"You have permission to engage." Thompson replied.
With those words said his gloved fingers slid over the trigger of his rifle. "Take them out!" He ordered firing the first four bullets killing one of the six in the patrol instantly.
Puffs of black smoke emerged from the barrels of the muskets; large swathes of dust were kicked up by the impact of the ammunition used by the enemy. With the confidence that he wouldn't be hit, Patterson slowly breathed out as he aligned the red shoe-horse reticle on his optical sight over one of the targets. With a firm trigger pull, he let his weapon fire three bullets downing the second enemy, and completely desecrating the seemingly flimsy body armor with the now limited supply of "magical black powder" 6.5 APC bullets.
As he fired away at the now remaining four enemies, Mike noticed how none of the enemy fighters paused to reload their muskets. It was so bizarre that he had to do a double take as the remaining hostiles were quickly dispatched by the superior weapons in the hands of the Rangers and Lecca.
"Team one, we spotted a medium sized element moving to your location now." Thompson's voice came over the radio as he dispatched orders, "We need to regroup now, meet us at the end of the street."
"Copy, we'll meet you there." Patterson responded as he Mike and Lecca rose from their positions of fire. "C'mon we need to move!" He said kicking down a small portion of the remaining stone wall making a pathway through. "These fuckers were using modern tactics with those muskets, shame their weapons suck ass." He said hopping down from the elevated position.
"Could be a false flag operation…" Mike wondered aloud gaining assistance from Lecca while lowering himself onto the ground.
"I'm afraid we will meet our untimely deaths by then, Sergeant." Lecca said with a quarter-inch tall smirk with a distinct, yet light sarcastic note in her voice. She gently brushed her hand on her dirtied combat skirt to rid herself of any dirt.
Each time he blinked, he could see the same picture over and over. The image was clear in his mind as he, Patterson, and the Princess walked along the abandoned and cluttered streets, the forest-green and dead-brown foliage concealing the death that surrounded them. He could recall each smell that entered his nostrils, each vibration that emanated from his firearm, each burning pain that shouted from his chest.
No, those pains persisted.
Amidst the echoing roars of rifle fire being exchange, and the seemingly endless shout that came from both his own squadron and the enemies, he figured that pushing further into unknown territory alone and without support would be the end. Such a decision was unanimously decided, it was believed to be the right choice.
He had second thoughts now. It had only been eleven days since their initial departure form the capital city and towards the frontier. They drifted away from the Kingdom's borders, and now they stood isolated with no way to establish any connection with their "field officers" including Knight Captain Orwell. They had the chance to turn around, double back to their origin point, yet, pushing through hostile lines into the great unknown seemed to be the only option both Chieftain Arish and Captain Thompson was willing to consider.
There was no going back this far out. Everyone knew it. They had already paid the entry fee with Green's death.
Being so far away from "friendly" borders, any rudimentary way of identifying friend or foe had become a problem. Other than reconnaissance pickets of hostile squadrons from the unknown military they had come across, it was near impossible to distinguish between targets and non-combative targets, getting close would only spell death, the opposite would possibly ignite conflict.
Everything seemed backwards in this world when it came to protocol, though, he supposed such rules wouldn't be enforced by the US Army due to their lack of occupation. It was just him and his team, Lecca included, they'd just have to keep moving and march on in the face of death.
Their ammo was low. The rations and MREs they had packed away were dwindling if not depleted a while ago. Foraging and hunting would have to become a constant, yet he wasn't sure if he himself and seven others would find enough food before they would starve to death.
Speaking over the radio, Patterson notified the other Rangers of their immediate position for the linkup mid-firefight. Hurriedly turning the corner to the shouts of his teammates and the firing of weapons on both sides, Mike saw only three hostile "musket men" standing while Sergeant Malkovich pushed the advantage with Simon. The sudden call of musket fire brought his attention back to reality, with Lecca taking cover next to Thompson, he quickly stepped over and knelt behind the overturned wooden cart.
"Captain!" Mike said with frankness as he kept his head down as another volley of musket balls impacted several walls far ahead.
"You would've made the right call, Sergeant!" Thompson chuckled, "We should have waited in the building till tomorrow morning, tried to get you some proper medical help from that group of travelers that were killed!"
"You made the right call!" Mike forced out. "If we're going to die, better to do it now rather than later!" He stated bluntly.
"If we waited, our deaths would be postponed for another two weeks!" Lecca interjected making the two laugh as the gunfire suddenly stopped bringing silence to the street.
"Either way I did enjoy the nice walk." Patterson's tired voice suddenly cut over the radio making the aforementioned princess jump. "I'd rather die in the middle of nowhere than let the kingdom have our bodies."
Chuckling at the morbid joke, Thompson went silent as he took in the destroyed city around, he and his squadron. The air seemed damp, the sun's light providing a slightly humid environment amongst the destroyed ruins of the great stone city they occupied.
Soon the sounds of boots slamming against the gravel roads came to a halt and faded away. Beautiful sounds from nature; birds chirping, bugs singing, the wind whistling, each was a sound that settled on the great beyond as the sun gently grasped the otherworldly soldiers in its grasp.
Beside the captain, Lieutenant Patterson knelt as his eyes darted around then finally setting on a large group in the distance. He hesitated to raise his voice, and such apprehension was laced in his words as he opened his mouth to speak, "We're looking at around thirty heavily armored hostiles heading to our position right this moment."
Eyeing him at the corner of his eye, the captain cursed to himself as he lowered his head instantly dropping morale, "Shit." He said quietly clearing trying to decide whether or not to send his men to their deaths in one last stand, or to last another to weeks then die of starvation. "How armored?"
"Same guys we attacked at the camp; bolt action guns, vests, helmets, and a few looked to have some sort of automatic rifle or machine gun. Either way it was a large weapon. The officers had swords or sabers and they all look like they can use magic." Patterson explained. "We were compromised as we finished killing the three on the street, they know where we are." He warned.
After a short moment of silence, Lecca stood up. "We need to do something, Captain." She boldly said withdrawing the knife she had sheathed in her belt rather than materializing it with her magic.
"Where the fuck did all these people come from!?" Richard complained as he let out a loud groan. "We've been walking for fucking three days, and now all these shitheads suddenly show up!"
"It would be too convenient otherwise, Corporal." Malkovich said assisting Mike in standing up.
"Then we fight!" Lecca interrupted. "I: First Born Princess, Chieftain of the Royal Army, Leccamaradel Emma Arish will lead all of you Reclaimers into one last stand against the unknown armies that march here this very moment!"
Her voice shut everyone up.
"We will not be remembered! We will not have any legacy to be retold! Yet, I stand here with you to stand and rise above the Demon Lord and any and all adversaries that threaten the throne!"
"Transcend and rise above Reclaimers!"
A fiery blue haze surrounded the Princess. The blue light shined in all of the Ranger's eyes as they let out one loud shout that garnered the attention of the hostiles now approaching.
Standing at the forefront, Lecca stood bright with magic making this once simple dream, truth…
--
Publicly Available Information: Unknown Territories:
Beyond any territories controlled by a sovereign nation are lands known as the 'Unknown Territories'. These lands contain hundreds of both documented and undocumented biomes and serves as the main interest of many sciences and mathematical persons.
Under King Arish, the first scouting expedition to lands beyond the Kingdom of Yondel have proved unsuccessful and many claim each expedition to be a waste of money and resources.