***

--- Onboard V-22B, outskirts of Sadera ---

July 3rd, 2025

Lelei is sitting down on the of the Osprey seats. All around her are Rangers, all waiting for battle.

They are all geared up, expecting a heavy fight.

Across her is Colonel Yang, talking on the radio to the other four V-22s. In the window behind him, she can see the almost full moon Idos. It is very pretty with its whitish-blue color.

For some reason she feels uncomfortable and scared. During the flight, her confidence has hit an all-time low since getting on this helicopter, to her surprise. All this time she did not realize how much she relied on Sharpe confidence and leadership.

She has gotten herself into many messes since joining up with these people. All those times it never crossed her mind that she was in real danger. Mentally she knew but it did not bother her.

All this reminded her of her father when she and her older sister ran away before he was a dominant tyrant. He ruled with an iron fist, making life living hell for her.

Sharpe rules very strictly, always in control and keeping everything close to his chest, like her father. He is a tyrant but a different kind of tyrant. Sharpe maintain control and order however he does not control people, letting Rory, Selina, his Ranger’s, and herself be who they are freely unlike her father.

"Hmm," she thinks about that, now disagreeing with herself. Tyrant is not the proper word. While her father keeps people close, it is to protect his ego and insecurities, Sharpe dose that to keep people safe. Unlike her father where he steals people's confidence, Sharpe seems to project confidence in people.

Lelei never realized that until now that she is alone.

"Everything will be ok kid," Yang said, noticing how nervous she is.

She looks up, focusing on him. "I know."

Yang smiles. He then leans forward so she can hear him easier. "Look Lelei. I know you are probably not happy that I split you up from your friends. There are two reasons why. One is that I am expecting to fight against magic users or something down that line. Because of that, I would like one on our side. Just in case."

Lelei could not disagree with him. This is the capital of the Empire, a good chance they might have powerful magic users waiting for them.

Then Yang continues. "Second. You are reliable. Sharpe always has to keep an eye on Rory and that kid Selina. That's not including some of his other Rangers with a wild streak." He is implying Private First-Class Alicia Moore. "You on the other hand never have other to worry about you. Always know what to do when to do it. Always calm and orderly"

Lelei listens, cannot believe a high-ranking man like him is saying that.

"Look, everyone on this bird is happy that you are here. We all know what you did at the Elies Fort(1)." Yang said as he leans back. "When we land, just remember. You have all of our respect."

Lelei could not say anything, the words did not form in her mouth. She takes a deep breath, now realizing that she is more famous than she though. Learning that, she feels the weight of responsibility being far heavier, but in a good way.

It would not be long before the Osprey reaches the landing zone. One the red light turns green, everyone is rushing out of the Osprey, storming the plaza. A few sounds of gunfire, Rangers taking out some sentries.

She gets off the Osprey and looks around. She sees the three Vanguard teams get into position, getting ready to be counterattack. She takes a deep breath and remembers what Sharpe said, that he is never disappointed in her. "Let's go."

--- Intersection, Sadera ---

As the V-22s hovers the intersection, Sharpe grabs the robe and slides down it. Once one the ground he pulls out his rifle and makes sure no one is about to ambush them. Always first one down.

Once he is happy that the area is clear, he begins directing both Ranger teams to their positions. Over to his right, he can see Seal Team-3 sliding down the robe.

Rory, in her usual fashion, jumps out of the back of the Osprey, landing on the ground. She begins running, heading to the objective.

Sharpe can tell that she is not happy. He does not blame her, but he is happy that Rory and Lelei are willing to follow his lead even if they disagree with him. A trust he has no intention of losing.

He sees Lieutenant Commander Daniel Richman slide down the robe. He looks at Sharpe and he looks at him in return. After a short gaze, they break contact to do this mission.

Sharpe rushes to this large statue of this soldier holding a shield and sword. Alicia follows behind closely, taking a position by the statue.

"Alright, Charles take four men and watch the east side. Captain Eger of Vanguard-6 watch the westside. I will watch the South." Sharpe said over the team radio. "Watch out for arrow fire, especially from the north. That wall has us at a disadvantage."

"Remember we have the night on our side but do not get cocky. If they are armed, you take them out." Sharpe reminds them.

To the north of the intersection is this wall, a great spot to place archers.

He then points to Alicia. "Tell me when we have Apache support. Coordinate with the other teams and have them mark for air support.

Corporal Andrew Steele rushes up and slides right next to the statue. "Sir, where you want me?" As he asked his question, he pulls out his M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle.

He looks at him. "Finally get to use that." He then looks around.

“Andrew, get in that window right there. Pick off anyone who tries to use the wall. Also, take a spotter to help Alicia coordinate with the Apaches."

"Sir," Andrew said and takes off.

He stands up and takes a quick look around. Everything seems to be calm, for now.

"Sir, is everything ok?" Alicia asked, looking up.

He looks down, slightly confused. "I am fine, why?"

Alicia shrugs her shoulders. "You seem off." She then smirks. "I get it now. You are just worried about them. Figures."

He glares at her with a 'knock it off and stay focus' look.

Alicia is not wrong; it feels wrong that Rory and Lelei are not there with him. He did not realize how use he gotten having them around. To a lesser extent Selina. He was started to enjoy those exploration missions, everyone traveling around, seeing new things. Learning and experiencing together. A feeling he thought was gone forever but seems to come back.

Right then he realizes how much he fully been relying on them. On paper, his team is fully staffed but to him, it is just not the same not having either of them here.

She just laughs and holds up her radio.

She then looks up at him again. "Sir, what is up with you and the Seal man?"

Sharpe ignores her, pulling out his night vision binoculars to scan the area. Trying to get a good layout of his surroundings.

"You either tell me or I make up some bullshit. Randy will believe anything. Sir," Alicia said, trying to pull some strings. Never follow a hollow man into battle, a strong belief she has.

"Moore, not the appropriate situation or time for this," he said. He then looks down at her, noticing her rolling her eyes.

As he looks through the binoculars, he can see soldiers forming up on the other end of a street. "Besides, here they come."

That is when some stray arrow hits the statue. Then a single shot can be heard from Andrew sniper.

Sharpe knees down, watches a few of his Rangers moving around, getting ready for the incoming attack.

He now is thinking about Alicia's question though, remembering that both Charles and Randy came up wondering too. He prefers to keep his past drama away from them. That has been getting harder and harder. The saying seems to be true; you never can run away from the past.

"We both fucked up honestly," he suddenly said.

Alicia was saying something on the radio and notice him speak. She finished warning every one of the incoming attacks and looks at him, "What a surprise."

"Look, I'm not trying to be a dick. I know I rub off like that sometimes. It is just that a lot of things happen, a lot of it I cannot talk about. I prefer to keep you all away from all of it," Sharpe said to her.

"My past, my mistakes shouldn't harm any of you," He finishes, politely.

Alicia nods her head and gets back to work.

Alicia has always been a pain in his ass, snapping at every little thing. Probing for any bit of information. At first, he thought she was being a dick, but her intentions are good. Always respected that about her.

"With Daniel, we were both on a mission together to save this Philippine's political leader daughter. We thought we were going up against insurgents. It was supposed to be a surprise attack but somehow, they were prepared. They had some Chinese SF advisors there, so we were going up against a stronger opponent then we expected," he explains. "My job was to draw them away from the compound and his team was to sneak around and rescue the hostages."

“Sounds like a no-win situation sir,” Alicia said.

He looks at Alicia. “I follow Captain Kurk.”

“What? I don’t speak Star Trek”

“I don’t believe in the no-win situation,” Sharpe said.

Alicia is surprised by this answer, “But you can’t win every time.”

“Tell that to the prisoners,” he replied. “Or the people we left behind. I know we cannot on paper however, that means someone else suffers.”

He stops the conversation there and grabs his rifle, hearing some Rangers open fire. "Here they come."

--- Residential Sector, Sadera ---

Daniel's group of Seal Team-3 is moving down the street. People are running everywhere, allowing them to slip through.

They only ran into a few enemy soldiers; most seem to be confused about what is going on. They never considered an attack.

Five royal soldiers start gathering in front of them. They get into formation and march towards them.

"Seals, form up. Take them out," he said. His people get together and engage them, killing them all with ease.

A few arrows pass them as they travel but were not close. It seems the archers are trying to keep up with his people but cannot get a good shot because of the dark. Only firebase lanterns are around, and they seem to be limited in lightening.

After clearing up the enemy, they all move forward, not needed to be ordered. Staying close to the walls, they move as fast as they can. Wanting to get to the possible buildings to find their hostages.

As they move, a Seal randomly fires his rifle at a target.

After going a few blocks, Daniel sees what looks like the residential sector. The fancy buildings and layout of the area look like the ones from the overhead pictures from the briefing.

Daniel looks around, trying to decide on how to proceed. Based on the CIA intelligence, he has a good idea of what buildings the hostages are at. Still, he does not know the exact houses.

Normally he would go house to house in an orderly fashion, doing everything by the book. He would prefer to do recon on each building, seeing where everyone is at and what would be the best move. Unlike Sharpe where he would just go in and storm each building, going fast and loose with brute force.

If you do everything right the first time and in advance, you do not need to wing it.

"You two, take the left. You with me in the street center. You two right. We’re going to clear street to street until we get to our first building," he orders.

The seals around him acknowledge the orders and begin to move.

As they move down the street, they end up in a firefight with some soldiers. The strange thing was that they did not seem to be looking for his Seals but someone else. Either way, they easily mowed them down.

That is when his second in command Vence spoke, "Sir, I have three people, rushing this way. They're not armed."

"Confirm who they are," he orders. "If you see a weapon, kill them."

"I… I think two of them are the hostages. They are trying to take the prisoners away," Lopez said.

Hearing that, he looks in the direction where the three are coming from. "Alright, kill the guy escorting them." Something did not seem right though, why are they coming to us?

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I am an American!" The woman yells as she approaches.

"Hold Fire!" Daniel Orders.

The three begin speeding up.

"Do not advance! Stop where you are now!" he orders the people coming. That is when he sees three horsemen appear around the corner. They seem to be chasing the three civilians.

"Take them out!" he orders, in an urgent voice.

His Seals did not need to wait. They have already had their sights locked on them, horsemen. Once the order was given, the three horses fall forward, killing them and the men onto them. One of the bodies flew forward because of the momentum.

The three civilians rush up to them, panting for breath.

The Seals aim their rifles at them.

"What is going on? Who are you three?" he asked, not wanting to take risks.

One of the Seals points his rifle at the man in the center. "He is one of them. An Imperialist."

Daniel pulls out his pistol and aims it right at the man's head. Now he has no intention of shooting the man in the head, he is not an extremist. "Answer the questions now."

"Stop!" The Arab-American women yell. She gets in between Daniel and the Imperialist civilian. "He saved me. And he saved him too."

Daniel looks at the other man. He seems to fit the description of a Brazilian man.

"He helped you?" Daniel asked, not fully believing her.

"Yes, they are not all bad people. He risked his life, everything to help us." The women say.

After some time thinking, Daniel puts away his pistol. "Fine. Command can figure this out." He then looks directly at the Imperialist civilian. "If you do anything, you will end up like your buddies over there."

--- Brothel, Sadera ---

Rory Mercury begins rushing as fast as she can, swing her halberd down on the last Imperialist victim. Hearing the man scream in pain as he slowly dies.

She pulls her halberd out of the man and swings it around her. Looking around the street are dozens of Royal Guard dead bodies, all torn about to be her.

"Hmm, not a bad night so far," Rory said, happy about the slaughter. Even now she feels the purity of the souls that are pouring through her body, pushing the pleasures of her physical body to its limits.

Hearing something behind her she looks and sees the six Navy Seals standing there.

She gives them an unpleasant look. "What?"

The Seals never saw Rory fight before. They are shocked by what they saw, still trying to grasp if what they saw was real. She killed all of them with little effort.

"Nothing. No wonder why the Rangers use children in combat," Dan said.

“I am not a child!” she yells. “I am nine hundred- and sixty-years old you jackass!”

“You look like a twelve-year-old,” Vance replied. “It isn’t right… but are you really over nine hundred?”

“Yes, and I had sex more times than you thought about it so knock off your world moral drama and back off my man,” she replied.

She rolls her eyes and looks away after making her point. She is not happy that she is being compared to a child. It is not her fault that she was picked at this body age. On top of that, she knows who the Seal is referring to and is not thrilled by that either.

Everyone saw that argument in the hanger, why do they have to be so disrespectful.

"I believe that is the brothel there," she said, pointing to a fancy looking building.

That is when the Seals reorganize themselves and then head to breach the brothel.

Rory stands there watching as the Seals line up along the building, tossing an M84 Stun grenade which creates a flashbang, blinding its opponents.

As she watches them, she must admit to how effective they operate. Having seen the Army Rangers for a good long while and seen his they work together. These people, most of the time they do not even need to say a word, already knowing what the other is about to do.

She remembers hearing at Apex Liberty, that Sharpe was part of something like this. Interesting she thought.

That is when she sees some Royal Guards rushed to the defense of the Brothel. She smirks and dashes over to them. Slicing them into two.

These are not just any whores; this is part of the city is for the elite society. Awfully expensive, very official, only a select few are even allowed up here. Only the rich and powerful. The things these men and women have seen and heard are probably priceless.

She sees Nekos, the American term for Cat-people, Bunnies, humans, elves, and so on. While mostly woman, there are some men. She has seen brothels like this all the time and never thought much about it, until recently(2). The issue she is having with this brothel is that she can tell all these whores have been abused, raped, sexually tortured for the elite’s pleasure, so the nobles can feel more powerful over the peasants and lesser races.

While she has been trying to influence Sharpe to make him a better Man, she noticed that he has rub off him.

After some time, the Seals be rushing out of the brothel. It sounded like a short firefight happened inside.

They quickly rush across the street to where Rory is standing.

Rory sees them escorting two women, by their standards they look like young adults.

"We have the packages. Let's head to the intersection," A Vance said.

As they get ready to go, something catches Rory's eyes to her left. She looks over and sees nothing.

That is when everyone hears and feels some tremors. Rory does not know who said it but one of the Seals yells incoming.

Hearing that, she looks down the street and sees about two hundred Imperialist horsemen. She has seen the banner before, The Knights of Talis. Consider being some of the best cavalry in the Empire. They are being one of the few mix races groups in the Imperial Army, taking the best anywhere they can.

The propaganda said that these are elite and honorable knights. The truth is they are extremely brutal soldiers. Taking a few prisoners, known to murder, stealing peasant's property and goods, and to rape undefended villagers. All in the name of glory, honor, and duty and as payment for their services.

Rory thinks no to the propaganda. She has seen true honor and true duty from real soldiers. Once believing that nowhere in the cosmos there is anyone like that, she is incredibly happy that she was proven wrong.

As the Seals form a line to fight the incoming enemy, Rory grips the handle of halberd tightly. Licks her lips and gives this satanic smirk. "Emroy hungry tonight."

She then looks to the Seal in command. "Go, I will hold them off."

The Seal does not seem pleased with abandoning her.

"I said go," she said.

She then propels herself forward, right towards the incoming cavalry. At first impact she slashes through, killing a dozen.

--- Residential Sector, Sadera ---

Ekloias Jw Fremis is going through his things at his house. He grabs a bag that he prepared for when this attack happened. He always knew the Americans were going to attack, he just did not know when. He then picks up his sword, ready to fight anything who threatens his true love.

After getting ready, he walks into the next room. He sees his American slave Amira Harab, that he bought when she first arrived in Sadera.

His family has been in the government for a generation. He was able to finally afford to live with the Empire nobles, elites, and royal family members. So much time, so much effort and so much sacrifice to get to this station in Sadera. All that is now at risk.

He looks at his beautiful slave, the most gorgeous women he has ever seen. She has this exotic tannish skin with this smooth thin goldish blond hair. Her eyes glow with green emerald eyes.

It took almost all the money he had, nearly bankrupting him to buy her. Never once he regretted buying the slave. So many other men and women wanted to buy her, for their own needs.

He still remembers the day he first saw her. She was chained against a booth naked. She was brought up here with the other men and women slaves from the other world. At first glance, he knew he had to have her.

He bought her right then and there, bringing her home. Safely away from anyone else.

"Are you ready?" Ekloias asked Amira.

Amira smiles and grabs a bag. "I am ready honey. Let's do this."

Ekloias takes a deep breath and then grabs her hand. He leads her outside his home.

Outside, they can hear explosions in the background. The hovering sound of their flying machines that Amira calls helicopters. The battle in the background sounds very intense.

People are yelling and screaming. All running away from the sound of battle. Royal soldiers are rushing towards the battle.

The Royal Guard considered the elite of the elite of the Army. Their sole duty is to protect the elite section of Sadera. The best soldiers from all around the Empire is recruited into this branch. They are usually veterans of wars but when they get this post, they rarely see combat. Well paid, well feed, and little combat. At least until today.

While looking around, he can see some people breaking into other people's houses, either murdering the people who live there or robbing them.

Ekloias heart is beating hard as he feels scared of the situation. In hundreds of years, no army has ever been able to strike the Empire capital, Sadera. Out of nowhere, the impossible happened.

"We need to get to Dasus house. Before anything happens there." Ekloias explains.

"Ok," Amira replied.

While Amira lived with him, she told him stories of her planet. All the amazing wonders, technologies they have. The ideas about liberty, freedom, religion, everything. The world she came from seems to alien but exciting. Some of the ideas even seem so obvious but simple.

Dasus is Ekloias boss at the Treasury State. They both help manage the coin of the city and maintain trade regulations. He is a powerful man with many connections. More importantly, he has another slave from Amira world. That is what interest Ekloias the most.

It took a while to get there with all the people and soldiers getting in the way. It did not help that all of this was happening in the middle of the night. She said her people have devices that allow them to see at night, but he could not even imagine it.

Once the two of them finally get to Dasus house, they pass about thirteen guards. They are his personal guards, some of the most trained mercenaries in the Empire. Even if the city is under attack, it will be awfully hard to get past them.

He begins banging on the door. "Hey, Dasus. It is Ekloias. I need your help."

The door opens and Dasus greets him. "Ekloias, what are you doing here?"

"We need help. My home was attacked," he answers. He is sweating and panting. His face looks like he is scared. All which are true on how he is feeling.

Dasus nods his head and allows the two to come inside.

"Why did you bring your whore with you?" Dasus asked as he closes the door. He sees no value in slaves. "Anyway, you will be safe here."

Amira did not like being called a whore but remains quiet. She walks into the other her room, giving the two some distance.

Dasus notices the bag Ekloias is carrying and the sword. Normally he would never allow anyone to come into his home armed. This is Ekloias though, a long-time employee he trusts. Also, with the current circumstance, it makes sense that he is armed.

"I am sorry that I brought her here. It just she was incredibly expensive, and I didn't want to leave her with the thieves at my place," he said. He seems nervous like something is on his mind.

Dasus notices this too. "Are you ok my friend?"

"Yes. I am sorry. It's just, so much is happening. I can't believe what is happening," he said, stuttering a little.

Dasus walks over and pats his friend on the shoulder. "Do not worry. These are dark days indeed however the Empire has always won in the end. Have faith in the gods, they are on our side."

Ekloias nods in agreement, taking a deep breath.

Since word came to Sadera that a new enemy force is occupying the hill of Alnus(3). The threat seems so distant, the common people put little thought into it. Not just the peasants but even the wealthy elite. The Empire propaganda machine keeps stating that they have the enemy contained at Alnus and that they were able to push them away from Italica when that traded city was attacked.

That some of our vassals did rebel and that the Imperial Army is currently dealing with it. Even the throne room attack has been spun to favor the Empire. That during the peace negotiation, the enemy used the peace process to try to assassinate the Emperor.

It was Crown Prince Zorzal that lead the Royal Guard against the assassins, pushing then out of the city. The Empire press claims he was wounded in the battle but had defeated the Americans, bringing cheers and celebration to the city population.

"Follow me, please. We can continue this in my study," Dasus said. He turns around and walks into the other room.

Ekloias takes a deep breath, finally ready to do what needs to be done. He follows his friend into the other room. Amira is sitting down on a chair. This draws Dausu attention.

"What is this scarlet whore doing sitting on one of my chairs. Ekloias! Ahh!" Dasus said before feeling something pierced through his body. He looks down and sees the tip of a sword in his stomach.

Amira quickly gets up and covers Dasus mouth. "No one calls me a whore."

Dasus looks at her as he falls to his knees and then dies.

Amira looks down on him, glad he is dead. She is thrilled that their plan went better than expected. Everyone must be that distracted by her people's attack.

She looks to Ekloias Jw Fremis. He is standing there, shaking, eyes widen. His dark hair and hazel gray eyes. He seems conflicted and scared. Blood is currently over his robe and sword.

Amira walks over to him and grabs his head. She then gives him a long kiss on the lips. "Everything is ok my love. I am sorry but it had to be done."

"I… I know. Go," he said, still trying to comprehend what he just did.

Amira nods and then leaves the room. Dasus has a Brazilian man here. She meant him while on the trip to this city. For months, both of us have been planning to save him. She believed when her people came for them, they would not know where they are. So, her and Ekloias have been working with the Medusa Family in finding out where everyone at.

She knows where that man is at. Dasus had some very exotic tastes and desires.

He stands there, looking at his dead friend. "I am sorry, but it had to be done."

Since first laying eyes on Amira, he wanted to marry her. That was impossible within the Empire. Marrying a slave brings much shame and dishonor. He did not care but could not risk the guards coming and killing her for his desires.

He does not want her to be a slave but his wife. All the generations of work his family worked for seem like nothing. All that work, building a name for himself within the Empire did not seem to have value anymore.

He wanted to help her people that were enslaved. He wanted to help her be free. To be free and beautiful.

He looks over and sees Amira helping that other man from her world.

"We need to get going. Before the guards come in," he said.

"Just lead the way honey," Amira said, smiling. She is proud of him right now; it isn't easy for a man to throw away everything for someone.

Ekloias leads the two out of the back door. He spent weeks coming over and studying the layout of Dasus home. Figuring out how to get in and out. To avoid the guards and how to get away before anyone notices.

By the time the guards came inside and notice that Dasus is dead, they are long gone.

--- Onboard V-22B ---

While onboard on what they call an Osprey. She and the other Rangers from Vanguard-5 see the battle raging below. Delilah looks around, desperately want to get off the helicopter. She does not understand how these Rangers are so comfortable in the flying machine.

“You will get use to it,” Bailey said. “However, I need you’re a game. Only reason my team is doing this is because of you.”

Delilah looks at the Ranger, Captain Bailey Robinson. She did not know others would be joining her. She expected to go alone, which is how she prefers it. But she did not want to challenge Stanford again.

This mission is different, while everyone else is saving their people, she and Vanguard-5 are going to see if they can find and rescue Queen Tyuule.

They reach one of the palace balconies. Two Rangers fire their weapons, killing a few sentries.

The red light inside the helicopter turns green and Bailey gives the order to storm the palace.

Everyone rushes off the helicopter and secures the balcony.

As Delilah gets into position, she sees them plant some device on the door. One of the Rangers heads to the door and peaks through.

"Clear," The Ranger said.

Bailey does these strange hand signals. She notices the other Rangers understood them and begin moving inside the building. That is when the Captain taps her, pointing inside the building.

She nods and heads out, pulling out her sword.

As the team walks down the hallway, they pass a few servants. They just scream and run away, not understanding that they are the good guys.

Delilah does not blame them for running away. With all the gear these people wear, they do look intimating.

As they continue moving through the palace, the front team finally runs into some guards. The two Rangers upfront open fires on them, killing all three guards.

"Their goes stealth," she said.

She has tried to break into her once before, many years ago. Sadera is a city fortress, filled with thousands of soldiers and other creatures used as weapons. It is not easy to move around here, even as an assassin. So, there is some truth to Lieutenant General Stanford, assuming he does not trust her.

The problem now is that everyone knows we are here.

"We have to move faster than this," she said.

Bailey looks at her, clearly not happy that she gave him an order. "I agree. Rangers! Pick up the pace. Shot any Imperialist holding a sword."

The team begins pushing forward, moving from hallway to hallway. It would not be hard for them to kill any resistance. Because of how small the hallways are, the palace layout is working against the defenders.

Because of the Rangers assault rifles, one of them can easily pick the guards off one by one. The guards can only move down the hallways two at a time max.

After some time sweeping through the palace, they end up in some rooms.

"This looks like the description, doesn't it?" Bailey asked, looking at his notes.

Noriko gave a quick description of the layout of the palace and they kind of security they should run into. Only able to venture around Zorzal cambers or where he kept his sex slaves, there is not a lot of information to go off.

As a firefight begins again, Delilah can hear some noises coming from one of the nearby rooms. "I hear someone in that room."

Bailey nods and points to three of his Rangers to breach. They do and burst through the door.

"Clear, just some servants," Foley.

"Hold on," she said. She walks into the room and sees these two girls in white robes.

She looks directly at them. They are scared. "Tell me where Prince Zorzal chambers are. I won't ask nicely again."

There is a hesitation from the two, both debating who they should fear more, her or Zorzal. "If… if I tell you he will punish us."

Delilah thinks the girl has a point. "Not if we take you with us. They mean you no harm and can protect you." She then holds up a figure. "Only if you help me though."

She grips her sword, implying they do not have a choice.

The two girls hear soldiers dying and that strange sound coming from their weapons. "His chambers two levels up and on the south side."

"Thank you. Now head to the west balcony. We will meet you there," she said to them and leaves the room.

"I know where the Prince is at," she said.

"Better be good intel," Bailey said back to her. “Take the lead. Rangers cover."

--- LZ X-Ray, Sadera ---

LZ X-Ray is currently heavily engaged. It seems like every soldier in the city is rushing to their position. That has not been a problem thanks to our air support and Colonel Yang's special friend, Lelei.

Lelei La Lalena is standing to be there chanting to herself. Energy gathering into the pawn of her right hand. A mix of blue and yellow energy. She opens her eyes and pushes the energy ball out.

It flies forward, heading down the street.

On the street, Royal Guards are scattered and in disarray. Some are trying to gather their dead soldiers, others trying to form a formation as they are being picked off by Ranger marksmanship.

The energy ball rams right into a group of soldiers exploding.

She lowers her staff, seeing the most recent attack ending in complete failure.

She turns around and walks back to the middle of the plaza.

As she walks, she can see a Wyvern falling from the sky. The body rams right into a tower of a building.

Right above, there are sounds of thunder as fighter jets fly overhead.

After listening to the sound of the fighters fly by, Lelei heads to Colonel Yang.

As she approaches, she notices that he seems off, like something is not right.

"Colonel?" she said as she walks up to him. "Is everything ok?"

"Peachy Blue," Yang responds with, as he looks around in his night vision binoculars.

What he said completely confused her. "Peachy…? Blue…?"

Yang chuckles from that. "Never mind. Things are just going too well for my taste."

"Isn't that a good thing sir? I thought you would prefer things to go easy for us," she then looks in the direction he is looking at. "Don't forget, you have more powerful weapons then they do."

Yang lowers the binoculars and takes a breath. "War isn't always about what kind of weapons you have. There are tactics, strategy, and the quality of your soldiers. We are more powerful than they are but that doesn't mean they don't have options."

"Like what?" she asked him, surprised. She is finding it hard to fully hear him as people are yelling, scream and the sound of gunfire everywhere.

"We are operating in fix locations. They can overwhelm us. It will be costly, but it could be done. If they have monsters, they could use them. Also magic," Yang answers.

"The Empire only uses what it can control. From what I understand from the Magic Academy, many magic users do not like to work for the Empire," she explains. "But many also do like the Empire. It is a very dividing topic in Rondel. Some see the Empire interfering in their research while others like the values, power and wealth the Empire brings to them.”

"Sir!" One of the Ranger radiomen yells. "You are going to want to listen."

Yang grabs his radio to listen.

"This is Echo-3, we are facing some extreme turbulence. Controls are struggling." Echo-3, one of the Apaches pilots said over the network.

"This is Osprey-2, I see it. It is like a cloud forming all around us!" One of the V-22B Osprey pilots’ comments.

"We can't identify. Holy crap, scatter!" The pilot yells over the network.

Lelei and Yang lookup. They see all these small dark clouds appearing out of no were. They are trying to surround and sallow the helicopters. That is not all as more clouds appear, merging to form bigger clouds.

Thunder can be heard and the sound of lightning.

"This is sky magic," Lelei said.

Yang hears what she said and grabs his radioman radio. "ALL HELOS, PULL OUT! NOW GOD DAMNIT. IM CLOSING THE LZ."

"All birds, disengage, getaway form the cloud formation," Another V22-B Osprey pilot said.

As Yang works on protecting the helicopters, Lelei looks around. On a nearby roof, she does see some light that does not look to be fire or from a flashlight. The building seems to have some damage from the battle, it only being three stories tall.

Deciding that possibly can be a magic-user, she rushes to the direction. As she runs to the building, Rangers are all around her either engaging the Empire forces or trying to figure out what is going on with the sky.

This is a clear reminder for her that these people, with all their science and technology. They still do not understand magic and how deadly it can be.

Once getting to the building, she flips her staff around and chants a spell. The spell allowed her to propel herself up onto the roof.

Propelling is one thing; landing is always another. As Lelei moves up in the air, she falls hard onto the ground. "Ouch… still need to work on that."

Lelei stands up and sees this older woman in black and green robe. Her staff is planted into the roof, glowing bright purple and blue. That must be the source of the sky magic.

Lelei picks up her staff and aims it. After doing a small, chant, three energy balls appear out of the blue tip. The energy balls move through the air and donate before hitting the staff.

"Ahh, so they do have a magic-user," The women say as she laughs. "A child like yourself. This is barely a challenge."

Lelei just stares at her, studying her. She can see that she is a Mage Master.

The magic women's hands glow yellow. She then raises them above her head, chanting something.

Above her are the sounds of lightning. She looks above and then behind her, in the direction of the landing zone.

A large bolt of lightning strikes the plaza, hitting close by some of the Rangers. The strike seems to be random.

"I see her plan," Lelei said after watching the strike. She is using the clouds to prevent the American helicopters from getting close. And then using the lighting as artillery. With some luck, this gives the Empire army the chance to storm the plaza with numbers. Even with the Americans advance weapons, in close-quarter fighting, numbers do matter.

Lelei closes her eyes and begins a chant. Items from debris, wood, chairs, anything around her begin lifted. She is using her telekinesis spells, lighting everything around.

Then she opens her eyes and points her staff at the women. From all directions, items are slamming right into her.

The women respond by using her magical abilities to destroy most of the items. However, a few ideas do hit her.

"Damn… you annoying brat. You want to play. Let's play."

--- Intersection, Sadera ---

July 4th, 2025

At the intersection, there currently is a large firefight. As predicted, a major Royal Guard force is trying to move through here. Both Ranger teams have been able to hold them at bay with ease.

Sharpe is currently by the Statue, engaging in a firefight.

At first, the Imperialist forces using their standard tactics, a deep line formation. All that did was make it easier for the Rangers.

To his surprise, they changed tactics somewhat. Their infantry is now trying to use their shields to protect their archers. While still not that effective, interesting now they are adapting.

"Hmm…," he stands up and looks around. To him, something does not feel right. Arrows are flying around but he is not worried about them.

Alicia looks up at him. "Sir, get down."

Sharpe looks around, not seeing the massive counterattack he expected. According to IRS support, it looks like the bulk of the enemy force is heading to the landing zone.

He kneels back down and looks to Alicia, his radioman.

"I want a perimeter report now," Sharpe orders.

Alicia nods and contacts Johnson and Eger.

"Johnson here, perimeter strong. We have archers trying to snipe but Steele taking care of them."

"This is Eger. They are probing us, still under strength."

Sharpe listens, not liking what he is hearing. Maybe he overestimated the Empire strength? Or their ability to counterattack.

"Sir, Echo-2 is saying Rory is inbound. Hopping on buildings from the east," Alicia explains.

"That makes no sense," Sharpe responds in a confused voice. Why would Rory be coming back without the Seals? And why from the east, the Seals objective is to the west.

That is when he hears someone yelling Rory's name. Sharpe stands back up and looks.

There is this small figure standing on a roof of a building overshadowing the intersection.

Before anyone could react, the person jumps down from the roof and into the middle of the intersection. He lands next two to Rangers.

Just like Rory, this guy is carrying a massive weapon. It looks like this massive double-edged battle-ax.

The new guy then swings his ax after landing. The ax swings at the two Rangers that are next to him. One of the Rangers barely got out of the way however the other man's right arm was cut right off.

From this angle, Sharpe can see that this new enemy is a young boy, just like Rory.

A few other Rangers begin to fire at him. The bullets hit him just like any other man, blood oozing out. The boy just stands there, looking at his next target.

He grabs his radio. "EVERYONE TAKE COVER!"

The boy jumps forward to a group of three Ranger. They are letting everything they have into the boy, with no affect. When the boy gets close, he swings his ax at them, forcing two of them on the ground and cutting the middle Ranger in half.

He is moving too easy for them to effectively shot at him, everyone is afraid of friendly fire. They even cannot use any of their heavy weapons because he is too fast.

"He's an Apostle!" A Ranger yells, saying what everyone just now realizing.

The boy recovers from his attack and then looks down at one of the Rangers that fell.

"No!" The Ranger yells as he fires, he tries moving away.

The boy raises his ax, ready to slam it into the soldier.

That is when a bunch of bullets hits him.

"Hey Boy!" Sharpe tells at him. He sees the boy looked directly at him.

Sharpe drops his rifle and then pulls out his Colt .45 and his combat knife. He knows his rifle is useless and if he does not do something to distract this Apostle, everyone going to die.

The boy charges towards Sharpe.

Sharpe knows he cannot win a close-quarter fight again him. He is thinking that if he could just distract him long enough for Rory to arrive, then no one else will die. Go on the offensive and control the flow of the fight seems to be his best option, so he hopes.

Sharpe fires his pistol and the boy charges towards him.

As he swings his ax, Sharpe barely can dodge the ax slamming onto the ground. That is when he steps on top of the ax so the boy cannot use it.

Sharpe aims his pistol right at the boy's head and fires a shot into it at point-blank range. The bullet goes straight through the boy's forehead, leaving a massive hole. Blood is pouring out of the hole.

What Sharpe saw next is a horrific sight. The boy just looks right up at Sharpe, unfazed by the bullet. Deep down inside he knew that was not going to work, based on his experience watching Rory. Still, seeing it with his own eyes is unbelievable.

The boy lifts his ax, forcing Sharpe over the boy.

Sharpe lands behind the boy, rolling back on to his feet. He jumps back to him before he could fully use his battle-ax.

Sharpe gets close, ramming his knife into the boy's neck. With his free right hand, he wraps around the boy's arm that is holding the ax.

"Fool," The boy said. He just grabs Sharpe vest and flips him over him and right into the ground, knocking him out.

Being slammed on the ground hurt Sharpe. He lays there for a bit, trying to recover. He admits to himself, his original plan on trying to keep the boy on defense is not going as plan. Maybe a more defensive strategy might be better.

Sharpe hears a quiet voice, telling him to move now and keep fighting. Out of pure reaction, from years of training and working with the best soldiers on Earth, he moves to the left, just missing the boy ax attack.

As he moves, he suddenly realizes he cannot move. He looks behind him and the boy has his pants. As the boy raises his ax, Sharpe realizes that fighting defensive is not going to work either.

Sergeant Major Randy jumps on the boy, grabbing his arm that is holding the ax. He is trying to prevent him from swinging it. Private Second-Class Scott Marvin and then another Ranger from the other team jumps on the boy. All trying to wrestle him down to the ground. Another Ranger grabs the ax, trying to help Randy disarm him.

The boy is forced to let go of Sharpe, now pulling the Rangers off him.

Getting a chance to recover and think. Sharpe looks to his left side.

This dead Imperialist soldier is laying there dead, with a hole in his head.

Sharpe sees a sword and grabs it. For some reason that reminds him of a random story Rory once said, that there was once this apostle who was chopped up and scattered around the world. That being the only real effective way to defeat one.

He realizes they do not need to do any of that. They just need to remove his arm. Since bullets still have a physical effect on his body, maybe a blade can cut his arm off.

He then grabs his radio that is on his upper chest. "Rangers! Cut his arm off!"

The boy shakes or pulls all the Rangers on him off. He grabs Scott and tosses him into another Ranger that was trying to help him.

As the Apostle boy is distracted, Sharpe gets up and tackles the boy. He pushes the sword he picked up into the arm of the boy, trying to cut it off.

--- Intersection, Sadera ---

Seal Team-3 was able to meet back up so not the team is fully united. They are escorting four hostages and one of the Empire civilians who seems to have defected.

Getting to their objectives seems to be the easy part as getting back has been much harder.

Daniel had to avoid going down the streets as the bulk of the Royal Guards seem to be mobilized and blocking their bath to the intersection.

Currently, he led his team down some alleyways.

How tight the alleyways have reminded him of his time in the middle east, hunting terrorists. Most of those cities are ancient, just like this place.

One of his Seals yells that he sees a target.

Daniel stops and orders one of his men to toss smoke. Hoping that the smoke might trick them, believing it is poison gas.

That is when the Imperialist civilian name Ekloias stops. "Where you want to go?"

He stops, not happy a civilian is asking him questions. "We go, now!"

"He knows this city inside out. Just tell him where you want to go, and he can take you there. Away from the army." Amira explains.

Daniel hates to listen to the enemy but does not see a way around it. "The Intersection. Where the fighting is."

That is when an idea appears in Daniel's head. There is this wall to the north of it. They can repel down it, avoiding the army. "There is a wall next to it. I want to go to the top of that wall."

Ekloias looks confused, not understanding why Daniel wants to go there. Deciding not to piss off this scary man, he agrees to take them all there.

They all begin going down the alleyway. As they move around, a soldier appears right in front of them.

Ekloias stops, scared to death. The soldier raises his sword, about to slash him. That is until a bullet goes through his head.

"Let's go.” Daniel orders. He places his hand on Ekloias back, pushing him to continue moving.

Ekloias is leading the Seals to this door that is coming up. It is not a big door, looking like some storage unit then a door to somewhere.

Daniel stops and watches as Ekloias opens it. "If you are fucking with me, you are dead."

"All good," Ekloias said. He begins climbing up.

Confused, Daniel looks inside and sees this latter going up. "Damn…"

He then looks to his team. "Everyone. We claim. Set a trap, I want no one following us."

Daniel begins climbing, behind him are the hostages and the rest of his team.

Once they get onto the wall, a small exploding can be heard from down below. It seems the Royal Guards trigger a trap that the Seals set.

Daniel takes a quick look around and sees the intersection. "Alright, let's go. You two take point."

As they all run down the wall, they can see the whole engagement zone. They can see smoke and fire coming from LZ X-Ray.

Daniel can hear one of his men comment about the view.

What the hell while they were gone. He thought the Rangers were able to do this task.

The sun is beginning to rise, and the cover of darkness is beginning to recede. Losing the night will only make it easier for the Empire artillery and archers to hit our people. The mission is clearly behind schedule and that is not good. The helos only have so much fuel and cannot stay on the station forever.

They can see the intersection and some archers on the wall, shooting arrows down at our people. They are staying low, trying not to get shot. A few bullets hit the stone that is protecting them or flying right past them.

Daniel orders his men to form up. Slowly they snipe the archers out until the wall is clear from hostiles.

They finally arrive at the top of the intersection. Daniel looks down and is shocked by what he sees. It looks like Vanguard-6 and 7 were hammered. To the left, he sees Rory fighting someone.

"Is that, another Apostle?" Daniel asked.

That is when Ekloias looks. "Yes."

--- Adaulis House, Sadera ---

Mandy Lorine, one of the girls taken from Philadelphia. She currently laying on some straw, her neck chained to the wall.

She is owned by the daughter of this very wealthy trader.

Holding back tears, holding her body close as she tries to stay warm from how cold it is.

Suddenly, she hears these large explosions. She looks up to the window that is higher than her. She gets up and climbs up the wall, struggling to do so. She barely can look out the small window.

All she can see are these flying things and the sounds of battle at the palace. Looking more closely she notices the flying things are helicopters. That must mean they are here to bring her home.

She tries to reach her hand out the window, struggling to do so.

"Please. Don't forget about me." She said softly.