Tristain Academy of Magic, 0800 hours
Julius finished tuning the guitar that he would use for his act. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves as he glanced around at the area where the familiars and their masters were gathered. Among those present were Kirche with her fire salamander, Flame; Malicorne with his owl, Cubasil; Montmorency with her frog, Robin; and Tabitha with her rhythm dragon, Sylphid. Unsurprisingly, Guiche was not present, as he was still recovering from his duel four days ago.
His battalion busied themselves with finding good vantage points from which they could watch the exhibition and keep an eye for any potential threats to everyone present. The Hussars had started up their tanks in order to be able to respond immediately to any threat that could arise. Little did everyone know that that threat would originate from within the academy's teaching staff.
After an hour, the exhibition finally began, with the first few acts being somewhat unimpressive until Kirche's familiar got the crowd cheering for its fire-breathing. The cheers got even louder as Tabitha and Sylphid put on an air show for the audience.
Finally, it was time for Julius to perform his act. He and Louise walked onstage, with the guitar in his hand and his rifle slung across his back. As he scanned the crowd, Louise introduced Julius to the crowd.
"Maj. Julius Sickles, of 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment," she proudly announced. The crowd fell silent as Louise exited the stage. As soon as she was out of sight, Julius spoke up.
"This is a song from my world. It's about a war to retake our far-flung territory that was invaded, where its people are predominantly from the same nation as us. It tells of the sacrifice that our ancestors made. The song is called "Back in Control," from a group of musicians called Sabaton."
As he started to play, his mind shifted to his father, who took part in the Battle of Mount Tumbledown as a Guardsman of the Scots Guards in the Falklands War.
"Sent to the islands to secure what is ours.
"Marching ashore in the cover of night.
Hide until dawn and attack in the twilight.
Shake them awake with the thunder of guns."
The nobles watched on, fascinated by the story that the song conveyed. Some of the Lancastrians who were near the stage fought back tears, as they had relatives who died in the campaign to retake the Falklands.
"Orders from the iron maiden: get the islands back.
"Failure will not be accepted, call for artillery strike, launch attack."
Lionel looked on, nearly overcome with sadness. His uncle was among the dead as his ship, HMS Coventry, had been sunk by an Exocet anti-ship missile fired from an Argentine strike aircraft.
"We are back in control, force them to surrender.
Take what is ours, restore law and order.
Back in control, push them further out to sea.
Falklands in our hands, back under British reign."
Some of the nobles glanced at Michael, who leaned against the courtyard's wall, a somber expression on his face. His father, a commando from the 29th Commando Regiment, was among the wounded at the Battle of Goose Green.
The crowd was stunned as Julius continued his performance, the lyrics of the song resonating within their minds. They could not imagine fighting a type of war that was way more advanced and efficient than Halkeginia has witnessed so far. Ships so large that they could fit a hundred dragons in them, flying contraptions capable of reaching unimaginable speeds, and messages that could be sent and received instantly without the need for a runner. It was too much for them to take in.
As Julius finished his performance, the crowd erupted in cheers. Henrietta's shocked expression was all it took to name him as the winner of the exhibition, much to the delight of an ecstatic Louise.
Suddenly, the ground shook underneath them, and as soon as Julius jumped off the stage, his comms lit up.
"What the fuck is that thing?!"
"All units take that thing down!"
"Contact! Contact!"
"Broadsword Actual to Broadsword 1-1, keep that thing's focus on us! Broadswords 2-1 and 3-1, flank that bastard! Go! Go! Go!"
"Light up that son of a bitch now! Now!"
The major regrouped with the others, who quickly briefed him on the situation. Small arms fire erupted throughout the academy as everyone fled the scene.
Right in front of them was a stone golem, sixty-five feet in height, with the wall in front of it in ruins. A hooded figure jumped from the damaged section of the wall and onto the golem's shoulder, clutching a large box in her hands.
Kirche and Tabitha immediately jumped into action, with the former working with her salamander to burn the golem down, and the latter launching an air assault onboard her dragon.
Julius saw Louise standing in a state of shock. He ran to her and shook her out of her stupor.
"Louise! Get out of here now!" the major shouted as his entire battalion lit up the golem with everything they had.
"But sir Julius – " the mage started to protest.
"Let us handle this one! Get out of here right the fuck now!" Julius barked.
Reluctantly, Louise obeyed the major's order as she linked up with the other nobles at the other side of the academy. The nobles watched as the Lancastrians continued to engage the golem, which was now retreating from the academy. A Challenger II narrowly managed to avoid getting crushed by the golem, and as soon as it was far enough at a safe distance, the Hussars fired a salvo of HESH rounds, instantly taking down the golem. By some miracle, the hooded figure riding it managed to survive, although heavily injured.
Two platoons from Arnhem Company rushed to the hooded figure's location, with some of the nobles following close behind. Upon catching up to the platoons on site, they froze in shock as they saw who the hooded figure was.
It was none other than the academy's secretary, Longueville.
"Ms. Longueville?! Ms. Longuville and Fouquet are one and the same?!" a noble gasped at the revelation.
"How did we not see this coming?" another noble questioned.
A medic checked Longueville's body for a pulse, and upon finding a weak one, he signaled the other soldiers to help him move her back into the academy, where they could give her first aid. The platoons also retrieved the box in her possession and presented it to Julius, who took a look inside.
This time, it was the Lancastrians who were in for a surprise.
"Can someone please tell me how exactly an M72 managed to end up in this world?" he wondered aloud.
Colbert and Osmond approached Julius, who was holding the M72 light antitank weapon in his hands. "Sir Julius, thank goodness that you managed to recover the Staff of Destruction," Colbert thanked the major.
Julius blinked in confusion. "Professor Colbert, Headmaster Osmond, you seem to be mistaken about this. You see, this is a weapon called the M72 light antitank weapon. It is a weapon that can destroy enemy vehicles in our world. How did this end up here?"
Osmond stared into the distance. "It happened thirty years ago during a battle with a dragon. It seemed just like yesterday, believe it or not. He saved me from the dragon with the very weapon in your hands right now, and I could only assume that he was a soldier, since he was dressed similarly to you and your men."
The headmaster paused, lowering his head and closing his eyes. "He was heavily injured from battle upon my assessment of him, so I brought him back to the academy. Day and night, I kept him alive for as long as possible. However…" he trailed off.
Julius glanced down at the M72 in his hands. "He paid the ultimate sacrifice," he whispered.
"Unfortunately, yes. I never managed to find out who that man was, where his origins were. He had two of those staves with him, and I placed the staff he used to save me, the one in your hands, alongside his body as we buried him. The second staff was given to the royal palace for safekeeping."
"I can't believe that this is the story behind the staff of destruction," Colbert murmured.
"Would it be possible for us to get the staff from the palace, since it came from our world?" Julius inquired.
Osmond hummed in thought. "I'll have to talk to Her Highness about this and see what she has to say. But I think there's a fair chance that the staff would be given to you," he stated.
The major sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir Osmond."
The headmaster cleared his throat, changing the subject. "Ms. Vallière, Ms. Zerbst, and Ms. d'Orleans, for your efforts in capturing Fouquet, you will be the guests of honor for the academy's banquet in two days. I'm sure that Her Highness will also reward you handsomely for your efforts."
Louise looked on in confusion. "But what about sir Julius and his men? They were the ones who took down Fouquet's golem with ease," she protested.
Osmond sighed in resignation. "I regret to say that sir Julius and his men are not nobles, so I'm afraid that they won't be rewarded for their efforts."
"That won't be necessary, sir Osmond," Julius said, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to the headmaster. "We have more than enough battle honors."
Osmond took the paper and was immediately surprised at the number of honors that the major's regiment had:
Mons
Marne 1914, 18
Aisne 1914, 18
Messines 1914, 17, 18
Ypres 1914, 15, 17, 18
Neuve Chapelle
Loos
Somme 1916, 18
Arras 1917, 18
Scarpe 1917, 18
Cambrai 1917, 18
Lys
Hindenburg Line
Vittorio Veneto
Macedonia
Sari Bair
Gallipoli
Megiddo
Kut al Amara
Baghdad
Kilimanjaro
Dunkirk
Normandy
Falaise
Arnhem
Lower Maas
Ourthe
Reichswald
Habbaniya
Tobruk
Madagascar
Gueriat el Atach Ridge
Sicily
Anzio
Monte Cassino II
Malta
Singapore Island
Chindits 1943
North Arakan
Chindits 1944
Imphal
Kohima
Nyaungu Bridgehead
Burma
"By Brimir," Osmond gasped, suddenly feeling insignificant. "To think that your unit had participated in all of these battles, this is simply unbelievable."
"I was a soldier once. I have fought in at least ten battles. But more than a dozen?" Colbert added.
Julius smirked as he keyed his comms. "Gentlemen, what do you say that we add Tristain to our list of battle honors?"
"Difficulties be damned!"his battalion roared their motto enthusiastically.