"Today we learned NATO forces from Fort Talas successfully crushed the Alguna Army. The Dark Races like the man-eating Ogres, trolls, and the goblins hordes were easily put down. A British infantry company from the 20th Armored Infantry Brigade discovered what is being reported as Hob Hut.

A Hob Hunt is like an artifact goblin den, where the barbaric Dark Races live in. The Alguna use these huts to domesticate these barbarians and use them as pawns for their wars. It is believed this is to help compensate for their kingdom small size and lack of population.

According to Elbe, Alguna is known to breed these creatures. Unlike most places where slaves are used as servants, labors, or sex slaves, Alguna uses slaves to feed and breed their horde army. This usually turns out that males are food and females are used to repopulate.

Lieutenant General Stanford released a statement on this discovery. He stated that all huts will be raided for prisoners and then burned. Up to this point there has been a debate in the United States Congress on how to deal with these Dark Barbarians. Some want to apply the same Human Right standards while others want to give the military authority to cleanse these races from NATO territory.

With this discovery, the Senate approved a bill to deem the barbaric dem-humans as enemies of Humanity and that the military has a mandate to remove the threat. The objective is to remove races like goblins from the region. The local population has stated removing races like goblins would make the villagers feel safer as they no longer must worry about being attacked, killed, or kidnapped. News of this policy has gained favor with many locals, hopeful that this threat might be removed once and for all.

The US Marines with French Foreign Legion forces have bene task with rooting out these Horde Huts. If they can free anyone who are inside and then burn the facilities down. Any Goblins, Trolls, ogres, orcs who do not surrender are ordered to be killed." - Free Alnus Radio

***

--- Fort Alnus, Vanguard Headquarters---

July 30th, 2025

Rory Mercury is sitting down on this comfy office chair. Currently, she is spinning around on it, enjoying the ride. "This is so much fun"! She tells as she enjoys herself.

Sharpe is standing there watching, just baffled as he watches Rory.

Right next to him is his superior Colonel John Yang. He is also amused by the sight. "Should we stop her? She is going to get sick."

"Na, let her figure that out. Besides, this is good intel." Sharpe responds, trying to count how many times she can go around.

"What intel?" Yang askes.

"Well… I can have her do this to win a bet." Sharpe responds as he loses track of how many spins.

Yang looks over to him and chuckle. "You’re insane."

Sharpe looks over to him. "What? I am surrounded by estrogen all day. That is expensive. Need to make a buck somehow."

As they talk, Rory stops spinning around, finally getting dizzy from the chair. "Wow…. That was fast…. Why are there nine of you?"

Sharpe watches as Rory slowly recovers, thinking how that was just adorable. He then leans closer to Yang to ask him a question. "Is it worth it?" He asks with a tone in his voice like he has been thinking about the topic a lot recently.

Yang looks back at Sharpe and then back to Rory. He clearly understands what Sharpe is referencing Selina. In the beginning, he was not thrilled that Sharpe intervened. I cannot have an Officer or anyone getting involved in everything all the time. Then allowing her to tag along on some missions, it was bad enough allowing Lelei and Rory to tag along. Since then, Yang's views have changed. They all proven to be a great assistant to our mission. They even lighten him up a bit, which only made it easier to deal with him. All that plus learning he's ex-Delta, he decided a while ago to give the Major leeway.

Yang has liked this newer side of Sharpe. He went from his most hated officer to an example to the others. It has been interesting to see this hardened warrior open to what most people deem normal. A life.

"Wouldn't trade it for the world son. You live once and honestly, why the hell is we doing any of this if it is not for the next generation. To come home to a brat with a giant smile on their face," Yang responds with a clear purpose in his words.

Sharpe nods slightly, thinking on that. He then sees Rory recovering and then he sees her give him a big smile and a quick wave to him. She might be almost a thousand years old but she still that child spirit. That is one thing Sharpe likes about her, no matter how bad something gets, there is always that smile on her face.

"Are we going to start soon?" Rory asks them, interrupting their conversation.

"In a bit Miss Mercury, we are just waiting on the General and Ambassador," Yang responds.

"They're also bringing you a treat," Sharpe adds, smirking.

Hearing that part bring sparkles on Rory's eyes, super excited by that.

It would only be a few minutes for the final two members to walk in. Everyone greets each other, a little small talk as everyone gets prepared.

That is when Ambassador Harland Willington sets down a white box. "Hello Miss Mercury, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in a professional manner."

Rory waves at him, giving a small greeting. "It is fine." That is when she looks at the box and then glances back up to them, clearly wanting what is inside the box.

"Yes Miss Mercury, they are for you," Willington says to her with a smirk.

"Yes!" Rory then grabs the box and opens it. Inside she finds different kinds of donuts. Her eyes glow big, remembering the wonderful taste from the last time she ate those. "How did you know?"

"Well, your commander, Sharpe here asked me to place a special order for you," Willington states.

Sharpe nods a little, placing his hands on his hips. "I figured it would be best you had some that weren't stolen."

As Rory begins to eat this big, powdered jelly-filled donut, she stops and glances at Sharpe(1). Looking like a child that just got caught doing something wrong. "How did you find out?"

"There were cameras all around the resort Rory. The Secret Service showed me," Sharpe points out, seeing this embarrassing look on her face. "I used to work with some Secret Service, they showed me the tap and gave me a copy for everyone to see."

Rory looks at him with wide eyes. "You are a meanie..."

Lieutenant General Stanford stops everyone. "Ok everyone, fun is over. Miss Mercury, you asked for this meeting. Out of respect, I agreed to it. A lot is going on right now so we should get to the point."

Rory finishes eating a donut and then cleans herself up. "Ok, the reason why I asked for this is that I want to share my knowledge about the Empire and more importantly Taylin."

That is when she sees the ambassador places some strange looking devices on the table. "What is that?"

"It is a recording device. While you speak it steals your voice. Forever." Sharpe tells her, smirking.

Rory looks at it and then pokes it. She then glares at Sharpe. "You are lying."

"Major," Yang says.

"What? Just setting the mood," Sharpe responds with a chuckle.

Willington looks to the Rangers and then back to Rory. "Besides the voice stealing part, the rest is correct. It records what you say so we can listen to it again later. Is that ok with you?"

Rory finishes poking at it and looks to everyone. "Amazing. Yeah, that is fine."

Yang, happy that is resolved, now questioning his recent thought. He is confused about why this meeting his happening now. "Why are you bringing this up now? It is a little late. We already faced him in battle."

Rory looks to the Ranger Colonel. "I am sorry Colonel I did not expect to see him in Sedera. He and I are not on good terms."

Everyone can see that this topic is making her uncomfortable.

"It has been a while since when we last clashed. I thought he was still far away in the east and posed no threat to you."

"It is ok Rory. No one is angry at you." Sharpe allows her to use him as an emotional anchor.

Rory smiles and nods. "You see, we Apostles don't normally interact with each other. We just go around and represent and enforce our god will. Sometimes an Apostle stays secluded and others are highly active. It all depends on what god they serve or what they are trying to do".

Rory adjusts herself, reflecting on her past. "You see, Taylin was different. Most of us stay away from politics because mortal’s politics usually is pointless. He disagreed with that notion and wanted to make a big change."

"What is different about him?" Stanford asked. "I take it you think we will run into him again. Otherwise, you wouldn't be bringing this up?"

Rory nods her head in agreement. "You see, he is the apostle of Idos, the God of Cosmos, Stability, and Tranquility. He takes his role very literally. And I mean very literally. He is the reason why the Empire became so powerful. She then adjusts herself, glancing down shamefully. "… and I helped him…."

That last part shocked everyone. They look at each other, trying to figure out how they should react.

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Willington askes.

Rory looks at them and glances away, cheeks getting a bit rosy. "Well… let's just say I was recently inspired….(2)" She then glances towards Sharpe.

Sharpe looks at her, somewhat confused about the context of what she is saying. Is she referring to what happened at the resort? That is when he remembers that she was there during that evening moment. He gives her a supportive nod of approval.

Rory smiles from the approval and looks back at everyone. "Let me be clear. Taylin is a real threat to your people. He established the Empire because he believes the best way to serve his god is a strong central power. Through this, stability would spread throughout Falmart."

"You see, things were quite different a few thousand years ago. The Elvis and Dwarves' realms centuries earlier fell apart into local clans. That left a vacuum that brought nothing but chaos. In the centuries before the Empire, there was just slaughter between… everyone. It was a time many of the Dark races were commonly seen around Falmart." Rory says with some hidden pride in her voice. "A lot of great battles back then".

"Rory". Sharpe says her name, warning her to stay on topic.

Rory giggles and then calm herself down. "I am sorry. I was just remembering all the slaughters back then". She stops and collects her thoughts. "Anyway, one day I ran into Taylin on this battlefield. He was leading this small army from Sedera. Which was interesting".

"At the time I heard rumors that Idos chosen a new apostle. He was just over a hundred years old, so this was my first time meeting him." Rory continues.

Rory then takes a deep breath. "We had a little fight and of course I was winning". She says shamelessly. "However, he then asked for my help in rebuilding the world. He talked about wanted to end all the slaughter that was happening. Rebuild civilization from the ground up and make sure what was happening never happen again."

Rory then stops to think about how to continue. She feels embarrassed about talking about Taylin. Like there is far deeper history there.

"Rory, is everything ok. You don't have to share everything. You're doing fine," Sharpe reassures her.

Rory smiles back at Sharpe, enjoying the confidence boost. "I am fine. Here is the thing. He had all these grand ideas. He wanted to protect the defenseless, he wanted a world where no child felt the need to be afraid. He wanted to bring safety back to the world. He did not just want to serve his God but bring goodness to the world. So that's what I thought".

Yang leans over to Sharpe to speak quietly. "Sounds like the October revolution."

Sharpe nods to what Yang said. He is talking about when the communist reds overthrow the Russian government in 1923. Everything would be better they said as they slaughter and starved millions. At least everyone died equally.

"This is interesting Rory. So, in his grand scheme, you helped him," Willingdon askes.

"Yup. I might be the servant of war and instability however that doesn't include genocide and rape. He was right, something had to be done. None of the other races didn't want to do anything after their civilizations collapsed."

"Is that way Humans are the ones in power here?" Stanford asks.

Rory nods her head in agreement.

"Interesting." Stanford thinks on what was said. "You may continue."

Rory smiles and reaches for another donut. "As I was saying before being rudely interrupted." She then winks at them all. "I agreed to help him and his crusade. He talked about forming a mighty Empire. One that Falmart has never seen before. This Empire would protect all, be the defenders of the innocent".

"It made sense then. Besides having dozens of Kingdoms all-around fighting each other. Everyone serves under one all-powerful one. In theory, this would create peace across the lands," Rory states as she recalls the memories. "We both went off and begin building his big and mighty dream Empire. At the time Sedera was the only real city-state with the capacity to wage such a campaign. So, he picked them to rule this new Empire".

"For decades, I helped them establish themselves. Fighting battles after battled. It wasn't as easy as it is today. There were goblins literally running around freely and you know what that means. Monsters were quite common. It was risky being out in the fields alone, even for an apostle like me. It took a long time just to clear out the areas around Seders and Italica," Rory explains. "It wasn't easy but in time we were able to establish us as the regional problem".

Yang runs his chin as he listens. "Then you went out and expand."

Rory looks at him. "Well yes. We went around and forced them to bend the knee."

That is when they all notice Rory blush a little and get distracted. "Well, over the decade's things were going well." She shifts in her seat a little as she tries to think about how to talk about the next thing. "Things went really well…"

"Rory. What happened with Taylin and the Empire?" Sharpe noticed the struggle and tries to give her a copout.

Rory looks up and smiles. "Right. Just a lot of memories to go through. Well after a while I saw things changing. His ideal Empire that we were building that was supposed to be this free safe harbor for life was turning into something else."

"I didn't want to see it at first. Then I kept asking him about the growing challenges I was seeing and the growing corruption. He just kept telling me it was ok and that everything will be fine. That we are building something grand. That we can't get distracted by the small things." Rory clearly is not happy at herself for just blindly following Taylin like that. Love can have a strong pull on a woman’s heart. "It finally hit me in the city of Restruth. I helped negotiate the city surrender so there wasn't a bloodbath."

Rory looks at them all. "Not everyone in the city was pleased that they were forced to submit to an outside ruler. Taylin slaughtered nearly a third of the population until the city fully submitted".

Rory glances down, thinking. "I remember asking him why they surrendered. I still remember what his answer was. Anyone who threatens this new world order must be purged in the name of peace and stability. Otherwise, there would be no tranquility in the world."

"That's when I figured out his true purpose. His real plan. He was trying to force the world into this box and have the Empire control it. By doing that, there will be order." Rory says.

"Damn, that is extreme," Yang bluntly states.

"What happens next Miss Mercury?" Willington asks.

"Well, that example wasn't the only one. The Empire started showing its true colors. There was no intention in protecting people and providing justice. Just control. That is what they and Taylin wanted. To control everything for their ends.". Rory states with some angry passion. "They slaughtered many more. There used to be many more villages and city-states then you see today".

"They were just in the way". Stanford states, understanding this historic context.

Rory nods her head. "So, I decided to betray him. I tried to take him out, hoping that the Empire would crumble but I failed. Since then, I stayed out of politics and just wondered around." By her expression, she is not happy that she betrayed Taylin, being a very honorable and loyal woman.

"I take it he didn't take it well," Willington state.

Rory shakes her head. "We haven't been on good terms ever since. We fault many times, but I try to stay away from him."

"Thank you for the history lesson Miss Mercury but what does this have to do with us today? You said this would relate to us," Stanford asked.

Sharpe looks over to the general. "It is clear. We are a threat to his ideology. Everything he has done is now at risk".

Willington looks over. "I agree. We have an ideologue here. Our presence is shaking the order of this world cup. The Empire is about to fall, and everyone is trying to adjust.".

Sharpe nods in agreement. "The boy pretty much told me that. He thinks rights are the cause of instability. He sees us as cancer towards his utopia."

Rory speaks up. "Sharpe is correct. You are your world version of the Empire however you have diverted down a different path. After going to Earth and learning from your foundations, he will be against everything you believe in. In his eyes the rights of Man create chaos. He believes that Man and all other races must forcibly submit for there to be peace. He will do anything he can to stop you."

That forces everyone to sit back and think.

Yang speaks next, "What about the other Apostles? Will they be a threat to our operation here"?

Rory sits there and thinks. "Well… honestly, I don't know. There is not anything they could do to stop you. Your weapons are just too powerful. Your bullets are worthless again them, but your explosives weapons are more than enough. I would say most would challenge you once until they realize how powerful you are. Then they would help or stay away from you."

"That would be nice. Fighting one of those hand-to-hand sucks(3)," Sharpe comments, remembering his time facing Taylin.

Rory laughs. "Yeah, next time I might not save you, Major. Anyway, when we were fighting, he was trying to convince me that you people are the enemy."

Rory stops and thinks about that for a bit. "Actually, now that I think about it. Most people would think of you as the enemy. The deeper you travel away from Alnus, the more likely you will face a more hostile population. Many will see how Taylin sees."

"Mis Mercury, what do you expect from Taylin?" Stanford asks her.

Rory takes a deep breath as she thinks. "I have no idea. He is not employed by the Empire. He usually stays out of politics. Only intervening if he must. Times like this though; you can expect to see him helping the Imperial army more. He won't be afraid of your weapons."

"He took three 105 rounds in the face back in Sedera. That had to give him a clear idea that he is hopeless." Yang says.

"No," Sharpe responds. "I faced him. He is determined. Rory is right, that probably had the opposite effect."

"What makes you say that Major"? Willington asks him.

Sharpe looks to the Ambassador. "Because I saw it in his eyes. Because I would stop. I would just find another way to win".

"Major Sharpe is correct,” Stanford said. “We had it easy because the enemy doesn't understand us. Sooner or later, they will start to understand our technology. They might not understand how and why it work s but that doesn't mean they won't figure out a counter."

"Thank you for this Miss Mercury. Is there anything else you like to tell us"? Willington asks her.

Rory sits there and thinks. "Well, not really. There is still a lot about this world you do not understand. You have not seen anything yet. Just stay true and be prepared. You are upsetting the current order. Not everyone will be happy to be 'liberated'.” She says, doing the quotes with her hands.

***

--- Alnus Community ---

July 30th, 2025

The day turned into the night by the time Rory's interview finished. Both her and Sharpe are walking down the streets of Alnus, heading to her apartment. It is quiet since most of the markets are closed. Since they both left, it has been quiet between the two.

Rory glances to her left, seeing her escort walking her through the streets. He just wanted to make sure that she gets back to the apartment safely. Which is funny, if someone did try anything against her, she could handle it. Still, she finds it cute and adorable that this lovely mortal man feels the need to 'protect' an immortal lady.

Sharpe is the one who breaks the silence first. "Just want to tell you that everyone appreciated what you did. I know that wasn't easy for you."

"You don't have to say anything…." Rory says as Sharpe stops her.

"Let me finish". Sharpe says, holding up his figure. "I just want to say I am proud of you. And that none of it is your fault. I know you loved him, and you still have some feelings. That is ok, you didn't betray him. He used you. So, don't ever think all of this is your fault."

"I know. He never loved me back, he just wanted my power and influence to help him with his goals. Just those feelings sometimes remind me that I am still apart of this world". Rory looks over to him. "I had over five hundred years to think about it. It is like you like to say, the path to hell is by good intentions."

"Close enough… and it's not like I like saying that. Just there is a lot of truth behind it." Sharpe responds.

Sharpe thinks for a second and nods. "Still. Want I was trying to say is this. If we run into Taylin, you won't be alone."

Rory looks over and smiles. "I know." She then places her hands on his hips and looks away, speaking all cocky. "I need your thick head as a shield."

"I knew you couldn't do it yourself." Sharpe chuckles as they reach the girl's apartment.

"Yeah, I know, just… wait…" Rory suddenly stops as she realizes what he just said.

They both stop and look at each other, both with a huge amount of respect for each other.

"Get a good night's sleep. We are getting back into the war so be ready," Sharpe says.

Rory gives him a salute. "Yes, Major."

Sharpe smirks, seeing she is being silly. He returns a salute to her. He then turns around and heads away.

Rory stands there watching as he walks away. She takes a deep breath. "Hey Jackson."

That got his attention. The first thing that appears in his head is his two teammates that were chopped into dozens of pieces and then that girl burning to death as she screams for her life. All this only happen a few years ago, still very recent in his head.

Sharpe turns around, not thrilled that she said his name. But when he looks at her, he notices Rory holding out her arm, holding up her index finger.

"I want you to understand that we are here by your side. That you don't need to be afraid that any of us will be hurt like that. It was not your fault." Rory knows this is a touchy subject for him. This was her intention from her since the beginning. Maybe showing that he is not alone, maybe he can move on too.

Sharpe nods his head and gives her a thumbs up. "Night Rory". He then walks away.

Rory smiles all happily, seeing that he decided not to chew her out for using his first name. She turns around and opens the door. "He's totally mine."