Chapter 8: Rage & Sorrow in a Roaring Thunder

In March 5, 1916, Koba celebrates his 18th Birthday, All Russians begin to feast as they celebrate, Ariandel and Kirov gave him a gift, a dog tag and a rifle, Koba thanking them for a wonderful gift that he will never forget. Luther says that the he has the best gift, it is a shoe that I make back in St. Petersburg in our uncle's place, Koba is so excited to wear them after the war, he wants Luther to promise him about surviving the war, Luther says "Yes, I promise little brother, we will always watch our backs together ok", they both are hugging before their training.

Belldrick wants a rematch with Koba, both clashed with their fist, Belldrick uses his Celestial skill "Heavy Bomber" as it goes straight to Koba, Koba dodges it and transforms to Celestial Progress, Belldrick does the same. Both are trying their best to make sure one of them goes down first, Koba then uses a Wing Chun Stance to confuse Belldrick, as he is about is about to use his ultimate skill, "The Celestial Heavy Smasher" to crush him, Koba then deflects it with his left hand, then performs the "Celestial Air Palm Strike" to blow away Belldrick to the ground, unable to move, Koba is the victor once again. Belldrick says "I will never give up, someday I will beat you with my own way", Koba says "This is why I like about you Belldrick, you are the best warrior i ever fought you know, keep training until you find a way to beat me". Belldrick says "Yeah, thank you for the sparring training, it really means alot, we will both strive harder for the better", as the both of them then drink a shot of vodka until the other members of the Ravens arrive. The next sparring match is Nikita vs Oleg, 15 minutes later both end up in a draw, impressing the team, now Luther fights both Gregory and Dmitri, Luther follows the Wing Chun style like his little brother taught him, and it works by deflecting them, resulting Luther as the winner. General Ariandel now tells them that he is going to be deploying in a different battle somewhere in the western front for the British, the Team bid him farewell for his journey.

In March 14, 1916, The Headquarter in Moscow orders Commander Kirov to deploy their troops to Lake Naroch because Celestial Sensory Unit detects German movement coming there, So Kirov now orders the platoon leaders to mount up their supplies before mobilizing, as the Russian trucks are almost full of soldiers, Koba and the others will gather as much as their energy as possible because they sense a stronger enemy in the place there in Lake Naroch, Luther says they deploy more Astral Germans instead of a normal person, Belldrick feels the same thing too.

In March 16, 1916, the German 10th Army under the command of General Bloomberg & General Howitzer, tells his men to dig for the defensive positions, 140 planes will be used for air support and dog fights in the air. Howitzer plays chess with Bloomberg, checkmates him with only 12 moves, angering Bloomberg that he is cheating, Howitzer says "I just saw your mistakes Bloomberg, you are giving me more opportunity to attack your king". The Russian 2nd Army arrives in March 17, 1916, 7 miles away from the German territory, making their own trenches as well, getting their 78 planes ready for the dog fight, Koba senses that more Astral Germans are being deployed here, saying "something is not right about this one", Luther is getting ready for tomorrows battle in Lake Naroch. The Ravens are in the Commander's tent to plan for the offensive, putting their own artillery in the position, they are aware that the Germans have their air support ready for use, Celestial sensory group arrives to tell the Commander the information, that Germans have around 80,000+ soldiers, Koba in his mind says "something is really not right about this, we may be outnumbering them, but majority of them are Astral Beings". Commander Kirov is confident that Russia will win this battle, but Koba has something in mind otherwise, Luther worries about Koba's thinking, Luther tells him that it will be alright.

In March 18, 1916, The battle of Lake Naroch begins with the Russian Artillery Unit bombards the whole area where the Germans are there in position, now the planes above are having a dog fight, many planes where shut down leaving them dead at a No Man's Land, where people hide on trenches, to wait for the enemy to get out of the trenches to shoot them. Two days later, Germans are not hit by the bombardment, Commander Kirov made the biggest mistake by sending the Russians on a No Man's Land, making them a easy target for the Astral Germans to use their machine guns and energy blast to kill them in a large group. Kirov realized they're bombardment is inaccurate, it did not hit the Germans at all, The Russians gained 10 kilometres, but they are unable to penetrate the German fortified defenses, it was well organized, although The Russians outnumbers them. 15 hours later the Russians lost their position at the Germans retaliates through a counterattack, leaving most Russians to die.

In near Riga in March 21, 1916, the Russians tried their second attack, but it is no use, the Astral Germans begin their killing spree on them, The Ravens arrive to push the Germans back, Koba is separated from his team, now he will fight a Astral Being who is a high ranking officer name Temujin, Both of them keeps fighting until they get exhausted, Koba uses a energy skill which it stabs him in the stomach, Temujin is bleeding, but Koba treats him with a large cloth, confused as he ask "Why are you helping me, you are my enemy" Koba replies "I'm helping you because I sense a good heart in you, that's why I'm treating your wounds". As Koba finished wrapping the cloth, they both introduce themselves, he tells Temujin to run now. Temujin says "we will meet again someday Lionheart, next time I will win, you know it" Koba replies "sure, you know the enemy of my enemy is my friend". As Temujin retreats, he says that "he is a soft ass motherfucker, that faggot will pay someday". The team reunites with Oleg injured, Dmitri sends him to a medic nearby the tents, Gregory got knocked out by a large force of Astral attacks, Nikita and Belldrick carries him to the medical tent immediately.

In March 29, 1916, Nikita is severly injured by Howitzer's punches, Bloomberg pins down Belldrick effortlessly, The Russians rescues both of them because they are both important for the battle, now leaves to Luther and Koba to fight the two Generals with many officers surrounding them. Howitzer transform into Astral progress, begins to punch Koba, Bloomberg incapacitates Luther to the ground with the help of the officers, Howitzer is about to overpower Koba with more heavy punches, Koba became exhausted, transform back to his normal state, Howitzer and Bloomberg will use a ultimate skill, The Astral Spear to hit Koba, but Luther struggles to get up, now gets to block it but it hits his chest five times, Koba in horror seeing his brother about to fall to the ground, Koba says to him in tears "big brother, you promised to give me the shoe you made at home after the war, please DON'T DIE!!! Luther's last word says "Koba, thank you for being there for me everyday, but my time has come" as Luther is about to close his eyes, Bloomberg and Howitzer laughs at them. Azarath has opportunity to control Koba body, somehow Koba's rage overpowers Azarath and he is being absorbed by Koba, Azarath is unable to move, all Astral Germans see in horror as Koba transforms into a Demon filled with rage, as he screams in agony and pain, holding his dead brother's lifeless body, putting him in a safer place. Howitzer is scared that his power level increases to 450,000 that forces 5 battalions to tame him, Koba unleashes a large balls of energy blast, killing more Astral Germans, more reinforcements are coming, Koba destroys them by using a Demonic Beam to kill them. 5 Battalions were wiped out in 20 minutes, Koba passes out after the demon transformation. The Ravens manage to get Luther's lifeless body out but Koba is captured by the Astral Germans, leading the Ravens and the Russians to retreat.

In March 30, 1916, The whole operation for Russia is a utter failure, the Germans have outsmarted them. For results of the battle, Germany lost 43 out of 140 planes, 233 out of 720 artillery, losing more than 20,000 out of 80,000+ soldiers, looting more supplies from the Russians, the biggest prize among them is capturing the Lionheart as a prisoners of war. As for Russia, they lost more than 110,000 out of 370,000 soldiers, 50 out of 78 planes destroyed, 300 out of 475 heavy artillery guns destroyed. At the end of the battle, it as a decisive German victory, Koba wakes up in Konigsberg prison filled with Russian labors, now he will be monitored by heavy Astral Guards.

Oleg saw Koba transform something different, it terrified him, Nikita and Greg wants to rescue him but the prison inside Konigsberg is heavily secured with Astral Beings. The Ravens gave Luther a proper burial without Koba's presence, the team is heartbroken that Koba is not here to see his big brother's funeral take place. They all bid him farewell, Belldrick now will find a way to break him out. The Tsar is furious about the failure, the people knew that the Lionheart got captured, the Tsar want to tell people to calm down, telling them "we can still win this battle" The people are tired of hearing his incompetent actions, they demand Tsar Nicholas to rescue him. In the next day, Ellie hears about the news, she see the members of the Ravens who arrive home in St. Petersburg, as she tells them "you are all in that battle right, why did you retreat", Nikita sadly replies "we were ordered to retreat, the commander has no other choice to abandon the mission". Ellie says" where are the other 2 members of the team, i know the Lionheart got captured, but where is the other. Gregory responds "our member Luther Von Wardell lay down his life to save his little brother", shocking Ellie as she she cries in tears "Luther is gone??!!, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, please tell me the truth, is Koba really the Lionheart???, Gregory says "Yes". Ellie runs back home, lock in her room, crying that her lover is taken as a prisoner of war, worried of what the Germans might do to him. Her father tries to comfort her, she opens the door and tells him that the Lionheart is her lover Koba, The Father is shock in how she knows about this, She said "The Ravens told me papa". Her father tells her to have faith in you lover, he is strong warrior after all, I'm sure he will be alright. Ellie calms down, in hopes her lover stays alive.