Disclaimer for Each Chapter
I do not own the Code Geass and GATE: Jieitai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri franchises. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been doing this now, would I?! Both franchises belong to their respective creators; I am writing this because of my hobby and passion only, not for profit.
Author's Rant
Wow, I never thought it would take this long to write this chapter. It was partly because I have been too busy with work lately. Admittedly, this one was a little difficult to write given the technical details I had to research.
As for your comments, I am sorry if I wasn't able to reply to them soon enough. As I said, I am too busy with work and other things in life. I will reply to them soon enough.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Alneuz Hill, Planet Falmarius
Eight Field Army Imperial Camp
"Hey, Jangris! Did you hear the rumors?" Llanzo – one of the Saderan soldiers – asked his fellow conscript as they were standing guard for their battalion camp. At least, they had been guarding their camp before they were pulled away by their Praefector (Battalion Commander) for personal sentry duty.
"What rumors?" the other conscript said after he let out a long yawn. Although he was thrilled for joining the otherworld expedition, he never expected that all he and most of his comrades would do was stand guard like this. As peaceful as it was, guard duty could be quite boring sometimes.
When the first mysterious deaths and missing cases of low-ranking commanders came up a few weeks ago, the commanders of the Eight Field Army have become more and more nervous. Right now, these five conscripts were pulled away by their Praefector to protect him when he did "business". Since the dead commanders were often targeted whenever they were alone, they began assigning personal bodyguards for themselves at night, especially when they needed to relieve themselves.
Llanzo looked around to ensure they were far enough to avoid being heard by the Praefector who was taking his sweet time inside his personal lavatory.
He then said. "Rumors about the Seventh Field Army being completely decimated on the other side of the Gate. I heard from the guys of the division that guards the Gate, saying that they saw how terrified the survivors from the Seventh Field Army were after returning from the other side. Their rumors are very wild and extreme, saying that many of the veterans from that Field Army have lost their minds. They said that many of them even committed suicide after being healed."
"Well, it's certainly odd!" Jangris remarked. "It was less than a day and yet, they already returned with so many dead and wounded. After all, they even released the Tarrasque to the other side after retreating."
"Right? Don't you think that it's too weird for our army to suffer that many losses after less than two days of conquest? I also heard that we have lost some…" He was interrupted when another conscript poked him in the back.
"What in Emroy's name are you spouting?" the third soldier interrupted. "Are you insinuating that our glorious empire lost against some barbarian nation on the other side?"
"Of course not, I was just stating how strange this whole campaign was," Llanzo quickly corrected since he knew how fanatical some of his fellow conscripts could be. "I mean… Did you see how many men the Seventh Field Army have lost?"
"That matters not," the conscript whose name was Kael asserted. "We have lost entire Field Armies before. It doesn't matter what kind of enemies we face on the other side. We will prevail and show them the might of the Divine Empire of Sadera."
"That's enough of this silly talk about our defeat," Jangris interjected. "Let's talk about what we have found on the other side. Did you notice that some of the slaves we acquired look strangely similar to the Southern Barbarians?"
"Now that you mention it, they do look like those Southerners, huh?" Llanzo said. "I wonder how much they would sell on the market."
Their unit and three others were responsible for transporting the slaves, strange-looking trinkets, and whatever passed as potential riches they acquired from the other side of the Gate. Among the captured prisoners, they found it strange that many of the "slaves" had features resembling the inhabitants of this world. At the moment, they were being transported to the frontier city of Ularok so they could be sold or distributed to other slave markets across the empire.
"I had fun with some Southerners before. They don't have the face but at least they have the body. You know what I mean?" Kael said with a sadistic smug on his face.
"Maybe I will buy one after this expeditionary. It's been a while so I might as well let it loose." Llanzo said, earning some laughs from the other two.
Their jovial conversation was interrupted when they heard a loud crash nearby. It was the sound of armor and weapons falling to the ground. Looking over to the direction where the sound came from, they noticed that the torch over there was mysteriously snuffed out. Jangris took the torch from his position and they all went over to that direction. When Jangris shone the light on the area, they noticed that two of their fellow conscripts were slumped on the ground, their bodies were motionless.
"Hey, no sleeping on guard duty!" Llanzo said out loud but he received no reply from the two men. He then walked over to shake them awake.
When he knelt to touch one of the men's shoulder, his eyes widened in shock upon seeing the blood on the man's shoulder. Glancing up, he realized that there was a large hole in the man's helmet with blood pouring out of it like a fountain. He didn't need to look under the helmet to know that the man was clearly dead.
Llanzo screamed in horror as he quickly retreated from the dead body. By now, both Llanzo and Jangris could see that both men were dead in similar manners. Upon closer look, they could see that their heads were punctured by something extremely powerful and precise. Their blood, skull fragments, and brain matter decorated the wooden walls behind them. Their helmets seemingly did nothing to stop the unfortunate men's deaths.
"W-What in… Hardy's name was that?" Llanzo blurted out after screaming his lungs out. "They were alive a few moments ago."
"We… we have to report to Praefector Invrall!" Jangris stuttered as he took a step back from the bodies.
"That's right! We have to…" Llanzo paused as he noticed something strange. "Jangris, where is Kael?"
Jangris whipped around with his torch and his eyes widened in horror again.
The conscript who was talking to them seconds ago was gone. They looked at each other in shock and exchanged a silent message. They didn't stop to question how something like this could happen. They didn't even care about the Praefector they were supposed to be guarding either. Right now, the only thing on their mind was to inform their comrades who were just a short distance away from their position.
Just when they took a step to prepare to run, the side of Llanzo's helmet exploded, sending his brain matter and blood into Jangris's face.
Jangris touched his face to make sure he wasn't dreaming about what happened. He was horrified to see blood, brain, and skull fragments on his hand.
Looking at Llanzo's lifeless body, he was essentially paralyzed by fear as he stood frozen in place. His life flashed across his mind as he wondered how this was happening to him. It was supposed to be an easy conquest for their glorious empire, one that would bring them untold amounts of riches from the world beyond the Gate. He and his fellow imperials were supposed to indulge in the glory of conquering otherworld nations, not being stuck in this forest, doing pitiful guard duty, and dying next to their unit's lavatory.
Before his mind could think of anything else, a blur of movement flashed across his field of vision and a hand covered his mouth. Before he could even let out a scream or lifted his other arm to fight back, his throat was already slashed.
Jangris gurgled a little as he was choking on his own blood. The pain was so intense that it burned him from the inside. He tried to claw, punch, and scratch his murderer's arm with all his might. It was futile as whoever was holding him in place had a vice-like grip as he struggled to take it off his mouth.
The more he struggled, the more blood poured from his throat like a fountain.
Once enough blood was lost, his body went limp and he began losing consciousness. His murderer finally let him go, letting his body drop onto the blood-soaked grass beneath his feet like a ragged doll.
During his last moments, his eyes caught the shimmering outlines of something humanoid. It looked as if something was manifesting from thin air. When his vision completely faded, Jangris could faintly hear the sound of shuffling and something being dragged away.
The only thing on his mind was: What kind of enemies had the Seventh Field Army encountered on the other side?
Eight Field Army Camp, Alneuz Hill
Field Marshal Calass Lorresten signed in frustration after he dismissed the meeting with the Field Generals under his command. They have already lost twenty-five low-ranking commanders already and yet, they haven't found out who was responsible for their deaths or missing cases.
His Eight Field Army was smaller than the Seventh because it didn't include the multiracial mercenaries, war beasts, and battle slaves, numbering roughly 100,000 warriors, and was supported by only 300 wyverns and a few hundred battle mages. He was still bitter that Tiberiaz "transferred" most of his mages over to the Seventh Field Army, causing the Eight Field Army to suffer a shortage of battle mages.
On the plus side, the Eight Army had a larger number of siege weapons and artilleries so he couldn't complain much. Originally, the Eight Field Army was only meant to support Field Marshal Tiberiaz in his conquest of the nation beyond the Gate and reinforce the area surrounding the Gate after they moved on to other areas.
When Field Marshal Tiberiaz Kobernick led the Seventh Field Army through the other side of the Gate, everyone had assumed that they would come back victorious and with riches beyond their wildest dreams. At best, a few legions of the Eight Field Army would only be sent as reinforcements to subjugate the barbarians on the other side every now and then.
All of their assumptions and expectations were shattered when the Seventh Field Army or rather, its remnants returned after a single day of crossing.
Instead of honorable victory and uncountable treasures, what returned was only two divisions worth of heavily injured and mentally broken men as well as a handful of mercenary survivors. Many of them sustained injuries of varying degrees, some of which were so great that they succumbed to death shortly after collapsing. The ones who didn't have physical wounds suffered intense mental trauma so great that some chose to end their own lives.
When Field Marshal Calass and his commanders questioned the surviving commanders of the Seventh Army, they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Beyond the Gate was a massive city, far larger and more magnificent than anything they had ever seen as it had many towers and buildings so tall that they reached the heavens. There were also an endless amount of metal horseless carriages that all seemed to run on some form of magic.
The inhabitants of the city were weak and couldn't fight back but their defenders were another story. A handful of the city defenders were able to slaughter hundreds of Saderan warriors, using some kind of magical weapons. Their battle mages were able to protect the Saderans from the otherworld defenders' attacks at first.
When the real army of that nation arrived, however, the Seventh Army's advance was completely halted and routed. Hundreds of flying metal airships and horseless carriages that carried thousands of otherworld soldiers and moved at incredible speeds. Every single one of these soldiers was a mage who wielded black thunder staff and was capable of wiping out scores of Saderans on their own.
There were also War Golems much larger than their imperial counterparts and self-propelled artilleries that could fire terrible magic and homing magic arrows, annihilating thousands of Saderan warriors and their war beasts in mere moments. Worse yet, these metal monstrosities were impervious to the Saderans' weapons and offensive magic. Then, there were the giant metal birds, each of which was capable of terrifying speeds and eliminating dozens of flame wyverns. Even the thousands of trolls, giant ogres, and Aligraks stood no chance against the death magic of the otherworld army.
It was even more disturbing that the same men who had survived the empire's bloodiest campaigns were giving them such preposterous reports.
The last bit of information convinced Calass and his commanders that the surviving commanders of the Seventh Army had gone insane. According to their accounts, there were twenty flying fortresses near the end of the battle, descending from the heavens themselves. Each of these fortresses completely dwarfed imperial airships and disgorged hundreds of metal birds from their bellies, the same ones that decimated the majority of the Saderan Expeditionary Army.
When the otherworld army began a final push to their campsite and slaughtered tens of thousands of men and war beasts, they knew that the battle was over for the Saderans.
Calass remembered that Tiberiaz had requested the only adult Tarrasque in their control to be a contingency plan in case the invasion of the otherworld nation encountered major setbacks. Since the monster was too volatile, it was considered a last-resort weapon only.
Of course, Tiberiaz was supposed to request support from Calass's Eight Field Army before unleashing that abomination. Calass was still angered when the commanders of the Seventh Field Army released that thing without calling for reinforcements from him. Before Calass could stop them, the monster was already released by the mages and was lured toward the darkness of the Gate by an unfortunate troll.
The surviving commanders said they didn't know what happened to it since they were far too traumatized to go back. Even when Calass threatened them with severe punishments, they refused to go back and stated it clearly that they would rather kill themselves than head back into the dark abyss of the structure.
After he extracted all useful information from them, Calass sent them to their healer mages and discharged them from duty. Their minds and bodies were already too broken to continue fighting anyways.
At this point, it was clear that the march of the Seventh Field Army through the Gate had failed and most of them had been destroyed on the other side of the Gate. The only success they had was the few thousand slaves and strange trinkets of all kinds taken from that world. The slaves had been sent to Ularok so they could be distributed to various slave markets across the empire. Since these slaves were "rare goods", the Saderans tried not to damage them.
However, it couldn't be considered a victory given the circumstances. Over 100,000 men had all but perished in what was supposed to be the empire's crowning achievement. Although the Saderan Empire still had ten times that amount of troops to call upon, it was still a devastating loss. After all, it would be extremely difficult to replace veteran warriors.
Calass and his Field Generals quickly put a lid on this failure by ordering their soldiers and the survivors of the Seventh Field Army to never speak of this to anyone or else, they would be punished or even executed for treason. They decided to relay the message to the imperial capital that they were encountering setbacks in their conquest. In doing so, they could request for reinforcements without angering the emperor and the Senate. They knew that leaks and rumors were bound to happen but they believed that orders from Calass himself would ensure that such leaks were quickly invalidated. Nevertheless, the Eight Field Army remained on high alert and prepared themselves for whatever was coming from the Gate.
The Eight Field Army proceeded to reinforce Alneuz Hill, dig trenches to stall enemy advance, placed siege engines and cannons in defensive positions, and had their flame wyvern corps ready to take off at a moment's notice.
After several days of silence, Calass decided to send scouts through the darkness of the Gate in order to ascertain the situation on the other side. When the first group of scouts never returned, he sent the second group, then the third. Not a single one of them returned.
Only when the fourth group of scouts had disappeared into the darkness of the mysterious structure did he decide to stop sending them. Although he and his commanders knew that the otherworld enemy was powerful, they were confident that they would be able to drive them back and teach the barbarians a lesson for going against the Saderan empire.
At least, that was what they had thought.
Soon enough, they finally came to terms with the fact that whatever the Seventh Field Army had awoken on the other side of the Gate followed them home.
After two weeks of silence, hundreds of strange reports started coming to Calass and his Field Generals. Sentries and patrols near the Gate reported hearing strange noises coming from the Gate but discovered nothing when they investigated. They reported seeing shimmering figures in the air. Even more disturbing were the reports of seemingly invisible apparitions coming in and out of the Gate.
At first, these reports were dismissed as nothing more than ramblings of weak-minded conscripts who allowed their own fear and imagination to get the better of them. Eventually, that began to change.
One morning, a patrol that had been sent outside the encampments came across the corpses of an imperial messenger and his horsva. Both the man and his mount laid on the ground in a pool of their own blood with gaping holes on their bodies.
It was apparent that they must have been dead for hours. But what had caused such wounds? More worryingly, the bags normally carried by the messenger were missing.
This was only the beginning as two days later, two messengers sent out by the local garrison were found dead in similar manners and their bags missing as well. That night, two six-man teams were dispatched to investigate who or what was responsible for these mysterious deaths.
The next day, all of them were found with their throats slit or heads missing. The fact that these twelve men were all veterans of previous campaigns made the conscripts even more terrified.
Panic had begun to set in among the Saderan imperials' garrisons when dozens of Saderan commanders like Octaevians2, Centurions, and Praefectors were found dead or missing around the holy hill of Alneuz. Even the elite imperial mages and their escorting conscripts were not safe from these attacks. All those who were found dead either had their throats slit or bore several large puncture wounds on their bodies. They didn't dare imagine what happened to the missing commanders.
As the highest-ranking commander of the Eight Army, Field Marshal Calass knew that something had to be done in order to put the men under his command at ease.
For that matter, he ordered them to build makeshift fortifications around Alneuz Hill. The largest fortification was located the furthest away from the holy hill. It was the most fortified structure and housed the majority of the garrison troops. Fort Invartez.
Thanks to his early requests for reinforcements, forces from the neighboring Provincias like Gredasen, Ularok, Halgurd, and Thalgos were en-route. If they arrived, it would bring the total number of the Field Army stationed at Alneuz Hill to over 140,000 strong.
Field Marshal Calass Lorresten was confident that a force this large would be more than enough to repel whatever was coming through the Gate. It was reassuring that no more patrols and high-ranking commanders were found dead or missing when Fort Invartez was being constructed.
However, he could never see the storm that was approaching.
Alneuz Hill's Surrounding Forest
Terran Calendar: September 20, 2135
Deep within the forests around the Saderans' garrisons laid several of men and women clad in sophisticated and advanced armor. Their armor and overalls were designed in such a way that they would blend in almost perfectly with the environment around them. At the moment, they were observing the Saderan makeshift fortifications and camps from afar with their equipment and preparing for another raid on their camps.
Their base of operations was basically a sizable tent covered with active camouflage panels that prevented detection in the most effective way possible. They also used rocks, tree branches, and bushes to ensure their camouflage worked perfectly.
After skimming through the drone footage on his datapad, the man who was designated Spec-Ops Commander placed a hand on his helmet and said. "This is Black Beard Actual to all teams, come in, over."
"This is Ghost Zero-One, standing by, over." A voice came through the speaker in his helmet after a few seconds of silence.
"This is Banshee Zero-One, standing by, over." The second voice spoke.
"This is Foxhound Zero-One, standing by, over." The third voice spoke.
"This is Edgar Zero-One, standing by, over." The fourth voice spoke.
"Copy, move in and begin the operation!" The Cerberus Task Force Operation Commander said into his radio. "Night Raider Drones are ready to provide air support."
One by one, the Special Forces teams acknowledged the commander's order and began to move toward their designated AO (Areas of Operation), namely the Saderan imperial camps.
For the past few weeks, the United Earth Defense Force or rather, the Britannian Intelligence Branch have dispatched some of their most elite men and women to other side of the Gate to conduct reconnaissance missions, gather as much information on the Saderan Empire as possible, and sabotage the enemy however they could.
After the drones determined that the other side was safe for humans from Earth, the Empire authorized the Imperial Special Operations Command (ISOC) to send their Special Forces groups to the alien planet and begin their clandestine operations against the Saderan forces stationed on the other side of the Gate. When the Saderans lost all of their scouts and found out what happened to the previous army, they have been too terrified of being near the Gate, allowing the operators to move around and transport their equipment to the other side undetected.
Although the allied nations have offered to send their Special Forces alongside the CTF, the Empire has put their offer on hold for now at least. It wasn't that they have never worked together before. Rather, the Britannians wanted to have all the cards in their hands before showing them to their allies. The other nations may object to this decision but it wasn't like they could have done anything anyway. If anything, they were satisfied that the Empire even allowed a portion of their militaries to be deployed to Planet Falmarius.
At least, that was how they showed it officially.
During the first week, Cerberus operators focused their missions on gathering as much information on the Saderan Empire as possible. Thanks to their active camouflage, skills and experience in unconventional warfare, the Special Forces teams had little to no challenge on that front. Not to mention, the Saderans had never thought that anyone would target their messengers, scouts, and average grunts so they never knew what hit them.
The CTF teams continued to scout the areas with their drones but things began to escalate. With an invasion on the horizon, the Special Forces teams were tasked to capture or kill any high-ranking Saderan commander they came across and cause as much havoc amongst the enemy's ranks as possible. Essentially, they were to disrupt the enemy or destroy the Saderans' will to fight to the best of their abilities.
So far, the Cerberus operators have captured a number of Saderan low-ranking commanders and interrogated them to extract useful information. They finally hit a jackpot when they captured the ones charged with transporting the captured citizens of Earth to different locations across Saderan territories.
They learned the Terrans were going to be sold off as slaves for this depraved empire, enraging the entirety of the Britannian Imperial Government. Though incensed by this, Cerberus operators managed to control the urge to kill them right away to continue their interrogation. They finally found out that at least four Terrans were being transported back here to two of their "new masters" who happened to be their targets tonight.
Once they gathered enough intel to act upon, ISOC immediately devised and with permission from the Emperor himself, authorized Operation Nocturnal to achieve two primary objectives:
1) Capture the Saderan Field Generals.
2) Rescue the enslaved Terrans.
Based on their intel, the "newly acquired slaves" were coming tonight. For that matter, the Special Forces teams would strike tonight as well. Four CTF teams targeted four separate camps which were believed to house their primary targets. Black Beard Actual's team set up base over two kilometers away to monitor the operation from afar with their smart drones and ready to provide fire support if necessary. If things got too difficult for the teams, they would unleash hellfire upon the Saderans using their Night Raider drones4.
As they moved toward their targets, the Cerberus operators were slightly impressed by how quickly the Saderans managed to build these fortifications. While they were nothing more than tent cities protected by crudely built wooden walls, the Saderans did a good job in setting everything up in such a short time.
Because of how massive the army was, the encampments had to be divided into several camps to ensure its defensive capabilities. Each camp had only one entrance to it with two guard towers keeping watch. The walls were also high enough for archers to gain a vantage point over the attacking enemy. Hundreds of ballistae, catapults, and cannons were positioned around these camps facing the Gate and around the largest makeshift fortress furthest from the hill where the Gate was located. Wyvern camps were located a few hundred meters away from the encampments to make sure that the flame wyvern corps could be deployed at a moment's notice.
For the Falmarians, these hastily built fortifications would have been formidable enough to deter any attacking force. At least, they would be to those with the same level of civilization as them. They would certainly not be enough to stop enemies who possessed advanced technology and had a century of experience in asymmetrical warfare and infiltration.
The larger camps were commanded by Field Generals whereas the furthest makeshift fortress was commanded by the Field Marshal himself. The camps were their targets tonight.
So far, the Special Forces teams have only targeted lower-ranking commanders like Octaevians, Centurions, and Praefectors. With their skills, experience, equipment, and weaponry, that task was nothing short of a walk in the park for them. Tonight, their targets were the Field Generals who might prove somewhat of a challenge to them given how protected they were.
Each team had nine field operators, one sniper, and one drone operator, all of whom were armed with suppressed assault rifles and sub-machine guns.
Once the teams reached their designated camps, they waited for the go-ahead order from Black Beard Actual. The operators' active camouflage helped them blend perfectly with the dimly lit environments. Unless the Saderans had some kind of magic that could detect invisible enemies, they could do jack shit in detecting the operators in the dark.
—
While the other teams approached their targets, the Cerberus team designated "Ghost Zero" made their way towards the largest camp and waited for the signal to commence their mission. It was also the camp where the hostages were supposed to be taken to. This camp's security was tighter than most as there were two soldiers on the guard towers and four soldiers on the ground. Every now and then, there were some random patrols walking around the perimeter but the majority of the camp was fast asleep.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Batou Griffin who was designated as "Ghost Zero-One", glanced at the members of his team, designated "Ghost Zero", through his helmet's visor. The team got into position behind the oblivious sentries. Their active camouflage equipment allowed the operators to appear nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Chief Batou spoke into the radio embedded inside his helmet. "Ghost Zero is in position."
A few seconds later, the other teams reported that they were in position as well.
Once all of the random patrols were clear of the target area, the Cerberus Commander gave the order. "Take them out!"
As soon as the order was given, Chief Batou and three other operators of his team drew their combat knives and waited for his team's sniper to give the signal.
The sniper squeezed the trigger of his M300A Peacemaker, more commonly known as the Gauss Rifle, once while the drone operator next to him tapped on his data-pad, which controlled their Intruder drone. Two 6.8mm bullets were propelled forward at Mach 8 toward their intended targets.
Two Saderan sentries on the two guard towers had their heads atomized by 6.8mm bullets moving at Mach 8. Even their helmets exploded upon impact caused by tungsten bullets moving at hypersonic speed.
The sound of their dead sentries' heads exploding, armor and bodies falling caused the sentries on the ground to look up and ask what happened. It was their biggest mistake as the operators moved up, covered their mouths with one hand, and slashed the Saderans' throats with combat knives.
In an excellent display of coordination and marksmanship, all of the Saderan sentries of the designated camps were taken care of in less than three seconds.
Once the operators let the dead sentries drop to the ground, they pulled back into the shadow and waited for almost a minute to make sure that no one heard the commotion and that there wouldn't be any more random patrols nearby.
"Black Beard Actual, this is Ghost Zero-One," Chief Batou said into his radio. "All sentries down. No patrols in the area. Moving in secure the package."
"Copy, Ghost Zero-One! Proceed with caution! We will keep an eye out from here. Black Beard Actual, out." The Commander said on the radio.
Chief Batou looked at his team members who still had their camouflage on and gave his orders. "Ghosts Seven, Eight, Nine, secure the entrance. Extraction in fifteen mikes. The rest of you, on me. I'll take point."
The operators of the Ghost Zero team acknowledged his order.
They raised their weapons and began moving deeper into the camp while three of them stayed behind to secure their extraction window. Every now and then, they took out random patrols with either their combat knives or guns equipped with silencers and hid the bodies with whatever they could use.
When they were a few more tents away from their target, Ghost Zero team encountered an obstacle. Saderan battle mages and the drone spotted three of them standing guard near the field general's tent. Switching to infrared vision, they spotted two more inside the tent.
Although the operators could take them out with their drones, it could risk attracting unwanted attention given the drone's firepower. Since they came prepared, the operators began moving on Batou's order.
"All Ghosts, prepare for Mage Counter protocol!" Batou said on his radio. As tricky as they were, Mages weren't particularly troublesome if they could be taken by surprise.
And Terran Special Forces units were experts at surprising their enemies.
Three operators got into position to acquire their targets with their HK500 Carbines. Batou and the two remaining operators moved into position to take out the mages from behind.
Once they were in position, Batous gave the order. "Drop them!"
Each operator pulled the triggers twice, putting two bullets through the mages' skulls. Hearing the commotion outside, the two mages inside the tent rushed out to investigate.
Batou and another operator grabbed them from behind and finished them before their mouths could utter a single word. Thanks to their previous encounters, they learned that the key to taking down these mages was to kill them before they could chant a single word of their spells.
The two operators held the two struggling mages in their sturdy chokehold while blood gushed out from the slash on their necks. Due to their heavy reliance on magic, the mages had zero chance against the physically stronger Terran operators.
Once their bodies went limp, Batou and his teammate dragged the mages' bodies into the tent and covered them up with their own blankets.
When no more obstacles were in the way, the operators made their way toward the target's tent.
Eight Field Army – Camp Alpha
If Saki Nomura could go back in time to change something, she would go back to change her decision to go on a date with her stupid boyfriend that day.
If only she had stayed home that day, she and he wouldn't have been caught in that invasion. If she hadn't gone to the Hollywood Districts with him that day, she wouldn't have been caught by these primitive and barbaric invaders from another world. She cursed him for making her go that day. If he hadn't been eaten by a dragon, she would have killed him herself.
There were so many thoughts on her mind that she felt exhausted and drained just by thinking about them.
Ever since she was captured by these barbarians, she has dreaded what they would do to her every day. So much so that she could barely sleep or eat properly for… Oh, she even lost count of how long she has been here. She has seen what some of them do to the prettier women. She would rather kill herself than let these primitives have their way with her.
So far, she and many others have been spared from such horrific fates for whatever reasons. Although she couldn't understand their language, she could vaguely guess that they wanted girls like her somewhat intact to be sold off as merchandise of some kind.
She was so scared and traumatized that she could barely digest the leftover food they gave her. The only reason she even ate at all was because her stomach was killing her. Now that she thought about it, that might have been a better fate than what these bastards had in mind for her. She was sure that some of her fellow Terrans shared the same thoughts.
Her fear became true when she and hundreds of people from Earth were taken to a large town, branded a mark on their backs or stomachs, and put on display to be sold as merchandise. One by one, they were sold off to different groups of people but she couldn't care to differentiate them. All of these people were nothing more than fucking savages in her and the Terrans' eyes anyways.
No matter how mad or upset they were at their unfortunate situation, there was nothing they could do but hold on to the glimmer of hope that the Britannian Empire or the United Earth Defense Force would come to their rescue.
Until then, their fate was truly hopeless.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the girl next to her shifted and started crying again. Despite their circumstances, Saki couldn't help but pity the SAU girl who was two years younger than her. Her name is Ameera, a foreign exchange student from the Malaysian State of the Southeast Asian Union.
Like her, Ameera was caught when she was going on a date with her boyfriend. It seemed that Ameera was slightly luckier than her in the sense that Ameera's boyfriend was still alive. Apparently, they were separated when they were being sold at that town.
Well, Ameera wasn't exactly any luckier than her given the circumstances.
After being sold to one of the wealthy savages, they were fed, given nicer clothes, a shower, and brought back to this area where that Gate-like structure was. Saki decided that they would run as fast as she could the moment these bastards let their guard down. That thought was squashed with the shackles around their necks and legs.
Saki sighed in frustration and tried to comfort Ameera again. Her own eyes were already dry from crying so the best she could do was help make the younger girl feel slightly more comfortable.
She looked at her surroundings and deduced that this must be the tent of their buyer. Although it clearly belonged to high-ranking officers of the alien army, they did a good job in setting up the residence in this area and making it look like a makeshift luxurious room in a mansion. Her eyes darted from one item to another, looking for something that could help their situation.
She found nothing. Then again, she doubted that she could do anything against the guards outside anyway.
The sound of shuffling at the entrance jolted her back to reality. She hugged Ameera more tightly as the younger girl stiffened.
A tall and burly alien who looked like a human with red skin and two horns on his forehead entered the tent, his eyes scanning the two young women. His two guards followed closely behind. As primitive as they were, she could at least appreciate the ornate design on these people's armor and weapons.
For some reason, he reminded her of the Oni characters from those fantasy games she used to play. The difference was that this one was much shorter and less muscular.
He was half-naked and looked as if he had gotten out of the shower. Even though he was an alien, his predatory grin and facial expressions were more than enough to tell her what was going to happen to them.
The horned alien turned and said something to the guards behind him. They nodded and exited the tent as the red-skinned bastard approached them. Her fear was gone but now replaced with sheer rage and hatred for these fucking aliens.
She stared at him in defiance while Ameera was petrified with fear and terror for what was coming.
The horned and red-skinned alien had a wicked grin on his face as he held up her face with his hand while saying something in his language.
—
Field General Lorken grinned in satisfaction as he examined the slave's face. While this one and many others didn't have the face, they had more than enough feminine features to make up for it. Even now, he couldn't believe that the empire lost an entire field army to the barbarian nation on the other side of the Gate.
Although the empire was a Human supremacist state, they valued those with talents and skills; the empire would occasionally reward such individuals with high ranks as long as they proved their worth and loyalty to the empire. For that matter, he was promoted to Field General despite being an Ogre. As long as he could enjoy his life in excess, Lorken didn't complain or care about such things.
"You barbarians from the other side may not be as pretty as our women, but you sure have the body to compensate for it." Lorken remarked, then traced his other hand on the slave's body and examined her.
In an act of defiance, the slave bit his fingers while glaring at him. He didn't need to understand their language to know that she was looking at him with hatred and disgust. The other one was too scared to even react at this point.
Although she bit him hard enough to draw some blood, Lorken didn't react as much. In fact, he loved how defiant she was. He enjoyed breaking stubborn slaves and making them know who was their master.
Lorken backhanded her hard enough to knock the young woman from the bed, startling the smaller woman. He loved seeing his slaves terrified and hearing them whimper. Since things have been busy for the last few weeks, he has been somewhat pent up. When the fortifications were completed, he could finally let loose to his heart's content.
"That's right! Resist all you want, slave!" He roared triumphantly and licked the blood on his fingers. "I knew I struck gold when I bought you two. I paid a hefty amount to acquire you so you better entertain me well. I wonder what kind of face you would make after I break you."
He then turned to the smaller woman and said. "As for you, I will think of some proper ways to educate you. As long as you behave, I will consider making you one of my concubines."
The smaller slave simply stared at him with her teary eyes in fear and shock, too terrified to do anything. It was perfect for him. He wondered how long this one would last tonight. Before that, however, he must deal with the more troublesome slave first.
Lorken knelt down at the defiant slave. Her short hair was unkempt and she had bruises on her face and body. Despite that, her look of fury and hatred never left her eyes. She tried to strike him with her cuffed hands but he held them in place with his left hand. His right hand lifted her face again to look into her dark brown eyes.
"Let's see how tough you are once I break you!" He said with a sadistic smile.
—
"This is it!" It was her last thought. Saki contemplated on killing herself after this alien was done with her. She didn't care about anything anymore. The bastard ripped off her clothes and she could feel his disgusting breath on her body.
Just when he was about to indulge in his sadistic act, there were some noises outside the tent. The sound of shuffling, shouting, clanking, and something else became intensified, filling the air outside. There was also the sound of something heavy falling on the ground.
The red-skinned bastard was annoyed for being disturbed. He let go of her hands and stood up, saying something to her.
"Probably something along the lines of 'Don't you dare think about escaping!'." She thought to herself while rubbing the bruises on her wrists and face. Then, he walked towards the tent's entrance while mumbling something under his breath.
Saki considered striking him from behind but there was nothing she could use and she couldn't strike him hard enough with the chains bounding her anyway. These guys might be primitive but they weren't stupid enough to leave useful items behind for her, their prisoner, to use against them.
Suddenly, she heard him shouting, the sound of shuffling again, and something falling to the ground. Though it was faint, she could hear the sound of struggling on the ground outside. It sounded as if someone was wrestling outside.
After almost a minute, everything went silent. She and Ameera were so terrified that they didn't dare move an inch from their positions.
And then, the most wonderful thing happened.
Three individuals clad in obsidian-colored armor entered and swept the tent with what were clearly machine guns. She wasn't a military nerd but she sure as hell knew what guns and tactical equipment were when she saw them.
One of them approached her while another approached Ameera. If it had been any other circumstance, she might have been slightly terrified of the person's tall and bulky stature. Now, she was happy to see someone like him, at least she assumed the person was a man, coming to her.
—
When Chief Batou saw the two poor women and the state they were in, his rage was reaching its breaking point. Just because he was used to messed-up shit didn't mean that it was easy to deal with such things every time he witnessed them, especially when they happened to such young ladies. It looked like his team had come just in the nick of time before that bastard did anything to them.
However, he doubted that many other Terrans were so lucky if what he has seen and learned about these savages so far was anything to go by. It was enough to make him want to go back to beat the shit out of the unconscious fucker outside.
Chief Batou looked over at Petty Officer Second Class Colette Tran, designated "Ghost Three", as she checked on the young lady on the bed. It seemed that she was so surprised by the situation that she barely acknowledged Ghost Three until she was right next to her.
As Colette checked on the second hostage, he turned to the third operator in the tent. "Vincent, set up the charge. We are leaving in two minutes."
"Yes Sir," the operator said and began setting up the explosives.
He then knelt down at the young woman's eye level and asked. "Can you speak English, Miss?"
She seemed to be so emotional that she could only nod in response to his question.
"Alright, that makes this easier!" Batou said in a calm voice. "I am Chief Batou, Britannian Special Forces. What is your name, Miss?"
"Sa… Saki," the Japanese woman answered weakly.
"Okay, Miss Saki," he began explaining the situation to her. "We're here to capture the bastard outside, wreak havoc on the enemy army, and rescue you. Can you walk on your own?"
"Y-Yes, but I don't think I can run as quickly as you guys," Saki said.
"That's good enough!" Batou remarked. "If you can't catch up, we will carry you. As soon as we break these chains, we will get out of here and bring you home. If you have any issues, say it clearly and we will help you. Is that clear?"
Saki looked like she was about to cry at the prospect of going home. She managed to hold in her tears and nodded to the Chief. "Okay, I'm going to free you from these chains. Don't move, okay?"
Batou then took off the glove on his left hand to reveal his prosthetic arm. While most operators used handheld tools for their missions, those with advanced prosthetics like Batou could easily equip such tools inside their limbs as long as they were customizable. Since they didn't have time to find the keys to the hostages' shackles, the operators opted to simply melt the chains.
Batou's hand retracted to reveal a plasma cutter. He held it over the chain, activated the tool, and melted it into slag. As he helped Saki get up, Batou contacted their commander. "Black Beard Actual, this is Ghost Zero-One, packages are secure. 'House Gift' is ready for delivery. Moving to the extraction point. How copy?"
Behind him, Colette gave Saki and Ameera some clothes and shoes to help them move around better.
"Copy that, Ghost Zero-One," the man answered through the radio. "Be advised! Hostile patrols inbound. They might discover the bodies so double time."
"Copy, we're moving out." Batou then switched to his team's channel. "All Ghosts, we're moving to the extraction point. Potential enemy contact, stay frosty."
He then looked at Saki and Ameera who were being guarded by the other operators. "We're moving out. Stay behind us."
The two ladies nodded and the group exited the tent. Outside, there were three more operators securing the perimeter, one of whom was carrying the Saderan field general from earlier inside a duffel bag.
Led by Chief Batou, the group began moving towards the camp's entrance. To avoid attracting any Saderans, they stuck to the fence and moved at a quicker pace. Every time they encountered sentries who happened to be there, the operators swiftly dispatched them with their guns.
Although the gunshot was considerably mitigated thanks to the silencers, it was still too loud for Batou's liking. When they stopped to hide from a wyvern patrol in the air, he glanced at the two hostages and their unconscious target to make sure there wasn't any problem. After the wyvern was far away, they continued moving.
After meeting up with the operators at the entrance, the whole group moved toward the tree lines. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any random patrols and sentries after reaching the forest.
Once they were far enough, the group stopped at a small hill where several Coyote ATVs armed with light machine guns were hidden under thick bushes and foliage.
The tall operator threw the unconscious Saderan field general on the back of the ATV. Seeing the red-skinned bastard being handled like a rag doll put a smile on Saki's and Ameera's faces. "Serves him right." They thought.
"Are you sure he won't wake up?" Ameera finally asked the operator.
"Don't worry, miss! I pumped him enough knockout gas to put down a horse." the man reassured her. He then punched the bastard's face hard. Whether it was to vent his anger or prove his point, Saki and Ameera didn't know or care. If anything, they wanted to do the deed themselves just for payback.
The red-skinned ogre didn't wake up despite being punched in the face.
"See? Completely knocked out." the man said.
As the operators prepared the vehicles to move to their base, Batou checked in on the other teams' progress. Although they took somewhat longer than his team, the three other Special Forces teams managed to complete their objectives and moved to their extraction points.
"All teams, this is Black Beard Actual," the commander addressed them on an open channel. "All packages are secure. Deliver the 'House Gifts'."
Batou turned to his team's demolition expert. "All teams are secure. Hit it, Gallegos."
The operator nodded and took out a detonator of his explosive charges. "Fire in the hole!" He said and pushed the button.
Just then, a massive explosion rocked the Saderan camp, creating a massive fireball and lighting up the night sky for a few seconds. The special explosives they used were a combination of traditional Claymore and napalm, making it twice as powerful and deadly as the old Claymores used in the early 21st century. As a result, the explosion not only destroyed the tents completely but also engulfed everything in their vicinity in raging flames.
Even from their position, Batou, his team, and the hostages could feel the shockwave and hear the screams of dying Saderans all around the camp. The fire quickly spread and burned almost one-third of the camp, killing and injuring hundreds of Saderans in the process.
At this point, the entire camp was plunged into complete chaos and panic as the Saderans frantically tried to put out the fire, save their wounded comrades, and figure out what the hell was going on.
Moments later, three more explosions erupted across the other camps. Overhead, they could hear the sound of several wyvern patrols flying toward the camps to investigate the situation.
Once he made sure that there were no more patrols in their direction, Batou turned to address his team. "That should keep them occupied long enough for us to reach the rendezvous. We're moving out."
He then turned to tell the two women to get on the vehicles but one of them suddenly hugged him. After holding it in for so long, Saki finally cried her eyes out as she thanked the Chief and his team profusely.
Although he felt a little awkward given the circumstances, Batou could sympathize with the young Japanese woman. He patted her head and told her that she was going home and they needed to leave now because they were still on dangerous grounds.
"With all due respect, Chief, I don't think your wife is going to like this." Colette jokingly said.
One glare from Batou was enough to stop her and the other operators from making the situation more awkward than it already was.
After Saki calmed down and let him go, Batou ushered her to the ATV and sat her next to Ameera. He made sure everyone was on their ATVs and told his driver to start the engine and move. The vehicles' engines let out a low humming sound and their wheels began turning.
To ensure a low profile, Batou ordered the drivers to keep to the forest until they reached their base of operations. Although they had stealth drones for air support, he didn't want to take any chances. Given the chaos they just caused, the Saderans would undoubtedly be on high alert and scramble everything they had to look for the perpetrators soon.
Thanks to the psychological warfare they have conducted on the Saderans in the past weeks, none of the Saderan imperials dared stay or approach the area around the Gate. As a result, their ATVs were able to drive safely from and to the Gate without alerting the Saderans.
Eventually, Batou's team rendezvoused with Black Beard Actual and the other Special Forces teams. Once all of the hostages and HVTs were secure, the Cerberus Task Force began making preparations to transport the prisoners and rescued Terrans back to Earth.
While they prepared to transport the prisoners and hostages through the Gate, Batou, his team, and the other teams relaxed a little and took turns guarding their perimeter.
Batou glanced at his watch. They had two hours left until sunrise. That was more than enough time for him to relax a little.
As he chewed on his food and kept overwatch, he thought about their operations and the effects they would have on the Britannian Empire's campaigns against this wretched empire. While the Special Forces were capable of conducting hit-and-run strikes at the Saderan army every night or once every three nights, their capabilities were still limited and the role of crushing them ultimately fell upon the Britannian Armed Forces and the allied armies.
He pondered many things, such as how long the Britannian Empire and the allied nations would occupy the defeated Saderan Empire and what kind of changes they would bring to this planet.
Now that he thought about it, there were still so many things they didn't know about this world. According to the intel they have gathered, there were other nations but they were mostly confined to the same continent.
In that case, what about the other continents of this planet? Did those continents have nations that were just as, if not more, powerful than the Saderan Empire? Were they more advanced than the Saderans or even the nations of Earth? How would they react to the Terrans' presence in their world? If they resorted to violence and hostilities, would the Britannian Empire and her allies have to fight them as well?
There were so many questions that didn't seem to have any answers soon.
One thing, however, was clear to him and every Terran committed to this war: This was only the beginning.
Fort Invartez, Alneuz Hill
A small wooden table was thrown across the room while five men stood there in fear of being targeted by the Field Marshal. Even though four of them were recently promoted to Field General to replace the missing ones, they weren't especially happy about it given the circumstances.
"Just what kind of enemy are we fighting here?" Field Marshal Calass Lorresten bellowed after venting his anger on the small table. "What kind of enemy refuses to engage in honorable battles and simply targets our supply lines and high-ranking commanders like this? As I expected, these are truly barbarians for engaging in such cowardly tactics."
After venting his frustration for a few minutes, Calass calmed down and turned to address his generals. "You saw nothing just now. Is that clear?"
The recently promoted Field Generals and the sole remaining Field General said in unison. "Yes, my Lord!"
He then began the meeting and the generals gave their reports on the current state of the Eight Field Army. Even Calass was surprised that he lost his temper like that. Given the circumstances, there was nothing he could do about it.
After all, how could he remain calm after going through such humiliating losses, especially when they haven't even fought the otherworld enemy yet?
Last week, when the whole army was asleep, four of his army's main camps were destroyed by mysterious explosions, killing almost one thousand warriors and four field generals. Once they put out the fire and re-organized themselves, Calass sent over one hundred warriors led by experienced commanders to investigate just what in Hardy's hell was going on.
At first, he was relieved to know that the enemy had left conspicuous tracks behind and he would soon find those responsible for such cowardly attacks. His celebration was short-lived when they found that these tracks led straight back to the Gate, confirming that whoever was doing this came from the other side. As soon as they learned that, the veteran warriors of the Saderan Imperial Army outright refused to lead their army through because they were simply too scared to cross. Stories and rumors from the survivors of the Seventh Field Army only made things worse.
From Calass's perspective, it was as if the enemy had done that on purpose. By then, he had given up on figuring out who was responsible for these cowardly attacks but instead, focused on preparing for whoever or whatever was coming.
The enemy took advantage of their fear, panic and confusion and pressed on with their attacks. They had gone from one attack per three nights to every single night. Supply caravans, flame wyvern and horsva staples, weapon storages, siege platforms, cannons, and black powder storage mysteriously went up in fiery explosions. Sentries, patrols, and low-ranking commanders disappeared into the night, only to be found dead in the next morning. However, those who had their bodies found were the lucky ones. Many had completely vanished without a trace as if they had never existed.
Every time report of a dead or missing commander came to Calass was a slap in the face. They haven't even fought the enemy and yet, they have suffered so many losses. Each of those dead or missing commanders was comparable to dozens, if not, hundreds of Saderan warriors given their skills and combat experience.
The most disturbing thing so far was accounts from the survivors of these attacks. Most of the survivors who were conscripts or sons of Saderan noble houses told the same stories. Vaguely humanoid apparitions that had few discernible features and were almost invisible to the eyes. It was as if their bodies were melting behind the environments behind them. The only thing the soldiers could see was their eyes which was perhaps the most terrifying of all. Two round eyes that seemed to glow a demonic green light in the darkness and seemed to never blink. Whenever one of them was spotted, many soldiers panicked or tried to go after them blindly. They either never returned or were found dead in the next morning.
Now, only Fort Invartez and several minor encampments remained. So far, the Eight Field Army had suffered very little in terms of casualties since the attacks only happened at certain intervals. It was morale that suffered the most. Their supplies and encampments were relentlessly attacked night after night, leaving the majority of the army to slowly starve.
Despite his fear, Calass wasn't about to let these faceless demons chase him away and deny him of the glorious battle against barbarians from another world. He ordered his men to scavenge everything usable from the destroyed camps and regroup at Fort Invartez. That way, they could watch each other's back while reinforcing the fort's defenses. Calass knew that if he had retreated without facing the enemy out of fear and minor losses (to the Imperial Capital that is), he would be punished for cowardice.
Good news finally came when a wyvern courier came to him. He reported that two Divisions from the nearby Provincias were coming to assist them in the defense of Alneuz Hill, along with much-needed supplies.
This news lifted the spirits of the many now exhausted and mentally broken men of the Eight Field Army. Hopes of salvation rested on the relief forces as supplies and troop morale were dangerously low. When starvation became a serious threat to the Eight Field Army, they had to ration their daily portions, hunt the local wildlife, and kill some of their war beasts to ensure that everyone had a meal and strength to fight the enemy.
Suddenly, the war room's door busted open and a guardsman ran inside for a report.
"I thought I told you not to disturb our meetings," Calass said in an angry tone, causing the young soldier to flinch.
"Apologies for disobeying you, my Lord! But the relief forces are here." The man said after kneeling.
The Field Marshal and Field Generals almost couldn't believe in such a news. Without much fanfare, Calass went outside to greet the relief forces' commanders, followed by his field generals. Once they reached the gate, they could feel a great sense of relief washing over them.
Although the sun was setting, it was still bright enough for them to see the army marching toward them.
The scene was a truly magnificent sight as an army of 50,000 soldiers, auxiliaries, and battle mages marched on unpaved roads, their flags flying proudly in the wind. Their torches illuminated their formations and seemed to stretch on endlessly. The army divided into three lines that looked like giant snakes crawling through the forests. Behind and inside their formations were hundreds of horsva-drawn carriages loaded with food, water, weapons, and everything essential to the Saderan field army.
As Calass stared at the approaching army, he allowed himself to smile for the first time in what seemed like months. He could feel a wave of relief, satisfaction, and confidence slowly rising within him. With his army resupplied and reinforced, the Field Marshal believed that they would find whoever was responsible for all those cowardly attacks and repel the incoming enemy from the other side of the Gate.
And then, it happened.
When the relief army was around two leagues away from the Fort, dozens of explosions engulfed two of the three roads on which the relief army was marching. Hundreds of soldiers and their mounts, along with some of their carriages were consumed by the hellish flames. The explosions hit the black powder carriages and caused even more secondary explosions, killing more men as they went.
Even from their distance, the men at Fort Invartez could hear screams of agony, panic, and chaos as the relief force broke formations and ran in whatever direction they could to find safety.
However, the panicked men and beasts were soon cut down in a hail of automatic gunfire. Many of them were torn to shreds by heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.
It was a perfect ambush set up by the Cerberus Special Forces teams. They had rigged the major roads leading to the Saderan fortifications with explosives and waited for the relief army for days.
When the explosions caused mass panic and chaos amongst their ranks, the teams used their machine guns and grenade launchers to decimate the grunts, commanders and mages. While they could use the missiles to inflict more damage, the CTF Commander decided that they should be used as a last resort only. Given how limited their arsenal was, the Special Forces teams could only inflict minimal damage to the much larger army. Nevertheless, it was more than enough to achieve their goal: Destroy the Saderans' morale.
For the Saderan imperials at Fort Invartez, they could only watch in despair as thousands of their brothers died painful deaths. What was supposed to be their salvation went up in smoke while their comrades were being slaughtered by an unseen and demonic enemy. They couldn't see it because of the distance but half of the army behind remained relatively intact and undamaged by the ambush. However, what they were seeing was simply too much.
How could you fight an enemy you cannot see? An enemy that has somehow bested an entire Field Army and reduced your forces to a single fort along with less than two dozen smaller camps?
"The Gods have forsaken us!" One of the men screamed.
"We're all going to die! The demons of Alneuz will kill us all!" Another screamed.
"LORD FLARE! SAVE US FROM THE DEMONS!"
At that point, many broke down and began to weep openly while others fell to the ground and begged the Gods to save them. Some even went mad as they curled up into fetal positions, mumbling how the demons were going to kill them all.
Although the majority of his Field Army was still alive, many of them were too exhausted to endure such attacks any longer. Calass's men were panicking and on the verge of either full-on revolt or mass desertion.
"Get them under control!" Calass ordered his field generals. "One of you send your men to aid the relief forces. Meet up with their commanders, salvage whatever you can, and regroup at the fortress."
As he and his commanders tried to command their men and get them under control, Mage Commander Gregon Lal'varst informed Calass of important news. "My Lord, Field Marshal Calass!"
"WHAT?" Calass was annoyed but he did stop to listen to the Mage Commander. In the background, his Field Generals and their high-ranking commanders were doing everything they could to control the situation.
"I just contacted the mages of the relief force through telepathy," Gregon said. "They have only lost a small portion of the army. Only the vanguard forces are lost. Most of the supplies are safe and undamaged thanks to the mages' shields. They also have over four hundred War Golems en-route."
Hearing that news, Calass had a wicked grin on his face. War Golems were powerful weapons of war created by the Mages of Rondallis, used to combat unconventional enemies. The reason why they didn't include them for the first Expeditionary Force was because it took the mages far too long to prepare and transport the Golems to the battlefield. "Then give them my orders, Gregon. Gather the survivors and regroup at Fort Invartez! We will make our stand here and meet the enemy in battle."
"It will be done, Field Marshal!" Gregon said and began to relay Calass's orders to the relief army using telepathy magic.
Calass went on to get his men under control. Escorted by his guards, he walked toward the raised central platform of the fort. He ordered one of the mages accompanying him to amplify his voice to make his announcement.
He sucked in a breath and said. "Brave warriors of Sadera! The enemy has constantly attacked us with their dirty and cowardly tactics for the past month. We may have lost many of our brothers but we have endured and survived their attacks. Now, the relief army may be attacked but they still stand and suffer few casualties. Together, we will stand our ground and defend the holy hill of Alneuz to our last breaths. Do not fear this cowardly enemy who have used nothing but underhanded tactics against our mighty army and drive them back."
He paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in. Satisfied that most of the men have somewhat calmed down, he continued. "The fact that they have only resorted to such underhanded tactics against us proves that they fear us and are much weaker than us. Once we gather our forces, we will march through the Gate, raze their cities, and enslave their children and women. We will have riches beyond our wildest dreams. STAND STRONG AND DO NOT FALTER, BRAVE SONS OF SADERA! FOR THE EMPEROR AND FOR THE EMPIRE!"
After a few moments of silence, one of his Field Generals shouted. "FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EMPIRE!"
He was followed by several of the commanders under him, then more and more joined them. Eventually, the Eight Field Army largely regained their morale and will to fight.
Despite the setbacks his army faced, Calass managed to keep them under control and stop them from deserting. He has given strict orders to execute deserters so most of them would think twice before doing so. Calass was proud of himself for his success.
Unbeknownst to the Field Marshal and his cohorts, they were being watched by the Special Forces teams through their drones. The only reason why they haven't pulled the triggers on the Saderans was because they were ordered to keep the highest-ranking commanders alive for intel extraction.
The Saderans got to keep their heads for as long as the Britannian Imperial Government allowed it.
Aligrak: Aligrak is an animal species native to Planet Falmarius. They are a hybrid between an crocodile and rhinoceros. They possess thick scales and hide to protect themselves from predators on Falmarius. Since they are omnivores, they can consume both plants and meat but they primarily eat plants. They live in large herds like Earth buffalos. The Saderans mainly use the Aligrak to pull carriages but they occasionally use them for their military campaigns. Due to their thick scales and immense strength, the Aligraks are a powerful asset to the Saderan Imperial Army.
Octaevian: Octaevians are the Saderan equivalence of Platoon Commanders, each Saderan Platoon has around 10–40 soldiers.
Cerberus Task Force: Cerberus Task Force (CTF) is a Special Force Group under the command of the Imperial Special Operations Command (ISOC). Founded in the early 2000s, CTF is the unification of different Special Forces Groups recruited or chosen from senior or acknowledged servicemembers of each branch of the Britannian Armed Forces. CTF carries out a wide variety of missions separate from those of the primary armed forces but they have to report to ISOC who in turn, has to report to Imperial Strategic Command. During wartime, CTF can operate alongside the Britannian Armed Forces to conduct their missions.
Night Raider Drone: Night Raider drones are advanced stealth drones employed by the Cerberus Task Forces and sometimes, the Britannian Army. They can be summarized as mini-version of the Super Hornet Gunships employed by the Britannian Army and Marines. Each Night Raider is 16 meters in length, 12.4 meters in wingspan (fully folded), and capable of VTOL capability. The Night Raider is armed with one 7.5mm triple-barrel minigun (400 rounds); two 30mm coilguns (each gun has 40 rounds); and four Hydra missile pods (each pod has six missiles).
Intruder drone: Intruder drones or A-15 Intruder Stealth Drones are stealth attack drones utilized by Cerberus Task Force operators. Each drone is capable of VTOL capability. Each Intruder is armed with one S-70B Gauss Rifle (40 rounds), one XM-300 Light Machine Gun (300 rounds), and 12 Anti-personnel Missiles.