[Location Classified], Altitude 6,000 feet, [Date Classified], 0210 AT
After many years of training and operations, the cargo area of a C-160 Transall always becomes a second bedroom for the operators of the Treizième.
Soul had a small ritual before any jump. First, he always stretches his arms and legs and do some warmup exercises for his wrists and his neck. After, he personally checks his own equipment even if it had already been verified several times before. Lastly, he recapitulate the mission briefing in his head.
This is Operation Lynx. The main objective is to secure a safe area close to the Imperial Capital that can be used as an operating base and command center for all future operations in the city, then to link up with the Rose Order at the Jade Palace.
After many aerial reconnaissance missions conducted by the two Rafales, intelligence had found out a rather large, isolated facility ten kilometers away from the Palace. It is situated inside a large forest with no population center in the direct vicinity, making it a perfect location. According to the Knights at Alnus, the location of this facility does not correspond with any know Imperial Army camp, and it is suspected that this group of buildings belongs to bandits or smugglers. The facility consists of a house-looking building and a large warehouse, surrounded by basic wooden walls, with a courtyard big enough to make helicopters land, making it an ideal place that has to be secured for the Task Force.
To accomplish this objective, the Fantômes squad will be inserted ten kilometers south using the low altitude jump technique that the Treizième masters. Then, using the night as a cover, they will advance towards the facility and establish a main cache a kilometer away from it as well as several discreet observation posts all around. From this point, the Fantômes will relay themselves on those observations points for several days to confirm that the facility can be seized without risk and gather as much information as they can.
Then it will be the action phase, which is pretty self-explanatory, followed by the arrival of the firsts group of combat engineers who will transform the old buildings in a fully operational base, as well as the arrival of a COS officer that will direct all other operations in the capital.
The ultimate goal of the operators' deployment was to secure a link with the Rose Knights and to provide security for the diplomats in their covert operations. In such light, the equipment provided was a little different than usual. It had to be compact, efficient in close quarters, capable of penetrating steel armors and use a single caliber for the main weapon and the sidearm to simplify logistics. With all those demands, and seeing the COS weapons stock, one solution was possible.
And this is how all the operators ended up with a P90 and a Five-seveN, both guns renowned for their effectiveness and armor piercing capabilities. To that, the few marksmen of the team also had to carry their M417 to use at longer distances.
This diplomat protection mission also meant that they would find themselves in close proximity with Imperial nobility. And because it is always better to know who is who, they all had to learn the names of many important people of the Imperial power.
At the top of the pyramid was, obviously, the Emperor itself, Molt Sol Augustus. As Emperor, he has all the powers on pretty much everything. His age is estimated at almost seventy, but he apparently remains in great shape despite his relatively high age. He enjoys showing his wealth and his status to everyone by spending a lot on his own palace and installations for the local nobility like an arena or large gardens. Caution is advised though, as he is apparently quite smart, as he used some flaws of the succession tree to secure the power.
Then comes his first son, Crown Prince of the Empire, Zorzal El Caesar. According to many Rose Knight descriptions, the best way to describe him would be "a big muscled brat". He spend most of his days doing nothing useful like drinking, partying or hunting with his friends, that are all sons of important families. Despite his status as heir to the throne, he never showed any big interest in politics, and many believes that the one that will gain his trust will truly be leading the Empire. There are also rumors concerning a group of female slaves that he personally owns for purposes that the briefing officer never dared to say despite the obviousness, revealing a little more about the Prince's personality.
There are not many interesting things to say about the second brother, Diabo El Caesar. His situation as the "back-up heir" made him a discreet man, only appearing at parties when protocol strictly demands it. He is so much isolated from the Imperial Family that he directly owns a group of mines in the Dumas Mountains.
Finally, to conclude the trio, comes Pina Co Lada. Despite being a year older than Diabo, she is the last of the siblings on the succession line, not only because she is a woman, but also because she is the daughter of the Emperor and one of her concubine. It is also why she does not have the regular name corresponding to her rank, like "Augustus" or "Caesar", but the one of her mother. According to her, she gain her place as a full member of the family thanks to the love the Emperor had for her mom, and that she is pretty lucky as many other son and daughters of such unions were forgotten through history. She leads the Rose Order of Knights, a unit independent of the Imperial Army consisting of daughters of noble families and old veterans of the Army. They never saw combat on large scale if we do not count Italica, being more of a parade unit that do basic military drills from time to time. The Order is hosted in the Jade Palace, situated at the limit of the city walls. The Knights guarding a small section of the fortifications that includes a gate, it makes it a perfect entry spot for anything we want to bring in the Capital.
After that, they had been introduced to other high rankings officials, or at least their names, that they might encounter during their operations.
Suddenly, Soul felt a hand on his shoulder forcing him out of his daydream. It was the crew member of the Transall assigned to monitoring the jump. With simple hand signs, he asked if everything was ok, and Soul answered in the same way.
« One minute before jump. » launched another voice through his headset.
Then, it was the usual choreography that happens at every single jump. Stand up, attach yourself to the line that runs along the cabin, check the equipment the guy in front of you, tap on it to say it is good, and then wait for the green light.
When the crew member opened the side door of the plane, Soul could not see anything from where he was in the queue.
Then, the small light situated over the door passed from red to a bright green, and the queue of paratroopers started to slowly move forward, step by step.
When it finally was time to jump, Soul only had a split second to realize that, even with night vision googles, he could not see the ground. But there was nothing he could do other than leaning forward into the black emptiness.
During low altitude jumps, there is a small split second when you are truly falling before the parachute opens up. Soul felt his body falling before being jerked up by the many string attached to him by security harnesses.
On his right and on his left, he could see the other parachutes gliding slowly with the wind, and overhead the Transall quickly disappeared into the night, the sound of the engines fading away. He shifted his attention downwards, knowing that the ground was coming and that they were going to land shortly.
In only a seconds, the shadow of the ground appeared and Soul dropped his front bag to reduce his weight on landing. There was still a large rope linking him to his equipment, and when he felt it lose tension, he braced for impact.
Their drop zone was north of the forest in which their objective was located. While he was still in the air, Soul had noticed the large fields full of cereals and other crops inside of which they were going to land. For a split second, he thought about the surprise of the farmer that will find the traces left by the operators in the morning, but this thought faded away when his feet finally touched the ground and he rolled on his side to reduce once more the shock.
Then, it was almost by reflex that he started to fold his parachute, still keeping an eye on his surroundings.
It was a maneuver he had repeated maybe hundreds of times, through training and passed operations, but there always was that small stress of being discovered by enemies so deep behind their lines. It was the thing that always made Soul act fast and precisely, something absolutely needed for any Special Forces.
« Fantôme Actual, landing check. » he suddenly heard through his headset as he was putting on the heavy bag on his back.
« Fantôme Two, check. » said another voice.
Soul pushed one button on his personal radio with one hand, the other grabbing the handle of the black personal defense weapon.
« Fantôme Three, check. »
After that, all the other operators confirmed their status. It was always a nice feeling when nobody get caught in a tree or in a river, especially during a cold night.
« Alright. Condor, this is Fantôme Actual. Team on the ground, I repeat, team on the ground, over. »
There was a second of silence, then a distant growl of the cargo plane passing nearby at a higher altitude.
« This is Condor. Copy that Fantôme Actual. We return to base. Good luck. Out. »
« Alright everyone, regroup on my position. »
Soul started to move towards where the squad leader had landed. The ground he was walking on was soft, dark and without any grass or other plant, and he concluded that it was a field in which grain had just been planted. What it meant was that it was very easy leaving a large trail behind you while walking, so he had to walk slowly in places where footprints couldn't be noticed, while always keeping an eye around to identify his squad mates and any possible threat.
After a few minutes, he finally found Sergei and a part of the squad, already in a circular formation to assure they were clear from danger. One of them flashed his infrared laser in Soul's direction two times, asking for identification. He answered by switching his own laser, mounted inside the front grip of his gun, in the same way. Then, there was another single flash, and Soul knew that he could totally join the group without risking being shot at.
He took his place in the formation, and waited, the gun in his hands, for the rest of the squad to join. It took another few minutes for the squad to be fully together again, some having to walk a longer distance from their landing spots. All the operators were wearing the same equipment: a camouflaged combat uniform, light ballistic protection, a helmet with night vision googles and a big bag containing everything needed for the mission, including the shovels and pickaxes to dig the main hiding cache. In the end, they were all carrying several dozens of kilograms, and they all learned how to cope with it.
« Alright, everybody good ? »
Thumbs ups and head nodding were his answer. He turned around and pointed towards the large forest, visible a few hundred meters away from their position.
« Good. Objective is ten kilometers in the direction of my arm. Move. »
And that is how, completely silently, the large group of shadow disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Fort Alnus, Detention Building, February 2nd 2017, 0750 AT
Saying that Myuute was excited was clear understatement. Two days ago, George came to her cell and he brought with him a really great news. « You're getting out of here in two days. » were his exact words, and she even remembered his intonation. After all, she had passed the last three and a half month in the small detention building of Camp Alnus with the other four prisoner from the battle at Italica.
During the first two months, she had been almost constantly interrogated by men working for the "intelligence" on subjects linked to the bandit activity in the Italica County. Then there was what they called "special examinations" where they asked her to perform basic magic tasks, and always with strange wires stuck on different part of her body. Then, for the last month, nothing really happened. Not a single one of the bandit group she knew about was active, the researchers had all the data they needed and she was starting to get bored. The only thing that she had been doing since was learning, with the other prisoners, the basics of the English language, French proving to be really difficult.
At the earliest hour of the day, she had already packed all the belongings she had been able to keep with her ever since she had been brought here. Obviously, her bow and her arrows were not part of the list, but she could live without those.
And since then, she had been waiting, barely containing her excitement, and also knowing that the other prisoners were feeling the same way. She had been so excited that she couldn't even think of what she was going to do next.
When she finally heard footsteps in the corridor, her heartbeat doubled or tripled. It was it. The moment she had been waiting for so long. One last time, she looked all around the room for something that she could have forgotten. One of the most important thing she had kept with her during this period was not something she already had when arriving here, it was the handkerchief that George had given to her the first time he interrogated her. Ever since, she had kept it with her, like a symbol that said that the men from the other side do not have bad intentions and can be trusted.
The door finally opened, revealing George and one of the guard, holding in his hands the heavy keys of the room.
« Hello, Myuute. Are you ready ? » asked George, his armed crossed and a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
« How can one not be prepared for this kind of event. » she happily replied, quickly standing up and grabbing her small bag.
The guard simply asked her to follow him through the corridors, respecting the rules by the book. But she could not really care less as she started talking with George.
« So, how is that leg going ? » he asked, looking at the visible scars on her leg.
« Pretty good. The last time the doctor came, he said that it was almost completely healed and that I could soon run and jump again. »
« Good. You are going to need it. »
« What do you mean ? »
She tilted her head to show her curiousness, causing George to laugh a little. It was in moments like this that her link to birds really showed.
« Let's just say that a particular someone specifically asked to see you. »
He was throwing another piece of wood in the fire of mystery, and she tried to get more information as they continued down the hallway towards the exit. But in the end, he was the one trained by an intelligence agency and she was only a young adult that served as a bandit. The guard, him, did not bat an eye.
It was only when the two finally passed through the main door of the detention building that she got her answer : a small figure not taller than her, a long dark dress and a long and heavy black halberd.
Myuute immediately knelt down when she recognized the Apostle of Emroy. She knew that she was living in the village downhill, but she never expected her to come here that day.
« Stand up, Myuute. » she said, stretching her arm towards the young Siren.
Myuute obeyed and stood back up. It was only at this moment that she noticed the orange band on the Apostle's right arm. On it, written with large visible lack letters, was the word Gendarmerie. She knew it was French, but she did not understand it.
« Your Holiness, she faltered. It is an honor. »
« I will be direct, Myuute. I need your services. » replied Rory, looking directly into the Siren's eyes.
« My… services ? »
She turned her head towards George that had been watching the scene, silently, the same mall smile at the corner of his lips.
« So this is what you told me back there ? »
He nodded before answering.
« Yup. And to be honest with you, it is because of Miss Mercury that you are out today. We didn't want to just let you and the others go in the wild without a job or something. »
« And what is the task that you need me for, your Holiness ? »
« When you were with the bandits, Rory answered while making a step towards the Siren, what you did was breaking the law. »
She pulled off the black glove covering her right hand and extended it towards Myuute.
« Now, I am asking you to help me do the exact opposite. »
Confusion was still dominating Myuute's mind. Apostles were praised for their godlike abilities in almost all domains, and it was well known that Emroy hated banditry because it ruins the honor of battle. And now, the Apostle of Emroy was asking a former bandit, albeit a forced one, to help her in a task.
« It… It will be with great honor, your Holiness. But I do not understand what do you mean by "the opposite". »
« Well, I might be a demi goddess, but I still have a human body, and I cannot do everything. I am looking for people with certain skills to help the Gendarmes enforce the law in Alnus Village. »
It was at this moment that everything finally made sense in her head, and that she realized that, with her village destroyed and the majority of the people she knew dead, she really had no idea about what she would have done if the Apostle never showed up. So, even if this was not against her will, she could only accept.
She grabbed the Apostle's hand. She knew that humans used this gesture as a symbol of link, of engagement between to people, and that as of now, she had a new leader with orders to follow.
« Good, smiled Rory. Now, I have personal things to do. Meet me this evening at the Gendarmerie in the village. I, or the Capitaine, will give you more details. »
With those words, the Apostle turned around and walked away, putting back her glove on before waving it to say goodbye.
As Myuute started to walk towards the village, chatting even more with George that was indicating the way, a new feeling appeared in her heart.
The feeling of finally having a true purpose.
Rocks, sun and desolation.
Those could be the least appropriate words to describe somewhere to live. But, to quote many wise men throughout history, "life finds a way".
A little bit of fertile soil and a small stream of water were enough to give birth to the Schwartz Woods in between the barren and hostile mountains. It became the home of many animals, seeking shelter from the powerful rays of the sun, creating a balance between the plants and the animals living inside and outside the forest.
At the top of this pyramid were sitting the Dark Elves. Darker skin and clearer hair, the distinctive characteristics of this kind of Elves, were the true witnesses of their rash living conditions. Like their more common brethren, they lived in small communities inside forests, isolated from the world of the other species. In fact, all the forests in which Dark Elves live are situated inside only one mountain range, causing many theories on the origin of this people and on whether or not they are just an ethnicity or a truly different species.
But all those debates meant nothing in the Dark Elves' daily quest to survival. A quest that often attracted hunter out of the forest to track the predators living in smaller patches of green scattered in the rocky landscape.
« Oh Hardy, lord of the Underground, hostess of the dead and mistress of these lands. »
Those words were whispered, almost inaudibly, by one of these hunters, or in this case a huntress, shortly after she had spotted a suitable target.
« I call upon you to give me strength and success. »
She swiftly moved behind a rock that gave her a clear and unobstructed view of her target.
« Please allow me and my fellow to live another day at your service. »
She took an arrow from her quiver and stretched her bow before finishing her prayer.
« It is my only wish, oh Hardy, mistress of these lands. »
She took one last breath, adjusting her position one last time, before letting go of…
« Yao ! »
It was a high pitched yell, like someone was looking for her. Yao heard it well, but her prey too. Alerted, it started to move away from the noise source, dodging the arrow by a good foot. The Dark Elf quickly turned her head, trying to identify the source of the noise that ruined her hunt.
Downhill, a silhouette was making its way towards her, trying to pass over the rocks as quickly as it could. After a few seconds, she realized it was an elf from her village, his body covered by the traditional cloth that all Dark Elves had to wear when they had to leave their forest.
« Yao ! » he continued to scream.
She started to move in his direction, trying to understand what he wanted. Needless to say that she was not really happy about his sudden appearance. But as they both got closer to each other, she noticed the emotion on his face.
It was fear.
« Yao… It is terrible… » he faltered, out of breath, when they finally joined.
« Calm down, Todorm. What is going on ? What is terrible ? » she asked, her heart now full of worry.
Todorm did not answer, instead breathing heavily. It was only at this moment that Yao noticed the dried blood on his forehead.
« Todorm, answer me ! »
« The Dragon… The village… Gone… »
« What ? The village… is gone ? »
« Yes… The Fire Dragon came… Nothing we could do… »
Yao did not have to question his answer. She perfectly knew that what Todorm was saying was completely true.
« And where are the others ? Are they any survivors ? »
Todorm wiped out drops of sweat from his face, delaying his response and making Yao more and more worried.
« The canyon… The Elders, with those that survived and those that were not in the village when it attacked… They are in the caves inside the canyon. »
A part of her heart was relieved. The Elders had survived. But another was still full of worry.
« And Cerso ? Is he alright ? »
There was another second without an answer, but this time out of doubt.
« I… I don't know… »
She shrugged before starting to walk on a path she knew lead to the canyon, her hands tightly holding her bow, ready for anything. Todorm was following her closely, but she quickly had to reduce her walking pace as her companion started to tumble out of tiredness. She had many other questions, but asking them now in the open would be too dangerous.
When the two passed over the final crest before reaching the canyon, they both saw two other members of their tribe, on the lookout for the Dragon. One of the two did not have his cloak to protect him from the sun, making Yao realize how unexpected their escape was.
One of the improvised guard left his post, helping Yao carrying Todorm down the path leading to the caves. It was a path that every Dark Elf walked yearly to honor Hardy in large religious ceremonies. And now, the underground was sheltering them from danger in the middle of the scenes painted on the sides of the cave.
The day that followed might have been the hardest. With the arrival of new groups of survivors, the number of Elves confirmed dead rose each time, either by the hands of the Dragon itself, or because of thirst, lost in the rocky and desolate mountains. The most painful moment for Yao was when one of her friend brought the terrible news of the death of Cerso, her fiancée. What filled her heart at that point was no longer worry, but terrible pain and sadness. But, through many prayers to Hardy and grief, she lived through this terrible challenge.
One night, after coming back from a lone expedition to assess the damages and gather anything that could still be saved, she was called by the Elders. They had something very important to tell her, or to ask her.
« Yao, what do you know about the Fire Dragon ? » asked one of the oldest woman, her age clearly visible thanks to the light of a lone campfire.
« I know what we all know, replied Yao. It is an enormous monster, capable of destroying armies in a single breath. I also believed it was supposed to hibernate for at least fifty years or so. »
« And have you heard any rumors coming from human villages recently ? »
This time, the question came from a younger Elder, who always had the reputation of always knowing what was going on outside the mountains.
« No. Not at all. »
« But you still know about the Gate, right ? »
« Yes. I do know about the Holy Gate. »
But like many other Dark Elves, she did not really cared even if it was linked to Hardy. After all, it was not supposedly going to affect their isolated lives in any way.
« Well, the thing is that those who came through the Gate are apparently really powerful. The rumor that runs through the territories of the humans is that the Fire Dragon attacked a group of a dozen "men in green", as they call them. And it is said that this group used powerful fire magic and iron wagons to make the Dragon flee, tearing away one of its arm. »
« Such a power cannot possibly exist… » simply said Yao, reacting out of surprise.
« And during the attack, everyone, including us, saw the Fire Dragon, a large wound where his left arm should have been… »
A heavy silence followed the statement, the Elders wanting to let it sink in Yao's mind.
« If we manage to bring this power here, added another Elder, this beast will certainly be slain… Yao Ha Ducy, do you understand what we are asking you ? »
It could not be less obvious. To be given a task by the Elders themselves was a great honor, but she still had one question.
« But why me ? she asked. There are many that are stronger, more agile and more intelligent than me. And the humans do not have a reputation of being fair with females, especially from a species different than their own. »
« You may not be the best in any of these fields, but being able to find a balance between them is vital for this quest. And to add to that, it is well known that human desires can be used to obtain something from them. »
Again, the meaning was perfectly clear. She had to be ready to sacrifice herself to accomplish her mission. She did not know if she was ready to do it, but what she knew was that the life of all of the tribe was at stake.
« Be very cautious on this journey, Yao. You must travel fast, lightly, find these "men in green" and convince them to help us kill the dragon. You will leave tomorrow, in the night, and reach the nearest human village to find information. Then, you will proceed on your own. »
« We all wish you luck, Yao Ha Ducy. » concluded the old woman that had spoken first.
Yao simply bowed down in front of the Elders before walking away, not saying a word.
As ordered, she left the canyon the next night. The only things she had with her were her cloak, her saber, her bag filled with everything needed to survive, and all the hopes of survival of her people.
[Location Classified], [Date Classified], 1755 AT
Frankly, in the standard procedure for a deep reconnaissance mission, Soul only hated one part.
The digging.
Not only were the movement needed to create a large hole in the ground repetitive and tiring, but they had to be done after hours of walking in the forest with heavy equipment on the back. He always tried to be on the first team to observe the objective, as setting observation points was less demanding.
But he was not lucky enough, and so he had to dig. He barely had any sleep, but he was a member of the Special Forces after all.
The hole they were digging was very important. It was supposed to become literal brain of the reconnaissance operation. It was in this cramped space that intelligence specialist would gather all the data collected and send it to headquarters, completely hidden from sight. Even the trained eyed of some specialists had trouble noticing the entry of a well camouflaged cache, buried under dead leaves and ground.
Fortunately, the terrain was not too rocky, making the digging part shorter and easier. But in the end, it still took several hours only to dig a large enough hole. Meanwhile, the other operators were already gathering information on the facility.
All the buildings that appeared on aerial photographs had been confirmed, and there was at least a dozen of men inhabiting the facility. But to discover all the secrets of your target, you have to observe patiently, something men of the Treizième excelled at.
After a few hours of well-deserved sleep, Soul finally relayed one of his squad mate in one of the observation point looking over the few buildings.
He always had a strange feeling when he observed people through the high zooming lens of his camera, hidden by a well camouflaged stack of branches and leaves. He could see everything without being seen, creating this feeling of power over the men he was looking at.
Those men were obviously not part of any regular army. Not only was their base too isolated to be of any strategic importance for a military, their clothes and their behaviors were way closer to bandits or smugglers than actual soldiers.
To add to that, almost every day, one or several cart carrying large closed boxes were leaving and entering the warehouse. These crates could contain many things, from food to drugs to other kinds of valuables.
After three days of constant watching, the number of men inhabiting the facility had been settled to twelve and a basic hierarchy structure was found out. They also had the entirety of the outside areas mapped out and every weakness carefully studied.
What they still had to find out, however, was the layout of the building interior. They would have to make an assault at one moment or the other, and preparing it was an essential task for a successful mission. The only way they could achieve that was by interrogating one of the smuggler.
Something they had noticed on the first day of observation was that, in the morning, one man left with an empty cart before returning in the afternoon with the same cart, but this time full of crates of food and barrels of alcohol. When, on the fourth day, the same man left the camp in the morning with an empty cart, Sergei immediately saw the perfect chance to strike.
In the cold morning, the young man driving the cart almost looked peaceful, looking over his horse to make it stay on the small trail passing through the forest.
For a second, he closed his eyes to yawn. But when he reopened them, the only thing he saw was the head of his horse exploding, spreading blood all over the ground, the cart and himself. He did not even have time to react before several silhouettes covered in deep green clothes emerged from behind trees and under bushes. They were saying something in the lines of "put your hands up", but in the confusion and the terror, he did not understand. He jumped down from the cart, trying to grab his sword, but before he even knew it, he was grabbed from behind. He resisted as much as he could, but in vain.
Then he felt a great pain at the back of his neck, and everything blacked out.
When he returned to consciousness, he was even more confused. He was tied to a tree, somewhere in the middle of the forest. In front of him were one of the man who attacked him, wearing the same dark green clothes.
« Finally awake, the green man said with a strange accent. I am deeply sorry about the way my men dragged you here. This kind of introduction never sets up a good mood. »
« Where… Where am I ? What happened ? Who are you ? » faltered the smuggler, the back of his head still hurting.
« Let just say that I made you come here because I need some information. »
« Information ? On… On what ? »
A small smile appeared on the corner of the man's mouth.
« Your little group of friends is living in a place that really interest me, he said before taking a small white stick from a small box and putting it in his mouth. I want know how many you are, how you are equipped, the layout of the building… »
With one of his hand, he grabbed a small device and brought it at the level of the white stick before covering them with his free hand. When he moved his hand away, the tip of the white stick was burning. The smoke did not have a really pleasant smell, but at this point nobody would complaint about that.
« I want to know every single detail about your small fortress. »
« Never ! Who are you working for anyway ? » tried to come back the tied man.
« Look kid, you have a choice to make. Either you keep your mouth shut and I kill you on the spot, or you give me all your secrets and I will make sure you will not be treated too badly. Plus, you don't really have the high ground in this discussion, so you better answer me. »
This was not really a choice, and both parties knew it. The smuggler quickly swallowed his pride and started to tell everything the man in green clothes wanted. After all, if they managed to blow the skull of a horse without him noticing they were there, they could probably do things even more terrifying.
When the confessions ended, the man nodded and stood up. He turned his back to his prisoner and made a few steps before kneeling back down. But this time, much to the surprise to the prisoner, he grabbed a square piece of ground and pushed it a few feet away, revealing a hidden hole in the ground.
« You heard everything ? » launched Sergei to the intelligence specialist sitting inside the cache.
« Yes sir, said the young operator. So what do we do ? »
« Prepare. Assault tonight. »
Thanks for reading the twentieth chapter of Gate : Opération Marteau de Justice.
Yes, as you can see, we are back to the main story, but not at a point showed in the canon. Have you ever noticed that it was said how the first team of soldiers arrived at the Jade Palace ? Well I did, and what I wanted to show here is just that.
I also decided to add the start of the dragon arc here. It is at this point that it makes the most to include the attack of the dragon on the Dark Elves, and it also develops a little more Yao's character, as well as the Dark Elves background.
Lastly, to make it clear for everyone, every chapter of this story is posted on the 14th. If I do not annouce anything on Twitter or in these authors notes, then assume it will be realeased on the 14th (more or less one day, because of the time zones.)
But now, time for reviews.
Celestia's Paladin - I think the correct word to describe this would be "shitshow".
alexisdu7442 - Oh oui ! Un compatriote ! Joie ! Mais pour parler de ton commentaire sur les films, c'est un peu ce que j'ai deja fait avec la scene à la Bibliothèque Nationale de France, et je trouve que ce serai un peu se répéter.
SpudyPotato - Thanks. I'll try to make more of them when I will have the time, but for now, expect the continuation of the main story.