Arc One / Chapter Seventeen

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    Deep within the Rodenius mountains forest’s.

    Elven men and women rush about under the leafy canopies near the base of the Rodenius mountain. Accompanying them are what few beast men and women left on the land they once occupy before the Lourian Purge.

    Leading them is the sole survivor of the Qua-Toyne Principality Army. A beast man named Moizi, a surviver of the first days of the war till now. The beast man has a tan skin with white hair, wore a greatly stripped, and greatly dented armor of the Qua-Toyne guard, better for the fast hit and run tactics his new militia applies on the field.

    Around him are his trusted allies, all of different races that once lived within the Qua-Toyne territories before the collapse of the Principality.

    Beside him, wearing rugged brown t-shirt with light leather armor for protection, and dirty brown knee length shorts, is an elven with fine slightly tanned skin man named Dieter Bauer, an old man who was once a farmer turned worrier after war broke between the Principality and Louria.

    Next to Dieter is an short avian man named Karle Erde, a young and promising man whose family was all nearly killed by the Lourian’s. He joined the army after running into them deep within the woods they now occupy. He wears the same leather armor as Dieter, with a grey t-shirt underneath and the same knee length shorts.

    The last one is a dwarven man named Loy Berg, who once lived in the nation next to Qua-Toyne Principality, which was swiftly subjugated by Louria after the collapse of the Principality. Loy is one of the few remaining dwarfs that managed to escape the Louria forces, ending up within the Rodenius mountains and meeting Moizi and his remaining forces. Loy wore a dark brown leather overalls with a very dark t-shirt underneath.

    And within their hands is a paper, a report from scouts within the former city harbor of the Principality. They read the paper in silence, each one holding their own thoughts on the contents held within. Moizi himself feel like the entire report was more of a fantasy story then that of an actual report of the current activities of the Lourian Forces in the former city harbor of Qua-Toyne. The Dreadnought Vil’hamgram has been reported to be in port, heavily damaged with smoke flying into the skies. And rumors have been circling about its damaged state, from the Parpaldian Empire ships attacking the ship, to sea monsters attacking it.

    “This is an opportunity.” Dieter stated, a devilish smirk plastered upon his face.

    “Ja! We hit them while they are weaken!” Loy reinforced the elven’s words, bringing his fist before him with a determined look on his face.

    But Moizi is not convinced. At least, not until he hears of Louria’s response to this news. If they try and hide it from spreading across the lands, then something is up. If they reinforce the attack and try to gain more recruit’s, then Parpaldian did attack.

    “Do we have Louria’s response to this?” Moizi asks one of the officers standing a few meters away, the green surroundings nearly camouflaging the man.

    “Vaguely, herr kapitän. We are hearing of them sending more forces to Maihark. Land, sea, and air. The entire camp is heading there.” The officer reports.

    Moizi nods, turning to his circle of friends and allies. Who in turn looks at, awaiting his orders, “Ja, get the word out. Prepare for anything, Louria has been poked, and they want blood. We wait until we have a proper plan in place. But for now just stay on the defense.” He orders to the officers around him.

    “Für unser Vaterland!”

    ———

    “. . . For the life of me, why can’t you lot stop fighting?!” The Muan officer scream, aiming his anger at the two pilots, who made a mess fighting over the last bit of food.

    “And to think with you Muan’s here, we won’t have to see this again.” Whispers a Lourian officer, watching the scene in front of them unfold.

    “This base is designed to handle up to three air brigades, not an army’s worth of them.” The other officer responded, looking over at the crowded food court.

    An oversight, as one may say.

    “And the reason why all of Louria is here because…?” The Muan officer asks his Lourian counterpart.

    “Orders from his majesty. Apparently, some sort of nation far eastern of Rodenius attacked us, and managed to cripple the Vil’hamgram. Or that’s what the rumors say.” The Lourian officer shrugs.

    “Ahhh…”

    Both officer watch the room continuous dissent into madness as scuffles turn into fist fights before evolving into a full on war between all of them. But both officers agree to one thing, this is a big mistake on the tops part, and they should fix it before anything worse happens.

    –––

    Out on the air field and hangers, ground crews are working overtime to maintain each and every aircrafts now stationed on the base. Each mechanic rushing to and fro from building to building and plane to plane, materials and tools on hand. It was a coordinated mess if one could see it from a far.

    The base commander, Flin Acro Di’ev, an aerial warfare expert from Mu, watches the commotion going on outside, listening to the reports he ask his assistant to speak out loud. It was like he was back at his home nation, the mechanics rushing about as he listen to the newly developed radio the inventors of his nation made. But instead of news of the daily lives of the people, it is the report of recent events, such as Parpaldian ship inching ever so closer to Altaras. Or the Marshial’s aggressive pressure for Mu to stop meddling in the third civilization word despite they themselves are helping Parpaldia enslave the entire 3rd Civilization World.

    “. . . On another note, sir. Recent reports from Maihark states that the newly built dreadnought HMS Vil’hamgram has been crippled greatly by a nation of unknown origin.”

    Flin cease his wondering thoughts in favor of listening to the latest report spoken by his assistant. His gaze torn away from the window to face the man in Muan green officer uniform. He was not informed of this prior to the sudden increase of personnel on his base.

    “Mind running that by me again?” He spoke, urging the assistant to repeat that part of the report for him to fully believe what he heard.

    The assistant nods before reading the report again.

    “The Lourian Naval Base in Maihark has reported that the HMS Vil’hamgram, which was supposed to be out on trials, returned with all of its officers dead and the fleet escorting the dreadnought has sunken. Based on what the sailors have spoken, a nation far eastern of Rodenius is the one responsible for this,” the assistant closes the file, “That is all that is reported sir.”

    Flin breaths in before releasing a slowly raising irritation, ‘And here we go again. . .’ he pinch the bridge of his nose.

    “Right, well, we are allies after all. Call in the general, tell him I need him.” The assistant nods before placing down the file on Flin’s table and leaving to call the general in charge of the Rodenius Front in this Cold War with the Marshial Empire.

    “This is throwing a wrench into our plans.” He complained before picking up the file and opening it to see the information for himself.

    ———

    The glistening crystal blue ocean and the cold rushing winds really does give this place a beautiful sight to behold. But not right now, as hundred’s of men in thick cotton cloths march along the path near the ocean, allowing the soldiers a moment to see the beauty of the world before being thrown into the grinder yet again.

    This is the Lourian 1st army, consisting of 3 infantry regiments and a single support regiment. This new army composition was made after the first Lourian and Muan joint exercise, which the Louria’s failed heavily, much to the Lourian kings anger.

    After the battle, Muan, and Lourian officers who wishes to understand their defeat, collaborated on changing the current standards for the army. Many argument aroused during this time as many Lourian officers along with the king himself who originally made the army composition were against changing the old ways.

    It was a long battle, but the changes were implemented and the combat effectiveness of the Lourian Army has risen slightly, compared to that of the Parpaldian Empire, whose army stayed at the same even after allying with the Holy Marshial Empire. The Lourian Army has gotten better in term of tactics then their enemy.

    But even then, they know it is not enough. But even with a majority vote, which was vetoed by the king and all participants of the vote were nearly all killed, they couldn’t gain anymore equipment other then the antique rifles in Muan storage. Which lead to many armies still having to march across the lands without any form of motorized transportation, which the Muan’s enjoys, much to the dismays of their Lourian counterparts.

    Each soldier of the army is equipped with a 1920 6.84 mm “Flintstones” bolt action rifle, a medium length, wooden shell rifle. The metal parts includes the bolt, the chamber, and the barrel. Along with these are the cotton thick uniform ordered by the king, it’s near flashy design of red and green made the soldiers feel exposed, adding to it is the primary cotton material used to create such wear has the officers and soldiers wondering about the reason of the kings purchase of these clothing.

    The scorching heat of the sun shine brightly overhead, the soldiers and officers felt the heat rising, and the clothes are not helping them one bit. For all the modernization the Lourian Army has gone through, everyone agrees that these were completely unnecessary other than looking good before dying from heatstroke or exhaustion.

    “This is unbearable…” A soldier grumbles.

    “Indeed, vary exhausting.” An officer, a noble from the capital replies, feeling the same torturing experience everyone is experiencing.

    “Man up, we have a duty to do.” Another officer beside the noble spoke up, his weak voice betraying his near professional posture.

    Similar grumbles and whispers spread across the marching army, everyone, not just the soldiers, but the officers as well, feel the heat pounding on them, and the heavy equipment weighting them down. Each step felt like they have marched for miles even if they only marched for a couple of meters.

    Except the general of the army, who is riding on horse back, grinning like a madman at the thought of finally seeing action. His yellow eyes glow devilishly as his smirk widen at the thought of his army trampling the enemy, the glory and treasures he gains after reaching for the enemy settlements, each land ripe for his taking.

———

Somehow, this feels like a filler chapter for something like revealing the rebellion and Moizi. If you read the original, and I mean read the manga and/or novel, you might know who Moizi is. As for the rest, again, filler chapter for some reason. Now, if you don't mind, I gotta understand how am I going to do this. See'ya next post!

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⏰ Last updated: Nov 10 ⏰

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