--- Dumas Mountain, Balkin Hill ---

March 3rd, 2026

Captain Jace Baker rushes around Charlie's company making sure everyone is where they need to be. Seeing that he was cut off and surrounded he ordered all three of his platoons to form a rigid circle. Everyone is taking cover wherever they can find.

He walks past a wounded stand that is still standing, refusing to go back to the wounded station. He pats him on the shoulder and then his buddy next to him. "You are doing great boys. These Imperialist bastards think they could get the jump on us like in Battle of Ia Drang(1). We kicked their asses back in Nam and we are going to kick their asses now. Do not let up."

While he knew the Battle of Ia Drang was an intense battle, the 1st Cavalry soldiers who fought in that battle were tough, warriors. They never quit and today the 1st Cav soldier will not either. In that battle the soldiers were surrounded and outnumbered, their lines were about to be breached and it was their fighting spirit and superior firepower that prevented the battalion from being overwhelmed and killed.

Before he lost contact with Major Bronston, they both learned that the Empire was sneaking behind and within through underground tunnels. Seeing that he figured out this was a trap and a well-planned out one. He wonders how much resources the Imperial Army had to devote to do something like this.

About twenty Dwarves came out of two holes that were disguised as boulders. In their sneak attack, they killed four soldiers and wounded another five before they were able to take care of them. Right now, his company specialist M11 Incinerator flamethrower and burning into the last of the hidden ambush spots.

He hears another charge and aims his rifle. About one hundred Imperial swordsmen charging towards them. His riflemen open fire and cut the formation.

The cloak on his HUD goes off and he gets on Company COMs so everyone can hear is order. "Everyone takes cover."

He gets on his knee and takes cover. All the soldiers around do the same, taking cover by anything they can find.

And then a wave of arrows comes from all directions. The arrows miss almost everyone. He hears a soldier screaming after getting hit by an arrow.

This has happened many times now. The Empire swordsman makes a fake charge to get his company, making them focus on that threat. Then the archers on the ridge and in the trees fire a single volley of arrows. Then they disappear. Then the Swordsmen make another charge as everyone is distracted by the volley and taking care of the wounded. But that tactic isn't working so well anymore.

He noticed something different about these archers. His company Black Hornet nano drones have been keeping an eye on them. While they have the high ground, a few rockets and grenades should clear that up. However, those archers are not acting like standard Imperial troops. They are also not wearing the standard armor and cloaks clothing the Empire soldiers wear.

The drone showed that after firing a single shot they run away, and a different archer appears somewhere else and fires a single shot. Imperial Soldiers are more regimental and more disciplined while these soldiers seem to be more guerrilla fighters.

In addition, they seem to be far more diverse than Imperial Legions. The Empire mainly employs Humans as the backbone of their army while using other races as needed, using their unique skills to enhance the core of the Legion. Based on the drone they are Human, all High Elves, Dark Elves, and Wood Elves, a few Lizards and Leonidas.

It has been hard to confirm but it seems his company is fighting two different groups besides one standard Imperial Legion.

This tactic has prevented his rockets from effectively killing them. By the time his troops react, they are already gone and moved to a new location.

"Sir," a corporal said over the radio. "Second Platoon needs you by the ridge."

He takes a glance around to see what the situation is here. He has prioritized his personal command here because this was the only spot, they could get overrun Charly company. Seeing that it has been stabilized he tells the Lieutenant in command and rushed back to the ridge front.

He gets to his company command post and sees his fellow commanders doing everything they can to coordinate between his three platoons. He sees his CP guards providing fire at the strange enemy archers.

For a moment he admires the discipline his soldiers are. While it is rare for soldiers to talk about it, it is a common fear of getting surrounded by Imperial troops and being stabbed to death by their melee weapons. Or the Empire using their beasts to beat them.

Because of advanced technology, professionalism, bravery, and determination, no one is allowing the situation to consume them. All still determined to continue to do their duty while under pressure.

He rushes up and takes cover. He sees the small ridge and heads popping up and disappearing after firing an arrow.

"Report!" He orders.

"A-10 inbound," the radioman said.

"Who else is requesting their support?" He asks.

"The pilot said he has no clear comms with Bravo. Another one is supporting Alpha right now." The radioman replies.

He hears more weapon fire coming from his left flank, where Bravo company is. It sounds bad and wishes he knows what's happening. "Have you heard from Bravo?"

"Negative but I got through to Alpha," the radioman said. "Both sister companies have been attacked by Wolf Rider. Both companies' lines were broken and they are close fighting."

Then the full gravity of the situation hits him. He stands up and looks around. He looks to the direction of his sister companies and then to the ridgeline. "Fuck this."

He looks down at his company post staff. "Listen up. Get that A-10 to bomb that ridge until it is a ditch. Second Platoon mop up whoever those bastards are, third Platoon continues holding our rear flank until Company CP helps gather the casualties. Then I want both groups to move to Bravo company’s position. First Platoon with me. We are going to Bravo and help."

"Jessica!" He then looks to First Lieutenant Jessica, his second in command, the first female combat infantry officer in the 1st Cavalry Division. "You are in command. 1st platoon lets go."

As first platoon gathers, he hears the A-10 incoming. The sound of its Gatling gun going off and the screams of enemy archers can be heard. He looks up and sees dozens of Hydra 70 rockets flying through the air. He can hear one of his soldiers yelling danger close as the rockets hit the ridge.

He expects the A-10 to make a few more runs just to be safe and then cover the rest of his company as the move to Bravos position.

Once gathered he leads the platoon through enemy lines.

He can tell the Imperial swordsmen did not expect his sudden charge as they know warriors from Earth prefer to fight at range. So far in the war, the Imperial Army has adopted to try and counter NATO tactics.

As his platoon fights through, gunning down everyone who tries to put up a fight. He learned a long time ago the best way to defeat Imperial infantry is to break up their formations. They rely too much on the group and if they are not in formation, their combat effectiveness decreases dramatically.

His decision to push quickly through seemed to more affected them he thought as the Empire is not used to facing charging US soldiers.

He stops as he doesn't want the platoon to scatter too much. He fires a few rounds at this charging swordsmen and then at another as the swordsmen take cover behind his shield.

"Staff Sergeant keeps the first squad on our left," he orders.

He orders a few more soldiers to his right and sees a Cav soldier toss a grenade, killing three swordsmen.

"Move forward!" he yells.

He charges forward, making sure his men can see him upfront.

He can hear weapons fire up ahead, knowing that is the rest of the battalions. As he gives the order to make the final push, he feels an arrow hit him in the back. He falls forward and hears more weapons fire. He looks back and sees a grenade from an M320 attached grenade launcher blow up a tree branch where the arrow came from.

Two soldiers rush up to give him cover as a medic kneels next to him.

"Sir, you got an arrow in your back," the medic said. "Hold on as I treat this."

The platoon First Sergeant Elisha walks up. "Captain. I'm ordering us to fall back to the company."

Hearing that he ignores the medic and gets up. "Break off the arrow. We are not falling back."

He hears the medic protesting, warning keeping the tip of the arrow will cause infection. He looks to his medic with a glare. Then the medic breaks the arrow and he gets up.

"First Platoon! Let's go" he yells.

The platoon rallies and heads to Bravo company position.

When they get close there was almost blue-on-blue fire. That is military code for friendly-fire.

He moves through Bravo lines and sees that there was one hell of a fight.

He sees wolf and orc bodies everywhere. He sees Imperial warriors everywhere. It is clear that the Empire did break Bravo company and a battalion command post was overrun.

He still sees Imperial forces within the perimeter. "The first platoon form a line and advance."

The platoon forms a long line and then marches through Bravo company. He didn't have to give the order to fire, everyone throughout the enemy.

Shocked by the sudden US reinforcements, this distracted the Empire forces. They try to reform but find themselves trapped.

This gave Bravo company the breather they needed to rally and reform their defensive line.

He leads Charlie's first platoon as they sweep Bravo lines.

He sees two Wolf Riders Alpha mentioned charging at them. The two Orcs on top let pit the battle cry as they charge forward.

They didn't make it far as his platoon quickly gunned them down. The remaining enemy forces see this has started to lose the will to fight. The bulk and start trying to flee.

He sees on his HUD feed and sees the rest of his company approaching from behind.

"Jessica," he said over the radio. "Get the wounded to the aid station. Get the company to plug up the holes and reinforce this position. I am heading to Alpha."

He takes the first platoon and enters Alpha’s lines. They bring sweep through Alpha’s lines and picking off all hostile forces.

Just like before these Imperial troops were not expecting the sudden reinforcements and struggle to form up.

His top NCOs(2) and Alpha NCOs start to rally Alpha and reorganize the troops and fix the lines.

He then sees this Orc pulling his blade out of a soldier. His Wolf biting down on the dead soldier leg.

This Human swordsman stands there watching. He turns around and pulls up his shield.

The Orc raises his sword in the air and charges towards them. "For Famulis!"

"For the Empire!" The Human swordsman yells.

Bullets tear apart the Human swordsman shield. He falls back dead.

He aims his rifle and shoots. With a headshot and half a dozen bullets hitting him, the Orcs fall dead.

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Other Cav soldiers gunned down the Wolf as it gets close. The body drops dead right in front of them.

He continues moving through the lines, forcing the Empire to fall back.

---

Captain Baker gathers up with the other officers from all three companies. Both Alpha and Charlie gather around Bravo and reestablish a defensive perimeter.

He didn't want to do that as all that did was congested everyone into one compact location. That will make it easier for the enemy to surround and increase the chance to get hit by a ranged weapon. But he saw no other choice as their too many wounded.

As the enemy swordsman fall back, the strange archers appeared and started attacking. Just like on the ridge they keep relocating and refuse to commit to an attack. They seem to be more focused on harassing then trying to kill them.

In the distance, he hears a loud wolf call. Based on that call and the harassment that they are preparing for another attack.

Captain Samuel Murillo of Alpha company and Captain Arron Wohali updated him on the casualties. The estimated is twenty-four dead between the battalion and thirty-six wounded. However, everything is still chaotic so that number could be greater.

During this breather, he was able to let the medic check out the arrow wound. They were unable to get the arrow out, saying that he will have to go into surgery when they get back to Alnus. Right now he does not care because he has to focus on the matter at hand. They patched him up and gave him some drugs to keep his focus and awake.

Behind him is the battalion leader, Major Bronston, laying on the ground dead with a blanket over him.

Bronston led the Battalion into Falmart from the beginning. The opening invasion of defending Alnus Hill(3). He then led them through Elies and smashed the Empire defenses(4).

But right now, he can't think about their fallen leader. As theirs, no official second in command for the battalion and the other captains agreed that he should take over.

Right then he is talking with Colonel Robert. "ETA on our reinforcements sir?"

"They are coming son," Robert said. "The Italians and Brazilians are getting close but are still facing resistance."

He can hear the artillery and air support in the distance, supporting his reinforcements.

"What about the other Cav battalion?" he asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Finn is still an hour away," Robert answers. "Don't worry son you’re not alone. Just sit back and dig in. You got prioritization on artillery and air support."

As Robert said that he looks out. An A-10 just flew by, dropping two unguided bombs into the hill. It was dropping Mk 80 dumb bombs and Mk 77 incendiary bombs.

"I see that sir," he replies.

He thinks about the orders to stay here and wait. That order doesn't sit well with him after everything he just been through.

He is sure that another attack is coming. The Empire knows they spilled some blood and if he was them he would keep the pressure.

The battalion has a lot of wounded and is stuck in one position, which is too good of an opportunity to strike.

The Empire hasn't had a lot of victories in this war so he is assuming they would want to maximize this victory. Sooner or later they will figure out a way around their fire support to get one last gab.

He then thinks about how he broke through the Empire lines. They were not expecting him to charge through, acting more like swordsmen than riflemen.

Then that gives him an idea.

"Negative Colonel," he said. "The situation is deteriorating. We are a sitting duck and while our allies are close, I don't believe they will get here in time." He takes a breath to gather his thoughts. "We are going on the offense. Any extra air support would be great sir."

He then hands the radio back to his radioman and looks at the other officers and NCOs. "This is the plan. We have a joint Italian and Brazilian task force coming in from the south-east. Our Cav brethren are an hour out coming from the north."

"What are you saying, sir?" Wohaili asked.

"We heard you and the Colonel, sir," Lieutenant Harvey Douglas adds. "We are not in a position to fight."

He looks around and takes a breath, feeling the sudden burden of commanding a battalion. He always thought it was just like leading a company just with more soldiers but no.

He can see the other officers saying that it will be better to maintain a defensive position and wait it out. "No. We are in a bad defensive position. The Empire and whoever their allies are preparing another. We will be able to withstand another attack, but it might be costly. They have the advantage and know our location. This is their territory, so they know the land."

"So, you want us to attack?" William asked. His tone implies he agrees with the order.

"Yes," he replies. "When the first platoon attacked in that forest patch it seemed like they were not expecting us to counter-attack. The Empire has proven to be able to adopt in the field however that is only if we do what they think we will do. They want us to stay here so they can come up with their tricks. We must take the initiative and when we do, they will fall apart. We go on the offensive and their attack will fall apart, and their formations will fall apart just like every other time."

"I understand but I think the men are tired," Wohali said.

Jessica looks at him. "Your men have plenty of energy staying up all night with the local ladies. I think they will have plenty of energy to go wipe these Imperialist asses."

He hears a few of his men chuckle hearing that.

"The lady isn't wrong," he adds. "This is the plan. Bravo company will remain here and protect the wounded. They seem to have the most casualties. I will lead Alpha and Charlie company up the hillside. Have artillery stop five seconds before we advance. We will be moving fast so keep everyone together as best they can. No stragglers."

"What about the tunnels sir?" Murillo asked.

"We know they are using boulders," he replies, realizing how dumb that sounds but this is a world that uses magic. "We don't know what is a legit boulder or a secret door. Blow it up with an M3 Gustaf, AT4, or a grenade. If it turns out to be a tunnel frag it or burn it. I want all three Incinerators in this assault."

"Tell the Italian commander what we are doing and inform your units. We attack in five."

He sees everyone leave and inform their troops. He takes a deep breath and reminds himself that he can do this.

After everyone gets ready, he walks up into the center of the new formation. He looks around and sees the battalion ready. They all look dirty and sweaty. Many of them have a cut or a wound in some manner.

Up the hill is both American and Italian artillery with American aircraft bombarding the hill as best as they can. He informed Alnus command that Dwarves are using boulders as hidden doors. If this was earth, he would have been called a prankster but here on Uros, no one questions his statement.

They started bombing any potential boulder site they can find.

Any moment now the artillery should stop and then he will have to give the order to charge. "Fix bayonets!" He yells, making sure everyone heard him and that he was not joking.

He sees soldiers look at each other confused by the order but then grab their M9 bayonet and attach it to their rifle barrels.

While the US Army never stopped training its recruits on how to use a bayonet, they stopped training bayonet charges, assaulting a fixed enemy location. The last official assault happened in 1951 in the Korean War and besides small situations in Vietnam, no major assault has happened.

The Army stop issuing bayonets during the War of Terror because they were not needed and it was believed that this type of weapon was now obsolete, just like the flamethrower. When this war started the Army reissued the knife to its soldiers however there was no time to retraining the army. Besides, so far, all the fighting happened at the range and the superior technology seemed to be a match for a sword-base enemy, until today. While he hopes no one has to use them, he wants to set the mood and bring out that warrior spirit.

He grabs his bayonet and attaches it to his M4A1. The countdown in his HUD hits zero and the charges. "Charge!"

He charges forward and hears the battalion behind him charging right behind him. He thought about given a speech as he sees in the movies, but nothing came to mind. He decides to let his actions speak for himself by going first.

Soldiers start yelling a warrior cry as they charge up the hill.

It wouldn't be long until arrows start coming towards them. Unlike last time, this seems more in panic

He stops and aims his rifle, shooting into a tree. Weapon fire all around him goes off, taking out the first wave group of snipers.

"Keep moving," he yells. "Do not stop!"

As they move forward, he can see nearly a hundred dead bodies of Imperial soldiers. Dead from the air and artillery support and their rifles. However, he sees those Orcs and they do not have the purple Dragon markings on their armor. The Orc has this evil-looking crown with a red ruby on their armor. Then he sees these desert cloak clothing with a torch and with a rising sun behind it, painted in blue, barely with any armor. Three different groups working together.

They see some of the brown cloaked warrior rushing to a boulder set.

William orders everyone to let them escape. At first, he was about to overturn that order but realizes what William sees. They are leading them to which boulders are the hidden tunnels.

"Blow them up and then fry them," he orders.

He sees this rocket from a M3 Gustaf hit a ground, killing anyone that was trying to escape. He then sees a squad escorting the specialist carrying the Incinerator to that tunnel. The escorts kill the remaining defenders, one soldier stabbing one in the back with his rifle.

Everyone then gets out of the way and the specialist fires the flamethrower, burning the tunnel up. The soldiers inside will either burn to death, the flames eat up the oxygen, or smoke them out. Either way, that tunnel will not be able to be used anymore.

They repeat this attack over and over again until they destroy five tunnels. His guess was correct, the Empire was not prepared to face a counterattack and their lines are breaking.

Seeing what 1st Cav is doing, about three hundred Imperial heavy armor soldiers start charging down the hill, trying to counter-attack his counterattack. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Centaurs. With them are heavily armored Orcs, Uruk-hia(3), two Ogres.

He hears a few of his NCOs giving orders to take them out.

Soldiers form up and let everything they have at them. Rifle fire, machine guns, rockets, grenade launchers, sidearms, everything they have.

The first wave falls down quickly, taking most of the fire. Two explosions from the rockets hit the charging enemy.

It looks like the charging force is about to be repulse but he hears those howling's again. He can see this fear appear in the Alpha company boys, fully knowing what that means. It means the Wolf Riders are coming.

He then sees about a dozen wolves charging forward with Orcs riding them. Besides attacking directly, they move to split into two groups and go around their attacking force. He realizes they are flanking his two companies and he tries to redirect his forces.

First platoon from Alpha company charges forward and meets the charging force while everyone moves up behind them.

He hears a growl coming from behind and sees the soldier in front of him trying to warn him of something.

He turns around and sees the wolf right there.

The wolf charges and he is knocked back. The soldier behind him gets slashed by the wolf.

He gets up and sees the Orc getting off and getting ready to attack him.

He grabs his rifle and rams his bayonet into the Orc. The Orc clearly did not see that coming, there being a blade attached to a rifle.

He pulls the trigger, shooting a few rounds into the Orc.

He pulls his rifle out and aims, unloading into the wolf.

He rushes to the soldier and helps him up. The front part of his Kevlar torn apart. Four soldiers rush over to him to provide their leader protection.

He sees the wolves coming in quickly but suddenly they all explode. The other group of Wolf Riders suddenly stop, shocked by the sudden explosion. That group explodes, scaring the farther back two away.

He looks at the remains of the Wolf Riders with wide eyes and then he turns around. He sees an H-64 Apache hovering there, right above the treeline.

Apaches are not quiet however he was so focused on what was happening he didn't even notice their approach.

Another one appears and fires a barrage of Hydra missiles into the enemy forces, stopping their advance.

He looks to the right and sees an Imperial formation being torn apart. The tall man-eating Ogre gets ripped apart by a hail of bullets and then falls. The surrounding Imperial warriors get torn apart and fall dead.

He looks and sees Brazilian troops came out from their cover. He then sees Italians following up behind them.

He waves at them and looks to his battalion. "Take the hill!"

***

--- Balkin Hill ---

March 4th, 2026

Captain Jace Baker moves the blanket over Major Bronston's body. He watches two soldiers carry the body on a stretcher to the extraction zone where the CH-47 Chinook are taking him men back to Alnus.

After charging up the hill he learned there was a regiment size force forming up to overrun his position. His bayonet charge disrupted their plans and struggled to adjust to his charge. The battle was bloody and for a moment he thought they would have to fall back.

But then reinforcements arrived. With the Italians and Brazilians, they were able to counter the Empire counterattack and charge right up the hill and take it. What remained of the Imperial Army and their allies retreated down the other side of the hill.

However, they ran into his sister battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Finn’s battalion. The enemy was completely annihilated. The Battle of Balkin Hill ended up an American NATO victory however a costly one.

Before the war, the battalion Lieutenant Colonel Zackery was relieved of his command for unethical conduct. Major Bronston was forced to temporarily take command of the battalion however a replacement never came. He did such a good job Colonel Robert was not in a rush to find a replacement.

He heads to Colonel Robert after giving his respects. "Colonel."

Robert looks at him. "Good job. That was one hell of a fight but damn a good job, Baker. Good call."

He nods. "Thank you, sir."

While on paper he disobeyed orders, the US military grants junior officers the ability to act on their own if needed, as long as it is within reason and within the mission objective. The more popular example is the Battle of 73 Easting during the 1991 Gulf War.

Armored forces from the 1st Armored Division engaged the Iraq Army. They were ordered to stop at one point however they noticed the Iraqi Army has a better position than they did, so they went father then they were ordered to counter the enemy.

The Iraq Army who had a tradition of following orders no matter what stood there and watch the Americans relocate and then they were slaughtered. Even though the American force disobeyed orders by repositioning and advancing farther then they were allowed to do. They won the battle and the example became a model of NATO doctrine.

"Because of you and the rest of the battalion, you prevented the enemy from going back underground and falling back. We never would have been able to dig them out. We took the hill and now have a foothold in the mountain range." Robert said.

"Too bad it came at a cost sir," he said as he thinks about the casualties.

He learned there were forty-two dead and seventy-seven wounded, including him. This was the costliest engagement since Legrath.

"I know," Robert said. "It is never easy to watch your comrades die. But what your battalion did save lives. It would have cost more lives going down there and digging out these bastards. We will not make this mistake again."

He nods and looks over, seeing soldiers escorting prisoners. "Sir. I believed we engaged three different groups here. It was not standard Imperial tactics and doctrine."

"Intelligence agrees," Robert replies. "You faced the Imperial Army. Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. Finally got to see those pricks in combat."

Robert then looks at him. "However, that is still the Empire. We are still gathering the enemy bodies, but you also faced the Scaulis Kingdom, the head kingdom of the Swestuals Kingdoms. Their leader is Empress Famulis."

"Famulis," he mumbles, finding the name strange.

"Yes," Robert replies. "Emperor Zorzal created his own NATO-like alliance. Famulis leads the Darklings and Demi-Humans of this world. You just faced some of her elite cavalry."

"We faced them before but never working with the Empire. They seem more organized than usual." He said.

"It seems so," Robert said. "This is the first time we faced these Darklings from the east."

"What about the other faction?" he asked.

"The other major power on Falmart," Robert said. "The Ticaret Conglomerate." He then looks at him. "Don't ask. All we know they are in the Western Desert, northwest of Elies."

"Western…?" he mumbles. "What are they doing here?"

"When we find out I will let you know," Robert said. "But it seems while we been making friends, Zorzal has been to."

"Alright Captain," Robert said. "Get on the Chinook. You need to do see a doctor and get that arrow out."

"I prefer to walk off the hill with my men sir," he said.

Robert chuckles and crosses his arms after hearing that. "I understand the feeling, but your men will need you alive tomorrow. Besides they cannot afford to lose another commanding officer."

"Sir?" he asked.

"You are in command of the battalion now Baker. At least until I find a replacement or get you a promoted." Robert said.

He struggles to understand what Robert just said. "Sir. I just took command because no one was in a position to.

"Victim of your success Captain," Robert said. "Get your men on the helicopters and head back to base. Also, one more order Captain."

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"When you all get off the helicopters back at Alnus, keep your heads high."