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The sound of gunfire and explosions echoed throughout the compound walls-- each barrage uneven and panicked. Bullets struck wooden barricades and stone alike as the Nation’s men fired at the approaching group of ironclad fanatics-- who, similarly, shot back at their assailants with vitriol in their eyes.
“Onwards, my brothers and sisters!”, yelled an Empire Officer, as a blast of noise boomed from their whistle. “Slay them in the name of our Queen!”
Chaotic was the perfect word to describe the situation at hand, with bullets whizzing past heads, landing uselessly against the shields of the Old Guard, and ripping through the unfortunate souls who dared to peek their heads out for a second too long.
“Push them back, men! We cannot afford to lose this outpost!”, said an Officer garbed in purple, who narrowly avoided a fatal shot to the head as he dove back into cover.
However, as slow as the fight may be, the soldiers of the Kings were running on fumes-- with horde after horde of Empire skirmishers marching into the tunnels of their last compound. The nation prides itself on its technology-- yet the brilliance of their engineer’s silenced rifles couldn’t shine as brightly as before when the bodies who carry them were worn with fatigue… and with fatigue, came mistakes, and mistakes lead to death.
The idea of pulling back the bolt of their trusty rifle slipped from a private’s mind-- with an ugly hole being blasted through them. Another, stationed in a foxhole, had their body thrown backwards as the powerful cartilage from the fanatic’s rifle tore through their helmet and head.
It was hopeless. The nation was faltering and the cultist’s march didn’t waver. The Vanguards of the Golden Empire stepped foot onto the outpost floor-- carefully stepping over and disarming the assortment of traps and barricades as what remained of the Nation’s forces ran for the tunnels.
The countless bodies of respectable Nation men were sprawled across the fortifications and floor. Seeing this, the Empire Officer scoffed-- certain of the triumph her fellow fanatics achieved.
“How pathetic,” she said, a pleased expression lining their faces as they listened to the cheers of their battalion. “We’ve driven the dogs out of their dens, but we cannot allow those demons to recover!”
“We shall pursue the heretics and put them down for good!”
“For our God!”
“FOR OUR QUEEN–”
A single sharp crack cut through the short-lived celebration of the fanatics, followed by the body of the Empire’s Officer hitting the ground. Crimson oozed from the hole in their head as their pristine, white uniform was stained with the unmistakable color of blood.
The shock passed in an instant as another shot rang out, sending the weary battalion of Empire warriors running and tripping over traps in the hopes that the constructs made by the people they were murdering in cold blood would protect them against the onslaught. The fanatics, who were once so eager to spill the blood of the so-called heretics, were now cowering beneath wood and rubble.
If one of those cultists could hear over the incessant orders, the cries of their brothers and sisters being caught in various contraptions, or the gunfire that came out of nowhere, they would’ve heard footsteps and eventually, they saw the men who they thought ran from the outpost… and a figure cloaked in red.
“IT’S A DEVIL! THE DEVIL HAS ARRIVED!”
The rampage of the cultists came to a swift end after the so-called demon opened fire on the bewildered fanatics, followed by the war cries of the heroic soldiers of the Royal Nation.
Their sights honed in on the first group of Empire men-- and the first magazine of their submachine gun was dedicated to the ones who stepped onto the compound first. Lead riddled their bodies in an instant as the Stormtrooper sprinted forward.
Having witnessed the start of the carnage themselves, a small squadron of Vanguards held their shields high as the contents of the second magazine was unleashed. Their formation remained steady, but before they could take one step towards the Nation's Hero, the wall of steel wavered as the center shieldman was shot from above-- the sniper in the shadows still remained, and the remnants of their last stand were ravaged by the Stormtrooper they attempted to stand against.
The third magazine emptied. Then the fourth. There were no more Empire soldiers that could fight after the Devil swept the land, and all that remained of the Queen’s finest was dented steel and bloodied, ruined bodies.
“... The fanatics are gone, it seems,” spoke the Storm Trooper, albeit dryly. “There are no more reinforcements-- we’ll be retaking Able and Baker once backup arrives.”
Silence filled the caves once more, at least for the moment. The only noises were the preparations being made for the counterattack and the Morticians recovering the bodies of those who were unfortunate enough to be left behind in the initial withdrawal.
“They didn’t even graze you this time, Corporal Anastazy? I guess the Empire worms thought saying their prayers to their golden bitch was a better use of their time.”
As the Stormtrooper turned around, they saw a shorter man with a scoped rifle held low approach with a friendly wave.
“You’re a good shot as always, Little Devil.” A satisfied hum escaped Anastazy’s lips. “I suppose their clumsy shield wall had plenty of gaps to shoot through–”
The sniper lazily flicked a finger at Anastazy’s scarf, cutting off their words. “Shut it, Anastazy. I bet those ‘Vanguards’ were thinking about how to try and kill you, instead of protecting their own. There’s nothing else to it, besides… their ‘Queen’ is the only thing that matters to them, not their brothers-in-arms.”
Anastazy nodded, lowering their scarf and exhaling slowly. “And that’s why the Royal Nation is different, we actually care about our fellow soldiers. You shot at them not to kill, but to ensure they couldn’t muster any attempt to harm me.”
“Isn’t that why I’m your bodyguard, Corporal?”
“Yes, but you… alongside every man in this regiment, have the conviction to protect our homeland, and most importantly… our people. The cultists may be covered head to toe in armor, but we are the ones who have hearts of steel.”
THE FOLLOWING ENTRY HAS BEEN DEEMED AS ‘INSIGNIFICANT’ TO THE CURRENT AFFAIRS OF THIS SECTOR AFTER IMPERIAL INVESTIGATION. FURTHER EXPLANATION AND DETAILS BELOW.
‘Anastazy i Mały Diabeł’, or ‘Anastazy and Little Devil’, is the title of a Royal Nation propaganda novel that originated in Poland. The story is centered around a Royal Nation Stormtrooper named Anastazy, who goes on to accomplish multiple missions assigned by the Kings to cripple Golden Empire operations in their region. They are also assisted by a quiet sharpshooter who is only referred to as ‘Little Devil’, who seemingly took on the moniker in direct opposition to the Golden Empire’s religious views. Together, Anastazy and Little Devil would go on to kill multiple imperial soldiers in extreme detail, with the book ending with the mauling of a Grand Inquisitor.
Similarly to most Royal Nation propaganda pieces such as ‘The Hellion’, ‘Anastazy i Mały Diabeł’ depicts the Golden Empire as incompetent and cruel, though not to the extent of ‘The Hellion’, in which they were even shown to fire at their own soldiers. While the novel could be passed as yet another way to glorify the Royal Nation, it has come to our attention that the main characters of this story were actually inspired by real soldiers, or at least… ‘perfect’ versions of them.
The main character is Anastazy, the perfect soldier that the reader should aspire to be like. They are stoic, they are disciplined, and they never wavered in the face of adversity. However, multiple scenes in the book show Anastazy going against orders to spare imperial soldiers, which result in deaths and nearly getting himself killed when one of the lancers pulls a knife, only to be saved by Little Devil. Aside from the blatant slander of our holy men and women, it encourages the following:
1. Discipline and self-control when it comes to emotions. This, I agree with, and should be the standard for anyone enlisting in any sort of combatant group.
2. To not show sympathy or mercy to anybody following the Queen, as they will backstab and take advantage of kindness at any chance they get.
However, the truth behind Anastazy’s inspiration was… surprising, to say the least. Due to the events of the Sleepless War, it is no surprise that women can be seen in the field alongside men-- our Officers being an example, but the character Anastazy is based off of is a young woman named Anastasia, who follows a similar story to their book counterpart, having survived as a Soldat for a while and eventually being deemed as a candidate to become a shock trooper.
Anastasia’s career was admirable, but wasn’t as extravagant as the novel implied. She participated in two campaigns and while they were as dangerous as any other shock trooper, there have been multiple reports of a Stormtrooper holding their fire whenever a Mortician was moving the wounded away from the battlefield, though those incidents were rare, as with any act of mercy in these caves.
After a few months of skirmishing, Anastasia was forced to retire after losing her dominant hand to an explosion after one of her fellow coworkers accidentally ran into a Jaeger trap. Shortly after being escorted away from the skirmish, they were sent back to a Royal Nation city with numerous accolades for her service.
Little Devil, the deuteragonist of the story, acted as Anastazy’s assistant and sharpshooter. Since submachine guns aren’t as effective at range, Little Devil was assigned to them to act as long ranged support. (In hindsight, having a Sniper, who would usually stay in one spot, following a Stormtrooper, who constantly moves around, is a disastrous idea. It would've been better for them to have a Vanguard companion... who wrote this book?)
Due to their contrasting roles, Little Devil had a very subtle presence during the novel’s battles, shooting down anyone in unfavorable positions whilst Anastazy led a push. It was repeatedly stated that Little Devil ended up saving Anastazy multiple times, apparently spotting imperial soldiers in vantage points Anastasy couldn’t fire at.
They also had a… very peculiar and excessive hatred for religion. They took to burning rosaries and crosses, alongside having a backstory that revolved around the execution of his parents because they refused to conform to the views of others.
However, similarly to their charge, their origins strayed far from what their book version painted them as. To start, ‘Little Devil’ was devoted to the Holy Church, alongside finding their nickname, ‘Little Devil’, distasteful. As much as I would condemn their faith as ‘false’, there is still merit to the possibility of the sharpshooter being a man of God, much like the 3rd Peters Guard of the Royal Nation.
They also suffered an injury that led them to retiring from active duty indefinitely, being caught in the very same explosion that took the hand of Anastasia and became half-blind after shrapnel struck his eye. Due to the severity of the injury and risk of infection, they were transported to a medical facility and were deemed unfit to fight.
There are countless fallacies and blatant falsehoods in Anastazy i Mały Diabeł. For simplicity's sake, the information will be listed below.
• Both Anastasia and Little Devil were bastardized in the novel. Anastasia was changed to be a man instead of a woman and Little Devil, who is supposedly a devoted catholic, is instead portrayed as someone who has a seething hatred for religion.
• The claims that the Royal Nation invented the ‘Whisper’ Silenced Rifle from scratch. While the suppressor was made by the Royal Nation, the design of the rifle is from the Golden Empire.
• The claims that the Golden Empire prioritizes death over the sanctity of life. While the entry above is from only a few pages, the word of God and the Queen being ‘wrong’ is a recurring theme.
This alone reveals the nature of the Royal Nation-- a collective of deceivers who would gladly lie and fabricate history to antagonize others and promote their corrupt ideas. They renamed Anastasia to Anastazy because they do not want to elevate the idea of a woman being strong in their own right. They deliberately left out Little Devil’s belief in Catholicism and instead turned them into a caricature that hates religion.
Please refer to this document should any mention of this story arise in our territories and guarantee that copies of this book will be burnt should any be discovered. We will not tolerate the false words of demons and slander against the Queen.
-GRAND KNIGHT SOFIA