--- Fortress Legrath, Heading to Southern Wall ---

December 13th, 2025

As Princess Pina Co Lada moves down the hallway, she looks around at the people with her. Her fellow Knights Grey Co Aldo and Bozes Co Paleti are with her while the rest went with Sharpe. She didn't enjoy her Knights being split up without her consent but saw that was not the time to challenge his order. Besides, she already crossed him once and that is an experience she didn't want to go through that again.

With them are three of his men, Frost, Scott, and their leader Johnson.

While they are on the hunt for General Herm, capturing or killing him would be a major blow in her brother's war effort. What she cannot understand is how Sharpe knew those soldiers protecting Herm were about to switch sides.

"Something bothering you Princess?" Grey asks as he moves beside her.

"No," She replied in a non-convincing tone. "Well. We were about to kill all those men. We nearly had General Herm. I am glad we didn't have to kill them but how did he know they were going to switch sides?"

"Herm killed both of their leaders," Grey replies. "Imagine if someone kills you and some else takes your places and discards everything you worked and stand for. You think your Knights will follow him?"

"I understand that," She replies. As she spoke, she hears two of the Americans fire the weapons down this hallway, probably killing some soldiers. "I just don't understand how. I thought we were going to clash."

"Once this is all done you should ask him then," Grey responds as he looks out the hallway window.

She looks up at him, about to respond. She can see on his face that he already knows the answer. Since the Siege of Italica(1), he has been quietly pushing her to side with the Other Worlders, more specifically, Major Sharpe.

"Sir Grey," She asks. "Why have you been pushing me towards him? To these people?"

"What do you mean?" Grey asks.

"Enough games. I know for a while that you been wanting me to work with the Major. Why?" She asks.

Grey takes a breath. "I am getting old Pina. My skills and wisdom longer are of use to you."

She is baffled by what he said. "That is not true. You have been there since I was a child. For all of us. You were more like a father figure than my father." After saying that she realizes how much that has been true. Her father rarely made time for her, a distant shadow under his cloak.

"Thank you, Pina. But that is not what I mean. The world is changing, and my insight does not help with these newcomers." Grey said and points out the window. "Look."

She walks over and looks out the hall window. She sees this Wyvern falling from the sky as two NATO F-16s fly pass the fortress at increasable speed.

"You see Princess, things have changed already. The world we grew up in will never return. I cannot help you through the change. But he can." Grey explains. "For the Empire to survive, we need to bridge the gap between both worlds. I think he can help you do that."

There isn't anything for her to say. She has done a lot to just earn his trust and there is to be a lot more to learn. And what he said is what she has been doing, trying to find ways to bridge the gap so both people can live in peace.

Bozes leans over, overhearing the conversation. "Maybe, but you could have found a nicer guy Grey. He is a prick and not that good looking. What he did to you before was completely inappropriate."

She knows what Bozes is talking about. During the fight before, he grabbed her and pushed her against the pillar. He was angry with her before she disobeyed his orders and ordered an attack. "It is ok Bozes, I shouldn't have ordered an attack."

"That is my problem. You are a Princess, and you shouldn't be treated in such a way." Bozes says. She then looks to the man named Johnson. "Hey, why is your boss such a prick?"

Johnson turns around. "This isn't the time for such chatter. Besides, he isn't that bad once you get to know him. Just have to get past the outer layer."

"Just like Onions sir," Frost says with a chuckle.

"Do you mean parfaits?" Scott said with a sarcastic voice.

"Knock it off you two. We have a job to do." Johnson points out.

She stands there looking at the three Americans baffled at their jokes. There is one thing she has noticed; they love to reference something that she doesn't understand. They are indeed a strange people.

"Still. He called me Blondie. I won't take that lightly." Bozes says.

"With all due respect ma’am but I recall you beat the crap out of him before after signing a treaty(2)?" Scott asks.

"Wait what?" Frost ask, looking towards everyone.

"Oh yeah…," Bozes stops, glancing away embarrassed.

"I said knock it off everyone," Johnson says in a firm voice. "Besides, I am pretty sure it was twice."

"Hey, I didn't know," Bozes replies.

Everyone chuckles a little bit as they move through the hallway.

Pina had forgotten that whole event and enjoyed seeing the embarrassed look on her friend's face. She is always a fiery lady, that is why she likes her but sometimes it gets her into trouble.

"So, he always been like this?" She asks.

Johnson chuckles. "This is nothing. You should have been there before the war. He was a cold-hearted SOB(3). At the time I was so pissed that he took my command away."

"Really? You once were the leader?" Pina asks.

"Doesn't that sound familiar," Boze points out. "I cannot believe you didn't cut his head off."

She hears what Bozes said. Some of the soldiers here are rebellion for that same reason Johnson said.

"Bozes," Grey said.

"For a time, yes but that was then. I was pissed at first but now I am happy he did." Johnson said.

"Why is that?" Bozes asks.

"Easy," Johnson said. "I would have followed the rules. I wouldn't have defended Italica. Wouldn't risked the unit for the flame dragon. I don't think we would have survived last time we fought Taylin in Sadera. never will forget that."

Hearing that last part confuses her. "You guys were the one who fought Taylin? How do you survive an encounter against an Apostle?"

"You might have powerful weapons but your still not gods." Bozes points out.

"When Taylin dropped down for the first time, it was just us. Rory was somewhere else." Scott said. "The Major went hand-to-hand against the boy. It was the most insane thing I ever saw."

"I remember that," Frost adds. "That's Delta for yeah."

"Yup. That was the day we fully become a unit. Glad we had that experience with us." Johnson said.

She couldn't believe what she heard. She looks over to Grey and sees the same reaction on his face. It didn't sound possible. She saw Rory during the Siege of Italica and how easily she slaughtered the mortal men.

"That is impossible, how did you win?" She asks.

There is this short silence before Johnson turns around and looks at them all. "Honestly, we didn't. The plan was to delay the boy as long as we could until Rory came and saved our rear ends. She came in right before he started killing us. And after that we dropped a 105mm shell on him. Three times."

For some reason hearing that made her relax more. With their advanced technology, it is easy to see them as all powerful. But they are still Human, just like her.

"Stay focus. We are getting close." Johnson says. "Scott?"

"Looks like we are heading to the outer wall. He must be trying to escape." Scott replies.

"Then we better move fast," Grey says.

"There!" Bozes yells and points out the window. "I see them. Heading to the South Wall."

Frost rushes to the window and aims his rifle. He fires three around and lowers it. "Out of range LT."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Double time. Move it Rangers and Knights. Bozes take point with me. When we run into his guard, we will take them out. Whoever can reach the General, take him."

--- Chinook Crash Site ---

Captain Bailey rushes to these two other soldiers. They are taking cover by this small section of the plaza wall, protecting they are keeping the wounded from the Chinook crash site.

When Taylin took down the Chinook and Apache, the Empire has been trying to overrun their position. While they cannot prevent the fortress from falling, it seems they want to make it as bloody as possible.

Everything was going as planned until that damn Apostle showed up, everything went to hell for him again. He has read the reports and listen to the stories from Vanguard-7, while it sounded intense, they always came out on top. He is seeing how dangerous these Apostles can truly be.

After doing a quick check up on his team and the few Airborne troops who made it down before the crash, he starts to figure out what is the situation is like.

He looks up to that tower Taylin was at. That MGM-140 missile destroyed that tower. It is only a guess, but he thinks that Apache was trying to delay Taylin until the M142 HIMARS was ready to fire. Their sacrifice probably stopped him from coming down here and slaughtering everyone.

He looks around. The main problem he sees is that the Empire has archers everywhere. There are windows and balconies everywhere. They have the height and cover advantages. On top of that are the multiple pathways and entrance that lead to this plaza.

He was supposed to get a full Airborne platoon to back his Ranger unit up to help secure the area while the French broke through the second northern gate. He is forced to drop off his objectives and protect the wounded.

"You two, go over there and secure that gate." He orders two Airborne soldiers.

As he runs, he hears one of his men yelling over the team radio. "We need back up. Main stairway!"

That came from his main frontline, the main path that leads to the plaza.

He grabs his SIG M17 and hands it to this wounded soldier who is laying there. He cannot believe how young he is, barely looking twenty. "Son, I need you to protect Doc here or your buddies will die."

The wounded soldier looks up at him. "I understand sir."

He points to two more soldiers, one being a Ranger and the other being healthier but hurt Airborne soldier. He then starts rushing to the frontline with those two. All around him he sees his men firing up at the windows. Arrows raining down from above.

He passes the crashed Chinook to his left. Part of it is smoking with some small fires around. He assigned three men to search for survivors and take them to that protected spot. The Chinook is the biggest problem.

He would prefer to fall back to a more defensive position inside. But he must protect the Chinook and any survivors inside. Falling back results in their deaths and being overrun. This forces him to stretch his lines. He knows all he must do is wait for his people to redeploy to his position. This has become a Black Hawk Down situation(4) and he knows it will be costly.

His group gets to the main path as see this about a company-size force of Imperialists moving up the long stairway. The three soldiers he assigned to guard this position overwhelmed by the sheer amount coming.

"Form up. Do not let them get close," He orders as he gets behind some cover.

They all open fire, raining bullets down the path.

He sees all these soldiers rushing towards them. Many falls from being shot. Their advance reminds him of those war movies like Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and of course, Lord of the Rings where you just see a massive wave of troops charging at you. When they get close to you, you get something chopped off.

With the concentrated fire, it seems the Imperialist company advance is losing steam and pulling back. While they got close, they couldn't get close enough to make their swords useful. But he knows they will be back once they regroup.

"Alright, refresh the lines. Pick off their snipers and…" He says before another situation happens.

He turns around hearing screams and sees the enemy breaks down this wall and begins pouring through the new opening.

"God damnit," He says, getting tired. "Plug the hole!"

He sees a few of his Rangers adjust their positions and attack the new threat. To him, it looks like they are trying to head to where the wounded are located. Whoever their leader seems to understand what he is trying to do.

Suddenly he witnesses all those Imperialists that came through the new breach fall down dead, taking a wave of bullets.

Confused on what just happened, he looks up and sees a new unit on one of the second-floor balconies. He sees one of them wave to him and he waves back, glade for the help.

Five of the new soldiers drop from the rope and rappel down to the plaza. He gets from his position and rushes to them. From the patch, they are the Polish GROM special forces. The name patch says Captain Kowalski.

"You're a sight for sore eyes Captain." He says.

"We came as soon as we heard. Where do you need us Captain?" Kowalski asks.

He looks around catching a breath. "I need your medic with the wounded. So far, we extracted about ten of the living 101st boys from the Chinook. I haven't seen for myself but a lot of bodies."

"I understand Captain, where you need us?" Kowalski asks again.

He stops and calms himself down and looks around. "Plug the hole and we need to clear out those windows. Archers are sniping at us down here."

"Roger that," Kowalski replies and then points to his men to the direction they need to go.

As the GROM unit moves out, he looks up to one section of the window. Delilah is no use in a firefight since she is a stealth melee fighter. He didn't want to split up, but he needed those archers out.

"Delilah, how are you doing?" He asks over the radio.

"Hold on!" Delilah yells.

In the heat of the moment, he has learned she can get, angry. He can hear her slicing a man and his screams. She is a cold blood killer and he never wants to be on the other side of that.

"Ok," Delilah said. "The third floor is cleared. I'm working my way to the next floor."

"No. Fall back to our position. We’re getting reinforcements and I don't want you out there alone in the crossfire."

"I can handle myself," Delilah says with some finesse.

"I gave an order." He says with a stern tone.

As he gives the order, he hears this hard slam into the ground.

He gets up and rushes over to what made the sound. Right in the middle of the plaza, he sees Rory standing fully up.

"What was that?" Delilah asks.

"Rory," He replies. "Get down here."

He is surprised to see Rory here since Taylin is not here. It is an open secret among the troops that Sharpe is overprotective of her and the other girls on his team. That is not normal within the Army but in this world, what is normal on this world.

Still, he doesn't understand why she is here. He knows Sharpe wouldn't have sent her here alone like that. Unless he is close by, he doesn't like to detach his team unless he has no choice.

He gets up from his spot and rushes over to her. "Rory, what are you doing here?"

She turns around and glares at him. "Where is he?"

"Taylin? No idea Mam," He said. "We haven't seen him since the missile strike. But I could use your help here."

She lowers her weapon and looks around. "What do you mean you haven't seen him? He wouldn't have just stopped."

"Thank you for the thought Rory," He said, glade that there is an Apostle who cares about their safety. "Is Major Sharpe close by?"

He then sees this nervous look on her face. "You ok?"

"No…" Rory said. "I kind of ran off again to stop Taylin from doing more harm. Now I don't know what to do. He has to be close by but where."

He understands what she means. She ran off against orders again and now that was pointless. He has heard the stories; Sharpe is a strange man. If roles were reversed, he never would ever chew a Demi-goddess out or even risk getting on their bad side.

"He will understand. He always does. Mind helping us out until the other teams arrive?" He asks.

"For now, yes. But I need to know where Taylin is before he strikes again." Rory says.

--- Fortress Legrath, Internal Barracks ---

Sharpe and the rest of Vanguard-7 and Rose Knights are rushing towards the crash site. Everything is moving far quicker than he expects thanks to their new allies.

Some Human Imperialists that are being led by this Siren woman called Guardian Beluutie, which he nicknamed Pinkie. There also is this large man that he calls Terminator because he reminds him of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

While he cannot fully understand what the Terminator Centurion says half the time because of his deep accent, Beluutie has explained the situation. While these people were not Krysist men and loyal to Muilk, executing Muilk and crucifixion Krysist men did not go well with many of the troops.

As he thought, fighting in the trenches creates a certain bond and respect between soldiers. The whole brother and arms culture. The Centurion and his buddies did not like seeing their friend die by the people they died for. A massive show of disrespect.

With Beluutie help, they were able to waste no time navigating the inner layers of the fortress, bypassing many heavily defended places. The regular army will move in and clear them out. He just wants to get to the plaza and help there and make sure Rory is ok.

He understands the whole Apostle immortality part and doesn't care about it when it comes to Rory. That is probably why she acts the way she does. She can get sick, get cold, have emotions and most importantly, she still can feel pain just like anyone else. Even a Demi-god can still be defeated and that is what keeps him up at night. Taylin beaten her once and once is enough.

That goes for everyone else on his team. He lost too many team members on past high-risk missions and doesn't want to lose another one. Especially when they become more like family than allies.

"Pinkie, how much longer?" He asked.

"Almost there," Beluutie replies with an annoyed tone. "And I said stop calling me that. I don't see you calling her bluey."

"That is not a bad idea." He looks to his right and sees Lelei running beside him. She looks at him and shakes her head no to the nickname.

He looks away chuckling.

After bypassing an enemy group that is heading to the French breach, he sees Beluutie look to him.

"I must ask, what do you plan on doing to us? We did fight against your people" Beluutie says in a nervous tone like she has been thinking about this.

He understands the question. During the old days on Earth, it was standard to raise a city to the ground, murder or enslave the conquered population. Sparing people is the exception, not the rule. The Empire practices the same tradition and that is probably what's going on through her and her friend's heads.

"First, we will plant the flag and then have a beer to celebrate." He replies. "You guys are welcome to join."

The Terminator said something, he not catching all of it.

"He said we fought against your people. How could your leaders forgive them?" Beluutie said. "I agree with him. You are inviting us doesn't make sense."

"Andrew." He said.

"Ma’am, we are Americans. Your thinking about it way too much. You switch sides and were too lazy to think past that." Andrew says in a cocky voice.

"Enemies today, friends' tomorrow?" Hamilton asks with a sight of disbelief in her voice.

"I see," Beluutie replies. "I guess the little Roses are proof of that. But still, it is hard to believe that."

"Little Rose?" Hamilton asks, trying to decide if she should be offended or not by that.

"I like that," Beefeater adds with a chuckle.

"We can talk more about it later," Randy interrupts. "Point is were allies now. You helped when it mattered. The bad guys are the ones who refuse to lay down their arms."

"Like this one?" Beluutie asks as she stops.

He stops right behind her. The big Centurion man stops and gets incredibly angry. Lelei powers up and all of his Rangers aim their rifles forward.

Up ahead he sees Taylin standing there, staring right at them.

He walks forward, walking in front of Beluutie so he is directly between Taylin and everyone else. All he can think about is what happened to Rory.

Taylin closes and his body looks beaten up, probably from the missile. However, there are no fresh wounds on him, meaning that he has regenerated. Good chance he and Rory bypassed each other because there is no way Rory would have gone down without a fight.

"Where is Rory?" He demands.

Taylin just stands there, looking directly at him.

No words are needed, he knows what Taylin wants. He notices Lelei walk up to his right and Tuka with her bow and arrow to his left.

He holds out his hand, signaling her to stop. "All of you head to the crash site."

"But," Tuka asks.

"It is a Rule Tuka. Our mission is to secure the crash site and wait for our forces to breach the walls." He explains.

Randy walks up behind him. "Sir. This isn't protocol."

He turns around and looks at his Sergeant Major. "No choice. If you all stay, there were all dead. I have a plan."

He then looks to Lelei knowing she would protest. Seeing that, he winks to her. "Trust me."

Lelei looks at him and nods.

Once everyone starts to leave, he turns around and faces Taylin.