In the night of the North-Western town held by the Northern Pact forces, the night had gone silent, eerily silent.

Pænkária, Svarher, Flashia, Northern Pact, 12/10/2017 Amidst the sound of the wind and little to no gunshots, soldiers of the Flash Land Army, Home Guard and the Esterrian Royal Army stood by at their position, keeping their eyes peeled at every direction where the enemy could come from.

"It's a little creepy isn't it?" said a Flash soldier.

"Quiet..." said another with a phosphorus white dual-tube night vision goggles "Won't hear a thing if you talk"

"...Alright then..."

This element of the Motoriseretjæger would act as a sentry for their comrades to get their good rest, holding on the line against their demonic enemies. Time felt slow for many soldiers here, anxiety getting to a certain point for some.

"...You know, you heard of that armored vehicle loss right?" said the soldier in a whispering voice.

"Yeah... poor lad lost his life..."

Looking through the 2 analog NV tubes, the soldier would notice a few outlines of a few people. The outlines does not seem to be human judging by the horns on the head, nor does he remembers that their bodies would be transparent.

The soldier quickly brought up his rifle with a red dot sight, C-Clamping the end of the handguard with the thumb pressing on the button of the PEQ-15 on top. He shoulders his stock, holding the gun at an angle with the laser beam directly pointed at the outlines, fire selector flicked from safe to semi.

BANG BANG BANG

And after those three shots, the hit outline screamed in pain while they immediately revealed themselves, as in the invisibility was fading.

"Fuckin' cloaked guys right there!"

"Where?!"

"Get your goggles on!"

The 2 other outlines immediately took notice, seemingly now panicking as even their cloak could not save them from being seen and subsequently being shot at.

"I see them now!"

While the other soldier would get his rifle up, he would flick it into full send at the other, the pointing his gun at such a way the beams would be on them too and take one out of the picture. Again the invisibility faded.

The second then finally put some lead into the last one right at the back who then fell forward.

"Motherfucker, I was not expecting that to walk up on us like that!"

"Guess we still have something to learn..."

...

"Twelfth of October, 2017

For the first time since the Havenklein War, an armored vehicle in the hands of the Naeslagt Royal Army was lost due to enemy fire... actually, we don't even know what exactly it is, but let's just say fire for simplicity sakes.

According to the troops involved, the BMP-2MD had been taken out by a kind of 'light magic', think lasers that you'd find in a science fiction work. Whatever it is, it's definitely a threat to our armor. On the other hand, it seems that this 'magic' has a flaw...

The attack helicopter that was present at the time were almost shot down by that same laser were saved by the fact that they were able to spot a sudden glare of light before the shot. Apparently, it works the same logic as certain video games with snipers in them.

Another series of reports indicate of the usage of species capable of optical camouflage. Description indicates resemblance to mythical-like devils more akin to that of the Far Eastern culture, although they are said to be smaller and even more good-looking from some of the reports we received.

To naked eyes, they're incredibly hard to spot when the camo is active, but under night vision and thermal sight, it's a dead giveaway. As a result, our troops have been placed on higher alert.

With the 2 discoveries made in 1 day, the FIIA is expected to investigate more of the magic phenomenons so that we could respond correspondingly in the future. The Kingdom of Naeslagtland is also considering sending more troops"

...

"What do you mean many of them did not come back?!"

Gullður, Svarher, DLA-occupied territory, 13/10/1702 "That is unfortunately the truth" said Chax.

The next day of this battle for this island would see not so great news for the Demonic State forces.

"I thought they were supposed to be undetectable?!? I thought we can spy on the enemies as easily?!"

"I thought that too, but it seems to us that they were able to easily see them"

Verkog groans, having been met with a difficult situation that already hard on him from the start. Originally, the devils were meant to spy on the enemy forces without anyone batting an eye, helped with the fact that nobody else knows of such thing.

But now, with many of the devils presumably killed, the mysterious human enemies is sure to be know and even more careful, further making them a lot more undefeatable.

"...I knew we should have not come here..." he mumbled to himself "...I knew that this act of revenge is doomed from the start... from that moment those 20 wyverns fell from the skies..."

"Sir Verkog, I understand how you feel, but now, it is simply too late to turn back now"

Verkog then just simply look at him.

"...Unfortunately..."

After that, both of them would sit down quiet for awhile.

"You know, Sir Verkog" said Chax "I am starting to think that our Lord is not really the best when it comes to decision-making"

"...We would not be here when it was the case..."

"True..."

...

"HAAH-"

BOOM

Hošče, Demonic State "...That's weird..." said the demon lord on his throne, still broken on the right by the way, after letting out a sneeze more akin to a gunshot "...I thought they are not really that explosive, nor do I remember myself being able to sneeze... Anyways, let us not speak about this any further shall we?"

The two ogres facing the lord then looked at each other, a hint of confusion betrayed on their face, before nodding in agreement.

"Good... So tell me about the situation, with how our friend Verkog is doing that is"

"The frontlines... how do we say it?" said one of the two ogres present "Frozen. We were unable to gain anymore lands whilst our Army is taking abysmal amount of casualties"

The Demon Lord fell eeriely silent upon hearing that. And that silence turned out to be loud for both of them, left standing and waiting in cold sweat. But the Lord instead let out a deep breath.

"...I suppose the saying of no plan survives the first contact is largely true..." He muttered "Not to worry though, as we have those devils who are capable of completely concealing themselves"

"About that..." said the nervous ogre. The scene just went awkwardly silent again.

"Do not tell me they were able to see them"

"Somehow... yes"

The Demon Lord simply sighed, looking down on the ground. Devils, at least the ones with cloaking ability aren't really known for their numbers in the ranks of the Demon Lord's Army. Most of them are rather indifferent to the Demonic State's cause and rather live a quiet life somewhere.

For most that have the similar thinking, they're often forced into the Army anyways, but not those devils as they possess exceptional evasion skills for obvious reasons.

"...Who exactly are they?"

...

13/10/2017 "We're now arriving at Western Svarher. Best of luck to you lads and go kick some asses!"

The additional soldiers of the Esterrian Royal Army have landed at the island with the Ijzerwagens and the Autokanon Mobieleogens (Esterrian designation for the Scimitar vehicles) rolling their tracks off the ship.

"Come on men, we better not be slacking off here!"

This is the second Esterrian Royal Army battalion to set foot onto the Flash isolated island, with approval of course, with a third is still coming their way. They would arrive sometimes the next day, if not tonight.

...

For now, they would form a column of vehicles, the recons at the forefront, the APCs in the middle, and trucks with supplies, additional troops and artillery at the rear. Their destination? Pænkária.

"Yo! Light up those trees over there, there's an invisible motherfucker over there!"

"Gotcha"

BRRRRRRP BRRRRP BRRRRRP

Machine gun would start up the day here in the Northern outskirt of the empty town civilian population-wise. They had received information from a unit with thermal sight that the cloakers (not to be confused with the ones that dropkick clowns out of nowhere) somewhere in a treeline facing the town.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure this is indirect fire as they're relying on the thermal guys to call them out and make correction wherever necessary, similar to how artillery relies on other eyes at the (static) front.

"They're running to your left, uh... 10 kilometers per hour"

"You heard him!"

The machine gunner then adjusted, trying to lead his sight to the invisible enemies.

BRRRRRRRRRP

"...Good effect, you're hitting the one leading them pretty hard"

It's still hard to tell whether they actually hit something, however, the MG would still put trust on their counterparts with the sight.

"They're stopping now, low on the ground"

"Low on the ground!"

In response, the machine gunner turn his buzzsaw little bit to the right and below. Before long, he pulled the trigger again only to feel an unusually light trigger and no bolt sent forward. The link still has some rounds left.

"Malfunction!"

The gunner racked the handle back then pushed on the knob to open the feed tray while his assistant continued to look around with his rifle up. He gets the current link off the tray, then lifting it, checking out the chamber with a round stuck in there.

"...I knew it"

The gunner then pulls it out by the rim, the bullet then falling to below from the ejection port which is literally a big cut out at the bottom of the receiver. He drops the tray down then realigns the belt again to it, before closing the cover down and shoulder it again.

"Give me some update here!"

"Uh... they ran away while you were at it"

The gunner sucked his teeth upon hearing that, rather disappointed.

"Damn it..."

"Oh well... there's always next time right?"

...

The Naeslagt contingent hold their ground in the middle of the North of the island, the effect of what unfolded yesterday felt within each soldier. While the sound of war is still heard clearly, many of those stationed in their positions stood quiet, only occassionally reporting things every now and then over the radio.

They are not going to move out anytime soon, for fear of a repeat of that incident again. They would keep their eyes peeled, with the BMPs also dug into the snow, although some would drift off to some thoughts...

SNAP

A soldier on watch flinched back to reality with a snap of a finger right in front of his eyes.

"The enemies aren't that far you know?" said his fellow right next to him who did the finger snap "They could be close for all we know"

The soldier seems to be quite bewildered as he looked at the soldier who then went past, with his next action after that would be him turning back to the snow field, this time looking a little bit closer than before.

As he viewed around the snow and the treelines, he still keeps pondering about something else, relating to a driver of a certain BMP, his demise, and what comes next.

"4 archers, 300 meters, North-West in the trees"

He looked at the radio that cracked to life, yet another transmission about the now-confirmed-to-be-DLA's movement in the area around his unit. And just having the DLA going past his mind even a slight bit angers him.

"They'll pay..." he mumbled to himself "...I swear by my words, while you rest peacefully Finn, the next time we get to them, they will be met with the wrath of our company..."

...

Southern Svarher Island 1 day after that incident, the Defense Forces had taken the BMP in a not so good condition back to the south of the island at war a few hours ago. Now, as 2 personnel walk into the port, the armored vehicle will undergo a little processing before the wrenches get to work.

"You know, I'm not actually surprised that a BMP is the one getting clapped by magic"

"Well, I mean it's a Newberslawnian tin can after all, even with the upgrades on"

"Yeah..."

As they continued to walk, one would spot something far away. Judging by its design, it seems to be a Pasi, but not just any Pasi.

"What's wrong?"

"...There's a Pasi over there" he then points at the vehicle.

"Yeah, they've been around for awhile now, what about it?"

"No, that's a see-bring vehicle, I'm pretty sure"

'See-bring' is the pronunciation of the acronym CBRN: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear.

Pasis and other armored vehicles in Flash typically don't carry a hexagonal yellow and black insignia of biohazards unless they're part of the so-called 'CBRN Corps', an unit that nobody in the Defense Forces, not even Specialjæger want to see.

"Oh fuck, shit went really wrong already?"

"Apparently so... I dunno what exactly is going on though"

"Then we'd have to find out ourselves now, don't we?"

...

"I-I don't understand..." said a Land Army soldier inside the warehouse "...W-Why of all the things in this strange world... w-why does magic h-have to do with see-bring?"

"I know it sounds weird but..." replied his counterpart in the Corps "...Apparently magic radiation does exist"

"Magic radiation?!"

"Yep, first came under numerous reports of such cases in Havenklein before a few of the Defense Forces soldiers got to experience it themselves"

"I-I see... is it that dangerous?"

"According to our sources in Esterria and Naeslagtland, they're usually aren't fatal, you'd just get a really bad case of disorientation and... maybe some hallucination..."

"Yo, can somebody tell us why in the hell is the CBRN Corps parked right outside?" said another Flash soldier as another two would enter the warehouse "Something's the matter or...?"

The soldier would then gestures the two to come closer, and the pair would follow through.

"Einar, Gunnar" he then gestures to the man before him "Sergeant Faje Sparre, 204th Brigade... CBRN Corps" with a little hesitation on the last part.

"Oh uh... nice to meet you"

"Pleasure to meet you too"

Einar then exchanges a handshake with Faje, though with a slight bit of awkwardness.

"Anyways, why are you guys here?" asked Gunnar "Something's wrong?"

"We wouldn't be here otherwise... Look, the thing is that the BMP might be contaminated, not that bad but concerning enough"

"Woah, wait what does the BMP that only got hit by a laser has to do with anything?" questioned Gunnar.

"I already explained to Týr here, you can ask him"

"Huh? Oh right, the magic radiation thingy..."

"The... what now?"

"I'll explain later..." Týr then turns back to the Corps sergeant "...So what will happen to us?"

"I have a better question" said Faje "Has any of you come in contact with that BMP in tarp out there? Like has anyone come close to it since it came in this morning?"

Gunner shook his head "Nope, two of us were just getting started here"

"Same here" said Týr "I came in earlier but haven't got any chance to get close to it before you guys came"

"In that case, then you're all good, for now, hopefully it's just us that will do the decontamination work, if it's actually contaminated that is..."

"Ah right..."

"I still don't understand what's going on though..."

"Just wait, let me explain later okay...?"

...

Off the Eastern coast of Svarher The Geschnokean flotilla that was sent out to venture to the North to reinforce their republic co-belligerent forces has now found themselves just to the East of the island.

This flotilla was dispatched in response to the demon species' invasion of the island to the North and the subsequent calls from Flashia to its own and allied forces to defend the island and stage for a counteroffensive.

And while the Defense Forces here and the Northern Pact here have that under control, the Geschnokeans was still needed to alleviate the burdens caused by the war effort. It also gave them an opportunity for these cruisers to garner some glory for themselves.

"So this is Svarher... said the captain as he viewed the faraway island with his binocular "...It's more snowy than I thought" as he then puts the lens down.

They may be small in numbers, but they make up for it by packing some good ol' sheer firepower with their cannons and other armaments.

"This is Gull-9-1, Flash Defense Forces" the comms of the ship suddenly cracked to life "Unidentified ships, you're in the vicinity of the coastal area of Svarher, state your intentions here or turn back"

At that point, the communication officer then turned towards the captain.

"Sir?"

And after a little bit of time he then walks over to the officer.

"Let me handle it" as he then gets on the radio "...Ehem, this is the captain of the Cservar cruiser, part of the flotilla sent by the Geschnokean Navy to participate in the counteroffensive at Northern Svarher"

"...Mmm okay, you may now proceed"

"Thank you very much... also, wouldn't the forces there be notified of our arrival?"

"...Yeah, sorry but the radar's IFF does not recognize your flotilla as allied"

Radar he can understand as his ship and others use it, but what even is IFF?

"...IFF stands for Identification Friend-or-Foe by the way, just in case saying"

"Ah, I see..."

"One more thing... welcome to Svarher"

The captain subconsciously nodded to the Flash radio operator's words.

"Much obliged, it's a honor for us to be here and a honor for us to fight alongside Flashia"

As he then puts down the handset, he then wonders about the so-called IFF.

"...I wonder if the Dominion could utilize such a system like that..."

...

"I'm getting radar pings here..."

Around the same area, a pair of white Gripens was taking to the skies where they then point their nose to further North when the ships from a century back showed up.

"...Just checking, are they aware of our presence?" said one of the two pilots.

"Doesn't seem so... but the radar still there nonetheless"

The fact that the Geschnokean could not pick up 2 aerial signatures is thanks to the Electronic Warfare suite that comes with the fighter jets fittingly named after a bird, which makes it a lot more difficult for an opponent to do things properly, although the FDF was not able to find use until now.

"Should we send a report back to HQ?"

"Yep, I figured that our F-35 boys are going to need to see some actions soon..."

"Fair"

The flight would continued onward to conduct a little reconnaissance ahead of the 'big day' that every soldiers here have been expecting for a while now.

...

"With the enemy stalled and the frontline frozen, both figuratively and literally, the Defense Forces have been successful in mobilizing its forces alongside Northern Pact allies and the Geschnokean Expeditionary Forces.

Although the enemies reportedly have around 100 thousand and a half currently on the island, we were still able to deal massive casualties as days go on with almost nothing lost on our side. We also holds total air superiority as of current, with absolutely no asset lost in the process

Furthermore, the numbers of troops, also counting allies, have increased to about 2 divisions with various AFVs, artillery pieces and warships spread across the defensive line. This number is still expected to increase as the Esterrian contingent is still in the process of bringing its current 2 battalions to a brigade.

In total, it will add up to 5 Defense Forces brigades, 1 Esterrian Royal Army brigade, 1 Naeslagt Royal Army company and a Geschnokean flotilla consisting of cruisers.

It's only a matter of time before the offensive is given a go..."

...

"Ah, General Belink" said Marie III in the Royal Castle as she was walking down the hallway "I suppose you have something to report back?"

Einskirka, Esterria "Indeed, Your Majesty" replied Belink "This one is regarding the forces in Svarher"

"Oh? What is it then?"

"The Royal Army by now have managed to upgrade its troops presence to a brigade"

"That's wonderful!"

"Indeed... although I admit having some doubts, I guess I was quite wrong back then..."

"Oh don't you worry much dear Belink, it happens to everyone, me included" she said while looking at the general with a smile on her face "Just reassure yourself that it will be fine in the long term... Or I suppose it will be alright in the long run as I've heard some Flash troops put it"

The teenage queen had actually visited some Flash Defense Forces unit in Esterria with her entourage in the past. From those visits, she had learned a lot, including some relatively odd phrases that the soldiers there utilized.

The general, after giving it some thoughts, would nod to Marie's words.

"I learned that from Velstra, a very good friend of mine"

"I can see that as well..."

The two continued to walk down the hall, with Belink having been brightened up.

"Oh, and one more thing..." said Belink as he turned his eyes back to the queen "About the jets-"

"They're still not giving us?"

"Uh... No, unfortunately"

The queen sighed.

"You do not have to remind me, I've already figured... Why do I have a feeling it's something recurring in the government?"

The General almost arched his lips upward before he was able to resist it.

...

"You know, I am still considering sending more troops to the Northern Edge..."

Aveland, Naeslagtland "...Just for assurance" said King Madsen IV to Fosburg while he sits on his chair in his room.

"I can understand why you would want to send more troops there" said Fosburg "But remember, the Kingdoms Union Gestrae, especially La Ferdina is our enemy, and given how close they are, I would advise against doing so"

"I know, but I just want to send them up there so that no more will die, while we also get more experienced troops..."

"Your Majesty, no offense but... wouldn't it make it a lot more likely for a Naeslagt soldier to fall"

"Oh, you're right... curse me for thinking so much about this! I'm not even thinking right anymore!"

"It's fine Your Majesty, calm down, it happens to me too"

The Naeslagt King then looks at his aide, then nodding his head.

"...You know Fosburg, this is why I have people like you, so that you can knock some sense into me whenever I'm not making any"

"I... Uh... Not sure what to feel other than being honored"

"...Anyways, have the Flash government sent a word back on how much we will pay for getting that armored vehicle taken out of the battlefield?"

"Well, Your Majesty... no, still nothing from them"

"Oh... that's a pity then"

The King then promptly turned back to his table before he seemingly thought up of something, then turning back.

"One more thing..." he muttered "Can you get me at least a basic catalog of what the Flash military use? In particular the ones they use for aerial side of things?"

"That can be arranged, Your Majesty"

"Thank you, you may leave now"

...

Somewhere in the middle of the Svarher Island, in the dead of night, the FDF have been particularly active around this area aside from the frontline itself. In this seemingly desolate region, a group of 8-wheeled trucks with tubes would gather around the side of a road, the front faces North-West.

"Get those launchers up on the coordinates! We don't got time to waste!"

The men that operates these trucks would have the tubes slowly (and painfully) adjusted to the direction and range to the one grid square they're aiming for. And they would take around 30 minutes to do so.

...Which is no surprise considering it's a relatively old tech nicked from Hatemea alongside the region of Trakluc.



It may not be the best nor the most advanced in Flash hands, but it's still available and definitely still pack quite a punch. It's also the other part of the reason why residents of the North had to be all evacuated as they could not risk one person losing their life by this hectare-deleting truck.

"Standby..."

As the fighter jets can be heard taking off from various locations in the background, the crews would finish up on calibrating the MLRS's before they would run back to safety so that would not be turned into burned toast when they get to work.

And now, they await for further orders...

"Launchers, salvo fire, on my mark!"

They would receive one to fire, just not yet. The battery would brace themselves for what's to come as the radio then started to counted down.

"Three... two... one... and FIRE!"

FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH...

A volley let loose from the 'Vampires' would mark the start of an offensive to retake the rightful territory of Flashia alongside their allies on this island. From the average infantryman at the frontline to an experienced flotilla right off the Northern coast.

It is safe to say that the Demon Lord's Army will wake up to one hell of a thing.

...

Keep it little short for the very thing that I seemingly am only good at in the next chapter.