08:30 HOURS.

  TUESDAY, 07 NOIEMBRIE 1441.

  THE FRONTIER, YONDEL.

  SHORAD DEFENSES IS SOMETHING THAT WAS PRAYED FOR.

  “Bound to the wall! Enemy plane, high!” Oliver shouted as the roar of what appeared to be machinegun fire echoed in a distant quadrant within the settlement.

  Two explosions kicked up a large pillar of dirt, and embers were spread around the impact zone. “Hurry up! Hurry up! Get out of the kill-zone!” Andrew roared as he saw several members of the Volunteer Corps running for cover.

  “Simon, you’re covering them, light suppression! Jacob, get Mike and the princess inside that building!” Oliver directed. “We’ll meet back up when the rest are here!”

  With the princess withdrawing a small dagger in place of the rifle she once had, she used her left side to help Mike off a nearby wall. Jacob moved across the street towards the building Oliver pointed out, and with the help of Randall, who had switched to his handgun, the two set up a cross-pie to look within the building. “Breach.” With that word said by Sergeant Randall, Jacob kicked the door opened and moved away from the door as the three looked inside. With their immediate corners clear, the Private First Class took point as he moved in with a shaky finger over the trigger of his rifle. What they entered looked to be a long-abandoned tavern. Scattered wooden cups, bowls, and trays littered the room with a light layer of dust. It was almost as if time had been frozen when the inhabitants left. It was a cold feeling. Sweeping the rest of the building, the gunshots that came from the unknown plane both echoed throughout the settlement and Lecca’s mind. She kept her questions, and her feelings to herself. The reaction the sergeant gave to the unknown aircraft stunned her. It was almost as if he recognized the craft. Her belief in the story of the “Holy Knights” cracked, and a part of her lost faith in the story. She bit her tongue and sharpened her eyes as she corrected herself; after all she was one of the summoners. The line of thought made her want to pound her head against the nearest wall.

  “Hey man what are we doing here?” Jacob said as he moved near the window, his carbine never lowering as he stood two feet from the glass. “This part of the world is fucked up. Another world? Magic? Fucking monsters and a Demon Lord…” He sighed.

  Neither Lecca nor Mike responded. The princess wanted to find a way to comfort the young soldier, but she had now words as the silence kept her mind distracted from the outside world. Though explosions and gunfire rang out through the streets, she curled up into a small ball on the floor, her hands covering her ears, and her eyes now remained clamped closed as she tried to make sense of everything. Calling out from the door they entered through; Andrew slammed the door open as another wave of bullets slammed into a nearby building where a small number of the Corps members attempted to hide. Along with the rest of the squadron, Mr. Que and three other Corps members, including the guild attendant, stepped inside and took cover within the tavern.

  Lecca held her over her ears as she heard the muffled voice of Jacob. “What the hell were those two dead guys, huh? It looked like something out of Wolfenstein, like some World War One German Storm Trooper shit.”

  “Private.” Oliver said sternly making the young man quiet.

  “Apologies…captain…” He said meekly.

  Oliver shook his head as he folded his hands over the rifle sitting in his lap. He watched as the young man took a seat next to Mike and Lecca, his sharpened eyes, and broad appearance was momentarily highlighted in the low amount of light that shed through the semi-destroyed window shutters.

  With the tavern they hid in shaking due to the sudden impact of a large explosion not far away, Lecca remained curled up and her body shook. “Hey…” A soft voice came from beside her, the same comforting that she had known the entire time, even before the special reconnaissance mission. Opening her eyes to a light pressure that had appeared on her right shoulder, she looked to the corner of her peripherals, and there, Mike sat with his helmet and visor still on; he gazed at her with a worried and fear-filled expression. Her light-brown eyes flashed back to her knees that were tucked against her chest. With hesitation, she slowly removed her hands from her ears. Mike removed his hand as the young woman beside him turned towards him, snaking her arms below her knees, her dirtied-ruined, long white skirt shuffled loosely as she sat in a position of comfort.

  She breathed in with shaky, uncontrollable breaths. Lecca did not know why, but tears began to form in her eyes, she was beginning to lose control of herself. “I-I’ve killed people before…” She said in a breaking voice. The men around the room all looked at her. “W-why am I like this!? I don’t, I don’t-I’ve killed h-people…”

  “The hell?” Richard said with wide eyes.

  Crawling on his knees, Mike closed the gap and grasped Lecca by the shoulders. She had a faraway gaze, and her face was a deathly white. Sighing, he took her into his embrace and hugged her loosely as he brushed aside the weapon strapped over his chest. “She has shellshock.” He admitted firmly. “This will take a minute.” He said rubbing the silver-hair of the woman in his arms. He let out a violent cough as he set himself against the wall attempting to nurse his broken ribs.

  “Anyone hear the plane?” Andrew suddenly said as he gazed out one of the semi-covered windows. Silence enveloped the room, only the sounds of Lecca’s crying was heard as the men move towards the exterior of the building.

  “No. I don’t hear shit.” Anthony exclaimed moving away from the window he stood at. “You think it bugged out?”

  “Only one way to find out.” Malkovich said as he approached the door. Before he could place his hands on the wooden door, Captain Oliver grabbed him by his vest and slammed him against the wall.

  “Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” He said fiercely.

  “Sir, we’re not going to figure anything out if we stay hidden here.”

  “So, you just want to get killed, sergeant?”

  Simon cut over his captain’s tirade looking outside the window. “Sir we’ve got Volunteer Corps members running around. I think it’s over.”

  Letting go of Sergeant Malkovich, the captain showed his empty hands to the man before letting them fall to his carbine. He shared a brief glance at the two on the floor and through it all he could only wish that some weird magical portal would open to allow himself and his men to get back to Earth. Mr. Que and his men stood silently behind the Rangers; each had a look of confusion. “Air gets me nervous,” he seemed disappointed in himself, “Sergeant…”

  “Sir,” Malkovich fixed his collar before facing the door again.

  “Standby—” Oliver pointed at the door, “Simon with me.”

  With the captain and PFC exiting the building, Mike still cradled the princess in his arms as her breaths calmed. Removing his arms from around her chest, Lecca attempted to remain in his grasp, yet she was not fast enough as the sergeant stood tall amongst the men in the room moving to the window holding his rifle in the high-ready. She remained on the floor staring at her blood-crusted hands.

  “AO is clear. Rally outside.”

  “No enemy air?” Anthony looked away from the window never daring to lower his rifle, “That thing just tore up those men out there. I don’t want to get caught in that.”

  Doubling back, Mike reached out his hand as he used his weight and strength to help Lecca from the ground. “You still have my pistol?” A calm nod was all he needed as he took the lead having all the Rangers follow him outside. The settlement was well beyond in a state in collapse, the place they stood was once the invisible fortress line for the frontier. Brave men and women stood up to the plate, many being owned by the Volunteer Corps, took to the battlefield in daring raids against criminal and unknown hostile elements. Each group answered to a member of the Royal Guard, yet the kingdom was unable to provide any extra manpower. This was a never-ending conflict between the people and the monsters beyond. The destruction of this settlement could’ve very well spelled the close of the war.

  “Fast thinking getting your men to safety,” Mr. Que struggled to walked through the mud and ruined buildings; he slammed his cane in front of him giving a stable platform for him to move on. “These lands have been at war for the longest time. The state of war has changed, and the Demon Lord has made numerous strikes against this, and the seven other settlements that are scattered throughout the Frontier.”

  “Yeah—well—that’s why we’re here.” Oliver had a chip on his shoulder. This was the second ambush.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The princess remained silent as she remained alongside Mike.

  Two tents were hastily set up under the cover of the wall. The surviving thirty-six members of the Corps stood tending their wounds or finding something to settle their churning stomachs. For them it was a miracle that they survived the onslaught of the unknown aircraft that had long passed. Mr. Que waisted no extra breaths as he dispatched two runners to inform Falkner of what had transpired here. Stripping themselves of nothing but their blades and a canteen of water; as they set to depart, raised a burnt and tattered flag from a pile of corpses. Securing it to a sooden pole in the center of the settlement, the hope of humanity was raised as the colors flew high in the growing blue sky.

  Lecca stood at the forefront of the group, her dirtied-silver hair fluttering in the wind. From the open northern gates, she looked beyond the burnt fields. A small army of what looked to be one-thousand soldiers of an unknown army had made camp not far away, less than 400 meters.

  Her eyes began to sting; she withdrew her mana.

  “Ma’am?”

  Technical Sergeant Baker was the first to notice the far-gaze that the princess had. She rose her hand and pointed north, outside of the gates.

  Letting his rifle fall to the left as it was held by the single point sling, the CCT removed a pair of binoculars form his plate carrier. He popped the protective covers off and peered down the magnified view. Lecca watched as the man’s mouth shifted and he smacked his lips. “All stations be advised we have a battalion sized force 425 meters north of the gate, over.”

  In the agonizing silence, Baker quickly stowed his binoculars and walked over to Mike tapping the man on the chest, “I’m at least two days no sleep, and you’re telling me that this shit is going to be easier than a fucking high school debate?”

  “Hey, fuck off! I’m pretty sure Malkovich said that!” Mike coughed as he swatted way the man’s hand.

  “Yeah-yeah, either way this fucking social, ethical, tirade aint’ no different that some sorority girl getting banished to a sperm bank.”

  With the rest of the Rangers behind him, Oliver rallied the men near the northern gate with Knights Eugene, Marco, and Ann finally catching pace with the men. Pulling the CCT aside, the captain spoke to him quietly before looking over him and towards the distant fields. The captain cursed as he stormed over to the gate looking between Princess Lecca-Maradel and the deep fog that was growing over the wasteland beyond the walls.

  “Those are fucking transports of some sort out there,” Andrew felt his stomach drop, “Holy fucking shit.”

  “Captain, are we at war right now!?” Anthony looked at his squadron leader, “We can’t go through these guys!”

  Andrew announced, “Enemy units are preparing for an invasion with additional support coming up.”

  “We need to stall them here until reinforcements arrive.” Oliver calmly said.

  “Have you lost your fucking mind, sir!? Are we at war!?” Anthony’s patience was only held together by mere scotch tape.

  “You were fired upon?” Oliver argued.

  “Yeah—”

  “It doesn’t matter who the enemy is right now! This is the only thing stepping between you and death right now!”

  Anothony fell silent. Oliver lowered his head as Mr. Que and his men simply watched. “I’m tired, sir.” The corporal admitted as he opened the breech of his UGL loading one of the 7 High Explosive grenades he had left on his bandolier. Only when he closed the breech did the captain hesitantly respond.

  “I know, Demo—I know.”

  “—What the?”

  The Rangers all shifted their weight as Lieutenant Andrew remained frozen staring through his binoculars. The captain let out a short cough before walking next to his 2IC. Tapping his wrist-pad Oliver synced his visor. The man’s arms tensed as spotted red dots appeared on his field of fire indicator. “Lieutenant, what is this?” He cautiously asked.

  Andrew cleared his throat before lowering his binoculars, “Damn planes must have called for some sort of QRF to mop us up.”

  Oliver’s face morphed in disbelief as he looked between the lieutenant, Princess Lecca-Maradel, and Mr. Que. He shook his head as he jabbed a finger towards the open gate, “We need to get one up on those guys! Please tell me someone knows what artillery is and where we can get some.”

  Lecca looked at Mike who shrugged his shoulders, “Like trebuchets, but more explosive.”

  Mr. Que tapped his cane on a stone next to one of his men, “Well of course captain, we are your munitions.”

  “What?” Oliver did a double take, “Magic—right.”

  Anothny approached Mike and Malkovich as he spoke in a hushed voice, “I’m sorry, I can’t be the only one that is thinking this is unreasonable.”

  “Corporal?” Andrew asked.

  Malkovich looked at the captain, “Sir, the corporal’s right. We’re not equipped to take on a battalion, sir.”

  “So be it, we’ll fucking turn this place into Stalingrad before we give this up.” Oliver tilted his head up to the stairwell up the wall. “Chieftain—orders?”

  Narrowing her eyes and waving her right hand over them, a thin layer of mana self-applied giving her a magnified view of the mustering force. She couldn’t count how many men they would be facing, and if her numbers were correct, over 100 fighters were ready to challenge them in his abandoned settlement. Digging in wasn’t something she could feasibly advise on a tactical or strategic standpoint, but everything she had seen since their departure from Falkner was outside of the realm of possibility for her kingdom and the allied nations.

  “I need all available mages up on the wall, now!” Her sudden shouts attracted the attention of the Corps members that were tending to themselves in the scattered-makeshift tents. “If you can cast a spell more than three-hundred meters, get up there!”

  No one moved. Each one of them looked at her with suspicion. Then a fighter stood and walked up to the princess. “Who are you really?” He snarled, “You come to us with these men that obviously don’t belong here, then you go on a campaign with us Volunteers? Who are you!?”

  “Lecca-” Mike was cut off.

  “I am the First-Born Princess, Lecca-Maradel Emma Arish! Daughter of the displaced king!” She said placing her left hand over her heart. “Beside me is a Holy Knight, a Reclaimer!” She announced taking Mike’s hand and holding it into the air intertwined with her own, “He is one of the men that successfully took back the Crown Jewel after the raid on Bishmark!”

  Hushed whispers grew around the camp. Eventually the noise grew silent before breaking out into light cheers and choirs of agreement from most of the fighters.

  “If not for honor, for your home! This is the time for great men—this is the time for legends—join me in this first stand against the Demon Lord!”

  With more cheers the men began to slowly disperse and one-by-one the men pooled to the top of the wall surprising Mr. Que and the Reclaimers of their willingness to follow through on this plan that could’ve easily been chalked up as a suicide pact. Following up the rear, Mike was confronted by a smiling Oliver. He simply patted him on the shoulder as Lecca stepped once more to the forefront of the group of fighters now under her command.

  “Rangers! Move it out and keep them boxed in! Shit will get real when bullets start flying!” Oliver bellowed kicking his men into action as they set up kill zones around the gate below them.

  “Ma’am! Looking at about two-hundred soldiers gathering in the camp’s entrance!” Jacob called out as Mike set up his firing post next to him. The two were nestled in between the mossy stone bricks that made up the defensive perimeter with their rifles preposition to be aimed down-range into the void. The PFC seemed unsettled as he looked at his sergeant, “Are we really holding out like this again?”

  Mike shook his head, “Not if we can help it.”

  “Mike, sync to my visor! Get me a firing solution!” Andrew said over the radio.

  Playing by the map LT? Mike adjusted his sling, passing it over his left arm as he slowly raised himself from the wall. Providing a raised thumb to his friend, the sergeant placed himself next to Princess Lecca-Maradel who was with the magicians right of the Ranger’s positions. Inputting a set selection on his wrist-pad, the NCO gazed through a video feed that was playing from Technical Sergeant Baker’s helmet. It was dialed on the enemy forces; information from distance, wind direction, and enemy composition were labeled on the display. “Princess, recommend high explosive munitions. Range: 426 meters.”

  Steadily nodding to the man, the princess tied her silver hair into a ponytail, “Let us pray it will be enough, Mike.” Turning to her magicians she bellowed towards them in a voice befitting of a Chieftain, “Mages, cast! Account for wind direction and speed, gravity, and elevation!”

  Raising her own hands, she formed a small diamond as a sigil flowed from her hands and into the air. Purple lines of negative particles flowed through her arms and gathered at her finger tips.

  “Sergeant!”

  “Captain, standing by.” Mike said into his radio.

  “You have the trigger.”

  “Weapons free!” Mike announced.

  “Carry out the bombardment! Lecca shouted as she launched the first projectile from her hand.

  “Shot!” Mike boomed.

  In a matter of seconds, thirteen projectiles flew into the air and towards the unsuspecting enemies. Mr. Que watched in awe as the multi-colored projectiles representing the elemental that existed flew behind a set of clouds. Everyone alongside him anxiously waited for the rounds to impact at the enemy’s location. Five seconds turned to ten.

  “Splash!” Jacob called out.

  Were the large group of unknown soldiers once stood, thirteen fireballs grew within the group and the camp behind them. A large amount of dust followed, and lastly, after two seconds, the shockwave of the explosions reached the walls only giving off a loud thunderous noise.

  “Hell yeah!” Richard’s scream brought smiles to all the defenders.

  “Repeat fire! Adjust elevation,” Oliver called out as Lecca and the mages began casting another round.

  “Set!” Lecca shouted.

  “Open up!” With the second fire, Mike heaved in pain as he spoke into his radio, “Shot!”

  Ten more seconds.

  A thick cloud of black and brown smoke emerged from the ground within the camp. The fireball was so huge it marred the sky as splinters of fire erupted from the impact zone. In the shape of a mushroom the dust ascended into the blue sky, the loud roar of the explosion shook Lecca making her step back from the front of the group. Cheers came from the Corps members, yet Jacob and Mike watched as they tried to figure out what they just hit.

  “What the fuck!” Jacob hissed.

  “Was that an ammo dump? Armory perhaps?” Mike guessed.

  A secondary explosion kicked up another large mushroom cloud, the immediate blast shook the two as the shockwave travelled at indecipherable speeds. Three more pillars of smoke emerged from the strike zone; men covered in dust moved out of the camp alongside normal soldiers. The two watched as the secondary personnel ran away from the large cloud of smoke, dust, and embers.

  “Dear—Mother Juna…” Lecca lowered herself next to Mike on the wall. Her body shook from the amount of mana she had dispersed, and her face turned pale from the destruction that she and the other magicians had caused.

  She was an assassin, not a soldier. Causing chaos of this magnitude was something she had neither seen before, nor wanted to see.

  This was her duty. To protect the kingdom as a soldier…

  …and as the now renowned Silver Demon.

  Publicly Available Information: Short-Range and Long-Range Artillery:

  Artillery in the Kingdom of Yondel is new to the armed forces, yet it fills two important missions within the battlespace: Suppression of enemy fire and providing support for both static and maneuver warfare.

  Specially trained mages within the Kingdom’s army commonly work with magical devices to help aid in casting, yet it is still possible for even an untrained mage to concentrate and turn their magical powers into short and long-range fires support for friendly elements.