Gate: Army of the Earth Federation
AN: Hey everyone this chapter should go more smoothly now that I've got the one chapter and fight scene that I just couldn't get to work is now out of the way. The following chapters may develop slowly but it should receive regular updates now that I'm past the annoying part.
Chapter 10: The Calm Before the Storm
Akalu was standing in the middle of the valley with the Dragon's dead body not far away watching as the Dark Elves finally evacuated the underground caves for the first time in months. Akalu couldn't tell if he was feeling relieved that the Dragon was finally dead, or dreading to hear how much equipment they lost, and how many soldiers died.
He face palmed at realizing that he didn't plan the whole thing as well has he should have. Granted he never faced, no, no one from their world faced a Dragon of that size and caliber before when aiming to kill it. Bringing the fight to a more open area would have brought more of their soldiers out to the open and less general cover, they would have lost more soldiers.
If they carried it into the mountains many of the support vehicles wouldn't have been able to help, the artillery wouldn't be able to get accurate coordinates fast enough to reliably hit the dragon. And the Dragon would have likely flown off again as it was on much higher ground, resulting in many dead, and only having to face the Dragon another day.
The Valley was the best option, but he stepped outside of the intended trap by going up the mountain to help the two Dark Elf kids, and when they closed the trap, the Jets weren't in the optimal position resulting in their inaction, and the units that were able to shoot got too close, and both they and Akalu counted on the first volley of shots to if not kill the Dragon, severely hinder it to the point they could finish it off rather painlessly. But that wasn't the case and they lost many vehicles and men.
"Akalu?" Eriana asked noticing Akalu's pained look. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine Eriana, it's just humbling, having to remember once again, that not having proper preparation, and being ignorant of your enemy can cost you so much more than you're willing to lose" Akalu explained.
Akalu felt a hand touch his shoulder, he turned to see Eriana attempting to comfort him.
"I know it hurts having to lose more of your countrymen, especially to such a terrible creature. But you and your people should rejoice, you killed the one creature no amount of warriors, armies, and weapons in this world was able to kill." Eriana said.
Akalu felt a smile creep onto his face, which quickly turned back into a frown. "That is true, and as glorious as that can be Eriana, but it would be very disingenuous of the commander to forget the dead just to bask in the glory of victory". Akalu explained, Eriana just smiled and gave him a big hug from behind.
"I would never think less of you for grieving over your dead" Eriana said.
"Thanks" Akalu replied placing a hand on Eriana's hugging arms as a sign of acceptance.
"Commander" Sgt. Dan said as he approached with James and Jack not far behind.
"What is it Sgt?" Akalu asked.
"Transport Helicopters will be here shortly to take the gravely wounded, in only a couple minutes. I'm also told to inform you that the Battalion will be reinforced and the building of a base here in this valley will begin immediately" Dan relayed.
"Great news" Akalu said. "Now for the bad news, how much did we lose?"
Dan, James, and Jack just looked back and forth at each other before answering.
"14 vehicles destroyed, 7 more damaged. 28 soldiers dead, 23 injured, only 3 of them severely"
Akalu only let out a deep sigh as his heart sunk hearing that 28 soldiers were dead and scores more injured though thankfully very few of them severely.
"Very well, prepare all of them for transport back to Alnus Base, have the dead prepared for a Hero's funeral when they return back to Russia, or whatever country they are from, and make sure the injured are all properly taken care of. I don't want to hear any reports of mistreatment, or a lack of treatment" Akalu said biting his lower lip in a small bit of self loathing over his dead. "Also can you get General Hazama on the phone, I need to talk to him"
"Oh that's another thing I needed to mention" Dan said.
"What is it?" Akalu asked turning to look Dan in the eye.
"Lt. General Hazama is coming here, he's on the transport helicopters" Dan said.
"What? Why?" Akalu asked. It was weird for the Commanding Officer of an army to leave his post just to come out here and talk to him.
"No idea Sir, but he said 'Don't let Akalu go anywhere, I need to speak to him Immediately, and in private'" Dan said.
"Ok that's not weird at all" Akalu said.
"Choppers incoming sir" James said as he pointed at the horizon where scores of Helicopters were flying in, and fast.
"They're flying fast" Jack said.
"That they are" Akalu agreed as he stood up and started walking towards the designated landing zone. "They aren't wasting any time, whatever it is, it must be very important".
Akalu, Eriana, James, Jack, and Dan approached the landing zone as several helicopters landed, unloading scores of soldiers from a variety of nations and equipement, and quickly loading the dead, and injured on the now empty choppers.
Akalu watched intently as he looked for Lt General Hazama despite the mess of soldiers and equipment going everywhere.
"Lt. General Akalu!" a familiar voice called from inside the landing zone.
Akalu quickly identified Lt. General Hazama and waited patiently for him and his escort to get out of the zone. As the two met they saluted each other and shook hands before walking further away from the landing zone.
"Good to see you Hazama, I'm told you have something very urgent to speak to me about" Akalu said as they walked towards a quickly constructed commanders tent.
"Yes, two things, and I have somethings to show you as well" Hazama added.
"I can't wait" Akalu said as he and Hazama entered the tent, Eriana, Jack, James, and Dan were denied entry by Hazama's escort, thus they begrudgingly waited outside.
Inside the tent
Akalu and Hazama gathered around a fold out table and stood on opposite sides of the table. That's when Hazama began.
"Yesterday we launched a Satellite into space above the Special region and got our first look at this planet." Hazama began.
"Well congratulations" Akalu said.
"Thanks, but I'm sorry to say that we can't celebrate" Hazama continued.
"Why's that?" Akalu asked as a sense of impending doom began to creep up his spine.
"Yesterday we also successfully scanned the planet for other SR Pockets, and compared them to the SR Pockets back on Earth. I'm glad to say that no other pocket links to Earth just the one that opened." Hazama explained.
"Well that was fast, I imagine that the Satellite hasn't covered the entire planet yet" Akalu said.
"True it hasn't, it's signal has gone dark with it going on the far side of the planet, but the parts we did scan don't match any pocket on Earth" Hazama explained.
"Ok, that's good I guess, but there's more I assume" Akalu stated.
"Yes, the bad news is this" Hazama said as he handed a thick folder to Akalu. "Two pockets activated, which means two more gates are open in this world" Hazama explained.
Akalu felt his stomach sink, this was one of the worst case scenarios that he had hoping would wait a little longer. They hadn't even secured any ports to start a navy, never mind finishing the war with the Empire.
"Did anything come through the gate?" Akalu asked as he opened the folder and noticed they were all satellite pictures.
"Yes, tens of thousands have come through both gates, and tens of thousands more are coming through everyday" Hazama said.
Akalu flipped through the photos and noticed that whatever they were, the creatures that were coming through the gates weren't human that much was obvious. The creatures appearing on the adjacent continent to their continent were Green skinned humanoids, from the top down not much could be determined about their characteristics, one thing was for certain, they were much more advanced in weaponry than this planet is.
Several of the pictures showed vehicles that looked similar to many vehicles they had in the past. Some looked like Half-Track Troop Carriers, others were obviously tracked vehicles, but that's not what got Akalu's attention the most. What was attached to many of the enclosed armored vehicles what was unmistakably, a Barrel to a large caliber gun. But what he also noticed was the size of the barrel.
"Those barrels are huge" Akalu said.
"Indeed they are, image analysis suggests those barrels are as big as 200mm" Hazama said.
"200!" Akalu gasped. The largest barrel used by any military today that he knew of, was 155mm, and those are usually Artillery Pieces, no tank or vehicle mounted weapon ever got that high in caliber size since WWII, never mind the 200mm size.
"I know the largest we ever had was he 800mm Gustav Cannon, but that hasn't been used or anything like it built again since the Second World War" Akalu noted.
"Notice anything else on the pictures?" Hazama asked.
"No real care in their movements, the soldiers are rather reckless and bold. Their weapons are all crude looking but I can't get a good look just from top down images" Akalu said.
"The last few pictures are a compilation of the weapon" Hazama said.
Akalu took a handful of the pictures from the back and glanced over them. They were various pictures of the weapons used, taken from the top down, but also contained pictures of the weapons on their sides and other various angles.
"All the weapons are crude design indeed. It looks like many of the parts are stamped metal, these weapons are meant for mass production, and not much more" Akalu said.
"Yes, keep looking" Hazama said urging Akalu to look more.
Akalu looked at more pictures showing a variety of weapon types, some were undoubtedly rifles, or the equivalent there of, and other small arms but one thing was sticking out to him.
"The barrels on the guns are big as well" Akalu observed. And they were in fact big, not Machine Gun barrel like big, no, each gun looked like they had the muzzle of a musket, there were no muzzle breaks, no iron sights that he could see.
"Yes, what does that tell you? That's as far as our analysts could get with it" Hazama said.
"Got any pictures of the munitions they use?" Akalu asked.
"Yup right here" Hazama said as he passed over another folder with more pictures in it.
Akalu took the folder and started flipping through pictures, when he managed to find pictures of munitions for the armored vehicles and the small arms, he set them down with the pictures of the weapons they were likely to be paired with.
The Armored vehicle rounds were obviously large, and to say the least, bland. There were no variety of rounds, it looked much like an artillery round, but they were all the same shape, color, and size, no indication to tell if it was a different type of shell for different purposes or anything like that.
Akalu immediately went back to the general pictures that showed the destroyed Amazon Outpost.
"Large craters, no structure that has been hit is showing small damage indicating precision, or armor piercing rounds" Akalu mumbled. "They all use High Explosive shells" Akalu said.
"That would make sense" Hazama said. "Analysts said the destruction of the Outpost was absolute, the walls and the buildings were torn apart"
"But what happens if they come across an armored target?" Akalu asked more to himself than to Hazama.
"That's what I'm hoping you'll tell me" Hazama replied.
Akaly took a moment to think. Then an idea came to him.
"Machine stamped metal, large cannons, all use HE shells. Hazama, you said the destruction of the buildings and structures was absolute right?" Akalu asked.
"Yes" Hazama answered.
"Was no building or structure untouched?" Akalu continued.
"No, every building was hit, and every building was effectively destroyed. What are you thinking?" Hazama replied.
"I'll let you know when I've figured out their guns" Akalu said as he started sifting through the small arms, that's when he got a good look at the bullets, if that's what you could call them.
Akalu looked long and hard at the 'bullets', thing that confused him was that they didn't look like bullets, or at least not bullets he was familiar with. They had the rear shell that all bullets had, but the bullet itself wasn't pointed, in fact it was round and bulbous looking, for all intents and purposes it looked like someone stuck a small round ball bearing in the place of the bullet. To be honest they looked remarkably similar to the bullets of the 1894 Winchester rifles, but of course without the hollowing or steel tip add on.
As Akalu looked back at different pictures of the weapons in use, he noticed that all the soldiers were firing from their hips, and not pointing and aiming with any care.
No matter what Akalu looked at everything about how these soldiers operated just suggested to him that they were just shooting everything for the sake of shooting.
Akalu could only feel his head begin to hurt as nothing about this was making sense to him. The more he found out the more questions began to creep into his head. He knew their large mechanized cannons seemed to only use HE style rounds from the craters they've left. The bullets were cheap looking, little quality to the guns, and no identifiable sense to their battlefield tactics.
"All their weapons were designed for ease of production that much is obvious" Akalu said.
"Yeah we already knew that, but what does that mean?" Hazama asked obviously as confused as Akalu.
"There's only two reasons I can think of why they would dismiss quality of their weapons, at least when comparing them to our weapons" Akalu sighed.
"And those are?"
"Well first, their level of technology could be low which means this for them is state of the art, you don't get better than this as far as their industry is concerned. The second possibility is a lack of need of quality" Akalu answered.
"Lack of need? How could a military of any kind have a lack of need for quality?" Hazama asked. "Every military needs good quality or otherwise they'll be outdone by potential enemies."
"Not entirely true" Akalu replied. "When a military becomes way to big to properly finance for high quality equipment or a lack of resources disallows the ability to equip to such standards. The Persian Empire was one such example, they didn't have a vast industry, or vast resources to give high quality armor. Thus they relied on numbers for most of their military ability, and the heat of their environment didn't allow for anyone in heavy armor to function properly on the battlefield." Akalu explained.
"I see, so they haven't advanced very far in industry cause they always had the numbers to make up for the lack of quality?" Hazama asked.
"It's certainly possible. Everything they have is machine stamped, regular steel or iron plating, little to no electronic equipment. It's almost like facing our WWII selves" Akalu said.
"So how much trouble do you think we'll face if it comes to blows with them?" Hazama asked.
"Don't know" Akalu said putting all the satellite photos back into their folders. "With this level of technology that we can see so far, they shouldn't be much of a problem, but if their military keeps getting larger here in the Special Region, then we could end up being heavily outnumbered" Akalu explained. "What's our personnel count? And what is their's?"
"Our personnel count is 320 thousand and slowly climbing. This is the third day of their gate being open. Their personnel count is currently at 72 thousand, and rapidly climbing" Hazama said.
"How many men of ours are waiting to come through?" Akalu asked.
"Roughly 680 thousand more" Hazama shrugged.
"We're building up to a million men?" Akalu asked.
"Yes, reports went to the UN on the other side of our gate, and the official number of armies for the Earth Federation has been raised to 10" Hazama said.
"10 Armies, 100 thousand personnel in each" Akalu sighed as he continued to process all this information. "How's the structure being set?"
"You and I are the commanders of the First Army. The Second army will be set up a little further south of here, just outside the Elbe Kingdom. The third which is coming through right now will be stationed further West to try and secure the coast closest to the adjacent Continent, where this new army is building up" Hazama explained.
"Who are the commanders of the Second and Third Armies?" Akalu asked.
"Don't know yet, I didn't get any information on that before coming here." Hazama answered.
"Ok, so that just leaves the Empire" Akalu said.
"And that is the second thing I need to talk to you about" Hazama said.
"What happened?" Akalu asked a slight sign of worry crossed his face if Hazama needed to come all this way to talk to him about it.
"Several things" Hazama began. "The Emperor, Molt, fell ill and apparently passed away" Hazama began.
"Can anything confirm this?" Akalu asked slightly shocked.
"No, we don't have any credible assets inside the Capital yet, and even if we did and he was alive it's not going to change what else happened" Hazama continued. "The crown prince Zorzal took over the throne".
"What about the peace treaty?" Akalu asked remembering that a peace treaty was sent to be reviewed by the Emperor. Though they expected it to be turned down out right.
"Zorzal is the one who got it, and tore it up without looking at it. He said that he will destroy the Earth Federation in a few days time, he has a new army, and a new group of commanders to help him do this" Hazama explained.
"What of Pina, her Knights, and the entire pro-peace faction in the empire?" Akalu asked.
"No idea" Hazama answered. "We were about to set up a diplomatic outpost in the city but with the Emperor's passing and the changing of leaders, the progress of the outpost completely stopped. We have no idea what's happened, but there are rumors" Hazama said.
"What did the rumors say?" Akalu asked.
"They say that Princess Pina has been arrested with all the pro-peace faction and are scheduled for either trial or execution" Hazama explained.
Akalu sighed, this wasn't giving him many options, he needed more time, time to prepare for the war on the Captial, and to help harden the defenses of Alnus Hill afterwards, if not reinforce the coast once it was reached.
"So what is expected as of right now for me to deal with the Empire?" Akalu asked.
"We just need you to take the Capital, we don't need you to seize the entire empire" Hazama explained.
"And if Zorzal escapes?" Akalu asked.
"The Fourth Army which will start coming through the gate in a few days time will be the ones to chase him down where ever he flees. We don't need you to end the war, we need you to seize the capital and force the empire onto the defensive" Hazama continued.
"Very well" Akalu sighed as he handed everything back to Hazama who accepted it readily. "I assume I'm going back to Alnus right away?"
"Yes, we need to leave now" Hazama said. "The helicopter I came in will be the one to take us back".
"And the Elves?" Akalu asked.
"What did you intend to do with them?" Hazama asked.
"There's no food here to survive on, and we don't have the supply lines to support them, so I'm taking them back to Alnus until further notice" Akalu said.
"Not a bad idea. But also, this just came to me, but" Hazama began.
"Yes?" Akalu replied.
"You know if we're going to be fighting other powers in this world and from other worlds, it wouldn't be a bad idea to create domestic grown units from this world" Hazama said. "You can start with any able bodied Dark Elf you can get to try and form an army".
"Excellent idea, but that won't happen in a few days" Akalu said as they both made for the exit of the tent.
"Nope but whatever it takes we need to hold this world" Hazama replied.
As Akalu and Hazama exited the tent they were all met with dozens of eyes quietly asking what they talked about.
"Sgt. Ausman" Akalu called.
"Yes sir?" Dan answered as he saluted.
"Get Recon Team Valkyrie ready immediately to leave" Akalu ordered.
"Yes sir" Dan replied as he left to gather the rest of the Team.
"Eriana, can you find at least two able bodied Dark Elves within the next five minutes?" Akalu asked.
"Should be able to there are still thousands of healthy Elves still around" Eriana replied.
"Excellent grab who you can and have them act as your escort, we're heading back to Alnus Hill immediately" Akalu said as he walked on.
"Oh, ok, but what's going on?" Eriana asked sensing an obvious tension within Akalu.
Akalu stopped for a moment before he turned back to Eriana debating on what to say.
"War" Akalu replied trying his best to keep the answer as simple as possible, only it wasn't enough.
"With who?" Eriana asked her eyes widening a bit.
"The Empire, Zorzal just formally resumed hostilities" Akalu answered.
Without another word Eriana ran off to grab who she could to act as her escort per Akalu's instructions, though she had no idea why, considering the Empire didn't have the weaponry to harm Alnus Base.
A few Hours Later back at Alnus
Akalu, Team Valkyrie, and Eriana with a couple of Dark Elf escorts walked off one of the transport helicopters after it landed at Alnus.
"Sgt. Ausman, Sgt. Fong" Akalu called the two Squad Leaders. "Take the Recon Team and my wife and her escort to the Mess Hall, get something to eat, and rest while you can I doubt that we'll be sitting still long" Akalu said.
"Akalu wait" Eriana called chasing after Akalu.
"What is it?" Akalu asked stopping to talk to Eriana.
"Something doesn't fit, why the sense of urgency, I've had several hours to think it through. The empire doesn't have the military power or technology to match you guys, not in a hundred years. There's something your not telling me" Eriana said in a very stern voice.
Akalu sighed, he knew Eriana would figure it out but he didn't expect this soon. It's not like Akalu was trying to hide it from her, he was deep in thought the entire time, and any contact with this new world coming through this gate across the sea might not be hostile contact. But what they did to that outpost would beg to differ.
"You're right Eriana, there is one thing I didn't tell you about, but it's not like I was trying to hide it from you" Akalu began watching Eriana wait patiently for all the details.
"Shortly after killing the dragon, reports came in of two more gates appearing on different continents" Akalu began, he watched Eriana's reaction go from slightly irritated to slightly horrified. "We know very little of them, what we do know is they don't seem to waste effort on formality or attempts for dialogue. That's why I have to hurry with this war with the Empire, the sooner we can put the Empire on the defensive or have them surrender the sooner we can focus on the creatures coming through the other gates" Akalu explained.
Eriana closed her mouth after leaving it agape hearing Akalu's explanation.
"O-oh, i-is that all?" Eriana said obviously unable to find anything else to say.
"Eriana, let me deal with all the details, go to the mess hall and get something to eat, and if no news comes up by then, I'll see you in my office." Akalu said as he put a hand on Eriana's shoulder, then turned to leave.
"Wait" Eriana called.
"What is it?" Akalu asked.
Eriana just stared at Akalu with unshakable determination in her eyes. "I-I...Whatever happens, just make sure that you don't leave me behind" Eriana finally said causing Akalu to smile.
"Not in a million years" Akalu said turning then walked towards the HQ.
A few hours later elsewhere on base
"This is absurd" Eric groaned massaging his temples as he tried to cope with their current issue.
"Tell me about it" Itami groaned.
Itami, his team, and Eric were all confined to barracks after Zorzal received the treaty and tore it up without looking at it and declared a restart to the hostilities between the Empire and the Earth Federation. After that Eric decided to leave immediately after Zorzal tore up the treaty. Which unbeknownst to him was a smart move, since Zorzal anticipated them to go to Pina's Residence after and talk to Pina. A move Zorzal would have used to indite Pina for Treason and execute her then an there, but since they didn't Zorzal couldn't execute her right away. As any accusation of treason would be merely conjecture. And Zorzal failed to capture Eric and Itami, and his team since they had already left the Capital when they raided Pina's residence.
They were told that they couldn't leave until Akalu and Hazama returned and spoke to them on what to do next.
"What do you think happened to Pina?" Kuribayashi asked.
"She's probably fine" Itami sighed. "She's after all part of the royal family, Zorzal wouldn't hurt her. Would he?" Itami asked turning to Eric.
"How should I know, I'm not a Psychologist" Eric replied.
"Well then I've got good news for you" A new voice interrupted causing everyone to look at the entrance of the Barrack room.
Akalu stood there looking somewhat exhausted with Hazama, and Team Valkyrie, Rory and Eriana.
"THANK GOD YOU'RE BACK!" Eric cried sick and tired of being confined in the barracks for far too long.
"How long have all of you been in here?" Akalu asked.
"Two days" Kuribayashi replied.
"Tell me you guys got to eat, and proper sleep?" Akalu asked worried that they took the confinement too seriously.
"Yes we did, but we couldn't even go outside to do any other activity" Eric explained.
"I think you guys made the confinement too strict" Akalu said turning to Hazama.
"Maybe, but I told the officers overseeing their confinement that it wasn't due to anything they had done, I just needed to them to not leave the base" Hazama explained.
"Regardless, your confinement is now over, do you guys need something to eat?" Akalu asked.
"No we ate only a few hours ago" Eric replied earning nods from the rest of Itami's team.
"Very well, Eric. You now have your final posting, and I have a serious job for you" Akalu began.
Finally feeling excited in two days with something to do other than sit around, Eric immediately stood at attention and eagerly awaited his orders. "WHAT ARE MY ORDERS SIR!" Eric cried earning a slight chuckle from Akalu.
"Good to know you're so eager, but calm down Eric" Akalu said. "You are now relieved of Command of the Air Force for the First Army. You are now the Commander of the Ranger Recon Detachment of the First Army. That leaves right now five Battalions of Rangers, and other units under your command, such as the Recon Marines, SAS, Russian Spetznaz. Itami's Recon unit is being transferred over to the Ranger Recon Detachment, and is your personal team. I need you to go to the Recon HQ and prepare your five battalions to be deployed asap" Akalu instructed.
"Yes sir" Eric said as he turned to Itami. "Itami get your team in their combat gear, I'll see you all at the Recon HQ"
"Alright" Itami said in a somewhat nonchalant tone.
"Akalu, can I ask you something outside?" Eric asked.
"Sure" Akalu replied as he and his group left the Barrack room with Eric close behind.
"So how did the fight with the Fire Dragon go?" Eric asked.
"The Dragon is dead. But I lost a lot of men" Akalu sighed.
"How many men?" Eric asked.
"28 Dead, several more injured, only a few seriously" Akalu answered.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but I know that there is no commander who could have done better" Eric said.
"Thanks" Akalu answered with a slight smile. "But I doubt you pulled me out of the room just to ask me that"
"Your right. I need to know what we're going to be going up against" Eric asked.
"Zorzal has declared a resumption of the hostilities. We're going to the Capital" Akalu answered.
"And what will we do when we get there?" Eric asked.
"Apparently Zorzal wants to talk to me, likely to show off how strong he is by confronting me face to face." Akalu explained.
"And when those talks don't result in anything?" Eric asked knowing that no matter what Zorzal asked or demanded it wasn't going to stop Akalu from taking the Captial if those were his orders.
"We take the Capital, by force if Zorzal doesn't surrender" Akalu answered.
"Glad to hear it" Eric said as he quickly saluted and left for the Recon HQ.
After Eric left, Akalu turned to Eriana.
"Eriana, how many of your tribe made it here already?" Akalu asked.
"Just under half, mostly the young, sick, and injured" Eriana answered.
"Ok, I need you to gather all the strong and healthy of your tribe that are here and arrive here in the next 12 hours" Akalu said. "I'm going to start giving them roles in this operation, though limited, as they aren't fully trained to use our weapons and command structure"
"So your going to create an Elven Unit for your army?" Eriana asked.
"I know it's a bit fast, but I'm in need of building up what I can as soon as possible" Akalu answered.
"How much are you intending to get them involved in this attack on the Capital?" Eriana asked.
"As I said before, limited, but I'll be leaving you in command of them" Akalu answered.
"I'm in command?" Eriana asked.
"Yes, you will know better than anyone else here, me included, how ready your tribe is to take on the tasks presented in this attack. If you're not comfortable, let me know I'll find another unit who's ready" Akalu explained.
"What should I train them in first?" Eriana asked.
"The AM-14 our standard Assault Rifle" Akalu answered. "And there's one last thing I need you to focus on" Akalu continued handing Eriana a couple sheets of paper.
Eriana took the sheets, and looked at them, but a quick look of confusion crossed Eriana's face. "Um, Akalu I think you made a mistake, these are..." Eriana tried to explain, Akalu quickly interrupted.
"It's no mistake, I need you to prepare to do this, you think you can prepare for this before the end of the battle for the Captial?" Akalu asked.
"I-I guess, but whatever for?" Eriana asked.
"Impact" Akalu answered as he threw Eriana a quick smile and left leaving Eriana somewhat confused.
"Lady Eriana. What do you need from us?" One of Eriana's escorts asked.
"W-we do as he ordered. Go find any able bodied Elf that wishes to fight. I'll go ask Akalu where to go to train" Eriana said as she dismissed her guard.
Eriana chased after Akalu all the way to his office, where Hazama, Marcus, and Ludwig were also with him discussing the deployment.
"We'll have to have the Infantry do the majority of the work in the Capital, the Capital's walls and gates won't allow easy access for any large Armored Vehicles, so our tanks will be out of the question" Marcus said looking at photos with markings expressing the dimensions of the gates.
"Nein, ve need to get our armor in there. There vill be many other gates and doors to open, the best vay is vith a tank" Ludwig protested.
"The only gate that can let our larger vehicles in is the Front Gate, and that'll be heavily guarded, and they'll likely have traps to make it impassable" Marcus countered.
"That's presuming a lot for something we have no proof of just yet" Akalu said.
"Don't tell me your just going to rush in and take the capital?" Marcus asked a little horrified at the prospect that Akalu might be that reckless.
"Not exactly I-" Akalu continued, but only stopped when he saw Eriana in the door way. "Eriana? What is it?"
"Sorry to bother you Akalu but I had a couple things I needed to ask" Eriana said.
"Of course" Akalu said as he quickly stood up to go speak with her. "Continue with the planning, I'll be back shortly"
Akalu quickly left the room with Eriana, as they left they could hear all the Officers beginning to debate on the best course of action.
"What did you need?" Akalu asked.
"I, didn't know where to start with the training" Eriana summed up.
"Oh yeah, I trained you but you never went through the training courses. I forget those can be different at times" Akalu sighed.
"So, where should I start?" Eriana asked.
"Eric is busy, there's no other officer that can oversee an official lesson on the weapon and how to handle it. So we'll have to cheat" Akalu thought out loud,
"Cheat?" Eriana asked.
"In a manner of speaking. Go speak to Eric, he doesn't need to oversee it, but tell him what I need, and he'll provide the equipment. And tell him I need him to give every Elf a personal trainer" Akalu said.
"Personal Trainer?" Eriana asked not quite sure what that would entail.
"Basically, each Elf who volunteers will get a Ranger, Marine, Scout or the equivalent to give them a thorough run through of the weapon, how to handle it, and all that fun stuff" Akalu explained.
"Oh ok" Eriana said in a rather disappointed tone.
"Is there something else?" Akalu asked sensing some disappointment from Eriana.
"No, it's nothing big" Eriana said as she turned to leave.
Akalu however knew it wasn't nothing, and stopped Eriana from leaving, but taking a firm but not hard hold of Eriana's arm, causing Eriana to look back in slight surprise.
"I can't help you or fix the problem if you don't let me know Eriana" Akalu said.
"It's nothing big like I said, I was just hoping that we would spend more time together, I mean after we killed the dragon you've been busy non-stop I'm beginning to feel a little left out" Eriana explained.
"Oh" Akalu said releasing Eriana's arm, now understanding what the problem is. "I'm sorry Eriana, and you're right I need to spend more time with you, tell you what, we leave for the Capital tonight, I'll set something up for us" Akalu said earning a hopeful smile from Eriana.
"Ok" Eriana said in a much more cheerful tone and took off to find Eric.
"This is going to be an interesting experience for the both of us I'm sure" Akalu thought out loud as he returned to the meeting.
Meanwhile at the Capital
"Emperor Zorzal, our scouts are reporting that the army of the Men in Green, also known as the Earth Federation is mobilizing, and are on their way" a palace guard told Zorzal who was sitting on the throne with his war council.
Zorzal just let out a light chuckle at the information, and gestured for the guard to leave.
"Well, this is it, they're falling into our trap. Do we have all of our units in place and ready?" Zorzal asked.
"Yes, Emperor Zorzal, by this time tomorrow, the Earth Federation will be in retreat" Herm one of Zorzal's closest friends and advisors told him.
"Do we have all the Ogres I asked for?" Zorzal asked.
"Yes, over 100 Ogres all ready for battle, their armored chariots won't be able to withstand such a mighty force" Herm continued.
"Excellent, generals with this victory tomorrow we'll force our enemies in retreat, and soon we'll reclaim Alnus Hill, and shortly after invade the other world, and all the spoils of that world will be ours for the taking" Zorzal bragged openly earning laughs and cheers from his war council.
"But Zorzal what about their commanders?" Herm asked slightly worried about what to do about the Earth Federation leadership who in his mind, taking them out would be the critical point for this to work.
"Don't worry about that, tomorrow when I meet with the enemy commanders face to face to show I'm not afraid of them, I'll offer them something to drink. But what they won't know is that their cups will be poisoned with one of the most deadly poisons in our world. It just simply coming in contact with your skin will result in your death in a matter of minutes. If you ingest it, seconds" Zorzal laughed with his war council as they shared their eagerness to the idea of assassinating all the Earth Federation Commanders.
Tyuule just stood off to the side as she listened quietly. Barely able to contain her excitement as she knew that fighting the Earth Federation would result in the destruction of the Capital, and her years long goal would finally be realized. Much sooner than she thought, the destruction of the Empire.
"Those Federation soldiers and their idiotic leaders will die without ever even being in the battle" Zorzal roared in laughter continuing his early celebration.
Later than night at Alnus Hill
Akalu walked into his quarters for the night to prepare for the early deployment tomorrow. He knew by this time tomorrow the battle for the Capital would be decided, and either the Empire will surrender or continue to fight on.
"You're finally home" Akalu turned to see Eriana standing up from the couch in his living room, excited to see him.
"I am, how did the training go with the elves?" Akalu asked.
"Not as well as I had hoped, we only have 232 volunteers so far, I was hoping hundreds more would join" Eriana sighed.
"232? That's not a bad start, especially for a tribe that's been through so much loss. But give the rest of the tribe time Eriana, many likely need to regain their sense of life before willing to put it up for sacrifice again" Akalu said as he walked his exhausted body over to Eriana.
"You look tired, when was the last time you slept?" Eriana asked.
"I don't know, I think it's been almost two days now" Akalu said as he stepped closer to Eriana.
"Well, you have all night tonight, what were you hoping to do on our first night together since our honey moon?" Eriana asked.
Akalu stepped closer until he and Eriana's face were merely inches apart.
"I was going to take you out to dinner, or maybe stay in and watch a movie, but it's way too late for that and I'm exhausted right now. I'm sorry if that sounds like a cheap excuse, but I am dead tired, I was hoping we could just stay together for tonight" Akalu said softly as he placed his forehead against Eriana's, feeling his body begging for sleep more and more every second.
Eriana giggled as she felt Akalu's arm wrap rather innocently around her hips drawing her in closer.
"If we do that Akalu, d-do you think we could?" Eriana asked.
"Do what?" Akalu asked.
"You know" Eriana continued her face beginning to blush heavily. "I mean, we didn't even do it on our Honey Moon".
Akalu quickly got the idea of what it was she was asking.
"I don't know I'm so tired I don't know if I have the energy to go through, and I've never done this before" Akalu admitted as he watched Eriana's face turn from hopeful into slightly disappointed. But Akalu wasn't finished as a big smile etched its way onto his face.
"But for you my wife, I'll give it everything I have left tonight" Akalu smiled as he picked up Eriana's chin in his hands and slowly brought his lips to hers in their first kiss.
Slightly surprised Eriana hesitated, but quickly surrendered herself to to moment and kissed back. The night slipped away as Eriana, and Akalu made their way to bed and shared the night in absolute passion and bliss. All their worries and fears for tomorrow disappeared for the night as all that mattered was this moment they shared.
The next day midday just outside the Capital
Akalu and Zorzal found themselves sitting across from each other at a small table brought out for Akalu and Zorzal to talk before they began their battle.
"You look thirsty, do you want a drink. One of the finest wines in the Empire, I do suggest you drink it, I mean after all, once you lose today, you'll never enjoy something like this again." Zorzal said as he ushered a servant to bring Akalu a cup and poured some wine into the cup.
"I will, only if you will join me" Akalu replied as he looked at the cup then to Zorzal with mild skepticism.
"Very well, I guess it would only be proper" Zorzal said as he picked up a cup and had the servant pour wine in from the same pitcher. "To the victor goes the spoils" Zorzal said heartly as he gulped down the wine in his cup.
Akalu not wanting to be rude picked up the cup and slowly raised it at Zorzal. "Your an interesting character Zorzal, that much is for certain. You definitely talk a good game, and your full of confidence and your strategies that your willing to tell seem sound" Akalu said as he slowly brought the cup to his lips.
CHAPTER END
I'm sorry for leaving it on a cliff hanger, please don't hate me (lol), but it's only proper after all authors and story artists do it all the time with good books and manga chapters. And where's the fun in writing a story and not having some innocent fun with the readers. It helps make it exciting.
This is all for now, I'm eager to read the reviews that will undoubtedly come. Until the next Chapter, please enjoy.