Chapter 10: Let The Birds Feast! Aftermath and A Messy Affair
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.
Operation Harbinger – Samuel Dalton
Similar to Kallen and many other Britannians, Sergeant Samuel Dalton also lost one of his loved ones in Los Angeles – his younger sister, Lizbeth Dalton. She was a college student aspiring to become a singer/actress in Hollywood. Due to some cruel twist of fate, she and her friends happened to be in the districts attacked by the Saderans during their invasion of Los Angeles. She was brutally killed and had her corpse put on display by these savages, like so many other innocent people.
Since he was already a Knightmare pilot serving in the Britannian Army, Samuel was quickly chosen as one of the candidates for Lancelot – one of the latest Knightmare Frame prototypes that were tested in actual combat. Naturally, he, like the rest of Britannia, seized the opportunity without hesitation and was more than happy to exact vengeance upon these primitive savages.
Lancelot – the other prototype Knightmare Frame – which was controlled by Samuel Dalton was also slaughtering the Saderans left and right. Unlike Kallen's Guren Type II, the Lancelot was designed as a FCU (Frontline Commander Unit) meant to provide heavy firepower and command other units in the battle. For that matter, the new prototype possessed more long-range weapons and sensors than that of the Guren models, making the Lancelot a true nightmare for enemies like the Saderans. Originally, they wanted to give the Lancelot a darker paintjob for better camouflage but given what type of enemy they were dealing with in this mission, however, High Command decided that it would be reserved for the other units of the same type.
The Lancelot dual-wielded two MVSs and cleaved both Saderan warriors and their war beasts with fluid efficiency and maneuverability. Sheathing one of the swords, Samuel used the Lancelot's exclusive special armament – the VARIS1 Rifle to blast the Saderan rapid artilleries apart with ease.
The VARIS also had a devastating effect on the war golems as its powerful energy blasts took down their shields in only one or two shots. The Saderans threw everything they had at the Terran Knightmare Frame, only to be slaughtered shortly afterward by its long-range armaments and melee weapons. Since Samuel was able to afford the luxury of destroying the Saderan artilleries from afar, almost none of the enemy artillery crews and their defending mages had the opportunity to stare death in the eyes before they were obliterated by green energy beams, autocannons, and anti-tank missiles.
With the last rapid artillery dealt with, Samuel went on to take out all of the remaining Saderan cavalrymen and infantry, as well as their accompanying war beasts, war golems, and siege weapons. In some cases, he didn't even bother using the Lancelot's powerful long-range weapons and instead, used the Knightmare's MVS and autocannons to pulverize any man or beast in his way.
Samuel and his air support unit were the first to respond when the Saderan mages launched powerful magic attacks on the Britannians, dealing the first Terran casualties of the battle. The Lancelot, supported by two gunships and five HK drones, moved in to engage the mages as fast as they could.
The Saderan mages managed to launch another attack at the Britannian lines before Samuel and his units acquired them. However, an unfortunate development occurred when they were about to assault the massive dome. With the Lancelot's long-range sensors and drones, he could see that another circle made of undecipherable glyphs and symbols appeared on the side of the dome, signifying another attack incoming.
As soon as he saw that happening, Samuel shouted into the radio to get the pilots' attention, "Kodiaks Two-Four and Two-Three, evasive maneuvers!"
Unfortunately, his warning came one second too later as another ball of plasma lashed out from the dome and struck one of the Super Hornet gunships at lightning speed. The gunship's reinforced armor managed to withstand the intense heat but it wasn't enough to prevent the plasma from burning its electronic components, rendering the VTOL aircraft almost useless.
The damaged gunship began spinning out of control and falling out of the sky. With all of the craft's electronics fried, the two-man crew was unable to even call out to their comrades or eject from their doomed aircraft. Eventually, the Super Hornet gunship crashed into the forest surrounding Alneuz Hill, leaving behind a large trail of smoke in its wake.
Seeing that the aircraft hasn't detonated yet, Samuel hoped that the gunship's engineering and safety features would ensure the two pilots' safety until extraction.
"Grendel Zero-One to Black Knight Command," Samuel said. "Kodiak Two-Four is down. Pilot status unknown. Request search & rescue at these coordinates! How copy?"
Samuel then sent the crashed gunship's coordinates to command. A voice came through after a few seconds of static, "Copy that, Grendel Zero-One! Friendlies in the area will retrieve the pilots. Continue engaging enemy mages with your air unit from the distance! We will dispatch two more Kodiaks and ten more Sparrowhawks to assist you. DO NOT let those bastards fire off another attack! Unless you manage to take them out first, we will wipe them all out from the face of this planet with heavy artilleries."
"Kodiak Two-Three copies, Black Knight Command!" Kodiak Two-Three said. His voice suggested that he was eager to exact vengeance for his fellow pilot.
"Solid copy! Engaging enemy mages!" Samuel said and turned his attention to the glowing dome in the distance. "Kodiak Two-Three, fire your missiles and evade on my mark! Hawk Three, once we fire off the first wave of missiles, suppress them with your Hydras 300s! We cannot them fire off another attack like that!"
"Roger, Grendel Zero-One!" a series of voices replied through the radio.
The Lancelot acquired the target and fired off four Inferno missiles while the Super Hornet gunship let loose its complement of Hydra 300 missiles at the dome. They were followed by the four Sparrowhawk drones as the wave of missiles struck the dome in quick succession, sending massive ripples across the dome.
The magic shield dome was engulfed in dozens of explosions. When the Lancelot's missile armament was depleted, Samuel switched weapons and started firing the VARIS Rifle at the magical dome. Powerful green bursts of radiation energy were propelled at an immense speed and impacted the dome. After expending its unguided rockets, the gunship switched weapons and began firing at the dome with the railguns mounted on its stub-wing pylons. By now, two other gunships joined in on the carnage and began firing their missiles as well.
The volume of firepower was so intense that it engulfed the dome in continuous explosions. Samuel's plan worked as the Saderan mages had to focus on maintaining the dome to protect themselves, lest they get pulverized by the Lancelot's and the gunships' firepower. He ceased firing for a moment to assess the situation. After all that pummeling, the dome has shrunken to less than half of its original size.
"Keep it up, boys!" Samuel said with positive tone, "Those bastards are running out of juice!"
All three gunships let loose with all of its missiles at the dome, draining its power even further. The Lancelot also pummeled the dome with its VARIS Rifle. The gunships and drones continued firing their weapons while moving unpredictably, making the mages unable to aim at them with their lightning attacks. Whenever a drone or gunship ran out of ammo, another took its place and kept the firing rate going, never ceasing for more than a few seconds.
After another minute of continuous pummeling, the magical dome was shrunken to less than one-third of its original size. Some of the mages and Saderan commanders at the dome's edge couldn't retreat into their protective barriers quickly enough and were instantly pulverized by the Britannians' firepower, thus draining the dome of mana even further.
Eventually, with a thunderous crack, the magic shield dome was shattered into tiny clusters of magical molecules and collapsed entirely, leaving all of the Saderans inside to their inevitable fate.
"Grendel Zero-One to Black Knight Command," Samuel said after expending all of the Lancelot's ammunitions on breaking the magical dome. "Enemy shield dome is down but we're out of ammo."
"Copy that! We'll take it from here," the operator said over the line.
"Python Two to forward units, you better step back! Bombs away!" Another voice chimed in.
As the Saderans scrambled to get away from the area, thinking that they could escape certain death. They were proven wrong as there were dozens of thunderous claps in the distance. The unfortunate Saderans only heard the brief whistling sound before the area they were in was pummeled with artillery shells. Since they were dealing with only the Saderan mages and combatants this time, the Britannian artillery companies decided to use a lower volume of fire.
"Echo Two-Four to Python Two, hold fire! Standby for kill confirm!" Samuel heard the drone operator said over the radio after two dozen shells were fired.
The artillery strike ceased and two Sparrowhawk drones approached the devastated area but maintained their altitude. The drone operator also linked their feed to the gunships and the Lancelot.
As the cameras zoomed in, there was nothing left of the Saderan mages, officers, and combatants as they were literally atomized by the sheer amount of firepower poured at them. The only evidence of their previous existence was the burned fabric, pieces of armor, and broken weapons littering the craters pockmarking the area.
"Good kill, Python Two! All enemy mages and combatants are down!" the drone operator said.
"Don't you mean 'erased from existence', Echo Two-Four?" Kodiak Two-Three quipped over the radio.
The pilots and drone operators bantered for a few seconds while Samuel stayed vigilant and had the Lancelot's sensors running at their full power, looking for potential hostiles.
If two artillery bombardments didn't scare away all the remaining Saderans and animals in the area, they might have some serious challenge coming their way. According to BSIA intel, there were many extremely aggressive and harmful animals on Falmarius, with the Tarrasque and Dragon being arguably the two most dangerous and powerful creatures.
At least, that was from what they could gather so far.
He let out a sigh of relief as the sensors and drones reported that all hostiles were either dead or fleeing the battlefield. The Special Forces units could deal with the fleeing enemy commanders whereas the infantry would sweep through enemy fortifications for stragglers and captured civilians from Earth.
Meanwhile, the constant roars of thunder and explosions suggested that mass artillery bombardment was in full swing. From the Britannian lines, hundreds of artillery shells and rockets were fired and they impacted the Saderan remnants in almost every direction.
It was decided that letting enemy combatants flee would do more harm than good to both their future operations on this planet and the local civilians. Additionally, they lacked the proper resources to secure and contain a large number of prisoners of war given the number of stragglers who were fleeing in all directions.
Therefore, Britannia Imperial Strategic Command decided to wipe out any sizable groups of enemy survivors too far away to safely and effectively capture, all except for the logistical and medical personnel amongst the enemies' ranks. Thanks to the Special Forces' intel, the Britannian Army was able to mark certain areas with large concentrations of non-combatants, thereby designating them as civilians.
To put it simply, every group of hostile combatants was wiped out by artilleries and missiles, except for one.
Southeast of Alneuz Hill
"Go faster! Do not stop for anything! We must inform the emperor and the Senate at once!" Calass ordered his wyvern coachman who was also his Aide-de-camp.
"Yes, my Lord!" The coachman/aide said and pushed the wyvern to fly faster.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. When his army was reorganizing their defensive positions around the Gate, several columns of massive war golems and self-propelled artilleries emerged from the Gate's maw and moved toward them at an astonishing speed. Unlike the Saderan war golems, the otherworld war golems were incredibly agile and flexible as they moved into position with perfect unison and fluidity.
Though stupefied by the enemy's appearance for a moment, Field General Lyrak Hengard recovered quickly and gave the order to fire their cannons, making his men scramble to carry out his order. Within minutes, hundreds of cannons and ballistae fired but most of the shots missed their marks by a large margin due to the distance and recoil. The projectiles that hit did virtually nothing to the enemy golems and armored carriages.
After the cannons fired, Field General Belacos Jalsen ordered his men to release the war beasts to cripple the enemy forward units. However, when the otherworld army returned fire, it was a sight that would forever haunt Calass and the commanders of the Eight Field Army.
In mere moments, entire packs of war beasts were decimated by the otherworld forces' invisible attacks. Even the giant ogres, one of the strongest war beasts under their control, were pulverized by the enemy's destructive attacks. The projectiles fired by their cannons were so fast that neither beasts nor men could even see or react before they were erased from existence. Their standard artilleries, shield-wielding infantry, and cavalrymen fared no better than their cannon fodders as they were all destroyed with extreme prejudice. Thousands of men were obliterated in seconds when they barely made it one-third of the distance to enemy lines.
Several of the commanders even threw up when seeing some of their men turned into gory mists with his spyglass. When the thunderous cracks ceased, they falsely assumed that the enemy forces had run out of magic. As it turns out, that wasn't the case when the enemy golems and carriages were covered in smoke as hundreds of light arrows surged upward and away from the enemy lines.
Before Calass and his men could even guess what they were, the light arrows arched downward and slammed into his army's formations, killing thousands more in fiery explosions at a mind-boggling speed. Those who weren't killed immediately suffered wounds so horrendous that they could do nothing but beg for death.
Once it was clear that frontal assaults were useless against such destructive and overwhelming firepower, Field General Paldra Thyden personally led his cavalry legion to flank the enemy from two sides. Using the dense vegetation for cover and the remaining war beasts as cannon fodders, thousands of cavalrymen charged toward the otherworld enemy lines. Thanks to their newly brought supplies, many of the knights and their mounts were more armored than conventional cavalry forces, serving as good shock troopers.
At the same time, Calass had Field General Lumaz Alverias deploy his wyvern knights to assault the enemy from the sky, turning it into a large-scale three-pronged assault. Since the enemy had so few soldiers, golems and artilleries, and possessed little aerial forces aside from those strange insectoid contraptions, Calass and his generals were confident that the Saderans could overwhelm them with sheer numbers.
Unfortunately, reality couldn't be further from the truth as their expectations were shattered once more.
The enemy soldiers got into defensive positions, followed closely by their armored carriages, and fired upon General Thyden's forces with the same long-range invisible magic, decimating his legion in every direction. Even though his army outnumbered them almost ten to one and they wore enchanted armor, they couldn't even reach the enemy's positions and engage them in honorable combat. Not even the veteran field general was spared from the horrific fate that had befallen his men.
The image of once-proud General Thyden and his men being turned into unrecognizable clouds of organs, garments, armor pieces, and limbs by one of their light arrows would forever haunt Calass and any other commanders unfortunate enough to saw it happen.
The same was true for General Alvieras's Wyvern Knights.
Before their proud Wyvern Knights could make it halfway to the enemy lines, they were obliterated in similar fashion as their ground counterparts. Even the esteemed wyvern lords under their command were shredded into pieces by enemy magical weapons. In some cases, they were completely annihilated by the same homing light arrows that obliterated his troops. It didn't matter how hard the wyverns tried to evade, those arrows would make tight turns and chase after them at insane speeds. He wasn't a mage but he doubted that even magic could accomplish such an absurd feat.
It got worse when the enemy's equivalence of wyverns came through the Gate and unleashed their fury on the Saderan wyverns. Those metal contraptions were completely alien and unholy as they resembled nothing he or anyone from this side of the Gate could identify. With the combined might of the enemy's air and ground forces, the Wyvern Knight Corps of the Eight Field Army was completely annihilated.
The situation looked slightly less bleak when the Guardian Shields of their War Golems were able to resist the otherworld enemy's attacks to an extent. However, the enemy launched some kind of strange projectiles into the mages' lines and when exploding with a bluish white light, those rods disrupted the mages' mana flow to the golems, temporarily disabling the Saderan humanoid war machines. This was later confirmed by his mage commander so he had no choice but to believe him.
The enemy quickly capitalized on this and started firing at the golems. Without the shields, the golems were all destroyed in rapid succession. Only minutes after the mages were crippled, they began losing their most prized assets at almost the same rate as their standard infantrymen and siege weapons.
At that point, it was clear that they had lost the battle momentum and it didn't matter how many beasts or men the Saderans threw at their enemy. None of them could get within one league range of the Terran forces.
Positive news finally came when General Lyrak Hengard reported that their rapid artilleries had acquired targets and were prepared to fire. Calass almost chided the general for failing to do so at the beginning of the battle but given the circumstances, it couldn't have been helped. Without hesitation, he ordered Lyrak to fire all of their rapid artilleries at once.
At the same time, he also ordered his Mage Commander to have his forces prepare a large-scale Lighting Javelin spell for a long-range attack. Given the time and resources needed to prepare such an attack, Calass silently thanked the Gods above for granting him the foresight to give out that order in advance.
Once the order was relayed to the artillery crews through telepathy, the forest surrounding Alneuz Hill was bathed in a sound of cannon fire, albeit much slower and less thunderous than that of the otherworld army.
Calass and his generals watched the shells flying toward the enemy's positions in a sliver of hope, praying to the Gods above that they would at least deal some sort of damage to the otherworld barbarians.
To their ultimate dismay, the enemy managed to intercept and destroy the shells using the same destructive magical weapons that decimated the Saderan forces minutes earlier. All of the shells were destroyed midair with none of them ever impacting enemy positions.
Calass didn't remember when he did it but at some point, he ordered the Tarrasques to be unleashed. Seeing the desperate situation they were facing, none of the Field Generals protested. He knew that retreating like this was cowardly and could incur heavy punishment from Arklensia – the Imperial Capital of the Saderan Empire – but he didn't care. He would rather deal with that than suffer horrific death or potential torture under the otherworld enemy's hands.
When the first lightning strike struck the otherworld army's position, he left Field General Enkos Ragmal in command of the survivors of his battered field army. General Enkos was with Commander Gregan to have his mages assist him in giving orders and re-organizing their scattered forces.
Unbeknownst to them, Calass had used them as diversions so that he could retreat unscathed from this hopeless battle. If anyone questioned him, he could simply state that he was going to bring more reinforcements. If that didn't convince them, his rank and threats would certainly do the job just fine.
Even from here, he could hear constant explosions behind him. Even from this distance, the thunderous explosions created by the enemy's magical weapons were deafening enough to scare even his wyvern and the escorting wyvern knights.
Calass let out a defeated sigh and rested his head on the soft chair inside the passenger compartment. His mind wandered from one thought to another but the most prominent one was: How should I report this to the emperor and the Senate?
To confirm the validity of his reports, Calass made sure to have two mages capable of recording and telepathy magic to convey his reports to the imperial capital. The problem was, magical visual recordings had their limits and could only tell one side of the story instead of the whole picture. That was why he needed to choose his words carefully when making and delivering his reports.
For now, he decided to rest at Ularok and have the field general there prepare for the inevitable invasion from the otherworld enemy before making his way to Arklensia.
His rest was interrupted by a loud explosion. His weary mind initially thought that it was from the battle at the hill. However, he quickly dismissed it as this one was far too close for comfort. He was shaken off his balance when the wyvern carrying him flew faster and more erratically.
"What in Hardy's hell just happened?" He asked his aide. Outside, the two mages accompanying him were panicking as they tried to understand what just happened.
"My Lord, one of our escorts was consumed by a mysterious explosion!" the aide said in a panicked tone. Following the aide's gaze, Calass could see the burning and scattered remains of the wyvern and its knight falling from the sky.
A chill ran down his spine as realization slowly struck Calass. "GO FASTER! Get us out of here! We cannot let the demons catch us here!" After giving his order, he then turned to one of the mages. "You, prepare to cast Guardian Shield over us!"
Before the panicked mage could even respond, another explosion consumed their second wyvern escort. At this point, Calass didn't even bother turning his head to see what happened to the unfortunate wyvern knight.
There was only one escort left and the knight struggled to calm the panicking wyvern. His efforts were in vain as the third arrow of light streamed toward him at an mind-boggling speed.
The wyvern knight expertly conducted an evasive maneuver to escape certain doom as the arrow went past his previous position. The knight was about to celebrate but his eyes went wide in horror as the light arrow curved and went back to him. He only managed to mutter some curses before he and his unfortunate mount were consumed in a fiery explosion.
It all happened so fast that none of the Saderans could even process the situation, let alone react to it.
"WHY? O GODS OF FALMARIUS, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US TO THE DEMONS?" The defeated Field Marshal of the Eight Field Army screamed in despair while the two mages were terrified even further after the destruction of their escorts.
Though the Guardian Shields they cast could protect them from the Terrans' firepower, the mages couldn't cover every direction like a sphere lest they risk weakening the shield. This gave the mysterious attackers the opportunity to strike them from a completely different angle.
As a result, the remaining Saderans could only watch in despair as their wyvern mount was torn apart by projectiles moving at hypersonic speed. The first salvo tore through the wyvern's wings and legs while the second salvo went straight for the reptile's head. The shots were powerful enough to tear a large chunk of the wyvern's head off.
The attack sent the wyvern and its passengers tumbling to the ground. The mages who were drained from casting Guardian Shields couldn't cast new spells to break their fall in time before they all crashed onto the forest below.
Calass's fall was broken by the dense foliage when the passenger compartment crashed onto a tall tree and slowly slid unto the ground below. However, he still suffered some major injuries and landed on the forest floor with a loud thud. He screamed in pain since his right leg and some of his ribs were broken. Were it not for the enchanted armor he wore, he was sure that he would have lost his life due to that fall.
Once he remained calm enough to assess the situation, Calass tried to call out for his attendants or anyone for that matter. To his horror, no one came because they were all killed by the fall. The wyvern's large body was stuck on the tree above with its blood dripping all over the tree and the ground beneath it.
He cursed loudly and tried to limb away from the area since he knew that the dead bodies would attract scavengers and dangerous beasts in the forest. Using the wooden beams from the carriage for support, he checked his weapons and hoped that his gladius and knives would be enough to protect himself.
After walking for a few minutes, Calass was frozen in fear as his instinct warned him of danger. The forest was still alive with animal activity but he could feel something was off. It felt like he was being watched by something or someone. Given his experience with the demons of Alneuz Hill, he knew that they were here for him.
Calass gritted his teeth and drew his sword, using a tree to support himself. "SHOW YOURSELVES, YOU COWARDS!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
His eyes darted from one object to another while he swung his sword at whatever movement they caught.
When he swung for the fifth time, his hand was caught by an invisible grip. His eyes went wide in shock and horror after seeing the shimmering outline of something. It was just as the witnesses described. It was a specter of somewhat humanoid in appearance. Not only that, the formless demon was quite strong as well since he could feel its iron grip on his wrist.
"What… are… you?" Calass stuttered but the demon remained silent.
He raised his other hand in an attempt to hit it but the demon threw his sword-wielding arm away. Before he could retaliate, the demon struck him in the face, causing him to lose balance and collapse.
Laying on the ground, his mouth could taste blood dripping from his nose. The shearing pain suggested that his nose could have been broken.
"Don't resist any further!" A voice came from somewhere, presumably from the demon that struck him. "You'll only make this worse for yourself. Surrender quietly and we may consider letting you live."
He couldn't see it due to the strike staggering him earlier but he could sense that there were others surrounding him now. Three of them had their invisible magic dispelled and revealed themselves to him. It was only then that he finally had a clear look at these mysterious demons of Alneuz Hill.
They were almost as tall as Ogres and wore strange-looking obsidian-colored armor that covered them from head to toe. As far as he knew, not even an inch of their body was exposed. Their helmet also revealed nothing but two green eyes that betrayed no emotion of their wearer underneath.
"Surrender? Me, the veteran Field Marshal of the Imperial Army?" Calass laughed in defiance. He then coughed out some blood to clear his throat and taunted the demons from another world, "Don't get cocky just because you've destroyed two of our field armies, you damned otherworld demons!"
He stared at their soulless eyes with hatred and anger, then spat some blood at them, "We have the Apostles and powerful dragons on our side. Once we regroup and reorganize our forces, we will recapture the holy hill, march across the Gate, and subjugate your country."
"Do you seriously think that you have a chance against us despite everything you've seen?" The voice came from the tallest demon.
"You've resorted to nothing but cowardly tricks to decimate my army," Calass said with a haughty tone, "Your army may be powerful but they are weak-minded and cowardly. Why? Because you refuse to engage us in melee combat and die honorable deaths in battle. You care about the weak and feeble far too much to fight us in open warfare."
Calass grunted in pain before continuing, "Our mighty empire was chosen by the Gods to rule over these lands and your world is no exception. After we reorganize our military, we will decimate your army, subjugate your world, and make you all our slaves. Your children, women, and elderly will be our slaves, but not you. After we're done with the slaughter, we will let you watch helplessly as we make your women and children do our biddings. ONLY when you taste ultimate despair will we let you die a horrible death, demons. The humiliation you've given us today will be repaid a thousand times in full. So, gloat all you want, demons! For you are NOTHING in the face of our empire and the Gods."
Whether or not they were affected by his taunts, he couldn't tell but he could see one of them shaking its head in disappointment. Seeing that he was done taunting, the second tallest demon approached him, knelt down, and seemed to stare into his soul. The demon's soulless eyes stared into his, then it spoke with a gruff male voice, "At this point, we couldn't help but wonder if you all braindead or something. Since you bastards refuse to listen to reason and love torturing innocent people so much, let us give you a taste of your medicine!"
The demon looked at an empty spot to his left, said something in its language, and moved away from him. Another demon seemingly appeared from thin air and pushed him the ground. He could feel dirt and grass on his face as the demon held him down while another placed some kind of sturdy mask over his mouth.
Calass struggled to free himself from the assailant's grip but it was all in vain. They made him breath some kind of gas that made him feel drowsy and drained. His eyes became heavier with each second until his arms went limp.
Eventually, everything went black and Calass lost consciousness.
Post-Battle Cleanup
Location: Fort Invartez
Through the cameras and sensors of his M2500 Panther CV (Command Vehicle), Captain Luke Briem – the commander of Charlie Company – watched the waves of Cobra missiles streaking across the sky and toward the largest Saderan fortification a few kilometers from the Gate.
The first wave of missiles destroyed the fort's ramparts, gates, and guard towers while the second wave destroyed the last cannons, siege weapons, and golems both around and inside Fort Invartez. Once the missile salvo ceased, a large portion of the fort was covered in a cloud of splinter and debris. Any Saderan unfortunate enough to be outside would be either killed instantly or severely injured due to the shockwave alone.
While the mechanized infantry and armor units drew the first blood and devastated a significant number of enemy hostiles, the primary force that dealt the most damage to the Saderan army was the artillery and close air support units. With constant artillery bombardment and air strikes, the Britannians were able to corner all of the surviving Saderans at Fort Invartez, the largest fortification they built in preparations for the Terrans' inevitable invasion.
Based on the intel provided by the Cerberus Task Force, there was a small number of Terran civilians transferred here as additional manual labor for the Saderan imperial army. Aside from Terran civilians, there were also many individuals identified as personnel working in the logistical and medical fields for the Saderans military.
According to the newly established Los Angeles Conventions, these individuals were to be granted human rights and treated humanely according to the conventional rules of warfare as long as they didn't resist capture or harm the Terrans in any way.
Now, it was the infantry units' job to clear this makeshift fortress of enemy combatants, rescue the captured civilians, and if possible, immobilize the Falmarian civilians.
"Sentinel Actual, the coast is clear!" Kodiak One-One – the lead gunship of the company's CAS unit – said through the radio, "We will secure the perimeter and provide support if you boys need it."
"Copy that, Kodiak One-One!" Captain Luke Briem – the commander of Charlie Company – said and switched to his company's channel to address the platoons, "All Sentinels, the coast is clear! We will broadcast surrender messages to them first. If they refuse to surrender, you are to move in, clear the house of hostiles, secure the native civilians, and get our people out of there. Heavy weapon support will be limited and there are a lot of civilians inside so keep your eyes on the drones and check your fire."
A series of replies came through the radio to acknowledge his orders. He then ordered the drivers to move forward and breach the fort. Around them, the gunships and drones secured the airspace and stood ready to provide air support when needed. The company's Knightmare Frames and Tiger IFVs crashed through the remnants of the gates and tore through the remaining armed hostiles with their autocannons.
"Leevi, turn on the speakers! Make sure to have it connected to the translator!" Captain Briem told his aide – Specialist Leevi Raisanen.
"Yes Sir!" Specialist Raisanen said and followed his orders. "You're connected, Captain!" He said and gave the Captain the microphone after a few seconds.
Captain Briem cleared his throat and started broadcasting his message, "Attention, to all Saderans who can hear this, listen up! This is the Britannian Army, the military of the country you savagely attacked around two months ago. So far, we've destroyed your entire armies, killed your mighty wyverns and Tarrasques, and routed you down to the last man. However, we are not savages like you because we actually treat prisoners of war humanely and prosecute you accordingly based on your crimes. If you do not wish to fight anymore, surrender by raising a white flag, drop your weapons and walk out with your hands raised, return the innocent people you took from our world, and we will guarantee you safety, security, and dignity as prisoners of war. You have one minute to comply. Resistance is futile!"
The speakers mounted on the Panther CV and the drones began broadcasting his message in Falmarian Common for every Saderan in the area to hear.
"Did you really have to add the last part, Captain?" First Lieutenant Willem Barnhardt of the First Platoon said after a few seconds of silence.
"Seriously, Captain? 'Resistance is futile'? That sounds cheesy as fuck!" Second Lieutenant Peter Bouwens of the Second Platoon chimed in.
"Oh shut up, you two!" Captain Briem said, "This planet is a gold mine for cheesy one-liners like this. Let's face it! You apes would have said even cheesier lines than mine if given the chance."
His remark earned a few laughs from the other Lieutenants as well. They continued their cheery banter while waiting for the Saderans to comply with their orders. Their sensors and drones indicated that the Saderans were moving around inside the fort. While they couldn't acquire visuals, they could at least get heat signatures inside the structure and there were a lot of them. Thanks to their unique heat signatures, movements, and behaviors, the Britannians were able to distinguish the Terrans from the clusters of heat signatures inside.
The one-minute deadline passed but the Saderans didn't surrender. Captain Briem let out a heavy sigh and grabbed his radio. He was about to have his units storm the place when his aide called out to him, "Sir, they are raising something at the central building."
His attention was focused on the screen connected to the vehicle's FLIR cameras. Inside the central building, something was being raised and the clusters of heat signatures were moving toward the fort's passageway.
A white sheet of fabric tied to a wooden pole was raised at the top while a significant number of people was walking out of the fort.
"Captain, they're surrendering!" First Lieutenant Tobias Lundgren of the Fourth Platoon said through the radio. His platoon and two others have positioned themselves around the building's entrances to receive the prisoners of war.
"Well, looks like they finally wised up and learned their lesson," Specialist Raisanen said.
"Let's hope none of them do something stupid!" Captain Briem remarked. "Are there any Terrans among them?" He asked the Lieutenants.
"Standing by for confirmation!" Lieutenant Lundgren said as the crowds of people continued moving out of the makeshift fort.
On the cameras, Britannian soldiers began approaching the Sadderans who were walking out with their hands raised in the air. As more time passed, the more Saderans surrendered. Captain Briem noted that most of them were civilians and wounded soldiers but still there were no captured Terrans amongst them.
Due to the large number of prisoners, he requested additional manpower from the other companies to help his company process and transport the Saderans back to prisons on Earth. Since it took some time to construct a base on this side, the Britannians decided to house the prisoners of war on Earth for now.
With so many cannons aimed at them, the Saderans dared not do anything stupid lest they suffered the same fates as their fallen comrades. Eventually, they finally rescued a few hundred Terrans who were guided by the Saderan medical personnel and those working for civilian guilds in the military.
The operation to clear Fort Invartez went smoothly since the Saderans have been mentally broken upon witnessing the Terrans' overwhelming power. Just like in Los Angeles, the ones who resisted despite everything were swiftly taken care of since they deemed that taking such individuals into custody posed too much security risk.
As for the captured Terrans, they were severely malnourished and had signs of abuse but the Britannians were able to provide medical support and safely transport them to hospitals back on Britannian mainland.
At 16:25 Pacific Standard Time, all the areas around Alneuz Hill were cleared of hostiles and the Britannian Army began cleaning up the mountain of corpses scattered across the battlefield. Moreover, construction robots + vehicles and supply trucks started crossing the Gate to build a true forward operating base for the Terrans on Planet Falmarius.
Terran Calendar: October 12, 2135 – 6:30 PM
Tens of thousands of corpses littered the landscape and a pungent smell assaulted the noses of everyone present there. As a result, every personnel stationed at Alneuz Hill, both combatant and non-combatant, had to wear field protective masks to avoid the horrific smell and prevent themselves from catching alien diseases.
Although the task of cleaning up the corpses was handled by the utility robots, the soldiers still had to accompany them to provide security and take care of potential stragglers. As if the smell wasn't bad enough, the squelching sound of their boots stepping on vast pools of blood and entrails made some weak-willed personnel to empty their stomachs more than once.
None of that mattered to Tobias and his comrades because they could rest assured that the fighting was at least over. The only problem they had to worry about now was giving mercy to the wounded Saderans across the battlefield. It was a grisly and tedious task but Tobias knew that it had to be done. Given what they have learned about these aliens, he thought that this was a little too merciful to them.
He also heard many casualty reports regarding the medical personnel of the other units. In those cases, when Britannian medics and soldiers tried to help the wounded Saderans, those bastards attacked them with hidden weapons and magic as soon as their guard was down. In some cases, they even went as far as conducting suicide bombing attacks with makeshift bombs fashioned from gunpowder and mana gems. Even in their dying breath, the Saderans did anything possible to inflict casualties on the Britannians.
Naturally, hearing such cases made him and everyone else lose the last shred of sympathy and mercy for the wounded enemy, at least for the hostile combatants. Even the Brigades' commanders gave them orders to execute all of the Saderans who were too stubborn or far gone for medical assistance. Apparently, High Command didn't want to waste expensive medical supplies on these people and Tobias had to agree.
After the Saderans were dealt the killing blows, the robots would strip the bodies of their armor and items for processing and recycling, then they would be loaded onto the trucks for later disposal. All of the bodies would be dumped into mass graves for cremation or burial. Thankfully, they had more than enough manpower and resources to finish the job since they were reinforced by another division-sized force following the battle for the hill.
"Damn! That's fucking nasty!" Private Pierre Jäschke who was part of his platoon said in disgust upon seeing a pack of alien animals picking apart two corpses. The animals in question looked like a hybrid between a primate and a jackal. They were slightly larger than Earth coyotes so the Terrans decided to refer to this particular species as "Jackal Monkey" for now.
Tobias noted that the animals were smart enough to remove the armor pieces and metal items on the bodies before tearing the soft flesh underneath with their sharp claws and teeth. Aside from the jackal monkeys, there were other scavenger species as well with the most prominent being the Lizard Vulture. Most of the time, these animals posed little threat to the Terrans and were more content with voraciously eating their food than bothering the Terrans. The animals that did could be scared away or dispatched by their firearms.
Upon seeing the Britannians, the jackal monkeys screeched and dragged the corpses away, quickly vanishing into the night. Private Jäschke let out a sigh, relieved that he didn't have to waste ammo on alien scavengers.
"That makes this the eleventh time already," He said, "At this point, we might as well let the animals take care of all these bodies for us."
"It's not that simple, kid!" Sergeant Ikram Marko said while inspecting one of the bodies, "There are over a hundred thousand of them here so letting nature do its job will take too damn long. Not to mention, there are a lot of large animal corpses here so the risk of biological hazards increases the longer we leave them be."
"All this dead and destruction. If I remember correctly, we killed around one hundred thousand of them back in Los Angeles. That means the Saderans already lost two whole field armies to us. That's fucking insane when you consider their civilization level!"
"You know what's worse?" Corporal Laszlo Thornton said after delivering mercy kill to a severely wounded Saderan warrior, "One of my friends heard from the BSIA guys that the Saderans had several more field armies like the ones we destroyed. If that's true, it means that these assholes have enough men to throw at us before they realize their mistakes."
"Just who the hell is leading this empire?" Private Collins Urban said, "Throwing away so many lives for little to no gain like this. What the fuck are they even trying to achieve here?"
"You'll be surprised by how similar our historical counterparts to these guys were, rookie," Sergeant Marko said, "At least, all of that was in the distant past on our side. These guys, however, they have magic on their side so they were able to cheat a lot in building and developing their civilization. They have a much bigger and more powerful empire than our historical counterparts. Thanks to magic, they could assert dominance over a much larger region and maintain control over their territories for much longer than our ancestors did."
"So… to put it simply, the Saderan Empire is the Roman Empire with the levels of power, resources, and territories on par with that of the European empires in the Age of Sails." Corporal Laszlo Thornton commented.
His subordinates continued to banter to alleviate tension and stress while Tobias approached another wounded Saderan lying on the ground. The man had a missing arm and multiple gaping holes on his body, and he was barely able to speak or scream anymore. He plunged the bayonet deep into the man's neck, killing him instantly. He stepped aside for the robots to do their job. A utility robot then came in, stripped the body of its armor and weapons, and threw it on the truck. The whole process was done with the speed and precision that only machines were capable of.
By now, the truck was almost full as there were three dozen corpses on its cargo hold already. As for the armor, weapons, and items scavenged from the bodies, they were loaded on another truck.
"What do you think they use all that stuff for, Lieutenant?" Corporal Thornton asked Tobias, gesturing at the other truck that carried the corpses' personal items.
"The armor and weapons could be smelted for recycling," Tobias shrugged, "As for the personal items, I have no idea. They will probably use them for infiltration operations or things like that. Using local currency, weapons, and clothes could help our operators blend in with the local populace more effectively than wasting resources on making replicas."
While Tobias wasn't a member of the Special Forces, he had some knowledge in dealing with them given his background as a former Army Ranger. Looting dead bodies was immoral but morality and other related issues had to be put aside for now to achieve their goals in the grand scheme of things.
"I guess it can't be helped," Sergeant Marko said, "I understand recycling the metal but looting corpses feels… kind of wrong."
"We better finish this up quickly," Farah Webster – the squad's medic – said as she followed the men closely behind, "More and more scavengers are coming and it will only get worse. I heard from my friends in the other units that they were attacked by some large hound-like animals and vulture hybrids that we don't even have names for. Given how hot and humid the atmosphere of this place is, the smell and bio-hazards can be worse than what we dealt with in Los Angeles."
They all agreed with her assessment and carried on with their work. Regardless of how they felt about the whole situation, they had a job to do and the faster they finished, the sooner they got to leave this place and relax in the comforts provided by modern civilization.
After a few more minutes, Private Kinga Enache who was inspecting the corpses a few meters away from Tobias's position made an interesting discovery.
"Lieutenant, we found one alive!" He called out.
Tobias and the rest of his squad went over to the private's side and they were surprised by what he found. As Tobias approached his position, he could make out the humanoid shape on the ground.
It was a female mage and she wasn't Human. She had green eyes, light brown skin with golden facial markings, platinum hair tied into long braids with rings, cat-like ears on either side of her head, and a long tail. The robes she wore had an overall light purple color with ornate golden patterns on her hood and torso sections. The injuries she suffered were quite severe as she lost a leg and had two large holes on her stomach. Tobias surmised that she must have been hit by a mortar round and machine-gun bullets.
Given the makeshift bandages on her wounds, she must have hidden somewhere to perform first-aid on herself. A short distance away from her, there were several more mages with similar robes but they were all dead.
She might have been of different species but Tobias recognized the look in her eyes. It was the look of fear, terror, and despair. She raised her blood-soaked hand in the air to surrender while her other hand was gripping the bandages on her bleeding leg.
"Please… no… kill me!" Tobias's translator picked up on her words, "I'm… not… with imperials. I only… work with them."
"We found her when she was scavenging for supplies," Private Enache said while keeping his battle rifle at the ready, "Those guys wanted to end her suffering but I stopped them, thinking that she could give us good intel. What do you think, LT?"
There were three other soldiers from another unit and they kept their weapons trained on her, terrifying the woman even more.
"Let me talk to her first!" Tobias said and turned to the rest of his squad, "Farah, you're with me! See if you can do anything about her wounds. Laszlo, you're with me and Farah. Collins, call it in and bring the truck around! The rest of you, keep your guard up and secure the perimeter, I'll take point."
Given that it was an enemy mage they were dealing with, some of his subordinates hesitated for a second but they felt sorry for the alien woman and complied with his orders. While they were ordered to deal with the surviving enemies, they also had orders to capture and secure any individuals deemed reasonable enough to be taken into custody.
His platoon followed his orders while he, Specialist Webster, and Corporal Thornton approached the wounded female mage. She flinched slightly upon seeing three Terrans clad in dark armor and the weapons they wielded.
Tobias knelt down and retracted the visor of his helmet in an attempt to make her less scared but kept his mask on to avoid the pungent smell. The cat woman was surprised to see his hazel eyes but the fear didn't subside.
He checked the tacpad on his wrist to make sure the audio translator was on. Due to the differences between English and Falmarian Common, the Terrans needed some assistance to understand the alien language. In the case of the Britannian soldiers, it came in the form of wrist-mounted datapads and HUD helmets.
"What is your name, miss?" Tobias asked, then showed her the datapad.
"Yashul'Ran, my Lord!" She replied shakily after reading the translation.
"I will call you Miss Ran. Is that okay with you?"
She shakily nodded as her eyes darted from the datapad to the armed Britannians around her.
"Okay, Miss Ran! Given how bad your wound is, I will give you some first-aid before taking you to a proper medical facility. Now, she," Tobias gestured at Farah who stood behind him, "will do that for you. If you try to harm her or do anything suspicious, we will have no choice but to kill you. Is that understood?"
Though a bit excessive, Tobias knew that he had to get the point across when it comes to communication with these people and beating around the bush would only make things worse due to the language barriers. Needless to say, Yashul'Ran was slightly terrified after reading the last part but she complied with his words.
Farah went in to perform first-aid on the alien woman while Tobias, Laszlo, and the others stayed vigilant. Occasionally, the sound of gunshot in the distance caused Yashul'Ran to flinch but she managed to prevent herself from reacting negatively to Farah's task.
"Lieutenant, the Captain wants to speak with you," Collins called out to him after he drove the platoon's Abrams LMTV (Light Medium Tactical Vehicle) to their position.
Tobias got on the truck and grabbed the radio, "Sentinel Four here, go ahead, Sentinel Actual!"
"Sentinel Four, Command just issued new orders," Captain Briem said over the radio, "The mage you found and others like her piqued our interest when our snipers and drones engaged them."
"Why is that, Sir?"
"Apparently, they could create wind barriers that blocked bullets when our snipers targeted her group. It wasn't until two Strykers hit their position that she was down. If you find another mage like her, bring them in for interrogation. We need all the intel we can get."
"Wind barriers that blocked bullets? Sounds interesting!" He thought to himself, "Roger that, Sir! Is there anything else?"
"For now, focus on securing potential targets of interest and cleaning up the bodies!" The Captain said, "We will notify you if there's any changes. Sentinel Actual, out!"
"Copy that," Tobias said and the transmission ended.
Meanwhile, two medical robots were helping Farah load the injured mage on the gurney and onto the truck. After Yashul'Ran was brought back to friendly lines for medical treatment, Tobias and his squad resumed their previous work.
The next few hours were relatively uneventful for the Terrans. Occasionally, the sound of gunshot reverberated across the battlefield as the Terrans took care of the dying and resisting Saderans or fired at the scavenger animals that attacked them.
Eventually, the only people alive on and around Alneuz Hill were the UEDF forces, the prisoners they captured, and the Falmarian civilians currently in the Terrans' custody. With the robots doing most of the work, the effort of disposing the bodies was completed around noon the following day. The large animals' corpses had to be cut up for efficient disposal but it wasn't a challenge for the cleaning crews. Biohazard crews were dispatched to clean the stench of death but it continued to linger for some time before dissipating completely.
After Action Report
The battle for Alneuz Hill ended with an overwhelming victory for the Britannians. It was the first offensive operation undertaken against the Saderan Empire to establish a beachhead on Planet Falmarius. In less than an hour, the vanguard forces of the Falmarius Expeditionary Force successfully repulsed a much larger enemy force that awaited them on the other side of the Gate. The Terran forces which consisted of over 12,000 soldiers from three Brigades of the First Division of the BFEA engaged the Saderan Eight Field Army almost immediately after exiting the Gate.
After assessing the situation with drones and vanguard units, Colonel Lelouch Henriksen gave the order to engage the enemies with extreme prejudice. As the vanguard forces moved in to set up firing positions, the Saderans fired the first salvo with their ancient artilleries and ballistae at the Terrans. Although the Saderans possessed many cannons, they lacked precision targeting and fire control systems so the majority of the shots missed their targets by a large margin. The ones that hit did next to nothing to the Britannian war machines aside from putting some light dents or scratching the paint on their armor plating.
The Britannians retaliated in full force as the Knightmare Frames, Tanks, and IFVs unleashed a literal storm of kinetic projectiles at the Saderan lines. Their attack obliterated everything in its path and killed thousands of hostiles, both men and beasts, in seconds. Despite the trenches and obstacles standing between the Britannians and the enemy forces, they proved little challenge to the Knightmare Frames and armored bulldozers of the Brigade's Engineering Battalion.
Upon realizing that frontal assaults didn't work, the Saderans switched to flanking maneuvers combined with aerial assault. The Britannian infantry and anti-aircraft units took care of these threats just fine and the Britannians suffered no casualties. During their assaults, the Saderans made use of a large number of war beasts in their disposal but it didn't matter in the face of Terran firepower.
At closer inspection, Colonel Henriksen, Colonel Weinberg, and the other commanders noted that some of the war beasts, the giant ogres in particular, were equipped with thicker armor considering that the ones in Los Angeles were almost naked. However, they were few in number since most of the giant ogres were already killed during the Battle of Los Angeles. There were also other types of war beasts but they proved no challenge to Terran guns and missiles.
The same was also true for the wyverns utilized by the Saderan Air Cavalry. After all, nothing could survive being struck by a tungsten projectile moving at hypersonic speed.
The actual challenge only came when the Saderans deployed their equivalence of Knightmare Frames – War Golems. These magically created war machines were protected by magic shields since the shields managed to stop the Britannians' projectiles. However, even if the projectiles didn't go through their armor and magical shields, the sheer kinetic impact generated by the strikes was enough to damage the golems' internal components and stop them in their tracks.
Seeing that it involved magical shields, Colonel Henriksen gave the order to fire their EMP grenades to disable the shields and temporarily knock out the mages controlling them. Once the mages were immobilized by the grenades, the Tanks and Knightmare Frames had no problems taking the golems down.
Around twenty minutes since the battle began, Colonel Henriksen gave the air cavalry units of his Brigade permission to cross the Gate and engage the enemies. When all enemy wyverns were destroyed, the Britannians achieved air superiority and had complete control of the battlefield.
The commanders of the vanguard units also had their snipers and drones take out the Saderan commanders with precise shots, further demoralizing the enemies. Thirty-four minutes into the battle, the Saderans finally fired their most effective weapon so far: Rapid Artillery.
Over three dozen artilleries fired at the Britannian forces but the shells were intercepted by their anti-aircraft weaponry. After their coordinates were acquired, the Colonel decided to go on the offensive by deploying his secret weapons against the Saderans.
Along with a contingent of Super Hornet Gunships and Sparrowhawk Drones, two advanced Knightmare Frame prototypes were deployed to deal with this threat. Since the EMP grenades wreaked havoc on the mages and their abilities to control the golems and their shields, the Guren Mark II piloted by Corporal Kallen Stadtfeld and the Lancelot piloted by Sergeant Samuel Dalton had no trouble destroying the rapid artilleries and the war golems. Once all of the rapid artilleries were destroyed, they went on to take out the remaining war golems, war beasts, and infantry units.
Around forty-five minutes into the battle, however, there was an unexpected development. The Saderan battle mages launched some kind of large-scale magical attack by firing extremely powerful lightning strikes at the Britannians. These attacks also resulted in the first casualties amongst the Britannian ranks since the battle for the hill began. The Saderans took advantage of the confusion caused by the mages' attacks and released the trio of Tarrasques under their control.
Fortunately, Private Stadtfeld managed to lure the giant monsters away from their previous targets and back to the Saderan lines. Thanks to the advanced Knightmare Frame prototype in her disposal, Kallen was able to evade the giant monsters' relentless attacks, trick them into turning on the Saderans, and make sure they stay in the kill-zone for the artillery strikes.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Dalton and his air support units lost one Super Hornet gunship but they at least kept the mages busy enough to prevent them from firing off another lightning attack. The best way to deal with these mages was use as much firepower as possible. And that was exactly what they did to take down the mages' shield dome. After the dome was down, the artillery units quickly took care of the surviving mages and commanders.
Most of the high-ranking commanders of the enemy forces were killed but the Special Forces were able to capture the Field Marshal after he fled the battle. He was transported back to a secret prison on Earth for interrogation. The same thing happened to many of the commanders they captured before and during the battle.
Throughout the Battle of Alneuz Hill, the Saderan battle mages were the only ones who managed to inflict major damage and casualties on the Britannian forces. The damaged assets on the Britannian side included:
+ 3 × Abrams JLTV
+ 2 × Panther AMV
+ 2 × M74 Challenger Tank
+ 1 × M79 Vanguard Tank
+ 1 × Super Hornet Gunship
+ 2 × Sutherland Mark IV model Knightmare Frame
+ 1 × Gloucester Mark III model Knightmare Frame
The Knightmare Frames and vehicles were severely damaged by the lightning strikes so they were being towed back to Earth for repairs and recycling. As for the casualties, 39 Britannians were killed and 75 more were wounded. Most of the casualties were resulted from close quarters combat when the Britannian soldiers carelessly approached supposedly dead Saderans. The same was true when medical personnel tried to render aid to the wounded Saderans.
After several Britannians were injured and killed while trying to help the Saderans, the Britannians went "Fuck it!" and simply double-tapped all Saderans who refused to surrender or tried to attack them.
On the other hand, the Saderan army suffered complete destruction. Intelligence gathered by the Cerberus Task Force and the drones showed that the Saderan Army defending Alneuz Hill was over 120,000. This number included their logistical personnel, wyvern knights, beast tamers, and artillery crewmen but not the beasts and wyverns under their control. After the battle, the overall number of casualties on the Saderans' side exceeded 100,000.
The Britannian Army captured over 7,400 prisoners in total with a few thousand Saderans escaping into the surrounding forests. It was estimated that around 3,800 hostiles survived and were retreating to the nearest settlements. The ISC decided that the military would hunt down the fleeing hostiles to prevent them from wreaking havoc on the native civilians after the hill and the surrounding areas were cleaned up.
The number of Terran civilians rescued was 472 people and most of them had to be hospitalized for extensive medical care before being repatriated. Unfortunately, many of them succumbed to their grievous wounds or poor physical conditions due to mistreatments. They were properly identified before being returned to their grieving families.
For now, the Britannians and subsequently, their Terran allies, focused on establishing their foothold on Falmarius.
Crucial Facts:
VARIS: The Variable Ammunition Repulsion Impact Spitfire or VARIS for short is a revolutionary weapon based on railgun technology and serves as the primary armament of the Lancelot – one of the latest Knightmare Frame prototypes of the Britannian Armed Forces. Instead of conventional tungsten rounds, the VARIS fires green particle projectiles that move at hypersonic speeds. Due to the immense power required to operate the weapon, the VARIS can only be operated by the Lancelot-model Knightmare Frames thanks to their compact nuclear fusion reactor. It is also the reason why the Lancelot is somewhat larger than most other Knightmare Frame models.
BFEA: Britannian Falmarius Expeditionary Army