My favorite part is when the six new reviews I got didn't show up. Oh well.
To those of you who guessed the tank's name to be the Levkov, from Battlefield 4: Final Stand, then you're correct!
After arriving back at Alnus Hill, they immediately got to work.
The almost-dead male elf was put into a highly secured hospital room, where only designated doctors and engineers could enter.
With some new Nanocores built by the Imperial Japanese, they were able to accommodate the new refugees within minutes.
The food was great, the people were nice, and Kelvin was undeniably popular with the kids.
However, the older refugees came the conclusion that they had to pay the "Men in Orange and Blue" somehow. At one point, the women considered "certain" methods, until Lelei pointed out how much wyvern scales sold for.
And there were plenty of unharvested dragon corpses still left lying around on the ground.
Eventually, they convinced the higher-ups to escort them to Italica, one of the Empire's main trading hubs.
And so, the 3rd Recon Team, along with Rory, Myuu, Lelei, and the survivor they found in the well- Tuka- were on their way to this "Italica" to trade a few large bags filled with all the dragon scales the Engineers felt that wouldn't be needing anytime soon.
Itami and his team, like usual, rode in a Sudden Transport, followed by three IFVs. A pair of Sunburst Drones flew alongside them.
Rory sat between him and Kurata (like usual), and every time he glanced over at her, they made awkward eye contact before she would lick her lips seductively, causing him to look away. It would be more attractive if it wasn't for the fact that she looked like a loli, so because of that, he wasn't planning to take any chances.
Dr. Zelinsky was working with Lelei to make more accurate translations between their languages, and she seemed to catch on quickly, if not almost instantly.
Meanwhile, Kelvin was...being Kelvin, just sitting there, in his somewhat bulky Cryo-suit.
All of this was interrupted when Kurata pointed out something.
"Look over there! That's an awful lot of smoke!"
Lelei looked over his shoulder, and loudly uttered "Italica."
"This is First Lieutenant Itami Yoji of the 3rd Recon Team, we've spotted Italica, and there's a lot of smoke."
"Copy that. The Allied Commander will have the Chronosphere on standby, and is commencing a Surveillance Sweep at this time."
As if on cue, a trio of Sky Knights flew overhead, as the Sunburst Drones flew off towards the smoke.
[Italica]
Princess Piña Co Lada was having a really bad day.
After hearing a firsthand account of what happened from King Duran (how he got to another settlement, nobody knows.), she had heard that Italica was under attack. Expecting to see the enemy from Alnus Hill, she instead found the remains of the allied army, most, if not all, having decided for a life of banditry.
Standing on the balcony, she looked out at the bandit army, her mind filled with conflict.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a strange roar. Looking up, she saw three unusually small dragons fly by. They circled around a few times, before flying back the way the came.
"Princess, there's a group of strange horseless carriages outside the northern gate."
Feeling even more conflicted, she finally came to the conclusion that she should allow them to enter the city upon seeing an man in white and orange armor, another in a bulky blue armor, an elf, a mage, and if that wasn't frightening enough, Rory Mercury, the Apostle of Emroy.
However, when they had gone down to greet them, she had accidentally slammed the door on the face of poor old Itami.
"Greetings, I am Princess Piña Co Lada of the Empire-...Did I do that..?"
Awkward silence ensued.
Oops.
We are experiencing technical difficulties, please look up some smooth jazz on Youtube or something until Itami recovers.
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Now back to our story.
Upon discovering that the "countess" of Italica was an 11-year old girl, Myui, it seemed to visibly appear that they were in for a rough ride.
Apparently, the former head of Clan Formal, Colt, had not returned from expedition to the other side of the Gate, and neither did most of the soldiers he had brought with him. As a result, Myui, being the only one of her family still unmarried (and alive), was forced to take the throne in her father's place. Being forced to withdraw their remaining soldiers, crime rates began to rise.
After having discussed their purpose for being here, Princess Piña figured that she should at least try to convince them to take out the marauders, even if the two Empires were basically at war.
Itami and Dr. Zelinsky, who had been chosen to represent the Allies, agreed to help, albeit reluctantly, aware of the potential political backlashes.
But what convinced them to help was the fact that since the princess was here, she'd get a firsthand glimpse of the power that they held, and if their gambit was successful, they could potentially get an influential foothold in the path towards peace.
A Giga-fortress was out of the question, though. At least for now.
And they had to act fast, as it would take a few hours for reinforcements to arrive, and even longer for a Harbinger to arrive, considering that they have yet to construct any.
[New objective received: Defend Italica]
[New Bonus objective: Make sure Princess Piña is completely unharmed]
[A few hours later]
The Princess watched as a large group of blue-colored "Iron Elephants" positioned themselves by the southern gate, and then promptly...
...turned into rocks.
This was a day of the most awkward first impressions.
Looking back, she could see the "Al-lies" and "Ja-pa-nese" troops escorting the civilians away from the gates, before setting up small stone barricades and strange curled "strings" of metal.
She had tried to tell them that they should just occupy the west gate, but they declined, saying that instead, they'll just do their standard "textbook" strategy.
Aka, occupy ALL the gates.
A large blue sphere had appeared in a spacious part of Italica that day, and when it disappeared, there stood an entire battalion oftheir strange metal beasts, of varying shapes and sizes.
They had better hurry, however, for the sun was beginning to set, and the marauders would be here soon.
And when they do, it will be marked as the First Battle of Italica in the history books, one of many pivotal points in the events of what was to be known as the "Special Region Conflict."
[South gate]
[Some time past midnight...]
Itami, Kurata, Kelvin, and the rest of the 3rd Recon Team (save the Peacekeepers, for they wielded shotguns) stood on the high wall, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their enemies.
"Contacts, Twelve o' clock. There's a ton of them."
"Century Bombers as well as paradrops reinforcements are enroute to your location. Open fire when they get into range. Give 'em hell."
A trio of timers appeared on their military wrist-watches;
[PARATROOP REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE IN 10:00]
[CHRONOSPHERE REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE IN 15:00]
[TIME UNTIL HARBINGERS ARE ASSEMBLED AND ARRIVE: 30:00]
"All units..."
A pair of Spectrum Towers lit up the darkness. A pair white targeting reticles appeared on the ground as Pacifier FAVs took aim over the walls,
"Fire!"
And thus, the First Battle of Italica began.
{The following is information regarding the Soviet Blackout of 1990.}
All information, surveillance, and trade coming in and out of Soviet Russia has come to a grinding halt.
Cause is unknown, and close allies of Russia, such as China and Iraq, have been unable to turn up answers.
Attempts to capture footage via spy satellite have been lackluster, as the photos are mysteriously fuzzy, a strange problem indeed, for the satellites in particular were using latest in camera technology.
Immigration and tourism from the Russian regions has visibly dropped.
More investigation is needed.
A large crowd of people were gathered in front of a large stage, hidden deep in an underground warehouse. They all stood silent, listening as a Russian woman finished her speech.
"...And while I do believe that the Soviet Union has yet to regain it's power, teaming with that rat, Yuri, is NOT the way to do so! Which is why we, the True Soviet Union, will bring down this tyrant, and sent him and mind-control to hell!"
The crowd cheered, waving bottles of vodka, AKMs, and other stuff in the air, chanting.
"FOR SOVIET RUSSIA!"
"FOR GLORIOUS UNION!"
"DOWN WITH YURI!"
"NO MORE MIND CONTROL!"
"RUSSIA! RUSSIA!"
"Master Yuri, it appears to be that another rebellion group has sprung up."
"Send a strike force to smite them, just like the last one, Libra. Soon, they will learn to appreciate the power of the mind..."
[Database]
Surveillance Sweep- Allied Support Power. Sends a trio of Sky Nights to survey an area between two designated points.
Sky Knights- Super-fast mini-planes, capable of surveying heavily fortified positions whilst remaining too fast for any known anti-air system
to track.
Giga-Fortress- Anti-Surface Vessel/Heavy Bombardment Aircraft. Shirada 350 mm cannon (x8), Tenzai VX pulser-missile (x4) [Vessel]/ God's Breath Device [Air mode], which fires a large beam, which is somewhat more mild compared to the said beam's explosive wake.
Harbinger- Anti-surface gunship. Circles the target area, either mowing down infantry with a nose-mounted 25mm machine gun, or vaporizing heavy armor with dual 180mm Proton Collider Cannons. Defenseless in jet vs jet combat.
Century- Carpet bomber/troop transport. Can drop a payload of bombs, or can paradrop additional troops.
Spectrum Tower- Advanced Allied base defense tower. Shoots a laser beam, that reflects off of various mirrors inside the upper areas, before boucing off of a specific mirror on the very top, right at the enemy. If in range, it can shoot it at another Spectrum Tower to quicken attack speed and attack power. Poor against groups, but I highly doubt that spears and sword will do much to it.
Pacifier FAV- Anti-infantry hovercraft/Siege Vehicle. Uses a pair of Grand Cannons and a pair of 7.62 miniguns.
Author's Notes
I can't exactly think of much to say. Oh weelll.
Well, except for that, uh, let's just assume that it's 30 minutes until the sun of Falmar rises, y'know? Once I realized the awkwardly potential time problems, it certainly got harder to type the time until the Harbingers
So, it would appear to be that there is a separatist Soviet faction now. Yaaaay. What? Of course, someone's gonna rebel sooner or later.
How about a sneak peek at what may come in the future?
...Are you ready for it...?
Here I go.
I'm gonna type it now.
"HERE COMES THE SOVIET PAIN TRAIN!"
Boom, I did it. Oh, and Giselle's there too. Probably. Might not be an actual line of dialogue. Would be cool though, right?
...I should really be in bed right now, heh.