0343 May 14th, 2020 CE

0451 Sun 44th, 196 AE

Orva Caelora Human Concentration Camp, Elven Nation

The firefight continued at the front gate as squads of elves tried to push the humans out. Although the elves held a chokepoint and the camp garrison had nearly equal numbers to the human company attacking them, their unpreparedness caused them to be outnumbered ten to one at the front gate.

“Pull back! Pull back! Pull back!” The elves started rushing out of their position. Crouching behind the debris, barrels, and creates, the Rangers continued pouring fire from their M4 rifles and Mk48 machine guns. A few elves fell face forward as they ran. A couple slumped to the side after being shot by the snipers. The firefight died down as the elves retreated further into the camp.

Behind them, the 4th Platoon was clearing the buildings. Multiple shots came out of a one-floor square building. One of the soldiers from the 4th Platoon chucked a grenade into the window. An explosion rocked the ground. Multiple Rangers burst in, weapons at the ready. Three elves laid on the floor, killed by the grenade.

>>

>>

While advancing forward, opposition from the elves came back faster than expected. Elven machine guns opened up and a barrage of fire came down on the Rangers. The retreating elves seemed to have done a 180 and started rushing back towards them. It was soon clear why. Two grey armored cars moved down the road towards them. An elven officer raised his pistol in the air and waved it forwards. “Attack! Attack! Crush the inferiors!”

In the storm of the lead laid down by the Rangers, two HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) rounds from the Carl Gustavs struck the two armored cars. The cars exploded and veered off the road. Although the Rangers were still shooting, the elves seemed to be in a state of shock. Once again, the elves started retreating. This time, they were much more panicked. “Pull back! Pull back!”

Elion couldn’t believe his ears. “They took out both armored cars?!”

Kaylin nodded. “They have some sort of weapon with the ability to destroy armor.”

“Tell all units to regroup near the center of the camp.”

Sporadic firefights occurred as the Rangers advanced further into the camp. Groups of elves hid in the buildings and behind cover. The Rangers had taken some casualties but the elves were clearly losing. Moreover, in the midst of the chaotic battle, some of the prisoners were able to get to the Rangers.

<<<"This is Ghost Sierra. We spotted a large force of elves blocking the road in front of you. Permission to fire?”

“Hold fire. Thanks for the tip, Ghost Sierra.”>>>

While the 4th Platoon swept the area behind them for any hiding elves and helped the prisoners, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd moved up.

One of the platoon leaders hid behind a wall. He jabbed his thumb behind him as he talked to his grenadiers. “They should be right over there. Hiding behind those crates and overturned tables.”

“Got it, sir.”

Multiple 40mm grenades shot out of the M203 grenade launchers mounted under the grenadiers’ M4. The elve’s position was smashed open by the barrage of high explosive grenades. A few of the elves survived but were heavily disoriented. The Rangers opened up.

A few minutes later

“They have easily broken through the first two lines of defense.”

Elion crossed his arms at the news. He stood still outside of his office as his soldiers rounded up the humans that had not escaped or killed and got ready to execute them. He turned to look towards where the human soldiers were supposedly coming from. Suddenly a bullet whizzed past him and hit the ground. “What the!”

“Captain! Get inside!” Kaylin urged him into his office.

Inside, Elion had a frown on his face.

“Great. Now, we have snipers.” He opened the curtains of the window. Since the shot came from the side that faced the back of his office, he wasn’t concerned about getting shot from his window. He watched as his men hid behind whatever they could find or buildings they could get in. Then the humans in the field started running.

“Shoot the running humans!”

Shots further into the camp were heard. Damon grew concerned as it didn’t seem that the shots were anywhere near where his men were.

<<<"Ghost Sierra, do you see what's happening where the shots are coming from?”

“Not good. The prisoners are trying to run but they are getting shot at by the elves. We are trying to kill those shooting.”

“How far away is it?”

“1st Platoon will be there soon.”

“Ghost One. This is Ghost Actual. Get your asses moving! The damn elves are killing the prisoners.”>>>

The shooting outside of Elion’s office got louder and louder. It wasn’t from his soldiers killing the prisoners but the battle against the assaulting humans.

“Captain. Most of the humans have either escaped or been killed. We need to relocate. If we hug the walls, we can avoid the snipers.”

“Get one of the magiradioelf and tell them to start an organized retreat.”

A figure walked up the street towards a squad from the 2nd Platoon. The Rangers aimed their guns. “Hold fire! It’s a person.” At that, they lowered their guns.

A soldier of the 4th Platoon kicked the door open. He swept his eyes and gun around the entire room and noticed a cowering figure. Looking closely, the figure didn’t have pointy ears.”

>>

Watching from an elevated position, the sniper teams watched as most of the elves started retreating. Some of the elves stayed back and continued fighting.

>>

Damon nodded.

<<<“Thanks for the info.”

“Ghost Two. Ghost Three. This is Ghost Actual, I want you guys to disengage and focus on one spot. Ghost Two on the left flank and Ghost Three on the right flank. Try to create a corridor in their lines where you can go through. The elves are doing an organized retreat. I want you to cut them off.”

“Wilco.”

“Understood.”

“Ghost One. This is Ghost Actual. Take over Ghost Two and Three’s position. There should be fewer elves now.”>>>

Elion huffed a bit as he rested. Elion, Kaylin, and around 30 of his elves were scattered on the other side of the camp. Elion shook his head. “We can’t hold this camp. I have requested reinforcements but the closest unit is a couple of hours away.”

Shots rang out. Kaylin looked alarmed. She beckoned over a magiradioelf and started contacting the platoon commanders. After a short conversation over the magiradio, she went over to Elion. “They were able to get through the ones covering us.”

The sound of the shots got louder and closer.

“Captain, we need to get into a building," said Kaylin. She also called over a handful of the soldiers nearby. “We will take up a position in that building.”

Elion went up to the second floor with Kaylin and a couple of soldiers following. One of the soldiers looked out the window at the firefight. He looked back at Elion. “Captain, what do we do? They are getting closer.”

Elion considered the question before looking at Kaylin. . “Kaylin, can we retreat?”

“We should but we may not have a safe route to do so.”

The soldier looking out the window spoke up again. “Captain… some of the soldiers outside are surrendering.”

Elion‘s eyes lit up. “The humans?”

“No. Ours.”

Outside, one by one, the elves started throwing down their weapons and raising their hands.

When the 2nd and 3rd Platoon penetrated the already weakened elven covering force, the covering force was thrown into disarray and started surrendering. This caused more and more elves to do so too. Before long, the Rangers secured the entire camp and killed off the last of the ones still resisting.

A few hours later

The Rangers guarding the front gate readied their weapons as multiple figures appeared on a road. One of the Rangers squinted at the figures before shouting. “It’s the Green Berets that are supposed to link up with us!”

A few minutes later

Pablo greeted Damon. Damon replied in a joking manner. “What took you so long? You missed our battle.”

Pablo laughed. “Trust me, we had our own battle.”

“Well, I can see that.”

0400 May 14th, 2020 CE

0500 Sun 44th, 196 AE

In the air over the Elven Nation

Formations of F-15s and F-16s swooped down low. Their speed made them almost unhittable by the elven air defense. Off in the distance, black smoke rose from burning metal.

Multiple B-1Bs dropped their payloads onto large elven coastal fortifications.

20 B-52s cruised at nearly 50,000 feet. Although they were all in different locations, they were all moving south and deeper into elf territory.

Northern Sector Elven Detection Station

An elven operator gave an emergency report. “We have detected multiple aircraft scattered by themselves in the air across our sector. They all entered from the south where the humans are attacking.”

The commanding officer nodded. “Alert all air bases in the Northern Sector to respond.”

20 squadrons of Ea-192s took off from multiple different air bases scattered across the Northern Sector. Each headed straight for one of the detected aircraft.

In the air

The weather in the Northern Sector was extremely clear and it was easy to see for miles. One of the elf pilots noticed a single aircraft. It seemed so small because of how high above them it was.

<<<“It’s above us!”>>>

The elves easily identified it as a heavy bomber but were mystified as to how it flew since it didn’t have propellers on its wings. The twelve Ea-192s started to climb towards it. Within a few minutes of climbing, their engines started cutting out and they stalled. They had barely reached their target. The Ea-192s curved backward and started falling. Falling for a bit, they regained control.

<<<“It’s too high up! How high is it?”

“Regroup and attack again. We will have to shoot before we stall.”>>>

Again, they tried. They aimed their aircraft at the human bomber and quickly climbed to intercept it. When the pilots felt that they were about to stall, they opened fire. Even with the Ea-192s reaching their maximum ceiling of around 39,000 feet, their bullets couldn’t reach the lone human bomber cruising slowly through the sky as if it was mocking them.

Each squadron of twelve Ea-192s was unable to engage the B-52s that they had been tasked to destroy. The B-52s continued on their journey.