Julia smiled widely as the flag of Saunders flew high over the region. The Dixon defenders were in a full retreat as the tournament directors took the fallen off the field. Those that had woken up shook there heads, cussing at Masons and Dixons alike as they were loaded onto the bus to be taken back to their ships. Some will be back, depending on how many regions the Dixons had, but the majority of them will stay on the ship, eagerly waiting for the end of the conflict.

Her eyes caught the sight of a redcoat, the affectionate nickname given to the cavaliers of Crusader and St. Gloriana's, riding up to her. He pulled his horse besides her and said, "The towns taken and whatever's left of the Dixon garrison is running back to their next region."

"Take your force and run them down, the more Dixons we take on here and now, the less we'll have to deal with tomorrow when they can rally."

"Right away ma'am." The redcoat saluted before spurring back off in the direction he came from. It wasn't long after that a line of horses spurred off towards the forest.

Another commander came up to her, giving her a salute as he did. "Well General, that puts us in the lead by a region. Mary's force failed to take the neutral zone."

"She always was a cautious one. " Julia commented, "She probably could've won if she hadn't retreated."

"What do we do now?" The commander asked.

Julia pondered the question from the sheliblite commander for a moment, then shook her head. "If Mary's worth the horse she sits on, she'll keep most of the Dixon army tied up. We'll continue our advance, taking that region and then turning west. We'll surround the capital and strangle this insurrection."

"A good plan, but what are we going do for the rest of the day?"

"The cavalry is running them down, most of the army's still fresh…" Julia said, "Francis, take your Shelbilites and secure the next region. We should be able to take it with little resistance."

"Will do." Francis replied. He spurred his horse back towards the region capital, searching for his school.

"Commander Johnson, our scouts have returned."

In a tent about ten miles away, two girls stood facing each other. One was dressed in a Dixon's officer uniform and the other had a brown coat and grey pants. The officer looked towards her and raised an eyebrow as the subordinate reported the scouts.

"The enemy has divided their army into two parts. They have taken both regions and seem to have plans to march west tomorrow, straight towards us." The subordinate replied.

"With their forces divided, they leave themselves open to defeat in detail." Johnson said, "We'll attack at first light, catch them as they're getting ready to move out. We'll attack the southern region and reclaim it before moving North, taking the entire army out, decimating the Mason army with one thrust. A surprise attack, before they can gather their forces."

"Very well, I shall alert the girls immediately"

Johnson nodded her head as the subcommander left the command tent, leaving her alone with the map of the upcoming battlefield.

She closed her eyes before looking out of her tent, towards the starry night sky. Once that army was defeated, she could go back to Saunders, free from the taint of the foreign girl. It truly was a shame, if she was being honest. If it were up to her, those foreign girls would be doing her chores for her, earning their keep with whatever little use they have.

But, then again, a purely Japanese school wasn't a bad thing either.

Three girls camped alone in the dense forest of a hill as the sun rose over the field. One of them yawned and look to her friends, all three of them dressed in green.

"Well this bites." One of the girls said, her Irish accent filling the air around them, "I'd rather be north with those Shelbilites. I hear they had some decent fightin against them Dixons."

"Aye," A second one replied as she moved a red lock of hair from her eye, "But today we march against the Dixon's out to the east. They're sure to put up a good fight for us, what say you Lilith?"

Lilith, the final girl, looked to her two comrades before shaking her head, "Something's off." She replied, "It's a little too quiet this morn."

"You worry too much lassie." The first girl said, "There ain't a Dix within ten miles of here. Well, aside from Dixie here, but none of them Dixon folks.

Suddenly a twig snapping silenced the three of them. Quickly and quietly, the three grabbed their rifles and looked down the hill. In the dim lights of the early morning, they could see a flag flying high above a group of people. They recognized the flag instantly.

The Dixon Bluestained, it's rising sun casting a harrowing image as it waved along side many sister flags, each related by the single image of the rising sun. The girl's eyes widened instantly.

"You were saying about those Dixons, Shannon." Lilith whispered as to not give away their position.

"What do we do now?" Dixie asked as she looked down the hill. She was answered by the sight of a rifle resting against the side of their foxhole. Shannon aimed her rifle down the hill as she gave her reply.

"We've got to stop them from surprising our camp." She said, "Pick your shots, officers and flag bearers. That ought to cause enough confusion for us to warn Julia."

"If the shooting doesn't alert her first." Lilith quipped as she joined Shannon in aiming.

The three Irish girls slowly leveled their rifles down as the Dixons marched up the hill, their guns aimed at three flags. "Together." Shannon whispered, "One… two… THREE!"

The three guns opened up. Three Dixon flags went down as the girls swiftly started to reload. Caught off guard, the Dixons approaching their position searched frantically for the three girls that had suddenly opened fire on them. Their search lasted long enough for the girls to reload and fire again. This time, however, the Dixons saw their muzzle flashes and returned fire. As bullet holes smashed against the ground around them, they ducked.

"They're gonna come up and kill us!" Lilith said, "What do we do?!"

"What we're known for." Shannon replied swiftly, "Fix bayonets."

Quickly, the three girls fastened the bayonets to the end of their rifles and finished their reloads. They looked towards each other, then back to the edge of the foxhole. They peaked over and returned fire at the advancing Dixon lines. They were close now, close enough for the three girls to identify their gender. Shannon quickly devised another idea. "We're going to use talking guns." She said, "I'll shoot, then Dixie shoots, then Lilith shoots. If we do this, we can keep those Rebels repelled for a short while, until they realize it's just the three of us."

"And what then?" Lilith asked.

"You learned bayonet drills for a reason." Shannon said as she popped over the top and fired a shot.

The air quickly filled with gun smoke as the three girls made a desperate stand against the overwhelming Dixon army that sat just down the hill from them. Slowly, the Dixons crept closer, inch by inch, but they paid for it with three people every step.

Despite Shannon's heroic tactic, however, they were still outnumbered and one soldier can only carry so much ammunition. The three Irish girls were sweating by the time they found their pouches void of anything they could use to shoot at the advancing Dixons. Desperately, Shannon's girls looked to her. She looked towards Dixie, then to Lilith, then decided what she was going to do.

"Both of you, go back to the camp. Rally up with Terra." Shannon said.

"What are you going to do?" Dixie asked as Shannon turned back to the Dixon lines.

Shannon primed her bayonet, pushing the collapsible bayonet into the ground to get the paint flowing before answering, "I'm going to buy you some time. It won't be a lot, but it'll confuse the hell out of the Dixons."

Before either Dixie or Lilith could protest, Shannon leapt up from her trench. "FAUGH A BALLAGH!" She shouted as she ran down the hill, towards the Dixon lines. Losing their time to protest, the other two girls swiftly climbed out of their cover and up the hill. Lilith looked down the hill just in time to see Shannon's distraction working. She was in the middle of the Dixon lines, swinging her rifle around, knocking down Dixons with every stroke.

But alas, their numbers were too great and all Lilith could do was cry out as a bayonet stabbed into Shannon's back, quickly followed up by countless more and even a few gun shots going into the poor Irish girl.

The distraction by the Irish girls was enough to have the lines of blue organized. Commanders scrambled, some half dressed and wearing a mix between sleepwear and their uniforms, to rally their lines and march towards the sound of the fighting. The sound of galloping could be heard throughout the camp as the calvary attempted to divert the enemy's attention, acting as skirmishers and harrassers, delaying the enemy while their own army organized.

Jack Nelson, the leader of Crusader High, was already giving orders, organizing calvary raids on Dixon lines, when a Saunders girl rode up to him. "Jack," Julia said, "I need a message delivered."

"Darjeeling!" Jack shouted. A blonde girl in a red uniform came trotting up to them as Jack turned back to the Saunders, "What do you need?"

"Tell Francis to run his Shelbilites back here on the double." Julia said, "We're probably tangled with half of the entire Dixon army out there and I get the feeling we may be outnumbered."

"You heard her." Jack said, "GO!"

"Yes sir!" Darjeeling replied before spurring her horse and sprinting off. As she rode away from her commander, the sounds of combat became louder and louder. She recognized, as anyone would, that this meant she was getting closer to the front lines.

But from the sound of it, it was growing in front of her.

They're trying to surround us. Darjeeling guessed. A thought came through her head, Maybe I should go back and warn Jack and Julia.

Before she could ponder the thought for too long, however, a bullet whizzed by her head. She ducked before looking over her back to find three girls riding behind her. One of them, armed with a carbine, was reloading as they rode after her. "STOP!" One of them shouted.

Deciding to do the opposite, Darjeeling spurred her horse. She reached down to her hip, landing on a revolver. She drew it and looked over her shoulder, returning a shot to her pursuers. She missed her shot, as her training with a revolver was less than that of the sword. Letting her lack of training not deter her, Darjeeling cocked the hammer back with her thumb before her horse swerved, avoiding a tree. The revolver slipped from her head. "NO!" Darjeeling said as another gunshot echoed through the air. She looked back to see the three girls had gained on her. The carbine-gunner had a frustrated look on her face. Darjeeling quickly moved to her sword. I mean, it's better than nothing. Darjeeling thought to herself as she drew it. She darted to the left, moving around a tree and turning her horse to the three Dixons. Surprised, the Dixons corrected their horses to run hers down. Darjeeling raised her sword and clung tightly to her horse as she swung, catching the Dixon with the carbine in the chest and knocking her clean from the horse. The other two Dixons quickly turned around and followed her.

As she had taken out the only real threat to her from a distance, Darjeeling turned back to her original route and rode, sheathing her sword. Furious hoofbeats slammed into the ground as Darjeeling willed her horse to go faster until she burst through the clearing. Two flags greeted her, the American Star Spangled Banner and the Shelby High coat of arms, both fluttering in the wind as the, very confused, Shelbilites, watched her burst from the trees. Upon seeing the Dixons, their commanders quickly barked orders. Gunfire ripped through the air, cutting down both Dixons and their horses.

Darjeeling swiftly rode up to their lines, seeing a second rider coming towards her. "Francis?" Darjeeling asked as he came into earshot.

"You've found him, what do you need?"

"Julia's lines been attacked. The Dixons are surrounding the army right now." Darjeeling reported, "She needs reinforcements, the Dixons are flanking her, the lines are stretched thin."

Francis cussed in English. While Darjeeling was familiar with the dialect, she had no idea what Francis had just said, just that it was a curse.

"Alright." Francis said, "We're going to move out. Stay with us. If what you say is true, it'll be too dangerous to attempt to run through the Dixon lines. Help spread the word, we're marching back to Julia's corps."

"Yes sir!" Darjeeling said, riding off towards the Shelbilite ranks.

"HOLD THEM!"

Gunsmoke had made a thick cloud, blocking out the midday sun as the Dixon and Mason lines exchanged shots with each other. Calvary raids were common along the lines, adding horses and their riders to the mix of those that had fallen on the painted battlefield.

Among the smoke, fiercely shouting her orders to her girls, was a young woman. She looked through her lines of green, the Saunders flag flying high over them and the Irish tri-color flying proudly next to it. Both were slightly stained with paint and a few wholes of paintballs that went through the fabric.

In her ranks were two girls, determined to avenge their fallen comrade. Lilith and Dixie fired their guns fiercely at the Dixon line, knocking most of them down with the girls next to them. They had taken cover behind trees, rocks, whatever they could find. Their flags waved high over them as Lilith and Dixie looked down at the Dixons.

"We can't keep holding them back." Dixie assessed as she fired her rifle, "They're going to overrun us. I'm already running low on rounds again."

"Take them off the fallen if you have to." Lilith said, "If we die here, Shannon would've died for nothing."

With the sacrifice of their friend on their mind, the two girls exchanged shots with the Dixons fiercely.

And with good reason. The brunt of the Dixon assault was descending upon the green clad girls of the 69th Saunders Volunteer regiment. This unit, made up mostly of Irish girls, held a vital point in Julia's battle line, the center.

If they were to fall and retreat, then the Dixons would exploit the breach, splitting the small army in two and easily crushing them. They were determined that it would never happen.

But determination could only bring an army so far. And as ammunition ran out for some members of the force, they all were starting to ask themselves 'Where were the Shelbitlies?'

Julia looked down at the battlefield through her spyglass, frowning. She had run out of reserves. Her calvary was wearing thin and they were all tired, continuous attacks would only bring more casualties for the girls and their horses.

Damn it Francis, get your ass back here Julia thought mentally.

Johnson smiled as she rode around her lines. All along the front, she was winning. The Mason army was slowly giving ground with even some reports of small groups routing. Even if those groups quickly rallied or were replaced, the moral of her enemy was wearing as thin as their actual strength. It was only a matter of time before she could break through, taking Julia's mercenary horde down and leaving the Mason army obliterated.

As she was lost in thought, a frantic rider came up to her. "General! General this is serious!"

"What is it?"

"An entire enemy army had appeared on our rear!" The rider said, "They look to be full strength, I think it's that army that we were trying to cut off!"

"How did they know?!" Johnson said, "I thought your girls were supposed to stop messages from getting through."

"Apparently one did." The rider said, "And now we risk losing our own army."

"FUCK!" Johnson cussed, "We're so close…. What of our reserves?"

"Three regiments, ma'am."

"Deploy all of them to hold that relief army." Johnson ordered, "Continue the assault against Julia."

"Ma'am-"

"DO IT!"

The rider slowly nodded her head, "Yes ma'am, as you order."

"JUST A LITTLE WHILE LONGER!" Terra shouted to her girls in green as they held the center. Her regiment had been cut in half, forty six remained out of the hundred. The ground was littered with bodies, Terra taking care not to step on one of her friends, "Supports coming!"

Terra had picked up a rifle out of desperation and had started using that on the enemy as she barked commands to hold their thin line. Seeing their commander like this did nothing but lift the girls morale.

As Terra fired her weapon, her own soldiers knew that this day meant victory or it will be their last on the island.

Suddenly, a loud cheer echoed throughout the Dixon ranks. Terra looked towards her enemies to see them reaching into their belts and drawing long, pointed objects from them. She instantly gave her own order to fix bayonets.

Terra stood up, dropping her gun and drawing her sword and revolver. Slowly, the girls around her slid their bayonets out of their scabbards and placed them on their guns too. Terra looked towards them, then behind her. "BRING UP THE COLORS!"

The two flags, the Saunders flag and the Irish tri-color, fluttered as their flag bearers brought them up. They waved defiantly against the Dixon Bluestained that laid in its path as the desperate soldiers near them readied for the end.

"CHARGE!" Terra shouted, sprinting forward. The girls beside her similarly jumped up and ran down towards the Dixon lines who leveled their bayonets and charged back. Terra fired her revolver into the face of a Dixon before slashing one next to her with her sword. She fired her pistol again, knocking out another Dixon before dodging a bayonet and stabbing another Dixon. The melee was brutal as bayonets clashed and guns went off. Still, the flags of Saunders flew high above the brawl, fluttering in the breeze with the Irish tri-color, clashing against the bluestained as if they too were members of the brawl below.

Suddenly the bluestained fell. The flag bearer, skewered with a bayonet, dropped the banner. A the sight of this, the Dixons knew they had lost.

Some routed, others stayed only to be cut down by the remaining Saunders girls. Before long, the last few girls stood over the bodies of the fallen. The two flags, on broken poles and tears in their fabric flew over.

And it was there, Terra noticed, the sound of combat dwindled. Gunshots became sporadic, bugle calls started to sound recall, the sky even began to clear up as there was no more smoke being added to it.

"We…. We won?" Terra said softly. She turned back to her friends, "We won! WE WON!" She smiled widely, throwing her arms in the air, her cheer was echoed by that of her comrades, both under her command and across the lines that were barely held.

They had done it, they had beaten back a massive Dixon sneak attack, one that, if successful, would've spelt doom for the Mason army.

And though they may celebrate their victory today, there was a silent note in the back of everyone's mind.

The Dixons may have lost the day, but the war was far from over.

Far, far, far from over.

Anna frowned as Johnson handed her a list of casualties. Two thousand Dixons had been lost to the Mason's four thousand.

Even though she had lost less than the enemy, she recognized the position she was in. The Masons controlled six regions out of thirteen, meaning that by the time a week rolled around, they would get six percent of their losses back, meanwhile Anna would only get back four percent. The Masons would get more soldiers than her, thus meaning they would win an attritional conflict which is what the war had descended into so far.

But, despite Johnson's failure to destroy Julia's army, there was a silver lining. Julia would have to reorganize her forces before pushing towards her again, meaning that Anna would have some time to gather her thoughts about how to win.

She needed to think of a plan quickly, however, as tomorrow brought yet another opportunity for the enemy to attack. She sighed before pulling in a deep yawn.

Perhaps it was time to clock in for the night.

Mary smiled as the report came in. "It appears Julia is doing great." She said to the small room of commanders, "She held off a Dixon assault, inflicting massive casualties against them. Meaning their position on the center region is most likely under defended."

"What are you suggesting?" A commander asked.

"Tomorrow, we attack the center region again." Mary said, "Should be easier this time around. Full frontal assault, tossing our weight right into Anna's lines, forcing her to retreat."

"Bold plan." The commander replied, "Let hope this one is a success."

"I hope so to." Mary replied, "Or else Julia's going to make a mockery out of me."

A/N: Sorry I took so long, I was working on other projects.
Imperator: Yes, the last Chapter was loosely based off the First Battle of Mananas Creek, otherwise known as the Battle of Bull Run.