The Fight we Chose

by DFMRCV

"No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it."- Harold G. Moore

10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Die Trying

---

Imperial Capital

7:00 AM

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." the class of 11th graders recited.

16-year-old Dennis Orville smiled slightly as he lowered his hand from his chest and took a seat almost in perfect sync with his classmates. His homeroom teacher moving to her desk and grabbing the math book, giving instructions he just barely listened to. The school day went on as usual. He listened to the teachers, he jotted down notes, he glanced at some of the girls, he chuckled with some of the boys, he took the bus home and watched the Georgia fields and forests pass by.

He hopped off the bus and marched the rest of the way home, a hop in his step that only vanished as he got closer to his house as he composed himself.

Once inside, he helped his mother with the little restaurant, not many showing up in the late afternoon, except for a straggler or two who simply wanted a late coffee or to say "hello".

Closing Hour came.

The sun went down.

A warm dinner was put on the table.

Same as any day.

But not that day.

The dinner table was quiet as they ate.

Agatha Orville stared at him for a moment, her heart audibly threatening to punch its way out of her chest as Dennis showed her some papers.

Dennis finally said, an air of nervousness as he spoke, "The recruiter said I'm good enough to go this summer... if it's alright..."

She swallowed.

"And... you want to go?" she asked.

"Yes, ma!" he said, smiling brightly.

The smile vanished when he saw the sadness in his mother's eyes.

The justifications came quickly, as he had been thinking about them for a long time by now, the teenager rehearsing them all in his head.

"It's just for the summer, and I don't have to immediately enlist after!"

Despite the sadness in her eyes, she smiled slightly, saying "You're only sixteen... are you... sure boot camp's a good idea? Maybe after high school is better?"

He awkwardly said "Well, ma... I was thinking that... well, traffic here isn't all that much, and... and I've been looking at what some officers make in the Army... once I finish high school I can probably go right in and start going up the ranks. Quick, too. I can make good money for both of us."

He saw how nervous the words made her.

He hadn't really cared enough to do anything about it.

Her small smile didn't disappear as she said "Well, honey, if you're sure..."

"I am!"

She glanced at the food on the table, saying "Well... if you're sure, then I'm sure you'll be able to do some good there."

To him, it was probably one of the most fulfilling moments in his life.

I'm so selfish...

Dennis Orville let out a breath he'd been holding, feeling his finger on the trigger screaming at him to squeeze it while his arm refused to allow the muscles within it to do as his mind scrambled to decide as the white-haired girl failed to kill her abuser, the blade having been knocked from her hands as the man landed a painful hit on her face.

Everything had happened so fast he was feeling whiplash.

He'd been so close to grabbing her, so close to saving her...

Why? Why didn't you come with me?

Dennis knew the answer.

"I only care about destroying this damned empire" she had told him the previous night.

"I need to be punished, too" she had said the previous night.

"Run" she had told him less than a second ago.

But instead of running, Dennis stared ahead, frozen as Zorzal held the girl, sealing her fate.

The position the man was holding Tyuule's neck and head would be obvious to any soldier, Ranger or not. She would be dead in a second if he didn't act, and yet his body felt frozen in place, hesitating to kill.

Oh, Bouro he could have killed no problem, he had explicit orders to do so if he turned on them, but... the emperor? If he shot him and killed him, he would lose all leverage as the archers took him out from outside his handgun's effective range, not to mention how outnumbered he was.

As Tyuule had noted, he had to run if he wanted to live.

Now.

The little voice in the back of his head came back then, whispering, almost smugly, the same damned phrase it had repeated ever since he deployed.

"You'll lose it all and gain nothing."

Inwardly, he wavered, a vulnerability being exploited as he was, for all intent and purposes, on his own. Without the radio, he couldn't contact his unit or anyone else. Ideally, he would have gathered Tyuule and run to a rendezvous point in the city, but that was out of the question. His best chance was to just bolt, leaving the girl to her fate and hoping the barbarian didn't kill her before he got help. No one would blame him for running.

Dennis Orville, at the end of the day, was no John Wayne.

"Don't you love me?!" came the almost childish scream as the man began to tightly grip the girl's neck.

Dennis didn't move.

His eyes staring at the image ahead without looking away.

He hated it.

There was so much in his mind, his hatred of everything around him at its core; sorrow, grief, fear, shame, anger, even a sense of superiority in knowing he didn't own slaves or torture people for fun, as if it automatically made him better, but with the emperor... The emperor who had happily committed genocide against an entire people, the man who had abused a young girl who had surrendered and begged for the lives of her people, the man who had promised a young girl her people would be spared and immediately betrayed that promise, the man who seemed unaffected by the murder of his own father, the man who embodied everything wrong with the self-proclaimed empire that attacked his country and the tactical situation they were in.

He hated him.

The memory of his mother's smile that evening only stung him further as his mind reminded him that he really didn't have anyone waiting for him back home.

His father was long gone.

He doubted the remainder of his family, wherever they were, even knew about him.

In the end, who was he?

Just one somewhat fluent interpreter who got lucky and odds were that by now, he was also easily replaceable.

His eyes darted to the girl's weak smile.

...maybe I can do one good thing...

Odds of surviving be damned.

The trigger on the M1911A1 was gently squeezed, as if he were trying to pick a flower or caress a girl's cheek, causing the hammer, already cocked by the previously exhausted magazine to slam forward into the firing pin, igniting the gunpowder inside the forty-five American Colt Pistol round and sending the two-hundred and thirty grain, lead bullet down the barrel at a speed of eight hundred feet per second with an angry, deafening...

-CRACK-

You don't have to go...

He had been aiming for the man's head, upper skull, behind the eyes, just above the ear. The distance was good, he knew the bullet would obediently follow the path he put it on, and given the proximity to Tyuule, Dennis decided not to risk aiming for the man's torso and risk hitting the girl he had grown to love.

I want to, Ma! I... I can't sit by and just watch, I want to be somewhere I can do something...

Dennis wanted the man dead.

He wanted the man who had hurt her so much to finally pay the ultimate price.

A quick and unceremonious public execution.

Then... maybe...

Give me a hand with the dishes, please.

Maybe he could save her...

Like most plans, it was doomed from the start.

In the mix of panic and instinct that allowed him to quickly fire off a shot, his aim had been off by exactly an inch.

Zorzal, despite his outward and internal fury, wasn't quite sure how to feel.

He had been so angry at Tyuule he was about to execute her right there and then, not thinking of anything else, not even bothering with a sword, and going for his bare hands.

He didn't need anything else and he knew it.

The girl was weak after so much time under him, and he knew all he had to do was squeeze just... a little... further...

He hated her weak smile and meek tears.

How dare she betray his trust?

How, after everything he did for her, after everything she had willingly done for him, did she suddenly turn and try to backstab him? The one time he wanted her by his side, she rebelled against him?

Potentially brainwashed or not, that was unacceptable!

In front of the entire capital, as well!

Yes, a quick death was fitting... he could always find more like her, certainly!

She wasn't resisting.

In fact, she even seemed to welcome it.

He didn't care.

He knew where all the surviving Warrior Bunnies lived.

He could replace her any time he wanted!

Oh, he hoped the enemy he would soon defeat had a similarly bold leader to conquer!

He conquered her!

He was the emperor!

He controlled the fate of the world!

None but him!

And if dying so miserably made her so happy then why shouldn't he send her to the afterlife?!

It was in the middle of this thought that Zorzal felt the strangest punch to the face he had ever experienced in his life. It knocked him aside, and he had to let go of Tyuule, less out of need and more out of an immediate mental necessity that urged him to grab hold of the side of his head where something had slammed into him, his mind not even registering the thunderclap despite being perfectly able to hear it.

As the girl shakily crumbled to the floor, he frowned.

For a brief moment, he thought the cowardly traitor Den had actually grown a pair and attacked him with his bare hands.

But... his face felt... odd now.

Not so much wet, but... fleshy?

And something was in his mouth.

He faltered briefly, almost falling over twice as he stumbled to the side.

He tasted... something...

His left hand moved to his cheek, confused as it was entirely on instinct.

Zorzal noted Tyuule was on her knees now, holding her neck, staring at the floor, catching her breath...

He then noticed his soldiers were frozen in place, staring at him, unblinking.

Cowards, what...?

He turned to face his soon-to-be-dead attacker and noticed the weapon Den had pointed at him had an almost imperceptible line of smoke snaking off its end... and that he hadn't moved from the edge of the stage.

Huh?

It was then that Zorzal became keenly aware of how wet his hand felt now.

He slowly opened his mouth to say something but found the task... awkward.

Then he felt the urge to spit.

Upon doing so he was shocked to see blood and teeth fall from his mouth to the floor and he was then keenly aware of another more horrifying fact.

As he made eye contact with the evil, traitorous, lying Den, Zorzal realized that there was a hole where his left cheek should be.

Blood dripped to the floor and unto his beautiful tunic and shining battle armor, Tyuule staring wide-eyed at the scene.

Physics could be a harsh mistress.

At that speed and proximity, the impact had sent a shockwave across his flesh and bones, not unlike a meteor impacting the earth, flesh burning and stretching, bones shattering as the bullet's speed was met with the hard obstacle of Zorzal's face, leaving him, effectively, with the left side of his jaw a craterous bleeding gaping secondary mouth of shattered teeth, saliva, and blood that he couldn't even close of his own volition.

Zorzal froze no longer sure what to do as his body suddenly realized that something was very, very wrong.

Everyone around him was in a similar state of disbelief, seeing the emperor bleeding after the crack of the American's weapon, it was as if everyone was too frozen to do anything. Some gasped at the grizzly wound when he turned to one end. Zorzal began to panic and go into what doctors on earth called "shock", his body freezing in place as he tried to say something, his mind, unable to process what was happening. His skin turned pale, his breathing accelerated, he began to stumble despite now standing still.

The entire area appeared frozen in time.

But it had only been one and a half seconds.

Dennis didn't really care as he charged forward, and scrambled to shield the white-haired girl from any further attacks.

A legionnaire reacted then, mirroring him as another followed, Dennis just barely reaching Tyuule and placing his free hand on her shoulder before another thunderous explosion rang out and the first soldier who had tried to prevent the American from getting close to the emperor fell to the floor as if he had tripped.

It only took the crowd one second to realize that explosion hadn't come from the soldier in front of them but the rooftops around them.

And then all hell broke loose.

Dumas Mountain Range

The BBC reporter stared at the camera with an almost bored expression despite the bizarre sight behind him.

Two UN Peacekeepers, rifles in hand were guarding several dozen disheveled-looking men, a now-dead forest behind them, some trees burnt, others simply withered away.

"Yes, behind me are the remnants of the guerilla army attacking American forces as they secured the lands between the trade city of Itálica and the Imperial Capital. Exact estimates are still not a given, but many speculate the dead aggressors to number in the thousands. As American forces continue their advance, Canadian and Irish Peacekeepers and observers have helped maintain a degree of order as the P-O-Ws await transfer to parts of the Empire under American control. Their defeat marks what many believe is the war's closing act, and that the war itself likely will be over before month's end, allowing scientists, explorers, and other researchers from other nations to finally commence proper and peaceful inquiries into this new world without the immediate threat of a hostile state. The scientific community has expressed great interest in certain minerals found north of the American base..."

Not too far from that, an American journalist was speaking to an officer as they walked over the now mostly empty machine-gun emplacements. The green combat uniform contrasting heavily with the journalist's more civilian khaki outfit, though it was at least a welcome sign that the areas surrounding them were being quickly pacified.

"One problem we discovered too late was that arrows could pierce through our sandbags, especially if shot directly at them. Usually, they came at an angle, so they just sort of got stuck there. When they charged and shot right at them... plowed through it like paper."

"Really?"

"Yes... here, some of these still have holes in them." the officer pointed to one section, the journalist taking a photograph.

"Caught some of our boys in the femoral artery... wasn't pretty. In fact, that's where those female-knights really came in handy."

The journalist nodded, then as if unsure, lifted her pencil inquisitively before speaking.

"There have been... rumors of the Army looking into some of these... warrior women and their... viability in modern combat."

The officer didn't react, saying "That's above my paygrade, so I can't exactly comment on whether there's any truth to it or not."

"But you do believe the women serving with your soldiers were effective."

"Well, certainly, against bows and arrows, swords and axes... but against a modern army like in Korea or Europe... bravery isn't very effective against machine-gun fire and artillery, just look over that field."

The man pointed behind him at the open field riddled with craters. Small patches of grass only just starting to grow back where the earth had been blasted and scorched.

Still, the young woman said "But... there have been notable cases of these... female warriors-"

"Not to interject, but I think you're conflating the Rose Knights with the..." the man cleared his throat, "Warrior Bunnies. Those girls, the ones I've met at least, could potentially have some unique capabilities that may be applicable in modern warfare, the same applying to many demi-humans."

"Do you believe regular women would be able to make as good a soldier as men?"

The Colonel blinked.

"Well, they clearly make competent enough reporters, do they not?" he asked with some visible disdain for the question.

Noting that, the reporter pushed on, asking "What is your stance on the status of demi-humans?"

"Well, that's-"

"Colonel!" someone called.

Oh, thank God, an interruption.

The man turned, glancing at the dark-skinned soldier.

"There's a situation unfolding, they're calling all officers to the TOC!"

The colonel nodded calmly, turned to the reporter, telling her "We'll continue this another time..."

"Alright, thank you, colonel." She said, clearly disappointed, but knowing better than to push her luck.

Imperial Capital

If Rhodes could appreciate one thing about ancient architects, it was that their homes were practical in their own way. Perhaps a testament to mankind's own pragmatism even in ancient times, but that was neither here nor there as he led his guys up several stone steps, finishing at the roof of a home.

They'd heard the gunshots.

Five shots, one followed by four after a brief pause.

That had put a wrench in their plans.

Originally, they wanted to check the status of the imperial army heading out of the city, perhaps confirm whether the VIP was alive or not, as that could be a sign of whether or not their men were alive as well.

To their horror, as they got up to the roof, they saw a beat-up Dennis Orville, standing over the corpse of a pig-like creature they could only assume was Bouro, pointing his M1911 at one Emperor Zorzal El Caesar.

If looks could kill...

Rhodes had immediately gotten on the radio with the Berets, the men quickly repositioning, but things happened too fast. Before anyone knew it, Tyuule had been given a blade, and the emperor had clearly ordered her to kill the young American. Instead, the white-haired girl whirled around and tried stabbing the man, an apparently fruitless endeavor as the emperor overpowered her, hitting her and then gripping her neck with intent to kill.

That was when Dennis fired a single round into the man's head, the bullet, from what they could see, not killing him, but causing him to release her.

There was a palpable stillness in the air.

Rhodes was quick to say "Alex, tell them the plan went out the window!"

He was about to give the order to engage, but to their surprise, it was the Beret Captain who ordered it.

"Shoot! Shoot! Don't let them get to him!" came the order, gunfire erupting from the street.

"Damn it! Engage! Cover him!" Rhodes shouted.

Sean had fired first, quickly adjusting his aim to take out one legionnaire that was trying to rally the troops, and now Rhodes joined him, seeing the situation was FUBAR.

From across the street, some Berets dropped several smoke grenades, adding to the chaos.

Bombing him outside the capital just went out the window...

Down on the stage, the panic was worse.

"Tyuule! Tyuule!" Dennis shouted, entirely on autopilot, less for emotional stability and more because pure survival had taken over as the battle began in earnest and ahead of schedule.

He squeezed her shoulder and she flinched but didn't move, as if glued to the spot, staring ahead.

She was alive, that much he knew, but if she didn't move they would both be dead. Tyuule weakly turned to him, confused as the gunfire reached a crescendo and a grenade went off. People screamed over the gunfire and officers shouted ever louder and more desperate orders, these legionnaires having zero experience with the firepower they were going up against.

Dennis glanced behind him, seeing the rooftops had Americans firing into the previously organized legions.

Oh, Thank God...

General Rufus fell first, one round grazing his neck before another stabbed into his chest, destroying the man's heart, killing him before he even hit the ground. The legionnaires were quick to begin making a wall of shields in an attempt at shielding their officers, but bullets not only traveled too fast for thin wood and iron shields to block but even if they didn't the amount of lead being spread in the area would be too much for them to effectively hold the street.

Zorzal wasn't hit by pure dumb luck as he slipped on his own blood.

"Emperor!" General Borhos managed to grab him, dragging him under the stage.

Tyuule watched the cowering emperor get dragged away, not blinking as she saw fear and childlike panic in the man's eyes, not necessarily unlike her own.

Dennis was too busy looking for a way out to care about the wounded Emperor.

He saw Rhodes making hand signals from a rooftop, pointing to a quickly emptying part of the crowded street that led to an alley.

Go!

He didn't need to be told twice.

He grabbed the girl's hand, yelling "Come on!"

He stood up, the girl only staring blankly ahead, still on her knees, not even blinking as a bullet tore into a Centurion, knocking the dead man into another soldier.

"Come on!" he shouted in as firm a tone as he could bring over the chaos pulling her by her arm now.

She shakily stood up, Dennis pulling her away from the scene as she began to run with him.

Seeing the pair escape, Rhodes immediately got on the radio, shouting "What's the plan here, Larry?!"

The Beret captain was quick to say "We fall back! If the guy's commanders are smart, so will they! Secure the VIP, alert the higher-ups, exfil!"

"It's gonna be a little awkward, don't you think?!"

"It's fine! We blend in with the chaos of the crowd and- on the right!"

Rhodes thought he heard the man curse, but was too distracted by an arrow landing nearby, followed by several others just as the gunfire from the Berets below increased.

The radio spat back, "Use your smoke grenades and get out of here! We're moving now!"

Rhodes glanced down the street, seeing smoke begin to cover the very quickly organizing legionnaires.

Sean fired again, yelling "Captain?!"

"Alright... you have smoke grenades?!"

Alex said "Right here!" as another arrow slammed into the building's stone edge, taking off a chunk not entirely unlike a bullet would.

"Right... throw these at them... on three... one... two... three!"

Screams erupted as the white phosphorus began to spread through the street.

…

His tent was, for all intents and purposes, a miniature palace. Well-lit by large torches, his best praetorians surrounding it, and a small throne all to himself. It was, without question, a symbol of the Empire's wealth. He calmly walked around the large tent, thinking things over as he sipped some fine wine from his golden goblet, considering the week's events as the night dragged on.

The campaign was going... fine.

It was fine, really, but... the casualties were concerning and it wasn't the lightning-quick conquest he'd wanted.

"I thought Bouro said they'd be more disorganized, but that last engagement was anything but..." he muttered aloud, glancing at the half-full goblet in his hand.

As one of his officers was about to reply, the tent flap was thrown open and a praetorian entered, kneeling quickly.

Zorzal frowned.

"What is it?"

The man only replied with "The Queen of the Warrior Tribes is here... she wishes to negotiate."

Zorzal blinked.

Then, he smirked, slowly moving to the small throne at the center of the tent.

"Bring her in, then!"

The praetorian stepped aside and in walked two legionnaires, forcing the white-haired girl forward before shoving her into the tent's floor.

Zorzal grinned.

The girl was beautiful, a fine specimen of the Warrior Bunnies, certainly, but more than that, one of pure, royal blood.

Oh, he could use her for many things.

The girl shakily pressed her forehead to the floor.

He could hear her uneven breaths.

Zorzal said, "Well, come now, show me your face!"

She slowly looked up, revealing more than pleasing facial features of untouched youthful beauty.

Zorzal looked her over, noting her clothing, overall simple in design, but certainly that of royalty for the tribes.

He said, "So... you come here to surrender?"

The young girl didn't break eye contact, saying "I... I come to negotiate for my people's lives."

And again, she prostrated herself, removing a sheathed dagger from her person and offering it up.

"Your people's lives?" Zorzal laughed. "General Rufus! How many of our soldiers have been killed in combat with the rabbits?"

The officer said "Seven hundred and seventy-seven, your highness. That's the confirmed numbers, of course."

"Ah, almost eight hundred good men... good men your people killed."

The young queen quickly said "Over a thousand of my people have died as well... mostly non-combatants! Please, I... I wish to end this bloodshed. If you want slaves, I'm willing to give myself up and-"

"Strip her..." Zorzal ordered suddenly.

Before she could react two praetorians ripped her clothes away, tearing the fabric where it resisted, forcing the girl to stand up.

She remained there, frozen, unblinking, a distraught cry escaping her.

Zorzal looked her over, appearing bored that she was no longer speaking.

He saw her shakily say "I-I offer... m-myself for-"

He sighed, saying "Understand this, little one, your people's lives are barely worth more than a common slave. Your worth comes in your physical strength, so slave labor is the best they can hope for."

The young queen, mouth quivering, said "I-I don't want that for my people... please, I beg of you to show mercy... the children have suffered-"

"The children?! They're not even worth the effort as slaves, why should we-?"

Falling to her knees and kneeling yet again, she cried out "I beg you to please, please, show the mercy of the great Empire to your subjects!"

Zorzal paused.

The girl shakily said "I'll do anything, please... please spare my people... we'll be your subjects, we'll pay your taxes, you can have our plains, we will follow your laws, I will personally be your slave if it means they will be spared, but I beg you... please, spare them!"

Zorzal stared at her.

"Stand up." He said after a moment.

The white-haired girl shakily did so, sorrowful tears streaming down her face.

There was an uneasy moment of silence.

He looked at her figure, her shaking form, her crying face.

Zorzal smiled.

Standing up from his makeshift throne, Zorzal approached her, saying "You know, my Empire has a long history of dealing with barbaric tribes. Usually showing mercy is a foolish act."

He placed a hand on her chest.

He whispered, "But then again, I doubt there are even ten thousand of you left to mount much of a rebellion, no?"

The girl whimpered something akin to a response, but Zorzal ignored her.

The fear, the vulnerability, the sheer emotion of realizing she had no way to win.

That he would cherish forever.

"Alright, little one... I accept your proposal. Your freedom, for your people's lives."

The white-haired girl's eyes briefly shone with hope.

Zorzal was happy to extinguish it by saying "You'll belong to me now... you will do everything I tell you, no questions, no objections, and certainly no insubordination. Understand?"

Before she could say anything he gripped her neck, pulling her closer to him beyond the girl's comfort, saying "Of course you understand..."

He had relished seeing her hope vanish that first night.

He had relished her more than any other achievement in his life, really. She was, in a way, his first real conquest. She grew to fear him and what he could do, as well she should, something few in his family had ever truly realized. He was, after all, the rightful heir to the Empire, and he would be as ruthless as he needed to be to protect that. He had been so certain she had fallen in love with him after those three years. She was his favorite slave, she never objected to his requests, no matter how uncomfortable she appeared. He partially thought his actions had been enough to make her believe she was in love with him.

Had he failed?

As she nearly pierced him with his own blade, a part of him realized that she had been far more capable of hiding her contempt than he had given her credit for.

Zorzal's eyes slowly drifted open, his mind all too aware of the chaos around him.

"Don't bother chasing them! Just drive them off!" General Borhos shouted as loud as he could, an officer echoing his command. The young general hid behind the mobile platform, the thunderous enemy weapons continuing to chatter away as the remaining generals convened.

He also realized just how uncomfortable he was despite the magic working on healing his injury.

Borhos glanced at the healers quickly trying to work on Zorzal, the emperor awakening as the healers stopped the bleeding.

General Woody shakily ducked next to him, saying "I knew we were being fooled! I knew it!"

Borhos said "It makes little difference now! We have to take his majesty back to the palace... if the enemy is remotely civilized, they'll send someone and we can negotiate a-"

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the young emperor next to them.

The man slammed his right arm into one of the healers, knocking the old man aside before sitting up, pointing at Borhos as he screamed, barely understandable due to the wound on his face, what little healing having quickly been made null and void by his loud objections, "You will not fall back! You will not take me back to the palace! And you most certainly will not wait for the enemy to send someone to negotiate!"

"E-emperor, You've been hurt and-"

Zorzal slapped the other healer's hand away, angrily saying "A scar worthy of my name! A reminder of how dangerous these cowards are! Gather the men, these cowards will flee soon... then we will surround them and slaughter them!"

The noise of the enemy weapons began to die down then.

"Emperor, that man wasn't lying. They hit us much harder than we could have ever anticipated. Their weapons far outclass our own and-" Woody tried.

"Not in close quarters, and in this city, there is nothing but close quarters... especially near the exits!" Zorzal concluded, spitting out some more blood.

Borhos considered it.

Perhaps it was a viable strategy, but...

"Emperor, we don't know enough to decide whether an attack is possible now. If the rabbit was lying-"

"She wasn't lying, the information she passed along came straight from the Haryo tribe... that foolish bunny was just... brainwashed is all... no other reason... the enemy is on the run and desperate. That's why that brat, that... traitor... did this."

No one spoke as the explosions from the enemy weapons died down and low whimpers and pained cries replaced it.

Zorzal said "Well, come now... get me some bandages... I intend to ride with you, Borhos, dirt on my face or not. Gather what men you can... Woody, I give you half of the army, I want you to guard the city entrances and exits. The enemy is likely heading to the red-light district... you'll surround them and prevent their escape, Borhos and I will crush them within the Red-Light District."

"We don't even know if they're in the Red Light-"

"Where else would they be?! I bet these men were left behind by their cowardly armies! I bet they were hoping to get some leverage to escape! I bet that... bastard... only took Tyuule as leverage... yes... yes, that has to be it! Borhos! Woody! Get to it!"

Borhos frowned.

If the enemy was a skeleton crew of abandoned stragglers, then why attack?

"Emperor, I must object."

"Borhos, please don't make me execute you for insubordination right now. I have a terrible headache, can't you see?" came the dark reply.

"Emperor, our weapons aren't ranged like-"

"Then gather what crossbows and arrows you can! After that attack, I'm sure there are plenty of crossbows available! We'll come up with something, now go!"

"Emperor-"

Zorzal didn't let him finish.

Calmly walking over, he grabbed the blade from General Woody's sheath, then grabbed Borhos by the neck.

"Are you afraid of doing your duty, general?"

General Borhos didn't react, only shaking his head.

"Respond!"

"No... Emperor."

Zorzal smiled, blood continuing to drip from his wound, and Borhos couldn't help but realize the man's left eye was now bloodshot as well.

Zorzal said "Good. Get to it, and you!"

He pointed to the nervous healers.

"Come on, get on with stopping this bleeding. It's hardly appropriate for the emperor to march into victory with a wound this ugly, is it not?"

Itálica

Pina observed as Lady happily clapped along with The Thierry's young daughter to the music coming from a small box the Americans called a "music box".

An unimaginative name, but she didn't really care much about that there and then.

The war was almost over, and if things went to plan, no one else had to die.

The senators she had brought along with her that fateful night sat around the table, looking over the parchments.

"We've organized the old order of laws into a more concise form. This would make responses more flexible, and easier to follow." the older one said.

Diabo walked around, arm on a sling as he looked it over.

"Good... this is good. The plebians will be appeased because now the taxpayers can't bother them with loopholes, but it preserves our positions."

"It also gives the Americans what they want... no more slaves, but we can work out possible revisions if this hits us too hard."

Diabo shuddered, saying "I'd rather we just accept whatever they want and thank the gods they aren't trying to destroy us all."

Pina said, "I believe their president is willing to assist us so our country doesn't disintegrate, I think it's more beneficial to keep us as an existing power than for us to simply be splintered into a thousand pieces... we can begin to recover with little territorial loss."

Diabo sat down, nodding.

"We'll force this through the senate once it's all over. Frankly, after so many losses, I think we're all rather accepting of whatever will bring peace."

Pina nodded solemnly.

"This still isn't the most destructive war in our long history, princess... I believe we can recover from this with relative ease."

She smiled softly.

"I'm going to check on Bozes... thank you all for your help."

She ignored Lady's glance of disapproval and slowly walked out of the room of the Formal Mansion.

She didn't have to walk far, getting to the bedroom guarded by Hamilton and Norma in a moment.

"How is she?"

Norma said "Recovering, still. She's better today."

Pina nodded.

Many of her Rose Knights had been injured, some badly.

She was only grateful none had been too awfully wounded that they'd been killed, a luxury the Americans didn't see as their men weren't as armored or protected.

Pina heard footsteps approaching behind her, turning to see Gray, the older man looking somewhat nervous as he walked over to her.

"Highness, there's a situation developing in the capital... it's not good."

Pina felt her heart drop at his tone, immediately saying, in as calm a voice as she could muster, "Alright, thank you, Gray... I'll... tend to it."

The walk to the American command center was a blur, the maids and guards noticing her gave her odd looks as she walked past them, heart pounding.

Every time it had been disastrous news.

Her father wanting to enforce a terrible scorched earth policy.

Her eldest brother wanting to assassinate her father.

The Americans seeing little choice but to allow the assassination to go through.

A part of her desperately wished it was good news for once.

Perhaps Zorzal had come to his senses.

Perhaps the white-haired girl had pushed him in the right direction and he was now willing to end the war properly.

Maybe Gray had just been jesting when he said "it's not good"!

She knew there was no chance of that.

To prevent him from carrying out a similar campaign to his father, the young emperor had been lulled into a false sense of security, meaning he wouldn't be about to surrender unless he saw direct evidence of his defeat... in theory.

Zorzal never was one to give up.

She got to the command center and heard a single phrase being uttered over and over again.

"Operation Vengeance."

She glanced at the nearest translator.

The young man was pale as he shifted in place, saying "The Haryo Tribe betrayed us... it seems they sold us out... from what we can understand, the emperor tried to kill both Tyuule and one of our men, so... there's a fight going on inside the capital right now."

Pina stared at him without blinking for a moment.

"A-ah..." she finally managed, the shock still going through her.

"We're trying to decide on whether to bomb the capital now and force him to surrender, or to look for some other option."

Now Pina had to put her foot down.

"No! We cannot bomb the capital! It's the most populated center in this continent, it's the capital- the reason we allowed... my father's assassination was to save the capital, we cannot bomb it now!"

An officer that must have understood her objection said "We know that! But if Zorzal doesn't cooperate..."

The man grimaced and looked away, glaring at the radio as reports from the Rangers and Berets in the capital flooded in alongside questions from Alnus.

The interpreter was quick to say "We can't... rather, we want to avoid a situation of urban combat. When we pushed your army back that day, many took several buildings and fought on. We have pictures of your capital, we know how big it is and how difficult it would be for our men to fight in there... it would be a complete bloodbath, and we can't afford that."

Pina wanted to slam her fist through a table as she stumbled back at the words.

"There has to be something I can do... please, tell me what I can do to stop this!"

The translator only glanced at the officers.

The one who seemed to be half-listening to her said something she didn't understand.

The interpreter turned to her and said "You would have to find a way to force Zorzal to surrender. From the looks of it, he isn't right now, so killing him might be the only way."

"Can... can't your men lure him somewhere to kill him?"

"He was injured when the first shots were fired, I doubt-"

"Is Tyuule alive?!" she asked suddenly.

The interpreter winced but turned to ask the officers.

The man turned to her after a moment and said "It seems so. One of Captain Rhode's Rangers was able to get her away from Zorzal when the fighting-"

"Then Zorzal is going to go after her!"

"Princess-"

"You don't understand my brother as I do... that man... he sees her as a spoil of his conquest... he forced the senate to put her family's armor on display for crying out loud! If one of your men took her away from him, he is going to chase him down not just to take her back but to try to put them both through a fitting punishment. And if your disinformation campaign worked, he should still believe he has the upper hand! They can lure him away from the city-"

"That's conjecture."

"Is it not worth trying to if it means saving lives?"

"Princess, even if he was chasing after them..."

"Hold it..." the officer said.

The translator turned to him.

He said, "Princess says Zorzal will chase after Tyuule? Is she confident about that?"

Turn.

Translate.

Pina responded by nodding.

The American officer bit his tongue, an idea forming.

Turning to another officer, he asked "How evacuated is the Red-Light District?"

Imperial Capital

Rhodes pushed through the crowded streets, the fleeing civilians around them ignoring the Americans, yelling on the radio "No, I don't see them continuing their original plan, everything is going to hell over here!"

"Halt!" A particularly brave legionnaire saw them and tried to charge at them.

"Don't!" Sean tried.

The man ignored him and unsheathed a sharp blade, shoving people aside as he ran at them.

"I said- Damn it!"

Sean carefully aimed before firing the M1903A4 into the man's chest before he closed the distance, the old rifle still proving to be effective at killing. The crowd panicking and moving away from the street. Some jumping into open windows, others fleeing into alleys, suddenly leaving the Rangers alone in the street with the dead body and the distant sound of legions organizing.

Rhodes, doing his best to ignore it, spoke into the radio "Yes, we're heading to our hideout... what?"

He paused; eyes widened.

"Understood." He replied as the street emptied, his face twisting as if someone had dropped heavyweights on his shoulders.

"Captain?"

"Princess Pina is asking us to try and... lead Zorzal into the Red-Light district if possible..."

"What?!" Sean and Alex both erupted.

"Orders are orders, now move! We have to gather what we can! We may even have our job cut out for us if those guys are shouting marching orders... Sean?"

Sean quickly glanced behind him, uncertain, saying "They're definitely giving orders in the emperor's name... can't really tell what."

"Don't matter... we have to move anyway. Berets are already heading to our hideout."

"Good... what about Orville?"

...

He'd run with enough energy to complete the Ranger course ten times over, the girl behind him just managing to keep up as they made it to the alleyway that led into the Red-Light District that Dennis had used most often.

It was then, and only then, that Dennis paused for breath, both for himself and the girl behind him. He looked around, noting the street around them was empty of merchants and civilians and sucked in a deep breath. His hand still gripped Tyuule's, which he promptly let go to check on her, too aware of his remaining ammunition should they be ambushed.

7 rounds left...

Looking her over, he managed to say "You hurt anywhere else?"

He noticed the bruise on her head and the still bleeding cut on her arm, angry at himself for not having anything to treat her with.

She stared at him, her eyes bearing into his own as if a dam was about to burst.

"Why?" she finally asked in English.

"What?"

"Why!?" she yelled now.

"Why what?!" Dennis yelled back, seeing the hurt in her eyes and wanting to help but his mind knowing they were in a combat situation and that it was not the time to be having an emotional breakdown.

"I told you to run! I said run! You were supposed to run!" she cried out, her voice cracking.

"And leave you to die?!" he responded, outraged.

"Yes! You should never have risked yourself for me! No one should! I... I told you that... that..." her voice cracked, angry at herself, at the world, at the monsters in it...

I should have died! I was supposed to die! It's only fitting for someone like me!

Dennis ground his teeth and glared at the street around them to regain some control before speaking.

"What? That... that you're supposed to die? That it's what you deserve?! Do you think for a second I would be okay with that?!" He felt his jaw clench as he took an angry breath, glared back at her with equal intensity, and spoke in quiet anger, "I told you since day one my mission is- Forget my mission! Do you think for a second, I would be okay with you dying?! Huh?! After everything I told you-"

He stopped.

He looked at her, but despite his best efforts, his mind pushed her image aside, reminding him of other, far uglier things as the girl tearfully glared at him.

"Oh... God..." his voice cracked as he almost lost track of himself, the intrusive thoughts pouncing on the vulnerability of the moment.

The distant gunfire...

The smell of smoke...

The image of Zorzal's bloody face wound...

The screams of people dying...

Not now! Please, God, not now!

Against his will, he took a step back and used the nearby wall for support, his left hand coming to his forehead. The little voice in the back of his mind returning to torment him further.

You'll lose it all and gain nothing.

The words echoed endlessly in his mind, a torturous chorus that he could not silence.

He couldn't afford to make mistakes and yet here he was, about to have an emotional breakdown himself in the middle of a warzone, the possibility of losing the one person he didn't want to lose too much for his tired mind. As if it simply had enough and didn't want to accept reality anymore.

His mother dying while he was training, yeah, he could understand that.

The madness of combat, he could understand, he'd prepared for that.

The isolation, the feeling of complete separation from everyone and everything, the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes alone, nothing but a tool to be used and discarded because he had no one to return to and his only purpose now was to serve his nation, something that had almost gotten him and what few friends he had killed...

It was too much.

"Please... I don't want to lose you..." he quietly managed in English, his voice shaking, barely keeping it together, sucking in a breath as a pained expression manifested on his face as he looked away from her.

Tyuule stared at him, petrified at the words.

"Lose... me? No, you... you... you shouldn't... I'm not-"

Her ear twitched and she slowly turned to look behind her, recognizing the sounds in the distance from long ago, a chill going through her.

She felt a familiar dread deep within her begin to manifest.

"They're organizing quickly... Zorzal is alive and as long as he breathes, I can't-"

"Zorzal will be dead by day's end, that much I promise!"

"You can't promise that!"

"Yes, I can! Tyuule..." his voice trailed off, never looking at her, staring at the ground.

Dennis could see his dusty feet and now very worn sandals contrasting terribly with the well cared for M1911 in his hand, the soft breeze blowing more particles of dust onto him.

The modern and ancient did not go well together for the most part.

I don't belong here... I don't want to belong here... but I don't want to leave her.

"...please-" he said, reaching for her.

She recoiled back, like a wounded animal.

"Orville, I'm not worth-" she tried again, but he didn't let her finish.

"You are to me!" the eighteen-year-old cried out.

She looked at his eyes and felt her heart skip a beat.

There was a degree of desperation in them, but not the kind she had seen before. It was more akin to a man struggling not to let go of something he had no grip on. Like trying desperately to hold on to sand as it slipped through one's fingers.

He had no control over what she would choose, only pleading she stay with him.

It was her decision at the end of the day.

"You helped me then... Please... help me again..." he finally said, reaching for her.

She turned to look behind her for a moment. A part of her still refusing to believe she deserved redemption, that his cries were genuine, and if they were, she doubted there was any salvation for her even then. Even if she went with him, even if he got her out... then what? Sign some papers, ensure her people's future was guaranteed, and then kill herself like a good little coward?

Oh, right... there's something he wants to tell me.

She asked herself if it would be enough for a moment, listening to the chaos in the distance.

Would it soothe her unease?

Would it help her at all?

She had no way of knowing, but at the same time, she knew very well that killing Zorzal wouldn't make her feel any better. As smoke rose behind her, she knew she'd practically destroyed the empire already and all she felt was a painful emptiness.

She'd all but succeeded.

Yet she felt no better.

Her family was still dead.

Her people still hated her.

She'd known she'd have nothing to look forward to after destroying the empire from the beginning, and yet...

It's so... empty...

Though she wondered if killing Zorzal with her own hands would make her feel better, her mind going back to the scene from moments prior where he had been bleeding and writhing miserably on the floor, and for a moment she wondered if that would be satisfactory. Remembering how she'd briefly felt better thinking she'd done one good thing, only to have those feelings ripped away as the person she tried to save chose to stay and try to save her, perhaps taking away any chance of redemption.

For a moment, she considered going back, hoping that killing Zorzal would make her feel better.

But only a moment.

Without saying another word, she turned to face him.

She took his hand.

Dennis winced at the contact but didn't ask questions, only squeezing her hand to ensure he wasn't imagining it.

The fact his eyes regained some light by her decision struck her deeper than she expected.

Did he truly care that much about her?

No... no way... this is... it's just his duty is all! Stop thinking there's anything else! You don't deserve anything else!

After so much abuse and betrayal, the fallen queen couldn't bring herself to even consider the possibility that the American was interested in her in some way that didn't involve a degree of practicality, and yet...

Dennis noticed the tears in her eyes begin to trail down before he moved and wiped them away, stopping as his left hand was holding both her hands, and his right hand was on his M1911, so he pulled her closer instead, letting her dry her eyes on his shoulders for a moment, knowing he didn't have time to waste, restraining himself from doing anything more than ensuring she was close enough he could protect her, and quickly locking his emotions away.

Perhaps in a Hollywood production, this would be where they kissed, but as Dennis saw in the aftermath of Itálica, battles didn't care for the feelings of loved ones.

And he'd already wasted too much time.

"Stay with me, please..." he whispered, an unreadable tone in his voice so she couldn't tell if it was closer to a military command or a plea from someone afraid of losing her forever.

Stay with you during this escape or...?

"Alright..." she replied quietly, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

Dennis nodded and led her away from the approaching enemy, steadying himself from the experience, wiping his eyes with his right arm, allowing the soldier to take over again and the scared little boy who had lost his father and mother go back into the dark corners of his mind where he could continue to cower without bothering anyone.

He still had a bloody job to do, and he needed her out of harm's way before he could do it properly.

The time for tears would come later.

Not yet...

They moved quickly down the alley and streets they knew, getting to the hideout with ease, only to bump into two Green Berets who were rushing past them carrying a crate.

One of the Berets wordlessly nodded to Orville before pushing past him.

"What...?"

Rhodes dashed past them then, saying "Move it, Orville, we're going to need every guy we have!"

Dennis stared, confused as Alexander and Sean ran past him then, both looking worried.

Still holding her hand, he followed after them, Tyuule following in step, albeit shrinking behind him, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Doc!" Dennis called as he entered the building.

The man was, to his surprise, smoking two cigarettes at once, going over his medical supply.

Without looking at them, "Doc" only pointed to a wooden chair, saying "Sit her there, I'll patch her up, you head up and get settled..."

"You got something to cover her with?" Dennis spoke rapidly/

Understanding what the 18-year-old meant, he grabbed a spare combat jacket and handed it to the white-haired girl.

Dennis didn't bother asking questions, turning to Tyuule, saying "He'll patch you up, and you can put that on after... stay here, okay?"

She nodded slowly as he left her there and rushed upstairs.

Rhodes was grabbing magazines for his M16 when Dennis walked in.

"Your stuff's over there, get ready."

"Yes, captain!" he said, again, not asking questions.

"Now, I have to ask you some questions real quick, cause things have gone to hell and we're practically improvising everything at the moment."

"Understood."

"Good. What the hell happened back there?" Rhodes asked patiently, moving over to the radio.

Dennis replied quickly, almost mechanically.

"The Haryo turned on us. Stalker 1 is K-I-A, Goldwater was wounded in the attack, radios got busted by the Haryo. Palace staff promised to help him and he ordered me to try and reach Tyuule and eliminate Bouro."

Rhodes nodded, then quietly, as Dennis threw on an undershirt, said "There are going to be some questions, later... keep what you told me in mind, alright?"

Dennis swallowed but nodded in understanding.

Excuses could be made later, but they had to get out of there first.

Finally, out of his tunic and back wearing the not exactly comfortable but certainly better than nothing Army greens, he was kept listening as Rhodes spoke over the radio.

The door slammed open and the Green Beret captain marched in.

"They're moving here, alright. A lot of them."

"Damn it all..."

"Bright side is the claymores can be put up quick enough and we have enough chokepoints their numbers won't matter."

"They could try and go through the houses."

"Eventually, sure... but this isn't Stalingrad. In fact, it's better than that... we're on the defensive here, and we have the mobility and firepower to take them out even if they throw a thousand men at our lines."

Rhodes didn't argue, staring at the map.

"There's only fifty of us, spread out."

"Forty-eight, but we have radios. They don't. And all we have to do is withstand their assault for an hour or two at worst."

Then, turning to Dennis, he asked "Where are Goldwater and Clark?"

"Wounded and dead respectively, sir. Goldwater is being tended by the Palace Staff." came the near-mechanical reply.

The Green Beret didn't appear to react, studying the young Ranger.

He glanced at the radio behind them, nodded, saying "I'd go fetch them myself, but... can't afford it right now..."

Rhodes said "Sounds to me like the 7th is going to drop by... we'll get him out, captain."

The Beret only nodded, gripping the M2 carbine and saying "Ready your men."

Dennis stared ahead, Rhodes handing him the M16.

"You alright?"

"Yes, captain!" he said, grabbing the rifle, saying nothing more.

…

Misery smoked her opium pipe, staring at the rising smoke in the distance.

"Hey!"

She turned, noticing the young American named "Sean" sling his strange weapon on his back as he called to her.

"Misery!" he shouted again, desperate now.

She sighed, standing from her spot on a shattered building, hopping down to the street below, landing gracefully enough.

"What is it?" she asked with a sigh.

Sean looked at her and quickly said "How many people are left in the Red-Light district?"

"Twenty-seven... mostly shopkeepers living on the outskirts. Why?"

"Because they need to leave. Immediately. You too. This place... we're going to destroy it."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"You're... your people... they're going to destroy the capital?"

He looked unsure as he said "That's not the plan... but we're going to bomb this area once the Imperial Army gets here. We're going to lure them in as best we can, then once our aircraft get here, we'll use their cover to escape... and then we'll bomb them just like we did to the Basara gang."

She blinked.

She looked around.

Old stone homes with rotting doors stood silently in the noisy chaos around them.

She said, "This has been my home all my life... where will I go after?"

Sean glanced behind him, quickly saying "Alnus... get one of the merchants to take you there and I'll meet you."

She huffed, saying "You'll meet me?"

"Yeah. I can help you find a job."

She chortled at the prospect, pinching his cheek like she would any other child.

"You men are children... so naïve... so caring... thinking you can save everyone..."

Sean was about to say something, but knowing they had little time, she said "I'll go inform them... they'll listen."

Before she walked past him, he said "When you get to Alnus... there should be a place with a red cross. Ask for it, tell them I sent you there. That's where I'll see you."

She forced a fake smile, saying "I shall... and you may try... good luck."

She didn't hold out much hope in seeing the American again. Friendly as he was, the world she knew would eat him alive. Frankly, if it wasn't for their weapons, they'd all be dead.

Could they change the world?

Maybe.

But by now she knew better than to get her hopes up.

All she knew how to do was survive by any means necessary, sometimes doing good, other times not so much.

As she moved to alert the merchants that were left of the importance of evacuating, the sound of marching legions organizing in the distance ever-present, she couldn't help but wonder if she would see the American again.

Alnus

"Operation Vengeance is a go! Saddle up, ladies!" the Air Force officer shouted as he grabbed his flight jacket.

No other commands were necessary as men hopped to their feet from sitting in beach chairs reading People and other assortments of magazines. Similar orders were being passed along other air wings of the American military presence on the base.

One part of American doctrine that had been developed since the Second World War was that of "Air Power". It wasn't an entirely defined term despite having been a part of military campaigns for almost fifty years by 1964, but one that most branches could agree was vital to achieving total victory over the enemy, as seen, primarily, in World War 2.

Or so it was thought.

Regardless of the reality of aerial bombing runs, the American military had invested heavily in its Air Force capability to deliver bombs to the battlefield and obliterate the enemy, ideally, with little risk to the troops.

Therefore, the American military had prepared many strategic air offensives in regards to waging war.

No more would armies simply engage on the ground.

Ideally, one army would defend an area from attackers just long enough for the Air Force to arrive and drop what bombs were necessary to neutralize the enemy force. Ideally, the Air Force would fly into enemy territory and bomb enemy installations and industrial centers with all the destructive weapons they could carry.

From hundred-pound bombs to nuclear ordinance, the idea now involved creating aircraft fast enough to deliver such ordinance and leave the area before the enemy could respond. Rinse and repeat as long as necessary until the enemy simply couldn't fight anymore.

It worked against Japan, had it not?

Bombs were loaded onto the Phantoms and F-105s.

Their engines roared to life then.

But out in the hangar, just beginning to finish its final checkups was the real pride and joy of the United States Air Force and ultimately the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

She was a vital part of Strategic Air Command's "deterrent" policy against the Soviet Union.

Her wingspan was well over 56 meters.

She cost well over six million dollars to make, and despite the threat of Surface to Air Missiles arguably making her obsolete due to her titanic size, she was still considered worth the cost.

As her engines began to roar to life, eyes turned to see her roll out onto the runway as a message was sent through the airwaves.

"All aircraft, be advised, we are exclusively targeting a section on the eastern side of the capital. The place that got hit on the 11th of April, but this time we're leveling it to the ground. Things go as planned; we'll take most of the Imperial Army as well."

The reminder was vital.

The original plan had always been to bomb the entire capital to dust if the enemy didn't surrender, and they very much would have gone along with it had that red-headed princess not intervened. After all, why shouldn't they? The Empire had invaded them and explicitly targeted civilians and non-combatants, the scorched earth policy that had been ordered by the previous Emperor was little different, killing many civilians before being promptly stopped by the advancing American military. Clearly, this empire didn't value its people, so why should they be spared?

But that plan was now off the table.

The second plan after talks opened up was to scramble the aircraft when Emperor Zorzal was expected to make contact with an American force, assuming he refused to surrender, the Air Force would arrive and drop what bombs were necessary to neutralize the enemy force, taking as many hostile forces as possible out and avoiding a repeat of what had been happening with the guerillas founded by Molt.

But now...

"Weasel One cleared for takeoff."

Italica

Shaun wanted desperately not to vomit, but the stress and indigestion were already making the task seem herculean at best. As the princes led her troop of armor-clad girls onto a Chinook, all he could do was hold his breath as the sound of helicopter blades swinging, engines screaming to life, and the smell of fuel filled his nostrils...

We only just had breakfast, come on!

The day was not supposed to go down this way at all, hell the 7th wasn't supposed to be up in the air until the afternoon!

I know no plan survives contact with the enemy but cut us some slack...

His Colonel marched past him then, several men around him including a pair of UN observers from Canada and Ireland he'd heard about.

"You men sure about this? It may turn into tough goings if the bomb run doesn't push them to surrender."

One of them, the Irish one loudly said "I'm certain the Russian and American leaderships will appreciate our accounts at the UN. Less heat off everyone's backs. 'Course, that's assuming you boys don't break the Geneva Convention!"

Shaun tried to overhear more, but couldn't.

Behind him, one of the guys from the 7th said "How bad do you think it's going to be?"

Shaun only said "If it's anything like Dallas? We're better off bombing it. My old man told stories of Manila. If these Romans are anything like the Japs... I don't want to think about fighting house to house."

Glancing at the princess, he then said, with a hint of hope, "Not that she's going to let that happen..."

"Think the people will accept her?"

Before he could reply, Pina suddenly rushed over to them.

"You! You understand me, yes?" she said in the local tongue.

Shaun sighed quietly, then said, "Yes, Ma'am!"

"Then I'll go with you! I'm not sure I can make myself clear right now, so..."

"Alright, princess." Sean sighed.

A young captain walked over, glanced at Pina, glanced at his interpreter, put two and two together, and marched ahead before shouting "Alright, boys, stick to your units and do not engage unless engaged! We're going into a possible hot zone, so be ready for a fight but stick to the R-O-E. You're all tired after last week, I know... but if we do this right, we may end this insane war in one fell swoop!"

It wasn't much of a motivational speech.

No one was really in the mood for that well into the conflict's second month.

Not after their men got so chewed up so recently.

But they weren't getting paid to mope around.

Orders were given, guns were loaded, engines roared to life.

After a final checkup, the 7th Air Cavalry was up in the air, joining the mad dash of American forces to reach the capital.

Imperial Capital

"Location?"

Pressing the nineteenth round into the magazine, Dennis heard Alex on the radio, and he quickly said "They'd stopped on the outskirts of the district. Captain Thorne says they're moving as we expected."

Alex shook his head.

"There's well over a thousand of them... if they charge our lines all at once... Stalker three, say again, please?"

Dennis did his best to ignore the worries as he placed the full magazines into his pockets. He walked down the steps, finding Doc wrapping Tyuule's arm in white gauze, the girl turning to him, worried.

He quickly asked, "How is she?"

"Hmm? She'll be fine... just... there." the man said, cutting the bandages and standing up. He paused to look at the kid, as if wanting to say something, but hearing the commotion above chose against it.

"I'll, uh... give you two a minute..." he said, tipping his helmet like a hat.

Tyuule's face turned red again, though her worried expression didn't change.

Dennis sat down next to her, facing the building's stone wall.

She spoke first.

"So... that's how you usually look like?"

Dennis only nodded.

She looked at him, remembering her earlier assessment.

...Fragile...

He ignored her worried expression, focusing on the sound of soldiers readying for combat, passing grenades and ammunition around with a quiet urgency.

"Look... We're going to lure them here. Evac helicopters will arrive in one hour... army won't be far behind... odds are the aircraft will get here quickly, too."

She looked at him, expecting him to say something dramatic.

Perhaps "Hey, I may not come back, so here's what I wanted to tell you..." or perhaps "don't get your hopes up about me, my interests in you are purely platonic" or ANYTHING to help her unease.

Instead, he said "So, we'll be back before that. We're quicker, we can run faster and we have better weapons."

"What if you get hurt?"

"We have good medicine."

"That's not what I-"

He raised a hand, interrupting her.

"I know, I know... I promise I'll come back. Won't leave you alone after all of this. Then... when we're safe..."

She perked up ever so slightly.

"You'll tell me then? You promise?"

"Promise."

She looked at him with a hurt expression but nodded.

"You boys set to go?" Rhodes asked.

"Hoo-ah!" came the near-universal reply.

Tyuule only gazed at the ground.

Dennis frowned, not wanting to leave her with that almost impossible to guarantee promise, and decided it was better to test something now that no one was looking.

As the Rangers began moving out, Dennis quickly kissed her cheek before whispering "Don't go anywhere, okay?"

"I-I-I-" she tried, flustered by the sudden action.

"Promise?" he asked her before she could muster a full sentence.

"I... P-promise..." she said in almost incomprehensible English.

He smiled weakly and stood up, slinging the rifle on his back and smiling warmly at her as her face became as red as a ripe tomato and she covered herself with the combat jacket.

Hastings watched him and smiled slightly.

It was like seeing two kids experimenting with love for the first time. Sappy, but it was innocent in a way that he couldn't help but smile at. He was even about to comment, maybe say something along the lines of oh, careful, Den, the miscegenation laws are gonna get you or something along those lines, until Dennis faced away from her.

It was like the 18-year-old kid transformed into someone else.

The warmth, the smile, the hope in that young face vanished, immediately replaced by hatred and coldness he hadn't expected even from him. It was worse than his expression after Alnus and Itálica as if a switch had been flipped on and it wasn't about to be flipped off.

Though he completely understood why.

Time to kill...

Thus, they silently marched down the now empty streets.

The Red-Light District was now fully deserted.

Not a soul, animal, or otherwise. The place appeared like an empty skeleton, the already disheveled homes now in far worse conditions, as if what little maintenance the denizens of the district did to maintain the old buildings had been enough to keep the place going and little more. Doors and their wooden structures collapsed on themselves, old decorations and graffiti had faded with whatever color the old structures had once had.

The only sound now was the distance battle cry of the enemy.

Hastings tried, desperately so, to think of something to say and lighten the mood.

All he came up with was "So... this is it, huh?"

Rhodes said "Yup."

There was no time for speeches or encouragement.

It was a simple matter.

Either they held Zorzal's force long enough for the Air Force to arrive and obliterate them, or they didn't.

Rhodes said "If we get overrun, we can't afford to panic... we have to stick together, understand? We get split up, we're dead."

The Rangers only nodded in acknowledgment.

They stopped walking as they reached the main street.

"Well... this is the place... they're going to have to come through here if they want to get to our hideout."

Alex shakily crossed himself.

Tom looked around, saw some old crates, lightly kicked them with his leg before sighing.

"Not much to make any fortifications."

Rhodes shook his head.

"Not going to be necessary. Sean, Orville, right side, Tom, Hastings, left side, set up the M60 on the ground by those steps, Alex, with me. If they get too close, we run through the alleys... and then we detonate these Claymores." he finished, grabbing his bag, saying "Give me a hand here..."

Rhodes and Alex moved quickly, setting up the mines where needed.

Meanwhile, Dennis checked the M16 as Sean checked his assortment of weapons.

He had the M1903 on his back and the M3 by his waist.

"You good?" he asked as he pressed himself against the wall of the home, lifting his rifle.

Sean shrugged, lifting the M3 and aiming it at the street ahead.

"Misery should have gotten out of here by now. Same for anyone still living here... just us and the enemy."

Dennis nodded, staring straight at the end of the street.

From the other end of the street, Tom asked "You boys ever hear of William Wallace?"

Sean replied with "Scottish folk hero, right?"

"Yeah. I heard he held a bridge all on his own."

Sean huffed, saying "That wasn't him."

"Look, I don't care, the point is, when push came to shove, we held bridges, showed the English we kicked ass."

"Yeah, and Wallace got drawn and quartered for it in front of a cheering crowd before getting dismembered and having his body pieces sent to different parts of England as an example of what happened when you defied the king."

"Oh... God..."

The sound of Dennis vomiting the brief breakfast he'd had into the nearby window was all that was heard after the colorful description of an execution.

After wiping his mouth, Dennis weakly groaned "Tom, when we get home if I ever suggest using the GI Bill to go to college, sock me in the face with brass knuckles, will you?"

"Yeah... what's the matter with you, Sean?"

Sean sighed, saying "I'm just being honest... ain't no glory in this."

"Wasn't about glory, was about telling you we're gonna win, dumbass."

"By using a guy who lost as an example?"

Tom fell silent.

Dennis laughed.

Loudly.

"He's got you there, man." He said in between breaths.

It was oddly contagious as the Rangers on the street chuckled amongst each other for a moment, contrasted with the heavy tension surrounding them as they waited for the enemy.

Tom saying "Hey, at least I gave an example..."

Sean said, "Here, let me give you one... when I was in sixth grade, class of fifty-one... this one kid... real wise guy... didn't like that the math teacher was going to give us a test, right? Now, it had been a tough week for us, and the math teacher, missus Kubrick- she had actually been missing for a couple of days and hadn't given us all the material the test was supposed to be on."

"Yeah?"

"So... this guy, the wise guy... when the class starts he... he gets up from his desk, chest puffed, chin-up, real confident-like... and he says Miss Kubrick, I refuse to take this test that you have not prepared us for right in front of the entire class. Now, Miss Kubrick, she's one of the most patient women I've ever met, cause she just stood there, staring at this sixth-grader, and hoo boy, we thought he was going to get paddled."

"My teacher would've paddled me if I spoke without raising my hand."

"Right, so... so, she... she's lookin' at him... and looks at us, and we're all doe-eyed because we've never seen a kid do something like that, I mean, who has? But she looks at us and goes anyone supports this?"

Hastings chortled a touch.

Sean said, "No one speaks up, but this wise guy keeps his chest puffed, and keeps trying to stare her down... and Miss Kubrick looks at him and says well, for bravely standing up for yourself, I won't give the test today."

"Bull."

"I kid you not! Now we are all gobsmacked, I mean... this kid was like... like a hero for a bit... teacher went on about how it's important to stand up for what was right and told us that it wasn't fair for her to give us a test on a subject she hadn't given us yet and all that, but she told us that it was important to stand even though no one else stood with you."

Silence.

Dennis said, "Was that jackass you?"

Sean stammered something, Tom quickly saying "It totally was, wasn't it! I bet she beat your sorry ass-"

Rhodes arrived, saying "Can it, we can make fun of Sean and his college education later!"

He positioned himself near Tom, by the corner of a home, Alex kneeling behind him, one hand on the M16, another on the radio. The men were silent for a moment, the booming noise of marching legions growing ever louder as they got closer.

…

The Green Beret captain puffed on his cigarette, an exhausted look in his eyes.

Their street was the widest, which could become a problem, but it had the sturdiest buildings, which certainly helped their situation.

He let out a smoky breath, mumbling "I'd rather be in the forest..."

"Captain?"

"Nothing... claymores set?"

"Yes, captain."

"Good."

He checked the M2 Carbine, the automatic variant of the World War 2 weapon, ensuring the 30 round magazine of .30 carbine was firmly in place, as the marching steps got ever nearer.

His lieutenant said, "This reminds you of any fronts, captain?"

He glanced at his subordinate.

The World War 2 veteran could have given many responses given all the fronts he had fought in, and how brutal combat had always been.

"Not really..." he said instead.

As he tossed his cigarette aside, a pair of centurions on horses appeared on the end of the street. Pausing as they saw the men at the other end.

He mumbled, "Scouts... don't engage."

"Captain?"

"We just have to hold for a bit... technically fifty-five minutes at the moment. The longer it takes for them to get organized without us having to fight them, the better."

He glanced at his wristwatch, the seconds ticking by uncaring of circumstance.

Zorzal, however, was unaware of the ticking clock, observing his marching legions from his white horse, rubbing the scar on his cheek, where the skin had been healed but clearly not properly as he couldn't feel it at all. As if the healer had only been able to stop the bleeding and nothing more.

His missing teeth were also a distraction, Zorzal trying to focus on the practical means he had available to destroy these men from another world once and for all.

I should have brought some fliers... had Father not sent them to Tiberius back then we could have swept these cowards away much quicker. This is all his fault!

Borhos approached him, saying "Emperor, the scouts have encountered some men standing around the main streets that lead into the Red-Light District."

Zorzal snapped out of his mental blame game, hopping off the horse as an officer brought him a map of the capital city. Taking a quill, Borhos marked down

"It seems they're finding what chokepoints they can. They saw four men here... five here... two here..."

As Borhos marked the streets his scouts had encountered these... men... Zorzal raised an eyebrow. On the one hand, the Red-Light District was almost separated from the capital, its homes built so closely together they almost walled themselves off from the rest of his glorious city, leaving few roads his legions could properly march into it.

The enemy knew this and had clearly reacted accordingly.

"They split their forces up..." he muttered.

"Indeed. Assuming they can all do as much damage as we saw earlier, then, a flanking maneuver with General Woody's forces may be our best hope."

Zorzal rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Should he wait?

His mind briefly shot back to the kid who had wounded him and killed Bouro.

"Any idea where that... traitor may have run off to?"

"Emperor?"

Zorzal spoke quietly, barely above a whisper.

"See, if they have a few men guarding these streets. They'll likely be overwhelmed easily enough, but we may not have to. If we can get them to hand those traitors over, we can fool them into thinking we're going to let them go."

Borho's eyes widened.

"You... you want to try and parlay with the enemy, Emperor?"

"Not parlay but the façade of parlay. It's worth a try, I suppose. They'll likely lower their guard, and once that happens... we overwhelm them. These are the main streets, but there are alleyways and other entrances we can use. These cowards like their games of deception, then let's play along. We don't need Woody to flank them, we'll flank them ourselves. Lightning-quick!"

Borhos shuddered at the plan.

He had to agree that it could work if the enemy fell for it, but a part of him doubted they would.

"Send the scouts with a message telling the enemy we wish to parlay." then, with a cruel grin, "We have an offer I doubt they can refuse."

…

"You want us to what?" Dennis called from behind the stone home, rifle still aimed at the men on horseback.

"Parlay! You surrender the traitors, we let you live!" came the scout's response.

Dennis translated to Rhodes.

Rhodes frowned, turning to Alex who said "Berets are getting the same offer... we're going to pretend to consider it for a bit... you know... avoid a confrontation for as long as possible."

Dennis only nodded before turning to look down the street.

"We're considering it!" he lied.

A lie that was repeated across the line.

If there was one benefit to fighting an enemy stuck in a medieval state, it was the fact that they didn't have effective descriptions of the person they were searching for. Whereas the Americans could identify using photographs, these men had never met Dennis in their lives, and would at best know that they were looking for a young cook turned traitor wielding a small weapon... not an American in green combat uniform with an M2 Helmet and comparatively larger than M16 on hand.

Rhodes asked, "How long do you think they'll give us?"

Alex sighed, saying "Probably not enough."

Dennis added, "No time at all... odds are they're going to try to flank us through the alleys and they're buying time."

Rhodes nodded, saying "We booby-trapped some of the alleys, but not all of them... maybe they plan to position troops there before charging here as a distraction, and then flank us where they can?"

Dennis shrugged.

Rhodes sighed, saying "Well, push comes to shove, we'll fall back to more defensible positions. Right now all we can do is wait."

…

Zorzal stared at the empty buildings with an expression not unlike that of a man bored out of his skull. He rubbed the healed wound, still unable to feel the area he'd been wounded in.

He asked, "What's taking them so long?"

"Majesty, it's only been five minutes."

"It shouldn't be that hard a decision to make!" Zorzal declared with full confidence, whipping his horse forward.

"Emperor!" Borhos tried.

He glanced at the legions, men standing at strict attention; their armor glistening in the morning sun as they waited patiently for the order to move in.

Some of the older men even smirked as if proud to serve such a seemingly steadfast leader.

He ignored them and chased after the young emperor.

Dennis never took his eyes off the street as Zorzal arrived.

"Son of Tobias, I know you're here!" came the shout.

It was Sean who said "Captain, I have a good shot right now, do I take it?"

"Not yet... Dennis?"

"Yes, captain?"

"Time to inform him of his circumstances."

Dennis pressed his cheek into the rifle in a tired expression, shutting his eyes for a moment before saying "Yes, captain."

He then moved slightly to the left, revealing himself to the enemy.

He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding once he realized he hadn't been shot by an arrow. Zorzal smirked, staring him down.

"Ah, excellent. Your friends left you out to dry? Where's Tyuule?"

"Emperor, we're not surrendering."

Zorzal winced looking ahead.

Zorzal laughed.

"So you wish to die, is that it?!"

Dennis loudly said "No, emperor, we do not wish to die. Do your men wish to die?"

Had it been anyone else, Zorzal would have happily and gleefully made fun of the young man for suggesting his men weren't willing to die for him, but Zorzal wasn't that stupid. He'd seen what these cowards could do and he didn't need his men thinking he had no winning strategy here.

Zorzal said "It is in everyone's best interest you just surrender. As you said, no one has to die!"

"Then you should surrender."

Zorzal winced.

"Excuse me?"

"If you care for your men's lives, surrender."

It was strange how still everything got when no one spoke.

The Americans kept their weapons leveled, the Imperial Army kept its arrows ready as no sound could be heard in the Red-light district, glowing in the morning sun.

Zorzal loudly said "You are insane. The empire will not-"

"Our aircraft are up there, Emperor... on the way. They will destroy this army once they get here unless you all surrender."

"Oh, certainly, I'm sure they will! But you'll be dead anyway! So will your friends, so will your allies, and so will the beast you took from me."

Dennis didn't reply.

Nor did he move.

Nor did he blink.

At the lack of a reaction, Zorzal looked at his men, then turned back to the small enemy force.

He called "Alright, Son of Tobias... I'm sure you care about the men with you... so let's do the following!"

He hopped off his horse, grabbing Borho's blade.

"Majesty-?"

"Quiet, Borhos... watch me."

He tossed Borho's blade down the street.

The ancient weapon landed a distance away from Dennis.

Dennis didn't react.

"A duel! If I win your merry band surrenders and gives Tyuule back to me. If you win... well... you go free."

"Majesty!" Borhos tried.

"Quiet, please. I'm talking man to man... you still helped me that day, Son of Tobias, I have not forgotten that, treason or not... what do you say? Do the honorable thing and spare us this bloodshed?"

Dennis stared at the blade on the ground.

Tempting...

"If I do that, you'll keep your word?" Dennis called.

Zorzal said "Indeed, I promise, your... people... will not die here, in fact, I even promise I will let them leave in peace! You have my word."

Deep down, he really didn't want to have a major fight.

Deep down he'd rather avoid it altogether and just get everyone back alright.

He glanced at Rhodes, who was on the radio.

His captain shook his head.

Dennis looked ahead.

Even without his captain, he knew better as his mind went back to the white-haired girl's soft breath as she slept next to him that night.

He said, "Like how you promised Tyuule her people would be spared?"

Zorzal felt the poison behind those words but didn't show it.

Again, a stark silence fell over the area.

No one spoke.

Seconds ticked by.

Zorzal finally said "Her people refused to surrender. If your men refuse to surrender, they'll be killed as well. Simple as that."

"That's not what you promised her."

"Oh, what do you know? You weren't there."

"Even so, I've seen her bruises, I know what you did to her... why would I ever trust such a barbarian with the lives of my people?!"

Zorzal's glare only deepened at the 18-year-old's words.

Dennis didn't let him respond.

"Surrender now, or die! That is your choice, Zorzal El Caesar!"

Zorzal was silent, he glanced behind him at his men.

Some showed no emotion, but some appeared outraged at the prospect.

Calling the emperor, The Emperor... a barbarian?

Demanding they surrender or die?

Madness!

He smiled.

Seconds ticked past.

Zorzal glanced at Dennis once.

"Give me a moment to think about it."

Then he turned and began walking to his horse.

Dennis said, "Emperor, I need an answer right now!"

The second he got on, he glanced at his archers, saying "Well, I tried. Kill them."

The second the bowmen lifted their arrows, Rhodes gave the order.

"Sean, take the shot!"

Sean didn't hesitate, squeezing the trigger on the M1903A4.

Zorzal felt something punch clean through his armor and into his side, knocking him off his horse just as the first arrows were loosed on the enemy.

Borhos was on him immediately, shouting "Emperor, come on!"

Another shot grazed the helmet of the general as he pushed the injured emperor behind a home.

Zorzal looked more confused than anything.

He glanced at his small wound, saying "They... they hit me again... cowards... they hit me again!"

"Get the healer!" Borhos shouted.

Zorzal waved the man away, tearing a piece of cloth from his tunic as he got up and began walking back to the street, looking as archers fell, yelling over the explosions of enemy weapons "Quickly! Get behind cover! Loose your arrows from behind the homes! They are ranged weapons, you are equals here!"

As another enemy projectile slammed into the wall Zorzal was behind, Zorzal screamed "Hold your ground! Make them pay for what they've done!"

Then, the injured emperor rushed out of cover, grabbed a short spear from one of the fallen men, and expertly threw it at the enemy, the well-crafted spear slamming into a wall, knocking a man down, the American being quickly helped up by his comrades.

Zorzal ducked behind cover, shouting "See?! They are but men!"

Borhos sucked in a breath, turning to one of his officers.

"Get more crossbows, bows, arrows, anything ranged! If we stand a chance at drawing them back enough to charge and close the distance it's with ranged weapons. Go!"

Outskirts of Italica

Tuywal picked up another stick from the ground, handing it to the little girl next to her, the child obediently placing it on the small rucksack on her back.

Charlotte walked after the feathered woman, helping her gather firewood.

She glanced down the road. Farmland as far as the eye could see, making the child feel much smaller in a way, having lived her whole life in the confined spaces of the Red-Light district, nothing like the free and almost barren landscape beyond.

A tall man walked over, saying "Ah, excellent job, little one." before pressing his hand onto the top of her head.

She smiled slightly at the gesture.

Tyuwal asked, "Did they speak to you?"

"Yes, they did. The good news is that we don't have to move. We're right on the edge of the territory these men from another world will occupy once the war is over. The better news is that the sales at Italica went better than expected."

"Really?" Tyuwal asked, excited, Charlotte not entirely understanding the importance behind it, but childishly excited nonetheless.

"Yes. Since they lost so many farmers during the... well... raids... there is much farmland being sold. If all goes well, we could have a... a..."

Charlotte's ears perked up and she was looking down the road.

It was Tyuwal who appeared confused for a moment.

"What is it?"

Then she felt the earth beginning to shake ever so slightly.

Before she could think of anything, American tanks rolled down the dusty road. The M48s leaving behind a trail that would normally have taken horses and wagons months to create in a few seconds. Trucks and jeeps not far behind.

A grim look on the soldiers as they drove off.

"Did something happen?" Tyuwal asked.

The man she married only said "I saw them... gathering supplies... I guess this is another big push?"

Above them, the sound of the American helicopters flying in the air was heard.

Above those, American aircraft screeched as they raced towards the capital.

Little Charlotte took a step forward as if considering if she should follow the American trucks.

Tyuwal was quick to pick her up before she got any ideas.

"No, no, little one, your fight is over, you don't have to follow them."

Charlotte reached after one of the trucks that drove away.

She lowered her hand.

"Den... is..." she sighed.

"Hmm? The soldiers?"

The infant nodded, counting her fingers as she counted down the names she remembered "Den-is. Jay-moss. Taw-Uhm. Shay-on. Al-ex. Roads..."

Tyuwal smiled slightly. Despite growing up in one of the deadliest parts of the Empire, the child had retained her innocence.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, little one. They're strong and resilient. No force before has ever been able to truly challenge the empire."

Charlotte smiled slightly.

Imperial Capital

"There!" Sean yelled as he inserted another magazine into the M3.

Dennis and Hastings both fired several rounds down the street in response, a body falling over just it launched an arrow.

Rhodes lowered his head as it wisped past him, missing him by a few inches.

"Yeah, we're holding them here, no wounded yet. How are you guys doing?!" he called over the radio as Alex fired a short burst as yet another brave imperial peered his head out of cover to shoot an arrow at them.

The Green Beret captain garbled back over the radio, "We're holding them at the moment, but keep in mind that these are probably probing attacks."

"Yeah... yeah, I figured as much..." he said, another arrow flying overhead.

Not that different from Itálica. The bright side is that we don't have to hold for much longer...

The sound of rifles firing silenced any orders the centurion could spout as the limp body fell over.

"Tenth house! Left!" a legionnaire shouted.

"Archers!" an officer yelled.

The arrows came then, flying over the homes and landing on the street, some burying themselves in the grabble while others simply bounced uselessly on the ground.

Sean shouted "Reloading!"

Dennis gently squeezed the trigger, sending a burst down the street before pressing the mag release, removing the empty 20 round magazine, and quickly inserting the fresh one he was already holding. He slapped the bolt catch and began firing at the men hiding behind the street corner.

He sucked in a breath when a body fell to the floor where he fired, the injured man writhing on the ground.

A man reached to grab the wounded and Dennis responded by squeezing the trigger and now two bodies were on the quickly reddening street.

"How're we doing on rounds, boys?" Rhodes shouted.

"I'm good, captain!" Dennis yelled back.

"I've got a hundred rounds left!" Tom shouted, glancing at the ammo box on the M60.

Hastings wordlessly moved another box of bullets next to the machine gun.

Rhodes glanced at his watch.

"Thirty minutes!"

Where the hell is that son of a bitch emperor?!

If asked, Dennis could have sworn he could hear the man's obnoxiously pompous voice in the distance, shouting orders and inspirational messages safely from behind cover.

More gunfire.

More arrows.

Dennis reloaded again, not at all intimidated by the screams and shouts the enemy was yelling at them.

"Cowards!"

"Face us directly you sons of whores!"

An arrow flew overhead, another man screaming "Leave this city and never return, you animals!"

Dennis replied by firing another burst, blowing away another piece of the stone wall.

Emperor Zorzal, only a short distance away, angrily stood in place, listening to the ongoing battle.

"Progress, Borhos?!" he demanded.

General Borhos only said "The enemy's ranged weapons are faster and much more accurate than our own. Numbers or not, they have superior firepower and are taking full advantage of the city's streets. We're preparing some of the heavier weapons to-"

"Oh, just charge in! They can't- ah!" Zorzal yelped, grabbing his now bandaged-up injury.

Borhos cared little for it.

"Emperor! These men are cornered animals! If we just charge in, we'll pointlessly lose men! We must advance properly, otherwise-"

"Otherwise, nothing! That... that liar... it's his fault she betrayed me! I want him alive, Bohros!"

The general winced, noticing how Zorzal was muttering to himself now as the thunderous cracks of the enemy weapons continued to spit death.

He noticed how detached the young emperor was from everything.

"...yes... his fault... she was clearly brainwashed... Tyuule would never have tried to hurt me... she belongs to me... it's his fault..." he kept repeating like a mantra.

Like any good general, Bohros kept his opinion to himself but internally wondered if he would be able to do anything about their situation. Zorzal could easily overturn his orders, and his men clearly looked up to the emperor to some extent, and if the American was telling the truth, they were in trouble regardless of what Zorzal ordered.

As another explosion erupted in the distance, Borhos shut his eyes.

He'd only been "general" for a week.

There must be something I can do...

"The homes... why aren't we going through the homes?!" Zorzal demanded.

Borhos said "They homes aren't interconnected, and most alleys around them are too tight to just charge in. We're sending what men we can through them, certainly, but-"

"Yes, yes... of course..."

Then, as if he realized something, Zorzal quickly said "Get me one of the dead or injured!"

"What?"

"A dead or injured soldier, bring him to me now!"

Borhos nodded to his officers, the men quickly rushing to do just that. Zorzal cleared the wooden table they were using to plan the battle, tossing the map and pieces of chalk to the floor.

An injured man was brought in.

Zorzal said, "Lay him here, let me see his injury!"

The men did so, lifting the tunic, the man stifling his pained moans as Zorzal studied the bleeding hole on the man's side.

"Turn him over."

They did.

"No exit wound... whatever they hit him with did not go through his body..."

Borhos frowned.

They knew that after the traitor had used that weapon on the emperor, did they not?

Zorzal said, "How many orcs do we have at our disposal?"

An officer quickly said "Fifty, emperor! Six ogres as well!"

Zorzla grinned, saying "Good... more than good... bring them here and pull the archers back. We will make the orcs and ogres charge down that street and kill the enemy."

Borhos felt his eyes widen.

Yes, the orcs and ogres had far tougher skin and were exceptionally strong, but...

"Emperor, the monsters were intended to be used-"

"Stop objecting, Borhos... I doubt their weapons will be enough to stop a wave of the greens. Even if they do, we shan't relent!"

Borhos nodded, saying "Go, get them organized, quickly!"

Then, to Zorzal, he said "If we break them here, we could flank the others and prevent all escape."

"Great! Get it done!" Zorzal said, grinning.

…

Dennis checked the ammunition in his pockets.

He frowned, as no arrows came forth, but gunfire continued around them.

Rhodes got off the radio, perplexed.

"They're not letting up in the other streets..." he mumbled.

No one spoke, the question in all their minds.

Why did they pull back here?

Rhodes glanced at Tom, the machine gunner taking the chance to reload, Hastings helping him.

He then glanced at his watch.

"Twenty more minutes, boys... then we begin pulling back."

"Hope they chase us... be a shame we waste all this ammo for nothing." Tom huffed, racking a round into the M60.

Dennis didn't say anything.

Over the gunfire, he thought he could faintly hear the imperials shouting orders.

At what exactly, he couldn't tell, but he never liked anything the enemy forces the Americans had faced threw at them, and he doubted this would be an exception.

He tried to think of other things.

The smoke, the sound of gunfire, the occasional explosion made it all but impossible.

He shut his eyes for a second, more as a reflex than anything, his mind tired but knowing it couldn't just stop working now.

He opened his eyes again just as the first green creature moved past the corner, and Sean yelled "Contact!"

"You don't say... what the hell?" Alex breathed.

"Orcs... they're orcs..." Dennis replied.

Rhodes said, "That's... that's a problem..."

They'd read about them. They'd seen a few when the Army broke through at Alnus, but the only experience American infantry had with the orcs had been in Dallas, and all the Rangers knew of that were the casualty reports.

There had been a reason the tanks and artillery had always been tasked with taking care of them.

The green creatures marched relatively in tight formations as they formed at the other end of the street. They stood there, unmoving in a column of ten, completely covering the edges of the street ahead of the Rangers. A single centurion walked ahead of them then, shouting something in a language Dennis didn't understand, the green creatures responding by raising their incoherent weapons to the air and screaming.

Rhodes said "Well... they lined up neatly for us..." and then, pursing his lips, "Light 'em up!"

No other orders were necessary as the M16s and M60 spat smoke and death, the automatic fire roaring then. The centurion barely got out of the way as the bullets slammed into the creatures.

The orcs didn't charge, they simply stood there, taking the bullets, some falling to their knees, but the others behind them stood them back up, continuing their battle cry over the gunfire. Odds were the onslaught had actually killed the entire front column, but it was difficult to judge or how many bullets it had taken.

Then arrows rained again.

Aw, hell...

The Americans ducked, Dennis only keeping an eye on the enemy, already knowing what would follow.

Rhodes appeared to be thinking the same thing as he turned to Tom and yelled "Tom! Hastings! Set that gun up further back.

"Yes, captain!" Tom yelled, quickly picking up the machine gun and bounding behind them.

Dennis heard the centurion, safely hidden behind a house scream in the local tongue "Now!"

He only managed to shout back "Here they come!"

Sean switched to the M1903, a worried look on his face, Alex and Rhodes reloaded, the Ranger's captain yelling "Try to hold 'em back for a second, then pull back to Tom and Hastings!"

The orcs came running like an elephant stampede.

Large, green, muscular; the ground shook with their unified charge as they shoved each other forward defying the renowned onslaught of lead as they began to close the distance.

The 5.56 NATO rounds were barely slowing them down.

Sean fired, dropping an orc with a difficult headshot.

They were still organic, which meant that hitting a vital organ would certainly stop them, but as it was becoming increasingly obvious, the 5.56 NATO rounds were just barely cutting it.

Dennis quickly reloaded and immediately unloaded on an that was getting uncomfortably close to him. The rifle's design and caliber allowing a touch more control on fully automatic than the heavier M14, but even with his careful aim he was sure he missed some shots as the charging monster fell forward, unmoving.

The one behind it wasn't so keen to stop as Dennis reloaded.

"Fall back!"

Dennis inserted the magazine just as the monster closed the distance, lifting the club that had large spikes protruding from it.

He was a bit faster and ducked away as the orc fell dead, courtesy of Rhodes.

They were already falling back, and Dennis fully intended to follow as he slapped the bolt catch.

Then something knocked him aside like a rag doll as he turned around.

Angry at the retreating enemy, one large orc had thrown a massive club, hitting the 18-year-old on the back, unceremoniously knocking him to the floor.

"Orville!" someone shouted just as he hit the ground.

It was pathetic, really.

Ma... ma?

As Dennis was tossed to the ground like a ragdoll, his head impacting the dirty stone road, all he could think about was wanting to call out to his mother for help, or just to hear her voice.

I'm so tired...

A boom behind him, roaring even over the cracks of rifles, like a little kid's nightmare, chilled him to the bone just as he thought he was drifting away. He forced himself to start crawling away as fast as he could before turning around, eyes wide, as if this was too much.

Damn it!

Rhodes stared at the larger monstrosity as he reloaded.

He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but the armor and facial features only screamed "monster" as the creature roared and lifted a massive blade to the sky.

The young ranger rolled away from the blade as it slammed near him.

Rhodes fired into the monster's eyes, knocking it back. It mattered little as a smaller orc ran around it and tried jumping the young American.

Dennis let out a mix between a gasp and a yelp, firing in full auto, four rounds hitting the second orc in the face, one round going into the eye and rolling around in the creature's brain, knocking it to the floor as Dennis tried moving away.

As if the attackers were exclusively trying to kill him then, an arrow landed next to his head, a second one barely an inch away, grazing his face.

At this, Dennis managed to shakily get to his feet, ignoring the bleeding on the side of his face, his eyes burning with a fury that could only come from a soldier as he glared at the monsters readying another strike.

He lost his footing, falling to a knee.

Get up! Get up, God damn it!

He could only struggle to get up as a forty-millimeter grenade slammed into charging monsters, a deceptively underwhelming explosion of smoke knocking down a column.

Rhodes quickly got him up, grabbing his collar and pulling him up, screaming "What are you doin'?! Start running, soldier!"

Dennis shakily regained his footing, watching the creatures charge past the smoke.

"Come on!" Rhodes shouted, dropping a grenade as they ran.

The explosion behind them only caused the orcs behind them to wail in pain as the shrapnel failed to kill many, but painfully wound most of them.

Tom finished readying the M60 as Hastings stood next to him, rifle on hand, ammo box on the ground.

Rhodes and Dennis got to them, the 18-year-old crashing against the nearby wall, sucking in several deep breaths before turning his rifle over to the attackers.

The orcs that hadn't been wounded clearly cared not for their wounded comrades as they charged ahead, trampling some or stealing the weapons of others.

Tom sucked in a breath.

Rhodes growled "Now!"

The M60 roared once more as Tom let out an intensely long burst, the street riddled with lead as the Rangers fired everything they had, the buildings around them shaking to a degree as lead slammed into flesh. Rifle fire backing it, the monsters fell one by one as the heavier rounds weren't anywhere as easy to ignore as the smaller 5.56 NATO rounds the M16s were firing.

It was wholly unforgiving.

Neither was Zorzal.

"The orcs are being slaughtered!" Borhos shouted.

Zorzal only laughed, saying "Yes, but they pushed them back! See?! See that they can be defeated?!"

"Emperor, they're-"

"Now with them taking the brunt of the attack the infantry will charge in and sweep them away!"

Borhos tried to object.

Zorzal didn't let him.

"Now, General! Sound the charge!"

Borhos turned to the young man with the horn.

Unlike most of the legionnaires who had been trained since a young age and were mostly adults, this trumpeter was barely in his early twenties.

The young man looked at the general with uncertainty.

Borhos only nodded, unable to give the order himself.

The horn sounded.

As Zorzal had ordered, the men with crossbows charged ahead.

As the last orc fell dead, the infantry emerged from the corner.

Tom huffed, quickly adjusting his aim and firing again.

Someone got to fire an arrow first, the projectile flying past Dennis.

"Come on, kid!" Rhodes yelled, pushing Dennis ahead.

"Claymores?!"

"Yeah! Go!"

Dennis didn't hear the clicking of the detonator, but he did hear the concussive explosion the mines let out as they erupted to life, sending seven-hundred steel balls the size of a .22 caliber round at a speed of more than 3,900 feet per second at the charging soldiers. Dennis could only imagine the carnage as anguished screams filled the air behind them as they pulled back, Tom continuing to fire in long bursts that were likely straining the machine gun past its limit.

The machine gunner got up then, Hastings covering his retreat just as Dennis reached a street corner, sticking to the wall and aiming his rifle to cover the others.

Like something out of a horror movie, a massive green arm punched through the wall, just above the carry handle on his M16, inches away from his face. It was followed by a shoulder that shattered through, the wall likely weakened from the explosions.

"Damned... human..." he heard it growl in the local tongue.

The orc slammed through with a furious glare directed at the American, its muscular left arm bleeding heavily.

Dennis reacted, firing point-blank on the monster's face, again on full-auto. The image of the creature's skull breaking apart as the 5.56 NATO rounds tore it to shreds at such proximity was burned into his mind as heavier gunfire came from Tom as he lifted the machine gun, firing into the back of the dead monster.

Rhodes stared, dumbfounded as Alex and Sean began firing on the charging infantry.

Dennis shakily spat out something that had stuck to his mouth, taking a step back and trying not to think about what it may have been.

Tom ran past him, shouting "Captain, we gotta go!"

Rhodes was about to agree when an arrow zipped past him and slammed into the machine gunner, knocking him to the floor.

More arrows flew by, another just barely grazing the 18-year-old's helmet.

Rhodes grabbed Tom, seeing droplets of blood on the floor.

The red-haired Ranger said something Dennis assumed was a curse, but he didn't quite catch as he fired several more rounds into the attacking infantry. The bullets stopping them as they took cover behind the empty homes.

"Alex, how are the Berets doing?!"

Alex only shouted, "They're holding, captain!"

"Tell them we can't hold! They're pouring everything into this street and we're about to be overrun!"

He glanced at his watch.

Twenty more minutes...

"Gimme the M16." Tom awkwardly shifted in place as Hastings took the M60.

Distant explosions were felt then as claymores on other parts of the district were either detonated as part of a trap or detonated by an order.

"Captain, Berets are pulling back!" Alex shouted.

"Right... drop some smoke. We're leaving now!"

Zorzal pushed ahead, irritated the glorious charge had been halted as men remained in cover.

He ignored the corpses... well, carcasses at this point, of the slain orcs.

Borhos could only look on in silent horror at the sight.

Of the fifty strong orcs and ogres that attacked the American line, it was clear most had been slain or wounded so they couldn't fight anymore. One still alive simply sat by a corpse with a hole in its side, its right arm completely missing.

Worse, he didn't see a single American body.

Zorzal shouted, "Why have you stopped?!"

"The poisonous mist, Emperor... it impedes our progress!" an officer shouted, an older man, Borhos could tell.

Zorzal pushed ahead, clutching his still bleeding injury and pretending it didn't hurt, he said "These cowards! Tricks and the like can't stop us!"

He stopped at the tip of the legion, staring down the white smoke.

"These men... they use trinkets and machines to wage war, not magic... in that case..."

"Emperor?"

Zorzal sucked in a breath and walked ahead.

"Emperor, wait!"

He raised a hand so his men stood back, marching into the mist.

Tyuule... I'm going to get you... this won't stop me!

He walked closer to the burning white smoke, his skin growing red as he looked around the increasingly burning cloud of smoke.

He saw it and suppressed a grin.

He ran back towards the Legion, his skin still burning as he took someone's crossbow, aiming it at the grayish object, not knowing it was classified as the "M34", colloquially known as the "Willy Pete".

He loosed the arrow onto it, scoring a perfect hit as the grenade was pushed aside, into an open home.

He laughed, saying "See?! Cowards! Shoot the little-"

He began to cough then, having gotten too close to the smoke, unknowingly inhaling some in despite doing his best not to.

Borhos said, "Majesty-"

"I shan't let the enemy escape, Borhos... if I must charge alone then I shall charge alone! I will defend my homeland!"

Several of the legionnaires nodded emphatically.

Borhos said "But the danger to-"

"Great risk, great reward. We learned that lesson with the orcs and with the Warrior Bunnies... these cowards are no different in their cowardly ways... forward, men!"

Other crossbowmen shot their arrows onto the smoke, seemingly knocking the burning objects out of the way. The smoke still burned the men as Zorzal led them through, but they almost seemed unbothered by it.

Borhos could only stare, hoping his Emperor was correct as he pushed the men forward.

…

Dennis froze as he heard the marching footsteps.

"Captain..."

"I know, I know... keep moving! Air Cav's almost here and we'll be gone before-"

"Down!"

Arrows flew over the building, none accurately landing on their mark, but already too close for comfort.

"Oh, come on!"

Tom groaned, supporting himself on the wall, holding the M16, saying "They're pushing past the Willy Pete? How are they even...?"

"Forget it, we're not engaging them further. Keep-"

Rhodes had barely finished his sentence when a man in armor charged out of an alleyway, short-sword in hand as he quickly closed the distance between him and the Rangers. Sean, unable to fire, lifted his rifle, blocking the blade, with Alex firing into the imperial soldier before he could move back and try stabbing again.

Dennis glanced at the opening to the alley.

He hadn't seen it previously as it was incredibly small, with barely enough room to squeeze through.

From it came a second imperial soldier, the man squeezing through relatively quickly, the process only made awkward by the armor he wore.

Dennis didn't hesitate, lifting the M16 and firing at the man, the rounds piercing through the armor with ease.

To his surprise, the man's body was pushed forward by a larger man who wore no armor and appeared to be using the smaller legionnaire as a shield, lunging at Dennis with a short blade, not to stab him, but to slam it over his helmet.

Dennis yelped as the blade made contact with the top of his head, the blow throwing him to the floor as his M2 helmet took the brunt of it.

Again, on the floor, his mind shot painful images to the forefront of his thoughts, attempting to take him out of the battle.

In a split second, he was back at Itálica, surrounded by men about to rip him to pieces as he lay helplessly on the floor.

This time there were no mortars to save him.

Near panic, Dennis fired wildly, trying to both control himself and his fire as he began half kicking, half pulling himself backward as best he could, unable to stand or even make out exactly whether he was killing anyone, as Alex and Hastings were quick to fire on the large man and those behind him, Dennis barely crawling away before Sean ran over and pulled him away from the alley.

A short spear was thrown from the alley then, hitting Hastings, knocking the young man to the floor.

"Hastings!" Rhodes ran over, checking the Ranger over, spear jutting out of his side, right on his stomach.

Without looking down, Hastings replied "Y-yeah, just... grazed me... I think..."

Tom muttered "Oh, Christ..."

Hastings shakily asked "What? How-how bad is... it... Oh, God..."

"Not that bad if you can still talk! Alright, everyone, fall back! Fall back! Alex, Sean, give me a hand here! Orville, watch our six!" Rhodes shouted, already helping Tom move away from the attackers, Alex and Sean quickly picking up the wounded Hastings and the M60, leaving the youngest Ranger to cover them.

Dennis was already up, reloading, glaring at the alley as no one else came through it.

He could hear the marching infantry quickly coming towards them.

An odd sensation came over him as he took a step back.

He forced himself to look at the bodies by the alley, the blood now pooling onto the broken parts of the dusty street.

All of them looked older than him, yet...

His jaw clenched and he quickly whirled around running keeping in step with the others, keeping an eye on the rear, ignoring the droplets of blood he was stepping over.

Get out... get her out... don't die!

He repeated the thought to himself over and over again.

Rhodes, on the radio, yelled "Stalker teams, what's your status?!"

"Pulling back. Heading to your hideout for exfil. Once there, pop red smoke. Medevac will be prioritized."

"Yeah, I'd hope so..."

"Contact!" Dennis hollered then, firing a burst as a charging legionnaire fell over before he could fire the crossbow he carried.

Tom twisted over, saying "Persistent pricks... Orville!"

He passed Dennis a hand grenade, one the 18-year-old was quick to pull the pin on before tossing down the alley as more legionnaires charged down the street, some quickly ducking to cover, one particularly brave one grabbed his helmet and threw himself over the grenade, seemingly hoping to stifle it with his helmet, but even with the resulting explosion only liquifying the man, his sacrifice successfully shielded his buddies.

Dennis angrily and quickly worked to make the sacrifice a pointless one by unloading on the ones who had been shielded from the explosion, the charge halted as the men ducked into the empty homes. He huffed, keeping up with the others, doing his best not to think about what he'd done.

They were getting close to their exfiltration point, and they couldn't afford to let the Imperials get so close.

Granted, he doubted the Air Cav would let them stay close if they did, but still, better to keep the LZ from being at risk, to begin with.

As they were closer to their hideout, Rhodes shouted "Pop smoke now!"

Sean grabbed his smoke grenade, tossing it ahead of them.

"Hold your breath!"

They ran over the quickly reddening area as red smoke began to fill the street behind them, almost like a wave.

They exited the street, stepping onto the clear area of their hideout, the rest of the Stalker teams and other Ranger units arriving more or less at once, some holding positions by their respective entrances, others carrying their wounded.

The Green Beret captain rushed over, saying "Five minutes! Birds are already circling overhead!"

"How bad is-?"

Rhodes fell silent, seeing the captain had an arrow sticking out the back of his shoulder.

The World War 2 veteran huffed, saying "Not as bad as stepping on a land mine, let me give you a hand there. Tell your boys to hold positions there."

Rhodes glanced at Dennis.

The 18-year-old wordlessly nodded, turning back to the street.

"Sean."

The marksman only nodded, turning around, handing a now rambling Hastings to the Beret Captain, joining Dennis on the street.

They silently observed the red smoke that had flooded between the homes in the distance.

Sean finally said, "How's your ammo?"

"Two mags left."

"Well... I'm down to the Grandpa Rifle... can't imagine the others are much better."

"Legend said we had to hold for a few minutes... we can handle that." He said, switching the M16 to semi-automatic fire.

...

Zorzal was rubbing his head, stepping over the corpses in frustration.

Not so much about the dead bodies, no he was expected that, but the lack of enemy corpses was frustrating.

The legionnaires had stopped up ahead.

He asked, "what is-?"

He froze at the massive cloud of blood-red gas blocking their view of the rest of the street.

"These damned tinkerers..." a soldier grunted.

Zorzal said, "Does it burn, too?"

"We don't know... We haven't gone close to it yet."

He huffed, saying "Then what are you waiting for?! The enemy is probably running out of tricks!"

The legionnaire nodded, saying "Yes, but we're low on arrows. We've fired as often and whenever we see them, yet... combat in the city like this..."

"Excuses... charge across that smoke, soldier! If it's deadly then pull back..."

Zorzal felt his breathing become harder.

He unconsciously placed his hand on his wound.

The legionnaire seeing his emperor straining so far just to kill the enemy.

He straightened up and shouted "Forward March!"

Zorzal smiled as the men obediently marched ahead despite the death around them.

He frowned then.

There was the headache, and the pain on his side... but was he hearing things, too?

He could've sworn up above he heard something, but looking at the sky he saw nothing.

He ignored it, his mind going back to what he would do once he got Tyuule back.

It was all the young emperor could think about.

…

It was like something out of a nightmare.

The red smoke was like looking at the legions through hell as they pushed on.

There was an odd second where they were moving slowly, like ghosts in a horror story, and Dennis felt his heart sink as he gripped his rifle tighter.

Sean sucked in a breath, gripping his last grenade, pulling the pin.

After that one second was gone, the legionnaires realizing the smoke wasn't as deadly as the white smoke, suddenly roared in defiance and began charging ahead.

It was like lightning.

Dennis squeezed the trigger, downing one man, then he moved to the other one, squeezing it again.

Sean tossed the grenade, holding it long enough so that once it landed by the charging army it detonated, ripping through several men, knocking some aside. Dennis thought he saw a man's leg fly up in the air like a firework.

He couldn't be sure as he had to fire faster and faster now, the mob getting closer.

A spear was chucked from behind the smoke, slamming into the wall Dennis was standing next to, chipping bits of rock.

Dennis ignored it as best he could, firing another round before reloading.

The Imperial soldiers stopped their charge, some attempting to stick to the walls as well to fire their arrows, something they weren't about to let them do, but ammunition would only hold out for so long.

The range was being closed, as well.

They were killing them, alright, but not as fast as needed.

For every one they downed, there were a hundred more, ready and willing to continue fighting as they tried ducking into cover and closing the distance, shooting arrows and throwing spears, barely missing the two Americans.

But seconds ticked by.

Dennis sucked in a breath.

Then the street ahead erupted in dirt and gore as an even more powerful roar tore the imperial soldiers into what Dennis could best describe as red sawdust mercilessly drowned everything out.

Almost everything.

Dennis let out a relieved breath as he heard the whipping noise characteristic of the American UH-1s. Glancing up he not only saw the shape of the UH-1, but the unmistakable yellow symbol of Custard's old 7th Cavalry, the gunship flying overhead, unleashing several rockets onto the other streets.

Zorzal however, only looked ahead in confusion as the American flying carriage flew overhead, screaming and breathing death, not unlike the flame dragon.

W-what?! But- they're so fragile!

He tried to compose himself when Borhos finally caught up to him.

"Emperor! The enemy is attacking us with their flying machines!"

"I can see that, you buffoon! Where are our fliers?!"

Borhos pointed to the sky above, shouting "What can our fliers do against that?!"

"Stab them, crash into them if necessary, attack, fight, fight, fight! They can do something so they should do something!"

"Do you not think they haven't tried?! Emperor we-"

A nearby building erupted into shattered rock and mortar as another of the horrifying machines of death flew overhead.

Borhos shook his head, yelling "We lost!"

Zorzal felt the words hit him harder than the previous betrayals, attacks, and even injuries. He stared at Borhos in shock.

Shakily, the young emperor said "No... you're... you're wrong! They're the ones losing! This is just a desperate raid, same as the many brigands we once armed! We can fight them off!"

Before Borhos could say anything, Zorzal whirled around and searched through the dead bodies, finding a functioning crossbow and taking it off the still-warm corpse.

He grabbed a pair of arrows and shouted to the soldiers around him "Follow me! We take those traitors, we win!"

He then charged ahead, ignoring the men who were now staring ahead, frozen in place.

Borhos shook his head.

He turned to his men and yelled "Whoever is stupid enough to help me retrieve that moron, follow me! The rest of you seek shelter where you can! You! Pass the word!"

The young legionnaire saluted and quickly ran off, the rest of the men scattering, leaving Borhos with only three others who were looking at him like he was a traitor.

"Come. He'll kill himself if we don't pull him out of the fire..." he growled at them, turning and chasing after emperor Zorzal.

…

Tyuule only stared ahead, the maddening sound she knew came from the "helicopters" Dennis had warned her about causing her to put her hands over her ears. She remembered seeing one up close soon after Molt's assassination, but she'd never heard them in combat, and she no longer had to imagine how the men from another world had dominated the army that had destroyed her people.

Still, she was more concerned with the wounded men lying down on the hideout's floor. The young man with stylish facial hair the Americans called "Doc" tending to them as best he could. The wounds varied from cuts to stabs to arrows the man wasn't ripping out.

Tyuule had no idea how to tend to such wounds, and the fact the man wasn't overwhelmed impressed her further. Even now, over the gunfire and explosions, all she could do was sit in place.

Shameful...

Several men burst through the door then, at least one of them with the red cross on his helmet.

"Stretchers!" he yelled, several other men, carrying long rods that when opened up revealed a fabric that held them together. The Americans placing their wounded on them.

Doc finally said, "Alright, let's take them out!"

"Can I help?" she tried.

He looked at her for a second, as if considering it, finally saying "No, you sit tight, miss."

She only nodded.

I'm in the way...

As she thought this, she thought about glancing out the window as more explosions were heard.

As if the Red-Light District was erupting over a volcano.

As the men took out their wounded, a familiar figure ran in, followed by another.

Dennis briefly made eye contact with her and she went pale.

There was blood coming down the right side of his face, the rest of the youth's features were ashen, covered in dirt and dust. The helmet had a dent on it, and he seemed teary-eyed.

He winced as he ran past her, the older American with the wooden gun not looking much better as he ran after him.

She suppressed the urge to follow in step, clutching the American combat jacket around her a little tighter.

More explosions rang out.

Dennis and Sean got to the second floor.

Rhodes and Alex pushed the larger radios onto a corner, yelling "Good, you boys have any grenades left?"

Dennis said "Yeah, last one."

Alex yelled back "Great, help me out here."

Dennis ran over, helping shove the large battery-powered radio onto a pile with other equipment.

Alex groaned, saying "God... taxpayers are gonna be mighty angry if they find out about this."

"What they won't know won't hurt 'em, now let's move! This place is going to be nothing in a few minutes!" Rhodes yelled, leading Sean back down the stairs.

Alex and Dennis pulled the pins from their grenades and stared at the second floor, the equipment they had no time to dismantle and load onto the choppers forming an odd pile next to the makeshift office of Rhodes as other munitions were placed around it.

Both 18-year-olds were silent for a second.

Alex said, "Never liked this place much."

"Yeah..."

Another moment of silence.

"Fire in the hole!"

…

"By the gods..."

Shaun glanced at the horrified Pina as she peered over his shoulder, staring unblinkingly at the area he knew was the Red-Light District.

It was a little hard to miss as the 7th Cavalry helicopters were strafing the area with their twin M134 machine guns and their unguided rockets.

He could only imagine the terror the Imperial Army below could be feeling.

"Looks like it's not the entire army over there... look by the wall." the pilot said over the radio.

Shaun glanced downward, seeing marching legions rushing quickly, sticking to the city's walls.

...running away from the carnage...

Seemingly, they were trying to keep up with the second helicopter formation.

Either they were trying to catch up to the Americans or they were trying to run away.

Pina didn't really care, saying "We have to hurry up and land... otherwise..."

Shaun only said, "We'll land, princess... whether they surrender or not is up to them."

Pina didn't say anything else.

She felt her heart twist in anguish as the helicopters didn't immediately land within the walls of the city, but just outside the nearby hills by the main gate.

She shakily hopped from the helicopter just as the larger Chinook landed nearby, several of her Rose Knights hopping out of it just as awkwardly and just as quickly.

Pina was quick to get up on the hill, freezing as she saw the purple cape of a General she quickly recognized.

"General Woody!" she called as loud as she could, the man unmoving as he and his legion observed the distant flying machines unleash fire and smoke on the army in the Red-Light District.

The man whirled around, seeing the princess.

He then saw the green men behind her and a look of horror crossed his face.

Before he could react, Pina had already closed the distance, and she shouted "General, where is my brother?!"

Woody only glanced up once, then back at the 19-year-old girl.

"Highness... your brother... Emperor Zorzal is... over there... what is the meaning of this?"

"Are your men marching to assist?!" she shouted.

Noticing the men in green taking obviously defensive positions, Woody tried to ask another question, but Pina snapped him out of it.

"General, are your legions moving there?!"

"I... we was supposed to..." he said quickly.

"Cancel those orders! Recall your men! The war is over, we are not fighting the Americans anymore!"

"W-what?"

"They gave my father and my brother a chance at peace, they didn't take it and that is the result! I want the Senate gathered immediately and I want no more of our men to die!"

As distant explosions rang out, all Pina could do was face the General, who nodded and quickly ran to his officers, shouting orders.

Deep down, Pina knew more would die so long as they remained within the Red-Light District.

She pushed the thought away and turned to Shaun, yelling "He's ordering his men to stand down!"

"Good! I'll pass it along!" came the quick reply.

Not fast enough...

She stared at the bright blue morning sky above and saw the metal birds, just specks in the air.

Not fast enough at all...

…

Zorzal heard a man screaming in agony nearby, but he ignored him, focusing on other, far more important things in his mind.

Such as...

How much did that whore lie to me?!

He angrily ducked under a window once he saw the American flying machine land on the rather cleared-out section of the district.

He saw the men load in wounded and felt a touch satisfied, but his mind quickly went back to the white-haired girl.

Did she really lie to me then?

She had always whispered such sweet things when he had her, and he always considered it proof of her dedication to him but now he wondered if she actually meant all that.

If she had lied about the American losses, then... had she lied about his greatness? Had she lied when she whispered sweet things to him at night? Had she lied when she reminded him of his own greatness?

No, not possible!

She'd been whispering those words at night long before the gate opened!

But what if that's because she feared me?

Immediately he pushed the thought aside.

No! She was brainwashed by that bastard! This is all his fault! Yes, once I kill them all... she'll see... I'll make her see!

He checked the crossbow and grinned cruelly.

Cowardly tactics will be met with cowardly tactics...

At the same time, only a few yards away, Dennis was trying not to focus on Tyuule.

As the first helicopter took the wounded and a second one began to land, he tried not to look at her, but everything else to focus on was a reminder of hell in his mind.

Gunfire, explosions, distant screaming men, the thought about how many he had killed scratching at the edges of his mind like a nail on a chalkboard...

He focused instead on the whipping sound of the Helicopter as it landed in what could be considered a "hot" LZ, but "hot" didn't really apply in this region. The enemy didn't have guns, and while the Imperial Legions were certainly uncomfortably close if the helicopter fire was any indication, they weren't a threat, unlike in other fronts where the enemy had guns.

Dennis finally turned to Tyuule, waving her over, making sure she was in between the Rangers evacuating and not exposed in the front or back.

He tried to ignore her worried face as she got up and ran to him instead of ahead of him.

He didn't correct her much, simply lightly leading her by pressing her forward.

Rhodes stepped out first, aiming his rifle at the area where the enemy would be as he hastily ran to the helicopter, the others following after.

There were Berets still around the area, behind cover, watching their positions.

Dennis pushed Tyuule ahead, the girl covering her ears tightly with one hand as the wind created by the helicopter's rapidly spinning blades blew dust every which way, clutching the Army jacket with the other.

Tyuule was in first, the noise no better inside than outside for her.

Dennis glanced at one of the airmen who opened the chopper doors, the soldier noticing, and reaching over with an uncertain expression as he handed the girl a headset to put over her ears. They weren't made for her ears, but they might work if she placed them on properly.

Tyuule placed the odd device over and under her ears.

It was a touch awkward, but it fit well enough, muffling the noise just enough despite being designed for smaller human ears.

Rhodes turned to Dennis, yelling "Right, get-"

The arrow slammed into the tail of the chopper, bouncing off and crashing onto the nearby wall, barely missing Rhodes, and causing Sean to duck down searching from where the sudden attack had come from.

Dennis however, had seen where the arrow had been shot from and his eyes went wide with hate, shock, and a flurry of emotions as he recognized the attacker.

How are you not dead?!

Zorzal ducked back behind the window. Grabbing a second arrow, angry that he hadn't accounted for the wind just as the window exploded, the enemy projectiles causing far more destruction than his arrow could hope to accomplish against most stone structures, but he didn't care.

He crawled to another window, the enemy magic seemingly following him but not actually hitting him.

He grinned again, locking the arrow into place and pulling it back onto the crossbow, noticing a small ladder on the very corner of the home he was in. He crawled to it, a plan formulating on his mind. Tyuule had clearly been brainwashed! If he could just slay the machine's spirits or mechanisms or whatever helped it fly, he could slaughter these cowards and take her back!

As he began to climb up the ladder with some difficulty, he noticed the American machines were sounding further and further away.

Damned cowards! You won't win so easy-

He didn't actually see the grenades fall into the home, but he certainly felt their heat and shockwave as he was frown off the ladder and back to the hard ground inside the home.

Rhodes shouted "On the chopper! Now! Go!"

He didn't know if it was just Zorzal on his own, and frankly, he didn't care, getting his Rangers on the chopper, Dennis appearing a touch reluctant, but never disobeying, lowering his now empty M16 as he hopped on.

Rhodes let the young man go to the white-haired girl who seemed wholly confused by the sudden gunfire.

She shouted something, trying to ask a question, one he didn't catch as he grabbed a headset and said "Tell the flyboys to hit that house!"

The pilot only said, "No need, this entire area is about to go up in smoke!"

Sean shut the door as the helicopter started going up.

A final one landed, with the remaining Berets quickly piling in.

The instant that chopper was airborne, a few acknowledgments went over the waves.

"Alright, boys, you may want to look to your left, 'cause you're all in for a show!"

Then the bombers dove in.

…

Zorzal was coughing up blood by the time Borhos and two others pulled him out of the smoldering home.

"Emperor, your ability to survive astounds me, I'll give you that much." Borhos sighed.

Zorzal realized how still everything was then. As if everyone had died and the world had gone silent.

He groggily said, "Did... did we win?"

Borhos said, "The enemy flying machines here are leaving, but we saw an even larger formation of them heading towards the main entrance to the city."

Zorzal began to stand up, pushed back by the soldiers.

He quickly slapped them away, yelling "Tyuule! Where is Tyuule?!"

Borhos only said, "Emperor, she's gone."

"Damn! Gather the legions! We have to... to march on Alnus! That-"

"Emperor, first we have to get you to a healer! Your skin is burnt and you're bleeding far too-"

"No, Borhos... I am not defeated! I will still... fight... until I can no more!" he said through labored breaths.

Borhos said "Emperor, you can't even stand up! For the love of-"

Zorzal, ignoring all the pain in his body, shakily sat up, hissing "I said... I am not... defeated!"

Borhos cautiously stepped back as the emperor managed to get on his feet.

He said "We had no fliers... you can thank my father for that... yes, that's why we were unprepared... his moronic... stupid... insane policies! Yes..."

As Zorzal mumbled to himself, Borhos looked around at the Red-Light District.

It was eerily empty.

He didn't quite understand how the enemy from beyond the gate fought, but if the denizens of the district had sheltered them, then... had they killed them all?

No, these men fight differently... but then why is the district empty?

A sickening feeling in his stomach was all the warning he received as he heard the screaming aircraft from above.

He glanced upwards, seeing the machine.

Terrifyingly, the metal bird was still far away as it dropped what appeared to be large eggs.

What madness is...?

Zorzal didn't seem to notice, too deep in thought.

He did notice when the ground shook and the "eggs" punched a hole in an empty part of the district.

Borho's eyes widened, and Zorzal visibly winced.

Around them, the metal birds dropped their payload.

They had no way of understanding exactly what was being done. They had no experience with the concept of strategic bombings, let alone the plan the American military had devised to use its air supremacy to bomb its enemies into submission.

They did understand the firestorm some of these "eggs" could spawn, however.

A wall of fire swallowed up entire streets and Borhos said what anyone in that situation would.

"We must seek shelter, now!"

Zorzal however, was focused on more important things.

"W-why? I don't understand, t-these cowards shouldn't... why did they wait until now to use that weapon? Why-?"

Another metal bird screeched by even closer.

Another massive firestorm, as large if not larger than that of the legendary flame dragon swallowed yet another part of the Red-Light district; a roar that rivaled the worst of monsters in all the land silencing everything else as it spread.

Borhos found his voice and yelled "Go! find shelter!"

"But, the Emperor..." one of the braver men said.

Borhos only said "He's lost it! Move!"

Zorzal whirled around at the insult.

"How dare-?"

He saw the men were already running.

He sputtered out a pair of words, not bothering to limp after them.

His mind was too busy focusing on other things.

Such as who to blame.

And why Tyuule had lied to him.

Was she really just brainwashed?

Did she not love him?

He thought back to her cries, to how he had enjoyed her... surely, she had enjoyed it as well?

An even larger explosion brought his attention back to the present.

He didn't know-how, and he didn't know exactly why, but he did realize one thing.

They'd beat him.

He glanced up and saw a massive black, bird, this one slower than the others.

"Oh."

Then a one-thousand-pound bomb landed fifteen yards away from him and made him think nothing more.

…

Tyuule only looked on, mesmerized by the destruction below.

It really was like seeing a bird drop eggs from above.

While the main part of the capital was untouched, the sheer destruction the Imperial Army was being subjected to was nothing short of a crime.

There was no fighting back against the thunderous explosions from the American bombs.

There was no defeating the hellish flames.

There was no escaping the death the aircraft wrought with them.

The F-105s, the Phantoms, the massive winged thing that kept dropping the bombs as if it had an endless supply of them. The destruction below was something she thought she could only imagine in her wildest fantasies about destroying the Imperial Army without a hint of mercy.

But then...

All she could do was sit and stare as Zorzal's army was mercilessly annihilated.

Yet she felt no joy.

Zorzal had more than likely died a miserable and embarrassing death.

Yet she felt no joy.

Her people, her mother, her father, her brother had been avenged.

Yet sorrowful tears were now streaming down her face.

No one cheered.

She heard some exclaim and comment about the destruction below over the device covering her ears, but no cheers.

This was what she had wanted for so long, this was a total victory, with few casualties... and yet no one celebrated.

Her heart ached and her face twisted in pain.

Why? Why can't I stop crying?

She tried wiping her tears away observing the rising smoke, her eyes slowly turning to the serenely blue sky above, still peacefully the same despite all that destruction, no less indifferent than when it happened to her so long ago.

She couldn't take it anymore so she turned to the American sitting next to her.

And promptly froze.

He appeared disheveled and broken.

His hands were tightly gripping the black rifle he used, staring ahead, shutting his eyes tightly, and opening them again. She could tell his breathing was heavy, and she remembered how distraught he had been after an attack by a single member of the Haryo.

From the looks of it, he'd suffered through a far harsher and far more violent fight than all previous ones and was, like her, barely keeping it together.

Help me again...

Despite her tears, she moved her hand over to his.

Dennis jumped at the contact, turning to her.

She avoided the eye contact, quickly pressing her head on his shoulder and tightening her grip around his left hand scared he might worry about her when she was trying to help him.

He responded by laying back on the seat, holding her hand a little tighter.

Though still shaking, she felt his breathing steady and the thought brought her some comfort.

Maybe she could do one good thing, indeed.

…

Pina and the Rose Knights stared at the maelstrom of death that was all that remained of the Red-Light District.

Perhaps the worst part was knowing that not all of the men there were dead.

A few groans and still moving bodies were a horrible reminder of that.

Pina forced the thoughts aside and pressed forward, an awful task at hand that she needed to complete before going to the senate, but one she figured could be assumed done with at this point.

No buildings stood, dusty piles of burnt and broken rocks were all that remained, most of it still smoking as she looked around.

There was no way her brother had survived.

At least one shaken young man was stumbling through the rubble.

She rushed ahead, shouting "Soldier! Soldier, over here!"

The young man froze, quickly noticing the red hair and saying "P-princess?"

She stopped, noticing the purple tunic.

"You're an officer?"

"G-general... B-Borhos... Eastern Legions..." the man said, shaking.

He appeared unhurt, but he collapsed to his knees.

"I-I beg you, please accept my resignation! I am not fit to lead!"

Pina quickly kneeled with him, trying to reassure him, but he didn't let her even speak.

"I let the Emperor lead my men into death! I let him... and this is the result..."

Pina winced, saying "The Emperor is dead?"

"Emperor Zorzal died... I... I found his remains back... there."

Pina, wanting to help the man, but desperately needing to confirm her brother's death, only said "It wasn't your fault, General... stand up, we need to help you and your men."

"Not my fault... yes... I was just following orders... but I could have objected. I could have..."

Pina didn't have time.

She rushed down the way the man had come, ignoring the scorched bodies as best she could.

She froze as she could quickly distinguish the body.

It hadn't been burnt.

He almost looked peaceful as he lay there, rubble and burnt stone on top of him.

She said nothing.

She looked around.

She saw no one was nearby.

She crumbled to her feet and cried.

Alnus

10:00 AM

The Helicopters landed and Dennis was jolted awake.

Tyuule was still holding his hand.

Tightly.

He gently moved his shoulder up, nudging her awake.

She looked around, seeing the other men getting up to leave.

Dennis helped her out of the UH-1 the airfield full of airmen and medical personnel moving the wounded.

Rhodes said "Come on... doc wants to take a look at those scratches. Same for you, ma'am."

They followed the Captain, Tyuule not letting go of the young man's hand.

She didn't speak as she was led to the building with the red cross.

Dennis however, said a lot.

"These are doctors, they'll, uh... they'll give you a check-up, see if you're okay..."

She nodded.

"Maybe take some blood... see if you're sick."

She nodded.

As they got closer, he quietly said "Thank you..."

She turned to him then, a longing in her eyes.

Before she could speak, before she could figure out what she wanted to say, a dark-haired girl in a white dress walked over.

"Queen Tyuule?"

Both of them turned to look at the nurse.

Tyuule's eyes went wide and Dennis unconsciously got in between the white-haired girl and the nurse whose rabbit ears had clearly been cut by a blade some time ago.

The Warrior Bunny raised her hands in surrender, speaking in decent English as she said "Hey, I mean her no harm, I swear!"

Dennis stared at her, unsure of what to do or say.

Tyuule said "Alright... it's alright."

The dark-haired girl took a cautious step closer.

Dennis didn't look certain.

Rhodes called, "Orville, come on!"

Dennis glanced at his captain, then at the white-haired girl.

Tyuule let go of his hand.

He quickly took it and said, "I'll see you soon, I promise."

She only nodded, watching as he walked away.

The girl said, "Aw, I think he likes you."

Tyuule turned to her former subject.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, where are my manners? My name is Parna. I've been working with the Red Cross since April."

Tyuule opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.

Parna was quick to say "It's alright, come with me... we all had it tough after the war..."

She pursed her lips and said, "I don't blame you, you know?"

Tyuule stifled her cries and only looked at the floor as she was escorted to a room where someone could actually begin patching her up.

Dennis on the other hand was in a near panic.

The doctor slapped the top of his head, saying "Hold still! Stitches will already leave a scar!"

Dennis ignored the doctor as the needle went into his skin.

"An... inquiry?"

Rhodes said, "Yeah, nothing serious. Higher-ups want us to answer some questions is all. You can see it as an excuse to take a break-"

"No, I... I can't leave her yet. I-I haven't even-"

"I know, I know... but relax, remember, I doubt she wants you to be institutionalized. You're not abandoning her."

Dennis nodded slowly, calming down only to get slapped again by the doctor to keep his head straight.

"Right... how long will I have to be gone?"

May 13th, 1964

Alnus

9:00 AM

"I'll see you soon, I promise." he had said before leaving.

She wasn't sure how "soon" he meant, but it was now clear he'd more or less been dragged away elsewhere for far more important things.

Two days he'd been gone.

Two days she'd been dealing with the fallout of the war ending.

Tyuule didn't want to think about it too much so she decided to instead focus on the flag these men from another world carried with them.

The red, white, blue pattern banner with several stars.

An odd choice, in her mind, but one she could ultimately understand. Unlike the Empire's obsession with placing purple over everything, arguably the most expensive color to find and therefore a sign of high status, they'd gone for more simple colors.

In theory.

Really, Tyuule was just looking for a way to distract herself as the man in front of her read several documents.

She understood the basics of it all.

"Your people, those of the Warrior Bunny Race, will be granted citizenship and be permitted to travel across the gate, granted the same rights and protections as all other US Citizens, all laws applicable to US citizens will apply to them, they will be subject to..." the man kept listing the caveats and privileges of her accepting and officializing the offer.

A part of her didn't really care, just wanting to get it over with.

She still nodded and gave a few affirmative huffs.

A while later, he said "Now, Miss Tyuule... Princess Pina has offered to return you the lands her brother conquered, even the role of queen if you so wish. The United States will not get in the way if you choose to rebuild your kingdom."

She didn't have to think about it.

"No... I... I'm not interested in any royalty or official position... just promise me my people will be protected. That's all I asked for, that's all I want." she said, still disinterested.

The man nodded, asking her "Do you have any plans going forward? We plan on educating those who will become citizens and we could use someone that has a grasp of our language."

That proposition was far more of a guarantee of her people's protections than anything she had seen before.

Being asked to help her people transition into the new nation implied they would be allowed to live going forward.

Still...

"I'll think about it..." she replied noncommittally.

The American nodded.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Do you understand the information we have discussed today?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then sign here, please."

Her handwriting wasn't like the American's typed up letters, as they flowed swiftly on the page, but she noticed someone else had already signed the paper in an equally neat fashion.

She didn't dwell on it as she finished her signature, handing the paper back to the American.

And like that, it was done.

She stood up from the chair, ignoring the "journalists" and their annoying devices, "cameras", that clicked and flashed. She had to give them credit, the men were able to huddle in a room's side and act as if they weren't even there, which in a sense, she guessed was part of what they were supposed to do, and they didn't bother her with any queries as she stepped out, a wolfman of all people walking in after her, speaking his language as he took her seat now that she had left.

Ah... yes... they're making several deals with other people...

In a way, it was comforting that she was but one more individual in an unending sea of them, where she could vanish and be forgotten. Better to be forgotten than hated, after all.

Once out of the building, she took a moment to glance at her new clothes.

It wasn't anything particularly fancy, a simple white blouse with a green skirt, but she couldn't deny it was comfortable and certainly far less revealing than the "uniform" Zorzal had given her.

Don't think about him...

As the morning sun bore down on her, she could only look around, her eyes eventually landing on the structure that connected both worlds.

She stared at it.

Then she walked away, her mind on someone else.

She also forced those thoughts away.

Dallas, Texas

2:00 PM

Dennis walked out of the military building with a perplexed expression, his Class A uniform bright and clean in total contrast with the still uncut hair of the 18-year-old. A few other soldiers in their Class A uniform walked out along him, Rhodes walked in step, saying "See? No big deal."

"I feel like I somehow participated in a crime, captain..." Dennis mumbled, the still perplexed expression in his mind.

"Hey, they only wanted a sequence of events, we gave them the sequence of events. You didn't lie."

"But they didn't really ask much, either."

"Enough for the reporters and politicians... trust me, kid, the Army may not make mistakes, but if you haven't noticed, sometimes we go above and beyond, other times it's the bare minimum."

They turned to the Green Beret Captain, the man's arm in a sling.

Dennis stared at the World War 2 veteran, noting the strange lack of World War 2 medals on his Class A.

He finally asked, "Where did you serve during the war, captain?"

The man chortled, said "Lemetti" and then walked on.

Dennis called "Where the hell is that?! Europe?!"

He got no reply.

Rhodes chuckled, saying "Glad to see you're a bit more energetic today."

"I'm all over the place, captain..."

"Appropriately."

"It's been two days, I didn't want to leave her without..."

"Hey, look at it this way... you have the papers now and your tour isn't over. You'll have plenty of time to talk to her about it."

Dennis nodded, glancing at a speeding Cadillac as they approached the military-controlled part of the city.

As they gave their identification at the gate, the MP asked "Orville, Dennis?"

"Yes."

He handed him a letter, Dennis looking it over as they walked inside.

"It's from home..." he said, uncertainty on his face.

"Family?"

Reading the return address, Dennis only said "No. Neighbor."

"A friend?"

"His kids were kind of my friends when I was younger... haven't talked to them in a while, though... guess I'll..."

He froze.

He stared at the letter and ripped it open.

Rhodes paused, looking at the 18-year-old.

"Orville?"

Dennis swallowed.

"I'm fine, captain. I'll... catch up?"

Rhodes nodded.

Dennis walked aimlessly, staring at the letter in his hands.

Before he knew it, he'd wound up near the appropriated book depository not too far from the Gate itself, sitting by the steps as he read the words over and over again.

He clutched the paper in his hands shakily holding the small object tied to the letter, a mix of sorrow and anger on his face that he quickly hid once he heard someone walking by.

Not yet... not yet...

Alnus

6:49 PM

"Well, you seem alright today... miss!" Parna said, emphasizing that the girl she was speaking to was no longer "royalty".

Tyuule forced a smile as she took her ration.

The dark-haired girl said "Are you really not going to be queen anymore? I'm sure some would support you."

Tyuule only shook her head, saying "I cannot. Even if you don't harbor anger, I... I don't know if I can forgive myself completely."

Parna nodded slowly, changing the subject.

"Is the young man back yet?"

Tyuule only said, "I don't know. I don't even know what he wanted to tell me... maybe it was all a ruse so he didn't fail his mission."

"Oh, come now, the way he looked at you? The way you two stared at each other?"

Tyuule felt her face grow warm again.

Parna only said "Ha! See? I'm sure he'd react the same way!"

I don't want you thinking I don't like you.

Tyuule pushed the memory aside, wrapping her rations into a bag with a huff.

Parna said, "You're such a kid, you know?"

Tyuule said nothing, taking the rations and turning to leave.

"Oh, if you haven't, some jobs are opening up in the town now that merchants from the other world are coming in. Maybe someone will hire you."

Tyuule considered it.

Parna then said, "But odds are that guy will sweep you off your feet and you won't have to work a day in your life... right?"

Tyuule waved her goodbye without another word.

Parna sighed, sitting back on the desk.

I'm just trying to help...

Tyuule walked aimlessly down the town then.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a melting pot.

Across the street, she saw a normal human family sitting inside a shop, eating together in a restaurant. Near them was an American soldier chatting with a quite attractive looking cat girl, near them was a pair of dark-skinned American soldiers walking by, being trailed by a pale girl with blue hair.

And then there she was.

Alone.

She continued walking, overhearing someone saying something on a nearby radio. She turned her head, seeing several Americans playing cards as the large box sat on the table they were sitting on, playing a card game she didn't recognize.

"...hope that with this act we can prove to the world that we as a nation are above the concept of racial divisions, and begin to move forward as we build upon our experiences, preserving freedom, liberty..."

The speech was drowned out by an American loudly saying "As if!"

Another loudly said "Maybe in twenty years. My dad will never sit at a restaurant that has any gringos inside, and I doubt your mom would sit anywhere near a beaner like me."

"Meh, Kennedy's gotten some people to side with him... who knows? Maybe all the war brides will help change folks' minds back home..."

She kept walking.

Eventually, she was out of the town walking up a hill.

Once at the very top, she stopped walking.

Tyuule stared at the setting sun over the distant mountain range.

The wind on her back was soothing, but she still felt a degree of unease.

It was over.

The ones who destroyed her people, her family, and her country were all dead.

Molt, poisoned.

Bouro shot over and over.

Zorzal, apparently with a broken neck after a bomb's shockwave caused him to fall from a building, leaving a mostly intact corpse to be discovered by the Republican forces led by Pina.

That also meant that the entity known as "The Empire" was also dead.

The legions that almost exterminated her people had either been shot, crushed, or burned to death by the American bombs.

Yet she felt no better.

Her mother was still dead, her father was still dead, her brother was still dead, most of her people were still dead.

Yet here she was.

Alive.

Alone.

Perhaps this is the punishment I deserved...

She continued pondering this when she heard the distant leaves crack under the feet of an approaching person.

A part of her could guess who it was, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Hey... how're you feeling?"

She forced herself not to turn and look at him.

She only managed a tired shrug in response, continuing to look on into the horizon.

"I, uh... they told me they saw you walking around here, so I came looking..."

Tyuule said, "My old home is in that direction..."

Dennis stopped walking, saying "Yeah?"

"My people are probably more than happy to leave it behind after everything that's happened."

Dennis went quiet.

She said "It's likely empty now, but maybe some survivors will head over there after what the princess agreed to... it's out of my hands, at least... I can only hope there's a better future for them."

Silence.

Both of them basking in the warmth of the setting sun, not entirely sure of how to proceed.

Dennis didn't approach her, remaining a few feet away.

She didn't speak.

What could she say?

She knew she didn't deserve to see him or anyone that made her happy again.

Still...

"I heard you refused to take the role of queen back."

She didn't speak for a moment, odds being he'd heard the news before arriving back.

She nodded before saying anything, still refusing to look at him.

"I'm a coward to the bitter end, I suppose... I happily accepted he owned my mind, body, and soul despite my intent to obliterate him... they all still dominate my thoughts. I don't feel any better, Dennis, not after I caused so much death and destruction. I have to share some of the blame, yet to escape justice the way I did... cowardly, deceitful, evil... I have no idea what you see in me." she said, trying to ignore her reddening face.

Dennis pursed his lips and looked at what he was holding in his right hand.

He gripped the small box tightly and said "Well, you're a kind person, for starters."

She scoffed.

"It's true."

She didn't reply.

Come on, Orville...

With some determination, and now that she was safely away from a combat zone, he said "A coward wouldn't beg for her people. I heard Zorzal, he made it clear you offered yourself in exchange for your people's safety."

"That man was a liar."

"Was he lying about that?"

Tyuule's lip quivered as she fell silent.

"Broken clock is right twice a day... why would a coward risk all this if it's far more likely to backfire? You put a condition to your surrender to save your people. That's not cowardly, that's noble."

"It's naïve."

"Given the alternative?"

"I still caused all that destruction."

"Did you have a choice given who you were dealing with? Other than rolling over and dying?"

"I could have run away that first night."

"Then the war would probably still be going and more people would have died."

Tyuule fell silent for a moment, Dennis waiting patiently as the sun continued to dip below the horizon.

She finally asked, "You told me that day... you told me there was something important that you needed to tell me... something to ease my... unease... please tell me already."

The hurt behind her words made him wonder if it was appropriate to ask her now.

"Please... you're the only one who... that's... helped... please... do something about this unease." she tried, almost a whimper as she hugged her knees and hid her face.

Dennis sucked in a breath, admiring the setting sun ahead of them.

"Alright... you want to get married?" he asked bluntly.

Tyuule didn't react, continuing to stare at the sunset.

"What, with some noble?" she asked after a moment.

"No, with me."

Her ears perked up.

She turned to face him, eyes wide, asking "What?"

"Captain Rhodes was helping me fill out some paperwork for it, and... well... if you-"

"Why?! You know what I've done!" she cried out, standing up now.

"Yeah, and I don't think it's fair you should suffer for it alone."

"What?"

"I've done awful things, too... I don't know how many I killed in these battles, how many families I left fatherless, childless..."

Like mine...

"But that was in a war! I nearly got my people exterminated!" she cried out.

Wish knowing that helped me sleep better...

Instead, he said, "Would it have been better to just have everyone die fighting?"

Tyuule's throat tightened as she stammered out "That's what was expected! That's-"

"Yeah, that's how this world works. I get it... but here you are, standing against that."

"W-what?"

"Every person I meet here has this... this ancient way of thinking. They're changing, sure, but it's still there in some way... seeing defeat as worse than death, seeing people who surrendered to stop a slaughter as dishonorable somehow... it's alien to me... but here you are, going against it."

"I told you, it's because I'm-"

"Weak? Cowardly? Evil? So weak you gave yourself up and begged for your people? So cowardly you didn't kill yourself after three years of abuse, blame, knowing your own people wanted you dead? So evil you're sulking because you succeeded in getting your revenge?"

"H-how I feel is meaningless! It's what I did that matters!"

"I agree! Actions speak much louder. You tried to negotiate, you begged for the lives of your people, you worked to take down a nation abusing and enslaving others, and you guaranteed the protection of those who survived after you were betrayed!"

She tried to stammer out a response, but Dennis wasn't done.

"You think I didn't notice you never once asked for your own protection? Just the guarantee of protection for your people?"

Tyuule said nothing.

"You're a kind person!"

She felt her jaw clench, her hands balled into fists as the words sunk in.

"You're wrong..." she quietly objected, but she couldn't argue. It was her own internal self-loathing and guilt at how far she had gone that kept her mind as it was. Even if his words were trying to soothe that internal turmoil, she found it near impossible to agree to it.

He spoke directly to defy that insecurity then.

"No, you just don't believe me, but... I'll say it as many times as I need! Being with you... I didn't fall in love with you for no reason, Tyuule."

The words struck her and she turned away.

"Y-you're... you're still wrong... I... I'm not..." she couldn't say anything else, beginning to tremble.

Noticing the tears beginning to flow, Dennis quickly closed the distance and took her shaking hand.

She didn't pull it away, staring at the ground, whether out of shame or fear Dennis didn't know, but he didn't really care.

She'd helped him when he was practically at his breaking point, and he had no excuse to not do the same for her.

More than that, he wanted to bring her out of it.

He took a knee and used his thumb to open the tiny box.

Her already tearful eyes widened.

"I don't doubt you were scared; I don't doubt there was some selfishness behind your decision... but... the reason why you did it shows, at least to me..."

He slowly slid the ring onto her finger, glad the measurements were proper, and he internally smiled as the action startled the girl, her tearful eyes widening further at the gesture.

"...it shows me you're kind."

"B-but what I did..."

"It's not enough to not make me want to marry you." He said, his expression serious, determined, and a touch terrified.

At this, she couldn't contain her cries anymore.

She managed to barely stifle anything louder than her raspy breaths, but the tears flowed without end now, and she couldn't move as she shakily cried and wiped her tears with her free hand.

She couldn't look at him.

She remembered the way he had held her before, the fear of losing her in his eyes, and she tried to understand how that was possible. Then she remembered that the American ultimately had no one at home waiting for him, that, in a way, he was as lonely as she was before his government sought her out. Meaning that she had given him a genuine reason to pursue her if anything to not be alone, but the fact that he wanted something more was clearly not a fantasy or childish hope.

Dennis quickly stood up as soon as her tears began to flow, and in response Tyuule shakily took a step forward, pressing her face against his chest.

He felt unsteady as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He had practically poured his heart out, trying to say everything he could say to save the girl from her own guilt.

It was an odd situation, knowing they were both lost in a way.

He knew that even if he made a successful career in the armed forces, not all his friends would follow, leaving him isolated as he had no one to go home to, and likely no one to relate to. The fighting between the United States and the Empire had resulted in him killing many, the battles haunting him in a way he knew he would be unable to remove from his mind. Left alone, Mister Jones' prophecy about him would have easily come true.

Her situation wasn't the same, but still similar; without anyone, the added guilt of losing so much in such a cruel fashion would hurt anybody, and she had clearly been thrust into a darkness that had swallowed her whole to the point that vengeance had become her sole reason to live, and no one could blame her for it, and yet she hated herself for the position she was forced into. One that would have easily gone differently if even one factor was changed. But if left alone, would her end be much different than the fictional villain?

A real Doña Bárbara...

Perhaps in another time, but there and then he could hold her and shoulder her burdens as she gave him all the reason to keep pushing on.

Tyuule listened to his beating heart as she continued trying to reign in her emotions. A fast, continuous stream of rapid thumping told her he was nervous. She shut her eyes and focused on it, finding comfort once again.

It made her want to laugh as well as continue crying.

For all that bravado he's still as nervous as me...

Here was a reason to keep going, a reason that could fill the emptiness left behind by her vengeance and loss... not a chance at starting over, but one of continuing to live on after losing everything.

Not that it would soothe the pain and tragedy she had experienced before, but... at least it would help her heal herself, if only a little, and accept a touch of the happiness she'd lost a lifetime ago.

Still crying, she slowly nodded her head against his chest in an awkward motion; her ears tapping his face twice, nearly poking his right eye, not that he cared much.

Dennis allowed himself to breathe in relief as he pulled her shaking form closer, his eyes staring ever ahead.

He heard the infuriating voice in his mind telling him he'd lose it all and gain nothing.

Maybe... but... not yet... not yet...

Perhaps in a western, they would kiss and the credits would begin to scroll up the screen, but he just held her there, trying to do what he could to help the girl's unease as she continued to softly cry, knowing she would help his own in turn.

No celebration, no fanfare...

There and then, it was just the two of them.

---

A/N: Well, I'm emotionally exhausted!

Zorzal being who he was would never surrender no matter what you changed in the story, and neither would many late Roman Emperors if put in a similar situation; the one thing that would change is how many he would drag down with him, and here... to put things into perspective, he set apart a couple of legions to take out the platoon of Berets and Rangers, using the stronger monsters in his inventory to try and smash through defensive lines and swarm them as he would have done in canon only to get bombed into oblivion by F-105s, F4s, and the final nail on the coffin coming from the B-U-F herself, the B-52, costing him those legions and monsters as well as the entirety of the Red Light District which had already been evacuated in both canons by this point... in canon he practically ruined the empire feeding troops into a meatgrinder, completely depopulating sections of the country, and outright exterminating whole swabs of the civilian population partly out of his own delusions and partly because the JSDF refused to neutralize him, so I'll say this is a win-win for both sides as the war was less destructive and over with much faster.

And Tyuule... well, more on her and Dennis next chapter.

Yeah, this isn't the final chapter.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, real quick! Special thanks to Airsoft Al, who reviewed the first 9 chapters of The Fight we Chose on his YouTube channel AAAisroft Media and said he would review this one. He also plans on interviewing me, which... yeah, never had that happen to me before but if you guys are interested, do check out his YouTube channel!

Also, thanks to Apollonir for mentioning the Arrows piercing sandbags with ease! Didn't know that tidbit.

And again, special thanks to... whoever is working on this fic's TV Tropes page. You guys are awesome!

Remember that all reviews are greatly appreciated and if you have any suggestions or stuff you think could be improved on, feel free to let me know!

See you soon!