Despite the failure of the Special-Operations force in their objective to rescue the CIA operatives held in a previous Russian base, that didn't stop them from attempting to get their main guy. Trent.

The operation was a complete success.

Trent and numerous other MI6/CIA operatives were rescued from the labyrinths under Fargo. Which meant that American/British intelligence in Fargo could still be active.

This was bad news for Russia, and Nora kept growing more out of pocket it seemed that Russia would have to forcefully put her in her place if they wanted to keep their position in the continent. But even though Nora was going through a lot, it still wasn't going to be easy to just invade Fargo. They needed to do it in a different way.

The wilds, Special Region

The Gagarin Military Center

Allegiance: The Russian Federation

Population: N/A, Best estimate is around 5,000 military personnel based on CIA aerial reconnaissance

Power level: 2

"Sir Valentine, War operation Bear Dominance is under way. It shall begin tonight."

"I can't wait to see the look on Nora's face when she sees what she is dealing with. Clearly the Americans and Chinese are too afraid to show their might even to these backwards savages."

"We have waited for this moment, to me, for too long. We must strike now!"

"And strike we will. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the resignation of the previous President, and an economic downturn that lasted for five years, Russia will grow mighty once again. We will triumph, first we set our sights on Fargo…"

Inside of Nikolai's office, Nikolai was on the phone speaking to his own superior, Sergei

"Have you heard about what happened in the Crystal Palace, Commandant?"

"Yes Sergei, I have."

"Word has just come down from the President himself, its time Malashenko. "

"I know, I know…"

Nikolai hung up the phone, things were not going well. NATO somehow managed to slip through Russian air defenses and rescued Trent. Which meant that the underground network of potential NATO-backed revolutionaries was still operational. The last thing Russia needed was for NATO to overthrow the Queen, so they relied on a plan they were saving as a last resort. Not only that but there was an incident involving Iscariot and NATO diplomats, and President Valentine was worried that it all meant that Nora was secretly cutting deals and negotiating with NATO behind their backs.

Russian Armed forces in Fargo have been delegated to the power of 'peacekeeping'. The only way to make sure the Kingdom would comply with Russian demands would be to take control of it by force. He didn't want to do this, but since NATO forced his sleight of hand, it was inevitable. He had to. Nora should've known to delegate so much power to any foreign power would've been bad news.

The Russian Fall back plan would have to go into effect. He didn't want to and knew it would hurt Russian reputation in the Special Region, which was already pretty compromised. However, the Americans knew what they were getting themselves into by putting Russia in such a cautious situation. Whatever happened next to either the Americans or Russia was not Nikolai's problem, that was the job of a diplomat. The UN had better not start asking him any questions.

Nikolai met with the members of the lower class who had been promised change and freedom by the Russian government. He told them the secret word that would start it all, bear rising.

Fargo, Iscariot lands

5:00 AM

Nora could sense that something was wrong since the night before. She didn't know what, exactly. But she knew something bad was on the horizon. The DMZ was lifted and the economy had exploded, her military had grown strong and her people rejoiced once more for her name in the streets for single handedly ending the depression, so the fools say. It had been five years now since the first cracks in the empire started to show, since the fortress in Ithaca was discovered.

It felt like everything that happened in a week. But no, five years.

Things were okay for the Empire, of course it was nowhere near as prosperous as it was when Nora first held control of the government, but it wasn't as bad as it was during the worst days. It felt like the worst days of her reign were over.

But even still, it was all too good. What did NATO have in store for them? She felt NATO was holding back for some reason, she hadn't seen all they were capable of. Or perhaps NATO had given all that they could, and their shows of technological superiority really were just a bluff. Just as her as Lady Igraine, the traitorous spy, had said.

Nora seriously doubted that however. Her Empire was not in its prime state, the economy was better now after Nora's multitude of reforms, but her people were still fragmented throughout the imperial realm. She lost one of her larger cities of Est-Anglice (Or as the uneducated fools in the city call it East-Angelica), riots were breaking out in the cities of Brighton to establish something called 'Communism' (whatever that meant), Illis had long since departed from the empire, and now the lower classes were basically making it their mission to flee to the Republic of Ithaca, which had eclipsed the Iscariot Empire in both wealth and population a while back.

And to think this all came because of the Newfoundland Delta, the relatively useless and uninhabited island just a few years prior. Now most prosperous and active area in the entire continent.

Nora's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of what seemed to be loud banging and popping. An explosion seemed to have gone off somewhere and it shook the air, making the chandelier in the bedroom ceiling rock and sway about. She rushed up to look outside of the window, The Crystal Ball still stood high and proud, but there were people. Her own people, fighting each other.

"MY MAJESTY, A COUP D'ETAT IS OCCURING JUST OUTSIDE THE CRYSTAL PALACE," Ann bursted through the door. His red feathers covered by military armor.

"What?" Nora turned to look him in the eye, Ann was out of breath.

"The Russians, they turned their weapons on us just now and they have captured the Crystal Square! Where the glass ball sits! They are using their metal war elephants and just parading around, demanding that you surrender our independence to them, they even burned our flag and raised their own!"

"The lying, traitorous bastards! Send the Home Guard!"

"They are already there, but had to retreat from the Square from sustained casualties!"

"The Royal Guard!"

"They are all dead!"

"Damn it send the military-"

"KIA"

"What?!"

"All of our military forces have retreated, surrendered, or are currently putting up what little fight they can! They are defending the main gates of the Crystal Palace, it isn't going to be long until the Russians come in-"

The sound of an explosion rocked the whole building, the walls, glass, and furniture shook for a few seconds. Nora knew, the military failed.

"We have to go to the emergency room, please let me lead you my queen." Ann requested, Nora nodded her head and the two quickly rushed out. The entirety of the Royals advisors, wealthy nobles, aristocrats, gentry and richest merchants and scholars all rushed to the emergency room. Nora was the last to enter the small room. It was hidden under a carpet in the court, and it was small. A hatch kept everyone hidden, and when Ann closed it there was complete darkness. Nobody said anything, there wasn't even a whisper among them.

They would be here for a while.

Riiiiinnng. Riiiiiinnnng. Riiiinnn- "Yes?"

"Mr. President?"

"Mr. Greene, what good news do you have to bring me today?"

"A crisis is developing in Fargo. The Russians are taking matters into their own hands!"

"Didn't we know this was going to happen?"

"Trent's Official CIA report was spot-on, sir."

"Couldn't we have done anything to prevent this?"

"Not without doing the same thing the Russians are now. I have already gathered the top military brass, we are awaiting your arrival in the Pentagon."

"Does NATO know-"

"The heads of state from the UK, France, and Germany are here too sir."

"I'll be there in fifty minutes."

"Yes sir."

Operation Ensuring Freedom is underway. USMC and SAS forces are to infiltrate Russian occupied Fargo, rescue Iscariot Royalty, and bring them home for negotiations.

A squadron of over twenty Blackhawk helicopters carrying both British SAS and American USMC forces, led the charge. Forty seastallions followed behind carrying SAS and USMC forces to fight Russian troops in the city, two Apache and four cobra helicopters escorted the formation to protect against surface and aerial threats. This was to be the largest aerial military operation in NATO Special Region history.

[Bravo 5] "Bravo-Five to Mike-Twenty-Two, we are approaching target area."

[Mike 22] "Mike-22 here, I copy. Fly below radar detection range. Linking us up with Zulu-Niner, Mike-22 out."

[Zulu 9] "This is Zulu-Niner to Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Geronimo, Ivy, Mike, and Omega flight escorts, please lower your aircraft to descent pattern. RUSFOR operatives have been detailed to have SAM missile sites in operation and Flak cannons."

[Bravo 5] "Copy that, we are descending, Bravo-Five out."

"Ever seen anything like that?"

"Aye, once. Syria…But that was years ago."

Sherman looked around in the chopper, they were flying over the walls of Fargo, the outer suburbs were mostly untouched, but inside of the walls was a different story.

Fires coming from the city center created black smoke that turned the sky a pitch-black color. The fires looked like night lights in contrast to the darkness of night that surrounded the whole city. It twinkled in the night and lit the city ablaze. The Crystal Palace was in the center of it all, and it looked bruised and battered. The normally crystal-blue building had black burn marks all over it, some parts of its walls and floors were missing having collapsed, and Iscariot military coup members were sieging it down. Obvious Russian equipment was spotted in the streets, T-70 tanks were the most obvious, red stars adorning the sides of them all, and they paraded them down the streets as if there was really something to celebrate. Explosions and the sound of gunfire came from the Crystal Square, the Iscariot military was obviously putting up a fight, but they would soon be overwhelmed.

The squadron of helicopters descended over the walls of the city, evading anti-air fire from the vehicles that were inside of the city. They flew in-between the taller buildings of the city, the RAF used fast air to take out what the artillery couldn't. Eurofighter Typhoons swarmed around the city, as storms of artillery shells descended upon different and precise points exploded on impact. From afar, it was like the world's greatest fireworks show ever, taking place entirely on the ground. From up close, it was hell on Earth.

God knows how many civilians were trapped in the crossfire, NATO policy stated that they couldn't fire even precision artillery if there was an above average chance of hitting a civilian. And in a city so populated as this one, literally anywhere could be an above average risk. So NATO policy already needed to be relaxed. For the Civilians that were out of harms way however, they gathered on the rooftops of the buildings, to watch their homes burn down. Some of them stared at the Crystal Palace, or gawked at the aircraft the circled overhead, or cried when another building was levelled straight to the ground, engulfed in a swarm of flames and explosions.

For Sherman, he could barely imagine the kind of emotions the people of Fargo were feeling, imagine having the office that you worked in destroyed and levelled straight to the ground, or the home you lived in occupied by soldiers, surrounded by barbed wire and a tank sitting on the lawn. Or your local grocery store, turned into a machine gun nest gunning down anyone who came near. Sherman could barely understand, until he saw it…

A large gathering of children, and presumably the Iscariot garrison inside of the city, was sitting in the streets further away from the chaos. Most of the children were obviously crying, upset, even angered at the fact that their city was burning to the ground. It didn't hit him that these were all people, until he saw one child. Isolated from all the rest, walking around as if it was lost. Stumbling rather than walking. Through rubble, with ash on its body. It didn't hit him until the child looked up at the fleet of helicopters flying overhead, pointed up at the sky and tried to run away to the group before once again stumbling over.

"Bloody hells bells, it's a nightmare down there. Feel bad for the people caught in it." Sherman said as he gazed down at the destruction of the city down below.

"That's war for you, it's a bunch of old men in airconditioned rooms sending young boys out to fight and die in hell. They already don't care about the soldiers, much less the civilians…" Said Cato, as he too looked down at the burning city.

"Oi, we've gotten a transmission from the USMC, Omaha-Seven. He has a transmission for us, listen up," Said Scott as he picked up the radio…

This is Omaha-Seven to all elements inside of Fargo, I will be your commanding officer from here on out, and will be giving you status reports about the different objectives you have assigned. Remember, Orange, Whiskey, Tombstone, and Warrior squads, your objective is to infiltrate the Crystal Palace and rescue Queen Nora and the rest of her diplomats from the room they have fled to. I will oversee the entire operation, if anything goes wrong, you report to me. Omaha-Seven, out.

[Bravo 5] "This is Bravo-Five to Omaha-Seven, we are approaching the LZ, do we have a green light to land, over?"

[Omaha 7] "Omaha-Seven, affirmative, Zulu-Niner has cleared the area of enemy infantry and occupation. You are clear to land, I repeat you are clear to land. Omaha-Seven out."

"Go-Pros on lads, masks up. Make sure your earpieces are working, we are about to start mission." Said Sherman as he turned on his Go-pro to start recording, and raised his black balaclava over his nose. He lowered the goggles over his eyes as well, making his face completely hidden. They wore dark camouflage, an urban mix of greys and blacks. It was to not to blend into the night, but for once they got inside of the dark, and possibly smoke filled rooms of the Crystal Palace.

They waited until the helicopter they were in descended and touched down onto the ground, a green light shined and the doors were opened. Out they went, into the night.

They had touched down in a large field inside of a park no less than four blocks away from the Crystal Palace's rear gardens and rear entrance. Once they fought their way up the street, careful not to take any unnecessary civilian casualties along with them, they would scale the Palace's fence and continue through the gardens. Which in itself was a frenzied mix of ponds, foliage, and hedgerows. Iscariot Coup members and Russian forces could be hiding anywhere inside. Cato carried a Smaw around in case they ran into a tank, as old Soviet-era tanks patrolled the streets. They were nothing fancy, but would kill them all if they weren't careful.

While the Royal Marines were busy rescuing Nora and her gang of diplomats, the USMC would be busy defending key points of the city from capture and distracting the Russians from sending any real support. There were a number of objectives, the Kings Mausoleum (The people still believed that King Fredrick was dead, Nora never told them because doing so would undermine her own queenship and authority) was designated as a victory point by High Command. It was at the center of the city and was large enough to efficiently act as a forward base of operations. However it would be heavily under attack by Coup members and the Iscariot Royal Army, which isn't necessarily friends with NATO soldiers either. Another objective was the Royal Thoroughfare, a large avenue running through both ends of the city straight down the middle, running adjacent to the Royal Palace. There were other numerous objectives that had to be held for as long as possible so that the extraction of Queen Nora could take place.

Sherman and the other sergeants led their squadrons up the street towards the giant iron fence that separated the Rear Gardens from the rest of the city.

"Up we go, tethers on." Cato said as he threw a rope over the fence and secured it on the opposite side. The fence was about ten feet high. Pointy spikes on the top made it dangerous to do this. But they were SAS. Danger was their middle name.

Cato was the first to successfully scale the fence, going up and over, minding the spikes, and then jumping down onto the ground. He found himself in a pocket of green shrubbery surrounded by a hedgerow with the only entrance into the walled off area being a gap in the hedge. He secured the entrance quickly as the rest of the squads made their way over.

Once everyone was there they quickly moved along the maze of hedges, flora, and ponds that dominated the rear gardens, "This is more like a damn park than a garden." Said Scott as he got his foot wet after misstepping into a pond.

"Rich people live lavish lifestyles and call it modest. Same on Earth, what the fuck can I tell you?" Said Cato.

"I just wish the briefings told us about all of this, this is just ridiculous."

The task force of Special Ops made their way through towards the Crystal Place, towards the rear entrance is when they found Russian soldiers patrolling through the gardens.

"Russians, infantry. How do we proceed?" Asked Cato.

"Gee Cato. I don't know, why don't you go up there and ask politely if they'll let us through?" Scott said.

"Cut the shit Scott, shoot to kill," Sherman answered and aimed his rifle down range and took aim at one. The entire task force opened fire, and within minutes all of them were dead before they could radio back to their base.

"Keep a move on boys, come on, inside!" They ran onto the pavement that dominated the rear plaza, and up the stairs that led to the door that was already opened by force from some previous force.

[Omaha 7] "Omaha-Seven here to Orange Squadron, have you secured the Rear Gardens yet?"

[Orange] "Affirmative Omaha, Rear Gardens secured, ready for our transport out. Over."

[Omaha 7] "Understood Orange, remember, in and out. We have an hour at best to sort through all of the rubble and the entire palace to find the Queen and extract her, forty-five minutes or less is what we should be looking at here."

[Orange] "Copy that Omaha, Orange out."

"You heard the man, Forty-Five or less! Keep moving!" Said Cato as he lead the charge through the rear door. Inside of the palace was a complete mess, debris all on the ground, chandeliers down on the floor, evidence of fire damage. It was completely dark and smoky inside, they could barely see or breathe.

"Night vision on boys, we're going dark." Said Sherman as he lowered his gear over his eyes, turning the room they were in into a green matrix. They moved through the debris and rubble trying to find anything, sounds of shouting through the halls as whatever was left of the Royal Guard tried to put up any form of resistance against the Coup.

The task force stumbled around the darkness, moving as silently as possible, meeting no resistance, when they stumbled upon the Royal Bedroom.

"Oi, Sherman. I think we've found the bedroom to the King and Queen." Said Scott.

"Kick down the door, the secret escape should be inside of this room."

Scott put his heel to the door and successfully brought it down, inside the entire room was a mess, the bedsheets were all on the floor, pictures knocked over, the giant glass window was shattered.

"So… this is where the king and queen do all their love makin' at, aye?" Cato joked.

"Have some respect for her majesty, will you?" Scott responded with laughter.

"Ay, dunderheads. Over here, I found the door, come over and help me open it up," Said Sherman as he tried to pry open the doors. The three SAS units and a Marine all tried to open it. But nothing worked, they must've been locked from the inside.

"We gotta get the welding tools," Whispered a Marine, "But the Ruskies are on our heels. We don't have time to use them!" Said another.

"We are just gonna have to try," Sherman pointed at the American engineer, "Get your welding tools out. Cut through this door, we will all keep you guard. Do try and hurry, yeah?"

The Marine nodded and got to work, taking out his torch and slowly, but surely, cutting through the metal. Five minutes passed, not a sound from outside of the room, and the doors were open!

"Viola!" The Marine exclaimed.

The team opened it up, guns pointed down into the darkness. A flight of stairs led to what looked like a dark pit…

"Down we go," Sherman said as he took a tentative step down the pit. At the bottom of the stairs lie a wooden door. One with no lock.

"Get ready to breach inside. Five…Four…" Sherman said as the task force aimed their rifles down range, a marine prepared to kick the door down.

"Three…Two…One…Go!"

The Marine put his boot to the wooden door and it came flying open, immediately four Iscariot guards attempted to rush out with swords and spears drawn, all of them being shot instantly. Sounds of screaming came from inside of the room, as Cato threw a flashbang inside.

"Get them all out of here! Move it people!" Sherman ordered as the unit ran into the room, the frantic and frenzied aristocrats and nobles inside nearly paralyzed with terror. It was easier than previously thought to lead them all out of the room, they moved along without protest. As if they had given up.

There were children in the room too, they were harder to move but the Task Force carried them away.

[Omaha 7] "This is Omaha-Seven to all callsigns in Fargo. Task Force Ivy-Mike has captured the King's Mausoleum. Task Force Ivy-Yankee has secured the southern gate into the city. I need a Sitrep from the rest of the task force's, over."

Sherman radioed back to Omaha as he and his own force rushed through the dark hallway of the escape route, up the stairs and back into the Palace,

[Orange] "This is Orange Squadron, the VIP's are in our hands we are returning to our troop transport!"

[Omaha 7] "We read you loud and clear Orange, your ride is waiting at the LZ. When you exit the building, light the flare. The Royal Air Force will level the area surrounding the building to cover your retreat."

[Orange] "Solid copy, Orange, out."

The Taskforce continued through the hallways. A Coup soldier had made his way into the hallways of the palace as well. He was swiftly dealt with, Cato putting three bullets into his chest and legs. Swiftly without much afterthought the team continued through the halls back to whence they came.

They approached the back entrance of the building, the same entrance they had used to enter. Outside was a flight of long stairs that led to the gardens and their ticket outside. But the scene they saw surrounding them…was breathtaking to say the least.

The city was under attack now by three powers. The Russians weren't exactly attacking the city, they had however armed the rebels with Russian equipment, and it was likely that the coup was under Russian leadership or supervision whichever one. China too wasn't attacking the city, the ICCR was. British intelligence reported that communist units were besieging the northern walls of the city, fighting against both the Coup and NATO. It was an all-out four-way siege between the powers. The greatest powers in this world…and its effects were visible.

The city was painted red. Literally. The blood of Royal Guards, civilians, and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the fire, spilled and pooled in the streets of the capital. The city itself was on fire. Massive flames erupting from not just the Crystal Palace but also nearby homes and businesses. The flames crawled their way into the skies, and the black smoke and ash blocked out the sun from the ground. It was hell on Earth, the fall of the empire.

Sherman looked around as he saw British/American F-35 Lightning II's scream through the air, shooting down Iscariot dragon flyers. Explosions from around the city were audible in the air, like furious thunder echoing through the skies.

A fleet of Chinooks and Blackhawk choppers were visible, their doors open for the soldiers to bring themselves and their captees. A SAS operative made contact with a Chinook and quickly got his team to work putting the captured and frightened nobles in the machines. It was fast, less than five minutes before everyone was seated and strapped in. But now. Now was the moment of truth. Did they get their main target?

Sherman took out a picture of the VIP that was to be extracted and surveyed the faces of the crowd before him. The choppers couldn't take off until the target was identified, so he moved fast. Going from person to person, until he came across a peculiarly striking demi. A snow white fox-human.

"Are you Nora?"

The Queen looked Sherman in the eye with blood red eyes, as if she had been crying. Her face, which was usually a healthy white color, was now a sickly pale. Her fur and hair, a damaged gray. The stress of it all had taken its toll on her body. That much was obvious.

She nodded her head slowly.

"Good." He radioed the captain of the chopper flight squad that the VIP was there. The doors of the Chinook closed, and the fleet took off.

With the battle still raging on, NATO had achieved what it had came for. The extraction of Nora to prevent her from being either captured by the coup or being killed. It was likely one would follow the other, rumor had it that the leaders of the coup planned to hang her and the rest of the nobility.

NATO infantry began to pull out slowly, and aircraft pulled back. The fortune of the city of Fargo was in the hands of the ICCR and the Coup as they were left to battle it out amongst the tattered remains of the Royal Guard.

And now, a long, long flight back home for the NATO troops. Nora was in a lot of trouble to say the least...