Shadows in the Dune Sea [FanT/IC/Private]

[Remnants of Exilvania]

The Dune Sea
(Background)

The Dune Sea describes a large territory in the portion of the NS-Hyperworld commonly referred to as Bworld. It is located on the Kerkrienian Continent, to the south of the once mighty Exilvanian Empire, a formerly warmongering wasteland now broken and defeated. To the south of the Dune Sea on the other hand, separated from it by the wild and untamed waters of the Shining Sea, lie the Coral Atolls which are part of the Solar Empire, an advanced civilisation that has fallen from grace due to past conflicts.

The Dune Sea is a large territory, famed for its namesake dunes that stretch over many leagues, dominating a large swath of the territory with their sand deserts. Few Oases exist there and the rivers coming from the north are tainted and poisoned so they contribute little to the deserts' vegetation. Towards the coasts the sand deserts actually largely disappear, being replaced by canyons and plateaus of the Al-Hadrumut region. Inside the steep valleys of these rock formations, there exist lush areas often used for farming and other agriculture, having sustained the population of the Dune Sea region long ago. Due to this most settlements were founded along the coast, where a population could be sustained and the cities could engage in overseas trade with each other and more nations.

Historically speaking the Dune Sea region gave rise to some of the first advanced civilisations in the Bworld. With favourable conditions in the Al-Hadrumut region, they were bound to rise. Thus the original 4 city states of Al-Kraid, A-wuit, Tahr-zan and Righdadi were created which saw a lengthy period of peace and prosperity between them as they quickly expanded their trade over the continent. Of course nothing lasts forever and in this case the lengthy period of peace was broken by the rise of the Hamdu, a dynasty of visionary nobles in Tahr-zan who sought to unite the people of the Dune Sea. With offerings of peace and negotiation they attempted to coerce their neighbours into this union...yet were turned down and had to resort to more violent measures. War would ravage the coast of the Dune Sea for many years to come.

Yet eventually victory was within reach for the Hamdu, Tahr-zanian armies laying siege to the final free city of Righdadi, eventually overcoming its mighty walls and planting the Tahr-zanian flag upon the Emir's palace. The war for the Unification of the Dune Sea was over and the Hamdu declared the foundation of the State of Al-Dundus which would continue to prosper once more for many centuries untill greed and decadence took a hold within the people and they sought to expand their rule and bring new riches into their realm. The Hamdu's built a grand armada of war ships and began sailing the Shining Sea with less peaceful intentions than they used to. Their target? The Solar Empire. Three times did they attempt to invade. The first armada reached the shores of the Coral Atoll and overwhelmed the shore defenders yet a great storm came over the fleet and destroyed it, leaving the landed troops to fend for themselves untill they were subjugated by the fierce Solar defenders. The second time their fleet was sunk by a storm before they even reached the Coral Atoll. And the third time they were engaged by the Solar Empire's fleet, leading to the battle of Lei-Panting as it is referred to in Solar Empire history books. There the might of the Al-Dundus was finally broken for many years to come.

Centuries later Al-Dundus would be one of the first nations to be beset by a terrible threat that sought to overwhelm the entirety of Bworld. Issuing forth from the wastes of Exilvania to the north came the troops of the Iron Legion. Al-Dundus had long been undeterred by them, their impassable desert protecting them from those attacks from the north and the old exilvanian raiders. But the Iron Legion was an entirely different threat and it showed as its troops crossed the deserts and brought destruction over the Al-Hadrumut region. The Iron Legion ruined the 4 great cities and brought the entire region under their heel, enslaving all they could find. Al-Dundus was only the first nation to fall, with many more falling before the Iron Legion like wheat before a scythe.

Untill the Lightning Wars. The Solar Empire, with the goal to reign in and destroy the Iron Legion, invaded the Exilvanian Heartlands and brought the fight to the heart of the Iron Legion. It was a lost campaign from the very beginning as the Iron Lord, Lord Ferrok, quickly recalled the troops of the Iron Legion from all over the Bworld to crush the Solar Empire Expeditionary Forces while his air fleets, their bombers darkening the sky, bombarded the Solar Empire's home isles with the intent to wipe them off the face of the earth for their insolence. This of course also meant that the occupation of Al-Dundus became bearable again as the Legion's remaining troops could barely keep order in the region. And when the Legion's main forces and Lord Ferrok himself were wiped out at the Battle of the Iron Tower in the great Kataklysm, even the last remainders of the Legion retreated.

The Dune Sea was slow to recover from the damages wrought upon it. It had suffered Legion occupation the longest and was thus in the worst shape of all the free nations of the Bworld. So it came as a great relief when an independent expedition from the Anglo-Isles, assessing damages and potentials after the great war against the Iron Legion, found rich oil deposits in the Dune Sea, not too far from the Coast. Oil had become an ever more important ressource in the world as nations and militaries modernised following their humiliating defeat at the hands of the Legion. Investments and Trade helped the Dune Sea very much in slowly catching up with the rest of the world. Alas, holding a highly important ressource is not always to one's advantage.

In the power struggle between the Western Frontier and the Tundran Territories, many nations became the playground for proxy wars or other signs of the powerstruggle. The Dune Sea, as a region rich in oil deposits, quickly found itself caught up between the fronts as both sides demanded it to prioritize them and their allies over their enemy. Not wishing to appease one and piss off the other, Al-Dundus attempted to steer clear and neutral yet when Tsar Gorgi declared war on the Western Frontier over alleged claims of weapons of mass destruction being produced by the Frontier, Tundran forces also invaded the Dune Sea to pre-emptively secure the oil deposits and refineries for their own and deny them to the Frontier. The Frontier, having been surprised by the attack, was surprisingly quick to react to that specific event leading to the assumption that they too had planned to pre-emptively occupy the Dune Sea in the case of invasion. Now that specific war was over quickly when Frontier forces under the command of General Herman managed to capture Tsar Gorgi, forcing him to retreat his troops from Frontier territory and sign a peace treaty.

Yet the troops never left. Both the Tundrans and the Frontier agreed that they couldn't leave the Dune Sea. Afterall, what if the other would strike against it pre-emptively once again and succeed in bringing the entire region under their control? And so the people of the Dune Sea suffered occupation once again for many, many years. The Tundran and Frontier authorities never really gave a cent about the plight of the people, focusing on developing the oil extraction and refining infrastructure so they could fuel their warmachines in the arms race between their respective nations. There was very little money left to let the people of the Dune Sea develop schools, adequate medical facilities and the like. Clamours for freedom were harshly suppressed and both the Frontier and the Tundrans tried to eliminate the ethical identity of the people of the Dune Sea to bring them closer to their own countries and lessen the risk of popular uprisings. For instance they renamed the 4 cities, turning Tahr-zan into Dusty Springs, Al-Kraid into Pessoksburg, A-wuit into Beckintown and Righdadi into Oilwell.

It was of course all counterproductive as that merely increased the hatred of the locals against the occupiers. Terrorism became a fairly common thing already back then. Then, 30 years after the first war between the Western Frontier and the Tundran Territories, the 1st Battalion Wars broke out between the two, leading to heavy fighting on the Emerian Continent. The two giants also clashed in the Dune Sea, though only in a limited fashion since neither wanted to risk damaging each other's oil infrastructure. Now, the 1st Battalion Wars quickly expanded again as the Exilvanians entered the war, beginning bombing raids over Emeria as well as attempting to invade the Dune Sea and launching an invasion on the Solar Empire's Coral Atoll. Many of the Dunepeople aided the Exilvanians in their war effort, believing the Kaiser's Intelligence Commander's promises of freedom and independence, helping the Exilvanians gain a landing ground, find and build their Nerocite Extraction and Refinery Facilities and just generally aided them with great intel, leading to large swaths of the region being occupied by Exilvanian Forces.

Alas, the 1st Battalion Wars went badly for the Xers as the Alliance of Nations was formed between the Western Frontier, the Tundran Territories and the Solar Empire. In a series of successful campaigns, the Exilvanians were driven out of the Dune Sea, the Coral Atoll and back into the depths of Exilvania where their armies were defeated and the Kaiser forced to go into hiding. The 2nd Battalion Wars barely touched the Dune Sea, with it having apparently vanished off the Exilvanian military's radar so the country did not get liberated at all and all hope for it was lost. Still, they performed sabotage against their occupiers' oil extraction and refinery infrastructure in the service of the Exilvanian ZZ.

Following the conclusion of the 2nd Battalion Wars, the world started to move towards peace once again. With the lack of great enemies, funding could finally be diverted towards economic and social programs to improve upon territories such as the Dune Sea. The martial law that had been in place ever since the first occupation of the Dune Sea was lifted and limited civil and political freedoms were given to the Dunepeople. It was a great way to combat violent extremism and terrorism like it had been propagated by the Hamdu dynasty, which had gone into hiding ever since the Legion invaded. Alas, loosen the leash once and suddenly they will think they have a chance at getting rid of it completely. A large, more measured, public movement for the independence of the Dune Sea was founded and has been gaining traction ever since. The Al-Hamdu Ila, propagating for the independence of the Dune Sea and the return of the Hamdu Dynasty to the Crown.

Al-Hamdu Ila Riots

The protests had started barely a week ago and they were already out of control. At first, it had simply been peaceful protests in every major city, with tens of thousands of protesters gathering in the streets, waving flags of Al-Dundus or bearing the coat of arms of the Hamdu dynasty. Authorities had received warnings about these protests taking place long in advance so that one could've said that the organisers of the protests had quite literally applied for protesting. And as such they had started of rather peacefully. Tensions had of course existed considering the authorities' history of brutally suppressing the movement for independence or the movement for indepence's history of terrorism but at first everything had gone well.

That was untill the fateful 5th day of the demonstrations. The Melissa Incident, named after its supposed first victim. Nobody knows exactly what happened anymore and there was a lot of confusion back then about what was happening. Officially, as claimed by the authorities, a foreign reporter had come under attack by the crowd and in an effort to protect her, they had to step in and use force yet were too late as she had already been killed by angry protesters. The Al-Hamdu Ila on the other hand claimed that the reporter never existed and that she is merely a figment of the authorities' imagination, created to have a reason to disperse the protesters and bury the dream of Dunepeople freedom. It doesn't matter anymore who started it but rather what it resulted in. Stones and Molotov Cocktails were traded with tear gas grenades and strong water cannons. The violence escalated from its one battlefield in A-wuit all over the city and quickly spreading to the other cities, leading to violent riots all over, with government installations and foreign holdings coming under siege by rioters chanting:

"Out with the foreigners! The Dune Sea to the Dunepeople! Exploit yourself!"

Embassies and most governmental buildings were of course usually provided a fairly stable fence and gate and the threat of deadly force had so far still dissuaded protesters from actually storming any of the buildings. But the situation was growing more desperate, with hatred brewing outside those fences an attack was merely a matter of time.

An undisclosed location in Dusty Springs

It was an abandoned factory hall in the outskirts of Dusty Springs. Kept in a demotivating grey, large and empty and depressing with moonlight filtering in from outside. An old attempt at domestic industrialisation...falling flat due to foreign imports offering the same wares cheaper since they had to pay no tariffs at all...afterall, this was an occupied territory and the occupiers did not intend to bar the path of their own economy. The business had gone bankrupt, the employees been laid off, the factory closed down, all machinery sold. The owner still kept the property though. And being sympathetic to the cause after he lost so much to the foreigners, he gladly gave it to the Al-Hamdu Front as a base of operations. One of many in the city but this one clearly being the largest.

Now, the Al-Hamdu Front was separate from the Al-Hamdu Ila. Where the Al-Hamdu Ila were officially only lightly affiliated with the Hamdu and generally peaceful, the Al-Hamdu Front was serving the Hamdu directly and was responsible for many of the terror attacks of the past. Their ranks had shrunk since the rise of the Al-Hamdu Ila yet they had become no less dangerous, with middlemen inside the Al-Hamdu Ila allowing them to influence the much larger and more peaceful organisation to the completion of their own goals. To rid the Dune Sea of all foreigners and re-establish Al-Dundus under the rule of the Hamdus.

Which made it all the more interesting just how much the Al-Hamdu Front was open to foreign aid and just how much they were willing to do for it.

The factory's main hall was filled with foreigners from Nachfolgia. They had been smuggled into the country through the Al-Hamdu Front's vast smuggling network, created under the occupation to smuggle people who had search warrants on them or forbidden goods to their many cells within the country. Most of the Al-Hamdu Front's members didn't even know who these foreigners were, where they actually came from or why they were here and yet they had smuggling them in with the help of and at someone else's beck and call. Now the smuggling hadn't always been very comfortable, at times they had to give up parts of their equipment and go without it or be separated but in the end they were all reunited with all their equipment in this factory hall where they were now waiting for the briefing for the mission they had been sent here to accomplish.

They did not have to wait too long. A commotion started under the Al-Hamdu guards who were with them in the compound, signalling that something was happening. A few of the Al-Hamdu men left the Nachfolgians to their own devices, hurrying out of the hall into a sidebuilding after they had been informed of something through hushed whispers.

Just a few minutes later a pair of people, most likely women, completely shrouded in traditional black robes with little more than their eyes looking out, entered the hall, three locals hoding stacks of dossiers following behind them. The women walked in front of the Nachfolgians, looking the tall people over before looking at each other and nodding. Yes, these were indeed the people they were supposed to expect. In a single motion both of them pulled the black robes off themselves, revealing that they were not local at all and instead very much foreigners like the Nachfolgians. The two women both had fairly pale skin more akin to the Nachfolgians or Emerian Foreigners in the Dune Sea than the Dunepeople's tan. A pair of red eyes and a pair of green eyes tracked every single movement made by the Nachfolgians and wicked smiles adorned their beautiful faces which were framed by extravagent hairstyles. Not to mention the rather extravagant choice of clothing. One of the two motioned for the locals to go ahead, the men then walking forward to the Nachfolgians and handing out the dossier, one for each. Meanwhile the other raised her voice so it could be heard in the entire hall, speaking in perfect Nachfolgian:

"Welcome to the Dune Sea! I hope the journey was most comfortable? Yes? That's great because your mission is about to start. If you need anything like food, drink or just a visit to the restroom, you've got a two minute window and will miss out on the briefing. Pray that your comrades are going to inform you about its contents. Now as for the contents..."

The other woman now spoke up, continuing where her counterpart had left off:

"Please open the dossiers handed out to you. They contain important information on the mission environment and the objectives. Now as for the mission itself...well, once this briefing is finished, you are to form atleast three groups. Each of your groups will be assigned a local guide, who will help with getting through the current riots and give you pointers on good positions for the execution of the mission. These men are expendable. Maps are provided in your dossier and if you believe in your ability to circumvent the rioters on your own then you are free to do so."

The men had handed out the last dossiers and returned to the side of the two women, the first of which was now the one to continue talking again:

"Your targets are the embassies of MInroz, Monfrox and Sonitusia. All of them are currently under siege by rioters and cut off from the authorities. Authorities will need a lot more time before they can reach any of these embassies unless they start using deadly force against the rioters so we have plenty of time to move against them. Within each of these embassies are individuals which are considered valuable to current operations. Your mission is to extract these individuals from there by force and bring them back here. The exact way of achieving this objective is up to your expertise."

Now the second woman spoke again, her smile devilish as she eyed the Nachfolgians with her green eyes, looking for a reaction:

"To keep authorities in the dark for as long as possible, you are to ensure that nobody notices your presence and stays alife to tell about it. No witnesses. It's irrelevant wether these witnesses are embassy staff, authorities, Al-Hamdu Ila or even other Nachfolgians who are not part of this mission. I am sure you will enjoy slaughtering those Minrozians, hehehehe.

Oh, by the way, there's a substantial risk that the authorities will be deploying transport helicopters in an attempt to evacuate the embassies. Needless to say that these choppers should not leave the premises ever again?"

The first woman picked up again now:

"After you have left the premises, the Al-Hamdu Front will take care of the rest. You just ensure that you make it back here unscathed and undetected. Speaking of which...you can find traditional cloaks much like the ones we wore in that chest over there. They are surprisingly effective. Though considering your...unusual physical build, I'd ask you to walk a bit hunched over. You're far too tall otherwise. And keep your mouths shut as long as there are others around who could hear you.

Now with that I believe we've covered everything. Waidmannsheil to you!"

[Nachfolgia]

The Nachfolgians in the abandoned factory kept silent the entire time that they waited. Standing in formation at the position of parade rest, they did not move an inch. This of course made the Al-Hamdu in the room extremely uncomfortable, given that they didn't speak a word the entire trip and that every Nachfolgian has his and her face covered. To anyone that saw them, it was almost like they weren't human and for good reason. This was a testament to the unwavering discipline that this particular group of 26 soldiers Nachfolgians soldiers. They were the best of the best of the Nachfolgian War Machine, the Spezialkräfteabteilung XIII under the designation Weissaugen.

The Weissaugen, faces covered by a black half mask, didn't show anything that identified them as Nachfolgians. No flag on their black uniforms that denoted their nation of origin, no unit patch, no rank insignia, nothing at all. The only think that gave away who the commander was the guy standing in front of the formation. Another possible hint to origin was the four soldiers in the back of the formation. These four, despite having the same uniform as the others, were obviously different aside from the fact that they were women. Their hair was Raven colored, their skin several shades darker than the other Nachfolgians. To top it off, these four girls were considerable shorter that their comrades. Whoever these girls were, they were most likes not Nachfolgian or a mixed blood.

When the veiled women walked in and revealed themselves to be Exilvanians, the Nachfolgians didn't stand at attention or even budged. The women were not their superiors and deserved no such respect and courtesy, despite being allies. They were there to brief them and nothing else. It was nothing personal, just the nature of the business. The Weissaugen didn't want their minds cluttered with anything that didn't pertain to the mission.

Each of the Nachfolgians looked over the dossiers while the Exilvanian women went over the details of the mission, showing the first movement they've had since walking into the room. The dossier contained maps of the city, photos of the embassies as well as their floor plans, security details, ect. The dossiers also had pictures and info on all the targets and where they would likely be located in the embassy. When one of the Exilvanians mentioned that the guides are expendable, the Nachfolgians commander briefly looked at her than looked at the guides. They weren't anything special just typical Al-Hamdu. Inferior scum as far as the Nachfolgians were concerned.

The Commander waited until the women were done with the briefing before walking up to the Al-Hamdu guides.

" Which one of you is the guide for the Minrozian embassy?" The Commander asked in butchered and broken Arabic.

When one of them stepped forward, the Commander quickly pulled his pistol and shot the man point blank range in the head, spattering blood on the Nachfolgian's face. The Al-Hamdu soldier collapsed to the floor, much to the other guide's surprised. The man began to yell at the Nachfolgian in arabic, but was quickly silenced when the Commander leveled his pistol at him. The man raised his hands to his chest and took a few steps back. With no more objections, the Commander put his pistol back into its holster.

" We don't need a guide to the Minrozian Embassy." The Commander said to the women before turning back to his men.

" Weissaugen!" The Commander yelled, causing the others to snap at attention in unison, the noise of their heels clicking echoed throughout the factory.

" Gear up and make your peace! We move out in an hour! Dismissed!" The Commander told his men who then scattered from the formation towards unmarked crates lining the wall.

For the next hour, The Weissaugen geared up for the mission that about to come and went over the execution of the mission. The black uniform they wore during the briefing was now paired with their combat rigs. Plate armor, extremity protects, and a full faced combat helmet that is integrated with life support elements and communications covered and protected much of the soldier's body. The helmet itself had two white tick marks above the hard to see visor lens for identification purposes, giving the Weissaugen their namesake. A few of the soldiers had extra high tech gadgetry to their combat loadout, hinting at their possible specialization. The four witches in the unit, the Nachfolgians of a darker skin tone, also had an extra addition to their rig. Each one had a circular device that looked like a turbine strapped to their back that was wired to a wrist device with a display on the right arm. The four girls also didn't wear a combat helmet like the others, opting for just a face cover.

Once everyone was geared up and armed, the Commander and a few others checked everyone's gear and equipment one last time, ensuring nothing was amiss. The Nachfolgians, now divided equally into two teams with each team having two witches, were set for the mission to begin. One team, led by another Nachfolgian, walked over to the chest that the Exilvanians pointed out and took the long body veils. Each one quickly put it on and covered his body and all his equipment. Once covered, the leader of the team, called
out to one of the witches.

" Cast the illusion, witch!" He commanded, sternly.

" Yes, Herr Oberscharführer." The witch responded. From underneath the veil, a faint humming started as a few rhythmic clicks accompanied it. A few moments later, the area around the 1st team shimmered as the illusion took affect. From the perspective of anyone around them, the Nachfolgians shrank to the size of the locals and their bulky gear and weapons disappeared. They now looked like a group of local women. With the illusion now in full affect, the 1st team set out for the Monfrox Embassy.

The Commander, in charge of the team raiding the Minrozian embassy, waited for a bit with his team. Looking at his watch, the Commander waited patiently for the moment that the other team would reach their embassy, so they can coordinate their attacks. When the time got close to move out, The Commander nodded to one of the witches who was to his left. The witches nodded back and proceed to walk towards a dark corner of the room. The witch then proceeded to press a few buttons on her forearm display that activated the device on her back. As the device hummed and started up, the turbine accelerating, a pair of Wolf ears began to manifest on top of the witches head. When the device reached it's maximum rpms, the witch held out her hand in front of the corner. The shadows in the corner started to move and darken until the entire corner was encased in an unnatural black abyss. The witch, once completed with the task, turned back towards her Commander.

" It's done, Herr Oberscharführer. This leads straight into the third floor server room." The witch said, taking a few steps back.

" Bittermann. Wittke. Secure the server room for our entry." The Commander said to two of the men. The two quickly entered the abyss and disappeared.

[Monfrox]

"I'm telling you, you can't do that."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because it goes against the ROE."

"But have you se-"

"I'm RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. OF COURSE I've seen what's going on. Do you ever stop and think?!"

"Sometimes."

"I fucking hate you, Szabina."

The two gate guards watched on, nonplussed as the amount of activity at the embassy gate. It was the same thing over and over, day in and day out. Shouts to leave and death threats. Sometimes they even threw rocks if they were ballsy enough. That was usually responded to in kind, though. Less-than-lethal means were generally favored but Froxians were easy to get testy. The guards at the front of the gate, which had been Dune Sea nationals, had long since abandoned their posts, leaving the inner gate to be the front line usually by now, the locals would get the message when the checkpoint guards donned gas masks in preparation for tear gas. But this time, they seemed to be hellbent on voicing...whatever it was that they usually shouted about. The gate guards loaded specially made "taser rounds" into their M4 Super 90s, as they still had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Inside, the embassy was largely empty. Cecylia Kozak, the ambassador from Monfrox, had been used to situations like this from the attack on the Multi-Species Union summit. Unfortunately, Esfir and Mitzi were off on other assignments, so she was stuck with her run-of-the-mill security forces. At least there was always one special operator present for her assistance. Cecylia was a tall woman with a slightly gaunt shaped face and a head of short, black hair and had also been a former scout sniper back in her younger days. Her assistant was Ms. Katarzyna Wodarska, a maid with strawberry red hair and a serious personality. The rest of the embassy had been evacuated of all non-essential personnel a few days prior, leaving only the two and their security cadre. Now, it was time to give it up and get out for good.

Cecylia looked to her head of security, Sergeant Amalia Rotaru. The Sergeant had been on a deployment against the local insurgency back home, and had lost an arm and a leg to a tank shell. Still, the tall, tanned, toned, redheaded Sergeant still found many reasons to stay positive. She was asked to refrain from "cost an arm and a leg" jokes many times over, but she never really stopped. Her actions taken during those dark days back home had earned her the rank of Sergeant, along with what was supposed to be a cushy job at the embassy. It was needed, as she was one of two surviving members from her former unit. Initially thought to be dead, she was a lot tougher than she looked, and she looked really tough.

"How are we in terms of preparation?"

"We're pretty bang set. Secondary and tertiary extraction contingencies are prepped and ready."

"Ms. Wodarska?"

Her personal maid, who was one of many sleeper agents in place at every highly diplomatic facilities overseas that were extensively trained in individual combat, counter-terrorism, and espionage, nodded.

"Physical records, how few they are, have been torched as per your request, ma'am. All evidence of our relations here have gone up in flames."

"Much like the rest of the country."

The two before her made no comment per that remark, and Cecylia was left to dwell on it before standing up from her desk.

"Very good, then. We'll await here for the chopper and see where we go from there. Sergeant, round the girls up. Secondary extract will be your primary. A VC-130H is going to meet us at the international airport and from that, we'll all be on our way home."

"Yes ma'am." Rotaru nodded and headed out with her rifle slung to go to the underground parking garage.

"Anything from them?" Cecylia asked.

"The helicopter is still being prepped and therefor hasn't left yet." Wodarska answered.

"They sure are taking their sweet time..."

[Minroz]

Minrozian Embassy Complex

Overlooking from the balcony of the embassy is Ambassador Sing Ho, head of Minrozian embassy in Al Hadrumat. It was just another day for him in an embassy of his Far Eastern homeland. He was in this land for five years and it happened to be his recent tenure, trying to extend relations to the nations of Bworld on behalf of Minroz. He has spent more than thirty years as an ambassador and diplomat for the Middle Kingdom and continues to do so today, he had enough travelling for diplomatic experience as per his station as an ambassador. Sing Ho’s family are upper middle-class. His wife passed away five years ago, his children now grown-up and has families of their own, there’s nothing else for the ambassador except his duty to the emperor, the Son of Heaven and Lord of Ten Thousand Years. He could’ve retired to live in much comfortable life but Sing Ho felt he must fulfil his duties in whatever capacities he can do one last time.

Thinking about the situation in regards to the native inhabitants of the Dune Sea, Sing Ho has strong sympathies for the locals as victims of foreign imperialism. He can understand their anger at the authorities and their foreign overlords. He is least surprised that the Dunepeople have come out in the fore to release their pent-up resentments towards their Western and Tundran overlords. Reminiscent in thought, the situation have reminded him of the Tarlarn debacle in his homeworld except the Tarlarn situation is about the people’s anger towards the caliph’s court ruled by the corrupt clique. He honestly thinks the governments of Western Frontier and Tundran Territories are no better than the arrogant western powers, back in his homeworld.

While Sing Ho admits his country is not a bastion of democracy and freedom as the certain western nations but the Middle Kingdom is honourable and benevolent enough to help others with any need for pretensions of ‘spreading freedom’ to the world. The Middle Kingdom will try to help out the downtrodden in whatever ways they can do.

Ambassador Sing Ho could only sigh as he observed how chaotic the situation has become. On the positive note, the embassy staffs have been evacuated earlier in the wake of escalating violence in Dune Sea, leaving the security and military personnel to be left in case the riots die down, keeping the compound safe and secured. He can see from a distance that the protests have quickly spiralled down into a violent riot. Once the riot reared its ugly head towards all foreign embassies, this has gotten the Minrozians worried, leading them for the Qing non-combatant citizens to evacuate on orders by the Minrozian imperial court. Only Sing Ho is the last non-combatant to stay behind, out of sense of duty and responsibility.

Captain Chan Kong, an anthromorphic rhino beastman who happened to be head of embassy security, has appeared at the ambassador’s side.

“How was the view, your excellency?” he said.

“The view is pleasant, captain. If only it wasn’t for the debacle outside the walls of the compound. It is tragic.” Sing Ho sighed at the last part, mentioning about the protests outside. “Five years it has been…I’ve knew this’ll happen eventually the day I’ve set foot on this earth. The Frontier and the Tundrans, for their talks of equal rights, they are not quite respectful of the Dune Sea people. They treat the locals as if they’re pests to be shoved away. If you mistreat the dog, it’ll bite back. Dreadful but not surprising.”

“Hmph,” Chan Kong snorted, “the Frontier and the Tundrans are barbarians, no different from the forebears of the westerners. They respect no one but themselves. The only saving grace is they see reason…as long as it’s in their interests.”

“Haha, I was thinking of that, young man. My bones may be old but my soul hasn’t vanished from this life just yet. We have our duties to perform.” Sing Ho said wryly.

“Is there really something we can do to help?”

“Not much beyond charity, the bureaucracy in this part of the world is primitive. At least maybe that’s what they preferred to be in regard to the locals. No different from the westerners.” The ambassador replied. “I am not blind to the fact that it helped the conveniences for them to rule the Dune Sea people themselves at their leisure. That and the unrests outside, seeing as things goes, I have no doubts that the Dune Sea is going to turned into a warzone.”

Within the earshot of Chan Kong and Sing Ho, they can hear loud protests and howls of angry locals approaching the Minrozian embassy compound.

“Your Excellency, we need you to be inside.” The head of embassy security urges the ambassador in.

“Ah, thank you.” The elderly man replied. He entered inside the embassy building with Captain Chan following behind.

In the meantime, the embassy guards have deployed barricades in the form of hidden magic shields and stone walls at all critical parts of the complex to ensure the protestors won’t try breaking inside the Qing embassy that easily. To add firepower to the security are automated defense turrets, hidden inside the compound. The Minrozians are not going to take a chance that the mob are not going to attack the embassy compound any time soon; they have past diplomatic experience which requires them to be vigilant. Security-wise, the compound has fifty-five armed guards including Captain Chan Kong, half of them were former soldiers of the Minrozian army and two Eight-Bannermen. The rest of the security team are trained up to military standards. Species-wise, they’re majority humans and the rest are anthromorphic beastmen and elves. A significant portion of the guards are magic-users of varied elemental spells.

The Minrozians on the diplomatic stage believed in self-determination. However, this caused to be at odds with their allies and countries they’ve come to associate with especially those who happened to be technically colonial powers. But little did ambassador Sing Ho and his fellow countrymen in the embassy complex knew, what’s about to come to them is a calm before the storm. What they’re going to expect is about to become unexpected.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Dune Sea Joint Governing and Administration Headquarters

Josh Owards ran his hand through his hair, like he had done a thousand times in the last couple of days. To be honest, at this point he was rather surprised to see that he still had hair left to run his hand through. Considering all the pulling and running he had done in the past couple days, he'd have suspected it all lost by now. A pleasant surprise nonetheless though, considering just how much care he usually put into his long hair.

With a sigh he leaned back and closed his eyes, massagins his closed eyes with his knuckles. It felt nice to just for once not have to look at the newest reports about how everything was going to shit coming in. He was still not sure just how the fuck everything had started but at this point it was pretty clear to him that this situation could only escalate even further. The question was...how quickly? And if he would be able to ensure that as few people as possible would come to harm. There were still foreign civilians as well as envoys in the area, especcially here in Dusty Springs. If any harm would befall them...the international complications would be immense and something he, as Frontier Head Administrator of the Dune Sea region did not feel like dealing with that at all.

As he sat there, alone with his grim thoughts and eyes closed, tilting his chair backwards and relaxing his back, someone suddenly slammed the door to his office aside, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with his chair.

"Ouch! Fuck!"

He did not like being ripped out of his state of comfortability like this but he could already guess who had barged in this uninvited. It had to be General-Major Elena Michitshina of the Tundran Territories. He had a feeling that she didn't particularly like him, considering just how often she was making his life miserable. Currently she was chiefly acting as the bringer of new bad news.

While Josh slowly got up again, his bones aching from the fall, she just stared at him with that same disinterested look she always put up. Or was there the slightest twitch in the corner of her mouth indicating a smirk? He couldn't tell and he honestly didn't want to know. So he just dusted himself off, placed his chair back onto its feet and sat down, trying to put up the usual professional air as he adressed her:

"Brigade-Major Michitshina, what a pleasure to see you. I assume you bring news about the situation outside?"

She didn't salute and instead just rolled her eyes at him before answering:

"Yes, I do bring news. Situation is dire. Riots are continuing and escalating. We received first reports about usage of explosives against police formations. No firearms yet though. Several important installations are under siege and not sure how much longer Dunepeople will be content with sitting outside gates and chanting slogans."

Explosives. So it had escalated a little bit more again. To be honest, he was surprised to see that they'd go for explosives before guns. Still, this didn't bode well and probably meant that they'd have to deploy the army to get a hold of the situation.

"Damn! How the hell are we supposed to get our guys out then?!? Going over the ground seems like an unlikely option now and our airborne forces are already operating at full capacity, trying to evac whatever civilians we can get a hold off. On the topic of that, have the helicopters been dispatched to the Minrozian and Froxian embassies yet? I've just recently got another inquiry from the Froxians why the hell their promised evac hasn't appeared yet!"

The Tundran just shrugged, saying:

"I'll deploy my troops. Clean up the mess in the streets and get our people out."

Josh' jaw dropped at that, though he quickly got a hold of himself again, ranting:

"Are you insane!?! Do you want to escalate this on purpose? These are civilians damnit!"

Elena turned around, her light blonde hair fluttering through the air as she did so and for the first time in his life, Josh thought that he could see something like emotion in her face as she said:

"Maybe you want to abandon everyone to their fate, but I will not let men under my command get starved or torn apart by these terrorists. Situation is already out of control, only a matter of time untill force of arms will be used by one side. I say it be us so can save our people and get out of here as quickly as possible before this drags out."

She turned around again and left his office, not sparing him even another look. Josh was relieved that she was finally gone...but while he was happy to not have to argue with her anymore, her words were troubling both for his mind and his heart. He knew that at the core, she spoke the truth. They simply didn't have enough airborne assets in this region to evacuate everyone that way. Some would have to either pray for the mercy of the Al-Hamdu Ila...or get saved on the ground by them tearing apart the rioters, igniting that spark of hatred into the full flame of civil war. He knew it was probably necessary unless he wanted to sacrifice those brave men and women out there...but to just gun down civilian protesters? It didn't feel right...and it would villify them in the eyes of the international community.

He stared at a map of the world, pinned to the wall to his side. He looked over the Dune Sea and wondered...how did this all go so wrong all out of a sudden? They had permitted the protests and things had been peaceful for nearly five days. And then, suddenly, an absolute explosion of anger and violence and now they were standing on the brink of a war here. He knew they wouldn't fight for the region, the Tundran and Frontier government having already planned to release the region into independence for a long time now. But they had hoped to leave behind a stable government, aligned with the Alliance of Nations...now the prospects of that were equal to 0.

His eyes drifted upwards, to the north, where a great blue blob dominated much of the continent. Exilvania. The ruthless dictatorship had been quiet for nearly half a century now...which was not a good sign, considering that it was still nowhere near to being a friendly power. They were up to something he guessed. Only recently they had started to meddle in the affairs of the world again, what with that annexation of the small and backwards country of Yeuzuishan. The Alliance of Nations would've acted and declared war on the Xers...if they hadn't acted together with the Nachfolgians, another volatile nation. A war against both of these, even with the might of the combined Alliance of Nations...victory would've been sure...but neither swift nor without a hefty price. Were these riots perhaps also their doing? It was a widely known fact that the Xers used to support the Al-Hamdu...and a well based rumour that they were continuing to do so. A Dune Sea, aligned with the Alliance of Nations, wether as an occupied region or a sovereign state, was not within their interests.

It was only a theory but it made an awful lot of sense.

[Nachfolgia]

Froxian Embassy, Dusty Springs, Dune Sea

After some time, Team 1 of the Weiss Augen had made it to their target, the Froxian Embassy. The walk through the city streets had gone by uneventful, the Nachfolgians being virtually undetected or bothered by the locals. Part of the team had broken off a few blocks away and went to their assigned locations in preparation for the extraction, leaving four as the main strike team.


As they arrived at the embassy, the remainder of the team noticed a large crowd of locals at the front gate. The Nachfolgians were expecting riots at the locations and we're undeterred as they moved forward, still under the illusion casted by their witch. They moved through the crowd at the front, using them for cover as well, until they had a clear sight on the gate guards. The Nachfolgians watched for a few moments amongst the crowd, studying the gate guards movements as well as to kill time for the others to get into position.


Once the time to strike was at hand, two of the Nachfolgians nudged some of the locals to get their attention. Once the attention was achieved, the Nachfolgians produced three 9 mm pistols and two Scorpion SMGs. While no words were exchanged, the intent was clear. " When the time comes, use it." The Nachfolgians were not expecting much from the backwoods locals of the shit hole that was the Dune Sea, they would serve their purpose no matter how many of them got slaughtered.

With the locals primed for their part in this raid, the Nachfolgians turned their attention back to the Froxian guards. The guards, for the most part, seemed like the regular, run of the mill soldier, but their vehicle mounted machine gun was definitely not ordinary. The fact that the enemy had a minigun covering the front gate would be troubling for any assault force that was attacking head on. Luckily for the Nachfolgians, they had time to prepare for the mission at hand and had remained undetected. The minigun would not be a problem for long.

In one of the buildings across the street over looking the embassy and front gate, two of the Nachfolgians made their way up the floors to their chosen spot. The pair's adaptive camouflage made them virtually invisible through the dimly lit hallways, showing only wavy air similar to the air over hot concrete. They remained like this for the entire trek through the building.

Once they reached the roof, the duo snipers took up their positions overlooking the embassy. Peering through the scope of his rifle, one sniper had his sights on the guard on the minigun. Keeping steady on target, he radioed to his superior.

" In position. I've got the machine gunner." He whispered in the built in comms in his helmet.

" Roger that. Fire on my mark..." The team leader responded as he and the others took aim at each individual gate guard, still under the guise of the illusion.

"...3...2...1...mark." On the signal, five suppressed shots were fired and hit their target. With the guards neutralized, the ground assault team moved through the gate along with the locals. Whether the locals grabbed the Froxian weapons and manned the minigun was up to them, the Nachfolgians moved towards the embassy, with the two snipers providing overwatch.

Minrozian Embassy, Dusty Springs, Dune Sea.


Deep in the Minrozian embassy, one particular server room became the entry point of the Weiss Augen attacking the building. Located in the basement, the server room was isolated from most of the embassy and secluded, only a few technicians come in and out of their. Not only did the server room house the storage data for the Minrozians, it also housed the breaker box for the building. Usually, only a key card allowed access to the room, but the Nachfolgians had a few tricks.

In a dark corner of the server room, the shadows began to darken and solidify as magic twisted its normal physicality into something else. Through the magic imbued shadow, two Nachfolgians silently manifested. The two quickly scanned the entire room, making sure there was no Minrozians there. Once secured, they radioed to the commander that the room was clear of hostiles. A few moments later, the rest of the team manifested through the shadow portal.

Once everyone had rallied in the server room, the commander glanced to one of the soldiers as well as the shadow witch and gave them a quick nod for them to do their jobs. The soldier im question, walked over to the breaker box and opened it before pulling out a rectangular device and attacked it to the breakers. As he did this, the shadow witch created three shadow portals on the walls and floor.

Once the two were ready and gave their nod, the commander replied with a nod in turn. The soldier by the breaker box activated the device and shorted out the breakers, cutting power to the building. Every and hallway in the embassy went dark in an instant. At the same time, the Nachfolgians split into three parts and went through the portals.

Each of the portals led to a different part of the embassy where the Nachfolgians would start their assault. One team manifested in the first floor bathroom, another in a small part of the security office, and another in a closet down the hall from the ambassador's office. Without warning, the Nachfolgians opened fire with suppressed weapons. They targeted anyone that they saw, secretaries, janitors, any and all Minrozians no matter their species. In this assault, complete slaughter was the standing orders.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Aljeshka Power Plant

"Cigarette comrade Betkov?"

A Tundran Guard said to another, offering his comrade an open pack so he could take one out. The other Guard, apparently named Betkov, looked at the pack for a moment before shrugging and taking one of the cigarettes out, leaning close to his buddy so he could light his cigarette...and his own as well while at it. Then they both brought some space between their heads again and inhaled before softly exhaling the smoke again. Betkov looked at the glimming cigarette in his hand before saying:

"I thought cigarettes were out by this point, comrade Sukushkin?"

Sukushkin just shrugged saying:

"You know me, I hoard for special occasions."

Betkov looked over the safety railings of the roof they were standing on, watching the crowd gathered outside of the barbed wire and concrete fence. Despite the darkness, he could still see the protesters rather clearly, given that a dark crowd inbetween lightly painted houses was always easily visible. Especcially so when some of them were keeping themselves warm with fires inbetween while others were waving around flares. It was cold out here now that it was night. Desert weather really. Unbearable during the day and making a Tundran feel right at home during the night. Both the cold and the long time they had already spent here had calmed down the protesters down there. They weren't chanting or rioting quite as much anymore as they used to.

Or so he had thought.

His eyes widened in shock as he realized that some of those flares where in places they definitely weren't supposed to be in. Behind the fence. Behind the gate. He didn't know how but using the cover of darkness as well as the attrittion the attentiveness of the Tundran Guards had suffered, the damned protestors had somehow gotten past the gate and into the powerplant. Turning the safety off on his Kasparov KA-117, Betkov hushed at Sukushkin:

"Shit! We have problem Sukushkin. Bandits in restricted area. Can you contact Leytenánt Borislaw? He needs to know."

As Betkov went down and aimed his rifle at the gate where he could now clearly see more people pouring through, Sukushkin took a hold of the radio strapped to his belt and started contacting the Lieutenant in command of the platoon holding the powerplant. What the hell had happened to the guards down at ground level though? I mean, they had had those at the gate? There was no way the protestors could've taken them out! Unless...they were armed and trained with ranged weapons...silencers too. It dawned upon Betkov that he was in fact dealing with a well organised attack by dangerous personnel hiding among the rioters. The next moment Sukushkin went down right next to Betkov, levelling his own KA-117 at the breach.

"We have orders to open fire."

Betkov stared at his comrade a little dumbstruck before suddenly pushing his rifle aside, screwing up his aim and preventing him from opening fire on the crowds. Betkov knew very well that whoever was down there did not know any hesitation when it came to killing them, evident by the silent elimination of the gate guards...but opening up on the civilians still felt wrong and so he hissed:

"Is Leytenánt Borislaw crazy? We can not just fire at non-combattants!"

Sukushkin hissed back angrily as well, struggling to get his rifle back on target while Betkov kept holding it away from the crowd:

"You think I didn't say the same thing to him? But Leytenánt Borislaw is adamant about it! This facility supplies power to more than half of city and must not fall into enemy hands under any circumstances before evacuation has finished! And if enemy hides among people, people who very willing to kill us and damage this plant, then we have to shoot!"

As if further invalidate Betkov's resistance, the sound of gunfire was suddenly heard. By the sound of it, someone was spraying full auto with a KA-117 somewhere inside the plant. And more started opening up. From other roofs, KA-117s were firing, their muzzle flashes illuminating the roofs. Down below a lot of screaming ensued as the people were being gunned down...but soon enough the fire was returned to the Tundrans, bullets whizzing past them. Inside the plant, the fighting had also picked up by the sounds of it, easily noticeable by the sound of additional guns going off and the occasional grenade exploding. Betkov and Sukushkin also joined into the merry firefight at this point.

But it appeared that it was all in vain. Not long after the start of the fighting, several explosions rocket the compound and their positions.

"Blyat, did they seriously do it?"

, Betkov shouted while throwing away an emptied magazine and reloading a new one. Sukushkin went up onto his knees and looked around over the city, confirming Betkov's worst fears:

"Yes comrade Betkov, they did. Lights are going out. Suppose that make-"

Sukushkin would never finish the sentence. Betkov would've already told him to get down if he hadn't been too focused on the lights going out in the nearby buildings. And now Sukushkin had paid with his life as an Al-Hamdu sniper no doubt took his brain and his life straight with it. And with that his friend fell forward, against the safety railing, along which he slid down and then through, sliding off the building. Betkov didn't pay the body of his friend any further attention, considering that he was one of the last to still be fighting up here and as such was receiving a hail of bullets keeping him down and in cover.

Dusty Springs, Froxian Embassy

Shortly before the Weiss Augen decided to take care of the gate guards, a commotion suddenly came into the civilian rioters around them. Whispered words, fear, anger, hatred flared up. The guide that had led the Weiss Augen, after having consulted with several locals, headed over to the team leader of the Weiss Augen, lightly tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. The man then spoke in good english, informing the team leader about changes in the overall situation:

"The Occupiers have decided to show their true faces. Mechanized Units of the Tundran Territories have opened fire on the protestors around their secured zones and are attempting to force their way towards isolated pockets like this one with lethal force. Our people will attempt to stall them but the rioters aren't organised well enough or even armed to hold them back for long. I suggest hurrying along with whatever plan you have hatched."

The guide then checked his wristwatch, mumbling something about it should have happened by now.

When the Nachfolgians attempted to give out guns, their guide immediately went inbetween them and the random locals they had chosen, talking a few words with the locals who ended up bowing before the guide and praising him before vanishing into the crowd, clearly not showing any more interest in the weapons. The guide then turned back to the Weiss Augen, giving them a cold glance as he said:

"If you have a guide, atleast use him. There are differences between the people here. Between those good enough to wield a weapon and those on whom it would be little more than a waste."

He then called out something and a few people, all men who appeared to be in conscription age and with a fire burning in their eyes, came through the crowd and took the weapons from the Nachfolgians, quickly examining them for their functions before bowing before the Weiss Augen and disappearing into the crowd again, blending in so perfectly that even the Weiss Augen would have a hard time finding them again. Especcially now that movement came into the mob and the people started putting more pressure onto the Froxians.

When the guards went down, the crowd became a lot more excited, both visibly and audibly and soon after every Froxian was dead for sure, the crowd opened the gate and streamed into the embassy garden, some of the first who got to the corpses of the Froxians grabbing whatever they could from them. Practically every piece of military hardware that could be reused was looted from their bodies. And after that they were being kicked and beaten by the crowd who would not grant the dead rest, even in death. A couple of young people, guided by an aged man with some heavy scars on his face, no doubt the results of surviving a fragmentation grenade despite getting hit, went about detaching the minigun and bringing it away from this place, the crowd not paying them any further mind as people started filing into the garden, spreading out across the embassy compound.

The armed Al-Hamdu agitators among the crowd took point together with the other armed volunteers who had grabbed the Froxians' weapons. They weren't just bringing the things they had gotten from the Nachfolgians though. It was clear that the Al-Hamdu had been lying in wait to storm the embassy themselves, no doubt to take hostages to bargain for their own independence as they desired it. Reliable Kasparov KA-57 rifles made up the bulk of the roughly two squads worth of Al-Hamdu agitators that were spreading out behind the Weiss Augen...and behind them came the mob with burning tires, stones and sticks.

And then the lights all around them went out. If any of the Weiss Augen was still around the guide, they'd hear him mumble: "Finally." The sound of explosions reached the protestors shortly after the power went out and everything got blanketed in darkness that wasn't illuminated by the flares and fires of the protestors. The embassy too would temporary lose power, though it would come back on soon after. The Tundran and Frontier authorities always made sure to provide embassies with an auxiliary generator in case of emergencies...not to mention that perhaps the Froxians had brought something of their own to power the embassy.

Dusty Springs, Dune Sea

The protestors outside were starting to become a lot more agitated. The source of which some of the Minrozian guards could probably even hear. The distant sound of gunfire echoing through the night. No wonder the crowd was getting wilder, the slogans more hateful and the arguments more solid as they started flying over the walls and people started actively attempting to push the gate down.

And then the power went out. For most of the street permanently. For the embassy just briefly before it would run on auxiliary power.

[Monfrox]

The front gate had been relatively well-manned for the most part. The guards weren't pushovers, but they weren't SF type. Still, you can only train yourself against so much. Part of philosophy of the Froxians was that if your time was up, it was up. And no one could help you. For the squad in front, there time had come. The driver sitting in the front was studying the mess of a situation had little time to react to the front two being dropped. She couldn't believe it for a second, but then the soldier to her right was dropped and she heard the turret gunner fall into the back. Training kicked in. She grabbed the radio and clicked the PTT button.

"Sergeant Rotaru, Sergeant Rotaru! Co-"

The windshield shattered and her body went limp. The radio receiver fell into her lap as she slumped over.

"Front gate, what's going on?" Rotaru called over her radio. A few seconds passed. "Front gate, anyone there?" Nothing. "Private Sileenka, go see what's happening."

"Roger, bosslady."

On top of front gate guards, Froxians had employed regular perimeter patrols recently due to the escalating situation. Sileenka came around to look and saw all hell breaking loose.

"Oh fuck." She ducked back behind the wall before she was sure anyone could spot her. "Sergeant, come in!"

"I read you, what's going on?"

"Front gate checkpoint is down, I say again. Front checkpoint is down! We got locals clawing to get in!"

Rotaru cursed to herself before she found Cecylia standing behind her.

"Ah- ma'am! Shouldn't you be-"

"What's happening, Sergeant?"

"Shit's hitting the fan, we need to move you now."

"Roger, I'll go with the tertiary extract."

"But ma-"

"Sergeant, listen to me: You do everything in your power to get your troops out of here. No one gets left behind, understand? We will not be returning to this country. So anything you do here will be consequence free. Rules of engagement do not apply. Do whatever it takes to get out."

Rotaru only nodded before she set off for the parking garage, putting her radio on.

"Listen up everyone, secondary extract is a go. All soldiers mount up into your vehicles. Private Sileenka, hang tight outside and we'll pick you up. Forward element, prepare dispersion tactics. Don't be stingy with what you got."

She got to the parking garage and watched her contingent board the vehicles. Two Humvees, a Deuce and a half, and a KTO Rosomak. Two troops were standing in front of the beast, which had been equipped with a .50 cal turret and smoke launchers. The armor could withstand HEAT with the Q-Net slat armor, as well as high-caliber armor-penetrating small arms. It was for...well, situations like this. The locals had backed the Froxians into a corner and forced their hand, and now they were about to understand what happens in response. The word SIEGEBREAKER was scrawled on the front of the APC.

"Why did you let Sileenka write that on the thing?"

"Seemed funny at the time."

"What about now?"

"Has its moments."

Rotaru looked around.

"Mount up, ladies! We're getting out of here. Engage on sight. These locals have already killed the front gate squad, and they will not hesitate to kill you!" Rotaru announced as she got into the lead Humvee's commander seat. "Sileenka, I want you to help bring the bodies into the deuce and a half when we get out there. We're gonna bring them home, alright?"

"Yes, Sergeant."

The door to the parking garage that had once held many vehicles of different embassy staff was now barren except for the extraction contingent. The doors opened to a loud crowd before suddenly the entire building's power had cut off. The emergency lighting bathed the soldiers and their vehicles in an eerie red glow. The front two Humvees had MG3s on the tops. The troops were wearing gas masks and carrying grenade launchers with CS canisters loaded. They even loaded a few into the smoke launcher of the APC.

The engines started up and the headlights soon came on, illuminating a large number of very angry people. One guy shot towards the contingent and was replied with the very angry sound of a Rheinmetall GPMG shredding through the crowd. Grenade launchers fired off CS rounds into the rest of the group. Sileenka saw some guy on the empty Humvee's minigun and, being the Y factor of this whole situation, popped him in the back a few times before crouching and watching the others. She kept her cool and looked out beyond the gate. How in the hell did they take down the front gate squad without her hearing the shots?

[Minroz]

By the time the Nachfolgians did the deed, the Minrozian security were caught off-guard and the civilian staffs were panicked by the power outage as well as quick-deaths of their colleagues. Some defenceless ones tried to hide behind cover while the guards tried retaliating with counter-fire of their own. Needless to say, everyone is surprised. Captain Chan Kong can hear their surprises of his men on his communication ear-piece.

“Oi, what’s going on!? Why’s the power is off?” One security guard gripped.

“Go check the servers!” Another said.

“But the servers are off!” The third guard replied.

“Aiya, can somebody send the technician to check it out?”

“This is Security Room! Shooters have broken into-URK!”

“We’re under attack by some unknown forces! Send reinforcements!”

Screams and groans of deaths have filled the air in the Minrozian embassy, captain Chan Kong had come to realization that they’re under attack from some insidious interlopers, out to get the Minrozians for dishonourable reasons.

He already knew that the power is off the moment the electronic amenities went offline. The bad news is the automated defence systems of the embassy are offline to support the security staff in fending off any intruders coming inside. Thus, out of question. He suspected that whoever infiltrated the compound are highly-trained and ruthless killers, daring enough to take on the military-trained security of the embassy complex. There’s goes one big advantage in embassy defences.

Without hesitation, Chan Kong prepares his pistol and nodded to his men in the office to which they followed suit, cocking their pistols and SMGs. Ambassador Sing Ho was dazed, this is the first time he experienced the thrilling drama and he felt he’s too old for such stressful situation. He wanted to curse his old age at this time.

“What’s going on?” said the startled ambassador. He and the others in the office can hear sounds of screaming and gunfire from outside the room.

“We’re under attack, your Excellency. We got some intruders sabotaging our system.” Chan Kong answered, “This way, your Excellency. We need to get you to safety.” The anthromorphic rhino guides Sing Ho under his protection. The security guards began exiting the office to escort the ambassador to safety.

One thing for sure, the Minrozian defenders aren’t going down without a fight. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the chance to learn the intruders invading their compound are Nachfolgians.

[Nachfolgia]

Froxian Embassy, Dusty Springs

The Nachfolgians moved in on their target as the locals rushed the embassy like a swarm of ants. The Todesengel among them discreetly altered the illusion as they moved away from the cover of the crowd, turning them invisible. Two of the Nachfolgians took up positions by the garage door while two took up cover behind the guard shack. From there, the Nachfolgians waiting for the reaction of the Froxians.

They didn't have to wait long before they would get their answer. Just as the lights were cut to the entire city, the garage door opened and a heavily armored Froxian convoy rolled out, fully geared and light on. The Froxians wasted no time in dispersing the crowd with a mix of lethal and no lethal means. As locals were cut down and returned fire, the Nachfolgians silently watched and waited. They knew not to blow their cover just yet.

One Nachfolgian, watching the chaos, noticed that one of the locals on the minigun flinched and fell against the weapon before slumping down into the vehicle. Following where the rounds most likely came from, he spotted a Froxian soldier peaking and firing from around the corner of the embassy.

" We've got a ground target in the courtyard. Take her out. " The Nachfolgians called over the radio to his over watch.

" Target sighted, taking the shot." One of the snipers replied before sending a round into the Froxian's head. The two snipers across the street then held their fire, only taking the shot if the opportunity was present.

While the chaos was unfolding outside, the two Nachfolgians slipped into the garage when the convoy had entirely left the garage. Once inside, they silently crept through the embassy, remaining unseen. The highly trained Nachfolgians made their way to the target, taking out any Froxian they came across in their methodical sweep of the building.


Minrozian Embassy, Dusty Springs.


The Minrozians didn't know what hit them when the Nachfolgians commenced the attack, seemingly on cue with the power outage. With attacks happening in three different parts of the embassy at once, the security detail did not know where to concentrate the counter attack, allowing them to be picked off one by one. To the Minrozians, there seemed to be no method to the violence. They were being slaughtered indiscriminately, whether they were security or civilian. This was nothing short of total war perpetrated by an unknown enemy that saw them as nothing more than sheep.

The Security office, being the primary threat, was quickly dispatched by the Nachfolgians strike team who had appeared out of nowhere. Those of the Minrozian security that did not die outright would see in their final moments, black clad figures in high tech gear...before having a round pass through their head. With the security room secure, the Nachfolgians moved outward through the hallways, gunning down any Minrozian in their path.

Outside the Ambassador's office, one shadow silently manifested in the top corner above the door just as the security team left the office with the ambassador. The witch that had created the shadow portals, popped her face out and watched the Minrozians head down the hall.

" Target sighted, top floor heading east down the hall. Escorted by armed security." The witch called over the radio.

" Roger that. You know what to do." The commander replied before nodding to some of his men. At that moment, several portals opened up in the server room and the Nachfolgians moved into them.

These portals would open up in discreet locations along the Minrozian security team's path as they tried to get the ambassador out. The Nachfolgians that moved through the portals would appear, seemingly out of no where and take shots at the Minrozian security, either downing one or forcing them to take another path to safety, before disappearing all over again. The Minrozians and the ambassador would be harassed the entire route to their evacuation point, the security dwindling at every turn.

[Minroz]

Minrozian Embassy, Dusty Springs

Most of everyone who Captain Chan Kong knew on the personal level in the embassy complex is dead as he noted the fresh Minrozian corpses on his way through the corridor. Then next the enemy surprise attack and then his men dropped down like flies. He felt bile of sorrow and rage growing into him. But his duties to protecting the ambassador takes precedence over his personal feelings, he has an ambassador to protect. He understands there’ll be casualties on his countrymen’s side but not a massacre like this. The anthromorphic rhino wanted to curses the honourless interlopers who infiltrated the compound. But this isn’t time for revenge, he need to act.

“Form up! We’re going to the different way! To the left!” Chan Kong ordered as he tries to returned fire with his handgun.

“Yes sir!” The surviving security guards responded. Despite their fiery determination to protect the ambassador and returned fire with weapons of their own, it sadly did made little impact.

Ambassador Sing Ho was beginning to get more anxious by the chaos around him. He did not imagine himself to be in the centre of the firefights until now. He made a quick silent prayer to the heavens that the chaos will be over soon. At one hand, he’s wondering about the fates of the others, the embassy staff.

“What happened to the others?” Sing Ho asked his beastman bodyguard in regards to the rest of the embassy staff. He got his quick answer.

“Your safety is our top priority, your excellency! We have to hurry!” Chan Kong replied gravely. Hearing it, Sing Ho doesn’t need to be psychologist to know that it’s unlikely the Minrozian embassy staff survived the encounter. Reluctantly nodding his head in understanding, the ambassador felt guilty for feeling as if he has abandoned everyone to their fates despite how obvious that pretty much the folks in the embassy compound were probably dead by now.

Meanwhile, the more magic-adept of the guards are quick to conjure up magical barriers to protect the whole ambassadorial escort. However Captain Chan Kong himself is not sure how long the barriers will hold but he’s damn sure to bring the ambassador to safety. On other hand, what he’s about to is a last resort as protocol dictated.

“I’ve activated our distress signal. If anything happens to us, Zhongyang needs to know what happens! Escort the ambassador to panic room!” The rhino shouted.

The magical signal has been finally sent to the Middle Kingdom. If the imperial government in Zhongyang caught wind of the distress signal, reinforcements is coming. The reinforcements are going to appear in few minutes time. Minrozian diplomatic contingencies dictates in the event of extreme situation in cases of embassy being overrun by hostile forces, Minrozian Spec-ops will appeared through magic teleportation at various points of the complex to provide quick reinforcements for the embassy defenders and to assist evacuations. Chan Kong and the ambassador prayed to the heavens that reinforcements from homeland will arrived in time to repel the intruders.

[Monfrox]

The convoy had pulled out and troops began engaging the remaining civilian hostiles with small arms fire from the windows and also from the turrets. Well, it didn't take long before anyone who wasn't up for a fight was either dead or gone. Rotaru hopped out and noticed the desecrated bodies of her former friends, and noticed someone was missing. She walked on past the convoy as the CS gas canisters were launched. She and her team had already donned their gas masks in preparation beforehand. Muffled screaming caught her attention. She saw Sileenka with her hands over her face and ran over to her. Poor girl got a bullet right through her eye and out the side.

"You'll live, Sileenka!" She said to her as she took the girl's helmet on and quickly put the gas mask over her face. "I need you right now, though. Let's go, come on!"

Sileenka hobbled up to her feet as blood poured from the side of her face, but she took up her rifle and only fired until it was out. Together, she and Rotaru piled the bodies of the dead soldiers into the one Humvee and put her in the driver's seat.

"Stay behind the APC!" She ordered.

Sileenka only gritted her teeth under her mask as the 30mm from the Rosomak started singing.

"What've you got, Sarge?" She radioed.

"Locals high up. Took out one of the gunners with a precision shot. Saw them on thermals and gave 'em a good helping of 30 Mike Mike, over."

"Roger that, let's get the fuck out of here."

The convoy rolled on with Humvees leading the way and bringing up the rear, and with Sileenka keeping in the middle between the truck and APC. The idea was to get to the airport as soon as possible to avoid getting caught up in any ambushes. Speed was key but they couldn't go too fast with the APC in tow. One thing was for sure: Rotaru could not wait to get out of this shit country.

Inside, the embassy was practically spotless. Rooms only had left over furniture after everything had been burned, wiped, or destroyed that couldn't go back home. The last of the security team had already exfiltrated, and Cecylia had forgone the panic room in favor of the old-fashioned method of evasion: the sewers. She specifically requested a maintenance access way to the sewer system tunnels. The smell was awful, but it would keep them safe for now. Ms. Wodarska was leading the way with an HK MP7A1 and a plate carrier over her maid uniform. The hope was that by the time the locals had gotten in and made a mess, they'd be long gone before they realized the escape.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Minrozian Embassy

As the situation inside the embassy deteriorated, so too did it outside. Due to the usage of lethal force by the Tundran Authorities against protestors in other parts of the city, the masses had become...aggravated to say the least. Aggravated enough to part like the sea before Moses for heavy truck that was going full speed for the embassy's gate, crashing through it with ease and continuing further down the Minrozian garden untill it was eventually stopped by Minrozian resistance or the walls of the embassy itself. But that was not the end of the attack as the thing had been steered by an Al Hamdu fanatic who, despite the wounds received from enemy fire or just the crash, still managed to trigger the explosives of his suicide vest.

The explosion caused very little structural damage. Explosions worked best in enclosed spaces, where the force they created could not escape in any other direction. And while yes, the truck's cabin was an enclosed space, the square before the embassy really wasn't so the explosion was relatively harmless safe for completely destroying the truck and creating a shockwave that'd throw most people still in the garden on their backs while metal fragments from the truck whizzed past them and caused casualties among the civilian crowds outside.

Most importantly though, the gate was now down, giving the angry masses an entryway onto the embassy grounds. And they used it fully, masses of mostly unarmed protestors Streaming in through the gate, cursing and insulting whatever Minrozian they saw and trying to throw rotten vegetables, stones, sticks, molotovs and whatnot at them. Mixed under these were also agents of the Al Hamdu...and they were armed and using the crowds to hide and as meatshields from which they'd occasionally fire on the Minrozians.

Dusty Springs, Froxian Embassy, Surface

The accurate and deadly Froxian fire caused heavy casualties among the civilians who quickly retreated through the way they had entered, leaving behind piles of bodies as well as a few wounded crying for help. They had been left behind by the scared Dunepeople who feared for their lives after the Froxians' ruthless display of force. They didn't fully give up on them of course. At the edges of the tear gas, difficult to see with just the eye, Dunepeople stood, having pulled up their scarfs and veils to protect their faces. They seemed unsure about wether to go into the teargas or not. Perhaps because they didn't believe themselves protected enough or because they feared the Froxians on the other side of the gas. Point was, they did not inhibit the Froxians as they pulled out their dead, nor did they come to help their own.

Now, the Froxians did have a valuable asset on their side. They had the surprise and the iniative on their side. The Al-Hamdu and Al-Hamdu Ila elements present had not known what exactly the Froxians had inside their embassy and had been generally content with playing the siege game. As such the sudden presence of an entire convoy of armoured HMMWVs and an APC were quite a surprise to the unprepared Dune Sea elements outside the embassy, who could do little but jump aside as the convoy rolled out of the tear gas clouds and into the crowds. They parted quickly, having realized that using themselves as barrier would not work quite that well after what the Froxians had done to them in the garden of their embassy.

Still, news of the Froxians' breakout spread quickly and it would not be long untill the convoy would run into a roadblock. It appeared that said roadblock had been set up to block passage from the other side though, as civilians were busy hauling czech hedgehogs from one side of the barricade erected from trash and abandoned cars onto the other. Alarmed yells quickly sounded through the air shortly after the Froxians had come into sight and the civilians dropped the antique looking hedgehogs, most likely remains from the last war, where they were and started hiding themselves away behind the barricade or in the houses on either side.

Now, the barricade itself looked rather shoddy. Any clearing effort would most likely open the way for the Froxians again. But the few czech hedgehogs strewn about on both sides and the barricade itself made things a bit more difficult. And even ignoring those and just taking the barricade itself, ramming was inadvisable. It was still a decent obstacle in the way of the Froxians that would require a dedicated effort to get rid off quickly. Of course there was also the option to find another way...but the Al-Hamdu knew the area better and if they had set up a roadblock here already, then they were no doubt doing the same along all other lanes of escape. This one was the quickest one and trying to get to one of the others now would just give the Al-Hamdu more time to dig in and fortify their roadblocks.

Dusty Springs, Froxian Embassy, Sewers

Ms. Wodarska, being the one in the lead of the group, would doubtlessly be the first to hear the sound of voices from ahead. They were clearly speaking in the local Dunisian language and not making any effort to keep the volume down, doubtlessly thinking that they were alone down here and nobody on the surface would hear them over the noise of the protests and the fighting. If one among the Froxians could speak or atleast understand the local language, she'd understand part of what the men down here were saying, though not all as they were using a difficult to understand dialect.

"How much longer to where we be placing explosives?"

"Foreigner embassy ahead. Not long now. Will make nice explosion and send this filth into furthest hell."

"I no feel like using Al-Hamdu Ila to trap foreigners in big house good idea. They our people too. Many die for this day."

"Why we do this! So that dead die not in vain. Take care of foreigner filth in one go. Al Dundus for Dune People!"

Regardless of wether or not they understood what the men in the sewers were saying, the sounds of their voices and their boots in the dark as well as the light of a few flashlights cutting through the darkness in front of the group of Froxians meant that a Group of between 5 and 10 locals were coming their way from another path that crossed theirs. If they understood what the men said they also knew that these were the well known Terrorist/Freedom Fighter group in the Dune Sea and that they definitely had explosives with them, enough to blow or atleast seriously damage the Froxian embassy by the Al-Hamdu's calculations. And someone who had explosives most likely also had weapons. Time to react was short as the terrorists approached the crossing where they would most likely turn to head towards the embassy, a path on which they'd doubtlessly meet the Froxians.

[Nachfolgia]

Froxian Embassy, Dusty Springs

The Nachfolgian sniper scoffed in amusement as the Froxian woman dropped to the ground from the shot and began to scream in pain. Luckily, or unluckily, the Froxian survived the sniper round, having skimmed across her eye, blinding her. The Nachfolgian aimed his sight on the woman again, intending to finish her off, when one of her comrades came to her rescue. The Nachfolgian was about to down the foolish rescuer as well when the other Sniper shoved him out of the way as all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, the snipers' position was bombarded by auto cannon fire from the Froxian armored convoy. The Nachfolgian kicked himself across the floor frantically as dust and debris kicked up around him, the rounds whizzing past him by inches. When the enemy fire died down, the sniper, while still prone, looked around through the heavy dust. Using the inferred on his helmet, he spotted his fellow Nachfolgian's heat signature. The man was lying race first on the dusty floor, his body ripped apart by the Froxian auto cannon fire. Blood was splattered across the room and on of his arms laid a couple feet from him.

"[ Sir, we've got a casualty. Scholtz is down, I repeat, Scholtz is down.]" The surviving sniper called out over the internal radio.

The team leader, who witnessed the entire exchange from his position, responded. "[ Destroy his body. Remember, no evidence.]" The team leader then returned his attention to the chaos in the courtyard.

The locals had retreated amongst the heavy casualties and CS gas, exactly as the Nachfolgians thought would happen. The locals were merely a distraction and cover for them. The Weissaugen themselves stayed in position, taking cover behind the guard house and under illusion as well as the still warm bodies of the slain locals.

When it seemed apparent that the Froxians were leaving with their wounded, the Nachfolgian team leader pulled out a hand gun. The gun itself seemed like a high tech version of a flare gun with a large cylinder barrel and a standard pistol grip. It had a singular black color and front and rear glow sights. As the convoy left, the team leader peered out from around the corner and aimed at the last truck in the convoy and fired the strange handgun. A small cylindrical device shot out from the gun and attached itself to the back bumper of the last armored vehicle as it peeled away.

With the primary threat gone, the Nachfolgians outside in the embassy courtyard now had to contend with locals that would soon flood the bow empty embassy. The team leader quickly gave a silent command to enter the embassy before the locals returned. The four man team quickly moved in tactical formation towards a busted out window. Once there, each one climbed through the window as the others provided cover until it was their turn to climb through. When the Nachfolgians were safely inside, they formed up and conducted a sweep of the building searching and eliminating any foreign resistance.

The two members of Weissaugen that entered the embassy earlier amidst the battle were sweeping through the empty building in search of their target. They swept each room in their path, weapons at the ready to put down any witnesses as per the ROE. When nothing came up of the search, they were about to head to the second floor when they came across an opened maintenance door.

The two slowly crept up to the door and looked through it with weapons at the ready. From down the stairs and into the darkness, they could hear the echos of footsteps that gradually faded as the steps moved away from them.

"[ Sir, we've got the possible target heading down into the sewers.]" One of the Weissaugen said over the comms, keeping his weapon trained on the stairwell.

"[ Pursue and secure the target. We'll sweep the rest of the building and deal with the locals before heading to the rendezvous.]" The team lead replied as his team barracaded and booby trapped the front entrance.

"[ Yessir.]" The Nachfolgian replied before he and his partner descended into the sewers from the maintenance access.

Minrozian Embassy, Dusty Springs.

The assault on Minrozian Embassy was going exactly as planned for the Nachfolgians who were executing it. Most of the staff and security detail were eliminated, either dead or soon to be dead. The slaughter was relentless and indiscriminate towards the Minrozians. It didn't matter if they had weapons or not. All would die today.

Those that were still alive, whether the ambassador guard detail or the few on the perimeter, now faced even greater odds. The perimeter of the Embassy was now breeched as a suicide bomber detonated a truck, blowing a whole in the wall and killing anyone near it. The force of the explosion rocked the embassy despite being several yards away, shattering most of the windows on that side.

The Weissaugen Commander, who was still down in the server room, felt the explosion from his position and called out over the radio. "[ Status report. What was that?]"

The voice of one of his men responded. "[ Sir, VBIED detonated on the exterior wall. Locals and Al Hamdu are pouring into the courtyard.]"

"[ Do not let them interfere. Kill the subhumans if you must.]" The Commander replied calmly, as if he was unconcerned by the unforseen variable.

The Nachfolgian soldier responded as more gun fire erupted through the embassy and the perimeter. The rest of the Weissaugen continued to pursue and harass the Minrozian detail that protected the ambassador. Each hallway and corridor would suddenly erupt in a brief firefight that turned the Minrozians the other way in an effort to shield the ambassador.

Even the added shields by Minrozian mages did little more than delay the date that waited them all; death. Each Minrozian in the entire embassy will eventually meet their brothers and sisters in whatever afterlife awaited them. The Minrozian security's duty to protect their charge in this massacre clouded their reasoning, unaware that they were being led to where the Nachfolgians wanted them.

[Minroz]

Minrozian Embassy, Dusty Springs

The Minrozian security has been dwindling as few minutes passed. The pressure is mounting, thanks to elusive nature of the Nachfolgians. It didn’t helped when they hear loud explosions happening outside the building, followed by screams of protestors swarming in and occasional gunfire from Al-Hamdu operatives.

“Tch! Is this the end of us?” Chan Kong wanted to curse his attackers for their dishonourable conducts.

An unexpected call has hailed in his communication ear-piece.

“Hang on, Captain Chan. Help has arrived.”

It is the reinforcements from homeland, they are the help who have arrived at the Minrozian embassy complex. They are Special-forces teams of the Guoanbu immediately deployed in response to the distress signal from the embassy under siege, fifty-strong, all armed with latest weapons and equipment the Middle Kingdom could offer. They aren’t just any special-forces unit; these are highly-trained, professional and deadly warriors, be they muggles or mages alike. They are the very finest of Guoanbu special-forces – the Snow Wolf Commando Unit. And they’ve arrived in the form of teleportation by magical means, appearing at various points of the embassy building. Four teams at the compound and one at the rooftops. But they’re not alone. Accompanying the Snow Wolves appears to be five squads of identical schoolgirls, donned with sensor-goggles and armed with bullpup rifles resembling like FN2000. They also carried gears like every special-forces units. They are numbered in fours per squads, making it altogether to be sixteen in strength. Despite their looks, the Nachfolgians and the protestors will soon realize that these schoolgirls aren’t really what they seemed to be.

The numbers of Minrozian reinforcements altogether are sixty-six. Now, their tasks are to relieve the defenders, rescue Minrozian personnel from their attackers and assists in embassy evacuation if they could find any survivors. Their deployment will possibly help tip the balance of the situation but the Dune Sea people breaking into the compound didn’t really helped it. Still, the reinforcements didn’t seem to be daunted by their odds.

Heading the Snow wolves and the identical ‘schoolgirls’ is Captain Jiang Gu, a muscled, tan man who happened to be the leader of Snow Wolves team, radioed the embassy security head.

“Captain Chan, get the ambassador into the panic room. We’ll rendezvous there. I’m going to send in half of my men to your way and rescue the embassy staff. The rest of us will make sure the protestors didn’t storm the embassy and we’ll try to restore power of auto-defenses.”

“Roger that, approaching panic room now. We need your assistance as soon as possible. Over!” The rhino beastman replied.

“Over and out.”

The Snow Wolves now spitted into two groups, one is to rescue hostages and others is assist in defending the embassy from being overrun at the same time restore power of the automatic defences system. By the time, the Snow Wolves and the ‘schoolgirls’ came, they began set up barricades and devices which conjured magic shields to prevent the protestors from breaking in. On other hand, a team of ten Snow Wolves and one squad of ‘schoolgirls’ are now approaching the server room and they’ve brought tools to help restore power for the complex. Meanwhile, the ambassador party are trying their best to avoid being killed by their mysterious interlopers while their Snow wolves’ rescuers are on their way inside the building. The Snow Wolves are not normal Minrozian fighters, they’re among the best of the best of Middle Kingdom’s Special Forces.

[Monfrox]

Under Fire
The convoy would not be deterred. It could not be deterred. Their lives were at stake, and they fought like it. The 30mm gunner made no discrimination in picking targets on their way out while other gunners were still cutting down anyone they saw with a weapon or a bad attitude. Soldiers were firing out from their windows to further discourage instigators. They were hard targets on the move, and that's what kept them alive. That was, until, a roadblock had popped up. Rotaru swore under her breath.

"So they don't care about us leaving and to kill us all instead, eh?" She said before hopping onto the radio. "Roadblock ahead. I want it softened with the 30mm before we make moves to bust through." She then signaled for the driver to slow up.

The lead Humvee pulled up with the gunner still going and let the Rosomak have a clear line of sight and opened up with a volley of high-explosive incendiary rounds, shredding and tearing metal apart and sending it flying. The gunner focused on the lightest spot and moved to one side. After creating a soft area, the driver gunned it and busted up and through the blockade, taking the rest of the convoy with it even as an RPG hit off its side armor. If it wasn't clear already, then perhaps this would show that they did not intend to stop on their way to the international airport.

Meanwhile in the sewers, Ms. Wodarska stopped as she heard voices. Processing the words was difficult since she didn't know enough of the native language, but anyone who was where they were right now had a slim chance of not being a hostile. She had a secret weapon that was the equipment carried on every Froxian soldier for multiple reasons: A signal mirror. She crept up to the corner and angled it around, getting a look at the group coming in. Shadows were hard to pick out, but she swore she saw guns. She didn't have a lot to work with, but there wasn't a lot of options at the moment. So she calculated a strategy, and then executed it. She took the flashbang off her vest, pulled the pin, and chucked it around the corner. As soon as it went off, she grabbed Cecylia's hand and yanked her across the way.

"We have to hurry. This will only buy us so much time."

The plan was to start taking as many turns as possible while heading in a general direction in order to split up the pursuers. They would have to work hard to get to the pair.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Minrozian Embassy

The reinforcements arrived just in time. The combined firepower they brought turned the tide against the protestors within short time, a simple feat as most of them appeared to be unarmed and as such had very limited options of retaliation.

It was a slaughter, plain and simple. The Minrozians barely had to aim in order to produce staggering casualties among the Dunepeople pouring in through the gate. And such a terrifying slaughter provided just the needed results. Within a single magazine, the Al-Hamdu Ila assault had stopped dead in its tracks, turning more into flight as the people realized just how many had fallen. They filed out of the embassy square very quickly, only a few grieving women or crying children remaining, tugging at the clothes of those who had died.

But this was no simple mob. There were people behind it, steering it. People with plenty of experience in asymmetrical warfare. The Al-Hamdu decided to change things around a little. The Minrozian Embassy was the furthest away from the local relief forces so they had some time to try and some things against them. Besides, any foreigner blood spilled in this battle was advantageous to them.

It didn’t take long for the Minrozian team on the roof to come under accurate sniper fire. While the snipers were clearly looking to kill them though, the Minrozians would probably notice quickly that it’s primary goal was to force them to keep their heads down so they couldn’t be on the lookout for new threats, something they could have seen very easily from afar with their position on the roof.

Splitting the masses before it like it like Moses split the sea in the Bible, a new threat approached the embassy. Without having taken care of the snipers which were using houses around the compound to fire at the roof, it’d probably be difficult to notice it early but at some point they would.

Apparently the Al-Hamdu had planned fort he fact that their first suicide attack wouldn’t work out for what was coming now was anything but normal. The Dunepeople shrank back in fear and anticipation, with Al-Hamdu members guiding them away and to safety, quickly making the area around the embassy almost completely empty, except for the bodies of the dead.

What was approaching appeared to be a monstrous version of the truck that had crashed through the gate before. Metal plates had been bolted to ist front to protect it, appearing thick enough to even hold off anti-materiel rifles. Regardless how much the Minrozians looked, there was no gap in the armour which meant that the driver was probably blind too…and yet he managed to pick a path through the streets which meant someone, somewhere with a good view of the area was guiding him. Compared to the truck which had barreled in and exploded before…this one was on an entirely different level. Loudspeakers from its top blasted a traditional Al Dundus death hymn, sung by warriors of old times before they went to war to find certain doom. Then there was the armour. And then there was the sheer size oft he thing. If the Al-Hamdu had filled this one with explosives just as they had the last, then there’d be an explosion easily dwarfing the last one if this wasn’t handled with care. No wonder the place was deserted now. Everyone had run to relative safety.

Given the situation, the Minrozians had few options. They could obviously try and find whoever was directing the truck and silence him but that would most likely just delay the inevitable. They could try to punch through the armour plates, hoping that they could, and kill the driver or the engine. Or they could grit their teeth and do nothing other than watch something approach, which would at the very least cost many of them their ears, if not their lives right with them.

Dusty Springs, Sewers

The flashbang went off and illuminated the sewers with a flash as bright as day, something the Al-Hamdu down there had not expected at all, thinking that they had been alone down here. It sowed chaos and confusion among them, shouts ringing out, a few shots too and yelps of pain, some having most likely hit allies.

„What the…!“

„Enemies! Enemies ahead!“

„Cover, enemy fire!“

„Watch out! Watch out! The bombs-“

Cecylia and Ms. Wodarska had turned the corner just in the nick of time as behind them, an explosion shook the sewers, first a shockwave, then a wave of dirty sewage water and then fire and flame licking through the tunnel they had just crossed. Behind them they cold hear the sound of falling rubble as the sewers caved in where the Al-Hamdu had been. Those would definitely not be a problem anymore.

Still, the premature explosion of the bombs would probably bring more attention to the sewers. They had shaken any first responders to their flight by having them blow themselves up but with that they ensured that there’d be more to look for them.

Dusty Springs, On the Road

The Dunepeople could do little but flee into the buildings as the Froxian Convoy approached. A single RPG harmless exploded off the APC as it fired at the barricade, creating a weakpoint which it immediately exploited and cleared a path for the lighter rest oft he convoy. They clearly hadn’t anticipated that the Froxians would manage to get through their barricade with such ease…and it made them question their barricade’s chances against the approaching Tundran tanks.

The Froxian Convoy didn’t have to drive much further. After turning another corner, they found themselves face to face with what looked like a heavy tank section supported by a mechanized company. The red colours on them and the flying white flag with the red fist on it clearly marked them as Tundrans, one of the occupying powers.

The cannon barrels were pointing at them but not firing yet, a female tank commander poking out of the lead tank and shouting something that the Froxians couldn’t hear.

[Nachfolgia]

Minrozian Embassy
Dusty Springs, Dune Sea

The Nachfolgians had the upper hand, having wiped out most of the Minrozian Security Force and Embassy staff. The blood bath went as they expected and now all that was left was to secure the ambassador. This day sure to be a day of dread and a horrid remind to the Minrozians. That was until the reinforcements arrived.

Reinforcements were planned from the beginning. In fact, the Nachfolgians were expecting to contend with Minrozian Special Forces before they could extract from the embassy grounds. They knew that the Minrozians would not sit by while their precious ambassador was in danger. What they did not expect, not a least not fully, how fast their Quick Response Force would come to the rescue. The Weissaugen as well as their Exilvanian backers predicted at least another minute before reinforcements would arrive. This was a testament to Minrozian military excellence and magical aptitude, something the Nachfolgians would put to the test.

The Weissaugen Commander was watching the progression of the mission on a screen that extended out of a compartment in his forearm bracer. From that tactical display, the commander could see all that was happening within the embassy, thanks to the Nachfolgian hijacking of the Minrozian security feeds. He could see the movement of the Minrozian ambassador and relay info to his team and coordinate their efforts to secure the objective.

From his display, The Nachfolgian Commander noticed several portals manifest at different areas of the embassy. Just as he expected, the portals belonged to the Minrozians as several Minrozian SF and identical looking clones walked through the openings into the embassy. The Minrozians and their dimensional travel capabilities proved useful at the most inconvenient times for the Nachfolgians. Regardless, the Weissaugen were ready for their Minrozians counterparts this time.

During the slaughter of the Embassy staff, the Nachfolgians engineers were setting up their counter-offensive for when the Minrozian Snow Wolves showed up. They had set all manner of nasty surprises for their adversaries. Portable turrets, motion sensing landmines, trip wire mines, including some magic jamming devices and laser denied entry devices. The majority of these booby traps were set in the hallways leading to the server room and the panic room. If the Minrozians wanted access to these areas, they would have to fight harder for them.

Upon seeing the Minrozian SF appear out of the portals, The Weissaugen Commander called over the comms to his team. "[ Look alive, Weissaugen. We've got Minrozian reinforcements inside the embassy. Delay them as long as possible for the Todesengel to acquire the target.]"

As soon as he was finishing relaying his orders, the Commander's headset began to hiss and whine, producing a lot of interference. The sudden radio static caused the Commander to wince as it blared in his ears. The voice that was trying to come over the airway was breaking up, hidden behind a lot of static. After a few moments, the interference cleared up and the voice was heard clear as day.

"Hello there. Are you listening? Oh my, I sure hope I haven't got the wrong channel. This is the Nachfolgian High Security Channel reserved for in team commincations among the Special Forces Group 'Weissaugen'?"

" What the-? Who is this? Identify yourself?!"

The voice on the other end sighed, before continuing:

"You've been asked a question, answer it swiftly and correctly like the good soldier you are...though I think I know it already. I recognise your voice from the briefing.

Listen closely Nachfolgian for there have been some changes."

The Nachfolgian growled under his breath. " This is secure frequency assigned to Spezialkräfteabteilung XIII designation " Weissaugen". I recognize your voice as well, Xer. What is the reason for hacking our channel?"

"Not so secure now, is it, eh?"

The Exilvanian snorted back from the other end, clearly delighting in the feat she had pulled off. Yet a certain sense of exhaustion in her voice betrayed that not all was as well about her as she made out to be.

"The Al-Hamdu and the Al-Hamdu Ila are being a bit...problematic. I am sure you have noticed the explosion of the VBIED at the Minrozian Embassy? Perhaps even the explosion in the sewers unfar from the Froxian Embassy? Caused some of the road to cave in and crash down there.

What I am trying to tell you is that Al-Hamdu and Al-Hamdu Ila count as hostiles for the foreseeable future. The safehouse is also compromised. I suggest quickly executing the remainder of the operation, then taking the sewers to the secondary safehouse. An encrypted data package will be sent to your helmet, use it to navigate and find the secondary safehouse.

The Al-Hamdu Ila are also proving far less...efficient at holding back the Alliance of Nations than calculated. Or it's just that the Tundrans took off the velvet gloves and are rolling tanks through the streets. Regardless, time is running out. I suggest that especcially the team dealing with the Froxians finish and extract within the hour."

" Understood. Minrozian Reinforcements have also responded sooner than expected, but the mission will still go as planned. The two targets will be secured."

"Should the targets prove to be more of a hassle than they're worth eliminate them and acquire secondary targets included in the data package. Should these too prove to be too much then head to the safehouse immediately.

Waidmannsheil."

" The mission WILL be accomplished." The Weissaugen Commander replied angrily as he ended the comm link. He hated it when the Xers do things like that and interfer in the worst possible ways. The Exilvanians seem to always have tricks up their sleeves, even to their own allies. The Weissaugen Commander turned to the witch that was next to him, a tall mixed blood girl with dark hair and dark skin. One side of her face has visible burn marks running from neck to her forehead. Judging from her appearance, the witch couldn't be more than 15 years of age, far to young to be a soldier in the Reichsmilitarsträat.

"[ Strip off your uniform and ready yourself. You're about to bring glory to the Reich this day.]"

"[ Y-yes sir.]" The girl reluctantly agreed. She seemed scared and nervous for what was going to happen next.

The Weissaugen, having heard their Commander's orders before the sudden comm drop, did exactly as was expected. The Nachfolgians that were baiting the Ambassador and his miniscule security detail continued to push them towards what they believed to be safe haven, the panic room. The rest of the Weissaugen proceeded to harass the Minrozians reinforcements with small skirmishes and pot shots, hoping to bait them into the traps that were laid about the embassy grounds. The Minrozians were in for a hard time as they inched through their own embassy.

Froxian Embassy Sewers, Dusty Springs, Dune Sea.

The Nachfolgian's pursuit of the Froxian Ambassador was going as good as they had expected. With the majority of the security detail leaving in the convoy, the ambassador would be easy pickings albeit a little fast. After some time, the Weissaugen were closing in on the ambassador and his escort, only a few corners away. That was until the explosion delayed them of attaining their prize.

The gun shots and subsequent explosion caused the Nachfolgians to fear the worse, that their target met his demise at the hands of an unknown entity's idiocy. The Weissaugen were forced to duck behind a corner as debris and water rushed down the tunnel. Once the destruction and cave in had subsided, the Nachfolgians quickly walked towards the cave in to check for survivors.

Through the dust, their night vison revealed that the sewers in this particular location had caved in, blocking access to the rest of the sewers in that direction. They scanned the area and found neither the bodies or weapons of their target and its escort. Thinking that the ambassador had perished in the explosion, the Nachfolgians were about to call it in when they heard movement echoing in the tunnel to the left of them. The Weissaugen quickly rushed after them, being as tactical and quiet as possible.

Knowing that the ambassador was nearing a possible exit from the sewers, the Nachfolgians had to act quickly to keep them from getting to the surface. Catching up to the ambassador and upon getting visual contact on them, the Nachfolgians raised their weapons and activated the strobe light mode of the flashlights mounted on their rifles. The strobe was meant to blind and disorient the target, making it difficult for them to engage or act.

"[ Stop or we'll shoot!!]" The Weissaugen shouted in their native tongue. If the Ambassador's escort moved even an inch aside from dropping her weapon, the Nachfolgians were going to put her down.

[Monfrox]

"Sergeant, up ahead!"

Rotaru saw it, and for a split second she wondered if she'd get away with getting shelled again, until she saw someone sitting out of the commander's cupola and yelling.

"Private, take us off here."

"Yes, Sergeant."

Rotaru grabbed the radio receiver. "All Victors, continue on to the airport." She ordered.

The Humvee pulled up and parked, where the Sergeant hopped out. She looked back and saw the gunner on the vehicle slumped to the side and panting, maybe even bleeding, but she gave a thumbs up. Rotaru nodded as she stepped up onto the lead tank and toward it's commander, getting an errant round sent toward her at one point.

"What is it?" She asked loudly over the sound of the engines and everything else that was happening.

---

Ms. Wordarska heard voices and saw the flashlight, but she had her orders. She gave Cecylia a small push and shouted at her to go. The maid whipped around and wasted no time in responding with a hail of bullets, not that she understood the language being shouted at her anyway. She had one mission and if she was incapacitated in the line of duty, it was so she could complete the mission. It was all about the mission as she dumped the mag and grabbed a fresh one form the vest.

[Minroz]

The appearance of the bomb truck is certainly frightening. The Minrozians operating on the rooftops were forced to keep their head down from hostile snipers. Those on ground or already entered the embassy complex are keep focusing on their tasks. Some of the Snow Wolves operatives were at the front gate, shooting at the incoming bomb truck in hopes of slowing it down.

With simple orders of the sergeant, the Snow Wolves set up what appears to be two poles with the height of two-metres tall.

Coated in colour red, it’s actually energy barrier created in a fusion of magic of science. It will incinerate anything that tries to come across the barrier. This is in response to much bolder terrorist activities of all kinds back in Iclamia and the Minrozians are pretty much prepared. In this case, they didn’t really expect the attack to be conducted by who appears to be professionals.

While the Snow Wolves and the clones are prepared for anything, it doesn’t mean they’re going to expect such bold attacks.

Back to those who’re tasked with rescuing the ambassador, they have stumbled into Nachfolgian trap especially magic-jammers. Casualty-wise, some of the clone girls dead by enemy fire as first to fall while some of Snow Wolves got either wounded or grazed. Despite their setbacks, they returned the favour with their own firepower and precision befitted their expertise as Guoanbu elite special-forces. They fought back with bullets, flashbangs, EMP grenades, ballistic shields, combined with tactical manoeuvres with the scenario in combating enemy special-foces and assistance of robotic mini-drones to help identify where the hidden Nachfoglians at. Most importantly - strict discipline and sheer determination, they pressed on their objectives.

The Snow Wolves captain in question didn’t show his frustrations outwardly, Jiang Gu kept directing his men through the heat of battle instead. Same goes for the ‘schoolgirls’ who’re more like highly-intelligent battle robots than human beings. Clones they may be, he considered them as his subordinates as much as his natural-born warriors. The captain can dwell on their losses once he accomplished his mission afterwards. Even he hated to think about it. But he will do his job in his emperor’s name.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Minrozian Embassy

The Snow Wolves at the front soon found out that the armour plating held up to their weapons. It would require dedicated armour piercing equipment to get through it, something which the Snow Wolves apparently didn't have as they resorted to a quite different tactic. Why try to penetrate the armour of the truck if you could just...incinerate it?

It was technically a splendid plan. The driver of the vehicle was blind, undoubtedly being directed from somewhere though they couldn't find out from where due to all the snipers. It was hard sticking one's head out and even harder trying to spot the enemies and almost impossible to tell which of them was the guide and who were all snipers. So he himself would be unable to see the danger of the barrier untill he was already driving through it...and his guide would undoubtedly think it just some paltry energy shield which would shatter either under the force of the truck or of the ensuing explosions when the driver would notice that he had hit something solid. It was the perfect trap for any kind of rammer that would make short work of them and not cause the Minrozians any more issues.

It just had one tiny mistake.

Most explosive substances don't react well to incinerating heat right next to them.

The front of the truck touched the barrier and went straight in, the tires popping the moment they touched the barrier, letting the truck fall straight onto its front. The driver was most likely confused as his tires were supposedly protected by armour plates from the front but maybe he was already so far in that he was being shot from the side. Since his truck was still going he didn't see a reason to detonate yet. Next his engine was incinerated but things were happening too fast now for the driver to change anything about it, even as he noticed that the engine output suddenly went straight to 0.

Propelled forward by its own momentum, the truck continued,some and far from all of the driver's cabin being swallowed by the red energy barrier, the driver's legs being cut straight off as the barrier cut through his vehicle. He fell down on the other side of the barrier screaming in agony before the roof of the cabin landed on him, mercifully silencing his screams atleast somewhat and sparing the Snow Wolves the sight of a legless man. Yet only for a few more seconds as the next thing to ram into the barrier was the cargo container through which the barrier seared with equal ease. Yet there came its undoing as it started incinerating the explosives, the heat emitted by the barrier caught on to explosives which did not get incinerated immediately before having the ability to detonate and this created an incredible chain reaction...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM

It was an incredible explosion as several tonnes of varying explosives went off in one single great explosion. The sound and shockwave of it sent anyone outside of the embassy building flying, their ears most likely permanently damaged and bleeding. Windows in a radius of several kilometers around the explosion just burst apart as the shockwave reached them. The Snow Wolves at the gate were blown away like ragdolls, the only thing possibly saving them being some form of magic. Dust and smoke rose up high into the air, blowing through streets and houses, settling down again only blocks away.

When the Minrozians who had survived the blast, primarily the ones situated within the embassy, would get up again, most likely barely still able to hear something unless they had special equipment to protect their ears, they would see that the entire wall and garden at the front of their embassy had been completely levelled. There was nothing left. Their barrier, their soldiers, all the plants in the garden, the bodies which had covered the ground, it was all gone as though an angry god had brushed it all away. Not a single trace remained off the truck.

The snipers had stopped firing, most of them most likely suffering from the same issues as their Minrozian enemies, those being busted eardrums. Maybe even glass shards having landed in their faces.

Generally everything seemed peaceful as the dust of the explosion settled. Peaceful as a grave considering what had just happened. Yet it was also the peace before the storm. The Al-Hamdu were most likely still shocked and reeling from the force of their own explosion but once they had caught themselves again they would almost definitely show up again as this truck had served a role as some sort of battering ram, successfully so one could say.

---

Dusty Springs, On the Road

The Tundran Tank Commander which had been yelling at her before stared at Rotaru as she stepped onto the red tank, her eyes narrowing. She obviously didn't like Rotaru, something that she made very clear when she growled at her rather than answer her question. Her accent was thick, hardly understandable:

"Nobody steps on my Mishka. I advise you remove yourself from Mishka now. Else I do for you."

As if to support her threats the commander pulled a Tulskoje Totshka 88 from a holster on her hip and slid the slide back though never pointed the gun at Rotaru. It was obvious that the tank commander apparently had some sort of strong affection for the tank in question, probably more so than any sane person had but what to do, those were the good guys here. Good guys who loved their tanks and apparently had blood and guts stuck in their tank's tracks. Al-Hamdu Ila remains no doubt.

Regardless of how Rotaru decided to answer to that threat, her convoy was stopped cold here with the tanks blocking the road and mechanized infantry walking past them and securing the perimeter, looking out for Al-Hamdu insurgents with anti tank weapons or snipers in hiding. A violent response towards the tank commander would undoubtedly net her no positive attention here, nor would it get her charges past those tanks and to the airfield.

[Nachfolgia]

Froxian Embassy Sewers, Dusty Springs, Dune Sea.

As soon as the Froxian maid raised her weapon at the Weissaugen, the two Nachfolgians opened fire. They shredded the woman with several shots, ripping through her body armor and limbs until she fell to the ground. The two quickly reloaded their weapons, placing the empty mags in a pocket, and moved forward. They kept their weapons trained on her as they approached, not taking any chances with the enemy. If the woman was miraculously still breathing, one Nachfolgian put another round in her head to finish the job.

"[ This is the assault force. Target has reached the surface, Coordinates 15.23456, 30.67890. How Copy? ]" One of the Nachfolgians said over comms to the rest of the Weissaugen.

"[ Copy that. We're in position."] Another voice responded.

With the main threat neutralized, the Nachfolgians proceeded up the ladder to the surface, just as the rest of their team approached from the direction of the embassy. The main assault force was in its entirety and converging on their target.

Up on the surface, Nachfolgians were waiting to spring the trap. Thanks to their former Al-Hamdu allies and the Exilvanians financing this operation, the Nachfolgians had detailed maps of the sewers in case the ambassador chose to not use his convoy. This allowed them to see all possible exits through the sewers from the Embassy and calculate which points are likely for the ambassador to reach the surface. The Weissaugen had men positioned at the manholes, waiting for the ambassador to choice an exit point.

As soon as the Froxian Ambassador reached the surface and climbed out of the man hole, the two Nachfolgians that were waiting for her sprang into action. They quickly converged on the woman, their weapons trained on her at all times. If the ambassador turned towards the man hole she had climbed out of, she would see the Nachfolgians that gave chase climbing up behind her, their weapons trained on her as well. Completely surrounded, the Froxian Ambassador had no where to go.

Without saying a word, one Nachfolgian placed a high tech collar on her. If the ambassador tried to resist in any way, the other Nachfolgians would gun him down. As soon as the collar was around her neck, a massive electric shock pulsed through her body, rendering her unconscious. With the ambassador incapacitated, the Nachfolgians then decided to talk, not wanting their language to give away any hints to their identity.

"[ Bag her.]" One Nachfolgian commanded. Another two Nachfolgians began to collect the ambassador and put her in a body bag that they carried with them.

"[ This is Weissaugen 3...Target acquired. Proceed to Extraction point.]" The Nachfolgian called out to all teams that were holding positions at other man holes or tailing the convoy.

"[ Witch...cloak us. We're leaving now.]" The same Nachfolgian barked orders to the witch and the rest of the squad. As the team moved out in a tactical column with the unconscious ambassador, the sole Witch in the group used to powers to turn them all invisible.

Minrozians Embassy, Dusty Springs, Dune Sea

With the last massive VBIED detonating, the time was now for the Nachfolgians to complete their objectives. Most of the Minrozian staff and security team were dead or dying. The embassy was in shambles with parts either collapsed or on fire. Despite their best efforts, the Minrozian QRF were being bogged down by an enemy that is as, if not more, highly trained than them. The carnage and senseless massacre was coming to a head, the Nachfolgians preparing to put the final nail in the coffin.

The Minrozian Ambassador was now positioned in the location where the Weissaugen wanted him, in his own secured bunker. The remaining security force covering him from all sides, it seemed like the old man could breathe a sigh of relief, confident that his saviors would rescue him. Little did the Ambassador know, his beliefs would not bear fruit.

Underneath the Ambassador’s feet, two small portals materialized silently, muffled by the sounds of gunfire and small enough to remain unnoticed. From the portals, two hands slowly crept from the smokey darkness, like snakes ready to strike. In one fluid motion, the hands grabbed the Ambassador by the ankles and dragged him down into the portal as it got bigger to accommodate his size. As quickly as the portal widened, it immediately closed as soon as the Ambassador was through it. The Ambassador was gone, vanished before his fellow countrymen could react.

In an undisclosed location, in a large empty warehouse, another shadow portal opened and the Minrozian Ambassador was thrown from it, hitting the dusty concrete floor with a thud. The Nachfolgian Witch that created the portal stepped through, aiming a firearm at the man.

“[ If you move you die, Minrozian.]” The girl ordered in a harsh tone, the language she spoke familiar to him. If the Minrozian tried anything, the young witch was authorized to kill him. From what the Ambassador could see from the parts of her face not covered, the Witch was of Asian decent, probably from his own country.

“[ Ambassador Sing Ho captured. Opening portals for extraction.]” The witch said over the comms of her suit. Using her free hand, she opened up another portal into the warehouse.

“[ Copy that, Witch. Proceeding to extraction.]” The Weissaugen commander replied as a portal opened up next to him. “[ All Weissaugen, move to extraction now.]” The commander then called out to all his men over the radio. As the rest of the team escaped through the various portals around the embassy, the commander turned towards the lone Todesengel.

She had removed her uniform, standing totally bare before him. She was nervous, not because of her nudity, but for the task she was about to accomplish. Even though she knew what needed to be done weeks ahead of his moment, she had her misgivings. Sure, she volunteered for the mission, wanting to ease her suffering in the only manner she knew how, but she was scared. The Todesengel didn’t know what was on the other side, if the Dread Sister even existed. From the info she was taught, if it did exist, she did not want to meet it. Still, she was resolved in completing the mission, to die and finally be at peace.

The commander reached into a pouch of his combat rig and pulled out an auto injector, a plastic tube with several metal needles at the end. The injector was filled with an unknown substance manufactured by the Nachfolgian war machine. The witch stood there as the commander reached in and injected her in the neck with the device, pumping the unknown liquid into her veins. The Witch flinched in pain from the needles puncturing her flesh. Immediately, her body began to feel hot as she started to sweat. Whatever was in the auto injector immediately began to affect her.

As the witch began to hyperventilate and sweat, the Commander put away the auto injector and looked back at the girl. "[ May the Dread Sister embrace you...witch.]" The commander said in a rather soft tone as he made a religious hand gesture to her.

With all the preparations done, The Commander stepped into the portal and disappeared, the portal closing behind him. The witch was now alone in the Minrozian Embassy, her pain growing as a faint red glow began to emanate from her body, like it was slowly heating up from the inside. She knew that with her kinsmen gone, the Minrozians will get to the server room momentarily in their sweep of the building. So the witch turned towards the door to stand defiantly in the face of her certain death.

[Monfrox]

"I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up a bit louder than that. Kinda hard of hearing after taking a tank shell while in a building." Rotaru, ever smiling, replied loudly over the engine noise as she put the pinky of her mechanical arm in her ear like she was cleaning it out. "And with all the engine noise and the gunfire, it's pretty hard to hear from all the way down there, so I came up here. Hey, you mind moving your victors out of the way? We just came from the embassy on an extraction detail and need to get to the airport. Much as I loved my time here, I think we wore out our welcome."

---

Ms. Wodarska hadn't let off half the mag before she saw red warnings in her eyes and her entire body was shot to hell. Subroutines took over on her way down and enacted the "feign death" program. She went dormant as her systems analyzed the damage while she "bled" out on the sewer floor. The round that hit her skull was stopped but she didn't move. The perks of having a titanium skeleton. While her system analyzed her current status to her limb actuators and the like, she began composing an encrypted message for burst transmission back home, detailing the account and requesting a mobile workshop to get herself repaired. She hoped that Cecylia had escaped, but she would ask for authorization to pursue in the worst case scenario. For now, she was sure she'd have to drag herself out with at least one non-functional limb if she was lucky.

[Minroz]

It was harrowing and frightening for Ambassador Sing Ho. Once the elder looked up at the Nachfolgians and heared what he assumed to be combat witch speak in his tongue, he has no choice but to obey. While admittedly, he’s quite saddened and outraged by the loss of people he had come to know them, he knew better than to ask foolish questions of his captors. He had strongly guessed they want to kidnap him for his status as a foreign ambassador. All he can do is to give a silent nod in response. No matter how distasteful the state he’s in but Sing Ho already knows his captors are ruthless enough to give him no choice.

Back to the Minrozian compound, the Snow Wolves inside the buildings can hear the explosions outside and felt the rumble, they can tell things went bad. Even for them, they didn’t expect the situation to escalate down south. Everyone else is recovering or disturbed from the aftermath of the explosions, save for fallen casualties inflicted in its wake. The commanding officer of the Snow Wolves team in Dusty Springs embassy complex wants answers, just to check if everything is alright.

“Status!?” Jiang Gu radioed to his subordinates.

“The Gate Squad were pretty much annihilated, sir. We only have few in the front who’re lucky or severely-wounded. Hostile bomb truck didn’t big number.” The sergeant in charge of the front, replied.

The Snow Wolves’ commander wanted to curse but refrained to keep cool and think of next plan of action. There’s no time to dwell on the losses, only the mission. He now made up his mind.

“Everyone else who is alive and can fight, regrouped!” Jiang Gu radios to his men.

The Snow Wolves and the Sisters who survived the explosion at the front, thanks to their innate magic powers and esper abilities to protect themselves, now reduced to few. They’ve began retreating and regroup into the complex, all in anticipating of incoming terrorist attacks. In the meantime, the commander of QRF is radioing Zhongyang for reinforcements in the light of events. Responding to his request, he was informed that more Snow Wolves soldiers were on their way and going to arrive via the Minrozian portal at the embassy complex. Meanwhile, the remaining Snow Wolves are either tending to the wounded of fellow Minrozians or rebuilding defences. The sniper teams are busy recuperating from the earlier explosions, those who recovered quick were back to their sniping businesses. Now, the Snow Wolves snipers are searching for approaching hostiles, should they appear in their view.

Meanwhile back to the embassy buildings where the Snow Wolves squad trying to reactivate the server to get the embassy defences online. On their way, their own radars have picked up multiple portal signatures being used in the complex. As a nation who is fond of using portals for long-distant travels, this is quite alarming as it means the culprits have escaped in organised fashion. The Minrozians have quickly figured they’re dealing with hostile special-forces who are capable of using magic-based technology.

“Sir! We have detected multiple portal signatures on our radar, all over the complex.” One of the Snow Wolves soldier radios to his commanding officer. “The enemy seemed to be in retreat.”

“Keep pressing on to the servers, warrior. On the double.” The leading sergeant replied.

“Sergeant, we detected one suspect inside the server room. Looks like a witch. But we also detected a single heat signature rising from her body.” Another spoke up on the radio.

The sergeant in charge of the server squad has a gut feeling about the situation, he had strongly suspected the enemy must’ve plant a trap in the form of the witch. The Minrozian thinks the enemy made the witch as a suicide bomber. He prayed to the Gods and hoped he’s wrong. As a man in senior years and his hard-earned experiences in Special-Forces in counter-terrorism and counter-intelligences, he wanted to proceed carefully but quick. Time was ticking and the pressure is mounting especially concerning the lives of his surviving countrymen in Dusty Springs. The sergeant nodded to his subordinates and began taking positions for breaching the door with one putting up the charge. With the Nachfolgian magic jammers are finally down, the magic-user operatives can now freely use them in the breaching.

“Breaching!” One Snow Wolves called out, setting the detonator. The door exploded, allowing for Snow Wolves squad to breach through, they first threw flashbangs first before charging into the room. Two of them quickly casted magic binding spells on the Nachfolgian witch while the two operatives casted their magic spell in the form of shield barrier, enveloping her like a hamster ball.

“Server room secured, sir.” The sergeant radios to inform Jiang Gu. “Proceeding to reactivate the defence network. Over.”

The squad’s tech specialist promptly begins to work on the servers’ computer.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Dusty Springs, Minrozian Embassy

Things remained quiet out on the streets as the Minrozian regrouped, likely due to the aftereffects of the explosion. The irregular Al-Hamdu and Al-Hamdu Ila forces were likely still struggling to get their bearings again while the professional Minrozians got that done much quicker.

Immense clouds of dust and debris were still up in the air, having been raised by the force of the explosion and taking a long time to settle down again. They inhibited vision but the Minrozians likely had heat vision or other technological or magical alternatives to improve their sight within the dust and debris flying around.

Prepared as they were, the Snow Wolves' snipers were the first to make out the approaching insurgents. More and more shapes taking form within the debris and stumbling forward across rubble and dead bodies as they approached the gate. They were clearly armed, sporting all sorts of weapons ranging from up to date Tundran Kasparov rifles, to old Battalion Wars era Exilvanian and Western Frontier guns. But at the end they were all guns and they were all equally deadly so it was likely not within the Minrozians interest to let these people open fire on them. To their luck it didn't look like they would, the dust cloud obscuring their vision just as it obscured the Minrozians but them clearly not having access to the advanced equipment of the Minrozians and thus incapable of circumventing that obstacle. Still, those were several dozen hostiles moving in towards the embassy's busted front gate. There was no telling how many others could be gathering elsewhere to make their way across or through the wall surrounding the embassy property.

It was now though, that the Minrozians could hear the cavalry approaching. Rapidly so. Wether they hadn't heard it due to the aftereffects of the explosion or because of the sheer speed of their extraction could not be said. Regardless of the why, point was that they were now hearing the sound of rotorblades in the air. The sound of helicopters. Atleast three.

The wind kicked up by the approaching helicopters quickly cleared away a lot of the dust as they approached the backyard of the embassy. It was both good and a bad as it now allowed the Minrozians to see their targets without difficulties...but their targets suddenly had an actual chance to see them as well and formerly erratic return fire started getting more controlled and accurate. With the dust having been cleared, the Minrozian now also finally got to look at their saviours, only to see an old C Type Samson Transport helicopter, an old but very proven and reliant design of the Western Frontier, still in frequent use for logistic operations. However...it was only one...two more helicopters accompanying it were Duey AH-86 gunships.

The gunships, with the dust having been cleared and a better differenciation between hostiles and friendlies having been made possible, started opening up on the approaching Al-Hamdu forces, MGs rattling and occasional rockets being fired from their rocket pods. They were providing cover for the Minrozians to start and get their people out and they were doing so quite handily, the rockets tearing large gaps into the Al-Hamdu and forcing them back, away from the embassy and into the building blocks they had come from. It was likely that they hadn't been prepared for gunships and did not have the equipment there and ready to handle them.

Meanwhile the C Type Samson touched down in the backyard, it's ramp opening and a Western Frontier soldier standing right behind it, shouting:

"Come on Minrozians! Get the fuck over here! We can't stay here forever!"

---

Dusty Springs, On the Road

The tank commander was about to reply, seemingly rather unamused by Rotaru's shenanigans, by smacking her in the face with her TT-88. Much to Rotaru's luck though, causing a scene could be avoided as the distant sound of a massive explosion suddenly caught the attention of everyone. The buildings framing the street on both sides shielded them from the shockwave which rushed past shortly after as well as some of the sound and also blocked them from seeing the great plume of smoke and dust rising in the distance, roughly where the Minrozian embassy had been. Shortly after a formation of helicopters, two gunships and a transport, passed overhead, heading in roughly the direction they had heard the damn explosion from.

After having heard the explosion and having watched the helicopters passing by, the Tundran's attitude changed notably as a certain amount of urgency entered her eyes. Of course she couldn't just let the Froxians pass, heck, she didn't even have a clue they were Froxian. But atleast she put the gun away as she asked, as per usual with her thick Tundran accent:

"I cannot let you pass untill you give me identification. You do not look like local womens but one not know. This stink to heavens and I would be not surprised if foreigners are involved. So identify yourself, what embassy you come from and if there's anyone or anything left behind you we need to take care of."