“There are reports of the US winning the During the Battle of Hill Scra, thirty-five kilometers southeast of Namulia. However, the battle came at a cost as Major Hal Stone, being sniped by a Scorpio launcher. He was in the command vehicle, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

Reports have been coming in from troops in Elies that Javelins from Scorpio’s and other Ballista’s are armor pericing. They are made out of an unknown alloy which is able to punch through lightly armed vehicles like HUMVEES and JLTVs. In one case they bene able to pierce through Stryker armor however unable to do serious damage.

In other news, the Romanians, Baltic States and Bulgaria has sent their Expenditure Forces, all under Italian command has arrived. The Romanians are taking over security roles in Valtris while the other nations are setting up a defensive line at Leirirs. Their mission is to prevent Imperial assaults from the north while NATO forces storm the Elies Region.” – Free Alnus News

***

--- Path of Hadritus, Town of Mumoouto ---

August 19th, 2025

As the battle rages down below, Rory rushes the rooftop to rooftop.

"Rangers spread out and return fire. Johnson, take three and clear out the left buildings. Bailey, take three and clear right. Everyone else on me and clear the streets" Sharpe said over the radio.

Rory has her own radio that was given to her. She must admit, these communication devices are very handy in combat. Being able to listen to everyone while in battle. She prefers to stay on the sides, doing her thing while the Rangers do their thing.

All around her she hears battle raging. Sharpe’s Rangers assaulted from the east while the Canadians are battling the main force to the south.

Up ahead is the largest building in this village. Three stories with two towers on each side. It is not a military installation, probably some rich noble that runs this sorry town. She doesn't care, all that matters are that the Empire as occupied the building.

As she moves through the air after jumping off one roof to another. As she is in the air, she can hear the battle ranging down below. The sounds of gunfire and Imperialist soldiers dying.

As she lands on the red roof tiles, she notices archers and spearmen all around the building. It looks l they are getting ready for Sharpe teams to come around the corner.

"Hey, Major Sharpe. I see the Empire inside the big building. I'm going in." She said over the radio.

"Roger that Rory. We will be there soon and bust the front door open. Watch yourself," Sharpe responds to her.

She starts rushing again, heading to the building. "Oh, you are such an overprotective softy you are, sweetie." She responds to him in a cute motherly tone.

"Rory! Get your head in the game and stay focus!" Sharpe tells her in a regimental tone, being serious.

She just giggles after hearing that. She just loves that about him. Being a warrior like her but caring. Even for a demigoddess like herself.

As she gets close, she then pushes herself off the red roof and glides through the air. A few arrows pass her as the soldiers in the building sees her.

She lands on the balcony railing and then looks up. She sees three soldiers pulling out their swords. It takes them a second to realize who they are facing.

As she stands up, perfectly balanced on this railing. She can that sudden fear on their faces, realizing they stand no chance in fighting Rory, the Apostle of Emroy.

"Well hello, boys. Wanna play?" She said in a sadistic voice. She then licks her lips, imagining all the fun she is about to have.

Two of the soldiers stand there frozen, trying to decide on what to do. However, the closer one drops his sword and runs towards the entrance. He is just yelling the usual things like don't kill me and begging for someone to help them.

Sometimes Rory wishes for people to find something new to say before they die. The screams of them her victims she still loves, the unique sound before they die. It is a special sound when someone knows they are about to die brutally but knowing that there is nothing they can do. It is just the verbiage she wishes they mix up.

Either way, she begins to laugh as she pulls out her halberd. Once in a lunching position, she bursts forward slashing all three of them down.

When the bodies of the soldiers fall, she looks around to see who her next victim is. Over to the left, she sees Imperialist archers taking cover from bullet fire.

"You are next!" She said out loud, picking her next victim with here big red eyes. Then she rushes over to them. Once she arrives, she slides on the ground until she arrives right next to this man.

"Hello!" Rory said. As she finished speaking, she rams her halberd right into the man like a baseball bat. He is rammed right into the wall, creating a crack in the wall from the force. His lower body slowly slides down the wall with blood trailing it.

She feels the soul of this man goes into her. Laughing she looks up and sees a mixed-race group of men. All of them standing there with his deep fear on their faces. As she stands there, she just can't help to find it funny that these grow strong men are this terrified of a girl my size. She finds it just wonderful and humorous.

All the soldiers flinch and start running away, wanting to get in the building. She charges forward and slaughters them all, except for this one.

This one soldier, who was at the end of the balcony was able to get in the building. She hears him close and then locks the door.

"Silly boy… you really think this will stop me?" She mumbles, amused by this man's attempt to save himself.

She rams her halberd into the wall, making it collapses, forming a door for herself. Slowly walking into the building room, she sees the man trying to find a way out. Bored by his attempts, she slices him in half.

Turning around, she sees another five soldiers with their swords out.

"Get her men, all we have to do is disable her arms," This Imperialist captain said.

Hearing that she burst out laughing. "The fact you think you could lay a figure on me, good luck." She said and prepared to attack.

Then this orange hair bunny appears through the window. She passes this one solider, slashing his head off with her sword.

After watching one of the soldier's heads get sliced off, she blinks her eyes with confusion. "Delilah! What are you doing here?"

"Sharpe got nervous from your silence. Your radio off again," Delilah responds as she quickly stans this man fourteen times in the nonarmored locations.

As she watches Delilah fights, she must admit she is good. While not strong, she is very fast and knows how to use that speed towards her advantage. That has always been a key advantage warrior bunny had, good hearing, able to repopulate quickly, great vision and they are fast.

"Of course. I was having fun up here and I don't need any help!" She yells at Delilah as she slashes another soldier into three pieces.

Then the wall behind her crumbles. She feels this large hit on her back, forcing her to fly into two soldiers.

"Rory!" Delilah yells, worried for her wellbeing.

She slowly sits up, rubbing her head. "What just happen…?" She glances to her right as see one of the soldiers getting up. She just takes her hand, forms a fist and smashes his helmet, slightly crushing the top of his skull.

"Now… who the fuck hit me…. Oh…," She said as she looks forward.

She sees this eight-foot Minotaur, in full imperial armor. Unlike the beast minotaur's who are dumb, aggressive and far taller. These more humanoid ones are smarter, dangerously strong, aggressive and they are far more comfortable eating people, just like these beast cousins. They are known to kill at random, just because they feel like it. More importantly, they are very well known, both the male and female to rape people. Victims, prisoners or just an innocent stranger walking by.

Based on the symbols and patterns on his armor, he seems to be the commander of this area. A rare achievement for a humanoid minotaur in the Empire.

Seeing this male minotaur here slightly terrifies her. She has faced them before, both versions. The big beast ones are ridiculously hard to beat but these humanoid ones are still tough, being one of the strongest humanoid races in Falmart. She nearly lost a few fights against them a few times through her nine hundred years. One on one, easy to best for her. However, against a pack then they are very scary. As a rule, she avoids them, just so nothing happens to her.

Looking over, she notices him having this smirking perverted look on his face as he chuckles. She can tell he is not just looking at her but a certain location on her. It just brings this strange uncomfortable vibe through her skin.

"This is my lucky day, Rory Mercury, the demigoddess for Emroy. I know you will be able to last far longer than other females." The minotaur.

"Wipe that damn smirk off your ugly face your horse of a pie." She yells, angry at him. Telling him that he is no better than horse crap.

The minotaur just chucks at her threat, grabbing his metal club. "What lovely skin you have."

At first, she is confused by what he meant by that. Then she looks down and notices that he has a full view up her skirt. She jumps up and holds her skirt down. "You are fucking a pervert. I am going to kill you!"

Watching as the minotaur walks over, being careful how he walks. These knives fly at him, bouncing off his armor. Only one hit him, but not doing any real damage.

The creatures to Delilah, the one who attacked him. He starts going towards him. While a create assassin, her skills are not as good here.

She looks to her right. "Delilah! Run! Don't let him get ahold of you."

She jumps forward and swings her halberd at the minotaur.

However, he sees her and deflects her attack by swiping her weapon away.

The minotaur swings his metal club and just misses her. She jumps back and prepares for a second attack.

Delilah jumps to her location. "How do we kill him?"

"Actually, I prefer to run. Being in these close quarters limits my options against a minotaur, even a humanoid one." She responds as she thinks. The minotaur gets into position, facing them, getting ready to attack.

"You run? That is not like you." Delilah responds surprised by that answer.

"You don't understand. They are very dangerous. Do not underestimate his kind." She tells her slightly nervously.

Feeling Rory's vibe of the situation, Delilah takes the threat more seriously now. "We should run then."

"Can't. If we run, we will lead him to the Rangers. He will rip them apart before they could respond properly." She spoke.

She knows the Rangers can kill him, but they are not expecting a beast like him. If he gets in close, a few of them will die before they can bring him down. It is a risk she doesn't want to take. Her job is to fight the monsters they are not ready to fight.

That is when she sees the armor on his right arm, the spot he blocked her halberd with. It is damage, meaning she can break his armor with some more attacks. "Delilah, keep him distracted. Aim for the weak points while I batter him down."

"Got that, let's go." Delilah acknowledges and then charges forward.

Before they can attack, the wall behind them breaks apart.

This shocked them and each jumping out of the way.

She lands on the floor and checks to see if Delilah is ok. Seeing that she is, she looks back and sees this other minotaur. This one is female and well-armored.

"You dare come to my town and displace my rule. This is my house, and you will pay for this." The female minotaur said angrily.

"Stay moving, don't stop. We are faster than they." She tells Delilah and she charges at the female, ready to swing her story.

---

Sharpe fires the last few rounds of his magazine into this charging swordsmen. All around are dozens of Imperialists soldiers laying on the ground dead or wounded. It looks like the main defensive force here has been defeated. Unlike the ones they faced, these soldiers are using traditional tactics, forming shield lines and charging.

He turns around to look at Alicia. "Anything yet?"

Alicia looks to him and shakes her head no. "Sorry sir, both are not responding."

He takes a pissed-off breath and looks to the big building. Still, a few blocks away, he can see the top of the building Rory reported.

"God Damnit Rory… I get really sick of you never responding." He then looks towards Captain Bailey of Vanguard-5. "How about Delilah?"

"Sorry Sharpe, nothing. There is no way she wouldn't just respond." Bailey responds, concerned himself.

He then looks around as his Rangers continue the engage the enemy force. Arrows lightly flying at them, more of harassment than a threat. The sounds of rifle fire and heavy weapons fire in the background as the Rangers sweet street to street.

"Sir!" Scott yells. He is on the JLTV M2 .50 caliber machinegun. He points back to the tall building.

"What is it?" He asks.

"I thought I just saw smoke. Or something. It just looked like something hit the wall. I barely notice it, hard to tell from here," Scott yells.

He looks back at the towering building and thinks. Seeing nothing but he decides something must have gone wrong.

He then looks down the road and sees the Imperialist soldiers hiding inside the buildings and court year walls. They are getting ready for another attack. He knows we can easily push through and crush them, but that only increase the risk of wounded or getting ambushed. He wants to avoid getting to close so they can use their swords against us.

"Bailey, Johnson!" He yells as he walks over to the JLTV. He places his M4A1 rifle inside it and grabs an M590A1 shotgun. He begins loading it up and collecting some other ammo.

Hearing them come up behind, he just focuses on getting ammo. "Bailey, you are in command."

Johnson walks up, realizing what is happening. "Sir, you can't go alone. That's against regs. If you are going to flank through these courtyards, bring some of us with you. I can spare three Rangers."

He looks to his second in command. "You are correct but there's no time. I am not going through the courtyards, that is a maze. Rushing down the street isn't wise either. I am climbing the walls, and this isn't up for debate."

He then looks to Bailey. "Cover me because I am going to be an open target. Then keep the teams moving down the road. One team more left and secure the area. The other move to that tall building. Whatever is going on it has to be strong enough to challenge Rory. I want the .50 Cal over there ASAP."

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He then closes the door and swings the shotgun around him with the sling. He then turns around and then jumps up on the JLTV.

Once he gets on his feet, he then jumps over to one of the walls of the courtyard and then balances himself. He almost lost balance for a second but suddenly he feels secure. Looking back, he sees Lelei using her telekinetic powers to help balance him.

"Hey Lelei, tell him how bad of an idea this is," Johnson asks of her.

Lelei looks to the Lieutenant and then back at Sharpe. "Good luck Major."

"You're crazy sir!" Alicia yells, realizing this has become normal.

He stops for a second and looks back. "We are on an alien world fighting monsters with bows and arrows and you think this is crazy?" He then looks forwards, studying the path he wants to take it. "When we get back to Apex, will need to tell you what happens in the Philippines. It is why I am not allowed to drive if I don't have to."

He then gives Lelei a thumbs up and then he rushes forward, following the top of the walls.

Everyone watches him as he rushes down the top of the courtyard's walls. Jumping from wall to wall, rushing down. Jumping over any obstacles that he encountered. He jumps onto the roof and then starts running as fast as he can. Then jumping back on top of walls, heading towards the building.

At first, no arrows were fired at him. It wasn't until he got onto the first roof set until arrow fire beings targeting him.

He just ignores them, just focus on getting to the building as fast as he can.

Some of the Rangers are impressed by how fast he is going.

"Crist. He is not Human. If he didn't have shitty social skills, I would call him a Gerry sue." Alicia states as she watches, impressed on how amazing the Delta Force skills are.

---

Rory halberd slams right into the side of the minotaur side, forcing him down to his side. However, this other metal club from the female hits her.

When the female minotaur club hits her, she flies into the wall. She then falls on her knees.

Breathing heavily, she looks up and sees over by the wall. She tries to get up however struggling. Looking back at the two minotaur’s, the male is bleeding in the place she hit. His thicker armor did absorb a good amount of her attack though.

The female one has all these cuts around her from Delilah attacks. None of them seem to have slowed her down from the armor.

"Fucking minotaur's. Maybe we should have left." She said to herself, catching her breath.

The male minotaur just laughs as he gets up and swings his club at her. "You two are pathetic. I shall enjoy both of you after today's victory." This is some pain in his voice.

Grabbing her halberd handle, she jumps forward and starts charging. She yells in a warrior cry and when she gets close, she swings her blade at him.

Both of their weapons collide against each other, causing a small shockwave within the large room. Both for them are having a tug of war with their weapons, pushing on each other.

She lets out this painful scream as she summons all her strength against him. She pushes him back, gaining the upper hand. The male club shatters from her halberd. From that, she slips around and swings her halberd, slicing the beast right handoff.

The minotaur lets out a painful scream as his hand comes off.

As she recovers so she can place her final attack on him. She gets slammed by the club from above, coming from the female minotaur. She falls right down into the floor, nearly collapsing down. The building seems to be reinforced to support the minotaur weights.

The minotaur rams his foot into her and then grabs her arm that's holding her halberd. With all his strength, he rips her arm off and then tosses it over to the side.

"Ahh… you are a fucking bastard. I am totally frying both of you!" She yells, really pissed at getting flanked by that.

The male minotaur moves his foot off her. He then grabs her by the arm and lifts her into the air.

"You were a worthy opponent. I will enjoy raping you once I take care of your friends." He said, chuckling with a painful tone.

The female minotaur walks up, holding up Delilah.

"Let go of my fucking pig!" Delilah yells. She pulls out a knife and slashes it at the female minotaur noise, slicing it in half.

"You bitch of a bunny!" The female minotaur said, covering her nose. The female then tosses Delilah to the side of the room.

She looks at him and then spits in his face. "I chopped your hands off. You know what is next." She then looks to Delilah. "Delilah!"

Then she sees him raising her up until she can't touch the ground.

The female minotaur walks over. "You will pay for cutting my mate handoff. Both of you." The female said as she grabs Rory leg, helping in the undressing of her.

"You are a fucking bitch!" She yells as she feels the female minotaur pulling her skirt. She kicks her hard with her one free leg, knocking her back. Her armor has this large dent in it.

"Ahh! My arm! You broke it!" The female minotaur said. "I am so going to make you feel the pain you little ahh!"

The female minotaur lets out a painful scream as he moves forward, falling on the ground. Blood pours out from her right shoulder.

The male minotaur that's holding her up to let's go of her. He then rushes over to the female.

She lands on her rear and looks to the minotaur. She sees the male minotaur gets this blood lust in his eyes. He grabs his mate metal club and lifts it, facing towards the balcony. As he lifts the club, the tip of it shatters after being impacted by something.

Confused on what just happen, she looks over to her right. To her surprise she sees Sharpe standing there with a shotgun. Her eyes widen, confused on how he was able to get up here so fast. "What are you doing here! Run!"

---

Sharpe stands there, looking up at both monsters. Looking around all he can see is blood and bodies everywhere. He sees the female one getting up, one-shot didn't kill her. The male seems to just be angry.

Seeing Rory hanging like that was not acceptable to him. He does not care that she is immortal and can regenerate herself. From his past, he can learn that one wrong moment and you end up like Rory and Delilah is right now.

He sees that her arm is missing, on the ground to his left. It is still holding her weapon. That just reminds him of what happened to Tim and Quincy with all their body parts scattered everywhere. He has no intention to allow whatever this thing is to rip Rory apart so it can make her his plaything.

He reloads a slug shell into the shotgun and then pumps it again. He would have intervened sooner however he had to switch out his shells with slugs. A slug being on solid shell besides firing mini bolts. To save time he been reloading after each shot. He was hoping to have killed them by now.

Now that she is free, he aims and fires again. The slug flies and hits the monster on the wounded arm, tearing it apart. To his surprise, that did not stop him as he expected.

Seeing that he is rushing towards him with pure rage, he turns around and starts running as he reloads another slug into the shotgun and then pumps again.

He moves through that hole in the wall, he jumps and lands on top of the railing. The wall behind him burst open as the minotaur charges after him, furious.

Seeing no choice, he jumps off the second story floor. He lands into the grass and rolls, using his training. Still, he would land hard from that height. He rolls onto his back, cover in dirt and mud.

Then he feels this tremor. Looking back at the building, he sees that minotaur stands up from the impact of the ground. He then looks for his shotgun and notices it out of arms reach.

"Damnit." He said as he quickly reaches down for his pistol.

Seeing this shadow over him, he looks up and sees that minotaur raise his leg, aiming to ram it at him.

Suddenly, this blade swings right through the beast neck. Slowly the head slides off the body and the body begin falling towards him.

Watching as the body comes down, he pushes backward trying to get out of the way. He suddenly feels someone grab him and gets pulled just far enough.

The minotaur body slams hard on the ground, making the ground shake. Some mud flies up and gets him dirtier.

He takes a deep breath and looks up. He sees Delilah face. "Thank you."

"Not bad for a Human," Delilah said with a big smile.

They hear this conquering laugh coming from the minotaur body.

He sees Rory walk over the dead beast's body. She then sticks the tip of her halberd into the back of the beast and then cheers over the victory.

Sharpe stands up and then walks over to her.

He sees Rory look at him. She then gives him a big smile. "Hi Major."

He notices that she used his rank this time. She knows he is pissed.

"Thank you for the help but I had it under control," Rory said confidently, trying to reflect on what happened.

Sharpe stands there and crosses his arms. He then looks to her half missing arm.

She looks at his arm and wiggles it. She then looks back at him. "Ahh, that is ok. It is upstairs. I will go get it."

"All of you! Look what you have down to my throne!"

They all look back up the battered building and see that female minotaur. She is standing there, holding up this large chunk of wall debris, ready to toss it at them. Then she tosses it at Sharpe and Rory.

Sharpe grabs Rory and holds her close, moving between her and the flying wall.

The wall then explodes into many pieces, causing a small shockwave.

He feels that wave hit him, with some debris. It pushed him back into the stone ground.

He opens his eyes and sees Rory's beautiful ruby eyes, looking directly right at him.

They both look back to the female minotaur on the balcony.

"What just happen?" Rory askes, confused.

They see the minotaur get ever angrier, confused about why her attack failed.

Suddenly dozens of .50 caliber bullets rain down on her, coming from two JLTVs. Tracer rounds fly above them as they all hit her, tearing the minotaur to shreds.

He watches as the monster gets shredded into dozens of pieces. Body parts and blood spraying all around. It doesn't seem to affect him as much since the monster was the enemy. Still, another new threat this world has thrown at him.

Once the firing stops, he looks back at Rory. Again, seeing those big pretty eyes.

"So… Sharpe. You want to do it right here or dinner first?" Rory said, trying to sweet-talk him.

Hearing that, he just gets up and walks away.

--- 45 minutes later ---

Rory and Delilah are sitting in the back of a JLTV. The Ranger medic Specialist Jerry William patched them up.

The rest of the Rangers finished clearing out the small town. After their minotaur leader fell, the rest of them seem to lose the will to fight and surrendered. Something rare for an Imperialist soldier to do as they prefer to fight to the death.

As Rory sits there, she holds up her arm as it is finishing merging with the rest of her body.

"So, does that hurt?" Alicia asks her, watching the process happen.

She looks to her fellow warrior sister. "Not at all. Just a tingle really. I should be fine very soon. Thank you for getting my arm."

"No problem sister," Alicia said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Now will your regeneration powers unpiss the major?" Jerry asked as he finishes patching Delilah up.

"That is a weird way saying that. Still, he has a point," Alicia adds.

She knows what they are talking about. Sharpe hasn't said a word to her since the fight. Every time he gets close, he just stays quiet. So far, he has been doing his Major tasks.

"Now that I think about it, I don't think I have ever seen him this pissed before," Alicia said, thinking on the matter.

"You would think he would be used to this by now. This isn't like the first time we got into a scrap like this." Jerry adds. "And there you go Delilah, just don't stress yourself out."

"Thank you, doctor," Delilah said, looking at the patch on her hand.

That is when Lelei, Captain Bailey and Sergeant Major Randy walk over.

That is when Delilah looks to Lelei. "Hey Lelei, is that right?"

Lelei nods her head yes. "Yes, my name is Lelei La Lalen. I am Vanguard-7 magic-user. I think this is the first time we have formally met."

Delilah moves her hand behind her head. "Yes, I think I have seen you at the bar. It is nice to meet you."

"Yes. Now is there something you needed to ask me?" Lelei asks, wondering what Delilah wanted to introduce herself to her.

"Yes. You're a magic-user. I was wondering if you know healing magic." Delilah asks her. "Just to speed up the process."

Lelei then shakes her head. "I do not know healing magic. I have yet to get to that stage in my training. It is very hard to master and fully understand."

That is when she notices Lelei thinking more on the matter.

"Well, now that I think about it. I can use their medical textbooks to help understand the human body. That should help me learn that field faster."

Delilah shots her a glare. "I am not a Human. I am a bunny!"

"Don't take it personally. It is just a figure of speech. She didn't mean anything by that." Bailey said, trying to reassure her.

"Now how are you two?" Bailey asks however glancing at the Warrior Bunny Delilah.

"Sounded like one hell of a fight," Randy asks, crossing his arms. "What the hell was those things?"

"You can say that," Delilah responds, blushing slightly, noticing that extra attention. She then hops off the back of the vehicle.

Lelei looks to Randy. "They are Minotaur's. Those were the humanoid versions of them. They are very strong. While some can be nice but when they want to mate, they are known to take a mate by force if they wish. Even against men. As long as you don't piss one-off, they should be safe. However, this is not normal. Seeing two of them here in a village like that. They don't normally like getting involved in village politics." She explains like she is teaching a lesson.

She watches as Randy and Bailey glances at each other, getting uncomfortable by the thought of a minotaur raping them.

"Right," Randy said and then looks to her, wanting to get away from the topic. "You might want to apologize to him. He is pissed at you."

All she can do is nod her head in agreement. She saw the look on her man's eyes, and it terrified her more than the minotaur did. All that work she seems to put into him to fight off Palapon's influence just thrown out the door as these Americans say. And that is all her fault.

When they were looking at each other like that, a moment she has been dreaming about. Besides love, she saw disappointment. And she cannot blame him.

"I don't understand why. It is not like she can die." Alicia

Randy looks to Alicia. "That does not matter, and you know that. Because some people have special abilities doesn't mean we just use and abuse them. That is what separates us from the Chinese and the Empire."

"It is more than that. You don't understand how badly I screwed up today. I got cocky, thinking about myself and having fun. I can get way into the heat of battle and not fully think about other people feel in battle." She said, speaking from the heart.

Then she feels a pat on the shoulder. She looks over to her left and sees Alicia giving her a big smile. "Don't put so much pressure on yourself, Rory. Everyone pulls their weight, but everything worked out fine."

"Lets me honest Rory, if those beasts attacked up in those tight roadways, a lot of us could have gotten hurt. You did all of us a favor." Jerry adds as he puts away his medical equipment.

"On top of that Rory, normally a commandeering officer like him, doesn't get this attached to his men. I just assumed it is Delta culture that came along with him." Randy said.

Then they all hear Alicia clearing her though, making sure everyone can hear her.

"And women. It is just a phrase." Randy said, moving his hands to his hips.

Alicia chuckles at that. "I know, I'm not offended by little things like that. I just can't kick on the Major today so your next on my list."

Lelei stands there and watches them. "You people just confuses me all the time."

That is when she notices all of them laugh at what Lelei said. She is struggling to find why is everyone making light of everything. That is probably because they don't understand that context.'

"Don't worry Lelei, we will teach you sarcasm," Alicia said. "Anyway, your right. Crazy that he ran over the rooftops. Ballsy but crazy."

"Wait what?" She asks, confused about what Alicia just said. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't understand how Sharpe got up there. At the end of the fight, it looked like they only just arrived.

Alicia looks over to her. "You should have seen it, Rory. You are rubbing off on him. He just jumps on those walls over there and ran like six blocks to that building. It was pretty cool. Stupid but cool."

"It wasn't stupid. He was just trying to protect Delilah and me. Because I carelessly went into that building without thinking. That was not the plan, but I got overconfident." She said, reflecting on today's battle.

She sees that they were going to blow off what she just said.

"He is just overprotective. That's odd though." Alicia said. "He's overprotective but doesn't trust any of us. Good intentions yes but still, because he was delta doesn't give him that right to treat us less."

"It is not that. Its…" She stops and thinks. She is finding that these secrets are meaningless and not helping. "Don't tell Sarah, we made a promise back on Earth."

She notices that caught everyone's attention.

After taking a long breath, she begins to tell the story of what happened in Mexico. That a family was crucified and two of his teammates were hacked into pieces. And then another child was burned to death. Why he doesn't like his name.

There is just this silence as she finished the story.

"See, my fault that. I knew and I didn't think about that. He just doesn't want that to happen again with any of you." She finishes.

"Hmm… that explains a lot. Can't believe I didn't connect the dots." Alicia said.

---

Sharpe is by his second in command Charles Johnson. They are talking to some of the villagers.

Apparently that two minotaur’s were the leaders of this village. They treated this place as their own personal playpen. Fifty percent of the season's harvest goes straight to them. They ruled with an iron fist, standard Empire playbook.

"May I ask you two, what do you plan on doing with us?" This skinny man asks.

As he looks at this man, he can see he is starving. So far, all the town villagers seem to be underweight. Probably because of the insane high food tax. Even then, they look far skinnier than they should be for a town this size.

"Nothing. This is your town. We are not here to rule. Johnson." He said, studying the situation.

Johnson smiles and stands up straight. "We are Americans. We are not conquerors, we are liberators."

He nods his head at what Johnson said. His country has stuck its nose in many countries' business, usually not for the better. But still, he believes in that liberty and we stand as the best hope for Humanity's freedom in the future. I can't take every bad example and ignore all the good. What is the alternative anyway, China, the Empire?

He can see the confusion the villagers face. "What he is saying is that we want nothing from you. No food, no taxes. For right now you are under our protection and freedom to live your lives."

"Oh, thank the gods. Thank you, Tree Goddess Wareharun!" One of the men said, finally understanding what is happening.

"I do have some questions, sir." He asks him.

"Of course, ask away good warrior." One of the men said.

He thinks about his question, studying everything that has been said and the context of what's going on in the region. "Why for the high tax? Do minotaur's really eaten that much?"

"Yes and no good warrior. The tax is usually only thirty percent of our harvest. The extra twenty is supporting the Empire in the war." This man said.

"Interesting. And where? Is this a major route for the Empire?" He asks them.

"No, but this is a supply route for Fort Legrath. The Empire uses this route to stay away from raiders and from your people." This other man said.

"Interesting sir. It looks like we found one of their main highways." Johnson said. "The Army has been pounding the open fields farther north."

"That explains why they have been defending this route so heavily." He responds and looks around. "Still, this town wasn't that heavily defended."

"That is because most of the troop's station here left." This young woman said.

Both Johnson and he looks at her.

"What do you mean by that? Why would they abandon this town?"

"A few weeks ago, some elves came around here. Most of the garrison chased them to Fort Legrath to enslave them." That young woman responds. "Will you help them?"

"If we can yes." He responds. He finds that information interesting though. Major General Stanford's theory that the Empire will use prisoners as a shield at Fort Legrath might be true. He begins to wonder if this is worth investigating.

"Thank you for that information. We should be going. Another until will be arriving to provide security and food." He spoke.

"Wait. If you are going out there, you might want to bring him with you." This older man said, walking forward. "He was brought here after the rest of his kind was taken."

He looks right at him and then gets on the radio. "Lelei, Jerry. Get over here ASAP."

After saying that, he looks at them again. "Take me to him. Johnson, get everyone ready to go. We're leaving after this."

"Sir" Johnson said and then walks away.

Lelei and Jerry walk over.

"What is it, sir?" Jerry asks.

"Might have a wounded civilian that we're taking." He responds. "Follow me."

All of them walk down the street and head to this armory area. There are some Imperialist prisoners in some cages and cells within the barracks walls.

"What do you plan on doing with them?" A villager asks.

"These people don't enslave people. They are going to be taken to a camp until the war is over. The ones who show that won't be a threat will be released." Lelei answers the question.

"They deserve to get crucified." A villager said, not thrilled by that answer.

"They don't do that because everyone has natural rights. If you do that to them now, then someone will come here to do that to you. It is their way and if I was you, I would respect that and take your freedom." Lelei said right back at them.

"Damn girl." He said, listening to Lelei. Every time, she has impressed him.

"Right here, good sir. This elf is in this cell." A villager said.

He walks over and sees this lock on the cell. He analyzes it and looks to Lelei. "Can you pick it?"

"Yes, I can move." She raises her staff and points it to the door.

As she uses her magic to destroy the door, he looks to that villager. "What do you know about him?"

"Nothing. The two minotaur’s that you killed don't like elves, so they just ignored him. Since the harvest season is over for the coming winter, we had no use for his labor, so the soldiers just tossed him in here." The man said. "We do know his name, he called himself Hodor."

The door bursts open from Lelei's magic. Once she powers down, he walks over and pats her on the shoulder.

"Good girl, wait outside please." He asks of Lelei.

Seeing some smoke from the blast, he moves through the door and look inside. Inside the cell, he sees this male elf tied against the wall, arms spread out.

The elf looks up at him with this confused defiant look on his face. "Human, get it over with."

He looks at him, fully understanding that this elf is telling him to kill him. "I am not Human. I am an American. Jerry, help me cut him down."