After Maria's disappearance, the slayers attacked New Warfang much more frequently. From maybe every five months to pretty much every month at least one time, they also slightly changed their strategy. Instead of sending one whole wave to one side (and get decimated) they surround New Warfang and then send wave after wave (Usually ending up in the same result.) However, there was one time it went down a bit different. Usually, it's just pure infantry, they only used armored vehicles in the very beginning and suddenly just stopped but this time they had Dragoons and even a few Alphas!

True to slayer tactics: They rushed at the walls, the railgun men were able to blast a good bit of the infantry, leaving only a few in comparison to the machineguns. While the railguns are powerful, they take a small bit to reload, leaving them vulnerable for about a minute. The enemy Alphas took that opportunity to blow up a few railguns but their equipment must've been faulty as some blew up in their faces. It makes sense as we had to upgrade a few things from their original plans, but what was even more interesting is that their weapons blew up. I'm guessing they were too stubborn and used their blueprints, I bet they regretted that. The enemy didn't waste their chance, their dragoons and other units pushed and managed to break through (while crushing their soldiers…). It instantly became a battle on the inside and outside. Thankfully, Seiya was in the underground bunker along with the royal guard so I knew he was safe while I suited up for my Alpha. Scaled Foxtrot came out of the hangar in all its glory and as soon as I joined the rest of the Alphas, I knew the battle was won.

An enemy Alpha came running towards me, I activated the flame thrower to at least distract the mech while I stepped to the side. I grabbed its arm and repeatedly slammed my fist on its joint (Funny thing about Alphas, any damage that the mech receives will be felt by the pilot since their brain is connected to it.) and managed to break it off. Just like the savage I was, I then used its arm to beat it down but he decided to surprise me by launching a few missiles. I was too close to dodge and took the full brunt of those things. While I was in much pain, it only bolstered my resolve. I engaged my mace where my right hand transformed into a morning star, to which I then began to slam into the cockpit/head. That was only one of the fights, in the end, the battle was long and hard but we managed to drive out the slayers out of New Warfang, not too many casualties but quite a bit of damage to our buildings and houses, which the I and the rest of my council will pay for (obviously).

We also found out that an Alpha I took down belonged to Maria, I mean, now that I think of it, it did seem more agile and was a bit of a prick to fight. She used whips, a giant version of a slayer mace, a few small missiles attached to her wrist and well, the Alpha itself. Her mech had several limbs missing and quite a few holes in it, the pain itself must've killed her. She most likely passed on all the information she knew to the slayers and a few hours after the battle when we announced Maria's death, we found the bodies of several soldiers in their rooms with their pistols in their hands. The autopsy said that it was most likely suicide, so we can probably infer that they were slayer spies.

Nothing too exciting happened, a few slayer and fortress attacks but for the most part it was somewhat peaceful (for myself at least) but something did happen when we raided the eleventh fortress. We were heavily pinned down by their machine guns as some had the brilliant idea to dig trenches (if it didn't work in WW1 then why did I go ahead with the plan!?) We couldn't even move an inch unless we wanted to eat lead. I got a radio transmission from a commander of a dragon battalion saying that he and the rest will come to relieve them and act as a distraction for us. I told them that it was a bad idea; their attack was going to be seen a mile away, quite literally in fact! I never got a single response back, their machine guns eventually stopped pelting our trenches (Thankfully we had shield men reinforce the top…) but they averted their attention to the dragons, and a downpour of scales blood and bodies began to fall. "Fools!" I muttered under breath.

Though I was both hurt and frustrated, I wasn't going to let their sacrifice be in vain. I gave the order to form up and charge and after a long fight, we finally managed to take it at the cost of about half the dragons that came with us. It was a sad sight coming back, but I couldn't have done anything, they blatantly disobeyed my orders, what was I going to do? Night fell and I was at the cemetery, looking at the freshly filled graves, not just mourning but also thinking on how I could stop something like that from happening again. My thoughts were interrupted by a gentle hand on my shoulder. I turned to look but then I heard a voice say "No, don't look at me. Go to your home instead. These dragons will live once more." I nodded and with full faith, I went home. The next morning, my army was replenished and the dragons who were KIA were very much alive with not even a scratch who just casually chatted with each other. I had a hunch on who the person was that night, but I didn't think too much about it.

During the next fortress raid, it seemed that they remembered their mistake because, on the twelfth fortress, we were pinned down (why do I keep agreeing on building trenches!?) but they followed my orders. When they asked if they could do anything, I told them to stay where they were and they did. I called a few railgun shots instead where we took the fortress and "POW's".

"Enoch," Called John.

"What is it?"

"You may want to take a look at this"

I was glad to hear it, mostly when he said that, it meant that he or someone else found something that could give us an edge in the war and it was an edge indeed. As we went underground, he and a few soldiers led me to their war room, not just any war room though. On the back of the wall was a giant map of UT, showing New Warfang, some villages and towns (Some had a red "x" on them), their fortresses and last but not least, their headquarters. According to the map, it was a few thousand miles East of New Warfang, just bordering the edge of the country. After four years of constant fighting and bloodshed, we finally found their final base.

"Write down the coordinates and mark it on our map. We'll take that also, just in case we miss anything vital." I ordered. We came back with our people cheering for us, Seiya and Cheryl were happy to see me come back as always.

Starting the day after, my soldiers and I went through intense training for pretty much the next two entire weeks (Except Saturday and Friday sundown of course.). Refining our formations, simulated training, crawling through mud under barbed wire with high-speed paint rounds above it and other things. As always, starting with at least a five-mile run and sometimes ended with overnight training missions. While I was highly anticipating going to the final battle with my men, Seiya and Cheryl didn't like the thought (As they didn't like it either when I went on every fortress raid.)

That final night, John and I came back exhausted. All I wanted was to fall on my bed and sleep the night away. Unfortunately, we can't always get what we want… Seiya was waiting on the couch with Cheryl patiently lying next to it. I knew what was about to go down. Seiya and I argued about for pretty much the whole two weeks I came back and I also fought about it with Cheryl, when all I wanted was a nature walk or dinner at some restaurant.

"What's all this?" I played dumb and asked.

"Dad, ever since my actual parents were killed, I saw you as the last family member I had." Started Seiya.

"You've done more than enough for us, why not let your soldiers take care of this. Neither of us wants you to die, and being 'devastated' would be an understatement. We care for you too much, one of us more than the other."

"Well, I'm sorry but when I put my mind into something, I fully commit to it no matter what happens. Besides, Gods protected me this whole time, the worst I've gotten is a few scratches… well, except that one time the slayers invaded but I didn't even feel anything."

"Yeah? What if God withdraws his protection from you? What will he do? Will he just turn the bullets into sheep's wool?" Asked Cheryl in an almost mocking tone.

"If that's his will, then yes."

"You really think that God's going to save you from them?" She asked.

"Is that a question?" I retorted.

"Not really, more of an observation. But here's a question: Are you really going to fight them with a bunch of shields?"

"First of all, you underestimate the power of our formation but secondly and more importantly, you underestimate the power of my God! You! You Cheryl! You've seen what God can do. He's saved you from slavery and provided everything you needed after escaping, a cave to live in, red crystals in abundance and a lake full of fish to eat, and you still doubt him?"

"It's not doubt! It's common sense- er- maybe it is doubt… I don't know! But they're killing machines!"

"And my God is an impenetrable shield, I think that gives me the advantage. Besides, you said it yourself, some of those men were forced into fighting, not by choice."

"All the more reason not to go! You won't be shedding any more possible innocent blood! They'll be ordered to kill you and the rest of your men!"

"Did you not hear the part where I called God an impenetrable shield?"

John interrupted "Guys, guys, why won't we calm down for a moment, I'll make some tea and-"

"Stay out of this, John!" Shouted Cheryl.

John put his hands up as if to say "Okay! Please don't hurt me!"

"I just worry about you… I care about you… deeply… if you don't come back alive-! I-I-I don't know what I'll do!" Explained Cheryl.

Seiya nuzzled my leg in tears repeating "Daddy, daddy… please don't go!"

I sighed "My mind is made up, Cheryl. I'm going to get rid of the slayer menace once and for all." I stated.

"Fine!" She stomped "I don't want to see you in a body bag but if you're going to be a fool, then so be it!" She pushed off the side but I could tell that she was hurting and trying to hold back tears on the inside and flew away.

I knelt to be at eye-level with Seiya "Don't worry… When I come back, I will be the very first person you see coming in. I promise."

Seiya, still crying, ran away into his room, slamming the door. I then stood up and wiped a single tear.

"Hey, hey, cheer up, You made a promise to your kid, and you always keep them. We'll come back home, I can guarantee it, we always have."

"I suppose so…" I sighed and went to boil a pot of herbal tea "You want some?" I asked.

"I'll take a cup."

The next day we woke up at four in the morning, went to the base and suited up. I forgot to mention that we received reinforcements from a dragon tribe called the Nerazims from a dragon named Zephyr, one of them gave a message that he wanted to thank me for all that I've been doing for the dragonkin. Spyro and Cynder also decided to sign out of the reserves and join the main army once again. Flame and Ember took care of Jade and Alexander, they even had a hatchling of their own, Phoenix, I'd say it's a fitting name.

Anyway, when we were all suited up, we all met in the meeting hangar for one final message and briefing. Once all was explained by John, I cleared my throat and began my speech.

"Friends, soldiers, dragons and dragons from the Nerazim tribes: We have been oppressed for far too long, but today, we end it all. We have conquered all the slayer fortresses and now all that's left is the slayer base. This is the moment we've been waiting for, so many hatchlings have been left parentless and vice versa because of them. We will get revenge for every single innocent life they've taken. Don't forget why you joined the Skyforce, no one forced you into it. Our job is to protect and defend Unitatis Terra at all costs for the past two weeks, not all of you will be going to fight, however. In the case, we suffer heavy losses and our attack is crushed, if they launch a counterattack, we will have the other half of the army to defend this city. If they take New Warfang, they take all of Unitatis Terra. I can't promise that all of you will come back uninjured, or come back at all, but I do promise this. If you die in battle, your sacrifice will not be in vain or forgotten. Remember this: In war, there are no rules, anything goes, you can be as brutal as you want, just eliminate the enemy, I'm sure the slayers have done much worse. Whatever you do in combat, find an excuse to win! Keep going! Even if a grenade lands a few feet away from you, even if your whole squad is shot down! Keep going! It pays to be a winner! What you will win is the gratitude of all the dragonkin and my thanks for serving in the fight and your country. Whether a medic, a scout, a grunt, you all have my thanks. There may be a day when we lost, but that day is not that day! Today we fight!" I shouted.

The soldiers began to clap and dragons began to roar a grand roar and when all was said and done, the attacking force and I all gathered around the gate in formation. Standard infantry in the front, armored and light armored vehicles with medics inside. Dragoon infantry and sharpshooters behind those and last but not least, the Alphas were in the very back of the formation. We were surrounded by our loved ones, ready to see us off. As we were saying goodbye, I saw Cheryl alongside Seiya and went to talk with them.

"Listen, I just want to say-"

"Shut it." Ordered Cheryl. She leaned in and gave me a passionate kiss, even more than Jane's. "You better come back alive." She warned.

"Yes, Ma'am." I then kneeled to Seiya "I'll see you later bud, okay?" I said as I ruffled Seiya's non-existent hair. Seiya began to cry again "There, there, don't cry. Promise me you'll stay strong like your dad. Keep me in your prayers alright?"

"Uh-huh," He nodded through his tears.

"Attaboy…" I stood up, saluted and went back to the formation in the very front so I could get everyone back in order. Once all was settled, I gave the order. "Open the gates!" I ordered, and with a final look at Cheryl and Seiya, a single tear fell. "FORWARD. MARCH!"

We left the safety of New Warfang on September 22, 2017, at seven in the morning with fifty thousand eager soldiers ready to fight.