***
--- Outskirt of Fortress Legrath, Forward Operation Post ---
December 13th, 2025
Sharpe is sitting down in a Chinook seat, right by the back ramp. To his left is his Vanguard team and across is Vanguard-5.
He looks to the girls and sees them still a bit uncomfortable flying. He knows they will get over it soon enough.
As he looks over, he sees Rory sitting there. He sees that she sees him and gives him a flirtish wink to him. He knows that is her way of relieving tension and stress and allows it. She is an Apostle, after all, it is insane that she listens to him even half of the time. He returns the flirtish wink with his own, forcing her to glance away embarrassed. When they all arrived back to Alnus, he notices Rory was a bit quiet which is unusual for her. He wonders if everything is ok or if he is over reading a situation.
Right in front of him is Captain Bailey, leader of Vanguard-5 team. At Bailey's side is Delilah, dressed in her Ninja gear with a little mix of ours like radios, flashlights, and tactical gear.
She heard of our experiences with Dars in Alguna(1) and the arena at Alguash(2). She claims her people can easily detect these Dar shapeshifters. That information would have been good to know beforehand however it was not like NATO knows what to ask. If he did not see one change for himself, he never would fully believe it.
The Chinook shakes from the intense rain outside.
Two days ago, he was recalled back to the frontlines. He was surprised how long his leave was but when he and Sarah got the call during dinner to return to Alnus. While he did enjoy spending civilian time with his daughter, the girls and to his confusion, the time spent with Lieutenant Sarah.
Regardless he is happy to be back on the field. It feels far more natural and comfortable.
"Sir," Johnson asked, sitting close to him.
He looks to his second in command. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
"Rumor is that you and Sarah…," Johnson begins to say before being interrupted.
"Lieutenant," Sharpe said. "You know my policy about rumors." He said in his cold and commanding tone.
As a rule, he hates to listen to rumors. He has always seen rumors like cancer. They are usually based on nothing or a misunderstanding. It allows people to judge and make up opinions on people's character without any credible facts. On top of that, that might affect how someone sees another person, usually in a negative way. Besides, he sees anyone who is relying on rumors are just being too lazy on finding the truth.
"Sorry sir," Johnson said. "I just wanted to correct the record."
"The record is no," He responds slightly defensive, not enjoying the question. "One that would be unprofessional. Two, she is my-team assistant."
"Roger sir," Johnson replied, slightly shaking his head a bit. "I will lock any chat down."
"Calm down Major," Bailey said, joining in the conversation. "Enlistments talk. You should have heard the stories about you when you were transferred to the Rangers."
He looks over to Bailey, somewhat surprised by what he said. He knows soldiers talk but it never crossed his mind that there was a deeper conversation.
"I will turn this bird around and take you back to base." He said.
"I get paid either way," Bailey said with a chuckle.
"That's fine. You can sit on the couch while we're kicking ass." He states with a smirk. "I will give your command to Johnson."
"I don't mind that," Johnson comments. "Leading Ranger and those fine ladies on the other chopper."
Johnson is referring to the other Chinook transporting the Rose Knights. When she found out they were being deployed Pina demanded to come along. She felt like that this was her fight now too.
At first, he said no however Colonel Yang overruled him. He believed that they could be useful in Lieutenant General Stanford plan. On top of that, Yang placed the Rose Knights under his command which frustrated him.
Yang explained that he has the most experience in dealing with 'assists' from this world. That is an overstatement. It has been far easier to integrate Rory, Lelei and now Tuka. While Rory still acts as an independent force, he understands each of their capabilities and how to utilize them.
The Rose Knights, on the other hand, do not know their capabilities. They look more like an honor guard then soldiers. The only person he fully trusts is Grey. He seems legit and Selina likes him for some reason and any Imperialist she likes must be credible.
His biggest concern is that will they listen to him. On paper, he is in command but that does not mean they will listen. While he does not care that Pina a princess, her Knights do. Last time he checked; a Princess is a higher rank than a Major.
He feels the chinook shake again as they begin the landing process.
Once the Chinook lands, the back ramps open, allowing everyone to off loud.
As he gets out and watching his Rangers get out, he looks over to the other Chinook. He sees all the Rose Knights Lieutenants and the Princess pour out and get on the ground, thrilled to be out.
"Looks like they didn't like the inflight peanuts, Major." Andrew points out as he walks off the Chinook.
He hears a few chuckles from both Rangers teams. He glances over. "Knock it off Corporal. We have to make this work."
After saying that, he walks over to the Rose Knights. He can hear them complaining about never wanting to leave the ground again and so on.
He gets up to Pina and looks down. "We got to go."
"Give me a minute please," Pina said as she places her hand on her chest. "My belly feels upside down."
"It will wear off," He replied. "The rain made us late, so we have to go."
He looks up and sees Grey walking off. His arm is on his chest. "Where would you like us." He said with a somewhat shaky tone. The first flight can be a bit much for a classical era people.
"Follow Lieutenant Johnson. Your people can rest and recover there while we get our orders." He responds and looks at Pina.
Pina catches a breath and stands up.
"Pina. Stay close and do not speak up. If you have a question, you ask me." He said, trying to make sure she knows who is in charge.
After saying that he turns around and starts walking off. He looks over to this right and sees the girls. "Hey Lelei, want to join?"
Lelei looks over, trying to cover herself from the rain. She nods her head, excited to be included.
Stolen novel; please report.
"Wait," Rory said in shock. "Why do you only ask her?"
"Do you want to sit in a meeting room talking about tactical stats?" He replied, knowing she hates that stuff.
Rory places her finger on her chin and thinks. "No."
"That is why. Now go causes some trouble." He said and winks at her.
After that, he starts heading to the command tent.
When the three walks in, they head towards the back. The tent is full of officers from the main Allied nations who are taking part in the assault. He sees elements of the 82nd and 101st Airborne, 1st Cavalry, and 10th Mountain. The other major players like France, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
He also notices some Special Ops officers over to the left. The British SAS, the Polish GROM, Lieutenant Commander Daniel Seal Team, and a few other Ranger teams.
It seems like Stanford is pulling all the stops and from his experience in dealing with this fortress, that is a smart move.
"There is a lot of you," Pina said quietly, glancing around.
"These are the major players of the NATO Expeditionary Force," He replied.
"Who are they?" Pina asked, leaning closer to him.
"Well, those one there are the English. They have been our closest allies for about eighty years now." Sharpe said. "Once they controlled twenty-five percent of our planet. They were the ones who started the anti-slavery movement in our world. They created the first rights of man documents in our history."
"Didn't you rebel against them?" Lelei asked.
Sharpe could not help himself but smirk. "Yeah, we totally kicked their ass."
He then slightly points to the French group of officers. "They're one of the top five militaries on our world and our oldest of allies. They are pretty badass in wars but we don't tell them that. It's a State secret."
Pina crosses her arms confused by that. "Why do they look different."
"That is the Japan Self Defense Force. They are our number one ally in Asia. We fought a World War against them but now we're friends." He said.
Pina nods her head and looks up at him. "It sounds like your people fought all of your allies at some point."
"Oh no," He replied but then thinks. "Wait… UK, France, Japan, Canada, The Germans. The Germans again. Italy… ahh…" He then starts counting with his fingers of all the current allies the US has but we fought against in a war. "Hmm… ok. Maybe about fifty, fifty."
Lelei looks up at him and lightly hits in with her staff.
"Ok," Sharpe replied. "Maybe closer to sixty percent."
"Is there anyone here you didn't fight against before?" Pina asked, a bit baffled by what he said.
"Yeah," He said as he points to these Polish soldiers. "Those are the Polish Special Forces. We didn't go to war against them. Actually, a Pole helped rained our ragtag military into a professional force back during the Independence War."
"Now listen up, he's talking about how we're taking the fortress." He said as he crosses his arms. "Make sure you take notes."
He glances over and sees Lelei, already with a notebook, taking detailed notes. He smirks, wishing she were around during Officer School. He could have gotten better grades with her note-taking skills.
***
--- Main Chamber, Fortress Legrath ---
December 13th, 2025
Taylin is sitting on the main commander's throne, looking out at the skates, servents, and commanders.
Emperor Zorzal instincts were right to question General Krysist's loyalty. Some of his commanders were tortured before being crucified. He invented to surrender to the Other Worlders.
While that satisfied General Harem and his commanders, that only left more questions. None of this is making sense for him. He understands the hatred Sadera Nobles have for the man, being a gladiator to General.
How did Zorzal know he was a traitor? From what he understands, Zorzl barely knows him. Unlike his father, he seems to react more as a rule then plan things out. Molt was a brutal ruler however he acted, not react. A stronger leader cannot react to events.
He looks over and sees General Herm walks through the door. On his right cheek is this freshly deep cut from his fight with Krysist. While Harem claims he killed the traitor, it seems Krysist left a permanent scare.
"Don't touch!" Herm yells as one of his maids tries to match his cheek.
"And you Taylin. Why are you just sitting there?" Herm asked in a disrespectful tone.
He just shots him a glare, warning him not to be disrespectful.
"While you left to spring your trap, I was here and repelled an attack." He replied.
"And yet you lost the Princess," Herm said.
"By the people, you laid the trap. You failed to stop them from teleporting here." He responds.
"Because you weren't there. I was fighting two Apostles." Herm points out.
He looks at him and holds up a finger. "Because I knew you would have failed."
Saying that angered the General. "Failed? I led our forces to their world, and I crushed their forces there. If it were not for our vassals, we would have won."
"But you didn't and here we are now." He said. "What has been bothering about that event is how did you do back through the Gate while the talented leaders died."
Right when he said that he notices Herm shut up with frustration. It seems he has hit a nerve with this man.
"Do not question me! I defeated the rebels here and killed General Krysist and the traitor Muilk." Harem said.
He nods his head and thinks about that. "So, do you have his head?"
"Why would I disgrace that damn bastard head?" Herm said, frustrated.
"And yet, that bastard has done more to fight the enemy then Sadera has. Maybe I picked the wrong side?" He points out, pushing the General.
When Herm arrived right before the north being blockaded by the enemy, he noticed how few of his men came back and with no evidence of a victory. He boasted how he slaughtered the rebels, but we only have his word.
"That is treason Taylin. You built the Empire, and he was threatening to undo it." Herm points out.
"I am loyal to the Empire, not to you or your friends." He states, making sure he understands his motive.
There is this small silence in the room, and everyone wants to see what happens.
"Ok," Herm said. "You are the Empire Apostle. What do you propose what we do?"
He has been thinking about that question a lot. From his own experience with these Other Worlders warriors, he has noticed that they operate in two ways. They seem to utilize both a hammer and a spear approach. The main forces push hard and crush the Empire Legions while they send a small well-trained group that Rory Mercury been working with to exploit the Legion weakness.
From his experience during the Raid of Sadera is that these other Worlders have destructive reach. He learned that the hard way and does not want to experience that again.
While the Fortress is well fortified, the enemy has the father reach the Empire weapons.
But he remembers that blue hair magic user that has been following Rory. It is only a theory, but she was the one who enhanced the ballista in Sadera that knocked him into that building. It moved at such incredible speech he was barely able to catch it before impact.
"Do we have magic users here?" He asked.
"Yes, we do." This young commander walks up. "But magic users have proven to be worthless against them."
"Same with everything else," Herm said and places his hand on his chin. "All we have to do it wait though. The Horde is supposed to be mobilizing and marching here."
"You are bringing the Horde here?" This other commander said, shocked.
Taylin understands the commander's feelings. This fortress was built to prevent the Horde from crossing into these lands. While there are some civilized races with the Dark Races, many are just beast living off their basic instincts. They cannot be controlled without brute force.
"Yes," Herm said. "With them, we can outflank them and overwhelm them with pure number."
"Until they turn on us and the peasants of Elies." A commander who is protesting the idea.
"Are you volunteering to attack then?" Herm asked, looking directly at the young man.
The young man thinks and then takes a step back, fully understanding what happens if you step out of line. "Of course, not General."
Herm then looks to him and begins to give orders.
"I do not take orders from you, General Herm. I will be looking out for Rory and the people that are with her." He said.
"What?" Herm asked, confused. "We need you on the frontlines."
"What about the ones who attack the center of the fortress?" He asked.
The question seems to confuse Herm. It shows how little experience he has with these Other Worlders.
"The Other Worlders have this strange ability to pop up where you least expect them." He said and thinks. "They clearly want to take the fortress intact otherwise they would have bombarded us with this flying and ground wagon trebuchets."
"I see what you mean," Herm said. "That means they have to come to us. But as I said, all we have to do is wait."
"We shall see. But we need to be ready for anything." He said. "Back to my mage question, back in Sadera, one of the enemy mages increased the range and speed of a Scorpio ballista somehow. That is how they defeated me. I was just thinking maybe they could do the same to our weapons."
"How is that even possible?" One of the commanders asked. "You cannot go faster than a dragon."
"Tell that to their flying machines." He responds. "If they can go that fast, maybe we can. But do as you want Herm. I am going to go prepare."
He then gets off the throne and picks up Battle Ax.
As he leaves, he thinks about the last encounter he had with Rory.
He cannot understand why she is working with them. Does she really believe what she said, do these Other Worlders have brainwashing magic that effects Apostles or is this willingly.
She claims that it is the Empire that brings instability to the world, not this enemy. The Empire has brought order to Falmart for generations, compare to the Dark Ages that came before.
Villages do not get wiped out anymore, trade between Kingdoms are more common than invasions. Everyone knows their place and it has brought peace to this world, which he always thought that is what Rory wanted.
They once work together, and he would prefer they work together again. He never let go that she left him and never could figure out why. They both accomplished what they set out to do and she then did not like that.
And now she is following this other Man and literally following him like a loyal servant. That part frustrated and baffled him. A man not even from this world, who is weak and mortal.
He assumed that her intentions were not to bring tranquility to Falmart but Chaos since Emroy is the bringer of death or instability. He should have seen that coming but he was trapped by her great personality and idealism. He always wonders if it was foolish to trust her in the first place or did something else change that forced her away.