GATE: the clash of the titans V2

by Qun Nguyn1

Mostly AUs. A Gate has opened in Tokyo by a Roman-esque Empire, familiar scenario with familiar faces but the people marched through the Gate is from a vastly more powerful magic world. The stage is set. Earth Alliance vs The Holy Empire. Science vs Magic. The power of the thousand sun vs The Beast of the Apocalypse. Let the clash of Titans begin. Let the worlds have War.

8. Chapter 8: The Battle for Dammam Port

Chapter 8: The Battle for Dammam Port

---

March 2030, Port of Dammam, Commonwealth of Hashemite, Lemuria Peninsula, Falmart

"Archduke Ashera will soon be arriving!"

Before transforming into a massive imperial naval base, the port city of Dammam was the pride of Commonwealth of Hashemite and one of the busiest ports in the Gulf of Persae. But now, the port city Dammam was almost entirely destroyed. Due to the sudden visit by the Archduke Ashera, the airfield's restoration was prioritized over the base's restoration. Having managed to tidy up the airport and the appearance of the base as seen from the airfield, Commonwealth Army Commander, Legatus Amaranthus took a sigh of relief.

They were attacked overwhelmingly by enemy bombers. In all honesty, they couldn't fend off another attack if one were to come. To think that the Archduke was coming to visit such a dangerous place. He had already reported to his superiors in the military that they cannot guarantee the Archduke's safety in their present, vigilant state.

The Commonwealth military's response was extremely simple. Due to reinforcements being sent from the Empire, they were able to strengthen the Army's manpower and reinforce the anti-air and anti-ground force emplacements, allowing them to respond to threats from the sky and the ground. Lastly, the airpower of other bases that can reach Dammam was strengthened.

Amaranthus explained to his superiors that if an attack was carried out by human fighters, which have immense capabilities that require close observation, they wouldn't be able to guarantee the base's defense even if they were to strengthen their numbers. The military executives, however, dismissed it as something impossible.

Amaranthus continued to earnestly pray in his heart that an attack never comes.

From right before his eyes, the skyship carrying the Archduke slowly landed on the airfield.

Outside, it looked like a regular skyship, but the interior was brimming with luxurious and magnificent ornaments. The 130 meter long skyship slowly moved towards the apron from the runway and eventually came to a halt.

A metal staircase was then installed on the skyship's doorway.

Spread out beyond the staircase was a red carpet from which beyond stood the executives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military. Kneeling on one of their knees behind them were 3000 elite Imperial Army soldiers. It was a superbly magnificent sight. The military's band played elegant music.

The skyship's door slowly opened and a man stepped outside. His eyes were sharp and his build was bigger than that of the average citizen, standing at more than 185cm tall. The man, whose mother was member of the dignified and glorious Imperial Family of the Holy Darwninan Empire and father was a member of Hashemite royalty, is Ashera Von Granderia. The Commonwealth Army soldiers were deeply moved by the fact that the man standing in front of them was an Archduke, a figure that held so much power and authority, and some of them even shed tears due to their overwhelming joy.

"Thank you for coming to welcome me!"

After the Archduke said some words, he began to descend down the stairs towards the carpet. He walked down the carpet and entered the luxury car prepared for him.

"Alright… Let's go!"

・・・

The skies above Dammam

"Air region 2, clear."

"Roger that. Check air region 3."

Dragon Knight Stabal of the 22nd Dragon Squadron of the Commonwealth of Hashemite's 26th Air Corps finished his task for air region 2 and was moving to air region 3. In order to leave nothing unnoticed, they flew in formations of 33.

The reason for their advance warning flights is the visit of a high rank noble, Archduke Ashera. In the unlikely chance that they were to let enemy fighters or enemy ground forces slip past them, it would be outrageous. They were all fired up more than they would usually be.

It seems that their enemy has introduced a monster called Boeing C-177 ULTRA. Furthermore, most of the frontline soldiers have already grasped that the Dammam port getting attacked may have possibly been due to a surprise attack by human fighters. Due to nervousness brought about by their enemy and the fact that they are the Archduke's shield, he and his comrades were more concentrated than usual.

The sounds of the dragon groaning and the winds getting hit reverberated within the suit of armor.

"Hm?!"

He felt something off about the sky in front of him. Within the next moment, he felt a silhouette close the distance towards them at ultra high-speeds.

A flash of light ran across the vicinity from one of his comrades flying in front of him, engulfing the beast in a fierce explosion.

"W-woah!"

Not understanding what had happened, the terror of a friend suddenly dying ran through his entire body. Stabal's instincts urged him to fire his lightning trident with all his might. He knew there was no reason to do something like that, but he nevertheless gave in to his instincts and fired at the empty sky in front of him.

Zazazatatatatap

High voltage plasma balls were fired forwards followed by the heavy, solid sounds of the air expanding and pushing the plasma out of the tips. In the following moment, another one of his comrades flying above to his right was blown out of the sky after an intense, thunderous sound.

"The enemy attack?!"

He shouted as he kept his left hand firm on the dragon bridle. What happened right after will be considered a miracle in the history of air combat. A plasma ball fired from his lightning trident impacted a PL-15 active radar-guided long range air-to-air missile fired from a Chinese J-86 fighter.

A huge fireball manifested in front of him. Metallic fragments dispersed by the explosion hit his dragon, making it screamed unpleasant sounds. The dragon that had miraculously managed to avoid getting hit by an air-to-air guided missile suddenly turned and dropped. With the dragon's wings broke, Stabal rapidly dove down.

・・・

The skies above Dammam

"Air region 2, clear."

"Roger that. Check air region 3."

Dragon Knight Stabal of the 22nd Dragon Squadron of the Commonwealth of Hashemite's 26th Air Corps finished his task for air region 2 and was moving to air region 3. In order to leave nothing unnoticed, they flew in formations of 33.

The reason for their advance warning flights is the visit of a high rank noble, Archduke Ashera. In the unlikely chance that they were to let enemy fighters or enemy ground forces slip past them, it would be outrageous. They were all fired up more than they would usually be.

It seems that their enemy has introduced a monster called Boeing C-177 ULTRA. Furthermore, most of the frontline soldiers have already grasped that the Dammam port getting attacked may have possibly been due to a surprise attack by human fighters. Due to nervousness brought about by their enemy and the fact that they are the Archduke's shield, he and his comrades were more concentrated than usual.

The sounds of the dragon groaning and the winds getting hit reverberated within the suit of armor.

"Hm?!"

He felt something off about the sky in front of him. Within the next moment, he felt a silhouette close the distance towards them at ultra high-speeds.

A flash of light ran across the vicinity from one of his comrades flying in front of him, engulfing the beast in a fierce explosion.

"W-woah!"

Not understanding what had happened, the terror of a friend suddenly dying ran through his entire body. Stabal's instincts urged him to fire his lightning trident with all his might. He knew there was no reason to do something like that, but he nevertheless gave in to his instincts and fired at the empty sky in front of him.

Zazazatatatatap

High voltage plasma balls were fired forwards followed by the heavy, solid sounds of the air expanding and pushing the plasma out of the tips. In the following moment, another one of his comrades flying above to his right was blown out of the sky after an intense, thunderous sound.

"The enemy attack?!"

He shouted as he kept his left hand firm on the dragon bridle. What happened right after will be considered a miracle in the history of air combat. A plasma ball fired from his lightning trident impacted a PL-15 active radar-guided long range air-to-air missile fired from a Chinese J-86 fighter.

A huge fireball manifested in front of him. Metallic fragments dispersed by the explosion hit his dragon, making it screamed unpleasant sounds. The dragon that had miraculously managed to avoid getting hit by an air-to-air guided missile suddenly turned and dropped. With the dragon's wings broke, Stabal rapidly dove down.

Zoomed over the ocean, just above the water.

There were 20 of them, painted blue to blend in with the color of the sea; they were nearly invisible when looking down from the sky. The 20 J-86 multirole combat aircraft were flying about 20 meters above sea level at Mach 1.9; supersonic. Their main wings were equipped with two anti-ship missiles each. Their objective was to destroy the dragon carriers currently 33 km west of Dammam. Since there were twenty ships in the area, 20 fighters were dispatched in case they all needed to be sunk.

Between the 20 planes, there were forty anti-ship missiles, which was clearly overkill, but they approved the redundancy to ensure they would sink the carriers without fail. An E-767 AWACS was flying in the sky above and behind them and had already identified about 100 enemy units in the sky above the fleet. Those 100 enemy units would be taken care of by the J-100s.

The anti-ship J-86s continued advancing at supersonic speed. Their distance to the enemy fleet quickly shrank, and they had already entered missile range. When they got within 100 km of the fleet, they received the order over the radio from command.

"Fire at will."

The squadron of ten planes fired a total of forty air-launched anti-ship missiles, which blasted towards the dragon carriers of the Holy Empire - Commonwealth of Hashemite Combine Fleet.

・・・

The squadron of 20 planes fired a total of forty air-launched anti-ship missiles, which blasted towards the dragon carriers of the Holy Empire - Commonwealth of Hashemite Combine Fleet.

The dragon carriers of the Holy Empire - Commonwealth of Hashemite Combined Fleet were arranged in a perfect line. To facilitate the arrival and departure of Wyvern Titan Lords, dragon carriers were twice as large as magic ships-of-the-line. The Empire advanced their shipbuilding technology in secret, so it were the only country capable of building dragon carriers. Fleet Vice Admiral Armos nodded contentedly to himself when he surveyed the fleet of dragon carriers, their very presence giving off a sense of might.

"Dragon Knight Captain!" he said to the man standing next to him.

"Yes sir!"

"The Imperial Navy is strong!"

"Yes, I am aware."

"Why do you think we are strong?"

"Because of our comprehensive strength, sir."

"You're exactly right! However, the reason to have pride in our power, even more than our ships-of-the-line or even the formidable Leviathan Titans, the true core of our strength, is our Dragon Carriers. Dragon Carriers allow us to outrange any opponent far beyond the capability of any cannon. Captain, total control of the air means total control of both sea and land. That is what I believe."

"Indeed, sir! That is a very enlightened perspective!"

"The Holy Empire is invincible on the sea because of our Dragon Carrier and Deep Sea Fleet! As long as we have them, the Imperial navy will rule the seven sea! And look! Leading that fleet is our newest, most advanced flagship, the HDES Mille! …How spectacular. It overflows with functional beauty, enough to match its size."

The Mille was built with much more antimagic steel plating than normal, and thus it was the strongest, largest, and most beautiful ship in the combine fleet.

Bwooooh—!

Their chat was interrupted by the alarm sounding from the foremost escort ship. Vice Admiral Armos looked ahead cautiously.

"?! What's that?!"

It was very hard to see, but two large arrows painted blue were flying at the flagship Mille at an astounding speed.

"What… what speed!"

Those "things" skated just above the ocean, sharply turned upwards right before they reached the front of the ship, and finally plunged right into the ship at a diagonal angle from above. The two ASM-3 Kais fired from an J-86, traveling at 3700 km/h, scored direct hits on the dragon carrier fleet's flagship, the Mille.

Ksha!

There was a violent flash… and the Mille was engulfed in light.

Bom… BAAAAA-BAAAAAAM!

The giant flagship become wrapped in an even larger explosion, accompanied by the roaring sound of destruction. Right before Armos's eyes, the anti-ship missiles, which individually had enough firepower to destroy a cruiser, erased the flagship Mille from existence, along with its crew and wyvern lords. The leftover noise from the blast echoed across the water.

"Wha… wha… what the hell?! What just happened?!"

Distress ensued.

"Numerous flying objects are incoming!"

The fleet broke formation, each ship starting to move on its own without orders.

"Aaahh!"

Another flash… and another roar…

"The Fissennuss has been lost!"

The Holy Empire's cutting-edge 150-gun ship-of-the-line Super Fissennuss, sporting the most advanced antimagic steel plating, was the pride of the empire, and it disintegrated into dust after a single attack. Flashes and roars erupted one after another.

"Dragon carrier Ganam, lost! Dragon carrier Masale, lost!"

Tragic reports kept coming in as the mysterious objects kept, without missing even once, blowing up dragon carriers.

"This… this is impossible! The Empire's peerless dragon carrier fleet was, in such a… impossible!"

Vice Admiral Armos worked his brain at full capacity, trying desperately to identify anything in his life experience that could explain what was going on. Nothing from any of his battles was able to help him make sense of what he saw before his eyes.

"Could… could it be…? Are these the human guided bombs?!"

"One's coming for our ship!" the lookout shrieked.

The crew screamed. The vice admiral's flash of insight never went anywhere.

The UEAADF's J-86s and their barrage of anti-ship missiles sank all twenty ships in the Holy Empire's dragon carrier fleet and its gunboat escorts.

・・・

"Air Command; This is...detected...enem...nort..."

"Huh? What?!"

The comms officer noticed that the manacom he uses to regularly contact their patrols was completely busted. With the Dammam base's radar sites destroyed, they rely on radar information communicated to them from the surrounding bases for their anti-air early warning. The manacom, which was supposed to be lively due to regular activity, was completely silent.

Thinking that there's a possibility that it's a malfunction, he tried contacting the forces set up within the base. Pressing the press-to-talk button, he speaks through the microphone in intervals.

"Command to 21st Squadron."

No response.

"Command to 21st Air Squadron."

"…"

"This is command to all units. Please respond if you have intercepted any forces."

Still no response.

"Fuck! Not good!"

Thinking of the possibility that an enemy attack is coming, the comms officer immediately reports to Vice Commander Gaia who was in the same room.

"Vice Commander Gaia! We receipted emergency message from 21st Air Squadron but unable to verify. I'm getting nothing from the manacoms. The possibility that multiple manacoms have failed is exceedingly low, so this must be psionic interference due to tachyonic storm from the recent solar superflare!"

"H-huh?! By the Emperor! The Archduke Ashera is here! We're fucked if we're actually under attack now!"

"Requesting permission to sound the emergency siren!"

"W-wait! The siren might scare the Archduke and if there was actually nothing wrong, we're done for!"

"But! It would be bad if we do nothing knowing that this might be an attack!"

"Use the emergency light signal! the Archduke won't understand what's going on using that!"

"Yes, sir!"

In the event that the siren is broken, the emergency light signal on top of the building flashes, signalling that there's an emergency. The meaning differs by how the light flashes, with the flashing this time signalling the possibility of enemy attack and telling everyone to get into battle stations.

The lights on top of the building all flash red simultaneously, repeating at set intervals. Leaving behind others to welcome the Archduke, the military personnel hurriedly run to their positions.

・・・

Dragon knight squadron leader Baross saw the disaster beneath him and was speechless. The dragon carriers all spontaneously exploded—that was the only possibility that came to mind. He decided to have his squad of 30 dragon knights land back at Dammam.

"Unidentified objects at the front! They're coming right for us!" yelled his subordinate with the best eyes.

Baross squinted his eyes. "What is that?!"

Something that looked like an arrow was coming towards them. It looked like it would pass them by.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Behind him, big bursts of black smoke appeared.

"Huh?!"

Eighteen of the dragon riders in his squadron were shred into pieces, falling out of the sky.

Distress…

He saw two large planes in front of them.

"They're… quick!"

They passed by them high in the sky, so fast they didn't even have time to think, and only after they were already gone did the sound come. Two red flames came out the rear ends.

"They're too fast!"

The rest of the squadron chased after the plane, trying to identify what they were. They could not catch up at all.

"Fire! Fire your javelins!"

Baross and his men threw their S-1 Ajax magic guided explosive javelins towards the enemy planes. Over 100 magic javelins rushed towards their target at Mach 2.25 (2,760 km/h).

The enemy planes suddenly ascended at a speed they couldn't believe, vanishing into the sky causing the magic javelins to lose track. The destructive sky gods promptly turned and pointed back at them, rapidly returning to their position.

"They fired something!"

The squadron moved to evade it. One of the J-100' AIM-125s struck the blue dragon that Baross was riding. He and his men had run out of time to act—they were all hit by air-to-air missiles, blowing them out of the sky.

・・・

The Archduke of the Holy Empire, Ashera Von Granderia, has landed at the Imperial naval port of Dammam. Descending down the flight of stairs attached to the skyship, he was greeted by a thunderous applause as a band started to play music. After emerging in front of the soldiers, they all saluted to Ashera.

One can infer from the simultaneous salute the high amount of discipline the soldiers have.

"Hmph. Just as I expect from the mighty Combined Navy!"

Archduke Ashera mutters as he is guided by base commander Amaranthus to the command room.

"Hm?"

120 dragon fighters were about to take off from the airport. They were mobilized in an emergency since an attack was expected, but the Archduke misunderstood the dragons taking off as a demonstration for his welcome.

"Hoh! As I expected from the elite Commonwealth Air Corps! What a smooth and orderly take off!"

The beautiful takeoff scene captured his attention. Within the next moment, 30 of the dragons that were trying to take off exploded, falling down on the runway, 22 other dragons that were trying to take off got caught up in the following explosion, crashing down producing huge amounts of smoke. Unable to comprehend the sudden and somehow unrealistic scene unfolding in front of his eyes, Ashera froze.

"M-M'Lord! Over here!"

Base commander Amaranthus takes his hand and guides him to the command room which was in a far more robust building.

"Hey! What the hell is happening?!"

"It's an enemy attack! Please, let's hurry!"

His first ever look at the raw battlefield. There was no way they could have saved the knight who were on the dragons that crashed. People die too easily. He has seen with his own eyes the number of people that have died based on reports from the battlefield. He used to think that such one-digit levels of casualties were acceptable.

However, 52 people swiftly perished right in front of his eyes. With their level of skill, they must have done a substantial amount of training. They may have also spent a fair amount of studying to become dragon riders.

They may have also had families of their own.

The Archduke has finally realized what the battlefield is like.

"Is… is this war?! I… I didn't know! Cousin Pina is right! I was foolish!"

Sacrifices needed for the empire to pursue their military rule, whether they be friend or foe, was inevitable.

That's what he thought.

It may have been politically correct, but with the absurdity of death that has happened before his very eyes being limited to simply being sacrificed for the empire and recorded in reports as the number "52", his heart may not have been moved at all.

Reason and emotions mixed. Unfinished thoughts run across Ashera's heart.

Intense, unrelenting explosions continued to successively emerge from the runway.

"Fuck!"

No…! Is this what it's like to fear getting killed?

Anti-air ballistas fired S-2 Dvina magic guided explosive javelins into the sky, drawing bright lines of light throughout the heavens. The siren has sounded throughout the base, fully mobilizing every soldier.

Base commander Amaranthus and Archduke Ashera enter the robust underground command room inside the base's command building. Even if the radio were to be unusable, the command room is lined with messenger tubes towards the other encampments, allowing them to maintain contact.

They started gathering information on the base's situation. A periscope-like installment in the command room allows them to directly see what's happening outside. The sounds of explosions from the outside echo relentlessly within the command room, adding to the dread.

"All AAA emplacements are silenced!"

"All dragons within the stables are destroyed!"

"Heavy equipment and anti-tank units are all destroyed!"

"The hangars containing the mobile AA ballistas have all collapsed from the heavy bombing!"

"Base manacom station was bombed! Our manacom is gone!"

Multiple hopeless reports came in. They were quickly losing their fangs to counterattack.

Amaranthus desperately thought of something.

"Contact the regular units! We have the Archduke right here. Get them to get down to the vicinity of the underground room and tell them to strengthen our defenses!"

"Yes, sir!"

The orders are swiftly passed along.

The intense bombing more or less ended and silence almost immediately took reign over the atmosphere in the command room.

"The first wave seems to have wrapped up. Get me damage reports!"

At Amaranthus's commands, damage reports flooded in. Manacom, AA ballistas, dragons, artillery, heavy equipment, and mobile AA ballistas were all destroyed. A bombing unparalleled in accuracy; the same as last time.

"Incoming reports from lookouts! The second wave is approaching! They're all helicopters! We're counting more than… 300 helicopters!"

"Say that again?! Shit! They've really gone serious now… But 300?! Do they plan to make this place a wasteland?!"

Sending over 300 planes to attack a small base… the Human is serious…

"Hey! What's going on?!"

Unable to keep his anxiety in check, The Archduke Ashera Von Granderia asks Amaranthus.

"M'Lord, this command room is a fortress buried into the earth. Even if the base above were to be laid to waste due to bombings, we are safe here."

"I-I see… My bad. Carry on…"

"Yes, sir!"

The GBU-57A/B bunker buster bombs dropped by human B-36 bombers whistled as they fell. The sounds of explosions, as well as sounds of 40 mm autocannon fire from Lockheed AC-130 W gunships continued on, sending unpleasant vibrations into the command room. The sounds of helicopter engines, which usually didn't bother them, now terrified them to their souls.

"Are we really just going to let this pass?"

Amaranthus muttered. As if replying to him, one of the officers in the command room speaks up to him.

"Commander! Dammam's air cover isn't limited to the airpower we had! We don't know the situation since we lost our radio, but our Commonwealth Air Corps will soon shoot these biplanes out of the sky!"

"…How naive."

"M'lord ?!"

"I said that that's naive! Our air units have been shot down in the first attack and what dragons we had have all been destroyed too. It's proof that our air cover from other bases have also been wiped out. If anything, it's extremely likely that all of our dragons from other bases have been completely shot down. All we can really do now is stand firm and not rely on reinforcements."

A sensation of tragic heroism envelops the command room.

Amaranthus continues.

"Fortunately, the command room is so robust, it might as well be an underground fortress. It won't yield from a bombing of this caliber. Orders were also sent out to the regular units to retreat underground. However, as for those on top…"

The hopelessness that the base will be wiped out and the reassurance that the place that they're in is safe mixed together. Complicated emotions were filling all their hearts. The seemingly endless sounds of explosions ceased as enemy bombers left the area.

Silence wraps the command room.

"What's the situation outside?"

"I can't get hold of the lookouts."

"Is it that desperate? Can we verify the number of regular troops that managed to evacuate underground?"

"We're currently verifying. I think there are roughly 550 of them."

"Wha-! We've lost so much… What exits remain unfazed?"

"We're still verifying, but Sectors 12, 18, and 24 all have working exits. Also, we haven't been able to ascertain any damages to the tunnels leading outside the base, but all of them are still up."

"We're still expecting more attacks. Get the best among the regulars and form a unit of 30 to escort the Archduke out of the base through the emergency tunnels!"

"Yes, sir!"

Orders were transmitted to the letter and the selection for the escort unit has begun.

Amaranthus turns to Archduke Ashera.

"M'Lord, I am truly sorry for showing you such a disgraceful appearance. However, allow us to place utmost priority on your life and protect you. We have started to form an escort unit to help you evacuate out of the base using the emergency tunnels. Will that be alright?"

Prioritizing the Archduke's life, Amaranthus tells Ashera with a little directness.

"Y-yes… Thank you. The formation of the unit will take time, yes? Before it's done, I want to see the current state of the base with my own eyes. I will head up top for a bit."

Amaranthus froze at the completely unexpected reply.

"Please wait! The Army currently doesn't have air superiority! We are in a state wherein we cannot deal with sudden attacks from the sky! We cannot let something unexpected happen to M'Lord! Your evacuation is our priority!"

"I'm sorry, but I… As an Archduke, I have an obligation to verify with my own eyes the raw battlefield and the way of life of those that fight and give their lives for the sake of the empire's citizens. Even if my life is in danger, I have a duty to see the defenders that desperately tried to fight for the citizens!"

"Lord Ashera, please reconsider!"

"Thank you, but I will return with haste."

It is not only your life at stake! The heads of all the military officials are at stake as well!

Amaranthus swallowed the words that were just about to come out

"Well then, I will go as well."

The Archduke, Amaranthus, and the other base officers emerged from the underground command room to take a look at the nearly destroyed base.

・・・

The dirty door of the entrance that was slightly protruding from the ground opened and some men slowly emerged from the entrance. After some of them had gone out and verified that it was safe, the Archduke of the Holy Empire, Ashera Von Granderia, ascended from the entrance.

"Wha-! Is this… war…?"

Clusters of what were once buildings lay burning and demolished, with some of what had remained being littered with holes. The runway was completely destroyed, with the Commonwealth dragon fighters that had once boasted powerful strength now burning on top of it. The bigger buildings have more or less crumbled under the bombing. Ashera felt the heat from the thick hot air that arose from all the fire on his cheeks.

Looking around, what may have once been people lie scattered here and there. Those that were reduced to ashes and those that no longer looked humanoid truly described the scene as hellish.

There weren't any other responding people in sight. Dammam, having suffered casualties to the point of annihilation, ceased to function as a base, with some ruins scattered here and there.

Roaaar!

They heard a sudden, frightening roar. Within the following moment, lines of fire erupted towards the sky, followed by light sounds of cannon fire.

"Survivors?!"

They looked towards the ends of the lines of fire that emanated from the building.

"Wha-!"

The 78mm shells fired from Vicker Rapid Fire Cannon were flying towards something that looked like a steel dragonfly. In return, the dragonfly unleashed a salvo of flame guided bullet. Several flame bullets landed directly on where the shells came from, enveloping the place in flames.

"What the hell…"

There were helicopters flying all across the sky. There weren't just one or two, but more than 100 helicopters were circling the skies above the base. It was a terrifyingly shocking sight.

"Commander! Lord Ashera! Please get back underground!"

The helicopters that were flying in the sky didn't seem to have noticed them yet. However, it was still an extremely dangerous place. A soldier looking out from the opposite side of the building catches the Archduke's attention.

"5 aircraft approaching from the west!"

Legatus Amaranthus immediately moves to a place from where he can see them.

"W-what are those?!"

With Amaranthus in shock, Ashera joins him to take a look.

"A-are those…?!"

The aircraft had enormous airframes like an ancient dragon and they made an unfamiliar high-pitched sound. Their size betrayed their expectations and they moved at a terribly fast speed. These planes must be at least 300 meters wide.

"I-it's so big and fast! Those are human planes ?!"

Ashera, which had completely stood up in the open, was approached by soldiers.

"Hurry! Please evacuate now!"

Planes and helicopter all flew in the sky. The soldiers irritatedly urged the officers and the Archduke to evacuate.

At speeds that betrayed their common sense, the aircraft reached the skies above the base and suddenly dropped in speed.

"They might start bombing! Hurry!"

By the time that Amaranthus and Ashera started to run for the entrance, several white flowers bloomed across the sky. As the aircraft circled, flowers successively opened up in the sky. A marvelous and eye-catching sight.

"T-they're tanks! heavy paratroopers?! They're sending ground troops now?!"

The 106th Airborne Division of the Russian Airborne Forces conducted a parachute drop around the vicinity of the base. Their numbers slowly increased.

They promptly ran back down to the underground command room as fast as they could.

The Holy Darwinian Empire was also in possession of heavy paratrooper units in its Air Force. So he knew, parachuting heavy units from the sky was dangerous and required lots of practice that mean those that can conduct parachute drops must be experts in air to ground warfare. In short, those are the enemy's elite units.

・・・

As jets danced around the sky, 5 Boeing C-177 ULTRA transport planes flew past them. From all 5 of these gigantic aircrafts, the Russian 106th Armored Airborne Division and their Type-47 tanks parachuted down into the base below. If there were any enemies left in the base, the helicopters would burn them to ashes with their missiles. Eventually, several of lighter transport planes appeared in the skies above the base, opening up even more white flowers throughout the sky.

After a successful parachute drop, Yuri of the Russian 106th Armored Airborne Division swiftly moved to position to ensure his safety. His movements were nimble and synchronized due to numerous training sessions, allowing his exoskeleton armor to bring along heavy equipment without difficulty. There were no longer any enemies within his vicinity, with the strong stench of burning earth brought about by the airstrikes and flame bullets stinging his nose. He quietly scanned the area for any enemies that may have survived the previous onslaughts.

With hardly any resistance, their deployment concluded far more smoothly than expected.

"We have confirmation on the entrance to the underground. Breaching in 18 seconds. Team A, advance to point B2!"

With the utilization of bone conduction earphones, orders are promptly transmitted without making extra noise. Without making much noise, they proceeded to advance to the entrance.

・・・

An unpleasant explosion sound echoes across the command room.

"Door No. 12 has been breached!"

"The enemy is here! Maximum caution!"

"W-what the?! Is this-Ack! Is this poison gas-Argh!"

The manacom continues to blast out messages within the command room.

"We've lost contact with Squad 6!"

"We've ordered Squad 7 to brace for contact!"

"What's going on?!"

Ashera worrily turns to Amaranthus.

"We're still grasping the situation."

Ashera was clearly standing in the way, preventing Amaranthus from making precise orders. Amaranthus could barely hide his irritation.

"We've lost contact with Squad 7!"

"Squad 9 is unresponsive!"

"Fuck! They're advancing too fast! How are they doing this so easily?!"

The sound of occasional explosions could now be heard in the command room. With the enemy closing in, the fear of death rapidly engulfs the room.

The troops of the Commonwealth of Hashemite are not weak. They are basically elite troops with a high-level of skill. However, the enemy were moving so quickly on the infantry level by knocking the opposing force with poison gas, anti-tank guided missiles and loitering munition that it felt like it hardly mattered whether the Commonwealth Army troops had weapons or not. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They didn't even know how many enemy troops there were, but their takeover continued unabated.

"We've lost contact with Squad 19."

Despite the Commonwealth troops lying in wait, concealed in the dark, the enemy advanced as if they weren't there at all.

"Why?! Why are we losing even at the infantry level?!"

They couldn't understand.

"Your Grace! The troops are ready! Please evacuate now using the emergency tunnels!

Oi! Come here and accompany His Grace!"

Without hearing Ashera's response, Amaranthus decides for him. As if they were shooed away, the soldiers grabbed Ashera's hand and made haste for the emergency exit.

Base commander Amaranthus closes his eyes and says something to himself in a soft voice.

"This is it, huh… I guess my life amounted to nothing…"

In the following moment, the command room's door blew open with a bang, followed by something being tossed inside. A horribly intense light lit up the command room, making the people inside subconsciously clutch their faces.

That something was Strobe grenade - The nervous system was a very interesting thing; it could be affected by a variety of inputs; for example; wavelengths of light projected along certain frequencies and at certain durations could cause paralysis and epilepsy-like fits in target.

Legatus Amaranthus, too, fell from the unbearable intensity. His sense of sight and hearing were done for. Having temporarily lost his awareness, Amaranthus, who had fallen on his back, returns to his senses.

"!"

A person wearing green armor and a helmet had their .75 calibre M47 boltgun pointed at him. With a chilling voice, they gave him a single command.

"Hands in the air!"

Descended upon him was a fear of death; something he had never felt before. He felt that if he didn't surrender now, the man in front of him would mercilessly pull the trigger. This was the impression that he felt.

"So this is it… I surrender. Don't shoot me… monsters…"

Amaranthus raised his hands.

On this day, the command room of the Holy Empire's Dammam naval base fell under enemy control and the base as a whole followed suit.

・・・

"Hah… Hah… Why?! Why are the Commonwealth troops losing?!"

Ashera continued to run through the darkness of the emergency tunnel. His heart beated as though it were about to burst and he was out of breath. He felt as though he were suffocating.

However, he imagined the thought of being captured by the enemy. These people hold a lot of grudge against the Empire. Once they realize he's an Archduke, they might tear him from limb to fear of death drove him beyond his limits. As he ran out of breath, sweat accumulated on his face and body.

Thoughts ran throughout his head.

"We don't know what will happen if you go to the frontlines! Please reconsider!"

He remembers the face of an assistant that desperately tried to stop him from going to Dammam.

"Don't go to that lightly defensed harbor. They will have to spare the manpower they dont have just to prepare for the visit of an Archduke. If you want to see the war, come to Italica Fortress with me. We have better defense there."

His younger cousin, Pina Co Lada, also tried to stop him.

Shaking it off and pushing forward his own thoughts, he ended up where he is at this moment.

He had the chance to turn back. He was advised to do so countless times. However, in the end, he ended up coming to the frontlines. He had believed that his visit was for the sake of the soldiers… For the his Fatherland… In reality, all his visit had done was get in the way of the soldiers' jobs with the possibility of him getting killed in the event an enemy country captured him. There was also the chance that instead of killing him, they'd undoubtedly use him as an extremely valuable diplomatic card.

With their victories against the enemy in Alnus, he had ended up looking down on the enemy. Even if he were to be sorry for and regret his past self being so stubborn, he couldn't wind back time.

"Hah… Hah… Hah…"

Out of breath, laden in sweat, and his legs worn out, he had come to the point where he complained that he couldn't run any longer. Still, with the fear that death would catch up to him if he stopped, he forced his legs to move with all his might.

The Commonwealth of Hashemite's ground troops had lost.

This was proof that there exists someone among the enemy forces that possess skill and equipment that surpass their own. Up to now, he, and most the of the Hashemite's nobles never imagined that those same troops would lose to someone else. Thank the 13 Gods that the Divine Emperor and his imperial cousin were much smarter than he was, otherwise the damage to the Empire would have been catastrophic. While Ashera suffered as he ran beyond his limits, he was calmly analyzing the enemy in one nook of his mind.

"M'Lord, over here!"

They had finally reached a flight of stairs leading up to a door which one of the soldiers opened.

"Ah!"

Having grown accustomed to the darkness and the faint light of their flashlights, their eyes were enveloped by sunlight, taking all of them aback. As he slowly got himself used to the blinding light, Ashera stepped out of the door.

They emerged in the middle of the forest around 13 km away from the base with no enemies in sight. With trees blocking their line of sight, they couldn't grasp the situation in the air and of the base. Looking in the direction of the mountains, they sighted a small rocky hill.

"We might be able to get a better view from there…"

Climbing up the rocky hill, Ashera tried to verify the state of the base. The Commonwealth Army soldiers were ultimately soldiers and so they knew in their hearts they couldn't bring themselves to suggest that the Archduke's actions were dangerous or that they couldn't curtail the Archduke from doing as he pleased. In the end, they too accompanied the Archduke and climbed up the rocky hill to look at their surroundings.

"Huh?! What the-!"

The base was engulfed in flames. He turns to look up at the sky.

Dozens of large-sized airplane flew in the skies dropping several thousands more parachuted troopers on top of the port city. Accompanying them were hundreds of attack helicopters and several hundred tanks.

"The enemy has gone all out!"

From the base's expanse, the amount of personnel and equipments the enemy deployed was nothing short of excessive, showing that they are serious with capturing the port.

"Alright. We gotta survive first."

Ashera and several Commonwealth Army soldiers began to move to try to survive.

---

April 2030 , The Crystal Palace, Italica, Lemuria, Falmart

Population: 800 thousand (Immanity), 200 thousand (Demi-Humans), 100,000 troops, 2 million homunculus slave.

Type: Fortress City, Imperial Province Capital

Allegiance: Holy Darwinian Empire

The Crystal Palace, the symbol of Formal noble family and the practical embodiment of the clan itself. A giant complex made of white walls, spires that reached the heavens, and a massive dome over the center of the building that was embedded with various different Jewels that gave it a sky-blue color and sparkled in the embrace of the suns rays. It housed a university, government administration building that handled taxes and the running of the providence, a prestigious hospital, one of the largest libraries on the sub-continent and an observatory. This was a center of learning, and the seat of government power.

Numerous inventions like the telescope, advent of gunpowder (Which had limited use in this Renaissance-like world), and sextant were either made here or got their name after it was promoted here. But beyond all of that, it had a primary function. It was the home of the Formal Family, Army Group Kama and the Italica Bunker Complex. The seat of the Count, and the symbol of a more extensive Empire.

In front of the building was a giant nearly 100-acre plaza, decked with trees, sculptures of various figures, fountains, and a giant crystal ball that sat in the middle of a pond right in the middle lining perfectly with the entrance to the Palace. The Crystal, combined with the dome on the Palace proper, gave the Crystal Palace its name. It was the tallest building in the entire city of Italica, a sprawling metropolis home to well over a million. It was an entrepot of global trade, located right at the junction of the River Avalon and the River Danube. The Avalon river continuing to the West bringing trade-in from the numerous kingdoms and fiefdoms there, and the Danube river going North-East towards the Bastenlands. An old rival of the Formals.

The Palace was busy, the 5th Imperial Princess Pina Co Lala decided to call court into session and people from all over the land came. Well the rich aristocratic elites and military leaders did, the working class and the slaves of the Empire did not.

The sound of a crowd chatting away seemed to wash over the atmosphere like a wave about to crash on a beach. Slow, rhythmic, yet indiscernible, and loud. It was the official meeting of the Royal Defense Council. All the continent richest nobles and aristocrats, merchants, the clergy, and other elites of Lemuria met here. There was a dominant issue amongst the elite today, as they talked nervously. Exchanging rumors and gossip, some of it was factual and based on solid ground. Others were just myths and conspiracies formed in the recesses of the imagination.

The otherworlders had caused fear, humans with beasts of iron and magical lights were building up a railway system. The Imperial army down the Alnus Region had raised concern about them, sending reconnaissance units to study them from afar.

"Is it really a ship railway?" Asked one of the Lemurian noblewomen talking to her other countrymen.

"The human army might be trying to establish a navy presence on the Lemurian Coast!" Said a rich Aristocrat.

"Nonsense, we beat those heretics in the Great Battle of Alnus! They wouldn't dare try to build a naval base ton the coast of this peninsula!" Said a third aristocrat.

"Order! The Fifth Princess of Darwinia, Her Imperial Highness, Lord Protector of the Realm, Princess Pina Co Lala and the Fifteenth Princess of Darwinia, Katerina Tsaristla Volga La Romanoff have arrived!" A royal knight dressed in flamboyant armor and colors shouted, calling the attention of the people and silencing them.

Two figures entered the room, the crowd parting to make way for them. They walked slowly through the court hall and sat upon the thrones at the front. The windows letting in beams of light that shone down upon them. Pina and Katerina sat upon the two thrones at the front of the Royal Court looking out at their subjects with authority. They commanded respect, at least some kind.

"What is the meaning of this commotion?" Princess Pina bellowed, looking out at her subjects, "All this morning I'm assaulted by letters and demands that I call a court to session! Now somebody explain to me at once!"

A small pause, and then one brave soul spoke, "Your Highness …" Pina turned to look at the person who addressed her, "Under your order we started to evacuate civilians population back to the mainland but our subjects in the Alnus Region report about a railway system is being built to transport the enemy naval assets here; your cousin Archduke Ashera also reported that the enemy had captured the Port of Dammam; this might lead to a naval blockade around Lemuria. The people worry that they might get stuck behind the enemy line."

It was a wolf demi-human who had addressed her, a timber wolf knight, dressed in his black armor. The depiction of the Darwinian Twin Dragons, a golden sword amongst a scarlet shield, lay upon his breastplate. His name was Sir Tyrone, a wealthy and affluent Generalissimus in the west, who held a lot of prestige.

"So the enemy wants to trap us here," Pina commented "And what are our possible courses of action?" The Princess asked.

Tyrone raised his eyebrows, and shrugged a little, "Good question, Your Highness. The enemy are focusing on building up their navy to blockade Lemuria and launch a maritime invasion on the mainland. But I assure you that our supply lines won't be affected thanks to the new Hardy portal system we just installed in the Italica Bunker Complex. With this new magic portal system we can ensure Your Highness safety in case of emergency, and about the evacuation of civilian population, I already contacted with the naval task force 36 and 45 to assist the evacuation effort."

"I'm not asking how to escape, Lord Tyrone, I'm asking you what should we do about the enemy?" Princess Pina asked angrily.

"Your Highness, our air force has been redeployed back to the motherland to prevent enemy air raid, we don't have enough forces to support a large land attack. I suggest we should wait for a month until we can amassed enough A-9 magic missiles to launch a massive rocket Blitz on to the enemy naval base."

"To let the enemy building up their navy and possibly gain an advantage over us is not something I think would be in the best of our interests," Count Woody interrupted. Woody was a Draconian, a descendant of an old Dragon Warrior tribe in the heartlands that the Empire had annexed. And like his predecessors, he was a keen tactician. Absolutely merciless on the battlefield. He was a blind nationalist, letting his love of the Empire sometimes get in the way of making good decision. And he hated Tyrone and Tyrone likewise.

Pina looked at him with a smile, "Count Woody. Do you have a solution?"

Woody smiled, "Of course I do, Your Highness. It's true that we don't have enough troops for a counterattack, but we have other ways to neutralize the enemy base."

"And that is?"

"Nerve gases."

Princess Katerina interrupted, "Lord Woody, don't you think that is a little bit rash? The Majesty order was to hold this place, I think we should focus on-"

"I think it's a magnificent idea, Woody," The Fifth Princess said dismissing her sister's claim.

"Pina, you have to think about things before you rush headfirst into them!" Katerina warned, "Think of the consequences-"

"I know about the consequences, Kate," Pina called her by her nickname "But, think about the consequences if we wait, the enemy will secure a foothold on our ocean. This is a gamble we must take."

"But father said-"

"That we need to defend this Peninsula," Pina interrupted "And I'm doing exactly that. This is war, little sister, you need to be more flexible, not doing everything exactly by the books."

She continued, "My little Sister, you don't understand what it means to be at war just yet. Not quite knowledgeable enough to understand what it means to take advantage of a situation while it is presenting itself in the face, this is a high risk high reward situation. You are too soft Katerina," Pina said.

A berated Katerina resigned, a little red in the face. Even though she was a Princess, she wasn't in power. She knew her older sister probably wouldn't harm her just for challenging her ideas, but the last thing she needed was to get on her bad side.

"Your Highness, using nerve gas will escalate this conflict to an unimaginable level." Tyrone objected, unleasing weapon of mass destruction would invite retaliation in kind.

"That is unadvoidable in a total war like this, Lord Tyrone. We need to seize the initiative." Woody stated. "We're only using them as area denial weapon on high value military target so it's perfectly fair."

"Woody, you are a brilliant tactician. Tyrone, you are older and more worn out," Tyrone cringed a little at the statement while Woody beamed, "Perhaps you aren't as sharp as you once were under my fathers reign. This battle is extremely important to our Empire, and my father had always wanted to strike first. But I understand your worry; we only need to deny the enemy the port, not kill the troops there; therefor I'll launch a diversion attack to lure the enemy away from the port when the attack happen. So I am going to send you, Count Woody, to command the 58th Praetorian Guards Army to attack the enemy railway to lure them out and test their strength. Your force will be supported by the 3rd Elbe Army and the Alguna Iron Army. Understood?" The Princess said to Woody. The dragonfork smirked and nodded his head.

"Of course my Princess, I won't fail."

"Count Podawan."

"Yes, Your Imperial Highness."

"You are the best Dragon Knight we have, you shall lead the Imperial Night Fury Corps to support Count Woody in his attack."

"Yes, Your Imperial Highness. It will be my honor."

"Count Ingenoh."

"Yes, Your Imperial Highness."

"You shall lead the Imperial 77th Fleet to lure the enemy ship out of their port."

"Yes, Your Imperial Highness. It will be my honor."

"I trust you will bring us great victory, Lord Podawan, Lord Ingenoh. Court dismissed."

The audience in the court stood up and began to mill about. Some of the merchants and aristocrats stood around chatting with each other to secure private deals, clergymen hurriedly rushed off to lead church services, civil servants counted numbers on sheets of paper and scrutinized over each and every last decimal. It was a hub of learning and communication. It was the court where people came to get any real work done, and was one of the largest public gathering halls.

It was used when the Lord Governor of the Land called it into session or not. It didn't matter, it was as open as a park. The only times when the Lord Governor called it into session was if the people who attended had a unified concern they wanted the Lord Governor to make a decision on, which wasn't too often.

---

Late April 2030, Talifa Plain, Lemuria Peninsula, Falmart

For a long time the UEADF had realized the important of building up a massive naval presence in Falmart to dominate this alien world's oceans and support the ground invasion of the mainland. But the Gate connected to Alnus hill, an area over 600km inland, the cost of transporting and reassembling the global naval fleet piece by piece was enormous. So they built : the Suez Ship Railway system (a 400 miles-long, 12-track ship-railway).

XXXXXXX

Suez Ship Railway : the Suez Ship Railway project a 12-track ship-railway was first proposed in 2025 by notable civil engineer James B. Eads III as a means to transport warships across the Lemuria sub-continent from the Gate to the Indyjski ocean, shortening the time of waiting for naval deployment by avoiding the necessity of ship-reassemble. At first a canal had been proposed but financing was proving difficult to secure. James B. Eads the Third submitted his proposal to the Global Security Council in 2026.

The length of the whole line will be about 500 miles from Alnus Base to Indyjski Ocean. Beginning on the Earthside, the route will start from the Bay of Tokyo, the ships sailing up the Gate to Alnus Base, a distance of about 5 miles. From Alnus Base there extends for about 140 miles an alluvial plain having an underlying stratum of heavy, tenacious clay. In the elevation and ridges clay loam and sand are found. Next comes an undulating table land, and then irregular mountain spurs of the main Cordilleras, that run through the entire continent, making at this point one of the most marked depressions to be found in its whole length. From this basin the line passes through a valley formed by a small stream to the plains of Talifa, where is situated the summit of the line. This is 700 feet above low tide. After traversing these plains, the Pass of Talifa is reached. This is the most accessible of the many passes in this depression in the mountain chain. From here the line gradually sinks to the Indyjski Ocean, reaching the plains on this side 500 miles distant from Alnus Base.

In the case of a ship weighing 50,000 tons, each of the 50 lines of rams would, of course, be called to sustain a burden of exactly 1000 tons and these lines being placed at equal distances the one from the other, it will readily be seen that the ship's weight is equally distributed. The weight and displacement of the vessel is learned from the pressure gauge on the hydraulic pump.

The atomic locomotives for hauling the ship carriage over the Suez railway will not differ from those in ordinary use, except that they will have about twice the traction power of the most powerful atomic locomotives that run on ordinary railroads. The big freight engines of the day have no difficulty, as we know, in drawing freight trains of a total of 16,000 tons; and as they ship carriage moves along three tracks it would be easy, if such a course were necessary, to place three locomotives in front of it and three behind. The time estimated for crossing from Earth to Falmart's ocean is only 18 hours.

XXXXXXX

Understanding the important of the Ship Railway for the invasion plan, Allied Ground commander Guy Simonds ordered that the effort to protect the Suez Ship Railway would be taken over by the U.S. 3rd Army under Lieutenant General Tommy Kennedy. Built out of the U.S III Armored Corps, the 1st Canadian Mobile Heavy Infantry Division, the 7th British Armored Division, and the 6th Australian Armored Division. The 3rd Army was the first full Army Group that the Americans had organized on the Peninsula. Allied air commander Rehman Singh Krishnan also ordered that Allied air forces make the Suez Ship Railway a tactical priority.

As the Allies moved forces into position to protect the Suez Ship Railway system, the Imperial Command also began to move forces into the Talifa Plain region, The last two fully undamaged National Army formations, including the Elbe Army assigned to the Tanska region, an Alguna Iron Army, and the 58th Praetorian Guards Army were all ordered into the Talifa Plain region. Imperial records clearly indicate that the entire Imperial leadership, all the way up to Princess Pina, believed that Talifa was the anvil where the Allied naval effort would be pounded to bits.

The U.S. 3rd Army under Lieutenant General Tommy Kennedy formed two long columns of combat and supply vehicles, and they advanced along the gravel road.

The coarse tires of the heavy trucks filled the air with dust, drawing a veil over Talifa Plain.

Said dust blackened the skin where it mixed with the sweat beading it, and it was hard just to keep their eyes open.

However, the men were in high spirits.

They held their rifles and faced forward, their backs held ramrod straight. Their combat steel boots pounded with broad strides, and the servicemen were filled with energy.

Everyone present understood that these Ship Railway would be very important in the fight against the Holy Empire.

"After this, this world ocean will be our."

"After it's done, we can encircle this entire peninsula."

"We'll stop the Imperial reinforcement to this peninsula once and for all."

Everyone had their own thoughts on the matter, and their own reasons to fight. It fuelled their fighting spirit, and it seemed as though Talifa was on fire from the heat steaming off them.

Tommy watched from afar the giant train carrying some of the most powerful battleships on the planet to the Poseidon Naval Base. Poseidon Naval Base, expanded from the former Dammam Naval Base was the third largest naval base in Falmart; it was rebuilt in a record time of 14 days.

Poseidon Naval Base was the United Earth Alliance Maritime Defense Force headquarters and home port of the UEAMDF Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation covered an area of approximately 40 km2. With the massive concentration of Earth Navy forces through 175 ships alongside with 1340 aircraft, this was truly a formidable base, but this was nothing compared to the future naval concentration, at full capacity, Poseidon would operate more than 1000 ships of the "Earth Alliance Grand Fleet".

"The Super Yamato-class Guided-Missile Battleship." Tommy said with admiration."95,000 tones of steel, nine 51 cm Type 3 Advanced Gun System (AGS) canon with nuclear shells, 60 MK 57 Peripheral Vertical Launching System, 6 Mark 32 triple nuclear torpedo tubes, twelve 203 mm precision guided artillery. Those metal beasts have enough firepower to leveled an entire country."

The U.S. 3rd Army today mission was to escort 50 warships including 3 of these guided missiles battleships to the Poseidon Naval Base all in one piece. Tommy needed to make sure those ships were safe and sound or he would clear toilet for the rest of his military career.

"Recheck all the surrounding areas, make sure there won't be any surprise ahead of us, I don't want even a paint scratch on those Beast before they launch." He commanded.

"Commander, report enemy activities on the East . They are moving this way just. Waiting for your order, Sir."

"So, they finally came, take them long enough !" Tommy said amusingly.

"Commence operations!"

Lieutenant General Tommy Kennedy's commands were carried to the various battle groups of the U.S. 3rd Army.

"Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo,Tango, Uniform, Victor!"

After receiving the coded signal to begin operations, the combat groups started moving.

"Good. Advance!"

Dirt and dust curled up into the air, and columns of armored vehicles blanketed the land even as helicopter squadrons blotted out the sky, each heading toward their respective objectives to conduct their assaults.

・・・

First, the UEAADF's Tu-688 penetrated deep into the territory controlled by pro-Empire force. At an altitude of 20,000 meters, their multi-sensor, electro-optical targeting pods began to take aim.

"Targets locked, unload the payload."

Their high-explosive precision-guided bunker-buster bombs shattered the enemy underground fortress' defenses and destroyed all bridges save the ones which would be used for the advance, while napalm bombs consumed field camps in roaring flames.

"Gram 1, this is FO, all targets hit."

"Copy, return to base."

Although six Tu-688s alone were not enough, they unloaded all their firepower with the benefit of intricately plotted bombing courses, severing communications and transport lines while ensuring aerial supremacy with the help of 300 J-86 air superiority fighters.

The troops in their barracks were still going about their daily lives. Thus, before they even knew the attack had begun, they were killed by falling rocks and logs or engulfed in an supersonic shockwave and an incredibly high temperature from the sky, while the survivors were cut off from supplies and completely isolated.

The next wave of attack was heralded by the sky-shattering thunder of heavy artillery shells.

"This is Gotema FDC, all batteries, IMC in effect, 200 rounds, HE, over."

"Commence fire!"

"Fire!"

Impact.

The earth shook violently as wall of dust flew into the air. Stone walls were breached and the soldiers scurried around, looking for safe places to hide from 240mm HE shells. The whole area was soon engulfed in fire, massive conflagrations reached high into the sky.

"Gotema FDC; This is Butler 1; Adjust fire."

"Gotema FDC; Last rounds, Fire! "

"Impact - Now."

Thus, the last of the barracks were destroyed. Anyone who had witnessed this and was unlucky enough to remain alive then gazed upon the shapes of a horde of iron war elephants.

"Here they came !"

The vanguard of the U.S. 3rd Army was composed of Type-92 Chamberlain main battle tanks. The thunderous roar of their advance ignited the already-fire up fighting spirit of the beleaguered troops before them.

The words "You Fucking Bastards" shone brightly in their minds.

・・・

The 1st armored regiment set off at first light when they encountered a carefully sited ambush consisting of a 6 Lindwurm in trenched in position and four of the fearsome 12,8-inch DP guns that the Allies had previously only encountered in fixed fortifications and Praetorian Bunker Complexes in a wooded area near Riqueband.

The Imperial Army lack of advance anti-tank weapons like Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) or even HEAT shells instead they used giant naval 12,8-inch (325 mm) capped armor-piercing shell with ballistic cap (APCBC) to fight Earth's heavy tanks.

"Hold your fire!"

Showing considerable discipline the Imperial forces waited until the tank vanguard had closed to 300 meters of the wood line before opening fire.

"Fire!"

In minutes the brigade had lost 4 Type-92 Chamberlain as well as 11 Type-47 Sheridan and 8 T-15 Armatas Heavy IFV (The Russian T-15 is based on the T-14 tank hull, with its engine relocated to the front to accommodate a passenger compartment in the rear, which adds the engine as a type of shield against frontal hits; passenger capacity is estimated at between seven and nine troops.

At 48 tons, the vehicle is slightly heavier than the T-90 main battle tank. It has several features, including a built-in entrenching blade and the T-14's numerous cameras and sensors) to Imperial Land Dragons (Land Dragon, also known as Lindwurm, is a terrestrial wingless dragon used by the Empire as living flame tanks.), 12,8 inches anti-armored guns and 480mm rockets.

Simply put the 1st armored regiment ceased to exist, taking over 85% casualties, with the 6th Australian Armored advance stopped dead in its tracks. The balance of the day was spent combing out Imperial troopers from spider holes and out of underground bunkers, a costly task mainly assigned to the Royal Hussars who suffered some 12 KIA and 25 WIA before the small woods was declared secured.

The eventual destruction of the four 12,8 inches guns, their prime movers and four of the six Lintwurm land dragons (3 killed by RAF J-100 fighter-bombers as the beasts attempted to withdraw) was a poor payment on account.

This ambush was only the first of a series of similar costly fights between carefully hidden Imperial rear guard units and Allied forces across the entire Allied line of advance. Units would make huge gains, then suddenly, seemingly at random, find themselves in fights for their lives at the edge of a wooded area, on the main road leading through a village, or at a river ford. Allied losses multiplied, while losses to Praetorian Guards and National units were far smaller, despite the fanatical nature of the fighting by these rear guard units.

・・・

The angered Imperial commanders watched as the enemy tanks advanced toward them as if they were heading into unclaimed territory. Looks of contempt grew on their faces.

"Send out the Titan Armored Ogres! Night Fury units, take aim from above!"

XXXXXXX

Night Fury is the strongest version of Dragons that created by the Holy Empire to counter Earth's aircraft. They are far larger and stronger than Wind wingspan of the Night Fury is more than 27 meters (90–100 ft.). It can even exceed 33 meters. Its wings are composed of individual finned members that can separate to act as a slotted airfoil, or overlap and seal to form a solid surface. When separated, they can rotate individually to induce or retard vortex formation. These finned members are not unlike the primary feathers of many Terran birds. The Night Fury is the fastest known dragons. It is said to reach speeds that 3 times the speed of sound. The Night Fury's streamlined sleek-shaped body and massive powerful magic wings help it obtain a speed limit rivaling a real-life Lockheed YF-12 .Its maximum speed is 4300 km / h by surfing on super-sonic wind created by its extremely powerful wind magic.

The fiber composite bones help the animal to achieve flight through the dense Falmart atmosphere. Unlike its smaller cousins, the Wind Dragon, it has six limbs, with its middle pair of legs serving as the "stabs" and its rearmost pair have taloned feet which are used for grabbing prey while diving or to provide a stronger kick while taking off. The Night Fury has four large golden eyes with black pupils.

Two of its main eyes are in the front of the skull, and the two others are located near the rectangular antenna bases. It also has what appear to be two rather short tails. These may simply be extensions of the rear fins.

The Night Fury can shoot bursts of purple-colored flames, composed of ionized oxyacetylene. Plasma blasts explode directly upon impact, sometimes exploding in midair at higher altitudes because of the cut off oxygen supply. The Night Fury can fire at different levels of power: For example, it can fire concussive blasts that can knock people off their feet, while at the same time being able to destroy entire battlements with more powerful blasts. These blasts can be fired with pinpoint accuracy.

The Night Furies' favorite type of attack is dive-bombing. Night Furies fold their wings to create a streamlined, aerodynamic shape while they dive from the sky, helping them to achieve greater speed while they accelerate downwards. Night Furies are incredibly agile dragons that can dodge many blasts from other dragons, magic arrows, and missiles. They also have a very quick reaction to an opposing threat. On land, they can outrun and outmaneuver most other dragons and even being able to jump to and leap from various objects like trees or walls.

The Night Fury's jet black color and magical radar absorbed scales make it nearly impossible to spot in the night sky. The only warnings that it gives is the sound of the dive-bombing with a loaded blast, right before it attacks with a powerful plasma blast, as well as the stars disappearing behind it. Night Furies are capable of cloaking. This allows them to blend into their surroundings. They do this by summoning lightning from the sky to turn their scales reflective and become temporarily invisible, although it has been shown to use up a lot of their energy. As a Night Fury enters its 'cloaked form', it causes a massive wave of electrical energy that electrocutes everything within a close radius

Night Furies have an uncannily great sense of hearing and they can hear long distances. They also have a good sense of smell and excellent night vision as they are adapted to fly at night. They cannot see well in complete darkness, thus they will use echolocation, such as in a cave, or when their vision is restricted. Night Furies are extremely intelligent, surpassing nearly all known dragon species. Like all other Empire's bioweapon Night Furies have an uncannily fast healing factor due to Titan serum.

XXXXXXX

The Gigantic Titan Ogres, sheathed in heavy armor and bearing massive shields, lumbered forward at tremendous speed.

Every step they took radiated an ankle-swallowing weight. Their massive forms looked quite reassuring to the troopers.

As the Imperial soldiers looked at the wall-like shields carried by the 60 meters tall Giant Titan Ogres and saw that they could deflect the enemies' tank shells, they felt grateful to their giant allies. The Titan soldiers hid behind the Giant Ogres as they advanced, from a solid block the Imperial soldiers formed a column of three long lines.

In addition, the effects of the distant Plasma blasts fire from the Night Fury units was immediately obvious.

The UEADF soldiers fled back into their metal boxes after the rain of ionized oxyacetylene.

"Good, that's it! Encircle them and they'll be rats in a trap!

"Flip them over!"

"Concentrate mana! Launch super telekinetic shockwave !"

"Charge! Charge!"

In response to the Imperial soldiers' hopes, the Armored Titan Ogres emit a psionic blast that rocked the clouds and shook the dust in the cracks of the rocks.

The tanks and APC couldn't take the shock. The psionic blast crushed its structure as thoroughly as any mechanical scrapping equipment could have done.

"Ohhhhh!"

"It's working! We might win this!"

"Good! Now, swamp the enemy! Anti-tank gun teams, advance!"

The anti-tank guns emerged from the rear as they were pushed forward.

But before they could fire any shells the anti-tank gun teams engulfed in gigantic fire balls rained down from the sky. That were the TOS-1D 320mm MLRS battery. Just under 35 kilometers away from Imperial anti-tank gun teams were 58 TOS-1D 320mm MLRS rocket launchers. Each had 30 thermobaric rockets. Each rocket had 270 kg 9M66S thermobaric cluster warhead. A full salvo from just one TOS-1D will cover a rectangle 400 by 800 m. and there were 58 of them.

"Kuh! ...We're not done yet! Titan Armored Ogres, form vanguard!"

The Imperial troopers brought the Giant Titan Ogres to the forefront, in preparation for an advance. If they could close the gap to the reach of bow and magic, thus bogging them down in close combat, they had a chance of victory.

Or so they thought.

"Testudo!"

The Titan Armored Ogres clustered up to defend against the thermobaric rockets raining down on them. Their shields faced forward, above and on both sides. The monster drovers and the Imperial troops hunkered down within that formation. However, that instead allowed them to see the horrible sight of hole after hole being punched in those heavy shields.

Within that darkened space, they saw light streaming in through each little hole, like the stars coming out at night.

Anyone but the Giant Titan Ogres would have a hard time lifting those 3 meter-thick steel-plate shields. Even they could not stop the holes made by the rockets from 320mm MLRS rocket launchers.

Even so, the Giant Ogres were covered in armor of comparable thickness, and their morale was still good. That was because they could still count on their armor even after their shields were breached. However, the Imperial Titan soldiers were lightly armored in comparison, and it was much harder on them.

High-explosive incendiary fragment ricocheted inside the darkened space, and the Titan soldiers collapsed to the ground, moaning as white phosphorus burned through their bone, covering their faces as they died in droves.

After taking roughly 15 percent casualties during their advance, they finally reached the enemy.

The whistle signalling the charge blew, and the Titan Armored Ogres broke their testudo formation. The Imperial Titan soldiers swarmed forth to engage the armored formations in close combat. The Titan Armored Ogres lifted their clubs behind them, preparing to throw a powerful lightning spell at the armored formations.

However —

Flames spat from the snouts of the iron elephant statues, all lined up in a row.

The tank guns fired 152 mm pure fusion projectile ZBV5 with the yield of 0,01 kiloton, 10 tonnes of TNT.

Even the armored Ogres could not withstand a direct hit from those rounds at point blank range. The 60 meters tall Titan Ogres fell one after the other, with gaping holes blown in their bodies.

The thunderous impact threw the infantry back, and then followed a silence so profound it seemed unreal.

The Type-92 Chamberlain tanks reloaded.

"Fire!"

It was all the Imperial soldiers could do to throw themselves on the ground to avoid being blown away by the ear-shattering noise and the ferocious impact of 10 tones TNT nuclear explosions from pure fusion shells battering their entire bodies.

The great shields that had taken direct hits from the tank atomic cannon were blasted into the air like scattered leaves and then they fell, drawn down by gravity. The Imperial Titan soldiers, unable to flee in time, were crushed under the metal slabs.

This was the moment when organized resistance by the Imperial Army started to disintegrate.

Contorted in pain, the Titan Armored Ogres fell onto their backs, dragging down the Imperial soldiers behind them.

The Titan Ogres' arms and shields were blown away in one fell swoop, and they rolled around in agony. Thus, the Imperial troops did not even have time to flee; they were smashed away one after the other by their wild flailings.

・・・

In the air, the Night Furies resorted to their favored tactics of dive-bombing with bursts of purple-colored flames, composed of ionized oxyacetylene. Plasma blasts explode directly upon impact. At the same time, they tried to toss bombs and Wildfire flasks from high altitudes onto the enemy.

These attacks proved to be quite effective for a short time. These blasts can be fired with pinpoint accuracy had destroyed hundred of armored fighting vehicles.

Of course, this didn't last long until the Night Furies themselves were blew away by nuclear armed SAM systems, so they did not affect the battle in a significant way.

・・・

The great U.S. 3rd Army under Lieutenant General Tommy Kennedy advanced swiftly down the road leading to the Imperial army main forces.

Underground Fortress Marin stood in their way. Without any hesitation, they assaulted it from the air by a 250 kiloton fusion bomb.

・・・

It's so dark… Everything hurts…

Wondering what had become of her, Pai regained consciousness. While she was unable to open her eyes from the writhing pain she felt all over her body, she tried to calmly remember how she had gotten into this predicament. A thunderous roar came from the sky before the base was engulfed in explosion, which blew her away and caused her to lose consciousness. This explosion must have hit the command center where she was. In all her career as a communications officer, there were many times where she has had close calls but this was the first time she's truly come face to face with death. When the building around her collapsed, she had lost consciousness in a gap in between the fallen debris, which had saved her. Finally being able to open her eyes, she found herself in a small space that only allowed for movement of half her body. Above her shone a light.

"Ngh…"

Perhaps as a result of whiplash, when she tried moving, stinging pain would surge through her entire body. Still, she was fortunate to be able to still move and she didn't appear to have any broken bones.

"Okay…"

Bringing her body onto the floor face down, she felt something warm around her lower half. When she checked, she found out it was the body of her superior, who had given his life to protect her when the bombs caused the collapse of the building. She then tried to push the debris on her back but to no avail.

"Someone…! Help…"

Since the order to evacuate was given just before the bombs fell, there might not be anyone else left. Although with how long she had been out, there's bound to be some people who'd come back to check the situation.

"Please… I'm right here… Help!"

She could just wait for the eventual search and rescue operation to come but the fact remains that she could still move. Should she be rescued, she could in turn help, which would make things more efficient and faster. Be that as it may, no one seemed to be coming. Maybe there really wasn't anyone in the area.

"Fine…"

Or they could probably be expecting another wave to come and so they've left the search and rescue efforts for later to prepare for the next attack. She at least knows that the runway had been destroyed and she was in the middle of transmitting their state to headquarters when the command center was bombed, so they may likely be in the middle of trying to respond.

"Ngh… Ow ow ow…"

She frantically switched positions and tried directly pushing away the rubble. With her waist down on the floor, her back pushed upwards as she put all her strength into it. The rays of light filtering through the rubble began to grow in size as the crumbling sound of rubble being moved grew louder. She then retracted her legs to her body to try and get them into the effort. Her body was still surrounded by rubble so if she tries to get out in one go, her uniform might tear in some places, which might attract the attention of whoever's in the area. Regardless, that was a better alternative to her life.

"Urggghhh! Just… one… more…!"

As more and more debris were pushed away, it got a whole lot easier to get up. Seconds later, the rubble right on top of her was pushed out of the way, revealing the sky above. She then got her arms free, which she then used to pull herself out of the rubble. Her face red from exhaustion and her whole body riddled with sweat, she leaned her shoulders down on some rubble as she caught her breath. Then, she looked around.

"W-Wha…"

What she was a landscape littered with buildings so destroyed, she could not even recognize them anymore. What had been one of the biggest and most powerful base in all of Lemuria was reduced to unrecognizable ruins. Besides her, there was nothing left moving–not even horses, dragons, nor land dragons.

"H-How… How c-could this…"

This base was the Empire's symbol of might and strength. Their proud land dragon units well known for their overwhelming offensive capabilities; their magic cannon batteries, which have brought down entire cities; their elite dragon squadrons, everything was reduced to ash and rubble.

Never before has she seen destruction so utterly complete. Standing in the midst of it all, Pai could not even utter a word in shock.

・・・

After throwing the defenders around the Underground Fortress into confusion with rocket attacks, the combat helicopters swooped in over their heads, bypassing the fortress perimeter fortifications and bunkers then they suddenly dropped Deep Impact Tactical Penetrator (DITP) nuclear bunker busters onto them.

From the point of view of Imperial troops, they had been caught in a pincer attack. Their most heavily-fortified strongholds were suddenly exposed to attack, and their chain of command was severed.

In addition, the "Iron Dragonflies" flitted around, drowning the fleeing troops of Imperial forces in rains of missile, while Tu-688 heavy bombers dropping napalm on them.

It was all they could do to fight the foe in front of them and tried to find the gaps in the enemy formation for attack or feigned retreats to lure them into advantageous terrain.

・・・

Marais was a land of precipitous peaks and foreboding forests.

The 7th British Armored Division led by Major General Richard Hull was progressing well, but they had encountered stiff resistance from the enemy in the forest.

Amidst the sounds of distant gunfire and earth-shaking artillery, Hull emerged from his Ground Combat Command Vehicle , looking through his binoculars at the source of the noise.

"So, they blocked it off, huh."

"Yes. While we were trying to clear the obstacles, five 'Fenrir' came at us," the frontline commander said over the wireless.

"Fenrir" was the nickname for Volralden Warriors Titan among the UEADF. They resembled monstrous wolf in Norse mythology with the total length of 50 m and total height of 20 m. It had 2 small wings incapable of flight and covered with hair as hard as steel. It possesed tremendous amount of magic, being able to shoot explosive magic from its mouth and its horns. It had super strength and also had super regenerative magic. It has two types of explosive magic: a low-power lightning shockwave fired from its horns and a single high-powered explosive magic.

"So, how's it going?"

"Just as we were about to sweep them with the heavy MLRS guns, the enemy turned back to normal form and fled back into the forest."

"You should know, right? Don't let your men pursue them."

The feigned retreat to lure enemies into a waiting ambush was an age-old tactic but very effective. In addition, during this contact with the enemy, the main force was advancing to bypass Bezari. The objective of this battle was to destroy 58th Praetorian Guards Army. Fighting and annihilating the National Army was only a step in achieving that aim.

Still, they could not leave hidden enemies in the forest unattended. In order to remove their ability to mount any organized resistance, they had to reveal and destroy the ambushers.

"The enemy's coming. Wake up your bloody ideas!"

Until now, the 7th British Armored Division's columns had been led by super heavy tanks, which destroyed the enemy's scattered resistance as they advanced. However, it was hard for them to continue doing so in the poor visibility and unstable terrain of mountainous and forested regions. If they decided to employ monster wave tactics in terrain like this which hampered movement, even the UEADF would have a hard time.

In addition, the Fenrirs were covered with fur as hard as steel.

Nothing short of 210mm (fired from the L71 super SP assault gun by the Type-92 Chamberlain main battle tanks) tank rounds to the nape could bring them down. They were quite dangerous to the heavy infantry fighting vehicle, which only carried a 57mm canon. Then, what could they do? The best option was to tear apart their cover and reveal them. To achieve that aim, they conducted reconnaissance in force.

The sounds of mortars firing and mortar bombs exploding echoed from everywhere. The impact points changed constantly, guided by the telemetry from a DeltaQuad VTOL fixed wing surveillance UAV.

"General Hull. All units have been contacted by the enemy. We're in a combat situation."

"Umu. Make sure you keep the lines of communications clear."

Men could only see what was ahead of them. The most dangerous situation for them would be if they were engaged by the enemy from the sides and behind. Thus, they could not let the enemy through. Even so, it was hard to deal with guerillas, regardless of how advanced one's technology and weapons were.

They would fight off the enemy's attacks, run them down as they fled and root them out of their hiding places, then rain down artillery fire and destroy their ability to function as a coordinated group before mopping up the survivors. This was broadly comparable to "de-lousing", and it was the only way to be assured of victory against guerillas and special forces.

The heavy infantry fighting vehicle advanced slowly through the forest, 57mm cannon and anti-tank missile launchers at the ready.

"The Fenrir have come out to play. Call in airstrike!"

With a whoosh, a magic thunder spear flew out at a IFV which was distracted by slowing down in response to his squad commander's orders.

The armored vehicle went down in flame, and his comrades proceeded to return fire. After that, an Imperial trooper leapt down from a tree.

As if on cue, the Imperial troopers who were lying prone on the ground while covered with leaves leapt up as one, savage, murderous looks on their faces.

This was close combat, fought at ranges measured in yards.

The UEADF armored vehicles stood firm, firing away into the enemy which charged them without regard to their losses at superhuman speed.

When the 57mm dual-purpose autocannon swept across the enemy line, the effect was like a chainsaw ripping away at a tree's bark and sending the chunks flying away.

The giant wolves revealed themselves, sheathed from head to toe in steel-hard fur. Several huge Titan soldiers wielding equally huge weapons approached the armored vehicles.

"The Fenrir aren't fast in the densely forested regions! Don't panic, fall back quickly and call in airstrike !"

The heavy infantry fighting vehicles fell back as one.

On the command of "Fire!"

A squadron of J-86 air superiority fighters launched their AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles. Not all of them hit. However, the armored wolves were still drowned in a wave of explosions and went down.

Of course, not every engagement went that smoothly.

There were companies who entered the enemy's kill zone, and ended up being flanked and destroyed by Fenrir high explosive magic. However, the overall encirclement was solid and slowly shrinking, and the Empire's organized counterattacks began faltering.

General Hull turned to ask his executive officer, who was studying a map, "Have we verified the enemy's position?"

"Yes. The enemy isn't scattering, but advancing to a single location, somewhere between the closest and next closest peaks on the forward left front. They seem to be planning to lure us in there."

After drawing the axes of the enemy's retreat on the map, they formed an intersection in the valley between what was designated Peak One and Peak Two. After considering their movement speed...

"Hit them with arty in five to six minutes' time," Hull said as he tapped at the map.

"It'll be more effective if we can narrow the bombardment radius. We'll have a drone confirm."

The DeltaQuad orbited overhead. The artillery gunners recomputed their impact points based on the information it supplied.

"Commence bombardment!"

The 180mm M1299 self-propelled howitzers opened fire, and every atomic round they sent downrange was packed with the equivalent of 0,7 kiloton of TNT. Said rounds rained down on the valley. The bombardment set the forest ablaze, and the shockwaves threw up chunks of earth and stone like someone was stirring up the very land. Most of the Imperial soldiers caught in this lost their lives, while the ones who had miraculously survived began an actual retreat. This was not an organized movement to draw the enemies into a trap, but a flight for their lives.

・・・

"Count Woody, the enemy has come," Baron Clayton panted as he and his scouts surmounted a hill near Beza.

"Ahh, the iron dragonflies are flying too."

They looked up, and saw that the attack helicopter was looking down upon them from a height that only magic ballistae and cannons could reach.

Only the count and some of his men were on the top of the hill.

Count Woody thought, How does this place look from the air? Can they see me? If they can see me, then how do I look in their eyes?

"Many of the enemy are riding in horse-less metal carriages."

The land here was nothing but boulders and the weeds which grew between them. A path had been cut through the terrain, as though to split open the wilderness, and the enemy was travelling along it.

"Umu. I see them now."

Indeed, Count Woody had a direct view of the enemy as they drew close.

After verifying the reports from his scouts, Woody ordered, "Just as expected. Commence the operation!"

Beza was south of Marais, roughly a day's travel by horse.

It was an important travel passage If the enemy wanted to bypass the strongpoint of Marais.

Woody gave orders to the soldier beside him.

"Listen up. Haste makes waste. Repeat and emphasize to the soldiers that they must wait for orders."

The clattering of armor trailed the man as he ran down the slope. Each step threw up pebbles and dust as he broke into a sprint. Then, he suddenly fell flat to the ground and shouted, "Don't be hasty! Wait for orders!"

Then, he stood up, and ran somewhere else.

At a closer look, the earth was cracked there. And if one looked into that dark space, they would find several pairs of eyes shining back.

"Wait for orders!"

This was not like Marais where there was a forest for them to hide. However, there were huge boulders everywhere and the terrain was uneven. Woody planned to use them as weapons.

With the aid of magic and golems, they had excavated enormous trenches in the ground and piled vast quantities of dirt and mud on top of them to deceive the eyes in the sky. He had then ordered his men to hide within. Once the enemy was fully engaged, they would ambush them.

Naturally, this was not limited to just one or two locations. Giant trenches like these covered Beza, and roughly 200,000 men and monsters were hidden in them.

Their plan was to lure the enemy into overextending themselves deep into their formation before falling on them at once and turning it into a chaotic melee.

However, something took place that Woody had not expected.

What the Imperial soldiers called "giant metal bird", Boeing C-177 ULTRA, flew straight at the trenches and dropped 2000 Mark 77 (340 kg) incendiary bombs at them. Instead of the gasoline, polystyrene, and benzene mixture used in napalm bombs, the MK-77 uses kerosene-based fuel with a lower concentration of benzene. The mixture also contains oxidizing agent, making it more difficult to put out the fire once ignited, as well as white phosphorus. The outcome was predictable as the trench was engulfed in enormous fire balls. UEAADF were equipped with Ground-penetrating radar, so this trick were useless.

Count Woody gnashed his teeth from his perch atop the hill as he watched half of his troops burned to death.

"Gods dammit!"

"What should we do, Count?"

"What else can we do?! Fight! Fight hard!"

In accordance with Count Woody's orders, the ambushing Imperial troops rushed out at once. They had failed to completely encircle the enemy, but the plan of forcing them into hand-to-hand combat had not yet failed.

"Forward! Forward!"

As the bullets began raining down, the heavy anti-tank artillery disguised as rocks were rolled out.

"Oscillation Mine" Screamed 1000 Imperial grand magicians.

Oscillation Mine was an Oscillation-Type Magic that was designed to capture temporarily the adversaries moving into its area of effect. First it liquefied the ground with oscillation magic to make the adversary sink into it, next it solidified the ground by evaporating the moisture with moisture Oscillation-Type Magic.

In seconds, the entire Beza region's ground was liquefied trapping the 7th British Armored Division and the 6th Australian Armored Division. Catch by surprise, the 2 vanguard armored divisions were now immobilized.

42 cm Helblaster volley guns started to rain down tons of high explosives over the 2 armored divisions in unison. Monsters that looked like war 6-legs elephants and dragon-rhinos emerged from the trenches, pounding the ground underfoot with mighty thumps, and they exuded a fearsome presence as they pushed forward.

Land Dragons, Sentinel battle golems, and then hordes and hordes of monsters surged forward.

Both Units were making huge gains, then suddenly, seemingly at random, find themselves in fights for their lives , trapped in a massive swamp appeared from no where and as the soil solidified their tanks were now stuck in 5 feet of dirt.

Giant Titan Goblins and Trolls swarmed to the Type 92 MBTs like a tsunami swept everything on their path. With their giant 30 meters-long clubs they hacked the Chamberlain's sturdy armor plating that was designed to repel anti-tank rounds, making a shrill, screeching noise. The Titans destroyed everything they could with their enormous strength, giant 141- tones tanks were thrown through the air like tin cans.

"Enemies everywhere!"

"R-Requesting support! We can't fight back!"

Wails of panic came over the wireless from the tanks, who were defenseless once their enemies got close. Some of them were pressed the gas at full speed, in an attempt to shake off mud jamming their tanks tracks. While some of the mud clinging on to the tracks were shaken off, it brought them out of formation, and they were swallowed up by the enemy troops.

The US 3rd Army were shocked at the massive amount of enemies who had appeared before their eyes all of a sudden, and all they could do was fire wildly at the foes before them.

"Don't panic. Stay calm. Don't break away from the formation. Let the Air Force kill them!"

After hearing their commander's calm voice, the troopers swiftly regained their composure.

However, the densely-packed waves of Titan troops, Sentinel battle golems, war beasts and artillery shells did not let up. They crashed into the armored vehicles with earth-shattering force from all directions, crushed their internal structure as thoroughly as any mechanical scrapping equipment could have done. Armor plates were torn apart like scrap paper and the troopers within were tossed out. The men hastily reorganized into fighting squares to gun down the enemies which rushed in to take advantage.

Type 69 Self-propelled 240 mm Recoilless Gun fired, and the battle beasts hit by them collapsed like they had been winded and breathed their last.

The Type 92 Chamberlain main guns roared, and the hordes of beast clinging to them were blasted several meters away.

Even so, the Imperial Army continued to leverage on their superior numbers and enveloped the Third Army forces.

"Good! Forward, forward, march the men forward! We must hold the line for the Holy Empire; Vicker Units, Fired !"

・・・

Countless Night Furies waited within the caves dug into the Thundering Rocks, floating mountains that circulated slowly in the magnetic currents like icebergs at sea.

All of them were fitted with saddles and magic armor, their riders lying flat on top of them, holding their breath as they awaited their commanders' order.

Commander Podawan mopped at the sweat which kept beading on his wavy brown hair, and kept an eye in the direction of the horizon from his place near the cave entrance.

The enemy's' scouts had very sharp eyes. He had learned about radar and infrared sensor so he knew, if they revealed themselves, even if just a little, they would be found and attacked. Thus, Podawan had ordered his men and their Night Furies to be covered in mud. The Night Fury riders naturally resented this, given that they were a proud lot and they were literally painting their faces with mud. However, they had to bear with it for the sake of victory.

Aerial reconnaissance birds flocks from "Heaven Eyes Project" orbited high in the sky.

XXXXXXX

Heaven Eyes: While the Holy Empire have conductive magnetic radar that can detect UEAADF's aircrafts, the human have very effective electronic countermeasures so to compensate this weakness they use a network of Wargs, people with the ability to enter the minds of animals and perceive the world through their senses and even control their actions, to spy on UEADF. Compare to normal Radar, Heaven Eyes gives much clearer images but a lot less accuracy in speed and height. That is why the Empire's Heaven Eyes guided magic javelins are quite inaccurate.

XXXXXXX

After being spotted by the enemy's scouts, they gyrated wildly in the air and frantically flew up and down.

"Looks like they have been spotted."

The birds fell. However, in the fleeting moment before they hit the ground, they already sent all the necessary information using Mental Link with their Wargs. This was a telepathic spying method they had developed from their experience in defending the Imperial airspace.

"Count Podawan. Four enemy fighter Groups (around 10 squadrons each), then four enemy fighter Groups again and 2 bomber groups."

"Umu so about 2400 enemy planes approaching, then. Listen up, everyone. This may be the site of our last battle. If they break through here, we're done. May that stiffen your resolve! Move out now!"

The Night Furies spread their wings as one.

・・・

"Commander, we'll be able to see US 3rd Army soon," the co-pilot told Air-Fleet Commander Major General Adam West.

The Tu-688 heavy bombers of the Fourth Air Fleet transited from the plains into the highlands that were ringed by floating mountains like in the James Cameron's movie Avatar. They flew between the steep peaks. The US 3rd Army would be located somewhere ahead, need to be rescued.

The troopers stuck their bodies out, looking at the floating mountains that circulated slowly in the magnetic currents like icebergs at sea. The floating mountains were overgrown with foliage at the top and straggly beards of vines hang down beneath the mountains like the roots of air-ferns. Their sides were sheer cliffs. Waterfalls, originating on the mesa-like tops, streamed down the sides and dispersed into spray at the bottoms, like upside-down geysers. The mist then condensed on other floating mountains and flowed over the side and dispersed, renewing the process.

"Amazing," they breathed, marvelling at the spectacular sight. "Just like that old movie Avatar, isn't it !"

Even Major General Adam West found it hard to control the swelling in his chest as he beheld that magnificent sight.

"All right, we'll show those Imperials our might!"

He could not help but clutch the grip of his rifle tightly.

"Mm? What's wrong?"

However, swarms of Night Furies boiled out of the narrow caves in the floating mountains to either side of them.

"Watch out!"

Bursts of purple-colored flames, composed of ionized oxyacetylene fell from the sky. Plasma blasts explode directly upon impact, although not all of them hit their mark, hundreds of them managed to find their target. These planes were blasted into thousands of pieces.

"What happened!?"

It was all the troopers could do to hang on to something within the wildly shaking cabin in order not to be thrown out. One of them glimpsed the enemy and shouted:

"It's Imperial Night Fury riders!"

Shots came from all around them, and the bombers swerved back and forth to avoid being hit.

"Commander, Commander West! Is, is, is this really all right?!" shouted a soldier as he clung to his seat to avoid being thrown off.

"The hell should I know?! Don't talk, you'll bite your tongue!"

That was all West could say. After all, this was not just a matter of turbulence.

・・・

"All right, the ambush worked! Bring them all down at once!"

As Podawan gave his order, the Night Fury riders pounced on the Fourth Air Fleet.

The lead Imperial Night Fury rider launched several concussive blasts at a descending Tu-688 bomber, as though to demonstrate, before couching his magic javelin and plunging into a charge at frightening speeds.

He shouted "With me! With me!" and countless Night Furies followed in his wake.

He took aim at the cockpit at the front of a bomber with his S-2 Dvina magic guided explosive javelin then launched with all of his magic.

"Yeeeeeaaart!"

The magic javelin coated in red light as it accelerated to supersonic speeds in record-breaking time. Guided by the thrower vision and further aided by spy bird loitering above the battlefield, it locked on to the Tu-688 cumbersome bomber.

However, the enemy bomber suddenly ejecting a huge amount of counter countermeasure pyrophoric super flares from the dispensers on both sides of the plane.

Upon ignition of the super flare, a strongly exothermal reaction was started, releasing a huge amount of ultraviolet energy and visible smoke and flame. The flame burn at six thousands degrees Celsius making it brighter than the sun.

As a result the magic javelin was unable to maintain the lock and missed the target.

Not only that, the enemy suddenly fired 57mm auto-cannon from its 2 frontal radar guided defensive turrets. The Dragon rider's leader and his beloved Night Fury had been blasted with hundred of anti-armor shells. Each bullet contains a shaped charge that can add 150 mm of penetration into tank armor with every hit. It was like he had physically exploded, his blood spraying into the air like foam.

After seeing the hideous fate of their commander, who had led the charge, the Night Fury riders behind him realized the danger of rapidly descending and the pulled up on their reins. They orbited several times before launching their attacks from the comparatively safer flanks.

"We can't hit the bombers from front ! Attack from the sides or above! Bring them down!"

After hearing the words of the experienced Count Podawon, they attacked from all sides. But then they were attacked by the bomber's escort jet fighters.

And so, the Night Furies dueled with the escort jet fighters in a furious dogfight.

Dogfights involving hypersonic jet fighters were more like motocross races.

In order to keep up with the rapid direction changes of the J88/101 hypersonic jet fighters, whose aerial mobility permitted them a rapid mix of ascent and descent, the night furies were forced to fly complicated patterns in their mad quest to track them.

While J88/101s might lack the agile and maneuver to pull off the stunts that Night Furies could perform in aerial combat, on the other hand, they had ability to attack a target from beyond visual range with air-to-air missile.

Flying up and down, suddenly accelerating to hypersonic speed and then showering the enemy trying to catch up with air-to-air missiles was something which only J88/101s could perform. The high-perform jets engines roared as they slashed through the air, then forcefully pulled away from the Night Furies and intercepted their attack with missiles.

However, the Imperial Night Fury Corps were not beaten by that.

They hovered in mid-air as their riders eased off on their reins, or they flapped their wings to rise and fall. Night Furies were capable of cloaking by summoning lightning from the sky to turn their scales reflective and become temporarily invisible to break radar and heat-seeker lock.

They made skillful use of their flexible bodies and tails, changing their angle of attack from unexpected angles and neatly evaded the 40mm machinegun fire from the Tu-688 heavy bombers defensive turrets.

One of the Night Fury rider leaned out from behind their saddles, turning through a hail of bullets like a circus performer and then fire powerful plasma blasts as he passed below the giant bomber and blew it to pieces.

"Got him!"

Both sides started to fly higher to gain the upper hand over their enemy. The battle for air-supremacy had last for more than 30 minutes, the sky was glittering with light whether it's from burned aircraft, decoy flares or magic javelin. By now 25% of the Fourth Air Fleet and 35 % the Imperial Night Fury Corps had been shot down.

But the remaining Night Furies were still encircling the embattled Fourth Air Fleet.

However, a stream of air-to-air missiles tore the Night Furies to shreds, striking them from the air.

"What, what was that!?"

"This is Major General Keima and friends from the Fifth Air Fleet! We're here to help."

The Fifth Air Fleet's jets swooped down into the battlefield like eagles taking aim at their prey.

The savage roar of the fighters froze the Dragon riders' hearts in their chests, and the UEAADF servicemen cheered as their morale soared.

"They're allies! They're fighters of the Fifth Air Fleet !"

Thanks to the intervention of 2000 J-4 Phantom III fighters from the Fifth Air Fleet, the whirling dance of death which they thought would last forever came to an end.

The sheer, overwhelming presence of 2000 J-4 Phantom III fighters conquered the skies of Falmart. Twice the size of the F-4 Phantom II and as big as a B-17 Flying Fortress, the J-4 Phantom III was a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range hypersonic jet interceptor. It was designed around the 60 mm GAU-12 Dragon Hunter rotary cannon with 4,029 rounds. Its airframe was designed for durability, with measures such as 5400 kg of hyperalloy armor to protect the cockpit and aircraft systems, enabling it to absorb a significant amount of damage and continue flying.

They closed with tremendous force, spewed hails of 60mm heavy auto-cannon fire, then peeled away faster than the eye could follow ー they were beings the dragons could not hope to resist.

The Night Furies were immediately plunged into a situation where they were harried all over the place. They took shells from the 60mm anti-tank heavy auto-cannon all over their bodies, snapping their wings off, and they fell from the sky like piles of minced meat.

"Whew~ we're saved. You came just in time," Major General Adam West said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked out the window.

Two pairs of two J-4 fighters traced a large, lazy arc through the sky as they orbited them.

Looking back, it would seem West and his men were in terrible shape with casualty rate of 85 %.

The bomber had flown up and down and left and right, bouncing them around inside the cabin, and they looked like they had been through a blender.

Still, it was better than being flung outside. Everyone clung to the floor or a seat, looking like they were about to die. Eventually, they managed to stand up, and they began checking that nobody had fallen out and that no gear had been dropped.

"Keima here. All enemy resistance has been smashed. Are you alright?"

"We're alive somehow. I need to thank you guys."

"No need for that. But if you insist… well, invite us to the next drink party of yours."

・・・

"I have to hand it to the Anglo-American army. they are tough nut to crack. I didn't expect them to fight this hard…"

As 58th Praetorian Guards Army's commander, Count Woody felt that the US 3rd Army's formation was very solid. He was not so much awed as speechless. He admitted that the Anglo-American was not simply a bunch classless commoners, but a formidable foe that he ought to have accorded the appropriate respect.

Woody had taken various measures to shake the opposition.

He had led the charge with those Titan Armored Ogres that had ferocious pushing power to punch small holes in the battle line, then pretended to send his main forces into the gap to make his foe waver, and he had also conducted fake retreats to cause havoc in the enemy formation.

Even so, US 3rd Army's defenses were still sturdy and immovable, perhaps even a little sluggish.

In order to lighten the mood, Legatus Karasta said:

"We've had a hard time all this while. Nobody can match us in combat experience!"

Legatus Mutra added

"We have the advantage in numbers too. No need for petty tricks; if we keep fighting like this, we're sure to win."

Just as Legatus Karasta and Mutra had said, 3rd Army's losses would accumulate over time, and if they continued fighting, their fighting strength would reach zero first. That was why they had the luxury of complementing enemy strength.

However, Woody could not calm down after listening to the these words. He bit his nails and said:

"We'll be in trouble if we're too optimistic. After all, time is our enemy."

The two Legatus bowed courteously to Woody , indicating that he need not worry.

Woody raised his sword to order an advance.

"All forces!"

But the other half of his command did not reach anyone's ears.

There was a sudden roar as 2000 J-4 Phantom fighters and 400 heavy bombers slashed through the sky from above Woody's head.

The napalm bombs they dropped devastated Woody's forces from the frontline onwards.

In their close formation, Woody's troops had no chance to avoid the fires of heaven raining down on them. Until the moment they noticed the hungry flames filling the sky, they had not yet noticed what had happened, and so they died.

"Sorry for the long wait, my friends! " said Keima

The shockwave that the heavy bombers left in its wake seemed like it would soar into the sky, and it pounded the eardrums of the ground-bound troops.

"Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! "

"Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! "

"Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! Ho-jo to-ho! "

And then, the sneers of the Valkyries came from far into the east, accompanied by the beating of helicopter rotors. Things had happened so quickly that everyone was frozen in place, but Tommy still retained his senses.

"Right now! All forces charge! Do not let the enemy escape!"

Tommy's order resounded through his forces. Under his command, the US Third Army charged at Woody's dumbfounded army in unison.

"Ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!"

"Ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!"

4 Groups of 1000 AT-99 "Scorpion" Gunships directed their weapons at Woody's army and raked them with a barrage of 190 TK-411 WAFAR (Wrap-Around Fin Aerial Rocket) each. A total of 190,000 rockets ravaged the Imperial army.

XXXXXXX

The AT-99 "Scorpion" Gunship is a VTOL ducted fan rotor, Mosquito-class targeting and missile launch platform. Outfitted close air fire support for military operations, the Scorpion is the gunship of choice for the UEAADF on Falmart.

The Scorpion has two forward-mounted stub pylons that are armed with four gimbal-mounted 20mm caliber guns with 700 rounds per minute cyclic rate of fire as close-range primary weapons. It carries two dual 25mm auto-cannon. Machine Guns and two triple-barrel 30mm Gatling Guns. The Scorpion has two pairs of huge stub-wing pylons to carry its armament of 190 TK-411 WAFAR (Wrap-Around Fin Aerial Rocket) in ten 19-tube rocket launchers. The use of the rocket varies according to the warhead that can range from tactical applications to impact-based sensor systems. Eight Hawkeye HELLFIRE (Helicopter Launched Fire-and-Forget), are used to engage air-to-air targets in conjunction with the nose-mounted sensor suite.

Weapons fire is constrained by an Identifiction Friend or Foe (IFF) Lockout system, which prevents friendly fire incidents in complex engagements with multiple aircraft and targets. Essentially, any of the weapons refuses to fire if the projected probability cone of a friendly vehicle's flight path will put it in the trajectory of the bullet downrange. All air vehicles in UEAADF service can track each other in a battle theater in real time, using IFF beacons, and this data is integrated into the weapons systems via the IFF Lockout System.

The Scorpion is a proven design which functions well in the harsh Falmart's environment. Its ceramic bladed turbines are easily retuned to run in the denser Falmart's atmosphere. Its climb and hover performance are of course higher in the thicker air of Falmart, but its top speed is reduced significantly because of greater drag. There is no ejection seat, as inertial auto-rotation is the preferred method of surviving a power-out scenario. These aircraft, as with all early 21st century rotorcraft, have one serious flaw. If the rotor system is damaged enough to cause eccentric failure at the rotor hub, or blade ejection, the aircraft will have serious structural damage as a result of centrifugal forces sending debris into the airframe. This is followed instantly by asymmetric lift which induces an uncontrolled axial roll, followed by total loss of the vehicle.

This tendency is mitigated by the use of ballistic ceramics and carbon-nanotube composites in the rotor duct-rings that protect the rotors. These ducts are quite robust, and can withstand significant impacts. They also prevent the rotor blade tips from contacting obstacles when the aircraft is operating in complex environments. This makes the aircraft ideal for flight ops amongst the dangling vines of the Falmartian rainforest and amongst the floating mountains. Special "vine-strike" cutters have been added to the leading edges of the airframe and the rotor ducts. These guide any impacting vines into a cutting notch, much like the wire-strike kits which have been employed on rotorcraft on Earth for half a century.

From an interview with Colonel James Ardmore, UEAADF SecOps, formerly Captain in USN, conducted by Freemedia Officer Marcia De Los Santos, January 4, 2030:

"Flying gunship sorties on Falmart , you've gotta have eyes in the back of your head. Those mass-produce Fire Birds are big bastards and they're batshit squirrelly. They can hit speeds over 340 knots in full delta attack dive, which is usually coming out of the sun or overhead cloud cover. And they don't know what a rotor system is, so they'll get their damn wings sucked right through your blades if they get on top of you, then you lose the rotor and you're going in. Of course the Fire Birds doesn't do too well in that deal either, but it's cold comfort to the pilot. You've got to keep your head on a swivel if you want to live out your tour. Also, whoever spec'ed this Fang-7 gun system should be taken out and horsewhipped. They're a close-air-support weapon, not an air-to-air weapon, so they're set up for shooting at the ground. They're the wrong tool for the job. They angle down and traverse great, but they only elevate about fifteen degrees. When you're turning in on an aerial target, it's hard to get the angle if you're steeply banked. The Fire Birds can turn inside us, which makes them hard to hit in a close fight.

Obviously we've got the speed over them, except in a dive, because our VNE (Velocity Not-to Exceed) in this soup they call air here is only about 330 knots (and this can only be achieved in a dive). We'll pull our rotors off if we try to match them in a dive. Also… never, ever, take on a Night Fury. Those big sons of bitches come out of the sun, and I've seen them tear apart a Scorpion and burn the crew like a mashmallow .

Best choice is to outrun them straight and level. They can't catch us at full boost, but they'll sure catch you in a dive. Usually they hit from above, out of the sun, like those old German Stukas. If you feel that shadow on you, you've got about two seconds to react or you're lunch. And there's no warning screech. They screech after they've hit you, and it's the last sound you're gonna hear."

Colonel Ardmore was killed in action on the Battle of Dammam. His remains were never recovered.

XXXXXXX

The UEAADF J-4 Phantom III fighters fired their own 60mm auto-cannon for close air support as well.

Although Woody's troops had clearly had it, Keima and his men alighted from the landed choppers and spread out to wipe out the stragglers from Woody's army.

The iron dragonflies dancing overhead disgorged enemies one after the other.

He had to take control of the entire army and withdraw in good order. After returning to his lines, Woody castigated his panicking men and ordered them to immediately take charge of the shaken men and calm them down.

"We're going to retreat. We'll fall back to Padbarcalei and regroup there."

Under Woody's command the remaining Imperial army started to withdraw in good order, but even then they were still losing over a fifth of their force due to fire bombing from the UAEADF.