" grunted a Reslani as he followed a Flash foreign volunteer, slamming his body against the wall in the process, effectively stopping him after sprinting towards the building. Both of these guys are armed with the same weapon, the fixed stock M70.

"So what do we do now?" asked the Reslani.

His Flash counterpart didn't say anything for awhile, looking at the windows.

"They're barricaded the windows... great" as he turns around "The only way in is the front door"

"B-But they'd expect us to come there a-a-and have many of their guns trained on it!" said the Reslani as he still follows the Flash footstep.

"Trust me I know"

That didn't help to soothe the once your average resident of this town turned resistance member.

"What do you mean you know? You have a solution for this?"

"Yep" as he puts his rifle straight up with right hand on handguard and left hand reaching for his pocket "It's this little buddy right here, he'd do it all for us"

The Flash pulled out something out of his pocket, showing it to his accompanying Reslani.

'A green canister?' he thought to himself.

...

The Varikan platoon had now formed up a line with the imposing fully-loaded lever-action rifles at the door. All the shots would have to count at this point as they prepare their last stand.

They probably are not going to make it... might as well make the most out of their precious time as they can

The Variks wait and wait patiently for someone to go through, until the door creaked open to the outside world. They were ready, sights are all on the door, as an unlucky rebel would be drawn into an inescapable line of fire... except he didn't.

What had barged into the room uninvited was instead a green spherical object with some sort of device of steel on top. The door was immediately closed shut, the object rolled to them. Confusing the platoon in the process.

Their confusion would then be CLEAR!

KABOOM

A sudden explosion erupted at their feet, killing off most of the platoon. Anyone left alive couldn't get themselves together as the green ball had disoriented them to an extremely high level.

Two would barge in, and the surviving Variks basically had no time to react with the remaining still intending to fight gunned down in a matter of seconds.

...

"See?" the Flash volunteer scans the surrounding of the room "It's that simple..." he then puts the rifle parellel to his body, barrel to the ground with only one hand on the pistol grip "Pull the pin, and chuck it in, let the room clear itself"

The Reslani, still has some dusts of confusion over him, was also amazed by how effective it is at routing out the holed up Variks.

"That's... incredible! One explosion and the room is empty!"

"Hehe, yep, open floor plan all the way..."

...

Esterrian troops, all armed with equipment of Flashia, built up in numbers in an abnormal move from Einskirka at the region of Jonnik, along the border with Yelovsk. Previously it was only a brigade of muskets that was in the region, but now it's 3 brigades of rifles in this together.

The Queen's soldiers, as it seems, are preparing for something... but for what exactly? No one knows, not even the top brass of the units know, all they knew is that the region to their South is such a hot zone as of current.

Tensions had already existed between the two neighboring countries since they supported the Havenklein rebels who were pro-slavery,the outbreak of fighting in Kramovskiy only put more fuel to the fire with their Senate having passed the motion to support the revolt in South-West Yelovsk. It was accepted that they're here for securing their border, ensuring that the region is more than ready to defend itself.

Rumors had been circulating within the ranks of the Esterrian Royal Army that they will march into Yelovsk to directly help out the rebels themselves though. Some thought it was just a hogwash, and a rumor is just a rumor, some just mentally prepared themselves just in case it turned out to be true.

All in all though, the possibility of war with their Varikan counterparts, and the KUG in general became a lot more likely, even more than that of Havenklein, probably only second to that of the disastrous invasion of Gevaka.

In the middle of this though, a general of the Royal Army, who had led the Commonwealth war effort in Havenklein, decided to pay these newly stationed units a visit. Belink exits the vehicle upon arriving at a training ground, his entourage follows close.

This visit was unannounced, any mention of it nowhere to be seen on the bulletin. He and his company walked down a stone path on a green open field while the sound of more sharper gunshots than the battle rifles that led them to victory back in the West echoing from a close distance, improvised out of necessity from lack of infrastructure for now. The commanding officer was watching over the crouched troops, training their skills in handling their sleek black weapon. He then turned his head around to the general

"CEASE FIRE!" he instantly loudly orders with a perceived tone of surprise mixed in "THE GENERAL'S PRESENT!"

The soldiers, also caught off-guard by his sudden appearance, had stopped firing on their targets, engaging their safety. The officer would then turn to face his superior, standing at attention and salute the General.

"At ease" said General Belink to the officer, to which he would then put his hand down.

"General Belink, I... did not expect you to be here..."

"I know..." said Belink "I thought it'd be better if it was a surprise so I can see how folks like you have been doing"

The General then turns his eyes to the infantry soldiers, eyeing at their equipment. He was used to the green uniform of the Royal Army from the previous visit to the troops stationed outside of Havenklein, before the counteroffensive campaig. It's still the same shades of green, but now it's donned on a different helmet that covers more of the ears and the back of the ear, a miniscule brim points slightly more forward and on the slightly different uniform with the plain tricolor sewn onto the upper arm of both sides.



(BK-3 with a cover)

Mind you, they don't have any sort of camouflage pattern on them yet, although there have been talks that Esterria will make one.

On top of all that, their rifle seems to be drastically different too. It's still black as with the case with RM58, but it seems smaller, the mag is longer and curvier, and has the carrying handle built into the receiver itself. The color is also noticeably more matte and grey-ish



"Hey you over there!" he pointed at one soldier "Come here for me" he then beckons his hand. The soldier seemed to be a bit reluctant at first, but he gain some guts to approach him, but not before slinging his weapon to his back.

"So soldier" the general began "What's your name?"

"Private Matthias Paquin, sir"

"A Ferdinan name huh? You come from Rouny?"

Rouny is a duchy of the Commonwealth to the South, directly bordering La Ferdina, characterized by the predominance of Ferdinans who settled in the region when it was part of the Empire, before their generous transfer to Esterrian control 40 years ago.

"Yes, sir" answered the infantryman.

They have been facing discriminations in recent time as a result of the tensions between Esterria and... basically everyone in Gestrae.

"...Well, a soldier of the Army is a soldier of mine regardless of where they came from..."

They still are as of current, but the situation has been getting better as a few notable Rouny Ferdinans have gone so far in their stride for redeeming their people's image within Esterria. Some would also partially credit outside influence, particularly of Flashia as Einskirka took a more and more liberal stance.

Still far from on par with their Republic's counterpart, but it's creeping in that's for sure.

"Present arms, explain to me your service rifle in details"

"Y-Yes, sir" the Rounian swung his rifle back to his front "This is the RM86 as I've been told by our Flashian advisor, I've heard from my commander that we now call this Geweer 2 in the Royal Army"

He would then take the magazine out upon pressing the mag release with his trigger finger, showing the loaded bullets to the general.

"It is chambered in five-point-five-six by forty-five millimeters"

"5-5-6 by 45?" General Belink wondered "That wouldn't kill someone in one shot like the seven-six-two we have in our inventory wouldn't it?"

"No sir, it would not, but our Flash counterpart has been using it for decades and said it was more preferable than the bigger cartridge, personally I like it because recoil isn't that much"

Belink uttered an "Ah", before another word as he nods: "Please continue"

The soldier loaded the mag back into the rifle, now known as the Geweer 2, before he would orient the rifle down to the side in such a way the General could see the left side.

"Here we have the selector, we currently at safe" pointing at a tiny lever originating from a circular part from which it rotates with his thumb.

Click

"Then semi-auto" the lever points up perpendicularly to the rifle.

Click

"And full-auto" a full 180.

Click-Click

The rifle's firing selector was returned to safe afterwards. Belink was impressed by how easy it is to switch between modes. Previously, the RM58, or the Geweer 1 required an off-hand to get it from semi to complete full send. This weapon design bearing number 2 is different, in that it only needs a thumb from the right hand.

There's another feature that had caught the Esterrian General's eyes though...

"What's this button thing here?" pointing at the tab on the receiver, directly on where the bolt carrier would be.

"Ah, that's a bolt release" as the soldier unload the mag again putting it in his pouch before pulling the charging handle while holding the bottom part at the same time, ejecting an unfired bullet in the process before pushing the handle back.

"If our rifle runs empty, it would pop up just like that" now with the tab sticking out at an angle "And when we put a new mag in, we can either pull the charging handle or just push on it"

The infantryman would put his finger on the tab, then pushing it back.

CHACK

And the bolt carrier was heard to be sent home just as he pushed the tab. It was a bit of a surprise, but a good one now that the bolt release for this rifle is easier than the one before, which is right next to the paddle mag release.

Another interesting thing is that the charging handle, as it seems, is directly at the top-rear section of the upper receiver, sticking out on both sides.

"The charging handle seems to be operable with both left and right hand is it?"

"Yes sir, we also have a brass deflector to allow left-hand shooting"

So they had thought of everything... well almost, the fire selector is still not ambidextrous, only really showing on the left side of the rifle.

"Very well..." as he then turns to the commanding officer, still at ease "How about giving me a demonstration about how the rifle shoots shall we?"

"Yes, sir"

The officer and his troops got to it, choosing one to do the shooting demostration. A fresh mag was loaded and an empty chamber was replaced with one with a 5.56 in there. Then came the single fire 3 times, not before the safety is switched off after loading, and the next one was short bursts of full auto. As the clock continues ticking gradually towards the end of the day, gunfires continued to ring out here, and somewhere else...

...

Out in the distant, lies the vassal capital where the Tsar Army still struggling to get even an inch into the city as unusual orchestra of constant gunshots are faintly heard. Even if they did get some ground, they would be welcomed with continuous stream of bullets, at least that's what they would hope for more than those flaming vodka.

The Supply Corps was far from the fighting for the most part. Arguably the most boring yet vital part of the Imperial forces, the Corps makes sure that their soldiers can keep on fighting with guns, ammo and food.

"Those damned Reslanis kept pushing us back huh?" said one of the soldiers as they marched with the line of self-propelled carriages as they make their way to frontline troops.

"Yes, it's like they don't want to give up!" said another.

"They will eventually, after all, there's only so much they can do against us"

"Still, I don't get how they were able to do this..."

While they exchanged some words waiting for something better to do, a sound of music came around their ears. It's certainly not of Varikan origin, nor does it sound like a military march to begin with, nor does it sound even remotely Gestraen or any other sounds of the Civilized Regions.

They turned around, only to find an unfamiliar sihoulette of an unknown self-propelled carriage that is not apparently boxy right off the bat as it should be. It was approaching them fast, before then slowing down. Yellow flashes burst out from the vehicle

"WHAT THE-"

The rear troops never stood a chance as they fall dead en masse, utterly surprised by the attack and unable to react in time. They were not prepared for an intense fight, as such, it became more or less a massacre that even supply carriages are not safe as the unidentified guns would also not have any intention of letting their the occupants live.

...

"Go! Go! Go! Slowly so we can let it rip!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o71HQWqi68U





These men on trucks were armed with a rifle that isn't an M70 this time around, but rather a rifle that isn't a Kashkanov** from Shterilakia***, and a machine gun from the cold lands of Gladahjuland as they began gunning down Variks by multiple.

"...Nie jeden raz... Nie jeden raz... Nie jeden raz..."

As he slowly drives into the line, on normally the wrong side of the road, Varikan soldiers began to run up to the car, only to be promptly dealt with with leaf. In a short while, too many had fallen and the others taking cover in shock, unable to peek out for fear of so many bullets sent downrange.

"Mogłaś moją być A nie byłaś..."

The sound overwhelms the music, but the lyrics still live on inside his mind.

"Nigdy nie dowiesz się Co straciłaś..."

The machine gun and the rifle keeps on firing upon the Variks who basically had no chance at this point, only stopping to reload. Some tried to get their guns on the truck, only to lay dead a second later before they even squeezed the trigger.

"Mogłaś moją być..."

The truck had already gone past 4 of what they call self-propelled carriages at this point.

"Kryzysową narzeczoną..."

And they're still going, reloading every now and then before continuing to drop more Varikan soldiers to the ground.

"Pomalutku żyć Tak jak nam tu naznaczono..."

All of the Varikan supply convoy by now, had already been dealt with, the guns falling silent, and the dominant sound is once again the melody of a Kawagrzmotian classic.

"Mogłaś moją być Jakoś ze mną przebiedować..."

If anyone's lucky enough to even live through what they had experienced, the music of what seems to be a language of the same family would haunt them an uplifting music that brought nothing but death.

"Zamiast życzyć mi Na pocztówce nie wiadomo skąd"

"Alright we done, go go go!"

The music fades away as the truck speeds up, with those on-board having done their job.

"Wesołych świąt Wesołych świąt Wesolych świąt..."

...

"All units retreat! We can't take anymore hit!"

The Tsar Army, with their supply lines being attacked right behind them, was forced to pull out of the city after taking too much loss to be even considered acceptable for yet another revolt.

As the troops began to face away from the town, the Reslani resistance gave chase along with the foreign volunteers with their weapons and vehicles firing at one soldier at a time, and sending a carriage into a burst of explosion each. All the while the flag of the resurrected nation flew high amongst their rank.



It's a rework of the former flag of the Reslanian Republic, which was long gone after it was subjugated by the Varikan Empire and its ally, La Ferdina. A once just a simple red-white flag was transformed into something more symbolic with the addition of a cross and four-pointed stars.

Gevakan Vodka bottles continued to be thrown at the imperial forces, though many of them do not have much luck this time around as they fell short on their target.

"What's the status on those snipers?"

"They're all gone, we saw them before but now they just left"

Repeaters were also ordered to get out of Kramovskiy as soon as possible. With so many killed and under such overwhelming fires, it would not do them favor if they were kept there to terrorize the populous to no avail.

"Be advised, wyverns are coming up from the East, we need a .50 techie to get on that side"

Tracers would be sent upward to reach for the cloud once more in response to the arrival of the Varikan wyverns swooping in to support their own troop's withdrawal. Again, they would be able to shoot down the reptiles, but not a lot of them as the riders made it clear from the start that they shall do what's necessary to avoid those light projectiles at all cost.

"This is as far we can go, lads, they be running like hell out of here"

The Reslanians charged and chased them out until the outskirts of the city, at which point Varika has gone far from the town, not intending to return for a while...

"Also, someone please put out that fire on the other side, I can see the big ass black smoke from here"

...Which gives them some room to worry about other things.

...

*LD, Lore Ducc or sometimes Lima Delta is the one who's responsible for all the lores and whatnot for Flashia's original world, codenamed Operation Initator and this one right here as well as ideas for the main plot.

**Kashkanov refers to a rifle series that you guys would know as the AK, or Kalashnikov

[And no, it's no longer the Alexandrov you see in the other fic]

***Shterilakia was a Czechoslovakia-based nation back in the original world before their peaceful split in 1995. Nowadays, it's Shteri Republic or Shteria and Elakia

Oh btw, I'm the Ducc who writes, the narrator for this story, you can call me Ducc Writes or Delta Whiskey for short. We're technically one person btw, ok gudbye for now.