Sovereign

"I don't know if you will read this letter, dear. I don't know if I'll ever see you again, dear. Will your mother even let you see this after what happened, I do not know dear. But Papa loves you. I will protect you. I have no powers like Mama, but I can hold a rifle, dear. I won't let them hurt you, nor your mother that once loved me. I won't. Till the end."

- Abandoned letter of an unknown Royalist soldier on a deserted trench line, June 2024.

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June 22, 2024

Grand Duchy of Ludendorf, Kingdom of Orland

19 Kilometers West of Halia

14th Light Mech Battalion

3rd Defense Perimeter

The Western Front

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The sounds of desperate radio transmissions played over and over in an abandoned royalist position. What once held a bunch of command tents and command APCs was now mere ruins, the sole damaged radio still crackling over the embers of the freshly burning area, the flag of the Kingdom flying as it burned in a ruined building beside it all.

On the roads, burning wrecks of abandoned Löwe tanks and other armored vehicles filled the scene. One of them, which seemed to be positioned near an intersection, stood dead, its turret almost blown open.

On its side, a simple emblem was present, somehow untouched by damage.

34th Tank Battalion.

As it burned, a rumble sounded near the intersection. Almost swiftly, another behemoth crossed the intersection, almost the size of the destroyed Löwe. It seemed to resemble a green mechanical spider - six-legged, with a 120 mm cannon seemingly affixed on a turret on top of it.

The thing's front seemed to glow red in the darkness from the sensors it sported on its hull and turret, as it crawled unnaturally quickly through the broken roads.

A rumble sounded on one of the buildings, and the thing's turret turned toward it.

But it was too late.

A blast opened up from the 5th floor of an abandoned residential apartment, and the mech's turret flew after its ammo detonated.

Perched atop the apartment was a mech of the same variety, only it was painted with a gray digital camo - with the Orlish tricolor faintly visible on the side of its turret.

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The M20 LSS (Light Support System) "Panther" or the Panther Mech, jumped off the building with its powerful mechanical legs, and landed with a powerful thud on the ground below, just beside the still-burning wreck of its previous opponent.

It was Orland's prized innovation in all things armored. A derivative of the tank - a new design improved and optimized for urban warfare. With its flexible mobility with its legs and its powerful gun, the same mounted on the Löwe, these "Light" behemoths proved deadly in towns and cities where they could prey on conventional tanks with ease.

Without much care, the gray behemoth passed through and crossed the intersection, and proceeded forward through the burning streets of the massive town.

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"3-5" however didn't relent. Such was the reality on the Western Front. Without the Air Force nor sufficient AA capabilities, they had to do battle with a severe lack in these areas. Yet they pushed on and fought at all odds to defend the Royal Capital.

And "3-5" was no different.

It continued forward, as it lumbered through the broken roads and abandoned cars. Its legs didn't show much regard though, as it stepped upon anything that blocked its path.

Suddenly, it stopped, as its turret turned around to a turn in the streets.

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<<3-5, hold position. We're checking over.>>

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In the distance, the rumbles of the other M20 LSS could be faintly heard, before a sudden blast interrupted it, as the sound of tank threads roared just left of "3-5".

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"3-5" climbed up the apartment beside it, as it opted out of crossing the street turn. Rapidly, it gained speed and crossed the rooftops in a manner of a few seconds.

Immediately, it found its prey below. A Löwe tank, which seemed to still be waiting for another target behind the wreck of "3-7". Immediately, "3-5" turned its turret straight at the Löwe, as its 120 mm depressed a few degrees to aim straight at it.

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In a matter of seconds, "3-5" and the apartment it was perched atop exploded, the thing completely obscured by the sudden detonation, the Löwe below not even batting an eye to the eliminated Royalist mech above it.

All as on the skies, a sonic boom from a Putschist Zapper passed right above them.

"3-5" and its crew paid dearly for its mistake - and they won't be the first nor the last.

Such was the truth in war.

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Halia, Kingdom of Orland

The Queen's Bunker, War Room

Amelie sat in the cold chair for many minutes, as William and Colonel Kleist hastily prepared their presentation.

Her mind was a stormy one. A counter-offensive, or more accurately, a diversionary counter-offensive was offered by William, all to distract the Putschists from attacking the civilians of Orland that were still trying to escape.

Another sacrificial act of the Armed Forces. Another sacrificial act for us…

Many of the men of the City of Halia had already been drafted in the past weeks. If there were nearly a million men in the city before June - much of them had already volunteered or drafted into the military.

Most of these men were formed into nearly 12 infantry divisions, all of them spread around the trench lines that had developed in the layered defense of the city in the west.

Thus, most civilians left had been women, still attempting to leave, or those who joined the Royal Guard to be a part of the rear echelon formations of the city.

In other words, men would bleed and have been bleeding for them. So much so that William had seemingly refused to tell her the exact casualties, except for the vague "heavy casualties" that he would always give.

And Amelie, tired and overwhelmed, would always accept it.

But now, she hoped to know the raw truth. The truth of the situation on the frontlines.

The situation before we send these men to attack…

"Your Majesty?"

She smiled at Colonel Kleist. The man had served her well throughout the battle. He was diligent, disciplined, and straight to the point. And bloodily competent as well. His Garrison, originally merely a few thousand Orlish soldiers strong - had swelled to over 40,000 as Halia mobilized over the week.

A garrison prepared to fight street to street. Rubble to rubble. Down to the sewers even.

He was an officer of great value to her.

"Please begin, Colonel."

"With pleasure."

Kleist cleared his throat, as he pushed a button on the device that he held. Immediately, the screen in front of her changed. It showed the entire frontline of the capital - the lines that the Royalists held, and the lines that the Putschists held.

"As you can see, Your Majesty, they have advanced considerably over the last week. From crossing the Ludendorf River to closing in on these towns and breaking through our 1st and 2nd defense perimeters, then pushing deeply toward the outskirts of Heiflitz south of us, it is clear that we are in an even more precarious situation. More to that, they have been assaulting the roads, towns, and small cities here, up north, in an attempt to cut us from Rebenslof as well."

That was a lot of defense lines, Amelie thought. It seemed that the Armed Forces were truly determined for her defense. The amount of prepared defense lines and their complexity seemed astounding and outright terrifying to her. No wonder that regardless of Heindhöff's bombardments, the enemy could barely push on.

They were dug in.

"And I assume that the Armed Forces contained these issues?"

"Indeed, we are trying. That is essentially what the 8th and 2nd Armies are doing up North. Around 340,000 troops are stationed over there, holding these positions to prevent us from being cut off from the Free Confederation."

He then gestured back at the frontlines in Halia itself, and with a press of the button, the map was suddenly filled with unit insignias, and highlighted "defense perimeters".

"Onto the Royal Capital. The outskirts of Halia west of us, is held by the 7th Army and the elements of the 1st Army. With us too are the newly created divisions from this city itself, making up the 14th Army Corps, placing the defense perimeter around Halia in a staggering 600,000 amount of fielded troops. But more importantly, are these units."

Insignias after insignias appeared, nearly a dozen of them. Amelie watched as the names of each unit appeared. But what caught her attention was the three on top. This was because of the extremely fascinating symbols that they had sported - but mostly because of the fact that their names were in bold, electronic red.

She read them one by one.

The 2nd Armored Division 'Schnell'.

The 14th Light Mech Division 'Wachsam'.

And the 8th Light Mech Division 'Vereinigt'.

"These 12, Your Majesty, are the core of our forces present in this city. All of them are either Armored or Light Mech divisions. Currently, we are sitting with 1,400 Löwe MBTs in this city and 800 M20 LSS Mechs. Those numbers aren't accurate, but mere estimates today, as every moment, many would be eliminated and replaced."

"But what is the relevance of highlighting those three at the top?"

And with that, William finally took the stage and spoke.

"Because these three divisions are our best. Mostly because they are veterans and are well-trained, but mainly because they are fresh reinforcements from Rebenslof. They are in full condition, and morale."

"Which means?"

"It means, should you approve our plan, these three units would be the spearhead of our counterattack. They would face the enemy first. They would lead our pincer assaults. And they would see the most casualties."

She really needed to hear his plan out.