9 A Diplomatic Attempt

Jonathan opened his eyes when a knock came on his door, he stood up and made himself presentable before opening it.

"Sir, the colonel is calling for an emergency briefing." The young lieutenant who knocked reported.

"Ok, thanks for informing me. I'll be on my way." Jonathan put on his uniform and groomed himself before walking to the briefing room where he saw the colonel and several officers being preparing for the briefing.

He sat down on one of the seats and waited as more officers showed up and entered the room. Soon enough every company leaders was there and the colonel started his briefing.

"As of 0600 hours today our drones spotted a large enemy force heading to our base, they are composed of mostly infantry and a sizable force of cavalry and even some... large mounted eagles."

The room lit up with murmurs on the last phrase and the colonel continued.

"We will have M6 linebackers on station as well MANPADS distributed to each infantry squads to counter the threat. You may check your battle posistions in the provided mission sheet."

An officer raised his hand. "Sir, I can see that a squad sized element is going to be sent to the enemy force to initiate contact?"

"That's right Captain Ramirez, we have to attempt to avoid further hostilities from them and the higher-ups decided that showing our good intentions to this army might just make them see it clearly.

"But there aren't any squads assigned to escort them sir?" Another officer asked.

"That's where it gets a bit risky." The colonel looked over at the men in front of him. "I need a squad to volunteer."

The room fell into a state of murmurs again. It was dangerous to escort diplomatic civilians to try to communicate with the advancing army. But captain Jonathan remembered the pile of bodies being burned, the village that was raided and the innocents that were slaughtered when they made the bandits bolder. He doesn't want more of this to happen, so he raised his hand.

"Sir, I shall assign a squad, personally lead by me, to escort the diplomats to the enemy formation."

On the march to Camp Knight, Valecan coalition.

The Veteran 6th and 1st Holy Army along with the Elite 10th Evangelical Army marched towards the demon portal with a total number of 12,000 men. It was expected to overwhelm the demons by engaging them in a wide battle zone to thin out their lines and when a breakthrough is achieved, surround them.

Leading this massive force was the son of the High-King's Head of military and security, Ehrha Aschen. The young man have proven himself to both the High-King through his exceptional achievements in the war against the Koodil Empire and to the church as a devout follower.

Although his father was against it, the king decided that the glory of defeating the demons would go to him.

He eagerly accepted the command of the force that will be forever known who defeated the demons from hell.

Or so he thought.

As brilliant of a commander he was, he is rather close-minded and will believe no one else than those he knows he could trust.

So much so that it decided his fate and that of the rest of his army.

He saw a group of the eleven demons coming towards his army in strange, noisy mounts. at first he thought it was a scouting party doing a mindless charge like a demon should, but was surprised to see them holding up a flag of truce instead of a sword.

"They... they have dug into the mind of our fallen comrades sir! Do not fall for this deceit!" One of his advisors warned him.

"I shall not. Instead, let us use this against them." He replied as he signaled his bodyguards to advance with him to the approaching demons.

Soon enough, both parties reached a close distance and as they got nearer Ehra noticed that the demons looked strikingly humans except for those dark, cold, soulless eyes.

One of them though, looked entirely human with his only his clothing being odd. The demon dismounted his mount and held the flag of truce with him and started to walk along with another demon towards the commander.

The commander didn't dismount his horse, in a battle against another foe this would've been an insult. But they aren't just fighting any other foe, they were going to fight against demons.

The two demons stopped when he held out his arm, confident that they have seen the size of his forces he knew that these emissaries must've come here for a truce- which they will not have.

"Greetings, I am-"

"Speak your intentions demon! Do not tarry as I have glory that awaits to be grasped when i defeat you unholy hell-spawn army." He cuts off.

The two demons looked at each other and spoke something in their infernal tongue. Then turned back to the commander.

"We come to state that we mean no ill to you or your people, we come in peace."

"Do not fall for this deceit!" The words of his advisor echoed in his head.

"Mean no ill?! Is that why you eradicated the second HOLY army from the field? Nay! You would've came in peacefully hell-spawn! But you and your kind are that, violent and without mercy! EXECUTE THESE DEMONS!" He ordered as his bodyguards moved forward to the demon emissary and his escorts.

Jonathan's POV

The captain watched as the assumed commander of the enemy force shouted their execution, he immediately beckoned the diplomat to come back to the motorcycle in order to exfil as the negotiations started to fail.

"No not yet! We shouldn't do anything to provoke-" His words were cut short as a spear went through his body.

"SIR! FALL BACK FROM THERE WE'LL COVER YOU!" His men radioed to him.

"HOLD YOU FIRE! ROE SAYS TO RETREAT WHEN ATTACKED HEAD BACK TO BASE NOW!"

Jonathan quickly got on his motorcycle and started it up. The horsemen were already very close when he got is started and barely dodge a sword swung at his head before he sped off to the rest of his squad.

"Command this is Ember actual, come in over!" Jonathan radioed out.

"Ember actual this is command, go ahead." The calm voice of the colonel came through.

"Sir, they have taken out the diplomat! Negotiations have failed, I say again, negotiations have failed!"

"Did you manage to recover our diplomat captain?" The colonel asked

"No sir, sorry sir." Jonathan remembered seeing the diplomat getting speared and the blood coming out of his mouth.

"He died serving the country, and were about to make these bastards die for theirs. RTB now!"