Within the troop transport, everyone oriented themselves with the situation by simply taking a peek outside the windows. The vantage point provided a clear overview of the city they are meant to save, from the gates all the way to the citadel. There was fighting going on between the two opposing armies, one not fought from afar but with actual techniques that the weapons of the paratroopers can easily defeat.
When first assigned to assist the Germans, Salomon never expected himself to be leading an aerial drop within a city, despite Werner assigning him to lead the Baltic forces, who are supposed to be hammering at the outside army's flanks by now and be a part of a paratrooper army. Though he didn't mind, he always wanted the chance to experience parachuting in his life but was unsure about dropping straight into swords, spears, and monsters.
"Sir, I think I just witnessed a dragon take down a plane!" The pilot alerted.
"Outdated plane, airman." Salomon corrected, somewhat bluntly. "I'm not so concerned with the planes, it's the jets I am worried about. If we lose the jets, then we might as well destroy all our technology while we are at it. But, I only wish Weber would have attached more than three to our army."
If Weber wasn't attached to Rommel's division, then they wouldn't have been provided with pre-thruster planes. But instead, Stukas and only a few jets were attached to the Third Unit while the real planes along with the real aces were left near Castle Dagonet awaiting Rommel's orders, left to sit and do nothing instead of demonstrating their worth. It only makes men like Salomon wonder why they aren't bringing in experimental technology to test in such an environment. It would certainly be better than let good fighters die on the other side of a portal equipped with outdated weapons.
"Sir, if we are to relieve an entire city full of thousands of swordsmen, then why is it we don't have a single super-soldier or tank dog with us? I would be as content as I am speaking English knowing a super has my back against an ogre."
Salomon sniggered. "Werner wants to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. These people we are relieving are not to think we are here to do any damage to their way of life, thus we need to show we are here to save them. If you encounter an ogre, try aiming for the head. Werner managed to fight two of them during the Attack on Berlin unarmed, so you should be glad you have a gun."
A buzz on the side of the troop transported heralded the lock-and-loading of the MP-38s, FG-40s, and STG-40s of every paratrooper. It was time to drop.
Salomon took glee in charging up his Laserkraftwerk, the single piece of experimental laser technology he brought over from the other side of the gate, despite High Command making it clear that experimental technology is prohibited from entering the world beyond the gate unless weapons testing is taking place and is kept under lock. Salomon bypassed this by simply "borrowing it" from one of the stockpiles.
Every paratrooper could only stare in envy as the blue laser lit up at the front and shined into the dimply lit troop transport. Only a few were granted such a weapon back in the Kaiserreich, but each soldier who bore witness to their commanders using one can sleep soundly knowing that they too would be wielding such a mighty weapon, a single piece of technology that is what will pave the way for a quick victory against the Comintern and the Allies, but for now, they will be tested until the date war will break out. In the meantime, it will be the outdated weapons in their hands that matter will win the battle, not just the laser gun.
"What happened to 'keep collateral damage to a minimum'?"
Salomon chuckled. "I don't intend to use it like crazy down there, so just focus on not shooting the buildings."
"So how are we going to tell who to shoot down there? They are all armed with swords."
"The elven girls gave us a clear distinction between the Imperials, the ones we are to shoot, look more like bandits then an actual Imperial Army, since the one who leads them literally bought them, while the Legitimists are, as you can already guess, the ones who look like an actual disciplined army. Check your targets and watch your crossfires. Good luck, all of you."
With that, Salomon was the first to jump out at the sound of the last buzz, followed by hundreds of paratroopers jumping from the other planes.
...
As Guinevere and her entourage started looking at the sky, the more they became flabbergasted at the sight they beheld. If Guinevere didn't know better, it would seem men are dropping from the metal dragon in the sky and are descending slowly towards the city in the hundreds. If she was ever in doubt that men are coming from the heavens, she would notice through her telescope the many flashes of light coming from each descending soldier, as if they were conjuring magic as they were coming closer to the city.
"Are those . . . men . . . my Empress?" Vera asked, stepping in front of her Empress to get a better look. "Did the gods send them?"
Guinevere simply gave her the telescope so she could see herself, followed by every entourage. Their eyes didn't deceive them was it was clear men in grey uniforms were flying towards the city. A miracle from the gods if they ever saw it. It would seem the gods have been listening to their prayers and have sent the Grey Ones to come and save them in their time of need. No matter what anyone thought, Guinevere stood out as the one they should be thanking for sending a message to them.
"I guess this is the support we are getting from the Grey Ones, so let us make it count," Guinevere said, taking back her telescope.
Do you see how far you've fallen in just one time, Mordred? About time you get a taste of your own medicine. Somewhere on the outside, where that giant metallic monster was looming over, Mordred was watching too, Guinevere knew. But Guinevere also knew that Mordred isn't dead, the bastard has probably retreated with his dragon or at least is riding on the back of one of his loyalist's horses. Mordred was many things, but a strategist he was not. From what Guinevere can tell with the death cries, the Imperial Army were the ones trapped within the walls, not the Legitimists.
"Vera!" Guinevere called.
Vera stepped forward, bowing. "Yes, your majesty?"
"I want you to go down there, rally all the Silver Hand knights you can find and make a stand at the Whitewood gates."
Vera looked uneasy, visibly shocked at the command. "Y-You want me to go down there? Where the Grey Ones are going to be?"
"I have a feeling the Grey Ones wouldn't have a clue who to kill when they reach our city, so we need to get out of their line of fire. So, I need you down there to tell them to stop when they reach you."
Despite Vera's clear opinion on the matter, she simply bowed and walked back into the palace to do her bidding, clearly uninterested in protesting the stupid decision. Guinevere ignored the mumbling under Vera's breath.
Looking back at the descending angels, Guinevere managed to observe her saviours through the lenses of her telescope. Their appearances and their mannerisms were clear that they were human, although a different kind of human. It would seem that each of the Grey One's was a wizard of some kind, but the staffs in their hands were much different, nothing like the ones she witnessed at the Holy State since they conjured magic at a rapid pace without pause. Whoever these people were, they were more powerful than anything the entire Continent had ever seen besides the dragons.
For her own sake, Guinevere hoped Vera wasn't going to be right for once. It would be an incredible shame if their only reason for coming to their aid was only to subjugate them and bring them into whatever world they chose. If they were just like the Saxonians, then they surely would become nothing more than slaves. Hell, they were likely going to be slaves anyway if the leader of these people decided that they are of no use to them. For her people's sake, she hoped they would at least be merciful.
"God save us," Guinevere prayed.
...
From up high, everyone in the air could bear witness to medieval warfare being displayed before them. It was a lot different from the reenactments, certainly more bloody but definitely more interesting to watch. But the time when men who killed with skill-at-arms was over, thanks to a simple tool that changed warfare forever.
Salomon was lost in his thoughts as watched as his men above and below him fired their weapons at the people below, trying to clear a landing path, not bothering to check if their bullets were hitting the people they were supposed to kill or trying to save. Despite his will telling them to stop, he would only be wasting his breath when they are separated once they land on the ground. Just as long as they didn't fire indiscriminately on the civilians, it would be a clean victory.
Victory, on the other hand, would probably take a while. Only eight hundred men were being sent over the city, a third of what the Tor Korps brought over. Saloman had no illusions that his men would know what to do when they land. The best he can hope for is that the gates would be opened and Werner's men would help relive the city - but that is wishful thinking since Werner for sure didn't want to damage the buildings with a misfire of a tesla coil.
Reaching the city, Salomon was first to land with a squad of paratroopers by his side. Upon removing their chutes, the group could look around them and saw a century of men coming from behind the buildings and gathered around the small squad of paratroopers.
The elven girls we're not joking as the men before them looked poorly equipped, even for medieval standards, but made up for it with their numbers, forming a large circle around them with either rage-filled or smug expressions plastered on their faces. Likely, they were thinking that it should be the Germans who should be afraid of what is about to transpire. They couldn't have been more wrong.
As the paratroopers started to raise their guns, Salomon signalled them to save their ammunition and instead pulled out his weapon and pointed at a small fraction of the circle.
Salomon pulled the trigger. In an instant, the blue laser pulled out in a single motion and hit fast into the band of bandits. The full display of power from the Laserkraftwerk was produced as it took out the entire column with a single shot, leaving nothing but blood and charred skin - a sight only a psychopath can handle, which Saloman was not. He didn't halt as more lasers came out from the barrel, spinning his gun around as swordsmen kept falling before his eyes. Within just a minute, the only ones still standing were Salomon and the paratroopers.
Turning back to his squad, Salomon told, "This is not over, we still have a lot to get through before we relieve this city."
The squad responded with a simultaneous, "Jawohl, Major."
At that, Salomon and his troops proceeded through the city in condensed-squad formation, keeping themselves from being ambushed in the city. A few foolish bandits tried to attack the group but always fell short to the fire of a bullet. Salomon needed only to waste his electric charge on a few ogres and minotaurs that charged at them, creating an unbearable stench as they fell before them.
Around Salomon, he could hear the victory as more gunshots and death cries echoed all across the city, almost terrifying him. The paratroopers did their jobs very well, even if it is straight-up execution. Salomon couldn't help but feel sorry for all the sword-wielding men who are forced to fight against men bearing weapons that can kill more than bows and arrows. If things were going as planned, the paratroopers needed only a few magazines each to relieve the entire city.
Looking overhead, he noticed the Luftwaffe were bringing helicopters in the city walls, dropping off more troops with their gunners causing damage to the city. It completely defeated the purpose of the airdrop, which was Werner's plan to cause less damage. Günter Weber said he could only spare the troop transports, which Saloman decided to board, and a few Stukas and jets, but it would seem he sent more than he said he would or someone is actually coming to help them.
But the sight of explosions in the distances made Saloman realize they were not under the orders of Werner or Rommel. Looking further at the chaos, he realized only four helicopters were being flown in across the city, the queued number Helga requested upon being brought over. The frequency coupled with the fact that some of them were dressed in black made him fully realize who these men belonged to.
"What the hell are you doing here, Helga?" Salomon uttered. "Werner's not going to like this."
If Salomon can predict Werner's reaction, he was likely pissed at seeing his rival's men fly overhead and start hammering away at the city. It was likely torture for anyone who tried so desperately to not bring harm to the natives, saving as many people as he could, but Helga always had a different method when compared to Werner's orders.
What Helga wanted out of this, no one seemed to know. Cruelty and malice would be the most likely explanation, especially after the incident at Castle Dagonet, unless Helga had an ulterior motive, which is almost unlikely. But if anyone didn't know any better, they would say it was intentional by Helga to do something like this to further strike the Lieutenant Colonel's ire. Cruelty and malice indeed, Salomon thought.
...
At the gate, Vera stood with a band of her silver knights were guarding the gate to the second district as requested, moving fleeing merchants out of the way of the Imperial Army and, potentially, the Grey Ones, acting on their oath of chivalry to protect people. From the explosions they were hearing, it would seem the Grey Ones were not as friendly as they thought if they are to bring destruction to their city, but none would rue out them being a potential ally just yet.
After the last merchant entered the second district, Vera and her knights stood in formation with their shields up in front of the opened gate as dozens of Imperial Army soldiers descended upon them from all directions, screaming and flailing their weapons high in the air as if the war was just a hobby to them. Arrogant bastards, Vera thought.
The fact that the Imperial Army was nothing but an undisciplined force of bandits was proven the moment they crashed into their shields at random with no formation. The formation was broken up from the force, but several Imperial bodies in just a few seconds when the knight's wrath was unleashed. Vera slashed quickly and effectively at every man who approached her, the style of a strider. The silver knights showed great discipline in swordsmanship even when outnumbered five-to-one, stabbing and cutting wildly with only a few falling to the enemy. The last one was a heavily armoured warrior with a hammer who charged at Vera, who simply side-stepped out of the way as the hammer was brought down and stuck her sword through the man's neck. She looked into the dying warrior's eyes for a moment before throwing his lifeless corpse on the ground.
Celebrations were cut short at the sound of explosions echoing throughout the city, sending shivers down the knight's spines.
"Vera," Sir Lancelot called. "Is it true that these people have come from the heavens?"
"I doubt the gods would send-
Before Vera could even finish her sentence, the sound of something spinning caught everyone's ears. Everyone only needed to look up at the beast that was making that horrid sound.
"It's a . . . it's a monster," Vera whispered.
It was certainly more than that. The beast was encased completely in metal and out of its sides, a man emerged with a large metal pipe that spewed fire and cut down an entire century of men, hovering over their corpses as men in black coasts were dropped off the side and continued the onslaught. How a creature could possibly exist, nothing in their history books or religious scriptures could possibly explain what it even was.
What made matters worse is the fact that Empress Guinevere had nothing on her side that can possibly act as a deterrent against what is being put on display. With the Holy State of Magic rejecting to share their power, not even magic was on the bargaining table. Whatever these people want, which was what Vera feared the most, they would just take it with no opposition.
"Knight-Commander Vera, do you think these people are here to conquer us?" Sir Bedivere asked, getting close to his fellow knights.
Vera gulped. "I certainly hope not, Bedivere. If so, then I fear we have nothing in our entire arsenal or within the foundries that can stop these people."
As the pipe kept spewing fire, more sweat came from Vera's pores. But, the veteran knight managed to keep her composure in front of her knights, not letting even demons hinder her abilities. Though, she couldn't help but distract herself from the group of charging men and look up at the beast in the sky, dropping men from ropes on the ground just a kilometre in front of the gate.
Thousands of Mordred's soldiers were in the city, but it seems that they were the ones trapped in between the second district gate and the Grey Ones. Vera saw a group of chainmail-clad knights baring Mordred's sigil boldly try to charge the landed men with pikes in hand, resulting in the Silver Hand witness a large man in black clothes with some sort of mask on his head unload his staff into them, creating a disgusting spectacular of blood and steel in the air.
Bedivere leaned into Vera and asked, "Is there such a thing as the magic that can blow a person up from the outside?"
Vera had no time to answer as she almost lost her composure when the large masked man turned himself around and noticed the band of silver knights guarding the gate. It didn't help that he was later joined with other men in black uniforms, approaching very slowly towards Vera and her shivering bodyguards with their metallic staffs trained on them. They could only stand in fear at what they witnessed could happen to them in just a few seconds.
"God save us," Vera prayed.
...
Werner had warned Salomon what he would do to him and any instigator who did any harm to the empress, but that threat was directed to his own men, not Helga's. Saloman and the other paratroopers didn't even need to move as the Second Unit moved across the city, shooting at virtually anything that didn't have a stahlhelm on their head, disregarding the fact not all of them were enemies.
Not wanting to take part in the massacre, Salomon banded together with a group of paratroopers and headed deeper into the city, following the cobbled roads that let throughout the city and looking at the signs that told them directions. Bela told them that some knights wearing silver armour would likely wait at the second gate to protect their people and themselves from any attack, which in this case was the Germans themselves, and that meant they were in danger if Helga's men reached them first. For the sake of their potential allies, Salomon prayed it won't be too late to stop the massacre.
"Wie sind die schwarzen Mäntel hierher gekommen, Major?" How did the blackcoats get here, Major?
It was a question Salomon thought about himself. Taking a moment, it ultimately came down to Helga likely finding out Werner's movement across the world and there was only a single person close enough to her army to make her mobilize and get to the city so quickly. Knowing Helga, Maurice died horribly.
"No German, private, speak English." Salomon reminded. Despite holding no ill will to the German language, it was merely a distraction attempt to buy himself more time to think, which was hard with anger clouding his judgment. "Must I remind you every time?"
"Can we at least speak our language to each other? Goldberg's not here."
"As long as we are beyond an interdimensional portal in a land where German clearly isn't recognized, we speak English, especially in front of me, a Finn. Other than that, it would seem we were followed close behind. A pity for these people who have to witness this. All we can do know is to find our potential allies and protect them from getting shot by these savages."
Salomon hurried off quickly, escorted by his paratroopers, in an almost futile attempt to find the Legitimists before it was too late. His hope in his objective was often hindered at the sight of disembarking Second Unit soldiers openly shooting anything that moved, some were even rounding them up to walls and executing them while seemingly ignoring the paratroopers throughout the city. They were even spotted to be shooting up every building they pass, keeping the inhabitants in for a grenade to be tossed it, blowing up the wood and concrete with ease. At least they had the decency to not fire on Salomon and his troops as they ran across the cobbled streets.
When all hope seemed lost, by a large gateway that looked to lead towards another level of the city, there was a group of knights in silver armour being cornered by a squad of blackcoats with machineguns trained on them. The knights looked terrified, huddling close to each other as the men in black kept stepping closer, screaming German at them when they likely already know how to speak the native language and laughing at their quivering.
Seeing one of them's face be concealed by a gasmask made Salomon stomp up towards them, knowing full well who is behind the mask, followed by his paratroopers. When Salomon got close, he grabbed hold of the heavy machinegun of the large blackcoat.
"Stand down!" Saloman said, shoving away the heavily-armed blackcoat. "I know that is you, Leutnant Victor! I said stand down!"
Victor immediately turned around and shoved Saloman away, almost too roughly as the Major regained his balance. "My orders are to eliminate any resistance to our occupation and that is what I intend to do, Herr Major. Stand aside and let me handle this."
Even with the mask on, Salomon can still see the fury within this wild officer, almost like staring right into the face of death. "It isn't in our mission parameters to blast away anything that stands in our way, especially those who clearly terrified and are only armed with swords. These are the people who Werner are trying to ally with so show some mercy."
It was stupid to ever bring mercy up to Victor and Saloman knew it. He read Victor's profile the most during his recruitment and was terrified at the brutality he conducted during the Civil War until the fortunate downfall that forced him to wear a mask for the rest of his life, too scared to show his face. A monster twice is what he is known for and from what it seems, he wants to make it a third.
After a short silence, Victor started to chuckle. "Does the Mischling actually think we need allies in this conflict? I thought it was just a jest, a terrible joke, and yet he actually intends to make friends with people who only know how to hold a sword? They should have only made two units, not three."
Correct for once, Salomon thought. "I am warning you, Victor. You will not put a bullet through these people any more than you already have massacred the entire countryside."
Victor scoffed. "Just get out of the way and let me handle this, dirty ice monkey."
"Oh, I don't think so, Hessian," Salomon said, aiming his laser at the merciless lieutenant, his men following suit as it turned into a standoff between Werner's soldier and Helga's killers. "I order you to stand down, right now!"
Victor simply laughed, turning his MG-40 towards Saloman. "You wouldn't want to turn this into a three-way battle, would you? Because I am dying to make this interesting."
Looking slightly over at the knights, Saloman knew this was the impression Werner tried to avoid by going ahead with this operation. Showing conflict between the greycoats and the blackcoats was not a good way to show your power with others when there are two opposing factions within your army. While Werner blamed High Command for this, Saloman blamed the Nazis themselves for refusing to give up their pointless struggle.
"Stand down, Victor," the voice of Michael Wittman came from behind Victor. "I gave you an order, Victor!"
The Black Baron came from behind, escorted by two super-soldiers, and pulled the machine gun away from Victor, staring aggressively.
"Wittman," Victor snarled. "Why aren't you at your tank? Aren't you supposed to be leading the tank battalion?"
"The battle outside was already won by Goldberg, now we are just killing stragglers. I came to keep you from killing any of Werner's men."
"Helga's orders?"
"No, I just don't want to put Helga through the trouble of explaining the actions of her men to High Command. Now, stand down Victor! That's an order."
Despite the clear frustration on his face, Victor eventually relented and shouldered his machine gun and proceeded to stomp off but Salomon caught him by the wrist before he could leave. "Stay away from the houses and don't fire a shot on unarmed civilians, is that understood?"
Victor simply jerked his arm free and hurried away. Wittman followed him, clearly to get away from the men of Werner, leaving Salomon and his men with the silver knights.
Turning, Saloman faced the knights in silver armour, relieved that none of them was harmed.
Not knowing how to approach the situation after the display that took place, Salomon walked towards the knights and said, "I am so sorry you had to see that, I hope he didn't give you an impression on us."
Just like the elven girls, even the humans were shocked to hear them speak the English language. Salomon understood the gravity of the situation of two completely different people suddenly realizing they had a common language. It at least kept communication possible instead of resorting to hand signs and translators - otherwise, it would be America all over again.
The one closest to them, the blonde one with the white fur, stepped forward and bowed slightly. Even Salomon was shocked at the thought of a human with such a beautiful face and lovely figure would bare arms. "My name is Vera of House Brus, knight-commander of the Silver Hands and personal bodyguard of Empress Guinevere of House Arthur. I request your name and position, Grey One."
Clearly, you want to ignore what just happened, Saloman thought. "My name is Salomon Klass, Major, and second-in-command to the Third Unit of the Tor Korps."
"T-Tor . . . Korps?" Vera muttered. "Is that what your nation is called?"
"No," Salomon answered, shouldering arms. "I . . . well, these men are from Germany, Deutschland in their language. I myself ain't from that country, but my loyalties currently lie within a leader from that country. We were the ones responding to that message sent two weeks ago."
"You guys must have been only a few miles away. How did you respond in such a short time? Were you transported here?
Salomon's smile immediately turned to a frown. "Even when we are in the middle of a battle, which is only getting bloodier by the second right behind me, you still want to probe me for questions? Look, when the battle is over you can ask me anything you want, but right now I need you to focus on the battle at hand and don't get in our way. We are only here because our commander wanted to make allies."
Vera frowned but immediately relented upon hearing the sound of an explosion. "Then what are we supposed to do while you are laying waste to the entire market level?"
"My men aren't the ones doing the damage. But in the meantime, lock this gate from the other side and wait until my commander comes up to the gate."
"Our orders are to wait here, to help clarify that this is our city and we are not the ones you want to fight," Vera stated, raising her sword. "My sword for the Empress!"
Despite the amount of bravery being displayed, Salomon could see her sweat streaming down her head. "Then I will have no choice but to stay here in case more blackcoats come out of nowhere. The last thing I want is for any of you to die before meeting Werner." Salomon groaned.
At that, Salomon and his men formed a defensive position in front of the silver knights, separating the battle from their new allies, pointing their weapons in the opposite direction and shooting any Imperial that came close to the gate. Salomon didn't want to turn around and amuse himself by seeing the reactions of the knights, preferring to watch in case any blackcoats came around.
Though, hearing the commotion going on throughout the city in front of them, it was like holding off an unstoppable enemy and hearing your own people get slaughtered, even worse if there was nothing you can do about it. That was the mind game the Waffen-SS played during the first stages of the German Civil War, as Salomon read about, and it was a useful tactic to strike fear in the hearts of the Wehrmacht. But right now, it was being used upon people with haven't even grasped the basics of a firearm, adding to it that the helicopters above were raining fire from above, which makes it even worse upon realizing these people can't fight back. Salomon only prayed that the battle would be over soon and the helicopters didn't travel deeper into the city.
"God save us," Salomon prayed.