[Parts of this chapter would not be possible without the help of some fellas in our Discord server: https://discord.gg/UqgavrsYUd]

"As the situation unfolds in the state of Svarher with the Defense Forces answering the call to defend the island, we are joined by the Defense Forces Supreme Commander Stefan Boczek (Bo-chek) to talk about the ongoing invasion. So Mr. Boczek, can you tell us what the Defense Forces have been doing to counter the invaders?"

"So first things first, after we had raised the alert level to Alpine in response to the report of the invaders suddenly showing up at the island, we had our 217th Brigade hold onto the town of Gullður for evacuation of all its residents before they would retreat to regroup with the other Land Army units.

In Pænkária, as we already have some time to prepare compared to its Eastern counterpart, the Home Guard and the Land Army there have been holding onto the town for longer with our Navy coming in with the Bisgaard frigate.

We also have allies from Esterria and Naeslagtland immediately respond and reinforce our forces there"

"So if we're going by your words... Gullður was lost to the enemy?"

"Alongside two other towns, yes. It's very unfortunate we could not prevent such thing from happening, erm... but the situation didn't allow such thing to happen, it was more of a necessity to maintain combat capability and effectiveness"

"I see... what about the other parts of Svarher?"

"Down more to the South, we have been mobilizing reserves into the Land Army as well as the Home Guard. Armored vehicles have also gone to the frontlines to prevent anymore gains from the invaders while staging for a counterattack.

More to the East, we have the island of Siersjö where our Mariners have been fighting against the enemy as they came from the beach"

"Huomio!" (Attention!) said the commander of the artillery crew "Tulta!" (Fire!)

BANG

And there goes a round of 155mm from the Archer hailing from Gladahjuland as it takes position in the middle of the snowy open field.



It's a new artillery system that, like the older AMOS, see itself baptized in fire right here to the East of the mainland Svarher under the Marinesoldater Overfaldsenheder who was the first to receive this type of SPH (Self-Propelled Howitzer). Again, they weren't actually there in Gevaka.

The autoloader would whirr to life once more to load in another round of 155mm. In a short while before anyone knows it, they were ready to fire at the frontline again.

...

"INCOMING!"

WHOOSH

KABOOM

Yet again, body parts of orcs and lizards get sent into space as they've yet to advance beyond the area around the Northern coastline.

"BY THE LORD'S NAME-"

And it wouldn't be much better now that the opposing forces possessing advanced light projectile magic are slaughtering them en-masse as long as they still have their foot on the shore.

Many of their ships have also took hits from whatever the hell it was, further worsening their situation with the lizards and orcs scrambling into small groups as they try everything to dodge the projectiles and advance. No one so far has been able to make it.

"WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS?!?"

...

A Marinesoldat would jump down into the trenches with his bullpup slung behind his back while his comrades are already giving them hell.

"They're pushing to the left!"

"I need more bullets!"

"Fuckin piss that's a lot of them!"

Despite being rather one-sided favoring the Mariners, the battle is still intense for everyone involved here as they had to deal with a horde akin to that of one found in a zombie apocalypse scenario.

Semi-auto and short bursts of full auto with a side of fingering the trigger with 5.56 and .308 flying all over the place at any lizard or 'pigs' as they call them that appears over the treeline.

"Give me cover! I'm changing out the 'cassette'!"

Cassette refers to the magazine of their bullpup rifle, stemming directly from its commerical name: VNS-2 bearing rather close acronym to Video Home System. The soldiers often have a saying that they wished Nexucia starts with H instead so that they can complete the set.

Said soldier would take out the empty mag with his right hand while his left holds up the handguard before putting it in the dump pouch. A rip of the velcro later, he gets his hand on a fresh mag, insert it into the well, giving it a good slap of assurance before he then pulls on the bolt release directly behind it.

"Up!"

He then stands up on the trench, take up and fired in semi-auto once more at anyone but a human in FLPAT or any modern clothing as he and others continue to stack up bodies after bodies.

...

"...There are still people who denies that Flashia was somehow transferred into a fantasy world of some kind. Can you tell me more on that?"

"The fact that people sees what's happening right as a big lie is just understandable from my perspective. But the thing is, it has gone to the point where it's just undeniable that we're here, in a world completely different from ours somehow"

"Really?"

"Yes, we've seen footages of the whole magic thing as well as with the dragons of some sort"

"And the people still denies it..."

"As much as I don't want to admit it, yes. But we are working our way to convince them otherwise that this is reality, it's not a conspiracy made up by the Federal Government nor is it an elaborate scheme orchestrated by other countries which I find quite ridiculous"

Northern Animaatland "So it began without us..." muttered a Geschnokean expeditionary soldier stationed in the North of Animaatland as the troops here getting their news from the TV, more specifically FCNN as they were interviewing the Supreme Commander of the Flash military themselves.

Many of them watching had a mix of emotion, mostly of disappointment and frustration.

"I knew we should have been further up to the North..."

"They're fighting demons but we're just stuck here?!"

"Guess they had to do it without us being here..."

They were days into training for a war against a country led by demons, a war that they would miss out upon now that the invasion suddenly came to an island way up there in the icy snow of 'The Northern Edge' as Geschnokea and other states of the Civilized Regions call it.

"By the gods... I was just getting excited to bring home bodies of those cursed demons..."

And there wasn't anything much that the Geschnokeans could do against it as it's already happening right now.

...

"What kind of soldiers and equipment are being used to hold ground and eventually take back the lost land?"

"I cannot exactly comment on this as this kind of information is sensitive. However I can reassure you that it's our best equipped soldiers that will do the heavy lifting"

"And what would be the next course of action that you would take as the Supreme Commander?"

"Again, I am not able to comment on this"

Somewhere in Gladahjuland In a small humble house in the woods, the door to the Princess in exile would be knocked by a Berian associates.

"Come in" said Sive, prompting him to enter the room.

"Your Highness" he said with a high quality piece of paper held in his hand "Our Flashian counterparts have sent us a message"

"Oh?"

The associate would walk over to the princess who was writing down her journal, something she had started to do after awhile staying here mainly to just have something to do.

"This message was sent in response to the demonic species' invasion..." he then gently puts the paper down on the table "...And they want Your Highness to read it"

The princess in exile then grabs the paper, starting to read the content in it. It mainly mentioned the demonic species invasion of an island as the associate said, but what they also mentioned is that they may have identified the leader, to which a picture of an ogre came attached.

It showed him up close, but judging by his expression alongside the goblins surrounding him and his accompanying lizardman, it was probably actually taken from far away which baffled the Berian princess.

Nonetheless, she would not let that implication distract her from answering the question.

"...This is Verkog!" she muttered as the ogre was quite recognizable.

"I'm sorry?"

"I knew this ogre from the legend... His hair and his horn... it's definitely him!"

Verkog adorned a minimalistic hairstyle with a braid similar to what you would find on a Viking with a lot less hair on the sides of his head than those right on top of his scalp.

"Notify our Flashian counterparts that this is the Demon Lord's Army forces led by Verkog, one of the Demon Lord's highest ranking ogre!"

"Understood" he nodded before promptly turning around and leave the room to fulfill his duty. As for the princess, she would put the paper down on the side of the table, then picking her ballpoint pen back up, intending to continue on her journal.

BANG

As she does that, a distant gunshot rings out into her room from the opened window. It would have scared her a lot, but with the fact that the Princess and her entourage have to sustain themselves in a way, she only twitched her polar bear ear, looking out the window before then shortly back to writing.

"...What a pleasure to write with..." commenting on the ease of use of this type of pen compared to a quill she was used to.

...

"Esterria is now at yet another war, this time an ocean away from home to the Northern Edge of the world, invoking Charter 3 of the Northern Pact treaty.

As the Royal Army's battalion to the island of Svarher situated up to the North rather far away from Flashia's mainland was transiting up to the North, the troops suddenly found themselves in a real combat situation without much warning.

As it turned out, thousands of demons have invaded the island, and they're really organized as well, having warships and being able to build up fortification as scouts have reported in the town that was lost to the invaders.

It was later revealed that the invaders on troops and the Northern Pact is facing is in fact the Demon Lord's Army from recently tookover Beria and further information given by the exiled Princess Sive, who is the last surviving member of the Royal Family, pointing at an orge called Verkog as their invading force's leader.

The situation is still unfolding as we speak with reported consideration by the government to send more troops to Svarher with similar things happening at Naeslagtland while Reslania has offered political support. We'll keep you updated as the war unfolds over time" - Esterrian Voice of News

Einskirka, Esterria The troops were not there for long before the invasion had kicked off, sparking a lot of discussion as the working bodies of the Commonwealth's government scrambled to find the best next action in response.

"I can assure you this, your majesty" said General Belink "Our soldiers are doing very well in that town while working with our Flash counterparts"

The General at the castle along with the young queen would fill her in with the information that he had received from the troops that the Royal Army had sent up there to Svarher.

"How could you be so sure?" she said with a look of slight uncertainty on her face.

"Well, Pænkária where they are right now is not lost, not to mention the fact the demons there was not able to enter the town, not a single demonic soul stepped foot in there"

"Oh, that is good... I was worried that they would not fare well in the freezing cold"

As mentioned before, the cold weather that is typical to the Flash state of Svarher is well-known and the Esterrians wasn't able to brush up on operating in freezing condition before their deployment, not even Animaatland is enough for them.

And so, the confirmation of them still holding great without losing any men was over was a bit surprising to say the least, but still it was concerning.

"...Although we have sent over 'iron carriages'" said the Queen again, note the iron carriages refer to Ijzerwagen (as that's what the name literally translates to) "I fear that is not enough... Perhaps we might have to send over the cannon elephants..."

"...Well, Your Majesty..." Belink spoke up "...As much as I want to do the same... they really do not allow us to do so"

Marie III looked up to the General with a questioning face.

"What do you mean by that...?"

"...The Kanoneolifant is a logistical nightmare, even our Flash counterparts admit this with their newer Pansars, so I do not recommend sending them to the island especially when that island is so far away from homeland"

"I see..."

The Queen nodded, accepting that the Kanoneolifant would not see the ice anytime soon. Although to be fair, they're probably already seen the Svarheran snow given their Flash origin.

"But still can you do a favor for me? If you can?"

"...What is it then, Your Majesty?"

"Can you increase our troops presence to brigade?"

"I... Uh... sure can!"

The young Queen then smiled.

"Thank you General, you may leave now"

The General nodded before he then calmly leaves the room. And once out of there, he breathed a deep sigh.

"Heaven please help me..."

In truth, Belink was unsure himself about sending more troops to near the Northern Edge. Sure they might do actually good with the local environment now they have the equipment and the Royal Army could just pay their counterparts with iron ships for another favor, but the concern isn't there.

Where it lies in is whether they can get these soldiers up there just early enough for the main fight. If Flashia decides to wrap it up in one go, all that effort transporting the Esterrian grunts across half of the Civilized World would probably all in vain, not to mention by that time, it would have better to have those troops back to the Commonwealth to face South where La Ferdina is.

...

"...Dear gods..."

Aveland, Naeslagtland As Naeslagtland is the other direct foreign participant of the Northern Pact forces in Svarher, the higher-ups, more specifically the King and others would receive the news that the Demon Lord's Army from Beria had in fact came to the island.

Like their Esterrian counterparts, they have better equipment compared to what was previously worn on their troops, but their numbers is still relatively small to the reported amounts of enemy forces seen on the paper.

"Quite concerning isn't it Your Majesty?" said Fosberg.

"Obviously..."

Normally, they would just send more troops to deal with the threat, but owing to how Flash weapons performed back in Havenklein and Reslania alongside the Defense Forces' already large presence in the Northern Edge island as it's their territory after all, it pushed them to uncertainty as to whether to do it or not.

"Now I could just send more soldiers against those invaders..." said Madsen IV as he rubbed his chin "...But that would take time for them to get there... and it would have been a waste if the invaders get pushed back in their entirety before they even get there..."

This and the knowledge that the counterattack will commence soon enough combined, Aveland is at a standstill for whether to reinforce the company or not.

"...Say Fosberg, do you think we shall send more of our best soldiers there?" he said to his aide.

"Well Your Majesty, if you ask me... no, not really"

"Why?"

"...From recent reports, we have not reported a single casualty on our side with the company alone being able to repel a large attack coming from the middle of the Northern side. Plus, it's Flash troops that will do most of the effort, not us"

"I suppose you're correct on that one... but for some reason I still feel the need to contribute more to the cause..."

"No need to, Your Majesty. Besides, it is the Kingdoms Union that we should also be concerned of"

"Oh right... How did I forget about that them...?" with a bewildered face seen on Madsen IV, to which Fosberg just shrugs.

...

"In the island state of Svarher, ever since it was invaded by what is now confirmed to be the Demon Lord's Army by our Berian counterparts, armored vehicles of various types have been seen moving up to the North, notable for being the largest concentration of such equipment as of yet.

This movement from the Defense Forces falls in line with the anticipated counteroffensive in Northern Svarher where the invasion forces hold a major foothold in the isolated Northern state. A spokesperson have also said that the Geschnokean Navy may also join in the offensive as well" - Globale Agevær Arrangementer

In a trench outside an outpost somewhere in Reslania, near the border with their former colonizer, La Ferdina, a group of a few Confederation Army soldiers sat down with a machine gun on bipod facing South and their weapons either slung on their back or just simply put right next to them to have a moment with each other.

"You heard of what's happening up there, outside the country, yes?" said one of them.

"Yeah..." another said with a tone of disappointment "If I'm going to be honest, I just wanted to go up there to kick some demons' butt you know what I'm saying?"

"I know how that feels, I just do not understand why Kramovskiy refuses to send any of our boys up there now that we're Northern Pact"

"You can blame those damn Variks and Ferdies" said a third soldier "They would not leave us alone even if we told them a lot of times"

"True"

"La Ferdinan squad..." the radio next to them comes to life, bringing the soldiers' attention to the black box "...Repeaters, South..."

"That's our side" commented the third soldier as he then stood up on his feet. The first soldier then picked up the radio.

"What's the range?"

"Standby... 920 meters"

"That's too fucking far for us!" said the second.

"Perfect distance for me though" the third spoke while loading up a PG-7 warhead to his RPG "Watch"

The soldier then brings the tube up to shoulder while walking out to face the South while the other gets his binocular before following the grenadier out.

[RPG is Rocket-Propelled Grenade, hence Grenadier]

The RPG gunner stopped at just out the trench with barbed wires lying low outside and the binocular guy would bring it up to his eyes.

"You see them right?" said the grenadier.

"I see them now yes"

"What is it again? 920?"

"Nine-twenty meters, yes"

"Right..."

The soldier then aims his RPG at a very upward arc to compensate for the range, before he then pushes on the safety button, pull the hammer down, and-

BANG-FWOOSH

There goes the warhead flying through the air with dusts being kicked up by the backblast left by the propellent. From the binocular's perspective, he could see a ball of red light heading towards the squad with what seems to be repeaters.

It seems that the trajectory would mean that the RPG would miss as it's just simply too high. But bizarrely enough, the warhead exploded mid-air.

"Whoa! What was that?!" he exclaimed, continuing to look through the binoc's lens.

"A little trick I learned" replied the grenadier "Apparently, it's a safety measure"

"Safety my ass, more like warning device"

From the soldier's eye enhanced by the binocs, he could clearly see that no one was hurt but was scared off nonetheless as the Ferdies frantically ran away.

"Now where were we again?" the grenadier then puts his RPG down to the dirt wall of the trench.

"Svarher?" the soldier then puts down the binocular.

"Ah right..."

...

"Einskirka has announced that they will send more troops in order to aid in the Northern Pact's war effort in the Svarher Island against the Demonic State whose troops had stepped foot into the isolated state.

According to the Esterrian Royal Army, the military is to increase their presence at Svarher from a battalion level to a brigade, at around 4,000 troops up from the existing 500 figures.

This is to bolster the Northern Pact's capability to fight the enemy invaders from the North, said General Belink, as we shall stand united against every threat, regardless of whether they come from the Northern Edge or from the Kingdom's Union border in Gestrae" - FCNN

Middle of the Northern Svarher, 12/10/2017 The Naeslagtlandic Royal Army company would see another day in Svarher, fighting for control of the Northern part of the island that rightfully belongs to Flashia... although some still felt strange that they're fighting alongside a Republic, as if their Kingdom's relationship with said Republic isn't strange enough.

"Ready to go?" said a leader of a squad dug into a defensive position.

"We're all ready sir!" unilaterally said every squad members under his command.

In the background, there was the now familiar sound of an armored vehicle engine, actually multiple of them, whirring closer and closer, louder and louder.

"On my signal we will go out there and fight for another day, am I clear on that?!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

The squad leader then looks from his squad's position, with the BMP-2MDs leased from Flashia now entering his sight going past his position. But he's looking for the squad's BMP, not the other ones, and he does not seem to be able to find it... only for him to turn around and there it was right out the bat.

"I thought they would go from the right side of us..." he mumbled, then turning back to his squad, then shouting: "Advance!" before he climbed out of the position with his SMG in hand followed by the others.

As they were doing this, a BMP fired its first shots from its coaxial machine gun as it laid sight to something further away. The average infantryman can't see it for sure, but for the BMPs with their thermal sight, the DLA is there in front of them.

"Stay behind the vehicles and you'd all be fine!"

The Naeslagtlandic squad did just that, forming 2 lines splitting the squad into two groups covering the respective side that would follow the BMP from directly behind. The squad would have their rifles (SMG for SL, GPMG on the hip for MG) pointed to front right and front left while others would do the same while their vehicles do most of the shooting.

They would take many steps alongside the BMPs, soldiers still cannot see anything but they're sure that the Animaatish-Newberslawnian Pansartransporter K have all that covered. The situation seems to have gone well as expected...

"Well this worked just as perfect-"

KABOOM

"CURSE ME!"

...Until it wasn't.

"What just happened?!?" yelled out an utterly confused soldier after everyone had ducked down onto the ground.

"Something hit our vehicle hard!"

The BMP-2MD of the squad was suddenly hit out of nowhere, and the damage caused was extensive. With the vehicle catching on fire at the front portion, the line of soldiers and armored vehicle stopped as they had shortly taken notice of what's going on nearby.

Around the same time, the Land Army was now aware as they had an AH-1Z approaching the formation with the chopping sound getting nearer and nearer. The squad leader lied on the ground, looking around, then his subordinates.

"Amdahl, Myran, Soren provide cover for the vehicle!" he shouted, while the helicopter flying overhead also begins to open up its gun at something in the trees facing them "Rest get whatever you can out the vehicle! Including any ammo you can get hold of!"

Then after the left rear hatch opens up revealing the gunner with charred face, as the sound of distant machine gun firing was heard, the squad immediately split up again with an MG team and another rifleman repositioned to the front of the vehicle.

The rest of the 8-man squad (technically 6 as gunner and driver of the vehicle are part of the squad) getting to work at the rear.

"Erik! I got you!" said a soldier, reaching out his hand then grasped by the coughing gunner "I got you, you'd be fine..."

As he pulls the crewman out of the vehicle, he looked over Erik's shoulder, noticing that a certain someone is missing.

"Hey where's Finn?!" referring to the driver.

"He's gone!" said the gunner, still coughing up "The light got him!"

"Oh dear... May the gods bless his soul..."

With the gunner now out on his feet, and the right hatch also opened up, a soldier attempted to climb into the rather cramped vehicle, only to get out again to face the SL to the left.

"Permission to take off all the equipment on my body, sir"

The reason why he would do this is because, as said before, the BMPs is rather cramped and the individual equipment such as pouches would impede movements especially in such a dire situation.

"Permission granted" as the SL was very aware of the situation, to which the soldier got the battle rifle off his back "I'll hold the gun for you" as then the SL then takes the rifle for him while he continued to take his things out.

After the gun, it was the helmet.

"Here, hold this" he turned to a nearby fellow, giving the helmet to him, then turning back to get the chest rig off. Snow cover would also not be spared as it would also be removed next.

"Better hurry up before there's nothing left to save"

"I know"

The soldier then jumps into the burning BMP and began scouring for anything important to remove from the doomed IFV.

"Oh heavens why is the vehicle so much more cramped than I remember?!"

"Just get them out of there and stop complaining!"

...

"You owe me 100 kroner after this"

"Oh shut up"

The AH-1Z would hover above the halted mechanized formation of the Naeslagts to provide aerial cover in the aftermath of one of their vehicles being taken out of the picture.

"...I mean it's bound to happen" said the pilot "I'm just surprised it took this long"

"Well to be fair, they aren't prepared for a 'crawling dragon' with autocannons or anything bigger than a 40 with really thick armor" said the co-pilot "I'm sure those EAS guys back in Havenklein never expected a 1960s Cold War-esque assault"

"Touché"

While the pilot handles the flying part, the co-pilot would be the one keeping an eye out with his monitor showing what the sight for the gun sees on thermals.

Oh, and if it isn't obvious by now, they took out the source of the thing that destroyed the vehicle.

"You know, I was wondering if that same laser can-"

"Don't. Fucking. Jinx it"

"Okay, jeez..."

The Viper continued to fly around the Naeslagt who is still engaging the opposing forces. That is until both of them see a sudden glare of a light to the right in the treelines.

"The hell is that?" said the co-pilot.

"Probably something not good! Brace yourself!"

The pilot then yanked his joystick to the left, rotating the aircraft in such a way that it would be pulled to port side in a quick manner while losing some altitude in the process. By doing this, they had narrowly dodged another laser.

"Shit, that's another one right there!" shouted the co-pilot as the chopper then recovered.

In response to that move from the DLA forces, the co-pilot adjusted his crosshair to where it had come from. A lizard would come into view in white hot before the gun was let loose.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

Smokes were kicked off, and the one that fired off the laser turned non-existent.

"That was some scary stuff" said the pilot.

"At least we know that it comes after a glare"

"Yeah, at least. But this is still going to be a fiasco back home won't it?"

"Yep..."

...

Madsen IV the King of Naeslagtland is holding his head while looking downward to the table.

"...They're really making me question my own decision at this point and time huh?"

Aveland, Naeslagtland, 12/10/1702 The King at his palace knew something like this could happen anytime, and yet he still feels dreadful for his soldiers had gotten an armored vehicle that isn't technically theirs damaged. He then looks up to his aide, Fosburg.

"...So what did Flashia say about this?"

"They have said that the loss of such vehicle isn't much of a problem for them. According to them, they could just bring the vehicle back and get it repaired in no time"

The King's eyes then widened

"That is... surprisingly better than I have expected to say the least"

Madsen was prepared for rather harsh words from his counterparts at Barminde. But here, there's just a neutral and indifferent attitude about it.

"...But can they really do so?" questioned the King again "No offense to them of course"

"Apparently yes, Your Majesty"

Again, Madsen was shocked.

"They have the ability to do so thanks to how that type of vehicle was designed with the economy to do so" said Fosburg "While I do not know where exactly did Flashia get such a great economy and industry even before relation between them and Esterria started from, at least according to Einskirka, I believe they fully can and will get that vehicle back into the fight"

By contrast, the self-propelled carriage normally could not be repaired that easily when the vehicle is hit and the anti-magic coating did not work. This is something that Naeslagtland has recently realized, not even its producer, La Ferdina was even aware of this.

This is because of how the carriage is designed. As great as the thing was, the designer never took the consideration of having to repair the thing when it gets actual damage, as it was thought with the anti-magic coating on, it would not be defeated that easily.

Oh, and by the way, while the coating does work against cannons typical of the Civilized Regions, against Flash weaponry, it's basically non-existent, which is how they found the flaw.

"I... see... so this is what completely mechanical things with the right design mindset is capable of..." muttered the King "Although we might have to handle them with more care knowing how valuable and expensive they are... On another note, do we have to pay up for the damage caused?"

"That's the problem, Your Majesty, they have not said anything about this. Though I would advice preparing to allocate some of our gold if it does come to that"

"Good point... Another question, should I send more troops to Svarher like what our Esterrian friends are doing?"

...

"Next year is the next election..." muttered the Flash president "...And yet, for some reason, I have a feeling this might not go as well as I would expect it"

Barminde, Tilenogtyve, Flashia The Federal Government back in the mainland of Flashia had now received the news of a notable loss of an armored vehicle. While it was bound to happen anyways as they were only comprehending magic as a real concept, it did not help as even a single loss of a tank can serve as an effective form of propaganda against a certain belligerent.

"...So what do you say Mr. President?" says the Defense Minister, Anton Dam "Do we sweep this under the rug?"

"No, we won't" answered Simon "Our people deserve to know what's happening right now, even if that makes us look bad like back in Gevaka or Reslania. Plus, they're going to find out anyways and would only make it worse for us"

"Oh... can't say you're wrong about that..."

While Gevaka and Reslania were both great successes for Flashia, there were many screwups that happened in the process. And even though they're usually overshadowed by the rest, oppositions have been using them to leverage their stance in the government.

And now, even with how cold Svarher is, the island state would become another hotbed for the independent president.

"I'd say we must learn from this in the future" said the president again "So that we can respond to whatever they got out there in the future"

"Well, no surprise for someone who led a battalion into Trakluc after all"

"I told you not to bring that up again..."

Simon Thomasen was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Land Army back in 2008 who fought in the Reunification Wars. Although he did not see much action back then, he was one of the notable commanders in the Trakluc campaign that saw the Land Army cross into Hatemean territory that brought around the end of the war in Flash victory.

Just a side note: When his troops stepped foot into Hatemea, his unit is one of the fews that received the at the time brand new RM08 which sought to replace the RM86A2s that were standard back then.

"Sorry, can't help it"

The president sighed. While he was fine about it, and still is, it's just getting slightly annoying when his military background keeps getting brought up over and over again.

"...With that out of the way, what do we say to our allies? Especially the Naeslagts?"

"Well, we could say the loss is not much of a problem at all for us, and since it's not a total write-off-"

"Why did you not told me this earlier?"

"Well you did not ask about that after all. Anyways, as I was saying, because it's not a total write-off, we can get that BMP back into the garage and get it back to working condition. You know, just to send a little bit of message in the process"

Simon nodded.

"That sounds good to me"

...

"For some reason, I feel bad for our ground counterparts"

Norden Sea The Geschnokean flotilla of cruisers would depart from the port at Animaatland and set sail to near the Northern Edge where they are needed for the coming counteroffensive in Svarher.

This offensive will be the first time that the Dominion's military would fire its first shots. Maybe not the Army with its ground troops but it would still work for them.

Various songs were sung amongst the elf-majority crew of the cruiser as they head North-West to the faraway island, to cheer themselves up and to keep them from getting bored on the way there.

"By the way, you've heard of that incident in that island right?" said a sailor.

"That Naeslagt troops had lost an armored vehicle?" said another sailor "Yes, I did"

"Quite unfortunate isn't it?"

"Quite unfortunate indeed"

These two sailors are just looking at the blue of the sea, leaning on the railing on the port side of the ships.

"...So what do you think?" continued the sailor again "What do you think knowing that the fabled Flash 'carriages' that ruled over Havenklein and 'Enmars-Yevlosk' had one of them defeated by light magic?"

"Well, it was bound to happen anyways. Even their soldiers said their most heavily armored asset is nowhere near invincible"

"You talked to Flashian soldiers?"

"The correct demonym is Flash but yes, I really did talked to some"

While Flashia is still cautious around the second most powerful country in the Civilized Regions, at least they still allow some discussion about a limited variety of things with the 2 states' soldiers.

"I'd still believe that such a news would cause quite a mess in the political side of things, in Flashia I mean"

"I mean, that's basically guaranteed. Even a loss of life of our fellow Geschnokean would stir up some feelings back home, much less a valuable military asset"

The two sailors would go on about with their discussion of things that had happened as of recent as they're on their way to Svarher where they are destined to take part in a coming battle.

...

"We now move on from the vehicle loss in the state of Svarher. In several major cities including Zarabiaćskonać, Barminde, Minvennped, the Federal Authority has kicked off an exhibition showing corpses of the invaders of Svarher.

Recovered from the snowy field of the island, while the display has come under scrutiny as with the other recent news, the exhibition was meant to inform people and emphasize on the fact that Flashia is actually in a new world.

And while protests have been sparked over this, especially down to the South, many people who previously did not believe such a thing have said that they had a change of heart and now considers the Transfer as an event that happened for real" - Globale Agevær Arrangementer

Gullður, Svarher, Demonic State-occupied territory "So you are saying that we finally managed to take a life?" said Verkog the ogre.

"That is correct" Chax who sit next to the ogre then takes a sip of water "...Could use warmer water..." he muttered.

"Hmm... not enough"

"That is the best our Army could do for now, Sir Verkog"

The two then sit by silently for a little while.

"...I have a feeling that we might need more than just half of what we have"

"We might, but remember Sir Verkog, we are not at full strength yet so we cannot say for sure" Chax then takes another sip of cold water "I suggest we go on a defensive for now as our current numbers would not do it for us"

"Very well then... Anyways, what would you do in the meantime?"

"Well, while we were looting around, we found a type of food called sur-stromming"

"...So what is it?"

"I do not know, but I just want to try"

"You'd be lucky that you didn't" said another lizardman as he comes up to their right, prompting Chax to turn around only to see him supporting a fellow unconscious lizardman by his arm around his shoulder.

"What in the Lord's name happened?"

"We opened that sur-stromming thing and then it smelled so bad that poor old Nox here fainted!"

"...It isn't that bad right?" said Chax with widened eyes.

"See for yourself... actually don't, for your own good" before the lizardman left with unconscious Nox.

"...That is... rather interesting" said Verkog "Food that smells so bad that one could just faint from it?"

"He must be exaggerating, Sir Verkog" Chax stood up "I will go check for myself"

Chax then walked to where the two had came from with the intention having been set, leaving Verkog alone for the time being. Minutes later, he would come back with a disgruntled face that wasn't there at first.

"I stand corrected" he said, now sitting back down next to the ogre.

"It smelled that bad?"

"It in fact, smelled WORSE!"

He isn't aware of it, but Verkog is smiling. He had a smile on his face because the ogre just finds this quite funny. It's just one of those moments that makes his time as one of the commanders of the DLA more enjoyable, which helped a lot as he faced major setbacks on a strategic level here.

...

hopefully this is good enough.