"Alnus Military Police had to broke up a fight at the marketplace yesterday. A High Elf merchant refused to serve a Bunny because two hundred years ago, a group of Warrior Bunnies attacked his village for mates. The Bunny responded that she never was on such a raid and was before her time. She also stated that Bunnies don't like to mate with Elves because of the lack of fertility.

The argument escalated to the point the Bunny assaulted the High Elf after he threw a bottle at her, forcing police to detain both. The Bunny has been fined for assaulting the Elf, but also, the Elf was fined for refusing service based on discrimination reasons; both are against US law.

While integration has been mostly successful, this is not the only fight that has broken out. Last month two Humans and a Volraden males attacked a male Neko and sexually assaulted a female one, stating that they were inferior and could be treated as such. Both were arrested and are awaiting trial.

President Potts has made it a priority to integrate many of the races under British Common Law. The 1964 Civil Rights Law has found new meaning in maintaining order in Alnus. What has helped keep the peace is that the Civil Rights law does not pick or choose which race is higher, so everyone is equal, and in a rare case, the government is a neutral party in this matter.

The US government understands there is a long history of hatred and discrimination between many races, but it will not have tolerance of revenge justice. In a rare case, the government is neutral in a feud as the US government has no history of Falmart or interaction between the races.

Civil Rights groups have been employed to help manage the situation to prevent escalation. The head of the Alliance Defending Freedom and others have stated their goal is to make sure all these different races see past the exterior and value people by their merits and character. Their goal is to push that they are American (or any other nationality they have been accepted by) before any other ingroup." - Free Alnus News.

***

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

Date: May 23rd, 2026

With the current rainstorm happening outside, NATO personnel continue their duty as the war needs continue. This always impressed Lelei La Lalena. The weather has a significant effect on daily life for the people of Falmart, even for the military. If the weather is terrible, battles are delayed even if the enemy is kilometers away, but the weather rarely stops their operations with NATO. The fighting season is always.

Sitting in the waiting room with Sarah made her feel like she was in trouble, even though she called for the meeting. It has happened before, getting bullied at the academy. Her sister always was there, though.

Besides Captain Rose and herself, General Stanford, Ambassador Willington, and Agent Castillo are here. Each is the head leader in their respective areas. Stanford leading the military front, Willington the diplomatic front, and Castillo, well, Lelei does not fully understand what he does. Something related to spying on the enemy.

Stanford sets down all the letters Lelei gave him. "Let me get this straight, Miss Lalena; you want permission to go to Rondel?"

Lelei nods. "That is correct, sir. As you know, I have been writing to my sister Arpeggio, Mage Grandmaster Cato El Altestan, and Mage Grandmaster Mimoza La Mer. They request both me and Selina's presence."

"And the other letter?" Castillo said.

Lelei takes a deep breath, struggling to find the words. However, Sarah answers for her.

"The first letter from Altestan of the Rondel Academic Council. He wants Lelei to come to Rondel to do her graduation presentation, to reward her for her research in advanced magic, and promote Miss Lalena to the highest mage rank of Archmage for all her grand accomplishments over the past year and a half. I do want to note that these summoning requests are from separate groups, not the same."

"It is no secret that Lelei's magical powers have increased beyond the most powerful mages on Falmat," Castillo said. "I can confirm that the Rondel Academic Council and Rondel Magic Guild want to know what she knows. Her knowledge will change the balance of power in the magical community on Falmart if not all of Uros."

"I bet they are confused how someone as young as Miss Lalena here grew so much so quickly," Willington added. "Or want to know her secrets, so they don't get outdone."

"This has to be a trick," Stanford said. "The answer is no."

"Hold on there, General," Castillo said. "My agents can confirm this. It is a house divide scenario rather than a trap. Our recent attack on Sadera has also opened more doors for diplomacy with the city as more mages believe Lelei has been correct all along."

Stanford looks at Castillo, annoyed. "You say that, but your reports also state that the city is still a majority Pro-Empire."

"The Pro-NATO faction is growing in the city," Castillo said. "There is a lot of sensitive information, but Miss Lalenna's letters have worked. She has made a big influence among the people."

"My letters?" Lelei asked. She knew all of this was happening but never expected this degree. "I know I've been telling them my adventures and everything I have learned, all with your and Sharpe's permission, of course. They must be changing their views of the world. However, I still must go. Besides, I don't think it is a trap." She points to two documents. "Both groups sent this Imperial Seal, which should allow us safe passage once we reach Rondel. It is properly dated and clearly states the intentions. Government officials don't pass these out because they feel like it. They really want me there."

"The only problem is bypassing the League between Rondel and us," Castillo points out. "They will not care about some seal. Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe's team will have to go off-road to bypass the enemy, to be safe."

"I think you should approve of this General," Willington said, looking at the invitation. "We have been trying to establish friendly relations with them. We need this."

Stanford takes a long look at the request Sarah made. "You have done a lot for us, Miss Lalena, but Rondel is deep behind enemy lines. If something goes wrong, aid will not be able to reach you."

"I understand the risks, but I must go," Lelei replied. "It was only a matter of time before the Council and Guild would want me to return. I was supposed to return last year after my training was complete with my master."

"This is the opening we've been waiting for, General," Willington said. "If we could convince Rondel to join our side, then that sends a signal to everyone on Falmart that we can turn anyone to our side. It would be a massive blow to Imperial propaganda. We have been waiting for a year for some kind of opening that's not sending tanks through the front door. There won't be another opportunity like this, General."

"You have read my reports, General," Castillo said. "Rondel is currently split into three factions. Annexation by us, independence, or loyalist to the Empire. This is the perfect time to intervene with a subtle approach."

As the three gentlemen debate on how to proceed, Lelei is surprised by her reaction. She thought she would have hated what is being said, that these people want to debate about conquering her home, Rondel. They are talking about turning Rondel away from the Empire, and she has been part of that plot indirectly. It should be unsettling, a feeling of betrayal, but she feels nothing. It feels like she is helping rather than betraying. She wants Rondel to leave the Empire, seeing that it is more beneficial in knowledge and science. Plus, the city's greater freedoms and autonomy will have freedom of ideas, expression, and speech. It could upset the corrupt leadership in the Guild. That corruption was why Cato took her out Rondel to finish her training, to shield her from it.

"Alright," Stanford said. "I approve of the mission, out of respect for you, Lelei, and everything you have done for us. Vanguard-7 will escort you to the city for your graduation and make diplomatic relations with the Council. I want to make the objective of this operation clear, you either go to Rondel and get that degree the first letter said, or I will send an army there and force them to give it to you." He then smiles and winks at her.

It took a moment for Lelei to catch the joke. She saw the sarcastic joke because of her Vanguard-7, where all they do is make sarcastic jokes. She giggles. Stanford is saying they either join NATO or will be treated as a hostile state. "I understand."

Stanford then glances over at Sarah. "Captain. You have been staring at Agent Castillo since the meeting began."

"Yes, sir," Sarah said. "I am currently confused why Princess Selina Sharpe has been summoned to Rondel alongside Miss Lalena."

"Lelei has been mentioning Selina to her sister, friends, and masters at Rondel. Even mentioning her royalty after its discovery after the Battle of Legrath," Castillo said. "Let's not forget royalty and bloodline matters on this planet far more than on Earth."

"How did you know that?" Sarah asked. "Lelei is an American citizen; you cannot read her letters."

Castillo adjusted his glasses, annoyed. "Lelei has the Fourth Amendment protections; however, Italcia is not a US territory yet. And Rondel is still an Imperial city which is within CIA and NSA derestriction. Besides, we do not have to directly read Lelei's letters to know what is being said. You should know this, Captain."

Willington looks at Castillo. "I am surprised you allowed that information to be spread so easily. Unless you wanted it to."

"Regarding Princess Sharpe statues was going to end up being public regardless of what we did, so we used it," Castillo said. "It is easier to protect her highness if we know who is gunning for her. Besides, the girl has not been quiet about it since it was revealed earlier this year(1)."

"Based on the girl's testimony with Congress(2) on what happened with her country, we can assume there are rebels who opposed the new regime. Every time a new regime appears, there are still loyalists to the old one around. Having the word spread that the royal bloodline is still alive might be enough for these groups to approach us, which turned out to be correct; we contacted representatives who believe in an Edras group. They refuse to make themselves public without Princess Sharpe."

"So why is she in the letter?" Sarah asked. "You added her name to it, didn't you?"

"I figured it would have been easier," Castillo said. "Based on the reputation of your unit. It is not like the girl hasn't been on these missions before."

"You are using her as a hook, just like last time?" Sarah said with a tone.

Lelei looks at Sarah, shocked. She has seen her get defensive, especially around Selina, because of her age. But there always was a distinct, professional demeanor. All that is gone now and sounded more like a protective mother.

"Stand down, Captain," Stanford said. "I know this is a sensitive topic for you. As stated before, the CIA had nothing to do with the attack on you and Selina's kidnapping(3). It was a rouge group working for business interests."

"I apologize, sir," Sarah said. "It is just he used her as a hook to lure out his enemies, and it almost got her killed."

"This could mean we can liberate the Imperial puppet government in Edras," Willington mumbles loudly. "If we could turn them into an ally and open up another front in the war. Assuming this is not another Lashin trap or some revenge plot from Zorzal."

"Correct Ambassador," Castillo said. "We need Princess Selina Sharpe to help bring them into the fold."

"She is thirteen," Sarah said. "She should be in school, watching movies with friends, thinking about boys, and doing homework. Not leading one of your regime change revolutions."

"If contact with this group works as I hope, then your daughter won't be needed when the real work begins," Castillo answered. "I understand where this is coming from, Captain, congratulations and all, but this is war. When Sharpe saved her, he accepted responsibility like this."

"I believe there is a misunderstanding here," Stanford said. "This is not a military or espionage mission but a diplomatic mission. If this were an actual military operation, I would have said no across the board. That is the only way I am approving this. Ambassador Willington will send someone to represent the State Department. Captain! Princess Selina Sharpe is authorized to go. I don't like the idea myself, but I had to learn not to let my biases get in the war. Otherwise, both Rory and Lelei would never have been allowed to accompany Vanguard-7 on their missions or allow other natives to work with our forces."

"We must make contact with the Edras rebels there. While Selina is popular among the troops, she is still the Princess of a Kingdom, and we must remind ourselves of that. It might help sway more Rondel mages to our side."

"It's not like this is the first time the kid has been dragged along on missions," Castillo said.

"That is a good point," Willington said. "I propose Vanguard-7 bring Princess Piña Co Lada along. Her position would also sway politicians."

"Done," Stanford said. "The Operation is a go." Stanford gets up and shakes Lelei's hand. "Good luck with your presentation.

Lelei stands up form her seat. She takes a breath. "Oh one more thing, General. Since there will be a lot of Imperial loyalists within Rondel that will be going after my head and most will be mages so I would like to have an additional protection against magical elements. Therefore, I request Grand High Witch Soredin to accompany Vanguard 7 to Rondel as my extra protection. Beside, it is better for a mage of your world to represent NATO in the city of mages to show that NATO and Rondel have something in common."

Stanford hesitates. "Hmm, all right, that is acceptable. Willington, Call Soredin."

***

--- Roseisle Forest, Dun-Kat Haryo Facility ---

Date: May 23rd, 2026

The forest is dark with the moon Idos hovering high in the sky. The moonlight has lightened up the operation zone. Six SB-1 Defiant prototypes and four V-22Bs carried approximately one hundred Special Forces to the location. Once the assault force's mission is complete, a second team will arrive to do a sweep of the facility, to gather any information that was missed. Once that is done, a B-52 will drop a MOAB on the facility to guarantee the Empire cannot reuse it or salvage it.

The GPS directed SOCOM to the Roseisle Forest, a region far north from NATO territory, around six hundred kilometers northeast of Italica. The hiding spot was perfect, far away from any NATO surveillance aircraft. If it were not for the CIA agent's GPS implant, they never would have been found.

The signal is from CIA Agent Katherine Moss. She and a few others volunteered to find these missing American prisoners. Operation Ghost Rider is a desperate plan where agents volunteer to get captured in the hopes of being sent to one of these slave camps or Haryo facilities. A thousand things can go wrong, which results in a mission failure and an agent dead.

This has already happened. A Delta team, along with Polish GROM, assaulted an arena east of the Blue Sea. Because the agent was at a single location for a long time, he believed he ended up at his target destination. Once they got there, all they found was Imperial soldiers and dozens of slaves dead, all from gladiator practice. The agent was found dead from heavy injuries after fighting through scores of attackers in a gladiator match with no other American or other nation's prisoner.

Based on what Sharpe sees here, things are looking promising. Because of the facility's size, it was decided to launch his Ranger team because of the experience they have with the Haryo Tribe, plus Rory Mercury. With them is Seal Team-3 and other Special Forces from nine different countries.

French 13th Parachute Dragoon special forces were dropped in first to secure three points along the outer wall. Their job is to secure these three points and apply ropes for all the other troops to storm the wall. Everyone will attack the facility on three sides, so that there is no escape.

All of the Special Forces teams easily got over the wall thanks to the French Dragoons. Once over the wall the enemy forces were shocked that they were under attack. By the time the Oprichnina responded, all three forces were deep within the facility.

Inside the facility, Sharpe's team is currently in a firefight. With him is Captain Ryder Watson of the 1st Commandos and Captain Albert Nelson of the SAS.

Based on how the engagement is going, they caught the Haryo Tribe entirely by surprise.

In front of him are two men and three Haryo's or what Sharpe likes to call them, Man-Bear-Pig from South Park. With his rifle, he kills one before he can throw a knife. Oprichnina is killed by Chief Master Sergeant Carlos Cruz. "Glad to see you are not rusty."

Carlos shrugs off Sharpe's comment. "Kids."

He decided to leave Lelei and the Rose Knights back at base for this operation and brought Carlos. Lelei told him about the letters and said that was more important, and Sarah agreed to handle it for him. Plus, he knows this operation will get bloody, and he wanted to protect her from it. The Knights, while he does not doubt their skill and they have gotten better, there are too many other Special Forces around and the knights are too green for this scale of the mission.

The engagement has been brutal. Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe, Specialist Alicia, and Sergeant Andrew take cover behind pillars and forge fire pits. They and everyone else advance and open fire.

A few arrows start coming down from above. A British soldier starts yelling 'left, high.' Randy directs his team to engage the new enemy.

Specialist Harvey Frost warns that swordsmen are flanking right. Sharpe looks over and sees a large man leading an assault.

Rory appears, grabbing the large man and flipping him over. She then slams her halberd into the man. She starts attacking the other soldiers around him, humming. Tyuule tosses two of her throwing knives, hitting the necks as she slashes through the incoming enemy.

Along with Rory and Tyuule, a Warrior Bunny in Knight armor slays a man. Sharpe's VISOR identifies the Bunny as Corporal Aleisold, SAS. He is used to seeing Bunnies like Tyuule and Delilah fight like assassins. This Bunny fights more like a Knight, dressed in the Rose and Legrath Knights wear in the carbon fiber armor.

Once the firefight is done, dozens of enemy guards lay dead on the floor. Sharpe orders Ryder to start clearing out the next chamber. He then calls his team and the British team to secure the area.

"Nice job Rory," Sharpe said. He notices Aleisold raise an ear. "And Aleisold."

After a bow from Aleisold, she starts cleaning her sword. Sharpe looks to Albert. "You were right to bring her. I just assumed she was another assassin like her queen Tyuule."

"She is not my queen," Aleisold commented. "Anyone who betrays her people is not a queen. That right belongs to the Queen of England."

Tyuule looks at Aleisold. "You know that I was framed, right? The Empire launched a misinformation campaign against me. Besides, what else was I supposed to do? If I didn't surrender, then the Legions and Goblins would have slaughtered us all. Most of my generals had been brainwashed by brain slugs. The war was lost before it ever began. The only option I saw left was to sacrifice myself to save our people."

Aleisold stabs her sword into a Haryo. "I know all of it. Delilah told me everything."

"So why are you acting like this?"

Aleisold stares right into Tyuule. "You still sold us out. My two daughters are probably dead because of what happened. It was your job, your duty to protect us from what happened. The hell I had to go through. No amount of logic or reason would bring them back."

Tyuule remembered back then when she surrendered herself to Zorzal to make him spared her people, he betrayed her and slaughtered her kins while declaring that she betrayed her people to save herself. Her mouth was gagged at that point, so she could not scream the truth.

Delilah thought she betrayed her people, so she tracked Tyuule down to the Imperial camp to slay her for her supposed treachery. In the camp, she was raped by Zorzal while he gloated his victory and deception in making her look like a traitor to her people and went back to his words to spare her people if Tyuule surrendered herself.

Unknown to him, Delilah heard everything and tried to save Tyuule to reorganize resistance against the Empire. However, several brainwashed bunnies stopped Deliah, and Tyuule was forced to take Zorzal as a hostage for Deliah to escape. For many years, Delilah told all the surviving bunnies about Zorzal's deception; some believed Deliah's words and forgave Tyuule like Mamina while the others were not, and some could not forgive Tyuule even if they believed the truth. Delilah tried in vain to save Tyuule and organized resistance against the Empire for many years until she gave up and went to Italica to serve as House Formal maid until the opportunities came when the US arrived.

"Aleisold, go join Julian and search the hallway," Albert orders.

As the Bunny leaves, Tyuule's ears drop. "Looks like some of my people still cannot let go of all the pain and suffering the Empire inflicted on them to see reason."

"Give it time Tyuule," Sharpe said. "You cannot please everyone, especially when it is personal. Just be happy that is one less bunny as a slave."

Tyuule nods. "Let me figure out the layout here. Remember, every facility has a record master. That is how the Haryo Tribe is so efficient in their operations."

Tyuule is the closest thing to an expert NATO has regarding the Haryo Tribe, and he decided she must tag along. It was thanks to her that the Haryo spy cell in Alnus was uncovered.

As Tyuule leaves, Sharpe looks at Albert. "What was that about?"

Albert lowers his rifle. "Picked her up at Osetol, Elies from this nobleman's son. Besides the usual slave crap, she was forced to fight in his gladiator games for entertainment. Learned to fight or die. When we arrived, she killed all the nobility at the noble house. She came up to me about a month ago and asked if she could help."

Sharpe heard of Osetol, a rich town for nobles in Elies where they trained gladiators. It was a short and quick battle. SAS and Green Berets Air Assaulted the town and liberated it. The Knights there put up a fight, but all the Knights surrendered without a fight when the British 4th Infantry Brigade arrived.

Hearing gunshots, Sharpe sees soldiers begin executing wounded survivors. A Haryo looks up from the ground, begging for mercy and to be taken prisoner until Private First-Class Marvin Scott shoots him in the head. "Remember, we need POWs to tell us what the fuck is going on here."

Private Second-Class Sofia Everett shoots a begging Oprichnina and then looks at him. "And how many prisoners?"

Sharpe takes a careful look around the chamber. He sees so many body parts hanging off the walls, arms attached to other arms. Legs attached to chests. It is not just whole-body parts; its internal organs, thighs, muscles, lungs, everything. Not all the attached body parts are Human-like. They were seeing how Humans and non-humans' parts could work or something. "Ask me that once we are done."

Sofia and everyone else got the message. While the CIA needs prisoners, so they know what was happening here, Sharpe will not be strict on the amount. Tyuule said the primary prisoner they need is the record keeper. Because of that, he gave Tyuule the duty to hunt him down.

"Colonel Sharpe," Daniel said as he walked into the chamber. "This goddamn place is like a butcher house in Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"I used to think Selina, Noriko, and Tyuule had it the worst, but this, this is not even on the same level as that," Sharpe replied. He then yells at Frost for about to pick up what could be an American arm. "Do not touch anything. The last thing we need is to trigger a Rune." He sees his Rangers and the British; some cover their mouths as they walk through the bodies and body remains. Someone has already thrown up from the sight.

"Let the sweep teams to pick up the body parts," Daniel ordered. "Let's focus on the living."

A large explosion is felt, coming from the east side of the facility.

"Looks like your Seals and the Brazilians are having fun," Scott said.

"We should move," Daniel said. "We want to keep the pressure on them. Sharpe, Albert, take your teams down that path. Good chance if this is the mad scientist room, then the prisoners should be close. I will take Tyuule and get that record-keeping bastard. Contact me if you find anything."

"Roger that, sir." Sharpe then nods to Daniel, and Daniel returns the gesture. He sees his Seals engage an unknown target and begin advancing.

Frost and Scott place a breach on the metal door. It explodes, providing a path forward.

The halls are like a maze. He has Tuka Luna Marceau and Yao Ro Dushi upfront to put out the torches as they advance. Without the fire, it is pure darkness. This only affects the enemy as the Rangers and SAS are wearing VISORs, which has built in night vision.

"Rory, stay back a little. We will be sweeping through the rooms and need you to be ready."

"Roger that, sir."

Alicia walks up. "All the other teams are pushing through, Lieutenant Colonel. The other Seal team discovered a strange room that I do not know how to describe."

"Just focus on our job, Specialist."

Sharpe watches his Rangers and SAS begin sweeping room by room. They ran into some enemy soldiers but quickly were taken out. So far, nothing.

Suddenly, Sofia screams. Sharpe looks and sees her standing after that, opening a door. One hand holding her rifle below and the other still on the door. She is acting like she has a panic attack. His NW switches to Sofia camera, and he sees a large Haryo with an ax about to attack. "Watch out!"

Randy must have seen the same thing because he tackled Sofia to the ground. The Haryo ax attack misses.

The Haryo walks out, grabbing the SAS soldier with Sofia and ramming him into the wall. Sharpe wants to fire. However, there are two other soldiers in the way.

Rory pushes everyone out of the way as she rushes forward. She grabs the Haryo ax, lifts it up, and rams it into the ground. As the Haryo squeals like a pig, Rory cuts its head off.

Randy helps Sofia up as she balls, hands still holding her helmet.

"It's Philadelphia all over again."

"What is her problem?" Scott asked.

"We don't have time for this," Albert said.

Before Sharpe responds, he walks over to the door. That is when he sees what it is inside. Blood everywhere. Body parts hanging off the ceiling. It is a mess, and it looks fresh. The stench forces him to cover his mouth.

As other soldiers walked over, Alicia pukes at first sight. She is not alone, as most refuse to even look inside.

"Shit, so this is why Philadelphia must have been like," Albert. "TV does not do justice."

Sharpe kneels, so he is at Sofia's level. He grabs her, so they are looking directly at each other. "Sofia, I completely understand how you feel right now. I have been there, but I need you here now. Remember, why are we here?"

Sofia focuses. "To... to save people. But I saw this. The police station(4)!"

Sharpe signals to Albert to get the teams moving and finish the sweep. "Sofia, there is no police station here. I need you here. Yes, these pigs did this to our people, but they're still more here. Do you want these pigs to butcher more of our people, like at that police station?"

Randy pulls Sofia close, so her head is resting on his chest. "It is ok, kid, we are here."

"I am here, boss," Sofia said as she wipes the tears, struggling to stop crying.

Sharpe picks up her rifle and hands it to her. "You are a Ranger, Sofia. Our job is to stop this. Period. First, we must find our people. Can you do that?"

Sofia takes a deep breath and gets up after grabbing the M4. All three of them begin the sweep.

After another twenty minutes sweeping the chambers, they discovered only one American prisoner or what was left of him. He was alive, but it crossed Sharpe's mind that it might have been human to just kill him. Two SAS took him back to the exit to get medical attention.

Tuka stops, and her ears begin twitching. "Sharpe, I think I found them. I can hear screams."

"Are you sure?' Randy asked. "How can you hear anything in this mess? Everything is echoing."

"I know," Tuka replied. "That is why it has been so hard to find them. But it doesn't sound like a battle."

"I will take it," Sharpe said.

Tuka leads them to a new door. There were three Haryos, an elf, and two humans guarding the entrance. It did not take long to put them down.

Sharpe did not want to take any risks, so he had them place a beach charge on the door and then flash. The last thing he needed was another hostage situation with an innocent.

The door explodes, and Frost flashes the room. Sharpe let the SAS go in first, being the more elite soldiers in the group. The moment they went into the room, gunfire can be heard.

Vanguard-7 then moves in. As they storm the room, they move to the right.

"Rangers, watch your fire!" Albert orders over the radio.

That is when he sees what Albert is trying to say. There are cages in the chamber, about a hundred cages, but only a third seems full. The empty cells, though, have signs that they were concentrated at one point. Dog size cages full of native slaves, Nekos, Blue and Green Orcs, Goblins, Volradens, and Draconians.

"Check your fire Rangers, and advance." After another Haryo dies, the remaining enemies begin fleeing.

Sharpe orders Tuka to use her spirit magic, and Tuka takes control of the torch flames all over the chamber. Yao conjures several ice spears and throws them at several nearby Haryo members and kills several of them. From what he sees, Yao has been practicing magic with Tuka to enhance her own magic too. This distracted the rest for everyone to gun them down.

As the Rangers finished cleaning up the area, Scott pointed out that they were protecting that door. "Albert. Chase those bastards down. Alicia, contact Daniel and update what we found."

Specialist Jerry William rushes up. "Permission to start opening the cages."

"Denied." The last thing Sharpe and everyone else needs is a bunch of civilians running around and getting lost. "We will pick them up as we leave."

The Rangers move through cages. They get around the door and breach it.

Once the door opens, Frost goes in first. An arrow hits his vest, the amount of energy pushes him back. Scott grabs him and pulls Frost out of the line of fire. Yao quickly uses her HK417 designated marksman rifle to kill several archers and crossbowmen.

"I am fine!" Frost said as he fell on his rear. His face begins to sweat, and he starts breathing heavily.

"Jerry," Randy orders.

Jerry checks Frost's eyes. "Fuck, you have been poisoned" He reaches into his medical kit. "Permission to inject the V-6 Potion?"

"Granted," Sharpe said.

The V-6 Potion is the Army equivalent to the Adventurers antidote potions. Soldiers have been dying in mass from poisoned-tipped arrows. By the time most of these soldiers got back to base, it was too late to treat.

It was discovered that Adventurers and the Imperial Army have potions that can act as generic cures, just like in fantasy stories. The military is trying to replicate it to help save soldiers from poison, at least delay the effects until they can get to the base for proper treatment.

Jerry injects the potion into Frost.

"Rory, can you get Frost to the exit?" Sharpe asked.

Rory salutes and grabs Frost. She then dashes away, carrying him.

They storm the room, and Sofia fires a few more shots. "Clear."

Sharpe then enters the next chamber. He sees two jail cells full of naked Humans. He walks over.

Before Sharpe says a word, a man grabs the polls. "She said you would come."

"Doctor Duncan, I assume?"

"Yeah... yes. We are trapped here. Are... are you real?"

Sharpe can see the pain and desperation in Duncan's eyes like Selina did when they first met. "I will show you."

After reporting to Lieutenant Commander Daniel that he has completed the mission and found extras, they are beginning to move the prisoners out of their cells and organizing crowd control. Duncan told him that the CIA agent Katherine Moss was taken a few hours before the attack to one of the lower levels. Daniel ordered Sharpe to wait.

All the prisoners are shaken, but Randy has the situation under control in keeping everyone organized and on point. Keeping the crowd control flowing well. While he waits for Daniel and Tyuule, Rory reports that Frost is treated with the medics.

Over NW, it sounds like the situation is worse. More chambers like what Sofia found. That's when this woman walks over to him. "They have my baby." She said in an exhausted voice, barely able to summon the strength to say that.

"We are not done here," Sharpe replied. He sees Seal Team-3 enter the room and begin helping with crowd control. "Isn't that right, Lieutenant Commander?"

"Of course," Daniel said as he approached. "We will keep looking now."

Tyuule approaches, dragging a scared Haryo. "We got him. I think your CIA group will enjoy him."

As the woman left, he looked to Daniel. "Has anyone found a baby? Recently born?"

"Sadly," Daniel replied. "I didn't want to broadcast over the net, but JSDF Third Recon found another chamber. They found a baby there. I don't know what these bastards were doing, but the baby has two different eye colors now. I'm shocked that it is still alive."

"It is wise not to take prisoners," Sharpe proposed. "What could they possibly be doing here?"

"Mad scientist stuff Sharpe, that is why we need that bastard," Daniel said. "Barbarism for the sake of barbarism. The Empire probably thinks they are doing something life-altering, but they are dumb as the rest of their kind. You know this world just does evil acts for the sake of evil."

Rory walks over, brushing off the blood on her skirt. "I disagree with Lieutenant Commander. Look around you. This is a full operation here, on the level to one of your research operations like DARPA."

Sharpe looks at Rory. "Come on, Rory. I try to make sure I don't see the enemy as primitives so I don't fall into traps. We have seen slave auctions before. People in cages and all that everywhere. Maybe their technology is inferior compares to yours but that does not mean they are dumb. The Haryo Tribe is plotting something and they believe they have the means to make it work, whatever it is."

Tyuule shakes her head. "Rory is correct. The Empire wouldn't do this. Remember, the Empire does what they do because they think they are better than you, not because they are barbarians. It is a flaw in your outlook. Look around again; whoever these Haryos are, they've been planning this. This is very well planned out."

"Tyuule, didn't you say that the Haryo had a hand in your kingdom's destruction?"

"That is correct," Tyuule replied as she glances at Aleisold. "I learned that while I was a Zorzal slave. From what I gathered, they were doing experiments on us like this, but when they failed, they decided to purge us. I wish I saw it coming sooner."

Rory points to some of the body parts hanging around. The broken prisoners. "You saw all that equipment back there. They are testing you, doing something with your people. Remember when Pina's Knights found those Haryos before siding with you? What they did to your people? They know something that we don't, and they are investing hugely into it."

Sharpe did not like anything Rory said. It is easier to assume the enemy is just evil for the sake of evil. During their trips to DARPA, the Girls saw how genetic research is conducted and its benefits. He cannot accept that the Haryo Tribe even heard of that type of science. "They don't even know about germ theory, Rory."

"And?"

Sharpe hated that. That is a tactic he used on Rory, Pina, and others to drive a point. To force them to reconsider their issue. While the scientist inside of him says that it's impossible, that the people of this world are too primitive to actually gather scientific data from this slaughter, but the facts are right here.

"Andrew," Sharpe said. "In your manga and fantasy stories, is an example of races or organizations doing gene splicing or something?"

Andrew walks over. He walks past a cage with a Goblin still in the cell, scaring him. "I don't know. In the Two Towers, Saruman made the Uruk-hai by growing them in the mud chambers. They were believed to be crossbreed with Man. It is rare, but with dark magic, curses, is it possible? They are usually gray on the details."

"Fuck," Daniel mumbled.

Sharpe understood that tone. It means their worst fears are correct. For some reason, the Haryo Tribe are trying to crossbreed or gene splice with Humans from Earth DNA. The Haryo must know something they do not because this is too big of an operation for them to just be dicking around.

Carlos walks up. "What should we do with the ones in the cages, sirs?"

Sharpe sees one of the goblins going rampage, trying to break out to attack one of the women passing by. Two soldiers aim their rifles. Sharpe walks over to the cage and pulls out his M1911 Colt. He aims and shoots the goblin in the head. "The Geneva Convention only applies to civilians and soldiers, not monsters."

As the Rangers and Seals start killing the goblins and Orcs. The lone green orc begs out. "Please, I have been here for five years. I mean no harm. I had nothing to do with your people."

Randy walks over. "You are an Orc, enemies of man."

"For the ones who care about such things," the orc said. "I was taken from my home, my family. I know little about this war. I know my kind allied with the Empire, but then why would I still be here?"

Everyone looks at each other, wondering what to do.

"Well, didn't your President want to keep an open arm to any race who wishes to ally?" Tuka points out. "If you can be friends with a bat, then I don't see why not with an orc. You Americans were enemies with elves, but now we are allies."

Not enjoying the complexity of the situation, he asked Andrew again for examples. Andrew brings up Skyrim of orcs being badass and known to be trusted allies. "Daniel, we shouldn't risk it."

"Agreed," Daniel said.

"Wait!" the orc yells with what little voice he had left. "I have been here for five years. I know where they took that other woman. I noticed you have not found her yet."

Carlos walks up. "I recommend listening to him. I know he might just be saying bs to save his own life, but we need to find that agent remember. Never know."

Neither officers like helping an orc, but both realize they need to put aside their personal emotions. Daniel agrees to spare the orc and draconian life, thinking they could be useful.

The orc explains the facility's layout and gives directions to the vault that she would have been taken to. Both officers agree to finish this together and orders Albert SAS to finish escorting the prisoners back to the exit. Sharpe told Tuka Yao to go with them and, if anything goes wrong, kill the two. In exchange, Albert has Aleisold go with Sharpe for melee support.

The Rangers and Seals move through the hallways, following the directions from that Orc. They engaged two other groups of Haryo and Oprichnina. They were scared, seeing that there was no escape as the battle rages throughout the facility.

They reach what looks like a vault room, exactly how the Orc described.

"I don't like listening to an orc," Daniel said. "They have always tried to kill us, and I don't give a damn what a video game says. That's worse."

"I understand, sir," Sharpe replies, and their teams secure the vault for breach.

The door explodes, and they storm the room. To prevent what happened with Frost, both Tyuule and Aleisold swoop low, using their speed to dodge the two arrows and slash the archers down. With the archers out of the war, the Americans could get a foothold in the chamber.

Sharpe glances around and sees another house of horrors chambers. What is different is the presence of a purple glowing fire pit. Also, a pit in the ground looks like bodies are wrapped around in some form of an organic bag.

Looking around, Sharpe VISOR identifies eleven targets. Seven of them are Haryo's while the rest are Humans and one Hobgoblin. One of the humans is a mage, forming a deflection spell.

Sharpe and Daniel look at each other and signal a plan, both agreeing to it. "Rangers, suppressive fire."

All the Rangers fire at the deflection. Sharpe grabs Rory so that she does not charge. The Seals start to move left as the Rangers cover them.

The plan worked. As the enemy mage protects his comrades from the Ranger's fire, the others move to counter the Seals. This leaves their left flank open.

"Randy, hold here and give suppressive fire," Sharpe orders. "Rory, Aleisold, Alicia, Tyuule, Andrew, with me."

The Seals get into cover and start firing on the enemy. The mage drops the deflection spell and fires three fire spells — one at the Rangers, the other at the Seals, forcing them all to take cover. The thrift one hits a door on the other side of the chamber and explodes.

Scott cuts down the enemy mage, but Sharpe hears confused panic from the Seals. He looks at his NW and sees the Seals what the Seals see. A large hulkish beast charges out and rams through the Seals before they know what was happening.

The beast grabs one of the Seals and tosses him across the room, which Rory catches. However, the other Seal was not so lucky as his arm was ripped off.

"Randy, Tyuule, finish off the remaining Imperialists," Sharpe orders. "Aleisold, with me."

Once Sharpe gets closer, he sees what is happening. The Hulk is no beast but a man, an American man. The Hulk is twice the size of a man, each arm mutated to be the size of a man's body. The only thing that is missing is the green skin from the comic book Hulk.

Scott and two Seals are firing at the Hulkman, but it seems to be ignoring the bullets or the pain; either way, it is not reacting. Just blood coming out from its chest.

The Hulk rams its fist into the ceiling, which creates a falling rubble, forcing everyone to find cover.

Sharpe aims and unloads half a clip into the Hulk. He is forced to stop as a swordsman gets close to him.

Aleisold blocks the attack against Sharpe and kills that swordsmen. "He is mine!"

"Wait!"

Aleisold charges forward and slashes at the Hulk arm. She uses her speed to quickly move around, believing she has the upperhand. The Hulk reacts and rams his fist into the ground, forcing Aleisold to stop. Using that mistake he slams his fist into Aleisold. She flies through a beam and lands hard on the ground.

Sharpe aims and fires, taking a step back. The Hulk charges at him, and before he rams into him, Daniel tackles him out of the way.

"What is this thing?" Sharpe asked.

"Looks like we know what they've been up to," Daniel said. "I don't think it is fully Human; otherwise, it should be dead."

"No kidding." Sharpe watches as the enemy Hulk starts to destroy everything around it. All the Rangers and Seals move out of the war, fearing the falling debris and getting hit by it. To everyone's surprise, this Hulk is moving far faster than its body weight should allow.

It looks like most of the other Oprichnina and Haryo are dead. He does see some scales from a Draconian, which is providing some protection. While he has no idea what the end product is supposed to be, the Haryo Tribe had at least one successful genetic mutation creature.

Rory lands next to them as they get up. "Let me have him."

"Hold on, Rory," Sharpe said as he pulled out a flare and handed it to Daniel. "Rory, go for the neck."

"We will distract it," Daniel finishes. "Seals, Rangers, spread out at a distance and fill that thing with lead."

Daniel rushes towards the Hulk, firing his MK 16 SCAR-L at it. The Hulk rams his fits into the ground, just missing Daniel. He waves the flare to get the hulk's attention. Once he does, he tosses it over its head.

Sharpe catches the flare and sees the hulk look at him. It keeps one arm up, shielding its face from bullets. He admires its will to continue, wondering how it is possible. While the hulk was once a man, it no longer is.

As the hulk chases Sharpe, Sharpe moves around a pillar and tosses the flare to Daniel.

The hulk looks around, confused. After Daniel throws it again, the flare moves above its head.

Sharpe catches it again; this comes close to the hulk. He holds out the flare. "Want it?"

The hulk screams angrily and then rams its fists into the ground. Sharpe jumps back with Tyuule's help.

The distraction worked as Andrew and Alicia ram their bayonets into the hulk chest. They both unload a full clip unto it, making it scream in pain as blood pours down to the floor.

Rory lands onto its back, swings her Halberd around, and slices its head off. She rides the hulking body down to the ground. On the corpse, she nods her head, showing off her kill.

"Are you two crazy?" Tyuule asked. "What was that?"

Sharpe laughs. "Sometimes crazy work. Ask Shorty over there."

"Stop calling me short!" Rory yells with anger.

"That was five seconds ago; keep up with the times, Rory," Sharpe commented. He then shakes Daniel's hand. Both realized they needed to confuse the hulking man so he was not just rampaging through the chamber. That would have collapsed this section, killing everyone.

"What happened to Aleisold?" Alicia asked.

Sharpe looks and sees Scott and a Seal over by Aleisold. She waves them over, so he and Daniel rush around.

"Are you ok?" Sharpe asked.

"I am fine," Aleisold said. "But I found your agent."

"What? Where?" Daniel asked.

Aleisold points to a pile of body parts.

Sharpe looks and is horrified. Agent Katherine Moss lays on the ground dead. Parts of her body are missing. It seems like she bleeds out as there are bondage marks around her. However, he also sees a foam around her mouth, possibly from swallowing a cyanide suicide capsule. He wonders which way she died but hopes she was able to kill herself before suffering this fate.

"I am sorry," Aleisold said.

"I know she volunteered to be captured," Tyuule said. "It is like those two Rangers who died to save me(5). Very honorable people."

Sharpe does not have a fawn view of the CIA. His experience has mostly been negative, especially recently. Everything is a double-cross or hiding something important. Never knowing what is right. However, at this moment, he respects this agent and the others who chose to do this. The chances were low they would come out of this operation alive but volunteered anyway.

"Bag and tag the body and gather all the things we need in this facility about the Haryo's experiment," Sharpe ordered. "We bring everyone home. Let's get out of here and roll out."

As everyone starts the gathering, Sharpe talks with Daniel about what could the Haryo Tribe been doing here and their end goal. Both conclude that they do not have the scientific understanding to understand these monsters. Then he hears Tyuule calling for him.

"Colonel! I think I know what had happened with the hulking American captive!" Tyuule brings out several strange fruits from a nearby table and several notes.

"So they fed him those fruits and he turned into a behemoth?" Sharpe asks. "That makes no sense."

"I am afraid so, what this note said is these fruits are called "the essence of the Beasts" came from a tree called "beast devourer" that nourishes itself by devouring different animals, found in the far north of Falmart," Tyuule states.

"Are you telling me that this house of horror was just a sick joke and the fruit was the real case behind it?" Daniel asked.

"Doubt it," Sharpe said. "Maybe this helps them do whatever they were doing. DARPA will have to figure it out."

"Ok, gather all of these fruits and those notes too", Sharpe stated.