Chapter 3: Pawn (Edited)

Chapter 3: Pawn (Edited)

Dawn breaks with the chilly morning wind wafting in from the slightly opened window.

Bryn wakes up to a feeling of loneliness, she notices that the person she was sharing a bed with last night is gone. Perturbed, Bryn gets up and looks around only to see her Princess sitting by the table, reassembling a Kar98k. While she saw many of her pupils do such a task before, she can't help but feel that her Princess's every action holds a certain charm to it. The way she calmly treats the parts, the glint in her eyes when she assesses the gun, and the satisfaction shown when she witnesses her handiwork. All of it entrances Bryn.

She wonders. ' What is wrong with me?'

Finally noticing that Bryn is awake. The Princess greets her Instructor. " Good morning, Bryn, did I wake you up?"

Shaking her head, Bryn answered. " No, you didn't. I can see that you still retain your fascination with firearms."

Laughing embarrassingly, Princess replied. " What can I say? It's a hobby I can't live without it. And considering the battle to come, I would say that it's a good hobby to have, no?"

Seeing her Princess still have the mood to joke, Bryn feels a touch of relief. " Seeing you have such good morale eased my heart a lot. The first battle is always the hardest for some, but I think you're an exception."

" I'm the one who cooked up this unorthodox plan. If the soldiers I'm commanding right now saw me in a state of hesitation. How can they trust me and fight without worries."

" It's good that you understand that. You are young, but you have leadership materials." Bryn let out a kind smile. She likes it when her students show good results.

" Hehe..." Scratching her cheeks which have a tinge of red, the Princess says. " I had someone bring us breakfast, it's not much, but I think this should suffice." The Princess points at the simple ham sandwiches on the table.

" Let's eat while we still can then." Bryn takes a seat at the table, and so does the Princess. They finish the bland food just in time when a Private knocks on the door.

" Madams, the Captain reported that there are movements on the Ustians side."

The Princess wipes her mouth with a handkerchief and drinks her cup of coffee. " That's our cue. Let us see the play that's about to come, shall we?" She offers her hand to Bryn, which Bryn elegantly takes.

They both head outside after grabbing their gear.

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" It seems like they are done fooling around, Princess." Captain Morrick passes me a pair of binoculars. Taking a look at the opposition, I can't help showing a dangerous grin.

" They pull out all the stoppers. Heh, it's better for us this way." I turn to the Captain. " Pass the order, have our men dig in and follow the plan."

" Yes, my liege."

" It's showtime."

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With a whopping 20 tanks and all the available infantrymen that could be mustered. The Ustians leave only a skeleton crew to protect their HQ and artillery position.

To them, it's a make-or-break situation.

" All troops, advance!" The whistle signifies an all-out attack. Just like before, the tanks move first with the infantry trailing behind them. Though the Ustian artillery gets to sing today.

An intense barrage of heavy artillery carpets the defensive line of the Belkans with dirt clouds, and craters litter the affected area. For the Ustians, this serves as a great morale booster, seeing their enemy punished with impunity.

The barrage keeps on delivering shock and awe for a full five minutes before it stop. By then, the tanks are 200 meters away from the Belkan trench. The Commander of the Ustian troops feels that something is wrong when no enemy resistance was encountered when they have made it this far in.

" Weird, have they retreated?" In one of the tanks, the Ustian Commander keeps scanning the terrain for any possible clue. He swings the turret left and right until his eyes catch something peculiar.

" That thing, why does it look familiar somehow?" He analyzes the mechanical contraption that somehow survives a barrage. It comes as a surprise to him, however, when the contraption starts spewing white gas at the approaching Ustians.

The Commander quickly scans the surroundings only to see more of those weird contraptions shooting out streams of gas across the entire battlefield. It doesn't take long though when the gas reaches its first victims, the tank crews.

Reports came in like a tide with multiple crews saying they feel extremely irritated in their eyes and skin. They can hardly breathe when the gas burns their respiratory system. Soon after, the infantrymen behind also succumb to the gas with the worst ones puking out their breakfast.

The Commander, also having a taste of that burning sensation, almost whimpering in a horrified manner when he finally saw soldiers with gas masks appear one by one in the Belkan trench. He clearly sees one soldier waving his hand in a downward manner then all hell breaks loose.

" GAS, GAS, GAS! THE BELKANS BROKE THE GENEVA CONVENTION! THEY BROKE THE CONVENTION!" Having relived the traumatic experience from a war long gone, the Ustian Commander hysterically screams on the radio, inflicting widespread panic among the Ustian soldiers.

" Retreat! Fallback!"

" Gas attack! It's gas!"

" It burns! Help m- Guehh"

The entire map room erupts into laughter, some say if they were him, they would rather choke on their spit and die.

" Anyway, while it's fun to mock the enemy while they're down, I don't want arrogant clouding your minds, got it?"

"" YES, PRINCESS.""

" Good, carry on people."

" We managed to capture 9 fully operational tanks and 3 moderately damaged ones. With the enemy HQ completely abandoned on such short notice, we're hoping to recover more of their equipment and supplies to fuel the war effort." The soldier pauses and turns a page in his notebook. " The Air Force drops us a lot of supplies also, we received a new batch of radios and are setting them up as we speak, Princess."

" Well done. Keep me posted, you're dismissed."

The soldier performs a salute and heads out to resume his duty. I was left there alone, looking down on the interactive war map while the rest of the staff are running around, minding their own business.

According to the knowledge I have from my past life, this was supposed to be a losing battle. Without me, the Ustians would have steamrolled the Belkan military, winning much ground in the process. And when the Time of Demons arrives four months later, Belka lost all hope in mounting a counterattack. But I changed it, changed everything. I threw the script out the window and now I'm ready to flip the table itself.

Only four months left till everything stagnated.

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"...oh, and make sure you tell the chefs to cook a sumptuous meal for the guys."

" Will do, Princess."

" Dismiss."

It's almost 7 PM, about time for the men and women of our army to grab a hot meal.

" I will be in the communication room, without my explicit order, no one is allowed to go in. When it's ready, bring dinner to my quarter." I gave one last order before taking my coat that was hanging on a chair. Draping it over my shoulders, I make my way to the communication room and close the door behind me.

" Privacy at last."

I sit down and loosen my shirt for comfort. I then operate the radio station to connect me with my... mothers. Thankfully, the Air Force dropped us the long-range comm equipment, which saved me a fair bit of trouble.

" Hello, can the other side hear me?" It's been a while since I used something as old as this, gotta reacclimate myself for a bit.

" Yeah, I'm fine mom, Instructor Bryn protected me after all. Not to mention the Air Force and Army personnel who did most of the heavy lifting, I just gave them orders mom."

" Mama? Ha... She overreacted again, didn't she?"

" I know, I know. I will get her a souvenir later, mom."

" Yes, yes... I will also hang around for our much-needed family time mom."

" ... Going back? Eh... About that."

" Mom, just listen to my explanation first... Mama? No...? Wait, wait! I can explain. I assure you what I'm about to say is of much interest to you, mama."

" I love you mom, mama. Thanks for hearing me out."

" Ok, you and mom are in the Army Command Center, right? That's good then, any moment now there should be a delivery girl arriving at the main gate of the Center. With her is a sealed package containing some files and documents that I would like you and mom to read, sign, and follow the instructions written alongside those."

" Ha-ha, it's a secret for now mama. But I would like it better if there are fewer people knew about this. Only the designated persons should be involved in what's about to come."

" Of course, it's not harmful to the nation mama. I will never do anything that hurts you and mom."

" ... Yes, I will obediently stay here. Instructor Bryn is taking care of me so you don't have to worry. Yes, love you, mama! Tell mom I love her too!"

"..."

I leaned back on the chair. While I do have memories of my previous life, I do want to treasure the bonds I have created in this world. It's not a bad feeling, to love and be loved by two mothers. Though it's a bit surprising that I have two of them.

I shake my head with a wry smile, such thoughts should be for another day.

" I have eaten your Pawn, now I'm aiming for your Chariot... Ustio."

It's gonna be a short four months...

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