Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-DING-DING-DING
3 months later
"...Moving on, we have another major movement from the Southern Defensive District Command from the Forsvaret, as according to sources, armored vehicles has started to make their move as the Marine warships are also departing from the docks of Agevær..." - FCNN
"The 125th Kawagrzmotian Hussars has reportedly been seen in Agevær, this unit of Kawagrzmotian origin specializes in offensive operation, and we knew this in the Flash Wars and the Reunification Wars" - Silver Eagle 24/7
"This large movement of troops is unprecedented since the Reunification Wars, with the Forsvaret's forces being about the size of 2 divisions" - Dagens Begivenheder 24/7 Radio
"The Ministry of Defense didn't say anything, the soldiers refused to talk about the whole matter. We think that something is going on, and it's big" - Arrangementer Globale Agevær
Vastika, Havenklein, Commonwealth of Esterria, 4/7/1702
As the city of Vastika is still threatened by the EAS, that attempts to encircle the city. The Commonwealth forces were building up, with new equipments and men being transported into the region.
The rebel group doesn't know about the capability of the new weapons, but the coming Commonwealth offensive is sure to be more brutal than anyone could imagine, the only thing now is to wait for signal.
"Status report!" ordered Lieutenant Vincent van Kuik with a completely different attire. No longer did he wear his usual sky blue uniform, now he's adorning the dark green uniform and helmet of Flashia.
"Sir, the rebel forces had us surrounded to the West and South, but we now have men, 'howitzers' and APC's in large number" replied the soldier, who wears similar uniform as the lieutenant.
Vincent nodded in acknowledgement
"What about the Luftforsva or whatever they're called?"
"They are currently in process of taking off sir"
"And the musketeers?"
"They are at the walls right now, however they will be quickly replaced by ones in new equipment"
"Very well, you are dismissed"
"Thank you sir" as the soldier walks away towards the walls, to ready up for the offensive.
As to why musketeers are still being used in the frontline, this is to create an illusion that it's the same thing, a deception that would be broken when they least expect it.
The lieutenant looked at where the fightings are happening, with smoke rising from there and the sound of musket and cannons firing.
He takes out his hand clock from his shirt pocket and opens it, it's 3:17 in the morning. He then closes the clock and put it away, now he waits for the offensive to come.
...
Esterflaske Airbase, somewhere near Havenklein
The 127th Squadron of the Luftforsvar consisting of 8 second-generation Harriers have finished the mounting of weapons and refueling. The aircrafts then taxis to the runway, where they will take to the skies to conduct their mission.
Two-by-two, the Harriers waited in line until it was their turn, as the other pairs take off.
"Checking flaps and fins... okay checking if weapons are good... And then the VTOL nozzle, AI can you confirm that they're good to go?" said Hjertsson's wingman over the radio as they're first in line
"Can confirm, what about mine?"
"Yep, it's good too"
"All systems checked. ATC, this is AI, permission to take-off?"
"Permission granted, good hunting" replied the ATC
Soon enough, the Harriers would throttle up, as the aircraft starts moving. Eventually, with the help of the jet nozzles, the jets were up in the air in short distances, marking the start of their mission. This air wing is responsible for supporting the allied Esterrian forces in Vastika, while others support ones from other regions.
The 2 Harriers head West, to the coastal
city. Their arrival would mark the beginning of the Commonwealth counteroffensive as they're armed with FOX-2's* and some bombs.
...
Vastika
Lieutenant Vincent has now mounted up on the green APC of Flashia. The vehicle is full of supplies among other things strapped onto the sides, with the tricolor of Esterria on the front left of the hull.
He looks from an open top-back, where the front view of the vehicle are obscured by the gunner engulfed in shield. His vehicle are among one of the vehicles in the convoy, and is the first of the APC line. Vincent then leans right to get a better look as to what's there in front of the APC.
He sees the spearhead of the would-be assault. Intended as a reconnaissance tank, the vehicles were seen as useful for fire support by the Royal Esterrian Army thanks to its cannon, which like the Flash guns, are incredibly accurate in longer ranges.
He looks up beyond the walls, and the first things that the Esterrian lieutenant see are 3 wyverns of the rebel forces.
'Come on... where are they now?'
He gets anxious as the wyverns get closer, thinking of what would happen when these creatures shoot fireballs at them. And then it happened, there were resounding series of booms as the enemy wyverns fall out of the skies and then a distinctive roar can be heard across the skies.
His radio came to life: "This is the 127th Squadron at your service, you are clear to go over"
Soon enough the gates opened up, prompting the convoy to start moving as the vehicle starts up the engine.
The lieutenant closes the hatch of the troop compartments, as they will be doused in fire in the coming fights.
...
"What just happened?"
"They just shot down our wyverns! What are those things?"
The EAS forces were supposed to close in the attack with infantry and cavalry supported by wyverns. However, when all three wyverns were abruptly shot out of the skies by a pair of grey wyverns, the rebels quickly fell into disarray.
"Look, the gates are opening!" said a fighter who pointed at the gates.
There was a convoy of green carriages with some sort of weapons on it. They seem to be self-propelled instead of being dragged by horses.
"Imposssible! How did they get their hands on self-propelled carriages?!"
Self-propelled carriages are carriages that is powered by magic crystal. It is a La Ferdinan invention and is used by many other KUG member states. Of course, Esterria couldn't have them in the first place considering La Ferdina's hostility towards the commonwealth. And yet here they are today.
The leading Esterrian carriages turned the boxes on top and fired a cannon shot. Hitting one of the cannons position with explosion engulfing the cannon within a second. This shocked many of the rebel fighters, as the magic cannon wasn't supposed to be in range, it was a shot from really far away.
The explosion from behind then reached their ears, as they looked West. Smokes can be seen rising from what possibly is the wyvern airbase, leaving the contingents no chance to call in air support. To make matters worse, Commonwealth wyverns entered their views, beginning to launch fireballs at the rebel positions.
"What is happening?"
...
"Target destroyed!"
"Infantry in house 3-0-2!"
"Identified!"
"FIRE!"
The Scorpion once again fires its 76mm cannon, this time at a house containing enemy infantry, with High Explosive round.
"Target"
...Means the round found its mark, exploding upon contact to the wooden walls of the houses at ranges more than twice of that of the former magic cannons. Indeed the Scorpion, despite intended as a reconnaissance element, has proved to be extremely useful in supporting others and eliminating threats such as cannons as quick as possible.
The vehicle is also have been known to be very fast, so it's no wonder that the tanks were chosen to be the spearhead of the Commonwealth offensive.
"Switch to coax, fire at the house!"
The Scorpion then let loose rounds of the coaxial machine gun housed in the 'turret' in which the cannon is also located. This machine gun is actually a bit slower in fire rate than the other MG's the infantry were supplied with, but they nevertheless have the same effect.
Tracers periodically flies out the barrel and into the house, given the walls were wooden, the infantry inside are now probably dead, as tests shown that woods stood no chance against 7.62x51mm.
"Cease fire, keep going driver"
The Scorpion halt the firing of its coaxial machine gun and continue on their way, as they lead the Royal Esterrian Army to victory.
...
Pannerden, EAS-occupied territory
"Sir! Sir! We have urgent news from the frontlines" yelled out a messenger as he pants, after he rushed to the doors of the rebel leaders
"What is it this time young man?" said Keppelink, one of the leaders who is clearly not happy about the messenger barging into the room.
"Sir! The Commonwealth has launched an offensive! They're pushing us back at unimaginable speed!"
"Calm down boy, are you out of your mind?"
"No sir, they are already halfway from Vastika to Scharna and we already lost Limmenstein!"
"WHAT?!" said Goggen as he jumps up from his seat "How is this possible?"
Limmenstein is a city located at the Eastern part of the region that the rebels in Havenklein recently took before Esterria took it back and was considered a strategic city since it is the supply hub thanks to roads connecting the city with the coast to the North and rebels' territory to the West. The city was supposed to be heavily defended, however the Commonwealth forces somehow took it back in a very short time.
"Green carriages! They have green carriages that are very fast, can cast explosion magic and shoot out many bullets in a single second!"
Goggen sat down after listening to that fact and thought: 'Green carriages? Were those that we were talking about months ago?'
The General Commander of the EAS let out a sigh, thinking about that meeting about 3 months from now, it seems according to the messenger, the green carriages were a lot more advantageous than what they thought before.
"What have we got us in to?"
...
Somewhere outside the city of Scharna
The sound of multiple howitzers given by their Flash allies can be heard as the Royal Esterrian Army shells the city. They were originally very far away from the cities, however thanks to the Luftforsvar, as well as the Wyvern Corps support and the armored vehicles, they were able to gain ground quickly that not even the Commonwealth soldiers could not believe they were moving at such speed.
The shellings would gradually decrease and move a little further for a mechanized assault on the city.
"GO! GO! GO! GET OUT OF THE APC!"
Infantry starts to dismount from the APC from the opened hatch at the back, going left and right as they get their weapons up. Vincent is among these soldiers, readying up for battle by slapping down on the stock and unfold it before turning off the safety.
This weapon is called the MPM55, it is very much compact with more full-auto controllability while sacrificing range, a necessary one at that since they will be fighting in the streets and houses of Scharna.
"Push forward!" said Vincent as the lieutenant among other infantrymen make their way into the heart of the city, starting from the gate.
Following them is the green APC which will provide fire support with its machine gun. They went street to street, still finding no one so far, and it would be like this for a good while, but they are sure that the fight will come soon... and it certainly did.
"CONTACT!" yelled out one of the riflemen followed by the extremely loud gunshots from the battle rifles and machine guns.
The Commonwealth rifle squad and the APC in question were discharging their weapons at rebel musketeers in one of the houses. Not even 30 seconds in and most of them have fallen dead as the bullets punch through the house with accuracy and range only seen by that of fictions, not to mention the speed of the projectiles.
"Cease fire! Walter! Piet! Follow me!" said Lieutenant Vincent, prompting the squad to stop firing while he and 2 others rush to the house to clear out the remainders.
...
"By the gods... what were those weapons?"
The rebel fighters at Scharna expected this to be a battle like those of the past. They expect fighting at a close range with the muskets and firing salvos with multiple lines as the reload takes time. This is very different however, as they have found out the hard way by getting shellshocked by explosions happening.
And then the Commonwealth troops went in, who proceeded to saturate them with bullets at rate of fire and accuracy at range never seen before. To make matters worse, the bullets are not that of a normal musket as they managed to punch through the walls of the house.
"Dan? Elco? You there?" said the fighter as he barely gets up from the floor, still getting shocked by the Commonwealth's firepower.
No one answered him, guess they're also dead. He looks around him, seeing rows of dead body on a pool of blood, leaving only a few of the firing line alive. Even then, the survivors are clearly distressed, just like him, tightly holding their musket while trembling.
He checks his musket, it's still loaded, he did not manage to fire his weapon earlier as he ducked to cover out of reflex as soon as the enemy troops opened fire.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang combined with a muffled wooden crack of the door, they're now here in this house.
"Why am I even fighting this war?"
He joined the EAS to find glory for himself, as well as some slaves. However, as the Second Battle of Scharna kicked off, he got disillusioned by the loss of his friends and comrades. It's too late to turn back now, he's already a part of the rebels.
He moves to the doorway to his room and takes aim, waiting for someone to come by. He is still shaking from that mess of a firefight, but he insists on staying in this position sitting on a corner.
He then sees the barrel of a black musket, which is apparently short judging by the fact someone's left hand is seen holding what looks like the handguard of the weapon. He opens fire, and the one behind that doorway immediately jumps back to cover.
The fighter then runs back to the inner parts of the room where others are with their weapons raised. Halfway there however, a continous gunshots rang out the room, before he fell to the ground. He did not feel anything at first, but then he coughed out blood, it was clear he will not make it out of this war. He closes his eyes, accepting his fate that was decided by the time Esterria started their counteroffensive.
...
"One down!" said Piet after he gunned down a fighter who missed a shot at him and ran across the doorway.
Piet is one of the first frontline soldiers to receive the new equipment from Flashia. He has been fighting in Havenklein for 5 months from now, being familiar with the kinds of warfare that happened here. This time however, is very different from what he known and experienced.
Today, the Sergeant is sporting the same weapon as his Lieutenant, which he initially hates as he thought it's not very powerful judging by its size. Nevertheless, he then quickly fell in love with this weapon, seeing how revolutionary this weapon is to the Royal Army with all kinds of features and functions.
Piet feels a tap to his shoulder, he looks behind and sees Walter, armed with a very long RM58, signalling that he's ready to go in. The Sergeant and his partner check the corners at the doorway, before moving in, guns raised.
Both of the Esterrian soldiers find shocked rebel fighters, with their muskets on the ground as well as many corpses at the windows and one between them. Their hands are raised, meaning they have completely lost their will to fight and want to surrender themselves to the Commonwealth.
"On your foot right now!" said Piet, ordering the surrendering rebels to stand up.
The surrendering fighters stood up with their hands still raised, and the Commonwealth soldiers began to escort them out of the house.
"Get in line you bastards, you will spend a long time without seeing the light!"
As the new prisoners walked away, Vincent looked at Piet.
"Seriously Piet?"
"What? I thought we could use a bit of intimidation"
"A bit... yeah right, you're going to get disciplinary action after this"
"Aw..."
...
20 Wyverns soar through the skies, flapping their wings every now and then, as they make their way to the frontline, where Limmenstein is. The EAS Wyvern Divisions join the forces below as part of a counterattack on the Commonwealth forces after they took the city.
"Hey how many do you think you will kill today?" said one of the riders over the manacomm.
The other responded "I'm thinking 10 to 50 soldiers of the Commonwealth"
"Damn right you will, what is the situation again?"
"Limmenstein got taken so we launch a counterattack on the city. They came in green carriages with some kind of dark green uniform and black muskets"
"What about the grey wyverns?"
"From what I heard, they turned back to where they came from"
"Hahaha, they're scared?"
"Probably..."
The Wyvern riders continued making their way, until they see the buildings below them.
"I see it, we are finally here!"
"It's time to show these Commonwealth bastard what happens-"
Just before he finished his sentence, he got shot down in an explosions as projectiles cracks through and he falls to the ground. The other Wyvern riders, in confusion pulled off evasive maneuvers as they realized they are being targetted.
This is very different from what they have encountered. Fireballs are fast, but they're visible and thus easy to dodge at a large distance, those were clearly not fireballs. These unknown projectiles are even faster and there were many of them each seconds, leaving the wyverns little chance to avoid getting hit. Soon enough, 2,4 and then 8 wyverns have already been downed.
One of the riders, looked in horrors as the glorious wyverns of the EAS dropped to the ground with no chance at all, and he too is hit. As he and his stead falls to the ground, he prays to the gods that he survives this, but seeing the situation, it's highly unlikely he would be alive after this.
...
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG
The twin-barreled autocannon of the Royal Esterrian Army leaves behind the deafening sound as it sends 20mm into the skies above Limmenstein at 950 rounds per minute for each barrel.
The gun would in turn shakes the truck that it was mounted on. It was supposed to be towed and be on the ground, yet the Esterrians opted to mount it on the truck to give it more mobility as a sitting gun is likely to be targeted by the enemy.
"8 down, 12 more to go!" said the gunner as he continues to let loose 20mm at the rebel wyverns
"Can you at least fire in shorter burst? The truck's shaking and I wouldn't be surprised if it flips because of you" said the commander as he holds onto the truck.
The gunner laughed: "I will... just having the moment of my life!"
The commander sighs as he look up to the skies when his radio abruptly came on.
"All elements, why the hell is the skies littered with tracers?"
The commander picks up the radio.
"Wyverns, there are enemy wyverns in the vicinity"
"And how would you know that?"
"Check the skies you idiot, it's not hard to spot their silhouettes"
He then puts away his radio as the scene fell silent once more. It's quite dark here outside, and the skies quite beautiful as well, if you ignore the falling wyverns that is. The tired commander enjoys the scene before his eyes start to close up, and his head slowly dropping down, as he gradually falls asleep-
"FIRING!" BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG
...Well nevermind then, as far as the commander of this AA crew knows, as long as the autocannon continues to fire, it will be a long night until it's over.
...
"Poor bastards"
Back at Scharna, as the assault is underway, an Esterrian squad comes across one of their APCs, on fire, with a hole on the front. It was clear that it got hit by a magic cannon judging by the fact that their mage felt a little bit of mana on the vehicle that distinctively lacks mana.
"Do you think that they survived?" said the mage
"I would think at least the gunner made it"
"Right, he probably jumped out of the gun"
"Wonder where he is now?"
The squad moved on nevertheless, as they have to keep pace with the rest of their unit, the 184th Infantry. With rifles in most of the soldiers' hand, the mage and their leaders with SMG, and one with a machine gun on the shoulder, they ran to the battle ahead.
"Cavalry!" called out one of the soldiers before the guns are discharged to the roadway on their right.
Horses and men alike fell as hails of bullet struck their body, consequently, the others started to trip on the corpses of theirs, some of them managed to jump through before being gunned down by the Esterrian squad before they even manage to get close.
"Let's go! Come on!" shouted the squad lead as the squad continued their way. And as the rifle squad made it to regroup with others, armored self-propelled carriages are seen coming their way, the bullets aren't doing anything to remotely damage the carriages.
"Damn, they got the La Ferdinan carriages!"
Indeed, the carriages are very recognizable, as they're in use with the Imperial Army of La Ferdina and has been their icon. The armored carriages seem unstoppable, but they do have a weakness...
"With powerful force that shocked the world, YOU SHALL BE SHAKEN TO THE CORE!"
A powerful wave abruptly appeared going through the streets rapidly, breaking the glasses of the houses, and pushing the carriages away at a distance. They are now either flipped on their side, top, or have their wheels broken by the shockwave that later faded away.
"Much obliged mage!"
The Commonwealth forces celebrated for a short while, the seemingly unstoppable carriages of La Ferdina has been stopped in their track. However, the rebels continued to attack, so they aren't celebrating for long. The rebels are attacking with muskets and bows, which the Commonwealth soldiers have to watch out for.
And before then, someone is hit by an arrow, letting out a scream as he dropped to the ground, still alive.
"Man down! Get him out of here!" ordered the SL. 2 of the soldiers then ran up to him, one provide cover, while the other drag the wounded soldier to safety as he holds onto the arrow on his left shoulder.
"Hey mage, you think you can do anything with it?" said the soldier dragging the wounded.
"I'm not a healing mage, ask the other one!" as the mage continued firing his SMG
"Damn it"
In this world (which I again don't have a name for) has different type of mages, such as offensive, defensive, and the aforementioned healing mage. The one in the Esterrian rifle squad happened to be an offensive mage, who specializes in attacking with fireballs and as you have already seen, shockwave, the latter takes more mana than the former.
The wounded soldier meant that they are down to 14 men holding the line. What this meant that the EAS has numerical advantage. It normally only takes a charge to break the defensive line of the Commonwealth, but this time will be different.
"Mount bipods, rifles and machine guns! Get ready for to fend off the charge"
The Esterrian soldiers of the Royal Army mounts their bipod on any surface they can get their weapons on. When they do this, it means that they will go fullsend, sending as much bullets at the enemy as possible.
The EAS then began their charge at the Commonwealth forces, with bayonets on their muskets. They charged thinking they can get close and finish off this line, oh how wrong they were. As soon as the waves of the rebel fighters came into sight, the Esterrians held their triggers, without letting it go until ammo runs out or the barrel runs hot.
No rebel could have expected this much rounds to go downrange, the waves started quickly dropping to the ground, succumbing to the absolute firepower of the Esterrian Royal Army to the point that only a few remained. It happened so quick that the surviving ran away, and the Commonwealth not believing what they just saw. On the street now is just rivers of dead bodies, blood and bullet holes all over the place.
Truth be told, both the rebels and the Commonwealth soldiers were horrified at what has unfolded in front of them. It's a mess that even the most experienced might not even able to forget.
"Fucking hell man..."
...
"Enemy ship spotted! 2-7-1 heading North-East! 342 meters!" yelled out a spotter on the ship
Somewhere in the coast of Havenklein
Captain Mendejerik and the flagship of the Esterrian Royal Navy returns to the frontline after a good while patrolling the waters. It is no longer armed with 120 magic-cannons as it once were, their replacement? 12 of the Bugsaret Artilleri 1948. These howitzers have proved their worth in the trials, so it's time for them to shine in the field.
"Turn starboard! Port cannons get ready!" ordered the captain on the deck as they prepare to engage the enemy.
The ships tilt right as they steer the ship, and as they're doing that, the radio came on.
"All port cannons are ready"
The Marie van den Ulsens ship-of-the-line slowly but surely turns, until they eventually got their weapons' sight on the ship.
"350 meters!" yelled out the spotter.
At this point, despite extensive training, no one is going to hit a moving target at 350 meters on the waves of the sea, there is one solution though...
"Bring out the Suppression" said Mendejerik.
The Suppression here refers to sailors with rifles and machine guns, ranging from 7.62 to a .50 CAL, and yes they do have the Browning on board, mounted on the sides where the cannons once were.
"Yes sir!"
Soon enough, a squad of sailors armed with rifles and machine guns, some mans the .50 CAL.
"Commence suppression!"
And then the squad started to fire bullets at the target ship. The crew wore ear protections in advance so as to not permanently lose their hearing from the deafening sounds of repeated and automatic gunshots. The particular weapon that the captain was interested in was the MGM62, an older model that lacked picatinny for optics on the weapon because of how fast they can fire.
Some splashed the water, but the bulk of the bullets hit the ship in various area, mostly at the sails. Suppression doesn't intend to kill anyone, but rather to force the ship to stop by sheer panic of the target. The vessel would slowly and slowly stops and the bullets fly over the deck, opening up an opportunity for the Esterrian warship.
"Good job boys, we'll handle it from here"
...
The rebel warship were out at night to prepare for a siege at the city of Vastika. They were supposed to join with the ground forces and the Wyvern Division, but then they unexpectedly came under attack by unknown forces
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know! I can feel those projectiles breaking through the air!"
"Where are they?"
After a series of projectiles flew past their head, hitting the hull and sails of the ship.
A rebel mage then rushes forward to the deck, staff in her hand
"I will take care of that"
The mage casts a spell, an illumination spell that will shine light on the ship and its surrounding. It's not often used as it gave away the ship's exact location, but at times of getting attacked in the night without the knowledge of enemy presence, it proves useful in this situation.
A white light shines on the vessel and its surrounding, and sure enough, it reveals their attacker, the infamous Marie van den Ulsens. The ship has already turned its left to it, revealing only 6 green guns sticking out the hull before the light dissipates.
"Ha! 6 guns? We have 50-guns! They will pay for attacking us!" said the captain of the ship
The crew ridiculed the Commonwealth flagship, mocking that they were so poor that Marie (the ship) couldn't afford the rest of 108 cannons. At the same time, now that they think about it, sinking the flagship holds propaganda value for the rebels, the only thing needs to do now is to get close since they're too far away for the magic cannons.
The rebel ship started to turn to the flagship with glee on their crews' face, without knowing what that green cannons could do to them. And as sudden as it is, there were 3 explosions on the hull of the ship, leaving heavy damage to the anti-magic plated ship.
"What the? What just happened?"
"Something hit us!"
"Another enemy?"
"Wait a second, did that come from the flagship?"
The crew, along with the captain took a look at the Esterrian Royal Navy's flagship, the next thing they knew were bright yellow flashes suddenly appears and coming out of that are in red, clearly coming for them.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
Series of explosions erupted on the vessels, damaging it to critical point, to an extent that the ship can no longer take any more hits. Amidst the chaos that took over the entirety of the rebel warship, the captain looked in awe as to what happened.
He then spots another of these red projectiles, it's now over for him. The ship takes more hits, and is now sinking and the captain got reduced to pieces and a puddle of blood by the ensuing explosions, ending his fight for slavery instantly.
...
"Enemy ship is sinking!"
The crews of the Royal Navy Marie van den Ulsens cheered as the rebel warship get sent to the bottom of the ocean, in record speed and distance in the continent in Gestrae with only 6 guns. Morale is high as they have seen the effectiveness of the howitzer, and they are eager to do some more damage.
Captain Mendejerik smiles as he look around the deck and the sinking rebel ships. It will be a long day, but it will also be a big day for the Commonwealth forces in Havenklein.
"To Pannerden!"
"We go!"
"To terminate!"
"The enemy!"
"Glory to Esterria!"
...
West of Limmenstein
A wyvern rider of the EAS Wyvern Division, emerges from the corpse of his stead. Despite falling from a high altitude, he turned out just fine, maybe except for the concussion and the fact his head was bleeding, as he could tell by touching his right head.
"Thank the gods for saving me..."
The fact he survived was a miracle, it was an act of gods being merciful to him, but now he has other troubles to worry about. He is now caught behind enemy's line, alone and without a weapon to defend himself. He looked around him, and saw no Commonwealth soldier nearby. He got lucky on where he landed, but now he must stay hidden, and probably have to accept the reality now.
The rider makes a run towards the city, where there's more location to hide. He will need to find new clothes to be assimilated into the civilian population, hoping that no Royal Army soldiers would notice or suspect him
"I don't want to fight anymore... this war was lost by the time they attacked" mumbled the rider, as he remembers what had happened in the skies before he was downed.
...
5 hours later
Royal Castle, Einskirka, Esterria
The Queen of Esterria, Marie III is having a meeting with the generals of the army. Accompanying her is the minister, Gessel, who has been revealed to been in the navy before.
"Let us start the meeting shall we? Can anyone tell us the current situation in Havenklein?"
"Yes, your majesty. Our counteroffensive has been very well, we have taken back many of the cities and towns at speed that I couldn't believe at first"
Marie smiled a bit while nodding.
"I believe it's the Flash weapons and training that contributed to our success so far. Of course, there were mishaps that happened in the army, there were numerous instances of our troops accidentally shooting each other"
"Thank you General Belink, how about you Admiral Luch?"
"Well your majesty, we were able to establish naval superiority again, using less gun by outranging the slavers and deal heavy damage to their warships"
"Very well... And I see the commander of the Wyvern Corps is not present"
"Well about that..." said Gessel who is standing right besides her "Baron is at the frontlines right now, so he could not make it"
"I see... Can anyone tell us the news from the Wyvern Corps in place of Baron then?"
"Actually I do, Baron did wrote a letter to me, give me a moment..." said the army general as he opens up an envelope, taking the paper inside and clearing his throat "To your majesty, Queen Marie III. Thanks to the help of the Luftforsvar 'Harriers', we were able to reign free in the skies, supporting our troops and dealing damage to the enemy from the air. The Wyvern Corps wishes that this will go on, so we can surely emerge victorious as the Commonwealth of Esterria fights on. Sincerely, David van Baron"
The queen nodded in acknowledgement to the message of the Wyvern Corps commander.
"Very well then, then we shall make plans for the final push"
The Queen turned to her minister, signalling Gessel to get a map of Havenklein and put it on the table.
"So far our lines have been quite straight" said General Belink "We have retaken majority of the region to the South-East and now we are directly at the doorsteps of the rebel-occupied Pannerden"
"So what are you thinking of?" said Luch
"I'm thinking taking Terholt to the South with the Wyvern Corps, and Vosselberg to the North with your navy's help. From there, we can push Pannerden from 3 sides: North, South and East"
"Splendid idea General Belink" said the queen
"Thank you your majesty"
"I also think this is a good idea" said the admiral
"Very well, now that settles our plan for the re-taking of Pannerden. I suppose that you are all dismissed" said the queen
General Belink of the Royal Army and Admiral Luch of the Royal Navy nodded, as they take their leave from the meeting room, leaving only the queen and her minister in the room.
"I suppose the only thing to do now, is to watch how it would end up" said Gessel
Marie glanced at him before nodding
"Yes... you are right, we will watch how it will end up..."
Her minister nodded, before seemingly having realizing something.
"Oh right, we have more news from Flashia"
"Hmm?"
...
Around the same time as the start of the Esterrian Royal Armed Forces' counteroffensive
"Det ar tid til at slå tilbage"