Hi everyone! Here is the side story chapter. If anyone wants to know the reason of these side stories, is to explore and fresh out more about these reference characters I introduced through the story. Though many of them are references to anime, manga, tv series or videogames, and shares almost the same personality, they are still considered their own characters.
So, without any delay, here is the Side Story!
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Side Story: Mission in the Middle East
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In Area 18, formerly Middle Eastern Federation, and specifically in Saudi Arabia, there was a small skirmish between the Arabians and the Britannians. Since the failed invasion of the MSF, it reignited a sense of hope amongst the Middle Eastern population, but the Arabians were the only ones to openly oppose them.
So they requested MSF help. Sadly, they didn't have much to pay for a long term contract, but it was enough to give a chance and inspiration for the people.
The ones that Miller decided to send was Gregory, Eliza and their respective soldiers. It presented them one advantage; the place where the rebels are going to attack it's located close to the coast of Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea. So Gregory and Eliza would have ship supports.
Gregory was currently inside his chamber, sitting on a chair while cleaning his sword and preparing his equipment.
"Hi" Gregory turned around to see that it was Eliza, standing in front of the door.
"Hi, Eliza. What can I do for you?" Greeted Gregory with a smile.
"It's ok, I just wanted to come here and check how you are "Said Eliza as she walked in.
" Im fine. Preparing my sword and my equipments." Said Gregory as Eliza leaned and saw his equipments. She saw a handgun, 5 handgun magazines, a small metallic golden shield and his sword. His sword was a typical sword that medieval knights would use: a straight, double-edged weapon with a single-handed cruciform hilt and a blade length of about 70 to 80 centimeters, the blade was surprisingly black colored and thanks to the light of the room, it allowed to shine the reflection of the light.
"This isn't coated?" Asked in surprise Eliza.
"Hehe, nope. This sword is my heirloom. It belonged to my family a long time ago, during the medieval times. Forged by using the remains of an alloy, which turns out to be from a meteorite. "
"Wow, that is actually amazing" Said Eliza with an amazed tone. Gregory then slowly frowned as he stared at his sword.
"What is it, Gregory?" Asked Eliza as she slowly put her left hand on his right shoulder.
Gregory lightly sighed as he continued to stare at his sword.
"Im alright, it's just that….This sword is all that's left of my family" Said Gregory with a sad tone. Eliza then had a sad face.
"May I ask, what happened?" Gregory slightly nodded as he told her about his family.
"I was from a very wealthy noble family. It was the Charlestone family. We used to live in the capital of Pendragon. My parents were college professors, my father taught math and physics and my mothera astronomy. As I grew up, they wanted me to become a college professor, just like them" Gregory chuckled at that part.
"Can you believe that? Me as a college professor" Eliza laughed softly at that.
"My parents knew of their ancestry. My family has the reputation of having the best knights during those times. But it turns out that grandfather, from my father, didn't want to be part of the military. So he decided to change his profession as a scholar. And so, my grandfather passed down his career to my father. But, I didn't want to be like my parents. I always dreamed of becoming a knight, thus I rediscovered the hereditary of my family. They weren't pleased for it, but they accepted my decision and helped me enroll the Britannian military. I aimed to become a Knight of Round." Said Gregory with nostalgia, then he changed his tone with a sad one.
"But once I got my status of knight, I found out how evil and corrupted Britannia was. They were rotten to the core, every single one of them. They bully and mistreat anyone who is not Britannian, worse is when they allow torture. It was sickening. I tried to report all these activities to my superiors, but all they did was to brush it off and gave me a threatening warning, they would expel me from the military and murder my loved ones. I reluctantly complied. When one day, I saw a soldier hitting a woman, I couldn't stand it, so I went to defend her. I beat the soldier in a fight. I did what it was right… and I paid the price"
Eliza eyes widened at that implication.
"You don't mean…!" Gregory nodded.
"I decided to quit the Britannian military. I went home. But once I reached my home. I saw the gates destroyed, my house with bloodstains, and all the servants killed. I ran straight to my house, hoping that my parents were alive. But I found them...dead. With bullet wounds on their bodies. I cried for them and for my incompetence. I knew perfectly who were the responsible and yet, I couldn't do anything. I took every necessary belonging from my home, including my family's sword, left the state and changed my family name to Charles. Through years, I formed my own mercenary company and became what I am today" Concluded Gregory.
Eliza felt sympathetic after hearing his story.
"I'm sorry for what happened to your family" Said Eliza with a sad tone.
"It's alright" Gregory reassured her.
Eliza then looked down for a second.
"You know, your story reminds me of myself" Said Eliza. Gregory raised an eyebrow.
"How?"
Eliza sighed as she remembered her past.
"When I was 6 years old, I used to live in a village, somewhere from Europia. My village was close to the coast, and there was a naval European base. I always found interesting the ships and seas, so I would occasionally go and check those ships in the base. That is until one day, when Britannia launched an attack on the base and…. My village was caught on the crossfire." Eliza closed her eyes. Gregory felt bad for what happened to her, but he listened.
"Missile bombs fell from the sky and decimated my village. My family and friends were gone. I spent weeks in the wilderness, taking care of myself. Until I met a man, who was a Scadinavian general. He asked why I was alone; I told him that I didn't have anywhere else to go because of a Britannian attack. He was a good man. He helped me and allowed me to enroll to the EU naval academy. I climbed through ranks until I was able to graduate as a naval officer and commanded my own small fleet" Eliza finished that last part with a small smile. Then her frown came back.
"I was proud. But that is until I realized how every mission I took, it felt like a suicide mission. I made my own investigation and realized that the politicians were more interested in making money than fighting a war with Britannia. My mentor, the commander who helped me when I was alone, tried to stop me from quitting the military. It didn't end well as we left in bad terms. As I was leaving, all my crews waited for me, saying that their best chance of survival is to be with me." Eliza smiled lightly remembering that time."They became my new family"
Gregory smiled as he put a hand on her shoulder "Your determination is admirable"
Gregory sighed again and said "I guess we are not so different after all" in which Eliza closed her eyes and nodded softly.
"Attention, we have reached our destination. All personal, prepare to onboard" Spoke the voice of the pilot.
"It's time" Said Eliza as she got up.
"Yeah" Gregory stood up and equipped himself.
The two walked out of the room to the deck.
…
Hours later after reaching their destination
…
Once the ships arrived to the coasts, Gregory, Eliza and their soldiers marched to the rendevouz point. They marched to the North-West side of Saudi Arabia, to the Tabuk Region. During the marching, they came across a valley, or an oasis, where there are like a small army of armed Arabians. The group of mercenaries walked to the camp. The Arabians noticed them as they stared at the arrivals. The group stopped in front of them, as a brown skinned man wearing a brown rob approached them.
"Hello there! You must be Militaire Sans Frontieres, right?" Asked the man.
"Yes, sir. We have come to fulfill the contract." Spoke Gregory.
"Oh good, good! My name is Muhammed Abdul, but you can call me Avdol" Greeted Avdol as he extended his hand.
"Nice meeting you, Avdol" Gregory said as he shook his hand. Then, Avdol turned around and motioned him and the rest to follow him to the tent.
…
1 hour later
…
During their time in the tent, Avdol explained them the situation. The Arabian rebel group wants to assault an old Arabian fortress now controlled by Britannia. The fortress is called Al-Ukhaydir, also known as Haydar or Aqabat. It was a small fortress, but since the conquering of Britannia, it went under huge restructuration, as such, the fortress became larger and bigger than before. The fortress was built several miles away to the east from their current location. The rebel wants to assault that fortress for 2 purposes: the first one is that the fortress has weapons and resources that are enough to equip all the rebels, and the second is that if they manage to take over the fortress, the moral will definitely increase and many will join the fight.
Avdol also gave them the position of every guard and soldier posted in that fortress.
"So, they have artilleries behind the front of the main machine guns" Noted Gregory as he rubbed his chin.
"Yes, the fortress is rectangular and the main fire powers, which are the artilleries you mentioned, are on these towers" Avdol pointed out where the towers were on the map, North, South, East and West side of the fortress.
"There are like over 150 Britannian soldiers stationed in that fortress. They don't have luckily tanks, but they have armored vehicles, aircrafts and Knightmares." Then Avdol sweat a little on his forehead.
"That is not just the biggest issue. The real problem is the man who leads them. His name is unknown but most people know him as Durge. He is a giant man who wears a grey combat armor with the insignia of Britannia on his armors shoulder pad and a grey helmet with a demonic aspect. Many soldiers fell in combat when fighting against him" Explained Avdol in fear.
Gregory, Eliza and their soldiers were surprised at how fearful was Avdol when talking about this man.
"Do not worry, Avdol" Spoke Gregory with an assuring tone.
"We are soldiers of Militaire Sans Frontieres, the toughest nation in the world. We fought and survived the invasion perpetrated by Britannia. You can count on us in our job."
Avdol sighed softly and said "I hope you are right"
After that, everyone went to rest before the assault of the fortress.
…
1 hour before the attack, dawn.
…
The Forgotten Knight soldiers and The Viking of The North soldiers were inside the tents, preparing their equipments and resting, while others walked through the camp. Eliza took a stroll through the camp as she watched the people.
She saw men and women, dressed in a guerilla style, no doubt that they are the rebels of this group. But there is something that surprised her. Not only had she seen rebels, but civilians, mostly elders and children.
She saw the children playing around.
…
Start the ost "Waterside" from Blue Dragon
…
"We are ready Hashim!" Shouted with joy one of the kids. The kid known as Hashim threw a small dish at them, while the rest tried to catch it.
"I got I got I got!" One of the kids tried to catch it, but it flew past him. Then suddenly, one of the kids jumped high and caught it.
"Wow! That was a nice jump, Basit!" complimented the kid who tried to catch the dish.
"Thank you, Basil!"
The elders watched with happiness as they watched their grandchildren playing around, even though they are unaware of the conflict with the Britannians.
Eliza smiled as she felt comfortable watching these children playing. It reminded her the time when she was a little girl who just enjoyed playing around and not caring about anything else.
"Enjoying the view?" Spoke the voice of Gregory from behind.
"Yeah" Replied Eliza. Gregory watched the children and the elders as he felt a sense of tranquility.
Gregory and Eliza watched with a smile at the children playing around the camp.
"You know, Eliza" Started Gregory.
"Hm?" Eliza turned her head to Gregory.
"This mission doesn't seem so bad" Gregory stated as he looked at the children.
Eliza closed her eyes while smiling and nodded. "Yeah, just watching these children, it brings me a sense of peace; it reminds me that even though the real world is a cruel and unforgiving place, there is innocence. A trait that, though sometimes naïve, is something that has long been buried by war, and we should do what we can to preserve it."
Gregory felt amazed at her words.
"Wise words, Eliza"
Eliza giggled softly "Thank you, Gregory"
Gregory looked at the sky, to see that it's almost night time.
"It's time, Eliza" Spoke Gregory softly. The two turned around and walked to Avdol's tent.
…
End of OST
…
…
Meanwhile, at the fortress Al-Ukhaydir
…
Inside a chamber, sat a giant man wearing a grey almost medieval like armor on a chair, with his demonic helmet with 2 horns. The room was almost dark, with the only source of light coming from a candle on a table next to him. This man is the one known as Durge.
His background story is a mystery. Supposedly, he was a Britannian soldier, who reached the rank of Knight. He was a good man, who would protect his nation and show mercy to his enemies. But after some kind of incident, he turned into someone ruthless, cold and calculating. It also turned him into a silent person; all he does are grunts or roars. Hence why he decided to transform his armor into a demonic like looking armor.
One of the aspects about him is that he is actually a bounty hunter. He took over the Al-Ukhaydir fortress due to a bounty, requested by one of the Britannian nobles. As for token, the Britannian noble gave him a small battalion of soldiers, who serves as his personal guards, known as The Howling Demons.
Normally he would have left after doing his job, but he decided to stay. He found some benefits inside this fortress as he found out that beneath it, lies diamonds and crystals, and also the fact that the Britannians requested him to stay for a while, in case that some kind of insurgent emerges. So it would be killing two birds with a stone.
"My lord" Spoke a young man from his battalion. Durge merely turned around as a way to say that he is listening.
"We have some news. The Arabian rebels are ready to assault the fortress" Informed the young man. Durge nodded.
"And they are not alone. They brought some help. They are a group of soldiers wearing knight like armor and viking like outfit."
Durge only replied with a stare, but the young man wasn't feeling nervous. So instead he continued.
"There are two individuals amongst them that are distinguishable. A man with blonde hair with a golden colored armor and a red haired woman with silver armor with Viking aspects. They are most likely the leaders of this group"
"And that is not all. Though they all wear different outfit, on their clothes shoulder, they all have the insignia of Militaire Sans Frontieres"
This caught the attention of Durge. He heard of them for quite some time since their debut. And after hearing the failed invasion of Britannia against their main base, he was eager to challenge them in a fight.
Durge stood up and walked past the young man as he left the room while the young man followed him.
…
Night time, outside of the fortress, miles away
…
…
Starts the ost "A Lamenting Bell Toll" from Blue Dragon
…
On the terrains, the forces of the Arabian Rebels: composed of only 50 guerrilla soldiers , 20 Bamides Knightmares 20 Glasgows and 15 armored vehicles, and the forces of MSF: 50 soldiers, 40 Gloucesters and 10 battleships( located in the coasts), stayed in position.
From where they stood, they could see the Al-Ukhaydir fortress entering into high alert.
"Damn it, it seems that they knew we were coming." Cursed Avdol as he saw through his binoculars Britannian soldiers exiting the barracks and preparing the outposts.
"Don't panic, we stick to the plan" Said Gregory as he motioned him to go back with the group.
The two walked to the rest of the assault group.
"Alright, we do as we planned. Eliza, you and your soldiers will infiltrate the fortress by using this secret channel that will lead you underneath the fortress. Once you have entered, you must destroy the artilleries located on each tower." Explained Gregory. It would have been easier to just infiltrate the base and simply attack them from where they don't expect, but the base was on alert mode, which would make things more difficult and their own soldiers are not as skilled as Big Boss to do that kind of infiltration.
"Understood"
"The battleships are away from the coast where we arrived, so it will take some time to arrive to provide us support."
The rest nodded.
"The rest of us will attack the base and we will be the distraction" Said Gregory.
"But Sir Gregory, what about the infamous knight Durge?" Asked one of the rebels. Gregory face hardened as he said.
"I'll deal with him"
…
End of OST
…
10 minutes later, Al-Ukhaydir entered on high alert as Britannian soldiers went to the armory and prepared their weapons. The pilots were all ready to enter the Knightmares, the engineers prepared the artilleries and machine guns, and lastly, Durge and his battalion were ready to attack.
*Boom!*
Suddenly, the outposts near the fortress exploded, attracting all the Britannians attention.
Far away, from the west side, they saw 20 Bamides, 15 Gloucesters, 20 Glasgows and 15 armored vehicles approaching.
…
Start the ost "The Land Shark is Coming!" from Blue Dragon
…
"Fire!" Commanded Avdol from inside his Bamides.
The Bamides fired their cannons at the fortress. There wasn't much damage since the fortress was reinforced to withstand cannons.
"We are under attack! Deploy our forces!" Shouted a commander.
40 Sutherlands, 30 armored vehicles, and 20 Gloucesters were sent to attack the rebels.
The artilleries prepared their cannon and fired at the rebels.
"Incoming!" Warned one of the pilots inside the Barmides with Avdol.
"Activate the shields!" Commanded Avdol.
Soon the whole group was covered by a giant bubble that repelled the projectiles.
"It worked!"Said the pilot.
"Yes, but only for a few seconds and we only have 5 stocks left to use." Explained Avdol.
The Bamides fired again their cannons at the incoming enemies, 10 Sutherlands were destroyed but the 30 Sutherlands and 20 Gloucesters reached them and proceeded to attack. The Sutherlands engaged with the 20 Glasgows, while also fighting with some of the Rebel foot soldiers.
The 20 Gloucesters started to attack 15 Gloucesters of the Forgotten Knights.
"Now is the time! Split the group!" Shouted Avdol.
The 20 Bamides split into 4 groups, each having 5 Bamides. These groups were divided to attack the other parts of the fortress. Only one of them stayed behind and it was Avdol's group, as they are going to provide support.
The artilleries prepared their cannons again and aimed at the divided groups.
*BAM!*
The projectiles flew at the groups. Luckily the shields were activated again, protecting them. The Bamides stopped and started to attack the fortress.
The armored vehicles drove to the fortress. The primary objective was to transport the soldiers as close as possible to the fortress.
The armored vehicles quickly stopped as they reached the point, allowing the rebels and The Forgotten Knights to exit. They quickly took cover behind giant rocks and debris.
The Forgotten Knights fired with their assault rifles at the Britannian soldiers.
The Rebels used RPG's against the Britannian soldiers and the machine guns.
The armored vehicles started to fire their own machine guns and drove around to make the enemy hard to hit them.
*BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!*
The rebels and Britannians started to exchange bullets.
"I hope Eliza and the rest manage to get rid of those artilleries" Muttered Avdol as he saw through the screen the battle.
…
End of OST
…
While this was happening, Eliza and her soldiers passed through the secret passage. Once they reached their destination, they encountered with a dead end, but this was part of the design of the passage in order to fool anyone who came to this place. Right on the ceiling, on the left side, there is something that looks like a slab and there were ladders leading to that slab.
Eliza climbed the ladders and pushed the slab, which it slowly opened. She peeked through it and saw that they were in some kind of store. She pushed the slab and entered the room. Once her soldiers entered the room, she leaned against the door and peaked. She didn't see anyone, so she motioned her soldiers to move forward carefully. They split to destroy the artilleries.
Meanwhile, inside the main room, 3 Britannian generals, along with some guards, watched through the map the situation of the battle. Durge was also present as he watched the generals.
"Those Knightmares are destroying our forward position! The rebels are breaking through!" Said in disbelief the general #1.
Suddenly the room shook almost like an earthquake. The generals and the guards looked around in fear.
"Look! The Sutherlands and Gloucesters we sent to attack have been destroyed!" Said in shock the general #2 as he looked at the map.
"Oh no! It's just as we thought, with the help of Militaire Sans Frontieres, they are much stronger!" Shouted fearfully the general #3
"What are we going?! What are we going to do?!" Said hopelessly the general #1. Then he turned his head to Durge as his face turned to anger.
"I don't know why the hell you are doing here if all you are going to do is stand aro….!" The general said with anger, but he was interrupted when Durge grabbed by his throat with his right hand and slowly choked him.
The generals and guards backed away in fear.
"I mean….Whenever you are ready!" Said the general while being choked.
Durge looked with malice as he dropped the general and walked out the room.
Durge reached to the hangar with his battalion ready, all of them inside their black colored Gloucesters. Durge entered his Knightmare, a dark Gloucester but with 2 horns on its head and a little bit bigger.
Once Durge activated his Knightmare, he made his Knightmares right arm to rise as if saying "Move on!"
With that motion, Durge and his battalion, composed of 30 Gloucesters, exited the hangar and went straight to the battlefield.
Eliza and some of her soldiers managed to see them exit the hangar. Eliza and the rest decided to hurry, knowing that what they saw must be the elite.
…
Outside of the fortress
…
Durge and his battalion exited through the main gate and saw the enemies. They went to the foot soldiers and armored vehicles. 3 black Gloucesters went to 2 armored vehicles. The vehicles noticed them and decided to fire at them, but unfortunatel, it had little effect. The Gloucesters prepared their lances and dashed straight to the armored vehicles. The armored vehicles tried to drive away, but they didn't as they were stabbed and then exploded.
The Forgotten Knight soldiers noticed these Gloucesters, so they attempted to take them down. But it proved to be hard as they quickly dodged their bullets and missiles. The Gloucesters dashed between them, injuring some of Forgotten Knights.
The rebels tried to use their RPG against them, but it proved useless as they simply dodged. This time some of the rebels weren't lucky as they were killed by bullets and slashes.
The one of the groups of Bamides were firing at the fortress, but they were interrupted when the black Gloucesters arrived. 2 of the Gloucesters slashed the sides of 2 Bamides and caused it to explode, while the other 2 Bamides, the black Gloucesters took out detonators and tossed them on the Bamides.
*BOOOM!*
"Commander Avdol! Our Knightmares are being destroyed!" Shouted the pilot as the screen showed Durge and his battalion destroying them.
"God, they are here!" Said in shock Avdol. Then he pressed in one of his controls and contacted Gregory.
"Sir Gregory! I have urgent news! Durge has appeared!"
"He showed up now, huh? Tell them to hold up! Im on my way!" Spoke Gregory.
Back with them , the Forgotten Knight Gloucesters and the Glasglows managed to finish off the enemy Knightmares and went to assist the foot soldiers. The 5 Forgotten Knight Gloucesters engaged with 5 black Gloucesters. It proved to be kinda difficult to defeat since these pilots are well trained.
The Glasgolws didn't stand a chance. 4 Glasgows tried to attack them while firing their guns, but the Gloucesters simply shrugged off the bullets and went to stab them with their spears. The remaining Glasgolws decided to withdraw as they know that they couldn't take them down.
…
Star the ost "Obi Wan Kenobi vs Durge" from Star Wars Clone Wars. (Use the video clip of the fight since it's well balanced the ost)
…
Suddenly…
*BOOOM!*
3 black Gloucesters were destroyed as they were impaled by lances.
Durge noticed from a distance that some of his battalions Gloucesters were destroyed by green colored Gloucesters, led by a golden colored Gloucester.
And right at that moment…
*BOOOM!*
Durge turned his head to the towers, to see that all the artilleries were blown.
All he could do was growl angrily and direct it to the group of green Gloucesters, especially at the golden one, whom he assumed it must be the leader.
"RAAAAAGGGHHH!" Growled Durge, indicating his battalion to regroup.
Durge charged with his Howling Demons behind, with their lances ready.
The Forgotten Knights and Gregory readied their lances and charged forward.
The two opposing force then clashed!
*BOOM!*
The Gloucesters charged at each other, making few of them explode. Gregory was able to impale a Howling demon Knightmare and then tossed it away to continue fighting the others.
It was an even fight as the battle experience of the Forgotten Knights and The Howling Demons were the same.
Durge impaled one of the Forgotten Knight Gloucester and then looked at Gregory's Knightmare as an explosion occurred behind Durge.
Gregory noticed Durge, so the two charged at each other, jousting style. The Durge's lance stabbed the legs of Gregory's Knightmare, thus incapacitating it and making his cockpit to eject, but Gregory managed to stab the core of his Knightmare, causing it to explode.
Gregory got out of the cockpit and saw the flames of Durge's Knightmare. But to his surprise and shock, Durge emerged from the flames, unharmed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Said Gregory in surprise.
Durge walked out from the flames as he saw Gregory charge at him with his sword out.
Durge drew out 2 combat knifes from his belt and prepared himself.
Gregory's sword and Durge's knife clashed. Durge moved one of his knifes to stab him, but Gregory quickly moved his sword to block it, only for Durge to use the other knife to slash him, causing Gregory to parry it again. Durge delivered 3 slashes at Gregory; he managed to parry the knife attacks, he slashed horizontally his sword with great strength, causing the knives to fly away. This granted Gregory an opportunity to deliver a final blow, so he impaled Durge on the stomach.
The fight would have ended there, if it wasn't the fact that Durge still stood there like nothing happened.
Durge slowly grunted, but then it turned into demonic laughter.
"Huuuh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Gregory stared in horror, not believing that this blow didn't kill him.
"What the hell? How is he still alive?!" Thought Gregory.
Then, Durge started to punch him with his metallic gauntlets. He delivered several consecutive punches, until he delivered a strong one, which caused Gregory to fall on the ground and a bit away from Durge.
Durge retrieved the sword still inside his stomach and tossed it. He lifted his right gauntlet and pointed at Gregory….To fire bullets!
Gregory eyes widened in shock as he quickly got up and quickly drew out his shield. It protected him until Durge emptied his bullets from the gauntlet. But then Durge used his left gauntlet, which popped out a small flamethrower!
Gregory quickly ran with his shield on hand and ran behind a giant rock. He looked at his shield, which was halfway melted. He drew out one of his handguns and then ran straight to where his sword lie, which was on the right side of Durge.
Durge continued using his flamethrower as he saw Gregory come out from the rock, but stopped as the flamethrower was almost used up. This allowed Gregory to aim at his flamethrower and fired it.
*BAM!*
The bullet hit the flamethrower, destroying it.
Gregory kept firing, but the Durge's armor was too strong.
Durge grabbed another weapon on his belt. It was a meteor hammer!
"Damn it! How many weapons does this guy have?!" Said Gregory incredulously.
Gregory managed to get his sword and right in that moment, he dodged the ball as he quickly cut the chains with his sword.
Durge quickly drew out his two handguns and aimed at him, only to be cut down by Gregory's sword. Durge grunted in annoyance as he tossed away the guns and decided to use his gauntlets to fight him.
Gregory slashed horizontally at him, but the gauntlets managed to block his attack. Gregory continued to press down the attacks as he continually slashed at Durge, only for Durge to block and parry every attack. Stress started to generate on Gregory as he still slashed. At a crucial moment, his sword managed to parry away Durge's gauntlet and delivered again a final blow but on his heart.
"GUUUH!" Durge grunted in pain.
…
End of the OST
…
Durge finally fell on the ground as his body couldn't take it anymore after the fight.
Gregory breathed out in exhaustion. This was the hardest fight he had ever had. He couldn't believe that such man existed. Normally a soldier would have fallen after the first blow, but this man kept going like nothing happened.
That is when he noticed his sword. His eyes widened in shock when he saw that instead of red blood…..It was black.
Gregory stared at the body of Durge.
"What the hell are you?" Said Gregory.
Durge didn't say anything and didn't show any sign of life.
Gregory started to walk away. Then he saw that from far away, there was another Britannian battalion.
"Damn it" Cursed Gregory as he started to go to the fortress.
…
Meanwhile in the fortress
…
"Durge is dead!"
"I cant believe!"
"We are done!"
The generals panicked when they found out that Durge, the strongest man in the fortress, was killed in battle.
Suddenly, the door of the room exploded. In the smokes, Eliza and her soldiers fired their weapons and incapacitated the guards.
"Surrender now!" Shouted Eliza as she drew out her weapon and pointed at them.
The generals and the guards rose their hands in surrender.
Then, her communicator started to beep.
"What is it?" Asked Eliza.
"Eliza, this is Avdol. I have bad news, we have spotted 2 Britannian armies from the east and north side of the fortress!" Informed Avdol.
"Damn" Cursed Eliza. "Is everyone inside the fortress?"
"Yes, the remaining Bamides, Knightmares and troops are all gathered inside, myself included"
"Alright, where is Gregory?"
"Last we saw him, he was fighting against Durge. After that, we received no words from him"
Eliza felt worried at that.
"What should we do now?" Asked Avdol.
"Have all the Bamides stationed at strategic points of the fortress, and have all the troops redy to defend this fortress!" Commanded Eliza.
*Beep! Beep!*
Eliza changed the channel of her communicator.
"My lady, all battleships are on their position and ready for support!"
Eliza sighed in relief since this was a perfect moment for support.
"Good. On my mark, fire at these coordinates" Instructed Eliza as she sent them the coordinates.
One of her soldiers arrived and spoke to her.
"My lady, Sir Gregory has arrived!"
"Where?!" Asked Eliza.
"He is at the entrance, with some injuries"
Eliza then went to the door and left after telling her soldiers to guard the generals and guards.
Eliza reached the entrance to see Gregory almost in a bad shape. She saw some cut injuries, physical injuries and minor burn.
"Gregory!" Called Eliza as she quickly put his hand on her shoulder.
"Finally made it in time" Said Gregory.
"Save your breath. You must rest." Recommended Eliza.
"I can't…another army"
"We know. We will take care of it. You on the other hand, must recover your strength."Said sternly Eliza.
"Hehe, alright ma´am" Right then, paramedics arrived and carried him away.
"Avdol! How long until the army from the north side arrive?!" Spoke Eliza through her communicator.
"In 4 minutes!"
"Good. All battleships, aimed at the coordinates on my mark!"
"Yes ma´am!"
Eliza went to the tower and saw the army from the north side. There were Knightmares, tanks and aircrafts.
She waited for 4 seconds and then…
"NOW!"
Miles away, the battleships fired their projectiles. Many of them hitting their targets.
*BOOOM!*
Eliza saw that more than half of that army was destroyed, but the rest were able to survive.
"Fire at the rest!" Commanded Eliza as the Bamides and Knightmares fired at them.
Eliza quickly went to the west side to see the other army.
"Alright, on my mark!"
"Wait my lady!" Called one of her soldiers. "Look over there!"
Eliza used her binoculars and what she saw left her speechless.
She saw people wearing white cloaks exiting the vehicles, knightmares and aircrafts. After they exited, the mentioned vehicles exploded. She also saw Black Knightmares with "purple shoulder pads" and there was a Knightmare that looks like a Guren, but its grey colored.
Eliza saw how these people completely destroyed this army.
"Wow, they just finished our job" Commented one of her soldiers.
"Chief, you can cancel that attack. We won't need it" Called Eliza.
…
Moments later
…
All the Forgotten Knights and Vikings of the North regrouped at the courtyard of the fortress with the rebels.
Gregory and Eliza stood in front of Avdol as he started to thank them.
"Thank you so much for helping us. This will surely kick start a new rebellion in the Middle East." Thanked Avdol.
"You are very welcome" Said Eliza. Avdol then motioned 3 soldiers to come here with medium sized chests on their hands.
The Forgotten Knights and Vikings of the North stared with curiosity, until they awed at what they saw.
They saw crystals and diamonds of many colors inside.
"These are what lied underneath the fortress. The secret treasure of Al-Ukhaydir" Said Avdol.
"Wait, how come we didn't see any of these?" Asked one of Eliza's soldiers since they were underneath the passage the lead to the fortress.
"Hehehe, we know these lands like palm of our hands" Chuckled Avdol.
"Thank you very much, Avdol" Thanked Gregory as Avdol nodded.
"What about our unexpected guest?" Asked Avdol.
"We will speak with them" Said Gregory as he and the rest exited to greet them.
There stood a man wearing a white cloth with red outlines, he had a hood on his head, so he couldn't see his face, he could see some equipments which only consisted of knives and he wore brown boots.
And right next to him stood a blonde boy with white shoulder pads, a dark blue vest with a white shirt, black pants and brown boots.
"I appreciate your assistance, sirs" Thanked Gregory.
"It's fine, we wanted to help" Said the man with an Italian accent.
"May I ask, why you decided to help us? It's not very common for someone to help another these days"
"We did it because, we know that you belong to Militaire Sans Frontieres" Gregory and Eliza raised an eyebrow.
"Let me introduce myself… My name is Cornelio Auditore da Firenze. And I represent the Roman League of Assassins."
This surprised them. It turned out that they were another mercenary faction.
"Wait a second, are you telling me that you want to join us?" Asked Eliza.
Cornelio smiled as he said "Of course, madonna"
"Well, this is a surprise. Unfortunately, it's not up to us to decide if you can join the nation" Said Gregory.
"I understand"
"That can be arranged, with your entire group" Said Eliza.
"My group? Oh no, madonna, there is a misunderstanding. There are two groups actually" Cornelio moved aside for the boy next to him.
"We came across with this boy when we were on our way" Explained Cornelio.
"Im sensing a Déjà vu here" Commented Gregory.
The boy had an emotionless face initially, and then he spoke…
"I'm…. Orpheus"Oz" Zevon, and I represent the organization Peace Mark"
End of Side Story
Here is it!
As you may know, many characters are references: Avdol was unintentionally named after Avdol from Stardust Crusaders, because why not? I love Jojo. Durge and the whole fight scene is homage to Star Wars Clone Wars (2003). Cornelio and the Roman League of Assasins are basically Ezio and the Assasins from Assasins Creed. And this is the first time I introduced a character from a Code Geass spin off which is Orpheus Zevon from Code Geass Oz the Reflection.