“After the recent public hearings, Congress has agreed to fund additional troops to Falmart. The current US level is currently at 110,000 with NATO nations representing the other 40,000.

The Defense Department is planning on deploying 70,000 soldiers to Falmart - most of the deployed units will be coming from newly reactivated Divisions. This will bring the US troop total from 110,000 to 180,000 troops by the end of the year. The Pentagon has stated that they need 200,000k to occupy more enemy territory and solidify their position so many expect Congress to fund additional forces. This troop surge is from the general mobilization of troops from the President's speech last year after the Raid on Sadera.

The President requested Congress for the reactivation elements of the 2nd Armored, 5th Infantry Divisions, 5th Marines along with an addition of five more Air Force squadrons and the creation of the 25th Space Wing. With the formation of the Falmart League, Congress agreed to fully fund an additional two more Divisions; World War Two General Patton’s famous Division, the 4th Armored Division and the 9th Infantry Division.

Many NATO and NATO allied nations have agreed to increase their troop levels. The United Kingdom announced they will increase their troop level to 13,000 to 17,500. France from 13,000 to 17,000 and Italy 8,000 to 13,000. Poland, 3,500 to 5,000, and Japan has announced that they will increase their forces from 5,000 to 9,000 with Canada going from 9,000 to 13,000. Denmark and the Netherlands will be increasing their levels from 500 to 700 each. Turkey, from 2,000 to 3,500. Australia, from 4,500 to 8,000.

With the upcoming NATO Summit, both Brazil and Colombia agreed to increase their troop levels. Colombia, from 2,500 to 3,000, and Brazil, 3,000 to 5,000.

Many of the smaller NATO nations, like Estonia, Czech Republic, Romania, and North Macedonia, while mainly playing a logistical role, agree to expand their operations in the occupation.

Many wonder what the NATO nations will discuss during the upcoming NATO summit. The main focus of the summit will be the war and how to handle the post-war security situation on Falmart. There have been rumors on reforming NATO to allow none European and North American nations into the organization - upgrading the organization from a continental military alliance to a global one. Secretary-General Edgar Alarie of France has dismissed any ideas of that as a pure rumor, however.

Even with the dismissal, many non-NATO countries will be allowed to watch the summit.” - National Interest

***

---Bura Forest, Northern Wood Elves Kingdom---

"Any last words before I send you to meet Hardy, Moira? You Moon Elves consider yourselves the most elite of elves however you are only mercenaries," Lashin states.

"You should have joined the League when you have a chance Lashin! Not only you can seek the revenge you want, but you can join us in doing the sacred duty to protect this world from barbarians that seek to ruin all!! You might win this time, but they will not forgive your transgression, and once the League is done with NATO, you and your people will suffer!" The Moon Elves Commander, Moira states.

"Thank you for showing me that some assassins are willing to stab themselves," Lashin mocks as he stabs Moria in the throat, ending his life.

"That's the last of them," Haoulis states as he looks at the decimated Imperial legion.

Four days ago, an Imperial legion with Moon Elves' contingent's sent to punish the Wood Elves Kingdom for boldly rejecting the invitation to join the Falmart League. Due to Lashin's cunning and strategic reputation, Svenhard enlisted the Moon Elves for help as the Moon Elves have experience dealing with Wood Elves. However, Lashin has anticipated this kind of retaliation and enchanted the forest near the kingdom entrance to detect the movement of the Imperial force.

This resulted in the enormous amount of Imperial legion being ambushed and decimated by the Wood Elves archers and skirmishers during the opening battle. The Moon Elves' Shade Magic couldn't help much as the Wood Elves created vines that immobilized the Moon Elves' movements as they unleash their Shade Magic, causing a lot of them to fall prey to the rain of arrows. Some experienced Moon Elves managed to escape the vine trap and killed a large number of Wood Elves before being taken down and the Imperial force used their numerical advantage to overwhelm some Wood Elves positions. However, in the end, the Wood Elves with their Fey magic, experience in jungle warfare, remarkable archery and tenacity prevailed with minor casualties.

“That brat of an Emperor is gonna send more men not to mention powerful war beasts to attack us!! Next time we might suffer even greater casualties,” a Wood Elf states.

“What are we gonna do now, my Lord!? NATO hunts had desolated us hard enough recently and now the Imperial force is targeting us because we won’t join their doomed cause! We will suffer a lot in the long term for fighting the two front wars,” Haoulis states.

“Actually, this is a perfect opportunity to lay low for now from NATO hunts as well as preventing more Imperial attacks on our territories,” Lashin states

“How my lord?” Haroulis inquires

“We're gonna send the messages NATO will desperately want and the Imperial force will suffer dearly for attacking us because we don’t want to kill ourselves with them!!”, Lashin states

***

---Western Falmart, Traiza Fortress ---

Date: April 22nd, 2026

Two French Army NH90 helicopters land outside of a fortress.

Major Grégoire LeBeau and the rest of his French Foreign Legion unit stormed out of the helicopters. They rushed through the destroyed gate – that a French Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopter killed.

Through his FÉLIN system, the French version of the American NETT Warrior, his sensors detect three swordsmen's reaction to their attack. He sees dead bodies all over the ground from the helicopter attack.

He did not have to order his unit to attack. They are some of the best warriors in two worlds with a long history of war. The three swordsmen fall quickly.

“Clear.”

“Roger,” he replies. “Team two, secure the upper area of the facility and look for secondary objectives. Team one, let’s find those hostages.”

As the unit blows the door open leading into the fort, this mission is to find the missing American prisoners that the Empire took from Earth.

He follows two of his soldiers into the room and the three guns down four more swordsmen. He hears gunfire from his second team as they start clearing out the fort.

As they move down the hall, an arrow comes at them. It hits his point, soldier.

“Cover!” a soldier yells.

A soldier grabs his comrade and checks on him. The arrow hit the body armor and didn’t punch through it. While body armor is useless against magic, they are still useful against standard arrows.

His soldiers fire down the hall, and he hears the scream of a soldier dying. “Advance quickly. I don’t want them to kill the prisoners because we are dragging our feet.”

“Roger,” everyone says.

He moves through the hallways. His FÉLIN shows him there is a stairway. According to the CIA, this is a holding cell on the second level. Their informant said the prisoners should be there.

As they reach the stairway, they all form up. However, he hears the door open. He looks and sees this swordsman standing there, shocked to see them right there.

The swordsmen pull out his sword to attack; however, one of his soldiers hits the Imperial with the butt of his rifle. The soldier then kills the swordsmen. “Clear.”

“Good,” he says. “Flash and storm.”

Two of his men line up. One crack opens the door, and the other tosses a flash grenade. Once the flash goes off, they open the door and kill everyone on the other side. Everyone starts moving down as quickly as they can.

His HUD sees level one door, "secure that door and keep moving.

His soldier opens the level one door and kills anyone who approaches. This gives the unit time to get to level two without being flanked.

When they get to the second level door, they form up. One soldier opens the door, and he sees Imperial swordsmen forming up. He and another soldier open fire. The bullets burst through their armor and shield with ease. Three more Imperials go down.

"Major," a soldier says. "I feel like there should be more soldiers for an important facility like this."

That has crossed his mind. Even with superior technology and training, this assault is going smoothly. "Maybe they are running out of men? This was a secret facility, after all. Maybe they didn't expect us to find it."

"And you believe that, sir?"

"No. Advance."

His team moves through the hallway. They stop at each door and clear the rooms. Each time if they find Imperial soldiers, they kill them and advance.

He sees one of his soldiers open a door through his FÉLIN. Inside the room is a cell. "Everyone, regroup on Silvain position."

He rushes down the hall and sees two of his soldiers heading to Silvain's position. He enters the cell.

The first thing he sees is an empty room. However, the cell is custom-built.

"Nothing here, sir," Silvain says. "It looks like no one has been here for a while. The bars are rusted and I see no sign that someone was here."

"Fuck,…," he mumbles. "Let me guess, another wild goose chase. This is the third time."

As his men look around for any clues, he thinks back on the latest reports. The Navy Seals attacked a facility like this a month ago, thinking it was the remaining prisoners. The facility was abandoned for what looked like months. Then again last week in what was an underman outpost with no results.

"We better get out of here and report,"

***

--- Fort Alnus, General Stanford Office ---

Date: April 23rd, 2026

"This is the third time with no results," Stanford said.

Stanford is annoyed by the French Foreign Legion. He thought the latest reports from Prince Diabo had merit; however, that has proven not to be the case again.

Diabo has been acting as an informant for the CIA and MI6 in Sadera. Diabo's job has been to find out any critical information from Zorzal's inner circle so they can act on them, like finding the remaining Earth prisoners, Imperial troop movements, or critical military facilities as well as where the Imperials kept the captive soldiers from the downed Black Hawks in Dumas Mountain Range.

This is the third time Diabo information has been a flap on this issue. And his other data has been underwhelming.

"I understand this is unacceptable, General," Branson says. "It has become harder for the prince to gather intel due to the massive increase in security and vigilance from the Imperial government after our recent counter-intelligence to dispose of the majority of the Frumentarii and Oprichnina, not to mention our raid in the Darlko facility to retrieve Freyan's torso. There also was the “disappearance” of several Oprichnina members by our field agents to cover their tracks had made the Oprichinina sensed that there were rats in their government.”

Stanford in the deep through. "I thought he was cunning enough to evade the eyes of the Oprichnina and Svenhard Moon to at least gather some small amount of useful intel? Was your report missing key information I should have known?"

"As I reported before," Branson explains. "Diabo and Zorzal are not exactly close. It is hard for him to get information that is worth following upon. Some information could be out of date by the time Diabo learns of it."

"What about the inside men from the Crime Lords? I heard that your men are using them when Diabo is not available to gather more useful intel", Stanford asks.

“Same for the Prince, they have to lay low for a while now. The Medusa family states that Oprichnina members are starting to watch what is inside and outside Akusho,” Branson states.

Hearing all this frustrates him. He cannot decide if Branson is lying to him for some covert reason or if he is telling the truth. Either way, the Intelligence Community is proving to be useless in the war effort. While some intel has been effective, others have not. Any intel that comes to his desk has become a flip of a coin on how accurate it is.

“However, these wild goose chases actually bear some golden eggs in the end,” Branson replies. “We managed to learn about the Empire magic jamming research and towers in terms of how they are being manufactured and where they are placed in Elies and Dumas. After interrogating some of the Imperial troops, we were able to confirm this. We also know about Famulis’ incoming Army from the east and much more.”

“Besides, last time I checked you rejected my original proposal.”, Castillo states

“Because it is insane,” he replies. “I am not going to send people on a suicide mission. We all heard the rumors”

He leans back in his chair, already knowing what Branson is going to bring up – Operation Ghost Soldier. The name is a reference of the Ghost Soldiers who saved American prisoners during World War Two in the Philippines. Rangers sneaked behind enemy lines to save the prisoners before they were killed. Branson thought the name might seduce him enough to agree with his idea.

Branson’s operation is to allow CIA agents to be captured and sent to these facilities. A GPS chip implanted into the agents for satellites and drones to track. This allows Special Forces to find those facilities and launch a strike.

The catch is that this is the Haryo Tribe. The rumor is that they are killing the prisoners for research. He remembers the bag of bodies the Rose Knights brought back(6). The Haryo Tribe butchered them for some reason, and it painted a clear picture to anyone who has been taken by them.

“The answer is no,” he states again. “I won’t send people to that hell when the chances of it working are this low.”

“Last time you rejected it was because we didn’t have the satellites in orbit to pick up the singles,” Branson says. “That has changed.”

Branson is correct on that point. Stanford did not want to send agents to their deaths when they had little chance of detecting their single. Deploying drones throughout Falmart was not a long-term solution and the coverage would reduce over time.

While the Space Force branch has been deploying satellites as quickly as they can, there are still major gaps in the coverage. This also assumes the Haryo Tribe facilities are close by. The Empire is massive so they would be anywhere outside the theater of war.

“We only have five satellites,” he says. “One is a weather satellite, two of them are communications satellites for NETT and the rest are for intelligence gathering. There is no way I can guarantee we will pick up the single. There is a good chance your agents will never be found.”

“Last week, one of your soldiers was eaten alive by a plant called Mantrap, which is this world version of the Venus Fly Trap. The soldier was infected by pollen as a lure and then was entrapped. He was devoured while patrolling a secured road,” Branson states. “Another was killed by a poison dart by a Frumentarii agent when they raided a tavern in Valtris to flush out the Frumentarii cell there. All this was within our lines, and they died doing their duty. My agents know the risk; however, we are running out of time. At some point, we either write everyone who was taken off as MIA, presumed dead, or we try something desperate.”

He takes a breath, hating this idea. He sees the three agents that will go on this mission. Two males and one female. “You are assuming they will be sent to the Haryo Tribe.”

“Diabo has stated many times that Earth prisoners are required to be handed over to the Haryo Tribe and Oprichnina,” Branson answers. “While there are still rouge prisoners scattered throughout Falmart, we believe the majority will be at these facilities because they see the value in keeping them close, whatever they are doing to them.”

He knows the President and Congress have been hammering him for not finding more captives quickly. After the Raid on Sadera, they assumed more prisoners would be discovered quickly however that proved to be harder than expected.

“Let me ask you three,” he says. “This is a volunteer mission only.”

The woman stands up. “I am Agent Katherine Moss. I think I speak for the others on this. We understand the risks and want to get our people back. We will do this.”

“Fine Branson,” he says. “Operation Ghost Soldier is a go. Get our people back. Good speed.”

As he finishes, an officer knocks on the door and Stanford let him in

“What is it, Sergeant Philips?”, Stanford asks

“Sir! Our patrol just received a message paper attached in an arrow outside Maltris. It is from Lashin! You and Agent Castillo want to see it!”, Philips states

***

--- Ticaret Conglomerate, The Half-Moon ---

Tozuko Nara is having a tea session with Falson Atlin. Her banking and brothel business has been very prosperous so far with the expansion of her business operations to Imperial territories. However, Nara knows fully well that this prosperity is only temporary. Her long term goal is to get access with the Americans and join forces with NATO.

“Look like you are doing well so far with your business and your house is growing a lot in influence. Unlike me and my house, House Atlin has been recently branded as foolish and short-sighted for rejecting lucrative deals from the Empire to immensely prosper in the future and now starting to show signs of decline through the Ticaret. Three days ago, Mortimer Gumus boasted that he would take over my assets and palace someday once he accumulated enough wealth from his business with the Empire and the wealth his house was gonna pillage from Earth. Look like, I have to start licking your boots from now on”, Atlin states

“Oh please stop jesting Atlin! We know that my newfound wealth and growing power are just not meant to last. The end game for our plan is that Ticaret will be ours for the taking in the end,’’ Nara proudly states.

“So when are you going to contact them?” Atlin asks.

“We need them to weaken the Seckin Sanctum, Tecim Union and Gumus House as well as other clans first then we can contact them for our final phase of the plan! If we do it right now it will raise suspicions and I cannot drain as much gold as I can from the League before things start going for the worse with them,” Nara states.

“The Ticaret Army has recently entered Elias to engage in battle with NATO, what do you think the outcome will be?”, Atlin asks

“I suspect that the brutes like Gagnog or Sarkas will not live long after entering the Elies region! Hahaha!! Of all the three leaders that lead the Ticaret troops there, only Albon is the one that will know that you need more than bravery and willpower to win the battle, Nara mockingly states.