Chapter 25: Joint Operation Part 2

August 27th, 2053

Rontak Empire, Above the Marlonk Plateau

After spending most of the day in transit, the 4th Deep Recon Team finally reached their destination.

“We’ve spotted Count Padlion’s camp, Lieutenant,” the pilot radioed from the cockpit. “We’re starting our descent. Prepare for landing.”

Daniel pulled up a camera feed of the camp. It was small for a Rontak army, only hosting about 2000 soldiers in total. A square wooden palisade surrounded by a shallow ditch marked the boundaries of the camp. Lookout towers stood in the corners overlooking the walls.

The Albatrosses landed in a field outside of Count Padlion’s wooden fort. As soon as the ramp touched the dirt, the Rhino’s magnetic clamps released, and the vehicle drove out. The marines and Ralva’s knights followed suit and met up with Emily and the rest of the 4th Deep Recon Team from the other Albatross. Count Padlion and his escort met them at the road leading into the camp.

“That was quite an entrance, Americans,” Count Padlion said. “Your flying machines are quite the sight to… Why are there so many women among you?”

“Make those remarks at your own peril, Count,” Ralva warned. “The Americans have even less tolerance for such antics than Kallia of the fire dragon division.”

Daniel remembered Kallia’s… fiery personality. Apparently she had a well known reputation. The Count immediately, but meagerly apologized for his sexist comment and led them into his camp. As they walked through the gate, the first thing Daniel noticed was the smell.

“Yuk!” Benny gagged.

The concept of sanitation must have been foreign to Count Padlion. The unpleasant odor of human waste filled his nostrils with every breath. It was omnipresent throughout the camp. It gave him a new appreciation for indoor plumbing.

“Hah!” Padlion mocked. “Who would have thought the almighty Americans would be so squeamish. Your whimsical machines spare you the toils of soldiery.”

“I didn’t think being a soldier had so much in common with open air sewers,” Benny joked.

Unlike Imperial army soldiers, Padlion's garrison did not have uniform armor. Each soldier seemed to be responsible for providing their own weapons and armor. Most carried spears, while some carried swords, axes, maces, and he even noticed a few flails. Their armor and shields had just as much variation. Some wore well crafted armor, while others only had flat plates of metal strapped to their chest.

The professionalism of the other Rontak soldiers he’s seen before was noticeably absent. They sloppily went about their duties, while others just lounged around. There were wrestling matches here and there with groups of ‘soldiers’ cheering. Some dueled with each other with weapons that didn’t quite look blunted enough.

Daniel took Liv, Emily, and Ralva with him as Padlion led them into his command tent. As they went inside, a curious combination of marines, droids, Ralva’s knights, and Padlion’s soldiers stood guard outside.

“I see no reason for this meeting to last more than five minutes,” Padlion said, inviting them to take a seat at the table. “If the tales of your magi cannons are true, we can obliterate Padrkh’s bandits with ease.”

“I thought Pardkh was forcing the villages he raided to supply manpower to his army as tribute?” Liv asked.

“Indeed he is,” Padlion confirmed. “What of it?”

“If we go in guns blazing there will be enormous civilian casualties,” Daniel said. “We need to find a way to neutralize Pardkh without slaughtering innocent people.”

“Innocent?” Padlion bellowed. “Those bandits are rampaging across my land, stealing my taxes! Each peasant to join him helps raid the next village and recruits ten more. I won’t have it! They’re all guilty!”

“But they aren’t joining him by choice,” Liv countered. “They’re being forced to.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Padlion roared. “How will we deter the next rebellion if we don’t squash this one? If we don’t punish the peasants now, they won’t be afraid to rally behind the next Bandit Lord, or the next, or the next.”

“Enough!” Daniel yelled. “If you want our help, you do things our way. Follow our rules of engagement. Or we’ll walk.”

Count Padlion fumed. Daniel could almost see smoke coming out of his ears. He was bluffing of course. His orders left no room for a premature withdrawal due to interpersonal issues. One of the mission objectives was to work with Rontak forces, not antagonize them by leaving five minutes after showing up.

“And I will be certain to inform the Empress how you alienated our much needed American allies,” Ralva added, taking their side. “I doubt she’ll be pleased.”

Padlion simmered down and conceded. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll do things your way. But when it comes to Gamlyn Pardkh, I want him dead. I won’t settle for anything less. Threaten me all you want, knight, but I’ll see to it that Pardkh doesn’t live past the week.”

“On that we agree, Count,” Ralva said.

“Same here,” Daniel concurred.

After much heated deliberation, they finally settled on a plan of action. The Rhinos would drive half of Daniel’s squad and Ralva’s knights to the edge of the territory claimed by Pardkh. From there they’ll proceed on foot to the nearest village to avoid detection by bandit scouts. Then, they’ll infiltrate the bandit controlled village and ‘ask’ them where Pardkh is.

“The bandits won’t just tell you where he is,” Ralva pointed out. “Anyone willing to talk probably wouldn’t be trusted with such information.”

“We have our ways,” Daniel said slyly.

“I thought your people didn’t resort to torture,” Ralva said, almost sounding impressed.

“We don’t,” Liv confirmed. “Torture is one of the worst ways to extract information. We have far more effective and reliable methods.”

“I don’t share your doubts about the simple blade, but as long as you get Pardkh’s location I don’t care how you do it,” Padlion said bluntly.

After they know where Pardkh is, they’ll travel on foot to his location and covertly neutralize him and his lieutenants. Without leadership, the conscripted villagers will be free to return home. In case something goes wrong, Emily will be ready with plan B. She’ll take the Rhinos to Pardkh’s location and neutralize him with their weaponry.

With the firepower and range of the Rhinos, they shouldn’t have any problem neutralizing Pardkh. The problem was this would also lead to higher civilian casualties. And if Pardkh or one of his lieutenants survived, they’d be back to square one. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that though; that was only the backup plan.

The meeting concluded and the Marines and Ralva’s knights spent the night at Padlion’s camp. Despite being allies, the droids still stood sentry and marines took turns on watch.

The next morning, as they boarded the Rhinos to head out, Daniel could hear Padlion call out to Ralva. “I want his head, Commander! Do you hear me?” Padlion yelled after them. “Bring me his head!”

Ignoring the Count, he made his way up to the front and sat down. “Are we ready to get going, Emily?” He asked.

The engine roared to life.

“Yes sir,” she answered.

“Take us out,” Daniel said.

The Rhinos drove out of the small fort. They were on their own now, heading out on a joint operation with the Rontak Empire. It was crazy how fast things changed.

August 28th, 2053

Rontak Empire, Marlonk Province

Daniel was leading a squad of marines and Ralva’s knights through the tall grass. It came up to his waist, providing good cover for them, and for the enemy. They were following the main road to the bandit controlled village, but staying off to the side to avoid being spotted.

They haven’t found any sign of bandit scouts or Pardkh’s men yet. In fact, they haven’t seen anyone yet. The countryside was sparsely populated, but he expected to see a bit more sign of civilization. After all, they were on a road leading to a nearby village. The bandits must have ‘discouraged’ travelers and merchants from going out on the open roads.

They saw a few horses now and then, but they didn’t have any riders. Ralva explained that the Marlonk plateau had a high wild horse population, and that was why there was a horse breeding town here. That also meant that Pardkh had ample cavalry for reconnaissance.

They probably had eyes on Padlion’s camp. The Rhinos were hidden from prying eyes inside the walled camp, but all they could do for the Albatrosses was cover them with tarps. The bandits would know Padlion had something out there, they just wouldn’t know what. Hopefully they didn’t see them arrive yesterday.

They continued through the grass, keeping a lookout for any bandit scouts. Recon drones provided them with early warning, but none were detected yet. It felt strangely deserted out here.

Just then, the marines heard rustling in the grass ahead of them. As a unit, they all instinctively raised their weapons. In total silence, they cautiously advanced on the source of the sound. Suddenly, a bunch of small furry animals with six legs darted around Daniel’s feet. He lowered his ARX-35 and gave the all clear.

“Relax,” Ralva began. “It was just–”

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because another creature jumped out of the grass, tackling Benny to the ground.

It was short, roughly half the height of a human, and made entirely of stone. It was spider-like in appearance; four legs extended out of a roughly diamond shaped central body. The creature had jagged, rocky spikes extending upward from its knees. The spikes thickened as they morphed into thick, powerful legs. Minerals on the surface of its skin glistened in the sunlight. It had four beak-like mandibles forming a mouth on its front side that made a series of deep clicks and clacks.

“Get it off me!” Benny shouted, struggling with the creature.

Daniel ran up to it and tried to pull it off, but being made of stone, it was too heavy to lift. The creature swiped at him with one of its legs, sending him flying backwards. Luckily it hit him along the length of its leg, not with the pointed tip.

“It's an Irzeku!” Ralva exclaimed.

One of the droids kicked the Irzeku off of Benny. Ralva drew her sword and slashed across the Irzeku’s face as it squirmed on the ground, trying to get back up. The blade glanced off its stoney skin, but a chunk chipped off and a howl of clicks followed. Ralva helped Benny to his feet and they backed off as the Irzeku got back up and made threatening gestures towards them. It raised itself on its back legs while kicking the air with its pointed front legs, but didn’t actually charge.

With Ralva and Benny safely out of the line of fire, the clatter of half a dozen ARX-35 assault rifles filled the air. The bullets simply ricocheted off its stoney body, though. At most, their weapons chipped off small pieces.

With brown magic particles swirling around itself, the Irzeku pounded its feet, shaking the ground with earth magic and throwing everyone to the ground. Then, it scampered off into the grass. Though dazed, Daniel thought he could make out a few words from the creature’s clicking noises. Something about ‘un-others’ or ‘un-friends’? It wasn't coherent though.

“What was that thing?” Benny asked.

“It was an Irzeku,” she answered, a slight quiver in her voice. “We have to get out of here before it alerts the rest of its hive.”

“It has a hive?” Benny asked?

“How many are we talking about here?” Daniel asked.

“There's no way to tell,” Ralva answered frantically. “A few dozen? Maybe a hundred? Less if we’re lucky. We have to run now!”

She and her knights didn’t wait for the Americans; they turned and ran. Daniel briefly considered continuing on alone but quickly deferred to Ralva’s judgment. Their weapons barely scratched it, and if it could use magic, there was no telling what it was capable of, not to mention the rest of its ‘hive’.

“Everyone fall back!” He ordered.

The marines turned to follow Ralva and her knights.

“RnD will want to have a look at this,” Liv said, as she picked up the chunk of rock Ralva’s sword broke off from the Irzeku. Part of it was oozing some kind of viscous goo, evidently the creature’s equivalent of blood.

They ditched stealth and ran full speed on the main road.

“The Irzeku must be why we haven’t seen any sign of Pardkh’s bandits,” Ralva said, as Daniel caught up with her. “He must have seen the hive when he flew here from Vakria and knew to avoid it.”

“Is this it?” Liv asked, showing Ralva her tac pad as they ran. It showed a series of large rock formations in the otherwise empty grass fields.

“Yes! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Ralva exclaimed.

“We had no idea they were a goddamned hive!” Benny chimed in. “It just looks like a bunch of rocks! Why didn’t you warn us about these things?”

“They don’t usually venture this far south from the mountains,” Ralva retorted. “It must be a splinter hive forced out by the other hives. Hopefully that means there aren’t that many of–”

Suddenly, Ralva stopped dead in her tracks, causing Daniel to almost run into her.

“Hey, what are you–”

“Quiet!” She snapped, trying to listen for something. “They’ve found us.”

“I don’t hear any–” Then he heard it.

Click click clack click clack click clack clack click

The alien clicking sound of the Irzeku. It started off quiet, but steadily grew louder and more numerous. There were a lot more than just one this time.

Daniel took in their surroundings. They were on a dirt road through tall, waist high grass that did a good job of concealing the Irzeku from sight. They could hear them coming but couldn’t see them, not even on thermals.

“Liv,” he called out, “Use the recon drones to see if you can find out how many we’re dealing with.”

“On it,” she replied.

“Our ARX-35s didn’t scratch it!” Benny called out. “We need a plan.”

They had their bayonets, which would probably be useful if they weren’t fighting animals made of stone; Ralva’s blade just glanced off the first one. They had C4 and grenades, but couldn’t use them effectively in close quarters like this; the road was only a few meters wide. There was nowhere to take cover, and the Irzeku could come out of the grass from any angle.

“The MRX-39Bs!” Marcus said. “They can punch through a cinder block, they’ve got to be able to kill those things.”

“Good idea,” Daniel replied. The problem was that they only had three marksman rifles. And they didn’t have a good line of sight. They could see down the road, but not into the grass. The Irzeku were short enough to hide pretty well in it, obscuring their positions.

“Switch to long range and heavy weapons,” Daniel ordered, not having any better solution. Those who did not have a marksman rifle or LMG prepared as best they could. They expertly attached their underbarrel grenade launchers and mithril bayonets to their ARX-35s.

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Ralva and her knights stood and readied themselves for the fight. They had smaller, more portal versions of the regular Rontak shields along with their swords.

“Liv, how many?” Daniel called out, readying his weapon.

“Not sure, sir, they barely stick out of the grass,” she answered. “Maybe a dozen?”

Daniel listened to the cacophony of clicking sounds. To his surprise, some of them he understood.

“Un-others!”

“Un-friends!”

“Un-others crack Irzeku!”

“Shatter un-others!”

Were those noises they made… A language?

“Can these things talk?” He asked Ralva.

“Yes, but their language is so different from our own that even the translation spell cannot make sense of it,” Ralva answered informatively.

Daniel looked down the road in the direction they came from and saw several Irzeku jump out of the grass and run towards them. They were surprisingly fast on their four legs, given how heavy they were. Ralva and her knights kneeled in front of the marines, forming a small shield wall.

“Marcus! Sam! Charles!” Daniel barked. They carried the three marksman rifles. “Open fire!”

The first shot went off with a loud CRACK, followed by the other two. Three Irzeku plowed into the ground, but more emerged from the grass and ran towards them. They furiously clicked their rocky mandibles. The only words he could make out were ‘un-friend’ and ‘crumble’. He did not want to get ‘crumbled’.

"Weapons free!" He ordered.

Automatic weapons rained against the stony bodies of the Irzeku. If they were fazed by it they didn't show it. Their LMGs were about as useless as the ARX-35’s. Every few seconds, one of the Irzeku would fall to a sniper round, but more kept coming. There were way more than a dozen of them.

Right after another Irzeku fell to a sniper round, brown particles swirled around the rest of them. They raised a wall of dirt in front of them, obscuring further shots. The wall slowly began to move towards them.

“Grenades!” Daniel shouted.

Several pops went off as the marines fired their grenades at the Irzeku horde. The grenades landed behind the wall and detonated. Explosions rocked through the Irzeku. Holes appeared in the wall that they could see through. The loud crack of the MRX-39Bs went off, dropping a few more. Several Irzeku were blown off their feet by the blast and laid on the ground motionless, but more jumped out of the grass and closed the gaps in the wall.

Before they could get off another volley of grenades, an Irzeku burst out of the grass behind their line. Daniel turned and saw it running at him. One of the droids got between him and the creature and braced itself to intercept the charge, but it never came. The Irzeku stopped short of the droid, and brown particles swirled it as it sank its leg into the ground; the droid mirrored the motion and sank to its neck in the dirt.

The Irzeku continued charging at Daniel. He emptied his clip into it hoping for a lucky shot, but it didn’t do any good. The creature trampled him and forced him to the ground, knocking his ARX-35 away from him. It got close to his face and made deep unintelligible clicking sounds from within its mouth that did not sound friendly.

He unsheathed his combat knife and jammed it in the Irzeku's open mouth. The stone creature staggered off him and slowly wobbled away, disappearing into the grass. Apparently he found their weak point. They may have been made out of stone, but they were still living creatures susceptible to injury.

He got back up and looked around; Irzeku were all around them now. Ralva’s knights did their best to jab at them with their swords, but there were too many of them. His marines did the same with their bayonets, but things quickly devolved into a brutal melee. The only ones to have any real success were the droids, but there were only three of them left compared to the dozen or so Irzeku swarming around them.

“Aim for their mouths!” He called out as he picked up his rifle. Just in time he lowered it at a charging Irzeku’s mouth, who seemed to understand that it shouldn’t impale itself on a blade. It stopped short of his bayonet and tried to swipe at him with its front legs.

Daniel jumped back, avoiding the blows, but the creature advanced. He jabbed at the creature with his rifle, but it stayed just out of reach. Then, brown particles swirled around it and a torrent of dirt blew at him out of the ground, blinding him. His tac visor protected his eyes, but he choked and coughed on the dust.

He raised his arms to brace himself for the creature’s next attack, but it never came. He looked at it, still disoriented from coughing on the dust. It was standing just in front of him, still as a statue, with its thick, spear tipped legs poised to strike at him. He looked around, confused; all the Irzeku suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. Before he could take advantage of the situation, the Irzeku unfroze and backed off. The others started doing the same, retreating into the grass.

“Yeah! You want some of this?” Benny taunted.

But then Daniel noticed Marcus. There was an Irzeku standing on his arms with its legs. Its spear tipped legs opened up into three toe like appendages, pinning his arms to the ground, but not impaling them. They stared at each other with purple magic particles flowing between them.

“Get it off him!” Daniel ordered a droid.

The droid dashed over to Marcus, but the Irzeku lept off him and retreated to the edge of the grass. Then, it motioned with its leg and the buried droid was raised out of the ground. The Irzeku ducked its head, or rather its body, and backed into the grass almost respectfully.

It was quiet now; it was an eerie silence, given everything that just happened. “Um… What the hell was that?” Benny asked as Martin ran over to check Marcus. “Why did they just leave like that?”

“I do not know,” Ralva answered, looking just as confused. “I’ve never heard of them acting like this before.”

Daniel followed Martin over to Marcus. He was awake, but looked out of it. “You alright, Marcus?” Daniel asked.

“We’re… I’m…” Marcus began, but didn’t finish. Daniel looked over to Martin.

“Those particles were purple, so that thing was using psionic magic,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be anything immediately wrong with him, aside from a few cuts and bruises like the rest of us. But I have no idea what's going on under the hood.”

“To the hive!” Marcus mumbled in a daze. “Or my–our… squadmates–the un-others… will crumble us!”

Whatever the hell that thing did to him it wasn’t good. “We need to get him back to Fort Roanoke,” Daniel said.

“No arguments from me, sir,” Martin said. “I’m not equipped to deal with something like this. Elmot is probably his best bet.”

“Liv, get a hold of Emily,” Daniel said. “Have her prep one of the Albatrosses to retrieve Marcus and take him back to Fort Roanoke.”

“You would give up so easily?” One of Ralva’s knights mocked. “After the loss of just one?”

“We haven't lost anybody yet,” Martin declared firmly.

“I had thought you to be more seasoned warriors,” he said, shaking his head.

“Fret not, you won’t lose anyone today,” Ralva said as she joined them by Marcus. “Irzeku are known to use psionic magic. It looks as though it attacked his mind. He may go mad, but he’ll definitely survive.”

“That's what you call not losing someone?” Daniel asked, pointing to Marcus.

“Defend the hive!” Marcus groaned.

“He survived an Irzeku attack,” Ralva retorted. “We all did. You should be thankful the rest of us didn’t suffer the same fate.”

“Is there anything you can do to help him?” Martin asked aggressively.

“No, but Krimon might be able to,” Ralva replied. “He has the most talent with psionic magic out of all my knights. Krimon!”

Krimon came over to them and Ralva explained what happened. “Can you heal his mind, Krimon?”

“I can try,” he said, kneeling down and placing his hand on Marcus’s forehead.

Purple particles swirled around his hand and Marcus’s head. Krimon grimaced as he strained to maintain his magic. After a few moments, the magic particles dispersed and faded into the air. Krimon removed his hand and nearly fell over, but Ralva helped steady him. Off to the side, Daniel saw Benny slip Krimon a chocolate bar.

Marcus looked around, confused. “Umm… hey guys,” he said, in a surprisingly normal tone. “What's going on?” Then his expression changed. “Whoa…”

“Are you alright?” Martin asked.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.” Marcus said, holding his hand to his head. “I… think I know where Pardkh is.”

They all gathered around as Marcus explained what happened. The Irzeku that attacked him didn’t really attack him. Well, it did physically attack him, but not with psionic magic.

The whole ordeal was a misunderstanding. The Irzeku were curious about the marines because they wore strange clothes and didn’t look like Rontak soldiers. The first one they saw tried to communicate with Benny using psionic magic, but they interrupted it before it could form a link. After they shot at it, the Irzeku thought they were coming for their hive, and were acting in self defense.

Marcus explained that the Irzeku are a hive mind species. While there were dozens of drones attacking them, they were really only dealing with one individual. It used some of its drones as a distraction while others went through the grass to try and establish a psionic link with them. It still wanted to communicate and avoid violence; and failing that, to find out what their weapons were and how to defend against them.

When it succeeded in forming a link with Marcus they were afraid of making a powerful enemy. They became aware of the United States and what their modern weapons were capable of. That's why they froze and backed off so suddenly.

As a peace offering, they left Marcus with the location of their target, Gamlyn Pardkh. He was rallying an army to launch a preemptive attack on Count Padlion’s forces at a nearby village. Apparently, the Irzeku were watching him and his bandits, making sure they didn’t get too close to their hive.

Marcus emphasized that the Irzeku didn’t mean them any harm. He said it left him with an apology and a promise of safe passage around its hive. They, or it, also hoped that they wouldn’t seek vengeance. He looked pretty shaken. He said the Irzeku transferred their fear of experiencing modern weapons slaughter so many of its… bodies? Drones? They did manage to kill a good number of them.

Daniel relayed the new intel on Pardkh back to Emily and Count Padlion. He made Marcus rest for a while, but Marcus insisted on getting back on the move. Pardkh was only a few kilometers away. There was a small river separating them and the village he was holed up at, but that shouldn’t be a problem. That was well within the range of the MRX-39B marksman rifle. All they needed was a clear shot.

After a while of walking through the grass, Daniel received a message from Emily.

“Daniel, come in!” She said over the radio. “We’ve got a problem. Padlion is marching his army towards Pardkh’s location.”

“What?” Daniel exclaimed. “The hell does he think he’s doing?”

“He spouted some bullshit about not letting us ‘hog all the glory’,” Emily explained. “He got reinforcements from another city garrison and said he’s gonna slaughter Pardkh’s army on his own.”

Pardkh’s army, aside from his inner circle, was composed largely of innocent villagers conscripted at sword point. They were innocent and had no say in the matter.

“Put that idiot on the line,” Daniel demanded. The other marines and Ralva’s knights were looking at him now.

“Sorry sir, he just took off on a horse,” Emily said.

“Then get in Rhinos and chase after him, damnit!” Daniel ordered.

“We can’t,” Emily said. “A mage sunk our vehicles into the ground. It's gonna take time to dig them out.”

“Damnit!” Daniel yelled in frustration. “Follow him as soon as you can.”

“Yes sir!” she replied.

Daniel explained the situation to the group.

“If Pardkh is rallying his army, it means he’s been busy ‘recruiting’,” Ralva said. “He’ll outnumber Padlion with just infantry, let alone his cavalry. If he emerges victorious, he’ll slaughter the garrison troops and go unchecked until another army can be mustered. That could take weeks.”

“And if Padlion wins, all the innocent people forced into Pardkh’s army will die,” Liv added. “Padlion’s troops will probably sack what’s left of their villages too.”

Ralva and her knights looked genuinely distressed.

“Not if we get there first and kill Pardkh,” Daniel said with determination. “Come on, double time it! Let's move!”

They ran through the grass until they reached the river, but there was no sign of a bandit army. The village looked thoroughly ravaged though. There were multiple buildings on fire. Looking through his binoculars, Daniel could see bodies laying on the ground.

“I thought the Irzeku told you he was here, Marcus,” Daniel said.

“They did. They watched him from right over there,” he said, pointing to the rocky river bank.

“Are you sure they saw Pardkh?” Benny asked. “How would they be able to tell from across the river?”

“They saw his wyvern,” Marcus explained, sounding strangely defensive of the Irzeku.

“Liv, you got eyes on Pardkh?” Daniel asked.

“Negative,” she replied as she piloted a recon drone across the river. “Hang on, I think I got something… There's a column marching south towards Padlion’s camp.”

“We’re too late,” Ralva said. “Pardkh is already on the move. If he thinks he can defeat Padlion on an open field, he must have a trick up his sleeve. But he doesn’t know that Padlion received reinforcements yet. It is sure to be a bloody battle.”

“Find us a way across the river,” Daniel ordered, scanning the banks. It was too wide for them to swim across with all their gear. There was a dock on the other side, by the village, so maybe there was a bridge or a boat they could ‘borrow’.

While Liv coordinated the recon drones searching for a way across, they pursued Pardkh’s army from their side of the river. As they ran, Daniel noticed large dragonfly-like insects buzzing around the river. Luckily, they didn’t seem to pay their group any mind, but he kept an eye on them just in case.

Eventually, it got dark and they had to make camp. They were gaining ground on Pardkh’s slower army, but the river was turning away from them. If they didn’t find a place to cross soon, they’d move out of range of the recon drones. The marines placed the droids on sentry mode and took turns on watch throughout the night.

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The next morning they got up before the sun fully rose and began packing up their impromptu camp. Daniel finished packing his kit and slung it over his shoulders. The weight of it wasn’t fun to carry, but he was glad to have the extra gear. The Irzeku attack yesterday strongly reinforced the notion of being prepared for the unexpected. He didn’t mind the extra weight at all.

Without wasting much time, they got back on the move. They followed the river bank for a few hundred meters before finding an old wooden boat laying on the shore, covered in the brush. It resembled a medium sized canoe. It looked like someone intentionally concealed it, probably fleeing from Pardkh’s bandits.

“Well, I think I just used up all my luck for this week,” Benny said.

“Come on, let's get this thing in the water,” Daniel said, checking the hull for any damage and finding none. The boat looked to be in good shape. It even had a pair of oars laying in it.

It took them three trips to ferry everyone across the river. But it went fast thanks to the droids rowing them across with their superior strength. They dragged the boat ashore so that it wouldn’t float away. It probably belonged to someone, judging by the state they found it in. It may be on the wrong side of the river, but at least it wasn’t free floating downstream.

After that, they got back to pursuing Pardkh’s army.

August 29th, 2053

Rontak Empire, Marlonk Province

Emily spent half the day yesterday trying to dig out one of the Rhinos. She was tired this morning and her arms ached from shoveling dirt. She had the marines take shifts on watch duty last night so that the droids could keep working.

Padlion’s camp was deserted, save for the marines and droids. It was quiet, with only the sound of grass blowing in the wind, drowned out by the sound of digging. She felt like she was late for an important mission. She hated being left behind like this. If they hadn’t already shot the mage that did this, she swore she'd kill him.

She stood up and wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead. “Alright, give it another shot!” She called out.

They all stepped back. They had managed to dig out most of the way down the wheels by now. There was also a ramp dug in front of it to help it climb out of the hole. Hopefully it would be enough to get the Rhino free.

Lucas climbed inside through the top hatch and the engine roared to life. The Rhino’s wheels started to turn, spraying dirt behind it. It shifted back and forth as he tried to free it. Then, one of the wheels must have caught some traction, because it lurched forward and drove out of the pit.

The marines threw down their shovels and cheered. Their hard work finally paid off. Emily satisfyingly drove her shovel into the ground for the last time.

“Come on people, let's get moving!” She ordered.

They boarded the Rhino and got underway, chasing after Count Padlion. She hoped they hadn’t taken too long.

August 29th, 2053

Rontak Empire, Marlonk Province

Around noon, Daniel’s squad finally caught up with Pardkh’s bandits. They arrived just in time; Padlion’s army was here too. They faced off in a wide but shallow canyon formed out of a dried up riverbed. Watching from their vantage point on the river banks overlooking the canyon, the marines and Ralva’s knights watched the scene unfold before them.

Pardkh’s forces were arranged in a solid line, with lone horsemen mixed in with the infantry; they must have been his lieutenants. They were yelling war cries at Padlion’s army, directed by the bandit officers. His cavalry was arranged at the front of his formation, ready and waiting to lead a charge. The bulk of his army was on horseback while only a fraction of it was on foot.

Padlion’s army consisted primarily of assorted melee infantry. He outnumbered Pardkh by a significant margin, but aside from those that carried spears, their weapons weren't suited well for anti cavalry combat. Their ranks were more disorganized than what Daniel recalled of other Rontak armies. They moved slowly, shifting as they went. Pardkh’s army certainly wasn’t any better in that regard, though.

“Oh no! We’re too late!” Liv exclaimed, as the two armies marched closer to each other.

Just then, a lone wyvern took off from behind Pardkh’s line. It roared ferociously as it flew towards Padlion’s army.

“Its Pardkh!” Ralva exclaimed.

He swooped low on his wyvern and launched a fireball. A faint magic shield appeared around the group of infantry it was headed for, protecting them from the blast. Pardkh came around for another attack run, this time targeting a different section of Padlion’s army. No magic shield saved the garrison troops this time, and the wyvern fireball found its mark. Flames erupted around them, disrupting their formation. A section of bandit cavalry broke formation and charged towards Padlion’s broken line.

“Take the shot!” Daniel yelled.

Sam, the squad’s best marksman, raised her MRX-39B and took aim at Pardkh’s wyvern. She followed his movements, slow and steady.

CRACK

Pardkh banked to the side just as she fired, causing the shot to miss. The wyvern came around towards Padlion’s army again. The wyvern’s mouth began to glow orange; Pardkh was about to take another shot and open up another hole for his cavalry to exploit.

“This is taking too long!” Liv exclaimed as she ripped the rifle out of Sam’s hands and threw it at a droid.

The droid caught it perfectly and immediately took aim at the wyvern. A split second later, it fired.

CRACK

But the wyvern kept flying. It launched another fireball, but it impacted behind Padlion’s army; it was a miss. As the wyvern pulled up, something fell from its saddle. Daniel looked through his binoculars and saw a human figure falling to the ground behind Padlion’s army. The droid didn’t shoot the wyvern, it shot Pardkh!

The charging bandit cavalry slowed to a stop upon seeing Pardkh fall from his wyvern. They milled around, not sure whether they should commit to the charge or not. Without a rider, the wyvern flew away from the battle, free at last. Then, the marines started picking off the bandit officers on horseback.

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

The inexplicable loss of their commanders further confused Pardkh’s forces. Then, a lone man on horseback charged out from behind Padlion’s army. Daniel raised his binoculars and saw that it was Padlion himself. He carried Pardkh’s severed head in one hand and a shining mithril sword in the other. He rallied his shattered army and they surged forward.

Upon seeing their leader’s severed head paraded around by the enemy, the bandit cavalry turned and retreated out of the ravine, leaving the conscripted villagers to their fate. Pardkh’s infantry stood still for a moment, but they were wavering; their lines became looser and more disorganized, seemingly unsure what to do. Then one person from the back turned and ran after the cavalry. Then another, and a few more followed. Before long, the entire army was routed.

Daniel could hear the screams from below. They were no longer the frenzied war cries directed by the bandit officers. Now they were screams of terror. They knew Padlion was going to kill them all if they stayed. They were desperately trying to escape his merciless charge.

Suddenly a cloud of white gas erupted between Padlion’s army and the retreating villagers. Daniel saw more arcs of gas trailing over Padlion’s army coming from somewhere near the far end of the canyon. They formed a thick wall of gas blocking Padlion’s army.

“Hell yeah!” Benny exclaimed.

Daniel looked through his binoculars and saw a lone dirt covered Rhino drive onto the battlefield. His radio crackled to life.

“Sorry we’re late,” Emily said.

“You’re just in time!” Daniel said, relieved.

Padlion could no longer slaughter the villagers on a whim. They had accomplished their objective with minimal civilian casualties. Pardkh still managed to decimate a chunk of Padlion’s army with his wyvern though.

“You and your ‘marines’ would make worthy members of the Order of the Dragon,” Ralva said, complimenting their performance. “Not many would seek justice over vengeance like that.”

“All in a day’s work,” Daniel replied.

August 31st, 2053

US Duremar Territory, Fort Roanoke

Daniel was in a high level debriefing on his recent mission in the Marlonk province. Lieutenant General Reed intently listened to his report, along with Commander Ralva, the US ambassador to the Rontak Empire, and even the Empress herself joining them from Ronta. The radio signal was being relayed through several planes in transit from Fort Roanoke to First Point Air Base, so it was a bit patchy, but functional.

“Count Padlion acted with complete unprofessionalism,” Daniel summarized. “We had an opportunity to neutralize the primary target, but because of his impulsive actions, we lost our window. He knowingly ignored our agreed upon plan and, in doing so, needlessly endangered the lives of his men. He showed a complete disdain for the rules of engagement and a willingness to knowingly inflict civilian casualties. It is the opinion of this officer that we should avoid further military cooperation with the Rontak Empire.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Ramirez,” Lieutenant General Reed said. “Is there anything else you’d like to add before we move on?”

“Commander Ralva and her knights from the Order of the Dragon performed admirably, sir,” Daniel said. “Communication could have been better on both ends, but they worked well with my unit and provided valuable assistance. I don’t think we would have succeeded without them. At least not without casualties. They are the exception to my previous recommendation.”

“Very well, Lieutenant,” Lieutenant General Reed said. “You may be seated.”

Daniel saluted and took a seat in the back of the room.

“Ralva, do you agree with the American’s account?” The Empress asked. She and Ambassador Smith were attending the meeting from Ronta.

“Yes,” she answered. “Dan-Lieutenant Ramirez’s words are my own. Count Padlion acted without wisdom or fairness towards the people forced into Pardkh’s service.”

“Then I shall have to find a suitable reprimand for Count Padlion,” Maribelle said. “I apologize for his interference and for putting your soldiers’ lives at risk.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. But Count Padlion is a symptom of a larger issue,” Ambassador Smith said. “If he had gone ahead and massacred Pardkh’s drafted civilians, there wouldn’t have been any consequences for his actions, correct? He would be allowed to remain in his position?”

Empress Maribelle nodded.

“Interrogations with Lord Kushmon revealed to us that it is customary in Kraffnia for the victor of an engagement to be allowed to do whatever they wish with prisoners of war,” she added. “There are no rules or international agreements limiting their abuse. Governing nobles have very few restrictions on their power and have free reign to commit what we would consider atrocities, so long as their direct superiors don’t have a subjective issue with it. That's going to have to change.”

“The nobility is already disgruntled with the current state of our relations,” the Empress said. “For me to place restrictions on their power in their own provinces at your request would lead to open revolts.”

“Perhaps a code of conduct would be more adequate then,” Ambassador Smith suggested. “What if they weren’t the only ones to agree to it?”

“What do you mean,” the Empress asked.

“I’ve spoken with the President and we would like to arrange a summit of all major powers in Kraffnia. We want to introduce ourselves to our new neighbors and get a lay of the land. We’d also like to propose some new international agreements to regulate the treatment of civilians and enemy combatants during war.”

The Empress looked almost amused. “Perhaps that can work on your world, Ambassador, but not here. No one would give your Geneva Convention the time of day.”

“We don’t want to impose our treaties on anyone,” Ambassador Smith clarified. “But it would be beneficial to all if we could work out a basic set of rules that everyone can agree to.”

Daniel was thoroughly bored with the discussion at this point. He said his part, so why did he have to stay and listen to this? The rest of his team were probably living it up in one of the refugee center taverns. He supposed that this was the burden of command.

August 31st, 2053

US Duremar Territory, Fort Roanoke

Private Albert Valdez was sitting at his drone control station, mindlessly watching footage from a dozen recon drones. His job was to monitor the new US-Rontak Empire border for any incursions or hostile fauna. The recon teams were encountering all kinds of aggressive animal life.

Like the drones, his mind was on autopilot; hours of staring at empty green grasslands can do that. There was hardly anything out there. The border didn’t cut through any major villages, so there weren’t many people even in a position to cross. The Rontak Empire’s military didn’t seem to be trying anything either.

He wished something would happen. Hell, he’d even take a wyvern knocking his drones out of the sky. Anything had to be more interesting than this. He had a flicker of excitement when the drones flew past an archwood tree, but it died out quickly. He absentmindedly marked the location and continued on. The boredom was really starting to set in.

But then, he got his wish. One of his drones spotted a group of people near the border. Or were they just animals? He couldn’t tell from this high up. They looked a bit big to be people though. He couldn’t tell.

He flew the drone a bit lower to get a better look at them. They were definitely people alright. He saw the armor and gear they carried. They were some kind of… snake people? They were too big to be snakes, though. And they had arms. What kind of snake had arms? But they had long bodies that trailed behind them for over ten meters; They definitely looked like some kind of snakes. They were about to cross into US territory when they stopped to look up at his drone.

“Hey Sarge, I got something in grid 27-D,” he called out. “Possible hostile incursion, affiliation unknown.”

He hadn’t been briefed on Rontak snake people yet.

Sergeant Tanya Harmon came over to his station and took a look at his drones.

“Send two LCDs to intercept and hold them at their current location,” she ordered. “I’ll get the Major and send a ground team to their position.”

“Yes sir!” He replied.

He redirected two LCDs from their standard patrol route to the snakes’ location. Then he went back to his drone. The snake people were still watching it, but eventually they lost interest and moved on, crossing into US territory. He followed them with his drone, keeping a watchful eye on them until the LCDs arrived. He finally had something interesting to do.