11/9/1702 The skies of the Reslanian Confederation capital city becomes cloudy in the afternoon. Crowds of people gathered on one side of the road of the square, with barriers preventing anyone from finding themselves inside the roadway.

On the other side stood the participants of the parade. Soldiers, formerly fighters of the Reslanian People's Front, stood shoulder-to-shoulder on standby, with their rifles held at the front. Armored vehicles are nowhere to be seen from the viewers' perspective.

At the Governmental Building just behind the crowd, stood leading figures of the newly formed Confederation, including a very important President Taras. At somewhere more distant, bells rang out marking the start of the whole thing.

A big breath was blew out, as the president tries to keep himself calm in the middle of the big day. He brought his eyes to the papers he was holding then back to the scene outside, where 5 guards of honor wearing the same old uniform of the Vassal Army, just with tan color march in line with straight legs, feet raised a soda can off and kept parellel to the ground with their open arms brought to chest level, palm facing them.

The guard at the back stopped, followed by the next last one 5 paces later, then third in another 5 paces, fourth and the last fifth man. All of the aforementioned guards would turn left to face the road then putting down the butt of their rifles down to the ground.

And then, a horse with its rider would walk down the path of the parade, stopping right at the middle-ish where the rider would steer his stead to face the stand.

"Parade Commander reporting!" said the horse rider "Troops of the former Reslanian People's Front, now Confederation Army have now been assembled for the parade in honor of the victory against the Varikan Empire and the La Ferdinan Empire!"

The voice would echo for a short while, and after it has subsided, the Parade Commander rode his horse to go past the stand on the roadway before turning 180, going straight before right to where the troops are. The PC then place himself to the right of the front troops formation.

Taras would step forward at the stand, as he would then put down his paper on a podium with a so-called 'microphone'.

"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" he spoke to test the mic, which sounds satisfactory enough for him "...For centuries, Reslania and its people had it very bad. With our status of being a sovereign nation crushed by La Ferdina and Varika, Reslanians all over its former territory were oppressed left and right.

In all aspects of our life, this was seen as a norm, as the two empires seen and used us as some sort of tools, not as fellow human beings. With the excuse of bringing 'civility' to the country, they used us however they please, whether it be for labor or even for their own entertainment...

My people, please take a look around the city we are all standing on right now. The buildings, the monuments, and all the infrastructures here are built using our blood and bones! And this is no different from all of the cities built in the Confederation!

For centuries, we have tried to fight back against such horrible things, but all of them had been for nothing as they all were shot down by the colonizers. For centuries, people like me, like us accepted all of these as a norm of the life...

We all thought that was our fate, so did the Ferdies and the Variks. They all thought Reslania would not be able to stand up for themselves no more... but oh no, they were all wrong...

A man who went by the name of Ruslan Ishchenko did the unthinkable. He had managed to get close to a Varikan military general, and shot him dead after. Although he was executed a day later at this very same square, he was a shining hope that independence will be brought back to this land.

It's that same hope that Kramovskiy rose up! It's that same hope that made the Vassal Army switch sides! And what reinforced that and pushed us up until this point is when the Esterrians officially gave us support!

Volunteers from the disgraced Kingdoms Union member state, and the new republic further North, began pouring in, bringing new tools and weapons never seen before and changed how we fought. So called Gevakan vodka bottles burned down the Varikan carriages and even La Ferdinan Assassins had to fall down before our new assault rifles!

Those weapons helped us take back what is once our own land, our Western and Eastern land, helped us turn Yevlosk and Enmars back to Garaz and Sokoriki! And most importantly, we defeated the supposedly stronger enemies in the process! It had led us to the point where we could say: 'Finally, we have regained our sovereignty'...

Ruslan Ishchenko is a hero, and even though he could not live to be able to see this moment, his legacy will live on! Glory to freedom! Glory to Reslania!"

The echo of his speech would then fade in a short while, with a short moment of silence.

"Attention for the Hymn of Independence!" shouted the Parade Commander.

The order would prompt the newly formed Military Band of the Confederation, which ironically enough consists mostly of Flash and Esterrians, to be on a ready position. The instruments would then play a tune before the verse and chorus:

"Піднімемо червоний прапор! Поки імперії наступають на нас, І гноблення вийшло назовні, Поки майбутнє невизначене...

Червоний прапор замайорить знову, За священний поклик про воскресіння! За перемогу незалежності, З нашої волі, як ресланівців...

Вперед Реслані! За кривавий бій, Про праведність! Марш! О, воїни! Вперед Реслані! За кривавий бій, Про праведність! Марш! Реслані! Марш!"

[Set to the tunes of Warszawianka 1905]

The music and the vocals of the hymn would then subside before another order is shouted out.

"Attention! Ceremonial march past! Slope... arms!" the troops in the formation would then put their weapons onto their left shoulder, stock held in the left hand in a certain set of movement "Form battalions! Distance by a single line man! First battalion remain in the right, remainder left... turn!"

The first battlion, or in other words the frontmost formations, turned to their right while the rest turned to their left by 90 degrees.

"Forward! Eyes right! Quick, march!"

The music of march then immediately plays upon the first step of the left foot was taken, with the parade commander and his horse leading the parade formation.

Being front of the formation meant that the PC and the guards following behind would also be the first to get to the turn to the parade road path, gradually marching in line before the guards then enact the same straight legged marching upon getting close enough to the stand with their heads turned right.

The first formation with the PC on his horse saluting has the guards behind him showing off the flag of Reslania, the old flag and the battle flag.



(Might need a rework later)

The flags marched along with the tan-colored guards with their rifles sloped. Marching past, the guards would then return to a more casual style, with the spotlight being handed over to another formation.

This time, it's the infantry forces, also with their weapon sloped onto their shoulders. More well equipped than... anyone else really, they've been the bulk of the RPF fighting forces in the frontlines of East and West. They'd march past the stand with eyes right using the goose step again before they would also go back to the casual ones upon getting past.

Next was the new Marines, who more or less looks the same as the infantry forces, just with their helmet having a white anchor stuck onto the right side.

Then, it was the armored vehicles crewmen, wearing the same old green uniforms, but with a different helmet resembling more of a winter hat without the cotton. They have the M70s underfolder from the early stages slung at their back instead of being sloped.

The formation that would then take their place is the Recons. While not being in action for the most part, they did help by providing intel and did sabotage to some extent. What stood out for the audience is the fact they wear red berets, not helmets, and is armed with weapons too short to be in slope arms so they're held in port arms (to the front).



Said weapons were actually extensively used in the 1990s, particularly by the Federal Police and some armed groups in Southern Flashia. They have since been replaced at the turn of the new century as Flashia had recovered from their economic recession, and now they found their new home within the Confederation forces.

The Recons goosestepped past the stand before another formation follows. This time, it's the Militia forces adorning civilian clothing with red cloth wrapped around their arms. Again, their weapons (AMD-65) are too short for slope arms so they were held at port arms. Unlike the other formations, they undertook a more casual approach of marching as they went past the stand.

Next were the various reserve units that was just formed upon the war's end. Using weapons from the early stages of the Reslanian War, one by one, they marched with straight legs past the stand with slope arms.

The last formation to be armed with guns, are the promised Esterrian forces. Wearing their field uniform without the other combat equipment and with berets on their head, the Esterrians marched their way, casual with the other arms brought to waist level like a pendulum.

They have their arms being the standard Geweer 2 with bayonets sloped, as they marched past to make way for the Confederation band, more specifically its columns of drummers.

The drummers (this time consist of Reslanis) would beat the drum as they stepped casually along the parade path. And when they got to a point, they would put each of their drumsticks to a single right hand, then swinging it with the standard straight-legged march being executed.

Having their eyes right, they then marched past in sync, in line, until they reached another certain point where they too would return to a more casual style.

And that was it for the foot soldiers. As the band formation would gradually go further from any other's view, faint rumbling sound is heard.

That faint rumbling sound would grow louder and louder as time goes on, and eventually yellow lights revealed itself. The famed (shitty) technicals of Reslania has finally made an appearance.

Grew famous for its availability as most were simply driven in undetected, owing to the fact they're completely magicless, and just generally better, the improvised fighting vehicles painted in a shade of green and a cross with 4 surrounding stars had their weapons pointing into the skies as they rolled by in lines.

In each technical columns, there were ones with machine guns, ones with recoiless rifles, and ones with bunch of steel plates strapped on. They don't look as pretty as what their former colonizers had, but like I said earlier, they're generally just better.

Lines of Saracens would then take over the pickup truck's place with a soldier standing on top, behind a gun facing the back mounted on the turret ring. Relatively measly armed, the Saracens doesn't offer much firepower, but makes up for it by having a good enough protection for its occupants.

2 columns would go past by, as then another type of vehicle entered the parade ground. This time, it's the Ijzerwagen of Esterria with the Reslanian cross painted on the side. The vehicles are not used that much, only being involved in smaller fights but they're still something. It should be noted in Esterrian service, these vehicles had already been replaced by 10 Pasi APCs.

The single column of the tracked carrier would go by, and now, the Letpansar makes their appearance. This one stood out the most for the audience, as the weapon it sports is rather large for its hull. What's even stranger is that the entire turret is slanted with its gun up, as if the whole thing rotates along with the gun.

It's perhaps for this reason, the commander sits lower into the vehicle as they saluted to their right while the 3 columns of these vehicles rolled by with distinctive creaking sound. The light tanks then disappear off the parade ground, with 6-wheeled trucks entering the spotlight.

Sporting the twin-barrelled anti-aircraft cannons, they provided the much needed air defense against the wyverns whenever those technicals just simply weren't enough. Known for scaring the crap out of the Imperial wyverns and turning them into red mists, they found favor within the Reslanian ranks as quite reliable, at least in daylight.

Almost never seen in the frontlines, the bigger trucks would enter the parade ground. They were unarmed for the most part and unarmored, and thus were not used too far into the line. They did however provide much of the transportation of troops, as anyone could see multiple soldiers sitting on the bed, delivering supplies where they're needed, and hauling big guns around.

Just a little fun fact: These trucks were actually captured from Hatemea during the Reunification War.



Sure, its frontline counterparts may be important, but they weren't seen as vital as these trucks because as said before, they brought supplies and pulled artillery around, which is why there are actually 5 columns of them in various configuration.

These trucks would mark the end of what's known as a relatively short showcase of arms. The Confederation doesn't have its own forces in the air... yet, so no flyby could be performed. But for the audience, that was enough. They've seen many of their war-winning weaponry and they were just interesting enough.

...

Western Reslania The Western part of the Confederation is by far the most developed part of Reslania, but it is also where much of the ravages of war reigned. The use of mortars and tanks have left such a destruction, it looked more like what was the result of 2 months of war rather than 2 weeks.

But for that, the Confederation has a tool to fix those problems.

"Come on and get going dickheads!" shouted a Reslanian soldier "Come on and get that construction going!"

Over the course of more than 2 weeks, Reslania gathered prisoners from La Ferdina, Varika, some from Gošbania and Saogaulia.

"You built this city, why does it have to be us?!" said one of the La Ferdinan prisoners.

"Oh, so we should be the ones that do it when your fucking ancestors years ago forced us to build it?!" replied the guard "You Ferdies are really miserable aren't you?"

"Hey! We aren't that-"

"Blah, blah, blah... just get on with the work already!"

The prisoners, still donning their respective field uniforms without their hats spent their energy in reconstructing the city under the watchful eye of the Confederation Army. By the looks of their face, anyone could tell none of them was happy.

They weren't happy because the ones that they're supposed to keep down are now the ones keeping them down. For the Reslanians here, both soldiers and civilian passerby, they find it quite amusing how their feared oppressors have to do the work that they used to do.

Some soldiers were a bit bored out of their mind over time, but that doesn't matter for now. Their job is simply just watch over the prisoners doing their work, as reparations for centuries of occupation.

"Ahhhhh... why does life have to be this hard?"

...

"What are they even saying?" said an Esterrian soldier.

"What?" said his officer.

"On the radio, they're saying something like 'Aitalala' or something-"

"Damn it Private! I told you to not tap into their frequency!"

Herätäkotelo, Animaatland, Flashia, 11/9/2017 The Royal Esterrian Army by now have been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, but that doesn't mean they really know how to employ them in terms of tactics and strategy. That's the main reason they're here in Animaatland.

"Oh crap, they're Flash? I thought they were fellow Esterrians?"

The officer in his combat equipment facepalmed upon hearing that word being spewed out from the soldier.

"Private, there is a giant difference between Esterrian language and Annish*, get it right"

"Geez, I apologize... But still aren't they are enemies for this scenario?" spoke the soldier again "Wouldn't listening to their communication be very beneficial?"

The scenario he was referring to is for the exercise that this particular platoon and their brigade in general is participating. This exercise is meant to get the Esterrians up to speed by pushing them into a theoretical near-peer battle between them and the Animaatish unit.

"Yes... but Annish is just completely indecipherable, would've been a waste of time if we tried..."

"How do you know?"

"It's already obvious for you isn't it?"

"But-"

"Just get a move on already..."

The 2 Esterrian soldiers along with their squad would continue onwards into the forest where they're training while shots of blanks are heard in the background.

With each keeping a certain distance away from each other, the Esterrian soldiers navigated through trees and bushes to get to the 'battle'. And then, rapid flashes that repeatedly pop up and disappear are seen along with the sound of blank firing reaches their ear, clearly directed towards them.

Some Esterrians would fall down, not because they actually got hit, but because they got 'hit'. I probably should've noted that they're all wearing the same set of laser sensors designed specifically for training exercises.

"Crap! Machine gunner!" called out one of the soldiers still standing as he raised his rifle also fitted with laser transmitter alongside blank adapter stuck onto the muzzle of the Geweer 2 while behind tree cover. The same soldier, along with few others, would pull the trigger, producing a gunshot that fires lasers meant to replicate what their weapon would've do in real battle.

They aren't 'hitting' anything, but it did silence the machine gun while a brave infantryman began to drag his fellow to safety. And then, more flashes occured.

"Where did they come from?!?" yelled an Esterrian soldier as he was bewildered by the new opposing muzzle flashes.

"Fuck man, it's like they're invisible in this environment!" while they too began shooting at where the Flash guns were firing. One would be 'wounded' during the firefight.

"WHERE'S OUR MG?!?"

"I'm here! Just give me a bit!" as said MG would run up with his weapon on hip-level to cover behind another tree, before taking it up to shoulder level where he'd grab the bipod with his left hand and use it as an impromptu grip as he then let it loose in short bursts.

Again, he wouldn't be able to 'hit' anything at all as his gun went all over the place, but for the rest, it's enough to safely evacuate the 'casualties'. Around half of the squad would still be around to do so with them dragging the now really heavy soldiers out.

"So what do you think?" said a soldier as he is dragging his friend.

"A bit scary, but fun" replied the dragged one.

"I see that too..." spoke the other one again, as he would then let go before turning to a different direction, shouting "MEDIC!"

The 'wounded' just simply lie there, breathing his lungs out as he take a little rest.

"...I wished we done this earlier"

...

The reconstruction is going slow but surely, with the soldiers still standing around and watch the prisoners do their work. They did give some a kick to the butt as they were slacking off, but that was pretty much it.

"I feel like I can't take much of it for longer"

"Deal with it, it's not like those officers will let us go until it's done"

"Aye"

It only has been an hour, but most of the guards have already seem to be burnt out with not much interesting happening. Proof of this is an audiable groan of one of the green shirt men.

Then, a sound of a cough reaches one guard's ear. He turned to the source of the sound, and it turned out to be one of the prisoners who clearly seemed too weak to be able to continue onto the work.

The man just sits there while the soldier walked up to somewhere behind him, letting a sign while doing so. He then reach for his pistol holster, getting the cover out of the way, giving him access to the weapon grip. As he turned around, he pulls the pistol out and train the gun on the man.

Pulling the hammer down with his right hand, the soldier centered his iron sight on the back of the sick man's head. He was ready to shoot... only for a hand to suddenly slap down on his gun.

The soldier turned to his right, the source of the arm slapping down on his weapon, and that happens to be a senior officer as indicated by his beret. Giving the soldier a good disapproving glare, he shook his head, and that was enough for the soldier to slowly put away his pistol back into his holster.

The officer gave him the glare for a little bit before turning away, where he would continue on observing his other subordinates. Needless to say, that did a lot for the soldier to let out a cold sweat while the prisoner just sits there, still coughing

...

Aveland, Naeslagtland The Royal Capital of Naeslagtland is expecting a scheduled address today. As crowds gathered at the front of the Palace, they waited with patience. In that waiting time, chatter could be heard amongst them, and from what anyone could make out, they all talked about recent events and the speech.

Inside the Palace, Fosberg looked out the window where the flood of people is seen, said chatter is also heard. He then turned to Madsen IV, the King himself, firmly holding his left hand on his waist.

"Are you ready for this, your majesty?" said Fosberg.

The Naeslagt King turned to look at his assistant, then turned his head back to the balcony in front of him.

"Yes"

He then breathe a deep one, in order to bring about the calmness before the big thing. He then walks out the balcony, with a piece of paper on his hand (the typical Gestraen one mind you), where he would meet his subjects there. He puts his paper down on a stand.

"Greetings, my people" said the King as a beginning for his address, prompting the crowd to quiet down "As you all might have known already, the Kingdom of Naeslagtland have now fallen out with our equivalents in the Kingdoms Union, more specifically, its Gestraen branch. In exchange, we have gotten closer to the so-called uncivilized Federal Republic of Flashia to the North, the Commonwealth of Esterria, and the newfound Reslanian Confederation.

The falling out between us and the Kingdoms Union is the result of perceived arrogance and ridiculousness from the perspective of Naeslagtlandic envoys, how La Ferdina is trying to push other member states into an assured destruction.

I know my words may sound preposterous to some of you, but it's the truth. We have seen how Flashia annihilated the infamous 7-nation-army with only a few thousands, not even in tens of thousands, and now with Flash-supported Reslanians kicking both Varika and La Ferdina out of Yevlosk and Enmars respectively"

In the middle of the address, a gunshot would ring out, prompting a reaction of confusion from everybody else. As they looked for the source of it, the King spoke calmly.

"My people, please, can we have some order back upon this Palace?"

The crowd is still confused, but alas, they did comply. And it was then that Fosberg noticed a hole into the King's clothing on his right side of chest.

'Your Majesty?!' thought the assistant, both in shock and awe as to how the King could still be standing so calmly.

"As I have said, the army and the weapons of Flashia have apparently shown themselves to be very effective even against the Gestraen superpower. And that is the reason why we see their desires to conquer Flashia is only but a hidden meatgrinder.

At first, our relations with Flashia was established with shockingly similar culture revealed to us from the ill-fated spying campaign as well as some fear delved into us from what happened to the Kingdoms Union Gestrae Northern Expedition. But now, we saw what our Flash counterparts thought of every single country here on Gestrae.

They do not seek to fight, they seek to cooperate with every nation that exists on this world. They only did so because those at the Kingdoms Union forced them. The cooperation they desire turned out to be very beneficial, as you, the people have seen, even after Gestrae put sanctions on our Kingdom, we saw very little change in our economy, and that's only with Flashia.

This is not the first time that a quote-on-quote, 'barbarian nation', have reached their arms out and support other country's economy with great effect. As we have seen with Esterria, when they signed trade agreement with the Federal Republic, they have managed to somehow turn their lives around, and is now arguably a very nice place to live, even by our beloved Aveland's standard.

We, the Royal Naeslagtlandic Government and the Royal Family do not wish for misfortune towards our friends at KU, but alas, they must understand that what they're doing and intend to do is futile and they're only going to drive themselves off a cliff by doing so, and we will defend ourselves by obligation.

Thank you all for coming here today to hear my address" as some cheering can be heard "Long live Naeslagtland! All for Naeslagtland!"

And that was the end, with the crowds erupting in cheers like fire spreading, the King walks back inside, his left hand still on his waist and a hole on his right chest without even a single drop of blood oozing out.

Fosberg, still shocked, rushed towards the King.

"A-Are you all good and fine?" said Fosberg with a little hint of panic.

"Yes, Fosberg, I am fine, don't you worry about me" said Madsen IV betraying the same tone of calmness.

"But your majesty! You've been shot!"

"I indeed have been..." his words still unnervingly calm as ever "But to tell the truth, in recent times, I've heard a rumor that Flash body armor can stop even repeater's bullet with a special type of plate. I did not believe it at first, but oh well..." the King then lets his left hand go, and a black panel then revealed itself to be tucked inside as it slid a part of it down "Even a King can be wrong"

He then grabs the panel and pulled it out. Showing the black panel to Fosberg, it had the word 'STRIKE FACE' clearly inscribed onto it with a bullet clearly from a repeater stuck out at the upper left.

"That is... just amazing!" Fosberg's tone betraying more of surprise "But how? How do you know it would end up like that?"

"Well, knowing Empress Reine Bethune..." the King then shrugged to the side.

"Ah, I see, fair enough"

...

CRACK

"GO! GO! GO!"

The King's Guards storm a building where the shot at the King was taken. Armed with the Flash bolt-action rifles and revolvers, they run through the hallway and into the stairways, making their way up. With the Army completely surrounding the building, they quickly took their steps up until they were stopped by an impact of a bullet.

"CONTACT! UP THERE!"

In return, the Naeslagts fired shots of the rifles at the one standing in their way. After a few shots and some bolt cycling, a Guard suddenly turned around and run, also intentionally pushing the other one in.

"Agh! Why are you-"

A body then plops down onto the ground in front of the rest followed by his gun also falling over to his body. As the same guard then looked over his shoulders, one could see a shock to some faces here.

"That's why" said the same guard as he would then stand up, walk over and lend a hand to the one he pushed over.

"Damn you Larsen..." as he would then grab his comrade's hand to get lifted up on his feet. After that he then picks up the rifle he had dropped being right beside the fallen body. It was then he paused in the middle of doing so in realization.

"Is it just me? Or is this one looks like a La Ferdinan?"

"What?" the others would then approach the body "Oh, I can see that too"

"They really did send the Assassins after His Majesty huh?"

The guards then continued their way up, exercising more caution this time around as they might be dealing with La Ferdina's best as far as their knowledge go. There, they continued their exchange of bullets as few of them started to pop out, trying to hold them off.

In the process, one of them would drop something to the Naeslagt Guards.

"GRENADE!" yelled out one of them "GET DOWN!"

After pouring down the stairs with some even falling over, the grenade exploded, kicking up some dusts with the Naeslagt forces ducking down as much as possible.

"Anyone's hit?"

"I think I broke my arm!"

"Ah stop exaggerating, it's not that bad!"

"It hurts..."

The Guards slowly got back up again, as they continued on the stairways, shooting bullets after bullets, taking steps after steps. The risk is high on this, but at the same time, they did managed to gradually silenced the opposing fire.

On their way up, they did encounter another body, which caused their morale to go up. And that meant the Naeslagts just kept going, shooting more rounds at the opposing forces while they seem to be losing it.

More floors are scaled, more bodies were found lying there, and when they finally reached the top, a very few of them had actually thrown away their arms beforehand. They also presumably cursed in La Ferdinan before the Guards got them down on the ground.

"So which room was it?"

"I don't remember if I'm going to be honest"

The Naeslagt Guards then proceed check every room in this floor, kicking the door open and making sure it's all clear. However, it was rather tedious as minutes pass, as so far for every room they barged in, they would find no one, their luck being not great as it's already apparent by the time they checked 3/4 of the floor.

But now, they finally made it.

BANG

"AAAGHHH! MY ARM!"

As they were about to kick on a door, someone on the other side shot a bullet into the door, wounding one of their own. Everyone else converged to where it had come from while one of their own already on-site would begin dragging the downed to safety.

"He's in there isn't he?"

"YES! Aww... why do you think I'm hit then...? Ahhh, jævel..."

Their target in the room would then fire a few more rounds into the door, forcing the Guards to stay behind their cover.

"To hell with it, just shoot the door!"

The Naeslagts then blindly fired a lot of bullets at the door with rifles or revolvers, and that seemed to be effective, but they aren't sure just yet.

"Did we get him?"

"Wait..."

They waited and waited. 30 seconds passed, aside from the continued groaning, there was nothing that came in the scene. A guard then reached his hand to the doorknob, then turning his head towards the other and an officer. Said officer would nod, signalling the guy to swing the door open, aiming at the corner in front of him first then move inside.

They would find another Assassin lying there. Still alive, just rolling around in pain. The Guards then promptly grab the Assassin by the armpits, and from there drag him out of there.

"How does it feel seeing the King you shot calmly continued his address huh?" taunted one of them.

"Go to hell..."

The only thing to do now for these guards is to get him out of there.

"Perhaps it's more fitting that you rot in hell, for you tried to kill His Majesty"

...

"...We are sorry to interrupt the current news flow, but we have just have received new informations from Naeslagtland that you should know.

According to our sources, the King of Naeslagtland, Madsen IV had been shot in the middle of an address to the public in an obvious attempt of assassination. However, even after being struck, the King had unexpectedly calmly continued his speech.

This action has led to confusion amongst everyone who witnessed it, but it would later turns into cheers after his address had ended, his actions becoming a symbol of defiance and strength of Naeslagtland against the Kingdoms Union Gestrae as a whole.

The perpetrator, or rather, perpetrators would be caught and identified by the authorities as Assassins of the La Ferdinan Empire, directly linking the superpower in particular to the attempted assassinations.

In response, Her Majesty, Queen Marie III had condemned the attempted killing of a fellow monarch while at the same time emphasizing the very real threat that the Commonwealth faces in recent times.

The events regarding this is still developing and we are expecting to give out updates to the matter once enough information is made clear and out there" - Esterrian Voice of News

The exercise in Hërätäkotelo had actually been happening for 14 days, and the night of 11/9 would mark the end of it.

For the Esterrians, the result is... absolutely nothing to be proud of in all honesty. In other words, they completely lost against the more experienced Animaatish troops of the Landhær, or rather, the Maavoimat as they're actually called here.

But at least they learned in the process of what to do and what not to do, as both Esterrians and Flash sit around a campfire and reflected on what they done in the force-on-force exercise.

"There's something that I've noticed fighting you guys" said an Esterrian grunt "When it comes to the woods, it looked as if you were all invisible like even if you stood right in front of me, I still wouldn't be able to notice!"

"I mean you guys are also pretty hard to spot too" replied a Flash soldier "Not that hard though, just difficult enough to not be seen from really far away"

"Eh, I digress" said a senior soldier of the Heerschaar "Your uniforms just blend in perfectly for us, even though you have some weird rectangular-like patterns"

"I mean it works right?"

"Right"

"Gentlemen" said a Flash Army officer "Are we forgetting something here?"

"Oh yeah, crap..." spoke another of the Flash soldiers "Anyways, from a few firefights, I noticed that you Esterrians are... too close to each other, not to mention the really linear formation. You still have that 18th century thing in you eh?"

"Old habits die hard man" said an Esterrian grunt in response.

"Right, but just in case, maybe break up your formation even more and keep away from each other further lest someone 'teaches' you about spacing"

"Noted"

...

Barminde, Flashia "Whoa, whoa, wait..." said Simon Thomasen, the Flash President "Are you really suggesting an alliance between us and 3 other countries?"

"That's what the folks at Naeslagtland suggested" said Anton Dam, the Defense Minister "At least according to my sources"

"And what's your source then?"

"You might not believe this but... it's King Madsen IV himself"