The starry black night sky glimmered as the stars littered the vast darkness above. Each tried to outshine one another, just like the flames that seemingly devoured the legions of Sadera. Plumes of tall pillars of smoke rose as the ensuing carnage continued its course.

Screams, pleas, shouts and war cries reverberated throughout the area, drowned by the explosions and thunder like sounds that their enemies produced.

The battle was already lost, Renatus Gaetulicus knew that, hence he ran. He ran despite the constant protests of his tired and numb legs. He ran knowing that he would be branded as a Heretic. And, he ran as fast miniature lights flew past him, taking the lives of some of his comrades.

His sword dangled in his waist while his chain mail wore down his already exhausted body. The potions weren't really doing what they were supposed to do.

Suddenly, he lost his whole balance and went flat into the ground. He also felt a hot burning sensation coupled with the feeling of being prickled by a thousand needles in his right shoulder.

He tried to use the last reserves of his body, but his feet failed to gather enough strength to stand upright. His right shoulder felt hotter as seconds pass, making him look at it.

His eyes went wide as he saw blood covered his whole right shoulder. The pain finally registered in his mind as he let out an ear-piercing scream. It was the loudest scream he has ever done in his whole life and perhaps it would be his last.

The ground trembled slightly as he heard huge and heavy steps behind him. He looked back and saw what he can only describe as monster.

It was a humanoid that was at least more than six feet tall. Every corner of its body was clad in metal while its huge metal arms carry a huge and long metal barrel with multiple small barrels protruding at its end.

Its red eyes stared at Renatus's eyes, piercing and looking straight into his soul. His body froze unable to move as the monster surveyed every inch of his movement. The air around them went stale as none moved an inch from their position.

The being was then engulfed in flames as a fireball hit his body. He then looked in front of him and saw a teen with a long blue robe while he raised his metallic staff. His face was adorned with a smirk, completely satisfied with his work.

More than a dozen soldiers cheered while others quickly helped those who were down and wounded. Renatus quickly tried to stand upright, yet the nightmare didn't end there as he then heard loud sounds of metals hitting against each other behind him, making him start to run while others were left in shock.

He closed his eyes as he ran while he heard a quick succession of loud thunder like sounds accompanied by the screams of his comrades.

And so, he ran until he can't anymore…

xxXxx

Tsurumi let out a cough as the scent of burning corpses assaulted his nostrils.

In his lightly elevated position, he saw huge, wide and tall burning mass graves.

Some of the piles were black as charcoal while the others were starting to darken as the flames consumed the dead.

A couple of individuals with Gas masks and other equipment lifted their flamethrowers and burned the piles upon piles of corpses as tall pillars plumes of smoke rose.

It was quite an interesting sight for Tsurumi, he never saw that much mass graves in his whole military career, no matter how bloody nor brutal the war was. The battle was so one sided that most of their counters with the enemy ended up being a massacre.

It was, by far, a perfect example of psychological and conventional warfare combined. Their foreign appearances and weapons coupled with the dark night that was present were the perfect factors in demoralizing the enemy, and the fact that they were also unprepared further solidified their victory.

But their operation, dubbed Operation Armageddon, didn't succeed without any casualties and material losses.

With a heavy sigh, he turned back and left the scene as he walked towards their encampment.

Someone told him a couple of minutes ago that he was being called by their platoon commander, much to his annoyance. After all, he barely had any sleep nor rest these past few days and the fact that he must help construct their camp that would also become their base of operations didn't help his already tired exhausted body.

Nonetheless, he walked towards his destination despite the pain he felt from his sore feet. He walked for a couple of minutes, leaving the mass graves as he now entered their camp.

Complex dug out trenches and earthworks littered his surroundings while tents and other structures reside inside. As he further walked inside their camp, he began seeing more structures and facilities either being built or already finished.

Some complex machineries were sometimes seen, churning out ammunitions and other complex equipment. A perfect example was a mobile 3D printer machine that is capable of producing sophisticated tools and equipment, though, it has some limits.

Now that they had a huge surplus of resources such as metals and supplies, the only thing they need now is time to reorganize their corps and fix their current issues.

Though, even a regular soldier like him know that those aren't enough to fix their current issues such as their ammunition shortage. As far as he knew, they still have to create more complex substance for primers and propellants if they don't want to return to the age of Muskets and flintlocks.

His thoughts were then abruptly stopped as he saw the entrance of the tent he and the other sergeants were called in.

He steeled his resolve and entered. Three men with the same rank as his stood in front of the table of their newly appointed platoon leader.

On top of the table was a distinct map of the new world called Falmart. More than a couple of small crosses adorned the map, most were near their location, Alnus hill. What caught his eye the most was the big cross located in the northeast of their position that has a name beneath it, Italica.

Tsurumi went in the right corner of the row and their platoon commander prepared to speak.

"I'll go straight to the point, our platoon would conduct a reconnaissance mission towards the city of Italica. We would be given ample of supplies and ammunitions to last us for a week or so. We'll also use horses for shortening the distances and duration of our mission. Any questions?

Huh?

Tsurumi looked at their platoon commander, unsure if he heard him right. Not only was he in shock, he's mind was also in disarray.

Why? Why should we scout them if we can just entrench and fortify ourselves in this hill?

The man in the far-left corner of the row spoke, as if he read his mind.

"Sir, with all due respect, wouldn't it be more sufficient if we just currently entrench and fortify our position rather than send men to God knows where? We could risk precious manpower and resources we currently need if we-" Asked the man.

"Do you want this job or no?" Their platoon commander cut him off. "High command was generous enough to give us an option in this matter. If one of you doesn't want to, then we'll all go back in our world and act as additional manpower for reconstruction of buildings and structures."

Tsurumi's and his fellow sergeant's faces darkened as they heard his platoon commander's words. All of them doesn't want to go back in their poisonous, radioactive and dead world.

Their platoon commander took their silence as a no, and slowly exited the tent not before turning back to them to speak.

"Since none of doesn't have further complaints, I will give all of you the time so that you can get to know each other, I will explain the necessary details tomorrow at first dawn, dismissed."

He turned and left, leaving the four of them with their own devices.

Tsurumi wasn't particularly interested but he figured that he should at least know his colleague's names, after all they would be working a lot together in the far future.

Tsurumi kept his silence as he waited for the others to speak and begin their conversation, yet none began. The perpetual silence stretched for a minute before Tsurumi sighed and spoke, breaking the whole tension.

"My name is Tsurumi Rumi. You can call me Tsurumi or Rumi, it's up to you, really. I'll be looking forward with working with all of you." He then slightly bowed to all of them, unsure if he should be formal with them or not.

The one currently near him caught on his idea and began to speak. "My name is Manfred Pfeiffer, nice to meet all of you."

The one from the last row followed suite. "My name is Thomas Measier, pleasure is all mine."

And lastly, the person next to the last row also followed suite. "My name is Alexander, I don't have a last name and let's leave it at that.

All of them wore gas masks that obscured their faces, making them almost identical if it weren't for their barely noticeable accents.

Based on their accents, Manfred could probably be German, Thomas could probably be French, while Alexander could probably from Eastern European descent. He can't really put a finger on where he heard that accent, but he knew that it was somewhere east.

Hence the Four Misfits began their quite unfortunate journey.

xxXxx

There's no such thing as a perfect and unassailable plan, Erich and his subordinates knew that. After all, endless factors affect plans in some way or another, but making calculations and plans are still crucial when it comes to attaining victory.

Hence Erich gathered his generals and officers for a meeting regarding their current situation. Erich and his subordinates stood as numerous papers and folders were scattered on top of the wooden table.

All of it contained data and reports from the aftermath of their invasion such as casualties, material losses, and strange occurrences.

No matter how one rationalizes about denying its existence, magic exist. But, even Erich knew that it's only a matter of time before they can understand and apply it to their own benefit.

"Gentlemen." Erich began, gathering everyone's attention. "Our invasion, dubbed Operation Armageddon, is a success."

Everyone nodded, displaying satisfaction and pride to what they had just accomplished. Perhaps it was miniscule compared to their previous achievements and accomplishments throughout the Great War, but it was still an astonishing victory to say the least.

"The enemy suffered more than forty thousand casualties at our first contact and suffered thirty thousand more when we first invaded them. But that wasn't the case. Based on our recent and verified reports, eight thousand POWs were rounded up at the Gate incident while at least five thousand were captured when we initiated our invasion.

The element of surprise and the fact that the enemy barely have any night fighting capabilities greatly attributed to our victory. Coupled with the confusion and panic that ensued when we attacked, it's safe to say that this is an astonishing and decisive victory for the history books."

"But despite this great success, we sustained casualties and material losses within this operation."

Most of their drones and sentries broke mid-fight thanks to the enemies' magic. A single lightning strike from a mage destroys it completely or if it's sturdy enough, disable it, but perhaps what greatly contributes to this loss was that of the lack of such parts and hardware.

Since the Nuclear holocaust, most of their sophisticated technology were almost rendered useless as resources and parts necessary for it's use was hard to come by, hence it wasn't a complete surprise for Erich.

"Most of our sentries and sentries lack the necessary hardware and parts in order to be fully repaired let alone be effective. I believe that repurposing most of them and leaving some for our scouting parties would be optimal for our current situation."

"We've also lost two thousand men from the Gate incident and Operation Armageddon combined. But despite these unfortunate events, there are still some good news. We have successfully sent out some scouting parties when dawn first appeared, and we saw a nearby forest for materials for our construction and fortification and a nearby stream for fresh water. There are also plenty of land to forage and I plan to send more reconnaissance parties in the future in hope of getting more information."

"So, gentlemen, any reports regarding our current situation?" Erich asked as he finished his own report.

"General." Jean said in which Erich urged him to continue. "I've taken the liberty of constructing our camp in which we've gathered an ample supply of wood from the nearby forest you've just mentioned. The hill we are currently in adds more defensive capabilities that compensates for our lack of complex materials for building fortifications. We've also dug up trenches and earthwork to further protect our camp."

Erich nodded, satisfied with the works and efforts of Jean.

"How about our corps?" Erich asked in which Kovacs in turn answered.

"Since we've hastily organized our corps before Operation Armageddon, we're still pretty much in disarray. Hence, I would like to create six full brigades consisting of two thousand and five hundred sixty soldiers, with your permission of course."

Erich rubbed his chin as he thought. To say the least, they were barely a division or two, a pitiful sight compared to their peak.

He could create three divisions with two brigades each, but that wouldn't really be a division. Besides, splitting his men was quite preferable so that they could move much more effectively and efficiently.

Erich then saw a problem as he thought about it, making him look at Kovacs.

"Are those six brigades all combat efficient though?" Erich asked.

Kovacs breathed a sigh as he rubbed his right cheek.

"The first brigade consists of highly competent, effective and promising men that I picked based on their performance throughout our whole retreat in Russia and up until now. Add to the fact that they're fully equipped. The second and third brigades mostly consists of newly promoted and moderately equipped soldiers. Though they were, in some kind, adequately equipped, I still have some reservations regarding their overall performance. The fourth and fifth brigades has at least a third of their soldiers equipped with firearms while the rest have their issued lobotomizers, but despite that, they are still combat efficient. The sixth brigade however is pretty much made of highly inefficient, shell shocked, depressed and perhaps almost useless men."

"The sixth brigade is made up of the remaining men we currently have, hence they're not the usual two thousand five hundred sixty." Kovacs ended.

Erich quietly pondered for a minute before finally deciding what course of action is optimal.

"I'll give the authority to use the Sixth brigade to you Jean. They'll be the main backbone of our labor to construct our camp with the help of the other brigades and POWs. The first brigade would be under my direct control while both of you Kovacs and Milosz would have two brigades each, any questions or complaints?"

Everyone waved their heads sideways, and Erich continued.

"Anyways," he said, changing again into another topic. "I was informed that a particular scientist suddenly went ahead and took the job of taking care of the prisoners, though I don't know who that person was, any ideas?"

"He goes by the name of Aleksy I believe, general." Jean answered.

An image of an Eastern European adult in his early thirties with a long white lab coat appeared in Erich's mind. He has yellow-colored irises adorned with black and dark shadows beneath them. His lifeless eyes looked at him with his white pale emotionless face like that of a handcrafted masterpiece of a doll.

"Aleksy Dobromil…?" Erich uttered in a whisper.

Never knew he was still alive.

He contemplated in silence for a brief moment before he shrugged and continued. "Anyways, have we selected the appropriate people for our reconnaissance mission?"

"Yes, they've already began their journey yest-" Jean was suddenly cut of as an aide swiftly opened the entrance of their tent and shouted.

"Sir! We're under attack!" The panting soldier shouted, marking the beginning of their true battle.