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...

"...As part of the increased deployment to the Artic, the aircraft carrier Rivija along with its strike group has been dispatched to the island state of Svarher, where it is expected to join the Svarher Task Force which aims to defend the island state from another invasion.

The carrier, as with its two other sister ships of the Luftskibinfiltrator-class is said to be a force multiplier to the coalition naval power of the North... which in reality consisted solely of warships of the Flash and Geschnokean Navy with its arsenal of Hornet fighter jets launched and recovered using a CATOBAR system.

If a deployment to Beria is to happen as per potential intervention, it would mark the first time since the carrier has been on a combat expeditionary mission since the joint intervention into Twetar. Upon arrival, the Svarher Task Force would become the biggest Flash-led naval fleet to be assembled" - Duvorna Radio Broadcaster

Anklev, Gladahjuland, 23/10/2017 The Berians had been listening in since they have figured out the radio, discovering the wonders of it in the process. With the knowledge attained, they have used it to a great extent, ranging from musics of which genres they never heard before with mixed opinion and most importantly, news.

"They really are committing their military for us Berians..." the Princess-in-exile commented.

The Duvorna is one of the two radio channels alongside Yle that had piqued their interest due to their reporting on their dear island home and also because they happened to have program that speaks their own language coincidentally enough.

"Indeed Your Highness" replied her aide.

It's because of this that everyone was able to take in the new information in unison. And with each broadcast, hope shines brighter and brighter for the exiled Kingdom.

"I wonder what fighter jets really are however" the Captain of the Navy added "Their name just does not show what they do other than fighting"

"Yes, I wonder the same..." Sive responded "...But I am sure they will be an exceptional asset, after all, the army of Flashia had managed to repel the wicked demon invasion"

Both of the other polar bear nodded.

"That I can concur" was the words spoken by Niillas.

"There is no arguing against that" told the Princess's aide.

...

"So what do we got here?"

"Got a transport ship coming up soon"

Southern Svarher, 23/10/2017 The home garrison of the Southern part of the cold island welcomes yet another day with the port soon receiving yet another ship for... I lost count on how many times now.

"Oh, so supplies or more troops then" as the pair walks down on the dock.

"The latter, actually"

"Okay... So nothing special then, we get more of our boys set up here"

"Yep... except they're Foreign Battalions..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa wait" he would then stop and turn to the other "The Foreign Battalions? Like the talking polar bears I've heard about?"

"And also the Esterrians, can't forget them"

"...Huh..."

They would then continue on their track.

"...The polar bears returning to the North" he spoke again "...It's a full circle isn't it?"

"Yeah, quite funny when you think it that way"

"...So anyways..." both of them stop again upon reaching their destination "...What are they in for?"

"From what I've been told, it seems that they would go for a little finishing touch on their training and stuff, decided Svarher is the best to do so"

"Make sense, considering those demons from the North and where they came from"

"Yep"

The 2 staffs would look out the port, at the approaching ferry in front of them.

...

"Attention all occupants, we are now landing in about 15 minutes"

Soldiers of the Foreign Battalions would begin to gear up, getting their helmets on their head, their vest on their torso, rucksacks on their back and occassional vomits either into the toilet before being flushed or directly out into the water.

"In the name of the Gods, the sea makes you really sick eh?"

"Oomph... What did you expect... from someone who only sailed twice...?"

"Just put up with it"

"Easier said than done..."

The 2 soldiers would head back inside the ship to regroup with their own unit. Clustered together, these troops would be muckin' about for a little while before the landfall.

"So what do you think this island will be?"

"I don't know... probably the same as back home considering that we're going North?"

"Obviously..."

"And... I don't actually know, we'll have to find out the rest ourselves"

"Aye"

...

"Is it funny that other than hair color, I wouldn't be able to actually tell they're Berians?"

13 minutes later The first Berian Foreign Battalion walks out the ship and step into Svarher for the first time.

"Well you're not alone, had it not been their hair color, I would have mistaken them as Ladeans or something"

With the helmets on, it was more difficult to identify them as Berians with their polar bear ears hidden away under the cover of the FH610's on their heads, only distinguished from the Esterrians by the color of the strands.

Along with the infantry, vehicles operated by their own would also exit their ferries. Judging by the fact it has 6 wheels alone is enough to shortly cut their guess as Pasis.

"It's still a little weird we're arming ancient guys with assault rifles and all that"

"I dunno man, you think we got muskets in our storage or something?"

"...No?"

"Exactly"

"...Fuck you man"

"Fuck you too"

...

"So this is Svarher..." commented a Berian officer amongst the Foreign Battalion "...Not much is different from home other than the infrastructure..."

In a way, this frozen island hits close to home to the exiled Berians with the cold weather and a gloomy skies, typical of the far North of the world. They came here to prove their worth after days and weeks of training, yet, it gives off a vibe of being in the backyard of their house.

Really, the only thing that stops them from literally regarding them as a second home is how the buildings and infrastructure are designed here.

"Well lads, welcome to Svarher, the last proving ground before you eventually give them a little kicking"

It was immediately clear that 'them' refers to the demons that robbed the Berians their home as they knew it away. The polar bears kept a stoic facial expression, yet the clenched fist tightened to the demons that came into their thought.

"...Well sir" a soldier under his arm would open up "Can we say that the Demon Lord and those ogres won't know what would be coming to them?"

"Considering what we seen so far..." the officer looks down on his rifle and equipment "...It's very likely they won't"

It's not their time to reclaim their island, at least not yet...

"...One day, they shall pay the full price..."

...

The newly-arrived Foreign Battalions would be on their way to the training ground that they have been assigned to. In the midst of that, a group of a few Geschnokean soldiers gather by the bonfire for a little warmth and get their meal cooked in the outdoors.

Northern Svarher "...Damn me, why do I feel the need to return to the outpost?" muttered one among them.

"Get used to it, Kálván" another replied, then taking a sip of his canteen "In the real battlefield, you won't find any of the conveniences of our shared base"

"I'm aware of that Rudolf, but it's just... so nice to stay in..."

"I understand where you are" the third joined in "It feels more like a five-star hotel more than an actual base"

"You know, when you put it that way..." the fourth guy responded "...It's sort of absurd that they could afford to do this to a military base out of all the buildings they could choose. Makes me wonder where did they even get the fundings from..."

"...Well that's the first time I hear you making sense"

"It's just... too nice to be real that I had to question it"

"I can agree to that. What do you think Kálván?"

"I don't even know anymore, I mean, I've heard from some people that Flashia is very advanced but... I didn't think this much"

"Are they really? I haven't seen a town myself..."

"By the gods, you're blind then..." Rudolf would check on their stew.

"If I'm blind, how would I even end up here?"

"That's not the point, Bertras, we went on their roads and saw cars, in various colors and curves in fact. That should tell you something about this republic"

The group quiets down all of the sudden for a little while.

"...Anyways, stew's done, anyone want some?"

"Aye"

...

The CO of this element of Geschnokeans would watch his subordinates closely, standing near a leaf-less tree. Footsteps approach him from the right and his peripherals registering someone in a pattern of green, brown, black and white, immediately prompting him to turn his eyes there.

"Hi, how ya doing?"

He recognized that pattern is of that their Flash counterparts wear as uniform from the fact they are almost always seen in this specific pattern.

"Good..." the CO replied "...How about you?"

"Could be better"

Another thing that is typical of a Flash personnel at least from his observation is that they're quite straightforward with their affairs, unlike some people he came in contact with. That said, he's also guilty of sugarcoating it to an extent.

"I suppose it's not going well for you?"

"You tell me, I didn't even get to fire a single shot in the counteroffense, next thing I knew an hour later, the war was over and now it's chores for the entire duration"

"Oh dear, really?"

"Yeah, could you imagine getting activated for a counterattack only to not being able to do anything before it ended?"

"I'm... not exactly a fan of getting into actual battles in such condition here, but I wouldn't want to not at least contribute something meaningful either"

"Right?"

After that, they quiet down for a bit. The Geschnokean officer in the meantime would look back at his troops doing their thing.

"I have a question to ask..." he turns to the FDF personnel again "...About the base... how could you afford to build a five star of an infrastructure?"

"Huh...? Oh that, yeah, well you see... this country was a trade powerhouse before this entire transfer thing, we were neutral so we bought from both sides. It's kind of risky, but it paid off well enough for us... Although I would argue that that level of comfort is just the standard for military bases, at least the ones from the West and not Newbers or... anywhere else really"

There are completely new and unknown details to take in, but he still made himself clear that he was talking about their 'Old World'. Admittedly though, the Flash's answer caught him off-guard.

"...That was the standard?" he inquired further with a widened pair of eyes.

"Believe it or not, yes"

"How often does your nation even go to war?"

"Outside of some conflicts in bumfuck nowhere in the Medianan Continent, not that much actually..."

His shock and confusion only gets worse from here.

"Our world has been mostly at peace for... 2 decades. Not great, not terrible but yeah, we had been working our way to a more peaceful resolve. Still not perfect, but it was the safest time that one could live in"

"I... see then..."

The officer would give himself some time to let the mass of information sink in.

"...Your world is that advanced, isn't it?"

"Yeah I mean, give mankind peace and cooperation for decades and they will eradicate a deadly contagious disease for once and for all..."

"That's... a little bit of an exaggeration, no?"

"I wish I was..."

"Seriously?!"

"Yep, it's unbeliveable that humans are capable of such a feat at first but here we are..."

"My gods..."

Knowing that magic is non-existent in Flashia and perhaps their original world, it makes this fact more shocking and amazing than it already is. He had thought that magic is an utmost importance to the civilizations that dwell thid world, but apparently not for them. If this were to spread to the top positions of their government, serious reconsiderations and shake-ups will no doubt happen in his mind.

"...We could've done as well without magic..."

...

4 days have passed since their arrival into Flashia's most isolated and Northernmost state. To the Berians, the conditions here are nothing short of what they were used to... okay, maybe it's slightly warmer here.

27/10/2017 On an exercise conducted alongside local units of the Land Army, the Pasi APC attached to their unit would go past the sprinting Berians trying to get to their where they have been told to go as soon as they could.

"Beta-2-2's in position, overseeing the enfilade"

The squad of Berians tried their best to go forward in spite of the weight that they had to carry on their person, especially the machine gunner who had to carry a big, heavy gun on his shoulder.

"Come on boys... don't give up yet...!" the squad leader yelled out "Almost... there!"

After awhile running tirelessly, the squad culminated into a spread out line and the machine gunner could finally rest the bipod of his gun to the ground.

"Beta-2-4 in position!"

All that's left to do now is to wait for their targets to pop up. Yes, this is yet another live-fire exercise, and yes, the supervisors in bright jackets on top of their uniforms are there too. They may have been the cause of the occasional uneasiness as of late, but many of them has already got used to them.

They tense themselves up and keep their weapons pointed downrange, continuing to take their time and await-

"Target, North-West!"

The first target of steel popped out and is subsequenly called out, and it wouldn't take long for the big guns to be brought up to the gunners' shooter and the triggers to be pulled.

The first burst of the fast-firing MG would erupt in the treeline the took position in and bullets going for the target in the open field at distance.

"Hit!..."

BRRRRRRP

"Bit to the left!..."

BRRRRRP

"Right!..."

BRRRRRRRRRRP

"Hit! Next target!"

Hits of the machine guns was scored with each 'talk', corrections have been made with the assistance of their respective AG helping in acquiring the target while they recover from their violently shaking vision. Sometimes, said AG's would pick up the pace with their service rifle when the gun is having any kind of issue.

And by issues, I meant barrel changing and some malfunctions such as unfired and stuck rounds.

"By the gods, this is a bit frustrating..." as the gunner with his gun's feed tray lifted tries to pull a cartridge out of the chamber.

They appreciated the superior firepower it gave to the platoon, however, the said can't really be said with its occasional jammings that wouldn't happen to their own guns.

...

"...And here's your IFV, now good as new"

Southern Svarher After a while of being worked on, from being decontaminated to actual repair works, Arnt Rosett, the commander of the sole Naeslagtlandic company in Flashia and Svarher in particular would finally see the previously disabled IFV for himself along with his entourage in the depot it has been staying in.

"...You patched up the front hole perfectly..." the captain commented on his first impression "...Quite impressed with the work you made"

"Took us a few day but uh... yeah"

After inspecting the front of the vehicle, he would move to the rear. As far as he knows, there's no damage seen from the back of the armor, but what about the inside? With a push down on the knob and a pull towards him, the left rear hatch would reveal the dark interior of the vehicle.

"Erm... would you mind shining a light on the inside?"

"Sure, no problem"

The Flash personnel would bring up a black cylindrical device with a bigger tube on its head and point the glass part at the inside. With a push of a button, focused white light would lit up the interior of the BMP.

"Here" he then hand the captain the device "Have my flashlight if you want"

Arnt would gladly receive the light, and with it in hand, he would then climb inside the vehicle for a closer look. He has got used to cramped nature of this type of vehicle, yet he stills have some struggles overtime.

As the entirety of the vehicle is interconnected, he was able to check the entire thing, although not without a lot of time and great effort for simply just navigating through the vehicle with the light on him.

"No holes here either, just... perfect..."

After all that, he'd get back into the turret and push the hatch open before then lifting himself out of the vehicle.

"It's all good so far" he said "The question is... does it start?"

Cues one of the soldiers assigned to accompany him climbing up on the vehicle. With the hatch already open, he'd climbed inside, seating himself in the new driver seat. Then, he'd reach down to get the engine scream to life.

A rumble is heard, shortly followed by a powerful roar. It is back to where it once was, ready to serve its master.

"So... you don't mind if we drive this around?" Arnt made a request to a Flash counterpart.

"Nah, it's okay, you're good to drive it out anyway"

The Captain smiled, nodding in acknowledgement.

"...In the meantime, could you get us white paint and a brush when we come back?"

"What for?" the Flash personnel bluntly asked.

"Oh, just a little tribute..." as his other aide would get into the BMP from the rear and look down at his driver "Onward!"

The BMP lunges forward, then making a turn towards the exit for a little test drive as a measurement for assurance before it would return to the service of the Royal Naeslagtlandic Army... as a vehicle still under lease of course.

...

A Foreign Battalion infantry squad would advance forward with their platoon with spacing put between each other in their formation. Directly supporting them from behind would be the 6x6 APCs, also platoon-sized.

After possibly hundreds of rounds going downrange while in position, they were given orders to move forward as a line, a tactic they knew like the back of their hand, just with guns that spew more lead than an entire company can normally dish out in a minute.

The line slowly took each steps, stock on their shoulder for the riflemen and for the machine gunner, tucked into their hips.

Along the path laid targets on their path from a distance as the platoon just kept firing from semi-automatic shots that is accurate half the time and short bursts of the machine gun. Note the 83's aren't doing anything at the moment other than following close behind.

Each of these soldiers would take turn firing, quickly changing their magazine whenever it is necessary, keep moving along the line, repeat.

"HOLD POSITION!" yelled out the commander of this platoon.

After covering such distance, the entirety of the infantry formation would get low once more, the Pasis braking to a halt, guns still pointed downrange, the bipods of the MGs deployed yet again.

With the personnel carrier then readjusting their locations to the formation and the infantrymen lying there, they would hold this area in defense. Their test of mechanized tactics or vehicle-mounted ones in general is coming to an end, they could feel it. But the exercise is only just getting started.

...

"Hey you heard of that aircraft landing here?" asked an Esterrian infantryman as he and his squad walks in column along a preset path.

Near the border of Esterria and La Ferdina Gestrae had quiet down all of the sudden, but the Northern Pact could not help but feel a little tense. What is often referred to as the South and East as it seemed had cut down on its activity in the region, most notably around Reslania's border area.

"You mean a P-3 Orion or something?"

"Yes, that one"

As a result, all the military forces of the Pact were put on alert and patrols are still held as frequently as they were.

"What's so special about it that you had to mentioned it as that aircraft?"

It's such a considerable irregularity knowing the nature of the Empire of La Ferdina and Varika, the two key powers of the opposing countries that many have thought they may be planning something, it's just that they can't put their finger exactly at.

"Well... there's a rumor going on recently with our counterparts from Flashia that certain aircrafts, specifically the P-3's are being reflagged as the one from their air force rather than Navy who previously solely operated the type..."

"Huh... that's it...?"

For now though, the best they could do is to wait for something to happen with their soldiers and armors prepared.

"...According to some of the Flash troops I've overheard-"

"You overheard?"

"They were speaking in ICL..."

"Oh right I totally forgot most of them speaks the language..."

"...Anyways, as I was saying, I overheard them talking about it. They were talking about how it could potentially carrying a special package..."

"...What special package are we talking about?"

"I have no idea... but the way they talked about it... I think it's something big, something dangerous..."

"...But then again, a rumor is a rumor..."

"Eh...?"

"As long as it isn't confirmed, it's probably not true"

"Good point... but what if...?"

The 2 soldiers would march on quietly.

"...Let's just move on shall we?"

The other would silently nod in agreement.

"...So what do you think? Why did those Ferdies and Variks scaled back on their tomfoolery?"

"Possibly due to uprisings over the border?"

"...I'm sorry what?"

"I read the news just an hour before, there were some uprisings in several of their vassal states, mainly due to their 'missing sons' and the military had to be mobilized to quell the resistance over the past few days "

"Huh... how come have I not heard it until now?"

"It's a recent news, those empires tried to keep it a secret from us and other people"

"Well they clearly did a bad job doing so..."

"You're damn right about that!"

...

Back to the ice land, with the open field and the forest settled, it was time to jump into the trench again, just this time, covered in proper snow.

28/10/2017 With the fully automatic carbines, the squad of 6 men pushed in two directions split in fireteams of 3 while the machine gun crew stay back at the rear owing to the unsuitability of their long, heavy gun that generally can't be shouldered for this kind of combat.

"Beta-5 is now in the trench, I repeat, Beta-5's at the trench!"

Going the opposite way of each other, they would work their way through the network built for the purpose of the days long exercise. Along the way, targets would pop up and...

BANG BANG

...Subsequently shot.

"Watch out, we got a section here..."

Along the way, the trench system would be branched out, either with it joining back together or stopping short as has been observed in the field.

For each section, 1 soldier would cover the current path while 2 would check on the branch. If it is the former type, 1 would be signalled to continue on the one they were going earlier, shooting down more of the targets while the other will go clear through branch before linking back up to three.

However, in this Berian fireteam's case, it would be confirmed to be a short dead end, and something like this would lead up to some sort of fortification which they have here, one of the 2 soldiers would promptly...

"FRAG OUT!"

Throw their little problem solver in there.

BOOM

Solves 99% of their problems every time, as they had discovered, but they're not done yet. The pair would enter inside and sweep the barrel around while dust is still flying around, only to find it already clear.

Now they are.

"Move, move, move!"

The Berian pair would egress out of the mock fortification and would get back to the other one, giving him a little tap on the shoulder which got him moving on, the fireteam now continues into the trench.

This process would repeat a few more times as they fired upon targets after targets, puffs of dust emerging as grenades occasionally pops in two different places with two different teams.

...

"So..." said an ambassador of the Dominion "Shall we start?"

Barminde, Tilenogtyve While all of those are underway at Svarher, a certain Naeslagt, Esterrian, Geschnokean and a Tilenogtyvean would be gathered for a meeting regarding the matter with Beria.

"Well, gentlemen" the Defense Minister of Flashia began "I would like to reiterate that thank you all for coming today. And without further ado, we can get into the agenda"

In the meeting room, 2 generals of the other Northern Pact states, Anton Dam and Janos would be present sitting on the table.

"Right, then allow me to begin" voiced the general from Naeslagtland "Our company of troops stationed in the Northern island has reported that their platoons of armored vehicle had gone back to full strength following the return of the disabled BMP-2MD into service in addition to remaining in a state of high readiness. However, Captain Arnt Rosett who leads the troops brought up concerns that if we were to move into Beria, the current gear is said to be questionable in terms of keeping the soldiers in battle"

"And it is the same for us as well" added the Esterrian general, more specifically Belink "The winter gear kept our soldiers warm in Svarher, but while I do not know for sure, it might not be enough for the further Northern land. Also, while we are in this topic, we believe we need better equipment for our soldiers in Gestrae"

"I could see what you both mean..." answered Anton "...Rest assured that we could get you more adequate equipment, however until then, you would have to wait for the Parliament to approve of such transfer"

"That is fine by us..."

"...Anyways, what about you, Ambassador Ja- sorry, Murrais?"

Again, the name order is in reverse for Geschnokeans like with their Kiralsians counterparts.

"Well, we have been reconsidering some aspect about our cooperation, in regards to the whole seclusion of both armies in training..."

"And what are you suggesting?"

"...After careful consideration, we believe we might have to lift the ban on joint training between Geschnokean troops and Flash troops for the purpose of Svarher and Beria-"

"I'm going to stop you right there" with a hint of surprise in Anton's voice "Are you inferring that troops of both nations should be able to train with each other?"

"Yes, that is what I was referring. Anyways, the reason why is that through our assessment, we have been led to believe that if we were allowed to train with soldiers of Flashia, we could prepare ourselves better for the Berian environment if such an intervention is to happen while also adhering to a strict mutual non-disclosure agreement about each other's capabilities. After all, it's your country that has such a freezing environment as typical"

While the other 2 generals would keep their lips tight, the Defense Minister would only stare down on the table, left with some thoughts to process.

"...I think I could see what you're going with this" he returned to the ambassador "...Nevertheless, like the 2 gentlemen here, I'm afraid you might have to be patient for the Parliament to possibly approve the change"

"That is understandable... I'm a bit skeptical whether your people would be approving of this myself if I'm going to be honest..."

"That's alright, let's just see how it will go..."

...

"Rough day eh?"

"You tell me... it feels like we're really at war..."

1/11/2017 "Well I mean, you gotta learn as fast as possible no?" as one local soldier of the Defense Forces from the logistic platoon gives the Berian water bottle.

"I guess so..." the Foreign Battalion infantryman would unscrew the cap "I didn't think the difference was that large when I, no we came in..." he'd gulps down a big sip afterward.

The Battalion could now rest their weapon around their base after days of the exercise have come to an end. In spite of being utter exasperated throughout the nights, they were able to achieve a satisfactory enough result.

"When will we finally go back?"

"What do you mean? You're already here?"

"No... I meant back to Beria..."

"Oh, umm... yeah that's hard to say"

From the forests to the trench, from over there to right here, they done all the distance and a lot of kinds of environment they could find themselves in in the future battles, improving their skills, aim, and reaction time.

The only problem is that they haven't done force-on-force yet...

...

The Federal Republic and the Dominion originally upheld an agreement that while each other militaries are allowed to have a conversation or two, they could not be seen training together for mutual fear of the other learning about how they fight to be used against them later on.

However as time goes on, as their relations are quite well off in the first place, that reason became redundant as it is widely accepted that one would keep quiet of the capabilities that they weren't aware of beforehand to the public. Plus, who knows? They might actually learn something from each other's experiences...

...And that was enough for the Parliament to pass the amendment albeit just barely.

Off the Eastern Svarher Coast For the first time ever, Flashia and Geschnokea holds a bilateral exercise with each other forces, this one's navy-oriented. Consisting of ships of various sizes, the flotilla of cruisers would sail side-by-side with the Rivija CSG as the main carrier launches a white fighter jet.

And the only thing the Geschnokeans could do is watch in awe of the spectacle.

"Look at that! They launched the aircraft even with a such a short distance!"

Carriers are not unheard of, as Verdecana employs a number of this type of ship and they do have one in their inventory themselves. What certainly is however, is that fighter jet could be launched with a full load at possibly half the distance of what it'd normally takes on their own, if not even less than that.

"By the gods, how heavy is that? Twice the Verdec jet?"

"No, they can't possibly be around that... Maybe heavier but not that much"

"But all those things under their wings..."

As far as they're aware of, aircrafts, at least those from the Imperium carries along something under the wings for only one reason: additional fuel, which they do see on that particular aircraft.

However, they did also manage to spot an assortment of things placed symmetrically, a few right on the tip of the wings, raising more questions as the white bird gets further and further away from them. Their purpose of most of it remains unknown for them.

"What's with those arrows alongside bombs...?"

And yes, they do recognize the bombs in green but not anything else.

While the surface ships of both nations of different worlds continue to be in formation, yet to be in position as per the drilled scenario, the jet from before would join the other aircrafts, their own and Geschnokean biplanes as part of a joint simulated airborne preemptive strike.

...

"Sir, may I ask when are we going to take action?" said an FIIA operative to his handler in an alleyway somewhere in the island of Nyttland.

"Just wait, it'll be soon..."

"When exactly?"

"...I'll let you know later"

...

I've dragged this long enough already to the point I might go to action with the next one.

this chap might be crap compared to what I done in the previous few ones tho.