“The 10th Mountain division, 3rd Infantry Brigade has captured the Imperial city of Marais. The siege lasted for five days.

The original plan was to have the M777 howitzer from the Battery E, 7th Field Artillery, 10th Mountain to bombard the city, taking out key defensive structures. However, with the recent heavy rainstorm, the highway and the heave weight of NATO equipment traveling on the Roma Highway, the highway has turned into a muddy mess. Locals say this is normal, that the rain clouds get trapped between the southern tip of the Dumas Mountains and the north tip of the Tube Mountain Range, creating a mud lake that stretches throughout the valley.

Two soldiers already died because of the mud lake, with three M1 Abrams and two M2 Bradley has got stuck in the mud and deem unsalvable. The troops said they ran into a mud hole that acted more like quicksand from the movies than mud. The 16th Engineer Battalion from the 1st Armored Division, 1st Brigade was rushed to assist the 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain, which are struggling in getting the armored convoy to the front lines. Both units are trying to build a makeshift road to Marais so vehicles can drive there.

Because of how bad the terrain is, Colonel Henry Camble was forced to only use light vehicles and infantry to lay siege to Marais. Forced to only use mortars, they began a three day, using RQ-11 Raven and MQ-9 Reaper UAV’s as spotters. Once the city defenses were destroyed, the Infantry, supported by heavily armed HUMVEEs, and Light Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.

Once the city defenses were destroyed by the 19th Imperial Legion, three thousand Imperial Soldiers. For the past two weeks both the 10th Mountain and the 19th Legion have been battling throughout the region.

The goal is not to level the city but use it has a forward operation base to push north towards Sadera. This is part of a broader campaign to cut the Empire into multiple pieces and from its primary economic source, agriculture.

With a population of fifteen thousand, 1st battalion from the 79th Infantry Brigade, 40th Infantry Division of the National Guard will take over the occupation of the city and surrounding area.

Colonel Camble has stated that he is forced to pause Operation Roundball for three days until road condition improve enough for the Stryker’s, Bradley’s, and Abrams arrive so they could make a push north. In the meantime, 3rd Infantry Brigade will be securing the outer area.” – Free Alnus News

***

--- The Greater Elies Region, Fortress Legrath, Prison Dungeon ---

August 17th, 2025

Tuka is currently sitting on the floor. In front of her are two other elves. This is one of dozens of cells in this dungeon, all full of her people. The Empire Legions have all rounded up a few weeks ago and taken here. Since then, though, they have been left alone.

She is missing her father; he is somewhere in the dungeon.

Looking up she sees one of her elves. She looks very depressed like everyone else seems to be. Nothing has gone as planned. They all thought Elias would have been a great place to rebuild her people's village.

"It is going to be ok. We will find a way out of here," Tuka said to her comrade.

That elf looks over. "Tuka... you are always so positive. But look around, we are in a cell of this hellhole. Eight years to this. It is over."

She takes a breath and thinks about that.

It has been a long time. All her people struggle must just end up like this.

That is when she hears someone coming. Looking over she sees the Human man in the Imperial Army armor.

"Come on you little elves. Food." The soldier says. He places this small wooden pale outside the cell bars. He starts to leave but then stops. He smiles at her, clearly, he is bored down here on guard duty and finds it amusing to spoil their food.

Then to her surprise, this man urinates in the pale. He whistles as he goes, just rubbing it in.

She sits there and just watches. She knows that we will have to eat it no matter what, that being our only food source for the day.

As she watches the man make fun of her, this being the most interesting part of his day. Her eyes suddenly grow big as this figure in gray assassin type clothing with a hood and cloth around his mouth.

"What? Never seen a co-," The soldier says as he is knocked out by this mystery man.

She stands up and rushes up to the bars. "Who are you?"

This new man drags the body away to this closet. He then walks up with the keys and unlocks the cell door. "Help me free the others."

The other two elves walk out of the cell, happy to be out. She stops and looks at this man. "Wait, who are you? Why are you helping?"

Before the man walks away, he looks back at her. "I am part of the Alnus resistance. We are freedom fighters against the Empire. I am with the Americans in the war against the Empire."

She looks at him completely confused. "What? Freedom fighters? Americans? I have no idea what you are speaking."

One of Tuka's fellow elves walks up to her. "Who cares, lets free everyone can get out of this place."

"I guess you are right. Thank you, stranger." She is just happy that there is some kindness still in this world.

Before they can start freeing her people, she hears someone yells down the hall. Looking to her left, she sees three soldiers.

"Halt! Stop them!" One of the soldier's yells, pulling out his sword.

The man that freed her takes a step back. "We have to leave now."

She looks at him. "We can't leave everyone here. My father..."

That man looks at her. "We will come back. We’re going to need help. Go, Run!" He then pulls out these three stars knives and tosses them at the guards.

"This way!" The assassin man says. He then rushes down the hallway.

She sees her two fellow elves follow him, scared of the guards. Seeing no choice but to leave, she follows him to.

As they run, they can hear yelling coming from behind them. Bells are ringing, probably signing to the Legion that the prisoners have escaped.

"Do you know where you are going!?" One of her fellow elves asks, scared.

"There is a secret tunnel. That is how I got in here. We need to shake them first." This man says.

"How are we going to do... AHHH!" This male elf says as an arrow hits him in the back. He falls face-first onto the ground, in a great amount of pain.

Tuka stops and looks down at her comrade. "Salk! Mister, we need to help!"

She begins to rush back at her fellow elf as until she was stopped by the man.

"No, no time. If we don't get out now, then the rest of your people are dead," He said. Then he starts running again, pulling her along.

As they all can hear their fallen friend yells for help before they hear him be executed, Tuka begins to cry from that. She is getting sick of the killing and suffering of her people.

As she runs, they seem to lose the Empire guards, losing her friend seem to distract them long enough. Besides, it seems like this man knows this place very well.

"How do you know where you are going? Everything looks the same." She asks him.

"I worked here once. Long ago. I left during the war." This man says.

"What war? Isn't the Empire always at war with someone?" She asks as she follows him down a hallway after hallway.

This man looks to her. "You really don't know do you?"

"We are new to this region. Were from the far west, by Edras." She tells him.

The man stops and looks around, studying the layout.

"The Empire invaded another world through this magical Gate.... This way. I will explain later." The man says and rushes down this other hallway.

All in the background, she can hear those guards catching up. Something does not seem right about him, a Human helping an elf. However, it might just be the fact that she has not meant a good Human in a long time.

They get through this doorway and end up in a room.

"My people are... what!?" The man says as he stops.

She walks over and looks at him. Seeing this shocked look, she investigates the room. All around are dead bodies. Every dead body that is in this room is in the same clothing as him. Clearly, they are part of his group.

"I am sorry," She tells him, sad for this sacrifice.

"They're all dead, how." The man says

Right behind them, they all hear this voice.

"They stood no chance."

She turns around and sees this dark elf appearing out of nowhere. Dark purple energy appears around his hands, firing an energy bolt at them.

The man rams right into her, saving her from the energy bolt. "We need to run now!"

Tuka is helped up by this man. Looking back to the Dark Elf, she watches as he helps her other elf comrade. "Grasa, no!"

She feels that man grab her arm again. "Cover your eyes."

She looks to him, watching he grabs this small bag of something. He throws it in the ground, and everything goes blind.

"Ahh!" She says as she covers her eyes, unable to see.

She feels her arm being pulled away.

--- 35 minutes later ---

When they finally reached the outside, Tuka leans against a tree. She falls onto her rear and begins to cry. "Grasa, Salk... why..."

She then looks to the mystery man as he catches his breath. He removes his rob cap to wipe off the sweat.

She begins to feel bad for him. While she lost two more friends, he did lose his friends that were trying to save her people.

"Thank you for trying to help. I am sorry about your people. I wish I could have done more to help." She says to him.

She watches as he looks to her. She sees this scare on his face like he has seen combat before.

"They were soldiers, fighting to defeat the Empire." He spoke. He then looks behind, looking up at the massive fortress in the background.

She looks at the direction he is looking at and looks at what he is looking at. Looking at that massive fortress of terror, she cannot believe that she was inside of it. "Wow... that is massive... how did you know about that secret exit?"

"Fortress Legrath has been built and rebuild hundreds of times. There are dozens of secret tunnels and exits all around. Some are forgotten while others secretly guarded. They can lead deep within the fortress."

"And your people have been using them to sneak in and out," She asks him.

She watches as he looks at her and then away like he is in deep thought.

"Only recently. The Americans are on their way to lay siege to this fort," He said.

"That is the second time you brought them up. Who are these people and why do they care about my people?" She asks, starting to question the motives of all this. No one does anything for nothing. She remembers what King Juleas did to her people. Slaughtering her people under the banner of peace.

"The Empire attacked their world in the name of glory and pressure. However, they did not realize that the people on the other side of the Gate are far more powerful. The Americans and their allies came across the Gate and have been destroying the Empire Legions." He explains. Based on his tone it sounds like the war has been tense.

"Ok, what does that have to do with me and my people? Even you? Who cares about the Empire? They should fall anyway," Tuka said.

"I will admit, I do not fully understand their motives however so far they seem to be pure. They have saved many people and cities form death and destruction. From what I understand they value freedom and life." He responds.

She notices that is the second time he mentions the word freedom. Her people have been on the run for so long it is hard for her to understand that word meaning now.

"They have fought against the Empire, freed their people from slavery but people of this world too. Alnus Hill is the base of their operations and they are freeing everyone they can." He continues to say.

"That sounds very strange. Why would anyone do that for people they don't know?" She asks again, not happy that he hasn't fully answered her question. But again, he did help her and tried to free her people.

"Look, I am sorry for being like this. It has just been a very long time. Life has been hard for my people. Thank you." She says, deciding to give this man a break. "What is the plan now?"

The man looks to the fortress and then back to her. "We can't go back. They will be expecting us, and my unit is gone. We are going to need the Americans to help."

"Well, if they are so powerful, why don't they just attack the fortress and free my people?" She asks him.

"Because they are busy fighting the Empire. The war is on multiple fronts. Also, they are afraid to directly to attack the fort. Scared to hurt the prisoners. The Empire is using people to protect the fort, so they do not directly attack it. That will only work for a while but maybe long enough to delay them." HE explains as he gathers his things.

She gets up, listening to all that. These people he is talking about seem rather strange. They also sound scary, anyone more powerful than the Empire should be feared. But he seems like he trusts them.

"Ok. Do you think they will help us?" She asks him.

"Yes, we just need to talk to this one man. Major Sharpe, he seems to be an expert in rescuing people." He says.

To her surprise, this man seems like he knows what he is doing. It sounds like he has a plan for a plan. Even when one falls apart, he already has another one ready. "Alright, let's go. I need to save my father. If this is the only way lets hurry."

She walks past him but then stops and looks at him. "My name is Tuka Luna Marceau."

The man looks at her, swings a backpack on his back. "You can call me Hardus."

***

--- Path of Hadritus ---

August 17th, 2025

Lelei is sitting in the back on Shape's command Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. After the last battle, they have been moving through the Path of Hadritus, which covers the southern part of the Elies Region.

From what Sharpe explain earlier, both Vanguard teams are hunting for Imperialist locations. If they find any, destroy them. It seems what Sharpe calls 'The Brass' does not want anyone flanking their main attacking force.

She is trying to read this book called Harry Potter. Before leaving on the mission, Sharpe recommends this book. This is only the first book however she has found it funny.

A secret society of wizards who study magic. So far, she has found it all amazing how absurd how these people keep magic secret. But out of all the books, she has read so far, this series has done a more realistic approach to how magic works.

The problem is, both Rory and Alicia will not shut up. They are next to each other, talking about the recent battle. Both enjoy the blood lust of battle. They have both become fast warrior friends, having each other back. There just bragging on how great each other were in battle.

"You two are very annoying at times," She says, letting out some frustration.

"Wait... did you just swear?" Alicia asks, confused by Lelei's reaction.

"What did we do?" Rory asks confused.

"... I am sorry. I am just trying to read my book," Lelei says again in her usual academic tone.

"Sorry, we will try to be quiet," Rory says, rolling her eyes.

Nodding to Rory, she goes back to reading her book.

It would not be long until she hears them giggling. Looking up from her book she sees both looking at this magazine.

"I find this man really hot," Alicia says, pointing to a picture.

Rory looks at the half naked man, giggling, enjoying the sight. "Those are big abs. I can beat him though."

Hearing Rory says that makes Lelei blush. All these inappropriate imagines appearing in her head, imagining what they are talking about. She sees Alicia look over to Rory with a big smirk.

"Really...," Alicia says, highly implying something.

She then sees Rory look to Alicia confused. She thinks for a second and then turns bright red. She then glares at Alicia. They suddenly end up in a fight.

"Hey!" Sharpe suddenly yells. He looks through the gap between the two front seats. "I am in a meeting. Knock it off!"

She watches as both look terrified by Sharpe's sudden outburst. He has shown to have a soft inside that think skin. However, he gets scary when he is mad. Scary enough to scare Rory, not as he could do anything to her though.

Getting really annoyed and unable to read her book now because of the recent topic, she closes the book. She then looks up front, wondering what is going on. As usual Corporal Andrew Steele is driving. Now that she thinks about it, she has never seen Sharpe drive while on missions.

"Since you two won't shut up and keep your minds out of the ditch, I am going up front," She says in an annoyed voice.

As she moves up, she feels a little jealous of Rory and Alicia. Laughing and giggling, showing expression of what life can offer. Sometimes she wishes she can just be silly like them. Coming up with jokes and talking about boys and other stuff.

She adjusts herself as she pokes between the two car seats. "wow..." She says as the vehicle bounces a little from the dirt road.

Looking over to Sharpe, she sees him looking at a screen. On it, she sees a lot of people looking at this man. It looks like Lieutenant General Stanford, leader of NATO Expeditionary Force to this world.

She looks to her right to see Sharpe. He has this headset on, listening to the meeting that is on the screen. Not wanting to interrupt, she begins moving back into the back.

"Need something?" Sharpe asks.

She looks back at him. "Ahh... no. I was just seeing what you were doing. I am sorry to bother you."

"Never. You are like the calmest one in the group. Want to listen?" Sharpe asks her, smiling at her.

"Is that allowed?" She asks him.

"You are on the team Lelei, don't forget that. You earn it." Sharpe says, handing her a headset.

She takes the headset. She remembers back on Earth after the battle at the resort. When he handed her that patch with the team logo on it. It was the greatest feeling she has ever experienced.

Being a nomad, she traveled a lot as a kid. She ran away with her older sister from her abusive father. She is happy that she was taken in by Cato. He helps trained her to become a mage and feel accepted. But that patch is something special. Sharpe is right, it was earned, not given.

She smiles at him and then puts the headset on. The headset is big, not fully fitting on her head. Unlike those small devices that go into her ears, this wraps around her head.

"Hold on. Let me help." Sharpe says. He takes his off and reaches around to her. He then adjusts her headset to make it fit. "There we go."

"Ahh... thank you." She says, feeling embarrassed. Seeing that he is smiling at her, she returns one.

"What are they talking about?" She asks him now, wanting to get caught up.

"Stanford is hosting a meeting for the next stage of the invasion. The entire frontline of the Empire was destroyed. We killed close to seven thousand of the Imperialists. They set up trench systems like the one we ran into throughout the whole region. They are discussing why it has been hard for our forces to detect them." Sharpe explains.

"Really? Are those trenches really that effective? So, your sensors can't see them?" She asks him.

"Yup." Sharpe responds. Then he presses a button on the screen. A map appears with all these blue and red boxes all over it.

"Is that your digital Blue Map?" She asks, fascinated by what she is looking at. She is still used to using paper maps, even the best ones are more like references. They are usually off unless you already know where you're going.

"Yes. It is called Blue Force Tracker. Just like my NW gear, all our forces are displayed here. Same with the enemy. I can zoom in and see what units what are. All in real-time... when I have a good connection."

"That is impressive Major." She says, looking more closely. "So, why didn't we get ambushed then if your drones can't see the enemy."

"A trench system is a man-made network. We can look at the landmass and determine enemy positions. We can also see into the ground, which helps to see what is natural or artificial. But that requires a lot of work and study. We kind just got lucky." Sharpe explains.

She thinks about what he said. It is impressive they have many ways to look for the enemy but why does it seem that the enemy can hide their heat. That makes no sense, the Empire has no shield against the American sensors.

She begins to think about magic. A powerful mage can do many interesting things. Sky magic has already seemed to have some kind of effect on their missiles. Something that has baffled Sharpe's superiors. Even if it was magic, no magic-user can blanket a whole region.

"Wait... while in the trenches, did you see what was covering them?" She asks.

Sharpe looks at her confused. "Yeah, look like animal skin. Local wildlife."

"Hmmm. I thought so." She says and then turns around. "Hey, Rory."

Rory looks away from that magazine to face her. Her face is all red again. "Yes... Lelei..."

She looks at her. "Do you know about the wildlife of this region? I saw a lot of boar hides on the bunkers and trenches. Do you think it is Hogus Boar?"

Rory sits there and thinks. Then she gets excited, seeing what she is saying. "I think so. Yeah, it is. Smart."

"Thank you, Miss Mercury." She says and looks back at Sharpe.

"So... you going to fill me in?" Sharpe asks her, completely lost.

"Is there a way I can speak with the General? I think I know why your flying drones are having a hard time seeing the Empire army heat. They are using the Hogus Boar as a heat shield." She tells him.

She can see this confused look on his face. It looks like he somewhat gets what she is trying to say.

"Yeah, hold on." He responds. He then talks through his headset, trying to set up a meeting.

It takes about five minutes of him talking to his superior, Colonel Yang.

Suddenly he looks to her. "Alright, you are clear Lelei. You are speaking directly to the General. Everyone will be listening."

Right then she realizes what she just did. "Wait... everyone?"

"Yes, everyone. Isn't that what you wanted?" Sharpe responds confused again.

She looks at him, scared. She didn't realize she was going to be hosting a meeting with so many people. She just wanted to tell them her idea.

It looked like her impression have her feelings off to Sharpe. She sees him smile at her.

"You got it Lelei." Sharpe says, giving her a supportive smile.

He then leans closer to her, getting her nervous for some reason.

Once he gets close, he speaks quietly. "Lelei, you got this. If I didn't think you could, I would let you. Between you and me, I wouldn't let Rory speak." He then leans back but gives her a wink.

That wink did not help, it just made her feel embarrassed more. But she takes a deep breath, enjoying that he values her opinion and trust that much.

"Hello... can you hear me?" She speaks through the headset.

"We all hear you Lelei La Lalena. It is nice to speak to you. I am sorry to me direct however I don't have a lot of time. There is something you like to inform us of?" Stanford asks through the radio.

"Yes... well. The animal hid you see on the trenches. They are Hogus Boar hides." She says over the radio. Her voice sounds a bit nervous, always glancing back up to Sharpe.

There is a short delay over the network.

"That is interesting however that does that have to do with our current campaign?" Stanford asks.

"Well... you see. They are using it to hide from your eyes. Your sensors." She says to him, struggling in saying what she wants to say.

She glances back up to Sharpe, giving him a 'help me' message. It looks like he saw that and speaks up.

"Hello sir, this is Major Sharpe. I understand what she is saying. This boar allows the Empire to hide from our sensors. Some kind of special properties that we don't understand yet." Sharpe explains.

"Yes. The Hogus Boar keeps its heat hidden from predators. In this region, there are the Dark Races, Dragons and other races, many who can see at night. So, this boar can hide its heat form their view." She explains, feeling a bit more comfortable now, seeing that he is helping her explain her idea.

"I agree sir." Sharpe says, adding to what she said. "I saw many of their forces wearing that hide as clothing besides wearing their standard armor. It looks like they figured out we can see their heat signatures."

"Interesting theory Miss Lalena. Are you sure of that though?" Stanford asks her.

The truth is that her idea is just a guess. It makes sense but she has found that these people like solid facts. They like to know everything before accepting an idea.

Before she can answer, this man name Colonel Robert speaks over the network. He seems to be somewhere else too.

"This is Colonel Robert. I agree with the young lady theory. The Iraq Army did something similar back in the Iraq invasion of 2003. One of my companies ran into one of these bunker ambushes. We saw the same thing. Recon saw some heat signatures, but they were small and written off as small animals." Robert says.

"Ok, so how does this help us?" Some random man asks in the meeting tent.

"Well, now we have a better what the enemy is doing. They have clearly adopted. But this allows us to adopt now and now we know how to find them. However, the campaign will still go on. Is there anything else Miss Lalena?" Stanford asks.

"No, thank you very much for listening," She says.

Once she knows they can hear her anymore, she takes a long stressful breath. "My gods..."

"You did good Lelei. You did well. That was very clever." Sharpe says, showing how to impress and proud he is of her.

She looks at him and smiles. "Thank you, Sharpe."

She then listens to the conversation over the network, looking at the screen.

"Alright people, since our war with Alguna is over, I am going to escalate SCHB. You all seen the recent reports, it looks like the Empire is making a stand at the regional capital of Havcristen. If they are using guerrilla and trench tactics out in the open, be prepared for close quarter combat within the city. We are going to lock that city down and take it street after street. I don't want the Empire to sneak behind our lines and I don't want the local population to rebel against us." Stanford says over the radio.

After hearing that, she is confused about what the General is saying. Surly NATO power should be enough to put down the Empire in the city.

She looks to Sharpe and taps him on the shoulder. "What does SCHB mean?"

Sharpe looks to her and takes off his headset. "It stands for Seize, Clear, Holds, Build. It means we move into a section of the city, clear it out. Establish a base and hold it. Our soldiers in that section protect it while the main force moves to the next section. It was first tried in the 2006 Battle of Ramadi, where we tried this strategy out there with great effect."

"Really? Why though? That sounds like a lot of work. Why don't you do what you did in Italica?" She asks, wondering why the Americans cannot just blow them up.

"This isn't Italica Lelei. There the enemy was concentrated and outside. From recent reports, we are expecting about ten to fifteen thousand Imperialists soldiers in the city. The city itself holds nearly one hundred and fifty thousand. Since the city is a major slave hub, we expect the city to be very loyal to the Empire." Sharpe explains to her.

"I am quite sure both Robert and Stanford were in Ramadi and that is where they got the idea from. It sounds simple but the strategy is brilliant. You push out the enemy and end any possible chance of an insurgency. This allows the local population to have faith and live their daily lives safely. That allows the business to operate without worries. It also prevents destabilization and anarchy." He continues to say, getting really into the plan.

As Sharpe spoke, she just looks at him and glances at the Blue Tracker screen. This turned out to be far deeper than she expected. Now that she thinks about it, it makes sense why these people like gathering so much information. She did not consider any of that.

She smiles at him, enjoying how he is enjoying the topic. Enjoying that she is not the only one that likes to learn things. Just enjoying different subjects. Honestly, more she thinks about it. The more she would like to have a conversation about things. It is not often she can have a deep conversation about subjects.

"So, the plan is to push the Empire out one street at a time? And then have your troops suppress any potential rebellion?" She asks him, starting to understand Stanford's plan.

"Yup. Our job is to move around and cut off or harass their supply routes." Sharpe says.

"So, you think people won't side with you? Eve with your power?" She asks him. "So far most people have. Look at the Kingdom of Elbe and Italica."

"And look at what happened with the Kingdom of Alguna. They were afraid of change, so they believed the only chance they had was to fight. At least that's how I understand it." He says back to her.

She then sees him look at her, in a more serious look. "Look, while most people will prefer to stay on the sidelines, wanting to stay alive. Others will fight for what they believe in. Regardless of how strong the enemy is. If they feel like someone is going to take away something they believe in, a portion of the population will resist."

"It looks like one of the downsides of pushing abolishment of slavery in the Alnus region, it is scaring many businesses throughout the region," He said.

"And money talks. So, they will side with the one who will protect their pocket." She says to him, wanting to add to what he said.

"Correct. It is money and politics. If we can show that we are not going to just rip away their lifestyle and force everyone out of a job. Then maybe they will trust us," He said.

"Interesting. War seems to be complicated," She said.

"Yup. We will see how it goes. Anyway, back to the meeting." Sharpe says, putting back on his headsets.

Both continue to listen to the staff meeting and the NATO forces get ready for the next stages of the campaign.