A/N: Alright Boys and Girls! I'm back and with another update to Tiger Strike! But first a few things.

I hate to say it, but I believe that in my attempt to add nations into the Story, I may have crammed too much for me to keep track of all of them. Now I will try to represent all of the participating countries and military units, but don't get upset id I forget to mention some of them in future chapters. They will be in the story, just not all the time.

To celtcath74 : I hope he liked it too, it was too funny when I first read his story.

To Avro 638 Lancaster : Cool pen name, but what?

To Don Sho: I like that Idea, I just might use it :)

To real spider : You in Brony Country Now! Just kidding, but no promises... btw, I am a Brony. Deal with it!

Now that is out of the way, on to the story! Standard disclaimer, I own nothing but by OCs. So do not sue me, I am broke.

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{ Chapter 8: Welcome to Alnus... }

Earth Date: November 20th, 20XX

Imperial Senate, Sadera...

"This cannot continue!" a senator announced, as he stood with up from his seat and addressed the Imperial Senate. "It is very clear to see that our attempts to conquer the world beyond the Gate has been a disaster! 60,000 of our men and boys marched off and only a handful managed to return! Now what ever they awoken beyond the Gate has followed them back to Falmart and seeks bloody vengeance against our Empire for our aggression!"

"Tis True!" Another senator added, as he stood up to address the senate. "In the last two months, the Alnus Provence Garrisons have been all but wiped out! The survivors claim that Demons came in the night and caused havoc among the camps and forts that had been set up around the Holy Hill! Now we have reports that an Army from beyond the Gate has not only crossed over, but now controls Alnus Hill!"

"It is very clear the Demons of Alnus hill are in fact, related to this unknown army!" the first senator from before spoke again. "We must make an attempt to contact this army and sue for peace! Failure to do so may... no... will result in the destruction of the Empire!"

"Are you MAD!" an much older senator shot back in disgust. " Surrendering the Empire before the actual war starts?! what we sent through the Gate and the Alnus Garrison were only a token force compared to what we have and you know it! I have heard the reports too and from what I have heard, this enemy force only number just under 10,000!We can rally ten times as much and crush them in one single strike!"

"We can not show weakness now when our very civilization is in danger!" said another senator. "The Enemy is soiling Alnus his with their filth and you want us to surrender at our first defeat? Your words are an insult to the Empire and the gods! We must counter attack!"

"Our first defeat?" Another Senator replied. " Are you forgetting the fact that already we have lost over 200,000 men? Men that were veterans and whose experience can not be easily replaced? The gods are angry at us for sending our army to the holy hill of Alnus and now they are punishing us by allowing an army with supernatural powers to destroy us! We must repent now for our sins and beg them and this army for mercy, or risk the destruction of the Sedaren people!"

The entire senate soon erupted as many senators began to voice their concerns over the current crisis. It was only just days ago that news reached Sadera about the "Army" that had arrived through the Gate and occupied Alnus hill. The reports that came in painted a horrific picture. The entire Alnus Province Garrison had been wiped out and there was no word from any of the senior commanders that were in command. The Enemy had come through with steel beast that decimated the Imperial ranks, with strange battle mages that wielded black staffs that unleashed death on those they were pointed at.

The Imperial army, already weakened by mysterious happenings over the last couple months, was destroyed within a hour. With the few survivors running into the forests or, in the case of one messenger, ran his horse all the way to the capital with the news of this defeat. It was bad enough that there were stories of demons killing Imperial soldiers around Alnus hill, now it looked as if their was an all out invasion of the Saderan Empire taking place. News that worried many within the halls of government.

No more so than Emperor Molt himself, who had been overseeing the debate with a neutral expression on his face. But on the inside, the Emperor was more than a little worried and for good reason. Alnus hill was by far thee holiest site in the Empire and was seen as a place no mortal should ever be allowed to set foot upon. Yet Molt was able to convince the Senate to organize an expedition across the Gate that sat on top of Alnus, an action that was seen as Taboo by many religious leaders and news of the Imperial Army's defeat would only embolden them more.

He gave the order that lead to the disastrous expedition in the "Other World"and now what ever the Empire had encountered beyond the Gate, had now chased them back to Falmart itself. Worst still, with the massive defeat and the loss of so many men, it would not be long before some of the Empire's vassal states get ideas of finally rising up against Sadera and freeing themselves after centuries of paying yearly tributes. Tributes that were not very popular to say the very least.

Slowly, the Emperor raised his hand to silence the animated Senate before he addressed them. "Members of the Senate, I am greatly aware of the situation unfolding at Alnus hill. It is true that our attempts to spread civilization and culture to the wild lands beyond the Gate did not go the way the Gods intended it to. It is also true that what ever defeated the Imperial Army in the other world, followed them back to our own. But we can not allow these... barbarians, to continue to soil our lands with their presence and we cannot show them weakness now. The Empire has stood for hundreds of years and will continue to do for many more!

"The Gods gave us the Gate on Alnus hill to spread our civilization to other realms and if we were to surrender now, then we would be doing a great insult to them. We will not seek any form of peace with the Other Worlders until we have driven them off Alnus and back across the Gate. I have already sent messages to our Vassals and they are currently marching towards Alnus. This war may not have started off as well as the gods had hoped, but by Flare we shall be victorious!"

The Senate for its part, seemed to have rallied behind Molt and his words. As many of the Senators agreed to continue fighting. The Empire only wanted to spread their way of life to the untamed and uncivilized lands that the Gods had given them access to, but the barbarians on the other side refused and foolishly followed them back to Falmart.

The Empire was not about to such an humiliation go unpunished. They would defeat the invaders and show them just why Sadera was the dominant power in this world. But as the Senate disbanded for the day, they were completely unaware that the Empire was dealing with an enemy that was more powerful and cunning that anything Sadera had faced in the past...

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Fort Ginza, Alnus Hill

November 25th, 20XX

" Fort Ginza"

That was the name that had been decided upon for the Alliance's new base in the Special Region. Just over three weeks prior, the combined forces of Japan, the United States and India arrived through the Gate in Falmart. Thus signaling the start of Operation "Tiger Strike". Upon their arrival , the allied forces came up against what was left of the Imperial garrison of Alnus Provence. Weeks of constant raids by Special Forces teams had resulted in an army that was malnourished, demoralized and most importantly, unable to put up any kind of resistance. Needless to say, it was not much of a battle as once the Tanks began to open fire, what ever was left of the Imperial Garrison were either killed or ran as fast as they could away from the carnage.

Two hours later the advancing armies/Marines came upon a now deserted Fort Invicta. Despite being abandoned, the fort itself was still largely intact with the walls showing no signs of any damage. Within the first 24 hours of the invasion, Alnus hill was firmly in the hands of the alliance. With Invicta now being occupied and renamed "Watch Tower", as it over looked the only road that ran past Alnus. With the Hill secured, Combat Engineers form both the U.S. and Japan got to work on constructing the future base.

Trenches were dug out and prefabricated buildings were being set up for the troops. Barb wire and other obstacles were deployed around the perimeter while trucks from Japan made regular deliveries of building supplies and other construction equipment. By the first week, the Fort Ginza had dozens of buildings constructed with a combination of Diesel generators and Solar Panels providing power. While a new well which had been drilled, now supplied Ginza with fresh drinking water.

By week 2, the Ginza air field had been completed with several hangers and a control tower being built. It would take some time for the air base to be able to operate combat jets, but at least now the allied force had air support in the form of attack helicopters. By week 3, the other members of Tiger Strike had crossed over and the force now numbered just over 40,000 troops. With more to come in the following weeks.

Watch Tower was now home to several Artillery teams and a garrison of 1000 U.S. Marines, while Fort Ginza was now shaping out to be an fortress. UH-1Ns and Japanese AH-1s now flew out of the air field to conduct combat patrols, while recently arrived Predator and Rustom Drones began to scout over the horizon to in an attempt any possible points of interest.

It was during one of these flights, that the Cameras of a Rustom soon cam upon something that almost made it's remote pilot leap out of his chair in surprise...

(Fort Ginza Command and Control Building)

"2500,000?" General Hazama gasped out, as he and the other commanders went over the information which had been provided to them.

"I am afraid that cameras don't lie." General Anand, commander of the Indian contingent, replied. As he shared the information with had been given to him by the Army Drone crew. " From what we have been able to gather, we believe that this new enemy force will not be here for another two days."

"Took them long enough to try again." Colonel Gibbs commented, "Looks like they deciding to attack from the east this time."

"Considering the special forces team blew the main road leading to the hill straight to hell, I really cant blame them." Colonel Nathan of the recently arrived Australian contingent added on. "Still, that's a lot of troops the Empire is Throwing at us."

"Somehow, I dont think these guys are Imperial." Colonel Respati replied, as the Indonesian officer looked over some of the images. "These flags do not look like the ones we have recovered so far. And these uniforms..."

"Is it possible that Sadera may have called in some allies to aid them?" Gibbs asked curiously, as he too looked over the images that had been provided.

"From what intel we have been given, the Empire regularly employ's the use of Vassal States to aid them when needed." Hazama explained. "If anything, these Vassals have nothing to do with Ginza and are just being sent here as cannon fodder for our guns."

"Makes sense." Respati replied. "After what happened to the Imperial Army, why would they continue to send more of their own when they could just send others to die?"

"I gonna go out on a limb here, but I have a feeling that is the general plan." Anand spoke up, gaining the attention of his comrades. "If these vassals are able to assemble almost 300,000 troops and with the recent losses the Empire sustained, who is to say that the Empire is using us to make sure that their Vassals don't decide to take advantage of the situation?"

"That is just plain evil." Gibbs answered back. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't feel like being used to do someone else's dirty work."

"Neither do I." The Japanese General replied. "Which means we are gonna need as much information on these new armies as we can. Identify the commander and which nations they are from."

"Maybe even convince them to come on our side?" Respati added. "Or at the very least, convince them that this is not their war and we have no interest in fighting them."

"We have a few days before they arrive within gun range." Nathan informed the commanders. "Our teams in the field could monitor them and learn just who commands these armies."

"Maybe even try to talk them out of attacking altogether?" Anand questioned hopefully, though he and every one else there knew it would not be that easy. "And if they refuse?"

"Then we would have no choice but to engage them." Gibbs replied. A thoughtful expression soon appeared on his face. "Aren't the Filipinos due to come in today?"

"Yes." The Indonesian commander replied. "So are the British and the Koreans."

"Already?" Said Anand , genuinely surprised as to just how fast the South Koreans were able to mobilize after the government voted to take part in Tiger Strike.

"Yea." Gibbs replied. "By tomorrow morning, we should have 65,000 troops in the Fort. Not enough to beat this army head on, but maybe we can out think them..."

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Allied Kingdoms Base Camp, 3 days later...

'Just what in the Gods has Molt gotten us into?'

King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom thought to himself, as he and what was left of the Allied Army leadership stood in the main tent and studied the recent recent reports they had received. It was just over a month ago that he and the other royals of the Vassal States received orders from Emperor Molt informing them about the hostile army that now sat on Alnus Hill. They were ordered to gather their armies and march to Alnus, where they would link up with the Imperial Army and together they would retake the holy hill.

Duran himself would lead the Allied Armies into the fight, as he had made a name for himself as a intelligent and capable leader. His battle records and numerous accolades he had received from Sadera spoke from themselves, as Duran had lead the Allied Kingdoms and the Empire to numerous victories. It was very clear to anyone that he had certainly earned his title as "The Lion of Elbe"

As the Allied Armies marched forward towards Alnus, moral was absolutely high. They were told that there were only 10,000 enemy soldiers on Alnus hill and with the Imperial Army backing them up, there was no way anyone thought they would lose. But that soon changed the moment they entered the Provence. Wyvern and Dragon riders who were sent out to scout the area never returned, their charred and mutilated bodies found hours later by confused soldiers. Just what kind of magic could have done this? They soon got their answer when a Wyvern messenger left to report back to Elbe, when the men saw something shoot out from the forest and consume the poor creature and it's rider in a ball of fire.

The following night, massive explosions erupted from the camps that had been set up and hundreds of soldiers were killed instantly. But what was really disturbing was the fact that amid the chaos, Duran found a letter in his personal tent. No one saw who left it, but the message inside said...

"We don't want to fight you, but we will if we have to. We are here for the Empire, not your nations. Turn around now and we will not bother you again. Continue with your march, and it will only lead to your own destruction."

First they kill his men without honor and now they are ordering HIM to retreat? This insult would not go unpunished! He would continue to lead the Allied Kingdoms and crush these barbarians on Alnus hill! With the Imperial Army already waiting for them, just how could they lose?

Very badly...

On the morning of the first attack, strange flying creatures suddenly emerged from the hill and flew towards the Allied Armies. The sound they made were unlike anything the King or any one of the other monarchs had heard before. As horses began to panic and their riders tried to calm them down. Then, the entire front line of the advancing army disappeared as balls of smoke and flame. As men screaming in pain and agony, the strange creatures of Alnus hill continued to unleash death on a scale never witnessed before. Yet there was nothing the men of the Allied armies could do, as the beast flew through the sky with unnatural agility and speed. The Wyvern and Dragon riders attempted to give chase to the metal creatures an avenge their fallen comrades, but they too were no match for the wingless beast as they were just too slow to catch them. But as quickly it had started, the attack ended and what was left was not a pretty picture.

5500 men were dead and thousands more were wounded in way that could not even be placed into words. Worst still, the Kings of Mudwan and Alguna had seemingly vanished in the fire, while Duke Ligu was found dead with his horse still under him. A second push was made despite the horrific loss of life, but soon thousands more were killed as the hill erupted in flames. Steams of light could be seen lashing out at the Wyverns and Dragons that flew above the "battle", all finding their marks and sending both beast and man crashing to the earth below.

By the end of the first day, the allied kingdoms had not only lost over 50,000 men, but their rulers as well. Only Duran was left to mourn his fallen friends, who just days ago boasted about just how many enemy solders they planned to kill once they reached Alnus hill. Now they were all dead and they had not even come close to storming Alnus.

Worst still, there was still no signs of the Imperial Army and many of his senior commanders were already talking about just turning around and going home while they still had their lives. But Duran needed to avenge both his men and the rulers of the Allied Kingdoms. Now in his command tent, Duran went over everything he knew about this new enemy and weighed his options. As well as ponder as to why the promised Imperial Army did not show up when they were supposed to.

"Sir, we must turn around and leave this place at once!" a commander told his king. "If we stay here any longer, we will only encourage the wrath of these demons on the hill!"

"I agree! We must leave at once!" another commander, this one from Mudwan, added. "Mudwan had lost it's king and the men have lost their will to fight. If we stay here, then I am afraid that many of them will revolt!"

"No..." Duran suddenly spoke up. "No... we have been fighting the wrong enemy."

"Sir?"

"The Empire is the real enemy!"Duran declared, as he spun around to face the commanders. "The Empire... Molt did not send us here to drive off an invading army, he sent us there to die!"

"What?"

"Think, man! Where was the Imperial army? Did you see any signs of them?"

"We thought they had already been wiped out by the enemy." The Mudwan commander replied.

"They were never here! Molt has played all of us like fools in his court!"

"So what do you plan to do?"

"Ready my horse." Duran ordered his men, as he look the note he had found days earlier and placed it in his pocket. "Have the armies of Mudwan, Ligu and Alguna retreat and return to their nations. The people will morn their leaders and those who did not come back."

"As for Elbe?"

"The Army is to stay here and make no advances towards Alnus hill." Duran instructed, as he climbed his horse. "If I do not return by tomorrow evening, then have them march back to Elbe without me."

"W... where are you going?"

"I am going to put an end to the Empire's influence over our nations." Duran replied. "Hopefully, these beings on Alnus hill are true to their word and only seek to fight Sadera."

"And... and if they don't want to talk?" the first commander from before asked frightfully, as it soon dawned on him as to what his king was going to do.

"The I can say that I truly exhausted all my options." and with that, Duran raced off out of the safety of his cam and towards the Holy Hill of Alnus. On his shoulders was the fate of not only his people, but the people of the other kingdoms as well. For countless years, the Sadera Empire forced these kingdoms under their boot and treated them with little to no respect. The final insult coming with this attempt to weaken their would be allies so they would never be a threat to them in the future.

But maybe that will change with the arrival of this new army. They did attempt to contact him after all and warned him about what would happen if the Allied Nations chose to fight. His only hope now was that this enemy was still interested in the Empire and not his lands. But as the King rode towards Alnus hill, he was completely unware that the strange army had not only moved off Alnus hill, but was now in the process of surrounding the Allied Kingdoms' camp...

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A/N: What a twist! But honestly there were already enough fics where Duran loses his arm and leg, while his army is cut to shreds. I like to do things differently, if you have not already noticed. What will happen next? Well... lets see what my brain comes up with.

Leave a Review and please tell me what you think! Also... if you are on Face Book, then please feel free to follow DEFENSIONEM THE WARBIBLE. I am an admin there with a multinational team that will dive into the world of Defense, News and Military history. So please check us out and give a like if you are interested.

Until next time, NIGHTSTALKER OUT!

Trivia: The DRDO Rustom is a drone currently being tested for use by the Indian Armed Forces.

Also, I forgot to mention in the last Chapter that there really is a Company called Force. They are based in India and recently began to supply the Indian Army with the Gurkha 4x4. Yes, it is called the "Gurkha" and it looks pretty sweet!