Chapter 8

February 1st, 1900

Loughton, United Provinces of Sartoma

"What is this, nuclear energy you mentioned this place is designed for. Is it something similar to magic that's native in your world, or something else entirely?"

"Actually this had no relation to magic. Rather it's all pure science."

Besides having discovered the power of the atom in just weapons development, the United Provinces of Sartoma have discovered a means to harness the power of the atom and utilize it in it's energy economy. The government, and people were well aware of the negative health risks coming from burning large amounts of coal and oil for providing power. Upon discovering the atom however, it opened the gates to so many opportunities and research.

The government immediately saw the benefits from using power plants run by nuclear fission and invested a great deal of funds and resources into constructing nuclear reactors and facilities to maintain them. By 1939, the government expected to have at least 80% of it's energy production from nuclear power. Several facilities were already up and running, replacing dozens of coal and oil burning power plants and now providing all the needed power for the city of Loughton.

The Arkport royal family and nobles were being offered a tour of the facility as they were standing in an observation room with a direct line of sight of the reactor. "Much of how these reactors operate is classified, for obvious security reasons, but the facility operates by harnessing the heat generated by each reactor to create steam which spins turbines in another part of the facility to generate and distribute power to the city's power grid. These reactors combined to spin the turbines can produce over 100,000 megawatts of electricity per hour, more than enough to power every home and every building on a daily basis." The tour guided explained to the group who looked at what seemed to be a massive casket surrounded with pipes and valves while staff were wearing protective suits when inside the reactor room.

"So these...atoms you mentioned earlier, how do they actually make up the entirety of everything in existence?" Queen Nora questioned as she and the others were still trying to grasp the concept of the atom, which they never heard of or discovered yet.

"Again the atom makes up everything, from the billions of cells in your bodies, to the hardest of rocks, and even flowing water. The only reason we don't see atoms separate or stretched apart is because of how small and grouped together they are." Their guided explained. "Some atoms combine together and make what we call molecules. One such example of a molecule is water itself. It's made of three separate atoms, the first being hydrogen and the other two are oxygen."

"Interesting, does your society embrace this concept about the atom and it making up everything?" King Patrick asked.

"It's accepted among the whole of the science community. Regular folk don't usually find much interest in these scientific ideas and usually worry about carrying on with their lives. But schools and academies do teach it."

Before they could continue on, Mr. Black and Mr. White entered from the door behind and approached. "My apologies for any disturbance with our presence, but there's been an emergency and we need for you all to come with us immediately."

"An emergency? What has happened that involves our importance?" King Patrick questioned the agent.

"I'll explain more later, now come, quickly."

The royals and nobles were escorted out of the power plant where government vehicles were waiting to pick them up. The nobles were all seated in the rear car while the royals and Mr. Black were seated in the front vehicle. It was from then on the agent began explaining the situation as they drove off.

"A declaration of war has been made against us by the Imperium, and they're right now threatening your kingdom so long as you hold ties with us."

"The Imperium has declared war?" King Patrick exclaimed with shock. "This was something I feared was going to happen eventually, but I never believed it to occur so early. Guess I've underestimated them. What is the status so far of the conflict? Are they beginning their invasion, or rallying their forces along the borders?"

"So far there's been no confrontation," Mr. Black answered. "Yet, but we believe our first encounters could arrive late afternoon or the next day. I've been instructed to extend a request to you from Chancellor Sperl for permission to send and organize our land forces within your territories. That way we can open another front against them and attack from two sides via land."

"You wish to use our borders as a staging area to invade them from," The king noted and thought about the suggestion for a moment. "I've learned a lot about your kind during my time here, and I seem to have no reason not to trust you at this point. Do what you must, but ensure my people are in safe hands, and the Imperium is held back from our lands."

"Understood. Be at ease knowing that we're already responding to the situation. Our forces are moving to meet the enemy frontline and keep them at bay. As for you, we'll be hopping over to Jemcaster via plane to a secure location for security reasons. From there we can guarantee your safety and keep you updated on the latest of the war effort."

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February 2nd, 1900

Salt River Border, United Provinces of Sartoma

The border was on the highest alert it had ever been on since their arrival on the planet of Seach. The 5th Infantry Division had dug itself into the fortified entrenchments and bunkers as they lay in wait with the 2nd Armored Divison for the enemy to show up.

The Cheetah, Leopard, and Jaguar tanks had pulled back and were dug in behind layers upon layers of sandbags covered in foliage and mud to hide their hulls while keeping the turrets exposed. Turning them into makeshift bunker guns. Speaking of bunkers, machine gunners had taken position inside the structure with MG-69 medium machine guns. A weapon that fired an 8x58mm cartridge at a rate of 900–1,100 rounds per minute.

At the rear 105mm, 155mm, and 240mm howitzers were on standby with 20mm, 40mm, and 127mm AA guns aimed towards the sky to shoot down any and all wyverns that tried to attack the artillery.

Their task was to hold the enemy at bay until their reinforcements arrived and went on the offensive against the enemy. For now, they had to hold with what they had for however long it took.

Above the skies beyond the border, several P-08 Sparrows were scouting the terrain below for any sign of troop movement from the opposition. Their spotters scanned through the forests and open plains, while keeping a close eye on the natural pathways that spread out across the terrain below.

"Tally Ho! Enemy forces spotted to our left, they're headed for the beach!" A spotter called out to his pilot who noticed his buddy's find and began to circle around the area where the enemy army was marching. "Counting what looks like several hundred thousand infantry, accompanied by several hundred calvary and horse drawn wagons. Looks like some horse drawn artillery as well."

"Good, call it in to our ground forces," The pilot instructed. "I'm gonna get us—, oh shit! Hold on to something!" The pilot suddenly pulled hard on the stick and sent the aircraft into an aileron roll, catching the spotter in the backseat off guard as a few pens, his binoculars, and map were sent flying everywhere around him. Meanwhile a ball of fire shot past their aircraft with three wyverns in pursuit.

"We got bogeys on our tail! I'm gonna get us out of here! Radio our line, now!"

"I'm on it! I'm on it!" The spotter shouted as he recovered his awareness and switched on the radio. "5th Infantry this is Watchdog Five, we've identified enemy formations at Sector Bravo 94–04, they're heading for the beach with calvary, infantry, and towed artillery via horseback! We're being perused by wyverns, enemy has wyverns in the air!"

"Understood, artillery is responding."

Back at the rear, the artillery guns were adjusting their elevation and orientation in coherence with the grid coordinates to strike against the approaching army. Men who operated the guns were loading the heavy HE shells and propellant bags into the breaches before locking them and arming the guns for firing once they were positioned correctly. Once all guns were in position, the order was given by the artillery commander who send the command over the radio to all batteries.

"Fire at will!"

The gunners stationed at their posts pulled the firing switches that would ignite the propellant inside the breach and send the shells flying towards their intended targets.

Several very loud booms marked the beginning of a war of which none of the world's inhabitants have ever seen before, shaking the ground in their wake while plumes of smoke and fire burst out towards the sky.

Above the sky, the scout plane had climbed to a safe altitude where the wyverns could not reach and was able to escape from their pursuit, heading back for the airbase where it would remain unharmed during the attack. Meanwhile the Imperium ground forces were marching forward in lined formations long the trail with calvary and field guns at the sides. Their armaments consisted of halberds and flintlock smoothbore muskets. However they would have little to no chance of using them as the first shots hit the earth.

The first artillery shots missed, striking the ground and blowing up several meters off target, leaving the advancing enemy army unscathed. However the next couple hit home as two phalanxes were suddenly engulfed in flames and smoke after a loud roar cut through the air above.  The unscathed phalanxes were startled and taken aback as their forces were hit by unseen attacks.

"What trickery is this!" The noble General leading the army cried out. "Has our foe set up traps within our path?" He raised his hand out and cast a short spell to try and find the traps the enemy must've set up. He found nothing. How could they have attacked them without a direct line of sight?

Several explosions from incoming artillery struck the path ahead of their formations, startling the lead formation as they scattered in a panic. An issue with the Imperium Army was their lack of discipline and proper training. Officers were no better as they were assigned based on status rather than experience.

"The enemy is attacking us without line of sight! Pick up your feet and march for the river where we'll meet them in battle!" The General shouted as he mustered his forces to continue moving forward. "Our wyverns shall join us to provide support for our invasion! Our might will surpass any foe we come into contact with!"

Another impact killed off another phalanx of one thousand soldiers, with casualties continuing to rise in the thousands each minute with each artillery shell impact. The sounds of coming doom echoed from across the river as howitzers continued to fire one after another, with crew reloading around the clock after each shot, readying for the next. They were quick and efficiently trained in their work, having the next shell ready to fire in at least ten seconds after the previous shot.

"Enemy combatants are closing the distance!" A soldier on one of the watch towers shouted as he spotted the enemy through the tree line across the river. "They've got air support so make sure to watch the skies for any of those overgrown lizards swooping down on you! They'll either pick you up or breath fire on your positions, get ready for battle!"

The soldiers at the frontline steeled themselves for the oncoming battle as howitzers continued firing from the rear, raining hell upon the enemy as their forces marched through the trees and onto the far beach into the open. "It's now or never boys! Waste them all!"

Cracking of gunfire erupted across the beach as the Sartomans fired their rifles and carbines at the Brathornian soldiers who marched right into their set up kill zone. Earlier, before the battle had commenced, the Sartoman troops had crossed the river to remove as much as they could which the enemy could use as cover, leaving barely anything for the crossing soldiers to take cover behind as they were being gunned down one after another.

The tanks joined the fray from their burrowed positions as their guns let loose plumes of smoke and kicked up clouds of dirt and debris. They fired HE rounds from their barrels which struck the enemy positions and blew up between their tanks, inflicting maximum casualties with the addition of machine gun fire.

The enemy realized their exposed position out on the beach as they ran back into the foliage for cover, meanwhile the horse towed magiguns were being set up and aimed across the river. "Get those guns up and aimed at the rebels! Demolish their fortifications and cross the river quickly!" The general shouted to motivate the troops into battle. "We shall stand victorious against them with the support of our wyverns!"

The flying reptiles came in and folded their wings, diving towards the Sartomans who looked up at the incoming fliers. The riders reached for the sides of their saddles and pulled out preloaded flintlock pistols and cocked the hammer back, pulling the tripper and firing towards the defenders without a specific target. The shots were inaccurate, but one soldier was unlucky as it hit him in the left shoulder, the 16mm lead ball punching through his patch and uniform and burying into his upper arm.

"Hanz is down! Hanz is down!" Another soldier called out as he ran towards his fallen comrade and dragged him into someplace with better cover from the sky. A few wyverns were able to unleashed fireballs which set ablaze bunkers and sandbags fortifications before AA started to respond and reveal themselves.

Soldiers moved aside brush and tarps and revealed the guns, with the crew already aimed at the sky and started shooting with 40mm and 20mm.

The air burst fragmentation shells made effective work of the wyverns as they were quick to cut them apart and force them away from the soldiers on the ground. The sky became filled with the sound of death as riders tried guiding their steeds in the middle of the midair explosions that sent razor sharp and glow hot shrapnel everywhere.

"They're getting field guns set up! Armor, take them out before any can get a shot!"

The Sartomans noticed the towed guns being set up by the Imperium forces and had decided to focus their efforts to prevent the guns from getting a shot on them. Tanks fired their guns and were able to destroy a few before the enemy was able to retaliate with their own shots. Several balls of white hot mana energy shot out from the muzzles and landed across the frontline. The impacts caused the surface to either melt or set ablaze from the extreme heat generated before the shots dissipated. Anyone unfortunate to be direct hit by it would disintegrate instantly without a trace remaining of their presence.

However each shot revealed the location of the guns with bright flashes, allowing the tanks to easily identify and eliminate them before they can shoot again. One of tanks however got hit as mana struck the steel gun mantlet on the turret. The result was a new small melted crater on the armor, however the shot did not penetrate as the tank returned fire with it's own gun, striking and destroying the magigun that fired at it.

The sound of roaring jet engines echoed from above as J-03 Falcons arrived and flew into the airspace. 15mm machine guns ripped through the air and cut apart any wyverns far out of range from AA. They were effective and quick like a hot knife through butter, cutting through them like a sickle through a field of wheat.

Some of the jets disengaged from the air battle and raced towards the ground where the enemy troops were marching towards the beaches. Carrying bombs under their wings, they dived down and lined up on any positions they could visually identify, then unleashed their payload as the bombs fell with a loud whistle. The Imperium soldiers looked up to the sound before their positions were hit by the bombs, killing them all off in several large explosions.

"Damned cursed creatures!" The General shouted in anger as the jets flew over his troops. "How are our wyverns no match for them? I though our bronze beasts were the best across the continent!"

"5th Infantry," The radio suddenly went off within the tent of the the division command as the commander answered the radio. "This is General Krueger of the 4th Armored Division. Reinforcements are now in play."

Setting down the radio piece, the commander rushed to the rear of his tent to the sound of powerful diesel engines, and metal on metal from heavy machines in work. Coming to the road leading inland came columns of massive armored war machines rolling forward towards the frontline.

First was a large wave of Lion heavy tanks followed behind a line of Tiger super heavy tanks, with columns of Leopard medium tanks and half tracked light armored vehicles accompanying them on the side. Reinforcements had arrived with Major General Karl Krueger spearheading with 4th Armored.

"Commander!" A voice shouted from one of the Lions as said General looked down from his cupola at the commander taking charge of the defenders. "I see the line has been held exquisitely before we arrived."

"Glad for you to have joined us sir!" The commander shouted up at the general. "Enemy forces have not been successful in crossing and have entrenched themselves across the river. Be advised they have field guns which have been having a major effect on our infantry positions before tanks can deal with them."

"Understood. We'll take things over from here, take some of the heat off your men. 1st Infantry is joining in from behind us." The General then reached into his turret and activated the radio before talking into the headset mounted mouthpiece. "All infantry units, dismount and proceed forward behind armored spearhead. Engagement is now imminent."

From the half track armored vehicles, soldiers in similar uniform as the 5th Infantry began dismounting and began running forward to the tanks. However unlike the 5th Infantry their gear was different, begging equipped with the latest generation of weapons now being integrated and fielded across all combat divisions of the armed forces.

The new BR-15 was the newest integration of the Next Generation Battle Rifle Program to field the Army with a new standard issue weapon using a the planned 6.8x51 FMJ cartridge, and made entirely of steel, aluminum, and plastics making the rifle appear entirely black. The weapon was about an entire meter in length exactly with a 515mm barrel. The assembly used a gas-operated, closed rotating bolt action capable of delivering a fire rate of 45–60 rpm in semi-automatic mode and 700–850 rpm in full-automatic mode out of a thirty round detachable box magazine. The stock and iron sights were adjustable to meet the requirements of the user's aim.

The MG-90 was the next generation medium machine gun designed to replace the MG-69 and introduce a new more effective 7.62x51 FMJ cartridge, with a similar design principle as the BR-15 being made entirely of steel and aluminum with a plastic stock. The weapon was over a meter in length with a 600mm barrel. The assembly was designed with a roller-delayed blowback action capable of delivering 1,500–1,800 rpm from a ninety round belt contained within a detachable drum magazine. The iron sights were made adjustable but the stock was fixed.

The MP-10 was a lightweight fully automatic weapon designed for close quarters engagement, and was largely fielded by officers, squad leaders, and tank crews instead of the battle rifle. The weapon was over half a meter in length and was assembled with a 225mm barrel using a 10x25mm hollow point cartridge. The assembly was made up of a roller-delayed blowback, closed bolt action capable of unleashing 800 rpm from a standard thirty round detachable box magazine. Iron sight and stock were made adjustable for the needs of each individual soldier wielding them.

While the defenders were firing shots and taking cover from incoming mana and lead musket balls, the troops moving to reinforce positions and drag away wounded looked back to the sight of very heavy armor and better equipped soldiers advancing to the front line to engage the enemy and show them how powerful the United Provinces Army truly was.

The first tank to show was a Lion as it revealed it's turret out from the brush being used as cover and immediately adjusted it's gun down towards the Imperium forces trying to storm through the river.

The tank let loose a powerful blast from it's 100mm gun, firing an HE shell across the river as it drove forward and down a slope providing vehicle access to the river. It's built in stabilizer keeping the gun level as it reached the shore followed by more tanks and eventually the super heavy tanks.

If the heavy tanks weren't scary enough, the super heavy tanks were nightmares taken physical form. The Imperium soldiers already low on morale began fleeing at the sight of the impenetrable moving fortresses, deserting their posts as shells and gunfire rained down upon them in a hailstorm of retribution.

"Forward! Forward you dogs! Return to the battle immediately!" The general shouted from his horse as his troops began fleeing in disregard to his orders. "You cowards! The goddess of war shall smite you down for your hideous acts in the heat of bat—," The noble was unable to finish his statement as a single bullet struck him through the heart and toppled him off his horse. The stead he was previously riding on panicked and fled away from the scene as the Sartomans advanced across the river and took up positions on the opposite site of their fortifications.

"General, enemy remnants are now in full retreat!" An infantry lieutenant came up to the armor general who looked down from his tank. "We're securing the beach and mopping up any stragglers still in the general area!"

"Excellent! Hold position here for the next hour to allow 2nd Armored to restock their supplies and join with us on the offensive." He then pulled out and looked down at a small pocket watch. "Bombers should be arriving...now."

Above the general, bombers began casting shadows upon the ground as they flew over the borders and proceeded inland towards Imperium territory. About twenty five planes with five escorts were sighted, but they only made up the first wave being sent to bomb the enemy lands.

The war had only just begun, but the destruction that would come from it would be of a scale never before seen in this world. For these untainted lands have never experienced the destructive results of modern warfare.