The forest was being assaulted once again.

Trees on the edge of the forest showed signs of combat with bullet holes, shrapnel scrapes, and even chunks gone from explosions, now were once again under fire as the dug in positions on the very edge of the tree line began to take shots from across the way. It was the fourth day in the encirclement and as usual the Federation was throwing a lot of bodies to try and break into the Imperial pocket deep in Federation lands, located near the city of Verijssal.

Of course, now that the main body of the Imperial force that had landed from Liege was cut up into several small and large pockets scattered across the Atlantic Federations lands, the Federetion was using the reserves they could barely afford to try and push them out or better yet destroy them as each day that the Imperial pockets held was another day of resources not sent to the frontline to fight the Empire.

Rifles barked from the foxholes and trenches along the treeline, the Imperial troopers in them adorned in their metallic, medieval-like equipment taking cover and firing accurate shots to ensure not only kills but also save up on the limited ammo they were currently able to work with. Shocktroopers fired their automatic rifles in bursts, Scouts aimed and fired, and the handful of Engineers were tossing grenades or using their own rifles at anything that got close.

Across from them, running across a mixture of open ground, tree lines, and hedgerows, Federation soldiers in the dozens were charging across straight into the fire while Grenadiers behind them were bombarding the positions. Federation artillery had already been pounding the Imperials for two days now with mixed results. Now the Federation commanders were sending out their forces to try and force the Imperials deeper into the woods from all sides.

Several Federation troops jumped into shell holes scattered around the area to take shots at the Imperials and before long, even with dug in positions, Imperial soldiers began to fall and die in their trenches. The handful of medics the Imperials had here began to scramble into the trenches, risking their valuable lives to save their fellow comrades by pulling them out or healing them on the spot with the scarce Ragnaid they had left in their medical bags.

One medic suddenly felt their body lurch forward as they huddled over the body of a wounded Shocktrooper, the medics blood splattering the wounded man as they were thrown hard into the trench wall. Medic coughed and rolled over to see a group of Federation soldiers, one Shocktrooper and a couple of Scouts, charging with bayonets fixed to enter and clear out the weakened trench line. The Imperial medic, unarmed for various reasons, picked up the fallen Shocktroopers fallen automatic rifle and pointed it at the enemies before depressing the trigger. The barrel spat hot lead and fire, throwing shots at the Federation soldiers charging the medic with enough shots hitting a Scout and kicking them down for a confirmed kill. But then the gun jammed, a click that showed a spent cartridge sticking out of the ejection port but caught with the next bullet by the bolt and the medic began to try and unjam it on the spot. Yet even as they tried in vain with a wounded back to unjam the gun, the Medic watched as the Federation Shocktrooper immediately jumped into the trench with a smile and their gun pointed at the medic, ready to finish the medical personnel and the soldier beneath them.

"Hey Fed!" The sound of a rifle barking soon saw the Shocktrooper pitch over and the medic looked over to see several more figures rushing into the trenches with an antique-style armor that spouted wooden constructions with feathers in the curve shape of wings. Shields were strapped to arms while sabers bounced on belts while the hands of the soldiers carried the standard Imperial ZM Kar rifle, though a bit shortened down into a sort of carbine model it seems. They all had the image of the Empire flag on one armored pauldrons while the other had their unit symbol: a crossed lance and rifle with the head of a dragon.

These were the 1st Imperial Drake Cavalry Division, the last cavalry unit in the Empire and in the world.

The medic looked back towards a figure coming over, garbed in pure black armor of the Drake Cavalry while their carbine soon was reloaded with a new clip of magazine while the user asked the medic, "Can you still work?"

"Yes.. but my Ragnaid is almost out." Said the medic as he began to scrounge through his bag for another of the precious healing item.

But then the glow of Ragnaid was seen for the medic and the medic looked to see the Imperial Guard Drake Cavalryman holding out a Ragnaid to heal them before tossing the spent cartridge and told the medic, "Get this trooper up! We have to hold on for help to arrive!"

The medic nodded and began to try and heal the trooper while the Imperial Guard Drake Cavalryman looked at his soldiers slowly filling in the gaps of the defenses amongst the foxholes and trenches before looking over the parapet and joining in the fight himself.

The year is 1935 and the war for Europa has been going on for nearly three years between the Atlantic Federation, or Federation, and the East European Imperial Alliance, or more commonly called The Empire.

The Empire has been rather successful so far in the war, able to keep the Federation on the backfoot and on the defensive. But for the last few years, the advance has ground into a war of attrition and the Empire is running scarce on some resources, specifically the practically magical Ragnite. As such, the Emperor of the Empire has begun to look for ways to secure the necessary resources to keep the war going in the Empires favor while also trying to find the best way to break the deadlock in the Federation.

So, seeing the rich Ragnite deposits in nearby Principality of Gallia, the Emperor devises a bold strategy. On one front, he sends his Crown Prince to prove himself in battle by taking the Principality of Gallia and secure its resources for the Empire while the Emperor sent one of his most capable Generals on a secret operation to split the Federation in half.

Dubbed Operation Sealion, the plan was for an invasion force of the best troops the Empire still had in reserves to go from the Imperial Port city of Lowen and take the ports around Arion. The main objective was to take the cities of Liege, Deventer, Verijssel, and Zoom, cutting the Federation in half and forcing the Federation to split its attention on two fronts.

And so, the General set out with a total of 100 regiments, a vast army dubbed 7th Army Group, launched from the city of Lowen and set out to invade the Federation in the largest naval invasion seen in the war, numbering hundreds of transports and dozens of warships. Even as they left their port, the Imperial 8th Army Group began a wide front diversion, tying up the Federations 12th Army Group in several areas on the front and keeping them blind from what was coming.

Then, on March 1st, 1935 EC the town of Lowen become under direct assault as the few recuperating Federation soldiers are overrun by the Imperial invasion force. Thousands of Imperial soldiers spill from Lowen and the nearby ports as the invasion fleet sits outside and begins to offload the supplies needed to keep the operation going for an extended period of time. General Stross, an aristocratic nobleman and the General the Emperor personally had placed in charge of the operation, is a veteran of the First Europan War and thus uses his experience to decimate the hasty defenses of the Federation as his forces spreads out for their objectives, taking depots and Ragnite stores to allow them to advance further onward.

However, on March 7th, no more than 8 days from when Gallia would be invaded, the Federation launches a desperate counter-attack with the 13th Army Group, an untested and mainly green group but given support and coordination from veteran units. Within a matter of hours, the Imperial forces are
split apart into several pockets scattered around, with the main pocket being around the captured cities of Lowen and Deventer. Other pockets are scattered out from there in a front that stretched from Deventer, up towards Verijssel, and down towards the city of Roermond in Wesel.

Unable to continue forward, many pockets retreat from their positions and leave many more Imperial forces scattered and cut off from any friendlies. In doing so, the remains of the 77th Imperial Infantry Division, the 7th Imperial Armor Division, the 78th Imperial Infantry Division, and the 1st Imperial Drake Cavalry Division fighting in the region near Verijssel known as the Artonne begin a desperate struggle that would define the whole campaign and change the face of the war.

This is the Lost of the Artonne and this is their story.

~Imperial Historian Lysda Faus, The Operation that Could Have been that was Operation Sealion.