"Jester-1-1, we are picking up a lot of signatures flanking West, frontline presence remains significant"

"Barrel can confirm, we are spotting a battalion with Parcels* heading West, we'll have one of our mechanized company to engage"

As a tank commander of the Royal Esterrian Army contingent in Reslania took a sip of canteen viewing the surrounding of his steel beast with his head out the hatch, a chopping sound could be heard.

Eastern Yelovsk Together with his platoon of 3 other armors, they watched the green bird chopped through the skies over their heads. Advancing on an open grass field, it looked as if it's another day of yet another armored and air assault...

...And then, a white ball of some sort flew into the skies and beelined towards said helicopter. When it got close enough, it burst into a small explosion. The bird is still flying, but now quickly descending and smoking.

"We've been hit, can't maintain altitude! Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!"

Hearing the distressed report on the radio as he watched the bird still in control yet dropping, the commander quickly reached his hand to his throat mic, holding on a button on his left.

"Shield-1 to Platoon, a bit of a change of plan, we are going to get to that bird before the Variks do, how copy, over?"

"Shield-2 acknowledged"

"Shield-3 copies"

"Shield-4, solid copy"

"Right, Shield-1 and 2 will directly go for the bird, 3 and 4 screen the flank"

As he spoke, his and his wingman's tank broke off from the echelon to the right where the chopper had been falling down to while the other half continued their way as previously.

...

Varikan troops surround a wreck of a white bird of whose brethren flew above them and dropped Esterrian soldiers into battle. Although they were slow, they proved themselves to be formidable on the battlefield, being able to get troops behind their lines extremely easily, especially with the general air superiority of the Commonwealth over their own region.

With glee, Varikan soldiers rushed over to the downed corpse of the green pegasus of Esterria, inspecting their kill like a cat, although they did have some issues regarding a certain sole survivor that held them off for minutes before also being killed himself.

"Men!" shouted an officer of the Tsar Army "We hereby stand before our great achievement of bringing down their great instrument of war!"

The soldiers cheered on to the officer's word, raising their guns up into the air.

"This flying creature had been a terror for our and our ally's troops, even more so than wyverns. They brought along soldiers of our great enemy of Esterria who set foot right behind our lines and wreaked havoc. But now, this one lay dead, proving how vulnerable such a creature is. Alas, we have to admit that whatever this is has potential, thus we shall bring it back for research so that we could use this capability against them!"

As musketeers cheered on again, one may ask how would they bring it back? Well, let us find out with the soldiers here, waiting for their transport of choice to arrive as drops of water began to descend from heaven...

"Finally, they're here!"

After a while, a small group of wyverns appear over the horizon, descending down upon the white pegasus as they close distance. These particular ones have a special magical attribute added to them, that being vertical landing and take-off capability.

Such a thing would require an especially advanced spell, even then, it only last for a certain period of time. As such, it is expensive and any use would need to have a good reason to get past the top of the chain of command's approval.

And today, they found a good enough excuse... until they didn't.

A faint weird buzz sound out from the right of the wyverns. Eyes shifted to the source reveal silhouette of yet another strange derivative of wyverns flying in a pair. Before anyone could make sense of it, red streaks of light were spurted out front of the nose, sending their squadron to their abrupt demise.

"What the-"

ZIP-CRACK

A bullet struck the officer's head head, his body pathetically flopped to the ground. The troops were sent to a frenzy following their superior's sudden death, now realizing what was going on.

"THEY'RE HERE!" was shouted in a desperate, panicked voice before what seems to be hell itself unfolding in what was supposed to be a relatively quiet field surrounding the wrecked helicopter. Soldiers came under fire, and a lot would not have the chance to see the world alive again.

They do not know where it's coming from, they do not know who 'they' are, and most importantly, they couldn't shoot back, it's simply too far out of range for them. Their only hope to survive now, is to cower in fear, behind the big white shell while the bullets are still coming after them.

...

"...We got the other Variks covered, you go get that poor dragonfly of yours!"

"Much obliged, out"

"Change barrel!" the machine gunner forced the trapdoor to the side open, giving him access to the barrel itself. He quickly yanks out the smoking barrel with his hand in mitten before reaching to a new barrel his assistant brought out and put it exactly like the one before.

A slap ensured the barrel is in place, an "UP!" signaled their renewed readiness, and an intimidating sound of bullets quickly being sent downrange from the freshly-inserted barrel marked that time they were firing upon those Variks down there again.

Truthfully, no Flash soldiers such as these ones were expected to directly engage the Varikan Tsar Army any time soon, as what the Land Army did so far was just artillery support, reconnaissance and air transport. But the situation had forced their hands nonetheless, as they have now crossed into essentially Varika...

"Als we nu eens flankeren?" (How about we flank around?)

"Nee, we blijven in de lijn, het zal maar een korte strijd zijn" (No, we stay in the line, it'll be only a short fight)

...With Esterrians attached to their structure as well as their 8-wheeled companions that had brought them to this engagement in the first place. With their RWS, the vehicles acquire another of their targets and all it takes was a pull of a trigger that would send those .50 flying.

The AMV's got many variants and uses within the FDF, but for now, while 2 of the Mustangs done doing another wyvern hunting, the armored vehicles act as direct-fire support in their APC configuration.

"Forward!"

Part of the Flash infantry present would use the fact that they're still holed up at the aircraft as an opportunity to flank around under the cover of various machine guns fire.

"Alpine-9, watch your fire, we're moving up now"

...

Another day, yet another helicopter got hit.

Everyone here agrees that it's not a good day as the bird was smoking black from its heart. At least it was able to go into a controlled descent even if the engine was no good, as the rotor kept the aircraft from pummeling into the ground like a giant brick, having been able to rotate on its own.

The nose tilted slightly upward before touching down on the field. Despite the rough landing, all ended up fine and were able to frantically check on their equipment immediately after, even the pilot pulled out his carbine.

"What a load of crap..." groaned the leader of a relatively small Esterrian Royal Army squad "Men, to arms, dismount and prepare defense!"

The 2 infantry soldiers that were right next to the doors on each side slid them open, prompting the rest to pour out from the bird, just avoiding the rocket pods that are mounted on both sides.

"Secure a perimeter!"

The squad took formations while their uniform gets wet from the rain, setting their weapons up at either crouching or prone stance, creating a rough circle formation around the downed chopper. They watched around their surroundings, their rifles out for a shot or two against anyone who may be coming for them...

"Kaas to Headquarter, our helicopter is downed near the frontline, requesting- what the...?"

The next thing he knew that a tank, clearly marked as his country's, pulled up from the chopper's right, drifting to the left while its gun still pointing at the same general direction they were looking at in order to quickly go into a halt, shooting up soil and mud out from the track. Another tank further to the right would also come into view braking, stopping more forward than the first one.

"No need for that, we're already here. Are you all good?"

A bit of confusion ran through the infantry's mind at first, but other than that, they were pretty much fine.

"Yeah, we're good. Didn't expect a tank to show up next to us though"

"Well, we figured that we should help out so..." then the tank commander didn't say another word for a certain amount of time "Contact! Direct East! Infantry!" before the tank opens up with its coaxial machine gun.

This along with the TC's radio transmission alerted the Esterrian soldiers into directing their weapons there. In the next seconds, they too opened up their weapons. Rifles are on semi-auto and the machine gun just go full send.

"HQ, what's the status with the other unit?"

"Well, we sent you a platoon of Ijzerwagens your way to reinforce your position, thank Shield for that"

"Right, thank you"

The Esterrian troops now have to stay put in their position with the helicopter on the ground, the pilots just chilling while they hold off the attack commenced by their KU counterparts in the rain where some things are harder to see.

...

"Aaaaahhhhhh piss"

The Flash dismounts had made it to the downed helicopter after a short firefight. Their mounted counterpart however, couldn't get there. Mud had built up on the big wheels of one of their AMV, which is now stuck with no real way to get out other than external help.

"Tryna make it through the field man, can't move, the fucking wheels' stuck"

For this, another AMV would come up from behind the stuck vehicle, the driver of the vehicle not stuck along with some infantrymen outside would attach the towing cable of the APC that wasn't caught up in mud to the vehicle that did.

After the cable was set, the other crewman ran back to his vehicle, entering from the rear hatch and from there make his way to the driver compartment. Upon sitting down he immediately switch his gear to reverse and stepped on the pedal.

The vehicle would start moving backwards, the cable eventually straighten itself up to the force of the AMV trying to pull its stuck brethren out. The soldiers now waits, as pieces of dirt being thrown up into a flight in the process, the APC would bulge a little bit.

A little bit of flooring it later, when the vehicle is at the edge of being unstuck, the wheels was then plucked out of the mud. It was now free to move at this point, just a little bit more careful this time around.

"Fucking finally man..." said the commander of the previously can't move AMV "Hey how's the guys at the helicopters?"

"We got the charges set" said his foot counterparts over the radio "Should be good to blow it now"

"Right, get some distance then"

"Roger, moving on"

Many of the troops would emerge from the helicopter, running back to the AMVs where they distance themselves from the aircraft. They would do this until they reached the armored vehicles, or at least just nearby, stopping to turn to the helicopter for one last time.

"Hey, you sure it will do it?" asked a rifleman to his Esterrian counterpart.

"It will" assured the combat engineer.

"I mean... it's such a small amount of C4 sprinkled with some magic dust or whatever-"

"And it took out one of your Centurions before, believe me, I saw it happen myself"

"O...kay... whatever you say man..."

"Fire in the hole!" shouted out a command from his superior.

"Fire in the hole" he repeated.

Click-Click... KABOOM

"Holy hell..."

The white downed bird is now nothing more than charred pieces interspersed around a small field in the aftermath of a big fireball for such a small amount used. The hull has now been reduced to non-recognition, and with it, all of the sensitive tech that did survive were destroyed.

"Our job is done here... I would've brought it back, but oh well..."

The destruction of the aircraft wasn't the best, but it's the only choice they have. With the threat of the anti-air magic or whatever it was called still looming over the area, they could not send another heli to lift it out without the possibility of it also being shot down.

HQ couldn't take the risk, so they sent the platoon here with destroying much of what remained of the downed chopper in mind and nothing else.

"Load up lads, let's get going out of here"

The AMV platoon began to take their soldiers who previously departed from them back up with their rear being wide open for them to go inside. After the last man was in, the rear would close up, and the 4 vehicles began rolling their wheels out of the area.

A small battle with the strategic objective achieved, the Flash Army could rest easy now that they could once again leave the Esterrians and the Reslanians to handle the rest from here on out...

...Okay, maybe they still have something to take care of...

...

"You sure we could trust the ERA?" enquired a Reslanian fighter.

"I'm sure" replied another "They're the ones that fight the oppressors in Havenklein after all"

"What if?"

"They wouldn't send us weapons if they were what you think they are"

"I... that's a fair point..."

The RPF forces at Enmars... or should I say Western Reslania is making quite a huge gain for an extremely young country that dared to invade La Ferdina, the superpower of the Gestraen continent.

Yes, it is quite an interesting and ironic event going on, as the same people who set foot into the land of the Reslanis with force are now the ones that is facing an entire military invasion from the same people whose land they stole from.

For the RPF, it's great but also a nightmare since it takes a toll on their barely-existing economy. It would've been worse had it not for the Esterrians that decided to directly take action though.

"It's slowing down... We're here!"

The vehicle the fighters sitting on would indeed completely halt. The occupants would immediately open up the rear hatch and start jumping off one by one. Armed with same weapons as the ones before them, the prospect of the RPF being a proper military force is getting closer now that they got some standardized uniforms... well, most of them at least.

"Get off the Saracens you fucking turtles!"

"Oi who you callin' a turtle?!"

"You, a turtle, and you're gonna carry that name even if you're Tilenog-"

"JESTEM KAWMOTSKIEM KURWA MAĆ!" (I'M KAWAGRZMOTIAN FOR FUCK'S SAKES!)

The troops that got out would rush to their positions, and the battle's beginning would be marked with a distant gunshot and a clang to one of the Saracens.

"They're in the houses!"

The Reslanians returned the favor by opening up an entire regiment worth of bullets by Gestrae standards, sending tens to about a hundred if not more within seconds. Do note the riflemen are firing in semi-auto, full-auto is more of both vehicles and infantry MG.

From the other side, the opposing forces' fire became more infrequent and less accurate, receiving such immense firepower on their end

"Keep it up! We're going to destroy those Ferdies!"

They have a lot of cover, but not much room to maneuver nor shoot back. They were suppressed by the Reslanian forces, pinned down in place, and it would be a waste if part of them did not move on and finish the job.

"Move up on me!"

A squad would eventually split up from the formation and began to run off to the left side of the La Ferdinan position. All this is happening while the rest continued to send their rounds over to make sure they're really stuck down there for quite a long time.

The squad would run across the fields, gradually slowing down to the weight of their own equipment, while avoiding tracers of their own side. Sometimes the bullets do zip near them, and even with the knowledge of their fellow RPF is unlikely to hit them, they can't help flinching every time it makes a loud crack.

It's not like they are going to be shot whether by their own or the Ferdies, it's just that their instinct can't rid the fear of being hit by a projectile of any kind, especially one that literally goes faster than sound itself.

"C'mon, we're halfway through!"

They pushed on nonetheless. Still using the current situation to their advantage, the squad is closing distance to the houses where the Ferdies are known to be in. But it seems the La Ferdinan forces had taken notice of their movement.

A bullet whizzes extremely near one of the squad members. Clearly, it wasn't an RPF that fired the shot, it was the imperial forces in those houses.

"Damn it, just keep shoot at them! And keep moving!"

While they move, the squad started firing back at their general direction. Accuracy is out of the question as killing isn't the top priority until they close, although it would be nice if they get a lucky kill or two.

Their chance of getting hit by an enemy bullet was getting higher as they got closer and closer, but they were so into the fight that they just simply moved forward, not even a step back.

With each steps, there was at least 2-3 rifles covering the squad as they move. The ones ahead would shoot while the rest behind move up, shuffling in such change of formation. They would do this until they get close enough, and that's where the fun begins.

"DIE!"

The RPF squad starts engaging in a house-to-house fighting, going trigger happy as the La Ferdinan numbers are quickly dropping. Sure, they can take position on corners where they have significant advantage, but the Reslanians could also just chuck grenades into every single room.

"Watch out! Grenade out!"

Frag grenades in particular proved extremely effective as even if one would not take a single life, they would still give anyone there a really bad case of concussion in such a small space. All it would take then is for the Reslanians to come in and start blast the rest into neutralization.

Rooms were cleared, and the house in its entirety was wiped within matters of a minute. A frightening speed for the imperialists as they just realized what was going on. The troops from the other house would fire their guns at the one the RPF just cleared.

They certainly didn't hit a single soul, but it forced them to take cover nevertheless. It seems that the Ferdies would begin rebuilding their momentum, but guess what? The Reslanians chucked more grenades at them.

Fragments caused by the explosion of the 2 grenades that were thrown from the Reslanian-occupied house into their room would kill most of the gunmen that resided there. Even worse, the other RPF elements have started to converge on their position too while this single squad had already caused damage beyond comprehension.

Their morale was dropped to an all-time low, some running away, some surrendering to the supposedly weak force amidst the firefight, and some... decided to take their own lives. With the RPF entering the area, they could not get the town to remain La Ferdinan no more.

...

A group of Varikan soldiers along with a mage stands just near but not too close to Eastern Yelovsk. They came in small numbers, calm, but still tense as they won't have to deal with the nightmare at the front.

Such troops would not much of a concern to the Reslanians, Flash or Esterrians with the kind of materiel they put into the field. But this one is special. This kind of mage isn't usually seen in their ranks, as this one, as anti-wyvern warfare is more of, ironically enough, wyvern thing.

This type of mage is rare, as spell is one thing, actually shooting down a flying object is another. For their ability, they are highly sought after as they're historically extremely effective in bringing down anything that flies. In fact, this specific mage is credited with the downing of one iron pegasus that they unfortunately could not retrieve.

"Well we could not get our hands on that thing..." reported the officer in command reading a piece of paper he received "But you did a very good job nontheless, mage"

"Thank you sir" replied the mage after nodding to his word.

"You're welcome... now let's get back to our fort shall we?"

The troops' job is coming to an end, as the situation seems to have calmed down although only for a bit. The group would make their way back to their sole self-propelled carriage, with the driver already waiting for them with the rear hatch open.

"Sir..." spoke out the mage.

"Hmm?"

"I have this one concern..."

"What is it?"

"By this point, the Esterrian mana-detector might have detected our presence here, what if someone comes and attack us in big numbers?!"

"Oh dear... don't you worry about such nonsense! They can't possibly get here in such a short amount of time with such numbers! And besides, they can't smite us here from out of nowhere!"

A high-pitched roaring sound distantly, now just reaching their ears, and it's getting gradually louder.

Both turned to the source, another unknown flying creature with two sets of wings, one bigger pair that covers the center and the back of the body, and a smaller pair placed just in front and slightly above, flying straight and high towards their direction.

"What's that?" questioned the mage.

"I don't know... It might be another Esterrian asset, shoot it down quickly!"

The mage got to-

whoosh... KABOOM

And they're dead.

A big explosion shot up an incredible amount of soil into the air, and along with it, several body parts of the now disappeared pair. The carriage would also be wrecked, the crew of which and a lucky soldier nearby lived. In shock, they ran out of the carriage, realizing that it could come back and finish the job, leaving their guns behind and made a run for it.

The sound of the faint roar peaking above their heads will haunt them for days to come.

...

Despite all the losses, with 2 helicopters being downed over its soil, much of Eastern Yelovsk fell into Esterrian and Reslania control, or as they say it, into their rightful hands. Suffering extreme losses from the strange weapons, the Varikan control was basically reduced to nothing with the last hope being a singular fortress.

This fortress is... undesirable to put it mildly. Being small in comparison and defended by only 500 soldiers, it was hopeless if an attack by the ERA and/or the RPF were to launched on it. Nonetheless, this was what they were left with, as the rest along with the Gosbanians had all but left the region.

To put it simply, it's the last bastion of the Varikan, and KU's foothold in Eastern Reslania. Now sure, they do have more repeater rifles than the others, but given how the war had progressed, no one had much faith in them.

The only thing they could do now is wait. They would sit there and wait with a hint of uncertainty in all of their faces. It seems they were ready to face death itself, but not without putting up a fight.

As the sun goes completely out of the view, and the skies darken, fear ran high knowing they were going to meet their fate soon enough. What was more nerve-racking however was that there wasn't any sign of enemy troops maneuvering near them.

Such absence of the opposing forces only increased their uncertainty and fear as opposed to ease of mind, many seemingly at the verge of breaking. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a low, faint whistling noise in the air was heard, drawing attention from the curious ones.

After a short while, one started to point at something, the tip of the finger following some sort of path directly leading up to them. That soldier's eyes widened in realization.

"INCOMING!"

Multiple explosions sprung up at the outer walls of the small fortress, taking out a portion of the troops stationed here. Those served a wakeup call for these Varikan troops, and would mark the beginning of a great attack on this fort.

Already there were tracers coming for them from every side possible bar from above. The Variks were just starting to recover from the initial shock as the defenders would return fire at the flashes of guns pointed at them.

Muskets, repeater rifles and cannons alike fired bullets after bullets, constantly being reloaded after each shot or in the case of the repeaters, every time the magazine tube was completely expended.

No one knows if they killed anyone if any, and given the fact it's nighttime here, the number of ways to know for sure is next to zero.

As the cracks, gunshots, and the impact of bullets reverberated around the fortress, the Varikans themselves took casualties as the opposing bullets found their marks on some unfortunate sons of the Empire.

Furthermore, they were burning through their supplies extremely quickly, if the fact that the attack momentum isn't slowing down wasn't bad enough. 1/5 of their firepower is now gone too, and it's not even 10 minutes in, so it's safe to say that the battle is not on their favor.

"Damn it they're still everywhere!"

The enemy forces just kept firing at them from all sides, often forcing many of the Tsar Army soldiers to take cover, unable to shoot back effectively. They were firing an obscene number of bullets, like everyone there has a machine gun of some sort.

The attackers apparently were also inching closer, judging by the fact there's bigger flashes in a different position and sometimes seemingly moving in a short linear path.

"I need a status report on the other sides!"

"East is compromised!"

"WHAT?!"

"EAST! THEY'RE IN THIS FORTRESS NOW!"

Strange sounds of a rapid-firing gun began to ring out in the fortress itself. This was it, thought many of these soldiers. As the Eastern wing of the castle was breached, more Varikan men would fall down to the bullets and shrapnel from small bombs that were thrown into rooms of this fort.

1/3 of what was once the defenders is out of the picture, the unit's combat capabilities are now basically decapitated. It wasn't until 183 soldiers were killed off that the rest of the defenders decided to surrender. They had no ammo left to spare, nor were there any more guns to resist.

The battle ended with the quick fall of the last fortress, Eastern Yelovsk would no longer exist, in its place instead, is now Eastern Reslania in its entirety.

While prisoners would be escorted out of the fort, a red banner was raised at the top, the Varikan flag that formerly stood there fell out in its last glory.

...

But Varika still does not seem to have given up just yet.

Kramovskiy "Shots fired at the North side of the city, Varikan involvement suspected, proceed with caution"

In the aftermath of a few bombs set off at one part of the city, FIIA SGZ operatives dressed as some otherwise random foreign fighters of the RPF rushed over with their Reslanian counterparts responding with pickup trucks.

"Status update, perpetrator confirmed to be Varikan loyalists as per interrogation of one captured"

"An insurrection against an insurrection huh...?"

Reslanian garrison units in a mishmash of equipment seen in the early days of the war first jumped off the bed of their trucks, then it was the Zetas. Once all was on foot, they rushed their way to where the shooting is while the operatives followed in a walking pace.

"What's our role here?"

"We make sure they don't screw this up"

"That's it?"

"...And we snatch their leader if there's any"

After a while, the team picked up the pace.

"Drośmeci-66 to Redoubt, give us a new SITREP, is there any kind of leadership among those loyalists, over?"

"I was just going to tell ya, comms indicated a leadership figure seen at the forefront of their barricades"

"That's a yes then... Redoubt, if possible, can you tell Reslania to hold their counterattack off a bit, over?"

"Working on it..."

"...C'mon, this way"

The team veered off from the rest into the left turn of a T-section just before the one leading to the barricaded street if RPF fighters visibly shooting that way is of any indicator.

In the midst of deafening rapid fire, a dozen of distinctive shots rang out at the same time. They are musketeers, it seems.

"Redoubt here, I got the Kramovites to delay their thing for now, though you better make it quick 'cause a few doesn't seem too keen about it"

"Drośmeci-66 rogers, that's all we need, much obliged"

The team approached a three-storey building riddled with bullet holes and went through the front door with their weapons forward, sometimes up and down briefly to avoid pointing the barrel at each other.

Swiftly clearing the first floor by sweeping all the rooms and corners, they then marched upstair, repeating the process for the second, and finally the third floor where they stop by a wall opposite of the window in view of the street at the hallway.

"Jakub"

"Yeah, I got it"

One operative dropped his backpack onto the ground. Zipping the main compartment open, he would pull out blocks of C4, enough to create a hole large enough for their size to comfortably move in out.

Taking out the wrappers, he put a slab each on the wall, secured by the ol' reliable duct tape by another Zeta. Once all were taped to the surface, he put a fuse each into the slabs and wired them all up.

"Get to cover!"

All rushed into the safety of the rooms.

"Clear!"

"CLEAR!"

BOOM

An explosion, disguised by the background sound of an intense fight in stalemate blew the first wall open that it is more than enough for one of them to get past. The second wall leading into the other house however, while suffered visible damage, still stood.

...Nothing a little bit more explosive can't fix.

Jakub pulled another few slabs of C4, carefully stuck them onto the wall, putting the fuse in and wired them all together like before. The Zetas stayed in cover until another

BOOM

Finally brought the wall down, allowing access to the other building. One by one, the operatives jumped over and proceeded to clear the floor before reconsolidating. By now, they have switched to their suppressed .45 pistol to conceal their presence as much as possible.

The team snuck down to the second storey, checking out all the rooms just to find it clear. It is also here that the Zetas would hear a faint voice speaking in Nivian**, Varikan.

The team then carefully tread down the stair, trying to make as less noise as possible. When they reached down to the ground floor, they set sight of the front of what seemed to be a former shop from the glimpse out of the narrow doorway where a man face two others.

"Не беспокойтесь об этом, я разберусь с этим. Боже..." (Don't worry about it, I will figure it out. God...)

The team stayed put as the two walked away from that certain figure who walked back to the stand and sat down on a chair.

The team leader waved his hand forward and moved with the operatives under his wing. They covered the corners as they spread out in their approach.

While 2 stays at the back covering them, the lead and his deputy walks past the doorway. Tapping on the sitting Varikan's shoulder, he gets the man's attention and pointed his gun at his forehead.

"Издайте звук, осмелюсь" (Make a sound, I dare you) he whispered his threat.

The Varikan froze, unable to say a single word, and his eyes were wide open as he stared at the end of the suppressed pistol.

"Медленно, держите руки вверх, ты идешь с нами" (Slowly, keep your hands up, you're coming with us)

With both of his hands raised, he slowly stood up. After he got straight on his foot, he was grabbed with the gun still pointed at him and led into the house while the lead operative's partner watched his back.

"This is Drośmeci-66, we got the HVT, exfiling now"

"Redoubt copies, I'll notify our Reslanian counterparts that they can handle the rest now"

The team with the Varikan rebel at gunpoint quickly climbed up the flight of stairs to the top where they'd jump over back into the other building. Their completion of their objective would be partially marked by the intensified fire of the Reslanian against the drowning out boom of the loyalist cannon.

Musket shortly fall silent as in the midst the somewhat chaotic radio communication, several reports of falling apart line in realization of their disappeared leader reined in.

...

Before this whole situation happened, the Army was told that they would be dealing with just another revolt and then sent into the region where it happened. They thought they'd have the easy victory as their military is second-to-none, at least in Gestrae.

They all thought they would only adding to their glory, but what happened after that was the complete opposite of what should have been. They failed to crush the revolt already turned full-fledged rebellion, and now they're dealing with an entire invasion into Enmars.

1 week later, 8/9/1702 The Free State of Reslania, as they call themselves, took away large swathes of territories even in one day, against a superpower as garrison after garrison were routed out of the region. They were so fast that even command posts were attacked before they could even start to evacuate further to the reat, decapitating much of the command and control.

Now, in the current military situation, there is a line of grey zones where no one had claimed control, dubbed the No Army's Land which splits the entire region into half. The North-Eastern parts fall under the control of the Red-Whites, and the rest being of Imperial control.

It has been like this for 6 days, and despite the Imperial Army efforts, the line wouldn't budge at all and they were only taking heavy losses in each attack. Reslania mysteriously enough didn't bother to do any more advances, as for the past week, they only did harassing attacks and then run back to their territory of control.

The conflict would see no more advancement, the fields falling unsettlingly silent as the most powerful state in the Gestraen continent struggles in a deadlock with the smaller, youngest (unrecognized) country in this world, arising again from the ash of a past conquest and subsequent exploitation.

This silent is anything but a blessing. Given how Reslania has performed so far, the Ferdies often have the view of them not advancing as a sign of greater danger coming for them.

Of course, there were some eccentric figures who only sees it as a good thing, notably the high-ranking officers who believe this could be an opportunity to mobilize more troops to deter the RPF from taking more lands and maybe even push them back.

This would take quite a large amount of time... that they would never have.

While on patrol just near the line, a group of soldier would notice a rumbling as specks of dirt would also be slightly lifted.

The soldiers would start look around them, before figuring out it had came from the North, where their eyes would meet a harrowing sight. A spread out line of seemingly armored self-propelled carriages with heads and something sticking out of them along with some sort of metal pieces rolled around the wheels heading towards their location.

"What the hell are those?!"

Shortly after, tracers started flying over them at such speed that forced them to get down. These tracers are of many, with the amount of gunshot report being excessive. They were using weapons beyond their comprehension, and there was little that they could do against it.

"RETREAT! RETREAT!"

The Ferdies started to move away from the attacking carriages, helplessly crawling with their guns tucked into their chest, all the while the gunshot was becoming louder as those carriages of iron were advancing.

...

The RPF has restarted the Enmars Offensive, otherwise known as the Western Reslania in its entirety. But today, it isn't the Saracen nor the technical trucks that were the star of the war, rather it was something more special.

"I see one carriage ahead of us"

"I told you to shoot on sight, no?"

"Right, on the way!"

A thump of the gun firing is heard inside the vehicle, the cannon's breach would spit out the casing of the shell.

In his sight, although mostly covered up by the dust kicked up from the low pressure 90mm cannon firing, the gunner could still clearly see the projectile ending up exploding upon impact with the carriage he had targeted, causing a rather nasty damage before setting it aflame.

"Target!"

They're more than 7 decades old at this point, but they're still running fine, and most importantly, they got to go out and do their job both intended and unintended by the designers here in West Reslania with an abundance of ammunitions to go around.

It's a light armor with a relatively big gun, as in it's light enough to be able to cross many bridges that aren't in Flashia, although they have to do this one-by-one, while at the same time having a cannon comparable to the normal Gestraen ones but faster firing, more accurate, and farther reaching, something that Parcels aren't capable of let alone building a cannon into the carriage without sacrificing armor coverage.



Its service with the Flash Land Army is long gone as it was rendered obsolete, but now, it sees a new life in Reslanian hands, dealing with a much more primitive opponent, that being La Ferdina.

"I can't believe we still have these lying around"

"I mean, it's our Flashia we're talking about, of course we have something like this still here with us"

Despite perceived unconventional characteristic of the vehicle...

"Yeah, but I would think that they'd lie dead at some graveyard! Not here and still shooting!"

The RPF welcomed its addition as they did with the excellent result they are now yielding today.

"Next target! Gunner, cannon, traverse right!"

The turret would then turn the gun from aiming to the tank's front-left to the front-right, the gunner's sight now set on a group of soldiers with a magic cannon. They seem to be charging it up with the cannon aiming directly at one of their other Let Pansar 75s.

"HE up!"

"Eyes on target!"

"Fire!"

"ON THE WAY!"

THUMP

Again the cannon recoils back as a shell was sent flying towards the magic cannon troops, and the Ferdies on the receiving end did not have time to react... if they had any in the first place.

"On!"

The cannon along with the soldiers were blown up in pieces, sending them flying, scattering charred blood across a small field. After the dust settles, there wasn't much of anything else they could target with all the Ferdies asset had either pulled out or taken out by the tanks.

The light tank driver hit the gas, quickly accelerating as this light tank platoon would now advance across the grey zone, taking it as their own while creating another neutral territory in the process, costing La Ferdina more land.

...

Reslanian fighters jumped out of the back of an iconic APC that saw heavy use during the Steel Counteroffensive as it's now officially called by the Commonwealth History Institute. However, unlike much of their Esterrian counterparts back then, knowing that the armor is as thin as a tin can, only doing good against small arms, the RPF used the vehicles cautiously, often relegating it to back line support.

As soon as all troops were out, the RPF Pansartransporters began to drive away while the fighters settle down in their position for awhile, using their downtime to assess the situation at the town they're facinf.

"So that's 3, 4..." mumbled a soldier with a binocular before putting the lens down and speaking up "We got 7 platoons facing this direction"

"7?" his superior inquired for clarity.

"Yeah, 7 platoons"

"7 against 2..."

"Fret not now, I'm sure we'll just shoot them up before they could even stop us"

"No, I got a better idea..." the commander before reaching to his radio "Hey, you got those tubular weapon up?"

"You mean the mortars? We got them all set up, what do you want?"

"Right, I need you to fire some shells on Krensh, give those Ferdies hell"

"We're on it, give us a while and watch yourselves while you're at it"

After that, there was only silence. Where the field quiet down with the only sound heard amongst them being the rustling of fabrics and the occassional insignificant sound of the equipment moving around to the body of the Reslanian infantry.

But as usual, the silence would be broken by a brief loud whistle, and explosion after explosion after explosion hitting the town that incura after. Many were completely at shock of what had happened, as multiple explosions were apparently summoned without leaving any sign of mana remotely felt by some competent magic users amongst them beforehand.

It is because of the lack of magic did the Ferdies were taken by surprise, running around in perceived panic with many having already been perished from the shelling.

"We're now in position, you can move in now" reported back one of the APC commander over the radio, before then the fighters began to stand up.

"Acknowledged, we're moving, just make sure not to hit us"

"No guarantee"

The commander sighed.

"Big guns can't guarantee everything after all..."

...

At Krensh, or what La Ferdina calls Jensonne, just came under attack by mysterious explosion magic... if it even was magic that caused it at all.

The explosions came with absolutely no warning, even the mages present here could not pick up their presence. And even if one realized something was wrong, it was already too late as the shells would have landed in at least a second from that point.

To make things worse, they did not get taught a lesson about distancing, resulting in high amount of casualties on their sides. Funnily enough, the demi-humans who had been forced to fight did not suffer any loss, but nonetheless it still broke them.

The attack caused all of them to immediately drop their weapons and ran for their lives. Some were shot by the enforcer within the rank, but most of them would make it out as the troops is now in small numbers and there was simply not enough time for firing at every one of them.

But at the end of the day, they're still wasting ammo, because they have a bigger issue to deal with.

"RPF INCOMING-"

A really big hole was suddenly punched into the torso of the soldier who had tried to get the words out, and immediately after, really loud cracks ensued with the really big bullets felt in their nerves as they flew by.

Usually covers made of concrete would be best suited in protecting the soldiers against incoming bullets. But apparently this one just says screw you and your cover, as the Ferdies found out their safe haven is no use against these bullets.

Most that was hit died a gruesome death, anyone somehow left alive could only scream in agony and terror as their limb was blown out before eventually, they would die from bleeding out. RPF infantry are also seen flanking from the sides too, not helping with their situation.

The RPF, both the infantry and whatever that was are still firing upon their position, the La Ferdinans could only cower in their cover and hope that they wouldn't get hit by the bullet that goes through concrete like arrow through papers and rips limbs apart.

The Reslanians now have free reign to maneuver, and it's only a matter of time until they would reach the town and start clearing it out. In other words, they're not going to make it.

...

"The Reslanian People's Front, the armed wing of the Free State of Reslania, has launched another offensive in the La Ferdinan region of Enmars, in which Reslania claims as Western Reslania. This offensive came after the RPF had cut down its efforts, relegating its forces to small skirmishes for a week.

For the duration of the break, the La Ferdinan Imperial Army had began to build up its forces, but so too has Reslania. What makes the newly formed country different from this action however, is that they do it fast, utilizing vehicles supplied by Flashia and to a certain extent, Esterria.

The RPF this time around are also better-equipped, reportedly having received proper uniforms for its frontline forces and standardized armament to the troops that previously used weapons of huge variety.

As we speak, the RPF has already pushed the La Ferdinan Imperial Army to the point of being at the front door of Enmars regional capital, Saint-Boudet itself where it's apparent that this is the area where the majority of Reslanian forces are concentrating its movement.

This is while the Free State of Reslania is also facing some insurrections within its Eastern border with loyalists of the Varikan Empire arising against the Reslani rule and the Esterrian contingent that directly assisted in the RPF's effort

In other news, the Voice of News of Esterria will be officially renamed to the Esterrian Voice of News at 10/9, meaning 2 days from now"

...

The La Ferdinan forces in Saint-Boudet scrambles to prepare defenses as a siege from Reslania is expected to be laid around the city. Fortifications were placed haphazardly with varying quality, much of it is shoddy work as they weren't given much time to set them up.

Originally, the garrison here is supposed to all have repeater rifles, but for reasons such as the logistic being extremely slow to give them what they want for whatever reason, most had resorted to stick with the old, bulky muskets.

It's an unfavorable decision, but they have no choice either way.

Despite having been given not enough time to properly built up their defensive positions, they still managed to get all their guns and all their cannons pointing outside the city. All the while with Saint-Boudet being a coastal city, the navy was nowhere to be founs.

Time could only tell if the garrison here could hold out against those so-called 'rebels', or will they have to kneel down to the Reslanian invaders in the end.

...

The Reslanian People's Front now stands right outside the limits of the regional capital of Saint-Boudet. As while the others are focusing on small towns, the majority would push out to here, the symbolic head of La Ferdina's control.

If they were to win this war for once and for all, then taking this city would be their best chance. Saracens and other vehicles would move up to the line, in preparation of the battle, making sure they didn't get too close else they meet the wrath of the magic cannons.

Meanwhile at the rear, artillery position is being set up, most of them being mortars, with some being already set up right on the beds of pickup trucks. Boxes of ammunition would be opened up and brought over to the mortars.

From there, one of the crew of each mortar would take one and put it at the front of the barrel.

"Hanging!" shouted the crew member as he is still holding on to the shell that is still on the outside, or at least a part of it.

"FIRE!" came the order of their commander, at which point the shell would be let go, and all of them would duck down to the ground. The HE shell hit the bottom of the mortar, igniting the charge inside before being launched into the air, almost instantly disappearing into the skies, leaving a brief fireball and ringing.

What would happen next... is anyone's guess until the shell falls back down to earth.

...

*Parcel: Flash designation for the Armored Self-Propelled Carriage 'Dominique' (actual name for the self-propelled steel carriages used by KUG) **Nivian: Russian irl, the main language spoken in the Newberslawnian Federation and especially in its Republic of Nivia in the Old World.