‘Sir, they are organized with walls, guard posts, and patrols.’ Ethan talked on the radio.

  He was prone and using his spyglass to see how the fortress was. His squad was looking around anxiously, and the palms of their hands were sweating as the patrol looked their way. Goblins, on the way, observed the area around the fortress.

  ‘At least it's all made of wood; all we need to do is blow everything sky high.’ Samal smiled.

  ‘We can’t do that, brother; don’t you remember this is a rescue mission?’ Oran shook his head.

  ‘Samal, you are so weird.' Asher sigh.

  ‘Let’s go.’ Ethan slowly goes back while looking, and the others do the same.

  Ethan’s team arrived at the point where Bartel’s platoon awaited their report. The first thing he did was inform them of what he saw, but they heard a scream coming from the direction of the fortress.

  ‘We can’t wait anymore.’ Bartel looked toward the screaming.

  ‘What is the plan, sir?’ Egor asked Bartel.

  ‘We don’t have the numbers to slit our attention; we don’t know how many of them are in there, so the best option is to go into a frontal assault to try to pull them out as much as possible and go in pushing hard.’ Bartel looked around while talking.

  ‘I think we should use the rail cannons to put holes in those walls using explosive shots, making us a larger force than we are.’ Egor strokes his chin.

  ‘That is a good idea, Sargeant; let’s do that.’ The lieutenant nodded.

  Everyone heard a scream from the fortress, and they looked in that direction with concern. Some even let the goddess sigh right after asking for divine intervention or protection.

  ‘I think this is our cue, people.’ Bartel shouted.

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  They moved, forming a line around the front of the fortress. There was a stretch of fallen trees between the forest and the fortress, some of which were cut down, like the ones around the fortress, which they used to build.

  ‘We have some cover to advance; use the fallen trees and the tree stumps on my mark to start the attack.’ Bartel’s voice came from every radio in his platoon.

  'Caleb, prepare the rail cannon and aim for the front gate. Everyone prepares to advance and always looks at the walls.’ Egor’s voice came from every radio in his squad.

  ‘I’m ready, Sarge.' Caleb talked into his radio after preparing.

  Every squad leader confirmed to Bartel that they were ready. All the soldiers were nervous; some could already see some orks patrolling outside and goblins walking on top of the walls. Everything was rudimentary for humans, but they had never seen or heard of monsters doing something like this.

  ‘Fire.’ The lieutenant spoke to his radio.

  Five rail cannon shots flew across the deforested area. A goblin took notice momentarily, but at that instance, an explosion came from below him as one shot hit the wall. The explosions made the monsters angry; the gate was destroyed, and other holes in the wall were formed.

  The first shot was fired, and an ork on patrol outside fell. All the squads advanced while shooting and looking for cover; blue traces filled the air, and the monsters were confused about what was happening, looking around and falling one after the other.

  After moments outside, they were all annihilated; the ork patrols didn’t even know what had happened to them. As the duchy soldiers came closer, arrows started to fly in their direction as they advanced from cover to cover. The part that Egor found strange was that no monsters were coming toward them from the holes in the walls or the front gate, which was now wide open.

  ‘Let’s go!! Keep moving!!’ Bartel yelled, taking cover behind a trunk stump.

  Lieutenant Bartel was surprised to see Ethan and his team advancing without any care for cover or protection. They rushed to the fortress, focusing on running, not shooting, and protecting themselves from enemy fire.

  ‘This is insane; what are we doing!?’ Asher shouted while running to a rock.

  ‘Don’t be a coward; move!!’ Samal passed Asher and hid behind the rock in front of him.

  ‘What are you guys doing? Return fire; don’t just run like idiots.’ Ethan shouted at his radio.

  His team members forgot about shooting back at the enemies and followed Ethan from cover to cover, leaving the rest of the platoon behind. This drew most of the arrows to them, but they didn’t notice much, and they were still alive because of their helmets and vests.

  His team members only cared about following him, but Ethan, on the other hand, only moved when the opportunity struck, so he didn’t take any shots, but he was worried about how reckless his teammates were.

  ‘Did you guys forget basic training? You would be dead if it weren’t for the protective gear. Lower your profile, and don’t overexpose yourself. Do I need to teach you guys again in real time?’ Ethan yelled at the radio while looking at his team.

  This word resonated in their minds, and Samal hit his helmet and shook his head. Seeing this, everyone took a deep breath and looked at one another while catching a glimpse of the rest of the platoon shooting at the enemies at the fortress and advancing rapidly. Some got shot in the arm, and combat medics dragged others behind cover.

  ‘Follow me and keep your heads down!!’ Ethan got out of cover while shooting in a goblin down a goblin on the wall.

  His team was getting closer to the destroyed gate, and by this time, orks had started to get out of all the holes in the fortification, rushing forward at full speed against the duchy soldiers. It surprised Ethan and his team that, in the chaos, some orks could jump close enough to engage in the melee with the duchy soldiers.