A/N: Look who's back, everyone!
Emergency operations room, Jin Hark
"Prime Minister Maus, how's the army gathering?" asked Patagene as he wears his armour.
"Yes. I've gathered every man who can fight and gave them weapons, General Patagene. This also includes mages who are capable of summoning magical fireballs," said Maus.
Then, someone burst all of sudden into the room. It was Yamirei, and he looks injured.
"Good Lord! Yamirei! What happened!?!" asked Patagene as he helped the old mage to stand up after he collapsed in front of the door of the room.
"General... the FPDA's siege engines... they've caused nothing but stampede among not just our soldiers but also the citizens as well..." said Yamirei, panting.
Patagene listened to Yamirei's words with nothing but shock and fear. Never before in the history of the Louria Kingdom's warfare, where small numbers of siege engines could breach into the capital and cause a stampede. At that very moment, he heard explosions coming from outside. Patagene decided to take a look and can't believe his own eyes.
It's true what Yamirei said. The Challenger 2 tanks had done their job very well. They deployed their bulldozer blades to push Lourian infantry by ramming them with tremendous speed if not using their coaxial machine guns. Some of the tanks also fired L34A2 White Phosphorus rounds toward them, causing them to suffer from unbearable burns while being shrouded in white smoke with a garlic-like odour. The British infantries deployed from their respective vehicles easily deal with any Lourian soldiers that were trying to fight them. A mage cast a magical fireball and blasted it towards a tank, only for it to be neutralized by the tank's Iron Fist APS.
Some British soldiers even had to deal with the Lourian citizens who were throwing anything they could in their hands from rotten tomatoes to stone - they were easily scared away when the Warriors IFV opened a warning shot in the air while some soldiers tossed smoke grenades. Above the skies were nothing but merely Apache choppers mowing down the Lourian soldiers with its M230 chain gun.
"No... No... NO!!!" said Patagene in despair.
He looked at one of the helicopters that were hovering nearby and suddenly, he was filled with rage and anger. He went back into the room and found a bow and an arrow. He took the two and went outside to find the best spot for him to shoot the helicopter. Once he found one, he fixed himself in and aimed for the Apache.
"Die you FPDA swine!" yelled Patagene before he released the arrow out of the bow. The projectile, however, harmlessly knock onto the chopper's cockpit before it fell off to the ground. The arrow was noticed by the crew, where they also caught the glimpse of General Patagene standing at his place with a bow in his hand.
The helicopter positioned itself into an attacking position where the WSO aimed the 30 mm chain gun towards him and opened fire.
In just a few seconds, the body of the Lourian general was pulverised together with the wall behind him as the 30 mm shells shredded him like a meat grinder.
Hark Castle
Above the sky of the city, a dozen of helicopters approached the Royal Castle comprises of Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin II, AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat, Bell 212 and Airbus 135 'Juno'. These vehicles were carrying the members of the 22 SAS. Inside the castle, the knights stand guard around to defend the 34th King Hark Louria from the British Army. Yet, while they are on guard duty, they heard strange noises from the sky.
"Hey, you hear that?"
"It's coming from outside!"
"Outlandish! Could the FPDA have breached the castle's ground!?!"
As the aerial vehicles descended, the AW159s' doors slid open as the soldiers inside it opened fire their pintle-mounted FN MAG machine guns towards the guarding knights, where the sound of gunfire resounded throughout the castle.
When all the Lourian knights were finished off, the ropes immediately descended from the helicopter, and the Special Air Service forces immediately descended to capture the 34th King Hark Louria. Among the troops that came down was Seargent Fiona Harrison.
"Let them know that who dares win!" Fiona exclaimed with a glare as she loaded her L128A1 shotgun.
Despite being a woman, Fiona is known by many members of the 22 SAS for her short temper and can get easily angered when someone gets on her nerves, gaining the moniker 'Angel with a Shotgun' due to her speciality in handling a shotgun. Despite so, she still has her soft side, especially when she's with her husband or her family.
Right after the SAS broke into the castle, all hell let loose. The special troops on today's pacification smoothly engaged the knights with their L119A1 Carbine, HK G3, HK G36, L128A1 shotgun, and L123A2 grenade launcher. Not forget to mention that they also got three sharpshooters equipped with L29A1 DMR to take down any hidden hostiles. Gunshots could be heard throughout the palace halls, at this time, the SAS troops were inside the castle, checking various rooms and shooting anyone who tried to hinder their mission.
"Bloody... so much hindrance!" a SAS member grumbled as he reloaded his C8 Carbine.
"Keep moving! Keep moving!" said another soldier.
"Status?" asked 1st Lieutenant Harold Scottsman, the person in charge, as he loaded his HK G3.
"Sir, according to intel, upon opening the doors at the heart of the audience hall, lying in wait was a massive hallway at the end of which was the king's antechamber," said a Sergeant.
"Alright, how's the situation right now?" asked him, again.
"Sir, reporting! Levels 1, 2, and 3 are clear. All hostiles zeroed in," said a Corporal.
"That's good... Anything else before we rolled in?" said Harold.
"Sir, you need to see this..." a soldier called for him.
Harold later went after the soldier that led him to the third chamber, where they show to him a secret door that was hidden among the walls.
"What we have here?" asked Harold.
"Sir, Private James discovered this secret door by accident," said the soldier.
"By accident?" asked Harold.
"Mmhmm... he misstepped, fall and pressed a brick that later activated this hidden door," said he as he shows the brick that triggered the door.
Harold took a look into what was behind the door and in front of his eyes was nothing but stairs that could lead to a secret chamber while the walls surrounding it were enlightened with torches.
"This castle just got more than what I thought..." muttered Harold.
"Sir, do we need to send a team to investigate?" asked the soldier.
"Yeah... I guess we should... assign Sgt. Harrison and others explore this secret passage. There might be other hostiles inside there," said Harold.
With that, several soldiers under the command of Sgt. Fiona Harrison was tasked to go through the secret passage. They activated their Head Mounted Night Vision System (HMNVS) in the case of a sudden ambush by the enemy forces that put the lights out suddenly.
With everything set, the special forces advanced to reach their mission objective with the rest following Fiona. So far, the Lourian soldiers which had appeared up to that point didn't pose much of a threat and they were able to readily clear them.
They deemed the possibility of fighting two or three mages but never saw one. Maybe they didn't have the space needed or that magic was banned on castle grounds. They soon went up the steps leading towards the royal hall that was lightened by several torches.
"Halt! Hold your fire! Hold your fire! There are 2 unarmed residents here! Repeat, hold your fire!" yelled Harold in reaction to two figures; castle maids apparently that were just in their way, only for them to shift into confusion.
"They're... castle maids?" asked a soldier.
Right in front of their muzzles were two castle maids shaking in fear. Their faces were painted with sorrowful expression, and tears formed in their eyes. Harold at first considered them as non-hostile, but he wasn't taking any possibilities. He ordered the two to throw their weapons away if they have, to which they responded by shooking their heads.
"Sir, they're unarmed," said a SAS soldier behind him.
"Okay... Corporal, I need you to..." before Harold could order his subordinate, slow clapping was heard from the distance, and a figure emerged from the shadows.
The figure was a man, wearing noble armour and wavy long hair with a cut on the left cheek. This person was none other than Rand himself.
"Who's that one, ugly, bloody, (**********)?" a SAS soldier muttered.
"Well, well, well... So, the one that stood in front of me was none other than the mighty FPDA forces... Perhaps it's rude if I don't make known of myself beforehand... My name is Rand, the commander of the royal guards. I should've known you were that kind of people when you went straight for us," said Rand as he walks behind the two maids, placing his hands on both of their shoulders.
"Sir, I would like to release the two and surrender yourself," said Harold with an authoritative tone as he aimed his L85A3 rifle towards him.
"Oh... what a threatening look you have... You have criticized the conduct of our country's war against Qua-Toyne and Quila... You haven't bothered to face and annihilate the other troops defending the cities on the way to the capital," said Rand before his left reached a small knife in his pouch and aimed it towards one of the maids.
Rand's provocative action had caused the rest of the SAS soldiers to raise their weapons and aimed towards him to finish him for good while hoping not to harm the two castle maids.
"P-Please... Please don't kill us..." One of the maids cried out.
"The FPDA has the right to criticize your kingdom's declaration of war on our trade partners... And your kingdom has no right to commit genocide on them!" yelled Harold.
"Soldiers of the FPDA... why would you support some Demi-human country such as Qua-Toyne when you can join forces with us!?!" Rand yelled back at Harold. This time, he brought the knife even closer to the neck of one of the maids, which caused the circumstances to get even tenser. Harold and Rand had their eyes locked on each other.
"You son of a b*tch!" a female voice shouted from behind the group.
When Rand turned around, he saw a female SAS soldier rush up towards him and smacked him right in the jaw using her fist, causing the Lourian's strongest magic swordsman to three feet back from the castle maids. Rand stands up back, trying to fight the female soldier with his small knife but she delivered another blow right in the chest, causing him to be pushed back to the place where he falls.
The castle maids, as well as the SAS soldiers, were taken aback by the sudden event. It turned out that the one that punched Rand was Sgt. Fiona Harisson herself.
"Sergeant, how did you get here?" asked her comrade, who also shared the same rank with her.
"Long story," said Fiona before she noticed the two castle maids staring at her with awe, causing her to chuckle a little bit.
"You two girls fine?" asked Fiona as she massaged her wrist, which the two maids nodded as they were too astonished by the strength and courage possessed by Fiona.
"Seargent, care to explain the situation?" asked Harold.
Fiona later reached her H4855 Personnel Role Radio (PPR) and talked through the receiver, "</Alright, boys. Show 'em what you've got\>,"
Then, one by one of the hidden doors that served as the wall of the royal hall. Poured out of them were the rest SAS members under the command of Sgt Fiona herself. Together with them were the surrendered knights that had their handcuffed. While Harold and Rand had a standoff, Fiona and her team finished the knights of the Zeroth Corps that were hidden inside of the secret chambers that lead to the royal hall, lessening its strength from 100 knights to merely 16.
"No... No! The Zeroth Corps! They're defeated! This is impossible!" said Rand in disbelief.
"Impossible, you say?" asked Fiona before she snapped her finger. Then, a SAS operator pushed a handcuffed soldier towards Rand. Much to his surprise, the combatant in restraint was Calcio, the captain and commander of the 3rd Calvary Battalion of the Louria Kingdom!
"C-C-Calcio... how?" asked Rand.
"I'm sorry, Rand. They're much more steadfast than us..." said Calcio, in a defeated tone.
"Nice job, Sergeant. Nice job to all of you as well. I should get all of ya a case of beer," praised Harold.
"You know that I don't drink, Lieutenant," said Fiona, frowning.
As the SAS operators chatted, Rand was filled with despair and anger. Never before in his life, he has been humiliated by a mere female soldier. Gathering his strength, he stands up and yelled towards Fiona. His dignity has been tarnished by the female soldier, and he wants to restore it by challenging her in a one-on-one knockout match. While the rest SAS operators aimed their weapons towards him, Fiona, however, accepted his challenge.
"Roger that!" said Fiona, giving off a sadistic smile towards Rand.
She puts her L128A1 shotgun on the floor and took off her Mk. 3 Osprey Body Armour and tighten her Coyote Tactical Hard Knuckle Glove and be ready for a fight.
"Bring it on, creep!" said Fiona as she slowly approached Rand with both of her hands forming knuckles.
"Sergeant, step back!" a SAS soldier called for her, but he was halted by Harold.
"Let it, lads. She knows what to do," said Harold.
Rand smirked when saw Fiona approaching him without wearing any single armour or sword but only wearing her Combat Dress.
"So... you ready to fight?" said Rand.
Rand later clenched his fist and took a swing at Fiona, but the well-trained SAS soldier dodged the attack and came with an uppercut right to his jaw, knocking off his lower fang. Rand falls on his back Fiona jumps on him and began to smash the sods out of him with both of her fists. Rand's face becomes swollen, bloodied and bruised from Fiona's strike.
"Please... stop... that's... enough..." said Rand, muffled in pain.
In response, Fiona gave off one big punch and gets off him, where the rest SAS operators forced Rand to stand up while they handcuffed him. The castle maids were horrified to see the brute force that Fiona had shown to Rand. Perhaps this would be a once-in-a-lifetime moment where they witnessed a woman fight against a man like a beast.
"Who dares... win..." said Fiona, panting.
"Nice punch you got there, mate," said a SAS operator.
"Tch... Cut it out, Cole," said Fiona as she wore back Mk. 3 Osprey Body Armour and grabbed her L128A1 shotgun.
After securing the custodies, the SAS operators were ready to breach the door of the throne room. One was ready to hit the sludge hammer in his hand while the rest stands side by side at the large door.
Throne Room
The 34th King Hark Louria sat on his throne, clenching his head in despair. He had spent over 6 years building up support and accepting humiliating demands to feign obedience, but he was finally able to assemble and train a polished, unyielding army capable of uniting the entire continent of Rodenius. He invested nearly all of Louria's controls and national power, putting his country in deficit for decades, to develop this legion. To deal with any possible outliers, he raised the power of his military to unthinkable heights - should they have trampled over everything.
But then, appeared the nations of the Five Power Defence Arrangements with their nonsensical combat power entered the war and came out nearly unaffected. At first, they had sent messengers, offering to make diplomatic ties. He should have treated them more politely and researched their country more. He had lost most of his army. His naval fleet similarly, what was left of it took an air strike as it laid anchor at night and shifted to ashes along with the entire port. His kingdom suffered destructive casualties, but he couldn't even confirm a single death on the side of the FPDA.
He should have been more careful from the start. But, regardless of how devastated he felt, he had no time for remorse. The enemy had already come here. They were in the skies of the capital, their devices buzzing around like gnats in his face. His dragons were already all dead. There was nothing else he could do...
WHAM!
The door of the throne room was open ajar after it was opened using the sledgehammer. The 22 SAS poured into the chamber room and aimed their weapons towards the 34th King Hark Louria. The Lourian king scrutinized the green clothing with a speckled pattern poured into his throne chamber. None of the SAS members were wearing steel armour, but seeing the 'steel staves' pointed towards him made the king realized that there was no more use of fighting anymore.
"The ringleader of the Gim's massacre, the 34th King Hark Louria! On behalf of the Qua-Toyne Principality, you are under arrest!" said Harold before two soldiers handcuffed the Lourian king's hand.
Hark Louria was led away together with Rand, Calcio and the remaining Zeroth Corps. The Prisoners Of War was loaded into the helicopters used by the 22 SAS earlier before the choppers took off, heading for HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08).
"</This is Achile, we have secured the targets! Over and Out!\>," said Harold though the receiver of the PPR.
Thus, the Rodenius War Arc ends with the capture of the 34th King Hark Louria.