Back we are! Continuing where we left off last time. Well…maybe not quite. We will return to the battle at the Pass, but before that, there is still the matter of Nordians that needs to be taken care of. Because, after all, these raiders cannot be allowed to reach the battle, otherwise it could end badly for the Kingdoms of West.

So, without extending it any further, let's get to the story.

Chapter 28

,,Battle of White Pass"

October 9, 2150

10:37

Mikla River

The calm waters of Mikla River were being split by the hulls of several hundred ships swimming down it. Boats with dragon heads on their fronts slowly continued it's way down the river, not opposed by anyone. Nordian mercenaries knew, that they should arrive as fast as possible, but they would rather take their sweet time, that rushing things.

For jarl Granar Oniksson, this was actually a good thing. He never liked to rush things, unlike most of his compatriots. He often preferred to plan everything beforehead and be ready for anything, that might come his way. If not him, his mercenaries would never get the status of 'greatest mercenaries of Nordia'.

But gathering riches also was important for him and his men. This is when several months ago, an emissary from Blessed Empire of Orisia came to him, promising new riches they could get by attacking Kingdoms of West, he agreed without hesitation. After some time of planning, they were finally ready.

Plan was simple, yet called for some preparation. While BEO's army takes care of Western armies in the White Pass, Nordians had to land near their camp, cut it off from the army and attack Westerners from behind, what should easily break them. And because emissaries of the Empire said, that they won't try to immediately crush the Westerners, only tire them and then strike alongside Nordians when they arrive, Granar decided to slowly approach the Kingdoms of West's camp.

Suddenly, Granar's first officer came up to him.

"What is it, Venr?"Granar asked.

"My Lord, there is a tree blocking the way."Venr replied.

Granar just threw up his arms.

"Then remove it, what's the problem?"he said.

"But My Lord…There is someone sitting on that tree…"Venr said.

Granar looked at him and then, towards the tree in front of his fleet, which was blocking the way. The tree was laying across the river, from one riverbank to the other, forming makeshift barrier. And there actually was someone sitting on the tree.

"Swim closer, I want to talk with this someone."Granar ordered.

"As you wish."Venr said.

Boats swum closer to the tree, allowing Granar to see, who was sitting on it. It was a young man, dressed in black leather armor and cape, sharpening his sword. Every time he moved sharpener across the blade, it gave sparks.

"Hey, you!"Granar asked.

The man stopped sharpening his sword and looked at the Nordian with smile.

"Oh, hi. Didn't see you coming."the man said in Soutlandish.

"Stop talking and get out of here! We need to move that tree to swim through here!"Granar shouted, also in the same language.

The man looked at Granar and his fleet, with large fleet extending for several kilometers back. Smile disappeared from his face.

"Get lost."the man said.

"How dare you…"Granar said."I'm Granar Oniksson, leader of the most powerful mercenaries in all of Nordia! I won't allow some simple bastard talk back to me like that!"

Man was not even moved by this. This enraged Granar even more.

"Now you've done it…"Nordian stated."Archers…!"

"Now!"Harlen shouted, startling Granar.

But the leader of Nordian mercenaries had no more time to think about it, when sniper bullet made his head explode, shocking the people on his boat. Just few seconds later, whole hell broke loose.

Hundreds of bullets and grenades fired by Resistance troops flew from between the trees, tearing Nordian bodies apart. Even their armors and helmets could not stop this powerful fire magic from simply melting though their bodies, killing them at place and filling the air with screams of pain and agony. To add even more pain and agony to that, dropships in which Resistance soldiers came here flew from behind the trees, targeting the Nordian mercenary fleet, that was beyond the ambush set up by the soldiers. Missiles joined the cacophony of sounds of death. Machine guns, assault riffles, under-riffle grenades and missiles were the news sounds of the area.

Harlen could only look at this what was happening in front of him. Bullets easily pierced shields placed on the sides of the ships, tearing wood, metal and bodies apart. Soldiers already showed him and several others, back in the camp, how these 'machine guns' were easily tearing apart the mock targets, easily piercing through less resistant materials. But this…This was different. Whatever weapon Resistance used, was the complete opposite of everything Harlen has ever learned about war. This was not the honorable battle he often heard so much about. It could be called nothing less, that a massacre.

After some time, it was over. Resistance soldiers stopped firing and left their cover between the trees, looking at what was left of Nordian mercenaries. Pieces of wood, metal and hundreds of bodies were not slowly swimming along the river current. None of the mercenaries survived, caught between the crossfire or reached by missile or grenade explosion. Blood painted the river red.

"Hey, you okay?"a voice brought Harlen back to the living.

"Huh…?"he looked at the voice's owner.

It was the Resistance Marines commander commanding the ambush. Harlen tried to remember his name. It was something like Francis…No, Francois. Yeah, Francois.

"I asked, if you are okay?"Francois asked again.

"Yeah, it's just…"he once again looked at the hundreds of dead bodies.

Marine followed his gaze.

"Yeah. For someone, who never saw, what hundreds of thousands of bullets can do, it's hard to accept what just happened."he explained and then, his face darkened."But trust me, I saw worse things than this. And there are many worse fates, than being shot."

"I believe."Harlen said.

"By the way…"Francois looked at him."You did not seem to mind, when he called you bastard?"

"It's mainly because I am."Harlen replied, sheathing his sword.

"So you're such a bastard?"

"No. I'm King Orman's illegitimate son. I don't know, if I already said it."

Francois risen an eyebrow, but did not comment anything. He knew, that in medieval times, it was not uncommon for rulers to have something like bastard children.

Right then, his hand terminal started beeping.

"Incoming call."Marine said and accepted it.

On it, he saw face of his commander, colonel Hakim.

"What is it, sir?"Francois asked.

"It's the White Pass."Hakim replied with serious face."It started."

At the same time…

White Pass

"Shields up!"High King Casir exclaimed.

As he said that, all soldiers around him quickly put their shields in the air, covering also him and others next to him. Soon, the knocking of arrows on the shields was heard, followed by some screams from unlucky Western soldiers. They quickly lowered their shields. BEO's soldiers then gave a wild shout and started charging at them.

"Ester, I think it's time for your part of the plan."Arlan said to her.

"On it."Ester said, activating her communicator."This is Wild Eye to Thunder Bringer. You can start thundering."

"Copy that, Wild Eye, opening fire."general Jergolov replied.

General deactivated his communicator and looked at artillery gun next to him. He nodded to the soldiers. They quickly loaded the shell inside. Others did the same with other guns.

"Fire!"Jergolov ordered.

Thunder was heard all across the White Pass, as Resistance artillery opened fire, startling charging BEO's soldiers. Soon, balls of fire, dirt and blood started erupting between BEO's lines, throwing some of them into disarray. Not long after, machine guns joined the artillery, raining thousands, if not millions, of traces bullets onto the imperial soldiers. Bullets ripped their bodies apart, leaving hundreds of dead on the field.

From his position in the back of the army, general Xoniades could not believe in what he was seeing. Mountains were literally spitting fire on his army! Magic, which he thought was impossible, was now showing to him, that his army is not as invincible as he thought before, as in just seconds, he lost several thousand soldiers, both dead and wounded.

"My Lord!"one of general's helpers exclaimed."What is happening?"

"I…I don't…know…"general said, looking at the slaughter.

Back with Kingdoms of West, soldiers were as terrified by the firepower of the Resistance, as rain of fire simply decimated the first wave of BEO's soldiers. Many of them started to wonder, what would happen, if they were on the other side, not here, under the Resistance's protection. They gulped.

"Such a power…"Casir said.

"Artillery can often change the course of battle."Ester explained."You just need to use it well."

"Yeah, I can see that."Arlan said.

"So this is how you fight?"Imri asked.

"Mostly."Ester replied."But there are other ways.

"Ways like…?"Arlan asked.

In response, Ester activated her hand terminal.

"Vultures, you can start the fun."she said.

Not long after, squadron of Cyclones with bombs attached to their wings, followed by Chakdrik X-55 fighter-bombers, flew over their heads and towards the enemy army. They passed over the destroyed first wave and dropped the bombs on their targets, making enormous fireballs bloom between enemy ranks. X-55s additionally fired their laser machine guns, burning through the unprotected bodies of simple peasant infantry, but armored soldiers had no luck whatsoever.

"Air support is also essential for winning the war."Ester said."It's always good to have someone up there, watching over you, while you take care of enemies on the ground."

"I can see that."High King stated."What do we do now?"

"Vixen Battalion, you're up."Ester said to the terminal.

In response, tanks and armored cars, which until now stood between soldiers, awaiting their time to shine, turned on their engines and slowly started moving forward, with soldiers around stepping aside, allowing them to easily make it's way out of the ranks of Kingdoms of West's army. Soon, around fifty M5Rs, Leopard 5s and Challenger 6s, accompanied by MRAP Cheetahs and Fennek Mk. 6s. Now, as they were in open field, they slowly started accelerating, until they were speeding at full speed towards the enemy formations.

Artillery and machine guns stopped firing, as now, they could easily hit allied vehicles. Seeing the approaching wall of steel, BEO's soldiers quickly set up a shield wall, with spears between the shields. They waited for the beasts to get closer, so they could kill them.

But before this happened, tanks and cars opened fire, with again hundreds of bullets and several tank shells slamming into the shield wall breaking it with ease, again sending enemy troops into disarray. To make their lives as bad as possible, tanks and vehicles additionally drove into the enemy army, driving over unlucky soldiers, squishing them under the wheels or caterpillars, constantly firing at them, sending more and more enemies flying.

Additionally, artillery and machine guns resumed firing, moving their fire more to the back of enemy army, decimating formations in the back. Second wave of fighters and fighter-bombers flew over their heads, dropping their bombs.

In one moment, horses of BEO's cavalry decided, that even for them, it was enough. Although being trained for situations where there is a loud sound, which could make them run away, even for them, hundreds of explosions was just too much. Horses stood on two legs, throwing down their riders and turning around, running away from the battle. This sudden turn of events made more enemy soldiers die, as horses started running over their own troops.

Xoniades' horse also tried to run, but general slapped it in the face several times and animal stopped panicking, not to enrage it's rider even more. General was already enraged enough, as he watched his army get decimated by fire and steel beasts. This isn't how he imagined his first victory over Kingdoms of West. It had to be glorious campaign, bringing glory to him and his family. But instead, he got slaughter.

Back with Kingdoms of West, Ester turned to Casir.

"Your Highness, it's time for you."she said.

"Of course."High King replied.

He took his sword and pointed it at the sky, while his horse stood on two legs.

"MEN!"Casir exclaimed at the top of his lungs."CHARGE!"

Soldiers gave a bloodthirsty battle cry and without being told twice, started charging at the thinned and dazed enemy army. BEO's soldiers, which noticed charging enemies had no time to react, as human wave simply absorbed them. Cavalry simply driven over them like over dead cat. All of this accompanied by constant cannonade from artillery, machine guns, tank guns and fighter engines.

Xoniades finally had enough. He looked around at his men. They all had fear in their eyes, don't knowing what to do. He pointed towards enemy.

"CHARGE!"he ordered.

Soldiers around the general cheered and quickly followed their leader. They could easily run through the open field, as once compact mass of BEO's army ceased to exist, battered and thinned out by the enemy fire, opening large parts of land, which was now littered with BEO soldiers' bodies. Some where torn apart into pieces, while others had burns covering majority of their bodies.

Xoniades shook his head and focused on enemy army slaughtering anyone in their path. Around him, tanks and cars were still driving between his troops, but he didn't care. If he could simply get to the High King and kill that son of a bitch…Maybe then, they could have a chance. Maybe then…

His thinking was stopped by an artillery shell, which landed right next to him, throwing him and his horse like a bag of potatoes, while his soldiers were mowed down by a series from machine guns mounted on top of MRAPs.

After few seconds, general regained his senses, but could hear only ringing on his ears. He touched them and noticed, that they are sticky. He looked at his hand and noticed, that it was covered by blood. He never knew, that human can bleed from ears.

But this was not important now. For Xoniades, the important thing was the incoming enemy army. He reached his back and grabbed his double-handed sword, standing with it, waiting for them to come and get him.

His eyes were filled with indescribable anger, as the men around him died. He tightened the grip on his word's grip. However, he was not allowed to use it, as series from machine gun simply mowed the general down, making his head explode, throwing his lifeless body on the ground. And with that, general Xoniades of BEO's army died, not as a hero, not in a glorious battle, but mowed down by a machine gun.

At the Kingdoms of West side, Resistance soldiers were among the Western soldiers, running with them and firing at any enemy trying to charge back at the incoming wave of men with blood lust in their eyes. This was enough even for BEO's troops, as not only the fire magic was falling on them from the mountains, not only steels beasts were crushing and destroying them. Now, the fire magic came from the incoming army of Westerners. Many soldiers quickly dropped their shields and started running.

As this was happening, Ester moved alongside other Resistance soldiers, as they opened fire at BEO's soldiers, which still had some steam in them. But this steam quickly left them through new holes in their bodies, made by bullets. After some minutes, she stated, that it was time.
"Jackie, Lena, Ana, Emiko."she turned to the members of the squadron next to her. Fatima stayed in the camp, preparing the medical equipment for the ones wounded in battle."Cover me, I need to make a call."

"On it!"the four replied.

Ester quickly activated her terminal and said:

"This is major Barkhorn to Star Dust. You are free to go."

At the same time…

Planet's orbit, RNS Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lieutenant Budi stood in front of his soldiers. Exactly one hundred well trained, well equipped and confident operatives of Drop Corps. Some of them were Budi's old friends from the time, when he served in African Union military. Others were from Europe, Americas or Asia. But it was with them, that lieutenant fought alongside in numerous battles, scoring numerous victories. That's why he trusted them with his full heart.

"This is major Barkhorn to Star Dust. You are free to go."a voice said in their communicators.

This was their sign. All of them looked at each other and quickly checked their equipment. Everything was ready. They made their way towards the drop pods, each able to fit three soldiers inside, plus equipment like mortars or other similar things. They quickly got inside and waited for few seconds, as controllers checked if everything was green. When they made sure, they simply pressed the button and swarm of drop pods shot out of the ship's underside, followed by several fighters and bombers.

Many of Drop Corps soldiers said, that falling in the drop pod was the worst part of the job. Who could blame them? Pods had no defenses and were easy prey for enemy craft or anti-air weaponry. Not to mention, that pods also had flows and who knew, if thrusters meant to slow them down while approaching the ground would malfunction, making the pod crash into the ground, changing it's passengers into pancakes?

But it was not the time to think about that. Now, it was time for the Drop Corps to finally show their claws.

11:06

Akropolis

Akropolis, being the capital of Blessed Empire of Orisia, surely deserved the title of 'Sadera of Orisia', although many would like it to be reverse, with Sadera calling itself 'Akropolis of Falmart'. But history showed otherwise and citizens had to simply swallow their pride.

Speaking of citizens, city's population was over 800,000, making it one of the biggest cities in the world. This is where emperors lived, died and were burred. Imperial Palace overlooked the city from the hill, shining in the light with it's white, marbled columns and roof. On the second, lower hill, people could see the Temple of Akra, goddess of war, tactics, wisdom and arts, after which the city was named. With this goddess as the city's patroness and it's high walls, many thought it to be impregnable.

At least, until today.

Explosions in the sky signalized, that this day would not be simple. It was only a matter of time, when first drop pod flew from the sky, crashing in the city's street, scaring the people around it. The hatches opened, allowing soldiers inside to exit. They quickly noticed surprised soldiers, guarding the street, and fired at them. Their bodies fell on the ground.

Meanwhile, other drop pods started falling from the sky in various parts of the city. Fighters and bombers, which came with them, started circling over the city, dropping payloads on military installations and important infrastructure.

A port on a river flowing through the city, now changed into navy base for BEO's fleet, was not saved from the wrath of the Resistance troops. Two bombers flew over the port, dropping their cluster bombs, which upon opening, released hundreds of submunitions, which razed the warehouses with the ground, while second sound of clusters made a work of the enemy fleet. Wooden vessels could not even think of surviving the air raid, as soon, the river was filled with wooden parts and bodies.

City's garrison, which for the time being was stationed in their barracks, finally got to work and all soldiers quickly made their way to the armory, where they started dressing their armor and took their weapons. Sudden attack on the city was something they did not expect and were caught off guard. Because, who would attack the city? Surely not Easterners. They were occupied on Eastern side of Krest Mountains, where Emperor Antid III was now fighting them. Many questions circles through their minds.

As the sound of moved armor and weapons stopped, something came to the garrison's ears. More precisely, some whistling sound, which they never heard before. And it was last thing they heard, as mortar shell slammed into the armory, erasing the building.

Resistance soldiers already reached the barracks, setting mortars beyond the barrack's walls and started shelling them, while infantry blasted the gate open with an explosive and entered the base, firing their weapons at wooden and rocky structures, destroying them and killing everyone inside.

Greonias Lenis, a young soldier of BEO's army and member of city's garrison, quickly ducked down, as one of these large, metal birds flew over his guard tower, making him feel the heat it left behind. Soldier stood up and looked at the enormous smoke piles all over the capital, not believing in what was going on. He quickly dived down into the tower and grabbed a piece of paper and wrote simple message on it:

Akropolis attacked. Help needed.

Next, he rolled the piece of paper and rolled it. He opened the cage, which held the imperial messenger eagle and took the bird. Next, he tied up the message to the bird's leg and quickly made his way to the tower's roof, from which he had to let the eagle go.

"Go, find and inform the emperor!"Greonias said.

He let the bird go and saw it fly towards the Krest Mountains. BEO used the eagles, instead of carrier pigeons, mainly because they were faster, stronger, more intelligent and didn't had to worry for being eaten by bigger predator. If everything will go smoothly, the eagle would reach the emperor in no time.

But Greonias would not see it, as one of Resistance Cyclones suddenly turned to wads the tower occupied by the young soldier. One unguided bomb was enough to change the tower into pile of rubble, burring the soldier underneath.

White Pass

To say that emperor Antid was furious, would be understatement. If he could, he would simply grab Casir, twist his neck and throw for the crows to eat. From his vantage point on a small hill, he could see nothing more, than his great army being destroyed with some strong fire magic. Where and when did Easterners managed to learn such powerful magic? Also, where the hell was Xoniades? He needed to consult something with him.

"My lord!"one of soldiers said, approaching the emperor.

"What is it, soldier?"Antid asked.

"Our troops are panicking. Many of them already ran away."soldier said."My lord…maybe we should withdraw?"

Emperor stood silent for a minute, with sounds of the battle filling the air. Finally, he slammed his fist into soldier's face, sending him flying backwards. Soldier shook himself out of shock and looked at Antid.

"You traitor…All of them are traitors!"Antid exclaimed."Every soldier that ran away is a traitor! I will personally hunt them all down!"

"My lord…"soldier tried to speak, but emperor's furious eyes stopped him.

"Take him away!"Antid ordered.

Two of his personal guard grabbed the soldier and led him away. Emperor turned top the rest.

"Mount up. We're going to battle."Antid ordered.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!"Imperial Guard responded.

The two quickly went to their horses, with emperor also jumping on his. They waited for two remaining guards to come back, explained what needed to be explained and soon, all five were riding down the hill, towards their army.

Seeing, that emperor himself is joining the battle, BEO's soldiers suddenly got a boost to morale and now, both motivated and enraged, started charging back at the Kingdoms of West troops. Artillery and machine guns again came to life, cutting down the charging enemies, while fighters and bombers dropped bombs on them. But this did not stop them from continuing their charge.

Ester and others continued to fire at the approaching enemies, but now, with their newly found steam, they were not looking at how many died or how many will. They just rushed forward like a simple, brainless mass. When she mowed down one, five took it's place.

"I think they became desperate!"Jackie shouted through the sounds of battle.

"You don't say?"Lena replied.

"I just hope the mission in Akropolis is going well!"Ana said.

"Me too!"Emiko added.

Right then, Jackie noticed a man on a horse, dressed in deep blue armor, leading the charging troops. She quickly took an aim and soon, the man fell off his horse, with his head split open by a bullet. Next, she returned to shooting simple soldiers, which did not wanted to back off from the fight.

As this was happening, Arlan was simply slashing enemy soldiers left, right and center. His sword was making circles around him, hitting any soldier, which tried to endanger the exiled prince. Soon, he was being surrounded by a number of bodies forming a circle around him.

Prince looked around and saw High King Casir fighting several meters away from him, with the same result. He did not allow anyone and anything to land a hit on him, cutting down enemy after enemy. Arlan still could not believe this, but they were actually winning the battle, while having almost none losses.

Suddenly, something told Arlan to quickly jump away. Exiled prince quickly moved away from his place and he was right, as second later, a horse carrying one of Imperial Guard rode through that place. If he was a bit slower, he would be trampled by it.

Imperial Guard turned his horse and prepared for another run. Arlan tightened the grip on his sword and accepted the challenge. Horseman started charging at him again. Exiled prince just waited for him to come closer. He decided to make a drastic move towards the man's horse, something he did not like himself.

As the horseman was approaching him, Arlan quickly moved aside and swung his sword, hitting the horse in the knees and cutting through them. Unable to stand, animal simply fell on the ground, throwing it's rider off of it's back. Imperial Guard quickly shook himself from the shock and then noticed, that he lost his helmet after falling off the horse. But this did not matter now. He had to kill that bastard, which did this.

Guard grabbed his sword and quickly charged at Arlan. Exiled prince prepared for fight and parried the first strike made by the Guard. The man tried to the cut from the left, but Arlan blocked that too. Prince kicked the man in his chest, making him fly backwards for few centimeters. Next, Arlan came to attack, trying to swing form the up, but was blocked, then he changed to the left, with the same result. But when he swung from the right, Guard had not enough time to block and sword connected with armor, but made no damage to the man.

Right then, Arlan felt the man's leg hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards for few meters. He fell on the ground and saw the man approaching him, with his sword firmly held in both hands and preparing to swing.

But then, Arlan saw a Resistance dropship flying overhead. From that dropship, something fell off and started falling towards the man. Before Guard could swing his giant sword, different blade pierced through his neck, killing him in an instant. Someone moved the blade, cutting the head off and the body fell forward, revealing the person responsible for that.

"Missed me?"Harlen asked, like if he just did nothing strange.

"Harlen! Good that you came to the party!"Arlan exclaimed.

"Always."Harlen said, giving his hand to the exiled prince.

Arlan grabbed it and Harlen helped him to stand up.

"How did you do with Nordians?"Arlan asked.

"Good. We don't have to worry about them at all."Harlen replied and grabbed his sword more firmly."Now…Shall we?"

"Yes."

With these words, the two jumped back into the battle.

Dropships and Marines which just arrived to the battle quickly joined the fray. Missiles and chainguns came to life, as new wave of fire started falling on the BEO's army, tearing everything into little pieces.

Back with emperor Antid, he continued to ride his horse through the battle, trying to cut down as many enemies as he could. However, it was not easy, as he found himself in a literal maze. Instead of simply charging at the enemy, he had to evade Resistance tanks and cars, which still were wreaking havoc among his army. And seeing what these things could do, emperor did not want to find himself under them. There was also the case of these flying beasts, which also could spit fire and dropped something, what exploded.

But the good thing was, that his army regained the fighting spirit. They started pushing the enemy and actually started scoring some hits on them, killing several Easterners in the process. They still had numerical advantage. They still could win. They still could come up on top.

But it was not given to him.

"All units, this is Unmaker."a new voice said in Ester's radio."If there is any ally withing the blast range, clear out immediately!"

"Understood, Unmaker!"Ester said and activated open channel."All units, incoming bombardment! Clear out immediately!"

As per her request, all Resistance tanks and cars quickly turned around and started escaping the enemy ranks. Kingdoms of West troops again stepped aside, allowing the vehicles to drive between them. It was also sign for them, that Resistance was going to do something, so they followed the vehicles, disengaging from the fight.

Seeing this, BEO's soldiers thought, that they managed to scare the enemy, which was now simply fleeing before they power. However, this way of thinking was quickly shattered, when a giant shape of B-44 Phantom atmospheric bomber appeared over the Pass, opening it's bombs bay. Not long after, bombs started falling out of the machine, straight on the BEO's army formations in the very front. Bodies were being thrown into all directions, while others were being consumed by the fire of the explosions. Few seconds later, last bombs hit the ground, leaving nothing more, than smoking ground, where thousands of imperial soldiers stood just minutes earlier.

For remaining BEO's soldiers, this was the last straw they needed. Without even thinking, they threw down their weapons, turned around and started running away as fast as they could. They didn't even bother to check, if emperor was alright. For now, they valued their own lives even more that the emperor's. Resistance artillery additionally fired several shots into them, so they wouldn't change their minds.

Entire battle lasted for little over an hour.

"Are they withdrawing?"Ester asked in her radio.

There was a drone flying over the battlefield, monitoring the entire situation.

"Indeed, major."a voice of drone operator replied."But it's more like they're running in panic. You simply traumatized them."

"Okay, thanks."White Squadron leader said and ended the call."

High King Casir, Arlan, Harlen and Imri, which now joined them, looked at her.
"And?"Arlan asked.

"Prepare some drinks."Ester said, putting her riffle on her arm."There is a victory that needs the celebration."

"So we won?"Imri asked.
"Yes."

High King Casir then turned to his armies. He lifted his sword high.

"Victory!"he exclaimed.

"VICTORY!"thousands of throats exclaimed in unison.

All Kingdoms of West soldiers started cheering from joy, joined by Resistance soldiers. When this was over, they all turned around and started making their way back to the camp. One thing was certain. This night is gonna be a one to remember.

October 10

16:32

Kingdoms of West camp

The rest of previous day and the next day was full of work for both Resistance and Kingdoms of West, as now, they had to quickly count all the casualties in the battle. This task was not easy, considering, that many bodies were simply torn apart by the explosions. However, the estimates were pretty surprising for both sides. According to coroners, as well as several hundred prisoners taken by Resistance and KOW, BEO lost from 190,000 to 210,000 soldiers, majority of it's army. Meanwhile, losses on the defending side were just roughly over 600 wounded, mainly from the arrow strike at the beginning of the battle. It turned out, that Resistance help managed to save all of KOW soldiers from death.

Dead body of emperor Antid III was found among the dead of BEO. He was simply torn apart, as only his upper body was found, while nobody was able to find the lower part. The main help in finding the emperor, was a messenger eagle, which sat on the dead leader. Eagle was told to find the emperor, so he did his mission, albeit too late to give the message.

On 11:57 previous day, soldiers of Drop Corp managed to break the defense of Imperial Palace in Akropolis, officially capturing the city. Flag of United Nations was now hanging from the top of the building. When this happened, soldiers were quickly resupplied with ammo and were given support in for of several walkers, so they could easier defend the captured metropolis. This came in handy, when forces loyal to the throne tried to take the city back, to no vein.

As this was happening, a convoy of Resistance tanks, APCs, IFVs, cars and trucks moved out from the White Pass, with sole goal of reinforcing Akropolis with even heavier equipment and help of Army soldiers. The convoy of strange vehicles suddenly moving through BEO's countryside was not unnoticed by the locals, which immediately reported that to local rulers, which tried to do something about it, only to have their soldiers killed by the advancing convoy. Although that, Resistance forces moved at fast pace. Because Akropolis was around six hundred kilometers away from the White Pass, Resistance armored vanguard found itself under the city's walls after roughly eight hours.

Prince Alexios, now openly working with Resistance and KOW, was quite literally brought to the city on tank. He triumphantly stood on top of M5R turret, waving to the people in the city, while driving towards the Imperial Palace. After reaching the building, he declared, that tyrannical rule of Antid III were over and now, newly proclaimed emperor Alexios II was going to change the ways Blessed Empire of Orisia followed.

However, although that, many nobles did not support Alexios' rule and openly rebelled against the throne, wanting to take the throne for themselves. Fighting started around morning of October 10, when forces of baron Terlikes attacked baron Kariodis. Expecting this outcome, Resistance soldiers quickly reinforced nobles, which pledged their allegiance to the new emperor and quickly started supporting their efforts in stopping the rebellious nobles. Meanwhile, to the South, several kingdoms previously conquered by BEO declared their independence.

For now, the stabilization mission was going without any problems.

Ester, Arlan, Casir, Harlen, Imri and several other kings were again gathered in the Hight King's tent. All of them looked at the map of BEO's current state, with several provinces marked in different colors, representing the rebellious nobles, blue color representing territory under Alexios' direct control and newly independent kingdoms in the South,

"How long do you think will it take?"High King Casir asked, referring to the rebellion of nobles.

"Stabilization operations are going good. Alexios' forces are closely working with ours, while the fact that these nobles, instead of allying with each other, fight themselves, makes the whole task easier."Ester replied.

Everyone nodded.

"Imri, how are the wounded?"Arlan asked his friend.

"All of them are recovering well."Imri replied."Thanks to Resistance's help, they should be good within one, two days."

"Good. They all deserve to come back to their homes now."Casir said, with other kings agreeing.

"Of course."Ester said.

"Once again, I thank you for the help."High King said."If not you, we would probably be dead by now and had BEO's army rampaging across the land."

"Once again, no problem."White Squadron leader replied with a smile.

"Now, you can go. We better prepare to go home."High King said.

Everyone agreed and quickly started walking out of the camp. As Ester, Arlan, Harlen and Imri exited, they looked around at the soldiers, which just day before fought for everything that was dear to them.

"So…"Ester started, turning to the three."With all this mess here solved out, what are you gonna do now?"

Arlan, Harlen and Imri looked at each other.

"I think, that we should return to what we were doing before."exiled prince said."We still need to gain a lot of support, if we want to take Soutland back from Zander."

Ester nodded.

"I should expect that."she said."This is why I wanted to give you something."

Right then, Jackie came up to her. In her hands, she held three hand terminals. Ester took them and handed them to the three.

"Wait…You really want to give us those?"Harlen asked.

"Why?"Imri added.

"As a friendly gesture."Ester explained."Whenever you need help or just want to talk, you can call us. Our contacts are already in there. You still remember what I told you about hand terminals?"

"I do."Arlan said."I'll try to explain this to them."

"Good."

The three took their hand terminals and put them on their forearms.

"So, I hope we see each other once again."Ester said.
"Same. Thanks."Arlan said.

With these words, the three walked away. Ester turned to the rest of her group, which joined her.
"What do we do now, Ester?"Fatima asked.

"Simple."Ester said."I was informed, that Dora and others are done on their side and already returned to Fort Terhis. Admiral Chesterfield will now send someone else to contact the other countries and try to gain alliances with them."
"Sounds good to me."Lena said.

"Let's go back then."Anastasia said.

With these words, the group made their way to their fighters. Soon, they were on their way back to Terhis.

XXX

And there it is. The end of Orisian Arc. I really had so much fun writing this chapter and I hope you had fun reading it. But we're not done with discovering the other continents. As you might remember, there is also second group, commanded by Dora. So, next time, we are starting the Gernea Arc.

See you then!