[Kerbin Only] Kerbin in Jeopardy

[Edusa]

Facility IS-T1, Erdimendi district's mountain

Doctor Klein entered the observation room with a cup of coffee in the hands.His two colleagues were already here, looking at a crowd of prisonners from all ages and sexes walking around in the wide testing area where some tents and dirt house were installed to replicate a nomadic encampment. Seven meters above them was a complicated assembly of pipes and large sprinklers while large fans protected by several layers of wire covered all but one wall which was made out of thicc armored glass and housed the observation bay.

"Wind 70 kph South."

"Roger !"

The fans started spinning, most of the prisonners instinctively seeked refuge in the tents and houses

"Wind's ok."

"Good, prepare for the drop."

"Sprinklers ready."

"Drop it."

A rain of fire fell on the village replica, the heat quickly turned the pipes white while buildings and humans were burning. Napalm droplets were flying all over the place because of the wind.

"Jonas take note, XV-03-1 version too liquid."

The scientist calmly typed on his computer as in front of him a woman burning alive was punching the window trying to scream at them through the thick armored glass. She eventually fell down, slidding on the glass and leaving a bloody mark on it.
A bit further, several people were rolling on the ground in a vain attempt to extinguish the fire.

"Take note, XV-03-1 version not sticky enough."

A woman holding her child in her arms fell on the floor, tripping over a burning body and trying to cover her screaming infant as best as she could.

"Take note, XV-03-1 version not emitting enough heat, death of subjects too long."

One of the dirt brick shack crumbled in a cloud of debris and flames. A person tried to crawl out of the ruins but suddenly stopped, raised his fist towards the scientists and collapsed.

" Stop the wind and the sprinklers, send them some rain."

" Yes sir."

A second set of sprinklers opened up, the water quickly cleaned the burning napalm off of the ground and bodies.

"Take note, XV-03-1 version not waterproof."

The doctor looked a few minutes at the water falling from the roof while sipping his coffee.

"Alright, stop the water, send the cleaners in. Send two bodies to the lab for analyses, destroy the others."

The scientist beside him grabbed the pager hanging off his lab coat's pouch.

"Your turn guys."

Soon after six men wearing NBC equipment entered the test room. They walked towards the bodies, pushing them and pocking them with sharp sticks. One of the prisonners weakly moved a burned hand towards the cleaning team. A .45 ACP bullet answered him. The woman who fell over with her child muttered some inintelligible words, she was answered the same way and, when they moved her body away, they discovered the child in fœtale position, half burnt, crying and sobbing. The soldiers exchanged confused looks. The loudspeaker of the room delivered the doctor's order in an harsh voice:

"No exception."

All but one guard turned away. He looked at the doctor through the armored glass. The loudspeaker turned on once again:

"Remember what happened to the traitor three days ago sergent."

He took a deep breath, put his hand over his face and pulled the trigger...

[Faulksnia]

Faulksnian-Barkadian Border, Early Morning

Dozens of armored vehicles roared down the highway, a cloud of dust enveloping the convoy. Captain Aalbert ven Aammerikh bobbed up and down as the tank sped away from the diesel locomotives that had lugged the force from Ragnorsted's garrison. All four lanes of the highway had been closed since the Freeing of Foksberg, meaning the vehicles had free reign to motor down the road.

The first several rows were composed of a chevron of four M-20 Heijina II main battle tanks with a Rojiskatt self-propelled anti-aircraft variant following behind. These units slowly gained on the lower powered Heijina I and M-12-led squads that composed the reserve force, lumbering M-20(155) self-propelled howitzers forming a rear-guard. They had been told loyalist forces would expect their arrival but many of the drivers had their hatches closed as they neared the border and each commander monitored their Aura APS warnings closely.

A few Barkadian border guards stared at the procession as it rumbled past, hands on their guns but made no hostile movements as the armored vehicles went through the border crossing. One hundred main battle tanks, thirty-five self propelled howitzers and anti-aircraft guns, and seven-hundred men in trucks and armored cars rolled into Barkadia. Captain Aammerikh looked out over the column as it rolled through unknown territory.

[Faulksnia]

Imperial Palace Grounds, Foksberg, Faulksnia

Ilesabet Johannsen stood before a narrow podium on the steps of the burnt-out husk that had been the Empress' mansion. A small crowd was gathered below her and half a dozen cameras were trained on her. Four soldiers stood behind her, red sashes across their uniforms and battle rifles held at attention.

"People of Faulksnia," Johannsen began, brushing a hair that had fallen across the gold bee-shaped pin over her heart, "We have suffered for many, many years under a government who did not truly represent us. The Grand Jarls thought we were too weak and too mindless to oppose them, and they have been torn from their thrones because they proved themselves unworthy of the power."

The crowd in the ruins of the Imperial Gardens was growing larger as she continued, "A provisional government has been established to hear the sufferings of the people and respond to them, so that we may draft a constitution that will allow us to build a brighter future, together.

"Fellow Faulksnians, I beg your patience as we work to bring our new nation out of the ashes of the corrupt government from which it came."

Johannsen turned and walked past the paired soldiers as a combination of clapping, cheering, and shouting erupted below, her stride becoming brisker as she headed down through the passageway, hoping to make it across the street and to her hired car before the crowd dispersed.

[Edusa]

IS-D1 facility aka "The Coop", Erdimendi district's mountains

Prisonners were standing in a line, their clothes turned in rags barrely hidding their intimity, separated by age. In front of them several guards were standing, submachineguns in the hands, ready to fire. The officer walked in front of the prisonners once again:

"Alright, I'll ask you one last time, where is the journalist or whatever the scumbag's job is, who tried to sent reports outside ?"

The prisonners stood silent with determined faces and eyes shining of hate.

"Well then..."

He raised his hand, the soldiers opened fire and three inmates fell on the floor screaming in pain. He took out his pistol, walked towards them and, one by one, shot them several time and only killed them when the screams became unbearable.
The prisonners still showed the same determination and their hate grew even more.

"Nothing more to say ? Looks like we'll have to be a bit more persuasive."

He turned towards the soldiers, a terrible grin on his face.

"Shoot the kids."

Like automatons soldiers obeyed. The prisonners shaked at each shot reaching its goal. The hollow point bullets rendered an atrocious sound when they struck the soft skin. Some prisonners vomited, some others fell uncounscious. A man walked towards the guards and kneeled in front of them.

"Please stop ! I beg you !"

The officer raised his hand once again.

"Cease fire !"

He calmly walked in front of him.

"Any information you want to share with us ?"

"N... No... Please just stop..."

A bullet in the head was the only answer he got.

"I'll speak ! For the love of the kraken just stop ! I'll tell you everything !"

The soldiers swiftly pushed him out of the crowd as screams, insults and threats came from all sides.

"See ? It ain't that hard. Now be a good guy and tell us what you know."

"Promise me that you'll stop before !"

"Depends of satisfying your answers are kiddo."

"A... Alright, his name his Morgan Zaharretxe, inmate 4687."

The crowed moved towards him, menacing. The soldiers fired over their head.

"How many reports did he sent ?"

"I don't know, I only saw him writte twice and could read what he wrotte only once."

"Who gave him the paper and ink ?"

"A janitor, Mari Mendiondo, he seduced her a few days after his arrival, she also took the papers with her when he was done writting."

"Good, send him in the VIP cells and bring me our two traitors. If you lied, you'll see that we didn't forgot the good old methods of the Dark Age."

He turned towards his men:

"Bring them back in their cells, if they resist shoot them. Oh and call me a team to clean this mess."

"Yes sir !"

[Barkadia]

BARKADIAN PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The Barkadian nation has realized that it takes no more than an internal force to unite us all. Thanks to Firdeck, those outside of his control are feeling more patriotic and fearless since 2005, and now the battle has begun. Engagements have begun outside of Corticis, with fast reacting irregular forces slowing the advance of his forces outside of the city. We encourage that everyone hearing this within Cortics that is hearing this to also resist these traitor forces. The Barkadian Military Institute in Acus has begun printing pamphlets on the usage of RPG rocket launchers, which contain basic knowledge on all launchers in Barkadian service, and how to use them effectively. They will be dropped over Corticis, in order to aid in any of those seeking violent resistance. We do still encourage nonviolent resistance, however. We hope that anyone in Corticis can apply anarchist principles secretly in order to hinder and sabotage the defense effort of the city. Recently, the new Barkadian government and Faulksnia, also under new management, have joined together in the fight against authoritarianism in the north, and Faulksnia has sent a small force to our nation in order to help retake our city. We absolutely welcome this move, and we hope that our friendship can only grow from here. This is all for now.

True Pine's Office, Acus

Gabriel Holub and General Rybár are talking privately in the new True Pine's office, in Acus. Rybár has been called north to plan a special operation to secure the needles currently missing in Barkadia.

"We have lost five of them. Anything we decide to do against Firdeck has now become a dangerous and risky procedure. All of our cities, including Acus and Corticis, are now at threat of being blasted away by "pine scent". I need you to assemble a force to find them."

"I think I can do that, yeah."

"Anything you consider necessary for this we can provide. Some of our arsenals haven't been destroyed or seized yet."

"I only need a few good shooters and some people that know how to handle nuclear weapons. This should be easy enough."

"Okay, great. So anyways, the five needles that we lost were scattered across the nation. Two were near Prostedny, and are most likely just missing and safe. Two were near Posta, ready to strike what was Kolonia preemptively, but now that they don't exist, their positioning was unnecessary. This is the bad part. One was stationed near Corticis, about 40 kilometers outside of the outer area. We believe that most likely it has been seized, and has been brought either into the city or close enough to where we cannot easily obtain it. The crew is most likely now prisoners. They will be alive, though. In case they need to fire it."

"So, do we have to fight with the front line soldiers?"

"Yes. I expect your forces to make it into the city, though. Alone."

"Yes, sir."

"Now get out, and plan well."

"Got it."

Rybar walks out of the room.

35km from outer Corticis

There is a small group of men walking down a street near the "front lines" of the now battle for Corticis. They are armed with obsolete weaponry, such as the BR-58, RPG-7, and SSh-68 helmets. They wear civilian clothing, but have white, green, and red bands tied around their right arms, signifying that they are fighting for the remaining Barkadian government.

"Do any of you see anything?"

"No-"

Gunshots are heard in the distance as bullets begin to fly past them.

"TAKE COVER!"

One is too slow, and takes a bullet to the middle of the chest. He falls, moans, and does not move again.

"It's a squad! Not too many!"

Everyone still alive is firing back. Two soldiers standing while trying to shoot the militiamen fall backwards and do not get up.

"Ready the RPG!"

A man quickly loads a rocket into the launcher

"You can shoot!"

There is a loud boom, and after a few seconds of flying, there is an explosion in front of the squad of soldiers. After the smoke clears, there are two dead soldiers, and one who lost both of his legs, who is screaming and rolling around in the distance. The soldier who appears to be the leader yells an order, and the survivors run away.

"Hold your fire! DO NOT SHOOT!"

The battleground is now silent, The group of militiamen advance to the dying soldier. He is mostly quiet, with fast, shallow breathes, and muttering of random phrases. A militiaman armed with a handgun takes the pistol out of the holster.

"Traitor."

A single shot from a pistol echoes into the evening.

[Ostreich1]

FRO PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The effects of the Referendum to change the FROs name to the Federal Republic of Icaria will go into effect throughout the following weeks. The navy has bought an old Avellian carrier called the Sophia along with 30 Kestrel VTOL fighters. In addition to the new carrier and fighters 4 Lynx helicopters have been sent to Klathu to be refitted for Anti-submarine Warfare(ASW) and 1 Sea King helicopter has been bought for use on the new carrier. The ISC has bought 10 bulk carriers from Dolphiland which are capable of transporting up to 400 thousand tonnes each and 10 advanced bulk carriers from Avellum which are capable of carrying up to 250 thousand tonnes of ore or other materials. They expect to start operating them in the coming months as the mining sector is expanded.

[Edusa]

ASKATASUNA

2018/09/29

Death camp rumors denied by the government

The government reacted to the documents that our colleagues from Edusako notak published. According to the Prime Minister "this is a complete forgery, why would we waste time, money and even more importantly lifes as our country needs every hands available to rebuild itself ?". The various disappearance of left winged elements of the society is due to "a massive clandestine exodus to flee the harsh conditions the new laws created" according to the Chief of the Edusan police. The Bureau to the Communist, Socialist, Circulationist and Anarchist question confirmed these words and mentioned an "illegal emmigration way higher than normal from the left winged classes of the society" in a report published soon after the Prime Minister's declaration.
The state assigned Edusako notak in justice for diffamation and forgery.

Maritxu Araba

[Yinshan]

Borderlands between Yinshan and Zhioubin, Tөlār Hutag

"Keep a look out. Command said we're expecting as much as a dozen of them coming up the pass."
Boldhan nods to Tinu and glances through his binoculars.

"Damn, must be tough for them to make it here," Boldhan remarks.

"These people, like us, are built for rough conditions," Tinu says, "stuff that the Jinruan could never survive in."

As Boldhan kept watch, Tinu reclines on his partially frozen wooden chair.

The pair are stationed on the Bayun Pass, where border security is usually quite relaxed as it is not used very often; only the occasional hiker will use it.

The chilly breeze of the Hangjun mountains keep the flags of Yinshan and the Tölaar Governate flying on top of the guards' small command hut, along with the multicoloured Liuganist prayer banners that hang from the roof.
Only 20 meters away, the crimson flag of Zhioubin flies beside several red banners promoting Zi Xinping Thought.

"Aha! Figures in view!"
"Alright," Tinu stood up from his chair, "prepare the blankets and first aid."

The first batch of Uhar refugees, a family of 5, hike up the pass with great difficulty, yet were motivated to push further by a fear of death if they fail to make it to their brothers and sisters across the border. They're wearing a variety of traditional clothing and were no way dressed for the freezing climate.

When they finally reach the Yinshanese guards' outpost, they collapse on the rocky ground out of exhaustion.

"My son...his shoulder," the father weakly says in a foreign, yet intelligible Shenrei accent to Tinu.
"Boldhan! First aid! Boy's shoulder!" Tinu orders.

As Boldhan got to work, a party of three Uhars arrive.
When Boldhan finished bandaging, Both give each refugee a cloth blanket.

Three more Uhars sprint up the rocky pass, one of them falls to the ground as a gunshot from an assault rifle echoes through the mountains.

More bullets spray in the general direction of the remaining 2 Uhars. One is shot directly in the head while the other crosses into Yinshanese territory.

A bullet passes through Baldhan's fur hat, narrowly missing his forehead.
"Ayagh!"
He throws a stone in the direction of the bullet.

"Go ahead and take them to camp! I'll keep watch," Boldhan shouts to Tinu.

Tinu leads the Uhars to the four yaks behind the outpost and mount three of them.
"Shül!" commands Tinu and the yaks start their journey back to camp.

Gülnarqi Military Base, 20 km from Gülnarqi, Tölaar Governate

"What in the hell are all these clowns DOING HERE?!!"

"My commander! We found them nearly freezing to death in the Wuwen pass near Ünarbaikan village. They needed immediate assistance!" pleads Corporal Yin Ganmin to a furiously enraged sergeant major Wu Yangai.

"Why should you care about these savages? They're just like the Alka or the Tergiin, nobody knows if they've evolved into humans yet or if they're still animals!"

"Honggan commands everyone, as far as the radiant light of the Baishan peak can spread, to lend a hand to anybody in need of dire help, no matter of one's opinion of the other. It's in the Daotaihe!"

Wu hesitates for a few seconds in thought. He is required to be a servant of the faith after all.

"Fine. I won't send them back. But find a place to relocate them quick, or else the Shaoxiao will have a word with you and your team."

Yin sprints off to his team's barracks, passing a TV set to TianHuo news.

"In the upcoming Supreme Council meeting, the leaders of the western provinces and governates are expected to debate Yinshan's policy on undocumented migrants. Up next, why is Sverna so unstable? We investigate the conflict in Faulksnia, Barkadia, and the former Kolonian territories."

[The Timberan Republic]

6:30 pm 9/25/18 Supreme office

Vratislav paces around his desk speaking with his defense administrator Novislav


Vratislav:

“A lot of our neighboring nations are undergoing revolutions this concerns me greatly.”

Novislav:

“Don’t worry, why would you even care about such a thing?”

Vratislav:

“Because when people discover their capability to change the world they will use it to their full extent.”

Novislav:

“Why do you think our people would rebel its fine here.”

Vratislav:

“It may be fine from your standpoint but there are people in Timbera who hate the government and miss their freedoms.”

Novislav:

“So what are you suggesting we do here?”

Vratislav:

“Let’s just go on alert and lock down political buildings and military bases from civilians then we will go from there.”


11:25 pm 9/25/18 Free Brothers of Timbera headquarters

In a dimly lit room, men are getting ready packing their bags, loading all their TAP-76 magazines. The men are cleaning their rifles checking for imperfections before they roll out. They are well equipped with TAP-76s RPG-7Vs and SVDs. Kornel Vendelin a veteran of the Timberan armed forces a true believer in the freedoms of the people, Kornel the leader of the group stands up and clears his throat to address the men.


Kornel:

“ok men, do you remember the plan? Vlastimir Drahoslav the son of a bitch who gave our nation to the fascist we all know him. You see he is going to be visiting Vozny tomorrow speaking at a public speech about how fascism saved our nation. It turns out the stage at where he is going to be speaking has an apartment building in front of it and to the left of it which are 6 and 8 stories tall. We will put SVD teams up in the top floors of these apartment buildings and their goal is to shoot Vlastimir to hell pepper him up I don’t give a fuck because he deserves it.”

All the Men:

“HELL YEAH LETS GO KICK SOME FASCIST ASS!”


5:56 pm 9/26/18 Vozny

Vlastimir steps up to the podium and prepares his speech


Vlastimir:

“my fellow citizens of Timbera...”

Multiple shots echo out seems from all sides Vlastimir falls dead to the ground as bullets whiz by the podium hitting the stage and security guards. The news camera had been rolling since the beginning of the event the whole assassination was live broadcasted on multiple stations; in the background, you could hear people shouting “long live the republic!”


2:13 pm 9/28/18 20 miles outside of Sabor

The Commander of the Btr70 was a middle-aged man with a mustache wearing aviators and a tanker helmet. The Btr70 was going fast down the road; the radio could clearly be heard in the background. The Btr70 was on its way delivering Reinforcements for the Free Brothers of Timbera.

(He tells the men inside the Btr70)

Commander: ”Now we’re going through Sabor the stretch from here to Vozny is the most dangerous zone on the road.”

Radio: “Who, baby, who will save the world? (All heroes hesitate)
I'm too young to die.”

Commander: ”They’re shooting over there; Get Inside!”

(A Rpg flies in front of the Btr70 nearly missing them)

Commander: ”Congratulations, men we were lucky! A missile passed in front of our APC.
If they’d hit us we would have all died.”

[Faulksnia]

Foksberg, Faulksnia: Dawn

The sunless sky glowed red as a small assembly made their way through the ruins of the Imperial Grounds to a tall flagpole that had been erected the previous night. One of them continually checked her watch to make sure they'd be on time for the sunrise as the others hooked a bundled piece of fabric to the hoist.

Slowly, the sun peaked over the horizon, a new flag flapping lazily in the breeze. As the flag rose to the top of the pole, the wind grew stronger, pulling the flag taut, star and wreath shining in the morning sun's first rays.

A crowd began to gather in the street as another banner rose over the Hall of Jarls. The twin flags danced in the wind as the light grew stronger and people began to make their way to work.

40 km outside of Corticis, Barkadia

A faint sound grew through the forest and startled deer sprang off as the rumbling grew closer. Louder and louder, like lightning rolling across the plains, until a tank burst over the ridge, backlit by the sun. Several more tanks breached the hill, then several more, the whole line of the ridge saw M-20s pouring over the ridge like storm surge over a seawall. Infantry rode on the sides and back of the tanks or in armored cars that bounded over the hills. The forest filled with the sound of mechanized warfare, trees cracking and being trampled as the column pushed forwards.

And when they were gone, a new layer of pine needles began to fall, already erasing the treadmarks and tire tracks.

[Edusa]

A small hotel chamber, city of Senpere

Maritxu was sitting at the table when a man wearing a white trench coat entered the room and sat in front of her.

"- Mrs. Araba ? Your article was quite remarkable, I hope you didn't show to anyone, there's quite a lot of money to make here."
"- I told you I don't want to risk my life by unveiling everything I have. It's a big thing, way bigger than you think."
"- Do you have the papers with you ?"
"- Yeah, I got all the papers my friend sent me."
"- Good, please..."
"- But there's a change of plans. I don't haven't got any messages or anything new from her since quite some time. She may have been discovered and that puts me in danger."
"- So you want a raise ?"
"- Yes."
"- Naturally, but I need to see the papers first."

Maritxu pulls out a suitcase from under her chair and opens it, unveiling several handwritten papers and pictures of the IS-D1 and IS-E1s facilities and even some blury pictures of guards and prisonners.

"- Everything's in here ?"
"- Yes, that's all I got, now please hurry, I want to get rid of this shit as soon as possible !"

The man smiled...

"- I'm sure you do."
"- Wh..."

She barrely had enough time to turn her head and see the barman beside her, holding a suppressed pistol.

BANG

She fell from her chair, a wide hole in the side of her head.

"- Alright, one less, two more to go, this janitor bitch really fucked us hard."
"- Indeed..." mumbled the barman while putting the gun in the dead woman's hand.
"- That should do it. Don't bother too much, the secret service will cover this up anyway."

They walked out of the room and locked the door.

[Barkadia]

Dominika's Apartment, Corticis

It is the evening in Corticis. It has been eight days since the first soldiers have invaded the city. Dominika has noticed an increased amount of military presence in the city. She plops on to her couch, feeling depressed and worried. She picks up a TV remote and turns on the television in front of her. There is a female newscaster, with a wide smile and booming voice reading off of the teleprompter in front of her.

"-glorious leader Firdeck has begun to orchestrate the defense of our great city. 45,000 of our loyal soldiers have moved in from nearby to fight against the rebellious and decentralized forces of old Barkadia. They have brought in the Faulksnians, ready to dispose of them in an instant for their control. They are nothing but cowards. In other news, the weather over our glorious city should be nice and cool, with the temperature declining slightly over the next few days. Firdeck advises you to wear sweatshirts and light jackets during the early morning and night to keep warm. There will most likely be rain sooner or later, but we cannot predict accurately yet."

The lady, thinking that the camera cut, immediately stops smiling, and looks towards someone to her right.

"Smile! SMILE!"

The TV goes black suddenly. Dominika sighs and picks up the phone. She dials in a small number.

"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time. Attempt to call later, or use a different form of communication."

She sets the phone down lightly as a distant boom is heard.

City Street, Cortics

Vít Nedved is walking in between buildings down what was once a busy street in Corticis. He holds a loaded RPG, with a BR-58S slung around his neck. He is walking carefully through the alley.

"Where are you, tanks?"

Suddenly, a group of soldiers and Vit both see each other as they walk past each other.

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

"There was a man with guns."

"It's dark in the alleys, you were seeing things."

"This is a busy street, it is illuminated enough."

"Go see, then."

The soldier quickly walks down to in between the buildings. He spots Cyril trying to hide behind a dumpster.

"HEY! YOU! HANDS UP!"

Vit says nothing.

"THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING, DO NOT DIE ON A DUMPSTER."

Vit quickly peaks over the dumpster with the rifle in his hands. He shoots at the soldier, and one bullet hits him in the stomach. He yells loudly as he hits the ground and his weapon falls.

"HE WASN'T KIDDING, GET HIM!"

A single BTR, by itself, turns down the street, unaware of what is happening. Vit quickly switches to his RPG and goes the the street parallel of where the soldiers are coming from.

"FUCK YOU, FIRDECK!"

The round almost instantly hits the front of the vehicle. The liquid metal jet kills the driver and gunner of the vehicle, which stops. There was no one else inside the vehicle. Cars up and down the street start blaring their alarms.

"I gotta go, shit."

He arms himself with the rifle again, and runs down the street. He checks behind, where the first soldiers spot him running down the street.

[Faulksnia]

Barkadian-Faulksnian Joint Forward Operating Center, Outside Corticis

"I can't understand a single thing they're saying, harbour-speak is nothing like the Queen's tongue no matter where you are, I guess." Captain Aalbert ven Aammerikh shrugged as his commander stroked his goatee.

"Well, apparently there's a translator inbound, what's the internet service like out here?" Another soldier piped up that the Firdeck regime had jammed everything besides sat phone.

"Damn, hopefully we don't just get some Uni 'Barkadian Studies' major freshman."

Around them, dozens of tanks crews were busy camouflaging their vehicles and getting ready for the day. As noon approached, the sound of rotor blades thundered overhead and a figure slid down from a cable, quickly being ushered to the command tent as the helicopter flitted off again.

The flaps of the tent fell shut as the young woman entered the small room as the various commanders tried in vain to communicate. All looked at her as she took off her officer's cap to reveal dark red hair cut as short as tradition still smiled upon. A scar ran across her face from her scalp to her jaw where a bayonet had nearly slashed her eye out when she had been in the Imperial Silent Forces and she smiled lopsidedly as she offered her hand,

"My name is Serreina Morganstern, nice to meet you. I heard you needed some help."

[The Timberan Republic]

9/29/18 A small town in Timbera

A cold morning in a familiar town with the dew on the grass froze, the silence was eerie. A familiar man Roman Vladislav rose from his bed but earlier than normal, with a concerned look on his face. Roman had already put in his off day and didn't have to worry about going to the lumbermill today. Roman put on his button-up shirt and trousers. Roman quietly snuck down the stairs trying not to wake his wife, Roman made his own coffee this cold morning. Roman sat down on the couch drinking his coffee, he set his coffee down and started to lace up his work boots. Roman grabbed a piece of paper and a No.2 pencil and wrote down to his wife that he was going out to buy some supplies and left the note on the countertop. Roman walked to the front door and opened it the cold air hit his face, he grabbed his warm ushanka and proceeded to walk down to the driveway. Roman opened the car door and sat down inside and turned the key, he closed the door and turned the heat on low. Roman backed out of the driveway and drove in the direction of the main street of his town. Roman drove and saw that same flagpole with the fascist flag on it, disgust swept over his face. Roman saw propaganda plastered all over the town hall. Roman had reached his destination the local surplus distributor store, a smile grew on his face.
Roman got out of his jeep and walked up to the window the old brick building and knocked 3 times. An older hunched over man opened the front door and let Roman in. The old man and Roman discussed their hatred of the fascist government, the conversation shifted to talking about buying weapons and planning to defend their small community till the end. Roman told the old man he would be interested in purchasing a rifle and uniform, the old man pulled out a recently surplused 601 rifle and a pair of m81 BDUs and put them on the counter. Roman looked at the shelves seeing if he needed anything else, he picked up a 3 hole balaclava, a star of the republic patch, electrical tape, 6 601 magazines, a chest rig, a ssh68 and a pair of combat boots. Roman asked the old man how much would this run him the old man replied: "for you 500$", He handed the old man 500$ and shook hands with him then walked out of the store. Roman put all of the surplus he bought in the trunk of his jeep, he slammed the trunk closed and opened the car door. Roman drove back to his home and pulled into the driveway wondering if his wife was awake yet. Roman walked inside his home and showed his wife everything he had bought and he told her it was for just in case if anything happened in their town. Roman then ran up the stairs to the bedroom and tried on his equipment and then hid it under the bed.

[Barkadia]

50km from Corticis

At the end of a small forest, there are multiple MLRS pieces sat next to each other at the start of an open field. Walking around are Barkadian soldiers, bored and waiting for the order to launch rockets. There are gray clouds over the area, and in the distance is the Corticis skyline, small and halfway under the horizon.

"Has anyone noticed how cold it's been getting? We need thicker uniforms."

"I agree, but the government is still figuring out stuff. Give it some time."

"Yeah, you're right."

The radio comes to life all of a sudden. A crackly voice says slowly over the radio.

"You may launch the rockets."

All of a sudden, there is a loud, screaming sound as the rockets are ignited and fly into the air. After a minute, there is distant booming.

Front line, 34km from Corticis

Milan Mäsiar, a rifleman, sits in a BTR-80 as it rolls down a street in a suburb outside of Corticis. It has begun raining, and the raindrops pitter-patter against the roof of the vehicle. The BTR comes to a stop. The commander orders everyone to dismount.

"Everyone get out, but stay near the vehicle for cover. Keep on the lookout for RPGs and ATGMs."

The 7 passengers quickly leave the vehicle and start walking next to the vehicle, which speeds up to a fast walking pace. The commander stays behind, in order to stay covered.

"Hey, Milan, do you see anything? The apartment buildings, there."

Milan notices a head peaking out from a window. It is a bald man peaking from his window. He is in civilian clothing and unarmed.

"It's just a civilian, don't worry about it."

All of sudden, a RPG flies barely over the roof of the BTR.

"GET DOWN!"

A hail of machine gun fire comes from the apartment building on their right. It also comes from a mound of sandbags in front of the vehicle.

"To our right and front! They have machine guns! Squad in front of us!"

The coaxial machine gun on the BTR begins firing towards the machine gun in the front. Bullets from the apartment building hit the side of the BTR. One soldier on the right side is hit in the head and is dead before his body slumps to the ground.

"Get the rocket launcher! We need to hit the building to our right!"

"What about the civilians that could be inside?!"

"Don't worry about it!"

Someone from the left side of the vehicle comes around to the back.

"Do not wait to fire!"

He removes the pin from the RPG. He takes aim at the floor where the tracers are coming from.

"BACKBLAST CLEAR!"

After a second, the rocket is launched from the tube. It hits the 10th floor of the building. Instantly, parts of the building fall towards the ground. 3 apartments are exposed to the outside. The machine gun fire stops, and there are mutilated bodies in of the homes.

"Nice shot!"

The BTR, which has fully suppressed the crew to the front, stops firing.

"I think we are good, comrades, but keep on the look out."

A single shot is fired in the distance. Milan is hit in the chest. For a second, he doesn't realize it. But as he takes a step forward, blood comes out of a hole in the middle of his body. He falls to the ground as the remaining soldiers are now again confused. The commander starts yelling on the radio.

[Blorbs]

44km around Corticis

The Blorbik 3rd Barkadian Armoured Division arrives in a large, cleared plain, surrounded further by pine forests just off the edge of the fighting around Corticis. In the shock and surprise of the sudden coup in Barkadia, the various scattered Blorbik foreign military bases had taken several days to mobilize and regroup. The thousands of Blorbik soldiers, including the Blorbik 3rd Barkadian Armoured Division, along with others, then marched for Corticis. With an assault already in progress, and partial surrounding of the city, the Blorbik divisions had formed a circular formation around the city. Spreading out, they secure the area for friendly shipments and supply while cutting off the city from any outside military support or resupply. Above, the crack of a passing supersonic VzP-44 multirole fighter craft spreads across the plain, one of many patrolling the skies around the city to assure no further supply to the armies of Firdreck within Corticis.

Several APCs, followed closely by two pairs of Blorbik MBTs begin congregating around a small motorway passing through the plain into Corticis. Four of the APCs line up in the middle of the road, end to end, and the soldiers within disembark. They begin immediately unloading basic impromptu fortification equipment, placing barriers further down the road along with road spikes and other defensive fortifications spread out half a kilometer on either side of the road. The rest of the APCs and MBTs disperse nearby the road just in front of the infantry emplacements, guarding the road and clearing and helping ensure the soon deterioration of all supplies of weapons and ammunition within Corticis.

After having set down emplacements, three soldiers move out to just behind the barriers, several just further behind and the rest within the APCs or along either side of the motorway.

"Now, we wait."

[Faulksnia]

20 km outside of Corticis, Barkadia

Serreina Morganstern lay flat against the ground, a pair of night-vision goggles peaking out from under the brim of her helmet. The former special forces operative studied the movements of patrols that crossed the area around Corticis. you could hear sporadic gunfire from anywhere within fifty clicks of the city now, and there had apparently been strong, if unorganized, resistance within the city. The Barkadian army was a mess on both sides, the coup and its fallout had left the country's military divided and both sides were scrambling to fill holes in their command structure.

Blorbik fighter jets screamed overhead as their patrols taunted the AMLIS blocks within the city, Morganstern wondered if she'd get to see J-120s 'fighting' by the end of it, although dropping missiles outside of visual range hardly counted to her. It'd been a long time since she'd had her vision reddened by the enemy's blood, it was almost unfortunate she'd made herself so important to the Fokser-Barkadian command.

Foksberg, Faulksnia

"...For every sprout,
We become taller and deeper,
For every sprout,
We become taller and deeper!"

Ilesabet Johannsen sat down as the prayer-song finished. The Main Chambers of the Hall of Jarls had been cleared and a simple wooden table twenty feet long had been bought to the centre of the dome, more than a dozen men and women sat around it. The Provisional Government consisted of unionists, leftist leaders who had survived or come back after the Purges, lawyers and historians, and a few people that they had literally pulled off the streets. Although hardly a proper bureaucratic body, Johannsen hoped they could get something started.

"So, we're all here today to discuss the constitution. I hope that we represent a diverse enough group to draft something that our countrymen find acceptable. Before we start arguing about what should be in it, I propose this: a constitution that gets rewritten every so many years so that we never end up with the kind of archaic mess we came from, or not for too long, at least."

Sunset had long since passed when the procession of make-shift legislators finally walked down the steps of the Hall of Jarls on the way to their cars.

[Edusa]

Eastern desert, Edusa

Their time has come, the world would shake in front of their might, the last bastion of the ESR was in front of them...

Ximun suddenly woke up, he was on guard duty for three hours now and in the middle of the night. He felt the marks left by the machinegun he used as pillow on his left cheek. A distant sound was coming to his still asleep hears. The sound grew stronger as if something was closing. Then the reality slapped him in the face. He tried to reach his pager but it was too late for him. The Herensugeak dropped their cluster bombs, annihilating the fortified position guarding the camp.

On the horizon a cloud of dust appeared. A spectacle from another age appeared as camel riders were charging alongside tanks weilding the 1st Nomadic Army coat of arms. The stabilized guns destroyed machinegun and sharpshooter nests one by one as soon as they opened fire while the 20mm high explosive shells were tearing appart the few infantrymen trying to take position. The planes came back, delivering a wall of fire over the camp this time. The terrible tests of the Erdimendi facilities paid off. The napalm sticked to the crumbling tents burning their inhabitants alive.

And in the middle of the fire the camel riders struck. Scimitars and assault rifles showed no mercy. Anything not bearing the red camel was a target. Under the traditional scarfs the flame of hate was illuminating the eyes. They remembered the genocide, they remembered their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and childs killed during the atrocious betrayal. No mercy was asked or given by both sides.

When the first lights of the morning finally came, the last communist soldier fell on his knees, blood flowing from his sliced throat. The ESR was no more, their crimes washed in yet another bloodbath. Sadly, this was far from the last one Edusa the bloody would see.

[Dolphiland]

And now, the most procrastinated post of the century...

THE TALES OF
A DOLPHIK SQUAD
STRANDED IN SUROIG

Not Directed by Steven Spielberg

Also not starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, two Llamas and a Møøse, Harrison Ford, and someone we dragged off the street outside the studio. They were rather impolite about it, what with all the screaming and calling for help and all, but what did you expect? Finding good actors is bloody hard these days, what with all the- oh hey we've hit the size that's too small to read, yey. And now for the actual post...

[box]Western Suroig, just after tea-time, 01 Oct 2018

"Oi, Stewart, wake up."

"Eh, wot?"

"You ain't supposed to be falling asleep out here, gotta keep yer eyes open, can't let any PFS lot come sneaking past, eh?"

"Yeah, true, just been a long week is all."

"Aye, been so for all of us, still, got to keep your guard up."

"How long we been stuck out here without radio now? Week? Week and a half?"

"About a week and a half, I think, although Williams says they found something that might fix this whole situation."

"Eh, wot?"

"Apparently whilst they and Hans were out on patrol they found a radio in a knocked out MRAP that, rather surprisingly, hadn't been blown apart."

"So we got radio now?"

"Not quite, it's still battered up, but they think that if we use parts from our current radio, we should get it working and have contact with command again. So they're working on that now."

"Mind if I go take a look? I'm curious to see how progress is going on that."

"Eh, our time on watch is about to end anyway, so might as well check on them."

And now we move on to Scene 2, which is a rather smashing scene with some fine writing, in which Stewart and McSkot enter the center of the squad's camp and see how progress is going with repairing the radio.

"Oi, Williams."

"Eh, wot?"

"Does everybody respond to everything around here with eh, wot?"

"Eh, wot?"

"So anyway, how's work going on the radio?"

"Almost got it fixed, just need to align the receiver properly, aaaaaannn...

A few minutes pass, come on, do you really expect me to write every detail of repairing a radio? I don't even know how it works, but anyway.

...nnnnnddd done, I think it should be working now."

"Right, ready to give it a try?"

"Might aswell, dialing to command frequency..."

"...IS 3RD MECHANIZED COMMAND, ALL UNITS ARE TO FALL BACK TO SECTOR ALPHA-THREE-SEVEN-ZERO, I REPEAT, FALL BACK TO SECTOR ALPHA-THREE-SEVEN-ZERO. THE PFS HAS OVERRAN OUR CURRENT DEFENSIVE LINE."

"Oi, this is Bravo Squad, Echo Platoon, Alpha Company, what happened? We've been stranded out here without radio for a week."

"...Bravo Squad? We thought you lot were dead."

"Well, we're still alive, best as I can tell, why haven't there been any search teams?"

"Bit of a problem, y'see, we weren't quite expecting the rebels to suddenly come charging out of the woods with AFVs, so we've been in a bit of a problem situation right now."

"What's the current situation?"

"Scorse has fallen, Dolphik troops in retreat across western Suroig, the place is chaos."

"So what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, what's your position?"

"About a mile west of Scoret."

"The PFS is crawling over that area, we'll try to get a rescue helo to your position, but no promises."

"Thanks for the reassurance and confirmation that everything's going to be fine, really appreciate it."

"Well mate, everything is anarchy, we're trying to regroup along the east bank of the Maythor, but it's pretty hectic, just sit tight, help is on the way."

"Received, we'll be waiting for that helo."

Several centuries pass, as the winds of time blow, and the ages grow old, in another universe with a different flow of spacetime atleast, here, a few hours pass, and we return to our brave heroes that very evening.

"Oi, you hear that?"

"Wot, Stewart?"

"Apart from that, although it is rather noisy, isn't it?"

"WELL MAYBE IF WE HAD SOMETHING TO EAT THAT WASN'T THOSE STALE RATION BARS."

"Hmm, actually, are you referring to that vague sound of rotors in the distance?"

"Yeah."

"You think that's our ride?"

"Hope it is."

"Could be a swallow."

"Wot, a swallow? How could a swallow sound like a helicopter?"

"Well, I hear Lorbic Swallows have calls that sound much like the rotor of a helo."

"Lorbic Swallows? This far north?"

"Well, if they have an airspeed velocity of around 40 knots, and can go for about 7 hours without eating, that could mean that they could get as far north as..."

"Oi, you lot, I have eyes on, it's our bird!"

"Right, flipping on radio, Dolphik helo, this is Bravo Squad, you see us?"

"This is Helo CH-557, we read, you the lot down there waving?"

"Aye, that's us."

"Coming in to land, no idea how you've survived this long out here, but we're ready to take you lot back to friendly soil."

A few moments pass as the helo comes in to land and loads the squad, narrowly avoiding a major tragedy that would no doubt make international headlines as the landing gear comes within inches of a small family of rabbits.

"Right, all of you lot onboard?"

"Everyone is onboard and ready for takeoff, we got everything important?"

"Think so."

"Right, we're go for takeoff."

"Copy that, touching off now."

"Nice to finally be getting out of here."

A shot pangs against the side of the helicopter, ricocheting and causing a dent that, had the helicopter made it back, would've no doubt been blamed on some poor maintenance personnel back at base.

"Oi, we're taking fire!"

"I think we've already got that idea, we've got an AA missile on our tail."

"What? Since when do the rebels have MANPADs? Are they-"

The missile detonates, causing damage to the aircraft of the sort that is generally considered bad for the health of those inside.

"I can't control her! Brace for impact!"

"Let these be my last words; I spit on your names, writers of the 5th game in the Ha-"

Some time later

"Oi! Stewart, you concious?"

"Now I am."

"We took a hard landing there."

"And in other news, the sky is blue, communists are cowards, and so on."

"Right, well, check yourself over, there's gonna be rebels that saw us crash, today's gonna be a long day."

"Well, you've got that right."

[Edusa]

"Command ! Everything went nuts in here ! They rised, we can't do shit ! Your fucking managers sent too much at once and some ESR fanatics without any warning !"

"What's your situation ?"

"Our situation ? We are fucked ! They got to the armory, they are outnumbering us twenty to one ! Our machunegun nests are destroyed, we have only pistols and submachineguns, we won't hold shit if you don't send us any renforcement in the minute !"

"Roger."

In the grey morning a gigantic explosion ripped the face of the mountain. The former mine crater turned into a volcano throwing rocks and dust in the air while crumbling into an hellfire. The ground shaked and several mountains in the near vicinity cracked and collapsed. The detonation could be heard hundred of kilometers around despite the mountains. The town of Hasita, Zaharrherri and Berriherri suffered hearthquacks.

The heliported firefighters soon arrived on the area to discover the Apocalypse on Kerbin. There was nothing left of the mine and its dark secrets but tons of burning rocks and a great cloud of dust slowly falling down...

[Unitum Populo]

The docks in Gracemeria were bustling with activity.

Humanitarian supplies & the equipment needed to deliver it was rushed from train to ship, covering the docks in a mass of moving people and trucks. Across Kerbin, similar scenes played out in Alanson, Bahoya, and several other port cities in CDN member states.

Rear Admiral Rebecca Kerman watched the loading from the bridge of the ENS Orion, a state of the art landing ship. She was currently being transformed into a massive floating trauma center, much as she had been at the end of the Second Iblanian War. With a troop bay filled with medical equipment and a flight deck covered in EDFCG helicopters, the ship would be able to handle thousands of casualties per day once she reached her destination.

There would be no shortage of casualties to care for. Orion was destined for Timbera, along with several other ships - ranging from dedicated hospital ships to temporarily-converted warships such as herself. Others were headed for Barkadia, as both nations were in the midst of revolution. Hot on the heels of the crisis in Edusa and a narrowly-averted war with Anderia, it was hoped that this mercy mission would do something to reduce tensions in the midst of the conflicts raging across the globe.

None of this would matter if the ships were fired upon by trigger-happy revolutionaries or paranoid fascists, of course, but the Admiral hoped it would never come to that. Kerbin couldn't afford a war of the scale that might cause.

A loud bang interrupted her thoughts, and she turned around just in time to see a shockwave bounce off the dock as sailors and workers alike scrambled for cover. In the distance smoke billowed from McLees Shipbuilding.

"Bring the ship to battle stations! Cast off and make best speed out of the harbor, we're a sitting duck like this!"

[Barkadia]

33km from Corticis

A company of 95 are holding a small area consisting of a few apartment buildings, a small store, and a vehicle repair shop. For the last few days, it has been quiet, with little activity being observed on the other side. Other than a few tanks moving in the distance, there has been nothing.

"Have you seen or heard anything in a while, Martin?"

"No, it has been oddly quiet. The gunfire in the distance doesn't register anymore. I am just here, with you guys, staring into my binos until I go to sleep or eat."

"It has been really slow, yeah. Guess that's just part of fighting I guess. Sitting on your ass until someone shoots at you."

Artillery begins to fire in the distance. Rocket artillery is heard too. However, it is louder than what it usually is.

"Is that us, Martin?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

After 15 seconds, shells slam into the road in the middle of the road. One hits the apartment building in the middle of the roof. One explodes next to the shop. Martin becomes dazed from the barrage.

"-artin! Martin!"

"Whe..."

"They're attacking!"

Gunfire comes from the survivors of the barrage as tanks and other vehicles are heard very close. The apartment building is damaged in the middle and falling in. The front of the grocery store is destroyed, and wide open. The repair shop is a pile of rubble.

"How many are coming?"

"We don't know."

"Where is the radio?"

"I don't know."

"Fuck."

A tank fires at the intact portion of the building. A cloud of grey dust comes from the hole the tank round put in the building.

"Get the RPG!"

Someone behind the grocery store quickly assembles an RPG-29. Someone from behind takes a warhead and puts it into the back of the launcher, and taps the user on the shoulder.

"Soldiers! 20-30 of them! Multiple BTRs! Some are unloading!"

A large group of soldiers begins to fire at the people holding the hamlet. Some soldiers on both sides fall to the ground, wounded or dead. Coaxial guns are heard firing. Shouting from both sides is almost overtaken by the firefight.

"Sir! I found the radio!"

Matin quickly begins to use it.

"We are out-armored, outgunned, and outnumbered! We need reinforcements with anti tank launchers!"

"We cannot move aid into your area. Multiple sectors are under barrage and attack, same as you. Continue to hold out. We will see to air support."

"This is fucking bullshit, and if we die, realize that we were killed BY YOU!"

The RPG-29 is heard being fired. It hits the front of the T-90, perpendicular to the front. It does not cause meaningful damage, and the tank is still fully functional.

"Oh SHI-"

The tank zeroes in on the RPG team. It shoots its main gun, and the two soldiers disappear in a cloud of dust.

"Martin."

"What?"

"We are fucked."

Center of Corticis

Dominika is standing in a small line going into a grocery store. It is cold, and loud booms from artillery and distant gunfire can be heard. There are less soldiers, but they have become more observant and paranoid. She hears two young men whispering in front of her.

"Have you heard?"

"No, what?"

"That explosion a few nights ago. That wasn't an accident. Someone blew something up."

"Where are you hearing this from?"

"I know somebody. He's in this resistance group. The "Red Pines" or whatever. They've been fighting sporadically in the city. They are winning every time, too."

"You need to be careful. Even you knowing might get all of us arrested, or even killed."

They walk up, get their ration tickets, and then leave. A soldier at the doorway eyes them.A soldier hands Dominika her ticket.

"What? I can't live off of this! Three cans of beans? A loaf of bread? 800 milliliters of milk?"

"It's all we can give right now, miss. I'm sorry."

"I am an old woman. I have lived through the worst times in this nation. This is not enough for two weeks."

"I can't do anything."

"Fuck you, sir."

She gets her items and leaves the store. The soldier outside looks at her ticket and what's inside her bag.

"You're good. Enjoy your day."

Dominikia walks away back to her apartment. Behind her, two men are being arrested.

[Faulksnia]

Lindermen Residence, Gertudbaar, Faulksnia

Loren Lindermen sat hunched over his keyboard, scrolling through social media. The morning sun filtered through the boarded windows as an emergency message began flashing across his screen. He was requested to follow a link to a website, and after cautiously opening a private browser window, he did.

VITAL INFORMATION FOR FAULKSNIAN CITIZENS
A Draft for a Faulksnian Governmental Constitution

For too long, the Faulksnian people have suffered under the rule of oligarchs and corporacracies. We, the Fokser people, in order to establish true democracy, lay out this constitution to describe a new system of government for the nation of Faulksnia. It is our hope that, through the methods listed below, the needs of the People can be met for the foreseeable future.

Article I:

The Provisional Government of Faulksnia hereby relinquishes control of the state six months from the passage of this document into Official Law, assuming that a new and valid government, whose requirements will be outlined below, has been established for one month already.

The New Faulksnian Government, which will now be referred to as the NFG, must have the following requirements in order to be considered a valid replacement of the Provisional Government.

The NFG must be democratically elected into office by a two-thirds or greater vote by all citizens.
The NFG must have a direct democracy for all major political offices.
*Major political office is described as any office with the ability to veto legislation, declare war, or establish treaties with foreign countries.
The NFG must have more than two major parties and at least two of them must have significantly different ideals.
The NFG must relinquish its power after twenty-five (25) years if another suitable government with a four-fifths majority support amongst the current citizens is proposed.

Article II:
...

Mr Lindermen scrolled through the following pages briefly, he figured there'd be something on social media if it was that dystopian. Loren leaned back into his chair, any semblance of order was better than the anarchy they had right now, he'd been shot at twice that week and mugged that morning. He'd have his wife go down to the Hall of Swords with him to sign it, the instructions said to bring his birth certificate, which he thought might be under his bed somewhere.

[The Timberan Republic]

Sabor 2:35pm 10/3/18

Marek was running with his squad across the street to the next building in front of them there was an enemy DSHK nest on the top of the building. Their goal was to neutralize the DSHK nest to allow friendly helicopters to come in and med-vac the injured. He kicked the door open and then they cleared the bottom floor. They found a stash of AT weapons in the basement 4 RPG-2s and 2 RPG-7s and a Konkurs ATGM. They went up the stairs to the second floor and one of Mareks Squad members had been shot in the arm going up the stairs. They pulled the man down the stairs and put a tourniquet on his arm and bandaged the area and left him downstairs with 2 other men. Marek threw an RGD-5 up into the second floor around the corner and the explosion could be heard. Him and three other men cleared the 2nd floor and the man up there was now dead. They walked up to the roof access then gunned down the man on the DSHK. Marek and some other men took the AT weapons and carried them back to their FOB.





Sabor 6:30am 10/4/18

A dark morning in Sabor, ambient combat and explosions light the area.

Vaclav is sitting on the second floor of a half-destroyed building his silhouette is coved by rubble. He sits there with his scoped Mosin in his hands aiming at an opening of an alley. he sees a man walking out of the alley, the man was wearing a ssh40 and a great coat in his hands is an SKS. He notices the man has an armband, he makes out the fascist horseshoe. He re-aims his Mosin now on the man's head and pulls the trigger. A loud clank can be heard and the man falls to the ground lifeless.

[Faulksnia]

35 Km Outside Corticis, Barkadia

"When I go to battle!-"

"In pursuit with an old friend!

"From the shield's edge I scream!-"

"And they advance in might!"

The anti-tank team shouted over the drone of the engines as their truck followed behind a column of tanks down the road. A key hamlet on the road into Corticis had fallen the day before and Command wanted them to take it back before enemy reinforcements could dig in. Suddenly, autocannon fire from the column lead cut through their chant and they all jumped out the back of the truck as it slowed down.

A T-90 threw itself into reverse and deployed smoke as its ERA blocks were detonated by 30mm shells. The roar of a 130mm Heijina II cannon firing was almost immediately followed by the popping thunderclap of an ammunition load going up and the T-90's turret bounced off the lead tank before careening off the road into the thicket. The Heijina column split up as the smoke slowly cleared, driving over the edge of the road and began moving through the woods, infantry pouring out of armoured cars and trucks to follow them.

Kelvin Kermanson moved forwards with his AMP-110 smg in one hand and the rocket tube for an anti-tank missile in the other. He could hear gunfire around him and the bassy hum of diesel engines in front of him. The woods to his left had a bit of a slope and he thought he could make out a ridge.

"On me!" Kermanson gestured for the squad to head up the hill. Bullets tore past him and they sprinted up the rise to seek cover.

Nestling into the dead leaves and fungus, Kermanson peeked over the top of the ridge with his binoculars. Four T-90s were backing up and deploying smoke, their infantry escort was fanning out, an anti-tank team was heading towards their Heijina IIs before they were cut down by LMG fire from one of the Faulksnian squads.

Through the chaos, none of the Barkadian soldiers noticed the ATGM team setting up on the ridge until a missile slammed into the engine deck of the rearmost T-90, shredding the engine and smoke poured out of the vehicle as the crew attempted to bail out.

A 125mm sabot shattered and flew off the cheek of a Heijina II as it tried to fire at the T-90 platoon. Another missile slammed into the roof of a third T-90 but that crew was less fortunate, the tank survived the blast and quickly fired into the woods where the missile had come from.

The battle raged on a few more minutes but soon the column was back on the road again, the burning corpses of five T-90 tanks and a Heijina II quickly fading away behind them as the sun began to set.

As the forest thinned out, giving way to neglected farmland and plains, the Heijina IIs pulled off the road and began to move towards the target suburb as a second force came to reinforce them. A convoy of armoured cars continued along the highway and as the tanks grew closer they switched off their main engines and began running on battery power, the armour panels over their engine decks folding open to radiate their heat into the night.

33 Km Outside Corticis

Infrared binoculars in the hamlet showed a column of four heat signatures speeding down the highway, the early evening heat made everything a bit hazy but they appeared to be alone. Suddenly, an artillery shell landed just outside the hamlet, then a few more, then a near-constant barrage began to fall and the sentries sprinted to find shelter. Eleven T-90s left the suburb, two others had been damaged by the barrage before they could evacuate the area. They did not fear the armoured cars that they spotted if anything, they wondered why such a small force was sent. The lead tank fired and the first armoured car burst into flames, the followers dropped off the road and a hail of bullets danced off the front of the tanks. Three ATGMs flew towards the column but did almost nothing, the lead T-90 brushing off a missile to the clamshell and only losing her optics and com antennas.

Then the Heijina IIs opened fire. Simultaneously, each of the T-90 halted as they either lost their engine or slammed into the tank in front of them, bits of driver plastered to the inside of the hull.

15mm APS opened up as the tanks were finally spotted from the edges of the hamlet and two of the tanks fell behind, smoking and rolling to a stop. The surviving armoured cars got back onto the road and opened fire on the line of houses and shops, tracer fire lighting up the night like a thunderstorm. Faulksnian mechanized infantry squads ran from house to house, brief moments of gunfire as holes were torn right through the walls of buildings.

By dawn, the last prisoners were being rounded up and the captured equipment being inventoried. Five Heijina II tanks had been destroyed and twenty-three fokser soldiers killed. Fokser sappers quickly began laying mines in the countryside around the city and various booby-traps built from captured materials. The red sun rose higher as the sound of jet engines could be heard in the distance.