Dianeos 28th, 687 of the Imperial calendar
He mustered all the strength in his body not feel a twitch of anger as Mudra explained the situation. "The rear-guard in the Dumas should hold the passes until late Januseos, by then the retreating legions will be in position to defend the heartland." Zorzal wanted to smash them in the mountains, where in theory their numerical advantage and magic would literally bury the enemy until they exhausted themselves but whole legions were being lost at break neck speed.
"What's your plan in the northeast? It's nothing but farmland and plains, it's the most logical place they'll attack. Our brave men would be helpless against their iron elephants." But thankfully Demos was possibly the most intelligent man in the Imperial army and would do anything to give Sadera a edge. "There's several canals, dams, surface irrigation systems, flood banks, and distributary rivers that originate from the Rho. If they are destroyed then the land northwest of the capital shall become a impassable swampland, forcing our foe to march into the great Marais forest." The war room had finally been freed of the heavy atmosphere the had plagued the emperor who watched uneasy as the little pieces representing armies drew closer to Sadera itself.
The Marais forest took up of most of the western part of Basilia province which led the Imperial capital, with almost two fifths in the neighboring Dracola province. On the edge of this massive forest was the three vital strongholds the guarded the entrances; Fyue, Mare, and Rekki. "With the already existing legions being brought back from across the empire and new one's being created from the local population we I'm happy to say we have about two-hundred legions of men at our disposal in the defense." Zorzal was in awe in such numbers the largest battle the Empire had fought was the battle of the Tanska steep where two hundred and fifty thousand Saderans fought the Arrun Empire in 157 appeared like a skirmish compared to those numbers.
"Obviously these recruits are green and are primarily made up of conscripts, veterans pulled out of retirement, and slaves but many are being trained to use either crossbows or our hand-kanonis. We've completed moving our workshops underground to hide from the enemy's air power and produce our own versions domestically." Zorzal wanted to know more about these weapons and asked, "What version? Are they of the same quality as the Avionese ones?" "Sadly no, they're made rather crudely but are simpler in design but are easier and cheaper to produce. "I've ordered that the lead or stone balls they fire be bigger so they are more accurate though this slows the reloading process. There's a even versions with a mounted spy glass and specially made barrels with these straight cuts in the bore to dramatically improve accuracy. These in recent tests have been shown to hit a target up to two stadions away similar to our heavier kanonis and better compared to only just under one stadion. These however are much too expensive to give and train whole armies so will be given to specialists, these men will be the eyes of our bigger units and will make the fight through the area difficult indeed."
Zorzal liked the prospect of the enemy being picked off by Saderans one by one until they'd be swarmed by brave legionnaires, sowing fear into the hearts of the Other-worlders. "What other weapons have you been designing?" Demos continued his information dump, "I have just recently designed two things to improve our artillery. The first is a large bore kononi with a short barrel able to hold a seven unica wide tailed-projectile up to three stadions away using indirect fire. It's not favorable but it is possible to build them with the strongest wood and cut out a two unica hole for the projective but it should be used as fire wood after two to three shot, otherwise the weapon could explode."
"How many casualties do you believe we can inflict among their ranks." Demos paused and thought out a response. "I'm Afraid I don't have a definitive answer my lord, but I can promise you they will hurt." Zorzal wanted a better answer but It couldn't be helped. "Thank you, you may get back to work."
Dianeos 31st, 687 of the Imperial calendar
General mudra and count Woody were walking together at Woody's villa in Rekki, discussing the defense of the forest. "How long do you think we could hold the Marais Mudra?" Asked Woody with a hint of worry in his voice. "Indefinitely, the Other-worlders will know true fear after the battle is won. Besides you are in charge of the forces in Beza, the strongest line of defense." Beza was situated in the southeast and was dominated by tall grass, dense woods, and small valleys dominated by Beza mountain. The bad terrain there added together with spider holes, earthworks, boobytraps, tunnels, kononi huntsman, hidden iron elephant ditches, concealed troops, and their fanatical devotion to their emperor was a force to be reckoned with.
"I almost feel sorry for the poor barbarians." Continued Mudra, "But then again, I wouldn't want to miss the chance to have some of their heads mounted to my wall." Woody chuckled in response. "If only we didn't have to relay on those disgusting demi-humans. I'd rather die then have one near me." "I agree, but the elves are great listeners and wolf-men can see in the dark. I wouldn't mind at all if we sent all the demi-humans in the world to soak up the enemy weapons for us." The snow dropped down and it'd be two more months until it all melted away.
"Things will get better once Hardy masses up the apostles." Mudra was caught off guard by that, "w-what?! When did this happen?" "Yesterday Hardy told her followers, myself included, to wage a holy war against the Other-worlders. She told us that if they cross the mountains then her apostles will intervene and win us the war." The gods never since the holy wars intervened directly in human conflicts before. It was great news to have divine intervention on his side but he wished it was his god. "If it means more slain foes then I'm all in for it. If all the gods intervened then the war is all but won." Woody let out a wheezing cough before replying, "Palapon and Zufmuut is joining as well, meaning we'll have possibly sixteen apostles on our side!"
Mudra's belief in victory was absolutely certain now, despite the high price the enemy would experience the full might of Sadera and the Other-world would submit to Sadera's rule. He imagined returning to the glass city where he had been humiliated and burning it to the ground, conquering the land that had casted the cloud of shame over his family's name.
January 1st, 2017 of the Gregorian calendar
Kowalski had felt his blood run cold at the news, not because of the influx of soldiers for the Imperial army but because the gods were literally siding against him. The gods had so far stayed out and watched but now anything could happen to the men in Falmart. Thankfully he had an ally somewhat in Emroy as Rory had explained the god had no qualms against them, they were after all the best mortal warriors ever in Falmarts history and truly understand what war was, at least that was her words.
He immediately dialed the president the anxiously listened the phone dial until he picked up. "Hello?" "Mr. President...I have urgent news. Reports from the various religious representatives have said the gods Hardy, Zufmuut, and palapon have decided to back the empire and are threatening to use their apostles against us." Kowalski thought that the president would freak out considering apostles not only were unkillable but stronger as well, basically demigods. "I see..." His words was calm and had no sound of urgency despite the situation. "As long as we deal with this quickly then the Falmart campaign should be ok." "But Mr. President! We're dealing with a crisis that could very much jeopardize the war in Falmart." He wondered if the president had lost his mind or something.
"I fully understand the situation general. That's why just like Operation Horner and Operation Blacktip, the boys in the pentagon have created a contingency plan for this though I believe having you back in the states to discuss this would be better for security reasons. I'll have Cooper see if we can negotiate this." "And if they don't?" The president's tone became dark, "Then they'll understand how we won WW2 against the Axis..."
268 days after capture
It was ready, after months of work and preparation it was complete. The Saderan animals would soon pay for what they had done, not just to him or his countrymen but all those in shackles. Some one hundred thirty-five American, three hundred Volgolians, sixty-seven Edenians, two hundred Elbians, and ninety-four Saderans had been briefed on the plan to retake their freedom. Andrew hammered away at the rock face to not arouse suspicion from the guards. Then he heard the signal, "Ahcoo!" "Bless you." He said, turning to jack. 'Alrighty, action!' "What did you just say?" Growled Jack as he marched up to the man and watching the eye of a guard. The men around noticed and started howling at this fake fight. "You heard me you fuck! Bless you!" Obviously they were speaking in English and the guard was angry as he couldn't understand.
"Hey! Qui-" The guard was hit over the head with a sledgehammer from behind by Hulk, killing him. Andrew nodded at jack who returned it and he kneeled before the body. Andrew picked up his truncheon and gripped it hard, raising it in the air. "Freedom!!!" The prisoners what had gathered around in a circle cheering and grabbed anything from tools to shanks to rocks as weapons for the battle of their lives. "Come on, we've got a mine to destroy!" With his comrades behind Andrew lead the charge through the mine shaft, men brutally beating unfortunate guards in their way to death while the rest and some of the professional guards ran away from the tidal wave. "Pick up anything you can find!" Ordered Hulk and just in time as a line of knock off romans soldiers apparently ahead, blocking the way to the vertical shaft.
"Shields! Shields up front!" The natives already knew the drill and had experience from the wars they fought before against the Saderans. The Saderans were hailed by rocks and coal lumps, blinding them and allowing the slaves to advance in for the kill. Men on both sides were clubbed, beaten, and slashed but the small number of guards was what broke them. They were overwhelmed and killed, their equipment picked clean for use in this slave "army". "To the elevator." Said Hulk as he and the rest got in side while a few men stayed behind the recruit others and to get them up.
Once they began to ascend Andrew started chuckling, "Haha, we're doing it! We're fucking doing! T-this seems to easy!" "Your right my friend." Replied Hulk. "But the fight has just begun..." the elevator slowly edged to the surface, Andrew covering his eyes. When they adjusted, he was met by a great sight. The barracks where they slept was burning, the watch towers had been toppled, and the guards that brutalized them were sitting down in a group surrounded by men with spears. "I guess not..." The Brooklyner was in disbelief, 'Was it that easy?! We should've rebelled ages ago!'
He in the corner of his eye saw Doc healing the arm of a slave who had been slashed. Andrew wasted no time running up to him. "Doc! It was a success! They folded like a house of cards." The middle aged man chuckled, "Turns out they sent almost all of the guards to the front last night, many here were just recruits with zero combat training. Guess they simply didn't want to fight." He was right, only a few dozen bodies were lying around. 'I think it'll take a while until they'll learn what happened.'
Suddenly there was a cry, "We've got men on horseback coming fast!" Everyone hurriedly rushed to the gates where they could see about a dozen men on horses coming at full speed. But as they got closer, but a recognizable voice rang out. "Pikes front! Bottle neck them at the entrance." Andrew could see Syle with shield and sword in hand run just behind two dozen armed pikemen. The horse unexpectedly stopped their sprint and slowed to a trout until they stopped about five yards from the wall of iron tips, revealing they weren't Saderans but rather another faction. These men wore wooden armor that was blocky with red headbands similar to one worn by martial arts fighters on their forehead. The one in front had dark black hair and baby blue eyes who's headband was instead white and on his saddle was pinned a tall pole with a flag on it. This flag was solid red with a golden owl with its wings extended.
This blue eyed man got off his horse and slowly walked closer with his hands in the air. "I wish you no harm." He said, "I'm here because one of my men saw smoke coming from the mines." Syle walked past the prisoners and faced this man eye to eye. "I thought you are dead, Zeeman?" With hardy laugh he replied, "Legends never die friend.."
January 5th, 2017 of the Gregorian calendar
The ambassador pushed the doors open to the room where discussion with the representatives of the most powerful forces in the Special region would take place. It was painted beautiful emerald with a golden chandelier hanging over the table. "Hello." He greeted the four apostles that were waiting for him. One of them, Rory Mercury, pulled out a seat for him. "Thank you Ms. Mercury." She nodded and he sat down, mentally readying himself. "Now then, where would you like to start?" Giselle cleared her throat before speaking.
"I, Giselle, apostle to the Goddess of death Hardy on before half of my mistress send a ultimatum to your government. Withdraw To your side of the Gate or else I and the rest of her apostles shall slaughter your men." Cooper understood the gravity of the situation, sixteen or more immortal beings with super strength, speed, and magical powers would be a serious threat that would be needed to be taken out quickly before they could do serious damage. "I'm sorry but we cannot do so, some three thousand citizens have been kidnapped and forced into slavery by Sadera, we cannot leave them here." "But how does the lives of thousands outweigh the lives of millions?" Asked Mabel, "your technology threatens to destabilize the continent and throw it into chaos."
The American listened, realizing that the gods were afraid of America's technological power and were trying to stop it. "So you wish to stop the people of Falmart from getting things that could make their lives infinitely better?" "It's not personal." He turned to Rory, "This world is our garden, branches that grow too long must be snipped to avoid disturbing the balance. Technology will break their spiritual bond and won't be able to receive blessing from the heavens. I understand it may sound backwards but they are happy the way things have been. This is the way they've lived for millenniums, and it must stay that way."
'So this is their petting zoo then?' Cooper thought, 'Keep the people ignorant so they keep worshiping.' "Alright, so what I'm getting is that the spreading of technology will be harmful to the people?" Palapon's apostle, Andronikos nodded. "Yes, the gods assist this world's people in times of need in exchange for worship. No knew toy will truly help them when theres a drought or plague. The gods are apart of this world and the more people worship, the more powerful they become, meaning the more miracles they can preform. Plus.." He added, "Hundred of thousands of our follower have been killed in battle we cannot stand to let that happen unopposed."
He was stunned, these Gods were tyrannical. These entities somehow needed people to grovel at them to actually make a damned difference. "It was actually Hardy who opened the Gate to your world." Revealed Giselle, "She saw a small glimpse and saw you were perfect to preform her will." "Her will? So innocent men, women, and children were murdered because she wanted to?!" He wasn't going to shout at people who could kill him on a dime, but that wasn't a excuse to not be angry. "No, it was her will to punish the Empire, being too much of itself and thought it was higher then the heavens so needed to be put back in it's place. The innocents was a sad byproduct.."
"Do you thing the American people are just going to roll with that? That their loved ones' deaths were simply a accident? That their sorrow is meaningless?" He added, "We will not allow anyone to defend a country whose army committed rape, murder, and thievery on a large scale." "That's not how things work on Falmart Sir Cooper." Says Mabel, "The Empire is needed to keep stanil-" "I don't give a damn about stability!" He raised his voice, "Seven thousand one hundred and fifty-two Americans were killed in Manhattan alone, not counting those killed by the remnants that went down long island. Twenty-thousand sustained varying degrees of injury while over fifteen thousand reported cases of rape perpetrated and that's what we know! At the very least allow us to capture Sadera and take back our people."
"We hear you and your complaints, the Empire has become corrupted to the core and needs to be punished, my master is the god of vengeance after all." States Andronikos. "But this isn't just technology, but it's also the Gate itself." He was aggravated and wanted to leave as soon as possible. "What do you mean by that?" "The Gate has never been open more then ten years, after that it becomes unstable and has to be closed before it threatened to destroy the worlds connected." 'Of course it does.' Thought Cooper, "Why?" Then Rory stepped up. "Because the Gate itself is a abnormal to time and space, if it stands for too long their is a rift that could have the chance to annihilate everything and everyone." "Ok...give us two years to get our people back, then we'll leave. Deal?" Andronikos, Mabel, and Giselle looked at each other before Mebel says, "Zufmuut agrees to these proposals." The apostle of vengeance nodded. "It would be unfair of Palapon to deny one of vengeance." But Giselle though other wise and paused for a moment."
"Hardy has just told me that she rejects this proposal, it's far to long. She demands two weeks to go home." "Twoweeks? That unexceptional! it's not even possible." Cooper protested but it fell on deaf ears. "If you won't cooperate then there has to be an example." He glared hard. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean that my mistress will teach you mortals a lesson, she just picked a outpost to sacrifice. Even your weapons aren't enough to kill us."
"Giselle, tell Hardy to stop it now!" Said Rory, but Giselle didn't take any mind. "Oh, I thought Emroy is the god of death and insanity?" She asked sarcastically. "I knew they entertain you but be serious, why go so low as to intermingle with that JSDF man?" Cooper raised his eyebrow, 'Is she talking about That guy Yōji Itami?' He recognized that name, Itami was a member of the JSDF rangers who along with a few others came to observe the war in Falmart. "Now don't you bring him up." "Enough! Call off the attack now and we can discuss the terms." He said, and what happened next stopped his heart.
Rory gripped the table to the point her nails left scratch marks, "It appeared it's already too late unfortunately." Giselle said mundanely, uncaring for the lives of those men and shook her head. "My mistress is the goddess of the underworld, while she doesn't retrieve the souls of your people, she has to get things under control before there's no people to die anymore." Cooper was seething, "You just attacked us to make a point? Then you have another thing coming." With that he stood up and looked at Giselle with a deathly glare. "We may not be immortal, but it's time to take the gloves off." Giselle gave let out a chuckle, "I suggest you choice your words carefully." Giving a deviant grin, "All of Hardy's followers will be on your doorstep soon, every single one of then will fight for my mistress on a moment's notice." "Then I guess the gloves are coming off..." He turned and walked to the door. "Ambassador wait!" Called Rory but too no avail. Once that door was shut and the apostles were alone, Rory turned before slapping Giselle in the face. "What was that for?!" "For being stupid! You've just done opposite of what you wanted to do!" Everyone now was looking Giselle with unfavorable looks. "Hardy just provoked them even more, they'll be sure to retaliate." Stated Mabel, "So what? Destroy the Gate and their trapped, it's too risky of a move to go against us. Besides we can see everything they do in this world."
"Revenge is very powerful." Told Andronikos, "It can change everything if strong enough, even petty rivalries can shape the world." The Americans had to this point been rather civil in terms of its treatment of the natives and prisoners of war, showing themselves to be morally superior over their enemies, but soon they'd give them a taste of their own medicine...