Austronesia Empire's Ethnic Group Polls After the New Year Tragedy:

January 5, 2000

Christianity - 47%

Atheist - 31%

Islamic - 21%

Judaism, Satanism, Others - 1%

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March 5, 2000

Christianity - 53%

Islamic - 39%

Atheist - 6%

Judaism, Satanism, Others - 2%

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Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, New Guinea, Support Base

1st Year of God, Monday, 4th Week, Month of Abraham

The rear ramps of the Golden Eagle crashed open, and the soldiers of Omega-191 stormed down the decks with their hands tightly gripping the stretcher carrying one of their wounded comrades.

Several medical personnel, marked by bright red cross armbands, rushed forward with a trolley bed between them. They quickly took over from the exhausted soldiers.

“What happened to him?” one of the medics asked, her eyes scanning the stretcher.

"Some Greenskin Wizard possessed our friend and mind fucked us!" Mason yelled over the scream of the turboprops.

“What?” the medic asked in confusion as she rummaged through her bag for a blood pressure monitor and other tools.

“He saw something he shouldn’t have,” Riley added, raising his voice to compete with the noise of the engines. “Now he’s possessed by the primary target and killed several of our men before we could stop him.”

“Oh.” The medic with her name tag reading ‘June’, had her hair pulled into a ponytail and a pair of stethoscopes draped around her neck. “Alright, get him to Trauma One!”

“Mason gave him 20 CCs of traq-shot and hooked him up to an IV fluid drip since then,” Price reported.

“I also cast [Minor Recovery] and [Minor Dispel],” Polities chimed in.

“Understood.” June quickly scribbled down the details on a clipboard attached to the trolley. “Any physical trauma?”

“No, it’s all mental,” Riley answered as they reached the thick white curtains of the medical tent.

“Don’t worry,” June said with a comforting smile. “We’ll heal your friend.”

“Thanks.” Riley watched as she and her team wheeled Tavish inside. Turning to the others, he sighed. “We wait here.”

The group slumped down near a couple of guards stationed at the medical center, who nodded respectfully at them. Exhaustion finally overtook them, and before long, both Riley and Mason had dozed off where they sat.

————————————————————————

Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono allowed himself a rare smile as the message came in that the Tempest Scions had landed successfully at the Army Support Base.

The latest reports from the field indicated no sightings of undead, and the nightly attacks had ceased, finally granting the weary defenders some much-needed rest.

In the command center, Cahyono began clapping with his hands cutting through the quiet hum of electronics. “Good work, people,” he praised, and the staff, momentarily pausing their tasks, joined in with a round of applause. On the central display, Specialist Sergeant Riley’s tired face appeared with a faint but satisfied smile.

[Sir,] Riley’s voice crackled over the comms, [We did suffer four casualties. One fell in the fight against the Necromancer, and three others were killed by the same one who fell and became possessed. He's currently in the Medical Center undergoing treatment.]

Cahyono nodded gravely. "Understood. Despite the losses, you and your team performed admirably. I’ll be recommending the entire unit for commendations."

[Thank you, Sir,] Riley saluted. [If there's nothing more, I need to check on my men.]

"Go ahead," Cahyono said with a smile. "And tell them drinks are on me when this war is over."

After a quick salute, the screen went dark. The moment was short-lived as one of the comms officers spoke up.

“Sir, incoming transmission from Command.”

Cahyono straightened. “Put it on the main screen.”

The screen flickered to life, revealing Emperor Maximo’s imposing figure, causing all officers to snap to attention and saluted sharply.

“Your Majesty!”

[At ease,] the Emperor said, returning the salute. [I want to congratulate you on a successful mission. UAV surveillance shows no undead forces remaining in New Guinea. It seems the undead threat has been totally eradicated.]

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Cahyono replied. "We’ve had no further reports of undead activity."

The Emperor’s expression remained steely as he continued. [The Men of Stone project, spearheaded by Sir Odysseus, is also yielding excellent results."

Cahyono’s grin widened. "Far better than anticipated, Your Majesty. The greenskins won't know what hit them when we deploy those units."

Maximo exhaled in frustration. [This war is becoming intolerable. If we can crush these alien barbarians in one decisive strike, we’ll be in a much stronger position for whatever comes next.]

Cahyono nodded, fully aware of the strategic advantage that lay in choosing their battles. The Emperor wasn’t wrong as the overwhelming force could tip the scales in their favor.

Maximo's tone shifted. [This afternoon, I want a full battalion to launch an all-out assault. Purge the orc plague once and for all.]

Cahyono hesitated, “Your Majesty, why not authorize a missile strike? We have plenty in our arsenal, and without the Necromancer, their forces are weakened. Sending our men in could mean unnecessary casualties.”

A cold smile crept across the Emperor's lips.

"Don’t concern yourself with that," Maximo said quietly. "I have something I want to test."

————————————————————————

Austronesia Empire, Imperial Majahapit, New Guinea, New Guinea Highlands

1st Year of God, Monday, 4th Week, Month of Abraham

BOOOOM!!

The next day, the dense forests of the New Guinea Highlands shuddered under the force of battle. Orcs charged through the trees with their guttural war cries echoing as they fired their crude Shootas. The human platoon, though heavily outnumbered, fought back in a brutal exchange of gunfire as their silhouettes barely visible amidst the burst of muzzle flashes. The staccato of assault rifles rang through the air, accompanied by the thunderous roar of attack helicopters overhead with their chainguns mounted on them spat out streams of bullets, mowing down Orcs by the dozens.

But it still wasn’t enough.

“Reinforcements! We need reinforcements, dammit!” a sergeant shouted over the cacophony of battle with desperation in his voice.

His plea was abruptly silenced as the soldier beside him was torn apart by a massive bullet as his torso was reduced into a mist of blood. The hulking Orc responsible let out a triumphant roar and charged forward with a wicked cleaver. With savage strength, it hacked through one soldier and shot another with its crude weapon before the squad's concentrated gunfire riddled the beast's body with bullets, finally brought it down.

A nearby corporal cursed as he took cover behind a fallen tree. “What the hell was Command thinking? A platoon and two choppers against a damn army of Orcs? They should’ve sent in a missile strike or hell, even a nuke!”

The captain crouched beside him and reloaded his rifle with a calm expression. “They’re sending a full battalion. Colonel Ciaphas and armor support are on the way.”

The corporal scoffed while blind-firing over the log. “We shouldn’t even be here! They could’ve bombed that camp the second the Necromancer was dead, after the Special Forces got out. Why wait?”

The Captain glanced over at him with a sharp gaze. "If Command wanted to bomb it, they would’ve. But they’ve got something they’re testing."

Before the corporal could respond, the unmistakable thrum of rotor blades cut through the air, growing louder. Soon, three more helicopters descended over the treetops, each carrying massive, humanoid figures beneath them. Their stone bodies gleamed in the dappled sunlight as they were lowered into the fray.

As the choppers lowered their cargo between the human forces and the Orc horde, the ground shook when the Earth Golems touched down.

These are the Men of Stone.



"What in the hell..." the corporal muttered with his wide eyes fixed on the towering figures, as the soldiers around him shared varied expressions of shock and awe.

Before anyone could fully process the sight, a massive Orc brute roared a blood-curdling challenge and rallied the horde into a frenzied charge. But the Men of Stone stood their ground, and one of the Golems, with a colossal arm fitted with a massive gun, raised it and unleashed a storm of 25mm Mithril rounds. The Orcs unlucky enough to be in its line of fire were shredded and their bodies were torn apart like paper in a hurricane of metal.

The second Men of Stone stepped forward with flames erupting from a flamethrower mounted on its back, and a wave of intense fire, burning hotter than any earthly inferno, swept over the charging Orcs, cooking these walking green mushrooms like a BBQ and turning the frontline into a blazing wasteland in an instant.

The third Golem, armed with a roaring chainsword, rushed forward. Its massive stone body moved with astonishing speed as it cleaved through the ranks of the Orcs with brutal efficiency. The magical enhancements on its stone skin allowed it to shrug off most of their bullets, though a few managed to leave only minor dents on its surface as it pressed on and mowed down Orc after Orc.

The battlefield became a slaughterhouse as the Men of Stone tore through the Orc ranks, proving themselves to be unstoppable against even the horde of Orcs

An Orc swung its crude axe at one of the Golems, only to be split in half by a single sweep of the Golem’s chainsword. Another fell to a precise blast from the Golem's magic gun, and its body disintegrated under the sheer force.

But then, from the rear of the Orc horde, a High Orc emerged. Towering above its kin, it wielded an enormous axe forged from gleaming Adamantite, as its eyes locked on the Golems with unshaken confidence. The High Orc, a creature of immense strength and ferocity, charged forward and meet the Earth Golem head-on.

The clash of their weapons shook the very air, sparks flying as the Golem’s chainsword met the unyielding Adamantite of the High Orc’s axe.

For a tense moment, they were locked in a brutal stalemate as the High Orc roared in fury as its immense strength was enough to crush armored vehicles, but the Golem remained resolute, unyielding in its mechanical fury.

Then, with calculated precision, the Golem aimed its magic gun at the High Orc’s feet and fired a blast that shattered both the Orc's feet and the ground beneath it, causing the High Orc to howl in agony, its footing lost, and the Golem seized the moment. With a vicious strike, it drove its chainsword deep into the High Orc’s chest and grint through flesh and bone.

With a final, brutal twist, the Golem ripped the High Orc’s head from its body and raised it triumphantly before casting it aside like refuse. The Orc horde, witnessing the fall of their leader, faltered as their once-ferocious charge crumbled into disarray.

The captain, crouched behind cover, grinned grimly as the tide of battle turned in their favor.

"Looks like Command's little experiment worked after all."

Brrrrr—!

Suddenly, a deep, guttural horn echoed through the forest and reverberated off the trees as another wave of Orcs stormed into the fray.

Leading them was Jiak the SkullKrusher, towering above his warbands as his tusked face twisted in a brutal grin. With a signal from his massive hand, he unleashed his horde into a reckless charge with their melee weapons raised high while spraying their guns wildly, most end up missing their target as Orcs are bad at proper aiming.

"Dakka Dakka Dakka! Need more DAKKA!" one of the heavily armed Orc shouted his lungs out as he gleefully fired his slugga until it exploded in his hands. But this didn't stop other Orcs as they continued their assault with no concern for their own safety or show any battle tactic.

Bullets whizzed through the air, and though most shots missed their mark, the sheer volume of firepower began to take its toll as the Human soldiers started to have wounded, and casualties as a few of the lucky shots ended up hitting troops. Despite the mounting casualties, no one from the human side pulls back as each troop is an experienced soldier and veteran that went through the horrors of the New Year Tragedy.

With that war, every soldier who fought there was a battle-tested warrior, and retreat was not an option.

Lieutenant Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono watched the chaos unfold from within his Mobile Tank Fortress, the hulking vehicle offering a measure of protection against the Orc assault as he manned the heavy machine gun from the top hull. He didn’t need to aim as the wave of Orcs was so dense, charging without any semblance of formation. His mounted weapon rattled off round after round, mowing down the oncoming horde like a scythe through tall grass.

He had never been fond of charging into battle, but the tank's armor provided a safeguard against the mayhem outside. More reassuring still were the Men of Stone on the battlefield gave him security as these Earth Golems were powerful enough to slaughter an army of Orcs by themselves.

But the true challenge for Cahyono wasn’t just the battlefield or the Orcs, it was the Imam seated beside him inside the tank. The old man had insisted on joining the battle, claiming he wished to witness the slaughter of the Orcs firsthand. It was a strange sentiment for a religious figure, and Cahyono had found it unsettling.

The majority of the Imperial Majapahit army was primarily composed of Muslim soldiers, and their faith in Allah guided them through this alien invasion. Having the Imam present was meant to be a symbol of their divine mission. Yet, to Cahyono, it felt more like an added burden. Babysitting a religious leader in the middle of a warzone was not how he had envisioned this campaign.

However, the old man was full of surprises. He had mentioned once being a tank captain during World War 3, and when Cahyono saw him operating the tank’s systems with the precision of a seasoned veteran, he couldn’t help but be impressed. The Imam’s hands moved across the controls with practiced ease with his old sharp focused eyes moved around the controls. It was as though the decades had slipped away, and he was back in command of an armored beast once more.

Cahyono, still cautious but slightly more at ease, glanced at the carnage outside. "I never thought I'd see the day an Imam ran a tank in the middle of an alien war."

The old man smiled faintly as his weathered face betrayed no fear. "There are many ways to serve Allah, Colonel. Today, mine is through fire and steel."

“That sounds kinda coo-”

"Fire at will!"

Before Ciaphas could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard the Imam's commanding shout over the battle.

"Yes, sir." One of the tank crew members pulled the trigger, and the Mobile Tank Fortress let loose a thunderous shell. The explosive round slammed into the frontlines of the Orcs, obliterating three entire ranks in a single strike. Nearby, human soldiers wielding flamethrowers torched the battlefield to make sure that the deadly Orc spores couldn’t take root and spread.

Meanwhile, dozens of AF-1 gunfire from the human soldiers echoed as the Men of Stone fired their magic cannons accurately at the larger Orcs that lurked within the horde. Meanwhile, the soldiers on the front lines held their ground and unloaded their regular guns into the rushing mass, while the artillery crews in the back set up their heavy weapons to provide covering fire.

Despite the humans' superior firepower and tactical advantage, the Orcs continued to push forward, with most of them giggling and smiling maniacally, seemingly immune to fear or pain. The Orc's primal instinct to fight and their thick brutish body's physical ability to absorb multiple wounds made them difficult to kill outright. While they lacked to possess more heavy equipment, advanced weaponry and had lesser vehicles, their sheer numbers and aggression were enough to keep pushing the humans and Earth Golems to their limits.

"Kill all 'umiez! All we need iz dere scraps!" Jiak gave his command as eight massive High Orcs, each armed with oversized choppas, began to walk forward. Before they get into the firing range, they grabbed smaller Orcs and Goblins up and used them as meat shields to block incoming fire.

"Focus all your fire on them!" Cahyono barked into his comms. "Those High Orcs are trouble!"

The tanks swiveled their guns toward the advancing elites and fired a barrage of HEAT rounds. The explosions shredded the living shields apart, disintegrating the smaller Orcs, but the High Orcs themselves absorbed the brunt of the damage as their thick hide and raw strength allowing them to push on, barely slowed.

The Men of Stone, sensing the threat, switched to their melee weaponry to face the High Orcs in close combat. Armed with chainsword, the Men of Stones charge head-on as their chainsword engines roar in full power.

Soon enough, their blades whirled as they met the hulking Orcs head-on.

The battlefield shook with the clash of titans from two sides, stone versus flesh, became the center of the battlefield as the skilled swordsmanship and the AI within the Earth Golems ripped into Orc’s flesh into pieces with the Chainswords, while the High Orcs fought back with sheer brute strength, which cracked their magically enhanced stone bodies of the Golems and heavily injured them with their crude choppas.

The brutal melee combat eventually came to the point where some of the High Orcs grabbed nearby Goblins and threw them at the Golems with alarming speed, sending the smaller creatures flying like bullets. Meanwhile, the Men of Stone, showing their adaptability, dual-wielded their melee weapons and tried to gain any advantage they could against the overwhelming strength of their enemies.

The battle between the powerful Earth Golems and the Elite High Orcs didn't stop the main forces of both the Liberation Army, veterans of countless battles, fought with discipline and grit, and the Orc Horde, driven by bloodlust, threw themselves into the fray and finally clashed in close combat.

"Prepare for close combat!" The senior member of the Platoon Captain gave the command, which was met with grim determination as the soldiers prepared to use their bayonets on their rifles, while those armed with magic guns increased their rate of fire, trying to thin the oncoming wave.

But when the two forces finally collided, the battle quickly devolved into a one-sided bloody slaughter as the disciplined lines of the Imperial soldiers crumbled under the brutality of the Orcs with their crude weapons hacking and slashing through human flesh.

Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono, witnessing the massacre from his vantage point, gritted his teeth.

"Fall back inside!" he barked at his crew and retreated into the relative safety of the Mobile Tank Fortress. Inside, the Imam sat calmly, while Cahyono quickly issued his next command. "Run them down! Crush any Orc in our path until we reach the Warlord! If we can beat that greenskin, we could reduce their momentum!"

With the tank’s weapon systems at risk of friendly fire, Cahyono’s only option was to use the dozen-ton behemoth itself as a battering ram.

The Mobile Tank Fortress lurched forward, its massive treads chewing through the ground and anything unfortunate enough to stand in its way. Orcs barely had time to react before being ground into the dirt as their bodies were no match for the weight and momentum of the tank.

Still, despite the carnage, Cahyono’s mind was fixed on a single goal, which was the Orc Warlord. If they could kill him, the horde would descend into chaos and tear themselves apart to take command, making them lose command structure once and for all.

But as they neared the middle of the Orc force, Cahyono’s breath caught in his throat as he saw something that would soon make him wish he would never encounter again in his life.

Charging toward them was a single squig, a two-legged beast with a large mouth, with its entire body strapped with bombs and TNT.

It was a living suicide bomb as it sprinted straight for the Fortress and intended to blow itself up.

"God damn it!" Cahyono swung the machine gun around and fired in rapid bursts, seeing the barrel glowing red as he unloaded everything he had into the charging squig. "Come on, come on!" he muttered through gritted teeth, feeling his heart pounding as he continued to fire more rounds at the bomb-laden creature closing the distance.

The squig’s form seemed to be larger in the Colonel’s sights as its slavering jaws stuffed with explosives ready to blow them all to pieces. Cahyono fired again and again with desperation mounting as he uttered a hurried prayer.

"If you’re real, Allah, Yahweh, God, or whoever your name is, please give me a miracle to survive all this shit!"

And then, by some stroke of fate, one of his rounds finally hit the bullseye as the well-aimed shot struck the TNT inside the squig’s mouth, igniting it in a spectacular explosion, which tore the squig apart mid-charge and sent a shockwave that obliterated scores of nearby Orcs in a fiery inferno.

"Yes!" Cahyono shouted, feeling his heart racing with adrenaline when he escaped from certain death. But his celebration was cut short as another explosion rocked the tank from the opposite side.

Before Cahyono could react, the Fortress was lifted off the ground and flipped a full 180 degrees in a deafening crash. Inside, the world turned upside down as the crew was thrown about violently as the tank came to rest on its roof with smoke and sparks flying as its systems flickered and failed.

It wasn’t until the dust began to settle that Cahyono realized what had happened. While he had been focused on the first squig, a second bomb squig had slipped around the flank, detonating just beneath the tank and leaving it immobilized, which now became a sitting duck behind enemy lines.

"Dammit!" Cahyono cursed with blood trickling down his forehead from a cut sustained in the impact. They were trapped, pinned in the heart of the Orc horde, with no backup in sight.

As Cahyono regained his composure, he reached down to pick up his fallen hat, still dazed from the explosion, which had knocked the wind from him, but it wasn't enough to keep him or the Imam out of the fight. Now, a sharp tingling ran through Cahyono's palm as he scanned around him, searching for his aide.

"Old man, you alright? We need to move!" he called, stepping towards the Imam. But before he could take another step, the main hatch burst open, and an Orc, armed with a shoota, leveled his weapon at Cahyono. Due to the injury from the explosion, Cahyono couldn't react fast enough to draw his pistol. The Orc’s finger tightened on the trigger, and at that moment, Cahyono was about to accept his death.

Bang!

Then, gunfire rang out, and the Orc collapsed with two clean shots in its head.

“Apologies, young man,” the Imam said as he lowered his smoking AF-1. “Seems Allah’s protection didn’t extend to the tank this time.”

Cahyono forced a smile. “It's fine. I’m sure the techs can scrape together enough parts to fix it after all this.”

With a quick nod, Cahyono drew his pistol and turned his focus back to the battlefield. He wasn’t the best marksman, nor did he possess any superhuman abilities, but his survival instinct had never failed him, and today would be no different in the New World.

"Let’s get out before more of them show up and cause problems," he said to the Imam and approached the open hatch. Just as he was about to pop his head outside, a heavy thud shook the ground beneath them, making the already battered Fortress Tank shudder.

“What in the world...?” Cahyono muttered and stepped outside, using the tank’s side as cover since the hatch faced the Liberation forces, but the tank’s bottom was now exposed to the Orcs’ main assault.

He cautiously peeked around the corner, and his heart swelled with hope when he spotted a towering Earth Golem, ten meters tall and unlike anything Cahyono had ever seen, engaged the Orc rear rank of Warbands alone.

It was Odysseus’s greatest creation, a massive Stone Giant equipped with a cannon to rival the "ALN Teuku Umar" and a flamethrower capable of obliterating anything in its path.

And the Colonel had witnessed the giant Men of Stone unleashed the most devastating firepower from its weaponry while none of the Orc weapons could scratch its impenetrable armor.

Above, two Thunderwing airborne attack helicopters swooped down, releasing a rain of rockets while three TA-7 Transport Helicopters deployed 300 Imperial soldiers. Reinforcements from Alpha Company arrived as well, flanking the battlefield with Pahlwan and T-99 Super Tanks, crushing Orcs beneath their treads.

Seeing the tide turning, Cahyono activated his comms and gave hopeful words to encourage the remaining troops and pull them from despair.

“Forward, men and women of the Liberation Army! For the People’s Empire!"

——————————————————

Jiak the SkullKrusher was having a terrible day. First, his prized undead army, painstakingly raised by the Elder Shaman, who is now confirmed dead, had been decimated, which is disgraceful enough. And now, everything he'd built was on the verge of collapse.

At least they have fun with those “pow pow” weapons, which those umiez had some impressive amount of, and Jiak had to admit they had the best scrap around, better than those pointy-eared gits or the tiny-footed ones. Not to mention, they have more numbers to be krumping by Jiak’s boyz.

His victory was sure after they'd blown up that giant metal box with squigs. That was until a massive rock giant suddenly dropped from the sky and started demolishing his troops with its massive shootas, while two of those cursed flying dragons rained down fire and more human soldiers.

"Dis isn't ova yet! Send out Battlewagon!"

Responding to the command, an enormous red Monster Truck, bristling with ramming spikes, various shootas, and loaded with eager Orc troops, barreled through the battlefield, plowing over unfortunate gretchen foot soldiers without a care and headed straight for the Giant Men of Stone.

"Ere we go, ere we go, ere we go!" the Orc driver and the rest of the Orc front passengers chanted gleefully, as if celebrating someone's birthday.

The Giant Men of Stone, however, was already prepared for thus encounter since it had overheard Jiak’s very loud command. With the AI's lightning-fast reflexes, the towering Golem switched from long-range firepower to close combat, deploying flame cannons and power fists in response.

The red-painted Battlewagon smashed into the Golem head-on and forced the massive stone machine backward for a moment, but this didn't last long as the Earth Golem regained its footing shortly. The clash between two factions' heavy units continues as the Battlewagon's engine sputtering and belching black smoke as it struggled to overpower the Golem.

"Shot it!" The driver of the battlewagon shouted and every Orcs within the truck raised their shootas, ready to fire at the Giant Men of Stone. But before they could pull their triggers, a searing blast of flame erupted from the Golem’s cannons and engulfed the top of the Battlewagon. In an instant, the Orcs inside were reduced to smoldering ash.

"Nicely done, old man," Cahyono said as he stood on top of the battered Fortress Tank with his AF-1 rifle aimed at the Orc driver. With a single shot, he struck the driver in the head and momentarily disabled the vehicle.

"Thank you, young sir," the Imam, who is kneeling next to Cahyono, reloaded his own rifle and fired to obliteratie the rest of the Battlewagon’s exposed top. "People think veterans like me get all that PTSD nonsense. But this? This is giving me nostalgia."

“I couldn’t agree more,” Cahyono replied with a grim smile.

Seeing the battlewagon disabled, the massive Earth Golem flipped the vehicle with all its might. With the downfall of their prized vehicle sent ripples of panic through the smaller greenskins, who began to retreat in fear. This made Jiak once again enraged and began to start krumping anyone who disobeys his orders.

Meanwhile, Ciaphas Cahyono stood tall on top of the battered Fortress Tank, wielding a chainsword in one hand and his AF-1 rifle in the other while the massive Earth Golem stepped forward and unintentionally shielded him from incoming Orc projectiles.

Its imposing frame absorbed the brunt of the enemy fire as it pushed forward and cleared the path.

"Push forward and burn them all!" Cahyono's command echoed across the battlefield, and a total of 3000 Imperial soldiers, alongside the rest of the troops who had defeated the High Orcs, charged ahead with thundering voices and new inspiration.

"For the People’s Empire!"

"Bring victory and honor!"

“God is Great!!”

The soldiers of the Liberation Army, now drunk with inspiration and near victory, charged forward with every kind of weapon hot and ready to kill. The volley of gunfire stopped the Orcs’ advance, while magic-infused bullets cut through the enemy ranks with ease. The soldiers armed with flamethrowers spewed red hot flames, and the Giant Men of Stone joined the BBQ to wipe every living lifeform, turning the entire battlefield into an inferno.

Even the smaller Stone Golems armed themselves with flamethrowers and magic guns to make sure no greenskin would escape the Liberation Army’s assault to maintain the control of the battlefield.

"Spare no one! Let them feel the might of humanity!" Cahyono shouted as he fired his AF-1 rifle until the magazine clicked empty. His voice was a rallying cry, propelling his troops forward into the heart of the Orc ranks.

‘Thank goodness. I hope the command will send in a missile strike to end this already,’ Cahyono thought but before relief could fully settle in, a massive Orc burst through the wall of flames while holding the corpse of one Orc in his hand.

"Dis ain't ova, 'umiez!" Jiak the SkullKrusher snarled and used the dead High Orc as a meatshield while charging toward the first line of soldiers. With his other hand, he swung his brutal choppa and began his carnage by cleaving through four soldiers with each savage strike.

Seeing this, the Giant Men of Stone shifted into melee mode and prepared to engage the Orc Warlord in close combat. But before it could unleash its full arsenal, Jiak bitch slapped the Golem with a titanic blow that sent a shockwave through the air. The force of the hit reverberated across the battlefield, shaking the nearby mountains and toppling the Earth Golem to the ground.

"Received medium damage. Mobility impaired. Requesting air support," the Golem’s mechanical voice announced as it struggled to rise. Overhead, the two Thunderwing helicopters immediately changed their target and fired their rockets and heavy gunfire at Jiak.

While this is happening, Jiak continued his rampage by hacking through soldiers with ease as he closed in on Cahyono. His eyes locked on the human commander as his intention clear, Jiak was aiming for the leader of the leader of the Liberation forces to die by his hand.

"Keep firing! Take down that Orc!" Cahyono gave his order, while maintaining his posture on top of the tank while inside of his head, he panics as an oversized Orc didn't slow down for a second.

The giant Orc didn’t seem to care about the injuries he sustained from the soldiers’ rifles or the rockets raining down from the helicopters as he charged forward with relentless fury.

‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Cahyono’s mind raced as he watched the Orc Warlord bulldoze his way through the battlefield, now mere feet from the tank. Desperately, he looked down into the tank where the Imam was waiting.

"Stop that thing!"

“Load!!” the Imam commanded with the calm authority of a seasoned veteran. The tank crew sprang into action and loaded the main cannon in a practiced, fluid motion.

The Fortress Tank's gun swiveled toward the rampaging Orc Warlord with its barrel ready to unleash one final, desperate strike.

“Ready!”

“Fir—” The Imam began to command, but before the words could fully escape his lips, Jiak the SkullKrusher launched himself toward the tank with terrifying speed, raising his massive axe high above his head and ready to strike the tank down with his monstrous strength as the crew felt the sheer force behind his imminent strike.

“Fuck!” a tank crew member cursed as he slammed the trigger.

Click!

BOOOOM!!

The tank's barrel unleashed a devastating HEAT round just as Jiak’s axe was about to come crashing down. The explosion engulfed the Orc Warleader in a thick cloud of smoke and obscured the battlefield in an instant.

“Did we get him?” Cahyono asked, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

"We'll see..." the Imam replied, his eyes narrowing as they watched the smoke begin to dissipate.

Slowly, the smoke cleared. For a brief, hopeful moment, there was silence before it was revealed if that attacked work or no-

“WARGHHHHH!!!”

Coming out of the smoke was Jiak whose face steaming with fury. The blast had left small burns across his skin, but they seemed superficial. His rage, however, was unscathed.

“OH SHIT!!!”

Before anyone could react, Jiak closed the gap in a heartbeat and swung his axe forward, as the sound of it cutting through the air like a deadly whisper.

WHOOSH!

The next moment was a blur of violence, and a deafening crash echoed through the forest as the ground trembled beneath their feet.

BOOOOM!

The Fortress Tank was hurled through the air, spinning uncontrollably before it crashed into the dirt with a thunderous impact, uprooting trees and sending huge chunks of earth flying. The side of the tank was crumpled with a massive dent where Jiak’s axe had landed its brutal strike.

“WAAAAGH!!” Jiak roared once more as his massive frame moved with unnatural speed and became a blur as he closed the distance again, seemingly teleporting toward the wrecked tank.

WHUUM!

The Orc Warleader swung his axe again, but the tank crew, reacting in desperation, managed to drive the vehicle forward just in time to avoid the axe as it crashed into the ground where the tank had been, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.

BOOOOOM!!

As the loud noise erupted throughout the area, the tank tried to drive through the forest, but was promptly stopped when Jiak quickly grabbed the tank’s rear and leaped up.

The explosion shook the air as debris flew in every direction. The tank veered through the forest as its engines strained to put distance between them and the rampaging Orc. But Jiak was faster as he grabbed the rear of the tank with his massive hands and leaped into the air, pulling the tank up like it weighed nothing.

"Get him off! Get him off!" One tank crew member shouted, frantically searching for a way to escape the clutches of the enraged warlord.

WHOOOSH!

The Orc Warleader launched himself into the air at great height and, with terrifying strength, literally threw the Fortress Tank like it was a mere toy. The massive vehicle spun through the sky before crashing into the earth, flailing helplessly before settling in a twisted heap.

As Jiak descended upon the wreck, his hands clasped together and delivered a bone-crushing blow to the exposed top of the tank.

“Holy shit! That Orc is LITERALLY beating the hell out of that Fortress Tank!” a nearby soldier shouted in disbelief as he and his comrades watched the seemingly indestructible war machine being pulverized under the Orc’s fists like it was a disobedient dog.

BOOOM!

WHAM!

BOOOOOM!

With each blow, the earth quaked violently. Trees shattered, the ground split apart, and shockwaves rippled through the battlefield, sending soldiers stumbling back as the sheer force of Jiak’s attacks ripped apart the forest around them.

This level of destruction was unbelievable

"GRUUUUUUU..." Jiak growled, his breath heavy as he paused once he had gotten full of primal violence and senseless rage, he took a good look and admired the tank’s now-mangled form.

"HUHUHUHU..." He chuckled darkly as he stepped closer to the tank with the clear intention of ripping it apart to get at the humans inside.

But before he could reach it, a voice interrupted him.

“You… green ape!”

Jiak turned slowly to see Ciaphas Cahyono standing a few yards away, battered and bleeding while holding a chainsword he got from one of the Men of Stones in his hand. Despite the obvious pain and exhaustion, Cahyono’s voice was steady and his words were filled with defiance.

“You're a weak little green bastard,” Cahyono taunted, “You couldn’t even beat mere humans with all that strength!”

As it turned out, when Jiak had literally tossed the tank into the air, Cahyono had been flown out as well. Fortunately, his fall had been cushioned by the forest undergrowth, allowing him to survive with only minor injuries. When he landed safely, he quickly rolled to keep his distance away from the warleader. However, he couldn't act cowardly and abandoned the Imam and the tank crew who were still trapped inside the wreckage.

Jiak’s eyes narrowed as he sized up the human commander with his primal grin faded into a snarl.

“What would you do to get rid of all this humiliation?” Cahyono continued, goading the Orc.

In truth, Cahyono was terrified. He wasn't a superhuman warrior capable of tearing apart boulders or dodging bullets. He was just a man, an ordinary man facing a monster thousands of times stronger than him, evident of how he survived all those gunfire and literally battered the Empire's largest and strongest tanks like they were mere dogs.

This was suicide, plain and simple.

However, there are stories of one man who managed to face the impossible back in the New Year Tragedy, and it is none other than the infamous Francisco Dianopra Agraviador.

Despite being a controversial individual and a leader of a far-right military division, had become a figure of both respect and fear within the Liberation Army. Cahyono had heard stories of him having faced down a powerful Archdemon with nothing but a weapon similar to the one he is holding right now and the sheer force of his will.

Against all odds, he had managed to wound the creature, a feat that had earned him an almost mythic status.

And while Jiak the SkullKrusher was nowhere near as powerful as an Archdemon, he was still ridiculously powerful compared to a normal human like Cahyono.

The thought was absurd. How could he, an ordinary soldier, even stand a chance?

Yet, as he looked at Jiak’s hulking form, a strange calm settled over him. He wasn’t fighting for glory or power. He was fighting to protect those trapped in the tank behind him.

Only a miracle could save him now. But Cahyono wasn’t counting on miracles. He was counting on grit.

Raising his chainsword, Cahyono locked eyes with the Orc Warleader. If this was how he was going to die, he would face it head-on.

"I'll 'ave yer teef if 'dat iz 'da last fing I have to do!" Jiak roared with a thunderous voice.

With monstrous strength, the Orc Warlord threw his meatshield, not at Cahyono, but toward a group of approaching soldiers.

The body flew at such speed it nearly broke the sound barrier and slammed into them with a sickening crunch, reducing them all to obliterated remains and preventing them from firing their weapons at him.

"This iz duel! No interference!"

BOOM!

WHOOOOM!

With a deafening boom, the very ground shattered into massive chunks as the Orc Warlord charged forward with his enormous frame crashing toward Cahyono like a freight train.

His eyes gleamed with primal fury and his saliva dripped from his snarling mouth as he swung his big choppa in a wide arc.

WHOOOOOMM!

The sheer force of the swing caused the air to vibrate, and the wind parted to make way for the massive axe as it descended on Cahyono, aiming for his head.

Seeing the giant metal ax coming for him, Cahyno drew his battle-hardened reflexes and quickly dodged to the side at the last second due to the significant difference in strength. He knew better than to try and block such raw power as he'd witnessed enough giant monsters to know that a direct hit would be fatal.

BOOM!

The choppa smashed into the ground, splitting the earth and sending debris flying in every direction. Had Cahyono hesitated even for a moment, he would have been reduced to little more than a bloody stain.

Without wasting a second, Cahyono retaliated by swinging his chainsword toward Jiak’s head, hoping to end the fight in one decisive blow.

Fighting a monster that could shake mountains is suicide, yes. But that doesn't mean Cahyono is a full coward and an experienced fighter against both humans and the supernatural.

But just as Cahyono is an experienced fighter, Jiak wasn't just strong, he was an experienced fighter and a Transcendent Tier 1.

The Warleader simply raised his armored arm and let the chainsword's teeth grind against his gauntlet. Sparks flew as the adamantite blade chewed into the Orc's own adamantite gauntlet, but Jiak didn’t flinch. With a roar, he pushed Cahyono back with his monstrous strength, sending the human flying several meters into the air, but Cahyono twisted midair and focused on landing safely as Jiak prepared for another strike.

The Warleader raised his axe again, ready to deliver a killing blow, but before he could swing it, a deafening explosion rocked the battlefield.

BOOOM!

A shell from the Fortress Tank slammed into Jiak's left side, engulfing him in flames. The explosion seared his entire left arm and the hand that held his massive choppa. Jiak staggered in pain, even though his insane raw defense kept him alive, the blast had crippled him and forced him to his knees.

Orcs were notoriously durable, able to shrug off pain and injuries that would kill an ordinary man as their biological makeup was designed to endure pain and lethal injuries since they were created.

But even Jiak, with all his strength, couldn't fully withstand the damage from a direct tank shell.

"Young man!" The voice of the Imam rang out from the battered tank. Bloodied but alive, the old man had managed to fire one last shot from the tank’s main cannon, saving Cahyono from certain death. The Fortress Tank, though barely operational, had still delivered one final, life-saving blow.

Thanks to that, the Imam came to Cahyono's rescue and blasted the tank when he wasn't close to the Orc.

Cahyono smirked, breathing heavily but grateful. "Nice timing, old man," he called back, gripping his chainsword tightly and activate it, causing the adamantite teeth of the blade roared to life like a fierce shark, spinning viciously as the roar from the engine gave intimating sounds that could scare war-hardened soldiers.

"Ahhhh!" Cahyono let out a battle cry as he brought the chainsword down with all his might, aiming directly for Jiak’s head.

The Orc, now on his knees, growled in defiance with his eyes still filled with rage even as the chainsword descended.

Just as the chainsword was about to hit Jiak's head, the Orc Warlord blocked it with his armored hand against it and sparks flew. The Orc Warleader, still standing tall, raised his hand to eye level and effortlessly gripped the active chainsword. Cahyono strained to keep hold of his weapon and felt the raw strength of the Orc forcing him to his limit.

"WAAAGH!!!"

The Orc Warleader gave his race's signature warcry which echoed across the battlefield, and the ground trembled as he locked eyes with Cahyono, and their faces mere inches apart.

"AAAAH!!!"

Cahyono countered the Orc's roar with his own. Letting go of the chainsword with one hand, he swiftly drew his AF-1 rifle from its holster and aimed it directly at Jiak’s open mouth.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A burst of Mithril rounds erupted from the rifle, each one tearing through the inside of the Orc’s mouth and into his skull. Jiak’s roar was abruptly silenced as the magic bullets cooked his brain from within. His grip on the chainsword weakened, and his once indomitable form began to falter. Slowly, his armored hand opened, and Cahyono wasted no time reclaiming his weapon and landed safely, which he proceeded to do what he previously meant to do.

With the Orc Warleader frozen for a moment, Cahyono leaped into the air and gripped the chainsword with both hands. With a determined battle cry, he brought the roaring blade down on Jiak’s head, and the adamantite teeth of the chainsword bit into the Orc’s skull, grinding through bone and flesh as Cahyono applied all his weight to push down his weapon all the way.

Jiak, the SkullKrusher, had no time to react. His mighty body stood frozen as the chainsword carved through his skull and down his torso, splitting him in half. Blood and gore sprayed across the area, painting the ground in the colors of his demise.

By the time Cahyono landed back on the ground, the Orc Warleader’s lifeless body had fallen in two.

Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono, drenched in the blood of his enemy, holstered his chainsword and turned away from the bisected corpse. The battlefield fell silent for a moment as the realization of Jiak’s death sank in.

With their leader dead, the remaining Orcs were thrown into chaos. Lacking direction, they became easy targets for the Liberation Army, who swiftly unleashed volleys of gunfire and magic. The tide of battle turned sharply as humanity’s forces, reinvigorated by Cahyono’s victory, pressed their advantage.

"Holy shit," Cahyono thought to himself, feeling adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "A normal man would've died a thousand times over. Maybe there's something to this 'divine intervention' my friends keep talking about."

Despite his exhaustion, Cahyono remained on his feet as his iron will kept him stay on his feet. Around him, the sounds of battle began to fade as the last of the greenskins were exterminated. Magic rifles fired in rapid succession, and flames cleansed the battlefield, purging every trace of the Orc invaders.

The Battle of New Guinea had ended in humanity’s favor. Colonel Ciaphas Cahyono had slain the mighty Jiak the SkullKrusher, and with him, the Orc threat in the region was eradicated. Victory was theirs.

As Cahyono watched the fires burn the remains of the enemy, he allowed himself a brief moment of relief.

The cost had been high, but humanity had prevailed once again.

———

A/n: Thanks for reading! This will be the end of the “Orc Invasion Arc”. Next one will be more political and more exciting fights against other nations!

And the “Dark Gathering of Aquarius Arc”. Ohhhh… that part might be my most favorite as we get to see more on Riley and his team!!

Especially when we will get to see who Fenrir the Apex Predator is, and more background of Aquarius City.