(Disclaimer: This chapter isn't dedicated to any song and it's rather short but I hope you still enjoy it nontheless. Have fun reading!)
*Ironmood, Mammal's side, 12:30 PM, 21st of June*
After a rather long Car ride from the outskirt zones of the Tri-burrows the soldiers finally arrived in Ironmood. They drove in a number of rather big Military trucks that weren't especially armored or equipped with gun turrets as they didn't expect to get attacked and that expectations proved to be correct as they had a calm and easy drive over to Ironmood.
As Nick and his remaining soldiers exited the truck they walked around for a bit and found that there were 5 other trucks following them, each one filled with 12 Retrievers. Nick came to a halt and awaited the arrival of Lieutenant Niklasson. As he patiently waited with his soldiers all close by he noticed that the road he and Crash had travelled on their arrival day had been repaired mostly and the trenches next to the road were now finished and there were way less corpses around than back then.
As Nick turned his head back to the trucks that were about 50 meters away and standing in a meadow with dry grass that was closer to hay than actual grass and a few flowers that were close to wither to death. He saw that Lieutenant Niklasson was on his way over to him and his soldiers to talk a bit. A few single soldiers, probably the serge's bodyguard, were following him. Nick was impressed once again by the golden glow and shine of their fur. It really seemed to give off a confidence boosting aura as well as making it seem senseless to try and fight against them. For some reason Nick got uneasy as they walked directly towards him, armoured with their rifles and equipment.
Even though Nick knew they were on his side he still had to think about how it would feel to see these majestic soldiers walk directly towards you and know that their goal was your death. It would seem quite inviting to just run or even take your death into your own hands at that point. Nick had to smile at how terrifying it would be if they were really against him and not fighting with him.
Nick straightened his stance, pushed out his chest and held his head higher up and saluted the Lieutenant, the Lieutenant briefly coming to a stop, doing the same and then dropping back to ease quickly and greeting Nick with a friendly smile, Nick in return doing the same thing.
"So, Nick, we're finally back here. Here to finally push the humans out this damned huddle of rubble, cobble and ruins that once was known as the great city of Ironmood. It's a real shame that whole cities were just swallowed by the hunger of war. So many people without homes or really anything will be left after war."
"Yes, sir. We're finally back and I don't think I could hate it more, even though it seems the situation has bettered itself over time slowly. We expect to have about 500 Humans, maybe even a little less, stationed here. Nazim and the rest of us, together with great boys, who by now are probably dead, did a surprise attack on the Human camp and killed a lot of them, though at the expense of losing Nazim."
"Hm, every war has it's losses. It's good that these men knew what was right and to stand up for it, even though they were wounded. If I were able to I'd salute to each one of them and shake their paws, but I hardly think that would help at all."
Nick and the Lieutenant slowly started to walk towards the center of the city, their hands behind their back and heads facing the ground as they talked over the events that had happened here the last few days. Nick was by far less informed about it all than the Lieutenant and thought it to be normal since Niklasson had the higher rank and therefor was trusted with more information.
As they slowly made their way about the path and kept talking the Lieutenant's bodyguards and Nick's few soldiers also started to talk about some funny things they had experienced the last couple of days. Nick's soldiers talked about the amazing festival and the sweet girls they had found there and Niklasson's soldiers talked about how they had found several Human squads trying to flank around the formation of the mammals and had walked into their patrols. Most Humans just gave up on it after they got a good view at the golden fur of the soldiers, others though were more stubborn and had to pay a very high prize for it.
They also made some jokes and commonly it took them about 2 minutes to calm down from the laughter. After several days of not having any real entertainment or fun it was common that you laughed at about pretty much every joke you heard though these boys had some very rare and good jokes up their sleeves.
As the group finally reached the center of the city where a small bunker was standing the Lieutenant again saluted Nick, which in return did the same, and told them all to wait outside until he had told the local General that they were here and their next commands were clear.
*Ironmood, Mammal's side, 13:15 PM, 21st of June*
As Niklasson finally came out of the bunker a big, chubby cheetah was following him. He quickly introduced the soldiers to the General.
"Boys, this is General Clawhauser, he has been stationed here 2 days ago as the old General was decided as incapable of the job since he didn't manage to occupy this city fully in more than 2 years."
The soldiers threw the General a lot of different gazes, the most though were respecting and excited to be led by a new, different General, that most certainly was more capable of the job than the last one, who was an arrogant and ignorant raccoon. A few soldiers also threw him a gaze of mistrust though it was a clear minority. The General looked with a happy and friendly expression over all them.
"Hello, fellow comrades. As Lieutenant Niklasson just told you, I am new to this battlefield though I am already a veteran in terms of war and tactics. I am sure that if you are trusted with a well-planned and detailed plan you all can execute wonderful missions and fulfill flawless work."
The General looked over the group of soldiers and gave them all a suddenly stern look. He looked to the horizon and saw that just now a lot of other soldiers were getting over the small hill that the road led over. His expression eased up a bit and he looked more confident than just a few seconds before.
"Oh, excellent the whole Golden Battalion is here. I never dreamt of having this amazing group under my command at some point of time. Seems like fortune is on my side. Well then, let's shake things up and kick these Humans out of this city with a hard kick to their unpleasant asses!"
The soldiers that were collected in front of the General all had to smile and cheered a bit for the confidence their General showed. He was just as sure of victory as he for sure has already eaten 5 donuts today and the soldiers had no other choice but show the same amount of confidence.
As the rest of the soldiers arrived Niklasson gave the order to relax a few minutes and then prepare for a push to the front where a lot of mammals would await their support. To Nick he gave the order to choose a name for him and his few remaining soldiers as he couldn't absorb them into his battalion but still wanted a more comfortable name then 'Nick and the rest'.
Nick and his soldiers all walked over to the medical tents and managed to convince a medic to give Crash a proper dose of morphine so he could walk without having to feel a lot of pain as it was most unpleasant if Jamie would have to carry him all the time.
After Niklasson has discussed the plan with his soldiers that he was gonna use to overthrow the Humans and finally push them out of this city he came over to Nick and his comrades.
"So" Niklasson started with a happy and excited voice as he raised his eyebrows "have you guys decided on a name yet?"
Nick just had to grin and shake his head as he thought about the names his boys had come up with. For example Lead-heads, Hell-fire, Shadow-strike or Dragon-house. Nick just had a silly grin on his muzzle though it suddenly vanished when he remembered Latin classes that he has had in college the shaking of his head slowly becoming a nod and the silly grin transforming into one of liking.
Born to win. Natus Vincere. The short form is gonna be Na'Vi. That was the thought that had suddenly crossed his mind. He turned over to his soldiers speaking with them quietly for some time.
"Nick, I'm still waiting" Geoffrey with a sly grin across his muzzle and still risen eyebrows.
Nick turned around with a solid expression of security and confidence.
"Sir, the Na'Vi squad is at your service, ready for orders." Nick said as all his squad members lined up behind Nick and they all straightened their stances and saluted in the same time, making it look pretty impressive even though they were only 7.
"hmm, Na'Vi. Is that some exotic language or just a fancy name?" Niklasson asked with an interested voice and visage.
"Sir, Na'Vi is the short form of Natus Vincere which translates to 'born to win' in Latin, sir!" Nick said as he still stood ready and at attention looking straight ahead with a neutral expression.
"You can stand at ease, Wilde. I've got good news for you and your boys. You all are going to receive medals and you, Nick, are going to be promoted to a Sergeant. The medals you'll be receiving are the medal of honor and the medal of bravery. Both are really sought-after in our lines. Since only our army awards these medals they are also very popular trophies in Human lines so be careful to not display them too much or you're gonna be like a running target-plate to them." Niklasson said with a very stern tone that none of them has heard before. It seemed like all the gossip and silliness from before has vanished and was replaced by professionalism.
"Sir, we are grateful for it. When will we have to move out to the front?" Nick asked with a still neutral expression after he had shifted into a more comfortable position also tugging at his pants to get his most personal parts into a more comfy place.
"Whenever you think it's right. You are from now on a squad under control of yourself. You can do whatever you want unless a letter from the General directly tells you otherwise. Good luck from now on, soldiers" Niklasson said as he saluted once more then changed back into a more friendly expression again and turned away to move out with all of his 59 elite soldiers. Together with him they were 60 and Niklasson couldn't wonder with how many they were going to return since he well knew, no matter how elite and well trained someone is, a certain circumstance that he isn't trained for can always occur and in that moment he is going to die.
Lieutenant Niklasson walked to the front of the group and came to a halt in front of them. He looked at all of them and thought for a moment of what he was going to say, but then decided against it to say anything at all as he well knew that his soldiers already knew all his speeches. He just looked at all of them softly and with a kind of love only brothers could have. His soldiers knew what he said with that one gaze at them and threw it right back at him. They all were like brothers to each other in that aspect and they well knew that they most certainly were going to lose some of their brothers today.
Niklasson and his soldiers started to walk along the long, curvy cobble road again. They enjoyed the sight of a few flowers here and there and looked at the horizon where a few meadows started to spread again. Oh, how they enjoyed the look of green grass again after being here for only a mere hour. This city just seemed like a place that came out of hell and started to spread itself on the earth's surface.
As he and his soldiers moved on they started to sing to get their morale up and prepare themselves for warfare. Their minds all on the same thing: how many Human's lives was it gonna cost and how many brothers were they gonna lose for it.
*Ironmood, Mammal's side, 15:30 PM, 21st of June*
As Lieutenant Niklasson and his troops had finally reached the front they were surprised at how well the Human were resisting. They had at least 5 machine gun turrets mounted on the walls of their camp and a lot of snipers stationed on their watch towers. The snipers were careful not to expose themselves too much since they could easily get picked off by enemy snipers that had more options of changing their location in the broad mud-fields of the city's ruins. Only few mammals dared to hold their heads above the ruins they were hiding behind and on a regular basis these that dared to look fell lifelessly to the ground with a hole through their heads.
Niklasson waited for the perfect opportunity and then set his plan in action slowly. He encouraged a lot of other soldiers to start storming on his command and when they did so he and all of his soldiers ran in a curve, to flank the machine-guns, around the other troops and tried to reach the wall. On the way many a soldier around them fell because of the chaos but Niklasson had timed it really greatly so that of 5 Machine-guns only 1 was firing while the others all had to reload for a rather long amount of time.
As more and more soldiers fell they slowly felt the need to retreat but Niklasson oppressed it that thought by telling them that the way back was longer than the way to the walls where they all would be safe too so the soldiers kept following him and his troops.
As they finally reached the walls, heavily breathing and sweating, their blood rich with adrenaline, Niklasson started counting his soldiers. Still 60, that was perfect. He ordered his specialists to place enough dynamite to blow a hole into the walls without endangering mammals that were around.
As the deep and loud boom of the detonation sounded through their ears they used the moment of surprise to flood into the Human camp and quickly engulfed in a brutal match that was about life or death on all behalves.
*Ironmood, Mammal's side, 18:00 PM, 21st of June*
The battle had ended a mere few minutes ago and a lot of corpses were everywhere, some laying on the ground, others in a sitting position with their backs leaning on a wall some with only a few wounds others that were completely perforated with bullet-holes and again others that simply were ripped apart by big caliber guns.
Niklasson and some soldiers were strolling through the cleared camp in search of any hiding humans. As they were still searching Niklasson noticed that someone was watching him. As he picked his gaze up from the ground and looked straight ahead he saw him. A tall, muscular Human with the Hat and mantle of a high ranked military. He held a weapon Niklasson hasn't seen before. He was caught up in the moment and thought about possible options of surviving this encounter.
As he dashed for cover he also saw that there was a huge train caravan on its way to the base. This had to be a train transporting new soldiers, food, ammunition, weapons and all other sorts of things this base needed to come back to full strength. Niklasson realized that the battle over this base hasn't ended a few minutes ago. No, it has begun a few minutes ago Niklasson realized with an expression of utter shock as the blood in his veins froze and he couldn't help but stare into nothingness as he noticed how high the chance of them all dying was.
End of chapter 12
(Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter. Tomorrow there's gonna be a longer one. Oh and please don't forget to review to help me improve.)