0245 May 15th, 2020 CE

0422 Sun 45th, 196 AE

On a road in the Elven Nation

Inside his M2A3 BFV, Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Linda, commander of the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st ABCT, listened over the radio to the shouting of Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Armored Regiment.

<<<“You guys fucking missed nearly an entire company! They had their camp in the forest. We were nearly ambushed on the route.”

“A recon section had swept through that area. Dismounted infantry covered that forest and had also reported it to be clear. How big was the camp?”

“They had around 5 large tents and a couple of vehicles.”

“Where was it?”

“Couple miles into the forest.”

“The recon section missed it most likely. I can’t guarantee that every single forest in your path has been combed through. You didn’t take any casualties did you?”

“Only a few injuries. We saw them hiding on the edge of the forest before they could do anything.”

“I will need another cavalry troop to actually comb through the entire area and find every single elf. Any force that we don’t find should be minuscule enough that it won’t greatly hinder your advance. Remember, we are doing security for your rear and flanks too.”>>>

Two M2A3 Bradleys, a section from the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, traveled speedily down the road. They came to an abrupt halt as something appeared ahead.

>>

Soldiers came out of the back of the Bradleys and aimed their guns at the car. One of them waved at the car. The car came to an abrupt halt and quickly turned around.

“Seems to be a civilian. I do hope they haven’t invented car IEDs.”

Although there were highways, most of the roads were usually devoid of cars. The elves that they had encountered so far have all ran away in fear.

Outside the Port City of Filanneas, Elven Nation

30 minutes later

The two Bradleys came to a halt once again.

The lead Bradley’s driver looked up at his commander. “So this is the city?”

“Yep.”

“There doesn’t seem to be a military presence. Oh… wait… I’m seeing sandbags. Also armed civilians.”

“Well, I heard that the partisans are giving the Marines hell. There’s a lot of them too.”

“I can see that. Guess they are waiting for us. How much you want to bet that those cars were scouts?”

“Let’s keep our distance. Heard they got some sort of RPG.”

Port City of Filanneas

The water from the faucet ran onto Renout Hanekin’s hands as he scrubbed the dishes of his master, an old and rich male elf. Elves could be heard everywhere outside of the house he was in. They were all talking, walking around, and setting up structures. The entire city was in an uproar. Renout feared for his life since every elf seemed to be armed with weapons.

Renout glanced over at a piece of paper on the kitchen counter. He was pretty sure this was what convinced his master to buy him. He couldn’t read it but the picture on it clearly showed a human acting like a butler to an elf lounging around.

Every Elf A King!

Buy your own personal human servant! Assign it to any menial job. Make it do anything you want. It will serve your every need. You will not be penalized for torturing, raping, or killing your human. Prices vary.

As Renout set down the plates, he looked around. He was alone in the kitchen but he didn’t dare run away. Some people had foolishly tried to run thinking that it was easy since security was lax. All of them were caught and slowly tortured to death. He didn’t want to suffer a similar fate.

0327 May 15th, 2020 CE

0443 Sun 45th, 196 AE

Outside the Port City of Filanneas

Blake gazed at the Port City of Filanneas. The tallest building in the city seemed to be just three stories. If not for the number of buildings, it would have felt like a small town. Blake sighed and looked at Finn. “If this was anything like the last two towns, this entire city is going to be hostile. Is there no way we can just flatten parts of it with artillery and airstrikes?”

“Well, I’m not ranked high enough to decide that.”

Blake shrugged. “Just asking for an opinion.”

“Hm... Probably not. It’s too dense. Artillery is out of the question and any bombing run, no matter how accurate, will cause collateral damage.”

“But we are pretty sure that most of the elves will be hostile.”

Finn shook his head. “Not a good enough reason for those that are watching. Pretty sure we have journalists embedded with us.”

“Curtis definitely isn’t going to like this battle.”

“I’m gonna need to refer Curtis to the psychologist soon. Pretty sure we have one attached with us. He’s probably gonna be beyond my help if this gets worse. He seems back to his normal self as of right now.”

“He’s quite a soft guy.”

“He’s still a Marine.”

Jacob got out of the Bradley and turned to Issac and the rest of the squad. “We will be advancing into the city at 1300.”

Issac glanced at a person getting out of a Humvee behind them. The person was wearing a blue-covered vest. “Ah. The media’s here.”

Port City of Filanneas

Renout kept his head down as his master walked by and glanced at the dishes.

“Now take out the garbage.”

He was glad that his master spoke to him in Common. Even though his master knew how to speak Common, he had been hit multiple times for not understanding the Elven language.

Renout walked out of the house carrying a bag of garbage. Seeing the armed elves walking by, he wanted to shrink himself so he couldn’t be seen. Continuing on, he then saw an elf family walking by. A mother and father watching their daughter prancing around. His heart hurt a bit. He missed and worried for the well-being of his younger sister, mother, and father. They had been separated when they were processed and given different jobs.

His family came from a quaint rural town. By luck or not, his town was in the area where the elves started taking slaves. If he had lived closer to the ocean, he and his family would most likely have died. He had seen the corpses of the people of the towns closer to the ocean. However, if he had lived farther, he probably would still be home tending to his family’s farm. His stomach growled thinking of the food he would be eating back home. His master barely fed him. But he preferred this over the hard labor he would have endured if he wasn’t selected to be a servant.

“The humans are here! They have magipanzers. Prepare to defend our homes!”

“Don’t let these humans through!”

Two elven soldiers ran past shouting. Renout watched them run deeper into the city. He remembered that there used to be a lot of soldiers here but most of them disappeared for some reason. All around him, other elves started running in the other direction. They seemed to tighten their hold on their weapons. For some reason, Renout felt a bit of hope in his heart.

Surrounding the city, elements of the 2nd Marine Division and 1st ABCT prepared to launch an assault on the city.

Yarrin, Magus Imperium

M4 Shermans drove onto the Magus transport ship. American infantry on the dock watched in curiosity at the procession of what was the workhorse of the US Army in World War 2. “Well thank god the Magus aren’t using our ships. We already have enough trouble transporting our own stuff over.”

“Quite interesting isn’t it. An M4 Sherman going off to war. I wonder which variant it is.”

“Seems to be an Easy Eight. My great grandfather drove one of those.”

Near the center of the Elven Nation

On the commander’s hatch of her Knight, Ara took in the view of the mountain range. Some of the mountains reached the sky. A few hours ago, she had run into infantry from another unit and re-established contact with what was left of the High Command. It seemed that her plans were almost exactly the same as the orders.

Galath Mountain, Elven Nation

The Galath Base was a large Elven Air Force and Army base cut into the mountain. It took 50 years to complete and was protected by a few thousand feet of stone. Magipanzers, magitrucks, small arms, and other weapons were stored in it. What was left of the entire Air Force was also there. It numbered less than 50 aircraft. The base even had living quarters for the soldiers and a network of bunkers jutting out of the mountain. Unlike most of the situation outside, the base was calm and hadn’t been attacked. The only difference was the large influx of troops. Thousands of elven soldiers and vehicles were pouring into the mountains. Some set up their own bases while others came to the Galath Base. Colonel General Elfred Adrora shook his head at his aide. “I can’t accommodate all of this. Get me in contact with the Leader.”