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The flag of the Pavolian Imperial Guard flutters and flicks in the strong gusts of wind blowing through Banda Puncak Biru's snaking valley plains. Imperial Guard soldiers huddle behind thickly-packed snowbanks and sandbags as they warm themselves by their hearths and campfires.
A lady Pavolian officer inspects the defenses of her base. She looks up to the flag of the Imperial Guards, straightens up the white Imperial Guard sash slung over royal blue uniform and lays her hand over her chest. Her voice, however, is a faint croak of patriotism.
"Pavolia Raya…"
She closes her eyes and listens to the valley winds. Those strong winds blow at around that time of year, she muses. They are harbingers of the coming of springtime: the ninth spring of the Elysian-Pavolian war.
The officer relishes in the thought of warmer weather and fairer winds.
But she will not live to see even the sunset.
Thunder-like rumbles erupt from the Blue Mountains, coming from the direction of the Pavolian mountain outposts. The officer opens her eyes. She does not remember the mountain outposts having artillery.
Then, whistling noises mix with the wind. Smoking streaks of artillery shells trace through the cloudless sky.
Artillery shells headed for her encampment.
She has to sound the alarm. She has to alert her troops.
But she is not able to.
A withering barrage of artillery shells rains down upon her position.
BAAAM! BAAAM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BRA-BAAAAM!"
Elysian fire and shrapnel baptize the Imperial Guard outpost. The explosions smash through the snowbanks and the sandbags, tearing apart wooden fortifications, barbed wire and Pavolian soldiers alike. Red mist shoots up around her with the soot.
The Pavolian officer feels warm. Her white sash is now crimson red.
She cries a guttural cry and calls for the survivors to defend themselves, but her ears ring violently.
She cannot hear her own voice.
Nonetheless, her body moves on its own. The bloodied Imperial Guard soldiers emerge from the smoke and man the encampment's crumbling defenses.
Muffled noises burst out around the officer. She shields herself from explosions. Then, she feels bullets whizzing past her.
She hobbles towards the encampment's command post, but explosions strike the watchtower nearby. The tower creaks and snaps, blocking the officer's path. The tower's machine gun falls off the rails and lands at the officer's feet, cushioned by the snow.
Her heart beats hard against her chest.
She picks up the machine gun, cocks it and runs through the smoldering hell of her encampment. She takes a deep breath and shouts out at the top of her lungs.
"ANAK HARAM!"
The moment she gets past the smoke, however, rows of Elysian M3 Stuart tanks confront her. Troop trucks of Elysian infantry follow behind them.
The machine gun in her arms feels awfully heavy.
The tanks open fire on her.
RATATATATATATATATAT!
And so, the ninth springtime of the war eludes her.
…
Elysian and Xenokunian forces pour into the devastated Imperial Guard outpost.
Correctional Infantry and Xenokunian man the barricades and start clearing out the bodies of the former occupants. The Tempest and the seven other Stuart tanks roll into the camp too and take up positions facing the deep ravine and the stone rail bridge.
Combat engineers rush in and get to work. They reform the snow banks and restore the sandbag perimeters as best as they can. They also start to build trenches facing the rail bridge and the ravine.
Trenches large enough for M3 Stuart light tanks.
Despite all of this, they do not touch the twin Pavolian flags flying from their now pockmarked flagpoles.
After all, they think, they won't be staying there for long.
Ollie Kureiji hops out of her Stuart tank and explores the captured base buzzing with activity. She sees the body of the Pavolian Imperial Guard officer strewn out on the snow and heaves a sigh with her body riddled in bullet wounds.
"This just wasn't your day, huh?" Ollie laments in Pavolian. She kneels down and looks for identification on the body. Soon, Ollie finds bloodied identification papers, "Miss N-, Major of the Imperial Guard."
Ollie can't read anything else on her papers. She shakes her head, returns the dead Major's papers to her pockets and closes the Major's eyes.
Her last sign of respect.
"Lieutenant!" the voice of Altare Regis draws her attention, "Come here quickly! I found their command post! The train's trying to communicate with this post."
Ollie turns to Altare and finds him by the entrance of a large tent with a small radio mast jutting out.
"Good find, Sergeant Regis." Ollie acknowledges. She wipes the blood from her hands onto the snow and hurries over to Altare.
She carefully enters the command post and finds the radio equipment still intact. As a matter of fact, Ollie and Altare could hear a voice crackling from the speakers in Pavolian.
"Dasar Jembatan. Ini adalah 'Pavolia Raya'. Kami barusan dengar artileri di area kalian. Bagaimana situasinya? Mohon respon."
Altare racks his brain and translates the message.
"They said they heard explosions near this base - Bridgehead Base… and they're asking for a sitrep."
"Let me handle this." Ollie tells Altare, "The CO of this post was a gal. Let's see if they buy my performance."
Ollie engages the radio's microphone and speaks in Pavolian,
"Pavolia Raya. Ini adalah 'Dasar Jembatan'. Posisi kami baik-baik aja kok. Tadi cuma peluru artileri Elysian yang nyasar mendarat dekat sini. Kami semua aman. Penembakan mereka menyebalkan."
Ollie disengages the microphone.
"Stray Elysian shots… position is secure…" Altare continues to translate. Then, his face sours, "And did you just say our aiming sucks!?"
Ollie winks, "I could have said much, much worse, son."
"Hah! Sama sekali! Dimengerti! Kereta baja 'Pavolia Raya' akan segera tiba."
The transmission ends. Ollie sets aside the microphone and heaves a sigh of relief.
"... phew! They bought it!" Ollie breathes easily.
"And so they did." Altare chuckles.
"Alright then, that's the first phase of our plan down." Ollie reminds Altare and herself, "Now, we have to prepare a warm welcome for the Pavolia Raya."
"I had the other tank commanders cover their tanks in snow to blend in with the earthworks." Altare reports enthusiastically, "The Pavolians aren't the only ones who can use Xenokunian camouflage techniques!"
"What about the sappers for the bridge?" Ollie asks.
"Miss Fenix is already on it."
"Good." Ollie nods. She pauses for a moment and looks up through the tent's window flaps to the flags flying over the command post, "The Pavolia Raya won't make it to the Atlantean Ocean. We'll make sure of it."
…
Outside of the captured, re-camouflaged Pavolian outpost, Kiara Takanashi and a handful of Xenokunian sappers armed with their Elysian satchel charges cross cautiously through the stone rail bridge.
She and the sappers keep their heads low and hide as well as they can from the binoculars of Pavolian train spotters and Imperial Guard scouts. Some of the sappers glance down the ravine below the bridge and start to hesitate.
Kiara, however, blazes forward ahead of everyone else.
"Adelante! Adelante!" She cries, urging them to keep moving.
The sappers oblige.
They spread out in teams of three and hurry to the pillars of the bridge to plant their charges. Kiara and her team take the pillar furthest from the encampment.
Kiara opens her satchel, one specifically marked 'Fenix' and takes out the explosives from within: tightly packed sticks of Elysian dynamite with long, five minute fuses. Just as Kiara puts away the satchel, however, she feels something else bouncing around inside the bag.
"What's this…?" Kiara hums.
She reaches inside the satchel and finds an Elysian lighter engraved with the Elysian Army Artillery Command insignia and an Elysian chocolate bar. A small note is tied to the lighter and the chocolate with twine.
Kiara takes the note and reads it, mimicking Calli's twangy voice.
"Light my fire again when you get back, birdie. Your Mori."
A smile forms on Kiara's lips.
"Oh, capitana."
She gobbles up the chocolate bar, humming with delight the whole time, and then checks her pocket watch. Her eyes wander to the distant smoke drawing closer and closer to them too.
From the smoke alone, Kiara could tell that the train had not slowed down at all.
They are right on schedule.
Once Kiara sees the train emerge from the rolling hills of the Sierra Pavoliana, she hollers out to the sappers over the wind, "ENCIENDE TUS BOMBAS CONMIGO!"
The sappers proceed to light the dynamite of their satchel charges. Kiara flicks the lighter from Calliope Mori and lights her own dynamite too.
Then, she and her sappers sprint back to the safety of the encampment.
"RAPIDO! RAPIDO!" Kiara urges, running as quickly as her feet could take her. As she does, she hollers to Ollie Kureiji in Elysian, "THE BOMBS ARE SET, MISS KUREIJI!"
Ollie Kureiji hears their calls. She hurries back into her tank camouflage in snow and takes the radio handset.
"Charon Company Leader, this is MOUNTAINFOR Battalion Commander. Is the next fire mission ready? Over."
"Roger that, BatCom. My mountain guns are loaded and trained on the rail bridge. We're waiting for your order."
Ollie checks her wristwatch and speaks, "Commence the fire mission in… exactly three minutes from now! All at once, just like before. Over!"
"Understood, BatCom. Commencing fire mission in three minutes. Over and out!"
Ollie puts away her radio. Then, she calls out to Altare and the other entrenched Stuart tank commanders.
"As for you - tanks of First and Second Platoon. My First Platoon loads Armor Piercing shells. Sergeant Regis? High Explosive! Get ready to fire. I'll make the call."
"Yes, ma'am!" Altare and the other commanders salute Ollie. Then, they relay the order to their own crews.
Ollie takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
A faint prayer escapes her lips.
"Mother Towa, help me."
…
Silence grips the camouflage encampment. Elysian and Xenokunian eyes watch the clouds of smoke draw closer and closer from behind the Sierra Pavoliana hills.
Kiara, Shinri and the rest of the Xenokunian fighters throw themselves down onto the snowbanks. Troopers of the Correctional Infantry join them. They draw short, sharp breaths and speak the common language of nervous silence and anxiety.
Ollie, Altare and the other tank commanders, meanwhile, look on from the cupolas of their M3 Stuart tanks partially buried in the snow.
Then, a loud train whistle cuts through the silence and reverberates throughout the entire valley.
TOOOOOT! TOOOOOT!
With that, the Pavolia Raya emerges from behind the Sierra Pavoliana and speeds towards the rail bridge.
"Sergeant Regis!" Ollie calls out to him, "Identify the target's composition!"
"Yes ma'am!" Altare shouts back. He brings out his binoculars and studies the cars of the armored train, counting them quickly in his head, "Aside from the passenger cars, I see two anti-aircraft cars, two artillery cars, a machine gun car and an anti-tank car!"
"An anti-tank car!?" Ollie furrows her brow.
"It's got big Pavolian 88mm guns, and they're not pointed upwards. Two on each side. They're set up for anti-tank, ma'am!" Altare insists.
"Tsk… did they find out about our plans somehow?" Ollie grumbles. She shudders in her cupola, "Those 88's will tear us to shreds if they get too close and get a bead on us!"
"It won't matter if we blow them up first and send them down into that ravine, ma'am!" Altare counters, "We won't give them time to shoot, right Lieutenant Kureiji?"
"Sergeant Regis…" Ollie raises her head.
"We're waiting for your order, ma'am. All of us are. Just say the word."
Ollie clenches her fist and shores up her resolve. She looks out to the approaching armored train from across the ravine.
In her mind, she imagines the Empress of Pavolia pacing about leisurely in one of the passenger cars - unaware of the fate that Ollie is crafting for her. The thought of it grips Ollie's heart.
She pounds her chest with frustration.
"C'mon, Ollie… stay in the game." She whispers to herself.
Ollie glances at her wristwatch. She reaches for her radio's handpiece and calls Captain Mori.
"Charon Company Leader. This is BatCom. The Pavolia Raya has entered the target location. Commence fire mission - NOW! Fire for effect! I repeat - fire for effect!"
"Understood, BatCom. Charon Company is firing for effect! Light show coming your way! Over and out."
Ollie takes a deep breath. She feels her heart pound stubbornly against her chest.
The thunderous rumble of thunder echoes from the Blue Mountain once more. Charon Company's mountain guns unleash their salvo and they send a rain of shells towards the Pavolia Raya.
Contrasting the cannons, she whispers beneath her breath.
"It was nice knowing you, Reine-simpai. I wish I could have heard you and Moona-simpai sing again. I wish I could have gotten to know you better. Forgive me. Allow us to send you off to see her."
And then… just as the armored train starts to cross the rail bridge…
BAAAM! BAAAM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BRA-BAAAAM!"
Artillery shells pound the armored train, showering it in fire like the Imperial Guard encampment before it. The shells strike the train's many cars but most of them fall upon the artillery cars and the anti-tank car. Ammunition stowed in those cars cook, and then…!
BOOOOOM! BA-BOOOOOOOM!
Chains of explosions follow, tearing off the roofs of the decimated train cars.
And yet, the armored train continues forward stubbornly. Not once are the brakes of the train engaged. The flames and fireballs illuminate in Ollie's eyes.
The beginnings of tears form at the sides of her eyes and shimmer in the intense light.
"It's still trying to push through. You're really not gonna make this easy for me, huh!?"
Ollie wipes her tears with the back of her hand and grips the M1919 machine gun by her cupola. She then presses on her radio handset and gives her command.
"ATTENTION ALL MOUNTAINFOR TANKS. MAIN GUNS! TARGET, TRAIN LOCOMOTIVE! THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED! STOP THAT TRAIN AND FIRE AT WILL!"
Altare and the other tank commanders parrot Ollie's orders. Then, the tank guns fire one after another upon the besieged train.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! BOOM!"
Armor piercing and high explosive shells shoot through the Pavolia Raya's locomotive. Shots pierce through and ignite the coal stowed away inside of it. The coal car behind the locomotive is set ablaze too, furning the majestic face of the train into a fierce inferno.
Finally, the train starts to lose momentum and stall to a halt on the rail bridge, just above the pillars rigged with explosives.
Ollie cocks her machine gun and calls out to the tank commanders again, "MACHINE GUN! TARGET, PASSENGER CARS! TWELVE HUNDRED! DON'T LET…" Ollie's voice breaks, but she powers through tearfully, "DON'T LET ANYONE OUT OF THERE ALIVE!"
She sets aside her radio handset and fires her machine gun into the stalled Pavolia Raya's vulnerable passenger cars. The other tank commanders pop out of their cupolas and follow suit like a firing squad.
RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!
RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!
RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!
Ollie screams as tears run down her cheeks, but her voice is drowned out by the bark of her machine gun.
And then, just as the cupola machine guns are emptied with loud, hollow clicks… the sappers' dynamite charges all go off on the bridge.
BRA-BOOM! BRA-BOOM! BAM!BAM!BAM!
Powerful explosions erupt again, this time from beneath the stalled Pavolia Raya. Cracks start to appear on the pillars of the rail bridge. With every blast, those cracks snake and slither in all directions until the entire structure creaks.
And then, the rail bridge collapses, taking the entirety of the Pavolia Raya - and Empress Reine Pavolia - with it.
A trail of vicious fire and smoke follows the broken bridge and the battered train as it descends deep into the ravines of Banda Puncak Biru.
Ollie freezes in the cupola of her tank.
Then, she picks up her radio handset one last time and makes her report.
"BORDERFOR. This is MOUNTAINFOR Battalion Commander. The Peafowl has fallen. I repeat! The Peafowl… has fallen." Ollie lowers her head, "Over and out…"
…
All around Ollie, the Elysians and the Xenokunians in the encampment burst into cheer. The troopers and the tankers shout and cry in their native languages and regard the destroyed rail bridge where the Pavolia Raya once was.
Shinri and Kiara are especially loud.
The Xenokunians' cheer slowly turns into an impromptu celebration. Praises for the three Holy Mothers echo in the valley. Even the Elysians join in, chanting like they would after their home teams win big baseball games.
Those cheers strike bittersweet pangs in Ollie's heart. Only a handful of people, Sergeant Regis Altare and his driver Vesper Noir especially, have more muted fanfare.
"Did I do the right thing…?" Ollie ponders. She shakes her head, "What's done is done. We've gotta get out of here… once we get the signal."
She holds her radio handset and waits for the inevitable response from Bae and BORDERFOR.
Minutes pass.
It does not come.
Only radio static reaches Ollie's ears. She can hear bits and pieces of Bae's voice speaking to her, but the message is fractured and garbled.
"Is our equipment acting up?" Ollie muses. She hops out of her tank and approaches the Tempest, "Sergeant Regis. Could you check if your radio is working? I can't seem to contact BORDERFOR."
"Really?" Altare is surprised, "Let me try on our radio set…"
Altare disappears into his tank for a while. Ollie hears the crackle of static coming from within.
"That's strange… I can't seem to contact BORDERFOR either." Altare reveals, shaking his head. He looks around the valley plains and wonders, "Think our comms are being jammed?"
"Jammed…?" Ollie tilts her head.
"They only talked about it a little bit in the Military Academy…" Altare starts to explain, "But if I recall my lessons…"
All of a sudden, the radios in Altare's and Ollie's tanks broadcast a peculiar tune.
The Pavolian national anthem.
"... huh?" Ollie's jaw drops.
"What the fuck…?" Axel pipes up from inside the Tempest, "Did someone switch to an FM channel or something? What's with the music?"
Axel's protests are echoed by the others in the camp. The celebrations die down and turn into confusion. Then, when the anthem ends, a voice begins to speak in Pavolian.
The voice of Zeta Vestia.
"... no." Ollie's face goes pale.
She freezes where she stands and hears Zeta's spiel.
"Loyal subjects of Pavolia. Brave warriors of the Empire. This is Zeta Vestia, the Grand Marshall of the Pavolian Armed Forces, speaking to you directly from Banda Puncak Biru. There has been an attempt on the life of Empress Reine Pavolia today by the treacherous coalition of Xenokunians and Elysians here in sacred Pavolian soil. By the grace of Mother Towa, the Empress is unharmed, but the fact remains that insurgents have struck into our lands."
Ollie and Altare turn to each other.
"Hold on…" Altare blinks. He covers his mouth, "Wasn't Empress Reine supposed to be on the train?"
Ollie, however, is unable to say anything. She shudders as if she is hearing the voice of a ghost.
The broadcasts of Zeta warp and garble into static once more. Then, a flood of delayed Elysian chatter takes its place.
Altare turns the tuning knobs of his radio and tries to pick out any clear transmission from the sea of calls. Then, he hears the voice of Baelz Hakos.
"MOUNTAINFOR! This is BORDERFOR commander, do you read me!?"
"Ma'am! I got through to the Lieutenant Colonel!" Altare reports.
Ollie's breath quickens. She climbs up the side of the Tempest tank and takes the radio handset from Altare.
"Come in, BORDERFOR. This is MOUNTAINFOR BatCom speaking."
"We have bad news from Lieutenants Watson and Gura. It turns out that more than half - maybe three fourths - of the Pavie tanks here at the border are inflatable decoys or fucking wooden mockups! They had to fly close to see the ruse, but goddamn it! The bulk of the 101st Tank Division isn't in BORDERFOR's area of operations. They could be in MOUNTAINFOR's!"
Ollie gulps.
"The Pavolia Raya was a trap." Ollie bites her thumb. She remembers a phrase she heard many years ago, "'Sometimes, you have to lose a little to gain a lot.' That's how you always played chess. Right, Zeta?"
When Ollie says this, flocks of startled birds fly out from the evergreen forests of the Sierra Pavolia opposite the Blue Mountain.
Startled birds take flight as far as Ollie can see.
…
Behind the rolling hills and evergreen forests of the Sierra Pavoliana, a pair of binoculars watches the camouflaged Bridgehead Base and the collapsed rail bridge before it. Empress Reine Pavolia, clad in a white-feathered Pavolian military winter coat over her Imperial regalia, holds those binoculars and regards the aftermath of the intense Elysian operation.
"So, Grand Marshall. This is what they're capable of." Reine muses in Pavolian.
"Do you believe me now, your highness?" Zeta Vestia, wearing the Pavolian Grand Marshall's sash over her already ornate uniform, approaches Reine and stands beside her, "They tried to strike you down like I told you they would. And they had the means - and the will - to do so."
Reine lowers her head. She passes the binoculars back to Zeta.
Zeta takes the binoculars and bows graciously to Reine.
"Your highness, though we have lost the Pavolia Raya, we have gathered the thorns that have pierced the sides of the Empire for the past few months: the best and the brightest soldiers, strategists and tacticians of the Commonwealth of Elysium. 'Hakos Company', it's called. Though, I've heard that it's a battalion now - or a brigade. It does not matter. They will fall all the same."
Reine pauses. She turns towards Zeta and asks, "Are you sure that she is among them? That shy, timid girl who always hid behind Moona-simpai and clung onto her?"
"You mean, the traitor? Ollie Kureiji?" Zeta asks with a sly smirk.
Reine nods.
"But of course." Zeta's smile grows twisted, "She tried to communicate with me on the radio. She thought I was the conductor of the Pavolia Raya. Foolish girl."
"You frighten me, Zeta." Reine shudders. She then looks out to the captured encampment once more, "But the lengths that Ollie and the Elysians are willing to go to kill me frighten me even more."
"We will have our revenge, your highness. They sought to break your crown - but instead, we will break theirs!" Zeta kneels down before the Empress and speaks proudly, "By your grace, dear Empress, I shall destroy the Hakos Brigade and serve up their heads upon silver platters. My 101st Tank Division stands ready. Just give me the word."
Reine falls silent. She clenches her fist and then draws her ceremonial saber.
Reine rests the flat of her blade on Zeta's shoulder and makes her declaration.
"Grand Marshall Zeta Vestia, Baroness of Banda Laut Abu, as Empress of Pavolia, I command you to purge the Elysians from our lands. The Elysian Armed Forces are at your disposal. Show them no mercy."
"As you will, your highness." Zeta accepts her orders. She then raises her head and looks Reine in the eye to ask, "But what about the traitor?"
Reine's gaze grows sharp.
"She's already made her choice. Kill her too."
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TEMPEST
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