[I now have a Discord server, pls join: https://discord.gg/UqgavrsYUd]

Barminde, Flashia, 11/9/2017 "...Tell me you're serious" said the President of Flashia in his office.

"If that was the case, then I wouldn't be here with you discussing this matter" replied the Minister of Defense facing him.

The MoD, that being Anton Dam came to President Simon Thomasen's office to discuss a rather significant topic in terms of the Gestraen continent. It's about a potential alliance between 4 countries including Flashia.

The president sighed.

"...So what's it all about then?"

"Well according to a rather low-quality paper right here" as Anton then pulls out a paper from his folder "Typical of Gestrae but anyways, see for yourself"

The Defense Minister then give the paper out to the president, to which he then begins scanning the paper. A quick look highlights several points, the main one being a military alliance between Flashia, Naeslagtland, Esterria and Reslania.

"This looks... mostly good to me" the president spoke up "But I'm conflicted with one detail"

"What is it?"

"It says here that all member states should be able to supply each other sufficient equipment and training"

"...Sir, I don't see how that's a bad thing"

"Because it isn't but that's not the point. Point is that Esterria and Reslania is already a bit much for us and I don't know if we're able to do such a thing economically"

"No offense Mr. President, but have you heard of the 1930s Depression?"

Simon was a little bit surprised upon Dam mentioning the time where everyone's economy spiral downward.

"Yes, but why does that matter?"

"And how did it end?"

"...How?"

"What's the war that followed then?"

"Oh... the Global War"

"Exactly"

The Global War was something Flashia was heavily involved in. The country was invaded by the Imperial Alliance back in 1940 which prompted Flashia to switch to a war economy.

Barminde poured fundings into its arms industry and the military that in turn created a lot of jobs for the citizens who were expelled from their previous job position and thus quickly propping up their economy even despite having their enemies right at their doorsteps.

"I see your point here" said the president "It could be an opportunity to ramp up our recovery?"

"That is correct sir"

"It sounds good to me, but I'm afraid I'd still have to turn this over to the Parliament and eventually maybe even hold a referendum. Something tells me that a big portion wouldn't want to see it come to life"

"Don't worry sir, if the mutual defense treaty with Esterria was passed in a landslide, I'm sure it will too"

"You really sure?"

"I mean... I don't see how the opinion would change after Firestorm"

For those somehow unaware, Firestorm refers to Operation Firestorm or the Battle of Gevaka.

"Alright then, whatever you say..."

...

Einskirka, Esterria, 14/9/1702 3 days after the very notable day of attempted assassination in Aveland, the Esterrian Prime Minister, Gessel would find the queen at the balcony of the castle, looking up the skies seemingly filled with questions.

She hasn't been like this since the airspace intrusion incident with the Flash Luftforsvar (or Marine as it was a Naval aircraft), so it was quite peculiar for the minister. He would approach the bewildered queen.

"Your majesty..." said Gessel, getting the attention of Marie III.

"Oh, Gessel..." a response from the young queen is given "You're here to see me?"

"That is correct, your majesty"

"So... what's the matter?"

"Well, I have been told that the Naeslagtlandic Government had proposed to Flashia and 2 others about a potential alliance?"

"An alliance?" she spoke in a tone of calm confusion.

"Yes, that is correct"

"I see... how are the others responding to it?"

"From my recollection... Flashia had already passed it over to the Parliament for discussion, they told us there would be a 'referendum' soon, and Reslania is considering it. It's only us by this point, so what shall be your decision on this matter?"

(Ducc here, the word 'referendum' did not exist until mid-18th century, hence the apostrophe)

Marie III then look away to think over the choices, and after she had took her time, she then turned back.

"Let the people decide, we shall hold a public consultation"

Gessel nodded.

"That will be done"

The queen smiled before turning back to the skies, switching back to a bewildered state.

"...I am going to ask you this so forgive me if I turned out to be rude in a way but..." the queen then turned back as her attention is grabbed again "...Your majesty, why are you looking at the clouds so intensely? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, not really..." replied Marie III "It's just that there was this chopping sound that I've heard from up there and I do not know what seems to cause it"

"Oh, that's must be our new Sokoł's"

"So... kols...?" the queen's tone betraying further confusion.

"Those are our new helicopters for the Wyvern Corps... well I do not know if they're even called that anymore but that does not matter, we have received a squadron of them"



"I see, what are they capable of?"

"Well to start with, they're slower than the average wyvern but make up for it for being able to take off only vertically and can hover in place. They can also carry an entire squad of troops if needed"

"They can carry troops into battle?"

"Yes"

"So that means we can put our soldiers directly behind the frontlines?"

"As easy as it could be your majesty"

The queen now seems a lot happier to hear such a thing as she also gave out a nod. She then turned her face away and to the outside world.

"You may leave Gessel"

"As you wish"

Gessel then turned around and walked away, leaving the queen there to enjoy the outdoor sight on her own.

...

8 days later

"It is now official. With the referendum period coming to an end and the other countries coming up with their final decision, Flashia alongside Esterria, Reslania and Naeslagtland is now a part of a bigger alliance known as the Northern Pact.

The referendum of the Pact formation in Flashia was approved in a landslide with 77% saying yes, public consultation in Esterria ended up with 69% approval, Reslania with 89% yes and 74% in Naeslagtland

The Pact was signed into existence by all 4 of the aforementioned countries in yesterday night of 21/9, marking a major shift in Flash policies regarding the continent of Gestrae.

The alliance is said to be as a symbol of strengthening cooperation between the quads and as deterrence and defense against the ever-growing aggression of the Kingdoms Union Gestrae. Should any of their member states be attacked, it will be considered an attack against all by any means.

In response, Flashia is expected to increase its defense spending with the expectation of reaching 3.8% of the GDP by year's end with the Forsvaret speeding up the process of restoring older reserve equipment back to service with some upgrades" - FCNN

Greater Jefermai, La Ferdina, 22/9/1702 A slam to the arm rest of the Empress throne serves a clear indicator of her anger towards the newly-received news of the failed assassination (yes, it really took them 11 days to get it). Not only that, it seems that Naeslagtland did not show any signs of backing down but rather, pushing back even more now with a new alliance on the horizon.

"THOSE NAESLAGTLANDIC BASTARDS DO NOT GET IT!" yelled Reine Bethune, the empress "Those Flashian are just nothing but barbarians! They are not civilized by any means so why are they siding with them even more?!?"

"Your majesty! Calm down!" said a noble by her side "I am sure we can figure something out, but we cannot do so with your anger!"

"Do not tell me what to do!"

"Your majesty, he's right!" spoke up the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army "If you are to be at such a state, irrational decisions are going to happen and I think you are very well aware that those mistakes can even bring our Empire down!"

The Empress just stared at him before then taking deep breaths to calm down.

"...I apologize, I have not been the best lately" she then clears her throat "So, what do we know of this?"

"Well it seems to us that Flashia is expanding its troops presence in Esterria and Enmars" said the noble, not acknowledging Reslania's existence as a now sovereign country "We've been told they were going to bring over something called 'Yas-39' and F-4"

The names are quite strange for the La Ferdinans. Usually names of military assets are quite descriptive of what they are but something like those are too vague that one could only imagine.

"And those are information collected from our spies?"

"Correct, although I do recommend take it as granted as they told us they got such information from Flashian and Esterrian soldiers talking in a tavern"

"I see... Is there anything more to this?"

"The Reslanis are building up their forces at an alarming rate and the Naeslagts have apparently sent some of their bests to Flashia"

"For what purpose?"

"They said they came to study more of Flashia's military equipment"

"...Again with those Flashia equipment? They still don't get it do they?"

"Umm..."

"I shall reiterate this, whatever Flashia has, it's inferior to ours, I'm sure of it"

The noble then looked over the military commander-in-chief, who would exchange some awkward stare with him.

"Ehehe... right... inferior..."

Inside, the noble thought to himself.

'Why did Reine become an empress again?'

...

"Det blir skyting" (There's shooting)

"Ja, noen skyter på vennen vår der" (Yeah, someone's shooting at our friends there)

With the Eastern part of Reslania having been left with Esterria assisting the Confederation forces, Flashia would join the fight against insurgents to the West.

It's an obligation that Flashia has to do upon the pact formation, but it's not much of a worry as it's even at a smaller scale than what the Forsvaret had dealt with from previous peacekeeping missions.

"Avled ild fra CA. De blir glade hvis vi gjør det" (Divert fire from CA. They'd be happy if we do so)

"Okse-2-2, på vei op" (Okse-2-2, moving up)

An IFV of the company moved up to face the hills with flashes being exchanged from both sides. Its 40mm gun is then guided to point towards the hill, left side flash.

"SKUDD KOMMER!" (SHOTS ARE COMING!)

The shout would warn the surrounding troops of the incoming fire of the autocannon. In a few moments, the gun went:

THUNK-THUNK-THUNK-THUNK

A short burst of 4 shots would then fly towards the hills of opposing forces, ending up in small explosions.

"Gode treff" (Good hits)

And just for assurance...

THUNK-THUNK-THUNK-THUNK

...Another short burst was sent over.

"For helvete mann, måte å ødelegge hørselen på" (God damn it man, way to destroy someone's hearing)

"Hei Okse, var det nødvendig?" (Hey Okse, was that necessary?)

"Sist jeg sjekket, de jævlene brukte slaver" (Last time I checked, those bastards used slaves)

"Det er rimelig" (That's fair)

...

A cheer of excitement is heard amongst this small formation of the Confederation Army. As a series of small explosions hit their enemies' position, the soldiers moved onward to clear out the other side.

"Come on lads! Let's go get them!"

The Confederation Army has been dealing with this kind of insurgencies ever since their victory in the War of Independence. Some were concerning, but even then, those that did pose a concern was inevitably crushed. With their Flash weapons at hand with Esterria joining in, they have managed to entirely secure the East, and now the West is left with the last pocket of resistance.

Machine gun would erupt from flatter ground, and judging by the sound and where it came from, it wasn't theirs but rather, their Flash partners'. The CA's MG would then also fire from a side of the mountain, with both now covering their advance, the squad moved quickly into the enemy positions.

They were tired from constantly lugging around the equipment on them, but adrenaline is just one hell of a drug as it allowed them to continue onward. Eventually they made it, and they would know from a dead body left from that IFV's support.

"These guys look La Ferdinan Army" said a soldier as he then inspected other bodies.

"No shit, we took this land from their hands!"

"I know"

...

A small group of spies of the Varikan Empire residing in Eastern Aveland gathered around a table.

"So by now, I think you all have known the so-called Northern Pact am I correct?" said the leader, to which the rest nodded "So I believe we shall discuss what we have at hand and our next actions in the future shall we?"

One of the members would then begin.

"To start this off, I have acquired information regarding how that King survived and even casually shrugged off a repeater shot to his chest"

Those words were enough to raise some eyebrows of the rest.

"Do tell us more..."

"Well, after searching around government buildings, I found one document of an armor plate that Madsen had supposedly used" he then puts down a paper on the table "They were made of 'kevlar', as it says here"

"Hmm..." as the leader then takes up the paper, reading through the text "Perhaps this could be useful... maybe we can send this over back to headquarters. They could get the Weapons Development Corps to recreate such material*"

[See that asterisk there? Yeah I'm going to elaborate something when we get to the bottom]

But then, there was something that would interrupt their peaceful conversation, that being someone barging into the room.

"Sir, we spotted Naeslagtlandic carriages outside" said the man "The Royal Guards are now out for us!"

"Tell our boys at the first floor to hold them off as long as possible, the rest will prepare at the top"

"Yes sir!"

...

The Naeslagtlandic Royal Guards found themselves standing outside a narrow five-storey building. Supposedly abandoned, the building was later found out to be harboring spies within the capital city, and that was only with the help of a certain Flash agency specializing in intelligence and counterintelligence.

They would unfold the stock of their weapons then bring the charging handle down from safety to ready-to-fire. The Guards then bunch themselves up at the door, with the pointmen both aiming their gun at the door.



"Move in" ordered the leader of dark blue uniform Guards. One of the pointmen would reach for the doorknob, turning it and swing it open while leaning back at the same time. This resulted in some bullets going through the door with no one getting hurt.

The other pointman would lean out the doorway, then sending a burst of full-auto in there, hitting someone behind a wall where the stairway is. The entire Royal squad would then move it, shooting anyone that tries to resist.

"ROT IN HELL YOU-"

TATATATATAT

"AAAAGHHHH"

...And apprehend those who then realizes that their resistance would be futile against the strangely armed Guards.

"No! Please! I surrender!"

"Just shut up and get on the ground, NOW!"

After they restrained the others that made the choice to surrender upon securing the floor using what is known as zip tie in Flashia, they gathered at the stairways with the exception of few who opted to watch the outside.

"This is going to get harder as we go up isn't it?" said a soldier as he checked the mag before inserting it back.

"Probably, probably not..." said the leader "Let us just see how the Flash Special Jaegers do their job up there"

"The... what now?"

...

The leader of a rather big group of spies made his way up the 4th floor.

"What happened down there sir?" said his fellow Varikan spy.

"If I had to guess, the first floor had been taken by those Naeslagts"

This floor is where a lot of more heavily armed spies took their positions, using the furniture and other things inside as cover.

"I see... what shall we do then sir?"

"Just wait until they get a taste of our own firepower..." said the leader with a sinister grin on his face, as he walked past the hallway to the other stairway on the opposite side.

With one of his subordinates giving him his rifle, the leader then sits there with the others, as the only thing they have to do now is wait... That is when something happened on the fifth floor, as anyone could hear the breaking of glass and panicking voice of the ones up there followed by a strange sound that does not sound like a normal gun at all and then the dull sound.

Everyone looked up the ceiling as the choreography of said sounds continued, before it shortly faded into silence.

"...What was that?" mumbled the leader.

Footsteps are then heard going down the stairs behind him. The leader of these spies then aimed his rifle at the stairway, awaiting those who come down there to show himself. The footsteps stopped, and what sounds like a very subtle click was heard shortly followed by a metal pipe with holes in it being thrown into the wall then bouncing off, landing right on his foot.

The guy never had time to react as it almost instantly exploded. The explosion isn't that lethal, but dear god, is it really bad.

The lead fell down on his back as hus eyes had betrayed him the moment the pipe exploded, and his ears not being able to clearly pick up any sound but ringing. He tries to stand up while blind, picking up more muffled panicking voice of his fellows before being knocked down again by someone. The same sharp sound barely reaches his ears as a mysterious figured took his gun away before restraining his arms with something that doesn't feel like ropes at all.

...

While the chaos was happening up there, the Naeslagts had secured the 2nd floor with not much resistance from the 1st (surprisingly). The dark uniforms looked up on the ceiling, almost confused except for one...

"They came just in time!" said the leader of this squad of Royal Guards, clear excitement expressed through his tone.

The others are still confused, but then they went back to the stairs again after finishing up their job on the second.

"So who was that up there, sir?" said one of the members to the leader.

"The Special Jaegers! I told you earlier!" still having some excitement in him.

"Right..."

The Guard then made their way up the stairs, slowly as they wouldn't accidentally find themselves being at the crossfire of many guns of their opponents. The pointman is visibly getting nervous as time goes on, with each steps bringing him closer to potential doom.

Nevertheless, he and the squad behind him pushed on, taking the final steps that would see them at the third floor. When his headwear poked out, a sudden shout: "FRIENDLY!" was heard on the other side. The pointman then poke his head up, his eyes registering the sight of tan colored soldiers with rather strange set of armor.

Their patch is also later registered in his sight, breathing a sigh relief upon realizing they're Flash.

"By the gods, how did you get down here so fast?" said the leader of the Guards as he went past the pointman.

"You're just slow man" replied his Flash counterpart "You still gonna have to work on your CQB skills"

"Well, faen ta deg" (Fuck you)

"Fan ta dej också" (Fuck you too)

Neither took offensive to each other insults, only cracking some laughs, which would confuse the other Guards further.

"They literally just say the devil takes them to each other!"

"I know, why aren't we even fighting in the first place"

"I've heard about this one thing about cursing in Flashia..."

"Well what is it then?"

"They do it much more than we do with harsher words, especially for those who speaks languages close to ours"

"I see... perhaps our lead has been exposed to such swearing culture?"

"Hey cut the chatter already!"

...

"Interesting..." commented a certain Marshal Yannis Matrakratos as he went over a paper given to him "Is there anything more to this Northern Pact?"

"What do you want to know sir?" replied his subordinate in the office.

"Anything that I should know, their military, equipment, et cetera..."

Cathythus, Verdecana, 26/9/1702 The Verdecanan Imperium normally does not pay too much attention to new alliances and nations lying outside the Civilized Regions. Yet thanks to the KUG's clashes with a country called Flashia and Geschnokea's relations with said country, they have taken notice of it since, especially when they formed the NP with Esterria, Naeslagtland, and Enmars-Yelovsk.

And yes, they also don't recognize Reslania as a whole.

"We have received information that Flashia seems to have the largest military amongst the NP, having more than 1.7 million total personnel as a whole. Their equipment is said to be nothing to worry about, although the source for this one is La Ferdina so I recommend we take it with a grain of salt"

"Of course" as Yannis let out a chuckle "...Anyways, anything more to this Flashia?"

"Yes, according to our counterparts in Geschnokea, they possess rather advanced technology for a country without magic"

"Did I hear that right?"

"...W-What do you mean sir?"

"You said Flashia was a country without magic?"

"Oh yes, that's right, they don't have magic at all"

"Not even a single drop of mana?"

"No sir, not even a single drop of mana"

"Huh, interesting... carry on"

"Right... ehem, according to descriptions given from Geschnokea, some of their tech seems to be awefully similar to what we have here, I of course talking about our Verdecana"

"So they have technology similar to ours?"

"Yes"

The Marshal was visibly a bit shocked for a short while, then thinking for a bit.

"If that's true, then we have quite a concern if this escalates..."

"Yes, sir..."

"But then again, Geschnokea has diplomatic relations with them, even though Flashia is a republic... Continue on observing Gestrae and Flashia, we shall see how it will play out"

"Yes, sir"

Yannis then gives back the paper to his subordinate who then turned away to leave the office. With him now alone, a string of thought went through.

"...Why does this Flashia sound like that Kingdom to our North...?"

...

Gevaka, Flashia, 26/9/2017 A certain Naeslagtlandic ship has been given special access to the island of Gevaka. With the demolishing of former KUGNE structures and the military occupation still ongoing, no one of the public was ever allowed into the island except for a few.

This ship carries three of their best from the Royal Development Institution for Equipment and Technology who are eager to see the Flash equipment in all their glory. Of course they're not going to know all the details because that's highly sensitive for such an Institution, but it's still going to be an experience.

The ship docks at a port where the grey and big warships of Flashia are also stationed there, with its occupants taking notes of some of the notable design feature of them. After that, they stepped off the ship to the port where a certain man has been waiting for them.

"Are you from the RIDET?" said the man, the acronym being recognizable to the Naeslagts.

"Yes, we are" replied one of them "And what about you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Kaljo Keskkula, 28th Regiment of the Home Guard, pleasure to meet you"

"It is an honor to meet you too"

The 28th Regiment is the unit that Flashia had decided to assign the RIDET members to. It is one of the Home Guard units that remains on this island after the Army had pulled out with their own array of arsenals to go by.

"So I suppose you're here to see demostrations of our equipment"

"Yes, that is correct"

"Then in that case, follow me" as the Lt.Col then turns to his left, back inside with the RIDET following close behind. They would go past soldiers wearing the same green uniform with patterns, some doing their job, some saluting the Lt.Col which prompt him to salute back as they went past.

They then made their way to a patch of land where vehicles are parked such as the two big 6-wheeled vehicles right next to each other alongside a smaller standard 4-wheeler. All of them have the insignia of an angled square resembling the simple flag of Flashia.

"Our ride is over there" as Kaljo then points over to the 4-wheeler while walking towards it. He then opens the rear-right door and front-right door before going to the other side of the vehicle.

Without requiring further instruction the three RIDETS took their seat at the front and back with Kaljo entering the vehicle from the left side before promptly pull the door back and close it. The rear door is then shut by the one behind the front passenger seat and the right door being gently closed.

The Lt. Colonel reached over the passenger side, swinging the door open then shutting it again with more force than before much to his RIDET counterpart's confusion.

"Sorry about that" he said "Gotta make sure it's properly shut like that"

He could not do anything but nod in acknowledgement before he then looked over to the handle his Flash counterpart used in opening the door. After the Home Guard strapped himself in, the vehicle then starts up with the sound of engine firing up and a brief shaking.

With a depress to the pedal, the vehicle then slowly moved forward, turning left as Kaljo would turn his steering wheel also to the left.

"Well, lads" said the Home Guard Lieutenant Colonel "Welcome to Gevaka, feel free to ask some questions on the way"

...

The region of Havenklein has been recovering fast from the bloody conflict that ensued for months on end. But it did not take long until war would return to its Southern region... well, at least a hypothetical one.

Southern Havenklein "For helvete mann" said a Naeslagt soldier on the field as a column of Esterrian vehicles would go past the marching infantry "Look at those Esterrian carriages!"

"Quite intimidating sight isn't that right?" said another of the Naeslagtlandic Royal Army.

"It sure is..."

Today is the first day that the first joint exercise between members is conducted, and it just so happens that it is designed with the inexperienced Naeslagt troops in mind.

"Hey you better change that uniform!" shouted an Esterrian personnel sitting on top of one of the iron monsters "Anyone would be able to see you from thousands of Spheras away!"

Indeed, while the Naeslagts had better guns this time around, their uniform wasn't much better. They still wear the good ol' red and blue uniform which while helped in distinguishing them from other militaries, even the most close-sighted would be able to spot them from decently far away.

Not saying that they wouldn't do anything about as they did darken the colors recently, but still didn't help much.

As the guy on the iron monster would go past, one soldier by the left of the marching formation shook his head, while mumbling "Like we're going to do that in the short term..." at the same time.

It should also be noted that Flash supervisors wearing brightly-colored vests are also seen casually chilling on the Esterrian vehicles right behind the 'head', but everyone else was told to ignore them, and so they did.

Some time would go past, and a distant pop is heard, signifying the first shot fired of the exercise. Half of an hour would pass by and the Naeslagt troops arrive to the 'front'.

"Break formation!" yelled the Naeslagt commanding officer "Form skirmish lines!"

The soldiers then split up and spread out throughout the field on both sides of the field. While they continue to spread, the infantry would also make their way right behind the Esterrian armored vehicles that were slowing down for the troops.

The monsters fired their rapid-firing armament with the soldiers of Naeslagtland taking aim with their bolt-action rifles in support. With a pull of the trigger, the barrel of the rifle spewed fire as it also produced a bang sound.

In each shot the soldiers take, they would have to pull the pull back and push it into battery again, ejecting the fired round and chambering the new one.

"Maintain formation! Stay behind the tanks!"

That's the first time these grunts have ever hear the name 'tank' apparently given to these monsters, and they would follow through with the order, albeit with some confusion about the name.

'These monsters do not actually carry water do they?' was the thought shared among the confused while the shots of their rifles, the tanks' machine guns as they're called and the occasional pops of the canisters simulating the cannon firing continued filling the orchestra of the scene.

They did this while slowly advancing, each firing off their shot from the safety of the moving shields.

...

"Tänan" said Kaljo before closing up the window upon retrieving his ID back from the guard, who then opens the gate for him and three others. After it had opened up enough, the vehicle then went through the entrance while a RIDET member seems to be taking some notes.

"I've noticed you've been taking a lot of notes lately" spoke the Lieutenant Colonel, referring to that specific member "It seems basically everything about us are new to you isn't that right?"

"Yes, that's right" said the member "Even though we received your weapons by your goodwill, we realized we knew nothing of your military ever since coming here, like for example the strange elephant creature you have that we went past before"

"You're not alone either" said the Flash Lt. Col again "We also did not even know a single thing about this world at the time we got transferred here somehow"

The car then went through a bunch of carriages from the former KUGNE forces with some words written onto them.

'Velkommen til Flaska!' 'En gave fra usivilisert verden' 'Fuck around and find out' are some of the notable examples of those writings, the last one being the more striking one as it was fitting for how the ill-fated Northern Expedition ended up when Flashia decided to strike back at the invaders.

"So your Army did this right?" commented the front passenger as he looked over the pile of destroyed carriages.

"Technically yes"

"Technically?" as the man would look over to Kaljo.

"Well, you're talking to a Home Guard member right now, I'm not Army or at least not anymore"

"I see..."

"Anyways... get ready to get out soon because we're almost at my office building"

The ride continued for a short while until then the 4-wheelers slowed down as Kaljo turned to a patch of land where other vehicles are parked, similar to the one from the port.

"Alright we're here" as Kaljo then unbuckle the strap that held him on his seat this whole time "Now get out"

The OF-4 would be the first to step out the vehicle followed by the RIDET on the front, who later would open the door for the ones at the back. Upon going back to the outside world, they'd hear distant gunshot sounds echoing to their ears. They must be the Flash troops training at the range.

The RIDET trio then catches up to the Lieutenant Colonel continuing on following the Flash Home Guard officer to a building of this base. At the front door, there is a sign that would reveal the name of the very base they're standing on: Riskaper.

...

A Naeslagt soldier puts a box to the right side of his gun, at the opening. Then he pushed down on the box prompting all the cartridges in there to be dropped into the side opening. He puts away the boxes and then slap that opening shut and now, he's ready with the others being bunched up at the front door of a building.

The same soldier would then feel a tap to his shoulder from behind, with his squad's leader being the one right on his 6. He then positioned himself to the front door, and as quickly with much force as possible, the grunt kicked the door open, taking a step back then after while aiming his rifle at the inside.

A second would go past and the rest of the squad would move in with the sound of gunshots erupting. They shot the wooden targets that serves as a simulation of enemy troops with those taking the shots later cycling the bolt of their weapon. And then, the consecutive shouts of "CLEAR!" filled the room as there was no more 'threats' on this room.

The Naeslagt squad immediately moved on to the next room, enacting the same drill as before, checking corners and firing off shots at targets they lay their eyes upon. Another "CLEAR!" and another room was also then promptly cleared off of 'hostiles'.

Upon having all the rooms with 'enemies' taken out, they scaled the stairs to another floor, where they'd also do the same thing. Room after room, gunfire after gunfire, as they get used to the whole thing, they sweeped through at much faster speed than before.

...

Outside the buildings, there lies a platoon worth of recon tanks of the Esterrian Royal Army just watching the Naeslagts do their job inside those building. On the platoon commander's vehicle, the commander himself is sitting outside, on the tank viewing them using his issued binoculars.

"They're doing good for the ones doing this for the first time" said a Flash supervisor with hi-vis vest sitting on the turret right beside him.

"They sure do" said the commander as he then puts his eyes off the binocular, then allowing it to hang around his chest with it being secured by a sling (is that right? idk) around his neck "Hell, I think they're doing an even better job than we did in the first day of our counteroffensive"

"Aw, don't put it like that, you guys sweeped the floor back there didn't you?"

"In all honesty, we had submachine guns and automatic rifles, those Naeslagts are only equipped with long bolt-action rifles, am I correct?"

"Yep"

"That's why I think they did better"

"I think I now see your point there..."

...

"God, I remembering hearing about someone turning on the sonar and not even a minute later, a kraken shows up on the fucking beach!"

"I'm sorry, did you say a kraken?"

"Yeah, deadass a kraken, I shit you not!"

The RIDET trio overheard the conversation as they toured the Home Guard base. It was spoken in the language normally used by citizens of the Civilized Regions as an universal tongue, allowing them to understand the entire content.

"So did you see it?"

"See what?"

"The kraken?"

"Yeah, I saw one at the North-Western coast before. Shit's just weird man..."

The last line could also be applied to them from the Naeslagtlandic perspective. For them, aside from being culturally similar, all of the things related to Flashia up until now have been filled with questions, especially when it comes to military.

"Let's just ignore that for now shall we?" said a soldier that they were assigned to by Kaljo, who separated off to get back to his work upon getting the trio registered in.

"Wait, wait, wait..." said one in the trio, clearly intending to find an answer to a question "Why do krakens end up at your beach?"

"Mostly because of sonar of our warship..." to which the trio continued on expressing their confusion "Basically we use sound to find things underwater, and it's no joke either"

"How exactly is it not a joke?" said the leader of the trio.

"You may not hear it on the ground, but underwater, it's so loud that your brain will basically turn into mush even if you're like 100 football fields away"

"Ah..." now with the RIDET getting the whole idea as to why would those sea monsters would beach themselves.

[and yes they do have football back in Naeslagtland and in other Civilized Regions countries in general]

"May I ask how often does this happen in your country?"

"Well, there's like 5 known cases as far as I can tell" with the given answer shocking the entirety of the trio in the process. At best, in desirable condition, they could think of only one being taken out the picture using conventional methods, but 5? That would've been impossible by every known standard.

"Anyways, let's just get a move on, we can't waste any more time can we?"

The RIDET trio nodded in agreement as all of them continued their path down the hallway.

"So when shall we get to the firing range?"

"Oh soon, just gotta need to get you all dressed up for the occasion"

...

*While magic-reinforced material exists, it's basically impossible to make an equivalent of Kevlar as the process is complex in of itself requiring a rather large amount of mana and steps to accomplish. Even then, the strongest they can do can only stop at most .22 LR while also being hella expensive

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