>>41101874
>>You needed to protect something.

>>41101874
>>You needed to kill someone.

>>41101874
>You needed to protect something.

>>41101874
>You needed to protect something.

I mean, we either need to kill someone or defend against the invaders, or.... are WE the invaders?

>>41101874
>>You needed to kill someone.

>>41101874
>You needed to protect something.

>>41101874
>You needed to protect something

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>>41101874
You needed to protect something. It's a place with forests and lakes and fields and buildings and streets and people. You've basically inherited it from your father already, so you need to protect it.

By going off to a desert.
By killing a lot of people. They wanted what's yours, so they had it coming?

The tank crushes a skeleton as it rolls on.

You look back. There's where Gallia is. There's the thing you needed to protect. But it's back and you're going forward.

You turn to look forward again. It's only red. Even when you know there's something else just on the edge of the horizon, all you see is the blood-red desert.

You keep moving away from the thing you're supposed to protect.

>You can still protect it from a distance. Right?
>Maybe you're supposed to protect the desert instead?

>>41102309
>>You can still protect it from a distance. Right?

>>41102309
>You can still protect it from a distance. Right?

>>41102309
>You can still protect it from a distance. Right?

>>41102309
>>You can still protect it from a distance. Right?

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>>41102309
It doesn't matter how far away Gallia is. You can still protect it from a distance. Right? You don't need to see the people. You just need to look out for them. Isn't that what politicians and businessmen do? They go to other countries to find new opportunities for Gallia. That's just like you. Sure, you don't create any opportunities, but you technically don't need to leave the country either, so it all balances out.

Right?

The tanks stops. You aim your rifle at the distant thing in front of you and fire. You know you can't hit, but you don't have anything else to do. The thing you need to protect is far away. The thing you need to kill is far away.

You see someone. It's a man wearing an Imperial scout's uniform. He's not far away. You aim your rifle at his head and shoot him.

He dies so you can protect Gallia.

>Wake up.
>Keep dreaming.

>>41102694
>>Keep dreaming.

>>41102694
>>Keep dreaming.

>>41102694
>>Wake up.

>>41102694
>Wake up.

>>41102694
>Wake up.

>>41102739
>>41102740
>>41102782
>>41102795
I can work with this.

Writing.

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>>41102694
You see more Imperial soldiers dig themselves out of the bloody clay. That's rude. You worked hard to put them in there. They should stay buried.

You lie down flat on your stomach and prepare your sniper rifle. It's quite simple, actually. When you see a head peak out of the ground, you should it and it explodes.

You keep going. You don't even need to reload anymore. You shoot. You stop aiming, but you keep shooting. Imperial soldiers die anyway.

You open your eyes and see Ernestine. Your head is resting on her thighs and she's gently stroking your hair.

"Good morning," she says.

"Good morning." You sigh. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not as far as I know, but I'm not an officer, so I don't know anything." She pauses for a moment. "Did you have another nightmare?"

>"Yeah."
>"No."
>"Just a weird dream."

>>41103148
>>"Just a weird dream."

>>41103148
>>"Just a weird dream."

>>41103148
>>"Just a weird dream."

>>41103148
>"Yeah."

>>41103148
>"No."

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>>41103148
"Just a weird dream," you say.

You stand up and stretch to work the kinks out of… every muscle in your body, really. It turns out sleeping on a stone floor after a physically demanding battle isn't a very good idea.

"If you say so." Ernestine holds out her hand and you pull her up as well. "I should get back. The captain will never shut up about it if she finds out you've been using me as a pillow."

"For future reference, it would probably be even more comfortable if you also took off your skirt."

"I'll keep that in mind." She gives you a quick kiss. "Just be careful."

"You too," you say. "I guess I'll see you during our next break."

"Oh, definitely."

The two of you leave to return to your respective squads. You find your people, as usual, gathered around the squad's tank. William and Nina are napping under a makeshift tent, Jetje and Karl are doing their training a bit farther away so they don't make too much noise and everyone else is getting breakfast ready.

"Good morning," Vanessa says. "Would you like coffee or food first? We have pastries. I don't think they're stale yet."

>"Coffee first. I want to make sure I'm awake."
>"I'm not drinking hot coffee in the desert. What kind of pastries do we have?"

>>41103626
>>"Coffee first. I want to make sure I'm awake."

>>41103626
>>"I'm not drinking hot coffee in the desert. What kind of pastries do we have?"

>>41103656
>>41103812
Does anyone want to break the tie?

>>41103626
>>"Coffee first. I want to make sure I'm awake."

>>41103953
There we go.

>>41103626
>"Coffee first. I want to make sure I'm awake."

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>>41103626
"Coffee first," you say. "I want to make sure I'm awake."

Vanessa pours you a small cup which you drink in one go. It's… acceptable to put it politely.

Jetje and Karl return from their training and quickly wipe themselves dry before sitting down for breakfast and helping themselves to some pastries.

"I'll go wake William and Nina up," Vanessa says.

You sit down and take a croissant out of a crate of pastries you received. It is, once again, acceptable to put it politely. You get on with business once the last two members of your team wake up and join.

"What's the plan for today?" William asks.

"No one's given me orders yet, so training and preparation for the next mission sounds good," you say. "I just hope Gaul's equipment are better than the food we're getting."

"It's still better than what we got in the trenches," Nina says.

"That's more of an insult than anything," Karl says. "Where to first, boss?"

>"Shopping."
>"Training."

>>41104120
>"Training."

>>41104120
>>"Shopping."

>>41104120
>>"Training."

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>>41104120
"Training first," you say.

"Works for me," Karl says.

The squad finishes breakfast and you take out your maps and mission reports to go over them. You review your actions during your previous missions, what you could have done better, what you could have done worse, and how you can work better as a team.

>You have 27842XP to spend on the following:
>Engineer 7 - 2400XP
>Fencer 7 - 3900XP
>Lancer 7 - 4500XP
>Scout 8 - 3850XP
>Shocktrooper 8 - 5250XP
>Sniper 7 - 4500XP
>Tank Commander 6 - 4000XP
>Officer 7 - 4800XP

>Pick one of the following options:
>Prioritize XP to lower-level classes
>Prioritize XP to higher-level classes
>Prioritize XP to more expensive classes
>Prioritize XP to less expensive classes
>Custom Option

>>41104538
>Prioritize XP to lower-level classes

>>41104538
>>Prioritize XP to lower-level classes

>>41104538
>>Prioritize XP to lower-level classes

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>>41104538
>New Levels Gained:
>Engineer 7
>Fencer 7
>Lancer 7
>Sniper 7
>Tank Commander 6
>Officer 7

"That's all for the training," you say. "Let's see what Gaul has."

The squad follows you to Gaul's office. You find him unpacking a new load of crates.

"Fresh supplies?"

"Yes, captain," Gaul says. "I was able to get a good haul this time around. The Imperials are slacking off on the other fronts, so the demand dropped and I was able to pick up the surplus at a discount."

"I don't suppose I'll benefit from that discount?"

"Hahahaha." Gaul laughs. "Of course not. But I'll still get you what you need."

>You have 17158DCT to spend on the following:
>Lance 5 - 4000DCT
>Machine Gun 5 - 4000DCT
>Rifle 5 - 4000DCT
>Sniper Rifle 5 - 4000DCT
>Sword 5 - 4000DCT
>Uniform 5 - 4000DCT
>Grenades 4 - 3000DCT
>Tank Armour 5 - 4000DCT
>Tank Cannon 4 - 3000DCT

>Pick one of the following options:
>Aggressive Infantry (Machine Gun 5, Rifle 5, Sniper Rifle 5, Uniform 5)
>Defensive Infantry (Rifle 5, Sword 5, Uniform 5, Tank Armour 5)
>Destruction Loadout (Lance 5, Grenades 4, Tank Armour 5, Tank Cannon 4)
>Custom Option

>>41105021
>>Defensive Infantry (Rifle 5, Sword 5, Uniform 5, Tank Armour 5)

>>41105021
>Destruction Loadout (Lance 5, Grenades 4, Tank Armour 5, Tank Cannon 4)

>>41105021
>Aggressive Infantry (Machine Gun 5, Rifle 5, Sniper Rifle 5, Uniform 5)

>>41105021
>>Destruction Loadout (Lance 5, Grenades 4, Tank Armour 5, Tank Cannon 4)

>>41105021
>>Destruction Loadout (Lance 5, Grenades 4, Tank Armour 5, Tank Cannon 4)

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>>41105021
>New equipment gained:
>Lance 5
>Grenades 4
>Tank Armour 5
>Tank Cannon 4

"I'm going to need things that explode," you say. "And throw in some upgrades for the tank."

"So… lances, grenades, tank armour, tank cannon…" Gaul looks through his ledger. "Not a problem. You came in early, so I've still got everything."

"Always a pleasure, sergeant," you say.

"Likewise, captain," Gaul says.

William and Danielle make arrangements to check the equipment before it's delivered. The rest of you leave, only to be intercepted by a private as soon as you step out of the store.

"Captain de Velde?" The private asks.

"That's me," you say. "What can I do for you, private?"

"General Gunther asked me to find you," the private says. "There's going to be a briefing in twenty minutes."

"Thanks, I'll head there right away." You turn your squad. "You're all free until further notice, but I don't expect this to take too long, so don't go hiking in the desert or anything."

"Yes, sir."

You nod and go to the general's part of the Valkyrur temple. Only a few of the other captains have arrived. You take a seat next to DuLac and wait.

"Hello, de Velde," she says. "I heard you did a great job on your last mission."

"It was just the usual," you say. "How did it go on your end?"

"You haven't heard?"

"I haven't had time to ask around, to be honest," you say. "Plus it doesn't look like we're missing hundreds of soldiers, so I assumed it went well enough."

"You're partly right," DuLac says. "The other two generals are still alive, but the Imperial forces took fairly substantial losses. They'll be easier to fight in the future."

>"Generals can't do much without their troops anyway."
>"Damn, I was hoping we could take out their chain of command."
> "I suppose we shouldn't make things too easy for ourselves."

>>41105476
>>"Generals can't do much without their troops anyway."

>>41105476
>>"Generals can't do much without their troops anyway."

>>41105476
>>"Damn, I was hoping we could take out their chain of command."

>>41105476
>"Damn, I was hoping we could take out their chain of command."

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>>41105476
"I was hoping we could take out their chain of command," you say, "but it's not like Generals can do much without their troops anyway."

"True enough," DuLac says. "Otherwise, we'd be out of a job."

You wait in silence until the General arrives. He's wearing his full dress uniform for this briefing. You're surprised he even brought it out here.

"The good news first," General Gunther says. "With General Kircheis dead, the Imperial army has lost the majority of its conventional forces. Furthermore, they also suffered significant losses to their other armies. I believe that now is our best opportunity to permanently cripple the Imperials before they can obtain reinforcements."

General Gunther points to a spot on the map.

"According to our scouts, the enemy is located here. They have one army on each flank, plus their main force. The left flank is made up primarily of tanks and mortar troops - you don't even need to take them out to get to the enemy headquarters, but getting past them would be difficult. The right flank is made up of the remaining elite troops. They need to be taken out so the enemy can't use them as reinforcement. As for the main force, it's organized in several layers. I assume that the layers will fall back and be replaced with fresh troops as they suffer casualties. This would significantly increase the enemy's effectiveness, so I need troops to harass the Imperial troops as they fall back so that they can't regroup."

General Gunther looks at you.

"Captain de Velde, I'm letting you pick your assignment first."

>"We'll take the tanks and mortar troops. It's a direct route to the enemy general."
>"We'll take out the remaining elite troops."
>"We'll help support the assault on the Imperials' main force."

>>41105956
>>"We'll take out the remaining elite troops."

>>41105956
>>"We'll take out the remaining elite troops."

>>41105956
>"We'll take out the remaining elite troops."

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>>41105956
"We'll take out the remaining elite troops," you say. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

It's the most straightforward assignment and they'll be weakened from the previous battle. You won't underestimate the enemy, but this should be a simple a job. As an added bonus, you might be able to kill the general who survived the previous.

"Glad to hear it, because that's just the start," General Gunther says. "The Imperial forces are under the direct command of Duke Reinhard von Lohengramm. He's our primary target. Once you've completed your assignments, you are to head directly for the enemy command camp and kill him at any cost. Although he's just one man, his death and the defeat of his troops would put a significant strain on the Empire's military. They wouldn't be able to sustain the war on the Gallian front any longer, not unless they want to be defeated by Atlantic Federation."

"Do we know anything about the enemy forces stationed at the camp?" DuLac asks.

"Not at the moment," the General says. "If you want to send scouts once you're done with the first phase of the battle, you're free to do so. However, keep in mind that this needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Don't waste any time."

"Understood, general," DuLac says.

General Gunther hands out the rest of the assignments. Once he finishes, you straighten out your uniform and prepare to relay the plan to your squad.

Just one more battle.

>>41106400
And that's all for today. As usual, the next thread will be next Wednesday at about 7PM EST. Thanks for playing and goodnight.

>>41106429
Thanks for the thread.

>>41106429
Cheers. Good thread, QM.