Author notes:
Next chapter is up! Had a lot of fun brainstorming and researching just how a powerful a shotgun can be. Once they're made available to you, I hope that you will enjoy that particular Interlude, featuring our favorite murder machine belonging to Noble Team!
Slowly, but surely, the accursed place that is Auschwitz will soon be no more! But the ending will not be what some of you may have in mind :D
I have plans for it and one of them will be quite disastrous for a certain religious state.
Also, updated the album with three more Elysia pics. Enjoy ya'all!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9
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In the period of late 1938, dropping three whole brigades behind the enemy line and telling them to capture a secret city would have been unimaginable. At this point in time, few countries have managed to develop an in-depth airborne doctrine, the logistical requirement for a large-scale airborne operation, and the necessary training to conduct a deep strike of enemy territory when surrounded. Ironically enough, other than Belka, the only countries that are dedicated to researching airborne operations are the Rusviet Union and the Sardegnian Papacy, with each of them achieving various small-scale breakthroughs. Rusviet, in particular, is in the process of setting up regimental airborne units in the Far East. It's their hope that one day, they will be able to airdrop vehicles and even tanks to compliment their nascent 'Deep Battle' doctrine.
What countries of the world don't know, however, is that Belka has perfected their airborne and combined arms doctrines. With complete technological and doctrinal supremacy, the logistical might to back them up, and the well-trained soldiers to implement everything, Belka is about to shatter any preconceived notion about parachute operations. Nations will tremble under the reformed Belkan military, and Sardegna is the first, unfortunate prey to it.
In the depth of the night, the Brigade Combat Teams of the 501st Airborne Division make landfall in waves across three designated LZs, with each occupied by a single Brigade and its associated logistical component. The first wave comes down in the form of commando airborne infantry, engineering units, and light war materials to support the Pathfinders on the ground. Together, the paratroopers secure the LZs, setting up FOB and defensive perimeters. The process is swiftly completed in darkness thanks to their training, NVGs, and pre-fab base materials that were airdropped. With the FOBs propped up, the signal is given by the officers on the ground to send in heavier equipment. Thus comes the second wave of Ju-400 Atlas transport planes.
The large cargo planes drop off the heavy hitters of the three Brigades in the form of mechanized airborne infantry units and Leopard MBTs alongside other supporting equipment. A single Atlas can carry one MBT or two fully loaded Pumas, both vehicles can be airdropped with their crews and passengers still inside. Each vehicle, big or small, is fitted on a specialized armored sled. With the cargo doors opened, the loadmasters aboard send AFVs sliding out of the planes, one by one, by deploying their extraction parachutes. Freefalling for a couple of seconds, the many heavy-duty cargo parachutes on the armored vehicles deploy themselves, letting the heavy payload fall gently, and stably, onto the wheat field below. The sled installed beneath the airdropped object helps cushion the falls due to a special inflatable material that is deployed while still in the air. Upon touching down, crew members, passengers, or nearby ground troops, can help the vehicles unhook from the sleds in a matter of seconds.
It doesn't take long for the three FOBs to be reinforced and well-supplied to wage a medium-scale war on their own. The engineering battalions even construct field runways to facilitate further airborne deployment. As more and more important equipment coming down their way, it's imperative that the FOBs are well-protected from not just surface threats but also airborne. Bunkers and walls are a necessity, but so does anti-air equipment. All of the three engineering battalions of the 501st are able to quickly set up with the help of the division's sustainment brigade. While it's a good thing they have air superiority, one can't be too careful. C-RAM, SAM, ATGM, and artillery sites are swiftly built in a 360-degree radius around the FOBs, complemented by dedicated garrisons. Soon enough, the FOBs have become the most defended places on Sardegnian soils. It's a fact that has sparked a bout of laughter from the High Command staff of Belka, a certain Marshal included.
Come morning, Sardegnians will be shocked to three unknown forts suddenly appear on their territory. It will be a miracle and a half for the bombarded and exhausted Sardegnian military to dislodge these three FOBs.
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Lady Lyssa looks down upon Auschwitz, standing atop the former bell tower of her castle, having reconfigured the layout of the tower to suit her needs. Other than it being the tallest structure, and thus the tallest place in the pocket dimension, it also hosts the mechanism that allows Lady Lyssa to stow Auschwitz away in its own pocket dimension, most of the time. Much to her chagrin, Lady Lyssa is forced to merge Auschwitz back with the real world in an unscheduled manner. The city is running low on both supplies and experimental materials. With the nationwide bombing of Sardegna by Belka, qualified freight trains and train tracks that could carry cargo to Auschwitz were rendered mostly inoperable. Had the Pope of Sardegna not ordered the conversion of an old armored train and the refitting of an unused track, Auschwitz would have had to resort to being resupplied by trucks and aircraft.
It doesn't have to be said that the former would be highly inefficient and the latter is the equivalent of painting a 'Bomb here' sign for the Belkans.
That means as soon as the kids are done being injected with a new serum that supposedly should help them unlock more of their power and forcefully expand their mana pools, they will be brought up here. Their collective powers will then be used to materialize Auschwitz in the real world.
That said, Lady Lyssa has been having this nagging feeling of anxiety for the past week or so. Having lived and toiled among a sea of blood of her own making for years, Lady Lyssa knows to trust her divine instinct as a disgraced Goddess. But for the life of her unholy rear, Lady Lyssa doesn't know what's gonna be happening. She has poured through field reports, learning of the setback after setback that Sardegna has experienced lately. Other than identifying the fact that the greatest backer of her project has a fire lit beneath their ass isn't the cause of her incessant apprehension, Lady Lyssa has come up with no further answer.
Hence, other than giving the order to raise the general alert level of the city's security force, Lady Lyssa can only adopt a wait-and-see attitude. For the first time in a long time, the mad Goddess is placed in a passive position. One where her manipulation and her newly birthed supersoldiers can't do anything about. Just not yet, hopefully. Lady Lyssa idly curses the Belkans, her former compatriots, her old... home? Birthright? It doesn't matter anyway. What matters is that the Reich Marshal has been a stubborn thorn with the woman mentioning the so-called 'Special Military Operation' against Sardegna. Everything goes to a screeching halt because of that upstart. Lady Lyssa wants to go back in time and curse herself for underestimating this particular threat.
Even now, she has no idea how Belka can commit to a bombing operation against a country that's half a continent away, and one where nothing can see them doing it, much less retaliate. Has Belka made a technological breakthrough during her time away? If so, how much? Lady Lyssa can only run her thoughts in a circle, thinking about the what-ifs and maybes.
The mad Goddess prides herself in the work of creating soldiers that, while disposable, are able to use the magics that are either severely nerfed or outright blocked by the Will of the Planet. But even she has to admit that her creations stand no chance against an unseen enemy, high up in the air, possibly. After all, they can't fly nor have the power to do air combat. Not until Lady Lyssa can create her Magnum Opus and set it loose on the entire world, at least. Though that process will take time, time that Belka sure as Hell doesn't even think about giving her that. That hateful country just has to go and trample its dirty legs over her crisp white sheet!
Had she been given more time, Lady Lyssa would have been able to identify the crucial catalyst to create her most beautiful instrument. But alas, with the state of Sardegna looking very gloomy right now, Lady Lyssa plays with the thought that, maybe, the country has proven itself to be more trouble than it is worth to be kept around. The only reason she has stubbornly stayed is because the current Pope has been a pliable piece of figurehead for her to control. That and moving the whole pocket dimension away from its anchor in Sardegna would no doubt be a costly endeavor... for some thousands of humans or so. Lady Lyssa would have to do the math, right after Auschwitz receives its crucial supplies.
Having found herself lost in calculating thoughts like that, Lady Lyssa doesn't notice that the kids she called up to perform their duties have arrived. Not willing to interrupt the mulling of their boss, the scientists, led by Ottile and overseen by Cocolia, just start hooking the girls onto the tables surrounding a large contraption in the middle of the tower. The girls, namely Sirin, Bella, Seele, Bronya, Rozaliya, and Liliya, are swiftly tied down. Then, specially-made headwears that are wired to many instruments are put on their heads. After that, from beneath the tables, metallic collars rise up to secure their necks, the tight collars preventing unnecessary movement that may interfere with the sensitive contraption. Finally, much to the barely hidden chagrin of Cocolia, small needles from the cuffs, the neck collars, and the headwears, are deployed, stabbing into the children. Some of the needles even draw blood, trickling down onto the cold table, and seeping through the dirtied hospital gowns of the girls.
For Bella, Rozaliya, and Liliya, the needles are to extract their bountiful mana reserves and abuse their incredible regen to power up the machine responsible for the pocket dimension. For Sirin, Seele, and Bronya, the needles act as fuel hoses, siphoning the mana from the other three girls to help them activate and control the machine. Sirin, with her power over Space and Yggdra forbids Void, is responsible for getting Auschwitz back into the real world by overriding the spatial fabric. Seele though, with her surprising affinity to the domain of Darkness and Death, much like a certain lover of Lady Lyssa from ages ago, is responsible for keeping the pocket dimension undetected by constructing a veil over it. And lastly, Bronya with her impeccable calculation power. This particular girl is the one who keeps Auschwitz intact when the city comes in and out of hiding. Without her, bits and pieces of Auschwitz will be lost to the space in between, never to be seen again.
Thanks to this combination, Lady Lyssa can have Auschwitz appear anywhere she wants, whenever she wants, for the most part. So far, the pocket dimension can only teleport across Sardegna without additional cost thanks to a spatial anchor Lady Lyssa deployed in the country. To teleport elsewhere and avoid the destruction of Sardegna though, like what Lady Lyssa surmised earlier, it would take thousands of sacrificial humans to power up the teleportation array.
If only Auschwitz has access to an unlimited power generator...
With a painful grunt and a shift in the atmosphere, Lady Lyssa's attention is grabbed when she sees a dimensional hole torn in the outer perimeter of Auschwitz. The direction of which is right by the train track that internally leads deeper into the city while externally connecting to what's left of Sardegna's railroad system. Throught the holes, Lady Lyssa can see that it's barely the break of dawn in the outside world. Coincidentally, the pocket dimension has an artificial day-and-night system. However, it's somewhat misaligned with the real world, being that it's one hour earlier than Sardegna's actual time zone.
Peering through the artificial hole of the dimension and looking further into the distance, Lady Lyssa can see the headlight after the approaching armored train. The train is pulling more than two dozen carts behind it, and notably, it's quite heavily armed. Being an old relic of the First World War, the third cart is an artillery carriage, armed with a howitzer in an armored turret, with subsequent carriages armed with anti-air and anti-surface weaponry. The only reason why the train is capable of hauling such a load is due to the Sardegnian Army having the mind to use military train engines to pull it. Otherwise, the pacing with one engine would have been at a snail's pace.
"They're surprisingly punctual, given what's happening in the world outside." A scientist commented while taking a look at his pocket watch.
A few others also sport faces of relief, knowing that they will be able to continue their work without a resource deficit. However, Lady Lyssa feels that sense of trepidation grows ever so larger the more the train approaches Auschwitz. Why is it that she kept feeling that way?
Think, Lyssa, think! The sudden dreads you have been feeling, only appear when the Belkan started conducting their military operation, right? Now why is that? It's not because of a potential loss of a backer... Wait, the feeling worsened whenever a supply line to Auschwitz was cut prior to this train run. With more and more supply lines destroyed, Auschwitz's operation is severely hampered and they have no choice but to appear right here, right now.
Lady Lyssa thought that the destructions were just unfortunate coincidences as the attacks happened all over Sardegna. But what if they weren't? What if everything else were a ruse? A ruse to cover up the noose that has been tightening its grip over Auschwitz... Over her.
Having come to that frightful conclusion, Lyssa, formerly known as Persephone, can only utter a pair of words. "Fuck me."
And then, the speeding train engines explode right when they start getting into the city.