General Ironwood walked down the hallway towards the Sanctuary interconnect tower slowly as he thought of the speech he was about to give. He looked at his watch, 1050 hours, perfect timing he said to himself as he walked through the door to the transmission room. Friday already had the microphone waiting for him "all ready to go boss" she said as Ironwood sat down. "Good, now let's get to it" he said as he put his speech out in front of him. Right at about this time, about 500 miles south of Ironwood, the entire military tuned their radios into the proper channel for the General's speech. Most of them were expected to either be wounded or die in the next 72 hours and they all knew it. They had all been trained for this day, their rifles ready and loaded, helmets securely fastened, and a hunger for Vale to be taken back. Ironwood pushed the transmit button and began speaking.
"Soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Unified Remnant Expeditionary Force, you are about to embark upon a great crusade, towards which we have trained for these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of both Human and Faunus march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the elimination of the Grimm and their reign over the kingdom of Vale, the liberation of occupied territory, and security for both human and faunus in a free task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is numerous. savage, and merciless. He will fight it has been five years since the fall of Vale. Much has happened since then, the Unified Remnant Government have inflicted upon the Grimm great defeats, in open battle. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory."
As Ironwood finished his speech and released the transmit button his aide, Friday, began to talk to him about different things he had to do later that day. Suddenly Ironwood interrupted her "Friday, I need to walk onto that beach in Vale. Make it happen." He said to her sternly. "Ok boss, I'll get you on a boat later today"."But why the sudden need to walk into a combat zone?" Friday Asked. "I left Vale on a boat, and I'll return to Vale the same way. For all those that don't get to return" Ironwood said as he walked away towards his quarters.
Cpl Lie Ren sat uneasy inside the AAV-P7/A1 amphibious assault vehicle. He was unlucky enough to be put in the first wave of the amphibious landing in Operation: Monarchy. Water kept sloshing into the vehicle from the open ports on top of the craft and soaking Ren and 20 other of his fellow Marines as they were moving towards the beach on the outskirts of Vale. The vehicle commander came over the intercom, "30 seconds till we hit the beach gentleman, good luck and godspeed" he said and then clicked the radio off. Immediately Lt. Durin, Ren's platoon leader, stood up and began yelling over the loud engine of the lumbering vehicle "Marines, this is where we make our stand. I know most of you either knew someone or were related to someone who died during the loss of Vale. This is the time we avenge all of them and take Vale back! This is where the line in the sand will be drawn! Now, FIX BAYONETS!" SImultaneously, Ren and the 20 other marines of 2nd Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment pulled their bayonets out and attached them to their rifles with a satisfying click. The gunner of the AAV started firing his 40mm MK19 grenade launcher in an effort to soften up the beach before the marines offloaded. "Here we go boys!" The Lt. said as the AAV hit the beach with a loud thunk. The ramp of the vehicle then dropped and Ren, being the closest to the ramp, charged out. As Ren rounded the side of the vehicle he saw them, a horde of Grimm larger than any he had seen before, his training took over as he swiftly took a knee and began firing his rifle. As he kept firing soon the other marines began firing also. PFC Yates, being the SAW gunner, propped up his M249 on the edge of the surf and began firing burst towards the horde of Grimm. "Advance" yelled Lt. Durin, Ren stood up as soon as his rifle ran out of ammunition and began reloading as he ran forwards towards the edge of the beach. The Grimm horde were starting to wither as the AAV's and LAV 25's started moving forward under the cover of both small arms from the marines and the vehicle's own 40mm grenade launchers and 25mm chain guns. By the time Ren and the other marines had made it to some sand dunes and a few beach shacks the Grimm were either dead or falling back. "We beat them!" Said a marine as a general cheer went around Ren's platoon and the other platoons around them. The cheer sadly began to peter out as, one-by-one, they all saw a growing dust cloud coming from the edge of the city.