***
--- Underground Tunnels, Fortress Legrath---
December 13th, 2025
"I cannot believe we are stuck down here again," An Imperial guard said as he sits down on a bench.
The other soldier walks over with a pale of water. "Well, we could be up top and fight."
"Better than sitting here bored," The first soldier said.
"Didn't the enemy once come through here? Not that long ago?" The soldier points out.
"There are many tunnels. Many that leads nowhere. Even if they know of them, the odds they pick this one…" The soldier said but then hear this strange sound from behind.
He then turns around and sees the guard on the ground, head splattered on the floor.
He then looks down the tunnel and sees these soldiers standing there. He sees one of then aiming at him and everything goes dark.
---
Sharpe sees the two guards fall from the silent attack. From what he can tell the entrance to the fortress is secured.
He signals with his hand for the rest of his Rangers to move forward.
Lieutenant General Stanford wants Special Forces units to sneak inside the fortress through the underground tunnel, just like last time. He got the idea when his Ranger unit went to rescue Tuka people.
While the Special Forces units attack from within, the main force is engaging outside. First as a distracting force and then to soften them up. Their job is to keep the enemy focus on them so we can move around more freely. The Special Forces secure an insertion point for elements the 101st Division flies in and offloads Airborne troops inside.
The key problem with this fortress is the double-wall fortification, otherwise, the direct approach would be more than enough.
Private First-Class Harvey Frost and Private First-Class Marvin Scott rush’s and secure the entrance. Once he gets the ok from his NW Network, he waves everyone else forward.
As both Rangers and Rose Knights rush forward, storming the entrance, he stops Tula as she passes him.
She stops and looks at him. "What is it, sir?"
"Why are you holding up?" He asked. He knows this place has been bad for her people and could bring up some unpleasant memories. Many of her people were tortured and killed here and she has used bait for him.
"I am fine. Let us just end this place and bring the Imperialist to their knees," Tuka said with a smile.
He nods. "Don't let your emotions get ahold of you. Victory will be enough." He looks down and sees that she is using the bow he got her. "When we get into a fight, focus on the officers and work your way down. You are my marksmen."
"Got it, boss," Tuka said with her smile.
He pats her on the shoulder and then follows his Rangers.
As everyone moves through the tunnel, taking out any patrols they run into.
Last time he came through here, everything felt wrong. They barely ran into anyone, just like now but it felt like a trap. This time everything feels sloppy. He doesn't feel that Krysist charm(1).
While it is only a guess, it confirms the rumor of the power struggle within the Imperial Army. NATO has been fighting all around Elies, they have fought bravely and with much professionalism. With all their limitations, they watched, learned, improved, and adopted against an overwhelming force.
When the war was started, the US only saw the worse side of these people. Even though they are so different, there still can be respect between everyone.
He glances into his NW feed, checking on the other units that are attacking through other tunnels. Besides for his unit, the reception is bad and lag. That problem should be fixed once there out of the lower area. Based on what he can tell, everything is going fine.
"What are you staring at?"
He looks away from his HUD and sees Pina looking at him. "I'm checking on the status of the operation and the team."
Pina looks at him confused. She then looks to everyone and back to him. "But you haven't said a word to anyone. You’re just making a strange face."
"You understand what a camera is?" He asked.
"Yes," Pina said.
He then points to the camera that is on his helmet. "Everyone in the US army has this on their helmet. That allows me to see what they're seeing."
"You're kidding," Pina said, struggling to fully understand what he means. "You people are just so advance."
"Technology is important and is a force multiplier but, nothing will ever replace that boots on the ground and the fighting spirit of the warrior. Never forget that."
He then starts moving again. He has used many of the most advanced technology the Army has to offer. From advance Smart Targeting, smart bullets to active camouflage and other interesting toys from DARPA. Technology fails and None of that replaced the soldier.
"Alright," He said. "stay tight and watch corners. I want two by two formation."
--- Outside of the Fortress ---
The M2 Bradley stops, and the back door opens. Major Bronston walks out and sees his unit dismounting and getting into position.
He stops and looks at the fortress. And see the tall wall with little torch lights everywhere. He then looks to the left and then the right, taking in how massive this fortress is. Inside, pass the second layer of defensive walls.
With the rising sun that is starting to peek over the horizon, he sees how the fortress is built inside the large hill. The sight reminds him of the fortress city of Minas Tirith(2) but on a smaller scale.
The place looks heavily fortified and ready for a battle and against any army from this world, it probably would give them hell. But today, the attackers are not from this world. None of that bows and arrows but good old American steel.
He looks around and sees his unit get into position. His orders are to make the Empire defenders focus on his unit. To force the Empire to show its teeth and hammer them.
Stanford is concerned about any new surprises from the Empire. Krysist has shown while that while with inferior technology, they can be resourceful.
Luckily, we have a lot of surprises ourselves.
He looks up and down the line, seeing the full 2nd Brigade from the 1st Cavalry Division form up
"Lieutenant, tell the battalion to spread out and be ready to engage." He said. "Get the Abrams up and begin targeting those Ballista’s."
As he gives out orders, he hears one of his soldier’s yells 'watch out'.
He looks to the fortress and sees this ball moves through the air.
The ball lands close to him. When it lands, it engulfs into this massive ball of fire.
He is forced to back away from the intense heat. To his surprise, the fire is not yellow and red but this green color.
He hears from his NW system from his other officers. There reporting to be taking fire from the same fireballs and these long javelins, all being fired from the fortress.
He rushes as his soldiers take cover. The Bradly’s begin open firing with their 25mm Bushmaster chain gun.
He gets to his command Bradley and pulls out his radio. "Actual, we are taking fire from the fortress. I thought this was out of their range."
"This is Actual, you should be," Brigade Command replied. "According to the historical information from Earth, you should be outside the maximum range of their Trebuchet."
He thinks about that and looks out to the fortress. From what the medieval expect on Earth, the average range of trebuchet is about two hundred meters. Ancient Humans are not able to build something strong enough to fire father and be effective.
That is when he realized the mistake. "Actual, that information is based on Human standards, not alien."
"That shouldn't matter Major," Brigade Command replied.
"Yes, it does. I have seen Trolls and Minotaur's who are ten times stronger than the average man." He said.
He hears a pause on the other end as they think about that information. He sees the problem, they are assuming based on our standards and limits, not this word.
"This is Actual, we agree with your correction. Stanford said engage. UAV’s spotting enemy firing positions and call in HVP around." Brigade Command said.
HVP is short for Hypervelocity Projectile. They are a GPS artillery around that was developed during the railgun research. Besides needing to use dozens of shells to take out a target, HVP allows for the single round to hit its target.
"Roger that." He said and switches to his command network. "All units, engage. Mark enemy positions and light them up."
--- Later inside the Fortress ---
As the battle rages outside, Vanguard-7 is out on this large indoor courtyard. Stone pillars holding up the hill that is above them.
Sharpe gets behind this flower garden stone frame and looks at the layout. It seems this place is a central hub from another area of the fortress. He struggles to understand how the Empire could build a place like this, with Roman-era engineering.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
An arrow passes between him and Private First-Class Alicia Moore, it is coming from the balcony that acts as a second level.
On the ground are swordsmen all around trying to push forward. What is stopping them is from the steady fire from his Rangers.
"Johnson, get Andrew and Scott to suppress the archers. Randy, get…" He pauses as this arrow scraps by him. "Do not allow them to flank. Keep them in line of sight. Scott, nail them to the wall."
He hears their replied and points to Rory. He signals to her to head up to the next level and clear it out while everyone else clears out this courtyard.
He looks around and fires his rifle. He sees his plan coming to fruition. Preventing them from flanking and forcing them to huddle together. That prevents them from charging, stealing their momentum.
Gray appears to his left, placing his hand on the stone wall that surrounds the garden. "What is the plan? They are feeling left out."
When then got into this engagement, the last thing he wanted was to get the melee troops inside the line of fire. That only increase the chance of Blue-on-Blue friendly fire. He is having a hard time to properly utilize Swordsmen and Swordswoman of the Rose Knights. It is a new form of warfare that he is trying to learn on the job.
"This is the US Army; nothing is left out. Only properly used." He replied. and glance around. "Tell Pina to split her Knights into two teams. I want them to flank left and right and prevent those Imperialists escape while we secure the area. I don't…"
As he said that he watches Princess Pina and her Knights run past him. He is baffled by the sight as the rush right down the middle, his mind not wanting to accept what just happened.
On his radio, he hears Randy calling out to everyone to check their fire and watch for Blue-on-Blue fire.
"What the fuck…," Alicia said in disbelief.
He stands up from his cover and watches as the Rose Knights engage. He glances over to Grey as he raises, watching his Knights fight. He can see on his facial reaction of disappointment.
He takes a breath and points to Alicia. "Get in there."
"And save their rookie asses, got it, boss," Alicia said with a grin and puts on her rifle bayonet.
He then turns around and points to Lelei. He was holding her back because he was afraid that her magic would be too powerful inside a confined place like this. A lesson he is beginning to see is that Tuka magic is soft but sustainable but Lelei is powerful but takes a toll on her.
"Lelei, provide a distraction above that formation. Star Ferries." He said.
Lelei nods and closes her eyes, beginning to chant. Coming out of her staff are those small yellow stars.
He looks back to Grey and sees this confused look on his face.
"Star Ferries?" Grey asked.
"It's a teenage girl thing," He said with a shrug. "Follow me. If you want a job done, you must do it yourself."
---
Pina raises her sword and blocks her opponent's sword. Seeing their blades locked into each other, she pushes back and slashes down at the swordsman, cutting through him.
Making sure the swordsman is dead, she looks to her Knights. They seem to be fighting flawlessly. All staying close together, so they do not get surrounded.
She sees Jalin pull his sword out of a dead body. Bozes aggressively attacking her opponent. Same with Beefeater and Panache.
So far, she is proud of her Knight performance, going toe to toe against well-trained Empire Legionaries.
She was getting frustrated that Major Sharpe was holding her and her Knights back. She did not want to come along just to watch them fight but to make a difference and prove herself. Growing up she has been sidelined and she had no intention to allow that to happen here. She saw an opportunity to get in the fight and help and she took it. Grey has always said do not hesitate during a battle and she did not want too now.
This swordsman charges forward her. She dodges it if the way and their weapons collide. After a few more blocks, she swings past him and slashes his chest, cutting him down.
She takes a breath as she looks for her next opponent.
As she looks, she sees this big muscular walking forward. However, he is not coming to her but to Hamilton.
Hamilton is backing up, just now noticing that man. From this view, he is about two heads taller than her.
"Hamilton!" She yells
She rushes over but is blocked by this other soldier. Feeling the pressure to get him to her friend, she rapid attacks against the soldier. Shen then pushes him back and right before she attacks, she hears this strange feminine roar.
The sole female Ranger comes out of nowhere and ranges her weapon into the man's side, using the knife at the end of it. As the knife goes into the man, she unloads a few rounds into him, falling over dead.
The female Ranger pulls out and charges forward to her next target, "Your next!"
She watches as the female Range rushes away, trying to remember her name. She looks back, remembering that her friend is in danger.
She sees Hamilton on the ground with the soldier foot holding her down. She is struggling to push his foot off her. He raises his sword, brings it down to her.
She rushes and tackles him to the ground. His blade hits her side, hitting the side of her body and the blade tip hit the ground.
She falls forward and rolls off the man. She gets up and feels a punch by that soldier.
She gets pushed back and raises her sword and gabs it at him. But it is deflected by his armor. But this blade comes through him, coming from behind.
"Your highness!" Hamilton said. She has pushed her sword through the weak point of his armor.
She takes her sword and rams the point through his neck.
As the man falls, she gets up and goes to her friend.
Hamilton sits down on the stone garden frame holding onto her side.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
"Yes," Hamilton replied as she looks to her side and sees the blood. "It didn't go through all the way, just a scrap. Thank you."
She looks up, wanting to take her to the Rangers surgeon.
As she looks around and checks on her Rose Knights, she sees this Halbert flies down from the second level and cuts this man in half.
The female Ranger turns around and looks up where Rory is at. She creates a V shape with two fingers. She kisses the V and holds it up to Rory. "Thanks, Sister!"
Rory jumps down and lands on the ground, grabbing her Halberd.
She looks around and sees her Knights working on the last few remaining soldiers. Many of them fall dead already from the Ranger rifle fire, being picked up. She finds it strange not seeing the arrows being fired but noticing how much gorier the impact is.
"Keep fighting, we have them!" She yells, looking for the next soldier to attack.
"Princess, the hallway!" Beefeater yells, pointing down this hallway.
She looks and sees what seems like a dozen soldiers rushing down the hall. Her Knights are to bust fighting the current ones and cannot get into formation to fight the new wave.
"Grey," She said and looks around, noticing that he is not around. She wonders why he did not join in the fight.
As the Empire soldiers rush out, she then ses Grey and Sharpe running along the wall, heading to the hallway entrance. The incoming soldier unable to see them.
She watches Grey rushes into the front of the entrance and blocks the soldiers. With one swing he slashes one of the men necks.
Then he gets out of the way, heading to the other side of the entrance. Three soldiers run out and face Grey, all of them having the backs to Sharpe. With three shots, he kills them all.
She watches them work together and bottleneck the other soldiers in the hall, Grey blocks them and cuts them down while Sharpe is right behind him picking them off.
They seem to be working very effectively and wonder why Sharpe did not want her help.
She turns around and helps her Knights finish off the remaining soldiers.
---
After the battle, Sharpe walks past a few of his Rangers and Knights. After a fight, he normally does not want to stick around in that place. Movement is the key when on the attack. A battle makes a lot of noise and that attracts the enemy, plus they have a mission to complete.
The only reason why he is waiting here is that Hamilton got wounded in their charge. Hearing that infuriated him but kept himself calm.
He walks over and sees the team medic Specialist Jerry William patching up her side.
He walks over and sees Hamilton sitting there. Her chest plate is on the ground and she is covering her breast with her arms to allow Jerry to strap a bandage around her.
He sees Corporal Andrew Steele standing there, trying to look away but struggling to do so. He sees the concern in his eyes, fully understanding what is going on in his head. One part trying to be professional and the other trying to care.
He sees Pina sitting right next to her and Grey standing there, watching. Taking interest in how we heal people. It might be a fascinating sight for him; simple wounds would result in death with the current medicine.
He pays him, giving him an assurance support. "Doc, report."
"She will be fine. Just a cut on her right side." Jerry said as he reaches into his bag. "It doesn't stop the mission."
"Please don't stop just for me," Hamilton said, embarrassed.
"Hamilton corrects?" He asked and saw her nod. "I don't know if you know but we do not leave our people behind."
"Really?" Hamilton asked surprised by that. "I heard you say that before, but I never believed it."
"Honey," Alicia said, standing over. "If we leave people behind, then how do we collect gambling debts?" She said with a cheeky chuckle as she elbows Andrew. "Right Andrew."
"...shut up," Andrew said.
"I told you not to gamble anymore. You keep losing." Hamilton said.
"Yes Andrew," Alicia adds, teasing him.
"Everything is fine sir," Jerry replied to Sharpe. "It is not a serious wound, just a decent cut. Still, I wouldn't want it left alone for long. With your permission, I like to apply Bio-Gel and then a patch. She will be able to operate normally until we get back to base."
"Bio-Gel?" Grey asked.
Jerry pulls out this syringe out of his medical bag. "It is a very special foam that you inject into a wound. Small sponges down inside and stop the bleeding temporarily."
Hearing that, he knows that is a very oversimplified explanation of that technology. Recently developed, it is an emergency injection to help soldiers on the frontlines. He was saved by it after getting wounded during the North Korea mission. It was a protype and helped save a few of his first unit. Delta and the Seals were given this new medical technology to test it out before mass production. It has only recently entered production, Rangers being the other unit being given. The big problem that it is still expensive.
Bio-Gel is a new development by DARPA and the company VetiGel(3). He is always surprised by how much technology in science fiction ends up being developed. It was only of the reason why he took an interest in the subject, never know what can apply in the real world. Bio-Gel was inspired by Biofoam from the games Halo and Med-Gel from Mass Effect, according to VetiGel.
"However, it will hurt at first," Jerry said. "It is ok to scream. No shame in it"
"Hurry it up Doc," He said. "We need to move. Andrew, stay here and get them back on their feet when there done."
"Yes sir," Andrew said, feeling a bit more relaxed.
He then looks to Pina, seeing that they need to make an 'understanding'. "Pina, follow me."
"Hold on," Pina replied.
"I said follow me," He responds in his cold command tone, which shocked her. When he sees her standing up, he starts walking away.
Pina catches up behind him. "What is it?"
As she said that they hear Hamilton screaming with pain from the injection.
Once he gets away from everyone, he turns around and grabs her by the armor's chest strap. He pulls her close. "Next time I give you a god damn order, you fucking follow it. Do I make myself clear?"
He can see her baffled reaction. Being royalty, she probably is not used to someone getting this close or treating her like this. That title might have value to her Knights but not to him.
"Hey," She said. "I was not going to sit back and…"
He pulls her closer, so their faces are right next to each other. "This is my command. Not yours. This is no longer your Rose Knights Honor Guard. This is the United States Army. You will obey my command, or I will bust your ass down…"
She grabs his arm and pushes him off her. "Hey. I am not some puppet you can control. I might be a woman but that does not mean I can't pull my weight. I can fight just as well as you can!"
"I don't give a damn. You can keep that sexist crap at the door." He said, pissed at what she said. "This is war. One bad move and everyone is dead. Get it through your head or I will get it through there myself. The one thing I will not tolerate is half-ass cowboy shit. That is how you end up with that."
He then points to Hamilton being treated. "That was unnecessary."
"But she is ok. I never would allow anything to hurt her." Pina said. "But that doesn't mean we came all this way to just be left in the back idly. I understand what happens when someone dies under your command! I lost someone finding your people!"
He looks directly at her and takes a deep breath. He then points down the path they just came. "If you can't accept my command then take your Knights and go home."
He then turns around and walks away.
---
Pina watches Sharpe walk away, wanting to stop him and apologize but cannot. She sees Rory walk over to his side and starts walking to him about something.
She still cannot believe how close an Apostle is with a mortal, especially to someone not from this world. Taylin has always been loyal to the Empire however he never interacted with the people and government like those two. She finds it is a fascinating and scary sight. She wonders what a relationship like that might be.
She looks around and notices that everyone was listening to their conversation. She then places her hand on her forehead and takes a deep breath, regrading what just happened.
"Damnit… I am not good at this." She said to herself softly.
"Are you ok Princess? Want me to punch that prick in the head?" Bozes asked as she walks over.
"No… just get ready to go." She replied.
"Pina," Panache said. "This is ridiculous. We don't need them."
"Knock it off all of you," Grey said and walks up to them. "Why are you acting like this Princess?"
"I don't know," She replied.
All she wanted to do was be helpful on the mission. She did not want to be sideline like she was with her family and all she saw was that happening again.
"Princess," Grey said. "And all of you. This is their quest, their rules."
"Well, their rules were going to keep up in the back, picking up the pieces." Panache said.
"If that is what they want so be it. Your Rose Knights now. Not children." Grey states point out. "And besides, if you waited literally five seconds, he was about to give you orders. But because you charged in their line of fire there was no one to stop their reinforcements."
She knows what he means. During the fight, she saw those soldiers that arrived. Her Knights were too busy fighting others and could have been overrun.
Hearing Grey said that makes her feel bad for screwing everything up. She realizes everything she did was just because she wanted to prove herself. If only she waited for her chance, that would have done it. But now, she just proved that they are a liability and now an assist.
"I should apologize."
"Don't bother," Grey responds. "All of you go help out and get ready to leave."
"I take it Hamilton is ok?" Beefeater asked.
Grey responds with a nod. "Their healer has some powerful medicinal herbs."
Hearing that Hamilton is ok, it lowers the tension between them all.
As everyone walks away, she looks to Grey. "Why do I keep screwing up?"
Grey places his hand on his shoulder. "Your Highness, you are still young and have much to learn."
"I see that," She replied.
Grey takes a breath and looks at everyone. "I wouldn't worry about it. Just listen for now. It was a matter of time something like this happened. We are still learning how to work together. It is going to take time for users to fully understand each other."
She nods, agreeing what he said. "Alright, let us try this again."