Dimensional Travels: World at War-Chapter 71: When the world breaks

The Empire soldiers pushed forward, stepping over the bodies of their own men. They pushed down the mountains and into Riemskin territory. Banners flew, and Llrathels approached, their engines filling the air with pungeant smelling mana burn. No matter how many enemies the battalion took out, more replaced them. They had been fighting for two days now, and the losses on both sides kept piling up. Eric knew it wouldn’t be long before another tank went down.

Silence filled the battlefield as the smell of oil pervaded the atmosphere. Birds hugged the treelines, and thousands of vultures flew overhead. Pools of blood and dragon wings sat in the middle, between the two units.

"Why aren’t they attacking?" Liam said as he took a bite out of a protein bar. Currently, both armies stood separated by a roughly one mile stretch. The battalion was almost backed all the way up to Hood Hill.

"Because they have the advantage." Hammond said as he checked the ammo of a privates .249. At this point, ammo was black in every company. The dragons had long since fallen back. Each young dragon and elder covered in wounds.

Ricky came up behind Eric, joining the HUMINT Section. "Well Eric. It was a pleasure fighting one last battle with ya." He said with a grin.

Eric didn’t bother correcting him, simply grinning and patting the man on his back. "You too fucker. Ain’t nobody better to die next to than you boys."

The radio came alive. "Enemy positions are advancing along Phase Line Charlie. Paladins are black on ammo."

Eric sighed as he looked at Milano. "Sir, why are you here?"

The General chuckled. "If I am going to go out, it won’t be sitting at a desk listening to reports."

"Fair enough."

Milano took over command. "All units, fall back to Phase Line Echo." He paused, his hands shaking as he readied his weapon.

He inhaled, flicking the safety.

"Waste the fuckers."

The battle began anew, each magazine spent counting down towards battalion extermination. A soldier came crawling into the trench, his trembling hands dropping ammo cans. With a sharp "clink, the rounds dropped next to Eric.

"Alpha, engage targets on the left flank!" Milano shouted into the mic. Ten Llrathels were trying to push in from the east.

Eric’s hands were numb as his arms jolted with each burst coming from the .249. ISR reports kept coming through the radio, and then he felt it.

The air shifted as if being sucked inwards. The mana became visible as streams of it began to flow in motes of light towards the top of the mountain. Eric looked up in shock.

"They would fire on their own men?!"

Eric looked up, seeing ten Brios cannons along the ridges of the pass.

Yet still, the empire soldiers pushed on.

"Christ. They really do see the soldiers as expendable."

Eric shoved a magazine, loading his M4. The .249 he was using lay uselessly at his side. They had no more ammo for it. "Looks like those stockpiles are going to rust in the warehouse." He remarked.

All along the line, similar scenes were taking place. Soldiers dismounted from tanks and bradleys, standing side by side with the rest of the perimeter. Jessica grabbed Liam’s hand, squeezing it. Eric hugged them both. "You’re good kids." He whispered as he turned towards the encroaching line.

"Well, at least when Fort Hood gets here, they’ll have more pieces to put in the Museum." Milano said. "It was an honor, everyone."

"Here’s for 6-8, 1st Cav Division!"

"Fire at will!"

The battlefield erupted.

As the empire got within three hundred meters, .556 rounds chopped them down, each crack of a rifle ending the life of an enemy. Blood splattered, men collapsed, and the front line broke.

"Blow it!" Milano shouted, and a line of explosives went off, ripping through the front. The pressure wave vibrated throw the ground, pushing up dust and teal grass as Empire soldiers fell on top of each other.

Suddenly, the air compressed and exploded. Dust kicked up, and Eric shut his eyes involuntarily. "Friendly unit, mark with red smoke." A radio call patched through. Eric looked through the battlefield haze, his teeth rattling as the sound hit.

A supersonic explosion echoed, destroying what was left of his hearing. He grabbed the radio. "Broken Arrow, I repeat, broken arrow."

He yelled out to the line. "SMOKE! DEPLOY RED SMOKE!"

"Withdraw to Hood hill!" Eric yelled as he looked at the line of soldiers. "We resupply, and take our mountains back."

"Jets." Milano said, looking up in amusement. "Looks like I’ll be sitting at that desk after all."

Prince Heith sat on the mountain as he looked down at the battle. His servant was serving as his chair while he observed. "Yes. Exterminate these rats." He said, his eyes glowing with disdain. "When will the Brios cannons be ready?"

"Twenty more minutes, sire. They are currently in condensation phase."

Heith nodded. "Very well. When they are ready, fire into the valley. I want it all erased."

"Sire, we still have our men down there. It will take-" Heith raised his hand for silence.

"Did I stutter, or did I give an order?"

"You gave an order, sire."

Heith got up, kicking the woman. "You mortals bow to our whims. If I tell you to erase a valley, you erase it. These men will spend their afterlife with father knowing that their sacrifice led to the destruction of the last resistance against our empire."

Suddenly, he felt it. Something crossing the boundary. Cracks in the sky rippled across the air, and the sea surface spasmed with tremors. Behind the shape, a dark and calm sea appeared. It vanished as the shape crossed over.

"Fickle. I will let you have your day, little rats."

Heith turned to his servant. "Come. We are leaving. The battle has been lost."

The woman stood up. "Sire?"

Heith threw her down the mountain. "Mortals never learn." He growled. "I don’t see why father keeps them around."

Suddenly, bright flashes of light erupted in front of him, shockwaves blasting through Empire troops. His eyes narrowed as he watched the bird like machines move faster than dragons.

"Maybe father was right about these otherworld machines." He mused before stepping into a portal, arriving back at Brishian city.

Eric loaded magazines with trembling hands as he looked around. Soldiers reloaded magazines and grabbed ammo cans for their trucks. Turrets on Humvees were reloaded, and gear clinked as preparations were made for the final push.

"Alpha and Bravo take left flank. Charlie and Delta take right flank. Humvees from Echo and sustainment push forward. Apaches, target those Brios cannons."

"Go."

Eric drove over bodies and craters of dirt. The battlefield where they had just been preparing for their last stand was unrecognizable as trees were uprooted, and tufts of grass marked where shrapnel pierced. Liam continually fired the .50 cal, his sights aimed at the remaining stragglers of the empire. Some had retreated into the treeline, while most were pushing back up the mountain.

"Cease fire, Cease fire, Cease fire. All units, set up a perimeter at Esponia."

Eric slowed the vehicle. His hands locked tight on the steering wheel as he exhaled sharply. He looked up at the sky, shakily laughing as he patted Liam’s leg.

"Guess I’m going to your wedding after all, kid."

Jessica screamed at him from the back. "Would you cut that out!" She hissed.

Back at Esponia, Eric started rattling off orders. "Alright, C wire goes on these three passes, with mines behind them. Barricades are to be emplaced where the slope evens out. .50 cal nests are to be put on Sual pass and Heas."

Soldiers rushed to follow his orders. They ran from pass to pass with hurried efficiency as he stood there. He tried to ignore the squelching of blood under his boots as he corrected the emplacement of C-wire. "Hey! There’s a woman alive down here! She’s in critical condition!" A medic called from one hundred feet below.

Eric rushed down to where the medic was, noting the woman’s shallow breathing. Her breaths came in labored fashion, as skin was hanging off her arms and legs. "It looks like she... fell?" Eric remarked, but set the thought aside.

"Can you treat her?"

"Roger Master Sergeant." The medic responded as he got to work. "But I need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. It’s quite honestly a miracle she is alive."

Eric nodded before turning to Liam and Jessica. "Take the medic and the POW to the Hood Hill hospital. Call me if anything happens, and make sure that the medic is protected. We don’t know who this woman is, or how she ended up here."

The two young soldiers nodded while helping the medic get the woman into the truck. They sped down the mountain, causing Eric to groan. "Don’t drive that fast on snow!" He growled, but realized he had a platoon of soldiers behind him, looking at him as if he had bunny ears.

"Get back to work!" He snapped.