Chapter 9
"Our enemies were not the creatures of Iron. Listen to me. It was the Empire!"
– King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom, IC 687

The Rose-Order of Knights were given a mission from the Saderan Emperor Molt Sol Augustus himself. This mission was to scout out the enemy currently occupying the scared Alnus Hill. To this end, Princess Piña Co Lada and the rest of her knights had spent the last two to three months chasing rumor after rumor.

That's what has led her here. To this nunnery that was in service of the god Hoboro about 30 miles – 48 klicks – from Alnus Hill. There was a well-known rumor that an injured male of high birth was being healed here. Almost everyone knew of this rumor, though no one had thoroughly investigated it. Even the local Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency Mobile Task Force in the area, Mobile Task Force Whiskey-33 "Foreclosure Task Force" had been ordered not to follow the rumor.

An injured enemy is not worth the bullets. They already know of our power, there isn't a need kill them now. Not like they'd do a suicide mission against the SPC again or so Rear Admiral Serena Michalek – being relayed through Rear Admiral Lower Half Luke McCow – said, however they were ordered to record the location and pass it onto Sean City Federal Armed Forces Loaned Foreign Joint Base Starfall-Providence Military Hospital. It was up to the 45th Sean City Federal Territorial Guards Medical Regiment on what to do with the information

King Duran of the Elbe Kingdom laid on the bed in one of the wings of the nunnery, his left arm and leg no where to be seen. Covered in bandages on his head and on his right arm.

He looked like he had been through Hardy's domain. He was clearly no longer fit to lead an Army – more or less his own kingdom – Piña felt a bit sorry for him.

Almost all of his hair was white now. Over Sixty years of age, he was old. His body could not endure the long journey back to his home on foot. The troops who had been fortunate to survive the contact with the forces on Aluns Hill had long since escaped. He ordered his last remaining loyal men to return to the Kingdom of Elbe and spread the word of the danger that is Alnus Hill. All the while he recovered his strength in this nunnery.

However, this was just a nunnery, not a hospital. Even a single village doctor would be better for his health than this place. The food was also poor in quality. Granted his strength was returning, abet slower than we wished, however it was also drained away.

The smell of rotting meat coming from the stumps of his missing Leg & Arm began to fill the air.

His face was pale, and his blood had not been circulating properly. He had battle signs under his eyes. If he stayed in this state, it was pretty much all but assured he would not live for much longer.

"I was in the third wave. This is what I have become. I advanced with the Mocha army into the hillside, but iron thorns blocked our wat. By the time we cleared the obstacles and resumed the advance, light fell like rain upon us, and right after that I was blown away in an instant"

King Duran had just finished recounting the entire 2nd Battle at Alnus Hill for the princess. All from his perspective.

Of how the 1st and 2nd waves never returned.

Of how the 3rd was completely decimated.

Princess Piña fell to one knee and took hold of Duran's intact right hand. Despite the fact that she was the princess of the major power in the region, she was still not over the superiority of Duran, who was – for all intents and purposes – a king.

"King Duran, I will notify the Empire immediately, and have them ready a physician and a carriage. We'll talk about this after you regain your strength"

Duran, however, shook his head.

"I'm sorry to reject such kindness Princess, but I do not wish to trouble the Empire. Besides, I am not long for this world"

"Why do you say that?"

"I've been thinking about why the Emperor would summon the Coalition Army to fight this war… After becoming like this, I fully understand. The Emperor knew this would happen. I think he was angry that we remained intact while his troops were decimated. In other words, the Emperor wanted the enemy to do his dirty work"

Duran had stopped using honorifics to dignify the Emperor, which showed his anger. Since he was about to die, he could care less.

"Princess, do not say you did not know this. Place yourself in the position of the Empire. You can probably imagine what happened when the Imperial Army clashed with the enemy at Alnus Hill"

"Yes. The Imperial Army was beaten, that much I knew, but I didn't know what sort of enemy was waiting for us at Alnus, nor that the Coalition Army we sent there would end up…well…like this"

"Please go, Princess. I do not wish someone armored in lies and welding a sword of deception to stand before me. The Coalition Army would have fought to the bitter end to protect this continent. However, Our enemies were not the creatures of Iron."

The King rose from his lying position and grabbed the princess with his intact right hand, pulling her downwards.

"Listen to me. It was the Empire!"

He then let her go, allowing her to come upright once again. He collapsed back into his sick bed.

"Your Majesty. It is too late to ask for you to quell your anger, but could you at least tell me what the enemy is like? What magic do they use? What tactics? Please tell me about your tactics as well."

"I will not speak of them! We made great sacrifices to learn that much! If you wish to find out Princess, then go to Alnus Hill yourself. Perhaps the enemy will show you their magic at the price of your men!"

To Piña's credit, she had tried her best. The Emperor had severely underestimated their opponents. That much was clear. He thought he could make up the difference in fighting power with strategy and schemes. However, Piña felt that the enemy and the Empire were on completely different levels. She had the feeling that if the Empire could not understand the enemy's power, it would be completely decimated. As these thoughts swirled around in her head, the Imperial Princess stared straight at the dying King.

"That will not do. You will tell me everything you know. If not, I will personally take the Kingdom of Elbe hostage. Lead the troops myself and burn it to ash if you do not speak."

This got Duran's attention.

"What… What is this!? First you take my soldiers, then my servants, even my own life and now you threaten my kingdom!? Like father, like daughter… Very well, do as you please. Besides, once I die, it is only a matter of time before my country is swallowed up by the Empire. I can hear Death approaching, so all this no longer matters. I will rejoin my family in death, and then we will mock the Emperor and you when you follow us."

"You've completely lost hope at the brink of death… However, the Empire will not lose."

Piña stood, looking down at the dying king.

"Anything is permitted, as long as one is powerful. That is what you believe in. However, we have our convictions and our pride and then we have our delusions. What you have Princess is a delusion. The enemies at Alnus are none like you've seen before. The Empire will not survive. When you find out and beg for help, nobody will answer. The Emperor himself has already sown the seeds of defeat, and you reap what you sow!"

The King of Elbe collapsed back on his sickbed, gasping as he did. Piña had no words to say. Anyone in her situation would. Even with power and strength, it would be difficult to conquer a heart. It wasn't as though she couldn't do it, but if she had, the King would still not be breathing.

Since there was no more to be gained from the dying King in front of her, she had to give up on him. Duran's angry cries echoed in her heart, as well as his hatred for the Empire that betrayed him.

"Your Highness, please do not order your knights to attack Alnus Hill!"

Piña sighed as she heard the words Duran yelled after her as she left his room.

"Hamilton, be honest with me, how stupid do you think I am?"

"I would not dare! But your Highness is radiating an air that says, 'We ride at once!'"

It was true. Piña was thinking of setting off at once, but her target was not Alnus Hill, but the Capital. Despite thinking this, she didn't say so out loud.

Her eyes roved over Hamilton, who resembled a very handsome prince at a glance. As if to confirm that her Aide was indeed female, Piña gently patter her flat chest. Well, it was soft and bouncy.

Piña wondered what the hell she was doing. She could hardly believe she was goofing off at a time like this… Or rather, maybe she was so wound up that she needed to play a little.

"Forget it, whether or not we attack, we still need to go to Alnus hill and scout out the enemy with our own eyes."

"Ah- Princess, with just this many people? Won't it be too dangerous?"

"Of course, it'll be dangerous, but you'll protect me, right?"

With that Piña left the nunnery along with her small contingent.

It had been no more than 10 minutes since the Imperial Princess left Duran's quarters when he heard a strange noise from outside. Rumbling. Perhaps a wagon? No, this was much louder than a wagon.

The noise then stopped and was instead replaced with yelling and screaming from the nuns of the Nunnery. Duran's door would open quite violently a minute later, and five women would enter, and scan the room.

One was a small pink haired female that looked around 18 – despite her small size – she was wearing a white shirt with a light blue tie and a green/woodland camo tactical vest with Shotguns shell's bolted to it. She carried a UTAS UTS-15 Marine Bullpup Shotgun slung across her chest.

The second one was a taller blond girl with decently sized tits and looked around 17. She had a light blue lanyard that carried her Sean City Ministry of Defense – Federal Marines Common Access Card. She was carrying a M134A Man-Portable 7.62 Minigun.

The third was a black-haired girl with fake cat ears on her head and looked 15 years old. She wore a dark blue blazer with a white collard shirt underneath and a light blue tie. Attached to her blazer was an ID Card holder carrying her Sean City Ministry of Defense – Federal Navy Common Access Card. She had a waist carrier holding three AR NATO 5.56 magazines. She had a SIG SG 553 slung across her chest.

The fourth was a silver haired girl also with fake cat ears on her head and looked 16 years old. She was wearing a dark blue blazer with a white collard shirt. She had a green tactical vest on and a light blue scarf with a black cross design. She was carrying an AID RU55 Assault Rifle across her chest.

The last one was a black-haired girl with short hair braided in a headband with a butterfly pin and red glasses who looked around 14 years old. She also had a microphone coming from her ear. She wore a dark blue blazer with a tan cardigan, white collared shirt and a light blue tie. She wore an ID Card holder that carried her Sean City Ministry of Defense – Office of the Minister of Defense, Directorate of Communications Common Access Card. She carried a waist holster that would hold the AID 34B Semi-Auto Pistol that she was currently holding.

The King watched as these five girls secured the small room with tactical precision seen only from the Imperial Military's Elite Guards. The pink haired girl – after confirming the room was safe and only had one occupant – spoke to the king.

"Good Afternoon, your Majesty. Please do not be alarmed, allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Hoshino with the States Combined Forces – Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Reconnaissance and Espionage, Mobile Task Force Whiskey-33 'Foreclosure Task Force', this is 2nd Lieutenant Shiroko, Warrant Officer 1st Class Ayane, Sergeant First Class Nonomi and Staff Sergeant Serika. We are here to help you"

"I don't know what any of that means"

Was the response she received from the King lying in front of her.

"We are from Alnus Hill"

This was enough to grab his attention.

"Ah – You're here to finish me off I guess… Alright, have at it"

"No, you are quite mistaken your Majesty"

The King eyed the small pink haired girl with amber and blue eyes, trying to find any hint of deception. He could not.

"Then what are you here for?"

"To give you Medical attention… Or at least better medical attention then your current arrangements can provide"

Duran couldn't tell if this girl was serious or not, and he weighed his options.

"While you're thinking about it, please be rest assured that you are not a Prisoner of War, since your Kingdom's Military is currently combat ineffective. This is just a courtesy our commanders have extended to yourself as a sort of apology I guess?"

This is where the girl's professionalism broke down a little.

"I don't know, she… or more like he wasn't super clear on what we should do with you – I wanna take a nap"

The short black-haired girl name Ayane took over speaking from Hoshino.

"What she means to say is. The States Combined Forces – Or the forces at Alnus Hill if you so wish – has no ill will towards your kingdom, and in good faith, would like to get you back to full strength and then return you to your home. Is that fine?"

The King had really no other choice. He would die if he stayed here, and he would die if he had also taken the Imperial Princess's offer. The man sighed, before waving his hand and approving of this action taken by the Foreclosure Task Force.

It took about five minutes for four members of the 45th Sean City Federal Territorial Guards Medical Regiment to load the King into the single RMMV Survivor R Ambulance and take off towards Alnus Hill.

Starfall-Providence Military Medical Center was alerted of their departure by Ayane and immediately a room was being prepared for the King.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing"

Ayane asked her commanding officer, who just shrugged in response.

"I'm just here hoping we don't get yelled at for doing so.

Some time ago, the content shown on the TV's in the State of Firestone began to change. The public broadcasting centers, such as the Firestone Broadcasting Corporation and the Firestone News Network began to show scenes of native Australian & Tasmanian's being massacred and violated by immigrant English Convicts.

Or maybe they would begin to show how the Spaniards destroyed the Caribbean.

Or Carthage, laid desolate by the Roman Empire.

There was a point to this severe change in programming. Emphasizing and repeating it so that the point could be deeply ingrained in the minds of their audience. Be it via News Time Talk shows, Drama's, Sporting events, Quiz Shows, even the news itself. They all added their own messages to change the viewers' opinions.

This point – the message – that the media was trying to deeply ingrain in the minds of the Firestonian's was how a superior culture crushed and wiped out a weaker one.

They emphasized the tragedies that resulted from ethnic cleansing. People would naturally sympathize with the underdog. They used thus sympathy to try and sway people.

Of course, there were members of the public that this didn't work on. The Civilians, Law Enforcement Officers and Military Members who had been at the 2022 Government Circle Incident.

There were now two sides to the societal civil war brewing back home. The ones that who thought the States Protection Coalition was a pretense to wipe out a culture and the ones who thought the States Protection Coalition was doing all it could to fight an enemy that had killed and taken their fellow neighbors.

The battles on the otherside of the GATE gained more and more local & international attention. However, there wasn't much elaboration on them. People became skeptical as both their Government and the SPC General Headquarters assured them that they had defeated the enemy's attacks. Since there were almost no casualties being reported on the SPC's side, they began to wonder if the people we fought were actually the victims.

The Firestone Senate became the home to these societal battles, as one side faced off against the other. A Senator from the Democratic Party of Firestone rose and asked that very question. The person answering it was the Civilian Director of the States Protection Coalition Strategic Military Offensive & Defensive Planning Office.

"In the three engagements with the enemy, their losses numbered around 60k. None of them were from non-combat personnel"

The entire chamber, including the currently full to bursting gallery, fell silent.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan lost over eight thousand men trying to capture Hill 203. This was the complete opposite of that. Whereas the Japanese eventually took Hill 203, the enemy on the other side of the GATE couldn't even begin to think about taking Alnus Hill.

Casualties in war were natural. Almost all wars expected at least some civilian casualties. If we lost, our side would have more dead. If you've been keeping count, the Empire still has the Title for most Civilians Killed on a Battlefield. Of course, however, the anger of the citizens, law enforcement and military members after the Government Circle Incident was understandable. However, the people who thought they were more rational and reasonable than the rest wanted to treat others with compassion and some sort of understanding and so, these figures weren't acceptable.

The Shame of the SPC? 130 possibly unreported Civilian Casualties!?

The Lies of the Civilian Director of the States Protection Coalition SMODP Office?

Unknown Battles in The Special Region! Were there Non-Combatants Among The Huge Casualties?

Falsehoods by the SPC SMODP Office Civilian Director perpetrated by Sean City Federal Territory?

These and several others were the headlines that dominated the TV and paper news cycles for weeks.

TV and news reporters mobbed SPC General Headquarters, the Governors Office and the Capital Building, pointing their microphones and cameras at either the Governor or the Generals overseeing the State's Protection Coalition.

They had been refused access to the Sean City Federal Territorial Embassy as they also attempted to mob the Ambassador to the State of Firestone as well as the Commander of SCMODIA & Territorial Guard Forces in Firestone.

A lot of people suspected the Civilian Director to be corrupted, as well as the Director of the States Protection Coalition Public & Media Relations Office so however the Generals and Governor Chloe Swveets responded was important.

However, the only recorded response from either side was a lot of "No comment", "That's some serious accusations", "we are still trying to make sense of the situation on the other side" and so on, this only lowered public opinion.

The members of the underdog faction – What had become known as the Firestone Party for De-escalation – decided to follow up on that by arranging to have their members seated at the Speaker's podium, facing the Civilian Director of SPC SMODP Office and the Director of the SPC Public Relations Office, who were requested to stand before a Joint Session of the Senate & House and answer their questions.

"The civilian casualties that were reported were not caused in a combat situation against then enemy force, but were caused by a natural disaster"

In response to the SPC SMODP Office Civilian Director's reply, the junior female Senator from the City of Redwood asked:

"What kind of disaster? Did it have anything to do with the SPC?"

"According to reports, it was a dangerous wild beast. Think of something like Godzilla. The States Combined Forces Land Command, Recon & Intelligence's Commands, 1st Special Region Reconnaissance Regiment, 12th Specialized Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon engaged it in combat in order to rescue civilians from the dragon"

"I'm sorry? Godzilla? You mean to say the Special Region has such life forms?"

"I don't see how that would be surprising to you Senator. As above this very roof, during the Government Circle Incident, two Firestone State Patrol: Air Support Unit helicopters dogfighted a Dragon rider – However, of course, this is not a Godzilla movie, but it was something quite similar to it. Special Region Class A Dangerous Beast, AKA 'Flame Dragon'. We have recovered a portion of the Dragon's body as a sample and currently the Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency's Office of Foreign Armor Intelligence is testing it, as they did with the Wyvern Scales"

The female Senator sighed.

"Then we shall, for the moment, believe this unbelievable story. That is to say this incident was caused by civilians being involved in combat operations against this Flame Dragon?"

"No. You are as incorrect as the day you were born Senator. The soldiers concerned used weapons to attack the dragon in order to protect. Do you hear me? Protect! And rescue non-combative personnel, but all casualties were caused by the Flame Dragon"

"Director, I suggest you watch your tone"

The Lieutenant Governor said from her podium.

"Please, Senator, continue"

"Director, a week ago you said there were no non-combatant casualties, however, why did you not come forward about this incident and its many casualties?"

"Because it wasn't fucking relevant? The question from the previous week was about civilian casualties as part of the three battles against the enemy on the other side of the GATE, not a fucking-"

"Director! If I have to warn you again, I will kick you out of this chamber, are we understood?"

The Civilian Director of SPC SMODP Office, who had gotten more and more annoyed with each question gulped and nodded at the Lieutenant Governor. In response she waved back at the junior Senator to continue her questioning.

"We're fully aware of the 60k death toll, and that this disaster has claimed many victims. In the future, please inform us of such things. Then, how about the civilians that were rescued by the SPC?"

"Well, according to the report, they have taken refuge where they can, nearby towns and villages and such. Because of the Flame Dragon's appearance, they were forced to leave their hometowns and were attacked en route to safety"

"I see. Do we know anything about them now?"

"No"

"Are you not going to elaborate?"

"We aren't in the Special Region to stalk Citizens of that region. Our priority is safeguarding the area around the GATE and capturing the perpetrators responsible for the Government Circle Incident. However, we have concluded that the severely injured had been transported to the Starfall-Providence Military Medical Center and the Elderly and orphaned children, under the judgement of the Supreme Commander of the States Combined Forces in the Special Region, were taken into protective custody"

"I see, then what about the people involved? Lieutenant Governor! Speaker!"

The Speaker of the House turned to face the Lieutenant Governor as the junior Senator changed her vector of attack. The Lieutenant Governor then spoke.

"This shall be pushed up to the States Protection Coalition Council for Civilian Overwatch of Military Actions in the Special Region. It will be up to them as to what to do with the information gathered here"

It took three days since that event for the Diet to convene and request the entirety of 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon as well as protected locals. If the SPC had nothing to hide, they shouldn't refuse. The junior Senator had pushed for this trial, and she would get it.

The decision was made to deflect the attacks of the junior Senator and her faction with the truth. SPC General Headquarters decided to go with the demands of the Diet as well as several representatives of the locals to this side of the GATE.