- West Intersection, Senivce Fortress -
As Sutton's rifle bayonet and Tyndhaios' sword are clashing at the same time. Everyone is shocked; on Tyndhaios' side, they can't believe that the other-worlder soldiers are also good at swordsmanship; while on Sutton's side, they can't believe that a combination of rifle and bayonet is strong enough to hold against a giant sword.
It's not strange for Sutton to know melee and hand-to-hand combat as he learns martial arts like the LINE Combat System, Kyokushin Karate, and Kali Arnis. Especially for Kali Arnis, Sutton learns it from his fellow Filipino special forces colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Ravena of the Marine Special Operations Group of the Philippine Marine Corps.
Tyndhaios quickly stepped back and swung his sword from left to right, shaping 180 degrees, then made a vertical attack. Luckily, Sutton is also quick at dodging it and rolling back.
While kneeling, Sutton analyses Tyndhaios' strength and technique by judging how he swings the sword and what kind of attack he does. As he expected, Tyndhaios' skills are very formidable compared to the other Imperial soldiers. No shit he thought as Tyndhaios himself is one of the leaders of the Inpavidus, the special forces equivalent of the Empire to the Earth special forces.
But what makes Tyndhaios different from any other swordsmen throughout the history of Earth is that his technique is very similar to the fictional character that Sutton saw such as Mace Windu from Star Wars or Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. Knowing that he couldn't always use his rifle and bayonet, he chose to use a dirty way: using CQC martial arts.
When Tyndhaios uses another one of his moves, now swinging his swords vertically, Sutton dodges it and then starts to hold the enemy commander's hand. While holding the enemy commander's hand with his left hand, he punches the enemy commander on vital points such as his chest and stomach.
Tyndhaios doesn't expect Sutton to use his punch, but judging by how he quickly switches from his weapon to his fists, he thinks Sutton's weapon is not very durable against swords. Because of that, he understands his actions and considers them as not dishonourable.
Even though Tyndhaios understands and allows Sutton to not use his weapon. He couldn't believe that Sutton could deliver a decisive blow against his body. He even thinks that Sutton has learned some moves from the Southeastern Oriental Territory such as the Qingdao Dynasty, Hoercheon Dynasty, Tasikputra Empire, or Watabuchi Shogunate; as his moves are the same technique that was used by the elite warriors of Southeastern Oriental Territory countries, but he remembers that Sutton is from other-world.
In Tyndhaios' mind, he realizes that there could be another Southeastern Oriental Territory in Sutton's world.
Without Tyndhaios realising, Sutton's already relaunched a decisive blow on his body by using a low kick technique. This made his fibula area bruised and cannot move freely.
"Such an enormous power and...excellent technique!" Tyndhaios said as he still analysed Sutton's movement while clenching his fist, "This person is different than any warrior I met..."
That's when Tyndhaios feels 'small' in front of Sutton as he looks at him like he is an unbreakable wall. He even thinks that even if he uses his sword, he is still no match for him.
"He is on a different level...even though I will not win this fight. No, I can not give up right now, my men trust me..." Tyndhaios said. He quickly runs towards Sutton and tries to copy his low kick technique.
But since Tyndhaios has a low movement, Sutton can easily dodge his attack and now hits his neck using his knifehand strike technique.
All of Tyndhaios' men are shocked, seeing how Sutton could easily hit Tyndhaios. Although they have seen him get beaten up in previous fights, they never see that their commander couldn't land a single strike on the enemy.
"P-Praetor..." Mukzius said as he watch his commander beaten up repeatedly. He desperately wants to help him out. But, he couldn't disobey his commander's order which made him feel powerless.
After landing so many strikes on Tyndhaios, Sutton successfully drains the whole energy from Tyndhaios's body. Then, he grabs Tyndhaios' neck to lower it, pushes his stomach with his right hand like he is lifting a cardboard box full of bricks with one hand and then strikes him down[1].
Tyndhaios' vision becomes blurry when he lies on the ground, he could faintly hear Sutton tells him to get up.
"~Get up...I know you won't give up this quickly.~" Sutton said while using body language by moving his hand as a sign to get up.
Tyndhaios slowly rise up and back to his fighting stance like before. He tries to push his body limit as he begins to run towards Sutton, ignoring the pain from his bruised legs.
Both of them have brute strength, but Sutton has two capabilities besides his power, which are experience and knowledge.
As usual, when Tyndhaios try to hit Sutton's temple bone with his right-hand fist, Sutton easily dodges his attack and then launches an uppercut hit. Once again, he falls to the ground.
His uppercut may not be as powerful as Mike Tyson, but it still can make Tyndhaios dizzy and step backwards.
"Too bad I didn't bring popcorn in this fight..." Sergeant Austin said. She then gets bumped by Sergeant Ortiz for not telling that kind of joke at this time.
"If only that beastman joins the fight, I would gladly help Colonel." Major Abdurakhmanov said. He feels disappointed that he didn't get a chance to fight one of the elite units of the Empire Army.
Back at the scene, Sutton glanced at Tyndhaios, now lying on the ground again. He wished the enemy commander to surrender, but it was not as easy as it seemed, for the enemy commander got back to his feet and clenched his fists.
"I admire your spirit, Praetor..." Sutton said, calling Tyndhaios rank.
Tyndhaios begin to attack Sutton without any calculations and swing his fists to wherever Sutton's position is. But this time, he drained all of his energy by turning it so fast.
Finally, Tyndhaios could hit Sutton's body part. Unfortunately, even though he hits him, his fist lands on Sutton's arm which he uses to block the attack.
"...but, this will end, now."
Sutton tightly grabs Tyndhaios' shoulder with his two hands. His right knee quickly hit Tyndhaios' stomach so hard that makes him begin to inflate his cheeks to prevent the pain. Then, he gives Tyndhaios another 'semi-uppercut' with his left arm and swings his right leg to give another low kick.
As a finishing, he uses his roundhouse kick technique with his right leg again. It hits Tyndhaios' head and makes him fall to the ground.
One of Sutton's subordinates, Private First Class Escribano, is shocked as he knows the technique that his commander uses to defeat Tyndhaios.
"It's...it's the Shun Ren Dan technique that was used by Jin in Tekken!" Escribano said as he remember the same move of the famous combos in Tekken. Since that video game is one of his favourite video games.
Everyone is shocked when they look at how Sutton knocked out Tyndhaios. Mukzius alongside everyone who was on Tyndhaios' unit thought the same thing, they thought that Sutton is a former Southeastern Oriental warrior. That move is used by the famous Southeastern Oriental warrior and commander who hails from Watabuchi Shogunate, Sensei Tokikuni Yamakako.
According to the gossip, Yamakako is a feared and respectable person in the Empire. Even some of the top Empire generals are admiring his leadership and combat, this is what makes Watabuchi Shogunate win the war against Empire and gained respect from them, which is why they still keep their partnership.
After Sutton takes his weapons from the ground and puts them on the holsters that were attached to his combat gear, Tyndhaios somehow back up on his feet again.
But, when Sutton looks back at Tyndhaios, he kneels in front of him and says:
"You win, a warrior from Other-Worlder. I accept my defeat." Tyndhaios said while looking at Sutton face-to-face, "Do whatever you want with me, but please, don't kill my men."
Sutton approaches Tyndhaios, "Who said I'm going to kill you?" then, he offers him his hand to stand up, "Get up. We still have one thing to settle."
"We?"
"Yeah, I need you to tell the commander of this fortress to give up this place to us." Sutton helps Tyndhaios to stand up by putting up his arm on his shoulder, "Actually we can't do this alone. I will bring two of my men, you should too." he looks at where his unit were stand still, "Hudson! Ortiz! Follow us!"
Following what Sutton does, Tyndhaios call some of his men to follow him too, "Mukzius, Natliatlin. Come with us."
Hudson, Ortiz, Mukzius, and Natliatlin are behind Sutton and Tyndhaios. They start to walk and head to the war room where the Imperial Army commander must be.
While walking to the commander's room, Mukzius asked Hudson about Sutton's behaviour, "Hey, Other-Worlder. Does your commander always act like this?"
Hudson looks back at Mukzius, "Not much. He once becomes like this too during operation in Myanmar."
"What is Myanmar?" Mukzius asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," Hudson replied as it was not the perfect time to tell the Geography of Earth.
War Room, Senivce Fortress
Inside the War Room, General Rinaparre Gracicus alongside his fellow commanders from Imperial Army; Legatus Spurisus Gelapus, Legatus Tullus Decrio, and Centurion Frozio Donanti; and a special guest from Arpilae Army, Minry Cadwgawn Beycells.
Beycells was sent to this place under the command of Arpilae Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Derec Cobham. His mission is to rescue the missing member of one of the family members of the Alberich family, one of the nine powerful royal families in Arpilae.
While for Gracicus, he's planning to retake the Town of Italica after one of his scouts reported that only around 60 enemy soldiers were occupying the town. For him, now it's a good time to raid them, he did not want to wait much longer as he tried to take the city before the enemy could call their reinforcement.
"General Gracicus. My legion is ready and waiting for your order." Gelapus said.
"Good to hear that, Legatus Gelapus. Now, onto my plan. I'm aware that the enemy has captured some of the villages near Italica. So, Legatus Galapus, I want you to capture these five villages. These villages would be good for our outposts. Then, I want Legatus Decrio and Centurion Donanti to move forward to Italica and flank them from each side. Do I make myself clear?"
"Clear, General."
"Good, let's prepare everything tonight and end those filthy other-worlders once and for all."
As Gelapus, Decrio, and Donanti are talking at each other. Beycells approach Gracicus.
"General Gracicus. Do you think Viscountess Sariota is held there? Shouldn't we find her quickly and then do this mission?" Beycells asked.
"Do you think Viscountess Sariota is held in there? Shouldn't we find her quickly and then do this mission?"
"Minry Beycells...I know your concern about Viscountess Sariota. But now, it is a win-win situation if we attack Italica. Because once we take prisoner some of the enemy soldiers, they could tell us the location of her whereabouts. There's a possibility that the other-worlders take her."
"But what if she didn't?"
"Well, after we attack Italica. I promise to scramble some of my men to search for her in every inch of Alnuska Province."
"I hope you fulfil that promise, General."
Then, they heard a knocking sound. Gracicus think that it could be his servant bringing the meals for him and the guests.
"Can you open the door for me?" Gracicus asked one of the guards.
"Yes, General."
Before the guard's hand reach the door handler, Sutton immediately kicks the door and makes it hit the guard.
"Cisiz (Hello) gentlemen," Sutton said while he carry Tyndhaios. Then; both Hudson and Ortiz aimed their rifle towards the enemy commanders.
"T-Tyndhaios? You lost to this man?" Gracicus said as he couldn't believe what he just sees. One of the competent commanders of Inpavidus Knight has been defeated.
"Who are you? You don't look like those bastards from Skyrim or Zalmyrr..." Beycells asked.
"Who am I? I am one of the soldiers who slaughters your people in Alnus Hill." Sutton replied.
All of those commanders are shocked. They did not expect the other-worlders to move quickly into this area.
Without thinking twice, Decrio approaches Sutton while holding his dagger.
"You bastard! I will avenge my brothers!"
Before even Decrio reaches Sutton, Hudson kills him with five shots into the Legatus' chest. All of them are shocked as Decrio is dead on the spot and they do not even let him say his last words.
Well, his last words are when he threatens Sutton. But that is not the last words they expected. They expect Decrio's last words would be about how he dying slowly and begin to say that he loves his family and how proud he is to serve the Empire.
"If you all do not want to die, then follow my orders."
"Why should we follow your orders, other-worlders? Do you think you win the war? We still..."
Before Gracicus finished his words, Sutton quickly interrupts him.
"Let me guess, you still have around one to three million soldiers in each province, you still outnumbered us...and you still have so many wyverns out there that you can deploy...blah blah blah..." Sutton said, then he 'snapped', "You have lost about a hundred thousand soldiers just in one month and you still think you can win the war? By my calculations, we could defeat you just in three years and it ain't a long time."
Gracicus and his colleagues were shocked. Never in their life, they've seen a very confident enemy that dares to challenge the Empire.
"General...please...we can't win against these people..." Tyndhaios said.
"Hear that? You should listen to one of the leaders of your Empire elite units." Sutton added.
"~~Golf One, this is Ridgeback One. We have captured all enemies who were in underground the fortress. We have lined up all of them in the courtyard.~~" Major Bassett reported to Sutton. He is the leader of the Rhodesian unit in the 6th Platoon
"I see. It's perfect timing too." Sutton said while looking at Gracicus.
"Who were you speaking to?" Gracicus is confused as he looks at Sutton talking to himself while holding a black mini-box thing.
"Oh, I have a surprise for you, General. Would you please look outside the window?" Sutton said to him as he wants Gracicus to look at his gift to the enemy General.
When Gracicus see what happened in the courtyard, he is shocked as he sees that all of his men are laying down their weapons and surrendering themselves to the other-worlders.
"If you going to mention your men on the east side of the fortress. They all have been eliminated by my men." Sutton informed Gracicus.
"W-what? Why? And how?" Gracicus become confused.
"Well...it's because some of my men can't resist seeing their people getting raped by your soldiers...and guess what? I allowed them to slaughter your men." Sutton said as he makes sure Gracicus that he is not playing around. After he said 'slaughter your men', he pull out his M45A1 from his holster and aimed it at Gracicus.
Gracicus was shocked when Sutton aimed his weapon at him. At this point, he knows that he must make a quick choice right now. He doesn't want to die, but he also does not want to disappoint the Empire.
Reading the facial expressions of Gracicus, Sutton knows what kind of words he needs to use to persuade the enemy General to be on his side.
"General Gracicus. Work for us, and I'll guarantee you and your family safety in our country." Sutton said as he now put his M45A1 on his holster and stretch his hand to Gracicus.
Gracicus now has a dilemma, would he choose to betray the Empire for his family's safety? Even though he has pledged loyalty to the Empire since he was a low-ranking soldier? But he does not want to get executed by the Empire too. All of the choices and the outcomes are spinning around his mind.
"Just tell me where your family lives. We will pick them up and bring them to you. But not right now." Sutton persuaded Gracicus more and more.
The reason why Sutton is trying to spare top Imperial commanders as much as he can is that he has been tasked by Lieutenant General Washington to recruit many local experts as they can so the ITFA will become more flexible and know more about the enemy's tactics, politics, economy, and territory. Yesterday, some of the captured officers of the Imperial Army from the First Battle of Alnus Hill such as Legatus Phaedria Cyprias, Equities Lysandros Abercius, and Centurion Gulihmus Capinna; alongside an officer from Arpilae Army, Milenary Pesahsu Blakbart; decided to defect to ITFA side in exchange for protection and immunity.
Sutton hopes that Gracicus will cooperate with him. Since an Imperial general defected to the ITFA side rather than some Imperial commanders would cause a massive setback to the Empire.
Then, the moment that Sutton has been waiting for is finally happening.
"My wife and my two children are in that city. Can your men bring them to me?" Gracicus tells Sutton that his family is in Zartosth City, the exact city the ITFA had targeted.
"General...!" Legatus Gelapus and Legatus Decrio were shocked at the General decision to defect from the Empire.
"Once your people bring my family back to me, I will help you and your people," Gracicus added.
Gelapus, Decrio, Donanti, and Beycells can't believe what they just hear. General Gracicus has decided to defect to the other-worlder's side. As Sutton thought, they feel that this could create another major setback to the Empire Army structure because they has lost two competent generals just in six months and one of them has been killed during their invasion of Earth.
"You have chosen the right choice, General," Sutton said.
Then, when Sutton looks at the symbol that was attached to Beycells's chest, he quickly recognized that Beycells is an officer from the Arpilae Army.
"You."
"What?" Beycells replied.
"Don't tell me that you are in here to rescue Sariota," Sutton said to the point.
"W-what? H-how do you know?" Beycells immediately unleash his sword and points it at Sutton, "WHERE IS SHE, YOU FILTH!"
Hudson and Ortiz reflexively pointed their rifle at Beycells, but Sutton quickly give them a sign to put their weapon down.
"We have her in our base, if you want to rescue her, then you need to obey my orders. Right fucking now." Sutton said, "Don't do anything stupid or my men will gun you down like a dog."
"You think I will let you order me like a slave? No-"
Before Beycells could finish his words, Mukzius quickly hit him in the head and made him unconscious as he is irritated by his ramblings.
"He's all yours, other-worlders," Mukzius said.
Gelapus, Decrio, and Donanti could only stand still and can't do anything as they see that Gracicus alongside Tyndhaios and his men has allied with the other-worlders.
"Golf Three, Golf Four, this is Golf One. Need some more assistance in here, over." Sutton asked Gunnery Sergeant Nieves and Gunnery Sergeant Cochran to come over and help him escort the prisoners.
"~~Roger that, Golf One.~~" Nieves replied.
After that, Sutton looks back at Gracicus again.
"Before we go, I'd like to know the location of your family house in that city."
6 km (3.72 miles) from Zartosth City...
As they wait for the ITFA Special Forces Group to accomplish their infiltration in the Senivce Fort, the coalition troops try to kill time by having conversations and getting to know each other.
There are about 4,000 soldiers who were sent into this battle. But, it was reduced to 3,510 soldiers as each thirty of them were tasked to protect eleven villages that were close to Zartosth City, while the other was tasked to protect two cities, which is around eighty soldiers per city.
The names of the captured villages in the order in which they were captured are Camburo, Maogakata, Bahatakie, Komsoskaye, Bisceilos, Kawamcuso, Kalalkargos, Petasok, Pineborough, Duskpass, and Gelesdovo. While the name of the captured towns is Bleakwood and Krasmansk. The ITFA just took all of those places in under two hours after their departure at 7 P.M (1900 hours).
The same thing happened to the units that were sent to the Skaondoir Fortress and Kamieup Fortress. In conclusion, in just a few hours, the total of settlements that ITFA has captured is about 34 villages and 7 towns.
The units that secure the eastern front of Alnuska where the Skaondoir Fortress located is under the command of Colonel Fred Paialii from the 25th Infantry Division of the United States Army, while the commander for the western front of Alnuska is Colonel (Oberst) Felix Ferziger from 10. Panzerdivision of German Army.
Interestingly, in this mission, the First and Third Recon Platoon also participated as they have been seen as formidable units after some successful missions during their operation in the Special Region.
Back on Earth, some military analysts who have monitored the war since the beginning are complaining about the ITFA's decision to send a whole battalion just to capture one medieval city and fight against a medieval army, but some others are approving the ITFA's decision as they can't just send a platoon to capture the city and the fort at the same time.
ITFA's high command main plan now is to capture the whole Alnuska Province to make the enemy forces far away from the gate itself and as a sign to the Empire that they can't be underestimated. Not to mention, since Alnuska Province itself is bordered by four vassal states, ITFA hoped that this would be a major problem for the Empire itself as this will be a sign that the vassal states will rebel from the Empire and be allied with the other-worlders.
"So, it's true that your people can do 'poosh-ap' without using a hand?" Bhukzog asked Kessikbayev as he remember hearing some of the American soldiers complaining that they couldn't do a push-up without a hand like their Russian colleagues.
"Of course, it is as important as riding a bicycle for us," Kessikbayev replied confidently.
"Can you show us how you doing it?" Bhukzog asked as he is curious about that rumour.
"Sure thing."
Kessikbayev placed his both hands on the ground, all of his fingers touching the dirt a little deep for a firmer grip on his body. Then, he lowers his body and extends his legs to form a straight line.
"Kalashnikov, Bale, can you help me by doing this thing together?" Kessikbayev asked.
Both Kalashnikov and Bale sigh upon hearing Kessikbayev's request, but they are not feel annoyed by his request as they know that to show them that it is true, they need more people to perform it. Then, both of them also lower their body to align with Kessikbayev's position. After that, they start to do their push-up.
At first, three of them do a regular push-up ten times. Bhukzog does not feel amazed, but he is impressed that even though the other-worlders have a powerful weapon, they keep their soldiers in a fit condition, and what makes him more impressed is that the other-worlders have so many exercise techniques from simple to complex way.
For the next step, three of them begin only to use one hand to do the push-up. This makes Bhukzog shocked as they can do that easily like it's nothing.
In the final, three of them put both of their hands on their back and keep doing the push-ups ten times. All of the Third Recon Platoons are amazed when they see that except for the Russian soldiers who just nodded after seeing it. After seeing that, Bhukzog finally believed that all of these Russian soldiers could do that type of push-up.
On the other side of the parked convoy, Tikhomirov is hanging out with the Polish commander, Second Lieutenant (Podporucznik): Sebastian Dawidowicz and the Japanese commander of the First Recon Platoon, Captain Miyaguchi.
"I just received a report from one of my colleagues who were sent to do an offensive attack on the Northeast and East side of Alnuska Province. He said that they almost reach Italica now." Tikhomirov said.
The colleague he refers to is Major (Mайор/Mayor) Denis Gavrikov, he is an officer in the same army formation as Tikhomirov, but he is coming from a different unit, which is the 60th Motor Rifle Brigade.
"My god...that quick?" Dawidowicz reacted.
"Yeah. Not to mention, they were lucky that we captured Italica before this mission. So the only thing they need to do now is regroup with them[2] and report to the high command." Tikhomirov said, "But that doesn't mean the northeastern front is easy to capture. There is a town near the Gulf of Alnalia called Mag Borai, which is used by the Empire as one of their naval port, The reports said that the joint element units of the 29th Infantry Division of the U.S Army alongside the 60th Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Ground Forces and the 8th Maneuver Division of Republic of Korea Army encountered problems while fighting there, but fortunately, the battle is finished in an hour after they capture the Empire Navy Captain and kill the mage who is supposed to be the guardian that was hired by the Empire."
"I'm lucky that Rory and Leyley..." Dawidowicz pronounced Lelei wrong.
"It's Lelei." Tikhomirov corrected.
"Right, Lelei, yeah I'm lucky that they were on our convoy right now. I mean without them, it would be very hard to fight against those mages." Dawidowicz said, "I can tolerate fighting against terrorists or some kind of criminal organization group like mafia or whatever it is, but this? Fighting magicians like in video games? I'm not going to lie but I won't stand a chance, I can dodge all of their spell projection but I know that I have limits to dodge all of those."
"Just like an energy champion against mana champions, eh?" Tikhomirov chuckled as he respond to Dawidowicz's words.
"Pretty close to that." Dawidowicz chuckled too as he heard that, "You always play those MOBA games like League of Legends or DotA 2, eh?"
"A long time ago, I stopped playing those games after I enter the military. Now I only focused on first-person shooter games. I don't know why I suddenly stop, maybe the only reasonable reason for that is because I have lost interest."
"Well, do you want to play League of Legends again after this mission? We can play casual if you want." Dawidowicz invites him to play the game again to relieve their stress after this mission.
"I'll think about it, but thanks for the invite."
Then, a static sound from Tikhomirov's walkie-talkie can be heard by him, "~~Zoloto One, this is Golf One, can you hear me, copy?~~"
"This is Zoloto One to Golf One, I can hear you clearly, copy." Tikhomirov replied.
"~~Senivce Fortress has been secured, tell Colonel Samuel Garcia that they have clearance to attack the city, over.~~" Sutton continued, "~~and, oh. I have a request for you.~~"
"What is your request, Golf One?"
"~~I want you and your team to rescue the General's family in that city. Our captive in here said that his family live in a house near the Earl's castle.~~"
"Earl?" Tikhomirov confused.
"~~It's one of the nobility rank, lower than Viscount but higher than Baron~~" Sutton simply explained the noble hierarchy.
"I see. Roger that, Golf One, over." Tikhomirov put the walkie-talkie after finished talking, "You guys better prepared, Senivce Fortress has been secured, I will tell the Colonel."
"Affirmative, Kapitan." Dawidowicz saluted at him, alongside Miyaguchi too, and then they leave Tikhomirov and headed to their unit place to inform them that the mission will begin in a few minutes.
Tikhomirov walks towards the direction of JLTV in front of the convoy where Colonel Garcia is.
Colonel Samuel Garcia is appointed by the ITFA high command as the commander for the northern Alnuska front, he is a veteran of the Afghanistan war just like almost every American soldier in this place. He is relocated from the 25th Infantry Division to the 2nd Infantry Division last year, thus making him become the commander of this front.
"Colonel Garcia."
"What is it, Captain Tikhomirov?" Colonel Garcia replied while smoking a cigarette.
"We have a clearance to attack the city, now. Senivce Fortress has been taken by the special forces."
"Affirmative. Thank you for telling me, Captain." Colonel Garcia drops his cigarette and trampled it slowly, "Alright, everyone, we have clearance to attack the city, we're Oscar Mike!"
Right after hearing that, all the soldiers in this place begin to pack their things and enter their vehicles.
"What does Oscar Mike mean?" Lelei asked Tikhomirov.
"Ah, in our world military, it means we are on the move," Tikhomirov replied.
"Wow, for such simple words, you people still can turn them into complicated words." Rory reacted to the meaning behind 'Oscar Mike'.
"It was the Americans who invented those kind of words. The reason why they change the real meaning of the command words into something complex is to make the enemy confused." Tikhomirov said.
Lelei quickly concludes, "Now I see why your people are always winning the battle, Tikhomirov. Each soldier in your world always makes some secret code so the enemy wouldn't know of your next movement."
"Atta' girl." Campbell praised Lelei while entering the MaxxPro.
Zartosth, Alnuska Province, Falmart, Special Region
2330 hours
In front of Garcia's JLTV, a Chinese ZLS-92B begin to adjust its ZPT-99 30mm autocannon in the enemy direction.
"少校, 我们遇到了二十名敌军士兵 (Shàoxiào, wǒmen yù dàole èrshí míng dí jūn shìbīng/Major, we encountered twenty enemy soldiers)." Corporal (下士/Xia shi) Ou Weikeng reported. The distance between ZLS-92 and the enemy soldiers is about 500 meters (or 0.3 miles) away.
"你确定那里没有平民吗 (Nǐquèdìng nàlǐméiyǒu píngmín ma?/Are there any civilians there?)" Major (少校/Shàoxiào) Han Yuqi asked.
"是否定的, 少校 (Shì fǒudìng de, Shàoxiào/Negative, Major)." Weikeng replied.
"准备参加 (Zhǔnbèi cānjiā/Prepare to engage)." Yuqi said.
"~~All units, this is Alfa Quebec-1. Split up into three directions and ambush the enemy without any hesitation, over!~~" Garcia orders all units to split up.
The American, British, and French units begin to move to the west side of the city; the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian units keep moving from the south side of the city alongside the recon platoons; and the Russian, Polish, and Serbian unit split into the east direction of the city.
As an opening, Weikeng successfully shoots the enemy soldiers with its autocannon, followed by the ZTZ-99 firing at the tower guard with ZPT-98 smoothbore gun.
Seeing that the shots from the autocannon would make the city alerted, the infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers from each unit starts to speed up their movement.
"~~Watch out for civvies, everyone.~~" Garcia said through the intercom.
Tikhomirov's Tigr is now leading in the front together with Yuqi's ZSL-92 and Miyaguchi's Mega Cruiser. As they reach the city entrance, they begin to park their vehicles near a building so they wouldn't interrupt the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese tanks entering the city.
"Alright, everyone. Let's move." Tikhomirov ordered everyone inside the Tigr to get out.
"I'll lust for some battle today..." Bhukzog said while drooling. Then, he opens the back door of Tigr and gets out.
"Emroy need new souls tonight..." Rory said while drooling too.
"Where do you want me to, Captain?" Lelei asked as he wants to get in the action, followed by Arpeggio who looks at Tikhomirov.
"I want you to follow me." Tikhomirov replied, "We will go to the centre of the city to rescue the General's family. I want you and your sister to make sure that there is no enemy mage in this city, okay?"
"Okay." Lelei replied.
"Good, Batsarashkina and Kudashov will provide you two a cover." Tikhomirov said to Lelei and Arpeggio. Then he gets out from the Tigr, "Rory, Bhukzog, Rhaunza; don't get too excited, remember our mission in here!"
"I know, boss." Rory replied with her face smirking at Tikhomirov. Then, when she looks at the marching Imperial soldiers heading in their direction, she begins to run towards them and begin to slice them with her halberd.
"R-Rory Mercury?!" said one of the Imperial soldiers before his life was taken away.
"W-why would Rory side up with the Other-Worlders?" said one of the Imperial soldiers again before its life was taken away.
"Hey, look at me, filthy Imperialist!" Bhukzog said loudly with a happy tone while chopping the Empire soldier heads with his battle axe.
As Rory, Bhukzog, and Rhaunza massacre the Imperial soldiers. The IFV and APC of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indonesian units begin to unload the soldiers. Just a few seconds after those soldiers out of the vehicle, they begin to shoot the Imperial soldiers near them.
Unfortunately, because of their ambush attack, some of the civilians are 'blending in' with the Imperial soldiers since they were panicked that their city are being attacked. But on the other hand, some of the civilians who were trying to run away from the ITFA soldiers are entering any building that was near them, this made the ITFA soldiers a little relieved.
But when one of the civilians can't enter the building and begin to put themselves on the ground and tremble in fear, the ITFA soldiers quickly evacuate them to a safe place. This behaviour makes them confused as they had never seen the enemy evacuate them from the battlefield.
Earl Reykdavin's Castle, Zartosth, Alnuska Province, Falmart, Special Region.
Earl Beris Rekydavin is the son of the late Earl Areri Reykdavin. He has now become the ruler of this city right after the death of his father. His father died when he participated in the Empire's invasion of Earth.
Since that, he swore revenge on the Other-Worlders for killing his father and humiliating the Empire.
To make his vengeance plan successful, Earl Reykdavin meets his best friend, Marquis Valos Prodhenou, ruler of Oeneze City which is located near the border between Alnuska Province and Aguacchia Province. In that meeting, he asks him for providing him with a thousand soldiers for his legion. Wanting to help his friend, he successfully recruited around 4,000 new soldiers to be dispatched to Zartosth City to serve under Earl Reykdavin's command. Consist of 2,000 knights with shields, 1,000 archers, 500 cavalrymen, 455 heavy infantry knights, and 5 mages.
After acquiring so many new soldiers, he asked General Gracicus to lend him some of his best Legatus to train his soldiers and prepare an attack against Other-Worlders.
Unfortunately, Earl Reykdavin's vengeance plan will never happen.
Earl Reykdavin woke up right after he heard the explosion sound that came out from the Chinese ZTZ-99, then followed by one of his guards that were knocking on his bedroom door loudly. He quickly reaches the door and opens it.
"What is going on in here? What happened to my city?" Earl Reykdavin asked.
"My Lord! The Other-Worlders are attacking us right now!" replied his guard.
This made Earl Reykdavin shocked. The enemy has reached his city already? Wasn't the distance between his city and Alnus Hill about 35 leagues?
Earl Rekydavin realizes that if the Other-Worlders have reached his city, this means that the whole Alnuska Province has been occupied by them. In a few seconds, he begins to panic as he still can't comprehend the situation he just faces now. He wonders what happened to Count Formal and Earl Clora Sanderhan, could they have been killed by these Other-Worlders? Yes, they must've been killed by them.
Fueled by the thought of their death, Earl Rekydavin order his soldier to tell the head town guard, Rotulf Gergot, to do an ambush attack from any direction against the Other-Worlders.
"Just you all wait, Other-Worlders. I will kill every one of you, I will show you the might of the Empire citizen against an invader like you!" Earl Rekydavin said while he put up his clothes and battle suit.
Before he can even wear his combat boots, suddenly his room is blasted by the 105x617mm shell from M68A2 105 mm cannon that was used by M1128 Stryker of the 2nd Infantry Division.
Because of the explosion impact, he is thrown right into the door and felt unconscious for a while.
Earl Reykdavin vaguely hear the sound of UH-60 above his castle, then followed by a shooting and a person ordering something that was most likely an order for his colleagues.
Above the castle...
"Thank god our Blackhawk is equipped with some rocket armament." Specialist Dave Scott said after he looked at the corpse of a mage.
Before the Blackhawks were unloading the troops on the castle, one of the pilots, Captain Tim Handley, noticed the presence of a mage. The pilot quickly shoots the mage after he saw the mage start to raise its hand, which is a sign to perform a spell. He successfully kills the mage alongside two other castle guards.
"Listen up, everyone. Our objective here is to capture the ruler of this city, I heard this guy is pretty stone-headed, so if he keeps refusing to surrender to us and begins to attack us, you all have clearance to shoot him." Major Frank Spearman said.
"SIR, YES, SIR!" replied all of Major Spearman's subordinates.
Major Spearman leads all of his men to enter the castle, inside the castle, he orders his men to check all of the corners as he is aware that the enemy would ambush them behind these doors.
"~~The 2nd Squad will handle the first floor.~~" Colonel Garcia said on radio.
"Affirmative, Colonel." Major Spearman replied.
As they reach the corridors, they see about twenty archers heading to the rooftop of the castle. Major Spearman orders four of his men to eliminate them.
The Imperial archers stood no chance against the American gunners as they were hit by the M4 carbines without even being able to draw a single arrow at the Americans.
"Check those rooms. We might find something valuable." Major Spearman ordered.
Specialist Scott and Corporal Dave Acosta open the first door they encounter on the third floor. Inside the room, they find a pre-teenage boy alongside a female slave.
"Kid, get away from the prisoner." Specialist Scott said as he looks the boy is holding some kind of handkerchief which seems he will use for the slave.
"Wait, hold on! I have done nothing wrong with her!" said the boy while raising his hands up.
"We understand, kid. Please, stay away from the prisoner."
"No! She has always been good to me! Just because my father always abused her doesn't mean she hates me! Take me if you want!" the boy said loudly as he didn't want his slave to get hurt by the Americans.
"A...Are you an...American soldier?" said the slave, "I...I am...an American! I...I am a student...from the...S-Saint Cornelius!"
Major Spearman alongside his unit is shocked. After six months, they finally found at least one American prisoner in this world.
The boy is also shocked, he now realizes that these soldiers are from the United States, a country that is constantly told by his family's slave. He always heard the stories about the United States from his 'slave', about their wonder, military power, society, etc. Not to mention, his slave also told him about what kind of other countries besides the United States is on Earth.
Realizing that his father is fighting against the wrong people, the boy chooses to persuade his father that they came into this world not to enslave everyone and the death of his grandfather is because the Empire didn't do any scouting or recon when the gate opened.
But sadly, it is not working. After the boy said that to Earl Reykdavin, his father, he became very angry and slapped his son's face, reminding him that it was the Earth country's fault for not submitting to the Empire. To make it worse, he confronts the American slave and begins to rape her while choking or slapping her face as a punishment for brainwashing his children.
"A-are you the Americans that my slave always talked about?" the boy asked.
"First, she is not a slave, kid; and two, yes, we are the Americans." Specialist Scott replied.
"C-can you take me with you?" the boy asked again.
"What? Sorry kid, we can't just take you without any reason. Better yet, you should've stayed in here." Specialist Scott said as he do not want to take the boy and asked him to not be involved too much in this.
"No, wait! Listen! I know where my father hides the other Other-Worlder's slave!"
Right after the boy said that they became interested. Major Spearman asked the boy about the whereabouts of those slaves.
"Follow me! They are in the basement of this castle!"
Plaza, Zartosth City, Alnuska Province, Falmart Region, Special Region
"Looks like this is the place." Tikhomirov said, looking at a medieval house made of terracotta.
In this section of the city, all of the buildings are made of terracotta bricks instead of stone like the buildings that were in the outskirts of the city. These terracotta buildings are also close to the Earl's castle.
"Hello! Are you the wife of General Gracicus?" Tikhomirov knocked on the door slowly.
No answer.
"Hello! Anyone inside?" Tikhomirov asked again.
Behind the door, Gracicus' wife and daughter hug each other tightly, Gracicus' wife let her back face the entrance door so that if the enemy attacks them, at least her body will slow their movement and give her daughter time to run.
"Plan B..." Tikhomirov sighed. He then shoots at the door handler's area to make the door lock and its handler break so he can easily kick it.
Tikhomirov's squad swiftly raid the house and finds out that Gracicus' wife and daughter are trying to hide in the corner of the dining room.
"Please! Please don't kill us! Have mercy!" Gracicus' wife pleads loudly.
"We are not here to kill you. Listen, are you the wife of General Gracicus?" Tikhomirov asked in a quick tone, indicating that he wanted her to answer the question right away.
"Y-yes, I am his wife!" Gracicus' wife said.
"Good. Your husband is waiting for you, follow us, please." Tikhomirov said.
"M-my husband is with you all?" Gracicus' wife asked.
"Yes. We don't have much time, madame. We need to leave this place, right now." Tikhomirov stated again at her to move quickly, "Batsarashkina, Kudashov, Kalashnikov; cover her."
Then, Tikhomirov's squad exits the house and alerts his fellow Third Recon Platoon personnel to move out as they got the target. Now the mission for the 3rd Recon Platoon is to escort the General's wife into safety.
"Golf One, this is Zoloto One. We have secured the target, over." Tikhomirov reported to Sutton.
As the 3rd Recon Platoon personnel walked back to their vehicles, they could see some of the Korean K1 tank tanks try to enter the plaza slowly alongside the Chinese ZTZ-99. Behind those tanks, the armoured vehicles and the infantry fighting vehicles of the Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Indonesian units followed the tanks from behind while being escorted by the soldiers.
Before they could reach their vehicle; Lelei and Arpeggio suddenly stopped and Arpeggio quickly unleashed her magic shield spell.
Just as they expected, there was a mage who tried to attack the convoy from the top of those terracotta buildings.
"감사합니다...(Gamsahabnida.../Thank you...)" said the Korean tanker at both Lelei and Arpeggio.
"Sister! Now!" Arpeggio shouted, giving a signal to Lelei.
Lelei use her telekinesis ability by lifting some of the stones that were used for the road in the city. She then moves her staff to make the point of her staff directing to the enemy mage.
Some of the stones successfully hit the enemy mage and the mage quickly fell down from the building and landed in the alley.
"I can't believe it! The Other-Worlders have those Rondel mages on their army!" the mage said. She regains her consciousness and returns to the battle.
When she got out of the alley, her right leg quickly got hit by the 7.62x51mm NATO bullet that come out from the M60 machine gun of the K1A1 tank, which injures her and makes her fall to the ground again.
To make the enemy mage didn't stand up again, Lelei unleashed her new spell that did not come from her master, Cato, but instead, her new spell was from the books that Other-Worlders give to the natives in this world.
The books that Lelei read is providing information and knowledge about gravity laws, a fundamental interaction between all things that have mass, found by a man named Isaac Newton.
"W-what are you doing?" the enemy mage feels that her body is becoming heavier and more attracted to the ground.
Seeing what Lelei did to the enemy mage, the Korean tank reported to all units present that this was Lelei's signal for the ITFA personnel to capture the enemy mage. Hearing the information, the Japanese commander unit, Lieutenant Colonel (Nitō rikusa, 2等陸佐) Shinnosuke Miyatake, immediately ordered his men to follow him and proceeded to capture the enemy mage before Lelei used up all of her mana.
"いくぞ！(Ikuzo!/Let's go!)" Lieutenant Colonel Miyatake said.
Lieutenant Colonel Miyatake alongside his men slowly approaches the mage and begins to apprehend her by putting some bag on her head that is always used by the terrorists to take a hostage. He also ordered his men to hold her hand tightly so she couldn't summon more spells.
"You all bastards! Let me go!" said the mage as she tried to resist.
As the mage has a voluptuous body and huge breasts, one of the Japanese soldiers can't resist looking at her breasts as it jiggle around when he alongside the other Japanese soldier grabs her and takes her to the APC.
Not wanting to miss this view, Kurata quickly films her with his camera.
"See that, Captain? Do you see that?" Kurata said after he saw the captured mage pass him.
"I know, Kurata. But please, let's focus on the mission okay?" Itami answered with a sigh. For the first time, Itami felt more focused on the mission rather than playing around. Even though this world is actually a place he dreams of visiting.
"Oh, come on, Captain!"
"Geez, even though Captain is an otaku, he is really off the limits..." Kuribayashi said in her mind when he saw what Furuta did.
When Tikhomirov successfully escorted the target to safety. He begins to give a new order to Kudashov.
"Kudashov, I want you to bring the General's wife and his daughter back to the Senivce Fortress. Once you are done, come back here again, okay?" Tikhomirov said.
"Affirmative, Kapitan." Kudashov saluted.
Before getting into the driver's seat, Kudashov put the safety belt on Gracicus' wife and daughter just in case their vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the trip which would make the passenger hit the front seat.
"Сначана ремень (Snachana remen'/Belt first)." Kudashov said while applying the belt to Gracicus' wife and Gracicus' daughter.
"Alright, one objective has been completed. Now the next one..." Tikhomirov said, returning to the battle.
The south, the west, and the east sides of the city have been surrounded by the ITFA forces; leaving no gap for both the Town Guards and Imperial soldiers to escape from the city. At the same time, the north side of the city is being swarmed by the Italian Apaches and American Blackhawks. A report from one of the Italian pilots said that before they flew to the north side of the town, they had successfully neutralized about a thousand enemy soldiers from the east side of the city after they detected a suspicious movement from there. This means that the unit led by the Legatus Gelapus has all gone.
Even though they manage to escort the civilians into a safe place, unfortunately, collateral damage still happens as the flying debris from the Earl's castle caused by the Chinese projectile hits some of the civilians who try to run away from the battlefield.
West side of Zartosth...
"~~Saddler Grizzly[3]. This is Fresco Sierra! We are in the Earl's castle and found our captured citizens here!" Major Spearman said via radio.
"Fresco Sierra, this is Saddler Grizzly! How many are them?! Copy!" Colonel Garcia asked.
"~~About twenty-three people. Fifteen of them are our people and the remaining of them are six Japanese and two Russians! Over!~~" Major Spearman replied.
"Roger that, Fresco Sierra[4]. You have the clearance to extract them to the Alnus MOB, now! Over!" Colonel Garcia replied, "Our boys have rescued our people in that castle. We should have no trouble reaching the centre of the city now!" he continued, "Check those corners, soldiers!"
Right after Garcia said that all of the American soldiers began to check the surrounding buildings, just in case the Imperial soldiers did a surprise attack.
"Remember, we couldn't check all of each house in this fricking big city. Just keep forward and watch your surroundings!"
Trivial Info:
1. (YouTube Video Title: Metal Gear Solid 5 Phantom Pain All CQC Animation by Dops Gaming, YouTube Video Time: 4:02-4:10)
2. Siege of Italica, Chapters 6-8
3. Colonel Samuel Garcia's codename is a combination of the NATO reporting name of the Soviet R-16 missile and 9K37 Buk-M1-2
4. Major Frank Spearman's codename is a combination of the NATO reporting name of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 and the NATO phonetic alphabet of S.
Huge thanks to Mandalorian the Survivor for giving me more ideas!