NOVEL NEXT RM Vol 4: War – Chapter 1: Prelude to War. – Edited by Yovis
CRACK
"Motherfucker!" Shouts a Ustian Loyalist Private as the searchlight on top of his pillbox is shot out, again. Running to one of the loopholes facing the East, the man tries his best but still fails to see anything in the darkness of the night.
"Just ignore it, my brother." Says another Private who has been busying himself with a smoke. "You won't be able to see anything out there. At this point, I think the whole Maginot Line is cursed, rather than an intentional act of harassment or sabotage."
"Damn it, it will be on us to replace the light once more, you know." Curses the first Private while moving to sit on the floor with bloodshot eyes. "Couldn't even get half an hour of sleep with all of these disruptions. It's either us being shot at or the nearby pillboxes and watchtowers sounding an alarm."
His fellow trooper shrugs before sharing the cigarette with him. "Hell, if our enemy keeps this up, we will be bankrupted just from replacing those damn lights alone!"
The two men laugh, not bothering to keep a good watch beyond the pillbox. Fatigue and frustration have gotten into them, and they can't even bother guarding against an enemy who may never show up.
"Heh, the Belkans probably got cold feet from seeing our mighty defense line. Could be why they only perform these cowardly tactics." Says one of the Privates, not knowing just how wrong he is.
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"The bomb has been planted." An armored figure says through their helmet radio. Stepping away from the disguised plastic explosive, the figure uses her wings to fly over a series of boxes and munitions. Finally, she flies through a set of opened roof windows that belong to a munition storage. "Point A is done, moving to point B."
Closing the windows she just flew through, Raven-058 Linda casts a camouflage spell before taking off to another location. The bomb she planted earlier was a set of plastic explosives on a timer. It's also equipped with a motion sensor to act as a booby trap if the Ustian Loyalists somehow see through the bomb's disguise as a normal munition crate. Though small, the bomb can easily set off other explosives inside that munition warehouse, thus turning the local area into a miniaturized volcano. Now that Linda has set Point A to blow though, she must fly to Point B to install another bomb.
In under a minute, Linda has positioned herself right above a Loyalist fuel depot, serving as a supply point for the nearby Loyalist Armored Division. Such an important area is usually heavily guarded with eyes and searchlights pointing at the sky. However, with how the Night Witches of the 404th have been harassing them day in and day out, the Loyalist sentries are tired, annoyed, and most important of all have no access to a working searchlight. The active camouflage spell Linda cast earlier has made detecting her near impossible unless she is directly in front of a sentry five steps away. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to check.
"Blue Four to Blue Team. Am I clear to proceed?" Linda asks over the radio.
Near immediately, a reply comes, and the speaker is identified as Raven-087 Kelly, Linda's battle sister. "Hold your horse for a bit, girl. There's a pair of patrols moving just below that fuel silo you're hovering above. Opening the lid of that silo may trigger an alert by audio."
"Copy, will hang back for now." Linda responds. Though she can use a noise-cancelation spell, it doesn't hurt to be thorough."
"Clear. Proceed with your objective, Four. I will use my scope to spot any surprises." When Kelly gives her the go-ahead, Linda floats silently down onto the big concrete-gray silo.
Reaching back to her armored backpack, Linda pulls out another explosive charge. Unlike before, this charge is encased in a normal protective casing, though the timer and the motion sensor are there and ready to be activated. Pulling on her mana, Linda casts a small noise-cancellation ward around herself and the top of the silo. Opening the lid, one that would have creaked audibly due to how rusted its hinges are, Linda activates the bomb before tossing it directly into the full-fuel silo. The casing will protect the bomb from being fouled by the fuel mixture, making sure it will go off at the intended time.
"One down, three more to go." Linda reports before closing the lid.
"Kelly here. You're free to proceed to the last three silos, Linda. However, One and Two will be the ones to cover you as they're in my blind spot." Kelly advises the Witch of her team of Ravens.
"Thanks, Kelly. Reposition as planned then." Linda says with a small smile beneath her helmet. In return, the radio and Kelly's icon beeps and flashes on her HUD once, signifying Blue Three's acceptance.
"Got you on visual, Four." Linda is greeted by the voice of her team leader, Blue One, Raven-117 John.
"The surrounding area is clear, for now, Four. It seems that some of the sentries are gathered by a fire pit instead of standing guard." This is said by Raven-104 Frederic who is Blue Two on the team.
"Can't blame them, really. It's dark, it's wet, and it's cold as heck with how it just rained earlier." Linda says before proceeding to toss another bomb into silo number two. Though she banters lightly, Linda is not one to disregard her alertness. The Raven Witch performs her duty with exceptional professionalism. "Silo 2 is prepped to go off, moving to the last two."
"Blue Three here, I have repositioned to Overwatch Point 6. Will be on standby to cover your retreat." Kelly reports, receiving three audio beeps and three icon flashes from the rest of her team.
While Linda is busy with planting down another bomb, the team takes the chance to banter. All of them aside from their Blue Leader take turns poking at their rival, Noble Team.
"You guys think we can RTB before Noble?" Kelly asks while imagining herself pulling the trigger to cut the cigarette a Loyalist is lighting in half.
"Our tasking is quite similar in nature, so maybe if we leg it hard?" Linda replies before closing the lid of the third silo.
"Is there even a point in competing though? We're geared for the more stealthy ops while Noble Team is best suited for assault and support with their number and firepower." Frederic replies. "Our specialties are just different."
"Of course, there's a point in competing, Fred. The team with the best mission completion results and ratings in Team Battles will get a vacation each quarter! The last time we lost it to Noble Catherine had been sassing me about the barbecue they got in space no less!" Kelly says with controlled competitiveness in her voice. "I have never been to space, and Noble beating all other Teams to be the first kinda rubs me the wrong way."
"You and us all, Kelly. Though I am more interested in trying out a space barbecue too..." Linda chimes in with a wistful tone. "Job's done here though so we better beat it before the sun rises."
"Rendezvous as planned, Linda. We'll cover you." John finally speaks at last while keeping his sight on the lookout for anyone who may spot Linda on exfil.
Ultimately, Blue Team makes a stealthy getaway from the AO with none of the Loyalists being any wiser to their presence. Blue Team is not the only group to wander the dark of the night like this, however. All over the Maginot Line and even deeper into the Allied territories, Raven Teams have infiltrated and committed acts of sabotage without the Ustians or Eruseans finding out. Explosive charges are planted on all major Allied targets of interest with them being timed or set to be remotely-detonated to ensure maximum damage and confusion. By the appointed time tomorrow, the coalition that is formed to counter the Belkan Reich and Ustian Reformists will be in for a rude awakening.
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"So you will be staying here, Yuki? You will lead from the front like last time?" Says Rosa, the Princess of the Ustian Reformists. The girl, having been pining on Yuki for years alongside her maid, is understandably worried for her love interest.
Yuki smiles as Rosa's maid, Mary, serves tea for them both as they're gathered under a veranda. "Only this time, I will be knocking on Paris instead of Arash, Rosa. Though it won't be as exciting without your uncle behind the scenes."
Rosa rolls her eyes with faux anger. "Seriously, I still can't believe how effortless it was back then for him to flip the table on me and invite you in without much of a fight."
"For what's it worth, the man does have his heart where it's good." Yuki smiles as they both show their gratefulness to Mary before all three of them enjoy the presented tea. Mary is considered family and more by Rosa and Yuki, so it's only natural for her to join their table after much nagging from Rosa.
"I know, but it doesn't mean that I will stop teasing him about it. Auntie and I just love to see his soured expression." Rosa giggles, having remembered the faces made by her uncle, now acting as a Governor for the port city of Arash. Surprisingly, the man has taken the backstage in helping to lead the Reformists when his wife is pregnant with a child.
Rosa is honestly glad for the man though. After some years on the forefront, Rosa has grown to be a fine leader in both diplomatic and military matters. This is all thanks to the tutoring done by Yuki and her Brigadier General Alexa. Though more often than not, the pair will honestly admit that Rosa's hard work has paid dividends. Speaking of military things.
"Yuki, are you sure that you won't need a speech to motivate your soldiers?" Rosa says while looking beyond the veranda, beholding the sight of soldiers, both Belkans and Ustian Reformists, mobilizing. With Arash as a major staging area, the combined armed forces of Belka and Reformists will soon launch a heavy assault when the next night has arrived.
The Reich Marshal just chuckles. "While the Reformist soldiers may need a pick-me-up, us Belkans don't. What use is a speech when our entire military is already highly motivated to clean house with the thorn in its eyes? No, Rosa, what the troops need is just a marching order and a target, things I have already set in stone."
The way Yuki exudes total confidence in her military is quite something, causing chills to run down the back of Rosa and Mary. The latter goes on to say. "You know... I am damn glad that we two got it off easy. Belkans are just built-different somehow."
Yuki laughs at the wry expressions on both Rosa and Mary. "Girls, wait till you see how we finish this in a month."
In fact, it may not even take that long for Belka to beat two battlefronts black and blue. However, this is left unsaid, with Yuki sipping her tea to hide her devilish smirk.