"Today we talked to the head US Army Engineer Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Brady who is leading the Alnus Energy project. He said one of the major priorities since construction of the fort was to make it as self-sufficient as possible.

To that end the military was relied on local food shipments to help ease the logistics strains that are created by the limited size of the Gate.

Of course, a major issue has been energy. While all the buildings have solar panels and wind turbines to help power Fort Alnus and the other facilities in the region that has not been able to offset the growing demands and size of NATO presence.

Lieutenant Colonel Brady has said the final approval to construct the next generation NuScale Power nuclear reactors from NuScale Power at Fort Alnus. The current plan is for six reactors and they will be able to provide all the energy needs and extra for the growing size of the Alnus Community.

Besides solar and fuel base generators, the base is powered by modular reactors to help offset the increase energy needs. Military leaders say this will allow them to expand their military presence and help increase efficient as the war demands continue to grow.

To our Alnus natives, a nuclear plant split what is called an atom into heat water that creates steam. The steam then turns a turbine to generate electricity. It takes sophisticated equipment and a highly trained workforce to make it happen, but it is that simple. We will be having a special about the details in a later broadcast in an inclusive interview." – Free Alnus Radio

--- Kingdom of Alguna, South of Piertor ---

January 13th, 2026

First Lieutenant Charles Johnson looks around. This is his first mission in command of Vanguard-2. His other nine Rangers are formed up firing into an oncoming horde of Goblins.

When they got to Galuoa, the capital of Alguna, they said they needed help clearing out the remaining Alguna breeding hordes by Piertor.

Prince Iolk Elbe and Princess Rigus Claymen requested help in clearing out what remains of their hordes. Long ago Alguna was able to tame and breed their own small Dark Race army of Goblins, Trolls, and Ogres. This allowed them to build armies quickly when they needed, being a power in the region even though they were a small Kingdom(1).

After their main army was destroyed during the Second Battle of Alnus, a Dar murdered Rigus' uncle, then took power and convinced her to start a war against the Elbe Fiefdom. The Alguna Campaign was short, only lasting a few weeks and it resulted in the annihilation of the Alguna Horde Army(2).

When Princess Rigus surrendered, she had to end all Goblin breeding programs and become a vassal under King Duran. She married Duran's youngest son Iolk and they have been rebuilding the Kingdom into a reliable ally to NATO and Elbe.

While most of the Kingdom successfully purged the Goblin camps, there are still some hiding in the nearby forest conducting raids. While Johnson is at Alguna, he was ordered to assist local forces.

He looks around and sees his Rangers huddle around his three JLTVs. They are all firing into the forests, just as planned.

He looks up and sees Sergeant Oka Masaru as he fires the M2 Browning .50, cutting down a troll. Sergeant First Class Jamal Samaha is walking past everyone and directing their fire, so they do not get flanked.

He fires his rifle as he sees this goblin jumps off this large boulder as it tries to fly past them. With a burst, the Goblin dies and hits the tree it was heading.

He looks away and sees this large fat Goblin walking forward. The FFAM(3) labels this creature as a Hobgoblin, a taller and stronger version of the standard goblin.

"Jamal, redirect fire at that Hob!" He orders.

Jamal looks and sees what he is talking about. "Oka, suppressive fire. Adam, bring it down."

He sees Sergeant Adam Hill pull out the M3E1 MAAWS(4) or nicknamed Bazooka from the JLTV and aims. Adam fires the rocket and the hob explodes, killing everyone around it.

He fires his M4A1, killing a few more Goblins. He ducks behind his vehicle door as arrows hit the armor, bouncing off. "Be careful. Arrows are useless against our armor, but they might be tipped with poison."

He looks back and sees Elbe and Algnus Archers standing there. He places his hand on his helmet to speak on the NW(5) radio. "Knight Darishen. Begin Volley."

He sees the forty archers aim and fires. The arrows pass overhead his unit and hit right into the incoming horde.

He sits up and sees many of them falling to the ground, the wounded becoming easy targets. His Rangers start picking the wounded off, stopping the enemy charge.

When he served under Major Sharpe's command, Sharpe talked about utilizing everything you have. He saw that when he integrated Rory, Lelei, and Tuka. He saw that with the Rose Knights. Because they use ancient weapons, he found ways for them to still be effective.

Bows and arrows will never be more efficient than a rifle and bullets, however they do have one advantage that rifles do have, they arc. His plan had a few Knights lure the Horde to his Rangers, they pick them off and stops the charge. Then uses the Archers to fire above them and have the arrows rain down on them. The Air Force comes in and cleans up the remaining forces.

He stands up and continues to engage. "Keep the heavy weapons in the center. Everyone else picks them off on the side. I don't want them out of the kill zone."

He enjoys having his own team again, but he feels nervous. Vanguard-7 was his command before Major Sharpe took command. He and everyone else was pissed but that was then, before the war(6).

Since then he grew a lot of respect for his commander and sometimes wonder if he could make the decisions he made and fight the people he had to fight.

Then Corporal Joel Hodge rushes up, the team radioman. "Sir, AC-130J Ghostrider inbound."

He looks to him. "Alright, bring her in. Everyone, prepare for an airstrike."

After giving the order he hears the 105 mm M102 howitzer on the gunship. He looks through his open vehicle door window and sees the 105-shell hit its target, destroying everything. Then another shell hits another target and then again, leaving three craters.

Then a rain of 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II comes down from the sky and kills the remaining Horde.

Once the airstrike stops, he stands up to look at the battlefield. His plan worked and it looks like this Horde is dealt with. "Good job Rangers. Tell them we don't need a second pass."

"Roger that Lieutenant," Joel said.

Both Iolk and Rigus ride upon their horses.

"Knights start sweeping the area and kill any of them who remain," Iolk orders.

The Princess rides up to him and looks down at him. She looks around the same age as Selina, just with longer hair. He always finds it fascinating how young so many people are in this world who are doing what adults would be doing Stateside. A thirteen or fourteen-year-old running a country, unheard of on modern Earth.

"Thank you for your help Ranger," Rigus said.

"Anytime your highness," He said as he tips his helmet. "We were in the area."

"I see you follow titles. Unlike most of your kind," Rigus said.

He did not notice but thinks about that. He then smirks. "Well ma'am, my last unit dealt with a lot of Princesses. I guess I picked up a few things."

He then looks to the boy, who is shorter than the girl. He assumes he is a year younger.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Iolk said. "My father will love to hear about this victory."

"Glad to help," He responds. "We will stay around for a bit until we know the Horde is wiped out."

Saying that sounds strange to him. The United States and the Western World prides itself on stopping genocide, with mixed results but they try. They created rules in war and the idea of purging a race or group of people is considered evil.

While most of those ideals still apply to Falmart, some races have been exempted. Goblins are the best examples of that exemption. At first, we tried to treat their fallen as prisoners, but they only ended up getting out and continue to kill people.

Based on what Rory and Lelei said, their sole purpose is to breed and Multiply by force. They consider everyone as their vessel to breed with or their food, nothing else. The Pentagon decided the only way in dealing with Goblins is to remove them until they either change their ways or they are no longer a threat.

As the Prince and Princess, he walks back to this command JLTV.

***

--- Schwarz Goat Path ---

January 14th, 2026

Lelei La Lalena is standing there watching his team relaxing. He sees Alicia and Rory sparring over to the side. Frost and Scott are teaching Selina how to toss a football and a few others are helping her develop some magic spells. The new Ranger Sofie is on the .50 Caliber keeping watch.

Because it is a nice day and the unit is in no rush, Major Sharpe decided to stop the unit to relax. She was telling him about a new spell she is working on, Magic Missiles.

While Sharpe is not a Sage or Mage and barely understands the principles behind the magic, she enjoys that he likes to help her. She likes how he simplifies things, helping her not to overthink things(7). Every time she feels like she gets stuck on one of her spells, she always comes to him to see if there is a better way to think about the process.

Sharpe is standing there, just like everyone else he is in the US Army tank top and pants because of how hot it is. She had to put on a tank top and shorts too because of how hot it is.

She takes her staff and begins to chant. All around her starts to glow as the energy field forms around her. She places her hand on the orb part of her staff and expands the energy ball that's forming.

She then retracts her hand and aims her staff at a boulder. This blue energy shape missile forms from that energy ball and she fires it.

The missile flies through the air, hitting the bolder, blowing it up.

"… I did it," She said as she blinks.

She hears many of her fellow Rangers celebrate her achievement. She wipes the sweat off her forehead and looks at Sharpe. "I finally did it."

"Good job," Sharpe said and pats her on the back. "I know you been working on that for a while."

She smiles and she takes a relaxing breath. She got the idea to make this spell when she was watching the live-fire exercise of the US Army M142 HIMARS. It fires these powerful missiles that destroy the mightiest of beasts.

When she decided to stay in Alnus and join Vanguard-7, she started to learn more about the Other Worlders' knowledge and science. At first, she was making the spells she already knew more efficiently because magic is based on the mage or sage knowledge of the world. The more you know, the better the skill is.

The first new spell she invented was the sonic bomb spell(7). That spell was hard, and it knocked her out the first time she had to use it in the Elies Forest Campaign, but it was a minor success. The more recent spell that was enhanced was her firestorm spell(9). She got that idea from reading Harry Potter.

"Thank you," She said.

Randy and Jerry walk over. "Damn lady," Randy said, impressed by the spell.

"Thank you but I am still having a hard time visualizing it in my head," She said to Randy.

"That looks good to be," Jerry said confused.

"Because you are not a mage," She replies in a smile.

"Just keep doing one at a time," Sharpe said. "Then work up to two and then three. Just remember what I said. Always focus on what you need to so and cut everything else out."

"I try," She said. "Can we keep trying? I want to keep practicing."

Sharpe takes off his sunglasses and while the sweat off his forehead. "Roger that."

She giggles when she sees those sunglasses. She remembers the first time she saw them. They look so fascinating when she first saw them(10).

"What is so funny?" Sharpe asked.

"Your head," She replies and then gets her staff ready. "Alright, let's work on my range."

---

Tuka is sitting in the driver seat as she looks out watching Sharpe and Lelei train. She has been impressed by how much stronger Lelei's magic has gotten from the Other Worlders' science. After the trip to Camp Galileo, she started to wonder maybe the same science could enhance her magic.

Elves are born with the ability to use spirit magic. Just like when a small animal knows how to breathe and know how to swim, her kind can use Spirit Magic at will.

That is why it is rare to see an Elf as a mage; it is hard to learn new spells. Some races but mainly Humans do not know magic when they are born but they can learn, which allows them to learn more powerful spells.

While she cannot learn new spells, as she watches Lelei fires another Missile she wonders how she can enhance hers.

That is when she hears the radio speak. She realizes who it is, Captain Sarah Rose. She grabs the radio from the dashboard. "Hello, Sarah."

"Tuka?" Sarah asked confused. "Where is the Major or Alicia?"

Alicia is the team radio operator, so she is usually the one who answers. Sometimes Sharpe answers either when he is bored or trying to piss off Sarah, whatever will be more fun.

When Sharpe gave the order to take a break and relax for a few hours, he did not tell Sarah.

"They are busy," She said.

"… what is going on?" Sarah asked. "Where are you?"

"Sharpe told me to tell you if you call that we are on our way," She said. "That we are still on our way."

"… ok Tuka," Sarah said in an annoyed tone. "Tell the Major that Alnus Command has a mission. One of our birds detected a possible raid on a nearby trader. Investigate and protect friendly assists."

"Ok Sarah," She said. "I will. Thank you."

---

s

On the northern edge of the Schwarz Forest, the sun is blazing, the wind is slightly moving to the east. The tree branches slightly moving with the wind.

Yao Haa Dushi takes the arrow from her quiver. She pulls back on the string as she aims. To her left is another Dark Elf ready to fire his arrow. There is another two in the trees, ready to drop down and cast their sleeping magic.

Their goal is not to kill anyone, just to knock out the wagon and its traders. They do not consider themselves as bandits but desperate Elves trying to feed what is left of their tribe.

At first, attacking these traders was hard but then the Adventurer Guild disappeared. Most of these traverses are mostly unprotected, only having a few town militias as protection.

"Fire," She said as she releases the arrow.

Both her and his arrow hit the ground in front of the horse. The arrows are meant to stop the wagon in place.

Then they stand up and start charging out of the forest. The two Dark Elves that were in the trees jump from their branches and land on the ground. Just as planned they start using their spirit magic and cast their sleeping spells.

She bursts out and lands in front of the horses. She aims her bow and points the arrow at the driver. "Don't you dare!" She says as she saw the driver going for his sword.

The drive stops and begins falling asleep.

She takes a deep breath and smiles, glad no one had to die. "Let us hurry. We don't want to run into those metal wagons."

She lowers her bow and walks over to the horse. She places her hand on the horse and calms him down. "Shh, everything will be ok. We mean no harm."

As the horse calms down, she looks up to the Dark Elf who jumps on top of the wagon. He pulls the blanket back.

"We have Agoss fruit," He said. "Looks like enough to last a week."

"Thank you, Hardy," Another Elf said.

She smiles. After her tribe was destroyed, Hardy has been a massive help, providing bountiful wagons full of much-needed food. The Flame Dragon burned most of her people's farmlands and now they cannot grow their food.

She walks away and pats her comrade on the shoulder. "It is great, but we can't do this forever."

"We have no choice," He said. "We can't get involved in the war."

Another Dark Elf walks over. "Hey. Help me ties these people up."

She walks over and helps him take the driver off the wagon.

She hates doing this. She wants to go back to taking care of the younglings and enjoying the community aspect of tribal life. Being forced to attacking defenseless people and steal from them makes her sick to her gut, but she does not know what else to do.

As she lays the man down, she looks up seeing one of her friends freaking out. "What is wrong?"

"I hear something strange," He said. He then looks to the southeast and his eyes widen. "Damnit. Metal wagons are coming!"

She feels this tremor going down her body. She has seen these strange wagons from the Other Worlders. They look scary like they can go into a rain of arrows and remain alive. They have nothing that can stop them, even the Empire cannot stop them.

"We need to run," She yells.

"What about the food?" A Dark Elf asks. "We can't leave it."

"Do we have time?" She asked.

The Dark Elf who spotted them looks down. "Too late! They are here!"

She turns around and then sees three of these green metal wagons quickly drive up.

Right then they stop, these soldiers come out from the sides and aiming their strange bows. Two of the wagons have these large weapons on top with a man on each, aiming at them.

She has heard stories about these people from passing travelers. Their wagons, their weapons are all scary looking. Even their clothes look terrifying. Seeing them now, the rumors are true. Everything she sees looks terrifying about them.

Then she sees this blue haired girl come out of the side. She is holding a staff and begins glowing. Then she sees a High Elf with a strange-looking bow come out of the back, aiming.

She then sees this black figure jump into the air from behind one of the wagons and flies over her. The figure lands behind them and her eyes widen. "Rory the Reaper….!"

She hears them all yelling as they point their weapons at her and her comrades.

One of her comrade Dark Elves aims his bow but she grabs his arm. "Don't. There are ten of them plus its Rory. We're dead if we even try."

She drops her bow and then her comrades drop theirs. "We surrender. Please don't kill us."

"Smart," Rory said. "Too bad. I really wanted to taste some blood today."

"Rory!" This man yells. "Knock it off and come to the area. I don't want any surprises."

She watches Rory stick out her tongue at the man and then obey his orders. That shocked her the most, Rory, the Apostle of Emroy obeying a mortal Human man like he was her master.

"Randy, Frost secure those bows. Jerry checks on the wounded." The man in charge orders.

She watches some of the soldiers moving around and she looks at the man in charge. "Those men laying on the ground are not dead. We just put them to sleep with our magic."

One of their soldiers kneels by the three men they put to sleep. "I can confirm sir. They are just out cold."

"We mean no harm," She said. "We just needed the food."

"What are you going to do with us?" One of her comrades asked.

This other man called Randy picks up a bow. "You are under arrest."

"Arrest?" She asked, trying to understand what that meant. She is surprised by how efficiently they walk and talk. In the three hundred and fifteen years she has been alive, she never has seen a more professional group of soldiers.

The man in charge walks over with the blue haired girl following behind. The rumors have said that these people do not support slavery and the blue haired mage, and the High Elf don't seem to have restraints. She starts to assume that she must be the leader's mate.

The Human leader stops in front of them all. "I am Major Sharpe of the United States Army, 75th Rangers. As Sergeant Major Randy Dodson said you are all under arrest. Bandits like you will be going to the Army Prison for attacking our allies' trade routes."

That fate scares her. She knows what dungeons are but seeing how strange these people are; she can only imagine what kind of torture devices they must have.

"We are not bandits," She said. "We don't kill or rob wealth, only what we need."

"I am sorry but that is not how it works under their laws," The blue haired girl said. "They take trade seriously and the economy in this region is already weak. Every attack is putting people out of work and might starve people. The Americans are trying to feed everyone, but you can't feed a continent."

"Major Sharpe of the United States Army, 75th Rangers," She said before the blue hair girl spoke up.

"It is just Major Sharpe," The blue haired girl said.

"Ok… Major Sharpe," She said, baffled by this girl. "Your mate is a talkative one. Does she have a name?"

The reaction from her question baffles her. The blue hair girl blushes bright red. Sharpe wobbles back a little, glancing away.

She glances around and sees one of their female soldiers starting to laugh. She is not the only one that Frost man starts to laugh too. She sees a mix of reactions from them all from humorous to chuckles. She has no idea what is so funny, why are they laughing at the fact they are mates? She starts to wonder if it was a secret.

Before she can ask, Rory lands right between her and the Human named Sharpe. "Rory…"

Rory sticks a figure at her, telling her to stay quiet. She looks directly at the blue haired girl. "Lelei! Jackson! What is the meaning of this… mating!?"

"… I am going back to the vehicle," Lelei said as she walks away, covering her red face.

Rory looks directly at Sharpe.

"Rory…," Sharpe said as he tries to calm her down. "I have no idea why the Elf lady said that."

"I am sorry but are you two not mates?" She asked confused about what is going on. She then realized that she assumed wrong. "I am sorry."

Rory turns around and points a figure. "You are really in trouble now. Jackson, fix this now!"

She then watches Rory walk away. "You people are strange…" She then looks back to Sharpe. He looks slightly defeated as he shakes his head.

Sharpe looks over to the laughing woman. "Alicia, shut up… damn!" He then looks at her. "As I was saying, you are all under arrest."

In all her life, she has seen some strange things before, but this tops them all. She looks to one of her comrades and he looks confused too. All that fear went away and now everyone just wondering what is going to happen.

She looks back at him. "Major Sharpe. I am sorry for the misunderstanding. How protective and close she was I just assumed."

"Just stop," Sharpe said. He takes a deep stressful breath and looks directly at her. "You are all under arrest for attacking an ally of the United States."

"We are not bandits," One of her comrades said.

"You are armed, attacked and knocked out three men and were planning on stealing food, breaking the law," Randy said. "That is a bandit."

"You can call yourself whatever you want it doesn't matter," Sharpe continues. "Sergeant Major, get them cuffed up."

"Look!" She yells. "We have no choice. If we do not bring this food to our tribe people will die. We don't have enough."

"That's what they all say," Alicia said as she starts cuffing one of her comrades.

"Look," She continues as she watches the Major walking away. "The Flame Dragon came and burned our lands. It killed half of my people and burnt all our crops. We are homeless and starving."

Sharpe stops and looks to her. "Wait, what did you say?"