September 9th, Unified Year 1925, over the Inner Sea

The mood in the transport plane could only be described as jubilant, This would be the 8th Fallschirmjäger Division's first combat jump. They weren't green by any measure, many of the men that formed the division were veterans of the Rhine or had their first taste of battle during Operation Revolving Door.

Only a handful were recent additions to their unit, due the negligible losses occurred during the envelopment of the Republican Army. Other than those rare few, almost everyone in the division knew what they were jumping into.

Thanks to a multitude of factors, they were forced to fight not as proud paratroopers who jumped feet first into the jaws of death... But as common infantry in the trenches waging a bloody defensive.

Finally, the tables had turned, and it was their turn to go on the offensive.

The Island of Korsika, was the last region of Metropolitan Francois that had yet to fall to the Imperial Army.

After their sneaky retreat to their colonies, the Republic began hastily fortifying the Island into what could be called an impressive fortress. But, not impenetrable.

If they could pry the island away from the Republic, it would become a stepping stone to Malgeria and the rest of their colonies on the Southern Continent.

Karl's eyes scanned around the transport. From young recruits just out of basic, to the most grizzled of Veterans were excited for this operation. Laughing and yelling at each other over the roar of the engines.

He glanced towards the cockpit and saw his sergeant, this man who had a face like the back of a truck wore a smile that would've suited a giddy school girl getting a new dress.

He couldn't blame anyone, they were making history. This would be the largest airborne operation in history, an entire division being parachuted into enemy territory!

Not only that, but their attack was getting supported by the elite 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion. The island may have been a fortress, but between them and the mages, the island's defences wouldn't stand a chance.

He gave a chuckle as he regarded the man to his side, his friend Hans just sat there with his eyes closed, snoring. He wondered how anyone could sleep through all this racket.

he gave his friend a violent shake. "Hans, wake up. It's almost time!" he yelled, his voice full of energy.

Han's eyes jolted open as he sprung up muttering something in surprise, before shaking his head. "Damn it Karl, I was having a nice dream... I was back home!" His friend responded in a disheartened tone and gave a sombre chuckle.

Karl just smirked as he lay back on the bench, it was honestly impressive someone could get their forty winks through all of this.

But then again, Hans was a veteran of the Rhine. He probably experienced days upon days of endless shelling, the drone of the engine was probably a sweet melody to his ears at this point.

Unlike his comrade, Karl hadn't experienced as much Trench warfare, only getting called up to the front two weeks before Operation Revolving Door.

But he still had combat experience, and he knew how nasty life in the trenches could get, unlike some other poor kids around him.

This was their first time going into combat and their first combat jump at the same time.

Hans just sat up and sighed, with a massive frown plastered across his face. "Karl, how long until we jump!" he shouted as he scanned the surrounding men, annoyed he was back in reality.

Karl glanced down at his watch. "About five minutes!" They were reaching a crescendo, and it was intoxicating.

A young lieutenant next to the sergeant stood up, clearing his throat. "Men, today we make history!" his voice boomed, everyone on the plan snapping to attention. "Today, we take part in the largest airborne operation ever conceived!" Even at the back of the plan, Karl could hear him, he had a set of lungs on him.

Behind the lieutenant, he could see the narrow beams of searchlights along with tracers and the black smoke of flak filling the sky.

Looks like the first wave was crashing against the defences of this rock. Poor bastards, most of them probably wouldn't make it. Few in the first few waves did.

Like Karl, the lieutenant quickly took notice gave a hawkish grin. "Looks like the Republic has finally noticed us, We're jumping in four minutes! For the Kaiser and for the Empire!" He screamed, the soldiers on the plane couldn't help but let out a roaring cheer.

The ugly sergeant just stood up and raised his meaty arm. "All right ladies, check your gear and prepare to jump!" He screamed, that giddy smile never leaving his face.

Karl quickly got up and began checking the parachute of his friend. He knew he didn't have to look over much, it was Hans. The man was obsessed with making sure his gear was in tip top shape, he didn't want an accident to take him.

But still he couldn't let that old bastard fall to his death. They'd been through too much, plus he owed him for saving his life twice on the Rhine.

He quickly checked over the parachute, no holes, all the rigging looked good. He gave a chuckle as he saw it, a small wooden toy clipped to the side of this old Veteran's webbing.

He quickly unclipped it and slapped Hans on the back of the head. "Hans, what is this?" he asked with a grin, shaking the toy around.

Hans just gave a quick glance back, regarding his friend for a second and rolled his eyes. "That's for my daughter, thought I'd get her something nice!" he answered nonchalantly.

Karl quickly clipped the toy back onto the man's rigging, not wishing to incur the wrath of this Veteran, by stealing a toy for his beloved daughter.

The plane jolted as the plane entered the field of flak, the surrounding explosions rocked the plane violently. "Anyway, you're good to go!" There was a bit of turbulence before, but this was way too much. He quickly looked around, everyone else was having a hard time trying to keep upright.

He snapped his head to the side as an explosion rang out, another nearby transport burst into flames. He watched in horror as several flaming bodies came tumbling out of it. His smile dropped, as his mouth went dry.

The kid next to him was white in the face, utterly frozen by terror. Shit, that'd be the first time he'd probably ever seen anyone die. Karl slapped the kid on the back. "Hey kid, no fear!" He screamed at the kid.

The kid who looked like he was in his late teens turned to face him, still white in the face. "O-oh, y-yeah right!" He responded, as sweat poured down his face.

He gulped as he turned away as his heart jack hammered, that was a direct hit from a Republic 75mm. He jumped as the man behind him slapped the back of his helmet. "You're good to go!" He screamed, he gave him an appreciative nod.

Karl couldn't wait until he got out of this deathtrap, he could see the tracers zip past and the deadly clouds of flak outside, it was hell out there.

The one question that was on his mind was… where the hell are the mages? Wasn't the 203rd supposed to be supporting them in this operation?

As he looked out the window, he could see small figures dancing about below him. He had a feeling they weren't Imperial mages, they just mulled about. Those bastards were waiting for them to float down to get some easy kills!

"Go, go, go!" Screamed the sergeant as the line shuffled forward with haste, his fellow brothers in arms began throwing themselves out of the plane.

He could hear the dings as shrapnel bounced off the transport's hull, it was only a matter of time before those guns got a lucky hit. God, he wished this line would go faster...

When he got to the front of the line, there was hesitation as he jumped feet first straight into hell. he quickly pulled the ripcord and was jerked back as his parachute opened, this was probably the closest a human could get to hell on earth.

Karl could say for a fact, this was much worse than being in a trench or even going over the top. Damn it, at least then you could shoot at the enemy!

But, here?

Here he was just slowly floating down to the ground, unarmed. A mage could easily pop up and just shoot him dead, get perforated by shrapnel or just shot dead as he came to land.

He could see the fires, where the air force had bombed. But the question on his mind was, where the hell were the mages. They were supposed to be supporting them in this operation, damn it this was turning into a slaughter.

He snapped his head up as a loud boom rang out. "What the literal fuck?" he exclaimed as he saw something scream above him, looked like metal tubes with rockets on the back of them?

He gawked as they impacted around the island, they exploded in a massive fireball. What the hell were those!?

Then his heart leapt as he heard it above him, the sound of gunfire, he watched as what looked like around a battalion worth of mage's dived like birds of prey into the fray.

Oh thank god, the 203rd had arrived!

Karl watched in awe as they passed him, these men and women were the elite, the best of the best. They fired off their formulas as they swooped in, he could see their predatory grins.

These people were war junkies, no doubt about it.

His eyes widened as he saw her, little girl in combat gear with a smug smile. He'd heard stories of the Devil of the Rhine, that she was a doll made for war.

He always thought it was just a tall tale cooked up by a bunch of bored veterans...

But seeing this kid, in all that gear with such a mad smile on her face? He had no doubts, she was as dangerous as they said she was.

He gave a sigh as he stared down, he couldn't get distracted. Shit, the wind had already changed direction. This had thrown him off course, ah damn it!

He watched in horror as he started to drift towards a battery of AA guns, he quickly tried to regain control as he yanked his control lines. He thanked god as he began drifting away from the guns.

He watched as the mages below, they were zipping about, engaged in a game of life and death.

Explosive and optical formulas lit up the sky. Ah shit, his adjustments sent him straight into this mess!

As he slowly glided into the utter mess that was an aerial mage battle, he gave a prayer to god to protect him.

The mages of both sides zipped passed him, firing at each other in desperation as the Republic's AA-guns fell silent, the crews unwilling to hit their own mages.

He watched as several of the mags engaged in close quarters combat, magical blades and fists flying.

He could cheer, the Republican mages seemed to buckle under the pressure put on by the 203rd. A company of mages detached and began engaging the Anti-air cannons, their crews began to abandon their batteries and ran for their lives.

Before he could fully appreciate their handiwork, he glanced down to figure out where he would land. Ah crap, he was heading straight towards a forest! He didn't have enough time to adjust his course.

He braced himself, this would be a rough landing. "Oh, fuck!" He screamed as he slammed into the canopy of trees.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my story in what I'm calling my "Tales from the front" series! I've always been itching to write a more action oriented story and here it is! If you came here for an update for Trust problems, I'm still ironing out some details with CrystalMoonlight! Hoping to get that sorted soon.

Anyway, I'll be adding to Tales from the front in between Trust Problems. The series won't follow Karl, but more of a collection of stories of both sides of the World War happening in the Youjo Senki universe.