“The 10th Mountain division, 3rd Infantry Brigade has launched Operation Roundball, led by Colonel Henry Camble. There is now an understanding of how NATO can use the southern pass to loop around the Dumas Mountains and assault the east of the mountain range, setting the stage to assault the capital city Sadera. The second objective of this operation is to connect NATO territory and the Elbe Fiefdom.

After securing the land around Deabis, the city is being used as a staging ground to assault the Imperial towns of Marais and Filisville. Marais is considered a primary target, to be used to swing back north. Once Marais is taken, the Australian 7th Brigade and 1st Armored Division to secure the flanks.

The 3rd Infantry Brigade has already defeated an Imperial two thousand strong cavalry force and destroyed the Fortress of Rogieon with minor casualties. With most of the Air Forces focused on the Elies Campaign, Colonel Camble has stated that he has been impressed with the swiftness his unit has achieved their objectives.” – Free Alnus News

***

--- League Principality, Tuba Mountains ---

August 4th, 2025

The Rose Order arrives at the foot of a mining camp. They can see dozens of people in chains, coming and going through this big hole in the side of the mountain. This is one of few of the mines within the League Principality.

Unlike the Kingdom of Alguna, The League does not have a major economy. Just a few agriculture locations around some of the small towns. The only source of ore is the southern part of the Tuba Mountains, however, the Toumaren and Elbe Fiefdom control most of the mountain range. Unlike those two Kingdoms, the League lacks a decent metal economy.

Piña Co Lada stands at the entrance, looking up towards the mine. "Are you sure he is here?"

Grey Co Aldo stands by her side, looking up to. "My sources say the wife of the Duke sold him here after the American slave tried to escape. Apparently, he was more trouble than he was worth. That and he refused to sleep with the Countess."

Pina takes a deep breath, not happy that she must deal with miners. "Well, they might be wealthy but that doesn't make them pretty. Lets get this over with."

She and Grey then walk forward with some of her knights escorting her.

As they walk down the path, all around are being forced to mine. They are carrying out rocks and other materials in and out of the mine. Mines like this are scattered all around the Empire. Many of the larger mines are run by the dwarfs, which their territory is mainly underground rather than controlling the surface.

Most Human mines are far smaller than the dwarves. The big difference is that Humans just dig a small hole and extract the metals they want. Dwarves, on the other hand, builds cities underground.

That is when this Human man walks over and pulls Hamilton away while no one is looking. He pulls her behind this stone shed, out of public view. He places his hand on Hamilton's side and mouth, holding her in place. He begins looking up and down at her body. "Hello you, I think I can find a use for you."

Hamilton freaks out, startled, and confused by what is happening. She looks over at this big muscular dirt man. "Let go of me". She says in a muffled sound. keeps trying to pull herself away but cannot.

Then that man feels a sharp blade poking at the side of his neck.

"Let go of her your filth," Jalin Tu Fendro said in a calm but cold tone.

Pina walks over after hearing what is happening. "Jalin, stand down". She says as she arrives. Seeing this man, clearly not one of the prisoners or slaves but still not letting go of Hamilton.

Seeing that this man is about to say something, Pina punches him in the face as hard as she could, breaking the man's nose.

The man lets go of Hamilton to hold his nose, more shocked that he was hit than anything. Before he could react, the tip of Pina's sword is poking right in his throat, making it bleed.

"Leave my knights alone, understand?" Pina says in a pissed off tone. She sees him give a nod, being just another coward. She looks around, seeing the other miners watching. "Let me be clear. You all will treat the Rose Knights with respect. Or next time you all will be slaughtered."

Seeing that she made her point, the Knights move along. They all head to the main building, where the man who runs this place is.

As Pina walks away, she grabs her fist and holds it. "That really hurt."

Hamilton looks to that man and then rushes to Pina's side. "Thank you, princess."

"You are my closest friend Hamilton. I wouldn't let anything ever happen to you". Pina says, more confident in saying that statement now.

Hamilton smiles happily and then turns around to face Jalin. "Thank you to." She sees Jalin give her a thumbs up, getting to me.

Jalin looks towards Pina. "I was beginning to think you cared about the Other Worlders more than your own."

Grey looks back to him. "Knock it off."

"What, I am not the only one who thinks that. I understand what she is doing but is this worth all our lives? Hamilton was nearly stolen from us just to make nice with the enemy? Just to earn that one man's trust? Seriously, lets just say we complete this quest. They are just going to hang us once we go back. Besides, this is no place for a princess." Jalin states.

Pina looks over, hearing it all. "You and everyone else are welcome to leave. I won't look at you any less. This is my error that I need to fix." Pina then looks away.

After saying that she walks into the building.

Once inside, Pina finds that the room is very dirty, disgusting, and smelly. It has never been cleaned. Just by the reaction, she covers her nose. "Why do men always have to have everything dirty and smelly."

"Because it is a sign of a hard day work." This dwarf says as he walks around this table. "What can I do for you women."

Pina looks to him, surprise to see a dwarf here. "I am here to speak to someone that is in charge."

"That is me. Funny how you said that though. Nervous I see." The dwarf says with a big grin on his face. He looks up to her. "Someone like you shouldn't be here. Miners are not known for their manners. Many get lonely and desperate quickly."

"Neither should you. Why is a dwarf running a Human mine?" Pina asks, curious.

"For the war effort through the Gate, The Duke wanted more weapons. So, hired me to help increase efficiency at this hellish hole," The dwarf explains. "That was until everything went to hell. I cannot get my ore through Elbe now. I don't know what's happening with Alguna so that only leaves the Toumaren route."

Pina fully knows what he means. This part of the Empire has been cut off from the rest of the economy. All land routes are blocked off by Elbe and the Americans. This dwarf was probably promised riches but with their king dead and cut off, he seems stuck with a mine with no customers.

"Anyway, what brings you here. A fine lady like you shouldn't be here," The dwarf asks.

"I am here looking for someone. A Human male. He was brought here by the Duke's wife for misbehaving," Pina says.

The dwarf stands there and thinks. "Very interesting. You must be talking about that black fellow. He was feisty alright."

"Well, I need him," Pina says

"Now this is interesting. I never would dream of someone coming here about a slave. Now if I get him, what do you wish from him?" The dwarf asks, interested in the topic.

"I am here to return him home. His capture was a mistake," Pina says, having trouble finding a compelling reason to explain to him.

The Dwarf just stands there looking at her, thinking. After a short silence, he walks away and gets onto his desk. Once there he sits down on it, so he is more even with her.

Pina watches confused by his manners. He clearly does not know or care he is in the presence of a princess. Though, she does not really care about that title right now. So far it seemed her title has only made this worse. "Can I see him?"

"Sorry but no," The dwarf says bluntly. "This is very interesting indeed."

Hearing 'no' infuriates her. Why is this becoming so hard? "What do you mean by that? Do you think this is funny? You just said…?" Pina asks, not thrilled.

"Yes, I do actually," The dwarf says. "You see, I no longer have this American you speak of."

Pina's anger switches to confusion. How did he know the man she is looking for is an American? She intentionally left that detail out.

The dwarf sees her confusion. "You are the second person who came here this week asking about him. They took him."

Pina cannot believe it. So close and yet so far. Why would anyone want the American from a place like this? Who would even know about him? "Who took him and where did they go?"

As she spoke, her mind begins to race on the situation she found herself in. Maybe Sharpe's people already came here and saved him. However, the more she thinks about that the more she realizes that it cannot be. This place is not a war zone, and the mine is still open.

"That will cost you," The cheeky dwarf says.

Pina was about to burst out in anger but retrains herself. "What do you want". She then begins to think, trying to remember what supplies she has. "I not much to offer. We have been traveling for a long time now."

The dwarf looks at her all happily. "Come on. You look very well off and proper. Someone like you must have something to trade," He finishes with a big grin on his face.

Pina thinks for a moment, looking at his expression. She takes a deep breath and begins to undress her armor.

The dwarf eyes grow big. "What are you doing!? I don't want this; I just want to get out of this hell hole of a mine. I was hoping for money or something."

Nothing but embarrassment and anger fills her body. She completely has miss read the situation, again. All her life she has been told that men are these horn dogs of a beast. Show a little skin and they become these brainless duds that are easy to seduce. This is the second time this has failed.

Pina turns around and walks out the door, having no idea what to do next.

Once outside, she sees her knights standing there, waiting for news on what happened. They see her and get a little scared, seeing her expression.

Pina looks down, seeing that she had failed, again. Tears begin to build up with the realization that all her plans have been exploding in front of her.

Hamilton walks up, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Princess, are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

Pina's eyes burst open and she looks at Hamilton. "That might work."

Right then she burst to pass her knights, rushing as fast as she can back to the horses. Everyone is watching her puzzled about what is going on.

Once Pina gets to her horse, she pulls put her crown from her bag. It is not as nice as the one she has back at Sadera. This one is meant to be worn when traveling. It is gold with these three red jewels on top. Smiling, she rushes back to that building.

Once there, Hamilton sees the crown. "Princess, what are you doing? You can't give that man your crown."

Jalin crosses his arms, not approving what is happening. "She is right. You cannot sell your crown. Not for anyone. Remember who you are your highness and the station that brings. You have an image to protect."

Pina looks at them, starting to get sick of this constant negativity from them. "What if it was you?"

Hamilton looks away, not wanting to answer the question.

Jalin, on the other hand, looks directly at Pina. "I am a Knight, and you are my princess. I have the oath to serve and protect you. Which I am glad to follow. That crown represents more than you, it represents your position in the hierocracy the world. It is a symbol of who is a leader is."

Pina listens to what Jalin has to say. The truth is what he said is not wrong. Growing up she was told the same thing. People follow and respect her because of what this crown represents.

As Pina takes a relaxing breath, she remembers when she first meant the Americans in Italica. That strange man named Sharpe just walked onto the wall and spoke. He had no crown; the townsfolk did not know what his military rank was. Now that she thinks about it, he did not rely on his rank in his speech. The rank Major meant nothing to them, at first, she even thought it was part of his name.

Pina looks up to see her knights. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that this is no way Rory Mercury would ever follow someone because of a title. Many have tried and failed.

During that one encounter with the blue hair girl during the Italica negotiations, she made it clear that she did not care for titles too. Which implies she is following him, not the rank. Just like Rory.

As Pina looks at her knights, collecting her thoughts. The question rises in her head. Are they all following her for this piece of metal that is in her hand? "Maybe that's the problem." She says softly.

After saying that she walks back inside.

---

Jalin stands there, confused by what she just said. "What on Hardy hide does that mean?"

Grey looks to him. "She is becoming a leader."

Jalin looks over to Grey. "She already is."

Grey shakes his head a little. He was like him when he was younger. "Jalin, I am going to say this once. The Empire is going to fall. The leaders of the Empire have rested on their position for so long, they are no longer capable of handling our world."

Jalin looks away but thinking about what Grey said.

Jalin looks back. "Still, this is disappointing. The crown is a sign of prestige and she is selling it to a place like this. This is low. The other Knights won't like this."

Hamilton turns around to look at Jalin. "Well, I guess the Princess is thinking that what's the point of a crown if there won't be a throne in the future," She then looks to Grey. "Am I correct Grey?"

Greg looks to her and nods. "Close."

---

Pina walks back into the building. She marches back to the dwarf desk, tossing her crown on his desk. "There. Tell me what I want to know."

The dwarf sits there, surprised by what just happen. He grabs the crown and study's it. To his surprise, the crown is real and in high quality. "By the gods… where did you get this?"

"It doesn't matter. Tell me what I want to know," Pina responds, just wanting to get what she wants.

The dwarf looks up at her. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to return. If you did, I was going to lie. But I cannot miss lead you now. I will finally be able to go home."

The dwarf hops off his desk. "Five shady people came here three days ago. They called him American, that is how I learned what to call that slave. I got the impression that these people were going around gathering these Americans. I do not know why."

Pina listens to what he said. Some other group is going around and collecting them. Is this a good or bad thing though? It could just be another group like hers trying to help. But the dwarf said he thought these people are shady and that could not be good.

"Tell me more about these people". Pina asks, trying to gather any information she can.

The dwarf thinks about the question. "They were in cloaks. However, I was surprised to see how diverse the group was. There was an elf, bunny, and another animal like creatures. No humans though. They all look serious. This one-man thought, I have never seen his race before. He looked close to being a rat looking pig."

Pina places his hand on her chin and thinks. Everything he said makes no sense. She has been educated on almost every major race in Falmart, she has never heard of one that fit his description.

"Where did they go?" Pina asks.

"I don't know their direction, but I am pretty sure they are heading to Toumaren," The dwarf finishes.

Pina nods her head and leaves the building.

***

--- Western border of the Kingdom of Toumaren ---

August 8th, 2025

For the past three days, the Knights of the Rose Order have been riding hard, trying to catch up to those cloak people who took the American slave. She sent scout riders out into the countryside, looking for any clues for those people who took the American. Their only luck so far is that there is not another route to Toumaren, which limit the direction these people can travel.

To save time, Pina split her force into two groups. Jalin, Grey, and Beefeater leading one team and everyone else with Pina. The idea is to cover more territory and to move faster.

As Pina group stops to catch their breath and figure out where to go next, Bozes Co Palesti rides up to Pina's side.

"Your highness; don't wear yourself out," Bozes says.

"I will rest once we find them. We are so close; we can't just let them slip by," Pina responds, looking around, hoping that one of her scouts found a clue.

"Why not, we have one of them already. That should be enough to end the search." Bozes says, looking around herself while on her horse.

Pina turns around to face her friend. "Why don't you just go guard that girl from Alguna."

Bozes looks to her. "I am sorry Princess. I don't mean to be rude. This quest is just consuming you. We all are afraid of your wellbeing. That is all."

Pina looks at her, Jalin did warn her that doing that might have been a mistake. "Tell me, why are you here Bozes? We have been friends for as long as I can remember".

Bozes looks to her, baffled by the question. "That is why I am here. We have been friends for a long time now. I will fight and die by your side. I will follow you to whatever end."

"Then why are you talking about my crown. Why is it that everyone seems to care more about my crown then I do?" Pina looks away and thinks.

Pina then looks back at Bozes and Hamilton. "All my life I wanted to prove to everyone that I can do it. To show that I can be a grand and respectable leader. I wanted to start the Rose Order to gain the opportunity to serve, to fight. To earn the respect of my father and the other nobles. I wanted glory and everything that come with it."

As Pina speaks, she glances down at her hand for some reason. She takes her hand and forms a fist, thinking about everything that has happened. "Everywhere I go, I wanted everyone to sees my accomplishments, I wanted that to defy me. So that people take me seriously, just like they do with my damn brothers. They did not need to do anything to gain that respect and they are given everything. I believed if I accomplished some glory then I would be one of the greats. People would listen to me."

Pina looks to Bozes. "You weren't there when Italica was besieged. Right then I saw this man, no nobility, no royalty, no crown stood there. He could have easily turned away; it was not his fight. As the city was falling apart, just with words he convinced the people that they had hope and that they could win the battle. He leads not because he's above but because he is one."

Pina takes a breath and looks away. "See, for the first time in my life, I actually saw a true example of leadership, of people actually respecting someone that isn't being held up by something fake nobility. You see Bozes… Hamilton. No throne, no crown, no noble blood, but for him. He spoke with pride, caring, and principle, showing respect to people he did not even know. And I have been thinking since Alnus, what do I believe in? What do we believe in?"

"When the enemy cares about our people more than we do, then what are we even doing? What are we fighting for"? Pina says, getting upset. Tearing up a little in her eyes. "I am going, to be honest. I have been pushing this feeling down for a long time now, but I cannot keep run away from it. My heart just won't let it go away. What do we stand for? For strength and honor, the Empire? We rule because we just can? What kind of principles are those, are they worth dying for? There is no loyalty from that. I saw that when Countess Myui switches sides. No matter how much I like to I just can't be made at her."

"These people we are at war with, well, I don't even understand what we are at war against. The people we are fighting are trying to protect our people from us? Who is the enemy then? Jalin and many of you don't like that we are trying to save a few of their people that we stole. I know for a fact if Sharpe was right here, he and his people wouldn't be having this conversation. They would not rest until they found all of them. See, he to help others, not because it benefits him. I would say that is true for the rest of them". Pina explains, remembering the last conversation she had with him. A conversation she hasn't forgotten and won't anytime soon.

Pina looks back to Bozes, her good long-time friend. "I am sorry, but I have to do this, alone if I must. I have to get his respect back, I need to regain it. I do not care what the senate or my brothers or all the other nobilities think. He is the leader I always wanted to be. People looking at me because I have earned it. Not because of a title or position but because I have earned it. I want to lead not because I am seeking some distant glory to brag about but to protect my people, my friends." Deep down inside she is still ashamed that she couldn't answer Sharpe's question about how much is Hamilton's worth.

Bozes has been listening to everything. She wishes she were there to witness what her princess saw. When she thinks about it, even when she took him captured and tortured slightly, he was protecting his team and a peace treaty. Was willing to put his life on the line for that. Not many, if any in the Empire would have done that. "Princess, I understand. No matter what, I will stay by your side until the end."

To Bozes surprise, Pina just deflects her encouragement.

"No! You don't understand". Pina says and begins to cry. "The reason we are here right now is that I fucking fucked up! I am worse than my fucking brother Zorzal. I used people for my own end. I took his kindness and spat at it. I used his honorability and handshake, his trust in my belief in peace but all I wanted to do was use it to boost my station. So, I could be like my family and the ruling caste. Deep down inside I knew what I really was doing all along. I was lying to them, to him, to myself. I said I wanted peace to save the Empire but only because that would have brought glory to my life. That equaling respect in the eyes of people I don't even like! People that have looked down on me and all of you. An outsider from a different world has given us in the Rose Order more respect than our own fucking people. And what did that accomplish?"

Then there is a short pause in the conversation. There is a lot of emotions in the air as everyone reflects on their past decisions.

Pina wipes the tears from her face with her arm. "I'm sorry… it is just. I just realize that I am nothing close to being what I wanted. I hate looking at myself because I am not a leader. I don't deserve a crown". She stops to think and takes a deep breath. She looks forward. "The only thing I know I want now is his respect again. I don't fully understand why but I just need it. I don't care about any of that royalty stuff anymore. It just means so little now. I just want the respect from someone I respect…"

Hamilton rides over to Pina, tears in her eyes. She uses her horse to block Pina. "Princess. You have all of our respect. You have always had mine. You are nothing like your brothers, your father. Prince Daibo is an intelligent idiot who thinks about things but never does anything. He has done nothing so far to help you during all this. And Prince Zorzal, he is a dishonorable rapist fool whose courage is the size of his penis. You have been the only one out here trying to do anything. No one in Sadera would even dare get their hands dirty."

Bozes rides up and holds out her hand. Pina sees her hand and places hers with Bozes, interlocking them. Hamilton joins them and interlocks their hands with them. The three of the smiles at each other.

"Ok, lets forget everything that has happen and move forward. Maybe doing this can do some good after all". Bozes says.

Not long afterward this female rider rides up. "Princes! I found them!"

--- 1 hour later ---

Pina team, only numbering ten total slowly sneak up on this camp. They dismounted not too far away, just far enough so these people in the camp could not hear them.

"Right there, in that cage wagon. I saw three people; one looks like that black man Grey was describing before," That female scout says.

Pina looks closely, trying to get a good view. "I think you are right. Good job. Do you know how many of these people are?"

"I counted about twenty before riding away," The female scout Elbera says.

Pina looks to her and then looks to the rest of the knights, all being female. Going up against maybe twenty-five men, different races too. This could get risky.

Pina looks back at the camp. "What would Sharpe do…." She thinks but not coming up with anything. He probably would use their long-range weapons, picking these people off.

Bozes moves closer to Pina. "What is the plan?"

Pina looks to Bozes and then back to the camp. Her Knights only have swords, ranged combat would not work anyway. "We move in quick and fast. Get the wagon and get out."

She then waves her hand forward and the Rose Knights begin moving in. They stay as close to the ground as they can as they move closer to the camp, taking cover at anything they can.

Over to the right, Bozes sneaks up behind this man who is taking a piss. He goes down quickly onto the ground. She then rallies two other knights. They then move forward.

Everyone else is with Pina as they enter the camp. "Get them!"

All the Knights break from their cover and charge into the camp, killing anyone who is there.

These strange men at the camp are taken by surprise, getting up and grabbing their weapons. However, though, they would recover from the shock and a battle begins within the camp.

Pina blocks a sword attack with her own sword. It took all her strength to block it. She pushes forward and slashes at him, cutting at his chest. It seems that these people are not wearing armor, that should balance the odds.

She then walks up to him and then stabbed her sword into the man, killing him. She then looks up and sees her knights fighting. Many are trying to work together, watching each other back to prevent bring flanks from behind.

Seeing one of her knights busy fighting this man, Pina sees one of these clocked men runs up behind her, about to swing her ax down.

Pina rushes forward and then before that man attacks one of her knights, she forces her blade into the man's side.

Blood pours out of his body and down her sword. She grabs her sword to handle harder and swings out, cutting the man in half.

Looking to her right, she raises her sword and blocks this other sword. She gets pushed back by the brute force of him.

As Pina walks back, she trips over one of her knights' dead body, falling into the dirt. She looks down and sees one of her knight's dead, somewhat shocked by that sight. She then looks up and sees that man swing his sword down.

Pina rolls to the right, just missing the blade. The blade did catch her armor cap, capturing her in place.

The man reaches down and grabs her arm. As he lifts her up, Pina grabs some of the dirt and tosses it in his eyes.

He lets go of her and then Pina grabs her sword, ramming it into the man's neck. The man falls back after being stabbed in the neck, killing him.

Pina catches her breath and stands up, getting free from his sword. She walks up and pulls out her sword and rushes to Bozes.

Pina blocks one of the two attackers that were attacking Bozes.

"Princess, we are just outnumbered," Bozes states as her sword clashes with this elf.

Pina takes a quick glance around, seeing two of her knights are wounded and the rest are just fighting for their lives.

The Rose Knights are surrounded, forcing them all to bunch up to each other in three smaller groups. This is preventing them from helping each other out.

"Keep fighting, try to break free to the others". Pina says, trying to figure out what to do.

As the fighting continues and everyone is distracted, about a dozen horses burst out of the trees. Horsemen and horsewomen rush into the camp and ride into the cloaked people, slashing them down.

Pina looks and sees the Rose Order banner. But it is not the Grey team.

Being outflanked and now surrounded themselves, it would not take long before all the remaining cloak men are cut down. Within minutes, the battle would be over with all the cloak people dead.

Pina walks around, this being her first real battle. Honestly, this is the Knight's first real battle. It is so much different than the stories that are told. She looks down at her fallen Knight, laying in the blood of her own blood dead.

"I am sorry…," Pina says, looking down at her.

Hamilton walks over. She looks down at her fallen sister and struggling to find the words. "Men find this glorious?"

"Not all," Pina responds and looks to Hamilton. Looking at her fellow comrade, it reminds her of what Sharpe said about those big wars he was talking about. With all those deaths, he was saying. She did not understand what that really meant then, they were just big numbers. Now, what he said seems to make more sense. "Can you check on the prisoners in the cage? Make sure they are ok?"

Hamilton looks to her and nods. She dashes off to the wagon.

As she rushes off, Pina turns around and walks over to the cavalrymen. "Thank you for the help fellow Knights."

One of the riders walks closer. It is a woman riding the horse. She gets off her horse and then takes off her helmet.

"Princess, I am just glad we found you," Panache Fure Kalgi says. To her sudden surprise, she is tackled by Pina and given a big hug.

"Thank you," Pina says, tired from battle but full of energy.

"Ahh… ok," Panache replies, confused.

Pina lets go and right then Bozes walks up and places her arm around Panache.

"Thank you for your help. These people didn't stand a chance. The Rose Knights won their first battle!" Bozes states, all energetic.

"How did you find us? How did you even get down here"? Pina asked, confused by her presence.

"Well, when you never returned from Alnus, one of your riders told us you were heading south. We could not just go through the Other Worlders base. That forced us to go the long way around,". Panache explains. "We ran into Sir Grey and he told me you were around here somewhere. He wanted us to help you".

Pina smiles, happy to see her friend. "Ok, I am just glad that you are here".

Panache smiles back and then looks to the wagon cage. "Why are you even here fighting these people? Did they take one of you prisoner?"

"No, we are here to help them," Bozes states.

Panache looks at Boze confused. She then looks back at the cage, seeing Hamilton trying to open the door to release them. "Why are we helping the enemy after what they did in Sadera."

Pina takes a deep breath, realizing she must explain this again.

However, Bozes is the one to respond. "Lady, a lot has changed since Alnus. We have a long story to tell you."