Sovereign

“The newly-formed Knights Detachment Units are superior in every way to the OAF’s Mechanized and Armored Brigades. Armed with the best modern weapons, both arcane and conventional, and the brightest officers, any young woman joining will be assured that their work inside the Royal Guard will be a worthy one.”

- Royal Guard Recruitment Infographics.

+++

North of Nordia

3rd Knights Detachment Unit

2nd Combined Arms Battalion

H Company

Captain Henrietta Lurois watched the distant road just ahead of her Armored Company’s Column. They were now at the tip of one of the advancing pincers of the Kingdom against the Junta, all of which were moving westward to fully cut off the city of Nordia. H Company of hers had only arrived with the rest of the 2-3 KDU last night into the battlefield, and so far…

The war had remained distant to them. The OAF seemed to have mostly cleared the rear of their advancing formations, and they had not even been attacked during their long transit from their bases in Orland. Still, Henrietta remained vigilant of what was ahead of her unit.

Her sisters in arms, Goddess knows, was much like her, green in combat. Many of them were still too innocent and doe-eyed in their views of this conflict. A little bit too motivated even. It was almost as if she was just leading a bunch of school girls on a road trip. But this was no road trip. This was a death pit. Still, she had trust in them to their trained roles to the best of their abilities.

Still…

She shook her head. Those images of the wounded and dead they dealt with when she was in Thein shouldn’t come now. No, she would not let that kind of fate befall the girls under her. She pulled up her radio and began speaking to it.

“All units, resume the advance. One-One, push forward but keep your eyes peeled.”

“Copy, Helix Actual,” a young woman’s voice replied. Immediately, their lead Löwe tank advanced forward, and so did the rest of her Company. The Captain gave a low sigh as she lowered her binoculars, feeling her tank move just behind the last tank of the 2nd Platoon. Her Company after all was a standard Armored Company. Eight Löwe MBTs were divided into two platoons, and two mechanized infantry platoons of another eight M8 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, alongside her and her Command Section’s two command Löwes, and their company’s supporting elements.

All in all, a powerful enough column of armored vehicles and supporting mechanized infantry. Just a year ago, it would be a ludicrous idea that women would be fighting like this, but Captain Henrietta found that idea ridiculous anyway. Women had fought wars for two centuries after the Arcane Wars. Why not now? Especially when her nation was divided into two.

“Captain,” her gunner, a young woman in her eighteenth year, called from below. “Do you think they would attack us?”

The Captain remained silent from that question, looking around at the bombed-out distant towns or the craters on the roads they were passing through. She sighed. “Hopefully not. It seems devoid out here.”

“Hmm…” the gunner said. “Okay!”

Henrietta laughed. “Regardless, we have to keep an open eye. Those Lieplatzans would probably be lying in wait against us.”

The gunner’s voice turned a bit scared of the prospect. “I’ve been paranoid about that Captain. What if…what if they got us without us knowing? It’d be a disaster!”

“I’ll make sure it won’t happen,” she replied with a laugh. “Calm down.”

“Mmkay, if you say so…”

Henrietta returned to watching the area they were passing through. Already, their convoy had begun widening its spacing by around thirty or more meters, which meant that they were pretty much spread out. Should an ambush hit their front column, Henrietta expected that she would be able to order them to disperse.

Yet, for many minutes of nonstop advance, there were no enemy contacts. No ambushes. Nothing. It was as if they were truly just advancing through the frozen Lieplatzan countryside. By the time they reached an intact town, their convoy stopped without much issue.

“Helix Actual, this is One-One!” The commander of their lead vehicle shouted over the company comms. “Lieplatzan soldiers are up ahead. Hands raised. White flags. They’re…they’re surrendering!”

Captain Henrietta immediately keyed her radio. “Helix Company! Halt all vehicles. 3rd and 4th Platoons, all of you dismount. Signal, contact the Battalion HQ. Go!”

Immediately, each of their M8 IFVs drove straight into the town as their Löwe tanks made a dead halt. Henrietta herself felt her command tank drop to a halt, as she pulled out her own W-4 AAR (Arcane Assault Rifle) that became the new standard combat rifle of the KDUs. Placing her helmet on, she climbed out of the hatch and ordered her tank crew to stay put and stay alert.

She passed by the dashing soldiers of her Company as their M8s dismounted her infantry. By the time she made it to the front column, she saw the scores of Lieplatzan soldiers, young men still in their uniform, raising white rags and surrendering their guns. One of them, who appeared to be the officer among their ranks, was holding a stick with a white rag on it, and naturally, Henrietta approached him.

“We surrender!” the Lieplatzan officer shouted, as he too walked forward to meet her. “We’ve fought enough. This is pointless. Please, we still want to—”

“We understand,” she declared, eyeing him down. Her soldiers already began approaching and apprehending the Lieplatzans, who mostly gave up their weapons without problems. “Who are you and what unit is this?”

“Captain Warner Heibel, Ma’am. Z Company, 35th Mobile Infantry Battalion. My men had been fighting since the border, and I…we’re all that’s left of the 35th.”

Henrietta nodded, noticing that indeed, these men seemed worn out by battle. “Where are your superiors? Of the 35th?”

“I’m afraid our CO is dead. Air Strike on our CP. I took whoever was left of the other companies. Again, we’re all that’s left.”

“And you and your men were supposed to defend this town?”

“No, we…we were just looting this town for supplies,” he admitted with shame. “This town seemed abandoned, and we were starving and low in fuel. We had to do something to survive while waiting for you people so we could surrender.”

“We’ll treat your men as best as we can,” she said. “I can see that none of you are resisting.”

“We’re tired of fighting for nothing, Ma’am,” he smiled grimly. “My men just want rest. We all agreed to it.”

Henrietta nodded in understanding. These Lieplatzans seemed old enough to have fought in the Great War after all. She could imagine, that the man in front of her had seen battles from those fields, to the coup, the second coup, and the battles taking place right now.

Such a chaotic life.

It was pitiful. Extremely pitiful. Especially with how tired these men’s eyes were. Almost the same tiredness and jadedness that the OAF troops her unit passed by during the transit.

“In that case—”

Both of them were suddenly cut off by the sound of autocannon fire in the distance. It was further intensified with machine gun fire and rifle fire. The Captain in front of her took his radio and listened to its buzzes. He turned grim.

“Ma’am…they…the Protection Corps,” he said. “They’re forcing their way into the town.”

“But you’re surrendering.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Their vehicles are surrounding the other side. They want to punish traitors.”

+++

“Damn it!” Henrietta shouted, as her tank retreated in the rubble. She didn’t expect it, but now it was true. She and Helix Company were in a fight. Side by side with the regular Lieplatzan Army soldiers who surrendered to her unit.

“Loading HEAT!” her loader shouted below her. Their turret turned straight into an HMLV just ahead of them that was being used as cover by the PC (Protection Corps) troopers raining lead on them downrange. Her gunner lowered the barrel of their main gun, and Captain Henrietta shouted fire.

The loud boom reverberated across their surroundings, as an explosion rocked the building just behind the HMLV. Captain Henrietta turned frustrated. “Corporal Blum! Aim better, please!”

Her gunner responded in an apologetic and panicky voice. “I-I’m trying!”

“HEAT, again! On those troops!”

“Yes, Captain!”

However, it already moved out of the way, alongside the PC troopers. The area however was lit up with magical bullets, which further forced them off. Henrietta turned her hatch’s sights to her right and saw multiple of her riflewomen firing in that direction.

She pulled her radio. “Captain Heibel! What’s happening on your flank?!”

Short buzzes and radio interference responded before his voice replied. “They’re bringing in four more tanks here! Damn it! My HMLVs can only do so much. We have no armor, my vehicles are soft-skinned!”

“Any anti-tank weapons?”

“We downed one of them, but they’re being cautious now. They’re dropping rounds on us while their troopers are suppressing us. We need armor here!”

Before she could respond, however, her eyes turned into a friendly Lieplatzan HMLV being skewered by a sudden shot from a tank that appeared just in front of them. Her eyes widened further, realizing it was those M44-Nörds that the Lieplatzans were using. Instead of responding to Captain Heibel, Henrietta shouted in panic this time to her gunner.

“Corporal! Tank on that l-lane! Shoot it now!”

Even the Corporal herself panicked. “Wait where?!”

“Over there!” Her loader shouted, also panicked. In fact, the mere mention of an enemy tank elicited an unwanted response from Henrietta’s driver, and she noticed their tank was moving back in the wrong direction.

“Private Jeanne?! Why are you backing off?!” Henrietta almost bumped her head on a piece of metal when their tank violently stopped, as a rain of concrete fell behind them. It seemed that her tank just backed off straight into a house by mistake. “Damn it!!!”

“Sorry! I thought we had to—”

“Forward now, Jeanne! Get us unstuck from this!”

The enemy tank lumbered forward, and suddenly, it fired off its main gun. The shot rocked Henrietta’s tank, and she could hear screams of pain from her crew. She looked down at her gunner, her pinkish hair almost shining through the darkened interior.

“Corporal Blum?” She called. “Freya? Freya are you alright?!”

Her gunner slowly turned her head to her, her eyes wide in shock. She then slowly showed her right arm. It…it was bleeding badly in many areas. Shrapnel wounds. Bad shrapnel wounds. In fact, even her loader was now holding her bleeding leg as she winced in pain.

“C-Captain, I—”

“Freya! Stay right there! Jeanne, climb up here, please! Freya and Linze are wounded!”

Henrietta rushed down to her two wounded sisters, her mind completely abandoning the idea of communicating with the rest of her unit, or the tank in front of them or even the fight. Her mind almost completely rewired itself in panic and fear into one purpose. Don’t let her sisters-in-arms inside her own tank die.

With her wand tucked out, she aimed it at Freya, who was already crying as she bled out. Behind her, Jeanne climbed up to tend to Linze, but the black-haired woman pushed her away.

“Linze?”

“Get out!” She said to Jeanne. “I can manage. Let me get to the gunsights!”

The enemy tank!

Henrietta broke down further in panic. She screwed up! What if that tank fired a second one? Their last shot already almost shattered her tank’s armor sending some spall into the interior of her tank’s turret. And she just abandoned that fight?

Yet her loader, with determination, took the gunnery controls. Henrietta felt the turret and main gun move, as Linze shouted. “I got it on my sights!”

“Then open fire!”

Their main gun boomed, sending a Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank round straight into the turret cheeks of the enemy tank. Henrietta waited for her loader’s report before the young woman laughed.

“I…I got it! They…the turret exploded!”

Henrietta however didn’t feel any triumph from that, as she looked down at Freya, who continued bleeding even with her magic already closing her wounds slowly. Instead, all she felt was shame.

Green.

She was just a green officer leading her unit in a war between hardened veterans.

And she already started failing.

Her training…it would not be enough.