Welcome back to the world of The Will Trilogy! Last time we've seen each other, we've started a new part of the story. We, of course, started with an attack on certain institution, where nobody was killed, but someone was injured. And not all enemy troops were eliminated, so they will be surely a problem in the future. But, this is, of course, a problem for the future. So let's focus on the present now.

So, let's spill the juice.

Chapter 2

July 21, 2166

12:17

Near Infit, Nordian C.Z.

Infit was one of the bigger cities in Nordian part of Taurus III and one of the rarest types, the ones where population is highly over one hundred thousand people. Current population stood at three hundred fifty thousand. The city served as a very important transport hub, as it was were many roads met and crossed, with one of the most important being the P89 Highway, leading from Utgard to Leender through and around the city. It also laid exactly at the border between Nordian and Soutlandian C.Z., what caused it to house numerous checkpoints, which were usually crossed by people either living in Soutlandian C.Z. but working in Nordian, or visiting family in either of the two. Not only that, but it was also the only city with over a hundred thousand population still not occupied by Sons of Sadera.

Who, of course, planned to quickly change that.

The vanguard and scout units of 1st Armored Legion and all forces under the command and supervision of general Margas arrived in the area of the city and were met with the presence of UTDF units that withdrew under the pressure of SoS' counteroffensive after Operation: Axer. After confirming the enemy presence inside and around the city, the shelling started, as artillery rained death on the city. This new development caused a panic among the citizens, which quickly started packing up and leaving. Even checkpoints could not stop them from driving as fast and far away from here as possible. In just first five hours, over two hundred seventy thousand people left the city and went off to Soutlandian C.Z.

In the meantime, Sons performed their first assault on the city, successfully stopped by the defenders. This bought UTDF some time to start digging trenches and preparing for more attacks, while Sons returned to shelling the city and the area around it. Both sides were prepared for a siege no one expected. Sons expected to simply come in and take the city on the go, while UTDF thought they will manage to retreat before their foes reach it. Now, nobody knew, who will come out victorious from this.

Colonel Gron Ornatson currently ducked down in a trench dug out in the fields in front of the city, as all around him and his soldiers, shells roared with explosions. He glanced at Ril. Veteran of the Anti-HO Remnant Campaigns sat there, as if nothing was happening. Nothing surprising. Holy Order Remnant was much less predictable and thus, dangerous. Sons were dangerous too, but were predictable.

"How long have they been shelling like that?"Ril asked.
"It's been ten minutes already."Gron replied.

"Well, they will probably gonna continue doing it for the next several long minutes or so. So let's get settled in."sergeant stated.

"Ril, sometimes, I can't understand you."one of 74th soldiers said.
"Because I'm built different."Ril replied with smirk on his face.

Next, he couldn't stop himself from erupting with laughter. Everyone around looked each other, trying to make sense of this whole surreal situation. They were in danger of dying and here was one of their higher officers laughing his ass off. Even other veterans such as Ril, who remembered fighting with Holy Order, looked at it, not knowing what to say.

"You're done?"Ornatson asked.
"Yes."Ril simply replied.

And so, they all waited for the barrage to stop. As Ril said, it continued for few more minutes, even gaining strength for a second. Ortanson's ears were once filled with the sounds of screams as one shell fell directly into a trench behind theirs. Colonel tried not to look at a torn off head in a broken helmet that dropped between him and Ril.

"Poor bastard."Ril commented.
"No shit."Gron groaned.

After the last shell fell, an eerie silence followed, as soldiers leaned over the trenches to looked around. They did it as carefully as possible, because SoS snipers were just waiting for someone too inattentive.

"Is it clear?"someone asked.
"I think so."Ornartson replied. Next, he stood up."Alright people, let's get to the cleaning. Move it!"
"Sir, yes, sir."soldiers replied.

Not long after, they started walking around the trenches, checking the damage. Nobody knew when will the next barrage from the enemy will begin, so they had to be quick about clearing the rubble, bodies and damage caused by the shelling. Ambulances, personnel carriers used as ambulances and engineering vehicles came to do their job. Everyone quickly got to work, trying to get everything done as fast as possible.

Gron and Ril stood on the side, watching soldiers hard at work, removing bodies, body parts and rubble and then loading them into ambulances and using rubble to somehow rebuild the destroyed parts of the trenches.

"Well, another day in the office, huh?"Ril asked.
"True that."Gron said."How long as it been since it all begun? I almost lost count."

Ril rubbed his chin, thinking.

"It's…almost two months, sir."he finally said.
Colonel risen an eyebrow.
"That long? Damn…I thought it's already half a year."

"That's only how it feels, sir."
"And do we even see any kind of fatigue from their side?"

"Unfortunately, no. Us, on the other hand…"
"Yeah, Axer took a lot from us. But on the bright side, enemy also lost a lot then. So I guess it's a fifty-fifty type of situation."

"That's your view."

Right then, they saw a single AMRV armored car approaching. When it came closer, they could see a clear insignia of 10th Armored Brigade on it. The vehicle came to a stop next to them and when the door opened, the two saw a familiar tank commander, accompanied by a female in the same outfit.

"Captain Fegran."Gron said.
"Colonel Ornatson. Sergeant Ril."Verius said.

"What do we owe your visit here?"Ril asked.
"Nothing, we just came here to see how is your side doing."

"And who is your beautiful companion?"colonel asked, rising an eyebrow.

Verius looked at Niva.

"Oh, right, I think you didn't have the honor of meeting in person."captain said, grabbing Niva's hand."This is second lieutenant Niva Sedvis, my girlfriend."

"Pleased to meet you, colonel."Niva said."Verius told me a lot about you."

Ril whistled.

"We have to admit, buddy, you got yourself a real good one."he said, winking.

"Stop it, Ril."Gron said.

"So, how are you doing?"Verius asked.

Gron then made a gesture with his hand, showing the closest area.

"As you can see. Same as before."he replied."They just won't stop to shower us with presents, one could say."

"And how is your side?"sergeant asked.
"Pretty similar."Niva said."Shelling galore, one could say."

"They really want to take this city, do they?"

"It's more likely that they want the highway."Verius stated."After all, it's an important artery leading straight towards Leender. The fastest way between Utgard and Leender."
"Maybe. Or maybe they just want to have the last big city of Nordian C.Z."Ornatson stated."The more the reason we can't allow them to take it. It's a matter of honor for us."
Verius understood that. Although not showing it, Ornatson and his men were still unable to recover from the fall of Utgard. They swore to protect their homeland, no matter on which planet, from every possible danger. And now, Nordian forces were scattered so much, that nobody could call them actual firm force to be reckoned with. Actually, after Operation: Axer, captain was certain, that 74th Mechanized Brigade was the last organized and still fighting Nordian unit on the entire planet.

"We understand that, of course."Niva said.
"Good. So sorry, but we have a work to do. Who knows, when will the Sons come."Gron said.
"Alright then, we will see you later."Verius said.
"Let's hope so."Ril said.

After saying that, Niva and Verius returned to their vehicles, which drove off not long after. Gron and Ril watched.

"You think we should tell them about the plan?"Ril asked.
"As much as I would love to, no. We can't."Ornatson stated."That's the order from Central Command."

After the fall of Utgard and death of general Utger, Nordian forces on the planet still needed some centralized command form. This is why a group of officers came together and formed what came to be known as 'Central Command'. It quickly started gaining support of majority of Nordian forces. However, after fall of Utgard, a split appeared between the Nordians. Some Nordians, seeing the relatively quick fall of their planetary capital, wanted to negotiate with SoS to surrender. But the Central Command didn't agree.

This, of course, considering the Nordian temper which came from centuries of naval voyages and raids, quickly turned into the infighting. Of course, both Central Command and the higher ups of the ones trying to surrender, kept all of this in secret. They didn't want the rest of the planet to know and use this for some reason. Especially the Central Command, who didn't want to let their allies know of all their operations.

Within a week though, the infighting stopped, as majority of the surrendering forces was eliminated, while the rest pledged their allegiance to the Central Command. Now, the Central Command tried to lead the Nordian forces in fight for the planet. Of course, the truth was, even the allied troops didn't know of the existence of the Central Command. Instead, a figurehead in form of general Utger's deputy was in place and everyone was believed to think, that he was in command of Nordian forces, while in reality, the junta of Central Command pulled all the strings and oversaw all the operations performed by the Nordian military. All of them. Including the ones, that should never see the light of day, especially the ones involving civilians dying mostly by the Nordian fire. And the ones, when enemy troops were tortured in all worst types of ways. Even with clones, such actions could be seen as…inappropriate.

Also, little did everybody know, that Central Command existed in some form before the war. At first, it was just a bunch of officers supporting Utger. But with him gone, they had a free hand.

And 74th Mechanized Brigade was one of the first to join the Central Command for a simple reason.

"You know, as a member of Central Command, maybe you could nudge them a bit."Ril said.
"Maybe I could. But I doubt they would actually listen."Gron replied.

Ornatson himself was a part of Central Command from the very beginning. At first, he hesitated and wasn't sure about the whole situation. But he became certain, that he was doing the right thing, after the infighting that took place. He couldn't allow anything else like that happen. If they wanted the Nordian troops to survive, they had to do it any way possible. Even the worst way.

"We're gonna think about the plan later. For now, let's take care of all this crap here."colonel stated.

"As you wish, boss."Ril said.

Several minutes later, everything was cleaned and the engineering vehicles left.

July 21

12:36

Skandian C.Z.

They were, as always, walking for several hours. After waking up, they ate a solid breakfast made from the deergoat meat and set off. They were slowly making their way North towards Leeneder, where they hoped to reach before the enemy got to the city. At least that was what they were hoping for.

Maddie was walking in the front, Simon second and Fenis closed their procession. She glanced at them. For the past few days, they were pretty somber looking. Maddie probably knew why. When the pilot asked them to kill him, Simon and Fenis didn't want to and wanted to help him. Maddie couldn't allow this situation to last too long.

She decided to tell the two other Rangers to go forth, she would take care of the pilot. Content with her words, they left. When they did, Maddie pulled out her gun and put a bullet in the pilot's head to honor his final request. Fortunately, her weapon was silenced, so there was no big bang. But even after she left, she was aware, that she would have to explain the lack of pilot to the two apprentices. So she told them the truth.

"Sometimes, you have to make the hard decisions."she simply said.

Since then, they were pretty silent and reserved.
"This silence is killing me."Maddie said.
"Is there anything to say?"Fenis asked.
"I told you, there was no other way. He was already dying and would die anyways."Maddie stated."I just did what he asked for. He went out on his own terms."

"But we still should have help him somehow…"Simon said.
"There was noting to do."Maddie stated firmly."You have to understand this. For your own good."

"Whatever."the two of them said.

Maddie sighed and the three of them simply went on. As always, they were trying to keep to the shades, so they still were traveling through the forests. There, they had the lowest chances of being found and taken prisoner by the Sons. If Sons even were actually taking prisoners. Probably not.

"When do you think we will reach Leender?"Simon asked.
"I have no idea."Fenis replied.
"Nor do I."Maddie admitted."The city is far North. And there is no guarantee, that we will get there before enemy takes it."
"Why did we even agree to do this?"Simon asked."Why didn't we go to Erak City? It was much closer."

"We're deep behind enemy lines."Fenis replied."If we wanted to reach Erak City, we would have to break through the very frontline of the war. And I guess you don't want to try sneaking past thousands of enemy frontline units?"

Simon tried to reply to that in some way, but stopped. Then he tried again. And again. But each time he was just lost for words.

"Yeah, thought so."Fenis said proudly.
"Screw you."Simon pouted.

Maddie just sighed and shook her head. She wondered how long it will take these two to actually break and start straight up fist fighting. Or worse. She really hoped she wouldn't have to do anything drastic. Or that they will do anything drastic. She shivered on the very thought of that.

"We have to be quick if we want to reach Leender before Sons will."she stated."There, we will think what to do next."
"Do we even know where we're going?"Simon asked.
"Actually, we do."Fenis said.

She pressed some buttons on his hand terminal and a holographic map appeared in the air.

"Fortunately, GPS still works."he said."So we have the exact way to reach Leender."
"Weird that Sons didn't think of that."Simon said, rising an eyebrow.

"They did bring down the satellites."Maddie said."But ground radars and beacons still work. So that's good for us."

"Suckers!"Simon stated and laughed.
"Be quiet, okay?"Fenis asked.
"Why?"
"Echo can betray us to any nearby enemy units."
"And if there aren't any?"
"Want to risk it?"
"No."
"Thought so."

And so, the three of them continued their tireless journey towards the Soutlandian capital city on the planet. The forest they were currently traveling through was relatively big. There were still many parts of Taurus III that were untouched by Human or alien hand, with forests stretching for miles and empty fields of grass. The planet's small population was also adding to that factor. Three times the size of Earth, ten times smaller population than Emloy. And this population would probably be a lot smaller once all of this mess was over.

"Not very happy thought."Maddie thought."But that is the sad reality we're currently in. And the kind that will leave scars for life."

"Hey, can you hear that?"Simon asked.

Hearing that, Maddie quickly lifted her fist, telling the two apprentices to stop. They quickly knelt on one knee and listened.

"Is that…?"Fenis asked, recognizing the sound.
"Jet engines."Simon said."Yup. Again."

"But this time, there seems to be…more of them."Maddie pointed out.
"You're right."the two said.
They kept quiet and listened, as the sound of jet engines started to become louder and louder. It was also joined by a sound of gunfire and explosions. This could only mean one thing.
"Someone is running from someone."Simon said.
"But who from who?"Fenis asked."Ours from Sons or Sons from ours?"
"We're gonna find out soon."Maddie stated looking up.

The two followed and soon, several aircraft flew over their heads and over the trees.

July 21

In the air…

Dora was sweating, which was not a good sign in her job. Her hands were shaking as she tightened her grip on the joysticks, as she maneuvered her machine to escape the pursuing SoS's aircraft.

The day started simple. Following the end of Operation: Axer, Dora and Green Squadron returned to their normal duties of intercepting enemy air raids or bombing enemy columns moving towards Leender. That was the only thing they could do now, with Axer's effects undone within just a few days. And with their ammo supplies greatly diminished by the very same operation. But they were still gonna do anything in their power to make the Sons pay dearly for every kilometer taken. That was the goal from the very start and it was gonna stay like that for a long time.

Today, Dora and her squadron were tasked with flying towards Skandian C.Z and supporting the retreating Skandian forces, that recently lost the battle against Sons of Sadera. Simple task they were doing numerous times already. They got their weapons and their planes refueled and they took off.

The problems started just few minutes ago, actually. They were already nearing their target when suddenly, they were detected by enemy radars, although intelligence reported no enemy air defense in the area. It turned out, that Sons can hide their weapons really well. Not long after, enemy aircraft came after them and they were forced to change their plans. They had to deal with these guys fast, if they wanted to at least come out of this alive.

But these guys were really persistent.

"Green 2, how are you?"she asked in the radio.

She looked towards Iea's plane, which was trailing smoke behind her. She was unlucky enough that enemy managed to score a hit on her.

"I will manage, but I can't overdo it."the captain replied.
"Alright, copy that."Dora said."Green 3, Green 4, protect Green 2. Don't let the enemy get close to her."
"Understood."Nivel and Berin replied.

Dora and the remaining two pilots turned their Eurofighters to face the approaching SoS' KaLs. Six enemy machines were chasing them, which meant two enemies per one Green Squadron pilot.

"I take the two in the center."Dora said."Nivel, take the two on the right, Berin, you the two on the left. Got it?"
"Got it."Nivel replied.
"I will pray for us to come out of this in one piece."Berin said.
"You always say that."Nivel noticed.

"Yes, and I won't pretend I don't."Berin stated.
"Alright, let's go!"Dora said.

The three of them quickly locked onto some of their targets and pressed the firing button. Six missiles, one for each enemy, fell from under their wings and flew towards the approaching Sons' machines.

But enemy commander knew his stuff, unlike majority of enemy pilots, who didn't even seem to know about the existence of ejection seat. Dora saw as the six machines break formation and drop flares and chaffs behind them. Missiles saw their new targets and quickly followed the decoys, smashing into them and exploding.
"This is already starting well."Dora whispered through gritted teeth.

Six enemy machines then again turned towards the three UTDF's fighters and fired their missiles in return.

"Drop decoys!"Dora ordered.

The two listened and all three machines dropped flares and chaffs. Each enemy fired a single missile at them, so the situation repeated and all missiles caught on decoys, exploding upon hitting them.
"Alright, time to get close and personal."Dora stated.

She hit the afterburners and was followed by Green 3 and 4. Three fighters smashed into the enemy formation, firing their guns at them. As Dora noticed, two of enemy fighters started smoking upon being hit. But they didn't fall back like Iea was doing right now, they stayed and decided to continue fighting.

Dora made several maneuvers and found herself chasing after one of enemy fighters. Enemy pilot was making all kinds of twists and turns, trying to shake her off, but she stayed on his tail persistently. She pressed the gun firing button and stream of fire flew towards the enemy. She could see that several of her projectiles scored some hits, as sparks and smoke started coming out and trailing after the machine.

Right then, Dora's dashboard became all red as missiles started chasing her. She looked in the mirror attached to the side of the cockpit and saw another enemy fighter sitting on her tail. She quickly replied by dropping flares and chaffs. She breathed a sigh of relief when the missiles lost interest in her. But the enemy chasing her didn't. He started firing shots of plasma at her, but she started doing Barrel Rolls to evade them. Enemy pilot stopped firing, seeing that this didn't work, and prepared to fire another salvo of missiles.

However, Dora didn't allow him to. She used this moment and performed a Cobra, what completely startled the pilot chasing her. Once she found herself sitting on his tail, she locked onto him and fired missiles. At this range, pilot didn't react in time and before he could do anything, a pair of missiles slammed into his jet, turning it into a pile of burning scrap falling towards the ground. She looked after it for a minute, before looking at the radar. Right now, there were only six aircraft, three allied and three enemy. Which meant that the rest of the squadron was doing pretty well.

She then searched for the enemy she was chasing earlier and saw him following after Iea's aircraft.

"No's your turn."she muttered.

Major turned her machine's joysticks and the Cyclone turned to chase after the enemy.

"Sir, I have an enemy on my tail."Iea reported.
"I got him, don't worry."Dora replied.

Apparently, enemy pilot had to notice that Dora returned to chasing him, considering that he broke away from chasing Iea. Dora turned after him and again trailed him, as he desperately tried to escape, while major shortened the distance between the two aircraft.

When Dora decided that she was close enough, she once more pressed the gun firing button and sent a wave of fire towards him. Bullets once more connected with the machine's sheathing, tearing it apart in a whim. Soon, the bullets managed to reach the fuel tank and machine exploded in a spectacular fashion only air combat could provide.

"Green 1 to all Greens, report."she said in the radio.

"Green 3, all enemies down."Nivel said.

"Green 4, same here."Berin added.

"Good. We have to abort the mission."Dora decided."We're gonna follow Iea and escort her back to base. I will report everything to the HQ, so they would prepare…"

The dashboard turned all red again. Dora's eyes widened, seeing it.

"Missile!"Nivel shouted in the radio.

But he didn't have to.

Dora felt as her machine was shaken by a close proximity explosion. It started spinning as it started falling from the sky and towards the hard meeting with the ground.

Major quickly shook herself from the initial shock and pressed the ejection button. Before she knew it, the canopy of the plane fell off and she was ejected from the soon-to-be wreck that was her Eurofighter Cyclone. She watched as machine fell, before crashing into the ground and exploding, turning into a giant fireball.

"Major, do you read me?!"Berin exclaimed frantically.

"Loud and clear."Dora replied."What happened?"
"There must have been some enemy Stealth aircraft trailing us. It appeared on radars for only a second, when it fired. But it's gone now."Berin explained.
"Don't worry, sir. We're gonna stay here and cover you."Nivel said."We're gonna call for help and…"
"No, get away from here!"major ordered."Iea needs your help much more than I do! And that Sealth machine can still be there!"
"But sir…!"Iea even tried to protest.
"No discussion!"Dora cut her off sharply."You have to come back to base safely!"
"But sir, the enemy might capture you, or…!"

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."Dora replied."I hope."she quickly added in her mind.

There was a moment of silence on the side of her squadron, but soon, she received an answer from Nivel:
"Understood, sir. Green Squadron out. Good luck."

"You too."Dora said as a way of saying goodbye.

She watched as the remaining two aircraft of her squadron followed the still smoking Iea and as they became smaller and smaller the further they went. She then looked back at the forest under her.

"Here goes nothing."she thought as she slowly drifted to the ground.

July 21

On the ground…

Maddie, Fenis and Simon still were where they stopped. They were in front of a large glade, so the air above their heads was clearly visible with no trees to cover it. They watched the elaborate dance that both opposing sides performed, as fighters from UTDF and SoS tried to outwit each other and end the opponents' lives. Fenis and Simon were the ones to be the most excited about all this, as they quietly cheered every time Sons' machine erupted in flames and came crashing down towards the ground.

But when they saw an allied pilot being shot down, they held their breath and released it when they saw a parachute.

"At least he made it safely out."Simon said.
"We can't be fully sure."Maddie stated."We're in enemy territory after all."
"True. It's better if we get to him and help him."Fenis stated.
"Let's hope he's not hurt badly. "Maddie said."Let's go."

Three Royal Rangers stood up and quickly made their way through the glade, making sure there was no enemy in sight, because you never know. But they made it through safely and quickly went after the parachute carrying the ejected pilot.

July 21

A few minutes earlier

Somewhere else in the forest

Sergeant Slit, a clone trooper of SoS' army, whose name came from his tendency to slit people's throats open, was bored. He yawned loudly, as he leaned against the side of Laconian-made Ares 4x4 vehicle. It was a relatively small, unarmored car used mainly by recon units. He was accompanied by two more clones, Liver and Meathead. He didn't know where did their nicknames come from and he didn't care. He didn't even know them before three days ago.

Looking around the forest, Slit returned to several hours ago, when the three of them were given this stupid job. They were eating breakfast. Due to the clone physiology made by Xemth scientists, they didn't need any elaborate food. Only thing they needed to eat was especially prepared mush. All clones liked it and that was enough for their commanders. But that wasn't the point. The point was, that some non-clone soldiers came up to them and started messing with them, calling them 'fakes' and telling them that once the war is over, they will be replaced by true Humans. Slit tried to ignore them. However, Meathead, whose tempter was impossible to measure, didn't let it slide.

He stood up, came up to one of the three soldiers, smiled innocently…and then proceeded to grab said soldier's head and started smashing it against the table. Everyone was so shocked, that by few minutes, they didn't even dare to flinch. In that time, said soldier's head made a characteristic 'crunch' and the white table turned red. Everyone just stood there and watched, as Meathead looked at the remaining two with wicked smile.

But before the other two could join their deceased comrade, their commander entered the room and upon seeing the whole situation, reported the three clones to their brigade's commander. Everything was quickly taken care off and soon after, the three of them were sent to this forest, tasked with patrolling the area and searching for enemy saboteurs and anyone who could have been left behind their lines after their counterattack. An ungrateful job.

At least not too long ago, they heard and even saw some parts of air battle that took place over the forest. But it soon quieted down. They didn't know who won and didn't care as long as enemy won't drop bombs on them.

"Boooooring."Liver stated.
"Don't blame me for being here."Slit said.
"I don't. Of course I blame Meahead here."Clone pointed at their third comrade.
"Don't you dare accuse me of everything. That bastard deserved what I gave him."Meathead stated, laying on the car's hood."We're not some stupid toys one can replace. They need us and he knew that. Now he sees it."
"Well, now they are probably burying with the other dead."Liver said."So that's not important anymore."
"What's important, is that we take care of our task, or we will never hear the end of it."Slit stated."So stop whining."
"But what is the chance we'll actually find someone here?"Meathead asked."As low as their chances of victory."
"Which are?"Liver risen an eyebrow.
"Zero."Meathead simply replied.

Slit simply rolled his eyes, listening to the bickering of his two companions. He just had to withstand this.

He looked up at the sky, trying to see at least some parts of their fleet in the orbit, forming the blockade around the planet. Some ships were low enough that they could be seen with a naked when weather was as good as today. But, unfortunately, Slit could not see anything that would resemble the Erecan-made vessels.

However, instead, he saw something else.

"Hey, guys, look."he said.

The other two looked up and saw the same thing as he did: a parachute, with a pilot seat attached to it. The three glanced at each other.
"Follow it!"Slit ordered.

The three quickly jumped into their car and started the engine. Then, after turning with little problems, they started driving down the dirt road, following the parachute slowly coming towards the ground.

July 21

13:03

With Dora

The parachute slowly continued it's descent, with Dora simply waiting for where she would land. And, instead of what she hoped, she could see nothing but tress directly under her. She started to grind her teeth.
"Why is life always a bitch to me?"she asked herself.

Slowly, the chair and parachute came to landing. As she made her way through the trees, she could feel the branches scratching against her pilot suit. But that wasn't as painful as she expected. It was just annoying.

After that, the parachute, of course, hooked on the branches and Dora was left hanging there like a bauble on a Christmas tree. She looked down and saw, that she was hanging at least three meters over the ground. So for her, it was in reasonable bounds to drop and land safely.
"But it will still hurt."

Dora then proceeded to unfasten her seat belts. She took another glance down and after making sure that it was relatively safe, she slid off the chair and landed on the ground with a 'thud'. She gritted her teeth.

"Nothing broken, so that's good."she whispered.

She stood up straight and grabbed the pilot helmet, yanking if off of her head. She threw it on the ground, as she wouldn't need it anymore. And then proceeded to simply stomp on it as hard as she could. There was too much intel in the helmet's memory back and she wouldn't allow anyone to have it.
"Alright, with that done, now I have to…"
"Freeze!"

The order was so sudden that Dora almost jumped. She turned around, to see two enemy soldiers approaching her, with their weapons pointed straight at her. Taking a quick glance at them, she saw that they have identical faces. So she was dealing with a pair of clones. They had to be really good at silently walking, because she didn't even hear them approaching.

She decided to lift her hands above her head to avoid problems.

"Well, I think that us bringing a prisoner will easily deal with our punishment."one of them said.
"Probably."the second replied.

"We take her alive or dead?"

"Alive. She might get us some useful info."
"As you say."

Dora's eyes darted from one clone to another. They didn't seem particularly capable when it came to CQC techniques, so maybe if she acted fast, she could disarm and take down the first one. Then, she would act as fast as with the first one, she could take care of the second one. She just had to watch out for their shots, otherwise…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hit to the back of the head with the butt of a riffle. She collapsed on the ground, losing her senses.

Three clones looked at each other.

"Told you that will work."Meathead said, smiling.
"Yeah."Slit said."Now grab her. We're delivering her to the intelligence guys."
"And maybe after that, they're gonna allow us to have some fun with her."Liver smiled.
"Don't worry, I bet the entire camp will have a lot of fun with her."
"She won't feel her ass when everyone's done with her."Meathead grinned.
"But that later. Let's go."Slit ordered.

Liver and Meathead approached the unconscious Dora and carried her to their Ares, with Slit leading. They placed her on the back seat of the car, with Liver watching her, and drove off towards their base.

July 21

13:15

On the side of the forest road

Around a kilometer away from the place where Dora was kidnapped by the three clone troopers, Maddie, Fenis and Simon were laying flat in the grass on the side of the road. They were on their way to place where the pilot landed, but on their way, they heard a sound of engine coming. They quickly fell to the ground, when SoS' vehicle came into their view, passed by their hiding spot and drove away. It didn't take a long time for the three of them to realize where they were going.

"What are the chances?"Simon asked through clenched teeth.

"Seems like we have a rescue mission ahead of us."Fenis stated.
"Unless they kill the guy in spot."

"I doubt it."Maddie stated.
Simon looked at her.
"Why?"he asked.
"It's always good to take a prisoner, that might know something."Maddie explained.
"Fair one."Simon nodded his head.

Since then, they were laying there, not moving, waiting for the enemies to return. They didn't even move a muscle, in fear that more could follow the three enemies. But since the car drove by, no one else followed it. So it was good news, because they would easily deal with three enemy troops. It would be worse if they had an entire mobilized platoon against them.

Fenis suddenly slightly moved his head, so little, that it was barely visible.

"They're coming."

He didn't need to say it, because the other two also heard the sound of car engine coming closer and closer.

"Get ready."Maddie ordered.

Two apprentices one last time checked the state of their weapons and after seeing that everything was alright, they slightly nodded their heads, signaling their readiness for the combat.

"As we stated."Maddie said."I disable their vehicle. Simon, you pin them down with your machine gun. After that, me and Fenis will close the distance and take back the pilot. Got it?"
"Got it."the two replied.

The car already appeared in the distance. It was slowly driving down the forest road, with it's passengers clearly unaware of the presence of three Rangers. Although the signature cloak used by the Royal Ranger Corp since it's founding went out of use in the last one and a half decade, camouflage uniforms now used by the Corp, connected with Rangers' concealment abilities, was enough to make the member of the Corp almost completely invisible to the naked eye.

Maddie moved her eyes after the car, tracking it's movement. She could already see the two troopers sitting in the front, while a figure of the third was visible in the back. They were completely unaware of what was soon to meet them.

Maddie looked through the scope of her sniper riffle, which she set up on a bipod. She waited for the car to come closer and appear in the scope.

"Now."she whispered almost inaudibly.

With that, she pulled the trigger and the muffled sound of the sniper riffle was heard. The bullet flew straight into the car's tires, making them explode. It hit the left front tire, pierced it, flew under the car and hit the tire on the other side.

Trooper driving the car almost lost control, but managed to stop the vehicle.

"What the fuck?!"Liver exclaimed.

"We're under attack!"Slit replied."Get moving! We…!"

Before Slit could finish, his head exploded, hit by a fire from machine gun that started shredding the vehicle. Seeing this, Liver and Meathead quickly dove down, while machine gun shredded the upper part of the vehicle.

"Let's go!"Maddie said, speaking through the fire.

While Simon pinned down enemies with a silence machine gun fire, Maddie and Fenis started approaching the car, squatting, so they wouldn't be hit by friendly fire. They moved as quick as they could in this position. They reached the vehicle in two minutes, walking around it and to the other side.

"Okay Simon, that's enough."Maddie said in the radio.

Simon stopped firing his machine gun and for few seconds, the whole area went silent.

"Is it over?"Meathead asked.
"I think so."Liver replied.

The two of them slowly rose up from the ground, looking in the direction the fire came from.

"You see anything?"Liver asked.
"No."Meathead replied."What the fuck was that?"
"Maybe some local resistance group?"

"Didn't we deal with all kinds of resistance already?"
"Yeah. But maybe some…"

Before Liver could finish his sentence, he felt a barrel being put to his head. Meathead felt the same thing.

"End of the ride."Maddie said.

And without remorse, both she and Fenis pulled the triggers, making the two heads vanish in an explosion of red substance and materials making their helmets. Two dead soldiers simply fell limply on the seats and dashboard.
"Fenis, take care of the pilot."Maddie ordered.

"On it."Fenis replied.

The apprentice once more walked around the car and came up to the passenger door. Meanwhile, Simon went out of hiding and joined the two.

"That went surprisingly well."he stated.
"Yeah, better than even I expected."Maddie admitted.

"Let's just hope the pilot is okay."
Fenis approached the back door and opened it. Behind them, the first thing he noticed, was a storm of red hair covering a female face.

"Well, I guess she's not a guy."Fenis stated.

He grabbed the pilot's shoulder and shook it.
"Ma'am?"he asked."Do you hear me?"

The pilot slowly opened her eyes and rose up from the seat.
"What…?"she asked.
"Don't worry, we're allies."Fenis assured her."You're safe now, ma'am."

Dora eyed the soldier standing in front of her. She noticed his young face and risen an eyebrow.
"Aren't you too young to serve frontline duty?"she asked.
"Well, I'm actually still a Ranger apprentice…"Fenis replied, scratching the back of his head.
"Alright, I get it."
"Can you walk?"
"Yes."

Saying that, Dora started stepping out of the car, while Fenis stepped to the side. Major looked around, noticed the other two Rangers talking on the road. She approached them.
"Hey, thanks for getting me out of this."she said."I owe you one."
"Wait."Maddie said."I know that voice."

Ranger turned around and was surprised to see the person in front of her.
"Dora?"she asked.
"Maddie?"Dora asked back.

Fenis and Simon looked at the two, not covering their surprise.
"You two know each other?"Simon asked.
"Yeah, we go way back."Dora said.
"Dora was part of the team that broke me and Will out of the castle in Gallica."Maddie explained."And I think I just returned the favor."

"It would appear so."Dora replied.

She looked at the wreck of the car.
"So, what are you doing here?"she asked.
"We were dropped behind enemy lines with our squad."Fenis said."We were supposed to sabotage enemy back lines."
"But after some time, they got a wind of us and started to hunt us."Simon said."And they finally got us."
"Only the three of us made it."Maddie said sadly."We were left without communications and transport."

"So, what's your goal now?"Dora asked.
"We're going North towards Leender. We hope to reach it before Sons. Going to Erak City seemed too dangerous."Ranger explained.
"I see."

Saying that, Dora went towards the car and grabbed the riffle in one of the soldier's hands. Next, she grabbed a backpack from one of them and threw as many ammo magazines inside as she could. After that, she returned to the three Rangers.
"Mind if I tag along?"
"Why would we?"Maddie replied."We're in this together. Besides, there aren't many options for you or us."
"Exactly."Simon agreed.
"But I'm in charge."Maddie pointed out.
"You're the Ranger here. I will just follow."Dora said.
"Alright. Let's get out of here then, before someone gets interested in the disappearance of three soldiers and a car."Maddie ordered.
"After you."

With that said, the four quickly left the road and disappeared inside of the forest, leaving the three dead clones and their wrecked car behind.

XXX

This is the end of the chapter for today. This is also the last chapter in 2022 and I will be taking a break from writing for the last few days of the year. So, as always, leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated and see you in 2023!