Project Armagnac

Andaluv spent years as a field officer for the Nordkaisertum Empire, building a reputation as a skilled soldier whose arrival often meant destruction and chaos. But his career ends suddenly when he is accused of war crimes he says he never committed.After a failed campaign, Andaluv is captured by his own people and put on trial. Labeled a murderer and war criminal, he loses his rank and dignity as his country turns against him. He is accused of firing on civilians and committing atrocities while claiming he only followed orders from above, but the authorities deny those orders ever existed.Cast out from his old life, Andaluv heads into the unknown. With no country to serve and his career in ruins, he joins the Rainstorm Echelon, a well-known group in the world of mercenaries. Under his leadership, the Echelon serves no nation and takes on risky jobs that look like bounty-hunting contracts.Their latest job brings them deep into the frozen wilds of Karshkal. What starts as a routine mission leads Andaluv and his team to an abandoned research facility. There, they find something much more dangerous than the bounty they expected: Acheron, an ancient Kailogryph artifact that Karshkal’s military has studied and turned into a weapon. The regime plans to use it against its monarchist separatist enemies, making Andaluv’s mission more important than he first thought.As Karshkal soldiers close in, Andaluv and the Rainstorm Echelon fight through the facility, recover the artifact, and make a desperate escape into the frozen wilds. Surviving the mission brings them a fortune, but also puts a spotlight on Andaluv’s unique reputation. To those who know his past, he is more than just a mercenary. He is Thunderbolt Andaluv, a soldier whose skill once made him a key weapon for the Empire, and whose sudden downfall left many questions behind.As his past catches up with him, Andaluv is pulled into conflicts much bigger than any contract. Wars, political plots, ancient technology, and rival powers across the continent force him to face the truth about his exile and ask if someone without a country can still find a cause worth fighting for.In a world where soldiers are used as weapons, nations compete for power, and loyalty is always at risk, Andaluv must choose between returning to the flag that left him behind or creating a new path for himself.