Same title but rewritten

tiskord: https://discord.gg/UqgavrsYUd

...

Hvadaal, Naeslagtland, 31/8/1702 The Zetas slowly made their approach to the house on two sides. As they got close, the point man of one of the team would unfold a ladder he brought with him and placed on the the window sill of the 2nd floor.

It gave them a quick access to the floor above as one-by-one would climb up the ladder. The point man would be the first, with his pistol out, he looked around to check on the two corners of the room, before going in and check the rest.

All of it show no one, the room was pretty much empty, sans the present operatives slowly increasing in number and stuff that they end up finding. Judging by the things in this room and how they have been organized, this seems to be where particularly long guns are stored here.

It's quite out of place considering that from Flashia's knowledge, Naeslagtland does not allow ownership of guns, at least for the time being. Even weirder that it seems they have bolt-action rifles instead of typical muskets here.

Whoever they are, they are definitely not Gestraen.

"Why did they not board up the window?" questioned one of the operatives "Like what if some random fisherman decided to nick one?"

"They could" said another "But... this would have been an entirely different story if they did"

"How so?"

"Would you find it suspicious that your neighbor had suddenly boarded his window up?"

"Ah, good point"

At the door beyond the room, voices are heard behind it. They can't make out what they're saying, but it seems they speaking something similar to Kiralsian. The FIIA Zeta operatives would then set themselves up at the doors, getting ready for the breach.

"Essence-1 here, give me a sitrep"

"Essence-2, first floor clear, proceeding to the next floor"

"Essence-3, just going down"

"Copy"

They would wait for the other team to do whatever they're doing over there, that being moving up the stairs. In the midst of waiting, they continued to listen in without understanding what they were saying and the operatives still at the ready.

"Essence-2's ready to go, on your mark"

The leader nods to the point man at the other side of the door, giving a go-ahead to breach. The point man in terms move to face the door head on, rifle aiming at it, before then simultaneously placing the gun at a high-ready position and kick the door open.

Around the same time, Essence-2 would also converge into the room, sandwiching the surprised occupants as they would gun down anyone that reached for a weapon of any kind. They hear the guns firing alright, but owing to the fact it's .300 Blackout coupled with suppressed, noise was minimized and outsiders never knew a thing.

Out of the 5, only 2 would have survived, the duo that chose the wise decision to not even try, raising his hands up

"You're not Naeslagt" One of them realized "Where do you-" and then he got smacked in the face by the buttstock of the black rifle, knocking him out in the process.

"Hey, watch it! You almost flagged me there!"

"Sorry"

Most of the squad would scan the surrounding before both team leaders declared a "Clear" to the rest, in sync. All that's left now, is to restrain those remained standing alive, as they would put zip ties on their arms behind their back.

"Essence-3, just found some sort of dungeon here, PID on uhh... 12...? Yeah, 12 of ours"

The FIIA operatives would force the 2 survivors on their feet, starting to escort them out of the building.

"Oh, so you are Flashian, huh?" the conscious one remarked as he is being restrained "You barbarians here for your citizens is that correct?"

They didn't say anything as they continued to walk. After they made it down stairs, they would find 3 more restrained kidnappers, along with 5 dead bodies. The 2 men was scared of this revelation, but their resolve is still largely unshaken.

"...If that's so, then you'd be too late, because we already sent 8 of them out on a ship to where you would never find them again"

"Remind me, how did we managed to find these guys again?" spoke out one of the FIIA operatives, and that was enough to widen the guy's eyes. For the first time, he had comprehended the gravity of the situation and how screwed he and his group are.

"Whatever the fuck is happening back at Fresserik, I guess" the other nonchalantly commented

After all that, the whole squad would get whoever they got, and the now freed citizens out of the house and they would go to a certain exfil point, that being the beach at the town of Hvadaal itself. 12 would return home, and 5 would have to deal with the FIIA. Only fate would tell how they would end up there.

...

20 nautical miles off Naeslagtland A wooden ship with the Naeslagtlandic ensign is heading South-Westward off the coast of Naeslagtland. From the outside it looks to be just another merchant ships from the Kingdom... except they don't go out at such a time, in fact its occupants are not even Naeslagt to begin with.

Instead, they were filled with Verdecanan and Geschnokean mercenaries as they set their destination to the La Ferdinan Empire. Their cargo? 8 citizens of Flashia.

"Hey, isn't this a bit too far? I mean we're kidnapping citizens of a country we have relations with?"

"Oh come on Roland, we're mercenaries! We do first, ask questions later, besides, it isn't like those guys would care about their citizens like Geschnokea does!"

I should clarify something, the Geschnokean Dominion is not the only one that does this, but they're certainly the most famous example when it comes to their citizens, as sometimes they would take it to the point of waging a war over even a couple of their own people.

"Hmm, fine then, but what if?"

Just before anyone else said anything further, an unknown voice echoed through the ship.

"This is the Flash Navy! We will be conducting a search so drop your anchors now and comply!"

The mercenaries ran to the direction where it came from, stopping at the rail to see quite a distinctive ship design of grey. The insignias it carries are different, but it's still clear of who it was... if that voice didn't make itself clear enough.

"See? What did I tell you?!"



Along with the warship bigger than theirs, 2 small black boats would be also rapidly approaching them. Its occupants are seen on the deck of them.

"Looks like we got company, eh?" as the other mercenary would pull out a pistol, while the other one comes by with a machine gun, putting the bipod on the railing.

"Time to give them a warm welcoming..."



Said machine gunner would take aim at one of the boat, just lead them slightly off as to not hit it, and fired a burst. The light bullets would hit the water, and that should warn them that they will get hit with a lot of bullet in hopes of scaring them off.

Except that didn't happen.

What happened instead is him only pissing off the 14 men on board and they were almost immediately lit up by what seems to be hundreds of supersonic bullets going for them. The machine gunner would be hit in the left shoulder, forcing him to get down to the ground as he screamed his lung out.

The other 2 wasn't in much better position. The guy with the pistol got a bullet to a head, dying almost immediately while the other one lied down to the ground and by sheer luck, did not get hit.

"SOMEBODY HELP!"

By this point no one could do anything because they were terrified by the firepower of the other side. It's like a machine gun fire but deadly accurate

The bullets would stop coming for them, a normally good sign but in this case an extremely bad one. The Flash got close enough to throw a grapple up there on the deck. The first man would reach the ship in no time while one would get his weapon up at the soldier, only to be shot dead.

Another one would get his sights on the Flash.

BANG BANG

But he's down too.

Another Flash soldier would climb up from the other side, and the fight was basically over. Any more that tried to resist including the ones stormed out of the cabin were all but down to the floor, as 5.56s find their ways into more bodies, and that left 2 not critically hit as they had already gave in to this force that boarded their ship.

...

A certain Esterrian mage is looking from a pair of binoculars from the bridge of the frigate. She looked upon the soldiers boarding the opposing ships and was particularly impressed by how they did things there along with the weapon they used to do it.

She was told it was the Mariner standard issue rifle with a longer barrel, and yet it looks so short for standard length. From the looks of things, it seems it's even slightly shorter than even the carbine version of the Land Army's service rifle, yet at the same time, the barrel remains a good 19.7, almost that of the new long rifles that Esterria started to receive.

It's all thanks to the layout that nobody else had heard of until now: bullpup. It moves the action behind the trigger, making the rifle shorter while retaining the long barrel at the cost of heavier trigger pull and more than uncomfortable experience to anyone left-handed though this depends on the model in question.

"Quite a fascinating view..." she mumbled to herself as she puts the binocular away.

"Isn't it?" replied another figure, this one's the captain of the ship "Our guys over there are doing a great job if you ask me"

She nodded to the captain's word.

"That I could agree"

Now how did a mage from Esterria found herself standing on the FMV Kolicač at this time? Well the truth is, while this class of frigates is extremely capable at least for Gestrae's standard, their radars suck at detecting anything made out of wood.

Luckily for them, all of the ships except for theirs, of course, gives off magic signature which would allow any competent magic user to detect their presence, in this case being a ship carrying 12 of their citizens as captives. And so mages from the Commonwealth, both civilians and Army began to be attached to a Flash warship as part of the mutual defense treaty with a relatively great pay.

"So Laurie..." the captain began to speak again "You were there at the Defense Forces Day Parade in Barminde, am I right?"

"You sure are correct, sir" said Laurie.

"Then... if you don't mind, can you tell us how you felt that day, and how you're feeling right now?"

"It felt quite thrilling... in a good way I mean, and today is not that different, perhaps even more exciting. Equipment is one thing but the tactics and strategies behind them are entirely different story"

The captain then nodded.

"They really are..."

Laurie had a little smile on her as she would continue to look at what's happening on the ship of wood right now, with the lens of the binoculars being placed back to the eyes of the Esterrian mage.

...

In the La Ferdinan holding of Reslania to the West, or as they Empire would like to call it, Enmars, the administrative capital has gotten a lot busier than it normally should, especially with military affairs.

Additional formations of the Imperial Army had been arriving in droves as the superpower intended that Enmars remain La Ferdina. And as a new morning breaks, they would soon have to process a new batch.

A prominent official would be carried to work by a somewhat lavish self-propelled carriage that sticks out in a less than desirable atmosphere. Some of the eyes that had previously looked upon his carriage in fear, seems to have converted to one in anger.

The tension had never been higher for him. It will return back to normal, he hoped, but for now, let the Army do their job here.

As he arrives at the Municipal Building of Saint-Boudet, the aforementioned capital of the region, he steps off after having a staff open the door for him and close when he is fully out. The first sight he sees here is some soldiers and fellow officials gathering around a horse-drawn carriage made of wood without a horse parked in space reserved only for the government.

"What is this all about?" he asked the first soldier closest to him.

"Well... as you can see here, sir" he gestured to the carriage "Someone illegally left the carriage here for whatever reason"

"Have you tracked down the perpetrator?"

"Not yet, but we got the identification marking, the registry will eventually figure it out so you do not have to worry"

He nodded as he received those words of reassurance. Then he would walk past the soldier to inspect the carriage.

As he walk closer though, he froze, eyes widened in realization of something...

...The carriage reeks of explosive ma-

KABOOM

...

"...We will first start with the news with the Federal Republic of Flashia. According to a spokesman from the Federal Investigative & Intelligence Agency, FIIA for short, this organization had found the missing 20 Flash citizens. As it turned out, mercenaries were hired to kidnap said individual to La Ferdina, but before they were able to get there, they were busted by the combined effort of the FIIA and Marine in Naeslagtland with the King's prior authorization.

The spokesman refuses to elaborate any further as this situation is still under investigation, particularly in who hired them and why.

We now get back to what is happening right now in the South-East of Esterria. Recently, Her Majesty Queen Marie III has confirmed the presence of Royal Army troops in Eastern Yelovsk. Her Majesty had said that the troops were there to assist the Reslanian rebels in their struggles. This intervention would not only bring positive results, but also lifting some of the burden in the region.

Another news coming from Jonnik is the Flash Land Army encountering special forces of La Ferdina origin in the Western part of the salient. These opposing forces were armed with machine guns and repeating rifles. But despite this and being outnumbered, the regular troops were able to successfully defeat them and took the survivors as prisoners.

The apparent incursion was met with condemnation from both Her Majesty and the Senate, as the war in Reslania is getting more complicated by the day.

Speaking of which, the Reslanian armed group, the Reslanian People's Front had conducted carriage bombing attacks to mark the beginning of the Western Reslania Offensive. With initial casualties estimated to be around 60, the RPF had incited chaos amongst military personnel, often demoralizing as they crossed into the La Ferdinan holding of their rightful territories"

1/9/1702 Located to the West of Yelovsk and North-East of La Ferdina, life here is nothing short of that of Varika with oppression and slavery everywhere.

And it's not just the Reslanis who are suffering, there's also slaves of different origins, ranging from petty criminals who stole just bread to demi-humans who absolutely did nothing wrong, they just simply exist.

Life here is just miserable... but now, that is going to change as smokes arise even from the center of their beloved Saint-Boudet itself.

"Damn it Oleh, you're a worse driver than I thought!"

"I'm not that bad! I've driven carriages like this before!"

"Yeah well you clearly need more learning time cuz this isn't a fucking carriage for fuck's sakes!"

2 vehicles, along with the pickup trucks would stroll across a field, approaching a town in Enmars, the RPF's first target in their liberation campaign of the West.



The vehicles, one of them were given a nice and respectful name of 'La Ferdinan Horny Shoes', were at one point used by the Flash Home Guard in case things go wrong internally. They were used around 1950s to 1980s, which would make it an extremely old vehicle, but it's still good nonetheless.

Why did Flashia not send these to Esterria first back when their war was happening, no one knows, but that doesn't matter for now.

It's one of those vehicles that were brought back from retirement following 'The Transfer' as they call it, and like the tracked ones that are now with the Esterrian Royal Army, the Saracens will be proving their worth in the battlefield of Gestrae.

"Stop stop stop stop stop STOP! STOP!"

The box with 6 wheels would come to a halt, and the rear hatch were opened up for dismounting. Jumping out are RPF fighters in different clothing as usual, but most of them would use the same kind of weapon, bringing them one step closer to a proper military force. Really, the main issue here is just the uniforms.



It's a rifle that the Kawagrzmotians had been replacing as of recently, but it is still expected to perform extraordinary well, after all, it was based on a proven, resilient platform that still sees use to this very day, including unfortunately enough in terrorists' hands.

Anyways, where was I? Oh right.

The RPF fighters, including the ones on trucks were dropped off within 300 meters from the town, or 600 Spheras if you will, and they would be on their way with the Saracens following close behind with the trucks side by side, creating lines of infantry supported by a line of vehicles.

Enmars was flat for the most part, meaning a big line was spotted far ahead shortly after, and they just knew exactly who they are.

With banners, drums and fifes, and a whole lot of muskets as well as some cannons, the La Ferdinan Imperial Army slowly marched into the battle. The opposing formation had the number and would've crushed the RPF forces here when they finally get to them... if it wasn't for the fact that the Reslanians completely outrange and outgun them.

The RPF forces would pace forward slowly to get some distance before stopping, the foot fighters either crouching or proning. All of the machine gunner gets their bipod on the ground, sight now on the opposing formation.

The safety was then turned off, and hell was let loose.

Rifles and machine guns opened up on the La Ferdinan troops, the drums and banners being the first to go down. Mind you there were about 200 meters away from each other at this point, which isn't a lot but still far nonetheless.

It's so far to the point where you might as well give up hitting anything that isn't someone's dog with a smoothbore flintlock, as it's the RPF that has the upper hand, both in accuracy and obscene firepower.

The formation was torn apart in a matter of seconds, and they in turn were shortly sent running in the process, denied of a fair glorious combat.

...

Eastern Yelovsk An iron bird of Esterria buzzes overhead, unleashing machine gun fire on the not so fortunate sons of Varika and Gošbania, and on the ground, mechanized unit would assault a settlement in the Northern part from the Western direction.

Tanks (Leopard 1) would harass the enemy troops using their 105mm cannon and coaxial machine gun, giving the troops on the opposite side a living hell, while the APCs (M113) flank around to drop off their dismounts.

As the attack commences, wyvern corps were dispatched to deal with the Royal Army unit. By Gestrae's logic, Esterria should be sending theirs as well as a response... but they didn't. Why is this case one might ask? Well, if Havenklein tells us anything...

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG

...It's that if the Commonwealth is there, so is the big guns that sends lights into the skies rapidly. Upon the bullets being fired at extremely fast rate-of-fire, the wyverns began to go down without much of a fight, meaning it was pretty much one-sided and... ahem... "unfair". Thus it eliminates much of the need for counter-air operations when land forces could already effectively do so

"Give another mag now!"

And in case you're wondering, yes, it's the exact same gun on the exact same truck. It's not that Esterria currently doesn't have the economic capability to move away from such designs, it's just that it's cheaper to operate than the SPAA version of their main battle tanks.

And also the fact radar is really not that in demand for them.

As the sound of the cannons and machine guns going off at the settlement, the rear hatches of the APCs, by now called the 'Ijzerwagen' by the Royal Army, would be opened up, and as soon it was about level to the ground, the first soldier had already stepped on the hatch, followed by another one.

Within 10 seconds, all of the dismounts are already outside of the vehicle, and the Ijzerwagens would close up.

"Come on! Get a move on already!"

Infantry squads dropped off from the APCs ran across the bushes while the tanks are still doing whatever they were doing, shooting off High Explosives and all that. Under the cover of the tanks firing, they would flank from behind, eventually finding soldiers in the rear echelon, some seemingly having faced the armored menace before pulling back.

"Tanks, watch your fire, friendlies are now in the area, I repeat, friendlies are in the area"

"Copy that, we're diverting our sights away"

Judging from their uniform, they seem to be Gošbanians, not Varikans but still hostiles. The black rifles was brought to shoulders, and with a flick of a switch (or not, some didn't bother engaging the safety beforehand), they were all ready to give them quite a fest.

The weapons were brought alive, spewing spewed fire and small bullets in a rapid succession. The OPFOR was caught completely off-guard, they weren't expecting such a firepower coming up right behind them.

And so, men by men, they fell to the ground, and it's not even 10 seconds in that the first firefight was already done with. Soon after, the soldiers moved on to their objectives, and they had to do it fast because as soon as the guns went off, the enemies already have at least a vague idea of their whereabouts.

"Ron, watch right, Christiaan, left!"

When they got into an intersection, two soldiers positioned themselves to the walls on both side of the troops. The left soldier would support his rifle by the magwell to the crate, and the right utilizing 'Grip Clamp-C'**, putting much of the handguard on a wooden barrel.

The rest would cross by them. While they did this, the infantryman on the right would fire in semi-auto followed by the left as they acquired visual on the hostile troops. A couple would be taken down in the process, the others having been forced to cover while the Esterrians are still firing upon them as 2 more join in to pin them down.

This would create a perfect opportunity for the rest to get to them from the other side. Half of the squad would split up into another 2 halves to 2 opposite directions, and each pair would come up at them from behind.

...Let's just say those that were previously there, aren't there no more.

TRATRATRATRATRATRATRAT

Again, it was a one-sided engagement, but the Esterrians with the automatic rifles didn't even bother thinking about it, just continuing on with their job.

"Regroup on me, at the fireplace"

...

A magazine was taken out of the pouch, brought to the rifle where it was made sure it's in the right direction, aligned to the cuts, rocked in and the charging handle is then pulled back in a swift, snappy motion.

The RPF in Enmars took up positions in a town in the region of Enmars, in this case with this squad, it's an abandoned house.

"Get that machine gun up on that window! They're coming fast!"

"I got it, I got it"

A machine gun was set up on the window sill. This particular weapon looks more like the ones used in the Ambushes in the Road to Kramovskiy, except this is chambered in 7.62x51, not 7.62x54.



It's a Kawagrzmotian MG favored by the Reslanians over the existing MGM62, mainly because compared to the latter, the weapon is much more lightweight. It's still quite a pig to carry, but still better than the faster firing one in terms of mobility nonetheless.

"Give us an update man, when they coming and how many?"

"We got a brigade AT LEAST, mounted on the armored carriages, about 2 minutes away. That's what they told me"

"Well damn, better start praying we'll make it with what we have then"

The forces in the town is only company sized, and the counterattack is 10 times more than that. Yes, the Reslanians all have weapons that shred, but even numbers still have some merit, in this case, the La Ferdinan forces potentially having the manpower to overwhelm the RPF contingent.

"Hope we got enough ammo for this..."

All they could do now is anxiously wait for what's coming for them. Everyone was pretty much keeping an eye out for everything, a minute felt like an hour to them, and their worries is just stacking up.

"I think I see them..." reported one with a binocular "I see their carriages coming for us down there"

"Right... here we go"

The Reslanians all had their guns up at them in no time, including the ones on the vehicles. Soon enough, the first shot (in a while) was fired and the rest followed. Tracers bounced off of the ground as it began to rain on the La Ferdinan attackers.

"BACKBLAST CLEAR!"

"FIRING!"

A rocket was launched out and into the front window of the carriage where it exploded, subsequently penetrating it with an explosion, killing and injuring a few inside from the pressure and fragments resulted from the warhead.

There were still three more being spread out though, with the infantry beginning to dismount. They would take more casualties from that point, but their numbers is still somewhat concerning.

"Get another up on the tube!"

"JUST GIVE ME A SECOND DAMN IT!"

More is only coming in, the La Ferdinan forces closing distance although slowly given that there's a lot of bullets flying around and taking quite a heavy beating.

"Is it just me or they seems more spread out than before?"

BANG-FWOOSH

And another carriage went up in a fiery explosion.

"O shit, I think they really are adapting"

"That's what I'm saying!"

Indeed, the La Ferdinan forces was spread out even more, not following the traditional line that was seen before. They were clearly starting to adapt the RPF's weaponry. Although they're still getting mowed down, the Reslanians would be having a hard time as they have to switch their sights around for each guys.

It also helps in that the RPF could not easily kill 10 guys in a second as before.

"Switch to repeating 1 shot at a time! Don't waste ammo!"

The RPF didn't take any chance in maintaining as much full auto fire any longer. Their supplies is limited, and it would be best to save up some bullets by firing shots one by one, enhancing much of their accuracy in the process.

The enemy would still be increasing in numbers as the counterattack builds up momentum while compensating from the lost troops and carriages at the same time, and this is somewhat more notable as the Reslanians slowed down their fire.

...

High Explosive Squash Head shell was slammed into the breech before it closed afterwards.

"UP!" the loader yelled and the tank continued to rock up and down, moving forward to the South. The commander is sitting on top of the tank, un-buttoned because let's be honest here, no one could see anything with only vision slits.

It is not alone however, as the other tanks along with a platoon of Pansar 55s had joined them as they hauled their ass to their South. They were heading towards a fortress, which is right at the middle of the recently captured settlements to its North and South.

This network of fortress they were going for is the symbol of Varikan control over the Eastern parts of former Reslania. It's not only symbolic, but also functional as they have good defensive capabilities along with the fact it's big enough to house more than 10,000 troops.

Assaulting the fortress head on would be suicide even with the more advanced equipment... but that's the main reason they went for the settlements around it first. They're minor military infrastructures at best, sure, but that would allow Esterrian-Reslanian forces to besiege the fort and force a surrender.

Oh and in case you're wondering, there is 1,200 Esterrian troops currently in Eastern Yelovsk now along with a much bigger 31,000 Reslanian freedom fighters, including the locals that aren't really RPF, they just wanted in for the sake of fighting Varikans off their land.

"Gunner, left, carriage!"

The turret turned his gun to the left to the words of the tank commander, its sight now set on a carriage that he had called out.

"Identified!"

Just then as the gunner got his crosshair on the carriage though, the land suddenly erupted into a field of explosions, evaporating the carriages facing the tanks from the face of the earth.

"Driver, HALT!" then the brakes were slammed, causing the armored vehicle to grind to a halt.

"This is Dud-2-1, whoever the artillery is, at least warn us beforehand!" yelled the TC to his radio

"I thought we won't hurt our armor?"

"You got it wrong you imbecile! Even the Flash said artillery can take out their best, most heavily armored tanks!"

"Oh, uhh... sorry about that, we'll keep you warned next time"

"Fucking hell... Driver... go forward will ya?"

And the tank was up and going again. The tank commander was not having any of it, but at least they didn't have to fire a shot out of their cannons now that the smokes quickly cleared, revealing dozens of carriage wrecks. The rest of the 'Pantsers' would follow suit as they starting moving on the charred fields.

"Fisk går ind fra Vesten"

"Bjørn, med Fisk, fra Vest"

The TC somehow could mostly make out what the two radio transmissions said as two helicopters flew by from their right to left. It seems to him that the birds of Flashia is now doing another job for the Esterrian Royal Army.

"Those guys doing another air assault eh?"

Air assault is a relatively new concept for the Esterrians, only brought on by the Flash Defense Forces. The concept of wyverns carrying troops wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't exactly practical either due to many issues in testing.

This time around however, it's completely different. The introduction of helicopters in Gestrae made what seems impossible to a viable tactic now that they have the means to get behind enemy lines as quickly as possible and they would in turn are not able to put up much of a counter.

The tanks continued onwards to the fortress where they're destined to attack, with the fields still being clear other than wrecks and bodies of their opposing forces...

"Gunner, carriage, traverse right!"

"Identified!"

...Actually scratch that.

"FIRE!"

THUMP/BOOM*

...

The sound of the machine guns and other weapons firing had been muffled inside the Saracens. The fighting at Enmars is still going on, and the ammo is increasingly ever so scarce.

"Fuck! We're eating through ammo and there's still many of them out there!"

There were more of the dead bodies and the carriages left lying on the field, but they're still quite a big force to deal with, even with the reinforcement they had received as a response.

"They better be getting something that helps because we won't hold them for long!"

"Speaking of which... ARTILLERY INCOMING!"

The radio transmission utterly confused some of the men here at first, but seeing many of their comrades immediately stopped what they were doing and head for cover, they eventually realize that this 'artillery' could be devastating even when not targeted at them.

All of them in a short while would seek for cover, completely lay down, anything that could shield them from the approaching doom. After a short while doing so, a faint whistle in the air was heard.

"YURY GET DOWN-"

A sudden outburst of explosions deafen everything else, not even their own thoughts could consistently reach them. The Reslanian troops could do nothing but hold on to their dear life in cover as it would go on and on for 1 minute that feels like 1 hour.

When that's all over, as the fighters gradually emerge from their refuge, more confusion takes hold as the hordes of advancing La Ferdinan troops were instead replaced with barren land with destroyed carriage and indescribable gore. A gruesome sight that caused some to throw up.

"Somebody tell me... WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!?"

Then, the calm radio answers.

"Courtesy of the Flashian Army"

"You called upon Flashia themselves to do this?!"

"Yep, they're the ones that struck the fortresses to the East, or so I've heard. It seems the words were true"

"God..."

...

An Esterrian soldier awakens from a slumber he did not remember taking. As he opens his eyes, pain kicks into various parts of his body and he struggled to get up. When he sat up, the soldier looked around him in complete confusion.

"W-What... happened?" he mumbled to himself.

Then the soldier finally registers the crackling noise right behind him, and upon hearing that, he snapped to what's behind his back, finding the white helicopter having been downed nearby in flames.

'Oh... right...'

The soldier was one of the air assault troops as part of the Intervention Forces, tasked with the Eastern part of former Reslania. Their operations went well, but it did not go perfectly as it is apparent here.

From the looks of things, he has no one but himself here, left alone as his fellow soldiers had perished. As he contemplated with himself, the soldier hears someone speaking in a distinct, recognizable language.

"Aww, crap"

The soldier immediately looks for his weapon, which is lying beside him. Gathering his strength, he quickly ran up to the rifle, and get his hand on it again before trying to run back to the wreck of the helicopter to seek cover.

'Damn it, why is my Geweer so heavy all of the sudden?!'

He limped and limped to the helicopter or what's left of it. And when he made it, a bullet made its impact on the white bird. The soldier immediately turned around, switch the safety off and instantly fired on the enemy soldiers that were closing in his position.

BANG-BANG-BANG...

He fired bullet after bullet...

BRATRATRAT...

Emptied mag after mag...

"YOU WON'T TAKE ME THAT EASILY, BRUTES!"

Killed Variks after Variks... And then, all hope now lies on a singular remaining magazine as the soldier loaded it in and pulled the charging handle. With one bullet of the last box in the chamber, he brought his rifle, still feeling the weight straining his arms out, and pulled the trigger once more.

The soldier shifts his iron sights from this side to the other, and vice versa, and back and forth, completely unaware about the fact that his legs is hurting from the fracturing he sustained. He just keep shooting, until the dreaded mushy trigger of his weapon, and a terrifying sound of a bullet hitting his shoulder.

In pain he recoiled back, dropping his rifle again, and his mind reverberated with every sound possible for a brief moment. Now he is clinging on to his life, holding on to the shoulder the soldier was shot as he watches 2 enemy soldiers slowly walking up to him. He thought to himself:

'Oh Gods, what a pity it is to die...'

Being younger than 20-year-old, he could not help holding back his tears, knowing that he would leave this world for good. As the Varikans got close, he pulled out something out of one his pouch, then holding it firmly with both hands.

'Calm down... we'll die with a smile on our faces...'

"You are quite a resilient one I must say..." said one of the soldier that's facing the Esterrian "However, even the best soldier cannot change his fortune... Any last word?"

The Esterrian looked up on the soldier, a small river still flowing through 2 different paths, but a small smile was maintained.

"You know... there was once a tulip of black color back at my homeland... It was spinning around the riverbank..."

The Esterrian soldier let out 2 coughs, the pain still slowly and slowly consume him as there were looks of intrigue on those Varikan soldiers.

"Now... I shall share it with you..."

CLING

A soft but distinctive sound of something as a piece of metal flew out of the Esterrian's hand was heard by both of these soldiers.

"...W-What have you done?"

In confusion that is perhaps mixed with rage, one of them struck the Esterrian's face with the butt of a musket. Blood would gush out of his eye, and the mysterious revealing itself to be a spherical object of green. Time seemed to have slowed down for him as the Esterrian soldier said his final words...

"Farewell... for I... have pulled the pin..."

A sudden explosion would take the sphere's place, turning into fragments that flew everywhere. It spelled the end for all three of them. A heroic sacrifice. Yet another bed becomes vacant.

Reslan... Reslan, Reslan... Reslan... Reslania...

...

"What the fuck do you mean Støv got downed?!"

"Støv hasn't said anything for too long, there isn't any other explanations as to why it's the case"

"Eyes on, got PID on his helicopter, over"

"Status on the heli?"

"Wrecked and on fire, over"

"Crap... Get a QRF over there, we cannot let them get their hands on that chopper!"

"How did they shot down one of ours?!?"

"I don't know! Must be one of those magics or something!"

...

*The thump is what it would sound like when heard inside of the tank. **C-Clamp grip but the wrist is turned 180 degrees (see Polenar Tactical's video on this for ref)